194905 Desert Magazine 1949 May

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P l a n Y o u r H o m e in P a l m D e s e r tHere is a desert community in a sheltered cove of the Santa Rosamountains with fine water, excellent drainage, surfaced streets,electricity, natural gas, telephones, new school under construc-tionan ideal location where you can enjoy all today's con-

veniences in the clean atmosphere of a well-planneddesert community.

Residential Lots:Range in size from 60x110 feet for the smallerbungalows or weekend cottages, up to one andtwo acre exclusive estates.Prices range from $950 for the smallest to ap-proximately $6,500 an acre for Estate sites.Residential Income:This includes choice hotel sites, as well as lotszoned for 2, 4, 6 and 8 rental units, dependingupon size and location with prices starting at$2,550.Commercial orBusiness:Includes lots facing on the Palm Springs-IndioHighway and on El Paseo, the divided businessstreet which branches off the Highway andcontinues through Palm Desert for approxi-mately two miles before again joining theHighway.These lots average 50x112 feet, with an addi-tional 100feet for parking in the rear of each lot.Each business block is being built around a

parking court with building facing either thePalm Springs-Indio Highway or El Paseo each building having an entrance from thestreet and from the parking area. These lotsstart at $7,500.Building Requirements:Sensible and cooperative architectural controlof all structures protects the charm of the com-plete community plan and, therefore, protectsthe value for the property owners.All plans must be approved by the Palm DesertArchitectural Committee. A minimum of 800sq . ft. will be allowed on the small weekendcottage sites; 1000 sq. ft. on small homesites;1200 sq. ft. on the Shadow Mountain Estates;1500 sq. ft. on the Palm Desert Ranchos.Own ership Requirements:Prospective property purchasers must qualifyfor membership in either the Palm Desert Com-munity Association or the Shadow MountainClub, depending upon the type of property be-ing purchased.

NEARLY $250,000 IN NEW HOMES ARE NOWUNDER CONSTRUCTION IN THE PALM DESERT

COMMUNITY

PALM DESERT CORPORATIONPALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA

CLIFFORD W. HENDERSON, Founder , P res identEDITH EDDY WARD, Exclusive Sales Agent

Phon e : Pa lm Dese r t 7-6111 Th rou gh Indio Ex chan geTract Office on Palms-to-Pines

Highway lust Off Highway 111Or See Your Own Broker


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D E S E R T C A L E N D A RApril 29 Biology Series: Evolutionand the Geologic Periods. PalmSprings Desert Museum 8 p.m.May 1Fishing season will open forDesert areas.May 1Boat race of the ColoradoRiver Racing association at Yuma,Arizona.May 1Annual speed boat regatta onLake Moovalya, Parker, Arizona.May 1Annual horse show, Sonoita,Arizona.May 1Annual fiesta and spring corndance, San Felipe pueblo, NewMexico.M ay 1, 7-8Ramona Pageant, Ra-mona Bowl, Hemet, California.May 3Cross day, dance and cere-monial races, Taos pueblo, NewMexico.May 7Annual Southern Californiareunion picnic of former residents

of New Mexico, Arizona, Utahand Nevada at Sycamore Park,Los Angeles.May 7-29Annual wildflower show,Julian, California. CommunityHall, daily except Fridays. Mrs.Myrtle Botts, chairman.May 7-8Sierra club hike. Two-daytrip to climb Owens Peak at south-ern end of the Sierras overlookingInyokern. Over-night camp.May 7-8 Fourth annual IndianWells valley stampede, stampedegrounds near Ridgecrest, Cali-fornia.May 8"Fiestas de Mayo," com-memorating Mexican Independ-

ence Day. Parade, street dances,festivals. Celebrated in Nogales,Arizona, and Sonora.May 12-15 Annual HelldoradoDays. Pageant-rodeo, parades,whisker derby, kangaroo court,horse racing, dances. Las Vegas,Nevada.May 13-14Third annual Lions clubfestival and barbeque. Swimmingevents, kiddies parade. ValleyWells, California, four milesnortheast of Trona .May 20-22 Calico Days Celebra-tion. Parade, horse show, carnivaland dancing, rodeo. Yermo, Cali-fornia.May 22Horse show, State fairgrounds, Albuquerque, New Mex-ico.May 28-30Sierra club hike. ClimbGlass mountain situated betweenthe High Sierra and the Whitemountains. Elevation 11,127 feet.May 29Annual Fiesta of San Felipede Neri. Parades, dancing, carni-val. Albuquerque, New Mexico.MaySpecial exhibit, Fred K. Hinch-man Memorial Collection ex-amples of pottery, basketry, silverjewelry, Plains Indian beadwOrk,etc. Southwest Museum, HighlandPark, Los Angeles, California.

Volume 12 MAY. 1949 Number 7COVER

CALENDAREXPLORATION

PHOTOGRAPHYINDIANSHUMORFIELD TRIPDESERT QUIZPERSONALITYCONTESTCRAFTSPOETRYLETTERSWILDFLOWERSARTCLOSE-UPSNEWSMININGHOBBYLAPIDARYCOMMENTBOOKS

SEXTETTE IN YELLOW. Photographed in CajonPass, California by Nicholas N. Kozloff, SanBernardino, California.April events on the desert 3Salt Water Trail on the Desert

By DAVID E. MILLER 4Contest winners in March 9Black Magic of the Cahuilla

By JOHN HILTON 10Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley . . . . . 12Magic Rocks of the Sauced as

By HAROLD O. WEIGHT 14A test of your deser t knowledge 18He Brings the Desert to Your Ga rden

By GEORGE M. ROY 20Prizes to Photographers 23Skilled Hands at the Loom

By JIMMIE BREWER 24Queen of the Night, and other poems . . . . 26Comment from Desert's Readers 27Monthly forecast for May 28Director, Palm Desert Art Gall ery 29About those who write for Desert 30From here and there on the desert 31Current news of deser t mines 40Gems and minera ls 41Amateur Gem Cutter, by Lelande Quick . . . 45Just Between You and Me, by the Editor . . . 46Reviews of Southwestern Literature 47he Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Press, Inc., Palm Desert,California Re-entered as second class matter July 17, 1948, at the post office at Palm Desert ,California, under the Act of March 3, 1879.Title registered No.358865 in U. S. Patent Office,and contents copyrighted 1949 by the Desert Press, Inc. Permission to reproduce contentsmust be secured from the editor in writing.RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor BESS STACY, Business ManagerMARION HEW ES, Associate Editor MARTIN MORAN, Circulation ManagerUnsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be re turned or acknowledgedunless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility fordamage or loss of manuscripts or photographs a l though due care will be exercised. Sub-scribers should send notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding issue.

SUBSCRIPTION BATESOne Year . . . $3.50 TwoYears . . . $6.00Canadian Subscriptions 25c Extra , Foreign 50c ExtraSubscription to Army Personnel Outside U. S. A. Must Be Mailed in Conformity WithP. O. D. Order No.19687Address Correspondence to Desert Magazine, Palm Desert, California

M AY, 1949


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Lakemobile constructed byCharles Stoddard for use onhis sa lt water trails. This isthe vehicle that was struck by an iceberg andnearly wrecked in 1942. Stoddardused the vehicle regularly fortransporting sheep and supplies toFremont Island.

Sal t Water Trai lon the DesertYes, strange things happen on the Great American Desertandnone, perhaps, will be more surprising than the realization that it ispossible todrive many miles across portions of the Great Salt Lake ina motor vehicle. Here is the story of theman who first charted the saltwater trailsand who formany years hasused them in hissheep andranching business.

By DAVID E. MILLER7HIS is the place where I wasstruck by an iceberg in 1942!"said Charles Stoddard. "I wasdriving a truck . . . Yes, it was rightout here in the middle of the GreatSalt Lake."Everyone knows that Salt Lake neverfreezes. And what was Charles Stod-dard doing in a truck in themiddle ofthe lake?And yetwhat he told me that day asour truck rolled along in a foot of saltwater several miles from the nearestshore was thetruth. And this ishow ithappened:

In the cold calm w inter weather freshwater at the mouths of tributarystreams literally floats on the denselake brine andfreezes into ice severalinches thick. This icethen drifts aboutthe lake in huge sheets, sometimes do-ing damage toboats andshore installa-tions. It was such anice floe that struckStoddard's truck in March,1942.This slowly moving mass of icejammed against the side of the truck.Up it went on two wheels. The icecracked andbroke. The vehicle settledback. Again the ice wedged in andagain it broke and the truck settledback. There was no place to turn

around. The"lakemobile" would soonbe wrecked in thebriny water."With the aid of a crow bar I shiftedthe front end around toward thesouth.Th e icegot behind it," continued Stod-dard, "and pushed it out into the lake."Stoddard escaped over the ice as histruck drifted away. About a mile southof the regular course, the ice wasgrounded and thevehicle deposited ina bog.The following November Stoddardwent out to his truck, drained the saltimpregnated oil, removed the sparkplugs andpoured a small quantity ofkerosene into the cylinders to loosenthem. In a few minutes the motorstarted without trouble and the ma-chine pulled outunder its own power.Sheets of ice, broken up by thewindand blown into piles 30 feet high andhundreds of feet wide icebergs have been seen floating about the lakefrom time to time. Interested peoplehave visited these ice floes andclimbedabout upon them in perfect safety.Stoddard showed me the site of hisiceberg accident as we were returningfrom Fremont island in a small boatmounted on a two-wheeled trailerwhich wasbeing pulled by a team ofhorses. Now, that's not the idealwayto cross the lake, but there was a rea-son for doing it. Stoddard had twohorses on the island andneeded themTHE DESERT MAGAZINE.


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(0;:

SALT LAKECI TY ? TRAILS BLAZED B Y CHARLES STODDARO

Submerged Sand BarsOpen Water ^ nHorses Lost

MURRAY,;".^::..

at his farm on the mainland. This wasthe eaS1est way to get them home.Our route was a submerged sand barwhich Stoddard had charted just forthis purpose. To me it looked likeheading into the open sea except forthe fact that the water was so shallowHow could the driver be sure he was onthe course? I asked Stoddard that ques-tion. The answer soon became appar-ent as he pointed out a railroad tiestanding upright in the shallow waterabout a half-mile from shore. OtherM A Y , 1 9 4 9

similar markers, placed at regular in-tervals, clearly pointed out the routewhich we followed without difficultyThe "trail" was approximately tenmiles long. It took us several hours tomake the trek. During the ride mycompanion told me many of his lakeventures. What I learned proved thatCharles Stoddard of West Point, Utahis one of the most progressive and in-genious navigators ever to cruise GreatSalt Lake.He is one of approximately 300

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boatmen who regularly ply the GreatSalt Lake for both business and pleas-ure. He has spent much of the past 20years cruising and exploring the lakesounding its channels, bringing civili-zation to its islands, and literally blaz-ing trails through its shallow waters,tew men today know more about thelake or have spent more time on it andits islands than he.For several years, Stoddard has beenleasing Fremont island for use as asheep range. This island, third largest


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David E. Miller, the author, measures the Ca rson Cross on the peak ofFremont island.Carved in 1843 when he visited the island with the John C.Fremont party, the origin of the inscription which was first observed byStansbury in 1850, rem ained a mystery until the publication of "Kit Carso n'sOwn Story" in 1926. Heedless visitors daubed the rock with white paint inrecent years.in the lake, is approximately 15 milesin circumference and extends 800 feetabove the lake level at its highest po int.It lies directly between Antelope islandand Promontory point. From the south-ern tip the land rises gradually aboutfive miles to the summit where CaptainJohn C. Fremont made his observa-tions and lost his telescope cap over acentury ago. From that point the land

falls off at a steep angle to the northand east. Sufficient grass and othersmall plants grow on the island to pro-vide an excellent range for sheep. Ithas been used for that purpose forthree-quarters of a century. The slopesare dotted with peculiar wind-erodedrock formations. As I climbed to thepeak to examine the Carson Cross,carved by Kit Carson when he visited

the island with Fremont in 1843,(Desert Magazine Feb. 1942) I passedseveral of these formations. Half-wildsheep that had sought the shade ofthese rocks, scurried away as we ap-proached.The island has miles of fine beachesand acres of excellent sand. Near the

south tip stands the ruins of the oldWenner house, a mute witness of thedays when Fremont island was a happyhome. (Desert Magazine Feb. 1944).On the brow of the hill, behind thehouse, is the Wenner grave enclosedby a fine wire fence, built by CharlesStoddard a few years ago. During thesummer of 1948 he also constructed acairn (built of rocks taken from thewalls of the old house) as a permanentmonument to those who lie buriedthere. On November 6, 1948 Stoddardtransferred the bronze plaque, contain-ing the vital statistics concerning JudgeWenner and his wife, from its formerposition on the gate to a permanentposition on the cairn he had built. Al-though his activities at the grave sitehave never been publicized, Stoddardhas played a major role in keeping itin order. He has a great deal of respectand sentiment for those who tookcivilization to Fremont island.

Long before the coming of the whiteman, Fremont island was the home ofthe Indian. Although no Indian skele-tons have been found there, definiteevidences of their existence have beenfound. During my recent visit to theisland with Charles and Earl Stoddardwe located a ridge literally strewn withgrinding stones and metates, mute evi-dences of former Indian camps. Webrought back all we could carry, hav-ing merely picked them up from thesurface of the ground.

During reasonably high water peri-ods the island is accessible only byboatand that condition has prevailedmost of the time since Fremont firstvisited it in 1843. However, during thelake's low cycle beginning in the mid193O's, Stoddard devised a means ofreaching the island by truck or motorcar. Being an experienced lake man hediscovered the sandbar extending south-ward from the southeast tip of theisland. Although this bar was com-pletely submerged most of the time,he was able to follow and chart it.Stoddard followed the bar in a south-erly direction to a point west of Syra-cuse (just east of the north end ofAntelope island) from which point hewent eastward in relatively shallowwater and reached the mainland. Bydriving stakes along the bar and acrossthe most shallow part of the interven-ing water being careful to avoidquicksand bogs he w as able toT HE D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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blaze a trail to Fremont island in themiddle of Great Salt Lake. This routecould be "navigated" by horseback,wagon, truck or touring car. On oneoccasion three youths rode bicycles tothe island. It was this route we werefollowing as Stoddard related his lakeexperiences.This new course traversed the oldsteamship route followed by earlysteamboats on the lake. During the1870's, the City of Corinne, a 240-tonMississippi river type vessel made regu-lar trips across this bar where wefound only six inches of water.Stoddard had blazed a similar trailhomesteading that desolate place dur-ing the 1930's.Since wagon travel was too slow forthe sheep business, Stoddard inventeda lake going truck a "lakemobile".This was accomplished by buildingsome large caterpillar-like chains or

cleats for the rear wheels of an "A"model Ford truck. A Fordson tractorradiator was attached to give the ve-hicle a better cooling system. Thisnovel machine proved entirely lake-worthy. By following the chartedcourse, the 10 miles of water betweenthe mainland and Fremont islandcould be traveled in short order. It wasthis machine that was struck by theice in 1942.Contrary to common belief, the salt

This is an iceberg in the middle of Great Salt Lake. It was formed of icesheets a few inches thick blown into a pile by heavy winds. Contrary tocommon belief, ice often forms where clear water tributaries enter the lake,and blown about the lake damages boats and shore installations. The bergin this picture was 30 feet high.

impregnated lake water seemed to haveno apparent ill effects on the truckmechanism. Stoddard often left itstanding in the water weeks at a timeduring the slack season when visits tothe island were unnecessary.The lakemobile was used to haulsupplies as well as sheep. However,during the extreme low lake level ofthe early 1940's Stoddard found thesand bar completely exposed during

the late summer and early fall so de-cided to drive sheep from the islandinstead of trucking them. The three-mile stretch between the south end ofthe bar and the mainland was coveredwith a few inches water, but the sheepcrossed it without difficulty.On one occasion such a venturealmost resulted in disaster. Stoddardwas driving 300 lambs from the islandto market. As they approached the

Charles Stoddard of W est Point,Utah, beside his artesian well onFremont island. He drove a 16-foot pipe into the ground,and getsa good stream of clear, cold water.The well is now subm erged due toa rising lake level in 19 48.

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south end of the bar preparatory tothe wade to shore, a sudden wind, socommon to the lake, came up anddrove water southward, increasing itsdepth by several inches."Now, there were two things thatcould be done," said Stoddard, "Icould either return to Fremont island

or spend the night on the sand bar andhope the water would not rise highenough to drown the sheep." Hequickly decided on the latter course.From materials on board the lake-mobile he hastily built a temporarycorral on the bar three miles fromshore in order to keep the herd intactduring the stormy night. By morningthe wind had subsided and the waterreceded so the flock could be driven toshore without difficulty.There are real dangers accompany-ing this type of lake transportation.The possibility of a sudden storm is

only one potential danger. While I wason the island with Stoddard in 1944a sudden wind came up that seemedlikely to overturn the sheep camp inwhich we spent the night. I spent arestless night, fearful that I would beunable to return the following day.But Stoddard slept peacefully throughthe storm. He knew the wind wouldbe gone by morning and told me so.Next morning we crossed to the main-land in shallow water. Knowing thelake and its storms so well, he couldafford to risk 300 sheep on that sandbar during a stormy night feeling quitesure that morning would bring calmweather.

But woe to anyone who misses themarked course! Inexperienced menmight be enticed to try a short-cut toland or for some other reason fail tofollow the route and be trapped bythe treacherous bog holes found innumerous places. Such an incident oc-curred in May, 1940 when MichalBoam departed from the route with ateam of horses."It was right out there," said Stod-dard pointing into the lake. Soon thehorses were bogged down in quick-sand in about two feet of water, fourmiles from shore. The animals becameterror stricken and struggled andfought so frantically they completelyexhausted themselves and finally suc-cumbed. Said Stoddard, "I went out tothem the next day and took the harnessoff. In a few days a strong wind blewtheir bodies up on shore."

Ice on the lake poses another hazardto the sheep business on Fremontisland. Normally, since the island iscompletely surrounded by water, sheepcan be pastured there without a herder.All that is necessary is to visit theisland every two or three weeks tokeep the wells and springs cleaned and

properly flowing. During the cold calmwinter of 1944 ice several inches thickformed at the mouth of Weber riverand extended all the, way to Fremontisland, making that isolated place ac-cessible to roving coyotes. With snowcovering the ice, these animals couldcross without realizing they had leftthe mainland. At least one did reachthe herd and began its work ofslaughter.Stoddard sighted the animal from anairplane while on an air inspectiontrip. He organized a hunting party tocomb the island for the killer. Aftertwo unsuccessful attempts by hunters,horses and a pack of hounds owned byLarry Allen were taken to the islandin the lakemobile to finish the job.However, the culprit still evaded itspursuers and continued to play havocwith the sheep.By this time many people had be-

come interested in the chase and aparty of 23 hunters, including a news-reel cameraman, made their way toFremont island April 2, 1944. Thedogs jumped the coyote near the northend of the island, drove it toward thehunters and the firing began. Some200 rounds of ammunition later thebeast took to the open lake and headedfor Promontory point in an effort toescape. The firing continued. Theswimming animal was finally wounded.Stoddard took up the chase in a smallmotor boat and brought the coyoteback to the island for execution. Thiswas probably the most spectacularcoyote hunt ever staged in this part ofthe country.

The water supply, both for humansand animals, has always been a seriousproblem on Fremont island. However,Stoddard effectively solved the prob-lem by driving artesian wells. One ofthese is probably the shallowest flow-ing well in Utah, consisting of one16-foot length of two-inch pipe. Itflow s a good stream of clear coldwater of slightly brackish taste, butsatisfactory for culinary use. The wellwas driven on an alkali flat only a fewinches above lake level. That was in1941 when the lake was near its all-time low level. During the summer of1948when the lake was two feethigher than in 1941the well wassubmerged in the brine. Stoddard'sattempts to pipe the water to higherground failed, the fresh water forcingits way up around the pipe and dis-charging itself into the lake. By latesummer, however, the lake had reced-ed, making the fresh water availableagain.Always interested in improving navi-gation and shipping on the lake, Stod-dard recently obtained a landing bargefrom the government. Purchased at

Mare island, the boat was shipped byrail to Ogden and trucked to the SaltLake county boat harbor where it waslaunched. This surplus war craft mightseem a little out of place on peacefulGreat Salt Lake but Stoddard hasequipped it to serve his needs. It re-places the lakemobile and is used totransport wool, sheep, machinery, orpassengers about the lake.'PROTECT INDIANS' TRUMANTELLS NEW COMMISSIONEREventua l lifting of government super-vision over tribal affairs, a change hebelieves "will require years," is theonly major policy which the new Com -missioner of Indian affairs has yet dis-cussed following his recent appoint-ment to the important post.New U. S. Indian commissioner isDr. John R. Nichols, president of theNew M exico A & M college. He suc-ceeds William A. Brophy, Albuquerqueattorney, who resigned last summer be -cause of ill health. Dr. Nichols hasbeen granted a year's leave of absencefrom the college to take his nationalposition.

Dr. Nichols is already on the job,his nomination by President Trumanhaving been confirmed by the senate.As Indian commissioner he will findhundreds of problems laid in his lap.Immediately after his confirmation bythe senate, Dr. Nichols made thisstatement:"The only policy I will mention isthe instruction given me by Mr. Tru-man. The president told me, 'protectthe Indians.' That is a policy withwhich I wholeheartedly agree."While virtually everyone will agreewith that general statement of policy,the question of how best to "protect"the Indian is a highly controversial onethroughout the Southwest desertcountry.

Big Industry I nvade sThe Desert Solitude . . .Going against the recommendationof the Riverside county Planning com-mission, the county board of supervis-ors has given the go-ahead signal toIndustrialist Samuel Guiberson forconstruction of a multi-million-dollarcement plant in the Whitewater areaonly a few miles from the famed desertresort community of Palm Springs,California. Following the board's ac-tion, Guiberson immediately let a $15,-000,000 contract for construction of ahuge plant, expected to be in operationwithin a year. Opposition to the indus-trial plant came mostly from PalmSprings. The plant is to be located near extensive limestone deposits.

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Pictures ofthe M onth

First prize in Desert's March photocontest was won by James D. Hicks,Colton, California with the accompany-ing photo taken near San Bernardino.Tak en a t f. 16 at 1/110 seco nd on a 2Vix3 lA Graf lex with K-2 ye llow filter.

Second prize was awarded to C. R.Ege, Chicago, Illinois for his photo tak-en at Taos Pueblo, New Mexico inSeptember 1947 about noon. Takenwith a Zeiss Super Ikonta B on p ana -tomic-X film, 1/50 second at f.6.

Specia l Mer i tThe following picturesentered for the March con-test while not awardedprizes were of exceptionalmerit:"Taos Pueblo" taken atTaos, New Mexico by H ar-old J. Chall, San Leandro,California."Kitten in a Desert Sno-Bowl" taken in LucerneValley, California by Mar-garet A. Watkins."Horse and Desert" tak-en in Mexico by R. Van

Nostrand, San D iego, Cali-fornia.

Deser t Sparrow-Hawks

FiestsBread. .


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Black Magic of the Cahui laAmong all the Indians of thedesert Southwest, the most se-cure economically are themem-bers of the Mission tribe of Ca-huilla living inCoachella valleyof California. Paradoxically, al-though these Indians derivetheir wea lth from and are incon-stant association with a largepopulation of Anglo-Americans,their ancient tribal customs andreligion remain virtually aclosedbook to the public. Yet they dohave a religiona very potentritual, youwill agree, when youread John Hilton's story of theirwhite andblack magic.

By JOHN HILTON

7E full moon cast a long dis-torted rectangle of light throughthe door of the arrowweed hut,turning the dust on the floor to pow-dered platinum. In the center of theroom were thedying embers of the fire.On all four sides of the fire, seatedon crude benches facing the cardinalpoints of the compass, were the faith-ful of the Toro branch of California'sCahuilla tribe. Men, women andchil-dren, babes in arms and even a fewmangy dogs. Coppery skins near thefire were burnished highlights againstOne of the best known among the old fire-eating medicine men of theCahuilla is Ambrosia shown here decked in his ceremonial feathers.Photo byField Studio ofRiverside.

the dark background. All was silentsave theoccasional whimper of a babeand the soft "ss" of the mother quiet-ing it, or the low growl of a canineunder thebench.We hadbeen seated there since theblaze wasbright andfolks were talka-tive. A hush hadcome sogradually asto behardly perceptible as thefirehadfaded from a crackling blaze to a softglow of embers.Suddenly an old man, whose w rinkledface reminded me of a mummy, let outa loud grunt! I shuddered and my In-dian friends on either side suppressedquiet chuckles. It was no ordinaryhuman grunt. It recalled thetime whenI was a small boyvisiting the zoowitha couple of older friends and one ofthem poked a sharp stick into the flankof a sleeping lion. It made thehair onthe back of my neck stand and left aprickly sensation all over my skin.Then there was absolute silence savefor occasional crackling of a mesquitecoal. There came another grunt, evenlouder if this could be possible, fol-lowed bytwo huh huh sounds inunisonfrom the older men in the room. Theinterval of silence was shorter thistime, then another "whuoohhuhhuh" and another and another, eachtime halving the interval of silence.The timing was as perfect as a wellconducted symphony. I caught myselffalling in with the soft grunts aftereach loud whuooh! Gradually, thegrunts settled down to a steady rhythm.

An old mansitting in the middle ofthe bench farthest from thedoor aroseand kicked the ends of the mesquitefaggots into the center of the coals.The fire flared up like turning on afloodlight. People stirred on the benchand thegrunting stopped.It wasCasimiri Ludo, old and slen-der, erect as a sapling and noble inappearance in the light of the blazingceremonial fire though he wasdressedin a simple blue denim shirt andjeans.He made several unsteady circlesaround the fire as though he wasstumbling around in his sleep but hiseyes were wide open and they neverleft thecenter of the fire. Suddenly hestopped and blew a tremendous blastinto the blaze from the east. It wasa noisy hissing blast of air that sentsparks andcoals scurrying to theveryfeet of tribesmen across the room.Then more circles and he blew againinto the fire, this time from the west.Then thesouth andfinally thenorth.Again the old man in the corner

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gave out with his grunt and the chorusfollowed. This was repeated severaltimes and Casimiri started stompingthe earth with his right foot. He wouldraise his foot nearly even with hiswaist and strike the ground with hissole, making a noise similar to that ofan alarmed buck rabbit. It was noordinary stomp and each time his footstruck the ground he let out his breathwith a noisy hiss. The other mengrunted in time with his stompingwhich he kept up for several seconds,finally throwing his hands into the air,with a wild yell.This he repeated several times. Thenfrom another corner someone startedsinging a low chant. The words weresomething like this: "ah mo ne menate ah ya wa". Casimiro stood still inhis tracks and the singer went onbarely audible and in a very low pitch"ah mo ne mena te eenata eewa ah mone mena te sh ya wa". Casimiro slowlyremoved his blue shirt and laid it onthe bench. He reached in the sidepocket of his jeans and pulled out astrip of cloth which he bound aroundhis head. Then he stepped to the brushwall of the ceremonial house and re-moved a cloth wrapped bundle. Fromthis he took two bunches of owl feath-ers and tucked them in the bandaround his head. Then he took twomore and tucked them in his belt andwalked toward the fire. Once more heblew into the fire from the four cardi-nal directions and then removed thefeathers from his belt and began shoo-ing spirits out of the place with them.Occasionally he would pass thefeathers over the fire and purify them,then chase more spooks out of an-other corner. Every few times the songwas repeated another singer wouldtake up the strain un til, about 20 menand women were singing. Since someof the music is in quarter notes, theeffect was not musical in a modernsense. The women who sang, did soin a strange minor harmony like play-ing two black keys on the piano.

The effect made me forget that thiswas the twentieth century and that ineveryday life these people were justnormal neighbors working in fields,driving trucks and doing all the ordi-nary things that people do. I had beencarried a thousand years into the pastwith no other props than some rhythm,music and owl feathers.Suddenly Casimiro started poundingthe ground with his foot again andended with another yell. The musicstopped and then changed to anothersong. The medicine man stepped tothe fire and blew into it hard threetimes in quick succession, then hestopped and picked up a living, burn-

ing coal of fire and held it in his handand blew sparks off of it.Pandemonium broke in the cere-monial house. The tribesmen yelledlike a pack of coyotes as Casimiroslowly placed the coal of the fire inhis mouth and, breathing in throughhis nose and out of his mouth, hemade a circle of the room and blewsparks in the direction of everyone.This fire eating process was repeatedthree times and ended by the placingof the owl feathers upright in the dustby the fire to be taken up by anothermedicine man.The next man, after considerablesinging and stomping, struck himselfseveral times on the forehead andknelt by the fire and spit somethinginto his hand and held it in the lightof the fire where it squirmed like asmall white grub worm. When he didthis the Indians screamed louder thanduring the fire eating. Finally he tookthis object up and swallowed it again.

Later I was told that this was theman's soul.That was my introduction to a Ca-huilla fire ceremony. I have seenmany since with several variations.Once I took a physician who was notonly a nose and throat specialist but aa very accomplished amateur magician.He offered to pay a young medicineman ten dollars if he would allow himto examine his mouth and throat be-fore and after the proceedings.

The man never left our sight afterthe examination. He sat beside us untilhe got up to dance. Afterward he cameand sat down between us until theother dances were over and submittedagain to a very careful examination.The doctor found only a slightreddening on one spot on the boy'stongue which he said might feel a littleraw the next morning. He was at a lossto explain how it could have been doneby straight trickery.Later, when I knew Casimiro well,

Photo at Soboba Hot Springs. Courtesy Mr. and Mrs. B ob Robertson.

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I asked him what really happenedwhen he ate fire and his reply was verysimple and straightforward. "It's easyto eat fire," he said, "if you think youcan. First you think your hand verywarm, then very hot, then hotter than

fire. When hand hotter than fire, firefeels cool can handle with handeasy. Next, think tongue and mouthvery hot same way. Fire taste just likeice cream but be sure don't breatheair in through mouth."

HardRock Shortyof Death Valley

"Any snakes around here?"asked the newcomer.Obviously he was a tenderfoot,and his question was directed atHard Rock Shorty and a coupleof other old-timers seated on thebattered porch bench in front ofInferno store."Ain't seen one fer years," an-swered Hard Rock, and then heturned back to his three-week-old newspaper as if the conversa-tion was ended.But the tourist was curious."What kind of snakes were they?""Were there any sidewinders?""What became of them," etc.,etc.Shorty paid no attention atfirst, but when the dude persistedhe finally laid the paper down indisgust."Sure, I'll tell yuh what hap-pened to 'em," he said."Death valley usta be over-runwith bull snakes. Millions of 'em,and they was big fightin' reptiles.They'd even come in the houseand take grub out offen the dinin'table. They wuz always hungry."That's the way it wuz back in'15 when Pisgah Bill decided tostart a chicken ranch over onEight Ball crick. Bill brought inone o' them incubators and a loto' eggs, and soon had severalhundred little chicks in the penhe built for 'em. Then one nightthem snakes found a hole an'got into the penand next morn-in' Bill wuz outta the chickenbusiness."But Pisgah figgered he couldkeep the snakes out, so he or-dered a couple a hundred moreeggs. But he fergot to fix thathole, and next mornin' the eggswuz gone."That made Bill plenty mad.

'I'll fix them consarned reptiles,'he exclaimed. So, his next orderwuz fer a big batch o' them chinanest eggs."He put 'em in the pen, andthen fixed that hole so it wasbarely big enough fer a snake tosqueeze through. An' next morn-in' they wuz forty-three bullsnakes in that pen, each one witha big bulge in the middle of 'im.Them snakes 'd swallered theeggs, and couldn't digest 'eman' that bulge was too big to gothrough the hole."Bill caught so many snakesthat way he lost countandskinned 'em and sold their hidesfer makin' fancy pocketbooksand belts. 'Fore the summer wuzover he'd made more moneysellin' snake skins than he couldamade out o' raisin' chickens."An he'd be doin' it yet, onlyhe ran outta snakes."

I tried his formula and was able tohandle the coals but when I put one inmy mouth it burned me. I told Casi-miro about this and he laughed andsaid, "Nobody sang. You can't eat firewithout sing." After that I just watched.At the beginning of the war, thegovernment was having trouble get-ting the Indian boys to register. They

didn't mind fighting so much but theyhave a decided aversion to signingtheir names to documents, especiallywhen someone tries to make them.A medicine man named Basket wentthrough the same preliminaries I havedescribed, then knelt by the fire nakedto the waist and poured handfuls of hotglowing coals all over his head andback. After this he brushed the dustaway from the hard ground andpounded on it with his hands until itsounded like a giant drum. People amile away mentioned the drumming

the next morning accomplished onlyby pounding the bare earth with thepalms of his hands. After the poundingceremony, Basket put his ear to theground and held it there for about 20minutes. Then he arose slowly to hisfeet and, holding his right arm out-stretched before him, delivered quitean oration in Cahuilla.My friends translated later. It was,in brief, that he had been in touchwith the earth godthe god of theland of their fathers and of all grow-ing things. This god had told him thattheir land was really in danger andwhether they hated Japan or not theymust go out and protect their landand their homes and that they shoulddo whatever was asked of them bytheir white brothers. The war recordsshow that these Cahuillas did not failnor falter in b attle. There was no m oretrouble about the draft registration.There are two regular fire dances.One on the three nights of the fullspring moon, and another on the threenights of the fall moon. In the intervalsbetween there may be any number ofspecial occasions for fire eating, mostly

in healing tribesmen or when there issomething of importance to be an-nounced to the people. None of thesedances are ever open to the generalpublic. I have seen as many as a dozenoutsiders at a dance but they had beeninvited by Indian friends.This is considered by the Cahuillasas white magic or good medicine butsometimes a medicine man goes badand uses the powers and secrets in hispossession to obtain money or to workevil. These are referred to as devildancers, but never to their faces as

they are feared by all.12 T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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One young Indian donned Holly-wood feathers and put on fire dancesfor the public. He got $50 a dancebut not enough bookings to make ita profitable vocationand in the endhe was loser, for those $50 fees spoiledhim for ordinary labor. Then histribesmen found out what he was do-ing. At the next fire dance, every-thing went wrong. The timing wasbroken, the music was wrong, nothingworked as it should and when the finalmoment came for him to eat the fire,he was the center of a ring of staring,hating eyesaccused of prostitutinghis religion. He put the fire in hismouth and it burned him.He became very angry with his peo-ple and went into seclusion. When hecame out, he was shunned by all, andis to this day. His wife and family haveleft him. He is bad medicine or blackmagic. Such men when they finally die

become lesser devils or evil spirits ac-cording to Cahuilla belief.One such in ancient times was calledTah Kwish. He became a powerfulforce of evil and abducted many prettymaidens whom he kept frozen in anice cave on the windswept peak ofSan Jacinto mountain. A canyon calledTahquitz bears his mispelled namenear Palm Springs. Today, when thereis a rumbling noise on the mountain,Indians refer to it as the growling ofTah Kwish. This and other legendshave kept his evil name alive for cen-turies.When the country was sparsely set-tled by white folks, there were manymore bad medicine men than there aretoday. There was rivalry between someof them. In their feuds they sometimesresorted to death sings. Each medicineman would bring his own chorus ofsingers and meet at some neutral spot.Each group in turn would sing hatesongs at the other. These hate songs(or the belief in them) had killingpower and according to legend werethe cause of many deaths. There arerecords in the Riverside county coro-ner's files giving the cause of death as

witchcraft!While there is actual proof of deathby black magic among my Cahuillaneighbors, there is recent proof, and Iwitnessed it, of cure by good medicineor white magic.I stated that the Cahuillas madegood soldiers. Most of those who sawaction are either in graves overseas orbear the purple heart. A few camehome minus arms or legs. Two Ca-huilla lads developed battle shock afterthe shooting was over. They had beenin the first assault waves on some ofthe bloodiest beachheads in the SouthPacific and came through with honors.Safe at home, they were tortured by

Typical meeting or ceremon ial hut of the Cah uilla. Ph oto by U. S.Indian service.nightmares. Government doctors ex-amined them and prescribed rest andquiet and said time might overcometheir difficulties, but they got no better.Then, the medicine man took over.Late one afternoon I followed direc-tions given me to a ceremonial househidden in the brush. We arrived aftersundown and found quite a crowd eat-ing a ceremonial feast. When this wasover the sing started in much the samemanner as ordinary fire eating cere-moniesthe same grunting and stomp-ing; the same cleansing by owl feath-ers and the singing of many songs,some of which were new to me.

When the affair neared its climax,the two young patients were led for-ward and told to kneel in front of thefire. Basket took the owl feathers andheld them over the fire, then brushedeach patient very carefully, especiallythe head, face and shoulders. At inter-vals he shook the bunches of feathersover the fire as if removing somethingby the gesture. Then he took red em-bers in his mouth and blew sparks oneach one until he had burned out andblackened three coals.His next step was to kneel in frontof one of the lads and place his lipsover the lips of the patient and blowvery hard. I could see the boy's cheekspuff out and his eyes bulge from theforce of the blast. Then he blew in hisnostrils and finally very hard in eachear. This must have been painful, butthe lad did not flinch. Finally, grasp-ing him by each ear, he drew his fore-

head to him and put his lips on a spotjust above and directly between theeyes. Finally, he pulled his mouthaway with a resounding smack like theremoval of a cork from a bottle andspit something into his hand. The wit-nesses yelled and wailed in almosthysterical manner while he held asmall white squirming object to thelight of the fire a moment and thendropped it into the flame. He turnedthen to his other patient and repeatedthe performance. Both boys remainedkneeling while he brushed them againwith the owl feathers and finally madea short speech. A friend sitting besideme translated it.He said that these boys, while onone of these remote beachheads, be-came the victims of newly releasedspirits from some enemy they hadkilled. These spirits had clamped ontotheir souls and were determined to livewith them and torture them the rest oftheir lives. This removal and burninghad sent the devil spirits to the worldbeyond where they could no longertorment the lads.These boys, whose names I havebeen asked to withhold, slept well thatnight and have not been botheredsince. Call it what you may, psychol-ogy, hypnotism, suggestion, black magicor white, whatever it wasit worked!Army and navy hospitals are full ofpatients today, suffering from the samemental ailments which neither medi-cine nor psychology have been able tocure.

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Chalcedony roses of the Sauceda mountains. Many of these stones fluoresce anintense yellow-green. This picture was taken e ntirely by the light given off by theroses under the ultra-violet lamp.

M agic Rocks of the SaucedasFor this month's field trip Harold Weight went down into the P apa go countryof southern Arizona, and with one of Ajo's rock collectors as guide, found aplace where chalcedon y fairly "oozes out" of the mountain.

HEN Ezra Voyce and I left theAjo-Gila Bend highway andheaded northeast toward theSauceda mountains, we were huntingfor a hill "oozing chalcedony." Wehad only a rough pencil sketch of thetrail to guide us, and neither of us hadbeen in that particular area before.L. T. Beggs, editor of the Ajo CopperNews, had made the sketch for mewhen I visited him early in November.Editor Beggs is relatively new to thesouthern Arizona desert, but he hasbecome a confirmed desert rat andspends much of his free time knockingan automobile to pieces on the aban-doned and forgotten back-trails whichlace the Ajo country. He was running

By HAROLD O. WEIGHTthe last copies of the current issue ofhis weekly paper when I entered theprintshop and I had to shout to beheard above the roar. He shut downthe rumbling press and considered myrequest for rock information seriously.He was afraid, he said, that hecouldn't help me. First, he wasn't arockhound. Second, he wouldn't knowwhat would make a good field trip.Before I could become discouraged bythese disclamations, he drove me outto see a pile of rocks and mineralspecimens which had been brought infrom the surrounding country. Andwhen I showed my interest in somenicely marked chunks of agate andchalcedony, he grinned.

"Well," he said. "If it's chalcedonyyou want, I know a hill where it's justoozing out." We whirled back to theCopper News office and he sketchedthe road, as he remembered it, on apiece of scratch paper. T hen he phonedEzra Voyce and told him I was com-ing over to see him.Ezra, I discovered, is the most en-thusiastic and prolific polisher of gemstones in Ajo. Like most citizens ofthe copper town, he is employed bythe Phelps-Dodge New Cornelia Cop-per company. He and his wife managethe ultra-modern dormitory for bache-lor employees which the copper com-pany has just opened. In the mana-ger's apartment, Ezra showed me a

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


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Ezra Voyce show s the mode of occurrence of g eodes in the Saucedas, where theyweather from perlite masses.table covered with cards of cabochonswhich he had cut. Most of the stonesare made from local material.Much of the most beautiful gem ma-terial from the Ajo area comes fromthe great open pit of the New CorneliaCopper company. Especially strikingwere the stones he had cut from shat-tuckite, a rather uncommon coppersilicate of varying shades of blue. Thestone polishes beautifully but, sincethe hardness is about 5.5, it does notkeep its sheen in jewelry receivinghard wear.

Other ores from the mine, which hehas polished as stones or specimens,included chrysocolla, malachite andazurite. But only the copper com-pany's employees are present whenblasting operations occasionally breakinto these highly colored veins andscatter the bright copper minerals. Therockhound who wants to collect hisown material must look to other fields.Ezra has been with New Cornelia

10 years. He worked in the giant con-centrating mill before managing thedormitory. Before coming to Ajo, heworked 20 years for the Utah Con-struction company in Nevada.When he came to Ajo, Ezra's firsthobby was the making of bookendsand lamps out of local native materi-als. The bases of the bookends arecut from heavy fine textured iron-wood, and the polish this beautifulwood takes rivals that of many stones.On the ironwood he fastened a plateof native copper into which he haddropped copper nuggets while themetal still was semi-molten. Risingfrom the plate is a branched saguaro,also cast from copper. One of thelamps has a really remarkable base,the twisted root of an ironwood whichhe and his brother-in-law have pol-ished by hand. The shade of this lamphas been made of slats fashioned fromthe remains of a dead saguaro.As Ezra continued to expand the

machine shop in his garage, he becameinterested in-the rocks which friendsbrought in. The step of adding sawingand polishing equipment followednaturally. Today he has about all themachinery in that line which is avail-able. Much of it he designed and builthimself.He was eager to go with me on thehunt for the chalcedony hill. Beforewe left he showed me an interestingsmall geode which he had made intoan ash tray by grinding and polishingthe outside. There were more of themin the mountains to which we weregoing, he said. I realized that thesemust be the "volcanic bubbles" whichBeggs had mentioned.We headed north from Ajo on High-way 85. About 13 miles from Ajo, thepavement cuts through a strikinglyeroded valley in the Crater range. Thisvalley, although the result of erosionby water and weather, appears so much

like the center of a volcanic cone thatM A Y , 1 9 4 9 15


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early travelers called it the Crater andthe name eventually was applied to theentire range.We left the highway at 18.4 milesfrom Ajo, taking an old road, right,toward theSaucedas. It was broad andbladed, probably thework of thearmywhich had several landing fields be-tween Ajo and Gila Bend, but runoffalready had cut it badly. The road fol-lowed awinding course until we crossedthe railroad the Tu cson, Cornelia andGila Bendbuilt to ship theoutput ofthe Ajo mine. After crossing the tracks,we left the fading remnants of thegraded road and headed eastward alongthe well-traveled ruts of an unim-proved desert road.

Modern roads in southern Arizona,such as the highway we had just left,are straight as a rule, piercing theheart of thevalleys anddisdaining thecolorful hills on either side. But theold roads wander endlessly, in happycompanionship with rocks and moun-tains, desert trees and shrubs andwashes. They often arehard goingandeven irritating in the manner in whichsometimes they seem actively to avoidreaching the destination you havechosen. One cannot really say he knowsany portion of the desert until he hasfollowed a desert road.The wandering of these roads is notaimless. Kirk Bryan in his invaluableThe Papago Country, Arizona, pub-lished by the U. S. Geological surveyand long out of print, explains theirorigins. Most of the old roads followIndian trails. When the Indians trav-eled on foot through the desert, theirparamount need was water. So the oldroad, following the old trail, touchesevery point where temporary or per-manent water supplies existed. TheIndians generally preferred to goaround an obstacle, a tendency fol-lowed by prospectors andpresent dayrock collectors.The present Papago reservation liessouth and east of the hills forwhichwewere heading. But this is all old Pa-pago country. And their origin myth,as recounted by Ruth Underhill inPapago Indian Religion, tells of a timewhen the mountains were shapeless

Above In shallow caves, such asthese, the Old Ones made theirsummer camps while harvestingsaguaro fruit and hunting thewild sheep.Below One of the little-knowntanks in the Sauceda mountainsnear thege m field. Chippings andpottery sherds in near-by cavesshow this area to have been thecamping site ofearly Indians whoprobably hunted the wild sheeponce abundant in these mountains.



17/48

and the ranges and rivers all ran west.Then Buzzard was sent out to gashthe mountains and turn them and therivers in various directions.Buzzard certainly must have been abusy bird around the Sauceda moun-tains. As we neared them, they ap-peared a tangled mass of buttes, can-yons and ridges. Geologists have a dif-ferent explanation. They agree thatsome very exciting activity took placein the area during the Tertiary periodwhen volcanic action formed a seriesof flows and tuffs which almost com-pletely buried the earlier rocks. Bata-monte mountain to the south, an an-cient dissected volcano, may have ac-counted for some of the ocean of liquidrock which at one time rolled acrossthis land, forming great layers of rhyo-lite and basalt. The ridges and plateausof the Saucedas are made up of thesevolcanic flows.It is a wild aloof country, withmountains rising abruptly from theplains, thorned and spined Sonoranvegetation thick along the washes, andgiant saguaros climbing the slopes.There is little visual evidence of theactivities of present-day inhabitants ofthe area, and still fewer reminders ofthe native tribesmen who roamed it inthe past.Bu t we know that once there was alarge semi-nomad population in thisland. Potsherds, arrow chippings andcampsites can be found at every water-

hole. The great missionary-traveler,Father Eusebio Kino, reported themduring one of his explorations of Pi-meria Alta. In September and October,1700, he journeyed from Pozo Verdeto thepresent site of Gila Bend. Octo-ber 1, 1700, he arrived at a village hecalled San Geronimo. In his dairy herecounted that 280 people waited forhim in the village and 150 arrived thatnight from another rancheria to seehim. "Because it was night, neitherthe women nor the children had come,"he reported. But in the surroundingarea there were more than 1000 per-sons "who had never seen a father orany Spaniard."Kino traveled on six leagues to avery good watering place, "and after12 more at another among inaccessiblerocks, which the pack animals couldnot reach to drink, although the guidesbrought us enough water to drink forourselves." This tank, Dr. HerbertBolton believes, was on the easternside of the Saucedas.Kino's visit, although he appointeda "new governor, a fiscal mayor andother justices," apparently did notgreatly affect the lives or the customsof the Papagos. Fortunately for themthey had little in mineral or agricul-

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tural resources that the Spaniardswanted. When the American tide ofemigration swept westward, it followedthe valley of the Gila river and most ofthe travelers were more interested ingetting through than in exploring.The Saucedas and the surroundingterritory became part of the UnitedStates with the Gadsden purchase, ne-gotiations for which were completedDecember 30, 1853. Even before thecompletion of the boundary survey in1855 and the official turning of theland over to the United States, pros-

pectors were active in the area andhad discovered the copper outcrop-pings at Ajo. A forerunner of the pres-ent giant operations, a company wasorganized in 1854 and ore was hauled300 miles across the desert by bullteam and shipped in sailing vessels toSwansea, Wales. There it sold for $360a ton, but this early attempt endedwith the working out of the richestveins.As we approached the SaucedasaSpanish word meaning "little willows"we were heading for a prominent,M A Y , 1949 17


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flat-topped mountain which is a land-mark visible from Gila Bend to Ajo.On maps and in the publications of theU. S. geological survey, it is calledHat mountain. But Beggs and manyAjo residents call it Table Top. Ourroad wound through the bushes. Hereand there old trails branched or

crossed, but we held to the main-traveled tracks.Editor Beggs had never checked themileage or directions closely, but he isan observant man and, following thepencilled sketch, we had little diffi-culty finding the area described. Theroad entered the broad mouth of a

D e s e r t Q u i z Desert Magazine's Quiz is prepared as an anti-dote for one-track minds. You have to know alittle about many things to score high in thistest. Or, if you do not already know about the geography, the mineralogy,the history, the botany and the lore of the desert country, the Quiz willanswer many questions for you. A score of 12 to 15 is good, 16 to 18superior, and higher than that very exceptional. Answers are on page 40.1Jerky, an important food item for the desert pioneer, is made by dryingbrine-soaked mea t: Over an open fire In the sun In anoven In a smoke house2Stove Pipe Wells is a famous watering place in: Southern NevadaPainted Desert Escalante Desert Death Valley3To see the annual dance of the "Smoki Indians" you would go to:Prescott, Arizona Gallup, New Mexico Havasupai can-yon White Mountain, Apache reservation4The major farm crop raised by prehistoric Indian tribes in the South-west was: Beans Corn Tobacco Cotton5D esert tortoise eggs are laid and hatched: In the sun Unde r-neath sand where they are laid and covered by the mother Innests cons tructed of sticks and leaves In crevices in the rocks....6A former governor of New Mexico was author of the book: BenHur Quo Vadis Last Days of Pompeii LookingBackward7The color of Evening Primrose found at this season of the year onthe dunes and mesas is: Pink White Yellow Blue8Among the Navajo a Chindee is: A medicine man A tool formaking sand paintings A devil or evil spirit A certaintype of headdress9The predominating minerals in granite are: Malachite and azuriteCalcite and lepidolite Manganese and apatite Quartz andfeldspar10The Colorado tributary which Powell named the Dirty Devil river,now known as Fremont river, is in: Arizona ColoradoUtah Nevada11San Xavier mission is located nea r: Santa Fe El PasoCasa Grande Tucson12The U.S. army officer in charge of the first camel caravan acrosswestern United States was : Lieut. Ives Lieut. Beale Cap t.Cook Lieut. Emory13To reach Roosevelt dam you would take the: Coronado Trail high-way Sunkist Trail Apache Trail Broadway of America14Frijoles canyon cliff dwellings are located in: Bandelier nationalmonument White Sands national monument Hopi reserva-

tion Mesa Verde national park15The Epitaph is the name of a newspaper published a t: Jerome, Ari- zona Goldfield, Nevada Searchlight, Nevada Tom b-stone, Arizona16Kolb brothers gained fame for their: Discovery of Rainbow natura lbridge First photographic expedition through the canyon of theColorado Early day outlaw exploits Exploration of Dea thValley17 The historic Piper Opera House was located at: Calico, CaliforniaSalt Lake City Santa Fe Virginia City, Nevada18Correct spelling of the name of the largest city in New Mexico is:Albaquerque Albuquerqe Albequerqe Albuquerque19The main business of the Phelps Dodge company is: Stock raisingMining Lumbering Transportation20The West's famous Brewery Gulch was located in the mining town of:Tonopah Jerome Bisbee Tombstone

canyon. Reddish, isolated hills croppedto the north, and we passed close to ablack basalt mesa on the south. Thesharp slopes of Table Top, strikingin its light yellowish bands, rose al-most ahead.Although we had not reached themileage Beggs had estimated, the rug-

ged red hills to the left demanded in-vestigation. We parked the car at sixmiles from the highway, and hikedalmost north to the nearest butte.There was some chalcedony weatheringout, but it showed no color and fewpieces of pretty design. Followingalong the ridges eastward, we cameupon an outcropping of geodes on theslopes of the next hill. Most of themwere small, and they were weatheringfrom masses of greyish perlite.There are hundreds of geodes inthis immediate area and apparentlyother deposits of a similar type in thesurrounding hills. Most of the geodesare thin-shelled. When the interiorsare clean, they are excellent examplesof crystal geodes, most of the quartzcrystals being quite small. Unfortun-ately, many of the thin shells have de-veloped small breaks, and mineralsand dirt have made their way in, stain-ing and encrusting the crystals.After collecting samples of the ge-odes, we drove to 7.1 miles, where theroad swings sharply right across thewash. A jagged red hill to the south,its ridges spotted with saguaros, seemed

to fit Begg's description. On the north-ern approaches to the hill we foundbroken pieces of chalcedony and somefinely shaped roses. As we prospectedthe rock-strewn slopes, these stonesbecame more plentiful. And when wereached the cliff faces we found them,as the Ajo editor said, "oozing" fromthe rocksin some places as seamsand in others individual roses.Ezra, looking over one of the beauti-ful flower-shapes, said, "I'll bet they'llfluoresce." Others from washes farthersouth, he explained, showed good flu-orescence under an ultra-violet lamp.

Knowing from past experience thatwhile chalcedony from one area fluor-esces that from nearby may not, I wasdoubtful. But when darkness came, Itried some of the roses with my port-able lamp and they lighted up with anintense yellow-green more brilliantthan any other chalcedony I have seen.Chalcedony roses are fairly com-mon, though always attractive to me.But good fluorescent ones are notcommon, and a few of these intenselybrilliant ones will be prize specimensin anyone's collection. The roses are

not found in quantity anywhere, butthey are scattered over a large area18 T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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and wherever checked, from a numberof spots in surrounding hills, showedgreen under the ultra-violet light. Thecenters of geodes we had found alsofluore sced green, but the color w asmuch paler.There are many things to see in thatwild country, and late afternoon

found us bouncing along an almostvanished trail, cut to pieces by deepwashes and passable only to four-wheel drive. We were searching for anatural tank which I had been toldwas located in an arroyo north ofTable Top. Driving as far as possible,we hiked on to the edge of the washand found the tank or tinajaa poolat the base of a deep fall. There wasstill a good supply of water in thepool, and evidence that animals hadbeen using it.Beyond the pool we came into asheltered little valley with a group of

big saguaros in its center, and abovethem, on the northwest side of thevalley, a shallow cave. The combina-tion of cave, saguaros and water almostguaranteed that this spot had beenused by the Papagos or their ances-tors. A climb to the cave disclosedsmoke marks, pottery sherds and arrowchippings.How long ago the last Indian leftthis camp there is no way of knowing,since the Papagos continued their no-madic life almost to the present gen-eration. Long ago this must have beena very pleasant camp for hunting andfor harvesting the fruit of the saguaro.The Papagos were great travelers, andtheir annual cycle is an interesting one.With July thunderstorms they movedinto brush villages on the plains and

planted corn, beans and squash in theclayish soil, irrigated by the rains andwith water caught in primitive naturaland artificial reservoirs called charcos.When the crops were harvested, theywent to the mountains to spend thewinter near permanent springs, in rockshelters.Then in June, when the saguarofruit ripened and the wild sheep wereforced through the drying up of watersupplies to come to the tinajas, thePapagos camped at waterholes such asthis one in the Saucedas. The Indianswho lived here probably belonged tothe Western Papagos, nicknamed "hu-hura" or "huhula" said to mean "or-phans." They were called this by theother tribesmen because they lived inthe desert, without good water, andcould not build permanent villages.Other branches of the tribe, seeingthem live in the strange lands, calledthem sorcerers.What sorcerers they really couldhave been if they had been able tomake the white rocks under their feetglow green, as we can do with thoseroses today! To me, this phenomenoncalled fluorescence is little short ofwitcheryas strange as anything theseancient ones practiced. Scientists ex-plain it, but when all is said it amountspractically to this: One color of lightfalls upon a rock and another color isreturned.Probably these Indians noticed theflower-like rocks in their hunting coun-try, but unless they used them for

charms or children's playthings I imag-ine the roses were of little interest. Agood rock to an Indian was one thathe could convert into arrowheads,grinding stones or face paint.

As the sun sloped toward the hori-zon, great shadows blacked the craggymountains, poured into pocket-likevalleys. I was reluctant to leave thislonely beautiful spot. The Papagoshave withdrawn to their reservationacross the mountains, the wild sheephave fled to isolated spots. But thesaguaros and the cave and the rocksand the waterhole remain. And itseemed perhaps that if I wouldwait just a little longer in the gather-ing dusk, campfires would spring tolife, the smell of cooking drift downthe evening breeze. Indian womenwould fill their jars at the waterhole,and the evening tasks would be underway.But the night was coming and thetrail we had followed to the valley wasnot one to be trifled with after dark.We climbed back to the car. The motorroared and shattered the past. It was

night when we reached the rutted road.Looking back, the mountains wereblack and solid, as if they had closedranks and had shut us out. For wehad turned our backs on them andwere heading for the highway below.And as the highway cuts the valleysand ignores the hills, these ancientmountains ignore the tiny thread ofman-made paving below them. Some-how I feel that these same mountainswill look down impassively after thethread of paving is gone.

Local inhab itants call this peak, landma rk to the gem field, Table Top, butit seems to be the sam e one mappe d and in U. S. geo logical surveys asHat mountain.

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Ted H utchison holds up a smoke tree seedling of a fewweeks tocontrast itwith a two and ahalf year old tree of the same species. When kept properlywatered,Parosela spinosa is afast-growing tree.

He Brings the Desertto Your Garden...By GEORGE M. ROY

the war Ted Hutchisonserved at a Signal Corps stationon theMojave desert of Califor-nia. One of hisduties was themanage-ment of a small post nursery to raiseshrubs for station landscaping.This was familiar work to Ted.Formore than 20 years he hadbeen inter-ested in cactus. At one time hewas anactive member of theCactus andSuc-culent Society of America, andserveda term as secretary of theorganization.On thedesert, Ted found relief from

sinus and arthritic conditions whichhad plagued him in more humid cli-mates. It was only natural then thatwhen he received his army dischargehe should seek a civilian means of live-lihood in the land of little rainfall.He spent several days with JohnHilton at Thermal, California, whoseknowledge of the desert is well knownto readers of Desert Magazine. Whileat Hilton's he met DonAdmiral,des-ert scientist. Admiral owned some landat Rancho Mirage, a fewmiles east of

For every plant and shrub thatgrows on the desert there is inthe background a revealingstory . . . a story of the in-genuity with which Nature hasmade itpossible for living thingsto survive and multiply in theface of tremendous obstacles.As a desert nurseryman, TedHutchison hasmade it hisbusi-ness to delve into the secrets ofplant lifeand here aresome ofhis interesting d iscoveries.

Palm Springs on State Highway 111,which heoffered Ted for use as a nur-sery. Hilton also encouraged the ven-ture andgave Ted a fewplants to helphim getstarted. Thus hewas launchedin thepleasant work of giving to desertlovers the varieties of plants theyyearned for.Hutchison had observed that hun-dreds of winter visitors to the Coa-chella valley expressed interest in thedesert holly, a member of thesalt bushfamily. A fine, thriving specimen ofA triplex hyme nelytra, with its thick,silvery, pink-tinted leaves, it makes adesirable and rather unique Christmasdecoration. It is found native on thehottest deserts in soil usually impreg-nated with alkali. It is widely distrib-uted but nowhere abundant; and it isnext to impossible successfully to trans-plant it. Ted decided to specialize inthis plant.He learned through experimentationthat for pot culture, desert holly doesbest in a rich, well drained soilcom-posed of two parts loam, one part sandand onepart peat moss. To a six-inchpo t he allows about half a teaspoonfulof balanced fertilizer. For soil culture,hymenelytra likes a sunny locationwith good soil drainage. It will bedam-aged by heavy frost. It requires fre-quent watering until strong growth de-velops, then an occasional soaking.After the plants are well established,water can bewithheld from Septemberuntil after Christmas and the holly

should be excellent for cutting duringthe holidays. Once it becomes estab-lished in theground it will not respondto transplanting. Ted feels that as apotted plant in a window collection,holly probably will always remain aflorist's item.He says that rabbits andstock relishdesert holly because of the salt in itsleaves. The Death Valley Indians usedholly in their meat stews both as avegetable and for thesalt. "Now that Iam making the plant available com-mercially," Tedsays, "itwill some dayfind a treasured place not only in ourgardens but also in our pots andsalads!"



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Another much-prized desert plantwhich is finding increasing popularityamong southwestern gardeners is thesmoke tree. This unusual and strikingmember of the pea familyParoselaspinosais a spiny, almost leafless,gray-green shrub or tree and when infull flower in June is one of the mosthandsome of desert plants. It is con-fined to the bottoms of loose sandywashes where it becomes an easy vic-tim of the flash floods upon which itdepends for moisture. It is short-livedbut a mature tree in full bloom with itsdeep blue flowe rs is a colorful sight.Close observation of smoke tree andother desert dwellers has promptedTed to evolve a theory with regard tothe longevity of desert plants.

"It is my belief," he says, "that thoseplants which are seldom found in theseedling stagesuch as the ocotilloare long-lived and probably very slowgrowing while those around whichabundant seedlings grow are veryshort-lived and inclined to rapidgrowth."The smoke tree would seem to bearout this theory, for after a summer del-uge myriads of seedlings can be ob-served. Few of them survive, but thosewhich remain alive grow quite rapidly,attaining, with adequate water, aheight of three to five feet by the endof the second year. Without sufficientmoisture, individuals may survive forseveral years and be less than threefeet high. "As a matter of fact," Tedpoints out, "you can just about tellhow long ago the last flood came downa desert canyon by the size of thesmoke trees you find there."Incidentally, smoke tree seedlingsare so dissimilar to the adult plantsthat a novice would pass them by w ith-out recognition. The primary leavesare long and fairly wide, slightly ser-rated and with strong visible veins.It is several weeks before the character-istic thorny structure becomes promi-nent.It is not always easy to obtain the

seed of desert plants and sometimesgreat patience is required. OnceHutchison found it necessary to resortto strategy. He greatly desired to ob-tain the seed of the Brandegea Bige-lovii. This is a plant having a fragrantbut very inconspicuous white flowerand a delightfully vivid green, wide-spreading structure which makes itsuitable for covering walls and fences.It is one of the most gorgeous greens inall the desert flora. The seed pods hadalready burst and it was next to impos-sible to distinguish the tiny seeds lyingupon the ground. But Ted noticed thatants were industriously harvesting theseeds and transporting them to their

A typical seedling oj Atriplex hymen elytra, Desert Ho lly. T his interestingplant, says Ted H utchison, will somed ay find a treasu red place not o nly inour gardens but also in our pots and salads!storerooms. "It was the Bigelovii thatmade me a hijacker," he grinned, rem-iniscently. "It was a very simple matterto hold up the ants and steal theirplunder!" In this way he was able toobtain sufficient seed for an adequateplanting. That the ants might not be-come too discouraged and abandontheir work under the Bigelovii, Ted be-gan to give them mustard seed whichhe happened to have with him in ex-change for their Bigelovii. Thus theants kept coming back until the in-truder had secured all the seed heneeded. "It was an even swap afterall," Ted commented.Some attractive plants have the lit-tle trick of exploding their seed pods

so that the seeds scatter some distancefrom the parent plant. Others havelittle silk parachutes attached and thesetake to the air when released from theircases. Ted has found that generallyspeaking if a wide shallow cardboardbox is placed beneath the plant whoseseeds are being sought, and the plantthen firmly shaken, it is possible tocollect abund ant seeds along withbits of leaves and stems, a variety ofbugs, beetles and spiders."Desert seeds are very tempera-mental," Hutchison said. "They maycome up within a few days of plantingand they may not appear for weeks oreven months. Once, in the spring, Iplanted some prickly poppy seeds inM A Y , 1 9 4 9 21


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Ted Hutchison showing Don Admiral, left, how he collects the seed of theChup arosa in a tobacco sack. The plants, left to righ t, are: Spo on thornfrom Sonora, Blue Palm from Baja C alifornia, Chuparosa from C alifornia,Bonanza Daisy from Nevada and a Perfume Acacia from Arizona.pots and waited for many weeks forthem to sprout. I finally despaired ofgetting any results and planted someocotillo seed in the same pots. In duetime I had a fine showing of ocotilloseedlings. After the hot weather endedin the fall the poppy seed suddenlycame to life, sending up their shootsin the midst of the ocotillo seedlings asthough jealous of the attention theywere receiving."Experimenting with ironwood, Tedhas found that the seeds of OlneyaTesota, if planted in the early summer,will usually survive and make fineplants. If planted in the fall, he losesmost of them in the cold weatherwhich follows, for they seem very sus-ceptible to the cold when small. "It israther interesting," he points out "thatwherever you find ironwood growingin its native state, the temperature in-variably is perfect for the cultivation

of citrus!" So if you are contemplatingsetting out a citrus grove somewherein the desert region, take a look aroundfor ironwood. If you find some youmay rest assured that your citrus willdo all right there!The comfort of most desert homes isgreatly enhanced if adequate shade canbe provided. Hutchison believes thata variety of desert trees planted atstrategic locations about the groundsnot only will furnish the desired shadebut also add an assortment of colorfulblossoms in season. Ironwood, for in-stance, has a delicate violet flower thatoften is so profuse as to color thewhole tree. Palo Verde, on the otherhand, displays a golden cascade ofcanary yellow in sharp contrast to themore somber shade of the ironwood.The phantom smoke tree with itsblue-gray and straw branches and deepblue, sometimes almost black bloom,

while not suitable for shade neverthe-less contributes much to the generallandscape when properly cared for. InSouthern California palm trees are ex-tensively employed for ornamental pur-poses. These are easily raised fromseed and while they are rather slowgrowing, once rooted firmly they canwithstand much harsh treatment. Boththe native Washingtonia filifera androbusta are obtainable in quantity andas seedlings they make very interestingplants."Once you get your seedlings com-ing along nicely," I asked Ted, "howdo you keep them healthy and thriv-ing?""Oh, that is a very simple matter,"he assured me. "I have concocted whatI call my 'desert cocktail' which con-tains everything that young plants re-quire to nourish them. So far, though,I'm only using it on my desert holly."This desert cocktail is a mixturecomposed of one tablespoonful of com-mon salt, one teaspoonful of liquid fer-tilizer, one tablet of vitamin B l and onetablet of nicotinic acid to the gallon ofwater. This mixture H utchison uses onhis holly about twice a month untilstrong growth develops. Then abouttwice a year he gives them a specialtreatment. This consists of pinches ofwashing soda, borax, Glauber's salts,Epsom salt, etc. On extra hot days heshades his pots so the roots won'tburn.Ted is looking forward to the timewhen his seedling trees will be largeenough to provide cuttings. The seedof many desert trees and shrubs ishighly variable but cuttings of the par-ent stock will always be identical tothe parent. One tree which readilygrows from cuttings is the so-calleddesert willow or desert catalpa, Chilop-sis linearis, also known occasionallyas desert orchid. It is a true catalpa.Branches can be cut to any desiredlength, placed in a bucket of wateruntil leaf buds and rootlets appear andthen placed in moist soil. This plantwill do very well if placed near thedrain of the inevitable desert cooler.It requires abundant water to getstarted but once rooted firmly it growsat an astonishing rate if kept damp.This is also true of the tamarisk andthe cottonwood. The desert catalpa,when given sufficient moisture, will re-main in bloom all summer, its largeshowy violet-scented blossoms makinga very pleasing addition to any desertgarden; and it can be trimmed forshade.Ted now has available in commer-cial quantity more than 50 varieties of

desert plants suitable for cultivation inprivate gardens. Some are colorful22 T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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flowering plants such as the chuparosa,California fuchsia and scarlet bugler.Others are decorative shrubs like theCrucifixion thorn, jojoba nut and mo-jave broom. Some have provocativenames such as devil's tree, fairyduster,buggy whip and fool's gold.Ted Hutchison is a native Californi-an. He was graduated from the Uni-versity of California at Los Angelesand took graduate work at the Uni-versity of Southern California in prep-aration for an academic career as aSpanish instructor. When he discov-ered the serious nature of his arthriticcondition he decided on desert horti-culture. The field was untouched. Withthe exception of the cacti and othersucculents, no one had attempted toraise purely desert plants on a com-mercial basis. Yet thousands of inter-ested persons were clamoring for thistype of garden material.Ted's beginnings were very humble.His first sale from the Desert Plantnursery was in August of 1946 andnetted him fifty cents. It wasn't even adesert plant. The late humorist, IrvingCobb, had brought some mint from hishome at Paducah, Ky. to Palm Springsfor his private mint juleps and hadgiven some of it to John Hilton. Hiltongave a start of it to Ted and some ofthis constituted his first sale. The fol-lowing month his sales jumped to morethan eight dollars, largely for desertholly. In October of that year he tookin forty dollars. Since then his littlebusiness has steadily mounted until

now it has become firmly establishedand is earning him a comfortable liv-ing. Up to now he has continued tooccupy the land leased to him by DonAdmiral.On the first of April of this year,however, Ted moved his business tothe Mojave desert, where he has ac-quired land on Highway 66. Here heplans to develop a real desert centerwith eventual facilities for over-nightguests. He feels that if he can provideaccommodations for garden clubs andother interested botanic groups, he cando more to spread the culture of desertflora. He has in mind mapping sev-eral short field trips to striking desertareas in the Mojave so that visitorsto the desert can derive added enjoy-ment by personally visiting choice areaswhere flowers can be seen and identi-fied.With the new enlarged facilities, Tedwill continue his experimentation inraising desert holly and other seedlingsfrom variable seed. He hopes to beable to build up a greatly improvedstrain of the more popular desertplants for those who cherish them as

floral decorations or as garden vari-

eties. Thus for a moderate expenditure,those interested can procure almostany desired species of desert shrub orplant without the necessity of trav-eling to some remote canyon or ofrisking the hazards of being found inillegal possession of some forbiddenitem. The law prohibits the picking oruprooting of desert plants but it placesno restriction upon raising those sameplants from seed.Although he has become a well in-formed horticulturist in his field, Tedconsiders himself first of all a conser-vationist. So many thousands of peoplewho have a natural desire to beautifytheir homes and gardens with attrac-tive desert plants have gone into thedesert areas in futile attempts to trans-plant the characteristic flora of the hot,dry, sandy places that they have all

but completely denuded many a for-merly glorious mile of desert roadway.So widespread has been the wanton de-struction of native verdure that lawshave been passed by most states pro-tecting wild plantlife.At his new location six miles west ofBarstow Ted has 1 lA acres of his ownland with a good well, and here withmore space with which to work, heplans to carry on his program of ex-perimentation and propagation on amuch larger scale than has been pos-sible in the past.His is a unique enterprise in whichhe feels he is rendering an importantservice in the preservation of the floralbeauty of the desert country. Ted is afriendly fellow who lives beside theroad and is always glad to share hisknowledge of desert plants with others.

. . . P r i z e C o n t e s t f l n n o u n c e m e n tDuring March and April hundreds of photographers, both profes-sional and amateur, invaded the desert country to record on film themost gorgeous display of wildflowers the desert has known in manyyears. In order that Desert Magazine readers may have the opportunityto see some of the best of these pictures Desert's May contest will bedevoted exclusively to wildflowersgrowing on the desert.Entries for this month's contest must be in the Desert Magazineoffice. Palm Desert, California, by May 20, and winning prints willappear in the July issue. Pictures which arrive too late for one month'scontest are entered in the next. First prize is $10.00; second prize,$5.00. For non-winning pictures accepted for publication, $3.00 eachwill be paid.

HERE ARE THE RULES1Prints for monthly contests must be black and white. 5x7 or larger,printed on glossy paper.2Each photograph submitted should be fully labeled as to subject, timeand place. Also technical data: camera, shutter speed, hour of day, etc.3PRINTS WILL BE RETURNED WHEN RETURN POSTAGE IS EN-CLOSED.4All entries must be in the Desert Magazine office by the 20th of the

contest month.5Contests are open to both amateur and professional photographers.Desert Magazine requires first publication rights only of prize winning pictures.6Time and place of photograph are immaterial, except that it must befrom the desert Southwest.7Judges will be selected from Desert's editorial staff, and awards wil l bemade immediately after the close of the contest each month.Address All Entries to Photo Editor

PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA

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By JIMMIE BREWER

These are the competent hands of Helen H oliday, an excellent young weaverwho ha s not yet m astered the advanced technique of her older sisters andcousins.Skilled Handsat the LoomTo the untrained eye, a Navajo rug is a Navajo rug. But to those whohave learned to judge the skill of the hands and the pride in the heartof those who make these colorful rugs of Indian design, there is a vastdifference. Here is an intimate glimpse of a Navajo girl whose familyhas made the name "Holiday" the trademark of superior craftsmanship

in the weav ing of rugs.24

a dozen years ago I washeading into the western Navajoreservation. At the sand-blasted,windswept Red Lake trading post,postoffice Tonalea, Arizona, I stoppedto see my old friends John and JuneTaylor.After chatting a few moments Johninvited me into the storeroom wherethe Navajo rugs were neatly piled."Jimmie," he said, "I want you to seeone of the prettiest rugs ever broughtin to this post.""It really is a work of art," I toldhim, after examining the rug."It's a Holiday rug," John said."It certainly has a festive look and iswell named," I replied."No," John said, "it gets its namefrom the weaverHelen Holiday."John went on to tell me about theHoliday family. He had first met themat Oljato and learned to prize theirrugs very highly. One of the Holidaygirls had married into a family livingon Calamity Flat and her rugs werenow being brought into the Red Lakepost.The Holiday rug is as distinctive asa Two-Gray Hills rug or a Yebetchairug from Shiprock, or a storm patternrug from the Navajo Mountain area.It is characterized by a narrow line ofdifferent color around each element inthe intricate design. This characteristicdistinguishes Holiday weaves from allother weavers' rugs. In other respectsthe rug is typical of exceptionally goodNavajo weaving. More fine workman-ship goes into a Holiday rug than intoall of the unspecialized weaves puttogether.These fine weaves are not a matterof chance. They depend first on carefulselection of sheep that produce woolsuitable for dyeing and weaving. Thefibre must lend itself to carding andspinning a strong tight strand becausein all Holiday rugs the w eave is fineand smooth. I have never seen a coarse

rough weave in a Holiday rug. Care-ful washing of the wool is standardoperating procedure for a Holidayweaver. I have never seen a Holidayrug doped with gypsum to whiten thewhite. In the use of Diamond dyes aweaver often attempts to stretch thedye too far, to dye too much wool.This usually results in a lighter shadeand two or more shades appear in thesame rug. Never in these Holiday rugshave I seen improperly dyed wool.Such care is given each step thatfrom shearing the sheep to the finishe drug is a matter of many weeksbacktiring, eye straining weeks for which

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the artist averages less than 20 centsan hour.Helen Holiday was born and raisedin Segi-Ot-Sosi (Slim Canyon) northof Kayenta, Arizona. The family ho-gan was so far removed from anyschool that Helen received no formaleducation and even now speaks noEnglish. Her family owns a peach or-chard and preserving or drying peachesis an autumn chore that takes prece-dence over weaving.

Seth Bigman, Helen's husband, wasschooled in Tuba City and his highschool education was fostered by akindly family in Utah where he attend-ed Roosevelt high. His English is flu-ent and his knowledge of the Indiancountry has qualified him as a seasonalpark ranger at Navajo national monu-ment.In the spring Seth rides over to B eta-takin and checks on the dates for hisseasonal appointment. Then he bor-rows his brother's wagon and goes backto Segi-Ot-Sosi for Helen and Pat.They leave their small band of sheepwith Helen's sisters and load the wagonfull of bags of wool, bedding and uten-sils. One of the sacks looks as if it isfull of melons. When Seth throws itoff the wagon and it bounces on theground we realize it's not melons butballs of spun warp.The warp yarns used in a Holidayrug are spun tightly, and usually bythe gnarled old hands of the grand-mothers whose eyes are no longer goodenough to weave the many-elementdesigns.

A wonderful memory is also re-quired by the weaver. Have you everstopped to think that as she starts thesecond half of the rug the first half isrolled and sewed up at the bottom ofthe loom and completely out of sight?As the rug progresses the weaver oftenis required to take a turn at herdingthe sheep or chopping wood to preparemeals for the family or to move thehousehold to another hogan andgreener grass or even to have a baby.In a Holiday rug those many zigs andzags require the memory of an ele-phant. And remember too, that all sheever measures with is her outstretchedthumb and finger and the width of herfingers.As a photographer who knows themany steps required to make a goodpicture I take my hat off to these su-perior weavers who know the manysteps required to make a good rug.Flub any step in the process and theresult would never reach the high

standard of the Holiday weavers.

Says Reservations will NotSupport Navajo, Hopi . . .

Helen Holiday grew up in a hogan so far from any reservation school thatshe never learned to speak En glish. Her husband, Seth Bigma n, is seasonalpark ranger at the Navajo national

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194905 Desert Magazine 1949 May