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a very good chapter about the Baron of Arizona, James Addison Reavis, who lived the millionaire lifestyle by forging historical documents which claimed he owned much of Arizona.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.