A land where some streams ran with gold. A landscape nearly
empty of inhabitants in the wake of Apache raids from the north.
And a former desert transformed by irrigation into vast fields of
wheat and cotton. This was and is the state of Sonora in northwest
Mexico.
In this cultural historical geography, Robert C. West explores
the dual geographic "personality" of this part of Mexico's northern
frontier. Utilizing the idea of "old" and "new" landscapes, he
describes two Sonoras--to the east, a semiarid to subhumid
mountainous region that reached its peak of development in the
colonial era and still lives largely in its colonial past; and, to
the west, a desert region that in the twentieth century has become
a major agricultural producer and the modern center of economic and
cultural activity.
After a description of the physical and biotic aspects of
Sonora, West describes the aboriginal farming cultures that
inhabited eastern Sonora before the Spanish conquest. Following the
conquest, he traces the spread of Jesuit missions and Spanish
mining and ranching communities into this land where gold, silver,
and copper ores were easily extracted by surface mining. He charts
the decline of eastern Sonora with the coming of Apache and Seri
raids during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. And he shows
how western Sonora has become one of Mexico's most powerful
political and economic entities in the twentieth century.
For geographers, historians, anthropologists, and economists, as
well as travelers to Sonora and its coastal resorts, this lively
and interesting book will be important reading.
General
Imprint: |
University Of Texas Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
July 2009 |
First published: |
July 2009 |
Authors: |
Robert C West
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 18mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade / Trade
|
Pages: |
207 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-292-72258-3 |
Categories: |
Books >
Earth & environment >
Geography >
Human geography >
General
|
LSN: |
0-292-72258-3 |
Barcode: |
9780292722583 |
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