Maricopas. The 250,000 square miles of the basin were variously
apportioned amongst these tribes, but their territorial claims were
usually well defined.

* For notes on the distribution of tribes see the Seventh Ann. Rep,
Bu. Ethnology; Wheeler's Report, vol. i.; Report of Lieut. Ives,
Works of H. H. Bancroft, and Garces, by Elliott Coues.


The vegetation of the area, especially that of the lower half,
possesses singular characteristics quite in keeping with the
extraordinary topography. Here flourishes the cactus, that rose of
the desert, its lovely blossoms red, yellow, and white, illuminating
in spring the arid wastes. The soft green of its stems and the
multiplicity of its forms and species, are a constant delight. It
writhes and struggles across the hot earth, or spreads out
silver-spined branches into a tree-like bush, or, in the great
pitahaya, rises in fierce dignity like a monitor against the deep
blue sky. And the yuccas are quite as beautiful, with their tall
central rods so richly crowned with bell-like blossoms, the fantastic
Clistoyucca arborescens, or Joshua tree, being more in harmony with
the archaic landscape than any other plant there. As the traveller
crosses one of the open forests of this tree, which is often
twenty-five feet high, the more distant ones appear to beckon like
some uncanny desert octopus yearning to draw him within reach of
those scrawny arms. The blossom of this monstrous growth is a
revelation, so unexpected is it. A group as large as one's head, pure
white, on the extremity of a dagger-covered bough, it is like an
angel amidst bayonets. The pitahaya, often more than thirty feet high
and twelve to twenty-four inches diameter, is a fit companion for the