June 12 - 13, 2018:
This was a wild 150 mile ride from Holbrook to Globe, AZ on routes 77 and 60. Route 60 takes you across the massive White Mountain Apache and the San Carlos Apache reservations. You then wind your way like a roller coaster ride into and across the Salt River Canyon. It’s then all downhill along the Tonto National Forest to Globe, AZ where we pull into the Gila County RV Park. This is a small campground in the city of Globe, we’ve been here before, with full hookups. It is super hot, 104 degrees, and we get the AC cranked up fast as possible and mostly stay in it the rest of the afternoon.
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| Rugged country |
As Twinkles is checking in, she learns that the owner is a native of Elmira, NY where Twinkles lived when I met her. I was in Elmira in the early 1980's for New Jersey Transit to monitor a railcar overhaul project being performed by ABB Traction.
In the evening I venture to a favorite Globe saloon, the “Drift Inn Saloon" as I need to keep myself hydrated in this heat. The Snowdrift, built in 1902, is one of the oldest continuously operated bars in Arizona. The barmaid saw me taking a couple of photos inside and asked me if I would like to see the “Bar stories” binder. Hell yes, I love to see this stuff, bring it on (I didn’t really say that, but should have). It told the story of a Italian Immigrant Pasquale Nigro, who built the building housing the Saloon in 1902. He obviously was quite an industrious man who took risks. He started with a saloon in Tombstone which failed, then went to Bisbee where he started another saloon but got in trouble for selling illegal bootleg Mescal and finally to Globe. He built the International Lodging House and ultimately became a very successful businessman. I also read in Bar Stories about a shooting in the bar on a Christmas morning and reports of ghostly happenings since on Christmas mornings in the bar.
It’s also noteworthy that two gay women from Washington DC bought the Drift Inn about 15 years ago and have maintained it in near original condition to this day. I don't approve of the overuse of bar advertising signs on every wall, but at least they didn't modernize it.
http://www.copperarea.com/pages/pasquale-nigro-interesting-part-globe-history/
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| The Drift Inn Saloon where you can sit on the front porch |
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| Pool and shuffle board tables and an active juke box |
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We returned on another night to find a friendly crowd of
Apache youth in the bar |
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| Great old painting on the wall, it goes on for another 20 feet |
We visited the Gila County Historical Museum which we have somehow missed in previous visits. It has a ton of local history on this area of the country.
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| Titled, A picture of good health |
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| Painting of the beloved Toastmaster Cafe |
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| This was a hard working family |
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| A cowboy tribute |
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| Globe in more prosperous days |
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| The Globe- Miami mining area is immence |
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| The Salada people were great potters |
A few miles away is the Best Ba Gowah Pueblo ruins of the Salada people, we saw it back in 2012, but decided to take another look. It is actually better than I remembered. It is an excavated and partially reconstructed pueblo site that was occupied from about 1225 to 1400 AD. It has 200 rooms and many artifacts were found during the excavation. The Salada people are renown for their pottery style and quality. The artifacts found in the ruins are on display in the museum in the visitor center.
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| A depiction of the Pueblo |
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| This section of the Pueblo has been reconstructed |
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| It is an impressive structure |
It’s now time to return to Tucson to deal with our new house.
Twinkles and Slick
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