Flagstaff, Arizona always hosts a huge celebration for the 4th of July. This year’s parade was a great example. There were 106 entries in the fun-filled, patriotic parade. Here are a few. Enjoy.
Category Archives: History
Hiking the Kachina and Weatherford Trails
The Kachina Trail runs along the southern side of the San Francisco Peaks, shown here, at the 9800 foot line. The highest Peak is Humphreys Peak at 12, 643 feet. This is the highest point in Arizona. This photo was taken from Schultz Pass Road at about 7000 feet elevation. Flatlanders planning on hiking the area should allow time for acclimation.
The Kachina trail is named for the Kachina Peaks Wilderness through which it runs. The San Francisco Peaks, or Kachina Peaks are sacred to many tribes including the Havasupai, Hopi, Navajo and Zuni. The trail head shown here is located just below the Snowbowl ski area outside of Flagstaff, Arizona.
For much of the 6.8 miles, the Kachina Trail winds through massive groves of Aspen trees.
The Kachina Peaks Wilderness area covers over 18,000 acres. and only foot travel is allowed. The ecosystem is fragile, and hikers are encouraged to stay on the trail.
Quaking Aspen trees line the edges of the many grass and fern covered meadows.
Everywhere are reminders of the violent origin of this mountain, a stratovolcano, which last erupted 1.4 million years ago.The original 16,000 foot summit collapsed, maybe in a blast such as Mt. St. Helens, creating the caldera now named the Inner Basin. Ice ages have passed this way previously, and glaciers scarred the slopes. These peaks are the centerpiece for a huge volcanic field which was last active in AD 1100, when indigenous peoples inhabited the area. Here you can see various layers of lava flows now hung with delicate greenery.
Looking south from the high elevation you can see far into the northern Arizona countryside, spotting some of the 500 cinder cones of the volcanic field.
Looking north you can see the tips of several of the San Francisco Peaks, which are above tree line. Here are Agassiz, Fremont, and Doyle Peaks. The tallest, Humphreys, lies hidden behind the others. If you imagine drawing a line to connect the sides of these slopes up in the air, you can get a picture of how large this volcano once was.
Summer weather around the San Francisco Peaks can change rapidly. What starts out as a sunny day with a low chance of precipitation can change quickly. Do remember to bring plenty of drinking water on your hike. Elevation sickness can be eased by staying hydrated.
The sunny sky can suddenly darken with rain-laden clouds. Hail is a common occurrence. Come prepared for heavy summer monsoon storms with possible lighting and loud thunder.
Fields of wildflowers join the ferns in the meadows. These are Verbena macdougalii.
The ferns are huge and grow tall in the sunlight. Can you spot the trail? It’s there…
Luckily, we hike with our dog, so staying on the trail was easier.
Can you see me now? Here’s the trail!
There are some long uphill slopes and some very rocky passages.
Some of the trail leads over and through huge boulders.
Eventually the Kachina Trail begins to lead downward towards Schultz Pass and the Weatherford Trail. The trail dips into several ravines carved long ago in the volcanic slopes.
The Weatherford trailhead is located at Schultz Tank at 8800 feet elevation. As you descend toward it, the vegetation changes and you find dense stands of spruce, fir and Ponderosa Pines.
Some of the tallest and healthiest Ponderosas along the trail are a good reminder of why these pine trees own that name. The tallest known pine on record is a Ponderosa. Arizona hosts the world’s largest contiguous stand of these trees. Mature trees have orange-brown bark, and some say they smell like vanilla.
After the rain, the insects come out of hiding, and go back to work. This fly is on a Lupine flower.
The Kachina Trail intersects with the Weatherford Trail and the Freidlein Prairie Trail.
The Weatherford Trail is an old road that once was an enterprise to take Model T Fords to the mountain top. It has been closed to vehicular traffic. It must have been quite an adventurous ride in a car, back in the day.
Looking back toward the Peaks from the Weatherford Trail, you get another nice view of a dense grove of Aspen.
Since the Weatherford Trail itself leads uphill again, we take the lower section that leads down to Schultz Tank where it is possible to park a car. There are also bathrooms at Schultz Tank. We left a car at the Snowbowl, hiked one way, and used the second car at Schultz to retrieve the first one.
The end of the trail, or perhaps the beginning, if you choose to hike up to the Snowbowl trailhead, or take the Weatherford trail to up Doyle Saddle.
A-1 Beer, Arizona Brewing Company’s Answer to Prohibition
After the repeal of US Prohibition in 1933, many brewing companies started operations in Arizona. In the late 1940s the company created a series of seven commercial art works, which have become famous worldwide.
The saloon at Crown King, Arizona has a set of the posters, which I photographed there.
“The Cowboys Dream” was the first such poster. The cowboy sleeps on his saddle. In the sky is a cloud in the form of a horse and lady rider. Not legible in my photo is the A-1 brand on the horse’s flank.
In 1949 “Black Bart” was created. Originally titled ” The Barber and the Bandit.” On the wall behind the scene is a wanted poster featuring the man in the barber’s chair.
In 1950 the “Dude Lady” poster was featured. This poster was not very popular and was thought to be offensive.
Work of Art
Work of art or Art of Work
What does art mean to you?
A beloved statue from Bisbee Arizona’s past is more than just a metal image of a mine worker. To many who grew up in Bisbee it embodies the hard-working father, husband, brother, son or friend who spent his life underground in the local mines. It is a tribute both to those who survived and those who did not.
Bisbee’s Iron Man, now painted copper, for the mineral wealth of the mines.
Built of Stone
Moenkopi Formation mudstone and sandstone
About 237 million years ago theMoenkopi Formation rocks were deposited in a coastal plain that covered what is now northern Arizona and surrounding states. The plain ended at the shoreline of a sea in Utah. Seasonal stream beds crossing that plain deposited thick sheets of sand. Over millions of years, “another 10,000 feet of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks accumulated.”
Quote and details from Stone Landmarks,Flagstaff’s Geology and Historic Building Stones
A lava flow and black cinders in the San Francisco volcanic field.
Exposed Moenkopi sandstone with overlaying cinders
All of these sedimentary layers have been warped, twisted and eroded, ending up being uplifted by molten lava between 70 million and 30 million years ago as a huge chunk of thick crust. This was the origin of the Colorado Plateau, a 130000 square-mile block. In time, that molten base began to erupt in the San Francisco volcanic field, creating thousands of cinder cones, long lava flows, the stratovolcano known as San Francisco Mountain, and lava domes like Mount Elden near present day Flagstaff. Volcanic activity continued, with the most recent eruption occurring in AD 1064. At that time, the Sinaguan people found that the loose cinders made a good mulch for growing crops, and they created Wupatki. They used the red Moenkopi sandstone exposed in the area along with Kaibab limestone and black basalt from the volcanic field to build substantial buildings.
Wupatki and the surrounding Moenkopi sandstone building material
Wupatki was built directly on the exposed layers of Moenkopi.
Centuries later, when the railroads necessitated the creation of the town of Flagstaff, the buildings were made of wood. However, over the years the citizens learned the same lesson that many cities of the day learned, as fires consumed the town. When reconstructed, the materials of choice were identical to those of the ancients, Moenkopi sandstone, Kaibab Formation limestone and volcanic basalt.
The Babbitt Brothers Building was constructed in 1888 of Moenkopi sandstone.
The landmark Coconino County Courthouse was constructed in 1895 of “Arizona Red” Moenkopi sandstone.
The Bank Hotel 1886
The Bank Hotel is built of a combination of local sandstones of different colors.
The David Babbitt Building was built in 1907 of split-faced blocks of volcanic rock.
The Raymond Building was built in 1911.
The Raymond building uses carved Moenkopi sandstone.
The ornate 1906 wall that used to surround the grand home of Charles J. Babbitt, which was destroyed by fire. Wall is 265 million year old limestone.
The Nativity Chapel was built in 1929 of basalt chunks collected by parishioners from local lava flows.
New offices occupy Flagstaff’s old Ice House, built in 1946 of limestone filled with impressions or molds of fossilized shells.
Molds and casts of fossilized clams, snails, brachiopods and sea urchins are found in the limestone chunks of which the old Ice House was built.
Used copies of the Stone Landmarks are available for purchase at various booksellers. Photos are my own.
Yucca
Yucca, native to southern Arizona, has sword-shaped leaves. The native peoples used the stringy fibers of the leaves to make cord which was used for everything from belts and baskets to sandals.
Yucca roots can be used to create a sudsy soap. Photo taken at Boyce-Thompson Arboretum.
San Xavier del Bac
San Xavier del Bac, Tucson
Interior photos and information here.
Construction on the current San Xavier del Bac began in 1783. More than 200 hundred years of harsh desert climate, use, abandonment and attempts at restorations have taken a toll on the interior and exterior of this incredible structure. Finding funding for proper conservation has been an ongoing challenge.This year, 2014, conservation and preservation efforts are underway. Photos here.
San Xavier del Bac: The White Dove of the Desert
Underground
Prospectors and investors moved into Arizona after the Gadsden Purchase of 1853. To obtain the silver and gold they hunted, miners dug into the sides of hills and into shafts dug down into the earth. Boom towns like Tombstone called to talented hard-rock miners world-wide, who came to Arizona to find work and a future underground.
My father, my grandfather and my great-grandfather all worked underground in the mines of Bisbee, Arizona. I grew up listening to tales of the dangers and excitement of the mines. The near-misses, the rescues, the mammoth roaches and the temperatures. Two thousand miles of underground tunnels hollow the earth beneath Bisbee and the surrounding countryside. Sometimes Dad worked the night shift and we would go pick him up after work still in the dark. The daily afternoon blast siren was a normal occurrence. Every Bisbee child was well-versed in blasting cap safety.
I recently taught several groups of first graders a bit about Arizona geology, and was surprised to realize how little students today know about mining. “Who can tell me what a mine is?” I asked. The quick response was, “like Mine-Craft?” I realized it will be a large task, helping Arizona’s future know about Arizona’s past.
Please take time to enjoy this terrific video presented by the City of Bisbee, the Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum and the Bisbee Queen Mine Tour. Watch the video here.
Underground miners were certainly aware of the monetary value of the silver, gold and copper that they mined, but they also were awed by the beautiful caverns formed deep underground and covered with the secondary forms of the ore they blasted, shoveled and hauled up from the mines. These often take the form of delicate crystals with wonderful colors. As a child I was lucky to visit one such crystalline cave. In 1997 the Smithsonian Museum in Washington recreated one of these Bisbee caverns in the Museum. I keep a copy of the book commemorating it in my rock case, Treasures of the Queen by Richard Graeme.
Bisbee samples
Aurichalcite, a copper mineral, Bisbee, Arizona
Malachite (green) and Azurite (blue) secondary copper minerals
Native Copper, Bisbee, Arizona
Malachite, Bisbee, Arizona
My Dad’s Carbide Lamp
Collecting Arizona, a great resource
T is for Texas Canyon, Tombstone and The Thing
If you drive a car on I10 in southern Arizona, you will undoubtedly see sign after sign asking “The Thing?” In fact, a miracle in advertising, the first signs begin near El Paso, TX, traveling west. By the time you arrive at exit 322, in the middle of the desert between Willcox and Benson, Arizona, your curiosity should be aroused. For a whole dollar, you can find out just what The Thing, the Mystery in the Desert, is. And you can buy an ice cream cone, or other tourist delights.
In the same southeastern corner of the state you will encounter beautiful Texas Canyon, rich in the history of Arizona Territory, the Butterfield Stage Route, ranching, and Apache country.
Entrance to the historic Adams Ranch in Texas Canyon
Fascinating rock sculptures in Texas Canyon
Mesquites in Texas Canyon
Balanced rocks in Texas Canyon, Arizona
Texas Canyon, Arizona
A few minutes driving will take you to famous Tombstone, Arizona. In 1877 Ed Schieffelin announced to cavalry stationed in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, that he intended prospecting in the valley of the San Pedro River. He was warned that he would only “find his tombstone there.” It was a dangerous time in Arizona Territory because this was Apache country. But he persisted, found silver and staked the Tombstone and Graveyard claims. Soon other rich deposits were discovered and more prospectors came and the town of Tombstone blossomed. It was a rough, tough boomtown until 1886 when fire destroyed the pump works and the mines flooded. Tombstone remains as a thriving tourist attraction, complete with shootouts in the streets, busy saloons, stagecoaches and people dressed in the best of western wear.
Tombstone gunfighters
Tombstone retains some of its rough and tough attitude
Last stage to Tombstone
R is for Roads
Way back when automobiles first became common, states created highway publications to alert drivers to the paved roads within their road systems. Arizona Highways Magazine was first published in 1925 by the engineers of the state highway department and has gone on to become a hugely popular magazine world-wide. It showcases everything from the most scenic drives, not-to-be missed hikes, the best Arizona photographs to the best wildflower viewing sites. If you haven’t seen it, click the link above and browse through the site. For many of us who grew up in Arizona in the 1950s, a prized family collection of Arizona Highways Magazines was the centerpiece of the living room bookshelf.
Freeways and stacked interchanges: yes, we have them. But Arizona has done a lot to create freeway art that is symbolic of our state.
Freeway art near Sky Harbor Airport, Phoenix, via A View from Above Blogspot.com
In my family growing up, a Sunday drive was fine entertainment. Our 1950 Pontiac covered many miles crisscrossing southeastern Arizona,
and we never flinched at a bumpy dirt road. I still like to do that.
Dirt roads can lead to beautiful places
Sometimes a dirt road gets pretty narrow
Not all paved Arizona roads are divided highways and many of the two lane roads lead to spectacular places.
Elephant Foot Rocks
Northern Arizona on the Navajo Reservation
San Francisco Peaks in Northern Arizona
Southern Arizona near Tucson
Highway 89 between Sedona and Flagstaff
Tunnel in rocky mountainside near Roosevelt Dam
And finally, there are always road signs.
Why is Arizona so... 