Texas Canyon & The Amerind Museum

Since our beautiful weather had returned, we decided to take a trip out to Texas Canyon, just east of Benson. 

The canyon is full of these exposed rock pedestals, spires & balanced boulders.  The rock is Quartz Monzonite (Granite) that has been formed by exposure to the elements.

Nestled in the canyon is the Amerind Museum & Art Gallery.  It was founded in 1937 by William Shirley Fulton - whose wife, Ruth, was a breeder of champion Quarter horses!  It is an anthropological and archaeological museum and research center dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Native American cultures and their histories.  The buildings that house the museum and gallery are, themselves, beautiful.  Adobe - in Spanish Colonial Revival style.

The archaeological collection covers Native American cultures from Alaska to South America.  There are beautiful collections of pottery, weavings, clothing - it was very interesting.

The Art Gallery at Amerind had an exhibit of paintings by Western artists including William Leigh and Frederic Remington.  There were also pieces by Native American artists and Spanish & Mexican period furnishings. 

If you ever get to southeastern Arizona, the Amerind is definitely worth seeing!