"Otay Mountain straddles the border between the United States and Mexico. It is just outside of San Diego/Tijuana and becomes the border itself at a point where it is considered too steep to cross and the fence ends. Migrants cross into the US on its shallower slopes and Border Patrol agents race up and down it on specially carved-out roads.

On the far side of the mountain is a small town that has grown out of a collection of ranches from pioneer times. The era and experience are preserved in the archival photographs of one of the ranch wives, Hazel Sheckler. It is also a designated Wilderness...