World's Oldest Rodeo Was Not Yavapai County's First

One might think that carrying the moniker of “World’s Oldest Rodeo” would imply its being the first. However, the famous rodeo we love is actually the world’s oldest continuously running rodeo. Just 4 weeks prior to the first “Cowboy Tournament” in Prescott, one was held in Williamson Valley.

Remembering the Mingus Mountain Inn

Mingus Mountain Inn, 1949.

In the 1920s cars were far less dependable and, as a result, service stations were more numerous and spaced closer together. Particularly the tops and bottoms of mountains were excellent locales for a motorist to take the necessary precautions of checking his water and brakes before traversing the steep grade.

It was from this need that the Mingus Mountain Inn was born on Forest service land in 1925. Yet the Inn was far more than just a gas station; it also provided light groceries, camping and hunting supplies, and a sit-down restaurant.

Story Behind the Place Name: The Bradshaws

Oro Belle Mine & Mill in the Bradshaw Mountains

It was Autumn, 1863. Prescott had not yet been founded. William Bradshaw and a group of men were standing atop a mountain in the “Silver Range” with nothing to see but wilderness from horizon to horizon. Seeking gold and silver, they happened to be walking upon the largest deposit Arizona would ever know.

Not only would the mountains he was standing in be named for him, but there are no less than 9 other locales that bear his name: Bradshaw City, Bradshaw’s Ferry, the Bradshaw mining district, Bradshaw Mountain High School, Bradshaw Mountain Middle School, the Bradshaw Mountain Railroad, the Bradshaw Ranger District, the Bradshaw Trail, and the Bradshaw Springs and Stream.