Old West inspiration (photos of the AZ desert)

[Elbows]

So,

I spent my last job out in the deserts of Arizona.  A bit over four years - working out there every day.  I just remembered I have a collection of photos I snagged while on duty.  Just some inspiration for guys building stuff (especially those from other countries).  You'll note the desert in AZ is a lot more "green" than most people think.  Don't be afraid to add some serious greenage.  Also, the famous "cactus" you're so familiar with are ONLY present in the Sajuaro (?) Desert...and are not found in other countries (some similar ones can be found in the high desert in some Central/South American countries I think).

Some of the pictures were taken during monsoon season (a cool idea for scenarios).  Around late August/September, AZ can get torrential rain...washing out roads, making travel impossible etc.  It would have been a serious hindrance to movement during the month (wagons would have been hopeless).  Very common feature (only a few pics) are "washes" or dried creek beds.  Very very common in the desert there.  Anywhere from 1-8' tall normally.  These obviously fill during monsoon season but are normally full of powdery dirt and sand.

They form a veritable trench-warfare like scene across most parts of the AZ desert.  (Don't be fooled by the pics...all taken in the beautiful evening or monsoon seasons...the rest of the time the place is miserably, lethally hot...baking, and blindingly sunny!)

[pocoloco]

Very inspirational indeed! Many thanks for posting... will check these when I get a start on my town of 'Dos Cruces'. Very good point on the adding some greenage to Old West scenery unless of course one wants to go Italo Western style.

[Elbows]

I've actually been meaning to build a non-town Old West board.  Some washes, lots of foliage, some wagons and a simple campsite or something of the sort.  I'm still saving up to buy the GF9 badlands stuff (doesn't match AZ too well, but whatever!) 

I was actually surprised how much better my board got though when I gave in and added some greenage.  It really clicked.

[Bugsda]

Brilliant! No wonder Apaches were hard to find in that terrain 

[Gutbukkit]

Thanks for posting these. These photos will be extremely useful when I get round to making the rest of my Old West board, I knew there was green there in the desert but I didn't realise how much! I will certainly be adding plenty.

[Galloping Major]

Very nice pics 


www.gallopingmajorwargames.com

[AzSteven]

This is the area I have lived in since the late 1960s, with a few brief sojourns elsewhere.  The Sonoran desert encompasses southern Arizona, a slice of southeastern California, and the Mexican states immediately to the south.  It is not as arid as the Mojave desert to the west in California or the Chihuahua desert to the east in New Mexico and Texas.  However, there are parts of it that are VERY arid - the Borrego area on the western side of the desert has sand dunes that were used for some of the Tatooine scenes in Return of the Jedi.

A few additional comments:

The washes (or arroyos in Spanish) may not have water all the time, but they ARE sources of underground water usually, and you tend to see a lot more substantial vegetation right along the banks.  If you take an aerial photo of the desert around Tucson, the washes are usually very east to pick out because they are lined with green Palo Verde trees and other scrub.

Cactus, especially saguaro, actually die from too much water.  So if you model a desert spring, you usually will not find cactus right there on the shore.

Since the days of the original Spanish colonization, ranchers have built water tanks, or tanques, to serve as water cisterns.  Some of them are metal tanks, but most are stone-lined holes in the ground.  Some of them on the older ranches have almost become part of the natural terrain, and are surrounded with significant plant life.  These tanques and the few naturla springs that often feed them would be spots that, in the 1800s, would be a common destination for stagecoaches, wagon trains, army patrols, bandits and even Indian warbands, all looking for water.

[Gutbukkit]

Thanks for this info too. It's certainly great getting pics and info on the locale I'm trying to replicate in miniature from people who live there or have visited.

[FifteensAway]

Some beautiful shots there.  But I especially like the 29th photo with road leading into the hills, something to try and replicate on the table.

I got a chance to visit Arizona a couple of years ago, driving south out of Las Vegas into the state on our way to Phoenix and I, too, was struck by the extant of the verdure.  It is part of what influenced my color choices for terrain I am building. 

And, yeah, that places is hot!  In mid-September I hiked to the top of the former Squaw Peak (now Piestwa (sp?) - named after a deceased woman in the Iraq war if memory serves) on a day when it was 105 degrees out - I drank every bit of water I had with me between the climb up and down and I was still drained.    And I'm used to hot weather since I live in California's central valley, northern part.  And there were fools heading up the hill in the heat of the day without water.  I heard they have weekly rescues on those hills - certainly saw helicopters floating around the hiking peaks.

Again, nice photos.

[magokiron]

Thanks for sharing your BEAUTIFUL pictures.

Certainly there are lots of inspiration here.

Best wishes.

[smokezombie]

Those sure are some purdy pictures.


Thanks for sharing.

[Elbows]

The sad thing is that the proper pics are much higher def, but photobucket chops them down immensely - AzSteven --- the pics were taken just to your west, on the TO reservation.  I'm sure you can figure my job...

[Blackwolf]

Beautiful photos,and yes I am inspired

[AzSteven]

The sad thing is that the proper pics are much higher def, but photobucket chops them down immensely - AzSteven --- the pics were taken just to your west, on the TO reservation.  I'm sure you can figure my job...

I used to work at Kitt Peak back at the end of my college days, running tours and escorting media types and VIPs.  You are in the astronomy biz, a Border Patrol guy, a miner or a rancher.  Not a heck of a lot else out there!

[Elbows]

Yep, guys in green.