25 December 07

Added some pictures from the back yard, I've been kicking around the mountains of Arizona my whole life. Figured I'd start sharing some photos of places I've been. Bloody Basin got it's name from so many fights between the Whites and the Indians. You could see from photos why both side were willing to die to control it. Here in Arizona water flowing is rare, most water flows under ground. Our terrain is so up and down and the mountain are relatively new, the water in the canyons just goes underground. Only about one third of the state is flat desert, the rest is pretty much mountains and valleys. There's an old saying about Arizona, has anybody ever seen it all. It's just so rugged, their are so many different little canyons, each one it's own piece of paradise. It can be hotter than hell out in the summer when your out in the desert, but get down in a little wash and that all changes. Their use to be so much more running water, but the cattlemen have dammed up all the little washes and stopped that. The cattle are hell on the terrain, the desert is so fragile, the cattlemen have changed the desert environment. They cause so much erosion of the soil, first by eating the grasses, then trampling down the other vegetation. Another reason not to eat cows. The land thats used for their ranches is BLM lands, which means, it belong to everyone. The cattlemen claim their good stewards of the land but thats just a lie. They fence it off, put gates up that are illegal, use up the surface and ground water. Peabody Coal Company up on the "Hopi" rez, has done the exact same thing. Sucking up all the underground water, thus sucking up the surface water also. When it rain the water just goes straight down through the soil. Environmental groups have bought up large sections of old cattle ranchs to help fight this problem. Within "Time" all the cattle will just be in feed lots, standing around and being fed Chemicals. Ranching in Arizona use to be big buisness, now it's dieing a hard death, barely hanging on. What once was range land, is becoming retirement communities. The cattlemen of the old days are coming to an end, here in Arizona their just hanging on to the past days of glory. bye