Echoes of the Southwest

On the evening of Wednesday, March 4, 1930, 28 year old Wilton climbed in the cab of H. Decker and headed off to the Lincoln Airways, Inc. flying field in California. Wilton had listed his occupation as aviator and/or airplane mechanic. This young man had a wife and four kids with one on the way. His wife, Luzette, was in Virginia while Wilton “worked” elsewhere. There had been rumors of affairs but none were proven. As H. Decker pulled his cab up to the airfield, he handed Wilton his card. Decker gives each person who rides with him his card which has his name, phone number and Diamond Cab Company, the name of the company he worked for. Wilton met up with pilot Morey Johnson and Wilton’s friend Jean. By the time they all arrived at the airpark, the employees working there had left for home. The weather was pouring rain and not a good time to take a plane out on a night flight. They all boarded the plane and Johnson took it out of its stall and flew away. The flying field wat...

As I sit watching “Back to the Future III” for the hundredth time, I wonder how this modern woman, would be able to survive traveling back to Arizona’s Wild West. It is simple, I wouldn’t! Let’s not forget all those crazy notorious cowboys and women that might shoot you for looking at them wrong, but no air conditioning, asphalt roads and ice water, how barbaric. I am curious on how in the hell they survived the extreme Arizona heat in the summertime. I know that these dusty hot conditions were all they knew, but if they had a taste of what we have nowadays, they wouldn’t want to go back to the Wild West era. I can relax on my comfy couch, flipping through the cable channels to find something interesting to watch on TV. Next to me you might find my cell phone, laptop and a glass of iced coffee all while enjoying the central air cooling down the house. The Wild West houses were probably made mostly of wood, stone and mud or stucco, with no air conditioning units on the roof. Som...