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 the deity Salt Woman. This presentation focuses on the prehistory of a famous salt mine in what is now known as Camp Verde.  In the 1920s, miners discovered prehistoric salt-mining […]

A killer camel, a tornado-riding con man, a dead dragon, and a naked horse thief are some of the characters in the quirky stories from Southwest history that Peach loves to share in his original cowboy poetry.  Laugh at and learn from these very tall and mostly true tales, like how Arizona forfeited a seaport […]

Arizona’s territorial era has the reputation of being a violent and crime-ridden place with ineffective criminal justice institutions. This presentation provides an overview of crime and justice in Arizona Territory. Based on data from court cases and newspapers, it describes the types of crimes most commonly committed and the justice system’s response to them. Contrary […]

The early history of Sonora/Arizona was deeply determined by the Jesuit Order. Padre Eusebio Kino arrived here in 1692 and died in 1711. Subsequently, a large number of German-speaking Jesuit missionaries arrived here, and many of them left highly fascinating reports, letters, diaries, maps, and encyclopedias behind (in German!). This talk deals with those missionaries […]

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 […]

As editor of the third edition of Fran Kosik’s classic travel book, A Complete Motoring Guide to the Navajo and Hopi Nations, Turner retraced her routes in January 2013, updating information on dozens of intriguing Native American trading posts, prehistoric ruins, museums, and natural wonders. Using the pictures taken on that trip, this presentation creates […]