Tag: legends
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 ...Navajo Legend of Monument Valley
Geologists like to say this vast land of dramatic salmon hued sandstone spires was once buried 3,000 feet beneath ancient seas. Over the next several million years, layer after layer of sediments were deposited, then hardened, followed by an uplifting of the land. It's difficult to imagine, but the tops of these mountains and spires ...A Tribute to a Reluctant Hero in Sacaton
In a small park in Sacaton on the Gila River Indian Reservation, a bronze statue of a young man wearing a military uniform stands next to a bas-relief plaque affixed to a tiled wall. It is a replication of Ira Hayes. He was a U.S. Marine. And a reluctant hero. The plaque depicts six men ...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 ...Seven Cities of Gold: The Story Behind Arizona’s Earliest Yarnspinners
Most folks believe the art of pullin' legs attached to tenderfeet began with the arrival of windjammin' mountain men, prospectors and cowboys. But it seems that Arizonans have been tellin' whoppers to newcomers much earlier. Latter-day liars would be hard pressed to match the native raconteurs who greeted the Spanish explorers. Legends of golden cities provided ...The Legend of Red Ghost
Most folks will tell you camels are not found in Arizona's high country. Truth is, those adaptable beasts can thrive in just about any kind of terrain. The U.S. Army introduced camels to the Southwest back in the 1850s, using them as beasts of burden while surveying a road across northern Arizona. But, the Civil ...A Brief But Fascinating History Of The Hohokam: The Valley’s First Residents
Most scientists believe the Hohokam arrived in Arizona from Mexico around 300 B.C. Apparently, they arrived with a strong culture intact and had an immediate influence on the area and the people already living here. In time their influence would be felt as far west as the Colorado River, to the east, New Mexico and ...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 ...Doc Goodfellow: Arizona’s Gutsiest Physician from the Territorial Days
The territorial days were a period in medical history of great scientific breakthrough; however, most surgeons in Eastern medical citadels preferred to be conservative in their treatment. Doc Goodfellow epitomized many frontier surgeons. Limited in their facilities, they had no choice but to experiment if their patients were to have any chance at all. The fearless ...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 mustang, those sturdy, unpampered descendants of the Spanish breed that were the greatest contributors to a cowboy's self-image. There was an aura of aristocracy, shared by the fraternity of horsemen, ...
