Richinbar Home Revisited

Accompanied by her daughter, Nita Wheeler Underwood came to Phoenix from Florida to visit her home near the Monument when she was a teenager.  She and her twin brother and their parents lived at Richinbar Mine from 1936 to 1939.  Members of area historical societies were invited to join Friends Cultural Resources Team members for this incredibly informative event. Nita shared her memories and pointed out where buildings including her home and chicken coop were located. Many details of the difficulties living in such a remote area including mail delivery, getting to school, hauling water and many other stories delighted Nita’s rapt audience.  Just envision having the Monument and the Agua Fria River as your back yard.  Living was challenging but there was always something to do.  For more information on this fascinating story, contact Friends Archivist Sandy Gauthier at 602-569-1526.

Thank you to Sandy Haddock and Larry & Sandy Gauthier for presenting an interesting and beautifully visual tour of the Monument to members and guests on February 17.  It made those present want to see and do more on the Monument.

Look for news on more presentations scheduled in nice cool meeting rooms during the summer months.

Please join us Saturday, May 2 at 7:00 a.m. for our road clean up project. We will meet at the BLM kiosk at the entrance to Bloody Basin Rd. at exit 259.  If we have 12 people show up, we can be finished in about 2 hours.  Coffee and donuts will be available so you’ll have the “energy” to do this important work.

We’ve had some fun activities happening on the Monument this season.  Here are a few:

Pronghorn Awareness Day

Partnering with AZ Game & Fish and the Arizona Antelope Foundation, the Friends helped sponsor an interesting day of informational presentations and opportunities to visit with the folks responsible for and working to improve the health of the Monument’s pronghorn herd.  The herd is estimated at between100 and 200 individuals.  The trip to see pronghorn on the Monument proved them to be elusive but we had fun looking and saw more of the Monument and the Tonto National Forest.  We’ll try to do this again next year.

Turkey Waddle(s)

The November Turkey Waddle hike in November was lots of fun but we could only hike down Badger Springs Wash to the confluence with the Agua Fria River.  This is always a great hike but was especially beautiful in November.  Since it was too muddy to go up to the Badger Springs Pueblo, that hike was postponed until February. All who participated, agreed that the hike was a little challenging but well worth the time and effort to visit this valuable ruin. Thank you to Ranger Nancy Stallard and Shelley Rasmussen for leading these hikes.