THE LUCKIEST WOMAN IN AMERICA: That title has to go to a woman born a slave in a Mississippi plantation on August 15, 1818, and freed “forever” by a...
The Luckiest Woman in America
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Jana Bommersbach
Love The Hair, Sweetie
Just like clothes, hairstyles have their day. Just look at any old picture—even one of yourself—and laugh at how your hair has changed over your...
Colorful Phrases of the West
Americans have lots of colorful phrases and sayings to specify a point—but often, although we know the point, we don't know beans about the origins...
An Exercise in Monotony
An Exercise in Monotony. That's how food in Arizona Territory military camps is described in the “Arizona Territorial Cookbook, 1864-1912” by Daphne...
Lessons From The Stagecoach
One of the iconic symbols of the old west is the stagecoach, and here's betting there has never been a western movie without one making an...
Plump, Plumper, Plumpest
The headline brings an immediate chuckle: “How to be Plump.” Say what? Yes, in Victorian times, this 1988 book declares, there was a very different...
Mexican Food: An Arizona Favorite
“The cultural influences of Spaniards and Mexicans were indelibly printed on Arizona long before territorial times,” notes Daphne Overstreet in her...
The Nation Marched Forward During March
Lots of locales in the United States have good reason to celebrate or commemorate the month of March. It was March 2 of 1836 when Texas declared its...
The Dead Man In The Picture
One of the most iconic paintings of the old west is "The Last Spike", created in 1881 by Thomas Hill to commemorate the completion of the...
The Tombstone Collector
Jim Melikian was window shopping. Normally, the 61-year-old Arizona businessman scoured auction catalogs for items he’s been collecting since he...
Riders of the Purple Sage
Thank the Grand Canyon. Long before it was a national park—before it was even a game preserve, thanks to President Teddy Roosevelt—this steep-sided...
A Stone Sentinel Stands Tall Again
Seven feet tall. Ten inches square. Eight hundred pounds. Once, 720 of them. Every half-mile from Minnesota to Montana. Standing since 1891 or...