Tortolita Mountains is Spanish for "little turtle dove."
A short history and description of the Tortolita Mountains is given in the book Arizona’s Names. A portion reads: "This is the same locality which (Father Pedro) Font in 1775 called Llano del Azotado (llano=plain; azotado=a flogged man) because on the plain near these mountains a deserting muleteer was caught and flogged. In 1880 they were called Bloodsucker Mountains. The current name, as was noted in 1916, derives from the fact that there were multitudes of small doves here prior to 1916."
Source:
Granger, Byrd Howell. Arizona's Names: X Marks the Place. Tucson, Ariz.
Falconer Pub. Co.: distributed by Treasure Chest Publications, c1983. page 623.
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