"Arizona, the Wonderland"

You never know where a trail will lead. I've been spending a lot of time on the history of Flagstaff. This morning, I happened upon a book called Arizona, the Wonderland written by George Wharton James, published in 1917.

The page that came up in my Google book search was page 365, the beginning of Chapter XXVII, Coconino County and Flagstaff. To catch a glimpse of what these early visitors to Coconino County saw is such a privilege. He says, "Coconino County is one of the vast slices pared off in the early days of Arizona's history from Yavapai County--the mother of Arizona counties. Imagine an area as large all Vermont and all Massachusetts, with little Rhode Island thrown in--an area across which the Grand Canyon is cut in all its sublime glory, an area in which stands in solemn majesty one of the most, if not the most, beautiful and inviting mountain cluster in the United States--the San Francisco range, 12,611 feet above sea level--this is Coconino County."

Further, on page 367, he celebrates the beauty of the area, "Why go to Asia, or to the heights of the Himalayas, or the Andes of the South, when here are places that challenge the strength, the power, the endurance of the explorer? And it is a region of color, too, that surpasses the most extravagant endeavor of either writer or painter to portray. A La Farge, a Reid, a Moran, a Turner, a Tintoretto, a Titian, a Velasquez aided by all the more and most daring of the modern painters of the greatest of schools might suggest its color extravagances, but even though the artist were to paint it ever so well there isn't a person in the world who would believe it meant anything real--so why imagine the artists attempting it?"

I hope you enjoyed this little snippet from George Wharton James, published in 1917 and digitized in 2007. If you'd like to read more or download the entire book it's available here.