Science of Survival: The Devils Highway, Part II
For centuries, the Devil\u2019s Highway\u2014a waterless pathway through desert in southern Arizona\u2014was one of the deadliest places in North America, killing thousands of Spanish conquistadors, gold prospectors, and migrants. Construction of a circumnavigating railroad allowed fatalities to taper at the end of the 19th\xa0century, but in the early\xa02000s, the route again became lethal. As immigration crackdown increased along other sections of the U.S.\u2013Mexico border, illegal immigrants resorted to using the desert for entry, unaware that it would kill them. One infamous modern tragedy along the Devil\u2019s Highway took place in spring 2001, when a large group, led by an experienced guide, set out from the Mexican border town of Senoyta. The disturbing outcome\u2014and many others like it\u2014helped researchers develop the Death Index, a new model for predicting dehydration fatalities.