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 next, we will explore what life was like in Prescott in 1928.)

In 1928, a year predicted by Washington to be "a banner year", two newspapers served Prescott’s 5,517 citizens. Both the Prescott Journal-Miner and the Prescott Evening Courier were heavy on local news. The Courier, however, was usually more staid and formal, while the Miner leaned towards sensationalism, sporting big black headlines and multiple font changes. The Courier regularly printed "News of Interest from Whipple" (a U.S. Veterans Bureau Hospital) with listings of admissions, releases, and deaths. Not to be outdone, the Miner carried the ‘Prescott Social Scene’, with such tidbits as bridge parties, dances, and current gossip. Both papers daily listed the names and addresses of every hotel guest.

National and international news services brought sports results, such as the 1928 Yankee’s World Series win over the Pirates in four games, and Louis Mayer’s win at the Indy 500 with the blazing speed of 99.48 MPH. The Elks Theater featured matinees as well as evening shows and radio was extremely popular, even though broadcasting appears to have been limited to 4 to 6 hours per day. On January 4th, the most expensive program yet made was aired: a variety program, emceed by Will Rogers and starring Al Jolson, Fred Stone and Paul Whiteman and his orchestra.

In February, the Boulder Canyon Bill for construction of a Colorado River dam was slowly wending its way through Congress, although Arizona felt that California was running roughshod over their state and Utah in the apportionment of the water. On the eighth of February, a gas explosion razed half a city block in Tombstone. Also, that month, it was announced that Fort Whipple would remain in the Veteran’s Bureau, thus assuring its continued operation as more than just a tuberculosis hospital. The Smoki Dancers of Prescott performed their foremost attraction, the snake dance, on February 23 before 10,000 in Phoenix. Other important Prescott-area news was that construction was completed on the Ernest E. Love airport, and the Santa Fe Railway agreed to tout Prescott as a tourist attraction because of its new Hassayampa Hotel.

March, 1928, saw three highly significant events: in California, the St. Francis dam failed, killing 420, and for the first time public scrutiny focused on dams throughout the country. It was subsequently determined the failure was due to defective foundations. Closer to home, Hassayampa Mountain Club (now known just as the Mountain Club) was launched as yet another summer retreat for Phoenix people. Tourism received a boost when the Ehrenberg Bridge was completed crossing the Colorado River near Blythe. Also during March, the Boy Scouts of Prescott took the first steps to return the remains of ‘Prescott’s First Citizen,’ Paulino Weaver, from the National Cemetery in San Francisco.

Ever since Col. Charles Lindberg had completed his epic flight on May 20-21, 1927, he had hopped around this country as well as South America, usually arriving unexpectedly. He had been invited on 19 separate occasions to visit Phoenix and had turned each invitation down. On April 2, Lindberg landed in Phoenix on his way to San Diego. Totally unannounced, his reception committee consisted of four mechanics and a tank wagon driver. Lindberg refueled and took off for San Diego after 30 minutes on the ground. In the process, he completely ignored a scheduled stop in Tucson, where the Mayor was waiting at the airport to welcome him.

1928 was an election year with Herbert Hoover running against Al Smith. Chicago’s primary became known as the "Pineapple Primary", due to the shape of the hand grenades used by the opposing gangs of Al Capone and Joe Esposito, in what was the most violent election year in U.S. history.

As an example of how times change but people don’t: by May 1, 1928, six wildfires had broken out in the Prescott National Forest, with one on the north slope of Thumb Butte, two in Jerome, and three at unspecified localities, put out by citizens. The cause of all six fires was listed as "discarded matches." Also, on the 13th of May, the Miner reported that a school bond election to build a new school was defeated by twenty-one votes.

"Les Miserables," starring Gabriel Gabrio as Jean val Jean, had a two-day run at the Elks Theater, followed on the 16th by another two-day run, this time of "Ben Hur". Both were silent movies. The Elks Theater management did not even mention plans to buy a "talkie" projector until November of that year. It is also interesting that no movie shown in 1928 at the Elks Theater played for more than two days, and the majority had only one-day runs.

On May 11, Prescott celebrated National Hospital Day at Ft. Whipple, with a general open house at the hospital in conjunction with the Red Cross and the organized patient body. Also on the 11th, the annual combined convention of Arizona Baptists, the Arizona Baptist Pastors, and the Women’s Missionary Society, denounced the Smoki Snake Dances and their patronage by whites. Less than a month later, on June 7, Mayor E.C. Seale issued a proclamation calling for all businesses to suspend operation from 12 o’clock noon to 5:30PM so that all could attend the 8th Annual Smoki performance, which would conclude with the Ceremonial Snake Dance.

Here’s a switch: on May 11, The Miner reported airmail postage was to be reduced from 10 cents to 5 cents in an effort to raise investors’ confidence.

On June 4th, Mayor E. C. Seale refused to sign the permits that were needed to set off fireworks within Prescott’s city limits. His reason: extremely dry conditions in the surrounding forest. This was followed by a further shock, this time to the motoring citizens, when it was announced later in the month that double parking would no longer be allowed on the city streets.

June continued to be a ‘bad’ month, when, on the 8th, Governor W.P. Hunt and his wife arrived on their way to Flagstaff. They had planned to overnight in Prescott but had to go on to Flagstaff because they couldn’t get a room at any of the hotels. However, three days later, on Monday, June 11th, Sharlot M. Hall opened the museum’s guest register for her first official guest, Arizona State Historian, George Kelly.

June also saw the graduation of the senior class of 34 students at Prescott High School. They were duly congratulated by the Miner, as were the 56 Junior High graduates. In September, a total of 1157 students would return to Prescott schools.

Al Jolson, in "The Jazz Singer," opened a two-night stand at the Elks Theater.

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

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(rr199pb)
Reuse only by permission.

Prohibition was in full swing in the late 1920s. Most former saloons now sold root beer and advertised themselves as ‘Pool Halls.’ In 1928, it was still not uncommon to see horses and automobiles sharing the road as shown here on North Cortez Street. 75 years ago this coming June, Prescott got its first museum.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(pb149f9i9)
Reuse only by permission.

Dedication of the Earnest A. Love Field, the new Prescott airport, 1928.

By Ben Allen

In the year 2000 during the reunion of the Prescott High School class of 1945, the attendees were invited on a tour of the new high school in north Prescott. Mr. Tim Carter, the principal, conducted us on a tour of this fine facility. I remember best the gymnasium because one of the first things we encountered when we entered the main door was a large wall, which bore the sign, Our Wall of Fame. And, very prominent on it was a large picture of our 1944 varsity football team.

It turns out that this team was the co-champion of the Northern Arizona Conference. Winslow was the other co-champion but only because we didn’t play them. I never knew our team was the Northern Arizona champion because soon after the season, I was off to the war.

Prescott’s regular coach was Hamilton Pratt but he was also off to the war. Prescott was fortunate to obtain the services of Francis E. Siegel. Coach Siegel came to us from Pennsylvania and coached the Badgers for only this single season. He completely changed our offensive profile and we started using a single wingback formation with an unbalanced line. Coach Siegel was an All American Guard for Pittsburgh in 1932 and played in the Rose Bowl for Jock Sutherand. He had coached wining high school teams in Pennsylvania and also taught at Pitt University.

The Badgers were scheduled to play Glendale at home, Jerome away, Flagstaff away, Williams away, Buckeye at home, Kingman away and Williams at home. This was during WWII and the school was unable to furnish bus transportation for the away games; consequently, the team fathers pooled their gas coupons (three gallons per week), which enabled a few of them with better cars to drive the team to these games. All home games were played at the old fair grounds.

We lost our first game, which was to Glendale by a score of 25-0. Glendale was the previous year’s state champions. But from then on, we swept all of the rest of the games. Fortunately, Glendale was "non-conference practice game." Our second game was with Jerome and I have some hazy memories of it. We arrived by car at the new high school where we changed into our football uniforms and then went up to the only flat area in town that could accommodate a regular size football field. Before the kick-off, we all had to police the field and throw off all the large rocks and boulders. During the first quarter, our quarterback, Chuck Kennedy, was hit hard and had his bell rung. He then continued to call the same play (12 right on 2) six times in a row before Coach Siegel realized Kennedy was in trouble and sent in Ernie Born to replace him. By the way, we scored a touchdown during that series of plays.

On one of our right end sweeps, Ed Wolgast got too close to the sidelines and a couple of drunken miners ambushed him by rushing on to the field and tackling him. They proceeded to pound on poor Ed until we could rescue him.

After the game, we loaded into the cars for the trip back to the gym for a shower and clothing change. During the ride through town, the car carrying John Hazeltine was stopped and John was dragged from the car and pounded upon until another rescue was made. Because of these extracurricular activities by the town folks, Prescott never played Jerome in town again; instead, all future games were played at the bottom of the mountain in Cottonwood.

Season recap:

Glendale 0-25

Jerome 20-7

Flagstaff 46-0

Williams 36-13

Buckeye 36-0

Kingman 25-0

Williams 71-6

Note that the Badger’s scored a total of 234 points to their opponent’s total of 51 and 25 of these points were scored by Glendale in Prescott’s only loss.

Tackle Bob Knight was named on the honorary all-Arizona first team, as well as, on the all-Northern first-string team. Ed Wolgast, halfback, and Jerry Insley, guard, received honorable mention on the all-state selections; they also made the all-Northern Arizona first-string. Elden Porter, fullback, and Jim Hendrix, center, were named for the all-Northern second eleven. Charles Kennedy, quarterback, "Champ" Duran, halfback, and Junior Bunker, end, received honorable mention in the northern selections.

I’m proud to have been a member of that team even as a Junior. When you played behind the likes of Bob Knight, you were indeed fortunate to have earned a letter.

On January 2, 2000, the Prescott Daily courier printed a large article on the sport’s section front page entitled: "Prescott High’s All-Century Team." I’m proud of the three teammates that made that team-Bob Knight, Ed Wolgast and Roy Campbell. Gil Converse made the second team. And Roy proudly informed me that his grandson, Layne Campbell, also made the All-Century Team. Must be in the blood.

It’s interesting to note that the 40 plus members of this team has produced three physicians, a Federal judge, a noted architect and several other professionals but the majority of this group became educators-several school superintendents, principals and just plain teachers. What better calling?

(Ben Allen was born and raise in Prescott and returned recently to relive those fine memories)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (1945 Hassayamper yearbook). Reuse only by permission.

The 1944 Prescott High School Badger Football team, shown here in Flagstaff, were 6-1 with the only loss in a non-conference game against the top rated Arizona school. Many of the players of this championship season made it on to Courier’s All Century Team.

by Bill Lynam

(This is the second of a two-part series.)

Tom Mix and his Ralston Straight Shooters radio program ran from 1933 until 1950, and is probably the best-remembered part of Mixiana by people today. Over the career of the radio shows, by contract, Tom Mix never appeared in any of them. This created an opportunity for different radio personalities to be the on-air Tom Mix.

If you became a Ralston Straight Shooter, you could sign up for the Straight Shooter’s Secret Manual, that included a secret handshake and a secret password: "Ral" answered by "Ston." Over 150 Ralston premiums were offered over the life of the radio show, and the surviving items have become collectables, including: western gear, fake guns, compasses, watch-fobs, spinning charms, a movie make-up kit, magnifiers, rings, arrowheads, comics, caps, bandanas, I.D. and charm bracelets, spyglasses, badges, etc. The surviving premiums may be found in your attic or on e-bay. For example, the Fawcett Publication, Tom Mix Western # 10 comic, published in October 1948, which sold originally for 10 cents, had a recent bid price of $79.99. Of course, there are more Tom Mix items to be found at auctions.

One of the pledges to be a Straight Shooter was to eat all the Hot Ralston cereal you could. Tom Mason, in his internet Online Magazine, said when he was a kid, he found Hot Ralston to be so tasteless he had to make it palatable by sprinkling chocolate-flavored Ovaltine over it so it wouldn’t taste so bad. He didn’t think that Captain Midnight, who pushed Ovaltine, would mind.

Up until the 1950′s and the debut of television, the focus of western films and radio had been on children’s entertainment, for example: prior to the 1950′s, Tom’s horses and other animals would do tricks to entertain the kids. The ‘good guy’, Tom, always won out over the ‘bad guys.’ On the radio shows, the Straight Shooters always won. The golden rule and family values were stated explicitly. The Straight Shooter’s pledge said you were to obey your parents, both mother and father, shoot straight with your friends and always try to win.

Most of his films are no longer available or are held in museums or private hands. The films were photographed on cellulose nitrate or acetate film, both of which degrade over time and have low ignition points and are extremely flammable. Few survive. If you have a hankering to see a Tom Mix film, your best bet is the Prescott Library, which has a copy of The Miracle Rider. Or, you can also find some on-line (try videoflicks.com).

Tom, in pursuit of family values in his personal life, married five times. He married Grace Allen while he was a Sergeant in the Army in 1902. After he re-upped, he decided he liked married life better than the Army, and went A.W.O.L (absent without leave). Grace’s father, hearing about the AWOL, had the marriage annulled. Even though the Army never pursued Tom for this peccadillo, he nevertheless changed his name for a while to Tom Mixico, ostensibly to thwart anyone looking for him.

While bar-tending at the Perrine Hotel in Oklahoma, Tom caught the eye of

the owner’s daughter, Kitty Jewel Perrine, and married her in December 1905.

Subsequently, he went to work for the 101 Ranch, a 101,000-acre ranch in Oklahoma that also used its cowboys in frontier days, Wild West and rodeo shows during the off-season. Life at the bunkhouse though was a little too rough for Kitty, and she signed off from the life-style and divorced Tom.

In January of 1909, Tom married Olive Stokes at the family ranch in Medora, North Dakota. Subsequently, they toured with a Wild West show then moved on to form their own group. They had a daughter, Ruth, who would later appear in shows with Tom as her mother did. They divorced in 1917.

Tom appeared in a number of pictures with Eugenie Forde, an actress of about his own age. But, he was more taken by her 18 year-old daughter, Victoria. He made Victoria his leading lady and married her in 1918. She appeared in many of Tom’s pictures. They had a daughter, Thomasina, and a marriage that had lots of highs and lows. One of the lows was when, in 1924, Victoria took five shots at Tom with a pistol but only connected once and the bullet had to be extricated from his back. Tom soft-peddled it to the press, stating it was an accident and self-inflicted.

Tom’s last marriage was to Mabel Ward in February, 1932. She did roping and shooting-tricks in shows with Tom and continued to do so in shows after his demise.

Tom Mix rode on to movie-cowboy heaven in October 1940, when his car left the road at high speed near Florence, Arizona. He was 60 years old.

If you were one of his Straight Shooters, one variation on the full Ralston ad jingle that may still be rolling around in your head, goes:

"Hot Ralston for your breakfast, start the day off shining bright.

Gives you lots of cowboy energy, with a flavor that’s just right.

Made of golden western wheat.

So take a tip from Tom, go tell your mom,

Hot Ralston can’t be beat!"

(Bill Lynam is a volunteer at the Sharlot Hall Museum.)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(pb130f13i9)
Reuse only by permission.

Tom Mix participated in the Rodeo held each year in Prescott. Frequent listeners to his show could become Straight Shooters and learn secret handshakes and passwords. Today, his movies, promotions, and the number of items that are found on e-bay that have his name measure his legacy.

By Bill Lynam

(This is part one of a two-part series)

The hoof beats on the radio have gone silent and his western movies are no longer in vogue, but Tom Mix rides on, if only in the memories of his many fans who grew up on his films, radio shows and personal appearances. I asked my brother what he remembered about Tom Mix and he hit me with a portion of an advertising jingle that stuck in his head from the "Tom Mix Ralston Straight Shooters" radio program: "Take a tip from Tom, Go tell your Mom, Hot Ralston can’t be beat."

The recent Yavapai Hills subdivision clubhouse expansion in Prescott brings back some of the associations this development and the town had with Tom Mix. Cracking the foundation to tie a new addition onto the original ranch house used in many Mix films didn’t unearth any of the 600 pairs of Tom Mix branded boots he had made for himself, or diamond-studded belt buckles with the Diamond TM Bar brand, no embroidered chaps or elaborate western costumes-custom-tailored, tight-fitting pants, angled pockets, and shirts with many buttons in vivid color. But, the memories were of western ranching that is still vital and a movie hero who ranked among the top movie stars of the silent screen era.

When poking around the new construction site, I thought I saw hoof prints by the clubhouse that might have belonged to Tony, the Wonder Horse, but I could have been wrong. Maybe I just hoped to see some artifact of Tom or his co-star horse. Inside the clubhouse though, you can see a donated oil painting of Tom. At the Yavapai Hills marketing office, Mike Klein has many examples of Tom Mix memorabilia decorating the walls. Mike’s father, Mike, Sr. is a serious collector of Tom Mix theatre posters, a few of which can be seen at the office.

The clubhouse-cum-movie studio grew out of the ranch house in Slaughterhouse Gulch owned by Ed and Elizabeth Albertson who leased the ranch to the Selig Polyscope Company. The movie company used the ranch as a satellite studio and many of Tom’s westerns were filmed on the ranch, in the Granite Dells and Williamson Valley. Silents and "talkies" were made here between 1913 and 1928. The Albertson’s Bar Circle "A" ranch brand was originally registered in 1883 as the Circle "A" Bar brand. Usage and news accounts commonly referred to it as the Bar Circle "A" and the name stuck and lives on in the Yavapai Hills road by that name as do other street names assigned after the titles of some of Tom’s movies.

Some of the street names you will recognize came from his movie titles, such as: Chip of the Flying "U", a film released in August 1914; In the Days of the Thundering Herd, released in November 1914; Twisted Trails, released in Dec. 1916; The Rough Diamond, released October, 1921 and Riders of the Purple Sage, released in March 1925. The Miracle Rider was released in May 1935. It took up 33 reels and consisted of 15 episodes and was Tom’s epic, longest and last movie.

The Selig film studio in Prescott was referred to as the Diamond "S" Ranch. This was a fictitious ranch based on the Selig trademark "S" and the diamond shaped border around the initial. One of Tom’s historians suggest that this may have been his inspiration for what became his Diamond TM Bar trademark on products marketed under his name.

The original ranch house was remodeled in 1974 and a recreational area added. The remodeling coincided with the acquisition of the 1,240-acre ranch by the J.P. Cabot Equity Corporation for the planned development of the Yavapai Hills subdivision in Prescott. A grand opening of the development was staged on the 4th of July in that year with lots of marketing hoopla. A Miss Yavapai Hills was crowned and the prize belt buckle for bull riding at the Prescott Rodeo was awarded. This last was a tie-in with the fact Tom Mix won first prize at the Prescott Frontier Days rodeo on July 5, 1913 for steer riding and bull dogging. Yavapai Hills also held Tom Mix Days with a Tom Mix look-a-like contest among other events. Initially, the ranch house was used as a sales office, and then later moved to an interim structure built where the new sales office resides alongside Route 69 and Sunrise Boulevard.

Tom worked in Prescott on and off in a number of movies for the Selig and William Fox Film Studios. He is credited with starring in 336 feature films of which he produced 88, wrote 71 and directed 117. Tom contracted with a series of studios and had a considerable degree of autonomy in making his films. His early films were one, two and three reelers made for Selig Polyscope from 1909 until 1917 when the studio went out of business. He contracted with the Fox Film Corporation from 1917 until 1928, and made five to seven reelers and enjoyed a greater distribution that increased his popularity. One of his biographers suggested his film career "went as flat as a chuck wagon pancake" when the "talkies" came in. Some said it was because of his squeaky voice others say he didn’t want to become a singing cowboy like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. Whatever the reason, he continued to make movies, transitioning into "talkies," for FBO Pictures from 1928-1929, Universal Pictures from 1931-1933 and Mascot Studios in 1935 that produced his finale, The Miracle Rider.

When Tom was between movies, he appeared in various circuses. After the 1934 circus season, he bought the Sam B. Dill Circus for $400,000 and renamed it the Tom Mix Circus. His truck circus hit the sawdust trail in 1935 through 1938 when it folded at the height of the depression. The attendance had dropped and troubles mounted from high maintenance costs, bad weather, looting and rioting in unfriendly cities.

(Bill Lynam volunteers for the Sharlot Hall Museum)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(bura2062p). Reuse only by permission.

Yavapai Hills recently expanded their old Clubhouse shown here in the early 1970s. Although there is little physical evidence of Tom Mix’s connection to the subdivision, one can find his legacy and history throughout the area in documents, photographs, and books.

by Parker Anderson

It may seem difficult to believe in this day and age, but there was a time when dancing-any form of dancing-was considered an immoral practice and a sin against God. This idea might bring laughter to most people in the present, but it was taken seriously throughout the 19th century. Dancing would become a popular pastime for Americans in the early 20th century, but pockets of anti-dancing sentiment still existed. Dancing had men and women who were not always married actually TOUCHING each other (always considered immoral in those days), and often moving one’s body into contorted positions (though nothing like today, of course), which was also considered obscene.

On the subject of dancing, there was no middle ground. It was all or nothing. Supporters of dancing vigorously defended it, while opponents viewed all dancing as moral decay in a civilized society. When dances like the Tango came into being, it further exacerbated the argument. The issue was raised in Prescott a few times in those days. The Prescott High School had begun instituting proms in the early part of the century, but in May of 1914, the School Board ordered the cancellation of the Junior Prom after a number of parents complained about it. In issuing the order, the Board advanced that it was an unspoken rule throughout the country that schools not sanction any activity that any students or parents deemed to be offensive. This caused a lot of debate in Prescott, and after supporters of dancing sounded off, the School Board called a special meeting on May 11, in which Board members and parents were allowed to attend. Strong sentiment existed for dancing, and both sides argued for nearly three hours. The pro-dancing side contended that all school dances were properly chaperoned, and that "ragging" dances had always been banned. Principal Hart sheepishly admitted that he had, at times, taught certain dance steps to students.

The anti-dancing forces brought out the arguments of sin and immorality, which had long been traditionally believed. A prominent School Board member who was also a member of the Parent-Teachers Association was quoted in the Journal Miner as saying that, "we might as well teach our children here to drink whiskey and beer, its just the same thing." Ultimately, the School Board reversed itself by a vote of 35-30, and the Junior Prom went on. Concerned parents continued to press for reconsideration, but it never happened.

On January 29, 1928, the debate would flare up again in Prescott. The Reverend Doctor Joett P. Bray told his church congregation of the evils of dancing, and how the public dance hall (by then more prominent than it had been in 1914) was largely responsible for the decline of morals in America. As dancing was becoming more widely accepted, his remarks brought considerable news coverage in Prescott. Reverend Bray declared that public dancing was in violation of Section 311, page 69, of the Penal Code of the State of Arizona.

Dr. Bray stated: "A man would not submit to have his wife and daughter alone in the home in such position as the bodies are placed on the dance floor, with the lights turned low. If there is a spark of manhood in him, he would take his shotgun and drive him from his doors. Statistics show us that 75 per cent of the scarlet women were recruited from a dance floor, and if that was true when scarlet houses were permitted to be open and carry on their trade, how much greater the proportion must be today, when the dance is much more sensuous than then. The public dance is conducive to sex promiscuity and drinking. Any boy or girl who indulge in sex promiscuity are not fit to be fathers and mothers and raise children who shall guide the affairs of the country in the future. If these statements are doubted, let the doubter interview the chief of police and his policemen."

After concluding his sermon, Reverend Bray was congratulated by fully 95 percent of his congregation for having the courage to stand up against the public dance hall.

In retrospect, Reverend Bray’s comments seem laughable and ludicrous to most of us today, but perhaps they shouldn’t be dismissed so easily. We tend to believe that the generations of long ago were more moral and pious than the generations of today. But if they were, is it safe to assume that they were wrong about this one thing, while being right about everything else? Is it possible that every dance we dance makes us less moral? I’m not saying I believe that, but it bears thought.

(Parker Anderson is an active member of Sharlot Hall Museum’s Blue Rose Historical Theater.)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(pb057a3i35)
Reuse only by permission.

Dancing, like in this outdoor cowboy dance photo taken in the mid 1930s, was not always acceptable behavior in early Prescott. As late as 1928, dancing in the public schools stirred controversy since it was believed to lead to "sex promiscuity and drinking."