August 31, 2009 © Thomas J. Kollenborn. All Rights Reserved.
The
Superstition Wilderness Area and the desert that surrounds it is a vast
region of a delicately balanced eco-system. There is no eco-system in
the world more fragile than a desert environment except for the high
latitude tundra. Humankind has for centuries played a major role
impacting the Upper Sonoran Desert.
The various Native American groups have
used the region for several thousand years in subsistence hunting and
gathering modes. Their use of these fragile ecosystems mildly impacted
them. Many of the ancient archaeological sites found in the area today
are a mute testimony to the existence of these cultures. The ancient
sites are rapidly disappearing as the desert continues to be developed.
Most development allows no desert greenbelts at all for minimal survival
of fauna and flora in the Sonoran Desert, unless you want to call a
golf course a greenbelt. It is a tragic sacrifice for what we get in
return. Our gift in return is more air pollution, more traffic, more
water quality problems and more crime.
Early prospectors searched for mineral
wealth in these mountains long before the tales and myths of lost gold
and treasure emerged. There is some evidence that suggests early Mexican
prospectors from Sonora and along the Gila River may have entered the
region of Superstition Mountains as early as 1799.
The first American miners penetrated the
area about 1863. These were small parties of prospectors coming down
from the Bradshaw Mountains near Prescott during the winter months. Once
silver was discovered in the Pinal Mountains in late 1860’s the
Anglo-American population began to grow in the area. The miners and
prospectors were soon followed by the cattlemen. The early years of the
cattle barons were totally unregulated. Thousands of cattle roamed the
canyons and mountains of the Superstition Wilderness Area.
One of the earliest of the cattlemen was
Robert A. Irion. He arrived in the area with a herd about 1878 from
Wyoming. His ranch was located half-way between Miami and Superior at
what we call Sutton’s Summit today. Irion brought beef on the hoof to
feed the miners at Globe and the Silver King. He was followed by other
cattlemen like Jack Fraser, Ed Horrell and W.J. Clemans. Fraser started
his herd with three hundred head of cattle won in a poker game at the
Silver King Hotel. When Fraser sold out to W.J. Clemans in 1909, more
than 5,000 head of cattle roamed the Superstition range. All of this
activity severely impacted the fragile Sonoran Desert ecosystem.
Regulated grazing was introduced to the Superstition Wilderness with the
formation of the Tonto Preserve in 1909. The purpose of the preserve
was to protect the watershed of the Salt River drainage system rather
than the fragile ecosystem of the Sonoran Desert. The creators of the
Salt River Drainage Basin feared overgrazing would cause severe soil
erosion therefore destroy the drainage basin planned for natural runoff.
When Roosevelt Dam was completed in March of 1911 the Salt River had
finally been controlled. Flooding was prevented along the river. Water
storage for the Salt River Valley was then reality.
After the turn of the century and the
death of Jacob Waltz, of Lost Dutchman fame, hundreds of treasure
hunters, gold prospectors, and promoters searched the area for gold.
Their efforts produced several books and a few permanent scars on the
land. Their unique history still survives to this day, but in reality
did little damage to the Sonoran Desert. Those permanent scars are now
monuments to the determination and tenacity of those who searched for
gold and treasure, right or wrong.
The cattlemen, prospectors, miners, and
treasure trove hunters for more than a hundred and twenty years have
impacted the Superstition Wilderness Area. The hundreds of holes
produced by these people not only scared the landscape but also created
dangerous pitfalls for the innocent or novice adventurer. Their many
trails lead from one place to another and then to no where.
During the mid-1960’s the wilderness
received yet another kind of human impact. The impact caused by the
recreationist. This group fell into two large categories, the hikers and
horsemen. The overuse and the improvement of the trail system for these
recreational users created a critical management problem for forest
service. These new trail systems impacted the terrain to such a degree
the trails were visible from space, the air and high vantage points.
The shear numbers of recreationists who
use the Superstition Wilderness have heavily impacted the trailheads,
trails, water sources, and campsites. This impact dramatically affected
the fauna and flora. Stone rings used for campfires are found throughout
the wilderness even though the forest rangers have a campaign to reduce
them.
There are areas where the vegetation is
totally denuded, even in isolated and remote locations. There are three
modern forms of litter found throughout the wilderness since the 1960s.
They are filters from cigarettes, pop-tops from cans and gum wrappers.
These are monuments to contemporary human occupancy and use of the
region in the 20th Century. Maybe in the 21st Century we will realize
how important open space and desert greenbelts will be to future
generations. If we don’t recognize the importance of desert greenbelts
most of the upper Sonoran Desert life zone will be lost to our society
and future generations.
If we are to maintain the beauty and
solitude of this urban wilderness and the desert around it we need to
examine our priorities and express concern about what is happening to
our lifestyle here in the desert. Apache Junction has become one of the
most unique areas in the Salt River Valley (in addition to Scottsdale)
to make an attempt to preserve portions of the Sonoran Desert. How
important is this desert lifestyle? Ask any real estate agent about
property values adjacent to forest service lands in the Apache Junction
area.
The desert has always been a part of our
lifestyle. If we are to enjoy this beautiful desert we must educate
people on how to care for it and how delicate it really is. We must also
learn how to preserve it for the future. This we must do now. The City
of Apache Junction has taken an initiative to protect natural areas in
greenbelts. Hopefully the citizen’s of our community will support these
attempts to preserve the desert for future residents of our unique
desert community.
Recently a
business magazine of international significance (BusinessWeek) ranked
Apache Junction as the fourth best city in the United States to retire
in. Believe me we will need these desert preserves for future
generations who will be living here in the desert.