A huge round of thanks goes to the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona for the grant provided to the Patagonia Museum by the South32 Hermosa Community Fund.

Trust us, we have lots of projects lined up that will be completed with this generous donation. It will primarily fund the creation and installation of a mural for the Lochiel Schoolhouse Welcome Center by Patagonia Schools students under the direction of the Patagonia Creative Arts Association. We’re also planning the creation and installation of a roadside sign at the Lochiel Schoolhouse so travelers can get an idea of the remarkable history of this little red building.

This photo shows you where we stand now in terms of the restoration project on the 100+-year-old building that is located southeast of Patagonia in the San Rafael Valley. Looking pretty good, isn’t it? We can’t wait to show you the “after”  that will come from the next round of changes.

In addition, Old Main will benefit from the grant as we’ll be able to fund the completion of the ADA ramp on the entrance to the building, pay for the restoration of the high school art class territorial school signs on the museum grounds that has faded in the Arizona sun and invest in new lawn care equipment to be utilized both at the museum and Lochiel. If you’ve been visited us recently, you know mowing the grounds by hand is a huge undertaking so our volunteer groundkeepers will appreciate the upgrade to a riding mower.

Once again, the board and members of the Patagonia Museum send a hearty round of thanks to the CFSA and the South32 Hermosa Fund for their generous donation that will allow us to continue the work of preserving the memories of eastern Santa Cruz County.

The venue that is now home to the Patagonia Museum closed its doors in 2015 as the “longest in contiguous use” elementary school in Arizona. Hundreds of kids passed through its doors in the 101 years it was in service as a school. The halls are much quieter now so it’s no wonder that we were happy to arrange a private tour for 12-year-old Cole & 9-year-old Natalie, at the request of their aunt who writes our favorite “Glimpses of the Past” series for the local newspaper.

Like most kids, they loved the playground and the bright mural painted by talented local artists but they also enjoyed exploring the current exhibits in the Museum.  The Cowbelle’s room is dedicated to the rich history of ranching in Santa Cruz County and is full of western artifacts that intrigued Cole & Natalie. When they learned there were 7 saloons located on the main street between 1900 – 1910. they agreed it’s likely that some of those cowboys spent the night chained to “the Patagonia jail tree” when they were too intoxicated to ride home safely. Note: The re-enactment was thoroughly enjoyed by the adults on the tour.

Educating people about the rich and diverse history of the people, places and things that typified eastern Santa Cruz County is the reason the Museum exists. Based on the note our curators received after their visit, we’d say our mission was accomplished.

The Museum is open Thursday – Saturday from 2 to 4, year-round. Drop us a note if you’re in the area outside those hours and we’ll do our best to ensure you too can see the sights.

Article and photo by Marion Vendituoli. Reprinted by permission of the Patagonia Regional Times.

Descendants of Mary Kane, who was one of the first women to vote in Arizona, gather in front of the suffrage sign at the Patagonia Museum.

Thirty people gathered at the dedication of the suffrage marker at the Patagonia Museum on May 15. After a short business meeting, Museum President German Quiroga introduced historian Mary Melcher. Melcher was the lead historian for the Arizona Women’s Heritage Trail and served on the committee for the National Votes for Women Trail (NVWT), which “seeks to recognize and celebrate the enormous diversity of people and groups active in the struggle for women’s suffrage.,” according to its website.

Melcher described the struggles of early suffragists in Arizona, which culminated in an initiative to give women the vote that passed in 1912, shortly after Arizona gained statehood.

The historical marker at the Patagonia Museum, one of approximately 250 markers throughout the U.S., names two of the 23 women who voted at the site in 1915, Amalia Valenzuela and Mary Kane. In the audience at the dedication were several descendants of Mary Kane, who was born in Mexico in 1863. The women must have been able to read, according to Melcher, as a requirement for voting was the ability to read a line of the constitution in English.

“Today we honor these women,” Melcher said, noting the importance of continuing the fight for “voting rights for all”.

The 2020/2021 recipients of the Museum’s Student Docent scholarships, Brianna Young, Carolina Quiroz and Hannah Woodard.

Despite the less than ideal conditions over the past two school years, these young women worked tirelessly with our curators, Tom and Linda Shore, on a variety of projects around the school. None of them glamorous, all of them necessary and for that effort, the members of the Patagonia Museum Board thank them.

Their commitment to helping us keep the history of Eastern Santa Cruz County alive speaks well for the future of these outstanding representatives of the Lobo community.

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.