By Parker Anderson

Admirers of the life and work of our museum’s founder, Sharlot M. Hall, contend that a key event in her life was her participation in an event called, "The Hassayamper’s Evening." It was there that she made her first public call to preserve the old Governor’s Mansion (then decrepit), as well as to start a museum to preserve Yavapai County history.

Sharlot was an active member of the Monday Club and there came a time when she persuaded them that it would be a good idea to start a fund to preserve the area’s history and construct a museum. How to begin such a project was the big question. In the days before television and radio, live entertainment was immensely popular everywhere in the world. So, the Monday Club decided the best way to begin fundraising for a museum was to put on a show.

Sharlot took over the task of putting the show together, while the Monday Club secured the Elks Opera House for the evening of January 15, 1907. The show would be called "A Hassayamper’s Evening."

When the curtain went up, the show began with Mrs. B. H. Smith (probably Nellie von Gerichten-Smith) performing a piano composition of her own entitled, "Apache War Dance." Mrs. T. W. Otis introduced Sharlot who then gave a long speech on the value of historic preservation and the purpose of the evening’s entertainment. She spoke of the Governor’s Mansion and concluded by reading her poem, "The West." Returning to the piano, Mrs. Smith played a medley of what appears to have been Indian songs, including "Prayer to Wakonda," "Ripe Corn Dance," "Scalp Dance," and "The Thunder God and the Rainbow."

Sharlot returned to the stage and read her poem, "Two Bits," about Charles King’s fabled horse at Fort Whipple. Then the stage was set to look like an old campfire setting on the Santa Fe Trail while Mrs. A. W. McCash and Milton Tregellis sang harmony on the old songs, "Lily Dale," and "Cowboy’s Sweet Bye and Bye."

There was more music and poetry, making it a wonderful evening of entertainment. The Hassayamper’s Evening then concluded with Sharlot reading her famous poem, "Arizona."

In historical retrospect, a few things should be noted. The Monday Club failed in its quest to establish a museum and Sharlot’s dream of beginning such an edifice as well as saving the Governor’s Mansion would not come to fruition for another 20 years. This was also the only time that Sharlot M. Hall is known to have performed on the stage of the Elks Opera House. In her lifetime, she undoubtedly attended events and movies there, but there are no records that she ever returned to the Elks stage. She did, however, give permission for others to read her poems at later variety shows at the Elks.

(Parker Anderson is the Official Historian of the Elks Opera House and an active member of Sharlot Hall Museum’s Blue Rose Theater.)

Sharlot Hall Museum’s Blue Rose Theater will present "Ladies of the Garden: See you at Two" on July 16-17 and 23-24. This play, written by Jody Drake and Randi Wise, depicts several pioneer women on their way to see Sharlot Hall in the Hassayamper’s Evening. Call 445-3122 for tickets and information.

The Elks Opera House will have its Grand Re-opening on July 24, completely restored to what it must have looked like when Miss Sharlot appeared there in 1907.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(BuI181/po0170pc) Reuse only bypermission.

The interior of the Elks Opera House and Sharlot Hall as they appeared c.1907 when the "Hassayamper’s Evening" was presented by the Monday Club of Prescott. The show was a success but its intent of raising funds for a museum was not.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(bug536pb) Reuse only bypermission.

The Governor’s Mansion, shown here in disrepair in the early 1900s, had been neglected for many years. Sharlot was desperately trying to save it, along with many artifacts she had collected to preserve our area’s history. It was 1928 when Sharlot finally saw her dream come true and opened the doors to the first museum guest.