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Gila County
History
Where the Wild West Happened
The Code of the West was first chronicled by well-known resident, western writer Zane Grey. The men and women who moved west in the 1800s were bound by this unwritten code of conduct. Integrity and self-reliance guided their decisions and actions. As they moved west they were confronted by opposition, whether in the form of Native Americans who possessed the land or from the harsh wildernesses that were unforgiving on ill-prepared newcomers. These lands were full of outlaws that were used to governing the territory with a stiff rope, a hanging tree and a six-gun. Pioneers and Ranchers settled in the high mountains and started time-honored traditions like the Annual World’s Oldest Continuous Rodeo, that is still going strong today. America’s ingenuity and the search for copper began in small mining towns like Globe, Miami, Hayden and Winkelman. Cattle and sheep ranches sprung up all over the Tonto Basin creating competition for surrounding grazing rights. Soon these conflicts boiled over into one of the bloodiest family feuds on the western frontier. From this rugged, almost brutal landscape a place was born. You may call it Gila County. The families that lived it, called it…THE WILD WILD WEST!
Do You Love Haunted History?
Curious about Territorial era jails and frontier justice? Downtown Globe opens the cell-block doors each...
The Old Gila County Courthouse, It’s Full of Ghosts and History!
The Old Gila County Courthouse in Globe, Arizona is a composite of classical designs, but...
From the Desert to Tall Pines – Explore this Gila County “Scenic Byway”
A traveler will find the passage through this country quicker than in decades past. But...
Father of the World’s Oldest Continuous Rodeo – “Arizona” Charlie Meadows
Arizona is the home today of many famous people but its first superstar was a...
Gila County Stories – Zane Grey – By Jinx Pyle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM4U2Yr76N4 Zane Grey, the greatest storyteller of the American West, was born in Zanesville, Ohio,...
The Strawberry School House, located in Gila County, Arizona is a treasure!
The year was 1884. The families living in the Strawberry Valley, Yavapai County, in Arizona...
THE OLD RAILROAD TUNNEL. A PROJECT THAT DIDN’T GET VERY FAR, BUT IT’S AN ADVENTUROUS HIKE.
Nanette and Al Adame, frequent visitors to "Rim Country" were in desperate need to get...
Apache History in the Rim Country and Gila County – The Wild Arizona Territory.
Any history of the Rim Country, including the Tonto Basin, would be incomplete without first...
She Could Ride, Trick Rope and Train Horses With the Best – Featured Cowgirl Nancy Sheppard
Nancy Sheppard of Globe, Arizona has preserved the cowboy arts of trick riding, trick roping,...