THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST Winter Field Program

January 4-25, 2001

Prof. Howard Horowitz, Director

From the booming glitter of Las Vegas to the sacred sites of Anasazi ruins, the field trip explores a vivid cross-section of the American Southwest. We visit portions of four states: Nevada, California, Utah, and Arizona, and two geological provinces: the Colorado Plateau and the Basin and Range Province.

The remarkable natural beauty of the region is revealed through explorations in the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Zion, and Saguaro National Parks, and in Canyon de Chelley, Organ Pipe Cactus, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Wupatki, Montezuma Castle, and Sunset National Monuments. Other scenic destinations include Monument Valley Tribal Park, Valley of Fire and Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Parks, the red rock country around Sedona, and the Colorado River. In each of these places, activities may include field lectures, museum visits, and hikes. These hikes are usually short and easy, but more strenuous hikes are sometimes an option.

The extraordinary cultural diversity of the region can be seen in the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Nation, and the Tohono O'odham Nation reservation lands, as well as in the Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo legacies of the Tucson Historical District. Archaeological visits examine ruins from various ancient cultures, (including Palaeo-Indian, Anasazi, Hohokam, Sinagua, amd Fremont.) The sites include cliff dwellings, standing ruins, ceremonial centers, wells, petroglyphs, and waterworks. We visit Antelope Canyon and Monument Valley in the company of Navajo guides, and the sacred Baboquivari area with a Tohono O'odham guide. We glimpse Mormon pioneer life

as it is preserved at Winsor Castle in Pipe Spring National Monument.

We explore historical museums, desert botanical reserves, volcanic lava flows, hot springs, slot canyons and sky islands. Urban sprawl is dramatic in the fast-growing cities of Phoenix, Tucson, and Las Vegas, causing problems with water supply and sustainable resource use. These issues are studied in urban field trips, at Hoover Dam and at Lake Powell. Mining history is examined at historic mining towns (Jerome and Chloride) and at huge open-pit copper mines where digging is still active.

We travel to spectacular scenic landscapes by van, sleep in comfortable lodges, and eat in local restaurants. Students must keep a journal which may include photographs, maps, and other items. A 5-page paper based on a topic from the readings is also required. Three mandatory pre-trip meetings (including a 3-hour class) will prepare participants with the information, readings, and materials needed to participate successfully in the field program. A post-trip meeting will be held, to summarize, synthesize, and celebrate the journey to the American Southwest.

FIELD ITINERARY - 1/4 to 1/25, 2001

January 4 - Flight to Las Vegas. Walking tour, dinner, lodging.

January 5 - Breakfast, then Las Vegas water issues field class.

Drive west through Red Rock Conservation Area (lunch) to Death Valley National Park. Lodging at Stovepipe Wells.

January 6 - Morning hike into sand dunes. Picnic lunch at Furnace Creek, class at Death Valley Visitor Center (historical and goelogical exhibits). Drive to Zabriskie Point and Badwater (short sunset hike). Return to Stovepipe Wells for dinner and lodging.

January 7 - Drive east from Death Valley NP to Pahrump, then continue to Valley of Fire State Park (Atlatl Rock, visitor center exhibits, and short hike up Petroglyph Canyon to Mouse's Tank.)

Lodging (or camp) in Overton by Lake Mead.

January 8 - Leave Overton after breakfast, drive east into Utah.

Lunch and class in St. George re: Mormon culture region. Drive east through Hurricane to Pah Tempe Hot Springs in Virgin River Canyon.

Dinner and lodging in Hurricane/Pah Tempe.

January 9 - Morning class and meeting, then drive east into Zion National Park. After viewing exhibits at Visitor Center, picnic lunch in cottonwood grove. Hikes up to Angel's Landing (or others).

Dinner and sleep at Zion Lodge.

January 10 - Morning and lunch in Zion, then drive east through tunnel to Checkerboard Mesa, and south to Coral Pink Sand Dunes (short hike). Proceed into the Arizona Strip to Pipe Spring National Monument, to see Winsor Castle, a restored pioneer ranch next to Piute Reservation). Continue east through Grand-Staircase Escalante National Monument to lodging in Page, Arizona.

January 11 - After breakfast in Page, visit Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell (tour and class). Enter Navajo Reservation for guided visit to Antelope Canyon, then drive to Navajo National Monument (cliff dwellings, short trails). Proceed east to Monument Valley (lodging and dinner at Goulding's).

January 12 - After breakfast at lodge, guided tour of Monument Valley. Proceed through Navajo lands and partitioned lands (stops and class) to Canyon de Chelley National Monument (lodging and dinner at Chinle, by monument entrance).

January 13 - Morning activities at Canyon de Chelley, including South Rim Drive and hike to cliff dwellings at White House Ruin. In afternoon, drive west to Second Mesa on the Hopi Reservation. Dinner and lodging at Hopi Cultural Center.

January 14 - Breakfast in Second Mesa, then drive west to Little Colorado River and into Grand Canyon National Park. Stops at Desert View and Tusayan ruins, then check into lodging at South Rim Village. Dinner and sunset walk at rim.

Jnauary 15 - Grand Canyon National Park - various activities, including classes and hikes. Same lodging.

January 16 - Depart from Grand Canyon after breakfast. Drive south

to Wupatki National Monument (archaeological sites) and Sunset Crater (lunch, class and hike through lava flow). Proceed south through Oak Creek Canyon to Cottonwood (lodging).

January 17 - Cottonwood breakfast, then short drive to Montezuma Castle Nat. Monument, Montezuma Well (short hike to Sinagua cliff-ruins at karst lake), and V-Bar-V petroglyph wall in Coconino

National Forest. Lunch in Sedona, then red rock outings in surrounding countryside. Return to Dead Horse State Park for campfire dinner, then to same lodging in Cottonwood.

January 18 - Cottonwood breakfast, then drive up to Jerome (historic mining town). Proceed south to Phoenix (visit to Heard Museum). Drive to Superstition Mtns; lodging or camping options.

January 19 - From Phoenix metropolitan area, drive south to classes at Casa Grande National Monument (Hohokam ruins) and Pichaco Peak State Park (geology and Civil War history). Continue south into Tucson, for dinner and lodging in old downtown.

January 20 - Breakfast in Tucson, then short drive west to Arizona- Sonora Desert Museum (walks, exhibits) and/or Saguaro National Park. Campfire dinner at group site in Tucson Mountains (camp option) or return to Tucson hotel (lodge option).

January 21 - After breakfast in Tucson, walking tour of historic district. Drive west to Tohono O'odham Reservation, with a detour for a class at Kitt Peak Observatory. Possible guided tour to sacred Baboquivari Peak area, which may include an overnight stay.

If not, then proceed west to lodging in Ajo.

January 22 - Breakfast in Ajo (or drive to Ajo, if from Baboquivari area). Visit open-pit copper mine, then to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (lunch, class, hike). Proceed north to Tonopah, Arizona, for dinner and lodging (or camp at El Dorado Hot Springs).

January 23 - Morning at El Dorado, then brunch at Alice's Restaurant in Tonopah. Drive north to Vulture Mine (class and tour at ghost town). Continue into Mohave Desert, to dinner along historic Route 66 and lodging at Kingman, Arizona.

January 24 - After breakfast in Kingman, visit Mohave County Museum

(superb local history collections). Drive north on Hwy 93 to Chloride, then to Willow Beach on Colorado River (picnic lunch, class, possible boat rentals). Continue north to Hoover Dam, then return to Las Vegas for buffet dinner and flight to New Jersey.

January 25 - Flight arrives in New Jersey (morning).

AMERICAN SOUTHWEST Course Readings:

Barclay, Donald, et al. Into the Wilderness Dream: Exploration

Narratives of the American West, 1500-1805. U. of Utah

Press, 1994, p. 1-32, 57-77.

Hinchman, Sandra. Hiking the Southwest's Canyon Country. The Mountaineers, 1996, p. 10-36.

Nies, Judith. "Indian Lands, Black Gold" in Orion, Summer 1998.

Riesner, Marc. Cadillac Desert. Penguin Books, 1986, p. 120-144,

and p. 255-305.

Stokes, Wm. Lee. Scenes of the Plateau Lands and How They Came to Be. Publishers Press, 1969 (19th printing 1997).

White, Richard. "It's Your Misfortune and None of my Own". U. of Oklahoma Press, 1991, p. 5-26, 613-634.