Desert Wheels ... Everywhere in the desert land, weathering wheels are re- minders of a historic past. Upper left, a 10-foot diameter plank wheel at Goler, once used on a booster pump for Randsburg's water supply, photographed by William F. Sprinkle, Jr., Te- hachapi, California. Upper right, the hub of a 20-mule team borax wagon, taken at Furnace Creek ranch, Death Valley, by Ben Pope, Dinuba, California. Lower left, ore wagons from silver boom days, at Tombstone, Arizona, pictured by Carl H. Schaettler, Pasadena, California. Lower right, pioneer wagon wheels have been built into this fence at Brigham City, Utah, photographed by Willard Luce, Provo, Utah. DESERT CALENDAR

May 18-June 8—Exhibit Guatemalan Textiles, costumes of the Indians of Guatemala, Museum of North- ern Arizona, Flagstaff, Arizona. June 10-12 — Thirty-second annual Cherry festival, parade—Saturday, 11 a.m., Beaumont, California. June 11-12—Sixth annual show of the San Fernando Valley Mineral and Gem society, Sat.—1-10 p.m.; Sun. —10 a.m.-9 p.m. North Holly- wood Recreation center, Califor- Volume 12 JUNE, 1949 Number 8 nia. Admission free. June 11-12—Sierra club hike. Climb COVER DESERT SPARROW HAWK. Photograph taken Winnedumali, ancient landmark in east of Banning, California, by Robert Leath- Inyos east of Independence. Over- erman, San Bernardino, California. night camp. FEATURE Desert Wheels 2 June 11-26—First International exhi- bition of Latin American photog- CALENDAR June events on the desert . 3 raphy, Museum of Northern Ari- Why Tree Yucca Wears a Hat zona, Flagstaff, Arizona. NATURE By EDMUND C. JAEGER 4 June 13—San Antonio day, Corn He Planned to Change the Desert Climate dance, Taos Pueblo, New Mexico. HISTORY By DAVID HELLYER 5 June 13—San Antonio day, Green There's Placer Gold in the Desert Bajadas Corn dance, Sandia Pueblo, New MINING Mexico. By ADDISON N. CLARK 8 I Got My Five-Acre Title June 16-19—De Anza days, annual HOMESTEADING festival combined this year with By MELISSA BRANSON STEDMAN ... 11 Gem and Mineral exhibit. Chuck wagon breakfast, parade, street HUMOR Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley 12 dances, Riverside, California. EXPLORATION Ancient Artists Lived on Rattlesnake Peak June 19—Corpus Christi Sunday, out- By THERON MARCOS TRUMBO 13 door religious procession from St. DESERT QUIZ Test your desert knowledge 16 Francis Cathedral, Santa Fe, New Mexico. PERSONALITY Cowgirl of Brown's Hole June 23-25—Grand assembly, Rain- By CHARLES KELLY 17 bow Girls, Gallup, New Mexico. FIELD TRIP Rocks by the Roadside June 24—San Juan day, afternoon By HAROLD O. WEIGHT 20 corn dance, Taos Pueblo, New PHOTOGRAPHY Contest winners in April 25 Mexico. POETRY Billy the Burro, and other poems 26 June 24—San Juan day, annual fiesta BOTANY and corn dance, San Juan Pueblo, Emigrant Flowers that Never Fade New Mexico. By MARY BEAL , .... 27 MINING June 24-26—Convention of American Current news of desert mines 28 and California State Federations SURVEY of Mineralogical societies. Exhib- Who reads Desert 29 its, field trips, bus tours, Sacra- LETTERS Comments and views of Desert's readers ... 30 mento, California. CLOSE-UPS About those who write for Desert 32 June 24-26 — State F.F.A. Rodeo, CONTEST (Future Farmers of America), Prizes to photographers, annual cover contest . 32 Santa Rosa, New Mexico. NEWS From here and there on the desert 33 June 26 — DeVargas memorial pro- LAPIDARY Amateur Gem Cutter, by Lelande Quick ... 40 cession commemorating recon- HOBBY quest of Santa Fe in 1692 and Gems and minerals 41 held annually since that date, COMMENT Just Between You and Me, by the Editor ... 46 from St. Francis cathedral to Ro- BOOKS sario chapel, Santa Fe, New Mex- Reviews of Southwestern literature 47 ico. The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Press, Inc., Palm Desert, June 29-30 — Lehi roundup, Lehi, California. Re-entered as second class matter July 17, 1948, at the post office at Palm Desert, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title registered No. 358865 in U. S. Patent Office, Utah. and contents copyrighted 1949 by the Desert Press, Inc. Permission to reproduce contents must be secured from the editor in writing. June 30—Fishing contest, awards, RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor Parker, Arizona. AL HAWORTH and MARION HEWES, Associate Editors June—Fred K. Hinchman exhibit of BESS STACY, Business Manager MARTIN MORAN, Circulation Manager Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledged Southwestern arts and crafts, in- unless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility for cluding jewelry, blankets, costumes, damage or loss of manuscripts or photographs although due care will be exercised. Sub- pottery, baskets and Plains Indian scribers should send notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding issue. beadwork. Southwest Museum, SUBSCRIPTION BATES Highland Park, Los Angeles, One Year .. . $3.50 Two Years ... $6.00 California. Canadian Subscriptions 25c Extra, Foreign 50c Extra Subscription to Army Personnel Outside U. S. A. Must Be Mailed in Conformity With P. O. D. Order No. 19687 Address Correspondence to Desert Magazine, Palm Desert, California JUNE, 1949 Why Tree Yucca Wears a 'Hat'

HAT is it, you ask, that some- By EDMUND C. JAEGER these pupal cases in numbers, some- times causes yucca trees to die times whole handfuls of them, each off at the stem-tip and look as about the size of the last joint of the if they had some strange sort of "hat" little finger. They are very hard and pushed down over the apex of the tough to tear apart, the coarse fibers stem. having been tightly cemented together Personal investigation revealed to by the maturing grub. If you are for- me some years ago that this was due tunate to find the skillfully constructed to the work of a beetle (Psyphophorus cases just at the right time, you may yuccae), close relation of the small find the fat pupae inside. snout weevil that is such a vexatious Naturally the killing of the stem- pest of our granaries and kitchen pan- terminus ends further upward growth tries. The adult insects are large, hand- of the tree's branch. Not discouraged, some black fellows almost an inch and, perhaps even stimulated by this long with a long, curved, slender, injury, the yucca plant soon sends out moveable beak, set marvelously like a one or two new side shoots. Thus, we swivel into a cup-like socket at the see that this work of the weevils is front of the head. really a very useful aid in causing these In late spring these insects may be yuccas to have beautiful branching seen in numbers crawling over and crowns instead of consisting of mere among the long saw-edged yucca straight stems. Of course there are needles. The mother beetles lay their other causes of branching such as wind eggs in the soft tissues at the base of or fire injury or the forming of a pan- the narrow, bayonet-like leaves of the icle of blossoms at the stem-tip; but stem-tip and when these eggs hatch, the weevils play a very important role the young grubs immediately begin to nevertheless. feed, bringing severe injury to the Yuccas, other than the tree yuccas, plant tissues. This causes the topmost are visited by similar weevils. Perhaps leaves to turn yellow, wither at the because the stemless, Whipple's yucca, base and turn downward, making the sometimes called Candle of the Lord, top of bristling needles look like the of the coastal mountain slopes, has proverbial Chinese coolie's hat. more tender tissues, it is most fre- When the young grubs have fed, quently attacked; much more so than they utilize the fiberous plant tissues the more hardy, slow growing species which had previously entered and of desert yuccas. I have seen many a passed through their bodies, to make fine old plant of the wide-spread Mo- their queer pupal cases; cases which, jave yucca (Yucca schidigera) with its at least in shape, resemble the cocoon long yellow-green bayonet-like leaves of the silk worm moth. In these, they brought to an inglorious end by the spend a short period of seeming rest activities of yucca weevils. Curiously before coming forth as restive black enough, there is in Hawaii a nearly re- adult weevils. lated beetle that causes great damage If you will tear into one of the in- to sugar plantations by boring in the fested yucca stem-tips, you will find stalks of cane.

The cases or cocoons from which This is Psyphophorus yuccae the young grubs emerge as full Mojave tree yucca, showing what which lays the eggs and eventu- grown yucca beetles happens when the yucca beetle ally reverses the growth of the selects it as a nesting place. yucca

THE DESERT MAGAZINE WIDNEY SEA Drawing by Norton Allen shows the area proposed to be inundated It seems quite fantastic to- under the Widney scheme. Pres- day, but in 1873 Dr. J. P. Wid- ent day place names are imposed ney started a nation-wide con- to identify that area. troversy by proposing that the Southern California desert be converted to a great inland sea by diverting the entire flow of the Colorado river into the basin now known as Im- perial and Coachella valleys. Newspaper editors endorsed the idea, and the territorial governor of Arizona actually went to Washington to urge the appropriation of money for the project. Here is the story of one of the strangest episodes in Southern Cali- fornia history. He Planned to Change the Desert Climate

By DAVID HELLYER

STRIDE his sweat-flecked horse Above that line the hot bowels of the Colo- and jagged." rado Desert, Dr. J. P. Widney, Along the littoral zone of an- U.S.A. paused again to search the dis- cient sea, the young army surgeon tant cliffs. Little did he dream that the found the sand white with countless dered. "Not possibly more than a few great, scorched basin would soon be sea-shells, some minute, some fragile, centuries, probably not more than two nailed as "the Widney Sea," or that his "such as are found in sheltered arms or three." theories would form the storm-center of the sea." A man of medicine, Dr. Widney in- of a violent coast-to-coast controversy. tuitively reasoned from effect to cause. "I found numbers of them," he re- Fingering the fragile fragments, the His sun-weary eyes narrowed to slits ported, "fragile bivalves, about an inch as he scanned the red rock bluffs. surgeon told himself that he stood on wide and an inch and a half long, the the bed of a long-dead sea. He reflect- What he saw prompted him to write, in shells scarcely thicker than half a doz- the Overland Monthly for January, ed that the land once must have blos- en sheets of ordinary note paper, somed and bloomed where now only 1873: closely pressed. These shells drift "For miles and miles I traced with the "lone whirlwind rears its stately about in the restless winds, beaten up- column of sand hundreds of feet in the the eye a strange, well-defined line on by the raging sandstorms, scoured along the mountain sides, always at heated air, and travels slowly on for and worn by the constant attrition of hours." the same level, as undeviating as the the sharp grains." chalk-line of a carpenter's marking At least twice Dr. Widney explored twine. That they were paper-thin did not this thermal waste, which seemed to "Riding out to it, I found it to be surprise the doctor. He was amazed him "the scorched, blasted bed of the beach of an old sea. The rocks that they had not been pulverized some old cyclopean furnace." Further were worn and rounded up to that completely by the ravages of wind and study convinced him that the Colorado level, as by the constant washing of sand. river, emptying into the Gulf of Cali- water, with coarse coral formations in "How long could these shells with- fornia, had for centuries deposited the their crevices and upon their sides. stand such constant wear," he pon- red mud of Arizona's northern plateaus JUNE, 1949 at its mouth, piling up a huge delta. Be- covery's" news value. Trumpeted the ground seems paved with them—these fore this barrier was created, the desert Los Angeles Star: evidences support my theory. basin must have formed the upper wat- "If Congress would take the matter ers of the Gulf. As the delta grew, it "Would it be money wasted," he up and appoint a scientific commission challenged, "if the government were to choked off this inland portion, which to visit that region and make a report then slowly evaporated. send a commission of scientific men, as to the practicability, c«st and effect, of-engineers, carefully to examine the Dr. Widney expounded these the- and should that report corroborate the subject, to run levels and report the ories to the people of Los Angeles. view of Dr. Widney, a great country, result?" He argued that great climatic changes almost a nation in itself, might be re- had occurred in regions touching the claimed from a desert, and rains be in- Dr. Widney's proposal instantly desert, owing to the drying up of this duced to fall where now a bleak and swept the land. The "Widney Sea" be- inland sea. If this ocean were restored, parched country is wasting away for came a favored conversation topic in he contended, beneficent climatic con- want of moisture." parlor, barber shop and bar. At least ditions would return to these stricken one college conferred a master's degree areas. Even California, already bounti- The Star praised the doctor's views on the doctor for this remarkable con- fully blessed, would be affected favor- as "sound in every particular," and ex- tribution to science and the nation. ably by the restoration of this great sea. pressed the hope that "delegations in Savants learnedly argued the issue pro Congress from California, Arizona, and con. Rainfall, too, would be increased. Nevada and Utah will take up this sub- He estimated that evaporation from Some of the plan's stronger cham- this body of water "would be enough, ject and demand of the government pions advocated immediate formation if all recondensed and precipitated, to the appointment of such a commis- of a company to cut a ditch from the supply twelve inches of rain to 86,400 sion ..." Colorado to the basin, to begin the job square miles—more than double the Further investigation strengthened of filling this great natural bathtub area of the state of Ohio." Dr. Widney's conviction that the land without delay. Others contended that Critics were quick to rise to the bait. all maps should be changed. "Colorado once had been rich, supporting dense Desert" now would be a misnomer. How, they jeered, could mere men populations. He talked with explor- "make" a sea? The very idea was blas- The basin henceforth should be known ers who had seen the vestiges of great to the world as "the Widney Sea." phemous! Dr. Widney's answer was in- forests, "still in a passable state of stant: divert the Colorado river into preservation, where all is now parched But of skeptics, there were many. the basin. and dry." Would not the increase in moisture "It is admitted," he confessed, "that content of the air encourage the dread the flow of water from the Colorado "In western Arizona," he reported, disease of malaria? Such a damp cli- probably is not great enough to fill the "are traces of an ancient population mate would produce an unnatural and basin entirely. But it would, in all much more dense, much more highly fearsome animal and vegetable growth probability, fill the northern portion. civilized than that now inhabiting the in a land already so fertile. Perhaps This accomplishment in itself would country. Ruins of cities, once large California's vaunted orange trees help destroy the desiccating winds and populous, canals for extensive would shoot skyward to the height of which find birth in this furnace." systems of irrigation, fragments of pot- the sequoia gigantea, bearing pumpkin- Newspapers quickly sensed the "dis- tery so numerous that in places the sized fruit! Harmless garter snakes

In 1905 the Colorado river actually did break through and jor over two years poured its entire flow into the "Widney Sea" basin, forming the present Salton Sea. This is a picture of the old Liverpool salt works which was inundated in the 1905-6 flood. Photo, C. C. Pierce collection. The Salton sea of today occupies only a fraction of the area that would have been submerged had the Widney scheme been carried out. might swell into boa constrictors, while "The governor, during his checkered knocked the bottom out of the "Wid- frogs could easily evolve into alligators! life, has been engaged in some grand ney Sea." That the general's measure- Endlessly the argument raged, some of and conspicuous enterprises, but in ments and calculations are somewhat it sheer whimsy, much of it grim seri- this case he has evidently laid his plans less than accurate may be true. But ousness. before he consulted his figures. Let us they were sufficiently potent to dampen Then Arizona entered the fray. None make the calculation for him. the ardor of the sea-builders. other than General John C. Fremont, "To fill such a pond in one year, Years later, irrigation was to come then governing the territory of Ari- supposing the bottom to be water- to the vast wasteland. Farms, and zona, probed into the matter. The tight and evaporation entirely checked, ranches today dot the desert floor in "Pathfinder" found the territory worthy would require a small stream 20 miles all save the bleakest and most inac- of federal consideration, and straight- wide, 20 feet deep, with a current of cessible areas. Cities like Coachella, way embarked for Washington to lay three miles an hour. To fill such a lake Indio, Brawley, El Centro and Calex- the subject before his superiors. by a stream 1000 feet wide, 10 feet ico have brought man's civilizing Meanwhile, no one had thought to deep, and running at the rate of three touch to a land where before was consider the problem mathematically— miles an hour, would take two hundred "only the glare of the never-ending a disastrous and embarrassing over- years!" sand, and the silence of death." sight. General George Stoneman, one General Stoneman then estimated Dr. Widney's contention that the in- of the more practical residents of the that "after this lake was filled it would land sea once was part of the gulf has Gity of the Angels, decided the time require a river 250 feet wide, 10 feet had come to shine the light of reason been variously supported and dis- deep, and running at the rate of five claimed by opposing teams of scien- on the issue. Said he to a shocked Los miles per hour—about the size of the Angeles audience: tists. Opponents of his theory claim Colorado river at ordinary stages— that the countless bivalves which litter "Much has been said of late regard- to compensate for evaporation at the the desert floor were of freshwater ori- ing a great geological basin lying be- rate of eighteen inches each year. gin. Who really knows? tween the coast range of mountains in "Archimedes, you know, said that California and the Colorado river on he could move the world, only give him Today, at the site where Dr. Widney the east. a fulcrum. Fremont says he can make sat astride his sweat-flecked horse scan- "This basin is represented as being a sea, only give him plenty of green- ning the red rock cliffs, the silence of three hundred miles long, fifty miles backs. When he makes his estimates death still reigns. It is unlikely that wide, and three hundred feet deep— he will come to the conclusion that the silence will ever be broken by the about the size of Lake Erie. We are long ere he can fill his basin with water, wash of waves on a shoreline. In the told that Governor Fremont of Ari- the great Engineer of the universe will apt words of General Stoneman, the zona has just returned from Washing- have filled it with the sands of the des- desert probably will remain devoted ton, where he has been for the purpose ert, driven down by the ever-prevailing eternally to "the purposes intended by of inducing Congress to lend the aid winds of the north." the Almighty — for occupation by of the treasury to enable some one to Thus, with one well-aimed blow of horned toads, rattlesnakes, and the fill this basin with water. his slide rule, General Stoneman Southern Pacific railroad!" JUNE, 1 949 Panoramic view across the Leonard creek, Nevada, bajada placer deposit in north Humboldt county, where water is available to extensive operations. There's Placer Gold in the Desert Bajadas Many of the bajadas — those under the noses of uncounted thou- alluvial slopes which lie at the sands of old-time rule-of-thumb desert prospectors throughout the arid South- base of desert mountains—con- west, for countless decades. Only in tain more or less gold, and offer By ADDISON N. CLARK recent years has the bajada type of the amateur gold-seeker the op- gold placer deposit, which is strictly portunity to cash in on the ex- NE need not be an experienced indigenous to the arid regions of the isting — and lawful — domestic placer mining operator to locate Southwest, come to be recognized by bajada placer gold deposits in geologists and engineers. And it is still market for unprocessed gold. the Southwest deserts, if some of the virtually virgin soil, a terra incognita This is the opinion of the writer simple precautions suggested in these to almost all save the geologists. of this article, a consulting min- pages are followed. In a recent publication of the Cali- ing engineer and geologist. And "But," you ask, "what is a bajada fornia State Division of Mines ( Bulle- if you want to know how to go placer deposit?" tin No. 135, "Placer Mining for Gold about locating this virtually un- It is a type that has lain untouched in California") Doctor Olaf P. Jenkins, touched store of precious metal, here are some suggestions.

It doesn't require ex- pensive equipment to prospect for placer gold — just a shovel, perhaps a pick, a pan and water. Inexpensive placer operation in the Leonard creek field. now Chief of the Division of Mines stretches of eroded detritus from up In the accompanying panoramic photo- and then Chief Geologist, in the chap- the mountain—not water-worn gravel graphs, taken by the writer in 1947 ter on "Geology of .Placer Deposits'' and pebbles such as you'll find in the for his report on a large Leonard says: "Recent study of the geologic arroyos, but just plain dirt. Unimpeded Creek placer property, those bajadas processes at worK in the desert has led by timber or anything more stable can be seen plainly between the steep to a better understanding of the desert than sagebrush roots, the dirt has slid rock-slopes and the more level abut- placers, which otter a practically virgin down the steep slopes of ranges for ting ground. The captions of those field for exploration, holding a poten- uncounted seasons — perhaps thou- pictures explain them in more detail. tial wealth not yet known." sands of years—and carried with it the I have found bajada gold in quartz However, with placer mining oper- gold eroded from apexes of quartz matrices in sizes from mere granules to ators who for years have dredged and veins up in the range. pieces as big as pencil erasers. That draglined the gold gravel deposits of And the gold is utterly unlike any makes it hard to recover gold by ordi- California now actively scouting for preconceived idea you may have of nary washing-plant sluice-riffles, be- new fields to work—and more and placer gold, such as is recovered from cause the lighter quartz too often car- more of them turning from well-wat- river or ancient beach gravels, or ries it along over the riffle-lips and on ered California mining regions to the from the lava-buried Neocene Age down to the tailpile; especially where arid and semi-arid desert regions, with river channels of the Sierra Nevada heavy black sand is present in quantity, increasing success in the latter—the which for decades have been mined by as it often is. In design of any washing bajada type of auriferous deposit in- drifting and "breasting." That placer plant for such recovery, means eventu- evitably will come into its own as an gold usually has been transported a ally must be provided for grinding or added source of gold production. considerable distance by fast-running roll-crushing of such frozen matrix, The word is of Spanish parentage water, and hammered and worn else too high a percentage of gold will (bah-HAH-dah) and is the Spanish smooth by pebble and boulder impact be lost. That, of course, is where we term for slope, locally used in the and abrasion. The gold found in ba- engineers come in—when a discovered Southwest to indicate the lower or foot jada deposits along the feet of desert and tested bajada deposit has proved slope of a mountain range—the part ranges is what in engineering reports that it warrants commercial-scale de- consisting of rock debris, standing at and published technical articles I have velopment and operation, and requisite a much lower angle than the rock slope christened "short-haul gold"—a term capital has been enlisted. of the range proper. The term was first that appears to have caught on with But this article is for readers of used by C. F. Tolman for confluent professional associates. It is sharp and Desert who are mine-minded and like alluvial fans along the base of a moun- angular, and bright yellow instead of to comb the Southwest's most fascinat- tain range, in an article on erosion and rusty, or in some cases blackened by ing regions for sign of history's most deposition in the southern Arizona bol- iron and manganese solutions as is the stable legal tender—for the amateur son region, in the Journal of Geology. "long-haul gold" of California's pres- prospector who isn't hidebound by In my field work I have likened the ent-era or Neocene Age placers. hoary traditions, who can read plain bajadas to ruffles of a formal gown Another characteristic of some ba- signs, and who has some knowledge of around the feet of a range, between jada deposit gold I have studied is that the procedure of filing placer mining the alluvial fans at the mouths of ar- much of it remains "frozen" to the bits locations under federal and state min- royos and canyons. of the quartz matrix from veins whence ing laws. The commercial phases will In the clear desert air you can spot erosion wore it and washed it to the come along later, after he's found such them for miles. They merely are base of the granite-back-boned range. a deposit, filed on it, and worked out JUNE, 1949 ways and means for testing its gold and instructions for lawful disposal of content. Pamphlets covering claim lo- "unprocessed" gold (i.e., in its native cation and recording procedure can be raw state, never having been cyanide- obtained from the California State Di- dissolved, smelted, melted, amalgamat- vision of Mines at San Francisco; the ed or retorted) and its marketing and Nevada State Bureau of Mines at Reno, transportation within the Continental or the Arizona Bureau of Mines at United States through negotiable ware- Phoenix, depending on which desert house receipts. Such unprocessed gold region is involved. has been disposed of and traded in, As for Nevada's bajadas, a couple of during recent months, at prices well paragraphs from my article published above the treasury-pegged $35 per in the Mining World for July, 1947 ounce. ("Nevada Desert Placer Mining") Many economists believe a raise in bear directly on this: the U. S. mint price inevitable. I my- self can see no way it can be arbi- "You need only drive up and down and across Nevada to see a thousand bajadas— trarily held down, in the face of the hundreds of them from her arterial high- well known law of supply and demand, ways alone. If they abut against the right much longer. Gold is selling in open kinds of ranges, and the geology and topog- raphy below them are right, every such ba- markets abroad (Argentina, India, jada can be a potential source of short-haul Egypt, the Philippines with their fa- placer gold. However, as to its degree of mous and rich gold mines, etc.) up to concentration or distribution, certain simple $100 and more per ounce. That Con- facts govern, and only a proper test sam- pling, and a wash test with water, will dis- gress will sooner or later create an close whether values be commercially recov- Addison N. Clark, mining consult- American free market for gold is the erable or too disseminated to warrant reasonable hope, even conviction, of acquisition and development. So few of the ant and author of the accompany- old-time, or even recent, prospectors have ing article on bajada placer mining. long-handicapped western mining in- recognized these bajadas as possible sources terests, and of forward-looking sena- of revenue, and they are mostly far from tors and congressmen who have been available water or else well above, that today ing tests. And if the "plain dirt" tenta- continuously working to that end. they are almost a completely virgin field for exploration. tively tests up to your hopes and ex- pectations—well, I'll quote a letter re- "The keys to whether they offer possibili- ceived from Jay A. Carpenter, director ties or not are simple: One, the uplift against QUARTERLY MINE JOURNAL'S which they lie must be an amply-mineralized of the Nevada State Bureau of Mines NEW ISSUE PUBLISHED . . . range, built of the right brand of rocks— and head of the Mackay School of rocks that make gold (batholithic granite is Mines of the State University: Full text of the "Atomic Energy Act ideal). Two, the eroded detritus must neces- sarily have been estopped from transporta- "Introduction of new mechanical of 1946" and a chapter on Mineral tion to and dissemination in the great open equipment has expedited sampling of Resources of Kern County are of par- spaces of flat desert country, and burial placer ground. Thus, the modern jeep ticular public interest in most recent there under prohibitive depths of alluvium." can travel off the highways to placer issue of California Journal of Mines The property shown in the accom- ground, and with an auger attachment and Geology, just published by the panying photographs has an almost (as used for post-hole work) can sam- State of California department of natu- ideal detritus catchment condition. But ple shallow ground rapidly for fine ral resources. that is only one spot in the Nevada material. Likewise, heavier truck equip- desert. Offhand I can name half a ment for modern well-drilling can rap- The Journal is a quarterly publica- dozen other spots, within a few hours' idly put down holes up to 30 inches tion printed and distributed by the drive from there, where definitely fa- in diameter to 30 feet depth, allowing division of mines, Olaf P. Jenkins, vorable conditions exist for bajada lowering of men for removal of large chief. Copies may be purchased from placer gold deposition. In his article rocks and for inspection of gravel lay- division headquarters, Third Floor, which I have cited Dr. Olaf Jenkins ers." Those factors, Prof. Carpenter Ferry Building, San Francisco 11, says: "There are probably many ex- adds, plus available modernized gold- California. amples of typical bajada placers in the saving apparatus and dirt-moving cost Other topics treated in latest issue Mojave desert and the Great Basin re- figures, take much of the former uncer- of the Journal are: gions of California, but recognition of tainty and risk out of placer mining Water-Flooding as a Method of In- them as such has not yet reached publi- and put its operation more on a cal- creasing California Oil Production; cation." In my Arizona engineering culated business basis. safaris I've spotted likely ranges along State Geological Surveys; Industrial the feet of which I'd be willing to put So—now that you know you don't Uses of Limestone and Dolomite. A down a bet, at reasonable odds, I'd have to hunt for and find old-school list of new division of mines publica- find bajada placer gold. placer-gravel, characterized by water- tions is also included. worn pebbles and "long-haul gold"— The mineral resources of Kern True, the water problem in the des- and know how to spot and recognize a county are covered in a report by ert regions can be a hard nut to crack. bajada deposit with its characteristic "lag-line"—perhaps you may be lured W. B. Tucker, R. J. Sampson and G. But it is far from insurmountable. I Oakeshott. It is a comprehensive re- can name two Nevada mining areas to prowl your favorite desert region whither water has been.piped a dozen for such likely-looking spots. port, technical for the scientist, under- standable for the amateur. miles merely for use in commercially- Especially since, although the U. S. successful mining—in one case a large mint price of gold has been stubbornly Letters of inquiry addressed to the scale bucket-line gold dredging opera- pegged down by the secretary of the California division of mines, depart- tion. For any early-stage ground-test- treasury at its pre-war level of $35 per ment of natural resources, will be an- ing, samples of dirt can always be troy ounce while about everything else swered by technical staff members fa- taken by light truck or jeep to where has doubled in price, recently the direc- miliar with the particular field in- there's plenty of water for simple wash- tor of the mint issued official sanction volved.

10 THE DESERT MAGAZINE This is the author's original cabin on her Morongo valley jackrabbit homestead.

vember 1941, and I applied for pur- chase in 1942. My application was de- I Got My Five-Acre Title nied at that time because appraisals and inspections had not been com- pleted. The excuse the inspector from It took a long time—10 years to be exact—for Uncle Sam to get around the San Francisco land office made was to the detail of issuing titles to those entrymen who have been leasing that his men could not make desert in- their 5-acre homesites under the Small Tract Homestead Act of 1939. spections during the hot weather. But now those who have qualified by erecting cabins on their sites are The slowness with which the small being given the opportunity to acquire deeds—at a cost of from $10 to tract homestead act was put into oper- $20 an acre in most cases. Melissa Stedman was one of the first to file ation is not strange when we realize on a "jackrabbit homestead" and the accompanying story is a sequel that the law passed in 1938, permit- to one she wrote for Desert Magazine readers in December 1945 in which ting employed persons to lease five- she related her experience in locating the homestead. acre tracts for health and recreation, was a radical departure from any previ- By MELISSA BRANSON STEDMAN ous plan for disposing of public lands. Every move had to be worked out step by step without precedents. JACKRABBIT homesteading has $95, which was $20 an acre less the From the first I did everything the H* finally come of age. I got a gov- 1948 rental. Acreages in Morongo hard way. When I started in 1940, de- ^ ernment deed to my desert para- Valley and in the Coachella and termined to own a desert cabin, deter- dise, but it came only after eight years Joshua Tree areas sell at $20 an acre. mination was about the only resource of working, worrying, and wondering. Those east of Twenty-nine Palms are I had. However, I supplemented my I never really doubted that eventu- appraised at $10 an acre. determination with a very fair credit ally my government would carry out The U.S. office of land management rating, and the bank loaned me the its part of the contract—and issue a began issuing certificates of sale to money for necessary labor and materi- patent to my homestead. But it re- qualified homesteaders several months als to complete the cabin. quired much time and many letters. 1 ago, but it was only recently that grant Ray Finlay, a friend, took week- wrote to the secretary of the interior, deeds actually were received by those ends off from his business to build a to my congressman, and to my senator. homesteaders who have made the re- sturdy 12 by 14-foot cabin. We had No tangible results were forthcoming. quired improvements on their prop- our Thanksgiving dinner and family re- Finally as a last resort in May, 1948, erty. Only a few of the 12,000 entry- union at the cabin in 1941. I wrote to President Harry Truman, men have qualified for deeds so far. During Christmas vacation, 1941, little dreaming that so busy a man Eight years seemed a long time when my sister Nancy Beitzer went with me would have time to bother about an I was anxiously awaiting action from to the cabin for a few days. Water was unimportant school teacher's five-acre the government, but now that it is our big problem, so while Nancy did homestead. But I was wrong. He did over, it seems only yesterday that I the house work I dug a hole in the bother. I got a reply from the depart- started homesteading. ground for a rain water cistern. When ment of interior in quick order. Ap- I first filed on a five-acre tract near I started plastering to make it water praisals were made, a price was set, Twenty-nine Palms in 1940, but in the and now the five acres are mine. tight my troubles began. I finished spring of 1941 I had the claim trans- the bottom first, and it was soon My memorandum permitting pur- ferred to a tract near the foothills in hard enough to stand on while plaster- chase came through early in October, Morongo valley. ing the walls. Then it rained and 1948. I lost no time in remitting the My present cabin was built in No- snowed, and sleet came down in hard

JUNE, 1949 11 With her own hands, Melissa Stedman is now spending her weekends building a permanent cabin, with glass coffee jars set in cement. little pellets. My feet were icy, but still beer bottles?" To that I say, "I don't of my lot has enough rocks on it to I worked. Nancy is resourceful. She drink that much beer." build a skyscraper. gathered rocks and heated them in the The coffee jar house is now almost My land is now my own, and I have oven and kept me supplied with hot half finished. One wall with window reached that stage where I realize that rocks to stand on while I worked. The and door is complete, and another wall anticipation was almost more fun than job finally was completed, and it did has one window frame in, and the wall the realization, but I am building other hold water. From that day to this the is about half finished. If I run out of hopes and anticipating the completion cistern has never been empty. jars before the walls are finished I will of the coffee jar house and looking use window glass or rocks, for of rocks forward to the time when I will have The installation of a six-volt battery I have plenty, since about one acre more leisure to enjoy it. and a Wincharger to keep it charged for lights and radio was the next pro- ject. I wanted a larger cabin, but materials were too scarce until the summer of HardRock Shorty 1946. While spending my vacation working in a glass factory, I got the of Death Valley idea of a house made of cement and discarded glass coffee jars. In Septem- ber of that year I started the coffee jar house. I laid out the base line for a "Sure it gets hot here," Hard lot o' the jackrabbits died from 20 by 20 cabin and started the wall. I Rock Shorty was telling the sales- sunstroke. laid jars neck to neck making a wall man who had arrived for his semi- "That was the summer Pisgah the thickness of two one-pound jars, annual call on the proprietor of Bill whittled hisself a pair o' with the bottoms forming the two sides Inferno store. Shorty continued: chopsticks and learned to eat of the wall, and cemented them to- "Last summer it melted the an- like a Chinaman. Yep, burned gether, being careful to get no cement vil over in the blacksmith shop, his tongue eatin' beans with his into the necks to block out the light. and that sheet-iron roof on Pis- knife—an' made him so disgust- The direct rays of the sun come gah Bill's cabin all melted and ed he threw all his metal eatin' through only two or three minutes at ran down the sides o' the house." tools out the window an' he's sunrise and sunset in March and Sep- "But how do you live when it been eating with mesquite chop- tember when the sun is due east or gets that warm?" the salesman sticks ever since. west. asked. "Got so hot he had to keep a People ask strange questions about "We all wear asbestos clothes," wet blanket on the cookstove to the bottle house. One stock query is: Shorty answered. keep it from meltin' and runnin' "Suppose someone should throw a rock "What an awful place to spend through the cracks in the floor. at the house, or shoot holes in it?" To the summer," exclaimed the visi- "Then one day a big storm that I say, "It's easier to repair one tor. blew in over the Panamints and small bottle hole than a whole plate "Aw that's nothin'," said the temperature dropped down to glass window." Shorty. "Summer 'fore last we had 100. An' if we hadn't had a big one day so warm the lizards all pile o' wood and kept stokin' the Another question that men think got blisters on their feet, an' a fire we'd all froze to death." very funny is: "Why don't you use

12 THE DESERT MAGAZINE One of the glyph rocks on Rattlesnake peak. These ancient Indian pictures were chalked with limestone for photographic purposes. Keith Dewey, who accompanied the writer, is a soldier at White Sands Proving Grounds. Ancient Artists Lived on Rattlesnake Peak

By THERON MARCOS TRUMBO HE ancient ones bundled up their the pestles of stone in them. Here in No one today knows from belongings in their blankets, the desert, time had stood still. I might whence they came or where they 7pulled them wearily upon their have stepped suddenly out of the twen- went, but hundreds of years ago backs and walked down the dim, sandy tieth century back into the fourteenth! a tribe of prehistoric Indians trail leading away from the Rattlesnake On many occasions, Rattlesnake dwelt around a desert playa at peak campground. They left the corn- peak had drawn my attention, for it is the base of New Mexico's Rattle- grinding pestles still in their mortars. plainly visible from U. S. Highway 80 Others came and went. And finally, at Cambray, New Mexico. The fact snake peak where mesquite after long desperate years, there were beans probably were their prin- that it rises sharply from the level des- no travelers on these desert trails. The ert floor, with no mountains other than cipal item of food. The story of vermilion sands drifted over the camp- rounded cinder cones within many these ancient dwellers is partly site, covering the dead ashes of their miles of it, makes it a conspicuous revealed in the tools and the fires, the broken cooking pots, and the landmark. A local photographer stirred glyphs found here by the writer rock with the grinding holes . . . my interest by telling me that Indian of this story* Several centuries later, I stood on artifacts could be found around its this same spot. The mortars still had base.

JUNE, 1949 13 The RATTLESNAKE PEAK AREA NEW MEXICO

CATTLE MS LINE ROAD GUARD

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Keith Dewey was easily persuaded took a bit of limestone and began By 8:30 we were ascending the bold to accompany me on my first trip to tracing the old marks. The instant my south facade of the peak. Our goal was the peak. He is a soldier from Pennsyl- piece of stone touched the rock, a a cairn of rocks, erected by surveyors, vania, stationed at the White Sands strange melodious sound echoed about on the top of the mountain. From this Proving Grounds, and has often been me. At first I thought it was the wind, point we got a splendid view of this my companion on such jaunts. yet it sounded more as if someone part of New Mexico and across the Rio When we finally reached the trail were gently stroking a huge bell. Both Grande to Chihuahua, Old Mexico. leading directly to the mountain, we of us were a trifle awed. I tried tapping At the east base of the mountain is found it blocked with fine blow sand, gently, and at the merest touch, the a playa or dry lake. Possibly the ex- passable to a car only after a hard monolith rang out. Investigation istence of this once-permanent lake ac- rain. It was July, and the sun blazed in showed that the glyphs were inscribed counts for the popularity of Rattle- characteristic desert fury. Our enthusi- on a rock slab no more than a foot snake peak as a campground for the asm waned somewhat, yet neither of us thick. This was leaning against the prehistoric Indians. This big desert wanted to quit, after getting this close. solid side of the mountain, making a waterhole may have been the conver- So, with canteens and camera, we sort of crude sounding board. Nearby gence of several old trails, connecting were other boulders that spoke strange- the many pueblos of southern New struck out across the hot sand to cover ly when we stepped upon them. the remaining two miles to the base of Mexico. A sentinel on top would pro- the mountain on foot. That discovery ended our adventure vide protection against ambush. The for the day. By the time we pulled our entire area for miles around is covered We did not find much on that first feet through the two miles of sand with mesquites, assuring a generous trip. More time was spent covering the back to the car, we were nearly ex- supply of food. land and trying to locate the interesting hausted. We both felt that there was From the top we surveyed the desert points. But we did discover one ex- much more to see in the area. immediately at the foot of the moun- quisite petroglyph on the side of the The opportunity to return came tain and located several sites to explore mountain, and consequently, the "Sing- sooner than we expected. I became ac- for artifacts. ing rocks." quainted with Howard Rankin, the Since Rankin, Harold and the stu- Keith had gone up to explore a shal- owner of a jeep. Recently from the east, dent had only leather-soled shoes, they low cavern in the south face of the he wanted to see something of the took an easy way down. This left Keith mountain. I stayed at the foot because desert, but did not know exactly where and me to explore the face of the cliffs I was unwilling to tote my camera up to go. I was eager to show him Rattle- for further petroglyphs. We found over the rocks. But when he shouted, snake peak. many, but some were almost obliterat- "Petroglyphs!" I scrambled up to see Our companions were Keith Dewey, ed by time, being recognizable only at them. They were beautifully carved in his 12-year-old son Harold, and a a distance. Most of them were pictures the side of the cliff. Nearby were others Turkish student at New Mexico A. & of snakes, turtles, mountain-goats or less discernible. In an effort to make M. We started from, Las Cruces at deer—not crude sketches, but graceful, them more distinct to photograph, I 7:00 a.m. almost modern-looking designs.

14 THE DESERT MAGAZINE "There are so many snake patterns," Keith remarked, "they must have called it Rattlesnake peak, even then." The most unusual picture of all was scrawled over about six feet of solid rock at the base of the mountain. It represented some sort of prehistoric animal, long and reptilian with fins rising from its back. It may have been only a gila monster, a horned toad, or a lizard. But the thought occurred to us that, in that ancient day, some prehis- toric survival might have inhabited the rocky crevices of Rattlesnake peak! The petroglyph lay at such an awk- ward angle I was unable to photograph it satisfactorily. In several places on the mountain- side we found hand-worked cavities in the rock filled with rainwater. The an- cient people must have tired of drink- ing alkali water from the playa, and en- larged the natural tanks available. At noon, in earth already blackened with numerous ancient fires, we built our own campfire to make coffee. Keith Dewey and Harold Rankin puzzling over some of the While it boiled, we strolled around, glyphs left by ancient tribesmen. looking for relics. The sand here was strewn with pottery shards, mostly have been used for?" Rankin wanted have seen these broken metates. Ar- plain undecorated cooking ware. Oc- to know. We could only guess. It may cheologists have offered various theo- casionally we would find a bit of poly- have been used for sharpening stone ries to explain these broken metates. chrome vessel, indicating commerce axes, or for straightening arrows. Generally they weigh from 18 to 50 from the lake region of Chihuahua, a Stone metates were strewn over a pounds. Indians leaving a site could hundred miles to the south. considerable area nearby. They were not take them along. Possibly an an- made of separate stones about 18 by cient version of the scorched earth A bit of Mimbres black-on-white 24 inches in size, with a long hollow policy! More likely a superstition! We ware showed that the trail from the in the center. Every one of them was do not know for certain. Mimbres mountain pueblos must also broken! At several old campsites, I have crossed here. And scattered over At four o'clock, we headed the jeep the whole area were dozens of shards Three ancient Indian grinding holes, probably used for making meal of worked into rough discs. These, identi- mesquite beans, were found here with the pestles in them. fied as gaming chips, have been found in almost every excavated pueblo or campground site in the Southwest. Authorities say that the ancient Indians must have had a checker game similar to that played at Zuni today, in which rounded stones or bits of pottery are used as "men." From the numbers of discs found, we concluded that the travelers at Rattlesnake peak must have spent much of their spare time around gaming boards outlined in the sand. We spent the afternoon scouting the desert in the jeep and discovered three grinding holes with the pestles still in them. Usually such loose objects have been carted away by enterprising, if not conscientious, relic hunters. This one rock, nearly level with the sur- rounding sand, contained about a doz- en of such mortar holes. It may have been covered with sand, only recently blown away to reveal the prehistoric home equipment. As a matter of rec- ord, we, too, left the relics intact. We found a huge boulder covered with shallow grooves. "What do you suppose that could

JUNE, 1949 15 i

• #|ki^^^ '"Ilr-1"" •"" • • I *•* '" '^' MI Rattlesnake peak, with the surveyor's marker visible at the top. along the return trail. We were five weary sunburned humans, with a 40- mile ride home. But it wasn't our Here are 20 more of those weariness alone that made us silent on brain-teasers for the folks who the way. It was something else. We TRUE OR FALSE think they know a great deal had just been in close contact with about the Southwest desert country—or for those who would like to learn those long-gone people who once lived more about this fascinating region. The questions include geography, in this desert land of ours. We had had history, botany, mineralogy and the general lore of the desert. Twelve to 15 a glimpse of ancient American history. is a fair score. Sixteen to 18 is excellent. Any score above 18 is exceptional. Not enough to satisfy us, but just Answers are on page 24. enough to lure us on to other trips, in 1—The Colorado desert is located in the State of Colorado. True a vain effort to solve the enigma of False Rattlesnake peak. 2—Several species of hummingbirds live on the desert. True False 3—Yucca is a member of the cactus family. True False 4—If your hostess served piki bread you probably would be at a Navajo ANOTHER HUGE LAKE hogan. True False CREATED IN DESERT . . . 5—The tarantula is more poisonous than the sidewinder. True..... False 6—Flagstaff was once the state capital of Arizona. True False Davis dam on the Colorado river, 7—Monticello is located in the southeastern part of Utah. True False which will create a lake extending 8—The White Sands Proving Grounds are in New Mexico. True miles upstream to the tailrace of False Hoover dam, is virtually complete only 9—The Virgin river of Nevada empties into Lake Mead. True False 10 months after the river was diverted 10—An arrastre was used in connection with the mining of placer gold. at the dam site, Regional Director E. A. True False Moritz of the reclamation bureau at 11—Azurite is found in copper ores. True False Boulder City, Nevada, has announced. 12—Color of the agave or wild century plant flower is yellow. True The earth and rock-fill embankment False across the old stream bed has been 13—Moro Rock, sometimes known as Inscription rock, in New Mexico, brought to its maximum elevation of is under the custody of the National Park service. True False 655 feet, approximately 138 feet above 14—Father Escalante accompanied Juan Bautista de Anza on the trek the original river bed level. A power- that brought the first white settlers to California. True False house and installation of power gen- 15—Brigham Young's Beehive House may still be seen in Salt Lake City. eration equipment will not be com- True False pleted until next year. First energy is 16—The Humboldt river of Nevada is a tributary of the Colorado. expected to be generated in the late True False summer of 1950. 17—A Mescal Pit was used by prehistoric Indians for burying their dead. True False 18—Juniper trees are seldom found below the 2000-foot level. True The house appropriations committee False has granted $28,056,000 for the Na- 19—The door of a Navajo hogan always faces north. True False tional Park service of the interior de- 20—Pisgah is the name of an extinct volcanic crater in Southern California. partment. This was near the $29,485,- True False 600 figure requested.

16 THE DESERT MAGAZINE Cowgirl of Brown's Hole

The cattle business in the West was a rough and tumble game a half century ago when big outfits were extending their domains and sheep men were edging onto the range. But Ann Bassett was able to hold her own with the roughest of them—in a region where six-shooters were more potent than laws.

By CHARLES KELLY

day in the spring of 1882, J- Slippery Jim, handyman on Bas- sett's ranch in Brown's Hole, was busy mending fence. Ann Bassett, 7 years old, had been tagging his heels Nl all day. She was dressed in a buckskin suit given her by a friendly Indian and wore a fancy headdress which sat on her head like a crown. Because of this, cowboys on the ranch nicknamed her "Queen Ann." "Listen, Ann," Slippery Jim said, "how come you foller me around all day wearin' that Injun suit? Why'nt you wear dresses like a gal should, and stay in th' house? You're gettin' big enough to learn to act like a lady." "I don't want to stay in the house," replied Ann, who already had a mind Ann Bassett Willis. She was "Queen Ann" of Brown's Hole. of her own. "I don't want to wear dresses and I don't want to be a lady. costume gives her priority to the title 1852, and wrote his brother, Herbert, I want to be a cowboy." of "first cowgirl." describing the place as a wonderful Ann never outgrew that ambition To appreciate the story of Queen location for a cattle ranch. Herbert and never allowed anyone to call her Ann, one should know something of Bassett came west, worked for a time "Miss." She spent most of her time on the early history of Brown's Hole, as bookkeeper for A. C. Beckwith & a horse, learning to ride, rope and which lies in the extreme northeast Co., in Evanston, then went to the shoot. When she found a stray calf corner of Utah, where the Utah-Colo- Hole to become one of its first set- she roped and branded it herself and rado line joins Wyoming's southern tlers. Queen Ann was born there in was started in the cattle business. By boundary. Parts of it lie in all three 1875. the time she was 16 she had a fine states. It actually is a deep hole or After the railroad came to Wyoming saddle horse and a herd of her own, valley almost completely surrounded in 1868 this hidden valley became the was rated the best cowhand and best by high mountains, through which runs hideout for a number of desperate shot in Brown's Hole, and already had Green river. Being protected from se- characters. Because it was so well become, through force of personality, vere winds, it was an ideal wintering hidden and difficult of access, it re- recognized leader of the stockmen in ground for cattle. mained an outlaw rendezvous until that wild section. She held her own Between 1825 and 1840 Brown's 1900. The McCarty brothers, Matt against some of the roughest characters Hole became a favorite winter camping Warner, Butch Cassidy, Elza Lay and the west ever produced, maintaining place for the old Fur Brigade and their many others were well known there, the dignity of her title, Queen Ann. Indian friends, boasting a trading post even after the place had been occupied known as Fort Davy Crockett. Queen by several pioneer families. When she was about 15 an Indian Ann remembers old trappers like Jim Since the law never ventured into woman she had befriended gave her Baker, his brother John, and Uncle Brown's Hole, settlers had to get along a beautifully beaded buckskin riding Louie Simmons, Kit Carson's son-in- with the outlaws as best they could. habit consisting of fringed jacket, di- law, who remained there even after it These bad men usually behaved them- vided skirt and laced leggings. After- was settled. Soon after the Civil War selves while living in the Hole and were ward she had others made on the same great herds of cattle were driven into tolerated, but their presence gave the pattern and believes she set the style Wyoming from Texas and the Hole place a bad name and outsiders con- for cowgirl costumes. While she may was their favorite wintering ground. sidered everyone living there to be an not have been the first girl to own cat- Queen Ann's uncle, Sam Bassett, an outlaw or cattle thief. tle, the introduction of this distinctive army scout, first saw Brown's Hole in Before many years all of Wyoming's

JUNE, 1 949 17 range land had been occupied and the these activities a cowman once had her night, just before the Indians burned homesteaders in Brown's Hole found arrested for cattle stealing, but failed it to the ground. themselves surrounded by big oper- to prove his charge. During the 90's Butch Cassidy, no- ators owning up to 100,000 head of Finally, to stop such trespassing, torious Utah outlaw, and his Wild cattle. These cattle barons wanted the Ann Conceived the idea of herding Bunch were frequent visitors in Hole for a wintering ground, and tried sheep over a wide strip entirely sur- Brown's Hole. They attended all local in every possible way to squeeze out rounding the Hole. Cattle would not dances and were well liked personally. the original settlers. Some left, but voluntarily cross ground on which Elza Lay, Cassidy's partner, was a tall Queen Ann and a few others decided sheep had grazed. When driven over it dark dashing young man, originally to stay and fight it out. they were shot. Such activities made from Boston. Queen Ann met him at Since every kid in the valley was an her very unpopular with the big outfits. one of the dances and they struck up a expert rider and roper, a miniature The following incident will illustrate lasting friendship. When Cassidy and rodeo was in progress every day. the kind of fool-hardy courage Ann Lay held up a train at Wilcox, Wyo- Queen Ann was always the leader in possessed. When she was 17 years old ming, and took $30,000 from the ex- these activities. One fall, when she was she started with two cowboys to de- press car, they rode straight to Brown's 14 years old, a herd of 50 strange liver a herd of cattle on Little Snake Hole, knowing they would not be fol- cows was found grazing in the valley. river, a dry drive of 45 miles. Arriving lowed. Making camp in a hidden side They had been run in by one of the at Thompson's ranch she learned that canyon, Elza Lay went to the Bassett big outfits just to see what would hap- two overzealous game wardens had ranch after dark, called to Ann, and pen. If they were not molested thou- tried to arrest a young Indian for kill- asked for food. She fixed him a big sands more would be brought in. ing game. The boy's mother had tried basket which he took back to camp. Without notifying any of the parents, to resist the officers, whereupon they He told her he had buried his share of Queen Ann and other young buckaroos shot both mother and son. the loot in a certain spot, gave her a in the valley rounded up the cows, Ann knew trouble would follow. map of the place, and asked her to drove them across Green river and When the wardens tried to leave she send it to his mother if he failed to scattered them on Diamond mountain forced them at gunpoint to remain and return within a year. He later retrieved so effectively some of them haven't help defend the ranch, after telling the money, but in another train holdup been found yet. When these animals them exactly what she thought of their at Folsom, New Mexico, was caught could not be found, Ann was accused action. Then, although she had been and sentenced to the pen. After being of rustling cattle. Newspapers began in the saddle for 18 hours, she rode pardoned he went straight and Queen calling her Queen of the Rustlers, a directly to the Indian camp, hoping to Ann kept in touch with him until his name that stuck for many years. But explain to her Shoshoni friends that death in Los Angeles in 1933. Butch it served notice on the owners to keep she did not approve of the killings. Cassidy avoided entanglements with off her range. When she got there, long after dark, women. While Ann knew him well, no Indians were in sight, but smoke she never liked him. She also knew After a few years other big operators Matt Warner, another well known out- tried similar tactics. When this hap- signals were rising among the hills. Recognizing her horse, the Indians did law, who was good company when pened Ann would organize a drive and sober but a terror when drunk. He push the cattle off her range, scattering not molest her. After an all night ride she reached Brown's Hole at sunrise later became a peace officer in Price, them in the hills. This was illegal on Utah. public domain, but it was the only way to give the alarm. Those left at Thomp- to keep from being overrun. Because of son's ranch abandoned it during the In 1897 Harry Tracy, a desperate Grave of Jack Bennett, outlaw who was hanged on Bassett's corral gate in 1898.

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18 THE DESERT MAGAZINE Brown's Hole was a hidden valley 30 miles long, watered from the Green river. killer, escaped from the pen in Salt had refused a $500 bribe to manufac- CHARGES WILL BE MADE Lake City, hiding out in Brown's Hole. ture evidence against her. FOR USE OF CAMPGROUNDS ... There he joined Pat Johnson, a minor By that time the days of great cattle National Forest officials at Flagstaff, outlaw who had just shot a young boy ranches were about over. Sheep had Arizona, have announced that charges living in the Hole. Settlers following ruined the range. Eventually Queen will be made this season for camping Johnson unexpectedly ran into Tracy, Ann sold out and left Brown's Hole. facilities at Camp Townsend forest who shot Val Hoy, a rancher. It was Her husband became a mining engi- camp and the four forest camps in Oak then decided to invite the law to take neer and now they travel from place Creek canyon. The new plan is expect- a hand, so sheriffs from Utah, Colo- to place wherever his work calls him. ed to go into effect early in June, in rado and Wyoming were sent for. Af- While writing the book "Outlaw accordance with instructions from re- ter a long chase the killers were cap- Trail" I heard many stories of Queen gional headquarters of the forest serv- tured and taken to Bassett's ranch, Ann, some true and others fabricated. ice. headquarters for the posse. Here they I had formed a mental picture of her This policy is being carried out part- found Jack Bennett, an accomplice, as a hard-bitten, leather-faced old ly on an experimental basis, it is ex- hanging from Bassett's high gatepost. woman. When we finally met in 1943 plained. Theory is that proceeds will He was later buried behind the ranch she proved to be a handsome, poised, be used to maintain the areas, keep house. well-read and charming woman of 68. them clean, provide improvements. By 1898 cattle stealing had become Even as I listened to her it was diffi- Forest service headquarters has in- so common that stockmen had to or- cult to believe she had ever been a structed each regional office to apply ganize for protection. When legal ac- part of the wild frontier life of old charges in two recreational areas. In tion failed, the association hired Tom Brown's Hole, that she had been the the Arizona-New Mexico region, both Horn, an ex-Indian scout, to pick off sweetheart of a celebrated bandit, and areas where charges will be made are the thieves one by one. After he had that almost single handed she had de- in Coconino National forest. fied and beaten some of the biggest "dry-gulched" two minor outlaws in Under one system to be tried, con- Brown's Hole, the others left between western cattle barons at their own tough game. cessionaires will collect the charges, days and it has been a law abiding will in turn be responsible for main- place ever since. But it was evident that behind those taining the camp. A second plan calls When the forest service was organ- gray eyes and calm exterior lay the un- for forest service personnel to handle ized, Queen Ann took an active part conquerable will and flashing spirit collections and maintain camps. Tenta- in her district, and was appointed for- which had made her, even at the age tive basic charge is 50 cents per day est ranger. This appointment was later of 16, a recognized leader of men in per car for camping, 25c per day per cancelled because the service would one of the west's roughest pioneer car for picnic parties. not accept women rangers. communities. Her nickname of A forest service explanation states Queen Ann's worst battles had al- "Queen" had not been bestowed with- that in recent years, since the recre- ways been with the Haley Cattle Co., out reason. She left her mark as one ational areas have become so popular, but she was able to hold her own. Hi woman who could not be intimidated, the maintenance and sanitation level Bernard was foreman for Haley dur- held her ground against ruthless an- has dropped because of lack of appro- ing most of the trouble. In time he ac- tagonists, and finally gained their ad- priations. quired a great admiration for the miration and respect. spunky Ann and quit his job and mar- Western fiction is full of cowgirl Before charges become effective in ried her. For eight years they operated heroines, but so far as my research any area, the area will be posted and together; but when Ann found that extends, Queen Ann of Brown's Hole arrangements made for tickets and her husband had been instrumental in is the original of all those fictional other details. bringing Tom Horn to that section, she characters, the only woman who actu- Charging at campgrounds was in- left him. Later she married her present ally performed those imaginary ex- augurated in some California areas last husband, Frank Willis, who had also ploits, and the first genuine western season, but there has been no definite worked for Haley, and at one time cowgirl. conclusion announced as to whether the system is financially practical. JUNE, 1 949 19 The jasper in Bear hills, near Brenda, is scattered over the lava-strewn slopes, washing down from a ledge in the hill in the background. Rocks By the Roadside

By HAROLD O. WEIGHT that, when they petitioned for a post- Thanks to the guidance of an office, established in 1893, they asked rockhounds—and I am old-timer in Quartzsite, Harold that it be named Quartz Valley. As one of those—just naturally Weight this month has been able there was another Quartz Valley in seem to figure that the rougher to map a mineral field where col- Arizona, the postoffice department the road and the deeper the sand, the lectors may find good cutting cooked up Quartzsite which, accord- better the rocks at the trail's end. material close by one of the ing to their definition, meant the site But it isn't always true. Take the main transcontinental highways. of quartz. Since another member of Bear hills near Brenda, Arizona, for The Quartzsite area not only is the quartz family, which is not com- instance. I have passed through those rich in minerals, but also in his- mon in the area, is spelled quartzite, hills on Highway 60-70 many times on tory and legend — as you will confusion was bound to result. rock collecting trips without giving discover in the reading of this much thought to the rash of dark lava story. When Pauline Weaver discovered boulders in that area. Probably I never placer gold near the Colorado river in would have stopped to investigate if 1862, the booming town of La Paz Bill Keiser of Quartzsite hadn't shown resulted. La Paz became Yuma county me some colorful material he found besides its camel driver. I learned some- seat. But, Keiser and Hart declare, it there. thing of its history the night before the was the gold from La Cholla, Middle- Brenda field trip while I sat beside a Quartzsite, where Bill Keiser has camp, Plomosa and other back-coun- hot ironwood fire in Bill Keiser's home. try placers which kept La Paz going. his mineral specimens in his rock and Bill and his wife Mary and Bert Hart, relic museum, is another example of The diggings close to the river were too old-timer of Quartzsite and Cibola poor to satisfy many of the old-time the deception of outward appearances. valley, interrupted the playoffs of a It isn't much of a town as numbers go. pinochle tournament to act as local placer miners. If they couldn't average Motorists generally stop there only historians. a pound of gold per day they moved when they are in trouble, or need sup- on. Charles V. Genung, pioneer ArT- There was a settlement here long zonan now dead, once declared that plies. Nevertheless, the little commun- before it was named Quartzsite. The ity, like all desert towns both large and only those who were too timid to go U. S. postal authorities must accept out among the roughnecks of the small, has an interesting record. responsibility for that name, according Most of those interested in western to Bill Keiser. You will find it spelled Quartzsite area, where the real gold history catalog Quartzsite as the place Quartzsite, Quartzite and Quartsite, was being dug, remained in La Paz. where Hadji Ali, the Greek-Arab but the citizens of the community The settlement which eventually be- camel driver, is buried. But the little didn't pick any of the three. There came Quartzsite was first located two community has many things of interest was so much white quartz in the area miles south of the present town at a

20 THE DESERT MAGAZINE -#-

TOBLYTHE

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. spot on the pioneer wagon road known the merchant returned to the old town- of Quartzsite were not content to see as Picture Rock and Point of Rocks. site and prospected for his lost safe. their principal historical monument At Picture Rock a big natural tank— Since then, many others have searched, melt back into the soil. After much ef- a gravel-filled depression in the arroyo but no one has reported finding it. fort, in which Bill Keiser was a leader, bed—furnished a semi-permanent wat- Down in the valley, in the meantime, the state reconstructed Fort Tyson. er supply for settlers and travelers. Charley Tyson found shallow water at Then, apparently, there were no funds Half-obliterated petroglyphs on the the spot which became known as Ty- to furnish accommodations for a care- rock show this spot to have been a son Wells. The washed-out villagers taker, and fires and vandals wrecked desert watering place in ancient times. set up their new community at the it again. More reconstruction has been Exact date of the first white settlement wells. Today only a tumbled rock wall done, and Bill and other Quartzsite at the tank is uncertain, but a man and holes dug into the hillside to act residents are not going to give up until named Valenzuela ran cattle there in as crude ore-reducing furnaces, mark the work is completed and old Fort the early '60s. the old camp at Picture Rock. Tyson Tyson preserved. The end of the settlement at Picture Wells became a stage station on the Quartzsite had a boom during the Rock came abruptly in 1870 when a Ehrenberg-Prescott road, and not a mining excitement which swept the cloudburst obliterated the community. particularly attractive one, according to Western states in the first decade of Just before the flood, the storekeeper Martha Summerhayes, army wife, who this century. Between 1900 and 1906, at Picture Rock and his wife visited passed through it in the '70s. In Van- a man named Beamer built a road from the home of Mrs. Joe Martinez, half ished Arizona, she reported it as reek- the area to the Congress mill, and way between the old town and the ing "of everything unclean, morally planned to run gold placer through a present one, to return some borrowed and physically." huge stamp mill to be located west of sad-irons. When the waters subsided Not far west of the Yuma road in- Quartzsite. Foundations for a 65- so that they could return, it was im- tersection and on the south side of stamp mill were put in before experts possible to locate even the spot where Highway 60-70 stand the partially re- told him the "cement" placer he their store once stood. Before the constructed adobe ruins of old Fort planned to work was not amenable to storm, the wash had been only 200 Tyson. Soldiers never were stationed that method of recovery. Beamer in- feet wide arid the store was on its east there and, so far as I know, it never stalled three stamps and proved the bank. After the torrent, the merchant underwent siege. It was built by the experts were right, then abandoned the could not determine where the bank settlers around Tyson Wells as a pro- enterprise. had been. tective measure when trouble with the Miners were scratching about all And there Quartzsite's lost treasure Aoache-Mo'fve Indians loomed. When over the area, and some were making story started. The storekeeper asserted the threat of Indian warfare passed, it wages and better. Promoters were even there was $50,000 and his wife's became the Oasis hotel—the town's more successful than the miners. They jewelry in the store safe when it washed finest. Finally it was abandoned, and would "beg, borrow or steal" speci- away. For 15 years, according to Bill, has weathered away. But the citizens mens, go to the coast or back east and

JUNE, 1949 21 sell stock on the strength of the try. And whenever, over here, the found near Lavic, although we did not samples. camels saw mules, burros or freight locate any of the beautiful moss in "O. A. Pease bought up all the nug- outfits, they insisted upon joining the chalcedony which sometimes is found gets he could get," Bill told me. "He party and could not be held back. in the California field. gave a big dinner in San Francisco for Their intentions were friendly, not Incidentally, I wish someone would stock prospects. When they lifted their vicious, but the results were disastrous. establish a Board of Mineralogical plates, there was a gold nugget under The mules stampeded in all directions Names, patterned after the Board of each one." It was effective promotion, as the weird and monstrous animals Geographic Names, to name and de- but not much help in actual develop- bore down , upon them. Desperate fine minerals and gem stones. It would ment of Quartzsite properties. The freighters even resorted to shooting the save much confusion. Few stones mean boom passed and the 11 saloons which camels. so many things to so many people as once dominated the town's main street It was late and cold when I went to jasper, jasp-agate, jasp-opal, moss jas- vanished. Mining has continued spo- my cabin, and during the night the per, flower jasper, paisley—and all the radically. Bill and his partner have temperature dropped below freezing. other official and unofficial names for shipped eight carloads of ore from their But a bright morning sun promised a this group. When I say moss jasper, I Humdinger lead mine. Most of the perfect December desert day. I had mean a rock at least slightly translucent residents hold claims and prospect the come to Quartzsite more or less as an with a tangle of what looks like moss hills and wait for the price of gold to advance scout, to locate an accessible in it. Some collectors insist that if it is go up or the cost of labor and equip- rock field. My wife, Lucile, and Marion at all translucent it isn't a jasper. ment to go down. Hewes and Martha Berry drove over Others say that a moss jasper is one which has tendrils of moss in clear For most tourists, the item of princi- from Desert Magazine's Palm Desert pueblo Saturday afternoon and we set chalcedony, but to my mind that is the pal interest at Quartzsite is the monu- stone called flower agate, but which I ment to Hi Jolly, over his grave in the out for the Brenda field. Bill, who was chopping energetically at a pile of iron- believe should be called flower chal- town cemetery. There is a fascination cedony. in the history of our army's experiment wood snags he had dynamited and with camels and native drivers in the hauled in for wood, stopped his exer- Perhaps we should look at some western deserts. With the gold discov- tions to wave. basic definitions. Dana identifies jasper ery and opening of the port at La Paz, Bill's directions to the field were as impure opaque colored quartz, and the camels were used to carry supplies simple and direct. We zeroed the Quartz Family Minerals further de- between La Paz and Fort Whipple for speedometer at the intersection of the scribes it as being essentially fibrous several years, while the road was be- Yuma road with Highway 60-70, and under the microscope, which sets it ing built. Some time after the gold dis- followed the highway along the long apart from other quartz minerals. covery, Hi Jolly quit cameling and valley slope toward the rugged Plo- There are many varieties. Usually jas- started mining. He was not a prospec- mosa mountains. The great washes per forms from a jelly-like solution of tor, according to Bill, but he would along the highway were crowded with silica and it frequently is found in follow the strikes and wash out enough palo verde trees and ironwoods, or places where there are recent lava flows, gold for his needs, which were chiefly palo fierro, and spotted with grotesque- which fits both the Brenda and Lavic of a liquid nature. ly posing saguaro. At 8.3 miles we fields. Hi Jolly is Americanese for Hadji passed the dirt road, right, which Two quartz rocks similar to jasper Ali, the driver's Mohammedan name. eventually winds to Bill's lead mine on are flint and chert, the principal dif- He also was known as Philip Tedro, the slopes of Dos Picachos, and to the ference being in the manner in which probably the name his mother gave old Apache mine. they originated. Flint occurs as lumps him. He reportedly was a Syrian, half- or concretions in chalk and limestone Greek and half-Arab. The Arabs raid- The highway reached its highest ele- and is composed of a mixture of quartz ed Greek settlements and carried off vation in the Plomosas nine miles from and opal. It may have formed from women, and Hi Jolly and his brother the Yuma junction, and curved down silica in the muds at the bottom of the were said to be the result of such a toward the Ranegras plain. We passed ocean. Chert, once classified as an im- union, and were raised as Arabs. Brenda service station at 16.3 miles pure form of flint, now is believed to and started looking for the Indian on be beds of limestone replaced by silica. It was a surprise to me that Hi Jolly the hill. The Indian was one of Bill's had a brother, but Bill Keiser knew chief points of identification—a white- Personally, I'll go along with Dake, them both. The brother, whom they painted figure with outstretched point- Fleener and Wilson, writers of Quartz called Blackie, was a barber at Ehren- ing arm—on the north side of the road. Family Minerals, that material well berg. Blackie told Bill some interesting I don't know why the Indian was colored and suitable for gem purposes things about the camels. They could, placed there, but he is handy for rock- can be termed jasper, although actu- he said, carry 600 pounds 60 miles a hounds. His hand points a little to the ally a chert. Moss jasper, according to day and go three days without water. east of the jasper field, but he did not the same authorities, shows a mixture But they never were loaded that heav- miss it far. of colored jasper and chalcedony. Of ily and were watered every day. They % course, it isn't really a moss in the performed well in the desert, but their Our two-car caravan pulled off the stone, no matter how much it looks pads became sore on terrain different road 17.2 miles from Quartzsite. I like it. The black ferns or moss in the than that to which they were accus- opened the pickup door and there, on familiar moss agates of Montana and tomed. the scraped shoulder of the highway, Wyoming are due to the presence of manganese. The colors in moss jasper And if Blackie was correct, he has was a bit of red moss jasper. We scat- tered over the slope and wash, south of are believed to be due to impurities in explained something which always puz- the percolating silica from which the zled me—the difficulties mule drivers the highway—and soon dropped the first small specimens we had picked up stone was formed. Similar moss has and freighters had with camels stam- been made in laboratory experiments peding their animals. Why couldn't the as bigger chunks came into view. There seems to be a great deal of ma- where artificial silica jel was mixed outfits be kept apart? According to with various substances. Blackie, camels, mules and burros went terial here, and many colorful varieties. together in caravans in the old coun- The jasper most closely resembles that The collecting at Brenda is almost

22 THE DESERT MAGAZINE too easy, but there is always the possi- bility that other and more varied rocks can be obtained by searching farther into the hills. The jasper is weathering down from a big dike, but there is float enough to last a long time. Much of the material has the common fault of many jaspers—the iron which fur- nishes some of the brilliant coloring also occurs as red and yellow ochre in tiny holes which ruin the piece for cutting and polishing. However, it is possible to find much solid jasper with lines and patterns, and there is red and yellow moss. We collected the specimens we want- ed within a short distance of the road and in less time than we expected to use. There was a chill in the air that warned us temperatures might again fall to freezing when night came, and a protected camping spot would be necessary. Many places in washes near Brenda would have been excellent for camping, but for scenic attractions and rugged country to hike over in the morning, Bill Keiser had recommended one back in the Plomosas near his lead mine, so we headed back west along the highway and turned south along the dirt mine road, into a maze of jagged hills and volcanic buttes. As we followed a wash into the mountains, we stopped from time to time to pick up pieces of ironwood and dead palo verde branches for use at the campfire. We reached the camping place just before dark—a spot which evidently was a long-time favorite with prospectors. It was a protected little flat, almost at the base of Dos Pica- chos. We found a pile of rocks in the clearing, with flat slabs on top to form a table. And there was a small rock fireplace which, after minor repairs and the addition of a grill, we used to cook our evening meal over ironwood coals. When supper was cleared away and

Above—Old Fort Tyson was never a regular army post, having been built near the middle of the last century by settlers who feared at- tacks from the Mojave-Apache Indians. Center—Picture Rock, original lo- cation of the little mining camp which became Quartzsite. A natu- ral tank in the wash here has made this a rendezvous since men first roamed the desert, as is indicated by the half obliterated petroglyphs on the rock. Below—William G. Keiser at one of the old mining camp ruins in the Plomosa mountains. This was used as a crude ore smelter.

JUNE, 1949 Dead ironwood logs provided a warm campfire in the Plomosas. Left to right: Marion Hewes, Martha Berry and Lucile Weight. a campfire blazing, we gathered at its sas lost their mechanical note and iden- Indian Village Exhibit . . . warmth to talk and watch the flames. tity. They became natural noises—the Visitors at the Chicago Railroad Sound carries clearly on a cold night. roar of the wind in a canyon, perhaps, fair which opens June 25 will have an We could hear the engines of cars and or the far mutter of thunder. opportunity to see an authentic South- trucks on the highway, more than four To Slt by a west Indian village. More than 100 In- miles to the north. From that road, all . . a campfire and watch the dians from Arizona, New Mexico, this desert land looks barren and dancing flames now disclose, now mask Oklahoma and other parts of the empty. People racing by on the oiled the work of vanished hands is a re- Southwest will live in the village, work- ribbon see what they think is a raw, vealing experience. It is one of the in- ing at native arts and crafts, perform- new naked land. Human beings will calculable benefits which reward those ing ceremonial dances. Living quarters never be able to exist here, they who come to the desert to hunt rocks will consist of pueblos, wikiups, hogans believe. or flowers or a silence in which they and other exact duplicates of homes the But this brooding desert has been may seek themselves. It is something Indians occupy on their reservations. inhabited a long, long time. Petro- that the people who live on highways should know. We all like smooth glyphs and painted rocks abound ANSWERS TO TRUE OR FALSE wherever there is a permanent or semi- straight ways—like the one to the Questions Are on Page 16 permanent water supply. Mining has Brenda field—but we miss so much 1—False. The Colorado desert is in been carried on for a century at least— when we cling to them alone. It is good California. 2—True. lead, silver and gold. Isolated canyons, to turn, now and again, onto the nar- 3—False. Yucca belongs to the lily which look as if they had never been row rutted sidepaths which have family. entered since erosion commenced their known the feet of pioneers, into a 4—False. Piki bread is made by the making, unexpectedly reveal ancient Hopi Indians. simpler world where roads curved and 5—False. The bite of the so-called prospect holes and shrub-grown dumps. twisted from spring to well to natural tarantula is less venomous than Tumbled stone walls, worn arrastres tank, to waterhole, driven by the sim- a bee sting. and deep-rutted trails tell their silent ple reality of thirst. 6—False. State capital of Arizona story of man's ferment. once was at Prescott. I think some of the highway travel- 7—True. 8—True. 9—True. As we sat in the light and warmth 10—False. The arrastre was used for ers are trying to outrun themselves crushing ore. created by the simple yet profound and the lack of satisfaction in their 11—True. 12—True. 13—True. miracle of burning wood, with the pun- 14—False. Father Escalante sought a gent perfume of ironwood heavy about lives—like clouds racing their shadows. new route to Monterey through If they would only slacken speed and what is now the State of Utah. us, we were in a world entirely our own 15—True. in which time had no meaning and turn aside on a rutted trail, to meet 16—False. The Humboldt river flows space expanded and contracted with themselves face to face and sit quietly into Humboldt Sink. the varying light of the fire. The camps for a while beside a desert campfire, 17—False. A Mescal Pit was used for they might find in the world and in roasting Mescal buds. of the pioneer prospectors we talked 18—True. about were there—just outside the their lives an underlying unity which 19—False. A Navajo puts the door on warm circle of light. The sounds of has been obscured by the shambles of the east side of his hogan. cars where the highway cut the Plomo- modern living. 20—True.

24 THE DESERT MAGAZINE Navajo Sheep . . . To Martha Burleigh of Glendale, California, goes first prize in Desert's April photograph contest for her un- usual picture, NAVAJO SHEEP. The photograph was taken at 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon with a Medalist II using Plenachrome (Ansco) film. Ex- posure ill, 1/ipO second.

Old Leather Bellows . . . Second prize in the April contest was won by Nell Murbarger, Costa Mesa, California, with her picture, OLD LEATHER BELLOWS. The photo- graph was taken in May, 1948, at 2:30 p.m. with an Argoflex. She used Eastman Verichrome film, a K-2 filter, set the camera at 1/50 second, f. 16.

JUST A REMINDER that Desert's June contest will be the annual Cover Contest. For details please see announcement in this issue. 4^ «r«^ *T|"' —«• :*j\ ',:' • »/* ... \H j, •««. 1 ^ i 1 1

%• 1 • •* * * , 1 •" ••n \ • ^ Billy the Burro By WILLIAM A. RAYMOND Upland, California Billy the Burro has long been dead; Or passed away, it is better said. A sandy grave now holds his bones, Under a pile of desert stones. % He had followed me for many a day, ^>- Over a hard and rocky way.

* Always he patiently plodded along Though never honored by verse or song. When water was gone and feed was rare He would shrink a little—but did not care. Sometimes at night he would stand by my bed And waggle his ears and nod his head. ^ For looks he never would take a prize, Except for his gentle trusting eyes. His faded coat had a dingy hue. There were saddle sores where the white hair grew. It seemed that his overgrown head would fail To balance the weight of his flimsy tail.

r * —~ " " He had his faults, I regret to say He would rifle the camp while I was away. r He would scatter the loot that he could find Then leisurely chew on a bacon rind. In spite of his faults when all is said He was a faithful and loveable quadruped. 0 • • • ELDORADO'S GONE By CAROLYN B. BAUMAN DESERT WEST DESERT SAND San Diego, California By E. M. BARTLETT There's a covered wagoh' train traveling By NITA R. ENGLISH Angels Camp, California the sand, Pioche, Nevada Slightly south and east of Needles, going Brothers of mine, who share with me ever westward and Have you ever seen the sunset The land, the sea, and the sky, The wagons creak and grumble and the As the day drew to a close, Choose a place to call your home oxen strain and bawl, Evening skies ablaze with brilliant To live, and toil, and die. But the men who drive the wagons never Orange, purple, rose? And leave it a name, with honor and fame— speak at all, at all. Give it the best you've got. Have you ever smelled the tang of cedars But don't let them tell you the desert land Oh, you drivers going westward, listen to And the stunted mountain pine? Is the place that God forgot. my long hello, Have you stood entranced, and gazed with You'll never find the gold you seek, you awe Live in the cities and towns if you will died too long ago, At the far horizon line? And hobble your soul in a street; For I found a rotting wheel and a bit of Or find you a piece of land to till chain and bone, Have you searched for Yucca blossoms And plow the sod with your feet. Slightly south and east of Needles, so there's Or the fragrant juniper? But give me the land of the cedar and sage, no use going on. Have you seen the waxen cactus blooms The cactus, the sun and the sand. And desert lilies rare? Let me dream in the peace of a still desert The cities you would build are already fall- night ing down, Have you seen the old deserted mines, And commune with the Great Master- Eldorado came and went leaving ghost town With buildings gaunt and bare, Hand. after town. And sensed the hopes and efforts So rest beside your whitened bones, forget Of those who labored there? your westward vow, This is the West I know and love The desert loves and holds its own, you'll With its peace and majesty. never leave it now. And its mighty silence throbbing 06,, • • • With the pulse of centuries. DUSK ON CAT CREEK By TANYA SOUTH By MABEL L. COOPER You may walk in mighty forests, San Diego 10, California And hills in foliage dressed Mack, Colorado But the peace of all the ages Oh dawn, oh dawn, come swiftly, The moon rides high in the twilight sky Lies in the Desert West. while the night O'er the rim of the canyon wall, Is softly shedding moonlight o'er the Its silver beams through the gray dusk plains. streams Within the inky shadows terror strains, And the night birds softly call. DESERT IN BLOOM And all the world is clamoring for Coyotes croon to that shining moon, light. And a chord within me rings; By GRACE PARSONS HARMON As the rhythmic beat of my pony's feet Los Angeles, California Too well we sense the dangers that Re-echoes the song it sings. are near. The desert in bloom 'neath a high, white sun, Where can we turn away from death The soft winds sigh as they pass me by; Is gaudy and gay, with colors o'errun; and grief? And they carry a perfume sweet— The desert in bloom when the sun is low, Oh help us, Lord, through love and Of the mesquite bush and the painted cup Is rich with the warmth of the twilight glow: true belief That is bruised by my pony's feet. To gain that light where is no longer The trail leads on and I lope along But the desert in bloom, when a great moon fear. Unmindful of fret or care; gleams, The moon climbs up to meet the dawn Is a shrine for the desert-lover's dreams! And a new day, bright and fair.

26 THE DESERT MAGAZINE Emigrant Flowers That Never Fade

By MARY BEAL everyone knows the vivid-hued garden Cockscomb of the Amaranth family and its culti- vated relatives Love-lies-bleeding and Prince's Feather. In addition to these tropical, introduced species of old-fashioned gardens, many of their kinfolk became emigrants, and some of the most aggressive are now black- listed as obnoxious weeds. In desert regions they have colonized chiefly in cultivated areas, especially along roadsides, garden borders and in waste places. The flowers have the fadeless quality which their name Amaranth means in Greek, and the herbage quite often is red-tinged. Some of them are known as Pigweed, Chinaman's Greens, Careless Weed, Red Root, or Beet Root. The typical desert species is the Fringed Amaranth. Amaranthus fimbriatus The whole plant is colorful, the smooth herbage with a purplish hue and the flower spikes lavender or rose- colored. Several sparingly-branched or simple stems rise from the base a foot or two high, the linear leaves alternate, an inch or two long. The rather loose clusters of tiny flowers are scattered along the stem, crowding closer as they ascend to form a long terminal spike. The fan-shaped sepals of the pistillate flowers are thick at the base, the margin conspicuously fringed, while those of the staminate flowers are oblong and acute. There is no cor- olla, a family trait. This species grows in sandy and This commonest of the Amaranths lias the inelegant gravelly soils, particularly in washes of the Colorado and name of Rough Pigweed, but its fruit is welcome food Mojave deserts, Arizona, north into southern Nevada and for birds and rodents. Beat photo. Utah, and south into Mexico, blooming from August to December. seeds, food for birds and rodents, and grist for Indian grinding stones. The plant was used medicinally by the Amaranthus palmeri Indians as well as for food, especially to check hemor- Another strictly desert species is Palmer's Amaranth, rhage. a stout, erect, usually branched annual, 2 to 4 feet high, Tidestromia oblongifolia entirely hairless or only slightly so. The broadly ovate Another genus of the family that follows different leaves are 1 to 4 inches long, the petioles equal or twice habits of growth is Honey Sweet, also called Arizona as long. The spreading, awl-shaped bracts of the pistillate Honey Sweet. flowers are rigid and awn-tipped, much longer than the A white-wooly perennial with stems widely branching flowers. Under the common names Quelite and Bledo it into low broad bushes 9 to 18 inches high and up to twice is valued highly as greens in the young, tender stage of as broad. The roundish-ovate leaves are less than an growth, especially by Mexicans and Indians. I've eaten inch long, the sweet-scented yellow flowers minute but Quelite greens many times and agree with the explorers' often very profuse, crowded in axillary clusters, blooming endorsement of its asparagus-like flavor, much tastier than in late summer and early fall. After the flowers are gone many an ordinary dish of greens. It also makes good feed the plant is still attractive, the leaves and stems turning for livestock, both for fresh grazing and dried for hay. lavender or red late in fall, a pleasing adornment to the It ranges from the Mojave and Colorado deserts through sandy washes and flats they frequent in the Colorado and southern Arizona to western Texas and central Mexico. Mojave deserts, Arizona and southern Nevada. • • • Amaranthus retroflexus Smoke Tree Will Blossom in June . . . The most widespread Amaranth is commonly known While most of the annual flowers on desert levels below as Rough Pigweed, found in all kinds of cultivated crops, 3000 feet will have completed their blooming season be- gardens, orchards, waste places and roadsides. From the fore June, many of the perennials, especially on the higher characteristic red or pink tap-root it sends up one to elevations, will be in color throughout the month. several stout branching stems, 1 to 4 feet high. The herb- Smoke tree is the most conspicuous among the June age is rough and more or less hairy, the oval, wavy- flowering shrubs on the lower levels. Its leafless branches margined leaves 1 to 3 inches long, the veins prominent will be carrying heavy clusters of deep purple blossom on the underside. The green papery flowers, subtended for two weeks in the early part of the month. by 3 to 5 rigid, spiny-tipped bracts, are crowded into On the south rim of Grand canyon and on higher spikes 1 to 4 inches long, these often disposed in stiff elevations around Death valley a wide variety of blossoms erect panicles. The wrinkled, bladder-like fruit when ripe will greet those who have the opportunity to visit these splits around the middle to scatter countless shiny black areas during the month. JUNE, 1949 27 Las Cruces, New Mexico . . . An extensive deposit of euxenite, valuable element used in the atomic bomb, is claimed by Bill Houser to have been discovered eight miles north- east of Las Cruces. Houser has been DeKa, Utah . . . Tonopah, Nevada . . . for 13 years a prospector operating Alta, Utah's first mining district and What many claim will be the greatest for years one of the most active, may from the village of Organ. Houser says boon to Nevada mining and general he found the mineral with a Geiger- come back to life. In recent years a prosperity in many years is expected rendezvous for ski enthusiasts, Alta at Mueller counter. He has samples of to follow discovery of a satisfactory the ore that back his claims. Houser one time had all the romance and vio- and economical method of treating lence of an early-day mining camp. said the deposit is in the White Sands Nevada's immense deposits of zinc ox- Proving Grounds area, and that the ore After the rich, near-the-surface de- ide ore. At Henderson now the Basic posits had been mined—with a report- contains uranium oxide and other rare Reduction company is preparing to minerals.—Las Cruces Citizen. ed production record of $37,000,000 treat 200 tons daily of zinc oxide ore, —Alta slipped into virtual oblivion. using facilities of the big state-owned • • • Recent renewed interest is the result of Basic-Magnesium plant. Since mining Tonopah, Nevada . . . discovery of a new ore body near the began in the early boom days of the The Nevada Uranium Production line of the famous old Cardiff and Comstock lode, a profitable method of company, first company in the state to Columbus Rexall properties. From this treating zinc oxide ore has eluded launch a real development campaign ore body 20 shipments have already chemists and metalurgists. After years on radium-bearing ore, has started a been made, ore of a grade reminiscent of intensive work by the U.S. bureau winze from the tunnel level on the of the boom days of Alta. The ore of mines at Henderson and men from Rainbow group of seven claims, op- was reportedly found by the second the University of Nevada, a satisfactory tioned from the Henneberg brothers, generation of a pioneer Alta family process for treating the oxide form of Round Mountain. The winze is located after driving only about 10 feet of new zinc ore has been evolved, it is claimed. on ore at a point 225 feet from the tunnel. The old tunnel had missed pay —Tonopah Times-Bonanza. tunnel portal. Inclination of the winze dirt by this close margin.—Millard is 70 degrees, it is 8Vi by 5 feet in size, County Chronicle. • • • outside the timbers. Manager W. J. Goldfield. Nevada . . . Loring recently reported that 11 sam- ples cut the entire length of the 352- Nevada's lead production increased foot tunnel about 30 feet apart and Morongo Valley, California . . . 32 percent in 1948, second highest in- cut from wall to wall, all showed Reopening Joshua Tree Monument crease in the United States, according uranium. Five general grab samples to active prospecting, on the same basis to Senator Pat McCarran. The senator taken from muck also showed uranium that mining is permitted in Death Val- quoted from a report compiled by the in satisfactory amounts, he said. There ley, a similarly classified National U. S. bureau of mines, said Nevada's was not a blank in the lot. This despite Monument, is being supported by the total production was 9480 tons, ap- the fact the average underground Western Mining Council, Inc., which proximately half of which came from depth is not more than 40 feet.— held its annual desert area meeting re- mines in the Pioche district.—Gold- Tonopah Times-Bonanza. cently. Those who argue that the field News. Monument should be reopened for • • • • • • mining say mines now operating are Round Mountain, Nevada . . . producing tonnage quantities of good Esmeralda County, Nevada . . . Originally located and held for their gold, lead and silver ore, even under W. B. Naismith of Tonopah has possible gold content, an option has present difficult limitations and restric- been granted a permit by the .Esmer- been taken on the Zuzzalo gold claims tions. It is claimed that if mining is alda board of county commissioners to at Round Mountain following discov- resumed on the basis permitted in prospect four claims in the Divide dis- ery of a vein carrying good percent- Death Valley, results will be favorable trict known as the Belcher 1, 2, 3 and ages in uranium. The Zuzzalo prop- so far as tourist interest and conserva- Fraction. The same property was in the erty is located not far from the Henne- tion of scenic qualities are concerned. news a few months ago when the Bent- berg ground, where the Nevada Ra- —Banning Record. Peatman company of San Francisco dium Production company is actively made overtures to purchase it, no deal developing a group of seven claims. was closed.—Goldfield News. Both these properties were originally White Canyon, Utah . . . • • • tied up for their gold, establishment Construction of a pilot mill in White Pioche, Nevada . . . of the uranium vein came largely canyon, across the Colorado river from Installation of complete mining through accident years after the origi- Hite, is being rushed by Vanadium equipment is in progress at the Gold nal notices had been posted. Claims Corporation of America with the aim Seam mine located in the Divide dis- are being staked all over the Round of processing ores having as little as trict, Esmeralda county, where work Mountain area, all based on a potential one-twentieth of one per cent uranium, was halted last December by unusually uranium value. — Tonopah Times- and especially designed to handle ore severe winter weather. Exploratory Bonanza. having a copper content. Most of the work was resumed earlier this spring. • • • carnotite ores of the White canyon The company has uncovered several Discovery of one of the richest lead- area contain copper as well as uranium "good showings," according to Charles ore deposits on the continent on the and vanadium. Prospectors are now Mayer, Las Vegas, manager, plans lonely shores of an arctic harbor has working some 50 claims in the area. now to sink to the 200-foot level from been reported by the Edmonton, Alas- Initial operations at the mill call for where lateral operations will be started. ka, Bulletin. In a copyright article the processing 40 tons of ore dailv. Ca- Optimistic about possibilities of the Bulletin said the Gateway Gold Lim- pacity will be expanded to 200 tons property, Mayer said he hopes ship- ited reported staking out a multi-mil- daily if operations prove successful.— ments of ore can be made by early lion dollar claim at Detention harbor, Moab Times-Independent. summer.—Pioche Record- Coronation gulf.

THE DESERT MAGAZINE Report from desert's Readers...

Late in 1948 the staff of Desert By occupation, Desert's readers are with Palm Springs second, Palm Desert Magazine mailed out 1000 question- classified as follows: third and Tucson fourth. Then came naires to readers selected at random MANAGEMENT, including own- the Mojave desert, Las Vegas and from the subscription list. These ques- ers and executives in business, Wickenburg. tionnaires were planned (1) as a guide industry, farming and mining 28 % Answering a query as to whether to the editors in the selection of edi- PROFESSIONAL, including teach- or not they planned eventually to build torial subjects, and (2) as a guide to ers, engineers, doctors, artists and live on the desert, 87 of the 237 the buying habits of Desert's readers and writers 23% who replied to this question stated that for the benefit of advertisers. TECHNICIANS, including skilled they planned to build desert homes, The response to this reader poll was craftsmen and mechanics 16% and 46 expressed their intention to most gratifying, and the staff wishes to CLERICAL, including salesmen, build income property. express its appreciation to the 341 general office and public serv- In reply to the question of vacation subscribers who took the time to fill ice work 14% pastimes the following preferences out the questionnaire and return it. RETIRED 9% were indicated: The figures have all been tabulated HOUSEWIVES 7% MISCELLANEOUS 3% Visit scenic places 21% now, and the staff believes they will be Explore out of the way no less interesting to members of Des- While Desert readers do much of their travel by automobile, they also places 19% ert's reader family than to the editorial Collect rocks and minerals....l7% and business offices of the magazine. use other means of transportation and the comparative popularity among the Camp 12% Desert's readers like to travel, and Fish 10% 94.7% of them own cars. They average common carriers is as follows: Travel by train 43% Hike 9% 13,750 miles annually and spent Prospect 7% $273.08 for gasoline. Their first choice Travel by air 39% Travel by bus 18% Take photographs 3% among the editorial features appearing Miscellaneous 2% in Desert Magazine are the travelogs Destination—Pacific Northwest with maps. Answering a question as to travel One of the queries was: "During the coming year I plan to visit the follow- 'Travel Maps Are Preferred plans for the next two years, 92.5% of them expressed a desire to make ex- ing desert areas:" A tabulation of the To arrive at the comparative popu- tended trips, the choice of destinations places named placed Death Valley larity of the various features and de- being as follows: first, Grand Canyon second, Borrego partments each subscriber participating Valley third, Monument Valley and in the poll was asked to name first, Pacific Northwest 46% Tucson tied for fourth place, and Mo- second and third choice of editorial Mexico 21% jave desert, Barstow, Palm Springs, subjects. The following tabulation gives Canada 19% Southern Utah, Salton Sea in the order the comparative ratings, based on first Alaska 9% named. choice only. The totals in this column Hawaii 3% South America 2% Subscribers were asked to indicate exceed the 341 replies for the reason the number of miles traveled during that many of the readers indicate more The popularity of the various types the previous year on trips suggested than one first choice: of accommodations available for trav- by the Desert Magazine. The average Travelogs with maps 1st elers was indicated by the following for the 341 questionnaires tabulated Gems and Minerals 2nd tabulation of answers received: was 545 miles for each reader-family. Historical articles 1 3rd Prefer motor courts 48% This figure, if multiplied by the total Indian life and lore 4th Prefer camping out 31% number of subscribers living west of Archeology 5th Prefer hotels 17% the Rocky mountains makes the amaz- Nature subjects 6th Prefer trailer camps 4% ing total of 11,831,435 automobile Editorial page 7th When it came to the price range they miles. Photography 8th were willing to pay for hotel or motor "I don't care much for the poetry Desert Quiz and "Here and court accommodations, the answers page," wrote one subscriber, "but keep There" were tied for 9th were as follows: it in the magazine for those who do." Readers' Letters page 10th $3.00 or less 19% This comment was rather typical of Mines and Mining 11th $3.00 to $6.00 68% the remarks noted on the question Botanical features 12th Over $6.00 13% cards. While most of the readers are Arts and Artists 13th Majority Are Non-Residents interested in special subjects, almost Poetry page 14th One of the surprising disclosures of without exception they expressed Each copy of Desert Magazine is read the poll was that 28% of Desert's sub- broad-minded approval of editorial by an average of 5.2 persons. Based scribers live on the desert. The other content as a whole. on the present paid circulation of 25,- 72% have homes from California to And so, Desert's editors will con- 157 this makes a total of 130,816 Maine—but not on the desert. In an- tinue to feature mapped travelogs, his- readers each month. In 90.1% of the swer to the question, "What desert lo- tory, gems and minerals, archeology, homes the magazine is kept for perma- cality would you prefer for a home- Indians, Nature subjects, mines and nent reference. site?" the replies were distributed lost mines, personalities, life on the Homes having an average estimated among 57 communities ranging from desert, and arts and poetry will have a value of $13,750 are owned by 81.5% Banning to Albuquerque and from place also—as they have always had. of the subscribers. Mr. Average Sub- Nogales to Salt Lake City. Twentynine The staff is grateful to its readers scriber spends $22.90 for books. Palms, California, led in popularity, for their loyalty. JUNE, 1949 29 Story of Arizona's "Wild Angoras" Relic of the Jesuit Days? . . . Cottonwood, Arizona Willcox, Arizona Desert: Desert: Re-reading your issue of March, Some time ago I received your Janu- 1947, I believe John D. Mitchell's ary issue and was much interested in story "Bells of Old Guevevi" has fur- the picture on the cover. It touched a nished a clue to the identity of a For the Sake of Accuracy . . . tender spot in my heart, for as a child strange artifact found by my friend Albany, California I herded a large band of those so-called Bonnie Wiprud in 1932. Desert: "Arizona wild goats" and in just such Bonnie is an amateur collector of On page 7 of the April 1949 issue, a rocky country as you pictured. Indian artifacts, and the bowl shown specimen No. 4 in the illustration is I did not do it of necessity, but be- in the picture I am enclosing, was labeled, "(4) Aragonite (Uraniferous cause I loved the freedom of the out- found on the desert south of Tucson calcite. . . . )". doors— the majesty of the Arizona near the Tumacacori mission. Aragonite is related to calcite only mountains. And because Angora goats in that they have the same chemical are interesting creatures. They were a composition. They are distinct mineral constant challenge—and from them I species, calcite crystallizing in the learned something of mountain climb- rhombohedral division of the hexag- ing. onal system and aragonite in the ortho- The purpose of this letter is to give rhombic system. Dana states (Dana, you a little of the history of this goat E. S., A Textbook of Mineralogy. 4th and its ancestors. edition, 1932, p. 511): "The Anhy- Ten or 12 years ago my husband's drous Carbonates include two distinct stepfather, J. F. Dean of Phoenix, had isomorphous groups, the Calcite group 5000 acres of the White Tanks moun- and the Aragonite group." tains and foothills under lease. He ac- As the title of the illustration was quired a small band of Angoras to run printed it would seem that aragonite this range. He established a small camp is the uraniferous variety of calcite; near the base of the mountains, and whereas, the title should have read: got a Mexican herder to take over. "uraniferous aragonite" or "uranifer- The goat business was doing well ous calcite" whichever the case may when the herder decided one evening be. It can not be both. to go to town, and due to temptations MORT D. TURNER stronger than his will, he failed to re- This bowl is AV* inches high, and turn to camp on schedule. Some of the has a base 4Vi inches in diameter. It goats took advantage of his absence, weighs 10 pounds. The thickness of and left for higher ground. the metal is uneven. The roughness on Botanical Freak . . . After several similar occurrences the bottom was caused by an assayer Blythe, California most of the goats had migrated to who at first thought it was pure gold. Desert: greener pastures. I think we ate the More careful examination proved it to remaining few. be an alloy of gold, silver and copper. Attached is a print of a curiosity I It is hand-turned with no markings thought might interest your readers— The goats gradually climbed into except five little dots that may have a young saguaro cactus growing in the the mountains, and the last we heard symbolic significance. crotch of an ironwood tree. It was dis- of them they were located in a remote Bonnie took the bowl to the Arizona covered recently by J. Davenport of canyon near a good spring. We never state university museum, also to sev- Blythe, and the man in the picture is bothered to go after them, but were eral collectors, in an effort to have it Walter Paselk, mine owner operating told that hunters had shot a few of identified. None recognized the metal, near the place where the freak was them for sport. nor did they have any similar objects. found. I was very fond of these goats. They John Mitchell's story told of the The location is in the Trigo moun- are beautiful creatures and in the sun- heavy black silver-copper ore the tains 22 miles southeast of Blythe. light their fleece glistens like silver. Jesuits used in 1691 to make articles R. D. BRAMAN Also, they are very intelligent animals. for the church altars. After having The goat on the cover of the maga- supplied the needs of the mission altars zine is a young nanny, and from the they turned their attention to the appearance of her fleece these goats fashioning of cups, plates and bowls have fared well in the wild, despite for household use, using the same the drouth. heavy metal. The bowl shows no signs of having Who knows but that if these animals been used. It has the appearance of are given the opportunity they may be- copper—copper that has been dulled come one of our protected game ani- by time, and yet lacking the reddish mals? They will survive where cattle cast that modern copper articles ac- cannot. Surely these creatures of the quire when tarnished. high and rocky fastnesses are entitled We believe this bowl may well have to their freedom. They've battled storm been left by the Jesuits when they and drouth and predator — and even were recalled by King Charles of man's misconceived idea of sport. I Spain in 1767. It certainly is not of say, "Long may they range!" modern origin. MRS. T. J. WILLIAMS GRACE B. SMITH 30 THE DESERT MAGAZINE Mystery of Keyhole Canyon . . . Boulder City, Nevada Desert: One lovely day in February, 1949, a member of our Clark county gem collectors' group suggested that we take a trip to Keyhole canyon to see the petroglyphs and look for garnets he thought were there. The hills here are of red rock, and at one place an overhanging block of stone had fallen down, leaving a cavity in the pile of talus at the base. Out of curiosity I crawled under the pile and began scratching around in the sand with my pick. My first discovery was the feet and legs shown in the left corner of the accompanying picture. At first I thought it might be a piece of obsidian, but when I had cleaned the sand off and saw what I had I let out a yell. The rest of the gang came running—^ and in all my rockhounding I have never seen sand fly so fast. It was difficult work in the little 7x15 These are the artifacts described in Paul Mercer's letter. When and why foot cave, and none of us could stand they were buried in Keyhole canyon in southern Nevada remains a mystery. up, but as piece after piece was un- earthed the excitement grew. And here is a description of what we found— mouth and nose have holes for water mold the pieces. What do you think the artifacts shown in the photograph: to run from, leaving the impression it of them? The white face is carved on very was part of a fountain. PAUL MERCER porous pumice. The two pottery jugs I never hope to make another find Dear Paul: We submitted your are a tan clay covered with a black as exciting as this one. There is more photograph and letter to M. R. glaze. The decorations were made mystery attached to these things due Harrington, curator at Southwest separately and fitted on after the jug to the fact they appear both Aztec and museum. His comment was as fol- was shaped. These decorations are Mayan. And how did they .ever get lows: "All appear to be fakes ex- most interesting as they consist of eagle under the rocks at Keyhole canyon? cept the stone statue to the right, heads, tiny dolls with mummy sort of Did the Spanish come up the Colorado which may well be genuine. The wrappings, and frogs ready to hop. river bringing with them the Aztecs as other articles look to be tourist slaves, and the slaves carried these goods made in Mexico, not recent- The large idol is carved from basalt things as part of their worship? Are ly, but in the 1890's. Many of —whatever the hands were holding is these things genuine—or are they fakes such had a tin base. In fact I have missing. It is about 22 inches tall and placed there near the petroglyphs for seen statuettes of that period made heavy as lead. The pot-belly figure at someone to find just for the fun of it? in the same technique as the two left is a pitcher—handle missing. Right They have been there a long time, be- disks shown in the photograph, below it is a face with elaborate head cause the sand was packed inside the and modelled on old rectangular dress, and I think it is a part of the jars so tightly we had a time getting it tin oyster cans. I am not sure that statue belonging to the knees and feet out. The nose on the face of the water all the fakes are of the same early —but I never could find the stomach. jug shows that at some time a fire had vintage, but they look to be in the The two round plaques are the silli- been built over it and the nose was picture. It certainly seems strange est of all, as they seem to have been burned. All objects were buried in this that such things should be 'plant- made by squirting a silica clay through protected spot beneath sand two to ed' in that remote spot."—R.H. a cake decorator. The clay glistens. The three feet deep. Keyhole canyon is not • • • a place many people see. It is way off black around the edges is obsidian as The Spelling Is Optional . . . are the eyes. But most amazing of all, the highway with practically no road to it. El Centro, California they were made on metal discs, parts of Desert: which resemble buck-shot welded to- We have never had these things ap- In the May issue of Desert Maga- gether. The center piece is definitely an praised by anyone who would know zine you use the word "sherd" in re- Aztec calendar, as I bought one of the whether they are genuine or not. In ferring to broken pieces of pottery. I exact size in Mexico City last fall, fact we don't care. If they were Wool- find it spelled "shard" in my books. which was made of travertine. worth's specials it was fun to find them. O. M. CHEESEMAN Not shown in the picture is a water I made a trip to Mexico especially to Webster's Unabridged, 1949, jug about 30 inches tall that I dug up see the pieces in the National museum, gives three forms for the word— out of the roots of an old mesquite and found ours are very similar. At shard, sheard and sherd, but indi- bush. The water jug and basalt idol the pyramids is sold a lot of junk made cates a preference for shard. How- were not under the rocks. The water for tourist trade, but the clay and ever, Southwest Museum and jug has a human head (life size) that glaze cannot compare. Our pieces are many other authorities prefer protrudes in its entirety from the jar. handmade as we can place our fingers sherd. Either spelling is correct.— Part of a headdress is on it, and the in spots the makers used to hold and R. H.

JUNE, 1949 31 tended three high schools and four as editor and publisher of the border colleges, finally receiving his bachelor newspaper 6V2 years, then moved to DESERT of arts degree from Willamette Uni- El Centro, California, to become edi- versity at Salem, Oregon. tor-publisher of the Imperial Valley CLOSE-OPS He took a year of post-graduate Weekly and manager of El Centro work in the school of journalism at Printing company. the University of Southern California, For years Haworth has been recog- Addison N. Clark who has written and then came to Calexico for his first nized as one of the most promising about the possibilities of placer mining newspaper job on the staff of the daily young journalists of the desert country, in the desert bajadas for this issue of Chronicle, then edited by Randall and he brings to the Desert Magazine Desert Magazine is a consulting engi- Henderson. staff not only a thorough training in neer and geologist of Oakland, Cali- First as reporter and later as city desert journalism, but a fine record fornia. His work has given him an inti- editor he remained four years on the for integrity and public service, having mate acquaintance with both the min- Chronicle, and then left to set up a served as president of the Calexico ing properties and the geology of the public relations and advertising depart- Rotary club. western country, and out of this ex- ment for the Imperial Irrigation dis- Dorothy, the other half of the Ha- perience he contributes regularly to trict. worth team, has been closely associ- mining papers. For the last 14 years In 1941 he and Tazewell H. Lamb, ated with her husband in his news- he has written a column for the Min- another former Chronicle associate, paper enterprises. They have a 13- ing Journal and the Mining World bought the newspaper from Henderson year-old son, and expect soon to ac- with which it merged in 1946. And who in the meantime had launched quire a permanent home in the Palm just to prove that a mining man doesn't Desert Magazine. Haworth remained Desert community. necessarily have a one-track mind, he occasionally produces very readable poetry. TOcutfo Residents of the Imperial and Coa- chella valleys in Southern California will be amused and amazed to learn . . . Prize Contest Announcement through this issue of Desert Magazine that serious consideration was given June is the month of Desert Magazine's annual cover contest. This in the 1870's to a proposal that this entire area be converted into a great year, the staff hopes to obtain many of the photographs which will be inland sea, by diversion of the waters used on the magazine during the ensuing 12 months. To make the of the Colorado river. contest worthwhile for photographers, a cash prize of $15.00 is offered David Hellyer came across this to the winner, and $10.00 for second place. For acceptable cover strange proposal while delving through pictures which do not receive prizes, $5.00 each will be paid. the files of newspapers of that period. Hellyer is professor of journalism at San Diego State college, but finds time Entries in the cover contest should be approximately 9x12 inches— to do a great deal of free lance writing vertical shots. Photographers should keep in mind that the pictures outside of his classroom schedule. should be so composed that the masthead to be printed across the His feature stories have appeared in Saturday Evening Post, Coronet, The top will not block out any important feature of the photograph. Any Woman, American Home, National desert subject is acceptable including scenics, wildlife, rock formations, Geographic and many smaller publica- flowers, etc. tions. His hobby is fishing, and he espe- cially enjoys goggle fishing at La Jolla, HERE ARE THE RULES 1—Prints must be black and white verticals, about 9x12 or larger, printed California. He and Mrs. Hellyer and on glossy paper. their three children live in "wonderful 2—All prints must be in the Desert Magazine office by June 20, 1949. seclusion on a citrus ranch in Rancho 3—Each photograph should be labeled as to subject, time arid place. Santa Fe, surrounded by quiet, coyotes 4—PRINTS WILL BE RETURNED ONLY WHEN RETURN POSTAGE IS and eucalyptus trees from Australia." ENCLOSED. 5—Contest is open to both amateur and professional photographers. Desert Magazine requires first publication rights only of pictures accepted. Al Haworth, who became editorial 6—Time and place of picture are immaterial except that they must be from associate on the staff of Desert Maga- the desert Southwest. zine April 1, makes no claim to being 7—Desert Magazine's editorial staff will serve as judges, and awards will an old-timer on the desert, and yet his be made immediately after the contest. journalistic career dates back to the days before air coolers were an essen- tial part of the equipment in every ADDRESS ALL ENTRIES TO PHOTO EDITOR, DESERT MAGAZINE desert home and office. Al was born and raised in Cuba where his parents were Quaker mis- sionaries. By the time he was ready for high school his father had been as- Palm Desert. California signed to a pastorate in United States, and during the ensuing years he at-

32 THE DESERT MAGAZINE YOU WILL BE PLEASED With the service and quality of goods you will receive by ordering from the o*t Heart of the Navajo Country. Navajo Rugs and Saddle Blankets Genuine Handmade Silver Jewelry ARIZONA It's "Navaho". Not "Navajo" . . . Set With Turquoise Petrified Wood and Agate Settings— ' Desert Protects Its Own . . . If a plea of the tribal council's ad- Made by Indians Twenty-nine years ago Felix Buba visory committee is heeded, the Navajo Write Me for Prices and Descriptions left the Cholla placers near Quartzsite Indians will hereafter be called "Nava- on what he thought would be a short hos." Supt. James M. Stewart of the E. P. WOODS trip to the American river placers in "Navaho" Indian agency has relayed Navajo Blankets - Indian Handicraft California. Before he left his camp in that request. "Members of the com- Wholesale Distributor the Chollas, he buried his tools, acids, mittee said they were sick of the Nava- FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO blasting, powder, caps, fuse, other ar- jos being called 'Joes,' and they want ticles—and two bottles of placer gold. to be called 'Navahos'," Stewart ex- Recently Felix returned for the first plained. "Further, they want it spelled time since 1920, "just out of curiosity" like an American would spell it, not went to the Chollas to see if anyone the way the Spaniards spelled it."— had disturbed his cache. No one had, Coconino Sun. he found everything intact, including the two bottles of gold.—Yuma Daily Sun. Hf Jitter- Zribal Irrigated Land for Hopis . . . Approximately 75,000 acres of land May Get More Funds . . . will be open to re-settlement by Indian Indian Ceremonial Total recommended in the interior families from other reservations when August 11-14, 1949 department's appropriations bill, ap- the land subjugation and irrigation proved by the house appropriations program at the Colorado River Indian GALLUP. NEW MEXICO committee, for the Bureau of Indian reservation in Parker valley is com- Affairs, is $32,127,971, an increase of pleted, according to long-range plans "America's Greatest $7,817,657 over the last appropriation. of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Al- Besides a special Navajo-Hopi fund ready 36 Hopi Indian families have Indian Presentation" of $8,000,000, the bill includes $12,- been relocated there and more Hopis 200,000 for education of Indians; $7,- are expected to be moved there before Write for Folder 731,000 for health work; $500,000 year's end. This is in the southern divi- for welfare work; $1,000,000 for man- sion. In the northern region there will M. L. WOODARD, Secretary agement of forest and range resources; be 25,000 acres reserved for present $2,400,000 for a revolving loan fund; tribes which live on the reservation. $3,575,851 for construction of irriga- Total acreage of the reservation is tion systems; $4,206,600 for construc- 242,711, of which 20,621 acres are tion and repair of buildings and utili- in California, remainder in Arizona.— ties; $2,750,000 for roads. Yuma Daily Sun. • • • Old West Crime Problem . . . Irked by frequent loss of cattle from their herds, the Mojave Livestock asso- ciation has decided to take steps to see PERSONALIZED AIR TOURS that cattle rustlers are punished to the full extent of the law. The association has voted to offer a $500 reward for to any or all the following Passengers may book information leading to the arrest and flights from any of the conviction of anyone caught stealing scenic wonders: following points: cattle belonging to association mem- bers.—Mohave County Miner. Monument Valley, Utah Chaco Canyon, New Mexico World's Largest Cliff Dwelling Canyon de Chelly, Arizona Zuni Indian Pueblo, New Mexico DESERT HOfliESITES Marble Canyon, Arizona Inscription Rock, New Mexico Grand Canyon, Arizona Moro National Monument Fine water, excellent drainage, surfaced streets, electricity, natural gas, telephones, Flights pass over Rainbow Bridge, Utah; Painted Desert, Arizona, and new school under construction—-an ideal Petrified Forest, Arizona location where you can enjoy all today's conveniences in the clean atmosphere of a All Flights Arranged for the Convenience of Our Passengers well-planned desert community. Write for Rates and Free Folder Lots range from $950. Write for informa- tion. Thutiderbird Aviation Co. PALM DESERT CORPORATION Municipal Airport Gallup, New Mexico Palm Desert. California Special courtesies to amateur and professional photographers

JUNE, 1949 33 CALIFORNIA Historic Spots May Be Marked . . . THE D6S6RT TRADING POST Working through the California Centennials commission, the Coa- Classified Advertising in This Section Costs 8c a word, $1.00 Minimum Per Issue chella Valley Pioneers society is seek- ing to have plaques placed at historical spots throughout Coachella valley INDIAN GOODS MISCELLANEOUS commemorating the days before man AUTHENTIC INDIAN Music Recordings, Plains SILVERY DESERT HOLLY PLANTS. One dollar and Southwestern tribes. Fine for collectors each postpaid. Greasewood Greenhouses, RFD, had partially broken the desert's hold and anthropologists. Made in the field with Barstow, California. natural surroundings. Send three cent stamp on this now cultivated area. On the for complete list. Russell C. Mosby, 510 W. POCKET MAGNET with clip. Guaranteed. Oklahoma Ave., Anadarko, Oklahoma. Prospectors, Engineers send dollar bill to list of historical spots to be marked King's, Gallatin Gateway, Montana. are Dos Palmas stage station and FOR SALE—Collection of old Indian things, PALM SPRINGS VILLAGER — the monthly spring, Indians Wells, Shavers Well, some with real scalp locks. Also five hundred magazine that reflects in picture and story, Kachina dollars, one or all. One dollar up. life in a great desert vacation land. Single first commercial date grove, first date Daniels Indian Trading Post, 401 West Foot- copies 45c, a year, 10 issues, $3.50. Palm Springs Villager, Palm Springs, California. palm, site of the old salt works on hill Blvd., Fontana, California. banks of the Salton sea, Whitewater FOUR VERY FINE ancient Indian Arrowheads, GOLD! YOU CAN PAN GOLD — It's easy! ranch and the Bradshaw stage route.— $1.00; 4 tiny perfect bird arrowheads, $1.00; Healthy, profitable occupation or hobby. Send 1 ancient stone tomahawk, $1.00; 2 flint skin- for big, illustrated book, "Gold Panning for Coachella Desert Barnacle. ning knives, $1.00; 1 large flint hoe, $1.00; 2 Profit"—$1.00. Want some of my genuine spearheads, $1.00; 10 arrowheads from 10 California gold? One beautiful nugget, $1.00. states, $1.00; 20 damaged arrowheads, $1.00; Four nuggets, $2.00. Other wonderful speci- • • • 10 fish sealers, $1.00; 10 hide scrapers, $1.00; men gold nuggets, $5 and $10 each. Desert 4 perfect saw edged arrowheads, $1.00. The Jim, 627 Lillian, Stockton, California. Kept Alive by Barrel Cactus . . . above 11 offers $10, postpaid. List free. PALM SPRINGS Annual Pictorial. Beautiful Lost more than three days on the Lears, Kirby, Arkansas. desert pictures. On desert newsstands 35c, by mail 45c. Villager Magazine, Palm Springs, desert in the Wingate Pass country WE STILL HAVE a lot of our $8000.00 collec- California. near Trona, California, Joseph J. Mar- tion of Indian material for sale as advertised KODACHROMES ON APPROVAL. Did it rain on cure, 38, said he was kept alive by in March Desert Magazine. H. A. McHenry, your vacation? No pictures? Try ours, keep 1282 Summit Ave., Pasadena 3, California. only those you like. Yellowstone, Petrified water of barrel cacti. He was rescued Phone Sycamore 4-3920. Forest, Grand Canyon, Olympics, Oak Creek Canyon, Zion, Bryee, New Mexico, Lassen, following a search by men in planes, Banff. Scenes, wild life, Indians. Just name the area desired and we will send selection. jeeps, on horses and on foot. With BOOKS—MAGAZINES Douglas Whiteside, Yosemite, California. Vance D. Danford, 35, Marcure was BOOK OF CACTI for the amateur collector. PANNING GOLD — Another hobby for Rock- stranded when the fan of the car they Describes and classifies over 500 varieties, hounds and Desert Roamers. Know how to were driving broke loose and punched over 200 photographs. Subjects on care, their pan gold, where to look for it and be able to culture, how to plant in rock gardens and recognize valuable quartz ledges. The places a hole in the radiator. Danford walked pots. Sent postpaid $1.00. Discount to dealers. you go are where rich virgin ground is found. Published by M. Nowotny, 1401 Broadway, Two instruction booklets 25c or send your for a day and a half to reach Trona, San Antonio, Texas. name for free literature and catalogue of mining books and supplies for beginners. but Marcure became ill and could not 1943 and earlier issues of Arizona Highways to Old Prospector, Box 21-B246, Dutch Flat, continue. When Danford returned with trade for 1940 and earlier issues same maga- California. help, Marcure had wandered from the zine. Del Gerbaz, Box 323A, Rt. 2,, Meander- ing Rd., Fort Worth, Texas. CACTI AND SUCCULENTS—From the deserts appointed place and it was two days of the world. Don-Rita brand. By appointment only. Write us your needs and we will try to before he was located.—Trona, Cali- OUTDOOR RAMBLER—An outdoor publication help you. Michael Donnelly Cacti Gardens, 334 that's different. Two years, $1.00; 60c year; Lowell St., Daly City, California. fornia, Argonaut. 10c copy. Outdoor Rambler, Box 884, lone, California. • • • LEARN the profitable jewelry and goldsmithing URANIUM PROSPECTOR'S Handbook, $1.00; trade at home. Simplified course teaches Anti-Tram Move Killed . . . non-technical, complete, Dept. T., Craft- jewelry designing, manufacture and repairing; Connor Publishing Co., 601 S. Vermont, Los gemsetting, etc. Gemcrafters, Dept. F., Kalis- Killed in committee by the Cali- Angeles 5, California. pell, Montana. fornia State Assembly committee on BOOKFINDERS—Scarce, out of print, unusual FRED AND JESSIE PORTER welcome you to governmental efficiency and economy, books quickly supplied. Send wants. Clifton, the "Pow-Wow" Trading Post, Yermo, 14 Box 1377d, Beverly Hills, California. miles east of Barstow, Highway 91. Rocks! a bill to abolish the Mount San Ja- Rocks! Rocks! Rocks in the rough, slabbed, cinto Winter Park Authority has preforms and cabochons. Fluorescent and rare specimens. Caledonite, Linerite, Benitoite, failed to accomplish its purpose. The DESERT CRAFTS Neptunite and many others. See your own cut. Gifts and Souvenirs. measure would have repealed an act DESERT SAND-ART: Fascinating modern ver- passed in 1945 authorizing a tramway sion of. ancient Indian art. Marvelous new KARAKULS—Producers of Persian Lamb fur method enables anyone to make beautiful are easy to raise, adaptable to any climate from Chino canyon near Palm Springs, paintings! Desert Sand-Art kit (beautifully or altitude. For further information write boxed, colorfully decorated in the desert Addis Kelley, 4637 E. 52nd Place, May wood, to top of Mount San Jacinto. Support- manner) comes complete with all materials California. ers of the bill to kill the tramway act necessary to make seven beautiful permanent paintings in vibrant colored sands. Famous WHOLESALE LOTS, Cactus, Resurrection said construction of the tramway will artist originated these designs for your seven Plants, Boxed Cactus. Aztec Cactus Co., P.O. paintings (5y.i"x7%"). Simple and easy to do! Box 833, Presidio, Texas. destroy one of the few remaining No art training necessary. Guaranteed. Com- primitive areas in the state. When plete kit only $6.95 postpaid. Desert Sand-Art COLOR SLIDES—Travel, Nature, Geology, etc. Studio, Hondo, California. Free list (with sample 30c, three for dollar). built, the tramway will take passengers Kelly D. Choda, Box 5, Los Alamos, New Mexico. from floor of the desert to 8000-foot mountain greenery in a matter of min- REAL ESTATE METEORITES WANTED, iron or stone, highest prices. Stuart Perry, Adrian, Michigan. utes. The area it will reach is now vir- FIVE ACRE DATE GARDEN. Full price $7500. tually inaccessible.—Banning Record. Owner will buy crop for $2000.00. 60 acres WILL SELL one half interest in good gold, rolling sand dunes between Palm Springs and silver and lead claims to dependable person. Indio, $3750.00. Write Ronald L. Johnson, Partly developed. Assays are good. No triflers • • • Realtor, Thermal, California. need apply. P.O. Box 88, El Mirage, Arizona. Apple Valley Gets Postoffice . . . DESERT LOTS: $99.00. Magnificent view. Only PHOTOSTAMPS DOLLAR HUNDRED l"xiy2", In true pony express fashion, 10 six left at this price, ten at $129.00 and twelve person, products. Send print, free samples. at $179.00. All 50x135, water, electricity. Sold Photostamps Studios, Jonesboro 271, Tennessee riders on fast horses carried the mail in pairs only. 1 Vz blocks off main Hiway. U.S. ARMY (SCR-625) Mine Detectors, for buried from Victorville to Apple Valley, Cali- Clear Title. $25.00 down, $10.00 monthly per metals and metallic ores only. Very sensitive, lot. Address: Evelyn Subdivision, Superstition deep range, complete with case F.O.B. $52.50. fornia, to inaugurate in colorful style Village, Mesa, Arizona. Kenneth Mayhall, Belmont, Mississippi. the first Apple Valley postomce. Rac- SHADOW MOUNTAIN DRIVE Apartment COLOR SLIDES of Fluorescent Minerals for ing along Joshua-lined highway 18, Homes: Single $7550—Double $8550, including your collection, study and identification. A electric range, refrigerator, heaters and cool- complete set of 30 Kodachrome slides glowing the riders made the IV2 miles in 22 er. The last word in a Desert Home at mini- with fiery brilliance including explanatory minutes, handing first bag of mail to mum expense. Carl Henderson, Box 201, Palm text $15.00 postpaid. Frank Knaus, 2113 Park- Desert, California. side Ave., Los Angeles 31, California. Postmaster Emaline "Dutchy" Korba.

34 THE DESERT MAGAZINE this year, according to George Palmer Veteran Peace Officer Dies . . . HOTEL MAYAN A colorful character of the Califor- Putnam. It was opened last summer On U. S. Highways 80, 99 and 111 International Four States Highway 93 nia desert area and the first white child as an experiment, and accommodated Air Conditioned by Refrigeration born in Little Morongo — Ben de a surprising number of summer motor- Rooms With or Without Bath ists traveling that way. The high tem- FREE AUTO PARK Crevecoeur—died March 21 at a rest Mrs. Jimmie Beronio. Proprietor home in Banning. After a pioneer boy- perature during the summer was 119 — Telephone 965 — hood, de Crevecoeur ran a freight line degrees. Sixth and State El Centro, California from Banning to the Old Dale mining • • • district east of Twentynine Palms, later Indians May Get Land . . . became a noted peace officer, was a Investigations that may result in 37 $300 to $3,000 Income Riverside county deputy sheriff for BUY AN ACRE above the village and build Indians being given full ownership of your own desert home and poultry plant. many years. Twentynine Palm resi- half a million dollars in Coachella Healthiest place for people and poultry— dents of earlier days recall that Ben valley lands lying within the irrigation no fog, smog or smudge. All year dry cli- led the posse which tracked down district, have been started by the U.S. mate, 3200 elevation. Pay as little as $250 Willie Boy, renegade Indian, in the interior department. Harry Gilmore, down, balance monthly (land only). Water, Electricity, Oiled Roads, wonderful views. hills of Morongo valley. Willie Boy district agent for the Office of Indian Write for new "Eggs Folder" and maps. had murdered his sweetheart's father Affairs, said the decision to make the on the Gilman ranch near Banning, investigations was reached at a con- BATTELLE kidnapped the girl, later murdered her ference with William E. Warne, assist- Box D.E. 105. LUCERNE VALLEY. CALIF. while trying to make his escape in the ant secretary of interior. Warne re- desert mountains. De Crevecoeur's cently visited California and the South- parents homesteaded in Little Moron- west. The department of the interior Permanent Gold go, where Ben was born.—The Desert now holds the lands in trust for the embossed binders for Trail, Thousand Palms. Indians. The 37 parcels range from 40 • • • to 60 acres each. Most of the land is Gathering Joshua Tree Data . . . not now irrigated, but some is planted DESERT To explore the little known areas of to grapes and dates, is worth in the These easy-to-insert binders are Joshua Tree National Monument and neighborhood of $1000 an acre.— made especially for Desert Mag- gather botanical data, a trip to the Coachella Desert Barnacle. azine readers who want to pre- southeastern part of the National serve the maps and other travel Monument was made recently by Dr. • • • information for future use. and Mrs. Phillip A. Munz, Mr. and NEW MEXICO They open flat, and each binder Mrs. W. Egbert Schenck and Supt. National Monument Proposed . . . has space for 12 magazines. Frank Givens. Dr. Munz is director of Establishment of a national monu- the Santa Ana Botanical gardens. ment at Manuelito just west of Gallup Mailed postpaid for Data gathered will be used in the fu- is being advocated by the New Mexico $1.50 ture interpretive program of the Monu- state tourist bureau. The drive from ment and in scientific studies in educa- Albuquerque to Gallup, along high- tional institutions.—The Desert Trail, way 66, is one of the most attractive Thousand Palms. in the state, according to Joseph E. Palm Desert, Calif. • • • Bursey, director of the tourist bureau, Iron Foundry in Desert . . . A veteran manufacturer of cast iron products and a mining engineer have ONLY ONE WORLD FAMOUS joined hands to develop an iron indus- try for the production of pipe close to the entrance to Afton canyon, about Valerie Jean date Shop 45 miles northeast of Barstow, Cali- Our story of "QUALITY PRODUCTS ONLY" told and retold in largest fornia. From ore to finished pipe and periodicals all over the world. Send a trial order for THE DE LUXE fittings, the entire operation is to be ASSORTMENT of finest dates and desert delicacies. conducted in the middle of the Mojave desert. A virtually unlimited supply of 1 pound delivered $1.30 3 pounds delivered $3.50 ore is available from seven ore claims located between three and five miles Order from VALERIE JEAN With Confidence from the smelting furnaces erected on Write for Complete Folder THERMAL, CALIFORNIA the desert, according to Frank Fawver, owner. M. H. Vaughan, mining engi- neer with extensive holdings which in- clude the famous Oro Grande gold SLEEP IN YOUR CAR mine, is manager of both the mines and CALIFORNIA CAR BED the mill.—Barstow Printer-Review. Transferable luxurious, air-foam inner- spring unit converts your car to a • • • double bed. Stove Pipe Wells hotel in Death 1-3 Hours to Install. No Cutting Valley will be kept open all summer Now Available . . . CUSTOM CRUISING SEAT . . . Marvelous new dual front seats con- GEOLOGIC COLOR SLIDES verting at a iingertouch to single OR For study in class or hom« — Geologic double bed. reclining chairs, or chaise interpretations of National scenic won- ders in beautiful Natural Color! Send lounge. An emergency ambulance, ideal $1 TODAY for Trial offer— 3 MOUNTED for the tourist. Featured in Newsweek. 2" x 2" SLIDES postpaid. FREE 24-page June 21. P. 73. Write for Brochure "F." catalog. Dept. E-S. CALIFORNIA CAR BED COMPANY Heald-Robinson 2725 W. 54th St.. Los Angeles 43 AXminster 3-4700

JUNE, 1949 35 with its rock formations, Indian pueb- More Money for Navajo-Hopi . . . Bombing Range Opposed . . . los and Red Buttes to be seen from the Nearly $3,000,000 more than was The proposed purchase of land by highway. "But there is no turn-off, no allowed last year has been recommend- the government for a bombing range short detour which gets the people ed by the house appropriations com- is to be strongly opposed by New back into the country," Bursey said. mittee for the Navajo-Hopi Indian Mexico ranchers involved, it was voted He advocates a loop road from Manu- service. Total recommended appropri- unanimously at a special meeting in elito into the Valley of the Great ation, $8,000,000. At the same time advance of the 35th annual convention Ruins, to provide access to sites of the committee wrote into the interior of the New Mexico Cattle Growers many ruins in the area and circle back department money bill a prohibition association. Big reason for the oppo- to highway 66 in front of the red cliffs effective July 1 against use of any Na- sition is that in many instances prices at Lupton.—Gallup Independent. vajo-Hopi welfare funds for payment paid to dispossessed ranchers are said of social security benefits. Funds ap- to be too low. Much of the land in- proved for the Navajo-Hopi service volved is public domain, owned by the YOU CAM VISIT include $5,000,000 for industrial, government and leased to ranchers un- PALM SPRINGS agricultural, educational, health, wel- der the Taylor Grazing act. Govern- fare and employment services, $3,000,- ment appraisers are allowed to offer — through the pages of The Villager. 000 for construction work.—Gallup Pictures of life in the only a small amount for improvements famous desert resort — Independent. placed on the public domain, and a informative articles. small amount for the grazing privileges the rancher would lose.—Alamogordo Sample copy, 45c News. A Year, $3.50 Kit Carson Memorial . . . • • • VILLAGER MAGAZINE The New Mexico state legislature Indians Want Citizenship . . . 465 No. Palm Canyon has allocated $10,000 and designated Palm Springs, Calif. An Indian plan for his destiny as an the Kit Carson cemetery as a state American citizen instead of a govern- memorial park.—Taos El Crepusculo. ment ward has come out of the South- west Indian conference recently con- cluded at Phoenix, Arizona. Comment- COUNTY MAPS ing on the long-range program, Robert For Schools, Hunters, Fishermen, Public Offices, and Travelers L. Bennett, conference chairman, said: CALIF.: with Twnshp., Rng., Sec, Mines, Roads, Trails, Streams, Lakes, R. R., Schools, "This is not the end of the trail, but Rngr. Sta., Elev., Nat. Forest, Pwr. Lines, Canals, Boundaries, etc. the dawning of a new day in which the Sizes: 20x30 to 73x100 Inches Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Indian people will be just plain Ameri- Glenn, Kings, Lake, Marin, Mariposa, Merced, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Sacramento, San cans—free citizens with the blessings Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Ventura, Yolo, Yuba—each SI. of life, liberty and the pursuit of hap- Tuolumne, Santa Barbara, Plumas, Pla- Fresno, Kern, Riverside—$2.50 - $5. piness." The plan calls for the govern- cer, Modoc, Madera—-S1.50. Angeles—$1 and S3. Tulare, Tehama, Imperial—eac h $2. Los ment first to bring the Indian up to San Diego, Mendocino, Humboldt— Siskiyou—$2 and S4. comparable standards of the white $2.50. Inyo County, $15; E or WVi $".50; San man, then to return to tribal corpora- Trinity, Shasta, Mono, San Luis Obispo, Bernardino, 73x110, $15; No. or So. Vi tions full control of the Indian's land Monterey, Lassen—$3. $7.50; NW., SW., NE., or SEVi, $3.75. Also Oregon, Idaho and Washington County Maps and resources. States in which reserva- 2417 San Pablo Avenue — TEmplebar 2-3870 tions are located would participate in WORLD'S MINERALS OAKLAND 12, CALIFORNIA

HERE'S MORE HOUSE Pinon Incense... Bring the delightful fragrance . . . FOB YOUR MONEY of the Pinon Forest into your home or office. The burner is a miniature model of the outdoor baking ovens used by prehis- toric Indians, and still in use in New Mexico pueblos. When the little cones of genuine pinon pine are burned in this tiny oven the aroma is a breath of the outdoor Southwest. Kills kitchen and bathroom odors and removes the smell of HOMES of DISTINCTION stale tobacco. Pueblo Indians Built With Call for Estimates — Plans Available burn pinon for nasal and bron- Investigate now. Year 'round comfort, low chial ailments. heating costs. Cool in summer. Low cost maintenance. Build with "Precision Built" Burner and 15 cones....$1.50 concrete, pumice and red cinder blocks. Desert Burner and 54 cones... 2.70 cinder blocks for desert homes. Extra cones, 36 for 1.25 Postpaid to You TRANSIT MIXED CONCRETE CO. 3464 E. Foothill Blvd.. Pasadena 8, California DESERT CRAFTS SHOP SYcamore 3-8133 RYan 1-6329 ATlantic 2-5104 Palm Desert, California

36 THE DESERT MAGAZINE planning and execution of the transi- tion "because the Indian people want to become part of the state citizenry— not as problems but as self-sustaining members." Costs of such a program, it is be- lieved, could be recovered in offsets against tribal claims pending against the government. This is most contro- versial feature of the plan.—Gallup Independent. • • • They Died for Gold . . . Search for a legendary treasure with- in a one-month period recently cost the lives of two men in the rugged San Andres mountains of New Mexico. The search centers on the Dona Ana- Socorro county line about 40 miles northeast of Hatch. Mrs. Ova E. Noss of Hot Springs is directing the search. Mrs. Noss' former husband, M. E. (Doc) Noss, found the treasure cave, she claims. His story was that he found gold bars "stacked like cordwood." He was shot to death March 5 at Hatch. Accused is Charley Ryan of Alice, Texas, who worked with Noss. The other casualty was Curtis Noble, Jr., of Edgewood. He was killed in a plane crash March 4 while trying to deliver notes to the treasure hunters in a remote El Humbrillo canyon. A companion was seriously hurt. Fact and legend are inextricably mingled in the story. Mrs. Noss says her former husband found the treasure cave by accident while on a deer hunt in 1937. One of the bars brought out by Noss "showed yellow under the black when we cut it with a knife," said everybody she said. Mrs. Noss was not very clear on what happened to the bar after- wards. Nothing is known of what happened in the park was -friendly" to other bars, alleged jewels and dia- monds that Noss is supposed to have Mobilgas Dealers increase your vacation fun brought out of the cave before the shaft to it was sealed by a dynamite Mobilgas Special brings you outstanding gasoline value blast in an attempt to widen the en- trance. Whether you're looking knock at SLOW speed ... at Jim Hirst of the U. S. secret service for friendly bears or a MEDIUM speed ... and at FAST in Albuquerque has a bar he got from quiet picnic grounds, speed, get Improved Mobilgas Noss' belongings after the shooting. your Mobilgas Dealer Special. By far the finest premium Hirst says it "definitely is not gold."— can help you with travel gasoline we've ever made, Improved Gallup Independent. information . . . help your car with Mobilgas Special meets every Improved Mobilgas Special. demand for power, mileage and freedom from knock... anticipates THE MUSSELMAN 4M RANCH SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT —for the higher octane fuel require- Serving Utah's colorful San Juan-Colorado sweet engine music that gives you ments of cars now rolling off the River area power-packed mileage, without a production line. EXTENDED PACK TRIPS INTO THE WILD AND COLORFUL COLORADO RIVER COUNTRY Jeep escorted trips to— Monument Valley "Fill 'er up" at your Helpful Goose Necks of the San Juan Navajo Land Bridges National Monument Arches National Monument Dead Horse Point Mobilgas Dealer Indian Creek Canyon Mesa Verde Short Pack Trips — Ranch Accommodations GENERAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION ROSS S. MUSSELMAN Mobilgas Monticello, Utah SOCONY VACUUM

JUNE, 1 949 37 NEVADA will carry the gypsum from crushing NEW FOLDER READY NOW it's LUCERNE VALLEY, high desert Stock Brands to be Listed . . . plant in the quarry to processing plant community—center of interesting deposits, near mountains, lakes, fishing, winter sports. Here History and description of livestock at the mill. The extensive building pro- are all-year homesites, egg ranches, alfalfa . gram, including housing for personnel, fields with back drop of majestic peaks. WRITE brands, an ever-fascinating topic, is to today for new folder with picture-map, free. is expected to be completed, the plant ADDRESS Chamber of Commerce be the subject of a book contemplated LUCERNE VALLEY, San Bernardino Co., Calif. by Velma S. Truett, researcher now in in operation by year's end.—Winne- Ely delving into musty files of the mucca Humboldt Star. county recorder's office. Formerly of • • • UTAH PICTURE STONE Elko and now business manager for Archer Kills Huge Lion . . . the firm of Gehrett-Truett-Hall, book Two arrows from a bow in the hands publishers of Los Angeles, Miss Truett of Walter Kennison killed a huge 200- said the book will be the first of its pound mountain lion near Pioche, kind for the cattle industry. It will con- Eagle valley, recently. After the big cat tain each cattle and horse brand of had been treed by Bud Hines' famous which records can be found. These lion dogs, Kennison and Sheriff Fogli- records go back to 1873 in county ani were summoned from Pioche to do files, prior to that cattlemen announced two kinds of shooting—motion picture their brands through publication in and bow and arrow. newspapers. The book will deal only Kennison sank two arrows in the with Nevada.—Ely Record. animal's body, angry strokes of a lightning paw immediately broke off The Most Beautiful Stone on Earth both shafts before the cat jumped out — for — of the tree to make a final dash to Fireplace Veneer and Hearths New Desert Gypsum Plant . . . safety. He was treed again by the dogs, Conceded so by all who have seen a A new plant with capacity equal to made it to top of the tree where he Fireplace job done with this Stone. the company's plant at Plaster City, posed against the skyline briefly before Send dimensions for estimate. California, on the Colorado desert toppling to the ground. Before the lion $7.20 sq. ft. Veneer or Hearths. Some Super west of El Centra, is to be built by was shot by Kennison, Sheriff Fogliani Choice $14.40 sq. ft. Grade included in each climbed a nearby tree and got some fine Fireplace order $100.00 or over, for center- U. S. Gypsum company at Gerlach, pieces, etc. F.O.B. St. George, Utah. Nevada, on the Western Pacific 110 movie shots of the snarling cat and the Send for Price List and Descriptive Folder miles north of Reno. The new mill is bow and arrow kill.—Pioche Record. UTAH SCENIC STONE CORP. located close to large high-grade gyp- 22 E. 1st. N. St. St. George. Utah sum deposits in the mountains only five miles away. An aerial tramway E. MAYO & ASSOCIATES General Contractors Mountain and Desert Homes Riverside, California Telephone Riverside 8847 J-l 9870 Union Avenue Rt. 2. Box 525-B

for the desert SOUTHWEST will gladly ^ /zi and zi-tlmatzi. on the. fixintinq or uoux

38 THE DESERT MAGAZINE Too Many Deer, Reported . . . Navajo School Assured . . . A 10,000-volume library valued at Deer in the Morey district, north- Transfer of the Brigham City Bush- $50,000 and a collection of rocks and eastern Nye county, have increased to nell hospital—a 15-million-dollar war- minerals have been presented to Brig- such numbers that there is grave dan- time project—to the Bureau of Indian ham Young university at Provo, Utah, ger of the browse being entirely de- Affairs for use as a school is authorized by Dr. A. C. Boyle, formerly assistant pleted if over-grazing is not halted, in a bill signed by President Harry S. custodian of Dinosaur National Monu- according to Nils Nilson and Tony Truman. The Indian bureau plans to ment.—Vernal Express. Sutich, state fish and game commission convert the big hospital into a school biologists. It is believed many of the for Navajo children and a center for GOLDEN MESA DUDE RANCH deer are migratory, use this section for training and housing adult Indians for SUNNY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Beautiful Mojave desert location. winter range. Over-grazing of browse off-reservation employment. The new 75 miles north of L. A. Modern was observed over a large area. Sage- project is about one day's automobile accommodations and excellent food. Famous for spring wild brush, rabbitbrush, juniper, bitter drive from the Navajo Indian reserva- flowers. Finest horseback riding In Antelope Valley. Write for brush and even pinon show evidence tion, part of which lies in southeastern folder and rates. of heavy over-grazing. — Tonopah Utah.—Moab Times-Independent. WILSON A ROUTE, BOX 167 Times-Bonanza. LANCASTER, CALIFORNIA • • • UTAH Mastodon Pictograph Found Safe ... Funds for Utah Museum . . . 'EVERYTHING FOR THE HIKER" The famed pictograph of a masto- The state legislature has voted $30,- don, located on the canyon cliffs down 000 for operation and devolpment of SLEEPING BAGS the Colorado river four miles from the Utah Field House of Natural His- Moab, is not ruined after all. Following tory, the money to cover the next bi- AIR MATTRESSES several weeks of nation-wide publicity ennium, and the appropriation has SMALL TENTS which bemoaned the destruction of the been signed by Gov. J. Bracken Lee. and many other items artifact in a rockslide, it was discovered The funds will permit the Field House that the mastodon picture is intact just to continue its major program, accord- as it has been for unknown centuries. ing to G. E. Untermann, director, al- VAN DEGRIFT'S HIKE HUT Erroneous report that the pictograph though several special projects will 717 West Seventh Street had been obliterated was made in good have to be abandoned for lack of mon- LOS ANGELES 14. CALIFORNIA faith by Harry Reed, Moab, and Ralph ey.—Vernal Express. A. Badger, Salt Lake City, when they hiked down the river to photograph the drawing. Arriving at what they be- lieved to be the location, they found HAPPY SUMMER DAYS the face of the cliff had been shattered by what they thought was a dynamite For Your BOY or Girl . . . explosion. County and federal officials Completely Organized by Competent and Experienced Camp Directors and Counsellors visited the site and after careful investi- Remedial School Work Optional gation expressed the opinion that the cliff had fallen from natural causes. Brown Military Academy, Pacific Beach Everything was settled until Ace • GAMES Seventh Grade Through Jr. College Turner piloted two officers to scene of • SPORTS Southern California Military Academy, the rockslide. He had visited the picto- • CRAFTS Long Beach graph as a boy, doubted that the cliff Pre-Kindergarten Through Sixth Grade where the slide occurred was correct • SWIMMING location. To satisfy his own curiosity, The Brown School for Girls, Glendora he made another trio down the river, First -Through Ninth Grade searched along the cliffs for some dis- June 13th to September 16th 4 — WRITE OR CALL — tance. LOS ANGELES OFFICE MAdison 2551 643 So. Olive St., Los Angeles 14 He found the mastodon undisturbed, about a quarter of a mile upstream from the rockslide. — Moab Times- Independent. • • • River Veteran Plans Trip . . . This summer when he will be 80 years old, Bert Loper, who has spent 56 years on the Colorado river, plans another trip down the river. For this trip he plans to build a new boat, his old one having made three trips down the Yampa, trips through Split Moun- tain, Whirlpool and Desolation can- yons, three trips through Cataract can- THISTLE yon and a journey all the way from the Continental divide to Lake Mead. He has material for his boat, is starting RESTAURANT construction.—Moab Times-Independ- Silver Lake & Glendale Blvds., Los Angeles, California ent. Adolph Rempp NOrmandy 2-7470

JUNE, 1949 39 VACATION TIME ! Take these with you:— The "Gemlap", small portable Lapidary Unit. The Highland Park Trim Saw—8" blade. Cut and polish as you go. See what you find where you find it. We will mount on board with your motor. S-T GEM AND MINERAL SHOP 6924 Foothill Blvd. Tujunga, California

GORDON'S By LELANDE QUICK, Editor of The Lapidary Journal

GEM AND MINERAL SUPPLIES We have just witnessed the conclusion pier in their collecting than they were sev- and breaking up of another gem and mineral eral years ago when they wouldn't even tell show—one of the most pleasant and inter- one another where they got material. They "Dependable Lapidary Equipment" esting exhibits we have ever attended. The will even tell the out-of-stater where it Write for Our Price List crowds gather for days; new friends are comes from now. Time was when a Cali- made and old friendships fostered; one is fornian visiting Texas and asking for in- thrilled by new stones and refreshed at the formation was told that "the best agate was 1850 E. PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY sight of the old ones; educated by new to be found eight miles down the road after LONG BEACH 6, CALIFORNIA ideas. Then comes the announcement to turning right at the big cactus and proceed- "tear down." In two hours the hall is empty ing seven miles to the little tree," etc., etc. and the minerals and gems have been car- The Texan would then offer some fine plume ried away by the friends who have gone. agate for a dollar a pound and the Cali- These moments have always made us glum. fornian would argue that it was only fern We feel much as we do when we take down agate and offer ten cents a pound for it. the Christmas tree. Then the horse trading would begin and the Californian would return to El Toro and The particular convention we refer to was brag about the wonderful collecting field fahyu/mcd that of the Texas State Mineral society held he had found. at San Antonio. This society is an important factor in the growth of the lapidary move- Now the ranchers welcome the tourist, ment in America and we think you would show him where the material is, let him A National Magazine for the Gem Cuttei be glad to hear something about it. It is dif- gather all he wants and charge a small sum Collector and Silversmith ferent from the other societies. This society per pound for it. This scheme has resulted should not be confused with the Texas Min- in the uncovering of new fields and types, Some back issues available at 50c each. eral society, an older society located at for the average rancher knows nothing about Dallas. Nor should it be confused with the minerals, geology and gems and he is quite Subscription $2.00 per year (6 issues) recently organized gem and mineral societies willing to let experienced people prospect P. O. Box 1228 Hollywood 28. Calii. at Houston and San Antonio. his land for him. LELANDE QUICK. Editor and Manager It is a state-wide organization which meets The result of all this is that more good but once a year and is sparked by an irre- gem cutting material has been found and pressible spirit named J. J. Brown. Brown's mined this past year than in any previous EARLY CALIFORNIA job as state rehabilitation director takes him year anywhere. GOLD RUSH DAYS into every nook and anthill in the state sev- Authentic stories and experiences of a 49'er The sagenite agate offered for sale at San as told by his daughter, eral times a year and by dint of endless Antonio was the best we have ever seen. questioning he has uncovered every person Some of the very best from the Alpine area ANNIE KEELER WILLIAMS in that great empire who is even remotely Price — S1.5O is being gathered by A. J. Burgard and the interested in rocks. He visits them and in Woodward ranch abounds in the finest ma- S-T GEM AND MINERAL SHOP periodic news letters, sent to every one on terial. It resembles a bouquet of flowers for 6924 Foothill Blvd. Tnjunga, California the list, he tells what they do and what they it has sprays in all colors in the same ca- have. We do not know what those initials bochon. When someone wanted a name for "J. J." stand for; he is just J. J. to everyone. it we suggested "Texas bouquet agate." The THE ALTA GEM SANDER But we think one of them should stand for name was readily adopted and we believe it lumbo, for Brown is a big man and he has accurately describes this very beautiful ma- The All Purpose Sander and Polisher a memory better than any elephant we ever terial. It will be highly popular for a few FEATURES knew. years, as the average collection already con- Endless Belts. He has a wide reputation for seating 200 tains plenty of Oregon plume, Nipomo sa- Eliminates bumps. people at a banquet and then introducing genite, Montana moss, etc. A new geode Runs cool with them without ever making an error in any location has been discovered too in central minimum heat. name or referring to any list. Everyone in Texas. Resiliency with the society feels he knows every other cutter We noticed that the Texans cut most of low and high and collector in the state and when Brown tension. their cabochons' flat, as that enhances the lets it be known that the society is going to plumes. The best polishing is done on a Quick change have a meeting the folks fill up the vans from one belt to wood wheel covered with a layer of hard with their local rocks and set out for the felt, with a layer of old carpet between. another. greatest rockfest in the country, hold a Frame—aluminum Cerium oxide is the polishing agent. Our brief meeting and reelect the "Colonel" for informant said that a layer of sponge rubber casting. another year. Finish — Nassau under the felt made the polishing surface green. The meetings are so good that several too soft and that such a polishing wheel hundred people from other states bring made it difficult to get a mirror finish. The Price (less belts) bouquet type of agate comes in a flat rock S18.50 their stuff too and they are generous enough to let the outlanders enter in competition. that resembles a petrified oyster. The nodule 3 belts 120, 220, should be cut the long way so that three 320 Grit....$1.00 Four blue ribbons in the show just con- cluded went to Californians; two from the or four slabs, including the heels, are taken One Woven Polishing Belt $2.60 from each one. If they are sliced like bread Prices F.O.B. Pasadena, California Long Beach Mineral and Gem society and (California Purchasers Add Sales Tax) two'to members of the Los Angeles Lapi- the plumes are ruined. It is a good idea to Other Lapidary Equipment - Alta Trim Saw Unit dary society. Dealers come from all over the "spot" the agate on both sides before saw- New Improved Alta 18-inch power feed diamond ing it to see how the plumes are. slabbing saw. Alta arbor. New Alta Reversible land for they know they will find many new Drill and Hand Drill Presses. materials the Texans have uncovered during We had the pleasure of being one of the the previous year. The situation is different two speakers at a breakfast meeting of the ALTA INDUSTRIES from the Federation meetings in other parts Texas State Mineral society and we never Lapidary Equipment - Manufacture and Design of the country. The feeling is different and 91S Bast Washington Street addressed a more appreciative audience. PASADENA 6, CALIFORNIA it is indefinable. Our visit with these friendly folks will long This is all good, for the Texans are hap- be remembered.

40 THE DESERT MAGAZINE NEW CATALOG

Our new catalog of lapidary and Jewelers supplies now ready ior distribution. 6:0 PAGES—FULLY ILLUSTRATED

Lapidary equipment, Jewelers Supplies, Cut Gems. Send 25c for your copy today.

I. I. JEWELCRAFT ROCK SHOW, IMPERIAL VALLEY The Junior Rockhounds of Prescott con- 915 E. Washington Street vened April 22. Tommy Ryan gave a talk ATTRACTED 1400 VISITORS on the fossils of Death Valley. Two new Pasadena 6, California Attendance during the two-day Rock members were admitted to the club, Paul show the Imperial Valley Gem and Mineral Burkhardt and Wilson Dusho. The Rock- Visitors welcome. Open every day except society and Imperial Lapidary Guild held hounds have received a letter from the April 16-17, El Centro, was 1400. California Junior Gem and Mineral club of St. Paul, Sunday. Hours 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. was represented by 39 cities, and visitors Minnesota, asking for minerals from the were registered from 17 states. Members Prescott vicinity. The club is preparing a exhibited in new show cases built by the package hoping to start an exchange. club. Displays included crystals, cabochons, rough and polished material, silver work, geodes, Indian artifacts, concretions and rock oddities. L. G. Beleal demonstrated the use RUTILE RAINBOW DIAMONDS of lapidary equipment, junior members assisting. A fluorescent exhibit attracted RUTILE IS THE GEM OF THE HOUR — IT IS NOW A REALITY wide attention. After years of experiments, synthetic Rutile is now available in cut gems of unbe- • • • lievable beauty. This magnificent substance has been given the name of "TITANIA." LAST MINUTE NOTES ON THE BIG MINERAL CONVENTION "TITANIA" IS INDEED "QUEEN OF ALL GEMS" TITANIA LOOKS LIKE WHAT MOST PEOPLE THINK A DIAMOND SHOULD LOOK With the addition of six new societies, the LIKE. It is a warm, colorful, exciting, and desirable gem. This gem is far more beautiful California Federation will be represented by than the diamond. When viewed with proper lighting every facet "will reflect all the 49 societies at its annual convention, making colors of the spectrum. Because of this, one of our customers wrote to tell us how pleased it 49 for '49. Hotel Sacramento has been they were with their beautiful new RAINBOW DIAMOND. chosen as convention headquarters for the dates June 24-25-26. TITANIA MUST BE PROPERLY CUT A conducted bus tour of Sacramento has We are VERY PROUD of the FINE QUALITY GEMS produced by our cutters. been scheduled. Another feature will be a NO SALE IS FINAL unless you are perfectly satisfied with the cut gem you purchase free swapping area in a prominent location. from GREIGER'S. We will mount TITANIA GEMS in any type mounting and GUARANTEE Plans have also been completed for a gold A PERFECT JOB. panning contest. Contestants must dress in garb appropriate to the occasion. Ultra Vio- "THE STORY OF RUTILE RAINBOW DIAMONDS" let Products Inc. will exhibit its extensive is a pamphlet which is sent free upon request. It gives all the facts about this fluorescent mineral collection, reputed to be AMAZING NEW GEM. The colors range from almost colorless to a light canary diamond spectacular. color. Then there are occasional blue green gems and other odd colors for the connoisseur • • • of rarities. TITANIA GEMS are priced at — EARTH SCIENCE CONTESTS 3 $12.50 for small sizes of A carat or less HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED $15.00 per stone for gems of 85/100 carats to 1 1/5 carats First of a series of contests sponsored by $12.50 per carat for gems of 1 Vi carats to 3V4 carats the American Federation of Mineralogical $40.00 for any stone of 3V4 carats to 4 carats societies has been announced by President $10.00 per carat for any gem of 4 carats or larger Richard M. Pearl. The purpose of the con- Above prices are for round brilliant cut gems tests is to encourage further activity in the ENTIRE BOULES OF RUTILE ARE PRICED AT 75c PER CARAT earth sciences. SAWED SECTIONS ARE PRICED AT 85c TO $1.00 PER CARAT The contest is open to boys and girls in Add 20% Federal Tax to above prices. Residents of California also add the United States and Canada under twenty, 2 Vi % State Sales Tax who have not yet enrolled in a college or university. Original articles will be accepted BE THE FIRST IN YOUR COMMUNITY TO OWN ONE OF THESE on any subject connected with the earth sciences. BEAUTIFUL NEW RUTILE OR TITANIA RAINBOW DIAMONDS A $25 Savings Bond and fine mineral DEALERS' INQUIRIES SOLICITED specimen will be the first prize. Additional Everyone to whom you show this new gem will wish to purchase one of them. Send prizes will include specimens, equipment for details of our discount plan that will permit you to own one of these new gems at and books. Papers should be submitted be- no cost to you. You merely sell several to your friends and the discount you earn will fore October 15 to Prof. Richard M. Pearl, pay for yours. We can mount these in beautiful gold earrings, rings, brooches, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colo. pendants, etc. • • • OUR STORE WILL BE CLOSED TO ALL DROP-IN TRADE DURING THE COLORFUL '49ER NIGHT MONTHS OF JUNE, JULY AND AUGUST, 1949 THEME OF CLUB MEETING Mail, phone, and telegraphic orders will be promptly filled by our regular staff Early day relics—scales with weights of gold pieces, miners pans from large to a 1633 EAST WALNUT STREET small six-inch, horn spoon, gold nuggets valued from $25 down to 50 cents—were on PASADENA 4, CALIFORNIA. display at the April meeting of the Pacific PHONE. 5Y6-6423 Mineral society. Members enjoyed a color- ful evening attired in garb appropriate to OPEN ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY ONLY 8:30AM-5:30PM- "49er Night." Speaker of the evening, Wm. MONDAY THRU THURSDAY OPEN BY APPOINTMENT ONLY R. Harriman, discussed "Geology of Mother Lode."

JUNE, 1949 41 $6.00 BRINGS YOU 10 beautiful rock, mineral and crystal specimens. All from Colorado. Ask for list and prices of other fine specimens and ADVERTISING RATE cutting material. Jack The Rock Hound, P.O. 8c a Word . . . Minimum $1.00 Box 86, Carbondale, Colorado. GEM MflRT COAL—COAL—COAL! Here it is. Your oppor- tunity to get that long sought Missing Link in your collection. Approximately 1 lb. 0/2 lb. Anthracite—hard coal and Vi lb. Bituminous— GOOD CUTTING MATERIAL—Agates, jasper, TEXAS AGATES—Five pounds selected from soft coal) packed and shipped $1.00 plus post- Agatized Wood, etc. 5 lbs. 53.50; 10 sq. in. all locations, including plume, iris, fortifica- age. Natural state, not machine carved. Be the $2.00. Larger amounts at reduced rates. tion, scenic, opal assortment, etc., postpaid, first. Address Bob & Chuck, P.O. Box 6572, Nevada Turquoise, good color, 20 cents carat $5.00. Visit. 20 tons to select from at 25c Chicago, Illinois. up. Bough Turquoise to cut, SI.50 per oz. per pound. El Paso Rock and Lapidary Sup- and up. Cutting, polishing and silver work ply, 2401 Pittsburg St., El Paso, Texas. Phone FINE CUTTING TURQUOISE—Good quality, done. Free list cutting materials, minerals, 5-8721. $2.00: high grade, $3.00; extra quality, $4.00 specimens and supplies of all kinds. John L. to So.00 per ounce. E. P Woods, Farming- James, Box 379, Battle Mountain, Nevada. MONTANA MOSS AGATES in the rough for ton. New Mexico. gem cutting $1.50 per lb. plus postage. Also MINERAL SETS—24 Colorful Minerals (identi- Slabbed Agate 25c per sq. in. (Minimum order GEIGER COUNTERS $100 — MINERALIGHTS fied) in lxl compartments — Postage paid. $1.00). Elliott Gem Shop, 26 Jergins Arcade, $12.50. Fine mineral specimens at greatly re- $3.50. Prospector's Set of 50 Minerals (identi- Long Beach 2, California. duced prices. Iadore Gem Company, Weiser, Idaho. fied) in lxl compartments in cloth reinforced ATTENTION ROCK COLLECTORS. It will pay sturdy cartons. Postage paid $5.75. Elliott's you to visit the Ken-Dor Rock Roost. We buy, PECOS RIVER DIAMONDS. No collection com- Gem Shop, 26 Jergins Arcade, Long Beach 2, sell, or exchange mineral specimens. Visitors plete without these fine doubly terminated California. are always welcome. Ken-Dor Rock Roost, quartz crystals from New Mexico's storied 419 S. Franklin, Modesto, California. "River of Sin." All opaque, white to deep red. WHEN YOU TRAVEL Sixty-Six Highway, stop Also deep-red quartz crystal rosettes, crystal at Boodle's place, one mile west of Galena, NEW FIND—Obsidian round eggs, good colors, burrs, clusters, and "Siamese Twins." Send Kansas. Thousands of fine minerals, Indian 5 lbs., $3.50, prepaid. Selling silver shop at 10c for photograph showing types and prices, relics. Dealers Welcome. No mail orders, inventory price, take trailer house In pay- and credit slip for that amount. Robert Ny- please. Boodle Lane, Box 331, Galena, Kansas. ment. Reason, rheumatism. Located on High- meyer, 811 West Greene,. Carlsbad, New Mex. way 40. L. A. Hansen, 1505 E. Fourth St., MINERAL SPECIMENS, slabs or material by Reno, Nevada. PANAMINT VALLEY SPECIAL: Your choice the pound for cutting and polishing, RX Units, 3 for $1.00. Iron ore with copper stain, Anti- Felker Di-Met and Carborundum Saw Blades. mony, high grade. Onyx—water and wind Carborundum wheels Cerium Oxide. Mount- BEAUTIFUL ARIZONA Variegated Agate, large worn. Aragonite xls — fluorescent. Yellow ings. Approval selection sent upon request. slice, $1.50, three slices, $4.00. Satisfaction marble. Blue grey Quartz with iron Pyrite. You are welcome. A. L. Jarvis, Route 2, Box guaranteed. Chas. Hill, Cave Creek, Arizona. Last two will cut and polish beautifully. Ap- 350, Watsonville, California, on Salinas High- MINERALS, GEMS. COINS, Bills, Old Glass, proximate postage please. Satisfaction guaran- way. Books, Stamps, Fossils. Buttons, Dolls, Wea- teed. Morton Minerals & Milling, 1901 So. pons Miniatures. Indian Silver Rings and Muscatel, Rosemead, California. Bracelets. Also Mexico. Catalogue 5c. Cowboy BEAUTIFUL AUSTRALIAN Opal Cabs, 10x8— Lemley, Las Cruces, New Mexico. $3.00 to $7.20. 12x10—$4.80 to $9.00. Opal UNUSUAL GEMS — rough for cutting $1.20 and $2.00. Ace Lapi- THE DESERT RAT'S NEST: Micro-mounts, Gem dary, Box 67, Jamaica, New York. Very Hard to Secure Sand, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, Zircon, Topaz, Touramaline, Kunzite, Apatite, Garnet, Ept BRAZILIAN AGATE, Specimen pieces, also good Carats Price dote, Sheelite, Beryl, Chrysocolla, Chryso- for coloring, $1.00 a pound. Pieces run from beryl, Peridot, unmounted for shipping, all one to ten pounds each. Black Onyx Blanks, Alexandrite 6.53 $720.00 for $10.00. Plume, Saganite, Moss Agates, 16x12 and 14x12 size—$2.50 dozen. Mail orders Alexandrite 11.50 780.00 Tiger's Eye slices, mixed Agate slabs, Saga- filled promptly. JUCHEM BROTHERS, 315 W. Alexandrite 2.47 430.00 nite nodules, 10 lbs. cabinet specimens, all Fifth St., Los Angeles 13, California. different $10.00. Address P. O. Box 1123, or Hiddenite 1.11 60.00 see Kizers Filling Station, 101 & F Sts., OREGON PLUME AGATE, from noted Central Hiddenite 0.78 48.00 Oregon gem fields. Finest quality plumes, Eneinitas, California. $1.50 sq. in. Assorted, vari-colored types, $1.00 Russian Green Garnet 2.45 102.92 sq. in.; cabochon sized slabs, 50c each. Small Finest Star Ruby 8.10 1920.00 GEM VILLAGE — Gems, Materials, Antiques. rough chunks, $5.00 lb. Fair warning folks: Lots for sale. Write Frank Morse, Bayfield, this Plume is in strong demand and is going, Rare Green Precious Topaz.. 2.30 55.00 Colorado. going— Choicest Red Moss Agate $3.00 lb. Rare Blue Precious Topaz....70.27 168.64 Other gemmy types of Moss $1.25 lb. From Finest Cut Red Zircon 9.68 93.02 BEAUTIFUL BLUE copper Jewelry rock, 1 to 2 Plume vein, mixed moss and plume, vari- inch pieces. 1 lb., $1.10; 2 lbs., $2.00; postpaid. colored, 2 lbs. $3.00. Include postage on rough Rich Golden Sapphire 7.50 72.00 Four kinds gem rock same prices. San Jacinto Agate, please. Satisfaction guaranteed. C. G. Fine Blue-Green Trading Post, San Jacinto, California. Springer, 862 Roosevelt Ave., Bend, Oregon. Aquamarine 76.27 660.00 THE GEOLOGIST: This rock and mineral col- FIRE OPAL—We are now specializing in all Fine Pink Precious Topaz 43.50 720.00 lection is excellent for field use. The "Mother" grades of Australian cutting fire opal. We Finest Sphene 5.35 513.60 or country rock familiar to many types is stock this lovely opal in all price ranges. carefully picked. In reinforced cardboard box Also cutting material and specimens. No mail Many Other Gems . . . 50c to $5.00 9x12x1. 50 rocks and minerals $4.00 postage orders. West Coast Mineral Co., 1400 Haci- Orders up to $25.00 sent on approval. prepaid. Write for catalogue. Eckert Mineral enda Blvd. (State Highway 39), La Habra Research, Dept. D., 110 East Main St., Heights, California. Florence, Colorado. ERNEST MEIER YELLOWSTONE VALLEY Agate cabochons for FIFTY MINERAL SPECIMENS, 3/ -in. or over, sale. Write for price list. Agate slices 25c per P.O. Box 302 Church Street Annex boxed, identified, described, mounted4 . Post- inch. C. T. Royels, Box C, Brady, Montana. paid $4.00. Old Prospector, Box 21-B247, Dutch NEW YORK 8. NEW YORK Flat, California. FLUORESCENT TURITELLA and other type paperweights, $2.50 each. Exclusive pattern. 20 BEAUTIFUL Ozark Quartz, Agate, Jasper, Letter openers, $1.50 to $3.00. Book Ends, Onyx, Fossils and Quartz Crystal clusters sent $7.50 to $15.00. Satisfaction guaranteed or prepaid for $2.00. John Jennings, Eureka money refunded. Clay Ledbetter, Stone-Craft, Springs, Arkansas. 2126 McKenzie, Waco, Texas. BEFORE YOU Buy ANV LAPIDARY SOMETHING NEW! Beautiful two-tone light LUMP OF COAL and Chunk of Granite for your and dark green Serpentine, criss-crossed with rock collection, 25c. Marie L. Richie, Star yellow and brown veinlets and spots of •Route Box 54, Hemet, California. Magnesium and Calcium Carbonate. Hard, takes high polish. Makes beautiful cabochons. GOLD, COPPER AND LEAD ores from new Low price for this high quality cutting stone. field. One pound of each postpaid, $1.25. Other A large 25 lb. piece for $4.75, guaranteed to good specimens. Kenneth Mayhall, Belmont, please or money refunded. Sample mailed on Mississippi. request. Shipped collect in 25 lb. lots or over. Ralph Anhorn, Thermal, California. UTAH LABRADORITE clear facet quality CATALOG- stones, 10 generous pieces, Thomas Mt. Gem- MINERAL SPECIMENS mey Topaz, 15 specimens. Both for $1.00 plus postage. Ed Dowse, 329 Reed Ave, Salt Lake GEM MATERIALS 3Z pages packed-full of helpful Lapidary Inst- City, Utah. ructions...should be inevery rock nuis library. A huge selection of BEAUTIFUL MINERALS, ROCK HOUNDS! A large collection of the finest ffluAcompie^e informarion on the-famous j Arizona Quartz Crystals in singles and slabs. RARE MINERALS, COMMON MINERALS Hillquist line of Lapidary E^uipmenf" including] Slabs from 2x2 to 10x10 inches. Also cutting material and gold specimens. H. P. Williams, and GEM MATERIALS. Hillqu/srCOTibdcrUplAiir, Hillq,uisrl6"1?ocl< Saw, \ Quartzsite, Arizona. P. O. Box 15. HillquisrTrimSaw, Hjll

42 THE DESERT MAGAZINE GEM. MINERAL SHOW PLANNED AMONG THE FOR DE ANZA CELEBRATION POLISHED TURQUOISE SPECIMENS Completely polished lumps of very fine Riverside County Chamber of Mines specimen grade turquoise from several lo- •piaas to stage a Gem and'Tvlineral show calities over the world. ROCK HUNTERS during the De Anza Days celebration, June Write for Price List and Approval Selection 16-19, at Riverside, California. According to present arrangements the show will be HAROLD D. MARYOTT & CO. Object of the Dona Ana County Rock- held in the basement of the municipal audi- Miami. ArUona hound club's April trek was Bridal Chamber torium. Amateur collectors will be granted Silver mine. Failing to locate it they wound free space, dealers will be charged according up in the manganese mining area where to floor space needed. Contact Mrs. Retta E. manganese ores and specimens of pyrolu- Ewers, 3961 Third St., Riverside, California. Ring Mountings and Findings site were collected. One member exclaimed De Anza Days are celebrated each year in RING MOUNTINGS: Sterling Silver, finished, ready to set. Men's from $8.65 to $15.00 per over a pinkish crystalline material he found, memory of Juan Bautista De Anza, the first doz. Ladies from $5.65 to $13.80 per doz. "ruby silver I hope!" The material turned explorer reputed to have crossed the River- Ladies 10K Solid Gold $3 and $4 each. out to be common pink calcite. His re- side valley. NECK CHAINS: Sterling Silver $3.50 doz. 1/20 12K Gold Filled $4.50 doz. mark, "It's an awful let-down to find out • • • BEZEL OR GALLERY: Sterling Silver $2.00 that anything is calcite." "Resources of California" sound and oz. 1/20 10K Gold Filled $2.90 oz. CLEVICES: For Pendants, Gold Filled $1.25 • • • color film was presented by A. W. Doig at doz. For Ear Rings, GF or SS $1.20 doz. April meeting of the Searles Lake Gem the April meeting of the Sequoia Mineral PENDANT FRAMES W/CHAIN: Sterling or society. A trek to Parkfield for jasper was GF $12.00 doz. and Mineral society was held at the Trona EXTRA EASY FLOW SILVER SOLDER: 'A Club ballroom. Featured speaker of the eve- planned for April 24. oz. 50c; $1.90 per oz. ning, Marcia Winn Rittenhouse, author of • • • LOW KARAT GOLD SOLDER: 50c per DWT. JOINTS, CATCHES AND PINSTEMS: $1.00 Desert Bonanza, talked on "The Early His- Dr. George H. Otto was guest speaker at per dozen sets. tory of Randsburg." For the third year the March meeting of the Chicago Rocks CUFF LINKS: For large oval stone $8.25 Searles Lake Gem and Mineral society spon- and Mineral society. Otto lectured on "Life per dozen pairs. sored the San Bernardino County Mineral History of the Rarer Elements," and traced TIE CHAINS: For 12X16MM Stone $6.00 doz. exhibit at the National Orange show held the disintegration and deposition of rocks. JUMP RINGS: From 90c to $1.25 per gross. March 21 at San Bernardino. Eddie Reden- Miss Selma Jenner and Miss Gertrude Han- Ask for Price List No. 2 tor bach was in charge of arrangements and non exhibited separate displays of minerals, Additional Information display. geodes and fossils from their own private O. R. JUNKINS & SON • • • collections. Box 1295 Newport, Oregon New officers were elected at the San Ja- • • • ginto-Hemet Rockhounds' April meeting as Junior Rockhounds of Prescott, Arizona, follows: U. G. Tallent, president; Sally accompanied by ten adults, enjoyed a field Ramsey, vice president; Ethel Harwell, secre- trip to Hell's Canyon March 26. The group uorescent tary-treasurer — re-elected; T. V. Harwell, returned with specimens of agate, opal and field trip chairman; V. F. Clark and Edna fossils. new beauty in collections Nichols, directors; L. F. Harvey, representa- • • • with MINERALIGHT tive to Federation. An installation pot-luck Donations at the March meeting of the dinner was augmented with colored slides of El Paso Rockhounds made possible the pur- field trips of the past year. chase of a mimeograph machine for the • • • Society's monthly publication "The Voice." Mr. and Mrs. F. B. McShan, Needles, Another event of the evening was Mrs. California, are moving their gem shop from Miller's account of a treasure hunt in the the west city limits to a new building erected Soledad canyon. April field trip was to the on Highway 66. Texas Fluor Spar mines and another trek • • • was scheduled—to Boyd ranch east of Mc- Make field trips profitable — find Accepting the invitation of Ernest R. Nary, Texas, to look for Indian pictographs, new deposits in the field — see Dickie, general manager of Bagdad Copper pottery shards and fossils. added beauty in your mineral col- lection under Ultra Violet light . . . corporation, Yavapai Gem and Mineral so- these are a few of the uses of ciety members trekked to Bagdad for their MINERALIGHT. Write for Bulle- April outing. tin No. D-200 — See your Minera- • • • GEIGER COUNTERS ! ! light dealer. April meeting program of the Long Beach Ultra-sensitive Model DG-2, detects all Mineralogical society was a projection of radioactive minerals. Meter, Phones, Count agate slides prepared by Wm. Pitts of the Indicator. Sensational Low Cost. Guaran- PRODUCTS, Inc. Golden Gate museum. A March field trip teed. Write: THE DETECTRON COMPANY to Cady mountains yielded calcite crystals, S205 Santa Monica Blrt.. los »nwlts 27. Cilil and another outing was planned for April Dept.D. 5637 Cahuenga. N. Hollywood. Cal. 30—location undecided. A May field trip in search of fire opal in the Lead Pipe springs area was scheduled, and June was left open for the Sacramento convention. Plans were made for regular meeting exhibits by mem- bers. ?fene /lie 76e $6{U • • • Raymond M. Addison, recognized nation- tyouvc Seen &Jk*t? 'Ponf ally and internationally as a cameo carver, Petrified Wood, Moss Agate, Chrysocolla lectured on "Cameo Carving, and Jewelry Making" at the March meeting of the Sacra- Turquoise, Jade and Jasper Jewelry mento Mineral society. March activities in- cluded a field trip to Grizzly Peak, Berkeley HAND MADE IN STERLING SILVER hills, for blue agate nodules; and a visit to n Bracelets, Rings, Necklaces, Earrings the University of California mineral collec- tion in Bacon Hall, as the guests of Dr. and Brooches Adolph Pabst, associate professor of miner- SPECIALLY SELECTED STONES WITH alogy. CHOICE COLORS AND PICTURES Write for Folder With Prices Rock Cutting - Rings Mounted to Order ROCK and GEM HOBBY SHOP FELIX BRADDI, Owner ELLIOTT'S GEM SHOP Stones Ground and Polished 26 lergens Arcade LONG BEACH 2. CALIF. Uranium Ore Tested - Western Jewelry Entrance Subway at Ocean and Pine Highway 60, Box. 54 Ph. Moreno 338 Open 10 A. M. to 10 P. M. Daily SUNNYMEAD, CALIFORNIA

JUNE, 1949 43 GEM VILLAGE ROCK SHOW Over 1400 persons attended the Monterey Bay Mineral society show held in February. Moj&ae Sbed&d Qe*n SCHEDULED FOR JULY Special emphasis was placed on Monterey The Gem Village Rock Club, Bayfield, county jade, rhodonite and fossils. Other and Mineral Slt&p. . . . Colorado, has announced that the Gem exhibits of mineral specimens including Village Rock show will be held July 4—one fluorescents attracted wide attention. "Thun- On Highway 91, 11 Miles East of Barstow day packed with everything interesting for der", the sculpture of Wyoming jade by One Mile West of Yermo, California the hobbiest. Display space will be free for Donal Hord of San Diego, was on display. E. W. Shaw, P. O. Box 363, Yermo, Calif. either exhibiting or selling. After the show an auction will be held and refreshments • • • served. The tenth anniversary of the Mineralogi- cal Society of Utah was celebrated with a • • • dinner and program April 1. Old time square Fourth annual banquet and election of dancing rounded out the evening's enter- RX-47 officers of the Minnesota Mineral club was tainment. held at the Curtis hotel March 12. Color • • • A Complete films of the Grand Teton national park and Mineral transparencies, as illustrated by Lapidary Shop Jackson Hole country with comments by Harry Hazlitt at the March meeting of the in One Dr. Clayton G. Rudd were highlights of the Mineralogical Society of Arizona, proved Compact evening's entertainment. Elected as club offi- to be something more than a new experience Machine cers were: Arthur Anderson, president; Mrs. in color on a screen or a new slant to the The most practical Wm. Cooper, vice president; Mrs. Lydia lapidary art. The study of minerals and ever devised for Heumann, secretary; Percy A. Brown, treas- gem cutting and urer; Wm. Bingham, program director; Mil- rocks in thin sections under the microscope polishing. has been practiced for years. The use of ton Fehling, tour director; Paul Sandell, thicker slices for direct projection is more Send for Circular A publicity director. recent, and indicates possibilities for the • • • study of intricate structures especially in the Price. Less Motor and Saw Blade Judge Blanchard, president; Mable microcrystalline varieties of the quartz fam- $157.50 F.O.B. O'Neill, vice president; Mrs. F. Purdy, secre- ily minerals. Pinacle Peak rose quartz local- tary-treasurer; and Harold Godby, field ity was the objective of the April field trip. RX LABORATORY scout, are the new officers of the Kern • • • 1355 S. Chico Street EL MONTE. CALIF. County Mineral society. Election was held Members of the Yakima Rock and Min- at a pot-luck supper in March. The society's eral club were entertained by Mrs. Claire March field trip was to Boron where speci- Hillyer at the March meeting. Mrs. Hillyer mens of palm fiber were found. presented a travelog in color. Proposal of • • • bi-monthly field trips was voted on, and a The Tucson Gem and Mineral society is three day trek into south central Oregon now affiliated with the Arizona State mu- scheduled for July 4. seum in Tucson. • • • "Strike It Rich I!" • • • The South Bay Lapidary society, serving In a parcel of 100 zircons imported from the communities of Manhattan Beach, Her- you'll exclaim Australia by Geo. W. Chambers, Encinitas, mosa Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, California, came an enormous crystal be- Hawthorne, Torrance, and Lomita, Califor- When you join the . . . lieved to be the largest and most perfect nia, has started its second year. Newly elect- zircon crystal known. The crystal weighs ed officers are: Gary Britt, president; Mrs. 3 lbs. 8% ozs. Three of its faces measure Jane Hagar, vice president; Mrs. Alice Be- UNITED PROSPECTORS 2Vi inches while another is 3V4 inches. The mis, secretary; Bob Fredericks, treasurer. crystal is not of gem quality. Meetings are held the first Tuesday of each An organization to further the cause of • • • month at Clark Stadium, Hermosa Beach. the beginner as well as the experienced Utah is considering the possible formation A cordial invitation to attend is extended to prospector. of all the mineral societies in the state into anyone interested in lapidary work. a federation such as exists in other states. • • • Join the 20th Century '49ers and actually • • • Santa Monica Gemological society elect- pan gold to your heart's content on the Newly elected officers of the Pomona ed the following officers at the April meet- newly acquired 1400 acre camping and Valley Mineral club at the April meeting ing: C. E. Hamilton, president; Vern Ca- placer grounds in the mother lode country. are: F. H. Smith, president; Pauline Saylor, dieux, first vice president; Prof. W. R. B. vice president; Alice Cohoon, secretary; Osterholt, second vice president; Edward L. A few Charter memberships are still W. B. Cohoon, treasurer; J. A. Kryder, di- Oatman, treasurer; Mrs. Doris Baur, cor- open at $5.00. The regular membership is rector. The evening's entertainment was fur- responding secretary; Mrs. Estelle Tesh, $1.00. "Panning Gold" booklets at 25c per nished by Nancy Taylor, who showed col- recording secretary. Annual dinner and in- copy can be had by addressing Head- ored slides of western national parks, and stallation of officers was scheduled for May quarters. Mrs. Emma Kryder, who related a field trip at the Santa Monica Windemere hotel. to Topaz mountain. Mrs. Kryder brought • • • JOIN TODAY topaz specimens. At the April meeting of the Mineralogical UNITED PROSPECTORS • • • Society of Southern California Charles L. J. D. Churchill brought a small laboratory Heald showed a series of kodachrome slides Box 13 with him to the April meeting of the Texas of national parks and monuments of the DUTCH FLAT, CALIFORNIA Mineral society, and demonstrated the test- Southwest. While a traveling photographer ing of minerals. Tests were run on cinnabar, for the United Geophysical company, Heald iron, manganese, calcite, copper. Blow-pipe acquired the knack of glamorizing natural and test-tube experiments were made. subjects. He has established a business of supplying slides of geological subjects to schools, museums and other educational in- stitutions. A field trip to Lead Pipe springs area to collect geodes and fire opal was HILLQUIST"^ LAPIDARY ARBOI planned for May. A BIG ARBOR FOR FAST, RUGGED USE. L

USES GRINDING WHEELS UP TO 2"xl2" __ Silversmith - Stones Cut and Polished YOU could grind up the Rock of Gibraltar on THIS lapidary Custom Made Mountings arbor. IT'S BIG ... IT'S QUIET AND SMOOTH with large rubber mounted silent sealed ball bearings. IT'S RUGGED with heavy cast iron base. There's plenty of room for hands POP MENARD'S HOBBY SHOP and splash pan. Aluminum guards adjust as wheels wear Hobby Supplies - Scale Models down. Deflectors vaporize water spray. Cast aluminum belt Moss Agate and Opal Collection on Display guard. 6" 4-step pulley. No other lapidary arbor can compare with it! Write for FREE Catalog For Repairs Phone 6423 PI545 WEST 49«i ST.| 378 S. Indian Ave. Palm Springs. Calif. Visitors Welcome ' /VATWHS lARCESr M£MVfACrt/flE/lS Of f/NF G£M-Cl/rmC F

44 THE DESERT MAGAZINE OPERATION OF GEIGER SIXTH ANNUAL DISPLAY BY GREETINGS FRIENDS ! COUNTER DEMONSTRATED . . . SAN FERNANDO GEM CLUB Come and see us in our new location. Fred Burr demonstrated the operation of San Fernando Valley Mineral & Gem Fine Mineral Specimens •—• Fine Cutting the Geiger counter at the April meeting of society members are busy making final plans Material. Chuck and Vi at Chuck Gordon's the Mineralogical Society of Arizona. Field for their 6th annual show, to be held June Town and Country Market. trip of the month was to Pinacle ' peak 11—from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. and June 12— where rose quartz was collected. A joint 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., at North Hollywood Re- 350 So. Fairfax Ave. Los Angeles 36. Calii. field trip with the Tucson Gem and Mineral creation center, corner Tujunga Ave. and REMEMBER! We Guarantee Satisfaction. society was arranged for May 1, area to be Chandler Blvd., North Hollywood, Califor- visited—Mineral hill in Pinal county. An- nia. Displays will consist of minerals, gems, nual Jamboree was scheduled for May 29 jewelry, fossils, fluorescents, and demon- at South Mt. Park, and will be the final stration of lapidary art. Admission free. CHOICE CABOCHON MATERIAL meeting for this season. • • • April 1 meeting of the Mineralogical So- Fine crystalled minerals. • • • Mineralight and fluorescent minerals. The Yachats Gem and Mineral club of ciety of Arizona was Junior night. Maryana Oregon planned to display several cases of Weber discussed "My Minerals" and ex- MINERALS UNLIMITED beach material at the Newport Crab festival plained her own system of cataloging ma- 1724 University Ave.. Berkeley 3. Calii. terial, and Carrie McLeod followed with a "Selections personal as your own" May 6-7-8. A March field trip yielded sev- talk on metal magnesium. Bill McLeod eral black agates and blue cloud agates. spoke on copper. • • • • • • "History of San Francisco's water supply" Gem Collectors club, Seattle, Washington, was the subject of Dr. Green's talk at the met at the home of Mrs. Alice Reed April ROCK COLLECTORS — ATTENTION ! April meeting of Northern California Min- I am covering California, Oregon and eral society. A trip to San Jose local mineral 12. Magazine articles on handicraft in cop- Washington this summer with the finest per and aluminum were discussed. "History variety of rock and mineral specimens in the exhibit replaced the monthly field trip. of Filigree Jewelry" was outlined by Mrs. West, for sale, in the Trailer Rock Store. Send • • • your address—I Will notify when in your dis- Roberson who displayed a filigree bracelet. trict. The national convention at Sacramento Regular meeting of the Junior Rock- A hot platter plaque made of petrified wood will be a success because I will be there. hounds of Prescott was held April 1. Johnny trimmed with copper, and two miniature THE ROCKOLOGIST (Chuckawalla Slim) Yount was winner of the pebble puppies prospector's picks, one of jade, and one of 1152 So. Second Avenue, Arcadia, California quiz. Committees were appointed to select agate were among other articles exhibited. club pins and a club emblem. • • • • • • Dr. Edward Henderson of the National DIAMOND BLADES Vic Gunderson of the Los Angeles Lapi- museum, gave an illustrated lecture on me- dary society explained the art of faceting at teorites at the April meeting of the Minera- the March meeting of the Hollywood Lapi- logical Society of the District of Columbia. Heavy-Duty Super- Standard dary society. A faceting demonstration was Tony Rapp and Major Taylor were sched- Super-Chgd. Charge Charged uled to entertain the society at the May 6" $ 8.70 $ 7.70 $ 6.75 performed by Dick Mitchell. Plans were 8" 12.75 9.90 8.95 made for a Dutch auction to be held in meeting with their observations of Japan 10" 15.75 12.95 11.95 April. Two-day field trip to the Ludlow area and Mexico. 12" 21.80 18.95 15.75 14" 32.30 24.95 21.85 March 26-7 was enhanced by perfect 16" 36.40 27.85 24.75 weather, nice specimens plume agate ob- 20" 66.30 44.20 33.95 tained. 24" 79.30 55.90 43.75 30" 127.25 106.95 Arbor • • • SVHTHETIC RUTILE 36" 192.20 159.95 Size? William Turnbull of Chicago Natural MORE FLASH THAN DIAMOND F.O.B. Redlands, Tax in Calif. History museum described the work of the Send 3c stamp for paleontologist at the April meeting of Chi- Round Brilliant Cut Gems Lapidary Catalogue. cago Rocks and Mineral society. His dis- Under 1 carat $12.50 per stone LAPIDARY ENG., cussion included prospecting for fossils, One to 3 carat 12.50 per carat COVItfGTON their removal and ultimate use in the mu- REDLANDS. CALIF. seum. Another feature of .the evening was Over 3 carats 10.00 per carat two exhibits—a cabochon display by G. C. Rough Material Anderson, and S. Norvell's display of iron 3 to 15 carats $1.25 per carat ores. 15 to 30 carats 1.00 per carat 'Pine Opal - THexcc* • • • Full Boules 75 per carat "Fossils", topic of the March meeting of J. C. FILER & SON 10 small pieces—average W-W $1.00 the Georgia Mineral society by A. C. Mun- LOMA LINDA. CALIFORNIA — Hwy. 99 5 larger—average V*"-l" 1.00 yan, was illustrated by projection slides and 6 still larger—1"-2" or over.... 2.00 specimens. Another attraction of the eve- 1 small vial clear iire opal ! 1.50 ning was F. E. Gleason's offer to check 50 rough mixed Mexican Opals, in- specimens for radioactivity with his newly cluding honey, cherry, etc.. aver- purchased Geiger-Mueller counter. The age 1" 1.50 society was recipient of a collection of URANIUM Maine minerals donated by students of the Detecting .Instruments, Guaranteed Geiger ALL 5 LOTS POSTPAID—$6.00 Counters, Mineralights, Mine Locators. geology department of the University of Although these are sold chiefly as cabinet Maine, and a proposal was made by the specimens and have plenty of fire, many council at the April meeting to establish a MINERAL PROSPECTING EQUIP. CO. of them will work up into new cabochons. mineral museum displaying minerals from 2200 N. Reese Place, Burbank, Calii. all sections of the country. CHarleston 8-4838 Money Cheerfully Refunded if Not Entirely Satisfactory • • • Please Send Latest Folder At the March meeting of the East Bay Polished Mexican Opals and other gem Mineral society, Dr. David Houston gave stone cabochons on approval to responsible members facts concerning coloring in min- | Name I persons. erals. Miss Joan Morris displayed a variety of crystal specimens, minerals, petrified | Street I DR. RALPH E. MUELLER wood and fossils. At the March 17 meeting 3701 Valentine Road Kansas City 2. Mo. guest speaker Kenneth C. Peer spoke on I Town State 1 "Spectographic Analysis of Minerals," and L. J. Hostetter exhibited jewelry, minerals, mineral sets, polished slabs and equipment. sa aMth e rock hounds March 6 was the occasion of a field trip to ffr^r 7ZtlFDY /C / ' y Coyote point in search of jasper, and an- *J*i9l fire tCG ' 9 • about the HILLQUIST other trek was scheduled for April 10 to DRUM SANDER and POLISHER. Patented locking method cinches Ano Nuevo island to look for fossils, beach abrasive cloth or polisher in a jiffy. Cast Aluminum. Cork cushion. stones, banded flint and shells. This area is Perfectly balanced. Works right into those hard-to-finish corners. an old Indian burial ground. It is also be- For arbor, drill press or lathe. 1/2", 5/8", or 3/4" arbor. Write lieved there is buried treasure in the sand for FREE catalog. LAPIDARY EQUIPMENT CO., INC., 1545 W. 49th dunes. Street, Seattle 7, Washington.

JUNE, 1949 45 %u5t fsetureen

By RANDALL HENDERSON

THE DESERT I have never been able to tell the work as section hands. The other 5,000 were distributed difference between flowers and weeds. The dictionary in a wide range of occupations—the beet fields, citrus doesn't help. Webster defines a weed as any plant groves, army posts, grain fields, and as domestic workers. that is "useless or troublesome." "The Navajo are careful conscientious workers," Miss According to that definition, it would appear that most Bowler reports. "They are rather slow in occupations new of the cacti species should be regarded as weeds. But no to them, and when they do piece work as in picking person who has seen the beavertail cactus or the hedgehog oranges, their wages are not high, but they learn readily in blossom would ever give it so ignoble a term as weed. and are especially eager to acquire mechanical skills." And if you will carry a pocket microscope as I did On the Navajo reservation there are approximately on a recent trip through Joshua tree national monument, 11,000 men and 2,000 women available for seasonal or you will be reluctant to call any of the desert plants weeds. permanent jobs in the Southwest. Many of them cannot It really wasn't necessary to carry a microscope to find speak English, but when they are employed in groups beauty in the Monument on this early May trip. The there generally is at least one among them who can serve ground was carpeted so thickly with tiny mimulus and as interpreter. gilia and eriophyllum it was almost impossible to walk The Indian Service works in cooperation with the state without trampling them. And indigo bush and the golden employment agencies, and Miss Bowler's desk is in the desert senna and scores of other more conspicuous shrubs California State Employment office in Los Angeles. When were blazing with color. an order comes in for Indian workers they are recruited But I carried the microscope because I have learned on the reservation by young Indians with school training. that there is a great world of beauty on the desert never The progress being made by the employment division is seen by the naked eye. There are numerous little plants heartening. Sending bundles to Indians is commendable with blossoms so drab and inconspicuous they are never charity—but employers who will provide jobs for these given a second glance. You and I normally would call workers from the reservation are making a much more them "weeds" of the desert. important contribution to the problem of over-crowded But one of those little pocket magnifying lenses such as Indian lands. every prospector and rockhound carries in his kit, reveals Miss Bowler is going about her job with missionary forms and colors of fantastic brilliance. It almost appears zeal—and it is a very important job. as if Nature had tried to compensate in splendor what these pigmy blossoms lack in size. When you have the opportunity, just focus your lens I hope the water-witches will give me a little recess. on the tiny blossom of the lowly burroweed, and you'll Since the subject was opened for discussion in the Letters know what I mean. page three months ago I have read so many opinions about this mysterious art of locating underground water with a green forked stick I am in a daze. Much has been written about the plight of the desert And the more I read the less I know about it. Indians, especially the Navajo. But not all the news from I wish some of the scientific men, now that they have the reservation is bad. I learned of a more cheerful aspect solved the problem of atomic power, would turn their of the Indian problem recently in talking with Alida attention to the unsolved mysteries of the human body. Bowler, Indian Service placement officer in California. As far as I am concerned, most of the so-called water Miss Bowler represents a special division organized by dowsers are honest men, and when they tell me some the Window Rock agency to find off-reservation jobs for unseen force nearly twists that green stick out of their the Navajos and Hopis. She and her associates have gotten hands I believe them. But all this mail has convinced me rather surprising results. Last year nearly 12,000 Indians of one thing—that those humans who are endowed with were given off-reservation employment in the Southwestern whatever it takes to make the stick go through strange states. About 7,000 of them were hired by the Santa Fe, gyrations do not know any more about the reasons than Union Pacific and Denver & Rio Grande railroads for I do. To me it remains a complete mystery.

46 THE DESERT MAGAZINE fight for growth and prosperity and the struggle to find ways to use every drop of available water permeates throughout. Stanford University Press, Stanford, Cali- fornia. 1948, 265 pps., photographs, index. $4.00.

NEW PLACE NAMES BOOK PUBLISHED BY UNIVERSITY Probably there are more than 150,000 place names in California, not including STORY OF NEW MEXICO TOLD RIVER WATER DIVERTED TO street names in the towns and cities. It would require several volumes and a tre- IN BLACK-ROBED JUSTICE EQUALIZE NATURE'S SUPPLY mendous work of research and compilation Black-Robed Justice written by Professor California's water supply is limited. It is to assemble them all in book form. Arie Poldervaart, now with the University a thirsty land! And because nature was Although Erwin G. Gudde's California of New Mexico College of Law, fills a sig- more generous in some sections than in Place Names, recently published by the Uni- nificant role in preserving the record of New others the Central Valley Project came into versity of California Press, lacks much of Mexico territorial history. Author Polder- being. being the final and complete answer, it vaart had the opportunity to make this study California is divided roughly into two represents the most exhaustive effort yet while law librarian of the Supreme Court in parts. South of the Tehachapi range of made in that direction. Santa Fe for ten years. mountains lies southern California which The author is quite frank: "This book is This story of New Mexico judicial history has grave water problems. North of the not a gazetteer. It does not contain all the centers around the lives and activities of Tehachapi lie the great interior valleys of names in the state, nor does it give the lati- the 17 chief justices from the American the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. The tude and longitude, or the statistics of the occupation in 1846 to Statehood in 1912 rivers meet in the Delta region near Stock- places . . . the most interesting and im- when officers meting out sentence needed a ton and continue to the sea through the portant names have been selected for indi- "rugged constitution, steady nerves and a Golden Gate. Simply stated, the Central vidual treatment, and most of the frequently mind receptive to crude language and the Valley Project is a north-to-south water ex- recurring names have been treated in a sum- rough customs of the frontier." Rough in change in these valleys. Water of the San mary way." language, ready always with a rugged pair Joaquin is diverted to the dry acres of the Desert people who would learn more of fists, the judges of the territorial supreme southern valley, and Sacramento river water about the naming of the local canyons and courts, even when coming direct from the shifted to the central San Joaquin valley to mountains and waterholes in their immedi- East, proved, in most cases, equal to the replace the water diverted south. ate areas, will be disappointed in this vol- situation. ume. Nevertheless, the book contains 431 The project is the product of many years pages of accurate and informative data on Thirty-five-year-old Judge Joab Houghton, of careful water planning and study, and as the more important place names in a state with no legal training and little experience, far as construction goes, is past the halfway where the Indian, the Mexican and the gold- clothed his sentences in vigorous western mark. It is a public project under Federal hunter all have had an important part in the garb. He was the first territorial chief judge. construction. determination of geographical names. As was the custom in those days, judges, in Robert De Roos tells the story in The The book was prepared by Professor keeping with the tradition, imbibed heavily Thirsty Land. He diseusses the issues and Gudde with the aid of an advisory commit- of the contents of the bottle. Upon hearing policies and problems. One of the major tee appointed by President Sproul of the complaints on Judge Kirby Benedict's fre- issues concerns the question of state or fed- university. The University Press deserves quent binges, Lincoln, then president of the eral control. credit for an exceptionally fine printing United States, retorted: "He knows more achievement. law drunk than all the others on the New The Thirsty Land is an enlightening ac- Mexico fence when sober. I shall not disturb count of a subject of tremendous import- University of California Press, 1949, 431 him." ance. While attention is focused on the pps. Pronunciation guide. $10.00. One of the most interesting and novel Central Valley Project and the valleys con- This book may be ordered from cases which ever went through the courts of nected with it, an awareness of California's Desert Crafts Shop, Palm Desert, California New Mexico during that period, is the well- known controversy which arose between the two Indian pueblos of Laguna and Acoma over the ownership of an oil painting of San Jose. Many of the state's greatest legal contro- versies are discussed in the light of social and economic conditions of the time. En- TWO THRILLING BIOGRAPHIES livened with anecdotes, the book is delight- ful reading as well as authentic history. University of New Mexico Press, Albu- By Stanley Vestm querque, New Mexico. 1948. 222 pps., in- dex, biblio.'$3.50. Two significant western characters, both explorers, both individual- ists, both greatly misrepresented in many written accounts of their lives WESTERN WONDERLAND GUIDE and exploits, are made to live again in two books by STANLEY FOR YEAR 'ROUND VACATIONS VESTAL, author, historian, biographer. Both these men made their People who travel like to know where to mark on the Old West, contributed to its development. We recommend: go; where to stay; where to play; where to eat. And to those who plan a vacation trek to the western wonderland—Doorway to JIM BRIDGER, Mountain Man Good Living by James Lewis is a handy little book to have along. Lewis has arranged the information in KIT CARSON alphabetical order—by state, then by cities and towns. The states include Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Postpaid to You — "Jim Bridger" $3.50 Washington. Information is necessarily brief. Postpaid to You — "Kit Carson" 2.50 But Doorway to Good Living presents in picture and story as complete a coverage as (California Buyers Add 2 Vz Percent Sales Tax) space will allow. Lewis based his selection of dining and lodging establishments on three factors—cleanliness, courtesy, cuisine. DESERT CRAFT SHOP Palm Desert, California Lewis Publicity Service, Box 1060, Bev- erly Hills, Calif. First printing 1946, copy- right '47-'48. 334 pps. $2.00.

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