Walking through History

 "In 1966, the Clean Water Restoration Act was passed to combat pollution. Sci-fi series 'Star Trek' made its debut."

"Um...is it just me, but is history a tiny bit...well..."

"Boring?"

"YES!"

"History is not boring, but that sign was not very exciting, no."

Shellie May and Wagons

"Wow, those leaves are yellow and on the ground!" said Shellie May. "Does Prescott have weather?"

"I think it does!"

Shellie May explored various forms of transportation.

"Do not forget to load the sugar into the wagon!" said Shellie May.

"But we don't need any sugar," I said. "You are sweet enough."

"Aw." I think I saw a flush under her fur.

Shellie May in a log cabin

"This is a nice cabin," said Shellie May.

"Um...there aren't any centipedes around, are there?"

"I don't think so."

"Oh, good."

Shellie May, that's dangerous!

"Get down from there!" I said. "Those wheels might start spinning at any time!"

"Oh no!" said Shellie May. "Really?"

"No."

"It's okay!" said Shellie May. "I am staying safe! Ha ha."

Duffy's Spring-ish Voyage: Part 29

STILL on board the then-101-year-old Great Lakes Freighter the James M. Schoonmaker! Actually, by this point Duffy and I were ready to go, but my mom had dropped us off. So...more photos!

Magnets are handy.

The detailing was really neat.

"Wheeeeee!"

Shellie May would like a new old house

"This is a nice house," Shellie May said. "Can I have it?"

"I don't think you want to live in a museum, Shellie May."

"But that bed looks so comfortable!"

Thinking quickly, I read the placard to her. "The McCormicks slept in this room. Margaret reported this incident in a letter to her friend Emma Deaike in New Jersey: 'A gentleman came in the sitting room and I took Dicken's "Mutual Friend" in my bedroom to read. I seated myself on the bed and leaned back against a pillow. After the gentleman left we concluded to retire, when what should we discover but a centipede upon the very pillow upon which I had been leaning.'"

Shellie May considered. "I think I will leave this bedroom to the McCormicks."

Good choice, Shellie May.

Shellie May at the Sharlot Hall Museum

"Hello, Sharlot Hall Museum!" said Shellie May. "Wow! That building is very rustic and pretty! And there are so many green things around us! Do you think we might get to meet Sharlot Hall?"

I couldn't think of a nice way to tell Shellie May that Miss Sharlot Hall had been dead for quite some time, so I just said, "Probably not."

This is prickly pear cactus hat! Sharlot Hall was very proud of Arizona! She was the first historian of Arizona, back before it was a state!

"If I stay here very quietly for a very long time, maybe I can say hello to Miss Sharlot Hall if she passes by!"

"You could try," I said, "but I'd miss you too much."

Shellie May at Granite Creek, Arizona

Shellie May was VERY excited to get out of the room.

"Yay! It's Granite Creek!"

"What's Granite Creek?"

"Well, Shellie May," I said, "this helpful placard can tell you."

"That is a lot of words. Can you please read it to me, please?"

I took a deeeeeeep breath. "American History in Arizona is quite recent, although the history of the Native American, Spanish and Mexican occupation peridos are much older. Encampments of Native Americans were drawn to the creeks, which offered a fairly reliable source of fresh water, and the Anglo settlers followed suit. The first known Anglo-Americans to camp in teh vicinity of Prescott were the Walker and Weaver parties in 1863. The Walker Party camped on the banks of Granite Creek in what is now downtown Prescott. Granite Creek quickly became a magnet for panning for materials, particularly gold; picknicking; the location of the first store and school in Prescott and a conglomeration of shanties and lean-tos; saloons; and Chinese and Mexican settlements. Later, substantial residences along with warehouses, a gas plant, bottling works and farms were developed. Among the drinking establishments was the Quartz Rock Saloon, owned by a nose-less military deserter. It sported a plank bar with two bottles of whiskey and one cup. The sight of water purportedly made the patrons sick, so the business was moved to South Montezuma Street. Local legend is that saloon patrons kept falling into Granite Creek, thus diminishing a booming business. As a result, many of the saloons moved to "Whiskey Row", which was safer because of its further distance from the creek. In addition to supporting human uses, Granite Creek gives life to many species of trees, shrubs, and grasses. Approximately 75 percent of our local wildlife are dependent upon Granite Creek and its tributaries. Over the last 150 years Granite Creek has seen many changes. The broad "gallery" of cottonwood and willow trees seen here were once up to a 1/4 mile in width, and it stretched from what is now downtown Prescott all the way to the Granite Dells, 5 miles to the northeast. The Granite Creek Channel has been straightened, mined, filled, and was built upon over time, resulting in a substantial loss of riparian habitat. In the 1990s, local organizations were formed to preserve and restore what riparian (streamlands) habitat was left. The trail you can see below was the first effort toward this end. Since then, riparian habitat has been protected at West Granite Creek Park, Watson Woods Riparian Preserve, Watson & Willow Lakes, and on the Yavapai-Prescott Tribal Lands."

Shellie May stared at me for a long time. "Wow! That sure was a lot of words!"

Duffy by a train station in Prescott, Arizona

Our prayers go out to the Prescott firefighters killed in the Yarnell Hills fire...I've visited Prescott quite a few times, and my bears enjoyed our latest jaunt.

This used to be a train depot (back when Prescott had a train).

"Prescott's first railroad arrived on December 31, 1886. The current depot was built by the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway, also known as the "Peavine", in 1907. Designed in a Mission Revival style of poured concrete with a barrel tile roof, it occupies a prominent location at the north end of Cortez Street and was the center of shipping and receiving in Yavapai County. The tracks were last in use on December 31, 1986, the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the railroad. The tracks were removed and the Depot, long empty, has now been restored and converted to use as professional offices."

Why was the tree in Disneyland petrified?

Because it went on the Haunted Mansion!!!!

Not really. But it IS petrified.