Gladys Comstock was born in 1902 at the celebrated Tallac Hotel, in Lake Tahoe, CA. From the time she was a small child, nature and adventure were in her heart. She learned to track and hunt at a very young age. She became an avid hiker, skilled horsewoman, published photographer, championship diver, sharp shooter, and accomplished artist.Like Isabella Greenway, the 1930 founder of the Arizona Inn, my mother was an independent, self-assured, and capable woman. Prior to her marriage, Gladys traveled around the world on a freighter and returned to become one of the first female managers of a luxurious hotel, the famed Vista del Arroyo in Pasadena, CA. In 1936, she and her husband, my father, Maillard “Pete” Bennett, moved to Tucson where he managed the Arizona Inn for 35 years.

While in Arizona Gladys hiked many of the old trails in the mountains surrounding Tucson and took me to the top of many of them, sharing her knowledge of tracking, hunting, bird calls, wildflowers, and trees. On those hikes, she always had a gun on her hip! Twice it saved our lives.

I feel certain that in those early years we walked upon parts of your magical Arizona Trail! My mother would be extremely proud of all that the Arizona Trail Association has done to make a dream come true. Congratulations and thank you.

From her daughter, Ardys Bennett, Scottsdale, AZ.

Gladys Comstock Bennett: 1902 – 1961