197404 Desert Magazine 1974 April

8/14/2019 197404 Desert Magazine 1974 April

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A N O T H E RUNBELIEVABLE FIRSTF O RD-TEXA L LN E WD - T E X" C O I N S H O O T E R "

Pos itively D ifferentiates B etw een T rash and Treasure

Bill and Lorraine Kueter with 6 of their 8 children test the new D-TEX "COINSHOOTER". Coin hunting is their specialty with over 13,000coins plus numerous rings and other jewelry found in the last 15 months. They are members of The Prospector Club of Southern Cali fornia.Camping and coin shooting is the family hobby. After testing. Bill says the "COINSHOOTER" is the detector for him.

A VA C AT I O N T H AT PA Y S- THED - T E XW A Y IN FAMILY TOGETHERNESS * IN FUN FOR EVERY MEMBER OF THE FAMILY * IN CASHMONEY IN THE FORM OF OLD VALUABLE COINS, RINGS & JEWELRY IN MORE GOOD

FINDS IN LESS TIME - ELIMINATES UNNECESSARY DIGGING * WITH THE ALL NEW D-TEX

"COINSHOOTER" YOU MAY SEARCH THE AREAS WHERE OTHER DETECTORS GIVE UP

TAKES THE FRUSTRATION OUT OF COIN SHOOTING * THE ONLY DETECTOR THATPOSITIVELY DIFFERENTIATES BETWEEN TRASH AND TREASURE.

F A R E X C E E D SA L LO T H E R M A K E SO FD I F F E R E N T I A LA N DA N A LY T I C A L T Y PREJECTS: Bott le caps,foil, nails and other ferrous and non-ferrous trash.

DETECTS: Si lver, goldor copper coins, gold rings and other jewelry.

L O GICA L SPO TS : School yards,old churches, playgrounds, swimming beaches, old picnic areas,carnival sites, old houses. Even the recreation vehicle camp grounds. A rou nd eachcamp area and the playground.

R E M E M B E R- E V E R Y PL A C E PE O PL E H A V E B E E N , C O IN SAND JE W E L R Y H A V E B E E N L O S

The Coinshooter is made in two m o d e l s , " C O I N S H O O T E RI" and C O I N S H O O T E RI I " . Both modelsreject sea water and may be used on the beach with no interference from the water. Easily detects goldand silver doubloons and pieces of eight in the sand and under sea water. The most efficient detector forbeach combing at any price.

fo rourf o l d e ron he " C o i n s h o o t e r "or ourc a t a l o gof allD - Te xu n i t s w i t h f o l d e r i n c l u d e d .

T H E F IR ST R E A L LY NEW R E A S U R E L O C AT O R IN 30 Y E A R S !

P. o BOX 451F 9 D - T E X E L E C T R O N I C S Garland, Texas 756 1 4 E A S Y ST PH T77 1612


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WILLIAM KNYVETT, Publisher-Editor

G E O R G E B R A C A ,Art Director

M A R Y FRANCES STRONG,Field Trip Editor

JACK PEPPER, Special Feature Editor

E N I DC. H O WA R D ,Associate Editor

F. A. B A R N E S ,Utah Associate Editor

G L E N N VA R G A S ,Lapidary Editor

K. L. B O Y N T O N ,Naturalist

M A RV E LB A R R E T T,Circulation Manager

DuvSLVolume 37, Number 4

MAGAZINE

APRIL, 1974

C O N T E N T S

T H EC O V E R :Vege ta t ion on GuardianAngel Is land in the Gulfof California.See articleon page 20. Photographyby Ernie Cowanof Escon-dido, Cal i fornia .

F E A T U R E S

M R . P E G LE G R E T U R N S ... OR HAS HE? 10 Mr. Anonymous

CANYON WITH A SURPRISE 12 Betty Shannon

NEVADA'S STONEWALL FALLS 16 Mary Frances Strong

BAJ A FOR CHARTER 20 Ernie Cowan

PHANTOM SHIP OF THE GRAN DESIERTO 24 Harvey Cray

DESERT QUICKSILVER 30 K. L Boynton

ROHWER'S LOST GOLD 32 Harold Weight

CANYONLANDS BY NIGHT 36 Fran Barnes

D E P A R T M E N T S

PEEK IN THE PUBLISHER'S POKE 4 William Knyvett

BOOKS FOR DESERT READERS 8 Book Reviews

RAMBLING ON ROCKS 42 Clenn and Martha Vargas

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 46 Readers'Comments

CALENDAR OF WESTERN EVENTS 46 Club Activities

E DITO RIAL, CIRCULAT ION A ND A DVERT ISING O FFICES: 74-109 LarreaSt., Palm De sert, California92260. Telephone A rea CodeListed in Standard Rateand Data. SUBSCRIPTION RAT ES: United States, Canada and Me xico;1 year,$6.00;2 years, $11 .00;3 years, $16.00. Otherfore ign subscribers add $1.00U. S. currencyfor each year. See Subscription O rder Formin this issue. Allow five weeksfor change of address andsend both new and old addresses withzip codes. DESERT Magazineis published mo nth ly. Second class postage paidat Palm Desert, Californiaandat additiona l mailing offices underAct of March 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted1974 by DESERT Magazineand permissionto reproduceany or allcontents must be securedin writing. Manuscripts and photographs willnot be returned unless accompaniedby a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Desert/April 7974


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Send orders toBox 1318,

Palm Desert, California 92260 BOOKSO50 YEARSIN D E AT H VA L L E Yby Harry P.Gower. First hand accountof the dramaticmining years by a man who spent his lifein h emysterious valley. Describes the famous charac-ters of Death Valley. Paperback, illustrated,145pages, $2.95.

THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTHWEST by the Editorsof Sunset books. A pictorial witha brief textshowing modern day activitiesof cities such asPhoenix, El Paso, Taos, and communities belowthe Mexican border, and coveringthe South-western states, canyons and deserts. 240 photo-graphs of which 47 are four-color, large format,223 pages, hardcover, $10.95.

TH E OR EGON DES ER T by E. R. Jackman andR. A. Long.Filled with both facts and anecdotes,this is the only book on the little but fascinatingdeserts of Oregon. Anyone who reads this bookwill want to visit the areasor wish they could.Hardcover, illustrated, 407 pages, $7.50.

T H E N O RT H A M E R I C A N D E S E RT Sby Ed-mund C. Jaeger. A long-time authorityon allphases of desert areas and life, Dr. Jaeger'sbook on the North American Deserts shouldbecarried where ever you travel.It not only de-scribes each of the individual desert areas, buthas illustrated sections on desert insects, rep-tiles, birds, mammals and plants. 315 pages,illustrated photographs, line drawingsandmaps. Hardcover, $6.95.

B A C K YA R D T R E A S U R E H U N T I N Gby LucieLowery. The strange worldof auctions, swap-meets, backyard and garage sales, treasurehunting and metal locatorsis examined by h eauthor and described in zestful language. Paper-back, cartoon illustrated,95 pages, $1.95.

G H O S T TO W N SOF T H E N O RT H W E S TbyNorman D. Weis.The ghost-town country of thePacific Northwest including trips to many little-known areas, is explored in his first-hand fact-ual and interesting book. Excellent photo-graphy. Best book to date on ghost townsof th eNO rth west. M aps. H ardcover, heavy slickpaper, 319 pages, $6.95.

DESERT GEM TRAILS by Mary Frances StrongDESERT Magazine's Field Trip Editor has revis-ed and brought up to date her popular fieldguide for rockhounds. She has deleted areaswhich are now closedto the public and addednew areas not covered before. The maps havealso been updated. This is the "b ibl e " for bothamateur and veteran rockhounds and back coun-try explorers. Heavy paperback,80 pages andstill the same price, $2.00.4

SOURDOUGH COOKBOOK by Don and MyrtleHolm. H ow to make a sourdough starter andmany dozens of sourdou gh recipes, plus amu singanecdotes by the autho rs of the popu larOld Fash-

ioned Dutch Oven Cookbook. A new experiencein culinary adventures. Paperback, 136 slickpages, illustrated, $3.95.

FROSTY,A Raccoon to R emember by H arriettE. Weaver. The only uniformed woman onCali-fornia's State Park Ranger crewsfor 20 years,H arr iet t W eaver sharesher hilariousandheart-warming experiences of being a "mother"to an orphaned baby raccoon.A delightful bookfo r all ages. Illustrated with line-drawingsbyJennifer O . Dewey, hard cover, 156 pages, $5.95

R E LICS O F T H E W H I T E M A Nby Marvin andHelen Davis.A logical companion toRelics of theRedman, this book brings outa marked differ-ence by sho wing in its illustr ations just how "s u d-denly m ode rn" the early W est became after the

arrivalof the white man. The differencein arti-facts typifies the historical backgroundin eachcase. Th e same autho rs tell how and where to col-lect relics of these early days, tools needed, andho w to display and sell valuable pieces.Paperback, well illustrated in color and b/w, 63pages, $3.95.

GO LD EN CH IA , by Harrison Doyle.This book il-lustrates the great difference between the highdesert chia, and the Mexican variety presentlysold in the health food stores.It identifies the e n-ergy-factor, a little-known trace mineral foundonly in the high desert seeds. Also includesasection on vitamins, minerals, proteins,en-zymes, etc., needed for good nutr ition. Re ferredto as "the only reference book in America on thisancient Indian energyfood.100 pages, illustrat-e d, Paperback, $4.75; Cloth Cover, $7.75.

THE CALIFORNIA MISSIONS by the Editors ofSunset Books. A beautifully written historyofCalifornia's 21 missions. One canfeel, as hereads, the ferver of the padres as they gatheredmaterials to build their churches, and an insightinto history develops as the authors tell in simpleprose what was going on in the wo rld at the sametime. 300 pages, complete with artful sketchesand photographs, and paintingsin color, hard-cover, large format, $12.75.

N E VA D A G H O S T T O W N SAND MININGCA MPS by Stanley W. Paher.Cove ring all of Ne-vada's 17 counties, Paher has documented 575mining camps, manyof which have been erasedfrom the earth. The book contains the greatestand most complete collectionof historic photo-graphs of Nevada ever published. This, coupledwith his excellent wr iting and map, creates a bookof lasting value. Large 9x11 format, 700 photo-graphs, hardcover, 492 pages, $15.00.

M O C KE L ' S D E S E RT F L O W E R N O T E BHenry and Beverly Mockel. The well-knopainter of desert wildflowers has combinedhfour-color sketches and black and wh

photographs to describein detail so the laymcan easily identify wildflowers, both largsmall. Microscopic detail makes thisan out-standing book for identification. Special cpressed fiber cover which will not stain. 5fucolor illustrations with 72 life-size drawin39 photographs, 316 pages, $5.95.

H O PI SIL VE R , The H istory and H allmaroHopi Silversmithingby Margaret Wright. Yeaof research have made this booka historicadescriptive piece on the Hopi silversmithstrated with many photographs of silverwormore than a dozen pages devotedto he variohallmarks beginning in 1890 and continuthro ugh 1971, naming the silversm ith, theclathe village, dates worked and whe ther or nsilverwork is still being made. Paperback,1

pages, $4.95.NAVAJO SILVERby A rthur Woodward. Asummary of he his toryof silversmithing by Navajo tribe , W oo dward presents a comprsive viewof he four major influences on Ndesign, showing how the silversmiths adthe art forms of European settlers and Indithe eastern United States, as well as those Spanish and Mexican colonists of the SouthPaperback, well illustrated, 100 pages, $4

HO W A ND WHE RE TO PAN GOLD bWinters. Convenient paperback handbook information on staking claims, panning anrcovering placergold. Maps and drawings. $2.

WILY WOMEN OF THE WEST by GrEnestine ray. Such womenof the W est as BStarr, Cattle Kate and Lola Montez werealgood and weren'tall bad, but were fascinaand conflicting personalities,as researchedbythe author. Their lives of adventure werepart of the life of the Old W est. H ardcovet ra ted, 155 pages, $5.95.

C O R O N A D O ' S C H I L D R E N b yJ. Frank DobO riginally published in 1930, this book abomines and buried treasuresof t h e We s t is classic and is as vital to day as when first wrDobie was not only an adventurer, buta schoand a powerful write r. A combinationof legenand factual backgrou nd. H ardcover, 376 p$3.95.

G O L D A N D S I LV E RIN T H E W E S T b yT. HWatkins. The author brings together for ttime the entire storyof gold and silver minint h e W e s t. It tells of conquistadores chasmyths in Old Mexico, gold and silver strithe W est , A laska, Mexico and Canada, thand fall of mining venture s, prom otional scand today's operations. Hardbound, format, 212 illustrations(75 in 4-color),288pages, $17.50.


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California residentsplease add

5% state sales tax

JOU R N EYO FT H E FL A ME by Walter Nordhoff.The most exciting tale of early Baja and AltaCalifornia ever written. Recounts lost treasurelegends and its accurate historical account pre-sented in fictional style. Hardcover, $4.95.

LOST DE SER T BO NA NZA S by Eugene ConrottoBrief resumes of lost mine articles printe d in backissues of DESERT Magazine, by a forme r edito r.Hardcover, 278 pages, $7.50.

TH E ROCKS BEGIN TO SPEAK by LaVan Mar-tineau. Th e author tells how his interest in rockwriting led to years of study and how he haslearned that many especially th e complex pe-troglyphsare historical accounts of actualevents. Hardcover, well illustrated, glossarybibliography, 210 pages, $8.95.

B O T T L E R U S HU.S.A. by Lynn B lumenstein. A nexcellent book for identifying old bottles withphotographs of over 700 items and current pricelist. Background bottle information. 184 pages,paperback, $4,25.

BA JA [California, Mexico] by Cliff Cross.Up -dated in 1972, the auth or has ou tlined in detail allof the services, precautions, outstanding sightsand things to do in Baja. Maps and Photos galorewith large format. 170 pages, $3.50.

GHOSTS OF T HE GLORY TR AIL by Nell Mur-barger. A pioneer of the ghost town explorers andwriters, Miss Murbarger's followers will be gladto know th is book is once again in print. First pu b-lished in 1956, it is now in its seventh e dition. T hefast-mo ving chronicle is a resu lt of personal inte r-views of old-timers who are no longer h ere to te lltheir tales. Hardcover, illustrated, 291 pages,$7.00.

B IR D S O F T H E S O U T H W E S T E R N D E S E RT Sby Gusse Thomas Smith. Thirty-one of the mostcommonly sighted birds of the Southwest are de-scribed and illustrated in 4-color artist drawings.Heavy paperback, 68 pages, $3.95.

CA LIF O R N IA , An Illustrated History by T. H .Wafkins. This 400-year epic of the Golden State,from the coming of the Spaniards to ourchallenging present, is not only colorful in his-torical fact, but in the many illustrations of theold and the new in picture and art fo rm. It is con-sidered the most beautiful and comprehensivepictorial treatment the history of California hasever received. Hardcover, 450 illustrations, 544pages, limited quantity at special price of $20.00

FACETING FOR AMATEURS by Glenn andMartha Vargas. A ll aspect of the craft are cover-ed in this book from selecting, buying, orientingbefore cu tting, methods of obtaining th e largestand most perfect stone from the rough material,to the ways of using the many different facetingmachines on the market. Glenn Vargas isLapi-dary Instructor, College of the Desert, PalmDese rt, Calif., and a colum nist forDesert. Hard-cover, many illustrations, tables, formulas, 330pages, $15.00.

D I C T I O N A RY O F P R E H I S TO R I C I N D I A N A R -T IFA C TS O F T H E A M E R I CA N S O U T H W E S Tby Franklin Barnett. A highly informative bookthat both illustrates and describes Indianarti-facts of the Southwest, it is a valuable guide forthe person interested in archaeology and anthro-pology. Includes 250 major types of artifacts.Each item has a photo and definition. Paper-back, 130 pages, beautifully illustrated, $7.95.

BACK RO ADS OF CA LIFO RN IA by Earl Tlander and the Editors of Sunset Books. Earlystagecoach routes, missions, remote canyons,old prospector cabins, mines, cemeteries, etc.,are visited as the author travels and sketches thCalifornia Backroads. Through maps and notesthe traveler is invited to get o ff the freeways asee the rural and country lanes throu gho ut thstate. Hardcover, large format, unusually beautiful illustrations, 207 pages, $8.95.

BA JA by Doug Richmond.Motorcycling's topauthority on Baja California, Doug Richmontells all the re is to know in prepar ing for a twor four-wheeled trip into this barren, but fasciating country. Each one of the 112 pages icrammed with authoritative information, incluing rou te and camping tips. Paperback, illustr ated, 112 pages, $4.00.

HANK AND HORACE by Richard Lillard aMary Hood.How and why the tall-tale of H orac

Greeley's ride with Hank Monk over the Siein 1859 became nationally significant in thfolklore of the W est is carefully docume nwith scholarly precision, historic perspective aearth-wise humor by the authors. Paperback, lustrated, $5.95.

DESERT VACATIONS ARE FUN by RoNeedham. A complete, factual and interestinhandbook for the desert camper. Valuable infomation on weather conditions, desert vehiclecampsites, food and water requirements. Infomation on desert wildlife, mines, ghost townand desert hobbies. Paperback, illustrated, 1maps, 134 pages, $3.95.

L O A F I N G A L O N G D E A T H VA L L E Y T R AWilliam caruthers. Author Caruthers wasa

newspaper man and a ghost writer for earlymovie stars, politicians and industrialists. H"slowed down" long enough to move to DeaValley and the re wro te his on-the-spot story thwill take you through the quest for gold on deserts of California and Nevada. Hardcoveold photos, 187 pages,$4.25.

30,000 MILES IN ME XICO by Nell Murbarger.Joyous adventures of a trip by pick-up campermade by two women from Tijuana to Guatemala.Folksy and ente rtaining, as we ll as instructive toothers who might make the trip. Hardcover, 309pages, $6.00.

MY CANYONLANDS by Kent Frost.A vividaccount of the early exploration of Utah's Can-yonlands by the author who spent his entire lifeexploring America's new national park and whopresently runs a guide service th rou gh thescenic country. Hardcover, artist illustrations,160 pages, $6.95.

C O M M O N E D I B L E & U S E F U L P L A N T S O FTH E WES T by Muriel Sweet.A description withartist drawings of edible (and those not to touch)plants along with how Indians and pionee rs usedt hem. Paperback, 64 pages, $1.50.Desert/Anril 1 7A

ON DESERT TRAILS by Randall Henderson,founder and publisher of Desert Magazine for 23years. One of the first good writers to re veal thebeauty of the mysterious desert areas. Hender-son's experiences, combined with his commentson the desert of yesterday and today, make th is aMUST for those who really want to understandthe desert. 375 pages, illustrated. Hardcover,$6.95.

L O ST M IN E S O F T H E GR E AT S O U T H W E S Tby John D. Mitchell. The first of Mitchell 's lostmine books is now available after having beenout of print or years. Reproduced from theor iginal copy and containing 54 articles based onaccounts from people Mitchell interviewed. Hespent his entire adult life investigating reportsand legends of lost mines and treasures of theSouthwest. Hardcover, illustrated, 175 pages,$7.50.

L O ST M IN E S & B U R I E D T R E A S U R E S A L O N GTHE OLD FRONTIER by John D. Mitchell. Thesecond of Mitchell's books on lost mines whichwas out-of-print for many years. Many of theseappeared in DESERT Magazine years ago andthese issues are no longer available. Newread-ers will want to read these. Contains the originalmap first published with the book and one pin-pointing the areas of lost mines. Mitchell's per-sonal research and investigation has gone intothe book. Hardcover, 240 pages $7.50.

GHOST TOWN BOTTLE PRICE GUIDE byand Ruby Bressie. A new and revised edition otheir popular bottle book, first published 1964. New section on Or iental re lics, plus u p-date values of bottles. Slick, paperback, illut ra ted, 124 pages, $2.95.

T R AV E L G U I D E TO B A J A C A L I F O R NKen and Caroline Bates. Published by the Editors of Sunset Books, this is a useful book on Band sho uld be a companion piece to Gerh ard anGul ick ' s Lower California Handbook and CliffCross ' s Baja by Road, Airplane and Boat . T heBates' book takes the reader to the people wtext, photographs and maps. Anyone going Baja should have all three books. Large 8xformat, heavy paperback, 80 pages, $1.95.


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BACKISSUE

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accompany your order.Be sure to inc lude your zip code .

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T HESE ARE t roub led t imesin whichwe l ive , and the economy of thecoun t ry is faced w ithone crisis afte ran-o t h e r. W h a t w it hthe energy problems,the paper industryand heir ecology-re-lated mill reduction, addedto across-the-board postal rates increases,it was in-evi table thatDesert Magazine subscrip-t ion and newsstand rates would havetobe increased. Even though inevi table ,iti s wi th much regret that effect ive wi ththis issue, such increases are imple-m e n t e d . The s u b s c r i b e r r a t e w i l lamount to jus t over e ight centsa monthmore, and the format will remainas it isnow established, with48 pages and theuse of as much color pho tographyas pos-sible.

Desert will continue to cover theSouthwest as it has for 37 years, andal though someof the area may not be ac-cessible to you in the immedia te fu tu re ,it is hoped thatthe magazine will providereassu ring reading now, and pleasurableparticipation later in ano the r not sot roub led t ime .

Now let 's takea quick lookat what ' son tap n this issue. First , therehas beena new development in the Pegleg BlackGold story. Check thisout on Page 10.Harvey Gray tells abouta phantom ship

lost in the dese r t . Haro ld W eigh t weavesa s tory abouta lost gold ledge,and Na-tura l is t K. L. Boynton br ingsus up-to-date on the Deser t GreyFox.

E rnie Cowan te l ls abouta char ter boatt r ip in Baja, while Mary Frances Strongdoes a l i t t le detect ive workin Nevada'sarid Ralston Dese rt . B etty Shannontakes us back in t ime to the discoveryofriches in Panamint Valley, andan unusu-al spectacle of the Colorado Riverin Can-yonlands Cou ntryis given full coverageby F. A. Barnes .

By gol ly, there ' s jus t about enoughtomake us fo rge t these t roub led t imes !

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HummingbirdFeeder DRIPLESS BEE PROOF

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Desert/ April 1974


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Desert/April 1 9 7 4

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S O U T H E R N ID A H OG H O S T T O W N S

by Wayne Sparling

S c a t t e r e d t h r o u g h the rugged deser t sand mountains of southern Idahoare theremnants of towns tha t once were roar-ing mining centers. Mostare t r u e g h o s ttowns, marked now by decaying cabins,the re l ics of ore mills, and machinerytha t ranges f rom abandoned t ram carsto remarkably intact arrastras, usedtocrush raw ore. The a u t h o r has visi tedthese si tes by pickup, by four whee l d r iver i g , and by f o o t . In this book, he de-scr ibes e igh ty- four of them, discussingthe his tory and h i g h l i g h t s of e a c h .Nine ty- f ive photographs accompanythet e x t , and maps detai l the loca t ion of hecamps. A w e l c o m e a d d i t i o n to the li-braries of those fasc ina ted by We s t e r nhis tory.

APRIL,1974 paper $3.95

T H E C A X T O N PR IN T E R S,Ltd.Box 700

Caldwell, Idaho 83605

For those who love the Deserts .

and those who love the We st. .

A LIMITED SUPPLYI' .I

YOUR DESERT

A N D M I N EbyNina Paul Shumway

" Y O U R D E S E RT AND M I N T is a significant historyof Riverside County 's date culture fromits origins tothe p resen t . To the collector of desert books,how-ever, this is a book that deservesa place on the same-shelf as classics by George Whar ton James ,J. Smeaton Chase, and Edmund C. Jaeger. Nina Paul Shum-way has spent much of her l ife exploring the desertan d she has the ability to evoke its variant moods witha lyricism tempered withthe object ivi ty of a first-ratenatural is t ."-Harry W. Lawton in Riverside Press-F.n/erprise.

Price $6.75Order from

, Magazine B ook ShopBox 1318, Palm Desert, Calif.Calif. Res. add5% sales ax

B o o k sfo rD e s e r t

H e a d e r s

can du/ces swee ts wh ichare surede l igh t everyone .

Sourdough fans will wantto expement with four different sourstarter recipes. Oncethe " p o t " is sethere's pancakes, bread (long and method), muffins, bread sticks, coand biscuit recipesto whet the appe

Pinto bean and chili enthusiasts work up a western appetite after saling Peggy Coldwater 's beans,or RFlannel Stew,or the dozen diverse recipes.

The Arizona section includes local favoritesas prickly pear jelly,cactus candy, date breads, Arizona cake, chili pot roast, and many mo

" O u t d o o r A r i z o n a "is the concludsectionof the cookbook, wi th recipfbackpackers, barbecuers and campeHigh-energy foods preparedat home suggested, including Basic Trail Beef Jerky, Pemmican,etc. For came r s , there 's Ski l le t Bread, Hobo Scones and Ember Cooking.

A ll in all , one of the most unique lections of hard- to-f ind realol ' wes tcooking available.

Paperback, 142 pages, $3.00.

A R I Z O N A C O O K B O O K

By Al and Mildred FischerO ne of the most in teres t ing and unus-

ual cookbooksto cross our desks is th isnewly-publ ished comprehensive guideen t i t l ed , Arizona Cook Book. A f t e rsearching 25 years for an all-inclusiveArizona cookbook,Al and M i l d r e dFis-cher decidedto compile one themselves ,and have certainly comeup with a win-ner.

This f ivecookbooks- in-one combina-t ion features recipesfor Indian cooking,

Me xican dishe s, W este rn specialties,Arizona productsand outdoor cooking.Each selection has original recipes, plusvariations of southwestern favori tes .

In the Indian section you will find halfa dozen Fried Bread recipes,as wellasother Indian-style foods including Back-bone Stew, Mutton Loaf, Acorn Stew andNavajo Cake. Indian recipes have beenselected fro m th e H o pi, Papago, Navajo,Pima and Apache Tr ibes .

The Mexican sect ion, wi th more than

75 selections, includesa glossary andavarie tyof recipes for guacamole, salsas,tacos, gazpacho, enchiladas and M e x i -

D E AT H VA L L E Y S C O T T Y T OMBy Eleanor Jordan Houston

Death Valley Scotty!Who was he?W ho was th i s tanned Kentu ck ian , California desert rat, dressed in bsui t , wh i te h at , whi te shir t and redt i e , who could pul l $50,000 fro m o ntop and a l ike amount f romthe o t h epay for a fas ter r ide f rom Los AngeChicago than anyone else ever ha

No mat te r. His exploits made hlines all over the country. Scot ty w


9/48

. We Kcp{ rus name before trie pub-lic for almost 50 years. He delighted inthrowing gold pieces and silver intostreet crowds and in buying cigars anddrinks with $1000 bills. Interest grewwhen the $3,000,000 edifice called Scot-ty 's Castle rose in a remote canyon innor thern Death Val ley, Cal i fornia .W he re d id the money come f rom? W as

there a mysterious angel backing Scot-ty's play? That was the mystery withwhich Scot ty l iked to c lothe himself .

In 1948, Eleanor Jordan Houston andher ranger husband were Scotty's near-est neighbors in Death Valley. He was 76years old when he asked Eleanor to wri tehis story, and he loved tell ing it , relivingeach escapade with keen enjoyment.Some of the stories he already had toldover and over again to visitors at thecastle, o the rs he had never before to ld to

anyone. Eleanor says, "I have tried topresent Scotty as I knew him . . . theshowman, the humoris t , the phi loso-pher, t he mas te r s to ry t e l l e r. "

Death Valley Scotty Told Me is attrac-t ively pr inted and bound in gold- tonedleatherette cover paper, 116 pages, i l lus-t ra ted wi th drawings and photographs ,$1.75.

A ll books reviewe d may beordered f rom Deser t MagazineBook Shop, Box 1318, PalmDesert , California 92260. Besure to e nclose check or moneyorder and California residentsmust add 5% state sales tax

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10/48

S O UT H E RN M U F O M M A O B H t T t H T IB N V ,

MARCH 7965-The in i t i a l l e t t e rf rom Mr. Pegleg with two nuggetsarrived at Desert Magazine officewith the s tory of his" f i n d " andsubsequent disposal.

MAY 7965A second letter and anugget weighing two ounces , andanswers to lette rs in A pril issue.

JULY 7965Two more nuggetsand replies to questions

DEC. 7965Two more nuggetsand miscellaneous information re-garding site off ind.

AUC.-SEPT. 7 9 6 5 - A n o t h e r n u g -get and answers to readers ' ques-t ions .

AUG.-SEPT. 7 9 6 6 - M o r e c o r r e s -pondence.

DEC. 7967-New le t t e r wi thar t i -fact and a theory on Peraltagold.

JULY 7968-More on the Pera l t at h e o r y.

JAN. 7969Last correspondenceu nt i l A pr i l , 1974 issue.

Editor's Preface:One of the mo st popular articles to

appear in Desert Magazine wasananonymous reader who said that hehad found Pegleg's Black Cold. Toback up his claim, he enclosed twonuggets and a man uscript detailingthe discovery and subsequentproblems in handling the black gold.This began a series of questions and

answers between other interestedreaders and the mystery m an whichcontinued until Ja nuary of 1969, whenthe last letter was received. It hasbeen over four years since we haveheard from "Mr. Anonymous" andthen, w ithin two days of eachother,the letters reprinted on these pagesarrived in our Editorial Offices. Oneapparently from Mr. Pegleg, whereinhe states dates that he mailed lettersand nuggets. None were ever

received, which makes the mysterydeepen.

The other letter was from a "SlimPickings, "and he claims that heknows the identity of Mr. Pegleg andthat the m an in question passed awayin 1971! He also remains anonymousand had mailed a manuscript and goldflakes to our office a ye ar ago. Thispackage was received, but it isimpruden t to print eve ry unsignedmanu script that comes across this

desk. Therefore, it was filed away. Nofurther word was heard from "Slim"until last week. T here was notsufficient time to schedule his articlein this issue, but it will appear nextmonth.

We shall be glad to publish furthercorrespondence from these twogentlemen , and the readers can thenjudge for themselves whether Mr.Pegleg has returned.

Dear Sir:In re fe rence to the "B lack Go ld"

in the February '74 issue, and youswer that "Nothing has been heardMr. Anonymous since January, 196th ink it is t ime to let you know I aamong the living, hale, hearty healthyand I 've sti l l got bags oor iginal black "Pegleg nuggets!"

If you stil l have my other letterwill note th at I am using a diffe re ntwriter. (The old Royal portable fgave up the ghost, and my black golvestment proceeds are doing so wellI sprung for a new machine.)

Frankly, something happened bac1969 that I still do not understand ely. My "las t" le t ter was publ ished January issue, 1969. In that same ia p p e a r e d Vi c t o r S t o y a n o w ' s s t

Dear Ed i to r :Just a short note in reply to

limore (Feb. issue) regarding l e g . The reason nothing has beof this gentleman is because haway abou tJ uly 1971 . I was goinup the exact month then decidbecause it wou ld be a waste of t

DESERT wouldn ' t publ ish thit ion without proof . The reasogive his name now is because widow and I know she doe sn't wbothe red answering le t ters re gblack gold f ind.

A t the t ime he began h is sersingle and I believe he married1969 or 1970. I could verify date , but again I fee l i t is of l i ttance now.

In December 1972 I sent a m

to DESERT en t i t l ed , "Th imb

l


11/48

"Black Bonanza," an excel lent bi t of re-search and intelligent reasoning, plus

two le t ters in the Let ters to the Edi torco lum n. I wro te a long lett er , discussingStoyanow's story in detail and answeredDe W alt 's Let ter to the E di tor. I enclosedthe usual nugget and mailed the packageto DESERT. Apparent ly you never re-ceived it .

I wrote again in May 1969 answeringMiller 's letter in that same issue, againenclosing the usual nugget. I wrote inNovember of 1969, answering Gilbert O.French's letter in detail , again enclosing

a nugget .W he n none o f these were pu b li she d , I

could only assume you had not receivedmy mailings, or possibly you were not in-teres ted in the "Black Gold" s tory anylonger.

Finally, I wro te o n July 1 1 , 1970, stat-ing among other things: "Presumably

you never got the package which includ-ed anoth er black nu gge t. Frankly, I'vebeen afra id for qui te a wh i le th at some-body was going to purloin one of thepackages to get the nuggets. If not, thenwhy haven ' t you received any of them?"

A t that point, not knowing for surewhat th e score was, I cou ld see no re asonto send more le t ters and nuggets .

However, four ful l years have gone bynow, and I've an idea that in this lengthof t ime a few mo re qu estions may have

come to mind among the deser t hands,and perhaps other information may havecome to light on this same subject. Forexample, I noted Sou thwo rth 's note inthe August 1971 issue. Apparent ly hemust have found my original discovery

site and I've been m ildly cu riou s aswhy he specifically wanted nuggets wmicro-crystal faces.

Point is, if there is enough interestthe subject, I sti l l don't mind answerique st ions . I wo n' t include a nugget tht ime as I want to make sure the le tgets th ro u gh too many packages icluding nuggets simply disappearebefore they go t to DESERT. SomehI'l l f igu re a way to mail the m so you be su re to ge t them. On the o the r hanwha t the he l l , you probably have morthan enough on hand now for display

you stil l have all I sent up to Janua1969.

T h e M a n W h o F o u nPegleg's Black Gold

Black Go ld" a long with several nuggets .Apparent ly the s tory was no longernewsworthy since nothing came of i t . Isuppose the nuggets are sti l l on displaya t DESERT. At the t ime o f my wr i t ingabout my f ind, I knew about the manwho wrote the Pegleg s tory but decidedto keep mum. Then, because my s torywas dead copy, I neve r made a follow -upof my letter of '72 about the final out-come of my desertfind.

Sincerely you rs ,"Sl im Pickings"

"Slim Picking's"Thimble Full

of Black Cold


12/48

G E TT ING TH E RE is easily half thefun of going to Panamint. But i thasn't always been that way.

Back in 1860, Dr. S. G. George, a sil-ver seeker bent on re locat ing the fabledLost Gunsight lode, slowly picked hisway a mile or so into th e we st flank of th ePanamint range. However, a t that point ,the ver t ical wal ls of the canyon he hadchosen to explore abruptly close in, leav-ing a passage but a few yards wide.

Unnerved by the surpr is ingly narrowgorge, Dr. George began to suspect sin-is ter motives in the behavior of hisIndian guide. Fearing an ambush at eachs tep, he tu rne d a round , commanded th eIndian to walk in front of him, and thepair descended without incident to thesafety of Panamint Valley's open saltf la t .

A f te rwards , Dr. George chr is t ened thesteep wal led def i le , Surpr ise Canyon.

W ait ing undiscovere d at the head of thecanyon was an enticing outcropping ofs i lver-bear ing ore . The narrow passage,which the doc to r had ba re ly pene t ra ted ,la ter proved to be the only feasible routeto Panamint and its riches.

Several years la ter, another pair oft r easure h un te r s go t a b i t fu r th e r up Sur-pr ise Canyon, when one man, forreasons unknown, turned on his par tnerand ki l led him on the spot .

Final ly, in the winter of 1873, a t r io o f

prospectors made it past all the ob-stacles, both real and imagined, to apoint where the canyon suddenly widensinto a picture sque l i t t le basin surro und-ed by pinyon-studded hi l ls . There , in thelimestone cliffs flanking both sides of theval ley, they discovered greenish-blueveins of copper-s i lver ore .

W h e n several rou gh assays showedvalues as high as $2500 a ton, the threecal led a meet ing, a t tended by 12 or 15o ther men who had been p rospec t ing ,

and in the case of one pair, hiding out, inthe Panamints . On February 10, 1873,this group es tabl ished the PanamintMining Dist r ic t . The dis t r ic t ' s boundar-ies measured 20 miles on each side.Ranging from 266 feet below sea level toan al t i tude of over 11,000 feet , i tincluded such diverse terra in as DeathVal ley 's sa l t -encrusted mud f la ts andPanamint 's snow-capped peaks. ButSurpr ise Val ley, the brush-carpeted de-press ion at th e he ad of Su rpr ise Canyon,was to re main the center o f act ivi ty-in thedis t r ic t .

C A N YW I T H

S U R P RTwo of the o r iginal locators , Richard

Jacobs and Robert Stewart, fi led claims;Jacobs' Wo nder o f th e W o r ld and Ste -wart ' s W onde r. News of the discoveryreache d we st coast newspapers, butbecause of i ts remote location and nearly

impossible access, Panamint's boom wasslow in building. The nearest road was60 miles away in Owens Valley.

By the summer of 1874, Panamintsported the rudimentary e lements of afront ier mining camp. A s t r ing of make-shift shelters l ined both sides of a wide,vacant s t ree t . A big tent , known as H ote lde Bum, o ffe red t empora ry hous ing tonew arr ivals . Dave Neagle , an entrepre-neur f rom Pioche, Nevada, brought asmall stock of whiskey and several glasstumblers. He laid a board across twobarrels and opened for business as theO riental Saloo n.

In the meant ime, a promoter vis i tedLos Angeles and raised enough cash tobuild a wagon road to connect SurpriseCanyon with the Owens Val ley. And ofmore immediate importance to thecamp's future , work was begun on a tol lroad in Surprise Canyon. Its opening, onthe 4th of July, was celebrated with aclap of gunpowder. A smal l , horse-drawn buggy made the f i rs t wheeledascent of Surprise Canyon. Several

byBetty

Shannon

Th e slender,brick stack

of theSurprise Valley

Milland Mining

Company's smelterdominates

Panamint'slandscape.

Photo byHoward Neal.

Desert/April 1 9 7 4


13/48

f V

: > . ^

*


14/48

The towering limestone wa lls of Surprisedrive trail to Panamint City.

weeks la ter another boom echoed in thecanyon. This t ime it was a clap of thun-der which precipi ta ted a c loudbu rs t , wip-ing ou t those weeks of labor. H owe ver,the road was quickly rebuilt , and by thefall of 1874, the rush was on.

Many newcomers ar r ived via a t r i -weekly scheduled stagecoach. One pas-senge r 's baggage include d a small print-ing press and type. On Thanksgiving

Day the Panamint News made its debut,announcing i ts in tent ions , " to furnishthe people of Panamint wi th the la tes tnews, to give the o uts ide wo rld accurateand t ruthful informat ion regarding the

Canyon nearly close in on the four-wheel-

mines and district , and to make money."Panamint 's biggest boost came when

Nevada's two senators, John P. Jonesand W illiam M. Stew art, investedheavily in its mines. They also becamethe new owners of the Surpr ise Canyontoll road for a reported $30,000. SenatorJones' optimism led him to plunk an ad-ditional $200,000 into a survey and pre-l iminary work on a ra i l road to run f rom

the bluffs of the Pacific, west of Los An -geles, across the Mojave desert , up Pan-amint Val ley to the mouth of Surpr iseCanyon, and eventually on to Indepen-dence in the O wens Valley. So impressed

Ruins of the Surprise Va lley Mill and Mining Com pany's smelter wh ich producedsilver bullion from August 1875 o May 1877.

with Jones' plans were his mine wothat some suggested renaming PanaCi ty, " Jones town," in h i s honor.

Also impressed was TheSacramenUnion which repor ted , "The l ead oby Stewart, Jones and Company is to surpass, in richness and vastnanything ever s t ruck before west Rocky Mounta ins . " Othe r s were

scribing Panamint as "a second sho e . " B u t in W asho e , (Virg iniaNevada), The Territorial Enterprise scf ed , "T h e ores found a t Panaminnearly all more or less base. Themine is merely another opening iBase-metal Range."

Panamint City reached the peak boom late in 1874. Main Street lotpriced at $2500 to $3000. There more than 700 residents and almosmany mining claims. The mines em

ed 250 men. Shoot ings were not quent , providing adequate copy foPanamint News.

Dave Neagle's business had outghis original plank and barrel barO rienta l Saloon mo ved into a new ing with Inyo pine wainscotting, from a distance of 10 fee t, passed foected oak. The wall behind the blacnut bar was decorated with an ament of shapely ladies painted by ais t imported f rom Los Angeles . A

sive bill iard table was brought froFrancisco. To prote ct the innocent,le t -proof wal l was constructed beNeagle's cardroom's and those ocompe t i tor next doo r, Joe H arr is 'dental Saloon.

T he o re , 10 tons a day, was sackedstacked until freight wagons arrivhaul i t down Surprise Canyon on thleg of a journey half-way arounworld to Engl ish smel ters . Buledger sheets showed that the hig

of t ranspor ta t ion was wiping ou t thfits. The camp experienced its firsback in Januar y, 1875, whe n some mclosed and miners were laid off.

However, Panamint Ci ty receivinfusion of new money and a new on l i fe in March. Twenty thoshares of Jones and Stewart ' s W oConsol idated and W yom ing Consed proper t ies were offered on theexch ange in San Francisco at $share. Proceeds of the sale were upurchase equipment for a smel te20-stamp mil l .

Smoke f i rs t belched for th f ro


15/48

. : -

lo((, (JIii_(\ ataiA uf tde Surprise ValleyMil l and Minin g Co mpany 's smel ter on atest run June 29, 1875. Five days laterthe to wn er upte d in a wi ld celebrat ion ofboth the nat ion 's b i r thday and the mil l ' scomplet ion. Up on the hi l l s ide , the 20stamps noisily clattered and the steamwhist le screamed.

Actual product ion began a t the mil l inAugust , but there was s t i l l a major prob-lem. W ells Fargo had refused to carryout Panamint ' s s i lver bul l ion. The t r ipdown Surprise Canyon was just too risky,the chance for an ambush too great . A ndin add itio n, i t was a we ll known fact thatJohn Small and John McDonald, a pairof h ighwaymen who had a t tended theor iginal organizat ional meet ing of thePanamint Mining District and had hungaround Panamint ever since, had point-edly been making inquiries about thefirst shipping date.

Quietly an ingenious plan was devis-ed. The silver was cast as cannon balls,each weighing about 450 pounds. Thefirst shipment of five cannon balls wereloaded aboard a wago n, and ru mbleddown Surpr ise Canyon, t rus ted to thecare of a single, unarmed driver. As wasexpected, Small and McDonald stoppedthe wagon in the canyon, but when theysaw the load they knew they had beenbeaten.

H owe ver, a ser ies of o the r problemsaffect ing Panamint ' s fu ture proved in-surmountable . Far f rom Surpr ise Can-yon's steep walls, a financial panic wassweeping California. A leading bank hadfailed, the price of silver was declining,and mining stocks, including those of theComstock lode, plummeted. Financiallysqueezed, Senator Jones called a halt toal l work on his pet pro ject , the Los A n-geles and Independence railroad. And inthe hi l l s above Surpr ise Val ley the oreveins pinched out .

B y O ctobe r, Panamint was we ll on itsway to becoming a ghost camp. Most ofits residents, including the editor of thePanamint News, packed up and movedacross Panamint Valley to the newexci tement a t Darwin in the Argusrange. Dave Neagle made one last at-tem pt to save the town and his O rienta lSaloon by spearheading a fut i le move-ment to se t up a new county wi thPanamint as the seat of government.

Early in 1876, a rich ore body wasdiscovered, keeping the stamps of thebig mill dancing awhile longer. But by

D t/A il 1974

th is t ime, there were no scheduledstages and mail was delivered only oncea week.

In July, almost two years to the daythat a cloudburs t h ad washed o ut th ej u s t - c o m p l e t e d S u r p r i s e C a n y o n t o l lroad, a four-hour downpour de lugedPanamint City. The subsequent floodstruck the final blow to the camp's pre-c a ri o u s e x is t e n c e . W a t e r s w i r l e dthrough saloons , s tores , the deser tedBank of Panamint , carrying furni ture ,boots, trees and boulders down SurpriseCanyon. In May, 1877, Jones orderedthe last mines closed and the stamps ofthe Surpr ise Val ley Mil l and MiningCompany fell si lent.

The mill 's slender, brick stack sti l ldominates Surprise Valley's landscape,an endu ring monu ment to the l ively daysof a centu ry ago . Cluste rs of stone w alls,the ruins of miners ' cabins, blend intothe brushy s lopes . Modern mining meth-ods have been tried several t imes thiscentu ry, and a few s t ructure s remainfrom these sporadic attempts to revivePanamint 's ghost.

The road up Surprise Canyon probablyis in better shape now than during Pana-mint ' s heyday, but don ' t a t tempt the t r ip

unless you have a tou r-whe el-dr ive r iThe grade is very steep and the trail cabe rough in some spots.

To ascend Surpr ise Canyon, turn r ighoff the W ingate Road, about one minor th of Bal lara t . Jus t before reachithe narrows, and on the r ight s ide of tcanyon, a grove of cot tonwoo d t reeshades a broad, bench-like area. This ithe s i te o f Chr is W ich t ' s camp. He rs ingle-handedly, the one- t ime B al larsaloon keeper built his house, severcabins which he rented to tour is ts fordollar a day du ring th e depression dayof th e 1930s, and a swimming pool 75 felong. Chris c la imed he bui l t the po"big enough so a frog could get

s w i m . " The steady flow of water alsprovided power for n ine e lect r ic l ighThe bui ldings have vanished, but thfrog pond remains .

B eyond Chris W icht ' s camp, the cayon's walls nearly meet; in some placeit 's a mere 15 feet from side to sidTrickl ing water formscool , green poolsat the base of the towering l imestowalls. The route to Panamint is as spectacular as its brief history. Total distanfrom the road's junction in PanamiValley to Panamint City is 11 mile s.

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16/48

Dom inating the landscap e of the Ralston Desert, the giant ma ssif of StonewallMountain rises to nearly 8400feet. "Dust devils" often scamper across the elongat-ed playa which sepa rates the giant mo untain from the Cuprite Hills.

N E VA D A ' SURINC A stop in Tonopah severalyears ago, we were told a tale

about a beau tiful oasis on Nevada's aridRalston Desert. It was an intriguingstor y. High in a narrow cle ft , on the sideof a volcanic mountain, a waterfall cas-caded into a deeppool . It pro vided a year'round watering place for wildlife andman. "T h e site can only be reached via avery rugge d four-wh ee l-dr ive t ra i l and isknown to but a few o ld- t ime rs ," said thestory- te l ler.

Natural ly, our interes t was arousedand we wanted to see this phenomenonfor ou rselves . "Yo u co uldn ' t find it if Ito ld you. You would need a guide and,anyway, I have sworn to keep it ase cre t ," was his reply to ou r inquiry. Pr i -vately, we wondered if this might not be

76

one of those "yarns" people l ike to spinaround the campfire .

Each t ime we were in the area on sub-sequent t r ips , the s tory about the fa l lswas recalled. Knowing the desert can bedeceptive and hides her treasureswel l ,we were also aware you often find whatyou least expect. It seemed quitepossible such an oasis existed andfind-ing the " lost waterfa l l" became achal-lenge. Though i t took a bi t of detect ivework, find it we did! The reward wastwo-fold a charming oasis, plus thesource of some attractive agate.

Our quest began with local inquiry,since we were w itho u t any dire ctions andthe Ralston Desert encompasses a largearea of Nye County. Much to our sur-prise , we h i t "pay d i r t " at once . W e

learned there was a waterfall aboumiles southeast of Goldfield. Initialdidn't talk to anyone who had t h e r e , but i t became qui te obvioufalls were well-known to local fol

It was at this point I realized theorinal story-teller had unknowingly ped an important clue when he descthe falls as "in a narrow slit in higcanic rocks." Upon learning approximate location, my memorybegan to r ing. I recalled a photo of a scarp on the north side of StonMo u ntain I had seen in a 1900 mininport . A quick check of the topo maincated a spring at this location. "Jthat is the only logical place thecould be ," I to ld the o the r h alf t eam. "Le t ' s check i t ou t tomor

D t/A il 19


17/48

Left: The road traverses Stonewa ll Flat near the base of the Cuprite Hills. Goodspecimens [rocks in foreground] of agate, chalcedony and chert will be found alongboth sides of the road. Above: Stonewall Falls has long provided water for man andwildlife in this arid region. Photos by Jerry Strong.

E U K L L F Awas his reply.

Later the same evening, we visitedW il l iam Me tchne r, of To nopah, to seehis fine collection of Nevada memorabal-ia. B ill is a native Nevadan and has spentmany years exploring the old townsitesand mines. Just before leaving Iment ioned th e fa l ls . "Y e s, I have beenth e re , " he to ld us . "Y o u wi l l f ind i t amost in tere s t ing are a ." H e a lso conf irm-ed my conclusion about the location.

A rme d with hazy direct ions , s ince fewpeople take mileages, we were off thenext day to find the falls. The region wasnot new to us, as we had previously lo-cated a gem field on Stone wall Flat . Iknew I would recognize the cleft , so feltthe area would be easy tof ind. As itturned out , i t wasn ' t qui te that s imple .

Desert/April 1974

New roads are always appearing onthe desert and we soon found many newones on Stonewall Flat. Rocks from aquarry the re had been used in the recentwidening of Highway 95. A heavy rainearlier in the month had made aquagmire of the playa separating Stone-wal l Mo untain from the Cu pri te H i l ls .The route Bi l l had indicated was muddyand slick with several deep trou ghs fi l ledwith water. Fou r-whee l-dr ive became anecessity. A fte r considerable skirtingaround, we finally circumvented the haz-ards and reached a good road on higherg round .

W e drove slowly east and watche d forthe c lef t . Unfor tu nate ly, the nor the rnbulwark of Stonewall Mountain lay indark shadows.

by Mary F rances Strong

"I t ' s going to be tough to get phograph s , " Je r ry g rumbled . W he n a s ligchange in the s i lhouet te appeared, wstopped to take a closer view with binoulars. The shadows made detail difficubut we decided it could be the cleft . our r ight , a l i t t le-used t ra i l seemed head s t ra ight for the poss ible s ite . Wfollowed it for some distance, bdecided this must have been an old roaand not the one present ly used.

Returning to the mainroad, wenoticed a graded road coming down frothe Cu pr i te H i ll s to jo in the one we wtrave l ing. W e speculated th is wou ld bbet ter route to use going out s incemissed the w et , mu ddy areas a t the loer end of the playa. Chunks of rustrnetal along the roadside had also bee


18/48

B U n iE D T R E A S U R ELOCA TE IT FROM \V JA L O NG D I S TA N C E ^

W ith my sensi t ive

' 1 DIRECTIONALLOCATORSend for my FREE INFORMATIVEBROCHURE and read about thisremarkable device.

CARL ANDERSONP . O . Box 13441BU Tampa, Fla. 33611

Tw o G re a t B o o k sb y

N e ll M u r b a r g e r

G H O S T S O F T H E G L O R Y T R A I L b y N e ll M u r-barger. A p i o n e e r o f t h e g h o s t t o w n e x p l o r e r s a n dw r i t e r s . M i s s M u r b a rg e r ' s f o l l o w e r s w i l l b e g l a dt o k n o w t h is bo o k i s o n c e a g a i n i n p r i n t . F i r st p u b -lished in 1956. i t is now in its seventh edition. Thefas t -moving chr onic le i s a resu l t of personal in te r-v iews of o ld- t imers who are no longer here to te l lthe i r ta les . Hardcover, i l lus t ra ted . 291 pages .$7.00.

3 0 ,0 0 0 M I L E S I N M E X I C O b y N e l l M u r b a rg e r.Joyous adve ntur es of a t r ip by p ick-up campermade by two women f rom Ti juana to Guatemala .Folksy and enter ta in ing , as wel l as ins t ruc t ive too t h e r s w h o m i g h t m a k e t h e t r i p . H a r d c o v e r. 3 0 9pages. $6.00.

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noted and, as we continued east, theybegan to appear in greater frequency.

"They could be practice bombs as wemust be pret ty c lose to the old bombingrange," Jerry commented. Not ing ara ther large one, we walked over to in-spect i t . Deeply imbedded in a crater-like hole, i t was an ugly reminder ofW o r l d W a r I I.

Less than a mile from the road junc-t i on ,a fence and sign, "Gunnery Range,K e e p O u t " w e r e e n co u n t e r e d. We h a dmissed the road to the falls. Bill had em-phasized it lay west of the military rangeboundary. Retracing our route back tothe junct ion, we couldn ' t see a road oreven tracks leading south. After the sec-ond t ime a round , a l it t l e " foo t wo rk"seemed in order.

H iking sou th, we came upon a wel l-de-fined road heading for the mountains. A

section of the lower end had been oblit-era ted by runnoff f rom a heavy s torm.H eading back to th e car, we were quicklyon our way. A he ad, the c lef t was readi lydis t inguishable . W ith o ur goal in s ight , Iwas as excited as a kid, since it is the"ch as e " I enjoy tracking down and ex-plor ing a locale . "O ld Da d" was his us-

ual calm, cool self , but I could senst o o , was anxious to zero in on our qu

After t ravel ing up-s lope near lymiles, our road suddenly butted aganother on the bank of a deep wash. The sect ion on our r ight had l i t t le recent u se . W e we re a lmost cthis was the or iginal t ra i l and the ohad s tar ted to fol low ear l ier. Tu

left , we had our first good view of wall Falls.

The s teep escarpment of rhyol i teabout 5 00 fee t. A t i ts base, an old was diminished to toy s ize . The almost grotto-like, was not too laapproximately 30 feet wide a t tht rance and not more than 15 feet dThe lower half of the cliffs on eacof the fa l ls had a mot t led whi te fwhich stood out in sharp relief agthe dark mountains .

W e parked a t the cabin and waover to the cleft . Pleasant sounds ofer fa l l ing and the pungent f ragranmois ture o n deser t p lants seemed uin this arid sett ing. Halfway up thcarpment , water f lowed out of an ing in solid rock. It made a sheer then bounced f rom rock to rock

Very attractive specimen s of agate are to be found at Stonewall Falls.

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19/48

j'na'i'iuw yuv\ wUdi emptied into the wide

wash to fo rm a small pond. Nearby,anold cattle pen and loading rampindicated the area had been used as cat-tle range in " w e t " y e ar s.

It was an unexpected surpriseto findthe whi te facingon he cliffs wasa de -posit of seam agate. A considerableamount of mater ia l had eroded f romthe

cliffs and made small talus slopesatthe i r base . As you might e xpect ,it is no tbril l iantly colored but rangesin degreesof whi teto clear. Changes of color den-sity in the ayers give an effectof l ightb lue , tan, purple and gray along withvarying degreesof white . The pat ternsare very attractive and include banded,swirls, tubular, frost and cloudy. Someof the agate contained black dendrites.

Intact, seam pieces have one very flatside, the opposite side displaying irregu-

larly rounded knobs coveredby a t h inlayer of common opal. The agate istransluscent with dense layers,and agood dealof it is vuggy. However, good,cuttable specimens can readily be col-lec ted .

Explorat ionof the immediate environsdisclosed memorabalia fromthe pastan old mill si te, the remainsof a wagon,square nails and bits of purple glass.W h ile pic ture sque, the aging cabinap-peared incongruousin th is se t t ing.Itsh i g h , false-front was typicalof businessbuildings in early mining days. O bviou s-ly man had made considerable useof th efalls before the turn-of- the-century.

W e knew the region had been he avilyprospected in 1904-05, resultingin goldand silver discoveries on Pahu te Me sa(9miles east) and what became the Stone-wal l Mining Dis t r ic t . The la t ter encom-passed the falls and northwesternsection of Stonewall Mountain. Likesomany other s t r ikes ,the StonewallDis-tr ict didn't proveto be a bonanza.Leasees operated spasmodicallyandonly small ore shipments were made.Dur ing the 1920s, the Yel low Tige rMining Company undertook consider-able development work wh ich includedalengthy tunnel . Their former campis lo-cally referredto as " Ti g e r To w n . "

Stonewall Falls provideda dependablesource of water for mining camps in th eimmediate area, claim ownersin t h e C u -prite H ills and the campof Cold Crateron Pahute Me sa. In fact , the la t ter ' sres i -

dents made plans to lay a nine-mile pipe-line from the fallsto supply their camp.

Desert/April1974

N E U A DNye County

This and other grandiose plans quicklydissipated when the predicted boomfail-e d to materialize.

There are many reasonsto believe thewater from Stonewall Falls was used anda nearby claimor two workedat a muchear l ier date than the s t r ikesof 1904-05.Possibly such activit ies occurred duringthe 1860s and '70s when important dis-cover ies were being made a t Gold Mo u n-tain, O rie ntal, Lime Point(now GoldPoint) and Montezuma.

Enjoyinga coffee breakby the pool ,Jerry and I fe l t our effor tsto visit Stone-wall Falls had been very rewarding.Itwas, indeed, an oasis and should beconsidered one of the deser t ' s t reasure s .H o w e v e r , we had s o m e s o b e r i n gthoughts upon not inghow peoplehaddespoiled the site 's natural beauty. Cansand assor ted t rash were eve rywhere . W ewill neverbe able to understandhowpeople can be so uncaring abou t th e ir na-tural resources .It is our fervent hopetha t a local civicor youth group wil l un-dertake a "cleanup day" and res tore thepristine beautyof Stonewall Falls.

By now, the winter sun had swung lowin the sky.It was time to go, but we were

reluctant to do so . In finding StonewalFal ls we had found another chal lengdelving into the ear l ier h is toryof thearea. Once again it was an exciting newgame with onlya few clues. W e h ad alslearned the " s t o r y t e l l e r " had beenr ightit wasa lovely desert oasis.

W e were even happ ie rto have learnedthere were many discrepanciesin hisstory. Stonewall Falls, while not familto the general public, is well-knowntolocal folks. It is easy to find and four-wheel-dr ive is not needed. Nevadanshave always been most genero usin shar-ing thei r natural t reasures wi th vis i toObviously,our "s to ry te l l e r " d idn ' t f ethis way. He pre ferred to spina fascinat-ing yarn abouta "sec re t wa te r fa l l " ona few people had been privilegedto see.

Jerry and I were very gladwe heardthe tale. Our search was exciting and trewards unmeasurable . W ith the e necrisis now upon us,it may not be possib le to r e tu rnto Stonewall Falls for seval years. H owe ver, thereis great comforin knowing the Ralston Desert is waitiTh e fa lls wi l l be the re providing l ife

ing water fo r wildlife anda place of qu ie tsolace for man.


20/48

I T W AS probably the h undred th t imesomeone had shou ted , " the re sheblows," and I just couldn't get excited at

the s ight of another whale .W e had been on the Sea of Cortez for

nearly a wee k, tou ching many points ofinterest along Baja's scenic desert coast,and were now cruis ing thro ugh the Canalde las Ballenas, or channel of whales.

W e h ad seen whales by the doze n, andas I lay on deck reading, I couldn't gen-erate the intere s t to get up to see onemore . Bu t I d id glance up from my bookto see the hu lking beast dive. H e h adsurfaced about 200 yards to port, but

now he was sounding.Suddenly, our boat, the 100-ton Santa

Monica, was jolted by a smashing blow.Those on the bow gasped as we hi t .There was a chattering of voices and Ireal ized we had col l ided with the whale .

The incident seemed to generate onlyexci tem ent , u nt i l we began to real ize th esize and weight of the animal that hadbeen struck. Had he caused any damageto our boat? Captain Jose Martinezslowe d ou r craft and we put in to a scenic

desert bay known as Bahia de LasAnimas to check for damage.

Anchoring in the lee of a small rock-pile islet , crowned with an osprey nest,we put on diving gear and went into thewate r to see wh at damage h ad been doneto the Santa Monica.

W e fou nd the impact of the hugemammal had compressed the spine ofthe ship about a quar te r- inch at the wat-er l ine. There was a small leak, but thiswas easily patched with some mud-like

epoxy cement . W e were glad we werenot going faster than 11 knots when westruck the whale . I t could have been amuch more se r ious p rob lem.

Since Las Animas was a sheltered bay,we decided to spend the night there tolet the cement set and to dive and ex-plore the c lear, warm waters .

To th e we st , the rugged deser t coast ofBaja gave us a beautiful show of colorand shadow as the sun set that eveningover h i g h , arid peaks. To the east, we

were entertained by the aerial dynamicsof pelicans as the y dove into th e waterfo r f i sh .20

The Santa Monica anchored in Refugio Bay at the northern tip of Guardian Ange

J f c f.fW 'U ii"

This was just one high point in a weekof adventure being shared by our groupof 18 Californians on vacation. W e hadchartered the Santa Monica out of SanFel ipe and were explor ing the deser t i s -lands of the Gulf of California, the re-mote eastern coast of the Baja peninsula,and diving in the life-rich waters of thes e a .

As a newspaper reporter who had

been into the Baja wilderness manytime s, I was invited along to chro nicleour exped i t ion .

O urs was not to be an unusual t r ipsomething anyone can arrange fogroup of similar size. There is qf leet of f ishing boats that home pSan Felipe, about 125 miles souMexicali . They range in size from shrimp boats, to larger ones, sucou rs which me asured 75 fee t in le

T h e capitans of these boats are fini t i s more prof i table escor t ing to

than fishing, and there is less workSan Felipe is growing into a major off point for groups seeking advent


21/48

by E rnie Cowan

the Sea of Cortez .O ur t r ip cost $185 per person for e ight

days. That included food and a Mexicanfishing license, in addition to the boat.T h e f o o d , I might add, was ou ts tanding.

The waters of the Vermil l ion Sea areso tee ming with l i fe , the y o ffer a con-stant variety show of animal wonders.One of the most spectacular of thesewonders was the l ight show we enjoyed

each nigh t , cour tesy of fr iendly porpoise .Almost a l l of the t ime we were escor t -ed on our journey in the gulf by schools

of porpoise , at t imes 500 or more . Th eywould swim with our boat , of ten onlyinches from the plowing bow, crisscross-ing and jumping to our del ight .

But the show was most spectacular atnight when the porpoise would act ivatephosphorescent organisms that aboundin the warm gu lf waters . A s the porpoisewould swim, the glow from these micro-scopic organisms would out l ine thei r

body so they could be clearly seen in thewate r. I t was a bre ath taking sight .After s tar t ing our t r ip f rom San Fe-

lipe, our first port was at the southeend of Isla Del Angel de la Cuarda, tsecond largest island in the gulf. This

supposed to be a ghost island, uninhabited and with no known water. I t is suposed to be populated only by giant lards, ratt lesnakes by the square foot anstrange plants. There are stories of rigold mines , h idden in the towering dert peaks of the island.

Before our t r ip was over, we wouldable to explore both ends of the is laW e fou nd a t leas t one of the s tor iesGuardian Angel Is land to be t rue .

At the sou th end o f Guard ian Ang

we found l i t t le that was di fferent ftypical deser t e nvironment . B ut I th ink I found a canyon th at the great der t ar t i s t , John H il ton, wrote about December, 1959 issue ofDesert Maga-zine. H i lton ca ll ed th i s gorge W hisping Canyon, and a painting of th e canyappeared on the November, 1959 covof Desert Magazine. H is di rect ions to thcanyon were not expl ic i t , but f rom de scription, I 'm fair ly sure I fou nd r ight p lace .

In his account , H i l ton e ncounteredrattlesnake on the island. None of group ran across any of the buzztawhi le explor ing. I 'm sure there areplen-ty of ratt lers on the island, but no mthan the re would be in o the r dese r t v i ronments .

A s Isaid, some of the s tor ies of Gu aian Angel are t rue , and one that we cf i rmed was abou t the "g ian t l i za rds

On our way back to San Felipe, spent a night anchored in the snug li

cove known as Bahia Refugio at nor th ern t ip of the island. W e decidetake most of the next day to explorearea, so early in th e mo rning I toosmall boat and went ashore alone to hand take pictures at my leisure.

The islands off the Baja coast are extension of the same ar id terra in foon the peninsula . But because of an usually wet winter, the islands were peted with a blanket of grass and smplants . The s t range e lephant t rees w

decked out in beaut i ful coral -colof lowers .The dark volcanic rocks of the isl


22/48

also created an aesthetic background ofcontras ts , making the whi te-barked ele-phant t rees s tand out vividly.

I was really enjoying my hike. Themorning was warm, but not hot , and thepeace and quiet of the island was captiv-at ing. As I had come asho re in the bo at, Ihad noticed a deep canyon running fromthe mou ntains down to the bay. I decidedto hike over to the canyon to see what Ltmight have to offer.

Approaching the r im, I heard a noisesomething like a bean bag falling on theg r o u n d . I looked around, but sawno th -ing. Th en the re was anothe r, and severalmore similar sounds, but again I sawnoth ing . W alking a few s teps far theralong the canyon rim, the sounds in-creased until I finally discovered what i twas. The noise was being made byiguanas fal l ing o ut o f the e lephant t re es .

Apparent ly, these three-foot l izardswere su nning the mselves in th e t ree s

th at lined the canyon. W he n I arr ive d,the y wou ld drop to t h e grou nd in - fear-and f lee to the safety of underground

she l ters . By the t ime I real ized what washappening, all of the lizards were gone,o r so I though t .

A short distance up the canyon I sawone lizard sti l l in a tre e . I set my cameraand began to creep closer and closer inhopes of get t ing a pic tur e . H e didn ' tmove a muscle . W he n I got to with inabou t two fee t of the re pt i le , I decided i tmus t be dead-H er e was a wr ink led o ldsunbaked body, draped ove r prickly

branches of an elephant tree.He must have -cashe d Hn -his chips

while enjoying the warm deser t sun, It h o u g h t . O hwel l , i t would give me achance to get some good close-up pic-tures of the big lizard, anyway.

I reached up to grab the carcass andabout that t ime , O ld Mr . Iguana wokeu p. I 'm no sure who was scared most,but we both dashed off in different dir-e ctions. I'm not afraid of- lizards, bu t.being startled by the biggest I had ever

seen was a little urmerving-rLater, wi th re inforcements , we man-

aged to rapture severaJ of the beasts for

p ic tu res . They tu rned ou t to be doci le creatures .

It was in this same bay of RefugiI wi tnessed one of the most besights ever. I have seen many speclar sunr ises , but the o ne he re , on omorning, was very special and I amissed it.

Anyone who has t raveled much gulf knows about the great sunriseare a regular par t of the scene.W

every morning of our t r ip I hadsummoned on deck to " look at thes u n r i s e . "

Most had been beaut i ful , but sso when my fel low voyagers arousat 5:30 that last morning, I musome grumbles and decided I wagoing to get up. But they kept inso Ixra wle d o n deck and was stunnthe s igh t be fo re me .

The r is ing sun was s i lhouet t ing of the island and rays of gold wer

ning across an azure sky. A t first Ionly gaze in wonderment , forgcompletely about my camera. The


23/48

Fa r left: Vagabundosgetting fresh water P

from the Santa Monicain Las Animas Bay.

Left: Vagabundo |and Santa Monica

crewman [right]hold up part of r

days catch fromthe S ea of C ortez.

Right: Heermann'sGulls and Elegant Tern

chicks on theisland of Raza.

seemed to hang forever, though, and Idid get some pictures for a lastingmemory of the sunrise over GuardianAngel Island.

W h ile we had many intere s t ing adven-ture s a t both ends of Guardian A nge l , Ithink the smallest island we visited wasthe most in teres t ing. That was a barrenrock pile only a half-mile square, knownas Raza Island.

Raza seems like a Cod-forsaken place,and for man it is. But for two species ofbirds , Raza is an ancestral home.

Each year the Elegant Tern and Heer-mann's Gull come to the island to nestand raise their young. The island is thebirthplace of about 90 percent of thesetwo bird species.

Recognizing the importance of the is-land, the Mexican government delcaredit a bird sanctuary in 1964 at the u rging .of a biologist from th e United States. Be-fore that, the island been subjected toperiodic raids by guano and egg huntersand the birds were suffering because ofit .

W hat was so interes t ing abou t th eisland was the number of birds thatc rowd on to i t . W e were the re la t e in theseason and most of the birds had left ,but there were s t i l l hundreds of thous-ands of tern chicks.

Th e o nly signs of man on Raza were anold bui lding bui l t for a caretaker who

Desert/April 1974

l ives there during nesting season, and aweathered old cross marking a grave ona wind-swept po int of the island. Th ecross reminded us that there is no placein the life-rich gulf that is not touched byman.

One reason for that is because there isa band of fishermen, numbering perhaps300, who live on and fro m th e Sea of Cor-tez . Th ese fishe rme n are known as Vaga-bundos del Mar, gypsies of th e sea. Th eyare a breed of to ta l ly f ree people . Theirlives are guided by the winds and tidesof the gulf .

Most vis i tors to the Gulf of Cal i fornianever see avagabundo, but we would befor tuna te to mee t two o f them. Theyappeared from nowhere and came along-side ou r boat as we were ancho red in LasAnimas. They wanted water and werewilling to pay for i t with products fromthe sea .

O ur Captain made the arrangeme ntsand at dawn the next day thevagabun-do s re tu rned with a 55 -gallon drum to f i l lwi th f resh water. They lef t behind somefish and two sea tur t le s th at wo uld beprized for food .

These lonely f ishermen answered ourquest ions , but seemed reluctant to ta lk .As soon as the y completed th eir miss ion,theyjre turned to the sea , soon vanishingon the horizon in their small boat. Cap-ta in Mart inez said thevagabundos ar e

solitary in nature, making contact owhe n necessary. Mo st of the ir needs provided by the sea and they wish toobl igated to no one.

It was now time for us to leave the of Corte z , so we began ou r jou rney nto San Felipe. In eight days we htouched many points of in teres t , exped the waters of the gulf and soushelter in many beautiful wildernports .

There is no doubt the gulf has potential of becoming a great plg r o u n d ,but we couldn ' t help but wiswill remain as i t isa place where ture is dominant and man is the ocsional visitor.

Arrangements for Gulf cruisecan be made by contacting Jorge(George) Zorril la in San Diego. Haddress is 830 Midway St., SanDiego, California 92037.

Zorril la said rates now are abouthe same, but may increase slightly because of fuel cost increasesFishing parties will also pay a littlm o r e , because extra small boatsare required to carry f ishermen tthe best areas once the boat getswhere i t ' s go ing . And the re i

plenty of fishing in the sea, too

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24/48

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25/48

by H arvey Gray

I T H A D been several years since' seen my old f r iend , Michael Br

ster, not since he was a mining engindown in Bolivia. Mike was a characone of the most l ikeable sort . I wawhile he settled himself into an echair and stoked up his old pipe, I ththe same one he 'd had the las t t ime were together shooting ducks on L

Titicaca, and then I asked the inevitaques t ion , "W h at h ave you been uplate ly, Mike ?". H is deep tan showedhadn't been spending much time


26/48

doors, but I wasn ' t qui te prepared forthe s tory he came upw i t h .

" W e , my thre e par tners and me, havebeen lookin ' for a sunken ship, ful l ofSpanish t re asures we h o pe ," was hisopener.

" I ' ve read whe re qu i te a f ew peop lehave been doing that sor t of th ing downalong the Florida coast and Keys and inthe Carr ibbean, and f inding some old

Spanish treasure ships, too. Is thatw h e r e y o u ' v e b e e n ? "

"Nope, we 've been a long way fromthere . This ship is di fferent , i t ' s Eng-l i s h . "

" I th o ugh t you said a Spanish t reasures h i p . "

"Not qu i t e wha t Isa id , " he rep l i ed ."I t ' s a Spanish t re asure , but i t ' s an Eng-l i sh sh ip . "

" I see , I th ink. W he n did you take upscuba diving? Is i t in the Atlantic or the

Pacific?""I didn't , and it 's neither one. In fact,

i t isn' t even very wet where it lays a fewfeet below the surface." Mike was up tohis old tricks. H e had a tantalizing way ofsaying things without coming r ight outand saying them.

"Y e s, i t ' s a shipwreck, a l l r igh t , an oldsailing ship, and it 's buried beneath abig sand dune about 12 miles north ofthe Gul f o f Ca l i fo rn ia . "

I must have looked nonplused; i t took

a few moments for me to visual ize that 'k ind of shipwreck. "No w, h ow in thedevi l could a ship get that far out ofwater? She must have been makingknots to skid so far after hitt ing theb e a c h . "

"Tha t weren ' t qu i t e the way i t hap-pene d. B ut I ' l l have to start at th e be gin-ning to convince you it 's no tall taleofwhich you seem convinced al ready. Youwas always a skeptic." Funny thing,though, most of Mike 's ta l l yarns in the

past had tu rne d ou t to be more fact thanfancy. He was a pre tty factu al sort o f anindividual .

I loaded my pipe and sat back, prepar-ed for the long session it was sure to be.Mike puffed on his pipe for a minutewithout saying anything, col lect ing histhoughts by all appearance. Finally, hebegan: "I t ' s hard to bel ieve this weath-erbeaten old ghost could have hauntedthe Gran Desier to of Sonora for morethan 300 years, jumpin' up on rare occa-

sions then fadin' away like a puff of dustin the wind . I t ' s downr igh t spooky!"

26

He co nt inue d, "I t i sn 't mo rQ'n 100miles f ro m Y um a, but i t ' s only been seena few time s by Indians over the centu ries accor din' to th e ir legends and th elast t ime was over 100 years ago."

I tho ugh t maybe he was s t re tching apoint th er e . "Y o u mean i t ' s wi th in 100miles of a city the size of Y um a all th attime and no one has come across it? T railbikes and dune buggies are getting all

over the dese r t these days . "Mike wasn't impressed by my com-

ment . "Not this deser t , they ain ' t . In thefirst place, i t 's in Me xico, and in the sec-ond place, you 'd have to see it in th e firstplace. Sand dunes up to 300 feet high inplaces, not a l iv in ' soul around for milesand miles, the place is lousy with rattlersand scorpionsthe re 's a lo t of the m,t o o , " he added as an af ter thought"and i t ' s a lo t of miles to th e nearestwater ho le , whe n the re 's water in i t . Th e

Indians have steered clear of the wholearea for the past century on account ofthere 's nothin ' to a t t ract them any more.It 's no place for anyone primarily inter-ested in survival. O nly reason we we ntthere was 'cause i t ' s the only place theship wasthen, too, maybe we 'd had am i t e t o o m u c h s u n . "

"Now, that las t remark isn ' t too hardto be l i eve , " I need led h im.

He gave me a dir ty look, " I ' l l ignorethat dumb crack. The old ghost appears

in the form of a thre e-masted barken-t ine . It 's one that battled the seas for atime, battled the Spanish on occasion,and the e leme nts for ce ntur ies . I ts bro k-en hulk carries the scars of all them bat-tles, but mainly the last one when shecame out second best ."

I said, "Su ch a ghost I 'd l ike to se e ."He we nt on as thou gh he h adn 't hea rd

me . "W e f inal ly assembled al l theknown facts, threw in a bit of logic andcalculations, then pieced it out with a

mite of imagination and came up withthe spo t where i t ended up , too . W eknow its name, where it sailed from andw h e n ,what i t d id , what i t carr ied, wh e n,why and how it arrived at i ts not-so-wat-er y grave, and soon as we .find it canprobably te l l you who was aboard."

"This beg ins to sound in t r igu ing , " Isaid, as he drew a heavy envelope f romhis pocket.

"Intr iguin ' i t i s , am/go. But to giveyou the whole s to ry, wi thou t miss in '

some important deta i ls , bet ter le t meread my no tes . "

He took a couple of. nvills on hiand cleared h is thro at as thou gh lauing into a profound oration, and streading: "O n Ju ly 31st of the year the smal l pr ivateer f leet of Thomasendish sai led f rom the por t of PlymEngland. The two barkent ines wer" D e s i r e " o f 1 20 t o n s, t h e " C o n t e60 tons , and a smaller bark, the "HGallant," all heavily armed and car

a tota l complement of 123 men."Depending on whether i t ' s the S

ish or the English archives, Cavewas e i the r a pi ra te or a pr ivatee rmission was one of legitimate wasail ing under a le t te r o f marque Queen Elizabeth to harass and deany Spanish ships in American wand sack their port towns.

"H is voyage down the west coaAfr ica , across the south Atlthrough the Stra i ts of Magel lan a

up the west coast was not an easy Scurvy had depleted his crews topoint where , off the coast of Eucadscut t led the Hugh Gal lant in orderou t the crews to 60 on the Desire , aon the Content . They had ra idedcoastal towns of Chile and Peru asworked their way north , obtainingof value but causing much destru

"B y Ju ly 11 th , 1587 , they were coast of Central America making progress . On the 19th, they captu

Spanish ship of 1 20 tons off th e pA cajut la, on th e coast of E l SalThe ship was in ballast, carrying noof value. But one of the Mani la was aboard, a Frenchman who wunder the Spanish name of Miguelchez. He was taken prisoner and theburned . The Engl i sh c rew to r tu reFrenchman unt i l he revealed thaManila gal leons were due to arr iAcapu lco fro m the O r ien t with in aor so. A no th e r Spanish sh ip was ca

ed shortly after leaving Acajutlagiven the same t reatment as the Th is had proven a good hu nt ing gfor the p r iva tee r s , bu t word o f tpending arrival of the Manila galpr izes wel l worth taking, sent the mt h e n o r t h w a r d .

"They paused along the way enough to capture and destroy thof Guatulco on the southern coMexico, and gathered enough s i lveother valuables to make the ra id

whi le . They also took as pr isoner calde mayor, one Juan de Rengifo

Desert/April 1


27/48

"Leav ing Cua tu lco on Augus t 12 th ,they passed up Acapulco even though i twas the destination of the galleons, andcont inued on to the por t of Navidad,headquar ters for the pear l ing ships thatplied the Gulf of California. They gave it :the same t reatme nt Gu atulco h ad receiv-e d, except th is t ime a l l the men weretaken prisoners and then ransomed back

to the women for food and suppl ies .They stopped at one of the islands northof Mazatlan long enough to careen andtr im the ships before cont inuing onacross the Gulf to San Lucas Bay at thesouthern t ip of Baja Cal i fornia .

"T h e re they awa it ed the a r r iva l o f thegalleons, one ship constantly patrollingoff the coast , and the other keeping alookout posted on the high ground main-taining a constant vigil .

"T h e galleon Santa A na was over f ive

months out of Mani la and near ing theAmerican shores af ter p lodding hercumbersome way across the Pacific. Itwas on November 1 4th when h er lookoutsaw sails on the horizon. Captain Tomasde Alzola bel ieved them to be Spanishpear lers bound for Mazat lan. On the fol -lowing morning, he was s tar t led to seetwo sh ips closing in on the Santa An a,and recognized them as enemies ."

Mike look up from his notes andsaid,"No w, h ere ' s a f ine s tudy in fut i l i ty. A l-

zola began prepar ing for bat t le . W ith hiscannon useless below the waterline be-hind caulked por ts , i f indeed there werecannon aboar d, the Captain issue d smallarms, lances, cutlass ' , harquebussesand even stones to the crew and passen-gers, more than 300 in all . Barricadeswere hast i ly improvised f rom the deckcargo. It was a ship poorly prepared tobat t le an enemy a

Documents

197404 Desert Magazine 1974 April