By Marjory J. Sente

On July 23, 1898, four of prominent Phoenician Sam Dysart’s offspring—Fred, age 25; Winifred, 20; Zella, 17; and Arthur, 12—set out from Phoenix to visit the Grand Canyon. A team of two horses—Vic and Nell—pulled the wagon. Trilby, their dog, accompanied them during their seven-week sojourn.

Having just completed her junior year at Phoenix High School, Zella kept a diary of the trip, providing observations of summer in Arizona and insights into life in 1898.

The Dysart siblings reached the outskirts south of Prescott around noon on July 30. After quickly making camp, they went to town for provisions and to pick up their mail.

“We sought the latter first, as might be supposed, and were much pleased to find two good letters from Papa. We read them on the street corner, then drove to the store.” The letters were sent to them at the Prescott Post Office in care of general delivery.

Fred had visited Prescott three years prior on a trip to the Grand Canyon and noted that the town had grown considerably.

By Jody Drake

When coyotes howl on a dark night, or wind rustles through the trees, or the moon is casting shadows is all it takes to set the stage for a chilling tale. Sharlot Hall, the founder of the museum bearing her name, was in constant search of life’s truths. She studied all religions and philosophies with a profound desire to understand the pain of existence. Sharlot was once asked why she wrote so much about suffering; she replied “Because there is so much pain and suffering. I tell all the tales I know, tragic or funny if there is truth in them, they are worth relating.”

By Stuart Rosebrook

In 1961 MGM’s film company for How the West was Won came to Yavapai County to film a major railroad sequence at Perkinsville’s historic train depot. Director Henry Hathaway’s production crew renamed the station “Gold City,” where stars Debbie Reynolds, Karl Malden, George Peppard and Caroll Baker acted in “The Outlaws” chapter of the 164- minute Technicolor, Cinerama-style film. Hathaway, well known as a director of Westerns, was one of four to helm the ambitious picture: John Ford, George Marshall and Richard Thorpe, uncredited for his direction of transitional historical sequences. Producer Bernard Smith received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, one of eight nominations for the blockbuster Western. Screenwriter James R. Webb, Editor Harold F. Kress and Sound Manager Franklin Milton all received Academy Awards, making it one of the most nominated and award-winning Westerns to date.

Just 49 years before Hathaway’s film company rolled into central Arizona, the fledgling Lubin Motion Picture Company chose Prescott to make the first movie, The Cringer, in Yavapai County. Forty-five-year-old Romaine Fielding directed himself as the Sheepherder. The Cringer received national distribution, and the mild, four-season climate and beautiful Yavapai County locations inspired filmmakers to make Prescott the first film capital of Arizona. True, Tucson is recorded as the first location for the production of a fictional film (In Old Arizona, 1909) and was a popular choice for early filmmakers in the Grand Canyon State, but more movies were made in Prescott between 1911 and 1920 than anywhere else in Arizona, with many, if not most, starring cowboy hero Tom Mix.

By Kristen Kauffman

Books were important to the people of Prescott from its genesis. In 1864 the first territorial government arrived. Territorial Secretary Richard McCormick brought 300 volumes with which to start the Arizona Territorial Library and a printing press on which the Arizona Miner newspaper would begin.

The books would go on to establish the first library in the area. They were initially only intended for territorial officials; however, while these men were still the only ones permitted to check out the books, it became administration policy to allow anyone in Prescott to come and read them.

By Andrew Somerville

As early as 1881, Arizona had an Immigration Commission tasked with encouraging people from across the country to settle in the territory. This task was later the responsibility of individual counties. In 1914 the Yavapai Chamber of Commerce acquired funds to publish a magazine for “the purpose of advertising,” and Yavapai Magazine was born. Each magazine issue contained statements like one in the March 1914 publication proclaiming, “Published… in the interests of Northern Arizona and the Yavapai County Chamber of Commerce.”

By Richard Montague

Basket weaving across central Arizona’s high deserts and valleys remains a foundational art form and living cultural archive. Among the Yavapai, baskets have long served as essential vessels for daily use and profound markers of meaning. Each intricately coiled piece—crafted from willow, devil’s claw, cottonwood, sumac, or cattail—tells a story of place, ancestry, and communal ingenuity. Within the Arizona Highlands, especially Prescott and the Verde Valley, the Yavape' (Northwestern Yavapai) established an outstanding tradition, providing the primary source of historic baskets in regional collections and at the Sharlot Hall Museum.

More than a utilitarian skill, basketmaking is a living expression of worldview, spirituality, and family heritage. Patterns such as the celebrated six-pointed star and dynamic figurative motifs are not mere decoration, but symbolic links to cosmology and memory. Baskets have functioned as tools for gathering, gifts for ceremony, and valued trade items exchanged within and beyond tribal boundaries. Historic images and museum holdings—including the “Baskets Keep Talking” exhibit at Sharlot Hall—offer lasting proof of the artistry and complexity that define these woven forms.

By Worcester P. Bong

On December 23, 1863, when Fort Whipple was temporarily established at Del Rio Springs, north of Chino Valley, a monthly newspaper called the Arizona Miner began publication at this U.S. Army post. The first issue, published on March 9, 1864, informed people about the new Territory of Arizona. Topics included proclamations, government activities and the establishment of a territorial capital. Later in May 1864, Fort Whipple was moved south to a location along Granite Creek and east of the soon-to-be-named town and territorial capital of Prescott. The last issue published at the fort was on May 25, 1864. Thereafter, the Arizona Miner was published in Prescott. But newspaper publishing at the post would return.

By Robin LaCorte

Eighty years ago, the world was at a crossroads. For Americans—many from small towns like Prescott—the global conflict felt distant yet deeply personal. Young men and women stepped forward to serve, becoming what journalist Tom Brokaw called “the greatest generation any society ever produced.”

North Africa marked the first real shift in Allied fortunes. In his book, The End of the Beginning, Winston Churchill observed, “Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat.” From Prescott, men like Albert Crawford and Arch McCabe were among those serving in the Allied effort that opened the way for the invasions of Sicily and then Italy. Their service paved the path to European victory.

By Lily Blackwell

Since 1997 Chino Valley FFA has sponsored the Chino Valley Corn Dinner. However, the roots of this event date back to 1950 when the women's fellowship of Chino Valley Community Church hosted the first gathering. Called “Corn Roast,” funds raised were used to support the church's mission trips and projects. The dinner typically consisted of beef, a vegetable, dessert and all the corn you could eat. During the first “Corn Roast” the corn was cooked in the church basement or outside over an open fire. Over time, volunteers and attendees increased, and moving to an elementary school cafeteria allowed for steady growth.

By Kristen Kauffman

Bob Parsons was a twenty-seven-year-old English teamster with three fingers that didn’t close and a reputation for disorderly conduct. In June of 1894, he was fined fifty dollars and given fifty days in jail for bludgeoning someone with a beer bottle. He had no address and rotated living in hotels between Jerome and Prescott.

His girlfriend was Bohemia–or at least that’s what she told everyone her name was. Her real name was Birjina Valasquez, and not much is known about her except that she was twenty-three and a well-known prostitute working in Jerome. She and Parsons had been dating for two years.