CHAPTER 7

More Indian Country and More Gunfight Re-enactments


It had been so late when I arrived in Globe and I had been
so tired that, rather than look for the cheapest
accommodation, I booked in what was a fairly plush motel.
I had a hot shower and read the printed literature in my
room which invited me for a free drink in the motel bar.
I hurried to reception to asked for whereabouts of said
bar.  However, today was an election day and state
senators were being elected, as a result the elderly lady
behind the bar told me that all bars were closed by law.
She looked at me disapprovingly and told me that if I
really had to have a drink the bar down the road would
probably be open when the polls closed at eight.  I
thanked her but instead went to the restaurant for a meal
and then returned to my room.  The deluxe television set
seemed to have about ten channels (in the UK at that time
we had only three), all ten appeared to be covering the
election.  It was just as well that I was very tired and I
soon fell asleep.

The next day I had again trouble starting the bike.  After
"bump-starting" it, I rode south-east out of Globe,
realising that I was almost out of petrol but not wanting
to stop until the engine was warm in case it failed to
restart.  After a few miles there were no petrol stations
or any signs of civilisation.  Rather than return to Globe
I elected to detour a few miles north to San Carlos.  This
is the site of one of the most famous Indian reservations.
From here Geromino and his band made their famous
"breakout" in 1885 and fled south to Mexico persuade all
the way by the US Cavalry.  I arrived there and found a
small petrol station in one of the side roads.  The
Indians did not seem to live in wigwams or hogans anymore.
Here, the main accommodation seemed to be prefabricated
bungalows.  Instead of horses they rode pickup trucks.
Occasionally as I travelled the Indian reservations, I
would come across pickups with whole families strung
across the wide front seat in the cab, gazing intently
ahead as they drove by.  I found myself fantasising that I
would come across a ridge lined with pickup trucks, daubed
with war-paint, waiting to rush down on me in attack.
However, all the Indians I met seemed very friendly.

I filled up with petrol and continued my way south-east on
'R.70'.  I hurried on knowing that I was leaving the
bitterly cold mountains in the north far behind and soon I
would be entering the deserts in the south where I had
been sweltering in the heat only ten days before.  As I
travelled the sky was over cast.  It was certainly warmer
than the day before but it was still too cool enough for
me to keep my jacket on.  Suddenly, I became aware of
white toped crops in the fields either side of the road
and, to my surprise, I realised this was cotton.  Fluffy
balls of cotton blew across the road in front of me and I
saw a combine busy harvesting it in one of the fields.  I
entered the Town of Pima and to confirm my discovery a
sign read, "Welcome to Pima and its Famous Cotton."  I was
later to find out that this was a different cotton to that
of the south-eastern states.  I passed through Pima and
turned south on to 'R.666' which turned into 'Interstate
10', the main Freeway which runs east through New Mexico
and west to California.  I turned west.

My destination was Philippa and Mike's home in Sierra
Vista which I had left only two weeks earlier.  It was
still not quite mid-day and I did not want to arrive too
early in case no one was at home so I resolves to make a
detour to visit the "Cochise Stronghold".  This is nearby
in the Dragoon Mountains and was important in the Indian
wars.  The famous chief, Cochise, is said to be buried
there in a secret grave.  I rode up a dirt track to the
rocky pine covered mountains which had provided the
Indians with a natural fortress.  It was now a picnic
area.  No trace of the warlike Apaches remain, for when
the wars were finally ended they were removed to
reservations in the north.  I rode on to Sierra Vista and
arrived in time for tea.

I spent the next few days recovering from the long trip
north.  I recharged my battery with my brother-in-laws
charger and took it to a motorcycle shop to be checked
out.  There I was told that the battery seemed to be all
right and was holding its charge.  A new battery would
cost forty dollars.  I checked the bike over for loose
connections and possible short circuits but could find
nothing.  Just in case there was a short circuit I missed,
I decided to disconnect the battery if I thought I was
going to stop anywhere for longer than an hour.  This I
reasoned would prevent any short circuit I may have missed
from draining the battery while the bike was not in use
and would suffice until I returned to California.  Apart
from having leaked some oil and needing a good clean, the
bike seemed in remarkably good nick and behaved itself
properly during my second stay at Sierra Vista. During
that time I visited Old Tucson with my sister and her
husband.

Old Tucson lies just outside the city of Tucson.  It not a
in fact a town itself but a permanent western movie
location.  We paid a vast some of money to gain entrance
for the day and found streets containing saloons, jails,
railway stations, livery stables - in fact practically
every example of building found in cowboy films.  Every
famous western star from John Wayne to Clint Eastwood has
filmed here at some time or other.  Various well known
television series have also been made here.  While we were
there, filming was in progress for a television series so
we were unable to visit the sound studios.  However, we
were treated to yet another set of gunfight re-enactments
in the main street.  But, unlike those I had seen earlier
in Tombstone, these were performed by real actors.  To
prove this they mimed to corny dialogue played to us from
hidden loudspeakers and the baddies died spectacularly
when "shot down" in the street or from the roofs of mock
buildings.

Soon it became time for me to bid good-bye to Sierra Vista
for the last time.  Once more I loaded my baggage on the
back of the motorcycle.  I had been told that while I had
been north, a cold spell had passed through Arizona which
accounted for the freezing conditions I had experienced.
Even in the south it had been cool.  But now the
temperature was back in the eighties,  I bade my farewells
and set off in the blazing sun.  This time I was bound for
Nevada, California and eventually Woking, England.




Chapter 8

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