Arizona state miner., 1925-04-04

The Arizona Pioneers celebration
on April 18th and 18th, under the
auspices of the Phoenix Republican,
promises to be a greater event than
any similar precedent in this city.
Arizona's forgetfulness of the pio-
neer spirit while many of the old
trail blazers are still living is nat
urally deplored and we rejoice in the
efforts of the Republican to revive
memories of the "old boys" and rev.
erence for their wives, who were
the mothers of succeeding generations
that are peopling the youngest state
in the Union with sturdy mountain
eers and prospectors. On this sub
ject we are impelled to copy Harold
Bell Wright's epilogue on the ''Pass-
ing of the Pioneers" What he pro-
nounced an unforgetable scene now
in the movies, set in the old Pueblo
Club at Tucson, follows:
Max Drayton one of the boldest of
the pioneers, shows distinguished
eastern author, who has come to Ari-
zOna seeking local color, just who are
the men, so quiet, so correctly dressed
sitting about him in the luxurious
lounge.
"Do you see that man over there
by the Window" asks Drayton.
"The portly old gentleman-read-
ing?",
That's the one-that's Colonel
BrandonweIl. Brand was a scout dur
ing the Civil War-up in Colorado and
Wyoming He came to Arizona in
the seventies and was Deputy United
States Marshal in Tombstone. Brand
has fought Indians and outlaws all
over this Southwest. George
Crider, that kindly, even spoken gen
tleman you met when we came in
he's another who has lived through
more red-blood stories than ever
you'll write"
Under the magic of Wright's words
the artificial club scene fades. One
hears the tearing clatter of the horses,
the yells of the savages, weaving
about the stalled prairie schooners or
before the walls of little adobe forts.
And above all, dominating all, one
sees the stern, high faces of the pio-
neers, the trail breakers of empire.
Bob Leatherwood,-Cap Burgess
the eagle face of Buffalo Bill, for
moment triumphant over time
shine through the dust clouds in a
vision of the old red West
while we're sheddin' our wild and
woOlly ways and getting shut of our
guns, are we throwing away a lot of
things with 'em that we ought to
hang on to?" asks Drayton.
81 mean that in those days
we had lot of ideas that would be
mighty good for us to have right
now," he adds. "You take even our
gamblers-the old time professionals
[ mean-they had mighty well set
standards of honor and decency and
fair play that they lived up to and
sometimes died for, +. it wouldn't
do us bit of harm if lot of our
young business men of these days
had some of the old style gambling
standards of honor and decency and
fair play, and had 'em strong enough
to die for 'em. -
Contrasted with the pioneer South
west, one finds in ga Son of His
Father" beginning serially in the
April number of McCalls Magazine, a
biting picture of the present. Gun
ming succeeds honesty, luxury softens
and lulls the keen pioneer spirit; pet
ting parties are the rule on the very
spots where men died in desperate,
last stands to save their wives and
children from the painted savages.
'You see," concludes Drayton, "all
of us old timers know what Arizona
was-but God Almighty only knows
what Arizona is going to be when this
generation gets through with it,"
And throughout Wright's book, per-
IL
ton 'Is the old pioneer spirit dead?