The Mojave Desert is a desert found within the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. This desert is located primarily in southeastern California and southwestern Nevada, with small portions extending eastward into Arizona and Utah.

The Mojave desert, together with the Chihuhuan, Great Basin and Sonoran deserts, forms what is known as the North American Desert. Of these four deserts, the Mojave is the smallest and the driest.

There is a large diversity of fauna, which include 230 bird species and about 100 mammal species.

Due to the fact that there is very little water in this desert, the natural ground cover here is predominantly creosote bush resulting in little or no livestock grazing. However, there are various endemic plant species found within this ecoregion, notably the Joshua Tree, which has become an indicator species for the Mojave Desert. Too, there are more endemic flora in this desert than almost anywhere else in the world.

Predominant plants of the Mojave desert include: all-scale (Atriplex polycarpa), brittlebush (Encelia farinosa), creosote bush (Larrea tridentata), desert holly (Atriplex hymenelytra), Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia), and white burrobush (Hymenoclea salsola).

Other cacti species in the Mojave Desert include: beavertail cactus (Opuntia basilaris), Mojave prickly pear (Opunita erinacea), and many-headed barrel cactus (Echinocactus polycephalus), silver cholla (Cylindropuntia echinocarpa).

Additionally, there are other dissimilar plants including: blue Palo Verde (Parkinsonia Florida), California dalea (Psorothamnus arborescens), chuparosa (Justicia californica), desert senna (Cassia armata), goldenhead (Acamptopappus shockleyi), ironwood (Olneya tesota), and spiny menodora (Menodora spinescens).

The Mojave Desert displays typical basin and range topography by having a series of parallel mountain ranges divided by interspersed valleys.

The Mojave Basin ecoregion has scattered mountains, generally lower than those of the Central Basin ecoregion to the north.

The Mojave Desert is often called the High Desert due to the fact that most of this desert is from 2,000 and 4,000 feet in elevation. However, there are areas in Death with the lowest elevation in North America.

This desert is named for the indigenous Mojave people.

This desert is named for the indigenous Mojave people, who are a Uto-Aztecan language people of the Cochimí family group.

According to www.nevadasindianterritory.com, currently, there are thirty-three Indian reservations and colonies within the state of Nevada. Within these reservations and colonies, there are four tribes, known as the Great Basin Tribes:

1. Newe (Western Shoshone), Numic Family Group-Central tribes

2. Numu (Northern Piaute), Numic Family Group-Western tribes

3. Nuwu (Southern Paiute), Numic Family Group-Southern tribes

4. Waší-šiw (Washoe tribe). Cochimi Family Group

The same website goes on to say, "These tribes are all unique, with traditions that span many generations. But like the intricate strands that form a beautiful basket, these tribes are one, and the culture is strong and tightly woven together."

This statement give me such respect for their tightly woven culture and could only wish I could say the same about my culture.

Today, as I drove through the Mojave desert in Nevada, I was to traverse the lands of two of these reservations: the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation and the Walker River Piaute Reservation.

In this continuing quest that I have come to be a part of, I have come to learn just a little more about those people who long ago, traversed great distance, across continents and who came to make these lands their homelands. These are the four tribes of the Uto-Aztecan indigenous peoples that I have come close to this day.

Colorado River

Walker Lane Geologic Trough

Lake Mead NRA