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

"

DESERT CALENDARFeb. 2—Ceremonial dances at three

Indian pueblos: San Felipe, Cochitiand Santo Domingo, north of Al-buquerque, New Mexico.

Feb. 4-5—Sierra club weekend camp-ing trip to Corn Springs in theChuckawalla mountains.

Feb. 4-5—Tenth annual Palm SpringsRodeo—parade and rodeo events,Palm Springs, California.

Feb. 4-5—llano Indian dances at Taospueblo, New Mexico.

Feb. 5—Don's Club Travelcade toMiami mines, from Phoenix. Ari-zona.

Feb. 11-12—Fifth Annual Silver SpurRodeo, sponsored by Junior cham-ber of commerce, Yuma, Arizona.

Feb. 11-12—Arizona Snow Bowl car-nival. Flagstaff, Arizona.

Feb. 11-12—Paradise Valley HorseRodeo, Scottsdale, Arizona.

Feb. 11-13—Annual ski carnival, Wil-liams, Arizona.

Feb. 14-15—Missionary district of Ari-zona of Episcopal church. Flagstaff,Arizona.

Feb. 15—Turtle dance at Taos pueblo.New Mexico.

Feb. 15-16—Mobilgas Grand Canyoneconomy run, starting from LosAngeles, California.

Feb. 17-22 — Riverside County Fairand National Date Festival. Ara-bian Nights Pageant free everynight. Horse show each afternoon.At fairgrounds, Indio, California.

Feb. 18-19—Rodeo and Gila Monsterderby, Glendale. Arizona.

Feb. 18-26—Maricopa County Fairand Citrus show. Mesa, Arizona.

Feb. 19—Bandollero trek to Wellton-Mohawk project. Starting fromYuma, Arizona.

Feb. 23-25—Arizona Cattle Growersconvention, Globe.

Feb. 23-26 — La Fiesta de los Va-queros, annual Rodeo, parade morn-ing of February 23, Tucson, Ari-

Feb. 25-26 — Sierra club weekendcamping trip to Cat Canyon inSanta Rosa mountains.

Feb. 25-Mar. 5—California Mid-Win-ter fair, at Imperial fairgrounds,four miles north of El Centro, Cali-fornia.

Feb. 26—Rodeo at Remuda. Wicken-burg, Arizona.

Feb. 26—Thunderbird Meet, ArizonaSnow Bowl, Flagstaff.

February—Oil portraits of Nez PerceIndians, by Mrs. Rowena LungAlcorn, will be exhibited at South-west Museum, Los Angeles, dailyfrom 1:00 to 5:00 p. m. duringmonth.

Volume 13 FEBRUARY, 1950 Number 4

COVER

CALENDAR

POETRY

RECREATION

FIELD TRIP

QUIZ

EXPLORATION

LETTERS

LOST MINE

MINING

TALL TALES

CONTEST

CLOSE-UPS

NEWS

FICTION

BOTANY

LAPIDARY

HOBBY

COMMENT

BOOKS

HOOVER DAM AT NIGHT

Photo courtesy of U. S. Reclamation Bureau

February events on the desert 3

Awesome Sentinels, and other poems . . . . 4

Desert PlaygroundBy GENE SEGERBLOM 5

We Followed the Lure of Carnotite

By JAY ELLIS RANSOM 12

Test your desert knowledge 16

He Explored the Unknown Colorado

By AL HAWORTH 17

Comment by Desert leaders 22

Lost Gold of Salt Spring

By JOHN L. VON BLON 23

Current news of desert mines 28

New Champions Selected at Annual Pegleg

Liar's Contest 29

Announcement of February photo contest . . 29

About those who write for Desert 30

From here and there on the desert 31

Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley 38

Lupine Once Had a Bad Reputation

By MARY BEAL 39

Amateur Gem Cutter, by LELANDE QUICK . 40

Gems and Minerals 41

Just Between You and Me, by the Editor . . . 46

Reviews of Southwest Literature 47The 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 1050 by the Desert Press, Inc. Permission to reproduce contentsmust be secured from the editor in writing.

RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor AL HAWORTH, Associate EditorBESS STACY, Business Manager MARTIN MORAN, Circulation Manager

E. H. VAN NOSTRAND, Advertising ManagerLos Angeles Office (Advertising Only): 2635 Adelbert Ave., Phone NOrmandy 3-1509.Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledged

unless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility fordamage or loss of manuscripts or photographs although due care will be exercised. Sub-scribers should send notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding issue.

SUBSCRIPTION RATESOne Year $3.50 Two Years S6.00

Canadian Subscriptions 25c Extra, Foreign 50c ExtraSubscription to Army Personnel Outside U. S. A. Must Be Mailed in Conformity With

P. 0. D. Order No. 19687Address Correspondence to Desert Magazine, Palm Desert, California

F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0

Saguaro —Photograph by S. Paul Lindau

SOURDOUGH'S LAST CAMPBy HAROLD RAMSLIE

Los Angeles, California

The snows are a-restin', fair and frail,This night on the Great Divide,And I'll take the long, long trail,To camp on the other side.

There I will meet the friends 1 knewIn the years that are past and gone:Stray Dog Smith and Faro Sue,And Casey, the widow's son;

Timberline Bob will sure be thereAnd the boys from Bonanza Hill;Alongside my pardner, Rawhide Bill,I'll look for the Parson, St. Clair;

And with Johnson, who struck it rich—Carried nuggets around in his purse—The Homestake Twins, you couldn't tell

which,And lovely Jennie, the nurse.

Aye, tonight, while the flowers smell sweetIn the dells by the moon-white road,I'll leave my camp, all snug and neat,And.track to my new abode.

I REACH A STARBy BESSIE GLEN BUCHANAN

Los Angeles, California

You cannot hurt me—it is strange you try.I think, perhaps, you do not even knowThe blessedness of living clean—Beyond small meanness.

Once I came upon a hill—high reachingInto white fleeced clouds—Sharp jutted rocks—precarious the climb,Yet there, 1 found serenityAmong the forest pines.Look up, oh heart, seek beauty in the hills,And peace of mind in stones and running

rills.

There, in a heavenly, better clime,My friends they'll welcome meFor to wash the sands of the stream

time—And camp for eternity.

of

By TANYA SOUTH

How dim the faring! Oh, we seeSo briefly and so sparingly.Seldom the full, close step ahead.So frailly is our spirit bredIn good intentions. Let us thenBe ever wary of our going.Our every thought or joy or painShould be for uplift. Thus bestowingAll strength and purpose, and all ruthFor righteousness, we shall gain Truth.

By OR A KEHNArvada, Colorado

Could it be, they're living tombstonesOf a race that's long been gone,Guarding with sharp thorns the buriedPeople of an ancient throng?

Queer, grotesque, these living markersWith their upraised suppliant arms,Weave their weird and mystic shadows,In this place of witchcraft charms.

Seen in noontime sun they're brazen,Warning all to keep away;In the eerie dawn, they're spectersIn a cemetery grey!

Through the moonlight haze they're ghostlyAwesome watchers, strangely cast,Sentinels well armed for duty,Keeping secrets of their past!

Like some prehistoric monsters—Yet, they live and bloom instead;And they bear such gorgeous blossoms,Royal crown for royal head!

THE PLACE FOR A LIZARDBy HENRY C. MORRIS

Washington, D. C.

If I were a lizard, I tell you what,I'd go to Nevada and there I'd squat.

Under the sage-brush—fine and hotI'd lay out a nice little garden spot.

I'd sell to the horn-toads, blue-bottle fliesWith sagebrush dressing and cactus pies.

Also, the bones of tenderfeet,Who migrated there and died from the

heat.

For the burning sun is a friend of mine,And the scorching wind is to me sublime.

Alkali dust I fondly love.Better than ought in heaven above.

So, Ho! for Nevada! And a home in the dust,It's the place for a lizard, who is strong

and robust,To build up a fortune and live in ease,

Under the shade of the Joshua trees.

A DESERT RETURNING!By GRACE PARSONS HARMON

Desert Hot Springs, CaliforniaI'm back again! The hills take up the

song!The length'ning shadows carry it along!The desert, my own desert, has me back-Back from the busy mart, the madd'ning

pack!

The mesquite nods a welcome from thetrail;

I hear the lonely whistle of the quail;The glory of the sunset gleams for me;The wind across the desert rushes free!

This paean in my heart has one refrain:O, desert, I am back! I'm back again!

LOST IN THE DESERTBy EMILY I. ALLEMANSanta Ana, California

The buzzards circle in the sky—I see the shadows of their wings,

Passing passing, passing by;On my brow a damp chill clings,

As they go passing, passing by.Oh, God, it's hard for a man to die.With buzzards circling in the sky,

Passing, passing, passing by!

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

77ze Par/: service has provided ample beach and bathing facilities forsummer vacation visitors.

Desert Playground. . .Folks come from all over the world to boat and fish and play in the great

recreational area which Uncle Sam maintains on and around the shores of LakeMead in Nevada and Arizona. The Lake Mead playground has become apopular rendezvous for campers and trailer vacationists—for those who cannotafford or do not care for the luxury of expensive resort hotels. Here is a glimpseof some of the recreational facilities of the area—and of the problems of thePark rangers who are in charge.

By GENE SEGERBLOM

Photos by William Belknap, Jr., and Cliff Segerblom

three young men at-tempted to row their old leakyboat across Lake Mead to its

source in lower Grand Canyon. Theybrought their boat to the lake by aback road — knowing that the Parkrangers would not permit such a craftto attempt the journey, if they wereaware of it.

A wind came up and the waves ranhigh—and the boat began to take inwater faster than it could be bailed out.Somehow, the boys made shore—arocky isolated place, where they aban-doned the boat and tried to make theirway to the nearest habitation. Some

F E B R U A R Y , 1950

hours later the Park rangers foundthem, wet and chilled, hovering arounda little fire trying to keep warm in al-most freezing weather. It was nearmidnight when the rangers reachedthem, and three hours later the boyswere back in their car and headed forhome.

Such rescues are all part of the day'swork in the Lake Mead Recreationalarea where Superintendent George Bag-gley and a small crew of rangers havethe responsibility for protecting bothwildlife and thoughtless human beingsin a domain that spreads over 2,655square miles of land and water.

The Park service was assigned thetask of administering recreational ac-tivities in the Lake Mead desert play-ground soon after the dam was com-pleted in 1935. Thousands of Ameri-can tourists and sportsmen flocked tothe area to see Hoover dam and enjoythe boating and fishing opportunitiesprovided by the new lake.

The Reclamation bureau, which builtthe dam, is an engineering and con-struction organization, with neither thetime nor the facilities to entertain suchgreat numbers of visiting tourists.

Since both the Reclamation bureauand the Park service are under the jur-

m ;/)e lower basin of Lake Mead. Here craft may be rentedor chartered for fishing or pleasure cruising.

isdiction of the Department of Interior,it was a comparatively simple matterto bring the two services together andassign to the Park office the supervisionof all recreational facilities in the area.

Above the dam, the water backs up115 miles into the lower gorges ofGrand Canyon. The entire 550-mileshoreline for a distance of several milesinland was withdrawn from publicentry to protect the purity of thewater and provide space for roads andstructural work which may becomenecessary in future years. It is thisarea, plus the lake itself, that has beendesignated as the Lake Mead Recrea-tional area and hundreds of thousandsof visitors boat, swim, fish, camp andotherwise enjoy this playground an-nually.

Superintendent Baggley's desk is ina deserted army hospital which servesas the Park administration's headquar-ters, but he spends much of his time inthe field with Chief Ranger DonalJolley and his 41 rangers, naturalistsand workmen.

Three kinds of travelers find theirway to the area. First there are thosewho are migrating' to or emigratingfrom California and choose Highway466 which crosses over the top of thedam connecting Nevada and Arizona.

Next are the tourists who come hereto see the dam and take a fleeting lookat the lake and surrounding country.

Then comes the motor gypsy with histrailer or tent. He settles down on theshores of Lake Mead at the Park serv-ice's free public campground to stayindefinitely.

The camp has the only shade treeson the entire lake shoreline. Just get-

F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0

ting the trees and shrubs to grow was aproject. The soil is salty. Water hadto be piped from the lake to irrigate thetrees and plants daily to keep the 115-degree summer temperature from burn-ing up the transplanted vegetation.

Rest rooms, electric stoves, garbagecans, etc., have to be kept clean. Manycampers are not concerned over leav-ing a place as clean as it was found.

Optimistically, the Park service askstheir cooperation with this lyrical re-minder:"Let no one say, and say it to your

shame,That all was beauty here until you

came."The big problem is not keeping the

camper happy so he'll come back, buttaking care of the crowds that do come.The camp is full almost all year. Attimes, overflow campers in trailers andtents spread out in the brush on theedge of the camp trying to get closeenough to avail themselves of the campfacilities.

"At one time last year," Baggleysaid, "there were 120 families at thecampground which has sanitary facili-ties for only 75."

In order that a few people may notmonopolize the camp, the Park servicehas put a 30-day limit on camping inone season.

The swimming beaches at Boulderbeach, Las Vegas wash and Overtonpresent a difficult problem. They haveto be movable. The lake fluctuates inheight with the spring runoff and thedry summer. The water's edge is neverin the same place. All spring and sum-mer the rangers must pull up the divingrafts, buoys, lifeguard chairs and rest

rooms. Then as the water goes downthey have to pull them out into the lakeagain.

The lifeguards, also Park service em-ployees, have plenty of business. Thediving rafts always look closer to shorethan they are and about once a daysome over-eager swimmer has to bepulled out. Besides saving lives, theyhelp with swimming campaigns, keepone eye on stray youngsters, and act ascaretakers of the beach.

Many picnic-swimmers ignore thegarbage cans placed every 100 feet onthe beach. To keep the beach clean,one man would have to work 24 hoursa day picking up the picnic scraps,cans, bottles and gum wrappers. It isnot unusual to find broken pop bottlesthrown into the swimming water.

According to Chief Ranger DonalJolley, who has had 30 years of prac-tical experience with the Park service,the visitors even run off with the trashcans occasionally.

Fishing! The rangers work in con-junction with Arizona and Nevada statefish and game wardens enforcing laws.Two of the rangers are deputy war-dens. Fishing is not overplayed inpublicity given the area. It is good!And it is open season on hapless large-mouth bass, crappies, catfish, blue-gill, perch and carp 12 months of theyear. The same fishing regulations ap-ply to the trout found in abundance inthe river below the dam.

The fisherman also gets into trouble.Although the lake is calm most of thetime, winds come up quickly bringingwhitecaps. Sportsmen are forced toseek shelter wherever they happen to be.If they are out too long, the Park serv-

Motor launches take visitors up the lake and into thelower gorge of Grand Canyon.

ice sends a boat to the rescue. It is acheering sight to a wet chilled anglerhuddled in a cove to see the Park serv-ice cruiser Major J. W. Powell cominghis way. A ranger, at that moment,is man's best friend.

"Boating is our biggest headache,"confirmed Chief Ranger Jolley. "Peo-ple won't even inspect their own boatsmoored on the lake. They insist onputting six into boats meant for two.And they never worry about the leakseven though there isn't a life preserveron board."

Rental of small craft and charterboat trips are well handled by the LakeMead Boat company, a concession

owned and operated by A. L. "Doc"Deatrick and Edi Juan. They run fivetrips daily to the upstream face of thedam and charter fishing or sight-seeingtrips to any spot on the lake. Threetimes a week there is a cruiser trip upthe lake as far as the entrance to GrandCanyon.

Deatrick and Juan have inaugurateda fisherman's shuttle service. At 7:00in the morning a large cruiser takesanglers to Boulder canyon where theytransfer to row boats to spend the dayfishing. At 5:00 they are picked upand returned to the boat dock.

All rescue work on the water is doneby the rangers, usually in the Major

J. W. Powell, a converted navy craft.The lake is patrolled regularly. Tokeep everything under close surveil-lance, the rangers sometimes are forcedto take to the air. They usually flyto inspect outlying fishing camps, toDavis dam and to Eldorado canyon onthe river below Hoover dam.

On May 18 Superintendent Baggleyhad been with the National Park serv-ice 21 years. He came to Lake Meadin November, 1946, from Isle Royalein Michigan. Isle Royale, a NationalPark, is the farthest north you can goand still be in the United States.

"It was quite a contrast to comefrom an area of dense forest and snow-bound winters," Baggley said, "to thebarren shores of Lake Mead. The onlyresemblance between the two is thevolume of water. But I do feel thatthis is one of the most important placesin the Park system. Its accessibility,if developed, could make it the mostimportant."

Even the natural features here areabove par. There are more than 200varieties of birds in the wild life refugewith its closed game reserve. Moremountain sheep inhabit the area thanany other reserve except Mt. McKinley.Desert kit foxes, deer, cougars, coyotesand wild burros are plentiful.

"The animals don't give us anytrouble," Chief Ranger Jolley said, "al-though there are too many wild burrosat the moment. We do have to watchfor bird poachers on the reserve, how-ever."

Although the flowering season isshort, blossoms take over the desertfrom February until June. Naturalistshave a never-ending job of seeking andclassifying the highly specialized plantlife and protecting the lovely blooms,which may not be picked.

"It wouldn't be so serious," Jolleyexplained, "if flower lovers would justpick the flowers, but they insist on go-ing off with the whole plant. When Ifirst came here in 1943, there wasplenty of desert holly. Now it's almostextinct. If we didn't restrict the pick-ing of flowers, there wouldn't be abush left along the highways at the endof a year."

Baggley has several pet projects he'dlike to get enough money to push. Firstthere's the proposed public camp-ground at Overton, on the north arm ofthe lake.

At one time last year, rangers count-ed 80 families camped on the shoredespite the lack of camping facilities.They have a museum and keep a rangerthere, but judging from the number oftourists—1806 cars in April of lastyear—they could use more help and acampground.

8 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

Above—Five-passenger Cessna plane flying over the area gives the passengers afine view of the dam and the lower lake.—Mark Swain photo.

Below—Hoover dam puts on a water display for a little group of visitors suspendedbelow the dam from an overhead cable.

F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0

It is open season for fishermen the year 'round in Lake Mead.Here is a morning's catch of bass.

Near Overton is Valley of Fire, alost world of unusual shapes carved inthe bright red sandstone by wind andwater. It is an area that could be thePalm Springs of Nevada, if there waswater. But, as Baggley pointed out,there isn't "enough water there for onehorse." Eventually they hope to digwells or pipe water from the lake. Ifwater can be obtained, there is no limitto the possibilities of the place as a va-cation spot.

Another unpublicized spot is Shiv-wits plateau. Only a jeep or a pickuptruck could make the trip and very fewof the thousands of sightseers ever visitthe plateau.

Shivwits plateau is in the northeast-ern portion of the Recreational area,bordering on the Grand Canyon. Itis a level plain covering 133,000 acres,approximately 6,500 feet above sealevel. About half of the area is for-

10

ested with ponderosa and pinyon pines,junipers, mountain mahogany and othershrubs and trees. The rest is sage-brush, manzanita and similar chaparralgrowth and grass. It is acclaimed as ascenic wonderland by those who havebeen there.

"One thing is certain," Jolley warn-ed, "if you try to get out there andsomething happens to your car, no-body's coming along very soon to helpyou out—you're on your own."

He also suggested that persons at-tempting to reach Shivwits carry plentyof water and food for their own protec-tion.

Baggley places this lonely spot highon his list of desirable areas for im-provement. The only road is nowlittle more than a trail.

The Park service has to maintain 200miles of desert road and 60 miles of

major highway. Because of limitedfunds, there has been no new road con-struction since 1943.

Just outside of the recreational area,five miles off the road to Kingman, Ari-zona, is the ghost mining camp ofWhite Hills. (Desert Magazine, Jan.'47.) Once a boom settlement of 1500claim-stakers, little remains at the oldcamp today except crumbling shacks, aneglected cemetery and deserted streets.

Some of the richest ore mined in Ari-zona is said to have come from here.Twenty-seven miles of tunnels honey-combed the area. It is reported thatmore than $12,000,000 in silver andgold was mined here.

Today there are no restrictions onprospecting on public lands, but beforeore can be mined from the recreationalarea permission must be granted by thePark service. The Park administra-tion merely is interested in protecting

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

This cormorant from Lake Mead bit off more than itcould chew. The bony-tail carp proved too big to beswallowed and too spiny to be disgorged. Bird and fishwere found floating on Lake Mead by a party of fisher-men and turned over to Maurice Sullivan, park naturalist.

George Baggley, superintendent of the Lake Mead Rec-reational area for the National Park service. With a staffof 41 rangers, naturalists and workmen he is the Parkcustodian of 2,655 square miles of land and water pro-

viding a wide range of recreational facilities.

the beauty of the landscape againstneedless destruction.

Superintendent Baggley likes peo-ple—but there are times when he wishesfewer of them would come to his play-ground. "I wish we had facilities forunlimited numbers," he said, "but un-

til such facilities are provided we arereluctant to urge that the numbers beincreased."

Baggley is a Rotarian and a memberof the Boulder City chamber of com-merce. He works untiringly for hisplayground. His responsibilities will

be increased in the near future, forwater is now backing up behind Davisdam and when it is filled the new lakewill almost reach the tow of Hooverdam—and then there will be more waterto lure more boatmen and fishermenand sight-seers.

Ancient Indian petroglyphs on Atlatl Rock in the Valleyof Fire state park near the shores of Lake Mead.

Visitors often leave the beaten paths to camp among theJoshua trees found near the lake shore.

'mJBy JAY ELLIS RANSOM

Photos by the Author

Charlie Cato (right) and son Owen Cato at the Yellow Cat uranium minein Utah, five miles west of the Cactus Rat mine.

We Followed theLure of Carnotite

Along the Navajo Trail of northeastern Arizona and eastern Utah aconfirmed rockhound and his scientist-author son went in search of thehighly-prized carnotite ore specimens. They obtained the cabinet speci-mens they sought—and more—but in addition explored some of themost wild and remote country in the Southwest as they went from ura-nium mine to uranium mine in a region that is now experiencing a greatnew mining and prospecting boom.

12

IN AUGUST my father,Jay G. Ransom, and I decided totake off in our jeep station wag-

on for a two-week trip through theuranium boom country to secure thehighly-prized ore specimens of carno-tite, metahuatite, corasite and covel-lite.

We especially wanted to obtain therare petrified wood known as carnotitewood, streaked with bright yellow ura-nium oxide. Usually carnotite is abrilliant canary although it may be dis-colored by iron and organic matter.Essentially it is a hydrous potassium-uranium vanadate with a hardnessranging from 2 to 2Vi.

In the last few months the quest foruranium has mounted to boom propor-tions in western Colorado and easternUtah. Here lies a great red-ochrebelt of sandstone known as the Mor-rison formation. Trapped in a vastseries of rolls or lenses are heretoforeunknown sources of atomically stra-tegic uranium occurring in canary-yel-low clay lumps and veins of carnotite,usually associated with considerablequantities of vanadium. These lensesfrequently show on the surface of theMorrison formation which outcropsall over the Utah-Colorado borderregion.

Along much of the 2700-mile jour-ney the landscape was arid and unpro-ductive and yet this region has a rug-ged beauty of great fascination forthose who like to explore the remoteareas.

Starting in Los Angeles, our routetook us into Arizona by way of thenorth rim of Grand Canyon, thence toKayenta in the heart of the Navajocountry, Monument Valley and alongthe famous Navajo trail through Mon-ticello and Moab in Utah to the richMorrison formation and Dakota sand-stone country northeast of the ArchesNational Monument on the centralUtah-Colorado border. Here the rich-est outcrops of carnotite are beingmined today. Thence back over atro-cious dirt roads across the states ofUtah, Nevada and California to SanFrancisco and home to Los Angeles.

We did not attempt to prospect vir-gin territory. We knew that carnotiteis found in a number of localities inthe United States outside the well-known deposits of Colorado and Utah.We wanted to visit the latter regionbecause the mines there have beencommercially worked since radiumcame into prominence shortly after theturn of the century. Prior to the dis-covery of rich radio-active ores else-where, these deposits in 1913 hadyielded about 2,700 tons of carnotite

T H E - D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E

Here is a carnotite mine 15 miles north of Kayenta, Arizona. Because of newnessof the industry and remoteness of the region, methods are still crude. Location of

this mine is a few miles south of Harry Goulding's famed TradingPost in the Navajo country.

ore with a value of more than $1,000,-000 in radium alone. Over 4,000 tonsof the ore were mined in 1914.

Dusty from days of travel, our jeepsplattered with cloudburst-mud andbattered with storm and hail over theKaibab plateau and the Grand Can-yon, we pulled at last into the Navajotrading center of Kayenta.

A score of gaily decked Navajowomen loitered about the trading post.Inside a dozen Indian men palaveredwith the trader. Several children gazedunwinking at us. Presently the traderapproached and we asked him if heknew anything about the uraniummines to the north.

"Know anything about it!" he laugh-ed. "I should say I do. There's noth-ing secret around here about themining activities of the Atomic Energycommission and the Vanadium Cor-poration of America. A new mine'sjust been opened 15-18 miles northof here on the road to Mexican Hat.They've been operating about 30 daysnow with Navajos doing the mining,

and shipping the ore to Naturita, Col-orado."

He described the route to this mine.His directions, he admitted, werevague. "I know that country," hesaid, "but darned if I can draw you amap of it. There's a ridge of lowbluffs running northwestward a mileback of the road. At the junctionwhere a dirt road swings sharply backand then around in a big U is a Geo-detic Survey marker. You won'tmiss it."

It was no wonder then that we tookthe wrong road at a junction a fewmiles east of Kayenta. For two hourswe ground ahead in second and lowgears over the worst road ever tra-versed by modern machines until wereached the Indian trading post ofDinnehotso. There were so manywashouts following the cloudburst ofthe day before that we spent most ofour time bulldozing ourselves aroundthem through cab-high sagebrush.

At this remote outpost where Nava-jos come for trading, we purchasedtwo pounds of fine garnets gathered on

ant hills in that region. These semi-precious gems formerly were a sourceof private income to the Indians butsince the tribal authority had issued adecree that all natural resources couldbe sold only in behalf of the tribalfund, the Indians had ceased gatheringthem.

"The Indians won't work if theycan't realize anything on it," the traderexplained a bit sadly. "I used to beable to sell all the garnets they couldbring in and get a good price too. Icould pay the Indians enough to sat-isfy them. But now all the moneyhas to be turned over to the tribaltreasury."

The sun was nearing the westernmountains when we pulled out of Din-nehotso. We crawled around the samewashouts in the same low gear andeventually reached our junction. Thelast rays of the descending sun werehighlighting the tall monoliths of Mon-ument Valley with an unearthly glowwhen we turned north on the flood-damaged road to Mexican Hat. Dark-ness had fallen save for the luminous

F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0 13

!?••*! K ARCHES ifefc$&0\ '

l ^ i : CARNOTITE KMINES,

U.S. Geodetic 'Bench Morker ' . BLANDINGQ3O/I933Elev 5291

• .' HOVENWEEP

twilight that touched the red-ochremesas all about us when we reachedthe carnotite mine described by theKayenta trader. There we made campfor the night.

Early in the morning we exploredthe open-cut workings before the sev-en Navajo Indian miners arrived tobegin operations. Later, from HarryGoulding at his trading post on thenearby Utah border, we learned thatthese deposits had been discovered bythe late John Wetherill, famous traderand guide who led the first white partyto Rainbow bridge and is credited withthe discovery of the Mesa Verde pre-historic Indian ruins. Since the strikelay on the Navajo reservation, Wether-ill made no attempt to stake it outor claim title to it. But high on the

14

top of the bluff to the north he set aniron stake and built a low cairn ofstones, both of which are still there.

We made several interesting discov-eries incidental to our picking over themine dump. Although the length ofthe bluff is scarcely 200 yards and itssummit barely 200 feet wide, wefound a small petrified forest of wholetree trunks and innumerable sectionson its top. Brief explorations to theeast showed that the forest did not ex-tend beyond the bluff. The wood isdull and not of gem quality, but thefind has interesting implications. Alsoon top of the sandstone bluff weremany natural bathtubs, or potholes,filled with water. These ranged fromthree feet in diameter and a few inchesdeep to the largest which was easily

20 feet long by 15 wide with enoughwater in it to permit a shallow swim.All were filled with fresh rain water

These natural rain-catchers serve thedesert-wise Navajos as a source ofwater during dry periods. Later, whenthe Indians came up to the mine fromtheir nearby hogans, one of them filleda five-gallon water can from one ofthe basins.

With the sun well up in the skyand the purple shadows of MonumentValley giving way to red sandstonereality we pushed on past the base ofone of the monoliths that constitutethe "monuments" until we reachedthe Utah state line. The road wasrough, dusty and washed out. AtGoulding's trading post we stopped torefresh ourselves and make inquiries.Goulding was very busy with a moviecompany on location shooting Indianscenes, but in his generous way hetook time out to talk about uraniummining and the old-timers who firstopened up the southwestern Indiancountry.

His trading post is not on the mainroad, but his hospitality has becomeso well known that few motorists evercome this way without stopping for afew hours or days at Gouldings. A fewmiles away in Monument Valley standsthe movie set of Old Tombstone. I in-quired about the strange city in thedesert that is not on my map of north-ern Arizona.

Harry laughed. "That's the settingwhere Fort Apache was filmed, fol-lowed by Clementine. You'll find itboarded up with maybe a few Navajosliving in the unused shacks."

On our way out we stopped to visitthe town. Even today this solidlybuilt set looks like an early-day town.The Bird Cage theater is an exact rep-lica of the original Old Tombstoneopera house.

Two miles south of Mexican Hat,where a suspension bridge crosses themuddy waters of the San Juan river,a dirt road beaten and battered to bed-rock by ore trucks leads southeastward28 miles to what is becoming the great-est uranium deposit ever located in theUnited States. Harry Goulding foundit on his two-month search of Wether-ill's original discovery when the Atom-ic Energy commission advertised itsneed for the bomb-blast element.

Mexican Hat has a trading post withcanned goods for Navajos and the menwho work the uranium mine down onthe San Juan. Navajo blankets werefor sale at prices that varied accordingto weave and texture. We boughtsoft drinks and pushed on, climbinga steep grade to the summit of the pla-teau above the river.

That night we camped 7,500 feet

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

!

Jay G. Ransom, father of the author, is here shown holding a piece of petri-fied wood found near the Kayenta, Arizona, carnotite deposit.

high on the wooded flanks of theAbajo mountains a few miles south ofMonticello, Utah. Here in this littleMormon town that faces 200 milesinto western Colorado, 200 milesacross rugged terrain into northwest-ern New Mexico, and 150 miles southinto Arizona is a war-spawned vana-dium processing plant. It is now be-ing converted into a uranium plant forhandling the Utah and Arizona oresof uranium and vanadium. At pres-ent nearly all the ore mined in theregion has to be trucked to distantNaturita, Colorado, where the Vana-dium Corporation of America has itsheadquarters.

From Monticello we followed thepaved highway to Moab and thenceto its junction with U. S. Highway 50and turned east to a point five milesbeyond Thompson where unmappedroads lead into another area whererich uranium claims are being worked.We lost our way in the wilderness ofbreaks and faults and finally arrivedat a remote cow camp.

Eventually we reached the CactusRat uranium mine and were invitedto dinner by George Gallent, the fore-man, who proved to be as fine andhospitable a host as one would en-counter anywhere.

Gallent showed us over the open-pitworkings. "The uranium is found inthe Morrison formation," he explained,a wave of his hand indicating all thebroken and faulted sandstone bluffsand cliffs that stretched toward theColorado mountains to the east."About 40 mines in this district wereworked all through the war for vana-dium. That's the lightweight metalused in alloying steel into armor plate.Uranium wasn't worth ten cents a tonthen, but when the government beganto buy it after Hiroshima, the oldmine dumps began to pay off. Takethe Cactus Rat, for example. We camehere several months ago and the Min-erals Engineering company under thepresidency of Blair Burwell—he's oneof the most prominent mining engin-

eers in the West—bought the CactusRat."

Six men help George operate themine. He told us about the work."The Cactus Rat produces mainly cor-asite, metahuatite and carnotite, andcovellite. The ore bodies are found inthe form of rolls, or lenses, scatteredall through the top layer of the Morri-son formation where they frequentlybreak through the surface. I knowjust about where to drill to hit goodore. We're shipping 25 tons a day—it'll soon be 50 tons—to the Naturita,Colorado, plant 140 miles from here."

He went on to explain that althoughthe present boom is for uranium, thevanadium was not being tossed asidein the new mad scramble for atomicenergy. Under the impetus of theUranium Incentive Plan the workingsof the old mines are becoming doublyproductive, although the emphasis isplaced on uranium oxide.

"High grade ore runs about 1 per-cent U3O8," he went on to say as hehelped us pick out some colorful speci-mens from ore piles being made readyfor shipment. "The low grade scarce-ly reaches 0.2 percent vanadium, inthe oxide V2O5, runs from a high of15 percent to a low of 2 percent."

After a fine dinner prepared andserved in the semi-underground cookhouse, we roamed over the adjacenthills. The Cactus Rat mine is situatedin a flat bowl surrounded by steepbluffs immediately to the north andeast. From the talus slopes petrifieddinosaur bone fragments continuallyweather loose to be scattered over theflats by rain storms. We gathered nu-merous samples of the deep red, jas-perized bone and noted the countlessfragments of fine jasper float that lit-tered the gravels. Although we didnot find any jasper large enough tobe worth keeping, we discovered thatall over the hills and nearby flats werequantities of moss agate and pseudo-morphs after wood containing redcrystallizations.

We had at last almost everything wehad come for. Only carnotite woodremained somewhere in the region tocomplete our collection. We askedGeorge Gallent about it.

"Carnotite wood?" he repeated."Sure. There's plenty of it down atthe Yellow Cat mine about four mileswest of here. Charlie Cato and hisson, Owen, are shacked up there, pros-pecting around for the owners. They'llprobably have a crew in there miningbefore long when the Monticello plantgets started."

We thanked our host and in thebright morning sunlight headed for theYellow Cat. There we found the Catosbusy sacking up ore samples.

F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0 15

"Sure, there's carnotite wood aroundhere," Charlie told us with a wide grin."Out there in the breaks." He indi-cated by a wave of his hand the red-dish sandstone of the eroded and frac-tured Morrison formation. Owen, talland rugged, with eyes and mouth for-ever creasing themselves in quicksmiles, nodded.

"You won't find it yourselves," hesaid. "Come on with us. We'll takeyou to whole trees of carnotite wood.It's noon anyway, and we could use arest ourselves." That's how we gotour carnotite wood.

On the way Charlie showed us a six-foot lizard tail he had found in a ledge."Must have been lots of queer dino-saurs around here once," he said. Asa token of our appreciation, I suggest-ed we help him carry the broken sec-tions of the 500-pound stone tail backto the car.

"Why not lay it out in front of yourcabin?" I suggested. "Other visitorscan see it, then, and save you a tripway out here to show it." Both Catosthought that a good idea and we allbuckled down to lug the pieces backto the pick-up.

TRUE OR FALSE Here are 20 new headaches forthe desert fans who like to testtheir knowledge of the South-

west—its history, geography, botany, geology, Indians and general lore ofthe arid country. Even those who do not know anything about the desertshould get 10 of these right. A score of 15 is good, 16 to 18 is exceptional,and if you score more than 18 you are either very smart or very lucky.The answers are on page 30.

1—It is easier to drive your car over sandy roads when they are wet thanwhen they are dry. True False.,

2—Furnace Creek Inn in Death valley is operated by Death ValleyScotty. True.. False

3—It is against the law to use dead ironwood for campfires on the desert.True False

4—The ghost mining camp of Rhyolite is in Nevada. True.. False5—Navajo Indians were breaking and riding wild horses before the white

man discovered America. True.. False6—According to geologists there are three general types of rocks: igneous,

sedimentary and metamorphis. Sandstone belongs to the igneousgroup. True False

7—Historian who contributed most to present day knowledge of JuanBautista de Anza and his historic trek to California in 1775 and 1776is Herbert E. Bolton. True False

8—Juniper, growing in its natural habitat, is never found growing belowsea level. True False

9—The Indians were mining turquoise in New Mexico and Nevada beforeColumbus discovered America. True False

10—Elephant Butte dam is in Arizona. True False11—Joshua trees are believed to have been given their name by the early

Mormon settlers who came to California. True False12—Kaiparowitz is the name of a plateau in Utah. True False13—Ubehebe, one of the most famous craters in the Southwest, was active

when the Jayhawkers crossed Death valley in the winter of 1849-50.True False

14—Carlsbad caverns in New Mexico are maintained and supervised by theU. S. Park Service. True False

15—Indians generally used a bone tool for the flaking of obsidian to makearrowheads. True False

16—Smoke trees on the desert often live to be 250 or 300 years old.True False

17—The flower of the wild desert Datura is white. True False18—The state university of Arizona is at Phoenix.

True False19—The Bill Williams river in Arizona is a tributary of the Colorado.

True False20—Desert Indians still use the roots of certain species of Yucca for soap.

True False

16

"You never know what you'll findnext out in these hills," Owen laughed."And they haven't all been prospectedyet." Charlie, who's been roaming theWest since he was a boy, chipped in:'Gold and silver in those La Sal moun-tains, and no doubt plenty of uraniumdeposits, too. Nobody's been up there,really, to find out."

At last we had everything we camefor: uranium ore in big gleaming yel-low chunks of the raw oxide; slateblack vanadium ore streaked with thecanary yellow traces of associated ura-nium; and now a gunny sack full ofcarnotite wood. One chunk, thanksto Charlie's generosity, weighed morethan 30 pounds.

We headed west toward our Cali-fornia home. Had more time beenavailable we surely would have donesome prospecting on our own. The LaSal mountains looked inviting. Andthe Uranium Plan, as drawn up by theAtomic Energy commission, is de-signed to make prospecting for thisvital element profitable.

The commission guarantees for tenyears a minimum price of $3.50 perpound for uranium oxide, U3O8. Inaddition to the minimum price guar-antee, the commission will pay for thesame period a bonus of $10,000 fordelivery of the first 20 short tons ofuranium - bearing ores or mechanicalconcentrates assaying 0.20 percent ormore of uranium oxide by weight fromany single mining location, lode orplacer which has not previously beenworked for uranium.

Here's a hint to those who mightwish to follow the uranium trail aftercabinet specimens. In general, theowners of the carnotite deposits do notlike collectors to remove the rich ca-nary yellow ore. The Atomic Energycommission raised many restrictionsduring and following the war, mostof which are not today enforced, butdo not expect to be able to go in witha truck and cart away this high-valuemineral. Nevertheless, there are scoresof abandoned mine dumps scatteredover the lonely hills waiting for thecollector who has time to pick themover. In the frenzy for vanadium, thecarnotite ore was thrown away andnearly every abandoned mine has adump rich in carnotite.

Roads to the carnotite mines are notimproved. We traversed hundreds ofmiles of desert trails in second and lowgear. It is no place for a shiny newpassenger car. But it has become avery important region not only to theUnited States but to the whole world,for the energy locked in these sand-stone hills, now that men have learnedhow to release it, may play a criticalrole in human affairs in the yearsahead.

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

Fort Yuma in the 1850s. Photographic reproduction from the C. C. Piercecollection, taken from an old lithograph.

He Explored theUnknown Colorado

Here is concluding instalment of the story of Lieut. Joseph C. Ives'adventurous steamboat trip up the unexplored Colorado river in 1857-58,under orders from the U. S. secretary of war to "determine navigabilityof the Colorado." After assembling their boat under difficult conditionsnear mouth of the river, the explorers made their way to Fort Yuma, thenon into unknown country above. They left behind the valleys occupiedby the Yuma Indians, and each day their difficulties increased as theriver became wilder and their supplies began to run short. But Iveswould not give up. And he finally did reach what he had to admit wasthe head of navigation.

By AL HAWORTH

S the explorers proceeded labor-iously upstream, each successiverange of mountains presented

more striking varieties and combina-tions of color. The men were begin-ning to believe there might be sometruth in the wild tales told by trappersabout the fantastic Grand Canyon saidto be many miles above, which wasalready a legend.

Many of the mountains examined byDr. Newberry showed the presence ofgold, silver, lead, iron and copper ore.And the amazing fact that LieutenantIves still considered the Colorado anavigable stream—even after all thedifficulties encountered—is proven bythis entry in his report:

"A careful search might develop am-ple stores of treasure, which the close

proximity of water transportationwould greatly enhance in value." Thelieutenant never did change his mind.

Passing through Monument canyon,the most colorful yet discovered, withits fantastic shapes and outlines, thelittle party came out into an open valleyand began to look for the mouth of theBill Williams tributary. In 1853 Iveshad accompanied the Whipple expedi-tion, exploring for a railroad routealong the 35th parallel, and had de-scended the Bill Williams to its conflu-ence with the Colorado. Mouth of thestream had been at that time—in themonth of February—about 30 feetwide and several feet deep.

But now there was no Bill Williams.Ives was "confounded", and his com-panions accused him of making a greattopographical blunder. He was sure ofhis location, however, ordered the boatto head for the left bank, and closeexamination revealed "a very narrowgulley, through which a feeble streamwas trickling. This was all that wasleft of Bill Williams Fork." The for-mer mouth had been filled up and over-grown. The explorers had been intro-duced to a western river.

They learned, too, how the Southwestdesert can erase signs of man's inva-sion. Lieutenant Whipple's party had

F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0 17

been composed of 100 men, 200 mulesand four wagons. But the trail wasentirely obliterated, not a trace, evenof the wagons, remained.

It was on February 1 that Ives andCaptain Robinson had their first sightof the famed Mojave Indians. Whileout for an evening stroll, the white mendiscovered two warriors lying on thebank. The watchers doubtless had beensent down from the valley above toreport on the expedition. We mustbelieve Ives' description of them to beaccurate, for he was not given to ex-aggeration and had not added romanticglamor to other Indians he saw. Hewrote:

"I at once knew them to be Mojaves.One of them must have been nearlysix feet and a half in height, and hisproportions were herculean. He wasentirely naked, excepting the ordinarypiece of cotton about his loins, and hischest and limbs were enormously de-veloped. A more scowling, sinisterface than that which surmounted thisnoble frame I have seldom seen. Hiscompanion was smaller, though a largeman."

What has happened to these magnifi-cent specimens? Perhaps, as Ives point-ed out early in his report, "as is alwaysthe case, they have deteriorated sincethe whites have come among them."

Just after leaving the vicinity of theBill Williams river, the party hit roughgoing on the river and, adding intensediscomfort to their difficulties, livedthrough a three-day desert sand storm.Scarcely 24 miles was made in the threedays. Those who have been caughtout in a real sand storm will recognizethis description: "We were nearlyblinded, and choked by drifts of finesand that darkened the air and pene-trated into the luggage, bedding, pro-visions, fire-arms, and the very pores ofone's skin."

A month out of Fort Yuma Lieuten-ant Ives awoke to the fact that theship carried rations for only two weeksmore. Should the pack train scheduledto be sent from the fort be detained,supplies would be exhausted. So hedetermined to begin trading with theIndians. The boat was still in theChemehuevis valley, although ap-proaching the Mojave range and "TheNeedles," a cluster of slender andprominent pinnacles aptly named byLieutenant Whipple. By a fortunateoccurrence a Chemehuevis chief, whohad been in Whipple's camp for sometime, hailed the steamer from the shoreand Ives took him aboard. Negotia-tions were opened for beans and corn.Camp was made the night of February6 near headquarters of the Chemehue-vis nation, and in response to wordspread by the chief "about a dozen In-dians brought baskets and earthen

bowls of corn and beans" to trade formanta and beads.

They came prepared for long hag-gling. But Ives did not settle into thepattern. His account of the incidentis a classic:

"I made them place their burdens ina row on some boards laid out for thepurpose. Asking each in turn whetherhe preferred beads or manta, I placedwhat I thought a fair amount of thedesired article opposite the proper heapof provisions. The whole tribe hadcrowded around to look on, and theiramusement during this performancewas extreme. Every sharp face ex-panded into a grin as I weighed thedifferent piles in succession in myhand, and gravely estimated their con-tents; and when, the apportionment be-ing over, I directed two of my men tobag the corn and beans, and coollywalked away, the delight of the by-standers at the summary method ofcompleting the bargain, reached its cli-max and they fairly screamed withlaughter."

On final day of the sand storm thesteamer was able to make only threemiles, but this brought the explorersto the entrance of Mojave canyon. Fol-lowing the storm the weather wasserene, "the atmosphere indescribablysoft and limpid." With the aid of lines,the boat was taken over a roaring rapidnear entrance to the canyon, then as anabrupt turn was rounded the menglimpsed the cavern-like approach to"the profound chasm beyond."

It was a sight such as they had neverbefore witnessed. Ives called it a sceneof imposing grandeur. "On eitherside," he wrote, "majestic cliffs hun-dreds of feet in height rose perpendicu-larly from the water. As the riverwound through the narrow enclosureevery turn developed some sublime ef-fect or startling novelty in the view."Present-day travelers are still awed bythe majesty of the Colorado canyons.

Night almost caught the explorers inthe defile, but they emerged into theMojave valley beyond the range just intime to make camp for the night.

That their every move was under theclose scrutiny of unseen eyes becameevident soon after the Explorer startedup-river next morning. A column ofsmoke rising from a little peak nearbank of the river was proof that awatcher had been stationed there towarn the Mojaves that the steamboatwas approaching.

The Mojave valley presented a farpleasanter picture than the voyagershad previously seen. It was opencountry, with foliage and green trees,at its best in spring attire. The courseof the river could be followed as far asthe eye could see. On both sides wasa belt of alluvial land from two to six

miles wide, "garnished with invitingmeadows, broad groves of willow andmesquite, and promising fields ofgrain." What a sight this must havebeen to the weary men.

As soon as the steamer was well outof the hills, the Mojaves began to clus-ter upon banks of the stream. Ivesnoted—he took this as a dependablesign—the presence of women and chil-dren and knew the Indians had no im-mediate hostile intentions.

This tribe impressed the lieutenantgreatly. He rated them much superiorto any of the Indians who lived fartherdown the Colorado. He was amazedat the fine physiques of the men, re-ported that some were "gigantic." Theirfaces showed intelligence "and anagreeable expression." The womenover the age of 18 or 20 were almostinvariably short and stout, but the com-paratively young army officer did notfail to observe that the younger girls"are very pretty and have slender,graceful figures.'.' This was not a dif-ficult observation to make, since thewomen wore only a short petticoatmade of strips of bark, were bare fromthe waist up.

The Indians immediately openedtrading with the exploring party. Theybrought corn and seven or eight vari-eties of beans. Ives also added to hisprovisions a small amount of wheatand a few pumpkins. He learned thatthe Indians raised watermelons, but itwas too early for that delicacy. Every-thing he could acquire, the lieutenanttook on board, for only a week's supplyof his own stock remained.

It was the next day, February 11,that Lieutenant Ives had a significantand formal meeting with Chief Jose,one of the five principal chiefs of theMojave Indians. As the Explorersteamed up the river a few miles fromthe previous night's camp, an immensethrong of Indians was seen gatheringin an open meadow. It was ChiefJose and his warriors. It would bepolicy, Ives decided, to stop for an in-terview—and besides, there was woodnearby for the steamer.

When the party had landed, the chiefmarched up with dignity. A crier walk-ed a dozen paces in front to scatterthe women, children and dogs fromaround the conference spot whereLieutenant Ives awaited the great man.An old man with noble bearing, thechief in honor of the occasion hadpainted his face entirely black exceptfor a red stripe from his forehead downthe bridge of his nose to the chin.

This was a crucial meeting for Ives.It could mean success or disaster to hisexpedition. He found it difficult tosatisfy the Indians about the purposeof the trip. They could not understandwhy the white men should come up the

18 THE DESERT M A G A Z I N E

Before entering the country of the gigantic Mojaves, the exploring party for severaldays traveled through the valley of the Chemehuevis Indians, came to know themas "complete rogues." They were small, shrewd, inveterate thieves, but traded freely

with the Ives party.

river in a steamboat and go directlyback again, nor why they kept in com-munication with Yuma by runners.

Ives must have been a good and con-vincing actor and orator. Combiningpantomime and the services of his in-terpreters, the lieutenant apparentlysucceeded, for the chief agreed to havehis people bring in provisions and saidhe would send guides to conduct Lieu-tenant Tipton and his pack train up theriver. He detailed an Indian to carrya package to Fort Yuma. He also ac-cepted Ives' invariable ruling that noIndians should be about his camp aftersunset.

Chief Jose was invited aboard thesteamboat, but declined. "His friends,"wrote Ives, "appeared to think that hehad done a prudent thing."

How did the lieutenant carry on con-versation with the Indians? It was acomplicated process. Here's the wayit went:

"I deliver my message to Mr. Bie-lawski, who puts it into indifferentSpanish for Mariano, whose knowledgeof that language is slight; when Mari-ano has caught the idea he imparts itin the Yuma tongue, with which he is

not altogether conversant, to Capitan,who, in turn, puts it into the Mojavevernacular."

What changes his remarks underwentduring these stages the lieutenant couldnever know, but he observed that theywere "sometimes received by the Mo-javes with an astonishment and bewil-derment that the original sense doesnot at all warrant."

A near clash with the Mojaves wasavoided on this first occasion only bythe intervention of Capitan, who washighly respected as a warrior. Nextday things had smoothed over and Iveswas much relieved. As he well knew,the little party of 24 men in an openboat, half the time stuck upon a bar,would be virtually at the mercy ofseveral hundred men concealed in thethickets that lined the banks of theColorado. So a break in amicable re-lations had to be avoided if at all possi-ble.

It was two days later when the lieu-tenant met an old friend. He wasIreteba, a sub-chief who had been aguide for Lieutenant Whipple when hepassed through the valley in 1853, ac-companying him through the country

west of the Colorado as far as theMormon road to Los Angeles. Ivesimmediately proposed that Iretebacome aboard and continue the trip, toact as guide on the overland journeyeastward after leaving the river. Iretebawas willing, brought with him a 16-year-old lad named Nah-vah-roo-pa.

Friendly relations had now been es-tablished with the Mojaves, an ade-quate supply of beans and corn was onhand, and many zoological specimenshad been added to the collection.

The Mojaves themselves greatly in-terested Ives and he regretted the lackof time to study their habits and cus-toms . He made one observation which,although true of Indians to this day, isnot generally understood by the whites.

"In most respects," he reported,"they think us their inferiors. I had alarge crowd about me one day andexhibited a mariner's compass. Theysoon learned its use, and thought wemust be very stupid to be obliged tohave recourse to artificial aid in orderto find our way."

Navigation through pleasant Mojavevalley, where in February winter hadgiven place to spring, had not been dif-

F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0 19

For? Mojave in the 1860s. Photograph from the collection of ArthurWoodward, curator of history in the Los Angeles Museum.

ficult. Two rapids, several trouble-some shoals, had impeded progress,but as a rule the going had been betterthan, at any other place above FortYuma. Lieutenant Ives made his us-ual excuse for the river, declared thatwith a boat of lighter draft than theExplorer regular navigation "wouldpresent no difficulty."

By now the voyagers could see arange to the east of the Mojave valleythat they called the Black mountains.The range crossed the Colorado.Where the river breaks through thischain "there is doubtless a stupendouscanyon," Ives wrote on February 17.

Entering the foothills of the Blackmountains, the Explorer was in trouble.Rapid followed rapid, each more vi-cious than the last. At one the boat waslightened, a line taken out ahead, andafter hours of hard labor the steamerwas pulled through. At this instantthe line broke and the helpless Ex-plorer swept back down through therapid, bumping upon the rocks, andwas in imminent danger of having herhull stove in. The day's work was un-done, and it took half of the next dayto extric .£e the boat from where shehad we .ged between some rocks. Halfof anr .her day was spent in a secondatteir jt to surmount the rapid.

T y top it off, another sand stormca' .e up and throughout the followingd / the. men "ate, drank, breathed and- iw littie but sand." By this time someof them, at least, must have repentedtheir presence with the expedition.

And still Lieutenant Ives defendedhis river. "As has been the case atplaces in the lower portions of theColorado, the bar that has here de-

20

tained us three days would not havestopped a boat of six inches lessdraught, with a smooth bottom, asmany hours."

And again: "It is probable that thereis not one season in 10 when even theExplorer would encounter one-fourthof the difficulty that she has during thepresent unprecedentedly low stage ofwater."

Success thus far in ascending therapids raised hopes that the expeditionmight in some way actually reach themouth of the Virgin river and theGreat Bend of the Colorado. Alreadythe party was in country seen by butfew white men before. And the mys-terious river beckoned them on.

Ireteba, the Mojave, was becominginfected with the enthusiasm. But hisknowledge of the river tempered hishopes. There were yet four difficultrapids below the Great Bend, he knew.The last of these occurred in an im-mense canyon, where the channel wasfilled with huge rocks and the waterrushed in a furious white-capped tor-rent. He passed his knowledge on toLieutenant Ives, who recorded on Feb-ruary 24:

"Here, Ireteba informs me in em-phatic pantomime, we shall come to adead stop."

As the steamer progressed, walls ofthe entrance to the gorge through theBlack mountains became plainly visi-ble. Was this Black canyon to be, asIreteba said, the head of navigation?The river flowed now for a short sixmiles through Cottonwood valley, sur-rounded by mountains not quite ashigh as those ahead, and entered aregion that had never, as far as records

showed, been visited by whites. Tense-ness in the party increased as they ap-proached the locality where some sup-posed that the famous "Big Canyon",reported by earliest Spanish explorersand later confirmed by infrequent trap-pers, commenced. Tales of this BigCanyon staggered the imagination, butthere appeared to be enough evidenceto indicate the reports were not exag-gerated.

Whether the Black canyon aheadwas the legendary Big Canyon was aquestion uppermost in the explorers'minds, but in any event they could al-ready see that it far surpassed anythingthey had yet encountered.

Meanwhile word had been receivedby runner that Lieutenant Tipton hadstarted with his pack train from FortYuma the middle of February. Itwasn't a day too soon, and arrival ofthe train was looked forward to eager-ly during the early days of March.Diet for the past two or three weekshad been limited to the corn and beansobtained from the Indians. "This diet,"wrote Ives, "agrees wonderfully withthe Mojaves; but either our stomachsare not sufficiently trained to it, or itis not wholesome fare for whites, forsome of the men suffer a great deal."Lack of food combined with the hardphysical labor involved in snaking thesteamer up treacherous stretches of theriver had reduced some of the men toactual weakness. The want of coffeeand the absence of salt were severeprivations.

Leaving Cottonwood valley on thelast leg of the run to Black canyon,Ireteba showed increasing uneasiness.He had heard reports that the "badPaiutes" were on the prowl, that someof them on a recent visit to the Mo-javes said they intended to destroy theexploring party as soon as it enteredtheir territory. So care was exercisedin selecting camp sites that could beguarded against attack.

The last 20 miles before reaching themouth of Black canyon required fivefull days. There were at least a dozenrapids. But still the stubborn Ives con-tended:

"The last 70 miles will, perhaps, bethe best part of the Colorado to navi-gate when the water is not at so ex-ceedingly low a stage."

Nearing the Black mountains the riverflowed between gravel bluffs which cutoff the view in all directions. Thus itwas that as the Explorer negotiated aturn around the base of a conical peak,the southern portal of the Black can-yon was suddenly directly in front.

"The Black mountains were piledoverhead in grand confusion," Iveswrote, "and through a narrow gatewayflanked by walls many hundreds of feetin height, rising perpendicularly out of

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

the water, the Colorado emerged fromthe bowels of the range."

This was the feared Black canyon.Negotiating a rapid just below itsmouth, the Explorer glided swiftly intoits mysterious depths on water that wassmooth. Spirits were high and all at-tention was focused ahead when thesteamer, with a s tunning crash,''brought up abrutly and instantane-ously against a sunken rock." The menthought walls of the canyon had fallenin. Those in bow of the boat werethrown overboard; the fireman, whowas pitching a log into the fire, wenthalf-way in with it; the boiler was tornout of place, the wheelhouse rippedloose, steam pipes doubled. Everyonethought the ship was doomed.

She was towed to shore, however,and examination disclosed the hull hadno holes and that other damages couldbe repaired in probably two days. Ittook three.

During the delay scientific investi-gations were not neglected, and Dr.Newberry and Mr. Egloffstein had dis-covered that the region was a rock-hound's paradise. Along the bottomof ravines in the surrounding moun-tains, they reported, "are found crys-tals of quartz, in curiously groupedclusters, and great numbers of opals.Some of the latter are of considerablesize, and promise to prove, when pol-ished, valuable gems."

Deeming it imprudent to proceedwith exploration of the canyon in thesteamboat, for should the boat be sunkthere would have been no way for themen aboard to escape — nothing toswim to except perpendicular walls 500or 1000 feet high—Lieutenant Ives de-termined to make a reconnaissance ofthe canyon with Captain Robinson inthe skiff. Taking a supply of corn andbeans, blankets, a compass, sextantand chronometer, the captain, mateand the lieutenant started early on themorning of March 10.

It was well that they decided on thiscourse. They threaded the mazes of acanyon awe-inspiring and almost ter-rifying. In place of the brilliant colorsthat tinted the sides of previous can-yons, this one had walls of naked rockuniformly somber in hue. Rapids cameone after the other, and even in theskiff the men were forced to get outand haul the little boat to quieterwater.

Eight miles from mouth of the can-yon they heard a loud sullen roaring,came soon to a rapid that Ives con-cluded must be the one Ireteba hadwarned would be impassable. Thechannel was filled with masses of rock,against which the torrent dashed withtremendous force. The doughty lead-er admitted it would be hazardous to

Progress was slow when the steamer hit rapids and shoals. Here the crewhas gone ashore, taking a line to pull the boat over a sand bar. This was afrequent occurrence, afforded great amusement to watching Indians. Mount

Davis in the background.

attempt to run that rapid with hissteamer, but only because their ropeswere nearly worn out. He still in-sisted that "during a higher stage of theriver the difficulty of the place wouldbe much diminished."

Darkness caught the trio in the for-bidding gorge and they spent the nighton a little gravel bar. Next morningthey were on their way and late in theday emerged at last from Black can-yon. Finding a camping place beforedark, Lieutenant Ives and CaptainRobinson climbed a 1000-foot hillfrom which they could survey the sur-rounding country. They could tracethe course of the river as it woundtoward the east, forming what was call-ed the Great Bend.

Looking in the direction of the Mor-mon road to Utah they observed thatthe country was less mountainous andbroken. They concluded that therewould be no difficulty in opening awagon communication between theroad and the river.

After a night's rest Ives insisted ongoing upstream another two miles.There they finally located the mouthof a brackish stream, about the sizeof the defunct Bill Williams fork. Ap-pearance of the bed and bank indicat-ed that it was at times a large river, andits location led Lieutenant Ives to sup-pose that they had reached the mouthof the Virgin river.

There he made what must have beenfor him a hard decision. The youngarmy officer had started out with spe-

cific instructions to "ascertain the navi-gability of the Colorado." Now, 500miles upstream, 102 days and 57camps later, after surviving roaringrapids, heat, cold, hunger, physicalexhaustion, heart-breaking set-backs,Lieutenant Ives wrote almost laconi-cally :

"I now determined not to try to ascendthe Colorado any further. It appear-ed that the foot of Black canyon shouldbe considered the practical head ofnavigation."

Next step would be a reconnaissanceto locate a connection with the Mor-mon road.

It was long weary weeks beforeLieutenant Ives and his men, after be-ing joined by the pack train, reachedcivilization again. But the part of hismission on which his heart had beenset had been accomplished. He hadexplored the unknown Colorado. Anddespite the buffeting he took at itshands, he still stood up for the river.His formal report to Capt. A. A. Hum-phreys, in charge of the office of ex-plorations and surveys for the war de-partment, was this confident statement:

"I would again state my belief thatthe Colorado would be found an eco-nomical avenue for the transportationof supplies to various military posts inNew Mexico and Utah. The amountof land transportation saved by adopt-ing this route would be: to the GreatSalt Lake, 700 miles; to Fort Defiance,600 miles; and to Fort Buchanan, 1100

F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0 21

"And We're 2500 Miles Away . . .Milford Center, Ohio

Desert:You and your Desert Magazine staff

ought to be crucified for cruelty todumb human beings. I've been read-ing all your back issues with the storiesabout the lost mines in the Southwest,and about that big pow-wow on NewYear's eve when you all get togetheraround a big campfire in Borrego val-ley and swap lies, and then go outlooking for the Lost Pegleg—and hereI am stranded in the prosaic prairies ofOhio 2500 miles away.

Sooner or later my partner and I areheading out that way—so please savea few of these lost gold nuggets for usto find.

L. CARL DAVIS

Invaders of the Desert . . .Fullerton, California

Desert:I like the desert backroads, and re-

cently made the trip from Niland, Cali-fornia, to Wiley's well near the famousHauser geode beds. Along the waywere many signs posting the area as abombing range. The signs were oldand some of them mutilated. But Imet several motorists along the way.Is this still an active bombing range,or did some one forget to take downthe signs when the war was ended?

My former home was New Jerseyand I am a comparative newcomer inCalifornia. I am surprised, unpleas-antly so, that so much of the Californiadesert area has been swallowed up bythe military.

The idea that these deserts belongto the people and are in constant useas a recreational area seems to be quiteforeign to the thinking of the militaryauthorities. I am especially interest-ed in the Niland-Blythe road by wayof Wiley's well. Isn't there somethingwe can do to keep this road open?

CARL R. ENGLUND

Many of us who live on the des-ert share your resentment that somuch of the desert has been mark-ed off with warning signboards.You will find the answer to yourquestion regarding the status ofthe Niland-Wiley's well road in theCalifornia news items in this issueof Desert. The compromise be-tween the navy and Imperial coun-ty supervisors is only a tentativearrangement—we hope.

—R.H.

Lapidary for Convalescents . . .Knight's Ferry, California

Desert:Many months ago you published my

request that rock collectors send cut-ting material for use of convalescentveterans at Livermore hospital. Theresponse was fine. Material came infrom all the western states.

I was released from the hospitalnearly a year ago, but recently I re-turned there for a visit. Perhaps thosewho contributed minerals will be in-terested to know that the hospital lapi-dary now has all' modern tools and re-cently installed a faceting machine. Itis as fine a shop as I have seen and themen are getting both enjoyment andvaluable training there.

CLAUDE E. NAPIER

Forgotten Pioneer of Nevada . . .Las Vegas, Nevada

Desert:I am interested in learning the back-

ground history of Bonelli's Landing,formerly on the Colorado river, now afishing camp on Lake Mead. Who wasBonelli? Where and what did he land,and why? There must be some historyconnected with the name as I have amap showing Bonelli peak also. I findnothing about him in the Nevada his-tories—apparently he is a forgottenman. But the place which bears hisname is never to be forgotten. It isone of the most beautiful spots in thisarea, and easily accessible. I shall begrateful for any information you cangive.

DORIS V. HANCOCK

Daniel Bonelli was a Mormon,and a leader in the colony whichattempted to establish an agricul-tural industry in southern Nevadaabout 1863-64. He came from theMuddy, and built a home alongthe Colorado six miles from themouth of the Virgin river. Heestablished a ferry across the riverwith a flatboat pulled by man-power. The fee was $10.00 forteam and wagon and two persons.Each additional passenger wascharged 50 cents. At low waterthe river could be forded but it wasa dangerous undertaking. Laterthe crossing became known asStone's ferry.—R.H.

Discoverer of the Colorado . . .Garden Grove, California

Desert:In his excellent article "He Ex-

plored the Unknown Colorado" in thecurrent issue of Desert Magazine the

author states the Rio Colorado wasdiscovered "in 1540 by a detachmentof 25 men who had left Vasques deCoronado's exploring party and fol-lowed the stream to its mouth."

I believe there is a slight discrepancyhere. Hernando Cortez commission-ed Francisco de Ulloa, who sailed withthree ships in September, 1539, tothe head of the Gulf of California. Hereached the mouth of the river, buthis three caravals were turned back bythe tidal bores.

Hernando de Alarcon sailed fromAcapulco on May 9th, 1540, withthree ships, with supplies intended toreinforce Coronado, who was on hisway seeking the fabled Cities of Cibola.Alarcon had difficulty navigatingthrough the bores and shoals and sandbars, and left the sailing fleet at thedelta, proceeding in small boats, eachmanned with ten men. They finallyreached the point near where the pres-ent city of Yuma is located, where theyreceived reports that Esteban theNegro had been killed. The expedi-tion returned to the delta for rein-forcements and pulled up the river asecond time with three boats, but failedto contact Coronado or anyone con-nected with his expedition. After leav-ing a note in a tree, they returned totheir ships.

His note was later found by Mel-chior Diaz, who with 25 soldiers hadleft Corazones in search of Alarcon.Diaz did some exploratory work of hisown, and apparently reached VolcanoLake. On his return trip to CorazonesDiaz was impaled on his own lance,dying later from his wounds.

FRANK SCHILLING

Reader Schilling is of courseright. Use of the word "discov-ered" was an unfortunate choiceon the part of the author. What hemeant was that the detachment of25 men, sent by Coronado underleadership of Diaz to scout fornews of Alarcon, did find theriver—coming to it after an over-land journey from Sonora.

This was in the fall of 1540,only a short time after Alarconarrived at head of the Gulf ofCalifornia on August 26, 1540,with his three vessels. Alarconsent small boats up the river, isentitled to be called the real dis-coverer of the Colorado. Ulloa in1539 had reached head of theGulf, but some historians doubtthat he knew or realized he wasat the mouth of a river.—R. H.

22 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

Jack Moore of Los Angeles, present owner of the old mine. His daughter, 12, was"acting superintendent" when photographed.

Lost G o l d of Salt Spring . . .Life is an exorbitant price to

pay for a chance in the lost goldlottery. But down through theyears men have been willing topay that price, and the fabulousAmargosa mine at the edge ofCalifornia's Death Valley is noexception. How it was discov-ered a century ago, its colorfuland sometimes bloody historysince then, and the high hopesthat still center around Amar-gosa are told here by the firstman ever to piece together thefamed mine's story.

By JOHN L. VON BLON

Photos by the Author

N the faint blue light of a midsum-mer dawn, under myriad glisteringstars, the solitary building loomed

phantom-like on the mountain beforeus.

"Reminds me of an ancient lamaseryin bleak Tibet that I've been readingabout," my son Phil said.

Having seen it before I said noth-ing; but when the sun blazed over theridge beyond and limned it in red fire itimpressed me as a rare study for anartist. The setting at the fringe ofDeath Valley is bizarre.

F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0

The scene was the Amargosa mine,conspicuous landmark on the historicOld Spanish trail from Santa Fe to LosAngeles and first gold strike on thedesert, perhaps in all California. Itmay, indeed, be the Breyfogle "lostbonanza" which countless eager soulshave hunted since '67.

Its locale is Salt Spring, 30 milesnorth of Baker, on State Highway 127and a mile off the pavement, with theunique Amargosa river intervening.The river is rated the world's longestunderground stream and the most

23

TO SHOSHONE 3 DEATH VALLEY

5PRING &RMFIRGD5R MINE

down-in-the-mouth in this hemisphere,flowing to Bad Water on the floor ofDeath Valley 279.8 feet below sealevel.

Hemmed in by granite outposts ofthe Avawatz mountains, the mine cen-ters about a narrow rocky canyon halfa mile long, cut through ages ago by aformer expansive lake. At its head isthe bitter spring, an ugly stagnant poolfour feet across and three deep, shadedby two scraggly mesquites. And thereis Salt creek, seldom trickling.

The vicious water was a cruel dis-appointment to thousands of wearytravelers over the most forbidding por-

»• . : \ TO B'ARSTOW BT L.A.

tion of the desert, entailing awful suf-ferings for humans and the sacrifice offamished beasts. I saw no signs of itsuse by birds or wild animals.

Although worked intermittently a fullcentury the mine's past is obscure. Ithas been strangely neglected by chron-iclers and given space on few maps.Judge Dix Van Dyke of Daggett hastaken pains through many years to as-semble its fragmentary annals. Someare tragic, written in blood; nine or tenmen perished there at the hands ofmerciless savages. Most of the basicdata in this article are from the VanDyke files.

I encountered a persistent traditionthat precious dust was gleaned from theSalt creek sands by Mexicans as farback as 1830. This was told me in1898 by an aged prospector namedSparkuhle, who was familiar with theregion, and I heard it repeated recently.

"Spark," as we called him, was basedat Mojave. When in the city he haunt-ed the Los Angeles Times newsroom,where his fabulous tales served aslegal tender for grubstakes. As cannyand husky a character as ever roamedthe wastelands, he often plodded farwithout burros, packing heavy burdenson his own back. Older desert ratswill remember him.

The tradition cannot be given cred-ence. In the vast, silent, distorted reach-es of the Mojave fact and fiction mayblend like liquids. Myths and mirageslinger. Authentic record credits theAmargosa discovery to Sheldon Stod-dard, Mormon and member of Cap-tain Hunt's party, in March 1849; butit is established that Mexicans passedthat way from 1826.

It was Stoddard's first glimpse of na-tive unmined gold and he secreted thebits taken from a ledge until Chinaranch was reached and showed them toColonel Williams. The latter fitted outa pack train and set Stoddard andothers to work with arrastres. Thispaid well but Paiute Indians soon drovethem out.

Then a San Francisco companytransported a mill there at considerablecost but the Indians killed two crewmembers and the others fled for theirlives. George Crismon had the ma-chinery hauled to the San Bernardinomountains and sawed lumber for thatvalley.

Beale's west-bound expedition halt-ed at Salt Spring August 15, 1853. Hewas greatly surprised to find the re-mains of nouses and arrastres where"a fortune had been sunk by men suf-ficiently deluded or sanguine to aban-don the rich mines of California,travel across 150 miles of desert, andlive upwards of 12 months in a spot sodesolate and forlorn that there is notenough vegetation to keep a goat fromstarvation." His mules would not drinkfrom the sulphurous and nauseatingspring.

In 1861 the Marysville Express an-nounced that the mine, abandoned nineyears previously, was currently operat-ed by a Los Angeles concern withMexican labor and arrastres. Againthe Indians raided and expelled them.

The following year McFadden, Stuartand Bennett set up a mill and builtsome adobe houses and the granite-and-adobe cabin to which I have re-ferred and which remains, though dou-

24 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

•5!?*P5!b.%.

—Perched high on the south brink of the canyon wall the rock cabin lendsmedieval aspect to the landscape.

Below—Built of granite and adobe over 80 years ago the mine headquarters cabinis well preserved and has just been reroofed.

F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0 25

bled in size since. Threatened by theIndians they improvised a rock fort,kept a barrel of water there and an-other in the longest tunnel, and postedguard day and night.

One morning when the workers weregoing on shift the crafty redskins at-tacked from ambush and massacredfive of them, riddling their bodies withbullets. The survivors hid in the tun-nel until night and escaped to maketheir way to Mojave. An armed possewas organized to bury the victims.Their graves and others were reportedvisible until 1900. My efforts to findthem were not successful. Time hasobliterated all traces. If the dead sleepin the canyon sands, as is plausible, itmay well be that their lost sepulchersare lined with flecks of virgin gold.

Fremont, who had camped at thespring in 1844, arrived again in De-cember, 1864, and saw the destructionwrought by the hostile Indians. Thesame month Mrs. Rousseau, diarist ofDr. J. A. Rousseau's party from SaltLake City to San Bernardino, describ-ed the ruins as she saw them, statingthat three men left to care for theproperty had been slain eight weeksbefore.

Undaunted, a new company, with thelate George Rose as superintendent,took over in the middle '60s with ade-quate facilities and operated success-fully a number of months. Extraordi-nary values were produced in pocketsand attracted outside attention.

Just then Anton Breyfogle stirred themining world with his alluring and sen-sational find. He had spent an after-noon and evening at the Amargosa,rambling all over the property, andRose stoutly maintained during the re-mainder of his life that the stuff theeccentric adventurer carried came fromthere and nowhere else.

The late Frank Denning, an ore ex-pert who lived at Demming Spring andoperated the Ibex mine, saw the Brey-fogle rock and declared himself willingto take oath that it was Amargosahighgrade. That free-milling quartz isa distinctive rose-pink color with oc-casional brown deposits such as Brey-fogle had. These men knew mineralsand could not readily have been de-ceived. This may shed new light onthe Breyfogle puzzle.

Adrian Egbert of Daggett, which wasthe mining center of an immense ter-ritory, met an aged Mexican in LosAngeles in the late '90s who boastedof having taken "plenty gold" from theAmargosa in 1853 until the Indiansousted his group. Egbert became soenthused that he and associates wentto the mine with a force of men and setup and operated a five-stamp mill.

The plant was transported from Cres-cent, east of the Vanderbilt camp nearIvanpah, by Adolph Nevares and JamesChristian with two eight-horse teams,the job requiring two months. Nevaresrecalls having been shown bullet holesin an Amargosa shack where a deadlybrawl had been finished. He lives onhis ranch in Death Valley and is amongthe very last of the pioneers—continu-ing active.

When Egbert converted his gold intobars, several thousand dollars worth,and started to drive to Daggett with theavowed intention of shipping it to themint and meeting the payroll, the min-ers, left behind with scanty food, atonce became panicky. John Tonnies,employed there, volunteered to walkthe 80 or 90 miles to Daggett, his hometown, and head off the boss. Egbertstopped overnight at Cave Springs andTonnies beat him in. To avert at-tachment proceedings immediate set-tlement was arranged. It was an amaz-ing foot feat. Both Egbert and Tonnieshave passed on.

Egbert's last activities were unusualand beneficial mainly to others. Hewent to Cave Springs, between Barstowand Death Valley, in the middle 1920s,made the water available to the public,set up a small store of provisions, andprovided overnight accommodationsfor travelers by hewing out severalchambers in the canyon wall. TheseSleeping rooms were used for a numberof years. And to aid persons in pos-sible need along lonely roads he main-tained water supplies in glass demi-johns under wooden shelters for a de-cade or longer. (Desert Magazine, Nov.'39.) A beautiful little spring annualplant growing in that region was namedegbertia in his honor.

Interested also in that novel enter-prise was Mrs. Ira Sweetman, formerDaggett postmaster, and a belovedpioneer desert woman. She now residesin Barstow. Though on a paved high-way Cave Springs is deserted, a fav-orite rendezvous of birds, especiallydoves.

Thirty years ago another outfit tack-led the Amargosa and abandoned theenterprise after making heavy expendi-tures. Its mill was sold in 1939.

In my three explorations the pic-turesque cabin standing on the southrim of the gulch proved the most inter-esting relic. Weathered but well pre-served after eight decades it supposed-ly is the oldest of all desert buildings.It is 60 x 12 feet, divided into threesections by low rock walls, and has twofireplaces. Several years ago the ori-ginal thatch was shattered by a wildgale and has been replaced with a greencomposition roof barely visible from

the highway. Beneath the cliff is thespring.

Principal workings comprise a mileand a half of tunnels in solid rock, fiveshafts, two of them vertical and theothers inclined. The deepest is 180feet and half filled with water. In an-other, hot water was struck and boilsnoisily 30 feet below the surface. Onwintry days a column of steam almosta hundred feet tall has been observed.Volcanic commotion down there!

Along the west wall there has beenextensive stoping, and chambers sug-gesting cathedral interiors are the re-sult. On the slope is a large mill foun-dation. Lying at its base is a huge bel-lows from a vanished blacksmith shop.Scattered throughout are endless im-pediments of former value—odds andends eloquent of blasted ambitions,broken hearts and financial ruin. Inthe sand lies a heavy boiler and a tonflywheel carried 200 yards by a violentflash flood rises vertically half buried.

It appears that the original minersreaped rewards in the gulch whichtheir successors have been unable toduplicate in the upper ledges; thatmuch more capital has been poured inthan has been returned.

My youthful companion passed ten-derfoot snap judgment in this wise:"Mine's no good. I looked all aroundfor gold a whole afternoon and didn'tfind a single nugget!"

But there remains a lot of unex-ploited ground. Jack Moore of LosAngeles, present owner, believes theproperty has a promising future andis preparing to go ahead with develop-ment. He and his daughter Maureen,12, were taking ore from the glory holeon one of my visits. She informed methat she was acting superintendent andhe concurred. They were comfortablyquartered in the antiquated citadel.

My Amargosa mine research dis-closed the discovery in that mysteriousarea 75 years ago of an apparent treas-ure that is lost to this day and of whichno account ever has been published.It is a story of heroic courage and in-credible endurance and hardship.

About 1872 Johnny McCloskey ofBishop went to his birthplace in Texasto be married. A few years later heand his wife, with their small daugh-ter, decided to return to Owens Valley.With true western fortitude they set outon the far and hazardous journey in alight wagon drawn by two good horses.

In pleasant early springtime theydrove into the Golden State via the oldGovernment road, but at Marl Springmisfortune befell them, one of thehorses died suddenly. Their only re-course was to abandon the vehicle withmost of their possessions, pack abso-

26 THE D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E

lute essentials on the remaining horse,which also carried the child, and setout afoot. Fortunately McCloskeywas sure of his bearings. They turnednorthwestward toward Ash Meadows,where he knew his friend Jim Butler—afterward discoverer of Tonopah—was prospecting and amply provision-ed. The distance is 140 miles.

One evening they camped on theAmargosa river 30 or 40 miles abovethe mine. There was a natural em-bankment of black boulders, and clearwater flowing from beneath on a broad,lengthy sand flat. Sensing gold thetired man took a milk pan, the onlyutensil available, and was astounded toextract an ounce and a half in an hourfrom various parts of the wash!

Supplies were critically low, the heatbecoming intense, and they dared nottarry for anything. But Johnny wouldbe back for their fortune. High hopesbuoyed them henceforth.

Finally arrived at the Inyo home,McCloskey hastened to backtrack tobegin placering operations and recoverhis wagon and contents.

George W. Golden, Daggett miningman who was born in Bishop, relatesthat his father, Steve Golden, accom-panied the supposedly lucky Johnny onthat and two other trips. They cameupon different places strewn with blackboulders but devoid of sand and neverfound the placer gold. Presumably de-vastating cloudbursts to which the re-gion is subject had completely changedthe river channel. Thieves had madeaway with the wagon at Marl Spring.

As a young man George Golden ac-companied his father, George Rose andothers, in futile quests for the placerand he plans to continue looking.Steve Golden died at the age of 90 fiveyears ago in Kern county with his sightsset to the end for that lost gold!

That's not a greenhorn country.None but seasoned desert men shouldventure in. It is perilous for amateurargonauts. Life is an exorbitant priceto offer for a lost gold lottery chance.

Above—Salt Spring's bitter andundrinkable water was a cruel dis-appointment to early travelers on

the Old Spanish trail.

Center—Foundation and timbersof the 5-stamp mill operated ahalf century ago by Egbert and

associates.

Below—Phil Von Blon beside thehuge bellows used in the mineblacksmith shop a half century ago.

F E B R U A R Y 1 9 5 0

Randsburg, California . . .Reactivation of placer claims located

near the Black Hawk mine two milessouth of Randsburg was scheduled forearly this year utilizing a new recoverymethod perfected by Virgil Murray ofVan Nuys. Owner of the claims—theBalatine. Silverton and Blue Bird goldclaims—is J. J. Neito, Los Angeles. Aninitial crew of four men was to startoperations with a one-yard steamshovel. Murray is in charge.—Rands-burg Times-Herald.

• • •Albuquerque, New Mexico . . .

High quality coal that may run tomore than a billion tons has been dis-covered in the San Juan basin of NewMexico and Colorado. The new re-sources were reported to Interior Sec-retary Oscar L. Chapman by the U. S.geological survey after studies on north-western rim of the basin. The coaldeposits are said to be less than 1000feet below the surface, are estimated tobe present in beds more than 28 inchesthick. A considerable proportion of thecoal in the area is of coking quality, thegovernment report states. The coal issaid to lie in the Menefee and Fruit-land formations.—Gallup Independent.

• • •Tonopah, Nevada . . .

Tonopah again has an assay office.This famed Nevada town has for sometime been without this service, but anoffice is now open at the former site ofthe West End Mining company's mill.Ore samples may now be handled lo-cally.—Tonopah Times-Bonanza.

• • •Beatty, Nevada . . .

The copper prospect located severalyears ago by the Looney brothers ofBeatty is reported to be developinggood showings. Four men are nowemployed on the ground under direc-tion of Tom Beard. Larger equipmentis being moved in since ore running17 percent copper has been foundto be not unusual.—Tonopah Times-Bonanza.

• • •Battle Mountain, Nevada . . .

Construction of new facilities at theGetchell mine near Winnemucca hasprogressed rapidly and by first of thismonth the mill was scheduled to be inproduction. Equipment being addedincludes a new crushing plant, new8 x 12 rod mill, new flotation sectionand new classifiers. An auxiliary wellhas been drilled to supply water for themill and for domestic purposes.—Bat-tle Mountain Scout.

Winnemucca, Nevada . . .Ranked among the leading tungsten

producers in the nation, the Nevada-Massachusetts company has resumedoperations at its Tungsten property,Pershing county, with a full-scale min-ing and milling schedule. The companybegan operations at start of World WarI and had never closed until last Junewhen general economic conditions andlow prices for tungsten forced a shut-down. From 150 to 160 men will beemployed and more than 300 peoplewill be living on the property when full-scale operation is reached, according toW. G. Emminger, general superintend-ent.—Humboldt Star.

• • •Salt Lake City, Utah . . .

*The 1950 Metal Mining conventionand exposition of the American Miningcongress is to be held in Salt LakeCity, Utah, August 28 to 31, it hasbeen announced. Roy A. Hardy, con-sulting engineer in charge, GetchellMine, Inc., Reno, has been named pro-gram chairman, according to D. D.Moffat, chairman of the western divi-sion of the American Mining congress.The exposition of mining equipment, tobe held concurrently with the conven-tion, is expected to be outstanding.—Humboldt Star.

• • •Los Angeles County, California . . .

Development and exploitation of theDon claim of the Hi-Grade gold minein Mint canyon is reported progressingrapidly. Arthur Lueck, Hollywood,has a lease on a block which covers 300feet along the strike of the vein and is600 feet in width. Exposures of thegold-bearing vein in the shaft range inwidth from 12 to 22 inches. Ore willbe treated in the Hi-Grade mill. Ca-pacity is being increased to approxi-mately 20 tons per day.—CaliforniaMineral Information Service.

• • •Randsburg, California . . .

A complete laboratory for the test-ing, assaying and quantitative analysisof mineral specimens has been openedin Randsburg for the convenience ofminers and prospectors. The labora-tory is located at the Big Gold andTungsten mill operated by Mr. andMrs. Jack Kreta. Chemist and assayerin charge is Don Duckworth, graduateof the Stevens Institute of Technology.The laboratory is equipped to do analy-sis on the rarer minerals, as well asgold, silver and tungsten. — TronaArgonaut.

Greenriver, Utah . . .After lying dormant for nearly 30

years, mines on Temple mountain areagain being worked. But this time itis uranium ore that is being sought.Cliffs along the old Spanish Trail echoto the blasts that gouge out the hardsandstone criss-crossed by veins of redor yellow ore that is said to run high inuranium content. Old dumps are alsobeing assayed and hauled to millsequipped to salvage uranium from thelow-grade ore. Mines on both SouthTemple and North Temple are active.—Moab Times-Independent.

• • •

Goldfield. Nevada . . .The long-awaited activation of an-

other major company in the Goldfieldmining district is expected to be realiz-ed probably this spring when the Gold-field Great Bend, Ltd., is scheduled tobegin development of extensive hold-ings in the area. Liquidation of hold-ings in Panama has held up the pro-gram in Nevada, company officialssay.—Goldfield News.

• • •Winnemucca, Nevada . . .

Boasting a recorded production of amillion dollars, but closed since 1943,the Pansy Lee mine—formerly knownas the West Coast mine—is back inoperation. The mine is about 10 milesfrom Winnemucca. Ore is being ship-ped to a Utah smelter because the millat the mine was removed soon afterthe property shut down in 1943. ThePansy Lee was located about 25 yearsago, is named for the daugher of LeeCase, in charge of operations.—Hum-boldt Star.

• • •Goldfield, Nevada . . .

Mines in the Goldfield area have amill close at hand now that the DeepMines Operation of the Newmont Min-ing corporation is running custom ore.The mill is to treat ore from the Com-bination Fraction, under lease toGeorge Metscher and associates; fromthe Clermont; from the Red Hill Flor-ence lease; from Andy Anderson's lease,and other mines.—Goldfield News.

• • •Mina, Nevada . . .

Lead ore averaging $100 a ton withsome of the richest assaying up to $260is reportedly being shipped from theVogel property in Queen canyon whereEdward Vogel discovered a vein ofgalena ore four feet wide in the vicinityof the old Queen mine. In the samearea William Knight, Charles Morrisand Bill Ryan are developing a ledgeof galena ore 26 inches wide, said tocarry high grade lead ore. Prospectorsare working adjoining claims.—LosAngeles Times.

28 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

Selected atAnnual

Strange things have been happeningon this desert, if one is to believe theyarns told around the campfire inBorrego valley on New Year's evewhen the annual Pegleg Smith Liar'scontest was held.

The 500 visitors and contestantswho sat around the big bonfire heardabout cotton that grows on smoke trees,a burro that broke its legs and thenturned over on its back and used itsears for propellors, horned toads asbig as coyotes and petrified oysters thatcame to life and supplied food forstarving prospectors. . .

The winners of the contest wereDorothy Vick of Gallatin Gateway,Montana, in the women's division, andArthur Dorsey McCain of Barstow,California, in the men's section.

Dorothy Vick explained she and herhusband came south from Montanawhen it got so cold up there that wordscame out of their mouths in the formof ice cubes, and they had to be putin a frying pan and thawed out beforethey knew what was being said. Thenshe went on to tell how she and herhusband had gone down to the Bor-rego badlands and found the legendaryPegleg hill covered with black goldnuggets. They sat down on bouldersof pure gold to make plans for spend-ing their new-found wealth—and thenthe thought came to them that it wouldbe cruel to disillusion the thousands ofpeople who expect some day to findthe fabulous treasure. In the end theydecided to leave the gold there andkeep its location a secret—and sothere would be no living person whowould know just how to reach theplace they put blindfolds on each otherwhen they left.

"Mac" McCain, who operates theformer Pop Dillon rock and mineralstand just out of Barstow, and came tothe annual Pegleg trek in Borrego in amotorized covered wagon decoratedwith hundreds of old desert relics, wonthe men's championship with a mono-logue that included a tortoise whichreacted like a Geiger counter when-ever it crawled over rock containinggold, a talking dog, and a score ofother weird characters improvised forthe occasion.

One contestant was disqualified fromfuture participation for relating an off-color story.

The tall tales were one of manyentertaining and hilarious features onthe campfire program. Lon Chaney,

F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0

actor, stole the show with a clever one-man skit in which a barrel cactus play-ed the role of saving him from death bythirst, supplying him with weaponswith which to kill food, shoes for hisfeet, and finally pointing the way to thelost Pegleg mine. Chaney dramatizedhis story with so realistic an act he hadthe crowd in a continuous roar oflaughter. He asked the judges to dis-qualify him from the contest, how-ever, on professional grounds.

John Hilton, artist of Thermal, Cali-fornia, and Cliff Eaton of El Cajon,California, furnished guitar music andsongs between stories, and as midnightapproached John staged his annualritual of burning some of the oil paint-ings made during the previous year.He explained they were his "mistakes"but there were exclamations of protestfrom the crowd as he tossed his can-vases into the flames.

Henry E. W. Wilson of Los Angeleswas introduced as the man who has

spent more time in quest of the LostPegleg than any other living person.He told of his experiences in his searchfor the gold, beginning in 1900, andexplained that out of the many versionsof the Pegleg legend he selected theone he regarded as most probable, andon 28 different expeditions during thelast 50 years, has clung to his originaltheory. He is convinced the Pegleggold is in the Borrego desert, and hepresented his conclusions in convincingmanner.

Although not a contestant, 84-year-old C. E. Utt was introduced by hisfriend John Hilton and told a ratheramazing tale of coyotes in Baja Cali-fornia who with their tales catch crabsfor food along the shores of lagoons.He insisted it was a true story.

Harry Oliver, editor of the DesertRat Scrapbook, served as master ofceremonies, and Desert Steve Ragsdale,Guy O. Glazier and Joe Wright ofKnott's Berry Farm at Buena Park,California, were judges. Walter Knottsent cases of berry preserves and old-time music records from his famousGhost Town as prizes for the contestwinners. These were presented by RayHetherington, member of the sponsor-ing committee.

Winter months are picture months on the desert—and the subjectmaterial is unlimited: Landscapes, strange rock formations, unusualbotanical specimens, wildlife, prospectors, Indians, sunsets—all theseand many more invite the camera owner. Remember, it takes theshadows to make the picture, but there are nearly always good shadowson the desert. The judges favor strong contrast—gray pictures do notmake good halftone reproduction.

Entries for the February contest must be in the Desert Magazineoffice. Palm Desert, California, by February 20, and the winning printswill appear in the April issue. Pictures which arrive too late for onemonth's contest are held over for the next month. First prize is $10;second prize $5.00. For non-winning pictures accepted for publication$3.00 each will be paid.

HERE ARE THE RULES1—Prints ior monthly contests must be black and white, 5x7 or larger, printed

on glossy paper.2—Each photograph submitted should be fully labeled as to subject, time and

place. Also technical data: camera, shutter speed, hour of day, etc.3—PRINTS WILL BE RETURNED WHEN RETURN POSTAGE IS ENCLOSED.4—All entries must be in the Desert Magazine office by the 20th of the contest

month.5—Contests are open to both amateur and professional photographers. Desert

Magazine requires first publication rights only of prize winning pictures.6—Time and place of photograph are immaterial, except that it must be from the

desert Southwest.7—Judges will be selected from Desert's editorial staff, and awards will be made

immediately after the close of the contest each month.

Address All Entries to Photo Editor

*De4€nt PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA

29

Mild midwinter t empera tu resbrought many campers to the annualPegleg Trek and Liar's contest, and itwas estimated that more than half ofthose present spread their bedrolls onthe floor of the desert and remainedthere that night.

In accordance with tradition, eachvisitor was required to deposit tenrocks on the Pegleg monument whichis slowly rising at the site of the annualprogram. During the past year a fineregister, housed in a metal box, wasplaced there by Desert Steve Ragsdaleas a visitor's guest book.

Among veteran journalists of UnitedStates few men have had a longer ormore active writing and editing careerthan John L. Von Blon whose "LostGold of Salt Spring" is published byDesert Magazine this month.

John L. was born in Ohio 79 yearsago. He went from university into ac-tive journalism in 1890 and after serv-ing as city editor on eastern newspap-ers became a special writer for WarrenHarding, then publisher of the MarionStar of Ohio. He and the man whowas later to become president wereclose friends, and the letters written byHarding to Von Blon are now in theLibrary of Congress.

Later John came west at the requestof General Otis to serve as city editorof the Los Angeles Times and wasthere from 1898 to 1916. For eightyears he was publicity director for theLos Angeles Athletic club and later be-came an associate editor of Westways.During World War II he was manag-ing editor of Basic Bombardier, theofficial publication of the great BasicMagnesium plant near Las Vegas.More recently he has retired to a littledesert cabin at Daggett, California, notfar from the home of his friend JudgeDix Van Dyke, to do free lance writ-ing.

During an active journalistic careerof 60 years, he has written for nearlyevery leading magazine in the country,and his syndicated articles have beentranslated into a half dozen languages.

Calif. Ore. Wash. Ida.

COUNTY MAPSfor Travelers, Homeseekers, Prospectors

List and prices on request FREE

WORLD'S MINERALS2417 San Pablo Ave. Oakland 12. Calif.

His writings are better known in Eng-land than in United States.

John L. first crossed the Americandesert 51 years ago, and has been anardent desert enthusiast ever since.With his camera he has tramped liter-ally thousands of miles in the South-west and Mexico gathering story ma-terial—and just enjoying the kind oflife he likes best.

The one thing that annoys him morethan anything else is to be mistakenfor a tenderfoot.

Gene Segerblom, who wrote thismonth's "Desert Playground" featurefor Desert Magazine is a native daugh-ter of Nevada and the mother of twosmall children, Robin aged five, andRichard, 15 months.

Her interesting story about the LakeMead recreational area is illustratedwith pictures taken by two of theSouthwest's best photographers, CliffSegerblom, her husband, and WilliamBelknap, Jr., of the Belknap Photo-graphic Services.

They all make their home at BoulderCity where Cliff is associated with theBelknap photo studios.

Gene was graduated from the Uni-versity of Nevada in 1940 and fol-lowing their marriage she and Cliffwent to Panama canal zone in 1941.There he was in charge of a photo lab-oratory for the Army Air Corps' Pan-ama depot. They returned to theUnited States in 1948 and came toNevada because they like the desertcountry better than the jungles. Genehas written articles for Popular Me-chanics, Pacific Motor Boat, Outdoors-man and the Christian Science Moni-tor in the last six months.

Bill Belknap was in the navy duringthe war and assigned to the WhiteHouse as official photographer. Heaccompanied the Truman party toPotsdam and later came to BoulderCity to establish his own photo service.He and Cliff have covered many of theleast explored sections of the West onphotographic assignments, and theysupply many pictures for nationalmagazines.

• • e

INDIAN BUREAU ACTIVITIESDECENTRALIZED BY NICHOLS

Reorganization of the field servicesof the Bureau of Indian Affairs, de-signed to decentralize many of theactivities carried on by the bureau inWashington, has been completed un-der direction of Commissioner John R.Nichols. Eleven area directors havebeen named, and these will report di-rectly to Commissioner Nichols inWashington, as will 10 superintendentsof detached field offices. Formerly

there were 100 men in the field report-ing directly to Nichols.

"I believe the maximum advance-ment of the welfare of the Indian willresult from this decentralization andthe successful local integration of vari-ous Indian Service activities," Nicholscommented.

In the Southwest, area directors are:Eric T. Hagberg, Albuquerque, New

Mexico—The states of Colorado andNew Mexico. He has been actingsuperintendent of the United PueblosAgency since May, 1946. The all-Pueblo council urged that he be re-tained permanently.

Allan G. Harper, Window Rock,Arizona—The Navajo and Hopi re-servations in Arizona. Since June of1949 he had been general superintend-ent of the Navajo reservation. A sep-arate superintendency will be main-tained at Keams Canyon, Arizona, butwill report directly to Harper's newarea office.

James M. Stewart, Sacramento, Cali-fornia—All of the state of California.He has been state director since June,1949.

Walter V. Woehlke, Phoenix, Ari-zona—Arizona (excepting the Navajoand Hopi reservations) and Utah (ex-cept the Intermountain school at Brig-ham City). He has had broad exper-ience in the desert Southwest.

ANSWERS TO TRUE OR FALSEQuestions are on page 16.

1—True.2—False. Furnace Creek Inn is op-

erated by Death Valley HotelCo., Ltd.

3—False. There is no law protectingdead ironwood.

4—True.5—False. Horses were first brought

to America by Europeans.6—False. Sandstone is a sedimen-

tary rock.7—True.8—True. Juniper is seldom found

growing below 2,000 feet, neverbelow sea level.

9—True.10—False. Elephant Butte dam is in

New Mexico.11—True.12—True.13—False. Ubehebe crater in Death

Valley has been extinct since longbefore America was discoveredby Columbus.

14_True.15—True.16—False. Smoke trees are short-

lived compared with other deserttrees.

17—True.18—False. State university of Arizona

is at Tucson.19—True.20—True.

30 T H E D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E

*De&entARIZONA

Tribes Asked to Submit Plans . . .PHOENIX — All Southwest Indian

tribes have been asked by Indian Com-missioner John R. Nichols to draw uprehabilitation programs similar to the88-million-dollar Navajo-Hopi planpending in congress, and to submit theplans for consideration. "We will tryto get them through congress," Nicholsdeclared. He said the federal govern-ment should complete the task of re-habilitating reservation Indians beforeshifting the load to states. Roads,schools, medical facilities are mostneeded.—Gallup Independent.

Precautions to Avoid Tragedy . . .W A S H I N G T O N — In hopes of

avoiding another tragedy such as oc-curred in last winter's blizzard, whenthousands of Navajo Indians in Ari-zona suffered severely from lack offood and clothing, the bureau of In-dian affairs has made extensive plansto prepare the Indians for a possiblerepetition of the record storms. AllenG. Harper, general superintendent ofthe Navajo reservation with headquart-ers at Window Rock, Arizona, said theproblem of communications has beensolved for this winter, warehouses havebeen stocked with clothing and as muchin other commodities as the budgetwould permit.

Indian Traders Adopt Code . . .GANADO — Traders from the In-

dian country of Arizona, New Mexico,Utah, Colorado and California gath-ered at year's end in Gallup, New Mex-ico, and adopted a code of tradingpractices for the Navajo and Hopi In-dian reservations. Adoption of a code,it was decided would be soundestmethod of regulating trading on thereservation and would help enhance thegood reputation of traders in the eyesof the Indians, the public and the gov-ernment.

Traders play an important role in thelife of Indians, particularly on isolatedreaches of the reservations. They buythe Indian's products, supply him withnecessities, serve as his banker. Pur-pose of the code is to standardize busi-ness practices and eliminate practicesby individual traders which damage thegood name of all Indian traders, and toprotect Indians from unscrupuloustreatment or excessive prices. Tradersalso pledge themselves to help educatethe Indians in sound business proce-dures.—Gallup Independent.

WINSLOW—Lawrence W. Pattisonhas assumed charge of the Chevalonranger district in the Sitgreaves Na-tional forest, with headquarters inWinslow. He replaces District RangerH. V. Allen, transferred to Flagstaff.—•Holbrook Tribune-News.

TRADITIONAL M<XCA$lN$

W

These Indians employ their age-old skill in themaking of these unique and practical moccasins.They're the shoes the Indians have made forcenturies — not a commercial product manufac-tured for curio stores.

A rawhide sole, cut and shaped to your own foot pattern,is hand-sewn with tough sinew to a high, soft upper of

beautiful rust-colored buckskin. A buckskin thong or nativehand-worked silver conchos hold the flap in place. A rugged

outdoor boot that will give years of wear.

$13.50 per pair, includes the silver conchos. $12.50 with buckskintie only. Order direct or ask for interesting folder. Send outline

of foot plus your usual shoe size when ordering. Write toKaibab Buckskin, Old Pueblo Station, Box 5156 • Tucson, Arizona

KaiLaL Bi

GREATEST DESERTDATE SHOW

At Russ Nicoll's world-famous

'Date"Ill the Valley of the Palms"

Featuring our delicious, exclusive |confection

Vate-TUt

In Tucson at 41 West Alameda Street

fresh baked in our own ovens

ALSO . . .Candy of the Palms

Date Loaf SticksDate Butter

Date Crunchies"Alldate" Syrup

Brandied DatesCreamy Soft Dates

"Chewey" DatesAll kinds of Stuffed Dates

DATE MILK SHAKESJumbo Calimyrna Figs

Stuffed Turkey FigsPreserved Spiced Figs

Giant Ripe Olives

Visit us and you'll see whywe receive write-ups in theReader's Digest, Coronet andother national magazines.

You are always welcome tofree ice water and desert maps.|

If you can't come in personto taste these delicacies, writefor complete folder.

ONHIWAY99. 11 MILESSOUTH OF INDIO

P. O.. Thermal 6. Calif.

F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0 31

THE D€S€RT TRADING POSTClassified Advertising in This Section Costs 8c a Word, $1.00 Minimum Per Issue

INDIAN GOODSDEAR CUSTOMERS: Sorry we have no catalog.

Because we handle Indian Artifacts and eachpiece is distinctive, cost would be prohibitive.We have lots of old and new rugs, baskets,jewelry and ceremonial things. Plenty ofrocks and minerals, gold specimens and nug-gets. We also have Chimayo blankets, coatsand purses. We will be glad to ship. Tell uswhat you want and send the money. Daniel'sTrading Post, 401 W. Foothill Blvd., Fontana,California.

FOUR VERY FINE ancient Indian Arrowheads,SI.00; 4 tiny perfect bird arrowheads, $1.00;1 ancient stone tomahawk, $1.00; 2 flint skin-ning knives, $1.00; 1 large flint hoe, $1.00; 2spearheads, $1.00; 10 arrowheads from 10states, $1.00; 20 damaged arrowheads, $1.00;10 fish sealers, $1.00; 10 hide scrapers, $1.00;4 perfect saw edged arrowheads, $1.00. Theabove 11 offers $10.00, postpaid. List Free.Lears, Kirby, Arkansas.

HAND MADE MOCCASIN: Soft "Buck Tanned"leather trimmed with nickle silver conchas setwith turquoise color stone, wool shearinginsoles—for indoor or outdoor wear. Women'ssizes 4 to 9, $5.95, Men's 6 to 12, $6.95, pre-paid, cash with order. Satisfaction guaranteed.Make ideal gifts with name embossed in goldon sole if desired at no extra charge. Photoson request. Mohave Gem Shop, Kingman,Arizona.

BOOKS — MAGAZINESBOOK OF CACTI for the amateur collector.

Describes and classifies over 500 varieties,over 200 photographs. Subjects on care, theirculture, how to plant in rock gardens andpots. Sent postpaid $1.00. Discount to dealers.Published by M. Nowotny, 1401 Broadway,San Antonio, Texas.

BOOKFINDERS—Scarce, out of print, unusualbooks quickly supplied. Send wants. Clifton,Box 1377d, Beverly Hills, California.

"GOLD PANNING FOR PROFIT." Healthy out-door hobby. Beginners big illustrated instruc-tion book—$1.00. Miners' gold pans, $2.00.Prospectors' powerful magnifying glass, $1.00.Package black sand and real gold, $1.00.Desert Jim, 627 Lillian, Stockton, California.

PALM SPRINGS PICTORIAL: 21st Annual Issue,45c by mail, or ask your newsdealer. Pictorial,465 No. Palm Canyon Dr., Palm Springs,California.

URANIUM PROSPECTOR'S Handbook, $1.00;non-technical, complete, Dept. T., Craft-Connor Publishing Co., 601 S. Vermont, LosAngeles 5. California.

REAL ESTATEDESERT LOTS: $129 to $179. Why pay more?

60 cycle electricity and water available. Lotsare '/2 block south of Highways 60, 70, 80on Main St. in Evelyn Subdivision, in fastgrowing Superstition Village. 14'/2 miles eastof Mesa. (Trailers Welcome.) Wm. Hughes,Rt. 2, Box 594-A, Mesa, Arizona.

HOT MINERAL WATER. Enjoy your ownNature-heated swimming pool. Five acres withwell—temperature 110 to 170 degrees—$8500.Arthrittcs should investigate. R. H. McDonald,Box 21, Phone 143, Desert Hot Springs, Calif.

FOR SALE: 5 acres very fine warm grape land,level, canal water, piped, utilities, paved road.Near Valerie Jean Date Shop. Price $5000.Ronald L. Johnson, Thermal, California.

HOME SITE near Borrego Springs for sale byowner. R. Lee Stowe, 1648 Cota Ave., LongBeach, California.

OCOTILLO: A fast developing desert resort 26miles west of El Centro on Highway 80. Resi-dential lots with water rights in mutual waterCo., $250. Abundance of high grade soft water.Business opportunities. Get in on groundfloor. Send for circular. ALPINE: high classhomesites, 1 acre or more with water alreadydeveloped for irrigation gaden, fruit trees,etc. All year delightful and healthful climate.Grand view of ocean. John C. Chalupnik,Ocotillo, via Plaster City, California.

MISCELLANEOUSSILVERY DESERT HOLLY PLANTS. One dollar

each postpaid. Greasewood Greenhouses, RFD,Barstow, California.

32

PANNING GOLD — Another hobby for RockHounds and Desert Roamers. A new booklet,"What the Beginner Needs to Know," 36 pagesof instructions; also catalogue of mining booksand prospectors supplies, maps of where to goand blueprints of hand machines you canbuild. Mailed postpaid 25c, coin or stamps.Old Prospector, Box 21 B 334, Dutch Flat,California.

DESERT WOODCRAFT—Fine gift items madefrom Ironwood, Mesquite, Cactus. Bowls8 x l'/2, $6.00. Beautiful color and grain.Other bowls of various sizes and design.Cactus book-ends $6.00. Table lamps $8.00 to$12.00 including special matching shades,postpaid. Also coffee tables, end tables andfloor lamps. First time offered anywhere—Ihave a special treatment which brings outthe natural yellow color in the cactus. Finelyfinished in Lacquer. Anything made to order.See display in Palm Desert Book Shop orwrite to D. R. Jones, Craftsman, Palm Desert,California.

KODACHROME SLIDES ON APPROVAL. Gla-cier, Banff, Jasper. Mtn. Goats, Mtn. Sheep,Bears. Moose, Deer, Lakes, Mountains, Sun-sets and many others to select from. Roundout your series from our collection. Alsoother Western National Parks. DouglasWhiteside, Yosemite National Park, California.

FLUORESCENT TURITELLA and other typePaperweights, $2.50 each. Exclusive pattern.Letter Openers $2.50 to $3.50. Clay Ledbetter,2126 McKenzie, Waco, Texas.

LADY GODIVA "The World's Finest Beautifier."For women who wish to become beautiful, forwomen who wish to remain beautiful. Anoutstanding desert cream. For information,write or call Lola Barnes, 963 No. Oakland,Pasadena 6, Calif, or phone SYcamore 4-2378.

COLOR SLIDES^Travel, Nature, Geology, etc.Free list (with sample 30c, three for dollar).Kelly D. Choda, Box 5, Los Alamos, NewMexico.

THREE DIMENSION, Cactus framed desert land-scape pictures, size 6 x 8 x 2 , $3.00; 8 x 13 x 2,$5.00. The Special 10 x 20 x 2Vi, $10.00.Diorama Studios, 1225 N. Anita, Tucson, Ariz.

KODACHROMES of Cathedral Valley, newly dis-covered scenic area in Utah; or colorful Capi-tol Reef National Monument. Sets of 10, $5.00Charles Kelly, Torrey, Utah.

PROSPECTORS AND ROCKHOUNDS WANTED.To join the newly Incorporated United Pros-pectors Organization. If you are experiencedor beginners the articles in our magazine arebound to help you enjoy your hobby and theoutdoors. Send your name for our new bro-chure and literature. United Prospectors, Box13, Dutch Flat, California.

BURIED METAL LOCATORS. Army SCR-625mine (metallic) detectors, $49.95 complete.Mayhall Appliance Co., Belmont, Mississippi.

OLD PHOTOGRAPHS WANTED—Desert Maga-zine staff is seeking pictures of the late FrankCoffee, veteran prospector who spent thelatter years of his life at Dos Palmas springeast of Mecca, California. Loaned pictures ornegatives will be returned after copies aremade. Address Editor, Desert Magazine, PalmDesert, California.

DINOSAURIAN MATERIAL. Thumb-nail collec-tion. Consists of one gastrolith (Dinosaur giz-ard, or stomach, stone) and 15 thumb-nail sizespecimens of petrified dinosaur bone. Thesesmall, but select, specimens will average aboutVi inch by % inch in size and are a repre-sentative series of the various types and colorsof petrified dinosaur bone found in this lo-cality. All sixteen specimens postpaid for 25c.W. C. Minor, Box 62, Fruita, Colorado.

KARAKULS—Producers of Persian Lamb furare easy to raise, adaptable to any climateor altitude. For further information writeAddis Kelley, 4637 E. 52nd Place, Maywood,California.

FRED AND JESSIE PORTER welcome you toSHOOT!!! your pictures of "Ghost Town ofCalico" and mountains in miniature, at the"POW-WOW" Trading Post, Hiway 91, Yermo.Calif. The hub of Rock-hounds Paradise.Crystals, cutting material in rough or slabbed.Uranium, highly fluorescent, and specimensMiniature cactus, gifts and souvenirs.

Restoration Plans Advanced . . .TOMBSTONE—A board of direc-

tors has been chosen, articles of in-corporation have been filed and ap-parently the program to restore muchof Tombstone to its 1880 appearanceis well underway. Hope is to makethe one-time rip-roaring mining camp"the show place of the West." In-cluded in the proposed project is thereplacing of modern signs with the typeprevalent in the early '80s; putting theold style fronts back on buildings; lay-ing wooden sidewalks; replacing side-walk overhangs which were in Tomb-stone in the early days.—TombstoneEpitaph.

a • •

Gila River Flood Dikes . . .DUNCAN—Situated along the Gila

river in eastern Arizona near the NewMexico border, the town of Duncanis at least doing something about floodprotection. A control dike is to be builtstarting about a mile south of the mainsection of the town, will reach a heightof 12 feet at its highest point. Besidesprotecting the town and its residents,the dike will remove flood hazardsfrom U. S. Highway 70, it is believ-ed.—Lordsburg Liberal.

• • •

Indians Good Loan Risks . . .WASHINGTON—Records show the

Indian is a good risk for federal loans.He has repaid so promptly that theIndian affairs office wants to makemore money available to loan to tribesin several states. Theory is that loansmay hasten the time when federal sup-ervision over tribes can be reduced.Indian agency files show that losses onloans up to end of the last fiscal yearwere less than one-half of one percent.And 95.27 percent of all money duewas paid on schedule.

• • •

Remembers Early Tombstone...TOMBSTONE — A man who re-

members when first cottonwood treeswere planted in Tombstone in 1882and who witnessed the lynching ofJohn Heath visited the one-time Ari-zona boom town recently. He is RayI. Swain, last member of one of Tomb-stone's first families. His father wasan early-day lawyer in Tombstone.Swain now lives in San Francisco.—Tombstone Epitaph.

PALM SPRINGS and the desert. Articles, pic-tures, information. Sample 45c. Subscription$3.50 a year. Villager Magazine, Palm Springs,California.

20 OLD WESTERN outlaw photos, $1.00. 20 dif-ferent Old West, Pioneer, etc., photos, $1.00.10 different battle of Wounded Knee 50c.5 different Lincoln 25c. Lists 5c. Vernon Lem-ley Store, 302 Dallas Ave., Mena, Arkansas.

FOR SALE: Large Blue limestone deposit. Testsrun 85 to 99%. Near rail and road. InquireHarold V. Sims, P. O. Box 16, San Jacinto,California.

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

Fort Huachuca Gets Antelope . . .TOMBSTONE — T o reestablish the

species in the southern part of Arizona,60 antelope have been transferred fromAnderson mesa to the 43,000-acre FortHuachuca game management area.Buffalo, wild turkey, chukkar part-ridge and California mountain quailhave also been released in the area.The region already has a good popu-lation of white tail deer and muledeer.—Tombstone Epitaph.

• • •Cotton Big Cash Crop . . .

CHANDLER—Close to $6,000,000is the estimated value of the 1949 cot-ton crop in the Chandler area. Whenginning is completed in March, the fourChandler gins expect to have ginnednearly 45,000 bales. This will be 17,-000 bales more than the record cropever harvested in the Chandler dis-trict.—Chandler Arizonan.

• • •CALIFORNIA

Navy Wins First Round . . .EL CENTRO — Supervisors of Im-

perial county had a hard decision tcmake recently when opposing groupsappeared at a public hearing to consid-er the status of the desert road con-necting Niland and Blythe.

This road is of considerable impor-tance to the public, as it is a link in theFour States Highway connecting theMexican and Canadian borders, and isof special interest to rock collectorsand prospectors because it is an accessroute into the Chuckawalla geode field.

Naval officers appeared before theboard to ask that the road be closed totravel as it crosses their jet plane fight-er and machine gunning range. Resi-dents of northern Imperial county pro-tested the closing, stating that this roadis too important to be blocked for

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naval training when other unoccupieddesert areas can serve the navy equallywell.

The supervisors finally reached acompromise agreement with the navalauthorities and ordered the road closedfrom 6:00 a. m. to 1:00 p. m. fourdays a week, Monday through Thurs-day. Residents of the area affectedhave threatened to secede and form anew desert county if the supervisors donot rescind their action.

• • •

Range Cattle Fattened . . .BLYTHE—Range cattle from Ne-

vada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona andother western states pour into Califor-nia to spend the winter. By mid-winter617 carloads of beef cattle and sheephad come by rail to Palo Verde valleyalong the Colorado river to be fattenedfor market. Some of the cattle go tofeed yards, some are turned into irri-gated pastures to eat their fill of greenfeed. Thousands of feeder beef cattleand sheep are also wintered in Cali-fornia's rich Imperial valley, where thelivestock industry is big business too.—Palo Verde Valley Times.

• • •Banning as "County Seat" . . .

BANNING—Riverside county sup-ervisors have been invited by the Ban-ning chamber of commerce to movethe county seat from the City of River-side to Banning in San Gorgonio pass.Supervisors and the county attorneyhave told the Banning boosters of legaldifficulties involved, and that only waythe matter can be brought up for aspecial election is by obtaining a peti-tion with some 50,000 signatures.—Indio Date Palm.

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Report on Gulf Highway . . .C A L E X I C O — Recent motorists

who have made the 140-mile trip fromCalexico to San Felipe on the Gulf ofCalifornia report that the rock fillacrossthe great salt desert at the headof t h * gulf has been completed, butthat the road is still corrugated alongmuch of the way. They recommendagainst trying to take a trailer or a newcar over the highway until further workis completed. Work is still being doneon the road, but the engineers in chargehave not yet announced a completiondate.

• • •Tramway Believed Assured . . .

PALM SPRINGS—Construction ofthe world's highest and longest aerialtramway, which will scale the tower-ing slope of Mt. San Jacinto, is sched-uled to start in February of this yearwith completion expected by December1, 1951, according to Earl Coffman,heading the project. When finished,the tramway will take tourists and vis-itors from near Palm Springs, on thedesert, to the wooded heights of theSan Jacinto mountains in a matter ofminutes. Opposition to the projecthas been expressed by individuals andgroups who fear that one of the fewremaining primitive areas will be ex-ploited and spoiled if made too readilyaccessible.—The Desert Sun.

• • •"Queen" Returns to Desert . . .

BARSTOW—Grace Finley Walker,nationally known as the Queen of Cop-per City, has returned to her hometown of Barstow. The woman whoprospected alone in the Mojave desert,finally struck rich ore, is back and islooking for someone to grubstake herfor another venture into the desert. Shesays she knows where there are ore de-posits "within 20 miles of Barstow."—Barstow Printer-Review.

• • •Rodeo Head is Named . . .

PALM SPRINGS—Trav Rogers hasbeen named general chairman of theannual Palm Springs rodeo and datesof the event have been set for February4 and 5. The western show has re-ceived the sanction of the Internation-al Rodeo association and the RodeoCowboys' association has approved theevent. Thus top-notch riders and rop-ers and the wildest animals will beavailable.—The Desert Sun.

• • •Noted Explorer-Publisher Dies . . .

DEATH VALLEY—George PalmerPutnam, 63, died at Trona hospitalJanuary 4 after being under treatmentfour weeks for uremic poisoning andinternal hemorrhages. Owner and op-erator of Stovepipe Wells hotel, he hasbeen well known as explorer, publisherand writer.

34 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

Secession Move Still Alive . . .BLYTHE—Agitation for formation

of a new Desert county to include thedesert area of Riverside county is ap-parently increasing instead of dyingout. Newspapers from Banning east-ward are reporting more interest in theplan, which was first offered by DesertRat Harry Oliver and now has serioussupport of influential desert leaders.An idea of the size of Riverside countymay be gained from the fact that theBlythe supervisor must travel 174 milesone way to attend meetings of thecounty board at the Riverside court-house.—Palo Verde Valley Times.

• • •Antelope Herd Planted . . .

INYO—Taken from Lassen county,100 antelope have been planted in theAdobe meadows area of Mono county.The swift animals were herded by air-plane, caught in a specially constructedrope trap, then lifted bodily into largetrucks for the trip to Mono county.—Inyo Independent.

• • •Culture on the Deser t . . .

MORONGO VALLEY — A LittleTheater project is helping round outthe cultural life of colorful Morongovalley. Under leadership of Don Car-ter, former director of the CommunityPlayhouse in Lincoln, Nebraska, firsttry-outs for local talent were held inJanuary. The group has a place for itsperformances, the "desert room" ofMorongo Lodge.—The Desert Trail.

e • •A collection of portraits of Nez

Perce Indians, by Mrs. Rowena LungAlcorn, will be exhibited at the South-west Museum, Los Angeles, duringFebruary. The museum is at MarmionWay and Museum drive in HighlandPark.

NEVADAPeople Still Want Land . . .

ESMERALDA COUNTY — Proofthat the pioneering spirit is not deadmay be found in the rush for desertland in the Fish Lake valley area ofEsmeralda county where potentiallyrich agricultural land has been thrownopen for desert entry. Desert land

U. S. GOVERNMENT LANDGovernment 5-acre tracts selected. Govern-ment 5-acre tracts surveyed by Licensed LandSurveyors. Corners set and flagged. $12.00 to$25.00 per 5-acre tract in groups on accessi-ble sections. Certified maps furnished withwhich to obtain Deed or Patent, and CountyRecorder's needs. Water Sources, Cabin Plansand Costs Furnished. Services, Roads andWells provided. All your details expertlyhandled by State Licensed Persons. An en-tirely new type of service. Send completelegal description of your 5-acre tract for fullinformation. Enclose stamps for reply.COLONEL E. B. MOORE, Hon. Res. Retd.

Expert on The Great American DesertUnited States Government Lands

Joshua Tree 231 E. Angeleno Ave.California Burbank, California

entries are being filed rapidly, each forthe maximum of 320 acres, with thebureau of land management, it is es-timated the total may reach 200. Awater company has already been form-ed and preliminary steps have beentaken to lay out a townsite. Wellsare being drilled and water resourcesclosely investigated.—Goldfield News.

• • •Cattlemen Choose Winnemucca . . .

WINNEMUCCA—An invitation ex-tended by the Humboldt County cham-ber of commerce has been acceptedby the Nevada Cattlemen's Associa-tion and that group will hold its 1950convention in Winnemucca. The cat-tlemen's meeting will be early in No-vember. Winnemucca is becomingquite a convention city, with the V.F. W. gathering scheduled to be held inWinnemucca in June. — HumboldtStar.

• • •More Trees for Nevada . . .

ELY—Fifteen varieties of trees arenow available to Nevada farmers forplanting next spring. The trees areprovided at cost under the federal farmforestry act through the University ofNevada agricultural extension service.All are suited to planting on farms andranches for windbreak and shelter-break purposes or for wood lots.—ElyRecord.

Pioneer Editor Dies . . .RENO—R. L. (Dick) Richie, pio-

neer Nevada newspaperman and min-ing authority, died on Christmas nightat the age of 80. Richie had beenclosely associated with Nevada's richmining developments near the turn ofthe century, and had a hand in muchof the state's early colorful history.He published the Nevada Mining Pressuntil last spring.—Salt Lake Tribune.

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F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0 35

Ranges Being Improved . . .AUSTIN—With the help of Uncle

Sam, the trend on Nevada range landsis being reversed. Vast areas whichhad been damaged by overgrazing andother ill-advised practices are beingimproved by developing springs, drill-ing wells, protecting grazing regionsand sowing forage seed. Cattle tendto stay close to water and are likely toovergraze the land near wateringplaces. Development of additionalwatering places spreads livestock outfor feed, helps prevent overgrazing.Grazing land is also being fenced andthousands of acres have been reseed-ed. Proper management is importanttoo, cattle and sheep are grazed at theproper time and in reasonable num-bers.—Reese River Reveille.

• • •Safety First for Prospectors . . .

GOLDFIELD—Lone Wolf pros-pecting is at best a dangerous business.To prevent such tragedies as thatwhich cost the life of Dan McCartyduring last winter's blizzard, prospec-tors going into the hills are urged to

NEW B A R B E Q U ES E N S A T I O N

register with the county clerk beforethey leave. County officials have onrecord time of departure, area whereprospectors expect to work, length oftime food supply will last and approxi-mate date of scheduled return.—Gold-field News.

• • •Newspaper Anniversary Marked . . .

PIOCHE—Founded in 1870 whenPioche was a roaring boom camp ofthe early West, the Pioche Record isnow celebrating its 80th anniversaryin a new building which has risen fromashes of a fire last August. It is thesecond oldest newspaper in Nevada,has seen history made from the admin-istration of President Ulysses S. Grantup to the present administration ofHarry S. Truman. Early copies of thepaper report the last of the Indian warsin which era Custer's command wasannihilated. The paper has existedthrough an eventful 80 years.

• • •Mine Tailings Spoil Water . . .

FALLON—Dumping of mine tail-ings in the Carson river is raising seri-ous problems, according to report ofthe state fish and game department.A study has disclosed that livestockwon't drink the water unless forced todo so, and that cattle which do drinkit suffer ill effects. Fish are reportedlydying, and vegetation in irrigationditches has been killed, according toFred Wright, state biologist. Ranchersalong the river have complained to thestate.—Fallon Standard.

• • •NEW MEXICO

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70 years, the historic Santa Fe Trailis being retraced on foot by a man anda tiny mule. Edwin Gallinagh and hishardy companion started from SantaFe on New Year's day, hope to reachKansas City, Missouri, by June 3. Onthat date Kansas City will open its cen-tennial celebration. It will be an 830-mile overland trek.

Accompanying Gallinagh will beLittle Mo, said to be the smallest Mis-souri mule on record. Little Mo standsless than 36 inches high, is two yearsold. The travellers will not followhighways, but will go for the most partthrough foothills of the Rockies andover plains where vast herds of buffaloonce grazed. Gallinagh plans to covera maximum of 10 miles a day, camp-ing along the route.

• • •

War Declared on Billboards . . .TAOS—The war against highway

billboards is spreading in New Mexico.Latest chapter of the New MexicoRoadside council has been formed inTaos, where 34 "undesirable" bill-boards were noted in a recent survey.The New Mexico Roadside council wasorganized by a group of sign-hatingSanta Fe residents who don't want thestate's scenic highways to become "bill-board alleys."—El Crepusculo.

• • •CARLSBAD—A new potash mine

may be opened here, it is believed, fol-lowing the visit of George Zoffman,president of Duval of Texas Sulfurcompany. If plans go ahead, it willbe a multi-million-dollar project. —-Eddy County News.

FOR SALE

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36 T H E D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E

Ceremonial Dates Anounced . . .GALLUP—Dates for the 29th an-

nual Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonialhave been set. The famed festival ofIndian dances is to be presented Aug-ust 10-13, Thursday through Sunday,it has been decided by the board ofdirectors. Improvements to thegrounds are planned before this sum-mer's show, an event which attractsthousands of visitors to the Gallup areaeach year.—Gallup Independent.

• • •Quail Need Water Too . . .

LAS CRUCES—Five sites in SantaFe county and eight in Bernalillo coun-ty have been selected and work hasstarted on installation of quail water-ing units, the state wildlife restorationservice reports. The work is part of arive-year quail and dove habitat im-provement program, confined at pres-ent to the upper Rio Grande valley.Quail "guzzlers" have been developedin California's arid regions with highlysatisfactory results.—Las Cruces Citi-zen.

• • •The Law of the W e s t . . .

HOPE—They still make it hard oncattle thieves in the West. Sixteenmen have been sentenced to the statepenitentiary in the past six months forstealing cattle from members of theNew Mexico Cattle Growers associa-tion, according to President G. W.Evans.—Penasco Valley News.

• • •SANTA ROSA — T h e new year

started off for residents of Santa Rosawith first carrier delivery of mail in thetown's history. The new service wasinaugurated January 2.—Santa RosaNews.

• • •Favorable weather conditions and

above-average rainfall gives promiseof more green feed in most sections ofNew Mexico. Range conditions lastfall were good, should be good thisspring and summer.—Lordsburg Lib-eral.

• • •UTAH

Stay Off Bombing Ranges . . .WENDOVER—Heed the "Danger,

Keep Off" signs with which bombingranges in the Utah desert are posted.This is the warning issued by air forceofficials to geologists, prospectors,ranchers and desert visitors who mightchance to wander on to a desert targetrange. Bombing planes from the MarchAir Force base in California use theUtah desert for target practice. Thehuge ships fly at 26,000 feet and higherfrom where persons on the ground can-not be seen from the planes, nor canthe planes usually be seen from theground.—Salt Lake Tribune.

F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0

Quilts Instead of Blankets . . .ST. GEORGE—Indian women on

the Shivwit reservation are being help-ed to keep warm this winter. Mrs.Henry Graff, appointed by the staterelief society, has been going each weekto the reservation to teach the womenhow to piece and make quilts. TheShivwit women are reportedly highlypleased with their handiwork.—Wash-ington County News.

• • •Good Year for San Juan . . .

MONTICELLO—It was a good yearin San Juan county. A review of 1949shows above normal precipitation pro-vided moisture for the largest wheatcrop in history of the county. Morethan 40,000 acres of winter wheat hadbeen planted, growers were blessedwith an average yield of 33 bushels peracre. Ranges also produced abundant-ly. The county's 16,000 head of cat-tle and 63,000 head of sheep did ex-ceptionally well. Other crops grownin the county were above average.—San Juan Record.

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WHERE PALMS GROW WUVIn Palm Canyon, 5 miles south of Palm Springs, is thelargest native palm oasis in Southern California—wherevisitors are always welcome to wander among themajestic trees and enjoy the beauty of one of the desert'smost lovely canyons. You are invited also to inspect thelovely display of genuine Indian silver work, weaving,pottery, basketry and other crafts in Dean Kirk's

PALM CANYON TRADING POSTsituated on "The Bench" where you park your car at thehead of the trail leading down into the park of statelyWashingtonia palms. Visitors are always welcome.

37

Lehman Cave National Monumentis closed until next March 15, accord-ing to Max R. W.ainwright, superin-tendent. The Monument is to be openon a seven-day basis during the springand summer travel season.—MillardCounty Chronicle.

from Los Angeles^ l ^ n g ^ a Las Vegas

MardKock Shortyof

DeathValley

"Must be some skunks aroundhere," exclaimed the visitor who hadjust stopped at Hard Rock Shorty'scabin to ask about roads. He sniffedthe air again, and evidently did notenjoy the odor.

"Yep, lot's o' skunks," answeredShorty. "Country's been overrun with'em ever since Pisgah Bill got thatcrazy idea o' havin' a skunk farm."

"Skunk farm? What the devilwould a man have a skunk farmfor? Fur's no good in a hot climatelike this."

"Didn't raise 'em fer furs!" grunt-ed Shorty. "Bill was gonna sell 'emfer pets. But the scheme was nogood—like all the rest o' Pisgah'sget-rich-quick ideas."

The stranger was curious and be-gan asking more questions.

Shorty wanted to get back to hisgame of solitaire, but it was evidentthere was no way of getting rid ofthe stranger without telling him thestory.

"Bill'd been readin' in some o'

them books o' his'n about MuskRose and some o' them sweet-smell-ing plants they use in making per-fume. He got the idea that if he'dfeed them scented flowers to skunksit'd turn that foul odor o' their'n intoa sweet perfume. Then he'd takesome o' them perfumed skunksdown to Hollywood and start a fad.Everybody'd want a pet skunkaround to make the house smellsweet. Bill had it all figgered out.He'd sell a thousand skunks a yearat ten bucks apiece. Then he couldquit muckin' ore at that low grademine o' his.

"He sent to the seed houses andgot a lot o' seed to plant in his gar-den at Eight Ball crick, and orderedsome traps from the mail orderhouse to ketch the skunks with. Billworked all summer packin' boxesout to the spring to make cages forthe skunks, and growin' flowers. Bythe time the flowers was ready toblossom he had 47 skunks thereready to eat 'em. Cost him quite alot bringin' in feed fer the skunkswhile the flowers was gettin' readyto bloom, but Bill's a patient cusswhen he's workin' on one o' thembig ideas o' his.

"But it didn't work. Bill couldn'tget them skunks to eat them flowers.He'd put fresh blossoms in the cagesevery morning—and nothin' else.But the skunks wouldn't touch 'em.Finally when the pore skunks wasnearly starved to death he turned'em loose and went back to minin'."

RIVSR VACATION 1950BOAT TRIPS ON SAN JUAN AND COLORADO RIVERSCOME VISIT THE GORGEOUS CANYON WONDERLANDS

• Boat from Mexican Hat or Bluff, Utah, to Lee's Ferry, Arizona.Eight or nine days on the rivers.

• Two days and overnight in Monument Valley with Harry andMike Goulding.

• Overnight at Rainbow Bridge at Bill and Katherine Wilson'sEcho camp.

ALL-EXPENSE TRIP—10 to 11 Days. Start at Art Greene's CliffDwellers. Return to Cliff Dwellers in Arizona.

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18 to 22 Days. Fare: $750

For Details Write:LARABEE AND ALESON WESTERN RIVER TOURS

Richfield, Utah

38

Glass Factory Proposed . . .PAROW AN —Construction of a

glass factory in Parowan may followformation of the Western Glass cor-poration, approved by the State Secur-ities commission. Huge silica depositsin Parowan canyon is reason for loca-tion of the glass factory here. Feldspar,lime and other ingredients are avail-able within a reasonable distance, com-pany official say. Engineers say thesilica deposits are unlimited.—IronCounty Record.

Sugar Beet Yield Higher . . .OREM—An increase of more than

four tons to the acre over 1948 wasrealized by sugar beet growers in the1949 season. Average yield for theOrem district was nearly 17 tons to theacre. Better farming methods andfavorable growing conditions contrib-uted to the increase. Price for thecrop was satisfactory.—Orem-GenevaTimes.

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

Lupine Once Hada Bad Reputation

By MARY BEAL

Lupines are among the best known flowers in the world,and blue is the color most frequently associated with them.But there are many species, some of them amethyst, lilacand violet, and it is these lesser known members of thefamily that I want to present to Desert Magazine readersthis month.

First, however, let's give a thought to the origin of thename Lupine, of world-wide usage. Farmers of ancientdays thought this plant robbed the soil of fertility, perhapsbecause it is often found on waste lands. From this ideaof the plant's ravenous or wolfish character came the nameLupinus, from the Latin for wolf, lupus. It has comedown to us from the Romans but no longer are rapaciousqualities attributed to it. Actually the plant is a legume,and is being planted in some southern states for soil fer-tilization.

Many Lupines are showy and handsome enough to becultivated as favored ornamentals and it is not surprisingthat several species have an established place in gardens.Western species are among those in the front rank forpopularity, even in Old World gardens where they wereintroduced by the early European botanical explorers sentto our pioneer West to seek new plants to beautify theirgardens.

Lupine leaflets have the habit of folding up, usuallyduring the heat of the day — you might call it taking amid-day nap, though it's usually too long a sleep to belabeled a nap.

One handsome amethyst-flowered species is the CoulterLupine, named for Dr. Thomas Coulter who first collectedit about 1831. You may know it as Arizona Lupine orLoose-flowered Lupine. Botanically it is listed as

Lupinus sparsiflorus

An extremely unstable species, which has led to thesegregation of several varieties, these are also inconstant.The species is generally larger than the varieties, usually afoot or two high, the stem rather slender, with few tomany branches, the herbage clothed with soft hairs andalso a scattering of stiff hairs. The palmate leaves have 5to 9 leaflets, linear to oblanceolate, 1/3 to 1 inch long, onpetioles 1 to 3 inches long. The slender racemes are 3 to9 inches long and may be loosely flowered or occasionallydensely so. The corollas are typical pea blossoms, about Viinch long, a violet or lilac hue, the banner centered by awhite spot which ages to a bright red-purple. The hairyoblong pods are about Vi inch long, constricted betweenthe 4 to 6 seeds. It favors sandy soil of foothills, valleysand mesas, up to 4500 feet, in southern Nevada, Arizona,southern California and Lower California and should befound in bloom from March to May, often adding largesweeps of attractive color to the landscape. The common-est variety is arizonicus, sometimes classed as a separatespecies.

Var. arizonicus

Ordinarily 5 to 8 inches high, somewhat succulent, theflowers mostly smaller, the freshly opened corollas palepurplish-pink, lavender or lilac, often drying deep violet,the leaflets broadly oblanceolate. Usually found below

Chick Lupine — Lupinus microcarpus, var. horiz.onto.lis

3000 feet, preferring deep sand. Quite common in westernArizona, southeastern California from Death Valley tothe Mexican border on down into Sonora and LowerCalifornia.

Var. barbatulus

Is identified by stout, hollow, very erect stems, largerleaves, and racemes up to 12 inches long, the corollaspale lilac or purplish with a more reddish tinge. Found inthe Needles area of the Mojave desert, the Colorado desertand western Arizona. Another interesting species is theWide-petaled or Chick Lupine.

Lupinus microcarpus var. horizontalisor

Lupinus horizontalis var. platypetalus

A low trim plant 5 to 10 inches high, with somewhatsucculent, stout hollow stems, branched from the base ora little above, the branches at an ascending angle. Exceptfor the upper surface of the leaves, the herbage is soft-hairy, the long-petioled leaves with 5 to 9 leaflets Vz to1 inch long. The clean-cut upstanding racemes measure 4to 10 inches atop peduncles varying from short to long.The flowers are on very short pedicels, arranged in 3 to 8close neat whorls, more or less remotely spaced. Thecorollas are lilac or lavender, fading to white and becomingpapery in age. The ovate pods are covered with long softhairs and sit erect in the whorl of calyxes, like so manybaby birds in a nest.

Found in the northern, central, and eastern Mojavedesert on sandy or gravelly flats and slopes at moderate tohigher elevations.

Another wide-spread annual species of different habit ofgrowth is the Bajada Lupine or

Lupinus concinnus

The specific name is interpreted as shapely, elegant orskillfully put together. Varying from the upright fashion ofthe preceding species, it follows a more diffuse pattern.From 4 to 8 inches high, the several branching stems fromthe stout base are inclined to spread out, the lower onesoften decumbent. The herbage is densely clothed with softhairs, which sometimes turn rusty or tawny in age, themany long-petioled leaves with 5 to 8 oblanceolate leaflets.The short racemes are rather dense and very short-stemmed, well scattered as a rule, and surpassed by thefoliage. The corollas are lilac or violet, edged with a richreddish-purple, the banner centered by a spot of yellow.It is an exquisite color scheme.

F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0 39

Rock Cutting - Rings Mounted to OrderROCK and GEM HOBBY SHOP

FELIX V. BRADDI, OwnerStones Ground and Polished

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AUSTRALIANGEM & JEWELRY

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Boulder Opal speci-mens from 50c eachor $4.50 per dozen.Gems 8xl0mm$1.00,12x16 mm S3.00, 14x24 mm $10.00. RareOpals irom Lightning Ridge, Cooberpedy& Andamooka. Write for Details, Order byair mail for quick delivery.

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FEATURESExtended shaft for tapered buffing wheelmandrel and threaded for drill chuck.Endless belts. No bumps. Runs cool withminimum heat. Quick change from one beltto another. Frame — aluminum casting.Finish—Nassau green.Ball Bearing Sander: Price $31.00Woven Polishing Belt 2.60Leather Polishing Belt 4.75Dry Belts (120. 200. 320 Grit). 3 for... 1.00Wet Belts (280, 400. 600 Grit). 2 for.... 1.00Splash Guard 7.50

Prices F.O.B. Pasadena, Calif.(Calif, purchasers add sales tax.)

Send postal for free literature.

Other Lapidary EquipmentRegular Alta Belt Sander (plain bearings).Improved Alta 16-18 inch Power Feed Dia-mond Saw Unit. Improved Alta GrindingArbor and Trim Saw Unit. Alta DrillPresses.

A L T A I N D U S T R I E SLapidary Eguipment

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• By LELANDE QUICK, Editor of The Lapidary Journal-

While our column on the 20 percent excisetax situation on gems and gem materials wasat press last month the President of theUnited States, vacationing in Florida, helda hasty press conference on the matter. Thisconference was so hasty that the Presidentcame to it in his pajamas. The gist of thematter was that Mr. Truman thought allexcise taxes except those on beverages andtobacco should be repealed—when Congressmeets again.

While we applaud his belief we deplorethe action for nothing could have been soill-timed. It had the effect of an atom bombon the Christmas trade. Anyone who hadany plans for giving gifts involving the taximmediately deferred them and switchedtheir buying to other items. The result wasthat the sale of diamonds was reported inthe press to be off more than 50 percentfrom the previous season. Stores were stack-ed high with luggage, jewelry, cosmetics,perfumes, etc., on which the tax is collected.

Business on these items will boom ofcourse when the tax is repealed but it wasa blow to merchants left with high inven-tories and to the gem and mineral dealershoping for a little of the over-emphasizedcommercialism of Christmas. We hope thetax is repealed while this item is at pressbut if it isn't we suggest they quit talkingabout it. And if the tax is never repealed,or merely reduced, we hope some sensibleinterpretation of the law is made so that thehobby of mineral collecting and gem cuttingis not the only hobby in the country penaliz-ed with taxes.

A further sidelight on the farcical inter-pretations of the excise law is revealed in apersonal experience. We had thought oftaking two diamond rings and having themmade into one. Both rings were made ofplatinum and we consulted a jeweler abouta new setting. After deciding on a designand fixing the price he said "and 20 percenttax." "What tax?" we asked. "There is notax on labor and that is all you are supply-ing. The diamonds and platinum you areusing to make the ring are not a new pur-chase. You are only reprocessing our ownmaterials." "That is true." said the crafts-man, "but the end result is that I will de-liver a new ring to you and I must collectthe tax under the law."

That ring can wait!If the tax has not been repealed by the

time this appears we urge you to write yourCongressman about it so that the little deal-er at the side of the road can again sell hisagates and jewelry, which were never luxuryitems within the meaning of this law.

During our recent trip around the nationwe visited many museums and we were dis-mayed to learn one thing. There are buttwo museums now in the whole country thathave paid qualified curators for mineralsand gems. Several have volunteer andhonorary curators, but the number of paidauthorities has dwindled because the mineralcollections have dwindled. They are beingbroken up and sold for many museums arediscontinuing the space assigned to minerals.The latest museum to do this is the Academyof Science in Philadelphia. Their greatmineral collection is reported to be for salebecause of public apathy and curator Dr.Samuel Gordon has left the mineral fieldentirely. The volunteer curator system re-

sults in many errors. An example of thisis the wrong labelling of a fine large speci-men of chrysocolla as chrysoprase in theField Museum in Chicago.

"Why is this?" we asked a top authority."Because of a reported lack of interest bythe public in the minerals and because artis crowding them out," he said. He con-tinued, "Art has a snob appeal that im-presses prospective donors. Donation ofart objects, or money for their purchase,gets one's name in the papers. News aboutdonations of minerals goes to the news-paper editors' waste baskets. And so peopleoffer no money to museums for the pur-chase of fine mineral specimens. Museumheads therefore cater to the art patrons, andas new Chinese screens and modernisticpaintings are acquired the minerals and gemsare usually given the gate. Wherever artand science is housed under one roof arttakes over. I like the idea of the BritishMuseum. They educate every Briton to be-lieve that if he encounters anything in hisforeign dealings in commerce, or in personaltravel, of interest to the empire, it is his dutyto acquire it and donate it to the museum.The result is that the people themselves, andnot a handful of wealthy names, have madeit, perhaps, the best educational museum inthe world. Americans shoufd be encourag-ed to do that for their museums."

The truth of our informant's opinions be-comes apparent when one compares museumsof Los Angeles and New York. In NewYork, where art and science have beenseparated, they have two of the greatestmuseums in the world in the MetropolitanMuseum of Art and the American Museumof Natural History. But in Los Angeles,where the county maintains a "museum ofhistory, science and art," art has crowdedscience right out into the famed rose gar-dens while the history continues as princi-pally a collection of old autos and items ofclothing worn by former motion pictureidols of a time when acting was the worstthe world has known.

In fairness we must report that a newmineral section has recently been openedand favored with a fine spot. It is well dis-played and lighted but it is only a beginning.One looks in vain for any evidence thatCalifornia is one of the greatest mineralareas in all the world or that neighboringSan Diego county is one of the greatest gembearing areas. Easterners visiting the mu-seum will look in vain for the tourmalinesand beryls and there is not a faceted gemor a cabochon under the roof.

But the mineral and gem collector andstudent can gather heart by crossing thepark and entering the new California StateExposition building to be opened in March.There he will see the modernized mineraland gem display being assembled by Her-bert Kornfeld with the help of a specialcommittee headed by Howard McCornackand including Belle Rugg and ourself. Thiscommitee was appointed by Victor Gunder-son, president of the Los Angeles Lapidarysociety. Through the cooperation of all theLos Angeles county mineral and gem socie-ties there will be active demonstrations oflapidary technique every day in a glass en-closed lapidary complete in every detail. Itis a thrilling story of the gem cutter comingto the people at last in a museum for thepeople. We shall report on it in detail nextmonth.

40 T H E D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E

Gems MineralsNEW CATALOGS AVAILABLE

If you want Choice Cutting Material, Fine &Rare Minerals, Geiger Counters, Miner-alights, Books, Trim Saws, Fluorescents,Ores, Gems, Ring Mounts, or advice, writeto . . .

MINERALS UNLIMITED1724 University Ave., Berkeley 3, California

NEW MINERAL SOCIETYFORMED IN WHITTIER

Whittier, Califorrfia, now has a society ofrockhounds. The Whittier Gem and Min-eral society held its first meeting in Decem-ber and has announced that regular meetingswill be held the first and third Tuesday eve-nings of each month at the high school.Officers of the new club are: Robert B.Myers, president; Ed.Kantor, vice president;Miss Irene Thompson, secretary; Al Styer-walt, treasurer. Darold J. Henry, professorof geology at Mt. San Antonio college inPomona, was instrumental in getting the newgroup organized.

• • •TUCSON GROUP STARTSYEAR WITH NEW OFFICERS

The Tucson, Arizona, Gem and Mineralsociety started off the new year with a slateof officers elected at the December meeting.Officers elected for the 1950 year are: Mrs.A. H. Murchison, president; George W. Bay-lor, vice president; Mrs. Lena Marvin, sec-retary-treasurer. Retiring officers were S. L.Wolfson, Mrs. A. H. Murchison and Mrs.Jean Serrano.

• • •Walter Pilkington has been elected to

head the Victor Valley Mineral and Gemclub, Victorville, California, during 1950.Elected along with him were: Robert Pierce,vice president; Mrs. Helen Pratt, secretary;Miss Virginia Love, treasurer; Mrs. MarthaMerrill, librarian and publicity.

High on the club's list of activities thisyear will be a bigger and better mineral andgem display at the 1950 San BernardinoCounty fair. The club is growing, had anactive year in 1949 with several field trips.

• • •Undaunted by snow the weekend of De-

cember 10 and 11, the Yavapai Gem andMineral society, Prescott, Arizona, staged itsthird annual show as 1949 neared its endwith several new features which attractedthe interest of rockhounds. Visitors fromover Arizona and from as far away as St.Louis, Missouri, came to see the exhibits.

• • •Gem and Mineral clubs all over the na-

tion made December a month for observ-ance of Christmas, and the Mineral and Gemsociety of Castro Valley, California, was noexception. A potluck supper in the Hay-ward high school cafeteria started off thesociety's annual Christmas party with about60 persons present. Mrs. Tom Robb waschairman, assisted by Mrs. B. E. Sledge andMrs. May Myers. Gifts of mineral speci-mens were exchanged by members. Meet-ing place from now on will be at the highschool instead of at the Community center.

• • •Fiftv-one members and guests gathered

for a Christmas dinner December 14 whichwas the monthly get-together for the SantaCruz. California, Mineral and Gem society.Sound movies obtained from the Universityof California at Berkeley by Mrs. R. E.Camnbell nrovided entertainment. On theSundav following the dinner members wenton a field trip to Big Sur and San Simeonto look for iade and rhodonite. A talk ongem cutting was enjoyed at the Januarymeeting.

BIG YEAR AHEAD FORSEARLES LAKE SOCIETY

Following the traditional '49er Days com-munity party in January, the Searles LakeGem and Mineral society in the Searles val-ley area of California is busy now planningfor the California Federation conventionwhich will convene at Trona in June. Witha membership of 85, the group is now in itseleventh year.

Perhaps because the locality is rich inmineral and gem deposits, the club has hada large enthusiastic membership since itstarted. It meets the third Wednesday ofeach month at the Trona club. Numerousfield trips are made each year, an annualevent is the trip to Telescope peak. RalphMerrill is now president of the Searles Lakesociety.

EARTH SCIENCE *CLUBFORMED IN ILLINOIS

With 30 enthusiastic people present, a newearth science club for people living in thesuburban area between Chicago and Aurora,Illinois, was organized recently and a namewas to be chosen at a January meeting. Aninvitation to join is extended to everyoneinterested in minerals, fossils, geologic for-mations, ancient man, gems or silver smith-ing. "Geological Features of the West" wastitle of an illustrated lecture by Stevens T.Norvell at the group's first meeting.

• • •More than 100 members and guests en-

joyed turkey and dressing at the annualChristmas party of the Mother Lode Min-eral society, Modesto, California. Highlightof the program was the showing of coloredmineral slides rented from W. Scott Lewis.Julian Smith was narrator. New officerswere nominated. They are: Paul Rayfield,president; Lois Wemyss, secretary-treasurer;Helen Wittorff and Royal Brown, directors.Royal Brown is retiring president.

• • •Officers now heading the San Diego Lapi-

dary Society, Inc., were elected as 1949neared its end. President is C. A. Dietrichwhile Mrs. Ada Harrison is secretary.

Ring Mountings and FindingsRING MOUNTINGS: Sterling Silver, finished,

ready to set. Men's from $8.65 to $15.00 perdoz. Ladies from $5.65 to $13.80 per doz.Ladies 10K Solid Gold $3 and $4 each.

NECK CHAINS: Sterling Silver $3.50 doz.1/20 12K Gold Filled $4.50 doz.

BEZEL OR GALLERY: Sterling Silver $2.00oz. 1/20 10K Gold Filled $2.90 oz.

CLEVICES: For Pendants, Gold Filled $1.25doz. For Ear Rings, GF or SS $1.20 doz.

PENDANT FRAMES W/CHAIN: Sterling orGF $12.00 doz.

EXTRA EASY FLOW SILVER SOLDER: Vioz. 50c; $1.90 per oz.

LOW KARAT GOLD SOLDER: 50c per DWT.JOINTS, CATCHES AND PINSTEMS: $1.00

per dozen sets.CUFF LINKS: For large oval stone $8.25

per dozen pairs.TIE CHAINS: For 12xl6MM Stone $6.00 doz.JUMP RINGS: From 90c to $1.25 per gross.

Ask for Price List No. 2 forAdditional InformationO. R. JUNKINS & SON

Box 1295 Newport. Oregon

10 small pieces—average V2"-V*" $1.005 larger—average %"-l" 1.006 still larger—1"-2" or over 2.001 small vial clear iire opal 1.50

50 rough mixed Mexican Opals, in-cluding honey, cherry, etc., aver-age 1" 1.50

ALL 5 LOTS POSTPAID—$6.00

Although these are sold chiefly as cabinetspecimens and have plenty of fire, manyof them will work up into new cabochons.

Money Cheerfully Refunded If NotEntirely Satisfactory

Polished Mexican Opals and other gemstone cabochons on approval to responsiblepersons.

DR. RALPH E. MUELLER3701 Valentine Road Kansas City 2. Mo.

IBM•HI* iB-1 "

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Petrified Wood, Moss Agate, ChrysocollaTurquoise, Jade and Jasper Jewelry

HAND MADE IN STERLING SILVER

Bracelets, Rings, Necklaces, Earringsand Brooches

SPECIALLY SELECTED STONES WITHCHOICE COLORS AND PICTURES

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ELLIOTT'S GEM SHOP26 Jergens Arcade LONG BEACH 2. CALIF.

Entrance Subway at Ocean and PineOpen 10 A. M. to 10 P. M. Daily

F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0 41

G E M M A R T A D V E R T I S I N G R A T E8c a Word . . . Minimum $1.00

AMONG THE

ROCK HUNTERSMINERAL SPECIMENS, slabs or material by

the pound for cutting and polishing, RX Units,Felker Di-Met and Carborundum Saw Blades,Carborundum wheels Cerium Oxide. Mount-ings. Approval selection sent upon request.You are welcome. A. L. Jarvis, Route 2, Box125, Watsonville, California, on Salinas High-way.

GOLD NUGGETS! Beautiful, solid gold speci-mens, $1.00 each or 3 for $2.00. Special col-lection 12 nuggets from California, Oregon,Nevada and Alaska, $5.00. Desert Jim, 627Lillian, Stockton. California.

ATTENTION ROCK COLLECTORS. It will payyou to visit the Ken-Dor Rock Roost. We buy,sell, or exchange mineral specimens. Visitorsare always welcome. Ken-Dor Rock Roost,419 S. Franklin, Modesto, California.

MINERAL SETS—24 Colorful Minerals (identi-fied) in lxl compartments — Postage paid,$3.50. Prospector's Set of 50 Minerals (identi-fied) in lxl compartments in cloth reinforcedsturdy cartons. Postage paid $5.75. Elliott'sGem Shop, 26 Jergins Arcade, Long Beach 2,California.

BEAUTIFUL AUSTRALIAN Opal Cabs, 10x8—$3.00 to $7.20. 12x10—$4.80 to $0.00. Opalrough for cutting $1.20 and $2.00. Ace Lapi-dary. Box 67, Jamaica, New York.

BRAZILIAN AGATE, Specimen pieces, also goodfor coloring, $1.00 a pound. Pieces run fromone to ten pounds each. Black Onyx Blanks,16x12 and 14x12 size—$2.50 dozen. Mail ordersfilled promptly. JUCHEM BROTHERS, 315 W.Fifth St., Los Angeles 13, California.

.MINERAL SPECIMENS and cutting material ofall kinds. Gold and Silver jewelry made toorder. Your stones or ours. 5 lbs. good cuttingmaterial $4.00. J. L. James, Box 117, CarsonCity, Nevada.

IF YOU ARE A ROCKHOUND you need theLapidary Journal. Tells how to cut and polishrocks, gives news of all mineral-gem groups.Tells how to make jewelry, carries ads ofdealers in supplies, equipment, gems, mineralsfrom all over the world. Well illustrated,beautifully printed. Subscription $2.00 a year—back numbers 50c. Sample Copy 25c if youhave never subscribed or been sampled.LELANDE QUICK, Editor, P. O. Box 1228,Hollywood 28, California.

TEXAS AGATES—Five pounds selected fromall locations, including plume, iris, fortifica-tion, scenic, opal assortment, etc., postpaid,$5.00. Visit. 20 tons to select from at 25cper pound. El Paso Rock and Lapidary Sup-ply, 2401 Pittsburg St., El Paso, Texas. Phone5-8721.

FIFTY MINERAL SPECIMENS, %-in. or over,boxed, identified, described, mounted. Post-paid $4.00. Old Prospector, Box 21B-364, DutchFlat, California.

CUTTING FIRE OPAL—We now have in stocka wonderful selection of Australian Fire Opal,at the following prices: $2.00, $4.00, $6.00,$8.00, $10.00, $20.00, $30.00 per oz. Pleaseremit by Post Office Money Order. WESTCOAST MINERAL CO., 1400 Hacienda Blvd..(State Highway 39), La Habra Heights, Calif.

A NEW MACHINEFOR THE LAPIDARYThe Macon Products

Sealed Ball Bearing Belt SanderMay Be Used in Horizontal, Veitical and

45° positions.TAKES STANDARD ABRASIVE BELTS

This machine will do the finest possible jobof sanding cabochon or flat stones of every

hardness from gypsum to sapphire.

Come In And Try It Yourself$29.75

Classes in lewelry Making UnderQualified Instructor.

S - T GEM SHOP7004 Foothill Tujunga, California

HUNT AGATES BY PROXY — If you cannotcome to the agate mines then have us dig andgather Arizona agates in chips and chunks foryour collection, rock garden, fish bowls orgem and specimen cutting pleasure. Mixedassortment 10 pounds $5.50. Vein agate inlarge chunks at $1.50 per pound. Samplepackage of agates $1.00 postpaid. Shippingextra on rough agates. Arizona Agate Mines,Cave Creek, Arizona.

PETRIFIED DINOSAUR BONE. Extra good, col-lection size, cabinet specimens. 2 x 2 to 3 x 4inches in size, average around 2 x 3 inches.Series of five specimens, each a different type,for $1 plus 25c postage. W. C. Minor, Box 62,Fruita, Colorado.

ROCKHOUNDS SOUTHWESTERN HEAD-QUARTERS: Lapidary, prospecting equipmentand supplies. Custom sawing, cutting andpolishing, practical instruction, specimens, cut-ting material, silver work, Geiger Counters.Mineralights, the "original" Desert ScenicStone. $2 pound—30c inch. Buy - Sell - Trade,Laguna and Rio Puerco agates. New MexicoMinerals, 2822 N. Second Street, P. 0. Box6156 - Station B, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

MONTANA MOSS AGATES in the rough forgem cutting $1.50 per lb. plus postage. AlsoSlabbed Agate 25c per sq. in. (Minimum order$1.00). Elliott's Gem Shop, 26 Jergins Arcade,Long Beach 2, California.

ARSENOPYRITE CRYSTALS: $3.00 brings you12 of these beautiful crystals, nice size, 1 inch,Silver white to steel grey. Ask for list ofother fine specimens and cutting materials.Fluorescent and crystal groups. Jack the RockHound, P. O. Box 86, Carbondale, Colorado.

$3.00 BRINGS YOU a large specimen of Colo-rado's banded mahongany oil shale. This ma-terial cuts into beautiful slabs or paperweights. Takes a fine polish, easy to cut.Write for list of other fine specimens, crystals,fluorescents and cutting materials. Jack TheRock Hound, P. O. Box 86, Carbondale, Colo.

LOVELY GYPSUM rose crystals, fluorescent,50c, $1.00. Agatized Dinosaur bone, wood.R. Hadden, Aldersyde, Alberta, Canada.

PENTRIMITES, size Va" x %" 10c, %" x %"25c. 56 1" x 1" minerals, many in XL form,each on card, identified and classified, put upin neat box, price $2.75 plus postage. Goodspecimens Wavelite, also Fluorite in cubes.Octahendrons of Fluorite, 1" 35c. Have manymuseum specimens of various minerals. Writeyour wants. Harding Rock Shop, West Fork,Arkansas.

FLAME OPAL, new discovery. Beautiful redand white flames intermingling. Makes beau-tiful cabochons, etc. Send 50c for cab sizesample. You will want more after seeing.Cutting chunks $3.00 per lb. Courtesy to deal-ers. Dan Fabun, 329 E. 4th St., San Bernar-dino, California.

BRAZILIAN QUARTZ Rock Crystal Stars, cutand polished in the Orient. Supplied in sev-eral sizes % in. to 1% in., either unmountedor mounted as pendants, chokers, earrings,18 in. Stirling silver chains, clasps, etc.Plush lined boxes furnished. We also havegorgeous cut gem stones, genuine and syn-thetic. H. STILLWELL & SON, RockvilleCentre, N. Y.

BRAZIL: Amethyst and Citrain, green Tourma-line, golden, green and white Beryl, Aquama-rine, Chrysoberyl. Australian gems: Fine Opal,blue Sapphire, Zircon. Burma: Pigeon BloodRuby, Balas Ruby, Zircon. Africa: Fine Tour-maline, spec. Emerald, Tigers Eye, black StarSapphire. Ceylon: Fancy Sapphire, 7 carataverage, Spinel. Moonstone. Local: Peridot,Montana Sapphire, Yogo Sapphire, MexicanTopaz. P. O. Box 1123, Encinitas, Calif. Visi-tors contact postoffice.

NEW! STARTLING addition to your Fluorescentcollection. Our "Novelty Rocks" are now offer-ed for the first time. Guaranteed to put newlife into any collection. Displayed alone aresimply the most dazzling array of color youhave ever beheld. Respond with any minerallight, long or short wave. Each rock differ-ent in size and color. 12 novelty rocks se-lected for their beauty only $6.50 postpaid.Fluorescent Tundereggs, beautiful beyond im-agination, $2.00 each. Fluorescent plaques,our best fluorescent attraction, $7.50 per pair.Expect a surprice and the thrill of your life.FLUORESCENT SPECIALTIES, P. O. Box691, Red Bluff, California.

The Sequoia Mineral society (California)has changed its name to the more descrip-tive "Sequoia Gem and Mineral society."The organization, after an active year, isnow planning for its annual banquet inFebruary. Ira Woolley, Mildred Wallaceand Frank Paiva are on the committee tochoose a location. Election of officers wasscheduled to take place at the Januarymeeting.

Presidents of many mineral and gemsocieties receive far too little recognition forthe work they do, in the opinion of mem-bers of the Sacramento Mineral society, sothis California group at its December meet-ing presented a past president's pin to eachof the group's former leaders. Presentationwas made by Mrs. Rita Downard who con-ceived and carried out the idea. At Janu-ary meeting of the society there was to beelection of officers for the 1950 year. GeorgeL. Hinsey was president during 1949.

Harrison Stamp, retiring president of theSan Fernando Valley, California, Mineraland Gem society, was honored at the group'sChristmas party when 115 members andguests gathered to celebrate. In apprecia-tion of his two years of service, the clubpresented Stamp with a gold wrist watch.Ben Sisco made the presentation. A musi-cal program was presented by members ofthe society, there was group singing andexchange of gifts.

January field trip for the Dona AnaCounty, New Mexico, Rockhound club wasto the vicinity of Picacho peak, while theJanuary meeting was held on Friday, the13th—but both were successful. The clubnow has a permanent meeting place, in SaintPaul's Methodist church in Las Cruces.Meetings are on the second Friday of eachmonth at 7:30 p. m., visitors are welcome.

A new section of the Georgia Mineralsociety, known as the Prospectors and Ex-plorers section, has been organized. Pur-pose is to prospect for commercial minerals,the section has the active support of theGeorgia Geological Survey. First field tripof the new section was taken December 4 toStone mountain.

JUST RETURNED from one of the most color-ful Agate fields in the world. Have a fineselection of clean cutting material. TrueCarnelian, mosses, banded, patterns in manycolors, tubes, plume, Texas red and blackplume. Rickolite and Honey Onyx, fine forbook ends, spheres, etc. Also some beautifulwhite Aragonite, fibrous masses and crystals,all shapes and sizes. Make your next rockhunting trip in our yard and save money.Good material as low as 25c lb. Geo. C. Curtis,The Agate Man, 645 thirst St., Hermosa Beach,California.

MIXED ROCKS, slabbed and in rough. Write fordescriptive prices. S. Cornwell, Parker, Ariz.

PLUME, BANDED and Moss Agate for sale atRanch. Write or come. J. A. Anderson, Box182, Alpine, Texas.

HERKIMER DIAMONDS (quartz crystals). Thesematchless natural gem-like crystals are prizedby collectors everywhere. We can supply themin variety, freak formations and fine matrixspecimens. Assortments $2,50, $5.00, $7.50,$10.00, postpaid in U. S. H. STILLWELL &SON, Rockville Centre, N. Y.

42 T H E D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E

FIELD TRIP TO DESERTPLANNED FOR FEBRUARY

One of the first acts of the new board ofdirectors of the San Fernando Valley, Cali-fornia, Mineral and Gem society was toaccept eagerly an invitation from the Coa-chella Valley Mineral society for a jointfield trip in February. New president of theSan Fernando group is Glen Craig. Actionon the invitation was taken when the out-going board of directors entertained the newboard December 22 at the home of Mr. andMrs. W. L. Cooper, Glendale.

It was decided that locations of all futurefield trips will be scouted. The scoutingchore will be the job of Lester Cowan, newfield trip chairman.

• • •The nomenclature of Lake Superior agates

was topic of a talk given by T. C. Vanasse,Spring Valley, Wisconsin, at Decembermeeting of the Minnesota Mineral club, Min-neapolis. His talk was a preview of a bookhe is writing. Arthur Anderson is presidentof the club, Mrs. Lydia Heumann is secre-tary.

• • • •

Another group which enjoyed a Christ-mas party was the Kern County, California,Mineral Society. Members met in the Ber-tha P. Elliott hall in Oildale, exchanged giftsand listened to a program.

• • •Election of officers at final business meet-

ing of the 1949 year and a Christmas partyfor members ended an active 12 months forthe Clark County Gem Collectors, LasVegas, Nevada. New officers are: Bill Brown,Las Vegas, president; Cortez Cooper, Boul-der City, vice president; Annette J. Drury,Las Vegas, secretary-treasurer. In recogni-tion of his help to the society for the pastseveral years, Paul Mercer, Boulder City,was named a director along with Paul O.Drury. December was not without its fieldtrip: one to Keyhole canyon for Indian arti-facts and another to the Searchlight areafor petrified mountain mahogany.

• • •A full turkey dinner for members and

guests, followed by installation of officers,provided a pleasant evening for the SearlesLake, California, Gem and Mineral society.The meeting was in the Trona Club ball-room. Installed to lead the group duringthis year were: Ralph Merrill, president; LeoBriggs, vice president; Pat Sturtevant, re-cording secretary; Eddie Redenbach, treas-urer; Oscar Walstrom and Newell Merritt,directors.

"OVERLOOKED FORTUNES!"In the Rarer Minerals

There is other mineral wealth in "themthar hills" besides gold and pretty rocks!There are "overlooked fortunes" in the manynewer and rare minerals, such as Colum-bium. Tantalum, Vanadium, Molybdenum,Uranium, Nickel, Cobalt, Bismuth, Didymi-um, Selenium, Rhodium, Osmium. Rutheni-um, Platinum, etc., to mention just a fewof the 35 or more rarer elements and their300 or more commercial ores which the aver-age prospectors and mineral collectors arewalking over in the hills today and mineowners, large and small, are throwing upontheir waste-dumps unidentified! Many morevaluable than a gold mine: Cassiterite $fi00a ton; Columbite or Samarskite $1,000 a ton;Bismuth ores $2,000 a ton; Tantalite orMicrolite up to $6,000 a ton, etc. Now youcan learn how to find, identify, and startcashing in on them! Send for FREE copy"Overlooked Fortunes"—it may lead toknowledge which may make you rich!

DUKE'SRESEARCH LABORATORY

Box 666. Dept. BHOT SPRINGS. NEW MEXICO

COACHELLA VALLEY GROUPCELEBRATES CHRISTMAS

The Coachella Valley (California) Min-eral society made a real Christmas celebra-tion out of its annual banquet in Decemberwith the Junior Rockhounds as guests. Adelicious ham dinner, entertainment, groupsinging of carols and an exchange of rockg.fts made a complete evening. Dinner ar-rangements were made by Mrs. GeorgeSmith, Mrs. Neva Rush and Mrs. FloydHammer. Mrs. Rosa Thomas decorated,the program was handled by Florence B.Dutton.

• • •Members of the Oklahoma Mineral and

Gem society combined their December meet-ing and Christmas party, enjoying an eve-ning affair at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Del-bert H. Markwell, Oklahoma City. On No-vember 8 a special meeting was called at theOklahoma Historical society building to heara lecture on diamonds by Gladys BabsonHannaford.

• • •Santa Claus dropped in at the December

meeting of the Los Angeles Mineralogicalsociety, and with members of the group en-joyed a Christmas program. A paper onthe geology of Palestine was read by FrankF. Larkin. immediate past president of thesociety. Herbert Fritts arranged a displayof molybdenum ores and minerals associat-ed with them.

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ROCK COLLECTORS ATTENTION

Back again at the old stand on highway111, with the TRAILER ROCK STORE. Onemile S. E. of Cathedral City. Have gath-ered lots of fine cutables and XLS thissummer. .Also many imports from foreignlands have arrived and more are com-ing. Come and get yours fromTHE ROCKOLOGIST (Chuckawalla Slim)

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WOODWARD RANCHBox 453, Alpine, Texas

Games, contests, group singing and enter-tainment filled the evening when the SantaMonica Gemological society had its Christ-mas party at the December meeting. Therewas exchange of gifts, refreshments wereserved by Mrs. Lefa Warth's social commit-tee. Six new members were welcomed byPresident C. E. Hamilton.

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F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0 43

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GEM SHOW DATES SETFOR MARCH 10 TO 12

Second Mineral and Gem show to bestaged by the Coachella Valley Mineral so-ciety, Indio, California, has been scheduledfor March 10, 11 and 12 and the group willhave the use of the main building of theRiverside County fairgrounds at Indio. Theshow will be open until 10:00 o'clock eachnight, there will be no admission charge.Those who wish to exhibit should write toO. A. Rush, P. O. Box 3362, Indio, Cali-fornia. Rush is show chairman. A fieldtrip is planned for early Saturday morning,March 11, to the Kaiser iron mines at Eaglemountain.

WE HAVE MOVEDKANE LAPIDARY & SUPPLY

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CATALOG-32 pag-es packed-full of helpful Lapidary Inst-ructions...Should be inevery rocknuls library.^Iu6 complete informaHon on the -famous IHill^uist line of Lapidary E^uipmenr1 including 1Hilliju/srCointJdcrldpynir.Millijuisflfe'Rock Saw/, 'HillquisrTnmSaw, Hill^uisr 4ufo Feed, Hillqwif-6eroT>ill 6 Hole Saw, HillquishFacetor; Mill̂ Mi'sVrum Sanders 5 Hill^u.sf Diamond Saws

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Materials best suited to faceting and tech-niques he finds most effective were discussedby Dr. J. R. Hudson, Dayton, Ohio, at De-cember meeting of the Chicago Rocks andMinerals society. Regular meetings of thegroup are held the second Saturday of eachmonth at 8:00 p. m. in the Green BriarPark field house, 2650 West Peterson ave-nue, Chicago. Visitors are welcome. Presi-dent of the society is Herbert F. Grand-Girard.

• • •Colored motion pictures of many mineral

localities in the Southwest desert area, andscenic pictures taken over much of the west-ern United States were shown at Decembermeeting of the Pomona Valley, California,Mineral club. The films were shown byMrs. A. F. Dossee, who took them herself.

• • •The Dona Ana County, New Mexico,

Rockhound club now is what they chooseto call a double-barreled organization. Onegroup of members takes a field trip on onescheduled date, another group goes on an-other official date. Although all aren'tpleased with the arrangement, it does makeit possible for more people to go on morefield trips.

HAROLD D. MARYOTT & CO.Manufacturing JewelersWholesale Exclusively

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WE'RE WAITING FOR YOU AT . . .Town & Country Market also Farmer's Mar-ket. Brazilian Phantom Quartz $1.50 — sandpictures — Indian Jewelry, etc. Will makemost anything to your specifications. Wehave 1 Automatic lapping machine at a bar-gain. Address everything:

CHUCK JORDAN350 So. Fairfax Avc. Los Angeles 36, Calif.

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44 T H E D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E

GEM SHOW SCHEDULEDIN APRIL AT SAN JOSE

Fifth annual gem exhibition of the SanJose, California, Lapidary society is to beheld in the San Jose Woman's club buildingon Saturday and Sunday, April 22 and 23,it has been announced. Displays this yearwill emphasize transformation of roughstones from many lands into jewels andmounted gems. The San Jose society is anamateur organization, each piece exhibitedat the show will be the work of some mem-ber of the society. None of the exhibitedpieces will be for sale. The show will beopen to the public from 10:00 a. m. to 9:00p. m. each day. There is to be no admis-sion charge.

Edward L. Dowse is new president of theWasatch Gem society, Salt Lake City, Utah,following election of officers which tookplace during the society's public exhibit ofwork in the Salt Lake City Civic centerDecember 2. Serving with Dowse will be:Mrs. Geraldine Hamilton, vice president;Helmut Wachs, secretary; Mose Whitaker,treasurer. A great deal of public interestwas shown in the society's displays.

Members and friends of the Mojave Des-ert Gem and Mineral society heard a na-tionally-known authority on the desert whenLeroy Palmer spoke at the December meet-ing on "The Geology of the Mojave Desert."

$10,000.00 REWARDSYour Government pays for discoveries ofURANIUM ores. No expensive Geigercounter is needed to test for radio-activeores. The BIKINI KIT with complete instruc-tions is all you need. Send $1 or pay post-man $1 plus postage. Write today.

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FIRST SHOW FORBRAWLEY GEM CLUB

Rockhounds of Brawley, California, stagedtheir first rock and gem show in Decemberwith gratifying results. The Brawley Gemand Mineral society display was in basementof the Christian church with both Brawleyand El Centro exhibitors showing cut andpolished stones. There was also one dis-play of fossils and Indian artifacts.

Interest in the hobby is growing in Braw-ley, and a group of high school studentshave formed the Brawley Junior Rock club.Members of the adult group help the be-ginners. Field trips to nearby mountainsare on the society's schedule this season.

75

75

A SPECIAL OFFER$6.00

I have made up

BOXESof assorted pieces . . and havestamped the locations fromwhich these materials came on

CALIFORNIA MAPS(if from California)

Each piece of the following list willbe

l.2.3.4.5.6.7.

8.9.

10.

11.12.

13.14.15.16.17.18.19.20.21.

Ia son

labeled and its source given:

Green and Breccia Jasper.Howlite.Red and Black Obsidian.Lavic Jasper.Horse Canyon Agate.Hauser Bed Nodules.Opal - Jasper - Agate.Dumortierite.Burns Ore. nodules or Nipomo Agate.Moonstones.Succor Creek Agate.Petrified Palm.Serpentine.Onyx or Travertine.Texas or Turitella Agate or Rhodonite.Petrified Wood.Pastelite.Petrified Bone.Variscite.Pearl or Abalone Shell.Marble—suitable for ash trays or book

ends.

'radically all of these pieces will be justfound or will have most of their outsidesthem so that they may be used for

identification in the field. I guarantee thatthey came from and are typical of theselocations.

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ROCKS RELIEVE THE TENSIONYou'll enjoy a visit to our "Rock Shop onWheels" where you will find beautifulrock specimens, crystal groups, slabs andunusual cutting material. All at reasonableprices.

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F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0 45

Between l/ou and Me

/•/••

by RANDALL HENDERSON

T pleased me immensely a few weeks ago when amanuscript and letter came from John L. Von Blon—from Daggett, California. For John was an old friend.

I knew him many years ago when he was city editor of theLos Angeles Times and I was starting my newspaper careeras a cub reporter on his staff.

After 18 years on the Times he became associate editorof the Auto Club's magazine, Westways. Then I losttrack of him, and it was gratifying to renew my associa-tion with a man for whom I always held a great admiration.

The pressure of a metropolitan city editor's desk is ter-rific. It eventually will break the strongest of men. ButJohn had the good sense to retire before it was too late.And now at the age of 79 he is living in a little cabin on thedesert doing the things he likes to do—exploring the ghostmining camps, and doing free lance writing.

Aside from my personal regard for my former boss, I amglad to be able to publish in Desert Magazine the work ofa journalist who not only is a skilled reporter but also amaster of clear concise English.

• • •

Motorists who have bumped along over the rocks andthrough the sand of the desert road which connects Blythein California's Palo Verde valley with Niland in the Im-perial valley, have often expressed amazement that so im-portant a natural trade route should have been so longneglected.

It is an important road. It not only connects southernCalifornia's two largest irrigation projects, but it is themost direct route between the Mojave and Colorado des-erts. More than that, it is a link in the Four States high-way connecting the Canadian border with the Mexicanborder—a very bad link to be sure, but nevertheless a verynecessary part of an important international highwayproject.

For many years the main obstacle to the improvementof this road has been the indifference of the Riversidecounty supervisors, a majority of whom reside on thecoastal side of the mountains and, I suspect, know lessabout the desert which comprises three-fourths of theirsupervisorial domain than they do about the geography ofHindustan.

Since the road has not been improved, the U. S. Navyhas very logically assumed that it was of no importanceand now wants to close it permanently by reserving thegreat plateau between the Chocolate and Chuckawallaranges as an aerial gunnery range.

I want to join my protest with those of other desert folkswho are fighting to keep this road open. I am sure thenavy can find ample space on this big desert for the prac-

46

tice of its jet plane gunners without barricading as import-ant a peace-time trade route as the Blythe-Niland road.

And while we are on the subject, I would like to suggestto the big brass and braid of the army and navy that whilethere was a time when the desert was regarded as an unfitplace for human habitation, and they could have takenover the whole arid Southwest without a protest from any-one, those days have passed. Today a million and a halfAmericans are earning their livelihood on the Great Amer-ican Desert, and millions more come here every winterseason for rest and recreation.

Defense preparation is important, yes, but the generalsand the admirals should not get the idea that because thisregion is called desert, they may come out here and fencein great areas without hurting anyone.

I am thinking not only of the target range that has beenestablished on the Blythe-Niland road, but of numerousother military establishments which have been spread overthe desert landscape apparently without regard for thepeace-time values the terrain may have.

We would like to preserve as much of the desert as pos-sible as a place without fences and without "No Trespass"signs. We would like to maintain it as a sanctuary forthose seeking freedom and peace.

• • •A patch of clean desert sand, a blazing campfire, and a

warm sleeping bag spread on the ground—these are theaccessories for the kind of a New Year's eve I enjoy most.This year Cyria and I camped with the Pegleg trekkerson the Borrego desert.

We spent the evening in the campfire circle listening tothe tall tales of the contestants who had gathered for theannual liar's contest. This event has become a sort ofannual reunion for the old-timers of the Colorado desert.

Desert Steve Ragsdale insists that Pegleg Smith was anold reprobate who got his gold by hijacking it from legiti-mate miners. Hank Wilson is convinced that Pegleg wasan honest man and really found the gold be bragged aboutin later years—and Hank tells a very convincing story tobear out his theory.

As far as I am concerned it doesn't make much differ-ence. Pegleg Smith has become a good desert legendand I hope folks keep on looking for that mythical hillcovered with black nuggets.

Early on New Year's morning Cyria and I resumed ourstanding feud as to which can flip flapjacks most skillfully.We have a system of scoring—so many points off forburning the flapjacks, more deductions for catching 'em onthe rim of the frying pan, etc. She started the New Yearby winning the family championship. But just wait!

THE DESERT M A G A Z I N E

BOOKS OF THESTORY OF A HIGHWAYTHAT MADE HISTORY

The padres who built California'smissions called it El Camino Real, butto motorists of today it is known asU. S. Highway 101. This north-southroad across California has played animportant role in the history and de-velopment of the state since 1769.

In his newest book, The RoyalHighway, Edwin Corle has writtensomething that he says he "very muchwanted to write." He explains that"while I tell the story of El CaminoReal it enables me to tell in popularguise a great deal of California his-tory."

It should be pointed out that thebook is written for the contemporaryreader—long-past events are locatedin terms of today's landmarks. His-tory professors may gnash their teeth,but the reader can readily locate thespot where insurgents lay in wait forGovernor Victoria when Corle, in tell-ing of the Battle of Cahuenga Pass,designates the place as "the southernend of the pass at what would be ap-proximately Hollywood boulevard andVine street today."

All the colorful characters in Cali-fornia's early history are given what-ever treatment Corle believes they de-serve—he will puncture a stuffed shirtno matter how well history may havestarched it. The Royal Highway isboth interesting and informative.

Published by The Bobbs-MerrillCompany, Inc., 724 North Meridianstreet, Indianapolis 7, Indiana, 1949.327 pp, appendix, biblio., index, 38illus., 2 maps. $4.00.

Spanish history of the village from itsdiscovery by Coronado's expedition in1540, through the founding of the mis-sion in 1629, the Pueblo Rebellion of1680, the attempted reconquest, andthe final destruction of the village in1700.

Montgomery, an architect who spe-cializes on church architecture, andwho restored the Santa Barbara Mis-sion after the earthquake of 1925,makes the most exciting contributionto the book. His splendid drawing re-constructing the church, his intimateknowledge of modern Franciscans, anda tremendous amount of historical re-search, bring the ancient mission to lifeas we read his account. He was ableto direct the excavations and interpretthe finds of the archeologists in a mostinteresting manner.

Smith has contributed a section onthe mural decorations of the Awatovichurch, where floral patterns and sim-ple dados were found, and also designssimulating the glazed tiles and wroughtiron grille work found in the churchesof Mexico and Spain.

Published by the Peabody Museumof American Archeology and Ethnol-ogy, Cambridge 38, Mass. 360 pp.,illus. $5.85 paper, $8.35 cloth.

—Katherine Bartlett.

FRANCISCAN MISSION INANCIENT HOPI AWATOVI

Awatovi, a northern Arizona Hopivillage long abandoned, flourishedfrom about 1300 to 1700 A.D. Dur-ing that interval from 1629 to 1680,the Franciscan Fathers maintained amission there, known as San Bernardode Aguatubi.

The story of this mission, based onsuch records as are available, but most-ly on excavations at the site near Keamscanyon prior to 1937, is told in Fran-ciscan Awatovi, just published by thePeabody Museum of Harvard.

Authors are Dr. J. O. Brew, arche-ologist, now Director of the PeabodyMuseum, Ross Gordon Montgomery,Watson Smith, archeologist of the Pea-body Museum, and J. Frankling Ewing,S. J.

Dr. Brew has written a very complete

F E B R U A R Y , 1 9 5 0

BIGGEST RANCH INAMERICA'S HISTORY

Besides being exciting reading, LewisNordyke's Cattle Empire, The Fabu-lous Story of the 3,000,000 Acre XIT,is a valuable contribution to America'sfrontier history. This is the first au-thoritative account of what was the big-gest ranch in U. S. history, sprawlingthe length of the Texas Panhandle.

The story began in 1875, when Tex-ans decided they must have a newstate capitol building—the biggest and

the handsomest in the land—and of-fered 3,000,000 acres of raw land toany one who would build it. A Chi-cago syndicate accepted the deal sightunseen, and by that foolhardy gesturelaunched themselves on one of themost incredible and astonishing ven-tures in Southwestern history. Onpaper, they figured that the ranchshould earn in five years four and ahalf million dollars raising beef cattle,but actually it was 30 years before theAmerican and British investors gottheir money back. While the CapitolFreehold Land and Investment Com-pany, Ltd., wrestled with blizzards,prairie fires, drouths, and the hostilityof neighbors, rustlers and barbwiresnippers, Texas enjoyed a beautifulgranite state capitol free of charge!

William Morrow & Co., Inc., 1949.273 pp., illustrated with maps, photo-graphs and documents. $4.00.

• • •

TREACHEROUS SHORT CUTSOF THE WESTWARD COURSE

Prairie Schooner Detours is a sequelto Irene D. Paden's The Wake of thePrairie Schooner. As in the previousvolume, Mrs. Paden and her husbandhave retraced, step by step, the oldand now almost obliterated trails of thepioneers on the way to California. Thisbook treats of two of the alleged"short-cuts" — which were actuallytreacherous detours. Hastings' Cut-Off, named after the strange and am-bitious promoter who once dreamed ofruling California, led ninety miles acrossthe Great Salt desert south of Salt LakeCity and so delayed the Donner partythat they later perished in the now-famous pass.

The other cut-off was Lassen's whichled the unsuspecting emigrant throughthe Sierras and was later referred tobitterly as the "Greenhorn Cut-Off."Both of them were an important partof the history of the 49'ers.

Macmillan, 1949. 295 pp., biblio-graphy and index. $3.75.

What are meteorites? Where do they come from? How can they berecognized? You'll find the answers to these questions in

OUR STONE-PELTED PLANETBy H. H. Nininger

This fascinating book tells all about meteors and meteorites, arid islavishly illustrated with photographs of interesting specimens of theseveral types—iron, stony, and combinations of the two. Dr. Niningeris a leading authority on the subject.

$3.00 postpaid to youCalifornia buyers add 3% sales tax

@*a(t& PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA

47

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