Migrants' trash in Southern Arizona offers glimpse of history

[Kali]

Kate Hall, a University of Puget Sound student, catalogs items left at one of three impromptu shrines established along a migrant trail southeast of Arivaca. She is part of a group of students gathering anthropological data from items migrants leave behind.


http://azstarnet.com/news/local/border/migrants-trash-in-southern-arizona-offers-glimpse-of-history/article_fac7ac2b-b74f-5cb1-8ec1-73d61e813e17.html

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De León pulls clear plastic bottles from the bags. A yellowish liquid sloshes inside. "It looks like cattle-tank water," he says.

Tire and horse tracks are nearby, and so is a piece of black string like the kind Border Patrol agents use as temporary handcuffs.

Some may look at the scene and see trash. To De León, this is American history in the making.

Since 2009, he has led different groups of students from across the country and even Canada through the Sonoran Desert to study unauthorized migration using archaeological and anthropological methods. The project has collected and cataloged more than 10,000 artifacts left along the way by those trekking the desert.

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[bluedigger]

1. Interesting study.

Thanks for posting!

[Kali]

2. I happened to attend a cross-boarder arch event a few years ago

in Hermosillo, Sonora. That is where I first heard about the black water jugs. A guy who was working for the Park service gave a talk on the Shrines and mentionrd them. I have yet to see one, but I guess they sell them further west of here. Most all I see are the clear blue liter bottles, sometimes pedia-lyte but mostly liter bottles plain water. Lots of them. And backpacks.

During the peak I had over 100 plaid blankets and 20 abandoned vehicles.

[bluedigger]

3. The vehicles must have come in handy.

You're always scrapping for parts and tires...

A good friend of mine has done a lot of contract archy for the border fence down there - not too far from you, in fact, but I forget which town he was working out of. He's in the field somewhere in TX right now.

[Kali]

4. hell we are driving one now and have three others on the "lot" still

mostly they were old high mileage vans with the interiors stripped out, but we found a few pick-ups as well. For a while everybody in Cochise County was in the towing and used van business.

[bluedigger]

5. Titles? We don' need no stinkin' titles!

My friend came on line on FB, where I posted your article. Said he found those sites out in the boonies. Worked from Naco to Yuma, but liked Bisbee best.

[Kali]

6. yep, Bisbee is our little patch of solid BLUE

cool old mining town.

titles involved a $10 application and then whatever the cost of the title was, and if somebody claimed a vehicle you could charge them towing and storage at like 25/day. I think we had ONE vehicle reported stolen and taken away - a great old truck, a big chevy full ton. 68 if I recall. That one pissed me off because the salvage yard that was the holding facility for the cops ended up getting the title. bastids.

we had two parties come claim vehicles - that was a little touchy because we knew they were involved in smuggling. and weren't victims of theft (we could tell)

One of the best one was 15 passenger van that was still intact and actually running when we found it. BP had chased everybody off into the rocks. Had some fun adventures with that van. It was actually a border to PHX shuttle van, but had been sold off to somebody in Mexico. Nini's Shuttle. Nice big 450 in it, pulled the stock trailer just fine. Hauled 13 Germans to Chihuahua in it. Still have it but it needs a bunch of work. AC went out, fuel pump, muffler and I think we have stolen some parts including tires and wheels off it for another truck (also an abandoned vehicle)