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Michael Hankins is a Lake Havasu City resident who's fascinated with rattlesnakes. With his new Outskirts Press book, Arizona Rattlesnake Tales, he's betting other people are, too. The book is a compilation of hundreds of newspaper articles detailing frontier Arizonans' encounters with the dreaded "rattler," stories Hankins gathered over many years of research. Via email, Hankins spoke with Arizona Highways about the book, his background and his soft spot for one of Arizona's best-known reptiles. (This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.)

Tell us about your background and how you ended up in Arizona.
My first trip to Arizona was in 1957. We were headed to Victorville, California, on Route 66 to my father’s new job assignment at George Air Force Base. Somewhere near Holbrook, Dad wheeled into a gas station to fuel up. This was in June, and our car had no air conditioning. The vehicle was gloss black, which greatly amplified the inside temperature.

A curious owner of this garage peered into the back seat, noticing my brother and me motionless. Dad and Mom believed we were simply sleeping. This gentleman warned my parents that if they didn’t get us cooled down, "them boys will not survive!” Jim and I spent the rest of our journey hovered over a block of ice placed inside a pan on the floorboard of Dad’s Mercury.

Part of my reason for coming back to Arizona had to do with my love of Western movies. I’d read that much of that filming took place in Old Tucson. We visited the town, finding it to be most interesting. Even the kids, who were quite young at the time, enjoyed going there.

Residing in Alaska for 45 years gave us many opportunities to fly down. My wife, Joleen, and two children, Gunnar and Miranda, spent almost every winter vacationing in Phoenix and Lake Havasu City. Joleen and I loved the state so much that we decided to move here upon retirement. We’ve been in Lake Havasu City close to 10 years now.

How did you get interested in snakes, and rattlesnakes in particular?
My first encounter with rattlesnakes was in, of all places, Selma, Alabama. A family of rattlers claimed a tree in the middle of our school playground as their home. The Southside School custodian promptly took care of them. An encounter with a water moccasin also occurred in this state. I was wading in Soapstone Creek near Selma when adults began yelling at me from shore to get out of the water. Spotting what I thought was a stick headed my direction, I was snatched out of the creek just in time by some quick-thinking individual.

The sole fascination with rattlesnakes came at an early age after seeing them in movies, or reading about their dangerous demeanor in Western magazines. Rattlesnakes seemed to always make an unwelcome appearance in both entities. There was something about the unmistakable sound of a rattler that placed me on edge while sitting in a theater seat or on the couch.

You've collected hundreds of newspaper clippings about rattlesnake encounters.
I’ve been a big connoisseur of Old West articles for over 50 years: True West, Frontier Times, Golden West, Real West and, of course, Arizona Highways. Some kids spent their lunch money on comic books, while I used mine to purchase cowboy-related periodicals. Almost every Western story had some hair-raising-tale regarding a killer rattlesnake. As I became older, I wanted to separate fact from fiction. Beginning in the 1980s, a search began for actual accounts of people bitten by rattlers.

It was slow going at first. I had to painstakingly search through microfiche at Arizona libraries while we were on vacation. In rare cases, vintage newspapers were available to look at. Research was hard to do as my wife and kids had more important things on their agenda, like hitting the swimming pool or shopping. Of course, there was no internet back in the '80s. When the computer finally came along, eBay was born. I was able purchase a few old Arizona newspapers with snake stories, along with several vintage rattlesnake photos from that website.

Eventually, colleges and libraries began to scan and place old newspapers online. My collection of clippings began to expand after that. While visiting the Mohave County Museum of History and Art, a gentleman there showed me a couple of pay sites where I could search for rattlesnake specifics. That’s when I hit the jackpot. At last count, I’ve accumulated over 500 articles dating from 1866 to present.

How did the concept for this book come about?
The idea came to me in a most unusual way, as I’d never contemplated doing a book. The process began by sharing my material on Facebook. I was attempting to make a few female friends squirm. There’s something about snake and spider stories that causes people to shudder. All in all, though, friends and family found the tales more interesting than scary.

Joleen and Miranda prodded me into placing the information into book form. I was initially hesitant after hearing horror stories about publishing and publishers. I’d been an automotive mechanic most of my life, knowing absolutely nothing about book composition. I did write several historical articles for magazines and newspapers, yet it was strictly a hobby. A lengthy rattlesnake book project did not sound like fun! After checking with a copyright attorney, I was informed I could legally only use material that was dated prior to 1924. At that point, I considered my project dead in the water.

Having in my possession less than 200 articles composed before 1924, I assumed it wasn’t enough for a book. I went ahead and sent this material off to a publisher, figuring they’d think the same. Turns out, there was sufficient data to work with. My publishing agent enhanced most of the scanned images and reconfigured them as well. A good portion were blurred or hard to read. Printing presses in the 1800s and early 1900s caused ink to easily smear or smudge. We elected not to retype the stories, wanting readers to experience the crudeness of early publications. Although some of the stories are still out of focus, overall, it was the right direction to take.

What was the most surprising or unusual thing you found during your research?
Easily the most unusual abnormality I found during my research was that savvy freelance writers sometimes sold their material to newspapers long after an incident happened. I uncovered the same stories in different newspapers years after they'd first been reported. The most extreme case was a rattlesnake story repeated some 10 years down the road, with no mention that it was old news. Not only did I find this common practice with rattlesnake tales, but it was true with other attention-getting stories as well. I suppose when times were lean, hungry reporters had to do whatever it took to eke out a living.

How long did the research and writing process take?
My research of rattlesnakes ran over a span of 40 years. The last 10 years presented me with the most material. A couple of weeks were needed to write the foreword and conclusion, including compiling all usable data and sending it off. Much thanks goes to Outskirts Press on knowing how to professionally manage those obscure scans and photos and make them presentable. That portion of the project took two months. Looking back on things, it was actually a painless procedure.

Where can people get the book?
Folks can purchase Arizona Rattlesnake Tales online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Walmart, eBay and Outskirts Press. The Mohave County Museum of History and Art has copies for sale in their gift shop. I’m hoping other shops do the same. I was told by a longtime park ranger that besides being asked about the Grand Canyon, rattlesnake inquiries from tourists are at the top of their "most questioned" list.

What should people know about encountering a rattlesnake in the wild?
I’m a conservationist at heart. Unlike early pioneers did, rattlesnakes do not need to be needlessly slaughtered just because they’re in the way. In most cases, they’ll only strike or lunge out half the length of their body. They won’t leap or jump on you from long distances, like mountain lions. Hollywood can be thanked for placing that misnomer into people’s minds.

If you should come across a rattlesnake, do all that’s humanly possible to back away or wisely skirt around it from a safe distance. Generally speaking, in most Arizona towns and cities, there are professionals who will remove and safely relocate rattlesnakes without killing them. If by chance you are bitten, immediately seek medical attention!

The Phoenix Herpetological Society in Scottsdale is renowned for taking in reptiles of all types, both wild and domesticated. I totally support the work they do do in helping these fragile creatures survive. A trip to view their facility is well worth the time. Ten percent from the sale of Arizona Rattlesnake Tales goes to help that organization.

— Noah Austin, Managing Editor

Arizona Highways continued its run of success in International Regional Magazine Association competition, taking home 17 awards, including two golds, at the group's annual conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, this week.

This year's awards covered magazines published in 2018; the total of 17 awards is the same number the magazine won in IRMA competition last year.

The two golds went to longtime contributor Annette McGivney, in the Nature & Environment Feature category, for In Search of Ancient Agaves (February 2018); and to Managing Editor Noah Austin, in the Historic Feature category, for A Totally Different Ballgame (March 2018).

Among those winning silver awards were contributors Tyler Williams (General Feature, A Walk in the Park, September 2018), Matt Jaffe (Travel Feature, The Ultimate Arizona Road Trip, July 2018; Profile, Barry Goldwater, December 2018), Jacques Barbey (Photo Series, A Totally Different Ballgame) and Bev Pettit (Portrait Photo, Keeping It Real, August 2018), along with Editor Robert Stieve (Head and Deck, He Can Take Care of Himself Just Fine, September 2018) and Creative Director Barbara Glynn Denney (Art Direction, Single Story, Arizona Ghost Towns, October 2018).

Leading the bronze award winners were Senior Editor Kelly Vaughn (Magazine Writer of the Year) and contributor Joel Hazelton (Magazine Photographer of the Year).

"It is a true honor to be recognized for the outstanding work our team does each and every day," Arizona Highways Publisher Kelly Mero said. "To be recognized among peer publications speaks volumes to the high standards of breathtaking photography and editorial excellence we continue to strive for and deliver on."

IRMA was founded in 1960. Its purpose is to support and promote regional magazines in the United States and elsewhere. Arizona Highways has hosted the conference four times, most recently in 2012. Next year's conference will be in Ottawa, Canada.

The full list of 2018 Arizona Highways IRMA award winners:

Gold Awards
Historic Feature: Noah Austin, A Totally Different Ballgame (March)
Nature & Environment Feature: Annette McGivney, In Search of Ancient Agaves (February)

Silver Awards
Travel Feature: Matt Jaffe, The Ultimate Arizona Road Trip (July)
General Feature: Tyler Williams, A Walk in the Park (September)
Profile: Matt Jaffe, Barry Goldwater (December)
Head and Deck: Robert Stieve, He Can Take Care of Himself Just Fine (September)
Photo Series: Jacques Barbey, A Totally Different Ballgame (March)
Portrait Photo: Bev Pettit, Keeping It Real (August)
Art Direction, Single Story: Barbara Glynn Denney, Arizona Ghost Towns (October)

Bronze Awards
Column: Robert Stieve, Editor's Letter
Magazine Writer of the Year: Kelly Vaughn
Single Photo: John Blaustein, A River So Long (May)
Portrait Series: David Zickl, First Chair (November)
Photographer of the Year: Joel Hazelton
Cover: February 2018

Awards of Merit
Art & Culture Feature: Annette McGivney, Indigenous Arizona (November)
Special Focus: Remembering Photographer Jerry D. Jacka (April)

A century and a half ago, John Wesley Powell led a pioneering expedition through the Grand Canyon via the Colorado River, paving the way for generations of future explorers. Powell extensively documented the journey, but one mystery remains: What happened to the three men who left the expedition and set off on foot into the wilderness, never to be seen again?

That question is at the center of Death on the North Rim, a new work of historical fiction written by Dewey Moore and published by Outskirts Press. To craft the novel's narrative, Moore combined historical facts about the Powell expedition with an imagined account of what happened to the three men. Via email, Moore talked with Arizona Highways about the inspiration for the book, his writing process and more.

Tell us about your background and how you got interested in historical fiction.
I was a geology professor at a small liberal arts school, Knox College, in Galesburg, Illinois. It was our custom to use spring break to take students to places where they could see natural examples of what we had touched upon in class during the term. On one of those trips, we rafted through part of the Grand Canyon and heard the story of John Wesley Powell’s group attempting to be the first to ever boat through the Grand Canyon. Only three days from the end of their trip, three crew members elected to leave the river trip rather than take on the largest, wildest rapids yet faced. Remains or evidence of these three have never been found. So, being fascinated by this, I began to investigate speculations about their fate and to imagine what might have happened.

Note that the trip to the Grand Canyon with students was in 1969 — 50 years ago. This story stuck in my mind until I couldn’t do much else than sit down and try to record it as a way to finalize having seen this beautiful landscape. Didn’t work. This landscape still holds me.

What compelled you to focus on George Bradley's story in particular?
There are plenty of stories about Powell, but little about his crew. For the 150th anniversary of the 1869 expedition, I thought the story might be a bit stronger if I made one of the crew more prominent — one who inconspicuously provided leadership.

You've done more technical or research-based writing in your career; how was the process different from your previous work?
All other of my writings are technical — lots of lab time, often conducted and reported with students. I co-authored one textbook — X-Ray Diffraction and the Identification and Analysis of Clay Minerals (Oxford University Press). This novel involved extensive archival research, camping in the story’s landscape, poring over U.S. Geological Survey reports and maps from about this time, and figuring out how to turn journal accounts into dialogue.

My wife, Shelley Roberts, was present from inception to the final period, sitting around a campfire with me in the real landscape of this story and prompting me to finish in time for Powell’s sesquicentennial celebration. 

How much of Bradley's story, as portrayed here, is based in fact, and how much is imagined?
I offer at the end of the book a list of the works on which I relied the most — journals, letters, biographies, U.S. Geological Survey publications. My characters have different voices — ones I heard while working as a child in cannery fields, cutting asparagus. I developed a 17-page vernacular guide to keep their voices unique.

The trip through the Grand Canyon, the names of the crew members, the places they stopped each night, the landscape as best I could portray it, that three crew members very near to the end of the trip chose not to continue and apparently climbed out of the Canyon and were never heard from again — these are factual. After the group split, all is invented.

Bradley’s secret journals offered the most details about the actual expedition. Very little is known about his childhood, so I tried to create a background that showed how a person from a remote setting would have talents to contribute to making history. His U.S. Army career and Civil War injury are documented. Although Bradley only worked for Powell once, the major held him in high esteem. His two loves — fossils and Sophie — grew out of my imagination as a geologist.

Did you write the book to appeal to people who love the Grand Canyon? People who love historical fiction? Both?
Both. Although it wasn’t required, I reported to the college what we had done over spring break. As I tried to write a brief report, it got longer and longer, driven mostly by the dramatic landscape that we had just seen. My hope is that I’ve made Powell’s and Bradley’s journal entries come alive for people trying to imagine the raw courage it must have taken to map out that last blank spot on the U.S. map in 1869. I think it has been, and still is, a love and respect for the outdoors and the learning of what it all means — the "how" of what we see, that makes us see.

Where can people get the book?
The book can be ordered online at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Treasure Chest Books is considering selling the book on the Grand Canyon's North Rim, and our marketing specialist is scouting concessionaire prospects on the South Rim.

— Noah Austin, Managing Editor

Wednesday, September 11, marks the 18th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 2001. To honor the victims of the attacks,  communities in Arizona are hosting "healing fields" starting this weekend.

In Tempe, the annual Healing Field will be open to visitors on Saturday, September 7, at Tempe Beach Park. The 16th annual tribute features thousands of American flags, representing the lives lost on September 11, 2001. Each flag has a name and a story of the victims. 

Several events will also be held at the fields to commemorate the 9/11 anniversary:

Sunday, 9/8:  5K Run honoring first responders
Tuesday, 9/10:  Freedom Concert from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday, 9/11:  Memorial service to honor the victims at 5:46 a.m.
Wednesday, 9/11: Candlelight vigil at 7 p.m.

Prescott Valley is also hosting a Healing Field at the Prescott Valley Civic Center. The flags will be on display from Friday, September 6, through Thursday, September 12. The town will also have several events at the field throughout the week:

Saturday, 9/7: Patriot Run at 7 a.m.
Saturday, 9/7: Patriotic Youth Concert at 6 p.m.
Tuesday, 9/10: High Desert Brass Band Concert at 6 p.m.
Wednesday, 9/11: Memorial Program at 6 p.m.