Arizona

Stage Station and Homestead

Gazing out at the modern world from the inside of a nineteenth century Stage Station and Homestead in rural Pinal County, Arizona. Established in 1879 by the Southern Pacific Mail and Stage Line Company, the one-room adobe station and adjoining mesquite corral functioned as a horse changing and water stop on the route from the railroad station at Picacho for passengers travling to Florence and beyond. In 1913, rancher Juan Verdugo recorded the property as a homestead and, in 1917, he added a second room and raised the roof. A ranch school was built to the north around the same time. In 1920, the property returned to the State of Arizona and is currently located on State Trust Land which requires a permit to visit. Area ranchers continued to use the buildings as bunkhouses and storage until the late 1980s. Although the buildings are currently vacant, cattle continue to graze the surrounding land under a grazing lease between local ranchers and the state. (N 32° 49.406', W 111° 26.184')

Southwest Golden Hour

A stunning golden hour display photographed in rural Pinal County, Arizona

Budding Cane Cholla

A budding cane cholla flower adorns the desert landscape near Tonto National Forest in Arizona

Prickly Pear Cactus Flower

A prickly pear cactus blooms along the banks of the Salt River near Tonto National Forest outside Phoenix, Arizona

Seeding Grass

A seeding grass stalk along Saguaro Lake, one of four reservoirs along the Salt River, midway between Phoenix and the ghost town of Sunflower, Arizona

Barrel Cactus Blossom

The colorful blossom of the Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus) is a stark and welcome contrast to the barren desert landscape. Captured at Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona.

Phoenix Light Rail

A light rail train, operated by Valley Metro Rail, passes through downtown Phoenix, Arizona. The light rail serves well over 15 million riders per year, covering 26.3 miles throughout Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa.

Melinda’s Alley

Created as a tribute more than 100 years after her passing, this colorful 70 feet high by 50 feet mural in downtown Phoenix, Arizona pays tribute to the rich life of Malinda "Malindy" Curtis, an well-known African-American woman whose spirit is said to inhabit the alley to this day. Beneath the mural, painted by local artists Hugo Medina and Darrin Armijo-Wardle, lies the unmarked entrance to Melinda's Alley, one of only a handful of speakeasy bars still in operation.

Pinal County Cotton

Pinal County ranks first among Arizona counties in cotton production, delivering more than 88,000 acres annually with a market value of over $92 million. (Source: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2017/Online_Resources/County_Profiles/Arizona/cp04021.pdf)

Coulter's Lupine

Lupinus sparsiflorus, Coulter's lupine, is a species of lupin native to North America. In the United States it occurs in California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah, and in Mexico it is found in Baja California and Sonora. Other common names include Mojave lupine, a name it shares with Lupinus odoratus. This is an annual herb growing 20 to 40 centimeters tall. Each palmate leaf is made up of 7 to 11 very narrow leaflets up to 3 centimeters long and just a few millimeters wide. The inflorescence is a spiral of several flowers each around a centimeter long. The flower is blue or purple, becoming darker with age, with a white to pink patch on its banner. The desert lupine flower is pale blue or purple. The upper petal (banner) has a yellow spot which changes to reddish after pollination. The two bottom petals (keel) are short, and wide; they are hairy on the bottom edge and curve upward to a slender tip. When ripe, seed pods explode, scattering their seed to the wind.

Mosaic Dome

The colorful mosaic-tiled dome atop the Old Pima County Courthouse remains an iconic symbol of Tucson, Arizona. Designed by architect Roy Place to reflect combined Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival styles, the building was constructed in 1929 for $300,000. It is the third courthouse built to serve Pima County, the first having been built in 1868 and the second in 1881. Although the various departments and court functions relocated to a modern facility in 2017, Pima County officials plan to convert the building, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, into a museum space housing a memorial to the victims of the 2011 Tucson shooting which killed six and injured thirteen more, including then-U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords. The county intends to preserve the notorious Courtroom Eight, the oldest working courtroom in Southern Arizona, where infamous gangster John Dillinger and three members of the "Dillinger mob" were arraigned in 1934. Ironically, Johnny Depp, the actor who played Dillinger in the 2009 film "Public Enemies," also appeared in 1991 to face a reckless driving charge.

Canyon Lake

Canyon Lake, Tonto National Forest, Arizona

Fish Creek Hill

Fish Creek Hill Scenic Vista, Tonto National Forest, Arizona

Fish Creek Hill

Fish Creek Hill Scenic Vista, Tonto National Forest, Arizona

Tractor

An aging tractor rests in a field outside rural Queen Creek, Arizona. The fertile valley below the San Tan Mountains offered a safe haven for the early Indian communities and the homesteaders who farmed and ranched along Queen Creek Wash. Citrus, cotton, pecans, vegetables, and other crops still provide for area families. (Source: https://www.queencreek.org/about-us/town-history/heritage-reflects-ties-to-the-land)