Sedona - Red Rock Country
Strangely, the history of this area does not have its roots in Sedona, which T.C. Schnebly named after his wife in 1902. Instead, the story had its beginning in Oak Creek Canyon, where Glenn Kilbourne and Carley Burch, the main characters in Zane Grey's The Call of the Canyon, lived and loved under looming, stone walls and whispering pines.
Long before Grey hunted, fished and wrote in the wild and lonely canyon, however, J.J. Thompson, Sedona's first settler, claimed property under this country's 1862 Homestead Act. In 1876, Thompson took squatters rights to a parcel of land across from today's Indian Gardens Store, where a year earlier, scouts from Fort Verde now, Camp Verde, had captured a small band of Tonto Apache Indians.
What Thompson found was the Indian's deserted gardens and a healthy spring, which encouraged him to build a log cabin. He called his home Indian Gardens Ranch, but later he shortened it to Indian Gardens.
As the story of this community's early history goes, T.C. and Sedona Schnebly were attracted to Upper Oak Creek or Camp Garden, as both names were being used at that time. T.C's brother, Dorsey Ellsworth Schnebly, discovered Red Rock Country while seeking an ideal climate and atmosphere for his health.
Purchasing an 80-acre site from Frank Owenby after traveling from Kansas in late 1901, T.C. constructed a handsome house with two stone fireplaces near the location of present-day Los Abrigados Resort and Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village. And when residents of this small settlement complained to T.C. about slow and infrequent mail service, he immediately filed an application for the establishment of a post office.
Believe it or not, it is said that the names thought up by T.C., such as Schnebly Station, then Red Rock Crossing and even Oak Creek Station were too long to fit on a cancellation stamp, so they were rejected by the post office. T.C's brother, Dorsey Ellsworth, suggested naming the city after T.C.'s wife, Sedona. Having gotten the shorter name they required, Postal officials approved the name Sedona on June 26, 1902.
Sedona is known for its seemingly unending scenery marvels and its vast cultural opportunities. You could spend several weeks in Sedona exploring hidden canyons and enjoying red rock trails or visiting the area's sacred sites. Sedona is also a perfect destination as a base to visit the local sights such as the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell and the Verde Valley Canyon train ride and Out of Africa Wildlife Park. Additional options range from fishing and hiking, to camping and horseback riding. You can even spend time bird watching with more than 300 birds flying through the park each year - from predatory falcons and migrating species to the inquisitive cactus wren, the state bird of Arizona.
And no city of its size has a finer artistic heritage than Sedona, with more that 40 galleries and several annual arts festivals attracting hundreds of exhibitors from the entire Southwest. These arts festivals include the Film Festival and the Chamber Music Sedona.
We encourage you to come and discover the Red Rock Country of Sedona for yourself!
Source: City of Sedona and Wikipedia Encyclopedia
