When I was a young, my family and I would load up in the Polara and head to north Scottsdale – and back in time to the ol’ West. That was the original home of Rawhide Western Town. Now, this 1880’s town in located at Wild Horse Pass on the Gila River Indian Community south of the Valley.
When I arrived there one recent evening, the excitement of the old town returned to me. There is still the gun fights, gold panning, old-time photo shop, blacksmith, train, stagecoach and burro rides. There is still the chance to have
your friend arrested and put in the jail house. And, there is still the fabulous Steakhouse & Golden Belle Saloon with its mouth-watering, fresh-baked apple pie with cinnamon-swirl ice cream!
Some things that are not there anymore include the wagon train circle. At the entrance of the town there used to be this circle of covered wagons and some mannequins with a
looped recording that would keep repeating the story of their perilous journey and fear of Indian attack. There used to also be a mine shaft (more like a short underground tunnel) that used to have skeletons in rocky crevices and where my brother and dad would make spooky noises to try to scare my mom and me. They also used to have these trained chickens behind a glass enclosure that would tap out a song on a tiny keyboard for the reward of a few kernels of corn. ( I’m sure an animal-rights activist had that attraction removed!).
One of my favorite memories about Rawhide features Sweet Sally’s Confections. When I was young, my father would always treat us to a trip to this old-fashioned candy store. We would purchase the hard candy sticks with the swirled stripes and rock candy on the petite wooden sticks. When I walked back into that store, the sweet smells and vivid colors sent me right back to childhood! Although my adult palate does not still see the same tasty treat in rock candy, I opted for some roasted cinnamon cashews, I did buy a cherry flavored rock candy to take home to Solvay!
