'What's In That Pocket?'


A ranch in Wickenburg, Arizona was the backdrop for this piece. Nature graced Wickenburg with a gentle magic. Resting on the northern edge of the Sonoran Desert, just below Arizona's mountainous country, the Wickenburg area abounds in natural beauty. While the area's geological treasures attracted the miners from around the world, the Hassayampa River flood plain provided fertile soil for farming and ranching.

In the early 1820's, stalwart hunters and trappers explored the Hassayampa River in search of beavers, whose pelts were sold to hat makers back east and in Europe. Their reports helped pique American interest in the West.

In the late 19th century, there were so many questionable mining promotions around Wickenburg, that the joke grew that whoever drank from the Hassayampa River was thenceforth unable to speak the truth. Hassayamper came to mean a teller of tall tales!!