A Brief History of Winslow, Arizona

[Music] hello and welcome to a brief history of winslow arizona which will present the city's history through images major historical themes and several individual stories i'm anne marie lutzik and i'm the director of the old trails museum which explores winslow's history through exhibits publications and programs this video will provide you with an overview of winslow's history which will hopefully allow you to absorb even more information whenever you read about or visit one of winslow's many historic sites or buildings winslow has a rich history that connects it to the broader history of the southwest class topics include ancestral puebloans winslow's proximity to hopi and navajo tribal lands mormons in arizona territory transcontinental railroads area ranching and trading posts winslow's harvey houses and stretch of u.s route 66 and winslow's historic airport ancestral pabloans ancestors of the hopi inhabited the winslow area from ad-200 through the homology villages northeast of present-day winslow were at peak activity in the 1300s hamala v4 seen here as a digital reconstruction by archaeology southwest consisted of 150 rooms constructed from local sandstone homology's inhabitants grew corn in the high desert which they traded for pottery with the pueblo villages on the mesas to the north they likely migrated to those mesas at the end of the 14th century where the federal government established the hopi reservation in 1882 the land they left behind now constitutes formality state park which you can visit today on the northeast edge of winslow the athabascans ancestors of the dna or navajo likely migrated to the area from northern canada in the 1400s by the 1700s navajo people were farming tending sheep like the women on this postcard and trading with others in the region the navajo nation which borders winslow to the north was established in 1868 and is the largest tribal entity in the nation in both area and population members of both the hopi and navajo nations like this couple from indian wells at winslow's indian day in 1955 have continually migrated between their tribal lands and winslow for commerce employment education and public services non-native winslow residents have also migrated to tribal communities while working as traitors medical workers and teachers before the civil war the federal government began sending military expeditions to map potential transcontinental railroad routes in 1857 lieutenant edward beal established the beale wagon road seen here at the bottom of the map which passed through the future town site of winslow the popular pioneer trail of the 1860s and 70s became the base corridor for the future railroads u.s route 66 and interstate 40. you can visit the beale wagon road's historic marker which is inset in the rock wall in front of la pasada hotel lieutenant bill famously used camels during his expeditions in the semi-arid west illustrated in this painting by winslow artist joseph cruz rodriguez but the experiment did not result in their permanent use in 1876 mormon church leader brigham young set the first settlers of european origin to the winslow area the pioneers traveled from salt lake city and utah territory along what would become the mormon honeymoon trail seen here on the left side of the map the settlers illustrated in this rodriguez painting of their wagon train crossing tucker flats west of winslow established the first four mormon settlements in arizona territory 200 of them set up brigham city just one mile north of present-day winslow and along the little colorado river the fort's residents were released from their calling in 1881 and moved to other mormon settlements in the territory most of the fort walls were moved to the west grounds of la pasada hotel in 1930. members of winslow's mormon church have done some restoration of the old fort seen here during a 2012 commemoration you can visit the partially restored fort with some scrambling through vegetation on the north edge of town the railroads ultimately drove settlement in isolated northern arizona territory in late 1880 the atlantic and pacific railroad or the anp laid out a new town site just south of brigham city this rodriguez painting shows the railroad taking advantage of the underlying bedrock at sunset crossing just east of winslow to traverse the little colorado river named for railroad executive edward f winslow the new town saw the first rail line arrive in late 1881. the a p designated winslow as headquarters for the division that ran from isleta new mexico to needles california in part because they could access the ample water supply at nearby clear creek workers soon built this pump house at the creek at a roundhouse machine in blacksmith shops and a passenger depot in town winslow's first roundhouse a building with a large turntable that allowed for inspection repair and storage of steam locomotives burned in 1895. winslow's second roundhouse was rebuilt on the same site just east of present-day la pasada hotel this postcard shows winslow's third and final roundhouse which was built on the west end of town in 1913 and was eventually torn down the atchison topeka and santa fe railway better known as the santa fe bought the a p in 1897 and transferred their division headquarters to winslow the influx of infrastructure and employees transformed the railroad boom town into an important stop along the santa fe line exemplified here by railroad avenue's bustling business district by the time arizona became the 48th state in 1912 winslow is home to around 4 000 residents and referred to as the metropolis of northern arizona historic railroad avenue was renamed first street which you can visit by walking along the first street pathway in downtown winslow seen here at la pasada hotel in 1948 the santa fe indian band formed in 1923 and was winslow's most visible cultural organization for over 40 years hopi laguna and navajo railroad employees and their family members performed locally in winslow christmas parades and in the la pasada band shell they also logged thousands of rail miles performing at special events including arizona state fairs and gallup intertribal indian ceremonials the santa fe wanted to expand winslow's diesel shops after world war ii but town leaders resisted growth and the shops were moved to barstow california the ongoing conversion to diesel and the loss of passenger operations to amtrak in 1971 continued to reduce jobs throughout the industry that same year this diesel locomotive idled on the tracks behind winslow's santa fe division offices in 1995 the merger with the burlington northern created the burlington northern and santa fe railway and winslow continued to serve as division headquarters until they were moved in 2001. the company was renamed bnsf railway in 2005 and purchased by berkshire hathaway in 2010. today the bnsf is still one of the largest employers in town and one of their trains is seen here with former conductor bill shumway the aztec land and cattle company better known as the hashknife formed in 1885 and was arizona territory's largest ranch it spanned 2 million acres from flagstaff to holbrook and many of its 100 cowboys came to winslow for supplies and recreation the hashtag folded in 1900 and sold most of the land and the famous brand to the babbitt brothers of flagstaff seen here around 1900 is the chuck wagon of the xit ranch which owns some former hash life land south of winslow winslow's location as a livestock and trade goods shipping point contributed to its growth and stability and the area's cattle industry survives today because of their careful stewardship of both land and animals when the statewide elks lodge decided to re-establish miriam elk in arizona the winslow lodge received the montana herd seen here resting in the santa fe stockyards in 1913 prior to their release olive dove vanzost came to winslow in 1918 to work as a harvey girl she married george cresswell and changed her name to cecil after george's death she lived a solitary life south of town and eventually rustled cattle from neighboring ranches to survive when police went to arrest the 53 year old in 1954 she took her own life rather than be incarcerated starting in the 1880s over a dozen families with ties to winslow worked at nearly 30 regional trading posts goods flowed to and from navajo and hopi artists and families along the santa fe line based in ganato arizona since 1876 lorenzo hubble senior headed arizona's most successful and respected trader family in 1924 lorenzo jr bought richardson's trading post on west 2nd street and establish winslow's hubble trading post as one of their santa fe distribution points in 1932 lorenzo jr commissioned the world's largest navajo rug from the joe family of greecewood arizona for exhibition at the winslow location and special events around the nation in 2012 la pasata co-owner alan affelt purchased the 22 by 36 foot masterpiece which will eventually be on display at the winslow arts trust museum the era of the traditional trading posts had come to an end the hubble trading post seen here in the 1950s closed for good in 1972 and the city of winslow purchased the building in 1998 listed on the national register of historic places in 2002 the building now serves as the winslow chamber of commerce and visitors center you can go to the visitors center and see the historic structure which also houses an old trails museum exhibit about its history starting in 1876 englishman fred harvey opened a series of dining houses along the santa fe line in partnership with the railroad considered america's first restaurant chain the family-run fred harvey company operated until 1968. the company's many innovations included the refinement of dining in the west as seen here on a postcard of winslow's first harvey house dining room as well as the widespread employment of women seen here winslow's first harvey house opened in 1887 south of the tracks and east of the present-day underpass the large brick and sandstone structure included a ticket office waiting in baggage rooms newspaper stand lunch and dining rooms at a second floor hotel when the building caught fire in 1914 the santa fe rebuilt this larger structure a few months later once la pasada hotel opened in 1930 the santa fe used the older facility to house division offices downstairs and la pasada employees upstairs in the former hotel rooms this building was torn down in 1964. in 1883 fred harvey introduced the harvey girls waitresses who were required to be well mannered remain unmarried live in dormitories with curfews and work 12-hour shifts six days a week despite the demands over a hundred thousand single women from the east and midwest took the opportunity to work a respectable job for good wages like these three in winslow in 1920. over 50 000 of them married western men and settled in towns along the santa fe line the winslow mail reported the arrival of winslow's harvey girls in the 1890s and some of them are seen here with the rest of a 1927 crew outside winslow's second harvey house as elsewhere winslow's harvey girls were among the most capable women in the community and generations of their descendants still reside in town by 1900 both the santa fe and fred harvey companies began promoting tourism to the southwest by building grand hotels in the region mary colter worked as a designer for the harvey company from 1902 to 1949 and imagined winslow's la pasada hotel which opened in 1930 as if it were the grand hacienda of a wealthy spanish dawn the spanish colonial revival structure was surrounded by 11 acres of gardens with a greenhouse band shell and tennis courts the harvey car indian detours a first-class automobile touring service from grand hotels to natural and cultural sites operated in northern arizona and new mexico from 1926 to 1931. la pasada guests could take a detour to the petrified forest painted desert national monument they could also buy indian made arts and crafts in the gift shop and see artist demonstrations and performers like this hoop dancer on lapassada's south patio in the 1930s the hotel's public spaces and guest rooms boasted flagstone floors wrought iron railings and spanish arches and furniture for almost 30 years la pasada served northern arizona residents as a location for special events like this new year's eve party in the formal dining room in 1953. the hotel also hosted famous guests such as albert einstein charles lindbergh clark gable john wayne and shirley temple passenger rail travel was in decline and the harvey company began closing restaurants and hotels in the 1930s world war ii temporarily reversed this trend and la pasada hired retired harvey girls to serve the troop trains but la pasada eventually closed to the public in 1957 though the former hotel escaped the wrecking ball when the santa fe railway converted it into division offices in 1964. when the santa fe merged with the burlington northern in 1995 the new company planned to move division headquarters and la posada became an endangered property local volunteers formed the la pasada foundation and garnered federal grant funds to save the building but the funds needed a match and the project needed a leader in 1997 alan affelt and his wife artist tina mion moved from southern california to reopen la pasada as a premier hotel and gardens the hotel now hosts thousands of visitors annually and amtrak's southwest chief still stops there twice daily the city's business center shifted north from 1st to 2nd street which became part of the national all trails highway in 1912 and part of u.s route 66 in 1926. the nation's first all-weather highway linking chicago to los angeles now passed through downtown winslow on the still unpaved 2nd street seen here in the early 1920s by 1937 all of route 66 had been paved by thousands of men employed by new deal programs during the great depression thanks to years of bottleneck traffic on two-way second street winslow city council voted in 1951 to make second the one-way eastbound lanes of route 66 seen here in the late 1950s and third street the westbound lanes here the santa fe indian band parades by babbitt brothers department store and wayne l troutner's store for men along route 66 in 1959. a marketing genius trotner placed hundreds of billboards along the route that featured his iconic cowgirl logo she lured curious tourists to the store where they found men's clothing and troutner's signature cologne essence of 66 the troutner building burned in the mid-1990s and the babbitt building now houses snowdrift art space winslow's retail trade committee launched the winslow christmas parade in 1946 to encourage citizens to do their holiday shopping locally now a project of the winslow chamber of commerce the parade continues to kick off the holiday season on the saturday before thanksgiving hundreds of navajo and hopi vendors and artists sell crafts jewelry and food along historic route 66 before the start of the parade which still features floats bands dancers and equestrian units these children rode decorated bikes past the rasco building on route 66 and a 1960s rodeo parade winslow's jc penney closed at the rasco location around 1972 the same year the eagles sang about standing on a corner in winslow arizona interstate 40 bypassed downtown winslow in october 1979 and business traffic disappeared overnight luckily travelers began to pull off the interstate to explore route 66 towns and in 1987 the decommissioned route received a historic highway designation in 1999 the standard on the corner foundation dedicated a park on the northwest corner of 2nd street and kinsley avenue statues in front of a mural on the old rasco building's east wall provide an ideal photo opportunity for the 100 000 tourists who stop at the standing on the corner park each year now constantly flying with tourists winslow section of historic route 66 is the foundation of current downtown revitalization residents and visitors alike enjoy the attractions and annual events along the route which also include the 911 remembrance garden the standing on the corner festival in september and the just cruising car club show in october [Music] winslow was promoted to tourists as meteor city during the heyday of route 66 since meteor crater was just 22 miles west of town mining engineer daniel morrow behringer owned the land and tried to prove it was a meteorite impact crater rather than a volcano until his death in 1929 his theory was finally confirmed in 1963 and meteor crater national natural landmark is now a privately owned tourist attraction and place of scientific study winslow's historic airport played a pioneering role in early air travel famous aviator charles lindbergh served as a technical committee chair for transcontinental air transport or tat which launched the nation's first cross-country passenger airline he selected winslow as one of its airfield locations for its open terrain good weather and access to the santa fe line his colleagues chose land south of town for this terminal hangar and two asphalt runways and the new airfield was dedicated in june 1929. the committee selected the forward tri-motor for tat's fleet and one of them is seen here refueling in front of winslow's terminal in 1929 even though t.a.t spared no expense passengers still endured bumpy flights wide temperature variations in the unpressurized cabins and high noise levels during their journey because flying at night was dangerous travelers took the pennsylvania railroad overnight from new york city to columbus ohio then boarded a plane that stopped in indianapolis st louis kansas city wichita and waynoka oklahoma they transferred to the santa fe railway for an overnight trip to clovis new mexico where they boarded a flight that stopped in albuquerque winslow kingman and finally los angeles for a grand total of 12 stops through a series of mergers t.a.t became transcontinental and western air or tnwa which was bought by aviator howard hughes in 1939. when the united states entered world war ii in late 1941 the military refurbished the airport seen here in the late 1930s to serve as a refueling and repair stop and over 350 military flights pass through winslow daily the cold war was underway when in february 1949 this northrop yb40 nicknamed the flying wing and the precursor to the stealth bomber had to make an emergency landing in winslow despite the 24-hour military guard thousands of people came to see the plane and hundreds watched it depart on march 2nd howard hughes changed the name of the airline to transworld airlines in 1950 the twa service to winslow ended in 1953. luckily regional carrier frontier airlines offered daily flights between winslow and phoenix on dc-3s like this one at winslow's airport in 1951. frontier ended service to winslow in 1974 and commercial passenger service to winslow ended completely in 1989 in 1998 the winslow municipal airport was renamed the winslow lindbergh regional airport as a tribute to its role in aviation history wiseman aviation of flagstaff has run daily operations for the city since 2007 and restored the terminal to its original style current airport users include u.s military aircraft u.s forest service firefighting aircraft medical transport services and recreational flyers you can still see the terminal and hangar by eating at the eno kitchen located in between the two historic buildings or by attending winslow's high desert fly-in in the fall and for one more individual story j.r vargas graduated from winslow high school in 1956. in 1970 president richard m nixon presented colonel vargas with a congressional medal of honor the highest military award given in the u.s armed forces for his brave actions in the battle of daidou in vietnam though vargas never lived in winslow after he joined the marines he credits the town with molding his character and he donated copies of his metal uniform and other artifacts to the old trails museum [Music] even though winslow's growth began to slow after world war ii and downtown businesses were temporarily devastated by the interstate 40 bypass winslow's current population is stable at almost 10 000 people winslow's largest employers include the bnsf railway the winslow unified school district northland pioneer college winslow campus the little colorado medical center winslow indian health services and an arizona department of corrections facility south of town heritage tourism is also an economic force winslow section of historic route 66 the standing on the corner park la pasada hotel the hubble training post homology state park and nearby tribal lands continue to lure visitors from around the world there's so much more to winslow's history so we invite you to visit the old trails museum at 212 north kinsley avenue in the heart of winslow's downtown historic business district and just across the street from the standing on the corner park please go to our website for more information on our hours collections exhibits programs and publications thank you for your attention and for your interest in winslow's history [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Old Trails Museum

Views: 16,144

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Id: qgHo7z_iang

Length: 24min 40sec (1480 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 10 2021