By Georgene Lockwood

(Ed. note: In 1866, the U.S. Army implemented General Order #56 to recruit Indians into the regular force as scouts. With their knowledge of the local terrain, languages and tribal habits, the Indian scouts proved essential for the Army to pursue and attack rival, uncooperative warring Indians. In Part I, Al Sieber, a white civilian was contracted as a scout by General Crook and did not hold rank, although he did have the title of Chief of Scouts. On the other hand, American Indians were enlisted men and could even attain rank if they served repeated enlistments.

By Georgene Lockwood

(Ed. Note: Scouting and tracking has a history in many lands and over many years. It was especially important in the westward expansion of the United States in the 1800s. It’s an authentic chunk of American History of the old west. A few dozen white men came to master the wilderness and most of them began as trappers, mountain men and hunters. When the Army needed scouts it was an easy transition for these men. More than a thousand Indians, having been brought up to be hunters and warriors, proved to be valuable Army scouts between 1866 and the early 1900s.

By Bob Cornett

Arizona has long been promoted as a great place to live, work and play. One of the earliest promotions for the territory was a guidebook sold more than 130 years ago.

By Sylvia Neely

In the past, many towns named their schools after some of our early presidents. Prescott was no exception with schools such as Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln. This year, Lincoln School will be celebrating its 100th year, having served many thousands of Prescott’s children during that time. Coincidentally, 2009 is the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.

By Tom Collins

On Oct. 19, 1905, the Elks Theatre brought a Broadway comedy to Prescott: "The Man from Mexico," by Henry A. Du Souchet. The Arizona Journal Miner neglected to mention the author's name, the fact that he had lived in Prescott between 1878 and 1879, and his tremendous popularity as an amateur character actor at the Prescott Theatre.

By Parker Anderson

One of the most enduring legends of Yavapai County is the story of outlaw James (also known as Fleming) Parker who was hanged on a gallows on the east side of the Courthouse in Prescott on June 3, 1898. His life and crimes have been told and retold, with varying degrees of accuracy, countless times in the 111 years since his execution.

By Carol Powell

March 13, 1900 began like any other day for the busy Locke household in Prescott. With six children to look after, Mrs. Locke had her hands full, being especially concerned about Elmer, her active 18-month-old toddler. Her husband was David G. Locke, section foreman for the Santa Fe Prescott & Phoenix Railway. The family lived in a typical section house just sixty feet from the main tracks and a quarter of a mile east of the Prescott depot. Like most people that live by train tracks, the family became accustomed to the usual train whistle as the trains left the depot. The whistle that day was prelude to a tragedy.

By Anita Nordbrock

There is a large tract of land on Arizona maps about 45 miles northwest of Prescott and 35 miles southwest of Seligman named the Luis Maria Baca Grant Float No 5. In 1821, as a reward for his services to the Spanish Crown, Don Luis Maria de Baca was granted 500,000 acres of prime grassland near Los Alamos, New Mexico. By the mid-1800s, Mexican settlers had moved onto the de Baca land. In 1856, the heirs of Don Luis laid claim to their rights to that original land grant. Rather than kicking off the settlers on the de Baca New Mexico land, the United States government agreed to a "land swap" and offered the heirs five other tracts of land of 100,000 acres each.

(In 1988, Arizona pioneer resident, Samar Inzer Roman, self-published a book called "Gold in Coyote Canyon." Although written in novel form with the characters’ names changed, these stories were her memoirs describing the life she and her husband led while living on a small gold placer mining claim in the 1930s. Around 1996, Jody Drake, the director of Sharlot Hall Museum’s Blue Rose Theater, acquired a copy of the book, fell in love with it and became determined to meet Mrs. Roman.

By John S. Huff

After marching across the northern expanse of New Spain evaluating the presidios (forts) for King Charles III of Spain, Colonel Hugo O’Conor arrived at the presidio of Tubac (35 miles south of Tucson) in the summer of 1775.