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DESERT MAGAZINE DESERT CALENDAR

May 30—Lincoln County Homecom- ing Day. Caliente, Nevada. June 1-30 — Special exhibit, colored reproductions of Southern Califor- nia Indian cave paintings, by Charles La Monk. Southwest Mu- seum. Los Angeles, Calif. June 2-3—Intermountain Junior Fat Stock Show, Salt Lake Union Stock Yards. North Salt Lake City. Utah. June 4-5—Pioneer Days celebration, Clovis, New Mexico. Volume 17 JUNE, 1954 Number 6 June 9-10—Arizona State Cattlegrow- ers Convention, Flagstaff, Arizona. COVER Red Walls, Rushing Water. Color photo taken June 12—Fiesta of the Loma. Pro- cession from chapel after mass, fol- in Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona, lowed by music and fiesta. Taos by ESTHER HENDERSON of Tucson Pueblo, New Mexico. CALENDAR June events on the desert June 12—Feast of San Antonio de Padua celebrated at Cordova and INDIANS They Wouldn't Be Civilized various other northern New Mex- By CLIFFORD L. BURDICK ico rural villages. FICTION Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley June 12-17 — Future Farmers of NATURE On Desert Trails with a Naturalist: III—Giant America Fair, Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Steeples of Lime, by EDMUND C. JAEGER . 10 June 13 — Ceremonial dances, Taos, FIELD TRIP Indian Jasper in the Whipples Sandia and San Ildefonso pueblos. By HAROLD WEIGHT 13 New Mexico. CLOSE-UPS About those who write for Desert 18 June 17-19—Vernal Rodeo. Vernal. Utah. LOST MINE Lost Ledge of Mammoth Mountain 19 June 19-27—Riverside Chapter, Sierra By SHEP SHEPHERD DESERT QUIZ 20 Club of California trip to Monu- A test of your desert knowledge ment Valley. PHOTOGRAPHY 21 Pictures of the Month June 20 — Corpus Christi Sunday, PIONEERS Santa Fe, New Mexico. Long pro- Last Wagon Through the Hole-in-the-Rock cessions march through the streets Life-on-the-Desert story by of the city following mass in St. 22 RAYMOND and ADELL JONES Francis Cathedral and Christo Rey COMMENT 25 Church. Prizes fcr desert photographs POETRY 26 June 23-26 — Rodeo and Roundup, Wild Poppy, and other desert poems .... Lehi, Utah. LETTERS 27 Comment from Desert's readers June 24—Annual Feast Day of St. NEWS 29 John. San Juan Pueblo, New Mex- From Here and There on the desert ico. Ceremonial dances and fiesta. VACATION Pack and Boat Trips Announced for 1954 Season 33 June 24—Corn dances, Taos Pueblo and Acoma, "The Sky City," New MINING by Sierra Club of California 34 Mexico. HOBBY Current news of desert mines 35 June 26-27 — Indian Capital Rodeo, Gems and Minerals Gallup. New Mexico. LAPIDARY 41 Amateur Gem Cutter, by LELANDE QUICK . . June 27—Procession of La Conquis- COMMENT 42 tadora, commemorating the re- Just Between You and Me, by the Editor . . . conquest of New Mexico from the BOOKS 43 Indians by De Vargas in 1692. Reviews of Southwestern literature Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Press, Inc., Palm Desert, California. Re-entered as second class matter July 17, 1948, at the postoffice at Palm Desert, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title registered No. 358865 in U. S. Patent Office, and contents copyrighted 1954 by the Desert Press, Inc. Permission to reproduce contents must be secured from the editor in writing.

RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor MARGARET GERKE, Associate Editor BESS STACY, Business Manager EVONNE RIDDELL, Circulation Manager

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UNE, 1954 Two of the Seri men, showing their long hair, and a girl Manuela and her brother. They were faithful helpers with facial paint. They have no jewelry. while the author was living with the Seri Indians. They Wouldn't Be Civilized Hostile and impoverished, the Seri Indians of Tiburon Island in the Gulf of California have resisted all efforts of both church and state to bring civilization to their arid island fortress. But despite their evil reputation they are human beings who can be friendly—as this author discovered during his sojourn of several weeks with them. By CLIFFORD L. BURDICK Photos by the Author Map by Norton Allen

HAD BEEN sent on a private many Seris also spoke. 1 was properly over poor dirt roads for 150 miles be- mission to get acquainted with outfitted with a four-wheel drive car fore reaching Desemboque, the main- the Seri Indian tribe, living on which I loaded with provisions at Tuc- land stronghold of the Indians. The the west coast of Sonora, Mexico, and son, along with old clothes which are first 100 miles was through sparsely on their ancestral island, Tiburon always welcome with needy Indians. settled ranch country. As we ap- (shark), largest island in the Gulf of Other essentials were an outboard proached the coast, the country became California. motor, a tent, sleeping bags, blankets, more and more arid, and it was evi- The Seris had been reported as be- cameras, binoculars, picks, shovels, dent that farming as an occupation ing one of the fiercest, most uncivilized and compasses. for the Seri Indians would be out of tribes of Indians left on the North Mr. Johnson had often flown over the question, at least until such time American continent. My sponsor was Tiburon Island on his air trips from as our scientists discover a cheap the late Albert M. Johnson, philan- Hollywood to Mexico City, and had means of making fresh water out of thropist, well known for many years wondered what sort of humans lived sea water. The saguaro and pitahaya as the partner of Death Valley Scotty on that mountainous island fortress. cactus, however, produce a nutritious and who built the famous Scotty's He stressed the importance of secur- fruit of which both Indians and Mexi- Castle. ing good photographs of the people. cans are very fond. The pitahaya, or Mr. Johnson had established a foun- organ-pipe cactus, which grows pro- At Magdalena, Sonora, I made ar- fusely in Mexico, produces a delicately dation dedicated to helping needy In- rangements with my faithful old Mexi- dian tribes. Reports of this backward flavored red fruit, resembling a large can guide, Francisco Laguna, to ac- strawberry, a real Indian delicacy. Seri tribe had filtered through to Hol- company me, inasmuch as he had been lywood where Mr. Johnson then re- in contact with the Seri Indians, and As Francisco and I crossed the final sided and had intrigued his interest. knew their chief, Juan Molina. Fran- mountain pass we could see Desem- Here was a tribe that really needed cisco was anxious to take the trip, as boque, the Seri fishing village, loom- help, he thought, perhaps culturally, he wanted to become better acquainted ing in the gorgeous rays of the setting educationally, or economically. Pos- with the Seris himself. Francisco was sun, and like a gem in the gulf of sibly he could help them agriculturally, a retired farmer and miner of 65 years. California, beautiful Tiburon Island, establish a mining industry to raise He felt that the only chance to im- surrounded with shark-infested waters. their standard of living. prove the standard of living of the We were both thirsty, and as we I was sent to get acquainted with Seri Indians was to develop some min- passed a well at a little ranch where the Seris, to live with them, to inves- eral resources known to exist in the the Indians secured part of their drink- tigate their needs, photograph them, Seri desert. ing water, we stopped for a drink, and and report back. I had spent some years We left the main arterial highway to fill the car radiator. We let down in Mexico, and knew Spanish, which at Santa Ana, and headed westward a bucket on a 30 foot rope. When

DESERT MAGAZINE the cargo arrived at the surface, in and piercing black eyes of his race. the pail of water floated two enor- His poise and dignified bearing re- mous toads. I decided I was not called to mind other great Indian thirsty after all. chiefs of the past, Black Hawk, Sitting Francisco and I arrived in Desem- Bull, Cochise and Palma. Whatever boque as the sun was sinking below the apprehensions we may have had as to waters of the gulf. He had visited these our welcome and safety in this remote strange people before, but I had some village of wild-looking savages, the misgivings when I got my first glimpse intelligent face and friendly gestures of these fierce looking primitive tribes- of Juan Molina were reassuring to us, men with their long hair waving in the and we gladly accepted his proffer of wind or their braided queues hanging an empty bamboo house nearby as a down their backs almost to their hips. shelter for the night. After the bounc- ings we had received on the rough 1 was reminded of an article in the trails that day, any sleeping accommo- Encyclopedia Americana concerning dations looked inviting to us, and we the Seri Indians, p. 592: "They mani- were soon settled for a good rest. fested an implacable hatred toward aliens, whether Caucasian or Indian, We were spreading out our sleeping and the shedding of alien blood is re- bags in the bamboo hut, when the garded as their highest virtue." chief again appeared, with a large dish We had already heard the story of of cooked sea-bass the Seris had caught "Yellow Teeth," an American prospec- that day in that angler's paradise—the tor who had ventured too far into Seri Gulf of California. The handsome chief territory, in search of placer gold. He offered this token of his hospitality struck it rich, but did not live to enjoy apologetically: "This is about all we the fruits of his labors, for his blanched have to offer. My people live by fish- bones were later found on the desert ing. This desert country will not grow sands near his diggings, easily identi- much but cactus and mesquite. We fied by his gold teeth. The Seri In- have to haul our water two miles, and dians had clubbed him to death. then it often is not fit to drink. When my people get sick we have no doc- Curious eyes peered suspiciously at tors, so we give them a tonic made us from behind the protection of doors from the oil of the sea turtle." and windows as we drove our jeep into the center of the village and halted. As soon as they are old enough to The chief was interrupted by a shrill They obviously were startled at the hold a paddle and spear, Seri boys penetrating wail that wafted out over sudden and unexpected arrival of three are taught to fish, for fish is the the evening air. It sounded a bit like strangers in their midst, one of them tribe's most important item of food. the melancholy howl of the western a Norte Americano. I also was curi- coyote that is heard so often at night. ous, and I could see women cooking Our jeep immediately was sur- And yet there was something human their evening meal of fish and frijoles rounded by some of the more daring about it. Francisco asked the chief outside their adobe houses, or their and friendly Seris, who began to run the meaning of the sound. "Oh, that is just an Indian mother mourning the more flimsy dwellings built with oco- their hands over our baggage, appar- death of her child. You will hear the tillo sticks plastered with mud and ently hoping for some gift. Also, the covered with palm fronds. In the eve- same wail in the morning about day- ning glow, some of the Seri men could official reception committee was seen light." approaching — the chief of the Seri be seen silhouetted on the beach clean- We asked the chief many questions ing the giant sea-bass they had just Indians, who introduced himself as Juan Molina. about the history of his tribe and their brought home from a day's fishing in ancestral home. He seemed glad to their canoes made from hollowed-out The chief was a tall powerfully built talk with us and to answer our ques- logs, and operated with both sails and dark-skinned Indian, with the typical tions. He explained that his tribe had paddles. high cheek bones, straight black hair a very old and eventful history. The

This is the facial adornment of a Seri girl eligible for Jose Estorga's pet, the coral snake. He carried it around marriage. in his pocket.

JUNE, 1954 people to be touched by modern civili- -\

DESERT MAGAZINE where the white man lives, artificial hands were made. He was hoping against hope that we might be able to secure some for him that he might return to fishing, and earn a livelihood for his wife and three small children. Fortunately it is tribal custom among the Seris that the strong take care of the weak. But he wanted to earn his own livelihood if there was a way to obtain artificial hands. We shared our breakfast with him. He told us his father had been the chief of the tribe, that he was the heir to the throne, had it not been for his accident. In spite of his handicaps, Pedro had the bearing and intelli- gence of a prince. We asked him to relate some of the history of his tribe. He told about the many attempts made by church or state to civilize his savage people. Over 200 years ago the Spanish Padres sent missionaries among the Seris to convert them to Christianity. They built a church or two and even planted vine- yards, the ruins of which can still be seen on Tiburon Island. The priests had been successful in converting some of the Yaquis. At that time the Seris were at war with the Yaqui Indians, and they suspected the Yaquis of hav- ing sent the priests among the Seris to spy on them. At any rate the mis- sionaries did not stay long enough to make any lasting impression on the Seri Indians. They were either driven out or killed. As a result the Seris have no churches, no religious rites or celebrations. What religion they may have is individualistic. Occasionally one wears a charm or amulet about Above—Cleaning the sea bass they have just caught. The village of his neck. Desemboque in the background. Pedro told of the efforts made by Below—Many oj the Seris live in crude Ocotillo shelters such as this. the Mexican government to tame the Seris. Taking note of the impoverished and trotted back to home, sweet home for the bite of the rattlesnake, but condition of the Indians, plans were on Tiburon Island. when one of their number was bitten made in Mexico City to solve the prob- As Francisco and I became better by a coral snake, they began to pre- lem by moving them to a new settle- acquainted with the Seris and their pare for the funeral. But Jose played ment to be built for them near Hermo- manner of life, we studied the country with the coral snake as others would sillo. The Seris not only were to be for miles around, to determine its agri- kittens. given homes, but also the opportunity cultural or mining possibilities. Farm- I asked Jose about the wedding cere- to learn to be farmers. Some of the ing seemed to be out of the question. mony of Seri Indian lovers. He re- tribesmen actually were moved to the There was no source of water for ir- plied that Seris do not have weddings. new location. rigation. The only fruits and vege- When a young Seri likes an Indian But they did not remain long. They tables obtainable by the Indians were maiden, and she responds to his at- became homesick for the carefree life brought in by Mexican traders who tentions, he has to buy her from her they had known on Tiburon Island. bought their fish. father. If he is wealthy, the price may They gave the "civilized" new village One of the most unforgetable char- be a fishing boat, if poor, perhaps fire- back to the Mexicans and silently acters among the Seris was Jose Es- wood will do. If accepted, the young stole away. torga, the affable and talkative snake- suitor just moves in to live with the It may be that the Mexican authori- charmer. Jose was one Seri who family and works for and with them. ties gave a deep sigh of relief after made a business of smiling. He was As a rule the Seri is a strong indi- they were gone. It is related that one a youngish looking man about 40. vidual, and many live to be over 100. young Seri got into an altercation with His perfect teeth made his smile the There is some sickness among the a Mexican and killed him. He was more engaging. He would pull from younger generation who have taken forthwith thrown into jail. But young his pocket a live coral snake, about a liking to candy and the devitalized Buena Vida, the Seri, became home- the most deadly creature to be found foods brought in by the Mexican trad- sick. He tore down the door of the in that desert country. It was said of ers. There is not a doctor within 100 jail, overpowered two Mexican guards, the Apaches that they had an antidote miles.

JUNE, 1954 The Seri Indians have the reputa- more visitors to Tiburon Island fail all the way down the channel separat- tion of having been cannibals until to return." Although some anthropol- ing the island from the mainland, a recently. I wanted to clarify that point. ogists doubt that the Seri Indians were distance of some 60 miles. One day, after we had been among ever cannibals, I would be inclined to For the first few miles we were fa- them for some time, and I felt that we take their own admission at face value. vored with a good sailing wind, but had been accepted as friends, I thought One night Jose was describing to us at midday a calm enveloped us, and that I might safely broach the subject. some strange green and blue mineral it was necessary to start up the motor. Accordingly, I asked one of the older deposits in their island fortress of Ti- Then all was smooth sailing. The men a direct question, why they form- buron. He invited us to take a pros- Seris like to make camp rather early, erly ate human flesh. I was watching pecting trip to the island in search of and by three o'clock we were heading closely for his reaction to such a bold commercial minerals. Francisco and I into Tiburon Island's east shore to and compromising question, and saw accepted the invitation. camp for the night. Next morning we a half-sheepish, half-ashamed expres- Juan Molina, the chief, furnished were again on our way, sailing toward sion creep over his face. For a mo- his boat, a dugout canoe fitted with the south. Soon after noon we landed ment I was afraid he would refuse to sails and paddles. I took the outboard at the bay of Perros or dogs, on the give me an answer, but he finally re- motor, just in case of calm. We car- south-east coast. We had no more plied, in his newly acquired Spanish ried food provisions to last a week. than landed when half a dozen more tongue, "Well, we liked the flavor bet- However, we had not correctly ap- or less wild dogs greeted us. These ter than that of most other game; still praised the Seri appetite, for within had at some former time been turned we resorted to eating humans only three days we were scraping the bot- loose by the Indians to shift for them- when we were very hungry." Here tom of the larder. selves. was indeed a frank confession. "But We set sail from the Seri port, De- A 100-year-old Seri waded ashore. why do you still eat people? Or do semboque, early one morning, headed you?" I countered, still watching him I was about to remove my shoes to for Tiburon island, the traditional do likewise. "No, no," he insisted, carefully to detect whether or not he island home. The distance by water was telling the truth. "We don't dare," "just jump on my back and ride." 1 to the nearest island village, Tecomati, was amazed that he carried me so was his reply. "The Mexican govern- was but 15 miles. However, we were ment has threatened to kill us if any lightly, but was further surprised to heading for the south end of the island, see him and the other Seris load 150- pound packs on their backs and carry them three miles inland to the pre- arranged camping site. This was ap- parently a ghost town, exhibiting the Httd Rock Sbotty ruins of some ancient habitation, pos- sibly the exact spot where the first white missionaries settled. Here and of Death Valley there could still be seen foundations where once stood adobe houses. The Seri chief then demonstrated The lean-to porch in front of light his corncob while the crowd his ability as a cook, by baking some the Inferno store was crowded waited in suspense. fine bread over the coals of the camp with dudes as was usual during "Happened the last time that fire. The evening meal was a tasty the tourist season. Some of them ol' crater up in the north end o' morsel for all the tired travelers. Be- had come to Death Valley out the valley erupted. That wasn't fore retiring for the night, a meat and of curiosity — they wanted to no ordinary volcano. Most of vegetable stew was placed in the coals know what kind of a place this 'em spout fire an' brimstone. But to cook and simmer until about mid- was. Others were passing through 1 guess ol' Ubehebe had burned night, when one of the party would on their way from California to herself out for this time she sent remove it from the fire. This chore, Nevada, some were rock collec- up a blast of air so cold it began our hundred-year-old patriarch volun- tors and others were camera fans. rainin' icicles an' hail as big as teered to do. In the morning the stew baseballs all over this country. was ready to eat, but the old boy had Over at one end of the porch eaten all the meat out of the pot. Hard Rock Shorty was seated on Turned so cold the water froze a wobbly bench which creaked in the springs, an' me an' Pisgah After breakfast, Jose, Francisco, at the joints every time he moved. Bill had to melt ice to give the and I set out across the hills in quest He was answering questions — burros a drink. of the mineral deposit. We climbed always the same questions: "Why "Happened in June, but the a steep ridge and rounded a cliff, when do they call it Death Valley? Is snakes all thought it was an early Jose halted suddenly, and motioned there still gold in the mountains winter and went into hibernation. for us to keep quiet. As he raised his around here? How hot does it Every few days that ol' volcano rifle, 1 saw silhouetted in bold relief get? etc., etc." would send out another blast of against the sky, standing on an over- cold air. Lasted all summer an' Finally some one asked about hanging ledge about 100 feet above the reptiles got their seasons all us and 50 yards ahead, the most ma- snakes. Shorty had answered mixed up. this one a thousand times, and jestic appearing bighorn sheep I had he always tried to give a new "They didn't come out o' their ever seen. Here was the meat so badly answer. holes 'til December — and then needed in camp, but what a pity to we wuz havin' our regular winter shoot, I thought. At any rate Jose "Nope! Ain't no snakes. All freezin' weather. Snakes can't took good aim and pulled the trigger froze to death forty, fifty years stand that kind o' weather, an' —but nothing happened. The shell ago," he answered. it froze 'em all stiff. Ain't had missed fire, and in an instant the ani- Then he paused to fill and no reptiles since." mal was gone, much to my inward relief.

DESERT MAGAZINE "Bad luck," reflected the guide, and we proceeded toward the green mineral deposit, which as 1 had suspected, turned out to be malachite, a green carbonate of copper. The deposit looked very good, consisting of a 20- foot vein. The inner "pay streak" was \ • if narrower, about four feet in width. This we sampled, as well as the whole width of vein. Later assay reports showed the pay streak ran $65.00 a ton in copper and gold, the wider sample about three percent copper. This perhaps would prove to be the makings of a copper mine that might provide an income for the destitute Seris. At least I would gather more data for a full geologic report for Mr. Johnson. When we returned to camp some others were out deer-hunting. Fran- cisco was preparing an early supper with fish the Indians had caught at the beach. Before long the hunters Hunting party on Tiburon Island. Chief Juan Molina holds the gun and returned, without any game, but they head of the deer killed by the author—who took the picture. had robbed a bee-cave, and brought in a five gallon can of the most delici- fire. 1 had been heading in the wrong We could see the lights of the Indian ous honey I had tasted in a long time. direction. village on the shore, but how far away But the larder was about depleted. When 1 reached the coals, it was not they seemed! The Indians exhibited The following morning, in a sense of camp but a signal light Francisco had their skill as sailors in this crisis, for desperation, I picked up the only built on a nearby hill. From there, they had been brought up in the water weapon I had, a .22 rifle, and went however, I was able to spot the camp and on the water. forth. I did not know much about some distance away. About midnight the prow of our Tiburon deer, but I had had some luck Francisco, the guide, and the Indi- boat touched shore, much to the relief hunting deer in both Wisconsin and ans had been worried when night fell of all six weary travelers, cold, wet Colorado. I finally spotted a big buck and the camp hunter had not returned. and hungry. The storm was still rag- a long way off on the side of the moun- They were visibly relieved when they ing, but the boat was securely an- tain, and took two or three shots. He saw those two quarters of venison, chored, and all equipment and the nonchalantly loped away around the which they were soon sampling on the venison was carried ashore. mountain. This was a mule deer, the coals of the fire. The larder had been Francisco and I were soon in the kind I hunted in Colorado. The big replenished, and with the honey we buck disappeared around the right side made out a good meal. shelter of our adobe hut. In the morn- of the mountain. ing we had expected a visit from our Juan, the Seri chief, was up and traveling companions, bringing us the I went around the mountain the moving about early next morning. He equipment and the tenderloin steaks other way, hoping to meet him on the seemed to be a bit worried. He kept but no Seris showed up. We learned back side. About an hour before sun- watching the sky. Finally he urged later that the Indian women were so down we met in the brush by the ar- us to break camp and sail for home, happy over the safe return of their men royo. All that could be seen was a for a storm seemed to be brewing, and they stayed up all night to celebrate. streak in the bushes, so the first shot we were two days from Desemboque, hit him in the leg, the second shot When the sun came up next morning or perhaps we could make it in one there was no more venison left, not brought him down, and the third fin- day by sailing on into the night. ished him. even the tenderloin. To add to our After a hasty breakfast the boat woes, there was no boat in sight, nor The job of skinning was difficult, as was loaded, and we were under full tent, nor outboard motor. After an a jackknife was the only tool at hand, sail. Each Indian took his portion of extended search, the boat was discov- but by sundown the job was com- venison. Francisco and I reserved the ered half buried in the sand of the pleted. I hung two quarters in a tree tenderloin. Fortunately we were fav- beach, about a mile from the place away from the coyotes, shouldered the ored by a stiff breeze at our backs and where it had been anchored. The other two, and headed for camp. I made good time, but the skies were motor was still roped to the boat, but was unacquainted with the island. It threatening. We were about ten miles full of sand and sea-water. It never was getting dark. There was no moon. from home when both darkness and was the same again. I trudged up hill and down dale for at the storm overtook us about the same least two miles, far enough to have time. The winds increased and it be- We felt that the first phase of our reached camp I thought. My sense of gan to rain. Our small boat was not mission to the Seri Indians was com- direction must have been faulty, for I designed for rough, stormy weather. pleted, and we soon headed back to was unable either to hear or see any It appeared that the mountainous report to our sponsor in Hollywood. signs of camp. waves might engulf us at any moment. For our next trip, 1 recommended that I was getting tired by this time, so sat We had heard of the fearsome storms he send clothing, blankets, and a doc- down to rest. Then I climbed a nearby that sometimes descend on the Gulf tor to establish a small hospital; and a hill, the better to get my bearings. In of California, in which much larger teacher for this stone-age tribe of Seri the distance I saw the light of a dying boats than ours are capsized. Indians.

JUNE, 1954 ON DESERT TRAILS WITH A NATURALIST-III Giant Steeples of Lime.. This month. Naturalist Edmund Jaeger takes Desert readers very deep, perhaps measuring as much on a trip to the Pinnacles, strange limestone formations rising above as 600 feet in depth at its center. Some Searles Dry Lake in California. There isn't much to sustain life in this idea of its size and depth can readily desolate stretch of Mojave desert, but Nature nevertheless takes good be gained by observing the ancient care of the native population of coyotes, wood rats, ravens, lizards and water lines, beaches and wave-cut kit foxes, like the curious fellow who joined the author's party one benches distinctly seen on nearby moonlit night. This is the third in Desert's series, "On Desert Trails rocky hills and the distant slopes of with a Naturalist." the Argus and Slate Mountains to the north and east. These shore-line fea- By EDMUND C. JAEGER, D.Sc. tures I find are best seen in the very Curator of Plants, Riverside Muncipal Museum early morning when shadows cast Map by Norton Allen along them bring out clearly their po- sition. NE WARM August evening, with This was not my first visit to the The scenically impressive spires of two companions, I was walking Searles Lake Pinnacles, described by gray limestone evidently were slowly along the wide arroyo which the eminent scientist, Carl L. Hubbs formed under water around the vents separates the two main groups of pin- of the Scripps Institution of Oceanog- of large hot springs by primitive lime- nacles which form conspicuous land- raphy as "by far the finest examples of depositing plants called algae or pos- marks in California's Searles Dry tufa formations in America, and per- sibly by bacteria. It no doubt took Lake. haps in the world." Accompanying ages of lime deposition to build the me on this exploration trip were Jack pinnacles up to the massive forms they There was a brilliant full moon, have finally assumed, for the rate of and out of the shadows suddenly ap- Shepherd of Occidental College and Brian Mahoney of Riverside. precipitation was very slow, perhaps peared a little kit fox. It followed as little as one foot in a hundred years. along like a phantom, trotting or run- These remarkable formations, some The subterranean hot waters which ning before, beside or behind us like of them nearly a hundred feet high, encouraged the activity of the algae, a companionable dog. Sometimes it rise from a broad plain which once or possibly bacteria, issued from the ran out ahead and sat down, watching was the bottom of an extensive lake. lake bottom in rows of vents, probably us intently until we almost caught up This and two other nearby lakes were along minor fault lines, or in close-set with it. formed at the close of the Ice Age by groups of openings marking other sites Wholly unafraid, it stayed with us the waters of fast melting glaciers of weakness in the earth's crust. Only during the entire evening while we which reached this far inland desert thus can we account for the arrange- hiked a distance of IVi miles or more basin by flowing through a long me- ment and position of the bizarre tufa- up the wash, among and over the pin- andering channel which started in ceous towers. nacles. Perhaps we were the first hu- trough-like Owen's Valley on the east The lake in which the pinnacles man beings it had ever seen. side of the giant Sierra Nevada. This grew disappeared long ago, leaving The kit fox merely is one of many particular Pleistocene lake has been them exposed much as they are today. denizens of the desert which find sanc- designated by geologists as Searles However, their original form must tuary in this desolate part of the Mo- Lake. It was not only very large, cov- have been quite different; certainly jave Desert. ering an area of 285 square miles, but they were higher. The present struc- Termed by Scientist Carl L. Hubbs "by far the finest examples of tufa formations in America, and perhaps in the world," the gray steeples of the Pinnacles rise above Searles Dry Lake in California. Photo by Charles L. Heald.

10 DESERT MAGAZINE tures have large accumulations of talus- like broken-off fragments sloping half way up about their almost vertical sides, evidencing a presumably grad- ual disintegration. I seriously doubt if anyone visiting these strange "steep-sided knobs of lime" has not been inquisitive as to what might be inside them, especially at their centers. I found that one of the large columns so piqued the curi- osity of some inquiring rock enthusi- ast that he had gouged a large hole more than a yard square out of its side almost to the middle. Of course no buried treasure was found; only more of the same porous calcareous tufa, not even an old tree trunk or other object which might have been suspected as the nucleus around which the lime was deposited. Wandering widely over the area I m •. J saw where quite a number of mining The little kit fox was naturally curious—he probably had never before claims have been staked out, but as seen a human being—so he followed the three strange two-legged creatures far as I could see only one group of on their moonlight trek. Photo by Lewis W. Walker. prospectors ever thought the pinnacles had any real commercial value. These I often hear the coyote's clear-ringing shaped patches and disk-like crusts are men actually did some assessment call or the kit fox's single strange perhaps many years old, some of them work consisting of about a quarter of cough-like bark. I most often see coy- even perhaps a half century of age. a mile of road. A claim-paper found otes in the early morning just at day- Throughout the daylight hours the in a tin can inside one of the corner break when they are returning to their visitor to the pinnacles area hears the monuments of rocks they had built daytime hideouts after the night's hunt. lonely raucous cry of ravens. Some of showed that they had staked out a Kit foxes come from their underground the big black birds may be seen circ- placer claim for gold! Some one, per- lairs at dusk and quite frequently I ling overhead, often in pairs. There haps these "gold seekers," had once have seen them come up to my camp, is evidence that each year a few pairs started a well in the big nearby sand attracted either by curiosity or the of these sagacious birds nest in shelf- wash, but they found no water to odor of food. like niches in some of the high rock reward their hours of hard work. In the many crypts in the limestone towers. Their principal food is prob- The only other formations that I towers live desert woodrats. About ably made up of lizards, and, in the have seen anywhere approaching the the openings to their homes are quan- spring, of the young of ground squir- Trona Pinnacles in size, number and tities of small, dry sticks of brittle bush rels and jack rabbits. Only very in- appearance are rounded columns of and other shrubs they have brought in frequently must they find carrion. An- lime, the so-called geyser-cones or al- as they returned from their frequent other bird using cavelets for nesting gae pillars of the Bridges Basin near excursions along regular paths to the sites is the spider-feeding rock wren. Green River, Wyoming, and a few nearby bushes. One often wonders Heard often is its clear bell-like song. small lime pillars near Tonopah, Ne- how they or their other animal neigh- Several times a day, in cool winter or vada. All of these incrustations evi- bors find enough to eat in a region so hot summer, even at mid-day, we will dently were formed around old tree near devoid of plant life. catch sight of this sprightly dweller of the desert's solitudes. stumps and snags submerged by the On the north sides of the rough-sur- waters of Eocene lakes. In time the faced limestone monoliths are splashes Right among the groups of pinnacles, woody cores became silicified so that of the brilliant color of rock-hugging and near the big central sand wash, inside the cones and lime cylinder we lichens. The beautiful blues are those are several low, broad, almost flat- now find petrified wood. of the lichen called Lecanora; the topped domes of colorful gray and The main groups of pinnacles near bright brick-reds are produced by a green powdery soils. As I tried to Searles Lake are scattered over an lichen called Caloplaca; the lovely, walk over them I found myself sink- area of several square miles. Beyond often circular patches of gray-green ing often more than ankle-deep into these, often at some distance, are indicate a species of Parmelia. Scat- the fine-textured almost flour-like ma- nearly a dozen smaller outliers. Sep- tered among the colonies of colored terial. Such rounded hillocks consist arating the two main groups runs a lichen grows a velvety black lichen of soil heavily permeated with gypsum long salt-bush-bordered wash of clean disposed in small patches of crust-like and other salts in minute crystalline gray sand. It serves not only as a plates. These unique biotic entities, form, many of them the salts that in drainway for the run-off waters of in- composed of closely associated threads purer form are found in nearby Searles frequent rains but also as a trailway of algae and cells of low grade fungi, Dry Lake where they constitute what for many of the wild animals, like kit probably actively grow only a com- is with little doubt the richest source foxes and coyotes, which inhabit the paratively few hours of each year dur- of high grade commercially useful area. Every night they leave fresh ing rains or other times of high humid- chemicals in the deserts of the world. footprint evidence of their travels, and ity when water, so necessary to their At Trona, 15 miles due north of the I am never surprised when camping existence, is found. We are not sur- pinnacles, is the large 33-acre plant here to see one or more of these des- prised then to learn that the colonies of the American Potash and Chemical ert carnivores roving about. At night composing the many colorful irregular- Company where approximately 2.000

JUNE, 1 954 11 tons of 18 different high grade chem- PANAMINT VALLEYM/ X icals are daily produced from 37,- 000,000 gallons of water pumped underground and returned as brines carrying the precious salts. Several well known desert land-

—-jmm^<^. - • —/$•:• • •• ••••% ^ marks can be seen from the pinnacles area. To the north lies Telescope Peak, highest point in the Panamint Mountains. To the northwest may be seen almost mile-high Argus Peak: to the east are the bare-surfaced Owl and Slate Mountains. On the southeast lies beautiful Pilot Knob, said to have ||-:: Secivles %. V^ received its name because in early days it was unmistakably recognized by travelers from more points in the Mojave Desert than any other land- mark. It is an isolated, steep-sided, almost flat-topped mountain made up of alternating colorful layers of light and dark volcanic rocks. They make it appear, as a grizzled prospector once said to me "just like a big colored layer cake." An old, now little-used road leads from the pinnacles directly to this prominent desert landmark. It was probably made by early travelers PINNACLES seeking water at nearby Granite Wells. Late in October and all through November's calm, clear, sunshiny days are good times to visit this awesome spectacle of Nature. Because the strange spires are especially inspiring when seen by moonlight I generally plan my visits (and they are quite often) at full moon periods. As with so many objects these huge columns of rock then appear almost twice as massive and high as during daylight hours. • • • MARCH RAINS INCREASE DESERT WATER SUPPLIES Most Southwestern areas received above-average rainfall during March to relieve drouth conditions worsened by an extremely dry February. Monthly amounts ranged from over 400 per- cent of normal in the Lower Colorado River Basin to slightly below or some- what above normal in other areas, the U. S. Weather Bureau and Soil Con- JOHANNESBURG servation Service reported April 1. RED MTN. Above-normal March precipitation \RANDSBURG greatly improved the water supply out- look for the Upper Colorado, Green River and San Juan River basins. The Colorado River above Cisco was the only area in which rainfall was below normal, and consequently forecasts for streams in the area are lower than those of a month ago. March precipitation was much above normal over the entire Lower Colo- rado River Basin, and the water poten- tial in this area has greatly increased. Monthly precipitation amounts ranged from near 200 to approximately 400 TO U.S.466 & SAN BERNARDINO percent of normal.

12 DESERT MAGAZINE "Back door" into jasper area leads from aqueduct road to excellent camping area. Colorful stone is found on the opposite side of the Cave Hills, above left. Inset is chunk of red and yellow jasper found in the field, with a cabo- chon cut from the material. Much of the jasper is so oxidize d it is difficult to distinguish it from the country rock.

When Lieut. Ives steamed up the Colo- rado in 1857 in the clumsy steamboat, the "Explorer," the Chemehuevi Indians were Indian Jasper using beautiful arrowheads made from jasper. Harold and Lucile Weight went into the Whipple Mountains recently to see if they could find the source of the Indian in the Whipples jasper—and what they discovered is of interest both to rockhounds and archeolo- gists. By HAROLD WEIGHT Photographs by the author We had glimpsed that jasper on a February—ideal for winter rock hunt- Map by Norton Allen visit to W. N. (Dinty) and Avis Moore, ing on the Mojave—set us off on our now active in rockhound circles in long-planned second visit to this jas- E WERE half a dozen miles Phoenix, but who then lived at Parker per hill. But a pinched-out tire on east of Vidal Junction, Cali- Dam. Dinty and Avis took us on a the washboardy Riverside County sec- fornia, on the Parker highway field trip into the Turtles, the range tion of the Baseline road from Twenty- when the speedometer gave a convul- west of the Whipples, and on the way nine Palms, and time consumed in its sive spin and dropped to zero. I made a brief detour to the jasper lo- repair, threw us far behind schedule. stopped the car and Lucile and 1 cality. It seemed that we were in and Now the sun was low and a great fan stared at one another. We felt like a back out again in a matter of moments. of cirrus pouring up from the south couple of lost mine hunters whose We had a couple of pieces of the ma- and west promised a colorful, but map had suddenly vanished. For our terial and this note: "Jasper hill, early, sunset. And we no longer had only map to the jasper field we wanted Whipple Mountains. Jasper mainly a speedometer to guide us. to relocate in the Whipple Mountains red, with white, lavender, yellow, "Well," said Lucile, "the turnoff was a record of mileages and turns green. Part high grade, much of cut- from this highway was 1.6 miles this taken down on a hasty guided trip ting quality. Extent of field unknown." side of Earp. And there was a sign into the area seven years before. The unusually warm days of late there, 'River View Mine, H. O. Hogue.'

JUNE, 1954 1.3 We certainly should be able to find and Captain Sitgreaves on the way to Explorer went aground — which was that road." Camp Yuma late in 1851. every few hundred feet—they howled I nodded. "And the jasper was less Lt. A. W. Whipple, whose name the with delight. than 10 miles in, good desert road all mountains now bear, reached the Col- It is a measure of Ives' character the way. We can reach the area be- orado by Bill Williams fork in Feb- that he appreciated their amusement. fore dark, and something in there ruary, 1854. But he was trying to fol- Despite the trying circumstances, his should look familiar to us." low the 35th parallel, which crosses Report Upon the Colorado River of "It was in a sort of little valley," the river north of Needles at the very the West sparkles with the wry comedy Lucile amplified. southern tip of Nevada, in his search of the spectacle as the Indians saw it. "Then we go on?" for a possible route for a transcontin- "If we had anticipated inspiring them ental railroad. So he headed north with awe or admiration," he com- Lucile nodded. "The Whipples are along the Colorado and apparently did ments, "we should be sadly disap- always worth a visit." not see Monument Peak. pointed. That we should spend days Even from the highway, some miles With him was young Lt. Joseph C. in doing what they can accomplish in to the south, the Whipples are a strik- Ives. A few years later Ives com- half as many hours strikes them as ing range. Seen close up, they are manded an army expedition exploring unaccountably stupid." among the most beautiful mountains the Colorado. And late in January, on the Mojave. Much of their spec- As the Explorer inched upriver, Ives 1858, with Ives and his command saw an unusual group of mountains tacular scenery is due to their compo- aboard, the wretchedly clumsy Explorer sition, a helter-skelter mixup of some on the California side. "Among the —first steamer to venture so far up group of fantastic peaks that surmount of the world's oldest rocks—pre-Cam- the river—was bumbling its way from brian granites, schists and quartzsites this chain," he wrote, "is a slender sand bar to sand bar through the and perfectly symmetrical spire that —with the colorful volcanics of Ter- Parker Valley. As Ives wrote in ex- tiary times. Then too, their beauty is furnishes a striking landmark, as it can asperation: "We were three days in be seen from a great way down the augmented by the relatively heavy accomplishing nine miles. A boat vegetation, the ironwood, palo verde river in beautiful relief against the drawing six inches less water and with- sky." He named the spire "The Mon- and smoke tree of bajada and washes out any reinforcing timbers attached being more reminiscent of the Colo- ument." to the bottom could probably have And because of that peak he called rado Desert than of the Mojave. made the same distance in three hours." As the highway swung around the the whole range, on both sides of the But if Ives and Captain Robinson, southern slopes of the mountains Colorado, Monument Mountains. The toward the Colorado River, a lean, who piloted the Explorer, were unhappy river gorge through the mountains, striking finger of dark volcanic rock about their progress, the Chemehuevi whose beauty he described enthusi- came into sight to the northeast. This Indians then occupying northern Par- astically, he called Monument Can- was famed Monument Peak, a land- ker Valley, the Whipples and the sur- yon. And after he had navigated the mark since the beginning of the des- rounding desert, were not. For them canyon, past the site of present Parker ert's habitation. Onate and his Spani- it was County Fair Week and show of Dam and the mouth of Bill Williams ards must have noted it when they a lifetime combined. Always foot- River, he named one outstanding peak came down Bill Williams River to the loose and ready to be entertained, they on the California side Mount Whipple, Colorado in December, 1904. Padre deserted their camps and caves and for his old commander. Somehow in Garces surely saw it in February, 1776, hunting trails to sit on the river banks the years since, the name Whipple has when going to the land of the Mohaves, and watch the fun. Whenever the been extended to cover the whole

14 DESERT MAGAZINE range in California. In geological se- niority, it is fair enough that Mount Whipple's ancient granites should out- rank the upstart volcanic trap of Monument Peak. Historically, Whip- pie deserves a California range bear- ing his name. Ives also had plenty of time to study the Chemehuevis whom he was enter- taining. "They are altogether differ- ent in appearance and character from the other Colorado River Indians," he i ...» . f..,^P&ftS wrote. "They have small figures and some of them delicate, nicely-cut fea- tures with little of the Indian physiog- nomy. Unlike their neighbors—who though warlike are domestic — the Chemehuevis are a wandering race and travel great distances on hunting and predatory excursions. They wear sandals and hunting shirts of buckskin, and carry tastefully-made quivers of the same material." Had Ives carried his investigations a little further, he would have discov- ered that some of the points on the arrows in those quivers were also taste- fully made of beautiful moss and pais- ley and bright, solidly colored jasper. He certainly would have been inter- ested to learn part of the jasper used was found within a few miles of the Monument Peak he so admired. We were hunting that jasper. We camped that night far up the bajada, at the base of the first outliers of the Whipples. We estimated we should be in the vicinity of the jasper field, but had no idea in which direc- tion it might lie. It had, in fact, been a very discouraging afternoon — but the sort of exercise I can recommend to persons who cannot understand how a mine or ledge can become lost. The mine sign we had depended upon to identify the turnoff was gone, and since the mine was not operating, the road had deteriorated. We finally found it only by eliminating all other possible tracks. Up on the bajada, the road improved, but the branches seemed to have changed and multiplied. We had not located ourselves when darkness fell, and after a few miles of useless probing to and fro with our headlight beams, we pulled off onto a fairly level pebble pavement. Supper was a catch-as-catch-can affair con- sumed by flashlight in the cab of the pickup. The rest of campmaking con- sisted of inflating air mattresses and spreading our sleeping bags in the truck bed. But the night was perfectly suited Above—This old road leads directly across the bajada to the jasper in the for desert camping—warm, clear and volcanic hills, upper right. Palo Verde, left, marks point where old road quiet. For a long time we marveled to the field leaves the main road. at the show of lights spread out below Center—Brightly colored and moss jasper may be found on slopes and —Parker, Earp, Poston, Vidal, and ridges in the background. scores upon scores of motels, trailer Below—From one of the caves, looking across the Colorado River valley. camps, private homes and individual Riverside Mountains in the background.

JUNE, 1954 15 Each year more and more fishermen and vacationists come to this lovely vista along the Colorado below Parker dam for recreation. camps up and down the Colorado. of low, jagged hills looked, even by from our camp, we could see where a This was the weekend of Washington's moonlight, as if they should carry once bladed trail left our road and birthday, and it had brought a large rockhound rocks. headed for the hills. When we started number of eager fishermen to the river, In the grey pre-dawn we boiled cof- to follow it, we found that it had been but growth of permanent population fee in an open pan over a little fire badly wash-cut in several places, and in this area since the war is astonish- in the steep V-wash beside our camp. in one great drainage channel, just to ing. Relishing the full bodied flavor of that the west of the Cave Hills, the road And after we were in our sleeping "primitive" brew, we wondered if the had disappeared completely. Once bags, we watched the march of famil- old prospectors hadn't used the best across it, however, the road appeared iar constellations overhead — Orion, method of coffee-making, after all. again and was in passable condition then Sirius, the Dog Star, scintillating By daylight the hills to the north- the full length of the little group of like a glorious jewel, and Cassiopeia's east looked even more interesting. hills. Chair and the Pleiades and the Hyades. Buttes and ridges of the brownish- We knew we were on the right track But on this clear night, the whole sky black volcanic series which outcrop when, in a shallow cave in an arroyo seemed frosted with myriads of smaller in many places along the southeastern wall, I found two small pieces of pot- or more distant stars which do not edges of the Whipples, they were per- tery—and a worked bit of bright red even show in smog-filmed skies farther fectly honeycombed with caves. A jasper. Then, in the sunburned vol- west. Then the sublimity of the mo- few hundred yards down the bajada canic rock which coated the hills, Lu- ment was broken by the only unpleas- cile discovered a large chip of pat- ant note—or buzz—of that night, the terned, colorful jasper. We began to voices of a few enterprising mosquitoes LOG recognize larger pebbles and small that apparently had tired of fisherman Mile boulders as jasper and jasp-agate. fare and had decided to dine out and 0.0 Turn north from Desert Center- Parker highway, 15.3 miles from They were so oxidized and discolored sample rockhounds. We pulled our Vidal Junction. 1.6 miles west —a dark or reddish brown—that they heads under cover and slept. of Earp. differed little except in texture from I woke once after the late-rising 3.9 Pass under pole line. the country rock. As in many other moon, nearing its last quarter, was 4.1 Old road branches right to jas- fields, it was necessary to adjust our per field. Watch for dangerous eyes to the material we were hunting. well aloft. Its light was surprising, and cut in bed of this road. Either I could see the great river valley and turn right here or continue on The Metropolitan Aqueduct, from the faint masses of scattered moun- main road to: Parker Dam to Los Angeles, touches tain ranges. Nearer, the wash-cut 4.4 Reach aqueduct road, turn right. the northwestern edges of the Cave bajada, with sharp-limbed and spined 4.8 Turn right from aqueduct road, Hills. We followed the abandoned palo verde, catsclaw and cholla, was follow branch a few hundred yards to little mesa west of Cave road almost to it, finding jasper spotted silver and black. And to the north- Hills. irregularly on the hillsides on the way. east, quite close to our camp, a group Some of the best we located was on a

16 DESERT MAGAZINE low hill northwest of the point where the road enters a deep arroyo. An- other good spot was on a small butte separated by the old road from the main body of the hills. Checks showed that the jasper was scattered as float or cropping in irregular veins in many other places in the Cave Hills—from top to bottom. In quality it ranged from rather large pieces of poor grade • ,,-^ :;i*j\:* to gem quality "thread," moss, paisley, and almost poppy-like patterns. Colors included reds, yellows, gold, green, brown. It is not a field for truck col- lecting, and rockhounds must cover a good deal of rough territory. But if they look they will be rewarded. At the present time, the old road is not passable for ordinary cars, without some work being done to fill in a badly washed spot and, following it, it is necessary to walk about half a mile to the edge of the jasper field. We did find a branch trail from the aqueduct road, which cuts down into the big wash to an excellent camping place on the opposite side of the Cave Hills from the jasper. It offers the easiest approach to the collecting area. But it must be emphasized that the aqueduct road is a private road with permission to trespass revokable at any time. Probably there will be no objection to the use of this short por- tion of it—so long as some smart or anti-social character does not commit a nuisance. Should it be blocked, the old road can be followed. The largest present-day inhabitant of the Cave Hills whose acquaintance we made was a rheumy-eyed desert tortoise who apparently had been mis- led by the unseasonable warmth to break his winter hibernation. The dirt from his earthy bedchamber still was scattered over his shell, with a little The author with a piece of red and green jasper, as it occurs in thin dis- peak of it on the top of his head. I continuous ledges at the base of the butte in the Cave Hills field. suspect that with some of the cold nights that have followed he has re- In a hollow in the large boulder at when winter winds swept the Mojave turned to his burrow with the deter- the mouth of the cave Lucile found a than would any camp along the river. mination of finding a new weather dozen bright bits of jasper. We could It was Ives who brought the Che- forecaster. The area also has mock- almost picture the Chemehuevi who ing birds, linnets and bats, and appar- mehuevis alive for me. Whenever 1 had squatted there, day after day, read his journals, or those of any of ently an enormous population of pack- working up his points with that great rats, who are all cavedwellers. that remarkable group of American living map of the Colorado River Val- military men who first reported on And in many places we found ley before him. Perhaps from this the West—Emory, Simpson, Whipple evidence of earlier inhabitants who very point he had seen the smoke of and the rest—I am amazed at their had worked these jasper fields before Ives' little steamer and had called the literary substance and vivid humanity. us. The chippings from their arrow- family together to go see the big show. And 1 am endlessly grateful that the point making indicated that they had I do not know whether these caves present compulsion of government re- selected their stones with an eye for were only used for arrowpoint making, searchers to express themselves in pe- beauty. One of the caves, which or whether they were semi-permanent dantic and meaningless jargon was showed no indication of its size from homes. I found several tinajas in then unknown. below, proved to be a two-bedroom nearby washes, which would hold Of course, in the matter of anthro- affair with a wonderful view arch in water for quite a while after a rain. pology, Ives and his contemporaries the living room. Packrats had filled And of course the wife could always had the advantage. They saw our the two bedrooms with an incredible be sent the five or six miles down to Western Indians live, while present amount of debris, while a tiny dark the river to fill a few pots. And I'm day researchers can only rattle dry lizard seemed to be the only occupant certain that some of those caves, with bones or depend on informants who of the living room. a little fire, would be much cozier sometimes take a mischievous pleasure

JUNE, 1954 17 in misinforming. Nevertheless, I won- crease in population in Parker Valley, der how we would picture last cen- so it was with Monument Canyon. tury's Colorado River Indians had Everywhere were homes and camps Ives hopped ashore at each camp with and trailer parks crowded with people briefcase full of aptitude and intelli- and cars, and the Arizona shore gence tests, and a questionnaire de- seemed to be in the same condition. signed to fit these particular anthro- Cars were parked at every likely spot, too, and fishermen were still out along Adell "K. C." Jones, Life-on-the- pological specimens into their proper Desert winner whose story appears in sib, moiety and dichotomic pigeon- the river. At some of the little side valleys, farming was under way. this month's Desert, was born in Og- holes. den, Utah. After attending schools I'm sure we wouldn't have heard of But there ahead, as we rounded a in the small Congregational College the Chemehuevi who tried to cheat bend, was the same blood red ridge town of Tabor, Iowa, she joined her the lieutenant in a deerskin trade. "He which had so impressed Lt. Ives. And father, a country newspaper editor in was highly amused at being caught," for just a little stretch no modern Lovelock, Nevada. She married John Ives wrote, "and it raised me very building obtruded. The wild, highly S. Case, another newspaper editor, in much in his estimation; if I had tried colored buttes and ridges which crowd 1910. to cheat him, and had succeeded, his the swiftly flowing river were just as When Ray Jones first called on Adell admiration would have been unlim- they had been when the little Explorer in 1947, she was reading Charles ited." Nor would it have been scien- first shattered the silence of this hid- Kelly's story, "Hole in the Rock," in tifically worth while to tell of the In- den world, and Ives wrote rhapsodic- the May, 1947, issue of Desert Maga- dian woman who tried to help guide ally of its beauty. Why right here, per- zine. Ray was immediately interested the Explorer across a sand bar. Cap- haps, Ives came upon the two Cheme- and related the part his grandfather tain Robinson's "knowledge of the huevis, with their wives, children and played in the historic Mormon trek. river showed that it would not do, household belongings, afloat upon reed He and Mrs. Jones were married soon and he sheered off without making the rafts. Against that bank they may after. When Desert's Life-on-the-Des- trial. The benevolence of the old hag have drawn their rafts into the little ert contest was announced, she asked was at once converted to rage, and cave to watch in awe, while the steamer her husband to retell the story. Their with clenched fists and flaming eyes puffed noisily by. And perhaps the joint entry proved to be a prize-winner. she followed along the bank, scream- warriors nervously fingered arrows ing at the captain a volley of male- tipped with the very jasper we had A number of Mrs. Jones' poems dictions." been collecting that afternoon. have been published, and she writes occasional articles for her home town Nor would we have had the final Ahead, around the bend, the little newspaper in Fallon, Nevada. touch to make real the little Indian Chemehuevi chief and his people • • • kiddies who once played around these would be waiting to make a state call "I am a naturalist at heart, and an very caves: "Mr. Mollhausen has en- upon Lt. Ives when the churning Ex- explorer and amateur photographer," listed the services of the children to plorer nosed in to the bank. confesses Geologist C. L. Burdick. He procure zoological specimens, and has But no—around that bend was the must, then, thoroughly have enjoyed obtained, at the cost of a few strings gleaming, yet alien beauty of Parker the research and writing which cul- of beads, several varieties of pouched Dam, concrete proof of the changes minated in the story on Mexico's Seri mice and lizards. They think he eats time had brought to the once omni- Indians which appears in this issue of them, and are delighted that his ec- potent Colorado of the West. It was Desert. centric appetite can be gratified with late, and this was a good place to turn Burdick first visited the Seris' prim- so much ease and profit to themselves." back. itive village in 1943 with two Ameri- • • • When we headed back toward Earp, can companions. Upon returning home, we were satisfied that we had found INSCRIPTION SELECTED he told an acquaintance, T. G. Patter- a jasper field, but did not know if it FOR SCOTTY'S MONUMENT son, about the trip, and Patterson in turn related the story to Albert M. was the jasper field. It looked vaguely "/ got four things to live by: familiar, but there was not a single Johnson, Death Valley Scotty's bene- Don't say nothing that will hurt factor and friend. Johnson supported spot that we could actually recognize. anybody. Don't give advice — no- Later we returned with speedometer a foundation dedicated to helping body will take it anyway. Don't needy Indians and translating the Bible working and found that we had con- complain. Don't explain." siderably overestimated the number into their tongues. Immediately inter- of miles we had traveled from the This inscription — Death Valley ested in the Seris' plight, he decided highway and that this was a new field. Scotty's own words, according to to send Burdick back to the Indians' village to write detailed reports of The other jasper lies several miles Eleanor Jordon Houston's recent book what he found there. "They Wouldn't farther along the Whipples. This, and —is to be engraved on the plaque to the number of other hills apparently of Be Civilized" is the story of that second be erected next November 12 at Wal- trip. the same volcanic constitution which ter Scott's grave on a hill above Scotty's we saw, is a good indication that there Burdick is a native of Wisconsin Castle. and did graduate work in geology at are more jasper areas for those who The plaque is being sponsored by like to hunt their own fields. the University of Wisconsin. He taught the Death Valley 49ers, and will be high school science before entering It was near sundown when we placed on a memorial monument to mining geology about 15 years ago. reached the highway, but we did not be erected by the Gospel Foundation He currently is employed by two want to turn homeward without driv- of California, owners of Scotty's Castle. mining companies engaged in the de- ing up the river to Parker Dam. This, The 49ers chose the inscription at velopment of mineral resources in Baja we think, is the most beautiful section their April meeting, and at the same California. On the side he writes arti- of the lower Colorado which can be time approved a sketch submitted by cles on historical geology, particularly followed by a good road, and sun- Cyria Henderson for the design of the probing the relationship of this science down is the perfect time to see it. But plaque which she will model in clay to archeology. He lives in Tucson, as we had been amazed by the in- and then have cast in bronze. Arizona.

18 DESERT MAGAZINE Lost Ledge of Mammoth Canyon By SHEP SHEPHERD In Virginia City they bought needed This is a new version of a supplies, tools and horses and took a >Y THE YEAR 1857 the trails to lost mine story related by Mark third man into the partnership. Back the gold fields of California Twain in his book "Roughing at the location they started work on were more or less well defined. It," and also in W. A. Chaliant's what was intended to be a permanent Indians were still one of the major "Gold, Guns and Ghost Towns." camp. The work was barely begun obstacles. Not long after the massacre It is the legendary Lost Cement when Indian Chief Joaquin Jim raided of 140 people at Mountain Meadows mine, and so far as the records the camp with a party of braves, took a band of fast riding Paiutes intercepted show it has never been re-dis- all their supplies, leaving only the a party of California bound settlers covered. clothes they wore and one horse with several days' march west of the mas- which to get out of the country. The three returned to Virginia City to wait sacre scene. The party was following Neither man's name seems to have the old Spanish Trail. In the ensuing for the Indian troubles to subside. In been preserved though their activities the meantime Van Horn became the fight the settler group became disor- are frequently mentioned in old rec- ganized. Two men of the party es- victim of an ailment that left him semi- ords of the Mammoth Canyon discov- invalid. He started to San Francisco caped and in the darkness that night eries. Most authentic of these writings struck north. for treatment but on the boat from seems to be those of J. W. A. Wright, Sacramento became so ill he feared The scene of the battle was roughly who wrote from Mammoth in 1879, death was near. He confided in a man on the California-Nevada border. reporting for the San Francisco Post named Carpenter, adding that he be- Traveling by night and hiding by day on the searches still going on for the lieved his two partners were planning they kept a northerly course up the lost cement mines. to return to the ledge in spite of the wide desert valley in which they found Doctor Randall arrived on the scene Indian menace. themselves, hoping to cross the trail in the spring of 1861. He headquart- of other parties traveling west. ered at old Monoville and hired a Carpenter himself apparently made To the west they could see the party of men. Next, using the dead no effort to enter the search but his towering mountain ranges they would man's map as a guide, he located a knowledge was passed on to two men eventually have to cross. When their quarter section of land a few miles named Kirkpatrick and Colt, the latter water gave out they turned westward north of the town on what was known a member of the firearms family. These and finally arrived at a clear, cool as Pumice Flats. two men came to Monoville, hired a stream. They had struck the head Not far to the northeast were the guide to take them to the vicinity of waters of the Owens River. A short Mono Craters. The cones, as well as Mammoth Canyon where they be- time later, in the same general vicinity, much of the surrounding area, were lieved Van Horn's camp to be. they were resting near a small valley coated with pumice from the once ac- The search uncovered a place where within sight of a lofty gray mountain. tive volcanos. logs had been laid for a floor and One man broke off a piece of a ce- Randall hired a man named Gid nearby were the stumps of trees that ment-like ledge and found it spotted Whiteman as foreman of eleven men had been felled. Continuing the hunt with yellow flakes. He was convinced and began the task of prospecting every for the ledge the men found two skele- the yellow stuff was gold. His partner inch of the 160 acres. tons supposed to have been those of laughed at the idea, insisting the yel- The following year, 1862, a man Van Horn's partners. Apparently low flakes were worthless. The be- named Van Horn joined the search. Joaquin Jim's warning had not been liever filled his pockets with about ten He seems to have been prominent in an idle threat. Though they kept at pounds of the ore and the two went on the mining fields since one district was the search until supplies and funds their way. named after him. Another member of were exhausted, Kirkpatrick and Colt Eventually they made their way the searching party was a German were unable to locate the cement ledge. across the mountains and found a whose name has not been preserved in They did discover some ledges com- small stream which led them to the the records. posed of a red cement-like material San Joaquin River. They followed the The German is now believed to have but none that were gold bearing. San Joaquin to the settlement of Mil- re-discovered the gold bearing cement lerton. ledge, though not on Randall's 160 Various searchers carried on a con- The man with the gold made plans acres. He took Van Horn into his stant hunt for the treasure during the to retrace their steps to the rich ledge. confidence and the two quit the search next few years. Sometimes as many However, he had become ill and be- together, saying they were tired of the as 20 parties were in the field at once, fore his plans were completed he was country and wanted to seek new fields. prospecting from the desert floor to forced to seek treatment in San Fran- They took one horse belonging to Van the eastern slopes of the Sierra around cisco. His condition became so bad Horn to carry their belongings and left the base of Mammoth Mountain. he had to give up any idea of returning in the direction of Aurora. Once hid- In the summer of 1869 two men to the treasure. Indebted to his physi- den from the others they went to named Kent and McDougall outfitted cian, a Dr. Randall, and without funds where the German had found the themselves with horses and supplies he paid what he could with the ore he ledge. They loaded the horse with in Stockton, California. They next ap- had left and gave Randall a map of the sacks of ore, concealed the location peared at a small settlement on the section containing the gold bearing and struck out for Virginia City. At San Joaquin River at the western base ledge. the Walker River they crushed and of the mountains. There they hired The man died soon afterward and panned the cement-like material, ob- an Indian to guide them across the nothing more was ever heard from his taining several thousands of dollars in mountains. The Indian returned much companion. sold. later with the information that he had

UNE, 1 954 19 taken the men to the pumice mountain on a San Francisco street. As he lay fornia but needed help to go there. (Mammoth Mountain). dying in a hospital he identified him- Kent hired McDougall, giving him a Kent and McDougall returned the self as McDougall and related the fol- $1500 yearly guarantee. lowing story. He said that while in following year and repeated their visit When they had gone as far as the every year through the summer of Arizona he had met Kent who claimed he knew of some lost treasure in Cali- pumice mountain on that first trip 1877. Late that year a man collapsed Kent dismissed the guide. As soon as the Indian was out of sight Kent said he believed they were near one of 4fc • The Desert Quiz this month is dedicated to the richest gold deposits he had ever I)91 17 Dorothy Peters and her Quiz group at Reno. seen. He claimed he had found it in Nevada. (See Letters page, this issue.) If 1861 (the first year of Dr. Randall's the list is a little tougher than usual you can blame Dorothy for it. The search) but that Indian wars had pre- list of questions covers many fields of interest—geography, history, plant vented his returning. and animal life, Indians, literature and the lore of the desert. A score of 12 to 14 is fair, 15 to 17 is good, 18 or over is excellent. The answers From the point where they dismissed are on page 32. the guide the two men went on to the headwaters of the Owens River. There 1—A Dipodomys is a species of—Reptile . Bird . Rodent Kent described certain landmarks to Insect . . McDougall and they began to search. 2—When the Colorado River broke out of control, flooded Imperial Soon they found, first the landmarks, Valley and formed Salton Sea in 1905-6-7, the break eventually then the ledge. was closed by—U. S. Army Engineers . Southern Pacific Rail- road . Mexican Government . Bureau of Reclamation That summer they took out a huge 3—Pumice stone properly is classified as—Sedimentary rock . Meta- sum in gold. They melted it into bars morphic rock . Conglomerate . Igneous rock and hid it among their belongings 4—Irateba was once a chief of the—Yuma Indians . Mojave Indi- when they left. ans . Paiute Indians . Pima Indians 5—Death Valley Scotty's proper name was — Walter Scott Each year they took out from $25,- John Scott . Lewis Scott . William Scott 000 to $50,000, clearing in all nearly 6—Highest Peak in Nevada is - - Charleston Peak . Boundary $400,000. Each time they left, Mc- Peak . Mount Davidson . Antelope Peak Dougall said, they concealed the loca- 7—Indians used Ephedra for making—Dye . Poison arrows tion against chance discovery by others. Intoxicants . Medicine They never recorded the location or 8—The name Peralta is associated with a famous lost mine believed to staked claims, preferring to keep the have been located in—Death Valley . The Bullion Mountains secret and avoid having it over-run with others seeking to share in the of California . The Superstition Mountains of Arizona riches. Though the trip from the west The Henry Mountains of Utah . over the mountains was an arduous 9—Havasupai Canyon, home of the Supai Indians, is a tributary of the one Kent would never risk discovery Green River _ . The Virgin River . The Verde River by being seen with ore in the gold the Colorado River . thirsty camps on the desert side. 10—Cathedral Gorge State Park is in — Utah . Nevada . New Mexico . California McDougall died soon after relating 1 1—The book The Romance of the Colorado River was written by his story. Kent never returned nor was —Nevills . Dellenbaugh . Powell . Kolb Bros. he ever heard from again. It is sup- 12 One of the following desert trees or shrubs does not shed its leaves posed that illness, or perhaps even in winter — Jojoba . Mesquite . Catsclaw . Desert death, intervened. The job of con- Willow cealing the mine's location must have 13 Mexican Hat, Utah, overlooks the—Colorado River . Green been expertly done for it has never River .__. San Juan River . Sevier River been found again. 14—An Indian trader is licensed—By the State in which his trading post is located ... By the U. S. Bureau of Indian Affairs -By the There is ample proof from other Indian Tribal Council . No license required sources that a rich gold deposit existed 15—The color of most of the locoweeds which grow on the desert is— in the district. One man, trading with Bluish-purple . Red . Yellow . White the Indians, was paid $300 in gold 16—The rock formation known as "The Squaw and her Basket" is seen but was unable to learn where they —On an island in the Great Salt Lake . In the Granite Dells at had obtained it. Prescott, Arizona . At the edge of Pyramid Lake in Nevada .. _. . Indians coming into the camp of In the Chiracahua National Monument of Arizona Benton, a day's travel into the desert 17—The harvesting of the date crop where dates grow on the Great from the vicinity of the mine's sup- American Desert, generally begins about—September .April .„.. posed location, paid for their pur- June . February . chases with gold but never revealed its 18—Quicksilver comes from an ore known as—Fluorite . Cinna- source. bar Magnesite . Galena Winds, sands and storms can do 19—Breyfogle is a name generally associated with—The discovery of strange things to the earth's counte- gold at Goldfield . The capture of Geronimo . The arche- nance, often altering it completely. ology of the Mesa Verde National Park . A lost mine in the But the elements that hid a treasure Death Valley region can again reveal it. There seems little 20—The Hopi bread known as piki is made from—Wheat ___ Corn doubt that the reddish ledge, bearing Millet . Barley its golden fortune, will some day en- rich another finder.

20 DESERT MAGAZINE ' . '; •-*•'••' • ••:.'/:' .' - PICTURES of the MONTH

Prr •PP ' Migratory Worker . •.

••••- • Gathering the nectar of a cactus •••• -• i

• i ^^| ^ Sunset on Lake Mary . .. Valdis Avots of Flagstaff, Arizona, was awarded second place for this study of a sunset over Lake Mary, Arizona. A Leica Elmar 35 mm. cam- era was used with yellow filter, 1/40 second at f. 8.

JUNE, 1954 21 . . . LIFE ON THE DESERT . . .

*»..# WASH

Last Wagon Through the Hole-in-the-Rock

By RAYMOND SMITH JONES Cedar City, Parowan and Paragoonah As told to his wife, Adell Before his death at the age answered the call, perhaps not cheer- of 94, Stanford Smith told mem- fully but certainly without question. Y GRANDFATHER, Joseph bers of his family the intimate They gathered at the frontier town of Stanford Smith, was only five details of his personal experi- Escalante and when word came from years old when his parents, ence as a member of the his- the scouts that a place had been found Joseph H. and Maria Stanford Smith toric Mormon colony which in to cross the Colorado River, the cara- and their family set sail from Liver- 1880 crossed the Colorado River van started out. pool, England, for the United States. at the Hole-in-the-Rock on its Stanford had a stout covered wagon The family had been converted to way to establish a new settle- and two teams. With him were his Mormonism in their native Stafford- ment at Bluff, Utah. The per- wife Arabella and their three little shire and were on their way to join the sonal sacrifice and courage of children, Ada Olivia, five; Elroy, three, Saints in Utah. They sailed on the that amazing trek are revealed and George Abraham, just six months old ship Curling in April, 1855. They in this story, told by one of old. landed in New York a month later. Smith's grandsons. When the crevice, through which It was October before they reached the scouts thought the wagons could Salt Lake City, having come across be taken down to the river, was reached the plains with Milo Anderson's Hand- Endowment House at Salt Lake City. the men were dismayed. It would take cart Company, the elders walking all She was 17, a pretty dark-haired girl, weeks, some even said months, of hard the way. pleasingly plump. Stanford was 20, work to make a passageway. It was In December of that year they were tall and thin with brown hair and blue already October and supplies were sent to the Iron Mission in Southern eyes. They set up housekeeping in rapidly diminishing. Perhaps they Utah and settled at Cedar City. Here Cedar City. should turn back and find an easier Stanford grew to manhood. In 1879 word came to them from route. Arabella Coombs was born in Col- church leaders that they were among But church authorities said: "No, orado and migrated with her parents the families chosen to found a colony proceed at any cost." to the Iron Mission. In 1870 she and in the far off corner of San Juan So groups of families back-tracked Stanford Smith were married in the County. About 80 families, from to camp at the springs: Rock Corral, 22 DESERT MAGAZINE Soda Springs, 50-Mile and 40-Mile. wanted to help. Stanford climbed in which the wagon must be lowered to At the latter was a great natural bowl and unlocked the brakes—and paused the river. carved by erosion in the sandstone. long enough to give each of the young- "I'll cross-lock the wheels. Please On its smooth floor the older men, the sters a bear hug. throw me the chains, Belle." women and children danced to pass Arabella climbed in and laid the She did as he asked, and then away the long evenings and forget their baby on the bed and Stanford started jumped down to help. Stanford took cold and hunger. the team toward the crevice through her arm and they walked to the top Grandfather used to tell how they even snared gophers and made stew of them to supplement the meager ra- tions. The younger men set about carving a road down through the Hole. It took them three months to do it— a road more like a crude staircase, down which they hoped they could take their wagons. While men in the Mormon cara- van spent three months widening The families were called to the rim this cleft in the rocks so the wag- and the descent was begun. The wag- ons could be lowered down to ons were lowered one at a time, with the river, the women camped at locked wheels and ropes attached to springs back along the trail to the rear axles, then belayed around a Escalante. stout juniper post, solidly embedded in the rock rim. The strongest men slowly played out the ropes, letting the wagons descend as easily as possi- ble. As road foreman, Stanford had seen little of his family for weeks. He was laboring to exhaustion, first at the rock cut, then on the ferry and the long dugway up the opposite bank of the treacherous river. At last the word came that all the wagons were down, and the crossing on the ferry began. Stanford looked around for his family and wagon, but they were nowhere in sight. He dropped his shovel and climbed to the top of the crevice. There, huddled in a heap of tattered quilts on packed dirty snow he found his wife, her baby swathed in blankets in her arms. "Stanford, I thought you'd never come," she exclaimed. "But where are the other children, and the wagon?" he asked. "They're over there. They moved the wagon back while they took the others down." She pointed to a rusty stovepipe showing above a huge sand- stone boulder. For a moment Stanford's face flushed with rage. He threw his hat on the ground and stomped it—as was his habit when he was angry. "With me down there helping get their wagons on the raft, 1 thought some one would bring my wagon down. Drat 'em!" "I've got the horses harnessed and things all packed," Belle breathlessly assured him as they ran toward the wagon. Stanford hooked up the team, two at the tongue, and old Nig tied to the rear axle. The fourth horse, a cripple, had died at 50-Mile spring. The children woke up, tumbled from their bed in the wagon, and

JUNE, 1954 of the crevice, where hand in hand ford got aboard. "Here we go. Hold chin began quivering and he had to they looked down—10 feet of loose tight to your lines." Arabella smiled grin, knowing by her temper she wasn't sand, then a rocky pitch as steep as at her little brood. "We'll be right too badly hurt. He put his arms around the roof of a house and barely as wide back," she called. her and both began crying, then laugh- as the wagon — below that a dizzy Stanford braced his legs against the ing with relief. chute down to the landing place, once dashboard and they started down They had done it! Had taken the fairly level but now ploughed up with through the Hole-in-the-Rock. The last wagon down — alone. Stanford wheels and hoofs. Below that, they first lurch nearly pulled Belle off her put Belle on the bed in the wagon, could not see, but Stanford knew what feet. She dug her heels in to hold her found the medicine kit and cleaned the was down there—boulders, washouts, balance. Old Nig was thrown to his long gash in her leg. dugways like narrow shelves. But it haunches. Arabella raced after him and "Darling, will you be all right?" was that first drop of 150 feet that the wagon holding to the lines with "Of course 1 will. Just leave me frightened him. desperate strength. Nig rolled to his here and go as fast as you can for the "I am afraid we can't make it," he side and gave a shrill neigh of terror. children." exclaimed. "His dead weight will be as good as a "I'll hurry," he flung over his shoul- "But we've got to make it," she live one," she thought. der and began the steep climb up the answered calmly. Just then her foot caught between incline they had just come down. They went back to the wagon where two rocks. She kicked it free but lost He passed old Nig, who was trying Stanford checked the harness, the axles, her balance and went sprawling after to regain his feet. He climbed too fast the tires, the brakes. He looked at old Nig. She was blinded by the sand and became dizzy. He slowed down, Belle, and felt a surge of admiration which streamed after her. She gritted and looked around. He had driven a for this brave beautiful girl. They had her teeth and hung on to the lines. A wagon down that fearful crevice, and been called to go to San Juan, and jagged rock tore her flesh and hot pain dragged his wife behind. Her clothes they would go. With such a wife, no ran up her leg from heel to hip. The and flesh torn, she had gamely said man could retreat. wagon struck a huge boulder. The she'd "crow-hopped right along." God "If we only had a few men to hold impact jerked her to her feet and flung bless her gallant heart! He kicked the the wagon back we might make it. her against the side of the cliff. rocks at his feet and with tears stream- ing down his face lifted his hat in Belle." The wagon stopped with the team salute to Arabella, his wife. "I'll do the holding back," said wedged under the tongue and Stanford Belle, "on old Nig's lines. Isn't that leaped to the ground and loosened the "Papa! Papa!" a faint call came what he's tied back there for?" tugs to free the team then turned to from far up the crevice. "Any man with sense in his head see what had happened to Arabella. He answered: "Papa's coming, Ada!" wouldn't let a woman do that," he There she stood, her face white against His voice echoed and re-echoed among cried. the red sandstone. the rocks as he called to the children over and over. "What else is there to do?" she He used to tell us she was the most countered. gallant thing he had ever seen as she At last he reached the top to find "But, Belle, the children?" stood there defiant, blood-smeared, the three little ones sitting where their "They will have to stay up here. dirt-begrimed, and with her eyes flash- mother had left them. We'll come back for them." ing dared him to sympathize. "God stayed with us," said Ada. "The baby's gone to sleep an' my arm's "And if we don't come back?" In a shaky voice he asked, "How did 'most broke," said Roy. Little George "We'll come back. We've got to!" you make it. Belle?" woke up and smiled a toothless grin. answered Belle. "Oh 1 crow-hopped right along!' Stanford Smith lifted the baby ten- Carefully she set three-year-old Roy she answered. He looked away. derly in his arms, took his son's hand on a folded quilt back from the crev- He walked to the apparently life- ice. Between his short legs she put the in his, and with Ada clinging to his less form of Nig, felt his flank. It pocket, went down to Arabella. baby and told him: "Hold little brother quivered under his hand and Nig tried Stanford's wagon lumbered out of 'til papa comes for you." to raise his bruised and battered head. She told Ada to sit in front of her the canyon, the team limping painfully. Stanford then looked back up the Old Nig followed behind on trembling brothers and say a little prayer. She crack. Up there on the sharp rocks a kissed each one and tucked quilts legs, his hide torn and bleeding in hundred feet above him waved a piece places. snugly around them. "Don't move of white cloth, a piece of her garment. dears. Don't even stand up. As soon Why she had been dragged all that Just before they reached the river's as we get the wagon down papa will way! edge, five men came into view just come back for you!" ahead of them, carrying chains and "Looks like you lost your handker- ropes. Ada turned to Stanford, "Will you chief, Belle." He tried to force a come back, papa?" He could only nod laugh, instead he choked and grabbed "Look, Stanford," she said. "They a yes and turn away with tears. "Then her to him, his eyes going swiftly over are coming to help." I'm not afraid. We'll stay here with her. A trickle of blood ran down her He cracked his whip and shouted God 'til you and mama get the wagon leg making a pool on the rocks. "Belle, to his team and bore down on the down." And Ada began her little you're hurt! And we're alone here." men evidently without any intention prayer: "Father in heaven bless me "Old Nig dragged me all the way of stopping. They jumped out of the and Roy and baby until our father road just in time. down," she admitted. comes back." "We came back to help you," one "Is your leg broken?" he faltered. To take Belle's mind off the chil- of them began, but Stanford cut him dren, Stanford told her to test Nig's She wouldn't have his sympathy; not short. "How's the ferry, boys? Any lines. "Pull back as hard as you can. just yet anyway. "Does that feel like of it left for us?" I bet you couldn't pull the legs off a it's broken?" she fairly screamed, and "Brother Smith, we didn't—" Again flea." Arabella wrapped the lines kicked his shin with fury. he was cut short. Stanford hadn't got- around her strong supple hands. Stan- He felt like shaking her, but her ten over the bitterness he felt when his

24 DESERT MAGAZINE family and wagon were left stranded get down from the wagons. Others Platt Lyman was their leader. "We above the Hole-in-the-Rock. He leaped down with eagerness, ready to will meet here on this spot tomorrow glanced at Arabella. She was pale. He make a home here. Arabella and her morning for land-drawing," he said, remembered her gallant conduct, and friend Mary Jones were eager to pick "go now and prepare yourselves." He was ashamed of his own ill temper. out their plots, adjoining as they had stressed the fact that Montezuma was "Forget it fellows. We managed been neighbors in Cedar City. "We their original destination; that the fam- fine. My wife here is all the help a can build our houses side by side, of ilies already there were expecting them, fellow needs." Arabella's smile for- this pretty pink stone," cried Arabella, hopefully waiting for help to come, as gave his petulance. They went down and Mary agreed. they were surrounded by hostile Indi- to the ferry, followed by the abashed "Well, it's a wonderful place to camp ans whom they hoped to convert. The men. The wagon was loaded onto the for a while," said Stanford as he un- majority had to go on. raft. Arabella lay on a pallet at the hooked his team. It was the 6th of Stanford failed to draw one of the raft's edge and watched red cliff walls April, 1880. Songs were on the wom- lucky numbers, and he and Arabella recede, then closed her eyes and slept. en's lips as they carried water from went on to Montezuma, and three When Stanford lifted her to the wagon the river to bathe the children—their years later moved to Mancos, Colo- an hour later she was completely re- first real baths since leaving Escalante. rado. Of all the colonists mentioned laxed. And then they washed the clothes. in this story, only the baby, George After they got up out of the can- They must still live in the wagons Abraham Smith, now 74, is living— yon of the Colorado there was still a while the men built homes. And some making his home in the little Mormon long slow journey to reach their final must move on seventeen miles up the colony at Ammon, Idaho. destination at Montezuma Creek on the river to Montezuma for it had become Today a monument stands on the east side of the San Juan River. For evident that this place was too small bank of the Colorado River where two and a half more months the tired for so many families. So they began that historic crossing was made — a caravan plodded eastward from the a lottery for the land. Each head of tribute to the self-sacrifice and cour- Colorado, hewing its way through family lucky enough to draw a land age of the Stanfords and the Arabellas juniper forests, fighting mud which number would receive 15 acres and a of that heroic period in Western his- balled the wheels into solid disks, slid- small city lot. tory. ing down the slick clay hills where the wheels could get no traction, climbing from canyon to mesa and back to canyon over and over again. Each mile of the long trek was a PHOTO CONTEST... in June fight to conquer weariness, hunger, discouragement and fear, in bitter win- If you get up and out early enough one morning this June, you ter weather. Finally they came to their may find a night-blooming cereus still blossoming in the dawn. Or last barrier — San Juan Hill. For a watch one at night and use flash equipment for a camera study of week they pitted their strength against this interesting desert flower to submit in Desert Magazine's June its slippery sandstone and almost gave Picture-of-the-Month contest. up. But they had to make it! And Of course photo contest subject matter is not limited to night- they did, but the trail was strewn with blooming cereus. Anything of the desert Southwest—animal, vege- broken spokes, worn-out shoes, live- table or mineral—is eligible. Winners are selected on the basis of stock that had collapsed from exhaus- good composition, unusual subject treatment, clear focus and sharp tion. Men toiled and sweated goading contrast of black and white. the wagons on and up. Entries for the June contest must be in the Desert Magazine office. The caravan finally crawled back to Palm Desert, California, by June 20, and the winning prints will appear the San Juan's brink and found be- in the August issue. Pictures which arrive too late for one contest are tween weird bluffs of many-colored held over for the next month. First prize is $10; second prize $5.00. sandstone a tiny green valley. They For non-winning pictures accepted for publication $3.00 each will be stopped because they could go no paid. farther. Here was grass, water, good soil—a place to rest and recuperate. HERE ARE THE RULES It had a fierce untamed beauty that refreshed them. There were fish in 1—Prints for monthly contests must be black and white, 5x7 or larger, printed the river and rabbits in the willows— on glossy paper. food. They decided to call their new 2—Each photograph submitted should be fully labeled as to subject, time and home Bluff. place. Also technical data: camera, shutter speed, hour of day, etc. 3—PRINTS WILL BE RETURNED WHEN RETURN POSTAGE IS ENCLOSED. "End of the Trail," sang out one of the men. "This is San Juan." 4—All entries must be in the Desert Magazine office by the 20th of the contest month. "But it's so small—no bigger than 5—Contes'.s are open to both amateur and professional photographers. Desert a backyard," protested his wife. Magazine requires first publication rights only of prize winning pictures. "Where is the fort? The Indians? Our 6—Time and place of photograph are immaterial, except that it must be from the own people?" (A settlement had al- desert Southwest. ready been established at Montezuma 7—Judges will be selected from Desert's editorial staff, and awards will be made Creek.) immediately after the close of the contest each month. "This is not Montezuma, but it's Address All Entries to Photo Editor decided we stay here. We can't go on." Some of the women refused to IDe&ent W&yayute PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA believe this small parcel of land was their destination and were reluctant to

JUNE, 1954 25 TOUd By MARGARET SHELTON Vista, California Needing only sunshine A toe-hold in the rocks Nothing half so dainty Comes in a florist's box. Fragile as a butterfly Shy of the oft used trail Sends its petals riding High on the desert's gale.

DESERT REVERIE By ORVAL RICKETTS Farmington, New Mexico Pale blue of pinyon smoke ascends To drift above the sage In lazy spirals, like my thoughts Soar off beyond the page. The pungent fragrance fills the air With potent scent of pine. As redolent as timbered hill. As heady as a wine. These wisps of wafted smoke somehow bscnscnoltzia glyptosperma, a typical Mo/ave Desert poppy. Photo by Stir strange, far thoughts in me, As if this healing incense might Mary Beat of Daggett, California. Be spirit of the tree. DESERT HAVEN YUCCA By ALICE BRILEY By GEORGIA JORDAN Albuquerque, New Mexico San Diego, California NOSTALGIA This is landscape from a fantasy. Unyielding bayonets of rooted green By GRACE BARKER WILSON Objects are rigid. They appear to be Protect the rounded yucca spires that gleam Kirtland, New Mexico Savagely threatening and vigilant. Upon the western hills, bright with the The sun is a metal shield and every plant sheen I want to hear the coyotes howl on some far Is armored. Hard to believe these spears Of morning sun on temple bells of cream; hill. are warm Fair cloisters for the insect choirs that sing And the crackle of the campfire break the With shelter for such tender things. No A happy welcome to the new-born Spring. evening still. storm I want to watch the red of sunset skies grow Disturbs the Elf Owl in her spine-thatched • • • dim. house. DESERT GOLD And see the purple sage against the canyon rim. The wren in the mesquite thorn, the dancing By MARY PERDEW mouse I want to hear the wind as it goes whistling See nothing alien in their home but find Not hidden by the aging rocks on. The desert a pioneer mother, austere but Nor deep beneath the sands. And the lowing of the cattle when the sun kind. The gleaming gold that all may share. is gone. • • • Is far from seeking hands, I want to see the friendly stars come close Remote from weary, futile search. and bright, PURPLE HAZE Long wanderings and toil, And sleep out on the range land on a moon- The finest and the brightest gold lit night. By A. L. TOULOUSE Is not within the soil. Costa Mesa, California Though Nature guards her secrets well Yours is no magic glory. At times, near close of day Spun of burnished gold, The wonder of the treasure shines, CANYON ARTIST Splashing the heavens with beauty In glorious array. By ELSIE MCKINNON STRACHAN No heart can ever hold. Pure gold, for all the world. Santa Ana, California It lies in Desert sunsets. Yours is no trailing crimson. Flaming skies. Unnoticing the tourists' probing eyes, Nor gaudy banner flying. Nor conscious that her wrap was out of That changes every moment place As the day is dying. I LIKE THE DESERT Among the tanning throng, she searched the skies Yours is the breath of solitude. By AMY VIAU Above the canyon, watched the low-sun's Silently drifting down Santa Ana, California pace. And gently wrapping about the land 1 walked in the desert and did not care Beside her easel on the look-out rim A hazy purple gown. That sand filled my shoes and wind blew She placed pastels of every shade and hue; Yours is the curtain of tranquility my hair; And there, while daylight's sky grew quickly That beckons the coming night. For I like the desert and its wind and sand dim. And modulates the harmony of brilliance Are one with the reaching desert land. She blended colors where the page was new. To a subdued pastel light. And then, as windowed light of El Tovar I gazed through the sunny arid air Pricked through pine scented dusk, her Yours is the desert vesper hour And beheld the desert, everywhere. fingers sped. That comes to this land of stone. Its vastness reigning victoriously She sketched the mighty chasm, its shad- And fills the air with music, O'er land once ruled by the rushing sea. owed scar A song in a whispered tone. Of stream, the sun's mauve footprints over- 1 walked in the desert where tall cacti wear head. Yours is the hymn of twilight That special dignity desert plants share; Yet, some of narrow stature thought her Bringing sleep beneath your span. The sand purred where I walked — such odd — Yours is the will of God, purring could be. Whose fingers traced this moving glimpse Giving comfort and peace to man. Since I like the desert, perhaps it likes me. of God.

26 DESERT MAGAZINE that half of the questions have been The Over-rated Concentrator . . . asked over and over again. The Des- Searchlight, Nevada ert Quiz Master has been improving Desert: lately and has come up with a few I have always liked your fine maga- new questions that are really lulus, but zine, and I was shocked to find a could he junk some of those stock highly inaccurate article on page 24 ummAnd the Waters Prevailed . . . queries regarding the location of the of the April number. Englewood, Colorado Lost Dutchman Mine, the fact that "Wilson, Nevada," the mining item Desert: Tombstone was noted for silver and was headed, and it began: "One-hun- "In the six hundredth year of Noah's that the capital of New Mexico is dred percent recovery of gold is the life, in the second month, the seven- Santa Fe? By now we have memor- claim of inventor . . ." The so-called teenth day of the month, the same day ized the answers to these and other "concentrate classifier" which this were all the fountains of the great over-and-over-againers, and it hardly paragraph described happens to be deep broken up, and the windows of seems fair to take credit for them. located on my property, which, inci- heaven were opened. And the rain The general consensus of opinion dentally, is 42, not 60, miles from was upon the earth forty days and up here seems to be that the multiple- Las Vegas. The machine is not a suc- forty nights. And the waters prevailed, choice type quiz is favored over the cess and everyone who has seen it has and were increased greatly upon the true-false. It is better for a group not called it a success, and it certainly earth; and the ark went upon the face when nobody agrees and everybody does not move about a thousand yards. of the waters . . . and all the high hills, wants to scatter. The operators are lucky to get two that were under the whole heaven, Even as is, the quiz section is a high- yards through the thing in an hour. were covered. And every living sub- light in Desert Magazine. stance was destroyed which was upon There is no machine operating in the face of the ground, both man, and DOROTHY PETERS Alaska, as both machines are here on my property. One machine was oper- cattle, and the creeping things, and Thanks, Dorothy Peters, for your the fowl of the heaven; and they were ating until 1 cancelled the lease March letter. The Quiz Master has no alibi. 26 because it was not concentrating destroyed from the earth: and Noah He admits he just sorta got in a rut. only remained alive, and they that were and it recovered a very small percent- But he'll try to do better—and if the age of the values. with him in the ark." Genesis, Chapter June Quiz is a toughy it's all your 7: verses 11, 12, 18, 19, 23. fault. As appreciation for your let- LEON V. GARLAND With such a simple explanation for ter, Desert will give a year's sub- • • • the finding of dinosaur fossils, why scription to the member of your For Campfire Control . . . must we say that no one knows the group who wins the June Quiz. If Flagstaff, Arizona cause of their wholesale destruction? it's a tie, they'll have to flip a coin Desert: We may consult any King James ver- or draw lots. We're not kidding, we I agree with Dr. Edmund Jaeger sion of the Bible and we shall find really mean this—and we'll depend (April Desert) that the wood camp- that approximately in 2349 B.C., 4302 on you to send us the name, and if fire is the highlight of an outdoor trip. years ago, the entire earth was de- you win it yourself, more power to Cooking over a ready-built fireplace stroyed by a tremendous flood. Why you.—R.H. at an established campground is about make it so difficult for ourselves in • • • as satisfying as cooking on a gas range. trying to estimate just how many "mil- The Lost Dutchman Mine . . . However, the camper must exercise lions" of years ago these animals were caution in building and tending his buried, when the Good Book tells us Los Angeles, California Desert: campfire. I have heard campers insist the complete answer in simple lan- that three rocks on two feet of duff guage any child can understand? I think I have read almost every story ever published about the Lost made a fire perfectly safe—and I have JAMES E. WILHITE Dutchman Mine, and in 1941 spent had to put out the flames that crawled about two months in the Superstitions out after they had left the site believ- Quiz Fan's Plea . . . looking for the fabulously rich vein. ing the fire out. I know that most Desert Magazine Desert: The stories put out by some of the writers are, in my opinion, just bunk. readers are experienced campers and How about some new blood for an too much in love with Nature to burn old favorite, the Desert Quiz? Some writers talk about surface veins. The Superstition Mountains do even a struggling clump of sage brush Everybody I know who reads Des- unnecessarily. As an unconscious mat- ert Magazine (and there is an eager not have any veins showing at the sur- face; there has not been sufficient ero- ter of habit, I am sure they would group of Desert fans in this end of never place their rocks or start a fire Nevada) turns to the quiz page first sion to expose them. Others tell of placers and arrastres. They never saw without first making sure that it could —as many people seek a newspaper's not crawl away out of control. comics before reading the headlines. either in the Superstitions. In our own little crowd, we await the In 1941, a friend of mine and I had But to those readers who may not arrival of Desert each month with a pack outfit owned by Abe L. Reid be so careful or experienced, I would anticipation as to what the quiz will who had spent 40 years in the Super- sound this warning: First, clear your hold, then all assemble and take the stitions working for different ranches fire site of all burnable material for a test together. Arguments, even wagers and hoping to find the lost mine. He distance of at least two feet in all di- ensue, and the winner doesn't let the told us that in all those years he had rections. Then, and only then, is it runners-up forget for a minute for the never seen the color of gold. safe to start the fire. rest of the month that he is top man I understand Herman Petrasch, My experience makes me partial to in desert lore. With the arrival of the whose version of the Lost Dutchman the sheep herder's fireplace, dug in next issue, he may be deposed and a story was published in the January the soil. If I intend to stay in one new king crowned. issue, passed away in November, 1953, place for more than one day, I prefer There is nothing so disconcerting as at the age of 92. to cook under the fire. to begin one of these quizzes and find V. H. GOODMAN PAUL M. ELLIS

JUNE, 1954 27 Finders Keepers? . . . Water Hope for Desert . . . tion, the desert offers as good a place Glendale, California Los Angeles, California as any for water development. It will Desert: Desert: not be made to bloom overnight as a I was very interested in the story, It has been my pleasure closely to result of the Riess discovery, because "Lost Wells-Fargo Gold" in the April observe the work of Stephen Riess, the lack of hard-rock well-drilling issue of Desert Magazine, and I am controversial primary water hydrolo- "know-how" and inadequacy of equip- wondering who would become the gist, for many years. Confusion cre- ment impedes its progress. New sonic legal owner if this lost gold were to be ated by technical errors in articles such well-drilling devices offer a possible found? as "New Source of Water for Desert solution to this problem. ENOS SNYDER Lands?" by Gaston Burridge (April LLOYD ROOKE Desert) gives comfort and argument So many factors enter into the to critics of his well-locating methods. question of who may properly claim It is not possible in a short letter such Sage and Sagebrush . . . lost treasure that it is impossible to as this to describe the sound founda- San Bernardino, California answer it unless all the specific cir- tion for his work; rather, it is hoped Desert: cumstances are known — whether the following explanation may help to I note there has been some discus- the discovery was accidental or the clarify the situation. sion in Desert about the names creo- result of a considerable expenditure Geologists, hydrologists in particu- sote bush and greasewood as applied of time and money, whether the land to desert shrubs. was public or private, whether the lar, are generally agreed that the earth's original owner or his heirs can or water is either internal or external in Confusing greasewood and creosote cannot be positively established, etc. basic origin. The latter is derived from is almost as bad as the error made by Not even a lawyer would attempt to the well-known precipitation cycle; the writers who refer io desert brush col- answer your question in advance of former, from little understood petro- lectively as sagebrush. That really the discovery.—R.H. logic processes. According to this defi- puts my nerves on edge. Actually, nition the great mass of existing water there isn't a single plant of sagebrush is predominantly external in origin. among the various kinds of plants There is no controversy about either they are referring to collectively. Sage- If You Wear of these conclusions. brush does not grow in the low south- SPECS ern deserts, except perhaps an occa- With particular reference to ground- You Need sional plant near the base of the foot- water locations, hydrologists have been hills. and are primarily concerned with ex- ternal water. Procedures for its loca- Sagebrush is not the same as sage, SPBCTO tion involve a knowledge of physical if you please. That's another mistake factors such as porosity, percolation, that makes the plant-lover bite his precipitation, drainage, etc. For this fingernails. Sagebrush is artemisia. SHIELD reason wells are first located, as a rule, Sage is salvia. Yucca is not a cactus, in the porous lowlands of valleys or but a lily. Ocotillo is neither cactus ANTI-GLARE PROTECTION basins, then located up the slopes to nor lily. It is fouquiera. How many times have 1 heard people refer to both for work, play, reading, driving, sports, tele- the economic limit of pumping from vision. Just snap them on your glasses and see a more or less uniform subsurface these latter species as cactus. Might better, feel safer when driving in the sunlight water level. as well confuse a walnut with a grape- or toward glaring headlights at night. fruit—they both grow on trees don't Opaque or transparent styles—$1.00 A part of the water of internal or- they? I am not a botanist. BALBOA ENTERPRISES igin, that defined by Riess with refer- 507 East Balboa Blvd., Balkoa, California ence to the precipitation cycle as "pri- EDWIN F. WIEGAND mary," represents water of original • • • occurrence. Its location involves mainly River at Mexican Hat . . . a knowledge of the chemistry of petro- KEEP VOUR IMPS... logic processes and none of the afore- Milwaukee, Wisconsin Every month Desert Magazine mentioned factors. For this reason the Desert: carries two or three maps especi- Riess primary wells are located in I was interested in the news item ally prepared for readers who practically impervious rock, the high- from Mexican Hat, Utah, published come to the desert for recreation land of the valleys and basins. in the April issue of Desert Magazine, or field trips. which told of the new bridge being These maps are best retained Misunderstanding of this distinction built over the Colorado River at that for permanent reference by filing has resulted in much criticism by what point. your copy of Desert Magazine we might distinguish as practicing sec- My goodness, how can this be? I each month in one of the loose- ondary external water hydrologists. am sure that I crossed the San Juan leaf binders supplied by the Riess readily admits his knowledge of River at Mexican Hat last June 27. I magazine publishers. the process is incomplete. Many new felt at the time that the new bridge Covered with imitation leather wells must be drilled to perfect pri- was sorely needed. and gold embossed, each binder mary water hydrology. Statistically, Thanks for a fine magazine. But holds 12 copies. They are easy the record is most impressive. Aca- hereafter let's cross the beautiful San to insert and they lie flat when demic support comes not from second- Juan at Mexican Hat—or do I have ary water hydrologists but rather from the wrong hat? open. MAILED POSTPAID FOR metallurgists, petrologists, mining ge- LEROY S. TAYLOR $2.00 ologists and desert rats who know good and well that some spring waters Reader Taylor is indeed right. HE did not originate in the atmosphere. It was Desert's exchange editor who got his hats mixed up. For his Since precipitation does not affect PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA stupidity he has been awarded a primary water well production or loca- Dunce's Hat.—R.H.

28 DESERT MAGAZINE COTTONWOOD—John W. Strat- ton has assumed duties as superintend- Here and Jhete on the Desett... ent of Tuzigoot National Monument. A former personnel assistant at South- ARIZONA Indian Liquor Vote . . . western National Monument headquar- ters at Globe, he succeeds J. W. Apaches Elect Woman . . . PHOENIX—Arizona voters will be Brewer, now superintendent at Wu- asked in the November general election SAN CARLOS — A quiet-spoken patki National Monument. — Verde to lift the ban on sale of liquor to Independent. 28-year-old woman with a sincere in- Indians. The resolution provides for terest in the welfare of her people is lifting of the ban on Indian liquor • • • the first member of her sex to be sales after July 1, 1957. However, CALIFORNIA elected to the San Carlos Apache In- Indians would be able to buy liquor Tramway Path Cleared . . . dian Tribal Council. She is Pricilla immediately upon approval by the elec- Smith, graduate of Indian Service torate in off-reservation establishments. PALM SPRINGS—Construction of schools and Haskell Institute in Kan- —Phoenix Gazette. the Mt. San Jacinto Tramway, proj- sas, where she took a two-year com- ected on plans as the largest and high- • • • mercial course. New chairman of the est in the world, is scheduled to start San Carlos tribe is Jess J. Stevens, Hopis Report to Phoenix . . . late this year or early in 1955. Final former vice-chairman; Oliver Talgo PHOENIX — Secretary of Interior obstacle to the project was cleared in succeeds Stevens in the latter capacity. Douglas McKay has announced that April when Secretary of Interior Doug- Other councilors are Fred Naltazan, the Hopi Indian Agency, located las McKay approved an exchange of Briton Goode, Ernest Victor, Paul wholly in Arizona, soon will send ad- land which granted the Winter Park Anderson, Manuel Hinton, Marvin ministrative reports to the Phoenix Authority right-of-way across a half Mull, Harrison Porter and Willis Titla. Area Office of the Bureau of Indian section of land in the San Bernardino Retiring chairman is Clarence Wesley, Affairs instead of to New Mexico. Ef- National Forest 2700 feet above sea who had held the post for three years. fective date of the transfer of admin- level on the almost perpendicular side —Phoenix Gazette. istrative jurisdiction has not yet been of Mt. San Jacinto. For more than four years the granting of this right-of- • • • worked out. way, upon which two giant steel towers • • • Father Abandons Search . . . of the tramway will be located, has YUMA—John Walker has finally Desalting Tests Readied . . . been opposed by conservation groups given up hope for his daughter June, PHOENIX — Government chemists which fear that the tramway will open who disappeared with her companion, have completed preliminary studies of the wilderness area to persons who Klaus Martens, on the Yuma desert in Salt River Valley water wells being would not appreciate the wonders of July, 1951. The New York insurance considered as sites for testing a process the virgin mountain area. Under terms man had planned a final 3-week search to reduce by electrolysis the salt con- of the land transaction, the Winter for the pair but abandoned it after tent of irrigation water. Tests are Park Authority deeded one full section seeing the desert for the first time this scheduled to begin in fall. According of land situated near the headwaters April. Until the search trip to Yuma, to R. J. McMullen, general manager of Snow Creek at the 5000-foot eleva- the easterner had had no conception of the Salt River Valley Water Users tion for the 326 acres of land at the of what the desert was like. He was Association, there is a growing prob- 2700-foot elevation. The proposed overwhelmed by its vastness and deso- lem of salt concentration in valley tramway is expected to cost between lation and accepted its ability to swal- lands. With the lowering of the water eight and ten million dollars.—Desert low up his daughter without a trace. table, he explained, mineralized waters Sun. Miss Walker and Martens disappeared at lower levels are not carried off in after their rented light plane appar- drainage but are recirculated by pump- ently made a forced landing on the ing, thus increasing the salinity of the desert. Their tracks led from the un- soil.—Phoenix Gazette. damaged plane but were lost in the • • • Antique Sundials sand after a few hundred feet.— Yuma Made of solid bronze, collected Daily Sun. KEAMS CANYON — Clyde W. Pensoneau, a member of the Indian • • • from historical places of the West. Bureau staff at the Colorado River Old ranches, Spanish, Indian and Mark Victims' Graves . . . Agency, Parker, Arizona, has been Civil War battlefields, Coronado's SENTINEL—A brass plate bearing named superintendent of the Hopi the Oatman family name and a brief Agency at Keams Canyon. Pensoneau winter camp of 1541. history of their massacre by Tonto served the Colorado River tribe as The original dial I found in the Apache Indians in 1850 now marks agricultural extension agent since 1952. remains of a burned wagon train the victims' burial spot 15 miles north He has been with the Bureau for 13 on the old Santa Fe Trail just south of here. The historical marker was years. of Raton, New Mexico. placed by the Arizona Society, Daugh- ters of the American Revolution. The SAVE MONEY! Diameter 12 inches, has Roman I)O IT YOTJBSBLF! numerals on face and bears the in- Oatmans left an immigrant train to Complete instructions in scription "Time Takes All But Mem- "Home Raircutting Sim- continue alone to California, were plified." Easy directions ories." Weight 8 pounds. Story of overtaken by Indians and the mother, for cutting men's, wom- it all and instructions on how to set en's, children's hai it correctly in your garden with each father and one child killed. One boy, clear illustrations — ,vrit- dial. $30.00 delivered in U.S. and thrown over a cliff and believed dead, ten by a profession 1 barber. Speciap l sec- tion on cutting an thinninhii g ffor Home Canada. recovered and escaped. Two daughters Permanents. Pays fo Itself with One Hair- cut. Satisfaction ran teed. were taken into captivity where one Only $1.00 postpaid — Cash, check or M.O. MOORE C. HESS died and the other, Olive, later was (Penna. residents please add lc sales tax) Write for prices on genuine barber tools. BOX 7188 rescued and reunited with her brother. MR. CHARLES OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA —Phoenix Gazette. DEPT. F, 1406 POCONO STREET, PITTSBURGH IS, PA.

JUNE, 1954 JUDGES NOW SELECTING WRITING CONTEST WINNERS THE DESERT TRADING POST Many readers responded to Desert Magazine's latest writing contest, which Classified Advertising in This Section Costs 10c a Word, $1.50 Minimum Per Issue closed May 20, with stories of how they had succeeded in attracting des- ert birds to their homes. Most of the BOOKS — MAGAZINES CLOSING OUT—For many years we have served you, our friends and customers, entries were from folks untrained in BOOKS FOUND—Any title! Free world- with the finest of Reservation Indian made professional journalism; many of the wide book search service. Any book, artifacts, but now the time has come for manuscripts submitted represented first new or old. Western Americana a spe- us to retire from active business. We writing attempts of their authors. cialty. Lowest price. Send wants today! are offering our selected stock at a sub- International Bookfinders, Box 3003-D, stantial discount for quick disposal. You Members of Desert's editorial staff Beverly Hills. California. may now buy things you could not afford selected to act as judges in the contest at former prices. Many items of interest are carefully considering entries, read- BOOKS ON GEMS — Rare, old, out-of- to collectors. Daniels Indian Trading print books in many languages. Stamp Post, 16299 Foothill Blvd. (Highway 66) ing and re-reading them until final se- for list. Willems. Box 1515, Chicago 90. Fontana. California. lections are made, and results will be FOR SALE: Large Indian collection, ollas, announced in the July issue. INDIAN GOODS baskets, artifacts. Write for list. Chevron Station, Borrego Springs, California. WANT PARTNER: have gold so rich can 6 PERFECT ANCIENT FLINT arrowheads see the gold in rock: I have mill. 50% $2.00. Fine double bladed tomahawk REAL ESTATE for $2,500 cash. J. S. Wisdom, Tonopah, $3.00. Grooved granite war club $2.00. Nevada, via Fish Lake Valley. Perfect peace pipe $5.00. 6 fine bird ar- 82 ACRES WITH WATER RIGHTS: East- rows $2.00. 2 flint knives $1.00. 6" to 7" ern High Sierra. Fishing, hunting area. IMPORT-EXPORT! Opportunity profitable, Perfect spearhead $7.00. All offers Ideal for Trailer Park or subdivide for world-wide, mail-order business from $20.00. List Free. Lear's. Glenwood, cabin sites. Box 417. Bishop. California. home, without capital, or travel abroad. Arkansas. Established World Trader ships instruc- CAFE FULLY EQUIPPED (living quart- tions for no-risk examination. Experience AUTHENTIC INDIAN SONGS and chants ers). Mobilgas station, garage: with 5 unnecessary. Free details. Mellinger. on high fidelity phonograph records. Re- rental units. Going business. Also, want A-986. Los Angeles 24, California. corded by well known tribal singers — partner promoting new desert resort. Natay, Pop Chalee, Chief Spotted Back Acreage one to 300 acres. Come and FIND YOUR OWN beautiful Gold nug- Hamilton, H. Lomawaima, J. Gachupin stop with us. Ocotillo Wells Inn, High- gets! It's fun! Beginners' illustrated in- and others. For catalogue write Canyon way 78. San Diego Co., or write Box 86. struction book! $1.00. Gold pan. $2.00. Records, 834 North 7th Avenue. Phoenix, Del Mar. California. Where to go? Gold placer maps. South- Arizona. ern California, Nevada, Arizona. $1.00 BEAUTIFUL DESERT RETREAT 4 miles each state. All three maps $2.00. Desert FOR SALE—Collection of several thou- south of Indio, 26 miles SE of Palm Jim, Box 604. Stockton. California. sand arrowheads and yumas, made in Springs. Home built by reputable con- Oregon about 60 years ago. Almost in- tractor with his own crew for his own GOLD PROSPECTING CATALOG—List- tact and 95% perfect specimens. Prob- use. located top of magnificent sand dune ing, placer and lode maps, steel gold pans, ably largest and finest collection ever planted to mesquite and flowering desert mining and mineral books, books on lost offered publicly. Should bring $25,000 shrubs. All surrounded by ten acres mines, pocket magnifying glasses, min- in active tourist market. Details on ap- young Ruby Blush grapefruit trees. Owner eral collection sets, blueprints of dry plication. Seaside Stamp Shop. 307 now forced to leave valley will sell at washers and wet washers you can build Broadway, Seaside. Oregon. cost. $47,000. Write Ronald L. Johnson, yourself. Catalog and Gold Panning Les- Thermal, California. son — Free. Old Prospector. Box 729. Desk 5, Lodi, California. PRICED TO SELL: Picturesque modern mountain home. Large rooms and fire- DESERT TEA. One pound one dollar Pinon Incense... place with rock and gemshop adjoining. postpaid. Greasewood Greenhouses. Len- Good water. 5 acres of land with trees, wood, Barstow, California. Bring the delightful fragrance fronting highway 67. Beautiful view. of the Pinyon Forest into your Building sites, healthful climate, no smog. NEW CALIFORNIA State Topographic 1800 ft. elevation. Natural lake site. Map 64x90" $2.50. Lost mines of 10 home or office. The burner is a Write for Kodak picture and terms. Rock- Southwestern states, with map $1.75. miniature model of the outdoor house Gem Shop, Star Route, Lakeside, Sectionized County maps: San Bernar- baking ovens used by prehis- California. dino, Riverside $1.00 each, lnyo. Mono, toric Indians, and still in use in Kern, Los Angeles 75c each. Imperial, San Diego 50c each. New series of Ne- New Mexico pueblos. When NEAR SALTON SEA—80 acres flat land $1595 (full price) $35.00 down $30.00 vada County maps $1.00 each. Joshua the little cones of genuine pin- month. Act now! Pon & Co. Box 546- Tree-Twentynine Palms area $1.56. Town- yon pine are burned in this tiny DM. Azusa, Calif. ship blanks, all sizes. Lode or Placer location notice forms 5c each. Topo- oven the aroma is a breath of graphical maps in California, Nevada. the outdoor Southwest. MISCELLANEOUS Utah, Arizona and all other Western Kills kitchen and bathroom states. Westwide Maps Co., 114'/2 W. FREE CATALOGUE: Make profitable Third St., Los Angeles, California. odors and removes the smell of costume jewelry. Quality findings, lowest prices, rhinestone, supplies. Box 552, stale tobacco. Pueblo Indians EE, Pasadena, California. GHOST TOWN ITEMS: Sun-colored glass, burn pinyon for nasal and amethyst to royal purple; ghost railroads bronchial ailments. GET YOUR SAMPLE COPY of Gritzner's materials, tickets; limited odd items from Geode "The friendly little mineral pub- camps of the '60s. Write your interest— Burner and 15 cones....$1.75 lication" including our latest price list of Box 64-D. Smith, Nevada. Burner and 54 cones... 3.00 quality minerals, books, magazines, min- Extra cones, 36 for 1.50 eralights, Geiger Counters, Rockhound AVAILABLE: four 8x10 glossy photos Specials and lapidary equipment — 25c showing over 100 dried plant decorations Postpaid to You please. Gritzner's Minerals. Mesa 3, Ariz. for home use. With list $1.00. Palm Valley Ranch, Box 70. Palm Springs. I WILL SELL my rights and interest and California. D6S6RT CRAFTS SHOP my holdings in and on five claims stra- Palm Desert, California tegically located. Have land and mining SILVERY DESERT HOLLY PLANTS: value. Joe Melee. 1007 Belleview, San One dollar each postpaid. Greasewood Bernardino. California. Greenhouses, Lenwood, Barstow, Calif.

30 DESERT MAGAZINE Try, Try Again . . . New Superintendent Named . . . public inspection January 1, 1937. NEEDLES — For a distance of DEATH VALLEY—Following the The last person in line that day was about six miles immediately below resignation of T. R. Goodwin as super- number 4,999,980. The five-millionth Davis Dam, the clear cool water re- intendent of Death Valley National visitor had to wait until early April 2. leased from the dam has scoured the Monument April 1, the Park Service —Las Vegas Review-Journal. Colorado River bottom bed down to office in Washington announced the • • • exposed gravel and rubble, providing appointment of Fred Binnewies of Navy Considers Lake Mead . . . fair to good trout habitat. The warmer Bandelier National Monument as LAS VEGAS—Rumors have been silt-free water of Topock Swamp and Goodwin's successor. Ted Ogston, flying in Las Vegas that the U. S. Navy Lake Havasu, just below Needles, pro- chief ranger, who has been eligible for is considering an installation at Lake vides habitat for large mouth bass. retirement for some time, but who re- Mead, but no official confirmation of But in that section of the river between mained as acting superintendent after reports has been made. A cadre of Needles and the Nevada line, the river Goodwin was seriously injured in an Navy men has been quartered at Nellis bottom is mainly fine sand in continu- automobile accident several months Air Force Base and the officers have ous movement downstream, and sum- ago, also has resigned active duty in been reported "highly interested" in mertime water temperatures are mostly the Park Service. Goodwin is making the Lake Mead area, giving rise to too cold for warm water fish and too his home at present in Las Vegas, speculation that a base is planned warm for trout. The California De- Nevada. there.—Las Vegas Review-Journal. partment has made several unsuccess- • • • • • • ful plants in the difficult river stretch Indians Prefer Status Quo . . . Lake Mead Cabin Sites . . . and soon will try again—this time with PALM SPRINGS — Five years is BOULDER CITY—A second vaca- the small mouth bass, an "in-between" too short a time to put the Indians on tion cabin site area has been opened fish whose temperature tolerance is a basis of equality with their white in the Lake Mead National Recreation somewhere between warm water and brothers, believes Cruz Siba, Palm Area. The latest group of lots was cold water varieties. About 15,000 Springs Indian. The proposed term- made available in April by the National will be planted in early summer. — ination bill is too drastic, he told Riv- Park Service. It is located 16 miles Desert Star. erside County supervisors, and charged south of Overton on the shore of Lake • • • that an attempt is being made to push Mead in the vicinity of Stewart Point. Swims Across Salton Sea . . . the bill regardless of how the Indians The 89 lots in the parcel are being MECCA—Ray Carmassi, 25-year- themselves feel. If only five years is made available as part of a new pro- old swimming instructor, became the allowed for training the Indians for gram designed to give more oppor- first person to swim across Salton Sea citizenship, a large percentage of them tunity for recreational use of the reser- when he negotiated the choppy waters will become charity cases, he said. Siba voirs created by Davis and Hoover April 11, from Salton Sea Beach on believes the Indians would prefer re- dams.—Las Vegas Re view-Journal. the south side to Desert Beach across maining wards of the government to the sea on the north shore. Time was being given their freedom uneducated, 11 hours, 10 minutes and 31 seconds. discriminated against and incapable of 1000 TRAVEL SCENES Because of adverse conditions, he did earning a living.—Date Palm. not attempt the return swim as origin- • • • ally planned.—Desert Sun. NEVADA • • • Indians Protest Self-Rule . . . SPECIAL OFFER Ask Mono Monument . . . LAS VEGAS—Nevada Indians are To introduce readers of DESEKT to our MAMMOTH — A Forest Service 2"x2" COLOR SLIDES for home projec- seeking to halt a congressional bill tion, we are offering a FREE 20 page field survey of the Mono Craters south which would transfer federal reserva- catalog and a FREE sample color slide. Travel, Science, Nature, National Parks of Mammoth may be made this sum- tion lands to the state. While the and the southwest. Write today to — mer, according to Mr. and Mrs. John Indians are not in disagreement with Haddaway who are leading efforts to KELLY D. CHODA the intent of the law, they believe that BOX 588 STANFORD, CALIF. establish the craters area as a national Nevada Indians are not yet ready for monument. The Haddaways have or- total self-rule. Many tribesmen, In- ganized the Save-the-California-Scen- dian spokesmen claim, cannot read or ery Society at Mammoth in the inter- write and are incapable of managing ests of preserving the natural beauty their medical expenses and other costs. of the Mono Craters.—Inyo Register. In the event the bill is passed, the • • • spokesman recommend that a state HOTEL Museum Group Gets Kilns . . . board be set up with representation LONE PINE — The old charcoal from the governor's office and various tribal units to help the Indians in the EUEROH kilns south of Lone Pine, which played FIGUHOA AT OLYMPIC ILVD. an important part in the early develop- transition. — Las Vegas Review-Jour- with ment of Inyo County, have been pre- nal. wv4 'T ,, * motel sented to the Eastern California Mu- • • • •S^fe—L i«*5« prices seum Association by the Columbia- 5.000,000th Visitor . . . Southern Chemical Corporation. The BOULDER CITY—It was an April grant included a P/4-acre parcel of Fool's joke on the Boulder City Bureau Heated swimming pool land on which the kilns are located, of Reclamation office, Hoover Dam exclusively fur guests... with right of access to the property ample parking... fine food officials and the Boulder City Chamber modwtlj priced... only from Highway 6-395. The kilns were of Commerce. Officials from the three 2 blocks from Staller Center. built nearly 85 years ago to furnish organizations waited all day April 1 EAftL J WOLFOBD. Manaqm charcoal for the famous Cerro Colo- to greet the five-millionth visitor to rado lead-silver mine in the mountains take the guided dam tour since the above Keeler.—Inyo Independent. giant reservoir was first opened to

JUNE, 1954 31 NEW MEXICO Uranium Gives Navajos Hope . . . UTAH RR Hires Indian Guides . . . WASHINGTON—The current ur- To Explore Colorado River . . . SANTA FE—Indian guides in full anium boom on reservation lands will MOAB—John M. Goddard of Los tribal costume now ride Santa Fe Rail- not solve all of the Navajo troubles— Angeles, first man in history to travel way's streamlined Super Chief east- but it will help. Recent discoveries of the entire length of the Nile River, bound and El Capitan westbound to great pockets of raw uranium on tribal will embark soon on a second voyage. explain to passengers the various land- lands may bring new and much-needed With a scientist companion, he plans marks, history and colorful sights of wealth to the tribe. Roughly $470,000 to explore the Colorado River from a the Southwest. Three Indians from went into the tills of the Navajo Tribal point in Utah to the Gulf of California. Zuni Pueblo have been assigned to Council from rentals and royalties of Detailed investigation of side canyons ride the two trains in New Mexico be- uranium lands for the year ending June and caves along the 1800-mile river tween Gallup and Raton. They are 30, 1953—and this is only a starting is main objective of the trip. Accom- personable and good conversational- trickle in the flood of dollars which panying Goddard will be Dr. Arthur ists, and the information service they should accrue during the next few A. Holmgren of the U. S. Agricultural provide is proving popular with trav- years. In addition, new jobs for In- College at Logan, Utah, well-known elers.—New Mexican. dians should be created by the $2,750,- botanist and authority on the plant • • • 000 uranium ore processing plant now life of the Colorado Basin. Indian Craftsmen Reassured . . . under construction near Shiprock. "Ur- • • • GALLUP—Shinzo Noguchi, Tokyo anium is the most important develop- First Weber "Hole-Through" . . . College professor on a visit to South- ment on the reservation in the last GATEWAY — First phase of the western Indian country as a member few years," said Allen G. Harper, area $69 million Weber River water devel- of a special cultural committee, says director of the Navajo Agency for the opment project was completed when something will be done about Japan- Bureau of Indian Affairs, "and we Gateway Tunnel was "holed through" ese-made imitations of Indian crafts. hope it will mean new wealth, health just 14'/2 months after the first dyna- Noguchi said he was very surprised and dignity for the tribe." mite blast was fired. East portal of to hear of recent charges by Indian • • • the nine-foot, four-inch bore is about craftsmen that imitation Indian articles More Schools for Navajos . . . a half mile above Devil's Gate in made cheaply in Japan were being Weber Canyon, with the west portal sold in this country for the genuine WASHINGTON — An emergency on the south side of the mouth of article. He promised to take the mat- program to get 7000 more Navajo chil- Weber Canyon. Work on the tunnel ter up on his return to Japan.—New dren into schools by September is began from the west end in January, being worked out by the Bureau of Mexican. 1953.—Salt Lake Tribune. Indian Affairs. The program would • • • • • • begin with purchase of about $700,000 Father Berard Gravely 111 ... More Chukars for Utah . . . worth of trailers and prefabricated GALLUP — Father Berard Haile, CEDAR CITY — Another 1,557 buildings to provide 43 additional 84, Franciscan priest who has spent chukar partridges have been planted school facilities at 36 locations on the 50 years working with the Navajo and in 15 new Utah areas by the State reservation in Arizona and New Mex- translating their language, suffered a Department of Fish and Game, mak- ico. Doubling up in the present 60 heart attack at St. Michaels, Arizona, ing totals of 9,738 birds and 34 plant- boarding schools and day schools on in early April and is gravely ill in Gal- ing sites since the program began 2Vi the reservation also is planned as well lup. Only a few weeks before, the years ago. Field census and observa- as placement of a large number of Navajo Tribal Council voted to pub- tion show the birds are scattered but pupils in off-reservation schools. A lish the two volumes of Father Berard's managing very well. — Iron County third phase calls for moving several monumental work on the Navajo Record. hundred Navajo children into North- Blessing Way ceremony.—New Mexi- ern Arizona towns for enrollment in can. elementary grades.—Phoenix Gazette. ANSWERS TO QUIZ • • • Questions are on page 20 'EVERYTHING FOR THE HIKER" Urge Fort Union Monument . . . 1—Rodent—the Kangaroo rat. LAS CRUCES—Restoration of old SLEEPING BAGS 2—Southern Pacific Railroad. Fort Union (Desert, February, 1953), 3—Igneous rock. It is a form of AIR MATTRESSES army base of operations and supplies lava. 4—Mojave Indians in the 1850s. SMALL TENTS during the Indian wars, is being urged. A move is now under way to establish 5—Walter Scott. the old fort as a national monument. 6—Boundary Peak, elevation 13.145. and many other items —Las Cruces Citizens. 7—Medicine. • • • 8—The Superstition Mountains of VAN DEGRIFT'S HIKE HUT Mining Town for Sale . . . Arizona. 9—Colorado River. 717 West Seventh Street MADRID — "For Sale: Entire LOS ANGELES 14. CALIFORNIA 10—Nevada. Town, 200 houses, grade and high 1 1—Dellenbaugh. school, power house, general store, 12—Jojoba, or Goatnut. tavern, machine shop; mineral rights 13—San Juan River. Looking for a PUBLISHER? 9000 acres; excellent climate; fine in- 14—Licensed by the U. S. Bureau of Do you have a book-length manuscript you would like to have published? Learn about dustrial location," read the ad in the Indian Affairs. our unusual plan whereby your book can be Wall Street Journal. The once-bust- I 5—Bluish-purple. published, promoted and distributed on a professional basis. We consider all types of ling, now deserted coal mining town I ft—At the edge of Pyramid Lake. work—fiction, biography, poetry, scholarly 17—September. and religious bjoks, etc. New authors wel- of Madrid is on the block. More than come. For more information, write for valu- $40,000,000 worth of coal has been 18—Cinnabar. able booklet D. It's free. mined in the area over the past 70 19—A lost mine in the Death Valley VANTAGE PRESS, INC. region. 6356 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood 2fi, Calif. years. Reported price for the entire Main Office: Xew York 1, X. Y. town is $250,000.—New Mexican. 20—Corn.

32 DESERT MAGAZINE VACATION IDEAS ; and

1954 Season •**

Planning a summer vacation? Here are some ideas for outdoor adventure for the whole family —offered by experts in the field, the Sierra Club By boat through Dinosaur National Monument. Steamboat Rock in the background. of California. Photo by Martin Litton. Twenty-one different outings in the high Yampa Rivers in Dinosaur National Mon- Of all the Club's outings, its base camp mountain areas of California, Oregon, Mon- ument on the boundary between Utah and usually attracts most participants. The base tana, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado have Colorado, inaugurated last year, will be camp is set up in some scenically spectacular been scheduled by the Sierra Club for the continued this year. There will be five area close to timberline, remote but not too coming summer—the most ambitious out- river trips, each of six days duration, start- far from road heads for convenient one- ing program the Club has ever undertaken. ing June 13, June 21, June 29, July 7. and day transportation. The outings will include pack trips in July 15. Easy of access, maintained at a fixed lo- Sequoia, Grand Teton and Glacier National The first three will start at Lily Park on cation, with better shelter and supply than Parks; knapsack trips in Rocky Mountain the Yampa and continue down the Green; the traveling type of trip permits, the base and Sierra wilderness areas; riverboat trips the last two will start from the Gates of camp is especially popular with those who in Dinosaur National Monument, with sev- Lodore on the upper Green River, enabling prefer to become intimately acquainted with eral stationary "base camps" scheduled for persons who have previously traveled the and to explore intensively a limited area the less active vacationists. Yampa to see different scenery on the first rather than to cover long distances and part of the trip. see much new country in a summer's trip. Members, prospective members, and For this reason, it is a favorite with ama- members of other outdoor and conserva- For the young of heart and sound of teur botanists, ornithologists, photographers tion organizations are eligible to partici- limb, the Club has scheduled five knapsack —not to mention fishermen. pate in the Club's outings. The Sierra Club trips on which participants carry on their is one of the nation's leading conservation back all essentials of food and shelter for a This year, the Club is providing three groups and, with 8,000 members, is Cali- week or more. base camps instead of the usual one. One, fornia's largest outdoor club. Its Outing Two of these trips are planned in the of six weeks duration, will be located on Committee, headed by Dr. Stewart Kim- High Sierra. The first, July 3 to 17, will Bear Creek, a tributary of the south fork of the San Joaquin River in Sierra National ball, organizes the trips on a nonprofit start from the north fork of the Kings Forest east of Fresno. California. It will basis. River and travel over the White Divide open July 4, offering its accommodations in The varied outing fare has been arranged and Hell-for-Sure Pass. The second is three periods of two weeks. Capacity is by the Club in conformity with its long- planned for August 8 to 15, with itinerary 167 persons each period. held belief that by encouraging people to to be decided later. know and to love the wilderness, they will A knapsack trip designed especially for Another base camp will be maintained become its staunch defenders against inva- beginners is tentatively scheduled to depart in the Mount Whitney country, on Crab- sion and exploitation. August 1 from Glacier Point in Yosemite tree Creek. It will run from July 18 to 31, With less than one percent of the nation's National Park, crossing the Clark Range and is limited to 75 persons. total area remaining in a wild state, the at Red Peak Pass and returning to Yosem- For the first time, the Club will maintain ite Valley August 7. an out-of-State base camp this year. It Club and kindred organizations seek to will be located in the Three Sisters Wilder- preserve this small area unimpaired for the Knapsackers will also visit California's ness Area west of Bend. Oregon, from enjoyment of present and future generations. Trinity Alps country, a one-week trip being August 8 to 12. "High trips"—so-called because they are scheduled there July 11 to 17. The cost of these outings depends on pre- trips high in the mountains close to timber- One out-of-State knapsack trip has been vailing prices of supplies, packers' fees, and line—are a long-established specialty of the scheduled for August 8 to 22, probably in similar charges. Club, inaugurated more than 50 years ago. the Jim Bridger Wilderness Area, located This year the Club expects them to be On these trips, the participants hike, pack in the Wind River range of Wyoming. as follows; High trip, $85-$95; river trip, animals carry necessary equipment and sup- To acquaint mountain travelers with the $65; base camp, $40-$52; knapsack trip. plies and a commissary crew prepares meals. possibilities of burro travel—and with the $20 (one week). $37 (two weeks); burro There will be four high trips this year, wide range of burro cussedness—the Club trip, $51; family burro trip, $125 per fam- two in Sequoia National Park, one each in has scheduled four trips in which burros ily. Rates for children 14 years and under Grand Teton National Park and Glacier are the beasts of burden. Since the partici- are $5 less for the middle two-week period National Park. pants not only hike but pack the burros of the Bear Creek Base Camp and $10 The first Sequoia National Park high trip and learn to look after their welfare as less on all the high trips. will depart from Mineral King July 4 and well, the trips are doubly educational. The address of the Sierra Club is 1050 travel by way of Franklin Pass. Forester Three burro trips will enter the Sierra Mills Tower, San Francisco 4, California. Lake, Lost Canyon. Nine Lakes Basin, Little from the east side, over Kearsarge Pass. Five Lakes and out by Sawtooth Pass, re- The first two will probably make the cir- turning to Mineral King July 16. cuit Glenn Pass-Woods Creek-Bubbs Creek; SAN JUAN and COLORADO The second two-week high trip will leave the third will probably go south past Mount RIVER EXPEDITIONS Mineral King July 17 via Sawtooth Pass, Whitney and out over Army Pass to Lone Enjoy exploration, safe adventure and Lost Canyon, Little Five Lakes, Nine Lakes Pine. scenic beauty in the gorgeous canyons of Basin, Moraine Lake, returning via For- A fourth burro trip, starting from Tuo- Utah and Arizona. Staunch boats, experi- ester Lake and Franklin Pass, reaching lumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park, Mineral King July 30. enced rivermen. For 1954 summer schedule is especially designed for family vacation- or charter trips anytime write to— The Grand Teton high trip will be of one ing. Parents may take as many children as week's duration only, August 1 to 7. The they wish, with a maximum of three burros J. FRANK WRIGHT Glacier high trip will be of ten days' dura- to a family. The itinerary—to the north or MEXICAN HAT EXPEDITIONS tion, August 9 to 19. south of Tuolumne Meadows—will be de- The river trips down the Green and cided by the participants. Blanding, Utah

JUNE, 1954 33 Winnemucca, Nevada . . . Development of a Nevada uranium deposit, termed by mining engineers MINES ni MINIM"one of the most important uranium strikes in the United States," is being Moab, Utah . . . Abiquiu, New Mexico . . . started by a newly-organized Denver Bids have been issued and construc- Not far from here, in mineral-rich company. The strike was made sev- eral months ago by three young Win- tion is expected to begin soon on an Rio Arriba County, scene of the most recent uranium rush, crews are work- nemucca machinists, but the impor- Atomic Energy sampling plant at tance of the discovery was only re- Moab. It is hoped that the facility ing around the clock to open up what may be one of the major oil pools in cently determined. Mining Engineer will be ready for operation in Septem- Arthur Sweet said the deposit was un- ber or October. The sampling plant the world. Drilling, now in its ninth month, has been slowed by the large usual in that the uranium is found in will be one of the largest uranium ore veins of meta-autunite rather than in receiving stations on the Colorado Pla- quantities of water encountered from 790 feet downward. The underground spotty deposits of carnotite. The prop- teau and will incorporate mechanical erty is located 70 miles northwest of sampling equipment and procedures to water tables are so promising, in fact, that Ed W. Cannedy, the drilling con- Winnemucca in the King's River Val- obtain accurate ore samples. — San ley of Humboldt County. — Mining Juan Record. tractor, believes the area eventually • • • may become a rich agricultural em- Record. Moab, Utah . . . pire. The oil rig is located on Ghost • • • Development is planned at once by Ranch off U. S. Highway 83 ten miles Henderson, Nevada . . . Anaconda Copper Company on a north of Abiquiu.—New Mexican. The Manganese, Inc., plant near group of 20 uranium claims recently • • • Henderson, heavily damaged by fire leased in the Temple Mountain area. Randsburg, California . . . last June, has been rebuilt and mod- The claims are reported to be located W. C. Brown and J. Russell Peery, ernized and has resumed operations. on a pipe or fumerole where rich pri- both of Johannesburg, are building a Continuous production of nodulized mary ore is found. For complete evalu- screen-jig type of mill on a site leased manganese of specified grade has been ation of the ore, a program of coring from the owners of the Big Dyke maintained on a 67 percent capacity will be undertaken.—Humboldt Star. Claim. The property is located just basis, with regular shipments to points • • • east of Randsburg along the county of use. Full capacity is expected to Reno, Nevada . . . road to Red Mountain. The mill is be reached in the near future.—Battle University of Nevada has received designed to handle placer ore, and the Mountain Scout. a museum sample of the first oil to be owners have leased placer ground just • • • discovered in the state by the Shell Oil southeast of the mill to supply the Washington, D. C. . . . Company, which brought in the first concentrators.—Mining Record. Lead, zinc, uranium and 16 other successful well in Nye County. Dean • • • metals have been added to the govern- Vernon E. Scheid of Mackay School Kingman, Arizona . . . ment's list of minerals which may of Mines said the sample would be Seventy-three miles southeast of qualify for financial assistance in ex- placed in the school's museum as part Kingman, high on a mountain side in ploration projects. The Defense Min- of the mineralogic and geologic collec- the Aquarius Range, lie the Wothree erals Exploration program was set up tion.—Pioche Record. Mines, major Arizona producers of in 1951 to encourage production of • • • tungsten. Forty men are working defense materials. It included lead, Tonopah, Nevada . . . 24 hours a day in the development uranium and zinc, but these three min- The old Carrie lead-silver mine near of wolframite tungsten ore bodies and erals were eliminated in May, 1953. Gilbert in northern Esmeralda County, in building a mill to reduce the high- The recently expanded list, bringing whose history dates back to 1880, may grade into concentrates. The mine's to 33 the total number of minerals eli- be destined for new prominence, this name is derived from WO-3, symbol gible, includes bauxite, chromium, cop- time as a tungsten producer. The for tungstic acid.—Pioche Record. per, fluorspar, crucible grade graphite, property is being reactivated by a • • • lead, molybdenum, zinc and cadmium partnership composed of Fred and Farmington, New Mexico . . . exploration as eligible for 50 percent Homer Gilbert of Mina, R. E. William- Dr. V. D. Harrington of Farming- government assistance. Eligible for 75 son of Round Mountain and the L&W ton and Cuba has announced discov- percent government aid are projects Tungsten Company of Santa Monica, ery of a $300,000 uranium deposit involving metals such as uranium, tung- California. Preliminary exploration off west of Farmington. Harrington said sten, tin, thorium, tantalum, mangan- a drift at the 90-foot level has dis- he and Clayton Davidson, local coal ese, industrial diamonds and mercury. closed a 20-inch streak of highgrade miner, made the discovery and that —Territorial Enterprise. scheelite running between IVi and 6 ore had been assayed at $65 a ton. • • • percent WO-3, the operators report. They estimated that 87,000 tons lay Albuquerque, New Mexico . . . —Humboldt Star. on or very near the surface.—New Prospectors from all over the nation • • • Mexican. packed their Geiger counters and Las Vegas, Nevada . . . • • • rushed to New Mexico after Tom Senator Pat McCarran has suggested San Carlos, Arizona . . . Bridges announced his rich uranium to Defense Mobilizer Arthur S. Flem- The Apache Tribal Council has strike in eastern Rio Arriba county. ming that a Nevada site be designated taken steps to stop the growing amount Bridges filed 205 claims covering 4800 a stockpile depot under the new metals of prospecting, apparently for uranium, acres. He claimed the ore to be some and minerals stockpiling program re- taking place on the San Carlos reser- of the richest found anywhere and re- cently announced by President Eisen- vation. One hundred notices that such ported that geologists estimated the hower. McCarran pointed out that prospecting is unlawful were posted presence of about 250,000 tons con- Nevada needs a purchase point to im- at all entrances to the reservation. taining an average of .5 percent ura- plement the program in the state.— Tribal police were ordered to arrest nium oxide, worth about $70 a ton.— Las Vegas Review-Journal. violators.-—Phoenix Gazette. Mining Record.

34 DESERT MAGAZINE SAN DIEGO SOCIETY SETS OCTOBER DATES FOR SHOW San Diego Mineral and Gem Society has OEMS mi MINERALS selected October 2 and 3 as dates for its 1954 show, to be held in the Spanish Vil- lage of Balboa Park, San Diego, California. FIELD TRIPS PLANNED ROCKY MOUNTAIN MEET There will be ample free parking, Mrs. FOR MILWAUKEE VISITORS JUNE 11 TO 13 IN UTAH Norman Dawson, publicity chairman, prom- A tour of the Greene Memorial Museum Mineralogical Society of Utah is host to ises, and a snack bar will be operated at of Paleontology of Milwaukee-Downer Col- this year's convention of the Rocky Moun- the show. lege with its curator, Dr. Katherine Grea- tain Federation of Mineral Societies, sched- • • • cen Nelson as guide, and a visit to the Lutz uled June 11 to 13 in Salt Lake City. A Mrs. Elizabeth Morrison showed fellow Quarry at Oshkosh, where marcasite, py- camp site for visitors is planned 12 miles members of Humboldt Gem and Mineral rite, calcite and sphalerite are found, are east of the city in the Wasatch Mountains. Society colored slides of the trip she and field trip highlights planned for visitors to Trailer camps and tourist cottages also are her two sons took to Ceylon and Africa. the 1954 convention of the Midwest Fed- available. eration of Mineralogical Societies. The Chairman of exhibit space for the show meeting will be held in Milwaukee, Wiscon- is Dr. B. D. Bennion, 1403 Emerson Ave- TRE A SURE HUNTERS sin, June 24 to 26. In addition to planned nue, Salt Lake City. W. T. Rogers, 1230 New type metals detector. Distinguishes Parkway Avenue, is handling dealer space. metals from black magnetic sands. Ideal for group trips, each visitor will receive a sou- locating gold nuggets, placer deposits. De- venir guide of noteworthy geological sites Other inquiries may be directed to President tects metals under salt water. Locates in Wisconsin with directions to each spot Golden W. Robbins, 715 Boston Building, coins, jewelry and lists of minerals to be seen or found or Stewart Romney, secretary, 409 Univer- '*"'-'•' • " A*- • • * ..'•.Siii.v on beaches. sity Street, all in Salt Lake City, Utah. •' ** .-..~,' :- Free from there. * '• ' --•.'. ¥% '• '-•.-.. .'•..'••' •:'.• false detec- • • • '' • • i- • : V •')•- tions. Each Other special features of the convention • t. (R-.-p-s-;*-1*^ unit supplied are the "Book Nook," where donated books JUNE SHOW TO FEATURE / '" '• with two dif- and mineralogical magazines will be sold - ' ', > . ferent search for federation benefit; the Trading Post for FAMOUS OREGON AGATES . •, > coils. Ask for Central Oregon's famous agates will be • ,.. \ free I i ter a- swappers, and a Pebble Pup Booth for jun- IjW ,' ;-•' : ' •' • ture. ior collectors. Guided tours also are planned featured at the first annual rock show of • . • .': 7 GARDINER to landmarks and places of interest in the Prineville Mineral Society, scheduled June f4'>p• ;j ,'-•'• •• •• *. .::%-; ELECTRONICS city. 26 and 27 at the Crooked River Roundup .'.,.•-;• f'i''.-:' CO., DEPT. DM Grounds, Prineville, Oregon. There will be *„•*-• ' '• ':; ^JWjl 20ia N. DAYTON • • • it . 1_ ^MMV PHOENIX, ARIZ. exhibits, field trips, a trading post for ex- j« iMiHlJ SHOW IN SAN BERNARDINO change of material, commercial booths, Eighth annual gem and mineral show of grab bags and display prizes. Further in- Orange Belt Mineralogical Society will be formation about the show may be obtained held September 25 and 26 at the Orange by writing Mrs. C. F. Cheney, general Show Grounds in San Bernardino, Cali- chairman, Prineville, Oregon. From Our New Location fornia. NOTICE: All of our prices now include • • • tax and postage. ALFRED HAWLEY LEADS Miss Frances Bieber of Santa Fe, New Mexico, who spent ten years in China help- SPECIALS FIRST YEAR ACTIVITIES Australian Fire Opal—1st grade, oz. $24.00 ing the people revive ancient Chinese arts 2nd grade, oz. 8.00 Alfred E. Hawley is charter president of and crafts, spoke to members of Santa Fe Hearts 25 mm. (polished and drilled)—Jade, the Southern California Mineral Identifica- Gem and Mineral Club on "Gem Stones Malachite, Blue agate, Carnelian, ea. $2.45 Chrysoprase, tigereye, rose quartz, etc. tion Society, organized recently in Comp- Used in Chinese Costume." Carved fish, frogs, turtles, bees etc., in ton, California. Purpose of the club is to • • • tigereye, amethyst, hematite & opal, ea. $2.50 promote the study of mineralogy, particu- Potluck supper and colored slides of Grand Canyon were highlights of the March SLABS AND CHUNK MATERIAL larly mineral identification. Other officers 40 to 50 sq. inches assorted slabs $2.50 are Ernest M. Featherston, vice-president, meeting of Clark County Gem Collectors, 8 lbs. assorted chunk mtl. for cutting. $3.75 and Marge Lemons, secretary-treasurer. Las Vegas, Nevada. Bloodstone (India), per lb $5.25 Slabs, per inch . .50 REDWOOD SOCIETY* DISPLAY Moss Agate (India), per lb 4.60 THE THOUSANDS who's hobby is gem Slabs, per inch - .45 AT SONOMA COUNTY FAIR JOIN Red Plume Agate, per lb 12.00 cutting, jewelry making, mineral collecting. Slabs, per inch .. 1.30 Redwood Gem and Mineral Society of Send only $3.00 today—for 12 monthly is- Mexican Agate, per lb ... 3.50 Santa Rosa, California, invites all rock- of national how-to-do-it magazine. S 3m- Slabs, per inch 30 sues Rose Quartz (very good color), per lb... 1.25 hounds to visit their gem and mineral ex- pie copy 25c. Slabs, per inch 30 hibit at the Sonoma County Fair, July 16 GEMS & MINERALS Jade (Alaska), per Vi lb 6.25 through 24 in Santa Rosa. Local material Slabs, per inch 90 Dept. J-6 Palmdale, California Burnite (top grade), per lb 7.40 will be featured. Slabs, per inch 50 Templates (sizes marked for standard cuts) 2.10 FACETING MATERIAL (Mine run) Vi-lb. Sunstone $1.70 Vi-lb. Kunzite 2.60 V4-lb. Topaz (Mexican) 2.80 e See*t Vi-lb. Peridot 6.10 Vi-lb. Amethyst 6.70 Vi-lb. Smoky quartz 7.60 Petrified Wood, Moss Agate, Chrysocolla •A-lb. Apatite 6.70 Turquoise, Jade and Jasper Jewelry Vi-lb. Garnet (very good) 8.40 Corundum preforms 9 to 10 mm. avg. 5 ct. to ct., ea. ..$2,85 HAND MADE IN STERLING SILVER Specimen boxes, 35 different minerals..$1.90 70 different minerals 3.90 Cat's eye shells, sup. quality, small, ea... .25 Bracelets, Rings, Necklaces, Earrings large, ea... .60 and Brooches Synthetic Turquoise, per gram 15 Turquoise nuggets, medium, ea 15 SPECIALLY SELECTED STONES WITH large, ea 25 CHOICE COLORS AND PICTURES Try our approvals on loose stones—$10.00 deposit or $20.00 shipment on initial order. Write for Folder With Prices Store hours—Mon., Tues., Thurs., and Sat. 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ELLIOTT'S GEM SHOP Wed. and Friday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Satisfaction guaranteed or money refunded 235 East Seaside Blvd. LONG BEACH 2. CALIF. Across from West End of Municipal Auditorium Grounds COAST GEMS INC. Hours 10 A.M. to 9 P.M. Daily Except Monday 8911 E. Valley Blvd., Rosemcad, Calif. Atlantic 7-8244

JUNE, 1954 35 AMONG THE A D V E R T I 5 N G RATE GEfll mflRT 10c a word . . Minimum $1.50 ROCK HUNTERS

CYCAD. Cabinet specimens, and diamond- DENDRITIC OPAL, Kansas, good polish- In spite of rain. 16 members of San Di- pattern cutting material. C. F. Frank. ing stone, only $1.25 a pound. Hastings ego Mineral and Gem Society made the Box 310, Custer, South Dakota. Typewriter Co., Hastings, Nebraska. scheduled March field trip to Tyce Quarry in In-Ko-Pah Gorge, California. Many ATTENTION DEALERS—About 7000 lbs. SANDING PLATES—Ideal for polishing characteristic silicates were collected in the assorted rocks at reasonable prices if you stones, Metal. Wood, or Plastics. 6-8-10" crystalline limestone of the conlact-meta- buy the lot. P. O. Box 243, 24226 High- plates—W plywood with rubber sponge morphic deposit. Later, two limestone way 60, Sunnymead, California. and duro 220 grit sanding disc. This quarries at Dos Cabez-s were visited and excellent rubber sponge will give you a garnets, blue calcite, white wollastonite YOUR SCRAP MINERALS might be worth better polish on irregular pieces. 6 inch $16.00 or more per pound in polished $1.00. 8 inch $1.25. 12 inch $1.50. and several other minerals collected. tumbled gems. We will tumble them for Hastings Typewriter Co., Hastings, Neb. • • • you, ten pounds minimum, on shares or Pictures painted in stone by Nature mil- in trade for cutting material. Write C. L. AUSTRALIAN cutting fire opal, specimens, lions of years ago were featured at the King, after June 1 at The Boulders, Ever- cutting material. H. A. Ivers, 1400 Ha- March show of the Mineralogical Society green, Colorado. cienda Blvd., La Habra. California. of Arizona and Maricopa Lapidary Society. One picture agate had been cut and polished SPECIAL: One piece facet grade Kunzite, MINERAL SPECIMENS, cabochons and by Agnes M. Hoist of Phoenix who then 100 carats, $12.00. J. C. Boscey. 5761 cutting materials of all kinds, western had inserted the thin slab in an enlarger Zelzah, Encino. California. jewelry. Beautiful travertine for book- and used it as a negative to print what she ends, paper weights, spheres etc. Write entitled "Storm Picture." Other show high- COMING TO THE CONVENTION? Stop for prices. Eighteen miles south of Battle lights were a 46-link necklace of Wyoming and see one of Utah's largest assortments Mountain at Copper Canyon, John L. jade cut from one piece by E. B. Bomar of colorful Agate, beautiful wood speci- James, Box 495, Battle Mountain, Nev. of Phoenix; natural chalcedony roses and mens, Dinna Bone, Dugway Geodes, Jade quartz crystals mounted in silver by Wilma and Snowflake Obsidian. See our mu- QUARTZ CRYSTAL GEODES (Kentucky Cowell; a complete mineral "dinner" dis- seum of polished specimens and cut Diamonds). These geodes range from played by Mr. and Mrs. Van Home of stones. Vi block off Highway 91, 329 2" to 8" diameter. Showy xls. Masses Tempe, and jeweled bottles from China Reed Ave., Salt Lake City. Phone 38722. clear to white, some phantoms. Selected from the collection of Dr. and Mrs. A. C. The Dowses. specimens from broken geodes $2.50 lb. Armbruster. The fluorescent room con- Unopened geodes $1.50 lb. Dealers PRIVATE COLLECTION for sale. Over write for wholesale rates. Midwest Min- tained material from all 48 states. Canada 250 fine specimens. See this at 548 Ne- eral Mart. R. B. Boies. P. O. Box 391, and England. vada Hwy, Boulder City, Nevada. Lewis Hamilton. Ohio. We trade for Western • • • M. Jones. minerals. "Not enough shelves" is a common rock- hound complaint. A. E. Powell of San Fer- SLABBED AGATE: Montezuma and ROSE ROCKS—Barite crystals in the form nando Valley, California, Mineral and Gem Gayegos agate 50c to $1.50 per square of a rose V/i in. size $1.00. We will send Society offers a suggestion: "To double the inch or $7.00 per lb. in the rough. Satis- a free sample if you inclose 25c for pack- area of shelves, hang shallow drawers under faction guaranteed. Palmer's Lapidary aging and mailing. Harris Gems. Yukon, the shelves, or construct another shallow and Fixit Shop. Palmer H. Nelson, Prop.. Oklahoma. shelf under existing ones to provide room 1503 N. College Ave., Ft. Collins, Colo. for tools, templates and small specimens." WANTED: Chalk grade Turquoise. Write • • • FIFTY MINERAL Specimens, %-in. or complete details as to quality and price. "Gold in the Mother Lode Country" was over, boxed, identified, described, mounted. P.O. Box 5171. Phoenix, Arizona. the topic of Mrs. Dorothy Craig, past presi- Postpaid $4.00. Old Prospector, Box 729, GENUINE TURQUOISE: Natural color, dent of the California Federation of Min- Lodi, California. blue and bluish green, cut and polished eralogical Societies, when she spoke to Del- BOOKS: Beginners to advanced. Gemology. cabochons — 25 carats (5 to 10 stones vers Gem and Mineral Society in Downey, mineralogy, geology, etc. Write today according to size) $3.50 including tax. California. According to Mrs. Craig, the for free price list. Gem Finders, 859 postpaid in U.S.A. Package 50 carats gold was originally deposited in this area North Ramona, Hawthorne, California. 10 to 20 cabochons) $6.15 including during the Jurassic era when there was tax, postpaid in U.S.A. Elliott Gem & another mountain range where the Sierra GEMS A-PLENTY: Beautiful baroque Mineral Shop, 235 E. Seaside Blvd., Long Nevada are today. This range eroded away, gems, large variety, tumble polished all Beach 2, California. leaving free gold exposed. When the Sierra over, $10.00 for one pound (about 100 were thrust upward, the gold was buried stones). 10 lbs. of top grade gemstone FOR SALE: Beautiful purple petrified in stream beds where it was later discovered prepaid for $7.00. Wholesale price to wood with uranium, pyrolusite, manga- by the Fortyniners. Most of the gold is dealers on baroque gems and gemstone nite. Nice sample $1.00. Postage. Maggie Baker, Kingman, Arizona. placer. in the rough. Satisfaction guaranteed on • • • every sale. San Fernando Valley Rock THE BELEAL'S Ironwood Rock Shop. Practical suggestions for taking care of Shop, 6329 Lindley Ave., Reseda, Calif. Specializing in fire agate. P.O. Box 542, gem and mineral specimens and for dis- ROCKHOUND PARADISE. Stop and see Highway 60-70, 7 miles from Blythe, Cal. playing them to advantage were given our display. Agate rough and slabs. No TONOPAH, Nevada, is where C. C. Boak Compton Gem and Mineral Club members junk. Minerals, fluorescent minerals. Sat- lives, with his outstanding scientific by Jack Streeter at the April meeting. isfaction guaranteed. Write for prices. world-wide collection of Mineral, Gem • • • P. G. Nichols, Prop., Sun Valley Trailer and semi-Gemstone species—spectacular A mineralogy division field trip of San Park, 3922 No. Oracle Road, Tucson, crystal groups, etc. Visitors welcome. C. Diego Mineral and Gem Society to San Arizona. C. Boak, 511 Ellis St., Tonopah, Nevada. Felipe garnet mine netted good specimens of tremolite associated with essonite (a type GET YOUR COPY of "A Mineral Collec- ONYX BLANKS, unpolished, black 25c of garnet), garnet and green diopside. tor's Guide to Wonderful Wyoming." 25c. each; red, green, blue 35c each. Perfect • • • Gritzner's, Mesa 3, Arizona. cut titanium. Fine cutting and polishing Because of its high specific gravity, barite McSHAN's GEM SHOP—open part time, at reasonable prices. Prompt attention to is used in rotary drilling fluids in petroleum or find us by directions on door. Cholla mail orders. Juchem Bros., 315 West 5th mining equipment. Barium sulfate is used cactus wood a specialty, write for prices. St., Los Angeles 13, California. in shields for atomic stock piles, and other 1 mile west on U. S. 66. Needles, Cali- 10 POUNDS of beautiful mineral speci- barium compounds are employed in the fornia, Box 22. mens, selected $6.00. Ask for list. Jack manufacture of paints, rubber and glass. These facts were included in William F. RADIOACTIVE ORE Collection: 6 won- The Rockhound, P.O. Box 245, Carbon- dale, Colorado. Paine's talk to members of the Mineralogi- derful different specimens in neat Red- cal Society of Arizona. Paine is general wood chest, $2.00. Pretty Gold nugget. BEAUTIFUL URANIUM specimens in manager of the Arizona Barite Company. $1.00, four nuggets, $2.00, choice col- banded quartz. Polishes nicely. Two The company's mine, only one of its kind lection 12 nuggets, $5.00. Uranium pounds $1.00. J. S. Wisdom, Tonopah. west of Arkansas, is located near Mesa, Prospector, Box 604, Stockton, Calif. Nevada, Via Fish Lake Valley Rt. Arizona.

36 DESERT MAGAZINE BLANK MOUNTINGS Claim OH for AGATE JEWELRY Welcome WHOLESALE Rings — Ear Wires — Tie Chains trail winds up to the claims. It is a fairly Cuii Links — Neck Chains strenuous hike with about two miles of Betel — devices — Shanks fairly steep uphill trail, but the specimens Solder — Findings found at the end are reward enough for the Send stamp for price list No. 3 trek. At an elevation of 5200 feet, the Red Top O. R. JUNKINS & SON area is covered with snow much of the year, but in the summer it is a delightful 440 N.W. Beach St. place to camp and hunt for agate, crystals NEWPORT, OREGON and geodes. It is part of a forest reserve and, although camping is encouraged, visit- ors are cautioned to be careful with camp- FAMOUS TEXAS PLUMES Red Plume, Pom Pom and many other types fires, matches and cigarettes. of agate. Slabs on approval. Rough agate, 8 lb. mixture postpaid, $5.00. Price list on CHAIRMEN PLAN FALL request. GEM AND HOBBY SHOW WOODWARD RANCH Plans are already well under way by 17 miles So. on Hwy 118 Searles Lake Gem and Mineral Society, Box 453. Alpine. Texas Trona, California, for their October gem and hobby show. Chairmen are Oscar Wal- COLORFUL CUTTING MATERIALS strom, field trips; Mrs. Dunn, art exhibits; Sawed, untrimmed pieces, none smaller than half inch; sampler of one piece each Dwight Sawyer, minerals; Eddie Redenbach, of Asizona Jasper, chrysocolla, moss agate, lapidary and gems; Mrs. George Pipkin, Shattuckite, petrified wood, Norwegian general hobbies; Mo Leonardi, raffles, and moonstone, verdite, sodalite, green quartz: Al Tankersley, Redenbach and O. B. Ross, All nine pieces, identified, postpaid guaranteed $1.00 to EllenSbury grab bags and miscellaneous. LOST MOUNTAIN GEMS • • • P.O. Box 5012, Phoenix, Arizona Map to Puget Sound Gem and Mineral Of 32 classes of symmetry that include Club's agate claims on Red Top Moun- all mathematically possible crystal forms tain, Washington. All rockhounds are there still are seven that have no mineral invited to hunt on the jour claims. MINERAL CATALOG AVAILABLE representatives, Colorado Mineral Society's Send 5c< cost of handling Mineral Minutes revealed in a recent issue. If you want Fine ami Rare Minerals, Ores, 1GHTY ACRES of choice collecting • • • Fluoreseents, Geiger Counters, Mineralights, ground have been saved for the rock- A return trip to Opal Mountain was Rooks, Ring Mounts, or advice, write to— 5 hounds by recent action of the Puget scheduled for April by Hollywood Lapidary MINERALS UNLIMITED Sound Gem and Mineral Club, Seattle. and Mineral Society. 1721 University Ave., Berkeley 3, California Washington. • • • Hearing that certain individuals were A three-day field trip to Lone Pine, Cali- planning to acquire the Red Top Mountain fornia, was planned for April by Long WHEN IN SAN DIEGO agate beds near Liberty, Washington, and Beach Mineral and Gem Society. The area yields pyrite crystals, galena copper speci- You will enjoy stopping to see our display charge fees for hunting the fine blue and of fine crystals and mineral specimens from lavendar specimens found there, the Puget mens, chrysocolla, clear and mottled cal- all over the world. Sounders acted to save one of their favorite cite, lime minerals, copper, silver and lead. field trip sites. They filed four mineral • • • MINERAL GEMS claims in the best areas covering the top An auction for members' benefit was held O. A. Newhousp, 4fi7« Park Blvd. and slopes of Red Top Mountain and Tean- by San Antonio, Texas, Rock and Lapidary Corner Adams Ave. — San Pit'KO (i, Calif. away Ridge. Society. Profits for members totaled $66.25. The club recorded the four claims in Kittitas County, Washington, at a total cost SAWS'. GRINDS! 1 HILLQUIST SLABBING SAWS of $5.10. To hold the claims, improve- SANDS! BUFFS! 12" bench model, $72 ments of a minimum value of $100 must Everything in- I 16" floor model, $110 eluded except 20" floor model, $155 be made on each claim. The Puget Sound motor. Uses all Real rockhounds saws rockhounds plan to place a cairn on each HiMquistacces-l favored for their big claim where visitors may register; other sories. Ideal tor HILLQUIST DIAMOND SAWS capacity and lifetime construction. "Magic- camping facilities may follow. beginners. Only I Cut Foster-Last Longer-Cost Brain" automatic feed $41.50 complete. I I Less. Available in all sizes. for above $46,35 Frances L. Thompson, secretary, extends I You'll swear by 'em, not ot'em! the club's invitation to all gem and mineral HILLQUIST TRIM SAW hobbyists to visit the claims, free of charge. The "Cadillac" of trim saws. Exclu- sive "up-and-down" Before you buy any lapidary Prior permission is not necessary, but the arbor. "No-splash" claimants ask that the area be left unclut- plastic guards. equipment - send for our big tered for future visitors. Precision rock lapidary units.l clamp and guide. ate in horizontal sh wheels. From] The claims cannot be reached by auto- ^ Complete with 8" FREE CATALOG! |The ultim mobile. Cars can be driven off the high- blade, $62.50 FULL OF HELPFUL LAPIDARY way about l'/i miles on Medicine Creek HILLQUIST GEM IJLL-lLE W_'NFORMAT.ON-send NOW TO Road. From the end of the road, a ranger I Drills finest holes .HILLQUIST DRUM SANDER lot high The most popular drum 1545 W. 49 St. SEATTLE 7, WN. I speed and saws I sander made. Patented • Specializing in • I discs up to 1 Vi". I "quick-lock' screw makes ' FINE FOREIGN GEMS I Exclusive ramrod ] it easy to change sanding • action prevents I cloth. 3"x7"- $9.50 AND MINERALS I core plugging. Lapidary Equipment and Supplies IFullyautomatic. HILLQUIST COMPACT LAP UNIT I Bigger than the Gem-Master. Handles Gem drills—Jewelry tools—Sterling HILLQUIST COMPLETE FACETER I up to a 10" saw. Saws, grinds, J Jewelry Mountings—Books—Mineralights Only $62.50 complete with 31 I sands, polishes, laps, facets,^ " index plates. You can cut anyl I cuts spheres — does every faceted form quickly and I SUPERIOR GEMS & MINERALS I Big! ^99® • yaluable for pro- —I thinmmgy unanud uudoe«s Mit better. 4665 Park Blvd., San Diego 16, California ^easily. The equal I 1 2" "12 wnee - - ^anting fast,BThouands in use. offaceters I I fessionals or anyo ly$53.50| Everything include Open 10:30 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. costing twice I nd eXCept m tOr I Sn>ooth 8» ntrt fromJliiJ ° Closed Sundays the price. I Qthnr ftrr tmm •ot$122.50

JUNE, 1954 37 Miss Ruth Simpson of Southwest Mu- Members of the Mineralogical Society SECOND ANNUAL LAPIDARY seum described the desert life of early Cali- of Southern California were asked to bring ASSOCIATION SHOW DATES fornia man when she appeared as guest fossil specimens to the April meeting in speaker at a meeting of Los Angeles Lapi- Pasadena. The evening's subject was the Lapidary Association of Southern Cali- dary Society. She showed colored slides of Pre-Tertiary Mojave Desert. fornia will hold its second annual gem ancient Indian campsites and displayed • • • show August 13, 14 and 15 at the Shrine scrapers, arrowheads, choppers and other Duxbury Point was the destination of a Convention Hall in Los Angeles. Host artifacts from the Pinto Basin and Mojave field trip party from San Francisco Gem clubs will be the Los Angeles Lapidary Lake areas. and Mineral Society. Members took ad- Society, Santa Monica Gemological Society, vantage of low tides to hunt for petrified Hollywood Lapidary Society and the Gem whalebone, agate, variegated jasper, drift- Cutters Guild. Several feature exhibits are FIRE OPAL-MEXICO wood and shells. planned in addition to displays from the 12 Fine minerals, Aztec agate and other • • • member societies of the association. CHOICE cutting materials "Micromount Night"' was April 15 for • • • REQUEST FREE PRICE LIST the East Bay Mineral Society of Oakland. For every one-carat diamond found, 10 California. George H. Needham spoke on tons of rock are processed. Gladys Hanna- RALPH E. MUELLER & SON "The Preparation and Display of Micro- ford told members of Fresno Gem and 1000 E. Camslback Phoenix, Arizona mounts," illustrating his remarks with spe- Mineral Society. Fifty percent of the dia- cimen displays and colored slides. mond is lost in cutting, so the 10 tons of ore actually yields one-half carat of cut gem. The deeper the diamond miner goes into the earth, the smaller the diamonds become. Mrs. Hannaford is a representa- TIN OXIDE $1.50 PER POUND tive of the DeBeers diamond syndicate. If you buy $5 worth of Basic Lapidary Supplies from the following list. • • • A $10 purchase entitles you to buy 2 lbs. Tin Oxide at $1.50 per lb. The Puget Sounder, organ of Tacoma. Washington, Agate Club, has announced a A $25 purchase entitles you to buy 5 lbs. of Tin Oxide. writing contest. Entrants are to tell how they became rockhounds. NORTON CRYSTOLON GRINDING WHEELS . . . • • • Size 6x'/2" 6x1" 8x1" 8x1 W 10x1 W Quartz crystals from Quartzsite, Arizona, 80 grit $7.50 joined collections of Delvers Gem and Min- 100 grit $2.65 $3.60 $5.35 7.50 $11.35 eral Society Members, Downey, California, after a recent field trip. 220 grit 2.95 3.95 5.90 8.25 12.50 • • • 320 grit 3.35 4.50 6.70 9.40 14.20 Five speakers presented the program at a Shipping weight 2 lbs. 3 lbs. 5 lbs. 6 lbs. 9 lbs. recent meeting of Arrowhead Mineralogical Society, Fontana. California. Junior Mem- Crystolon Wheel Dressing Brick 6"x2"xl" 95c ber Joe Walker discussed Horse Canyon agate; Elmer Jarrett advised on the proper CRYSTOLON ABRASIVE for the Lapidary . . . bezel of a cabochon; George Seaberg spoke Grit Size 1 Pound 5 Lb. Lots 10 Lb. Lots 25 Lb. Lots on "Sawing Techniques"; George Tyler told 80. 100, 120, 18, 220 $ .83 $ .52 $ .39 $ .30 how he made his onyx vases, and John 2F (320), 3F (400) .38 .57 .41 .32 Short gave tips on polishing tigereye. Graded 400 1.09 .73 .57 .48 Graded 600 1.35 .94 .78 .69 DURITE (Silicon Carbide) ROLL SANDING CLOTH— Available in 120. 150. 180. 220. 330 grits Dry Rolls 2" wide, 25 ft. long—$2.00; 150-foot roll—$ 9.00 3" wide. 15 ft. long— 2.00; 150-foot roll— 13.25 10" wide. 5 ft. long— 2.00; 150-foot roll— 39.77 12" wide, 5 ft. long— 2.25; 150-foot roll— 47.70 Wet Rolls 3" wide, 10 ft. long—$2.00; 150-foot roll—$21.60 10" wide. 40 in. long— 2.60; 150-foot roll— 71.25 DURITE SANDING CLOTH in round disks . . . Available in 120. 220. 320 grits Wet Dry 6" 5 for $1.00; 25 for $ 3.90 8 for $1.00; 25 for $ 2.25 8" 3 for 1.10; 25 for 7.00 5 for 1.00; 25 for 4.10 10" 2 for 1.15; 25 for 11.00 3 for 1.00; 25 for 6.45 DEALERS 12" 2 for 1.65; 25 for 16.00 2 for 1.00; 25 for 9.45 WANTED SCINTl CONGO OR FELKER DI-MET DIAMOND BLADES Here is the ideal field instrument for Uranium 4" diameter by .205" thick $ 7.80 10" diameter by .040" thick $14.80 prospecting. It's ultra-sensitive, low in cost, light- 6" diameter by .205" thick 7.80 12" diameter by .040" thick 18.20 weight and small in size. 6" diameter by .032" thick 7.80 14" diameter by .050" thick 25.20 The model 117 "Special ScintHlator" is made 16" diameter by .050" thick 28.60 by Precision Radiation Instruments, Inc., manu- 8" diameter by .032" thick 10.40 20" diameter by .060" thick 39.20 facturers of the famous Model 8" diameter by .040" thick 11.40 24" diameter by .060" thick 50.60 111 "Scintillator:' When ordering please state arbor hole size Write for tree complete cata- log on instruments for detect- $29050 ALL PRICES F.O.B. PASADENA ing uranium and ofher metais. ADD 3% SALES TAX IF YOU LIVE IN CALIFORNIA Member of American Gem and Mineral Suppliers Association PRECISION RADIATION INSTRUMENTS, INC.11 2235 _ S. La Brea, Los Angeles 16, Calif. [ Please send tree Catalog. GRIEGER'S Name - Address 1633 E. WALNUT ST. PASADENA 4, CALIFORNIA _Zone State- WORLD'S LADCEST MANUFACTURERS OF PORTABLE RADIATION INSTRUMENTS

38 DESERT MAGAZINE ORANGE COAST SHOW DATES Expense of incorporation for Montebello First public show of Wichita Gem and Mineral and Lapidary Society was partly Mineral Society was held in April in Wich- Orange Coast Mineral and Lapidary So- defrayed by an auction sale held at a recent ita, Kansas. To provide enough cases for ciety, Costa Mesa, California, will hold its meeting. Program Chairman Jack Schwartz members' displays, a volunteer group mass- annual gem and mineral show in conjunc- auctioned off donated specimens for a profit constructed case parts which were sold to tion with the Orange County Fair. August of $33. individual members who assembled them 10 to 15. • • • themselves. • • • "The Earth is Born," a series of colored • • • Searles Lake Gem and Mineral Society. slides from the Life magazine series "The Braving rain, 30 members of San Diego Trona, California, is organizing a junior World We Live In," were shown at the Lapidary Society attended the March meet- division. Helping with plans are Al Tanker- April meeting of Coachella Valley Mineral ing and viewed slides from "Desert Treasure sley, Eddie Redenbach and Mo Leonardi. Society, Indio, California. The slides and Trails." • • « accompanying script were loaned by the Using a black light to bring out the beauty California Federation of Mineralogical So- LAPIDARY SUPPLIES — MINERALIGHTS of choice specimens in his collection, cieties. Send for FREE price list Thomas Warren presented a program, "Flu- • • • orescence in Minerals," for Pasadena Lapi- An illustrated lecture. "Uranium in the CALIFORNIA HOUSE OF ROCKS dary Society. Morrison and Shinarump formations in 16208 S. Clark Ave., Bellilower. California • • • Southeastern Utah" was planned for the Open 10 a.m. lo 7 p.m. Wed. (ill 9 p.m. When a new job made it necessary for April meeting of Wasatch Gem Society. Closed Sunday him to leave the San Diego, California, Guest speaker was Horace K. Thurbcr. Jr. area, Felix Kallis resigned as president of San Diego Mineral and Gem Society. He is succeeded by Norman Dawson, former vice-president. Mineralight Makes Rich Tungsten Find in Nevada • • • PROSPECTORS Indiana Geology and Gem Society car- ARE REWARDED ried an illustrated article on "Geography and Geology of the Canon City Embay- ment, Canon City, Colorado" in its April bulletin.

A late April field trip to Thornton Quarry was scheduled by the Earth Science Club of Northern Illinois. Those who had visited / was collecting the area before, remembered the quantities of fossil specimens found there. minerals for fun... but • • • A "Kriss-Kross" puzzle of stones to cut FOUND A FORTUNE! was the brain-teaser published in the April issue of Evansville Lapidary Society's News- Each of these letter. The March issue gave the answers headlines...reprinted to the February Valentine puzzle. from just two recent • • • editions of MINING Stan Skiba continued his "Uranium Pros- RECORD...refers pecting" series in the April issue of the lo a find made '/; American Prospectors Journal, organ of with a Mineralight the American Prospectors Club of Los An- Ultra-Violet geles, with detailed discussions of isorad Lamp. mapping and quantitative assays of radio- active ores. • • • \9\ Jim Kilgore and Vearl Hooper pooled their knowledge of diamond saws to present the March program of Dona Ana County Rockhound Club, Mesilla Park, New Mex- 3 "This is i •ithoui doubt one- "Y _s, lie hud with us on r~ of lln a orld's major ill- ico. Kilgore told how saws are made, why they are able to cut hard gemstones and of your lights, which if "1 ist lln M ncralight posits of ScJiecl tc.would d. Without thelighi ic in all iii,ill. II how they should be treated to keep them in ust our prosp probably III VI f have bet n top condition. Hooper told what not to do woul

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JUNE, 1954 39 First meeting of the junior group of A new evening class in mineral identifica- Sgt. George Zurian, president of El Paso Chicago Rocks and Minerals Society was tion started April I at Santa Barbara High Mineral and Gem Society, discussed "Syn- held in March and elections were held. School, sponsored by the Santa Barbara thetic Sapphire and Spinel Production" in Alan Hahn is president; Alice Swanson, Mineral and Gem Society. the April issue of The Voice, monthly club vice-president; Robert Gonzales, secretary; • • • bulletin. Bob Holtz, treasurer, and Jay Wollin, man- In a "Did you Know?" column in the • • • ager. March issue of Evansville, Indiana, Lapi- University of Denver announces extended dary Society's Newsletter, the editors re- day courses in gems for rockhounds and their families. TURQUOISE ported that for all of the "diamond ore" Cabochon and baroque cut stones in all sizes mined, only one part in 21,000,000 is dia- • • • and grades, drilled, tumbled nuggets matched mond. Members of East Bay Mineral Society, for necklaces and earrings. • • • Oakland, California, have a new project. Approval selections A "Lapidary Clinic" was scheduled for They are assembling kits of specimen rocks the April meeting of Shadow Mountain and minerals to be placed in schools where MARYOTT'S Gem and Mineral Society, Palm Desert, teachers and students show interest. Dr. Claypool, Arizona California. General Chairman Don Butter- F. M. Yockey is heading the project. worth said it would be an opportunity for • • • society members to watch cutting, polishing Dr. Ben Hur Wilson was guest speaker and faceting operations and jewelry making at the April meeting of the Chicago Rocks as well as to view finished pieces. and Minerals Society. He gave an illus- • • • trated lecture on "The Earth as a Planet." Ninth annual exhibit of Minnesota Min- Dr. Wilson is a past president of the Ameri- eral Club was held in April. Mineral speci- can Federation of Mineralogical Societies. mens, meteorites, cabochons and faceted • • • gems were displayed for visitors. "In Utah," Speaker Burnett Hendryx of Bryce Canyon told the Gem and Mineral Society of San Mateo County, California, STRI KE IT RICK NOW! "are formations of every geologic age since WITH the world began and every kind of climate." GEIGER COUNTERS and METAL DETECTORS He showed colored slides of weirdly beau- by tiful formations in Cedar Breaks, Zion, DefeC ron, Fisher and P ecision Radiation Grand Canyon, Bryce and Captol Reef Instruments. Also MINERALIGHTS national parks and monuments. Wr te us for specific information— • • • An oil portrait of Arthur L. Flagg, who has spent many years working with the 0 children of Arizona, teaching them about geology, gems and minerals, was presented 135 N. Sirrine Street to the Mineralogical Society of Arizona, flr Mesa 3, Arizona which he helped found. The painting was Phone WO 4-6233 the gift of junior members of the society and former junior members now in the adult group. HILLQUIST The NUCLIOMETER Model DR-290 • Put the Hillquist Gemmaster beside any lapidary machine — cheaper, flimsy "gadgets" or units that A super-sensitive instrument unaffected by desert sell at twice the price. Compare construction! Com- heat, excellent for making "grid-map" surveys, for pare ease of operation! Compare how much you get for your money and you'll say, "I'll take the uranium deposits, and locating distant ore bodies. Gemmaster!" Tested and proven to be the most sensitive and efficient portable radiation detector made. It is Here is a worthy companion for our larger and more expensive Hillquist Compact Lapidary Unit. rugged, stable, with a three scale sensitivity, cali- Tho smaller in size, the Hillquist Gemmaster has brated in counts-per-second, low operation cost. many of the same features. It's all-metal with spun Priced at only $545.00 F.O.B. Compton, California aluminum tub. You get a rugged, double-action rock clamp, not a puny little pebble pincher. You get a New Model DS-234 Scintillation—The latest scin- full 3" babbitt sleeve bearing and ball thrust bear- tillation counter on the market. Superior sensitivity ing. You get a big 7" Super Speed diamond saw performance and calibration. Low Price... $467.00 and all the equipment you need to go right to work. P\O.B. Compton, California USES ALL ACCESSORIES Geiger Counters—The Prospectors Pal Model DG-2 You can use all the regular Hillquist accessories with the Gemmaster: The Hillquist Facetor, Sphere with three scale sensitivity meter $98.50 Cutters, Laps, Drum and Disc Sanders, etc. The only low cost counter calibrated on all three scales Model 27 WRITE FOR FREE CATALOG Model DG-7—same as above with separate, detached probe $135.00 METAL DETECTORS—The Model 27 Deluxe (with meter) for prospecting i COMPLETE, READY TO USE! YOU GET ALL THIS- for metallic minerals, gold and silver included (Depth range maximum 7 ft.) $110.00 Model 711. Metal case, light weight, easy to carry (depth range 21 ft.) $138.50 All priced F.O.B. Compton, California Mortars and Pestles — Gold Pans, 2 lb. — Miner Picks, 4 H>. 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40 DESERT MAGAZINE DIAMOND BLADES AMATEUR OEM CUTTER Treat yourself to the best" •avv-lhny Super Siangan By LELANDE QUICK, Editor of The Lapidary Journal I>er-Cligd. Chained Cliiirs<-( -S S 9.03 S 7.98 A visitor to our office the other day came top rubber companies, and he has written 11.50 10.44 15.23 14.02 for advice on how to polish opals. He said a paper that will shortly appear on the 22.211 18.53 that he had tried all of the various agents excellent results obtained in lapidary classes 2ii. 10 25.67 with this type of equipment. 32.76 29.08 on the market but that his scratches still 43.20 remained. Now here was a man who The chief faults with sanding cloth are 51.97 39.84 thought that if he had a few scratches after that a fresh piece is usually too sharp to re- 65.73 51.10 finishing his sanding operation they would Mil.H2 125.73 move scratches. A partly worn cloth is 220.00 188.05 be removed with tin oxide or cerium oxide better but the cutting texture does not re- Slate Arbor Size or some other wonder working agent. It is main constant. Wet sanding is preferred sales tax iii California not so. for some gems, and cloth for that purpose Allow for Postage and Insurance One could, in time, remove some hair- has never been too satisfactory; the firm- like scratches with a polishing agent on a ness of padding on wheels is too uniform Covington Ball Bearing Grinder felt or leather buff but it would take so and it should vary with the type of gem Mid shields are much time it would be folly to try it. Our being ground. The wear factor and time furnished in 3 visitor even admitted that he had pits in element in class rooms is tremendous where sizes and price his finished gems. We told him that he was cloth is used; in the classroom there is ranges to suit mistaken in believing that his opals were seldom room for the use of all kinds of y our require- finished if he took them to the polishers grit, etc. iiients. Water and with pits and scratches in them. No one Mr. Chick tells us that after a great grit proof. ever gets a perfect polish on any gem deal of experimenting the nationally known COVINGTON 8" TRIM SAW unless he has first done a perfect sanding rubber company has devised two wheels job. for all sanding operations for all materials. and motor lire com- The temptation is strong indeed, especi- The name and address of the company will pact and do not splash. S;ivc hi fides ally with opals, to take a gem with a few he supplied if you send a self addressed and and clothing with scratches still on it to the buffs just to see postage paid envelope with your request for Ihis SOW. how the fire comes out. It takes more information. No dealer has these wheels strength of character than we usually pos- stocked at this time but they should be sess to refrain from polishing until every stocked by most dealers soon because the BUILD YOUR OWN LAP last scratch is removed by the sanders. manufacturer plans wide advertising about them. anil HAVE with a COV- We can't see that any improvement has IXGTON 12" or 16" Lap been made in sanding operations themselves Nine good reasons for adopting their use Kit. We furnish every- in many years but certainly a lot of things (especially in class rooms) develops from thing you need. Seuil have been done to take the hardship out of Mr. Chick's correspondence with us on for new frpc lapi\ 1132 Koseburg, Oregon band" outfit that came equipped with rub- clubs and lists gem displays of about 600 ber bonded grinders and sanders but their museums. Tells you just where you can buy manufacture was stopped, probably because anything a rockhound would use from a ALTA INDUSTRIES of a lack of popularity of these items and trout fly to a rock pick, from a diamond the difficulty of purchasing replacements. wheel dresser to a diamond ring. This is 2123 West Kmanto Blvd., Phoenix, Ai'Issoni Now we hear from Stephen Chick, a the biggest value in a rockhound book ever LAPIDARY EQUIPMENT lapidary instructor in the schools of Ann offered. We can be pardoned for being en- Manufacture and Design Arbor, Mich. Mr. Chick has been doing a thusiastic about it because it's the one book 16-1R inch powerfeed slabbing saw we always believed the rockhound needed Belt sanders and Trim saws lot of research on rubber sanding wheels, (send postal for free literature) with the cooperation of one of the nation's most—and we wrote it.

UNE, 1 954 4.1 By RANDALL HENDERSON AST WEEK J was present at a meeting when the music, fine art and healthful recreation, uncluttered by directors of the Death Valley 49ers chose the catch-penny venders and stop and go signals. inscription which is to be placed on a plaque at Perhaps it would be stretching a point to classify the the grave of Death Valley Scotty during the annual annual burro-ftapjack contest which is part of the Encamp- Encampment of the organization next November. (See ment program as a cultural event—but it takes a bit of page 18, this issue of Desert.) comedy to complete every well-balanced show, and those The mystery which surrounded Scotty during his life prospectors and burros are the greatest clowns on earth. remains unsolved after his death. This was evident in the good-humored debate which preceded the decision of Recently I spent a weekend visiting with some of the the 49ers. While it is well known that the funds with Jackrabbit homesteaders in Twentynine Palms, Lucerne which the million dollar Castle was built, and which sup- and Apple Valleys on California's Mojave desert, and was ported Scotty in his late years came from Albert M. amazed at the progress many of Uncle Sam's 5-acre settlers Johnson, the multi-millionaire insurance man, there is are making. still no accounting for the huge sums he disbursed in frolic Most of the men and women who are taking up these and folly before he had access to the Johnson fortune. little homesteads are folks from the coastal metropolitan The fabulous gold mine which Scotty talked about areas. As soon as the week's work is done they hurry out generally is conceded to have been a myth. His enemies, to their desert claims, spend the weekend building roads, and he made many of them, say he was a high-grader, a erecting cabins and planting shrubbery. thief and a blackmailer. Others are not so harsh in their Paul B. Witmer, manager of the U. S. District Land judgment. They all agree he was a master press agent. Office in Los Angeles, tells me that as many as 75 appli- The 49ers were unwilling to classify Scotty either as cants are being processed in a day at his busy headquart- a saint or sinner. For his plaque they selected a quotation ers. The applicants are given a three-year lease at nom- from Eleanor Jordan Houston's book. Death Valley inal cost, and if the required improvements are made Scotty Told Me—they let him write his own epitaph— within three years a deed to the property is issued on pay- and since it is an expression of the best in the man, no ment of the appraised value, which averages about $20 one is hurt. an acre. The Small Tract Act under which these lands are Despite his flare for publicity while he was alive, sold differs from the old homestead law in that no resi- Scotty sought no monument for himself. Once he said to dence on the site is required. Mrs. Houston: "I like the press. They never neglected In future issues Desert Magazine will publish more me. Kept me in the headlines longer than any other man. detailed information regarding the Small Tract Act and That's monument enough for me. An honest man don't manner in which literally thousands of Americans in the need no monument." Southwest are acquiring desert homesteads under its pro- X S * visions. The Death Valley 49ers is a rather amazing organi- :|: :;: * zation. It grew out of the California Centennial Pageant The organized mining groups persist in their efforts staged in Death Valley in 1949, and was formed to per- to secure congressional action which will open the Joshua petuate the best of the historical traditions of the South- Tree National Monument to mining operations. west. Those of us who are opposed to the proposal would Having no by-laws and making no discrimination as be much more sympathetic if the mining interests would to race, religion or politics, the organization is managed agree to radical changes in the present antiquated mining by a self-perpetuating board of Southern Californians laws—changes which would limit mining claims strictly who give generously of their time to many activities of a to mining operations. cultural character. Anyone may belong to the organiza- Prospectors combed the Joshua Tree area in search tion who contributes $2.00 or more to the treasury. As of minerals for nearly a hundred years before the Mon- there are no salaries and the directors pay their own travel ument was established—and found only two or three expenses the funds are devoted entirely to the staging of small deposits of marketable ore which have long since the annual Encampment, and toward the building of a been worked out. It just isn't a mineralized area. museum in Death Valley. I am not afraid that mining will ever destroy the The campfire programs, the artists', authors' and pho- peace and beauty of the Monument. But 1 dread to think tographers' breakfasts—open to everyone; the art and what might happen to the Joshua Tree park if anyone hobby shows and the sunrise services in Death Valley, all could go in there and stake a claim and put up a shack add up to a delightful three or four day program that is under the protection of a law that puts on big-hearted most refreshing to those who occasionally like to get away slow-moving Uncle Sam, the burden of proving no market- from the world of speed and commerce and enjoy good able minerals are present.

42 DESERT MAGAZINE UNDERSTANDING WEATHER AND HOW TO PREDICT IT We can't change the weather, turn- ing off rain for sunshine on a picnic day or producing gentle showers for COLORFUL GUIDE TO this year, Mrs. Houston decided to go our newly-planted garden. But we can PLAYGROUNDS OF UTAH ahead and publish the material under predict with fair accuracy what the Travelers generally are agreed that the title, Death Valley Scotty Told Me. weather will be like. insofar as the natural landscape is The book is largely the tales told For these predictions, most people concerned, the most colorful region in by Scotty—not the impossible yarns rely on newspaper or radio reports the United States lies within that great the old show man delighted in telling made by trained meteorologists and, plateau area extending from the Rocky reporters and casual acquaintainces, if they can read them, on weather maps Mountains across New Mexico, Utah but the kind of stories he related in published in the larger daily newspa- and Arizona to the State of Nevada. the informality of evening chats with pers. But few people understand what The cream of this scenic wonder- friends—for lie spent many evenings weather is and what causes it. land is in Utah where almost the en- with the Houstons, both at the Castle tire southern half of the state is broken and at their Death Valley home. In their latest book, Our Changing Weather, Carroll Lane Fenton and Mil- by cliffs and spires and turrets of a Mrs. Houston, in her foreword, ap- hundred shades of red and yellow, dred Adams Fenton explain weather praised Scotty as a very "real, forceful for the layman and show him how he fringed everywhere with the green of and unique personality," with the abil- juniper and coniferous trees. can try weather forecasting himself. ity "to puncture a stuffed shirt with a They first discuss the components of It is the two national parks and nine few vivid words . . . Yet he never weather, like clouds, rain and fog, national monuments within Utah that capitalized on his exploits, and he wind and thunderstorms, cyclones and have supplied the material for a color- never hurt anyone, even those who air masses. Then they show how to ful booklet published by the Zion- called him a faker and harder names." use this knowledge in predicting the Bryce Natural History Association. After her first unpleasant encounter weather, a hobby that can be both With 16 pages in full color and scores with Scotty, she learned to know him fun and profitable, especially in plan- of black and white photos, these na- as a very human and unobtrusive ning outdoor recreation. tional playgrounds are depicted as neighbor whose bluntness of speech "Masterpieces in Erosion" in both pic- Our Changing Weather is a Double- was merely a shield for his protection day Junior Book, excellent for young ture and text. Members of the Park against the silly chatter of the curious. Service have contributed to make this readers of all ages, but it also is rec- "I have tried to present Scotty as I ommended for adults who want a an exceptionally fine guide book to knew him—the master storyteller, the the recreational areas in Utah. The simple explanation of natural phenom- humorist, the philosopher," she wrote. ena which, unexplained, seem baffling. book is well edited by M. V. Walker, The book reveals the human being be- executive secretary of the Association. hind the glamorous Death Valley Published by Doubleday and Com- The official road map of Utah, Scotty of the headlines. pany. 110 pages, numerous photo- showing the park areas, national for- Published by the author. Litho- graphs and diagrams. $2.50. ests and Indian reservations in color graphed photos. Appendix. Paper- • • • is included as an insert in the book. bound in 106 pages. $1.00. Books reviewed on this page are available (it Bound in 4-color paper cover, 65 Desert Crafts Shop, Palm Desert pages. $1.00. • • • Who was this poker-faced desert rat who made the top headlines SCOTTY, THE MAN WHO COULD across the nation? Was he genuine—or just a skilled press agent? PUNCTURE STUFFED SHIRTS What about his gold mine? His castle? His private life? The first time Eleanor Jordon Hous- ton met Death Valley Scotty, he auto- You'll find many of the answers in Eleanor Jordon Houston's book— graphed a book at her request and just off the press! then said to her: "Now, don't let me ever see you again!" That was in 1947 soon after Mrs. / Houston had gone to Death Valley as t/ctMey Scotty the bride of Park Ranger Sam Hous- ton, who was stationed there. But despite this rude introduction TOLD ME - - Mrs. Houston became well acquainted with Scotty in the years that followed, Here is Death Valley Scotty as he was known to close friends whom and eventually he agreed to collabo- he liked and trusted. Here are reported the conversations which took rate in the preparation of a book place at Scotty's Castle, his ranch, and in the home of Mrs. Houston which would contain many of his during the years her husband was a Park Ranger in Death Valley. stories. "I believe we can sell a million This is the story of the real Death Valley Scotty copies," he said. "Got to be cheap, —the man behind the headlines. though. Make it cheap, people will buy." $1.00 postpaid Much of the material for the book California buyers add a 3-cent stamp to cover tax had been written when the Houstons in 1949 were transferred to Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, where DESERT CRAFTS SHOP Sam become superintendent. Follow- Palm Desert, California ing Walter Scott's death in January

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