10 - ARIZONA CAPITOL MUSEUM AND THE MYSTERY CASTLE

This was an interesting day.  But for strange reasons. 

First off, we went to the Arizona Capitol Museum. It was in downtown Phoenix next to various government buildings including the Department of Corrections building. 

When we arrived in the parking lot we first walked around a beautiful park of war memorials.  They included from WWII to Afghanistan. All conflicts were where people of Arizona were involved and died.

This one is a Vietnam Memorial and the black panels (there were several more) listed soldiers from Arizona killed in that war.

There was also a panel for every year of the Vietnam war and explained what happened during that year relating to the war. 

Don asked me to take a picture of the 1969 panel since that was the year he graduated from college. It brought back memories for him.

There were also memorials for WWII, the Navajo Code Talkers and numerous other war memorials, including

Afghanistan and Iraq. These were all very impressive. Lots of beautifully cast bronze statues were among the granite memorials.

There were also large oddly shaped pillars and on each one was one of the articles of the Bill of Rights.

This is number one, that details the freedom of speech.


From there we turned around and viewed the Arizona Capitol Museum.

As you enter, there is a large mosaic on the floor. 

This museum is a replica...somewhat...of the original Capitol building. No flashy displays, it is as original as possible as far as the rooms, furnishing and the building itself goes. 

Some things were just a bit more modern.

This Arizona State Flag is made out of Legos.

This six-shooter is shown as the State Gun. How often do you see a state gun?

I found this interesting. It was a display of bolo ties...BIG bolo ties. 

One is a stained glass design of a bird and the other is a very large bolo made from of a huge slice of agate. 

Don's dad often wore bolo ties (but not like these!) and these made me think fondly of him and wonder what he would have thought of these.


I can't begin to show you all the displays here so will just mention a few that I found especially interesting.

The Arizona Column of the Rough Riders carried this silk  

flag into Cuba during the Spanish-American War of 1898. 




The flag was sewn in one night by the Women's Relief Corp 

of Phoenix when it was discovered that they had no flag. 

It was the first American flag to be raised by troops in Cuba.

 The office of Governor Hunt was set up as it was in 1912.

There was an interesting and contentious race for the

Governor's Office between George W.P. Hunt and his

challenger, Thomas Edward Campbell.

The November 1916 election between incumbent George 

W.P. Hunt and Thomas E. Campbell created quite a stir in  

the politics of Arizona. Secretary of State Sidney Osborn 

declared Campbell the winner by only 32 votes. 



Hunt contested the election, claiming voter fraud, and on 

inauguration day Hunt refused to vacate the Executive 

office. 



Both men took the Oath of Office; Hunt in the Capitol and 

Campbell on the lawn nearby.




After a ballot recount by the Maricopa County Superior Court 

had confirmed Campbell as the winner, Hunt appealed to the 

Arizona Supreme Court which forced him to leave the office. 

Campbell served an interim governor pending the Court's 

decision. 



Finally, on December 22, 1917, the Arizona Supreme Court 

unanimously declared Hunt the winner by 43 votes. After 11 

months in office, Campbell gave the Governorship to his 

opponent, George W.P. Hunt.



There were many other great displays in this museum and it 

is a visit I would highly recommend.



Upon leaving the museum we watched prisoners from the 

jail across the street planting sod in new rose gardens in 

front of the Courthouse.

They were doing a good job and it was good to see they are 

earning their keep.



Next we went to Mystery Castle. We went, we saw, and it is 

STILL a Mystery!  Maybe the biggest mystery is how they  

get $10 per head to let people see and go through it.



We drove up and parked at the base of the Castle.

From up on the patio there was a really nice view of 

downtown Phoenix. The Castle is 450 feet in elevation above

Phoenix.

We waited on one of a few different patios for our 

tour to start.

From here we could get a close up look at the outside

of the front of the building.

We wondered about two large petroglyphs built into 

the front of the house. "Probably not real," I thought.

Later we found out they were real. Amazing. Good 

thing the builder stole these back in the 1930's or

he would have been jailed for this.

This was on the outside near the entrance. It should 

have been a clue that we were in for weirdness...and 

we were.

There were "snakes" in several places in the house, 

a few inlaid into the floor and at least one more 

painted on a rock. The guide said something about 

snakes being "good luck." Now these are 

rattlesnakes. Not my idea of good luck.



This house was built by Boyce Gulley over 15 years 

beginning about 1930. It was inherited by his wife 

and daughter, Mary Lou. Mary Lou lived there until 

her death in 2010.


Between mother and daughter they filled the Castle 

with all kinds of "junk." Yes, there were a few actual

antiques here and there, but mostly it was a strange 

collection of weird odds and ends one might find left 

over after a swap meet.



The house does consists of 8,000 square feet, 18 

rooms and has 13 fireplaces. We did not see the 

whole house because someone still lives in part of it.

This was our tour guide who has lived in and given tours of the castle for more than 30 years.

  
This is another patio and the home of more "lucky

snakes."



Inside there were dozens and dozens of cats...cat pictures, cat pillows, and lots and lots of rocks with cats painted on
them.

Above one fireplace was a large portrait of the daughter, Mary Lou, painted by a protege` of the famous painter, Georgia O'Keefe, who was a friend of hers. It was definitely a Georgia O'Keefe style of painting.

Outside on one patio was a cantilevered stair to a second story. 

They used to take tourists up those stairs but, thankfully, not this time.

Now, for what I remember of the story of Mystery Castle...Boyce Gulley lived in the Seattle area with his wife and daughter. 

He was diagnosed with TB around 1930 and promptly abandoned his family without a word. He moved to Arizona and began building the castle. 

Upon his death from cancer, not TB, some 15 years later, his wife and daughter inherited the house. When they arrived, they found under the house, via a trap door, a picture of Mr. Gulley so his daughter would know what he looked like, a few gold pieces and a couple 500 dollar bills.

From there the two began adding to the collection of strange things that now make up Mystery Castle.

Next blog will be the Heard Museum and Deer Valley where we hear there are more petroglyphs.