Black Mesa (also called Big Mountain) is an upland mountainous mesa of Arizona, north-trending in Navajo County, west and southeast-trending in Apache County. In Navajo it is called Dziłíjiin ('Black Mountain') and during Mexican rule of Arizona it was called Mesa de las Vacas (Spanish for 'mesa of the cows').[1] It derives its dark appearance from its pinyon-juniper and mixed conifer woodlands.[2]

Satellite image of northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico, including the Four Corners Monument (FC). Some higher elevations have a dust of snow. Labeled natural features are the Chuska Mountains (CM), the Carrizo Mountains (C), Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park (MV), Black Mesa (B), Canyon de Chelly National Monument (CdC), and the Defiance Uplift-(Plateau) (D). Labeled towns are Farmington, New Mexico (F), Gallup, New Mexico (G), Window Rock, Arizona (WR), and Kayenta, Arizona (K).

Geography

The mesa is located on the Colorado Plateau near Kayenta, Arizona, and rises to over 8,168 ft (2,490 m). Its highest peak is located on Black Mesa's northern rim, a few miles south of the town of Kayenta. Reliable springs surfacing at several locations mean the mesa is more suitable for continuous habitation than much of the surrounding desert area. It is now split between the Hopi and Diné (Navajo) tribal reservations.[3]

Black Mesa is also the name of a small Navajo community off BIA-8066, which lies 17 miles west of Rough Rock, 20 miles north of Blue Gap and 25 miles northeast of Pinon. In the area is a local Chapter House and a community school.[4]

The mesa is located within, and gives its name to, the Black Mesa Basin.[5]

Mining

Black Mesa, west of Chilchinbito, Arizona.

Since the 1960s the mesa has been strip mined for coal by the Peabody Western Coal Company, stirring a controversy over Peabody Energy's use of groundwater to transport coal.

In 2013, the Climate Justice Alliance (CJA), collaborating with the Black Mesa Water Coalition, held their first national gathering in opposition to the strip mining of the mesa. The gathering had an attendance of 100 members.[6]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Black Mesa (Apache-Navajo Counties, Arizona).

References

  1. ↑ "The National Gazetteer of the United States of America; Arizona 1986". Professional Paper. 1987. doi:10.3133/pp1200az. ISSN 2330-7102.
  2. ↑ LaRue, Charles T. (January 31, 1994), "Birds of Northern Black Mesa, Navajo County, Arizona", The Great Basin Naturalist, Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 54 (1): 1-xx, ISSN 0017-3614
  3. ↑ "Black Mesa, Arizona | The Tony Hillerman Portal". ehillerman.unm.edu. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Black Mesa Community School District (2020) | Pinon, AZ". www.publicschoolreview.com. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  5. ↑ Cooley, M.E. (1958). "Physiography of the Black Mesa Basin area, Arizona" (PDF). New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference Series. 9: 146–149. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  6. ↑ "First National Our Power Campaign Convening". Climate Justice Alliance. June 13, 2013. Retrieved March 8, 2020.

34°16′51″N 113°50′19″W / 34.2808509°N 113.8385493°W / 34.2808509; -113.8385493

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