By Al Bates

When General James Carleton needed a medical officer to accompany the Fort Whipple founding party in late 1863 he selected a former Santa Fe newspaper owner and politician with somewhat dubious medical qualifications.  Although Charles Leib claimed that he had graduated from a “Philadelphia Medical College and had practiced medicine briefly,” his checkered career was largely as a political operative in support of Republican Party objectives in Kansas and Illinois.

By Debra Matthews

“There she is, Miss America” is the line famously sung by Bert Parks that spawned many Americans to take a look at beautiful bathing beauties.  However, long before the televised Miss America pageants, there were bathing beauty contests held in places across the country, including the little frontier town of Prescott, Arizona.  Within the Sharlot Hall Museum Archives there are vintage photos of bathing beauty contests held at the Granite Dells swimming lake, later named the “Granite Dells Resort,” owned by the Wing and Payne families.

By Jay Eby

Recently, Days Past brought you the story of Sam Curtis Rogers and his underfunded attempt to provide a school system for Prescott in the late 1860s.  This experience ended when he moved his family to a farm on Walnut Creek some 40 miles to the northwest where he would again engage in the teaching trade among other ventures.

By Victoria Wilcox

Prescott is famous for the Wild West exploits of some of its former citizens—including stories of dangerous dentist John Henry “Doc” Holliday, who paused here before moving on to the silver mining camp of Tombstone.  But one bit of Holliday’s Prescott lore didn’t actually happen here—if it ever happened at all.

By David R. Berman

Arizona has had its share of colorful politicians but none more so than Democrat George W. P. Hunt, our state’s first governor, who voters elected to that office seven times.  He was deeply involved in most of the important Arizona political battles for over forty years—from the 1890s to the 1930s.

By Edd Kellerman 

This year marks the 100th birth anniversary of local artist, and first president of the Cowboy Artists of America, George Phippen.  In celebration of the event, the Phippen Museum is presenting a special exhibition of his work.  This comprehensive exhibition of George’s artwork offers never before seen sketches that provide insight into his artistic process and techniques, and it also includes some of his best-known bronzes.  These pieces not only dramatically illustrate George’s talent, but they also speak to the impact he had on reviving the lost wax casting process for the creation of bronzes in America.

By Sandy Lynch 

Once the Indian wars of the 19^th century were over and the remaining tribes were contained on reservations, our country suddenly became nostalgic about the loss of the “noble savage.”  As one result, American Indian-art markets entered the arena of U.S. business in the early 1900s.  Today, that industry produces over a billion dollars in income for artists who produce goods bearing a genuine “Indian-made” label.

By Ray Carlson

Between 1864 and 1869, the Arizona Miner, Prescott’s newspaper, described efforts by eight individuals to open a school in a private home or commercial building.  Each relied on fees paid by families, but none survived more than a few months, a story that was repeated in other pioneer communities.

By Al Bates

Ed Peck’s experiences in Territorial Arizona typify the local pioneer experience in that, no matter what their regular jobs, all spare time saw the men out searching for the next bonanza.  Ed’s was a classic example.

By Conrad Jackson

While most of us are acquainted with the image of olden day firefighters using a bucket brigade to douse the flames of a burning building, fewer have seen the image of a hose cart racing down a street.  A hose cart is little more than a handle attached to an axle mounted to two wheels.  Spooled onto the axle are several hundred feet of hose that terminates with a nozzle.  Firefighters would pull the hose cart to the scene of the fire where they would leave one man holding the nozzle.  The remaining firefighters would then pull the cart to the nearest hydrant, unspooling hose as they went.  The hose would then be connected to the hydrant and the water would flow.