By Ed T. Nesdill

Last week, Part I dealt with the 1884 homestead claim of Frederich Barth, (today known as Ponderosa Park) and some of the many owners of the divided property down through the years. Part II, presented here, tells the geology and some of the mining history of the area.

By Ed T. Nesdill

The first European contact in what is now Arizona is believed to be by the Spanish explorer, Coronado, in 1541. Another Spanish explorer, Espajo, has been credited to be the first European in what is now known as Yavapai County in 1581. About 300 years later, in 1848, travel across northern Arizona and southern Arizona was frequent with traffic to California because of the gold rush and the end of the Mexican War. The ceding of the Arizona territory north of the Gila River by Mexico and the Gadsden Purchase in 1853 brought all of present Arizona into the United States, with Statehood coming 59 years later, in 1912.

By Michael Wurtz

(Editor's note: This article was published in advance of April Fool's Day in 2001. It should not be taken seriously at all.)

The year 1866 was a particularly wet one in the Arizona Territory. The miners and territorial officials who called the “Wilderness Capital” home quickly learned that El Niño (unnamed at the time) could punctuate and create the unexpected in our otherwise dry climate.

By Kylin Cummings

The drudgery of ironing was a laborious task that once consumed entire days of homemakers. In the 1950s, a synthetic wrinkle-free fabric called polyester was introduced, saving countless hours for these overworked and underappreciated defenders of the domestic realm. 

By Rob Bates

The Arizona Miner, the Weekly Arizonian, the Yuma Sentinel, the Tucson Citizen and many other Arizona territorial newspapers were the voice and opinion of the new land opening and stretching along reaches of the far Southwest.

By Anne Foster

You've found the perfect wedding gown, long-sleeved and high-necked, maybe even bustled.  The high-heeled, button boots are ordered.  You even manage to talk your future husband into wearing a cutaway tux and brocade vest.  What else could you possibly need for the perfect Victorian wedding?

By Mona Lange McCroskey

Western women in the 19^th-century lived without much fanfare, working hard, bearing children, and caring for the sick. Usually they died as unsung heroines. It was therefore exciting to discover spidery-penciled notations in a fragile ledger kept by Laura Anna Garbarino Bolden in the possession of her granddaughter, Joan Kuhne Looney. Embellished by Joan’s recollections of her, the ledger provides a peek into Laura’s remarkable life.

By Parker Anderson

It has been no secret that Prescott once had a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.  The photos of a Klan funeral march through downtown have been published many times.  But back in the early 20th century, the racial makeup of Prescott was not very different than it is today.  There were not many African-Americans in the area, so Prescott Klan No. 14 had to vent its rage at other targets.

By Lorri Carlson

The month of March has always been associated with my grandma's and my celebration of the aging process together, our birthdays being only one week apart. A few years ago March also became the month that stirs the dormant gardener in my soul.  I had the privilege of working at Watters Garden Center for one growing season.

By Rob Bates

There is a small cloth patch in the collection of the Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott. It is circular in shape; pine trees grace the edges and mountains fill the center. The letters CCC sweep across the top.

This small patch tells the story of where the CCC did most of its work – in the mountains, within the green places of the United States, - and did so in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service. One of these places to fit this description was, of course, the surrounding area of Prescott.