Arizona Capitol Times Your Inside Source for Arizona Government, Politics and Business

This is State Sen. James E. Babbitt, member of the pioneer northern Arizona family and uncle of former governor and former Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt.

Forester Aldo Leopold’s presence in the Southwest is well-documented and his status as a steward of nature continues to grow. His time in Arizona helped hone his values which are still respected and discussed today.

Nathaniel E. Plumer, along with two business associates, was instrumental in getting the road built that would eventually be known as Speedway Boulevard.

The road from Jacob Lake to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is a lovely journey through grassy parks surrounded by spruce and fir trees at a an altitude of more than 8,000 feet. The pleasant coolness refreshes after travelling through the beautiful, yet harsh, high desert of the Vermillion Cliffs and House Rock Valley. The lack of streams and lakes on the plateau has limited human settlement there, yet there is enough snowfall to allow trees and grasses to thrive.

Construction of the Hoover Dam took five years — from 1931 to 1936 — to build what was then the largest concrete dam in the world. It was built in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, in northwestern Arizona on the border with Nevada.

This Mohave was the largest and most palatial of the paddle-wheelers on the Colorado River a century ago. The photo was taken in 1876, when the Mohave was docked at Yuma taking on school children for a May Day excursion. The ship had been launched earlier that year, replacing a smaller boat (also called the Mohave) that had been dismantled and completely rebuilt.

The toll road — Central Ave. (then called Center Street) north of McDowell — was built by the Central Avenue Driving Association. It was a dirt road, eight miles long and 100 feet wide, with a row of olive and ash trees on either side. Property owners north of the gate paid $2.50 a month for sprinkling and improvements. Buggies and wagons paid a 25 cent toll. Bicycles were free.

The Miners and Merchants Bank on Bisbee’s Main Street incorporated on June 12, 1900, with a capitalization of $50,000. Founding directors were Bisbee merchants L.C. Shattuck, Joseph Muheim, L.J. Overlock, Jakob Schmidt and J.T. Hood.

Powderface was one of the few horses in the world trained to dive off a platform into a tank of water.

This is Willie Marshall, Warren Country Club’s first golf pro, hitting a fairway shot in 1910. Over his right shoulder, in the distance, is the Warren/Bisbee Trolley. The trolley provided transportation to the golf course, which was located just south of Warren, Ariz.,within sight of the Mexican border.