We went to Kingman AZ today, only 40 minutes east and played tourist. Lt. Beale first trudged across the present site with his experimental U.S. Camel Corp, surveying a wagon road along the 35th parallel, which was originally native Indian trade routes. The town was established in the 1880's by Lewis Kingman who was locating the route for the Santa Fe Railway. The first train pulled into town in 1883. I visited the Route 66 Museum and the Mohave Museum of History and Art, which chronicles the story of the settlement of Mohave County. It showed the prehistoric culture of Indigenous tribes to early mining and ranching, through to the push westward by rail, right up to the automobile age. There were about 40 mines in the area. Both museums were very good.
The wagon depicts the early pioneers who crossed the country for a new start. The Indian blankets designs show ones from the different areas. Andy Devine grew up here, the actor that was in the Wild Bill Hickok TV series and even has a street named after him.
No comments:
Post a Comment