“The surface is fine and powdery” said Neil Armstrong the first man to step on the Moon, on July 21st, 1969. Armstrong descended Apollo 11’s ladder and stepped upon lunar soil. He remarked ”It has a stark beauty all its own”, speaking as he moved across the surface collecting samples to take back to earth.

“Houston, this is Tranquillity Base!  The Eagle has landed! “

Two images complete the picture above of Man walking on the Moon.

At the time of landing, the moon was in a crescent waxing phase as seen from Earth. Planned to aid the Astronauts planners hoped the sun would rise over Eagles landing site and “believed the long morning’s shadows would aid in identifying landmarks”.

When Armstrong was descending to the Moon he noted that the auto-landing system was guiding Eagle toward the boulder-strewn floor of one crater the size of a football field. Armstrong took manual control and skimmed over the crater, landing in a flat plain beyond. “Eagle had only about 30 seconds’ worth of fuel left at touchdown”.

Photo made by Michael Collins when the Eagle lander began to drop down on the Moon.  His job was to go home without them if they didn’t come back. Photographers observe that every one alive and dead is included in that picture except Michael Collins.

According to Wikipedia after launch by the Saturn V’s third stage, whose thrust propelled their spacecraft to more than 25,000 miles per hour. The lunar lander was tucked safely into the top of the third stage, where the astronauts rode in the Apollo command module atop the stack. After the Apollo 11 astronauts separated from the Saturn 5 traveling for three days to reach their lunar orbit.

THE MOON OR BUST…

Preparing to descend Armstrong and Aldrin then moved into Eagle and landed in the Sea of Tranquillity. The astronauts used Eagle’s ascent stage to lift off from the lunar surface and rejoin Michael Collins in the orbiting command module. They jettisoned Eagle before maneuvering out of lunar orbit onto a trajectory home to Earth.

Returning to Earth and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24 after more than eight days in space, fifty years ago this year (2019)…

Before man stepped upon the moon, NASA first had to launch robots to learn what we did not know about the surface, for instance, would the moon landers simply disappear from sight sinking into centuries of moon dust caused by billions of years of meteor impacts? Little was known other than what could be seen from telescopes.

SPEND THE DAY AT THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

$61 DOLLARS FOR A TEN HOUR DAY…

When the astronauts returned to Earth, they were quarantined for two weeks with several white mice. If the Astronauts survived, that was good. If the mice died, they were in a lot of trouble. Thankfully the mice lived.

http://WHY THE RUSSIAN FAILED TO PUT A MAN ON THE MOON

In the beginning, the first probes to reach the Moon were Russian. Luna 2 impacted the surface in 1959, and the moon was photographed from orbit by another Soviet robot later that year. The U.S. flew a series of impactor probes called Ranger; the first success of that program was Ranger 7, which returned 4,300 images of increasing resolution during the final 17 minutes of flight in 1964. The USSR scored another coup when it made the first soft landing and took the first low-resolution photos of the moon’s surface, in February 1966. The Lunar Orbiter photographed the moon from orbit in 1966 and 1967. But it was Surveyors that scouted the rugged surface for Apollo, the first of a series of landers that touched down successfully.

Image of Surveyor 1’s shadow against the lunar surface in the late lunar afternoon. Surveyor 1, the first of the Surveyor missions to make a successful soft landing, proved the spacecraft design and landing technique. In addition to transmitting over 11,000 pictures, it sent information on the bearing strength of the lunar soil, the radar reflectivity, and temperature, Surveyor 1 landed on the moon on June 2, 1966.

The first Surveyors were tasked with reaching the lunar surface successfully via a soft landing, then investigating the physical properties of the nearby landscape to understand the risks and challenges to landing astronauts there. But that first successful landing was far from assured. NASA had accomplished flybys of Venus and Mars they had never attempted a landing on anything.

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE PHOTOS ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD

The leap from impactors and airbag landings to a controlled landing was a big one, and required new, never-before-attempted techniques in guidance, navigation, robotics and imaging. Surveyor was the first spacecraft of its kind it had been sent on a direct trajectory — it would not enter lunar orbit prior to landing, but instead would hurl directly towards the surface at 6,000 mph. Thrusters had to fire at precisely the right moment to maintain perfect orientation in order to communicate with Earth, all the way down.

RANGER 3 MISSED THE MOON

Several Ranger spacecraft failed en route to the moon, the success of the first Surveyor landing was an incredible relief. William Pickering, the director of JPL from 1954 through 1976, recalled in a 1978 Caltech interview that he had some concerns about the television networks’ request to carry the landing live on what he thought was to be national coverage: “We finally ended up by agreeing to let them do it, and we kept our fingers crossed and hoped it was going to be all right. But the thing that startled me was that about a half an hour before it was due to land, one of the network people said, ‘Oh, by the way, we’re live all over the world,’ that really shook me. Fortunately, it worked, and in fact, sometime later a friend of mine told me that he was in Paris, and he just idly turned on the television set and there was Surveyor 1 landing on the moon.”

By the end of Surveyor 1’s mission six months after it landed on the moon, 11,240 images had been returned, allowing for the creation of dozens of wide panoramas and allowing the examination of details as small as .04 inches in diameter.

SURVEYOR 1 WAS THE FIRST US SPACE  CRAFT TO SAFELY LAND ON THE MOON.

Images of the three-foot-pads demonstrated that not only was landing on the moon possible, but lander had not sunk into deep moon dust – as feared by some – but had landed on a firm surface. Surveyor3 had a scoop attached to one arm that allowed scientist to study the texture and hardness of the lunar soil.

Ham the Astrochimp did things that no monkey ever did, he was the first Chimpanzee sent into space. This was a test for NASA to see if they could send a man into space, would he survive in 1961.

By the time Surveyor 7 completed operations on the moon in February 1968 — just 10 months before Apollo 8 orbited the moon — the pathway for the first crewed lunar landing of Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969, was open.

Buzz Aldrin (left) Neil Armstrong (center) & Michael Collins (right)  Below Michael Collins speaks with Tucson visitors at Cape Kennedy prior to the Endeavor Shuttle Launch

Mission Commander Neil A. Armstrong was born Aug. 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Armstrong became interested in flight while still a child. In 1950, Armstrong flew combat missions for the U.S. Navy. He became an astronaut in 1962 commanding Gemini VIII in 1966. In 2012 Armstrong died and in 2014 Kennedy Space Center’s Operations and Checkout Building was renamed in honor of Armstrong, Astronauts orbiting 260 miles above Earth participated in the ceremony.

The Kennedy Operations and Checkout Building now named for Neil Armstrong played a vital role in NASA’s space flight history. It was used during the Apollo program to process and test the command, service and lunar modules. Today, the facility is being used to process and assemble NASA’s Orion spacecraft, which the agency will use to send astronauts to an asteroid in the 2020s and Mars in the 2030s.

Lunar Module Pilot Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.(below right) born Jan. 20, 1930, in Montclair, New Jersey. Aldrin got his nickname “Buzz” as a child. Aldrin flew combat missions for the U.S. Air Force in the Korean War. He became an astronaut in 1963 and piloted Gemini XII in 1966.

Video Tour of the Moonhttps://www.space.com/40274-nasa-moon-in-4k-video-tour.html

APOLLO 11 INFOGRAPHIC   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zfer0eYqBrk
Apollo 11 Infographic

APOLLO 11 MOON LANDING https://www.space.com/17411-apollo-11-moon-landing-explained-infographic.html

https://www.nasa.gov/

NASA.gov features videos and historic images, audio clips that highlight the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary, and the future of space

https://youtu.be/xc1SzgGhMKc

THE COMPLETE DECENT

https://youtu.be/OCjhCL2iqlQ

ANNOINATED VOYAGE

WHAT MICHAEL COLLINS FEARING MOST

 

http://www.nasa.gov/apollo45

NASA TV STREAMING video, downlink & scheduling: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv http://www.nasa.gov/exploration

Command Module Pilot Michael Collins (above left) was born Oct.. 30, 1930, in Rome. Collins became a pilot of jet fighters and experimental planes for the U.S. Air Force. He became an astronaut in 1963 and piloted Gemini X in 1966.

Apollo 11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRwKUScppvQ Apollo 15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQyVQxui2Q8

Mining on the Moon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYp5PM9oBHo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9EMcyfGMDA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ7RfnsB_Is

MINING ON THE MOON ENDANGERING HERITAGE SITES; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ7RfnsB_Is

ORION-NASA’S DEEP SPACE EXPLORATION SPACECRAFT WILL TAKE HUMANS TO MARS

NASA APOLLO STORIES FROM THE GUY NEXT DOOR…. WHERE WERE YOU WHEN MAN FIRST WALKED ON THE MOON   https://www.nasa.gov/apollostories

Suggested questions to answer yourself or ask others?

What does exploration mean to you?

What do you think it would be like to see humans walk on the Moon again? Think of the Moon, what comes to mind?
What do you want to know about the Moon?

If you remember the Apollo program

Where were you when humans walked on the Moon for the first time? Describe who you were with, what you were thinking, the atmosphere and how you were feeling.
What was your life like in 1969?
Do you remember learning about space in school?

If you have memories of the First Moon Walks and wish to share your story by using the comment area to respond.

APOLLO MOON SHOT

FIRST SEASON OF SIX EPISODES ON UTUBE BY SMITHSONIAN CHANNEL

SEVEN THINGS LEFT ON THE MOON

IN ORDER TO MAKE ROOM FOR MOON ROCKS GEAR WAS LEFT BEHIND MORE THAN 850 POUNDS OF MOON ROCKS CAME HOME WITH APOLLO FLIGHTS

Click on this photo of a lava tube in Mexico’s Pinacate Biosphere which helps demonstrate how colonist on the Moon and Mars might live within and thrive underground with protection there from the atmosphere as discussed in INVERSE MAGAZINE…

In this undated artist’s concept drawing provided by John Frassanito and Associates NASA’s new Crew Exploration Vehicle and lander are shown on the moon. NASA may be going to the same old moon but the space agency said it’s going to do something dramatically different this time: Stay there. To get to the moon, NASA will use two vehicles _ the Orion exploration vehicle and an attached all-purpose lunar lander (shown) that could touch down anywhere and be the beginnings a base camp, said exploration chief Scott Horowitz. (AP Photo/John Frassanito and Associates, NASA)

WILL THESE COUNTRIES BE COMPETITORS OR PARTNERS IN EXPLORING SPACE ?

China’s space program is directed by the country’s National Space Administration called CNSA. China had a rudimentary ballistic missile program for years their first crewed space program began decades later. Their achievement placed China as the third country to send humans into space independently. They are now planning to launch their fifth space flight costing about $6.27 billion. In the year 2020, CNSA plans to develop a permanent space station and with crewed expeditions to Mars and to the moon.

Chinese state television reported in January that China’s landing on the dark side of the moon was successful, using lunar craft Chang’e 4 touching down at 10:26am on January 3rd 2019. It marks the first time man has landed on the far side of the moon. This is the side that faces away from the earth. A huge achievement for China, and for space exploration in general.

SLS = NASA SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM featuring the most powerful rocket ever built.

The U.S. backed lunar Gateway program will allow NASA to offer Germany and others in Europe to stake a claim to a program designing and developing a small spaceship that will orbit the Moon and serve as a temporary home for astronauts as a base for working on the moon’s surface and, later missions to Mars. NASA aimed to finish Gateway by 2026, now Washington is aiming to put humans back on the Moon by 2024, which could accelerate the schedule. The Lunar Orbital Platform – Gateway is a future space station in lunar orbit intended to serve as a solar-powered communications hub, science laboratory, short-term habitation module, and holding area for rovers and other robots.

India’s prime minister, Manmohan Singh, made speeches asserting, besides constructing giant solar collectors in orbit and on the moon, the world’s largest democracy intends to mine He3 from the lunar surface. Simultaneously, Japan and Germany are also making noises about launching their own moon missions.

The Israel Space Agency is part of the country’s Ministry of Science and Technology. The agency established in 1983 coordinates all space research programs in the country. Some space agency resource goes to the current Venus Project, with a $6 million budget, a fraction of the $70 million budget.

Iran has been launching satellites and space flights since the year 2005. The country has been active in the Asian space race. Their first launch was the joint Iranian-Russian Sinah-1 project, which cost them $15 million. In the year 2008, Iran joined research with Thailand and China, launching a satellite named Long March 2C, which cost around $6.5 million. Iran’s second satellite was actually placed in an orbit in the year 2009. This satellite was designed for research and telecommunications.

South Korea, together with China and Japan, is one of Asia’s leading countries when it comes to launching space missions. Today they have launched three space flights. The first one was the Naro-1 and it was sent outside the planet three times. The total cost of the first three launches was over $450 million and the third launch was the most successful among the three.

Japan is one of Asia’s leading countries in terms of space flights and missions. Japan always has the latest satellite and rocket capabilities for different purposes. They have also conducted manned space activities and other science-related missions and explorations. Their first launch was the Hayabusa that cost the country $138 million. Japan launched the Hayabusa 2 in the year 2014, which had an estimated cost of $150-400 million.

Russia was the first country to have ever launched a space mission. They actually had plenty of firsts: Russia was the first country to have ever launched a space mission. Russia actually had plenty of firsts: intercontinental ballistic missile, satellite launches, first man and woman in space and Earth orbit, put the first animal in space, moon impact and spacewalk, race rover, interplanetary probe, photo of the side of the moon, space station, and unmanned lunar soft landing. Russia’s first space flight was the Vostok program. The flight made Yuri Gagarin one of the most famous people back then since he was the first man to have ever journeyed outside the planet. The government had a federal space budget of $2.4 billion in the year 2009. In 2011, the government spent about $3.8 billion for their space programs. The budget for the year 2013 was $5.6 billion.

THE NINE-MONTH JOURNEY TO MARS, FROTH WITH COSMIC RADIATION AND UNKOWN UNKOWNS IN

COLONIALIZATION WILL BE LEARNING-ON-THE-JOB, PUTTING OUT FIRES AS THEY FLARE UP! FIRST THINGS FIRST WHERE TO LAND ???

Europe has the European Space Agency (ESA), which is dedicated to the exploration of natural occurrences outside the planet. The agency was established in 1975 and is now based in Paris. France’s space programs include human spaceflight and other unmanned exploration missions to other planets. They plan to launch a new space balloon, with a budget of $10 million for the construction and the flight itself. The agency already spent about $5.3 billion for their space flight missions in the year 2012.

The Indians in exploring more about space. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai founded the Physical Research Laboratory, which is a great leap that catapulted India into one of the leading countries in terms of space presence. India’s biggest success was the launching of its first satellite into space. India has provided a hefty budget for space programs to widen their knowledge of space. India has spent $1.6 billion on past launches and plans to spend about $1.34 billion total.

The United Kingdom recently established their own space agency. It was inaugurated in April 2010, and has taken over the responsibilities for government policy and budget for space explorations. The UK, together with the European Space Agency, has spent about $155 million for the delivery of astronomical data and the launch of sub-orbital rockets. They are budgeting around $16 to $31 million for the development of their intermediate missions.

Although the United States was not the first country to explore the universe, America has the most space missions out of Earth. Their first space flight was under the Mercury Program that operated five years and cost $277 million. The second one was the Gemini program, with a lifespan of six years and cost of $1.3 billion. The most famous space mission that the country has done was Apollo. The program cost $20.4 billion, which had a lifespan of fifteen years, the United States has spent $486 billion over 57 years on human space flights alone.  On average, the US spends $8.3 billion on space missions, a year.

Germany is Europe’s economic powerhouse and the world’s fourth-largest economy. Germany had the seventh-largest national space budget in 2018, an estimated $1.1 billion, just over half the amount generated by fifth-placed France. Some companies are considering moving to Luxembourg, where recently enacted laws to limit liabilities and ease restrictions on mining operations in Space. This new legislation would limit financial and legal liabilities of private accidents that occur in orbit, it set standards for space operations and offer incentives for new projects, the German economy ministry told Reuters it has a $112 million investment fund for Space projects. A figure, dwarfed by the United States, the largest spender on space at $40 billion.

EUROPE TO MINE MOON BY 2025

CHINA’S CRAZY IDEA FOR THE MOON

INDIA’S PLAN LEADS THE PACK

CHINA LANDS ON THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

CHINA MOON ROVER FOOTAGE RELEASED

The Exploration and Colonization of Mars… https://youtu.be/YzhSmnGcSkE

Tucson a Spaceport: World View

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNpi4n1ag0k https://www.space.com/31659-spaceport-tucson-world-view-balloon-tourism.html

https://www.space.com/31659-spaceport-tucson-world-view-balloon-tourism.html

The moon by numbers

384,400 km – The moon’s average distance from Earth

3 – The number of new missions to the moon set to launch in 2019

29.5 Earth days – The length of the moon’s day

2.5 seconds – The time to wait for a reply when video-chatting to someone on the moon

-233°C and 123°C – Temperatures measured at the coldest and hottest points on the moon

12 – Number of people who have walked on the moon, all between 1969 and 1972

4.5 billion years – The age of the moon

5.5 km – Base to peak height of the moon’s tallest mountain, Mons Huygens

6 – The number of rovers that have trundled across the lunar surface

382 kg – The mass of moon rocks returned to Earth

187,000 kg – Estimated mass of rubbish left on the moon

75 hours 49 minutes – The time it took Apollo 11 to get from Earth to lunar orbit

100 HOURS-NEIL ARMSTRONG AND BUZZ ALDRIN PLANT THE US FLAG ON THE MOON

             

 

Tucson’s Moon Tree was planted at the University of Arizona’s Campus, the planted seed went first to the Moon and then was planted in Tucson.

World View is developing a balloon-based system that will take passengers up to an altitude of 100,000 feet (30,000 meters) or so in a pressurized capsule, allowing them to see the curvature of the Earth and the blackness of space. The ride will be gentle and relatively lengthy, lasting 5 to 6 hours from liftoff to touchdown. Tickets aboard the six-passenger capsule (which accommodates two crew) currently sell for $75,000 apiece, and the first commercial crewed flights were scheduled to begin in 2017…

Tucson’s Pima County’s Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of setting up Spaceport Tucson, which the county will own but World View will operate. The vote authorized a bond sale of $15 million to build all of these facilities.

World View will construct a headquarters building next to the spaceport, to serve as a tenant of the new Pima County Aerospace, Defense and Technology Business & Research Park.

Editors Note: Tucson’s biggest shot in the arm to grow and flourish came with World War II, the world needed pilots and flyers and Tucson had air fields, Davis Montana AFB and flying weather. After the war folks who came here to train came back and brought everyone with them….Tucson grew by 100,000 people in one decade. The point to be made, Tucson’s airfields had what the Air Force needed, when it was needed. World View has critics, particularly tax payers who wonder why they should pay for World’s View playground.

Hopefully like airfields, space ports will become needed for new access to Space and Tucson will become the Gateway to the Stars…

Tucson Moon Tree on the University of Arizona’s Campus, the seed went to the Moon and was planted here.

VECTOR ROCKETS BUILT IN TUCSON

Vector Rockets wants to provide launch services with two rockets, the smaller Vector-R, and the larger Vector-H. Both rockets use a single engine for their second stage and a cluster of engines (three in the Vector-R and six in the Vector-H) for their first stage, all of which use liquid oxygen and propylene as propellants.

The 45-foot-tall, two-stage Vector-R is designed to carry payloads up to about 140 lbs to low-Earth orbit at a cost of $1.5 million. Less than half Rocket Lab’s larger Electron rocket cost, whose debut test flight was held in New Zealand.

Lunar Eclipse seen at sunset within Saguaro National Monument West

An optional third-stage electric motor on a Vector-R can deliver a satellite up to 500 miles above Earth for an additional $500,000. The larger Vector-H version sells for about $3 million. The rockets are simple, with no pumps, and fewer components than the competition. The Vector’s first stage, for example, has just 15 parts. Launches are presently held on the East coast in Florida. One launch was planned from Kodiak Island in Alaska.

The original idea behind Vector was to build a satellite-based system that would allow customers to use software to operate sensors, using a constellation of satellites as “virtual machines.” Galactic Sky, as that concept is being developed as Vector perfects its launch business, a billion-dollar business by itself. Vector plans a 70,000-square-foot rocket factory in Tucson after securing a lease with Pima County for the county’s Aerospace, Defense and Technology Business & Research Park. The company, which has about 25 employees now, plans to add 40 to 80 people, mainly engineers and skilled workers like machinists, early and hopes to hire 200 employees in Tucson in a few years. Besides Tucson, the company has operations in Orange County and San Jose, California. The lease deal came after a successful test of the new rocket engine Vector is developing with NASA. Vector already has more than 100 launch contracts in hand.

FRANK BORMAN TUCSON SPECIAL SON…

Frank Frederick Borman II (born March 14, 1928), Col. USAF, Ret.), is a retired United States Air Force Pilot, aeronautical engineer, test pilot and NASA astronaut, best remembered as the Commander of Apollo 8, the first mission to fly around the Moon making him, along with crew mates Jim Lovell and Bill Anders, the first of only 24 humans to do so before flying on Apollo, Norman set a fourteen-day spaceflight endurance record on Gemini 7, and also served on the NASA review board which investigated the Apollo One fire. After leaving NASA, he was the CEO of Eastern Airlines from 1975 to 1986.

Borman received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Borman was born on March 14, 1928, in Gary, Indiana, where the Frank Borman Expressway is named after him. He is of German descent, born as the first and only child to parents Edwin and Marjorie Borman. Because he suffered from sinus problems in the cold and damp weather, his father packed up the family and moved to the better climate of Tucson, Arizona, which Borman considers his hometown.

Borman started to fly at the age of 15, later he graduated from Tucson High School in 1946.

Borman later received a BS degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, in 1950, where he served as an Army Football Manager, and along with part of his graduating class, he entered the United States Air Force (USAF) and became a fighter pilot. He received his Masters of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1957. Later, Borman was selected for the Aero Space Research Pilot School and became a test pilot.

MORE PHOTOS SOUTHWEST PHOTOBANK GALLERY…..

MARS 2020 WILL CREATE A PATHWAY FOR MANKIND TO LIVE THERE…

WATCH NASA BUILD THE NEXT MARS ROVER…

THE MARS HELICOPTER…

DISCOVER MARS….

JET PROPULSION LABORATORY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE 2017 SELLS INDIAN RODEO, FAIR AND POW WOW FEATURES A RECORD NUMBER OF FEMALE PERFORMERS WHO TOOK THEIR SHARE OF THE WINNINGS.

SATURDAY MORNING THE TOHONO OODHAM ENJOY A LONG PARADE, FOLLOWED BY MIDWAY RIDES, FOOD BOOTHS, ALL-INDIAN RODEO, POW-WOW AND THE TOKA TOURNAMENT WHICH PITS MANY ALL-WOMEN TEAMS AGAINST RIVAL VILLAGES

2017 SELLS RODEO PHOTOS FROM THE  79TH CELEBRATION OF THE OLDEST INDIAN RODEO IN THE UNITED STATES

http://pkweis.photoshelter.com/gallery/2017-O0DAM-RODEO-FAIR/G0000Kg0p3lWK56A

2017 SELLS TOKA TOURNAMENT

http://pkweis.photoshelter.com/gallery/2017-TOKA-TOURNAMENT/G0000XnktmLN9H.w

2017 SELLS POW WOW & FAIR

http://pkweis.photoshelter.com/gallery/2017-TOHONO-OoDHAM-COMMUNITY-FAIR/G0000NzTGxQgWrk8

PREVIOUS YEARS GALLERYS AVAILABLE ON SOUTHWESTPHOTOBANK.COM

76TH SELLS RODEO AND FAIR

http://pkweis.photoshelter.com/gallery/76th-SELLS-RODEO-and-FAIR/G000080DxSIeac8c/C0000UdyzM4tuhfo

75TH SELLS RODEO AND FAIR

http://pkweis.photoshelter.com/gallery/SELLS-75th-RODEO-FAIR-2013/G0000kghXFgV8Ha8/C0000UdyzM4tuhfo

2015 SELLS RODEO AND FAIR

http://pkweis.photoshelter.com/gallery/2015-SELLS-RODEO-and-TOKA-TOURNAMENT/G0000qF9rEDnbBEk

2012 SELLS RODEO AND FAIR

http://pkweis.photoshelter.com/gallery/TOHONO-OoODHAM-2012-FAIR-and-RODEO/G0000YabpiAFNnT4/C0000UdyzM4tuhfo

≈MORE TOKA COVERAGE

http://pkweis.photoshelter.com/gallery/TOKATOURNAMENT/G00002ZeCGdfpGGM/C0000UdyzM4tuhfo

RIDERS OFTEN FELT CHALLENGED BY LIVESTOCK OR GRAVITY TO STAY ON THEIR RIDE

SELLS TOKA TOURNAMENT FEATURES WOMEN ONLY FOR THEIR STICK GAME

SELLS TOHONO OoDHAM POWWOW

ALL AGE GROUP PARTICIPATE, INCLUDING A NEW UNDER 12 LEAGUE

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The view from Massai Point

One of Arizona’s Crown Jewels has been tapped to be the next American National Park, the hoodoo paradise, of the Chiricahua National Monument has long been one of Southeastern Arizona’s best kept secrets…today that secret is out!

Echo Canyon Loop Nature Trail is eight tenths of a mile long.

The Chiricahua National Monument is under consideration to become the 60th U.S. National Park.  Few who visit would argue that the pinnacles, columns, spires and balanced rocks of this place ‘The Land of Standing-Up Rocks’, a befitting name given by the Apache to this extraordinary rock garden. In the late 1800s pioneers lobbied and  persuaded Congress to protect this ‘Wonderland of Rocks’, and in 1924 the Chiricahua National Monument was created.

Cochise Head Mountain overlooks the Heart of Rocks Trail

The proposal on the table makes the 12,000 acres monument, designated since 1928, a Federal Park featuring the eight mile Bonita Drive weaving through the volcanic features with hoodoos reaching toward the sky.  It is a photographer wonderland from the moment the sun breaks the horizon and spotlights the amazing black ridge lines.

The Monument’s, Echo Canyon Loop Nature Trail, is perfect for short distance legs, folks who want to stretch their legs after a long drive but don’t want to break out the water bottles and packs—it is less than a mile long. Topside you greet the sun and wander the summit enjoying the different points of view.  For some this is just the beginning, since this is the trailhead for the Heart-of-Rocks trail which is a downhill stroll for eleven miles back to the front entrance to the Monuments visitor’s center. A shuttle is available early Saturday mornings at the visitor center.

South West Research facility in Portal, Az offers some cabins, but usually is in demand.

The SouthWest History that swirls around the twenty mile by forty mile Chiricahua’s enriches the choice and makes some wish for additional units to preserve spots like Fort Bowie, Johnny Ringo’s Gravesite or Skeleton Canyon where Geronimo surrendered, many of these on private land today. The dirt road over the Chiricahua Mountain summit, Pinery Canyon Road, allows access to Rustler’s Park and many ridge line hiking trails. Dropping down the mountain into Cave Creek and nearby Rodeo, New Mexico, the tourist is now in primetime bird-watching territory.

The Monument features the volcanic wastes from an immense explosion 27 million years ago and is now found 36 miles southeast of Wilcox, Arizona.

The eruption that shook thi region spewing thick white-hot ash from the Turkey Creek Caldrea later cooled and hardened into rhyolitic tuff, laying down almost two thousand feet of dark volcanic ash and pumice. The highly silic hoodoos eventually eroded into the natural features that we see today^.

In 2008, the Chiricahua National Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Faraway Ranch was once owned by immigrants, Neil and Emma Erickson from Sweden.  In 1976, Congress decided to further preserve the land, designating 87% of the monument as Wilderness.

Cave Creek near Portal Arizona a short distance from Rodeo New Mexico

 As well as the geological aspects of this park, the monument is host to a biological crossroads, a place where four different ecological regions all come together, the Chiricahua Mountains, the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Madre ranges all meet. The convergence of these four areas bring richness in both floral and faunal diversity, like the Rocky Mountain representatives such as the Ponderosa pine and Engelmann spruce co-exist beside the Soap tree yucca from the Chihuahuan desert. Stately Arizona sycamore and various types of oak dot the well-watered canyons. Apache pine grows here at the most northern end of the Sierra Madre range. Chihuahua pine is found, as are Douglas and White fir, Arizona cypress, Cane cholla, Prickly pear and several species of ferns, mushrooms, and fungi. There are five major drainages within the monument, several with intermittent creeks that support a mixture of deciduous and evergreen woodlands. The heavily forested canyons provide habitat for numerous wildlife, including coatimundi, white-tailed deer, javalina, and many species of birds; over three hundred bird species are found in the Chiricahua Mountains, some of whom have migrated north from Mexico. 

The Chiricahua Mountains are part of a collection of forty neighboring mountain groups that lie between the Colorado Plateau and the Sierra Madre Occidental. Named the Madrean Archipelago, because it resembles an oceanic archipelago – a sea dotted with islands – only here the sea is hot desert grassland. These isolated mountain ranges are called ‘sky islands’.

Chances for the proposed Chiricahua National park, Tucson representative Martha McSally has championed the choice and financially, it seems a wash, for the U.S. Park Service.  There is little difference between being a national park and a monument, they are managed and funded exactly the same.  This push for National Park status boils down to an attempt to increase attendance which in turns provides increased funding.  There is no change in the present boundaries expected.

Some one familiar with the proposal says people who are unfamiliar with an area and depend on guide books tend to believe national parks are more splendid, grand than mere monuments, even though that’s not necessarily true.  But that’s what the public generally believes, so making it a park will bring more people to visit and therefore generate more revenue to manage it.

The gold pan of Arizona, SouthEast Arizona, home to Tombstone, a huge icon for all of the wild west that spilled over the landscape will get a huge shot in the arm if Congress acts on the proposal to make the Chiricahua National Monument the 60th U.S. National Park. Statistically, national parks get ten times more tourism, than do national monuments. So the new park who might see 50,000 annual visitors today could begin drawing in close to a half million tourists each year who may require meals, hotel rooms and gasoline.

Often linked with the Apache Indian War Fort Bowie and the Coronado National Park combined the new park could attract up to 200,000 annual visitors that moves the needle up toward two million potential new visitors to Cochise County where a huge economic

Bisbee tourists take the Queen Mine Tour Underground…

could make a big difference in the once Copper rich county.  Today National Parks strive to bring increased economic value to their surroundings and in particular to communities of color, like Benson, Douglas, Bisbee and Wilcox, making the Chiricahua National Park a good fit for the goals of the U.S. National Park Service.

Montezuma Pass (above) provides access for the US-Mexico Border as well as for Coronado National Monument commemorating the spot where Conquistadors first crossed into the U.S. from Mexico.

The competition to become the nation’s 60th U.S. National Park is very strong.  Mount Hood, Portland, Oregon’s premier tourist spot is in the running. Stronghold Table in the south Unit of Badlands National Park, has been recommended to be the nation’s first Tribal National Park in partnership with the Oglala Sioux Tribe and would expand recreation and visitation and, the prospect of a Tribal National Park, could be impactful.

In 1963 the Colorado River was dammed and allowed to back up 186 miles through Glen Canyon forming Lake Powell. Built originally to provide a water supply to the arid Southwest, today the dam undermines that very objective and it has caused damage across the Colorado River Basin. Before the dam, Glen Canyon was the biological heart of the Colorado River, with more than 79 species of plants, 189 species of birds, and 34 species of mammals; and a cultural treasure, with more than 3,000 ancient ruins. All of that was lost!

The Glen Canyon Institute says it is no longer viable to maintain two half-empty reservoirs — Lake Powell and Lake Mead. The practical alternative would be to drain most of the water in Lake Powell into Lake Mead, and turn Glen Canyon into a National Park.

Johnny Ringo’s Grave not ten feet from the tree where the low life shot himself in the head after his horse ran off with his boots  still in the stirup

Lots of politics wrapped up in Glen Canyon, in a time of state’s rights, is it really smart to take the Crown jewel of the Portland tourist trade making it a federal park when a state park would send all the money back into the community?  My money rides with the Chiricahua National Park, National Park Status would bring in tourist dollars and pesos, federal infrastructure cash, good salary jobs, an steady infusion into a dull economy.  Lots of history surrounding the present Chiricahua National Monument. Scene of struggles between the Apache war chief Geronimo, Apache War fort, Fort Bowie, a short distance from the present Chiricahua National Monument Visitor Center, down the road a pieces is  Johnny Ringo’s Grave, Turkey Creek Camping and Rucker Lake offers both hunting and fishing…Tombstone and Bisbee both would benefit from additional spending in the borderlands of Arizona called Cochise County.

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LIST OF U.S. NATIONAL MONUMENTS

LIST OF U.S. NATIONAL PARKS

CHIRICAHUA NATIONAL MONUMENT

Many of these photos have been made over the years and do not necessarily show critters now housed at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. The magnificent ram above in 1987 was killed by man who wanted to hang his trophy horns in his living room. This senseless killing shocked the entire facility, as well as, the Tucson community. The ram had lived at the museum much of it’s six years, originally from the Chocolate Mountains in California. It had two offspring and a 38 year old California man was arrested for killing the ram after the rack was found during a traffic stop. The man was sentenced to five-years in prison and received a $8000 fine.

Walking the dusty desert trail, chirping from a Cactus Wren chirps fill the air. In the distance, I hear the thunderous sound of the Javelina running about in the morning chill, the slightly overcast skies silhouette a passenger jet crossing over the Tucson Mountains

headed for TIA, the engine thunders as they slow for landing. Enjoying these sounds and resting on a bench Fred Fisher from San Jose, Ca says he comes every year for the Gem and Mineral show and now extends his visit each year to spend four or five days visiting the Desert Museum. “We come as often as we can–when we are here, it is so exceptional. “Spectacular”, he says, “this quiet solitude, the magnificent wildlife and birds.  We’ve been coming to Tucson for 12 years now. We started spending a few hours here and now we spend whole days. Monday was a modest crowd he said. Tuesday was completely jammed ! I thought we were going to get trampled.”

Some ideas hit the ground running, grow, embellish and over-take their mentors before anyone knew what happened.  Folks say they are no-brainers, but it takes courage for the first and unsteady steps that leads to such success—Tucson’s Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is one example.  Called “one of the ten best museums in the world” that title might be argued, however, it’s success is without doubt. Tucson residents might be guilty of taking such a treasure for granted, visiting on birthdays or when relatives come to town, but ASDM can be busy as a beehive during Southern Arizona’s cooler months, thousands of visitors come to town, rent motels, eat in Tucson restaurants and spend their entire day surrounded by the incredible beauty of the Sonoran Desert.

The parking lot fills up daily and stays full all day long with license plates from 30-35 different states including 2-3 Canadian providences each day.  When things slow with the approach of the summer months, ASDM opens earlier, so visitors can beat the heat and enjoy the Museum’s wildlife, before they bed down away from the sun’s heat. Throughout the year, special events are held after dark, when the critters once again come out, so a world-class wildlife experience, is available anytime of the year. The biggest contribution to ASDM success is the fact that it has grown with the times and has expanded over the years.

After these Jaguars died, this exhibit was discontinued for decades and funding for a planned a new  1.5 acre exhibit, “Coasts to Canyons” recently failed a voter referendum.

When the Museum first opened its doors in 1952, cages where laid out in the desert and folks walked around the critters behind bars. Today, new techniques and technology, the museum has engineered fake rocks constructed to contain their critters and allowing them to live in settings designed for their comfort and in habitat typical of where they would live in the wild.  Back in the day, the Jaguar, was the last cat to live behind bars because of it’s ability to escape and resourcefulness, after that cat’s death, ASDM decided cages were no longer true to the Museum mission and the species went dark for decades.  Today plans are on the drawing board for a new 1.5 acre exhibit called “Coasts to Canyons”, perhaps the most ambitious and expensive habitat, ever envisioned for the facility. Its completion would greatly increase visitors and no doubt bring out the locals to see the new digs and blow away visitors with the new air-conditioned exhibit. While this exhibit was part of Proposition 427, a $99 Million bond designed to improve roads, water control making Tucson a better place to live, it was defeated by a 39% voter turnout most of which were Republicans who felt an additional $18 a year would break their backs. Lots of private funds have been donated to ASDM and those monies alone will open the new “Winged Wonders of the South West” in 2015 and the million dollar “Midden Project” in 2017 where visitors will be greeted by a 75’ Diamondback Rattlesnake which they can choose to climb through.

Cabo Pulmo, the only coral reef in the Sea of Cortez, is highlighted in the Museum’s most recent Exhibit featuring 14 aquarium of fresh water and saltwater residents.

In 2013, the Desert Museum opened it’s first major exhibit in a decade. The aquarium exhibition, called “Rivers to the Sea,” highlights the role of the rivers, including the Colorado and the Gulf of California. The 1,100-square-foot aquarium exhibit, housed in one of the historical structures built in 1937, includes many now-endangered species of freshwater fish, as well as several dozen species of fresh and saltwater creatures found to be at home in the brackish waters near the Sonoran coast, and the Sea of Cortez. That $1.3 Million project was opened with private donations.

Some might complain that $20 a visit might be a stiff ticket to buy, but ASDM basic membership costs $55 for a year and includes two guest tickets for the following year, allowing a year and a half of access, and that should be affordable for most.

Raptor Flight brings out the photographers and Snowbirds alike….

Lots of snowbirds que up at the Raptor Free Flight. Two kids fidget as they await the Docents that remove the ropes allowing the crowd to filter into the performance staging area. The two boys, each carrying a stuffed lion, have the white pasty legs of folks living back east who have not seen the sun for months. The large crowd gathers 25 minutes before the start of the Raptor Free Flight, where about a 100 people stand at the entrance and there is standing room only, water bottles stick out of purses.

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Three Desert Museum docents walk down to the crowd, they ask the crowd not to move until they finish their count to ten and one docent “who drew the short straw” has to take down the chain … that lets the Raptor Free Flight Crowd advance. “Please keep to the rails”, they ask. “You folks talk funny”, notes one docent, “flex your knees and steady yourselves,” another docent tells the crowd.

Trainer Wally Hestermann welcomes the crowd and gives a quick run down on the birds he will be working with for the 10 am show, first comes the Chihuahua Raven and the magnificent Great Horned Owl who came to the Desert Museum from a top shelf in the Oro Valley Home Depot. The Prairie Falcon–drinks no water, says Hestermann, “they get all their water from their prey”. The Ferruginous Hawk used to thrive here on Prairie dogs”, he says “but since those critters are now extinct, we don’t see this hawk around here anymore.”

“Red-tail Hawks in the wild, often die in the first year, reports the trainer “they know they have it good here, we take care of them, they can take the day off if they want.” “We want these birds to look natural, so they wear no equipment, this soaring behavior took six months to learn and they respond to visual signals from 2500.” Redtails can live 7-10 years in the wild or 10-25 years in captivity and one holds the record for 65 years. They eat farm raised mice and quail or “tissue meat”. “Our birds are orphans from rehab”, but these social birds often hunt and play in family groups of five to seven birds.

Arizona has four owls, three falcons and 7 different hawks and the Golden Eagle. The 2 pm Raptor Flight performance is different from the earlier show and features different avian residents of the desert.

One Phoenix photographer, Stu Glenn told me he often comes down to Tucson spends the night and both days at the Museum’s “Raptor Flight” a very popular performance during the cooler months. “It’s quite spectacular,” he says killing time at the Big Horn enclosure. I didn’t come down here for pictures of the rear end of a ram, he says, yesterday I got the “most excellent Harris Hawk images”, he coos.

Crowd awaits Docents to lower the chain and allow them into the Raptor Flight performance area. This lineup begins an half hour before the show.

While birds have little issue with the desert heat, non-desert-dwelling spectators have been known to drop like flies, and before the show concludes in April the Museum places “spotters” in the crowd looking for tourists who frequently collapse from the warm days and harsh sun.  Regardless, “Raptor Flight” is a huge draw for spectators and photographers alike, in spite of the size of the crowds, there is not a bad seat in the show. Photographers should hang to the fringes or outside of the crowd, the birds which have been trained to feed on the branches surrounding the large group move all around and everyone gets a front row seat.  I would have said it impossible if I had not seen it for myself. Some birds receive an audio signal from their trainers and perform accordingly, no bird is a prisoner, they jump at the chance to show off for treats. Photographers should be using their fastest shutter speeds to stop the flapping of these birds wings, an amazing photo opportunity.

Photo opportunities do not stop there.  Early morning will find coyotes, black bear, otters, Javelina and Mexican wolves or “Lobos” all out to delight your camera. “That coyote, doesn’t seem as big as the ones in my neighborhood—they are probably controlling his diet–he probably doesn’t get a tabby cat every night, said one visitor. The coyote called “God’s Dog” by the Navajo is often “the trickster in Native American legends has an evasive and puzzling role as the fool or demigod in Native American traditions.

Coyotes complaining about their Museum diet, rather than a nice “Tabby” from time to time

Mexican Wolf or Lobo

The Mexican Grey Wolf, has a sign in front of its enclosure that says there are 50 now living in the wild but recent headlines have said its population has doubled reaching 100, a South West success story.

The amazing Hummingbird enclosure, full of lots of species who nest and buzz about the visitors and their cameras. Their eggs look like gum drops, the hummers are going so fast, one visitor jumps back, a baby cries, camera shutters click, big cameras and cell phones alike. One parent tries but can’t pull one kid away from his cell phone. “I hear the hummingbird!  He’s way up there,” attempting to get his picture. “See the hummingbird?” says another dad, “brace yourself with that long lens,” he coaches.

The Museum developed this enclosure and garden while and in doing so it developed new understandings of what attracted these fast-moving birds and what it took to keep them happy and alive.  They wrote the book on Hummingbird gardens.

While scientific understanding has been expanded in the decades of working with the animal and plant species living in the Sonoran Desert.  Spring can often brings great delight, this year’s second week of April, produced two baby Big Horn Sheep, an ewe and a small ram both now are on display with their moms and their magnificent father.

Learning the ropes, Big Horn are noted for their sure-footedness, and this little guy born just a week ago is being schooled in the art of not falling off the mountain.

Further west of the Big Horn exhibit, is the Black-tailed Prairie Dog exhibit has a bunch of new pups, who enjoy wrestling and running, delighting crowds every hour of the day.

BABY PRAIRIE DOGS RUN, WRESTLE AND SCAMPER FOR FOOD AND FUN (BELOW) SHOWS THE OLD ENCLOSURE WHICH ALLOWED VISITORS TO ACCESS TO THE PRAIRE DOGS AND THE NEW ENCLOSURE HAVE VISITORS BEHIND CLEAR PLEXIGLASS.

The Desert Museum has perhaps the most incredible settings found anywhere in Southern Arizona, the only spot in the United States where the giant cactus, the Saguaro, is found to grow. The smallest detail in this lush desert is found to have the most delicate beauty. The mid-March wildflowers season is followed in early May with cactus blossoms that bring yellows from the Prickly pear, purples from the Hedge-hog, yellows and reds from the Cholla and get a ladder for the white bloom on the Saguaro. Finally the two species of Palo Verde drape the entire desert with brilliant yellow blooms, finally yielding to the Ironwood trees purple coat. The Desert Museum also features more exotic species found in the nooks and crannies of the Sonoran Desert, one like the Boojum, found in north central Baja.

Not all visitors to the Desert Museum are people.  One photographer I know was amazed by a scene he captured between a wayward rattlesnake trailside and an impromptu ground squirrel.  He saw a women making pictures with her smart phone and he moved in tight with his Nikon and “got some amazing images” but he had never considered that rattlers might be found trailside, regardless of signs, warning folks to be alert to the possibility.

Years ago, I setup a camera on a tripod behind the Desert Museum about 2am hoping to photograph a meteor shower.  As I stared into the brilliant sky alive with stars and meteors streaking across the huge expanse I was rattled into self-awareness when something behind me let loose with a loud terrifying growl. In less than ten seconds, the tripod was down and I was pulling away from my pullout on the McCain loop. The shivers up my spine had been rooted in primal concern for my very existence, the only cat in the Sonoran Desert capable of launching such a roar, was a Jaguar, who no doubt was just another visitor to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

Wandering the grounds of the Desert Museum and listening to comments from visitors from all over the world gives one an appreciation for the rarity and the uncommon value found here at this popular visitor spot.

MOST YOUNG VISITORS CAN NOT RESIST THE BRONZE STATUARY SCATTERED ALL AROUND THE GROUNDS. THESE JAVELINA AT THE ENTRANCE ARE SHINEY FROM WEAR.

“Look it is a hedgehog cactus!”, says one visitor pointing to a prickly pear cactus. “This cactus has ears” says another. “Deer?”  “I can see deer at home” says one!  “I don’t see the parrot? “ You can see the wolf, he’s behind the agave.” “Wild turkey, heh!  “Excellent, I could use a little wild turkey about now, says one noontime visitor. “Can you seem ’em ?”

“Let’s see the big turtles”, upon their return, “did you see your turtle?” “Nope–he’s hidden now-shall we see if the tortoises are around?” “I don’t think they hibernate in the desert”, said another. “I didn’t see any terrapin.” ”We saw nothing, I don’t know where they are!”

“This would be a cool scavenger hunt, bring a bunch of kids and see how many animals they see, offers one visitors. “I see something moving but I can’t tell what it is-a black something” (Coatimundi).

“You can see the roadrunner.” “Is anyone else being co-operative?” “Possibly not, but you have to look, like in the Gray Fox enclosure there are two sleeping beneath the ledge.”

“The beaver’s down this way, we’re on the right road. I want to jump in and cool off with that Beaver.” “Look, there’s fish in the water, 1-2-3-4-5-6-there’s the beaver.”

“Has every one seen enough of the desert?”

“What do you think about the Sonoran desert?” “It’s okay!” said one burned out Asian visitor. “Just look at this beautiful place” says another. “Now that Bighorn, I’d like to see him climb out,” says a woman with a leopard-skill umbrella shading her head from the sun.

The direct Desert sun can be harsh on folks who rarely see it, even on a day when temps top out at 79. “When we are all sunned out-we can go into the air-conditioning-there is a pop machine there and we can refill our water bottles.”

Critters from the Sonoran desert learned from birth, like the Bobcats sleeping under their ledge, that an afternoon siesta, is the best way to handle the heat. Because of that the Museum does feature indoor air-conditioned exhibits like the new reef display featuring 14 aquariums, or the beaver exhibit, snakes or spiders, cave underground or geology exploration or the shaded Aviary, so when visitors finally decide they don’t want to go back out in the sun they can go see the Hummingbird enclosure or explore any number of cooler options.

Two older women, stooped over, and barely moving up the grade, says “we’re pretending we’re kids. Running past these enthusiastic visitors must be 30 kids all wearing red-t-shirts which mark them from the same school, making it easier for their tenders, to know which kids to roundup or push along and to take home a day’s end.

The 98 acres of the Museum continue to be owned by Pima County and leased to the Museum. ASDM is governed by an independent Board of 24 members.

The Desert Museum is ranked on TripAdvisor.com as one of the Top 10 Museums in the country and the #1 Tucson attraction. Unlike most museums, about 85% of the experience is outdoors! The 98 acre Desert Museum is a diverse experience: featuring a zoo, botanical garden, art gallery, natural history museum, and aquarium. The 21 interpreted acres has two miles of walking paths through various desert habitats, housing 230 animal species, 1,200 types of plants with 70,000 individual specimens. It houses one of the world’s most comprehensive regional mineral collections. Beyond merely an attraction, the Museum’s conservation and research programs are providing important information to help conserve the Sonoran Desert region. The Desert Museum’s Art Institute inspires conservation through art education and gallery exhibits. The Museum’s publishing division, ASDM Press, has produced over 40 books and guides on the natural and cultural history of the Sonoran Desert.

The Desert Museum is recognized as one of the finest docent corps in existence today, it began in the fall of 1972. The genesis was a small group of volunteers trained to take school children on tours of the grounds, but now the docents are stationed around the grounds to provide live interpretation to all who visit. These docents, who undergo a rigorous 15-week training program, are now devoted to giving demonstrations on the grounds, and contribute today more than 75,000 hours annually to do this.

Hal Gras 1977

The Museum’s other education programs developed over the years, most notably by Hal Graswho created a program to take live animals to schools and other venues. His program, begun in 1955,  dubbed “The Desert Ark”, touched tens of thousands of people. Even though Gras retired from the Museum in 1985, many people today recall being inspired to learn about the desert from Gras and his Desert Ark.

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The wild West lives today, in the hearts and minds of its fans and historians.  But in Marana, the spirit of  western culture, lives on in a dusty corral next to Interstate 10 which routes horse-lovers there from all over Arizona.  The Marana Western Heritage Arena sets the stage for cowboys and cowgirls of all ages to grow up Western and realize their ambitions and goals.

Most weeks folks converge there to barrel race and ride bulls.  Every friday night, kids come and “to hang out” watching family and friends perform in the arena.  Bull riding starts at 7pm and varies whether you have experienced riders or someone new trying on the sport for the first time.  Why would someone climb onto the back of a huge bull, knowing it would eventually launch them skyward?

“A passion for animals and the adrenaline for life,” says Jessica Reyna whose teenage son, Benaiah has decided he would ride a bull tonight, his first, but not his last.  “He’s a bull-rider now!,” comes the voice from the speakers, “Welcome to the family!” as Benaiah picks himself up, dusts off and climbs out of the arena.  Some fridays, dozens of younger kids show up for “mutton-busting”.  Climbing on top of huge sheep, grabbing the rope, and letting go. The kids love it and for many, it is just a question of time, before they trade sheep for bulls.  It’s not all guys who climb onto the unridable, two girls, who come most Friday because their friends are here say if they had the cash they would go for it.  They felt sure, that in the beginning, they might “come off pretty early” at first, but eventually they could get a good ride. Their day is coming they say…

Tonight, behind the chutes, four or five friends are stretching, talking, laughing and getting ready.  Wives and girlfriends stand near talking but watching as the guys get ready. Many of these riders are active Air Force, airmen who had to get their CO’s permission before they could ride bulls. Most have been here before, Mike Fuentes has been riding for about a year and wants to improve his ranking and get his PRCA card, maybe win some cash.  He is real impressed with the arena and folks who attend, it’s like family he says, when I first came out here I had no gear just wanted to ride.  Folks pulled together enough gear for him to get thrown off, since then, he keeps come back for more. “It’s like family here”, he says.

When the riders are queued and ready for the gate to open.  Most wearing face mask, chest protection and rubber mouth guards, they suck it up as the g-forces grab them.  Everyone has their smartphones out filming and capturing the ride to be dissected later for fun and training, either way, they want a record for their ride tonight.  Who would believe it otherwise ?

John Schmidt is a one-man rodeo, he’s is master-of-ceremonies and announcer, he helps load bulls and picks up cowpokes off the ground. He doesn’t ride bulls anymore, after 15 years he wants to pass his skills on to others, while keeping the arena running safely. While Schmidt gets much of the credit for the friday night bull adventure pitting 160 pound cowboys against 2400 pound bulls, he is the first to pass the credit on down the line.  “Dan idea for the arena”, he deflects, “was to create a place where folks could bring their families, to visit and play together”.  Ten years ago Dan Post built the arena, bull chutes and corrals, most nights he is the fella on top of the tractor who smooths out the soil in the performance area and gets it ready for the next group of riders.

Then he does it again, and again, all night long. “This is my service” says Dan Post, with the humility of a guy who doesn’t want the limelight.  Fact is, Dan’s service extends to the Marana School Board, where he has served ten terms, helped build all of Marana’s Schools and knows all the employees who have been hired in their public schools for the past forty years.  He’s running again this year for the school board, “Because they need my experience!” he says.  Post’s experience is unparalleled, he’s lived in Marana over 50 years and while he misses the old days and “hates seeing all the farmland go away”.  As President of the Town of Marana Western Heritage Committee, whose mission is to promote a Western way of life, allowing opportunities for people wanting an equestrian experience. Post’s prominent role on the school board, may be the reason, the arena was built on high school land. 

Either way, it fills up most weeks for the varying events, some with jackpots, bull riders for $50 can get into the money if they stay on for eight seconds.  Some nights they might win $500, but eight seconds can feel like eternity, so some don’t. Jackpot Barrel racing, open to both Cowboys and Cowgirls, on the first Wednesday of each month, might bring out 50-60 riders who could win $150-$200 with some style and a quick ride.

Saturday can often bring hundred’s of youngsters and horses out for Horse Gymkana’s that run the kids and their critters through the paces, pillons or barrels. Four-H groups from all over southern Arizona and Tucson turn out to await their turn as they navigate the obstacle course. They learn valuable lessons in caring for animals and meet kids they will grow up with, each taking their place in the competition’s rankings.

Lots of energy goes into making up Marana’s Western Heritage Arena, covering the

Shayse Riera lays one on Maverick

events, coaching the kids, organizing the livestock, watering down the dust that fills the air and might drift onto I-10 if Dan Post wasn’t driving the water truck around and dampening it down, nailing down all the loose soil in the area.

Because the Marana Arena is such a class act, the Grand Canyon Rodeo Association, often has a rodeo there on the grounds bringing in top ranked cowboys and cowgirls to compete for bigger money and eventually getting into the big money which makes Rodeo a full-time job for lots of cowpokes.  It is something you have to love because many suffer lots of broken bones, cuts, scrapes and dislocations, whatever, they all go back for more because they love to Rodeo…

Bull Riding Practice Every Friday 7 PM Sharp

Mutton Busting, Calf Riding, Steer Riding, Jr. Bulls and Bulls $5 admission adults, Children 12 & under free

Mutton Busters must weigh under 70lbs $5 fee Steer Riding $10, Bulls $20

First time Bull riders are welcome equipment available at the arena rope, helmet, vest

For more info call 520-248-1736

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The lush Oak Flat campground, once a quiet island of green in Central Arizona, is known to the nearby San Carlos Apache as “where the Creator touched the land”. Its lush canopy of trees and streams surrounded by the brown Sonoran Desert leaves  little doubt this small gem is worth the fight looming in its future. It is the classic battle of good, fighting corporate greed aided by “political corruption”, against a Native American tribe that historically has been pushed to the end of their Earth.

Apache babies once hung in cradleboards from these Oaks as their mothers, aunties and grandmothers and all their older brothers and daughters scampered about picking acorns.

The Apache, disconnected from their lands and culture, were taken prisoners-of-war and were victims of genocide. Still they endured, survived and have taken up their battle for holy land to the highest court in the land, their creator! Ussen, placed them on this earth and made them stewards of the land from the day they are born to the day they die it is inherent to the Apache to protect the land their ancestors died fighting for, today it is their fight.

During both marches, young and old, have stepped up to the challenge of Saving Oak Flat.

More than a year ago, few knew of Oak Flat, for many, it’s the top-of-the-world-a high spot where one can see forever. Roughly a hundred miles southeast of Phoenix and a long way from all the green golf courses, resorts of Scottsdale where folks sip light beer poolside. More than 200 San Carlos Apache marched on a crowded curving roadway, backed up by vans of elderly. They marched 50 miles to Oak Flat from the Tribal headquarters in San Carlos some walking and others running across some of the hottest, inhospitable land in the United States.

Today, one year plus and counting, activists are marching for Oak Flat in Honolulu, Seattle and Sacramento and protests are being held elsewhere in the U.S. The San Carlos Apache began their 2016 anniversary march in February from “Old San Carlos”, 13 miles from present day tribal headquarters, when Coolidge Dam was built it plugged the Gila River. As the water rose the historic, painful and criminal San Carlos Indian Agency was lost to the waters, as well as, 400 Indian graves.

Vernelda Grant: tribal historic preservation officer for the San Carlos Apache Tribe

We have mixed feelings, mixed feelings because, you know, we have the water here now, we have the fish here and these beautiful birds, and the water to us is life, but underneath it all is a lost history. This water covers a painful part of our lives from the past. I think it soothes that pain. For the Apaches, the waters help conceal a painful past. Old San Carlos was a powerful launchpad and an emotional sendoff for the almost 200 marchers and runners who churned through the 50 miles march ending up at Oak Flat for the blessing of the holy land by the Apache Crown Dancers.

Aztec Indians dance to the “Earth’s Heartbeat” and bless this Holy Ground. “We came today to bring our prayers here-to the spirits here and within us”

Since then,  the campground has been occupied, as the Apache continue their protective watch. Meanwhile, forces are at work to turn around the “land swap” that John McCain snuck into the behemoth national defense spending bill that was passed.

Everyone now, has heard of Oak Flat ! The unjust midnight move one year ago by John McCain, bypassing due process, so a foreign copper company could steal land that serves as part of the San Carlos Apache lifestyle and culture. After a decade of successful tribal legal intervention, McCain slipped the rider into the 2015 National Defense (must pass) Bill overnight and passed it the next day, bypassing any public transparency. Today, a goggle search for Oak Flat brings back, hundreds, if not, thousands of hits. From photo spreads in GARZA the French News Magazine to an Op/Ed piece in the New York Times calling McCain and Jeff Flakes bill, “a new low in congressional corruption”, written by Lydia Millet, who says ”the rider should be repealed.” Millet suggests “laws can be reversed by new legislative language.

Tucson representative Raul Grivaljva and presidential candidate and Vermont Senator both have filed legislative action to scuttle the McCain-Flake rider in favor of the San Carlos Apache Indian Tribe.

Jane Sanders visits and speaks at Oak Flat

“Oak Flat is an important cultural and religious area that is vital to the traditions of our Native American brothers and sisters – it deserves our strongest protections,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson.

The Save Oak Flat Act, authored by  Tucson Rep. Raul Grijalva and cosponsored by presidential Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Ruben Gallego and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, would repeal this amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, thereby disallowing mining in this area. According to the Save Oak Flat Act, the establishment of a mine would result in, “the physical destruction of tribal sacred areas and deprive American Indians from practicing their religions, ceremonies, and other traditional practices.” Furthermore, the Act considers the potential environmental degradation due to mining waste.

John Welch, an archaeologist, long-time resident of Fort Apache and a professor at Simon Fraser University in Canada, says Oak Flat, “Is the best set of Apache archaeological sites ever documented, period, full stop.” Oak Flat and Ga’an Canyon are “where the spiritual beings that represent healing live.”

“We demand entitlement to our land and reservation, says Nosie, “through prayer, we are going to win!” “We are bringing down the barriers imposed upon us and today we breakout, the abuse from the people outside (the reservation), ends here today.”

So spoke, Wendsler Nosie, one year ago speaking in one voice for Tribal leaders from all over Arizona and Native Americans everywhere, Nosie announced Thursday February Fourth, 2015, to be “a historic day as the Apache once again took the field once again against the United States of America”.  Nosie then led his people on a  march to Apache Leap Mountain towering over the mining community of Superior where Resolution Copper plans to use robots working deep underground to collapse the mountain beneath itself imploding the Apache sacred ceremonial grounds where their ancestors are buried, where their daughter’s held Sunrise Ceremonies, where their parents wakes and funerals were enshrined—a holy place for every chapter of Apache Life.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the San Carlos Brave’s Basketball Team today has won the State Championship this a very afternoon.” Applause breaks out as community members celebrate their children bringing home the top prize from the state tournament. Apache are a very proud people and their children are the center of their universe.

Apache, activist await the arrival of the Crown Dancers who would bless this holy ground…

Apache Leap Mountain gets its name from the Pinal Apache Band who lived in those hills and valley, those rocks still carry rock art left from their dreams of successful hunts for deer and mountain sheep, game that filled their stomachs and fueled their children’s futures. That band of 40 died leaping from the ragged mountain edge as they were surrounded by the U. S. Cavalry who demanded a return to San Carlos, or die by their sabers. The Pinal Apache chose to leap knowing their God knew best how they should live and die. Today the Apache fight for their children.

APACHE LEAP MOUNTAIN

For decades, the Apaches fought and raided encroaching Mexican and American immigrants. In the 1870s, the U.S. government forced them onto camps or reservations, like San Carlos. “HELL’S 40 ACRES” was the nickname for San Carlos Indian Agency for the deplorable living conditions found there in 1870-80’s according to wikipedia, there it reports the U.S. Army showed both animosity toward the Indians and disdain for their civilian Indian agents. Soldiers and officers Wikipedia reports “sometimes brutally tortured or killed the Indians for sport…”

“We were pushed here”! says Wensler Nosie, former Chairman of the San Carlos Apache people and spiritual leader of the Save Ash Flat Movement. We used to roam the entire South West, but we were told to stay at San Carlos and extermination was the response when we didn’t. The white man killed our ancestors, my great grandparents, when they tried to continue their nomadic lifestyle. My mother told me, stay on the reservation-don’t bother those white people outside or they will rain down hurt upon you and our people! That was a sickness pressed upon our people by the U.S. government, that ends today,  “Today we pray to our God and through God we will win!”

Councilman Fred Ferreiria from the San Carlos Peridot district says “they gave us this land because no one wanted it — they found minerals — and they took it. If we don’t stop it now, bit by bit, they will take it all away again.” We learned the laws and how things are done, we were doing that and the government broke the rules, we must continue this fight, we are here today for our children.”

“We have champions in Congress and they will help us “Repeal the Law” said Ed Norris, chairman of the Tohono Oodham (above)

God blesses the world–he put us here to protect the land and as long as we put God first–he will fight for us. Apache people were taught to pray and only through prayer will we win. The white man came to America in search of religious freedom but still they deprive the Apache of what is his religious right.” “We are still prisoners-of-war” said Wally Davis, chairman of the Tonto Apache speaking of people forced marched to the San Carlos Indian Reservation. “This is a message to all Native Americans.” “San Carlos is still a prison, ” Davis said. In March 1875, the government closed the Yavapai-Apache Camp Verde Reservation and the Army marched the residents 180 miles to the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. More than 100 Yavapai died during the winter trek. After Geronimo’s capture in 1886, and the Chiricahua Band were shipped to Florida, San Carlos was then used to contain all the rest of the Apachean-speaking people until the 1900’s.

RESOLUTION MINE PLANS TO STACK TAILINGS FROM PICKETPOST MOUNTAIN (above) TO FLORENCE JUNCTION ALONG THE SIDE OF HIGHWAY 60, FOR 20 MILES ,THE PILES WILL BE STACKED BETWEEN 500′ TO PERHAPS 2000′ TOWARD THE END OF THE MINING PROJECT.

“This is Apache territory and Oak Flat belongs to the Apache—they took it away from us and we must take it back says Apache Chairman Terry Rambler. “I’m very proud of my ancestor’s “Apache Pride” we were supposed to be exterminated but we are here today, let’s take over Oak Flat, this is our time to be involved! Apache were slaughtered and killed here—we will fight for the blood of our ancestors. The chairman said the San Carlos Tribal council voted against any copper mines being built upon their land.”

“The white people came to this land searching for religious freedom, fleeing persecution, they wanted “ to have the ability to pray, we want the same freedom”. Some people have to visualize something, like a church, a structure to express their love of God, Oak Flat is our church, it is no different today. Today is about religious freedom, we need to keep our connection to our God.”

It is a little known fact, that the largest, most-amazing copper deposit in Arizona, lies beneath the city of Mesa. So imagine, if you will, the Mesa Arizona Temple – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gets a federal notice that the church is off-limits and will be demolished in order for China to have all the copper they want to sell back to us. That’s Oak Flat, in an nutshell, the church of the San Carlos Apache is threaten by a copper mine and since environmental studies have been ruled unnecessary, the San Carlos people fear for their water and their spirituality.

In addition to the destruction of this place of worship, the Land Exchange will threaten the water quality and water supply of the region. The Tonto National Forest was established in 1905 principally to protect the region’s watershed. However, the Land Exchange will effectively eliminate these protections. Under current plans, the mining operation will require an unsustainable amount of water to operate and leave behind contaminated water affecting the Tribe and local communities for generations to come. The resulting hole will be two miles across and resemble “Meteor Crater” near Winslow, Az.

Meanwhile the 1978 American Indian Religious Act forbids government to denying Native Americans access to sites or to interfere with religious practices and customs where such use conflicts with  federal regulations according to  President Jimmy Carter this act stops that. Both Presidents Nixon and Eisenhower signed bills setting aside Oak Flat from mining and development.  It was established as a green space for Americans to enjoy.

A few months ago, the National Museum of the American Indian contacted the SouthWest PhotoJournal to acquire “images for their upcoming classroom lesson plan their Education Department was developing, a lesson plan about American Indian Removal, for teachers and students K-12. The web-based module titled “Many Trails of Tears.” would be a teaching tool to understand the impact and complexity of U.S. Removal Policies, with a wide variety of stories and outcomes. One part of the lesson was to focus on Oak Flat. They asked students to look at Oak Flat and determine whether mining on a sacred site is an example of removal today says Erin Beasley, visual researcher for the National Museum.

“Just recently the web lesson plan went through a review process Beasley reported a couple months later, and “the education team has informed me they had to drop the Oak Flat story in the lesson plan for the immediate future”. “It may come back at some point, but for now I’m very sorry to say we won’t be using the Oak Flat images. Oak Flat is such an important story, I’m sure it will come into another project, or become a growth of this educational project, in the future.”

I frankly had expected the change because the battle over Oak Flat is growing very contentious and workers at the National Museum are subject to the will of Congress and to be calling Oak Flat, an example of forced relocation, while Republicans are saying never mind, this campground is no consequence or no major importance, could cost a job.

Sides have been chosen and battle lines drawn both Reps. Paul Gosar, R-Prescott, and Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Flagstaff, asked the National Park Service to withdraw the Oak Flat application to the National Register of Historic Places, saying it was confusing and vaguely worded in an attempt to undermine the proposed Resolution Copper mine. They noted, among other things, that the application did not cite “Oak Flat,” as the area is commonly known, but called it the “Chi’chil Bildagoteel Historic District,” according to the Cronkite News Service.

“We are concerned that the use of the phrase ‘Chi’chil Bildagoteel Historic District’ and a lack of geographic information is an attempt by these opponents to limit transparency and public comments from constituents that disagree with this nomination, and an attempt to undermine our bipartisan bill” the lawmakers’ letter said.

In the March 10th edition of the Tucson Weekly Republican Congressman Paul Gosar goes nuclear at news that Oak Flat will remain listed in the National Register of Historic Places, despite attempts by himself and U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, a Democrat who alleges to stand by Native Americans, to withdraw the site from historic consideration.

In a press release, Gosar alleges Oak Flat has never been a sacred site. According to a letter by former chairman of the San Carlos Apache Nation and organizer of the group Apache Stronghold Wendsler Nosie, Sr., Gosar is pressuring the National Forest Service to kick out members of the Apache Stronghold, as well as allies, who have occupied the area since the site was sold out to the mining company.

“Oak Flat deserves our strongest protections,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson. “As someone who has fought to safeguard this treasure for years, I fully support designating the land as a historic property listed on the National Register of Historic Places and encourage the National Park Service to evaluate the proposal based on its merits.” 

Wendsler Nosie Sr. marching to Oak Flat

“Today eagle feathers arrived here on foot, this is a spiritual gathering. The idea is to get here so the blessing can be given by God. We have arrived so God will have blessed us…we are all brothers and sisters here. Together we will protect our water so we can continue to live as human beings.The Apache need to be afforded the same protection as all U.S. citizens—we Apache want the same rights afforded everyone else. This is a gift from God to help save the world may we all be blessed from this day forward.”   Wendsler Nosie Sr. 

San Carlos Apache Chairman Terry Rambler, Wendsler Nosie behind.

One year ago  Wendsler Nosie ,  spiritual leader of the San Carlos Apache, said a movement had begun and his tribe had “once again taken the field against the United States of America.” Since then members have occupied Oak Flat and continued their lifestyle using the campgrounds and canyon and valleys of Oak Flat, as the scene for weddings, funerals and the Apache Sunrise Ceremonies, the three day ceremony that celebrates Apache women coming of age. This fine stand of Emory Oaks for centuries have brought the Apache here to pick and fill their containers with acorns, to make a long time favorite Apache meal, Acorn Stew, as well as enjoying the acorn itself. Tisha Black says her 84 year old father “loves to pick acorns” at Oak Flat and the former tribal policeman, baliff and jailer stopped picking acorns there a few years ago, after a Highway Patrolman told him he couldn’t pick the nuts at Oak Flat anymore.

Since the required environmental impact studies for the proposed Resolution Mine were rendered pointless by the McCain bill, the tribe and other central Arizona residents, will have no protection for their groundwater and the mine will not be libel if water is spoiled.

Soon, if Resolution Copper gets access to the Copper beneath Oak Flat, the Superior Az community Easter campouts will cease at the campground and everything that has happened at Oak Flat before will cease to exist or occur. Eventually, the campgrounds, canyons and “world class” climbing rock will be place off limits as robots a mile beneath the surface collapse this mountain and ship the ore overseas.

Pomono Tribe from California does a “Pomono Two-step”

“We have to stand up and fight Congress, laws can be made and laws can be changed!  John McCain made a big mistake doing this to us said Terry Rambler, Chairman of the San Carlos Tribe. These politicians aided Resolution Mine, the Canadian Copper Mine that wants to collapse Apache Leap Mountain and ship the copper ore overseas. Leaving the Apache, the hole and a contaminated water source. “What was a struggle to protect our most sacred site is now a battle. Their angry words leave no doubt that “greedy politicians” like Sen. John McCain, Sen. Jeff Flake, Anne Kirkpatrick and Rep. Paul Gosar, have worn out their welcome in Indian Country.

“The rape of Indian land stops today on this historic day”, Nosie continues. ” Oak Flat was a gift from God to the Apache people, may we all be blessed from this day forward,” Nosie tells the crowd. “We are spiritually guided here–indigenous people from all over the world are watching our fight”! If America is the World’s Policeman, and this under-handed maneuver is how they treat their native peoples, then what hope do native souls have anywhere?

CENSORED NEWS: OAK FLAT FROM THE SAN CARLOS PERSPECTIVE ! 

Earlier Blog on the First March to Oak Flat

APACHE STRONGHOLD

SAVE OAK FLAT

CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE

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TAOS PUEBLO….one of the “oldest places” in the United States and this ancient pueblo greeted Coronado men when they penetrated into  southwestern America

Crunching 2015 SouthWestPhotoJournal.Com blog numbers for the year

2015 ANNUAL REPORT

Attractions in 2015

These are the posts that got the most views in 2015. You can see all of the year’s most-viewed posts in your Site Stats.

• 1   SAN CARLOS APACHE MARCH TO OCCUPY OAK FLAT PROMISE A FIGHT TO SAVE THEIR HOLY GROUND FROM THE GREED OF McCAIN, KIRKPATRICK, FLAKE, GOSAR AND THE RESOLUTION COPPER MINE !…………..20 COMMENTS   February 2015
• 2   OLD TUCSON’S MESCAL CHANNELS THE OLD WEST’, IT’S PRICELESS, BUT MOVIE SETS ARE NOT BUILT TO LAST ONLY FILM MAGIC LIVES ON !…………5 COMMENTS    May 2014
• 3   HONEY BEE PIT HOUSE CONSTRUCTION MAPS OUT THE HOHOKAM’S LIFE WAYS AT STEAM PUMP RANCH IN ORO VALLEY EXPANDING THE PREHISTORIC RECORD !……..  February 2015
• 4   THE LANGUAGE ON THE ROCKS : WAS THE FLUTE-PLAYING KOKOPELLI, A TRADER, DIPLOMAT, TEACHER OR WITCH ? DID ROCK DRAWINGS REVEAL THE SECRETS OF THE COSMOS AND THE FACE OF EARLY MAN?      …….. July 2013
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