This website
and its predecessors were built as a result of my developing interest in
the early American exploration of Arizona, my home state. When I
first began reading books on this subject, and especially the published
diaries of the explorers, I was excited to find them discovering and
describing places I was familiar with. When I read a description
of a place I did not know about, I searched the Internet for more
information, hoping to find a website like this one. There were
none, so I had to do my own research to learn more. I hope this
website will answer questions for future searchers like myself.
I am a
"trail buff." This term is used disparagingly by many
scholars, educators, and authors to slight the work of those of us who
are interested in trail location, mapping, preservation, and history,
but are not professional scholars. They believe that historical
research is only valid when it presents a broad and comprehensive view
of the subject. I am not particularly interested in the
sociological aspects of a trail - I just want to learn where it is
located and
something about the experiences of its discoverers. I want to follow
it and see the sights they describe. It's an adventure.
I
believe that on-the-ground trail research and mapping is a vital part of
the body of trail knowledge. This field research must, of course,
be based upon a solid academic study of historical documents and maps. Groups
like the Oregon-California Trails Association (http://www.octa-trails.org)
perform an extremely important service in the location, mapping, and
preservation of historic trails.
The
pictures in the flash animation on the home page are:
-
The "Tributary
of the Gila" plate from Report of a Military Reconnoissance by W.H.
Emory, 1848
-
Photograph of
Saddle Mountain by Tom Jonas, 2001
-
Drawing by
John Russell Bartlett dated October 27, 1851. It is in the
collection of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University in
Providence, Rhode Island. Since Bartlett was never at this
location, the sketch was probably based on a field drawing made by Amiel
Whipple or one of his draughtsmen (see Item #173a in Jerry Mueller's Annotated
Guide to the Artwork of the United States Boundary Commission, 1850-1853,
(Available from GEM Enterprises, 4120 Tesota Drive, Las Cruces, NM,
88011).
-
Photograph of
the "Needle's Eye" by Tom Jonas, 2003
-
"Leroux
Island" plate from the Sitgreaves report, 1852
-
Photograph of
Leroux Island by Tom Jonas & Rose Ann Tompkins, 2001
This
website was built in Microsoft Front Page, using Adobe Photoshop,
and Swish2. I would like to gratefully acknowledge the
advice and help given by my daughter, Holly Jonas, during the design of
this site.
