Bella Bella Tootles Around the Valley of the Sun

During my recent visit to Scottsdale and Phoenix in Arizona, I wondered where these cities got their names.

Have you heard of a legendary bird called the phoenix?

I’ve just checked my personal copy of Newt Scamander’s Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them to retrieve some details for you:

“ … The phoenix is a magnificent, swan-sized, scarlet bird with a long golden tail, beak and talons. It nests on mountain peaks and is found in Egypt, India and China. The phoenix lives to an immense age as it can regenerate, bursting into flames when its body begins to fail and rising again from the ashes as a chick.” *

We Pottermaniacs know how important Fawkes was to Professor Albus Dumbledore. Phoenixes have interested lots of people over the years. Ancient cultures around the Mediterranean Sea and across Asia shared myths about a bird that lived hundreds of years, built itself a nest of spices, set fire to it, then emerged reborn from the ashes ... all fresh and new to live another long lifetime.

Nowadays, people still say “it rose like a phoenix from its own ashes” when something wonderful develops from something in ruins. And that’s exactly how Phoenix, Arizona got its name.

The city is located where it is because of those ancient Hohokam canals (please see my previous story). The founders of modern Phoenix realized that they could revive the Hohokams’ immense system of irrigation to re-settle the Valley of the Sun.

In the 1860s, a man named Jack Swilling established the Swilling Irrigation Canal Company to restore and extend the Hohokam irrigation networks. By 1881, the growing community had officially became a city.
 

What about Scottsdale’s name? All those bagpipes collected at the Musical Instrument Museum, and the fine piper (as well as kilt-wearing golfers) at the Westin Kierland Resort, led me to suspect some strong Scottish link to the area.

Well, there is a Scottish connection: modern Arizona was apparently first settled by Scottish immigrants.

Scottsdale, though, takes its name from a U.S. Army Chaplain named Winfield Scott. He and his brother, George, were farmers who encouraged other settlers to join them in what was then called Orangedale. Orangedale was re-named Scottsdale in Winfield Scott’s honour in 1894.

You can learn more at the Scottsdale Historical Museum in Old Scottsdale. The museum was built as a schoolhouse way back in 1909.

It’s fun to tootle around Old Scottsdale, with all its neat buildings and broad sidewalks. Many historic buildings now have cool restaurants, shops, and art galleries in them.

Blue-and-green squares painted on the sidewalks show you a good route to follow through the Arts District’s regular Thursday ArtWalk.

Another great way to explore downtown Scottsdale is to hop on and off the city’s free trolley service.

There’s lots of hiking around the whole area. You can stretch your legs on trails like Piestewa Peak, Camelback Mountain, Mormon Trail to Hidden Valley, Deem Hills, Tom’s Thumb, or Pinnacle Peak.

You can also tour the Valley of the Sun by horseback (or muleback, much like Winfield Scott and his wife, Helen, did with their mule Maude).

Personally, I’m not so sure I’d want to ride a mule around — my friend Jenny here is stubborn as a …

Bicycles aren’t generally known as a stubborn ride. Phoenix has over 800 kilometres of bicycle lanes, routes, and paths. City buses have bicycle racks, so you can take your bike on the bus if you get tired, or if you want to start your ride somewhere farther away. Mountain-bikers can find over 160 kilometres of tough trails in nearby parks. If your bike has a headlamp, you can ride at night, and admire the stars in Arizona’s famously dark skies.

A wonderful way to see the Sonoran Desert is by hot-air balloon!

Captain Mike England of Hot Air Expeditions kept us very safe, even as we coasted eye-to-eye with passing birds at an elevation over 1,200 metres. The roar of the gas jet that heats the balloon is really loud, but between gusts of flame, the silence is serene.

The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation hold about 100 square kilometres of land 37 kilometres northeast of Phoenix. One morning, we toured part of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation’s desert by Tomcar.

Tomcars, a kind of ATV (all-terrain vehicle), are Israeli military buggies that have been available in the U.S. since 2006. They are run by Green Zebra Adventures. The company has offered ATV tours here for about three years.

My friend Dave found his inner teen-ager driving these amazing vehicles over some truly rough roads. Here, I’ll quote him: “WHAT A BLAST!”

Our guide said that recent rain would help keep the dust down. Normally, people climb out of the Tomcars looking like “somebody dumped a bucket of dirt over them.” Still, he gave us each green bandannas that you should wrap around your nose and mouth against the dust. Do I look like a bandit?

If you make your way to one of the area’s reservoirs, you can even tour the area by boat! Imagine, boats in the desert. No industry exists around any of these dammed lakes, so they’re very clean, and popular for boating, fishing, and other water sports.

This is a reservoir called Lake Pleasant.

Lake Pleasant is in a regional park dotted with masses of Saguaro cactus. The reservoir was created by the Waddell Dam, which was originally completed in 1927 to impound the Agua Fria (“cold water”) River. The dam was extended in 1992. The lake’s water is used for irrigation, though not for drinking.

Arizona apparently has more boats per capita than Florida.

My friend Butte is really lucky to hail from Arizona’s Valley of the Sun.

Now, are you wondering where Arizona got its name, too? Seems like nobody’s sure. It could be from an Aztec word for “silver-bearing,” arizuma.

It might also be from a Pima Indian word for a small spring, ali shonak, which Spanish explorers could have mis-heard as arizonac. It might come from the Spanish arida zona, “arid zone,” or even a Basque word for “good oak tree,” aritz ona.

Maybe we should ask Newt Scamander to look into it.

Story © S. Clouthier

Photos © S. Clouthier and D. Wei

Image of phoenix courtesy Friedrich Bertuch/Wikipedia

*Rowling, J.K.; Scamander, Newt. Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them. London: Bloomsbury / Obscurus Books, 2001. p. 61.