Desert Magazine of the Southwest

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y ROGER MITCHELL Above: Fording the Rio Bavispe. Opposite page: Rio Bavispe country. Left: The old church at San Miguelito is well maintained. 8 THE RIO BAVISPE has its headwaters high in the mountains which form the Continental Divide separating the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua. As tributaries cause it to grow, it flows northward, a thin thread of life in an otherwise arid land. About 35 miles short of the border, the river makes an abrupt hairpin turn and starts south again. For the last 40 years the water has lingered awhile behind Angostura Dam, a pre-war project built under the supervision of engineers from Hitler's Third Reich. Eventually the river continues its flow southward, often irrigating fields as old as the first padres. Finally the Rio Bavispe loses its name where it joins the Rio Areos. From here on the two streams are known as the Rio Yaqui as they continue south to empty into the large Novillo Reservoir. From where the Rio Bavispe starts, at an elevation of 7000 feet in the mountains of Chihuahua, it is a journey of Desert/ November 1978
ne lrly 500 miles to its final destination in thi Gulf of California near Guaymas. To thi- Mexican campesino, the river means that he can irrigate his fields and raise liv ;stock, to eke out a living from the ha> sh thorny land. The water also makes thi difference between life and no life for a vide variety of wildlife all along its course. For the readers of Desert, the Ri
Page 1 and 2: MAGAZINE OF THE SOUTHWEST NOVEMBER,
Page 3 and 4: WILLIAM and JOY KNYVETT ' ^-Publish
Page 5 and 6: Give Angel Arch in Canyonlands Nati
Page 7: iIJTHWESTEfiN THE ' I SC'UTHWESTERN
Page 11 and 12: Just upstream from Colonia Oaxaca,
Page 13 and 14: v.illey floor. It grows in Arizona'
Page 15 and 16: he broke a piece of rock off a near
Page 17 and 18: Yosemites refused to make peace. In
Page 19 and 20: i aw on the sharp rocks protruding
Page 21 and 22: Wanda Russell Truman stands in fron
Page 23: Utah in late November of 1861. The
Page 26 and 27: I nchanted Oasis," 28"x36" Private
Page 28 and 29: The Last Governor of Mexican Califo
Page 30 and 31: COOK BOOKS For the outdoor enthusia
Page 33 and 34: ter Underway Artist'; conception of
Page 35 and 36: "Our basic philosophy is that the c
Page 37 and 38: nf trie San Ysidros offers other ru
Page 39 and 40: RIO BAVISPE Continued from Page 11
Page 41 and 42: fared our meals under a brush arbor
Page 43 and 44: MISCELLANEOUS SI IK? RAW JUICE Ther
Page 45 and 46: DE ERT COUNTRY by Steve Crouch. Nin
Page 47 and 48: ^Letters to the Editor Letters requ

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