FRONT PAGE • EDITORIAL • SPECIAL EDITION

THE TOMBSTONE EPITAPH

THE VOICE OF THE OLD WEST — ARIZONA TERRITORY

OCTOBER 15, 2026 • OPINION & COMMENTARY

THOSE WHO REPEAT THEMSELVES HAVEN’T EDUCATED THEMSELVES ABOUT THE PAST!

A Mother Creeker’s Examination of History, Sovereignty, Stewardship, and the American Republic

DOES THIS HELP® Rancho del Oro 85331

The Sonoran Desert existed long before today’s property lines, political administrations, and international boundaries.

CAVE CREEK, ARIZONA — History has a peculiar way of repeating itself when those entrusted with leadership fail to comprehend the lessons already written upon the land.

Look at a map of the American Southwest. Look at the Navajo Nation. Look at the Tohono O’odham Nation. Follow the boundaries, the washes, the mountains, and the ancient homelands that existed before today’s governments drew their lines.

Then ask yourself: Who was here first? Who has been caring for this land? And what gives any temporary administration the wisdom to believe that drawing another line will solve what it has not taken the time to understand?

The Tohono O’odham ancestral homeland extends across what is now Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. An international border divides territory connected by generations of family, culture, and tradition.

A wall may divide jurisdictions. It cannot rewrite ancestry.

THE SWISS CHEESE OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT

What good is a plan filled with holes in its comprehension?

A property line does not stop a wash from flowing. A wall does not stop wildlife from needing its habitat. And moving a mature saguaro does not automatically restore the living environment that sustained it.

I have witnessed what I describe as the destruction and relocation of saguaros near my own home. I have watched development alter the natural wash and change the landscape surrounding my property.

Now I look toward the southern border and recognize a familiar question: Who is accounting for everything that will be affected?

THE PRESIDENT DOES NOT OWN THE REPUBLIC

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

Not to a president. Not to a political party. Not to someone who mistakes public office for personal ownership.

The presidency is temporary. The Constitution establishes limits on power. Tribal nations possess their own sovereignty. And the people of this Republic have responsibilities that do not disappear with an election.

No president is God. No elected official should be treated as beyond accountability.

Leadership is service, not supremacy.

THE LESSON HISTORY KEEPS OFFERING

We cannot undo every mistake of yesterday. But we can educate ourselves before repeating those mistakes tomorrow.

The saguaros, the washes, the wildlife, and the Indigenous communities of the Sonoran Desert are not obstacles to be erased from a development drawing.

They are part of what must be understood before responsible decisions can be made.

History is more than something we read after the damage is done. It is evidence we can examine before making another decision.

Those who repeat themselves haven’t educated themselves about the past.

And those who refuse to learn from the past should not be surprised when the next generation demands accountability.

CK KIRTON-NINER

Mother Creeker • Cave Creek, Arizona Guest Editorial Submission — The Tombstone Epitaph Does This Help®

This is a proposed guest editorial styled for The Tombstone Epitaph, not an article published by the newspaper. It brings your argument together around one central principle: Before exercising authority over land and people, educate yourself about the history of both.