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Parade
Ground & "Officers' Row" at Fort
Verde State Park |
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Zane
Grey's cabin in Payson |
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While cruising along a highway in central Arizona,
it occurred to me that if you wanted to see Arizona history
in three dimensions, Verde Valley is the place to go. No other
location in Arizona offers such a complete and vivid glimpse
into Arizona's fur-trading, ranching, farming, mining, railroading,
and rip-roaring Wild West past.
The Verde Valley extends from Jerome, Cottonwood
and Sycamore Canyon southeast toward Camp Verde and beyond,
to the foot of the Mogollon Rim. If you have an interest in
southwestern American history, you can get a quick tour of
Arizona's past in just four days, seeing some of the state's
most spectacular scenery outside of the Grand Canyon at the
same time.
From Phoenix, drive north to Camp Verde and Fort
Verde State Park. In the 1860's, as Arizona's American
settlement began with miners, the U.S. Army was tapped to
calm the threat from the preexisting inhabitants - mostly
Yavapais and Apaches. The Army came to establish Fort Verde
(and others nearby such as Fort Whipple at Prescott and Fort
Apache near Whiteriver). Today, a visit to Fort Verde State
Park provides a glimpse of Army life on the southwest frontier.
Visitors experience "living history" displays of
frontier Army life, and several buildings furnished in 1880s
style are open to the public. In early October, Fort Verde
Days celebrate the fort's past with parades and commemorative
events.
When George Crook commanded the Army in the Arizona
Territory from Fort Verde, he built a wagon road to other
outlying posts. If you follow State Route 260 east from the
Verde Valley, you follow the "Crook Trail." Some
of the boulders that were used to identify mileposts along
the way can still be seen. The route is spectacular, leading
onto the high country atop the Mogollon Rim (locally pronounced
"Muggy-own," or simply, "the Rim"). The
basins, canyons and peaks along the 6,000 ft. to 7,000 ft.
rim were the setting and inspiration for Zane Grey's western
novels. He
lived and wrote along Tonto Creek a few miles away, surrounded
by the rocks and Ponderosa pines.
[Map]
Bob
Schaller
December 31, 2006
