So, my next trip was to visit a place in Tortilla Flat called Superstition Saloon. I had been there a couple years earlier when my son' and daughter-in-law went on a boating trip on Canyon Lake with the Hippie. After tubing and swimming, the Hippie asked us if we wanted to grab some lunch at Dollar Bill's? Now, I have lived in Arizona most of my life and I had never heard of Dollar Bill's. So I said sure. We pulled the boat out of the water and drove a little further up Route 88 and came upon this little tiny town called Tortilla Flat. We are walking toward the Superstition Saloon when I ask Brian where Dollar Bill’s was. He pointed at the Superstition Saloon and said, “That’s it.” I said, “It says Superstition Saloon, where is Dollar Bill’s?” We walk into the Superstition Saloon and the first thing I noticed was that the walls inside the saloon were covered with dollar bills. All the money is signed by the patrons who left them or sent them. There is currency hanging on the walls from all over the world.
Going back to the Superstition Saloon a little more than two years later, nothing much has changed. The dollar bills were still all over the walls and the beer was still cold. I had a Rattlesnake beer and talked with the bartender. She urged me to continue driving east on Route 88 and drive the Apache Trail. She told me that I would get some awesome pictures of the desert. I had a great opportunity when I got back home to talk with Lois Sanders. She is Tortilla Flats’ historian and has written a book and articles about the history of Tortilla Flat and the Saloon. We had a very nice conversation about how the saloon came to be and how this town seems to come back after both a major flood and fire.
Ms. Sanders explained the dollar bills on the wall for me. It all started years ago when prospectors, ranchers and other who worked on the Salt River Dams would pin their card with a dollar bill to the wall behind the bar. That started the tradition which is very much alive today. There was a fire in 1987 that destroyed the saloon as well as all of the dollar bills which hung on the wall. It was rebuilt by 1988 and when people around the world had heard of the fire, many sent a bill to post on the walls. Leaving the bills on the walls makes people feel like they are a part of the nostalgia of the saloon and as you can see have successfully filled these walls with dollar bills. The saloon has no idea how much money is upon these walls but do know that there is currency from 67 countries. None of the bills are removed. If you visit and would like to have a dollar bill and business card pinned to the wall, just let the waiter or waitress know. They will put it up for you. Because of space, they need to use a ladder now because the bills have covered almost every square inch of the place.
In 1904, Tortilla Flat was nothing more than a stage stop from the valley to Roosevelt Dam being built at the time and was a stop for freight haulers, which is when most historians believe it got its start. It is called “The friendliest little town in Arizona.” It has a population of 6, and that is its current population. That’s it folks only 6 people, making it Arizona’s smallest official “community” that not only has a U.S. Post Office but is also considered a voter’s precinct. There is so much history about this tiny little town and I urge you, if you are interested to pick up Lois Sanders’ book and read more about the extensive history on the web. From 1904 and beyond, Tortilla Flat was a stop for construction workers and freight haulers making there way up to the Roosevelt Dam construction site. There is a one lane dirt road that leads to Roosevelt Dam still today.
There are a couple of theories of how Tortilla Flat got its’ name. One is that Mr. John Cline, a Tonto Basin pioneer in a conversation with Postmaster Russell Perkins, was traveling with some people from Phoenix for some supplies when a flash flood stranded them in that flat area of the desert. According to Mr. Cline, they ran out of food and were left with only flour. The men made tortillas with the flour for food to which Mr. Cline named the flat Tortilla Flat. Now although that sounds like a good story, another version according to Connie Phelps who co-owned Tortilla Flat from 1948-1950 had a conversation with Mr. Cline when Mr. Cline was 95 years old. In that conversation, he explained to her what had actually transpired and would lead him to the name Tortilla Flat. Mr. Cline and his cowboys led the cattle into Phoenix and sold them. They decided to celebrate and drank too much. When they got back to the flat, they realized that they had not purchased any supplies while celebrating their sale of cattle and had only flour to use. This is what led Mr. Cline to name the flat Tortilla Flat. It is a great little stop on the way to Apache Lake and Roosevelt Lake if you decide to take the Apache Trail. More on the Apache Trail in the next entry.
No comments:
Post a Comment