Organ Pipe: Life on the Edge

by Carol Ann Bassett, Michael Hyatt (Illustrator)

Deep in the heart of the Sonoran Desert lies an oasis of ebony mountains, golden poppies, stately saguaros—and the organ pipe cactus, "a prickly octopus turned on its head." A terrain where one learns to pay attention to the details: the tracks of a sidewinder in the sand, the tiny eggs of a cactus wren, the flash of a vermilion flycatcher against the azure sky. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument lies in southwestern Arizona on the Mexican border. It is an isolated park that for Carol Ann Bassett has long been a place of solitude—a silent refuge where she often camped out alone to capture the natural rhythms of the desert. Photographer Michael Hyatt hiked through Organ Pipe to visually document its subtle beauty in the Ajo Mountains and the valley of the Ajo, and at Quitobaquito, a rare desert oasis. Few visitors may brave Organ Pipe during summer, when the temperature can reach 120 degrees, but for Bassett and Hyatt the searing heat is but a harbinger of rain, when normally dry arroyos surge with rust-colored water and desert tarantulas come out to mate. Bassett introduces readers to Organ Pipe’s cultural heritage as well: Spanish missionaries, Anglo settlers, and the Tohono O’odham and the Hia Ced O’odham people who still travel there to gather cactus fruit during Hasan Bakmasad, "saguaro moon." She also considers the changes taking place throughout the park, including the onrush of immigrants passing through in search of better lives in the United States. This small, lyrical book is a sensitive reflection on the heart of the Sonoran Desert. It reminds us of the beauty to be found in unexpected places—and of our intimate connection with the wild.

89 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

Reviews

[Joanne Rixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book was a little more basic than I was hoping, its poetic prose clearly displays a love affair with the desert. Like the cactus forest, the book is meditative and beautiful.

[Superstition Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument seems to be a forbidding place for many, but Carol Ann Bassett invites readers to see the desert here as a place of solitude and tranquil refuge. Here, Bassett introduces readers to the monument's rich history, from the centuries-old cacti to the prehistoric Hohokam, from early twentieth century miners to post-9/11 Border Patrol agents. Humans as characters are rare in this book; rather, the main soul we are introduced to is the land itself, and the main action is a listless meditation on finding self in the desert. She remarks in her final chapter, "We come to the desert to understand things that are outside of ourselves, yet after a while, we are forced to look inside, to find those precious sanctuaries that allow us to be truly alive while truly alone." Life in an environment like Arizona has the tendency to make native readers like me take this desert landscape for granted. Bassett is able to transfigure familiar landscapes into an entity that is at once foreign and wondrous.

by Julie Matsen