1921: A Highway Through the Granite Dells

When it was announced that the narrow single-lane trail through the Granite Dells would be widened into a highway, Grace Sparkes was not alone in harboring apprehension. She feared “that the rude, rough and uncouth men with the TNT would ruin a lot of marvelous rocks and leave the road running through a scene of devastation,” the Weekly Journal-Miner revealed. The road would be built through what was then known as the Granite Dells Narrows, and now it would become the second approach to Prescott from the north and the beginning of a “short-line” road to Jerome: US Highway 79.

1921 Rodeo Had Several More Attractions

In anticipation of the great 1921 event, Grace Sparkes wrote: “Oh boy!  Can’t you hear the grinding of the old chute doors, the smell of clean horse flesh and the general atmosphere of the town just percolating with Frontier Days?"

However, just the year before, it was thought that the World’s Oldest Rodeo had run its course. There wasn’t enough profit in 1920 to hold the show in '21, but a group of businessmen and townspeople started a new fraternal organization which would be called the Smoki (Smoke-eye) People. They held a fundraising fair called the Way Out West Show May 26, 1921 to raise money for the rodeo.

Not only did the rodeo go on, but it was able to upgrade. This was the first rodeo to utilize a public address system. The “electric announcer…carried [one’s voice] to every part of the grounds,” the Weekly Journal-Miner revealed. It involved the latest technology of the day costing “several hundred dollars,” and the same style was being utilized by US President Wilson.

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.

Wily, Creative Prohibition Stills

For Arizona, prohibition came early in 1915. Although stills were probably put to work almost immediately, law enforcement did not seize many for the first 4 years of enforcement. Then, starting in 1919, a crackdown on the illegal practice revealed just how wily and creative many of the bootleggers had become.

1952 Saw Six Air Accidents

In the early 1950s, the Prescott Airport was a bustling place. Two airlines, Frontier and Bonanza, offered commercial service while many planes, including military, used Prescott Airport as a refueling stop. Of course, with increased activity comes the chance of increased mishaps and accidents.

Such was the case in 1952 when no less than six airplane accidents occurred around Prescott.

Prescott Valley's UFO Wave

According to reports submitted by local residents to the National UFO Reporting Network (NUFORN), Prescott Valley experienced a wave of UFOs in the late winter and spring of 2000.

What's more, they seemed to be looking for something.

Story Behind the Names: Mingus Mountain; Cherry & Yeager Canyon

The first mention of the mountain that would become known as Mingus is found in the origin story of the Yavapai people. A girl named Kamalapukwia was placed in a water-tight log to survive the worldwide flood. After the waters receded, she went to Mingus Mountain before dawn and allowed the rising sun to hit "her inside" in preparation for having a child. (*1)

Spencer Repeating Rifle Rules the Battle of the Black Mountains

It was April of 1867, and ranchers in the area were both highly anxious and on alert. "Information of the presence of a large body of hostile Indians in Hell Canyon" prompted General Gregg to send two companies "to examine and explore that locality, and if possible to break up this band." However, by the time the army arrived, the Indians had left and were heading southeast towards the Black Mountains, several miles south of Woodchute and Mingus. (*1)

It would take several days for the Army to catch up, but such a large party of Indians and their animals left a trail even Anglos could follow. But this time, for the first time in Arizona, the troops were armed with the lethal and already legendary Spencer Repeating Rifle. It had already been used, with devastating effectiveness, against Confederate soldiers.

Highway 79 (89A): the Prescott to Jerome "Shortline"

When it first opened on August 1st, 1920, it was declared "Yavapai's Greatest Attraction." (*1)

"Members of the National Geographic Society...proclaimed [Highway 79] as 'the most beautiful drive in America.'" (*2)

To cynics (and the carsick), the curvy, mountain road might seem to have been designed by a carnival-ride engineer, a drunk, or both. In fact, Highway 79 would be considered an engineering marvel even by today's standards. It cut the travel time and distance between the two cities nearly in half.

While some history is buried under the sands of time, Highway 79 was eventually buried under a ribbon of asphalt and given a new number: 89A. Still, the twists and turns of this roadway only mirror the odyssey taken to construct it.