By Norm Tessman

Tents to log cabins to shopping centers as seen from the 'Sphinx'. 

To the Yavapai People, Thumb Butte was Nymit-gi-yaka, "Mountain Lion Lying Down." Anglo pioneers called it "the Sphinx," and wrote legends about its powers. Thumb Butte has always been symbolic of our community, and generations of Prescottonians have looked down upon the town from atop its 6,522-foot summit.

By Evan Sage

Henry Waring Fleury was part of the first territorial governor's party (that "outfit" as early journalists would come to call it). Yet, while most of these politicos moved on seeking fortunes in the newly discovered mines of the Prescott region and to further their political notoriety, Fleury stayed on. Originally occupied as private secretary to Governor John Goodwin, he was also elected first chaplain for the two houses of the legislature, largely because of his resources to supply the lawmakers with whiskey and his general indifference to religion

By Carolyn Bradshaw 

In the early 1900s, Prescott and Yavapai County were moving out of the Territorial era and into a new period of prosperity. The urbanization and mechanization throughout the country, Arizona becoming a state in 1912, and the end of World War I fueled this trend.

By Mark Ziem 

Growing up in Williamson Valley in the early 1970s, a favorite place for my brothers and me to explore was the abandoned gunnery range behind our house. When we found enough nerve to hop the fence, the long sandy ridgelines and oak-sheltered washes made great places to "play army." Occasionally, on our treks we would find dozens of tarnished brass casings, grenade levers, and evidence of war games performed in earnest decades before our arrival. Today this 1000-acre tract is the home of Pioneer Park, our future County fairgrounds and the latest place to hit a homerun or jog a trail.

By Richard Gorby 

Those of us who love our Plaza - lunching under the trees, enjoying the beautiful Christmas lights, or just looking at it as we drive by - may be shocked to know how close it came to being lost to us.

On May 30, 1864, a meeting was held at the store of Don Manuel Yrissari on Granite Creek near the present Prescott Middle School (the store has since been moved to the grounds of Sharlot Hall Museum), for the purpose of adopting the best method of disposing of lots in the proposed town. 

By Norm Tessman 

Early in the morning of November 19, 1887, George Heisler arrived in Prescott to tell "in an excited manner" of horror on Lynx Creek. Wagons were sent out to William Zadoc "Zed" Wilson's sawmill to retrieve the bodies of Wilson and five other men. Sheriff Mulvenon hastily assembled a coroner's jury, and set out for the death site.

By Mona Lange McCroskey 

Frank Adolph Kuhne first came to Arizona in 1867. In the Prescott area, he worked as a teamster, driving a hay wagon between Fort Whipple and Big Chino Valley. In 1891, Kuhne returned to Germany for an arranged marriage to Marie Seidler. Kuhne brought his bride to Lynx Creek where they lived in a cabin in Howell, a small community along the creek. Kuhne then became a miner. He was away from home frequently for long periods of time and his whereabouts were unknown to his wife. All she knew was that he was mining and that he made enough to support his growing family. 

Edited by Nancy Kirkpatrick Wright with introduction by Anne Foster

Excerpts from "Sharlot Herself: Selected Writings of Sharlot Hall" 

After the glitter and excitement of the holidays, winter begins to seem dreary and unending. Gray skies, sloppy roads, and bitter temperatures wear monotonously upon the spirit. Little has changed in a hundred years. In Sharlot Herself, Selected Writings of Sharlot Hall (1992), edited by Nancy Kirkpatrick Wright, Sharlot describes the bleak winters of Lonesome Valley. Her ability to find beauty, humor, and activity in her stark surroundings could be a lesson to us all. 

By Anne Foster 

Faded photographs, yellowing newspaper clippings, stained letters, crumbling books - these images call to mind grandmother's attic. As a child, you probably cuddled close as grandma told you stories of long ago, illustrated by these decaying remnants of the past. Unfortunately, if these precious family mementos continue to be cared for in the same manner, you will not be able to share them with your own grandchildren.

By Mick Woodcock 

Rough characters or ordinary citizens? That assessment would probably depend on your point of view not only then, but now. It is safe to say that when this photograph was taken, about 1890, the corner of Granite and Goodwin Streets was in the "less reputable" part of town.