The Nilsens will illustrate ways that humor helps people face the challenges of growing old. They will discuss some of the differences between growing old as a male and growing old as a female, and also how growing old differs in a capitalistic society like the United States, as compared to a traditional society like […]
Every day we use words and phrases whose roots lie in the American West. Words like “brand,” “maverick,” and “railroaded,” along with phrases like “climb down off your high horse” and “passing the buck” all grew out of the culture and experiences of those who resided west of the Mississippi. These creative words and phrases […]
A saga of incredible action with gun battles, deadly weather, outlaws, and evasive fortunes, this lively presentation shares the stories of the pioneer men who first rode into the Arizona Territory when the law of the land was a gun. Some found success, some found poverty, and some found an early death. Hear the true-life […]
During a 1927 road trip to the Hopi Indian Reservation in northern Arizona, Maud and Carey Melville of Worcester, Massachusetts, befriended Ethel and Wilfred Muchvo at First Mesa. This presentation portrays the lives of the Hopi people during the 1920s and 1930s, prior to the tremendous cultural changes that occurred before World War II. Daily […]
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 […]
Charles G. W. French, born 1820 in a small southeastern Massachusetts town, heeded the advice, "Go West, young man." Armed with letters of introduction from Daniel Webster and Benjamin R. Curtis, French arrived in California in 1851. Achieving recognition as a lawyer and legislator in Sacramento, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court […]
Consider the taco, that favorite treat, a staple of Mexican and Mexican American cooking and an old standby on an Arizonan’s plate. The corn in the tortilla comes from Mexico, the cheese from the Sahara, the lettuce from Egypt, the onion from Syria, the tomatoes from South America, the chicken from Indochina, and the beef […]
Arizona has had its share of colorful politicians but none more so than George W. P. Hunt, Arizona’s first governor. From his birth in rural Missouri in 1859 to his death in Phoenix in 1934, Hunt was always the character. He was elected to office seven times, but declared the loser in his 1916 bid […]
Charles Lindbergh is best known for his famous 1927 flight across the Atlantic Ocean. But few realize that Lindbergh and his wife, Anne, played a brief but important role in archaeology. In 1929 they teamed up with noted archaeologist Alfred Kidder to conduct an unprecedented aerial photographic survey of Southwest prehistoric sites and geologic features […]
Meet five early Arizona women who endured troubles and hardships during the territory’s early days, all of whom brought a unique perspective to the raw land. Apache warrior Lozen fought to hold onto land once freely roamed by her people. Larcena Pennington crawled down the Santa Rita Mountains after surviving captivity by the Apaches. Mary […]
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