And for my next act, I shall be an agave.

I am struck by the phrase "through the desert wastes of Arizona along the Mexican border". What does the writer of the article think is being wasted? Is he channeling T. S. Eliot?

I never considered southern Arizona to be a desert waste - I saw no evidence of waste there.

Thanks for sharing! Do you know who the writer of the article is? When was it written?

Lars, I know nothing about its origin, sadly, but 'desert wastes' is a phrase from the 1800s because it was considered waste land for many decades, IMO. Florid phrasing was the standard in media then.

I googled Arther N. Pack president of the American Nature Association, and it looks like the article was written in a magazine called Popular Science Monthly in March of 1931 pg. 47. It’s interesting to see the other articles. On pg. 48 there’s a title of an article that reads ‘Work On World’s Highest Dam May Start This Summer’ about the Hoover Dam, which started being built in 1931. Along with a little article about Mt. Rushmore. At the time of the article Mt. Rushmore only had George Washington carved out:). Here’s a link.