The Amerind Foundation; a Little Gem in the Wilderness

This looked like a small house on the grounds, perhaps originally built for staff

One of the most exciting things about our recent trip to California was our new-found ability to take side trips. Being relatively new retirees, the concept of unlimited time is difficult for us. We are used to shooting through states to get where we're going, then shooting back. 

We haven't really mastered the idea of relaxed traveling, but we're working on it. On our way home, we stopped at Texas Canyon in the Little Dragoon Mountains of Arizona, and traveled down some little roads through what looked like desert wilderness to me. And then, there we were, turning onto a dusty track that took us through a beautiful old 1930s hacienda that was built by William Shirley Fulton for his family, and which now houses his private collection of Native American art and artifacts for public viewing.

The Amerind Foundation is an "anthropological and archaeological museum and research center dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Native American cultures and their histories." I am quoting from the Foundation's excellent website, where you can read all about the collections and how they came to be. 

It turns out that I am not such a museum person. Once I understood that I wouldn't be taking any photos inside, I found that I was rushing to get back outside to look at the buildings and the setting. Inside there was--History! Culture! Anthropology! Archaeology! Oh, look, best of all--a bird's nest with eggs in it just outside the window!

This was part of the museum. I loved the angles.
The bird's nest that so distracted me inside the museum was cleverly built between that arched window and its protective wrought iron.

Outside, there was an improbably shady and peaceful respite from the surrounding desert. I wanted to figure out how they made it so and take those lessons home to my own little desert adobe house.