Watercolor drawings around Greer, Arizona, drawn by Cora
Cora and Loren spent many summers at their cabin in Greer, Arizona from 1938 until she died in 1951. Her grandson, Cameron, enjoyed many summers there with his grandparents. Cora took him on frequent walks in the woods, talking about the plants and trees, gathering wild raspberries, showing him flowers and creatures, and instilling in Cameron a lifelong love of nature.
Headwaters of the Little Colorado River are not very far to the south on Mt. Baldy, an extinct volcano in the area. Loren taught his grandson how to fish in the Little Colorado River which ran only about 100 yards in front of the cabin. This beaver pond was a favorite fishing hole for Cameron and his grandfather. It was a firm tradition that Cameron had to clean his own fish which Cora then fried for wonderful native trout dinners.
Cora and Loren did not like summer heat in Phoenix so they arrived at the cabin in the early spring and stayed at the cabin as long as they could, sometimes even after snow began to fall in the White Mountains. One fall, they got caught in an early snow and had to be hauled out by a local farmer with a snowplow.
The fireplace in the cabin was a favorite gathering place for Cora and Cameron. The volcanic stones in the fireplace surround had personalities and Cora and Cameron had names for many of them. The deer head came from Cora’s family in Athol, New York. Cameron slept on the couch on the right.
A view of the Little Colorado River near the cabin. Cameron fished along the river by this place.
A short climb by Cora and Cameron took them to the ridge top behind the cabin from which Cora drew this view of the Greer valley in the White Mountains.