100 years ago
1922: A phone message to County Attorney F. M. Gold last night from Phoenix advised that one of the horse thieves who broke jail at Winslow was captured after a running gun fight, during which 30 shots were fired. No casualties were reported. All the horses were retaken from the thieves. The wounded gunman of the outfit was still at large along the river, but the posse was in close pursuit, expecting to take him dead or alive before night. This bids fair to be one of the most sensational thief chases ever staged in Arizona. Three men who had stolen a bunch of nine cow horses in Colorado were captured by Sheriff Campbell and Deputy Howard Marine, both from Flagstaff. Campbell set out from here after them, as they were again in this county of Coconino. Three Colorado officers who had in the meantime arrived took the trail from Winslow. Later in the day, Campbell detoured and cut in ahead of the bandits, effectively cutting off any escape route.
Dick Galer came to town from his ranch this week with a freshly broken left arm. Something scared one of his ornery mules, which jumped sideways and jammed Dick up against the side of the stall, snapping one of the forearm bones. Dick reports the farmers out his way going at their spud digging with all the help they can get. They have two things to hurry them, the fear of a freeze up, and the fact that the lumber company is abandoning the logging camp in that section and will soon tear up their railroad track.
75 years ago
1947: Using powder donated by Navajo Ordinance Depot, an area of nearly a square mile on Lake Mary will be treated to help prevent leaks. Engineering details for the project, being financed by contributions from Flagstaff merchants and with assistance from the state game department and the U.S. Forest Service, are under the direction of Ralph Barney, county engineer. Holes are being drilled in the bottom of the lake in which powder was exploded Tuesday and will be dugout with county highway equipment and then refilled with clay -- which can be obtained along the west shore of the lakebed. The powder was shot off at about a 10-foot depth in the mud of the lakebed. The force of the explosion is supposed to compact the ground beneath clear down to the underlying rock in the lakebed, it was explained. With the addition of the clay, it is hoped that the holes will be completely plugged. By plugging the holes at this time, the group hopes that the lake will be able to retain more of the winter runoff and thereby be available for stocking fish next spring.
50 years ago
1972: If you were literally shaking in your boots today there was a good reason. It was pure and simple cold that registered the fear of winter in the hearts of all. The official Flagstaff city reading plunged to 14 degrees, which set a new record for the date the previous chill of 16 degrees had stood since 1954. The latest front followed an 8-inch snowfall, which blanketed the city the previous night and several days of heavy rains of the past week. Much of the snow had melted with the rising temperatures for the day Wednesday and only about 2 inches remained on the ground today. The thawing and refreezing, however, left scattered patches of ice on Flagstaff roadways. The conditions also were responsible for the closing of several forest roads on the eve of the opening of deer season. Hunters have been advised not to drive on unsurfaced roads when the season opens Friday.
Many secondary dirt roads in the Coconino National Forest were formally closed to general traffic at 8 a.m. today, but forest officials also released a list of all-weather roads that remained open. Coconino thus joined the Prescott, Kaibab, Tonto, and Apache national forests with roads closed or impassable because of recent wet weather. A Coconino forest supervisor said roads were closed to prevent extensive rutting damage and to reduce the danger of stranded hunters. Arizona's deer season opens this week.
25 years ago
1997: Charlie Laurel's home remodeling business doesn't stand on ceremony. He uses old tires, dirt, castoff foam walls and a host of other recycled materials to build energy-efficient houses that are friendly toward the earth and friendly on heating and electric bills. One of Laurel鈥檚 projects is included in the national solar home tour, which has been ongoing throughout the month of October. Charlie talks about his mother, who bought a house in Phoenix in 1951, her first house payment was $75, and the utility bill came to $10. Her last payment in 1980 was $125 and her energy bill was $250. During that 30-year period she wound up paying more for energy than she paid for the house. Laurel runs the well-being building company, and the N. Beaver Street home on the tour that he is remodeling is halfway complete. Being energy efficient costs more up front but the savings in utilities are significant.
Red Rock State Park in Sedona and Navajo bridge interpretive center in Marble Canyon have each picked up an award. Red Rock State Park was one of five parks selected throughout the nation to receive the 1997 Solar Park Power Award. The award program was sponsored in Arizona by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council. A spokesperson for the council said the award is a means to recognize state and national parks for their efforts to utilize solar power in public spaces. The project at Red Rock was selected for the innovative way its managers brought clean electricity to the park while providing education for K-12 students. The park in Sedona installed a standalone water pumping system that will eventually provide the water for an environmentally sensitive wetlands area under construction at the park. The solar project was the result of a collaborative effort of the state commerce department energy office.
A Flagstaff plumbing company reported the theft of eight shower stalls sometime between Oct. 15 and Tuesday. The owner of Coconino Plumbing said each shower stall was worth $210. He also said he did not know who would have stolen the shower stalls. Police asked the owner to call if he found out who stole the stalls.