By Lorri Carlson

(This is the first of a two-part article)

Sharlot Mabridth Hall had longed for the day when she could display artifacts of Arizona’s past, hoping to create a house of memories. From dream to reality, Miss Hall officially opened the old house to visitors in June 1928. Sharlot also needed support in order to establish her museum, from both the public and private sectors. Sharlot sought assistance as time and energy permitted but far more common others sought her, encouraging her effort to preserve the evidence of days past.

During her life, public support came at every level of government for Sharlot and her museum. Initial backing came from the very young State of Arizona when it purchased the deteriorating governor’s home in 1917. Due to the efforts of AA "Tony" Johns, an Arizona Legislator from Yavapai County, "the building and what land remained was bought by the state with the intent to preserve the building and to use it as a museum of some sort. No definite plans for this were made and no fund set aside–so though the place was supposed to be in the care of the City of Prescott –no one was in position to do anything." The building remained abandoned, gathering dirt, cobwebs and rodents; its primary display being one of decay.

Ten years later the City of Prescott provided the next stage of support by agreeing to provide the historic site with water, electric and fire/police services for perpetuity. This generous commitment allowed Sharlot to work towards moving her collection and herself into the mansion.

In 1929, the State of Arizona again appropriated $1,000 annually for two years. Sharlot likewise received the public support and recognition of the United States government. A letter from the Department of State dated March 1935 explains the distribution of the Territorial Papers of the United States according to the Territorial Papers Act. Eight copies were to be distributed to each state and dispersed to historical institutions, libraries and museums as designated by the Governor of the state. The official wrote, "The Governor of your State has designated you to receive copies of the Territorial Papers volumes. I have, therefore, requested the Public Printer to send you one copy of each of the first three volumes of the Territorial Papers edition."

By 1927, the Governor’s Mansion was 63 years old with Sharlot not much younger. Sharlot had been collecting papers, photos, artifacts, and oral histories for over 30 years. One can only imagine what kind of storage and organizational challenges confronted Sharlot, a circumstance complicated by the condition of the mansion and her own physical limitations. She needed help and a lot of it. Assistance came from the private sector in a number of ways: through friends and family, individuals who realized the value of her work, and the community at large.

Sharlot’s long time friends, the Riordans of Flagstaff, helped with the initial restoration of the mansion. In August 1928, Timothy Riordan eagerly offered to supply the slabs and shakes at no charge. He indicates the difficulty of finding anyone at that time who was skilled in making the shakes, a craft that had already disappeared. Riordan suggested that if she knew of any ranchers who possessed such skill to just send him up to their logging camp and they would provide everything he needed in order to make the shakes, including the grub.

Family members came to Sharlot’s aid, as well. While the petite Miss Sharlot pulled more than her own weight in physical labor, her cousins, Sam and Ed Boblett devotedly provided the muscle she lacked. Sam in particular, served as Sharlot’s able assistant. He was the one who roofed the old mansion with its new pine shakes during the exceptionally cold winter of 1928-1929.

Sam also helped with the arduous task of scrubbing every single log. As Sharlot described to Timothy Riordan, an artist from New York visited the old log house only to find Sharlot up on a stepladder scrubbing the logs with a brush and soap. The artist asked Sharlot, "What are you washing the logs for?" She replied, "They have stood here since 1864, figure it out for yourself."

Individual acquaintances believed in Sharlot’s mission and offered invaluable support. In February 1928, Governor George Hunt personally commended Miss Sharlot Hall in accepting the "responsibility for preserving the old house of the Governor at Prescott. The task could not have fallen into more capable hands. Arizona is fortunate in having such a citizen as yourself who will step into the breach and unselfishly devote your time and energy to the important work of preserving Arizona’s original capital for future generations."

Along with the political influence in 1917 of Tony Johns, Senator Alpheus Favour successfully orchestrated the State appropriations for the museum in 1929. That same year Morris Goldwater offered Sharlot his own telegraph instruments. A decade later, his nephew, Barry Goldwater offered the original safe his family used when they started their business on the banks of the Colorado River in 1862. As head of the Yavapai County Civil Works Administration, Grace Sparkes obtained funding for a new museum building in 1933, completed by the WPA in 1936. In addition, they also reassembled Fort Misery on the museum grounds and constructed the replica of an old ranch house.

Finally, Sharlot’s dream could not have been realized without the collective appreciation and support from the community. The citizens of Yavapai County recognized the need for a museum of local history. Change described every facet of their lives, remembering what once was while adjusting to the unfamiliar – modernity. The Sharlot Mabridth Hall Collection is filled with letters from individuals offering a variety of support and encouragement. Pioneers, children of pioneers, collectors, and scholars from across the country commended Sharlot’s mission. They offered photographs, letters, personal accounts, and artifacts to fill her house of memories. In addition to her many other abilities, Sharlot’s love of the past seemed to be received like a rare gift given to those troubled by the present.

(Lorri Carlson is an archivist at the Sharlot Hall Museum)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(po0168.3pc). Reuse only by permission.

Sharlot M. Hall stands proudly in front of her new "Old Governor’s Mansion Museum." Much of the work to make it a museum was done by helpers or Sharlot herself. When an artist from New York visited the old log house, he found Sharlot up on a stepladder scrubbing the logs with a brush and soap.

by Mona Lange McCroskey

Friends gathered yesterday morning at the Congregational Church to say goodbye to Danny Freeman, who passed away in Prescott on January 14, 2003. Born in the Texas Panhandle, he was raised in Swisher County. He was in college as a New Mexico Aggie during the Depression. His "first job" with the Soil Conservation Service lasted thirty-eight years. During that time he worked in range management, married schoolmarm Norita Voelker and raised three children, and served as an area conservationist for Northern Arizona, overseeing five counties and thirty-nine million acres of land. Danny excelled in his work, and he received recognition from the Soil Conservation District in 1959 when he was presented with their first ever plaque. He was awarded an agricultural service medal from the Vietnamese government for his work there with rice crops, and another from the Society of Range Management. His extensive writing career began as part of his vocation, as editor of Rangeman’s Journal in 1956. He also wrote ranch histories and Twenty-one Years of Progress of Arizona Soil Conservation Districts for the SCS.

In 1941, Danny’s job brought him to Prescott where he became deeply involved in community affairs. His association with the Yavapai County Fair Association and fairgrounds-related activities continued for more than sixty years. It included Frontier Days, 4-H, Kiwanis, and horse racing. He wrote and published the history of the County Fair Association in 1984. Danny became the first associate member of the Yavapai Cattle Growers in the 1940s, penned the History of Yavapai Calf Plan for the 50th Anniversary in 1982, and continued to write ranch histories for their newsletter until recently. He was the first Sheriff of the Prescott Westerners, and with Bruce Fee, authored the history of the corral. Dr. Robert Stragnell recently updated it.

After his retirement from the Soil Conservation Service in 1973, Danny continued his commitment to "non-payin’ jobs." With the editorial aid of his wife, Norita, Freeman wrote histories of the Smoki Snake Dance, the Yavapai Cattle Growers, and the Prescott Kiwanis Club. He spent six years researching and writing his major work, "World’s Oldest Rodeo." He interviewed innumerable cowboys – rodeo and otherwise – and traveled to archives in Arizona, Oklahoma, and Colorado in his quest for information. Danny’s foresight enabled him to publish the book in time for the centennial celebration of Prescott Frontier Days in 1988.

Danny received countless honors and awards. Most meaningful to him were the Fred Renner award in 1982 (the highest honor in range management), and the dedication of the rock house at the Fairgrounds as the Freeman Building in 1990, which came as a complete surprise to him. Longevity was the theme of his life: He and Norita celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary in 2000; his involvement in farming and ranching activities was life long, and his Yavapai County affiliations endured for more than fifty years. He wrote his life story, "My First Eighty Years," in 1981 and kept it up to date. Danny opined that 1911 was a very good year: Ronald Reagan was born in February; Tom Rigden was born in August; and he was born in October. He regretted being born so late in the year until he remembered what his dad had told him, "The best calves are born in the fall."

Recently a cattleman remarked, "Danny has a lot of historic knowledge tucked away in his head, and he researches to the max. There is nothing fancy about what Danny does, but he gets the facts and he puts them on paper for someone to remember one day." Yavapai County has lost a nonrenewable resource. However, his histories survive as valuable research tools. Mostly, he will be missed as a friend who left happy tracks. We are grateful for the gentle man from Tulia, Texas, who said, "I grew up around cattle people – they are my kind of people. My happiest moments are while around ranchers, men and women. "Godspeed, Danny.

(Mona McCroskey is an oral historian for the Sharlot Hall Museum. She says, "Whether ‘Driving With Danny’ and Richard Sims, waylaying him in the Sharlot Hall Museum library, or calling him at home for information, Danny Freeman was always helpful. I will keenly miss having the benefit of his expertise and his congeniality.")

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(po2273pa)
Reuse only by permission.

Danny Freeman’s "first job" with the Soil Conservation Service lasted thirty-eight years. This photo was probably taken shortly after he arrived in Prescott in 1941.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(pb020f30i8)
Reuse only by permission.

By the mid-1960s, Freeman was very much a part of his new community. Shown here at the Cattle Growers Annual meeting in 1964, he was also very active in the Prescott Corral of Westerners International, the Yavapai Fair Association, Kiwanis, and of course, the Rodeo.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(db330f60). Reuse only by permission.

Danny, at the yearly "Old Timers Gathering" in 1998. Ropers, bareback riders and rodeo queens from half a century ago met at the fairgrounds to catch up, trade stories and just have a good time. Danny organized this yearly event in 1988 for anyone who participated in the rodeo before 1950.

By Nancy Wright

"Perhaps we will find gold, perhaps not," was the original name of Perhaps, a mining camp down on the east side of the Gila Bend Mountains. When I came across this intriguing entry in Will C. Barnes’ Arizona Place Names, I couldn’t stop browsing. Arizona Place Names is a mother-lode of interesting, romantic, names of cities, towns, mines, mountains, rivers, and other geographical features, combined with the kind of interesting but obscure history that rarely makes it into history books. Many names of mines were coined by superstitious prospectors hoping catchy names for their diggings would bring luck and that they would then strike a mother lode of gold or silver and become rich and famous.

Yavapai County is a treasure of picturesque names such as Wagon Tire, which lies west of Rattlesnake Wash. Barnes reports: "For many years an old wagon tire lay against a tree on this flat. A memento of some pioneer’s troubles." Then there was Blind Indian Creek. The pioneer prospector, Charlie Genung, reported that an old blind Indian was camped across the stream from Blind Indian Creek. Nowadays, many of us are amused by the nearby insect places: Big Bug and Bumble Bee.

The champagne salesman who named his mine Sultan may have had lavish harems in mind. On the other hand, some prospectors were looking for divine guidance with Inspiration, Oracle, and Providence.

Wishful thinking named Fortune, Plenty, Reliable, Rich Hill, Silver Hill, Surprise, Oro (gold!), and, of course, Hope. Many places were named tongue-in-cheek: Fool’s Canyon, Fools Gulch, Fool’s Hollow, and Lucky Cuss Mine. On the other hand Boneyard, Grief Hill, and Tombstone, summon more doleful visions.

Interestingly, Tiger didn’t make it into Barnes’ book, but almost fifty years later Byrd Howell Granger’s revision of the book lists two Tigers, one in Yavapai County named for one of the richest silver mines in Arizona Territory. Of the other Tiger in Pinal County, local legend has it that "residents chose the name for their post office because one of them had a tobacco pouch made from a tiger scrotum." However, Granger thinks it, too, was named after a mine.

The first edition of Arizona Place Names was compiled by one of the most colorful characters ever to ride the Arizona Territory. Will Barnes’ autobiography, Apaches & Longhorns, reads like a Hollywood movie, complete with Apache wars, the hanging of cattle rustlers with their "long ropes," wild rides down the old Black Canyon Trail with Buckey O’Neill and a couple of nuns, and a challenging twenty-one years service with the Forestry Department.

First printed as a thick University of Arizona Bulletin in January 1935, Arizona Place Names begins with this verse by Catherine Parmenter:

Names are such enchanting things.

Ever do they bring to me

Beauty–vision–lift of wings–

Song–and scent–and mystery.

The price of the first edition was "One dollar and Fifty Cents." Byrd Howell Granger revised and updated it in 1960. When she revised it a second time in 1983, under the name Arizona’s Names: X Marks the Place, the price jumped to around $30.00. It is well worth it because the new edition includes Township and Range locations as well as useful maps with T/R coordinates. A helpful appendix cross references hundreds of obscure and variant names. Furthermore, while Barnes’ entries are county by county, Granger’s citations are in one grand alphabetical array making them easier to find. You can buy a reprint of the original Arizona Place Names at Barnes & Noble (no kin to our Will).

Will Barnes retired from government service at the age of 72, took his wife on a trip around the world and finally settled down in Phoenix in 1930 to finish Arizona Place Names.

In his forward, Barnes says, "For more than thirty years the author has been gathering information from old timers, Indians, Mexicans, cowboys, sheep-herders, historians, any and everybody who had a story to tell as to the origin and meaning of Arizona names. " He also read virtually every book written about Arizona from journals of early Spanish entradas and pioneer explorers to the military reports of the 1800′s and U. S. government bulletins. His two years service as Secretary of the United States Board of Geographic Names no doubt helped immeasurably with assigning correct names and locating places on maps. Will Barnes has managed to gather together an exhaustive collection of Arizoniana and present it in a most readable form.

It is a fitting tribute to this tireless lexicographer that you can look in later editions of Place Names and find citations for Barnes Butte located in Papago Park in Maricopa County. The citation in X Marks the Place reads,: "In 1937 this butte was named to honor Will C. Barnes (b. June 21, 1858; d. Dec. 17, 1936) a noted pioneer, stockman, legislator, and historian. Barnes, who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his part in the Indian wars, was first editor of Arizona Place Names (1935)."

When you open any edition of Arizona Place Names, the "potato chip syndrome" sets in: "Bet you can’t eat just one!" The first bite leads to the second and third . . . and you’re deep into the bag,. .’er the book. You can’t eat just one potato chip, and I defy you to look up only one place name in this seductive book.

(Nancy Kirkpatrick Wright, retired librarian from Yavapai College, is active in Prescott Art Docents and Sharlot Hall Museum. She enjoys investigating the historic confluences of the arts and sciences.)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(m332pf). Reuse only by permission.

We may never find out the origin of most mines in Yavapai County, such as the Swiss Girl mine shown here in the 1890s. However in 1935 the first of three publications was published about Arizona place names. One, if not all three, is certainly available in libraries throughout Yavapai County.

by John Paulsen

(Seventy-five years ago this coming June 11 the first guest signed the Governor’s Mansion register and the Sharlot Hall Museum began. We are running a series of articles over the coming months that will explore the people and events that have shaped the museum’s long journey. This Sunday, and last, we will explore what life was like in Prescott in 1928)

Through June, the stock market continued its wild gyrations with abrupt up and down shifts, including some of record numbers. Buying frenzies alternated with equally wild sell-offs. On June 1, the Department of Agriculture reported prices were 148% of the pre-war level; then on the 9th, Industrial stocks dropped 2-10 points while higher priced specialties dropped 10-30 points. It appears that widespread unease had resulted from the nation’s credit situation.

Frontier Days and Independence Day dominated the news in early July, but on the third, a petition signed by 88 property owners to the city counsel requested that Gurley Street from Mount Vernon to Washington be paved. After much wrangling and discussion the paving was put to a referendum, and defeated by a citizen’s vote on July 27th. Similar to the school bond vote, the Miner noted, "The era of open handed public generosity appears to be past and new public works are more closely scrutinized by those who have to pay the bill." On July 29, the 9th Olympic games opened in Amsterdam, the first such games in which women completed. At the closing ceremonies, championship medals in Track and Field went to the Americans.

On August 2, Zasu Pitts opened at the Elks Theater in "Buck Privates".

The Miner reported the dedication of Ernest E. Love airport on August 25th and announced that the number of airplanes arriving were the greatest ever for the field. Fifty planes came from March Field alone. Free flying tours were offered during the festivities.

With the upcoming September primary, final Prescott voter register indicated 5,738 registered Democrats and 3,208 registered Republicans. On September 6, Louisiana suffered the second deadliest hurricane in U.S. history. It took over 2300 lives.

Schools were dismissed at noon on September 7 so that students could go to the Christy Brothers circus which was in town for two performances. Several well-known stars appeared at the Elks Theater, including Charlie Chaplin in" The Circus" and Hoot Gibson in "The Rawhide Kid". Sculptor Gutzon Borglum visited Prescott on September 11, stating to the Courier that his brother Solon’s statute of Buckey O’Neill had no superior in this country nor perhaps abroad.

New York Stock Exchange continued to report what seems a forecast of the crash of a year later. On October 5th, the Courier reported violent swings in stock prices as opposing speculative forces battled for control. This continued as frenzied trading and heavy profit taking swamped trading facilities. However, on October 11th, this turned around and stocks jumped 5 – 15 points.

Probably October’s most far reaching news was the initiation by Joseph Stalin of his first Five-Year Plan calling for the collectivization of workers. On the national level, the German lighter-than-air Graf Zepplin landed in Lakehurst, New Jersey on its inaugural trip. Then on the 24th, the Miner announced the formation of Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) Corporation, predicting it would become a giant in American entertainment.

Locally, the Santa Fe Railroad proposed constructing a graded crossing between Summit and Lincoln avenues. Residents of the "Old Ball Park" and the Dameron tracts protested such a crossing.

Ranchers continued to fight the Smelter operators claiming that smelter discharges contained noxious fumes, which were ruining their crops and rangeland. On October 22nd, a "Smoke Trial" pitted ranchers against the United Verde and Verde Extensions smelters. The smelter operators were found guilty and fined a total of $6.00.

Featured movies at the Elks Theater were Mary Pickford in "My Best Girl", Greta Garbo in "The Devine Woman", and Pola Nagri in "Three Sinners".

November’s biggest news was Herbert Hoover’s landslide presidential defeat of Al Smith who carried only four states. Prescott recorded an impressive 78% voter turnout in the first election to be carried nationally by NBC radio.

Locally, tragedy was in the news. The attempted cross country flight of the "Yankee Doodle" ended when it crashed in heavy rain and fog in the Bradshaw mountains killing all aboard.

Another downside came as all Prescott schools let out a day early for the Thanksgiving holiday and stayed closed through December 9th due to an outbreak of influenza which caused up to 115 absences per day out of a high school enrollment of 260. Most public meetings were cancelled and the Elks Theater was closed. The epidemic slowly moved eastward across the country infecting some 41,000 people before it died out.

State government lived up to its reputation when, on the 26th of November, Governor Hunt and Senator Fred Colter got into a fist fight at the capital in Phoenix. Lt Comm. John Philip Sousa also lived up to his reputation, refusing to lead his band in a radio broadcast because, "it would give listeners an inadequate idea of the perfection of his musicians."

"The King of Kings" began a two day run at the Elks Theater on November 6. Late in December, the Grand Canyon disappearance of honeymooning Glen and Bessie Hyde became a human interest story – the couple was never found.

An early Christmas present for Arizona came, when on December 14, the U.S. senate overwhelmingly passed the Swing-Johnson bill. Signed by President Coolidge, the law authorized construction of Boulder Dam (eventually named Hoover Dam).

Also on December 21st, Santa’s Christmas tree arrived from Mt Union. It was to be decorated and lit up for Santa’s Christmas Eve arrival. On the evening of the 24th Santa arrived from Flagstaff by way of Winslow, Ash Fork and finally Love Airport. For the first time his progress was broadcast to the waiting children (and adults) at the courthouse plaza.

As 1928 drew to a close, Dr Ferdinand Ellerman arrived on December 27, to conduct "seeing" tests of Prescott’s night skies as astronomers searched for the best place to locate a new 200 inch telescope which ultimately ended up near San Diego.

Thus ended 1928 in Prescott, in Yavapai County, and the State of Arizona. Had it been a "banner year" as predicted back in January? The two paper’s year-end summaries didn’t entirely agree. The Courier titled their summary "Progress of Arizona During 1928 Set New High Records." But the Miner, in true stick your neck out fashion, headed their summary; "New Year Should Be Lots Better: 1928 Not So Bad" – -proving that neither had a real shiny crystal ball on what was to occur in 1929.

(John Paulsen is a volunteer at the Sharlot Hall Museum)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(misc140pb). Reuse only by permission.

The wreck of the Yankee Doodle in the Bradshaw Mountains in November and the establishment of Love Field just months before were some of the main highlights of 1928. A jittery stock market and a refusal to pave part of Gurley Street also punctuated the year that Sharlot Hall Museum first opened its doors.