This 10-minute video narrated by Adjunct Curator of History, Dr. Eduardo Pagán, takes viewers through the Museum’s lower level. Here you will see a full-sized recreation of Wickenburg as it was in the early 1900s. We’ve broken this into sections to give educators more flexibility when using this in their lesson plan. A) Out on the Ranch: Making a Living, Branding, The Ranch Home, Arizona Coolers, Water. B) The Chuck Wagon. C) Early Wickenburg Street Scenes, Transportation. Special thanks to Cox Communications. Video by Limon Media Group.
Hellraisers and Trailblazers
Dec. 13, 2023
Lecture and Book Signing: Bob Boze Bell, Jana Bommersbach, “Hellraisers and Trailblazers – The Real Women of the Wild West”. Held in the Museum’s Learning Center.
Museum Fire: 50th Anniversary, panel discussion at the Saguaro Theater
Nov 10, 2022
December 21, 2022 marked the 50th Anniversary of the Desert Caballeros Western MuseumFire. Founded in 1960 as a private non-profit institution by Morton Bodfish, Roy Coxwell, H. K. “Mac” MacLennan, Katherine McCrady, and William Weeks, the Desert Caballeros Western Museum took its name from the famous men’s trail ride that originated in Wickenburg, Arizona in 1947 and chose the Museum as its designated charity. On May 8, 1969 the museum officially opened to the public, housed in the former Brayton’s Commercial Company building. However, on December 21, 1972 a tragic fire consumed the entire building and its collection.
Dr. Eduardo Pagán and a panel that included Royce Kardinal and Julia Macias Brooks talked about that fateful day and the events that took place afterwards. How did the museum rise like the mythical phoenix out of the ashes?
America’s Longest War: The Apache Wars, 1849-1924
Wednesday April 13, 2022
Lecture with Dr. Eduardo Pagán, America’s Longest War: The Apache Wars, 1849-1924 held in the Desert Caballeros Western Museum’s Learning Center.
America’s involvement in Afghanistan is often referred to as America’s longest war, but the Apache Wars between Americans and Apaches lasted from 1849 and 1886, with some hostilities continuing until 1924. This presentation will cover how one Apache family led the effort to protect their lands from encroachment, and how the Apache Wars shaped the settling of Arizona.
Bill Anton Paints the West at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum
Feb., 2022
Artist Bill Anton talks about his background, his work and his process. Filmed and edited by Annie Laurie Anton and shown in the exhibition at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum.
The Wickenburg Massacre, panel discussion at the Saguaro Theater
Friday Nov 5, 2021 (150 yrs. to the day)
WickenburgMassacre: Whodunit?, Saguaro Theatre, Special presentation to coincide with our Apache Stories exhibition. Hosted by Dr. Eduardo Pagán with special guests, Heidi Osselaer and Marshall Shore the “hip historian”. Funded in part by Arizona Humanities.
On Friday November 5, 10:30 a.m. at the landmark Saguaro Theatre, the DCWM presented, “WickenburgMassacre: Who Dunit?”, supported by a grant from Arizona Humanities. Presentations included the nature of historical evidence and the interpretations made after this bloody event in Wickenburg’s history. Six people tragically lost their lives in the attack on the Wickenburg stagecoach on this date (Nov. 5) in 1871, and a seventh victim, who survived the attack, appears to have died within weeks afterwards as a result of her injuries. There was only one surviving witness. Despite his testimonies, and an official investigation by the United States military, there remain enough questions about the evidence found and the nature of the initial investigation for four theories to survive to this day about who was behind the attack: 1) a Yavapai raiding party (known at the time as Apache Mojave), 2) Mexican bandidos, 3) white stagecoach robbers, or 4) that it was an inside job involving the last remaining survivor.
With the help of Dr. Eduardo Pagán, the adjunct curator of history at Desert Caballeros Western Museum, and historians Heidi Osselaer and Marshall Shore, this event presented the available evidence found at the scene of the crime by projecting maps, pictures, and text on the theater screen. The scholars then presented one of the different possible interpretations in analyzing that evidence. When that portion of the event was completed, there was a discussion with the audience and the panel members about the nature of the evidence and which theory is the most compelling, and why. Not only did we explore forensic, historical, and geographical evidence, some of our exploration of interpretation also involved textual analysis in carefully examining eyewitness accounts and the military investigation. After the discussion, a vote was taken among the audience to decide “whodunit?”.
One of the victims, Frederick Wadsworth Loring, was a promising young writer from Boston. A Harvard graduate, Loring was 22 when he was killed, but he’d already had a novel and a book of poetry published. He was working as a correspondent for “Appletons’ Journal” at the time of the massacre.