Airport Customer Service Technician
Town of Wickenburg

A small-town Kentucky boy, Lee Cox traveled the world and landed at the airport in Arizona’s Wild West. Lee Cox was raised on a farm in Kentucky. At age 17, he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a parachute infantryman and served in combat deployments during Operation Just Cause and Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield. After leaving the military, he worked in construction and as a gunsmith, later re-enlisting in the Army reserve as an aircraft structural repairman. He also worked as a cable splicer, apprentice electric lineman, certified back country guide, appliance repairman and guest ranch maintenance worker/wrangler, which is what eventually led him to Wickenburg. Landing in the Town of Wickenburg, Cox began as a communication specialist in 2006 with the Wickenburg Police Department. He also worked as a reserve officer and once he graduated from the police academy, was offered a position as a full-time officer. He served five years as a full-time officer, three as the department’s K-9 handler. Unfortunately, medical issues prevented Cox from continuing his position as a full-time police officer, which led him to apply for a position as the Wickenburg airport customer service technician. As the airport customer service technician, Cox gets to experience a variety of tasks on a daily basis. Encompassing several areas, Cox is responsible for facility and equipment maintenance, fueling aircraft, answering questions and assisting visitors with their travels to Wickenburg. He says that the best part of his job is getting to meet a diverse array of people from all over the country and world, not unlike many of the jobs he has held in the past. It’s clear that visitors enjoy meeting Cox and learning how a small-town Kentucky boy came to live in the small-town southwest. “I have been asked many times how I ended up in Wickenburg, as my accent gives it away that I’m not from here. I reply that it’s a long story,” says Cox. “Although I have traveled the country and world over the years, seen and done many things, I sometimes wonder how a small-town farm boy from Kentucky found his way to a small town in the desert of Arizona. It’s been a long road that led me here, but I can say without a doubt I am proud to now call Wickenburg my home.”

A sign and statue greet visitors on U.S. 60 entering Downtown Wickenburg. Photo from the Town of Wickenburg

Wickenburg boasts one of the American West’s classic downtowns, featuring unique shops, eateries, public art, and activities. Decades of investment in streetscape improvements by the town have made Wickenburg a popular destination among tourists and Arizona natives alike, who flock to the community for its cowboy culture and Western charm.

Ben’s Saddlery is one of the longest-operating businesses in downtown Wickenburg. Photo from the Town of Wickenburg.

The Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe steam locomotive No. 761 sits near the original train depot, which now serves as the Wickenburg Visitor Center and Chamber of Commerce offices. Photo from the Town of Wickenburg.

Visitors can explore the downtown’s public art, including life-size sculptures depicting scenes of the old west. The Desert Caballeros Western Museum, a world-renowned fine art institution, also resides downtown just a short walk from the visitor center in the old train depot. During the busy season, team roping at two nearby arenas is in full swing, and popular events such as the annual Gold Rush Days celebration fill the downtown with excitement.

The Hassayampa River Walk, completed earlier this year, is an adaptive reuse of the 1962 ADOT bridge over the Hassayampa River that hosts downtown events. Photo from the Town of Wickenburg.

In May 2015, the town completed the Hassayampa River Walk, an adaptive reuse event space overlooking the Hassayampa River.

A statue sits in the roundabout connecting US 93 and US 60 at the entrance to downtown Wickenburg. Photo from the Town of Wickenburg.

Photo Courtesy Wickenburg Chamber of Commerce

If you head, as the brochures pithily recommend, “Out Wickenburg Way,” you’ll find a nice photo opportunity in the town’s much-advertised Jail Tree. It’s a 200-year-old mesquite, tucked absentmindedly behind a Circle K near the corner of Tegner Street and Wickenburg Way.

According to legend, and the tree’s authoritative metal sign, the ancient mesquite served as Wickenburg’s “hoosegow” from 1863 up until 1890 when the town finally got itself a real jailhouse. As the sign attests in its characteristic Western font, there were no escapes. The same as any town’s oddball jail attraction.

Myth has it that convicts were sentenced to the tree and chained there until they either died from exposure or, if lucky, they completed their stretch. But, in truth, the tree was simply a holding facility. Offenders were shackled or tied to the tree only until a Phoenix lawman could make it up that way to retrieve them. Still, according to Wickenburg’s Chamber of Commerce, this could be anywhere from two to five days. At least they had some shade.

Photo Courtesy Arizona Department of Transportation

Saguaros stand next to Joshua trees, cliffs and canyons loom to the east and west and granite boulders give way to an expanse of jagged volcanic rock. Between Wickenburg and Wikieup, this 54-mile byway cuts a path through the blurred boundaries the Sonoran and Mojave deserts.

The drive officially begins in Wikieup. Wikieup is known for its pie, the Snoopy-piloted Wikieup arrow, the Wikieup Trading Post, Eat at Joe’s Barbecue and the creosote-peppered hills that surround Bronco Wash.

Once travelers move past Wikieup, they’ll find the Big Sandy River. The river, unless it’s been rainy, lives up to its name—it’s big and sandy. Beyond the river, eroded cliffs loom that are speckled in spots with saguaros and scrub.

At Mile Marker 147, travelers will see rocks that are piled on top of each other. It’s the perfect sight before arriving at  the town of Nothing. Nothing was a real Arizona town, but it remains fairly desolate now. When travelers spot it, they’ll see there isn’t much beyond junk.

Joshua trees become the focal point of this drive around Mile Marker 162. They’re reminiscent of the baobab trees made famous in Saint Exupery’s Little Prince, and if your imagination is active, you might see a little blonde boy emerge from the trees with a dog and a well-protected flower in hand.

By Mile Marker 169, the forest of Joshua trees is dense and you’ll see a sign that reads: “Joshua tree Parkway of Arizona.” The route continues on to Wickenburg, a classic Old West town that celebrates the state’s cowboy heritage with the Desert Caballeros Museum and a string of Western-themed shops and restaurants.