Arizona 2026
Once again in 2026, I returned to Arizona for the heart of the winter months. The days are sunny and warm while the nights are cool. During my visit this year, I returned to some familiar places that I visited last year including Lake Pleasant, Montezuma Castle, and Pima Air & Space Museum. Instead of making new entries for those places, I’ve added updates to my blog entry for Arizona from 2025. If you’d like to view my previous Arizona entry with those updates, please click here. Below is my blog entries for new places I visited in Arizona in 2026.
Lost Dutchman State Park
Located about 40 miles east of downtown Phoenix, the Superstition Mountains are an iconic feature of the Arizona landscape. Some 25 million years ago, volcanoes in the region emitted about 2,500 cubic miles of ash and lava which fused together under the intense heat and pressure. The volcanoes collapsed into their partly emptied magma chambers, producing depressions or calderas. A subsequent up-thrust of thick lava within the largest of these calderas and the forces of erosion have created the Superstition formations that we see today. Both the Pima and Apache people lived in the Superstition Mountains, and their numerous legends surrounding the mysterious mountains has led to the name. The mountains remained an Apache stronghold well into the late 1880s.
During the 1840s, the Peralta family of northern Mexico supposedly developed a rich gold mine in the Superstition Mountains. On an expedition to carry gold back to Mexico in 1848, their party was ambushed by the Apache, and all were killed except for one or two Peralta family members who escaped into Mexico. A number of other people were supposed to have known the mine’s location or even to have worked in it. Numerous maps have surfaced over the years, only to become lost or misplaced when interested parties pressed for facts. Men who claimed to have found the Peralta mine were unable to return to it or some disaster occurred before they could file a claim, all adding to the lore of a “lost mine.”
In the 1870s Jacob Waltz, “the Dutchman” (actually a native of Germany), was said to have located the mine through the aid of a Peralta descendant. Waltz and his partner, Jacob Weiser worked the mine and allegedly hid one or more caches of gold in the Superstition Mountains. Weiser was killed by the Apache, or according to some, by Waltz himself. In failing health, Jacob Waltz moved to Phoenix and died some twenty years later in 1891. He supposedly described the mine’s location to Julia Thomas, a neighbor who took care of him prior to his death. Neither she nor dozens of other seekers in the years that followed were able to find the “Lost Dutchman’s Mine.” Subsequent searchers have sometimes met with foul play or even death, contributing to the superstition and legend that surrounds these mountains.
Lost Dutchman State Park lies at the base of the Superstition Mountains and is a popular recreation area for Phoenix residents. The park offers numerous hiking opportunities through the desert and up into the Superstition Mountains. The Siphon Draw Trail is a very popular hike that climbs 2 miles up into the canyon. For a more strenuous challenge, hikers can continue to climb an additional 2,000 feet to the Flatiron. During my week-long visit, I stayed in the Lost Dutchman Campground which offers serviced, unserviced, and cabin sites with breathtaking views of the Superstition Mountains. Located in Apache Junction, the park serves as a great basecamp for exploring greater Phoenix, including Tonto National Monument and the Goldfield Ghost Town which is just down the road from the park.
Tonto National Monument
The first settlers to the Tonto Basin arrived around 10,000 years ago. These ancient people hunted animals and gathered plants to survive. Around 2,500 years ago, they began diverting water from the Salt River to help irrigate crops like corn, beans, squash, and cotton. With the introduction of agriculture, permanent settlements sprung up in the form of pit houses, roof-covered structures dug in the ground. Around 1250, more people began moving to the basin building larger settlements in the valley and on the nearby cliffsides. By 1300, more that 3,000 people lived in the basin.
The people known as the Salado (derived from the Spanish word “sal” which means salt) lived in the basin between 1300 to 1450. Some of the Salado built cliff dwellings using adobe mud, quartzite rocks, and wood materials for the roofs. The dwellings were built under alcoves in the cliffs that provided protection from the elements and shade from the intense sun of the desert. The Lower Cliff Dwelling that I visited was home to about 30 people consisting of 20 rooms constructed over two stories. Archeologists are still searching for clues as to why the Salado culture diminished in the Tonto Basin and by 1450 the cliff dwellings had been abandoned.
In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt established Tonto National Monument to preserve the historical and archeological significance of the cliff dwellings. Today, there are two cliff dwellings that are open to the guests to explore. The more accessible Lower Cliff Dwelling, is reached by hiking up a steep, half-mile trail from the Visitor Center. This cliff dwelling is open daily and guests are allowed to walk amongst the rooms of the structure under the supervision of a ranger. The Upper Cliff Dwelling is not visible from the Visitor Center and is only accessible on weekends via a ranger led hike.
In modern times, the Tonto Basin is dominated by Theodore Roosevelt Lake which was formed by damming the Salt River. The Roosevelt Dam was completed in 1911 and the lake it formed was, at the time, the largest artificial lake in the world. Today, Roosevelt Lake is one of a series of four lakes that supply water for the city of Phoenix. From the cliffs of Tonto National Monument, visitors have spectacular views of the Roosevelt Lake down in the basin.
Titan Missile Museum
The Titan II was the largest, most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) deployed by the United States between 1963 to 1987. The missile stood 103 feet tall, measured 10 feet in diameter, and weighed a whooping 330,000 pounds. The two-staged Titan II was powered by a liquid, storable, hypergolic fuel which allowed for a rapid launch time of under one minute. The Titan II was designed to deliver a 9-megaton warhead (600 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb) at a range of up to 6,000 miles in under 30 minutes. The first 5.5 minutes were powered flight and the remaining 24.5 minutes were ballistic free flight to the target. Atop the Titan II is the reentry vehicle that housed the warhead and this was the only part that re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere falling to the target at speeds up to 16,000 MPH. Each Titan II cost $2.2 million in 1963.
Fifty-four Titan II ICBMs were deployed in groups of eighteen around three Air Force bases beginning in 1963. Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona hosted the 390th Strategic Missile Wing (SMW), Little Rock AFB, Arkansas hosted the 308th SMW, and McConnell AFB, Kansas hosted the 381st SMW. Each site consisted of a missile silo, a launch control center, and an access portal at a cost of $8.3 million. The sites were staffed 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, by 4-person missile combat crews who deployed underground to the missile sites for 24-hour shifts, called alerts. Crew members consisted of two officers — the Missile Combat Crew Commander (MCCC) and the Deputy Missile Combat Crew Commander (DMCCC), and two enlisted personnel — the Ballistic Missile Analyst Technician (BMAT) and the Missile Facilities Technician (MFT).
The missile combat crews entered the underground facility through the topside access portal. After descending 35 feet below ground, crews entered the launch control center through a series of 7,000 pound blast doors designed to protect them from a nuclear blast. The launch control center itself was a three-level, reinforced concrete structured suspended by shock absorbers within a hardened complex, with the lowest level located 50 feet below ground level. The upper level was the launch control center while the lower levels were living quarters. In the event of a nuclear attack, crews could live underground for up to a month. A long tunnel connected the launch control center to the silo where the missile was located.
The Missile Combat Crew Commander and his Deputy Commander manned the launch consoles and were the only two people capable of launching the missile. In the event that the President had authorized a launch, a message would come over the loud speaker in the launch control room. The message would contain a 41-part authorization code which the two officers would have to authenticate with codes stored in a safe. Each officer had their own combination to the safe and it required both of them to open the safe to retrieve the codes. Once the authorization code was authenticated by both officers, they would select the target and enter the launch code to unlock the missile’s fuel valves. The final step was for the two officers to turn the launch keys which they each had to do at the same time. Both launch keys had to be turned and they were spaced so that no one person could turn both keys. Once the keys were turned, the door covering the silo would slide open, the missile’s batteries would spring to life, and once the fuel and oxidizer began to mix the Titan II missile would launch out of its silo.
A Titan II missile silo is constructed of two concentric cylinders. The larger outer cylinder is 150 feet deep and 55 feet in diameter. The smaller inner cylinder, called the launch duct, is 26 feet in diameter and contains the missile. The walls of the silo are 8 feet thick and the gap between the inner and outer cylinders creates an exhaust duct for flames and gases to escape upon launch. The missile sits on a large ring at the bottom of the launch duct. This ring, called the thrust mount, rests on enormous springs which allow the missile to ride out the shock wave of a nearby nuclear explosion. Retractable work platforms at multiple levels in the launch duct provide a floor for maintenance crews to safely work on the missile within the silo. The entire silo is sealed with a massive, steel-reinforced concrete door that weighs roughly 725 tons. Prior to a missile launch, the sliding door can open in less than 20 seconds.
The Titan II program was initially designed for a ten-year deployment, but a series of modifications and upgrades extended the life of the missiles. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced that the Titan II ICBMs would be replaced by more advanced systems such as the MX Peacekeeper. The first deactivations began in 1982 at Arizona’s 390th SMW and the last Titan II site was officially deactivated in 1987, twenty-four years after its initial deployment. Launch complex 571-7 in Arizona came off alert on November 11, 1982 and efforts immediately began to turn it into a museum. The Titan Missile Museum opened its doors in 1986 and since then over 1.5 million guests have visited the site. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994, the museum offers daily guided tours of the underground launch control center and silo. Guests can also explore the artifacts in the museum and walk around the grounds where you can look down at a Titan II missile in its silo as well as view pieces of equipment used to maintain the missiles.
Tucson Military Vehicle Museum
Opening in 2025, the Tucson Military Vehicle Museum celebrates the power, innovation, and legendary stories of the armored vehicles that dominated the battlefield. The museum’s collection spans from World War I through the Gulf War and even into the present day. There are over 65 motorized vehicles in the collection as well as an impressive collection of uniforms worn by armor units from around the world. The museum was opened by the Arizona Aerospace Foundation which also operates the Pima Air & Space Museum and the Titan Missile Museum.
Count Ferdinand von Galen was from one of Germany’s most aristocratic families and grew up in a castle along the Rhine. As a young boy, he witnessed the end of World War II and the Allied Forces used his family’s castle as a headquarters. He went on to become president of one of West Germany’s largest investment banks and von Galen used his financial success to amass a collection of U.S. and British military vehicles that he remembered from his childhood. After moving to Arizona in the 1990s, von Galen became the chairman of the Arizona Aerospace Foundation and was instrumental in the expansion of the Pima Air & Space Museum. Following the Count’s death, the von Galen family donated 21 restored U.S. and British World War II vehicles in his memory and the Tucson Military Vehicle Museum was born.
Chiricahua National Monument
Chiricahua National Monument is located approximately 36 miles southeast of Wilcox, Arizona. The monument preserves the remains of an immense volcanic eruption that shook the region about 27 million years ago. The thick, white-hot ash that spewed forth from the nearby Turkey Creek Caldera, cooled and hardened into rhyolitic tuff, laying down almost 2,000 ft of highly siliceous, dark volcanic ash and pumice. The volcanic material eventually eroded into the natural rock formations of the present monument. President Calvin Coolidge established the Chiricahua National Monument with the Antiquities Act on April 18, 1924. It was expanded by President Franklin Roosevelt on June 10, 1938 following a Civilian Conservation Corps encampment here in the 1930s to build roads, trails, and other infrastructure.
By far the most noticeable natural features in the park are the rhyolite rock pinnacles for which the monument was created to protect. Rising sometimes hundreds of feet into the air, many of these pinnacles are balancing on a small base, seemingly ready to topple over at any time. The best views of the monument’s rock formations can be found along the 8-mile scenic drive that winds up the mountain to Massai Point (named after one of the last Chiricahua Apache warriors – Big Foot Massai). From atop the observation tower built by the CCC in the 1930s, you have spectacular views of the endless rock formations as well as the Dragoon Mountains, Cochise Stronghold, and Sulphur Springs Valley in the distance. Along the drive up to Massai Point are other interesting rock formations like Organ Pipe and Sea Captain.
The Chiricahua Apache were a band of Apache who entered southeastern Arizona sometime in the 15th century. They were named after the Chiricahua Mountains which are located in southeastern Arizona. Their language, like all Apache, originates from the Athabaskan people of northwestern North America. The Chiricahua Apache were a nomadic people. They lived off the land and moved with the seasons, usually spending winter on the warmer plains of the Southwest and summer in the cooler mountains. They were hunter gatherers who lived in huts called wickiups, constructed from grass, hides, and other materials. It was a sacred vocation for a Chiricahua Apache, both men and women, to become a warrior. Once introduced to horses by the Spanish, the Apache became some of the best horsemen in North America. Already masters of the bow and arrow, when they were introduced to the rifle, they become proficient with those as well.
The Chiricahua Apache had long practiced raiding–the capturing of other’s property, often done in surprise attacks. The Chiricahua raided other tribes and later the Spanish, the Mexicans, and American settlers. The taken property could include livestock, food, ammunition, and weapons. Sometimes these raids involved kidnapping or killing. The Chiricahua did not see a problem with this practice for they did not share the same principles of ownership and theft as other cultures. This raiding practice led to conflict with first Spain and then Mexico, and eventually with the United States who acquired the Southwest following the end of the Mexican American War in 1848.
By 1861, frequently clashes between the Chiricahua Apache and the United States, both settlers and military, led to a conflict known as the Apache Wars. It was not a war in the traditional sense for clashes were infrequent with the Chiricahua Apache remaining on the run and only engaging the United States 10th Calvary when the numbers favored them. During the early days of the conflict, Chief Cochise was the leader of the Chiricahua Apache. In 1872, Cochise negotiated a peace with the Americans and the remaining members of the Chiricahua Apache, numbering fewer than 1,000 people, moved onto the Chiricahua Reservation.
Following Cochise’s death in 1874, a rogue member of the Chiricahua Apache convinced about two-thirds of the warriors to violate the peace and leave the reservation: his name was Geronimo. Although not a chief, he in fact was a medicine man, Geronimo was a fearless warrior who believed that his people were better off dead than on a reservation. The band of Chiricahua Apache led by Geronimo fled to the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico where they grew in numbers and conducted raids to secure supplies. They continued to clash with both American and Mexican militaries for years with Geronimo being captured several times, but always escaping. In the final summer of Chiricahua freedom in 1886, there were only 37 free Chiricahua Apache left being pursued by 9,000 American and Mexican troops.
In a final effort to secure the surrender of Geronimo’s band of free Chiricahua, General Nelson Miles devised a plan to move the Chiricahua living on reservations thousands of miles away to Florida. The free Chiricahua remaining had close family members in this group and his hope was that knowing they would likely never see their families again without surrendering would cause a final Chiricahua Apache surrender. It worked. Geronimo formally surrendered to the United States on September 4, 1886 in Skeleton Canyon, Arizona. After his final surrender, Geronimo and his people were sent into exile as prisoners of war, first to Florida, then Alabama, and finally to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where Geronimo died in 1909, regretting his decision to surrender.
After coming to America from Sweden, a young Neil Erickson joined the Army and served in the Apache Wars with the 4th Cavalry. While in the Army, he met a woman named Emma Peterson who was a maid to an Army colonel. The couple were married in 1887 and following Neil’s discharge from the Army, they moved to Bonita Canyon. They named their homestead Faraway Ranch. Neil had little interest in farming or ranching, and often worked in construction for various mining companies. Emma stayed home with their three children, tending to their garden and livestock. In 1903, Neil became a forest ranger, and his new career took him throughout the Arizona Territory. The management of the Faraway Ranch fell to their oldest child, Lillian.
In 1923, Lillian Erickson married a man named Ed Riggs who had studied engineering at MIT and served in World War I. Together they worked to developed the cattle operation at Faraday Ranch and expand the ranch house that we see today. Both Ed and Lillian appreciated the natural beauty of the Chiricahua Mountains and thought about ways to promote the area. They expanded the Faraway Ranch operation to accommodate guests who could come to Bonita Canyon to enjoy horseback riding, birdwatching, and hiking. They later purchased the nearby Stafford Cabin to expand their guest accommodations. When Chiricahua National Monument was established in 1924, Ed surveyed the boundaries and served as a trail construction foreman with the Civilian Conservation Corps. Cattle and guest ranching operations sustained the life of the ranch until its owners became too well along in years to maintain it. Today the heritage of Faraway Ranch is being preserved as a part of Chiricahua National Monument.
Kartchner Caverns State Park
On November 24, 1974, two friends named Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts were exploring the Whetstone Mountains near Benson, Arizona in search of hidden caves. While searching on a hillside, the pair found a sinkhole and at the bottom was a small crack in the limestone. They could feel air flowing from the crack and the smell of bat guano (the accumulated excrement of bats) was strong: they had found a cave. Gary and Randy worked for hours with hammers and chisels to enlarge the crack. Finally, they were able to squeeze into the opening on their bellies and enter an undiscovered world.
The pair entered a massive, pristine cavern system that appeared to be completely undisturbed by humans. They quickly realized that the cave they had entered was still alive, meaning the formations were still growing fed by water and high humidity. The two explored the cavern system for about twelve hours only able to see about ten feet in front of their faces with the aid of headlamps. When they finally emerged from the cave, it was the middle of a moonless night. They knew they had made a remarkable discover, but they also realized that they needed to protect the cavern system, so they kept the discovery a secret.
In February 1978, Gary and Randy informed the landowners, James and Lois Kartchner, of their discovery and they agreed to work with them to protect the cavern system. The Kartchners reached out to the governor’s office. At that time, the governor of Arizona was a geologist named Bruce Babbit and he immediately recognized the significance of the discovery and the importance of preserving the cavern system. The Kartchners agreed to sell the land to the state and Governor Babbit worked with the state legislature to create Kartchner Caverns State Park which was finalized in 1988.
Once the caverns were in possession of the state of Arizona, work began on planning how to open this pristine underground world to the public. State officials brought in Gary and Randy to help lay out the tour routes which would roughly follow their original paths of discovery. However, guests could not be expected to squeeze through the sinkhole entry point so the state brought in a mining company to construct tunnels to access the caves. They spent nine months blasting and carving out the limestone. Because these are living caves (still actively creating formations), extensive efforts were made to preserve the cave’s ecosystem, including installing airlocks to maintain 99% humidity and constant 72°F temperatures to prevent formations from drying out. All the concrete and stainless-steel handrails for the miles of pathways had to be brought in by hand and wire had to be ran for the lighting system. One of the significant design features of Kartchner Caverns State Park is that it is the world’s first fully wheelchair accessible caverns tour in the world: there are no stairs.
Kartchner Caverns State Park had its initial opening in 1999 with the Rotunda and Throne Rooms the first caves available for the public to tour. Opening the Big Room for tours took significantly more time because that cave is used by cave myotis bats as a nursery during the summer. Work creating the infrastructure for tours in the Big Room had to be suspended every April to October while the cave was used by the approximately 1,500 female bats who birth and raise their pups. The Big Room was opened to the public for tours in 2003.
The Discovery Center at Kartchner Caverns State Park houses a museum, theater, and displays on the geology of the caves. There are two different tours you can take at Kartchner Caverns: the Rotunda/Throne Rooms or the Big Room. All tours of the caverns are conducted by trained tour guides. You meet your tour guide at the Discovery Center and board a tram for the short ride up the hillside to the cave entrances.
Due to the bat nursery, the Big Room tour is only available October 15 to April 15. The Big Room is an enormous space that is all under a single ceiling. There is ample evidence inside the cave that water once filled the space and probably had held up the ceiling. Once the water receded, the ceiling collapsed creating the huge space. Along the Big Room tour, guests get a look at the original opening that Gary and Randy used during their discovery, as well as the evidence of the bat population that inhabits the cave over the summer. I witnessed numerous soda straw formations that had crashed to the floor when young bats learned to fly and master their echolocation. There are some stunning formations in the Big Room including large flowstones and drapery as well as colorful cave bacon. Kartchner Caverns does not use colored lights to illuminate its formations for it is rich in natural mineral diversity that naturally introduces stunning colors to the cave formations. Unfortunately, I don’t have photos of the Big Room. The state park does not allow photography inside the caverns.
The Rotunda/Throne Rooms tour makes its way through two difference rooms that both are abundant in beautiful cave formations. Guests exit the entrance tunnel to first enter the Rotunda Room where there is gorgeous coloration of the rocks due to the presence of a wide variety of minerals. There are numerous stalactites (hang from ceiling) and stalagmites (rise from floor) in the Rotunda Room many of which are wet and still growing. After exiting the Rotunda Room, the tour route enters the Throne Room. The walls of the Throne Room are rich with a wide variety of cave formations including flowstone, soda straws, and helictites which grow in twisted, unpredictable directions. Probably the most spectacular cave formation in Kartchner Caverns is the massive 58 feet tall Kubla Khan column which is found in the Throne Room. This column, which is the largest in Arizona, would have been formed when a stalactite and stalagmite met, and then continued to grow. The tour of the Throne Room concludes with one of the highlights which is a stop at the balcony. From this elevated vantage point, guests have fantastic views of the formations in the room including Kubla Khan.
Photo Credit: The photos from inside the Rotunda and Throne Rooms were taken by Bill, one of the tour guides and volunteers at Kartchner Caverns State Park. The facility does not permit guests to photograph inside the caverns and Bill was kind enough to share some of his photos from a special photography tour he had taken. Thanks Bill!
Sloan Park – Mesa, AZ
Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona is the spring training home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. The Cubs have been in Mesa for over 50 years and they opened their massive 146-acre complex, known as Sloan Park, in February 2014. The 15,000-seat stadium mirrors the dimensions of Wrigley Field and is the largest spring training stadium in Major League Baseball. Many of the architectural features of the Mesa stadium resemble those of Wrigley Field. The training complex features seven full-sized practice fields, sixteen batting cages, 72,000 sq. ft. clubhouse, and 7,500 sq. ft. training facility.
The Chicago Cubs are part of the Arizona’s Cactus League. Fifteen major league teams hold their spring training in the greater Phoenix area and are all within an easy bus ride of each other. The other half of Major League Baseball teams hold their spring training in Florida’s Grapefruit League. Spring training generally runs for about five to six weeks, from late February to late March. Teams generally play between 28 and 32 exhibition games to sharpen skills and evaluate talent of prospects. While I was in the Mesa area, I attended a Cubs game at Sloan Park and had a great time.
Dead Horse Ranch State Park
Dead Horse Ranch State Park covers 423 acres in the Coconino National Forest along the banks of the Verde River near the town of Cottonwood, Arizona. The 3,300-foot elevation accounts for the mild temperatures that are ideal for outdoor recreation such as camping, biking, fishing, and canoeing. The park sits in the Verde River Greenway which is lush with trees. From atop the high mesa in Dead Horse Ranch, you have great views of the mining town of Jerome, ancient adobe community of Tuzigoot, and mountains around Sedona
The origin of the park’s name goes back to the late 1940s when the Ireys family came to Arizona from Minnesota in search of a ranch property. At one of the properties that they toured, the family discovered a dead horse lying by the road. When Mr. Ireys asked the children which property they liked best, they said “the one with the dead horse”. The Ireys purchased the property and named it “Dead Horse Ranch”. When Arizona State Parks acquired the property in 1973, the Ireys made retaining the name a condition of the sale.
Water from the Verde River has been vital to the region for centuries, dating back to the ancient peoples who would flood their fields and built irrigation ditches to divert water from the river. Numerous ditches still exist within the boundaries of Dead Horse Ranch State Park and these days they feed three large lagoons in the park. The lagoons (West, Middle, and East) are popular fishing spots in Northern Arizona where largemouth bass, blue gills, and channel catfish are caught year-round. During the cooler winter months, the Arizona Game and Fish Department stocks the lagoons with rainbow trout to the delight of anglers.
Tuzigoot National Monument
Tuzigoot (Apache for “crooked water”) is the remnant of a Southern Sinagua village built between 1000 and 1400. The village sits atop the summit of a long ridge rising 120 feet above the Verde River Valley. The original pueblo was two stories high in places, with 87 ground-floor rooms. There were few exterior doors; entry was by ladders through roof openings. The village began as a small cluster of rooms inhabited by some 50 persons for 100 years. In the 1200s, the population doubled and then doubled again. Around 1400, these Puebloan farmers began leaving the valley for other settlements.
The people who lived at Tuzigoot were farmers and hunters of small game. They would flood their fields in the spring with the high waters of the Verde River to prepare for planting. During the dry season, they dug irrigation ditches to divert river water to their crops. Their crops included squash, beans, corn, and cotton. The community was such successful farmers that they traded their crops with tribes hundreds of miles away. Many of the pottery artifacts unearthed at Tuzigoot were designs of other Southwest tribes indicating the vast trading network that they engaged.
Early settlers in the Verde River Valley only found remnants of the ancient community. All that remained were traces of the foundations for the walls and structures. Over the years, archeologists worked to map the pueblo. During the heart of the Great Depression, many of Arizona’s copper mines closed and thousands of men were out of work. The Tuzigoot excavation provided men and women with much needed jobs during hard times. Local workers, with little or no experience, learned to collect and preserve archeological material under the supervision of young archeological graduate students. They also worked to reconstruct the walls of the pueblo utilizing the building techniques used by the ancient people. Tuzigoot National Monument was established on July 25, 1939, by Presidential proclamation. The visitor center displays a large collection of artifacts unearthed at the site and there is a paved walkway that leads up to the pueblo.
Jerome, Arizona
Jerome’s modern history began in 1876 when three prospectors staked claims on rich copper deposits within Cleopatra Hill. In 1883, they sold their claims to a group of investors who formed the United Verde Copper Company. The resulting mining camp of board and canvas soon became a bustling town which was named after Eugene Jerome who was a New York lawyer and financier who served as the treasurer of the United Verde Copper Company. The costs of operating the mine, especially for transportation, outstripped profits and the company folded within two years.
It took the vision and vast financial resources of a new owner, William A. Clark, to bring in a narrow-gauge railroad and reduce freight costs to make the mine profitable. By the early 20th century, the United Verde was the largest producing copper mine in the Arizona Territory. Jerome was evolving into a frame and brick town, and could boast two churches, an opera house, a school, and several civic buildings.
In 1912, James S. Douglas purchased and began development of the Little Daisy Mine. Within a few years, Jerome had two bonanza copper mines. Copper production peaked in 1929 with the population in Jerome reaching 15,000 residents making it the fourth largest town in Arizona. However, the onset of the Great Depression and low-grade ore deposits reversed the fortunes of the town. The Little Daisy Mine shut down in 1938. The United Verde mine was purchased by the Phelps Dodge Company in 1935, but mounting losses brought the operation and Jerome’s mining days to a close in 1953. Over their lifetime, the Jerome mines produced over 37 million tons of ore which yielded 3.7 billion pounds of copper, 53 million pounds of zinc, 3.9 million pounds of silver, and 102,500 pounds of gold.
The Great Depression wasn’t the only threat to the town of Jerome during the late 1920s into the 1930s. As mentioned previously, Jerome is located on the slope of Cleopatra Hill. Under the surface are several geological faults crossed by some 88 miles of tunnels. The tunnel blasting in the 1920s aggravated an already precarious situation and several buildings began to slide down the slope, including the town jail. During the boom years buildings were relocated as they slid, but as the depression deepened buildings were just torn down contributing to the decay of Jerome. Following the closing of the mines, the population of Jerome fell to as few as 50 residents making it a virtual ghost town. Today, Jerome has been revived as a popular tourist destination known for its art galleries and history with the population topping 500 residents.
In 1916, James S. Douglas constructed a mansion on the hill just above his Little Daisy Mine. The house featured a wine cellar, billiard room, marble shower, steam heat, and even a central vacuum system. Once mining ceased in Jerome, the Douglas family donated the mansion to the state of Arizona for the purpose of a museum. The Jerome State Historic Park opened in 1965 at the site of the Douglas Mansion and features exhibits celebrating the mining history of Jerome as well as the life of the Douglas family.
Meteor Crater
Around 50,000 years ago, a huge iron-nickel meteorite estimated at 150 feet across and weighing several hundred thousand tons hurtled through the Earth’s atmosphere at about 26,000 miles per hour. It struck the rocky plain of northern Arizona with an explosive force greater than 20 million tons of TNT. The shock waves of the impact swept across the plain causing devastation in a radius for several miles. In the ground, the meteorite penetrated the rocky plain with pressures rising above 20 million pounds per square inch. Both iron and rock were either instantly vaporized or melted. Fragmented rock, as well as pieces of the meteorite, were ejected from the crater and thrown for miles onto the plain. The result of this violent impact was a giant bowl-shaped crater 700 feet deep and measuring over 4,000 feet across.
Although there is evidence that the Native Americans in the area were aware of the crater, the first written reports of the crater were made by a man named Franklin in 1871 while he was conducting surveys for the United States Army. For decades, the crater was simply known as Franklin’s Hole. Despite the fact that some ranchers were discovering iron-nickel meteorites on the plain, many in the scientific community attributed the origin of the crater to that of volcanic activity. This wasn’t an unfounded theory because there are many volcanic craters in Northern Arizona. However, in 1902 a Philadelphia mining engineer named Daniel Barrington became interested in the site as a potential iron mine. Barrington had visited the site and was convinced that the crater had been formed by the impact of a large iron meteorite. He further assumed the bulk of it still remained buried below the crater’s floor. He created the Standard Iron Company and filed several mining claims with the federal government to mine the crater.
Barrington came to the crater site in 1903 and began digging a shaft in the middle of the crater in search of an iron meteorite. He didn’t find iron, but he did discover lots of high-quality silica which they mined and sold to glass manufacturers. Barrington observed that there was a noticeable rock uplift on the south slope of the crater. Theorizing that perhaps the meteorite had not lodged in the center of the crater but rather in the side, he conducted several drilling operations on the south slope. All these efforts ended in disappointment and with Barrington’s funds exhausted, mining in the crater ceased in in 1929. In 1955, the Barringer family and the surrounding Bar T Ranch Company entered into an agreement to form the Meteor Crater Enterprises corporation to promote scientific research and tourism of the site.
One of the scientists who came to study the crater was Dr. Eugene Shoemaker who was the former Chief of the Branch of Astrogeology at the U.S. Geological Survey. Shoemaker had done extensive research at nuclear testing sites in Nevada and immediately noticed similarities between the them and the Barrington Crater. Both the crater and test sites contained examples of coesite and stishovite. These two minerals do not occur in nature and are only formed when silica crystalizes under extreme pressures, equivalent to more than 20,000 times that of atmospheric pressure. With the discovery of these two minerals, Dr. Shoemaker proved beyond any doubt that the crater was indeed an impact site. Today, this breakthrough research has led to techniques used around the world to identify meteorite impact sites.
Most of the impact sites on Earth have been leveled by erosion. This site, named Meteor Crater or Barrington Meteorite Crater, is the best-preserved meteorite impact crater on the planet. In 1968, Meteor Crater was designated a Natural Landmark by the Department of the Interior. During training for Apollo missions to the Moon, NASA sent astronauts to Meteor Crater to gain experience with impact craters similar to what they might encounter on the lunar surface.
Today, Meteor Crater is a major tourist attraction along I-40 (old US-66) in Northern Arizona. As a result of erosion, the modern-day crater has been reduced to 550 feet deep with the circumference of 2.4 miles. Although visitors can no longer hike to the bottom of the crater, there are several good observation decks for viewing the crater and they offer guided, 45-minute hikes along the crater’s rim. The Discovery Center has informative exhibits about the history of this crater as well as other impact sites around the world. They also have a wide-format movie theater that shows a 15-minute presentation about the ancient impact and history of the site.
Homolovi State Park
On the high grassland of 14th century Northern Arizona, an ancient people found a home along the Little Colorado River. These people, the Hisat’sinom (known to archaeologists as the Anasazi), paused in their migration to farm the rich flood plain before continuing north to join people already living on the mesas, people who are today known as the Hopi. Today, we know this site to be Homolovi which is located near Winslow, Arizona. In the Hopi language, Homolovi means “place of the little hills”. The Hopi people still consider Homolovi as part of their homeland. They continue to make pilgrimages to these ruin sites today, renewing the ties of their people with the land.
In an effort to protect these ruin sites, the Hopi supported the state’s efforts to establish Homolovi State Park in 1986. The park now serves as a center of research for the late migration period of the Hopi from the 1200s to the late 1300s. The park offers hiking, camping and interpretive exhibits. Homolovi State Park features two archaeological sites that are accessible to visitors.
Inhabited between 1285 to 1400AD, Homolovi I was the longest inhabited village within the state park’s boundaries. As the second largest village at 1,100 rooms, it grew slowly throughout its occupation, reaching a maximum population of 600 residents. The older part of the village, on top of a small hill, was constructed of sandstone. The newer part of the village, surrounding a large plaza, was made primarily of adobe bricks and featured murals and kivas. The success and longevity of Homolovi I was its proximity to the widest part of the Little Colorado River floodplain which allowed for large fields of crops.
The largest site, Homolovi II, was a 1,200-room village that was constructed around 1330AD when people arrived from the Hopi Mesas, 60 miles north, to farm the flood plain. At its peak, the pueblo was home to roughly 1,000 people. Research and excavations by Arizona State Museum at Homolovi II revealed three plazas, outdoor activity areas, kivas, and living, working, and storage areas. Unfortunately, a lot of the site has been vandalized over the centuries with vandals searching for pottery and other artifacts. The site is littered with pieces of pottery. Researchers restored one of the largest kivas at the site. A kiva, or “underground house”, was primarily used by men and served as a work area and location for ceremonies. Right around 1400AD, the people of Homolovi II left to return to their ancestral villages on the Hopi Mesas to the north.
In January 1876, Brigham Young, the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, announced his plan to establish Mormon settlements in the Arizona Territory. Later that year, more than 200 Church members traveled from their homes in Utah to the Little Colorado River valley in what is today’s Homolovi State Park. They built single-room cabins inside a stockade and lived collectively in their settlement they called Sunset Fort. They built dams, grew crops, and raised livestock while all their meals were prepared in a communal kitchen and everyone ate together in a community dining hall. The pioneers faced many hardships including drought, disease, and floods that destroyed their dams and fields. Many families lost loved ones who were laid to rest in the Sunset Cemetery which is still there today. By 1888, Sunset Fort was entirely abandoned and the buildings were eventually swept away by the river.
