1959: Constellation Airplane Crash Still a Mystery

Memorial plaque at the Constellation Trailhead honors the victims.

February 28th, 1959, was another "darned nice day" weather-wise in Prescott. William Watson, who was visiting family in the area, was driving north on State Route 89 with his nephew Robert Schilling. As they rounded a curve in the vicinity of the Phippen Art Museum, "the windshield filled with an airplane." (*1)

Plunging into the shoulder of the road before them was an Air Force Lockheed C-121G "Super Constellation" transport plane. It exploded on impact, sending flames several hundred feet into the air. (*2)

William and Robert rushed out of their car to see if they could help. But the heat of the flames, combined with the now exploding small ammunition, drove them back.

Sam Steiger, who would later serve as a U.S. Congressman and Prescott Mayor, and who owned a ranch across the way, "saw the ship at about 300 feet" coming down in a "vertical dive with one propeller feathered." (*1)

"[Other] eyewitnesses said the plane winged over and plowed nose first into the ground." (*1)

"Persons miles away from the crash scene said they saw a huge flame billow into the sky and heard a tremendous explosion. Others were attracted to the scene by huge clouds of black smoke." (*2)

A mere seven minutes before the crash, the plane radioed in to report a small forest fire south of Prescott. There was no mention of any problems with the plane at that time. (*1)

The lack of a distress call, along with the perfect weather, all added to a mystery that remains to this day.

9 Cryptid Monsters of Arizona (UPDATE: Bigfoot near Prescott?)

Most locals have heard of the Mogollon Monster, but descriptions of exactly what kind of creature it might be have changed over the years. A rash of sightings of a particular type of creature would make that animal a sort of "Mogollon Monster du jour."

As a result, this author will not give the title of "Mogollon Monster" to any of the following six that live in northern Arizona.  Instead, it is hoped that people who might have seen these strange creatures and are afraid of coming forward might learn that they are not alone in their experience.

Some of these monsters are truly bizarre, but every one of them has been seen in other locations on our planet. The first six have all been seen in northern Arizona.

1864: Apache Indians Mass to Attack Prescott

September 1864: A 16-year-old, emaciated Mexican boy makes his way into Prescott, frightened. He had just escaped the Apaches, who had held him as a slave since he was 10. (*1)

As excited as the boy was to be free, the people of Prescott felt equally anxious. Whites had already lost hundreds of heads of livestock to the Indians in 1864, and it was now becoming apparent that the Apaches were massing in large numbers to harass and attack Prescott.

1956: Teen Delinquents Beat Blind Man; Murder a Veteran

The headline in the paper spoke to the shock of the city: 

"TEENS HELD IN PRESCOTT GANG DEATH."

It began as seven males were drinking at the Prescott Cafe. Three of the males, two 17-year-olds and one 18-year-old, were members of a rebel teen gang. (*1)

Perhaps they desired a change of scenery; perhaps they were asked to leave, but all seven decided to drive together to Phoenix. However, just south of Mayer, the car suffered a flat tire. (*2)

The three gang members decided to take the opportunity to rob the four other men. Soon, a 50-year-old former patient at the Whipple VA lay dead in a pool of his own blood. A second, blind man was in the County Hospital suffering from serious injuries, including a possible fractured skull. (*1)

In a rare move for the day, Yavapai County Attorney Jack Ogg would seek to try the three teens, Joe Mungia and Joe Rudy Daniels, each 17, and Earl Padilla, 18, as adults. (*3)

Remembering the Mayer Smokestack

Cynics say it was a memorial to a boondoggle. Locals say it was a memorial to Mayer's mining history. Unwittingly, it was also a memorial to the end of World War I.

Whatever one wants to call it, the old smokestack celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2017.

For commuters, it used to mark that one is 17 miles away from Prescott Valley. To tourists, it was an oddity. But the 129.5-foot-high tower, which sat as a silent sentry over the town of Mayer, had an interesting history.

It was meant to carry smoke into the sky from the smelting of precious metals mined around Mayer. It was never used for that. In fact, it was never even finished!

Back When Prescott Was "Opium Central"

There is no doubt that, like many other Wild West towns, opium made its first appearance in Prescott with the influx of the Chinese population.

"It is no coincidence that 1869, the year the Union-Pacific Railroad was completed, was the year that Chinese began to appear in (Prescott) in significant numbers." (*1)

So began a most uneasy relationship with a drug habit that would grow and endure for seven decades.

Publicly, Prescott hated opium. Practically, little was done to stop it. Ultimately, Prescott would become the manufacturing hub of opium for the entire state of Arizona.