Free Eats on Sunless Days in Yuma

July 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Sunshine Guarantee

YUMA — This city is so proud of its sunshine that it has always been willing to be on it. According to the Guinness World Record book, Yuma is the sunniest place on earth, with bright skies prevailing an average of 4,055 hours out of a possible 4,456 hours every year. That’s 91 percent of the time. Or 350 days per year.

More than a century ago, Yuma hotels backed up the sunshine boast by offering free board to visitors every day the sun didn’t shine. Times have changed, but there are still freebies.

Filed Under: Food & Dining, Small Town Scene, Southern Arizona, Weather Talk Tagged With: , , , ,

The Fall (and Rise?) of Notorious Train Robber Burt Alvord

June 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Burt Alvord

Burt Alvord was a big, strapping, swarthy-looking char­acter with a bald pate and an I.Q. that was said to be considerably less than his age, which was about 30. Alvord did have a few positive attributes. He was usually cheerful, had a sense of humor and was a mighty popular fellow in Cochise County during the 1890s. He’d been a deputy for county sheriff John Slaughter, who’d pronounced him abso­lutely fearless.

Burt was also pretty good with a six-shooter. Old timers said he demonstrated his prowess at beer bottles hung from a tree limb by a string. He’d shoot the string with his right hand, then draw with the left and break the bottle before it hit the ground.

His major interests seem to have been poker, pool, horses, guns and practical jokes.

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

The Fourth Goes Bang in Taylor

June 16, 2011 By 1 Comment
Firing the Anvil, Taylor

TAYLOR — The people who reside in this community don’t have to worry about getting a wake-up call to make sure they don’t miss the Independence Day festivities. The Taylor Fire Department takes care of that.

Starting at 4 a.m. every July 4, the department conducts an annual ritual known as “firing the anvil.” It’s a simple procedure — get an anvil and some gunpowder, stuff a bunch of gunpowder under the anvil, light the fuse and stand back. (The warning of “do not try this at home” should be obvious). The ensuing blast not only wakes up everyone within hearing distance, it also catapults the anvil several feet into the air.

Filed Under: Culture, Small Town Scene Tagged With: , ,

Death of Old Arizona Gunslinger Inspires Well-Known Western Axiom

May 24, 2011 By 2 Comments
Old Western Weapons

Bill Downing was one of the most disliked fellows in old Arizona. He was moody, morose, bad-tempered, sullen and surly. That was when he was sober. He got downright mean and ugly when he was drinking ol’ red-eye.

He was so unpopular that even members of his gang couldn’t stand him. It’s a historical fact that one time when Bill and several other members of the Alvord gang were languishing in the Tombstone jail on a train robbery charge, a crony broke in and freed the other outlaws but left Bill locked in his cell.

He was so bad that the only thing good one could say about him was he wasn’t as despicable sometimes as he was usually.

If I seem to have painted ol’ Bill with a jaundiced brush, it’s because he likely would have wanted it that way. If he had any good qualities history has mislaid them like some old lost gold mine.

Filed Under: Culture, Dose of History, Odd Observations, Small Town Scene, Southern Arizona 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: , , , , ,
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