Monday, June 30, 2008

“Pistol Packin’ Paula” Benefit

“Pistol Packin’ Paula” Benefit
Buffalo Chip Saloon in Cave Creek was recently (Jun 29th ) the site of a very special benefit for Phoenix Arizona’s own World Champion Lady Six Gun Spinner, Bull Whip Artist and All-Around Wild West Performer, Paula Saletnik, who, for over 12 years entertained Tens of Thousands of Guests at the World Famous Rawhide Theme Park in Scottsdale, performed for Hundreds of Corporate Events and Fund Raisers, and performed at the World Famous Ponderosa Ranch {Home of TV’s Bonanza}.

Paula Saletnik, aka “Pistol Packin’ Paula”, was recently involved in an automobile accident, from which she sustained very serious bodily injury. During the evening of Thursday, January 10, Paula struck a deer while driving on a county highway near her home in Boerne, Texas. As she swerved to miss the animal, her truck rolled countless times and was thrown from the vehicle through the driver side window. When she regained consciousness, she was lying in the nearby grass, with the wheels upturned on her vehicle. As she realized she needed to call for help, her cellular phone was missing from it’s holder. Unable to move, she was encouraged when Pepper, her beloved dog, ran nearly a mile to a nearby farmhouse to get help. It was at this exact time that Paula’s landlord called her. Fortunately, she was able to reach the cell phone located near her knee, truly a Godsend. An ambulance arrived on the scene shortly thereafter, and she was transported to a nearby “Flight for Life” location. She was then airlifted by helicopter to the University Hospital in San Antonio, TX.

Paula’s diagnosed injuries included a broken sternum and pelvis {both sides, front & back}, cracked ribs and fractures to three vertebrae. A surgical procedure was performed on Tuesday, January 15, with several permanent pins implanted. Her doctors expect a full recovery, however, this will take several months or years of therapy and determination. Paula’s tough Cowgirl Spirit is intact and she WILL twirl her guns and ride her horse again! After her hospital stay, Paula has left the hospital and is staying with friends for the next several months, who will assist her in her therapy and recovery.

Dr Buck Montgomery, of Dr Buck Productions {Producer of the Annual Wild Western Festival in Phoenix AZ Sept 26-28 at CJS Film Studios www.wildwesternfestivals.com}, a personal friend of over 15 years and a fellow entertainer has contributed to and created a Trust Fund for Paula, {Donations can be made at Any “Bank of America” Branch, to the “ THE PAULA SALETNIK MEDICAL FUND”}

The Paula Benefit on Sunday, June 29th, 2008, from 2pm to 6pm, was hosted by Barbara & Larry Wendt at their Historic Buffalo Chip Saloon & Steakhouse, located at: 6811 East Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek, Arizona 85331. Despite the 110 degree heat a good number of people attended keeping close to shade and misters and sipping cool beverages. The event featured World Class “Best of the West” Entertainers, Live Music, Games, Activities, Raffles, a great Silent & Live Auction. TC Thorstenson also a long time friend of Paula’s, previously working together in his Champions of the West Wild West Shows, performed for the audience with his World Famous Buffalo Harvey Wallbanger. Although Harvey didn’t want to lie down in the hot sand, he pulled through like the great performer he is and even jumped through a ring of fire with TC on his back. Gary West Magician entertained the group with his old west style magic show. Casino tables from Arizona Nights kept guest cool inside with blackjack and roulette. Chris Putman did his strolling magic, Tumbleweed Junction played their cowboy music, Justus Harrison entertained the crowds, Arizona Duuude shook hands and welcomed guests and Gary Kotula artist drew caricatures all to benefit their friend Paula.
For further information on how you can help Paula, contact Tammy Youngs at {480} 703-6702 or email:TLYoungs@cox.net or Dr Buck at {623} 521-3856 Fax: {623} 882-9428 or email:DRBuc@cox.net DR BUCK PRODUCTIONS, PO Box 7123, Goodyear, AZ 85338.


Johnny Ringo of Carefree Adventures bought the “One for Each of You” Buck Taylor print of Doc Holliday at the OK Corral (Val Kilmer in the movie Tombstone) beautifully framed by local artist Gary Graham Double G Frames.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Sharlot Herself: Selected Writings of Sharlot Hall


Book Review
By LeeAnn Sharpe

Sharlot Herself: Selected Writings of Sharlot Hall Edited by Nancy Kirkpatrick Wright with an introduction by Margaret F. Maxwell Illustrations by Carlos Parra Copyright 1992 by Sharlot Hall Museum 415 W. Gurley Street Prescott, AZ 86301
ISBN 0-927579-04-9 Sharlot Hall books can be ordered at phone: 928.445.3122.


Recently my friend Bob Roloff, the Arizona Duuude, introduced me to the writings of Sharlot Hall. First I read her biography by Margaret F. Maxwell, “A Passion For Freedom: The Life of Sharlot Hall”, “Cactus and Pine” and then the Arizona Strip book. Finally I have completed the series with the “Sharlot Herself: Selected Writings of Sharlot Hall”, Edited by Nancy Kirkpatrick Wright.

With each book I have come to love Sharlot Hall more. Her dedication to the state of Arizona and love of early history runs parallel to the course I have set for my own life. Sharlot’s way of turning a phrase using the jargon of the western cowboy and Arizona pioneer makes her stories especially interesting.

It is almost beyond belief that a woman of her era was able to travel so extensively and participate in so many daring and adventurous activities generally associated with men. As a young girl she rode her pony with her pioneering family from Kansas to Lonesome Valley Arizona outside Prescott. That in itself led to many adventures and strengthened her spirit.

Her chauvinistic, self-centered, brute of a father probably did her a favor in setting her mind against marriage at an early age. Seeing how her mother was merely his property and slave, worked to death without the affection due as reward for her commitment, Sharlot vowed never to be yoked by any man.

Perhaps once or twice she felt genuine affection for men in her life, but they didn’t see her as wifely material, not that she was interested. Rather she was almost an intellectual equal or student to sit at their feet and learn, take advice and fawn over their ideas.

Samuel Putnam, a proponent of the Free Thought Movement who lectured in Prescott in 1895 caught her eye and she became an ardent follower until his death just a year later. Her poems reflected her deep love for him and regret that he was gone from her life forever. At the same time she seemed almost angry with him that he was gone or maybe more that she had fallen for him so deeply. It must have hurt her knowing he was traveling with a young woman much like herself. But then the woman has died in the same gas accident as Putnam.

Her life was filled with exciting men of history including the renowned publisher Charles F. Lummis, the last Arizona territorial governor Richard E. Sloan, first state governor George W.P. Hunt, President Calvin Coolidge and artist Maynard Dixon.

Sharlot Herself: Selected Writings of Sharlot Hall presents many of Sharlot’s previously unpublished bits and pieces of prose and letters into the context of her life at that time. It helps to flesh out the character of this rugged individualist with a unique talent for throwing a lariat to lasso up just the right words to express her feelings and experiences. When she went north to the Arizona Strip she went through territory few people had traveled. Her descriptions of nature; flora, fauna and geology aroused the interests of many businessmen looking at the area for mining and lumbering potential.

Each of the books mentioned above would be of interest to anyone with a love for early Arizona history. Reading about a brave adventurous woman like Sharlot Hall is inspirational.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

SHARLOT HALL ON THE ARIZONA STRIP


Book Review
By LeeAnn Sharpe

SHARLOT HALL ON THE ARIZONA STRIP: A Diary of a Journey Through Northern Arizona in 1911 by Sharlot M. Hall, edited by C. Gregory Crampton, foreword by Valeen Tippetts Avery published by Sharlot Hall Museum 415 W. Gurley Street Prescott, AZ 86301. Revised edition, © 1999 112 pp., photograph, map ISBN: 0-927579-08-1
$14.95, paperback. This book has just gone out of print. Other Sharlot Hall books can be ordered at phone: 928.445.3122.

You think you know everything about your home state until you read the words of a traveler who walked the state step-by-step discovering intimate details known no other way. Some of the way was in a buckboard, but she enjoyed walking ahead, even running on occasion to enjoy the freedom of being one with nature alone in the wilderness.

Sharlot Hall and Al Doyle walked every inch of the trails in the Arizona Strip, the area north of the Grand Canyon. It was in a time, 1910, when trails were few, rugged and treacherous at best. It was in a time when women seldom left the comforts of home, unless absolutely necessary. But Sharlot Hall of her own free will and desire took on the role of historian and adventurer to document the area before Arizona was even a state.

When my friend Bob Roloff, the Arizona Duuude, wrote of his love for the writing of Sharlot Hall it made me curious. First I read her biography by Margaret F. Maxwell, “A Passion For Freedom: The Life of Sharlot Hall”, and her book of poems “Cactus and Pine”. Then I had to read “Sharlot Hall: the Arizona Strip” by Sharlot Hall.

I’d always thought of myself as a fairly brave and adventurous spirit, raised as tom boy, the son my father never had. I’ve hiked, hunted, fished and camped all of my life. Arizona has been a wonderful playground in which to explore and learn about nature and history, especially back in the 1950’s and 1960’s when much of the state was still barely inhabited.

But what it must have been for Sharlot Hall and Al Doyle to travel from Prescott to Kingman, Flagstaff, to Tuba City and up to Lee’s Ferry. They went across the Colorado River to the Arizona Strip and the Painted Desert, the Kaibab Plateau, Fredonia and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Her descriptions of the flowers and trees, the mountains and trails and every living creature they encountered were fascinating. Thrilling were her descriptions of wagons swallowed whole in raging rivers and strong oxen teams washed downstream never to be seen again. The incredible muscle and will it took to move equipment and supplies to remote mines and construction projects at a snails pace make it hard to imagine getting anything accomplished. But they did and we reap the benefits today.

Sharlot may not have known at the time, but while she traveled the state as the official Arizona Territorial Historian, appointed by Governor Richard Sloan, the October 1910 Constitutional Convention was meeting in Phoenix to plan the preliminary document that would lead to Arizona’s statehood. As a direct result of Hall’s appointment which had generated criticism at the time, a provision to deny suffrage to women, and another stating only qualified voters could hold public office were insert into the state constitution. Thus when Sharlot returned her position was in question and her termination came when Governor George W.P. Hunt was sworn in as the first Arizona state governor. Still she remains the only woman to serve public office in the Arizona Territory.

She may have been born a woman but she was not going to let the dictates of a male dominated society tell her what she could and could not do with her own life. She continued to take risks, write about all she saw, run a ranch until her father’s death, and took a dilapidated territorial governors mansion and restored it into what is now one of the foremost historical museums in the state today.

Sharlot Hall once said, "There is something better than making a living--making a life." And so she lived her life.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Satisfied Frog Restaurant Dining Review


Dining Review Satisfied Frog Restaurant

by Cowgirl Connoisseur

Satisfied Frog at Frontier Town
6245 E. Cave Creek Rd., Cave Creek, AZ 85331
http://www.satisfiedfrog.biz/ (480) 488-3317

I’ve been going to the Satisfied Frog in Cave Creek for years. And yes, I heard all about the change in ownership when the previous owner didn’t pay his bills. Sad that it happens, but when he didn’t have the bucks to pay the staff or maintain the property, its best he left and let someone who can take care of it take over. I would hate to lose the Satisfied Frog because it is such a landmark in Cave Creek. So hurray and good luck to the new management!

Some people say it’s the atmosphere. Others say it was the waitresses legs. I always liked the popcorn machine at the door. But more than anything it has always been the food. When you sit down to eat you want a good quality delicious meal and that’s what has impressed me the most at the Satisfied Frog. It’s always good food.

Lunch time I enjoy the Taco Salad $8.99, the Chicken Quesadilla $8.99, the Pulled Pork $9.99, a Burger $8.99 or Brisket Sandwiches $9.99. And there is soup that is to die for! The Southwestern Corn Chowder is world famous! The Soup/Salad Bar ($9.99 or $2.99 added to any entrée) is great with the best Vegetable Beef Soup you can find anywhere!

For dinner the Steaks and Prime Rib (market price) are great but my favorite is the ribs! Of course they come with all the extras of your choice of potato, vegetables and salad. They also have this Ultimate Chow Wagon, sort of a sampler platter if you can’t make up your mind. It’s Beef Ribs, Brisket and Smoked Chicken ($15.99) all on one plate with Coleslaw, Beans and Bread. You can upgrade to Pork Ribs for $3 additional. They have a special smoker bbq out back that makes the best bbq around.

My daughter and her friends make the Satisfied Frog their destination for every special occasion. They get the giant margarita to share and always have a great time. You can’t beat the atmosphere for a fun gathering.

Frontier Town, where Satisfied Frog is located, has two bars, a bunch of novelty stores, a wedding chapel and the restaurant. The entire complex is built around a Western theme with rugged pine interiors and splashes of modern-day neon and quirky art and signs. It keeps the dining experience interesting as diners catch a humorous quote on one of the signs and their entire table gets a light hearted giggle. A blend of road-tripping families, tourists, locals who know where to get a good meal and newlyweds make up the clientele. Special events bring in big crowds and the crew at the Satisfied Frog are always up to the challenge.
4th of July Fireworks, NASCAR Sundays, "Chicago Cubs" Headquarters for the ball games on TV, the Annual Fiesta Days Rodeo & Parade in April and the Annual Wild West Days in November are a few of the annual events you can find the place hopping.
After lunch or dinner take a stroll through all of the little shops like Glory Bee for great southwest apparel at fabulous prices. And Suzanne’s Hot Stuff for some spicy treats to take home. Jewelry, leather, souvenirs and more are available in the many shops. There’s even a barber shop and beauty salon. So next time you are looking for an adventure and a good meal, check out the Satisfied Frog at Frontier Town. The do weddings and banquets there too!