Amazing Girls of Arizona by Jan Cleere

Author:Jan Cleere
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780762741359
Publisher: TwoDot

With no fish in the old pond, Bill Back introduced bluegill and catfish, but they never survived for long. The carbon dioxide in the water traveled through the gills of the fish and into their bloodstream, killing them almost as soon as they were placed in the water.

Wildlife, on the other hand, thrived around the well. Delighted tourists were spellbound if they spotted a far-off mountain lion or sharp-nosed javelina. Owls, muskrats, porcupines, raccoons, beavers, deer, and several species of snakes also made their homes around the big puddle. Occasionally a flock of egrets stopped by; even blue herons and Canadian geese visited sporadically. The verdant water hole remains a magnificent oasis surrounded by a glorious myriad of flora and fauna.

Millie eventually outgrew the little schoolhouse along Beaver Creek and attended high school in Flagstaff. She went on to Northern Arizona Normal School, a teachers’ college that later became Northern Arizona State University.

In 1902, Mildred Back married Granville (Dan) Fain, whose ranching family had been in Arizona since 1874. Norman William Fain was born in 1907, but the marriage did not last and the couple divorced in 1920.

Millie took her son to Prescott to attend school, and later she and Norman moved to Palo Alto, California, where Norman matriculated at Stanford University. While in California, Millie worked at the Stanford Children’s Convalescent Home. After Norman graduated from college, mother and son returned to Prescott Valley and together ran the Diamond S Ranch.

Mildred Back Fain died in Prescott on January 13, 1967. Her journey through life was strong and courageous, just like the wild ride she had made so many years ago escaping the horse thieves languishing along the banks of Beaver Creek. In one of the last letters she wrote to her family, she told them she was “off on a new adventure. Don’t grieve for you know I always liked a trip and I hope this one will be the best one ever; and I’ll just make the trail a little wider for you when you come along.”

The venerable spring located on the land of Millie’s childhood home continues to run down into Beaver Creek. Montezuma Well became a National Monument in 1906. In 1947 the National Park Service purchased the well and continues to maintain and manage it, along with neighboring Montezuma’s Castle.

Wildflowers still bloom along the banks of the limestone-encrusted lake. Owls, hawks, and road-runners nest along its banks, while fox, coyote, and javelina also visit the old water hole. But few mountain lions are left to stop by for a drink.

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