By Mick Woodcock

Whether Gustav Barth, Jr. actually had nine lives we don’t know. However, during his time in Prescott as a railroad man, he experienced several accidents that indicated he was in a dangerous occupation, constantly exposed to situations that could cut his life short or alter it drastically.

Prescott’s newspaper, the Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner, noted in its February 7, 1894 issue that, “Gus Barth, a railroad man from Santa Fe, New Mexico, arrived here yesterday, for a visit to his sister, Mrs. W. S. Goldsworthy. He may remain here permanently.” Mrs. Goldsworthy’s husband was the local ticket agent for the new railroad being built through central Arizona - the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix.

By Jenny Pederson

Sharlot Mabridth Hall was a woman of many accomplishments, eventually becoming an historian, advocate and writer. Much of her inspiration came from the surrounding landscape and her experiences as a ranch woman. Born on the Kansas prairie in 1870, she and her family arrived in the Prescott area in 1882. After an attempt at cattle ranching, Sharlot’s father James tried his hand at mining. However, by 1890, Sharlot’s family permanently settled on a patch of ranch land in Lonesome Valley about 15 miles southeast of Prescott. That land was named Orchard Ranch, and it would remain Sharlot’s home until 1927. An announcement dated August 6, 1890, in the Journal-Miner mentions that the completed Hall house “will be one of the finest and most substantial in that section of country.”
 

By Bob Baker

As soldiers, miners and others flooded the newly discovered gold fields in the central Arizona Territory, the food supply, particularly of meat, became stressed as local wildlife disappeared. Beef in particular was very desirable and expensive. In December 1863, the U.S. Army brought 500 beef cattle and 700 working cattle with them when they established Fort Whipple at Del Rio Springs, sparking the cattle ranching industry in Northern Arizona.

Early ranchers in Lonesome Valley (which now encompasses Chino Valley, Prescott Valley and Dewey-Humboldt) grazed their cattle throughout the valley on open range. The cattle roamed freely, intermixing without regard to ownership. The roundup (or rodeo in Spanish) enabled the cattle ranchers to systematically gather and segregate their cattle from those of other ranchers using the same open range.

By Mick Woodcock

Last week we learned about the August 16, 1898 explosion of the boiler of the Number 2 engine owned by the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway that killed two men and injured two others. Parts of the locomotive were thrown into town, the largest piece of which was the outside of the boiler and steam chest.

The other large piece of machinery sent airborne was an air pump. According to the newspaper, “The air-pump which landed in the middle of Cortez street, bounded about forty or fifty feet from where it struck, like a rubber ball, lighting in close proximity to a woman who was just crossing the street. Occupants of A. J. Head’s residence were badly frightened by the shrieking, singing noise of the pump as it passed over the house.”

By Mick Woodcock

This was the headline for an article in the Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner published on August 17, 1898. What followed was a detailed account of a locomotive boiler explosion on August 16 in the railroad yard on the north end of Prescott on the banks of Granite Creek.

Today’s Depot Marketplace was originally the railyard for the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway. The current depot having not been built, the depot at the time was a one-story frame structure 150 feet long that housed offices, a waiting room and baggage storage. Cortez Street ended just short of the depot. Beyond it was the wood water tank that held 50,000 gallons of water to replenish the supply carried in steam engine tenders. Next to this was the two-stall wood roundhouse where locomotives were repaired.

By Worcester P. Bong

Today aerial tramways make it possible to soar above the terrain in a tram/cable car or chairlift. Before tramways carried people, they were used in the mining industry to transport ore quickly and economically over rugged, inaccessible terrain.
 

The concept of aerial tramways began in the early 1700s, but the European introduction of wire rope in the 1830s led to increased development and use. Wire rope is several strands of steel wire twisted to form a cable. Due to lighter weight and strength, it soon replaced hemp rope in many applications, including mining. Although numerous aerial tramways for mining were built worldwide, it wasn’t until after the Civil War that their U.S. construction expanded.
 

By Dan Bergan

In 1952 George bought his own house on nine acres on Meadowridge Road, moving his log studio to the site. It would serve as his studio for seven years during which his artistic production, reputation and fame grew. Son Darrell Phippen, born in 1954, noted “the huge change in dad. His art work blossomed.” George was now illustrating for major magazine publishers, producing covers and story illustrations for True West and Frontier Times, among others.

By Dan Bergan

With a wisp of imagination, he is there. His paint palette laid out on the work table, paint brushes standing upright in a jar, cowboy hat atilt on his head, smiling slightly as he fingers a small clay model of a steer, George Phippen has come home to the rough-hewn studio he built himself, home to the museum that bears his name and legacy.

By Bob Baker

In the early 1800s, Yavapai and Apache Indians inhabited the wilderness that became the Arizona Territory. Only a few frontiersmen dared travel there to trap beaver, hunt game and explore the area. Perhaps the earliest of them was Pauline Weaver.

When Weaver arrived in Arizona in 1830 from California, he had traveled all over California trapping beaver and trading with Indian tribes. While he was primarily a trapper, he was also a prospector who recognized “pay dirt” (gold deposits), having discovered several placer gold deposits in California.

By Eric Jacobsen

The Millers had ongoing struggles with Kels Nickell, a sheep farmer accused by the Millers of letting his sheep graze on their Wyoming land. On July 18, 1901, Willie Nickell, the fourteen-year-old son of Kels, was found murdered on the Nickell land. An investigation followed while the range violence continued.

In August 1901, Kels Nickell was shot and nearly eighty of his sheep were killed. Deputy U.S. Marshal Joe LeFors arrested Jim Miller and his sons for the crime, although bail freed them the next day.