Organ Pipe Cactus (Stenocereus thurberi), native to Mexico, is rare in the US,
found only in a small area of Arizona, from the town of Ajo south to the Mexican border.

I was told that the two feathers in this photo, one behind the other, an owl feather
representing death and an eagle feather representing freedom, were hung on this cactus
by people of the Tohono O'odham nation to show their respect for Kris Eggle, a 28 years
old park ranger who was shot and killed in the line of duty at Organ Pipe Cactus National
Monument on August 9, 2002, while pursuing members of a drug cartel hit squad who fled
into the United States after committing a string of murders in Mexico.

This organ pipe cactus is now part of a memorial to him and located at the national
monument's visitor center which was officially re-designated by the United States Congress
on November 22, 2003 as the Kris Eggle Visitor Center in his honor.

Photographed at the Kris Eggle Visitor Center in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona USA.