Watch For New Books

To catch interest of any age group, relate the first page, "Ranching has a long, long history in the Southwest" to the newspaper article on the last page, (pg 12).

Depending on the age group help them read the newspaper article or have the students read themselves.

          Highlight main ideas:

• Written in 1848
• Location Gila River, Sonora Mountains
• Pimos graze their cattle
• The Pimos were growing corn, cotton, and had irrigation
• Style of their homes and fences

Older students

•  Journal a summary of the page
• What was new to them

Younger students  

• Explore the book
• Choose a favorite page and color

• Buffalo soldiers
• People of the Southwest
• Western Expansion
• Precipitation in the Southwest 

This is the meat of this book. Water Rights

• Riparian Common Law of water - back east if water was on your land it was yours to use.
• Doctrine of Prior Appropriation - water may be far away. Those who used the water first has the senior right against others to use that amount.
• NM and AZ Constitution Water Articles

Inside back cover Conservation and Cows

• Intensive grazing or rotational grazing, cattle mow the range so that new grasses will grow. 

Back cover

• McCarren Amendment 1952, federal government water claims are decided within state courts.