I-10 to I-8, the Offroad Way

Hovatter Road in the Eagletail Mountains

It's hot.  We were bored.  We haven't been out in over a month and needed to go play in the dirt.  It's been too long...

We're going to Las Vegas next weekend to visit the Nevada National Security Site, formerly the Nevada Test Site of the US Army, so we didn't want to go camping, therefore, a day trip it is!  We decided to go check out a few things we had on our Google Earth pins around I-8.  We didn't want to drive out and back, we wanted a "loop" trip, so out I-10 we went, and we did 70 miles across the desert to get to Dateland, AZ. 

At 8 a.m., we were off!   We drove out I-10 to Hovatter Road - a road I normally take north to head up into the Little Harquahala Mountains (mines and cemeteries galore).  Northbound, the road is Harquahala Road, but going south, it's the Hovatter Road.  Right off the bat, we were in a HUGE construction site - according to the interwebs, it is an Atlas station - they appear to be installing large quantities of solar collectors and possibly building some sort of sub-station for energy purposes.  We drove slowly and watched all the equipment - huge equipment - massive scrapers, loaders, rock trucks, water pulls and water trucks.  It took us a good 20 minutes to finally get out of the construction area (which was active on a Saturday - weird).  

Once we left the construction area, we drove into the Eagletail Mountains.  The Eagletail Mountains have several natural archs you can see from I-10 so I always recognize what mountains we are passing when I drive anywhere west.  There are several mines/prospect locations within as well, but it is too hot to be out hiking, so we did not check out any of the mines and drove south - where a date shake awaited Paul at Dateland.  It was a beautiful morning, and it was early so it wasn't scorching.  Yet.  

Traversing the Eagletail Mountain Wilderness

The Eagletail Mountains are within the Eagletail Mountains Wilderness - a 100,600 acre wilderness area that touches Maricopa County to the east, La Paz County in the northern part, and Yuma Count y to the southwest.  It is managed by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and became part of the National Wilderness Preservation System in 1964.  The area is known for it's offroad trails and hiking trails, and also for it's extreme solitude.  We did not see a another vehicle the entire time we were in the Wilderness area, all the way down to Hyder Road.  here are no regular water sources in the Wilderness Area, nor on this trail all the way do Hyder, so be sure to take water if you go!

After leaving the Eagletail Mountains area, we ended up passing through Cemetery Ridge, and into the Nottbusch Valley and down into the Clanton Hills/Clanton Well.  This is the area that on April 16, 2024 experienced a meteor fireball and 10 shergottite martian meteorites were recovered after - making this the first martian meteorite fall to occur in the United States in recent (written) history.  

Here we took a brief break for Bobbi to prepare the deviled eggs we had brought - we downed those and grabbed more water from our ARB fridge and we were off again...

Once we passed between the Clanton Hills and the Gila Bend Mountains, we were in Deadman Wash/Nottbusch Wash for about 1/4 of a mile.  It is deep, deep sand and we had to keep our speed up - we couldn't stop or we would get stuck (there is plenty of brush and trees to attach a winch to, but we didn't want to have to do that - the temperature was approaching triple digits by this time).  We finally popped up out of the washes and we were on the Palomas Plain - a huge flat area that is clearly used often by off road enthusiasts - trying to follow ONE trail was nearly impossible.  As we approached Turtleback Mountain and an unnamed hill to the west, we could see civilization of a sort on the other side.  

An abandoned building at one of the date palm fields

As we approached, I noticed they were palm trees - date palms!  We were on a date palm ranch - of which there are tons down there - it's what Dateland on the I-8 is famous for!  We snaked through all of the fields (which was sometimes a challenge) and came out on Hyder Road/Palomas Road by the Southern Pacific Railroad (now abandoned).  

And here begins the things we had pinned on Google Earth. 

To begin with, the Horn well and water tower for the Southern Pacific railroad - the water tower is still there, along with lots of concrete foundations.  

Camp  Horn water tower with foundations surrounding.  The Southern Pacific Railroad (abandoned) in the background.

Camp Horn was a sub camp of the US Army Desert Training Center out of Riverside, CA.  The troops would arrive from the train station at Camp Hyder or at Sentinel.  There were over 13,000 troops trained here from June 1943 to November of 1943.  The training was to prepare troops to do battle in North Afrida to fight the Nazis in WWII.  There were shower buildings, latrines, wooden tent frames, an outdoor theater, firing ranges, and a water treatment plant.  They used the nearby Agua Caliente natural hot springs pool from the Agua Caliente Ranch (see my previous blogs).  There is a monument to Camp Horn (also known as Fort Horn) that is dedicated to all of the soldiers who served there, and especially to those who gave their lives to end the Holocaust and defeat the Armed Forces of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan.  This monument was erected in 2002.

The Desert Training Center, including Camp Horn and Camp Hyder

The pyramid monument is there to remember the seven servicemen killed in a training accident.  It reads as follows:  

Here trained For Victory, Under Desert Skies, The 81st Infantry Division, The Wildcats 1943, In Memoriam: Privates Robert J Vilella, Paul M. West, Earl S. Smith, James J. DeCarlo, Lynn Ramsey, Clyde B. Slayton, Arden W. Bridges.

We then traveled down to Ave 64E where the old Horn Cotton Gin used to be.  There is nothing left here except the old utility building.  So we parked, and jumped out to take some pictures.  

Horn Cotton Gin Utility Building

While the building was interesting, the more interesting part was the "nerd" learning I got from Paul about electricity.  We parked under some high tension lines.  Paul jumped out, and started telling me to "listen, listen - do you hear that?"  I did hear that.  I heard someone cooking bacon.  Haha.

Paul explained that these were 345-500 Kv transmission lines that were buzzing because the immense voltage potential is breaking down the dielectric properties of the free air resulting in a continuous coronal discharge (also known as ionization of the air).  This was the technical term.  I called it bacon frying.  You can hear the sizzing in the video short.  

After leaving the Horn area, we headed South, looking forward to having a date shake.  We headed into Dateland, Paul got his date shake, and I had a small scoop of chocolate cherry ice cream.  It was divine!  

Old water tower at Aztec, AZ

We now headed out in search of a few Butterfield Stage Stations.  Our first was one I've seen referenced as Grinnell State Station.  Now I'm going to start with I've seen both of the stage stations we visited referred to as the same thing - Grinnell, Flap Jack, and Stanwix.  According to the National Park Service's website regarding the Third Division of the Butterfield Stage Stops, this first stop is likely not actually a stage stop.  From Oatman Flat Stage Station (no longer in existence), next up was Flapjack Ranch Stage Station (which we visited and you will see below), next was Griswell's Station - not Grinnell's - and not at the coordinates this was at.  There is no Stanwix Stage Station according to the website, but everyone mentions it as the westernmost battle/skirmish spot of the Civil War (there is a Stanwix former filling station we will reference below).  Picacho Peak, AZ also claims to be the site of the westernmost battle of the American Civil War.  But this location is actually further west than Picacho Peak.  The important difference in these is that the battle/skirmish at Stanwix did not result in fatalities.  The Battle of Picacho Peak resulted in the death of three Union solders.  

So I'm not sure what this foundation is actually of.  But several websites have listed it as Grinnell's Station.  So I'll call it that (knowing fully it was not a Butterfield Stage Stop).  It was an easy drive going up from the Stanwix exit, which contains nothing except the remains of an old filling station and the old Dateland Ranch House.  

The Lewis & Clark parked at the old Stanwix filling station

We think this was likely the old restrooms of the filling station...note the tile

This is a  photo I took in 2020 of the Dateland Rock House

The Dateland Rock House used to have a mark on a wall indicating it was built prior to 1902.  This home was supposedly owned by Nate Salsbury, friend of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody.  There also used to be a carving that said "Bill Cody 1902".  We do know that Buffalo Bill Cody did visit his friend Nate before his death and on his way to Oracle, AZ where he formed a mining company.  The carving that says "Bill Cody 1902" was stolen sometime over the past decade or so.  Another piece of history gone...

This is the Grinnell Station - which was NOT a Butterfield Stage Stop.  

Old foundation sometimes referred to as Grinnell's Station.  Obviously too new to be a Butterfield Stage Stop

As we tootled back to I-8 to go to the next stop, we discussed our disappointment of not finding anything "cabin" like.  This was also before we knew that this was not a true Stage Stop.  

Our next stop was the Flapjack Ranch Station, which we know for certain WAS a Butterfield Stage Stop.  This was a long drive up from I-8, past many private ranches, some of which looked incredibly dilapidated but obviously had people living there.  As we approached the area where the Flapjack State Station is, we had difficulty find it - and I knew from Google Earth there was some sort of structure there.  Then it popped out at us!

Flapjack Ranch Stage Station - look how the logs are notched to fit!

Flapjack Ranch Stage Station

Lots of websites are saying that the Flapjack Ranch Stage Station was built in 1850 and was originally called the Flap Jack Ranch, then Grinnell's Ranch/Station, and then Stanwix Ranch.  

This is the actual location of the American Civil War "Skirmish at Stanwix Station."  It took place on March 29, 1862 when Captain William Calloway and a group of 272 troops from the California Column (a group of Union volunteers sent to Arizona and New Mexico during the Civil War) discovered a small detachment of Confederate Arizona Volunteers lead by 2nd Lt. John W. Swilling (yes, the same Swilling that was credited with being one of the founders of the City of Phoenix, AZ).  The Confederate Volunteers were burning hay which had been placed here for the California Column animals.  After a brief exchange of gunfire, the Confederates, clearly outnumbered, retreated to Tucson.  The skirmish resulted in the wounding of a German-born Union private, William Frank Semmelrogge, but he recovered.  There were no other casualties.  The burning of hay at the stage stops along the way from California to Tucson stopped the advancement of the California Column' to Tucson, and allowed Swilling to warn Captain Sherod Hunter, who was the district military commander of the western Confederate Arizona, of the approaching California Column.  This then lead Capt. Hunter to place pickets at strategic locations, leading to the Battle of Picacho Pass.  

Paul and I were so happy to find some remnants - although I don't know how much longer they will be there.  I'm also not certain that some of this isn't buried, as many of these stage stations are along the Gila River and have been flooded repeatedly over time.  

As we drove back towards the I-8, we were exited about the next stop.  I've been to the Oatman Massacre Site and the Oatman Graves and the Fourr cemetery before, but Paul has not.  So off we went from I-8, back across the lava fields, and up to the Gila River.  

I first took Paul to the Oatman Massacre site, which sites above the Gila River basin below.  Of slightly less interest than the Oatman Family Massacre is that you can see wheel wagon ruts in the rocks heading down from the Massacre site into the Gila River Basin into what is now known as Oatman Flats.  

Marker for the Oatman Massacre site

Wagon Ruts in the rocks on the old Stage Route - the Southern Emigrant Trail

In February of 1851, Royce Oatman and his family were looking to find a new life in California.  They had left Tucson, heading to Yuma, alone and without the rest of their traveling caravan, who wanted to stop and rest at a friendly Pima village.  At this site, the Oatman family (father Royce, mother Mary, son Roland, daughter Lucy, son Royce Jr., daughter Charity, daughter Mary Ann, son Lorenzo and daughter Olive) were attacked by a hostile tribe (unsure if Yavapai or Tonto Apache), and both parents, Lucy, Royce Jr., Charity and Roland were all killed by the Apaches.  Son Lorenzo was beaten and left for dead.  Daughters Mary Ann and Olive were taken captive.  

Olive Oatman after her repatriation into American Society

Lorenzo survived the attack and was later able to tell authorities of the captivity of his sisters, Mary Ann and Olive.  Mary Ann and Olive were eventually traded to the Mohaves (for two horses, some vegetables, blankets and beads).  Mary Ann did not survive (starvation/malnutrition), but Olive did.  Five years after the attack, Olive was rescued from the Mohave and went on to give talks about her time living with the Mohave tribe.  She was an oddity in 1960's America because she had been given the blue chin tattoo of the Mohave, making her the first known white woman with a Native tattoo on record.  

The story of Olive Oatman is legend in Arizona.  Most children learn about it in school.  

Oatman Memorial, beneath the Oatman Massacre Site

After having some lunch in shade of a palo verde tree, we went over to the Fourr Family Cemetery. 

This is a very old, but very sad, cemetery.  William "Bill" and Lucinda Fourr were pioneers who settled on Oatman Flat in the 1870's.  Bill and Lucinda were married in 1868 near Gila Bend, but they moved to, and lived at, Oatman Flats.  They built and maintained the Oatman Flat Station (later rennamed the Fourr's Stage Station) which was a stagecoach station of the Butterfield Overland Mail.  The stage station is no longer there.  I'm not sure if it is from the 1992 flood, or if it simply got plowed over (I suspect the flood, because the location where it should be is not part of the farm land).  

In this tiny but well maintained cemetery are buried three small humans.  A.T. Fourr (11/23/1869 - 01/1877) and F.F. Fourr (12/21/1876 - 01/1877). The plaque at the cemetery states they died near the same date of an illness.  And a stillborn baby.  The Fourr family had 12 children, three of whom died in childhood and one who was killed in WWI.  In 1879, the Fourr family moved east and south and founded the Fourr F Cattle Ranch in the Dragoon Mountains in the southern Arizona territory.  This small cemetery is a testament to how hard life was in pioneer times.  This is one of the oldest pioneer cemeteries I've ever been to in Arizona.  

Fourr Family Cemetery on Oatman Flat

Fourr Family Cemetery - Plaque placed by the Boy Scouts

The only legible headstone at the Fourr Family Cemetery

At this point, Paul and I were starting to get tired.  We'd been on the road close to 10 hours bouncing around in the desert.  We drove back towards Sentinel, and visited the old Sentinel Train Station and a small rock building behind it.  We then drove down towards the US Air Force Installation south of Sentinel, and checked out a not-very-old house that was in ruins and had cows living all over it.  You couldn't take a step without stepping in a cow patty.  On our way back to I-8, we found an old highly directional yagi antenna that is no longer in service.  It looked like there once was a building there, and possibly a generator.  But we don't know what it was for.  It's just out in the middle of nowhere.  Exactly the kind of weird stuff that Paul and I like to find!

Ruins of the old Sentinel Train Station - with a train running along the rails

Old stone house next to the Sentinel Train Station

Old ranch house now taken over by cows.  Tons and tons of cows.

Colorado - Ouray, Silverton and Telluride Via Offroad Trails - Part 1

Crossing the border from New Mexico into Colorado - Welcome to Colorful Colorado!

At the end of August and beginning of September, Paul and I decided to head up to Ouray, Colorado to tackle a trail that holds a great deal of fear for me...Black Bear Pass.  If you have read any of my previous blog posts, you know I'm not good on shelf roads.  I mean, I'm NOT good...I'm terrified of heights and I'm worried about going over the edge.  For good reason - today I read in an Ouray paper about 3 folks who passed away outside of Camp Bird at Drinking Cup outside Ouray this past weekend.  Paul assures me the road is not difficult (right) and just has a steep drop off as it switchbacks its way from Bridal Veil Falls and the Smuggler-Union Hydroelectric Plant down to Telluride.  

Highway Flowers in Bloom in Northern Arizona

Paul's oldest boy, Brandon (@3gfinn), and his lovely new wife Julia met us for our second night with their awesome Tacoma, and stayed in Ouray and ran trails with us through Wednesday.  Paul and I left on Saturday morning, intending to make it to our campsite by Saturday before dark.  And we made it!

Shiprock, NM

The drive to Colorado was mostly uneventful.  Lots of beautiful flowers along the way, and of course, we got to see Shiprock rising majestically out of the New Mexico high-desert.  

Wild Deer in Colorado

We saw lots of deer on our way to our campsite - we chose to stay up by the Portland Mine in a wildland camping spot.  It was quiet, although not entirely secluded.  There were other folks staying around us every night we were there, but they were at enough of a distance to not matter and not disturb.  But our views - oh my goodness they were awe-inspiring!  Just look...

View to the East from our base camp

View to the South from our base camp

We arrived at camp in the late afternoon, set up camp, skipped dinner (we had a big lunch), and went to bed in the superbly cool temps!  We had our new ExPed mats, and we slept like a couple of logs through the night!  

Our Camp Above Ouray, CO by the Portland Mine

On Sunday morning, we woke up to lovely, cool temperatures...the sun doesn't crest over the mountains until about 10 a.m., so we had a lovely and relaxed breakfast, and then we decided to go into town, check everything out, and maybe shop a bit.  

Ironton, CO - one of the two story  homes

We went down to the Visitor's Center, and spoke with some ladies who informed us that under no circumstances should we try Black Bear or Imogene, and absolutely DO NOT go down Poughkeepsie.  These ladies indicated that the trails were so badly damaged from recent rain and landslides that they were flat out dangerous for anyone.  Paul didn't think anything of it (he's done all these before), so we explored a bit in town, and decided to go check out some ghosttowns that were close to the road and not around the trails we were planning to take.

Another two story house in Ironton, CO

So off to Ironton we went.  Down the Million Dollar Highway (US Highway 550).  With me on the cliff side.  Sigh...

Me and Paul on the Red Creek on the edge of Ironton, CO

The Million Dollar Highway was originally constructed as a toll road in the 1882 by Otto Mears and Fred Walsen.  In 1920, the road was updated again and the path you now take is the one that was built in 1920.  I've heard three stories as to why it is called the Million Dollar Highway - the first, being the cost to build it back in the 1880's, the second being "you'd have to pay me a million dollars to drive that road" and third, because of the Million Dollar Views.  

Another old house at Ironton, CO

I don't care why it was named - it's a road that affords stunning views, as well as terrifying drops right off the side of the blacktop.  The Million Dollar Highway has no guard rails, and when I looked into why, I learned that in order for the snow to be plowed in the winter, they have to be able to push it off the edge.  So no guard rails.  This road has around 40 accidents per year, with 7 fatalities per year on average.  I'm not overly fond of this road, but I've been on it before, and I'm sure I'll be on it again.  Access to some of the most beautiful places in the San Juan mountains is right off of the Million Dollar Highway.  

The Larson Brothers Mine outside Ironton, CO

So as we heading down the road towards Red Mountain Pass, we stopped just short of it to see Ironton.  Once called Copper Glen, Ironton was first started in 1893.  Shortly after, there were more than 300 buildings in town.  Ironton was a major transportation junction between Red Mountain and Ouray in addition to having some of it's own mines.  The town was heavily populated throughout the first part of the  20th century, and the final resident of the town, Milton Larson, died in the mid-1960's.  

The Snow Shed over the entrance to the Larson Brothers Mine

There were several beautiful old buildings there.  Such a difference in how Arizona chooses to preserve history and how Colorado preserves their history.  It was such a change to see full homes with roofs (albeit patched) and obvious work to keep buildings standing and safe.  We saw this all over this area, and it made our visit incredible as there was TONS to see!

Inside the Snow Shed at the Larson Brother's Mine - Ironton, CO

After Ironton, Paul and I headed back to camp as it had started raining, and we were awaiting Brandon and Julia's arrival.  So back to camp we went...

Part 2 - Black Bear Pass - to come...

Me and Paul waiting out the rain/hail storm at the Larson Brothers Mine Snow Shed - Ironton, CO

Father's Day Weekend, Cemeteries and Corona Satellite Markers - AZ in the Scion

The xB at the Gila Bend Pioneer Cemetery

Well, it's hot.  If you live in Arizona, you know that already.  If you live elsewhere, well, you likely know that as well.  It's almost too hot for camping up north, but even if it wasn't, gas prices are hitting everyone hard in the wallet these days.  So we decided to have a "paved road" outing on Father's Day.  Just me, my guy Paul, and the cute little xB.  

The beautiful and well kept Guadalupe Cemetery

So we started out our early morning at Lux on Central for Paul's all time favorite breakfast out - Biscuits and Gravy with scrambled eggs and cheese, and a side of bacon.  After filling and fueling up, we headed out to the All Souls Cemetery.  I, unfortunately, did not take any pictures of this cemetery, but there wouldn't have been much to take a picture of.  The All Souls Cemetery/Asylum Cemetery is the State Hospital/State Insane Asylum cemetery.  So for the most part, it looks like a long green lawn.  But if you look closely...there are row and section markers.  A few headstones.  Unfortunately, many of the records were destroyed in a fire, and therefore grave locations are few and far between.  It is estimated that some 2400 people are buried here...of which there appears to be about 400 or so that there are records for.  We drove around the outside of the fencing, and then decided to head off.  

The first calibration target

Our next stop was to a unique cemetery - the Guadalupe Cemetery.  The Guadalupe Cemetery is, in my opinion, unique in Phoenix as it is a Town/City Cemetery, but it appears to be maintained primarily by the families of the deceased.  It was immaculate and colorful, and even at the early hour of 7 or 7:30 a.m., there were families there tidying up graves and wishing their fathers love.  This historic cemetery of the Yaqui Indians and descendants of Mexican heritage has been around for over 100 years by all counts, and 130 by several others...the land was officially transferred to the Town of Guadalupe by the Diocese of Phoenix (and prior to them, the Diocese of Tucson in 1969) in 1979.  As Sugg Homes (developer) decided to turn the farm lands out there into new developments, they agreed to build an iron fence around the 5 acre cemetery and to pave the access road and parking area.  

Nicer and better kept Satellite Target

The cemetery is bursting with color - flags and other traditional adornments decorate the resting places of loved ones.  As the cemetery was bustling with activity, we opted to be more respectful and not to wander around.  It is, after all, Father's Day, and I'm sure many were there to spend time with their fathers.  It was a beautiful stop and very endearing to see people out tending to the graves of their loved ones.

Survey Marker at the above calibration marker.  

Next stop was supposed to be a quick hop down the I-10 to Casa Grande.  But as per the usual, it was no quick hop.  I-10 was closed all the way down to the 202, so we headed south on side roads until we could jump back on I-10 and head down to Casa Grande.  After a quick stop at a Dutch Bros for more tea and coffee, we headed off to our first site down here...the Corona Satellite Calibration Targets.  

Look at us getting 64.4 mpg in the Scion when we keep the RPM's really low and we drive slow.  Hahaha

Now, before I start this section of our "tour" - I do want to make mention that I know that the concrete crosses around Casa Grande were NOT used for the Corona project - or any other spacecraft calibration.  The were constructed for the calibration of aerial photogrammetry cameras to validate maps.  BUT - as is the norm on the inter-webs, there is a TON of false info out there about these.  The US Air Force DID use them for aircraft camera calibration, but it wasn't used for space based intelligence camera systems.  

The best marker we saw on this trip...

The Casa Grande Photogrammetric Test Range was a 16 x 16 mile grid of 60 foot targets.  Each target was spaced approximately 1 mile apart.  They provided a fixed spatial grid for photogrammetric calculations for mapping camera calibrations/validation.  The targets were maintained from 1959 to 1972, and about half of them are still visible on Google Earth and on the ground.  

A close up of the "manhole" cover

Each of the targets has a manhole on the west arm of the cross and the manhole has a cement cover with still reinforced bars.  According to the Cold War Museum, the six pieces of rebar which protrude from the concrete cover were used to hold a laser designator.  The targets were abandoned in 1972.  I've been to some of these targets many times over the years, but Paul had not seen one up close, so we went to a couple.  The first one we went to was not in great condition - but the last one was in great condition!  So another check off of Paul's exploration bucket list (and no, we did not visit all 140-something of these targets...but we did visit 4 or 5 on our trip).  

The VERY creepy partially filled grave in the Galilee Baptist Church Cemetery.  

After visiting the targets and the sight of an old slaughterhouse (which was long ago torn down), we headed up to historic Casa Grande, then into Maricopa to catch the Maricopa road out of town and towards Gila Bend.  As we wound our way through the southern Estrella Mountains and the southern Sevenmile Mountains, we stopped in a tiny little "town" (town is an overstatement for this town) called Mobile and went to the Galilee Baptist Church Cemetery, also known as the Mobile Cemetery.  This Cemetery is a private cemetery, and backs up to an old abandoned hacienda of some kind.  It is very remote and appears to have burials back as far as the 1930's.  We did not go inside the cemetery, but we did find a grave hole that had been dug and partially filled back in from erosion.  Kind of creepy...

The grave site of little Maria Consorcia Urias at the Bosque Cemetery.

Little Maria Consorcia Urias' grave at the Bosque Cemetery - close up

We left Mobile and headed to Bosque.  Which literally has NOTHING except this grave of a young girl named Maria Consorcia Urias.  Maria died on June 24th at 2 days old.  A boy scout created the fenced area around Maria's grave, and now it is the only thing you can see of Bosque.  There are supposedly two other individuals buried here (per find-a-grave) but where is anyone's guess.  

What appears to be an old schoolhouse in Gila Bend, AZ

We left the Bosque cemetery and headed into Gila Bend.  There were three cemeteries here to see - the first one we went to was the Hee-A-Han Park.  We could not find an easy way into the cemetery, so we drove around it and then decided to move on to the more historic/pioneer cemeteries.  

Stout Memorial Park/Stout Cemetery

Our next stop was the Stout Memorial Park.  I have little to no information regarding the Stout Memorial Park, or Stout Cemetery.  It is out in the middle of nowhere on the road to Ajo...but it can't be seen from the road.  There are graves here dating from the 1920's to the 1980's.  There are many concrete tombstones that have been recently updated and placed, along with some of the regularly seen homemade ones.  It was a pretty little cemetery in the middle of nowhere - with more tombstones than usual.  

Aquila Guzman's grave at the Stout Cemetery (1891-1920)

Our last stop in Gila Bend was to the Gila Bend Pioneer Cemetery.  The Gila Bend Pioneer Cemetery is still active, and the City is still selling burial plots.  It is a lovely and well planned out cemetery, with trees and benches and lots of care taken of each burial site.  The oldest grave I could find was 1957, but there may definitely be older ones.  We did see a gorgeous Northern Desert Iguana - he was white and brown, and ran SO fast!  He was absolutely stunning.  

Gila Bend Pioneer Cemetery

Gila Bend Pioneer Cemetery

Our very last stop on our cemetery Sunday was at the Liberty cemetery.  The Liberty cemetery is one of the first established cemeteries in Maricopa County.  There are over 500 burials according to the records, of which more than 400 have been located and marked.  Burials began in this old cemetery prior to 1900, and the last burial was made in 1962.  The cemetery is actively being researched and kept up by descendants of the buried and by the City.  The founding fathers of Buckeye, AZ are buried in this cemetery...

Liberty Cemetery

It was a hot and dusty day, but we managed to get out and learn something!  We went to La Santisima on the way home for gourmet tacos - filled ourselves up, and went home fat and happy - with new knowledge of our state and having seen areas of the state that neither Paul or I had been to.  

La Santisima taco trio - Shrimp, Carne and Mole - Yum!

See - there's stuff to do in Arizona - even when it's blistering hot outside.  

Northern Desert Iguana - dipsosaurusdorsalis