Martha Summerhayes was a refined New England woman who entered the Arizona Territory in 1874 as the young bride of an Army Lieutenant. Traveling in horrific conditions and dreadful heat, she soon despised the wild and untamed land. She gave birth to the first anglo child born at Fort Apache where the native women took […]
Cowboys and Cowgirls: Icons of the American West Few symbols have been more durable than the American cowboy. This program will give an overview of this populist figure, whose image was first defined by painters Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. Also important to the story are brave cowgirls and the Mexican vaqueros. Buffalo Bill’s […]
For a state that has been home to Geronimo, Wyatt Earp, César Chavez and Wonder Women, you would think Arizona earned some respect. Yet achieving statehood was a 50-year struggle, which finally ended on February 14, 1912. Jana borrows from both her work for True West Magazine and her work for Phoenix Magazine to put […]
When America entered the Second World War, Arizona’s sparse population and mild weather made it an ideal location for training facilities and prisoner of war camps. By war’s end, Arizona had trained more pilots than any other state, hosted the country’s largest POW camp, and was part of the largest military training grounds in history. […]
From mammoth hunters and canal builders to Native Americans, Hispanics, Americans, Irish, Serbians, and just about every nationality under the sun, Arizona has always been a land of many cultures. And while the Earps and the Geronimo are world famous, Arizona can also be proud of its unsung men and women and cooperative communities. Here […]
Whether or not you grew up when Western films competed favorably with the popular films of the day, you will definitely want to take yourself back in time to hear the music that made cowboy legends out of the Sons of the Pioneers, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Jimmy Wakely and so many other Western singers. […]
Turquoise has a long-standing tradition amongst Native cultures of the Southwest, holding special significance and profound meanings to specific individual tribes. Even before the more contemporary tradition of combining silver with turquoise, cultures throughout the southwest used turquoise in necklaces, earrings, mosaics, fetishes, medicine pouches, and made bracelets of basketry stems lacquered with piñon resin […]