Arizona Earthshines

All that's left in this dusty town once known for its gold-filled creek is an empty school house, a couple of ranches, a diner, a gift shop and the legend of a swarm of angry bees that supposedly stung early settlers and gave Bumble Bee its name. With a population of just 10, this spot about 60 miles north of Phoenix is one of dozens of Arizona towns with quirky names left over by early settlers. Check a state map and you'll spot towns such as Why, Happy Jack, Inspiration, Tombstone, Snowflake, Arsenic Tubs, Two Guns, Friendly Corner or Surprise.  The Arizona Republic Jun. 13, 2006 03:53 PM
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The San Xavier del Bac Mission is located just off of Interstate-19 at Exit 92, on the San Xavier Indian Reservation, 6 miles south of Interstate-10 in Tucson. Catholic services are held every Sunday and are open to the public. It is one of the oldest and most well preserved missions in the southwest.
   By Danielle Crounse | Entertainment Magazine

Mission San Xavier del Bac is a Catholic church founded by a Jesuit priest, Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, a European spreading the word of God in a new land in 1692. While traveling to what is now known as California, Kino found a Pima Indian village near a stream bed ("Bac" means "where a stream emerges") in the Sonoran Desert. He stopped and preached to the people who were receptive to his teachings. Father Kino did not stay in this location, but visited it often during his travels.
From 1692 through 1782 various priests took charge of the church and either visited regularly or were commissioned there. The services took place in a different church than the one that exists today. During this time the old church was vulnerable to Apache attacks but was left untouched. Charles III of Spain banned all Jesuits from Spanish lands because of distrust of the secular talents of the Jesuits, so from this time (late 1760's) on San Xavier would be led by Franciscans. Today's church was built in 1783. Not much is written about the Mission from the time it was built until 1828. At this time the Mexican government demanded loyalty from all Spanish priests, and many, including the priest at San Xavier, refused. Therefore, the priest serving at San Xavier was sent home to Spain, and San Xavier was left vacant.  From 1828-1858 the church began to decay and local Indians, concerned about the church, took church furnishings into their homes as a way of preserving what they could. In 1849 the California gold rush began, and then a large number of people came to the church on their travels to California. Most visitors wrote their names on the walls inside. In 1858 a diary entry by a visitor from Ohio explained that the door to San Xavier was always open and that the church had been taken over by birds and that the Indians respected it too much to vandalize it. The decaying church was helped in 1859 when the Gadsden Purchase added Arizona to the Santa Fe Diocese. The Bishop for the Santa Fe Diocese ordered a scout to Arizona, where they discovered San Xavier. Repairs were made with Diocese money and a priest was assigned to serve at San Xavier. A school was begun several times at San Xavier. The church received funding through the government for school, but the first attempt in 1864 failed, as local Indians did not send their children. In 1895 a school was opened again, and a grant of $1,000 was given to repair the building. Classrooms were added on at the start of the century. In 1947 a new school was built next to the church for the Tohono O'odham children.

The Story of Edward Schieffelin Tombstone erupted into a boom town when Arizona was Apache Land. Geronimo, Victorio, and Nachez led their fierce warriors in raids the length and width of Southern Arizona. Few white men penetrated this barren, land and returned to tell of it. In 1877, a prospector by the name of Lewis wandered into the dry washes, coming down out of the Tombstone Hills into San Pedro Valley.

He discovered several pieces of horn silver and followed them to an outcropping of high grade silver ore. On the strength of the specimens that he had brought out with him, A.M. Franklin and Marcus Katz of Tucson agreed to grubstake him for a share of his claim. Lewis returned to the dry washes of the San Pedro confident that he could go straight to the ledge of silver. However, apparently he had not pinpointed the location very well as he was not able to find it again. For long, weary weeks Lewis, combed dry wash after dry wash, but he found no trace of silver.

Meanwhile, another determined prospector arrived. The newcomer had trailed into the country with a company of Hualapai scouts late in the summer of 1877 and had then used Brunckow's cabin as his base of operations. The prospector was Edward Lawrence Schieffelin, and he materialized from the desert a tall and wild figure. Although he appeared fifty years old, he had not reached thirty years yet. Ed was of a large and powerful build, a type of the physically perfect man, his bronzed face and flowing brown hair and beard, and his clear blue eyes told of his free and open life of the plains and the mountains. He stood five feet eleven and one-half inches tall and weighed about one hundred ninety pounds. Ed had been born in Tioga County, Pennsylvania in October of 1847.

For over ten years he had been seeking a rich ore deposit, but success had always eluded him out alone just as Schieffelin did. The other men had not returned.  Soldiers would find what was left of them after the Apaches had ridden on... Read the rest here!


The original funeral for Billy Clanton and Frank & Tom McLaury took place the on Oct. 27, 1881. They're all buried in Boothill Graveyard in Tombstone. My family and I visited there and went to "Boot Hill" where the Clantons are buried. It is all still there just like it has been for 125 . All the buildings that are in the several movies about Tombstone are still there. The pool table where the youngest brother, Morgan Earp died after being shot is clearly marked. If you like stepping back in time it's a must see.

Gunfight At The OK Corral The way it really happened 125 years Let me take you back to a cold, windy, overcast day, October 26 1881. This is the re-creation of the famous OK Corral Gunfight in Tombstone, Arizona Territory. The way it happened! Let me set the scene: The night before in the Earps presence, Doc Holliday had a verbal confrontation and began threatening and openly challenging the life of an un-armed Ike Clanton. The next morning Ike Clanton armed himself in self defense and went looking for Holliday’s challenge. Before Ike could find Holliday, Virgil and Morgan Earp snuck up on Ike and buffaloed (pistol whipped) him to the ground. He was taken to court and fined $27.50 for carrying firearms in city limits. To no avail, Ike was claiming self defense, because of Holliday’s threats against his life. Mean time, Ike’s younger brother Billy and Frank McLaury ride into
Tombstone to hear of the trouble. 



Terry Ike Clanton-2001



      



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In 1885 someone from Scotland brought a root of a white Lady Banksia to Tombstone, Arizona, planted it and it has been growing since. Currently it is the world's longest rosebush, the trunk is a rosy 12 feet in circumference and the rosebush covers over 8,000 square feet. Each spring the rosebush blooms with over a million tiny white blossoms.
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America’s Most Scenic Place   -   (USA Today, May ’04)
USA Today Picks Sedona Vortex in Top 10 Places to be Kissed
In the February 10th edition of USA Today in an article about the 10 most romantic places to be kissed, a popular Sedona hiking location was chosen.
The article read: "The place for a kiss" in this redrock country is "a rock spire that locals call Kachina Woman. You can hike up to it in about two hours," the author says, but "be careful," According to Native American legend, "it's a fertility symbol."
The canyon is also known as a vortex, where supposedly "energy comes together for a transporting effect. the light at dawn or sunset is amazing.
See Forest Service Trail Link Here
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Did you know saguaro's arms usually begin to grow only after it is about 15 feet tall and as old as 75 years?! Saguaro is an Indian word. The correct pronunciation is "sah-wah-ro". The formal name is Carnegiea gigantea and it is named for Andrew Carnegie. The saguaro is found only in the Sonoran Desert, which includes about 120,000 square miles of California and Arizona. Most of Baja California and half of the state of Sonora, Mexico is also included. You won't find saguaros above an elevation of 3,500 feet since they can't handle much frost. The saguaro cactus blossom is the official state flower. The white flower blooms on the tips of the saguaro cactus during May and June. The saguaro is the largest American cactus. A saguaro with many holes in it has been visited by the Gila Woodpecker. The bird will drill several holes to get to the water stored inside. The saguaro seals off the hole with scar tissue to prevent water loss.