194410 Desert Magazine 1944 October

8/14/2019 194410 Desert Magazine 1944 October

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GOLD RUSH JOURNAL MOSTVALUABLE WORK ON '49 DAYSWhen news of California's gold discov-ery reached theeast, Joseph GoldsboroughBruff wasworking as an artist anddrafts-man in the Bureau of Topographical En-'gineers in Washington, D. C. Bitten bythe gold bug, like thousands of others, hedecided to make the journey to Californiain the spring of 1849, and organized acompany of young men, of which he waselected captain. On the Lassen Cutoff hiscompany ran into disaster and abandoned

their captain, whospent the winter in astarvation camp. After an absence of twoyears Bruff reached home without havingmined anounce of gold.Hundreds of men who joined the goldrush kept journals, many of which havebeen published. Fewwere ever intendedfor publication and to a certain extent theyare all alike. Butwhen Bruff started Westhe did so with the intention of writing abook, andnever for a dayforgot that pur-pose, even when at the point of death.Being an artist he made hundreds ofsketches of scenes along the way to illus-trate his work. Guarding his manuscript

and sketches with his life he finallyreached hcme, but found his work too

POEMS OF NEWMEXICO . . .Roy A. Keech has translated intopoetry the rhythm and beauty of tradi-tional life in the Southv/est . . . its ritualsand arts, its legends and landscapes.Mood and spirit of Indian and Spanish-American cultures in distinctive style.Your friends will appreciate one of thosDgift volumes. Limited offer.

PAGANS PRAYING. Ceremonials, ritu-als and rhythm dominant in SouthwestIndian life. Understanding, beautiful in-terpretations of Indian art, dances,handcraft. Full page drawings by PTDChalee, Taos Indian artist ... $2.00POEMS OF NEWMEXICO. S c e n e s andsounds in New Mexico . . . luminarios,mesa lands, ruins, pottery makers.Bright and colorful glimpses into lives ofIndians and Spanish speaking people.Printed from handset Lydian $1.00CHILDREN SING IN NEW MEXICO.Twelve children's songs with piano mu-sic and words in Spanish and English.Delightful, authentic verses about theburro, the horny toad, tamale man, fi-esta dress, Indian drum, etc. Cleverpen sketches $1.00

DESERT CRAFTS SHOP636 State Street El Centre California

voluminous to interest publishers at thattime.Now, 95 years later, the journals anddrawings of J. G. Bruff at last have beenpublished by Columbia University Press,with his drawings and voluminous noicsby the editors, Georgia Willis Read andRuth Gaines. Nothing so interesting andcomprehensive previously has been pub-lished on this subject. It is doubtful if any-thing ever will be found to equal it. Hisdrawings alone areworth theprice ($15),while the editorial notes, which requiredan unbelievable amount of patient re-search, are as valuable as the text of thejournals. Altogether this is themost colos-sal work ever presented on the subject ofthe gold rush and will be found not onlya document of intense human interest, butan indispensable reference work on theexciting days of '49. Its editors and pub-lishers have made the most outstandingcontribution to the literature of thatperiod, in GOLD RUSH.CHARLES KELLY SOUTHWEST ADVENTURE ISIN SANTA FETRAIL BOOK

The Santa FeTrail leads to theheart ofthe Southwest. Its history embraces a storyof explorers, fortunes and romance fromthe time the earliest Spanish explorersswung up through Mexico or west fromFlorida until the advent of the railroad.Its travelers number into thousands,each with a mission, a hope, a dream of anew western world. To some thecall wasthe lure of gold, that destroyed far moremen than it made rich; to others it was adesire for high adventure or indepen-dence ; still others bore theHoly Crossandbecame martyrs in the cause of Christian-ity. But whatever their incentive, eachgroup had to face danger and privation,cruelty from nature and savages, beforethe goal of theWest was attained.Agnes Laut, author of other historicalworks, has missed none of the drama ofthe trail in herbook, PILGRIMS OFTH ESANTA FE. Theheroism and tragedy ofthis fascinating portion of American his-tory are traced in the stories of Narvaez,first Spanish explorer, the French marchfrom New Orleans, the American cara-vans, army patrols, Mormons, Kearney'sarmy in the Mexican war, the famous In-dian scouts, the Forty-niners, and the rail-road.

Grosset and Dunlap, NewYork, 1931.Photos, maps, index. $1.29. A.M.

SURVEY MADE OFNAVAJOAND PUEBLO SILVERWORKAtsidi Sani, the first Navajo to becomea silversmith, learned his craft from aMexican between 1850 and 1870, and theZufii smiths in turn were taught by theNavajo. These are the conclusions of JohnAdair, who haspresented a readable studyof the American Indian metalcrafts in hisbook THE NAVAJO AND PUEBLOSILVERSMITHS.Through the cooperation of Indiansnow living, the author has been able togive an authentic report not only of thehistory of Indian silver work, but of themethods and techniques of manufacturedown through the years. Primitive forgesand homemade tools still are being usedin many hogans andpueblos of theSouth-west today.The commercialism of Indian silverwork began in 1899when the Fred Har-vey company first began to buy bracelets

and rings and other items from the Na-vajo for resale to white travelers in theSouthwest. Previous to that time tribesmenmade silver only for their own use and foroccasional sale to soldiers stationed on thereservations.Through exhaustive examination of theprincipal museum collections of Navajoand Pueblo silver work, and through de-tailed observation of the tribal smiths atwork, the author hasacquired an intimateknowledge not only of the mechanics ofthe craft but of its place in Indian culturepast andpresent.A chapter on origin of design is of spe-cial interest to those whohave wonderedabout the symbolism of the figures usedfor the decoration of silver jewelry madeby Indians.Much revealing information is givenon the importance of metalcraft in the eco-nomic andsocial life of the Indians today,and the effects of the white man's com-mercialization of thenative arts. Thepres-ent practice on the part of wholesale buy-ers of paying for Indian silver work bythe ounce has resulted in lower standardsof quality. However, good Indian silver

and turquoise jewelry still may be ob-tained bybuyers who arewilling to pay theprice which invariably attaches to quality.This book will be an invaluable aid tothose whodesire to become better judgesof the quality of native craftsmanship.The author formerly was manager ofNavajo Arts andCrafts Guild, and is nowa sergeant in the United States Army AirForces.Published by University of OklahomaPress, 1944. Many halftone illustrations,map, chart. Appendix, bibliography and

index. 220 pages. $4.00.RANDALL HENDERSONT H E D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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D E S E R T

Since John Hilton wrote his story ofthe Holmes brothers and their lead min-in g at Castle Dom e, in early summer, dis-a. tcr has overtaken the camp. As is typi-c. I of the desert, it came in form of aviolent thunderstorm which flooded anddestroyed the workings where the highgrade galena was discovered. All machin-erj and equipment were lost, the menlurely escaping with their lives. After:,ni mo untin g dishe artenin g obstaclesi eorge, although ill from overwork andi -at, now has brought the mine back intoinduction. We're sure most gem cutters neverI nve dreamed what really was happen-ing when they were polishing a rock.After they have read Jerry Laudermilk'sn^xt story, to appear soon, those rocksnever again will look the same. Besidesdiagrams to explain the scientific basis ofdie story, he has made drawings of eerie,unbelievable scenes found on actualjpecimens of polished geodes. So far as is known the map drawn byMorton Allen based on sketch by authorM.irion Estergreen for this month'sI'avelog is the first ever made of theNew Mexico cave area. Besides being a\\ liter of feature articles Marion has hadi msiderable verse published and isknown as poet laureate of New Mexico.S he has a handsome young son, with thenavy somewhere in the Southwest Paci-lic, whose hobbies are mining and geol-l\gf.

Although the main lures for Johnhlackford's camera are Southwest land-icapes, such as appear this month in Des-i n Wonder lands , he is also interested inilesert wildlife. Readers saw his winningphotos of baby quail in the Septemberi isue. Soon Desert will publish more ofhis photos of birds and animals in theirilesert homes. In the neat clean pueblo of Isleta.ibout 12 miles south of Albuquerque,New Mexico, E. F. Hudson photo-| laphed the Indian outdoor ovens shown

(in this month's cover. He says "theyleally glow in the sun, perhaps becauseof the golden colored straw used in themu d for their construction." In the warmunlit days of autumn these ovens areunrounded by colorthe sky is intenseblue, great strings of brilliant pepperste scarlet against golden adobe walls.

CREED OF THE DESERTBy J U N E L E M E R T P A X T O NYucca Valley, California

I'he sun beats down on an ancient lake,Blue and green in the glare;'iut thewater andtrees cannever appease,Fo r 'tis a mirage shimmering there.

Volume 7 OCTOBER. 1944 Number 12

COVER

BOOKSCLOSE-UPS

POETRYMININGBOTANY

TRAVELOG

DESERT QUIZART OF LIVINGPICTORIAL

MININGNEWSHOBBY

CRAFTSLETTERSCOMMENTTRIBUTEINDEX

INDIAN OVENS, Isleta Pueblo, New Mexico. Photo-graph by E. F. Hudson, Bakersfield, California.

Gold Rush, and other Southwest reviews . . . 2Notes on Desert features and their writers . . . 3Land That God Forgot, and other poems . . . . 4Nuggets to Bullets at Castle Dome 5Golden Rabbitbrush is Indian Chewing-gum

ByMARYBEAL 10Cave Where Brujas Dwell

By MARION ESTERGREEN 11A test of your deser t kno wle dge . .Deser t Refuge, by MARSHAL SOUTHDesert Wonderlands

By JOHN LINDSEY BLACKFORD

. 14. 15

. 17Current news briefs 22Here an d There on the Desert 23Gems and Minerals

Edited by ARTHUR L. EATON 27Amate ur Gem Cutter, by LELANDE QUICK . . 30Comment from Desert re ader s 31Saha ra Diary, by RANDALL HENDERSON . . . 32To Rand, by RANDALL HENDERSON . . . . 35Index to Volume Seven, Desert Magazine . . . 36

The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Publishing Company, 636State Street, El Centro, California. Entered as second class matter October 11, 1937, atthe post office at El Centro, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title registeredNo. 358865 in U. S. Patent Office, and contents copyrighted 1944 by the Desert PublishingCompany. Permission to reproduce contents must be secured from the editor in writing.RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor. LUCILE HARR IS, Associate Editor.BESS STACY, Business Manager. EVONNE HENDERSON, Circulation Manager.Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledgedunless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility for damageor loss of manuscripts or photographs although duecare will be exercised. Subscribers shouldsend notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding issue. If address is un-certain by that date, notify circulation department to hold copies.SUBSCRIPTION RATESOne year . . . . $2.50Canadian subscriptions 25c extra, foreign 50c extra.

Subscriptions to Army personnel outside U.S.A. must be mailed in conformity withP.O.D. Order No. 19687.AddrM* correspondence to Desert Magazine, 636 State St., El Centro, California.

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WALK SLOWLYB y C O N S T A N C E W A L K E RLos Angeles, California

Walk slowly when you reach the desert's rimIn friendly greeting to the noble bandOf Joshuas on the iridescent strand,For sudden brilliance may seem strangely grim.A million stars have let their splinters limnThe unity of earth and skyin sand;And one may touch a warm and kindly handAs golden trumpets clearly herald Him.Be stillbe stillno longer rushed and tenseAnd let the gleaming hush at last relateThe triumph of a spirit filled with peace!For evil has no power or eloquenceTo conquer poise the silence can translateWhere those who trusted God have foundsurcease.

DESERT LANDB y H E L E N L. V O G E LSan Diego, California

And all about the everlasting hillsRise, to fold in with protecting armsThe undulating sands, the washes, fills,The ranches nesting deep within the palms.All moon-washed like a meteor's afterglow,Is the aura on the desert's brow,To rim each silent shape or thing belowWith light suffused that Night can but endow.That space of quiet animates, at length,Night, so peace becomes a living force,And flows through earth and man in hiddenstrength,An inflow deeper than the ocean's course.And when at dawn, the everlasting hillsCast aside their purple robes for rose,The Day unlocks her treasure chest and spillsHer gems, and every hour wears regal clothes.

TAKE ME BACK TO THEPANAMINTSB y M A R C U S Z . L Y TLESan Diego, California

Take me back to the PanamintsWhere the world is desert and sky!Lay me under a pifion bough,Leave me alone, to die!Take me back to the sagebrush plainThat shawls old Telescope Peak,Where the silence is vast as the spread of spaceWith only the wind to speak!Leave me here in the umbered rockThat sentinels Emigrant Pass,Where the Panamint daisies tongue the snowHigh over a salt morass!Take me back to the PanamintsEre I lose the dimming trail!Turn my eyes to the rising moon,My ears to the desert gale! SAND DUNES AND SAGE

B y L E L A M . W I L L H I T EFresno, CaliforniaI would never ask for more than this:or care how fleetly time goes byThe low-crooning winds that deserts kissand pale mauve tones of the western sky.No one heart could forever holdall of this beauty for its ownWhile gaunt mountains loom in serrate mouldas giant breakers that the ocean's thrown,And wind tossed dunes all alined

in deep shadowed tawny curvesWhere its vast floors of sagebrush windbeyond the sand dunes' swerves.

landBy Q. D. SPIVENSBanning, California

Land of the starlit diadem,Low hanging gems afire,Lighting the path of hopeLeading to heart's desire.Land of down drifting moonglow

Lighting the darkest nook,Changing by limn of silverThe land that God forsook.Land of Cibola's legend,Hoarder of Golden Fleece,Land of the gift of silence,Place of eternal peace.Land of healing sunshine,Giver of health and ruth,Haven for humble and lowly,Abode of simple truth.Land of surcease of sorrow,Healer of blighted pride,Land for the sorely stricken,Refuge whatever betide.Land for a new beginning,

Freedom in humble cot,Home for the disenchantedThe desert"that God forgot." WILLING BONDAGE

B y M A R I O N ESTER G R EENAlbuquerque, New MexicoThe desert is my only home,Vast ocean waves of sandStretch endlessly; where lone winds roamThe stately yuccas stand.The desert weaves its magic spellAround the turbulent heart,111 thou ghts die and all is we ll.I feel new rapture start.Where gusts of cleansing desert airPurify the multitudeIt holds my heart a captive hereOf peaceful solitude! TO THE SALTON SEA

B y ED WI N STEETWhittier, CaliforniaSoft and blue the twilight glows,Yuccas sway in the winds of night,The sun rays dance where the grey trail showsWhile little waves break in silvery laceOn lonely shore, by silent wasteA sombre vigil keeping.Beyond are mountains white and cold,The plan of the ages their secrets hold,The slopes in purple shadows lieWhile above are peaks both bold and high.The peace of the stars drifts down from aboveSoft and tender as the Salton SeaWhispering a note of mystery.Oh, wide spread shimmering seaWith shore line dim and low,Thou art a Mecca in a sandy stretchWhere beauteous verbenas growDraped in wondrous tintingsAt dawn and set of sun,With a spectral moon hanging low in the skyTo light it when day is done. DESERT DICTATOR

B y I R EN E B R U C EReno, NevadaOnly the sun is a dictator here:With wind he orders releaseFrom bartering creed and trespassing fear,And the sands in return build peace.

DESERT NIGHTB y C H ESN EY W. CARVERSan Marino, California

Come, walk with me on a desert road at night.The sage is sweet, slight mystic noises speak.And when it 's dark, the Milky Way unfoldsA lighted path across the sparkling sky.Some far off sound may reach the listening earThe pulsing rhythm of a distant heavy train,Or the weird polyphony of a single leancoyoteBut over all, a soothing stillness reigns.In deep content, unharried by the throngsThat jostle thru the market place and crowdThe thoroughfares of eager, restless men,Let's humbly walk and breathe the fragrantair.

CACTUS BLOOMB y G EO R G E SC O TT G LEA SO NFlagstaff, Arizona

He who has not beheld its scarletAdorning the sand-swept floor,Nor felt the sting, sharp, oh sharp of thornKnows but naught of desert lore.Scarlet! Oh beautiful scarlet!He who has not seen its glow,Much that the desert holds has not been his,He has missed too much of beauty, I know.

DESERT NIGHTB y M A B E L W I L T O NLos Angeles, California

Night, a wild black desert steed,Descends from lofty heightsTo gallop madly o'er the desert landUntil the first pink fingersOf a desert dawnReach out to touch himThen he is gone. PROVIDENCE

B y FR A N C ES H O PK I N SNewark, New JerseyMen have cursedThe secretive desertIn their thirst.Had they but known,Their succor stoodIn cacti, barrier-grown.

DON'T TEE AD ON ME!By MRS . J . C . DAV ISSan Bernardino, California

Coiled into a living springFor the lightning stroke he makes,Swifter than a lightning flash,Roused and heady, he awakes!How the sound reverberantOf his whirring castanetsPales the cheek and sends the heartBeating to the time he sets!All the air is redolent,Odorous, as of muscat bloomOr of faded mignonetteIn a closely shuttered room.Slowly, now his coils relax.Slowly, but without a pause;Hasting not and resting notThus His Majesty withdraws!Orderly his slow retreatTo the long rolls sonorous sound;Muffled now, his war drum's beat,Ceaseless, comes from underground.Sound to bate the bravest breath;Sound that might the dead awake;Music for the Dance of Death!Tocsin of the Rattlesnake!

THE DESERT MAGAZINE


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George and Kenneth Holmes are gold minersbut now they're mining lead. A few years ago they wouldhave laughed if you had mentioned lead to thembut that was before Pearl Harbor. Today, at the long-deserted mining camp in the Castle Domes of western Arizona, they have accomplished a conversion from themining of gold nuggets to lead for bullets. The jangling sounds issuing from the shafts, the groaning of truckshauling the ore to the mill on the Gila, are like spectral sounds, for since the days following World War I, CastleDone had been a ghost mining camp . . . not quite a ghost camp. For Eliza de Luce stayed on through the years,her faith in its comeback never wavering. She became known as Queen of the Castle Dome, mistress of a realmof silent wilderness gilded by glorious sunrises, colored by cactus flowers and scented with sage. Now her con-viction has been justified, as she sees the Holmes brothers bring war-vital lead from the depths of her holdings.

to SulUti at ome~~f~ EN YEARS ago, if you had sug-/ gested to George and KennethHolmes that someday they wouldbe le.itl miners, they would have laughedand passed it off as one of those thingsthat just couldn't happen.

The Holmes brothers are gold miners.Until lecently, they always had been gold

By JOHN W. HILTONPhotographs by Harlow Wellesley Jonesminers. Most folks will remember theirrich strike at the Silver Queen mine (latercalled the Golden Queen) near Mojave,California, in 1933. It was one of themostimportant gold discoveries in UnitedStates in the present century. They soldout five months after the strike for $3,-170,000.

I remember talking with GeorgeHolmes soon after the famous bonanzahad been uncovered. He told me they wereselling out and I asked himwhat he woulddo with all the money."Oh, we're going to keep on prospect-ing," he said. "There's nothing like it inthe world. It's "clean money' when itcomes fresh from the ground, and thereare more mines yet to be found in theWest than have been uncovered up tonow." He smiled with that far away lookthat comes when he talks about prospect-ing. Mining is a grand game, he said, andthe only thing to mine is gold and silver.Following the sale of the Silver Queenin 1934, little was heard of the Holmesfamily for several years. In its first issuein November, 1937,Desert Magazine toldabout the customs mill Kenneth Holmeshad installed on the banks of the Coloradoriver near Yuma, A rizona. At that time theHolmes were prospecting and developingsome claims in the nearby Cargo Mucha-cho mountains, notably the Padre y Madremine which hadbeen discovered by Mexi-can prospectors many years before. Themill was a success but the mines hardlywere paying their own way. Then onemorning after a heavy cloudburst Kennethwas walking along the base of a hill nearone of their diggings and saw a ledge theflash flood had uncovered. It was a richfind and from then on the mill hummedwith high grade ore. Kenneth still smileswith satisfaction when he tells about thefirst $20,000 brick of gold from the Padrey Madre.

Mrs. DeLuce has twoclaims to fame.For many years she has been the"guardian goddess" and movingspirit of Castle Dom e. When othersleft the mining camp she stayed on,her faith in its comeback unshaken.Her other claim to the spotlight is theachievement of her favorite grand-son. Her treasured photo of himshows a small boytrying to stand onhis head. That small boy is today'soutstanding war correspondentDaniel DeLuce.

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"It was the prettiest gold I ever saw,"he said, "and we kept pouring others likeit until the war started."Recently I spent a day with GeorgeHolmes. "Pearl Harbor changed a lot ofthings," he said. "Gold didn't seem soimportant after that. The metals neededfor war were copper, zinc, tin, aluminum,lead, and others. We immediately madeplans to transfer our operations to one ofthe strategic minerals."And that is why the Holmes brotherswent to Castle Dome, Arizona, and re-opened the old lead mine there.The first time my wife Eunice and Ivisited Castle Dome it was a ghost camp.Everywhere was evidence of intensive op-eration at some previous date. Old minesand dumps from the early Mexican dig-gings in this area dotted the hills. Butsince the period of World War I there hadbeen little activity except the assessmentwork done by a few hopeful claim ownerswho still had faith in the revival of the oldfield. The old Mexican miners' shacks,

made of ocotillo stalks plastered with mudgradually were crumbling away, and theunpainted lean-tos of a previous genera-tion of miners were empty. Their windowswere gone and their sagging doors wereopen to the desert wind.Mr. Hack lived on one side of thewash in the largest house in camp andmade pets of the desert quail. On the otherside lived Eliza de Luce, "Queen of CastleDome." Old prospectors had mentionedher by that title long before my initial visitto Castle Dome when I learned her name.Mrs. de Luce has lived at Castle Domemany years, under conditions that mostpeople would regard as hardships. Butshe would not have traded her colorful do-main in the Castle Domes for the finesthome in the grandest city in the world.After all, she owned the sunrise that eachmorning gilded the great dome of themountains overlooking her camp, theglorious flowers that crowned the giantsaguaro each season, the desert birdswhich nest in large numbers in the shel-Art Warn er, brother-in-law of the H olmes brothers and m ine foreman , inspects awheelbarrow of high grade. This ore is nearly pure galena and carbonatesand it would be a. waste of time to m ill it.

tered coves and ravines of the serratedCastle Domes, the silhouette of needle-likePicacho peak against the sunset of thewestern skies. She never tired of telling usof the glories of her realmand we agreedwith her."And then," she said, "there is mymine. The camp will boom again someday,and I have the finest holdings in the dis-trict."This first visit with Mrs. de Luce wasyears before World War II, and I tried notto show my skepticism when she begantelling me about the wealth that remainedto be discovered in the old mine tunnelsbeneath the surface. I had heard this sortof thing in every ghost town I ever hadvisited where one or more of the old timersremained. It will be her turn to smile whenshe reads this, for it was Mrs. de Luce'smine which the Holmes group leased.Lead is being hauled out in millions ofpounds from five shafts on her old prop-erty. The longer I live on the desert theless I am inclined to discount the state-ments and the hopes of the old-timers.On my most recent trip to Castle DomeI accompanied Colonel Senay and MajorChurch of the U. S. Army on their finaltrip of inspection to the army campsiteswhich had been abandoned in the Yumacounty area. I induced them to stop atCastle Dome, just for a fleeting glimpseof the old mining camp. On the well-graded Yuma-Quartzsite road we passedtrucks hauling lead ore to the mill on theGila river, and other trucks hauling waterto the camp at Castle Dom e.The Holmes brothers were inclined toapologize for their housing and camp fa-cilities. But they have made their mencomfortable despite the obstacles of ra-tioning, priorities, transportation and redtape. For lunch in the cook shack we hadmeat and beans and salad, all well pre-pared, and hot tortillas served by the smil-ing senoritas who run this part of the es-tablishment. I could get along very well onsuch fare. George Holmes pointed out thatthey could not build for permanency be-cause the government might decide at any-time that the lead supply is adequate, andmake it necessary to close down.In the meantime the Castle Dome minesare making an important contribution tothe national stock pile of lead. Last yearthey produced 3,000,000 pounds of theheavy metal, and this year the output hasincreased. Castle Dome is the fifth largestproducer of lead in the state of Arizonaand who knows when it may move aheadto a higher place, for the "Holmes luck"seems to be holding out.The Holmes brothers discuss their op-erations with extreme modesty, but listen-ing to their story I had a feeling that luckis a very minor element in their success.At a depth of 140 feet they decided to go

prospecting underground by running across-cut tunnel. Instead of making thisT H E D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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cross i ut in the direction of existing veinsthey \ cntured out in unproved ground .I do not know whether it was a soundtheory or a good hunch, but after a bore of200 feet it led them to a virgin five-footvein of high grade ore. Incidentally, thisdiscovery will make the difference be-tween mining bullets at a loss and at aprofi I They knew when they started that

their c hances of making money in thelead mining business were very slim. Theyonly hoped to get the job done and lose aslittle as possible. Many such mines arefinarn id with government money. Whenthe war ends suddenly the government,not the miners, will take the loss. But inthis project the Holmes were spendingtheir own money and taking their ownchani s. They have never sold stock tofinan<


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men were breaking down ore. Frankly, itwas a little disappointing. There were noglittering cubes of galenajust grey-brown rock. However, we were assuredthat it was pay ore. This rock was beingloaded by the muckers into a bucket simi-lar to the one that brought us down theshaft, then pulled along some tracks to theshaft and hoisted to the surface where itwas loaded in ore trucks for the mill.Then we entered a cross-cut tunnel thatcomes in at right angles. Originally thishad been an exploratory tunnel, and therock ceiling was so low I was continuallybumping my iron hat on its projections.Two hundred feet does not seem very faron the surface, especially on the desert, butin an underground tunnel chiseled out ofsolid rock it is quite a walk. At the endof the walk we emerged in a chamberwhere the new vein had been tapped. Herethe picture that met our gaze was worthmany times the inconvenience of such atrip. We were in a natural jewelry storethat glittered in the light of our carbidelamps like something in a fairy tale. Shortdrifts had been started both ways along thecourse of the vein. It was a mineral collec-tor's paradise and a miner's dream cometrue.Masses of finely crystallized carbonatesof lead (cerrusite and anglesite) formed asnowy background for nodules of silverymetallic galena (lead sulphide) which re-flected our lights like dazzling jewels,with here and there crystal masses offluorite and bright green silver stains tofinish off the color display.Kenneth Holmes demonstrated for usa gadget which is a sort of pneumatic rockAt the mill, ore is ground fine andseparated by a series of "jig" tables.Here George Holmes inspects con-centrates at the end of the last table.

drill used to break the ore loose overhead,dropping it on the floor ready to bemucked out. With such a tool one goodminer can stope out a tremendous tonnage

Another truckload of ore goes intothe mill on the Gila river.of this type of ore in a day. As the minersstrip the ore from the walls of country-rock on each side of the chamber, plat-forms are built to enable them to workhigher and eventually to a point as nearthe surface as is safe. This system of min-ing rock from the bottom up is very effi-cient as gravity does part of the work.Those of us who spend much of ourtime on the desert become so accustomedto blinding light that it seldom is a subjectof conversation or concern, but after anhour or more in the depths of a mine withnothing but carbide lamps, the desert sun-shine strikes one with an impact so daz-.zling as to be almost painful. When oureyes became adjusted, Arthur Warner,mine foreman, showed us his pile of highgrade. Here, specimens of ore too rich togo through the mill were piled for sep-arate shipment. Arthur is a brother-in-lawof George and Kenneth and shares theirpride in the new strike. I am ashamed toadmit that when our hosts insisted, wetook still more specimens from this glitter-ing pile of rock, which in the sunlight

T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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seemeil even more dazzling than the crys-tals wi had seen below the surface.At another shaft we watched ore beingloaded on trucks by a small skip loader,used to reduce manpower . This equipmentis utih/ .ed whenever practicable. As wewere standing there I saw in a pile of orewhat appeared to be a piece of rusted steelwith crystals of galena and fluorite at-

tached to one side. I showed i t to George.He explained that i t was an old miningwedgi used in the mines at Castle Dom ein the Jays before dynamite was available.Holrri s ' men have been cleaning out someof the old shafts, obtaining ore once dis-cardeil because it was too low grade to berecovered by the crude methods then inuse. In this old rubble several relics of theearly mining days have been recovered. Inaddit ion to the old wedges they havefound .indent cowhide buckets, old jugsan d bottles with the makers ' names anddates Mown in, and enough tools to set upquite ,i muse um of antiquated minin gequipment. One of the i tems is a news-pape: dated October 27, 1873.

As the ore is taken out it is hauled to amill located on the Gila river to the south.T h i s mill handles 100 tons of rock daily,and h enne th is as pro ud of his high per-centage of recovery, as is George of theway he keeps the ore roll ing out of themine shafts.Those sacks of drab colored concen-trate:, how ever, do not fully take the placeof t li gl i t tering gold bricks which theHolmes brothers are accustomed to ex-tracting from the ore they mine. These

men have gold in their blood, and whenthe at clouds break away they will beback >vith their first lovemining pre-i o rCIOUS, metal.

* , ; ; S " '

In this part of the shaft, ore is being "pulled'' from a chute which leads to a slopeabove. When the bucket is filled, it is wheeled out to the main shaft where it isdrawn to the surface.

These are some of the crewmen of the Arizona Lead company at Castle Dome.O C T O B E R , 1 9 4 4


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UfoldenDndian

By MARY BEALf I F YOU have seen Goldenrod's tossing yellow plumes__ flood the autumn weeks with lavish color, Goldenrodand autumn always are linked together in your thoughts.On the desert there are cousins of Goldenrod that play a likepart, often much more spectacular because of their amazingabundance. These are the Rabbitbrushes, sometimes calledGolden Bush, which is the literal meaning of its scientific name,Chrysothamnus, but Rabbitbrush has been recognized for manyyears as the common name both by botanists and non-botanists.Vast expanses of arid gravelly plains and mesas of the Mojavedesert and the Great Basin area of Nevada and Utah are dom-inated by the bright gold of Rabbitbrush in countless numbers.One of the Sunflower family's most prominent western mem-bers, these low rounded shrubs frequently form dense stands tothe exclusion of nearly everything else. Most of the species aremany-branched shrubs of the open plains and foothills, someof them favoring alkaline soils, varying from 2 to 5 feet inheight and as broad or broader, growing from a deep taproot,usually several loose-barked trunks from a single base.They are more or less strongly odorous, the stems clothedwith a closely-packed felty covering of wooly hairs often iniil-trated with a resinous substance. The leaves are narrow, andthe heads of small, tubular, rayless flowers are assembled inshowy clusters at the ends of the branches, completely coveringthe bush with a brilliant mantle of gold throughout autumn,proving a magnet for bees and other insects.Indians made a yellow dye from the boiled flowers and usedthe straight stems for arrows, wickerwork, and windbreaks

about their garden patches. A decoction made from the twigsof one species was used as a remedy for coughs and chest pains.The Pahute Indians of Utah, Nevada and adjacent Californiaevolved a chewing gum from the masticated wood and innerbark by chewing it slowly to a pulp and spitting out the refusefibers until only a little mass of pure rubber was left. Somegroups also formed balls with these wads of gum for youthfulgames.This special Indian chewing gum brought attention to thepresence of rubber in Rabbitbrush and led to investigation byUniversity of California scientists. We are told the first samplesof this rubber for scientific study were chewed out of Rabbit-brush by Indians of Benton, California, in 1918. Twenty-fivepounds of it were produced by human jaws! Chrysil is the nameadopted for this particular rubber. It is not a latex, which comesfrom a milky sap, but it is high grade and vulcanizes readily,ranking next to rubber from Brazil and the Malay Peninsula.To extract chrysil the brush must be cut and crushed and thenground fine enough to separate the rubber particles from themass of fibers by flotation. Since the commonest species hap-pens to be the one with a feasible rubber content, the nameRubber Rabbitbrush has been suggested as appropriate for ourfeatured species, Chrysothamnus nauseosusThis very complex species has been subdivided into 22 recog-nized varieties which can be separated into the grey forms andthe green forms, according to the color of matted wooly hairsfelting the herbage. All forms have a stout, woody, shreddy-barked base and numerous branches which produce annuallya multitude of slender, erect, flexile twigs, each ending in arounding cyme of small golden flowers, splendidly in evidencefrom August to November. Of the grey-felted varieties,

Despite the name that botanists gave it, Ru bber Rabbit-brush has a pleasing aromatic fragrance, suggestiveof tropical fruits.gnaphalodes is the common one on gravelly or sandy mesas,benches, and slopes of the Mojave desert, adjacent Inyo andMono counties, western Nevada and northern Arizona. Thevery many slender young twigs are tough and pliable, withscanty foliage, the very narrow leaves an inch or less long andoften recurved, falling early. The herbage has a pleasing aro-matic fragrance, suggestive of tropical fruits. The grey formsare more apt to be scattered about than the green ones but thisvariety often forms belts of considerable extent, perhaps thelargest area being one in the western Mojave desert 30 mileslong by 2 m iles wide.The variety speciosus, densely leafy to the summit of the greyor greenish-white twigs, is especially handsome because of theamazing abundance of golden-yellow flowers, the corollaslonger and the round-topped cyme rather loose. The widely-linear stiff leaves are up to 2V2 inches long. T he pale grey coat-ing of matted wool is partly deciduous, the leaves then becom-ing greenish. You'll find it in eastern California, western Ne-vada and Arizona but not in great abundance.Variety consimilis is the green form common on alkalineflats of the Great Basin, extending from Utah and Nevada toCalifornia and well down into Arizona and New Mexico. Theslender erect twigs are very leafy, the thread-like leaves an inchor two long and somewhat resinous, the compact felty coveringof the stems yellowish-green. The congested flower clusters arepyramidal or cylindric, blooming from July to November.A robust green variety is viridulus, the rather stout, rigidstems densely felted with yellowish-green, and leafy to the top,the narrow leaves green but slightly hairy on both sides, theherbage having a heavy disagreeable odor. The involucres arehairless but sticky with a resinous exudation. The pyramidal orglobose cyme is densely crowded, the corollas with noticeablylong, narrow, spreading lobes. It grows in western Nevada andthe Mono and Inyo county deserts of California.Another very leafy robust variety is graveolens, the straighterect twigs yellowish-green to nearly white, their matted feltcompact and smooth, the leaves broadly linear, the flower headscrowded into flat-topped or rounding cymes. It is found in theDeath Valley region and wide adjoining areas, from Nevadaand Utah to New Mexico, often appearing in dense extensivestands.

Variety mohavensis inhabits well-drained soil not obviouslyalkaline, from the west side of Owens Valley, through westernMojave desert to the desert slopes of the San Bernardino moun-tains. Its green-felted, wand-like branches often nearly leaflessand rush-like, the few leaves thread-like, the flower clusterscongested, rounded or somewhat elongated. Quite common inJoshua Tree national monument.

10 T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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civ from inside L ower Cave, sometimes called Ceremo nial C ave from Taos Indian legend of ancient human sacrifices offeredbefore the entrance. U. S. Forest Service photo, courtesy Paul Albright.

When Marion Estergreen asked Taosenos about going to some caves which she had heard were about twelvemil< north of town, most of the answers were indefinite, some evasive, others warning. Brujas, they said, hauntedthe lower cave. By day they assumed the shape of rabbits, but at nightfall the spirits roamed the cave area, and noseii.ible person would go near. Besides, there were dark legends of human sacrifices on the great boulder beforethe ranite entrance. As to the upper cave, they were even more dubious. As one old-timer put it, "There jest ain'tnon , and don't let nobody kid ya." But not being among the "sensible ones," Marion went anywayto the hauntedand to the cave that didn't exist!cavB y M A R I O N E S T E R G R E E N

caves.

O W FAR are these caves and falls from Taos?" Iasked Bert Phillips, one of Taos' foremost artists. Hewas the only person I could find who had visited the"They arelocated about 12miles from Taos by way of ArroyoSeco village," he replied. "I visited the lower cave last year . . .took two Pueblo Indian models with me. Had a hard time get-t ing them to accompany me. You know the Taos Pueblo Indiansbelieve the lower cave is haunted by brujasspirits or witchesthat take the form of rabbits by day, and roam that area unre-Senor Martinez the adobe maker, and companions, inwagon which took the Estergreen party to the cave area.View near Arroyo Seco village in Sangre de Cristo moun-

tains. Photo by L. Pascual Martinez, Carson nationalforest ranger.O - T O B E R , 19 4 4. 11


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stricted by night. The Indians say the upper cave isnot haunted.I have never been there."The artist caught my expression of interest. "This canyon,"he continued, "where the caves, cliffs and waterfalls are locatedis about two miles from the little village of Arroyo Seco at thefoot of the Arroyo Seco range ofmountains between Rio Hondocanyon and Arroyo Seco canyon. The cave canyon has nooffi-cial name. Nor have the caves."The next day Mary Lattimer, another artist friend, BrownieMoore and I drove by car to Arroyo Seco village. The re we hiredan oldadobe maker, Nieves Martinez, and hisyoung son todrive us to the caves intheir wagon. The trail was fartoo roughto attempt by car."Is there really an upper cave?" I asked Senor Martinez,who answered inbroken E nglish, "Yes, my son say he have beenthere many time."Few people inTaos ever had heard of these caves, and fewerhad visited them. One old-timer had said, "Yep, I have hearedtell of a haunted cave in them mountains. I ain't never beenthere. And as ferthat there upper cave this here artist been tell-ing you about, well, there jest ain't none, and don't letnobodykid ya on that score, lady." With that the old villager had let goa stream of tobacco juice between his grey-white beard without

moving amuscle from his position against the lamp post.The breeze was freighted with the punge nt perfume of juni-per and pinon which, as we rode higher, mingled w ith the goodearthy smell ofhorses as they sweated and tugged tocarry theirload upthe hilly incline.After two miles of this, which took us three quarters of anhour, thetrail ended in a natural parking spot between twomountains with the deep unnamed canyon on our left. We were

Shimm ering green-white aspens grow thick in the Sangrede Cristos among the Ponderosa pines an d Dou glas firs.Photo by the author.at the base of the Arroyo Seco range, part of the beautiful Sangrede Cristo mountains.With theMartinez boy and his father as our guides, wescrambled over the hill, following the brink of the gorge about300 feet. Then began the descent through the mass of oak un-derbrush into the canyon of the caves.We already could see the tall, grey lava-like cliffs toweringabove the tangle of Ponderosa pine andDouglas fir trees. Athin ribbon of water fell over the trough-like cliffs into a poolat the entrance below the large, yawning cave. On closer exam-ination the cliffs which housed the cave were not lava rock, butgrey granite, cut and carved by the elements formany centuries.A huge lone boulder stood by the entrance of the deserted look-ing cave. So this wasSacrificial Rock of which the Indianlegends whisper tales ofhuman sacrifices!Legends, Indian born, sprang tomind. Inancient days, so thestories go, during pagan ceremonies ofwarring tribes who cameto steal and plunder from thepeaceable Taos Pueblos, humansacrifices were made on this boulder. In this high walled can-yon a group of Taos Indians tried tohide from their evil pur-suers only to be found and put todeath. The brujas that roamthis area are thought tobe evil witches and must beavoided byall sensible Indians.At that moment, although it was nearly 10:30 in the morn-ing, the sun came upmaking a dramatic appearance, gleamingdown from the crevical rock cliffs like a halo above a shrine. Itshone onthe group of green-white aspens shimmering amongthe firand pine. An occasional pine, tall and stately, rose aboveshrubs ofdwarf juniper and birch."Let's send the boy back forour lunch and pillows while weexplore the cave," suggested Mary.We entered the amphitheater-like cavern. The insistent humof hurrying water droned inour ears. One interesting feature ofthe cave was aside cavern atone end which goes back about tenfeet.The main cave is 50feet deep, 100 feet wide and about 70feet high. Solid rock forms thewalls and ceiling, but not thefloor, which is of soft dirt. The cave was devoid of insect orvegetable life.

Mary had gone on to the side cavern while I stood and lis-tened tothe m etallic click of the falls echo back and forth inthedark hollow cave.Marion Estergreen back from the falls trip and ready towrite her story. Photo by Leo Zilavy.

THE DESERT MAGAZINE


13/39

'"Will you look atthis!" Mary was pointing atsomething. Iexpected tofeel abruja swish past me. Then I laughed! Whenmy eji sbecame accustomed tothe darkness Isaw aladder madeof small pine tree trunks. Ithad been placed tothe roof of therock i ivern. Closer examination revealed ahole in thegraniterock 11 iling large enou gh topermit the passage of avery smallperson.W e asked the Martinez boy, who had just returned w iththelunch and pillows, toc l imb tothe cave room above. Hecalleddown ihrough theopening that there was anenclosed, darkcavern muygrande (very large) with only the oneopening.Th at lescription would have tosuffice, for besides being toolarge 11 > get through the opening, Iwas very eager totry to findth e u|per cave before lunch.Mary wished tosketch thepeculiar granite formation of thecliffs, md Brownie didn't l ike tohike. They stayed atthe lowercave while Senor Martinez, his boy and I started onour three-fourtlr. mile ascent tothe upper cave. Itwas about 11 o'clock onthat fine August morning. As the Martinez boy had been toth euppei cave, hewas ourguide . I marveled athisagility as hescrarnMed over therocks like ayoung mountain goat. Hean dhi s f.it tier would break thetrail for metofollow through thetangli of firtrees and underbrush by the creek. Iwould have tocrawl onmy hands and knees inmany places.T)i slopes ofthemounta ins where wedetoured from thecreel, bed were sosteep inplaces wehad topull ourselves bygrasping protruding shrubs ofjuniper and oak, using,rocks forfootholds. Bluebells looking like blue stars inthe rock crevices,grew more turquoise as weclimbed higher. Tiny wild straw-berries, far sweeter than any I ever hadeaten, grew ingrassypatches by the creek beds.

R< mote cave and tvaterfall located inanunnamed canyonnorth ofTaos, NewMexico. Unknown photographer mis-tct enly labeled itLucero Falls, but hey are not inLuceroCanyon. U. S.Forest Service photo, Albright album.

V TOQUESTS

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This spot held none of the eerie loneliness of the lower cave.The stillness was broken only by the soft sound of fallingwater as the slender lacy waterfall spun a silver thread acrossthe deep, dark cave and fell into the flower-edged pool below.Senor Martinez, his son and I rested on the grassy creek bankand looked down the steep canyon. It is a wild, untouched wil-derness with vegetation so heavy and thick it is impossible totravel even by horseback. The rough canyon is adorned with red-stemmed dogwood, wild mock orange, snowberry shrubs, chokecherry bushes, fine-leaved birch, and the less decorative aldershrubs.Taos Indians visit these upper falls on foot and use the wa-ter for medicinal purposes. They call it Medicine Water, asthey call all good water.Looking up we saw the summit of the steep water-polishedgranite cliffs. Here and there green shrubs flecked the rock'ssurface.This upper cave, resting high in the walled cliffs, is deeperthan the lower cave. The Martinez boy took matcheswe hadforgotten to bring a flashlightand although he went far back,he couldn't find the end of the cave.On the return trip I slid (with disastrous results to mybreeches) down the mountain where we had so laboriouslypulled ourselves up by shrubs. It took about half the time. Wefollowed the stream too far down, coming to a deep precipicewhere the stream tumbled over with a bound. Far below on thegleaming boulder we saw a tiny figure basking in the sun."Hello there!" I yelled, and Mary answered, "Hello, your-self. Come on down. We're hungry.""And so are we ," I called back.W hile Senor Martinez prepared to make coffee the boy gath-ered wood for a fire. Brownie and Mary spread the cloth andset forth our lunch of cold beef and ham sandwiches, fruit,cookies and a large bowl of potato salad.The tantalizing aroma of mountain-cooked coffee occupiedour minds for a time. Then I decided to learn what I could ofthe Spanish-American's superstition of the cave.The senor smiled indulgently as he answered my questionwith, "My people have no belief about this cave. We call itCascada, which means waterfall." He called my attention tothe fact that the haunted cave and waterfalls weren't in ArroyoSeco or Lucero canyon, and asked me what the name is with mypeople for this canyon."I understand this canyon has no official name," I answered."It is between Arroyo Seco canyon and Rio Hondo canyon, butcertainly not in Lucero canyon as some wandering photographererroneously labeled the pictures taken for Paul Albright's al-bum."Darkness comes early to this deep canyon, walled in by highcliffs. All too soon the sun was setting behind the mountains.Brownie packed the coffee pot in the lunch basket. Mary fin-ished her sketch and suggested we had better start back as itlooked like rain."Yes, I think we should. This is the time of year a cloudburstwill wash you down the arroyo if you try to cross during a rain."As the horses trotted down the mountain we could see allover the valley below us. We were in a vast bowl completelysurrounded by mountains which now were obliterated by rainclouds in the west.I couldn't help thinking of the war and this gas rationing.We could not visit these mountains again until it is over.But the pinkish-lavender bee plants will grace the slopes,the columbine blossom, the yarrow, the vervain and the wildgeranium will bloom again each year. The chattering blue jaywill fly lightly to the highest pine branch where the thrush re-cently had sung his crystal welcome, and under the wild grassthe red robin will search for worms. Whether I saw or heard,this will go on until I return again to the Sangre de Cristosland of canyons and arroyoswhere brujas dwell in CeremonialCave.

V B S E R T Q U I Z . . .Answers to more than one half of this month's quizquestions will be found in a recent issue of Desert Maga-zine. Several others will have been encountered sometimeduring the past year. Answers on page 28.

1Famous art colony in northern New Mexico proper-ly is called Don Fernando de Taos...A^7 San Geronimo de Taos Ranchos de2Highest peak in the Henry mountains of Utah isMt. Ellsworth..ST . Mt. Ellen Mt. PennellMt. Hillers3Companion of Chas. F. Lummis on trips in South-west and South America was Adolph Ba nde lier.-jfEdgar L. Hew ett Joaquin MillerFrederick W . Hodge /4About the maximum number of eggs one wodld findin a Gambel quail's nest is 6... \2%SH\\. 28....5Large re ptile-like animals were characteristic of thePrecambrian Paleozoic Permian6Main evidence that prehistoric Indians of Arizonaand Mexico traded with each other isHieroglyphics..^.... Clay effigies.,Shell money-.j P- Copp er bells-.Xrrt'7Irrigation has been known in Atizona for75 years 500 1000.JB&. 1900..8President of United Indian Traders association,which handles large proportion of Southwest In-dian handcraft, is M. L. Woodard-i.


15/39

Victoria is growing fast . Along with her newbr ' ided ha i r -do , she i s a ssuming added dut ie s andresponsibilities about the household of Yaqui tepecon Jhost Mountain. She helps sort c lay lor potterym< 1 k ing. On twinkling feet she gathers dry st icks torthe luel baskets . She guards the water barrels fromin", iding insects. She even is the self-appointedwo ither lookout for the rain-thirsty mountain top.Bui as a blow-pipe expert , her lusty lungs provedhe i undoingand made Rudyard forge t h i s ch iv-al i /.

t/efettBy MARSHAL SOUTHr HE BIG ocotillo on the southwest slope of GhostMountain finally blew down, and a few days ago Riderand I went down to bring it home. For many months ithad I )i en slowly drying and getting more and more shaky in the

winds So when a last gale put an end to the drama, we wentas quii kly as possible in order to secure the wood before beetlesand borers and all the other agents of decay could get ahead ofus.W< like ocotillo wood for many reasons besides its excellentburning qualities. The thicker portions of the spiny wands,when peeled of their leathery armor of bark and spikes, makesmooth white poles that are handy for a multitude of usesarouii'l a primitive establishment such as Yaquitepec. Also,when properly seasoned, the wood is tempting for carving pur-poses. It is not entirely satisfactory for this as it is a bit brittleand :.liort grained, w ith an annoying habit of chipping off whenthe design calls for fine details. But it is nice to work with,neveri lieless. And one can achieve qu ite satisfactory and orna-menl.il bottle stoppers and knife handles and such nick-nacksfrom It. Rider and Rudyard, by means of boring and w hittling,often make themselves whistles from the white wood whistleswhich, as silence shatterers, are entirely too satisfactory.It was quite a job lugging the fallen old monarch up over thetumbled boulders to a spot where w e could divide it into sectionsfor carrying. But the job was completed finally and all the goodwooil peeled and put up under the roof to season. The bark andspini and all the small sections went into the fuel baskets forimmc liate burning. Although dead ocotillos make marvelousfuel we have to be more careful in handling it than any other.The irason for this is that the spines are so distributed that nomattei how small a fragment of broken stalk lies on the groundthen always will be one or more spikes pointing upwardslike I hose devilish spiked iron devices which were used in earlywarfare for hindering the movements of infantry and cavalry.Yaq I'lepec is a barefoot establishment, and although our feetare toughened, the upturned ocotillo thorn is damaging. Soocotillo fuel always is burned firstand with scrupulouswatclilulness that no fragment escape.There are thorns AND thorns. Those of the much talked-aboul chollalike a great many other things of exaggeratedrepui 11 ionare probably the least dangerous. We don't worryaboul ordinary chollas. The staghorn, which is the kind mostwidely spread over Ghost Mountain, isn't half as bad as it ispainted; The youngsters get spiked and pincushioned with themconsi.intlyand yank the adhering sections from their feet bymean i of two stones, used pincer-wise, and go on as thoughnothing had happen ed. Th e silver chollaB igeloviiis differ-ent. ' bat we do treat with respect. It has a nasty disposition.And i1 it doesn't actually pimp at you, as it is fabled to do, itneve 11 lieless is bad medicine. So we give it a wide berth. For-

Marshal South dragging a fallen ocotillo up the rockyslope of Ghost Mountain.tunately those sections of Ghost Mountain which we range con-stantly are not over supplied with Bigelow's cholla.The two types of spines which do call for constant watchful-ness are those of the mescal (the agave) and the beavertail.Oddly enough these are at opposite ends of the thorn scalethose of the mescals being vicious, needle-sharp daggers froman inch and a half to two inches or more long, and those of thebeavertail cactus being so small that one needs a magnifyingglass to see them. If you run hard into the stiletto shaped wea-pons of the mescal, with any portion of your anatomy, you arein for trouble. The thorn, like a slender jade dagger, almostinvariably breaks off deep in the wound in such a way that itoften defies extraction.On the other hand if you have an argument with the fuzzybrown spine fluff of a beavertail it may be hour s, sometimesdays, before you will get rid of the last of the intensely irritating,microscopic little stickers. The points of nearly all desert thornsseem to carry a poison particularly adapted to make puncturedflesh ache. Perhaps, in this respect, the handsome Mojave yuccathe Spanish Bayonetcan claim highest honors. Yes, thereare thorns AND thorns. But what true desert dweller wouldtrade any one of them for fairest flowers or tenderest ferns ofrain-drifted forests?The cisterns are dropping lower and lower. Last season, justa few days before we returned to Yaquitepec from our year-longdesert search, a heavy downpour passed over Ghost Mountainand we had hoped the anniversary of that shower would bringanother. But so far we have been disappointed. There havebeen not even any promising showings of thunderstorm forma-tions, despite the fact that V ictoria faithfully stares off at thedark line of the horizon each night, looking for them. Severaltimes fitful, distant flashes have bro ught her ru nning to us withthe breathless information that there was certain to "be a waintonight" because "the distances are jus' full of lightling." Butso far the lightning has been an empty promise.

A good many things now wait upon the rain. Walls and cis-tern building, as well as the replenishment of domestic watersupply. Wool that needs washing before it can be carded andspun. A new garden frame. One acquires a high valuation ofwater when its supply is limited. It is true that our storage ca-pacity steadily increases. But so also does our consumption ofthe precious fluid. As our little clan grows there are more andmore demands upon the cisterns. And on summer days it isastonishing how quickly a big olla of water, swinging in thebreeze to cool, can be emptied. Yes, we need rain.Last night about midnight, I got up and went into the houseto see how the pots were drying. Tanya had made a couple oflarge ones during the afternoon and had set them to harden onthe inside table. There is always a thrilling uncertainty aboutthe drying of handmade desert pottery. Clay is temperamental.Seemingly perfect ollas and bowls, fashioned with care, and ajoy to behold when wet, on drying will develop mysteriousO C T O B E R , 19 4 4 15


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cracks which utterly ruin them. On the other hand a pot flungtogether in a hurry to serve some pressing need will astonishus by drying out as a perfect and flawless creation.A brief inspection, by lantern light, of Tanya's handicraftconvinced me that the drying process was not proceeding rapid-ly enoughthere was danger ahead. So I carried the two jarsoutside and placed them in an angle of an unfinished wall wherethe free sweep of the desert wind would hasten their setting.The stars burned with crystal clearness. Through the brokenthatch of the ramada the moon made patterns of ghostly light.Wind marched against the mountain with a steady roar, rocket-ing upward from the protecting edge of the cliff and hurtlingpast overhead with the rushing sound of an invisible torrent.Stray gusts of it, swooping downward, came charging aroundthe house, slatting loose thatch and drawing weird music froman insecurely fastened sheet of roofing iron.After I had settled the pots safely in their new position themystery of the night held me. So, instead of returning to bed, Ipicked myself a nice comfortable vantage point upon the topof the outdoor work bench, squatting there, Indian fashion, inthe moon-fretted shadow of the ramada, while the wind spiritstrampled ceaselessly overhead and the moonlight wove blanketsof jet and silver in the swaying branches of the junipers.There is something about the feel of a moonlit desert nightwhich calls to unfathomed deeps within the heart; which stirsvague memories of long forgotten things. Small wonder thatfrom desert lands and from their nomadic peoples, forced tosolitude and the tending of flocks under sunlight and starlight,have come to us so much that is worth while. For it is by medi-tation that man increases his understanding. Times, and condi-tions of liberty and progress, have little to do with it. Therehave been as great minds and as great philosophers in all ages.Contentment, happiness and understanding come from withinnoc from one's surroundings.Victoria's hair is long enough now to be easily braided. Anda proud little miss she is with her new style of hairdressing.Busy and merry the whole day long, Victoria grows fast. Sheloves to work and always is hunting new duties. She gathers drysticks among the bushes and rocks and trots tirelessly on twink-ling feet to heap her loads in the fuel basket by the stove. Oneof her regular jobs is to guard the outside water barrel againstbees whenever it has to be uncovered for filling ollas and housecrocks.Bees, both tame and wild, are water-thirsty in the summerdesert. The tiniest opening serves as entrance to barrel or tank.Victoria's job is to stand by the barrel and whenever a bucket-ful is removed, to carefully shoo off the snooping bees and re-place the cloth cover. Then, upon tiptoe, and with both littlearms flung around the cloth to hold it down in the playful windgusts, she stands guard until we return for the next bucket.Victoria is proud of this job. She usually sighs with regret whenit is over and the cloth covers of the barrels have been securelytied down into place.All the openings of water barrels and tanks on Ghost Moun-tain are cloth covered. No other scheme works. Ordinary lidswill not serve. For here we have to make our containers tightnot only against small animals, lizards and bees, but also againstants which can get through almost anything. A time savingtrick tor keeping a cloth securely bound down over a barrel topis to use one of those long coiled springs usually employed topull screen doors shut, as a section of the tie cord. Then, whenonce you have the cord adjusted tight, you don't have to untie iteach time. Simply stretch the spring a bit and slip it off. A stoutrubber band cut from a section of old auto tube will serveequally well, but doesn't last long in the desert heat, as com-pared with a spring.Last Sunday afternoon I dug out an old copy of the NationalGeographic magazine from the bookcase and read the young-sters an account of the excavations at the old Indian settlementof Pueblo Bonito in New Mexico. They are tremendously in-

terested in such things. Not only because their own desert ex-istence approaches very closely the life led by the ancients, butalso because on their recent long trek they became familiar withthe type of country in which these old time Indian communitieshad their setting. So while the big scaly lizards waddled over thesun-scorched boulders and the heat waves danced across thedistance of the thirsty lowlands, the three of them lay on ablanket beside me in the shade, listening with eager ears as thewords on the printed page rolled back the sands and mysteryfrom a chapter of desert life that was closed a thousand yearsago.To understand the story of ancient Pueblo Bonito, one mustbe familiar by personal experience with conditions which aresimilar. It was this knowledge which made my young audienceso appreciative. They studied everything from a practical angle.All pictures were scrutinized with extreme care. The construc-tion of ancient buildings and underground kivas was comment-ed upon. Shapes and decorations of old pottery received carefulattention.Unhampered by modern fetishes or by the molds uncon-sciously imposed by association with mass thought, our young-sters have free rein to weigh and appraise the good points andthe bad of both primitive and modern worlds. Armed also withan understanding of time, not as a make-believe span to bemeasured by clock-ticks or by the ephemeral duration of humanlife, but as a state which exists, they can better appreciate thesignificance of the rise and decay of communities and empires.It is life that counts, and the way it is lived, whether it be inPueblo Bonito or at Yaquitepec. And as they roll out a bit ofclay for a coil to build a pot w ith, or pou nd a mescal leaf to obtaina few strands of fiber, our youngsters get a great thrill out ofthe knowledge of that shadowy, but very real bond, which bindsthe present to the past.Primitive methods, though, occasionally bring their momentsof comedy. As yesterday when Rudyard, having decided that hewould make a little wooden bowl by the process of burning outthe center of a mesquite block by means of a coal and a blow-pipe, tried to teach the art to Victoria."You just blow it slightly," he said, handing her the littletube. "Just enough to keep the coal burning steadily. Blow justslightlyyou understand."So Victoria took the tube and blew "slightly." Victoria hasa good pair of desert-grown lungs. The coal hopped from itscharred hollow like a shot from a catapult and struck Rudyardsquarely upon the tip of his nose. Rudyard has an explosivetemper and there are times when he forgets chivalry. This wasone of them. He made a pass at Victoria and hit her. And shepromptly hit him back. They both are good scrappers. So for atime, before the "storm troopers" could be rushed to the spot,the uproar was considerable. Later on, however, when quiet hadbeen restored and the two combatants had been sent outsidewith a piece of cake each, we heard them talking over the mat-ter.

"You know I said you were jus' to blow it slightly," Rud-yard explained, between munches."But I did, Ruggie, I did," Victoria protested. "I blowed itall the slightly I could. Really I couldn't have blowed it anymore slightlier."

THUS LIVEThus live: T o g ive and not to gain.To love not hate;To strive for Truth in e very grain.Nor fear your fate.And face with cou rage, not despair,Each little deathThe soul encounters, as we fare

Life's endless path. Tanya South16 T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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Arovravoipa C anyon . Arizona

O C T O B E R , 1 9 4 4

i

John Lindsey Blackford

17


18/39

kX 1 ^ A

- / - ; - W ._ i . _ u : FV,-^ Mm^a>Tow ering dizzily from living green toblue vault of sky above, rocky bastionsrimArava ip a uuiyon and wall ahidden world (preceding page). Swiftly comes the magicchange from scorched plateau and cactus flat to bowered leaves andcrystal stream

DESERTWONDERLANDS

The desert is aland of wonder-lands. Where the distances pos-sess al l , where the tawny desertfloor wrinkles in terrible heatwhere there is nothing it s e e m syet there is apalm rilled can-yon, weird badlands ofexoticcolor, a fantastic forest. Therem ay b e a cliff dripping with cool-ness and tapestried with fern, apurple peak piercing the moltengold ofsundown, orcolossalmonuments standing insplen-dor as atthe funeral of the gods.Surprisingly here, unexpectedlythere, will be discovered amaz-ing wonderlands within thisland of wonder .

THE DESERT MAGAZINE


19/39

y\liout the Temple of Sinawava in ZionCam on, Utah, (2 ) is gathered the fullma|( sty of that vividly tinted gorge .Thi unes and summ its, chasms and sen-tinrl peaks tell an epochal story of thepast And in the depth s of this coliseumof tlie ages lush verdure creates an oasisprodigal in its unforgettable beauty.V eird as some forest of Carboniferous

tirru is the great Joshua Tree forest (3 )thai ranges the northern Arizona slopesof I iible Mou ntain no rth of C hloride andsw' ps on beside the trail toward G oldBasin and Pierce's Ferry. Little else in thede;.( it is like it; nowhere else save in thede:.c it could it be found.I lalf to the desert, half to the hills be-lon.' s the wonde rland of Bryce Canyon( 4 ) . Washed from the passionately col-ored Pink Cliffs formation, its greatamphitheater steps down to the WhiteCliffs and they in turn to the Vermilion,

a giant stairs palisading Utah's romanticwa si elands.O C T O B E R , 1 9 4 4

All the strangeness of the desert is typified by the giant saguaro cactus. In the great 4Saguaro Forest (5) at the foot of the Tanque Verde and Rincons in southern Arizonait is mysterious, defiant, forbidding, yet its charm and fascination are equally real. 5


20/39

Like mighty ruins of a primal world or some Stonehenge ofthe giants, mesas and monum ents of Monument Valley (above)rise in grandeur and sublimity from the measureless spaces oftheir vast basin in Utah and Arizona. In their timeless presence,wonder is transformed to awe, and volubility flees before silence.

Cane cactus, beavertail, flapjack and porcupine prickly pear,Joshua, hedgehog, and bisnagaodd names describing evenodder inhabitants of the Date Creek desert, central Arizona.Across its shimmering floor, between gaunt skeletal ranges, fan-tastic growths crowd together (below ) in this garden of the sun.

20 T F D E S ER T M A G A Z I N E


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Gave. Gn& ek Canyon, Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona. Along the South Fork of Cave Creek in theChiricahuas, in a canyon of brilliant color whose cavern-pitted rampartsvault in stupendous bulwarks to the sky, we discover a fantasy of tree andflower. Yucca grows with feathery, long-leaved Arizona yellow pine and dapple-trunked sycamore. Mingling withthem dark cypress merge with agave, oak, and prickly pear. Barely within the mountains' grasp, this wonderland isindisputably of the desert.O C T O B E R , 1 9 4 4 21


22/39

a n dWashington, D. C. . . .Immediate free world market for goldand relaxing of limitations onmining, aswell as use of gold and silver in worldfund were proposed atBretton Woods in-ternational monetary conference in Au-gust. Resolutions passed at two-day meet-ing of mining officials from 11 westernstates will bepresented tomeeting of gov-ernors sometime this fall.

Henderson, Nevada . . .War production board has orderedBasic Magnesium, Inc., in Clark countyto close down two more units, leaving fourout of ten inoperation, cutting production40 percent. F. O. Case, manager, estimat-ed that about 400employes would be af-fected, leaving approximately 2000 to pro-duce the4,500,000 pounds of magnesiummonthly nowassigned to BMI.

Kingman, Arizona . . .

Keystone mill in Mineral Park recentlywas purchased and reopened by W. L.Witt and associates of Henderson, Neva-da. Unit will be thoroughly renovatedand equipped to handle 150 tons ore perday. Mines throughout district arealreadyprepared to ship ore to custom mill andmany other mines are expected to reopenbecause of new mill. Nevada group be-lieve lead, zinc and copper will be in de-mand forsome time tocome andthat goldand silver possibilities in area meritcon-sideration also.

TODAY . . .Your motor needs all the pro-tection you can give it forlonger life. Wise owners lookfor the Green andWhite signwhere quality QUAKERSTATE Motor Oil is sold.

Winnemucca, Nevada . .Senator James G. Scrugham, chairmanof subcommittee on mining and mineralsindustry, isplanning immediate studiesofpostwar possibilities of all domesticmin-ing operations. This will be integratedwith foreign mineral procurement investi-gation, reports to be issued later in thefall. Data also will be gathered on war-time critical and strategic minerals pro-gram. Brawley, California . . .Amerada Oil company, it is reported,Will start drilling operations inBrawleyorHeber-El Centro sections of ImperialVal-ley within next sixmonths, having invest-ed nearly quarter of a million dollars inleases. Company recorded 100 leases onland in Heber-Jasper-Verde districts,Au-

gust 1. Goldfield, Nevada . . .Henry J. Kaiser has purchased $70,-000,000 in gypsum plants and depositsthroughout the West in preparation formass scale postwar home building indus-try which isexpected toemploy hundredsof thousands of workers. By using light-weight steel for trusses, new plastic ce-ment for exteriors and gypsum wallboards for interiors, cost can be cut 23 percent under existing methods andmaterials,according toKaiser.

Bozeman, Montana . . .Only important U. S. deposit of corun-dum, second hardest known mineral, isbeing developed near Bozeman, J. ReedLane, WPB deputy director announced.Fuller Corundum mine is scheduled toship ore in late October, supplying mostof nation's needs in this vital warmineral.It has abrasive qualities necessary inmanu-facture of precision instruments, grindingof lenses. Stoita Fe,NewMexico . . .Famous Tiffany turquoise mines southof here recently were purchased by former

Ambassador James W.Gerard, New YorkCity. It is not yet certain whether mineswill bereopened. Gerard recently acquiredthe 10,000-acre Mocho ranch in the area. Denver, Colorado . . .Largest of its kind on record is 44-pound quartz crystal found in Devil'sHead area by Louis H. Binderup of Den-ver. Specimen is a single crystal 19incheslong. Crystal of optical andelectrical qual-ity are in high demand for production ofprecision-cut quart2 wafers in army andnavy radio sets and other instruments forwar, butthis specimen it isannounced willbe kept as a collector's item.

Salt Lake City, Utah . . .Dr. L. U. Gardner of NewYork, oneof nation's leading authorities on silicosisand tuberculosis, has stated that virtualextinction of the twodiseases lies ahead ifmanagement and labor work together onreasonable preventive measures. Essentialsteps toward elimination arepositivecon-trol of silica dust in mines and employ-ment only of persons not predisposed to

tuberculosis as determined by X-raypho-tographs.

El Paso, Texas . . .International Mining day will be heldby city chamber of commerce Nov. 10 and

1 1 . American institute of mining andmetallurgical engineers expects to holdmeeting in connection with event, andvisitors from entire Southwest are expect-ed toattend.

Albuquerque, NewMexico . . .New bulletins, Nos. 19 and 20, issued

by state bureau of mines and mineral re-sources describe occurrences and futurepossibilities of silver and manganese-ironores in Boston Hill and Chloride Flat,New Mexico. Also described is strati-graphy of northern NewMexico, of spe-cial interest to oil and gas operators inthat district.

Carson, Nevada . . .Nearly 100 operators of mines, millsand smelters in state have suspended workduring last year because of manpowershortage and wartime federal control.Small operators andminers in quicksilver,

gold and silver have been hardest hit,leaving only 146 units in operation instate.

W E W I L L B U y . . .. . THE FOLLOWINGBACK NUMBERS OFDESERT MAGAZINE

They should be in fair condition to per-m it resale . Check your list of DesertMagazines and if youhave extras sendthem to us.November, 1937 ..$3.00December. 1937 1.00April, 1938 1.00June, 1938 1.00September, 1938 1.00January, 1939 1.00February, 1939 1.00April, 1939 1.00M a y , 1939 1.00July, 1939 1.00January, 1940 1.00March, 1940 1.00August, 1940 1.00March, 1941 1.00

DESERT MAGAZINE6 36 State Street El Centro, California10-442 2 THE DESERT MAGAZINE


23/39

Jacumba Hot Springs Sold . . .JACUMBAW. A. Hansen of Fuller-ton recently purchased holdings of Jacum-ba Hot Springs company, located onhigh-way from El Centra to SanDiego. Trans-fer includes four-story hotel, apartments,park, hot springs, bath house, swimmingpool, auto court and cottages and nearlyall surrounding real estate. Bert B. L.Vaughn had owned property since 1919,being founder, manager and unofficialmayor of mountain village until now.Date Booklet Issued . . .INDIOInformative booklet entitled"Growing Up," publicizing Coachellavalley's date industry, recently was com-piled by M. C. McDonald and edited byofficials of date cooperative. Many indi-viduals, corporations and libraries have re-quested copies of booklet which describeshistory andgrowth of United Date Grow-ers of California.

Air Station Expanded . . .HOL TVIL LE Expansion costing$734,147 is being made at Navy auxiliaryair station here, Eleventh naval districtdisclosed August 10. Contract awardedA. Farnell Blair, San Francisco, includestwo hangars, training building, threetem-porary barracks, bachelor officers' quar-ters, Waves barracks, officers' mess, brig,two storehouses and addition to dis-pensary.Aqueduct Line Planned . . .HEMETPlans arebeing prepared forconstruction of large conduit from San Ja-cinto tunnel of Colorado river aqueductto San Diego, according to word fromMetropolitan water district of Los Ange-les. Because of tremendous populationgrowth in San Diego, supplying of de-pendable water ways long has been urgedby army, navy, aircraft and civil authori-ties.

The Desert Trading PostClassified advertising in this section costs fine cents a word, $1.00 minimum per issueActually about lVi cents per thousand readers.

MISCELLANEOUSS MALL P OS T-WAR BUS INES S FORSALEA going business for six years necessarily dis-continued during the war. One office manan d onemechanic canresume asmaterials be-come available but now is the time to getready. The products are The Johns GemCutter, The Johns Thin Section Cutter, TheJohns Potters Wheel, The Johns Lineoleum

Print-Press, The Johns Nick Remover andPolisher for Glassware. Manufactured parts,gated metal patterns, jigs and special tools,advertising set-ups, printed matter, good will,etc. No machine shop equipment included.Reason for selling is poor health of soleowner. Geo. McD.Johns, Rt. 3, Box 112-A,San Antonio 2, Texas.WHY S P END YOUR ENERGY t ry ing some-thing that cannot be done your way? GiveNa tu re a chance to succeed? BASIC RE-S EARCH LABORATORIES S YS TEM, 785Lafayette Street, Denver 3, Colorado.FOR SALEIndian relics, 23 assortments fromwhich to choose, $1.00 per assortment or $20for all 23. All perfect specimens. Choose fromthese: 10beautiful prehistoric Indian arrow-heads; 10 tiny bird arrowheads; 10 arrow-heads from 10 different states; 2 stone toma-h a w k s ; 4 spearheads; 5 stone net sinkers; 10fish sealers; 2 hoes ; 4 agate bird arrows;5 flint drills; 7 flint awls; 10beautiful roundhead s tunning arrowheads; 4 fine sawedgedarrowheads; 4 fine flying bird arrowheads;4 fine drill pointed arrowheads; 4 fine queershaped arrowheads; 4 rare double notchedabove a barbed base arrowheads; 5 doublenotched above a stemmed base arrowheads;12 small knife blades of f l in t; 1 rare shapedceremonial flint; 3 flint chisels; 7 crystalsfrom graves; 10 arrowheads of 10 differentmaterials including petrified wood. Locationsgiven. 100arrowheads $3.00. 100 very finemixed arrowheads all perfect showy colors in-cluding many rare shapes such as drill point-ed, double notched, sawedged, queer shapes,etc., location and name given, $25-00. Listfree. Lears, Glenw ood, Ark.

Large stock of petrified palm. Twenty tons ofrock specimens. Navajo rugs, reservationhand hammered silver andbaskets from manytribes. Many other handmade artifacts.Daniels Indian Trading Post, 401West Foot-hill Blvd., Fontana, Calif.Le t us do your shopping. Our knowledge ofmerchandise is at your service. We will buyany article for you from "a button to a steamshovel" for a nominal service charge. CoastCities Shopping and Buying Service, 623Storey Bldg., Los Angeles 14, Calif., or 403Maritime Bldg., Seattle 4, W a s h .Indian Relics: 20 genuine Indian arrowheads$1.00, Catalog. Geo.Holder, Glenwood, Ark.BALL BEARING ARBORS yA-\n. shaft 16inches long $11.75; one inch shaft $15.75.These arbors are very good for grinders.Sanders and buffers. This includes pulley andbolts ready to bolt to your bench. Send $5.00with order. All prices F.O.B. L. A. Calif. Wealso carry lapidary supplies. Open Saturdayand Sunday from 9 a. m. to 7 p. m. 5118 Gra-nada St., LosAngeles 42,California, in High-land Park.W A N T E D , for general work and to assist cookin a small resort, a married couple or twowomen. Write g iving all particulars and sal-aries required, to Desert Lodge-Rancho Bor-rego, Borrego, Julian P. O., California.

LIVESTOCKKARAKULS producers of Persian Lamb furare easy to raise and adapted to the desertwhich is their native home. For further in-formation write Addis Kelley, 4637 E. 52Place, Maywood, California."Karakul Fur Sheep America's Great Live-stock Opportunity You can be a part of thisfascinating business and have your Karakuls

cared for by experienced rancher. Write fordetails, James Yoakam, National Distributor,1128 No. Hill Ave., Pasadena, California."

NEVADANevada Si lver forNevada Sai lorsCARSON CITYTreasure chest ofNevada Magnesium will carry 2,000 sil-ver dollars minted here to crew of U.S.S.Nevada, American battleship which aidedin invasion of Europe, Governor E. P.Carville announced. Coins will be used byofficers and crew members as good-luckcharms . . . chest is expected towind up ondesk of commander for use as cigar con-tainer!Indian Students Join Up . . .STEWARTApproximately 300 stu-dents of Stewart Indian school have joinedarmed services since war, four of themgirls who have enlisted in WAC.Thisrepresents larger proportion of enlist-ments than from any other school con-taining same agegroup. Nearly all youngmen from the school enlist upon reaching17, andbecause of excellent physical edu-cation program they seldom are rejected.Legion Convention Held . . .WINNEMUCCA This city waschosen as site for 1945 Nevada depart-ment convention of American Legion atsession held at Las Vegas inAugust. New-ly elected officers include J. WilliamSchaefer, commander; I. A. Lougaris, na-tional executive committeeman, and TheoGarrett, first vice commander.Temperature Lower . . .CARSON CITYAverage July tem-perature for state was 71.2degrees, or 1.4below mean for past 56years. Highest re-corded was 113 degrees at Overton on17th while lowest recorded was 28 de-grees at Mala Vista ranch on 10th.Coal Company Formed . . .GOLDFIELDSierra Coke and Coalcompany has become incorporated andplans to operate coal fields at Coaldale,north of here. Main product is to be am-monium sulphate, used as fertilizer. Ex-periments are being made for use of coalin coke, tar andby-products of tar.Yacht Club Possibility . . .

LAS VEGASPlans are underway toform Lake Mead yacht club, sponsored bycity chamber of commerce. Unusual set-ting andfavorable year-round weather arelake's assets for this sport, according toFrederick C. Brewer, well-known yachts-man. Program would include completeclubhouse, commissary, moorings, marinerailway launch, car ramp, bathing beachand maintenance and repair shops.REAL ESTATE

For Imperial Valley FarmsW. E. HANCOCK"The Farm Land Man"Since 1914

EL C EN T R O C A LI FO R N I A24 T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


24/39

NEW MEXICOCeremonial Profits Totaled . . .i-ALLUPAt least $15,000 was re-ceived for Indian handmade arts and craftsduring annual programs of Inter-TribalImli.in Ceremonial August 11-13, M L.Wondard, secretary, announced. In nor-mal times anestimated $200,000 isspentduring Ceremonial byvisitors, andstilllarger amounts are anticipated during thepast warperiod. This 23rd annual presenta-tion ofevent set newpeak inattendance,an .stimated 10,000 or12,000 witnessingthe live programs.Murdere r Was"Bewi tched" . . .ALBUQUERQUE Ignacio Cande-laiift, 59,confessed to fatal stabbing ofesti inged wife and her adopted sonwhilebeliiving himself bewitched. Hesaidhiswife cast spell over adoll and buried it,causing himto lose all hisstrength. Sherelived to cure him, andwhen Navajome. 11 cine mancould not break spell, Can-del, iria killed hiswife and her son AdolfoM', in toya, 23,when thelatter attemptedto iltfend her.Po< Original Lost . . .SANTA FEA. S.Bigelow has offered$5000 reward forreturn oforiginal copyof I'dgar Allan Poe's "Tamerlane." Hesail I that paper-covered volume was onemosl highly sought bybook collectorsandwas lost orstolen early inAugust duringmine from aranch north ofPecos to San-ta I e.Tenth ofP a gua t e S e rve s . . .A LBUQUERQUEThe 726 residentsof Paguate village of Isleta Pueblo dedi-cai i .1village service flag atceremony Au-gusl 11.List of 71names, near ten percen1 of population, was read and dedica-tor) address was made byAbel Paisano,councilman ofpueblo.Fcii'IOUS Pottery Maker Dies . . .! \N JUANMrs. Keyasita A. Tru-jillo, well known pottery maker of SanJuan Pueblo died here early in AugustSh( and herhusband had been Pueblo'srepresentatives at Chicago world's fair,19 i,hadgone on toWashington wherethey metPresident Roosevelt. Mrs. Tru-jillo had wonmany first prizes atGallupInulian Ceremonials and Santa FeFiestas.Frontier Leader Passes . . .,sANTA FEMiguel Antonio Otero,fonner territorial governor ofNew Mex-ico, died inhis sleep August 7,aged 84.Frontier veteran at20,Otero knew manyfan urns menand women ofearly Westandtool anactive part in itssettlement. Lateyears were devoted towriting ofmemoirsini lading "MyLife ontheFrontier" and"My Nine Years asGovernor ofthe Ter-ritoiy ofNewMexico."

Five fishermen in August reportedblack bear and cinnamon bear inHondocanyon, area rarely visited bybear.

UTAH

Scabies Endanger Sheep . . .SALT LAKE CITY Epidemic ofsheep scabies threatens to ruin eastern

markets for Utah, Idaho andNevadasheepmen, L.Tate, Minnesota law en-forcement officer here oninspection tour,declared. Western sheep arefree from dis-ease uptopoint ofshipment butcontact itfrom contaminated transportation vehiclesand feed andwater pens. Measures are be-ing taken todisinfect such items andcheckspiread ofscabies.S ta te Pa rks Cons ide red . . .

SALT LAKE CITYOfficials ofUtahdepartment ofpublicity and industrial de-velopment -* have designated nearly 40areas instate forconsideration forinclu---sion in system of state parks and monu-ments. Some areas would include exten-sive acreage and others only monumentscommemorating state historical sites. Atpresent, only onestate park and nomonu-ments arebeing maintained.Many Predators Kil led . . .

SALT LAKE CITYEfforts of federalfish andwild life service andhunters com-bined tokill and trap some 20,000 preda-tory animals throughout state during pastyear. Bounties ofover $70,194 have beenpaid forkilling of 10,078 coyotes, 1501bobcats, 47cougars andone wolf.Lake Dispute Settled . . .

CEDAR CITYOld controversy overwater ofNavajo lake, fishing andcampingresort, wassettled after meetings betweeninterested parties and state fish andgamecommission in August. Dike, damagedlast Maybydynamiting, will berepairedand raised two feet, new headgatesandspillways to beconstructed also. Storageof 2000 acre feet ofwater will beturnedover toVirgin river during irrigating sea-son, river water users agreeing to pay one-fourth expenses of repairs andconstruc-tion.Great Lake Diminishes . . .

SALT LAKE CITYGreat Salt lakehas fluctuated some 18feet indepth sincefirst measurement bygauges in1850, ac-cording tochart released byM. T. Wil-son, U. S. geological survey engineer.Level of 1850 was 4201 feet abovesealevel, all-time high was almost 4212; lakeis now just under 4195, showing steadydecline ofabout foot andahalf ayear. Ir-rigation and evaporation maysomedayleave lake adry bedofsalt saysome geolo-gists.

For N ice T hings . . . I N F A N T S ' ANDC H IL D R E N 'S W E A Rm L A D I E S ' R E A D Y - T O - W E A R M E N ' S FU R N I S H I N G S F IN E L I N E N S

OUSTER'S206 W. TENTH STREET PHONE 246LANCASTER, CALIFORNIATHE HEART OFANTELOPE VALLEY

'RlLLA CUSTER GALEN CUSTER

D E S E R T T R A V E L O G SNoteworthy scenic spots have been describedin the "Mojave Desert Travelog." GhostTowns, Crimson Canyons, Historic Mines,Rocks and Semi-Precious Stones, DesertWildflowers, Ancient Indian writings are in-terestingly written, profusely illustrated withphotographs and detail maps. Setof 12t rav-elogs, price 25c. Write to Bars tow Printe r-Review, Barstow, California.

A WESTERN THRILL"Courage," a remarkable oil painting20x60 feet, theCovered Wagon Train cross-ing thedesert in 68.Over ayear inpainting.On display (free) at Knott's Berry Placewhere theBoysenberry was introduced tothe world andfamous for fried chicke

Documents

194410 Desert Magazine 1944 October