Name: Fort Sam Houston
Brand: John Manguso
SKU: 9780738596167
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Fort Sam Houston

9780738596167

$24.99

Fort Sam Houston has been San Antonio's Army post since 1845. Originally located in the city, elements of the post began moving to Government Hill in 1876. Fort Sam Houston became one of America's most important military installations, witnessing the end of the Indian Wars, the Spanish-American War, the birth of military aviation, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. "Fort Sam" contributed more than one million soldiers and airmen to the defense of the United States, including many of its most distinguished leaders. Its contributions to the nation merited its designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1974. More than 800 historic buildings are within its boundaries--more than at Colonial Williamsburg and the largest collection on any installation within the Department of Defense. Images of America: Fort Sam Houston portrays the fort during its first hundred years on Government Hill.

The Bolivar Peninsula

9781467133869

$24.99

The Bolivar Peninsula is a quirky coastal community consisting of Port Bolivar, Crystal Beach, Caplen, Gilchrist, and High Island. "The peninsula," as locals call it, is a 27-mile-long barrier formation. Bounded on one side by the Gulf of Mexico and on the other by the Intracoastal Waterway, it is a short ferry ride from Galveston, Texas. The history of the peninsula includes filibusterers, pirates, fierce natives, and headstrong settlers. A spirit of independence survives to this day, providing a continuation of the story of this unique landmass and its people. An unlikely conglomeration of cowboys and farmers, third- and fourth-generation landowners, retired executives and professors, fishermen, shrimpers, and birding enthusiasts comes together with weekenders and tourists to enjoy the beauty and bounty of the Gulf Coast. Its beautiful setting and wild, storied past make the Bolivar Peninsula a fascinating place to explore.

Railroads of Western Texas

9780738507668

$24.99

The Southern Pacific Railroad was the second transcontinental line built in America, and the first that was open year-round. Railroads of Western Texas brings to life the days of frontier towns, the open range, and the building of the state of Texas. This part of the state's railroad history includes politicians and movie stars, train wrecks and robberies, shoot-outs and gun-running. Railroads of Western Texas reveals engaging stories of San Antonio and El Paso during their boomtown years. It tells of the creation of communities out of whole cloth including Hondo, Sanderson, Marfa, and Sierra Blanca. Other towns-villages really-blossomed when the iron rails came through: Uvalde, Del Rio, Alpine, Valentine, and Judge Roy Bean's town Langtry (the man known as "The Law West of the Pecos"). The railroad featured the third highest bridge in the world (the High Bridge over the Pecos River), and the fourth largest man-made lake in the United States (Medina Lake). These rails carried men and munitions during the Spanish American War and the Punitive Expedition, and many more\ during the First and Second World Wars.

An Oral History of Tahlequah and The Cherokee Nation

9780738507828

$24.99

These pages are filled with memories and favorite tales that capture the essence of life in the Cherokee Nation. Ms. Duvall invites the reader to follow the tribe from its pre-historic days in the southeast, to early 20th century life in the Cookson Hills of Oklahoma. Learn about Pretty Woman, who had the power over life and death, or the mystical healing springs of Tahlequah. Spend some time with U.S. Deputy Marshals as they roam the old Cherokee Nation in pursuit of Indian Territory outlaws like Zeke Proctor and Charlie Wickliffe, or wander the famous haunted places where ghost horses still travel an ancient trail and the spirits of long-dead Spaniards still search for gold.

An Oral History of Tahlequah and The Cherokee Nation

Texas Lawmen, 1835-1899

9781609492168

$29.99

The tally of Texas lawmen killed during the state's first sixty-five years of organized law enforcement is truly staggering. From Texas Rangers the likes of Silas Mercer Parker Jr., gunned down at Parker's Fort in 1836, to Denton County sheriff 's deputy Floyd Coberly, murdered by an inmate in 1897 after ten days on the job, this collection accounts for all of those unsung heroes. Not merely an attempt to retell a dozen popular peace officer legends, Texas Lawmen, 1835-1899 represents thousands of hours of research conducted over more than a decade. Ron DeLord and Cliff Caldwell have carefully assembled a unique and engaging chronicle of Texas history.

San Angelo and Arthur Stilwell's Dream of Steam

9781467153492

$23.99

The Story of the Railroad Visionary Who Put San Angelo on the Map. Over 100 years ago, Arthur Stilwell built 2,300 miles of railroad, founded 40 cities, and added $1 billion to the US economy. He was a visionary. He was controversial. He picked San Angelo for a main depot on his Kansas City, Mexico and Orient railway line. But he hadn't counted on the Mexican Revolution and challenging characters like the revolutionista general, Pancho Villa. Meanwhile, San Angelo wrestled with neighboring Texas town Sweetwater for the right to host the depot. Dr. Linda Thorsen Bond sorted through scores of sources to piece together the fascinating fragments of Stilwell's dream of steam.

San Angelo and Arthur Stilwell's Dream of Steam

A History Lover's Guide to Albuquerque

9781467142052

$21.99

This tour of New Mexico's largest city goes beyond the traditional guidebook to offer a historical journal through an area rich with diverse cultures and their fascinating past. The journey through time starts with the settlement of Native Americans in pueblos along the Rio Grande and then initiatives by Spain to settle and convert the region. Visit Old Town Plaza, where trade from the El Camino Real and Santa Fe Trails flourished. Look around lesser-known sites, including railroad depot facilities, major military landmarks and nostalgic Route 66. Join author and local history lover Roger Zimmerman as he carefully curates an expedition through each era of Albuquerque's history and its most beloved sites.

Historic Tales of Arlington, Texas

9781625858955

$21.99

Even before its immense population surge, Arlington never dreamed small. In the 1930s, Arlington Downs attracted thousands to its state-of-the-art horse racing facility. Just three decades later, Six Flags Over Texas opened, cementing a reputation as an entertainment destination. The hubbub of the stadiums and shopping complexes that followed often obscured other parts of the community's rich heritage, including far-reaching contributions to the disability rights movement. The city suffered growing pains as well, such as the demise of college football and the deadly 1892 train depot shootout that ended the town's lawless period. Join Evelyn Barker, along with Davis McCown, Leslie Wagner and Trevor Engel, for the forgotten details of Arlington's dynamic past.

The 1913 McKinney Store Collapse

9781467139502

$21.99

A powerful vibration, a deafening noise and a swell of thick dust brought residents of McKinney pouring into the public square on the afternoon of January 23, 1913. What they saw was horrifying--an entire building had collapsed, demolishing two popular retailers, the Cheeves Mississippi Store and Tingle Implement Store. Their contents, including many shoppers and clerks, spilled out into the streets, where layer upon layer of debris settled into a massive, ragged pile. In spite of a herculean rescue effort, eight people perished. Carol Wilson sifts through the disaster and its aftermath, dredging up some troubling facts about how the tragedy might have been prevented.

Garland

9781467132268

$24.99

Garland began as an amalgamation of a number of rural communities in northeastern Dallas County. A compromise solution to the rivalry of two railroad towns, Duck Creek and Embree, it is now the 12th largest city in Texas and the 87th most populous city in the United States. Evolving from its origins as a farming community, by the 1950s, Garland had become an industrious suburb of the Dallas metro area. The can-do spirit of the community has enabled its stalwart pioneer settlers to overcome natural disasters and make necessary improvements that contributed to its growth and position in the county. Surrounded by interstates, toll roads, and connecting rail lines, Garland links the Dallas Metro with Northeast Texas. Its future continues to diversify and adapt to the growing environments of Texas.

Oklahoma City

9780738503141

$24.99

The first session of the 59th Congress introduced the
consideration of the statehood bill, providing for the admission of two states: one to be composed of the Indian and Oklahoma Territories, and the other formed by uniting Arizona and New Mexico Territories. The Omnibus Statehood Bill became law on June 14, 1906. On the morning of November 16, 1907, more than 10,000 residents from Oklahoma City
traveled to Guthrie to celebrate their recently won statehood. Using over 200 images combined with well-documented facts from city directories, newspapers, and first-hand accounts, this book chronicles Oklahoma City''s unique history from its beginnings in the early 20th century as Packingtown to the
Depression Era. Also featured are many glimpses into the city''s everyday past'--scenes of residents enjoying a day at Belle Isle, the State Fair, and on the streets of downtown'--and a section on Henry Samuel Overholser, the Father of Oklahoma City.

Austin's Montopolis Neighborhood

9781467131766

$24.99

Montopolis is a multiethnic neighborhood located approximately four miles southeast of downtown Austin. The area was long visited and occasionally occupied by various Texas Indian nations; the first documented European or American to settle here was Jessie C. Tannehill, who in 1830 built a cabin and townsite and gave the new community its pretentious name. Instead of establishing a permanent presence in Montopolis, however, subsequent European colonizers looked a few miles upriver to the new settlement of Waterloo, later to be called Austin. Rural and sparsely populated, the remainder of the 19th century saw the Montopolis area used primarily for plantation agriculture. In the 1920s, succeeding waves of Mexican migrants helped establish the modern neighborhood that exists today. Between the 1950s and 1970s, the City of Austin annexed Montopolis, although the area retains much of its rural character.

Mercedes

9781467132060

$24.99

Mercedes is located in Hidalgo County in South Texas in a geographic area called the Lower Rio Grande Valley, which is really a river delta at the mouth of the Rio Grande River first inhabited by Coahuiltecans. Spanish colonists arrived in this area in 1749 to establish ranching communities. In 1905, the American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company purchased land in the Llano Grande Spanish land grant, built Mercedes as a showcase headquarters, constructed the largest irrigation system then known, and proceeded to develop the area through commercialized agriculture. Home of notable author Dr. Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, G.I. Forum founder Dr. Hector P. García, Olympic athlete Billy Gene Pemelton, US congressman Rubén Hinojosa, and the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show, Mercedes continues to attract many visitors who seek the mild climate and warm hospitality of the town.

Lubbock

9781467108614

$23.99

Since its earliest days, the city of Lubbock has actively pursued opportunities and infrastructure for its citizens. Highlighted in this book are homes, businesses, buildings, and quality-of-life spaces that speak to this heritage.

Prescott Fire Department

9781467131780

$24.99

Founded in 1885, the Prescott Fire Department began with four 25-man volunteer companies, the Dudes, the Toughs, the Mechanics Hook & Ladders, and the O.K.s. These 100 men reflected both the common man and the leaders of the region. Over the years, their numbers would include governors-to-be F.A. Tritle and Thomas Campbell, business leaders H.D. Aitken and A.A. "Tony" Johns, and numerous members of the Goldwater family. The department and its community survived the great fire of July 14, 1900, as well as the loss of 19 of its own Granite Mountain Hotshots on June 30, 2013. The Prescott Fire Department would go from a volunteer department to a fully paid department of 80 firefighters, operating out of five stations and covering an area of 40 square miles.

Deadly Dallas

9781467148498

$21.99

With dynamite on grocery shelves and livestock rampaging through the streets, Dallas was a dangerous place in its formative years.

Spring 1904. An inexperienced automobile driver jumps the curb and drives into the lobby of the St. George Hotel. The mayor orders a roundup of unlicensed dogs due to a city-wide outbreak of rabies. An elevator crushes the head of a young man as he retrieves a half-dollar he had dropped down the shaft. Embers from a wood burning stove transform a sleeping house into a funeral pyre. A ten-year-old boy in City Park has a spike driven into his temple by a playmate with a fence picket. All this in just a few days.From airships falling from the sky to pestilence floating in on the Trinity, Rusty Williams catalogues the heartbreaking and bizarre forms in which death stalked Dallas at the turn of the twentieth century.

New Mexico’s Stolen Lands

9781467144032

$23.99

Faced with decades of land theft, New Mexicans seek justice.

When the Mexican-American War ended in 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo guaranteed previous Spanish and Mexican land grants, as well as rights for Native Americans to their ancestral homelands. However, organized property theft began soon after. People were methodically dispossessed of their homes through manipulation, conspiracy and even organized crime rings, leading to widespread poverty and isolation. Then in 1967, the Tierra Amarilla Courthouse Raid, led by charismatic civil rights leader Reies López Tijerina, brought the age-old struggle over these stolen lands to the national stage. Author Ray John de Aragón brings to light the suffering brought to New Mexico by land barons, cattlemen and unscrupulous politicians and the effects still felt today.

Wicked San Antonio

9781467137072

$23.99

Delve into San Antonio's wicked past, from the lawless lore of the Spanish settlement through the criminal misdeeds of the modern metropolis.

Residents of the Alamo City tolerated scores of cockfighting pits, gambling joints, opium dens, around-the-clock saloons and other places of ill-repute. Some disturbers of San Antonio's peace, like Judge Roy Bean, left town to achieve greater notoriety elsewhere. Others, like the thief who stole the McFarlin diamond, seemed to vanish into thin air. But all of them left a page-turning story behind. Mike Cox catalogues San Antonio's most infamous incidents and miscreants.

Pinnacle Peak

9780738579849

$24.99

Pinnacle Peak is north Scottsdale's most prominent landmark, rising out of the desert floor to an elevation of 3,170 feet. For years, Pinnacle Peak was Scottsdale's "secret" destination for hiking, rock climbing, and horseback riding. In 1985, with urban sprawl surging northward, Scottsdale's city council acted to preserve Pinnacle Peak as a municipal park. Pinnacle Peak visitors are impressed by the sweeping vistas, the rugged beauty of the Sonoran Desert, the manicured golf courses, and the unique wildlife. Few people realize that the surrounding landscape covers the forgotten footprints of prehistoric hunter-gatherers, Hohokam, Yavapai, the US Cavalry miners, homesteaders, ranchers, developers, and colorful characters of the past. Spanning 150 acres, Pinnacle Peak Park has become one of the most popular attractions in the Phoenix metropolitan area, and its scenic beauty is enjoyed by people from all over the world.

Goliad

9781455618415

$22.95

Personal stories of tragedy, bravery, ego, and cowardice in this often- overlooked battle for Texas independence.

This fast-moving narrative presents the struggles of the participants, both Texan and Mexican, and reveals the overriding egos and bad planning on both sides of the war.

By the beginning of the 19th century, the revolution against Spanish rule in the Americas and the westward expansion of the United States caught Texas in the middle of a battle for independence. On March 6, 1836, a Mexican army of 6,000 soldiers attacked and killed 189 revolutionaries in the Alamo. Exactly three weeks later, 342 surrendered Texans were executed at Goliad, the lesser-known of these two important battles.

Caprock Chronicles

9781467150804

$23.99

The hardpan layer of the Caprock undergirds the high plains of the Llano Estacado, where it has resisted erosion with the same tenacity that it has collected stories. From Apache hunting grounds to Mennonite settlements, the region is no stranger to the searching gaze of the weary traveler. Follow the career of Texas Tech's Señor Sack, the lure of the Wolfcamp Shale and the bloom of the Tahoka daisy. In this exceptional collection of forty-eight essays from local contributors, David Murrah and John T. "Jack" Becker continue the work of cataloguing the memory of the mesa.

Yukon

9781467107655

$23.99

Herding their cattle up the Chisholm Trail, the entrepreneurial Spencer brothers found the south side of the North Fork of the Canadian River appealing and began actively founding their settlement by 1890. They maneuvered the railroad through their village, and Yukon blossomed. The Yukon Mill and Grain Company took Yukon products across the nation and into Europe. Bohemians gravitated to the area, making Yukon the Czech capital of Oklahoma. Dale Robertson made Yukon his home, megastar Garth Brooks grew up in Yukon, and Yukon is central to Bob Funk's empire. And Route 66 blazes through the city's historic Main Street corridor.

Historic Tales of Flagstaff

9781467142410

$21.99

Flagstaff, Arizona, was originally settled in the 1870s as a railroad and lumber town on the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau, amid the ponderosa pines. Now most noted for its proximity to the Grand Canyon, the city offers a tantalizing combination of history and progress. Theodore Roosevelt, the Apollo astronauts, Walt Disney filmmakers, Navajo code talkers and Pluto-discoverer Clyde Tombaugh all feature in the area's fascinating past. Join authors Kevin Schindler and Michael Kitt as they relate the trials and triumphs that have given this town its charm, from the tumultuous days of the Wild West to the fast-paced twentieth century.

Haunted Jerome

9781467141659

$21.99

Jerome was once home to the largest copper mine in Northern Arizona, built on the steep terrain of Cleopatra Hill. The small town, population fifteen thousand at its peak, was shockingly nefarious.

Diversions for the hardworking miners came by way of saloons, gambling and ladies of the evening. Shootouts and murders, violent accidents in the mines and smelters and fires and diseases scourged its denizens. Life was tough on the mountain-death came too soon for many. When the copper mine closed in 1953, Jerome was rendered a ghost town, and its spirits still lurk among the living. The stories in this book will convince you they are here for a reason.

Around Aldine

9781467109161

$23.99

Straddling a major railroad with plenty of open prairie, 1890s Aldine offered an ideal real estate development to enterprising land agent Ferris Colby. Colby platted a townsite and marketed acreage to Northerners looking for a warmer climate. Advertisements by Colby, as well as Eugene Robertson, touted Aldine's agricultural potential. Satsuma oranges and magnolia figs provided early cash crops. Entrepreneur John Carpenter started a fig canning factory after winning a silver medal for preserved figs at the 1904 World's Fair. The orange and fig orchards failed by 1920, however, and local farmers switched to produce and dairying. In the early 1960s, the automobile and new freeways opened Aldine to suburban development. Houses, apartments, retail centers, and even a major airport replaced the farms and dairies, changing Aldine from a rural outpost to an almost indistinguishable part of Houston's near-endless urban sprawl.

Flatonia

9781467128698

$23.99

Flatonia owes its place on the map to the railroad and its name to German immigrant and entrepreneur F.W. Flato. The Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway first traversed southwestern Fayette County in 1874. Inexpensive land along the line attracted farmers and ranchers, and new shipping and trade opportunities enticed merchants. Immigrants of German and Czech origins mingled with Mexican Americans, African Americans, and transplants from the Southeastern United States. These diverse groups were known to brawl one minute and unite in a common cause the next. Flatonia's survival has depended upon its ability to adapt while honoring its heritage. As rail service declined, a location on the coast-to-coast Old Spanish Trail (US Highway 90) provided a steady flow of automobile traffic. Cotton disappeared, but cattle and egg production remained strong. The buildings of the Flatonia Commercial Historic District still retain their late-19th- to early-20th-century charm, earning distinction in the National Register of Historic Places.

Texas Shipwrecks

9781467116176

$24.99

The Texas coastline and offshore waters are flat, shallow, featureless, and filled with shoals. Texas waters are subjected to extreme weather, not just hurricanes and tropical storms but also northers and seasonal gales. This, combined with two centuries of naval warfare off Texas waters, produced many shipwrecks of all sorts, from Spanish treasure fleets to simple working boats. The ships of pirates, navies, cotton traders, immigrants, fishermen, and oil shippers line the Texas coast, cover the sea bottom off Texas, and blanket the bottom of Texas rivers. Each wreck has a story, romantic or repellent, prosaic or unusual, but all intriguing.

Ellington Field

9781467104807

$24.99

Ellington Field was one of 32 training airfields authorized by Congress in 1917. During World War I, it became one of the most highly regarded training fields in the United States, reaching a peak of 250 aircraft and 5,000 troops. From that peak, it experienced many ups and downs. Closed by 1940, it was reopened for World War II to conduct advanced aviation training. Closed again in 1946, it reopened for the Cold War as a combat and training air base. It then became NASA's airfield for Johnson Space Center. As the Cold War wound down, in 1984 Ellington became Houston's third municipal airport. From Jennies to jets, Ellington's story mirrors America's aviation history from 1917 to the 21st century.

Historic Restaurants of Tucson

9781625859907

$21.99

Tucson's culinary journey began thousands of years ago, when Native American tribes developed an agricultural base along the Santa Cruz River. In modern times, restaurants ranging from tiny taquerias to fine dining spaces all contributed to the local food culture. El Charro, serving Mexican cuisine since 1922, still attracts crowds from all over. Folks head straight to Pat's for a hot dog, Lucky Wishbone for some fried chicken or eegee's for a grinder and a cold, frosty drink. On any given night, the patio at El Corral is filled with diners anticipating their famous prime rib and tamale pie. Local food writer Rita Connelly brings to life the stories of beloved eateries that have endured for decades and continue to delight with incredible flavors.

Texas Oblivion

9781467147378

$21.99

On February 2, 1963, a tanker with thirty-nine men aboard departed Beaumont and never returned. In the mid-spring of 1882, Billy the Kid's friend, foe and equal escaped Huntsville Penitentiary and vanished. On December 9, 1961, a young boy in Wichita Falls disappeared without a trace. On November 18, 1936, a father and son were swallowed by a "Walled Kingdom." On December 23, 1974, three girls went to a Fort Worth mall and were never seen or heard from again. This collection explores twenty baffling disappearances that investigators have studied for decades, to no avail. Homicide, patricide, filicide, genocide, devil worship, the Devil's Triangle, the Devil's River, the assassination of JFK, UFO abductions, legal limbo, literal limbo--oblivion. Award-winning author E.R. Bills drags the facts of these mystifying cases back from the void.

Edinburg

9780738584775

$24.99

A town with two locations and multiple names, Edinburg today is the seat of Hidalgo County. Edinburgh, Texas (now known as Hidalgo) was first established on the Rio Grande River by shopkeeper John Young, who was originally from Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1852, Hidalgo County was formed, and Edinburgh became the county seat. In 1908, the changing course of the river threatened to flood the courthouse, resulting in a small but contentious countywide election about where to move the courthouse. Under armed guard, John Closner and other victors of the election led a hurried move by oxcart through the brush to the undeveloped townsite of Chapin. Dennis Chapin lost his good name and reputation in 1911, and as a result, the town became Edinburg (without the h). Today Edinburg is recognized for its location as a gateway city and as the home of the University of Texas-Pan American. Edinburg residents' pride in their town has shown throughout the years, from beautifying the courthouse square to being named an All-America City three times by the National Civic League.

Kyle

9781467134910

$24.99

Kyle, Texas, was founded in 1880 when settlers from the nearby established communities of Blanco and Mountain City purchased lots in the 200-acre township deeded to the International-Great Northern Railroad by David E. Moore and Fergus Kyle, who gave his name to the new city. Beneath a live oak tree, which still stands, lots for both businesses and residences that had been laid out by surveyor Martin Groos were sold at auction in October 1880. Within two years, the town had 500 residents, although it would not be incorporated until 1928. Around the time Kyle was founded, Col. R.J. Sledge brought German workers to his Pecan Springs Valley plantation east of Kyle, generating new customers for his mercantile store in town. Kyle has been the home of some famous people, including author Katherine Anne Porter, Boston Red Sox pitcher Tex Hughson, Rhodes Scholar Terrell Sledge, and Dean Edwin J. Kyle, namesake of Kyle Field at Texas A&M University.

Randolph Field

9781467132336

$24.99

Once touted as the "West Point of the air" in the pre-Air Force Academy years, Randolph Field/Air Force Base is famous for its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, its iconic Administration Building (nicknamed the "Taj Mahal"), and its rectangular layout. Allowed by the Army hierarchy to design its own installation from the ground up, the Army Air Corps hit a home run in design uniqueness and functionality. When the Corps of Engineers built the base, working from 1928 to 1931, it was its biggest project since the Panama Canal. Randolph has been a popular assignment location for Air Force members for over 80 years and is currently home to the 12th Flying Training Wing, the Air Education and Training Command Headquarters, and the Air Force Personnel Center. Thousands have passed through Randolph's gates as students and permanent personnel, and many have chosen to live in the San Antonio area after discharge or retirement. Carefully landscaped with trees and shrubbery from the very beginning, Randolph is the "showplace of the Air Force."

Murder & Mayhem in Prescott

9781467144322

$21.99

Despite its early law enforcement presence, Prescott's place in the violent history of Yavapai County is written in blood. .

The jealousy, greed and pure meanness of some of its citizens produced shocking trails of destruction and death. The Keystone Saloon couldn't keep a proprietor--a series of owners was found dead with gunshot wounds. A driver-for-hire was brutally assaulted and his car stolen in Prescott's first homicidal carjacking. Two nurses conspired to poison a rich patient in their care. From the shootout that began Virgil Earp's career to knifings and dynamite attacks, Prescott history blogger Drew Desmond and Whiskey Row historian and author Bradley G. Courtney tell rarely heard stories that once rocked the town.

Cave Creek and Carefree

9781467130394

$24.99

The towns of Cave Creek and Carefree are nestled in the lush foothills of the Sonoran Desert 35 miles north of Phoenix. Theprehistoric Hohokam first inhabited the area, settling along Cave Creek and elsewhere above the washes. The settlement of Cave Creek dates to the 1870s and has a rich history of mining, ranching, and homesteading. Early settlers persevered in this beautiful but rugged environment, isolated from the conveniences of urban life. Carefree, in contrast, was a master-planned town built in the late 1950s, providing modern amenities and infrastructure. Both towns offer a dramatic landscape and profuse desert plant life. Visitors are drawn to the area for the abundant recreational activities, community festivals, and art fairs as well as a unique blend of Western and contemporary cultures. The two towns are committed to protecting the desert environment and the welcoming, small-town atmosphere that is their historical legacy.