SPEAKER
Posted by Robert Homann
on Mar 16, 2016
Harvey Clark introduced our speaker, George Johnson. President Emeritus of the Superstition Mountain Museum. George explained that "Emeritus" means "Old man, you've had your chance, now sit down and shut up."
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George grew up in New Jersey and worked in advertising all his life. He got interested in this area when Life magazine ran a cover story about the Superstitions and the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine. In 1950 Navy Commander Julian King and his wife retired to this area and bought considerable acreage at the end of what is now called King's Ranch Rd. George and his wife moved here in 1950 and bought some acreage from King and built an "H" shaped house. King built 8 small guest cabins and rented them out to winter visitors. At this time the resident population of Gold Canyon was 26 people. When George's wife died after 50 years of marriage, he became active in the local community. George spent thousands of hours in the Superstitions and the surrounding desert. He worked at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum and for the Pinal County Highway Department. He spoke of US 60 being unpaved and of barely being able to squeeze by the large trucks coming from the mines in Superior. George came up with the name ADOBE (Association for the Development of a Better Environment). He and Rosemary Shearer published the first paper in the Gold Canyon area and ADOBE later published The Ledger for many years. He helped found the very popular Superstition Mountain Museum and served on its Board for many years.