Arizona or Bust: Mark's Arizona Site

"I'm getting old," declared the 77 year-old Hillerman in 2002, "but I still like to write."

To read more on Arizona's 24 casinos, click here.

Bob Bradshaw was born in China in 1918 where his father, John, an accomplished athlete, had been sent by the YMCA to teach Phys-Ed.  In 1936, Clevelander Jesse Owens, trained by Bob’s father, won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics, and 18-year-old Bob bought his first 35mm camera that set him on a path to success. 

In 1945, when 27 year-old Bob came to Sedona from Cleveland, Ohio, there wasn’t much to Sedona. He was the first to offer tours of the Sedona Red Rocks on horseback, and created what is now known as the “Broken Arrow” trail. His first photo store appears above, photos courtesy of The Bradshaw Gallery.  When Jeffrey Chandler and Jimmy Stewart starred in Broken Arrow (1950), Bob helped widen the horse-trail and move supplies to the movie set. He also served as Stewart’s stuntman and double in the film.

Over the next 50 years, many films were made in Sedona and Bob was a part of most of them, serving as location scout, stuntman, resident wrangler, extra and/or actor. He built the first western town for use in the booming Movie Industry (located beneath Sedona’s Coffee Pot Rock), and was one of the first Marlboro Men. Bob Bradshaw is also one of the renowned early photographers of Sedona and you’ll see his work all over Sedona and Arizona. For many years he contributed images to Arizona Highways Magazine, a favorite of mine. Over the years, the Bradshaw Ranch served as location for five movies, two TV series, and numerous commercials, and stars like Beau Bridges, Elvis Presley and Kenny Rogers.

Bob started passing the reins to son John many years ago, and the Bradshaw enterprise has continued to grow.  The Bradshaw patriarch enjoyed good health until the last few months of his 90th year, and rode off into the sunset on August 8^th of this year.

Want to know more?  Bob wrote his autobiography (2002), The Sedona Man: The Life and Adventures of Arizona Cowboy Bob Bradshaw.  The Bradshaw Family has been entertaining visitors to Sedona with images and stories for over 50 years, so be sure to visit their website, click here.

There are several resorts that combine Native culture with upscale surroundings.  I've had the pleasure to stay at Carefree Resort & Villas. 

Lance Polingyouma, a member of the Hopi Tribe is cultural interpreter for the Carefree Resort & Villas.  He's a s'mores specialist, stargazer and storyteller for the sprawling desert lodge north of Scottsdale.

He was hired in 2006 to join the posh resort's Western immersion movement.  The lucrative mission offers guests a bona fide Southwest experience with campfires, jeep tours and other desert activities.   His nightly campfires draw guests outdoors even when temperatures hit triple-digits.

Sedona's Center for Eco-Tourism, on the grounds of Los Abrigados Resort & Spa, click here.  (I have stayed here also.)

Scottsdale's Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa at Gainey Ranch, click here.  (I have visited here.)

Chandler's Wild Horse Pass Hotel, Spa and Casino with Rawhide Western Town, click here.

 

By U.S. government decree, The Navajo Nation encompasses the land, kinship, language, religion, and the right of its people to govern themselves.  Fortunately, the Navajo have chosen to adopt one of the more positive programs managed by the U.S. government as their own. 

With a homeland covering about 26,000 square miles (67,339 square kilometers, 17 million acres), containing many unique species, the bald eagle and Mesa Verde Fishhook Cactus (both pictured, right) are two on their list as of September, 2008.  Under the regulations, Navajo Fish and Wildlife officials would establish circular buffers around the nests and limit human activity during the breeding season to protect nesting eagles, their eggs and young. The types of permanent structures that could be built within those buffers also would be regulated.

Ironically, the federal government dropped the bald eagle from the Endangered Species List in 2007, though the national symbol remains protected.  For a 4-page PDF file listing the Navajo Fish & Wildlife Endangered Species, click here.

A mine and smelter in Dewey and Humboldt, just 15 miles from Prescott, were designated as a federal Superfund cleanup site in August 2008.  This is significant since these are the first Arizona properties marked for high-priority cleanup in nearly 20 years.

These sites are about 90 miles from Phoenix, and despite proximity to Prescott, Prescott’s Superfund index is 90 on a scale of 100.  The EPA's Superfund index measures possible threats to human and wildlife populations, and a higher score is better.  I have been to Prescott several times.

To search for EPA sites near you or to discover your Superfund Index score, click here to visit their website.

While Phoenix rises, Tucson sinks.

With just 3 major league teams left in Tucson's Spring Cactus League, the traditional place for Cactus League play is coming to an end. 

With burgeoning populations in Phoenix's west valley, burbs like Glendale, Peoria and Goodyear are attracting teams with many tangible and intangible incentives.  To view the progress on the Cleveland Indians Stadium in Goodyear, voted an 'All-American City', click here.  

The Cactus League is unique because there are 8 stadiums all within a 35 mile radius, with 2 more located in Tucson (about a 2 hour drive from Phoenix). A baseball fan can pick from up to 7 different games on a single day, all within driving distance.

To read the article on Tucson's Cactus League, click here.     

Mother Nature's fury molds the everchanging landscapes loved by many. 

The famous and often-photographed Wall Arch in Utah's Arches National Park (shown, right) collapsed in August.   

Also in August, major flooding in the Grand Canyon and tributaries caused the destruction of numerous trails and bridges that the Native Americans maintain, and rely upon for tourism.

Arizona has the second-highest number of natural arches and bridges in the nation.  Since there is no guarantee how long a bridge or arch will remain, make a plan to visit some of the many Arizona arches. 

To visit a great site for arches and bridges, click here.

There are several resorts that combine Native culture with upscale surroundings.  I've had the pleasure to stay at Carefree Resort & Villas. 

Lance Polingyouma, a member of the Hopi Tribe is cultural interpreter for the Carefree Resort & Villas.  He's a s'mores specialist, stargazer and storyteller for the sprawling desert lodge north of Scottsdale.

He was hired in 2006 to join the posh resort's Western immersion movement.  The lucrative mission offers guests a bona fide Southwest experience with campfires, jeep tours and other desert activities.   His nightly campfires draw guests outdoors even when temperatures hit triple-digits.

Sedona's Center for Eco-Tourism, on the grounds of Los Abrigados Resort & Spa, click here.  (I have stayed here also.)

Scottsdale's Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa at Gainey Ranch, click here.  (I have visited here.)

Chandler's Wild Horse Pass Hotel, Spa and Casino with Rawhide Western Town, click here.

The Bureau of Land Management, the federal agency charged with managing the herds of wild horses and burros that roam the western United States, announced that it is considering euthanizing thousands of the animals in its care. 

It would mark the first time the agency has taken such action.  The proposal has ignited an emotional firestorm that has drawn in conservationists, ranchers, celebrities and politicians.  Is slaughtering healthy horses is an appropriate solution to a looming budget crisis?  The cash-strapped BLM manages an estimated 33,000 wild horses and burros on public rangelands and cares for an additional 30,000 in short-term and long-term holding facilities around the country.

Here are the requirements for horse adoption...but can enough people meet such requirements:

Could a wind farm or solar power station be coming to a field or hillside near you?

A solar land rush is rolling across the desert Southwest. Goldman Sachs, utilities PG&E and FPL, Silicon Valley startups, Israeli and German solar firms, Chevron, speculators - all are scrambling to lock up hundreds of thousands of acres of long-worthless land now coveted as sites for solar power plants.  

The land rush is setting the stage for a showdown between solar investors and those who want to protect a fragile environment that is home to the desert tortoise and other rare critters. The Southwest, especially the Mohave Desert in California and Northeast Arizona, is on the cusp of what could be a green revolution. And the biggest obstacle of all may be ... environmentalists.

To read more on this story, click here.

A retired couple stranded in the Southern Utah desert for four days subsisted on crackers and soda before abandoning their car, and hiking to safety.

Ray and Sue Beard, ages 67 and 61, are back home in Pennsylvania after the directions supplied by their portable navigation device led them far off the beaten path in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, 1.9-million acres of rugged public land.  On May 27^th, they were traveling to Torrey, Utah, from the northern edge of Arizona.  To give you an idea of the desolation, Sue said they only passed one person in seven hours - A man operating a road grader.

Five hours into their drive, a road sign alerted them that the road they were supposed to turn left onto was impassable because of rain storms.  Sue said. “Instead of turning around, we listened to the GPS and turned right.  We got stuck on a mountain, our tires in a rut.”  (See picture)

Freeing the car four hours later, hidden damage stranded Ray and Sue in a hidden canyon on Croton Road, about 38 miles from the civilization of Big Water, Utah.  They tried to dial 911, but their cell had no service, a common problem in many of the Southwest’s national and state parks.

Sue, who is also a non-insulin dependent diabetic said she heard it was better to stay near your vehicle when faced with a similar situation because vehicles are easier to see from planes and all their supplies were in the car.  So, she and Ray sat in the car with all four doors open to let the slight breeze in.  However, once opened, chiggers, known to make their homes in sand, feasted on them.

With only scant supplies, clean clothes, eight packs of peanut butter crackers, some apples, a few snack bars, four bottles of water and 12 cans of Diet Coke, their situation looked dire.  They wrote letters to their family and amendments to their wills while daytime temperatures soared to the 90s and overnight lows fell to the 30s. 

"We each had three crackers every morning and we savored them like juicy steaks," Sue Beard said.  Aware that they would not last much longer unless they ventured out for help, the Beards gathered their remaining supplies on May 31 and hiked to a main road.  Battling dehydration, it took the couple more than five hours to cover about 7.5 miles before they were awakened by the sound of a passing motorcycle.  They were airlifted to a hospital in Page, Ariz., and spent five hours in the emergency room.

The Beards hope their experience will serve as a warning to others who travel in unfamiliar territory without checking the route supplied by a GPS device.  Ray said their first mistake was not visiting the local Bureau of Land Management offices to confirm the route and make sure it was safe, as the local maps and literature suggest.

If you aren’t alarmed yet…The cost to tow their rental back to Arizona was $3,000!

Under Scottsdale’s new dust-control ordinance, a popular desert trails area in Scottsdale could be off limits to jeep tours, all-terrain vehicles and possibly hikers. 

Dust is considered pollution.  These rules are part of a state law passed last year to meet federal pollution-control requirements from the U.S. EPA.  Maricopa County and its cities risk losing $7 billion in federal highway funding if they do not comply with federal mandates.

Even hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians could see their access restricted to state trust lands at the Granite Mountain Multiuse Area northeast of Dynamite and Pima roads, and its 89 miles of trails.  The conservancy, which backs Scottsdale's adjacent McDowell Sonoran Preserve, supports the ATV ban and hopes to eventually acquire the state land for the preserve.

At minimum, Scottsdale would have to pave or treat the parking lots with a dust suppressant to keep the parking lots and trail heads open.  Fencing may also be required.

The goal is to re-establish the species in part of the historic range where it was hunted to the brink of extinction in the early 1900s.

A program to release Mexican gray wolves in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona has more support in Arizona than in New Mexico, according to an April/May poll commissioned by wildlife groups and environmentalists.  The Albuquerque-based market research and public opinion research company questioned 500 registered voters in each state, by telephone. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4.4%. 

The 19-question poll showed 77% of Arizonans and 69% of New Mexicans support or strongly support reintroducing wolves on public lands in their states, while 21 percent of New Mexicans and 13 percent of Arizonans oppose the program.  Respondents who knew most about the program were more likely to have stronger feelings in support or stronger feelings in opposition. 

The survey result showed support for rancher concerns as well.  Critics contend the policy favors ranching interests and prevents a thriving wolf population.  Ranchers say it targets wolves that habitually kill cattle.  Also, environmental groups have sued to overturn the three strikes rule.

Dave Parsons, former coordinator of the program for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, believes the high support "represents a societal change over time, where people increasingly identify with and value nature and wild animals."

There were 52 Mexican gray wolves in the wild in January, the last count by U.S.F.W., which began releasing wolves along the New Mexico-Arizona border 10 years ago.  Wildlife biologists had hoped to have 100 wolves in the wild by 2006, but their numbers are actually dropping. 

While people who live in wolf release areas should be listened to, the program managers should not lose sight of the fact that these are public lands that belong to the people of New Mexico and Arizona, Parsons said.  To visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website, click here.

The western section of the old Route 66, from Ash Fork, AZ to Topock, AZ is actually the longest continuous stretch of the old "Mother Road" left  in the United States.

Not surprising that this stretch of highway attracts people from all over the country, not to mention other countries, too.  Within this 189-mile stretch, people are able to really experience Route 66 the way that it used to be.

Here are some great links:

Chris Kimbrough is the chairman and trail boss of this year's Phoenix Jaycee's Comanchero Pony Express Ride.  (Pictured here in the Scottsdale Jaycee's Parada Del Sol Parade)

He is proud to be a member of a organization that has the motto “WE KEEP THE KIDS IN OUR SIGHTS AT ALL TIMES”

Here is my recent interview with Chris:  (May 2008)

In 1898, before the Grand Canyon was a national park, before there was even a National Park Service and before Arizona was even a state, not many had the means to visit the mile-deep gorge.  It was mostly just a handful of adventurers, prospectors, the American Indians whose people had lived there for centuries, and the Verkamp Family operating out of a tent on the South Rim.

Verkamp's opened in a permanent building on the South Rim in 1906.  The Verkamps' chocolate brown, two-story store (pictured) hasn't changed much in its 102 years. It still sits about 100 feet from the edge of the Grand Canyon and it still sells hand-selected items from local American Indian artists and regional traders.  Woven Navajo rugs hang from the ceiling, deer and buffalo heads eye customers from the rustic, wooden walls and people warm themselves in front of a giant, crackling fire. 

These days, the Grand Canyon has luxury lodges and cute coffee shops. The only thing it won't have come September is the Verkamps and their store, Verkamp's Curios.  The family chose to give in to what they call "bureaucratic process fatigue."  "There's just so many hoops to do what you've always been doing," said Susie Verkamp, the 60-year-old granddaughter of founder John George Verkamp. "It kind of wears you out."  Susie also said there was no one left in the family to run the shop.

If you cannot visit the store in person, click here to visit their website.

Well into his eighties, John Hampton, one of the founders of the Cowboy Artists of America (CAA), was still painting, drawing, and sculpting the many stories of the American West. 

In 1918, Hampton was born in Brooklyn NY, but made his way west at an early age. As a boy, he had shown an early aptitude for art and won a drawing contest.  Years later, while he was working as a cowboy in New Mexico, his boss told him that he had the makings of a good cowboy, but an even better artist. Hampton combined those two pursuits for the rest of his life. One of his early jobs was working as an illustrator for newspaper comic strips, including Fred Harman’s Red Ryder and Little Beaver.

In addition to working many years as a cowhand, he continued to keep his cowboy skills well-honed even after he turned to art full time.  As Hampton later recalled, “We didn’t feel the necessity to wait around and let the Eastern critics tell us what was worth painting in the West.”  He remained one of the CAA’s spiritual leaders from its inception until his death in 2000.  Like the legend himself, tall crown hats, high topped boots, and slick fork saddles are the earmarks of a Hampton painting. (pictured)

Visit the Cowboy Artist's website by clicking here.

Visit Hyatt Regency Scottsdale's Native American Learning Center, as I did, for a unique opportunity to speak first-hand with a member of the Native American community about their traditions and culture.  The performance includes hoop dancing, known as the "dance of life." World-champion hoop dancer Derrick “Suwaima” Davis creates hoop animals, butterflies and globes. Says Davis, “To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak”.  You'll see interpretations of many animals and plants during these special dances at the Fountain Court (Pictured), Fridays at 5:00 pm, year-round.

Experience one of the many "Native Trails" events, co-sponsored by the Fort McDowell Yavapai Tribe (click here)and the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts (click here), from now through April 5th. These annual events occur each year from January through April.

You can check out the new ‘tallest’ Saguaro near Tucson, or simply check back in 75 years to see how the new cacti are doing.

Could it be that nature is taking back the Colorado River Canyon, to restore it to the way it was before man arrived?  We don’t have long to wait.  To read more about this story, click here.

Charlie Dye, co-founder of the Cowboy Artists of America, had two natural talents. He was good with horses and could draw. Born in Colorado in 1906, Dye was introduced to cowboy life at an early age.  Dye spent much of his time as a working cowboy. His early days were spent drawing scenes from his own cowboy life, but had a wide variety of other pursuits like ranching, semi-pro football, and working as a politician’s bodyguard.

Dye acquired his formal art training in Chicago, then moved on to New York City, where he established himself in the field of magazine and book illustration. In the 1950’s his family made a trip to the West, and that led Dye to try his hand at Western art. For a short time, he taught art in Colorado, but he had greater success with his Western paintings, which were selling well in several galleries. Dye was successful enough to purchase a home and studio in Sedona in 1962, where he lived until his passing in 1972.

Disciplined by his many years as an illustrator, Dye was a prolific painter, gifted draftsman and natural storyteller.  Although Dye painted a wide variety of Western subjects, he had a passion for depicting the working cowboy.  His insider’s knowledge to his portraits of both the historic and contemporary cowboy is surely missed.

Visit the Cowboy Artist's website by clicking here.

It is not widely known that the Navajo Code Talkers took part in every assault the U.S. Marines conducted in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945, and were the greatest factor in the victory over Japan.  They served in all six Marine divisions, battalions and parachute units.  While able to decipher the codes used by the U.S. Army and Air Corps, the Japanese, known as skilled code breakers, never cracked the Navajo code used by the U.S. Marines.  Due to its amazing success, it was also used during the Korean conflict.

The idea of the Navajo language came from Philip Johnston, a Navajo missionary’s son and one of few non-Navajos who spoke it fluently.  Since Navajo has no alphabet or symbols, and is spoken only on the Navajo lands of the Southwest, Johnston knew it could withstand all attempts to decipher it.

Training at Camp Pendleton in California, the dictionary and all code words was memorized by about 400 Navajo Marine Code Talkers.  Simplified here, the secret dictionary mapped a Navajo word or expression to an English word or expression, then only the first letter of the translated word/expression was used to string together the completed message.  

Praised for their skill, speed and accuracy, the Navajo code talkers of World War II weren’t officially/publicly honored by the government until 1981, with progressively more honors to follow, including the Congressional Medal of Honor in 2001.  Sadly, only 5 of the original 29 Navajo code developers were alive at that time (pictured with President Bush).

The White Buffalo are sacred to Native Americans, and signify communication with the Creator through prayer with clear intent for Peace, Harmony and Balance for all life living in the Earth Mother.

Included with the tangible signs for world peace and harmony are seven sacred White Buffalo born on one ranch, Spirit Mountain Ranch just north of Flagstaff, Arizona.  According to biologists, the birth of a white buffalo is a rare occurrence indeed as only one in 10 million buffalo is born white.  If headed to Grand Canyon or Flagstaff, be sure to stop by the ranch.  To visit their website, click here. 

This mountain range and its state park, widely known for its spring blooms, is just 70 miles east-southeast of Phoenix, just north of Tucson, and is clearly visible from I-10.  The highest peak in the Picacho Mountains is Newman Peak (Pinal County, Elev. 4,508 feet).  Nearby mountains include the Silver Bell Mountains (20 miles southeast), the Sawtooths (15 miles southwest), Casa Grande Mountains (10 miles due west) and the Sacaton Mountains (20 miles northwest).   While in the area, you are likely to pass Casa Grande Ruins National Monument and it is near Saguaro National Park as well.

To visit the state park webpage, click here, or to see the 2008 desert bloom schedule, click here.

Welcome Spring. 

Due to the wetter-than-normal winter season, this will be a spectacular month for wildflower viewing in Arizona.  AZ State Parks has a great website, and posts wildflower pictures every day.  To see them, or plan a trip to one of the 31 state parks, click here.  The local wildflower hotline number is (602) 542-4988.  (I have been to 11 of the 31 state parks.)

Did you know that one of the best places for wildflower viewing, Picacho Peak State Park (pictured left), was also the site of a Civil War battle?  This year's battle re-enactments occur on March 8-9.  To visit the website, click here.

You can see Mexican gold poppies (deep yellow), brittlebush (yellow), lupine (purple), desert globe mallow (orange) and scorpionweed (purple) in the many Phoenix desert preserves.  North-facing slopes typically have the best displays.  Wildflowers normally are at their peak from late February through March. (Don't pick the flowers.)  From late February through mid-April, the deserts bloom with Mexican gold poppies, lupine and owl's clover.  Cacti usually begin blooming in April, with prickly pear in early May and saguaros teeming with gorgeous white flowers from mid-May to mid-June. Creosote, whitethorn acacia, blue paloverde and foothills paloverde bloom in April. Desert ironwood trees, bursting with lavender flowers, bloom in late May. Ocotillo won't be left out of the party - it usually sprouts red flowers in late April, and its branches often appear dead until then.

Happy 96th Birthday Arizona...On February 14, 1912, Valentine's Day, AZ became the 48th state. 

Get your valentine postmarked in Valentine, AZ.  Simply stamp it and mail it in a second/larger envelope, to C/O Postmaster, Valentine, AZ 86437.

Happy President's Day...Is McCain our next President?  If the Democrats fail to unite, I predict this liberal Republican & Senior Senator from Arizona will be our next President. (How does Colin Powell sound as a VP choice?!)

On February 3^rd, the next Super Bowl kicks off at the University of Phoenix Stadium in sunny suburban Glendale.  

Quiz:  What weighs 18.9-million-pounds yet is mobile on demand?  Click here for the answer.  Navigate to my Super Bowl page. 

Superbowl XLII (# 42) - February 3, 2008 - Glendale, AZ

Annual HashKnife Pony Express (1/29/08 to 2/1/08) - Holbrook to Scottsdale (January 25th Deadline)

Merry Christmas.  Enjoy Sedona's 34th Annual Festival of Lights (December 8th) & 17th Annual Red Rock Fantasy (November 15 - January 1)  

Actually, Mystery Castle is neither a mystery nor is it a castle.  Mystery Castle has 18 rooms and 13 fireplaces, and some items in the house have well-known names associated with them, such as original Frank Lloyd Wright furniture.  It was built by Boyce Luther Gulley, who abandoned his wife and daughter in 1930 in Seattle after learning that he had tuberculosis.  Mary Lou Gulley was just a toddler when her father unexpectedly left and never returned.  Mary Lou still gives half the tour (the main house section).  Mystery Castle is fascinating, but meeting and talking to Mary Lou is the most interesting part of the tour. Mystery Castle is open October to mid-June, but call first, 602-268-1581.

Town of Jerome: This quirky former ghost town is alive with Arts and Halloween events all month, ending with Halloweeen, for which their hotels are often booked a year in advance.  Their annual ghost walk, a historical society fundraiser, should not be missed.  Visit the chamber of commerce website or just head for dinner at the Haunted Hamburger.  Remember to bring your walking shoes to this mountainside town and...Don't Go Alone.