Kathy Montgomery

First Chair, Arizona Highways

Gwendena Lee-Gatewood isn't alone. When elected in April to be the White Mountain Apache Tribe's first chairwoman, she joined an increasing number of women to achieve the highest level of tribal leadership.

Old School, Arizona Highways

Apache Elementary began as a one-room adobe schoolhouse in the early 1910s. Although the building has been rebuilt and the technology has changed, it's still a one-room schoolhouse, where Palma Hudson provides a traditional education to 10 students ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade.

Sir David, Arizona Highways

It would be impossible to single out the best photographer in the history of Arizona Highways. To name a patriarch, however, is easy.



Maybe You Can Go Home Again, Arizona Highways

When Ruth Okimoto was 6, she and her family were confined to an internment camp in Poston, Arizona. So were nearly 18,000 other Japanese-Americans. Eventually, the familes were released, and Ruth went on to earn a Ph.D. For many years, she resented the camp experience, but then she found the courage to go back. And in doing so, she realized that regardless of the circumstances that put her there, Poston was home.

Alone on the Hill, Arizona Highways

The mining region of Rich Hill isn't what it used to be. Today, it's mostly made up of retirees with metal detectors, but not so long so ago, the mountain was a haven for a different kind of prospector. They had names like Rattlesnake Bill and Crazy Willie, and Elly Loftin knew them better than anyone.

Looking for Balance, Arizona Highways

Judge Joseph Flies-Away has never taken the easy route. He paid his own way to a private high school. He graduated from Stanford and Harvard. He was the first member of his tribe to get a law degree. Even his approach to the legal system is counterintuitive.

The Final Cut, Phoenix Magazine

Forensic pathologist Mark Fiscione has the last word on the steady stream of bodies that come his way.

Outstanding in his Field, Arizona Highways

When it comes to credentials. Bayard Brattstrom has plenty. The distinguished herpetologist, professor, photographer, consultant, author and artist spent more than 40 years teaching at Cal State Fullerson. When he left, he moved his giant lizards and his passion for anything reptilian to Nothing, Arizona, where, even at age 84, he says he still has plenty to do.

Counting His Blessings, Arizona Highways

Sjors spent a good chunk of his life exploring the planet. These days, he's content to get to know a single place, the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Hayduke Lives On!, Arizona Highways

It's been almost 40 years since The Monkey Wrench Gang hit bookstores, but the man who insipired Edward Abbey's protagonist is still working out the legacies of being Hayduke. He's also trying to save what's left of the wilderness.

Spider Mania, Arizona Highways

Chuck and Anita Kristensen's home crawls with spiders (and centipedes and scorpions). It might sound like the set of 'Arachnophobia,' but it's not. It's all in a day's work at Spider Pharm.

100 Years and Counting, Arizona Highways

Lavona Evans knows a lot about Arizona's history. And she should. She's lived through it all.

Family Business, Arizona Highways

Artist Bruce Aiken is a legend at the Grand Canon. Although he retired in 2006, his son, Silas, is carrying on the family tradition.

The Matriarch of Monument Valley,

Arizona Highways

Although she's a local legend, Susie Yazzie has lived a traditional Navajo life for close to 100 years.

Artwork in Progress, Arizona Highways

Three decades ago, Leda and Michael Kahn began work on Eliphante, their evolving monument to the world of art.

Judge of Character, Arizona Highways

Homespun, no-nonsense, unorthodox... that's how you describe this throwback to the old school.

Gang Buster, Phoenix Magazine

Boyd Osegueda, a Native American and reformed juvenile delinquent, fights to keep organized crime off the rez.

Monumental Success, Phoenix Magazine 

Bronze sculptor Dave McGary takes home the gold.