Millions of travelers visit the Grand Canyon each year, but just 150 years ago, this was still considered the “last blank spot on the map.” One man, a one-armed civil war veteran, was determined to navigate and document the Colorado River as it winds through the canyon. Therefore, on May 24, 1869, John Wesley Powell […]

From bustling Hong Kong, to the opulent Grand Palace of Bangkok, to the world’s tallest building in Dubai, to the slums of Mumbai, this highly visual presentation will explore the culture, cuisine, and customs of this fascinating and rapidly changing region.  Dan Fellner, an experienced travel writer and Fulbright Fellow in Asia, will share his […]

The promise of unimagined riches is what brought many of the earliest colonizers to the Arizona Territory. Following the trail to the discovery of the mother lode, they built, then dismantled and finally abandoned communities when mines played out – leaving behind tantalizing clues of difficult hardships. Some towns survived like Bisbee, Jerome, Tombstone and […]

Royce Manuel (Akimel O’odham) best describes his work through the “Tools of Yesterday” using plant fiber, primitive bows & arrows, knapping stone, and making agave plant cordage. As a tribal and cultural educator and member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Royce and Debbie specializes in the revival and teaching of artistic traditions while […]

Arizona played a key role in preparing to send humans to the moon in the late 1960s/early 1970s. The Apollo astronauts themselves traveled to the Grand Canyon and volcanic fields around the state to learn geology and practice their lunar excursions. Meanwhile, U.S. Geological Survey engineers worked with NASA staff members to develop and test […]

During WWII a select group of young Navajo men enlisted in the Marines with a unique weapon. Using the Navajo language, they devised a secret code that the enemy never deciphered.  For over 40 years a cloak of secrecy hung over the Code Talker’s service until the code was declassified and they were finally honored […]

The Four Corners is a common name for the region within 150 miles of the marker where Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico, Arizona meet. The Four Corners reflects a wide array of customs of both ancient and contemporary cultures, spiritual beliefs, and histories. This presentation describes the landscape’s extensive geological and cultural transformation contributed by […]

The promise of unimagined riches is what brought many of the earliest colonizers to the Arizona Territory. Following the trail to the discovery of the mother lode, they built, then dismantled and finally abandoned communities when mines played out – leaving behind tantalizing clues of difficult hardships. Some towns survived like Bisbee, Jerome, Tombstone and […]

Willard J. Page, 1885-1958, worked as a quick-draw artist with the Redpath-Horner Chautauqua, but when that work ended about 1920, he turned to painting miniature landscapes, souvenirs, or “suitcase art.” Because his wife, Ethel, suffered from crippling arthritis, Willard built a camper on a Dodge chassis, and the couple spent winters traveling from their home […]

Anyone who has ever stared down an angry bull coming full throttle across an arena will understand why rodeo photographer Louise Serpa often uttered the adage, “Never Don’t Pay Attention.” Born into New York society, Louise ended up out west with her nose buried in the dirt & her eye glued to a camera, becoming […]

The promise of unimagined riches is what brought many of the earliest colonizers to the Arizona Territory. Following the trail to the discovery of the mother lode, they built, then dismantled and finally abandoned communities when mines played out – leaving behind tantalizing clues of difficult hardships. Some towns survived like Bisbee, Jerome, Tombstone and […]

In 1880, Alan Day’s grandfather homesteaded the Lazy B ranch.  This dusty dry tract of land produced a Supreme Court Justice, a lauded Arizona state senator, and a career rancher, cowboy, and land conservationist. Alan explores the ranching and cowboying life from the chuck wagon years of his childhood, through his adult years of increasing […]

During WWII a select group of young Navajo men enlisted in the Marines with a unique weapon. Using the Navajo language, they devised a secret code that the enemy never deciphered.  For over 40 years a cloak of secrecy hung over the Code Talker’s service until the code was declassified and they were finally honored […]

The ancient Hohokam culture of Arizona constructed at least 200 ball courts more than 800 years ago. These oval depressions were likely used to play a ball game that originated in southern Mexico, where the game was played with a rubber ball and had a very important role in reenacting the creation of humans in […]

U.S. Route 66, known as the “Mother Road,” was built in 1926. It ran from Chicago to L. A. During the depression of the 1930s, it became the major path by which people migrated west, seeking work, warm weather and new opportunities. Shore shares the history of Route 66 in Arizona, including the impact it […]

During WWII a select group of young Navajo men enlisted in the Marines with a unique weapon. Using the Navajo language, they devised a secret code that the enemy never deciphered.  For over 40 years a cloak of secrecy hung over the Code Talker’s service until the code was declassified and they were finally honored […]

The promise of unimagined riches is what brought many of the earliest colonizers to the Arizona Territory. Following the trail to the discovery of the mother lode, they built, then dismantled and finally abandoned communities when mines played out – leaving behind tantalizing clues of difficult hardships. Some towns survived like Bisbee, Jerome, Tombstone and […]

For centuries, Hopi men grew cotton and wove the fibers into blankets and clothing. In the 1880s, with the arrival of Anglo missionaries and government officials, quilting was introduced to the Hopi people and it quickly became integrated into Hopi culture and ceremony with quilts being used in every Hopi household. Hopis today are 4th […]

Royce Manuel (Akimel O’odham) best describes his work through the “Tools of Yesterday” using plant fiber, primitive bows & arrows, knapping stone, and making agave plant cordage. As a tribal and cultural educator and member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Royce and Debbie specializes in the revival and teaching of artistic traditions while […]

The dividing line of the U.S.-Mexico border may be the most significant feature of the Arizona-Sonora borderland today, but the region is also at the center of major north-south corridors of human migration. In this talk, Scott warren offers an in-depth look at historical and contemporary patterns of south-north migration through this region, from ancient […]

How did the Apache impact late prehistoric peoples? Research provides evidence of ancestral Apaches in the southern Southwest as early as A.D. 1300. Evidence comes from chronometric dates obtained from storage features (covered with grass or leaves), on Apache pottery, and from roasting pits, all in direct association with other types of Apache material culture. […]

This presentation will explore the US Army’s experiment with using camel from the Middle East to make it more mobile in the newly acquired Southwest.  In order to teach the soldiers about camels, a local from the Middle East, who was called Hi Jolly, was shipped over with the camels.  Even though Secretary of War […]

The presentation will describe the historical landscape including plants, people, river and surrounding mountains. “The way of life” is how many elders described everyday activity that involved chores, work in the fields, seasonal storytelling, seasonal harvesting and craft making of baskets, bows, and arrows. Come take a journey about the River People who live in […]

During WWII a select group of young Navajo men enlisted in the Marines with a unique weapon. Using the Navajo language, they devised a secret code that the enemy never deciphered.  For over 40 years a cloak of secrecy hung over the Code Talker’s service until the code was declassified and they were finally honored […]

In 1989, Alan Day lobbied the United States Congress and was granted approval to create our country’s first government-sponsored wild horse sanctuary on his South Dakota ranch. At the time, the government housed roughly 2,000 horses in feedlots. Fifteen hundred of those wild mustangs came to live at Mustang Meadows Ranch where, for four years, […]

When the first dining guide to the Valley of the Sun appeared in 1978, the authors had to explain what “sushi” was. Fast forward four decades, and Arizonans are munching rainbow rolls in shopping-mall food courts. The restaurant business in Arizona now brings in more than $11 billion a year. With stories, statistics and insider […]

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1942 WWII Executive Order 9066 forced the removal of nearly 125,000 Japanese-American citizens from the west coast, incarcerating them in ten remote internment camps in seven states: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Government photographers Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee, and Ansel Adams documented the internment, and artists Toyo Miyatake, […]

During WWII a select group of young Navajo men enlisted in the Marines with a unique weapon. Using the Navajo language, they devised a secret code that the enemy never deciphered.  For over 40 years a cloak of secrecy hung over the Code Talker’s service until the code was declassified and they were finally honored […]

In this presentation, Mr. Dart shows and discusses Native American ceramic styles that characterized specific peoples and eras in the U.S. Southwest prior to about 1450, and talks about how archaeologists use pottery for dating archaeological sites and interpreting ancient lifeways. He discusses the importance of context in archaeology, such as how things people make […]

Tyrone Power, Andy Devine,  Katy Jurado, Steve McQueen and, of course, John Wayne. From the earliest days of film, Arizona has been a setting and subject for hundreds of films. Some, like Junior Bonner and Red River, are considered classics, others, such as Billy Jack and Evolution, surely less so. Some may even be classics […]