Who Was Sharlot Hall?

Point of Rocks RV Park

Prescott, AZ

May 13, 2025 

French Rose Boursault...this beauty was brought to Prescott by Margaret McCormick who was the wife of the 2nd Governor of the Arizona Territory in 1865

Sharlot Hall, born in 1870,  states that her earliest memories were of Comanche raids, grasshopper plagues, and prairie fires.  In 1882, her family traveled the Santa Fe Trail from Kansas to Arizona. The family settled on Lynx Creek near Prescott Valley in the last decade of the great western frontier.  Sharlot expressed her impressions of this journey through stories and poetry and attributes her mother for her love of reading. 

Arizon's  first Governor's Mansion was home to the first two territorial governors.  It was built in 1864 on this site.  

While attending a boarding school for a year in Prescott, Sharlot met Henry Fleury who had come to Prescott in 1864 as secretary to the first governor, John Goodwin. He lived in the first Governor's Mansion along with the governor.  It was Judge Fleury who inspired in Sharlot the love of history through the many stories he told her.  

Sharlot was the first woman to hold a salaried office in Arizona. She served as Arizona's first historian from 1909 to 1912.  

We can thank Sharlot for many things and among them are collecting early possessions and stories from sites where the early settlers lived and died, collecting and preserving Arizona's spectacular Native American ruins and relics from looters, and her crusade against the congressional measure which would have brought New Mexico and Arizona into the Union as one state. 

Sharlot was selected as the elector who would deliver Arizona's three electoral votes to Washington when Calvin Coolidge was elected president in 1925.  She attended the inauguration wearing an overdress made of copper links and accessories made of copper along with a hat made from cacti.  

Sharlot later wore this  unusual outfit as she traveled giving lectures about Arizona and it's resources.

I love this hat!  It is made from prickly pear cacti.

In the 1920s this great woman who was considered to be "ahead of her time" persuaded the State of Arizona and the City of Prescott to preserve the Governor's Mansion.  She agreed to move her extensive collection of artifacts to the mansion and the museum opened to the public in 1928.  For the rest of her life she worked to preserve the old log building and to save Arizona's history.  

There is a $13.00 admission fee for seniors and the museum is a self guided tour.  Docents shared information and answered questions in the Governor's Mansion, the Sharlot Hall Building, and the Fremont House.  

1. John & Helen Lawler Exhibit Center: Completed in 1979 the center presents the Museum's pre-history exhibits, Sharlot Hall's story and changing exhibits.

A 10 week wagon trip across the wild Arizona Strip north of the Grand Canyon

2. Governor's Mansion: Built on site in 1864, workers built the log cabin as the first governor's house and office.  It is the oldest building associated with Arizona Territory still standing in its original location.  Today, it is furnished based on a letter written by the second governor's wife (dated in 1866) to her friend in New Jersey where she describes "her home".  

The planks that were used to build the mansion were from Ponderosa Pines on site.

Judge Henry Fleury", the Governor's secretary had a room at the mansion 

3. Shallot Hall Building :  Completed in 1936 as a Civil Works project, this building houses the museum's original exhibits and dioramas and served as Sharlot's home for a time.  Native rocks and pine logs were used in the construction and Sharlot referred to it as "the house of thousand hands" because she believed at least 500 men helped to complete it. It has served as the primary exhibit hall since 1936. 

The floors are beautiful.

Inside walls and door frame

There are two galleries in this building that display Sharlot's artifacts. 

Exhibits tell a story from the founding of a wilderness territorial capital in 1863 to statehood in 1912. 

A beautiful exhibit about the area's native Yavapai Prescott Indian tribe. Titled " The Baskets Keep Talking" tells the story of the tribe and their culture through their own eyes.  Included are more than 40 baskets on display. 

4. School House :  This is a 1962 replica of the first public school house in the Arizona Territory built in 1867.

5. Fort Misery : This is the oldest log cabin in the Arizona Territory built in a1863-64.  It was built by a trader from NM to be his home and a mercantile. It was built two blocks south of the museum on the banks of Granite Creek.  Shallot had it disassembled in 1934 and reassembled on the museum grounds.  It is furnished as it would have been in the 1870s when Judge John Howard was the owner.  It isn't really a fort...but has the name due to his home cooked meals "whose fame spread through the territory".

6. Ranch House : Built in the 1930s represents early ranch homes in Prescott.

7. Fremont House : Built in 1875 this was the home of John Charles Fremont, the fifth territorial governor of Arizona.  

8. Transportation Building : Built in 1937 as an automotive repair shop, it now exhibits the Museum's "rolling stock" including a stagecoach, Model T farm truck, and Sharlot's own 1927 Durant Star touring car.

9. Bashford House and Museum Store : Built is 1877 and bought by Prescott merchant William C. Bashford as a family home.  It is a beautiful Victorian home and also serves as a gift shop.  It was moved to the Museum in 1974. 

 

Walking through the museum grounds you can't help but notice the gardens.  The first memorial rose bushes were planted in 1948 by the Yavapai Cowbelles.  The garden was later moved to the north side of the Mansion in 1974.  

There are currently 500 women honored in the Territorial Women's Memorial Rose Garden with a rose bush planted for each one.

The Historic Iris Gardens, initiated by the Prescott Area Iris Society ,showcase historic iris from the early settlement period of Arizona from the years 1500 to 1943 which is the year Sharlot Hall died. 

It was a very nice morning full of history and beauty.   

Until next time, 

HAPPY TRAILS!

The Courthouse Square

Point of Rocks RV Park

Prescott, AZ

May 11, 2025

With winds forecast to be a bit gusty on Monday, Joe and I decided a walk in the historic district would be a good choice for the day.  The temps have been wonderful and although we have had some gusty winds, we have also had nice cool breezes.  It's the kind of breezes when we let up the windows and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine inside.   This was not our first visit to Courthouse Plaza, but a much more relaxed visit as we were staying in Camp Verde on our first visit here (back in April 2016) and left the pups for a few hours in the MH.

The concept of a court square has a long history dating back to Greek civilizations.  In our country the town square dates back to colonial times.  Having grown up in the south, I remember Sunday drives thru small towns with my mom and going in what seemed like circles to get around town squares.   Our little hometown of LaGrange, GA had a town square which housed the Troup County Courthouse from 1828 to 1936.  I'm not sure what happened to the courthouse, but the space today is a community park with a fountain.  The town square in Prescott was plotted by Robert Groom who came to the area to mine.  It was known that he was also a surveyor and was "pressed into service" to plot the streets and blocks for both Prescott and Wickenburg.  After Arizona's statehood in 1912, the current granite, Neoclassical Revival style courthouse was built and opened in 1916.   Today, the Yavapai Courthouse and surrounding Plaza are the "defining" features of of historic Prescott. 

Courthouse Plaza was listed in the National Register of Historic places in 1978.

More than 170 trees, including 127 American Elms, form a tree canopy providing a natural air-conditioner.  The shade along with the lush green grass makes for a pleasant morning walk.  And the dancing shadows are fun !

The Yavapai County Courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Buildings in 1977.

This beautiful statue of Bucky O'Neill is a monument to one of Prescott's "favored sons".  Bucky was a miner, a gambler, newspaper editor, lawyer, sheriff, and a mayor of Prescott.  When he was mayor, the Spanish American War of 1898 erupted.  Theodore Roosevelt organized the Rough Riders (the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry) and Bucky organized the Arizona volunteers who joined and he was appointed Captain of the Rough Riders.  He was killed in battle in 1898. 

Bucky O'Neill Monument
1907
Marble and Bronze Statue
Artist : Solon Hannibal Borglum

Yavapai County government gave the commission for the Bucky memorial to Solon Hannibal Borglum in 1906.  Solon is considered to be America's first cowboy sculptor.  "He left the people of this country something that can't be uprooted or broken.  And for that we can thank Arizona."

And then there is Whisky Row which is actually the name of a street in Courthouse Plaza.   While some say the courthouse is a defining  feature, others might disagree.  A lot went on back in the day on Whiskey Row with drunken cowboys, painted ladies, and gunfights at the top of the list.  A fire in 1900 destroyed the original wooden saloons and buildings as the entire block went up in flames. The district was rebuilt by 1901 and this time, bricks were used for construction.  More that 40 saloons lined the street  This historic street is full of some of Prescott's oldest history.  

The Palace Bar (which was also a hotel in the early days) and Restaurant is both the oldest business and the oldest bar in Arizona.  

It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
  

Original elements of the 1901 rebuild, including the metal ceiling complete with bullet holes left over from gunfights,  the swinging saloon doors, and wood arches, and carved details have been preserved.

When the fire of 1900 happened, the elaborate carved Brunswick-brand bar was carried across the street  and is still used today.  

Today the other brick building on Whiskey Row are a mix of entertainment, food,  shopping and art galleries.

For lunch we choose Brown Bag Burgers & Brewery.  Casual dining with a nice view of the plaza and yummy burgers.  We both enjoyed a BBQ burger...piled high with beer battered onion rings, cheddar cheese, pickles, applewood smoked crispy bacon, BBQ sauce, and house beer mustard with a side of sweet potato fries.

After lunch we made a stop at Pralines of Prescott...a family run confectionary that had its start in 1991.  This little shop is best known for its chocolate, but has expanded thru the years to include not only hand made chocolate, but also gelato, pastries, coffee, and espresso.  We each enjoyed a cup of gelato and brought home a piece of fudge.

On Wednesday, we wanted to try out a hike with Lucy and chose a hike we had done back in 2016 as well.  Peavine Trail is close by at Watson Lake.  It is very popular with walkers, runners and bikers. Lucy went bonkers ! The bikers zoomed by and not a single one called out "on your left" or had a bell.  Other walkers had pups...well behaved pups...and Lucy loves ALL people and pups and was over the top excited.  After a 1/2 mile we turned around and headed back to the parking lot and took her straight to the doggie park to play. 

We will definitely give the trail another go when we visit again!

So aswesome!

A bit of color along the trail...

A wonderful canopy...

A happy Lucy...

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Back at the park, we do enjoy walks with Lucy...multiple walks everyday.  We found red and yellow roses.  There is roped off section at the end of our road to keep vehicles out.  There are lots of picnic tables for gatherings and a very nice view of the valley.  I did play on the rocks and spotted a gorgeous hedgehog cacti in full bloom peeking out of the boulders. 

Joe noticed this bull snake on one of our walks.  Joe says "it's beautiful" and I say "I don't do snakes".  But I do know that they are non-venomous and enjoy rodents for a tasty meal.

The sun rises on the drivers side of the MH.  I love the dancing shadows on the shades at coffee time.

We head home tomorrow, but I have more to share and will pick up where I left off once we get settled in.  Until  then,

HAPPY TRAILS