The Arizona Museum

The Arizona Museum, located in Phoenix, is a valuable repository of artifacts and relics pertaining to the march of history in the old West. It was begun in 1919.

The ARIZONA By Joseph

ARIZONA, though the youngest of the states, is a very ancient land. The region is covered with the remains of an earlier civilization living here hundreds of years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. When the first white explorers arrived from Spain four hundred years ago they saw ruins of great cities here on every hand. Some were in caves, others in valleys, many high up in the recesses of cliffs, and on precipitous mesa tops. When the Spaniards inquired of Indians living in this region at the time of their arrival, the natives were at a loss to coherently explain who these ancients were, from whence they came, or where they had gone. It was not until recent times, when archaeologists and scientists in search of evidence began to excavate numerous sites, uncovering countless artifacts, that the fascinating story of these ancients began to unfold. And since that time, bit by bit and piece by piece their relationship, age, and way of life has been and is being laid bare. Arizona is indeed fortunate, with its rich prehistory, to have preserved in museums throughout the State, many of these priceless treasures, protected for the enjoyment and enlightenment of the people. Of equal importance, too, is the preservation in these depositories, of many artifacts of Arizona's historic and modern Indians. Influenced by the ways of the white man, a change to the more modern way of living has caused the natives to gradually abandon many of the customs and much of the paraphernalia once so identified with their mode of living.

"Dinky" was once a busy little engine, operated at the Bunker Hill Mine in Tombstone. Its day has passed, but it served a useful part in the early mining history of the state, and is now an interesting object in the Arizona Museum.

This Hopi Kachina doll, from the Seargeant col lection, represents a sac red item in the religious beliefs of the Hopi In dians.

MUSEUM.. Miller

by the Author Another important function of a museum is the preservation of relics and mementos in connection with the pioneer days-days when hostile Indians infested the region, raiding, killing, destroying-resisting the influx of hardy pioneers who were pushing westward, seeking new lands upon which to live and work. Relics recalling the Territorial days and the bitter struggle for Statehood. Arizona, the youngest, yet in reality, one of the oldest lands.

For the purposes of this article, the first museum founded in Phoenix and a most interesting one, has been chosen, the Arizona Museum in Phoenix. It has a fas cinating history as well as a unique beginning. Initiated by the Maricopa Chapter of the Daughters of the Amer ican Revolution, collecting of artifacts and relics was begun in 1919. In cooperation with many civic organ izations and clubs in Phoenix and vicinity, it was in corporated in 1923, each organization contributing an initial fee to the museum fund. The form of organization as well as the constitution governing it was dictated largely by the secretary of the American Association of Museums, of which this one is a member. The general purposes are to preserve historic and prehistoric relics and art treasures; to encourage interest in the history of Behind this warshield some Pima Indian long ago fought against enemies. (From the H. P. Pat rick collection.)

Among the rare art objects in the Arizona Museum is the painting by Girolama Genga of "The Madonna Enthroned with the Child and Four Saints." Genga, an Italian lived in the early 16th century. This painting was donated to the Museum by Samuel Henry Kress.

the region; to advance the general knowledge of kindred subjects and to that end, furnish popular instruction.

In 1925, the City of Phoenix gave the organization a lease on a plot of ground in University Park where the museum is located today. By proclamation of the governor of the state, an Arizona Week was instituted and school children were asked to contribute and sell bricks at one dollar each for the purpose of raising funds for a building. Some money was raised through a series of entertainments and by other methods. Members of local buildings trade unions and other workmen contributed a day's work or more, and much material was contributed.

An unusual feature is that the museum has always been debt free, operating on a cash basis, and even during the depression years when funds were low, it was kept open to visitors.

Perhaps the oldest pieces in the museum are the slabs of Moenkopi sandstone, found near Cameron, containing prints of reptile tracks from the early ages; a paddle socket of a whale, found in the Colorado River bed above Parker; and an ancient cradle from Salt Cave, located in a side canyon of the Little Colorado River. Among the prehistoric artifacts are some burial urns conare the slabs of Moenkopi sandstone, found near Cameron, containing prints of reptile tracks from the early ages; a paddle socket of a whale, found in the Colorado River bed above Parker; and an ancient cradle from Salt Cave, located in a side canyon of the Little Colorado River. Among the prehistoric artifacts are some burial urns containing charred human skeletons; a large collection of beautifully designed pottery and baskets, as well as several instruments and utensils, all taken from excavated ruins in the state.

A rare war shield found on the Pima reservation is said to be one of the very few in existence. It is a rawhide disc some two feet in diameter which had been made rigid through treatment. It is cleverly designed in colors. The fighting men in those days, according to a Bureau of Ethnology Report, were divided into two groups; those who used the bow, and those who fought withthe club and shield. When advancing upon the enemy the warrior crouched so that the comparatively small shield protected his entire body. The design on this shield is said to have been also used as an instrument upon which the natives played a fascinating game.

Basketry, pottery, burden baskets, bows and arrows and many other items made and used by historic and modern Indian tribes are found in large numbers on the walls and in the cases of the Arizona Museum.

Many are of exceptional design and beautiful colorings.

The main exhibition room, aside from several speciments of Arizona animal, bird and reptile life, contains, principally relics and memories of Arizonas dramatic pioneer days. This section perhaps is most fascinating and generally holds the major interest.

To many the statement that large numbers of camels, imported for use as pack animals by the government, roamed Arizona's desert; and that six to ten thousand ostriches were on farms near Phoenix, would seem more legendary than true. But in memory of this unsuccessful camel venture, a monument has been erected near the town of Quartzsite, over the grave of Hi-Jolly, Arizona camel driver, and in the Arizona Museum is displayed the skull of one of these beasts as well as a mass of camel hair taken from the Florence, Arizona, herd in 1877. Also in one of the cases are some ostrich eggs and ostrich legs, reminiscent of the gay nineties when gorgeous plumes were an important accessory to women's hats.

A bulky wooden cheese press, and a plow made of wood and pieces of iron cut from the rim of a wagon wheel; both used by early Mormon settlers in Northern Arizona; and an old grist stone made from Malapais in 1880 and used in Pine, Arizona the only mill to serve that district for many years-all reveal the crudeness of instruments in those days.

From the Quartzsite and La Paz gold mining district is an old time dry washer, and hanging on the wall is a side saddle which belonged to Mrs. Lum Grey, the first white woman to settle in Maricopa county.

And there is the first oil lamp used in old Tombstone, the town "too tough to die,"

then the most important camp between San Francisco and El Paso.

The first printing press in Phoenix which was brought by wagon train through Yuma in 1878 and upon which was first printed the old Salt River Valley Herald, is an important relic in the museum; and especially interesting is the case of pioneer and Colonial plateware in which is a large white platter carried overland from Illinois to California and thence to Arizona and Phoenix in 1879.

A rifle with the carving “Made expressly for Jack W. Swilling, Gillett, A T” holds a conspicuous place. Swilling, a pioneer prospector from Wickenburg, in 1867 stopped at a hay camp near the present city of Phoenix, noticed the lay of the land with accessible irrigation water, and visualized a great agricultural empire. He organized an irrigation company with a capital of $10,000 and within the year crops were harvested, ranches established, and the present metropolis of Phoenix is the direct outgrowth of this venture. Another prospector responsible for the founding of a community is recalled by the presence of his old hand coffee mill. Henry Wickenburg was prospecting for gold and discovered the noted Vulture Mine, with rich deposits of the precious metal. The town of Wickenburg, now self-styled, “Dude ranch capital of the world,” grew as a result of the mine's operation.

A little old engine stands on the east side of the museum building, that used to operate at the Bunker Hill Mine in Tombstone. Known as “Dinky,” the engine after leaving Tombstone, was used to carry ore and finally to dismantle the Congress Mine; and stood for many years on the Santa Fe railroad tracks at Congress before being presented and brought to the Arizona Museum. At the building entrance is the old Bichard Flour Mill, the first modern mill in the Salt River Valley. The mill stood near the corner of Central and Jefferson Streets, Phoenix.

Memories of Arizona's political and social past is kept from fading by the many items shown. Of considerable interest are the first lady dresses, among them the elegant dress worn by Mrs. Phillips at the inauguration of Governor J. C. Phillips; one worn by the grandmother of Arizona's seven-term governor, G. W. P. Hunt; and the dress worn by Mrs. Stanford at the inauguration of Governor R. C. Stanford. Then there is the chair used by Governor Hunt, two chairs from the first state capitol in Prescott, and the first clock used in the Phoenix capitol. A table that served as the cancellation desk and a number of postal boxes from the first Phoenix postoffice are interesting.

Rare is the huge spike and splinter from the top-side bulkhead, and the eye-bolt and structural pin from the forward gun-deck of the U. S. Frigate Constitution, known as “Old Ironsides,” 1797. The Civil and World War days come in for their share of memories with a large collection of pistols, sabres and other weapons. A case of surgical instruments used in the Civil War are almost shocking in their crudeness. A Maxim machine gun, captured by American soldiers from the enemy in the World War, stands at the museum entrance. There are also weapons used during the Pancho Villa uprising; the Tonto Basin trouble; and various Indian wars.

The art collection contains many fine pieces, one especially notable and the only work of an old master publicly owned in Arizona, an oil representing “The Madonna Enthroned with the Child and Four Saints,” the gift of Samuel Henry Kress. It is an Italian work of art, an altar piece of the early Sixteenth Century by Girolamo There is also a bronze titled “The Lioness” by Anna Hyatt Huntington, contemporary American sculptor. A large oil, “The Grand Canyon,” by F. S. Dellenbaugh, hangs on the wall. This artist was a member of Major John Wesley Powell's second expedition down the Colorado River in 1872. The work was presented to the museum by Maud Powell, noted violinist and niece of Major Powell. Among the other paintings are portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Clark Churchill whose large residence became the first unit of the present Phoenix Union High School group and is still being used; also a street scene of an Arizona mining town, Jerome, by Nell McCoy.

The Arizona Museum organization has felt a great responsibility to the community and has been generous in lending its building and facilities to others whose purposes are consonate with its own, such as art and historical groups. The Artists Guild was organized at the museum in 1928; the Arizona Territorial Sons and Daughters in 1923, and the Mineralogical Society in 1935. Dr. John A. Munk donated his large collection of minerals to the museum and it is consistently being added to by the Mineralogical Society. The First Families of Arizona is a division of the museum in which only pioneer women may be active members. Thousands of tourists enjoy the free lecture programs given here each winter season. Their general purpose is to give pleasure to Pioneers and preserve Early Arizona history.