T
o experience Scottsdale, Arizona, in February leaves little room to wonder why the city’s founder, Winfield Scott, was so taken with the valley during his first
visit in February 1888. By July of that year, Scott would purchase 640 acres of land, known today as downtown Scottsdale, to start a farming operation and invite his family, friends, and neighbors to head west and join him. The steady growth of farming and ranching operations established the heart and soul of the West’s Most Western Town. And while that slogan may invoke visions of roughnecks, gunfights, and barroom brawls, the beauty of the Sonoran Desert immediately began to attract artists, writers, architects, and developers from around the world, quickly shaping Scottsdale into a buzzing and sophisticated hub of arts and culture.
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