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Original artifacts from the Dude Ranch days in the 1940s and 1950s as the Cave Creek Museum changes their exhibits ahead of their opening later this fall. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)
Sarah Ziker arranges wooden carvings of birds by artist Thelma Cassanova for a new display. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)
Original artifacts from the Dude Ranch days in the 1940s and 1950s as the Cave Creek Museum changes their exhibits ahead of their opening later this fall. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)
This summer, staff and volunteers at the Cave Creek Museum have been preparing for the debut of Cave Creek Museum’s new history wing, which will showcase different aspects of Cave Creek/Carefree history from 1863 to present day when the facility reopens this October.
In its 51st year, the Cave Creek Museum is dedicated to the preservation, research and education of the history of the Cave Creek Mining District and the Cave Creek/Carefree Foothills area.
Executive Director Evelyn Johnson said the museum has been embraced by the community as being their museum.
The space has a special place in her heart. Over the years, she has also served as a volunteer, store manager and board president for the museum, as well as executive director for a previous 13-year stint.
“We are very unique. For a small museum, we tell a mighty story,” Johnson said.
Johnson said many of the items in the new history wing were part of the pioneer wing, which was reworked to encompass more of the area’s history.
“It’s not a new wing, but it has undergone massive changes,” Johnson said.
In the history wing, visitors will get an introduction to the challenges faced by miners, ranchers and everyday people throughout Cave Creek’s history. The history wing highlights Cave Creek’s gold mining industry, cattle ranching history and early pioneer days.
“Our history wing really does highlight some of the large things that have helped us to be who we are today,” Johnson said.
One expanded exhibition looks at how in 2000, local Cave Creek residents led an effort to keep a former dude ranch from being turned into a planned community development.
Visitors can learn more about the Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area, an area rife with plants, wildlife and historic archaeological sites.
The history wing features a number of artifacts from Cave Creek Mining District’s early years.
Prominent in the area’s history was the Cartwright family, a cattle ranching family in Cave Creek that helped to establish the area’s school district. In the near future, historical photos from the Cartwright family will be on display in the museum.
“The Cartwrights were very forward-thinking, great preservers of history, but at the same time, they needed to run a business of cattle ranching. They wanted to run a school district because they thought education was important,” Johnson said.
“They’ve done cattle drives. They’ve been on the ranch. They’ve done the branding. They’ve lived the true cowboy life. I don’t know that we all appreciate how hard that life is.”
Items previously featured in a medical kit have been incorporated into different areas of the history wing to showcase medicine during different time periods.
“People get an understanding of you didn’t go to the grocery store or the pharmacy and have these modern drugs. You basically had morphine and cocaine,” Johnson said.
Sarah Ziker arranges wooden carvings of birds by artist Thelma Cassanova for a new display. (David Minton/Staff Photographer)
In the history wing, the museum will also showcase wood bird carvings from local artist Thelma Casanova. They have never been on display before inside the museum.
A cave built out of concrete and steel will soon become part of the museum, but it is a work in progress. It is expected to be completed next summer.
“We started it last year. This year, we are adding at least one level of flooring and possibly another level of flooring. It brings it in line with the image that we have on the side of the wall of the cave on the creek,” Johnson said. “Cave Creek was named for the cave on the creek. So, it’s a big undertaking and a big part of our history.
Johnson said the actual cave that inspired this structure is more of an outcropping now because of washouts and collapses, but it is an important part of the area’s history. Part of this history was an 1873 ambush and massacre of an Apache camp, led by a unit of the 5th Cavalry.
Along with the new history wing, the museum’s archaeological wing has also been updated during the summer break. This update will include a display of stone tools, pottery and other artifacts obtained from the Spur Cross Ranch during 1980s excavations. These items are on loan from Arizona State University.
One wall in the archaeological wing is being developed in collaboration with the Huhugam Ki Museum and highlights the history and culture of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. One of the main features of the archaeological wing is the Hohokam house, a life-sized replica of a Hohokam dwelling developed with materials native to the desert.
The archaeology wing also has displays of items obtained during local archaeological digs.
This year when the museum opens, its featured artist will be Beth Zink, known for her paintings of cactuses, flowers and landscapes. Her work will be on display at from October through January.
A returning exhibition that has been changed up this year, the Feast of Rocks mineral display features rocks arranged to look like breakfast, lunch and dinner meals. This display is on loan from the Arizona Mining, Mineral and Natural Resources Education Museum.
“Everything on the table from salt and pepper to the rack of lamb is done in rocks. … All of the minerals are identified as to what species of a rock they are, but they look like real food,” Johnson said.
The museum is also home to the state’s last remaining tuberculosis cabin, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The renovated cabin will be available for view but not for entry when the museum opens in October.
“You had people from the East Coast coming West for treatment. … Tuberculosis treatment is really responsible for one of the population-explosion periods for Arizona,” Johnson said.
The museum is always looking for local volunteers to work with the exhibitions and to help out on special activities in the fall and spring.
Throughout the fall-spring season, the museum will have activities for visitors of different ages. These will include the Arizona Gold Mining Experience on each second Saturday of each month. As part of this series, there will be demonstrations of the museum’s 10-stamp Golden Reef Stamp Mill and Tramway, the state’s only fully operational ore-crushing mill. Guests can also take part in gold-panning activities, learn more about the ore extraction process, and watch blacksmith shop demos.
During its regular season, the museum also hosts Kiwanis Family Days and the Cave Creek Presents adult-themed educational programming.
WHEN: Open October through May 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays; 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Fridays; and 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. the second Saturday of each month
WHERE: 6140 E. Skyline Drive, Cave Creek
COST: $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and students 12 and older, free for
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This summer, staff and volunteers at the Cave Creek Museum have been preparing for the debut of Cave Creek Museum’s new history wing, which will showcase different aspects of Cave Creek/Carefree history from 1863 to present day when the facility reopens this October.
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