wickenburg | Spade & the Grave

Happy New Year! It’s probably time for another blog post, right? I’ve spent the the last year working non-stop of my dissertation, writing and editing, and now the whole document has been compiled and is with my supervisors for another run through! Then I’ll have more tweaks to make before it goes off for committee review, and then sometime in the spring/summer I’ll be defending! In the meantime though, I’ve been writing a public-facing article on counter-magic use in Newfoundland (keep an eye on the NQ Magazine), being an editor for a book volume I’m collaborating with a colleague on, scrambling around planning a trip to Scotland with my parents, and peer-reviewing other peoples’ work. And sleeping til like 9 am everyday.

Before I finished compiling my behemoth of a dissertation, however, we flew to Arizona for the Christmas holiday to visit my husband’s parents and revel in the fact that there was not rain and snow blowing horizontally across the horizon for a week. It was very relaxing, we mostly read, played games, drove around the neighbourhood in a golf cart, and drank wine watching the sunset, but I did manage to sneak in a little history exploring while we were there as well!

The front of Henry Wickenburg’s last home, made from adobe (photo by author 2023).

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I’ve just returned from a family trip to Arizona, USA! My in-laws recently retired and built a house down there, and this was our first trip down to see the new place, as well as the rest of the family for American Thanksgiving. It was super fun to explore a new spot, and see a load of cacti and interesting animals that we definitely don’t have in Newfoundland (although I still haven’t seen any javelinas…), and of course see all of my husband’s family who we haven’t see since at least 2019 or earlier!

One of the most exciting non-family-visiting parts of the trip was the opportunity to visit the famous Vulture City, tucked in the shadow of the looming Vulture Peak. There is a hiking trail to the top of the mountain, but unfortunately it was closed for maintenance while we were there, so hopefully on a future visit we’ll get a really good view of the site! Vulture City was founded in 1863, after Henry Wickenburg, a Germany immigrant, found gold in a nearby quartz outcrop. Soon after the Vulture Mine was established and the settlement soon followed. You can find out a little more about the history of the community at the link HERE, as well as some amazing historic photos. The mine was in operation from 1863 to 1942, when it closed due to WWII (and actually it’s back in operation today, but that property is not open to the public). There is something deathy in this holiday diary too, so read on!