By Marguerite Madison Aronowitz

The city of Prescott is known for its many attractive features, including the historic courthouse, Whiskey Row, and a collection of five outstanding monumental bronzes that grace the downtown area. Residents and visitors alike often ask about the stories behind these impressive works of art.

The first and most famous of these beautiful bronzes is the William O’Neill Rough Rider Monument that stands in front of the historic courthouse and was dedicated on July 3, 1907. Recently restored, this monumental bronze depicts one of Prescott’s most famous sons, William Owen (Buckey) O’Neill, upon a spirited steed. O’Neill led a local contingent of over 200 men to war on May 4, 1898, when he and his volunteers left Prescott by train to join Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders bound for Cuba to fight in the Spanish-American War. Unfortunately, Captain O’Neill was killed on July 1, 1898, just prior to the attack on Kettle Hill (followed soon thereafter by the Army’s famous charge up San Juan Hill). Buckey was buried on the battlefield, but his body was retrieved a year later and interred in Arlington Cemetery near the grave of his father, Captain John Owen O’Neill, who had fought in the Civil War.

The Rough Rider Monument is the creation of renowned artist Solon Borglum, whose brother Gutzon designed South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore. Solon Borglum accepted the commission to create the sculpture even though the $10,000 fee (approximately $400,000 in today’s dollars) was far below his normal asking price. Borglum loved the West, and the idea of creating a monument to fallen hero O’Neill caught his fancy. When the monument was dedicated, he attended the ceremony, along with Buckey’s son Maurice and many Prescott residents. This magnificent bronze, which rests on a 28-ton granite boulder taken from a nearby hillside, is considered to be one of Borglum’s finest works. Commissioned by the City of Prescott, it was paid for by area adults and school children.

The impressive grouping Early Settlers at the intersection of Gurley and Sheldon Streets was created by Prescott artist Bill Nebeker, C.A.A., and dedicated in 1985. It is comprised of a mule skinner, gold panner, cowboy, and bonneted woman who shields her eyes against the bright Arizona sun. Originally Nebeker considered adding a soldier from Fort Whipple to the grouping of three men, but after talking to his wife and father, chose instead a pioneer woman to represent the many married and single females who were instrumental in settling the rugged Southwest. During his early years, Nebeker worked with western artist George Phippen where he learned the art of bronze casting. Today his work can be found in galleries and museums throughout the United States.

The exciting Early Rodeo by Richard Terry, dedicated in 1988, is located in front of Prescott City Hall on Cortez and Goodwin. This beautiful piece was commissioned by the Prescott Community Art Trust to celebrate 100 years of rodeo in Prescott. The artist, a graduate of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, worked for the Buffalo Bronze Works in Sedona at the time he did Early Rodeo. Terry now resides in Whitehall, Montana, where he continues to work in bronze. Early Rodeo was cast at Skurja Art Castings in Prescott.

The moving All Veterans Memorial, on the west side of Courthouse Plaza, is the fourth of the five bronzes, having been dedicated in 1989. This inspiring tribute to the U.S. Armed Forces was created by native artist Neil Logan as a memorial to Yavapai County veterans who gave their lives in World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The two soldiers depicted are in Vietnam where one is signaling for a medical helicopter to land and rescue a wounded man. Artist Logan attended Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff after having served in Vietnam for 27 months.

The most recent addition to the downtown bronzes is Cowboy at Rest, on the south side of the courthouse. It was "pointed up" (enlarged) from a miniature by Solon Borglum and dedicated in 1990. The smaller version, entitled The Lookout, was sculpted by Borglum prior to the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri (also known as the St. Louis World’s Fair) where it was exhibited. Prescott’s thought-provoking horse and rider was approved by the Borglum family, commissioned by the Prescott Community Art Trust headed by former Prescott mayor Jerri Wagner, and cast at Skurja Art Castings. Those wishing to see more work by artist Borglum should visit Prescott Valley’s Civic Center, where an outstanding collection of 27 small bronzes is currently on exhibit. A brief written guide is available at the Public Works Department reception desk.

Over the years Prescottonians have continued to promote the creation and installation of major works of art such as the beautiful downtown bronzes. From the 1907 campaign to honor Buckey O’Neill to the continuing efforts of local people and organizations such as the Prescott Community Art Trust and Yavapai College, the residents of Prescott have created a showcase of significant art that is a reflection of the city’s history, traditions, artists, and true pioneer spirit.

(Marguerite Madison Aronowitz recently published the guidebook Art Treasures and Museums In and Around Prescott, Arizona, now available in the museum store, area bookstores, and the Prescott Visitors Center.)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (pb110f2p13). Reuse only by permission.

The Courthouse Plaza filled up on July 3, 1907 when Prescott’s most famous statue was dedicated. The author has recently published a detailed guidebook to Prescott’s "art treasures" that tells the story of all of the statues on the Plaza as well as others in our area.

By Richard Gorby

There are two major reasons for most ventures into the Sharlot Hall Museum Archives-a search for family history and/or a search for certain aspects of Prescott history.

For the family historian, genealogical indexes are kept on special shelves. These include marriage, death and burial records, hospital deaths, funeral records, census records, city directories, telephone directories, probate and wills, school yearbooks and many other source materials.

For both family and Prescott history, the first step might be to search the newspapers. In a town of from six hundred to a little more than a thousand citizens during the late 1800′s, almost everything that happened would appear in the Arizona Weekly Miner or Courier. The Sharlot Hall Museum Archives has almost all of the local newspapers starting with the March 4, 1864 edition.

Much of the information related in the newspapers has been catalogued. When searching for information on a specific person, the Archives card index system will lead you to the source. For example, the card index for a Mr. Seed will look like this: "Seed, E. S.

Appointed local agent for C. & A. Stage Co.

See: Weekly Miner, Feb. 18, 1976

Pg, 3-c.1"

Requesting the appropriate microfilm copy of the newspaper and scrolling the edition for the year, date, page and column mentioned, one finds:

"Appointment. -E. S. Seed, lately from California, has been appointed local agent of the C. and A. Stage Co. for Prescott, in place of F. J. Starke, who has hitherto acted in that capacity. Mr. Seed is a competent young man of good habits, and we feel sure will give satisfaction both to his employers and the patrons of the line"

After the genealogical indexes and the newspapers as a source of Prescott history, there are countless letters, photos, maps and other records to be searched through in the archives. This is mostly what the archives has – unpublished materials. However, if someone is seeking published accounts of our area’s history there are many fine books also available.

The following are some of the books that can be found in the Sharlot Hall Museum Archives as well as most libraries in the county and in some bookstores that give a really good overview to our history:

Prescott, a Pictorial History. By Melissa Ruffner, 1981 and reprinted many times since then. The forward by Barry Goldwater states: "This book shows a tremendous amount of research and never in all the reading of history that I’ve done have I seen so much put in one place by one author." With over 300 photos the book covers the periods-The Early Days, 1862 to 1912; Growing Years, 1912 to 1960; and Today and Tomorrow, from 1960 to 1997 in the updated, fifth reprint of this insightful book. This is the most comprehensive history book on our town and a fine starting point for anyone doing history.

Echoes of the Past-Tales of Old Yavapai in Arizona. Vol. 1, 1955. By the Yavapai Cow Belles. This book is a collection of 22 sketches and articles dealing with varied phases and personalities of Yavapai County history mostly in the sense that the county’s history is immersed in the cattle industry. Members of the Cow Belles, the woman’s auxiliary to the Yavapai Cattle Growers Association, wrote most of them. The writing is not always polished and professional, but it rings as clear and inviting as the dinner gong at the ranch house. Included are: "Prescott’s Big Fire," "A Teacher of 1906," "The Pioneer Doctor," "The Cowboys of Old" and many more stories.

Echoes of the Past-Tales of Old Yavapai in Arizona. Vol. 2, 1964. By the Yavapai Cow Belles. This follow-up to the 1955 publication contains a varied collection of 29 tales of Old Yavapai during the past 100 years. The 20 different authors are themselves pioneers or their descendents. George Babbitt, Jr. of Phoenix comments on the book: "The direct or very close association of the contributors of these articles with individual pioneers and original source materials brings depth, authenticity and new facets to the knowledge of our early West." Some of the stories are: "The Miller Story," "A Century of Medicine," "Jerome," "Ghost City in the Sky," "Early Days in Groom Creek," "Old Whiskey Row" and "Life in a Small Hotel."

Meeting the Four O’Clock Train and Other Stories. By Dixon Fagerberg, Jr. 1983. Included are boyhood recollections of Prescott from 1909 to 1927. Eleven articles about the town give details of the neighborhood, downtown, work and play, grammar and high school, ‘The Group’ and more. Like Dewey Born’s book below, this is one of the best published accounts of day-to-day life in early 20th century Prescott.

Stories of Early Prescott By Dewey E. Born, 1997. This anthology contains

14 stories of events in and around early Prescott, such as, "Growing Up in Prescott," "Prescott’s Forgotten Man," "The Big Snows," and many more primary and secondary accounts as remember by the author’s father and the author himself. Born was raised in Prescott and is the 4th generation of a pioneer family that arrived in 1893.

The Many Lives of the Lynx–A Century of Mining on Lynx Creek between 1863 and 1963. By Alvina N. Potter, 1965. This text includes the journey and activities of the Walker Party who entered Arizona in 1863 and discovered Lynx Creek. It also includes many other factual items about the area. The author uses old journals, diaries and letters to recreate the settlement and early life of the mining towns of Walker and Poland in the Bradshaw Mountains southeast of Prescott.

The Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway. By John W. Sayre, 1990. The growth of the mining industry in Arizona and the desire for faster and less expensive means for transporting heavy mining equipment and ore resulted in the construction of several railroads in the territory– the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway being one of them. The author comments, "the railway played a vital role in transforming The Arizona Territory from an area rich in natural resources and raw beauty to one rich in social awareness, economic base and quality of life." Railroad history of our area, like mining or ranching, is usually such a big part of our history that this book has good coverage.

It is important to note that these are just a selection of readings that one can find on our area’s history that are general in nature. There is no doubt that many that should have been included on this list have been left off. For example, Pauline Henson’s Founding a Wilderness Capital is basically the resource for early Prescott history, but its scope is limited to the first few years of Prescott’s history. Edmund Wells’ Argonaut Tales is another book that, although a tome in our history, is not really focused enough on Yavapai County.

(Richard Gorby is a volunteer at the Sharlot Hall Museum Archives. Some of these books are available at the Museum’s store or at used bookstores)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(st106p). Reuse only by permission.

If you are new to Prescott and want to know "the history of this town" there are some good books that are a fine start. Later on, when you are ready to learn more, come down to the Sharlot Hall Museum’s Archives.

By Al Bates

Late in 1942 a small group of young American men dressed in khaki could be seen practicing their marching skills on the streets of the small rural community of Prescott, Arizona.

On closer look, their garb was far from uniform. While all wore khaki shirts and pants, some wore web belts round their waists while others wore belts of leather. Some wore black shoes while others wore brown. They were all bareheaded, and only a few wore any insignia.

Who were these 28 young men and what were they doing in the mountains of central Arizona far from any military base in the first year of America’s participation in World War II?

The answer is that they were US Navy flight cadets enlisted in a unique training program designed to solve a vexing problem. This was the first group of young men selected for the Navy’s V5 aviator training program. Prescott was one of three sites in Arizona used for this training. The other cadet training flights were located at Arizona State Teachers College at Tempe and at Phoenix Junior College.

The American armed forces had a serious problem. The industrial might of America was beginning to provide all the materials necessary to fight a multi-front war. Tanks and ships and planes were rolling off assembly lines in ever increasing numbers but there was a lack of trained men to operate them.

The rapidly expanding pilot training programs were producing disappointing results because of unacceptable attrition rates. Sadly, despite rigorous physical testing, many of the young men accepted for flight training lacked the innate skills to become military pilots and for some of them–and their instructors–the discovery was a fatal one.

A better way was needed to weed out the unsuited without the loss of life and expensive military equipment. Thus was born the Navy V5 Civilian Pilot Training program. The reasoning went, if we require our fledgling pilots to first acquire private pilot licenses by training in lightweight civilian planes they will know enough of the basics to be better able to absorb the intense training required to fly high-performance military aircraft.

Recruiters fanned out over the western states looking for young men for the 13-week program. The men they signed up were typically 20 years old, two years out of high school, and working or going to college while waiting for the draft to call. It was an easy sell. Being up in the clouds as a pilot looked to many to be much better than slogging thru mud or dust as an infantryman.

Bill Travis was one of only four Arizonans in the first group to train at Prescott; the rest were from Southern California. Travis was working at the Prescott Post Office when the recruiters arrived in mid-1942. A train trip to California for physical testing was followed by a month’s wait for assignment to a training group. In September 1942 the notice came to report to a location just a few blocks south of his boyhood home.

The cadets were required to buy their own "uniforms" of khaki shirts and pants and leather flight jackets. J. C. Penny Co. was suggested as a suitable source for the clothes. There was no further description of suitable clothing for the cadets.

As the only local recruit, Travis felt himself a bit of an outsider, and sensed resentment because he was less than enthusiastic about introducing his classmates to the local young women. His help wasn’t all that necessary as the area’s supply of young men was already depleted and a number of young ladies were on the lookout for male escorts. Two of the Californians returned to Prescott after the war and married local girls.

The flight was housed and fed in an abandoned tuberculosis sanatorium located an easy walk from the pleasures of Prescott’s famed "Whiskey Row." Since none of the young men had cars this was a favorable situation. Besides, the bartenders weren’t picky about age for someone in "uniform."

Living quarters at the clapboard sided St. Luke’s Sanatorium were Spartan and included sleeping on screen porches equipped with canvas roll-down blinds to keep out the worst of the weather. Strict military rules were established, and passes were required to go to town, but as at any other military installation located near entertainment the rules often were treated as challenges to be overcome.

Flight instruction was held at Love Field north of Prescott. Ground school instruction was held at the old sanatorium and at Love Field. All of the flight instructors were civilians, mostly too old for military service. The administration and most of the ground school instructors were recruited from Glendale California Junior College.

Only the radio instructor was recruited locally. Prescott appliance-store owner A. D. Fee, a former Navy radioman, instructed the cadets in the mysteries of Morse code, a skill many never grew comfortable with. Travis admits that he became much happier when voice radio gear became standard.

The flight training was in Piper Cubs and Luscombe lightweight, high wing, fixed landing-gear aircraft. The Luscombe was preferred by some of the cadets because, unlike the fabric covered Cubs, its body and wings were metal covered and it also had a larger engine. To their disappointment, the bigger engine gave it no better performance than the Cub because of its additional weight.

The program’s safety rate was outstanding. There were no fatalities in its two years of operation in Prescott. The only remembered crash came when an overly aggressive cadet on a solo flight decided to chase a herd of antelope over the grasslands of Lonesome Valley north and east of Prescott. His was neither the first nor last episode of antelope harassment, and he walked away from the crash. Boys would be boys, and Travis admits to later flying under both the Golden Gate and Oakland Bay bridges on the same foggy day shortly after qualifying for carrier duty.

The program continued for two years. Later cadet classes included fledgling Army Air Corps pilots and glider pilots for the invasion of Europe.

After earning private pilots’ wings at Prescott the Cadets moved on to advanced training and commissioning. Travis served carrier duty in the Pacific, flying torpedo bombers to the end of the war. He returned to Prescott; married his high school sweetheart; returned to the Post Office; and has lived for almost 60 years in a house within a half-mile of where he lived and trained as a Cadet.

Surviving members of Prescott’s first V5 class have kept in contact through the years. Twelve of them showed up for a 50th anniversary gathering in 1992 and there are hopes to repeat the event in 2002.

(Al Bates is a researcher and frequent contributor to Days Past)

By Mona Lange McCroskey

Recently the community of Prescott community lost a very remarkable lady. Services for Martha Yount Caldwell were held at the Congregational Church, a block from where she was born in 1912, soon after Arizona attained statehood. Martha had deep roots in Prescott. Her grandfather, John Criley, was a pioneer physician who came here in the 1890s, followed by her father, Dr. Clarence E. Yount, who emigrated to Arizona as a health seeker and married Dr. Criley’s daughter Clara. Dr. and Mrs. Yount established their first home on the corner of Marina and Gurley Streets next door to the Congress Hotel, where the Hassayampa Inn now stands. Martha grew up in that neighborhood where she attended Washington School and the church, went to and participated in musical presentations at the Elks Theater and the Monday Club, shared dinners with her family at the Yavapai Club, and was a regular patron at the Carnegie Library. She ventured across town to the zoo at the top of Park Avenue. She was very involved in the music programs at the old Prescott High School on Gurley Street, where she graduated in the Class of 1930.

Martha’s love affair with horses began when she was a small child. She had a pony and a cart. When the family moved to 212 South Mount Vernon Street, she rode stable horses belonging to "Doc" Pardee, in Forbing Park. She learned to ride on her father’s McClellan saddle. When Martha moved to Tucson to attend the University of Arizona she became a member of Desert Riders, an honorary riding society, with whom she rode in parades and competed in horse shows in Tucson and Phoenix. Martha came home to Prescott for the summer and worked as recreational director at the Mountain Club where she taught horsemanship and staged mounted trials and shows. She even played polo at the fairgrounds. English riding and jumping became her specialty. Martha rode roundup with Bob Perkins on an English saddle with a piggin’ string through the ring. The cowboys hooted and kidded her about her "postage stamp," but she gained their respect with her expertise.

At the University of Arizona Martha majored in education, with a minor in English. She sang in churches of many denominations with the oratorio society, and did her student teaching with the Sisters of Carandolet. Her first year of "real" teaching (1936-37) was spent in the one-room schoolhouse in Peeples Valley, where she lived in the attached teacherage. With her small student body she produced a Christmas play, explored the surrounding countryside with picnic lunches, sledded when it snowed, and put on a profitable spring carnival. When it came time to make holiday presents there was no construction paper or plaster of Paris. Instead, Martha ordered a steer hide, borrowed tools from her brother Bob and learned to use them. She in turn taught tooling and her students, all from ranching families, made leather gifts for their families. What a year that must have been for her pupils! Martha herself described it as the "most educational year of my life," teaching, but not by the book. She also taught (and practiced) first aid and was instrumental in establishing numerous first aid stations at service stations and out-of-the-way places in Yavapai County.

Martha Yount taught until Pearl Harbor Day was attacked on her brother’s birthday. That made her mad and she marched down to the recruiter’s office to enlist. When the recruiter told her he had no place for her, she replied, "You better get something." She was inducted into the WAACs and sent to Officers’ Candidate School at Ft. Des Moines. As a second lieutenant assigned to a variety of duties she served at Devens, Massachusetts; Daytona Beach, Florida; Oglethorpe, Georgia; and Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey where she met and fell in love with Millard "Skinny" Caldwell. They were married "between troop trains" and after a four-day honeymoon her new husband was sent to Europe where he was captured while flying "The Hump." Martha was scheduled to join him, but "the story and the State Department couldn’t get together." Skinny died in prison camp without ever meeting his son, Martin. Martha returned to Prescott with her son and became the city’s first uniformed policewoman in 1952. She tired of the mostly menial duties assigned to her, and when in 1955 Abia Judd offered her a teaching job she resigned from the police department to return to the classroom. She then taught fourth grade at Lincoln School for twenty-two years, until 1977, and is remembered fondly by her students. She delighted in seeing them in later years and watching their families grow.

Martha Caldwell Joined the Prescott Corral of Westerners International in 1968. She served as keeper of the chips, or treasurer, for years and was honored with a lifetime membership. She was active in Rainbow and Eastern Star, where she and Hazel Deming teamed up as a calling committee. Martha remarked that even though Hazel was blind, she knew more people and how to get around town better than she did! She was a proud grandmother (emphasis Martha’s) who attended and supported all of the sports competitions, school activities, and dance recitals of her grandchildren. She remains a guardian angel on the sidelines of all Prescott High School athletic events and leaves a precious legacy for her son and her grandchildren. Truly, hers is a life to celebrate!

(Mona McCroskey is a research historian at the Sharlot Hall Museum. This article was written from a 1991 oral history interview the author conducted with Martha Yount Caldwell.)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(po2443p). Reuse only by permission.

"Skinny", in uniform, and Martha Caldwell with an unidentified man in 1946. Martha’s remarkable life has been highlighted by twenty-two years of teaching at Lincoln School and a few years before that as a Prescott’s first woman police officer. She passed away in August of this year.