Historic Roadside Marker Short on History

If you see vandalism like this on any historical markers or historic sites throughout Arizona, you should report it.

GET INVOLVED IN ARIZONA
ARCHAEOLOGY!!!
The Arizona Site Steward Program is sponsored by the StateHistoric Preservation Office (SHPO) and is an organization of
volunteers that aid the public land managers of Arizona by visiting prehistoric and historic archaeological and paleontological sites on public land and reporting any destruction or vandalism that they note. 

In addition to this site monitoring, Site Stewards are also active in public education through outreach activities. Site Stewards are
selected, trained, and certified by the SHPO and the Archaeology Advisory Commission.
If you are interested in volunteering as a Site Steward, please contact:

Site Steward Program Coordinator
State Historic Preservation Office

1300 W. Washington
Phoenix, AZ 85007
(602) 542-4174
www.azstateparks.com

PATAGONIA PEOPLE: The Valenzuelas

Grandmother

PATAGONIA PEOPLE: Author Philip Caputo

Question: How Do You Make History Come Alive?" when it's more often than not thought about as way-back-then or way back when, or sketchy details of memories make a mash-up of interesting and entertaining misinformation that are nonetheless the way we look at history and create legends that have a life of their own sustained over time - could be history or could be fiction. . . and then we have a real time novel by part-time Patagonia resident Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Philip Caputo. Here's what Publishers' Weekly had to say about this book: "The fallout between public and private distinctions of war is just one of the border disputes haunting Pulitzer-winner Caputo's gorgeously stark latest. Inconsolable after the loss of his wife on 9/11, Gil Castle leaves New York for his family's Arizona ranch, San Ignacio, overlooking the Mexican border. But San Ignacio proves to be “a pretty place where some ugly things happen,” and Gil's discovery of a Mexican illegal, left for dead after a border-crossing deal gone awry, soon merges “the world of cattle and horses and operatic landscapes” with the “world of drug lords and coyotes and murder,” whose cast of femmes fatale and tough muchachos includes the Professor—an “agent of history” working both sides of the border and at least two sides of the law—and Yvonne Menéndez, the ruthless leader of the Agua Prieta cartel, whose past may be painfully entwined with Gil's family history. That history is broadly personified in Gil's larger-than-life grandfather Ben Erskine, a legendary deputy sheriff whose adventures emerge in inter-chapter accounts. At first glance, this multifarious book skirts country familiar to readers of McCarthy or McMurtry, but Caputo's west supersedes elemental cowboys and lone justice with the malaise of post-9/11 America and the violence of the Mexican desert—as gruesome as in Iraq—frothing with moral ambiguity and fraught with complicity. (Oct.)

If that rousing review whets your appetite here's a link so you can read the first chapter http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/randoEMS/Caputo_Ch1.pdf

Here in Patagonia you can purchase "Crossers" at Mariposa Books @ 317 McKeown Avenue, open every day from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

If you would like to reserve a copy in advance please call 394-9186.

Local author Philip Caputo's new novel will be available during the 21st Annual Fall Festival together with the works of other local writers, and books on local history.

PATAGONIA PEOPLE & PLACES: "Hummingbird Heaven"

In doing research for a posting on this Patagonia Heritage blog after finding out about Marion's passing on Sunday on a birdwatching forum, it came to my attention that very few, if any, local Patagonians had received the news of her death at that time.
The "local grapevine" - or how the news usually gets around town- had simply been co-opted in real time by the huge network of Marion's admirers from around the world on the internet.
Patagonia people and the places they create here oftentimes are appreciated and recognized more by wider national and international interest groups than local residents. The location of The Paton Hummingbird House now appears as a destination on the new Visitors' Guide for Patagonia-Mountain Empire for the first time in 2009 www.patagoniaaz.com . . . a somewhat overdue, but nonetheless welcome, addition to putting Patagonia "on the map" of birding adventure destinations from around the world.
There appear to be no data to record the number of visitors attracted to this location here annually, but from experience working in the local visitor information center, it is a prime attraction with tens of thousands of birdwatchers coming here.

More importantly - and this is vital to The Patagonia Heritage Mural Project 2009 in showcasing the legacy of what one person and one place here in Patagonia creates for future generations - What will now happen to this world-famous location?
For the time being the Hummer attraction continues the way it has been. "Business as usual" according to a telephone call to Robin Baxter who's keeping all the feeders filled.

(Photo Credit Wally Paton, from an article by National Wildlife Federation)

Back in 2004 in a National Geographic Magazine article, the writer had this to say about "Hummingbird Heaven" . . .

Patagonia is a tiny hamlet located in the Sonoita Valley in southeastern Arizona. A few blocks from the main street through town, on the edge of the The Nature Conservancy's Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve, lies a nondescript ranch house that is no less than one of the most famous bird-watching sites in the world.

This is the home of Marion Paton, but it is more than just a home. It is an open, living museum dedicated primarily to observing hummingbirds in Mrs. Paton's backyard.
Now, you don't need an appointment to visit Mrs. Paton's backyard. You don't even have to knock on her door to ask permission to go around the side of the house to the viewing area. Just walk in through the gate and past the blackboard inscribed with the recent bird species seen in the yard. You'll be met with a view of nine (count them, nine) hummingbird feeders lined up along the side of her house.
For the better part of two days in late March, I stood in the hot sun in Mrs. Paton's backyard, next to whichever feeder I thought gave me the best chance to get a great photograph of a broad-billed hummingbird, a black-chinned hummingbird, or the exquisitely exotic violet-crowned hummingbird. I was lucky on all three counts.
Throughout the day, Mrs. Paton fills up the feeders with sugar water, waters the lawn, and mingles with the visitors, which I figure must add up to well over a hundred per day. This totals well over 30,000 visitors per year. Imagine opening your home to this many people, asking in return for only a small donation to cover the cost of the sugar water. (There's a tin can attached to the fence for this.)
I would say that if anyone deserves the title of saint (at least, bird-watching saint), it is Mrs. Paton.

Hummingbird Heaven
Marion Paton's place is located in an area of southeastern Arizona that is also referred to as Hummingbird Heaven. Here, during the breeding season, you can observe (in addition to the violet-crowned hummingbird pictured on this page) the broad-billed, blue-throated, magnificent, and Lucifer hummingbirds—all of which are regional specialties that poke into this tiny area of the United States from their winter homes in Mexico and Central America.
You can also see more widely ranging North American hummingbird species such as the black-chinned, broad-tailed, rufous, calliope, Costa's, Allen's, and Anna's hummingbirds in this region. Indeed, virtually all of the North American hummingbird species except for the ruby-throated hummingbird can be seen in Hummingbird Heaven, depending on what time of the year you visit the area.

Just down the road from Paton's is the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve. Here such rare bird species as the gray hawk, northern beardless-tyrannulet, rose-throated becard, thick-billed kingbird, and green kingfisher can be seen, along with about 300 other species.

Stroll along the stream and cut back across the floodplain to the visitor center. It's a beautiful hike!

PATAGONIA PEOPLE NOW: Dr. John Arnold

Believe It or Not, dear readers, sometimes it takes a newspaper report from halfway around the world - this one from Nigeria published yesterday to focus on an individual in Patagonia whose achievements in philanthropy and micro-business have touched the lives of millions around the world.
Like Dr. Delmar Mock, the subject of an earlier posting, John goes largely unnoticed or unrecognized here most of the time although the reach of his dedication has extended around the world.
You can view more details by going to http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/living/2009/aug/22/living-22-08-2009-004.htm
On weekends here in Patagonia, John opens Grayce’s Gift & Candle Shop, founded by his mother Grayce Bogden Arnold in 1975, as well as the Dia de Los Muertos Museum, which the Smithsonian Institute has recognized as the “first of its kind in North America.”

They are both located on the north side of Naugle Avenue or Route 82 at the eastern end of town
http://www.patagoniaaz.com/shop_Grayces.html

Among some of John's accomplishments cited in the article mentioned above, are 40 years of collaboration with Dr. John Arnold, the PPEP Board of Directors and dedicated staff carrying out the dreams to “improve the quality of life” of the farm workers and rural poor who visited the bus in those formative years. His work has been cited as national models 10 times in U.S Congressional Records, including citations by U.S Congressmen Udall, Kolbe, Grijalva, Gifford and Senators Deconcini, McCain, Kyl and Enzi of Wyoming. Also, his programmes have been honoured twice at the White House, among numerous other nationally and internationally recognitions.
We salute John Arnold both for his lifetime work in philanthropy in the United States and Mexico, and creating a legacy of achievement for future generations. Bravo!

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/living/2009/aug/22/living-22-08-2009-004.htm

PATAGONIA HERITAGE People & Places: Honoring "Country Doctor" Delmar Mock

Too often we forget outstanding individuals who have made their indelible mark on the culture and traditions of Patagonia - like Dr. Delmar Mock who found his Eureka! in southeastern Arizona.
Your blogger had the pleasure to meet him just last week around the occasion of both his and his wife's Cleo's 93rd Birthday observed without fanfare but radiating quiet devotion and loving warmth to each other at their home, much like their lives throughout the 37 years of community service with people here, covering 2,500 square miles and driving between 2 and 3 million miles.
At a time when the country is in the middle of "reforming" healthcare this beloved gentle man and his wife, of uncommon passion with a strong faith and indomitable spirit,
defined the role and the living legend of the disappearing country doctor.

Here's a direct quotation from the foreword to the book - that should be taken to heart today: "Life is a struggle, at best, and not everyone could fit into the demanding professional life-style of small-community health care as presented in the ensuing stories. Yet hundreds and thousands of small communities still exist where willing caregivers could still go to serve their fellow men rather than live their lives fulfilling selfish interests.
Our wish is that this story may be a stimulus to young professionals in the healing arts who may choose to join in the march to care for the grassroots medical needs of our country. [bold emphasis mine]. We need - and salute - medical specialists and their gifts. Yet we hope they will understand that small community practitioners are not second-rate caregivers. We grassroots caregivers often have to stand alone in making treatment choices, some of which may have a life-or-death impact on the patient."

ANOTHER QUOTATION FROM THE DOC:
"One of the needs of the world today is to reuse the stepping stones of the past to carry us into the future." Yeah . . . & Amen
The Doc is commemorated here with this marker in the park named after him for his 37 years of community service

A book published in 1999 and available at Mariposa Books tells that life story.
Fool's Gold: Chronicles of a Country Doctor The Story of Dr. Delmar Mock
by Carolyn Rathbun-Sutton

Patagonia: This Place Matters

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is running a Summer Photo Contest requesting entries for pictures.
It's a nation-wide call for individuals and groups to upload and send photos of locations in their communities of particular important that they choose to promote.
You can hit the following link to send emails to friends, to upload videos on YouTube, or to add to the area on Flickr
http://www.preservationnation.org/take-action/this-place-matters/
You can likewise have Patagonia photos from the family attic or dusty family albums or tucked away in drawers scanned in the local working group's workstation inside Mariposa Books and the Visitor Information Center, if you'd like to bring a place in Patagonia to the forefront or out of its hiding place - bring it back into its place in the progress of Patagonia.

OPINION PIECE from another source

Dear Readers,
We urge you to pay attention to this pending budget "shortfall" that would eliminate funding for one of the keystone resources and repositories of Arizona History.
"Mother Mag" gives the facts and background along with a call for action

Daily Kos: What History Will Arizona Celebrate in 2012?

Patagonia Places: Historic Resources

PLACES: most residents either walk or drive by these locations all the time - hidden to some, but clearly marked on this 1994 Survey ... see a post by scrolling downfor some information about another location in Patagonia on the National Register of Historic Places
Please note that these places tend to cluster on a very walkable path in and around the Patagonia Town Park and can serve to anchor a self-guided walking tour through history at the center of town.
Plans are currently being developed by The Municipal Property Association, the beneficiary organization for this year's Patagonia Fall Festival, for looking at the health of the trees in the greenway in the heart of town and ways to regenerate its use and enjoyment by all.

Locations marked with black squares are individually eligible or a potentially contributing property in the mapping of the Town of Patagonia done by Don W. Ryden AIA/Architects Inc.

You might or might not be surprised that there are only two properties here listed in The National Register of Historic Places:

• Cady Hall/Patagonia Public Library @ 342 Duquesne Avenue
  
• The James Finley House ID Number 74000462

Other Potential Contributor Historic Properties include:
Richardson Park 4th Avenue & McKeown - no information there about the town founder
Patagonia Jail
McKeown & Third Avenue
Duquesne & Third Avenue
Lopez Pool Hall on Duquesne
Grammar School on the Heill
SW Corner of Lenon & 2nd Avenue

339, 355, 361, 371, 387, 423, 451, 455 McKeown Avenue
366, 292, 275 Duquesne Avenue
273 McKeown
321,381, 289, 430, 405, 414, 430, 433, 433 Duquesne
372, 357, 370, 406, 426 Santa Rita
469, 4, 542 Harshaw
191 Third Avenue
327, 355, 416, 408-410 Sonoita
384, 364, 335, 320,284, 280, 278, 274, 132 Naugle Avenue
195, 170, 261m 265 Third Avenue
345, 306 Pennsylvania Avenue

378, 330, 326, 322, 318, 354 Sonoita Avenue

PATAGONIA PLACES:The James Finley House on Harshaw Road

PLACES
National Register of Historic Places
Certification Date: 11/19/1974
ID Number: 74000462
Date: 1879
7.2 miles SW of Patagonia in Coronado National Forest.
Privately Owned

Built during the area's silver mining boom near Hermosa Mining Company Stamp Mill which was largest in Arizona Territory at time of construction

First Impressions #2: Patagonia Public Restrooms

When your blogger lived in New York City there was a segment on one of the local television stations called "SHAME ON YOU! "

With apologies ahead of time for the grossness of these images taken yesterday, April 27, 2009, this is what both residents - individuals and families - who use the town public park and visitors find approaching and going into the public restrooms prominently located on Fourth Avenue between McKeown and Naugle Avenues . . . see for yourself

Some weeks ago, a call was made from The Visitor Information Center following the complaint of a tourist to the town offices complaining about the dirty and rank conditions in the public restrooms . . . there was no assurance or response that these reported conditions would be looked into, so here for you, dear readers, to look at are what townpeople and visitors see in Patagonia's public restrooms.

Take a look! . . . sorry for not keeping this "hidden"

DIGGING INTO HISTORY: Uncovering Oldways Farming

Sometimes is what's you see all around you - the small wonders of Patagonia that might go un-noticed or "hidden" or neglected in the big landscape of The Mountain Empire - and sometimes it's what groups of people are digging into once again: to expose and reveal early cultures living on the land along the water-giving lifeways of The Santa Cruz River and its tributary streams that once flowed on the conflux surfaces here: places like Harshaw Creek along the gateway trails of what are now vacant "Ghost Towns" and places like The Sonoita Valley and Sonoita Creek that winds its way through history starting about eight miles northeast of Patagonia, weaving and carving its way in the ground through streets and through neighborhoods in town, past where the Wastewater Treatment Plant is located now (where people swam on Blue Heaven before it became polluted), on through what is now a riparian habitat restoration area under the land stewardship preserve of The Nature Conservancy, on through what is now The Circle Z Ranch, on to the man-made Lake Patagonia, and on for some twenty-plus miles from there into the 9,000-acre Sonoita Creek Preserve Natural Area.
The video embedded here shows an archeological dig along the banks of the northern reach of The Santa Cruz River in Tucson in the Rio Nuevo area uncovering and exposing evidence in the timeline of history of indigenous or "native" people cultivating foodcrops and living on the land centuries before the Christian and western world's concept of time began on the Georgian Calendar: 1,250 B.C. (before Christ) . . . it's now three thousand years later.
From the many stories told to me, the same evidence of much earlier cultures following the life-giving waterways of the Santa Cruz River in the headwaters rising in The San Rafael Valley and its tributaries like the Sonoita Creek, should be found here to honor and celebrate those that came before - before the lands became "divided" by the Spanish Conquest back in the 15th and 16th Centuries.
We've come a long way down the centuries- all of us who migrated here - but let us "not forget" those forebears who were on this continent before . . . the brave people who dedicated their lives to living on these lands . . . We just need to dig deeper.
Factoid: Santa Cruz County is the only county in Arizona that does not have an "officially recognized" site dedicated to native people.
To-go-to Information:
www.desert.com
www.azpm.org
www.cdarc.org

First Impressions: Entering Patagonia

In this posting you'll see two "drive-by" Welcome signs at either end of town, and a grouping of other signage after the overpass over Sonoita Creek just before Taylor Avenue on Route 82. Please take a look at the images taken two days ago, just in case they have not come to your attention recently.

The two identical 3 x 5 ft. yellow signs say the same things:
Welcome to Patagonia (that's real nice)
Step Back, Relax, Stay Awhile (that's nice too, but step back into what?]
Highlight one annual event the second weekend in October
Give credit to the Patagonia Area Business Association and a website address
. . . and nothing more, so pull over to the side of the road, stop, and whip out your laptop, IPhone or PDA to get information you can use? Come here once a year?

Surely we can do better.

Keep in mind that these two Welcome signs are what people - both residents and visitors alike - see entering town from the West and the East on a section of State Route 82 called the Scenic Patagonia-Sonoita Highway. If you're not using alternative means of transportation or traveling on backroads and trails, it's the only way into Patagonia from the neighboring towns of Nogales some twenty miles to the south and west, and and twelve miles north and east to Sonoita-Elgin.
Highway signs at town/city lines usually state Entering [Name of Town], Founded/Incorporated [The Year], Population, and Elevation, advise motorists to reduce speed ahead, and have directional signs to assist travelers for finding their way to destinations and points-of-interest, or to services available in the community [public telephone, visitor information, community services, police, or public restrooms for example].

The image of the group of signs shows a mish-mash of information (one of which is the Museum of The Dead recognized by The Smithsonian Institution] and points the way to only two of the five "Ghost Towns" found down the road to the left (?) - no wayfinding information about the town offices or traffic court, post office, fire department, the family health center, the marshal's office, a public telephone or public restrooms, the public library, food and shopping, gas station, visitor information, lodging, the Coronado National Forest, The Arizona Trail, The Tree of Life, The Nature Conservancy Sonoita Creek Preserve, or any other attractions in town.

. . . it's no wonder to me that people say "We're just passing through! . . . that's one of the consequences of calling Patagonia a hidden paradise.
When they do take the time to stop, they want to TO KNOW what there is to see, where to go, what to do, where to eat, where to stay, where to shop, where to relax or where to recreate or where to rejuvenate, where to walk, where to hike, where to bike, where to watch birds, where to go rock-hounding, where to camp, where to ride horses, how to get to somewhere in the area, how to find a guide for birding or hunting or historic destinations, or they simply say, "Tell me about Patagonia".

That's the reasoning behind our working on The Patagonia Heritage Tile Mural Project 2009 . . . those wishing to keep Patagonia "a hidden paradise" have just lost their way: Time to take off the blindfolds and open your eyes to the small wonders of Patagonia in the big landscape of The Mountain Empire

Places/People/Progress: RIDE THE WEST - HORSE PACK TRIP ADVENTURES IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA

Let's put those three categories in perspective: the places have been here for centuries, people live on the land and progress is made respecting all three for creating a future legacy.
Some more details will be added later, but you might like to see that when you look at the website http://www.ridethewest.com/index.html,
the same person featured in an earlier posting here on a horse called "Howdy" is one of the partners offering packtrips into the big landscapes here.
For those who might get "saddle shy" overnight accommodations are affiliated with two distinct properties, The Esplendor Resort in Rio Rico www.esplendor_resort.com and Hacienda Corona de Guevavi www.haciendacorona.com in Nogales.
Rides are scheduled on Ride The West's event calendar on their website.
Happy Trails



RIDE THE WEST - HORSE PACK TRIP ADVENTURES IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA

Places, People & Progress: Challenge to Uncovering History

"As Time Goes By . . ."
Look closely, dear readers, at this recent digital image April 2009 taken from the Smelter Alley side of this property located at the intersection of McKeown & 3rd Avenues. WHAT do you see?

Really now, WHAT DO YOU SEE?

This is what residents of Patagonia look at either walking or driving by frequently year-in and year-out --and at the same time what visitors see when they come here: Junk? Overgrown backyard?

What's in there?

These are questions asked to me by visitors when I walked them around the streets of Patagonia.

Some remarked after coming here for many years that certain parts of the town were badly-neglected and had fallen into disrepair and what a sad-and-sorry reflection of the community it was to have this "just happen" . . .

Whose watch did it happen on? . . . or was no one watching at all? Or not caring? Or not, What?

Happily, that's not the case:
Last year some individuals - Ted Piper and Phil Ostrum among them -decided to do something.
They formed Patagonia Green Partnership.
Today you can see the work-in-progress at the same place that used to be at various times in Patagonia's history The Corbett Lumber Company and The Little Depot.
Soon to have an opening is a new business for the new lifeways here: Pilates of Patagonia . . . now that's what I call progress

Wayfinding & Landmark Snarfing

Image featured is an equipment van for the Adventure Cycling Association - a group with headquarters in Seattle, Washington - from an overnight stay here a couple of weeks ago in the public park area dedicated to Dr. Delmar Mock for his 37 years of service to the community on a plaque on a stone historic marker at the west entrance to town. They planned their stop here last November asking for a permit for overnight camping from the town clerk Randy Heiss at that time ...new lifeways making use of one Patagonia's many resources. They found their way here . . .
Readers might ask about our Patagonia Heritage Tile Mural Project funded by a grant from the Arizona Office of Tourism Rural Tourism Development Grant Program "So why do we need to work together to develop the opportunities for increasing visitations and tourism here in Patagonia?"
Who benefits directly and indirectly?
Can we afford not to plan for smart and intelligent growth?
Why do visitors want to come here?
Why do we live here? How did you or your family find their way here?
What legacy do we want to create for future generations?
Do we have a sense of pride in the places that are here?
...or is it a matter of "benign neglect"? or wanting to keep Patagonia "a hidden paradise"?

While hosting travelers wanting information who come into the Patagonia-Mountain Empire Visitor Information Center - they WANT TO KNOW locations and directions and find their way to our regional attractions and services available in the communities. Show and tell me what's great about Patagonia ...How do I get to the lake? Where do I find the birds? Where can I go hiking? Where can I stay? What's there to do? Where can I eat? Is there a bank? Where's the library? Where's "a hot zone" for internet access? Is there a notary public in town? How do I get to "The Ghost Towns"? Where can I camp? Where can I bring my horses? Where can I buy stamps/mail a letter?
They still ask about The Museum of The Horse, even though it moved out of town more 20 years ago!
What's surprising to me is that people who have lived as close as Tucson - about one hour away! - for 8, 10 or 20 years have never taken the time before to travel here [lack of regional exposure and marketing], while travelers from as far away as China,Russia, France, Spain, Germany, England, Bulgaria and South Africa do find their reasons to visit here!
The Heritage Tile Mural Project is a primary wayfinding source of information that showcases our community and region, points of interest and attraction, activities and natural resources, visitor services, and encourages landmark restoration and community development in the process.

The link below is to an organization called Historical Marker Database.
Go to it and check if you see anything at all in Patagonia ... -
http://www.hmdb.org/Results.asp?State=Arizona

Likewise --- and this is a somewhat of a surprise - there are major omissions in a map of milestones here in Arizona: go see for yourself
http://www.azpbs.org/arizonastories/milestones.php

People, Progress & Places in One Legacy Marker

 
To give you an idea of a research target for our Patagonia Heritage Tile Mural Project 2009 take a look at this historical marker for The Mowry Mine.
You'll note that the infamous Sylvester Mowry didn't appear on the scene here until 1859 although his name somehow got attached permanently to this mine that had been worked for centuries before by native labor and Mexicans. So-called "Anglos" wrote that history apparently and dominate our interpretation of what has come before. Mr. Mowry was a Confederate sympathizer during the American Civil War; he was imprisoned for being on the wrong side of that conflict.

The weather-beaten marker is mounted on a locally-quarried fragment of granite in the center of town at the intersection of Naugle & Third Avenue.

Certain facts in the progression of history are better represented than others, leaving gaps in a balanced legacy:

"Worked by NATIVE LABOR" ... We had "natives" here in Patagonia? Did we forget?

"under the direction of Jesuits" . . . Yes, it appears the Black-Robes did more than convert the natives to Christianity

"Later by Mexicans" . . . yes, but how about some more details? . . . and for how long before The Gadsden Purchase in 1853-54?

"Nearby Ghost Towns and Cemetery are reminders of frequent Indian raids" . . . You mean the mines went out of business due to attacks by Indians? HUH? and local residents couldn't defend their lives and properties against raids?
Reminders - for the purposes of accurate local history - should also include the Boom-to-Bust cycles of mining companies and external events outside Arizona.


Who's buried in the local cemetery who was killed by the Indians? Can that be verified? Where are the records and archives located?

And Patagonia was called "a sleepy town"???? . . . Somebody got that all wrong!
And, it appears just by the notations on this legacy marker, that it was never "a hidden paradise"...Not then and not now.

Please join the local working group for the Arizona Centennial Heritage Project - we've got a lot to do

PATAGONIA: The Sense of Place

Here'a legacy image that someone chose to record for future generations highlighting the precipitation, population and elevation.
You can see the Patagonia Drug Company building in the background with the train depot to the left.
Finest All The Year Climate in the U.S.

Somethings don't change, but some things do

If you have images that speak to future generations about the progress over the decades in Patagonia history, its people, or places of interest then and now, please send them along.

You can also drop into Mariposa Books & more, where the Visitor Information Center is located, between the hours of 10:00 a.m-5:00 p.m.

Patagonia History: PLACES & PEOPLE

Information Wanted

Having plowed through about fifteen books and research articles now, this business has not been notated anywhere so far

PATAGONIA SMOKE HOUSE

H.H. McCutchan, Prop

Other details somewhat fuzzy.

Can anyone help identify anyone in the group, or the possible occasion for taking the photographs?

Reclaiming Patagonia History: PEOPLE

CAPTAIN JAMES HENRY TEVIS

Arizona Pioneer and Confederate Soldier

??????????????????????????????????

What? you might ask ... sometimes historical truth is stranger than fiction, as your blogger would like to bring your attention.

Just one chapter in this man's life places him at Fort Buchanan, now wiped off the map but a military outpost before the Civil War about six miles northeast of Patagonia on the Scenic Patagonia-Sonoita Highway today.

You won't see it there now, but we'll plan to commemorate that milestone in local history in one of the proposed locations for the Heritage Tile Mural Project that your local working group is planning for the Arizona Centennial Heritage Project 2009 . . . bringing what's "hidden" in history echoing and thundering and silenced down the centuries here to reveal the people, places, and progress that bring us where we are today - where we want to go in the future and what legacy we want to leave for future generations.

If you join us and pitch in to uncover and reveal history, we'll get it "shovel-ready" - a paradise it's not, for sure.

A biography of Capt. James H. Trevis, titled "Arizona in the '50's", Revised Edition, edited by Betty Barr and Dr. William J. Kelly, published 2007 by BrockingJ Books is available at Mariposa Books & more ..., or you can contact the author for additional copies online http://www.brockinjbooks.com/

Reclaiming Patagonia History: Vintage Foto #4

Your blogger had just downloaded this foto from an archive of Judith Whitcomb's and no sooner had a print been made, in walks Margie Buyer to Patagonia-Mountain Empire Visitor Information Center to tell me some details: the cowboy on the horse is her son-in-law Dan Skiver, the horse's name is "Howdy", the image was captured at Poco Toro Ranch near Mowry (now "a deserted ghost town"), the fence - un cerco estacado - is made from the oak trees growing on the land constructed in a zig-zag pattern of "a Mexican" tradition, and the calves are an English breed called British White Parks . . . and there see you some of the research details triggered by memories of seeing just one image.
Notice, if you will, one of the calves of a different color and conformation . . . ???

Patagonia People: Vintage Foto #1

7 Dudes on the front porch of one of the town's seven saloons .
Today there is only one
while the Old Wagon Wheel gets some back-of-the-house refurbishing.
Can anybody say and prove Who's Who?
Holding the pose for history: so what's the story?

Places: THE SAN RAFAEL VALLEY: Headwaters of The Santa Cruz River

Images of acreage, purchased in 1999 from private owners, of some of the vast original land holdings in the San Rafael de Zanja land grant when Spain and Mexico assumed jurisdiction and title to the rich grasslands in the geophysical features creating the headwaters of The Santa Cruz River as we know it today.
The myth and popularity of Hollywood-style "cowboys" was created here, but it was preceded by the earlier traditons of Mexican "Vaqueros" and cattle-ranching centuries before.
Today certain private landowners are re-establishing A Life in Balance and a viable, sustainable working landscape that respects all that came before in the progress of time, keeping a sense of place, and looking back at the people who were players in the history of this great place that echoes, and thunders, down the centuries.

Reclaiming Patagonia History: Foto #2

Building on Sonoita Avenue . . . image taken about a week ago.

In comparing this with a photograph from 2005 by Robert Whitcomb - just a few years ago - a mesquite fence has been replaced with a wire one, and a gateway entrance removed.

This is a wider shot to show you the addition of a white picket fence, the installation of a satellite disk on the nearby house, and a trailer wedged under the overhang on that house.

This building, however, remains.

Mute testimony to Patagonia's past for now, but waiting for its story and history to be told.

Reclaiming Patagonia History: Foto #1

This building stands in silent testimony to days gone by . . . alone and white-washed in an unspoken or unwritten history that goes unnoticed today except for the fact that it remains - a remnant of the tapestry of lives lived and things forgotten across the advance of time, woven through the decades of people, progress and places here in Patagonia.
You've probably passed it by many times or perhaps not even noticed it at all.

What story and what history does this building want to reveal as it stands out in stark contrast in a back alley against an industrial backdrop with bars on a two-story high window?

Who knows?
Why was this structure built?
What was done here?
How did it look before? Way back . . . When?

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Let's Get Above It All and Take a Look at The Land

One thing is certain: We Share The Land

With all that have come before in our diverse heritage and all who will create our future legacy.
Everywhere is important producing "Echoes Down The Centuries" while we focus on all the people, places, and progress in the single century of Arizona's Centennial from 1912-2012.
Geographically, several large systems that characterize what is now the American Southwest and northern Mexico converge inside Arizona.
Historically, several groups of people have found their pathways converging here over the course of time, either following natural riverways and natural migration routes, or creating man-made trading, commerce, and transportation systems to move and connect resources both locally, across the nation and world-wide.
Santa Cruz County - where the first county-wide commemoration and celebration of Arizona's Centennial is initiated by the opportunity of participating in local working groups on The Heritage Mural Project funded in part by the Arizona Office of Tourism's Rural Tourism Development Grant Program - takes it name from the river named Santa Cruz, where it originates in the grasslands and headwaters of The San Rafael Valley, flows South into Mexico for 35 miles, and re-emerges in a vast watershed through what is now Kino Springs. We have two points on the map to mark connecting Nogales, an international port-of-entry, with Patagonia-Sonoita-Elgin, The Mountain Empire.
From Nogales the Santa Cruz River flows North - where towns and cities like Rio Rico [rich river], Tumacacori/Carmen, Tubac, and Amado - developed over the course of time along the riverway. Fertile grasslands gave birth to agriculture and farming, our cattle and ranch traditions. The rivers and valleys created habitats for migratory species [butterflies and birds included], territories for wildlife, and attractive areas to live. The geophysical features provided rich natural resources to establish mining as an industry in Arizona - drawing many here -while today those same resources maintain our quality of life.
Our mutual endeavors are based on the people, places, and progress that make Patagonia, Santa Cruz County, and Arizona what it is today and what we create as a legacy for future generations.

Local Working Group Digs Into "A Hidden Paradise"

Three years in advance of the official Arizona Centennial Celebration 1912-2012, a group is being formed now to reflect on Arizona's past, present and future as well as our rich diversity - of people, places and progress. It is our mission to make this milestone meaningful and memorable by:
Commemoration: providing the opportunity to learn from our past, and tell all the stories of Arizona that should be told so we can continue to move forward with better understanding and empathy among our citizens.
Celebration: of all that we are as Arizonans or "Zonies" - hosting a homecoming for friends and family, and welcoming newcomers [one and all] - showing all the innovation and progress we have made since our early beginnings.
Collaboration: bringing together the public and private sectors on this unique occasion to create meaningful celebrations and projects -- this Heritage Tile Mural Project being the first one here in Patagonia and throughout Santa Cruz County - whose impact will endure into the future.
Each of the nine communities named in funding provided by the Rural Tourism Development Grant Program (RTDGP) of The Arizona Office of Tourism - Amado, Tubac, Tumacacori/Carmen, Rio Rico, Nogales, Patagonia, and Sonoita/Elgin - will develop their own local "historical branding heritage program" in each project location throughout Santa Cruz County. It is the first county-wide project to be initiated in advance of the AZ Centennial.
Community of Patagonia & Communities in Santa Cruz County: to showcase Arizona's rich and diverse tapestry on natural, cultural and social history, and economic vibrancy
Cooperation: when we use this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as a catalyst to plan for and invest in our future, so that the next generations here may enjoy the same and even higher quality of life that our forebears established for us - AN ENDURING LEGACY.
If you would like to join us, please sign on here with your comments and contact information.
Feel free to upload an image or old photograph, or tell a story, or surprise us with some new information!
You mail likewise email: patagonialwgazchp2009@gmail.com
Stop in at the Patagonia-Mountain Empire Visitor Information Center
317 McKeown Avenue
Mon-Sat from 10:00-5:00, Sun 10:00-4:00
Call: [Toll-free] 888-794-0060 or local 394-0060
Fax: 520-394-0020
Everyone is Welcome. Invite others to participate.
[Version in Spanish to be posted]
Thank you/Gracias