Desert Foothills Scenic Drive Memory Park, Part III

A Description of Proposed People and Places Exhibits

Courtesy of Friends of the Scenic Drive

Much of our area’s past is being lost as a result of rapid growth and development. To preserve our heritage, Friends of the Scenic Drive and the Greater Pinnacle Peak Association, which publishes A Peek at the Peak (The Peak), are developing a Desert Foothills Scenic Drive Memory Park for the benefit of tourists and residents. In the May/June and July/August issues of The Peak, we provided information about the park’s Introductory and Time and Events exhibits. The article in this issue provides information about the park’s People and Places exhibits.

Recap

The park will be created on the site of the current Scenic Drive exhibits and monument sign, which is located on the east side of Scottsdale Road, just south of Jomax Road in north Scottsdale. Since 1994, Friends has led the effort to enhance the site, creating exhibits about the Scenic Drive and Sonoran flora and fauna and modernizing the original large concrete monument sign. The park site (less than one-half acre in size) is on a section (640 acres) of state trust land that is included in Scottsdale’s Planned McDowell Sonoran Preserve.

The proposed park will provide educational information about the history of the Desert Foothills and Pinnacle Peak areas and historical context for the Desert Foothills Scenic Drive section of modern-day Scottsdale Road, which will be enhanced using voter approved Bond 2000 funds. It is hoped that this effort will encourage residents in other parts of Scottsdale to create similar parks that describe the history of their parts of the city. It is also our hope that the creation of this park will bolster efforts to preserve the adjacent land.

Introductory Exhibit

The back of the existing Scenic Drive monument sign will be updated with information that introduces visitors to the Desert Foothills and the park’s exhibits. The additional information will introduce the new exhibits and integrate them with the existing exhibits. The back of the sign will feature the title, “Desert Foothills Memory Park.” Three large plaques will have a simple map denoting the Desert Foothills area, a general description of the landscape, and a brief historical overview. The map will show how the Scenic Drive relates to the Desert Foothills area. In addition, there will be the following quote, “It’s our hope that the Scenic Drive inspires “other communities to TAKE ACTION IN THE PRESERVATION OF natural beauties in their areas …” Vince Thelander, May 1966

Memory Exhibits

The new “memory” exhibits that Friends is developing will take the form of plaques mounted on large stone and metal monuments. These exhibits will provide information about three topical areas: 1) Desert Foothills Time and Events, 2) Desert Foothills People and Places, and 3) Desert Foothills Preservation.

In the November issue, we will provide more details about the Preservation exhibit, which will provide information about organizations, ordinances, parks, and preserves related to desert preservation efforts in the Desert Foothills.

Remembering Desert Foothills People and Places

Scenic Drive Memory Park Exhibit 

By Les Conklin 

This exhibit, which will be part of the Desert Foothills Scenic Drive Memory Park, will identify and describe people and places that played a role in the history of the Desert Foothills. Plaques with old photographs and text will provide information about 40 subjects ranging from “Big Brownie” to “Dick Van Dyke,” some of which are included in this abbreviated article. For the complete article and list of subjects, visit the Friends of the Scenic Drive Web site. .

Big Brownie: E.O. Brown, a Scottsdale merchant, established a ranch in 1916 that grew to 44,000 acres. His son, E.E. Brown (Big Brownie), ran a herd of 4,000 cattle in the Pinnacle Peak area of the McDowell Mountains. He was famous for charging into the Pink Pony bar and restaurant in Scottsdale and causing a rousing celebration when a drought-breaking rain fell.
Black Mountain: The center of the Desert Foothills, this landform is not an extinct volcano as many believe. It’s a block-faulted peak, formed by two exposed rock formations: reddish tan granite boulders on the east end and dark basalt formations on the west. It was probably considered sacred by the Hohokam people. There’s a 250-acre preserve at the top.
The Boulders: A famous landform that is composed of yellow granite has been said to resemble “fossilized dinosaur droppings.” It is located at the north end of the Scenic Drive, just east of Black Mountain.
Carefree: The establishment of this planned community, one of the first in Arizona, brought new access roads and residents to the Desert Foothills. It was designed to be a place where creative people could live and work in harmony with the natural environment. Plots were shaped based on the natural formation of the land with meandering streets.
Cartwright Family Ranch: The Desert Foothills’ largest ranch was established in 1887 on the northern reaches of Cave Creek near Seven Springs. Over the years, it grew to 65,000 acres. For nearly 100 years, until the ranch was sold in 1980, cattle bearing the CC brand were rounded up twice a year, becoming part of cattle drives over desert trails to Phoenix and, after 1919, to Scottsdale.
Cave Creek Road: Created in 1873, businessman William Hellings used fifty men and several teams of horses to clear the desert and connect Phoenix to the Military Road on the east side of Cave Creek. By 1927, the rough road had been extended eastward to Camp Creek and then Seven Springs. The road, portions of which have been moved over the years, saw heavy use during the gold rush. It was paved all the way to Phoenix in 1952, easing access to the Desert Foothills.
Cave Creek Station: Located near springs that had served as a resting place for travelers, it was opened in 1877 by Jeriah Wood, a cattle rancher from Missouri. He kept a few cows, sold dairy products and beef to the mining camps, and supplied meals and firewood to travelers. The military road to Fort McDowell was close by, carrying soldiers, freight wagons, and travelers. The area’s first school was opened there in 1886.
Cave Creek Stream: The stream begins in the hills in the northeast and flows southwesterly until it reaches the flat expanse of Paradise Valley. It is named after a small cave two miles north of the present-day town of Cave Creek. In 1873, a skirmish between Army troops and Apaches took place there.
Continental Mountain: Located a few miles from the southern border of the Tonto National Forest, its elevation of 4521 feet makes it the highest point in the Desert Foothills. Hundreds of gold seekers came here, and it was the site of several mines, including the Golden Star Mining Company (formed in 1878). The area’s first voting district was located here, and it was the site of Fleming Springs, first a mining operation and then a sheep ranch.
Corki Cockburn, Vince Thelander, Les Rhuart, Fred Griffin: These Desert Foothills residents led the effort to establish the Desert Foothills Scenic Drive. The Scenic Drive was Cockburn’s idea. Thelander worked with the county to get approval. Rhuart was a key figure in the early growth of Carefree and an avid supporter. Fred Griffin headed projects to create the drive entry and plant identification signs.
Curry’s Corners: Established in the 1950, adventurous tourists and residents could visit this curio stand located in the remote desert (northeast corner of Scottsdale and Pinnacle Peak Roads). It featured Indian jewelry and pottery, cowboy paraphernalia, a collection of teapots and other wonders. K.T. Palmer’s failed attempt to find water at this location resulted in Carefree being developed farther to the north.
Tom Darlington and K.T. Palmer: They first spoke casually of their shared dream of planning a town from scratch about 1946. It was not until 1955 that they began acquiring land for the place they named Carefree. Before becoming real estate partners, both men had successful business careers and shared a love for the Pinnacle Peak and Desert Foothills areas. Both were active in the Scottsdale community, Darlington as president of the Paradise Valley Improvement Association, and Palmer as president of the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce.
Desert Forest Golf Course: Opened in 1962 to attract affluent homebuyers to Carefree, it was hailed for its innovative golf course design that combined linkscape and the hardscrabble natural desert. Named one of the top 100 courses in the country, it transformed golf in the Southwest. An original member, who lived in distant Scottsdale, recalled driving home at night along newly paved Scottsdale Road and having to avoid cattle resting in the cooler dips in the narrow, isolated road.
Carefree Studio: Fred Graham, who played black-hatted bad guys in John Wayne movies, built the original studio (Southwestern Studio) prior to 1971. Cave Creek resident and comedic actor Dick Van Dyke insisted on using the studio for his new show, and the studio was enhanced to include a 24-track recording studio, three 10,000-square-foot sound stages, and an outdoor western town. The Summit shopping center now occupies the site.
George “Doc” Cavalliere: He was member of one of the first families to settle in Scottsdale, before the town’s incorporation. They established, own, and run Scottsdale’s oldest continuous business, Cavalliere Blacksmith Shop, established in 1909. Doc Cavalliere established Reata Pass Steakhouse and the family’s sister cowboy bar next door, Greasewood Flat.
Dude Ranches: In 1928, Spur Cross Ranch was built so city dwellers could take expensive vacations riding the range with real cowboys. It was founded by two ex-convicts who did time in the state penitentiary. Guests were met at the train station in Phoenix and driven to the ranch on bumpy, unpaved Cave Creek Road. In 1929, Sierra Vista opened offering trail rides, cookouts, swimming parties, and hikes. Rancho Manana, opened in 1943, and was the most successful.
John W. Hampton: Hampton lived in Prescott, Cave Creek, Scottsdale, and Phoenix.  He and other artists founded The Cowboy Artists of America (CAA), a prestigious group that paints and sculpts mountain men, the Plains Indians, settlers, and other Western subjects. Being selected to be member of CAA is the “high water mark” to which many up-and-coming Western artists aspire.
Harold’s: Opened as a ramshackle Corral Bar in Cave Creek in 1936 during the construction of the Bartlett Dam, it later featured Saturday night dances and after-hours parties. A popular summer contest was to see who could sit on a 200-pound block of ice the longest. When the county told Harold he needed separate bathrooms for men and women, he installed an extra door to the same latrine. Harold started the first Cave Creek 4th of July parade with his stagecoach, surrey, and Model T. His were the only three vehicles in the parade, so he went up and down the street four times.
Ironwood Golf Course: In the 1950s, a retired executive created a 9-hole, par-three desert golf course near Jomax and Scottsdale Roads as a hobby. The course, the first in the Desert Foothills, had no turf, used fine sand in place of greens, and poured silicon oil over the sand to hold it in place. A tool, known as a drag, was used to keep the fairways cleared of desert growth. Herb Drinkwater (Scottsdale’s longest reigning mayor) and the Scottsdale JCs held rip-roaring golf parties at this course.
MacDonald’s Ranch: When established in the early 1950s as a working cattle and horse ranch, it consisted of over 30,000 acres of leased land, covering much of what is now north Scottsdale. On Easter Sunday 1972, the ranch was first opened as Old MacDonald’s Farm, serving city children who could come to ride a horse and milk a cow. Later, it became a public horseback riding stable.
Lon Megargee: One of Arizona’s first resident artists, and by 1910 probably the best-known artist in Arizona, he was retained by Arizona’s first governor to paint 15 murals for the state capitol. His best known works are The Cowboy’s Dream (1948), done for Arizona’s Brewing Company A-1 Beer ad, and the Last Drop from His Stetson, still used by the Stetson Hat Company and reproduced inside their felt hats.
Military Trail: In 1870, soldiers widened an ancient Indian trail into a crude rocky road to create the first road across the Desert Foothills. Also called Fort McDowell Road, it connected Fort McDowell to Fort Whipple (Prescott). It led norwesterly from Fort McDowell, passed north of Pinnacle Peak and east of the Boulders, climbed the northern flank of Black Mountain, and ran west to Cave Creek.
Mormon Girl Mine: In 1888, Samuel Taylor began working the mine, located on the western flank of Black Mountain. He was later joined by his father and brothers. After working the mine for 11 years, and following their father’s death, the brothers decided to take their hoard of small gold buttons out of its hiding place in the mine, but it had been stolen. They sold the mine and moved away. The mine was operated off and on by various owners and produced gold, silver, and copper into the 1950s.
Jerry and Florence Nelson: The couple struck it wet on a 160-acre parcel that they bought in the remote Pinnacle Peak area, near the current location of Pinnacle Peak and Pima Roads. The couple hit water at 560 feet, 110 feet deeper than originally estimated. The discovery of water led to the development of the Pinnacle Peak area.
Don Pablo: He operated a curio shop located at Curry’s Corners, living in a one-room shack with a dirt floor and surrounded by pots, pans, Indian rugs, and other merchandise. He came to the area because of emphysema, dressed as a mountain man, had the gift of gab, and loved to entertain customers and local school kids with tales of the Old West.

Pinnacle Peak: Located at the northern end of the McDowell Mountains, it rises out of the Sonoran Desert floor to an elevation of 3,170 feet. Pinnacle Peak was formed one million years ago as the result of tectonic plate movement and is composed of granite, feldspar, mica, and quartz.
Pinnacle Peak Patio: Opened in 1957 as a general store and rest stop for travelers heading to Bartlett and Horseshoe Lakes, the owner began serving weekend dinners, and it grew into a western steakhouse with seating for 1800 people by 2000. Its renowned “NO NECKTIE POLICY” began when a guest wore a tie to dinner. Wanting to keep the atmosphere casual, the owner warned, “Either you take that tie off, or I’ll cut it off.” The guest ignored the warning and the owner pulled out a butcher knife and cut off the tie.
Old Rackensack: Edward G. Cave prospected in the Cave Creek Hills on and off for more than 30 years. He discovered and worked the Rackensack Mine in the Cave Creek District.
Rancho Vista Bonita Guest Ranch: Opened in 1950 on the southwest corner of today’s Pima and Pinnacle Peak Roads, the ranch provided guest cabins from which winter visitors could enjoy spectacular views of Pinnacle Peak. Jerry Nelson’s construction workers also used the cabins while building adjacent neighborhoods. Pinnacle Peak Village and the General Store, also built by Nelson, now occupy the site of the guest ranch.
Rawhide: Originally opened in 1972, by the 1990s it was billed as the second most popular tourist spot in Arizona after the Grand Canyon. Located on the southeast corner of Scottsdale and Pinnacle Peak Roads, it featured an authentic Old West street, saloon, rodeo ring, and fake gunfights.
Reata Pass Steakhouse, Greasewood Flat: Once the location of an 1880s stagecoach stop on the trail from Phoenix to Fort McDowell, Reata Pass became the site of a general store in the 1950s and then a western restaurant with adjacent cookout areas and patios popular with residents and tourists.
Scottsdale and Phoenix: The farming communities of Phoenix and Scottsdale were established in 1867 and 1893, respectively. In 1963, the Desert Foothills Scenic Drive was created in a vast, mostly vacant expanse of saguaro-studded desert, far from the bustling communities of Scottsdale and Phoenix; the northern border of Scottsdale was almost nine miles away. Today, the land you are standing on is in Scottsdale, and the land on the opposite side of Scottsdale Road is in Phoenix.
Scottsdale and Pima Roads: North of Pinnacle Peak Road, both were little more than dirt tracks through an expanse of vacant desert prior to 1960. When Carefree was developed, Scottsdale Road was created and paved as a two-lane road. In the mid 1980s, northern Pima Road was improved and extended to Cave Creek Road. Numerous master planned communities, subdivisions, and custom homes have since been constructed near or adjacent to these roads.
Tonto National Forest: Its southern boundary, just north of the summit of Continental Mountain, marks the northern boundary of the Desert Foothills. Embracing almost 3 million acres of unsettled wilderness, the land continues to rise in increasingly hilly, rugged terrain. It’s the fifth largest forest in the United States. The construction of Bartlett and Horseshoe Dams in the late 1930s and early 40s brought workers and boom times to Cave Creek.
Tuberculosis Cabins: In the 1920s and 1930s, people suffering from respiratory illnesses came to the Desert Foothills for the healing effects of warm sunshine and dry air. TB cabins, sometimes offering the last hope for tuberculosis patients, dotted the foothills. A TB camp with 16 cabins was established in Cave Creek.
Dick Van Dyke: The Dick Van Dyke Show, which aired from 1961 to 1966, won a total of seven Emmy Awards.  CBS subsequently built The Carefree Studio to entice Dick Van Dyke to return for The New Dick Van Dyke Show, which lasted three seasons, from 1971 to 1974, until network executives refused to air one episode because of its sexual orientation. Carl Reiner, the producer, walked out on the series and Van Dyke decided not to renew his contract.

  Your Support Appreciated

Have a suggestion to improve the exhibits? Please contact us. We will be gathering old photographs and completing plans for the park during the summer. Volunteers are welcome.

Sources: “Discovering the Desert Foothills Scenic Drive” by Les Conklin, Scottsdale Magazine, 1996, Cave Creek and Carefree, Arizona, A History of the Desert Foothills by Frances C. Calson, Encanto Press, 1989, 1996, Historic Scottsdale, A Life from the Land by Joan Fudala, McDowell Sonoran Land Trust, 2001, Carefree, Cave Creek Foothills, Life in the Sonoran Sun, Foothills Community Foundation, 1990, 1993, Arizona, A Cavalcade of History, Marshall Trimble, Rancho Nuevo Publishers, 1989, 2003, “Pinnacle Peak and Desert Foothills Timeline” by Don Hadder, A Peek at the Peak magazine, November 2003.

  For Additional Information

Telephone: (480) 361-6498 (Les Conklin at The Peak)

E-mail: lesconklin@gppaaz.org

Web: www.scenicdrive.org (Click on Memory Park)