A Prickly Experience
In Horngren, Barbara’s “A Desert in Bloom” she described the Arizona Sonoran desert as “a magical, colorful place.” I cannot agree more to Barbara’s description, living in Arizona for four years was a remarkable lifetime experience for me when I was a child. Arizona is a wonderful place with a large variety of unique species of both animals and plants. In addition, some of the species are only indigenous to the Sonoran desert such as, the saguaro cacti a symbol of the southwest, which also happens to be the Arizona state flower.
Incidentally, my first experience in Arizona was having a run in with a giant prickly man. In addition, this man lived right next to the house we had just moved in after my family moved to Arizona, and he was a perfectly good looking saguaro with his two symmetrical arms. Coupled with, the fact a saguaro is a cacti so of course it has sharp needles on just about every inch of its body. However, the cactus being covered in prickly needles caused me to have some doubts and inner turmoil such as, whether I should touch it or not to touch it,...
Mexican culture is perhaps the largest influence on the state of Arizona, affecting the cuisine of Arizona quite heavily. Mexican food is widely popular in Arizona, meaning that there are plenty of local Mexican restaurants, each giving a unique experience. Mexican culture also has strong ties to the history of Arizona, as it was once territory belonging to Mexico. Mexicans who inhabited the region over a century ago fought with tribes native to the land in order to wrest control from them. However, war erupted with America on April 25, 1846. The war, now known as the Mexican-American War, resulted in the Mexican Cession. The Cession effectively indoctrinated the states of California, Nevada, most of Arizona, and various sections of other current day states. The war’s start can be contributed to many things, one such reason being the acceptance of Texas as a recognized state by the U.S. This created a great deal of tension with Mexico, as Texas was once their territory, until Mexicans and Americans overthrew the governor of the region and appointed their own leader, Samuel Houston. Houston then brought Texas in as a state to the U.S. in order to assuage any aggressive acts by Mexico. However, tensions soon flared when several small incidents along the border of Mexico and Texas lead to the war. Many politicians in the northern states opposed the war, claiming that it was an attempt of the southern slave owners to gain influence in the new territory. While most of the territory of Arizona was obtained by the end of the war, it was the Gadsden Purchase that attained the rest of the state, along with the southwesternmost part of modern day New Mexico. The purchase gets it’s name from the United States ambassador to Mexico, James Gadsden, who signed the treaty approving the purchase of the territory in the year 1853, not all too long after the
Petrified Forest National Park is located in the Painted Desert in northeastern Arizona taking up 93,532.57 acres of its land. Before the national park was established, it was founded as a National Monument on December 8, 1906 when President Theodore Roosevelt signed the proclamation. Years later, the Congress passed a bill and established it as a national park on December 9, 1962. Centuries before Petrified Forest National Park was preserved as a national park, the land was preoccupied by the Paleo people. At the onset of the end of the last Ice Age, hunter-gatherers, people who lived by hunting game and only gathering edible plants, roamed the Southwest from 13,500 to 8000 B.C. Although these people enjoy meals consisting of meat and vegetables, they don’t raise livestock and grow crops. During these years of hunting and gathering, the region was cooler with a grassland environment, and people gathered wild plants for food and hunted bison and other large herd of animals. The types of bison these people hunted are now extinct. Nomads used a device called an atlatl to throw their weapons, such as spears and darts, to hunt. By 4000 B.C., during the archaic culture, the climate had changed and became similar to the one of the present. This period of hunting, gathering, and farming had lasted from 8000 to 500 B.C. In contrast to the time of the Paleo people, the climate was warmer, people extended their access to different types of food, and people began to farm and grow their crops. Due to the extinction of animals of the past, people had to expand their source of food, and they had to include many different species of plants and animals into their meals. Two hundred twenty-five million years ago, trees fell and were washe...
The Cahuilla were a Native Southern Californian tribe that occupied the Riverside County, Higher Palomar Mountain Region and East Colorado Desert. The tribe was divided into two groups or moieties know as Wildcats or Coyotes. The Cahuilla lived in small clans that varied in population, and together all the separate clans made up a larger political group called a sib ”http://www.aguacaliente.org/content/History%20&%20Culture/.” The tribe was at first considered to be very simple and savage because they were never interacted with. As the Europeans and Spanish Missionaries considered the desert an inhospitable place that was better to avoid because of its lack of food resources. Little did those European and Spanish missionaries know that the land was ripe with food, only if you knew the land and the seasons. The Cahuilla were a very interesting tribe that cared and loved their land and in return the land would provide them with an abundance of food and resources. The Cahuilla had a very simple yet intricate life that involved a seasonal migration in order to gain access to different foods. They relied on different ways of acquiring food which involved both hunting and gathering.
In the southwestern United States, above northern Arizona, are three mesas. The mesas create the home for the Hopi Indians. The Hopi have a deeply religious, isolated, tribal culture with a unique history.
As I drive along the roads of Flagstaff, a few things immediately dawn on the mind; it seems like a place that would be used as some sort of cinematic scene in a movie. The air smells as though it would be something from a local garden; scenery that would be portrayed in a painting. The colors are seen as bright and vivid, with all different kinds of hues sprawled across the land for what seems like an infinite plane. Trees fly by at breakneck speeds as I drive by. Trying to focus on one thing seems impossible as all of the landscape speeds by in an instant, just to be replaced by something else. Flagstaff seems as though it is a place that was never intended for an automobile. I grab my bag setting out for my next
The region's wildlife is also unique. In the winter, hoofed animals such as mule deer and bighorn sheep migrate down from the mountains into the warmer valleys. White-tailed deer, cottontails, jackrabbits, badgers and muskrats are seen throughout the seasons.
Mexico is boarded by the United States of America, Belize and Guatemala. Mexico has a very diverse landscape of mountains, plateaus, deserts, tropical jungles, and even beautiful Palm beaches. With its diverse climate, Mexico also has a diverse population of plants. In desert areas, the most common plants that are found include cac...
His expertise may attract an array of readers, both newcomers and old-timers. It seems that his intended audience might be those who share his love of the desert and also those who want to know more. The essay is quasi-organized like an educational brochure or an expert interview with an inveterate desert denizen. An unintended audience of course might include the fledgling environmental activists who were emerging in the 1960s to fight for the protection of wilderness. Because of its focus on natural history, the article and the anthology, Desert Solitaire, in which it was published, might...
Most noticeable would be the shift from speaking ancestral native languages to speaking Spanish. Just as well, Spanish architectural influence can be seen through the gorgeous tiled roofs, proud steeples, and light yellow-orange interiors of their churches and homes. The Spaniards also left an environmental impact, such as the introduction of Spanish horses and other Spanish plant and animal species, which, in turn, sparked the famous “cowboy culture” of the Southwest. This “blended” Spanish and indigenous Mexican culture is commonly known as “Hispanic” or “Latino.” Today, this culture is still very much alive and can be seen all throughout both Arizona and the Southwest as a whole. One can clearly see the cultural impact of both the Mexicans and Spanish, through the architecture, restaurants, traditional foods, and the religious traditions and ceremonies celebrated by Mexican people in the region, such as The Day of the Dead and Cinco de Mayo. Also, there are many Spanish-named streets, towns, cities, and
...breathing and feel the warm air dance across her bloody face. After a long time the eight men and she started walking towards a hill, slowly and quietly, in a single line formation. Behind the hill was the forty-eight state of the United States, Arizona. It was still dark as they climbed up, so they knew they had to be careful with each step they took. As they reached the peak they climbed down under trees and bushes. Taking the first steps on the Desert of Arizona.
Arizona is composed of 1 billion tons of rock. The Grand Canyon stretches 18 miles across and 277 miles long and more then a mile deep. It is so vast that is even seen from space. The river is 1450 miles long and 800 million gallons of water for every hour.
From Fire to Ash: A closer look at "Smoke Signals" and "This Is What It Means to Say Pheonix Arizona"
The Grand Canyon holds many interesting secrets from the past people who have made the canyon their home. The Grand Canyon has kept these secrets for many years through the generations of people who have lived in those areas and the stories that these generations have told younger generations. I find it interesting how people have lived in those areas for so long, they have dealt with the changes of their home. I also find it interesting how the people who lived in these conditions and the items they used to cook and storage items are items that we are finding today. Their items have survived through years of season changes, they may be broken or scattered within an area but they have for the most part stayed intact. The Grand Canyon holds history and stories of the people who lived their lives there, to think that under the sand that has blown and covered these areas was a town or homes to people. The people who lived there had an understanding of the plants and animals of the area they lived; they learned by trial and error that in itself is interesting. They were not afraid of being wrong, they learned from their mistakes. They lived by hunting and living outdoors, as people in our society it seems weird to think of living the way the natives have lived their lives. As stated in the article the natives possessed an understanding of the seasons and the area that they lived in that is beyond our grasp (Coder 2000:6-7). They were interesting people from what they knew to how they lived. I find it interesting how times have dramatically changed, the natives that lived in the Grand Canyon lived with what they could make with their hands, and eat what they could hunt, and they had the necessities whereas we today go to a s...
We were surrounded by old trees and spotted lots of cacti. We would also see a few squirrels here and there. Our trail had a view of the other side of the mountain which was stunning. We
Alexie, Sherman. "This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona." Mandell and Kirszner 274-83.