By Shane Murphy

Today, John Hance is widely remembered as the Grand Canyon’s famous storyteller. Even President Theodore Roosevelt called him the “greatest liar on earth.” But he also built the first road to the Grand Canyon where he constructed the first trail to the river, becoming the Canyon’s first permanent white resident and tourism entrepreneur. Not so well known today, but certainly as industrious, energetic and witty, John’s 11-years-younger half-brother George Washington Hance was the acknowledged “informal mayor” of Camp Verde for nearly half a century. Both were the patriarchs of their respective communities.

By Brad Courtney

Anyone who has lived in Arizona knows that eventually two topics are bound to come up: the heat and drought. In the early summer of 1900, these two subjects were more than just talk. When summer rolls into the central highlands and forests of Arizona, dry spells come with it. In 1900, several years of drought preceded it. Water was obviously needed for drinking, plumbing, irrigation and watering plants and animals. It was also needed to extinguish fires if they occurred. There was not a surplus of this precious element available.

By Dave Lewis

In an era when people use DNA kits to trace their origins, consider this:  All of us, regardless of ancestry, are descendants of Neolithic cultures that made and used clay pottery. How many times you put  “Great” in front of “Grandma” or “Grandpa” to go far enough back to find a pottery-maker or pottery-user depends on your ancestors’ culture and on geography, but go back far enough and you find relatives shaping clay into bowls, cooking pots and storage jars (or using pottery in their daily lives). Pottery-making marks a major step in human progress.

By Tom Collins

In the 1880s, Prescott had only one “opera house,” the tiny theater on the second floor of the building designed and constructed by James Howey in 1879. Levi Bashford bought the building in 1880 and, in 1887, created a theater with a stage only 10 feet deep and about 30 feet wide.  The seating capacity was about 250.  Despite the cramped quarters, professional theater troupes occasionally performed there.  One such troupe was the renowned San Francisco Grismer-Davies Company, headed by the most respected duo in the city:  Joseph R. Grismer and his lovely wife, Phoebe Davies.  They arrived in Prescott via the Atlantic & Pacific Railway in January 1888 and presented a trio of melodramas:  The Streets of New York, The Wages of Sin, and Called Back.

By Thomas Glover

Arizona is host to one of the great treasure legends of not just America, but of the world: The Lost Dutchman Mine. The mine is said to have been mined by a German immigrant, Jacob Waltz, who died before he could reveal its location. The mystery is shrouded in history, lore and several “curious” deaths. Ironically, it is also one of the most found lost mines in America.

By Leo Banks

Wyatt Earp and Geronimo came of age on the Arizona frontier at roughly the same time, and their reputations have lived on into the 21st Century, becoming our biggest Wild West celebrities.  But they’re rarely talked about together. Did these legendary men have anything in common? Surprisingly, yes.

By Bi Sallomi

Doctors were in short supply on the mid-19^th century Western frontier so the home was the focus of both health maintenance and disease treatment. Experience and wisdom were valued in older family members, usually female, as they were the keepers of collective family and cultural knowledge. Over the years, a wife and mother might become well-practiced in the use of home remedies for various ailments, including mild digestive upsets, malarial fevers, insect bites and bleeding from severe lacerations. Midwifery and infant care were practiced primarily by women and doctors were seldom called for childbirth.
 

By Barbara Patton In August 1864, Arizona territorial governor John Goodwin and his group of government officials had been living in tents for almost a year.  It must have been a welcome change to move into the large log house built for them in the wilderness capital of Prescott.

They had traveled into the new territory in December of the preceding year looking for a place to found a capital. They chose a spot in the North Central highlands with plenty of timber and water where the town of Prescott had recently been established. There was also gold in the nearby hills.

By Jenny Pederson

What is folk art? Very simply, it is everyday people the world over creating works of art using traditional techniques passed down for generations. In the case of pioneers in the U.S., it often demonstrates the diverse European backgrounds of the makers.
 

Folk art is rooted in traditions from particular cultures and communities like Prescott and illustrate community cultural identities.

By Eric Jacobsen

Between Congress and Yarnell lies the ghost town of Stanton, Arizona.  For years during the 1860s, the town was called Antelope Station and served as a stagecoach stop.  
 

In 1863, pioneer Pauline Weaver and other miners discovered gold along Antelope Creek.  A tracker named Alvaro tripped over a pile of gold nuggets “as big as potatoes.”  From that time on, the area became known as Rich Hill.  Eventually, it would yield nearly $500,000 ($7 million in 2019 dollars) in gold. The town soon grew to 3,500 people, all hoping to strike it rich.