People of Darkness (1980)

Diesel is a petroleum derivative used for fuel and gets better fuel efficiency than gas, although as it combusts to produce the energy harnessed to drive engines, it has dirtier emissions than straight gas.

A vehicle, usually a truck or bus, which has a diesel engine and runs on diesel fuel is also referred to as "a diesel." Diesel engines are recognizable from gas engines in the distinctive noise they produce. Diesel engines are also different from standard engines in that they ignite fuel by compressing air in the cylinder to sufficiently high temperatures, rather than by an electric spark. Diesel engines are more efficient than standard gasoline ones, and therefore are utilized in cargo trucks and other large vehicles that drive long distances and/or carry heavy loads.

Natural vegetation consisting of small bushes, other small diameter wood plants, and bunch grasses. Brush can consist as its own vegetation type, but it often presents as a transitional zone between open grasslands and enclosed arboreal canopies. Brush habitats can be found in various arid climates and deserts, and are common in the Southwestern parts of the U.S.

A four-door car design with three separate interior compartments: one for the engine, one for the passengers, and one for the cargo. The origin of the term is not certain, but it is likely to have developed as a derivative of the Italian word sede, which means "chair." It is probably the most common compact family car, as it comfortably fits at least four passengers.

A low embankment, usually artificially constructed, that runs along the edges of a river or stream designed to protect inhabited river valleys against flooding. Ancient levees were found along large rivers in places such as Egypt and China and are considered among the earliest works of human engineering. During the 1950s, the United States Bureau of Reclamation and the United States Army Corps of Engineers built an extensive system of levees along the Rio Grande River in the Albuquerque Basin of New Mexico in order to monitor the river's flow, control irrigation, and prevent seasonal flooding

A canal or ditch dug near a water source, such as a river, to artificially control and direct water flow toward or away from nearby agricultural lands. These canals are used both to irrigate farmlands in dry times as well as to drain water in times of flood. In the Albuquerque basin, as in many other parts of New Mexico, a system of irrigation drains, called acequias in Spanish, parallels the Rio Grande River. Acequias have been used since the early days of habitation near the river, first by the native peoples of the area and later on by European settlers, to irrigate as well as protect their plantings.

An area that is prone to seasonal flooding. Flood plains vary in size and usually follow lower parts of valleys through which a primary water source flows. Because of seasonal flooding, flood plains are known for their highly fertile soil deposits as well as the danger to life and property associated with flooding. In the Southwest, for example, as riverine areas, like the Rio Grande, were permanently settled, usually by European settlers, the risks of flooding to human-made improvements to the landscape, like bridges, roads, and neighborhoods, were thought to outweigh the benefits of a freely-flowing river that occasionally traveled beyond its own banks. Therefore, engineered structures, such as levees, dams, catchments, and canals, were built to attempt to regulate the flow of rivers as well as to contain flooding. This benefited those who developed permanently static life ways along rivers, but it also served as a detriment to the vitality of the ecosystems, including those of the rivers themselves, that relied on annual flooding to recharge their systems with nutrients and moisture.

Fine sand or soil that is deposited as sediment after being carried by water, for example a river or a creek.

Cottonwoods are tall deciduous trees of the genus Populus that are native to North America and Western Asia. These trees can reach up to 148 feet in height and can be identified by their triangular to diamond shaped leaves and deeply fissured bark. Their common name, cottonwood, is due to their cottony seeds. In the Southwest these trees are commonly found in the wetter areas near rivers, for example in the bosque riparian area along the Rio Grande, which runs from southern Colorado through New Mexico until it becomes the natural border between the states of Texas in the U.S. and Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas in Mexico.

A small light installed inside a car, usually in the center of the vehicle's ceiling, which comes on automatically when the door is opened. In older car models, there was no way to turn this light off other than by closing the door or manually pressing the light's switch, which is located in the door frame. These days, most interior car lights have a switch right next to them that allows for better control over the mechanism.

A major U.S. highway that runs mostly north-south, following the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains and crossing Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. Part of the National Highway System that was authorized by the Federal Highway Act of 1956 under Dwight D. Eisenhower, Interstate 25 replaced several older roads and freeways. Its construction was intended to create a faster, easier connecting route between main cities in the three states including Cheyenne, Denver, and Albuquerque. In New Mexico, the route of the highway runs roughly along El Camino Real, the historic northbound road established by the Spanish in the 1600s, which in fact followed a long-existing trail used by the indigenous peoples of the area.