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Arizona’s colorful territorial saloons
What would a Western movie be without the familiar saloon fight, the hard drinking customers, the cardsharp trying to cheat patrons out of their hard-earned cash, or the dancing girl hanging on the arm of a lonely miner? Who can forget the steely-eyed Virgil Earp playing an all-night card game with Johnny Behan, Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury in Tombstone’s Occidental Saloon the evening before the [...]
Ousting Lowell: Misdeeds of miscreant Flagstaff officials
Flagstaff’s first two decades were managed by a sound City Council determined to guide the growing town into a solid, respectable community. However, in 1906, several miscreants, led by farmer/rancher Ben Doney, got themselves elected to the City Council.
Irene Vickrey, Arizona’s Unsung Archaeologist
Though incredibly important to Arizona archaeology in her day, Irene Singleton Vickrey’s productive but brief career is known only to a handful of historians and archaeologists.
First automobile trip to the Grand Canyon
First automobile trip to the Grand Canyon People eager to see the Grand Canyon’s South Rim in 1901 traveled however they could — by foot, wagon, horse, a rollicking stage ride and railroad. Just four months after the train arrived at the South Rim, the first automobile departed Flagstaff on Saturday afternoon Jan. 4, 1902, with many townspeople present to watch, cheer and jeer.
Arizona’s ‘Billy the Kid’
William Floyd Claiborne, called Billy the Kid (not to be confused with the original “Billy the Kid” whose given name was William H. Bonney), was born in Mississippi on Oct. 21, 1860. He came to Arizona in the early 1880s and worked as an amalgamator at mines in Charleston (a town a few miles southwest of Tombstone) and at the Neptune smelter in Hereford. Claiborne eventually fell in with a gro[...]
Highway 180: A Timeless Trail
The mostly two-lane U.S. Highway 180 travels through historic, scenic and scientific regions in northern Arizona. The highway winds through Texas and New Mexico before reaching the eastern border of Arizona where it generally follows ancient paths and wagon roads that connected small communities and water sources.
Tombstone’s Chinese Pioneers
In the late 19th century, about 400 Asians resided in Tombstone and were ruled by a Chinese woman named China Mary. She was known for wearing opulent brocades and expensive jewelry, and was considered one of Tombstone’s most influential Chinese residents. China Mary, whose Chinese name was apparently Sing Choy, had acquired enough money to buy a Tombstone property on block 2, lot 9. She also was[...]
Johnnie Love: Flagstaff Pioneer
Johnnie Love was an early-day pioneer remembered by many in Flagstaff for his incredible stamina and exceptional memory. He arrived in Flagstaff with his widower father in March 1880, when he was 15 years old. Apparently, he got along poorly with his father because three weeks after his arrival, he ran away from him and never returned.
Tombstone’s Surgeon to the Gunfighters
Dr. George Goodfellow with his horse, a gift from Mexico’s President Porfirio Diaz.
‘…Going Sketching Now, Will Write Again Soon…’
The above quote is from artist Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton in a letter to her mother in Philadelphia. Colton was among the Eastern born and trained artists who relocated to Arizona in the early 20th century to experience for themselves the surreal colors in the ever-changing panorama of Arizona landscapes, the native peoples, and regional uniqueness. Their painting canvases attempted to capture wh[...]
A case of territorial voter fraud
Robert Paul was born in Massachusetts on June 12, 1830. At the age of 12, he boarded a whaling ship and spent the next several years traveling around the world. In 1849, he arrived in San Francisco — just in time to participate in the gold rush. Then from 1859 to 1864, he served as sheriff of California’s Calaveras County. After several financial setbacks, Paul began riding shotgun for Wells F[...]
Arizona’s Great Velocipede Race
El Tour de Tucson, one of the largest road bicycling events in the United States, started in 1983. The ride takes place every November.
However, the seeds for the event were planted as early as the 1890s.
