Guadalupe Canyon
{{short description|Geographic feature in Arizona, New Mexico, and Sonora}}
{{use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
File:Guadalupe Canyon WSA (9461161500).jpg
Guadalupe Canyon is a canyon and valley in the southern portion of the Peloncillo Mountains Hidalgo County, New Mexico, Cochise County, Arizona and Agua Prieta Municipality, of Sonora. The waters of Guadalupe Canyon are tributary to the San Bernardino River joining it at its mouth at {{coord|31|13|33|N|109|16|10|W|display=inline}} just below Dieciocho de Augusto, Sonora. Its source is at {{coord|31|28|08|N|109|02|21|W|display=inline}} at an elevation of 6,160 feet on the south slope of Guadalupe Mountain (6,444 feet). It crosses the border into Mexico at {{coord|31|19|57|N|109|05|19|W|display=inline}} at an elevation of {{convert|4,173|ft|m|abbr=off|disp=x| / |sp=us}}.{{GNIS|5416|Guadalupe Canyon}}
In November 1846, the Mormon Battalion marched through Guadalupe Canyon.{{cite news |last1=Mays |first1=Kenneth |title=Picturing history: Guadalupe Canyon |url=https://www.deseret.com/2014/6/4/20542563/picturing-history-guadalupe-canyon#the-mormon-battalion-left-the-rio-grande-on-nov-13-1846-and-headed-in-a-more-westerly-direction-as-it-approached-what-is-now-the-border-of-arizona-new-mexico-and-mexico-it-marched-through-a-small-geological-feature-known-as-guadalupe-canyon-the-view-seen-here-is-east-of-douglas-ariz |accessdate=6 November 2020 |publisher=Deseret News |date=4 June 2014}} In 1881 the Guadalupe Canyon Massacre took place.{{cite book |last1=Tefertiller |first1=Casey |title=Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend |date=1997 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |location=New York |isbn=0-471-18967-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/wyattearplifebeh00tefe_0/page/96/mode/2up?q=%22Guadalupe+Canyon+Massacre%22 |accessdate=6 November 2020}}
Habitat
File:Broad-billed Hummingbird (33927224241).jpg
The canyon is a wildlife corridor and provides habitat for violet-crowned hummingbirds and aplomado falcons.{{Cite news|last1=Kapoor|first1=Maya L.|last2=Brocious|first2=Ariana|date=2020-10-30|title=In Arizona, building a wall — and destroying a canyon|url=https://www.hcn.org/articles/borderlands-border-wall-construction-and-environmental-destruction-in-a-remote-arizona-canyon|access-date=2020-10-31|work=High Country News|language=en-us}} Other birds in the area are the broad-billed hummingbird, northern beardless tyrannulet, summer tanager, thick-billed kingbird, Elf Owl, black-tailed gnatcatcher, varied bunting, and wild turkey.{{cite web |title=Important Bird Areas Guadalupe Canyon New Mexico |date=September 12, 2016 |url=https://www.audubon.org/important-bird-areas/guadalupe-canyon |publisher=National Audubon Society |accessdate=6 November 2020}} The black-chinned hummingbird, and Costa's hummingbird also nest in the canyon.{{cite journal |last1=Baltosser |first1=William H. |title=Nectar Availability and Habitat Selection by Hummingbirds in Guadalupe Canyon |journal=Wilson Bulletin |date=1989 |volume=101 |issue=4 |pages=559–578 |url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/wilson/v101n04/p0559-p0578.pdf |accessdate=6 November 2020}}
Guadalupe canyon is also a wildlife corridor for Mexican gray wolves, and endangered jaguars, whose range bridges between the borders of both countries.{{cite web |title=Footage shows Further Border Destruction in Arizona Wilderness |date=September 28, 2020 |url=https://defenders.org/newsroom/footage-shows-further-border-destruction-arizona-wilderness |publisher=Defenders of Wildlife |accessdate=6 November 2020}} Black bears, mountain lions, ocelots, and white-nosed coati also use the canyon as a corridor and hunting ground. The canyon area is a federally designated critical habitat for endangered wild feline.{{cite news |last1=Kapoor |first1=Maya L. |last2=Brocious |first2=Ariana |title=In Arizona, building a wall — and destroying a canyon |url=https://www.hcn.org/articles/borderlands-border-wall-construction-and-environmental-destruction-in-a-remote-arizona-canyon |accessdate=6 November 2020 |publisher=High Country News |date=30 October 2020}}
Trees in the riparian habitat areas within the canyon include oak, Arizona sycamore, willow, and Freemont Cottonwood.
Border barrier
In 2020, portions of the canyon's sides were dynamited to make way for construction of the Mexico–United States border wall, prompting heavy criticism. The {{convert|30|foot|adj=mid}} tall barrier is constructed from metal bollard strips with 4-inch-wide openings. The gap is not large enough for mammals and certain reptiles, such as desert tortoises to pass through.{{Cite news|date=2020-10-21|title='Largest' mountaintop border-wall blast captured on video in Arizona wilderness|url=https://www.fox21news.com/border-report-tour/exclusive-largest-mountaintop-border-wall-blast-captured-on-video-in-arizona-wilderness/|access-date=2020-10-24|work=FOX21 News Colorado|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|last=Miroff|first=Nick|title=Trump administration in an all-out push to build border wall before election|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/trump-border-wall-push/2020/09/29/689bc740-f8f5-11ea-a510-f57d8ce76e11_story.html|access-date=2020-10-24|issn=0190-8286}}
References
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{{coord|31|13|33|N|109|16|10|W|display=title}}
Category:Landforms of Hidalgo County, New Mexico