Western Saguaro Cactus Bolo Tie, Nickel Silver & black enamel. Nickel Silver tips, black leather strap. Approx. 1¼” wide x 2” long

The ribs of the saguaro were used for construction and other purposes by Native Americans. After the saguaro dies its woody ribs can be used to build roofs, fences, and parts of furniture. The holes that birds nested in or "saguaro boots" can be found among the dead saguaros. Native Americans used these as water containers long before the canteen was available. The petayah is the fruit of the Saguaro, of which the Indians make a kind of molasses by expressing the juice. They also eat it with great avidity during the season of its maturity; and it is a common thing, in traveling along the road, to see these gigantic sentinels of the desert pierced with arrows. The Indians amuse themselves shooting at the fruit, and when one misses his aim and leaves his arrow sticking in the top of the cactus, it is a source of much laughter to his comrades.