By Worcester P. Bong

On November 19, 1919, the historic Hassayampa Country Club (now Capital Canyon Club) opened for the first time as a 2,820-yard, par 37, nine-hole golf course. But in July 1919, another little-known golf course for U.S. Army personnel, convalescing patients and other golf enthusiasts existed.
 

By Tyler J. Elsberry

The genesis of the World’s Oldest Rodeo can be traced to the development of early Prescott. Founded in 1864, Prescott grew as miners and cattlemen flocked to the area. The cattlemen capitalized on the area’s remoteness to establish numerous ranches. These ranches attracted cowboys who brought new blood to Prescott and supported the town’s economy. Ranches held biannual roundups (rodeos) during which cowboys engaged in long, arduous work. Afterward, they reveled in comparing their skills. These cowboy contests initially provided opportunities to establish bragging rights on who was the best roper or best bronc rider. Outside spectators and participants alike would root for and bet on their favored competitors.

By Bob Harner

Although the popular image of Prescott in the late 1800’s may be of a wild frontier town centered on Whiskey Row, with drunken cowboys and miners engaging in frequent bar brawls and shootouts, the reality was far different. While the town had its wild west aspects, it also had a thriving and active “high society,” with the same kinds of community activities, sophisticated entertainments and social conventions as more “civilized” Eastern cities.

Oral History
Interviewee:  Daniel Torgerson (b. 06/11/1958 - d. xx/xx/xxxx)
Interviewer:  James "Jim" McCarver - SHM Volunteer
Audio Number: 1635
Duration: 01:11:48
Date:  June 30, 2022
Topics Discussed:   Torgerson discusses meeting, "hanging out"  and his youth experiences with Hollywood star and actor Steve McQueen during the filming of Junior Bonner in Prescott, 1971. Torgerson family history; Parents Lewlyn Telford Torgerson and Irene Delores Gangelhoff; Senator Highway; Granite Dells; Erickson’s Road House; “Timber”; Dr. Scholl’s orthopedic shoes; Torgerson Boot and Shoe Service; Rodeo grounds; Siblings; Riding the rails; Whipple Hospital: Dexter School; Taylor Hicks School; Miller Valley School; Prescott Downs racetrack; Shoeshine boy; Whiskey Row; Steve McQueen; Sam Peckinpah;”Bad Boy”; “Junior Bonner” movie; Frontier Days Rodeo; Horse racing season; “Lucky Leprechaun” and “Mark T-Bar”; Yavapai Indian Reservation; “Adventureland”; Simpson’s Market; Ida Lupino; Silent Giant Aquarium Pump factory; Racing on Highway 89A; Slaughterhouse Motocross track; Senator Drive-In; Chad McQueen; Arnold Cox; Bob Cox; Freddy Fender; Rod Hart; Studio Theater; “On Any Given Sunday”; Joe Don Baker; Big Brothers and Big Sisters Organization;
Hiking through New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Grand Canyon; Hard Banning Drill Pipe Company; American Freedom Train; GED; Granite Lake, City Dump; Watson and Willow Lakes; Iron Springs; Stuart Rosebrook; Robert Preston; Stanley Kramer; “Bless the Beasts and the Children” film; “Gumball Rally” “Wanda Nevada”; Spirit Walk; US Navy; NASA; Tactical Support Center; Bermuda; Cordova, Alaska; Inventions; “The Pretender” television program; Fred Wandos; Datalink II; Stuart Rosebrook’s book.

By Nancy Burgess

This is Part 2 of a true story about an automobile – a 1913 Studebaker SA25 “machine” and the people who took it on an approximately 1,000-mile tour of Arizona in 1913.

“An Arizona Auto Adventure: Clarence Boynton’s 1913 Travelogue” is the story of the excitement, sights, experiences, trials and tribulations of a road trip in the early days of automobile travel in a place and time when the “Wild West” of Arizona was still in evidence. The book includes all of Clarence Boynton’s journal of the trip, which he titled “An Account of the Watkins-Boynton 1,000 Mile Tour Through Northern Arizona, August 28 to October 3, 1913.” It is a treasure, and gives today’s traveler an eye-opening glimpse of travel in Arizona just one year after statehood.

By Bob Baker

The title is only one of John Hance’s outlandish claims made to fellow travelers and visitors to the Grand Canyon from the late 1800s to 1919. He and his brother George arrived in the new town of Prescott in the Arizona Territory in December, 1868 and purchased land to farm along Granite Creek. The following year, John sold his share of the farm and homesteaded Orme Ranch, living on his earnings as a teamster. While hauling wood and hay for Fort Whipple and Camp Verde, he often entertained his fellow teamsters and travelers with tall tales of the old west. When the military business dropped off, he went bankrupt.

Oral History
Interviewee:  William "Bill" Pierce (b. 00/00/0000 – d. xx/xx/xxxx) & Stuart Rosebrook (b. 00/00/0000 – d. xx/xx/xxxx)
Interviewer:  James "Jim" McCarver - Volunteer
Audio Number:  1633A - 1633B
Duration: 01:17:44 & 01:50:26
Date:  April 13, 2022 & May 11, 2022
Topics Discussed:  Pending

By Parker Anderson

This year, Prescott celebrates the 50th anniversary of the release of Sam Peckinpah’s motion picture, “Junior Bonner,” starring Steve McQueen. In 1972 it was not a commercial success nationwide, but locally, Prescott has always regarded it as “our” movie, filmed entirely in Prescott and set in Prescott against the backdrop of the Frontier Days rodeo.

Oral History
Interviewee:  Lucy H. Hanson (b. 07/15/1929 - d. xx/xx/xxxx)
Interviewer:  Kim Finston - SHM Volunteer
Audio Number: 1634A & 1634B
Duration: 00:31:29 & 00:41:32
Date:  June 7, 2022
Topics Discussed:  Growing up in Holland; Languages; Secretarial job; German invasion; World War II; Amsterdam; Culture in Holland; Postwar World War II hardships; Birmingham, England; Cambridge University; Buckingham Palace; Orange County, California; Real Estate license; Family history; Move to Prescott; Volunteering at the Sharlot Hall Museum.

By Stuart Rosebrook

Fifty years ago, ABC Pictures was preparing to leave the movie business, but first, they had two final productions to release: Cabaret on February 13 and Junior Bonner on June 20, 1972. Both had major casts and directors and received positive reviews. Both are considered classics in their genres.

How did Junior Bonner get produced in Prescott? It started with the screenwriter making an inspirational trip in 1970 to Prescott’s 4th of July rodeo.