The most productive gold mine in the state of Arizona was the Vulture Mine. Its success lured many criminals to try their hand at robbery, but none as famous as Francisco Vega. Vega preyed on miners – he loved the gold the carried as they made their way to an assay office or into town [...]

The Navajo Shoe Game During winter evenings, Navajo families spend the time telling stories of the people — of their emergence into this world and of the trickster, Coyote — and they enjoy playing games. In particular, they play the Shoe Game. According to Navajo legend, long ago, the night creatures and the day creatures [...]

Table of Contents for the Haunted Southwest Series: Haunted Hotel: The Stanley Hotel, Colorado The Vulture Mine, Wickenburg, Arizona Haunted Hotel: The San Carlos, Phoenix, Arizona The Haunted Shores of the Great Salt Lake, Utah Haunted Tombstone, Arizona Haunted Mines: Ghost, Goblins and Tommy Knockers, Southwest Ghost Camels of the Southwest Haunted Dawson Cemetary, New [...]

While it is true that the railroads civilized the West, it was never easy. In fact, you might say it was an uphill battle — especially in Colorado. The Hell Hill Line belonging to the Moffat Railroad made its way across the Continental Divide (what the railroaders referred to as the Devil’s Backbone) over Rollins [...]

There are actually several mines known as the Lost Dutchman in the Southwest. The most famous, of course, if the Lost Dutchman Mine in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona. But there are others, one in South Dakota, one in Colorado, and three in Arizona that all bear the same name. In the early 1860s, a [...]

In 1848, a group of Cherokee on their way to California over the Cherokee Trail discovered gold in a stream bed in the South Platte basin. They reported the information to their tribe in Oklahoma. Eventually a man named William Green Russell (married to a Cherokee woman) heard the news and rushed to the area [...]

In March and April 1909, the Phoenix Gazette published two stories about the discovery of a great underground citadel hidden in a cave in the Grand Canyon. The first article in March only mentions explorer G.E. Kinkaid and his explorations down the Colorado River. He also notes that he made some interesting archeological discoveries, but [...]

The Santa Fe Trail, stretching 900 miles from Franklin, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and then on into Old Mexico, has a romantic place in the history of the Southwest. It was a trail to the future for many of thousands who followed it to create new lives for themselves. In search of the [...]

According to the legend, a huge pile of silver from the Lost Opata Mine remains buried and is guarded by the skeletal remains of a Mayo Indian Princess. Both the silver and the princess lie hidden somewhere near the Tumacácori Mission, 45 miles outside of Tucson, Arizona. When the Spanish missionaries moved into the area, [...]

Contrary to popular opinion, the Southwest (Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona) gets plenty of snow. In fact, some of the record snowfalls for the entire United States happened here! For instance, the record for the most snow to fall in a 24-hour period belongs to Silver Lake, Colorado and was set in 1921. They [...]