Last Water on the Devil's Highway: A Cultural and Natural History of Tinajas Altas (Southwest Center (Paperback)) (The Southwest Center Series) - Softcover

Bill Broyles; Gayle Harrison Hartmann; Thomas E. Sheridan; Gary Paul Nabhan; Mary Charlotte Thurtle

4.4

5 ratings by Goodreads

9780816530830: Last Water on the Devil's Highway: A Cultural and Natural History of Tinajas Altas (Southwest Center (Paperback)) (The Southwest Center Series)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0816530831 ISBN 13: 9780816530830

Publisher: The University of Arizona Press, 2014

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The Devil's Highway—El Camino del Diablo—crosses hundreds of miles and thousands of years of Arizona and Southwest history. This heritage trail follows a torturous route along the U.S. Mexico border through a lonely landscape of cactus, desert flats, drifting sand dunes, ancient lava flows, and searing summer heat. The most famous waterhole along the way is Tinajas Altas, or High Tanks, a series of natural rock basins that are among the few reliable sources of water in this notoriously parched region.

Now an expert cast of authors describes, narrates, and explains the human and natural history of this special place in a thorough and readable account. Addressing the latest archaeological and historical findings, they reveal why Tinajas Altas was so important and how it related to other waterholes in the arid borderlands. Readers can feel like pioneers, following in the footsteps of early Native Americans, Spanish priests and soldiers, gold seekers and borderland explorers, tourists, and scholars.

Combining authoritative writing with a rich array of more than 180 illustrations and maps as well as detailed appendixes providing up-to-date information on the wildlife and plants that live in the area, Last Water on the Devil's Highway allows readers to uncover the secrets of this fascinating place, revealing why it still attracts intrepid tourists and campers today.

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Review:

"The authors expertly collaborate in documenting this strangely beautiful but inhospitable area of the Sonoran Desert, a place unlike any in the world."--New Mexico Historical Review

"The authors are all experienced writers and researchers, and they spare none of their expertise in producing this work. Their efforts regarding this corner of Arizona make fine reading for those with an interest in the Sonoran Desert. Last Water on the Devil's Highway, with its wonderful collection of photographs, will make an excellent addition to any Arizonan's library."--Journal of Arizona History

About the Author:

Bill Broyles is the author of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument: Where Edges Meet and Our Sonoran Desert, and co-editor of Dry Borders: Great Natural Reserves of the Sonoran Desert. A research associate with the University of Arizona’s Southwest Center, he is also working to create a Sonoran Desert peace park on the Arizona-Sonora border.

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