Mount Taylor (New Mexico)

About

Mount Taylor (Navajo: Tsoodził, Navajo pronunciation: [tsʰòːtsɪ̀ɬ] means "The Great Mountain") is a dormant stratovolcano in northwest New Mexico, northeast of the town of Grants. It is the high point of the San Mateo Mountains and the highest point in the Cibola National Forest. It was renamed in 1849 for then president Zachary Taylor. Previously, it was called Cebolleta (tender onion) by the Spaniards; the name persists as one name for the northern portion of the San Mateo Mountains, a large mesa. The Navajo, for whom the mountain is sacred, still call it Turquoise Mountain (Tsoodził). Mount Taylor is largely forested with some meadows, rising above the desert below. The mountain is heavily eroded to the east. Its slopes were an important source of lumber for neighboring pueblos.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.