409:, was kidnapped by Apaches, tortured, and left for dead. She survived and made it back to her family. Josephine Peak is named for another daughter, Josephine Pennington. Other well-known places are named after miners, ranchers, and settlers. Sprung Spring was named after the Sprung family, for it is thought that it was they who first improved it. Mount Wrightson was originally named 'Old Baldy' after Captain Richard Ewell, who bore the same name, and was stationed at Ft. Buchanan in the 1850s. But his service in the CSA denied his name being attached to the peak. William Wrightson, who brought Arizona's first press around South America, and who later ventured in mining, was killed alongside of Gilbert Hopkins in 1865. It was their names which were assigned to the two prominent mountains nearby.
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70 °F – 60 °F in the daytime, being around 30° cooler than the surrounding desert, and is much stormier, with thunderstorms constantly drenching the area with rain due to orographic lift. Winter is frigid, almost always below freezing, and snow is very common. It's not uncommon for snowstorms to dump over a foot of snow.
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Two brothers named Atondo and Rufino Paz also lived at the White House at different times around the turn of the century. After their marriage in 1911, the sixty-one-year-old Alcaro
Morales, and his twenty-seven-year-old bride named Benita, moved into the house. Alcaro delivered their five children
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scrub with desert trees, shrubs, and cactus grows in hot, dry lower elevations. A transition to desert grassland with grasses, shrubs and velvet mesquite occurs as temperature and moisture moderate higher up. Summer here is hot, commonly above 100 °F, although storms bring occasional rain, and
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Upper
Sonoran Zone (4,500 to 6,500 feet) – Arising around the canyon mouth, this zone is cooler and more moist than the Lower Sonoran below. Summers are warm, with average temperatures in the 80s and 90s, and stormy, with winters being colder and snowier, with snow usually being only a few inches
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Canadian Zone (8,000 to 9,500 feet) – The highest and coolest life zone in the Santa Rita
Mountains occurs on the lofty peaks above the canyon. Plants such as Douglas fir, white fir, quaking aspen, and kinnikinnick grow in this high altitude zone. Summer in this life zone is cool, usually around
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at the site of the house. Only a small portion of one wall remains standing, but they were able to determine where the outside walls and the house's front door had been. The site of the house is near the
Proctor Road crossing in Madera Canyon, and can be accessed by a short, paved pathway.
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named Walden in the late 1870s or early 1880s. Walden left around 1882 and the two or three room house was taken over by
Theodore Wellish and his family as a summer retreat. Wellish owned the White House Mercantile Company in Tucson, and thus it was assumed that he was the one who
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in the home. Tragically, both Benita and her fifth child died during childbirth in 1921. She and her newborn son were buried together in a small plot near the house. The rest of the family continued to live in the house until Alcaro's death in 1940 at the age of ninety.
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deep, and average highs in the 50s and sometimes 40s. It is composed primarily of two woodland plant communities and represented by plants such as evergreen oaks, alligator juniper, Mexican piñon pine, shrubs, and bunchgrasses.
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the adobe building, giving it its name. The White House was well known and easily recognizable, and so it became a landmark for determining the location of the many different mining claims in and around the area.
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Madera Canyon is a bowl-shaped watershed. Side-canyons funnel water from springs and runoff in seasonal streams that feed Madera Creek. This stream system and the abundant plants along its banks form a
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The Santa Rita
Mountains were filled with prospectors in the early 1900s, with over a dozen mines operating in Madera Canyon alone. One was owned by a colorful character named
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house was built there in the late 19th century. The canyon was renamed sometime in the early 1900s, although some locals still use the original name.
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Transition Zone (6,500 to 8,000 feet) – Summer here is mild, the daytime temperature being about 70° or 80°, with storms being common, due to
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winters are cool, being in the 60s, with rain possible. Snow is rare, and even in the coldest and snowiest years, only happens a couple times.
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The White House was one of the "first permanent structures" built in Madera Canyon. It is thought to have been constructed by a
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Lower
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303:. The corridor descends through all of the canyon's four life zones and creates excellent wildlife habitat.
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trails. The canyon is also used as a resting place for migrating birds, and it is thus known as a premier
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Madera Canyon is located in the Santa Rita
Mountains, which is one of the largest of the
688:"Pima County Sheriff's Department – Keeping the Peace Since 1865: Sheriffs Then and Now"
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In 1905, Madera Canyon and the Santa Rita
Mountains became a part of the new
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398:. Daniels later built a home in Madera Canyon and was elected sheriff of
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The
Pennington family lived in the area in the 1870s and a daughter,
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in 1920. His wife became the Pima County Superintendent of Schools.
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668:"Scott Dyke: Rich history in Madera Canyon, Santa Ritas, Part 2"
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191:, Madera Canyon has campsites, picnic areas, and miles of
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725:"History at Sopori: Pioneers helped write state's story"
647:"Welcome to Friends of Madera Canyon – Cultural History"
390:, and other rough Western towns, and had fought in the
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covered desert in the lower reaches of the canyon to
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map of southeastern Arizona including Madera Creek,
803:"Welcome to Friends of Madera Canyon – White House"
627:"Welcome to Friends of Madera Canyon – Sky Islands"
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778:. Green Valley Recreation Hiking Club. June 2019
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547:Santa Rita Experimental Range and Wildlife Area
753:(Podcast). 30 May 2021. Event occurs at 19:45
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895:Protected areas of Santa Cruz County, Arizona
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519:Mount Wrightson from Madera Canyon in 2012.
507:View of the Santa Ritas from Madera Canyon.
833:. United States Forest Service. 2006-11-29
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16:Landform in Pima and Santa Cruz Counties
910:Birdwatching sites in the United States
890:Protected areas of Pima County, Arizona
885:Landforms of Santa Cruz County, Arizona
436:The remains of the White House in 2014.
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461:Friends Of Madera Canyon conducted an
382:, who had once served as a marshal in
900:Protected areas of the Sonoran Desert
582:"Welcome to Friends of Madera Canyon"
346:Madera Canyon, Arizona § History
344:For the history of the township, see
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495:Proctor Falls in the summer of 2007.
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751:AZ: The History of Arizona Podcast
423:The White House in the late 1880s.
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880:Landforms of Pima County, Arizona
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723:David Rookhuyzen (10 July 2017).
179:, twenty-five miles southeast of
69:Location in the state of Arizona.
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175:in the northwestern face of the
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915:Archaeological sites in Arizona
905:History of Pima County, Arizona
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865:Canyons and gorges of Arizona
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264:sulphur-bellied flycatcher
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850:Madera Canyon Trip Report
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81:3,562 feet (1,086 m)
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875:Coronado National Forest
274:, thirty-six species of
268:black-capped gnatcatcher
254:With fifteen species of
219:Bat houses in the canyon
189:Coronado National Forest
557:Larcena Pennington Page
459:non-profit organization
407:Larcena Pennington Page
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414:National Forest System
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129:31.72583°N 110.88028°W
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272:flame-colored tanager
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870:Santa Rita Mountains
552:Continental, Arizona
392:Spanish–American War
177:Santa Rita Mountains
134:31.72583; -110.88028
95:Santa Rita Mountains
727:. Green Valley News
607:"Madera Canyon, AZ"
374:along Madera Creek.
225:Madrean Sky Islands
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201:White House Canyon
27:White House Canyon
463:archeological dig
309:Santa Cruz Valley
301:riparian corridor
187:. As part of the
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835:. Retrieved
810:. Retrieved
807:Mark Staples
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695:the original
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671:. Retrieved
666:Scott Dyke.
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586:the original
483:Madera Creek
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396:Rough Riders
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288:wild turkeys
286:, raccoons,
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197:birdwatching
168:
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162:Madera Creek
782:8 September
757:9 September
731:9 September
447:whitewashed
442:sheepherder
400:Pima County
380:Ben Daniels
256:hummingbird
132: /
120:110°52′49″W
107:Coordinates
859:Categories
837:2007-09-10
812:2014-03-08
704:2014-03-08
673:2014-03-08
652:2014-03-08
632:2014-03-08
612:2014-03-08
592:2014-03-08
563:References
384:Dodge City
294:Life Zones
247:forest on
117:31°43′33″N
394:with the
388:Tombstone
86:Geography
525:See also
147:Topo map
91:Location
470:Gallery
340:History
185:Arizona
141:
99:Arizona
280:coatis
237:cactus
193:hiking
181:Tucson
173:canyon
159:Rivers
776:(PDF)
698:(PDF)
691:(PDF)
362:1910.
241:aspen
233:fauna
229:flora
205:adobe
171:is a
784:2021
759:2021
733:2021
356:USGS
243:and
231:and
152:USGS
101:, US
416:.
245:fir
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386:,
370:A
360:c.
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
