By Alexandra Piacenza

From their beginnings, Sacred Heart’s and Prescott’s history have been entwined. As early as 1540 Catholic priest Father Juan de Padilla, a spiritual leader of the Coronado expedition, may have encountered some of the native people of the area as the expedition traveled east of Arizona's central highlands. Church history suggests that it would be more than 230 years before they may have been visited again, this time by Franciscan missionary Father Francisco Hermenegildo Garcés in 1776. Yet another century passed before the first resident pastor, Father F.C. Becker, arrived.

By Brad Courtney

So great is the shadow cast by Tombstone’s 1881 shootout at the OK Corral, it isn’t widely known that the law-enforcement career of Virgil Earp began in Prescott. Its launching point was a prominent saloon on Whiskey Row.

By Brad Courtney

In October 1868, after Albert Noyes, early Prescott’s lumber magnate, completed his much anticipated 3600 square-foot, two-story building on the southwest corner of Montezuma and Gurley Streets, he decided to sell it to Andrew “Doc” Moeller, owner of Granite Street’s legendary Quartz Rock Saloon. Prescottonians were excited, because “Moeller’s new building” marked the newest step in Prescott’s evolution. It would function as the village’s centerpiece, go-to saloon, and meeting place for civic organizations for many years.

By Jayne Peace Pyle

The long and bloody Pleasant Valley War, also known as the Graham-Tewksbury feud, was one of the most gruesome local conflicts ever.  The death toll far eclipsed the contemporaneous Hatfield-McCoy dispute. The truth behind the events — and even some of the events themselves — are still debated, but in general the war involved sheep versus cattle, horse rustling, cattle rustling and empire building.

By Dave Lewis

Last week, we got to know Jack Hillers in 1871 as he worked as a laborer on John Wesley Powell’s second Colorado River expedition.  When they finally set out through the Grand Canyon in 1872, Hillers had graduated to expedition photographer.

By Dave Lewis

Although he became a photographer almost by accident, John Karl “Jack” Hillers was one of the most prolific and influential photographers of the late 19th century.  It started with a chance meeting with John Wesley Powell in May 1871.

By Mary Melcher, Ph.D.

Sharlot Hall was just twelve years old in 1882 when her family moved by covered wagon from Kansas to Arizona Territory.  Sharlot rode her pony all the way, herding horses which her father sold once they reached Arizona. 

By Brad Courtney

The Great Fire of 1900 compelled the glorious rebirth of Prescott and its famous Whiskey Row. However, three major fires transpiring before 1900 also played a part in shaping Whiskey Row’s geography.

By Barbara Patton

Living among the Hopi (1905 - 1912), Kate Cory gained an appreciation and intimate understanding of Hopi culture.  Daily life was simple, but their complex spiritual life and colorful ceremonies were unique. Kate’s photographs, paintings and writings leave us today with a vivid picture of the color and mystery of the Hopi Nation.

By Barbara Patton

Old cemeteries are full of history — and some puzzles.  For example, historian and poet Sharlot Hall, founder of the museum that bears her name, is buried within the sloping confines of the Arizona Pioneer Cemetery on Iron Springs Road in Prescott.  The Hall family enclosure lies at the top of the hill.  There can be found the graves of Sharlot and her parents — and someone named Kate Cory.  Visitors often wonder — who was Kate Cory?  Why is she here beside Sharlot?