Do you know what the word cienega means?

Darrell Johnson

Camp Verde, Arizona

Cienega is a Spanish word meaning marsh. Typically, it’s a depression in a plain where water collects and becomes miry and boggy. There are dozens of cienega place-names in Arizona alone.

Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian. His books include Law of the Gun and Never Give A Heifer A Bum Steer.

If you have a question, write:

Ask the Marshall, PO Box 8008, Cave Creek, AZ 85327

or email him at marshall.trimble@sccmail.maricopa.edu