100 years ago
1925: Miss Anna Kunzelman鈥檚 corrective operations performed in Chicago several months ago under the care of the vocational educational department of the state board of education were so successful that she is enrolled at teachers college this summer and started upon a course in vocational training that will make her self-supporting. She does not limp at all and is taking a series of corrective exercises under the physical instructor, Miss Lora Maxwell, which will give her good use of her fingers, her hand as a whole being wonderfully improved. Her case is one that arouses pleasure and wonder at the remarkable progress of corrective surgery.
Judge Polee, federal judge for his tribe at Tuba, was in Monday and advises us that a careless cousin lost a mule and a yellow horse of his out south of town about three months ago, they have been scarce ever since. Both had the Oraibi brand on them 鈥� hat with double circle underneath. The mule had a halter on when turned loose, but you can never tell about a mule 鈥� he may have sold the halter to help make his getaway, but he had bobbed hair on the mane, as did the yellow horse. However, this should not be taken seriously since both may have let it grow out like the Elks are doing to disguise themselves. Judge Polee is a full-blood Hopi and says he will be here to help the rest of the old-timers celebrate on July 4.
75 years ago
1950: The second powerboat in history to successfully navigate the raging Colorado River from Lees Ferry to Lake Mead had completed its danger-filled trip today. The five men who rode the 鈥淗udmon鈥� into Pierce鈥檚 Ferry were battered and exhausted as they left their craft. 鈥淚t was the worst experience I ever encountered,鈥� said Wilson Taylor of Berkeley, California. Veteran boatman Otis Marston, also of Berkeley and leader of the expedition, said the expedition was the toughest of the five runs he鈥檚 made down the turbulent, rapid-filled stream. The trip was the 22nd made down the Colorado River, although last year was the first time it had been successfully run by a powerboat. That time Marston and Ed Hudson Sr., of Paso Robles, California, led a party in the 鈥淓smerelda.鈥� That boat also started this trip but was abandoned in the Grand Canyon when it developed engine trouble. Hudson and his son, Ed Jr., were left behind. They were taken out of the gorge by helicopter. The first helicopter that picked up the elder Hudson crashed on a small ledge, but the pilot was not injured, and the boatman received only minor hurts. (At) Pierce鈥檚 Ferry landing at the head of Lake Mead, Guy Forcier of St. Louis and Taylor had to be helped out. Forcier had injured a knee when thrown out of the boat as it plunged over savage rapids. Taylor hurt his ribs when he was tossed against the side of the craft. Forcier was knocked overboard when the boat hit a cross wave in rapids at mile 205. The nearly swamped boat was beached. Then the crew attempted to pull out too quickly and the rudder was bent, and a water pump became plugged with silt.
50 years ago
1975: The Arizona Department of the American Legion opens its 58th annual convention in Flagstaff June 26 at Little America. The convention will be the biggest of the summer season, with an anticipated 1,500 persons due to attend, Chairman John Warren, Flagstaff, said today. Highlight of the convention will be a banquet on June 27 at Little America, with U.S. Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, R-Ariz., as the principal speaker.
For the third time in a week, Flagstaff recorded the official lowest temperature in the nation, according to the National Weather Service. Although Flagstaff鈥檚 35 degrees this morning was designated the national low, Hawley Lake, in the White Mountains of Arizona, recorded a low of 28, the NWS said. Secondary stations such as Hawley Lake aren鈥檛 figured in national records, it was explained.
The future of the Murdock Recreation Center will be the subject of a citizen鈥檚 forum tonight at the Flagstaff City Council meeting. The reasons for closing programs at the center are poor attendance, cost to the department for operation and speculation for construction of a new center. Inadequate funding for maintenance and repairs, drain on other successful programs and the need to operationalize funds for properly operating programs at Cogdill Youth Center were cited.
25 years ago
2000: When a gun battle shattered the predawn quiet of the University Heights neighborhood, three people would find their lives forever linked with Flagstaff police officer Jeff Moritz. Dennis Tanner had arisen just before 4 a.m. to continue work on a chapter in his new book on head trauma and gunshot wounds. At one point, he heard a police siren come from the top of Gillenwater Drive but didn鈥檛 give it much thought. Five minutes later it happened. 鈥淚 had just written a sentence, 鈥楾hat we live in an increasingly violent society,鈥� when I heard: POP POP POP! And I know gunshots when I hear them,鈥� he recalled in an interview yesterday afternoon. 鈥淚 put the computer up and 鈥� looked over there and saw the lights flashing. I could see that somebody was down on the sidewalk, and I thought, 鈥極h, man, this is bad.鈥欌�� Tanner went to a bedroom and told his wife to get on the floor because somebody was shooting in the neighborhood. Then he heard two more shots, and his wife called 911. Deborah Hill lives down the street and also heard a flurry of gunshots. When she looked out her front window, she saw the mortally wounded officer. 鈥淭he officer was walking toward my house saying, 鈥楬elp me, somebody help me,鈥� Hill said as she looked out over the scene of the tragedy. Hill appeared shocked and saddened some eight hours after the shooting.