woodwizard
Observer
View attachment 13262The tragic events of 9-11 followed by a quadruple drug murder in the small Mexican border town of Sonoyta on August 8, 2002 set in motion the latest policies that have wounded this pristine area and largely our country. Being pursued by Mexican agents, the drug murderer drove through the porous border into Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on the scenic Purta Blanco Road. Given the impossible task of patrolling the 30 miles of border in the park, the 7 National Park rangers did their best. Kris Eggle encountered the murderer crossing. The following gun battle left one of America’s most promising, young ambassadors lying dead. Mexican agents shot and killed the murderer trying to cross back into Mexico…..on August 9, 2002, all of America suffered further. Since that tragic event, border patrols have quadrupled and the Monument has continually added to the barricades and fences along it’s border with Mexico, but that hasn’t been the answer.View attachment 13264
View attachment 13263There continues to be a never ending list of reasons that culminate in tragedy along the El Camino Del Diablo. It started with the whispered rumors from Moorish slaves returning from the New World of the Fabled 7 Cities of Cibola (Gold) that sent Diaz, from the Coronado expedition, into the area and established the route in 1540; to the misled miners rushing, seeking a shortcut and avoiding Indian confrontations, to California’s ’49 gold fields (estimated 400-500 died along the route). The course of the road is littered with their graves. The piles of grave markers at the High Tanks have long been removed by the military. What seems to be the unending tide of heavily armed drug smugglers and coyotes leading massive groups of illegal aliens across the border, which has left 100s dead with no end in sight, has tapered down considerably. In 2004, during the zenith of illegal activity, it was estimated that over 200,000 to 400,000 illegal aliens crossed in the area between Sonoyta and Yuma with over 15,000 lbs of pot confiscated. During that period, Organ Pipe for 2 years running was considered by Rangers the most dangerous park in America.
How do you put your finger on it? How do you define the reasons and the logic for placing yourself in the middle of a perfect storm in the hottest, driest portion of the Sonoran Desert? How do you describe, to anyone listening, the sensations of the vastness and remoteness that is so rare in the lower 48, the dark night sky or just the only sound you hear all day is the wind. That’s what keeps us coming back and that’s where this story begins….View attachment 13265
View attachment 13263There continues to be a never ending list of reasons that culminate in tragedy along the El Camino Del Diablo. It started with the whispered rumors from Moorish slaves returning from the New World of the Fabled 7 Cities of Cibola (Gold) that sent Diaz, from the Coronado expedition, into the area and established the route in 1540; to the misled miners rushing, seeking a shortcut and avoiding Indian confrontations, to California’s ’49 gold fields (estimated 400-500 died along the route). The course of the road is littered with their graves. The piles of grave markers at the High Tanks have long been removed by the military. What seems to be the unending tide of heavily armed drug smugglers and coyotes leading massive groups of illegal aliens across the border, which has left 100s dead with no end in sight, has tapered down considerably. In 2004, during the zenith of illegal activity, it was estimated that over 200,000 to 400,000 illegal aliens crossed in the area between Sonoyta and Yuma with over 15,000 lbs of pot confiscated. During that period, Organ Pipe for 2 years running was considered by Rangers the most dangerous park in America.
How do you put your finger on it? How do you define the reasons and the logic for placing yourself in the middle of a perfect storm in the hottest, driest portion of the Sonoran Desert? How do you describe, to anyone listening, the sensations of the vastness and remoteness that is so rare in the lower 48, the dark night sky or just the only sound you hear all day is the wind. That’s what keeps us coming back and that’s where this story begins….View attachment 13265
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