By Parker Anderson

A few months ago, in this column, this author related the near-legendary story of James Parker, alias Fleming Parker, convicted train-robber, jail-breaker, and murderer.  On the fateful day in May 1897, when Parker broke out of the Yavapai County Jail, two other convicts went with him, a Mexican named Cornelia Sarata, and an accused forger named Louis C. Miller.

By Ruth Ann (Partridge) Kizer and Mona Lange McCroskey

Byron Meridith "Bye" Partridge was born to James Partridge, a spice "drummer," and Estelle Gammon Partridge in Springfield, Massachusetts on March 7, 1900.  On November 5, 1900, he married his high school sweetheart, Ruth Chapin.  Byron, a self-taught musician, earned money as a youth playing the piano in silent movie theaters in Springfield.  He could not read music but he had a good ear for a melody and a wonderful sense of rhythm.  He held several other jobs, making a living for himself and his young bride.

By Juti A. Winchester, Ph.D.

In Prescott, the name Sharlot Mabridth Hall brings to mind a number of images.  Some people remember her as a ranch woman.  Others know her as a poet, journalist and writer, and still others as the Territorial Historian or as the founder of the museum that bears her name.

By Terry Munderloh

The broad expanse of Chino Valley forms an alluvial basin where subterranean water discharges to the surface for an area of many acres.  The spring water, once brought to the surface, then seeps back to the source ground waters, recharging the subterranean aquifers.  Surface water in the arid southwest is a magnet for life and ancient ruins attest to prehistoric man's occupation of this valley, but it was the Spanish explorers who gave these springs the name we know them by today: Del Rio. 
 

By Al Bates

Julius and Celia Sanders spent the first 35 years of their married life uneventfully, farming in Kentucky and Illinois.  The next five years were spent on a trek that took them and most of their children to California and then to Arizona to become Prescott's first Anglo family.

By Richard Gorby

For anyone perusing maps of Yavapai County as early as 1865 to the present, the 12-mile square in the upper left corner is bound to be noticeable, perhaps puzzling: “Luis Marie Baca Grant, Float No. 5.”

By Juti Winchester, Ph.D.

A young woman of good family meets a man while traveling.  After a whirlwind courtship they marry, against the advice of friends and family.  He then whisks her away from her former life and takes her to live in a log house on the wild frontier.  This may sound like the plot from a romance novel, but it is the true story of Margaret Hunt, who married the Secretary of the Territory of Arizona, Richard McCormick, and came to live in Prescott's Governor's mansion late in 1865.  A short diary, and a series of letters from "Maggie" to her friend Emma Denike and to her brother John allow us a glimpse at the McCormick's life and relationship. September 27 marks the 135th anniversary of their marriage.

By Kathryn Reisdorfer

(This is the second part of a two-part article regarding Ann Hopkins.)

Ann Hopkins, the feisty wife of Clarence Hopkins, the Chief Engineer for United Verde Copper Company, was busy making her own way in Jerome when World War I erupted.  In order to meet the demands of war, United Verde's smelter was running full bore and, according to Hopkins, "The sulfur smoke from the smelter had killed all the verdure for miles around.  There was not a living green thing within sight of Jerome. . . ."

By Kathryn Reisdorfer

(This is the first part of a two-part article regarding Ann Hopkins.) 

A student of mine led into her presentation on Sharlot Hall by asking the class, "Do you remember Molly Brown in The Titanic?  Well, Sharlot Hall was like her!"  Lively and rugged, women with minds of their own-that's how people might describe Sharlot or Molly.  We often admire those unique women, and we love to hear how they thumbed their noses at social convention.  But if we look more closely, we might realize that they found it painful to swim against the current, and we might conclude that society is often kinder to "characters" from a distance than it is at close range.  This was the case with Ann Hopkins. 
 

By Jay Eby

The First Congregational Church building, at Gurley and Alarcon Streets, is a part of the East Prescott Historic District.  This building, an example of Romanesque Revival architecture in Prescott, was constructed in 1904, and nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.