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grovesofcedar "Henoteskillingquail"alongway fromwaterandwherecedars...andgrasswereabout theonlyvegetation."
Synthesis
Otherworkers(Cooper1960,White1985,Covington andMoore 1992)havediscussedchangeintheponderosa pineforestsoftheMogollonRim.Mostofthesework erssuggestthatthepresettlementforestsweremadeup of large, older trees in more open stands. Based upon comments by Whipple, Gambel oak may have been more abundant in 1854 than itisnow between Leroux Springs and Radio Hill.
ParadiseRidge,PolsonDamDraw(whichthepartylater named"CedarCreek"),andtheslopingterrainjusteast ofPolsonDamDraw.Adensewoodlandexistsinthese areas today, except for Polson D a m Draw, which is a fiat grassy drainage.
Whipple, Mollhausen, Tidball, and Bigelow all commented on the Black Forest, lying southwest of the reconnaissance route. Tidball considered its "blackness"tobearesultoftheangleofviewfromthe plateauonJanuary3ratherthanextremedensityofthe trees. However, the party did not enter this woodland and viewed itonly from a distance. They rode along its northern edge on January 3, through an area that matched Tidball's description of a savanna. At pres ent,adensestandofjuniperexistsacrossmuchofthis valley and onto the slopes of Big Black Mesa, which Whipplecalled"theridgeoftheBlackForest."North of this Black Forest, for 10 to 15 miles south of present AshFork,juniperswerepresent,butapparentlyolder, larger,andmoredispersedthannow(figs.17to20).In thecountrytraversedonJanuary3,betweenNagiller Tank and Ash Fork, Whipple noted that large, fine
Whipple described Park Valley as covered with
cedars. At this elevation, the species was undoubtedly alligator-barkjuniper.Bythetimethepartyreach"Lava
Springs," which is believed to be in the vicinity of the presentCanyonTank,theydescribedtheareaasbeing
c o v e r e d w i t h " s c r u b c e d a r , " still a l l i g a t o r - b a r k ,n o d o u b t , butpossiblyayoungstand.Asthewagonsdroppedover
the rim into Polson D a m Draw, the junipers became
thick. At this point, they are increasingly shaggy-bark,
mostly Utah juniper. All along both sides of Polson TankdrawandMartinDamDrawweredensestands ofjuniper,aswasapparentlythecaseacrossthetopof ofHellCanyonin1870and1884. ParadiseRidge.Thisgeneralareawasoneregionwhere allobserversnotedjuniperdenseenoughtoobstructthe passageofhorsesormules,andtointerferewiththe
ability of explorers to see the countryside. Traversing Martin D a m Draw, Whipple's wagons
had to negotiate sparse strips of cedar, where little cut tingwasnecessaryfortheirpassage.Southboundinto Partridge Creek, they mention no problems with trees, but rather note the rough terrain immediately north of the point they enter Partridge Creek. The long valley they followed southward toward Partridge Creek— a continuation of Martin Dam Draw— now has stands of young juniper that would probably be too dense in places for wagons to negotiate. The party would now havetocutawagontrailorfindalongerroutearound juniperstands,wheretheyapparentlypassedwithfair ease in 1854.
OnJanuary5,1854,whenWhippleheadedeasterly fromthevicinityofPartridgeCreektowardNewYear's Spring,bothheandTidballhadcommentedontheden sityofthetrees,problemsinseeingbeyondthem,and difficulty in passing through them. They were relieved when they finally broke out and could once again see BillWilliamsMountainasalandmark.Thisleadstothe conclusion that a dense stand of juniper existed over someconsiderableacreageinthevicinityofthepresent
ThelandscapeinupperPartridgeCreekandnorth- northwestofMountFloydvariedbetweenopenvalleys withrelativelyopenstandsofjuniperaroundtheiredges. A t least o n e e x t e n s i v e s t a n d o f d e n s e j u n i p e r w a s p r e s e n t northwestofMountFloyd.Thepatternofopenvalleys with surrounding juniper exists today, but the density ofjuniperhasapparentlyincreasedovermuchofthe area (figs. 21 and 22).
The country from the point the Whipple party departed Partridge Creek to where they camped on the southeast side of Picacho Butte was apparently devoid of woodland. Whipple found enough wood on the southwestern point of the mountain to build a signal fire. The wagon train, camping on more level terrainawayfromthemountain,foundwoodscarce. Fewstandsofjuniperexistnownearthesoutheasterly base of Picacho, but finding firewood would not be a problem,hencethewoodlandhasprobablyincreased indensity.
The Alexander Gardner photograph (fig. 4) taken ofPicachoin1867nearwhatisnowtheabandoned P i n e v e t a s i d i n g o n t h e o l d r a i l r o a d ,l o o k s a c r o s s t h e r o u t e traveled by Whipple and probably represents the way thisprairieappearedin1854.Itwasgrasslandwitha sparsescatteringofyoungjuniper.The stretchtraversed byWhipplebetweenPartridgeCreekandPicachoButte
junipers existed. Neither he nor Tidball commented on difficulty of travel due to the trees. Both Marion and Mearnsnotedrelativelydensestandsofjunipernorth
USDA ForestServiceRMRS-GTR-177. 2006.
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