Baboquivari Peak Wilderness
Encyclopedia
National Wilderness Preservation System
The National Wilderness Preservation System of the United States protects federally managed land areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. It was established by the Wilderness Act upon the signature of President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3, 1964...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. It is located in the Baboquivari Mountain Range 50 miles (80.5 km) southwest of Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
. It is administered by the Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
. The United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
designated the Baboquivari Peak Wilderness in 1990. It is the smallest such designated wilderness in the state of Arizona. Today, the 2900000 acres (11,735.9 km²) Tohono O'odham
Tohono O'odham
The Tohono O'odham are a group of Native American people who reside primarily in the Sonoran Desert of the southeastern Arizona and northwest Mexico...
Indian Reservation (second largest in the United States) lies to the west. Baboquivari Peak's elevation is 7,730 feet (2,356 m) and is a popular site for many climbers, tourists and other visitors to Arizona. It can be seen in the distance from the Kitt Peak National Observatory
Kitt Peak National Observatory
The Kitt Peak National Observatory is a United States astronomical observatory located on 2,096 m Kitt Peak of the Quinlan Mountains in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert on the Tohono O'odham Nation, southwest of Tucson...
.
Baboquivari Wilderness can be visited any time of the year, however, summer afternoons being usually too hot for hiking. Winter can bring an occasional snow shower to its higher elevations. It is reported to have some of the best backcountry rockclimbing in Arizona. Sightings of jaguar
Jaguar
The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...
s have been recorded in the Baboquivaris during the last decades.
Cultural Significance
I'itoi
Iʼitoi or Iʼithi is, in the tradition of the O'odham people, the mischievous creator god who resides in a cave just below the peak of Baboquivari Mountain, part of the Tohono O'odham Nation. Visitors to the cave are asked to bring a gift to ensure their safe return from the depths...
. According to tribal legend, he resides in a cave below the base of the mountain.
This mountain is regarded by the O’odham nation as the navel of the world -— a place where the earth opened and the people emerged after the great flood. Baboquivari Peak is also sometimes referred to as I’Itoi Mountain. In the native O'odham language
O'odham language
O'odham is an Uto-Aztecan language of southern Arizona and northern Sonora where the Tohono O'odham and Pima reside. As of the year 2000, there were estimated to be approximately 9750 speakers in the United States and Mexico combined, although there may be more due to underreporting...
, it is referred to as Waw Kiwulik, meaning "narrow about the middle". The O'odham people believe that he watches over their people to this day.
Baboquivari Peak was mentioned in the journals of Jesuit missionary Padre Kino, who made many expeditions into this region of the Sonoran Desert
Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which straddles part of the United States-Mexico border and covers large parts of the U.S. states of Arizona and California and the northwest Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. It is one of the largest and hottest...
, beginning in 1699 and establishing Spanish Mission
Spanish Mission
Spanish Mission may mean:*Spanish Colonial Revival architecture*Mission Revival Style architecture*Spanish Missions, institutions established by Catholic religious orders under the auspices of the Spanish crown to convert indigenous peoples of the Americas and Asia and the Philippines, which...
s in the area.
Baboquivari Peak is a navigational landmark for immigrants attempting to make the dangerous and illegal journey across the Sonoran Desert on foot: as long as you keep Baboquivari to your left, you will know that you are still walking north.
Legend Surrounding Baboquivari
According to O'odham nation legend at the beginning of the Spanish conquest of what is present day Arizona, a certain Spanish officer and his men tried to dig their way into Baboquivari. Suddenly, the ground under them opened and Baboquivari swallowed them. This legend has similarities to Francisco Vásquez de CoronadoFrancisco Vásquez de Coronado
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado y Luján was a Spanish conquistador, who visited New Mexico and other parts of what are now the southwestern United States between 1540 and 1542...
search for the Seven Cities of Cibola and a place called Quivira
Quivira
Quivira may refer to:*Quivira, a place first visited by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado while in search of the mythical Seven Cities of Gold*Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, a salt marsh located in south central Kansas...
, where, he was told, he could get his hands on unlimited quantities of gold.
Natural features
There are a considerable number of topographic features within the Baboquivari Mountains, one of the most notable being Fresnal CanyonFresnal Canyon
Fresnal Canyon is a major landform feature within the Baboquivari Mountains in the southwestern part of North America. This locale has been a notable place for archaeological recovery of pre-ceramic Native American habitation. This canyon has a number of native flora and fauna, including presence...
. Numerous flora and fauna species are found in the Baboquivari Peak Wilderness; among these is the desert tree Bursera fagaroides
Bursera fagaroides
Bursera fagaroides is a species of tree within the genus Bursera. B. fagaroides is native to the Americas in warm Temperate deciduous forest plant community habitats of the Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Biome...
.
See also
- List of Arizona Wilderness Areas
- List of U.S. Wilderness Areas
- Quivira and CíbolaQuivira and CíbolaQuivira is a place first mentioned by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado in 1541, who visited it during his searches for the mythical "Seven Cities of Gold". The location and identity of the "Quivirans" has been much debated over a wide area, including Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri...
- Mission San Xavier del BacMission San Xavier del BacMission San Xavier del Bac is a historic Spanish Catholic mission located about 10 miles south of downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the Tohono O'odham San Xavier Indian Reservation...
- 2059 Baboquivari2059 Baboquivari2059 Baboquivari is the name of an asteroid that was discovered at Goethe Link Observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana by the Indiana Asteroid Program....