Beautiful and deadly desert (quirky too)

I spent yesterday morning on a Humane Borders water run, which is my third trip into the desert to help check on the water tanks placed in the desert to help "crossers" who are in need of water as they trek through the desert. Each visit has been an incredible, enriching experience. The other volunteers are fascinating, each with stories and experiences that I find illuminating. Getting to see first hand the area where people cross, the stories, the wildlife (hawks, jackrabbits and wildflowers blooming), the border patrol agents, the ranchers....I cannot really capture the entire experience adequately, but as painful as the current border situation is, I really treasure this chance to see what is happening with my own eyes.

Our final water stop was at Cowtown, a piece of contemporary Wild West culture created by Ed Keeylocko, a aging black cowboy and military vet. He has created a very rough and real version of a Western frontier town, with horses in a corral and a real saloon that has a dirt floor and old cowboy boots hanging from the porch. The other Humane Borders volunteer and I peeked in to have a look, and the cowboy eating his breakfast said "come on in, we don't bite." This is way more the real west than Tombstone or Old Tucson. As we stood near the water truck admiring the blooming octotillo, a Border Patrol truck drove by us very slowly...not stopping. Then a nearby rancher stopped by on his ATV to greet us and make sure we were ok. He also has a HB water tank on his property and thanked us for our work maintaining the tanks. He told us that in all his years on his ranch he's never had a problem with migrants crossing his land and has always offered water and assistance, although now he can no longer give them rides...it is illegal to do that now.

Mr. Keeylocko doesn't allow Border Patrol agents on his property without a warrant, and he supposedly welcomes coyotes and "crossers" into the saloon for drinks and food. He definitely allows Humane Borders to keep a water stop on his land and supports the life-giving humanitarian work of Humane Borders. The place was full of his own dedicated volunteers who maintain the property and animals....

Here is a link if you want to see some good pictures and background on Mr. Keeylocko, who I didn't get to meet. Maybe next time.


http://wheniwrite.com/2009/06/14/cowboy-keeylocko/


http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/01-30-97/cover.htm