By Richard Gorby

For anyone perusing maps of Yavapai County as early as 1865 to the present, the 12-mile square in the upper left corner is bound to be noticeable, perhaps puzzling: “Luis Marie Baca Grant, Float No. 5.”

By Juti Winchester, Ph.D.

A young woman of good family meets a man while traveling.  After a whirlwind courtship they marry, against the advice of friends and family.  He then whisks her away from her former life and takes her to live in a log house on the wild frontier.  This may sound like the plot from a romance novel, but it is the true story of Margaret Hunt, who married the Secretary of the Territory of Arizona, Richard McCormick, and came to live in Prescott's Governor's mansion late in 1865.  A short diary, and a series of letters from "Maggie" to her friend Emma Denike and to her brother John allow us a glimpse at the McCormick's life and relationship. September 27 marks the 135th anniversary of their marriage.

By Kathryn Reisdorfer

(This is the second part of a two-part article regarding Ann Hopkins.)

Ann Hopkins, the feisty wife of Clarence Hopkins, the Chief Engineer for United Verde Copper Company, was busy making her own way in Jerome when World War I erupted.  In order to meet the demands of war, United Verde's smelter was running full bore and, according to Hopkins, "The sulfur smoke from the smelter had killed all the verdure for miles around.  There was not a living green thing within sight of Jerome. . . ."

By Kathryn Reisdorfer

(This is the first part of a two-part article regarding Ann Hopkins.) 

A student of mine led into her presentation on Sharlot Hall by asking the class, "Do you remember Molly Brown in The Titanic?  Well, Sharlot Hall was like her!"  Lively and rugged, women with minds of their own-that's how people might describe Sharlot or Molly.  We often admire those unique women, and we love to hear how they thumbed their noses at social convention.  But if we look more closely, we might realize that they found it painful to swim against the current, and we might conclude that society is often kinder to "characters" from a distance than it is at close range.  This was the case with Ann Hopkins. 
 

By Jay Eby

The First Congregational Church building, at Gurley and Alarcon Streets, is a part of the East Prescott Historic District.  This building, an example of Romanesque Revival architecture in Prescott, was constructed in 1904, and nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. 

By Lorri Carlson

Until a recent acquisition, the Sharlot Hall Museum Archives and Library housed very few photographs of the Hotel Vendome, one of Prescott's enduring establishments and historic structures.  The Edith Dial Collection has provided us with some valuable images of the hotel, the second family of proprietor's, and some of their guests.  With each acquisition it is important that we in the archives research the background of the newly acquired collection.  During this process a family history revealed itself, providing yet another example of the value of private contributions to public history.

By Mona Lange McCroskey

On July 11, 2000 an obituary appeared in the Courier.  "Marion N. Perkins, 76, of Camp Verde, died Saturday, July 8, 2000, at the Sedona Emergency Center, Sedona."  Marion was a member of a prominent pioneer Yavapai County ranching family, and more needs to be said about his heritage.

By Linda Luddington

An ancient pole barn stands nobly in the cottonwood-shaded sunlight of the W-Dart Ranch headquarters.  Last summer's alfalfa hay welcomes visitors with a fragrance more heady to a rancher than the costliest French perfume.  The barn seems anxious to share a story, a story of a central Arizona valley watered throughout the year from a never-drying stream.  It's a story of copper-mining wages sustaining a ranching way of life.  It's a story of a tenacious young immigrant whose fierce love for the land founded a successful ranching family, now stretching into the fourth generation.  This is the story of the Verde Valley's W-Dart Ranch and the Groseta family.

By Harley G. Shaw

Fort Whipple.  Whipple Street.  The Whipple Stage.  Whipple is a common name around Prescott.  Go west to the Colorado River and you find the Whipple Mountains.  Obviously, someone named Whipple left his name scattered around Arizona, yet we seldom hear of Whipple the man.  Who was he?  What did he do to merit renown?

By Rob Bates

Deep within the archives of our regional history lies an itinerant pioneer soul named Albert Franklin Banta.  During a full and varied life, he came to Prescott, Arizona in 1863 from New Mexico territory, where he had joined the First California Volunteers under Major E. B. Willis, in Albuquerque, in the humble capacity of bullwhacker.  Arriving in central Arizona, they established Ft. Whipple near present-day Chino Valley.  In January 1864, Richard C. McCormick, Territorial Secretary, came to Ft. Whipple as part of Governor Goodwin's party, bringing with him a printing outfit which he had procured in Santa Fe.