Payson, AZ - Don't Drop My Piano

There are many things to see and do around Payson and today we’ve planned to visit Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, the Zane Grey cabin, the Rim Museum and, if we’re lucky, we’ll get a short hike in. Oof-da, as they say in Fargo, sounds like a full day. But, then, we’re on ‘vacation’, gotta fit it all in. We can relax later when we’re back in Mesa.

Breakfast in a motel is, well, breakfast in a motel. But we found a copy of the local weekly newspaper and it was full of the controversy over the Fire Department’s recommendations for fire-proofing homes in the area: metal roofs, screening vents so embers can’t get in, metal not wooden eaves, no high decks which fire can get under and brush removal on a regular basis. Seems that these did not pass the City Council because they would make homes cost so much more.

What I found fascinating is that they have studied the Portal Fire in the Prescott area and, using Google map pictures before and after the fire, they have determined that the 14 homes which had followed all of these procedures did not burn, whereas 90% of the homes which had not followed all the procedures did burn. I’ve used Google maps constantly over the last few years for trip planning but had never thought of this use. It’s an amazing tool.

Before I continue on to recount our travels today, I'd like to first say how brave are firefighters who rush into a burning forest, risking their lives to save ours. I've seen the land they are fighting these fires over: steep canyons covered with trees, rocks, scree, boulders and brush, often with no clear view beyond a few yards carrying loads of equipment and wearing hot clothing. They are truly real heroes, not the plastic ones you see in movies. Any firefighter is a hero. 

But, now, it’s off for our great adventures. North of Payson is a marvelous natural wonder, the Tonto Natural Bridge, formed by deposits of water eroding a calcium carbonate formation. Water is still percolating through the stone forming the bridge so it is still growing and today is huge. When we got there, we were the second car to enter the park. The Ranger told us that in the summer, when people are escaping the heat of the Phoenix area, there is often a 40 minute wait at the top of the hill before you can get in. They will only let you in when another car leaves. Boy, were we happy we came when we did.

As we were walking towards the trail which led to the bottom of the bridge we saw a family of javalina munching on the grass growing in the valley. Gary faced down the grandfather javalina but he seemed unimpressed and, shortly after I snapped this picture, returned to his breakfast.

Here’s pops Javalina with his best ‘is that the best you’ve got to give’ look.

We hiked down the trail on the east side to the bottom of the bridge. You can ‘hike’ under it but the chances of getting wet are pretty high. The boulders under it are very slippery and slick from all the water that has fallen over the years and the others who have 'hiked' under it. In the first picture, I am under the arch looking out alooking at the water dropping over the bridge edge. I can only imagine the flow of water in the spring.

Meanwhile Gary climbed over some boulders further into the cavern under the bridge, checking out whatever trail we might take to get through the slippery rocks, pools and boulders under the bridge. Judging by the way he’s walking away from the pool, I think he’s decided that we might not find a way through the boulders and pools under the bridge.

Here we are in front of the arch. You can see the blue sky above and the cavern below. The bridge is really thick and growing every day. The bridge itself is 83' high and 400' long. 

In the end, we decided not to ‘hike’ under the bridge, backtracked up the trail, walked to the west side where we took the trail down to that side of the bridge. Here we found more wet, slippery boulders and decided that we had hiked enough. But we did appreciate the color show at the bridge.

But the story of the original owner of the bridge is pretty interesting. His name was David Gowan, a Scottish gold prospector who had come to Arizona in 1874. He found a hidden valley and was prospecting in it not knowing that it was land that the Apaches used as for seasonal farming and hunting. When they discovered him there, they chased him but he found a cave near the stream and hid for 3 days until the Apaches left.

 He really did not have much interest in farming and homesteading the property but did build a small cabin and did have a garden in which he planted squash and other vegetables. He also planted walnut, peach, cherry, pear and apricot trees. Meanwhile from 1883 - 1890 he worked a small but profitable gold mine some miles away but returned often to his property. Now, on this property was a beautiful natural bridge with a stream flowing under it. A great natural attraction and others were flocking to see it. When a British newspaperman wrote a story about it back in England, it was read by David Gowan Goodfellow who remembered an old story from his family about an uncle who moved to America. Thinking that this might be his uncle, he got in touch with Gowan. Sure enough, they were related.

As much as Gowan liked his bridge, he liked prospecting more and, in order to hang on to his property, he asked Goodfellow if he would like to farm it. Goodfellow, his wife, Lillias and their three children, 9,7, and 5, packed their belongings into 4 large crates, sailed to America, took the train to Flagstaff, hired a wagoneer and carted their goods to the bridge. Unfortunately, there was no road down to the valley, only a steep, narrow 3-mile trail. So they had to lower their goods over the side of the cliffs, down 500' to the valley floor below, using ropes and pack burros. Below is the cliff they used.

 'Don't drop my piano,' Lillias pled. She later admitted on her 50th wedding anniversary that, 'I fervently wished that I had never come to Arizona. I honestly believed that I could never reach the cabin alive if I ever started down over the pecipice; and I was sure if I ever did get there, I would never be able to climb out again.' But she made it down to the valley and she and David built a much larger cabin to live in.

With the coming of the train to the west, tourists flocked to the area and one of the things they wanted to see was the Natural Bridge so the Goodfellows expanded their home more and made it into an inn with rooms for 36, though often 60 stayed over night. They built a road down to the Bridge - with a 30% grade - using pick axes, shovels and wheelbarrows. Cars could drive down to the valley but the grade was too steep for them to get out so they had to be hauled out by mules at $20 bucks a haul. Pretty lucrative. They then added a 3rd story with windows all around for the view - without adding more support beams.

When the Arizona State Park system took over the Bridge, not only did they have to build a much better road (with only a 14% grade - which is better than 30%) but also had to shore up the whole house to the tune of $1,000,000.

Looks like it was a good day for convertibles at the park.

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