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: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Two-House Story in Snowflake

August 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Cabin in Snowflake, Arizona

SNOWFLAKE — This is a two-house story, rather than the usual two-story house. It begins in 1878, when Andrew Rogers built a simple one-room log cabin for his family after they migrated to northeastern Arizona. As the family grew, Rogers added more rooms. In fact, he added so many new rooms that they swallowed up the original structure. After a while, all mention and memory of the cabin disappeared.

It stayed that way until 1989, when the house of many add-ons caught fire. While clearing the debris after the blaze was extinguished, workmen discovered the cabin standing among the ashes. Protected by all the additions, the thick logs had withstood the flames.

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

Place Names Along I-17: Origins of Crown King, Bumble Bee and Bloody Basin

May 1, 2011 By 3 Comments

Q: My husband and I travel often between Prescott Valley and Phoenix, and I am wondering about the origin of the names of Crown King, Bumble Bee and Bloody Basin.

A: …Bloody Basin is such a great Arizona name, don’t you think? Bloody Basin is in the far southeast corner of Yavapai County. According to Barnes, it was named for the many bloody battles with Indians that took place in the area.

Bumble Bee was a stagecoach stop sometimes known as Snider’s Station for the man who first operated it. By 1880 it was known as Bumble Bee, named for Bumble Bee Creek, which in turn was named by some prospectors who in 1863 discovered a large bee’s nest nearby and got stung while trying to raid it for honey.

Filed Under: Dose of History, Northern Arizona, Odd Observations Tagged With: , , , ,

The Story of Frank Murphy’s Impossible Railroad

April 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
railroad crossing

At the peak of its prosperity, the fabled Bradshaw Moun­tains of central Arizona produced a king’s ransom in gold and silver. Towns and mines with picturesquely whimsical names like Bueno, Turkey Creek, Tiger, Tip Top, Oro Belle and Big Bug were peopled with boisterous devil-may-care miners aptly described as unmarried, unchurched and unwashed. Each community boasted it was built atop the madre del oro and its streets would soon be cobbled with golden nuggets.

In 1899, the vast riches inspired railroad entrepreneur Frank Murphy to extend his Prescott and Eastern Line from Mayer into the heart of the great mountains. Although Murphy was warned he’d be stopped by this maze of rugged, perpendicular grades laced with canyons so steep that big horn sheep had to shut their eyes and walk sideways, he was determined to meet the challenge of the mountains. That’s why it’s best-remembered as Frank Murphy’s Impossible Railroad.

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

Who is Ol’ Bill Williams… as in Williams, AZ?

April 14, 2011 By 4 Comments
Bill_Williams

The picturesque town of Williams takes its name from Bill Williams Mountain that towers above and provides as beau­tiful high country setting for a community as can be found in America. It’s a fitting place-name for ol’ Bill Williams, the “greatest fur trapper of ‘em all.”

Ol’ Bill was as colorful a man as any who ever forked a horse or mule and headed towards the setting sun. To those who knew the tireless old mountain man, he’d always seemed old and eccentric. His drunken sprees around Taos set the standard by which others tried to match but never could. Each season he rode alone into forbidding hostile Indian country and returned safely, his pack mules laden with precious beaver pelts.

Ol’ Bill was a tall, skinny, redhead, with a high-pitched voice, his body battle-scarred and worn. He was known to run all day with six traps on his back and never break into a sweat.

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