Angell siding

Portion of the 1919 GLO map

I recently looked at the 1919 General Land Office (GLO) map for T21N, R10E. This area is just east of Winona and the Angell railroad siding is here. I was intrigued by the "Dam" shown in Young's Canyon in the NE quarter of section 22. The current USGS topo shows a weir in nearly the same spot. I went here a couple of days ago and found both the dam and the weir. The dam is in pieces but the weir, further to the west, is intact. It appears to be more recent than the dam and the maps seem to support that. What really interested me was a road/trail that had been built to access the dam. There is some impressive rock work and the trail immediately adjacent to the dam is bordered by a well-constructed rock and concrete wall. I grew up in AZ and am familiar with work done by ranchers and this is much more meticulous. Ranchers tend to build sturdy but very basic structures that are designed to not be fancy but just get the job done.

I'm guessing that this is related to the railroad and that the trail was used by the railroad to transport water from behind the dam to the water tank shown on the map. The trail goes to the east and does not seem to go further to the west (past the weir which is ~100 m past the dam) toward the Piper ranch. Perhaps there was a pipeline that followed the trail from the dam to the water tank but there isn't any evidence of it now.

Portion of current USGS 1:24,000 Angell topographic map

North end of the wye.

View of the wye, looking north.

The concrete pad the rails are on is the foundation of a past railroad building, likely the station.

This is the first portion of the trail/road that I came across. A section of the rock used to stabilize the road has collapsed.

Section of the trail/road NE of the dam. People have recently driven on this portion. 

Limestone rocks supporting the trail/road.

Just east of the dam.

Trail adjacent to the dam. There is a platform between the trail and the drainage.

This is the largest piece of the dam. It has actually moved so that it is now oriented parallel with the drainage. The large stump is a ponderosa pine. They are very uncommon this far east of town.

Remains of the dam on the south slope of the drainage.

A couple pieces of the dam just downstream.

Trail between the dam and the weir.

This weir is located roughly 100 m upstream from the dam.

Natural arch - Black Mountains, Mohave County

This photo was taken by my father in the early 1970s.

My father was told of this by Ed Edgerton in the early 1970s. Ed was the owner of Ed's Camp which was located along Route 66 on the east side of the Black Mountains. It was the last stop for gas and water before the steep windy climb up Sitgreaves Pass. My dad prospected and explored the Black Mountains for most of the 1970s. He introduced himself to Ed and they became friends. He spent many hours talking with Ed about the local area and I accompanied him several times on his visits. Ed's knowledge of the Black Mountains was incredible and his stories were very interesting, even to me as a young boy. We went to rock art panels, waterfalls, springs, caves, mines and countless other incredible places, including this arch, after learning of them from Ed.  There is some info on Ed here: http://patricktillett.blogspot.com/2013/08/eds-camp-arizona-route-66-ghost-town.html.

I can recall in the 1990s or so when the Kingman Arizona newspaper, the Daily Miner, had a picture of this arch and asked if anyone knew of its location. I'm sure many people know of it now. One really neat thing about the arch is that, coming up from the west side, it is not visible until you are just yards from it. I've not been in this area since 1980 or so. I'd love to go back but I imagine I'd be less than thrilled with the number of people going into this area. It is very close to, if not within, the Mt. Nutt Wilderness.

Arizona's Hollywood locomotive

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_No._3

What is arguably the least known railroad in northern Arizona, the Prescott and Arizona Central, ran from Prescott Junction (later known as Seligman) to Prescott. Construction began in 1885 but funding, supply and manpower shortages combined to delay the completion until 1887. The line was mismanaged, poorly constructed, had water supply issues and with the completion of the nearby Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway, it went under in 1893. David Myrick's excellent 5th volume on Arizona railroads has an entire chapter on this line.

Although few people know of the historic line and very little evidence remains that it ever existed, there is a legacy from it that has been seen by most anyone that has watched old Western movies or television shows. It is said that the locomotive used on the line has been in more movies and television shows then any other locomotive. It was originally built in 1891 by the Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works for the Prescott and Arizona Central. After the company went bankrupt, it was used on logging railroad lines in northern California. It is a bit unclear how it made it into movies but it’s first appearance was in 1919 and has been seen in such movies as High Noon, Back to the Future III, Unforgiven and The Long Riders. It has shown up in most 1950s-1960s television Westerns. It appeared in other familiar TV sitcoms and series such as Petticoat Junction, Green Acres and Little House on the Prairie. There is a very informative Wikipedia page on it. Search on “Sierra No. 3”.