Speakers Bureau

Evelyn Johnson

Steve Greenberg

Stephanie Bradley

Kraig Nelson

Darlene Southern

Thomas McGuire

Cave Creek’s Amazing Mining History

Did you know that Cave Creek is located in the Cave Creek mining district? Learn about our state’s rich and vast mining history and the museum’s Arizona Gold Mining Experience featuring the historic Golden Reef Stamp Mill and Tramway, Arizona’s only fully operational ten-stamp ore crushing mill. What were some of the jobs associated with mining and how did miners police themselves to ensure integrity? Learn how miners prospected in Arizona in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Men of Gold

William B. Heilings and Charles Fleming were among the first gold seekers to explore Continental Mountain – one was a “get rich quick” speculator, the other a man who built a home and a life in Cave Creek. Each, in their own way, was a powerful force in shaping the desert foothills mining era. Find out about this interesting pair and how they impacted Cave Creek’s future.

Ancient Clay Chronicles

What can ancient potteries tell us about the people who lived in the Sonoran Desert hundreds of years ago? How did they create pots? What materials did they use, how did they fire them and did the way they embellish the pots have any meaning? And, why did a civilization that daily lived hand to mouth take time to decorate everyday objects? What can this pottery tell us about trade patterns, the foods they ate, and their cultural and religious traditions?  How do archaeologists differentiate between pottery crafted by the Hohokam, Mogollon, and Sinagua peoples? This presentation shares how a large part of archaeology is through detective work, deduction and conjecture.

The Peopling of America

This presentation covers how the first Native Americans came to North America via the land bridge connecting Russia to North America during the last Ice Age (the Pleistocene).

How the Town of Cave Creek Came to Be & the Characters Who Gave It Life

Cave Creek is known for its character now and if you think it was different years ago…think again. Learn about the character that it took to live here years ago and what makes Cave Creek so special. Learn about the community you live in and love to visit. Cave Creek is known for its character now. On the other hand, you have Carefree with a completely different character, but character none the less. This topic allows for two programs in one presentation.

Armchair Tour of the Jewel of the Creek

The Jewel of the Creek is a treasure trove of geological wonders. Enter through the ghost town site of Liscum to the Maricopa Mine, one of Cave Creek’s two premier gold mines, active from about 1890 to 1910. Pillow forms were made by lava erupting into deep water about 1.7 billion years ago. More recent lava flows cooled, shrank and cracked into hexagonal columns as the hardening lava released water vapor to create Earth’s oceans. Little cubes in hardened volcanic ash show where crystal pyrite (fool’s gold) weathered to rust. Two small, widely separated geological faults occur in the same narrow intrusion of molten rock. All this in a narrow canyon of the creek that has briefly carried floods greater than the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.

Lady Law: The Remarkable Lorna Lockwood

The University of Arizona College of Law’s dean reportedly told law lady, Lorna Lockwood, that “law school is no place for a woman.” Yet Lockwood became the second woman to attend an Arizona law school, the only woman in her law school class, the president of the student bar association and the first woman to graduate from a law school in Arizona. She became the first woman Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court.

The Splendor of Harmony Hollow

Steve (and Lori) Greenberg are longtime Cave Creek residents who love the open spaces and natural beauty of this great community. Upon seeing that the properties at Harmony Hollow Ranch in beautiful Spur Cross were for sale, they were moved to ensure that this incredible resource would be conserved and protected from development. Greenberg and his wife purchased the property and have updated the home and related areas within the 28-acre property to preserve it for all time. He has been active in the Cave Creek Museum and served as a board member.

Black Mountain: A Study in Black & White

This popular presentation features a layman’s understanding of geology in the desert foothills area. If the boulders at The Boulders aren’t really boulders, what are they? Why is Black Mountain black and why do saguaros mostly grow on a western slope? What precious minerals lurk beneath the earth here that compelled prospectors to flock to our region? Every year, Cave Creek Museum offers this geology-based program to standing-room-only audiences.

Do Artifacts Talk?

Learn about an artifact’s history by observing what the artifact actually is telling us. Items can tell a lot if we take the time to examine them. It might be very similar to something that is still being used, and you find that its design or patent is much older. For instance, the neurosurgical headrest patent issued in the 1940s is not all that different from what is used today.

The History & Mystery of Gold Hill

Down on his luck rancher, William Rowe, staked the first claim on Gold Hill in 1874 after he discovered a rich deposit of gold on the little butte north of Cave Creek. When word got out about his fabulous find, many optimistic prospectors swarmed the area, hoping to make their own lucky strike. Soon the area was peppered with claims and rowdy mining camps. Was there more gold in Gold Hill or was Rowe’s successful Lion Mine a one-in-a-million find? How did they extract gold from the hard rock and transport the ore from the isolated spot? And, did Rowe’s fortunes really change? Discover the answers and more.

Cave Creek’s One-of-a-Kind Flora & Fauna

Situated in the amazing Sonoran Desert, the Cave Creek area hosts beautiful and amazing flora and fauna within its perimeters. Find out more about the remarkable adaptations made by local plants and animals that have given rise to our unique surroundings.

From the Source to the Sea

Follow the creek from occasional snow at its source in Yavapai County to the Sea of Cortez. Cave Creek (and its outflow) have natural and human made features that are unique. Three floods through the town in recent decades have carried more water down the creek than water flowing in the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. In north Phoenix, there is a dam within a dam and diversion west into four unnatural drainages to protect central Phoenix from flooding. See how the creek crosses the Central Arizona Project (CAP) Canal without flood water mixing with potable CAP water.

Off the Beaten Path

Tom McGuire confesses that he has a love affair with the American Southwest and its dramatic landscapes and quirky human places. While our cities and national parks are iconic, less known, remote and seldom visited places are even more intriguing. The collision of tectonic plates has created a natural setting of dramatic and beautiful landforms such as colorful geologic structures, slot canyons, the “cracked eggs” and the mysterious moving rocks of Racetrack Playa. The region is dotted with equally unique and quickly cultural places including ghost towns, Salvation Mountain, East Jesus, and the official Center of the World.

Life in the Desert Foothills of Carefree

Before Desert Mountain, the canyon lands surrounding Gold Hill were called Carefree Ranch. What was life like in the hardscrabble landscape shaped by wind, water and time? Grazing for cattle and sheep — desert ranching was and is unique due to a lack of water. What drove men to stake their claim in the Sonoran Desert, rather than at higher altitudes where grass and water were more plentiful? Was it the siren song of the desert or something else?

Arizona’s Water

Arizona has a variety of water sources: surface water, groundwater, Colorado River water. All of them are challenged in the Phoenix-Tucson area. There are legal restrictions on groundwater depletion, however, there is little regulation in other parts of Arizona. Cave Creek’s major source is the Colorado River, but river flow, over-allocated as it is, is also dramatically decreasing. A great volume of protocols, compacts, treaties and court cases have brought us to the crisis we face today. They are conflicting and inadequate. Implementing rational water policy depends upon voters who understand the challenges and will demand solutions.