Bryan Mountains
Encyclopedia
The Bryan Mountains are a small mountain range in the northwestern Sonoran Desert
of southwestern Arizona
. The range is located in southeastern Yuma County
, about 75 mi southeast of Yuma
and about 35 mi west of Ajo
. The range is approximately ten miles long and about three miles wide at its widest point. The highpoint of the range is 1,794 feet (547 meters) above sea level and is located at 32°18'27"N, 113°22'46"W (NAD 1983 datum). The range is located entirely within the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge
.
Geologically, the Bryan Mountains are an extension southeastwards of the block faulted Mohawk Mountains
, and what are now the Bryan Mountains were actually considered part of the Mohawk Mountains well into the middle of the 20th century.
s were like before the post-World War II population boom transformed the region.
Wilson evidently intended for the Bryan Mountains to extend even farther to the north and south than what was eventually recorded on USGS maps of the area. In Wilson's geologic map of Yuma County published in 1933, the Bryan's are depicted as including what are now considered the southern third of the Mohawk Mountains to the north of the present-day Bryan's. The map shows a series of outlying hills to the south and southwest as part of the Bryan's as well. For some unexplained reason, the surveyors of the Army Map Service and the USGS eventually depicted a much less expansive version of the range when the first 15-minute topographic maps of the area were produced in the mid-1960s, and that depiction has carried over to more recent USGS maps produced today.
Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which straddles part of the United States-Mexico border and covers large parts of the U.S. states of Arizona and California and the northwest Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. It is one of the largest and hottest...
of southwestern Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. The range is located in southeastern Yuma County
Yuma County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*70.4% White*2.0% Black*1.6% Native American*1.2% Asian*0.2% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.8% Two or more races*20.8% Other races*59.7% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
, about 75 mi southeast of Yuma
Yuma, Arizona
Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....
and about 35 mi west of Ajo
Ajo, Arizona
Ajo is a census-designated place in Pima County, Arizona, United States. The population was 3,705 at the 2000 census. Ajo is located on State Route 85 just from the Mexican border. It is the closest community to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument....
. The range is approximately ten miles long and about three miles wide at its widest point. The highpoint of the range is 1,794 feet (547 meters) above sea level and is located at 32°18'27"N, 113°22'46"W (NAD 1983 datum). The range is located entirely within the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge
Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge
The Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge is located in the Sonoran Desert in southwestern Arizona in the United States. The refuge, established in 1939 to protect Desert Bighorn Sheep, is located along of the U.S.-Mexico border, and covers 860,010 acres — larger than the land area of the state...
.
Geologically, the Bryan Mountains are an extension southeastwards of the block faulted Mohawk Mountains
Mohawk Mountains
The Mohawk Mountains is a mountain range in the northwest Sonoran Desert of southwest Arizona. It abuts the western Gila River valley to the north, and is located in southern Yuma County, Arizona and is part of an eleven mountain range–three valley region...
, and what are now the Bryan Mountains were actually considered part of the Mohawk Mountains well into the middle of the 20th century.
History of the name
The range was named in 1933 by Eldred D. Wilson for Kirk Bryan, a geologist and explorer with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) who in the early 1920s conducted a reconnaissance of the area and wrote a detailed guide describing the area's geology and difficult-to-find surface water resources. Bryan was one of several geologists and geographers dispatched by the USGS in the early part of the 20th century to explore and record the physical characteristics of the arid southwestern United States. The Water Supply Papers published by Bryan and others are now considered classic accounts of what the Sonoran and Mojave DesertMojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
s were like before the post-World War II population boom transformed the region.
Wilson evidently intended for the Bryan Mountains to extend even farther to the north and south than what was eventually recorded on USGS maps of the area. In Wilson's geologic map of Yuma County published in 1933, the Bryan's are depicted as including what are now considered the southern third of the Mohawk Mountains to the north of the present-day Bryan's. The map shows a series of outlying hills to the south and southwest as part of the Bryan's as well. For some unexplained reason, the surveyors of the Army Map Service and the USGS eventually depicted a much less expansive version of the range when the first 15-minute topographic maps of the area were produced in the mid-1960s, and that depiction has carried over to more recent USGS maps produced today.
See also
- Valley and range sequence-Southern Yuma CountyValley and range sequence-Southern Yuma CountyThe Valley and range sequence-Southern Yuma County is a 3-Valley sequence of NW–by–SE trending block faulted valleys and mountains...
- List of mountain ranges of Yuma County, Arizona
- List of mountain ranges of Arizona
- Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife RefugeCabeza Prieta National Wildlife RefugeThe Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge is located in the Sonoran Desert in southwestern Arizona in the United States. The refuge, established in 1939 to protect Desert Bighorn Sheep, is located along of the U.S.-Mexico border, and covers 860,010 acres — larger than the land area of the state...
External links
- http://simkin.asu.edu/pub/movies.htmlHigh Altitude view of Mohawk Mountains and Mohawk Valley (Arizona)Mohawk Valley (Arizona)The Mohawk Valley is a valley in the lower regions of the western Gila River Valley in southwestern Arizona in the western Sonoran Desert....
]; High Defintion aerial view - green Gila River Valley on right, view northwest: shows Sierra PintaSierra PintaThe Sierra Pinta or Sierra Pintas are a narrow remote block faulted northwest-southeast trending mountain range, about long located in southwestern Arizona in the arid northwestern Sonoran Desert, just north of the Pinacate Reserve of northern Sonora, Mexico...
, Cabeza Prieta MountainsCabeza Prieta MountainsThe Cabeza Prieta Mountains are a mountain range in the northwestern Sonoran Desert of southwest Arizona. It is located in southern Yuma County, Arizona....
and Copper MountainsCopper MountainsThe Copper Mountains is a minor north-south trending mountain range, only 8 miles long in southwestern Arizona in the southwestern Sonoran Desert....
; narrow Gila Mountains (Yuma County)Gila Mountains (Yuma County)The Gila Mountains is a mountain range in southwestern Arizona in the northwestern Sonoran Desert.The Gila Mountains of Yuma County are a northwest-southeast trending mountain system, about 26 miles long; the fault-blocked mountain range is attached on the south to the Tinajas Altas Mountains...
at distance
Bryan Mountains at center bottom, to right: north of Granite Mountains (Arizona)Granite Mountains (Arizona)The Granite Mountains is a mountain range in the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona. It is located in extreme western Pima County, Arizona, bordering southeast Yuma County....
, w/ Growler Wash
