Sometime in 2020, Deborah Bateman and her husband, Tim, left their high-rise apartment in downtown Phoenix for life on the open road. “I fell in love with rural America,” explains Bateman, executive vice president, director of strategic business development at NB|AZ.

But it wasn’t until the beginning of 2022 when they moved to Wickenburg, a small town of about 7,500 people an hour northwest of Phoenix, that “I felt like I was home,” admits Bateman, who, by March, was elected vice chairman of the board of trustees for the Desert Caballeros Western Museum. “I think it is truly the heart of the town.”

It’s not hard to see why. Tucked away in an unassuming building, it lends visitors—who come from as far as Germany and Japan—an authentic taste of what life was like in the Old West.

Founded by members of the Desert Caballeros Trail Ride in 1960 to preserve their heritage, the museum has grown to include three buildings (35,000 square feet in all) with plans for a new structure across the street now being discussed.

Downstairs in the main facility, visitors step into an authentic recreation of life in the Wickenburg of 1910, complete with ranch home interiors, a general store and saloon. Adults and children alike can handle ranch implements of the day, from cookware to agricultural tools. And as an affiliate of the Smithsonian, the museum is also able to borrow materials from that institution, too.

The ground floor provides a more traditional museum experience, including a gallery of Western art. But if you think you know what that means, think again. Take the recent exhibition of 1940s-era photographs taken by Phoenix’s own Barry Goldwater.

“Most recognize him as a [1964] presidential candidate, but few know he got his start as a highly acclaimed photographer,” explains the museum’s Executive Director, Daniel M. Finley. “He went all around the state documenting the landscape and the native peoples of Arizona. The lectures he gave while displaying his photographs gave him the political base to run for U.S. Senate.”

Offering a more diverse look at the Old West is the museum’s Cultural Crossroads Learning Center, which includes art and exhibits covering contributions by Native American tribes and others. Then there are events that range from guest speakers who discuss Arizona history, to guided historical tours of the Sonoran Desert.

Perhaps the museum’s most eagerly anticipated annual event is Cowgirl Up!, sponsored in part by NB|AZ, which showcases female artists whose work explores Western themes. The institution’s largest fundraiser by far—grossing about $800,000 a year, Finley explains—it’s featured artists from as far away as Australia.

“Here’s a town that’s a cowboy town, and a museum that has beautiful, amazing classic Western art, and their biggestevent is honoring 65 women cowgirl artists,” Bateman observes. “It just breathes life into you! And it absolutely endeared Wickenburg to me.”

While the work of male artists has often depicted the more rugged, tempestuous side of the West, the female artists featured in Cowgirl Up!, now in its 18th year, display a “softer side,” she explains. “You’ll also see pictures of cowgirls who were a huge part of the West. The women who came out here made a difference in these towns.”

Bateman herself purchased one of Mesa artist Dyana Hesson’s ultra-vivid paintings, whose work focuses on wildflowers and other botanical themes.

It was a meeting Finley had with Jo’Ann Montana, National Bank of Arizona’s Wickenburg branch manager, about Cowgirl Up! that first brought him and Bateman together in January 2022. Two months later, Bateman was the keynote speaker at the first Western Women of Distinction Luncheon, sponsored by the bank.

It’s Wickenburg’s own close-knit community that has allowed the Desert Caballeros Western Museum to thrive. As Bateman explains, “Yesterday we had a meeting for the museum and one of the trustees said, ‘Come over to my house and we’ll have it over there!’”

Finley, who’s lived in Wickenburg for five years—and served as president and CEO at similar museums in California and Wisconsin in the past—says, “The town itself is very authentic; people support each other. But this one is just so genuine.”