Archive for the ‘Livestock Corral’ Tag
An Old Bunkhouse Near an Abandoned San Simon Valley Livestock Corral — Image by kenne
The old bunkhouse stands in quiet witness beside the abandoned corral,
its weathered boards holding stories of cattle drives, dust storms,
and long days beneath an unforgiving Arizona sky.
Once surrounded by rich grasslands stretching across the San Simon Valley,
it belonged to a landscape that sustained both livestock and the people who depended on them.
Today, the fading structure reminds us how quickly the land and its history can change,
while the Peloncillo Mountains continue their timeless watch over the valley.
An Old Bunkhouse Near An Abandoned San Simon Valley Livestock Corral — Images by kenne
In the late eighteen hundreds, the land west of the Peloncillo Mountains, known as the San Simon Valley, had many beautiful grassy meadows with mesquite, ironwood, palo verde and other desert trees. This area was very attractive to many west Texas ranchers and by 1895 an estimated 50,000 head of cattle were grazing in the San Simon Valley. However, under the old open range conditions the great herds were devastating the San Simon Valley. Today most of the valuable grasses and forage plants are gone, left behind are many deep trails first worn by cattle, later dug deep by storm waters, easily eroding the land no longer protected by fine stock grasses.
The destruction to the valley is not an isolated picture, but serves as a poster-child for similar areas in the west that are experiencing the same destructive process in much of the western U.S.
This weekend we will be spending additional time in the valley and the Peloncillo Mountains photographing more evidence of the southwest’s disappearing water.
kenne
Abandoned Livestock Corral In The San Simon Valley — Image by kenne
