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Letting the pieces fall where they may, a decade at a time

By dmc-admin

Published: January 26, 2007 at 1:00 am

Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official state historian, as first decreed by former Gov. Fife Symington in 1996. The appointment was made official in 1997. Each successive year, the sitting governor has reappointed him.
Here he is, providing the first thought that came to his mind when given a specific year:
1906
Arizona rangers still trying to bring law and order to the wild frontier.
1916
Pancho Villa became the “boogeyman” of Arizona after raiding Columbus, N.M., just across the state line. Soon there were unfounded fears that he was going to clean out all the banks in Phoenix and blow up Roosevelt Dam. In reality he wasn’t anywhere near here.
1926
Aimee Semple-McPherson, a big-time evangelist from California, was missing and was presumed dead. She reappeared after 37 days in Douglas. She told of how she was kidnapped, taken to Mexico and held for ransom. After making a daring escape and wandering through the desert, she found her way to the small Arizona town. Looking no worse for the alleged wear, it was eventually discovered that she had actually run away with a married man to Douglas and the entire kidnapping story was false.
1936
That was the summer that John F. Kennedy and his brother Joe came to Arizona and stayed at the J-6 Ranch near Benson. By the end of the summer, the boys were pronounced “leather-tough and tanned” by the rancher, who later offered the ranch hand job back to John F. Kennedy after he became president. He respectfully declined.
1946
The “Golden Age” of baseball began. Enos Slaughter ran from first base all the way to home on a single to win the World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals over the Boston Red Sox. The boys were home from the war and real baseball was back.
1956
I had just moved to the Valley from northern Arizona. I saw a young Elvis Presley at the Arizona State Fair.
1966
“One man, one vote” reapportioned the state and altered the makeup of the state Legislature forever. Small counties were no longer able to control politics, since representation became based on population, rather than being just standard for each district.
1976
As a part of the nation’s bicentennial celebration, I rode a mule over the Crook Military Camp Road from Camp Verde to Fort Apache. It took a little over a week, covering about 150 miles.
1986
Governor Babbitt appointed me to the Arizona Diamond Jubilee Committee, to celebrate Arizona’s 75th birthday. I was in charge of selecting the logo that would go on the gold, silver and copper commemorative coins.
1996
There was a movement by Valley school teachers to have me named official state historian. It became official in 1997 from Governor Symington before he was removed from office.
2006
My son, an Army captain in the 14th Cavalry, came home safe and sound from a tour of duty in Iraq, after having survived a suicide attack.
2016
I hope I’m still able to strum a guitar and tell a good story in front of an audience as I have done for over 40 years. It has always come in handy, being able to offer school children and other audiences some Arizona history with a spoon full of sugar.

ARIZONA LEGISLATIVE REPORT

Letting the pieces fall where they may, a decade at a time

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