The American Southwest is world-renown for its colorful and spectacular landscapes like Grand Canyon, Sedona, Monument Valley, the Superstition Mountains, and the Sonoran Desert. But how did these wonders come to exist and what can ordinary rocks tell us about their ancient origins? You’ll be amazed to learn that the Southwest was once the site […]

In 1904 the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was held in St Louis. Attending that fair were over 3,000 indigenous men, women and children who were engaged to show middle class American citizens how “the other half of the world lived.”  Included in this group were a group of Pima and Maricopa kindergarten students from the Sacaton […]

Have you ever believed in a street? That’s right, a real belief in what a street stands for in the midst of a bustling city. Many recall the heyday of Van Buren Street, linking Arizona, California and New Mexico, the only highway known in the early 1900’s. Neon lights, bright, colorful lodges, hotels and motels, […]

In spite of being one of the “Seven Natural Wonders of the World,” humans have not always seen the Grand Canyon in a positive light. First seen by Europeans in the year 1540, the canyon was not comprehended easily. Throughout the entire exploratory era, lasting nearly 320 years, conquistadores, explorers, trappers and miners viewed the […]

Salt has been a valuable trade item throughout human history. Native American salt procurement in the Southwest involved dangerous journeys across sacred landscapes associated with a deity called Salt Woman. This presentation describes the history of a famous salt mine in Camp Verde, Arizona, where prehistoric Sinagua tools used for mining salt were discovered in […]