b'WHERE THE MOUNTAINS MEET THE DESERT, youll find the quirky, western town of Oracle nestled among boulders, oaks, and grasslands. Located 35 miles from central Tucson in the northern foothills of the Catalina "Sky Island" Mountains, its elevation is 4,500 feet, and its temperature averages 5 to 10 degrees cooler than Tucson. Its history dates from the 1800s when it was a stagecoach stopover with guest ranches, small mines, and accommodation for visitors seeking the clear, dry air. O racle got its name from its first mine, claimed byranch and boarding house to accommodate those who Albert Weldon, who named it Oracle in honorwere suffering from lung diseases. In 1895, the Neal of the ship owned and captained by his uncle.family built the Mountain View Hotel on what is now Weldon had sailed on that ship from Boston to the westthe American Way Road. The building was made with coast many years earlier and had survived a terriblea thousand adobe bricks which were made on site. It storm off of the Cape of Good Hope. In gratitude,took six months to build. Weldon named his first mining claim The Oracle which the town later adopted as its own in 1878. A celebrity who resided in Oracle was William Cody also known as "Buffalo Bill Cody." Cody together HISTORY with one of his friends, Nate Salsbury (1846-1902) The first known inhabitants of the area were the Hohokamwho had a ranch in the town of Dateland, Arizona, who settled the banks of the nearby San Pedro River inwere owners of the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show. splinter groups. The disappearance of the Hohokam in theUpon Cody\'s retirement from the show, he invested late 15th century remains a mystery. Later the region wasin a mine in the Campo Bonito area of the Catalina settled by the Oodham (Sobapiris) and the Apache tribes.Mountains. He named the mine "High Jinks" and The Sobaipuris and Apache fought each other over thewould often stay either in the Mountain View Hotel ownership of the land. The Sobapiris gave up the struggleor Arcadia Ranch. He established a ranch in 1912 which and relocated to the San Xavier Mission, home to thehe named "La Casa del High Jinks". He visited his ranchWHAT TO DOTohono Oodham Nation to the south. where he would reside until he died in 1917. Oracle Historical SocietyAcadia Ranch Museum is home to the Oracle Historical The early Mexican settlers used the land for agriculturalBy the 1920s, the health resort hotels were replaced bySociety. Oracles rich history is showcased through purposes and cattle ranching. In the 1870s word of thethe dude ranches, as the invention of penicillin reducedexhibits, photographs, artifacts, and other treasures mining successes in the area spread and prospectorsthe TB population. Oracle continued to act as a magnetinside and outside the Museum. The Society counts from other places came with their families. The climatefor those lured by the romance of the Western frontier.among its collections and archives prehistoric artifacts of Oracle was another factor that attractedAs Hollywood movies promoted the cowboycollected by well-known avocational archaeologist Alice people for health reasons. Oracle wasmyth, it is no wonder that many HollywoodCarpenter; letters, photos and other memorabilia from mentioned in a medical journal as anstars came out to Oracle, including Ritaseveral of Oracles noteworthy authors; cowboy artifacts ideal place where the fresh air wouldHayworth, Gary Cooper, and Tom Mix. and memorabilia from several area ranches; a historic restore the health of those sufferingphoto archive, created from over 250 negatives dating from "consumption" the name given toRancho Linda Vista may have been the veryback to the early 1900s; as well as author manuscripts, tuberculosis. In the 1880s the Dodgefirst Arizona dude ranch to cater to theletters and other important examples of material and family built the Arcadia Ranch as a sheepHollywood crowd, who followed in the wakevisual culture that best reflect this regions rich ethnic of the on-location filming of the 1924 silentdiversity and history. Open Thursdays 4-6 PM and movie The Mine with the Iron Door. A long- Saturdays 1-4 PM. 825 E Mt Lemmon Highway. 520-term guest, the eras most popular author896-9609. OracleHistoricalSociety.orgHarold Bell Wright wrote both the film script and original book while staying at RanchoOracle State ParkLinda Vista. The original 160-acre Kannally Ranch was purchased by Neil and Lee Kannally in 1903. The two brothers After both the cattle and guest ranch businesseswere later joined by three other family members (sisters waned, mining became the next big regionalLucile and Mary, and brother Vincent) and the ranch industry. While high-yield gold, copper, and othergrew to almost 50,000 acres. Initially, the Kannallys slept mineral mines had long existed at Mammoth andin a small adobe cottage on the original 160 acres, but Tiger, the San Manuel Copper Mine, built in 1942,later a second cottage was built for Mary and Lucile. The was to become the countrys largest undergroundpresent Kannally Ranch House was built in 1929-1932 copper mine. The mine was closed in 1999.and is of Mediterranean Revival Style with Moorish Ironically, within a few years, copper began toinfluences. Following the death of Lucile Kannally in command such high prices that new mines are once1976, the ranch was willed to the Defenders of Wildlife, again being built in Arizona. which later deeded the ranch to the Arizona State Parks Board and it became Oracle State Park. 24 June 2020'