The American Southwest is world-renown for its colorful, modern landscape, but you’ll be amazed to learn what it used to look like. The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, the Superstition Mountains, and the Petrified Forest hold clues to the fascinating story of how the Southwest was once the site of tropical seas, Sahara-like deserts, coastlines stalked […]
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 […]
Early traders traveled through Arizona Territory, selling goods from their wagons, but they soon built stores that evolved into trading and social centers where wool, sheep, and Native Arts were exchanged for food and necessities. Navajo trading posts are best known, but trading posts existed on every reservation in Arizona. Traders became the intermediaries between […]
Just weeks after Pearl Harbor, the War Department announced the construction of a massive ammunition depot ten miles west of Flagstaff at Bellemont on U.S. Highway 66. Flagstaff’s population exploded from five to twenty thousand. The Army rushed the $17 million project to completion in a spasm of boomtown upheaval. Several thousand Navajo and Hopi […]
Pilot Charles Lindbergh (the “Lone Eagle”) is best known for his famous 1927 flight across the Atlantic Ocean. But Lindbergh, and his wife Anne, also played an important role in southwestern archaeology. During the summer of 1929, they worked with noted archaeologist Alfred Kidder to conduct the first extensive aerial photographic survey of southwestern prehistoric […]
Written in Thread: Arizona Women’s History preserved in their Quilts traces the history of Arizona through women who recorded pieces of their lives in their needlework. The colorful patterns of women’s quilts added a spot of brightness to their homes and their lives. They also celebrated and recorded special events with their quilts. Beginning with […]
While doing research on our centennial book, Lisa Schnebly Heidinger developed a treasure trove of anecdotes that wove through the tapestry Arizona, and can custom fit a presentation to any audience, based on geography, interest and local population. These include but are not limited to little heard details about famous figures (like when the Bucky […]
This presentation covers the broad area from Flagstaff, Arizona to Farmington, New Mexico. In addition to detailing trading posts, prehistoric sites, and the geological wonders of the Four Corners region, this virtual tour uses beautiful slides to present the history, folklore, and legends of this unique domain. Historian Jim Turner was editor of the third […]
Tyrone Power, Andy Devine, Katy Jurado, Steve McQueen and, of course, John Wayne. From the earliest days of film, Arizona has been a setting and subject for hundreds of films. Some, like Junior Bonner and Red River, are considered classics, others, such as Billy Jack and Evolution, surely less so. Some may even be classics […]
Sheep ranching has been greatly overlooked in the history of Arizona. While it never will compete with the five “C’s”, it added a great deal to the economic diversity in the state. Many different ethnic groups settled here and raised sheep for a living weathering the economic downturns as well as the prosperous years. They […]
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