Rogue Columnist

The 2023 to Yuma

For most people, Yuma is a stop by the Colorado River at the California border on Interstate 8 for gas and fast food, or for retirement in one of the hottest cities in the United States, to be enveloped in agriculture that moved down from the Salt River Valley without the rich, alluvial soil of American Eden.

But Yuma is much more: Rich in history, it's the place along with Tucson where American settlement began. Where boats could come up the Colorado delta unhindered by dams upstream. Now, with a population of nearly 96,000, it's worth our time.

Gallery (click on photo for a larger image):

Fort Yuma in 1875.

Horse-drawn water in the 1890s (Library of Congress).

The first locomotive in Arizona, Yuma 1877. The Southern Pacific built east across the state.

Yuma's handsome Southern Pacific depot.

A Pullman porter and conductor await passengers on the SP early in the 20th century (City of Yuma).

A street-level view of the SP depot, since demolished.

Bars of old Phoenix

Phoenix once had an abundance of locally owned taverns, from fancy spots to dive bars. I used to reminisce about them with the late John Bouma, managing partner of Snell & Wilmer, over lunch at Durant's. I knew a few: Kren's and the Anchor on McDowell, the Pueblo on Scottsdale Road, the Can Can at Third Street and Roosevelt, and Jerry's Treasure Island on Thomas Road. I had my first beer at the Pueblo bar on Scottsdale Road.

But Bouma was a veritable encyclopedia of old Phoenix bars. Among them, Rocky's Hideaway, Chauncey's, Mister Fat Fingers, the Velvet Hammer, the Blue Grotto, and the Ivanhoe, where the plan to bomb Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles was finalized.

Here are a few:

The Clown's Den on Camelback Road around 23rd Street.

The Band Box at 19th Avenue and Campbell, this night featuring Mike Condello's band and Pat McMahon (Brad Hall collection).

Chez Nous at Seventh Avenue and Indian School Road. During business hours it was so dark it took a few minutes for your eyes to adjust to the blackness.

Magoo's at 19th Avenue and west Van Buren Street.

The scam...again

The headline in the New York Times read, "Arizona Limits Construction Around Phoenix as Its Water Supply Dwindles." Then the story began:

Arizona has determined that there is not enough groundwater for all of the housing construction that has already been approved in the Phoenix area, and will stop developers from building some new subdivisions, a sign of looming trouble in the West and other places where overuse, drought and climate change are straining water supplies.

The decision by state officials very likely means the beginning of the end to the explosive development that has made the Phoenix area the fastest growing metropolitan region in the country.

But the devil is in the details. The state won't revoke building permits that have already been issued. Instead, it's hoping "new water conservation measures and alternative sources (will) produce the water necessary for housing developments that have already been approved."