Quechan Tribe pushes for new national monument to protect Indian Pass
Quechan tribal members Elan and Donald Medart were excited for the opportunity to see some of their tribe’s most significant lands along Haquita — known to the greater world as the Colorado River — from the air. The day was especially noteworthy for Elan, who’s 14, because it was his first-ever flight over the rugged peaks and washes of Indian Pass, about 30 miles north of here. The six-passenger Cessna took load after load of tribal members and other interested people over the Colorado River Valley in Imperial County, California, to see Indian Pass, Picacho Peak and the nearby Picacho Peak Wilderness, the Colorado, and glimpses of trails, sleeping and prayer circles and an occasional geoglyph that hasn’t yet been ground to death under the wheels of ATVs and RVs.