502
BERNARD L FONTANA
in Arizona; Dripping Spring, a fracture spring also in Organ Pipe National
Monument; Bullpasture, a small but permanent spring just beneath the
Ajo Mountains on their west; Quitovac, Sonora, a series of small springs
which emanate from the edge of a mesa-like deposit of calcareous matter;
Dripping Springs at the north end of the Tinajas Altas Mountains; and
the few springs at the head of the Gulf of California along the shores of
Adair Bay, as at Pozo de Caballo and Salina Grande (Bryan, 1925, pp.
161-66; Ives, 1964a, p. 62; Lumholtz, 1912, p. 170; Simmons, 1965, pp.
37 and 40). Oral tradition indicates that there was until recently a fracture
spring at Charlie Bell Well in the Growler Mountains, and the abundant
evidence of former Indian occupation tend to bear this out.
The source of surface water most characteristic of this arid western
zone, and that on which fauna relied perhaps more than any other, is the
rock tank. According to Bryan (1925, p. 123) : "A rock tank is a watering
place consisting of a cavity or depression in rock which fills periodically
with rain or flood water. Most Mexicans and many Americans use the
Spanish word tinaja, meaning a bowl or jar, in speaking of a rock tank."
Although there are doubtless rock tanks in western Pimeria Alta away
from stream channels which hold water for a few hours or a few days
after rains, even as there are "kiss" tanks—very shallow rock depressions
in shaded places which collect dew condensation—the most important
tinajas are found in stream channels (Bryan, 1925, pp. 123-35; Ives,
1962). Some of these natural catchments hold many hundreds of liters
of water.
The largest rock tanks in this region, and therefore those most likely
to have water in them most of the time, include the nine tinajas at the
southern end of the Tinajas Altas Mountains, five tinajas in the Cabeza
Prieta Mountains, Tule Tank in the Tule Mountains, Heart Tank in Arizona's Sierra Pinta, and Sheep Tank in the northern end of the Growler
Mountains (Bryan, 1925, pp. 132-34; Simmons, 1965, pp. 39-43). Virtually the only sources of "permanent" water in the Sierra Pinacate, where
there are no springs reported and whose waterways are strictly ephemeral,
are the dozen or more rock tanks such as Tinajas de los Papagos, Tinaja
del Tule, Tinajas de Emilia, Tinaja las Figuras, and Tinaja de Cuervo
(Hayden, 1967, Fig. 1; Ives, 1964b, pp. 31-34). There are possible rock
tanks elsewhere in northwestern Sonora, as in the Sierra del Cubabi and
Sierra de San Francisco, but if so, they have not been reported in the
literature (see Fig. 4 ) .
e. Animal Life. The fauna of the region are ultimately limited in their
potential ranges by the distribution of vegetation and surface water
sources. The paucity of both in western Pimeria Alta also presumably exercises a limiting factor on sizes of faunal populations. The area cannot
BERNARD L FONTANA
in Arizona; Dripping Spring, a fracture spring also in Organ Pipe National
Monument; Bullpasture, a small but permanent spring just beneath the
Ajo Mountains on their west; Quitovac, Sonora, a series of small springs
which emanate from the edge of a mesa-like deposit of calcareous matter;
Dripping Springs at the north end of the Tinajas Altas Mountains; and
the few springs at the head of the Gulf of California along the shores of
Adair Bay, as at Pozo de Caballo and Salina Grande (Bryan, 1925, pp.
161-66; Ives, 1964a, p. 62; Lumholtz, 1912, p. 170; Simmons, 1965, pp.
37 and 40). Oral tradition indicates that there was until recently a fracture
spring at Charlie Bell Well in the Growler Mountains, and the abundant
evidence of former Indian occupation tend to bear this out.
The source of surface water most characteristic of this arid western
zone, and that on which fauna relied perhaps more than any other, is the
rock tank. According to Bryan (1925, p. 123) : "A rock tank is a watering
place consisting of a cavity or depression in rock which fills periodically
with rain or flood water. Most Mexicans and many Americans use the
Spanish word tinaja, meaning a bowl or jar, in speaking of a rock tank."
Although there are doubtless rock tanks in western Pimeria Alta away
from stream channels which hold water for a few hours or a few days
after rains, even as there are "kiss" tanks—very shallow rock depressions
in shaded places which collect dew condensation—the most important
tinajas are found in stream channels (Bryan, 1925, pp. 123-35; Ives,
1962). Some of these natural catchments hold many hundreds of liters
of water.
The largest rock tanks in this region, and therefore those most likely
to have water in them most of the time, include the nine tinajas at the
southern end of the Tinajas Altas Mountains, five tinajas in the Cabeza
Prieta Mountains, Tule Tank in the Tule Mountains, Heart Tank in Arizona's Sierra Pinta, and Sheep Tank in the northern end of the Growler
Mountains (Bryan, 1925, pp. 132-34; Simmons, 1965, pp. 39-43). Virtually the only sources of "permanent" water in the Sierra Pinacate, where
there are no springs reported and whose waterways are strictly ephemeral,
are the dozen or more rock tanks such as Tinajas de los Papagos, Tinaja
del Tule, Tinajas de Emilia, Tinaja las Figuras, and Tinaja de Cuervo
(Hayden, 1967, Fig. 1; Ives, 1964b, pp. 31-34). There are possible rock
tanks elsewhere in northwestern Sonora, as in the Sierra del Cubabi and
Sierra de San Francisco, but if so, they have not been reported in the
literature (see Fig. 4 ) .
e. Animal Life. The fauna of the region are ultimately limited in their
potential ranges by the distribution of vegetation and surface water
sources. The paucity of both in western Pimeria Alta also presumably exercises a limiting factor on sizes of faunal populations. The area cannot