Emery Henderson, in an article in the Arizona Horsemen of April-May 1970, called "The Wilderness Rides by Emery Henderson, indicated that he joined ASHA in 1966 after a ride on Mt. Baldy. ASHA riders had invited him to join the association. Thus began a relationship that was great for all concerned.
Emery was the ultimate horseman. He came with knowledge of horse training, packing, driving, showing and many other attributes.
We served on many committees together, and his contributions were invaluable.
Statewide trail system 1971, in the May 17, 1971 issue of the Phoenix Gazette.
A story by Dottie Gilbert mentioned that then President, Peter Neisser had delegated to me, along with Bud Brown, to attempt to develop a statewide trail system. Shortly thereafter I was made the acting director of the Maricopa County Trail Committee. Howard Gilmore had moved from the Mid-West and brought with him extensive knowledge and training in the workings of the public park system. Tom Wardell, a horseman, who had been a director of ASHA, assigned Howard the task of running the county rides and the trail committee. Howard was a jewel to work with and was always a good friend of the horsemen. With the help of the county trail committee, Bud Brown and Emery Henderson, we developed the system of trails that included the Sun Circle Trail, the 51st Avenue Trail (Sunburst Trail) the Black Canyon Trail, the General Crook Trail and several others.
By the fall of 71, I had replaced Hal Adams as chairman of the county committee. Ready to sell the statewide trail program continued in 1971, Bud Brown arranged a meeting with the governor that took place in October of 71. Governor Williams listened attentively to the chart and map presentation and was excited about the prospect of a multiple use trail system that extended throughout the state. He was particularly interested in the General Crook Trail, and suggested that anyone interested in the history of the trail, should read Martha Summerhayes experiences of 1881 as a soldiers wife with the army in her book, Vanished Arizona (it's highly recommended). As a result of the meeting, the governor established the state trail committee under the state park system with the necessary funds to work on the statewide trail system. I was honored to be designated the first chairman of the committee.
Havasupai Ride in 1972: I was lucky to be invited on a Henderson Memorial Weekend Ride into the Havasupai Canyon. This was not an official ASHA ride, but all members were invited to go. We pulled our horses to the Grand Canyon, South Rim, where we mounted up for the ride down. The food for the horses was taken down by helicopter. I immediately got into trouble with Emery for riding ahead of the group. I was riding a young and frisky white Appy gelding. Whenever I rode a frisky horse in the morning, I was accustomed to running them a little to take the edge off as a precaution to getting bucked off. Emery let it be known that nobody rides ahead of the trail boss and that was that. I swear that Emery had the slowest walking horses in the state.
The ride into the canyon was pleasant and uneventful except for a few special events. One afternoon we all rode our horses to the make shift rodeo grounds to witness a horse race with Indian Riders and some of our group. The only difference was that instead of running it was to be a slow walking race. The Indians never understood that and when the race started, the Indians raced to the finish line and cheered their victory. Well, when the prizes were handed to the slow walkers all hell broke loose. I thought the Indian wars were starting all over.
Emery and his lovely wife, Betty, had worked with the Indians for a couple of years before this ride, so they were able to take us to some beautiful spots, complete with petroglyphs. I have a great memento of the ride; a picture of me on my horse at the top of Mooney Falls taken by Emery.
Phoenix to Grand Canyon Ride, April 1972: two young men, named Dan Gray and Willie Harris decided that they would like to ride from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon, and would appreciate directions and help of the horsemen's association. We took it as an opportunity to promote the trail system, and thereby became sponsors for the ride. There was wide coverage by the Gazette and Dottie Gilbert's column.
Their ride took several days and followed the Sun Circle Trail, then the Black Canyon Trail to Cordes Junction. From there they rode to Grief Hill in the Verde Valley, up Casner Mountain along Sycamore Canyon to Garland Prairie. From there they rode to Parks near Flagstaff. The next two days were spent riding to the rim of the canyon where they met by family and transportation home. It was a great experience for the men and some memories that they will always cherish.
Phoenix Mountain Preservation Commission 1972: Dottie Gilbert, the champion of the preserve, (if her name is mentioned often, it was because she was involved in everything the association was involved in, and she was always a pleasure to work with). In any event she was up to her ears in the development of the preserve and any and all aspects of it. She arranged that several of us were assigned as members of the commission, and my certificate from John Driggs is dated February 8, 1972. That was the beginning of many hours of meetings and presentations to public groups to help sell the need and the bond issues that followed. She could never applaud enough, the work done by Charles Christenson, a City of Phoenix employee that came from Chicago with plenty of bond selling savvy and spelled the difference between success and failure of the Mountain Preserve program. A trail is named for him in the preserve as a reminder of the positive effect he brought to the program.
To be continued.........
Chapter 3 - The 1973 - 1974
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