From Tucson to Camp Verde

As I write we are at an elevation of about 5500ft, the weather is cooler and breezier and our bodies are happier.  The hot climate of the desert is difficult for me as you know I find the Bay area weather beautiful in both summer and winter.
 
Tucson…while there we met 3 very friendly people (Irene, Brian and James) from Alberta Canada their car had over heated like ours.  The tires on their RV were under inflated and damaged as a result, so they had to be replaced (all 6 of them).  This can be an expensive pastime!!   I’m mentioning this to let you know that Irene does Intarsia Wood Art to pass the time in colder months.  I had no idea what that was and just had to find out. She has photos of her work and it was beautiful; all colors of wood, cut, polished and put together to make a picture.  Google it! 
We also had dinner with Rhoda and Larry Geisel in a Mexican Restaurant.  We went to their home first; Rhoda’s South West décor looks so good in their Tucson surroundings. Her Parrot died and now they have a lovely little dog called Buddha.  Rhoda still plays golf and sometimes she starts at 6.30am.  It was great to catch up after 10 years and talk of old friend and old times in Los Gatos.
On our way to Camp Verde we spent 3 days In Mesa at a lovely camp site that, once again was comprised of 90% mobile homes, most closed up as everyone has gone home. So we had their lovely facilities to ourselves.  It was hot and breezy also in Mesa. In Tucson we joined another RV club called Camp Club USA among the benefits is a 50% discount at some really top class RV Parks.  I keep thinking this is too good to be true but, so far, so good.
We did the boat trip that prompted Tom to write the story of the Lost Dutchman’s Mine from Mesa and also visited the Heard Museum in Phoenix.  The building and the sculptures alone are beautiful.  The museum has a great collection of Native American, African and Indonesian artifacts.  The Native American exhibit is interesting as they have displays from at least 5 different tribes’ - baskets, clay pots, cloths, baby carriers, jewelry, blankets; also a perspective of what they ate and how they cooked.
On our way north to Camp Verde we stopped at Chris and Rob Redford’s House.  We were a bit nervous at going off the highway into a housing area, our concern being that we might not be able to turn the RV around and end up taking a weeks’ vacation right outside the Redford’s front door.  Thankfully, we had no problem as the roads were wide and we were able to turn at the end of a cul de sac.  We had lunch on their patio while Riley, their dog, went in and out the back door many times.  When he was in he wanted out and when out wanted in.  New River (that is where Chris lives) was a lovely break half way on our journey to Camp Verde.
We went to visit Montezuma’s Castle an ancient native ruin site near Camp Verde.  It really is a castle built into the side of a cliff; the engineering and architecture of the buildings is amazing.  Talk about a room with a view! They had their doors in the roofs and got up to the castle by a series of ladders.  There were not too many windows which kept the rooms cool.  The walls were built of stone covered with mud, the roof of logs and twigs. The nearby Beaver River, which is lovely, provided their water.  Similar to the HO’ HO KHUM people they left the site around 1400 to this day there is no history of why.
Also, we went to Tuzigoot, another nearby ancient ruin; we have dubbed it America’s answer to Machu Pichu. The builders of this village were the “Sanagua” Native American tribe (Spanish speakers can work that one out easily = without water) this tribe also built Montezuma’s Castle.  These ruins were up at the top of a Hill overlooking a big valley with a river flowing through it. The walls of the ruins are of stone and terraced down the hill. Once again great views!
The following day we visited Montezuma’s well, a well formed by a cavern that collapsed long ago; again, the Sanagua tribe built homes in the cliff caves around the top of the well.  An interesting fact about the well is that 1,400,000 gallons of water percolate from far below the ground into the well per day; another is that the water source is full of dissolved carbon dioxide; 3 unique forms of life (not found anywhere else on earth) live in the well. 1,400,000 gallons of water spill out of the well per day, some running into canals built by the Sanagua to water their crops and the rest via an underground channel to join up with the Beaver River. Fascinatingly, the temperature of the water is a constant
74 F.  I checked by putting my foot into the canal.
On Saturday we drove up to Prescott and met up with Chris and Rob and Janette Henshaw. We had picked a perfect day to visit Prescott as there was an off road bicycle race finishing on Whiskey Row right in the middle of town. Prescott is full of great old buildings and good sources of food.  After lunch we drove to Rob and Chris’s castle.  It will be a beautiful big house on top of a hill and just like the Sanagua they will have beautiful views from every window and water nearby in the form of a pool and hot tub.  Hope to get invited when it is finished!
Sedona what can I say!  Everything is a red earth color and it is gorgeous. The red vista starts once one turns off the freeway.  On our way into Sedona we visited Holy Cross Chapel and promise to post a photo soon as words cannot do justice to this highlight. As recommended by Eileen and Chris we took the off-road Broken Arrow Tour with “Pink Jeep Tours”.  The Jeeps are Pink and built to go really, really off road, sometimes we were almost standing on the front grill going downhill.  It was a thrilling off road experience.  We shared the jeep with 5 people from New Jersey, 3 adults and 2 children, the children are touring with the Broadway Show “Billy Elliot”.  They will be in SF for 12 weeks during the summer – go see the show, it’s great.
Our next destination is Williams “The Gateway to the Grand Canyon”.

Superstition Mountains Dutchman’s Gold – Fact, Myth, Legend or Pure Fiction?

For us the story began with a visit to Saguaro Lake about 30 miles east of Phoenix where we embarked on a 90 minute paddle boat cruise aboard the Desert Belle, expertly and entertainingly under the command of Captain Jake.

Saguaro Lake an integral part the Tonto National Forest, located in the Superstition Mountain Range is truly one of the Valley’s hidden treasures where we experienced the magnificence of the desert beauty, natural wildlife including birds of prey soaring high on the desert thermals, spectacular flora and fauna, with the unbelievable Saguaro taking place of pride. All while we were navigating the pristine Sonoran desert canyons of the spectacular Saguaro Lake.

The highlight of our cruise was a story related by Captain Jake…in response to a question from an Irishwoman, no less! Guess who?

To the best of my recollection the tale goes something like this…

In return for noble services above and beyond the King of Spain conferred a land grant to a soldier named Peralta in the 17^th century – this grant included parts of what is now New Mexico and Arizona and measured 300 miles by 100 miles, including the mountain range now called Superstition Mountains.

In the 19^th century the fledgling United States decreed a principle of “use it or lose it” in regards to old land grants. The Peralta family dispatched two sons from Santa Fe, New Mexico, together with their wives and children, to Arizona to lay claim to and preserve their ownership rights in Arizona. Having lived harmoniously with the Native Americans in New Mexico for a few centuries the Peralta party sought out the Apache’s and befriended them. After some years living in close proximity with the Apache’s the Peralta’s received a substantial gift of the purest gold and learned from them the location of its source.

Shortly afterwards the Peralta’s decided to return to New Mexico to share their good fortune with the extended family, but first they had to travel west to buy provisions for the trip; unfortunately, they used the gold to pay. Unscrupulous townspeople provided the Apache’s with whisky, guns and ammunition and convinced them (in their inebriated state) that the Peralta’s were their sworn enemies. A few days later the Apache’s overtook and killed the Peralta adults sparing, as was their custom the children.    

Years later, a man called Dr. Thorne treats an ailing or wounded Apache (often alleged to be a chieftain) and is rewarded with a trip to a rich gold mine. He is blindfolded and taken there by a circuitous route and is allowed to take as much gold ore as he can carry before being escorted, again, blindfolded from the site by the Apaches. Thorne is said to have been either unwilling or unable to relocate the mine.

In the 1860’s Jacob Waltz (the Dutchman) first appeared on the scene Waltz was in fact German not Dutch. When answering questions as to where he came from he answered Deutschland and thereafter was mistakenly called the Dutchman. The tale soon takes an interesting twist as a second German by the name of Jacob Weiser appears.

However, historians, most notably a gentleman called Blair argue that there is a strong likelihood that there never was a second man named Weiser, but rather that a single person named Waltz was, over the years, turned into two men as the legend of the Dutchman mine evolved. Blair also contends that this story can be divided into "hawk" and "dove" versions, depending on if the German(s) are said to behave violently or peacefully.

In most versions of the tale, Waltz and/or Weiser located a rich gold mine in the Superstition Mountains (in many versions of the story, they save or aid a member of the Peralta family, and are rewarded by being told the location of the mine). Later Waltz and Weiser are apparently attacked by marauding Apaches. Waltz who reported that he was wounded and unconscious recovered to discover that Wisner has been shot between the eyes and beheaded.

Subsequently, this has become the stuff of legend; to this day some people believe that an elite band of Apache’s jealously guard the mine by killing (yes, shot between the eyes) and beheading intruders. Blair however dismisses this story as similar to the game of Chinese Whispers, where the original account is distorted in multiple retellings of the tale.

What is known however, is that Waltz did arrive in Arizona in the 1860s, and stayed in the state for most of the rest of his life. He pursued mining and prospecting, but seems to have had little luck with either. In 1870, Waltz had a homestead of about 160 acres near Phoenix where he operated a farm.

In 1891 there was a catastrophic flood in Phoenix and Waltz's farm was one of many that were devastated. Afterwards, Waltz fell ill (he was rumored to have contracted pneumonia during the flood). He died on October 25, 1891, after having been nursed by an acquaintance named Julia Thomas (she was usually described as a quadroon).

Waltz is also said to have made a deathbed confession about Weiser to Julia Thomas when he drew or described a crude map to the gold mine.

There is little doubt that Waltz did in fact relate to Thomas the location of the alleged gold mine as on September 1, 1892 The Arizona Enterprise reported on the efforts of Thomas and several others to locate the lost mine, whose location was told to her by Waltz.

After this was unsuccessful, Thomas and her partners were reported to be selling maps to the mine for $7 each.

Were it not for the death of amateur explorer and treasure hunter Adolph Ruth, the story of the Lost Dutchman's mine would have likely been little more than a footnote in Arizona history as one of hundreds of "lost mines" rumored to be in the American West. Ruth disappeared while searching for the mine in the summer of 1931. His skull – with two bullet holes in it (reminiscent of Weiser) – was recovered about half a year after he vanished and the story made national news, thus sparking widespread interest in the Lost Dutchman's mine.

In a story that echoes some of the earlier tales, Ruth's son Erwin C. Ruth was said to have learned of the Peralta mine from a man called Pedro Gonzales. According to the story, in about 1912, Erwin C. Ruth gave some legal aid to Gonzales, saving him from almost certain imprisonment; in gratitude, Gonzales told Erwin about the Lost Dutchman's (Peralta) mine in the Superstition Mountains, even reportedly passing on some antique maps of the site. Erwin passed the information to his father Adolph, who had a long-standing interest in lost mines and amateur exploration. In fact, the elder Ruth had fallen and badly broken several bones while seeking the lost Pegleg mine in California; he had metal pins in his leg, and used a cane to help him walk.

In June 1931, Ruth decided to finally try to locate the lost mine. After traveling to the region, Ruth stayed several days at the ranch of a Tex Barkely and prepared for his expedition. Barkely repeatedly urged Ruth to abandon his search for the mine: the treacherous terrain of the Superstition Mountains could be difficult for experienced outdoorsmen, let alone for the semi-lame, 66-year-old Ruth. However, Ruth ignored Barkely's advice, and set out for a two week stint in the mountains.

Ruth did not return as scheduled, and no trace of him could be found after a brief search. In December, 1931, The Arizona Republic reported on the discovery of a human skull in the Superstition Mountains. To determine if the skull was Ruth's, it was examined by a Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, a well-respected anthropologist who was also given several photos of Ruth, along with Ruth's dental records. Dr. Hrdlicka positively identified the skull as that of Adolph Ruth. He further stated, after examining the two holes [in the skull], that it appeared that a shotgun or high-powered rifle had been fired through the head at almost point-blank range.

In January 1932, human remains were discovered about three-quarters of a mile from where the skull had been found. Though the remains had been scattered by scavengers, they were undoubtedly Ruth's: many of Ruth's personal effects were found at the scene, including a pistol (not missing any shells) and the metal pins used to mend his broken bones. But the map to the Peralta mine was said to be missing.

Tantalizingly, Ruth's checkbook was also recovered, and proved to contain a note written by Ruth where he claimed to have discovered the mine and gave detailed directions. Ruth ended his note with the phrase “Veni, Vidi, Vici”

Authorities in Arizona did not convene a criminal inquest regarding Ruth's death. They argued that Ruth had likely succumbed to thirst or heart disease although one official went so far as to suggest that [Adolph Ruth] might have committed suicide ... While this theory did not ignore the two holes in the skull, it did fail to explain how Ruth had managed to remove and bury the empty shell, then reload his gun, after shooting himself through the head. Blair noted that the conclusion of Arizona authorities was rejected by many, including Ruth's family, and also by "those who held onto the more romantic murdered-for-the-map story".

Blair wrote that "the national wire services picked up the story [of Ruth's death] and ran it for more than it was worth", possibly seeing the mysterious story as a welcome reprieve from the bleak news that was otherwise typical of the Great Depression.

Since Ruth's death, there have been several other allegedly mysterious deaths or encounters in the Superstition Mountains, but it is unclear how many of these can be regarded as reliably reported. Other searchers for the mine have disappeared in what have been reported as wilderness accidents.

In the mid-1940s, the headless remains of prospector James A. Cravey were reportedly discovered in the Superstition Mountains. He had allegedly disappeared after setting out to find the Lost Dutchman's mine.

In his 1945 book about the Lost Dutchman's mine, Barry Storm claimed to have narrowly escaped from a mysterious sniper he dubbed "Mr. X". Storm further speculated that Adolph Ruth might have been a victim of the same sniper.

In late November or early December 2009, Denver, Colorado resident Jesse Capen (35) went missing in the Tonto National Forest. His campsite was found abandoned, but he was not located. He was known to have been interested in the mine for years and had made previous trips to the area.

On July 11, 2010 Utah hikers Curtis Merworth (49), Ardean Charles (66) and Malcolm Meeks (41) went missing in the Superstition Mountains looking for the mine. Merworth had become lost in the same area in 2009, requiring a rescue. On July 19, the Maricopa county Sheriff's department called off the search for the lost men.

In January 2011, three sets of remains believed to be those of the lost men were recovered. They were presumed to have died in the summer heat.

Irrespective of the potential danger and despite the myth or legend, many people continue to search for the Lost Dutchman’s Goldmine.

So…is the story myth, legend or pure fiction?

Tombstone and the Gun-Fight at the OK Corral

A must see in the Tucson area is a visit to Tombstone where we spent a day packed with entertainment.    The town, which is authentic, is geared for tourists but it was a fun day.

We started by visiting Boot Hill graveyard as it was on our way in to town where we bought a self-guided tour booklet.  Most of the people interred there seem to have shot one another or the odd Indian got them.  Very few out of 250+ died of natural causes.   The main street remains a very wide dirt road. All the locals are dressed as cowboys and cowgirls - the buildings are the genuine 1800s.  It is quite a big town with shops and restaurants.  The first thing we did was buy tickets for the 2pm “Gun-fight at the OK Corral“. Then we walked to a restaurant called “Big Nose Kate“.

Big Nose Kate’s story is quite fascinating.  She was the daughter of a Hungarian doctor who was enticed to the USA with promises of riches.  When Kate was 12 years old her father and mother died within a month of one another, subsequently her guardian made her pregnant and left her at a convent.  After giving birth she abandoned her child and ran away from the convent. In time she became the common law wife of Doc Holliday (of OK Corral fame) who taught her how to gamble and play cards which is how they made their living.  When he died she married an Irish alcoholic named Cummings and after he died she joined a friend who ran a brothel in Tombstone.  She lived well into her 80’s in a State sponsored home in Prescott, where we will be going on Saturday.

Then we crossed the street again to see the “Gun-fight at the OK Corral” played by local cowboy actors.  To this day there is controversy as to who fired the first shot and whether it was the good guys or the bad guys who were killed. Interestingly, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday were charged with murder and exonerated.

We then saw a movie show on the history of Tombstone that gave an overview of what the town looked like in the early 1900’s. We walked around the town under the shade of the overhangs and looked at the shops.  There were 3 old stagecoaches giving rides around the town. 

As we sat and ate an Ice cream before heading back to Tucson a group of tourist cowboy and cowgirls rode into town…the perfect ending to our day.

The Dessert we loved

Some photos from our hike through the Joshua Tree National Forest of flowering Cacti, a Joshua Tree (holding Adele up) and two Iguana who wanted to view humans walk by.

Cruisin Arizona

Finally, we made it out of California and are now in Tucson. RV-wise this is as far south we intend to go on this stage of our journey around the USA.

Before arriving here we stopped at Yuma just inside the Arizona border; where the sand dunes are. As we had minor RV problems there we did no sightseeing. After the stabilizers had retracted that morning they would not descend.  We had no trouble getting someone to repair them but we needed to hang around and wait for them to turn up - you all know that scenario.

Then we moved on to Casa Grande where we visited the site of the “Casa Grande” in Coolidge which is an Old Native America village/town site of the “Ho-Ho-Khum” nation. The village/town was walled with one, two and three story houses, with a plaza and ball court in the center.  They developed an innovative irrigation system for the time 1000 AD to 1350 AD by constructing canals and diverting water from the Gila River to water their crops. For a still unknown reason they just moved on around 1350. 

There was a horned owl nesting under the roof and that was a big attraction too.

So, who guessed where I was all dressed up in the posted photo?

Tom took that photo of me in “St Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery” a few miles south of Florence.   I had read their website and knew to wear a long shirt, long sleeves and a scarf but when I got there my skirt was too fancy, the cardigan was too tight as I had it buttoned up, the scarf passed muster.  There are Greek women just outside the shop that nab you to make sure you are appropriately dressed. After this you enter the shop where a monk gives you a map and instructions for the self-guided tour.  The grounds are magnificent – it was like walking around a little bit of Greece; fountains, churches, little gardens, a rose garden (in the desert), it is simply an oasis.

Across a road, still on the Monastery grounds up on a hill with lots of steps up to it there’s a white Greek Church.  I can well imagine that this is where they shot the movie “Momma Mia”.  I could just picture Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan singing their way up those steps.

So now we are in Tucson at a lovely campsite owned by an Irish family called O’Leary.  We had dinner last night with parents of a friend in a beautiful home overlooking Tucson. They loaned us several books about the history and people of Tucson.  We are enjoying reading them.    I hope to see Rhoda and Larry Geisel later in the week

Today we visited the” Kartchner Cavern” in Benson 35 miles southeast of Tucson (Cave means one; cavern means more than one cave).  These are wonderful caves that have been beautifully preserved and are open to the public about 10 years.  These caverns were so long in the making (at least 250,000 million years) they make mankind look like we just recently landed on this planet.   

This made us both realize just why we are on this odyssey - we want to see America which has so much to offer in terms of this planet as a living organism.  We just happen to live on the top layer.

Thursday, we’re off to the “Gunfight at the OK Corral” in Tombstone!

Guess where I am?

Busy...Busy...Busy...

Many of you wondered and commented that it is some time since we last posted to the Blog.

Well the reason is that we have been very busy for the past few weeks.  It has made us realize that keeping a blog going is time consuming. In the movie Julie Julia, Julie’s life must have been totally consumed between cooking, writing her blog and still going to work every day. 

Our intention was to stay a week in Palm Springs and then move on into Arizona; but here we are 4 weeks later and still in the Palm Springs area.  We spent a lovely first week here and visited old friends Carole and Bob Kase for dinner.  Carole was in my first Newcomer’s lunch bunch. We had dinner the night we arrived in Palm Springs with Beth and Tom Feldman. This is their second year coming here for the “season”.  I have decided to call it that because it looks like most of Canada (East to West) and lots of Americans come here for the 3 months after Christmas.

We loved walking to downtown Palm Springs and experienced lots of funny incidents the principal one; one Saturday night a religious group was preaching at the Plaza pedestrian crossing when two 6’4” tall transvestites in full regalia, big blonde wigs, very short sequined dresses and 6” platform boots arrived to cross the road. As you can imagine the crowd was enjoying the scene – preachers preaching while the transvestites whooped and hammed it up for all it was worth.  Free entertainment at its best!

We went to the “Follies” a show in the historical old downtown Theatre.  To qualify to be in the show the actors and dancers have to be 55+, with the oldest at 81.  It is a wonderful show as all these dancers have had careers on Broadway, TV, Movies and Vegas. The MC was fantastic.

My brother John called to say he and Tess were coming to Palm Springs as it was raining in Vancouver BC and would remain raining for the next week.  So we had a great St Patrick’s few days together; it was John’s birthday and Tess and John’s wedding anniversary on St Patrick’s Day.  That night Carole and Bob took us to their Country Club for a St Patrick’s Dinner/Dance.  We also met Sue and Bill Piche, Mike and Candy Belanca for lunch; while they were here on vacation from Los Gatos.

The next week my nephew Luke (aged 15) who had been scheduled to go to Japan on a school trip arrived, also from Vancouver.  I bought him “James Bond” silky dark olive sheets; we laughed a lot at those sheets as we had to fold away his bed every morning.

We enjoyed having him; he and I played lots of tennis with new friends of mine.  We played golf one day and another day we had a camel ride in the “Living Desert” (it is a desert zoo in Palm Desert).  On a hot day we had a ride on the aerial tramway (the floor revolves as you climb).  It climbs through 5 different climates to 8,500 feet from where it is an unusual sight to look down to the desert from up in the snow.  Lots of snow up there this year.  We stayed in the snow until six o’clock.  It was too hot to come down.  

By then Tom had started our Taxes and we realized we needed to return to Los Gatos to get documents so off we set the day after Luke left.  Our engine overheated as we climbed the Grapevine just north of Los Angeles. We pulled off at a little town called Gorman and as we rolled down the off ramp the engine cut out and the steam started to flow out from under the hood.  We were lucky there was a garage with a mechanic in the town so we pushed the car the 500 yards to the garage.  We did not want to wait for AAA.  We hired a car from “Rent a Wreck” and left my precious Bluebug with the mechanic and headed on with our journey.

We stayed with Eileen and Carl who have been welcoming and gracious hosts every time we are in Los Gatos. We searched for the documents in storage next morning.  I knew they would be either near the front as we might need them or back at the back safely put away.  Lucky us they were right at the front.  We saw our 2 grandsons and they loved seeing us, it was hard leaving them especially as they had me by the legs and would not let go. Mellissa is looking well now and studying to be a teacher.

We had dinner at Maky & Mark’s; Grainne & Patrick’s; Anjali & Amit’s; Sally & Gerry’s and met Cearull & Leslie, Tony & Stella also for dinner. We did not have a free night thank you to all our wonderful friends. Wednesday I went to the Newcomer’s book club and meet lots of friends and they had an author from North Carolina attending the book club meeting.  Impressive!

In the meantime Tom got the taxes completed and filed!

Now we are back in the Palm Springs area after having collected the car in Gorman.

On Monday we will, finally, be on our way out of California and into Arizona.