Experience a Piece of Wild Africa in Northern Arizona
CAMP VERDE - You don’t need to travel around the globe for an (almost) authentic African safari. Just head to Camp Verde. The small town in Northern Arizona is home to the Out of Africa Wildlife Park, an interactive zoo with hundreds of wild and even friendly creatures common to Africa and other far off parts of the world. Unlike your … Read more...
Casa Grande Domes Are Nobody’s Homes
CASA GRANDE -- Oddity seekers will find a bonanza when they come across a set of round relics squatting in the desert south of Casa Grande. At first glance, they look like abandoned UFOs. Closer inspection reveals they're manmade, and they're sort of spooky. They're a series of domes. Some stand (or squat) alone; others are connected so they … Read more...
Endicott Peabody: Religion Arrives in Helldorado
Excerpt from “In Old Arizona” by Marshall Trimble, the state’s official historian. Ominous clouds hovered over Tombstone that January morning in 1882, as the Sandy Bob Stage rambled into town in a cloud of dust. The grey sky gave forewarning of a fast-approaching snowstorm. The passengers arriving that morning were, with one exception, … Read more...
Celebrating the Centennial: 10 People that Shaped Arizona
Arizona’s history was shaped by an eclectic group of people from very different backgrounds. Learn how some of our communities originated and who left their footprint on today’s culture: James Ohio Pattie: Arizona's First Storyteller: The first Anglo-Americans to penetrate the wilderness regions of Arizona were that reckless breed known as … Read more...
World’s Largest Kokopelli in Camp Verde
CAMP VERDE -- The world's largest kokopelli, commonly known as "that big flute player," has been leaning over and giving silent performances in front of the Krazy Kokopelli Trading Post here for more than 20 years. The large sculpture stands 32 feet tall, sits atop a six-foot base and is painted yellow, so he's probably one of the main reasons … Read more...
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The Concrete Iron Man of Bisbee
BISBEE — About two years ago, Bisbeeans celebrated the 75th anniversary of a statue. Not just any statue, however. It’s a city icon, standing nine feet tall and weighing in at more than 2,000 pounds. Although commonly called the Iron Man or the Copper Man, the official name is the Courthouse Plaza Miners’ Monument. And it is neither iron or copper.
Casa Grande Domes Are Nobody’s Homes
CASA GRANDE — Oddity seekers will find a bonanza when they come across a set of round relics squatting in the desert south of Casa Grande. At first glance, they look like abandoned UFOs. Closer inspection reveals they’re manmade, and they’re sort of spooky.
The “Flying Mushroom” in Downtown Phoenix
PHOENIX — One of the more recent additions to the city’s public art is large and a bit difficult to understand. Since being installed in the Civic Space Park in 2009, it has drawn considerable comment, not all of it favorable.
Poetry on the Rocks in Tucson
TUCSON — The poetry of Ofelia Zepeda is literally cast in stone. As part of a Tucson drainage project, several of her poems were etched into large boulders along North Mountain Avenue. They include odes to the desert, tributes to Native Americans, and rhymes about flora and fauna.
Eat Spicy Foods to Cool Off?
Q: My husband insists that eating hot, spicy food during hot weather actually helps you cool off. He is wrong about so many things. Please tell him he is wrong about this. I think he’s going to
give himself a stroke.
Featured: Small Town Scene
The Fourth Goes Bang in 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.
Old Clifton Jail: A Real Hole-in-the-Wall
It’s not much to look at, just a hole blasted into a huge rock, but Clifton’s first jail is worth taking a look at because of a couple of notable details in its history. One deals with its construction; the other with its first occupant.
Rex Allen: A Cross-Eyed Hero from Willcox
Most fans of the old Western B movies watched Rex Allen fight the outlaws and rescue the heroines without ever realizing that he was once a cross-eyed country singer who performed at barn dances.
Fortunately for everyone involved (Allen and fans alike), he had corrective surgery shortly after his singing career took off in Chicago. But his eye problem is prominently mentioned on a bronze plaque placed next to his statue in Railroad Avenue Park in Willcox. The larger-than-life bronze sits across the street from the Rex Allen Arizona Cowboy Museum and the Willcox Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Bungling Burglars of Old Arizona
Nefarious ne’er-do-wells, bent on leading a life of crime in the Arizona territory, knew their stock in trade had a few risks. It was hard to look innocent and inconspicuous while driving a herd of stolen horses or cattle. The encumbered perpetrators were also quite vulnerable to being pursued by an angry rancher and his hired hands. Whiskey running and small-time hold ups brought little return for the risk involved. Banks had lots of money, but they were located in towns where people didn’t take kindly to having their savings robbed, and posses could be formed quickly. That left stagecoaches and trains as likely victims. Both were especially vulnerable when pulling long grades or stopped at some remote station.
A Unique Shrine of Concrete and Rocks in Yarnell
Nobody can say for sure if any miracles have actually happened at the Shrine of St. Joseph in Yarnell, but the story behind its creation is almost a miracle itself. It was built by a dishwasher on a site unsuitable for any kind of construction, and under the supervision of a family that had to invent a new type of concrete to make it happen.
Featured: Dose of History
Arizona Place Names (Pt. 2): Origins from Prominent People, Patriotism in Old Arizona
Patriotism was the motivating factor in the naming of one of northern Arizona’s most prominent cities. A party of immigrants bound for California camped at the foot of the San Francisco Mountains on July 4, 1876. To honor the nation’s centennial, they raised the colors. To celebrate the occasion they called the site Flagstaff.
A group of miners in Santa Cruz County wanted to call their new town “American Flag,” but the idea was nixed
Old Arizona’s Dick Wick Hall Puts Salome on the Map, Humors Travelers
Some of the West’s most colorful characters ended up in Arizona sooner or later. For some, it was the lure of the boom town bonanzas. Others found it a refuge from the restrictions of more established societies in the East. For DeForest Hall, it was the wide open spaces and the weather. He liked the high desert around Wickenburg so well that he changed his middle name to Wick.
The Cactus Derby: Arizona’s Early Roadways Attract Legendary Daredevils
Back in those halcyon days, when getting someplace was an adventure, daring drivers ran road races across the Arizona desert to promote the building of better highways. It’s hard to believe but as recently as 1929 Arizona had less than 300 miles of paved highways. In 1908 promoters began staging road races between Los Angeles and Phoenix. Billed as the Cactus Derby, they attracted such racing daredevils as the legendary Barney Oldfield, Olin Davis and Lewis Chevrolet. Drivers vied for a $2,500 prize and the title, Master Driver of the World.
Lost Pick Mine of Old Arizona: Hidden Gold Remains Hidden
Ol’ Ma Nature’s rough hands couldn’t have created a better place on this earth to hide a treasure than right here in Arizona. It’s also a good place to lose one and we’ve got more lost mines here in the heart of Arizona than politicians got plans.
Most of these mines have a history of being found then lost again. The stories stay pretty much the same—prospector finds rich treasure, thinks he has memorized the exact spot, and then leaves. Upon his return, his mind starts playin’ tricks on him, and he can’t relocate the elusive strike.
Mining the Past at Castle Dome City
There was a time when Castle Dome City was bigger than Yuma, but those days are long gone. So is most of Castle Dome City.
Fortunately, Allen Armstrong and his wife, Stephanie, are collectors, and what they collect is history in the form of old buildings. As a result, Castle Dome City lives on. In a way.
The Armstrongs have collected and restored more than 20 old buildings that were once part of the Castle Dome Mining District, a former major silver producer. The mining began in 1862 and was productive until 1978, when the last mine closed. The Armstrongs bought what was left of the town and began collecting artifacts that related to mining.
