Besh Ba Gowah

Off for an AM drive to San Carlos Lake and the town of San Carlos. Both are on the Apache reservation. The lake was muddy looking and low though at other times of year we hear there is good fishing. You have to have day licenses and permits to hike, fish or park once you are on the reservation. We had a little drive through of the town and headed back to Besh Ba Gowah in Globe.

Besh Ba Gowah is partially reconstructed Salado village. The museum there has the largest collection of  recovered items found on site in the Southwest. You can walk through the 700 year old site. There is an area that hasn’t been excavated (I’m not sure why it hasn’t) but that was intriguing considering what has already been unearthed.

We went to find the old railroad station in Globe but all we were able to see of it was what we could see through the window. It has been restored to its former self and is, on occasion open to the public. We did meet a sweet gal named Molly who was excited that she was there at the right moment to see the the pick up by the Pony Express? We had seen several traveling cowboys on horseback on the road and wondered what they were up to. They certainly looked like authentic cowboys in their chaps, boots, and hats. They looked beat and dusty. Molly told us once a year the Pony Express follows that original route and actually does the mail pick up along the way. Who would have guessed?

Molly kindly asked if we would like to see the old jail. She texted Rick who said “sure, I’ll just slip my shoes on and meet them there”. So we walked a couple of blocks and he gave us a private tour. It’s hard to believe that the same jail was used (in the same conditions) from 1910 to 1980. There is a catwalk from the courthouse to the jail. You can still see some of the writing scraped in the walls from the 1930’s and places where an inmate had kept track of the days spent there. The doors to the cells open by a mechanical lever in an outside hall. Nothing at all like what we see on TV now.