Mexican Water, Arizona. Home of this Hannibal, who was lying on a dust-heap n the shade, the very Argos of dogs:
Mexican Water, Arizona. Home of this Hannibal, who was lying on a dust-heap n the shade, the very Argos of dogs:
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Ah, a trading post I know well, because a mere mile west is a prime location for collecting the Arizona form of Quercus havardii (var. welshii). The name is a translation of its Navajo name (naakai bitho ‘Spaniard his water (spring).’ (My spelling is not completely phonemic, but I don’t have a Navaho dictionary here at home. It is close to correct, the only thing lacking is the proper tone marks on high pitched vowels.) The name ‘Mexican Water’ is the result of the historical succession of that part of the Spanish empire, and the ignorance of an interpreter, who did not realize that Navaho tho means anything else than ‘water.’
Given its location and function, it is anything but “odd,” though someone not familiar with the local scene would perhaps find it “odd.” If you look around on maps of the Navaho Reservation you will find many other similar names, not at all unusual in a desert landscape. “Odd,” by the way, is just another word for “unfamiliar.” I find it “odd” to call a creek a “kill”…
In my brief conversation with you I was astonished to learn that you had sojourned in Arizona–unusual for someone from New York City. As a native of the Southwest, I find it completely normal; as a New Yorker, I would probably find it a bit insane.
A good friend of mine, Zdenek Salzmann, now retired in Sedona, AZ, a graduate of Indiana University, had as his first job the headmastership of the Verde Valley School. He fell in love with Arizona, and although he spend his entire academic career in Massachusetts, he returned to Arizona as soon as he could, at retirement. Quite something for a boy from the Czech Republic.
I enjoy your writing and your posts, and will be a regular reader from now on…Allan