By Mick Woodcock

In 1863, Christmas was new to the list of celebrations for most people in the United States.  Popularized in part by the drawings of Santa Claus and Christmas done by Thomas Nast for Harpers Weekly magazine, much of the tradition as we know it today was in place by the time of the founding of Prescott.  That Christmas was remembered and recorded by a number of people.  No doubt the fact that this was the formation year of the Territory of Arizona had much to do with that.

By Jody Drake

On January 22, 1925, the Electoral College received votes from its electors.  Among those present, carrying the Republican votes for Coolidge, was "the lady from Arizona," Prescott's own Sharlot M. Hall.  As we look back at this we perceive it to be a history making event as well as big news, but in fact on that date in 1925, The Prescott Journal Miner headline read "Red Rock Postmaster Shot To Death at His Desk".  No mention of Miss Hall and her journey to Washington.

By Dorothy Chafin

(Dorothy Chafin has recently written a multi-part account of her life. We will be publishing pieces of that over the next few months) 

My family moved back to Arizona during the year I was attending the University of Denver; they moved to Prescott and the Grounds family moved back to the Kingman area.  I've been forever grateful that we came back to Prescott rather than the Mohave County location.  My family moved away, little by little, but I had no desire to leave.

By Ken Edwards

When the Civil War broke out, Weaver went back to Yuma to sign on as a Union scout. In March 1862, he assisted General Carleton's California Column in routing the Confederates from Arizona and New Mexico.

George Oaks, a member of the California Volunteers, described Weaver as follows: "He had come to Arizona about thirty years before and knew the country and the Indians well. He was pretty much of an Indian, himself, and liked to scout far ahead of us. He had been so much alone that his speech was part English, part Spanish. . . .

By Ken Edwards

(The first of two parts on the life of Pauline Weaver, "First Citizen of Prescott") 

Few people know much more about Pauline Weaver than is contained in the short memorial on his headstone on the grounds of the Sharlot Hall Museum.  Who was Weaver and why is he of such importance in the history of Prescott and the Territory of Arizona?  His life story is recounted in the excellent 1993, booklet by Jim Byrkit and Bruce Hooper: "THE STORY OF PAULINE WEAVER Arizona's Foremost Mountain Man.  Trapper, Gold-Seeker, Scout, Pioneer".  The following material is mostly based on that publication.

By Pat Kilkenney

Yup, there really was a Fort Whipple in Virginia; although most tourists to the Nation's Capitol know it as Fort Myer and Arlington National Cemetery.  How it came to be is an interesting "side-bar" of Civil War History; and not one of the finer moments of our Government's history! 
 

By Parker Anderson

A few months ago, in this column, this author related the near-legendary story of James Parker, alias Fleming Parker, convicted train-robber, jail-breaker, and murderer.  On the fateful day in May 1897, when Parker broke out of the Yavapai County Jail, two other convicts went with him, a Mexican named Cornelia Sarata, and an accused forger named Louis C. Miller.

By Ruth Ann (Partridge) Kizer and Mona Lange McCroskey

Byron Meridith "Bye" Partridge was born to James Partridge, a spice "drummer," and Estelle Gammon Partridge in Springfield, Massachusetts on March 7, 1900.  On November 5, 1900, he married his high school sweetheart, Ruth Chapin.  Byron, a self-taught musician, earned money as a youth playing the piano in silent movie theaters in Springfield.  He could not read music but he had a good ear for a melody and a wonderful sense of rhythm.  He held several other jobs, making a living for himself and his young bride.

By Juti A. Winchester, Ph.D.

In Prescott, the name Sharlot Mabridth Hall brings to mind a number of images.  Some people remember her as a ranch woman.  Others know her as a poet, journalist and writer, and still others as the Territorial Historian or as the founder of the museum that bears her name.

By Terry Munderloh

The broad expanse of Chino Valley forms an alluvial basin where subterranean water discharges to the surface for an area of many acres.  The spring water, once brought to the surface, then seeps back to the source ground waters, recharging the subterranean aquifers.  Surface water in the arid southwest is a magnet for life and ancient ruins attest to prehistoric man's occupation of this valley, but it was the Spanish explorers who gave these springs the name we know them by today: Del Rio.