By Chet Brooks and Ann Tewksbury

This year Prescott is celebrating 50 years of square dance festivals, but the origin of square dancing in Prescott probably goes back to Prescott's beginnings.  Square dancing, or "Hoedowns", as they were first called, evolved in early rural America and moved across the country as the settlers moved west.

By Nancy Kirkpatrick Wright

Does anybody out there know anything about Charles Tracy?  How about A. E. Ensign?  Ensign gave us a hint about Prescott's mystery artist, Tracy, but we need more information.  Mysteries create more mysteries, but sometimes there is serendipity, the happy finding of clues strictly by chance. 

Compiled by Michael Byrd, Betty Sigfried and Eric Glomski

Did you know that there are creeks in Prescott?  It may be difficult to notice them because they either rarely have water in them or the roads we drive and walk upon have walls that obstruct any view we might encounter.  But, they are there and they are a vital part of our community.  In the mid-1980s, Prescott Creeks Preservation Association (PCPA) was formed to protect those elusive creeks flowing through the City of Prescott.  Founding PCPA members Betty Bridgewater, Betty Sigfried, and Jay Eby worked on the Keep Prescott Beautiful Granite Creek Clean Up Day for several consecutive years and realized it would be an asset to the downtown area if Granite Creek was kept clean and a nature trail was developed and maintained along it.  After some research, the two Bettys learned that the idea was not a new one.  Originally, Jeri Wagner discussed a nature walk during her second term as Mayor of Prescott in the late 1970s.

By Jean Cross

The next time you are out Williamson Valley way you might like to consider some of the events which took place in this beautiful, if at one time hostile, area during the early days of Prescott's settlement.  The pioneers themselves are worthy of our reflection--such names as Simmons, Fine, Jenkins, Sieber, Matli and many others come to mind in such a discussion.  One name in particular has caught my interest in researching the beginnings of this area, that of Jefferson Harrison Lee better known as Harry in his early years and then as J.H. 
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By Mick Woodcock

In a newspaper article written shortly after Sharlot Hall's death on April 9, 1943, one of the salient points mentioned was that she had left the town of Prescott a legacy in her museum.  It praised her foresight and forethought in establishing her collections when she did.  It extolled the virtue in giving her life to the preservation of local history, particularly the Governor's Mansion.

By Al Bates

History is not just about dates or events, it is the story of people and how they affected events and how events affected them.  This, then, is an attempt to tell of Fort Whipple's colorful past by combining dates and events with stories of people who passed through its gates.  This is a salute to the people of Fort Whipple.  Some of them left their names as city streets or county roads, or creeks or other landmarks.  Some of them are still quite famous and others are almost entirely forgotten.  Some of them spent years at Whipple and others were just passing through. 

By Pat Atchison

There is some controversy as to when the first Roman Catholic Mass was celebrated in Prescott.

Bishop Lamy (in charge of the Roman Catholic Diocese of New Mexico and Arizona) celebrated the 1863 Christmas Mass in the area, although the exact location is undetermined.

By Richard Gorby

Most people in the Prescott area, although familiar with Groom Creek and even Groom City, know nothing about Robert Groom, but most of them are thankful for something he gave them one hundred and twenty-five years ago-downtown Prescott.  Early in 1863, the Arizona Territory was established by President Lincoln.  By March of 1864, the territorial officers he appointed, led by Governor John Goodwin, arrived in the new Territory and had picked the site for the capital, near the new military fort, Fort Whipple which is now the site of the VA hospital, just built to protect the many new mining camps. 

By Norm Tessman

The creature may have been the last of its kind.  Of an ancient lineage, mastodons were on the brink of extinction when one of them died in a shallow watering hole some fifteen miles southwest of today's Prescott.  It was about 8,500 B.C., the last major ice age had ended, and the climate was much like that today, although there would soon be a trend toward cooler and damper weather.  That much is known; but there are many other questions about the passing of this creature, not the least of which is the cause of its death-and the possibility that it was killed by human hunters.

By Anita Nordbrock

Arizona Weekly Miner, February 16, 1877, "George Ah Fat gave a new year's dinner today at which, he informed us yesterday, he intended among other delicacies to serve tea that costs $10 per pound."  February 16, 1999, ushered in the Chinese New Year--the Year of the Rabbit--year 4697 on the Chinese lunar calendar.  From the late 1860s, until the 1930s, when Goodwin Street was extended across Granite Creek, Granite Street was paved and the last remnants of Chinatown were cleared away.  Prescott had a Chinatown.  Next time you are downtown, take the time to walk down Granite Street between Goodwin and Gurley and think about a part of Prescott that is forever gone.  In the 1860s, Granite Street was a dirt street and was the heart of Prescott's Chinatown.