Sharlot Hall All Gussied Up in Copper

September 8, 2011 By 2 Comments
Sharlot Hall's Copper Dress

PRESCOTT — Copper has been an important element in Arizona’s history for more than a century, but it usually goes into the creation of such utilitarian items as tubing, electrical wiring and computer parts.

However, it took a different form in 1923, when Sharlot Hall went to Washington, D.C., wearing a copper dress.

Hall, a longtime Arizona activist and historian, was selected to deliver Arizona’s three electoral votes for Calvin Coolidge. Prior to her trip, the Arizona Industrial Congress commissioned an overdress made of copper links, and Hall wore it to the presidential inauguration.

Filed Under: Art, Dose of History Tagged With: , , ,

Curly Bill: The Outlaw King of Old Galeyville

September 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
William "Curly Bill" Brocius

The genesis of Galeyville, on the eastern side of the Chiricahua Mountains, was similar to many other short-lived boom towns in Cochise County.

In this case, it all started in 1880 when John Galey arrived from Pennsylvania to promote a silver mine. Since the prospect was only 60 miles, as the crow flies, from Tombstone’s bonanza, Galey visualized himself as the next silver king of Arizona. He secured some financial backing and laid out a townsite. Before long, Galeyville boasted 11 saloons and some 30 other various and sundry enterprises.

The boom lasted only about a year. The silver played out and Galeyville became another metropolis that didn’t quite metropolis. The story of old Galeyville might have ended right there, had not a pack of outlaws led by Curly Bill Brocius decided to take up residence.

Filed Under: Dose of History, Small Town Scene, Southern Arizona Tagged With: , , ,

The Titan That Never Clashed

August 24, 2011 By 1 Comment
Titan Missile

SAHUARITA — The Titan Missile Museum here isn’t really scary like a haunted house, but when you stop to consider the damage that one of those things could have done, it goes way beyond frightening.

Fortunately, it never happened.

During the Cold War, several Titan missiles armed with nuclear warheads were planted in deep holes and aimed at the Soviet Union as a matter of precautionary defense. None were ever fired, so nobody knows for certain what the consequences would have been. The site/museum here was originally known as Site 571-7, and was one of 54 sites in three states to be spared after nuclear disarmament treaties were signed. Now the complex is a museum that reflects on something that never happened.

Filed Under: Dose of History, Southern Arizona Tagged With: , , ,

Mogollon Monikers: Origins of Place Names in Arizona’s Rim Country

August 21, 2011 By 1 Comment
Mogollon Rim

Ever since man first set foot in this rugged piece of terrain known as Arizona, he has felt compelled to brand everything with a name. Inspiration for these place names came from a variety of sources—some quite obvious.

Lousy Gulch got its name after all the residents got lice. When Mormon pioneers decided to settle near a large stand of Ponderosa pines, they simply named their community Pine. Another group settled in a small valley where they found wild strawberries growing in abundance and decided to name their town Strawberry. Henry Clifton, a member of an early Indian-fighting militia, claimed that in 1864 the place was known as Wah-poo-eta for a prominent Tonto Apache chief better known to whites as Big Rump. The most obvious place name in Mogollon Rim country was bestowed when a group of settlers pulled into a little green valley and promptly named it Little Green Valley.

Filed Under: Dose of History, Northern Arizona, Small Town Scene Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Arizona’s “Hollywood” Trivia: Can You Pass?

August 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Movie Film Strip

Test your knowledge of Arizona’s “Hollywood” scene below, originally published in Marshall Trimble’s Official Arizona Trivia. Don’t scroll down too quickly. The answers are posted shortly below the questions. When you’re finished, leave a comment with your score. Good luck! We have much more Hollywood trivia, so let us know if you enjoy it!

1. Where was John Ford’s 1939 classic film, “Stagecoach,” filmed?

2. The stage driver in “Stagecoach” was played by this Arizona native.

Filed Under: Culture, Dose of History Tagged With: , , , , , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »