Fourth of July Celebrations from the Past

On June 29, 2023 By The State Library of ArizonaIn Events, Fun, News

In recognition of the Fourth of July, we have collected various newspaper stories and photographs to showcase how Arizonians celebrated our independence in the past, even in territorial times! Many of these celebrations were large with many in attendance, while others were small communities of people gathering with family or friends. However, all of them were lively and full of people coming together to celebrate our independence.

1891

In 1891, Prescott held two days of celebrations for their Fourth of July celebration. On July 3^rd, at the driving park, “…races and a cow boys’ tournament of roping and tieing steers and bronco riding…” was well attended and prizes were handed out for the winners.

Group of firefighters preparing for a Fourth of July parade in Prescott

The next day, in front of City Hall, the morning started with cannons and fireworks and was followed by a parade including the Grand Marshal, Colonel Bartlett, the 9^th infantry band, various businesses in the area, and the fire department, which you can see in the accompanying photograph. Celebrations were closed out by a reading of the Declaration of Independence and a speech made by District Attorney Robert Brown which you can read in the Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner from July 8, 1891.

1926

The year 1926 was especially important because it was the 150th anniversary of July 4^th, 1776, and in Nogales, Arizona, the number of visitors surpassed the hundreds of people that usually arrived for the celebration each year.

Hotels around the area were full and cabarets in Nogales, Sonora were entertaining large crowds. This was partly due to, “…staging of the Bob Lawson-Jack Lynch prize fight on Nogales, Sonora…” the night before, but many people also stayed for the big rodeo and dance at Patagonia the next day.

1953

Not all Independence Days were celebrated by an entire city, but rather by various local groups within the community who got together to celebrate. According to one mother who attended a firework show at Scottsdale High School, “Family groups were dotted all over the football field sitting on blankets, munching hot dogs and drinking pop…” and, “…it was more western then boots and spurs because the West is really a spirit and not cowboy trappings alone.” Besides being impressed with the atmosphere, the mother also described how businesses and the American Legion group came together to put on the show for the families and was very grateful for all of their hard work.

1959

In 1959, the Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church celebrated the Fourth of July by hosting an Annual Childrens Party at Mr. and Mrs. Lenroe Raiford’s home. Over 30 children attended and, “…ate and drank to the brim and played games.”

1971

In 1971, the McNary Apache community club asked the tribal council to bring back the Fourth of July celebrations to the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. For the first time since 1959, they were given permission to hold the Cha-B-Tooe Round-Up rodeo to benefit the McNary people as well as the reservation. In addition to the rodeo, the Apache community celebration also included a foot race and a Sunrise Dance for any family who wanted to host one for their daughters. The McNary Apache community club organized a parade as well for local businesses or organizations to participate in on the fourth.

1975

In Sedona, the Oak Creek Canyon Lions Club hosted a 4^th of July Carnival for two days (July 4^th and 5^th) annually. The gala event included game booths, food booths, bingo, and a pageant queen contest. In addition, every ticket purchased entered visitors into a raffle to win door prizes such as a small-scale Ford Tin Lizzie Car and U.S. Saving bonds for $100 and $50 dollars.

Not only did the Oak Creek Canyon Lions Club participate in hosting the event but twelve additional Sedona organizations along with merchants around the area. To emphasize the community effort to put on the events, the Lions Club President said to the Sedona community, “To play your part in the Lions Club effort to make a constructive use of the holiday that will be for the good of all, bring your families, your neighbors, and your visitors to the fun event that is the 1975 Lions Club 4^th of July Carnival.”

Extra Photos and Events

The following images and events are also found in our Arizona Memory Project and demonstrate some of the other ways Arizonians have celebrated over the years:

Arizona Governor George W.P. Hunt riding a decorated truck during a July 4th parade in Globe

People at an Uncle Sam (July 4th) Celebration at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix

Arizona National Guard on parade at a July 4th Celebration in Prescott

It’s Rattlesnake Season

On April 12, 2022May 15, 2023 By The State Library of ArizonaIn Arizona, Fun, Reading Arizona, Resources

Here’s a shout-out to some of Arizona’s beautiful and fascinating creatures.

Now is the time of year when rattlesnakes are active during daylight hours, enjoying the beautiful sunny spring weather, warming up after a winter of brumation. As the weather gets hotter, they become more active at night. They are experts at camouflage, so watch where you walk, reach when you are in their natural habitat. Keep a close eye on your curious dog as well. It’s a good idea to carry a flashlight at night and keep the volume low on your earbuds so that you might hear the tell-tale sign of their warning rattle.

Living with Rattlesnakes, Arizona Game and Fish Department

The Arizona Game and Fish Department website Living with Rattlesnakes provides help in identifying Arizona’s rattlesnake species. Searching the Arizona State Parks website for ‘rattlesnakes’ gets you information on where you might see them during your explorations.

The State of Arizona Research Library has many resources on rattlesnakes. Those online and on the Arizona Memory Project include advice on how to be safe around venomous reptiles, scientific studies from the Arizona Game & Fish Department, photographs, and publications from the United States Geological Survey on reducing rattlesnake-human conflicts. Our print collection offers books and reports on species of rattlesnakes, ecology and other scientific studies, stories and reminiscences from Arizona history, and federal publications.

April typically an active month for rattlesnakes, Arizona Game and Fish Department

Reading Arizona offers free eBooks and audiobooks. Rattlesnake resources include children’s books, scientific guides, Arizona history, and rattlesnakes as characters in novels!

If you are bitten by a rattlesnake, call 911 or head to the nearest emergency room as soon as possible. Envenomated pets should be immediately transported to the nearest emergency veterinary clinic. Do not bring the rattlesnake with you. Medical personnel do not need the rattlesnake to know how to treat the patient- the same antivenom is used regardless of the rattlesnake species. Do not cut open or suck on the puncture wounds and do not use a tourniquet. All of these are old-wives’ tales that are no longer supported by medical research.

Also, please don’t do this:

Or this:

“Arizona” or “Arizona”? The Story of Arizona’s State Anthems

On April 12, 2021May 15, 2023 By The State Library of ArizonaIn Arizona, Arizona Legislature, Fun, History, Law / Statutes

In honor of National Poetry month, we present a short history of Arizona’s two state anthems.

In 1919, the Legislature decided that Arizona needed a state anthem. They chose “Arizona”, from a poem written by Margaret Rowe Clifford and music by Maurice Blumenthal, both residents of Cochise County. The lyrics, adopted by Laws 1919, Chapter 28, were:

History of the Arizona State Legislature 1912-1966, 1919, 4th Legislature, Regular Session PDF page 43

The Legislature directed the Commission of State Institutions to purchase an electrotype plate to produce enough copies to furnish all schools and public institutions with a copy. It appropriated $250.00 to acquire the copyright and $350.00 to produce and distribute copies. ($3800 and $5300 respectively, in 2021 US dollars).

Session laws, State of Arizona, 1919, Fourth Legislature, Regular Session, page 66 of PDF

The bill became law without the Governor’s signature, pursuant to Article 5, §7 of the Arizona Constitution. That section, essentially the reverse of the federal “pocket veto”, provides that a “bill shall become a law in like manner as if he had signed it” if it is not returned by the Governor within five days during the legislation session.

J. Morris Richards, in his History of the Arizona State Legislature, 1912-1966 tells the story. There was already a well-known Territorial song, “Arizona, Sunkissed Land”, by Mrs. Frank Cox and Mrs. Elise R. Averill, that was adopted by the Territorial Legislature in 1901:

Appendix to The Revised Statutes of Arizona Territory 1901

Since the lyrics in “Arizona, Sunkissed Land” included a reference to future statehood, when Arizona would become part of the “diadem of stars in the flag,” many felt that the State of Arizona needed a new official song. The entire legislative delegation of Cochise County proposed that the state song should be the poem composed by their constituent, Margaret Rowe Clifford, and put to music by another constituent, Maurice Blumenthal.

Not everybody liked the idea. Some musicians’ clubs suggested that the music was inferior. Some women’s clubs preferred the Territorial song. Letters and telegrams arrived in opposition. The Attorney General was asked for an opinion on whether it would be illegal to adopt a new song without repealing the 1901 bill adopting the prior one. Wiley E. Jones, the Attorney General, advised there would be no legal conflict. Governor Campbell and the members of the Senate were invited to hear the song in the House chamber during a recess. The Cochise County legislators stood firm against all opposition. When the bill passed (PDF page 40), some believed it was due to sympathy for elderly Mrs. Clifford and the steadfast support of the delegation from Cochise County.

History of the Arizona State Legislature 1912-1966, 1919, 4th Legislature, Regular Session, PDF page 40.

Photograph of a statue of Rex Allen in Willcox (Ariz.)

The next year, Rex Allen was born. An iconic singing cowboy, Allen grew up near Willcox and had a career in rodeo, radio, movies, and television. He was known as the “Arizona Cowboy”. Willcox now has a museum dedicated to his memory.

His son, Rex Allen, Jr. followed in his footsteps. He grew up near Willcox and became a singing cowboy, enjoying a long career as a country music singer and television star. In 2008 he joined his father in the Western Music Hall of Fame.

In 1981, Rex Allen Jr. released “Arizona”, a love song to his native state. He sang:

Instantly popular, there was soon sentiment to adopt it as the Arizona state song. In 1982 Representative Joe Lane, a future House Majority Whip and Speaker, introduced House Bill 2300 proposing that “Arizona” by Rex Allen, Jr. be adopted as the alternate state anthem. A gracious statesman, Representative Lane hailed from Willcox and also represented Cochise County. He didn’t want to swap the longstanding state anthem for a new one. From the time it was introduced, the proposal was to recognize Allen, Jr.’s “Arizona” as an alternate state anthem. His instincts were good: 31 co-sponsors signed on.

House Bill 2300 passed the House and Senate. It was signed by Governor Bruce Babbitt the day after the Statehood celebration, on February 15, 1982.

People were reminded of the alternate anthem during the preparations for Arizona’s statehood Centennial on February 14, 2012. Representative Brenda Barton, a fifth generation native of rural eastern Arizona, introduced House Concurrent Resolution 2051 proposing that Rex Allen Jr.’s Arizona be honored as the State Centennial Song. Though it passed the House, the Resolution was held in the Senate and not enacted. Representative Barton introduced it again as HCR 2021 in 2012, the year of the Centennial. Once again it passed the House but was not adopted by the Senate.

Where does this leave us? Arizona has a state anthem, “Arizona”, by Cochise County residents Margaret Rowe Clifford and Maurice Blumenthal, adopted as the state anthem by the Legislature in 1919. We also have an alternate state anthem, also titled Arizona, by Willcox native son Rex Allen Jr, adopted by the Legislature as the alternate state anthem in 1982.

If you’re looking for musical inspiration to sing in the shower, you’re on your own.