Frog Mountain

Frog Mountain. . , The name "Babad Do'ag" is Tohono O'odham for "Frog Mountain." From the Tucson valley, the Santa Catalinas look like a giant sleeping frog. Tohono O'odham pronounce the word "bah-bahd-do-ahg.", The word Tucson also comes from the Tohono O'odham language; it roughly translates to "at the foot of the black hill.", Early Peoples , Humans probably entered the Tucson valley over 10,000 years ago in search of large animals still present at the close of the Pleistocene. Later inhabitants adapted to drier environments and eventually began farming. Hohokam settlements thrived from about A.D. 200 to the 15th century. The Tohono O'odham, are likely descended from the Hohokam., People have visited the mountains for thousands of years. The lower foothills provided various plant and animal foods and materials; oak woodlands offered acorns for food, agave for food and fiber, and beargrass for basketry materials. Deer, rabbits, and other animals were hunted at many elevations. In addition to being accomplished farmers, the O'odham used over 60 wild plants for food, fiber, and medicine, some grow in deserts, other in oak-woodlands, and some in pine forests. The mountains are an element in O'odham legends and continue to have great significance to the Desert People., [Caption:] Harvesting saguaro fruits is important to modern-day Tohono O'odham people. Fruit is harvested with a long pole made from saguaro ribs. The fruit is eaten raw or dried, made into jam and syrup, or a wine used in rainmaking ceremonies., Funding for this sign was provided by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act.