Phoenix | - Part 3

Are Horny Toads Disappearing from Phoenix?

March 3, 2011 By Andrea Aker Leave a Comment

Q: When I was a kid growing up in Phoenix there used to be horny toads everywhere. I even had a pet horny toad. Now I never see them. What happened to all the horny toads?

A: You had a pet horny toad? That’s sad. Couldn’t you get your parents to buy you a dog or a cat or a goldfish or something?

Now, for one thing, horny toads are not really toads. They are horned lizards. There are 14 species of these beasties in North and South America, eight in the United States. They are distinguished by 30 to 35 spines of varying lengths around the head and neck. They are about as Arizonan as you can get. Almost every ancient
Native American culture—Anasazi, Hohokam, Mogollon— recorded horny toads in pottery or petroglyphs.

I consulted with Glenn Walsberg, professor of biology at Arizona State University, on the matter of the scarcity of horny toads

Filed Under: Natural Surroundings, Odd Observations, Valley of the Sun Tagged With: desert, phoenix, wildlife

The Wounded Goddess Atop the State Capitol Dome

February 4, 2011 By SamLowe 1 Comment

Winged Goddess on State Capitol in Phoenix

The white statue that has been a permanent fixture atop the State Capitol dome in Phoenix for more than a century goes by several names.

She is called the Goddess of Victory, Statue of Justice and Winged Victory, but for a time the nickname Bullseye could have also been applied. The zinc goddess was cast in Ohio and purchased by the Territory of Arizona in 1898 for $150. When the Capitol building was formally opened in 1901, the 17-foot sculpture was placed on top of the copper dome to serve not only as a symbol, but also as a weather vane. But it frequently didn’t get the respect it deserved

Filed Under: Art, Dose of History, Valley of the Sun Tagged With: art, cowboys, history, phoenix, politics

Why are Phoenix and Tucson so Different?

January 28, 2011 By Andrea Aker Leave a Comment

Q: My grandpa and grandma live in Tucson, and when we visit them, I always wonder why are Phoenix and Tucson so different?

A: This is an excellent question. The answer would fill a volume or two, but the short explanation is: History, dear child, it’s all about history.

In the great scheme of things, Phoenix is a fairly young city.

Granted, the Hohokam and other Native Americans lived around here for centuries, but a permanent European presence was not established until the Army opened Fort McDowell in 1865. The hay camp that supplied the fort eventually became Phoenix.

By contrast, Tucson’s European roots go back to 1694, when the tireless missionary Father Kino founded a small mission roughly near the Miracle Mile overpass at Interstate 10. Not far away was another village Kino called San Cosme de Tucson. It was more or less the northern most point of the Spanish settlement in what is now Arizona.

Filed Under: Culture, Dose of History, Southern Arizona, Valley of the Sun Tagged With: early arizona, history, phoenix, tucson

The Story Behind Cudia Neighborhood in Phoenix

January 14, 2011 By Andrea Aker 1 Comment

Q: I recently moved to the area of 40th Street and Camelback Road and my new neighbors tell me it’s the Cudia neighborhood, but I can’t seem to find out the origin of the name. Can you help?

A: Here at the gleaming research laboratories of Valley 101, teams of white-coated technicians pored over your question night and day for weeks before reaching the conclusion that maybe we should just ask somebody else.

So we asked the estimable Gus Walker, a Republic artist and student of Valley history, who soon produced a tattered copy of The Golden Days of Theaters in Phoenix by one Jerry Reynolds in which we found the answer to your question.

Filed Under: Culture, Dose of History, Valley of the Sun Tagged With: phoenix, place names

Origin of Old Arizona’s Railways

January 9, 2011 By Andrea Aker 1 Comment

The Southern Pacific railroad stretched its steel ribbons across Arizona in the late 1870s, reaching Tucson in March, 1880. The rail station nearest Phoenix was 35 miles to the south at Maricopa. From the beginning, local citizens began clamoring for a railroad. Despite the fact that thousands of miles of track were being laid across the nation each year, seven railroad companies were organized and went broke in a 10-year period before a line was built from Maricopa to Phoenix.

During that time the stage line of Gilmer, Salisbury and Company ran a daily from Maricopa to Prescott, passing through Phoenix. A proposed railroad followed the same route, the old Woolsey Road, north to New River, then up through Black Canyon, hugging the Aqua Fria River most of the way before veering off to the territorial capital, nestled picturesquely in the Bradshaw Mountains. A tri-weekly stage also ran north to Prescott via Wickenburg.

Filed Under: Dose of History Tagged With: early arizona, history, phoenix, prescott, railroad, tucson, wickenburg