A Portal to Paradise

by Hayes, Alden C.

• ISBN13: 9780816521449
• ISBN10: 0816521441
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-07-01
• Publisher: Univ of Arizona Pr

Summary

Arizona's rugged Chiricahua Mountainshave a special place in frontier history. They were the haven of many well-known personalities, from Cochise to Johnny Ringo, as well as the home of prospectors, cattlemen, and hardscrabble farmers eking out a tough living in an unforgiving landscape. In this delightful and well-researched book, Alden Hayes shares his love for the area, gained over fifty years. From his vantage point near the tiny twin communities of Portal and Paradise on the eastern slopes of the Chiricahuas, Hayes brings the famous and the not-so-famous together in a profile of this striking landscape, showing how place can be a powerful formative influence on people's lives. When Hayes first arrived in 1941 to manage his new father-in-law's apple orchard, he met folks who had been born in Arizona before it became a state. Even if most had never personally worried about Indian attacks, they had known people who had. Over the years, Hayes heard the handed-down stories about the area's early days of Anglo settlement. He also researched census records, newspaper archives, and the files of the Arizona Historical Society to uncover the area's natural history, prehistory, Spanish and Mexican regimes, and particularly its Anglo history from the mid nineteenth century to the beginning of World War II. His book is a rich account of the region and more, a celebration of rural life, brimming with tales of people whose stories were shaped by the landscape. Today the Chiricahuas are a magnet for outdoor enthusiasts and the site of the American Museum of Natural History's Southwestern Research Station--and still a rugged area that remains off the beaten track. Hayes brings his straightforward and articulate style to this captivating account of earlier days in southeastern Arizona and opens up a portal to paradise for readers everywhere.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	ix
List of Maps	xi
Preface	xiii
The Setting	xxi
The Indian Pioneers	3	(14)
Spanish Exploration	17	(15)
The First Gringos	32	(17)
Arizona Territory	49	(18)
Cochise	67	(27)
Galeyville	94	(23)
Cowboys and Indians	117	(25)
Geronimo's Time	142	(28)
The End of the Frontier	170	(31)
Paradise	201	(32)
Portal	233	(38)
The Nesters	271	(40)
More Modern Times	311	(24)
Bibliographic Essay	335	(22)
Illustration Credits	357