TAKING THE OFF-RAMP

BY: Tony Hillerman

The Town That Never Blew Its Stack

A landmark for almost a century, the 125-foot smokestack stands on the north side of State Route 69 east of Mayer. The small town in northcentral Arizona once thrived on copper and gold from nearby mountain mines. But the stack never did funnel smoke skyward. Before it was completed in 1917, the Great Western smelter closed. The smokeless stack serves as a reminder of Mayer's mining past.

It's Time for Colorado and New Mexico to Hold Up Their Part of Four Corners

A game of eeny-meeny-mineymo isn't necessary at Four Corners Monument, located in northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado. Known as the only place in the country where a person can stand in four states at one time, it may soon be a place to kick off your boots and stay for a spell. The monument, which attracts 260,000 annual visitors, will see big changes as itbecomes Four Corners Monument Tribal Park, to be operated jointly by the Navajo Nation and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. A federal appropriations bill allocates $2 million toward the construction of a new rest area, to include rest rooms, expanded parking, water and power sources, picnic areas and an interactive information center. The project, due to be finished in 2003 or 2004, relies on matching funds from each of the four states. So far, Arizona and Utah have put up their $500,000 each, but Colorado and New Mexico have not.

The Four Corners Monument, currently staffed by members of the Navajo Nation, is open daily from 7 A.M. to 8 P.M., May through midAugust; and 8 A.M. to 5 P.M., late August through April. Admission is $2 per person. Parking is free. Information: Navajo Parks and Recreation, (928) 871-6647.

Ride Tucson's Old-Time Trolley

San Francisco is not the only place in the country to take an old-time trolley ride. A trip on Tucson's Old Pueblo Trolley also provides an authentic streetcar experience while touring the Fourth Avenue business district through the west University neighborhood, adjacent to the University of Arizona. The historictrolley startedup again in 1993 after a 63-year hiatus, thanks to the efforts of the Old Pueblo Trolley, Inc., a nonprofit transit museum. The organization's restored collection includes original streetcars from Brussels, Los Angeles, Toronto and Kyoto, Japan. Today volunteer conductors run the trolley three days a week, with charters available. Schedule of service: Fridays, 6 to 10 P.M.; Saturdays, noon to midnight; Sundays, noon to 6 P.M. Fares are $1 for adults, 50 cents for children and on Sundays everybody rides for a nostalgic 25 cents. Information: (520) 7921802 or www.oldpueblotrolley.org.

Elvis Never Leaves This Building

You'll get no discounts for wearing blue suede shoes, but you can order a hunkahunka gourmet pizza and an allshook-up combo of beet, apple and lime juice at Patagonia's Velvet Elvis. This unique southern Arizona pizza shop features a 70-year-old dough recipe and one-of-a-kind combinations concocted by owner Cecilia San Miguel, an Ecuadorian ex-pat who worked in immigration law and ran an art gallery before moving to this little burg of 1,000. Regulars drive from as far away as Phoenix-179 miles-to partake of such handmade specialties as the Popeye (pizza with spinach), Inca Chicago Style (the crust, made with quinoa flour, requires 24-hour advance notice to order) and the Pancho Villa (topped with the Velvet Elvis' own chorizo). "It's a beautiful drive down here," San Miguel admits, "but the Velvet Elvis pizza is the real goal." Besides a wide variety of stonefired pizzas and pressed-fruit juices, San Miguel offers calzones, organic wine, homemade soups and other dishes that dispense her "ministry" of wholesome organic foods. Oh, yes, and save room for the Velvet Mussolini-a dessert of ice cream, chocolate sauce, cognac and just a "few" calories. As for Elvis, he's certainly on the premises, swaying those infamous hips on a clock and, of course, on a giant velvet portrait. Open Monday, Thursday and Friday evenings and all day Saturdays and Sundays. Information: (520) 394-2102.

Garden Variety

If you're looking for a natural high, head 3 miles west of Superior, off U.S. Route 60, to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park. Founded in 1924 by botany enthusiast William Boyce Thompson, the 30,035-acre living-plant museum and research center boasts a collection of plants and trees from around the world, including natives of the Sonoran Desert.

And until the end of April, the arboretum displays 67 sculptures on loan from Zimbabwe, Africa. Named for chapungu, an eagle from African folklore believed to ward off evil, the exhibit, "Chapungu: Custom and Legend, a Culture in Stone," includes natural stone works ranging from 500 to 6,000 pounds and 36 to 120 inches high. Zimbabwean artists hand-carved the pieces from serpentine, cobalt, opal, marble, jasper and other stones native to their region. The art depicts themes of nature, spirits, family and the roles of women.

In addition to mingling with nature and art, visitors may purchase water-efficient greenery at the visitor center and enjoy a relaxing lunch in the arboretum's shaded picnic area. Information: (520) 689-2723.

LIFE IN ARIZONA 1 9 3 0 s CLARK GABLE'S NARROW ESCAPE

Clark Gable almost didn't live to star in the 1939 classic Gone With the Wind. Nine years earlier, while filming a movie in northern Arizona, he came within a whisker of being crushed by a boulder. One scene called for a landslide in Dinosaur Canyon, 15 miles east of Cameron. But an overloaded explosive charge sent a tremendous amount of rock and sand into the air.

Flagstaff's Coconino Sun for October 17, 1930, said it was "as if a thousand of the hugest war shells had exploded at once, or a long dormant volcano had suddenly come alive."

The star was William Boyd, later known as Hopalong Cassidy. Gable was making his talking debut. The Sun reported the two were several hundred yards from the explosion.

"Gable started to dig into the side of the cliff. Bill [Boyd] yelled at him to keep his head up and dodge, and just at that instant a 100-pound rock landed between them."

Hundreds of Flagstaff residents were expected to travel to Cameron to see the big stunt, which was hyped in advance. But many stayed home that Saturday to attend the funeral of pioneer M.J. Riordan. Good thing. Otherwise the results could've been disastrous.

The picture, called The Painted Desert, was, well, a bomb, although it was remade in 1938. Critics loved the Arizona scenery, though.

Tony Hillerman's Indian Lands Map

Tony Hillerman has written so realistically about the Navajo and Hopi lands that travelers expect to see his fictional crime-solvers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee down every dusty road. Was that Leaphorn leaning against the Navajo patrol car parked at the Tuba City truck stop? Is that Chee's sweat lodge, mentioned in The Dark Wind, just outside of town?

Hillerman fans can now track the action of 14 novels using the colorful Tony Hillerman's Indian Country Map & Guide.

Follow the trails of Listening Woman to Rainbow Plateau, Navajo Mountain and Kayenta. Use the map to look for sites from The Blessing Way like Ceniza Mesa, Many Ruins Canyon and Round Rock.

The map is available at gift shops throughout Arizona. We got ours at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. Or you can write to Time Traveler Maps, P.O. Box 30, Mancos, CO 81328. Because this is a literary companion map rather than a driving map, better carry a road atlas as well.

taking the off-ramp Question of the Month

What in the world is a haboob?

A haboob is a giant dust storm, or wall of dirt, moving along the ground. It can reach 3,000 feet in height, travel up to 30 miles an hour and get thick enough to block sunlight.

Haboobs happen commonly in just two places on Earth-the Sahara Desert of Africa and the deserts of the southwestern United States. Residents and travelers of Arizona's Sonoran Desert who have endured haboobs may also have something in common with Mars-there's evidence of similar storms on the red planet.