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Desert
Foothills Scenic Drive Memory Park, Part I
A
Description of the Park’s Introductory Exhibit
Courtesy of
Friends of the Scenic Drive
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
If Friends of
the Scenic Drive has its way, these words will be
part of an exhibit designed to introduce visitors to
the new Desert Foothills Memory Park. The Desert
Foothills Scenic Drive, which will celebrate its 50th
birthday in 2013, is an important part of the unique
western heritage of the Desert Foothills area.
Friends believes that the new park will help
differentiate our community from other tourist
destinations.
The purpose of
the memory park is to:
·
Provide educational information for tourists and
residents about the history of the Desert Foothills
and Pinnacle Peak areas
·
Provide a historical context for the “Desert
Foothills Scenic Drive” section of modern-day
Scottsdale Road
·
Encourage residents in other parts of Scottsdale to
create similar exhibits that describe the history of
their parts of the city
·
Increase the site’s tourism and educational value
and indirectly bolster efforts to preserve the state
trust land that surrounds the park as part of
Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve
Proposed
Site
The Desert Foothills
Memory 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.
A Maricopa County Sherriff’s office was once located
at the site, and in 1966 it became a small Scenic
Drive park with picnic tables, restrooms, and a
large concrete sign featuring “Desert Foothills
Scenic Drive” in large metal letters. Beginning in
1994, Friends has led the effort to enhance the
site, adding new exhibits and vegetation and
modernizing the original large concrete monument
sign.
The park site
is on small parcel of land (less than one acre) that
the City of Scottsdale leases from Maricopa County.
The section (640 acres) containing the site is State
Trust Land and is a threatened part of Scottsdale’s
Planned McDowell Sonoran Preserve.
Existing
Exhibits
In addition to the
large monument sign, the site currently has
exhibits, metallic plaques mounted on stucco-covered
monuments, that provide information about the Scenic
Drive, the Sonoran Desert, and local flora and
fauna. In addition, a few small redwood signs
identify some species of plants, and metal signs
identify landforms that can be seen from the site;
e.g., a wash, McDowell Mountains, etc.
Proposed
Exhibits
Friends is suggesting
that several “memory” exhibits be created. These
will take the form of plaques mounted on a large
panel or on freestanding stucco monuments. The
centerpiece of the memory park will be an
introductory exhibit. Other exhibits will provide
more detailed information about:
1.
Time and Events
2.
People
3.
Places
4.
Preservation
This article
provides draft descriptions for the introductory
exhibit. Part II of this article, which will be
published in The Peak’s July/August issue,
will include draft text for the plaques that are
proposed for the Time and Events, Places, and People
exhibits. Part III will be published in
September/October and will include descriptions of
the topics covered by the preservation exhibit.
Introductory Exhibit
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Illustration by Horst Berkner depicts
proposed layout of the memory park's
introductory exhibit. |
The back of the
existing Scenic Drive monument sign, a large
stucco-covered surface, will be updated with
information that introduces visitors to the Desert
Foothills and the park’s exhibits. This centerpiece
will also be used to conceptually integrate existing
and new exhibits. The back of the sign will feature
the title, “Desert Foothills Memory Park,” and the
Vince Thelander quote that introduced this article.
Also on the back of the existing sign will be a
large plaque containing a simple map denoting the
Desert Foothills area, a second large plaque or
lettering that describes the landscape of the Desert
Foothills, and a historic overview. The map will
show how the Scenic Drive relates to the Desert
Foothills area.
Plaque:
Desert Foothills Map
The purpose of this
map is to define the area generally associated with
the Desert Foothills and indicate major landforms
and roads, which for purposes of these exhibits can
be defined as Happy Valley Road on the south, the
Tonto National Forest on the north, the western
border of Cave Creek Regional Park, and Camp Creek
on the east. The major roads include Scottsdale
Road, Pima Road, Cave Creek Road, and Pinnacle Peak
Road. The diagram will highlight roads that existed
in 1963, when the Desert Foothills Scenic Drive was
created. Important features include: Black Mountain,
Continental Mountain, Pinnacle Peak, Cave Creek,
Camp Creek, Tonto National Forest, The Boulders, the
towns of Carefree and Cave Creek, and the memory
park’s location.
Plaque:
Desert Foothills Topography
The purpose of this plaque is to provide a
description of the foothills landscape. The first
draft of the text appears below in italics. A much
smaller version of the map will also be on the
plaque.
The Desert
Foothills is a special place where the desert
gradually rises to the mountains, creating slightly
cooler temperatures and a lush landscape. From this
point, the elevation gently increases from 1,100
feet to 2,500 feet at the northern end of the Scenic
Drive where “the heart” of the Desert Foothills,
Black Mountain, looms over the towns of Carefree and
Cave Creek. Just beyond the summit of Continental
Mountain, the highest point in the Desert
Foothills, is the Tonto National Forest, the
northern border of the foothills.
Washes flow
from the northeast during summer and winter storms.
The stream of Cave Creek begins in the Tonto
Mountains and flows southward toward the Valley of
the Sun. To the northeast is Camp Creek, once
another source of water in a remote, arid land. To
the west is Cave Creek Road, the western leg of the
original Scenic Drive. To the east is Pinnacle Peak.
Plaque:
Historical Overview
The purpose of this
plaque is to provide an overview for the more
detailed exhibits that the visitor will find on the
site. The first draft of its text appears below.
Welcome to
the Desert Foothills, a place of unsurpassed beauty
where the fertile desert floor covers the forgotten
footprints of Apaches, prospectors, and pioneers.
Prehistoric Indians grew food crops in the foothills
long before Europeans “discovered” North America.
U.S. Army troops chased Apaches through these lands.
Prospectors searched the hills, and gold camps
appeared and disappeared. Cowboys rounded up cattle,
and sheep grazed the hills, washes, and open range.
People suffering from respiratory illnesses came to
be healed, dude ranches flourished, crude homesteads
were established, tourism flourished, and many
visitors returned to call this land home. New roads,
neighborhoods, shopping centers, and planned
communities were established. Foothills residents,
fearing that development would destroy the very
things that attracted them to this beautiful land,
undertook a variety of preservation efforts,
including the creation parks, preserves, and the
Desert Foothills Scenic Drive.
Proposed
Memory Exhibits
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Drawing by Marg Nelssen depicts proposed
layout and location of the new memory
exhibits that will describe events,
people, places, and preservation efforts
related to the history of the Desert
Foothills. |
The plaques that
comprise these exhibits will be mounted on a large
panel on the site. Time and Event plaques will
summarize important activities and dates related to
the history of the Desert Foothills. Each plaque
will have a topic title, an old photograph, and a
brief description related to the topic. These
plaques will be smaller than those used for the
introductory exhibit but larger and containing
longer descriptions than those used to describe
places, people, and preservation topics. The Time
and Events exhibit will have plaques for these
topics.
·
Hohokam
·
Desplobado
·
Apache
·
Military Campaign
·
Mining
·
Ranching
·
Homesteading
·
Government
·
Tourism
·
Development
·
Preservation
The Places
exhibit will include topics such as Curry’s Corners,
Ironwood Golf Course, Black Mountain, The Boulders,
Carefree, Cartwright Family Ranch, Dude Ranches,
Carefree Studio, Military Trail, Cave Creek Station,
tuberculosis cabins, Rawhide, Pinnacle Peak, and
more.
The People
exhibit will identify people who played important or
interesting roles in the history of the Desert
Foothills, including Don Pablo, Old Rackensack, Big
Brownie, Jerry and Florence Nelson, K.T. Palmer, Tom
Darlington, Corkie Cockburn, Vince Thelander, and
others.
For many
years, residents have fought to preserve the unique
beauty of the Desert Foothills. The Preservation
exhibits provide information about organizations,
ordinances, parks, and preserves related to that
effort. For example, Cave Creek Association, Desert
Foothills Property Owners, Desert Foothills Land
Trust, Friends of the Scenic Drive, Southwest
Wildlife, Wild At Heart, Coalition of Pinnacle Peak,
Greater Pinnacle Peak Homeowners Association,
McDowell Sonoran Land Trust, Black Mountain
Conservancy, ESLO (Environmentally Sensitive Land
Ordinance), Native Plant Ordinance, Scenic Corridor
Guidelines, McDowell Sonoran Preserve, Pinnacle Peak
Park, Desert Foothills Parks and Preserves, and
more.
Your
Support Appreciated
If you have
suggestions about the memory park and/or the
exhibits, please do not hesitate to contact us. We
will be gathering old photographs and completing
plans for the park over 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.
For
Additional Information
Telephone:
(480) 361-6498 (Les Conklin at The Peak)
E-mail:
lesconklin@gppaaz.org
Web: www.scenicdrive.org and www.gppaaz.org
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