Existing comment:
Cultivating the Canyon:
In this broad, relatively flat area not far from the river, William and Cornelia Crawford started a farm in 1879. From here you can see the contour of an irrigation ditch and imagine the patchwork of corn and tobacco fields, orchard, and vegetable gardens. A song, JL Crawford. recorded his memories of life here:
"My first recollections are of green fields and orchards where the park's residential areas and campgrounds are now situated, irrigation ditches to keep it all green, an a clear brook coming out of Oak Creek Canyon. There were also some rather shabby farm buildings scarttered throughout."
The Crawfords were considered pioneers, yet they were only the latest in a succession of people who tried to sustain life in this desert canyon. Today the canyon shows few signs of permanent settlements.
The Crawford place was photographs from this perspective in the 1930s. History becomes a double-exposure, an overlay on the present-day scene. |