Contents VOLUME 34, NUMBER 3, AUTUMN 1992 Land, Sky, and People: The Southwest Defined Land, Sky, and People: The Southwest Defined
"The fact remains that, while we have some conception of the
Southwest as a whole, we are not at all happy with the names by
which the region is usually designated. A region ought to have a
name, simple and suggestive of its distinctive qualities, because to
lack a name is to invite fuzziness of treatment for any entity which
one singles out for systematic study."
-Edward Spicer & Raymond H. Thompson, Plural Society in the Southwest
The Problem: No Consistent Definition
See the related Photos and
Maps.
This composition is not intended to be a scholarly monograph, but, rather, an essay--empirical yet speculative, documented
but irreverent. Most of the "facts" here are self--evident and
well known. I have broken no new scholarly ground, I have used virtually no primary sources, and I have taken
much from such tertiary sources as college textbooks, maps,
encyclopedias and other reference books. Like several other recent contributors to Journal of the Southwest, I
am deeply grateful to Joseph Wilder for his patience, encouragement,
tolerance, and general cerebral stimulation. However, the words in this are all mine. Dr. Wilder's gentle and
cautionary hand has not always prevailed, so any imprudence appears here
despite his advice and because of his tolerance. In these ways, as well as many others, he is the ideal editor.
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Copyright © 1992 by the Arizona Board of Regents. All rights reserved.