A group of volunteers from the Museum, led by Murphy Musick, will once again be replacing flags on the veteran’s graves in the Patagonia Cemetery in anticipation of Memorial Day, Monday, May 25th.

There are 93 veterans that are buried in the cemetery and we’re pleased to announce that for the first time, we are in a position to replace ALL the flags on their graves. The new flags we have purchased will stay up all year round as a symbol of our appreciation for their service to our country.

If you would like to help, Murphy will meet you at the cemetery flagpole at 8:00 AM on Sunday, the 24th. If you can’t make the event but would like to donate to the flag replacement fund, we thank you.

Our Fall hours go into effect next week: Thur – Sat 2 to 4.

If you haven’t been up to check out the Museum recently, we have new things on exhibit and even more on the horizon. Special items from the George Proctor collection are making their way into our exhibit rotation.

Thanks to the people in the community who are helping make our vision of preserving the memories of eastern Santa Cruz county a reality. You know who you are and we appreciate your generosity.

Please join Murphy Musick on Monday, May 27, at 8:00 AM by the Patagonia Town Cemetery Flagpole. Murphy will walk the grounds and replace the small flags by the veteran’s headstones that are in poor shape. Please help him honor our veterans with new flags.

Best wishes to all for a safe Memorial Day holiday.

We will meet in the Patagonia Public Library at 10:00 am on Saturday, May 11. Following a brief business meeting, award winning author, cowboy and horse lover Alan Day will discuss his latest book, “Cowboy Up! Life Lessons from the Lazy B”.

Mr. Day and his sister Sandra Day O’Connor co-authored the New York Times bestselling memoir “Lazy B”, which chronicles the story of the Day family and growing up on a harsh yet beautiful southwestern ranch.

Alan Day’s upbringing branded him a cowboy from the day he was born. To this day, he claims that he has soil running through his veins. He was part of the third generation to grow up on the 200,000-acre Lazy B cattle ranch straddling the high deserts of southern Arizona and New Mexico. The ranching and cowboy lifestyle appealed to him so greatly that after graduating from the University of Arizona, he returned to manage Lazy B for the next 40 years. During his career, he received numerous awards for his dedicated stewardship of the land. In 1989, Alan purchased a cattle ranch in Nebraska and soon after, a ranch in South Dakota. The latter became the first government-sponsored sanctuary for unadoptable wild horses. He developed and successfully used a herd modification-training program for his 2000 head of cattle and 1500 wild mustangs. Now retired from ranching, Alan divides his time between Tucson and Pinetop, AZ.

We are deeply honored that the Santa Cruz Foundation for the Performing Arts has chosen to hold a concert on Thursday April 25th, the proceeds of which will benefit the Museum. 

Under the direction of Christina Wilhelm, the Santa Cruz Singers, Patagonia’s outstanding community chorus, shows its versatility in a program that features the works of Franz Schubert and Aaron Copeland.

In addition to the classically beautiful Magnificat by Schubert, you will hear traditional American songs including the Boatman’s Dance, I Bought Me a Cat, Simple Gifts , Pretty Little Horses, At the River – transformed into beguiling contemporary harmonies by Aaron Copeland.

Concert admission will be $5 at the door. We hope to see you all there.

The Patagonia Museum sponsored its fourth bus tour to the Rio Sonora in March 2019.

We entered Mexico through Nogales and had stops in San Ignacio, Magdalena and Cucurpe before arriving in Banamichi for two nights. On the second day we explored downriver towns of Huepac and Aconchi before dining at the working ranch of Rancho Martina where bacanora and tortilla making demonstrations were presented. To close our day, Danza Xunutzi performed a series of delightful dances in the Banamichi Plaza. On day three, we returned to Patagonia, with stops in Arizpe and Bacoachi, crossing back into the USA at Naco.

Rebecca Orozco and Bill Steen provided knowledgeable and colorful commentary during our tour. Thirty-two of us traveled in the comfort of a 49 passenger tour bus from “South of the Border Tours”. Thanks to many of our fellow travelers for sending us their photos for our website gallery.

We’re already putting together plans for our 2020 trip so keep your eyes open for another unique opportunity to experience the Rio Sonoran culture.

Volunteerism is an important part of the mission of the Museum. If you are looking for some exercise in combination with good deeds, here’s what we have coming up this month:

Friday, March 22, join the museum as we pick up litter along Highway 82, starting at Mile Post 19 and Beaty Lane. We will begin at 9am

Thursday, March 28, The Patagonia Museum will host a workday at the Lochiel Schoolhouse, from 10 am to 2 pm. There are tasks for all ages and ability available.

Give us a call if you’d like more info on how you can help.

The 2019 trip is scheduled for March 12 – 14th. Details will follow but we can tell you, last year’s trip was a blast!

The Museum board will hold the annual members meeting on January 26, 2019 at 10:30 AM in the Patagonia Public Library meeting room. The brief agenda will include the election of the board members for the upcoming fiscal year.

The candidates are: German Quiroga, President; Bob Ollerton, Vice-President; Maureen De La Ossa, Secretary; Bonnie Maclean, Treasurer; Linda Shore, Curator; Bob Bergier, Member-at-Large; Ralph Schmitt, Member-at-Large.

The business meeting will be followed by a presentation by one of our favorite speakers, Dr. John Langellier. is topic will include the life and times of the Apache Kid, Army Scout and renegade.

The author of dozens of books and scores of articles, as well as a consultant to film and TV, Dr. Langellier shared this preview of his talk with us:

Geronimo’s long bid for freedom had ended. Now he and many fellow so-called Chiricahuas were prisoners of war in far off Florida.  Three of the men who had trailed him and his followers were U.S Army scouts known on their enlistment papers as the Apache Kid, Massai, and Rowdy.  The trio, once comrades in arms, would follow very different paths resulting in one of Arizona’s longest manhunts. Join military historian Dr. John Langellier as buffalo soldiers, Indian scouts, and a host of other military men and civilians attempt to round up the usual suspects criss- crossing the border between Mexico and the United States on this deadly mission.