Being Tourists in Arizona!©

Desert Caballeros Western Museum, in Wickenburg, Arizona  

We didn’t know about this gem in the desert and were delighted to have the opportunity to visit. The museum was a wonderful surprise, exhibiting the history of Wickenburg, a reconstructed old town Wickenburg in the basement and a southwest art collection that any major museum would be proud to have. 

There is even a Bolo Tie exhibit!  If you don’t know what bolo tie is--it is a 4-foot length of cord/leather that drapes around the neck with a medallion of some sort, such as turquoise or other gem, stone, copper or silver. The State Legislature actually made it the official neckware of Arizona instead of the bow tie or the necktie. 

Did you know that Henry Wickenburg was a gold searcher during the 1862 gold strike on the Colorado River (near present day Yuma)?  His discovery of the Vulture Mine in 1863, Maricopa County, Arizona, yielded over $30 million in gold and was the most productive gold mine in the Arizona.  The mine attracted more than 5,000 people to the area, and with the ranchers and farmers who settled in the fertile plains of the Hassayampa River, resulted in the founding of the town of Wickenburg.

If you are passing through or spending time in Wickenburg, the place to have breakfast, lunch or a pastry is Nana’s!  The food was good but the bakery goods were world-class--coconut cream pie, apricot pecan scones, sticky buns and so many more mouth-watering pastries!  It's located in the block behind the Museum, and is worth a trip in itself.