Book Review: Arizona Legends and Lore

 Arizona Legends and Lore: Tales of Southwestern Pioneers by Dorothy Daniels Anderson, Golden West Publishers, Phoenix, AZ 1991.

Again I found this book at the Kingman Library.  It includes very many interesting stories, including a retelling of the Sarah Oatman story and the telling of the camel caravan across Arizona.  The part a liked most about this book is the telling of the history of gold in the superstition Mountains, including the Peralta and Lost Dutchman Mines.  The area is sacred to the Native Americans and they have long warned that it is an area to be left alone.  In the case of the Peralta Mine, the Apache attacked the minors as they were hauling fold from the site.  Consequently saddle bags filled with gold were found for some time as the burros hauling the gold were killed.  The Lost Dutchman, Jacob Walz, was actually German.  He was able to bring a significant amount of gold from the mine, and when he passed away there was gold under his bed.  However no one was able to find the mine after this.  

Yavapai Gold mine is another lost mine.  She also told the story of the Vulture Mine outside of Wickenburg.  

A very intriguing story is that of Slim Woman and the Navajo.  Louisa Wade Wetherill and her husband John ran a trading post in Kayenta.  She was accepted into the Navajo as she learned their language and understood their traditions.  She and her husband rediscovered Rainbow Bridge which is just over the border in Utah.  The Navajo legend story is incredible.  A young brave was trapped by raging water which continued to rise higher and higher.  He prayed and prayed for a rainbow to walk away on, and finally there was such a bridge.  He was able to escape over the torrent.  

Other interesting stories include and early Los Angeles to Phoenix desert car race, capturing a couple train robbers using an automobile and a ghost story where a woman and cat both continue to haunt a hotel in Prescott.

Book Review: Arizona Myths and Legends

 Arizona Myths and Legends: The True Stories Behind History's Mysteries, second edition, by Sam Lowe, A Two Dot Book, Phoenix, AZ, 2016.

I picked this book up at the Kingman Library.  This book has many excellent stories.  It tells the story of Ira Hayes, the Native American WWII hero.  It has left in me a desire to visit the Ira Hayes memorial south of Phoenix.  It has a very good chapter about the Baron of Arizona, James Addison Reavis, who lived the millionaire lifestyle by forging historical documents which claimed he owned much of Arizona. It also explained how his stack of cards eventually came crashing down.  It had a section on the town of Wilcox with five or six stories, including that of singing cowboy Rex Allen.  There was the story of a Spanish War hero who died in Cuba.  He served as a captain and died why out in front of his men.  An interesting chapter is about the deaths in the Grand Canyon.  Most of the deaths in the grand canyon have been due to aircraft accidents, planes and helicopters.  The largest death toll was from a collision of two jet liners above the canyon.  Murders, suicides and drownings also contributed significantly to the death toll.  There are two incidents which remain mysterious as the bodies have never been found.  Very early three members of the John Wesley Powell expedition left the company and decided to walk out of the canyon, thinking the journey was too dangerous.  They were never seen or heard of again.  Powell and the party finished their journey successfully.  The area was later called Separation Rapids and has since been covered by the eastern point of Lake Mead. The second mysterious death was that of a honeymooning couple who were floating the river without life jackets in the early 1928.  Glen and Bessie Hyde disappeared mysteriously.   Their raft was discovered, upright and with supplies still on board.  Bessie's journal was discovered with the last entry November 30.

This book does a good job of telling the stories it tells, but neglects the Kingman area of Arizona.  The Andy Divine story would have been more intriguing than the Rex Allen story.  There are also many more stories from Kingman that would have made more focus in the area a pleasant addition.