Desert Magazine 1948
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THE MAGAZINE 25 CENTS .:• HOW CAN I CHOOSE THE fOfC/W/~CAl? PUT IT THIS WAV— WHICH IS BOUND TO BE BETTER- AN OIL GIVING A SAFETY MARGIN OF I,OOO MILES, OR TRITON, WITH A SAFETY MARGIN OF SIX MONTHS? OF COURSE, "TRITON IS YOUR BEST AND SAFEST BUY! :••:•<.• HOW CAN TRITON THE MAIN REASON WHYOILS USED TO BREAK DOWN AT THE END OF l,00O MILES VES,TRrfON M01OR. OIL OBTAINS A SPECIAL OR SO WAS BECAUSE DeTEKSENT COMPOUND WHICH GRADUALLY CLEANS OF OXIDATION, WHICH YOUR ENGINE AS >Oi i DRIVE, THIS COMPOUND RESULTED IN AC© FORMATION AND SLUD61NG. UNION THEN HOLDS Tt-€ IXX>SENED O*RT AND CARSON OIL SCIENTISTS HAVE DEVELOPED SPECIAL COMPOUNDS HARMLESSLY SUSPEMDED iN THE Ol WHER£ TO COMBAT THESE LUBRICATION EVILS. THESE COM- /r ONJT serrii' OUT TO FORM SLUDGE' POUNDS ARE INCUJDED IN NEW TRITON MOTOR. OIL. OR. 0.AMA6E /OUR. EN6IWE. WlLLTRJTON TURN ACID? (op OF CALIFORNIA NO. AN INHIBITING COMPOUND IN TRJTON KEEPS YOUR ENGINE SAFE FROM HARMFUL ACIDS. IN FACT, ASK your Union Oil Minute Man about the amazing new purple oil — Royal Triton TRITON FORMS LESS HARMFUL — and its sensational 30,000-mile endur- ACIDS IN 6 MONTHS OF DRIVING ance record, the equivalent of 3 years THAN OILS USED TO FORM AT THE normal driving without an oil change. END OF 1,000 MILES. THE DESERT MAGAZINE Desert Calendar April 25—All-day bird trip to Salton sea to observe water birds, conducted by Desert Museum from Palm Springs, California. May 1—All day trip to Painted Canyon, conducted by Desert Museum from Palm Springs, California. Bring lunch and water. May 1 — Lecture, "Common Desert Snakes," by Lawrence M. Klauber, Desert Museum, Palm Springs, California. May 1—Annual fiesta and green corn dance, San Felipe pueblo, New Volume 11 MAY, 1948 Number 7 Mexico. May 1-16—Annual Wildflower show, Julian, California. Mrs. Myrtle COVER DESERT LIZARD. Photo taken in Wonderland of Botts, chairman. Rocks, Joshua Tree national monument, by May 2—Annual horse show, Sonoita, Don Ollis, Santa Barbara, California. Arizona. May 2—Horse show. State fair grounds, CALENDAR May events on the desert 3 Albuquerque, New Mexico. May 3—Third annual Grand National PHOTOGRAPHY Contest winners 4 Turtle Race Sweepstakes. Eight races. Anyone can enter. Joshua Fishing Village on the Gulf Tree, California. EXPLORATION By RANDALL HENDERSON 5 May 3—Cross day, dance and ceremonial races, Taos pueblo, New Mexico. Utah Mountain Man May 3-4—Ramona Pageant, Ramona PERSONALITY By CHARLES KELLY 11 Bowl, Hemet, California. May 4-5—"Fiestas de Mayo," com- He Fights with His Tail memorating Mexican Independence NATURE By RICHARD L. CASSELL 13 Day. Giant parade May 4-5 in No- gales. Street dances, festivals, inter- Trail to Inscription House national polo matches, May 5. Cele- INDIAN RUINS By TONEY RICHARDSON 14 brated in Nogales, Arizona, and So- nora. Ghost Town Miners GEM MINERS May 5—Cinco de Mayo, Mexican cele- By HAROLD O. WEIGHT 17 bration, Phoenix and Tucson, Ari- zona. Desert Trails, by MARSHAL SOUTH .... 21 May 5—Lecture by Harold Colton, St. ART OF LIVING Francis auditorium, Santa Fe, New POETRY Desert Shower, and other poems 23 Mexico. May 8—Half day trip over Skvline trail Fossil Hunters at Catarina back of Palm Springs, California, FOSSILS By LEWIS W. WALKER 24 conducted by Desert Museum. Three When Zion Wanted a New Alphabet mile walk. May 8-9—Sierra club, Desert Peaks sec- HISTORY By LESLIE L. SUDWEEKS 27 tion, climb of Telescope peak, Pana- mint mountains. Camp Friday on the Forecast for May 29 WILDFLOWERS desert near cinder cone, north of Comment from Desert readers 30 Little Lake. May 8-9—Sierra club camp and hike, LETTERS From here and there on the desert 31 Pinon mountains, Colorado desert near Julian, California. NEWS A test of your desert knowledge 31 May 13-16—Annual Helldorado Days. TRUE OR FALSE Pageantry, rodeos, parades, whisker Prize announcement for photographers .... 36 derby, horse racing, oldtimers' cara- CONTEST Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley 37 van. Las Vegas, Nevada. May 15—All day trip to Santa Rosa peak, HUMOR Current news of desert mines 38 conducted by Desert Museum from Palm Springs, California. Bring MINING Gems and Minerals 39 lunch. HOBBY Amateur Gem Cutter, by LELANDE QUICK . 45 May 16—Arizona state championship hand gun match, Prescott, Arizona. LAPIDARY Just Between You and Me, by the Editor ... 46 May 21-23—Calico Days Celebration. Whisker contest, parade, dances, COMMENT Reviews of current Southwest literature ... 47 horse show, May 22; rodeo, May 23. Yermo, California. BOOKS The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Press, Inc., 636 State Street, May 26—Annual Fiesta of San Felipe de El Centro, California. Entered as second class matter October 11, 1937, at the post office at Neri, held May 26 or the following El Centro, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title registered No. 358865 in U. S. Sunday, for 150 years. Parades, Patent Office, and contents copyrighted 1948 by the Desert Press, Inc. Permission to reproduce dancing, carnival. Albuquerque, contents must be secured from the editor in writing. • New Mexico. RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor. BESS STACY, Business Manager. May 29-31—Sierra club, Desert Peaks HAROLD and LUCILE WEIGHT, Associate Editors. section outing at Mono craters, Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledged unless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility for damage Mono mills and Paoha island in or loss of manuscripts or photographs although due care will be exercised. Subscribers should Mono lake, California. send notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding issue. If address is un- May 30-31—Albuquerque Market Week, certain by that date, notify circulation department to hold copies. Albuquerque, New Mexico. SUBSCRIPTION RATES May—Special exhibit, Manuel Regala- One Year . $3.00 Two Years . $5.00 do's paintings of California before Canadian subscriptions 25c extra, foreign 50c extra. 1820. Southwest Museum, High- Subscriptions to Army personnel outside U.S.A. must be mailed in conformity with land Park, Los Angeles, California. P.O.D. Order No. 19687. Address correspondence to Desert Magazine, 636 State Street, El Centro, California. MAY, 1948 PICTURES Of THE MONTH First prize winning photograph in the March con- test, Fred H. Ragsdale's RANCHOS DE TAOS MIS- SION, is not reproduced on this page, as it is being held for a Desert Magazine cover illustration. Storm... Second prize for March went to Daisy G. Roberts ol Tucson, Arizona, for the picture (above) of a storm over Bountiful, Utah. It was taken by time exposure about 9 p. m., Eastman Junior 616 camera, Super XX film, f.l 1 opening. Moonlight Oasis ... The infra-red photograph of 1000 Palms Canyon (left) tied for second place in the February, 1948, Desert photo contest. It was taken by Don Ollis, Santa Barbara, California. Special Merit.., Outstanding pictures submitted in the March con- test, in addition to the winners, were: "THE OLD HORSE CORRAL," by Tudea Tapia Es- querra, Parker Dam, California. "SHRINE OF ST. JOSEPH," by Jean A. Rowe, Flag- staff, Arizona. "SAGUARO SILHOUETTE," by J. F. Orem, San Francisco, California. THE DESERT MAGAZINE San Felipe bay at sunset. Looking toward the Gulf of California. The boats were idle because the weather was not right for fishing when this picture was taken. T-bkina 1/ilLage on tke The day is not far distant when motorists will be able to roll along a smooth highway to a remote little village on the gulf shore of Baia California and spend their winter vacation days boating and fishing and bathing in the hospitable atmosphere of Old Mexico—at San Felipe. Here is a progress report on the new highway to a locale many Southwestemers have long wanted to visit. By RANDALL HENDERSON /V F THOSE geologists who read the discovered by Spaniards who came to the allotted entirely to Mexico, and Americans \J history of this old earth in the rock New World in search of gold. who would hook the 300-pound totuava formations and the alluvial deposits Then in the 1890's an American engi- which are so plentiful there have to travel have guessed correctly, the space now oc- neer, C. R. Rockwood, came upon the many miles through a foreign land, and cupied by the Desert Magazine office in El scene and saw the possibilities of convert- one of the most arid desert regions in the Centra, California, was once many feet be- ing this inland basin into farms, watered Southwest. low the surface of the Gulf of California. by the same river that had created it. To- There are three roads from the United This was a very wet spot. day a half million acres in the Imperial States to the headwaters of the gulf. The But that was many years ago. The water Irrigation district bear evidence of the best one is the oiled highway that runs is gone now, and Desert's staff is warm and soundness of the idea. The 1947 produc- south from Ajo, Arizona, to Punta Penasco dry—52 feet below sea leve!. Paradox;cal- tion from this former gulf bed was $96,- en the Sonora coast. Increasing numbers of ly, it was Ol' Man River—the turbulent 000,000. sportsmen are following this route each Colorado—who did the engineering job But the gulf—or what is left of it—still season. necessary to convert the great Imperial occupies a very conspicuous place on the A second road goes south from Yuma, basin in which El Centra is located into maps of North America's west coast.