Sedona

9780738548005

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Little more than a century ago, when only a handful of families lived in what is now Sedona, in Oak Creek Canyon, none would have dreamed it would become such a popular destination. The matchless
combination of bright blue skies and red rocks has inspired artists of every medium to attempt to capture the mystic formations. Fortunately some began almost before the town was named after the wife of early settler T. C. Schnebly, who organized the first post office, at the beginning of the 20th century. From early apple growers to artists, what has united the diverse residents of Sedona over time is the conviction that they have found one of the earth's great treasures.

Tombstone

9780738520964

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Tombstone sits less than 100 miles from the Mexico border in the middle of the picturesque Arizona desert and also squarely at the heart of America's Old West. Silver was discovered nearby in 1878, and with that strike, Tombstone was created. It soon grew to be a town of over 10,000 of the most infamous outlaws, cowboys, lawmen, prostitutes, and varmints the Wild West has ever seen. The gunfight at the O.K. Corral made Wyatt Earp and John Henry "Doc" Holliday legendary and secured Tombstone's reputation as "The Town Too Tough to Die." In this volume, more than 200 striking images and informative captions tell the stories of the heroes and villains of Tombstone, the saloons and brothels they visited, the movies they inspired, and Boot Hill, the well-known cemetery where many were buried.

Cover image for Tombstone, isbn: 9780738520964

Tucson, Arizona

9780738507743

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The history of Tucson and its people is long and distinguished. Archaeological records demonstrate that Tucson was inhabited from about 300 to 1300 A.D. by a people called the Hohokam. Through the centuries the flags of Spain, Mexico, the Confederacy, and the United States have flown over Tucson. Images of cowboys and Indians, preachers and gamblers, miners and gunslingers, ladies of the night and churchmen, leave an indelible imprint on the history of this town. From remote Spanish presidio outpost, to Mexican village, to modern metropolis, Tucson has endured. After Mexico's revolution against Spain in 1821, Tucson became part of Mexico. With the 1853 Gadsden Purchase, Tucson joined the United States as part of the Arizona Territory, achieving statehood in 1912. After California's gold rush, many disappointed prospectors (the famous "49ers") stopped and stayed in Tucson. The expansion of the railroad brought many more immigrants. After World War One, many veterans with tuberculosis sought relief in Tucson's warm dry climate. After World War Two, veterans remembered their training during warm winters and moved to Tucson permanently.

Jerome

9780738558820

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The rugged mining community of Jerome has thrived by the hard work and hard play of tough men and women pitted against an equally hard mountain. William Murray solicited funding for the Black Hills mining camp from his uncle, a New York lawyer and financier named Eugene Murray Jerome, who reportedly was not interested. However, his independent wife was delighted at the prospect and raised $200,000 in development capital for Murray. In 1882, Frederick F. Thomas, Jerome's first postmaster, named the mining camp "Jerome" in honor of the family. Jerome boomed, ultimately reaching a reported population peak of 15,000 in the 1920s, then dwindling to a ghost town after the mines closed. In 1967, the town was designated a National Historic Landmark, and today it is a flourishing artist community, as well as a motorcycle and travel destination.

Portal of the Chiricahuas

9781467115148

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Coronado scorned this region as unpopulated when he labored through southeastern Arizona in 1540, but he could have found 12,000-year-old spear points in the remains of giant bison near Cave Creek Cienega, grinding hollows in boulders, and shamanic figures in high caves of the Chiricahuas towering above valleys and grasslands. Searing drought forced people to abandon their villages by 1400, but Apaches wandered down from Canada about the time Spaniards passed by. Thousands of forty-niners traveled in sight of the mountains on their race to California. The Chiricahua Apaches were exiled to Florida in 1886; even earlier, their lands were opened to settlement. Portal began in 1902 as a rest stop between the railroad and the boom town of Paradise. Since 1956, the Southwestern Research Station of the American Museum of Natural History has attracted countless researchers. The present community is a vibrant mix of biologists, birders, astronomers, writers, artists, and ranchers, united by love for this unique canyon.

Early Tucson

9780738556468

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Tucson is a history of time and a river. The roots of prehistoric habitation run deep along the Santa Cruz River, reaching back thousands of years. Later the river attracted 17th-century Spanish explorers, who brought military government, the church, and colonists to establish the northern outpost of their New World empire. Later still, American westward expansion drew new settlers to the place called Tucson. Today Tucson is a bustling multicultural community of more than one million residents. These images from the photographic archives of the Arizona Historical Society tell the stories of individuals and cultures that transformed a 19th-century frontier village into a 20th-century desert city.

Around Tombstone:

9780738571270

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The communities that once surrounded the infamous Wild West town of Tombstone, including Dos Cabezas, Fairbank, Gleeson, Pearce, Courtland, Charleston, and Milltown, are now mostly ghosts of their former selves. These rich mining towns had promising futures when they were first established, but many experienced only fleeting boom times, like Courtland, a promising copper camp that survived only 12 years. During its short existence, the town of Charleston, founded in 1879 as a milling site for ore from Tombstone's silver mines, was every bit as wild and rowdy as its neighbor. There was corruption in the region too. Dos Cabezas's Mascot Mine became part one of the largest stock scandals of the time when it was exposed around 1900. Today this fascinating, rough-and-tumble history lives on primarily in faded memories, crumbling remnants on the outskirts of Tombstone, and in vintage photographs gathered together in this volume.

Mesa

9780738548425

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From the prehistoric Native Americans to the first wave of pioneers in 1877 and all who came later, the desert lands east of Phoenix have been a rich and fertile home to a wide diversity of people. Surmounting the early challenges of settling the mesa top and moving water uphill gave rise to a resilient agricultural community famous for cotton, citrus, grapes, and other crops. The boom years that began in the 1950s ushered in a new wave of industry and change to the city of Mesa. Large corporations created jobs, new freeways formed a corridor into the heart of the community, educational and health care facilities improved and expanded, and the advent of air conditioning brought tourists from all over the world. Now boasting a population of over 450,000, Mesa has truly evolved from its pioneer beginnings to a modern city in the Valley of the Sun.

Bisbee

9780738528946

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In the early 1900s, it was the largest city between St. Louis and San Francisco, bustling with the raw material of Wild West legends. Bisbee's infamous Brewery Gulch once supported 47 saloons and was considered the "liveliest spot between El Paso and San Francisco." By the 1970s, opportunists had relieved Bisbee's Mule Mountains of billions of pounds of copper, 102 million ounces of silver, 2.8 million ounces of gold, and millions of pounds of zinc, lead, and manganese. The ore reserves were depleted, and when the last pickaxe struck plain old dirt, a mass exodus of miners collapsed the real estate market. But the lure of cheap land was a magnet for retirees, hippies, and artists. Boarding houses were converted into charming bed and breakfasts. Antique stores, galleries, cafes, and restaurants replaced the saloons. These days, a vibrant and eclectic community of ranchers, politicians, and free spirits; a well-preserved architectural and historic heritage; and "the most perfect year-round climate" make Bisbee, the county seat, a one-of-a-kind gem.

Visiting the Grand Canyon

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The Colorado River began carving a course to create the Grand Canyon some four to six million years ago, but organized tourism to the natural wonder is fairly young, geologically speaking. Getting to the view along and below the rim has not always been as convenient as packing up the family car and hitting the road. The El Tovar Hotel, celebrating its centennial in 2005, had just opened to lodgers when the Canyon was declared a National Monument in 1908. Between the 1890s and the 1920s, horses, mules, river rafts, stagecoaches, and later railroads and automobiles permitted increasing access to the area. Recreation areas, businesses catering to tourists, and federal preservation programs would eventually mark the Grand Canyon as the ultimate American travel destination.

Clifton and Morenci Mining District

9781467134316

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Across America, from big cities to small towns and rural hamlets, there are many stories of challenges, historic events, courageous people, tragedy, and success. Some of the best and most exciting tales may not be well known. Such is the case for the towns of Clifton and Morenci, Arizona. They survived labor strikes, rising and falling copper prices, devastating floods, outlaws and lawlessness, gambling houses, and saloons. All this added to the lore that these towns were some of the roughest communities in the West. Today, after 143 years of mining, Freeport-McMoRan's Morenci copper mine is the largest in North America. Expansion has required new homes in Clifton-Morenci, a modern library, and recreational facilities. Residents are proud of their communities.

Superior and Queen Valley

9780738579658

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Superior and Queen Valley share a rich history. Superior began with the establishment of Generals Stoneman and Crook's military installation to ward off Apache raids in the 1870s. Soon thereafter, while digging for a new road, a soldier named Sullivan discovered Arizona's richest silver deposit, later known as the Silver King Mine. Then with the help of Col. Boyce Thompson, who developed the Magma Copper Company, Superior also became Arizona's biggest copper operation. In 1915, Queen Valley began with Hart Mullins, the area's first official homesteader. Hart worked as a Superior Route stagecoach hand and helped develop a route from Phoenix through Superior and Queen Valley. Today both Superior and Queen Valley remain two towns where the rich history and close-knit community culture of the Old West are alive and well.

Payson

9780738584577

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Beneath the escarpment of the Mogollon Rim in Gila County lies Payson, Arizona. Founded as Green Valley in 1882 by ranchers and miners, the town site of Payson was laid out by local blacksmith James C. Callaghan and local merchant and cattle rancher John C. Hise. Two years later, local rancher and Native American fighter Charlie Meadows founded the Payson Rodeo in a mid-town meadow, which ultimately became the world's oldest continuous rodeo. When the cattle and timber industries declined, Payson evolved into a retirement and tourist destination. People looking for places to hike, bike, fish, hunt, and camp are attracted to the Payson area, which is also popular for its festivals and historic sites. A replica of Zane Grey's cabin stands next to the local museum, and the Tonto Natural Bridge is just 11 miles outside of town.

Grand Canyon's Phantom Ranch

9780738585253

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Phantom Ranch is nestled in the Grand Canyon basin on the Colorado River--a location hardly visible from the rim and only accessible after a journey through scores of geologic layers. The only way there is by river rafting, hiking, or mule, and with each foot of the journey, the traveler descends 30,000 years in geologic time. While at Phantom Ranch, the view looking above is of 1.7 billion years of geology, all swirling together in an alphabet of colors. Grand Canyon's Phantom Ranch is the story of the rustic buildings designed by architect Mary Jane Colter in 1921, of the park's first peoples, river rafters, the early trail and bridge builders, and dramatic flash floods. When travelers leave Phantom Ranch, they are never the same. For some of them, departing is as if they have just said good-bye to an old friend.

Early Phoenix

9780738548395

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Like the mythical bird it is named after, Phoenix rose from the desert heat to become a prosperous and vital city. Settled on the lands of the ancient Hohokam Indians, Phoenix began as an agricultural community in the 1860s. It was appointed county seat
of Maricopa County in 1871 and territorial capital in 1889. By 1900, town boosters were calling Phoenix an "Oasis in the Desert" and the "Denver of the Southwest." By 1920, Phoenix was on its way to being a metropolitan city with a population of 29,053 and sporting an eight-story "skyscraper." Many farsighted individuals documented this development through photographs, allowing today's residents to see the community's amazing growth from small town to big city.

Scottsdale

9780738548753

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Just a century ago, the now-tony tourist destination of Scottsdale was a tiny farming village in the pristine desert east of Phoenix. Named for its 1888 homesteaders--U.S. Army chaplain Winfield Scott and his wife, Helen--Scottsdale remained a farming and ranching community through World War II. After the war, businesses and families flocked to Scottsdale for its climate and unlimited opportunities--creating a place they branded "The West's Most Western Town." Throughout the decades, residents and visitors alike have enjoyed adventures in the desert; a thriving arts, crafts, and cultural community; a healthful climate and healthcare industry; and fun-packed events and outdoor sports. Residents have had the additional benefits of living and working in a great hometown, with excelling schools, an international reputation for environmental preservation, and a diverse economy that boasts an eclectic array of businesses.

Kayenta and Monument Valley

9780738586304

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In December 1910, Indian traders John and Louisa Wetherill opened their trading post--with a tent for supplies (and sleeping) and a store counter of boards laid across two barrels. From that modest beginning, Kayenta became the center of Navajo gatherings and exploring expeditions to Rainbow Bridge, Monument Valley, and the grand cliff dwellings in Tsegi Canyon. Soon came a parade of visitors, including authors, painters, and archaeologists, as well as cowboys, miners, traders, and tourists. The Kayenta Township today is home to descendants of the early inhabitants and the hub for thousands of annual visitors from around the world who come to see the magnificent region known as Monument Valley.

Southern Arizona Cemeteries

9781467131230

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In a quest to understand an area as diverse as Arizona, there can be no better way than to take a journey to the grave sites of its pioneers and observe the style whereby they made their journey from this world. The sites may be as simple as a cross or a shrine by the side of a road or as large as Tucson's Evergreen Cemetery, which has provided a final resting place to more than 40,000 interments. In this book, one will find the graves of governors, sheriffs, gunfighters, business owners, soldiers, schoolteachers, sports figures, madams, miners, and many others from all walks of life. Where possible, an image of the deceased and a brief bio has been included. The epitaphs, symbols, and expressions of grief on the graves provide an insight into the loss felt by family and friends. The graves are brief glimpses into Arizona's pioneer past.

Willcox

9780738571775

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Founded in 1880, Willcox became a major supply center for the military posts, the booming mining towns, and the huge cattle ranches in the surrounding area. Willcox is surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges that are just a short trip, and yet a world away, from Tucson. Many historic buildings have been preserved and are now museums and stores, including the original Southern Pacific train depot and the oldest store in Arizona to remain in its original building. The high desert country of Sulphur Springs Valley attracts thousands of rare Sandhill Cranes, which draws birders to the Wings Over Willcox event every January. October brings the annual Rex Allen Days that honor one of Willcox's native sons and last of the silver-screen cowboys. The Old West still lives here through tales of Apache Indians, train robberies, and shootings-Warren Earp was killed at Willcox's Headquarters Saloon. Perhaps the area is most known, though, for its friendliness and Western hospitality.

The Hopi People

9780738556482

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The diverse people of the Hopi, whose name means "the peaceful ones," are today united on the Hopi Reservation, which is composed of 12 villages on more than 2,500 square miles in northeastern Arizona. In fact, the village of Orayvi is considered the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the United States, dating back more than a millennium. Often referred to as a "corn culture," the Hopis have developed dry-farming techniques that have sustained them in the harsh, arid landscape, where annual precipitation is often only 12 inches or less. The Hopi people are hardworking and spiritual, and their lifestyle has survived for centuries, only minimally changed by influences from the outside world.

New River

9781467115933

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Long before the cavalry and stagecoaches traveled through on military roads and the Old Black Canyon Stage Road, the ancient Hohokam people relied on New River's peaks for fortresses and lookouts. In the late 1800s, the military sweep of the last native people, the Apache and Yavapai, rendered the region safe for settlers. Situated between the cool north and the hot, arid Salt River Valley below, New River became a key location for watering sheep and cattle driven between seasonal pastures. Ranches, such as the Triangle-Bar, sprang to life in the cactus-studded foothills. From the 1920s to the 1940s, the arrival of tough, capable homesteaders formed the community that thrives today. Still an unincorporated area of north Maricopa County, New River retains its western heritage and scenic desert vistas

Flagstaff

9780738571157

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On July 4, 1876, immigrants from Boston traveling to California were camped at Antelope Spring in a valley just south of the San Francisco Peaks. To celebrate the nation's centennial, the pioneers stripped the branches off a tall pine tree and ran up Old Glory. This event gave Flagstaff its name. Six years later, in 1882, the Atlantic and Pacific Railway reached Flagstaff, and a small settlement was born. Railroad construction crews used local ponderosa pine trees for rail ties, beginning a timber industry that thrived in the region for the next century. Flagstaff also became a center of tourism as visitors came to see spectacular natural sights in the surrounding territory, including the Grand Canyon, Oak Creek Canyon, and Sunset Crater, and to experience the Native American cultures of the American Southwest. This volume traces the establishment and early development of Flagstaff and depicts many facets of life in Arizona's "Mountain Town."

Williams

9780738558851

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Nestled under the pine-covered slopes of Bill Williams Mountain, the city of Williams is a beloved hamlet that attracts fans of history, Route 66 cars, and vintage steam engines, as well as Grand Canyon visitors and rodeo enthusiasts. Since its beginning in the late 1800s, the city has since played host to cowboys, ranchers, sawmill and rail workers--along with their families--and even an outlaw or two. Mountain men embraced the history of trapping and the city's namesake when they formed the Bill Williams Mountain Men in the 1950s. Longtime residents and then-Arizona governor Barry Goldwater continued that tradition with the creation of Monument Park in 1980, at which time they unveiled a 1,100-pound statue of Bill Williams and kicked off the first annual Rendezvous Days celebration, an event that continues to this day. Williams is a town that showcases the varied history and culture of the Southwest in a unique small-town setting that charms both visitors and residents to this day.

Old San Carlos

9780738558912

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Established in 1873, the San Carlos Indian Agency provided a reservation for the area's Western Apache bands. A U.S. Army post was created nearby to exert military control. Together the original agency and army post are known today as Old San Carlos. From 1874 to 1877, the U.S. government's peace policy directed additional Apache groups and other regional natives to San Carlos. Ensuing turmoil, including renewal of traditional intergroup rivalries and rebellion against civilian and military control, initiated the familiar Apache Wars. These campaigns were fought through the 1870s and 1880s, as Apache rebels intermittently broke from the reserve and returned to former haunts or sought refuge in northern Mexico. By all accounts--from white civilians, military personnel, and native people alike--the San Carlos Agency and army post was an inhospitable locale, compounded by recurring instability and conflict.

Winslow

9780738596525

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In 1880, the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad laid out the Winslow townsite along its new transcontinental line through northeastern Arizona Territory because the nearby Little Colorado River supplied a vital water source. The river had sustained the prehistoric Homol'ovi villages, and a passable ford across the river brought trails, wagon roads, and Mormon settlers to the area before the railroad arrived. This high desert boomtown blossomed into a bustling city when the Santa Fe Railway bought the A&P and transferred division headquarters to Winslow. Along with a shipping point for area ranches, trading posts, and lumber mills, the railroad provided passenger service to the alluring Southwest. Travelers enjoyed fine dining by Fred Harvey and the Harvey Girls and lodging at architect Mary Colter's La Posada Hotel. As automobiles replaced rail travel in the 1920s, the highway running through downtown Winslow became part of the famed US Route 66. Interstate 40 eventually bypassed downtown, but Winslow's historic attractions, Standin' on the Corner Park, and nearby Hopi and Navajo lands continue to lure visitors from around the world.

Arizona's Historic Bridges

9781467133449

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Arizona was once just a passage for pioneers headed west for gold, religious freedom, and cheap land. Native Americans had lived in and explored the territory for years, but it was Manifest Destiny and the western expansionist philosophy of the burgeoning US government that created the impetus for better and faster routes across the vast territory with its topographical challenges. In the 1880s, the railroads first booted their way across the landscape, following historic trails before the highways were built. The Grand Canyon and Colorado River were obvious challenges, but there were also seasonal waterways that needed crossings. The history of the state unfolds with this book, profiling the bridges that define these historic transportation routes. Many of them have been proudly restored by their communities or the state, while others are gone or are in a sad state of decline.

Pima County

9780738595313

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In the southwestern United States, Pima County encompasses a mosaic of cultures and history. Living together in this region are Native American tribes with roots going back to prehistoric times, descendants of Spanish settlers who colonized the valley in the late 1600s, Mexican families who settled the area before the 1854 Gadsden Purchase, and current generations of late-19th-century American pioneers who ventured into the borderland of the Arizona Territory seeking new beginnings. Signs of a rich cultural heritage are everywhere. The Tohono O'odham and Yaqui peoples are a vital part of the community. Preserved missions, presidio fortresses, and ranches are evidence of the legacy of Spanish exploration, mission building, and colonization that began in the late 1600s. Streets in Tucson, lined with Sonoran-style adobe houses, recall when this region was part of Mexico. Ghost towns, old mines, military forts, and Territorial-era ranch houses are visible reminders of a series of gold and silver rushes, the settling of the West, and the rise of a cattle industry.

Gilbert

9781467132855

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Gilbert is one of the fastest growing communities in the country. There were only 500 residents when the town was incorporated in 1920. Since 1980, the population has doubled every five years. But how did this small desert community come to have such explosive growth in just over 30 years? Early pioneers began arriving in 1890, and in 1902, the Arizona Eastern Railway decided to build a rail line from Phoenix that went through Florence to the mining town of Kelvin. After purchasing land from Bobby Gilbert, a depot was built in 1905, and the town began to grow. Because of the creation of canals and Roosevelt Dam, Gilbert became a thriving agricultural community. In 1971, Gilbert had less than 2,000 residents, and in 1975, the town council approved a land annexation that added over 53 square miles to Gilbert. In 2014, that population number approached 250,000. By 2040, Gilbert is expected to be the fourth largest community in Arizona with approximately 330,000 residents.

Clarkdale

9781467131391

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Clarkdale is recognized as a "Place of History" in the National Register of Historic Places, possessing both historical and architectural significance. Clarkdale's story began eons ago with the creation of its natural environment. The first people came thousands of years ago to this lush land, followed by subsequent cultures that made use of the abundant water, rich soil, and moderate climate. In the early 20th century, mining magnate William Clark built the smelter company town of Clarkdale; the agricultural age was soon replaced by the industrial age. Clark became one of the wealthiest men in America, with most of his money coming from the output of Clarkdale's smelter. Since the smelter closure in 1953, the former workers' homes, smelter site, and company lands have been recycled into today's homes, a tourist destination, and a place of museums, education, and the arts, all located within a spectacular environment of mountains and river. This book presents that story.

Early Yuma

9780738548579

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At the end of the 19th century, outlaws opined they would rather kill themselves than be taken alive to certain slow-boiled death in the caldron of Yuma's territorial prison, known nationally as "The Hell Hole." But to the pioneer residents of Yuma, the prison was the finest structure in town, sitting atop a breezy hill. When the prison was closed, Yuma's citizens used the abandoned structure as a school. That Yuma's residents lived happily where the West's most notorious outlaws feared to die is just one testament to the profound strength and perseverance of the first settlers of the community. This photographic history pays tribute to those men and women-Quechan, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo-who looked past the arid landscape to envision a thriving river port, then a mining center, and finally, a verdant valley and winter playground.

Sun City

9780738579511

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Sun City, Arizona, the nation's first master-planned, active-adult retirement community, reinvented the definition of "retirement living" when it opened its doors in 1960. Located 14 miles northwest of Phoenix, this community was cultivated from the dusty desert cotton fields once known as Marinette Ranch. Developed by master builder Del E. Webb, Sun City combined affordable housing with recreational amenities to create a lifestyle designed to rejuvenate the body and keep the mind and spirit feeling forever young. Sun City's success gave birth to an entirely new industry catering to older Americans. The famous "Sun City Lifestyle" remains as popular today as it was in 1960.

Apache Junction and the Superstition Mountains

9780738530406

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In pioneer lore, the Lost Dutchman's Mine remains an intriguing mystery of the Old West. What became Apache Junction in the Salt River Valley was already an established home for prehistoric Native Americans and the Apache tribe, when it was further settled and cultivated by Spanish and Mexican expeditions, American wagon trains, mountain men, and the U.S. military in the late 19th century. But Apache Junction became legendary when German immigrant Jacob Waltz discovered a secret gold mine. Thousands of prospectors traversed the "crooked top" Superstition Mountains in search of this treasure, enriching the area's history and leading to the development of a unique community that has endured and grown alongside the famous legend.

Apache Junction and the Superstition Mountains

A Legal History of Maricopa County

9780738548159

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The roots of Maricopa County's legal community reach as far back as the Spanish conquest of the New World. Since that time, soldiers, farmers, miners, adventurers, and others transformed this wild, lawless desert into a productive agricultural community, a tourist destination, and a center for commercial, financial, and political activity in the Southwest. The region's legal community--populated by diverse, distinguished, and sometimes infamous men and women--participated in every aspect of this development of Phoenix and the surrounding metropolitan area. The history of Maricopa County law, illustrated here in vintage photographs, reflects the social, political, economic, environmental, architectural, and cultural journey of what has become one of America's fastest growing and most populous counties.

Sunnyslope

9780738599571

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Founded in 1911 by William R. Norton, Sunnyslope is older than the State of Arizona. By 1919, the desert settlement had only four or five cottages and no roads, no electricity, and no running water. That soon changed as those recovering from tuberculosis sought the relief of Sunnyslope's dry climate. In 1927, the Desert Mission was established, with its nurses dubbed the "Angels of the Desert." This would eventually become the modern, multistory John C. Lincoln Hospital. A post-World War II boom saw Sunnyslope's population grow with small businesses, schools, and churches being established that still serve the community today. Annexed by the City of Phoenix in 1959, Sunnyslope, with its roughly 40,000 residents, retains its unique identity to this day.

Buckhorn Mineral Baths & Wildlife Museum

9781467126960

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From fire to empire, the story of the Buckhorn baths is a rags-to-riches tale. After a disastrous 1935 Christmas Eve fire destroyed their small country gas station/taxidermy business, a new, unimagined door opened for Ted and Alice Sliger. In 1936, the Sligers began turning tragedy into triumph, transforming a dusty patch of scrub-covered desert eight miles east of Mesa into a legendary roadside oasis. Their chance discovery of mineral-laden hot springs led to the valley's first therapeutic spa. With the New York Giants' initial attraction to Buckhorn's mineral baths, a decades-long association with Major League Baseball helped pave the way to Cactus League baseball. By the time it closed in 1999, the Sligers had built the Buckhorn into an iconic, quintessential roadside business along the route of four federal highways. It was renowned for its celebrity guests, eclectic architecture, colorful neon, mineral spa, retreat for baseball players, wildlife museum, and wide-ranging collection of memorabilia.