The day after we got back from the Kofa mountains, we drove to Giesela and Payson, which is just under the rim. In the town of Giesela, the name Carrel Wilbanks is still legend (the forest rangers told us) and we agreed that my Aunt Carol oughta return to her maiden name legally because she was named for him, my grandfather's brother, and it's a good name to have around there.
Payson (my great grandparent's old house)
In each room, pieces of the original wallpaper and linoleum are preserved nicely in gold colored frames. For various reasons, most of the places where my mother slept as a child have been preserved. This house is now a day spa.
On the other side of the road, a block or so up the road, is an old saloon.
Payson' Oxbow saloon, built in 1880's, is in business and we had a drink there in the middle of the day. "If you fight, you go to jail" is posted prominently" several places.
Close by is the Payson Pioneer graveyard, where my great grandparent's and most of their local family members are buried along with the people they knew best.
The Tonto Creek is in Giesela. We only found a way to get to it with help from a forest ranger with a 1902 Winchester on his ATV, who turned out to be a distant cousin by marriage of ours, the great nephew of my grandpa's sister's husband.
Ralph led us to a place to park and told us about what happened to the Tonto Apaches, who lived in huts in Tonto Creek valley when my mother was a little girl, and now the small tribe owns a casino.
The Tonto Creek is one of my favorite places.
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