George Cleveland Curtis 1884-1955,( the grandson of John & Sophia Ash) founded the city of APACHE JUNCTION, Arizona in 1922. It is now a "city" of some 20,000 persons and he is the founding father.

George, then a traveling salesman from Logan, Utah, pitched his tent at the junction of the Apache Trail and the Phoenix-Globe Highway in 1922. Curtis envisioned a service station and restaurant as a reststop for weary automobile travelers of the era.

Curtis soon realized that the junction formed by these two roads east of Superstition Mountain would have a great economic impact on the future of this area. Superstition Mountain, Apache Trail, the construction of the storage dams on the Salt River, the climate and mines at Superior, Globe and Miami would all play a role in the development and growth of Apache Junction.

On February 1, 1923, George Cleveland CURTIS filed his homestead claim on 160 acre parcel of land at the NW 1/4, Sec. 20 T1N, R8E. Soon after the filing of his homestead claim, Curtis developed ideas as to how he would promote his desert project. One of these ideas included the opening of Arizona's first zoo. In July of 1923 Curtis began construction of a small zoo.

He was a "visionary" and "The community and City of Apache Junction has fulfilled the dream of its pioneer founder George Cleveland Curtis".