By Nancy Kirkpatrick Wright

Just what is an Occultation of Venus?  About once every eight years, the path of our sister planet intersects the slightly tilting path of our moon.  Early in the morning of April 19, 1993, Prescott sky-watchers saw the moon move closer and closer to the bright disk of Venus until it disappeared as if the moon had suddenly swallowed it whole.  About 80 minutes later the watchers were rewarded by the reappearance of Venus on the other side of the moon.  And all was right with the world. 

By Mick Woodcock

It has been said that one of the main functions of a museum is to tell good stories.  That is what we try to do at Sharlot Hall Museum.  More often than not, there are more stories than space to tell them.  When you can tell the story, there is generally not enough room to tell all of it.  Such is the case with Carrie Wilkins.

By Evan Sage

Tomorrow, June 14, is Flag Day.  Oftentimes questions arise as to whether Arizona had a territorial flag.  An examination of documents in both Sharlot Hall Museum and the State Capitol archives yielded little on the subject.  However, the story of flags over Arizona goes way back.

By Richard Gorby

In 1863, a year before the birth of Prescott, a group of miners from the Walker diggings on Lynx Creek wandered into a steep canyon containing a creek which flowed out of the Bradshaw Mountains.  As they followed the creek downstream they noticed a great number of huge flying insects, and the stream suddenly had a name - "Big Bug Creek."

By Pat Atchison

Memorial Day is a day to honor all those who have passed away and to pay tribute to those who have defended the United States against aggressors.  Many stories surround the origin of Memorial Day or "Decoration Day" as it was originally called.  Residents of several Southern states observed such an occasion before the end of the hostilities of the Civil War.  It is said that several young ladies in Mississippi took spring flowers to the cemetery to decorate the graves of fallen Confederate soldiers.  They decorated the graves and then noticed that the Union soldiers' graves were bare.

By Earl Hoagberg

If the earliest settlers had prevailed, many of us would be living in "Granite City, Arizona," not Prescott, for that was the name the miners themselves gave to the array of lean-tos and shacks along Granite creek in 1864.  The story of the founding of Arizona's first territorial capital 135 years ago, and the choice of Prescott as its name, is a fascinating chapter in the annals of frontier America.

By Chet Brooks and Ann Tewksbury

This year Prescott is celebrating 50 years of square dance festivals, but the origin of square dancing in Prescott probably goes back to Prescott's beginnings.  Square dancing, or "Hoedowns", as they were first called, evolved in early rural America and moved across the country as the settlers moved west.

By Nancy Kirkpatrick Wright

Does anybody out there know anything about Charles Tracy?  How about A. E. Ensign?  Ensign gave us a hint about Prescott's mystery artist, Tracy, but we need more information.  Mysteries create more mysteries, but sometimes there is serendipity, the happy finding of clues strictly by chance. 

Compiled by Michael Byrd, Betty Sigfried and Eric Glomski

Did you know that there are creeks in Prescott?  It may be difficult to notice them because they either rarely have water in them or the roads we drive and walk upon have walls that obstruct any view we might encounter.  But, they are there and they are a vital part of our community.  In the mid-1980s, Prescott Creeks Preservation Association (PCPA) was formed to protect those elusive creeks flowing through the City of Prescott.  Founding PCPA members Betty Bridgewater, Betty Sigfried, and Jay Eby worked on the Keep Prescott Beautiful Granite Creek Clean Up Day for several consecutive years and realized it would be an asset to the downtown area if Granite Creek was kept clean and a nature trail was developed and maintained along it.  After some research, the two Bettys learned that the idea was not a new one.  Originally, Jeri Wagner discussed a nature walk during her second term as Mayor of Prescott in the late 1970s.

By Jean Cross

The next time you are out Williamson Valley way you might like to consider some of the events which took place in this beautiful, if at one time hostile, area during the early days of Prescott's settlement.  The pioneers themselves are worthy of our reflection--such names as Simmons, Fine, Jenkins, Sieber, Matli and many others come to mind in such a discussion.  One name in particular has caught my interest in researching the beginnings of this area, that of Jefferson Harrison Lee better known as Harry in his early years and then as J.H. 
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