Spring at Organ Pipe National Monument

by Lucinda Walter

Title

Spring at Organ Pipe National Monument

Artist

Lucinda Walter

Medium

Photograph - Photography, Digital Art, Fine Art

Description

Photographed at Organ Pipe National Monument, located in extreme southern Arizona and shares a border with the Mexican state of Sonora. It is in the Yuma Desert that shares a part of the Sonoran Desert.

Brittlebush are in bloom in the park. Organ Pipe Cactus stand tall along with the mighty Saguaro Cactus. Photograph was taken at the monument after rains passed through the area.

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Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Citing authority granted to him by the Antiquities Act of 1906, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on April 13, 1937.
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument was created as a way to preserve a representative area of the Sonoran Desert. The new monument was part of a movement in the National Parks to protect not just scenic wonders but also the ecological wonders of the country.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is the site of cultural resources that reflect long, widespread and diverse occupations by American Indian, Mexican, and European groups. The intersection of these three cultures is significant archaeologically, geographically, and internationally. Evidence of these cultures still remains today, and as you explore the monument, one cannot help but imagine what life was like living in the Sonoran Desert.
Organ Pipe Cactus: A Complex Human Story
To the local Native Americans, the land of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument was an important cultural center. Hohokam trade routes bisect what is now the monument, and allowed for ease of movement through the Sonoran Desert as people looked to acquire resources and trade with neighboring cultures. To the O�Odham people, the fruits of saguaro and organ pipe cactus provided food during the hot Sonoran summer.
The early national monument faced many challenges, especially with local miners and ranching families. Mineral mining began in the late 19th century, and was allowed to continue up to 1976. Hiking in the monument you can easily see the mining history in old prospecting holes, tailings, and buildings.

Ranching in the monument began at the beginning of the 20th century, and also continued through the 1970�s.The effects of overgrazing are still seen today. Ranching was done mainly by different generations of the local Gray family. You can visit old ranching sites at Alamo Canyon, Bates Well, and other wells scattered across the monument.

In 1976 The United Nations designated Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument as an International Biosphere Reserve, reconfirming its status as an outstanding example of the Sonoran Desert. Then in 1977, Congress declares 95% of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument as a wilderness area. Come explore the complex human story that is Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
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Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is a U.S. National Monument and UNESCO biosphere reserve located in extreme southern Arizona which shares a border with the Mexican state of Sonora. The park is the only place in the United States where the Organ Pipe Cactus grows wild. Along with Organ Pipe, many other types of cacti, as well as other desert flora native to the Yuma Desert section of the Sonoran Desert region grow here. The Park is a beautiful preservation of the American Southwest.
Land for the graded through the Monument was donated by the Arizona state legislature to the federal government during Prohibition knowing that the north-south road would be improved and make contraband alcohol easier to import from Mexico. In 1937 the land was officially opened as a national monument.[3]
At the north entrance of the park is the city of Why, Arizona; the town of Lukeville, Arizona, sits at the park's southern border. Lukeville is a border crossing point to Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico.
On August 9, 2002, Ranger Kris Eggle was shot and killed by a suspected Mexican drug smuggler during a US Border Patrol operation. The visitor center has been named in his honor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_Pipe_Cactus_National_Monument

Uploaded

March 7th, 2014

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