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OCCASIONAL  PAPERS 


OF  THE 


California  Academy  of  Sciences 


No.  47,  43  pages,  24  figures,  frontispiece. 


August  28,  1964. 


THE  PINACATE  REGION, 
SONORA,  MEXICO 


By 
Ronald  L.  Ives 


Marine  Biological 

L_  i  B  &  A  R  Y 

SEP  1  41964 


WOODS  HOLE,  MAS 


SAN  FRANCISCO 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  ACADEMY 
1964 


Two  deposits  of  tuff  breccia  on  the  north  face  of  the  main  Pinacate  Peaks,  above 
Tinaja    de    Carlina.     These    probably   represent  two   discrete   sequences    of  eruptions. 


Cholla  cactus  growing  through  pumice  veneer  on  a  lake  bed  near  Batamote.  Sub- 
soil here  is  bentonitic  clay,  resting  on  substantially  unaltered  volcanic  ash,  apparently 
coextensive  with  that  forming  the  low  ridge  in  middle  distance. 


OCCASIONAL  PAPERS 

OF   THE 

CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

No.  47,  43  pages,  24  figures,  frontispiece.  August  28,   1964 


THE  PINACATE  REGION, 
SONORA,  MEXICO 

By 
Ronald  L.  Ives 


Introduction 

Since  its  discovery  by  Eusebio  Francisco  Kino,  S.J.,  on  October  9,1698 
(Bolton,  1948,  vol.  1,  pp.  187,  229),  the  Mexican  Sierra  de  Santa  Clara,  known 
for  the  last  century  as  the  Pinacate  Region,  has  been  a  land  of  mystery,  and 
the  source  of  many  fantastic  stories  dealing  with  natural  wonders,  lost  mis- 
sions, ancient  cultures,  and  incredible  hardships.  Some  of  these  stories  are 
true. 

Historical  studies,  made  possible  by  Bolton's  (1919,  1936)  discovery  of 
the  Kino  diaries,  and  Burrus'  (1954,  1961)  augmentation  of  them,  show  incon- 
trovertible' that  Pinacate  was  identified  as  an  extinct  volcano  in  1701  (Bolton, 
1936,  p.  283),  and  was  probably  the  first  specifically  so  identified  in  North 
America  (Ives,  1942).  From  the  summit  of  Pinacate,  also,  in  1706,  Father 
Kino  showed  a  group  of  official  witnesses  the  place  in  the  northwest  "where 
the  sea  ends"  (Bolton,  1919,  vol.  2,  p.  206),  clearly  demonstrating  the  penin- 
sularity  of  California,  previously  believed,  by  many  geographers,  to  be  "the 
largest  island  in  the  world." 

A  similar  view,  from  a  somewhat  higher  vantage  point,  shows  not  only 
where  the  sea  ends,  but  also  the  relation  of  Pinacate  to  major  land  and  sea 
features  of  the  southwestern  United  States  and  northwestern  Mexico  (fig.  1). 
Kino's  most  famous  map,  the  "Passo  porTierra  a  la  California,"  locates  most 
points  in  the  eastern  part  of  this  view  by  celestial  navigation  (Bolton,  1936, 
p.  400;  Ives,  1960). 


CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


(Occ.  Papers 


1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 

I    '    '    '    '    I    '    '    '    '    I    '    '    '    '    I    '    '    '    '    I    '    '    '    '    I    '    '    '    i    I    i    '    i    i    I    i    i    i    '    I    i    i    i    i    I    '    i    i    '    I    '    '    i    i    I    i    i    i    i    I    i    i    i    i    I    i    i    i    i    I 


-  E 


i    i    i    i    I    i    i   i    i    I   i    i 


I      I      I    T-^-I- 


I      M      l     l      l      I     l     l      l      l      I     I      I     I      I- 


I     '      '      '     '     I 


Figure  1.  Official  U.S.  Navy  photograph  of  the  lands  about  the  head  of  the  Gulf 
of  California,  taken  from  a  Viking  II  rocket  at  an  altitude  of  143-4  miles.  Note  curva- 
ture of  cloud  horizon.  To  locate  a  designated  point  on  this  figure,  connect  the  numer- 
ical designations  for  the  point,  at  left  and  right  of  the  figure,  with  a  straightedge. 
Do  likewise  with  the  letter  designations  at  top  and  bottom.  The  designated  point 
will  be  at  the  intersection  of  the  two  straightedges.  Noteworthy  geographic  locations 
are  positioned  as  follows.: 


Mouth  of  Colorado   River 
Colorado   Delta  (apices) 


Gulf  of  California  (limits) 

Salton  Sea  (center) 
Gila   River 


3-7:B.8 

6.0:B.6 
5-8:C.l 
4-4:B.9 

1.0:B.O 
3.7:B.8 
1.0:B.8 
7.2:C0 

8.0:A.O 
to    6-0:B.6 


Colorado  River 

California  Mountains 

Punta  Peiiasco 

Mouth  of  Sonoyta  River 

Adair  Bay  (center) 
Bahia  de  Lopez-Collada 


8.0-.B.4 
to     3.7:B.8 

1.0:C.O 
to     8.0:C3 

2.5:B.3 

2.1:B.l 

3.0:B.4 


No.  47)  IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION  3 

After  Kino's  death,  at  Magdalena,  Sonora,  on  March  15,  1711,  his  volum- 
inous diaries,  notes,  and  maps  were  filed  away  in  the  archives  of  Mexico, 
Spain,  and  Rome,  where  they  remained  unread  and  unstudied  for  more  than  two 
centuries. 

About  three  quarters  of  a  century  ago,  Ygnacio  S.  Bonillas,  a  mining 
engineer  of  Nogales,  Sonora,  made  several  visits  to  the  Pinacate  region,  ap- 
parently discovering  many  of  the  great  calderas  for  which  the  region  has  since 
become  famous.  The  Bonillas  notes  have  not  been  located,  but  he  communi- 
cated many  of  his  findings  verbally  to  Jefferson  Davis  Milton,  a  frontier  peace- 
officer.  Colonel  Milton,  in  turn,  passed  this  information  along  to  Godfrey 
Sykes,  geographer  of  the  MacDougal-Hornaday  Expedition  to  Pinacate  in  1907, 
and  much  of  the  information  was  incorporated  in  Sykes' maps  (Hornaday,  1908, 
pp.  22,  110).  A  detailed  study  of  labradorite  from  Pinacate  was  published  by 
Ygnacio  S.  Bonillas,  Jr.  (1910). 

Extensive  field  studies  in  northwestern  Sonora,  in  1909-10,  by  Carl 
Lumholtz,  produced  a  book,  New  Trails  in  Mexico  (1912),  which  has  become 
the  authoritative  work  for  all  parts  of  Sonora  west  of  Nogales  and  north  of  the 
Rio  de  la  Concepcion.  For  his  field  companion  during  much  of  this  work,  Lum- 
holtz chose  Alberto  Celaya,  a  young  Mexican  from  Sonoyta.  This  was  a  most 
fortunate  choice,  for  during  the  ensuing  half  century,  Don  Alberto,  the  trusted 
informant  and  beloved  friend  of  many  scientists,  has  added  greatly  to  our  knowl- 
edge of  this  arid  region  (Ives,  1959a). 

The  account  of  a  Mexican  expedition  to  the  Pinacates  in  1925  (Esquer, 
1926)  contains  some  interesting  geographical  information,  and  a  compendium 
of  regional  folklore. 

The  Pinacate  Region  has  also  served  as  the  locale  for  at  least  three 
novels:  Desert  Gold  (Grey,  1915);  Dust  of  the  Desert  (Ritchie,  1922);  and  The 
Devil's  Highway  (Wright  and  Lebar,  1932). 

The  burned  out  appearance  of  the  Pinacate  Region  evokes  theological 
contemplations  in  most  visitors,  both  ancient  and  modern.  One  of  the  first, 
Juan  Maria  Salvatierra,  S.J.,  likened  the  lava  deserts  to  "the  condition  of  the 
world  in  the  general  conflagration"  (Bolton,  1936,  p.  456).  In  our  own  time, 
Jefferson  Davis  Milton  opined  (1936),  "Hell  must  have  boiled  over  at  Pinacate." 


Location  and  Accessibility 

The  Pinacate  Region  occupies  the  central  third  of  the  "Sonoran  Trian- 
gle, "whose  apices  are  the  communities  of  Sonoyta,  San  Luis,  and  Puerto  Pen- 
asco,  all  in  Sonora.  East  of  the  region  is  the  valley  of  the  Sonoyta  River,  an 
intermittent  stream  which  only  rarely  flows  through  to  the  Gulf  of  California; 
west  of  the  area  are  the  great  "Medanos  de  Arena,"  which  isolate  the  lava  re- 
gion from  the  Gulf. 


4  CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES  (Occ.  Papers 

The  Pinacates  are  difficult  of  access  by  any  standard.  Until  quite  re- 
cently, the  only  practicable  access  route  was  the  deservedly  ill-famed  Camino 
del  Diablo  (Sykes,  1927),  along  which  perhaps  500  travellers  have  died  of 
thirst,  exhaustion,  or  violence.  This  road,  actually  an  ancient  Indian  trail, 
connected  the  permanent  oasis  of  Sonoyta  with  the  Gila-Colorado  junction, 
permitting  overland  travel  from  the  mainland  of  Mexico  to  the  once-isolated 
province  of  California  whenever  the  Yuma  crossing  was  useable  (Martin,  1954). 

During  World  War  II,  a  paved  highway  was  constructed  from  Ajo,  Ari- 
zone,  through  Sonoyta  to  Puerto  Pehasco,  a  new  seaport  on  the  Gulf  of  Cali- 
fornia. Shortly  thereafter,  the  Sonoran  Railroad,  connecting  Mexicali  in  Baja 
California  with  Benjamin  Hill  (Sonora),  was  completed  along  the  Gulf  coast 
through  Puerto  Penasco,  and  thence  inland,  across  the  desert,  to  the  Magda- 
lena  Valley.  In  1960,  the  long-planned  paving  of  the  Mexican  portions  of  the 
Camino  del  Diablo  and  the  Abelardo  Rodriguez  Military  Road  was  completed, 
eliminating  many  of  the  hazards  of  the  journey  across  the  desert  from  Sonoyta 
to  San  Luis. 

These  road  improvements  make  accessible  any  part  of  the  Pinacate  Re- 
tion  within  a  long  day's  walk  of  a  paved  highway.  In  a  few  places,  rough  trails 
permit  a  closer  approach  by  four-wheel-drive  vehicles.  Summary  map,  showing 
major  access  routes  to  the  Pinacate  Region,  comprises  figure  2. 

Nearest  stateside  supply  point  to  the  Pinacates  is  Ajo,  Arizona,  a  rail- 
head and  mining  community,  about  43  miles  south  of  Gila  Bend,  which  is  com- 
plete with  all  facilities  including  photographic  processing  services.  Best 
Mexican  supply  point  is  Sonoyta,  Sonora,  a  clean  and  orderly  oasis  community, 
two  miles  below  the  border.  Facilities  here  include  numerous  stores  and  res- 
taurants, a  church,  a  school,  a  telegraph  office,  a  doctor,  and  a  dentist.  Just 
east  of  Sonoyta  are  the  ruins  of  Kino's  westernmost  mission,  San  Marcelo  So- 
noitac,  in  which  are  buried  the  remains  of  the  martyr,  Enrique  Ruhen,  S.J., 
murdered  during  the  Pima  revolt  of  1751  (Ives,  1957). 

Despite  recent  road  improvements,  travel  to  and  in  the  Pinacate  Region 
is  hazardous  for  all  but  experienced  desert  travellers.  None  of  the  water  holes, 
with  the  possible  exception  of  Papago  Tanks,  are  permanent;  some  of  the 
springs  in  the  sand  dunes  to  the  west  are  poisonous.  Visibility  is  poor  most 
of  the  time  because  of  haze,  shimmer,  and  mirages;  compass  readings  are  un- 
dependable  because  of  local  attractions  in  the  lava  flows;  footing  is  tricky  in 
many  parts  of  the  area. 

Although  the  people  of  Sonoyta  have  long  been  noted  for  their  compas- 
sionate care  of  people  who  have  encountered  misfortune  in  the  desert,  even 
the  most  willing  help  may  arrive  too  late  in  an  area  where  24  hours  without 
water  may  be  fatal.  Extreme  caution  is  urged  in  all  parts  of  the  region. 


No.  47) 


IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION 


115*  *       TO    SAN     FELIPE 


TO   BENJAMIN     HILL      113° 


Figure    2-      Summary   map   of  the   western  Arizona-Sonora   borderlands,   showing 
the  relative  position  of  the  Pinacate  Region  and  major  access  routes. 


Climate,  Flora,  and  Fauna 

The  Pinacate  Region  is  climatically,  as  well  as  geographically,  a  part 
of  the  Sonoran  Desert.  Average  climatic  conditions  within  the  Pinacate  Re- 
gion are  determinable  from  interpolations  between  the  nearest  climatic  sta- 
tions. Charts  for  these  with  a  similarly  constructed  chart  for  Phoenix,  Ari- 
zona, included  for  comparison,  comprise  figure  3.  Climatic  charts  for  other  ad- 
jacent stations,  and  a  detailed  study  of  climatic  conditions  in  the  Sonoran 
Desert,  have  been  published  elsewhere   (Contreras-Arias,  1942;  Ives,  1949). 

Within  the  Pinacate  Region,  maximum  and  minimum  temperatures,  and 
diurnal  temperature  ranges,  are  slightly  more  extreme  than  at  the  peripheral 
inhabited  places.  Maximum  temperatures  seldom,  if  ever,  exceed  130°  F.  in  the 
open  at  nose  level.  Soil  surface  temperatures,  measured  with  an  ordinary 
thermometer,  may  reach  160°  F.  when  air  temperature  is  110°  F.  Soil  surface 
temperature  measured  with  a  fine-wire  thermocouple,  under  the  same  condi- 
tions, may  reach  180°  F.  Minimum  temperatures  seldom  fall  below  20°  F.  in  any 
part  of  the  area. 


CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


(Occ.  Papers 


SAN      LUIS 


SONORA   SONOYTA 


SONORA 


PRECIPITATION 
IN     INCHES 


OFFICIAL   AVERAGE 


TEMPERATURES 
IN  DEGREES  F 
100 


PRECIPITATION 
IN    INCHES 

5 


COMPOSITE   RECORD 


TEMPERATURES 
IN  DEGREES  F 
100 


60  3 


40  2 


20  I 


10  0  5 


JAN    FEB    MAR     APR    MAY      JUN     JUL     AUG    SEP    OCT    NOV     DEC 


PUERTO     PENASCO 


PRECIPITATION 
IN    INCHES 

5 


COMPOSITE       RECORD 


SONORA  PHOENIX 

TEMPERATURES  PRECIPITATION 

IN    DEGREES   F  IN    INCHES 
100  5 


JAN    FEB    MAR     APR    MAY      JUN     JUL     AUG    SEP    OCT    NOV     DEC 

ARIZONA 


45      YEAR      AVERAGE 


TEMPERATURES 
IN  DEGREES  F 
100 


MAY   JUN  JUL  AUG  SEP  OCT  NOV  DEC 


No.  47)  IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION  7 

In  the  basalt  arroyos  leading  down  from  the  main  Pinacate  Peaks,  strong 
desiccating  updrafts  are  usual  from  midmorning  to  sunset;  and  bitter-cold  down- 
drafts  (katabats)  are  the  rule  on  clear  nights.  These  occasionally  produce 
hoar-frost  on  exposed  rock  surfaces  near  water  holes  at  times  when  daily 
maximum  temperatures  reach  100°  F.  More  rarely,  where  rock  configuration  is 
favorable,  small  ephemeral  condensation  puddles  may  develop  (Ives,  1962a). 
Strong,  hot,  desiccating  nocturnal  winds,  resembling  the  "Furnace  Winds"  of 
Death  Valley,  have  been  encountered  on  flat  areas  some  distance  from  the 
main  peaks  during  the  summer  season  only.  Frequency  and  areal  extent  of 
these  winds  are  at  present  unknown. 

Sudden   cold  waves,   accompanied  by   gusty,   raw  winds,   occur  several 
times  each  winter.    These,  locally  called  "nortes,"  cover  a  wide  area  in  Ari- 
zone   and  Sonora,    and  are  somewhat  predictable  by    application  of  standard 
forecasting  techniques  (Ives,  1962b). 

Relative  humidity  in  the  area  ranges  from  "too  low  to  measure"  (per- 
haps five  per  cent)  to  supersaturation.  During  land-breeze  conditions,  it  is 
commonly  in  the  neighborhood  of  20  per  cent;  but  rises  to  about  60  per  cent 
when  a  sea  breeze  sets  in.  This  makes  the  afternoon  summer  heat  extremely 
oppressive.  Rarely,  usually  in  winter,  "salt  fogs"  drift  into  the  area  from  the 
Gulf  of  California. 

Regional  rainfall  is  scanty,  sporadic,  and  only  slightly  predictable.  Dur- 
ing the  summer  "Monsoon  Season,"  usually  in  August,  some  part  or  parts  of 
the  area  are  subjected  to  violent  cloudbursts,  which  may  bring  as  much  as  5 
inches  of  precipitation  in  2l/i  hours  (there  is  no  assurance  that  this  is  a  max- 
imum figure).  At  the  same  time,  areas  only  a  few  miles  away  may  receive  no 
rainfall  at  all.  This  spotty  rainfall  distribution  leads  to  the  common  desert 
complaint  that  "it  rained  everywhere  but  here"  (McDonald,  1959). 

Winter  rainfalls  are  gentler,  more  evenly  distributed,  and  of  longer  dura- 
tion. Most  of  these  are  little  more  than  dense  mists,  and  are  sometimes  called 
"lloranas." 

In  addition  to  the  cloudbursts,  and  usually  during  the  "monsoon"  sea- 
son, the  higher  peaks  are  subjected  to  extremely  violent  cumulus  activity,  ap- 
pearing from  a  distance  like  a  thunderstorm,  but  producing  no  precipitation. 
These  "dry  thunderstorms,"  complete  with  intense  lightning  discharges  and 
deafening  thunder,  seem  to  be  characteristic  of  the  area.  Similar  "tormentos 
secos"  are  reported  from  northern  Baja  California,  particularly  in  the  Sierra 
San  Pedro  Martir. 

In  clear  weather,  both  night  and  day,  mirages  are  quite  common,  and  are 
somewhat  predictable,  particularly  along  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  California. 
Recent  studies  of  microwave  propagation  across  this  area  indicate  that  the 


Figure  3.    Climatic  charts  for  stations  adjacent  to  the  Pinacate  Region. 


8  CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES  (Occ.  Papers 

atmospheric  stratifications  postulated  by  Humphreys  (1942)  a  generation  ago 
to  explain  such  mirages  are  real,  and  not  just  "mathematical  fictions." 

Commonly  accompanying  daytime  inferior  mirages  ("wateronthe  road," 
etc.)  are  dust  devils  of  considerable  magnitude  (Ives,   1947).     These  remove 
the  "fines"  from  surficial  desert  deposits,  and,   in  conjunction  with  the  pre- 
vailing winds  from  the  west  and  northwest,  carry  them  far  inland,  where  they 
are  redeposited  as  a  crude  form  of  loess. 

Quite  commonly,  at  night,  weak  lights  can  be  seen  on  high  points  in 
this  area.  These,  despite  local  surmises  about  the  "bomba  atomica,"  "platos 
volantes,"  and  "spirit candles,"  are  electrical  discharges  of  entirely  natural 
origin,  usually  named  "St.  Elmo's  Fire,"  and  common  not  only  to  the  Pinacate 
Region,  but  also  along  the  sierras  of  peninsular  Baja  California. 

Continuing  studies  of  weather  and  climate  in  this  general  area  are  being 
conducted  by  Mexican  agencies  at  San  Luis,  Sonoyta,  and  Puerto  Penasco; 
and  by  U.  S.  agencies  at  Yuma,  Ajo,  and  Organ  Pipe  Cactus  National  Monument. 

Vegetation  of  this  area  is  in  very  general  terms  much  like  that  of  the 
Phoenix-Tucson  area,  being  characterized  by  low  brush,  giant  cactus,  and  oc- 
casional specialized  trees.  The  commonly  applied  term  "arboreal  desert"  is 
most  apt.  Although  this  region  is  a  desert  by  any  rational  standard,  it  is  by 
no  means  an  "abode  of  emptiness"  like  the  Rub  Al  Khali.  With  the  exception 
of  a  few  small  areas  of  recent  lava,  and  of  a  few  very  active  dune  surfaces,  a 
square  yard  without  vegetation  is  hard  to  find  here. 

Clear  and  adequately  illustrated  descriptions  of  this  arboreal  desert 
have  been  published  by  Hornaday  and  MacDougal  (Hornaday,  1908),  Lumholtz 
(1912),  and  Shreve  (1951).  An  additional  study  by  Wiggins  (1964),  augmenting 
and  continuing  Shreve's  thoroughgoing  work,  has  recently  appeared. 

Typical  arboreal  desert  vegetation  is  shown  in  figure  4,  a  view  taken  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  Ajo  Valley,  north  of  Lukeville.  During  the  course  of 
field  work  in  and  about  the  Pinacate  Region,  numerous  changes  in  the  vegeta- 
tive patterns  were  noted  between  1936  and  1946.  These,  in  brief ,  consist  of  a 
marked  increase  in  the  numbers  of  annual  plants,  accompanied  by  a  slight  de- 
crease in  those  of  perennials,  the  net  result  being  that  the  desert  looks  much 
greener  now  (1962)  than  it  did  in  1931. 

This  vegetative  change  has  been  attributed  to  minor  variations  in  local 
rainfall  distribution,  to  lowering  of  local  water  tables,  and  to  initiation  of  a 
new  valley  erosion  cycle  (which  actually  began  before  1880).  Total  effect  of 
all  of  these  factors  on  usable  biotic  water  seems  inadequate  to  account  for 
the  observed  vegetative  changes  (Ives,  1955). 

Animals  of  the  area  were,  until  about  1936,  numerous  and  typical  of  the 
southwestern  deserts.  Mountain  sheep,  deer,  javelina,  coyotes,  and  similar 
animals  were  common,  as  were  the  more  recently  introduced  wild  burros  and 
wild  horses.    Bobcat  ("gato  montes")  and  mountain  lion  were  plentiful  in  an- 


No.  47) 


IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION 


Figure  4.  Vegetation  in  the  arboreal  desert.  In  this  view,  taken  at  the  foot  of 
La  Mona,  a  prominent  landmark  on  the  west  side  of  the  Ajo  Mountains,  in  Organ  Pipe 
Cactus  National  Monument,  creosote  bush  (Larrea  tridentata)  occupies  the  foreground. 
Toward  center  are  three  sahuaros  (Carnegiea  gigantea).  Farther  back  are  "jumping" 
chollas  (Opuntia  bigelovii).  Trees  in  middle  distance  are  Palo  Verde  (Cercidium  mi- 
cropbyllum). 

cient  times,  but  became  rare  prior  to  1890.  Small  rodents  were  numerous  through- 
out the  area. 

Local  reptiles  included  rattlesnakes  in  great  profusion,    numerous  liz- 
ards of  many  species,  a  few  Gila  monsters,  and  many  tortoises,  such  as  Go- 
pherus  berlandieri,   some  of  which  were  found  in  the  most  "unlikely"  places. 
Local  amphibians  include  toads,  frogs,   and  axolotl,   all  of  which  frequent  the 
numerous  temporary  water  holes. 

After   1936,   and  before   1946,  most  of  the  large  mammals  disappeared 
from  the  Pinacate  Region,  and  the  numbers  of  small  rodents  declined  markedly. 
No  observable  changes  occurred  in  the  numbers  or  distribution  of  reptiles  and 
amphibians,    and  no  statement  can  be  made  about  bird  life  because  of  inade- ' 
quate  data. 


CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES  (Occ.  Papers 

These  faunal  changes  are  locally  attributed  to  too  much  hunting.  This 
explanation  plausibly  (but  not  necessarily  correctly)  accounts  for  the  disap- 
pearance of  the  larger  game  animals  from  the  region,  but  is  not  entirely  satis- 
factory in  regard  to  the  decimation  of  the  small  rodents,  and  fails  completely 
with  respect  to  such  animals  as  the  desert  skunk  ("zorillo"),  which  is  not 
hunted  by  humans,  and  is  assiduously  avoided  by  animal  predators.  Addition- 
ally, a  decline  in  the  numbers  of  predators,  such  as  coyotes  and  foxes,  is 
normally  accompanied  by  a  plague  of  small  rodents.  This  has  not  taken  place 
at  Pinacate. 

As  a  result  of  these  changes,  the  zoological  descriptions  by  Hornaday 
(1908)  and  Lumholtz  (1912),  which  were  found  to  be  correct  even  to  minor  fea- 
tures prior  to  1936,  are  now  of  historical  value  only,  and  do  not  apply  to  pre- 
sent (1962)  conditions. 

The  Volcanic  Features 

The  volcanic  terrain  which  occupies  the  major  part  of  the  Pinacate  Re- 
gion has  an  areal  extent  exceeding  1500  square  miles,  of  which  perhaps  one 
third  is  surfaced  by  obviously  recent  lava  flows.  An  additional  volcanic  area, 
of  unknown  extent,  is  buried  beneath  the  sand  dunes  that  fringe  the  shores  of 
the  Gulf  of  California. 

Major  features  ofthe  Pinacate  Region  are  shown  in  figure  5,  a  summary 
map  which  is  an  augmentation  ofthe  excellent  Lumholtz-Celaya-Briesemeister 
map  of  1912. 

For  purposes  of  description,  the  Pinacate  Region  can  be  divided  into 
three  geographic  parts:  the  main  peaks,  the  peripheral  lava  flows,  and  the 
great  calderas. 

Although  field  studies  by  the  present  writer  in  the  Pinacate  Region  have 
extended  over  more  than  30  years,  and  have  included  a  great  many  miles  of 
travel   afoot  over  the  lava,   so  that  all  major  features  of  the  earlier  reports 
have  been  identified,  and  many  new  facts  uncovered,  it  is  highly  probably  that 
many    more  features  of  this  complex  area,  not  all  of  them  minor,  remain  to  be 
discovered  and  studied. 

The  Main  Peaks 

The  main  Pinacate  Peaks  consist  of  three  summits,    rising  close  toge- 
ther and  from  a  lava  highland  about   seven  miles  wide  and  fifteen  miles  long. 
The  highest  summit,  Pinacate  Peak,  rises  to  4235  feet  (above  mean  sea  level); 
the  second  highest,  Carnegie  Peak,  rises  only  to  3180  feet.  The  level  of  the 
surrounding  terrain  is  about  900  feet. 

From  a  distance,  the  Pinacate  Peaks  appear  deceptively  rounded  and 
smooth;  and,  in  recent  years,  their  green  color  suggests  a  heavy  vegetative 
cover. 


No.  47) 


IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION 


11 


On   closer  approach,   the   peaks   appear  as   "a  sort  of  rubbish  heap  of 
tezontle  stone,"  according  to  the  correctly  graphic  description  written  by  Fray 


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Figure  5.     Summary  map  of  the  Pinacate  Region. 


12 


CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


(Occ.  Papers 


L#  V.J 


Figure  6.     Upper  part  of  the  lava  cascade  northeast  of  Carnegie  Peak,    photo- 
graphed from  a  point  on  the  main  tongue,  with  the  camera  axis  elevated  approximately 
30  degrees.   Lava  source  is  in  the  V-notch  on  the  left  skyline:    highest   point  is  Car- 
negie Peak. 

Manuel  de  la  Oyela  y  Velarte  in  1706  (Bolton,  1919,  I,  p.  211;  Ives,  1956). 
The  surface  is  composed  of  all  types  of  volcanic  debris,  and  most  of  the  sur- 
ficial  lithologic  features  present  have  been  split,  warped,  and  partly  buried  by 
subsequent  action.  In  consequence,  only  the  most  recent  cones,  vents,  and 
flows  are  present  in  their  entirety,  and  these  rest,  not  on  a  relatively  smooth 
basement,  but  on  the  piled-up  and  eroded  wreckage  of  older  similar  lithologic 
structures. 

Veneering  the  rough  surface  of  this  volcanic  conglomeration,  like  spills 
from  a  solder-pot,  are  flows  of  relatively  recent,  extremely  vesicular  basalt. 
Most  extensive  of  these  is  the  lava  cascade  which  issued  from  a  crater  at  the 
3800-foot  level  on  Carnegie  Peak,  and  flowed  northeastward  down  the  slopes 
of  the  main  lava  mass  for  more  than  seven  miles.  The  general  appearance  of 
the  upper  part  of  this  flow  is  shown  in  figure  6,  which  includes  the  source 
area  and  Carnegie  Peak. 

Where  not  covered  with  a  veneer  of  lava,   the  underlying  volcanic  com- 
plex is  exposed,  and  from  studies  of  this  it  is  concluded  that  the  fifteen  or  so 
cubic  miles  now  comprising  the  main  peaks  are  the  result  of  not  less  than 
several  hundred  discrete  volcanic  episodes.    It  is  also  clear,  from  structural 


No.  47) 


IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION 


13 


features,  that  the  present  peaks  are  the  eroded  remnants  of  a  formerly  higher 
volcano,  for  which  the  name  Santa  Clara  Volcano  (Kino's  original  name  for  the 
peaks)  is  proposed. 

On  the  flanks  of  the  main  volcanic  mass,  at  lower  levels,  and  where 
deeply-eroded  channels  provide  clear  exposures,  another  sequence  of  alter- 
nating coarse  and  fine  tuff  beds,  containing  occasional  thin  and  discontinuous 
lava  flows,  is  found.  The  exact  physical  relation  of  these  to  the  core  of  the 
main  peaks  is  concealed  by  later  lava  flows,  ash  falls,  and  other  tuff  deposits, 
further  complicated  by  faulting  and  slumping.  Structural  irregularities  in  these 
deposits  indicate  that  they  had  various  sources,  and  that  intervals  of  erosion 
alternated  with  periods  of  deposition.  Many  of  these  beds  have  a  somewhat 
regular  alternation  of  fine  and  coarse  grained  tuff,  giving  them  the  general  ap- 
pearance of  varved  clays  or  tree-rings.  One  of  the  tuff-ash  alternating  series 
is  shown  in  figure  7.  Total  thickness  of  these  deposits,  in  any  one  location, 
never  exceeds  400  feet.  Individual  elements  are  usually  not  more  than  10  feet 
thick.  These  deposits,  where  the  base  is  exposed,  rest  on  a  sequence  of 
flows  of  rather  compact  basalt  porphyry. 


4T-,    i.Jgg^^^ 


..  ■■" 


M3  -ip7^. 


•«% 


Figure  7.  Stratified  volcanic  materials,  consisting  of  alternating  coarse  and 
fine  tuff  beds,  capped  by  lava,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Pinacate  massif,  between  Tin- 
aja  de  Emilia  and  Tinaja  de  Carlina.  Height  of  this  exposure  is  about  300  feet. 


14 


CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


(Occ.  Papers 


Despite  the  "new"  appearance  of  many  components  of  the  main  peaks, 
and  the  areal  aridity,  all  hard  rocks  (basalts  and  tuffs)  support  extensive  li- 
chen growth,  which  causes  extensive  spalling  on  sheltered  surfaces,  indicat- 
ing plainly  that  the  apparent  newness  of  the  lavas  is  geological,  and  not  his- 
torical. 

Peripheral  Lava  Flows 

Surrounding  the  main  Pinacate  volcanic  mass  on  all  sides  are  lava  beds, 
which  extend  outward  for  many  miles,  forming  an  erosion-resistant  apron  about 
the  peaks,  and  making  access  to  them  difficult.  Oldest  and  outermost  of  these 
flows  is  the  thick  sequence  of  compact,  even-grained  basalt,  which  is  found 
at  Puerto  Penasco,  where  it  forms  the  promontory  above  the  seaport  (the  Punta 
Pehasco  of  the  navigation  charts);  and  at  Batamote. 

This  lava,  which  everywhere  exceeds  300  feet  in  thickness,  is  composed 
of  two  discrete  series  of  flows,  separated  by  an  erosional  unconformity.  At 
Puerto  Pehasco,    the  separation  is  further  marked  by  the  inclusions  of  lenses 


Figure  8.  The  Batamote  Hills  from  the  southwest.  Height  of  the  basalt  uplands 
here  exceeds  300  feet.  Foreground  surface  material  is  volcanic  ash,  with  alluvium 
and  scoria.  Foreground  vegetation  is  largely  creosote  bush  (Larrea  tridentata),  with  a 
few  ocatillos  (Fouquieria  splendens). 


No.  47) 


IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION 


15 


Figure  9.     Escarpment  of  recent  vesicular  basalt  at  margin  of   younger  flow  se- 
quence between  Batamote  and  Tinaja  de  Emilia,    north  of  the  main  Pinacate  massif. 


of  somewhat  altered  volcanic  ash  and  tuffaceous  material. 

Greatest  remainingexposure  ofthis  oldest  basalt  is  at  Batamote,  where 
more  than  ten  square  miles  of  desert  are  dominated  by  columnar  cliffs,  as  in 
figure  8.  The  structure  here,  resembling  parts  of  the  Palisades  of  the  Hudson, 
or  the  Devil's  Postpile,  is  typical  of  thick  basalt  flows,  wherever  they  may 
occur. 

Probable  extension  of  these  lavas  to  westward,  under  the  many  younger 
flows  of  the  Pinacate  lava  beds,  and  perhaps  under  at  least  parts  of  the  main 
peaks,  is  indicated  by  the  inclusion,  in  the  later  flows,  of  unassimilated  and 
largely  unaltered  chunks  of  this  basalt.  These  occur  as  far  west  as  the  lavas 
bordering  on  the  great  sand  dunes,  and  are  accompanied,  in  some  locations, 
by  pieces  of  Sierra  Blanca  granite. 

These  older  basalts  have  been  somewhat  eroded  and  extensively  faulted. 
Vertical  dislocations  near  Batamote,  as  determined  from  the  logs  of  (mostly 
unsuccessful)  water  wells,  may  exceed  750  feet.  At  Puerto  Penasco,  the  ba- 
salts have  been  submerged  at  least  once  since  their  extrusion  so  that  the  prom- 
ontory is  topped  by  a  boulder  beach,  under  which  is  a  thin  stratum  of  marine 
shells,  of  no  great  geologic  antiquity  (Ives,  1951,  1959b). 

Scattered  throughout  the  Batamote  Hills  are  small  spatter  cones,  much 
younger  than  the  main  lavas,  which  have  supplied  much  of  the  scoriaceous 
veneer  over  the  various  ash  beds  and  outwash  plains  in  the  immediate  vicinity. 


16 


CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


(Occ.  Papers 


Figure  10.  Lava-dune  contact  west  of  Sierra  Blanca,  which  appears  on  the  sky- 
line; and  south  of  Moon  Crater.  Sand,  which  here  is  largely  composed  of  shell  frag- 
ments, forms  a  thin  layer  over  the  basalt  flows. 


Eastern  and  northern  edges  of  the  younger  flow  sequence  are  commonly 
low  escarpments  of  contorted  vesicular  basalt,  having  a  "just  cooled"  ap- 
pearance shown  in  figure  9.  Several  hundred  miles  of  such  escarpments  form 
a  multiple  sequence  of  interrupted  walls  about  the  main  Pinacate  Peaks,  mak- 
ing point-to-point  travel  within  the  flow  area  must  difficult. 

On  the  western  margin  of  the  later  lavas,  however,   there  is  no  bold  es- 
carpment because  the  great  sand  dunes  are  banked  up  against  the  lavas,  and 
in_some  places  cover  an  unknown  number  of  square  miles  of  recent  flows.  Such 
conditions  are  shown  in  figure  10.     The  length  of  this   dune-lava  contact  ex- 
ceeds thirty  miles. 

Within  the  area  of  the  younger  flow  sequence,  it  is  not  at  all  uncommon 
to  find  half  a  dozen  discrete  flows,  superposed  in  a  square  mile  or  so.  All 
sorts  of  flow  types,  evidencing  various  degrees  of  fluidity,  are  present;  and 
a  few  of  the  flows  have  an  exploded  appearance,  characteristic  of  extrusion 
into  water. 

Roughest  and  most  spectacular  of  these  younger  flow  sequences  is  the 
lava  chaos,  between  the  main  peaks  and  Crater  Elegante  (fig.  5).  This  lava 
chaos  is  a  "textbook  example"  of  flow  breccia,  a  type  of  lava  terrain  pro- 
duced when  a  flow  hardens  on  top,  but  continues  molten  and  mobile  below  the 


No.  47) 


IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION 


17 


surface,  so  that  surface  blocks  are  tilted  and  moved  in  all  directions,  much 
like  the  ice  blocks  in  arctic  pressure  ridges.  Although  this  flow  is  certainly 
many  hundreds  of  years  old  it  is  still  unstable,  so  that  many  lava  blocks,  as 
much  as  30  feet  across,  rock  when  walked  on.  Portions  of  this  flow  have  col- 
lapsed long  after  cooling  because  the  volcanic  ash  basement,  upon  which  the 
lava  poured  out,  has  been  partly  removed  by  flood  waters. 


Figure  11.  Interior  of  the  lava  chaos.  The  road-like  structure  in  the  center  of 
this  view  is  not  the  original  alignment  of  the  Camino  del  Diablo,  but  an  entirely  na- 
tural flow  phenomenon. 

Detail  of  the  interior  of  the  lava  chaos  is  shown  in  figure  11.  The  lava 
chaos  is  commonly  reputed  to  be  completely  impassible.  This  is  not  the  case. 
It  can  be  crossed  by  a  man  afoot  in  any  direction,  sustained  walking  rate  be- 
ing approximately  one-half  mile  per  hour.  Approximately  30  feet  of  vertical 
travel  are  needed  for  each  100  feet  of  horizontal  course.  Ten  miles  of  walking 
on  this  lava  damages  a  pair  of  field  boots  beyond  repair  ("totalmente  ruinada"). 

Scattered  with  apparent  random  distribution  throughout  the  area  of  the 
peripheral  lava  flows  are  numerous  cinder  and  lava  cones,  of  all  sizes  from 
"not  much  bigger  than  a  birdbath"  to  structures  almost  1,000  feet  high.  These 
are  in  all  stages  from  apparently  "formed  last  week"  to  collapsed  and  partly 
assimilated  by  surrounding  lava.  The  present  condition  of  a  cone  structure  is 
not  necessarily  an  indication  of  its  age. 


18 


CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


(Occ.  Papers 


i^X, 


"  so>  ;-..i-v.    -■•'■*" 


Figure  12.     Rim  structure  on  the  west  side  of  Salvatierra  Cone.   Vegetation  here 
is  tree  cholla,  Opuntia  bigelovii. 

About  half  of  the  flows  in  the  peripheral  lava  area  originate  from  vents 
at  the  bases  of  cinder  cones,  and  are  of  approximately  the  same  age  as  the 
cones  with  which  they  are  associated.  In  some  instances,  lava  outpouring  from 
the  vent  has  undermined  one  side  of  the  cone,  leading  to  rim  collapse  and  pro- 
duction of  a  breached  structure.  Typical  rim  structure  of  a  cinder  cone  is 
shown  in  figure  12,  a  view  of  the  west  rim  of  Salvatierra  Cone,  northwest  of 
Crater  Elegante. 

Although  many  flows  originate  at  the  bases  of  cinder  cones,  no  example 
has  been  found  of  a  cone  which  filled  up  and  overflowed.  Most  cones  are  com- 
posed of  much  more  vesicular  material  than  the  flows  issuing  from  their  bases. 
Only  at  the  lower  levels  does  the  cone  material   begin  to  compare  with  the  as- 
sociated flows  in  compactness,   even  though  the  cone  and  flow  may  have  sub- 
stantially identical  chemical  composition. 

Despite  the  extremely  youthful  appearance  of  many  of  the  perfect  cones, 
most  of  the  unbreached  structures  contain  a  central  playa,  with  a  floor  of  al- 
luvium, and  some  to  much  vegetation.  Studies  of  soil  profiles  in  a  number  of 
such  central  playas  lead  to  age  estimates  considerably  in  excess  of  1,000 
years;  and  suggest  a  dry-wet-dry  climate  sequence  since  cone  formation.  De- 
tailed chemical  studies,  augmented  by  radiocarbon  datings,  should  be  most 
productive  here. 


No.  47) 


IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION 


19 


The  plant  community  within  the  cone  of  Iitoi's  Castle  (fig.  5)  is  shown 
in  figure  13.    Note  the  white  caliche  deposit  among  the  plants.    So  far  as   can 
be  determined  from  visits  to  the  interiors  of  several  such   botanical  enclaves, 
this  plant  population  is  typical. 


■fee,  .  ~-  — .^*-v; ^^m^^^ :*.  .-  -. 


-rf*«.*    ^*"* 


IMS 


H?< 


'-.r^f^-^lttfc 


^SjWmSJ, 


•*»• 


i;^I^W'-'";;^^^ 


F3fr 


Figure  13.  Vegetation  in  the  playa  within  the  cone  of  Iitoi's  Castle.  Evident 
here  are  sahuaro  (Camegiea  gigantea),  ocatillo  (Fourquieria  splendens),  tree  cholla 
(Opuntia  bigelovii),  creosote  bush  (Larrea  tridentata),  burro  weed  ( Franseria  dumosa)t 
and  organ  pipe  cactus  (Cereus  tburberi). 

A  number  of  the  peripheral  lava  flows  are  quite  definitely  not  associated 
with  cinder  cones,  and  no  fissure  sources  for  the  lavas  were  found  by  either 
ground  studies  or  aerial  reconnaissance.  Near  the  centers  of  some  of  these 
flows,  however,  some  interesting  circular  pressure-ridge  patterns  were  found. 
Further  study  of  the  flow  patterns  indicated  that  they  were  the  surface  mani- 
festations of  lava  upwells.  A  plan  view  and  schematic  section  of  such  an  up- 
well  are  shown  in  figure  14. 

Another  family  of  circular  lava  structures,  somewhat  resembling  up- 
wells, and  initially  so  classified,  were  first  found  in  aerial  photographs  tak- 
en by  another  worker.  These  are  eddy  structures,  initially  formed  by  a  process 
somewhat  analogous  to  slagging  in  an  iron-furnace.  When  fluid  lava  ponds, 
the  less-dense  fractions,  which  may  include  not  only  partly  assimilated  base- 
ment materials,  but -also  vesicular  components  of  the  lava  itself,  are  buoyant 
and  rise  to  the  surface  as  a  slag  or  scum.    As  the  ponded  lava  deepens  by  in- 


20 


CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


(Occ.  Papers 


PLAN 


ESCARPMENT 


SMOOTH    CENTERS 

M\Ar~ 


LAVA    MOTION 


-ESCARPMENT 


BOLDER    LAVAS 


SECTION 


,PRESSURE    RIDGES 


■AAflr- 


LAVA    MOTION 


ESCARPMENT- 


FROM 

LAVA 

SOURCE 


t  _t  _+_  I_  -L  -i  . 


?  ? 

NOT    TO    SCALE 


Figure  14.     Plan  view  and  schematic  section  of  lava  upwell  structure. 


No.  47)  IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION  21 

flow  (and  gains  in  surface  area),  the  hardened  surface  material  becomes  a 
"floating  island"  of  hard  lava  on  the  still-molten  basement.  This  usually  ac- 
quires a  rotational  motion  from  natural  forces,  including,  at  times  the  "Cori- 
olis  Force"  owing  to  the  earth's  axial  rotation.  Although  it  is  difficult  to  de- 
termine, long  afterwards,  the  exact  cause  of  rotation,  a  non-rotating  floating 
island,  be  it  of  cooled  lava,  woody  material,  ice,  or  seaweed  ("sargasso"), 
is  a  rarity. 

Several  osculating  eddy  structures  have  been  spotted  from  the  air;  for 
example,  between  Manje  Cone  and  Kino  Crater.  They  are  most  difficult  to 
find  on  the  ground. 

Eddy  structures  differ  from  upwells  in  that  the  peripheral  pressure  ridges 
in  an  eddy  tend  to  be  spiral  sectors,  like  the  blades  of  an  air  impeller;  where- 
as those  in  an  upwell  tend  to  be  concentric  like  the  rings  of  an  equatorial 
section  of  an  onion. 

Despite  considerable  searching,  no  large  lava  tubes  or  caves  were  found 
at  or  near  Pinacate;  but  subdrainage  of  the  peripheral  lavas,  usually  through 
collapse  sinks,  indicates  the  presence,  at  unknown  depth,  of  voids  of  fairly 
large  dimensions.  Maximum  sink  depth  probably  does  not  exceed  200  feet,  this 
figure  being  an  "educated  guess"  fortified  by  timing  stones  dropped  into 
several  lava  sinks.  Some  of  these  buried  drainages  may  be  ancient  channels 
of  the  Sonoyta  River,  which  was  dammed  and  diverted  several  times  by  volcan- 
ic activity  at  Pinacate. 

Hydrostatically  closed  depressions  within  and  peripheral  to  the  lava 
flows,  when  not  subdrained,  characteristically  contain  ephemeral  playa  lakes, 
usually  floored  with  volcanic  ash  and  caliche,  and  in  many  instances  covered 
by  a  veneer  of  evenly-distributed  pumice,  almost  certainly  water-laid.  Some 
of  these  playas  are  serious  obstacles  to  vehicular  travel,  as  they  retain  their 
"liquid  goo"  characteristics  for  weeks  or  months  after  all  surface  water  has 
disappeared.  Chemical  tests  show  that  these  playa  deposits  contain  an  ap- 
preciable percentage  of  bentonite. 


The  Great  Calderas 

Erratically  distributed-  through  the  peripheral  lavas  are  the  great  cal- 
deras for  which  the  Pinacate  Region  is  famous.  From  the  air,  the  crater  zone 
looks  as  if  the  region  had  been  worked  over  with  a  giant  pin-punch.  Locations 
of  the  major  known  calderas  are  indicated  in  figure  5.  Because  of  haze  and 
other  natural  concealments,  it  is  entirely  possible  that  other  calderas  remain 
to  be  discovered. 

The  first  English-language  descriptions  of  some  of  these  craters  were 
published  by  Hornaday  (1908),  who,  with  other  members  of  his  party,  is  com- 
monly credited  with  their  discovery. 


CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES  (Occ.  Papers 

Search  of  literature  in  the  Spanish  language  indicates  quite  plainly  that 
Engineer  Y.  S.  Bonillas,  of  Nogales,  Sonora,  visited  some  of  the  craters  con- 
siderably prior  to  1900.  Folkloric  studies  show  that  tales  of  craters  that 
"went  cleardown  to  Hell,"  in  the  Pinacate  Region,  were  current  shortly  after 
1850.  These  strongly  suggest  that  some  wanderer  visited  the  Pinacate  Region 
more  than  a  century  ago  (l^. 

Recent  findings  and  study  of  a  number  of  Spanish  documents  show  in- 
controvertibly  that  at  least  one  caldera  at  Pinacate  was  seen  and  described 
more  than  two  and  a  half  centuries  ago  by  the  exploration  team  of  Kino,  Manje, 
and  Salvatierra  (Bolton,  1919,  1936;  Karns,  1954)  <2),  all  of  whom  wrote  diar- 
ies of  their  expeditions.  During  a  journey  near  Papago  Tanks,  Father  Kino 
climbed  a  mountain  to  the  northwest,  "to  perceive  the  sea."  From  this  summit, 
the  party  saw  a  bighole  of  such  depth  thatit  caused  them  "terror  y  espanto." 
The  diary  date  is  March  20,   1701.     From  the  itinerary  given,   complete  with 

distances  and  latitudes,  the  mountain  climbed  can  be  identified  as  the  Sierra 
Hornaday,  and  the  bighole  as  MacDougal  Crater.  An  aerial  view  of  these  com- 
prises figure  15. 

According  to  measurements  carefully  made  by  Godfrey  Sykes,  halfacent- 
uary  ago,  MacDougal  Crater  is  about  3600  feet  in  diameter  at  the  bottom,  400 
feet  deep,  and  has  its  present  flat  floor  about  50  feet  above  sea  level.  The 
rim,  composed  of  stratified  volcanic  ash,  is  only  about  50  feet  high.  Adjacent 
Molina  Crater,  which  has  a  roughly  clover-leaf  shape,  is  only  about  250  feet 
deep,  and  about  1500  feet  in  average  diameter  at  the  bottom.  It,  like  MacDoug- 
al Crater,  has  a  very  low  rim  of  volcanic  ash. 

Somewhat  of  a  maverick  among  the  Pinacate  craters,  although  formed  of 
similar  materials  to  the  others,  at  about  the  same  time,  and  in  approximately 
the  same  manner,  is  Sykes  Crater,  also  known  as  Crater  Grande.  This  volcan- 
ic landmark,  750  feet  deep  from  rim  crest  to  bottom,  1400  feet  in  diameter  at 
the  bottom,  and  with  present  floor  about  150  feet  above  mean  sea  level,  is 
characterized  by  a  sharp  steep  rim  of  volcanic  ash,  so  that  it  resembles  "a 
mountain  with  a  hole  in  the  top."  Sykes  Crater,  which  is  approximately  three 
and  one-half  miles  northeast  of  Papago  Tanks,  is  closely  flanked  by  cinder 
cones  and  lava  flows  of  considerable  roughness.  The  appearance  of  this  crater 
and  its  relation  to  the  surrounding  terrain  are  shown  in  figure  16. 


These  tales  almost  certainly  were  first  told  by  Peter  H.  Brady,  or  some  member 
of  bis  party,  after  a  journey  to  Adair  Bay,  via  Pinacate,  in  1854.  The  trip  is  summar- 
ized in  Brady's  (1898)  autobiography.  Alphonse  Pinart,  a  French  traveller,  also  visit- 
the  region  during  the  1850's,  leaving  a  quasi-legible  diary  which  is  now  in  the  Ban- 
croft Library,   Berkeley,   California. 

2)        The   Salvatierra   diaries   and   documents   are   currently   bei  ng  prep  ared    for  publication 
by    the    (lev.    Dr.    Ernest    J.    Burrus,    S-J-.     of   the    Institutum    Historicum    S.    J  • ,    in   Rome. 


No.  47) 


IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION 


23 


^J|LiU^'k^^~4l.       '  JJ'-m -*£!?*! "-.--.       !_"'-''■  -i'.'--.- 


r  -.  -      «*• 


Figure  15.     Aerial  view  of  the  northwestern  edge  of  the    Pinacate  Region,  show- 
ing the  Sierra  Hornaday  (right  middle  distance),  and  MacDougal  Crater  (left  of  center). 
Background  range  is  the  Sierra  de  Tuseral,  here  "fuzzed"  by  atmospheric  turbulence. 
The  sharp  peak  in  upper  left  is  Pyramid  Peak;  the  small  crater  at  left  center  is  Molina 
Crater.  Note  the  recent  lava  flow  in  foreground,  and  several  cinder  cones. 


Largest,  most  spectacular,  best  known,  and  most  controversial  of  the 
great  calderas  at  Pinacate  is  Crater  Elegante,  located  approximately  six  miles 
northeast  of  Pinacate  Peak,  and  sometimes  accessible  by  four-wheel-drive 
vehicles  from  Mexican  Route  8,  by  way  of  Batamote. 

Crater  Elegante  is  about  4800  feet  in  diameter,  nearly  circular  in  shape, 
and  almost  800  feet  deep,  from  rim  crest  to  floor,  which  is  approximately  200 
feet  above  mean  sea  level.  The  rim,  which  rises  as  a  very  gentle  slope,  is 
about  120  feet  high,  and  is  composed  entirely  of  thinly  stratified  volcanic 
ash,  which  has  been  slightly  dissected  by  erosion. 

The  crater  walls,  below  the  ash  zone,  are  stratified  basalts,  evidence  of 
at  least  two  sequences  of  effusive  eruptions,  each  subdivided  into  an  unknown 
number  of  discrete  eruptive  episodes.  The  base  of  this   lava   is  concealed  by 
talus  which  rests  on  a  bench  of  deltaic  beds,  some  feet  above  the  crater  floor. 


24 


CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


(Occ.  Papers 


Figure  16.  Aerial  view  of  Sykes  Crater,  east  northeast  of  Papago  Tanks.  Rim 
of  crater  is  clearly  shown  here,  as  is  recent  lava  flow  (lower  right).  Note  cinder  cone 
(lower  left)  with  central  playa,  and  dendritic  drainage  patterns  on  both  flanks.  (Tucson 
Daily  Citizen  photograph,  courtesy  of  Jane  Ivancovich.) 


These  beds  show  that  the  crater  at  one  time  contained  a  lake,  which  lasted 
long  enough  to  permit  the  development  of  a  gastropod  fauna.  Below  the  delta 
beds  is  a  small  central  playa,  which  under  present  conditions  of  sub-surface 
drainage,  results  in  the  crater  seldom  containing  water,  even  after  local  tor- 
rential rains. 

An  aerial  view  of  Crater  Elegante,  from  the  northeast,  comprises  figure 
17.  Note  the  superposition  of  recent  lavas  associated  with  the  Lava  Chaos 
(fig.  5)  on  the  rim  of  this  crater. 

The  excellently  developed  rim  beds  at  Crater  Elegante,  as  well  as  those 
less  well  developed  at  the  other  craters,  are  composed  of  thinly  bedded  vol- 
canic ash,  buff-colored,  and  but  slightly  dissected,  evidence  of  the  geologic 
youth  of  the  craters.  This  material  superficially  resembles  the  "paper  shales" 
of  the  Colorado  high  plains.  Ash  from  Crater  Elegante  is  banked  up  against 
the  twin  cones  of  Dos  Mujeres,  three  miles  distant,  forming  a  steeply  sloping 


No.  47) 


IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION 


25 


ramp  on  the  west  side.  Both  the  rim  beds  and  the  Dos  Mujeres  ramp  show 
aeolian  cross-bedding,  indicating  deposition  on  dry  land.  Ash  beds  some  dis- 
tance from  Crater  Elegante,  particularly  to  the  northeast,  in  contrast,  do  not 
have  this  aeolian  cross-bedding,  and  were  either  deposited  in  water  (very 
probably  a  playa  lake),  or  were  repeatedly  flooded  shortly  after  deposition. 
The  general  appearance  of  the  rim  beds,  in  a  shallow  wash  on  the  southeast 
side  of  the  crater,  is  shown  in  figure  18- 

Badilla,  Kino,  and  Celaya  craters  are  all  of  similar  formation,  although 
smaller  than  Crater  Elegante.  Celaya  Crater,  the  northern-most  of  the  group, 
and  the  least  accessible,  is  slowly  being  filled  with  surface  wash,  and  ap- 
parently also  acts  as  a  sump  for  some  of  the  under-lava  drainage  channels  in 
the  vicinity.  Although  these  craters  receive  only  minor  mention  here,  each  is 
a  spectacular  landform,  and  each  has  geologic  features  meriting  intensive 
study. 

Southwest  of  the  Pinacate  Peaks  is  Moon  Crater,  discovered  and  ex- 
plored by  Glenton  G.  Sykes,  of  Tucson,  during  the  winter  of  1956-57.     This 


'"***a«se3* 


°'-»., 


^"W^K 


X 


~'^s%«;::  --•.,■■-'''' 


Figure  17.  Aerial  view  of  Crater  Elegante  from  the  northeast.  The  bench  below 
talus  and  above  crater  floor  is  composed  of  delta-like  beds.  Lava  Chaos  occupies  the 
middle  distance;  and  the  Pinacate  Peaks  showing  the  lava  cascade  and  other  recent 
lava  flows,  are  on  the  horizon.   (Aerial  photograph  by  Tad  Nichols,  Tucson,  Arizona.) 


26 


CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


(Occ.  Papers 


Figure  18.  Rim  beds  of  Crater  Elegante.  This  thinly-bedded  volcanic  ash  is 
nearly  100  feet  thick  here.  Note  the  fragments  of  basalt  which  have  weathered  out  of 
the  ash  deposit. 


crater,  somewhat  smaller  and  less  spectacular  than  Crater  Elegante,  is  the 
only  known  caldera  southwest  of  the  main  peaks.  It  is  possible  that  Moon 
Crater  is  somewhat  younger  than  the  others  of  comparable  size  in  this  area. 
So  well  concealed  is  the  Moon  Crater,  by  "natural  camouflage,"  that  the  writer 
has  twice  walked  within  a  few  hundred  feet  of  its  rim  without  detecting  its 
presence. 

Some  crater  southwest  of  Pinacate,  probably  Moon  Crater,  emitted  enor- 
mous quantities  of  volcanic  ash,    still  evidenced  by  a  pair  of  ash  ramps,  sev- 
eral hundred  feet  high,  piled  against  the  east  face  of  Pelican  Point,  28  miles 
to  the  south,  on  the  seaward  side  of  Bahia  La  Cholla  (fig.  2).    Another  enor- 
mous ash  deposit,  of  undetermined  origin,  occupies  the  triangular  embayment 
between  the  Sierra  Blanca  and  the  lava  flows  to  the  west.  This  ash  bed,  rough- 
ly one  mile  wide  and  five  miles  long,    has  a  thickness  exceeding  eighty  feet, 
as  shown  by  the  log  of  a  well  dug  there  by  Armando  Valle,  of  Puerto  Penasco. 
Study  of  this  well  discloses  that  it  penetrated  dry,    gritty,  uniform,  unstrati- 
fied  volcanic  ash,  which  contains  no  fragments  of  basalt  or  other  country  rock 
(unlike  most  other  ash  deposits),  but  includes  numerous  pea-sized  nodules  of 
sulfur.  Although  the  bottom  of  this  well  is  at  present  sea  level,  and  had  been 
below  sea  level  one  or  more  times  during  the  last  10,000  years  or  so,  the  well 
is  completely  dry,    and  the  ash  from  the  bottom  is  not  salty  (by  "taste  test"). 


No.  47) 


IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION 


27 


Several  dozen  other  ash  beds,  not  surely  associated  with  craters  now 
extant,  are  found  in  the  Pinacate  Region.  Representatives  of  these  is  the  thick 
bed  on  the  northeast  side  of  the  main  peaks,  between  Tinaja  Suvuk  and  Tinaja 
de  Emilia.  Exposure  here  is  ten  feet  high,  and  several  miles  long,  with  the 
upper  surface  capped  in  some  places  by  coarse  alluvium,  and  in  others  by 
lava.  At  many  places  in  this  bed,  aeolian  cross-bedding,  evidencing  deposi- 
tion during  windy  conditions,  is  apparent,  as  in  figure  20.  From  observations 
during  the  eruption  of  Katmai,  which  formed  the  "Valley  of  Ten  Thousand 
Smokes"  in  Alaska,  in  1912  (Griggs,  1918),  it  is  apparent  that  an  ash  deposit 
of  this  magnitude  can  be  laid  down  in  something  less  than  two  weeks.  In  con- 
sequence, the  cross-bedded  section  probably  represents  only  a  single  "blow," 
such  as  a  present-day  "Norte." 

Numerous  erosional  unconformities,  some  of  them  discontinuous,  are 
found  in  these  ash  exposures.  With  most  geological  materials,  such  unconform- 
ities would  be  indicators  of  a  relatively  long  time  lapse  between  depositions. 
Here,  where  ash  deposition  was  geologically  "instantaneous,"  they  may  rep- 
resent only  a  single  desert  thunderstorm,  lasting  perhaps  two  hours. 

Genetically  related  to  the  great  calderas,  although  resembling  them  only 
in  some  features,  is  Cerro  Colorado,  a  pinkish  ash  cone  which  forms  a  prom- 
inent landmark  on  the  east  side  of  the  Pinacate  Region,  just  outside  of  the 
lava  margin.  Cerro  Colorado  is  about  350  feet  high,  and  about  a  mile  in  diam- 
eter at  its  base.    Surrounding  it  is  an  apron  of  outwash,  perhaps  a  mile  wide, 


Figure  19.  Cero  Colorado,  an  eastern  outlier  of  the  Pinacate  Volcanic  area. 
The  white  patch  in  extreme  upper  right  is  a  playa,  which  has  contained  water  several 
times  since  1931,  was  completely  grass-covered  in  the  spring  of  1961,  and  contained 
more  than  a  foot  of  water  in  late  October,  1963-  The  dark  patch  beyond  the  playa  is  a 
flow  associated  with  the  most  recent  ropy  lava  sequence.  (Pacific  Air  Industries  Pho- 
tograph, courtesy  Richard  H.  Jahns.) 


28 


CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


(Occ.  Papers 


which  has  bifurcated  a  formerly  extensive  play  a  to  the  northwest.  The  central 
part  of  the  crater  is  occupied  by  a  flat-floored  basin,  which  is  perhaps  200 
feet  above  the  "outside"  playa  floors.  An  aerial  view  of  Cerro  Colorado  com- 
prises figure  19. 


'.  - 


«£«?? 


Hi'- 


-         V^ 


be 


•-' 


*  • 


*te 


Figure    20.      Typical   exposure    ash,    showing   aeolian  cross-bedding  in  central 
portion,  and  still-air  deposition  above  and  below. 


No.  47)  IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION  29 

Studies  of  this  ash  cone  indicate  that  there  were  at  least  two  ash-emit- 
ting vents  during  the  most  recent  activity,  and  that  there  were  at  least  two 
episodes  of  ash  emission.  Soundings  in  the  extensive  playas  and  ash  flats  to 
the  south  show  that  there  were  at  least  three  ash  eruptions  at  no  great  dis- 
tance, and  that  all  three  were  deposited  in  water.  Similar  ash  several  miles 
north  of  Cerro  Colorado  shows  the  typical  vague  stratification  and  gritty  tex- 
ture of  ash  that  has  settled  in  a  dry  environment,  and  has  been  undisturbed 
since  its  initial  fall. 

An  ash  eruption,  probably  at  Cerro  Colorado,  is  graphically  described 
in  Papago  legends  (Lumholtz,  1912,  p.  203;  Ives,  1935),  and  other  considera- 
tions lead  to  the  conclusion  that  Cerro  Colorado  is  more  than  250  years  old, 
but  probably  notmorethan  1,000  years  old  (Ives,  1956).  It  is  surely  the  young- 
est of  the  major  volcanic  structures  at  Pinacate. 

Notable,  throughout  the  Pinacate  Region,  is  a  complete  absence  of  ac- 
tive or  extinct  hydrothermal  phenomena,  such  as  hot  springs  or  mud  pots,  al- 
though such  features  accompany  relatively  recent  volcanic  activity  in  adja- 
cent areas,  such  as  at  Cerro  Prieto,  Baja  California  (Ives,  1951c),  which  is 
sometimes  visible  from  the  summit  of  Pinacate  Peak.  The  "hot  wells"  north- 
east of  Lukeville  have  no  known  relation  to  the  Pinacate  volcanism. 

Most  of  the  volcanic  features  at  Pinacate  differ  from  similar  and  well 
understood  textbook  examples  of  volcanic  landforms  only  in  their  magnitude, 
plentitude,  and  excellent  exposure.  This  is  not  the  case,  however,  with  the 
great  calderas,  which  are  somewhat  unique  in  origin  and  structure,  and  prob- 
ably are  more  numerous  at   Pinacate  than  in  any  other  similar  area  on  earth. 

The  great  calderas  have  a  number  of  features  in  common,  and  hence  are 
all  probably  of  similar  origin.  Most  of  them  are  of  similar  age,  although  it  is 
improbable  that  they  were  formed  simultaneously. 

All  of  the  calderas  penetrate  stratified  basalt  several  hundred  feet  thick. 
Dips  of  these  basalt  layers  suggest  that  the  vents  from  which  the  lava  issued 
were  within  a  short  distance  of  the  centers  of  the  present  calderas.    Flow  se- 
quences indicate  that  there  were  two  groups  of  lava  effusions,  separated  by  a 
time  interval  probably  some  centuries  in  duration. 

Closely  associated  with  all  of  the  major  calderas,  generally  cut  into  by 
the  crater  walls  and  partly  buried,  in  most  instances,  by  the  rim  beds,  are  a 
number  of  cinder  cones,  usually  three.  Materials  constituting  these  cinder 
cones  are  similar  to,  but  more  vesicular  than,  those  comprising  the  upper  lava 
sequences  exposed  in  the  calderas. 

Masses  of  material  identical  to  that  in  the  rim  beds  are  found  on  the 
crater  floors  with  stratification,  dip  and  strike  randomly  disarranged,  as  in  a 
dropped  layer-cake,  plainly  evidencing  cave-in  conditions,  or  structural  col- 
lapse. 

Adjacent  to  each  crater,  and  overlying  the  rim  beds  in  some  places  are 
flows  of  relatively  recent  lava,   extruded  in  a  rather  viscous  state,   so  that 


30  CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES  (Occ.  Papers 

flow  brecciation  is  well  developed.  The  lava  chaos,  south  of  Crater  Elegante, 
is  an  excellent  example  of  this. 

From  this  evidence,  the  great  craters  at  Pinacate  can  be  classified  as 
typical  collapse  calderas,  according  to  Williams'  (1941)  definition. 

Steps  in  the  formation  of  the  Pinacate  calderas  are  approximately  the 
following.  After  a  period  of  reasonably  normal  volcanic  activity,  with  inter- 
mittent outpourings  of  lava, eruption  of  fragmentary  ejecta,  which  may  have 
continued  intermittently  for  hundreds,  or  even  thousands  of  years,  the  source 
magma  beneath  the  vent  began  to  emit  great  quantities  of  gases,  which  carried 
basalt  foam,  small  ("football-sized")  pieces  of  hardened  basalt,  and  chunks 
of  country  rock  torn  away  from  the  walls  of  the  magma  chamber. 

The  ejecta,  after  being  carried  high  into  the  atmosphere,  fell  back  to 
earth,  forming  the  rim  beds  and  a  cone  of  unknown  dimensions  at  the  present 
site  of  the  caldera.  At  some  craters,  at  least,  there  occurred  more  than  one 
episode  of  ash  eruption. 

At  some  time  after  the  ash  eruption,  the  magma,  having  lost  its  gas  con- 
tent, shrank  in  its  underground  chamber,  producing  a  void  into  which  the  cen- 
tral part  of  the  cone  and  parts  of  the  vent  walls  collapsed.  The  resultant  col- 
lapse depression  was  the  ancestor  of  the  present  caldera.  There  is  some  rea- 
son to  believe  that  the  reduction  in  magma  pressure,  at  each  major  caldera, 
was  brought  about  by  a  flow  of  lava  from  an  adjacent  vent  tapping  the  same 
magma. 

Although  minor  details  remain  to  be  worked  out,  and  there  is  no  assur- 
ance that  these  were  exactly  the  same  at  every  caldera,  the  situation  at  each 
is  definitely  one  of  a  volcano  whose  cone  collapsed,  rather  than  that  of  one 
whose  cone  was  blown  away. 

Cause  of  the  change  of  volcanic  emission  from  fluid  lava  to  ash-carrying 
gases  is  most  plausibly  explained  by  assuming  that  the  local  magma  chamber 
under  the  caldera  site  stoped  its  way  upward  until  it  came  in  contact  with  the 
local  water  table.  When  this  occurred,  crater  eruptions  became  largely  super- 
heated steam  under  high  pressure.  The  local  water  table  here  today  is  approx- 
imately at  present  sea  level,  and  is  recharged  by  the  Sonoyta  River,  whose 
ancient  buried  channels  crisscross  the  northern  lava  apron  of  Pinacate  Peak. 
The  foregoing  paragraph,  it  should  be  understood,  is  a  working  hypothesis  which 
cannot  be  rigorously  tested  on  the  basis  of  currently  available  field  data. 

Recently,  Kelly  (1952)  pointed  out  a  number  of  similarities  between 
Crater  Elegante  and  a  meteor  crater  (such  as  Coon  Butte,  near  Winslow,  Ari- 
zona), suggesting  a  meteoric  origin  for  Crater  Elegante.  The  similarities  point- 
ed cut  by  Kelly  are  real,  and  demonstrate  keen  and  accurate  observation.  Un- 
happily, however,  Kelly's  tabulation  is  actually  a  list  ofthe  features  common 
to  both  impact  and  collapse  craters. 

Differentiation   between   a  meteor  crater   and  a  caldera  is   most  easily 


No.  47)  IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION  31 

done  by  study  of  the  structure  and  composition  of  the  rim  beds.  Those  of  a 
meteor  crater,  being  formed  by  a  single  impact  and  explosion,  are  laid  down  in 
one  continuous  episode,  lasting  at  most  a  few  hours.  Their  mass  will  never 
be  more  than  that  of  the  "missing"  crater  material,  and  they  are  most  unlikely 
to  have  any  consistent  bedding  or  stratification. 

Rim  beds  of  a  caldera,  in  contrast,  are  laid  down  during  one  or  more 
eruptive  episodes,  each  lasting  an  appreciable  time  (days,  weeks,  or  months). 
Volcanic  rim  beds,  wherever  seen,  have  a  rough  stratification;  and  commonly, 
as  at  Pinacate  (also  at  Katmai),  contain  aeolian  cross-bedding  and  cut-and- 
fill  structures.  The  mass  of  rim-bed  material  and  volcanic  ash  commonly  great- 
ly exceeds  that  of  the  "missing"  crater  material,  sometimes  by  a  factor  of 
ten  or  more. 

Meteor  crater  rim  beds  are  composed  of  mechanically  shattered  country 
rock,  and  can  be  substantially  duplicated  by  crushing  the  same  material  in  a 
mortar.  Rim  beds  of  volcanic  origin,  however,  even  though  they  are  chemically 
similar  to  the  source  rocks,  are  of  much  lesser  density,  and  of  a  more  glassy 
texture.  An  appreciable  percentage  of  these  fragments  contain  locked-up  stress- 
es, so  that,  when  scratched  with  a  diamond  point,  they  disintegrate  explosive- 
ly, like  "Rupert's  drops."  Volcanic  rim-bed  components  closely  resemble  com- 
mercial insulatingmaterials  ("rock  wool,"  etc.)  made  by  blowing  superheated 
steam  through  molten  slag;  which  is  just  about  the  way  they  were  produced  in 
nature. 

The  presence  of  magnetic  rock  fragments  on  the  desert  surface  near 
Crater  Elegante,  cited  by  Kelly,  is  a  normal  desert  phenomenon.  Nodules  com- 
posed of  various  magnetic  iron-manganese  oxides,  but  lacking  a  metallic  core 
and  hence  lacking  the  Widmanstatten  lines  characteristic  of  meteoric  iron, 
are  normal  components  of  the  "desert  pavement"  in  most  parts  of  western 
North  America. 

Water  Holes 

Because  of  their  survival  importance,  the  water  holes  of  the  Pinacate 
Region  could  well  be  regarded  as  the  principal  geographic  features  of  the 
area.  Known  water  holes  which  can  be  found  in  the  lava  region  are  shown  in 
figure  5.  Whether  or  not  a  given  water  hole  will  contain  water  at  a  specific 
time  depends  upon  the  nature  of  the  natural  reservoir,  and  the  previous  sea- 
son's rainfall  intensity  and  distribution. 

The  largest  and  most  dependable  water  hole  in  the  area  is  Tinaja  de 
Los  Papagos,  which  consists  of  three  rock  pools,  and  has  a  very  large  col- 
lecting area.  These  natural  tanks  normally  contain  water  for  two  or  more  years 
after  a  heavy  rainfall,  and  have  seldom  been  completely  dry  during  recorded 
history.  The  water  in  them,  however,  becomes  most  foul  ("como  un  pozo  neg- 
ro") two  years  after  a  natural  replenishment. 


32  CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES  (Occ.  Papers 

Batamote,  the  easternmost  of  the  Pinacate  water  holes,  apparently  re- 
ceives some  of  the  underflow  of  the  (usually  dry)  Rio  de  Sonoyta.  Although  it 
reportedly  never  goes  completely  dry,  the  water  becomes  almost  undrinkably 
saline,  and  highly  cathartic,  during  dry  seasons. 

Tinaja  de  Carlina,  Tinaja  de  Emilia,  and  Tinaja  de  los  Chivos  usually 
contain  water  for  slightly  more  than  a  year  after  refilling,  so  that,  until  the 
recent  diminution  in  summer  storms,  they  were  classified  as  "permanent" 
water  holes. 

The  other  water  holes  are  much  more  ephemeral,  most  of  them   contain- 
ing water  for  only  a  few  weeks  or  months  after  a  heavy  rain  in  their  immediate 
vicinity.   The  writer  has  never  seen  water  in  the  unnamed  tinaja  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Sierra  Blanca,   for  example,  although  an  excellent  pool  structure 
is  present,  which  should  hold  water  for  several  years  if  ever  filled. 

Recent  field  studies  have  shown  a  great  confusion  of  names  and  loca- 
tions with  respect  to  the  Pinacate  water  holes,  and  these  same  investigations 
have  given  clues  to  the  reason.  Various  travellers  have  gone  to  the  described 
sites  of  named  water  holes,  and  found  water.  In  natural  consequence,  they 
have  assumed  that  the  water  hole  found  was  the  named  water  hole.  Later,  in 
comparing  notes  and  photographs  with  others,  it  was  learned  that  the  "Tinaja 
del  Zorillo"  of  one  worker  bore  little  physical  resemblance  to  the  "Tinaja 
del  Zorillo"  of  another  worker,  even  though  the  locations  were  substantially 
identical.  There  is  also  the  problem  of  several  names  attached  to  (supposedly) 
the  same  water  hole.  Tinaja  de  Emilia,  for  example,  is  also  known  as  "The 
Old  Pinacate  Tank,"  and  as  Tinajas  (note  plurality)  de  Palo  Verde.  Recent 
field  work  has  shown  that  this  is  not  a  single  water  hole,  as  was  commonly 
believed,  but  a  family  of  four  large  pools  and  half  a  dozen  smaller  ones  in  an 
area  perhaps  half  a  mile  square.  Interestingly,  the  Papago  Indians  were  aware 
of  this  multiplicity  many  generations  ago,  for  they  named  the  area  Moitjutupo 
(many  pools).  A  similar  situation  seems  to  prevail  at  every  other  water  hole 
in  the  area,  with  only  some  of  the  subsidiary  pools  as  yet  surely  located. 
There  is  no  assurance  that  all  of  the  water  holes  or  groups  of  water  holes  at 
Pinacate  have  been  located  by  white  men. 

Studies  of  the  reservoir  structures  at  Pinacate  disclose  that  most  of 
them  are  plunge  pools  below  knick-point  waterfalls,  the  knick-point  usually 
being  located  at  the  edge  of  a  lava  flow.  A  typical  water  hole,  the  lower  pool 
at  Tinaja  de  Carlina,  due  east  of  Pinacate  Peak,  is  shown  in  figure  21.  There 
are  six  other  pools,  most  of  them  leaky  and  of  small  capacity,  up  canyon  from 
this  site.  In  a  number  of  arroyos,  former  water  hole  structures  can  be  found, 
with  the  reservoir  structure  completely  eroded  away,  so  that  it  will  no  longer 
store  water. 

Because  of  the  geologic  youth  of  the  area,  and  of  the  great  hardness  of 
the   local  basalts,  many  observers  have  found  great  difficulty  in  reconciling 


No.  47) 


IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION 


33 


*m 


^-v 


;**•• 


fa 


Figure    21.     Tinaja  de  Carlina,   a  typical  plunge-pool    water  hole  at  Pinacate. 


the  deep  erosion  of  the  water  hole  structures  with  the  known  scanty  rainfall 
of  the  region.  Actually,  the  problem  was  completely  solved  by  G.  K.  Gilbert 
(1917),  almost  half  a  century  ago,  when  he  observed  deep  channeling  of  ba- 
salt lavas,  in  a  matter  of  weeks,  by  the  debris-laden  runoff  waters  of  hydraulic 
mining  operations.  The  same  general  erosion  situation  prevails  at  Pinacate, 
although  the  erosion  proceeds  intermittently  there,  and  not  continuously,  as 
in  a  hydraulic  mining  operation. 

During  the  "annual"  rains,  when  all  of  a  year's  rainfall  occurs  in  one 
afternoon  (always  in  folklore,  commonly  in  actuality),  the  runoff  waters  chan- 
nel into  the  steeper  arroyos,  there  attaining  measured  speeds  exceeding  1,000 
feet  per  minute.  At  the  same  time,  they  carry,  in  suspension,  up  to  35  per 
cent,  by  volume,  of  rock  fragments,  which  are  at  least  as  hard,  on  the  average, 
as  the  basalt  forming  the  walls  and  floors  of  the  arroyos.  Additionally,  the 
runoff  waters  carry  and  roll  along  a  considerable  bed  load  of  basalt  and  other 
fragments. 

In  consequence,  the  runoff  waters  in  contact  with  the  walls  and  floors 
of  the  arroyos  have  most  of  the  properties  of  grade-B  valve -grinding  compound, 
and  very  rapidly  corrade  the  confining  rocks.  Because  of  the  increased  vis- 
cosity of  the  runoff,  by  virtue  of  its  suspended  and  transported  debris  load, 
and  the  rapidity  of  motion,   the  corrosion  shapes  are  largely  determined  by  lo- 


34 


CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


(Occ.  Papers 


Figure   22.    Sculpture  of  basalt  by  debris-laden  flood  waters. 

cal  flow  pattern  of  the  runoff,  and  are  little  influenced  by  the  joint  arrangement 
in  the  rock. 

The  typical  rock  sculpture  by  rapidly-flowing  and  debris-laden  runoff 
waters,  in  an  arroyo  at  the  western  extremity  of  the  lava  cascade,  on  the  north- 
east slope  of  the  main  Pinacate  massif,  is  shown  in  figure  22.  Note  that  the 
corrasion  structures  here  cut  directly  across  the  local  joint  pattern,  which 
here  is  mostly  cooling-cracks. 

At  present  rainfall  frequencies  and  intensities,  it  appears  that  a  lava 
flow,   in  this  environment,    having  suitable  knick-points,  will  develop  plunge- 
pool  structures,   and  hence  water  holes,  in  about  five  centuries   after  the  lava 
cools.    An  increase  in  the  rainfall  will  speed  up  this  process  only  if  the  tor- 
rential nature  of  the  runoff  is  maintained. 


Former  Inhabitants 

The  Pinacate  Region  today  is  completely  uninhabited,  and  goes  unvis- 
ited  for  weeks  and  sometimes  months  at  a  time.  The  last  regular  resident  of 
the  area,  the  hermit  Carvajales,  an  Arefiero  Papago,  disappeared  from  the 
record  about  1912.  For  some  years  prior  to  that,  he  lived  in  a  cave  near  Tina- 
ja  de  los  Papagos,  at  first  with  his  wife,  and  later  alone.     He  subsisted  on 


No.  47)  IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION  35 

camotes  ("roots  of  the  sand,"  Ammobroma  sonorae),  which  he  dug  in  the  sand 
dunes  west  of  the  lavas,  and  corn  and  beans  which  he  grew  at  an  ancient 
temporale  about  two  miles  downstream  (west)  from  Tinaja  de  los  Papagos. 
About  once  a  year,  he  went  to  Sonoyta  with  his  burro,  to  purchase  luxury  items 
(flour,  sugar,  tobacco)  and  to  get  drunk. 

During  most  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  for  an  unknown  time  before, 
there  were  two  bands  of  Indians,  iocally  called  Areneros  (sand  people),  living 
at  Pinacate.  The  eastern  band  were  essentially  Papago  in  their  language  and 
culture,  and  remained  on  friendly  terms  with  the  inland  Papago  of  Arizona  and 
Sonora.  Most  of  these  died  of  some  sort  of  a  plague  about  1851  (Lumholtz,  p. 
329),  the  survivors  went  inland,  and  were  absorbed  into  the  Papago  population. 
One  of  these,  Jose  Juan  of  Quitovaquita,  lived  to  a  great  age,  and  was  a  fre- 
quent visitor  to  Sonoyta,  where  he  was  regarded  as  "un  buen  Indio— un  cabal- 
lero." 

The  western  band  of  Areneros  were  apparently  linguistically  Papago, 
but  had  close  cultural  relationships  with  the  Yumas,  to  the  northwest,  from 
whom  they  obtained  most  of  their  pottery.  During  the  mid-nineteenth  century, 
they  became  known  as  bad  actors,  and  were  accused  (probably  correctly)  of 
numerous  robberies  and  murders  along  the  Camino  del  Diablo.  Finally,  about 
1890,  a  Mexican  posse,  sent  out  to  avenge  two  murders  near  Sonoyta,  killed 
or  drove  out  the  Areneros  on  the  west  side  of  Pinacate.  These  numbered  about 
100  at  the  time. 

Dependable  local  informants,  such  as  Alberto  Celaya,  of  Sonoyta,  state 
that  the  Areneros  probably  never  numbered  more  than  about  200,    a  figure  sub- 
stantiated by  the  census  contained  in  the  Kino-Manje-Salvatierra  narratives  of 
two  and  a  half  centuries  ago.     This  figure  is  also  compatible  with  the  water 
and  game  availability  at  Pinacate  prior  to  about  1940. 

For  some  centuries  prior  to  1910,  the  Areneros  were  regularly  visited 
by  groups  of  inland  Papago,  who  journeyed  to  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Cali- 
fornia to  gather  salt  (Lumholtz,  1912,  pp.  99,  163,  218,  269-272,  285).  Addi- 
tionally, there  were  periodic  visits,  by  inland  Papago  parties,  to  various  "holy 
places"  at  Pinacate;  and  various  tribal  gatherings,  apparently  for  games  and 
ceremonials,  at  Tinaja  de  los  Chivos. 

Evidence  left  behind  by  the  Areneros  includes  a  profusion  of  pottery 
shards  at  all  campsites,  groups  of  shelter  circles  (Ezell,  1954)  and  bedrock 
mortars  at  major  water  holes,  several  agricultural  sites  ("temporales"),  and 
a  complicated  network  of  trails  from  water  hole  to  water  hole.  Remaining  sec- 
tors of  these  trails  are  mapped  in  figure  5.  The  appearance  of  such  a  trail, 
between  Tinaja  de  Emilia  and  Tinaja  de  Carlina,  is  shown  in  figure  23.  Many 
other  trail  sectors,  not  shown  in  the  map,  are  visible  from  the  air. 

Throughout  the  Pinacate  Region,  and  in  surrounding  areas,  there  is  a 
profusion  of  marine  shells,  mostly  of  types,  such  as  Cardium,  which  are  use- 


36 


CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 


(Occ.  Papers 


ful  as  utensils  and  tools.  Edge  wear  on  many  specimens  shows  clearly  that 
they  were  so  used.  Some  of  the  shells  are  quite  young,  still  containing  organic 
material,  suggesting  an  age  of  less  than  about  100  years.    Other  ages  are  rep- 


23-     This  dim  narrow  trail  was  worn  into  the  lava  mantle  rock  at 
by  the  bare  or  sandled  feet  of  Arehero  Papagos. 


Pinacate 


No.  47)  IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION  37 

resented.  The  oldest  shells  which  are  classified  as  artifacts  only  by  infer- 
ence, not  only  contain  no  organic  material,  but  are  decalcified  and  disintegrat- 
ing, suggesting  ages  of  many  hundreds  of  years.  These  shells  and  small  frag 
ments  show  clearly  that  the  Areneros,  and  perhaps  their  predecessors,  either 
visited  the  seacoast  frequently,  or  had  close  relations  with  people  who  did. 
Some  reports  (Childs,  1954)  indicate  that  the  western  Areneros  augmented 
their  diets  with  fish  and  shellfish. 

Extrapolation  of  dates  from  other  areas  (Rogers,  1958)  suggests  that 
the  beginning  date  of  the  Arenero  occupation  of  the  Pinacate  Region  was  about 
700  A.D.  This  is  a  tentative  date,  which  could  well  be  in  error  by  a  century 
or  more,  and  should  be  reviewed  whenever  radiocarbon  datings  of  salient  or- 
ganic cultural  materials  become  available. 

Voluminous,  but  not  very  specific,  evidence  in  the  form  of  very  old 
transported  marine  shells  and  bones;  lithic  artifacts  with  weathered,  oxidized, 
or  sandblasted  surfaces  or  with  caliche  induration;  shell  mounds  on  the  aban- 
doned "25-foot"  complex  of  shorelines;  and  old  campsites  in  places  that  are 
now  unsuitable;  strongly  suggest  the  presence  of  one  or  more  pre- Arenero  cul- 
tures in  and  about  the  Pinacate  Region. 

Recent  and  continuing  studies  by  Paul  Ezell  (1954),  of  San  Diego,  and 
Julian  Hayden,  of  Tucson,  Arizona,  show  plainly  that  there  were  pre-Arenero 
cultures  in  the  Pinacate  Region.  The  immediate  predecessors  of  the  Aren- 
ero were  the  Amargosa  people,  who  first  came  to  the  area  about  2,000  years 
ago  as  Amargosa  I,  and  who  vanished  from  the  record,  as  Amargosa  II,  about 
700  A.D.,    probably  by  assimilation    into  the  group    now  known  as  Arenero. 

During  an  appreciable  part  of  the  period  from  about  5,000  to  about  2,000 
years  ago,  the  Pinacate  Region  was  occupied  by  the  SanDieguito  I  people, 
who  are  known  principally  for  their  lithic  artifacts.  Details  of  the  transition 
from  San  Dieguito  I  to  Amargosa  I  are  not  shown  by  available  evidence,  al- 
though a  drying  climate  at  roughly  the  time  of  the  transition  is  somewhat  sug- 
gestive. 

During  the  Altithermal  interval,  a  time  of  high  temperatures  and  great 
drought,  filling  an  appreciable  part  of  the  interval  from  10,000  to  5,000  years 
ago,  there  is  no  record  of  human  occupation  of  the  Pinacate  Region,  or  of  other 
sites  for  some  distance  to  the  north  and  west. 

Not  satisfactorily  fitted  into  the  regional  archaeological  record  are  the 
people  who  accumulated  shell  mounds  and  middens  along  the  shores  of  the 
Gulf  of  California  during  the  occupation,  by  the  sea,  of  the  "25-foot"  shore- 
line sequence  (Ives,  1963a).  Marine  occupation  of  this  shoreline  sequence  oc- 
curred several  times  duringthe  approximate  interval  10,000  B.C.  to  2,000  B.C., 
and  some  crustal  warpage  took  place  during  this  time,  producing  a  multipli- 
city of  shorelines  in  some  places,  as  at  Bahia  laCholla.  At  various  locations 
on  this  shoreline  are  shell  mounds  and  middens,  some  containing  shells  that 
are  unquestionably  old,  and  some  certainly  of  no  great  antiquity.  None  of  these 


38  CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES  (Occ.  Papers 

mounds  are  as  large  as  the  great  shell  mound  at  Punta  Antigualla,  between 
Kino  Bay  and  Boca  del  Infierno,  west  of  Hermosillo. 

Present  evidence  does  not  disclose  with  any  assurance  whether  there 
was  once  a  shore  culture  west  of  Pinacate,  somewhat  like  the  Seri  of  early 
historic  times;  or  whether  the  shell  mounds  were  built  by  members  of  other 
identified  cultures,  who  visited  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  repeatedly,  as  did  the 
western  Arenero.  Quite  obviously,  more  specific  datings  of  the  shorelines 
are  much  to  be  desired. 

No  evidence  has  been  found,  in  the  Pinacate  Region,  of  any  early  men 
who  hunted  the  mammoth  and  ground  sloth,  nor  is  there  any  present  evidence 
or  suggestion  of  human  occupation  of  the  lava  areas  prior  to  San  Dieguito  I 
time  (about  5,000  years  ago). 

Tentative  Chronology 

Field  evidence  in  the  Pinacate  Region  discloses  a  complex  sequence 
of  physiographic  and  climatic  changes,  all  taking  place  within  a  relatively 
short  time,  geologically  speaking.  Some  of  the  stratigraphic  sequences  permit 
datings,  but  these  can  be  only  tentative.  Most  of  the  materials  at  Pinacate 
are  too  old  for  effective  radiocarbon  dating;  and  much  too  young  for  effective 
use  of  helium-lead  206,  and  similar  methods. 

Largely  by  extrapolation  from  other  areas,  it  is  concluded  that  the  first 
major  lava  outpouring  at  Pinacate  occurred  at  about  the  time  of  the  Pliocene- 
Pleistocene  transition,  or  perhaps  one  million  years  ago.  The  topography  at 
that  time  was  considerably  rougher  than  at  present,  as  the  immense  deposits 
of  Quaternary  alluvium  had  yet  to  be  eroded  from  the  uplands  and  laid  down 
upon  the  bolson  floors.  The  climate  was  much  like  that  at  present,  with  rain- 
fall scanty  and  torrential,  as  is  shown  clearly  by  sediments  laid  down  by  riv- 
ers in  the  Sonoyta  Valley  and  elsewhere. 

From  the  sequence  at  Punta  Pehasco  it  is  plain  that  the  first  major 
lava  outpouring  was  followed  by  a  period  of  erosion,  then  by  eruptions  of  ash, 
and  still  later  by  another  massive  outpouring  of  basalt.  These  lavas  were  ex- 
tensively faulted  and  eroded,  so  that  only  the  exposures  at  Punta  Penasco  and 
Batamote  remain  today.  During  a  part  of  this  time  the  lava  at  Punta  Penasco, 
but  not  that  at  Batamote,  became  the  floor  of  a  playa,  as  is  indicated  by  a 
deposit  of  gypsum  atop  the  promontory.  Shortly  after  this,  for  the  gypsum  is 
nowhere  deeply  eroded,  the  area  was  submerged,  producing  a  bed  of  turritella 
shells  and  a  boulder  beach  on  the  summit  of  Punta  Penasco.  This  submerg- 
ence is  related  to  the  "300-foot"  shoreline  of  other  reports.  As  this  shore- 
line cannot  be  traced  northward  beyond  the  Pinacates,  or  southward  much  be- 
yond the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Concepcion,  the  submergence  of  the  Punta  Pehasco 
area  is  attributed  to  local  crustal  warpage,  rather  than  to  a  widespread  change 
of  sea  level. 


No.  47) 


IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION 


39 


Shells  connected  with  this  shoreline  are  of  modern  types,  still  living  in 
the  Gulf;  they  lack  organic  matter,  and  are  slightly  decalcified,  making  them 
somewhat  fragile.  From  this  evidence,  it  is  concluded  that  the  "300-foot" 
shoreline  is  not  much  older  than  early  Wisconsin. 

If,  as  is  usually  the  case,  the  regional  water  table  rose  in  response  to 
the  rise  in  sea  level  producing  the  "300-foot"  shoreline  (and  later  reverted 
to  its  present  stand  at  approximately  modern  sea  level),  the  maximum  level  of 
the  lake  which  once  occupied  Crater  Elegante  is  explained,  as  is  also  the 
present  adequate  subdrainage  of  the  crater,  and  a  check  on  the  dating  of  the 
crater  is  furnished. 

A  second  stratigraphic  sequence,  partly  overlapping  the  first,  is  furn- 
ished by  the  sediments  and  shorelines  at  Pelican  Point,  just  west  of  Bahia  la 
Cholla.  Here,  on  the  east  face  of  a  granite  faultblock  mountain,  there  is  a 
large  stratified  deposit  of  "marine  peat,"  composed  of  roots,  muck,  and  shell 
fragments.  This  is  correlated  with  the  "300-foot"  shoreline  on  the  basis  of 
type  and  condition  of  organic  content.  The  "marine  peat"  has  been  eroded  con- 
siderably, and  is  overlain  by  volcanic  ash,  present  as  a  large  ramp  (fig.  23) 
to  the  north,  and  as  a  smaller  ramp  to  the  south.  The  base  of  the  large  ramp 
is  clearly  truncated  by  both  members  of  the  "25-foot"  shoreline,  here  more 
than  60  feet  above  msl.  owing  to  local  crustal  warping.  This  places  the  age 
of  the  ash  ramp,  attributed  to  Moon  Crater  (fig.  5),  somewhere  between  earli- 
est Wisconsin,  the  probable  age  of  the  "300-foot"  shoreline,  and  10,000  to 
2,000  B.C.,  the  age  of  the  "25-foot"  shoreline.  Inspection  of  the  degree  of 
erosion  of  the  various  deposits  indicates  that  the  ash  ramps  are  not  very  much 
older  than  the  "25-foot"  shoreline;  and  that  they  are  very  much  younger  than 
the  "marine  peat"  associated  with  the  older  (and  higher)  shoreline.  This 
evidence  is  shown  in  figure  24. 


Figure  24.  Eastern  face  of  Pelican  Point,  west  of  Bahia  la  Cholla,  Sonora, 
showing  sedimentary  veneers  and  shorelines.  M  =  "marine  peat,"  A  =  ash  beds, 
SS  =  shorelines,  both  being  members  of  the  "25-foot"  complex.  North,  and  Bahia  la 
Cholla,  are  to  the  right  of  this  view. 


40  CALIFORNIA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES  (Occ.  Papers 

Study  of  more  complicated  geological  sequences  suggests  that  the  main 
Pinacate  Peaks  attained  approximately  their  present  height  and  shape  perhaps 
100,000  years  ago;  and  that  the  lava  cascade,  many  of  the  peripheral  lavas, 
and  most  of  the  cinder  cones  date  from  the  Wisconsin,  during  which  most  of 
the  great  calderas  were  formed.  The  most  recent  lavas,  and  some  of  the  small- 
er spatter  cones  (as  at  Batamote),    are  probably  of  very  late  Wisconsin  age. 

Most   recent  major  activity  at  Pinacate  was   almost  certainly  the  last 
ash  eruption  at  Cerro  Colorado,  concerning  which  there  is  apparently  aPapago 
legend,  suggesting  that  it  took  place  after  700  A. D.  The  presence  of  volcanic 
ash  in  a  sedimentary  stratum  also  containing  Hohokam  artifacts    (about  700- 
1300  A.D.),  at  Sonoyta,  lends  support  to  this  speculation. 

Available  evidence  furnishes  no  clue  concerning  the  period  of  dormancy 
of  Pinacate.  It  is  entirely  possible  that  the  source  magma  is  now  exhausted, 
so  that  the  various  volcanos  there  can  be  classed  as  extinct.  It  is  equally 
possible,  however,  that  the  area  is  merely  quiescent,  and  is  "building  up 
steam"  for  another  series  of  eruptions.  Present  conditions  (June,  1962),  which 
include  lack' of  hydrothermal  phenomena,  absence  of  local  hot  areas,  and  ab- 
sence of  recurrent  local  microseisms,  give  considerable  assurance  that  Pina- 
cate will  not  go  into  violent  eruption  without  some  such  warnings. 

Work  in  Progress 

Because  of  its  size  and  complexity,  the  Pinacate  Region  is  by  no  means 
scientifically  "worked  out"  by  the  publication  of  this  geographical  paper.    A 
number  of  other  studies  by  the  author  are  now  under  way.    These  include:  (1) 
a  study  of  drainage  and  drainage  changes  in  the  Pinacate  Region  as  a  result 
of  volcanic  activity;  (2)  a  study  of  Pleistocene  shoreline  warpages  along  the 
Gulf  coast;  (3)  and  a  study  of  flooding  in  the  Sonoyta  Valley.   Other  continuing 
studies  on  the  Region  are  those  of  Paul  Ezell  (1954)  of  San  Diego  State  Col- 
lege, on  Arenero  and  related  cultures;  Julian  D.  Hayden  of  Tucson,   Arizona, 
on  the  cultures  at  Pinacate,  together  with  detail  mapping  of  ancient  trails  in 
the  area;   and  Richard  H.  Jahns  (1955)  of  Pennsylvania  State  College,  on  the 
caldera  morphology  at  Pinacate.  A  "Discovery"  report  on  Moon  Crater,  and  a 
summary  of  the  field  findings  during  more  than  two  decades  of  work  at   Pina- 
cate, by  Glenton  G.  Sykes  of  Tucson,  Arizona,  is  much  hoped  for. 

Acknowledgments 

During  the  long  course  of  this  study,  which  was  twice  interrupted  by 
military  service,  valuable  assistance  of  many  sorts  was  received  from  a  large 
number  of  people.  Unhappily,  a  majority  of  them  have  not  lived  to  see  the 
completion  of  the  field  work.  These  include  Dr.  Daniel  Trembly  Mac  Dougal 
of  Carmel,  California;  Col.  Jefferson  Davis  Milton,  of  Tombstone,  Arizona; 
Judge  Isuaro  Quiroz,  of  Sonoyta,  Sonora;  Mr.  Pedro  Bravo,  of  Ajo,  Arizona; 
and  Jose  Juan  (Orozco),  of  Quitovaquita,  Arizona-Sonora. 


No.  47)  IVES:  THE  PINACATE  REGION  41 

To  Alberto  Celaya,  of  Sonoyta,  Sonora  (1885-1962:  Ives,  1962c),  the 
writer  is  indebted  for  hospitality  on  many  occasions  over  a  period  of  more 
than  thirty  years,  for  sound  advice,  and  for  a  great  quantity  of  useful  and  de- 
pendable information.  Several  other  members  of  the  Celaya  family  have  also 
given  valuable  help.  To  Mr.  Ygnacio  C.  Quiroz  (1887-1962:  Ives,  1963b),  pio- 
neer settler  at  Bahia  la  Cholla,  the  writer  is  indebted  for  hospitality  on  many 
occasions,  transportation  to  many  historic  sites,  and  helpful  discussions  of 
local  historical  and  anthropological  problems.  Mr.  Caesario  Mota,  long  time 
Chief  of  Immigration  at  Sonoyta,  assisted  the  writer  on  many  occasions  by  un- 
tangling the  red  tape  incident  to  border  crossings,  and  provided  helpful  local 
information. 

Mr.  Julian  Hayden,  of  Tucson,  Arizona,  assisted  greatly  in  this  work 
by  supplying  advance  information  on  the  archaeological  phases  of  his  investi- 
gations at  Pinacate.  The  writer  is  greatly  indebted  to  Rev.  Dr.  Bonaventure 
Oblasser,  O.F.M.,  known  to  the  Papago  people  for  the  last  half-century  as 
"Palthi  Ventura,"  for  helpful  discussions  of  field  problems. 


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