The April 1964 issue of "National Geographic" (NG) used 48 pages to chronicle one Family's trip from Guaymas, Mexico, to Mt. Robson, British Columbia. The effusive account includes 53 photos and a handful of strip maps to illustrate a classic mid-60's NG piece.
Author Ralph Gray was Chief of the National Geographic School Service at the time and he writes a combination of droll commentary mixed with occasional trite humor and Chamber of Commerce stereotypes. The NG article is a valuable glimpse of US 89 at its pre-interstate zenith. What could be more "Happy Days" that two parents, three kids and a dog traveling in "Roadrunner," a Dodge motorhome with a push-button transmission?
Here's a quote from the article sure to elicit a reaction from our Dear Tucson Friends:
"Spanish-founded Tucson counts a population of 233,000. Like Phoenix, it grows so fast that these two were the only major cities in the United States whose populations quadrupled between the 1950 and the 1960 census. Northerners seeking year round sun keep migrating to southern Arizona, and although Tucson clings to is Castilian heritage in street names and certain buildings, it fights a losing battle, eventually it may become an Indianapolis with cactus."
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