1943 Map of Arivaca

About this map

Arivaca serves as the central hub of this Arizona landscape, situated in a valley surrounded by the formidable Las Guijas Mountains and San Luis Mountains. The 1940s economy of this border region is clearly defined by a legacy of hard-rock mining and cattle ranching. Extensive mineral exploration is evident in the cluster of workings around Cerro Colorado, including the Cerro Colorado Mine and the Colorado Clark (abandoned) Mine. Further south, the presence of numerous family-named cattle operations like Campos Ranch and Figueroa Ranch suggests a network of early homesteads reliant on scattered water sources such as Cienaguita Spr. The rugged southern terrain is dominated by the Coronado National Forest and the Cobre Ridge, where isolated sites like the Alaska Mine (abandoned) highlight the difficulty of extraction in the high desert.