A FINE CLIMATE
The climate of Arizona as described in the local vernacular is "sure
fine." The combination of elements which make the climate is unusual
and cannot be duplicated elsewhere upon the American continent. The
air is remarkably pure and dry. Siccity, indeed, is its distinguishing
feature. That the climate is due to geographical and meteorological
conditions cannot be doubted, but the effects are unexplainable by any
ordinary rules.
The region involved not only embraces Arizona, but also includes
portions of California and Mexico and is commonly known as the Colorado
Desert. Yuma, at the junction of the Gila and Colorado rivers, is
approximately its geographical center. The general aspect of the
country is low and flat and in the Salton sink the dry land dips
several hundred feet below the level of the ocean. Only by extreme
siccity is such land possible when more water rises in evaporation than
falls by precipitation. There are but few such places in the world,
the deepest one being the Dead Sea, which is about thirteen hundred
feet lower than the ocean.
The Colorado Basin is the dry bed of an ancient sea whose shore line is
yet visible in many places upon the sides of the mountains which
surround it. Its floor is composed of clay with deposits of sand and
salt. Strong winds sometimes sweep over it that shift and pile up the
sand in great dunes. The entire region is utterly bare and desolate,
yet by the use of water diverted from the Colorado river it is being
reclaimed to agriculture.
The rainfall is very scant the average annual precipitation at Yuma
being less than three inches. The climate is not dry from any lack of
surface water, as it has the Gila and Colorado rivers, the Gulf of
California and the broad Pacific Ocean to draw from. But the singular
fact remains that the country is extremely dry and that it does not
rain as in other lands.
Neither is the rainfall deficient from any lack of evaporation. Upon
the contrary the evaporation is excessive and according to the estimate
of Major Powell amounts fully to one hundred inches of water per annum.
If the vapors arising from this enormous evaporation should all be
condensed into clouds and converted into rain it would create a rainy
season that would last throughout the year.
The humidity caused by an abundant rainfall in any low, hot country is
usually enough to unfit it for human habitation. The combined effect
of heat and moisture upon a fertile soil causes an excess of both
growing and decaying vegetation that fills the atmosphere with noxious
vapors and disease producing germs. The sultry air is so oppressive
that it is more than physical endurance can bear. The particles of
vapor which float in the atmosphere absorb and hold the heat until it
becomes like a steaming hot blanket that is death to unacclimated life.
All of this is changed where siccity prevails. The rapid evaporation
quickly dispels the vapors and the dry heat desiccates the disease
creating germs and makes them innocuous.
The effect of heat upon the body is measured by the difference in the
actual and sensible temperatures, as recorded by the dry and wet bulb
thermometers. When both stand nearly together as they are apt to do in
a humid atmosphere, the heat becomes insufferable. In the dry climate
of Arizona such a condition cannot occur. The difference in the two
instruments is always great, often as much as forty degrees. For this
reason, a temperature of 118 degrees F. at Yuma is less oppressive than
98 degrees F. is in New York. A low relative humidity gives comfort
and freedom from sunstroke even when the thermometer registers the
shade temperature in three figures.
A dry, warm climate is a stimulant to the cutaneous function. The skin
is an important excreting organ that is furnished with a large number
of sweat glands which are for the dual purpose of furnishing moisture
for cooling the body by evaporation and the elimination of worn out and
waste material from the organism. As an organ it is not easily injured
by over work, but readily lends its function in an emergency in any
effort to relieve other tired or diseased organs of the body. By
vicarious action the skin is capable of performing much extra labor
without injury to itself and can be harnessed temporarily for the
relief of some vital part which has become crippled until its function
can be restored.
A diseased kidney depends particularly upon the skin for succor more
than any other organ. When the kidneys from any cause fail to act the
skin comes to their rescue and throws off impurities which nature
intended should go by the renal route. For this reason diabetes and
albuminuria, the most stubborn of all kidney diseases, are usually
benefited by a dry, warm climate. The benefit derived is due to an
increase of the insensible transpiration rather than to profuse
perspiration. The air of Arizona is so dry and evaporation so rapid
that an increase in perspiration is scarcely noticeable except when it
is confined by impervious clothing. The disagreeable feeling of wet
clothes which accompanies profuse perspiration in a damp climate is
changed to an agreeable sensation of coolness in a dry one.
The atmosphere of Arizona is not only dry but also very electrical, so
much so, indeed, that at times it becomes almost painful. Whenever the
experiment is tried, sparks can be produced by friction or the handling
of metal, hair or wool. It affects animals as well as man, and
literally causes "the hair to stand on end." The writer has on various
occasions seen a string of horses standing close together at a
watering-trough, drinking, so full of electricity that their manes and
tails were spread out and floated in the air, and the long hairs drawn
by magnetic attraction from one animal to the other all down the line
in a spontaneous effort to complete a circuit. There are times when
the free electricity in the air is so abundant that every object
becomes charged with the fluid, and it cannot escape fast enough or
find "a way out" by any adequate conductor. The effects of such an
excess of electricity is decidedly unpleasant on the nerves, and causes
annoying irritability and nervousness.
The hot sun sometimes blisters the skin and burns the complexion to a
rich, nut-brown color, but the air always feels soft and balmy, and
usually blows only in gentle zephyrs. The air has a pungent fragrance
which is peculiar to the desert, that is the mingled product of a
variety of resinous plants. The weather is uniformly pleasant, and the
elements are rarely violently disturbed.
In the older settled sections of our country, whenever there is any
sudden or extreme change in the weather of either heat or cold, wet or
dry, it is always followed by an increase of sickness and death. The
aged and invalid, who are sensitive and weak, suffer mostly, as they
feel every change in the weather. There is, perhaps, no place on earth
that can boast of a perfect climate, but the country that can show the
fewest and mildest extremes approaches nearest to the ideal. The
southwest is exceptionally favored in its climatic conditions, and is
beneficial to the majority of chronic invalids.
Atmospheric pressure is greatest near the earth's surface, and exerts a
controlling influence over the vital functions. Atmospheric pressure
is to the body what the governor is to the steam engine, or the
pendulum to the clock. It regulates vital action, insures safety and
lessens the wear and tear of machinery. Under its soothing influence
the number of respirations per minute are diminished, the heart beats
decreased in frequency, and the tired brain and nerves rested. It is
often better than medicine, and will sometimes give relief when all
other means fail.
Arizona has a diversity of altitudes, and therefore furnishes a variety
of climates. The elevations range from about sea level at Yuma to
nearly thirteen thousand feet upon the San Francisco mountains. By
making suitable changes in altitude to fit the season it is possible to
enjoy perpetual spring.
Because Arizona is far south geographically it is only natural to
suppose that it is all very hot, which is a mistake. In the low
valleys of southern Arizona the summers are hot, but it is a dry heat
which is not oppressive, and the winters are delightfully pleasant. In
northern Arizona the winters are cold and the summers cool. There is
no finer summer climate in the world than is found on the high plateaus
and pine-topped mountains of northern Arizona. Prescott, Williams and
Flagstaff have a charming summer climate, while at Yuma, Phoenix and
Tucson the winter weather is simply perfect.
A mountain residence is not desirable for thin, nervous people or such
as are afflicted with any organic disease. A high altitude is too
stimulating for this class of patients and tends to increase
nervousness and aggravates organic disease. Such persons should seek a
coast climate and a low altitude, which is sedative, rather than risk
the high and dry interior. Any coast climate is better than the
mountains for nervous people, but the Pacific Coast is preferable to
any other because of its freedom from electrical storms and every other
form of disagreeable meteorological disturbance that tries the nerves.
The nervousness that is produced by a high altitude does not, as a
rule, develop suddenly, but grows gradually upon the patient. Those of
a sensitive nature feel it most and women more than men. After making
a change from a low to a high altitude sleep may be sound for a time,
but it soon becomes fitful and unrefreshing.
It has been discovered that altitude increases the amount of
hemoglobulin and thus enriches the blood and is particularly beneficial
to pale, thin people. It also sharpens the appetite and promotes
digestion and assimilation.
Persons suffering from rheumatism, neuralgia, advanced pulmonary
consumption, organic heart disease and all disorders of the brain and
nerves should avoid a high altitude. Patients that are afflicted with
any of the above-mentioned diseases are more comfortable in a low
altitude and should choose between the coast of California and the low,
dry lands of the lower Gila and Colorado rivers, according to the
season of the year and the quality of climate desired.
The diseases which are especially benefited by the climate of Arizona
are consumption, bronchitis, catarrh and hay fever. Anyone going in
search of health who has improved by the change should remain where the
improvement took place lest by returning home and being again subjected
to the former climatic conditions which caused the disease the
improvement be lost and the old disease re-established with increased
severity.
Most sick people who are in need of a change live in a humid atmosphere
where the winters are extremely cold and the summers uncomfortably hot,
and to be benefited by a change must seek a climate in which the
opposite conditions prevail. The climate of the southwest furnishes
just what such invalids require. The sick who need cold or damp
weather, if there be any such, can be accommodated almost anywhere, but
those who want a warm, dry climate must go where it can be found. Not
every invalid who goes in search of health finds a cure, as many who
start on such a journey are already past help when they leave home.
When a case is hopeless the patient should not undertake such a trip,
but remain quietly at home and die in peace among friends.
As already intimated the climate of the Colorado basin is ideal in
winter, but becomes very hot in summer. Its low altitude, rainless
days, cloudless skies and balmy air form a combination that is
unsurpassed and is enjoyed by all either sick or well. The heat of
summer does not create sickness, but becomes monotonous and tiresome
from its steady and long continuance. Many residents of the Territory
who tire of the heat and can afford the trip take a vacation during the
summer months and either go north to the Grand Canon and the mountains
or to the Pacific Coast. Every summer witnesses a hegira of sun baked
people fleeing from the hot desert to the mountains or ocean shore in
search of coolness and comfort.
Life in the tropics, perhaps, inclines to indolence and languor,
particularly if the atmosphere is humid, but in a dry climate like that
of Arizona the heat, although sometimes great, is never oppressive or
debilitating. It has its lazy people like any other country and for
the same reason that there are always some who were born tired and
never outgrow the tired feeling, but Arizona climate is more bracing
than enervating.
The adobe house of the Mexican is a peculiar institution of the
southwest. It may be interesting on account of its past history, but
it is certainly not pretty. It is nothing more than a box of dried
mud with its roof, walls and floor all made of dirt. It is never free
from a disagreeable earthy smell which, if mingled with the added odors
of stale smoke and filth, as is often the case, makes the air simply
vile. The house can never be kept tidy because of the dirt which falls
from the adobe, unless the walls and ceilings are plastered and
whitewashed, which is sometimes done in the better class of houses. If
the house is well built it is comfortable enough in pleasant weather,
but as often as it rains the dirt roof springs a leak and splashes
water and mud over everything. If by chance the house stands on low
ground and is surrounded by water, as sometimes happens, after a heavy
rain the walls become soaked and dissolved into mud when the house
collapses. The adobe house may have been suited to the wants of a
primitive people, but in the present age of improvement, it is scarcely
worth saving except it be as a relic of a vanishing race.
In order to escape in a measure the discomforts of the midday heat the
natives either seek the shade in the open air where the breeze blows,
or, what is more common, close up tight the adobe house in the morning
and remain indoors until the intense heat from the scorching sun
penetrates the thick walls, which causes the inmates to move out. In
the cool of the evening they visit and transact business and when the
hour comes for retiring go to bed on cots made up out of doors where
they sleep until morning, while the house is left open to cool off
during the night. This process is repeated every day during the hot
summer months and is endured without complaint.
The natives, also, take advantage of the dry air to operate a novel
method of refrigeration. The cloth covered army canteen soaked in
water and the handy water jug of the eastern harvest field wrapped in a
wet blanket are familiar examples of an ineffectual attempt at
refrigeration by evaporation. But natural refrigeration find its best
illustration in the arid regions of the southwest by the use of an
olla, which is a vessel made of porous pottery, a stout canvas bag or a
closely woven Indian basket. A suitable vessel is selected, filled
with water and suspended somewhere in midair in the shade. If it is
hung in a current of air it is all the better, as any movement of the
atmosphere facilitates evaporation. A slow seepage of water filters
through the open pores of the vessel which immediately evaporates in
the dry air and lowers the temperature. The water in the olla soon
becomes cold and if properly protected will remain cool during the
entire day.
The dry air also acts as a valuable preservative. During the winter,
when the weather is cool but not freezing, if fresh meat is hung out in
the open air, it will keep sweet a long time. A dry crust soon forms
upon its surface which hermetically seals the meat from the air and
keeps it perfectly sweet. In the summer it is necessary to dry the
meat more quickly to keep it from spoiling. It is then made into
"jerky" by cutting it into long, thin strips and hanging them up in the
sun to dry. After it is thoroughly dried, it is tied up in bags and
used as needed, either by eating it dry from the pocket when out on a
tramp, or, if in camp, serving it in a hot stew.
Even the carcass of a dead animal that is left exposed upon the ground
to decompose does not moulder away by the usual process of decay, but
what is left of the body after the hungry buzzards and coyotes have
finished their feast, dries up into a mummy that lasts for years.
Climate everywhere unquestionably influences life in its evolution, but
it is not always easy to determine all of its effects in detail. In
Arizona, which is but a comparatively small corner of our country, live
several races of men that are as different from each other as nature
could make them, yet all live in the same climate.
The Pueblo Indian is in a manner civilized, peaceable and industrious.
He is brave in self-defense, but never seeks war nor bloodshed. Quite
different is his near neighbor, the bloodthirsty Apache, who seems to
delight only in robbing and killing people. Cunning and revenge are
pronounced traits of his character and the Government has found him
difficult to conquer or control. The Mexican leads a shiftless,
thriftless life and seems satisfied merely to exist. He has,
unfortunately, inherited more of the baser than the better qualities of
his ancestors, and, to all appearance, is destined to further
degenerate. The American is the last comer and has already pushed
civilization and commerce into the remotest corners and, as usual,
dominates the land.
As diverse as are these several races in many respects, each one of
them furnishes splendid specimens of physical manhood. The Indian has
always been noted for his fine physique, and is large bodied, well
muscled and full chested. One advantage which the southwest has over
other countries is that the climate is mild and favorable to an outdoor
life, which is conducive to health and physical development.
No single race of men flourish equally well everywhere, but each one is
affected by its own surroundings; and, what is true of a race, is also
true of an individual. The pioneer in any country is always an
interesting character, but he differs in peculiarities according to his
environment of mountain, plain or forest. Occupation also exerts an
influence and in time develops distinct types like the trapper, miner,
soldier and cowboy, that only the graphic pencil of a Remington can
accurately portray. The eccentricities of character which are
sometimes met in men who dwell on the frontier are not always due alone
to disposition, but are largely the product of the wild life which they
live, that inclines them to be restless, reckless and even desperate.
There is no better field for observing and studying the effects of
environment upon human life than is furnished by the arid region of the
southwest.