Arizona (mostly)

The former US Post Office in Yuma – if you look closely at a larger size of the picture, you can see the outline of “United States Post Office” behind the name of the company that now owns the building. Considering the architecture and the time that it was built, I suspected that it was probably built with New Deal funds. I could find no evidence supporting that assumption, but the information about its construction in the application for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (see link below) suggests that New Deal funds may have been used. The original funding was appropriated in 1931, before the beginning of the New Deal, but the beginning of construction was in 1933 close to the time that New Deal funds were being released to Arizona. Additionally, at the dedication, the governor's secretary "made a plea to Arizona citizens for greater unity in support of the national and state recovery programs" focus.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/85003109.pdf

One surprising discovery in Yuma, when I first visited there in 2007, was the combination of the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway bridge and the parks along the Colorado River. The bridge, dedicated in 1915, was the first major bridge across the Colorado and a significant link in the first transcontinental highways. More details on the bridge (and park) are with subsequent pictures.

The very sedate and controlled (now) Colorado River in downtown Yuma. When I first visited Yuma in 2007, and even on this last visit, I found it startling how much the riverside park area feels like a very friendly communal park. This is taken from just a few feet away from being under the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway bridge (the visible bridge is for rail), and the majority of the river here is very shallow -- though see later pictures.

Looking west at sunset from the Colorado River park in downtown Yuma. Under the tree is a rope that the two guys in the river had used for swinging out and jumping into the river.

Nearing dusk as the lights on the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway bridge come on.

Ocean-to-Ocean Highway bridge, after sunset.

Sunset at the Yuma Territorial jail, with the railroad and Ocean-to-Ocean bridges to the left.

Doesn't look 102 years old... Original plaque, though probably has been removed a few times for painting..

The photo here is from 2010, of the Black Mesa and Lake Powell Railroad, a short line created to move coal from a mine on the Navajo reservation in Arizona to a giant coal-fired generating plant near Lake Powell. The size of the coal-fired plant, and its proximity to the Grand Canyon and other major recreational area, has been a point of contention for environmentalists ever since the plant was planned. The plant was built to generate electricity for major portions of the west, including the Los Angeles and Phoenix areas – Los Angeles pulled out of that agreement a number of years back as there was increasing pressure in California for cleanrer energy production, but the plant continued to be a major source of energy in the Western grid. There are plans now to shut down the plant – those plans developed not out of environmental concerns but the economics that have resulted in electricity from natural gas being so much less expensive than from coal-fired. This situation, of course, puts the tribe that owns and operates the coal mine in a very difficult situation of losing close to 900 jobs. Considering the current presidential administration’s attitudes towards deregulating, there is hope by the tribe that the plant will be saved, but the current economics do not work in favor of that. As is the issue for the whole coal industry – how to provide meaningful employment while saving the planet. Follow the Black Mesa and Lake Powell Railroad keyword to see the other, earlier, pictures from this railroad.

Leaving Yuma, AZ, I had noticed a long eastbound UP train of military equipment on the tracks paralleling I-8; I was finally able to pull off and get some shots of the train from the old US-80 road at Mohawk Pass.

At Mohawk Pass in Arizona, a long train of military equipment, heading east. Based on the mix of equipment, I was guessing that this was equipment of a US military unit, but the lack of insignia raised doubts about that assumption. See adjacent pictures.

At Mohawk Pass in Arizona, a long train of military equipment, heading east. Based on the mix of equipment, I was guessing that this was equipment of a US military unit, but the lack of insignia raised doubts about that assumption. See adjacent pictures.

At Mohawk Pass in Arizona, a long train of military equipment, heading east. Based on the mix of equipment, I was guessing that this was equipment of a US military unit, but the lack of insignia raised doubts about that assumption. See adjacent pictures.

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, between Phoenix and Tucson. I’ve been curious about this monument for quite some time and have kept meaning to explore it since I’m frequently crossing through that area. Most pictures of it, though, typically show just like this, which doesn’t give much perspective of the monument or of the relationship between this structure and the surrounding area – see the next picture.

This photo, with humans in it, provides at least some sense of the size of the main structure, and by highlighting the other structures on the grounds, the context. Though the area around the monument looks desolate, the Gila River in its current state is relatively close (1.5 miles); prior to modern channeling and flood control it was a much larger river. The park’s literature states that farming along the Gila dates back 4100 years and that canalizing of the river by indigenous populations dates back 3500 years (see nearby photo # 0623). The Grand House would have thus been a site, possibly for ceremonial purposes, for a farming village dependent on the river; the other walled enclosures on the site represent residences and other structures that would have been part of the village. It is estimated that the village would have been active around 1350 but was largely abandoned by 1450 – there is no written history to provide more exact details. The history provided in the visitor center and around the park are excellent; a visit of an hour or so is sufficient and gives a very different perspective from other historic Indian sites around the state. Park website: www.nps.gov/cagr/index.htm

A map indicating the indigenous communities, and canal structures, that would have existed along the Gila River 1000 years ago.

Plaque describing the long continuity in irrigated farming along the Gila, along with an artist rendering of what a village may looked like 1000 years ago.

Interesting history of the initial discovery of the structure, the historic vandalizing of it, its naming, and the initial move (in 1889) to protect the site.