Tea, Dancing and Bridge – 1930s High Society in Vail “Mr. and Mrs. Cleaveland Putnam entertained Sunday for [newlyweds] Mr. and Mrs. Stone at their country home, Rancho del Lago, at Vail. Guests arrived at 5:00 for swimming, followed by buffet tea, dancing and bridge. At midnight, supper was wheeled out on the terrace overlooking the...
Walter Vail stepped out of a stagecoach onto the dusty streets of Tucson in 1876. Twenty-four years old, with a keen sense of purpose, Walter intended to become a successful businessman and rancher. Walter left New Jersey soon after turning 21. His quest led him to Virginia City, Nevada where he worked as a time keeper in the silver mines. By all...
By J.J. Lamb,Vail Preservation Society Ready, Set, Action! As cameras roll inside Colossal Cave, ranchers are attacked by monstrous fish creatures falling through ‘The Barrier’ inside the Cave. They survive only to be greeted by a voice from beyond, played by Joe Maierhauser, long-time Director of Colossal Cave. The mysterious voice asks the...
By J.J. Lamb Ads and articles in newspapers from 1963 and ‘64 touted life in “New Tucson” as having all of the perfect ingredients to make your ‘suburban living dream come true.’ “Ingredients” included a 9-hole golf course, five-years of free country club membership, use of an Olympic size pool, a restaurant, commercial area (all at Corona), horse...
By J.J. Lamb Visionary, is how the Arizona Daily Star described the farming operation of business partners, Carter Crane and John Fraker near Vails Siding in 1897. The Star reported that Crane and Fraker “have probably the finest single ranch there is in Southern Arizona. They have 600 acres under fence with more than sufficient water to irrigate...
By J.J. Lamb,Vail Preservation Society The Last Flat Piece of Land… Vail’s Siding.“In the Cienega a large number of China men are engaged excavating, as they there encounter considerable elevation throughwhich cuts have to be made, and the grade has to be raised a number of feet above the low, marshy ground…”— Arizona Weekly Star, April 15...
By J.J. Lamb, Vail Preservation Society One hundred springs, a wet grassy meadow, a place where grasses could be cut for feed, where horses and cattle could graze. Cien, Spanish for 100, agua for water, the terms merged to become Cienega. Cienega Creek Preserve is one of Vail’s most special places. It is a place where water reaches the desert...
Continued from January 2022 Vail Voice. By J.J. Lamb …Owners of the larger ranches near Vail often hired Bee Atkins, the Rancho del Lago Foreman, to hunt predators that were killing their cattle. In November of 1936, Bee and George Davis were laying traps on the La Casa Blanca ranch owned by J. Rukin Jelks. Born in 1903 in Texas, Bee was one of...
By J.J. Lamb On a Monday afternoon in February 1936 teachers Esta Trotter and Edwin Van Doran hiked with their students to “El Rancho del Lago” to see Bee Adkins’ hunting dogs. His daughters, Alpha and Gladys attended the Vail school. Their younger sister Vina was still too young, but liked to tag along to class when she could. The Vail school...
By JJ Lamb and Gerald Lamb We usually take our roads for granted. But sometimes we have to fight for them. On June 26, 1926, 11 Vail residents—including brothers Guy and Carl Monthan and Colossal Cave Park Operator Frank Schmidt—petitioned the Pima County Board of Supervisors to declare the “the concrete dip over the Pantano Wash on the old Vail...
