Back to the Border with the Governor's Horse Guard: Part 2

Picking up from last week's blog post:

A sixty-minute drive south from Tucson brought us to the outskirts of Arivaca. We encountered a checkpoint manned by the U.S. Border Patrol.

Passing through the checkpoint was a desolate road through open grazing land covered by the ubiquitous mesquite trees of the region.

Entering the village of Arivaca, we stopped to document our arrival with photos
at the simple road sign identifying the town. Another hand-made sign nearby
loomed more ominous – “No militia please." We later learned that the sign was in reaction to a recent murder allegedly committed by a self-styled border milita group.

The rugged beauty of this mountainous paradise, complete with roaming cattle and occasional white-tailed deer, almost made us forget that we were in a war zone in the modern battle against illegal immigration and narcotics-smuggling.

We slowly drove through town, observing a few low buildings and a bar, “La Gitana,” where a gathering of leather-jacketed motorcycle club members returned our stares.

We searched for the couple who were to be our local contacts, Rob and Mary Katsulaitus, and located the road to their ranch just outside of town. A welcoming Rob and Mary talked about the history of Arivaca.  Head of the local library, Mary shared her extensive knowledge of the area. Using the 1916 map from her copy of Origins and Fortunes, drawn by Troop B, she pointed out the numerous trails and
routes the cavalrymen had ridden.

Outfitted in contemporary Horse Guard uniform, we then went outside to visit the cow pasture that Troop B had used as its campground, commemorating the event with numerous photographs. Finally, Captain Tolisano ceremoniously dropped some horse manure that had been contributed  by “Mr. Pistol” and “Duece” at the Horse Guard stable in Avon.

Rob and Mary drove us into town and identified some of the buildings recognizable in the 1916 photographs, including an old Arivaca Hotel, where the Troop B officers had dined, and an adobe ruin. We posed for photographs on the site of a 1916 troop inspection. We also explored the town cemetery and chatted with local residents who seemed intrigued by our historical trek into past.

In Rob’s rugged pickup truck, we drove past Arivaca Creek and followed the dirt road towards California Gulch. We passed an imposing tower and electronic array that Rob identified as part of the government’s “virtual fence” established to help stem the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs. It became obvious to us that the main effort of the U.S. government consists of  Border Patrol agents who
seemingly randomly roam the back roads in Suburbans, ATVs and on horseback.

We got a first hand appreciation of the rugged terrain and tried to imagine the
strenuous demands placed on Troop B and their horses. Remains of gold, silver,
lead copper and tungsten mines dotted the hillsides. Viewed from a rocky
outcropping on the back road to Nogales, the abandoned mining town of Ruby
looms ghostly and distant across picturesque pine-covered hills and deep
gullies in this border region of southern Arizona.

We passed the original Noon ranch established by Mary’s family in 1879 and still owned by family members. At the base of the mountainous Cerro Colorado we saw the site of a mining enterprise once owned by Hartford’s Samuel Colt.

 (To be continued)