Joseph Edward Kirkwood

“ To the "tanques" come the horses, the mules, the burros, the sheep, the goats and every other animal of the desert; they drink the turbid liquid, they wade in it, they bathe in it, they discharge into it, and all around the margin is a fringe of greenish drift and scum, but it is water in a thirsty land and man is grateful for it. It is the objective camping point in the day's travels and at noonday the cool shade on its banks is the favorite resting-place for man and beast. ”

“ Below the steeper slopes the low-lying, far-outreaching butresses of the range finally sink into the plain. At the mouths of the cañons, broad fans of silt, gravel and other detritus from the heights above, spread out and meet their neighbors on the right and left until a long, slightly undulating footslope is formed, and gradually merge into the floor of the valley. Thus the wide valley is gradually being made wider by the building up of its floor, which is the accumulation of ages of the wash from the mountains ”

“ On the slopes of many foothills that rise from the edge of the desert plain and often on the higher slopes in great profusion, one finds a stately plant which is always conspicuous and always beautiful. ”

“ The great number of species which by some peculiar fitness of their own are able to maintain themselves in the midst of seemingly impossible conditions, must certainly impress one accustomed to the abundant vegetation of the green fields and woodlands of the better-watered sections of the country, though the number of individuals of a race may be considerably less. This is not true of all species, but the fact is quite patent to any one who has seen even a little of desert vegetation, having in mind the almost impenetrable vegetation of some of our northern woodlands. ”

“ Now just to the right where a limestone cliff faces the north and receives little light from the sun that scorches the ground just beyond, is a patch of resurrection plants with their star-like forms expanded to full view by the moisture acquired from the recent shower. ”

“ Here the summer months are the months of rain, but in most months of the year a little rain may be had. As springtime advances clouds may be seen along the distant slopes and among the peaks with a trailing haze of rain beneath. Though in the summer-time the rain clouds are partial to the highlands, yet more often do they wander out across the plain. Scarce a day of summer passes but showers may be seen falling on some part of the landscape, but the amount falling on any particular area is relatively small. ”

“ Maturing in late summer and autumn, the seeds are dropped to the ground beneath the parent plant, or by some strong gust of wind are borne to a distance, where some find lodgment in a sheltered spot—a crevice of the rock or the cover of some friendly shrub. ”

“ In this desert region one can not but be impressed with the number and variety of the woody plants, shrubs and small trees, which are to be seen on every hand. Many of these are common in our own southwest—mezquite, ocotillo, creosote bush, Ephedra, Condalia, Koeberlinia, species of Atriplex and Acacia are among the most conspicuous, some are the same species and others different, and the less obvious things are, Lippia, Buddleia, Mortonia and many others. ”

“ The heavy rains, sometimes as much as an inch in a few hours, run off with great rapidity through the drainage channels and twenty-four hours later the sides of the mountains and the footslopes appear as if not having known a rain in six months. Here and there in the bottoms of the cañons a pocket in the rock holds a gallon or two of sweet pure water, and out upon the plain pools may linger for a few days on the clay. ”

“ Here, when the rain comes, it is kept moist for time enough to send down a long, slender, thread-like root before drought again overtakes it. After the fitful showers of summer have passed a long dry season awaits the young plant, so it behooves it to make as much root as possible while the growing conditions are favorable. These slender roots will make a growth of six inches in about a week, before the first true leaf has appeared lifted on the short stem half an inch high, and in six weeks the tap root has been observed fifteen inches long. ”

“ Besides the mesquite and the greasewood and other shrubs that clothe the valleys and lower slopes, the steeper acclivities abound in Jatropha, Buddleia, Salvia, Bahia, Ephedra and many other woody plants, members of other genera to the number of a hundred or more, are scattered among the agaves, the palmas and the cacti up and down the mountainside.
One who has not sought these plants where they grow can have little idea of their number and variety, nor of their varied structural and physiological attributes which make for complete fitness in the stern environment of the desert. ”

“ Climbing out of the bed of the cañon in a few steps we find ourselves again among the ocotillos and the agaves and the cacti.
Among the shrubby plants none are so important as the guayule, the native name for Parthenium argentatum. It is one of the most abundant of all the desert plants, especially on the limestone slopes, and its grayish color gives a distinct character to the landscape where it abounds. A small shrub or dwarf tree, it seldom exceeds four feet in height or a stem diameter of four inches. ”

“ Before this plant comes into bloom the tender apex of the short stem is often used as food. Out in isolated places among the mountains one may come upon a rude circle of heavy stones bordering a shallow pit. The Mexican would say that here they were preparing quiote by taking the hearts of the magueys and roasting them in the pit. Upon further inquiry he will say that these morsels are covered with earth and stones and the fire built over them and kept for some hours. The older leaves yield a fiber for cordage, though this plant to a less degree than its larger relative, A. americana. ”

“ The herdsman pushes out away from walls and springs and establishes himself in the midst of the desert. Choosing a place where the land lies to form a basin or wide valley, he throws a dam across the mouth and collects the run-off from a large area. ”

“ One finds the arroyo in the higher parts of the plain nearer the mountain where the steeper incline gives more velocity and erosive force to the stream. Lateral valleys which lie between high slopes usually develop the arroyo to a marked degree. The deep basin between the ridges, filled with the detrital wash from the slopes, is readily eroded by the swift streams which are produced frequently by the torrential rains of these regions. ”

“ Near at hand some shrubs are covered with a furry growth of grayish grassy-looking plants, which upon nearer approach are seen to be a dense growth of Tillandsia recurvata, a sort of Florida moss, which finds in the moister air of the canon floor or the mountain top the conditions favorable to its growth and it attaches indiscriminately to any woody plant that furnishes a convenient hold. ”

“ These in places, especially on the low limestone ridges, are so numerous that one with difficulty can make his way through. In June this plant is at the height of its flowering season and over large areas the flowering shoots, ten to twelve feet tall, are everywhere conspicuous. The stems of last year have fallen, and the new ones soon ripen their seed and terminate the life of the plant. The leaves of this plant are especially valuable for fiber and it is one of the most important of native Mexican plants. ”

“ The plain itself is 6,000 feet elevation, more or less, and the mountains appear as if almost submerged in it. Here and there are lower ranges whose heads are scarcely lifted above the plain and whose softly rounded outlines show that leveling forces have long been at work upon them, or that their softer materials have more readily yielded to eroding forces. ”

“ Occasionally one is found straight and tall and beautiful, such as grew by a peon's hut in the village of Cedros, and one which was found on the plain near Symón was as grand a tree as an oak of two centuries and probably not much younger. ”

“ When the seeds are ripe the pod splits down from above and spreads apart slightly, so that a few seeds are easily shaken out by a gust of wind. The inflorescence, though dead, may stand for a year or more, and the seeds that it bears may be scattered over a wide area. ”

“ The short stem which in all the years has not attained a height of two feet now suddenly shoots up to thirty feet, its outstanding branches in symmetrical order enhancing its dignity and beauty beyond that of most other plants. ”

“ Thus the composition of the mountains is responsible for the composition of the valley floor. Limestone is the predominating material. Rocks of igneous origin are less conspicuous, but are present, and mineral-bearing veins are plentiful. ”

“ One would go far to find so splendid a supply as feeds the industries of this place. Here and there wells are sunk in the valleys and water is found at a depth of forty feet more or less, but often drilling goes much deeper without finding any. ”

“ A Desert Landscape in Zacatecas. Photo by F. E. Lloyd. among horses and cattle. The animals nosing about among the branches of this plant for some tuft of grass or other morsel, dislodge the glochids and get them in their eyes. Every well-appointed dooryard or garden has one or more species of the cultivated cactus which produces edible fruits of which the Mexican is very fond. ”

“ This is about the only kind of cactus that may serve as fodder for cattle, and it is a common sight to behold some hundreds of pounds of one of these species carried on passing ox-carts. At the last camp where these travelers rested one could probably find the remains of a fire where they had burned off the spines of a number of nopals, which indeed is the principal diet of their oxen. ”

“ Photo by P. E. Lloyd. with stout spines both terminal and lateral, which make them formidable objects to meet. These plants spread by stolons and form impenetrable masses where they monopolize the ground. This agave grows in greatest abundance on the plain, where it frequently impedes the progress of a horseman quite effectually. It also spreads upward on the ridges and in the canons to points a thousand feet above the plain. ”

“ Running lengthwise through the midst of an apparently level valley floor, these arroyos are often invisible a few feet away, and the traveler may be entirely unconscious of the presence of a ditch thirty feet deep and possibly fifty wide, with perpendicular walls, hardly fifty paces away. ”

“ During its fifteen years' or more life it produces relatively few leaves, but towards the close of its span of years one hundred or more of these may be in evidence, each somewhat narrow, six to ten feet in length and often weighing as much as one hundred pounds. ”

“ Something about the sotól makes it especially attractive, with its pale green leaves an inch wide and a yard long, the tips of which often overtop a man's he.ad. But these leaves, though beautiful to look upon, are well armed against any invader by means of many forward set teeth along their margins. ”