Just outside the boundary of Tubac Presidio State Historic Park is a parking lot that serves as parking for the newest type of national park, a national historic trail.
In this case, Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail. When completed, it will be an international endeavor, stretching from Culiacan, Mexico to San Francisco, California, a distance of 1,217 miles. It commemorates the epic journey in 1775 and 1776 of settlers and soldiers from Central Mexico to northern California. About 300 people made the trip, the purpose of which was to establish a presidio, or fort, in San Francisco. It is the famous presidio that still exists today. At the time, San Francisco was at the northern edge of the Spanish empire. It will probably be years before the trail is completed, but currently there is a 4.5 mile stretch of the trail that is open to the public that leads from Tubac Presidio State Historic Park to Tumacacori National Historical Park farther south. I will talk about my visit to Tumacacori in the next edition of this blog. "Tubac" is pronounced "too-bach."
"Tumacacori" is pronounced "tomb-a-cock-a-ree."
I walked a short distance down the Anza Trail and read some informational signs that I was able to see while I was touring the state park. There are 3 signs underneath a covered ramada. They talk about the national trails system, Spanish exploration of southern Arizona and northern Mexico and who Juan Bautista de Anza was. He was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Spanish military. He was the one who would be in charge of the presidio at San Francisco. After reading the signs, I walked a ways down the trail, I think it was about half a mile, until I came to the Santa Cruz River. The walk from Tubac to Tumacacori requires fording the river twice.
Needless to say, a National historic trail is a very long and skinny national park.
Other examples of National Historic trails include:
Old Spanish, from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Los Angeles, California; Santa Fe, from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Independence, Missouri; Pony Express, from St. Joseph, Missouri to San Francisco, California; Oregon, from Kansas City, Missouri to Portland, Oregon; Lewis and Clark, from St. Louis, Missouri to the Pacific Ocean near Astoria, Oregon; Continental Divide from the Mexican border to the Canadian border; Appalachian from northern Georgia to northern Maine; Ice Age in Wisconsin; Mormon Pioneer from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah; Iditarod from Seward to Nome in Alaska;Selma to Montgomery in Alabama, which is a route that Martin Luther King and alot of followers took in the 1960s and Ala Kahakai in Hawai'i, which deals with Polynesian culture. It commemorates the historic landing of Captain Cook on the big island of Hawai'i and the rise of Kamehameha I. There are other trails that I have not mentioned.
Sometime I want to walk the entire 4 1/2 miles from Tubac to Tumacacori. Tumacacori is a fascinating place and I could spend the whole day there. When i drove from Tubac to Tumacacori, I drove down old U.S. Highway 89, the forerunner of Interstate 19. The old highway is now a county maintained road and still in excellent condition. While I was en route, I noticed an ever earlier alignment of old highway 89. It is in a crescent configuration. The north end angles off from the later alignment and is currently blocked off at a bridge over a small creek. It is still in decent condition because it provides access to three houses. South of the bridge, the old road is overgrown with weeds the entire distance. There are small sections of asphalt still visible. I walked this portion of the road, about 150 yards, and walked across the old bridge. It is one of those old style bridges that have silver trestle work above the roadway. I like those old bridges, they have alot of character.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The Mission Trail, part 3
Part of the Tubac Presidio still stands--underground!! The 13 acre state park is dominated by a large mound in the center of the park. This mound is the melted adobe walls of the presidio. However, there are some stairs that lead down into the mound to an underground exhibit. The lower parts of the presidio's walls, plus the foundation and floor are on display. The ruined walls are protected behind glass partitions. There are some interesting items inside the walls, such as pieces of pottery and even some chicken bones. It has been speculated that the chicken bones are the remains of a construction worker's lunch. The lower parts of the presidio's walls were uncovered in an archaeological dig in 1976. Above ground, there are some ruined adobe walls surrounding the edge of the mound and some wall outlines barely protruding above the ground.
Next to the Visitors Center is a one room schoolhouse that dates from 1885, after the presidio was abandoned. Some of the wooden desks inside are originals, some are recreated. The chalkboards on the walls are originals. There are six of them, one for each grade. Behind the teacher's desk is a stage where school productions were put on.
On the east side of the state park, across the mound from the school, is a long, narrow house that I believe was the presidio commandant's house. Now it is a fascinating museum that has a wide variety of displays ranging from women's dresses from the 1700s and 1800s, Spanish military uniforms and weapons from the same era, antique household appliances and knickknacks, antique mining equipment and exhibits about Spanish missionary and civilian life plus American civilian life from the same time frame. There are also displays about Pima, Apache and Tohono O'odham
Indians. The museum also has a room that is furnished like a newspaper office from the 1800s and it has all kinds of newspaper equipment from that era, including the printing press from 1859 that Charles Poston used to start Arizona's first newspaper. Outside the house is an arrastra, which is a horizontal, wheel-like device that was used in mining operations to crush rock. A mule would be tied to the arrastra and walk around in a circle repeatedly. This process would crush the rock underneath the arrastra.
On the south side of the park is Otero Hall, which is a Depression-era school that replaced the one room school nearby. It has wooden plank floors on the inside like the older school and consists of three rooms plus bathrooms. Today, these bathrooms serve as visitor bathrooms for the park. Otero Hall is rented out by the state park for things such as family reunions and barbecues.
Just to the east is an adobe house that was bequeathed to the park upon the death of its owners in 2003. It is furnished with household items ranging in date from the early 1900s to modern times. In front of the adobe house is a picnic area. This area was the 3 acre expansion that the park underwent in 2003 when it took possession of the adobe house. The picnic area has alot of trees that look like they have been planted recently.
Burruel Street used to make a 90 degree turn next to the school (Otero Hall) and
dead end in front of the house. Now it is barricaded in front of Otero Hall and, beyond the barricade, I saw the asphalt still in place, but now it is becoming overgrown with grass and weeds. The curbs are still there, too.
Tubac Presidio State Historic Park is a great place for history buffs and it is one of the jewels of Arizona's state park system.
Next to the Visitors Center is a one room schoolhouse that dates from 1885, after the presidio was abandoned. Some of the wooden desks inside are originals, some are recreated. The chalkboards on the walls are originals. There are six of them, one for each grade. Behind the teacher's desk is a stage where school productions were put on.
On the east side of the state park, across the mound from the school, is a long, narrow house that I believe was the presidio commandant's house. Now it is a fascinating museum that has a wide variety of displays ranging from women's dresses from the 1700s and 1800s, Spanish military uniforms and weapons from the same era, antique household appliances and knickknacks, antique mining equipment and exhibits about Spanish missionary and civilian life plus American civilian life from the same time frame. There are also displays about Pima, Apache and Tohono O'odham
Indians. The museum also has a room that is furnished like a newspaper office from the 1800s and it has all kinds of newspaper equipment from that era, including the printing press from 1859 that Charles Poston used to start Arizona's first newspaper. Outside the house is an arrastra, which is a horizontal, wheel-like device that was used in mining operations to crush rock. A mule would be tied to the arrastra and walk around in a circle repeatedly. This process would crush the rock underneath the arrastra.
On the south side of the park is Otero Hall, which is a Depression-era school that replaced the one room school nearby. It has wooden plank floors on the inside like the older school and consists of three rooms plus bathrooms. Today, these bathrooms serve as visitor bathrooms for the park. Otero Hall is rented out by the state park for things such as family reunions and barbecues.
Just to the east is an adobe house that was bequeathed to the park upon the death of its owners in 2003. It is furnished with household items ranging in date from the early 1900s to modern times. In front of the adobe house is a picnic area. This area was the 3 acre expansion that the park underwent in 2003 when it took possession of the adobe house. The picnic area has alot of trees that look like they have been planted recently.
Burruel Street used to make a 90 degree turn next to the school (Otero Hall) and
dead end in front of the house. Now it is barricaded in front of Otero Hall and, beyond the barricade, I saw the asphalt still in place, but now it is becoming overgrown with grass and weeds. The curbs are still there, too.
Tubac Presidio State Historic Park is a great place for history buffs and it is one of the jewels of Arizona's state park system.
The Mission Trail, part 2
Shortly before I entered Santa Cruz County, in the town of Arivaca Junction, is a store where customers enter the store through a giant cow skull, fake of course.
Five miles south of Arivaca Junction is the town of Tubac (pronounced too-bach).
In the past few years the population has jumped from 925 to 2,428 with the opening of a new housing development on the south side of town. All of the houses are finished in stucco, which resembles adobe. So now the majority of the town's residences consist of Pueblo-style architecture lining streets with Spanish names. Sounds like New Mexico, particularly Santa or Taos. Tubac has alot of artists, writers and retirees living in town, but it is becoming more and more of a bedroom community for Tucson. Tubac is the oldest Eurupean-settled town in Arizona. That is, it is the oldest town in Arizona that is not located on an Indian Reservation. It was settled by the Spanish in 1691. Tubac was established as a mission farm and ranch after the Tumacacori Mission was established 4 1/2 miles to the south. This area was part of Spain at the time. After a Pueblo Indian revolt in 1751, the Presidio San Ignacio de Tubac was established a year later. It was a fifty-soldier military post and it was meant to protect the residents of Tubac and also the nearby Tumacacori Mission.
The presidio was abandoned and recommissioned several times over the years. In the late 1850s, after this area became part of the United States, Charles Poston moved into the abandoned house of the presidio commandant and established the Sonora Exploring and Mining Company. He also purchased a printing press and, in 1859, started Arizona's first newspaper. In 1860, Tubac was the largest town in Arizona, but due to Apache raids, that distinction did not last. In 1863, a visitor wrote
"Tubac is now a city of ruins and desolation." Today Tubac is a charming, historic town that is on the verge of exploding in population. In the heart of town is a small 13 acre state park, Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, on the site of the
Spanish presidio that was built in 1752. It is the oldest state park in Arizona, having been established in 1957. In fact, Arizona's first three state parks were historic parks--Tubac, Tombstone Courthouse and Yuma Territorial Prison.
This is where I will start the next installment of this blog.
Five miles south of Arivaca Junction is the town of Tubac (pronounced too-bach).
In the past few years the population has jumped from 925 to 2,428 with the opening of a new housing development on the south side of town. All of the houses are finished in stucco, which resembles adobe. So now the majority of the town's residences consist of Pueblo-style architecture lining streets with Spanish names. Sounds like New Mexico, particularly Santa or Taos. Tubac has alot of artists, writers and retirees living in town, but it is becoming more and more of a bedroom community for Tucson. Tubac is the oldest Eurupean-settled town in Arizona. That is, it is the oldest town in Arizona that is not located on an Indian Reservation. It was settled by the Spanish in 1691. Tubac was established as a mission farm and ranch after the Tumacacori Mission was established 4 1/2 miles to the south. This area was part of Spain at the time. After a Pueblo Indian revolt in 1751, the Presidio San Ignacio de Tubac was established a year later. It was a fifty-soldier military post and it was meant to protect the residents of Tubac and also the nearby Tumacacori Mission.
The presidio was abandoned and recommissioned several times over the years. In the late 1850s, after this area became part of the United States, Charles Poston moved into the abandoned house of the presidio commandant and established the Sonora Exploring and Mining Company. He also purchased a printing press and, in 1859, started Arizona's first newspaper. In 1860, Tubac was the largest town in Arizona, but due to Apache raids, that distinction did not last. In 1863, a visitor wrote
"Tubac is now a city of ruins and desolation." Today Tubac is a charming, historic town that is on the verge of exploding in population. In the heart of town is a small 13 acre state park, Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, on the site of the
Spanish presidio that was built in 1752. It is the oldest state park in Arizona, having been established in 1957. In fact, Arizona's first three state parks were historic parks--Tubac, Tombstone Courthouse and Yuma Territorial Prison.
This is where I will start the next installment of this blog.
Monday, February 16, 2009
The Mission Trail
In most states counties are of a manageable size. However, in the west, counties are bigger than they are in the east due to the sparser population. In Arizona and Nevada, most counties are extremely large, larger than in the other western states. Arizona is the 6th largest state in the nation at 113,635 square miles. It trails only Alaska, Texas, California, Montana and New Mexico in size. Pima County (county seat Tucson) is no exception. It covers covers 9,186 square miles. It is roughly 160 miles long from east to west and 70 miles wide from north to south. It is the 14th biggest county in size in the United States. However, the population is highly concentrated in the eastern part of the county in the Tucson metropolitan area. The county has slightly more than one million people, but once you get out of Tucson and its surrounding area, it is very sparsely populated. The west end of the county, west of Ajo, has a population of 0. That area has absolutely no population in an area about 35 miles long and 20 miles wide.There is no evidence that this part of the county ever had any year round residents, not even Indians. Highly concentrated populations like this are typical of the western states and that is the reason for the larger size of the counties in the west. In Arizona there a 2 "normal-sized" counties, Santa Cruz and Greenlee. About 25 miles south of Tucson, I crossed into Santa Cruz County, which is the smallest county in Arizona. It is about 30 miles wide from north to south and 50 miles long from east to west. At 1,238 square miles, it is about the size of many Texas counties and it is apporoximately 300 square miles smaller than my home county in Texas. The county's capital, a.k.a the county seat, is Nogales on the southern edge of the county on the border with Mexico. It is the only county in Arizona that does not have any desert anywhere within its boundaries. The vegetation is mostly walnut trees (Nogales is Spanish for walnuts), oak trees, cottonwood trees and other types of deciduous trees along with alot of thorny plants such as catclaw, prickly pear cactus, tasajillo cactus and acacia trees. There is also a lush grass cover in the county which makes for prime grazing land. The higher elevations have lusher forests of pine, spruce and other high elevation trees. Approximately 70% of the county is part of Coronado National Forest. Santa Cruz County and part of Cochise and Pima Counties are called "Arizona's Brush Country," and remind me alot of South Texas where I grew up, with the exception of the high mountains. The highest point in Santa Cruz County is Mount Wrightson in the Santa Rita Mountains. It is 9,453 feet above sea level. Santa Cruz County, along with neighboring Cochise County, are my 2 favorite counties in Arizona because of their beauty, 4 season climate where the summers are hot, but not too hot and the winters are cold, but not too cold and the fascinating history of these two counties--a wild west and mining history in Cochise County and a Spanish exploration and missionary history in Santa Cruz County. Santa Cruz means "holy cross" in Spanish and the county was named for the Santa Cruz River, its principal stream. This river starts in eastern Santa Cruz County, flows south into Mexico and then turns north and flows back into the United States a short distance east of Nogales. It then flows north and "empties" into the Gila River southwest of Phoenix. The river is about 200 miles long, but shortly after entering Pima County, it dries up and flows only after big thunderstorms, so it doesn't actually empty in to the Gila River anymore, but the dry channels of those 2 rivers do intersect. The river is dry as it goes through Tucson. However, in Santa Cruz County, it is a perennial river that is the lifeblood of its namesake county.
It is with this introduction that I am about to embark on "The Mission Trail," which will describe my travels south of Tucson, a land once called "Pimeria Alta" by Spanish explorers more than 400 years ago.
It is with this introduction that I am about to embark on "The Mission Trail," which will describe my travels south of Tucson, a land once called "Pimeria Alta" by Spanish explorers more than 400 years ago.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tucson
It is 130 miles from Ajo to Tucson with most of the distance being on the
Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation. I have read that if the Tohono o'odham Reservation was its own county, it would be the poorest county in the nation. However, of all the Indian or Native American cultures that I have studied, I find the Tohono O'odham culture to be the fascinating. I like the design of the tribal administration building in Sells.
I spent the next 4 nights in Tucson in a Studio 6 extended stay motel. Studio 6 has studio apartments instead of regular motel rooms. I have been inside one in San Antonio, Texas and that place looks like a condominium complex. This one in Tucson used to be a regular Motel 6 until about 10 years ago, so the apartments aren't as big as the other one I have been in. It still has studio apartments though and it helped me to save alot of money on food by eating at least 1 meal a day in my room.
While I was in Tucson, I did some hiking in the cactus-studded desert of Saguaro National Park. This park has 2 separate sections, one of each side of Tucson, which is a city with 554,496 people. It is Arizona's second largest city. The eastern section of Saguaro National Park, east of the city, is called the Rincon Mountain District. It is the original section of the park. This area was set aside as Saguaro National Monument in 1933. Strangely though, the majority of the Rincon Mountain District is not desert. It climbs up into the Rincon Mountains and the flora changes from cactus desert to high desert grassland to pinon/juniper woodland to a thick forest of ponderosa pine, pinon pine and Douglas fir.The mountain range tops out at 8,666 feet on top of Mica Mountain. The western part of the Rincon Mountain District has a series of interconnecting trails which means a person's hike can be as long or short as they want. One trailhead starts from East Broadway Boulevard which is a lightly traveled road here but, as it works its way west, it keeps growing until it becomes the busiest street in Tucson. The street dead ends about a quarter mile east of the trailhead.
The west unit, or Tucson Mountain District, of Saguaro National Park was set aside in 1964. It is smaller than the east unit. The highest point in the Tucson Mountains is Wasson Peak; 4,687 feet above sea level. The east unit of the park gets more rain than the west unit--it varies from 11 inches per year up to 19 inches inches per year in the east unit as opposed to 7 inches in the west unit. In the east unit, there are fewer saguaro cactuses, but they are bigger and more massive than the ones in the west unit. In the west unit and also in neighboring Tucson Mountain County Park, lies the thickest concentration of saguaros anywhere. There are so many giant cactuses that it actually looks like a forest! I don't know how many cactuses per acre there are, but there are alot of them. It is amazing how many cactuses there are.
I also did some hiking in the west unit and saw petroglyphs (rock carvings) near the Signal Hill picnic area. The most photographed petroglyph is spiral glyph. Maybe it is supposed to represent a sun? With recent additions to enlarge both units of the park, the boundary of the west unit is now only 2 miles from Interstate 10, which is a very busy freeway.
The weather was delightful for hiking and sightseeing. The daytime high tempertatures hovered around 80 degrees with a light breeze while the overnight lows were in the low to mid 40s.
Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation. I have read that if the Tohono o'odham Reservation was its own county, it would be the poorest county in the nation. However, of all the Indian or Native American cultures that I have studied, I find the Tohono O'odham culture to be the fascinating. I like the design of the tribal administration building in Sells.
I spent the next 4 nights in Tucson in a Studio 6 extended stay motel. Studio 6 has studio apartments instead of regular motel rooms. I have been inside one in San Antonio, Texas and that place looks like a condominium complex. This one in Tucson used to be a regular Motel 6 until about 10 years ago, so the apartments aren't as big as the other one I have been in. It still has studio apartments though and it helped me to save alot of money on food by eating at least 1 meal a day in my room.
While I was in Tucson, I did some hiking in the cactus-studded desert of Saguaro National Park. This park has 2 separate sections, one of each side of Tucson, which is a city with 554,496 people. It is Arizona's second largest city. The eastern section of Saguaro National Park, east of the city, is called the Rincon Mountain District. It is the original section of the park. This area was set aside as Saguaro National Monument in 1933. Strangely though, the majority of the Rincon Mountain District is not desert. It climbs up into the Rincon Mountains and the flora changes from cactus desert to high desert grassland to pinon/juniper woodland to a thick forest of ponderosa pine, pinon pine and Douglas fir.The mountain range tops out at 8,666 feet on top of Mica Mountain. The western part of the Rincon Mountain District has a series of interconnecting trails which means a person's hike can be as long or short as they want. One trailhead starts from East Broadway Boulevard which is a lightly traveled road here but, as it works its way west, it keeps growing until it becomes the busiest street in Tucson. The street dead ends about a quarter mile east of the trailhead.
The west unit, or Tucson Mountain District, of Saguaro National Park was set aside in 1964. It is smaller than the east unit. The highest point in the Tucson Mountains is Wasson Peak; 4,687 feet above sea level. The east unit of the park gets more rain than the west unit--it varies from 11 inches per year up to 19 inches inches per year in the east unit as opposed to 7 inches in the west unit. In the east unit, there are fewer saguaro cactuses, but they are bigger and more massive than the ones in the west unit. In the west unit and also in neighboring Tucson Mountain County Park, lies the thickest concentration of saguaros anywhere. There are so many giant cactuses that it actually looks like a forest! I don't know how many cactuses per acre there are, but there are alot of them. It is amazing how many cactuses there are.
I also did some hiking in the west unit and saw petroglyphs (rock carvings) near the Signal Hill picnic area. The most photographed petroglyph is spiral glyph. Maybe it is supposed to represent a sun? With recent additions to enlarge both units of the park, the boundary of the west unit is now only 2 miles from Interstate 10, which is a very busy freeway.
The weather was delightful for hiking and sightseeing. The daytime high tempertatures hovered around 80 degrees with a light breeze while the overnight lows were in the low to mid 40s.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
the journey continues
I spent the night on the north end of Ajo at the La Siesta Motel. From the highway, the motel doesn't look very impressive. It is a long, narrow building with about a dozen rooms fronting a dirt parking lot. However, I got a room behind the motel. The motel also rents out some log cabins at the back of the property. There are about 20 cabins. To get to my cabin, I had to drive behind the motel on a dirt road. Then the dirt road dips down between a small grove of trees and widens into a parking lot. My cabin was on the end. I parked next to a dry wash (a dry streambed) and crossed a wooden footbridge over the wash to get to my cabin. About 30 yards to the south of my cabin, an artificial waterfall has been created in the wash with flat river rocks stacked on top of each other. The water that falls over the rocks is recirculated. There is a canopy over the waterfall and a picnic area on either side of the wash.
Ajo is located in a small area of land that is bordered by the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge on the west, the Barry Goldwater Air Force Gunnery Range on the north, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on the south and the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation on the east. This area is about 20 miles long and varies in width from 8 to 20 miles.
To the south of Ajo is Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The boundaries of this 516 square mile park where drawn to include most of the organ pipes that grow in Arizona, but they do grow as far north as Ajo. They grow on the hillsides on the outer edges of town. The organ pipe, also called sweet pitahaya, is related to the more famous saguaro cactus, but instead of branching out high up on a central trunk, the organ pipe branches out at the base of the cactus and the branches rise up gracefully to heights that sometimes reach 20 feet. This cactus mostly grows in Mexico, where it is plentiful. The ones that grow in Arizona are at the northern limit of their range, but they are expanding their range because specimens have been been found recently in other places such as the Tortolita Mountains north of Tucson and the Picacho Mountains between Tucson and Phoenix.
The next morning I ate breakfast at a small cafe where I has eaten in the past. It only has seating space for about 20 people, but the food is really good. The small parking lot was full, so I parked across the street behind an abandoned building, one of the scars left over from the turbulent days of the 1980s.
After I left Ajo, I headed east across the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation. The first word in this name is phonetic, it is pronounced the way it looks. The second is pronounced "au-autumn." It is the second biggest Indian Reservation in Arizona. It covers about 3 million acres. The capital of the reservation and biggest town is Sells, which has 5,106 people. No other town on the reservation has more than 400 people. With the exception of Sells, the towns are of roughly equal size, which seems kind of strange. Many of the towns names on the reservation are unpronounceable to most people. Here is a sampling of the town names on the reservation: Hotason Vo, Chukut Kuk, Tatkum Vo, Ali Ak Chin, Gu Chuapo, Hoi Oidak,
Wahak Hotrontk, Tatk Kam Vo, Pia Oik, Sikul Himatke, Gurli Put Vo, Chutum Vaya,
Kui Tatk, Chuwut Murk, Kupk, Siovi Shuatak, Totopitk, Vaiva Vo, Kots Kug and
Ali Chukson, to name a few. Ali Chukson means "Little Tucson" in the Tohono O'odham language. The reservation consists of 4 parts. There is the huge main section of it. There are also 3 small, widely separated sections. They are the Gila Bend District near Gila Bend, the Florence District near Florence and the San Xavier District just outside of Tucson. The San Xavier District is where most of the economy is, such as 2 casinos. It is also where the main tourist attraction on the reservation is--Mission San Xavier del Bac, which is an old Spanish mission.
The Tohono O'odham are a very traditional tribe. Most of the houses have a cooking area that is separated from the main house. They are known for making wine and jam from the fruits of the saguaro cactus. The word "O'odham" means both 'people' and 'cactus' in their language. They believe that the saguaro cactuses are their ancestors.
Another big source of income for the tribe is lease money for Kitt Peak National Observatory on the east side of the main reservation. The astronomical observatory is on top of a 6,875 foot mountain.
Marking the eastern border of the main reservation is Baboquivari Peak, 7,734 feet above sea level. It is half on the reservation, half off, much to the chagrin of the tribe because that is supposed to be where their god, I'itoi, lives. Baboquivari Peak has a very distinctive shape and can be seen for miles. It can even be seen from
Tucson over 30 miles away. The name is pronounced "bah-bow-key-va-ree." The tribe also has land in Mexico. The reservation on the American side extends to the border.
Ajo is located in a small area of land that is bordered by the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge on the west, the Barry Goldwater Air Force Gunnery Range on the north, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on the south and the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation on the east. This area is about 20 miles long and varies in width from 8 to 20 miles.
To the south of Ajo is Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The boundaries of this 516 square mile park where drawn to include most of the organ pipes that grow in Arizona, but they do grow as far north as Ajo. They grow on the hillsides on the outer edges of town. The organ pipe, also called sweet pitahaya, is related to the more famous saguaro cactus, but instead of branching out high up on a central trunk, the organ pipe branches out at the base of the cactus and the branches rise up gracefully to heights that sometimes reach 20 feet. This cactus mostly grows in Mexico, where it is plentiful. The ones that grow in Arizona are at the northern limit of their range, but they are expanding their range because specimens have been been found recently in other places such as the Tortolita Mountains north of Tucson and the Picacho Mountains between Tucson and Phoenix.
The next morning I ate breakfast at a small cafe where I has eaten in the past. It only has seating space for about 20 people, but the food is really good. The small parking lot was full, so I parked across the street behind an abandoned building, one of the scars left over from the turbulent days of the 1980s.
After I left Ajo, I headed east across the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation. The first word in this name is phonetic, it is pronounced the way it looks. The second is pronounced "au-autumn." It is the second biggest Indian Reservation in Arizona. It covers about 3 million acres. The capital of the reservation and biggest town is Sells, which has 5,106 people. No other town on the reservation has more than 400 people. With the exception of Sells, the towns are of roughly equal size, which seems kind of strange. Many of the towns names on the reservation are unpronounceable to most people. Here is a sampling of the town names on the reservation: Hotason Vo, Chukut Kuk, Tatkum Vo, Ali Ak Chin, Gu Chuapo, Hoi Oidak,
Wahak Hotrontk, Tatk Kam Vo, Pia Oik, Sikul Himatke, Gurli Put Vo, Chutum Vaya,
Kui Tatk, Chuwut Murk, Kupk, Siovi Shuatak, Totopitk, Vaiva Vo, Kots Kug and
Ali Chukson, to name a few. Ali Chukson means "Little Tucson" in the Tohono O'odham language. The reservation consists of 4 parts. There is the huge main section of it. There are also 3 small, widely separated sections. They are the Gila Bend District near Gila Bend, the Florence District near Florence and the San Xavier District just outside of Tucson. The San Xavier District is where most of the economy is, such as 2 casinos. It is also where the main tourist attraction on the reservation is--Mission San Xavier del Bac, which is an old Spanish mission.
The Tohono O'odham are a very traditional tribe. Most of the houses have a cooking area that is separated from the main house. They are known for making wine and jam from the fruits of the saguaro cactus. The word "O'odham" means both 'people' and 'cactus' in their language. They believe that the saguaro cactuses are their ancestors.
Another big source of income for the tribe is lease money for Kitt Peak National Observatory on the east side of the main reservation. The astronomical observatory is on top of a 6,875 foot mountain.
Marking the eastern border of the main reservation is Baboquivari Peak, 7,734 feet above sea level. It is half on the reservation, half off, much to the chagrin of the tribe because that is supposed to be where their god, I'itoi, lives. Baboquivari Peak has a very distinctive shape and can be seen for miles. It can even be seen from
Tucson over 30 miles away. The name is pronounced "bah-bow-key-va-ree." The tribe also has land in Mexico. The reservation on the American side extends to the border.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
to the hinterlands
On my recent vacation, which started January 14th after I got off of work at 2:30 in the afternoon, I went to Phoenix and spent 2 nights there. The next stop on my itinerary was Ajo. Ajo is Spanish for "garlic" and it is located in western Pima County 40 miles from the border with Mexico. Ajo is a very isolated town that currently has 5,213 people. There is only one highway through town, State Highway 85. There is one other paved road that leads out of town, Ajo Well Road, but it is 5 miles long and meets up with highway 85 on both ends, The only other road out of town, Darby Well Road, is a rough, dirt road that leads to the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and then dead-ends a few miles after it enters the refuge.
Ajo was once a company town. It was owned by Phelps-Dodge until 1988. That is when the huge pit closed and all the mining operations shut down. As a result, the population plummeted from about 8,000 to about 2,500. Since then, the population has rebounded partially to 5,213. The mine has partially reopened, but it is nowhere near the size that it once was. Ajo still shows the scars from its depopulation of the late 80s, The most visible scar is the big, abandoned hospital on top of a hill on the south side of town near the pit. It looks rather haunting. I got some pretty good looks at the hospital, but I wish I could have gotten a closer look. The street that leads up the hill on both sides of the old hospital is closed to traffic. There is a gate across the street and it is posted against trespassing. I did drive up to the gate on both sides and saw a forlorn scene. This old hospital is 2 stories tall and now it looks pretty sad, and it is a nice looking building. What makes look even more forlorn is the shin-high to knee-high grass growing up through the cracks in the pavement in the parking lot. There are some windows broken out, adding to the scene of desolation.
Ajo's downtown plaza is very attractive. It has Spanish colonial architecture with alot of arches. There is a big, grassy park in the center with alot of palm trees. After Ajo's depopulation, most of the businesses on the plaza were abandoned, but the plaza has recovered. The town library occupies what was once 2 separate stores on the south side of the plaza. The wall between the stores has doorways cut into it to connect the 2 sections. The library has an entry door and an exit door. These doors used to provide access to separate stores.
Alot of the streets in Ajo have Spanish names. For example: Cunada Street, Tecolote Street, Taladro Street, Pizal Street, Perro de Nieve Street, Telera Street, Malacate Street, Montecito Street, La Mina Avenue, Rocalla Avenue, Morondo Avenue, Fundicion Street, to name a few. What is strange about the downtown area is its location. It is not in the middle of town. It is in the southeast corner, barely inside the city limits. The town spreads mostly north and west from the plaza. La Mina Avenue (The Mine Avenue), runs diagonally from the south side of the plaza to the the former mine entrance. There are several other streets that converge on the plaza, like the spokes of a wheel, but only from 3 sides. On the east side, beyond the little-used railroad tracks, is the high school/middle school combination. Across Ajo Well Road from the school is a fence paralleling the street and that fenct marks the city limits of Ajo. The city limits is also just south of the school, a short distance south of the intersection of Ajo Well Road and East Elota Street (highway 85).
I spent the night in a charming motel on the north side of town. I will go into details in the next edition of this blog.
Ajo was once a company town. It was owned by Phelps-Dodge until 1988. That is when the huge pit closed and all the mining operations shut down. As a result, the population plummeted from about 8,000 to about 2,500. Since then, the population has rebounded partially to 5,213. The mine has partially reopened, but it is nowhere near the size that it once was. Ajo still shows the scars from its depopulation of the late 80s, The most visible scar is the big, abandoned hospital on top of a hill on the south side of town near the pit. It looks rather haunting. I got some pretty good looks at the hospital, but I wish I could have gotten a closer look. The street that leads up the hill on both sides of the old hospital is closed to traffic. There is a gate across the street and it is posted against trespassing. I did drive up to the gate on both sides and saw a forlorn scene. This old hospital is 2 stories tall and now it looks pretty sad, and it is a nice looking building. What makes look even more forlorn is the shin-high to knee-high grass growing up through the cracks in the pavement in the parking lot. There are some windows broken out, adding to the scene of desolation.
Ajo's downtown plaza is very attractive. It has Spanish colonial architecture with alot of arches. There is a big, grassy park in the center with alot of palm trees. After Ajo's depopulation, most of the businesses on the plaza were abandoned, but the plaza has recovered. The town library occupies what was once 2 separate stores on the south side of the plaza. The wall between the stores has doorways cut into it to connect the 2 sections. The library has an entry door and an exit door. These doors used to provide access to separate stores.
Alot of the streets in Ajo have Spanish names. For example: Cunada Street, Tecolote Street, Taladro Street, Pizal Street, Perro de Nieve Street, Telera Street, Malacate Street, Montecito Street, La Mina Avenue, Rocalla Avenue, Morondo Avenue, Fundicion Street, to name a few. What is strange about the downtown area is its location. It is not in the middle of town. It is in the southeast corner, barely inside the city limits. The town spreads mostly north and west from the plaza. La Mina Avenue (The Mine Avenue), runs diagonally from the south side of the plaza to the the former mine entrance. There are several other streets that converge on the plaza, like the spokes of a wheel, but only from 3 sides. On the east side, beyond the little-used railroad tracks, is the high school/middle school combination. Across Ajo Well Road from the school is a fence paralleling the street and that fenct marks the city limits of Ajo. The city limits is also just south of the school, a short distance south of the intersection of Ajo Well Road and East Elota Street (highway 85).
I spent the night in a charming motel on the north side of town. I will go into details in the next edition of this blog.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
intro
This is my newest blog, my third blog. I had discovered that I was beginning to rush through my other travel blog, "In My Travels," because I wanted to write about my most recent vacation where I spent time in Arizona and New Mexico and I had been putting a half-hearted effort into my vacation journal that I have been working on since September. I still enjoyed writing about it, but the interest was starting to wane and that is not a good sign for someone who wants to be a writer. The name of this blog, "Free As The Wind," signifies two things. First of all, it signifies the way I feel when I am out on the open road, traveling the highways and byways of this great land, exploring ghost towns, taking the road less traveled and trying to get a firm grasp on what makes this country so great. It also signifies the fact that I can now concentrate on everything that I want to write about and not have to rush through my current projects and, in the process,forget some of the details that I want to talk about now. People often say "Americans have no culture," but I stongly disagree. The best way to see America is to get off the interstates and away from the big cities. Shortly after the interstate highway system opened in the 1950s, someone said (I don't remember his name), "it is now possible to drive from coast to coast without seeing anything." That is so true.
So, in closing, I hope anyone that reads this blog or my other 2 blogs, feels entertained, moved,or just plain happy when they read my words. But don't just read my words, contemplate them, analyze them, think about them. That way you will get a better feel for what I am trying to parlay in my blogs.
So, in closing, I hope anyone that reads this blog or my other 2 blogs, feels entertained, moved,or just plain happy when they read my words. But don't just read my words, contemplate them, analyze them, think about them. That way you will get a better feel for what I am trying to parlay in my blogs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)