Curious. What kind is tree is this? What is a good indoor tree for my location. ?

This tree is a juniper.

There are no such thing as good indoor trees. But you can try crassula tree.

I thought juniper were native to southwest us?

There are more than one juniper species. As far as I understand this one needs cold winters. Mine got down below -10 for 6 weeks for a period of 6 weeks last winter. In a climate that never go below 10 I dont think it can be long term healthy. In any case it will need to be outside for best chance of survival.

Well it won't die quite so quick outside. A few dead bits are not a problem, but it is a symptom of poor cultivation and environment.