Desert Messenger

14 www.DesertMessenger.com September 17, 2014 The 1000 year old carvings in the ba- salt cliffs spoke volumes. These cliffs deep in the Kaibab National Forest were created by an ancient lava fl ow from the San Francisco Volcanic Field. In this particular area between Wil- liams and Flagstaff, along old Historic Route 66, the scenery is a mix of pine, fi r, spruce and aspen, with a dry and porous soil composed mostly of lava cinders and ash. Wildfl owers, grass- es, and small cacti poke up through the rocky ground. Mountains of cin- der cones and outcroppings of basalt give depth, color, and dimension to the panorama. This is the landscape of the San Fran- cisco Volcanic Field, which covers just over 3000 square miles, and lies on the southern edge of the Colo- rado Plateau. It extends eastward in an irregular belt from Williams, AZ to just east of Flagstaff. Volcanic activity in this area began deep un- How rocks can change your life By Jenn Jedidiah Free for RocksInMyHead™ derground about 6 million years ago, and remained largely subterranean until about 1000 years ago when lava fl ows and eruptions began. The Sinagua people, ancestors of the Puebloans of the Four Corners area whose name means "without water", in- habited the forests of this area living in pit houses, hunting, gathering, and cul- tivating corn in an arid landscape. The Hopi refer to these people as Hisatsinom, or "those who lived long ago", and it was these people whose lives were dramatically altered by the eruptions and fl ows of the San Francisco Volcanic Field. Although the exact dates of the erup- tions are not known, geologic and an- thropologic research has suggested that the initial eruptions occurred around 1050 AD and continued for about 100 years. Cinder cones grew up ADVENTURES WITH ROCKS around the region, spewing cinders and ash across the landscape. Lava fl ows oozed across the land. Cinders and ash coated the soil. The Sinagua people witnessed these dramatic events, and stories of these eruptions are embed- ded into the oral traditions of the mod- ern day Hopi people. Sunset Crater near Flagstaff, and the lands around it, are still today considered sacred to many of the Pueblo people. The eruptions drastically altered the Sinagua homeland. Agricultural land immediately sur- rounding the vol- canoes and cinder cones was covered with a thick layer of cinder and ash rendering it unsuit- able for farming. Enormous chunks of basalt fl owed across the land building bluffs, buttes, and craggy ridges throughout the once gentle landscape, and pushing boul- ders out ahead of it. The lands imme- diatetly around the volcano we know today as Sunset Crater were no longer inhabitable by the Sinagua and became the sacred dwelling of the spirit being Kana'a Katsina. But further from the Sunset Crater Vent, the ash layer was thinner. Here, the ash layer acted as a water-retaining mulch, greatly enhancing the soil and establishing a rich environment for ag- riculture. The lava fl ows also created new hunting grounds and diverted wa- ter to previously dry areas. Tall basalt cliffs formed canyons, while fi ssures and cracks in the basalt formed caves Serving the RVing Community since1977 Quartzsite Coachworks On Site RV Repair RV Specialist PO Box 5082 • Quartzsite, AZ 85359 A/C • Electrical • Plumbing • Roof Repair • All Appliances CALL TODAY! 760-799-2370 www.QuartzsiteCoachworks.com The Smoke Shop Red Building - Near Desert Gardens RV Park Entrance qUARTZSITE, ARIZONA SEASONAL HOURS 6:30AM - NOON MONDAY THRU FRIDAY CLOSED SATURDAY AND SUNDAY SEE ROCKS PAGE 15 Special to Desert Messenger By Lyle Browning ~ University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Service Some of the most attractive and climate friendly plants can be major problems when planted or placed in the wrong spot either in a street setting or in a landscape. Example: planting a tree that will grow to 40 feet under a power line that is 15 feet in the air. This sounds like a no brainer, but there are dozens of examples where that ex- act mistake has been made here in La Paz County. Where dwellings are very close together, a tree with a 14 inch trunk will be planted in a spot of earth 4feet by 4 feet with walls, driveways, side walk and foundations nearby. The roots of the tree can be buckling any of those structures. Unhandy in the owner's yard, very expensive when it buckles the neighbor's structure. Problems like this need not happen when just a little forethought is all that is required. Wouldn't it make more sense to place smaller, lower grow- ing plants in those locations? The end result of planting a plant in the wrong spot is always more work, less satisfy- ing, and in some cases downright ex- pensive. It is a good idea to know how much space you have both vertically and horizontally before making any plant choices. If you contact our offi ce we can provide you with a list of plants suitable for the space you have. We are located at 2524 Mutahar Road, just off Shay road and our telephone number is 928 669-9843. Good plant, wrong spot

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