Monday, September 18, 2017

Jax had to go to doggy jail today so we could go do some things that were not dog friendly.  Our first stop was Tuzigoot National Monument. This one has the ruins of a pueblo on top of a mesa. It is about 800 years old. About 60% of it has been reconstructed and visitors can actually walk through some of the rooms.  Next to it is a marsh that the NPS is trying to bring back.  After the pueblo people were gone settlers drained much of it for farming.  The park service wants to restore it to its original state, another oasis in the desert.

Our next stop was Clarkdale and the Arizona Copper Museum. Clarkdale was the home to United Verde Copper Company in the early 1900s. It provided copper for over the world, especially during WWI. The copper was mined in Jerome, just 4 miles away, and brought to the smelting factory in Clarkdale.  The amazing museum features copper art from all over the world, with special emphasis from the 16th-20th centuries.  One of the most interesting rooms is the trench art room. Shell casings, mostly from WWI, were used to make pieces of art, mostly vases. It is unbelievable how they could turn such an ugly thing into a beautiful work of art.  The curator of the museum was full of information and stories of the town and the copper.  It was fascinating!  He also suggested that we go on up the mountain to Jerome.

Jerome is called the City in the Sky.  The houses literally cling to the hillside and have a spectacular view, a little scary though.  It was a mining town in its heyday with a population of 15,000 , then dropped to a "ghost town" of about 50 when the mines played out.  Now it has about 300 people and is on the National Historic Register.  The town survives mostly on tourist trade. There are little shops and galleries, as well as a few small hotels and restaurants. The whole town is only a few blocks long and all of the houses look like they will fall down the hillside at any moment.  From up on top you can look down on the remnants of the the old mine. It was another interesting place.