First timer? In this formerly once-a-day blog (and now pretty much a once-every-four-or-five days blog), I use an app that provides a random latitude and longitude that puts me somewhere in the continental United States (the lower 48). I call this “landing.”
I keep track of the watersheds I land in, as well as the town or towns I land near. I do some internet research to hopefully find something of interest about my landing location.
To find out more about A Landing A Day (like who “Dan” is) please see “About Landing” above. To check out some recent changes in how I do things, check out “About Landing (Revisited).”
Landing number 2371; A Landing A Day blog post number 805.
Dan: Today’s lat/long (35o 42.227’N, 111o 15.415’W) puts me in N-Cen Arizona:
My local landing map shows that I landed fairly close to Cameron, and about 50 miles east of a bunch of “towns.”
You’ll learn soon enough why I expanded my local map so far east, and why “Third Mesa” ended up being titular.
My very local streams-only map shows that I landed right in an unnamed wash or arroyo which discharges (rarely, I suspect), into the Little Colorado (21st hit):
More about the unnamed wash in a little bit. Zooming back quite a ways, you can see that the Little Colorado makes its way to the Grand Canyon, where it ends up in the Colorado (180th hit):
Because StreetAtlas shows the stippled course of the unnamed wash, I hoped that maybe, just maybe I’d be able to find a name for it. I Googled “USGS topographic map Cameron,” and was able to find a site where I could download free topo maps. Believe me, it took me quite a while before I was able to definitively find the wash in which I landed. But here ‘tis:
So, as you can see, I landed right in the Tohachi Wash. I have more to say about the wash, but first, click HERE to experience the Google Earth (GE) random yellow push drop.
So, back to the Tohachi Wash. Of course, I Googled it, and found this, from TheWave.com (a website about the natural beauty of the American Southwest):
The Red Rock Cliffs area is also of interest, especially Tohachi Wash where the “Hopi Clown” resides.
The website included a picture of the “Hopi Clown,” taken at night:
I’m not sure why it’s called the “Hopi Clown,” but I’d be willing to bet that the Hopi didn’t name it that.
Anyway, the website also included a map that showed me more-or-less where the Hopi Clown resides. I found it on GE and determined that it was in the headwaters of the Tohachi Wash:
Zooming in on the circled area:
And yes, the little dot is the Hopi Clown. Let’s zoom in more:
And even more:
Surprisingly, there are no GE Panoramio shots of this striking rock formation.
The very existence of the Hopi Clown lets us know that we’re in Hopi country.
I found a February 2015 LA Times article by David Kelly about his trip to Hopi country. Here’s a small excerpt:
The Hopi, whose history stretches back 10,000 years, are perhaps the least assimilated, most reclusive Indian tribe in the nation. Their ancestors built the cliff palaces of Mesa Verde, Colo., and the Great Houses of Chaco Canyon, N.M.
The Hopi say they sprang from a gash at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and migrated here, to the center of the spiral, or the center of the universe.
Today that universe consists mostly of three slender islands of rock encircled by the Navajo Nation. The Spaniards called them First Mesa, Second Mesa and Third Mesa. The inhabitants call it Hopiland.
The first person article is very interesting; click HERE to check it out.
From the Wiki Hopi entry:
The name Hopi is a shortened form of Hopituh Shi-nu-mu (“The Peaceful People”). The Hopi Dictionary gives the primary meaning of the word “Hopi” as: “a behaving one, one who is mannered, civilized, peaceable, polite, who adheres to the Hopi way.”
In the past, Hopi sometimes used the term “Hopi” to refer to the Pueblo peoples in general, in contrast to other, more warlike tribes.
Hopi is a concept deeply rooted in the culture’s religion, spirituality, and its view of morality and ethics. To be Hopi is to strive toward this concept, which involves a state of total reverence and respect for all things, to be at peace with these things, and to live in accordance with the instructions of Maasaw, the Creator or Caretaker of Earth. The Hopi observe their traditional ceremonies for the benefit of the entire world.
Here’s a GE shot showing the three inhabited Hopi Mesas:
I landed near First Mesa a while back – my January 2014 “First Mesa” post. Just type “first mesa” into the search box to check it out. Anyway, since I landed closest to the Third Mesa this time, I thought that it should become my titular location.
From HopiArtsTrail.com, here’s a representation of the Third Mesa:
Here’s a little history on Oraibi, the oldest settlement on Third Mesa (Wiki):
Oraibi was founded sometime before the year 1100 CE, making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements within the United States.
Oraibi remained unknown to European explorers until about 1540 when Spanish explorer Don Pedro de Tovar (who was part of the Coronado expedition) encountered the Hopi while searching for the legendary Seven Cities of Gold. Contact with the Europeans remained scant until 1629 when the San Francisco mission was established in the village.
In 1680 the Pueblo Revolt resulted in decreased Spanish (and Christian) influence in the area and the cessation of the mission. Subsequent attempts to reestablish the missions (and Christianity) in Hopi villages were met with repeated failures.
Hopi interaction with outsiders slowly increased during the 1850–1860 time period through missionaries, traders and surveyors for the US government. Interaction with the US government (and culture) increased with the establishment of the Hopi reservation in 1882. This led to a number of changes for the Hopi way of life. Missionary efforts intensified and Hopi children were kidnapped from their homes and forced to attend school, exposing them to new cultural influences.
In 1890 a number of Oraibi residents more receptive to the cultural influences moved closer to the trading post to establish Kykotsmovi. The continuing tension caused by the ideological schism between the “friendlies” (those open to these cultural influences) and the “hostiles” (those who desired to preserve Hopi ways) led to an event called the Oraibi Split in 1906.
Tribal leaders on differing sides of the schism engaged in a bloodless competition to determine the outcome, which resulted in the expulsion of the hostiles, who left to found the village of Hotevilla (still on the Third Mesa). Subsequent efforts by the displaced residents to reintegrate resulted in an additional split, with the second group founding Bacavi.
With the loss of much of its population Oraibi lost its place as the center of Hopi culture.
Here’s a GE shot of Oraibi:
And a low-angle shot showing how the town is perched on a ridge.
Here’s a quick look at the Second Mesa:
And this Wiki shot from one arm of the Mesa (near Shongopovi), looking across to the town of Mishongnovi, perched on another arm:
Here’s an oblique GE shot, showing another view of Mishongnovi:
And while I’m at it, how about First Mesa?
Here’s a GE shot of the First Mesa (I lifted this from my earlier post):
Also from my earlier post, this quick “flyover” of the First Mesa:
I’ll close this post with this lovely GE Panoramio shot by Steven3880, taken near the headwaters of the Tohachi Wash (it appears that the Hopi Clown has some nearby acquaintances):
That’ll do it . . .
KS
Greg
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A Landing a Day 