Aleh Zon

[HARDCORE]

"Aleh Zon," the Indian words for ?Little Spring? are sure appropriate when describing Arizona (our 48th State)! (Damned little, and damned few springs, or water of any kind, at least in the southern portions!!)

To most of you who have ever traveled the southern portions of the ?Grand Canyon State," as I did as a trucker etc, many years ago, you know that watering holes are far and few between. ?Unless of course, your taste drifts toward a cold glass of cider or a frosty brew!?

The Indian name for the State (Aleh Zon), like many other state name, was eventually bastardized to it?s present form, and with the exception of a few hearty pioneers, gold seekers, gamblers, and (yes) even whorehouses, the State remained virgin territory right up until 1912, when it was admitted to the Union!

A ?Military Presence? was, and still is apparent in Arizona! And ?Fort Huachuca? remains the oldest continuously operated military (Army) installation in the United States. Lying just west (20 miles or so) from Tombstone, the troopers at this installation (many of them Buffalo Soldiers) were among those who helped to chase the Indian Chief - Cochise into the mountains of Northern Mexico over a century or so ago!

With the exception of city sprawl and pollution, much of the state is the same as when I first saw it some half century past! Naturally, the spaces that separated the likes of Phoenix (named after the mythical bird that rises from it?s own ashes), and growing cities like Mesa, Tempe, Scottsdale, and Apache Junction, have been virtually filled in with housing and businesses. And many of the mighty and old ?Saguaros? have been pirated away by human buzzards who engage in the ?Midnight Cactus Supply Company? (Extremely Illegal)!! But for the most part, Arizona is still in the heart of the badlands, as many a stranded traveler quickly learns!

Many Army Posts, or what?s left of them, still dart the countryside, not to mention the pseudo tourist traps that ape life on the frontier! But if you look really carefully, you can still see the historical tracks of wagons, and occasionally espy Indian markings in the rocks! Many of the Indians themselves have abandoned hunting and the trading posts, and now earn thier keep - Casino Style!

The soldiers (mostly cavalry) who risked life and limb in these parts, away back when, were the molding materials for today?s army. The cavalry units that pinned back the ears of Saddam and Company were the great, great grandkids (figuratively) of those who tamed other wildernesses, over a hundred years earlier! The uniforms may have changed, as did the implements of war, but I would be willing to bet that if our military in the Gulf looked hard enough and long enough, they might have gotten a fleeting glimpse of the troopers of old riding right along side of them into battle! (Who Knows?!)

VERITAS INFINITUM

[Jerry D]

My Family was stationed at Fort Huachuca in the early 60's around 1963 I was only around a year old when My Dad a SPC4 was there as a Clerck/typist .My Mother tells me that I was scared of the Thunder and Lightning from the storms and that Halloween the Trick or treaters in Base Housing scared me a 1 year old I didn't realize I had lived so close to Tombstone when I was a child.Also Mom told me that we were one of the few in base houseing at that time that had real grass in the yard most of the other homes in base houseing had artificial turf Thanks for the info HC

[HARDCORE]

You are welcome, Jerry!

We really enjoyed our trip to Fort Huachuca and Tombstone as well as the rest of Arizona!! It is indeed an interesting state.