As a field of grass

Early descriptions of Arizona comment on the abundance of grass. The natural state of the desert is still one of grass and forage that supported a huge variety of wildlife. All that changed when cattle were introduced to the state. Overgrazing replaced the native grass species with foreign weeds and other inedible plants. Today, it is extremely rare to see the desert as it looked before cattle. This is an example of what the native grass looked like over much of Arizona.