Category Arizona history
When Once is not Enough . . .
Patricia Grady Cox – October 7, 2018 Every now and then I think about writing a sequel to HELLGATE, my most recent novel, set in 1880 Arizona Territory. That thought gained momentum recently as I watched a PBS documentary about the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Prescott’s small Chinatown (50 Chinese in Prescott according to […]
My Story to Tell?
Patricia Grady Cox February 5, 2018 I wanted to have a character in my novel who told the story of the Navajo Long Walk from a native perspective. But how? I am not Native American. I had never done more than exchange a few words with Native Americans. I’d spent a lot of time at Monument […]
Ghost Town Godfather
Patricia Grady Cox January 18, 2018 Arizona owes its existence to mining. First gold, then silver, then copper. Eventually these mines played out or flooded out and closed down. Tombstone started out as a mining town and was too tough to die. But other mining-associated towns, such as Bisbee and Jerome, became ghost towns before […]
What Inspires You?
Patricia Grady Cox January 6, 2015 One of the most common questions asked of authors is, “Where did you get your inspiration?” For me, reading about the history of the southwest, particularly Arizona, inspires me. The scenery of the southwest, the Sonoran desert, inspires me. Visiting places that remain untouched by time inspires me. […]
A HAUNTING OF COYOTES
Patricia Grady Cox October 31, 2015 Ghostly encounters flare up throughout my novel CHASM CREEK. Ruben Santiago, an elderly Navajo, experiences most of these visions, visitations, and vexatious occurrences. In the following short excerpt, Ruben goes to a place called Haunted Hill, hoping to conjure up the image of his long-dead grandmother. Instead he gets […]
WATER IN THE WEST – A MINI-INTRO
by Patricia Grady Cox October 14, 2015 With all the news about discovering running water on Mars and the drought in California, I thought it would be fun to provide a simplified history of the origins of water supplies in Arizona. The Arizona Territory, created in 1863, consisted primarily of prospectors and gold miners, various […]
Deja Vu in Sedona?
Text and photos by Patricia Grady Cox September 30, 2015 I took a ride to Sedona yesterday. I have been to Sedona about a million times. Every time someone from back east visits me; many times for hikes (nothing like the West Fork Trail in autumn);, just for the fun of it, and once—in 1988—to […]
CRAZY THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT THE 19th CENTURY
Patricia Grady Cox September 23, 2015 Some of us spent our childhoods watching westerns on TV: Gunsmoke, Wanted—Dead or Alive, Palladin, Wagon Train, Rawhide, The Big Valley, Bonanza . . . Westerns were the NCIS of the late 50s and early 60s. You could find at least one every night. And then they were no […]
INSPIRATION AND VALIDATION
INSPIRATION AND VALIDATION Years ago, I began doing research for my novel CHASM CREEK. I’m not sure I even knew I would someday write a novel, but I was intrigued by the history of the town I found myself living in: Cave Creek, Arizona, in the foothills about 30 miles north of Phoenix. It’s main […]
Patricia Grady Cox 