Prescott Used to Have Countless Prairie Dogs

For a rodent, they are undeniably cute. But to farmers and ranchers, they're a horrible pest. Where there are prairie dogs, agricultural output decreases 25-85%. (*1)

Yavapai County once had 1.5 million acres "infested" with prairie dogs. (*2) When Prescott's airport was first being laid out, workers "went up and down both runways with shovels leveling the mounds and filling up the holes made by the hundreds of prairie dogs that infested the field."(*3)

So, what happened to them?

Prescott "Smoker" Events Featured Marijuana

The majority of the material for "Prescott, AZ History" is from reading weeks and weeks and months and months of old Prescott newspapers.

So imagine this author's surprise when he came across this headline:

PLAN BIG TIME AT 
CHAMBER SMOKER

SHORT SNAPPY SPEECHES,

PLENTY OF THE WEED,

LIGHT LUNCH & MUSIC ON PROGRAM

A "Smoker" event with "Plenty of the Weed"???  (*1)

Could it be true? A large, civic, pot-smoking party in Prescott?

This is going to take some further research!...

Back in the early 20th century, not only was cannabis legal, but it was widely used in medicines and had none of the negative stereotypes that it carries today.

But did people actually call it "weed" a century ago?

Prescott's "Man of (Her First) Century"

Morris Goldwater 1852-1939

The year was 1964, and Prescott was celebrating its first centennial. As part of the celebration, it was decided to choose a "Man of the Century." That choice was Morris Goldwater.

When looking at the man's resume of civic service, it is hard to imagine that anyone of any future century could come close to what Morris Goldwater accomplished in helping make Prescott an urban municipality. 

In its early years, Prescott struggled to grow from a backwater mining town to a civilized city, and whenever Morris Goldwater saw a need for Prescott, he would set out to accomplish it himself.

"In addition to operating one of the most important stores in town, he served as the city’s mayor for a total of 20 years (over a 48-year period, from 1879 to 1927)." (*1)

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.