Book Review: Your Friend and Mine, Andy Devine

 Your Friend and Mine, Andy Devine: A Memoir of a Father and His Son, by Dennis Devine, BearManor Media, Albany, Georgia, 2012.

This book gives plenty of inside information on the life of Andy Devine.  It is written by his son.  Devine grew up in Kingman.  His father was working for the railroad, but had an accident.  The cash payout after the accident allowed him to purchase the Beale Hotel in Kingman and this is where Andy Devine grew up.   Andy injured the roof of his mouth running with a curtain rod in his mouth.  It healed but left Devine with a distinctive raspy voice.  

Devine is most known for his Hollywood adventures.  The book includes a very good list of all the projects in which Devine acted.  This included roles with John Wayne and Roy Rogers, usually as a side kick.,  He hosted "Andy's Gang," a children's program.  He was in "Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok," a television series.

Andy's signature was his voice.  It was felt that his voice would limit him, especially as he graduated from silent movies to talkies.  But in truth it made him as people remembered his voice.  This is very distinctive in his voice role as Friar Tuck in the Disney "Robin Hood." 

The information in this is very good, but it does get lost trying to tell two stories at the same time.  It is also Dennis Devine memoir book.  It goes back and forth between the son telling his own history while also telling his father's history.  This frustrated me, as I was more interested int he Andy Devine story.

Book Review: Images of America: Kingman

 Images of America: Kingman, by Dan W. Messersmith, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 2010.

This is a very good pictorial history of Kingman.  It begins with a picture of Henry Kingman, who surveyed the railroad.  Early history of Kingman centered around the railway.  The depot was finished in 1893 at its current location.  From there, Kingman began to expand around fourth and Front Street (Andy Devine).  

In addition to the old commercial and residences, I learned that the original airport in Kingman was where the fairgrounds is now located, but extending on both sides of the freeway which wasn't there.  However with WWII the airport moved to its current location, which was originally a machine gun Army Air training base, Kingman Army Air Field, KAAF.  It eventually became a major location for gunnery training for the B-17.  After the war it became a location for storing and then dismantling airplanes, especially the B-17.  

Book Review: Weird Arizona

 Weird Arizona: Your Travel Guide to Arizona's Local Legends, and Best Ket Secrets by Wesley Treat, Mark Sceurman, and Mark Moran executive editors, Sterling, New York, 2007.

After reading this book which I found at the library, I am convinced I am in need of a copy.  It has turned me onto many local stories, and Arizona stories.  In this book I learned of Slaughter House Canyon in Kingman, a place by Grand Canyon with Flintstone memorabilia.  Along Highway 40 there is a stretch of several different dinosaur displays, and in Quartzite there is a yacht club.  There is a significant history of murders in Arizona, with the Wild West theme.  This includes Tombstone.  As a result there are many ghosts.  Arizona also has significant extraterrestrial history, including the Phoenix lights.  I was disappointed there was nothing about the ET crash close to Kingman; but a different crash farther south.  

Another ghost story is that of the ghost bus of Highway 93.  This is based on a more recent story of a bus traveling from Phoenix to the gambling halls in Laughlin Nevada.  First the heater on the bus broke, and it was a warm July day.  The driver suggested turning around, but the gamblers were anxious to continue on.  Later the truck began to lose power and the driver finally said he could go no further.  The passengers then put the driver off the bus, pushed it to the top of Union pass, and then decided to coast down the other side.  It was last seen going behind a hill, and then disappearing.  No one ever found an accident or the remains of the bus, but three years later, people started to see a ghost bus on Highway 93 between Phoenix and Laughlin.  

There are many more stories, strange buildings, castles, domes etc.  The book includes a section on Route 66; a section on strange animals, which includes the chupacabras, skinwalkers and Oatman burros.  

Book Review: Phillip Johnston and the Navajo Code Talkers

 Phillip Johnston and the Navajo Code Talkers, Indian Culture Series, Montana Indian Publication Plan.

This is a short book which explains the relationship between Phillip Johnston and the Navajo Code Talkers.  Phillip Johnston grew up among the Navajo, and consequently learned Navajo as a child, a very difficult language.  When WWII started Phillip Johnston was too old to serve as a soldier.  He was aware of issues with secret codes, and the Japanese ease with breaking the codes.  Codes were changed almost daily as a result.  He knew Navajo was a difficult language and came up with the idea of using Navajo speakers, and code to keep messages secret.  It took some time to convince the military he was onto something.  At his own expense he took four Navajo to the Marine Base by San Diego to demonstrate and convince the Marines to use his idea.  The Navajo also had the ability to become code experts.

Johnston was brought back to the Marines to train the Navajo.  The program was highly successful as they were able to communicate.   The survivors of the program received medallions in 1969 at a special meeting.  

Book Review: The Moundbuilders: Ancient Peoples of Eastern North America

The Moundbuilders: Ancient Peoples of Eastern North America by George R. Milner, Thames and Hudson, London, 2004.

I have always had an interest the the moundbuilders, and hope to travel east to visit some of the mound sites.  It is truly amazing the work that was done by ancient inhabitants of North America, and even more impressive when you consider that we only have less than ten percent of the original sites remaining as many have been covered by farms or urban growth.  

This book presents the story of the moundbuiders in a chronological order, dividing the chapters into mobile hunter groups, sedentary hunter groups, builders of burial mounds Woodland period, the chief period, villagers and lastly the Trail of Tears.

The book reports on many different sites including: Cahokia from the chief period, Hopewell sites in Ohio, including the Serpent Mound, Moundville.  There are mound ruins throughout the east extending from Florida through Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky and on to Illinois and Ohio.  The book has many pictures of artwork and pottery.  There are also sites where many arrow heads were gathered.  

The book does a very good job of describing many of the mounds as burial sites.  However, as those things on top of the mounds are now gone, it may fall fault in describing other purposes of the mounds.  There are mounds that had wood walls as evidenced by post holes.

I enjoyed this archeological study of Eastern North America.

Book Review: The Ordeal of Olive Oatman

 The Ordeal of Olive Oatman: A True Story of the American West by Margaret Rau, Morgan Reynolds Incorporated, Greensboro, North Carolina, 1997.

The story of Olive Oatman is fantastic.  I had not heard of this story until moving to Arizona and learned than the town of Oatman was named after her.  Olive Oatman, with her family was emigrating from Independence Missouri to southern California in 1851-52..  They were an offshoot Mormon family, Brewsterites, which traveled with a group who felt that Salt Lake was not the correct destination.  They traveled the Santa Fe Trail.  Even they had disagreements and the group separated.  The Oatman family, with the smaller group, made it to Tucson, where the group was further reduced as some decided to stay.  Only three families continued on.  They finally made it to Pimole amongst the Pima people.  They were invited to stay, and only the Oatmans continued on, hoping to reach the Colorado River and Fort Yuma, 150 miles to the west.  The crossed the Gila River, and finally made it to the plateau on the other side.  It was on that plateau where they were met by a group of Native Americans, thought to be Apache but later determined to be Yavapai.  After asking for tobacco and food, they finally manifested their true intentions, using clubs to bludgeon the pioneers.  They killed the parents, mother who was eight months pregnant, and six siblings of Olive.  She and her sister Mary Ann were taken captive.  Her older brother Lorenzo was clubbed, but survived.  Al the other family members were killed.  

In captivity Olive and Mary Ann were made to to slave labor, providing food for the men but also being subject to ridicule.  Mary Ann was often sick, but they were both always hungry.  A trading party from the Mohave visited the camp, and the daughter of the chief insisted they trade for the slaves.  They were eventually sold for two horses.  The Mohave lived close to the Colorado River near present day Needles.  They now received better treatment, but it was always feared they would run away.  Consequently Olive was tattooed showing marks of being a slave so she would be returned if she attempted escape.  Mary Ann became sick and died of starvation during a period where the Mohave were short of food.  Olive considered escape, but withdrew this when another slave form a different Indian Tribe escaped and was captured and tortured to death.  

However after five years in captivity, word of her existence reach fort Yuma.  There people took interest and arranged to purchase her from the Mohave.  After several failed attempts, they were finally successful.  Olive was released to Fort Yuma, but the fort had to provide a fine horse.  After being released she learned of her brother, Lorenzo still being alive.  Olive's story was published widely in the newspaper.  Lorenzo joined her in Yuma, and eventually a cousin who invited them to Oregon.  The story of Lorenzo and Olive was published in a book.  This lead to their being invited to tour the East telling their story.  During this visit Olive met a man, John Fairchild, and they married and settled in Texas.  They were childless but did adopt a child.

From this book, I learned that Olive Oatman had to part in the founding of Oatman which bears her name.  It was named in her honor.  Olive always insisted the Native Americans never violated her chastity.  After her death, in 1903 however a man claimed to be her son by the son of the chief.  He called himself John Oatman.  

Launa's or Luana's Canyon or Slaughterhouse Canyon, Kingman

 I was reading a book "Weird Arizona" by Wesley Treat and came upon the story of "La Llorona" the weeping lady.  There are several versions of the story, of a lady who murders her children, in one case to gain a lover who then leaves her because of what she has done.   In the Kingman story, the mother has two children but is jealous of them because of her husband's attention to the children (the children are his as well).  She throws the children off a cliff.  Her husband he knows of her jealousy does not accept that it is an accident and leaves her.  She then follows her children hurling herself off the cliff.  She is said to roam the canyon, moaning, between midnight and 3 a.m.  People claim to have seen her, a woman with no face, or a woman with the head of a horse.  She is also said to be looking for bones as she was denied entrance by Saint Peter until she brings the bones of her children.  

The more common story is that a miner family lived in the canyon.  They were poor and food was hard to come by, and prospecting was not working.  The lived in a wooden shack in the heart of the canyon.  The husband would leave hoping to find food, or success prospecting and to come back with supplies.  He would be gone for weeks at a time.  However eventually he left and never returned.  The family slowly started to starve.  The children would cry for food, and their cries would echo across the canyon.  Eventually the mother could not take it any more and killed the children then hacked them up, and threw their remains in a river (wash more likely).  She became more distressed herself and stayed on the bank crying until she died of starvation.  Talk of a river makes you think that the murder happened in monsoon season, or August. 

Slaughterhouse Canyon Hike

Mineral Monument: Kingman

 The Miner's Mineral Monument was constructed by C Russell and is to commemorate all the miners of Mohave County from 1860s on.  It is located next to the train station at Fourth and Andy Devine.  The stones included in the monument include : quartz, travestine, agate, onyx, jasper, petrified wood and obsidian.  Inside there is a box to be opened after fifty years.

There are thousands of local mine, active and inactive.  This is a popular copper area but other minerals have been mined: silver, gold, copper, lead, zinc, turquoise, feldspar, tuff stone, aggregate (gravel/stone) among others.  

Farm and Household Implements: Bannock County Museum

 There was a significant display of old farm implements, wash board, spinning wheel at the Bannock County Museum.  

Old Pocatello Replica

At the Bannock County museum is a replica of historical Pocatello with schools, churches, stores and other important buildings. 

 

Fort Hall and Fort Hall Replica

The Fort Hall Replica is in Pocatello in upper Ross Park.  It is about thirty miles fro the location of the original Fort Hall.  In fact the town of Fort Hall which is on the Indian reservation is about 11 miles east of the original Fort Hall and trading post.  Fort Hall was first established in 1834 as a trading post for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company by Nathaniel Wyeth and named for an investor in his trading enterprise.  When the Oregon Trail became popular Fort Hall was the only fort along the trail after Fort Laramie.  The Army was assigned to protect the trail.  With the Civil War emigrant traffic lessened and the fort was abandoned.  It was washed out by flood waters from the Snake River in 1863.  Another Fort Hall was built and manned from 1870 to 1883.  This fort was further east.  After its use was discontinued for the army it was used as a school for Native Americans.  Later the buildings were moved to the Shoshone Bannock reservation.  Today, neither fort still stands.  

In the 1960s the replica fort was built in Pocatello.  It is used as part of the Bannock County Museum and is open in the summer.

Beale Memorial

 The Beale Memorial is on the opposite end from the locomotive at Locomotive Park.  The memorial has three different sides, each used to high light a different aspect of the Beale Trail.  One side commemorates Lt. Edward Beale who in 1857-58 led the expedition that established the trail from the Colorado River to California.  Another side commemorates the use of camels as part of this expedition.  Finally the third side high lights the establishment of Fort Beale Springs as a way station along the route and then later as a fort and then as a temporary reservation for the Hualapai people.  

Kingman Radar Hill

 Kingman took its place in the Cold War as an Air Force station was here on Radar Hill; a prominent hill in the middle of town.  The base opened in 1955 as part of the air defense program CONAD.  It was a radar manned by 17 officers and just under 100 airmen.  It lasted only three years as it closed in 1958 due to its proximity to other radar systems in Nevada and Arizona.  

When the radar was in place they offered tours to the local population.  However the spot is now used for cell towers and is not open to the public.  I remember touring a similar place in Othello as a youth.  It looked like a big golf ball with radar equipment inside.  

Native American Artifacts: Mohave Museum of History and Art

The Mohave Museum of History and Art offers a very good collection of Native American artifacts.  My pictures show only a small sample.  It also has displays talking of the history of the Native American populations in the area.   The displays show many different medium, including beaded moccasins, weaving, basket weaving and pottery.  The displays also represent several different Native American groups.  Most prominent is Hualapai but there are also Navajo and Hopi.  In the doll house collection is a representation of Pocahontas.

Grinding rock

Two depictions of Pocahontas

Navajo blanket

Native American Biography: Sacagawea

 Sacagawea, 16, Lemhi Shoshone, guided Lewis and Clark and their expedition, while pregnant, to the Pacific ocean.  She traveled with the group from North Dakota and made important cultural contacts with other Native American groups as they traveled west.  Sacagawea was born in the Salmon, Idaho area.  However at about age twelve she was captured by the Hidatsa in a raid, and thus came to be in North Dakota.  The Hidatsa sold her to Toussaint Charbonneau, a trapper from Quebec.  Lewis and Clark hired Charbonneau and Sacagawea to go with them on the expedition to help with translating.  They wintered with the expedition and Sacagawea had her baby, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau.  While traveling up the Mississippi Sacagawea rescued papers from the river that included the journal and records of  Lewis and Clark.

When they made contact with a Shoshone tribe, Sacagawea was employed to interpret.  She discovered that the chief was her own brother and reacquainted with many relatives.  The Shoshone bartered horses with the travelers for their overland route which then took them to the Columbia River Basin

Sacagawea continued her journey to the Pacific ocean.  She provided her beaded belt so it could be traded to procure a fur coat to be taken back to President Jefferson.  She was a le to see the carcass of a whale that had beached close to where they camped for the winter.

Sacagawea continued her duties on the return trip.  She provided useful information on a couple of occasions, leading them through Gibbons Pass and through the Bozeman Pass.  Her presence on the journey signaled to those they met of the peaceful intention of the group--a woman and child traveling with them.  

After the trek she and her husband and child remained with the Hidatsa for a few years.  They then, at the invitation of William Clark they relocated to the St. Louis area.  Jean Baptiste was adopted by William Clark.  Sacagawea had a daughter.  However (here the stories vary) she may have passed away at this time, 1812 at the age of 25.  Another story has her returning west and marrying a man of the Comanche and later making it back to her Shoshone people.  She was now known as Porivo.  This woman had more children.  This story has her passing away in 1884 and being buried on the Wind River reservation.  

Sacagawea has been honored with both a postage stamp and also a gold dollar.

Historical Buildings in Kingman

(Information taken from Kingman Arizona Historic District)

The Armour and Jacobson Building was built in 1921 as store fronts on the lower level and office buildings above.  E.E. Armour was a baker.  Robert Jacobson was a mining engineer.

426-430 East Beale

Next door to the Armour and Jacobson Building is the Gruninger Building.  The Gruninger Building was constructed in 1921 as an investment property by Gruninger and Sons.  They had their offices upstairs while downstairs was available to retail.  

424 East Beale

This building has four murals on the side.  They honor the Hualapai Tribe, Kingman, Arizona and Mohave county

Masonic Temple was built in 1939.  It was a WPA project.  

212 North Fourth

The Van Marter Building sits opposite the street of the Armour and Jacobson Building.  It was built in 1921 for the Van Marter enterprises which included mortician, grave stones, music, shoe shop and office space.  Today it houses an antique shop.

 423-27 East Beale

Central Commercial Company Building was completed in 1917 and became the commercial center of Kingman as he company had furniture, lumber, hardware, auto parts, groceries, clothes, farming and ranch supplies and more.  It remained vibrant until the I-40 bypass.  The building now houses several businesses including a church.  

Corner Andy Devine and Fourth

The J.C. Penney building was not built until the 1950s.  With the I-40 bypass completed in 1978, J.C. Penney moved to Stockton Hill Road in a strip mall.  The building is now occupied by Beale Street Celebrations.

Corner Beal and Fourth

State Theater was constructed in 1939 as a movie theater.  It was hurt with the I-40 bypassing the area, but still survived.  Another theater built in town in 1983 and the theater closed soon after.  It is now being restored as a live theater by the Kingman Arts Council.  

Theater 304 Beale

Mural on back of theater

Old Red School House is on Fourth Street and now houses a court.  It was the first permanent school in Kingman erected 1895-96.

The original Kingman post office is across the street from the Red School.  It is used for city government.

The American Legion, located on Oaks, is in a building that was originally a movie theater for the Kingman Army Air Field.  The building was relocated to where it is currently.