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Murder at Ruby
In the 1870s, Jack Smith discovered rich ore reserves of silver, gold, lead, zinc and copper at the Montana Mine located in Ruby, Ariz. The Ruby town site is located in southern Arizona, roughly halfway between Tubac and Sasabe. Julius Andrews operated the general store near the mine for 18 years and became the area’s first postmaster. He named the post office in honor of his wife, Lillie B. Rub[...]
Hyman Capin
Hyman Capin, a native of Lithuania, learned the trade of tailoring, a skill which would serve him throughout his life and began working in New York and Pennsylvania around the turn of the 20th century. He did well in Harrisburg, Penn., but his wife, Dora, had respiratory problems, and her doctor recommended that the family seek a warm, dry climate. So, the Capin family moved to Los Angeles in 1907[...]
Dot Wilkinson
Dot Wilkinson was a well known catcher for the Phoenix Ramblers, a professional women’s softball team that won national championships in 1940, 1948 and 1949. She is considered the greatest female athlete in Arizona history and is a member of two amateur Halls of Fame (softball and bowling).
Tovrea Castle
Alessio Carraro was an Italian immigrant who settled in San Francisco in 1906. He became a successful businessman, land developer and investor, and according to his son, Leo, was always adventurous. That may be why in 1928 he sold his San Francisco sheet metal business and moved to Phoenix. He bought 277 acres of desert between Van Buren and the Salt River, east of 40th Street, and planned to cons[...]
The Getaway Train
It all started when Thomas Hart, a drifter with a penchant for alcohol, stole a case of whiskey from Paul Moretti’s saloon. Moretti reported the theft to Yuma County Sheriff Gus Livingston. Not long after, Moretti spotted Hart on Main Street and pointed him out to a young deputy, Matt DeVanem, who confronted Hart and tried to arrest him. Hart shot the deputy at point blank range with a gun hidde[...]
Tombstone’s deadliest gunfighter
John Peters Ringo — famously known as Johnny Ringo and dubbed Tombstone’s deadliest gunfighter — first turned up in Arizona at a bar in Safford in 1878, where he offered a whiskey to a man seated next to him. The unarmed man declined and said he preferred beer. Ringo then drew his pistol and fired, nicking the man’s ear. When the case came before a grand jury, Ringo did not appear.
Central Avenue grows up
Pioneer developer William J. Murphy planted the ash trees that originally lined Central Avenue As he developed subdivisions across the Valley, he also built his own home for north of the Phoenix city limits on Central Avenue in the Orangewood subdivision.
Tucson Mayor William Armine Julian
William Armine (W. A.) Julian arrived in Tucson in 1899 at age 34 from San Diego with his wife Margaret. He promptly opened the W. A. Julian Company in a two-story building featuring a handsome facade of granite and pressed brick and several large show windows at 122 E. Congress. The business would eventually control 85 percent of Tucson’s plumbing, heating and roofing business. He also sold Cha[...]
Colter and Colton: The architect and the artist
In addition to sharing very similar names, Mary Colter and Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton both used their artistic talents to leave lasting impressions on northern Arizona.
Buckey O’Neill and the A&P Train Robbery
Buckey O’Neill had been a newspaper reporter with the Tombstone Epitaph when the OK Corral shootout occurred in 1881. The following year he moved to Prescott and worked as a court reporter and founded his own newspaper, Hoof and Horn, serving the livestock industry. He became captain of a local unit of the Arizona militia in 1886 and was elected Yavapai County sheriff in 1888.
La Posada Station Hotel, Winslow
The La Posada station hotel in Winslow was operated by concessionaire Fred Harvey, designed by architect and artist Mary Colter, and was one of the most expensive hotel projects undertaken by the Santa Fe Railroad. It was also one of the last of the southwest railroad hotels built as overnight stopovers on the Santa Fe line. (La Posada means resting place in Spanish.)
Tuba City’s Tithing House
At the turn of the century, about 20 Mormon families lived in the Tuba City, Moenkopi Wash, Reservoir Wash and Moenave areas of northern Arizona. The families farmed and raised livestock and followed the church practice of tithing — giving one tenth of the increase in their income or goods each year to the Mormon Church.
