The word burro is derived from the Spanish word borrico meaning donkey.  Burro refers to a small donkey, often used as a pack animal.

Burros were first seen in the Arizona territory in 1679, when a Jesuit Priest, Padre Eusebion Kino, brought them to the Spanish Mission at San Xavier de Bac in southern Arizona.

The presence of burros as free-roaming animals in the hills and mountains of the lower Colorado River Valley came after the discovery of gold at Gila City in 1858. With the discovery of gold, prospectors poured into the area from California and Sonora, Mexico, and brought with them little sturdy pack burros.

In the barren, nearly water less hills, the burro adapted well and became indispensable to prospectors.

Burros were used as pack animals for the prospectors, worked in the mines hauling ore, and carried supplies, water, and even machinery into desolate mining camps.

The lone prospector and his trusty pack burro became a legendary symbol of the old west.

The mining boom in the lower Colorado River Valley lasted from 1858 to 1880, although some larger mining operations operated into the 1920s and 1930s. When the ore played out, the mines were shut down and the mining camps were abandoned and became ghost towns. The burro, either having wandered off, or turned loose, was left to fend for its self in the harsh arid environment. Having evolved in the deserts of North Africa, the burro flourished in the deserts of the Southwest.

As early as the 1920s, concerns began to mount about the number of wild burros roam regions of Arizona and control measures were begun in order to control their rapidly increasing numbers. These control programs included rounding the burros up and selling them as pets or pet food and sometimes even destroying the animals. Today, this practice is illegal and is no longer practiced.

After the passage of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act in 1971, BLM became the managing agency responsible for protecting the wild burros and their habitat. The first wild burro gather in Arizona occurred in 1977, and was conducted around Alamo Lake in west central Arizona. Since 1977, more than 12,000 wild burros have been captured and removed from the public rangelands in western Arizona. In order to maintain their population around 2,000 animals (a level that their desert habitat can support), BLM continues its population control program by rounding up excess burros and offering them to the public through the Adopt-A-Burro Program.

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