The great West that George Bird Grinnell first encountered in 1870 as a 21-year old man was shortly to disappear before his eyes. Nobody was quicker to sense the desecration or was more eloquent in crusading against the poachers, the hidehunters, and the disengaged U.S. Congress than George Bird Grinnell, the “Father of American Conservation.” Grinnell […]

The rise of car travel in the 40s, 50s and 60s meant that thousands of people were traversing the broad expanses of the Southwest looking for new landscapes and adventure. As the cars sped past, restaurants, motels, curio shops and gas stations needed large, bright signs to make an impression. This informative and entertaining visual […]

On November 17, 2015, Aaron Wright (Archaeology Southwest) will present “Exploring and Protecting the Great Bend of the Gila.” From Aaron: The Gila River’s Great Bend, in southwestern Arizona, has been a cultural crossroads for over 10,000 years. This remote area was an interface between the San Dieguito and Clovis/Folsom Paleoindian traditions, the Amargosa and […]

Read full details at the Bisbee Film Festival website - http://www.bisbeefilmfestival.org/ Mission The Bisbee Film Festival: One People One Planet (BFF) is committed to showing U.S. and international films that focus on how humans treat each other and our environment. Topics cover issues facing society today and in the future. Overview For five days, the festival […]

Cowboy movie star Tom Mix was internationally famous, and many legends and tall tales have been told about his life. This presentation highlights some of the true stories about Mix and his connection to Arizona, debunking some of the Hollywood hype. What brought Mix travel that lonesome highway where he met his death south of […]

Marking the location of deaths with crosses or descansos is a very old custom which has been traced back to twelfth-century Europe. The custom diffused to the Americas with the arrival of the conquistadors in the sixteenth century.  This presentation traces the evolution and diffusion of the roadside memorial, the typology of the crosses, states’ […]

With the exception of the most ardent collectors and the older generations, the influence and legacy of the big bands is largely forgotten despite their overwhelming popularity and significant role in early radio.  Join Larson as he revisits the sounds that America listened and danced to for more than three decades.  Learn how iconic artists […]

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 […]

In pioneer Arizona, among the best places to experience the performing arts were in the mining towns. Striking it rich meant having disposable income and miners, like the well-heeled of the Gilded Age, wanted to demonstrate their sophistication with culture. From the early popular music of ragtime and minstrelsy evolved orchestras, operas and glee clubs […]