Between May 6 and May 11, 2019, I
was part of Search and Recovery teams that found the skeletalized remains of 7
people in the Sonoran Desert. Some of them took their last breath on high, lava
rock strewn ridgelines and some in deep, gravelly washes. For all it is safe to
assume that the cause of death was some combination of exposure, exhaustion and
dehydration.
It might be tempting to blame
their deaths on the Desert, but it is not the Desert’s fault. It is we who are
to blame, we have sucked the Desert dry of its water and weaponized it in the
name of the nation state.
During the past 6 months I have grown
to know and love the Sonoran Desert. It is a magical place with majestic
mountains, magnificent plains and an amazing diversity of plants and animals. It
has water sources to support plants, animals and people alike, both natural and
man-made.
The physical geography of the
Desert is known as “Basin and Range.” Long, narrow parallel mountain ranges,
such as the Ajo Mountains, Growler Ridge and Granite Mountains, run
approximately SSE to NNW. The ranges are
dominated by iconic peaks whose distinctive shapes can be seen for miles,
helping to guide desert travelers by day and night. Between the ranges, wide
basins, veined by washes, discernible from the high peaks by the deep green
vegetation growing along their banks, stretch for 20 miles or more.
From the tiny Hedgehog Cactus to
the giant Saguaros, the plants of the Sonoran Desert are an endless source of
fascination and wonder. Despite their ferocious spikes almost all of them offer
something useful to people traveling in the desert.
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| The giant Saguaros have giant personalities. They grow their first "arm" at a minimum of 80 years old. After that their arms grow anytime, anywhere and everywhere. |
The trees, Mesquite, Ironwood and
Chaparral, provide fragrant wood for fires to provide warmth and cook food. The
Sonoran Desert cacti are edible in whole or in part; Prickly Pear Cactus pads,
flowers and fruit can all be eaten raw or grilled; Barrel Cactus, Chain-Fruit
Cholla, Saguaro and Organ Pipe Cactus all bear tasty fruit and flowers. Cacti
fruit in succession, beginning with the Barrel Cactus in winter and closing
with the Saguaro and Organ Pipe in high summer, meaning there are nourishing fruits
available almost year-round. Finally, the sap of the Agave plant can be used to
treat external wounds or taken internally to settle an upset stomach.
The animals of the Sonoran Desert
are equally varied – in some cases more dangerous, and in most cases less
edible. During the heat of the day most animals prefer to stay underground
where it is cooler, but occasionally a jack rabbit will dash across the plain
and disappear into the safety of a growth of Chaparral.
 |
| For the Coyote the Sonoran Desert is a giant banquet hall. It eats everything from kangaroo rats to jack rabbits to rattlesnakes, and even, occasionally, unsupervised small dogs. |
On sunny Spring days,
rattlesnakes bask in the Brittle Brush, warning the unwary who step too close
of their presence with a shake of the tail. As the sun sets, gangs of Javelina
leave the daytime shade of the washes in search of food, and Coyote packs howl
at the moon before beginning their night time hunt. Pack Rats are also active
at night, gathering items to build their middens. They are the archivists of
the Desert, their midden homes are carefully constructed, sometimes over
thousands of years, from items all collected from within 150 feet of their
front doors. These industrious collectors are also collected, as a tasty snack
for Coyotes, Rattlesnakes and Bobcats.
To support such an abundance of
life there must be water. And there is water in the Sonoran Desert, much less
than there used to be before big cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas sucked it
all up to water their lawns and golf courses, fill their swimming pools and
provide showers millions of people daily; but if you know where to look some
water is still there.
Back in the late 1800s there were
many different water sources in the Desert. Firstly, two rivers, the Gila River
and the Sonoyta River flowed year-round. The Sonoyta River supported
communities at the towns of Sonoyta and Santo Domingo providing water for drinking,
crops, cattle and to power mills and arrastras that ground grain and ore
respectively.
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| Quitobaquito Springs. The pools in the spring provide a safe(ish) home for shoals of tiny pupfish. |
In addition, natural springs,
such as QuitoBaquito, popped out of the ground and created small ponds. In its
heyday up to ten springs sprang from the ground at QuitoBaquito, supporting a
vibrant community centered around the Orosco ranch, where melon, fig, date and pomegranate
trees grew. Today, just one spring remains, feeding a pond that is home to a
few ducks, turtles and pupfish; the community and the fruit trees are gone.
The Desert also catches and holds
its rainfall, not only in the gorged trunks of giant saguaros, but also in rock
tanks (tinajas) formed by dormant volcanic craters or giant boulders. These tinajas
hold water long after the rainy season is over. The Tinajas Atlas, roughly half
way between Quitobaquito and Yuma on The Devil’s Highway, consists of a series
of giant water tanks, and has been a life-saver for the unlucky or the
unprepared for thousands of years.
Finally, the people of the
Sonoran Desert tapped into water just below the ground by digging wells to provide water for their cattle, their crops, their mines and themselves. Almost all of the wells are dry now, those few that still provide water are not
potable; they may kill you faster than the desert sun.
The Sonoran Desert is a place of
natural wonder to all who travel in it, it is also rich in cultural history and
stories….but, since I have written, and you have read 940 words, that is for another
blog post…
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