Clarkdale, a company mining town, was owned, planned, and developed by William A. Clark of Montana, owner of the Verde Copper Company. Clark made many technological improvements to the mining process and created The Verde Valley Railroad that eventually turned his company into the richest privately owned copper mine in the world

The museum contains an eclectic collection of exhibits which reflect home, school, church and work life in Clarkdale. Don’t miss the oak pulpit originally used in the 1921 Clarkdale United Methodist Church and present site of the Clark Memorial Library. It was given to the museum by the church with the stipulation that if the museum ever dissolves or the congregation needs it back, it will be returned. The manufacturer is unknown. The pulpit is in good condition with nail heads on reading platform and holes on left side from a mounted light or microphone. On back side, two shelves run the whole 46″ width.

The oak pulpit chair has a medium high back and a brass plate that says “By many hands the work of God is done.” It is dated 2/8/1970, and was made by Hiwassee Furniture Mfgr. Inc, makers of fine church furniture in Madisonville, Tennessee. The chair is in excellent condition. .

Clarkdale Heritage Museum, P.O. Box 806, 900 First North,Clarkdale, Arizona 86324

Tel: 928-649-1198, Web site: www.clarkdaleheritage.org/

The prehistoric Hohokam people lived and farmed in the Buckeye Valley more than one thousand years ago. They grew cotton, beans, corn and squash in irrigated fields near their villages along the Gila River. Cactus fruit and mesquite beans along with rabbits and deer were an important part of their diet. Visitors to the museum will see an impressive collection of Hohokam clay pottery, stone and shell jewelry, arrows, axes and other stone tools. They used stone manos (grinding stones) and metates (rock slabs) to grind corn and mesquite pods to make flour.

Early settlers in the Buckeye Valley who made the community’s history were farmers and their families who grew crops, built houses and made their own tools. When a group of settlers left Ohio and arrived in the area in 1888, it was the start of what is now the town of Buckeye. Malie Monroe Jackson built a canal to help haul water to his crops and named the canal Buckeye, in honor of the state of Ohio. At first the town was called Sydney. Later when the town wanted to incorporate as Buckeye, the residents had to get a court order from the Arizona State Supreme court allowing them to do so. In 1885, a group of investors from Ohio led by Malie Monroe Jackson, an Ohioan, built a canal in the desert west of Phoenix. A year later when the canal was in operation Thomas Clanton, a homesteader near the canal, applied to the United States Postal Service for a post office. The Postal Service granted the request and named the new home post office Buckeye.

The museum maintains biographies and photos of the Buckeye Valley and West Gila Valley Old Settlers Union, which was founded in 1934. More than16,000 names have been entered into the museum’s family history program. The museum has an extensive oral history program which documents the residents’ life experiences.

After the Hohokam left the Buckeye Valley about seven hundred years ago, the land remained unoccupied until the 1880s. Several small ranches were developed first in Liberty and then in Palo Verde. The construction of the Buckeye Canal in 1885 opened up large tracts of land for farming.  The first crops were alfalfa and grain used to feed livestock. Later cotton became the primary crop.

The Buckeye Valley Museum is a part of the Heritage Park project. This 13.9 acre park, was formerly known as the Eastman Gin. An on-site cotton gin will be restored and used for educational and entertaining demonstrations. In addition to the museum, Heritage Park will  feature a couple of acres of native agricultural fields; an antique tractor and farm implement displays; a farmers market; a large scale park; an outdoor amphitheater and a walking trail.

Buckeye Valley Museum, 116 East Hwy. 85 (10th Street and Monroe), P.O. Box 292. Buckeye, AZ, 85326

Tel: 623-349-6315  Web site: www.buckeyeaz.gov/museum

The billboards are not so numerous as they were forty years ago but there are still plenty of bright yellow  boards as you approach Johnson off ramp, Exit off ramp,  to urge the traveler to stop and see The Thing. Once inside the roadside gift shop the visitor can pay to see Mystery  of the Desert and wander  through rows of southwestern rugs, various figurines, agate bookends, belts, buckles and earrings or purchase a  chicken basket meal, fresh hot coffee and ice cream at the Dairy Queen.

Visitors to proceed through doors and follow the big yellow footprints on a sidewalk through three buildings, each filled with artifacts of questionable provenance. The first shed houses various of transportation including a 1921 Graham Page, a Conestoga wagon, a 1937 Rolls Royce and a vehicle purporting to have belonged to Adolph Hitler. Over the years different vehicles have made this proclamation.

In the second shed there are several carvings and artifacts of yesteryear. In the third shed visitor come face to face with The Thing and her baby thing. And what a face it is.  It rests in a coffin inside a glass topped concrete case. The Thing on first appearance looks like a mummy. The Thing has a couple
of ribs exposed. A sign above its resting place asks, “What is it?”  Perhaps it is made of papier-mâché?

Phoenix Public Radio asked Shad Kvetko who claimed to know about The Thing and where it came from. He said that it was the creation of Homer Tate. Kvetko’s aunt was Tate’s granddaughter. Tate’s family came to Arizona in the 1890′s, and he worked as a miner and a farmer the 1940′s, when he discovered there was a market for his talent of creating quite curious objects.  These objects included shrunken heads and  mummies created from papier-mâché.  He opened Tate’s Curiosity Shop in Phoenix. His flyer announced, “The world’s best manufactured shrunken heads–a wonderful window attraction to make your mother-in-law want to go home.”

About the time that Tate was making his papier-mâché mummies, Thomas B. Prince became bored with his law practice,  In the 1950′s Prince, a graduate of the 1940 University of Arizona College of Law Class, opened a roadside curio stand near Barstow.  The Thing was included as one of its attractions. When the Interstate displaced the Barstow attraction, Prince moved the enterprise to Arizona.  In 1965, he opened his roadside museum of oddities at Johnson Road between Willcox and Benson. Prince died in 1969 and his widow, Janet Prince, ran the enterprise for a while before moving to Baltimore.

Over the years there has been speculation that The Thing had been part of a race of giants. There were stories that this curious object came from caves inside the Grand Canyon. Others say that the double mummies came from Egypt

The Thing, 2631 N Johnson Rd., Benson, AZ  85602

            Douglas, Arizona was the first international airport of the Americas. Aviation was an important part of the evolution of Douglas and was almost lost if it were not for Richard and Irma Westbrook. Richard, a 1949 Douglas High School graduate, worked for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA.) Westbrook was inducted in 1993 into the NASA Hall of Fame. The Border Air Museum was a gift to the City of Douglas by the widow of the late Richard Westbrook in 2002. Richard died before the
museum was completed. The Border Air Museum houses Westbrook’s collection of air history.

            The museum exhibits a Trojan airplane which was made in Douglas in the 1950s. Other exhibits include displays of American Airlines memorabilia, a wall of history of the Douglas Army Air Field with artifacts, an in-depth history of Douglas aviation, history of the Mexican Revolution and aviation in Douglas, Women’s Air History, and a history of Hollywood making films using the Douglas airport. There is a letter from the President Roosevelt declaring the Douglas airport “The First International Airport of the Americas.” It was the first airport in the state to have night flights.

Douglas had the first airplane in the state of Arizona. In 1908, a group of Douglas men formed the Douglas Aeronautical Club and built a glider from mail order plans. This glider was pulled into the air by a two horse buggy equipped for release with an aerial hitch, from behind the YMCA building. A year later they added a motor and propeller and they had motorized airplane.

By 1913 this airplane was famous locally as The Douglas Bomber. General John “Black Jack”  Pershing, who led the U. S. expeditionary force to capture the notorious Pancho Villa, recruited Charles Ford and his Douglas Bomber to fly over the border and drop bombs south of Agua Prieta on the railroad tracks to stop supplies flowing into Villa’s troops. The bombs were made from lard buckets filled with dynamite, scrap metal and concrete.

After World War I and the Mexican Revolution, Douglas became a take off point for barnstormers. These stunt pilots and aerialists–or barnstormers as they became known–performed amazing tricks
with airplanes. Barnstorming was the first major form of civil aviation.  By the 1930s, the Douglas Airport was a stopping point for American Airlines, traveling from San Diego to San Antonio.

Border Air Museum  East 10th Street & Airport Road Douglas AZ 85607 Tel: 520-417-7344

Castle Dome Mining Museum, Milepost 55 on Hwy 95, 27550 East County 15th Street,
Yuma, AZ 85365

Tel: 928-920-306, Web site: www.castledomeminemuseum.com

The Hopi people of today consider Homolovi to be part of their homeland. Broken pottery and stones are now part of the land, and are mute reminders that the Hopi continue to follow the true Hopi way. Migrations ended when the people settled at the center of the world, the Hopi Mesas north of Homolovi. However, when the Diné (Navajo) and later the Europeans arrived, the Hopi saw the newcomers destroy their ancient homes while digging in sacred sites for curios.

To protect lands from further desecration, the Hopis supported the creation of Homolovi Ruins State Park. This park was established in 1986 and it opened in 1993. Homolovi Ruins State Park now serves as a center of research for the late migration period of the Hopi from the 1200s to the late 1300s. While archaeologists study the sites and confer with the Hopi to unravel the history of Homolovi, Arizona State Parks provides the opportunity for visitors to visit the sites.

The Homolovi Visitor Center features exhibits explaining the archaeology of the ancient people of Homolovi. Exhibits describe the continuing tradition of Hopi pottery, carving and other art forms. The work of various artists, including the art of Hopi children, is incorporated in a changing exhibit. The First Works exhibit is a collection of children’s art work. In addition, the park maintains a collection of returned artifacts from within the Winslow area. These pieces include prehistoric pottery wares, stone and bone tools. There are also historical art works by Fannie Nampeyo, Charles Loloma, Paqua Naha (First Frog Woman) and Helen (Feather Woman) Naha dating from the late 1880s to the late 1960s.

Homolovi’s gift shop is operated by the Homolovi Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society. They offer books on the natural and cultural history of northeastern Arizona, including unusual and rare books. The shop has an excellent selection of Hopi and Navajo artwork.  Suvoyuki in the Hopi language means to accomplish work through a joint effort. The annual Suvoyuki Days event in July starts with an open house day at the park that celebrates the partners who have helped to protect and save Homolovi area archaeological and cultural sites from destruction. The event features corn roasting, a morning
run, archaeological information, and artist demonstrations. The next day, the event moves into the community at Sipaulovi Village where visitors can see meet artists and learn more about the Hopi tribe.

Hiking Homolovi provides the visitor with the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of the ancients. Nusungvö which means “Place of Rest” in the Hopi language is a 1.2 miles primitive hike across high prairie grasslands. Tsu’vö which means Path of the Rattlesnake in Hopi, is a half mile loop trail between the twin buttes within the park. It is a nature trail and an archaeological trail where the visitor can see milling stone areas and petroglyphs.

Diné is a one and a half mile trail that goes to Diné Point. The Homolovi I trail is an easy quarter mile stroll on an old dirt road. The Homolovi II Trail is a half mile paved trail that is wheelchair accessible. The 100-yard trail allows access to the largest of the Park’s archaeological sites and contains an estimated 1,200 to 2,000 rooms.

Homolovi Ruins State Park, HCR 63, Box 5, Winslow, AZ 86047

Tel: 928-289-4106  Web site: www.pr.state.az.us/parks/HORU

An exhibit in the Visitor Center along with photographs introduces the visitors to territorial prison life. Other displays include original cellblocks, water tank, guard tower, sally port (entrance gate), library room and the dark cells. Interpretive panels are located throughout the historic site. The 3600 sq. ft. museum houses a video presentation and original prison artifacts. A large mural painting of Arizona Native Americans and by a World War II Italian prisoner of war graces one of the walls.

Despite its infamous reputation, largely put forth by films such as 3:10 to Yuma, the prison was a model institution for its time. Early pioneers such as John Cady referred to the prison as the “country club on the olorado.” Punishments included the dark cells for inmates who broke prison regulations, and the ball and chain for those who tried to escape.

Crimes ranged from murder to polygamy, with grand larceny being the most common. Most prisoners served only portions of their sentences. One hundred eleven prisoners died while serving their sentences, most from tuberculosis. Prisoners worked but during the free time they hand-crafted many items which were sold at public bazaars held at the prison on Sundays after church services. Prisoners received regular medical attention, and many convicts learned to read and write in prison. The prison housed one of the first “public” libraries in the territory, and the fee charged to visitors for a tour of the institution was used to purchase books. An early electrical generating plant furnished power for lights and ran a ventilation system in the cellblock.

By 1907, the prison was severely overcrowded, and there was no room on Prison Hill for expansion. When the prison became overcrowded, as many as ten prisoners were packed into a cell, which measured 8 feet by 10 feet. The convicts constructed a new facility in Florence, Arizona and the last prisoner left Yuma on
September 15, 1909. The Yuma Union High School occupied the buildings from 1910 to 1914 and the football team was known as the Crims. Empty cells provided free lodging for hobos riding the freights in the 1920s, and sheltered many homeless families during the 1930’s Great Depression. Townspeople used the complex a
source for free building materials which along with plus fires, weathering, and railroad construction,  estroyed the prison walls and all buildings except the cells, main gate and guard tower.

While it was active the prison kept excellent prisoner records. The boxes are at the Arizona State Archives, 1700 West Washington Street, Phoenix, AZ 85007. Those prisoners who died while incarcerated and were not claimed by family were buried in the graveyard just outside the penitentiary. A shallow grave was dug where a wooden casket containing the body was lowered, covered with the soil and then overlaid with rocks. Since 1950, most of the grave markers have been taken by souvenir hunters or deteriorated under the weather. Only the grave marker of J.F. Floyd has been found and it is now on display inside the prison
museum. Grave markers were typically made into a slab of wood, with the prisoner’s name, number, and date of death.

Prison T-shirts, baseball caps, key chains, handcuffs, and books about the prison are available in the gift shop inside the Visitor Center.

Yuma Territorial Prison, 1 Prison Hill Road, Yuma, AZ 85364

Tel: 928-783-4771

Web Site: www.azstateparks.com

Established in 1877, a time when army forts were generously sprinkled over southeast Arizona, Fort Huachuca is the only one which survived to the present day as an active military post. Established during the Indian Wars, the fort was the headquarters of the 4th Cavalry patrols that pursued Geronimo and his band and brought about their surrender to General Nelson Miles in 1886. It also was a site of the use of the heliograph for communication during the pursuit of Geronimo in the Indian wars.

Huachuca has served as home of the famous Buffalo Soldiers, who chased Pancho Villa in Sonora, Mexico in 1916 after his attack on Columbus, New Mexico and Agua Prieta, just across the border from Douglas, Arizona. In World War II two Black infantry divisions, the 92nd and 93rd, were trained on Fort Huachuca’s ranges and served valiantly in the Pacific theater and in northern Italy. Today Fort Huachuca is an important military intelligence and communications center.

The museum re-creates the story of the U.S. Army in the Southwest, displaying uniforms of various periods, early equipment and weapons and model rooms, which present the daily life of the soldiers and their families. There is a museum store which sells books on many topics and mementos. The museum is housed in a building which was first used as bachelor officers’ quarters, then a chapel, and officers’ club and a headquarters building.

Exhibits include pioneer life on the post up thorough recent wars.  Helmets and breastplates from the era of the conquistadores are showcased along with miniature wagons. Fully furnished period rooms show how officers’ wives made life on the frontier attractive.  The kitchen features a butter churn, wringer washer, and a sewing machine. Don’t miss the Buffalo soldier statue located at the traffic circle at Winrow Road and Smith Street. Several exhibits are
dedicated to the role of the Buffalo Soldiers at Fort Huachuca and the American West. In the museum annex, visitors can see more displays, a diorama of a
cavalry camp scene, wagons and an artillery gun.

Because of the Fort’s active military status it is necessary to stop at the gate before entering to visit the museums. The visitor will be asked to show a picture ID such  as a driver’s license, as well as vehicle registration and proof of insurance.

B Troop, 4th US Cavalry (Memorial) commemorates the history of the U.S. Army’s participation in the Indian Wars in the Southwest. B troop is not connected to the museum. Established at Fort Huachuca, Arizona on July 4, 1973, B Troop dresses in authentic uniforms of the U.S. Army in the 1880s. The group participates in military ceremonies, parades, and mounted cavalry demonstrations across Arizona and the nation.

The first soldiers at Fort Huachuca ensured the protection of the first Anglo settlers in the San Pedro Valley and later were responsible for protecting the border with Mexico. As soon as the first permanent houses were completed, soldiers began sending for their families. The first to arrive was Caroline
Whitside, the wife of Captain Samuel Whitside, the post’s founder and first commander. Their 20-month-old son Dallas died and was buried in the camp’s
first graveyard and was later relocated to the current post cemetery which may be visited. Many who served at Fort Huachuca earned distinguished  eputations in the world including the father of Fiorello LaGuardia, an ardent social reformer who would become mayor of New York. Malin Craig, the son of the post’s first quartermaster and a member of Whitside’s troop, would become Army Chief of Staff just before World War II. In the museum the traveler will find everyday household utensils, books, quotes from diaries and journals, flags, and photographs.

The U.S. Army Intelligence Museum

            This museum acts as a central repository for historical artifacts which put the military intelligence mission into perspective. In addition to being of general interest, it provides a teaching tool for the U.S. Army Intelligence School. Although military intelligence gathering has existed since the dawn of warfare, the craft gained a vital role in the Army during the Civil War and has grown during each conflict. Its role is now recognized as a formal Army organization the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps. The first aerial photography was taken from a hot air balloon but on display is an early drone which was used to remotely photograph and survey an area. General John “Blackjack” Pershing took the lessons he learned from chasing Pancho Villa to World War I.

Visitors will see surveillance and espionage tools from the Civil War, the notorious Enigma Machine coding device used by the Germans during WWII, one of our Cold War espionage jeeps, a surveillance drone and a 12’ x 10’ section of the Berlin Wall, replete with graffiti political statements.

US Army Intelligence Center Fort Huachuca Museum Boyd & Grierson Fort Huachuca AZ 83613-6000 Tel: 520-533-3638

Grand Canyon Skywalk Mailing Address Administrative Offices 5985 W. Wigwam Ave Las Vegas, NV 89139

Tel: 702-220-8372 Fax 702- 220-8517 Web site: www.grandcanyonskywalk.com

The Petrified Forest National Park is located on the Painted Desert in the southern part of the Colorado Plateau. The Chinle Formation of Late Triassic Period (more than two hundred million years ago) constitutes the main geological formation of the Painted Desert. Thus, the visitor has the option of visiting two outstanding museums in the area: the Painted Desert Visitor Center and Rainbow Forest Museum. Sites within the area include the Painted Desert Inn, a National Historic Landmark, and two ancestral Pueblo sites; Puerco Pueblo and Agate House, each of which represents the rich human history of the park. Many Late Triassic Epoch fossils discovered in the park are showcased at the Rainbow Forest Museum. The museum Placerias is a resin cast of an individual found near St. Johns. Forty Placerias were identified in the St. Johns area. This creature, which must have resembled a hippopotamus, was not a dinosaur, but a dicynodont or “two-dog tooth” so called because it had toothless jaw margins with only the two canine teeth. Placerias was a sturdy animal with tusks for rooting through the soil in search of vegetation and a beak for uprooting plants. Fossil evidence from the tusks of other dicynodonts show wear patterns of alternate deep grooves and a smooth polishing effect.

             Newswspaper Rock petroglyphs — ancient symbols pecked into the surface of rock — can be found throughout the park. The petroglyphs of Newspaper Rock are etched into dark rock varnish to expose the lighter color of the rock beneath. Rock varnish is made up of a thin natural veneer of manganese, iron and clay that covers the exposed surfaces of the rocks. Newspaper Rock sandstone is very fragile. Beneath the sandstone are mudstones that erode easily and the sandstone fractures increases and the sandstone falls away from the cliff.

            The most popular feature of the park is the petrified wood. Several trails wind amidst the beautifully colored and fascinating petrified logs, including Crystal Forest whose logs contain beautiful crystals; Long Logs which has one of the largest concentrations of petrified wood in park, and Giant Logs which features some of the largest and most colorful logs in the park. The brilliant colors in the petrified logs come from trace minerals: pure quartz is white, manganese oxides can form blue, purple, black, and brown, carbon is black and iron oxides provide hues from yellow through red to brown. Each year, tons of petrified wood are removed illegally from Petrified Forest National Park.

            Theodore Roosevelt created Petrified Forest National Monument on Dec. 8, 1906. Petrified Forest was designated as a national park on Dec. 9, 1962. There are 93,533 acres (about 147 square miles) within park boundaries, with a recently expanded boundary increasing the acreage to 218,533 acres, authorized in 2004. Intermountain Basin semi-arid steppe and grassland (short grass prairie) constitute the main environment of Petrified Forest National Park. Hundreds of species of plants and animals can be found in Petrified Forest National Park. Residents include pronghorn, Gunnison’s prairie dog, coyote, bobcat, bullsnake, Arizona tiger salamander, meadowlark and golden eagle.

            There are more than thirteen thousand years of human history in Petrified Forest National Park, which includes more than eight hundred archeological sites. Puerco Pueblo, built by ancestral Pueblo people, was occupied between A.D. 1250 and 1380. Agate House, occupied about A.D. 1100-1150, was built out of pieces of petrified wood.

            Herbert David Lore built Painted Desert Inn by 1924. Using designs by National Park Service architect Lyle Bennett, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) reconstructed the Painted Desert Inn in the late 1930s and hand painted the inn’s sky light. Recently, the building had an extensive rehabilitation, returning the inn to its 1949 appearance. Don’t miss the Buffalo dance mural by Hopi artist Frank Kabotie. This work was commissioned by Mary Elizabeth Jane Coulter, Grand Canyon architect and interior designer, who worked on design elements of the inn between 1947 and 1949. Originally, the Painted Desert Inn served as a restaurant and hotel for travelers on Route 66. Today the building is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Petrified Forest National Park is the only national park site that contains a segment of the historic Route 66 alignment. Part of the National Old Trails Highway also passed through the park. During the summer Native American silversmiths, dancers, weavers and potters provide cultural demonstrations. It is all very good to probe the causes of the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest, but it is also good to just enjoy the wonderful splendor of places such as this.    

Petrified Forest National Park, PO Box 2217, Petrified Forest Az 86025

Tel: 928-524-6228, Web site: www.nps.gov/pefo