Holbrook - Gateway to the Petrified Forest
Named after the chief engineer of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, Henry R. Holbrook, Holbrook was founded in 1881. In the 1880s, the frontiersmen were the cowboys, cattle ranchers, and railroaders who made Holbrook the center of ranch country.
In 1884, the Aztec Land and Cattle Company, better known as the Hashknife Outfit, began operations in Holbrook. Holbrook initially welcomed the cattle company and its cowboys but the sudden presence of so many cowboys also gave rise to rustling, robbery and gunfights. 1896 saw the beginning of the Pleasant Valley Way, a feud between two families that eventually eliminated them both. Commodore Perry Owens, the local sheriff, is credited with bringing law to the town in1887, in what is now a famous shootout with cattle rustlers at the Blevins House, That historic house still stands, as does the Bucket of Blood Saloon, where many a cowboy refreshed himself.
Located along the banks of the Little Colorado River, Holbrook is considered to be the Gateway to the Petrified Forest National Park. It became the county seat of Navajo County in 1895 and was incorporated in 1917. The Historic Navajo County Courthouse and Museum in Downtown Holbrook, was built in 1898. Now home to the Navajo County Historical Society which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is the centerpiece of the town. Also listed in the National Register of Historic Places as Wigwam Village #6 is the Wigwam Motel, which was built in 1950 and is located on Hopi Drive.
On July 19, 1912, a meteorite with an estimated mass of 190 kg exploded over the town of Holbrook. The community of Holbrook was pelted with 14,000 fragments of a meteorite with an estimated mass of 190 kg when it exploded in the early evening sky of July 19, 1912. One fragment severed the branch of a tree when it fell, witnesses reported. Fragments from the meteor, an estimated half-meter in diameter, showered to Earth over an ellipse roughly 1.5 square miles.
Holbrook, Arizona, is a place where you can visit the real west where tumbleweed still blows into town off the desert, attend a rodeo, where sometimes the cowboys are mostly Indians, or sign on for a tour of a working ranch. You can also see Indian dances occur every weeknight in the months of June through August from 6:30 to 8:30 PM in front of the Old West Courthouse. And, in mid-July, you can experience the "Gathering of Eagles" Native American art show. If riding and roping isn't your thing, plan on a tour of ancient Indian rock art sites, a hay-ride across the desert as evening arrives, and a real country cookout dinner.
Sources:
Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Desert USA
Legends of America
White Mountains Online
