Rare Photographs: The Days and Ways of Don Pablo

By Les Conklin

Don Pablo stands on his property on the northeast corner of Pinnacle Peak Road and Scottsdale Road. In the background, vacant desert and Lone Mountain.

Don Pablo stands on his property on the northeast corner of Pinnacle Peak Road and Scottsdale Road. In the background, vacant desert and Lone Mountain. At the time, the property was under the jurisdiction of Maricopa County. (Courtesy of the Scottsdale Historical Society.)

Last month, October 2015, a reader submitted a  comment for an article in The Peak that  immediately caught my eye. “Paul Voelker was my grandfather … Please call me.”  The comment was written by Pamela Voelker.  I called her the next day.

Pamela, it turns out, is researching her family’s history. She wondered if I had any information about her grandfather.  Fortunately, I do.

I told Pamela that I would gladly share the information that I have with her and The Peak‘s readers, which is why I am writing this article. Look for more articles about “the character on the corner,” Paul Voelker. Voelker was known in Scottsdale and the Pinnacle Peak area by his alias “Don Pablo.”

Over the years, several excellent articles by Liz Stapleton Ogden and the late Don Schoenau have been published in The Peak. Both Liz and Don were outstanding editors of The Peak and researched and wrote about the history of the Pinnacle Peak area.  Click on the links below to read Liz Stapleton’s two short articles about Don Pablo and his business. I’ll publish Don’s article in the next issue of The Peak.

DEAR READER, WAIT! Before you click on that first link. Look at the photographs below. They were a surprising bonus produced by the research that I did for the book “Images of America, Pinnacle Peak” that was published by Arcadia Publishing in 2011. Acting on a tip from Scottsdale historian Joan Fudala, I spent five hours during two library visits paging through many copies of the Days and Ways magazine in the Phoenix Library. Days and Ways was an insert into the Arizona Republic’s Sunday edition in the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s. Although Days and Ways published articles about Tucson, Prescott, Payson, and a variety of remote Arizona ghost towns and mining towns, Pinnacle Peak escaped its radar. Don Pablo was interesting enough to motivate a reporter to overcome bumpy, dusty dirt tracks and a lonely drive through a vast expanse of vacant desert to capture these images of his place. This is probably the first time that all the article’s images are being published since they were printed in the March 4, 1962 issue of Days and Ways.

Reminiscing: The Character on the Corner by Liz Stapleton Reminiscing: One Character Follows Another by Liz Stapleton

 

 

 

Photograph of Don Pablo by sign for his business

In 1950, after leaving his Scottsdale location, trader Don Pablo established Don Pablo’s House of Relics on the remote corner of Scottsdale and Pinnacle Peak Roads in Maricopa County, both dirt tracks at the time. After his death, thousands of people attended two auctions of his collections, which generated more than $100,000 in sales. (Courtesy of Days and Ways.)

a

bell

This large bell one of the items that were part of Don Pablo’s collections. (Courtesy of Days and Ways magazine.)

A display of bicycles at the House of Relics. (Courtesy of Days and Ways magazine.)

A display of bicycles at the House of Relics. (Courtesy Days and Ways magazine.)

b

A large shed contained a collection of rifles and bows and arrows. (Courtesy of Days and Ways.)

A large shed contained a collection of rifles and bows and arrows. (Courtesy of Days and Ways.)

c

Collars worn by draft horses were displayed on the exterior wall of one shed at the House of Relics. (Courtesy of Days and Ways.)

Collars worn by draft horses were displayed on the exterior wall of one shed at the House of Relics. (Courtesy of Days and Ways.)

d

A collection of Native American headdresses and other goods were displayed in a separate shed. (Courtesy of Days and Ways.)

A collection of Native American headdresses and other goods were displayed in a separate shed. (Courtesy of Days and Ways.)

e

Large stained glass window that was displayed outside at the House of Relicts. (Courtesy Days and Ways magazine.)

Large stained glass window that was displayed outside at the House of Relicts. (Courtesy of Days and Ways magazine.)

f

Pot bellied stove at the House of Relicts. When the collections were sold at auction, Doc Cavallier, who owned Reata Pass Steakhouse and Greasewood Flat purchased a stove. Years later he opened the stove and was surprised when he found valuable turquoise stones inside. Is this the same stove? (Courtesy Days and Ways.)

Pot bellied stove at the House of Relicts. When the collections were sold at auction, Doc Cavallier, who owned Reata Pass Steakhouse and Greasewood Flat purchased a stove. Years later he opened the stove and was surprised when he found valuable turquoise stones inside. Is this the same stove? (Courtesy of Days and Ways.)

g

This mask that was displayed at the House of Relicts was probably from Latin America where Pablo had travelled and collected items. (Courtesy Days and Ways.)

This pottery mask that was displayed at the House of Relicts was probably from Latin America where Pablo had travelled and collected items. It might also have come from a trade that Pablo made. (Courtesy of Days and Ways.)

 

Protected by two pet timber wolves, Don Pablo , pictured here, lived in a one-room, dirt-floored shack

Protected by two pet timber wolves, Don Pablo , pictured here, lived in a one-room, dirt-floored shack. Outside he was surrounded by hogans filled with filled with Indian jewelry, guns, pottery, cowboy paraphernalia, and other wonders. There was also a gas pump. (Courtesy of Days and Ways.)

hI

Paul Voelker, a.k.a. Don Pablo, at the House of Relics (Courtesy of Days and Ways.)

Paul Voelker, a.k.a. Don Pablo, at the House of Relics. He died in 1974 at 76, after suffering several strokes. (Courtesy of Days and Ways.)

By the way, the book, Images of America, Pinnacle Peak, by Les Conklin and published by Arcadia Publishing is available at Amazon.com and other popular online book sellers. If you’d like to purchase a copy signed by the author, with proceeds benefitting the Greater Pinnacle Peak Association, contact The Peak. If you are looking for a gift for a person, who is interested in the history of the Pinnacle Peak area, call The Peak at 480-361-6498 or email thepeak@gppaaz.org.

The Peak invites you to share your thoughts about this article by using the “Submit a Comment” box at the bottom of this page. Your email address will not be published. All comments are reviewed based on The Peak’s Comment Policy prior to publishing.

 

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Reminiscing: The Character on the Corner by Liz Stapleton

Reminiscing: One Character Follows Another by Liz Stapleton

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author: Les Conklin

Les Conklin is a resident of north Scottsdale He founded Friends of the Scenic Drive, the Monte de Paz HOA and is the president of the Greater Pinnacle Peak Association. He was named to Scottsdale's History Maker Hall of Fame in 2014. Les is a past editor of A Peek at the Peak and the author of Images of America: Pinnacle Peak. He served on the Scottsdale's Pride Commission, McDowell Sonoran Preserve Commission, the boards of several local nonprofits and was a founding organizer of the city's Adopt-A-Road Program.. Les is a volunteer guide at the Musical Instrument Museum.

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5 Comments

  1. My wife and I went to the auction and purchased several items which we still have

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  2. Great story about Don Pablo, Les. He was quite a character and quite the opposite from his attorney brother Paul Voelker who wrote “Anatomy of a Murder” which became a movie in 1959 starring Jimmy Stewart.

    Don was quite a one of a kind character.

    Jim McAllister

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    • Actually, Don Pablo, was Paul Voelker, who in Ishpeming, Michigan, developed an early foundation strain of the modern Alaskan Malamute called the M’Loot strain before the breed was recognized the American Kennel Club. The strain was one of three breeding programs which eventually became the Alaskan Malamute and is prevalent in a majority of the breed today, although Paul never registered his dogs with AKC.*

      Paul is the older brother of John Voelker, a former Michigan attorney, Michigan Supreme Court justice and the author of several books, the most famous of which was made into the award winning movie, Anatomy of a Murder.**

      * http://alaskanmalamute.org/malamutes/articles-about-malamutes/

      **https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/20/obituaries/john-d-voelker-is-dead-at-87-author-of-anatomy-of-a-murder.html

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      • Thank you very much for the great information about Paul Voelker. It is very much appreciated. Les Conklin, Editor

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  3. A bit more – Lorraine Sharp purchased Silver Sled Kennels and moved it to Lake Mills, Wisconsin. She had Paul Voelkers’ sled pictured in Ray and Lorna Coppingers book, The World of Sled Dogs. We were caretakers for her twenty or so imposing Malamutes. She had a couple long nosed bigger M’Loot throwbacks and they were the shy but gentle creatures. The more typical looking Malamutes liked a good spat, and look out!, don’t turn your back on the alpha Ruar.

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