By Goodwin "Goodie" Berquist

(This is the first part of a two-part article.  The second part will be published next week.)

The Prescott Chamber of Commerce held its first meeting November 18, 1910. Forty-one businessmen attended... and one woman, Grace Sparkes. The Chamber would change its name twice in the next twenty-eight years and sixteen men would serve as president, Grace Sparkes remained in one office or another forever, ... or so it seemed. Daughter of a local miner, she played a role in virtually every significant development in Prescott and Yavapai County for a generation. As one of her contemporaries put it, Grace was "a human dynamo...full of ideas, a person who welcomed new challenges, one committed to getting things done. To the press at the time, Yavapai County was "Grace Sparkes' territory."

By Mick Woodcock

Have you ever wondered what things cost back in the "Good Old Days"? Perhaps that's a question only museum curators ask, but it can be a difficult thing to find out. There is a very little information in the newspapers of the past regarding prices. Stores advertised types of goods for sale in their regular ads and occasionally would put in a special announcement if an important shipment came in. These tell us what was being offered for sale, but not the cost.

By Lester "Budge" Ruffner

Prescott's Frontier Days, the oldest cowboy contest in the world, has produced some of the most legendary rodeo contestants ever to ride in an arena. Men like Ed Bowman, Arthur Beloat, Doc Pardee, George and Lawton Champie, Loge Morris and many others were not just rodeo performers but working cowboys, at home on the range or in the arena.

One of the most dynamic of these old-timers was "Yaqui" Ordunez, a native of El Paso, Texas who claimed to be half-Mexican and half-Texas Ranger, a tough combination to beat. His real name, which he took great pride in signing, was Epifanio Alvarez Ordunez. 

By Parker Anderson

In September of 1912, miner Robert Meador, who was working claims near the Senator Mine, was passing along a steep grade on the Hassayampa, about a quarter of a mile from the mine. Meador had been a long time pioneer resident of Yavapai County, and had long had a string of ill luck wherein he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

By Bill Lynam

Thomas "Tommy" Starkey Eells came to Prescott, Arizona, in the early 1880's for the gold. Like others, not all who came made a fortune from mining nor returned home. Tommy was one of them.  Tommy was a carriage maker from San Francisco, California. He was also an accomplished tenor and guitarist, said to have accompanied Jenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale," coloratura soprano, who toured the U.S. under the auspices of circus owner P.T. Barnum.

By Richard Sims

Readers who have followed this series on the institutional history of the Sharlot Hall Museum (a clip-and-save for all of us) are aware of this anniversary year, for 2003 marks 75 years of Museum service to the community and the region (on June 11, 1928 the first guest signed in). Sharlot Hall herself, the founding director, served for the first 15 years, or the first fifth, of the Museum's history, from 1928 to 1943, when she passed away at the Arizona Pioneers' Home. The second fifth, or 15-year period, 1943-1958, was a time when Sharlot's personal friends and other community leaders pulled together to keep the Museum running, sometimes barely.

By Warren Miller

When the 30th Annual Sharlot Hall Museum Folk Arts Fair opens June 7, 2003, in addition to the usual delightful demonstrations and activities, it will include a new feature: two makers of fine custom furniture.

Furniture making has a long history in Prescott. One Wilson C. Collier was among the first immigrants to the area, by his account arriving in December 1863 over the Santa Fe Trail, a month before the first governor's arrival. Although he came seeking gold, the Census of 1864 gives his occupation as cabinet maker, "Age 37, born in Ohio, single. . . property valued at $1,000 . . . "

By Pat Atchison

"Go west, young man, go west!" Many people heeded these words. Some were escaping their present life for one reason or another, some were seeking their fortune and some were seeking adventure. Dennis A. Burke was one who left his home in the midwest and followed this often-repeated advice. 

Dennis was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on March 21, 1859. He was the third son of Patrick and Mary Ann Burke who had emigrated from Galway, Ireland. The family was completed by the birth of two daughters.

By Jean Cross

Though the Town of Prescott Valley is celebrating its 25th Anniversary of Incorporation this year, its history is much older, about ten million years older. It was that long ago that 'Glassford Hill' erupted and spewed the surrounding area with its lava rocks known as basalt. Then ten thousand years ago or so, mammoth roamed 'Lonesome Valley.' In 1983, a hiker walking the Agua Fria Wash near 89A discovered large bones protruding from the banks of the wash and realized these were not cattle bones.

By Mick Woodcock

(Seventy-five years ago on June 11 the first guest signed the Governor's Mansion register and the Sharlot Hall Museum began. We are running a series of articles that explore the people and events that have shaped the museum's long journey. Today, we will investigate more recent history, 1980-1995.)

The Governor's Mansion renovation was not the only exhibit space that saw new life. The Sharlot Hall Building was targeted for major exhibit work. The gift shop (now called the "Museum Store") was moved from the main room into the room on the south end of the building. Exhibit cases were constructed around and into the room using pine and glass.