Out where the crosses of San Carlos
Shine ’neath a desert moon
Near the canyons where Geronimo rode
And the ocotillo blooms
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Hoyah
Where’s it all going?— Tom Russell, “The Crosses of San Carlos”
The crosses of San Carlos don’t only mark the site of alcohol-fueled wrecks on Highway 70.
The legacy of deadly pollution — of various kinds — lives on at the San Carlos Reservation. The place was pestilential when the U.S. government first started concentrating the Apaches there, and it has continued to be deadly to the people who live there. Sad.
The sound always came first, a low buzz that grew and grew until it roared through the valley. Then the olive-colored plane appeared overhead, flying low. In its wake was a thick shower of oily droplets making a long, slow fall to the forested gullies below.
Kids on the Apache reservation back then chased the planes over gem-laden hills, past the flame-yellow salt cedars lining the banks of the Gila River. If they arrived ahead of the planes, they stood under the mysterious, oily rain, waiting for rainbows.
“We just played in it, drank the water with it in there, ate the food we hung out to dry covered in it,” said Mike Stevens, 62. “Didn’t know what it was.”
The planes were delivering a chemical cocktail with components similar to Agent Orange, the powerful herbicide that laid bare the jungles of Vietnam during the 1960s to allow American warplanes to peer into guerrilla encampments.
The compound, known as Silvex, was deployed as part of a little-known test effort from 1961 to 1972 to wipe out water-hungry vegetation on the San Carlos Apache Reservation, part of a larger effort by the federal government to protect scarce groundwater in the newly booming city of Phoenix.
Mike Stevens visits the grave of his late wife, Lizette, on the reservation. Lizette’s mother, sister and aunt died within a few years of one another in the 1980s and 1990s. (Caitlin O’Hara / For The Times)
Craig Rullman says
The conditions on American Indian reservations are a continuing national disgrace. Places like Chinle and Pine Ridge are sub third-world, and make the inner cities look like paradise. It is an abysmal and collective failure. If we are to judge ourselves–in one measure–by our ability to address and correct our failures, then we are quite obviously long past due in concentrating our enormous resources on this on-going catastrophe.
JimC says
Yup.
Thom Eley says
The whole herbicide business is a travesty. Agent Orange and the other Rainbow Herbicides were not just sprayed in Vietnam but in many places in the US. I have a friend from high school who was a flight nurse in the Air Force. She flew in C-123 Caribous that had returned from Vietnam after spraying Agent Orange. The planes weren’t cleaned and now she and a number of other people are experiencing problems related to Agent Orange exposure. I have several friends who are dealing with Agent Orange problems when they were exposed in VN. A state trooper friend, who flew in Operation Ranch Hand, just died of cancer attributed to Agent Orange. Cherie and I were lecturing on a small cruise ship in Vietnam and I talked about the bad effects of Agent Orange. Well a doctor on the cruise who worked for Monsanto (that made Agent Orange) took me to task assuring me that Agent Orange was harmless. I pointed out that the VA doesn’t say it is harmless and what about all the people developing cancer, diabetes, etc. from exposure to Agent Orange. “Coincidence,” says the Doctor. “Coincidence my ass,” says the always tactful me. More words were exchanged and we were within an inch of going to fist city. Something Marine always thought was funny was the official name for Agent Orange is Herbicide Orange (HO). It was always HO for Ho.
JimC says
Horror story. Coincidence my ass, indeed. Too bad you didn’t get to punch the doc in the schnoz.
Hillbilly Nick says
Just disgusting, absolutely disgusting. All for the water greedy city. Monsanto is the most evil, greedy company in existence. I was already having a not so great day, now I’m pissed all over again.
Wayne says
In the late 70’s early 80’s the U.S. Forest Service considered using agent orange to kill roadside brush in the Ozark/St. Francis National Forest. Thank heaven the Environmental Policy Act had been passed requiring the environmental impact statement process. So many state and local government agencies and nonprofits (National Wildlife Federation, Audubon Society, Wild Turkey Federation, Trout Unlimited, etc., etc.) voiced their opposition that the Forest Service backed off. It would have been another disaster with long ranging impact, all in an effort to save a few bucks for bush hogging. Sometimes government regulations operate in our favor.
JimC says
Robust environmental protection is critical. That would have been a real mess.