Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

By Peggy Pickering Larson and William Ascarza

Since 1952, Bill Carr and Arthur Pack, the founders of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, have inspired visitors to live in harmony with the natural world by fostering love, appreciation, and understanding of the Sonoran Desert. When the museum opened it had only four employees. Today it has more than 100 paid employees, nearly 200 docents, and close to 300 volunteers. About 85 percent of the museum is outside, where visitors can enjoy native and the endangered animals exhibited in award-winning naturalistic habitat enclosures, an innovation in exhibitory developed by the museum. Most visitors spend between two and three hours touring the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, but as the museum continues to grow, it is becoming harder and harder to see it all in such a short amount of time. Visitors should plan to come early and stay late!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781439626535

Peggy Pickering Larson

William Ascarza is the author of the Arcadia publication Tucson Mountains and is also the author of Zenith on the Horizon: An Encyclopedic Look at the Tucson Mountains from A to Z. Peggy Larson is the archivist for the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and author of Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum: A Scrapbook, Deserts of America, and coauthor with Lane Larson of Deserts of the Southwest.

Book preview

Yates.

INTRODUCTION

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is one of the most renowned institutions in the United States. Hosting half a million visitors a year, the Desert Museum has been rated as one of the top 10 museums in the world. Spanning nearly six decades, the museum has fostered respect and appreciation for the wildlife and vegetation of the Sonoran Desert. From its beginnings in 1952, the museum has pioneered the use of naturalistic habitats for its animals and interpreted in great depth just one particular ecosystem—the desert. Over the years, it has evolved into a major, premier institution, the zoo that zoo directors talk about.

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum began as a concept in the mind of New York native William H. Carr. A former director of the Bear Mountain Trailside Museum in New York, Carr arrived in Tucson in 1944. He immediately saw the need to establish a similar museum that would focus on interpreting native desert plants and animals. Needing funding and support for his ambitious vision, he convinced the renowned conservationist and philanthropist Arthur N. Pack to contribute funds from his family’s foundation. Carr also solicited the support of the Pima County Park Committee, whose first chairman, C. B. Brown, was also the founder of Tucson Mountain Park. These connections helped establish the Arizona-Sonora Desert Trailside Museum, amid some local Tucson residents’ opposition to an idea they feared might be equivalent to a roadside snake farm.

A second challenge was to obtain a location for the museum. This was resolved through an agreement between the Pima County supervisors and the museum’s founding fathers. The Tucson Mountain House, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, and its 98 acres of land 12 miles west of Tucson in Tucson Mountain Park met the need, and the county-owned property was leased to the museum. The Arizona-Sonora Desert Trailside Museum opened on Labor Day 1952 to an enthusiastic crowd of Tucsonans who desired to learn more about their local ecosystem. Shortly thereafter, the word trailside was removed from the museum’s title.

Throughout the 1950s, Carr’s vision of a living museum continued to grow with the addition of more staff and exhibits. Both William H. Woodin and Mervin W. Larson, future directors of the museum, served as early staff members. Their talent for innovation and organization proved invaluable to the museum. Additional early staff included Lew Walker, Hal Gras, and Merritt Keasey. A board of trustees was established with members that included naturalist author Joseph Wood Krutch and Roy Chapman Andrews, a renowned paleontologist.

Early interpretations for which the museum was famous included Water Street, which educated visitors on the importance of water conservation in the desert. Other exhibits included the Tunnel, built in 1957 to interpret life underground in the desert, and the amphibian room opened in 1958. A personable early feline resident, George L. Mountainlion, served as a public relations ambassador for the museum. A favorite among visitors, he became the official icon of the museum and also wrote a weekly column (with human assistance) about museum happenings for the local newspaper.

The 1960s continued in the tradition set the previous decade, with new exhibits opening along with increased international acclaim. Animal enclosures became more natural as the museum refined techniques for exhibition. A riparian habitat including a beaver and otter exhibit was initiated in the latter half of the decade. This was followed by the opening of the bighorn sheep exhibit with massive artificial rockwork molded into steep cliffs and rock tanks. Museum personnel were involved in conservation and scientific studies relating to Mexico and were influential in the Mexican government protecting islands in the Gulf of California, beginning with Isla Rasa in 1964. A demonstration desert garden emphasizing practical water usage was implemented in three phases beginning in 1967, helping to promote native plant gardening among the local population.

The 1970s brought about an increase in public education and outreach toward conservation of land and species protection with neighboring Mexico. Museum personnel acted as consultants, establishing an institution similar to the Desert Museum in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, the Centro Ecológico. The docent program was initiated in 1972. The creation of the Cat Canyon exhibit and the Earth Sciences Center were other hallmarks of the 1970s.

An earth history and mining gallery opened in 1981 at the Earth Sciences Center. By the middle of the decade, the Mountain Woodlands Exhibit was built, replacing the previous outmoded exhibits for mountain lions, black bears, Mexican gray wolves, and deer. A new technology called Invisinet was patented by the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum for the purpose of fencing live animal enclosures. A volunteer program apart from the docent program was established during this period.

The 1990s ushered in a new era of exhibits and programs. The hummingbird aviary, desert grasslands, Desert Loop Trail, javelina exhibit, coati exhibit, and pollination gardens were completed. New programs included tortoise adoption, migratory pollinators, and environmental enrichment for museum animals. The establishment of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Press and the Art Institute were additional accomplishments in the 1990s. A new restaurant and gift shop opened during this time.

From 2000 to the present, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum has branched out further with exhibits and programs. The Ancient Arizona Exhibit resulted from the discovery of the sonorasaurus fossil in the Whetstone Mountains south of Tucson. Life on the Rocks opened in 2008, depicting the many animal species that inhabit the rocky slopes of our sky islands or mountain ranges. The Center for Sonoran Desert Studies conducts research into topics including bats, endangered species in the Gulf of California, and invasive species of vegetation, such as bufflegrass. Educational programs such as Raptor Free Flight, Live and (sort of) on the Loose, Running Wild, and Earth Camp have enhanced visitor turnout and education. The development of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Digital Library has established a world-class authoritative file of images and information pertaining to the Sonoran Desert.

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum will undoubtedly remain one of the premier zoos and botanical gardens in the world throughout the