Sonoita River
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The Sonoita River or Sonoita Creek is a stream in Santa Cruz County in southern Arizona. It originates near and takes its name from the abandoned Pima mission in the high valley near Sonoita. It flows steadily for the first fifteen miles of its westward course past Patagonia, its bird sanctuary and Patagonia Lake, but sinks beneath the sand seven to eight miles before joining the Santa Cruz a few miles north of Nogales. This confluence provides water for Tumacácori and Tubac and collects in the marsh lands around San Xavier del Bac to the north. The Santa Rita Mountains lie to the north and the Canelo Hills, Red Mountain and the Patagonia Mountains lie to the south. Harshaw Creek is a southern tributary which joins the Sonoita near Patagonia. Harshaw Creek drains the area between the Patagonia Mountains to the west and the high San Raphael valley grasslands to the east. The old mining area and ghost towns of Harshaw, Mowry, Washington Camp, and Duquesne lie within its watershed.
On November 17, 1856, the United States Army established Fort Buchanan along its banks in an effort to control the newly acquired Gadsden Purchase.
In the 1890s several stone artifacts were discovered a few feet beneath the surface near the beginning of the river.
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