Achievement 13: Image Unlocked!

Did you notice we unlocked two separate pieces in today's SummerQuest picture? It seemed like a good idea because both are about road travel in the state.

Before the huge and impersonal interstate highway system was built, before high-speed travel by car or plane was easy and comfortable, Americans still wanted to pick up and move -- and the great "Mother Road" of Route 66 was how we could get from the more heavily-populated midwest out to the promised land that was California. Route 66 brought the Dust Bowl migrants westward in search of a better life, and it introduced Arizona to the countless thousands who passed though. Some visitors stayed, falling in love with the wonders of the southwest.

If you travel away from the main urban centers and leave the interstate behind, then you'll be familiar with the windy roads and the warning signs like the 15 MPH road sign in the upper right of the image. Switchbacks can still separate careless drivers from those who proceed more carefully!

Route 66 has been the subject of countless books, movies, and even a TV show from the 1960s. Find out more at this link: http://bit.ly/about-Route66

Route 66 was also called the Will Rogers Highway. Do you know who he was? If not, you should really learn more about this remarkably clever and insightful man! Try one of the books or movies in this list: http://bit.ly/about-Will-Rogers

And if you are looking for ideas for day trips around the state, hunt up one of these books from our collection. Just be careful on those switchbacks! http://bit.ly/Arizona-day-trips

Achievement 3: Image Unlocked!

The photograph in the upper left is of John A. Rockfellow, and was taken in 1933. Rockfellow came west from New York state in the 1870s, and prospected in southern Arizona for several years. Eventually he homesteaded in the Cochise Stronghold near Willcox in 1883 and formed the NY Ranch with several partners. Rockfellow was also a surveyor and mapmaker, and an early engineering professor at the University of Arizona. He wrote a book about his experiences, entitled Log of an Arizona Trail Blazer, in 1933.

Image graciously provided by Lisa Waite Bunker from her family's photographs.

Achievement 2: Image Unlocked!

Flash of lightning! Rumble and crack of thunder! Monsoon season in Arizona brings spectacular lightning storms, and much-needed water to the desert lowlands of the state.

To read more about Arizona's monsoon weather -- it will be here before you know it -- start here: http://bit.ly/Arizona-monsoons

If you're interesting in learning about weather (specifically extreme weather!), give this link a try: http://bit.ly/disastrous-weather

Achievement 1: Image Unlocked!

You did it! The first portion of the image is unlocked, with more than five comments received!

This portrait of an important Paiute man dates from between 1871 and 1874. It seems that his name was Tau-gu, and he was acquainted with an important fellow in Arizona history.

This public domain photograph was believed to have been taken by Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh, and is archived by the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University.


Want to know more about the Paiute people? http://bit.ly/paiute


Interested in learning about early photography? http://bit.ly/history-of-photography

To see more of the image, take part in the quests and then make a comment on this blog. 

How Will You Unlock the SummerQuest?

This image will be revealed, little by little, over the course of the summer. You will make it happen by completing quests and putting comments into the blog. When five comments are posted about that week's challenge, we unlock a little more of the picture.