INTRODUCTION
It’s an RV life on BLM land surrounding Quartzsite.
Photo contributed by Town of Quartzsite
A town with about 3,500 who live here year-round, Quartzsite’s population balloons to what has been estimated to be more than 1.5 million people passing through here come winter.
The town got its name in the late 1890s during its prospecting heyday, thanks to the quartzite (not quartz) that could be found in abundance in the area. The name was misspelled when a post office was established, and it superseded Tyson Wells, a private fort built by Charles Tyson in 1856 to protect what became a stagecoach stop between nearby Ehrenberg and Prescott to the east.
ATTRACTIONS
The people are Quartzsite, you’ll find row upon row of tables at swap meets with everything imaginable for sale somewhere here.
January and February are particularly crowded with swap meets and under-the-tents sales opportunities – the Main Event, the Tyson Wells Gem and Mineral Show, the Tyson Wells Sell-a-Rama, the Tyson Wells Gem and Mineral Show, the Quartzsite Sports, Vacation and RV Show, the Rock and Roll Classic Car Show, the Hobby Craft and Gem Show, the 43rd Annual Pow Wow, the Prospectors Panorama, the Desert Gardens Rock Gem and Mineral Show, the Rice Ranch “Y’All Come” Show, the Quartzsite Marketplace, The Tyson Wells Bluegrass Festival, the 5th Annual Willpower/Pawpower Parade – and more.
By: Stan Usinowicz
Glen Dickey is a world champion cook
Photo contributed by Stan Usinowicz
Pick up your copy of the Winter 2009 Visitor Guide and turn to the Quartzsite pages for feature stories and for information about upcoming events, including dates and times.
We’ll take you to the world of chili cookoffs, for example, truly a democratic (note the small “d” in “democratic”) activity and fun for everyone.
You’ll meet “Mad Jack.” He resembles the Orthodox Russian cleric Rasputin, counselor to Alexandra, the last czarina, but the fierce look belies the gentle soul within in and the not-so-gentle chili he could cook for you if you can stand the heat. Most judges can’t, so he cooks for their palates rather than his own.