Culture
Life in Old Boom Towns with Jackass Prospectors
The gold and silver rushes, more than anything else, provided the inspiration for people to give up relative comforts in the East and come ...Five Reasons Why It’s Great to Live in the Valley Right Now
I was born and raised in Arizona, and a love affair with the sun has pretty much solidified my future here. I’ve lived in ...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 ...Arizona Place Names: A Slew of Cities and Counties with Spanish, Indian and Random Origins
Ever since man first set foot in this land called Arizona, he has felt compelled to name every river, waterhole, mountain pass and trail. ...Legend City: A Failure in Its Own Era
For better or for worse, it is not “What is Legend City?” but “What was Legend City?” That 58-acre chapter in the Valley’s pop ...The Cowboy Mystique (Pt. 3): A Cowboy Isn’t a Cowboy Without His Horse
t was not the cow that made the cowboy; it was the horse. In the early days, it was a range mongrel known as ...The Cowboy Mystique (Pt. 2): The Story Behind the Garb
The Arizona cowboy was a curious mix of the northern Plains, Rockies, California, Texas and northern Mexico cowboy culture. The influence of all these ...The Cowboy Mystique (Pt. 1): Reality vs. Legend
Out of a frontier history that lasted more than 350 years, Americans have taken the era of the open-range cowboy, a brief 20-year span, ...Hustlers, Ladies and Whiskey: Leisure Time and Other Diversions in Old Arizona
Have you ever wondered how Arizonans spent their leisure time before the advent of lakes, fast highways, tailgate parties, single bars and health spas? Don't ...A New Chapter in Arizona Storytelling
A couple of months ago, I took a walk through Old Town Scottsdale as the sun set on an idyllic spring day. It was ...
Why Does Downtown Phoenix Seem to Have Two Downtowns?
The Tucson Artifacts are the Southwest’s Greatest Hoax