Friends of SaddleBrooke Libraries – May 2014

Fascinating Florence, AZ not just a prison town

Why would anyone build a new town in the desert? To many people the desert is barren and not an appealing place to call home. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century early settlers to Florence knew how to survive in the desert and passed that knowledge on for future generations. Although tales of shootouts and stage robberies echo off the historic adobe walls, many people find Florence the essence of a small town that is rapidly disappearing in Arizona.

Florence boomed in the 1870s as wagonloads of ore from the Silver King Mine passed through town. Single men swarmed to Florence to work the mines and spend their money and cowboys from local ranches celebrated payday. They could quench their thirst, gamble and enjoy female companionship in one of the twenty eight local establishments. While miners and cowboys whooped it up, the more sedate citizens tried to bring civility, culture and religion to Florence. There were always dances at the courthouse or musicales at Mrs. Clarke’s house. Town folk worshipped at the chapel of the Gila or gathered for Protestant services at the adobe courthouse. In 1891 the town constructed an early fired red brick American Victorian courthouse to meet expanding needs. This courthouse appears on the town seal and is a visible landmark as one enters the town from all directions.

As the Coolidge Dam was completed in 1930, farming became a major industry with the access to irrigation. Ranching and feedlots gave birth to a vibrant rodeo culture. The Junior Parada is a major national rodeo that continues to this day. Florence has launched the careers of many well-known rodeo stars and deserves the name of the Cowboy Cradle of the Great Southwest.

Learn more about the mysteries of Florence from H. Christine Reid on Wednesday, May 21 at the MountainView Ballroom from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. Christine Reid will revisit the early settlers’ skills and discuss how they built their homes and structured their town. Christine Reid is intrigued by Arizona’s diverse and rich western heritage. She has researched and reported on Arizona history as a writer and researcher at the Pinal County Historical Society and as a Community Scholar for the ASU Osher Lifelong Leaning Institute. She enhances that deep interest while serving on many of Florence’s heritage projects and agencies. Committed to sharing history in a lively manner, she presents the sometimes hidden or forgotten aspects of Arizona’s character and history.

Sponsored by The Arizona Humanities Council, admission is free to this Friends of SaddleBrooke Libraries lecture.

Please visit Friends of the Libraries website www.FriendsSBLib.org for upcoming events, current information and unanticipated event changes. 

Walking tour of Florence

We will start our late afternoon tour with Supervisor Anthony Smith as our guide. He will guide us through the Historic Pinal County Courthouse. Built in 1891, it is the oldest public building in daily use in Arizona and currently houses numerous offices and the historic courtroom on the second floor. We will then be joined by local historian Christine Reid for a walking tour of the historic district of Florence. There are over 140 historic buildings, many constructed of adobe bricks that represent the growth of Florence from the nineteenth to middle of the twentieth century. There is a $5 fee per person for non FSL members.

In the 1870s Florence was a silver mining boomtown and a true Wild West town with stage coach robberies, shoot outs, the state prison and even a well known rodeo. We will wander through the town visiting various historic sites and finish the day with dinner at a local restaurant where a discount will be given to all Friends of SaddleBrooke Libraries on the tour.

Meet us at the MountainView parking lot at 2:30 p.m. and we will carpool to Florence, Arizona, to enjoy an afternoon of history. For more information on carpooling and the walking tour please contact Laura Benson at [email protected].

Guided bus tour of Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks

The Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks are the destination for a seven day, six night guided bus tour sponsored by the Friends of SaddleBrooke Libraries. The tour will depart from SaddleBrooke on Tuesday, September 2 and return on Monday, September 8, 2014.

The first two nights will be spent on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona. A full day will be dedicated to learning about the geology, ecology and history of the Grand Canyon with an expert guide from the Grand Canyon Field Institute. The tour will visit several of the spectacular view points on the North Rim where there will be ample time to take pictures and enjoy the view.

Accommodations at the North Rim are in Frontier Cabins and dinner will be in the Grand Canyon Lodge dining room with its panoramic view of the canyon.

On the third day the tour will travel to Zion National Park with a stop at Pipe Springs National Monument, a historic Mormon fort guarding a scarce water source in the Arizona Strip.

The beauty of Zion Canyon with its towering rock walls will be the focus of the fourth day. There will be a narrated tour into the canyon in the morning. The afternoon will be open for participants to explore and hike on their own. Accommodations are in the historic Zion Lodge with meals in the Red Rock Grill Dining Room.

The drive from Zion to Bryce Canyon National Park is short so there will be plenty of time to admire the hoodoos and take a hike below the rim after a guided tour. The hotel is the Lodge at Bryce Canyon with meals in the lodge dining room.

The drive from Bryce to Flagstaff is one of the most beautiful on the Colorado Plateau. The tour will stop in Page for lunch. A special guided hike into colorful Antelope Canyon is the highlight of the day. Little America is the hotel for the sixth night with dinner in the hotel’s Western Gold Restaurant.

The tour will conclude on the seventh day with a visit to the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. The museum is renowned for its collection of Native American artifacts and the tour will be led by a knowledgeable docent.

The 54 passenger tour bus is modern, very comfortable and equipped with a restroom and seat belts. Snacks and drinks will be provided along the way. Your tour guides are James and Barbara Cowlin who will provide an informative narration over the course of the tour. James Cowlin is a freelance photographer based in Oracle, Arizona, specializing in nature, travel and fine art. For over thirty years he has been documenting the landscape of the western United States. Barbara Kemp Cowlin is an artist whose art depicts intimate views of the landscape through a series of water reflection paintings.

The price of the tour is $1,499/person which includes all hotels, dinners and tours. Breakfast and lunch are not included in the tour package price. There is an initial deposit at time of booking and a three part payment option if desired. All accommodations are double occupancy.

To reserve a place on the Friends of SaddleBrooke Libraries Grand Canyon-Zion-Bryce tour, contact Barry Swartzberg at [email protected].

Anne Hillerman to speak December 5, 2014

Mary Kopp

The Friends of SaddleBrooke Libraries (FSL) is delighted to bring Anne Hillerman, daughter of Tony Hillerman, to you as our featured author on Friday, December 5, 2014. Her latest book Spider Woman’s Daughter continues in the tradition of Tony Hillerman’s Navajo mysteries with the characters her father created. This novel was number 10 on the New York Times best seller list and has won multiple awards. In addition, Ms. Hillerman has written seven nonfiction books including Tony Hillerman’s Landscape and the recipe book and restaurant guide Santa Fe Flavors, all in collaboration with photographer Don Strel, her husband.

The eldest of best-selling mystery author Tony Hillerman’s six children, Anne Hillerman grew up in Santa Fe and Albuquerque surrounded by stories and the beautiful landscapes. Her newest book Spider Woman’s Daughter is a novel in the tradition of Tony Hillerman’s Navajo mysteries and features Joe Leaphorn, Jim Chee and as the star, Bernadette Manuelito. It debuted at number 10 on the New York Times best-seller list.

Like her father she began her career in journalism, working briefly in radio and television news and then as a reporter, features writer and editorial page editor for newspapers and magazines. She continues her interest in journalism with a tasty assignment: restaurant critic for the Albuquerque Journal and Journal North.

Anne is a founding director of the Santa Fe based WORDHARVEST Writers Workshops and the Tony Hillerman Writers Conference. She helped create the Tony Hillerman Prize for best first mystery novel set in the Southwest awarded annually by St. Martin’s Press.

Before turning to fiction she wrote seven nonfiction books including Tony Hillerman’s Landscape: On the Road with Chee and Leaphorn (HarperCollins) and Gardens of Santa Fe and the recipe book and restaurant guide Santa Fe Flavors (both Gibbs Smith Publisher) all in collaboration with photographer Don Strel, her husband. Anne has received numerous honors for her work including the Independent Booksellers’ Mountains and Plains Book Award, two New Mexico Book Awards and two Santa Fe Reporter’s Best of Santa Fe Awards. She was a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award. The New Mexico Chapter of Women in the Arts has recognized Hillerman as an Outstanding Woman Author. In 2012 she was honored as One of New Mexico’s Remarkable Women, an award presented by SOMOS, a long established literary group based in Taos, New Mexico. In 2013 she received the Art Icon Award.

Beginning in 2012, Anne and Don have worked as study guides for Road Scholar sharing stories and information with guests on the Tony Hillerman’s Landscape Tour, a program based on their book. She and Strel live and work in Santa Fe. When she’s not working her idea of a well spent day is skiing fresh powder with friends followed by a classic western sunset, a fine meal and a good book.

Tickets are $28 per person and are on sale at the MountainView Administrative Building next to the MountainView Clubhouse. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. with southwest lunch served at 12:00 noon.

Please visit Friends of the Libraries website www.FriendsSBLib.org for upcoming events, current information and unanticipated event changes.