Their
position is safe enough from attack but in the event of a siege
their safety would only be temporary. With their scant water
supply at a distance and unprotected they could not hold out long
in a siege, but would soon be compelled either to fight, fly or
famish.
Again, if safety was their only reason for staying, they could
have left long ago and had nothing to fear, as they have been for
many years at peace with their ancient enemy the predatory
Navajo. But rather than go they have chosen to remain in their
old home where they have always lived, and will continue to live
so long as they are left free to choose.
The modern iconoclast in his unreasonable devotion to realism
has, perhaps, stripped them of much old time romance, but even
with all of that gone, enough of fact remains to make them a
remarkable people. Instead of seeking to change them this last
bit of harmless aboriginal life should be spared and preserved,
if possible, in all of its native purity and simplicity.
CHAPTER XIV
A FINE CLIMATE
The climate of Arizona as described in the local vernacular is
"sure fine." The combination of elements which make the climate
is unusual and cannot be duplicated elsewhere upon the American
continent. The air is remarkably pure and dry. Siccity, indeed,
is its distinguishing feature. That the climate is due to
geographical and meteorological conditions cannot be doubted, but
the effects are unexplainable by any ordinary rules.
The region involved not only embraces Arizona, but also includes
portions of California and Mexico and is commonly known as the
Colorado Desert. Yuma, at the junction of the Gila and Colorado
rivers, is approximately its geographical center. The general
aspect of the country is low and flat and in the Salton sink the
dry land dips several hundred feet below the level of the ocean.
Only by extreme siccity is such land possible when more water
rises in evaporation than falls by precipitation. There are but
few such places in the world, the deepest one being the Dead Sea,
which is about thirteen hundred feet lower than the ocean.
The Colorado Basin is the dry bed of an ancient sea whose shore
line is yet visible in many places upon the sides of the
mountains which surround it. Its floor is composed of clay with
deposits of sand and salt. Strong winds sometimes sweep over it
that shift and pile up the sand in great dunes. The entire
region is utterly bare and desolate, yet by the use of water
diverted from the Colorado river it is being reclaimed to
agriculture.
The rainfall is very scant the average annual precipitation at
Yuma being less than three inches.
