Lon Megargee, renowned cowboy artist and original owner and builder of The Hermosa Inn, lived his colorful life to the fullest. Among his stints as acowpuncher, bronco buster, exhibition roper, poker dealer, fireman and captain of the night police, art was where he found his passion. Around 1913, Megargee was commissioned by Arizona's first governor, George W.P. Hunt, to create 15 murals for the state capitol building celebrating Arizona's first active government.
While living at Casa Hermosa in the 1930s, now known as The Hermosa Inn, Megargee painted three additional murals for the Phoenix library as part of the Work Project Administration under President Roosevelt. These strikingly colorful murals are of three life-size male figures: an American Indian, a priest, and a farmer, with different aspects of their lives illustrated in the background. In 1939, Megargee's paintings first appeared in Arizona Highways magazine. As a regular contributor, he was being dubbed the Zane Grey of cowboy artists. In the 1940s, Megargee was commissioned to create four paintings for the A-1 Brewing Company, two of which were to become his most famous: "Black Bart" and "A Cowboy's Dream." The latter is on display at The Hermosa Inn. Megargee is also famous for his painting of the cowboy and his horse, which appears inside every authentic Stetson cowboy hat.
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| patio |
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| original house |
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| Mesquite Tree |
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| view from room, Saddleback Mtn. |
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| Dining Room |
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| Peruvianus Cereus |
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| Peruvianus Cereus Apple |
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| Rattlesnake handrail |
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| Mesquite Grill |
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| Desert Fern (oldest in Arizona) |
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| Prickly Pear Cactus |
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