By Erik Berg

That's right... oil boom.  Many people know about the rich gold discoveries that brought waves of early prospectors to Yavapai County, but few realize that the area was also the scene of a brief, but intensive, oil boom during the First World War.  For a couple years, the rolling hills of the Chino Valley were dotted with the wooden derricks of oil wells and the pages of local newspapers were filled with the advertisements of would-be oil barons.  Now largely forgotten, the Chino Valley oil boom remains as one of the more unusual stories from Arizona's mining history.

By Kate Robinson

The Depression settled more slowly and quietly into the West than the urban, industrial areas east of the Mississippi.  Folks were used to living at survival levels.  Arizona paid little attention to the crash of 1929, despite a significant decline in the mining industry.

By Mona Lange McCroskey

It took three health-seeking trips to Prescott to convert Will "Gib" Gibson into a permanent resident.  In 1902, at age sixteen Will traveled to Arizona from Morgantown, Indiana, seeking relief from "bronchitis."  He rode the narrow gauge railway to Poland where he worked for a summer in the Bashford-Burmister store for James A. Whetstine, later mayor of Prescott from 1943-1947.

By Al Bates

As important as Fort Whipple, the VA now sits were the old fort was situated, was to the area, relations between the civilians and the military were sometimes strained.  Two particular incidents could have escalated into serious conflict between the miners and the military but for the timely intervention of Governor McCormick. 

By Richard Gorby

Prescott in l891, was twenty-four years old and the County Seat of Yavapai County, with a population of nearly 3,000 people.  According to Jules Baumann, Prescott bandmaster, photographer and artist, on his 1891, lithograph of the city.

By Kathryn Reisdorfer

Sharlot M. Hall was the first woman to hold office in the Territory of Arizona.  The appointment as Territorial Historian helped her earn a place of honor among American historians.  She has also served as a model to future historians-especially those in Prescott. 

By Juti A. Winchester

In May of 1876, the United States was gearing up to celebrate its centennial.  On the Plains, Indians struggled with the frontier Army for control of their hunting rights and their homelands, and George Armstrong Custer's demise at the Little Big Horn battle was still months in the unknown future.  William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody had just begun his stage career.

By Nancy Burgess

At the turn of the century, the neighborhood around the 100 block of East Carleton Street was fairly well established, with many Victorian Era homes on large lots.  South Cortez and South Marina streets were both lined with homes.  Judge Edmund Wells lived in a large Victorian Itanlianate home on the southeast corner of Cortez and Carleton.  The Queen Anne Victorian built in 1893, by Prescott attorney John Herndon was across the intersection on the northwest corner.  Another large Victorian home was on the northeast corner of Carleton and Cortez Streets.  The streets were dirt, and board sidewalks and picket and wire fences and stone retaining walls lined the streets and separated one property from another.

By Mona Lange McCroskey

The one hundredth anniversary of the Brinkmeyer House was observed on September 10, 1999, when Herman and Cookie Brinkmeyer hosted a Reunion Mixer there.  The gathering was held in conjunction with the "Half Century" reunion, held each September when Prescott High School graduates return to share memories and renew old acquaintances.

By Warren Miller 

Bear Creek, Chinese Breakdown, Soldier's Joy, Whistlin' Rufus, Whiskey Before Breakfast, Red Wing, Kentucky Waltz, Sweetheart Schottische, Soppin' the Gravy, Ragtime Annie--- the names of fiddle tunes evoke a past rich in the textures of country life.  These and other colorful old time fiddle tunes can be heard Saturday, October 2, at 1:00 p.m. when the Mile High Chapter of the Arizona Old Time Fiddlers takes the stage at the 21st Annual Sharlot Hall Museum Folk Music Festival.