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Lost Apacheland Photos To Be Restored By Local Artist March 25, 2004 - Mike Cooney - Arizona Republic
But because a local artist wanted to experiment with the computer technology he uses, much of that history can be restored. “I’ve always loved the Old West,” said Philip Rauso, Jr., 39, a Gold Canyon artist and graphic designer. “I visited the Don Donnelly Ranch in Gold Canyon in 1993 and fell in love with the area. “Then, in 1999, I read about the 1969 fire at Apacheland and figured I would try out all the new digital preservation technology I just learned in college and make Apacheland my laboratory.” So, Rauso approached Ed and Sue Birmingham and asked permission to copy the memorabilia in the old saloon and other buildings at the movie set for his personal use. Then Rauso archived the images and forgot about them. Until fire destroyed Apacheland again. Rauso then contacted the Birmingham's again and reminded them that he had the pictures. They were thrilled at the prospect of having the photos restored and gave him permission to set up shop in one of the buildings that remains to begin the time-consuming task of sorting the images and replicating the original photographs. “I have old post cards from the 1960's, and about 100 black and white negatives from scenes filmed at Apacheland,” Rauso said. “More than half the images were from archives that people have never seen before because they were stored in the second story of the saloon. “I also digitally scanned most of the pictures of television and movie stars who’d been at Apacheland that had been on the walls, along with Ed and Sue’s personal picture portfolio. I have a panoramic video of the town along with images of the town as it looked before the first fire, and all the transitions it went through up until this latest fire. Rauso said he is planning to decorate the walls of the chapel, which escaped the flames and is being converted into a restaurant, with many of the prints of the original photos and some photos that have never before been displayed. The front buildings that survived the fire will become a museum and gift shop and will be decorated with canvas images of the replicated art. Prints of all the artwork will be sold in the gift shop that will be at the back of the museum. |
When Apacheland burned down on Valentine’s Day, most of the pictures of the
Western movie town burned with it. Images of the stars who’d walked its streets,
stills from the TV Westerns shot there and the pictures that adorned the walls of the old
saloon went up in flames.