Back Road Adventure

Now You Can Handily Drive the Story of the West on the Black Hills Byway

The dusty road scrolls along the rocky Black Hills like the path of a pen writing the story of man in this rugged Western landscape. Along the way, it is punctuated by evidence of exploration and industry, of exploitation and recreation, of struggle and change, of life and death. In 21 miles, we will gain insights into the mining and ranching industries that opened the West to Anglo-European settlers but are changing to face the new millennium. We'll also learn about the early peoples who lived on the land long ago and who fought to keep it, and of the newest comers, the recreationists, people who come to ride bikes, bird-watch, and river raft.

The tale unfolds in southeastern Arizona, 18 miles northeast of Safford. Today the road is called the Black Hills Back Country Byway, a Bureau of Land Management designation, but old-timers know it as the 77-year-old Safford-Clifton Road, which allowed commerce between the farmers in Safford, the miners in Clifton and Morenci, and the ranchers in between. The road was declared a Back Country Byway in 1992, joining a roster of 64 byways in 11 states, covering more than 3,179 miles. Part of the National Scenic Byways program, Back Country Byways are, according to the BLM, "scenic corridors that are off the beaten track," and they range from two-wheel-drive allweather roads to rugged fourwheel-drive tracks. (Arizona's two other Back Country Byways are Historic Route 66 between Kingman and the Colorado River, and Hualapai Mountain Road, which runs from Kingman to Yucca.) You can approach the Black Hills Back Country Byway from either end, driving south from Clifton or north from Safford on U.S. Route 191. It was a warm day in early fall when photographer Edward McCain and I chose the latter, leaving Safford's historic main street in midafternoon after picking up a free Black Hills Byway milepost guide at the BLM office. Late summer rains had nourished a profusion of secondseason blooming, and as we neared the turnoff to the byway, about 18 miles out of Safford, we passed carpets of tiny yellow bladderpods and bright-orange poppies among neon-green creosote bush flats. We turned off U.S. 191 near Milepost 139 onto the smoothly graded dirt byway, which is passable for most two-wheel-drive cars, and headed toward the volcanicrock buttes that mark the beginning of the Black Hills. Barely a third of a mile down the byway, on the west side, we passed two stone-piled graves topped with crude wooden markers. The BLM's milepost guide explained that the Old Safford Road was built by convicts between 1914 and 1920; one man died of natural causes, another was shot trying to escape. We stopped briefly at the interpretive kiosk offering information about the byway and good tips for driving dirt roads. We would add one more: Watch out for speeding pickups pulling horse trailers. Then we set our sights for the high ridges of the Black Hills above us, anticipating a special sunset view. We climbed nearly a thousand feet in several miles, passing a couple of cinder pit mines that date to the 1950s, and in Yellowstone Canyon below the road, a 40-year-old cattle ranch. At about four and a half miles, we paused on the narrow, precipitous road to savor one of the finest vistas in the Southwest, alone worth the drive. To the south, the sun was setting over the stormcapped Pinaleno Mountains. Rows and rows of mountain ranges, painted in more hues of blue than I could put a name to, marched southward in perfect file. Tongues of lightning licked each mountain variously, tasting, then sheets of shimmering rain consumed first the Pinalenos, then each successive range. A last flash of sun escaped the clouds and spun the limestone cliffs of Yellowstone Canyon with honey-gold. From here the road finished its climb over the top of the Black Hills, which smooth out and lose their sharp volcanic landforms as they spread northward, past more livestock facilities and into view of the 50-square-mile Phelps Dodge open pit copper mine across the Gila River Valley to the north. As we began our drop down into the valley, more than halfway into the byway, a coyote limped onto the road and turned his amber eyes upon us. One of his rear legs was cut off at the knee joint. He gave us a disinterested look and stumped swiftly up the sparse hillside. These hills were once covered with tall piñon and juniper trees, burned long ago in the smelter of the distant mine, the milepost guide told us. Down we spiraled along gently sloping hills until at 17

miles we came to the Gila River and the beautiful and stalwart Old Safford Bridge, built of concrete in 1918 and scheduled for restoration soon. Night was almost upon us, and we pitched camp next to the river. I fell asleep to the rusty calls of great blue herons. In the morning, we spotted a couple of tanagers and a vermilion flycatcher pausing to feed before their fall migration; dozens more birds flitted nearby. Tracks in the riverside mud told of the passing of javelinas, deer,raccoons, coyotes, and bobcats. We were at the eastern edge of the Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area, a 21,000acre BLM preserve (see Arizona Highways, May '94), where river runners and bird-watchers enjoy the scenery.

The final four miles of the Black Hills Back Country By-way climb out of the Gila River Valley through ancient gravel onto a rocky mesa. At the interpretive kiosk near road's end, we stopped and looked for the rock piles that mark a thousand-year-old Mogollon agricultural field.

(OPPOSITE PAGE) Cholla cactuses and a wooden marker top the grave of a convict killed while trying to escape a work crew during the building of the Old Safford Road in 1916.

(ABOVE) Lush vegetation along the Gila River takes advantage of the permanent water flow, near where the Black Hills Back Country Byway crosses.

The piles reminded us that man has been making his liv-ing on this land for thousands of years. It is far from an un-touched wilderness, and as cul-tures move on they leave their marks. Agricultural Mogollons were replaced by warring hunter-gatherer Apaches, who were driven out by the Army and Anglo-European farmers and ranchers. Then came the mines and now eco-tourists.

Drive the Black Hills Byway, and you will read their stories. It's a fascinating tale.

TIPS FOR TRAVELERS

Our author and photographer were armed with a milepost information guide and narrative cassette tape, both available from the BLM's Safford office (711 14th Avenue, (520) 428-4040; the pamphlet is free, the tape, $10), and the Graham (Safford) and Greenlee (Clifton) counties chambers of commerce. The pamphlet is excellent, with color photographs and well-written mile-by-mile information that is essential to enjoying the complex history of the Black Hills Back Country Byway. Also enjoyable is the cassette narrative. It has a bit more information than the brochure about Indian raids, frontier murders, and the mining and ranching industries.

The Black Hills Back Country Byway is best enjoyed in spring or fall, when flowers are blooming or the cottonwoods by the Gila River are changing color. In winter the landscape is pretty bare, and in summer it's very hot. Back road travel can be hazardous if you are not prepared for the unexpected. Whether traveling in the desert or in the high country, be aware of weather and road conditions and make sure you and your vehicle are in top shape and you have plenty of water. Don't travel alone, and let someone at home know where you're going and when you plan to return. Odometer readings in the story may vary by vehicle.