Heritage Garden at Steam Pump Ranch
Who says nothing grows in the desert! Thank you Joyce and Camilla for your green thumbs and tending to the Heritage Garden and all its activities! Be sure you don’t miss the next Second Saturday at Steam Pump Ranch…a great place for family fun and learning!
Join your neighbors and mosey over to Steam Pump Ranch for Second Saturday activities on Saturday, February 9 from 9am to 1pm. There’s the Heirloom Farmers Market with lots of produce coming into season, demonstrations by Archaeology SW and crafts for kids in the Heritage Garden and tours of the Pusch Ranch House (PRH). Be sure to stop by the PRH and see the history display regarding the Tully-Ochoa Wagon attack. Did you know it happened right here in our neck of the desert? Docents will also take you on a tour of the PRH and provide local history. Interested in joining OVHS or learning more about us? Then visit our tent and let us fill you in. Our Volunteers Are Worth Their Weight in Oro!
Historic Steam Pump Ranch
Local historian, Bob Simpson, will give a talk on Friday, Feb. 8 at the Oro Valley Public Library at 2:00 p.m. focusing on the Sutherland family of Oro Valley. The family lived in Catalina State Park. The Sutherland Wash and Sutherland Trail were named after them. Who knows perhaps a surprise namesake guest or two might attend the lecture.
Bob Simpson is a retired Foreign Service Officer and is publishing a two-volume history of the area from Catalina State Park to the Biosphere.
Interested in becoming part of OVHS? Be sure to talk to one of our members at the event. Though the event is free, we appreciate donations to OVHS to continue our work for the community!
At the base of the Santa Catalinas in Catalina State Park
Be sure to stop by the Oro Valley Public Library to see the new display on the history of the blacksmith shop and Pump House located at Steam Pump Ranch. Then visit Steam Pump Ranch on Second Saturdays. February 9 there will be plenty going on! Tours of the Pusch Ranch House featuring a display of the history of the Tully-Ochoa wagon attack, the Heirloom Farmers Market, music by Amber Norgaard, and demonstrations and children’s crafts in the Heritage Garden.
Hope you didn’t miss the exhibit at Pusch Ranch House (Steam Pump Ranch, Oro Valley) detailing the Tully-Ochoa Wagon attack along the Canada del Oro.
Thank you to Peg O’Connell for researching and coordinating the display.
Remember the Pusch Ranch House is open for tours with exhibits from 9 to noon every Second Saturday through April. Stop by to check out our local history!
If you have a love of local history, become a member of Oro Valley Historical Society. Contact Carol Bull: carolpfc@icloud.com. We hope you’ll join us!
Take a relaxing break from the holiday hubbub and join the OVHS for a presentation by Gayle Hartmann! Gayle will speak on the topic of “Recapturing Our Spanish Past” with a focus on the history of the Tucson Presidio. Find out more about the unique history of our city and the preservation of this historic gem. Gayle has spent the last 35 years working in a variety of archeological arenas throughout southern Arizona.
The discussion will take place at the Oro Valley Public Library at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 5. This talk is free and open to the public. Donations to OVHS are appreciated.