Arizona Oddities

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Your Guides
  • Departments
    • Art
    • Dose of History
    • Culture
    • Natural Surroundings
    • Odd Observations
    • Weather Talk
    • Food & Dining
    • Small Town Scene
    • Recreation
    • Only in Arizona
  • Get the Books
  • Contact Us

logo

Arizona Oddities

  • Home
  • Your Guides
  • Departments
    • Art
    • Dose of History
    • Culture
    • Natural Surroundings
    • Odd Observations
    • Weather Talk
    • Food & Dining
    • Small Town Scene
    • Recreation
    • Only in Arizona
  • Get the Books
  • Contact Us

Tag: early arizona

Home›Posts Tagged "early arizona" (Page 6)
  • CultureDose of HistorySouthern ArizonaValley of the Sun
    By Andrea Aker
    January 28, 2011
    4611
    0

    Why are Phoenix and Tucson so Different?

    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, ...
    Read More
  • Dose of HistorySouthern Arizona
    By Andrea Aker
    January 21, 2011
    2957
    0

    The Story of Sarah Bowman: Yuma’s First Citizen Left a Lasting Impression

    One of the most colorful ladies who ever rode the old West was Sarah Bowman of Yuma. She didn't fit the common frontier stereotype woman—calico dress, sunbonnet and a youngster hanging on each arm with another tugging at her skirt. In fact, there wasn't anything common about Sarah. They called her the Great Western, after ...
    Read More
  • Dose of History
    By Andrea Aker
    January 9, 2011
    8480
    3

    Origin of Old Arizona’s Railways

    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 ...
    Read More
  • Dose of History
    By Andrea Aker
    December 10, 2010
    4510
    3

    Legend of the Bill Smith Gang

    Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are believed to be the only outlaws who actually saw themselves portrayed in a motion picture. It happened when they stopped off in New York City on their way to South America. They also had the dubious distinction of seeing themselves gunned down by a posse. It must have ...
    Read More
  • CultureDose of History
    By Andrea Aker
    November 9, 2010
    2016
    2

    Arizona’s First Christmas in the Pines

    The first recorded Christmas in Arizona, north of the Gila River, took place in 1853 at the foot of the snowy San Francisco Peaks. And it was a wild and woolly affair. The celebrants were the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, their military escorts and helpers who were, at the time, mapping a future transcontinental ...
    Read More
  • Dose of HistoryNorthern Arizona
    By Andrea Aker
    October 26, 2010
    16856
    7

    Diamond Fields in Arizona?

    Q: I have an 1891 map that shows an area in northeastern Arizona as “Diamond Fields.” Have diamonds been found in this area, and if so, are diamonds mined there now? A: This turned out to be pretty interesting. There is indeed a wide spot on the road near the junction of U.S. 160 and Arizona ...
    Read More
  • Politics
    CultureDose of HistorySmall Town SceneValley of the Sun
    By Andrea Aker
    October 23, 2010
    6771
    7

    Early Political Shenanigans: How Phoenix Became the Capital of Arizona

    Territorial citizens took great delight applying social acupuncture to local politicos. It's been said with dubious pride that Arizona had some of the finest legislators money could buy. Old timers around Jerome used to say that every time the subject of a bullion tax would come up before the legislature Henry Allen, superintendent of the ...
    Read More
  • Dose of History
    By Andrea Aker
    October 12, 2010
    3650
    2

    The Escape of Desperado Augustine Chacon

    Augustine Chacon was one of the last of the hard-ridding desperados who rode the owl-hoot trail in Arizona around the turn of the century. Chacon was a resident of Sonora but did most of his mischief in Arizona, leading his gang on far flung forays of pillage and plunder. One time Chacon and his pistoleros ...
    Read More
  • Dose of HistoryOdd ObservationsSouthern Arizona
    By Sam Lowe
    September 8, 2010
    5691
    2

    Does Tumacacori Hold Buried Treasure?

    According to those who search for buried treasure in Arizona, there's a fortune hidden beneath the floors of Tumacacori, the old mission near Tubac. The legends say that the church was once not only a place of worship, but also a mill and smelter for a gold and silver mining operation run by Jesuit missionaries ...
    Read More
  • CultureDose of History
    By Andrea Aker
    September 6, 2010
    8299
    2

    A Little History Behind Arizona’s Early Mormon Missions

    The first Mormon colonists from Utah arrived in Arizona in early 1854. The Navajos were on the warpath at the time and the Saints were driven out a year later. Between 1858 and the early 1870s Jacob Hamblin, the Mormon's greatest trailblazer, made several reconnaissance missions, locating river crossings, water holes and suitable trails. By ...
    Read More
1 … 4 5 6 7 8 9

Arizona Oddities Archive

Most Popular Posts

  • How to Keep Scorpions Away from Your Home
  • How to Keep Javelinas Away from Your Yard
  • What’s With All the Backyard Concrete-Block Fences…
  • How Often Does a Century Plant Bloom?
  • Did You Know it’s Against the Law to Grow…

This Week Past Years

2018

  • From Hideaway to Mass Grave: Apache Death Cave Near Winslow

2017

  • Does OdySea Aquarium Have the Best Restroom in America?

2015

  • Pancho Villa Leaves a Mark in Douglas?

2013

  • Paradise & Eden: Nice Places to Live but not to Die For

2012

  • Black Canyon City Artist Transformed Gasoline Storage Tanks into Sculptures
  • Look! It's a Tractorsicle!

2011

  • Ocean Monsters in Arizona Deserts
  • Miniature Mount Rushmore and King Kong at Freedom Station

2010

  • Navajo Legend of Monument Valley

2009

  • The Cowboy Mystique (Pt. 3): A Cowboy Isn't a Cowboy Without His Horse
  • Quartzsite's Legend of A Camel Driver
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Find a Famous Writer and Explorer's Mountain Retreat in Greer

    Find a Famous Writer and Explorer’s Historic Mountain Retreat in Greer

    By Taylor Haynes
    July 31, 2020
  • thousands of Mexican free tail bats make Phoenix tunnel their summer home

    Thousands of Mexican Free-Tail Bats Make Phoenix Tunnel Their Summer Home

    By Taylor Haynes
    July 17, 2020
  • How to Keep Scorpions Away from Your Home

    By Andrea Aker
    January 3, 2011
  • Javelina

    How to Keep Javelinas Away from Your Yard

    By Andrea Aker
    November 23, 2011
  • Phil Motta
    on
    August 27, 2021

    Why Does Downtown Phoenix Seem to Have Two Downtowns?

    I know this post ...
  • Carol
    on
    October 17, 2020

    The Tucson Artifacts are the Southwest’s Greatest Hoax

    lol ... these "clues" ...

Follow us

© Copyright 2009 – 2023 Aker Ink, LLC :: Arizona Oddities is published by Aker Ink.