Charles Buntjer - From the Farm to California

I was born on a farm in nothern Illinois in 1940. My stepmother got me an interview in the summer of 1959, I was 19 years old. It was Freeport, at a huge manufacturing plant. I was hired a month later and of all things, sent to Chicago to learn how to create punched cards to store data, sort the cards for reports and wire boards to program IBM Tabulating Machines!

In 1961 I moved to Rockford Illinois, second biggest city in the state and went to work in a huge manufacturing plant in their computer center.

In July of 1963, I was 23 years old and I got a letter from the government that I had been drafted. I was sent to Fort Knox Kentucky and after basic training I found out I was being sent to the Presidio of San Francisco to work in the computer installation overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island and downtown San Francisco. I knew I was never going to leave San Francisco and California.

I knew I would be able to in a short time of driving or flying, go to exotic places like Reno, Las Vegas, San Diego and Beverly Hills. And I did!

Arizona Overview

Arizona is a state in the Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the northwest and California to the west, and shares an international border with the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California to the south and southwest. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix, which is the most populous state capital and fifth most populous city in the United States. Arizona is divided into 15 counties.

Arizona History

Arizona is the 6th-largest state by area and the 14th-most-populous of the 50 states. It is the 48th state and last of the contiguous states to be admitted to the Union, achieving statehood on February 14, 1912. Historically part of the territory of Alta California and Nuevo México in New Spain, it became part of independent Mexico in 1821. After being defeated in the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848, where the area became part of the New Mexico Territory. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase.

Southern Arizona is known for its desert climate, with extremely hot summers and mild winters. Northern Arizona features forests of pine, Douglas fir, and spruce trees; the Colorado Plateau; mountain ranges (such as the San Francisco Mountains); as well as large, deep canyons, with much more moderate summer temperatures and significant winter snowfalls. There are ski resorts in the areas of Flagstaff, Sunrise, and Tucson. In addition to the internationally known Grand Canyon National Park, which is one of the world's seven natural wonders, there are several national forests, national parks, and national monuments.

Arizona is home to a diverse population. About one-quarter of the state[12][13] is made up of Indian reservations that serve as the home of 27 federally recognized Native American tribes, including the Navajo Nation, the largest in the state and the country, with more than 300,000 citizens. Since the 1980s, the proportion of Hispanics has grown significantly owing to migration from Mexico and Central America. A substantial portion of the population are followers of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Arizona's population and economy have grown dramatically since the 1950s because of inward migration, and the state is now a major hub of the Sun Belt. Cities such as Phoenix and Tucson have developed large, sprawling suburban areas. Many large companies, such as PetSmart and Circle K,[14] have headquarters in the state, and Arizona is home to major universities, including the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University. The state is known for a history of conservative politicians such as Barry Goldwater and John McCain, though it has become a swing state in recent years.

History of the Flag

The flag of Arizona is the official flag of the U.S. state of Arizona. It consists of 13 rays of red and gold on the top half. The center star signifies copper production; Arizona is rich in copper, producing more copper than other states in the country.

The height of the flag is two units high while the width is three units wide. The flag of Arizona consists of 13 red and gold rays in the upper half, representing the thirteen colonies and the colors of the flag of Spain, in homage to the Spanish discoverers who came to these lands, such as Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca or Francisco Vázquez de Coronado.

In the center of the flag, the copper star symbolizes the mining industry of this state, is one unit high, while the rest of the flag is covered by a blue section measuring one unit high and three units wide. The lower half is dark blue, representing the Colorado River.

Tucson

Tucson is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, with a population of 542,629 in the 2020 United States census.

Pima Air and Space Museum

The Pima Air & Space Museum is an aerospace museum in Tucson, Arizona, US. It features a display of nearly 400 aircraft spread out over 80 acres on a campus occupying 127 acres. It has also been the home to the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame since 1991.

Kitts Peak

The Kitt Peak National Observatory is a United States astronomical observatory located on Kitt Peak of the Quinlan Mountains in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert on the Tohono Oʼodham Nation, 88 kilometers west-southwest of Tucson, Arizona.

Meteor Crater

Meteor Crater, or Barringer Crater, is an impact crater about 37 mi east of Flagstaff and 18 mi west of Winslow in the desert of northern Arizona, United States. The site had several earlier names, and fragments of the meteorite are officially called the Canyon Diablo Meteorite, after the adjacent Canyon Diablo.

Sedona

Sedona is an Arizona desert town near Flagstaff that’s surrounded by red-rock buttes, steep canyon walls and pine forests. It’s noted for its mild climate and vibrant arts community. Uptown Sedona is dense with New Age shops, spas and art galleries. On the town’s outskirts, numerous trailheads access Red Rock State Park, which offers bird-watching, hiking and picnicking spots.

Flagstaff

Flagstaff is a city in the U.S. state of Arizona, surrounded by mountains, desert and ponderosa pine forests. It’s a gateway to the San Francisco Peaks, home to Arizona’s tallest mountain (Humphreys Peak) and the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort. Nearby, Wupatki National Monument has Native American pueblo sites, and Walnut Canyon National Monument is dotted with their cliff dwellings.

Walnut Canyon National Monument

The park preserves this landscape, and the ancestral homes in and around the canyon. The one mile round-trip Island Trail provides access to 25 cliff dwellings.

Wupatki National Monument

Wupatki National Monument preserves over 2,700 cultural sites in just 55 square miles. Many ancestral Puebloan sites, primarily built after the eruption of nearby Sunset Crater Volcano around 1085 CE, can be found in this Painted Desert landscape nestled in the high desert of Northern Arizona.

Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon National Park, in Arizona, is home to much of the immense Grand Canyon, with its layered bands of red rock revealing millions of years of geological history. Viewpoints include Mather Point, Yavapai Observation Station and architect Mary Colter’s Lookout Studio and her Desert View Watchtower. Lipan Point, with wide views of the canyon and Colorado River, is a popular, especially at sunrise and sunset.

Painted Desert

The Painted Desert is a United States desert of badlands in the Four Corners area, running from near the east end of Grand Canyon National Park and southeast into Petrified Forest National Park. It is most easily accessed from the north portion of Petrified Forest National Park.

Chuck's View of San Francisco

Can you believe my fantastic view of San Francisco from my apartment on the 28th floor of the Fox Plaza Apartments!

Created on 2025.05.05       Updated on 2025.05.05