The Hallsted Reunion

Sunday, July 26th, 1998

at Saint Patrick's Church Hall in Bisbee, Arizona

THANK YOU!

Thank you to all of the family members that sent pictures and stories. That put up with me calling, e-mailing, begging, bugging, and pleading with you to send more. You were all great and it wouldn't have been possible without you. Thanks to my proof readers, Jim, Mike, and Steve and my computer "techs", Steve and Mike.
A friend of mine said I should go into business doing these types of books, my response was a laugh and me saying, "I only do this for love." I hope that this book brings joy to the reader and a sense of accomplishment for the family. It was a joy to do this for a great bunch of in-laws.
signed ... Stella {Pavlovich} Hallsted

Mom was born in Yorktown, Texas on March 8, 1899. Her parents were Frank Wasser, Sr. and Bertha Dlugosch. She had a sister, Rose who married Jim Guthrie and a brother Frank who married Helen Grant. We can't find out too much about Mom's childhood except that they had a hard life in Texas and were struggling to survive. Mom said once that they had lost their house and were put out into the street. She also said she used to play around the Alamo. It wasn't much of a tourist attraction then.
 
Mom had asthma and the doctor told her parents to get her to a dry climate. Her parents decided that the Arizona climate would be the best for her. They chose Bisbee to move to because Uncle Sam and Aunt Kate were already living there.
 
When they moved to Bisbee, Mom was probably seven years old. She went to the Catholic School which was called Loretta Academy. and from all we can tell she liked school. Mom only went as far as the tenth grade. She most likely had to quit to go to work to help support the family. That was quite common at that time. She did complete her high school requirements through a correspondent school.
 
During her working days she worked for the Post Office and the Electric Company. She also worked at Woolsworth Five & Dime Store on Main Street, Bisbee. She started out as a clerk and got promoted to the area that handled all the money and accounts.

Dad was born in Custer, South Dakota on July 17, 1903. His parents were Andrew Jackson Hallsted and Ora Maud Smith. He had four brothers, Raymond who married Ruth Thomson; Ored who married Viola Wommer; Horace Lyle who married Iola Armstrong; and Andrew James who married Dorothy Hargens. A sister, Mernie Myrle, who married Charles Newberry but died at the age of 18.
 
His family moved from Chadron, Nebraska to Albuquerque, New Mexico when his mother became ill with "consumption", probably tuberculosis. Dad said they traveled to New Mexico in a covered wagon. After his mother died, the family returned to Dawes County in Nebraska where Dad attended the Prairie Home School. He got as far as the eighth grade, which he went to for three years. But every year he had to leave school early to help out with the plowing and planting. After the third year he said, "I figured I knew as much as the teacher so I quit". He worked for the neighboring farmers and with his father, Andrew, buying, breaking, and selling horses and mules.
 
Dad was especially good at breaking horses and mules and earned a reputation locally as a "bronco rider". He did not always win the battle and was once kicked in the jaw by a mule, suffering a broken jaw and the loss of several teeth. ((Excerpts taken from the "Remembering" book written by Dorothy (Hallsted) Waldron))
 
Dad drove some cattle down from Wyoming to northern New Mexico to the King Ranch. He stayed to work for the King Ranch for probably $30 a month plus "found." (Found - which meant he had room and board.) He heard about the high wages at the mines in Bisbee, $4 a day, and decided to go there and make his fortune.

Don't know how Mom and Dad met but it was most likely through their friends. They had a "gang of friends" that they went around with, enjoying picnics, and outings together.
 
They were married on June 8, 1929. They were married by Father Boquet in the sacristy of St. Patrick's Church. In those days a non-catholic and a Catholic could not get married in front of the altar in the main church area. Their best man was mom's brother, Frank Wasser, Jr. and the maid of honor was Eleanor Comiano.
 
Dad continued to work for Phelps Dodge, except during the depression. He worked first as a mucker, then miner, timber man, shift boss and finally a diamond driller. (**See notes below for mining terminology)
 
Mom and Dad lived in Jiggerville until 1937 when Grandpa Wasser died. They moved up to Wood Canyon to help out Grandma Wasser. They bought the house from her and there they raised their family.
 
Mom was always very active at St. Patrick's Church. She was there for festivals, hot lunches, Woman's club, and Whist games. Besides being active she had a strong faith and believed that prayer could work miracles. After a few instances you didn't doubt Mom's power with her prayers. She prayed that Dad would be converted and become a Catholic. Dad was baptized on March 30, 1939. Jim and Dad were confirmed on the same day, March 3, 1940.
 
One time Chuck and Sue were missing a set of books. They looked every where for them. In and out of closets, storage places, every place they could think of. Mom asked if they had prayed to find it. No they hadn't. She did. The books were on the table the next day.
 
While Jim was going to the University of Arizona he told his parents that he had applied for a scholarship. Mom prayed. Jim, a senior then, got a scholarship meant for a junior when the school couldn't find a qualified student.
 
When Mom prayed the good Lord listened!
 
Mom had one trait that drove Dad crazy. Mom never could be on time. If you were due at someplace at 6:00 P.M. that's the time Mom would start getting ready. Dad would sit in the car just getting mad.
 
Mom also was very good at getting her rest in the car. You would be getting out of the driveway and look over at Mom and she would be fast asleep. It probably was because that would be the only time she would really sit and relax.
 
Mom loved playing cards and if her luck was going bad she had a sure fire way to boost up her luck. She would get up and walk around her chair. What was weird is that it helped most of the time. Dad was also active at the church and he was part of the miners who would go to the church after work and help to work on it. He also was there for those festivals and school activities.
 
Dad and Mom also enjoyed camping and the family took trips to Ash Canyon, Cave Creek, the mining claims in the Huachuca Mountains, Turkey Creek and up on the Reef. They even took a trip to California, to Idyllwild.
 
During the family get togethers there was always card playing. Pitch, Pinochle, and Canasta were among the favorites. The family also loved to sing together. With either Mom or Mary Ann playing the piano the old time songs would fill the house. Mom always seem to be singing as she worked and Dad's favorite time for singing seemed to be while he was driving.
 
Mom and Dad were believers in hard work. There was always a garden, with a bountiful supply of corn (one year it grew to 12 feet tall) , tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, just to name a few. Then there were the strawberries, apple, apricot, peach and plum trees. Then there were the trips to Sulfur Spring Valley to pick peaches at Grizzle's.
 
Then would come the canning and jam making after everything had been harvested. Mom and Grandma, worked endlessly, washing jars, cooking, pickling, making jams and putting up the fruit. Most of the time the kids were also recruited in helping in any way they were told. The cellar was a stock pile of goodies that would last for years.
 
Then there was the chickens. The baby chicks would arrive by truck, and were picked up at an Express Office located by the Legion Hall. They would get a box of chicks, 100 to a box, with probably 95 of them surviving. When they got to the house, the kitchen would become alive with peeps. The chicks would stay in the kitchen and then back porch for about a week before they would be put in with the chickens outside.
 
Besides chickens, there were rabbits, some cattle, an occasional pig, dogs and lots and lots of cats. Mom seemed to thrive on all the activity.
 
Mom and Dad enjoyed their life and especially their children. In their "older years" they seemed to be the happiest with a gang of grand-kids around them, feeding them, talking to them and just giving them all their love.

From Mary ...

Dad worked first as a miner, then as a diamond driller. He was active in the union. I know he was president of the local for awhile. He also sat on the Mediation Board for the union. Dad had to take trips to Tucson on union business.

From Jim ...

During the Depression the mines were only open three or four days a month. Grandpa Andrew had heard that a sheepherder was needed in Wyoming. The sheep owner said he would wait for Dad if he could get up there soon. Dad rode the rails (box car style) up to Wyoming. He herded sheep for $75 a month and was able to send most of that home to Mom to take care of the family. I think he was gone for about eighteen months when the mine work started to pick up again.

A mucker was generally the beginning position in the underground mines of Bisbee. His job was to clean along the underground tracks and assist the miner with his job. A miner laid out the drilling holes and mined the ore. He also kept the timbering up in his stope (area) . A timber man kept the drifts open (areas where the miners worked) and he kept the timbers in good shape in the drifts and cross cuts. (Drifts are the main tunnels along the ore body.) Cross cuts were the areas that branched out from the drifts. A shift boss was in charge of his area and he had to make sure all the workers were there and everything was going right. A diamond drillQr did the drilling for samples. The geologist would layout the area for them to drill and they would drill, take the core, box it, and keep a log on where that sample came from, the depth and location.

From Jim ...

Mom always had a home remedy that would cure any and all ills. She had her "castor oil" and that slice of orange that followed the dose. I don't believe anyone missed getting it for a cold, fever, or even if you looked a little under the weather. I don't think any of us can see an orange and not remember the dreaded castor oil.
 
Among some of her other remedies were:
 
A couple drops of kerosene in a teaspoon of sugar. That was good for getting rid of worms.
 
Sassafras tea made from the plants we used to hunt for in the Huachuca mountains. We would bring home the branch, leaves, and the bluish berries. Mom would boil them in water and it was to keep us in good health.
 
Then there was the "Black Salve" that came in a small circular tin. That was for cuts, scrapes, anything that broke the skin. It was one of the only remedies that Mom had that didn't burn or sting, so it wasn't too bad.
 
Below are some home remedies that Mom had written down. Thought you might get a kick out of them.
 
For a swollen leg or bad stomach, Take fresh cream - 6 oz - 4 times - every 4 hours and 1 egg whipped together or fresh milk and an egg - 6 times a day and nothing else for 1 week
 
For Rheumatism from Mrs. Benko
1 pint of gasoline - 25 cents camphor - Dissolve the camphor in gasoline, shake well and rub leg down.

From Jim ...

One thing I remember about Mom's cooking is the Pasties. She would work all day rolling out the dough and adding potatoes, carrots, onions, and meat. Then she would make a "huge" stack of those meat pies. She always made enough to last for a week. We would take them in our lunches and have them for snacks.
 
Mom never did get the idea that meat, like a roast, could have medium or rare parts. If she cooked the meat it was well done. No rare or medium cuts for Mom.
 
Making candy was one of Mom's real talents. She would make fudge that melted in your mouth and her divinity was pure heaven. She sold her candy usually around Christmas and there was always a demand for her fudge and divinity.
 
Mom also made fruit cake for Christmas. She would start baking early, about October, and place the cakes in a wooden barrel. Now and then, probably every two weeks, she would pour some brandy over the cakes. The only cake that was "good" to eat was the one on the bottom because it had soaked up all the brandy. Boy did it have a kick!

From Mary Ann ...

When Mom was in a baking mood, she would bake four or five pies at a time. She would rollout that pie dough so swiftly and she always had enough left over to make pie crust with cinnamon and sugar for us to eat.

Jiggerville was home to perhaps 200 souls at its peak, Jiggerville reportedly acquired its colorful name from the mine's shift bosses, or "jigger" bosses in the vernacular of the time.
 
Jiggerville secured its niche in history in July 1917 during the early hours of the infamous Bisbee Deportation. It was a Jiggerville resident, one James Brew, who defied an armed posse bent on arresting him when they arrived at his boarding house. Brew allegedly fired a single shot through a screen door, killing posse member Orson McRae, McRae's companion then fired back, killing Brew. Bonnie Petsche, now 85, was a teenager during the time of the incident. She said the boarding house where the killings occurred was owned by a Mrs. Wright.
 
Helen Wasser remembers Jiggerville as "a real close-knit community", where neighbors were like one big family. Her parents moved there in 1909, when the town was already several years old.
 
Edna Soles, who lived in Jiggerville from 1941 to 1950, remembered the community as somewhat secluded. But it was wonderful becuse the neighbors cared for one another's children and pets and "everybody knew everybody." (Taken from the 1988 Bisbee Magazine by Byron Travis)

From Jim ...

I remember a little store on the left up the road coming from Lowell. The Grant families lived on both sides of the road when your entered Jiggerville. The only thing I remember about the family below us was they had two boys who played with us. Uncle Sam and Aunt Kate Wasser lived below us across the street. Jiggerville had dirt streets and there was a vacant lot on the right side of our house. We played all of our games, like war and tag, on it. We also shot at each other with our BB guns. But it was against the rules to shoot anyone in the face.
 
When you entered our house there was like a living room, then on the left was the kitchen and dining area. The house was built into the hillside. It was two stories high on the bedroom side. The Porch was on the second story and we used to climb over the rail and hang down then drop to the ground. I vaguely remember Fred fell off of the porch once, I was there but I don't remember the details.
 
We had rabbit hutches and chicken pens in the back of the house. And Mom had her garden even in the rocky soil. She could get just about anything to grow anywhere.
 
When I was probably about five, I remember going along the railroad tracks, which were up the hill behind our house, to pick up coal along them, there would be quite a few of us. When the train men would see us they would throw us extra coal off the cars.
 
I started school, a year late. Mom and Dad argued where I should go. Dad wanted Lowell because it was closer, Mom won with St. Patricks. It was called Loretta Academy then and when I was in fourth grade it changed to St. Patricks. I used to walk along the hill behind us along the railroad tracks. We were always careful going across the bridge and watched for the trains. If one was coming towards us we would run back until it passed. I walked to St. Pat's from Jiggerville for two years and Chuck walked for one year.
 
Another play area we used down there was the Sacramento Pit mine dump. (Dumps were areas where the waste material that was dug up to get to the ore was dumped.) We would go up about halfway up the side of the dump get into a tire and ride down the dump side until we hit the rail road tracks at the bottom. Used to make a great bumpy ride.
 
One day, a neighbor's boy, I think his name was Chuckie, and I decided to go pay Aunt Helen and Uncle Frank a visit. We followed the copper water ditch. (Copper water was water that was pumped out of the mine. The ditch started at the Junction Mine and you could follow it to the ball park in Warren. Part of it was up in the air on stilts with walk ways on the side.) When we arrived at Aunt Helen's, she called Mom (she called a neighbor who went to tell Mom) and fed us ice cream and cake until they came to pick us up. The next day, Charles, Mary Ann, and Fred took off to get some cake and ice cream too. They got as far as the store when the lady who owned the store asked them where they were going. They said, "Aunt Helen's." She got hold of Mom and she came and got them. All of us had to promise never to do that again.
 
Another "adventure" for Charles and me was with some of the neighbor boys. We stood under the street light and tried to throw rocks up high enough to hit the light. We were both so small that we would throw the rock and then run as fast as our legs would carry us so we wouldn't get hit by the rock coming back down. Once a policeman came by and asked us what we were doing and we just calmly replied, "Trying to break that light." The cop took us all up to the jail and showed us around, then they called our parents. Then we were in trouble.
 
When we would walk to Lowell we would stop at Grant's Shoe Store sometimes and then Lowell Bakery to buy bread. You could buy a loaf of bread then for about seven cents. As a treat, they always gave each of us kids a doughnut.
 
One time at Uncle Sams, us kids noticed that he had apple slices in his tobacco can. Some men visiting there told us that made the apples "real sweet," and "encouraged" us to eat the slices. Needless to say our parents weren't too happy when their kids were home with stomach aches.

From Charles ...

I remember that Fred fell off the banister of the second floor. Jim tried to catch him. He managed to stop his head from hitting a rock but he hurt his hand.
 
Grandpa Wasser walked to our house in Jiggerville on the railroad track. He nearly always had candy. Mary Ann seemed to know when he was coming because she would meet him before he got to the house and she got more candy than the rest of us. He called her "Foxy Grandma".
 
Our family was leaving in the car. I saw the back door wasn't shut so I opened it, intending to slam it shut. Instead it pulled me out of the car and the back wheel ran over the top of my leg. It seems I got into a lot of trouble. Eventually, we all got back in the car and left.
 
One day Jim walked to Aunt Helen and Uncle Frank's house without permission. We went down to get him and he was bragging about all the cake and ice cream he ate. So the next day, I decided Mary Ann and I should go to Aunt Helen's for goodies. I think I was four years old and that would make Mary Ann two. We walked as far as Bakersfield before Dad picked us up. All we got was trouble.
 
We moved from Jiggerville when I was five.

From Mary Ann ...

My earliest memory is of Jiggerville and of my brother, Fred. Fred and I were playing on the front porch. He was approximately 18 months old and I was three. Mom told me to keep the rocking chair against the house so Fred wouldn't fall off the porch but, of course, as soon as she went inside, I pushed the rocker to the railing and climbed up in it. Fred was right behind me and he leaned over the railing and fell. God was watching and so Jim broke Fred's fall. I thought Fred was dead and so I climbed down and shoved the rocker against the porch wall. Our house in Jiggerville was built on the side of a hill and Fred fell approximately 15 feet.
 
One other memory I have of Jiggerville was of Aunt Kate's and Uncle Sam's house which was down the hill and across the road from us. We went with Dad to their house and he was listening to a prize fight. I was playing under the dining room table which was oak with claw feet.

From Jim ...

Wood Canyon was built up a canyon with the houses built into the hillsides. We had lots of good neighbors. Starting up the road were the Spiveys in the first house. A "little old lady" lived in the second house, I don't remember her name but Mom used to help her out a lot by visiting her and helping her by getting her groceries and any shopping she needed. The Jones lived in the fourth house and he worked for the City of Bisbee. We were the fifth house and the Tangsleys were in the sixth house. The Tangsleys were the only neighbors who had a phone and they were always generous and let us use it when it was necessary. Can't remember the name of the family in the seventh house but they had a full complete Croquette Field laid out in their yard. Then there was a huge Cotton wood tree that either Fred or Chuck broke a limb off while swinging on it.
 
To finish off the Canyon there was the Willey Family and across the street were the Crawfords, and the Houffkers.
 
One time when we drove up to the house, Dad saw smoke coming out of Billy's house. Mom rushed over up to the house to phone, (we had one by then) and Dad rushed over to help the man hose down the house. I was held back from helping. By time the fire engine arrived the fire was under control.
 
Going to the small grocery store at the entrance of Wood Canyon was always fun. Mom would send me with fifteen cents to buy a loaf of bread which was twelve cents then. Then with the three cents I would buy five jaw breakers, five Tootsie Rolls, and five suckers for all of us kids to share.
 
One time when Chuck, Mary and I walked to the store we had one of those Arizona rain storms. We had headed home but it just kept coming down too hard. We ducked into Spivey's open garage to wait it out. The rain kept coming down and the water started rising. We scrambled up on the work bench and were able to stay dry and out of the rush of water. When the rain stopped and the water finally went down enough to walk home we found Mom in a state of panic. She didn't know where we were or if we were safe. We were probably gone about two hours.
 
We used to play "Kick the Can," and baseball in the Canyon. I used to tell a lot of stories. Buck Rogers was my hero and there for awhile I had them believing that I had a rocket ship up in a cave.
 
Being the oldest I was able to graduate from doing dishes to cutting wood, feeding the chickens, rabbits, pigs and cows. I enjoyed being outdoors much more. I used to deliver the Bisbee Daily Review for years to the customers in the Canyon. I believe when I left that route it went on to several of my brothers and sisters.
 
One of the best things about living in Wood Canyon was the hikes we used to take, especially up to Wildcat Canyon. That was my favorite spot. It had a good swimming hole, and a spring that was the meeting point between Dixie and Wildcat Canyons. There was also a good camping area and I never remember seeing a snake there. There were lots of centipedes and I got stung by one but I didn't tell Mom.
 
One time I was with a group of Boy Scouts on a hike to Wildcat Canyon. As we came into sight of the water hole, clothes started to fly off as the scouts all ran down in anticipation of being the first to jump into the water. (In those days, we all went "skinny dipping.") Jerry Hicks was the first in among the group and that's when we discovered two things. The water still had ice on it and was freezing cold and Jerry was so excited he forgot he couldn't swim. We were able to get Jerry to the edge and out and then we built a big fire to warm up.

From Jim ...

I started Loretta Academy, taught by the Sisters of Loretta in the Primer Grade, which is kindergarten nowadays. We learned our tables, addition, subtraction and times tables up to "15." All the tables were written on the window shades and they would pull down the shade that we would be working on. Buck Rogers was very popular at that time and each row had a rocket strung across it on string. Your rocket got to move forward when your row got recognized as doing its best. The row that got their rocket to the end got a prize. We took naps every afternoon in primer, first and second grades.
 
Back in those days, in fourth grade, every desk had an ink well in it. I had a girl sitting in front of me who had long braids and she would flip them back and they would hit me in the face. She kept it up until I got fed up and just dunked her braids in the ink well. I was moved to the front of the class room then.
 
At St. Pats, the lower grades played in the upper play ground and the older grades got to play down in the parking lot by the tennis courts. One day, a knife fight broke out between two boys in the lower play ground. We all ran down to watch the fight and we got into trouble. We had to write, 250 times, "I will not leave my play area." That was a lot of writing for a first grader but that's when I learned to use two pencils at a time to write.
 
Some of our favorite games to play during recess and lunch were bottle caps and marbles. One year, I found four marbles on my way to school and by the end of the year I had captured and won over 100 marbles. It was a good year.
 
Another memory of St. Pats was when a young kid on the swing got pushed so hard that he went on over the top and fell out of the swing, he broke his arm.
 
When I was older and it snowed, St. Pat's would always get dismissed early. That meant we would have time to get situated on Higgins Hill and stockpile snowballs. When Horace Mann School was let out, we were ready for their attack as they would come up the hill. They knew we were there and they would come charging up the hill snowballs flying. They out numbered us about five to one and so they always chased us off the hill.
 
There were two boys, one was Raymond Testile, who would wait for Chuck and me to be walking up the canyon. They would wait for us with their stockpile of rocks. For a few days we were able to walk around them and get away. But one day they cornered us and Chuck and I had to fight back. Don't remember how much of a fight it was, I remember hitting Raymond and he ran away. After that Chuck and I didn't have any more trouble from them.
 
Our parents, especially Mom, wanted us to have music lessons. I wanted to learn how to play the trumpet. I was told that if I did well the first year on the piano that I could take up the trumpet. I threw myself into it that year and went through two levels of piano books. When the year was up I was told that I had done so well on the piano that they couldn't let me switch to the trumpet. Well, the next four years of lessons were a waste as I don't think I advanced another step. I can still play the Marine's Hymn but that is about all for five years of lessons.
 
I guess the whole family ended up in the school choir. I was in the choir from third grade on.

From Mary Ann ...

I had a hard time in the first grade. I could read writing but did not understand printing. Anyway once I learned to read, I've never stopped.
 
Mom started me on piano lessons and I had eleven years of music lessons from Sister Mary Patricia. She was also the choir director. Chuck and I were in the choir at St. Patricks. I don't know how we were picked for this but I have always loved singing. We sang at the Sunday masses and at evening services. Also, we sang at a lot of funerals. We had to learn to sing in Latin even though we didn't understand it as the mass was said in Latin.
 
My friend, Patsy Bednor, and I played a duet piano march for St. Patrick's school children to march into class at the beginning of school and after lunch. Patsy was killed in a car accident in Texas when she was nine. After that I played the march by myself. When I was in the eighth grade, I was selected to be May Queen and Dot was the crown bearer. We even have proof of that as Mom had pictures made.

From Dorothy ...

I hated going to school and after a while I learned if I got a bellyache they would send me home. So I would double over in pain and cry. I think they usually had Mary Ann walk me home. I would be happy but Mary Ann wasn't. She was mad at me, but I didn't care and I didn't even have to take castor oil when I got home either.
 
The only reason I passed second grade was because Grandma Wasser went down to St. Pats and told them they had better not fail me. Grandma always protected me from everybody. I was her pet.

From Stella ...

I started St. Pat's in the third grade and Fred was in my class. I can't say that I ever remember meeting Rosalie, we just knew each other. Rosalie and I became friends and ended up doing a lot together. One of my best memories at St. Pat's and of Dot, was one day when we had a Hot Lunch made for us. The mothers all worked hard and served the students a spaghetti lunch. Dot was sitting next to us and she just sat there giving her food a dirty look. I asked her what was the matter and she replied, "I hate spaghetti!" Being of good sound Catholic raising I said, "Dot, just offer it up as a sacrifice and eat it." She looked at me raised her plate with both hands above her head and said, "Here God, take it." I can still see the scene today.
 
When I was in eighth grade I came to school just busting with pride because I knew the sister of the High School Student Body President. I figured that was as close to fame as I could get. Rosalie soon straightened me out. In summation of her words, "It's no big deal! It's just Jim, my bossy older brother that thinks he knows everything. He's just my brother, no big deal!"

From Jim ...

We used to walk to school and I was convinced that if we walked up through Gardner Avenue it would be longer than going by the Dairy Queen. We would split up and I would beat everyone but it turned out I just walked faster. I was wrong about the distance. It was the first time I wanted to know how to measure more accurately.

From Mary Ann ...

When I started school, I walked the mile with my two brothers to St. Patrick's. We walked even in the snow. I remember coming in from school being so cold and Mother would have a big pot of soup or beans on the stove with homemade rolls in the warming oven. The wood stove sat out from the wall so we could get in behind it to warm up.
 
When we all walked to school, I remember Dot grabbing at the fence rails along the way since she never wanted to go when she was little.

From Dorothy ...

When I started school, Chuck had to drag me all the time. I grabbed every telephone pole and fence I came to. Once I wrapped my legs and arms around a pole and he had to pull hard to get me loose. Some people thought he was real mean to me or so they told my Mom, and others thought I was a brat. I hated school more than anything. I don't know why. First grade was on the first floor and it was like a dungeon. Sister Agnes was my teacher.
 
One time Mom sent us all to school in a big snow storm. When we got to school no one else was there, so we just turned around and walked back home.

From Jim ...

Since I was in the choir in grade school, I joined the choir in high school. I always loved to sing but the choir director kept putting me farther away from the front. In two weeks I was standing in the back row. Never the less, I stayed in the choir for two years. I also played in the school band but went on mainly to sports. I played baseball, football, basketball, and ran track. It kept me out of mischief.
 
I had a summer job at the Pay and Tote in Lowell. The main thing I remember about that job was my first chore of the day. I had to scrape the mold off of the hamburger and then remix it. It was a fast selling item so it must have tasted O.K. and no one ever got sick.

From Mary Ann ...

Bisbee High School was built on the side of a hill with all three levels being level with the ground. I was in the band, glee club, mixed choir in addition to the required classes. The band was a lot of fun. Once, the band went to Phoenix to the Salad Bowl. I think it is called the Sun Bowl now. Another band trip we took was to Cananea, Sonora, Mexico. Half the band got drunk so Bisbee never got to celebrate Cinco de Mayo again.
 
Jim was great at every thing he did. He was a hard act to follow, especially since he was elected Student Body President. Chuck and I did a lot of things together. We were in the bowling league, band, St. Pat's adult choir, etc. Chuck was working at the Warren Laundry up Brewery Gulch, so he had money and he paid for my bowling at the Warren Bowling Alley. One year we took ABC Junior Championship. (Chuck, Sally Schooley, John LaRoe, Pat Hartman, Collier Maxwell, and I were on the team.)

From Stella ...

I have to tell a few of the tales of high school days with the Hallsted involvement. That band trip to Cananea, Mexico was the first trip I got to take when I was a freshman. Innocent little me was really in shock when I saw the band members getting drunk. But the person I still remember that impressed me the most was Mary Ann. She was going around trying to help those who were sick and I remember her stopping one band member who thought he was "Superman" from jumping off the balcony. I thought she was wonderful.
 
Most of the other band trips' memories were with Rosalie. We were generally so tired after our marching sessions that we usually couldn't get into trouble. Rosalie carried the big bass horn and I carried the large bass drum. After lugging those around for an hour or two we just dragged back to the bus.
 
During our high school years, Rosalie and I would spend a lot of summers swimming over at the Recreation Center that was right across from my house. She would come down, especially on "Girl's Night" and we would swim for hours, usually we had the pool to ourselves. One "Girl's Night" we went over to the Rec Center and headed down to the changing room. We heard boys' voices from the pool and decided that we would just wait till they were out and then we could go in. They swam and swam and we finally got tired of waiting and were going upstairs to complain to the manager, because, after all, it was "girl's night." about the time we headed out the door the boys were getting out of the pool, and guess what... they weren't wearing swim suits. We screamed and a few of the guys screamed and we ran up stairs. We complained and got to go swimming when the boys finally came out. Needless to say we had to go around with red faces for the next few days at school.
 
Also during our High School years, Rosalie and I took sewing lessons from Mrs. Clark in Warren. We would meet on the bus and ride to her home. The bus was usually empty, except for us, and we would give the bus driver a hard time. During the bus ride we would ring the bell for each bus stop and then when the driver would stop and turn around we would give him our very most innocent look and giggle like crazy when he started up again. If I remember correctly we did it a lot especially if the driver was the "cute one."
 
While in High School, Rosalie discovered that I couldn't ride a horse and she took it upon herself to teach me. The next thing I knew I was on my way to Tombstone for a day at Aunt Rose's and Uncle Jim's place. Rosalie got me up on a horse, I don't remember which one, and we started off on a slow walk. Then the horse knew that he had a novice on his back and he was boss. He took off on a full gallop and Rosalie started yelling at me, "Say WHOA!" I was holding on for dear life and saying, "Whoa." She finally caught up with me and stopped the horse. After that I rode behind her on her horse. I made two dicoveries that day; one, horses have very hard bones and two, I knew why cowboys were bow-legged. Rosalie never did get me to ride again.
 
I went to school with Fred since the third grade, but the most memorable time for me was in our senior year. The school had a special award ceremony in the Gym for assorted awards but when Fred walked out to receive the Harvard Math Award, the school went wild. He strolled out there, looking good, in a suit. Heard that the teachers weren't too happy about him getting it because he just wasn't their favorite student. But he got the highest score on the test, so he got the award.

From Jim ...

I can remember when Mary Ann was born. We were at Grandma Wasser's house and we were told that the doctor was going to bring a new baby to us. When the doctor came he was carrying a black bag. Later on they called us in and the doctor opened his bag and there was Mary Ann laying in the bag. It was quite a surprise for us.
 
Taking baths when we were younger was quite an adventure. Mom and Dad would bring out the big tub and set it in the kitchen and fill it with hot water. We would go in one at a time to bathe and be rinsed off. Mom would try and alternate who got to go first but we all claimed it was our turn.
 
Christmas was always special and we would have gifts under the tree as well as some gifts hanging from the tree limbs. I remember once, I was about ten, that all I wanted was a pocket knife. I was so anxious that year but after opening all the gifts the knife wasn't among them. Days later when taking the tree down I found the knife hanging in the tree. I don't know if they went out and got it later and hung it up or just forgot about it. But I was happy with my knife.
 
One year the Big Meal Drive Inn in Tombstone Canyon had a grand opening special of "half a chicken for 50 cents." The Hallsteds were supplying the chickens. We started out with fifty. In a couple of hours they called back and asked if they could get another twenty-five. In the evening they called for another twenty-five and that exhausted the stock. Of course, each new order meant the chickens had to be killed. I had the job of cutting off the heads, Mom dipped them in hot water and Chuck and Mary Ann plucked the feathers. The family always thought the success of the Grand Opening wasn't the 50 cent deal but the Hallsted's great chickens.

From Mary Ann ...

subtitle : Clarence and Tillie's family as seen through the eyes of Mary Ann.

I was born October 28, 1933 in my Grandmother's home at 35 Wood Canyon, Bisbee, Arizona. I was the third child of Clarence and Tillie Hallsted. These were depression years and that's why I was born in my Grandmother's bed.
 
I've been told that my mother and father were married in St. Patrick's sacristy, since at that time the church would not permit a marriage between a Catholic and Protestant to take place before the altar.
 
When Grandpa Wasser died we moved to Wood Canyon to live with Grandma. Mom and Dad bought the house from Grandma for $900. Wood Canyon was a neat place to live - the house sat on the side of the mountain and the yard was terraced. In the summer we could run up the hill to the city swimming pool and stay there until Dad came after us. It was nice living with Grandma since Mom had her church meetings to attend, she knew Grandma was there for us.
 
When Rose came along, Fred and I were already playmates and we excluded her from our playa lot of the time. I was six when Dot was born. I didn't have a lot to do with her until she was older. I do remember dropping some baby out of my arms when I was sitting in the rocking chair. I remember Mom picked up the baby and gave it back to me. She must have been really tired.
 
Grandma Wasser used to take all of us kids to the Saturday matinee at the Lyric Theater, usually a cowboy show and the Bowery Boys. Roy Rogers or Hopalong Cassidy were the usual matinee fare for the cowboy show and we really enjoyed them. I don't know how Grandma stood all the noise. We rode the bus to and from the show. I think the buses used to run every 20 minutes.
 
I remember Dad reading to us while we sat around the wood stove in the kitchen. And coming home in the car at night and Dad singing "Home on the Range" or "Big Rock Candy Mountain."
 
Dad was missing the little finger on his left hand and he told us that a rabbit bit it off. Actually it got smashed in an accident underground. I also remember Dad sitting up and coughing half the night but he never missed work, six days a week. Dad played with us kids a lot, baseball probably the most.
 
Christmas and Easter were real celebrations in our family. Mom would not take the Christmas tree down until after the Epiphany. Mom and Dad would order our Christmas presents from Sears. I remember once when the packages didn't come in time. They went downtown and bought presents for us. When the packages from Sears arrived, we had another Christmas. We always sat up Christmas Eve after Midnight Mass playing Monopoly, sometimes until 4:00 A.M.
 
When it got close to Easter, Mom would hide candy Easter eggs in grass nests in the yard for us to find. We always had a big Easter egg hunt. Dad was good at hiding the eggs. We ran around the yard looking in all the likely spots. I believe I found the most eggs one year.
 
Holidays were big family affairs. We always had a big dinner with Uncle Frank, Aunt Helen and family, Uncle Jim, Aunt Rose, and Grandma Wasser.
 
Mom told me she always wanted to play the piano. When she was working, either at the Post Office or Electric Company, she finally had the money to buy a piano and take lessons. Mom started me on piano lessons when I started school. I was so short I had to stand at the piano. I had eleven years of music lessons with Sister Mary Patricia.
 
Dad always cooked breakfast on Sunday. His menu never varied, hot cakes, bacon and eggs. He had his special way of making hot cakes. First the dry ingredients in a bowl, then he would make a well in the middle and add the eggs and milk, stirring from the middle to the sides until it was all mixed up. His hot cakes were so good - especially with the maple syrup which came in a log cabin shaped tin.
 
Mom never raised her voice that I can remember. She sang as she worked. (My son, Frank, reminds me of Mom since he used to sing all the time.) I loved home so much that I really never wanted to leave. I had the best parents that anyone could ever ask for.
 
Summers were always fun - between the swimming pool and Uncle Jim and Aunt Roses's place in Tombstone, reading books, and playing, we were always busy, never bored. However, I found out the meaning of homesickness when I was staying at Guthrie's. Aunt Rose tried to keep us busy doing little jobs. She used to drive to St. David's for grain and sometimes hay. She never had children so we were her children to play with. She bathed us in the big kitchen sink. After we finished the work Aunt Rose had for us to do, she would take us to the Tombstone swimming pool. While we swam, she would read.
 
Aunt Rose bought my first strawberry soda at the drugstore in Tombstone after Sunday mass. She sang in the church choir and later she directed it. Saturday evenings, Uncle Jim and Aunt Rose would take us with them to the Crystal Palace. I had my first BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) sandwich with a coke there. We would play in the fallen down adobe buildings across the street from the Crystal Palace. There were only about 75 people living in Tombstone at that time so the kids all had a great deal of freedom, everyone knew everyone else. I remember Uncle Jim tap dancing from the floor, to the table, to the top of the piano which Mabel Rockhill played by ear.
 
The boys learned to drive at the Guthrie's. They drove to the well to turn on the pump or the windmill. I always loved the trip to the well and we would look for sea shells in the sand.
 
Tucson was Mom's favorite shopping place. I can't remember who she went on those trips with, but since Mom didn't drive, she had to go with friends. Dad was always at work since the mines worked six days a week as long as I can remember.
 
We went on picnics to the Huachuca Mountains where Mom and Dad had placer mining claims. (From Jim: At that time everyone had a mining claim. There was always the hope that you would strike it rich.) Mom always hoped the mining claims could be patented but the Forest Service didn't want that and it was difficult to prove that you could make a living mining that area. Dad always did the required work to keep them current with the law. I remember him using dynamite there but I don't remember why. The trips to the mining claims were just picnics to me, and I always had a lot of fun.
 
We had one camping trip to Turkey Creek in the Chiricahua's. The kids had a blast but Mom was ready to go home at the end of one week of camping. I remember Fred and I climbed up a big cedar tree and Dad had to come up and get Fred down.
 
I went on only one hunting trip with Dad and the boys. We had gone to Sunday mass and it was late in the morning and Dad didn't think we would see any deer; however, two bucks were sighted after we had walked just a little while. Jim shot one and Dad shot the other deer. I think some men from Tucson wanted to take Jim's buck but I don't think they got it.
 
Once I had the flu and was very sick. I got to lay in Mom & Dad's bed and I loved it because I could lay there and look at the picute on the wall of an Angel and two children. I just loved that picture and would have been content to lie there always. Mom had to force me to eat and to get well.
 
After graduation, I went to work at the Arizona Insurance Agency. We worked five and one-half days a week except when we got behind, then we worked overtime for the privilege of having our dinner bought. I went to work for $100 a month and after three months, made $125. When I left there after three years, I was making $275. I met Delmar when he came into the office to report an automobile accident. Two weeks later, he saw me eating dinner with Val Dugie and he came over and asked me out. I had just broken up with a friend and so I said yes.
 
We were married on February 27, 1954. We had nine children, six girls, three boys. Catherine Ann was born November 17, 1954 ; Deborah Jean, January 6, 1956; Mary Dell January 4, 1957; Judith Elizabeth, November 28, 1958; Richard Clarence, February 17, 1960; Rosalie Susan, December 7, 1961; Frank Joseph, July 28, 1963; Charles Frederick, January 1, 1965; and Sandra Michelle, June 16, 1971. Delmar died on June 18, 1995, which happened to be Father's Day.

Thoughts from Rosalie about growing up...

Memories of Bisbee, church, school and home. Mom was always busy; she grew almost everything we ate. For a dime we pulled weeds and cat-tails in our socks. Fred, Dot, and I were her worst helpers. We pulled and stepped on more plants than anyone.
 
We played Commando and dug pits all around the house and yard. The flowers that looked like dolls were my favorites. We had'bee hives up by the chicken pen and when Dad took the honey it was exciting. Bees allover; the neighbor kids couldn't be kept away. The honey-suckle was sweet, but bees were always all over it.
 
When we cleaned the hen house or gathered eggs, the chickens would try to dispose of us any way possible. I specifically remember when Fred was suppose to keep the white rooster away from me while I put the grain in the troughs. That booger really got me good, though; those wings and spurs were all over me. (Fred, where did you get off to?) I'm sure I did the same to you and Dot, but it was all pay back, or as Mrs. Clinton says, "I don't recall."
 
One of my earliest memories is when Mary, Fred., and I were in the garden up by the chicken pen. Mary said Mom had a baby in her tummy. I was devastated! My mom did not eat babies!
 
Jim was elusive. They all talked about what he was doing. Then Jim could tell the most wonderful stories, and I was sure he had done them all. His stories about trips to Alaska, Africa and so many more. And could Jim ever fly a kite! We chased one all the way to St. Pat's. I knew we'd be in trouble for not telling mom where we were going!
 
One time we were playing "kick the can." It got dark and Dad had called, but oh no, just one more game. I am still sorry I didn't have the guts to go in. Then there was the time we were playing "enchantment." Chuck and Jim were going to tag me, so I took off down the hill and fell. Undaunted I freed Mary and Fred and just kept on going up the steps to the house. Mom's cure was worse than the scrapes.
 
Remember the wood piles and how dirty we got. (Those were good times.) Chuck was my protection or tease. It was a good way to get a quarter.
 
Chuck was always helping Mom and the neighbors. He had a temper like Dad's and it was best to disappear. I was bursting with pride when Chuck and Jim served at mass. On my First Communion day Chuck was right there, so I knew if God was mad at me because I'd missed a sin in Confession, Chuck would take care of me. It was a beautiful day, and I can still see Fred's smiling face in the church.
 
Mary Ann, "Miss Perfect," her shoes always shined, her dress was neat, and she could play the piano "like an angel," to put it in our Grandma's words. Some how she always had matching socks, and I am sure I was a pain in the butt to her. Mary played the organ and sang in church, and her hair shone in the sun light peeking through the colonial windows. I played with her and Fred only once that I can remember. They put me in a bush and told me I was caught by Indians. Finally, years later, I realized they had left me for dead. Disgusted, I went and played with my paper dolls on the front porch behind the swing. The trap door was my house, and the swing was the bombing planes that flew over- head.
 
Fred was a story teller, full of facts and ready to share them when Mary wasn't around. He was a bit skittish, and I remember how he used to hide in the dark room and then knock me down getting out. The time I went out to help him close the hen house with the flash light was vintage. As I came around the house he was at the top of the steps. He screamed. I screamed. He ran around the entire house, still beating me to the stove. Fred always had a bandage somewhere on his head.
 
Dot was the one who kicked me out of Grandma's bed. She had red hair and was almost as cute as my favorite grandson, Jason. (He will not be mentioned again, because any future inference would lead to a war between all of my kids. Jason would win though.) Anyway, Dot could smile and get away with murder. I remember the day she broke her last bottle. It was on the top step by the front door. Mom said no more bottle and Fred and I cried.
 
When we were in the sixth or seventh grade and the car that Mr. X was driving spun out of control and flipped over. That was the car Dot was in. I ran around frantically looking for Dot, and there she was, eating a cupcake, a white Snow Ball. Then when we went home, they put Dot in another car and Mrs. Solas let me off at the school and I had to walk home. I stunk of gas, I was filthy dirty, and I had lost Mary's swimming suit when the car caught on fire.
 
I remember going to church with the whole family packed in the car. Dot's hat was on backward; Mom and most of us kids piled in the back seat, Grandma, Dot, and Dad seated comfortably in front. It all felt so secure. Church was beautiful and quiet and God was there waiting for us. During May and October we went to evening services. Every first Friday of the month we had mass and breakfast in the basement, then school.
 
(Additional thoughts: Who thought of creating socks? Why don't we reconize Jason's birthday as a national holiday? How did Jason come to be the super-genius that he is? Why is there a silent "k" in words such as knife and knock? Finally, who would win a fight between the 1986 Oakland Raiders and the Spice Girls? special note: Jason helped his Grandmother by typing this for her, editing it, and, I feel, adding a few comments. stella.)

From Dorothy... (with input from Chuck)

When I was little, Chuck says two or three and part of four years old, I had such power over my brothers and sisters. I would hold my breath until I passed out and they would really get it. Everyone had to do what I said. Chuck would worry over me. He even gave me the last rites once. He broke me of the habit when he finally had had enough and threw a bucket of water on me.
 
Before I started to school and the other kids were in school, Mom and I would ride the bus to town to buy groceries. Chuck and I think the bus tokens were six for 25 cents for adults, eight tokens for 25 cents for children. If you went past Lowell you would have to put in another token. We went to the store at least once a week usually the P. D. (Phelps Dodge) store because she could charge it. I remember the charge slips. Mom liked to go to Safeway when Dad would take her, probably on pay day. P.D. delivered groceries but Mom didn't trust them, so she carried hers home. She had three shopping bags. She'd put the two little ones in the big one. On the way home all of them were full. Before we got home I would start screaming to get carried and she would pick me up and carry me too. Grandma Wasser lived with us and she would check the groceries and gripe about what Mom got or forgot. She always had to have real butter. The rest of us ate "oleo" (margarine) unless we had a cow and then they made butter.
 
My castor oil story, once Mom was going to make me take some and I climbed a tree and stayed nearly all day. Every time I came down she would try and make me take it and back up I would go. Dad finally came home and I got out of it.
 
One Christmas, I was about four. I thought the red ornament on the tree looked like a delicious apple. I bit into it. Aunt Rose came in and I was standing on the chair with blood coming out of my mouth. She took me to the hospital.
 
Dad liked to tease me a lot and he told me the rabbit had bit off his small finger. He said he had to kill the rabbit because of it and that there wasn't going to be an Easter. Boy, did that upset me.

Hunting was a normal part of life for the Hallsted family. Licenses and ammunition were bought annually at Brophys. They would hunt in the Huachucas, the Canelos, and even close by in Dixie Canyon. Dad got a deer almost every year and so do did Jim, Chuck, and Fred when they hunted. Venison was a staple at the dinner table and Mom was great at carving and cooking the wild game.

From Jim ...

When I was twelve, I went hunting with Dad and Henry Smith in the Canelo Mountains. We left camp at 7:00 A.M. and just a quarter of a mile away, a buck jumped out and I shot at it. I shot three times and missed three times. Dad said, "That's O.K., we'll see another one soon."
 
We hiked over the hill getting farther and farther away from camp when another buck jumped out. I shot at him. Dad wasn't sure if I'd hit him so we went through the brush looking for him. After I found the buck, I was so excited that I swallowed my gum as I yelled, "I got him! I got him!" Dad was the one that got the job of carrying the deer all the way back to camp.

From Jim ... Javelina Hog Stories

We, (Dad, Mom, Chuck, Mary, and I,) were at Jone's ranch, in Ash Canyon, and their dog, Sport, was out in the hills. All of a sudden we heard, "Yip, yip, yip! !" and the dog came running down the mine road with at least six Javelina hogs charging behind him. The dog shot between us and on through. The Javelinas were hot on his trail but slammed on their brakes when they spotted us humans. They just turned around and trotted back up in the hills.
 
One day, I had been hunting on the ridge in Dixie Canyon when I came across a herd of Javelinas. I shot at one and thought I had missed so I shot at another one and saw it drop. I went over to get it and I discovered that I had killed the first one too. (OOPS, one is the limit.) I gutted both of them and removed the musk sacks as I didn't want to waste the meat. (Mom probably wished I had because they were hard to cook plus they tended to be on the tough side.)
 
I carried the first Javelina down to the house and saw Mr. Wiley outside in his yard. He called to me, "See you had a bit of good luck." After leaving the first one at the house I returned for the second one. On the way back home, I saw Mr. Wiley again. He asked, "What are you doing with another pig?" I told him, "Oh, this is Chuck's. He didn't feel like carrying it."
 
A little while later Chuck was heading back from his fruitless hunting trip and came across Mr. Wiley. Mr. Wiley congratulated Chuck on the Javelina he'd killed. Chuck gave him a questioning look and replied in disgust, "I didn't see one all day." Mr. Wiley just smiled.

From Chuck ...

One hunting trip Dad, Paul, Kenny and I drove up the Divide hauling three horses. We drove up to Juniper Flats, where we rode the horses to Aqua Escondite (Hidden Water) and set up camp. All that first day it rained on us and since Kenny hadn't brought a coat I let him have mine. The next morning we woke up to snow everywhere and came to the decision that we had better close up camp and get back home before we all froze.
 
Kenny, Paul, and Dad rode the horses and I walked most of the way. Paul walked part of the time which was quite a feat for a 10 year old. Kenny and I got to the truck and hauled the horse trailer up to the top of the Divide. Paul & Dad had rode the horses back. Paul was so cold that he couldn't even get off the horse. I had to lift him off. It was the first time I gave Paul some whiskey. That was the "most miserable" hunting trip I had ever been on.
 
My most memorable camping trip was with Fred, Dad, and Melvin Cox. We went up into the Kaibabs. We had to stop on the way to put chains on the car because it was snowing. We made camp at Pine Flats. I was sick and the next morning Dad suggested that I stay in camp. "Can't do that. I've got to go hunting," I said.
 
We took off and we split up with Dad and me going together. I shot a buck and it fell into the canyon. Dad and I scrambled down there and dad took one look and gasped, "God, son you killed an elk."
 
I just replied, "No, its a deer." Its antlers had a 33 and 1/2 inch spread. That was the biggest buck I'd ever gotten. Melvin Cox got his deer that day but Dad and Fred never did get one that year.
 
Another time Dad, Paul and I rode up to Juniper Flats again to go hunting. On the second day Dad was cinching up "Flicker", his horse, and I said, "You better tighten up that belt once more, you know that horse likes to 'bloat up'." **(see below) "Don't tell me how to ride a horse, kid." was Dad's reply.
 
We were riding along later and Dad was on a rise above me. I heard a sound, like a snort and I looked and there was the horse, the saddle underneath him, and no Dad in sight. when I got up there, Dad was on the ground, underneath the horse's feet, with the saddle just handing loosely around the horse's middle. Dad had heard a noise behind him and when he turned he put his weight on one side of the stirrup and the saddle just slipped on around the horse and Dad landed flat on the ground. He had hit a rock and broke his wrist, so that ended the hunting trip.
 
(**Bloat up - meant the horse would expand his sides so that you couldn't cinch up the saddle tightly. If you didn't check it often your saddle would start to slide around on you.)

From Stella ...

I actually went hunting, one time. I was young, just newly' married and in love and would follow my "sweetheart" (Jim) any place. To tell the truth, I think I blocked the whole two days out of my mind. I know someone killed a deer. I remember walking and walking and walking. But it's Dot that made the trip the most memorable. Just before leaving the house Dot grabbed some chocolate sitting on the table and ate it. All during the day, she kept excusing herself to head for the bushes. Dad was starting to get worried about her and asked if she was sick. Well, after a discussion it came out that all she had eaten that day was the chocolate bar she found on the table. Turned out that the candy was X-lax and not a Hershey's.

By Catherine Anne (Johnston) (Ducat) Silva...

I was the first grandchild of Tillie and Clarence Hallsted. (editoral note: the first born of Mary Ann) I was born in McCloud, California to a very young couple who were very much in love.
 
My children: Brian Kelly Ducat born July 26, 1975 and Demoria Dianne Ducat born Feb 22, 1977
 
My children have both married but my daughter is now divorced. My son has blessed me with two beautiful grandchildren. Kylie Anne Ducat will be three years old on August 3 and Alexus Kelly was one year old on February 22, 1998. Brian's wife, Krissy, is like a daughter to me and is a wonderful mother of my grand daughters. She is an exceptionally beautiful and kind woman.
 
My daughter has give me a most wonderful grandson, Easton Riley Webster. He will be three years old on September 15, 1998.
 
I lived with my grandparents off and on for many years until I started high school. I never felt that their home wasn't mine also.
 
I went to St. Patrick's grade school. The same grade school that Grandma sent her own children to. We, my sisters and I, were blessed to have gone there but mostly we were blessed to have lived with my grandparents.
 
Grandma was the most kind hearted person I have ever met. She had great patience and a strong faith.
 
Grandpa was a tough little man who worked hard his whole life and seemed to enjoy being right. He was a fair man who grew a little bitter in his later years. But we always loved him and he always loved us.
 
I remember one day Grandma, was chopping a chicken's head off, when the already dead bird, escaped and ran down the side yard where I was. I can still see that chicken running at me with its head barely on. I was terrified. I can't remember how far the chicken ran before it realized it was dead, but I ran all the way down the stairs and into the lower yard.
 
I had a similar experience when I went to South Dakota with Grandpa and Grandma. Grandpa, his brother and I, were out in the field where the cattle were. My great uncle pointed out a calf with his mother and suggested that I go over and pat it. Well, since I never grew up around cattle I believed him and went over to the calf. The cow started snorting and shaking her head at me. I still went closer. All of a sudden the cow turned towards me and started chasing me. I turned around and ran as fast as I could. Grandpa was standing about fifty feet in front of me with his arms outstretched. I ran right past him and onto a large tractor. That cow looked bigger than Grandpa to me. He used to laugh and tell that story and how I ran past him to jump on a tractor. I was very fortunate to have been able to spend time and go places with the two of them.
 
I wish that I was there with all of you. I love and miss you all very much. May the Lord keep you in his arms.

Images of Bisbee From Cathy...

Bisbee
The town I lived in, Bisbee, is in the Mule Mountains of Southeastern Arizona. It's there where the desert runs up and down the hills and deep into the canyons. The desert was everywhere you looked, except in the sky.
 
The homes clung to the sides of the steep mountains, the way old paint clings to walls. From each house there are long steep stairs leaving old women breathless and the children strong.

The Garden - Grandma
On the side of the house there was a garden carved out of the hillside. This was my Grandma's place. Every day she would work there pulling weeds and pinching the life out of some unfortunate bug she had caught eating her garden.
 
Grandma always wore her straw hat, an old work dress and an apron to work in. I never saw her in anything but a dress. Grandma never yelled. She always spoke to you in a kind way, never belittling.
 
She was plump and had gray-brown hair (mostly gray) , a full set of false teeth, and smelled of Desert Flower; a sweet, musky Grandma smell. Her cheeks were baby soft and her hands callused and bent with arthritis. She worked hard, with gumption, and loved life.

Grandpa
Grandpa had the bluest eyes; my mother called them piercing blue. He didn't have many teeth and most of his hair was missing. He had a monks ring for hair with a few long strands combed over the top. Grandpa always wore a hat, a hat with a brim. He wasn't real tall and he was kind of wiry. He worked in the copper mines.
 
When he came home from work, he would grab you and his whiskers would scratch up your cheeks. He always smelled of Old Spice.
 
Grandpa always got up way before the sun and cooked himself pancakes or eggs and bacon. If you got up with him you'd get some too, instead of Grandma's oatmeal.
 
He was a good man and tried to be fair. He always did what had to be done, even if it made him seem hard.

Summer
Our house was in Wood Canyon, half way up a hill. The street was nothing more than concrete poured on the canyon bottom, with two slabs joined in a v-shaped wedge. There were no sidewalks but we didn't need them.
 
Summer is when the lightning and thunder storms would come. Huge monstrous clouds that seemed to come from nowhere, all black and purple like a day old bruise. Bright flashes and roaring, consuming thunder would send us racing towards the house. From the front porch, we would watch buckets full of water pouring from the sky. The lightning left jagged scars when we closed our eyes. For ten to twenty minutes the storm would rage, then stop. The canyon road would turn first into a stream, just filling the gutter, then into a fast shallow river which we would run and play in. Like the storm, the river wouldn't last, not in this desert.

By Deborah Jean (Johnston) Shriver...

I am the second eldest daughter of Mary Ann and Del Johnston. I have four children, Melissa Overly, Pauline Overly, Joseph Shriver and Kelly Shriver.
 
I have a lot of fond memories of growing up with my Grandparents, sisters, and cousins. Our grandmother was very gentle and kind. She could also be very stern especially when you got sick. She felt that if you were sick enough to stay home you had to have that dreaded castor oil which she thought could cure any ailment. For the longest time, every time I smelled oranges it reminded me of castor oil. When it came time for the castor oil, our grandmother, who was small and gentle, became the strongest woman alive. She would run after you, catch you, then sit on you, hold your nose, with a spoon of castor oil in hand, open your mouth, put a spoon full of it in, and rub your throat then stick a piece of orange in your mouth. She would say that would get rid of the taste. All because you might be running a fever, have a sore throat or the measles!
 
I remember Grandpa coming home from work with a bag of M&M's. He would give us a big handful. Grandpa got us a donkey one year, named Dolly. She was very stubborn but we all loved her. One of our adventures with her was an afternoon going up the canyon to the hills. I think Mary Dell, Peggy, Kenny, and Marisha were on her back while I was walking along side of them. We were heading back home and a bunch of dogs came running after us biting Dolly's ankles and barking wildly. The next thing I saw was Dolly kicking at the dogs to get them off her ankles. All of the kids that were on her back flew over her head onto the pavement. She ran home while the kids on the pavement were screaming and crying. They were all Okay except for being scared silly, bruised and scraped up. We had a lot of fun with her.
 
We had a lot of fun games we made up. Like "lost children in the woods." We made manzanite bushes our homes, forts and castles. We had baseball games in the canyon and foot races.
 
Grandma and Grandpa made us do our home work after dinner but the rest of the day was ours. I remember never needing to wear shoes as we ran up and down the canyon and hills. I don't remember my feet ever hurting. Swinging on the poles in front of the house, jumping off the wall with umbrellas trying to float down.
 
Grandpa came up with the idea one day to make a pair of stilts. We carried it a bit further and made our own because Grandpa didn't make the foot holds high enough for us. We had them so high we had to climb on things to even reach the foot holds. I don't know how we survived. We had a lot of fun.
 
In the evening when we would be watching TV, Grandma would ask, "Who wants to curl my hair or rub my back?" We would fight over who would do it for her. I loved my Grandma very much. It was a pleasure to do that for her. She didn't care how the curlers were put in. She loved having us pamper her. I remember the sweet scent that she always wore, Desert Flower, and how she would put her powder on her face. She would wear a hat when we would go places. Mostly to St. Patrick's Parish, or bingo. I always thought she was beautiful. I never really saw her age or her crippling arthritis, she was my Grandma. As I got older and saw her, I realized how much pain my Grandma was really in. As I remember, the evenings, as she would say her prayers, and let us curl her hair, and rub lotion on her back. She was a very brave and wonderful woman.
 
Grandma would tell me how lucky I was to have fair skin. I thought it was awful, always burning, and being teased by other kids. She would make me feel better by telling me when she was young, "white skin was in." She would tell us if anybody asks your name tell them, "I'm Charlie Brown and if you ask me again I'll knock you down." There was another one she would tell us to say, "My name is Puddin Fame, ask me again and I'll tell you the same." Spunk, she had quite a bit of it.
 
I remember coming home from school and seeing Grandma in the garden pulling weeds. I loved running up to her and giving her a hug. When she worked in the garden she always wore a worn out idress and apron and always an old hat on her head.
 
Grandpa always had a pot of oatmeal cooking during school day mornings. On Sundays, he would make us pancakes then off to church we would go. Grandpa used to call me "Red" and Judy "Blondie." I don't think I ever remember him calling me by my name. He was a hard working man at work and at home. He was an umpire for our school baseball games and he was fair. But at the time I didn't think so.
 
Grandpa took us on some camping trips. One, I remember pretty well. He was singing us a song in the tent, "Oh, it's so nice to get up in the morning, but it's better to stay in bed," in his low deep voice. The stool he was sitting on fell over and we laughed and laughed.
 
I could go on and on, there are so many good memories living with my grandparents. I knew they loved me and I loved them and still do. They let us run up and down hills and let us just have fun. I had the best childhood any kid could ever have.

By Mary Dell (Johnston) Boek ...

I am the daughter of Mary Ann and Del Johnston. I married Daniel Boek and have two children, James Daniel Boek and Sheila Marie Boek.
 
I remember the canyon (Wood Canyon) running, playing, growing up in Grandma and Grandpa's home. I remember the change of the seasons and the smell of the desert when it blooms.
 
I loved being with Grandma. We spent a lot of time in the garden, picking flowers and vegetables and pulling weeds. Grandma always had a smile and she sang all of the time. She taught me how to be patient and appreciate things most people overlooked and took for granted.
 
I love that she gave me a love for God and an insight to what being Catholic is. We would pray every day for our family and for the people in Purgatory. This might seem a little odd but when we did it together it seemed so natural and real. I feel that my Grandma influenced my spiritual life more than anyone. Going to church was one of the main things we did together and it was always good. I would often reach over and touch her hand, I loved her hands, they seemed so comforting to me. Her hands gave her a lot of pain, they were bent from arthritis but to me they were the most soft, loving and beautiful hands anyone ever had.
 
One Memorial Day, we collected flowers from the yard and wrapped them in wet paper towels, found a bunch of mason jars and filled a couple of jugs with water and then headed for the graveyard. At the graveyard, Grandpa opened the tail gate of the pickup and pulled all of the things collected close so we could get started putting the flowers in the jars and filling them with water. Grandma knew quite a few of the people in the graveyard and would tell a little about each of them while we placed the flowers on the graves of her family and friends. This was an all day adventure. I was very young, but the respect my Grandparents had for people that had died and for people in general was a great gift that I hope to give my children.
 
There were so many stories and so many years that it's hard to pick only one or two.
 
There was a donkey named Dolly, Debbie, my sister, and I would ride her up and down the canyon for hours. I would always get to sit on the back while Debbie guided Dollie, heck, I didn't care just as long as I was part of it.
 
Oh yea, there were lots of chickens, every morning we were woke up by the crowing of the rooster. When we would have to feed the chickens it would be very scary. Debbie would go in the pen first and I would follow but very slowly. There was the killer rooster who took great pleasure in scaring the pants off of you while you were trying to feed them. It was always exciting.
 
I loved going to Tombstone and playing on the ranch, the only draw back was the fact that I would have to sleep with Great Grandma. This was frightening because the adults would talk about her dying. When I was in bed with her, this was my main thought, so I prayed, like all night, so that she wouldn't die while I was sleeping with her. It must have worked because she never did.
 
And there was castor oil and orange slices! Don't ever be sick. Grandma would chase you down and plug your nose and rub your neck and slam an orange slice in your mouth. It didn't matter if it was your leg you broke or a fever, it was always the same medicine. It was to clean you out and get rid of the bad stuff, whatever it was.

By Judy (Johnston) Amador ...

I am the daughter of Mary Ann and Del Johnston and I'm married to James Amador. I have three children, Andrea Michelle Amador, Jessica Alia Amador, and Katrina Melba Amador.
 
Well, I have very few memories of Bisbee, as I was very young. I know that Grandpa told me I was a cactus jumper, I believe it was on my birthday. I went out to play and thought I could jump cacti. Well, I landed in the middle of it. I went crying to Grandpa and at first he was mad - then he laughed! I never jumped cactus again.
 
I remember having barbecues at Uncle Chuck's. It was delicious! He made his own sauce.
 
I remember they had chickens and a mean old rooster who would chase me in the yard. One day the rooster almost attacked me. The next day Grandpa had that rooster plucked and hanging from the porch.
 
Grandma use to smoke, as I called it! She used a bowl of something and would bend over it with a towel over her head. I did not know what it was. (From Jim & Stella: This was Mom's cure for her asthma. It was some leaf type of medication that she got by mail. She would take a few leaves out, light them and inhale the smoke. She swore it helped. Only remember that the smell was very strong.)
 
I played on the hill by the house a lot. We use to play house and circus. My older sisters would set up a beam to walk over and we would be acrobats.
 
Grandpa would try to help me with home work sometimes. I walked from Grandpa's to Sue and Chuck's house. Sue, Chuck, Jolyn and Paul were my best friends. I appreciated living with them.

By Peggy (Kershaw) Livingston...

I am the daughter of Rosalie and Robert Kershaw. I am married to John Livingston. I have two sons, James Paul Livingston and Joseph Ryan Livingston.
 
The center of our families, me and my cousins, was Grandma and Grandpa's house. We went there every weekend. The grownups played cards and us kids had a blast. Grandma would get tired and go to bed early. (I have no idea what time that was.) I would go lay down with her, or one of the other cousins would, because we know our parents would probably just leave us there for the night. On many occasions lots of us cousins would get to sleep at Grandpa's. Our parents would come in the morning to get us for Church.
 
I liked to get up early with Grandpa. We would always cook oatmeal (leftovers were always for the cats and dogs) and bacon, eggs, and hotcakes. The hotcakes were prepared a special way. All dry ingredients first, push them to the sides forming a crater which you then placed the eggs and milk. Stir well. The griddle was turned on and a "tester pancake" was put on by itself first. As everyone was showing up at Grandpa and Grandma, they would tell us what they wanted to eat and we would also make different shapes with the pancake dough.
 
I also helped Grandpa outside in the yard as much as possible. There was always lots of garden to water, chickens (for awhile), dogs, and cats to take care of.
 
I also remember Grandma always had hats and fancy shoes. She would let us try them on, but "please be careful." By the time I was in the fourth or fifth grade my feet were too big to even pretend I could wear Grandma's shoes. Grandma and I also used to sit in the kitchen and we would have butter and sugar sandwiches. I can't remember what we talked about but I always enjoyed myself.

from Sue Hallsted

Grandma Hallsted had saved Gold Bond stamps until she had, I think over ten books and she was anxious to cash them, which meant a trip to Tucson.
 
Leaving Chuck and Grandpa Hallsted to baby-sit, as our kids were quite small, Grandma Hallsted, Dot, and I took off in Grandpa's truck to Tucson.
 
It was summer and very hot and we couldn't run the air conditioner in town, so Dot and I had our Tupper Ware glasses of ice tea. I'm not sure if Grandma had a drink. I had big side pockets on my purse so I was sticking my glass in one of the pockets so it wouldn't spill.
 
Not getting to the big city very often, we weren't sure where we were going, we just had an address. I think it was a street off Speedway. Dot and I, as always, started arguing about directions; what came first, Broadway or Speedway, which way to turn when we go to Speedway, about everything that came up.
 
Well, I went through a yellow light which turned red on me. I never thought a thing about it, but I started hearing this honking. Thinking we didn't know anyone in Tucson, I chose to ignore it. I drove a couple of blocks and this cop on a motor cycle pulled along side of me, and with a scowl on his face, motioned me to the side of the road.
 
I pulled off on a side street and stopped. As soon as he came to the door of the truck, Grandma asked him where was the Gold Bond Center. He said, very curtly, he didn't know and asked me for my driver's license. He wanted to know why I wouldn't stop. I was trying to tell him he must of been in a blind spot because I didn't see him and I had no idea who could of been honking at me.
 
All the while, Grandma was telling him we were lost and wanting to know how to get to the Gold Bond Center. About this time I took a big drink of ice tea. He grabbed the glass out of my hand and asked what I was drinking, thinking he had found the reason for my driving. I told him it was just tea, and after much sniffing and studying he gave it back and told me I shouldn't be drinking while I was driving. I promptly told him I didn't. I told him I kept it in my purse and only drank when I was stopped. He didn't believe me so I had to show him how an open glass would fit in my purse.
 
Grandma was still telling him about her stamps, how many she had and what she wanted to get. I believe she even showed him her books. She asked him again where the Center was. He said he didn't know. He told me to take her to the Gold Bond Center and go home and that I had no business driving in Tucson. He left without even giving me a warning.
 
All through this ordeal Dot was about to bust a gut. When he left we got the giggles. Poor Grandma didn't see anything funny about the situation. The cop wouldn't tell her where the Gold Bond Center was and he said I shouldn't be driving and all we did was laugh.
 
Well we did find the center and she did get her stuff and we did make it out of the big city with no more problems.
 
Dot and I still argue about directions when we go to Tucson and very often we think of Grandma and her Gold Bond Stamps.
 
(For you youngsters - stores used to give out stamps when you bought your groceries or got gas. There were the Gold Bond Stamps and Green Stamps.)

Input from Jim, Chuck, & Mary Ann

Mom drove the car just a few times. Mary remembers her driving down through town once and that she drove very slowly. She said that Mom even drove to San Diego once before she was married. But the few times Mom drove, it was never slowly. She knew only one position for the gas peddle, flat on the floor. One time coming back from Tombstone, Dad was ill and asked Mom to drive back. On that straight road back, Dad noticed that Mom had gotten the car up to 65 miles an hour. Dad screamed and yelled and I finally just reached over and turned the key off. He then promptly took over the driving chore, no matter how sick he was.
 
One time, out on the claims, Dad wanted to move a heavy log out of the way. He put Mom into the drivers seat with instructions to ease the car forward after he hooked the log on. Dad said, "Now." and Mom floorboarded the car, in reverse, and the car ended up in the gully. Took a lot of work but they finally got the car out and Dad just didn't ask Mom for her help with driving anymore.
 
Dad never cussed much. At the most it was a hell or a damn. He had a temper but he kept his language in check. One time, when we were coming back from Pistenities' Ranch, Chuck, Dad and Mom were in the car following the car that Father Doyle was driving. Uncle Jim, Aunt Rose, and Jim were passengers in that car. Jim said that he noticed that the car was swerving off the road about the time Uncle Jim grabbed the steering wheel trying to keep it on the road. Father Doyle had fallen asleep. Dad in the mean time, watched in fear as the car was going off the road and blurted out, "I'm going to kill that god-damn priest if Jim is hurt." Chuck said he was in shock because; first, Dad had cussed and second, he had cussed out a priest. Chuck didn't know you were allowed to cuss out a priest.

From Sue & Chuck

When Charlene was five or six months old, her Godmother, Joan Power, gave her a puppy poodle. We named him Dominic. Grandpa Hallsted called him Chocolate Face and was always complaining that we paid more attention to the dog that we did to the kids.
 
One morning, we heard Grandpa pulling into the driveway after taking the kids to school. I was feeding Charlene an egg as she sat in her high chair. Chuck told me to switch places with the dog and Charlene. So very quickly we put Charlene on the floor and Dominic in the high chair with a bib thrown around him. Sue was feeding him a spoon of egg just as Grandpa walked in. He took one look at the situation and said, "I'll be god damned" which was really bad cursing for him.
 
He walked out the door. Sue went running after him saying it was only a joke, but he got in his car and left. We never knew if he thought that was how we treated Charlene or if he just wasn't happy with our sense of humor. He would never say but we thought it was hilarious.

from Stella Hallsted

Once when Chuck, Sue, and Mary were visting us in Sacramento, a gang of us were sitting around the table when the story of the "22" came up. Chuck decided he had to tell the right version for our kids. This is how it went.
 
Jim said, "One night when we were doing dishes, I was teasing Chuck, as I usually did."
 
Mary interrupted, "You know this is a tall tale because you guys never did dishes. I did dishes from the time I was old enough to stand on a box. I was always stuck doing the dishes."
 
"We did the dishes, a lot," Chuck and Jim protested.
 
"Anyway, to continue," said Jim, "I was teasing Chuck and he got mad and chased me around the house. He grabbed the 22 rifle and kept chasing me through the rooms out onto the porch when he shot off the 22 and it went through the roof."
 
"I didn't grab the 22," said Chuck, "that's when I threw the knife at you."
 
"No, you threw the knife at me another time. This is when you shot the hole in the roof with the 22," said Jim.
 
"You guys never did dishes," said Mary, jumping into the debate.
 
"The time I shot the hole in the roof was when I was aiming at the light cord," Chuck said.
 
Mary mumbled to herself, "They never did dishes."
 
"We did too do the dishes," Chuck and Jim protested in unison.
 
Needless to say, the rest of us were doubled over with laughter, our sides ached, and tears were streaming down our faces.
 
They never did settle on one version but that's what makes "reminiscing" so great.

From Sue Hallsted

During a strike, Joyce (Fred's wife) and I decided we should get jobs to help feed the kids. Joyce came to get me one morning. We were putting applications in for several places. No places were hiring, so we went to the chili plant. They told us we had a job if we could start that night, graveyard shift. We said O.K. I had some misgivings because I had a real bad cold.
 
We showed up promptly at 9:30 P.M. The only English speaking person in the plant gave us our aprons and gloves, took us up these stairs to a platform next to a conveyor belt. Showed us how to take the chili off the belt, and cut the stem off. She said her shift was over and left.
 
It seemed like a real easy job, then they started the belt. There were belts all around, we got dizzy and our noses started running because we were standing over the pit that the chilies soaked in some kind of acid. The other workers had come to start work by then. They were across from us and their noses were running too. They had a handkerchief pinned to their sleeves to wipe their nose.
 
An hour or so went by, Joyce noticed that one of them was wiping her nose on her glove or letting it drip in the chilies so she started giving her dirty looks, trying to make her stop.
 
Anyway, we weren't getting the chilies cut very fast with the wiping our noses on our shirts, giving dirty looks and keeping our balance. (I was having to just about keep my nose on my sleeve.) Then this man comes up with a five gallon bucket and motions for us to throw the red chilies that were coming on the belt into the bucket. That really slowed us down, so they sent a woman to stand behind us and throw the uncut chilies back to us, so we would have another chance to cut off the stems.
 
After awhile I was cutting red and throwing green in the bucket or whatever. We felt like all the Mexicans were laughing and talking about us as we could hear "gringo" every once in awhile. The only advantage was we were talking about them too.
 
I started thinking if I could only make it until lunch I was quitting, I didn't care how mad Joyce would be. I would just sleep in the car until the shift was over.
 
When the conveyor belt stopped for lunch, both of us nearly fell down. Joyce asked me to help her off the platform - I had to tell her I couldn't because I couldn't walk myself. We finally got each other down the stairs and Joyce said she didn't care what I thought she was quitting. I said, "Thank God, because there was no way I was going back up those stairs."
 
The trouble was everyone we tried to tell we were quitting couldn't speak English so we said "No mas," and left.
 
So much for feeding our kids.
 
(Neither one of us would eat canned chilies after this.)

from Chuck, Sue, and Dot ...

One day we, (Sue, Dot, Leonard, and Chuck) were helping put in the cement block wall on the back porch at 35 Wood Canyon. Sue was about eight months pregnant with Jolynn. We had run out of sand, so Dot, Sue and Leonard volunteered to go to Tombstone and get another load. Chuck waited and waited but they didn't show up so when he got a call to help Mr.Dugie he went on up. Mom called Chuck in a little while, in tears, "Sue is in the hospital and hurt. You'd better get back."
 
This is the saga of the "sand run." and what had delayed them. It seems the adventurous trio, Sue, Dot & Leonard. found a five gallon keg of black powder. Sue thought they should check out a little of it to make sure it was O.K., because they could use it later on. They poured some out onto the sand and put a match to it. It went "poof" and then the flame headed straight for the keg. Dot and Leonard went running, with Sue moving as fast as she could. Dot turned around and Sue yelled that she was on fire. Well, they were all singed around the edges. They extinguished each other but they looked like "Wiley E. Coyote" after one of his misadventures with the Roadrunner. Sue's hair had been in curlers but she had to drop them, hair and all into the trash.
 
Sue got to come home from the hospital but had to go back to the hospital every day for her burn treatment. Dot and Leonard, stayed in the hospital a few days, for their burn treatments.
 
Sue and Dot did learn from that adventure. They were hiking in the Dragoon Mountains with Sister Helen, when they came across a cave. Of course they had to go in and they found a bunch of old dynamite that was sweating nitroglycerin. They knew better than to see if it was O.K. (lesson learned) so they headed back and called the Sheriff Department and reported their find.
 
The Deputy, was a friend of Chucks, said he would need to pick up someone to show him the cave. When he got there, Chuck, on the sly, asked him to blast the siren when he left with the women. Sue, Sister Helen in her nun's habit, and Dot got into the sheriff's car. He turned on the siren as he started the car. That brought out the kids and the neighbors. The kids all starting running after the car yelling and crying, "Don't take my mom away. Don't take them." The neighbors just stood there and gasped at the spectacle.
 
Chuck thought it was absolutely hilarious but the women didn't think it was funny at all.

Here is a very brief history of Bisbee. It is located 95 miles southeast of Tucson and six miles from the Mexican border. Bisbee is the county seat of Cochise County and in the southeastern corner of Arizona. Its elevation is 5,300 feet, thus the name, the Mile High town.
 
In 1877 some army scouts and cavalrymen found "good looking" ore in Tombstone Canyon. A few claims were filed and then the prospectors, speculators, and schemers came to the area to mine the rich copper ore. Soon the discovery of copper evolved into big business. "In August 1880, The Copper Queen Mine was capitalized for $2.5 million and the owners renamed the camp of Mule Gulch, in honor of their San Francisco attorney and business associate, DeWitt Bisbee; who, according to legend, never visited his namesake.
 
"On the advice of James Douglas, a well known geologist, Phelps Dodge and Company acquired the Atlanta Claim in Bisbee in 1881, and merged it with the adjacent Copper Queen. The two properties united in August 1885, and they began a large-scale operation under the name of the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company."
 
It wasn't until 1892 that the real copper ore production began. That year, Phelps Dodge Company built a railroad into the town. With the availability of the railroad, building supplies were easier to get and the city buildings started to go up. Most of the brick buildings on Brewery Gulch and Main Street were built in the early 1900's.
 
At the turn of the century, Bisbee was noted as one of the West's most lively boom towns. "Hundreds of businesses lined its twin canyons, and its streets were full of new faces. When Bisbee was incorporated on January 9, 1902, its population stood at about eight thousand. During the years from 1899 to 1918, the population increased from four thousand to an all-time high of approximately twenty-five thousand."
 
"As Bisbee evolved physically, it changed socially. It became a city of families as more and more newcomers arrived with wives and children. At one time, Bisbee had about fifty saloons, some fifteen of which were located in Brewery Gulch, long the haunt of the floating population of tramp miners, gamblers, con artists, and prostitutes, who congregated in its saloons." Bisbee survived through flash floods that would race down the canyons, sweeping anything and anyone away in its path. In 1908, there was a fire that left five hundred people homeless and destroyed more than half the commercial building along Main Street.
 
"By 1913, the population of Bisbee was approximately nineteen thousand. The mines of the Copper Queen, Calumet & Arizona, and Shattuck-Arizona Companies employed six thousand men and shipped more than thirty-five thousand tons of ore a week to the smelter in Douglas. The monthly payroll for the mines in 1913 was reported at $500,000."
 
In July 1917, the "infamous deportation of nearly twelve hundred alleged labor radicals marked the end of Bisbee's exuberant years of growth. In fact, it marked the beginning of labor problems throughout Arizona, a state once noted for its friendliness to unions."
 
In 1917, the top of Sacramento Hill was blasted off and that signaled the start of a new era, open-pit mining. The Lavender Pit is now one of Bisbee's biggest attractions. Phelps Dodge closed down its mining operations in 1980, and Bisbee was fast on its way to becoming a ghost town. Families moved out in search of jobs, schools were closed, businesses closed, and homes sold for pennies or were left abandoned. But Bisbee survived once again and is now a booming tourist Mecca. There are homes being built, house prices have sky-rocketed, and new businesses abound with Bisbee getting the reputation of being a haven for artists.
 
It is a great town with picturesque homes clinging on the hillside, fine old buildings, and a fascinating history. I hope these short facts about the town will entice you to read more about Bisbee.
 
(Quotes are taken from Carlos A. Schwantes, Bisbee. Urban Outoost on the Frontier)

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