Picket Post Mountain trail best suited for experienced hikers

Picket Post Mountain

The small town of Superior, Arizona,  got its start as a military camp on a nearby mountain.

The military established a camp at the base of a nearby mountain in 1870. Soldiers named it Picket Post Mountain because sentinels were posted at the top to warn the camp of impending attacks.

Today, it’s a hiking trail. The 3.9-mile trail is rated as difficult, but some hikers say it almost becomes like mountain climbing the nearer one gets to the top. Those who reach the top will be rewarded with stunning desert views. There’s a trail box at the top where hikers can sign a log book.

Dogs are allowed on the trail, but some hikers report their dogs had problems coming down.

Picket Post Mountain is in the southern part of Tonto National Forest. It’s a good place to enjoy wildflowers and desert scenery.

Superior is located on Highway 60 east of Phoenix.

Arizona's Gila: once mighty river now a meandering stream

The Gila River at Winkelman, Arizona

You’d never guess it by looking at it today, but the Gila River was once one of Arizona’s greatest rivers. Today it’s a shadow of its former self.

Once upon a time, however, water flowed so plentiful through it, the Hohokams, a tribe in southcentral Arizona, diverted its waters to create the world’s most advanced irrigation system in the Third Century B.C. near what is now Coolidge, Arizona.

The Hohokams began abandoning their settlement sometime in the early 1500s. By 1550 no one was left. No one knows the real reason why they left, but there is some speculation the Gila began drying up and could no longer support their irrigation systems. Remains of the irrigation canals can be seen at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument at Coolidge.

Remains of the Hohokams' irrigation system

Today, it’s a meandering stream as it winds its way through the mountains along Highway 77 in Arizona.  It grows shallow underneath the hot Arizona sun, and sometimes completely dries up in this area. When it’s like this, it’s hard to imagine, that at 640miles long, it’s one of the longest rivers in the western United States. The river starts in New Mexico, winds its way down Arizona where, what’s left of it, empties into the Colorado River near Yuma.

Much of its route is through wilderness area that is rich in wildlife such as elk, bighorn sheep and black bears. It also is a good place to see birds such as wild turkeys and grouse.

Pyramid atop Poston Hill honors "father of Arizona"

Poston hill

It’s difficult to see from Highway 79 just outside of Florence, Arizona, but that pointy thing atop Poston Hill is a 15-foot high pyramid. It’s also a burial site.

Beneath it lies the remains of Charles D. Poston, known as the “father of Arizona,” because of his lobbying efforts before Congress and President Lincoln to get Arizona elevated to territorial status in 1863. Before his death in 1902, he served in several federal posts, including Arizona superintendent of Indian Affairs, land register in nearly Florence, and Arizona’s first Congressional delegate.

Poston always wanted to build a temple to the sun atop the hill now named for him, but ran out of money. When he died, he was buried at a Phoenix cemetery.  In 1925, his friends had him dug up and re-interred facing the sun inside this pyramid.  The reburial was attended by 1,500 people, including the governor.

The pyramid is accessible on foot by a half-mile trail. Go north on Highway 79 out of Florence, turn left at milepost 136 and follow the signs to Poston Butte Monument Park.

Plimoth Plantation is a great place to learn about the Pilgrims

PLimoth Plantation

Each fall,  as November nears, our thoughts turn to the bountiful feast soon to be spread before us.

Though harvest feasts have e been taking place since almost the beginning of time, the Pilgrims are generally credited with holding the first Thanksgiving in what is now the state of Massachusetts.

If you’ve ever wondered what life was like for those colonists, you’ll definitely want to visit Plimoth Plantation, a re-creation of the Pilgrim village as it was in 1627. It is one of the most interesting living history museums you’ll ever visit.

Although it doesn’t sit on the original village site, the recreated village mirrors that one much as it was a few years after the Pilgrims arrived in 1620. There are houses, barns, storehouses, gardens and fields. At any of these places you’ll find “Pilgrims” going about their daily life.  Actors playing some of the people who lived there in 1627 will explain how they came to the New World and what they’re doing now.

Plimoth Pilgrims taking a break.

The actors, dressed in period costumes, are well versed in the history of their character and are quite believable.  When I visited there, a woman who had lived in Holland before coming over on the Mayflower was telling about that experience. A man from the Netherlands began talking to her in Dutch; they carried on a conversation for several minutes. When it was over, everyone asked him how her Dutch was.  He said she spoke an archaic version of Dutch, while he spoke modern Dutch, but they were still able to understand each other.

The actors are superb and well-controlled. They would have to be to answer some of the visitors’ questions. For one thing, they don’t know anything about what happened after 1627.  So if a visitor asks them what they think of man walking on the moon, they’ll look amazed and tell you something like that is unthinkable and could never happen – all with a straight face.

At the village site, you’ll also meet with Native Americans who will talk about how the arrival of the colonists changed their culture. They will be speaking from a 21^st century perspective.

Besides the 17^th century village, Plimoth Plantation museum also includes Mayflower II. The replica of the original ship can be found at the waterfront.  Here, you’ll find actors portraying original colonists who came on the first Mayflower. The Mayflower II was much tinier than I expected and it was hard to imagine that many people crammed into so little space. 

Plimoth Plantation is locate in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Re-creation of the original Pilgrim village

Dimmit County Courthouse is landmark in Carrizo Springs, Texas

Dimmit County Courthouse

Even before it was built in the early 1880s, the Dimmit County Courthouse in Carrizo Springs, Texas, generated controversy.

The initial architect designed a building that was deemed too expensive to build. So the new county, organized in 1880, hired a second architect. His drawings were suspiciously like the first plans, but without certain features such as a tower, that lowered the cost to build. The first architect sued the county and settled out of court for $400.

The Italianate style building was finally constructed in 1884.

The county government grew and 41 years later, it needed more room. Instead of demolishing the old courthouse, it was enlarged, with sides being extended and entrances moved. Ionic columns and a recessed porch were added to the north side. The remodeled building was in the Classical Revival style.

Problems developed as the building aged over the decades. In 2002, the county won a $2.4 million grant to restore the courthouse to the condition it was in when remodeling was completed in 1927.

Old Pecos County jaiil now houses a law enforceent museum

Pecos County jail

The Pecos County Jail is a good place to learn about law and order in the Old West, namely Fort Stockton in West Texas. 

The jail, Fort Stockton’s second, began life in 1884. The two-story sandstone structure would be used until 2000. Prisoners were housed on the second floor, with the first floor set aside for offices for the sheriff and his deputies. The lower floor also contained the sheriff’s living quarters. 

The jail was enlarged in the early 1900s, but otherwise remains much as it was: stark with ugly cells that should have made people think twice about committing a crime. 

Today the jail houses a museum devoted to sheriffs and local law enforcement. It is located at 101 West Gallagher Street across from the county courthouse.  Free tours of the old jail are available by appointment only.

Fort Stockton protected travelers on overland routes in West Texas

Fort Stockton

Long before it was a military post, Comanche Springs in what is now West Texas, was a watering hole for Indians. They camped there while traversing the Comanche Trail to Chihuahua, Mexico.

The U.S. Army discovered it in 1949 and 10 years later established a post there, calling it Camp Stockton after  Robert Field Stockton, a Navy commodore who helped capture California during the Mexicans-American War.  Since several major overland routes passed through the area, it made an ideal place for the Army to protect travelers on these routes. Besides the Comanche Trail, the routes included the Butterfield Mail route and the El-Paso-San Antonio road.

Fort Stockton

The original camp was built near where the Pecos County courthouse now stands. When the Civil War broke out, soldiers were called to the east, and it was eventually taken over by the Confederate Army. Not much was left of the camp in 1867, so it was moved about a half-mile away to its present location on what is now East Third Street in the town of Fort Stockton. Eventually 35 buildings were constructed, all but two of adobe; the others were limestone. During the first couple of decades at the new location, the compound was staffed mainly by Buffalo Soldiers.

The community that sprang up around the Army post was named Fort Stockton in 1881. The Army abandoned the post in 1886.

Historic Fort Stockton

Today only four of the original buildings remain. They are the guardhouse and three officers’ quarters.  Other buildings have been reconstructed. The fort is on the National Register of Historic Places.