By Warren Miller 

Left allemande and a right hand grand. 
Plant your taters in a sandy land, 
And promenade back to the same old stand. 

Square dancing, a distinctly American tradition with ancient roots in European and British Isles dancing, has been a part of the Prescott scene since its founding in 1864. It continues to provide fun, exercise, and a wonderfully pleasant opportunity to enjoy the company of friends to hundreds of Prescott area folks. The driving, toe-tapping fiddle music that it is danced to has also been with us since the earliest settlers came West.

In 1866 Margaret McCormick, wife of the second territorial governor, wrote to her brother John in New Jersey describing a dancing party held in the big log Governor's Mansion in Prescott, " ... we had a surprise party. We danced in the house and had two sets in front. The supper consisted of cold roast beef & veal, pies & cakes in variety ... " 

Thirty years later square dancing was one of the attractions offered by a new summer resort that opened in the scenic Granite Dells. As reported in the Prescott Journal Miner of May 5, 1907, "Today will witness the inauguration of the summer excursions to points of interest throughout the Territory, when the first special train to be run from Prescott this year will leave the S.F.P.& P. (Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix) depot at 11 o'clock, for Granite Dells, where the grand opening of Castonguay & Frisch's Granite Dells resort and tent city will take place... Dancing, boating, bathing, log riding, swings for young and old, a shooting gallery, and a ball game between the Diamond Joe and a team from Jerome, will be among the attractions to be found at this summer resort..." 

Dancing in the early days was different from contemporary square dancing. Mac McCauley, who played with the Hay Loft Trio for square dancing on the Plaza every summer from 1949 to 1978, and whose rock-solid rhythm guitar can be heard backing up fiddlers at area events, including the annual Sharlot Hall Museum Folk Music Festival the first weekend of October, and the Arizona Cowboy Poets Gathering held each August, told me about the dancing called by his father and uncle when he was a child in Nebraska in the 1920s: "The calls were simple--there were probably only about ten commands, instead of the thousand they have now. There were no microphones; each square had a caller who danced with the square and called out instructions. If there were three squares, there were three callers and each square was doing a different dance." The simplicity of the dancing meant people could join in easily. Dancing was done vigorously and joyously to live, unamplified, fiddle music. Mac learned to play guitar when he was eight years old. A man he knew played real well, and often leaned on the bumper of his Model T truck and picked his guitar. One day he forgot that he had laid his guitar on the ground and drove the truck over it. He gave what was left of his guitar to Mac. It only had two strings left, and Mac had to tie the neck back with baling wire, but he said that guitar had the sweetest sound to him. 

Square dancing enjoyed great popularity in the late 1940s and 1950s. This was partly a result of new technology: microphones and amplifiers allowed one caller to instruct a whole hall full of dancers. It was partly a revival of interest in American folk dancing spurred by people like industrialist Henry Ford, who collected and published American square and line dances, built a huge dance hall and trained musicians and dancers in the old traditions, and Dr. Lloyd Shaw, of Colorado Springs, whose book Cowboy Dances (1939) is still considered a pivotal collection. 

In Prescott square dancing really caught on around 1949. The Hoedowners, a square dance club, was organized and regular dances started, according to Ike Gifford, who was an avid dancer from the beginning. He told me that the callers and dancers were just learning, and that clubs in Phoenix and Yarnell were ahead of the Prescott dancers. If they had trouble getting a call to work right, the next day someone would call Bud Brown in Phoenix at Bud Brown's Barn and Bud would explain the call. In a short time there were many dancers in Prescott. Ike and his wife and other dancers from The Hoedowners would drive to Skull Valley, Hillside, Kirkland, Yarnell, or Oak Creek Canyon to attend other dances; dancers from those clubs would come to Prescott. The Hoedowners had dance lessons in the basement of the Congregational Church and dances in the old green building at the Fairgrounds. Ike said in the winter the roof would leak so badly that puddles would form on the dance floor. He remembers dancing around icy puddles. Later the club danced in the Rock House (now the Mackin Building) at the Fairgrounds. Mac McCauley told me the dance club installed the wood floor in that building, using hardwood flooring salvaged from the old Prescott High School after a flood had damaged the gym floor. On special occasions dances were held in the Crystal Ballroom at the Hotel St. Michael. In the '40s and '50s there were no professional callers, but many of the dancers learned to call a few dances. A typical dance evening consisted of twenty-four dances, each called by a different one of the dancers. 

Betsy Saum, widow of Prescott fiddler and fiddle-maker Sam Saum, told me that she and Sam got into dancing about the same time as Ike Gifford. After an evening of dancing, Sam told Betsy that he thought he could play better dancing music than the evening's musicians. She challenged him to demonstrate, not just talk, so he went out and bought an old fiddle and started learning to play. After learning the rudiments of fiddling, Sam announced that he could make a better fiddle than the one he had, and proceeded to do so. In his career Sam made 168 fiddles! Sam and Mac McCauley were friends, and started to play together, with piano backup supplied by a Mrs. Payne. This was the beginning of the Hay Loft Trio, which later consisted of Sam Saum, Mac McCauley on guitar, and Ben Chapman on doghouse bass. This trio played dances every summer on the Courthouse Plaza until 1978. In the 1960s some callers started using records instead of live music, but, Ike told me, there was a ruckus when the notion was first discussed--the dancers didn't want "canned" music. Mac remembers clearly a meeting of the dance club about 1967 when a new couple in town suggested dancing to records. They were almost tarred and feathered! A.C. Williams, the City Parks and Recreation director, told Mac that as long as he played with the Hay Loft Trio they would have a contract every summer to play on the Plaza. 

The early dances on the Plaza were done on a concrete slab next to the north steps of the Courthouse. The dancers had poured and finished it for the purpose; when they started in 1949 there was no concrete on the Plaza. The band would back a pickup truck up to the dance area and the band would play standing in the bed of the truck. One summer evening that Mac recalls, a preacher came over and was looking their instruments up and down disapprovingly. He told them, "I'm going to be over there praising the Lord." The fiddler told him, "You can be over there praising the Lord; we'll be right here playing 'Up Jumped the Devil!'" 

In the 1970s Mainstream Western club dancing caught on, with professional callers teaching formal lessons. The idea of Mainstream dancing is that dance moves and calls are standardized across the country, so dancers can go into a Mainstream club anywhere and be able to do the dances. Prescott Mile High Square Dance is a Mainstream club. It holds dances at the Prescott Activity Center twice a month. Information may be had by calling 520/776-0363. 

In the 1980s another movement gained momentum, growing out of the Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s and drawing on the Contradance traditions of New England as well as Western square dancing. These dance organizations stress live music, simple calls and spontaneous dancing. Folk Happens! Is a Prescott club sponsoring dances of this type on the first Friday of each month at the Prescott Activity Center. For information call 520/445-8823. 

Warren Miller is Curator of Education at the Sharlot Hall Museum.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (pb001a2haylofttrio)
Reuse only by permission.
The Hay Loft Trio played for square dancing on the Prescott Courthouse Plaza from 1949 until 1978. Here they prepare for their next tune, a summer in the mid-1950's. Sam Saum (left), Mac McCauley, and Ben Chapman.