A fascinating and detailed look at sixteen communities in Pima County that experienced the boom and bust of the mining industry since the 1800s. Conveyed from a cultural historian's perspective, the stories of these communities are told with a goal of promoting preservation of the remnant railroads, schools, post offices, hotels, saloons, and other artifacts from this chapter of our history in Pima County.

In the early 1990s, a study of the Tanque Verde Creek by Dr. Julie Stromberg and others described the relationship between the depth to groundwater and the health of the mesquite woodland habitat in the area. This report revisits the Stromberg study to describe variations in groundwater levels since the report was completed early last decade. They identified around 3,000 acres of riparian vegetation in the Tanque Verde-Agua Caliente shallow groundwater zone.