Hideout from COVID-19
April 27, 2020
By Desert Les
Howdie Pardner,
Yup. It’s good to see you again. Desert Les is back. Not because them Peak readers demanded it but because the fool editor told Desert Les to fill this here white space with interestin’ doings and seeings.
Desert Les is still following orders and hunkerin’ down in the family bunkhouse. So far that dang virus hasn’t found us. Hopefully, yuv got a safe hideout and yer wearing a mask when you go out to the trading post so COVID-19 won’t recognize you. Yup.
Palo Verde Trees and a Road Trip
Desert Foothills Scenic Drive Exhibit Area
Pardner, after World War II and gas rationing ended my father would take us for a Sunday afternoon drive in the family car, a 1942 black Ford; I think all Fords were black. We did not go far, perhaps to see some nearby town my mother wanted to see and stop for an ice cream. We did not do it often, but I remember those trips fondly. There is nothing like a good road trip, even a short one.
Thinking about those rides reminds Desert Les that next month the Palo Verde will be in bloom in Scottsdale and the Desert Foothills area. It will be a good time to check out the beauty as the bloom moves northward. Desert Les suggests a stop at the small Desert Foothills Scenic Drive exhibit area. It is an easy and safe stop that provides a bit of history about the Scenic Drive and Scottsdale Road area.
Scenic Drive Information DirectorySquanto’s Grim Tale
Pardner, for some reason when Desert Les was thinking of COVID-19, history, road trips and such, Squanto came to mind. Yup.
Squanto didn’t help the Lone Ranger. Nope. that was a different Native American who lived in Hollywood.
Squanto is known for helping the Pilgrims grow corn in 1620-1621, but long before that he had been taken to Spain by New England explorers. Eventually, he left Spain, made his way to England, learned the language and somehow got back to New England. Upon his return, he learned that he was the only surviving member of the Patuxet tribe, the tribe to which he belonged. He also saw that villages along the coast had been vacated. Plymouth, the Pilgrim’s settlement site was the location of an abandoned Indian village.
Pardner, the devastation of the native populations along the coast contributed to the survival of early colonizers in Massachusetts and southern Maine. The stark truth is that there were too few native people to effectively resist the newcomers.
What happened to the coastal Native Americans while Squanto was gone? Where did they go?
In the decades before the Mayflower landed, Illnesses, such as smallpox, measles and influenza, had been “delivered” from Europe to the New England shores by explorers and fishermen. The natives had no natural immunity or vaccine. They died in droves and survivors moved to places they deemed safe.
Pardner, Squanto’s story is a grim tale. The world’s scientific and medical capabilities have increased immeasurably. None-the- less, put on the mask and be safe. Need a brief escape from your bunkhouse? A short drive in the family car to see the palo verde in bloom might be in order. Turn onto one of the dirt side roads and you might even see Silver or Scout. Yup.
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