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.