Page 522 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

520  THE SOUTHWEST

Arizona Situated on Mars Hill is the 1894
Lowell Observatory, named for
Often referred to as the Grand Canyon State after its most its benefactor, Percival Lowell,
famous sight, Arizona offers a range of stunning natural beauty. a member of one of Boston’s
Its southwest corner features the hostile but eerily beautiful wealthiest families. Lowell
Sonoran Desert, bordered by the state’s economic hub, wanted to look for life on Mars
and although he did not
Phoenix, and the city of Tucson. To the north, the landscape succeed, the observatory
changes, rising through high desert plateaus, toward canyons earned repute with its
and mountains, the romanticized “Wild West” of cowboy films. documented evidence of an
Here, the city of Flagstaff and the picturesque towns of Sedona expanding universe, along
and Jerome attract thousands of visitors. Over 25 percent of with the discovery of Pluto by
astronomer Clyde Tombaugh.
Arizona is Native American reservation land. The state also A few miles northwest of
houses several Ancestral Puebloan ruins. downtown, set picturesquely in
a pine forest, is the Museum
of Northern Arizona. It holds
one of the Southwest’s most
compre hensive collections of
Southwestern archaeological
artifacts, as well as fine art and
natural science exhibits. The
museum presents an excellent
overview of Ancestral Puebloan
history and contemporary
Navajo, Hopi, and Pai cultures.
The collections are arranged
in a series of galleries around
a central courtyard. The
London Bridge spanning a man-made waterway in Lake Havasu City Archaeology Gallery provides a
fine introduction to the region’s
a Lake Havasu City s Flagstaff historic cultures. The award-
winning anthropology
* 53,100. ~ @ n 422 English * 68,800. ~ £ Amtrak Flagstaff
Village, (928) 855-5655. Open 9am– Station, 1 E Rte 66. @ Flagstaff bus exhibition in the Ethnology
5pm daily. ∑ golakehavasu.com station, 399 S Malpais Lane. Gallery documents 12,000 years
n Amtrak depot, 1 E Rte 66, (928) of Native-American cultures
California businessman Robert 213-2951. Open 8am–5pm Mon–Sat, on the Colorado Plateau. The
McCulloch founded Lake 9am–4pm Sun. Closed public hols. museum shop sells Native
Havasu City in 1964. The resort _ Flagstaff Festival of the Arts American arts and crafts. A
city he built on the Colorado (early Jul–mid-Aug). section has exhibits that focus
River was popular with the ∑ flagstaffarizona.org on the variety of plants and
landlocked citizens of Arizona. animals found on the Colorado
His real brainwave, however, Nestling among the pine forests Plateau through the ages.
came four years later when he of northern Arizona’s San
bought London Bridge and Francisco Peaks, Flagstaff is one E Museum of Northern Arizona
painstakingly transported it of the region’s most attractive 3101 N Fort Valley Rd. Tel (928) 774-
stone-by-stone from England towns. Its historic downtown, 5213. Open 10am–5pm Mon–Sat,
to Lake Havasu. Some mocked an attractive ensemble of red- noon–5pm Sun. Closed public hols.
McCulloch, suggesting that he brick buildings housing bars & 7 = ∑ musnaz.org
had thought he was buying and restaurants, dates from the
London’s Gothic Tower Bridge, 1890s, when the town developed
not this more ordinary one. as a lumber center.
There was more hilarity when Flagstaff’s lively café society
it appeared that there was owes much to the students
nothing in Havasu City for the of the Northern Arizona
bridge to span. Undaunted, University, home to two
McCulloch simply created the campus art galleries. The
waterway he needed by digging Beasley Gallery holds temporary
a channel to divert water from exhibitions and student work,
Lake Havasu. Today, Lake Havasu while the Northern Arizona
City is one of the most visited University Art Museum has the
outdoor recreation areas in permanent Weiss collection,
Arizona, attracting families which includes works by the Native American exhibits, Museum of
and sports enthusiasts alike. Mexican artist Diego Rivera. Northern Arizona in Flagstaff
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp550–52 and pp553–5

520-521_EW_USA.indd 520 11/2/16 2:47 PM