Payson is a town in northern Gila County, Arizona. Payson has been called “The Heart of Arizona”. Its location puts it very near to the geographic center of Arizona. The town is surrounded by the Tonto National Forest and has many outdoor activities year round like hiking, biking, fishing, camping and much more. Payson considers its founding year as 1882, at which time it was known as Green Valley. On March 3, 1884, a post office was established with the help of Illinois Representative Lewis Edwin Payson. In honor of Representative Payson’s help, the town’s name was changed to Payson. Payson had its first rodeo in 1884 and considers its rodeo the “world’s oldest continuous” as it has been held every year since.

In 1918 author Zane Grey made his first trip to the area surrounding Payson. He would come back with regularity through 1929, and would purchase two plots of land near Tonto Creek. Grey wrote numerous books about the area and also filmed some movies, such as To the Last Man, in the Payson area in the 1920s.