Patagonia, Arizona

The area where Patagonia is located provided Native American communities with plentiful hunting and fishing opportunities. Archaeologists have identified the remains of Native American settlements, resource processing sites, and petroglyphs in the area surrounding Patagonia. The area was known as a Tohono O'odham ranchería, or seasonal village, called Sonoitac. In 1539, Spanish explorer Fray Marcos de Niza entered the area near Lochiel on the Mexican border. He continued on his journey to Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico also known as the Seven Cities of Cibola. Marcos de Niza is credited with being the first European in what is now the State of Arizona. The main Native American tribes in the area at that time were the Sobaipuri and Papago (Tohono O'odham). In 1821, the Mexican War of Independence between Mexico and Spain came to an end and the territory of New Spain, which included Arizona, was ceded to Mexico. Thus, the miners, ranchers and farmers in the region were without protection from the Apaches and many of them moved to other areas. ==Geography==

The town is located in the valley of Sonoita Creek between the Santa Rita Mountains to the north and the Patagonia Mountains to the south. State Route 82 passes through the town. Nogales lies to the southwest and Sonoita to the northeast. The former mining camps (now ghost towns) of Harshaw, Duquesne and Lochiel lie to the southeast along the eastern margin of the Patagonia Mountains. The high San Rafael Valley also lies to the southeast. Patagonia Lake State Park, around Patagonia Lake, lies about six miles southwest of the town. Most of the soils are calcareous silty clay loams (Pima series), with calcareous sandy loam of the Comoro series and noncalcareous sandy loam of the Caralampi series also present. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land. ==Demographics==

At the 2000 census there were 881 people, 404 households, and 239 families in the town. The population density was . There were 498 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 86% White, 1% Native American, <1% Asian, 11% from other races, and 2% from two or more races. 39.5% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 404 households 23% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47% were married couples living together, 9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41% were non-families. 35% of households were one person and 15% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.2 and the average family size was 2.8. The age distribution was 21% under the age of 18, 5% from 18 to 24, 20% from 25 to 44, 32% from 45 to 64, and 21% 65 or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 87.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.9 males. The median household income was $25,795 and the median family income was $31,000. Males had a median income of $25,625 versus $24,844 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,325. About 18% of families and 25% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36% of those under age 18 and 17% of those age 65 or over. As of 2010, Patagonia had a population of 913. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 56% non-Hispanic white, less than 1% African American, less than 2% Native American, less than 1% non-Hispanics reporting some other race, 1% reporting two or more races and 42% Hispanic or Latino. ==Notable people==

• Erik Asphaug, planetary scientist • Philip Caputo, author • Jim Harrison, novelist, poet, and food critic • Hilde Lysiak, journalist • Gary Nabhan, prizewinning writer and ethnobotanist ==See also==