By Dr. Richard S. Beal, Jr.

It was 1879 and Romulus Adolphus Windes, just having completed his education at the Baptist Union Theological Seminary in Chicago, was faced with a problem.  His wife, Magdalene Ann, suffered terribly from asthma.  A physician advised a move to the dry climate of Arizona.  The American Baptist Home Mission Society was happy to appoint him to the town of Prescott, the capital of the Territory where gold had been discovered sixteen years before.  Windes felt it was the call of God, but how could he possibly move his wife and their two small children to such a remote place?

Edited by Kathy Krause

The following article was originally written by Richard Gorby and published on August 29, 1998 in the SHM Days Past Archives.  This article has been re-edited by Kathy Krause.

Editorial Note: Many Prescottonians remember well the hill between Lowes and the Gateway Mall on Route 69 as “Bullwhacker Hill.”  Today the name is rarely heard.  A remnant of the old road, with its gentle curve, is still visible on the slope to the north of the present highway, below the Lamb and York car dealerships.  In January of 1988, the hill was “in for a whacking” by the highway department when they began construction to straighten the road and lower the rise of the hill.  Today, the Gateway Mall is at its top, but 137 years ago the Bullwhacker Mine was in that spot.  The mine changed hands many times, was discarded many times and, although called Salvador for a while, still retained the Bullwhacker name.

Written by Pauline O'Neill, edited by Anne Foster and re-published by Kathy Krause

The following article was originally written by Pauline O’Neill and edited by Anne Foster. It was originally published on June 20, 1998 in the SHM Days Past Archvies.  Days Past Editor, Kathy Krause updated the article for re-publishing.

Over one hundred and fourteen years ago, on July 1, 1898 William Owen “Buckey” O’Neill was killed at Kettle Hill, Cuba. Efforts to commemorate his memory and those of his comrades-in-arms, the Arizona Rough Riders, began soon after and finally resulted in the statue that stands on the Courthouse Plaza.  While the Rough Rider Monument is a powerful statement of Prescott’s loss, it is this grief-stricken memorial written by Buckey’s 33-year-old widow, Pauline that is a most moving declaration of the personal sacrifices of war.  First published in the San Francisco Examiner a month after her husband’s death, Pauline’s tribute is reprinted here, in part.

By Gretchen Eastman

The house that was built on the southwest corner of Gurley and Marina streets in 1875, location currently of the Carnegie Library building, has become one of the jewels of the Sharlot Hall Museum campus.  William Zadoc “Zed” Wilson built the house never dreaming it would become known as the John C. Fremont House, home of Arizona’s fifth Territorial Governor with visitors from all over the world.

By Sharlot M. Hall and edited by Parker Anderson

Editorial Note: This article is reprinted from the Prescott Courier of October 27, 1932.  That day was Sharlot’s birthday and a presidential election was less than two weeks away, so she used the occasion to expound on the importance of voting.

Things are waking up – some fine young men who are voters now but may, in all probability, hold some of the county or state offices in the future, ask me to tell them just where I stand in politics.  “Because,” said one of them, “it seems wonderful to know there is anyone left who dares to fight for what they think is right.  I thought that was only in books.  I want to know what makes you think it’s worth while.”

By Parker Anderson

(This article was originally published in the Days Past column on October 28, 2001 under the title, "Old Ghosts I Have Known Hereabouts".)

Every once in a while, someone will strike up a conversation with me regarding Prescott's various reputed "haunted" sites. I enjoy the subject, but in reality, Prescott is probably one of the least haunted cities in America. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, there are not that many purported hauntings in the Prescott area, so the same stories are told over and over again.

By Marie Slayton

(This article was originally posted on September 8, 2001.)

Having worked at the Gurley Street Grill for the better part of the last six years, I am quite familiar with the folkloric history associated with the building. However, as most people know, folklore and stories that are passed down through generations can bear little if any resemblance to history.

By Jan MacKell

"The ancient card faces painted on the layout were doubtless faded and worn, but to my boyish eyes they glowed like a church's stained-glass window.... (Gaye) started drawing the cards one by one from the battered old silver box. As he drew, I could see his lips move and knew he was making bets for imaginary customers." So did Nugget (the main character in Conrad Richter's book "Tacey Cromwell") describe how his brother practiced to become a faro dealer in Bisbee during the late 1800s.

By Richard Gorby and Edited by Kathy Krause

The following article was originally written by Richard Gorby and published in the Days Past Archives on September 11, 1999.

The exact age of the Palace Saloon is somewhat of a puzzle.  In the September 21, l877 Arizona Weekly Miner: “Mess’rs Shaw and Standefer have fitted up the Palace Saloon in the most superb style, and fitted it with choice liquors of every conceivable kind.”  This suggests that it was already there, but no earlier mention can be found.  Few records were kept and most of those were destroyed by Prescott’s several fires.

By Brad Courtney

Whiskey Row is arguably the most fascinating quarter of a city block in western America.  The centerpiece of this historic, jam-packed street has always been the Palace Saloon.  It is no wonder that one of Arizona’s favorite sons, Barry Goldwater (whose ties to Prescott are well-documented), once lamented, “My only regret is that I didn’t buy The Palace when I had a chance.”  His friend, Tom Sullivan, who had purchased The Palace in 1977, knew this.  So on July 26th of that same year, when writing the presidential candidate of thirteen years prior, his incentive was rather thinly veiled. . . .