195109 DesertMagazine 1951 September

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Photograph by Clint BryantSONG OF THE DANCING SANDS

By TED GOODW I NSan Jacinto, CaliforniaWe are the folk that are wild and free.Who travel these vast waste lands.We race and leap like boys in glee.For we are the desert sands.There is for us no thirst nor death;We wander where we will.The winds at worst, with scorching breathCan neither hurt nor kill.We romp all night and we waltz all dayWhen the winds strike up their bands.We were made for a life of endless play,Fo r we are the truant sands.The canyons come at once to life,The winds begin their tunes;With strident sounds the sage is rifeFor a party in the dunes.When all the earth ishushed in sleep.And nature folds her hands,Like stealthy sprites, abroad wecreep,The whirling ghosts of sands.Then lightly back again we trip,Fo r thewinds mayleave with dawn,And we eagerly wait till they bid us skip;Bu t the moment they call, we're gone.

WRITTEN ON A DESERT SKYBy GASTON BURRIDGEDowney, CaliforniaYo u can not hold the splendor of this dawnfor long.Its sunset soon will trace in graying memory.N o one can tie a single knot in Time's quickthongTo firm his hold against a dark eternity.So pain is only worthy of its little whileAnd sorrow's flint should never slit the deep

Cool values of the heart. Each shadow flungacross the dialIs blackened out beneath night's dreamlesssleep!

By TANYA SOUTHDefeat? I know it net!Nor ever will!All that I ever soughtMy soul to fillWill yet be mine! And more!Countlessbeyond!I face an opening doorAs I respondTo uplift, good and hope and allthings brightAn opening door to Love andTruth and Light.

By ELIZABETH LEE SARGENTOntario, CaliforniaAbove those far fantastic peaks,Heaven's panorama gleams,And in that cloud-world in the skyLies beauty beyond our dreams.Adding to the breathless wonderA lone cactus holds the eye.Strangely tall, with arms upliftedEtched in black against the sky.

CUP OF BEAUTYBy CONSTANCE WALKERLos Angeles, CaliforniaAlong a twilight path of dusty-rose,Lethean peace flows over day's alarmAs blue encircling mountains blend and closeTo form a cup of beauty filled with charm.In cosmic silences the only soundIs muffled wings returning to their nest;The calm of desert sand, like hallowedground,Now gives thewanderer a place of rest.The thornbush barb, steel sage and JoshuatreeHold back the prying world with pointed art;A living wall around tranquillityTo shield and satisfy a thirsty heart.Here one may drink from solitude andspaceElixir poured from God's enduring grace.

IN SAGEBRUSH-LANDBy E. A. BRININSTOOLLos Angeles, CaliforniaIn S agebrush-Land men call each other"friend,"There ain't no petty spite behind yourback!No underhanded tricks to throw youdown,No scandal-mongers campin' on yourtrack!Out here men ain't a-reachin' out a handTo grab the dollars that come sailin'past;Ou t in God's Open, men are big of heart,And life in Sagebrush-Land ain't livedso fast!

In Sagebrush-land there ain't no "uppercrust,"No high-hat aristocracy can thrive;One man's as good as any other man,(If he behaves himself while he'salive!)There ain't no blue-blood heifers in ourherd,We're jest plain folks, and live incommon ways;We call a spade a spade in Sagebrush-Land,No beatin' 'round the bush with tauntor praise!In Sagebrush-Land there's room to goand come,Our boundaries ain't set by walls ofbrick!There ain't a sign that says, "Keep Offthe Grass"!You're free to all the posies you canpick!Out here, the folks are true and good andkind.

They talk in ways a man can under-stand!They neighbor in a friendly way, you bet!There ain't no class or creed inSagebrush-Land!DESERT MAGAZINE


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D E S E R T C A L E N D A RAugust 30-September 1Iron CountyFair, Cedar City, Utah.August 31-September 3Labor DayRodeo, Sponsored by Williams Rec-reational Association, W illiams, Ari-zona.August 31-September 3 Santa FeFiesta, Santa Fe, New Mexico.September 1-3Sierra Club's annualMt. Whitney ascent from Outpostcamp.September 1-3Lion Club Stampedeand '49er show, Fallon, Nevada.September 1-3Desert Peaks sectionof Sierra Club will climb Mt. Rus-sell.September 1-3Rock Climbing sec-tion of Sierra Club will climb Mt.Williamson.September 1-3Twenty-third AnnualNevada Rodeo, Winnemucca, Ne-vada. Various entertainment be-side usual riding, roping, bulldoging.September 1-3 Annual Old TimeMining Camp Celebration, Rands-burg, California. Contests, dances,sports, exhibits and tours planned.September 1-4Grand Canyon StateTravelers Associat ion Meeting,Phoenix, Arizona.September 2-3Sheriff's Posse Races,Prescott, Arizona.September 5-7 Eleventh AnnualSouthern Utah Livestock Show,climaxing FFA and 4-H club activi-ties, Cedar City, Utah.September 5-9 Annual Farmer 'sFair of Riverside County, Hemet,California, SanJacinto-Hemet Rock-hounds annual Gem and Mineralsexhibit.September 6-9Antelope Valley Fairand Alfalfa Festival, with enlargedJunior Division, Lancaster, Cali-fornia.September 7-8Tooele County Fair,Tooele, Utah.September 8 Sixth Annual DickWick Hall Barbecue and Jamboree,Club Grounds, Salome, Arizona.September 8-9Quarter Horse Races,sponsored by Yavapai County FairAssociation, Prescott, Arizona.September 14-16 Annual ColfaxCounty Fair and Rodeo, Fair-grounds, Springer, New Mexico.September 15-23 Utah State Fair.Salt Lake City, Utah.September 15-16 Annual MexicanIndependence Day C e l e b r a t i o n ,Phoenix, Arizona.September 15-16 Spanish Fiesta,(Fiestas Patrias), Glendale, Ari-zona.

September 21-23 Yavapai CountyFair, School Day, September 21;Horse Show, September 22; Pres-cott, Arizona.September 26-28Roosevelt CountyFair and Rodeo, Portales, NewMexico.September 29-October 7Champion-ship Rodeo and New Mexico State

Fair , Albuquerque, New Mexico.250 head of stock for rodeo, $47,-000 in premiums for livestock show.

Volume 14 SEPTEMBER. 1951 Number 11COVER DESERT TRAGEDY. Photograph by Mel Lewis of

Salt Lake City.POETRY Sunset, and other poems . . . .CALENDAR September events on the desert .PHOTOGRAPHS Pictures cf the Month

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EXPLORATION We Camped on KaiparowitsBy RANDALL HENDERSON 5

QUIZ A test of your desert knowledge 10LOST GOLD Lost Treasure of the Irish Cavalier

By L. JAMES RASMUSSEN 12FIELD TRIP Agate Trcil in Nevada

By HAROLD WEIGHT 15MINING Current news of desert mines 20INDIANS Do Ah Shon Goes to the Trading Post

By SANDY HASSELL 21FICTION Hard Rods Shorty of Death Valley 22LETTERS Comment from Desert's Readers 23CONTEST Prizes for personal experiences . 23NEWS From Here and There on the desert 25HOBBY Gems and Minerals 31LAPIDARY Amateur Gem Cutter, by LELANDE QUICK . . 36BOOKS Reviews of Southwestern literature 37COMMENT J u s t B e t w e e n Y o u a n d M e , b y t h e E d i t o r . . . 3 8CLOSE-UPS A b o u t t h o s e w h o w r i t e f orD e s e r t 3 9D E A T H V A L L E Y A n n o u n c e m e n t of a n n u a l e n c a m p m e n t . . . 3 9

The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Press, Inc., Palm Desert,California. Re-entered as second class matter July 17, 1948, at the post office at Palm Desert,California, under the Act of March 3. 1879. Title registered No. 358865 in U. S. Patent Office,and contents copyrighted 1951 by the Desert Press, Inc. Permission to reproduce contentsmust be secured from the editor in writing.RANDALL HENDERSON, Edito r BESS STACY, Business ManagerMARTIN MORAN, Circulat ion Manager E. H. VAN NOSTRAND, Adverti s ingLos Angeles Office (Adve rtising Only): 2635 Adelbert Ave., Phone NOrmandy 3-1509Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledgedunless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility fordamage or loss of manuscripts or photographs although due care will be exercised. Sub-scribers should send notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding issue.SUIiSCRIPTION BATESOne Year $3.30 Two Years Sfi.flOCanadian Subscr iptions 25c Extra, Fore ign 50c E x tr aSubscriptions to Army Personnel Outside U. S. A. Must Be Mailed in Conformity WithP . O. D. Order No.19687Address Correspondence to Desert Magazine, Palm Desert, California

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H o r n e d T o a d . . .This picture, taken in Arizona byCapt. K. J. Shepard of Tucson, wasawarded first place in Desert Maga-zine's July photo contest. It w as takenwith a Graphic View camera, Ektarf. 7.7 lens, on Super XX film, 1/10second at f. 45.B r e a d w i n n e r . . .

Ben Pope, Dinuba, California, wasawarded second prize for this pictureof a weaver taken in Monument Val-ley, Utah. It was taken with a 4x5Graphic View camera on Super Panfilm, 1/25 second at f. 16.

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French toast for breakfast. Kelly Cam eron learned his cooking in a freight cabooseon the Southern Pacific and learned it well.

W e C a m p e d o n K a i p a r o w i t s . .A thousand years ago a tribe of little brown men lived in crudestone and mud cliff houses on the top of the 7000-foot KaiparowitsPlateau in southern Utah. No one knows when they left, or why. Butin an effort to find out more about these prehistoric people and theirway of life, a little party of explorers camped on the plateau in Maythis yea r. Here is the story of what they found u p there.

By RANDALL HENDERSONMap by Nor ton Allen

N MAY this year, eight of usclimbed the steep trail which zig-zags up the northeast escarpmentof the 7000-foot Kaiparowits plateauin southwestern Utah to learn what wecould about the prehistoric Moquipeople who dwelt on this isolated skyisland a thousand years ago.As nearly as the archeologists candetermine, the Moquis occupied thisjuniper and pinyon covered tablelandbetween 900 and 1200 A.D . Thenthey leftfor reasons which remaina mystery even to the scientists.There is no road to the top of Kai-parow its. The re are only a few places

where even a horseman can make theascent. In winter the plateau often iscovered by snow, and in summer thewater supply is limited to an occasionalsmall spring. And that is probably thereason why no white man has everestablished a permanent home upthere. Each summer the Mormon cat-tlemen of the Escalante country drivetheir herds up the steep trail for sum-mer range, but for the rest of the yearKaiparowits remains unoccupied ex-cept by deer and other wildlife.Perhaps it was because so little isknown about this remote region, andthe aborigines who once lived there,

that Wayne and Lucile Hiser of To-ledo, Ohio, chose this place for theirIndian country expedition of 1951.The Hisers have a manufacturingbusiness in Toledo. They make elec-tric motors for shipment all over theworld. They like to travel and takepictures, and having once, several yearsago, gotten a glimpse of the fascinatingIndian country of northern Arizonaand southern Utah, they now make twotrips annually to this region. Whenthey return home they show their Ko-dachrome movies to the service clubsand civic groups in Toledoand con-tribute the proceeds to charitable pur-poses, mainly to the Navajo Indians.It is a bit of philanthropy which bringspleasure to many people, and muchneeded clothing and schooling for someof the Navajo children.

This year the Hisers invited me tobecome a member of their exploringparty. They also invited Dr. Jesse Jen-nings, professor of anthropology at theUniversity of Utah, whose department

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T o B R Y C E C A N Y O N "U. S HWY. . \

i W

1ESCALANTE

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is making a state-wide survey of ancient The expedition was arranged by brother-in-law, Kelly Cam eron, accom-Indian sites in Utah , and who wel- Allen C ameron and his son-in-law, panied us as leaders,corned this oppo rtunity to extend his Burne tt Hen dryx, of the Cam eron For a guide we had Edson Alvey,research to the Kaiparo wits. Hotel in Panguitch. Burnett and his mem ber of a pioneer Mo rmon familyRim of Kaiparow its Plateau. The Moqui houses were found in the erosion cavernsand recesses in sandstone walls such as shown here.

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in Escalante. Edson teaches scienceand shop in the Escalante schools,with archeology as his hobb y. Formany years he has spent his vacationmonths riding herd for the cattlemenin that region, and making the mostof his opportunity to search out thehabitations of the ancients who oncedwelt there. He has a collection ofover 1200 arrow and spear pointspicked up in this part of Utah.Our packer was Delane Griffin, an-other clean-cut Mormon boy who isa rider for Gail Bailey, cattleman fromwhom we obtained stock and equip-ment for the party. Delane hopes be-fore many months to get a GI loanwhich will set him up in the ranchingbusiness for himself.

Our party met at the Cameron HotelMay 17, and the following day mo-tored over the Escalante Mountainspast the entrances of Bryce CanyonNational Park and down to the townof Escalante. From there we followeda fairly good trail across the Escalantedesert, taking approximately the routeof the historic Hole-in-the-Rock expe-dition of Mormon settlers in 1879.{Desert Magazine, May '47. )

Thirty-five miles from Escalante wecamped for the night at Batty's Passat the base of the 3000-foot escarp-ment which is the northeast face ofKaiparowits Plateau. This was the endof our motor trip, and soon after wemade camp Delane Griffin rode in withthe saddle and pack horses which wereto take us to the top.The sky was overcast, and I dug atrench around my bedroll that night.Like most desert people, I rather en-joy the patter of rain on the waterprooftarp which covers me, but I do notfancy a stream of cold water seeping

Above are two of the cliff houses,the one at the top probably beinga granary, sealed well against rainand rodents. A flagstone slab wasused to close the doorwav.

To the left, Dr. Jesse Jennings ofthe University of Utah examineswhat appears to be a small stor-age cyst. The w alls of the roomin which this family lived, underthis same overhang, had fallendown but loose stones indicatedwhere they had been.

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in around the edges of my sleeping bag.Actually, it rained only a few drops.Next morning the stock had to berounded up and it was near noon be-fore the packs were cinched tight forthe steep climb up the escarpment.For the first hour and a half weascended gradually over a bajadabroken with ridges and gullies. Thenat 2:30 we paused in a little grove ofjuniper trees at the base of the cliffto check our saddle cinches. The sand-stone wall rose almost vertically aboveus .But there was a trail to the topatrail which zigged and zagged withhairpin turns. We climbed it on foot,leaving the horses to paw their way tothe top as best they could. The I n-dians had discovered this route manycenturies ago, and had daubed redpictographs on a rock face along theway. Weathering had left them onlyfaintly visible.We camped that night on the sum-mit, in a pinyon-fringed little covewhere there was a spring for stockwater. We dipped our own water fromthree small tinajas in a sandstone dikewhich crossed the arroyo.It was an old cowboys' camptheground strewn with tin cans. The cow-boy of the western range has manysterling attributes but good camphousekeeping is seldom one of them.Our hosts from Toledo soon correctedthat. Wayne dug a garbage pit whileLucile, with some assistance from therest of us, gathered up the debris.Then followed four days of ridingand exploring. We were up soon afterdaybreak and following a seven o'clockbreakfast the horses were saddled andEdson led the wayseldom on estab-lished trailsin quest of Moqui houses.They were sunny days and althoughthe mid-day temperature generallyapproached 90 degrees the dry atmos-phere of the 7000-foot desert plateauwas exhilarating.The geography books define a pla-teau as a high level tableland. ButKaiparowits is not exactly that kindof a platea u. Its top surface is slashedby numerous arroyos. Domes andsmall-scale ridges and buttes outcropin every direction. They rise abovethe pinyon and juniper forest, whichAboveDude Wrang lers, left toright, Delane Griffin, packer; KellyCam eron and Burnett Hendryx,leaders; Edson A hey, guide.

Below We followed trails usedby the cattlemen to drive theirherds to the top of Kaiparowitsfor summer range.D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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Wayn e and Lucile Hiser on the rim of K aiparowitsalways with their cameras at hand. Here the party used Moqui finger-holds chiseled in therocks a thousand years ago.covers much of the top of the plateau,like temples and fortresses of cream-colored Wahweep sandstone. Tens ofthousands of years of rain and windhave scooped out great caverns in thesidewalls of these buttesand it wasin these shallow caves, protected bythe overhanging rock above, that theaborigines built their homes of stoneand mud.Edson previously had visited someof the cliff dwellings in this area, andhe knew the best places to look forthem.The Moquis were thrifty house-builders. Their ideal site was beneatha low-roofed overhang where it wasnecessary only to lay up rocks for anouter wall. The back of the cavernsupplied one wall of the dwelling, andthe ceiling was the roof of the cave.There were plenty of small stones andboulders for the masonry, and thesewere laid with a mo rtar of mu d. Fewof the dwellings remained intact aftera thousand years of weathering, for in

most instances the front walls wereexposed to the weather, and mud mor-tar with a heavy content of sand doesnot long resist rain.Every cliff dweller had his granaryfor the storage of the corn and squashraised around the springs, and pinyonnuts and seeds gathered from the land-scape. It was important that thesestorage vaults be proof against weatherand rodents, and they were built inthe most sheltered cranny of the cave.As a consequence we found manygranaries practically intact.At a few places on the plateau arethe ruins of pueblo structuresa typeof housing adopted by the prehistoricIndians as they abandoned their cliffdwellings.Kaiparowits was given its name byJohn Wesley Powell. It is a U:e wordvariously translated, but most of theversions have approximately the mean-ing, "Big Mountain's Little Brother."Moqui merely is a term appliedlocally to the prehistoric Indian habi-

tations in this area. To a scientist theIndians who dwelt on Kaiparowitswere of the Anasazi culture, whichembraced both the early basketmakerand pueblo periods of Indian occupa-tion in the general region of the FourCorners .Until the 1890s the Hopi Indianswere known as Moquis. The NavajoIndians called them Mogis, meaning"monkey," expressive of the contemptin which the Hopis were held by theirNavajo neighbors. Later the Spaniardscalled them Moquis or Mokis. Thisterm was used until 1895 when theSmithsonian Institution adopted thename Hopi, a contraction of Hopitu,meaning "peaceful people."The fact that Utah people in thisvicinity refer to the Kaiparowits cliffdwellings as Moqui houses carries noproof that the ancestors of the presentHopi Indians actually resided in thesecaverns. No one knows for certainwho they were or where they wentwhen they abandoned the plateau.

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We found much broken pottery andmany well-made arrow points. Onesmall earthen bowl of rather crudeworkmanship was found intact. Themarkings on the potsherds indicatedthat these Indians had trading inter-course with other tribes.After riding from eight to twelve

gk The Desert Quiz often brings pleasant mem -U l l I Z o r ' e s t o t n o s e w n ' i a v c * i a c ' t n e s 0 0 - ' f r t u n e^ M l f c i0 travel the desert country, for in these

questions are references to many place names, to minerals, botanical plantsand to people who now or in the past have dwelt in the desert Southwest.A score of 12 to 14 is fair, from 15 to 17 is good, a nd 18 or over issuperior. The answers are on page 30.1The horned toad's best natural defense is itsSharp teethSpeed ... ._. Sha rp hor ns . Colo ration2The root of a plant often used by Navajo and other Indians as asubstitute for soap isC reosote bush Yucca CactusJuniper3Juan Bautista de Anza, bringing the first colony of white settlers toCalifornia, spent Christmas in 1775 in The Gila Valley Yum aValley . Coyote Canyo n ...... San Gabriel4 Mo rmo n Lake is in Utah ._ . Arizona Nevada NewMexico5 California's Telescope Peak is in the Pana min t Range SlateM oun tain s .... San Be rna rdin o Mo unta ins _.___. Chu ckaw allaMountains6 Azu rite is a mine ral of Iron ___. Zinc .. ... Tin Cop per7 An Indian w ickiup isA type of Ind ian baske t ___ . A p rimitivedwelling ....... Cru de net for catchin g fish W eapon for killinggame8From the highest point on the Charleston mountains the largest townwithin your range of vision is Phoe nix . Salt La ke CityLas Vegas Reno9The setting of the book Death Comes to the Archbishop is in Arizon a California..... . New Mexico Utah

10When the Navajo Indians build a winter hogan in the mountains itgenerally is made ofLogs Ado be bricks . SheepskinsBirch bark11 Adolph F. Bandelier was a Trapper . Indian ScoutArch eolog ist Fo rm er govern or of New Mex ico.... ___.12Ramon Hubbell, before his death, was known in the Indian: countryas Superintendent of the Navajo reservation . ArtistTribal Chief Indian trader13Indian reservation lands adjoining Palm Springs, California, belongto descendants of the ancien tP ahute Indians ... . Cocopahs . .Chemehuevis Cahuillas14 Blo ssom s of the da tur a pla nt are W hite _______. Blue . Ye l-

low _. Purp le15Chief mineral product of the mines at Ajo, Arizona, isCopperSilver- .... Gold Tungsten16 Volc anic glass is a term sometim es applied toPerlite___ . O b-sidian . Chalcedon y Opal17The bird most often used by the Hopi Indians in their ceremonials istheT urkey Canyon wren Raven Eagle18Traveling from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Cedar City, Utah, you wouldnot cross any par t of California Arizona .... Neva da .. .Utah ....19T impanogos Cave is in New Mexico Utah . Cali-fornia . Arizona20Malpais, a Spanish term in common use in the Southwest, means

Deep canyon . An unbrok en colt Hurrican e Bad-lands

miles and spending many hours climb-ing among the rocks we returned toour camp before dusk each evening toenjoy a delicious dinner cooked byKelly Ca me ron. Kelly is a passengerconductor on the Southern Pacific di-vision between Yuma and Tucson, andhad arranged his vacation dates to bewith us on this trip. He has been arailroad man for many years andlearned his cooking art in a caboosein the days when he rode the freights.Either Kelly had considerable aptitudefor the duties of cook in the caboose,or he had a very exacting train crewto servefor he did learn the jobwell.For breakfast every morning Kellymade hotcackesthe kind of flapjacksI like. They were the blonde varietynot those dark brunette affairs turnedout by camp cooks who do not knowhow to regulate the fire for pancakebatter. The only member of the partywho failed to appreciate those cakeswas Spunk, the herd dog which fol-lowed Delane around like his shadow.We caught Spunk burying his quota ofhotcakes under a bush one morning.It is a dull camp when members of theparty do not find something to razz thecook aboutand Kelly was remindedof Spunk's distaste for his hotcakesmany times during the days that fol-lowed.

We spent the evening hours sittingaround the campfire talking over theday's discoveries, and trying to visual-ize the daily activities of these prehis-toric people. Dr. Jennings, who iseditor of American Antiquity, quar-terly publication of the Society ofAmerican Archeology, contr ibutedmuch to our knowledge of the ancientinhabitants of this plateau.While it was impossible to reach de-cisive conclusions in so limited a time,Dr. Jennings pictured the ancient Mo-qui dweller as perhaps a little over fivefeet in heightthe women a little lessliving on the fruits of a limited agri-culture, and on the nuts, seeds andwildlife found here. Pinyon nuts of

course were one of the principal itemsof food.If the Indians remained on top of theplateau during the winter monthsandthis is problematicalthey used deerskins and possibly some garments ofwoven fibre for warmth. Dr. Jenningsdated the occupation as extending fromlate modified Basketmaker throughearly Developmental Pueblo.One evening the discussion turnedto glyphsthe petroglyphs incised inthe rocks, and the pictographs paintedon the rocks with colored pigment.

We found very little evidence of eithertype.While it is easy to identify some of

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The Mo quis often selected sites for their homes w hich are almost ina ccessible today.the figures which the ancient artists puton the walls, the archeologists havenever agreed as to their significancewhy they were placed there and whattheir meaning may have been to thetribesmen of that period. Members ofour little campfire group were unani-mous as to one conclusionwe agreedthat the art work of the ancients is noless baffling than are some of the so-called modernistic creations which cer-tain contemporary artists are exhibit-ing today.Botanically, the Kaiparowits ex-hibited specimens of both the Transi-tional and Alpine zones of life. Thehighest elevation we reached was 7410,and the plant life included Sego lily,the state flower of Utah, Indian paintbrush, and great fields of purple lupinejust coming into blossom. In additionto the forest of pinyon pine and juniperthere were aspen, manzanita, serviceberries, ephedra, scrub oak, sage andone of the prickly pear species of cac-tus.While there were many deer trackson the plateau, we saw only one ofthese animalsa doe. Other wildlife

was sparse one rattlesnake, a fewjackrabbits, rodents and lizards. Ap-parently the water supply here is toolimited for most species of game ani-mals.At the edge of the plateau we werelooking down on the great EscalanteRiver basin with its scores of tribu-taries. Everett Ruess, 20-year-oldpoet-artist-explorer went into this re-gion alone with his two burros in 1934to explore the Moqui houses andnever returned. His diary and lettershave since then been published byDesert Magazine in On Desert Trailswith Everett Ruess.Edson and Delane were amongthose who spent many days searchingfor the missing boy. One evening atthe campfire they told in detail theirtheories to explain his mysterious dis-appearance. Like many other residentsof the Escalante region, they believehe met with foul play.Use of ropes was necessary for se-curity purposes in scaling some of thecliffs where the ancient dwellings werelocated. In one place we found wherethe M oquis had cut finger and toe holds

in the sandstone face to reach theirhome-in-the-cavern.In one area we found the groundcovered with chips of flint and ob-sidian. For some reason the Indianshad used this spot as a factory site forthe making of their points. The stoneused in making their weapons had tobe brought up on the plateau from dis-tant deposits, for there was no rockon the Kaiparowits suitable for thispurpose. Edson picked up a beautifulturquoise beadobviously brought infrom elsewhere.At the end of four dayswhich wasthe length of our scheduled camp onthe plateau, the three little tinajaswhere we dipped out domestic waterwere nearly empty.Perhaps it was lack of water whicheventually oaused the little brown menof the Moqui tribe to abandon theirhomes on top of the plateau. I am sureit was a matter of great urgency to themfor with an ample supply of foodand water this truly would be an idealhideaway for peaceful tribesmen whopreferred to live by toil rather than byplunder.

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Lost T reasure ofthe Irish C ava lier

The quest of Spanish adventurers for gold in the New World didnot end with Corona do. Other fortune-hunters ca m e after him, withvarying degr ees of succ ess. One of them was an adopted son of Spainand here is the legend of his fate in the land of the Papago Indians.By L. JAMES RASMUSSENIllustrations by Ted Littlefield

" / think I shall remain here," DonPadriac told his companion.OCKED somewhere in the shift-ing sands of the Arizona desertlies the secret of one of history'sstrangest mysteries. For almost 200years the arid wastes of the Altar des-ert have concealed an entire Spanishmission together with what remains ofthe home of one of Arizona's mostpicturesque figures. The location ofthis ancient settlement has been thesubject of discussion by historians andthe motivating force behind an in-definite number of treasure quests.Though the site of the gold-trimmedmission and spacious hacienda haseluded every searcher, one thing issure no shifting s and s, no d esertwinds, no creeping cactus will ever

erase the name of Patrick O'Donohue,its creator, from the pages of history.The story of Patrick O'Donohue isa tale filled with the glory of the redand gold banner of Old Spain, thehardships and thrills of exploration andthe poignancy of tragedy. Here was aman whose flashing sword and flamingred hair had thrilled the Old Worldand in turn enchanted the New. O'-Donohue lived during the latter halfof the 18th century when the colorfulcavaliers, under the flag of his majestythe King of Spain, began pushing theirway northward from Mexico. This

was the age of exploration. The con-quering kings of Europe were eagerto claim their share in ary new landthat promised wealth and colonial pos-sibilities. Spain was especially eagerto stake her claim, for she had thrusther hand deep into the coffers ofMexico and now found hen royal palmscraping the bottoms of Mexican goldchests. Thus it was necessary that anew source of income be found . . .and found soon.To remedy the situation a sovereigndecree was issued and the village ofLoreto in Mexico was designated as abase of operations for gold explora-tion.It was the lure of adventure andgold in the New World that broughtPatrick O'Donohue to Mexico. O'-Donohue was an Irish warrior who hadfought so well on the battlefields ofEurope against the English that theKing of Spain adopted him as a coun-tryman. This was not the Irishman'sinitial appearance in the New Worldfor he had once been commandanteon a dreaded frontier in the Valley ofSanta Cruz; a place where the razor-One night the Apaches attackedthe hacienda. That which couldnot be destroyed by blows wasleveled by flame.

edged arrows of the Apaches madeliving a nightmare.As a reward for services renderedat the frontier the King had recalledO'Donohue to Spain and conferredupon him the singular honor of aSpanish name. Thereafter the sham-rock cavalier was known to the RoyalCourt and to the world as "Don Pad-riac Odonoju." In addition to thechange of name and as a token befit-ting a Don the king presented Odonojuwith a grant of 12 leagues in the "Landof Papagueria." This grant of 12leagues wrought changes in both his-tory and Spain's adopted son.

It was with glad heart that DonPadriac Odonoju entered the Spanishoutpost of Loreto in Old Mexico. Onceagain he had journeyed half wayaround the globe and this time to takepossession of his sprawling grant.There was another glad heart inLoreto that day too. It belonged tothe commander of a cavalier garrisonwho had just heard of Don Padriac'spresence in the village. Upon theshoulders of this worried commanderrested the heavy responsibility of fill-ing a certain empty treasury in Madridwith gold.

"Bueno," thought the commander,"this Odonoju is the very man weneed to lead an expedition in search


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for gold. After all, did not his grantlie in the very heart of the treacher-ous land they were to explore? Be-sides, why in the good Lord's namewould a man want to take possessionof a grant that lay in the middle of adesert anyway?"Hurriedly the cavalier commanderquestioned his aides as to the feasi-bility of Don Padriac leading the goldsearch."5 / , Si , Odonoju was the only cava-lier in Loreto who was capable ofleading such a very important expedi-tion."The commander summoned a mes-senger and ordered him to bring Odon-oju to headquarters for a conference.That night Don Patrick and the officermade a bargain. Odonoju would leada band of explorers into the land ofPapagueria in exchange for provisionsin setting up his grant if he found thegrant favorable for occupation.

Within a short t ime preparationswere completed and the party left thevillage and began to thread its wayinto the veiled land of the Indians.This wild region of jagged mountainsand d rifting desert was; nam ed afterthe Papago Indians who inhabited itand is known today as northern So-nora, in Mexico, and the southwesternportion of Arizona.Along the treacherous Camino delDiablo they traveled. Over broken-backed mountains and down dark can-yons until eventually they reached thegrant of Don Padriac. In the swelter-ing sun it lay before them. Sixty thou-sand acres of sand, cactus and lurkingdeath ."Ah, Don Padriac," cried one ofOdonoju's lieutenants as his eyesscanned the country about them, "onlya madman would remain here! Staywith us and when we return to Loretoyou can sell this hellish grant to somebabbling magistrate. Por Dios! Thoseleaders of injustice will buy anythingthat has the scent of power in it."" N o , " answered Odonoju, "I thinkI shall remain here. Look about you,amigo. This is a land of solitude, andsolitude is something I have alwaysdesired . It is only fitting that I nam emy grant, 'The Garden of Solitude' ."So against the wishes of the cava-liers, Don Padriac Odonoju with ahandful of servants, a sack of beans,some cheese and a barrel of wine de-cided to stay and cultivate his Gardenof Solitude.

He bade farewell to the cavaliersand shouted to them as they rodeaway, "Ho amigos, do not forget toreturn this way and you will find mygarden in bloom!"In the middle of that barren desertthe red-headed cavalier constructed abeautiful hacienda made of sun-dried

i

The prospector thought he had foundbricks with a court equal to t'iiat of aSpanish nobleman. Through the me-dium of small presents the isolated ha-cienda was soon overflowing with In-dians eager to become friends of thegreat white chief. Gifts of geld fromsecret native mines began to find theirway to Odonoju's strong box .nd witheach gift the hacienda increased in

the hidden cache of stagecoach robbers.size and beauty. To enchant the beautyof his desert home Don Padriac addeda living flower. He sent for his fairlady in Spain and when she arrived hisgarden bloomed as he once said itwould.Thus the Garden of Solitude grewand its fame spread south to Mexico.Franciscan fathers hearing of the suc-

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cess of the endeavor asked and weregiven permission by Don Padriac toestablish a mission on the grant forthe Indians. It was named "Missionde losQuatros Evangelis tas" andwhenit was completed it was one of thecostliest ever constructed in the West.Legend has it that its squat dome andceiling were virtually lined with sheetsof gold mined by the Indians. Odon-oju himself is said to have presentedthe Mission with an altar set of solidgold and hung a string of green pearlsabout the neck of the Virgin.

This mission of gold with its pre-cious settings was famous for one thingmorea set of bells cast in a Europeanfoundry and blessed with a tone likeangels' voices. To the chimes of thesebells DonPadriac, hissenora, his fam-ily and the Papago Indians regulatedtheir meals , prayers , days and lives.Here in the Casa Odonoju by the Mis-sion of the Four Evangelists waspeaceand contentment, and the simple lifethat was led was symbolic of happi-ness.Then suddenly in the year 1780 thearm of tragedy swung down on DonPadriac's Garden of Solitude.The Apache Indians had declareda war of extermination on the Span-iards and upon the Papago Indiansw ho had accepted the white man'spresence.One night they attacked the haci-enda of Padriac Odonoju and the Mis-sion of the Four Evangelis ts . In thepatio where the Don had held gayfiestas the Apaches gathered the mem-bers of the desert colony. The air wasrent with the screams which accompanymassacre. N othing survived. Thatwhich could not be destroyed by blowswas leveled by flame.So the beautiful garden that hadonce bloomed in a desert died.A s the years passed the blowingsands of the desert, with the help ofdesert shrubs, spread a cloak of con-cealment over the ruins.Not until two centuries later wasthe fate of the lost mission revealed tothe world. A research worker whiletranslating some old Spanish docu-ments at theUniversity of Arizona ranacross the incomplete story of DonPadr iac and the Mission of the FourEvangelists. That same worker wasthe first man to start a search for theGarden of Solitude and its treasures.O ne day while in the desert huntingfo r the mission he ran across a grizzledold prospector who told him a strangestory.

Ten years previously this old pros-pector with his pack mule was cross-ing the Altar desert when he stumbledover the charred end of a beam stick-ing up through the sand. Surprised atfinding such a thing in the middle of a

desert he began scraping the sandaway with his hands. Within a shorttime he struck something hard. Surethat he had found a hidden cache ofstagecoach robbers, theprospector dugfuriously. Soon he had uncovered theto p of an old bell which was coveredwith Latin letters. All he could makeout was the name "Philip" and anassortment of "Xs and Vs." Disap-pointed with his find but figuring thathe might come back at his leisure, theold desert rat made a map of the spot,being sure to include all the landmarks,and then continued on his way.

Here was a man whoprobably hadstood over the Lost Mission and itsmillions in gold. Realizing that thiswas the only person who could leadhim to the Casa Odonoju and its mis-sion the Tucson student told the pros-pector the story of the Garden ofSolitude.

Immediately the two joined forcesand with them ap set out into the Altardesert on their quest.Deserts are bizarre and eerie places.With their sudden sandstorms they cantransform landmarks into elusive phan-toms. So it is not odd that the re-searcher and the old prospector spentmonths in the desert searching for aplace on a map that had been hiddenby sandstorms.In the end the two never found thebell, the Mission or the home of Ari-zona's only Irish Don. Since the orig-inal search hundreds have set out tofind the West's lost millions but eachtreasure seeking expedition has endedin failure.Perhaps someday thedesert will giveup its secret. Perhaps someday somelucky person will stumble across acharred beam like the old prospectordid.

N ew R iver Chann el Protec ts N eedles . . .Designed to protect Needles, Cali-fornia, against further encroachmentfrom the Colorado river, engineers forth e U. S. Bureau of Reclamation latein July diverted the entire flow of thestream into a new 12-mile channeldredged out during the last twoyears.The channel is 200 feet wide and 17feet deep.The new channel will restore themeandering river to a defined routebetween Needles, and Topock on the

Arizona side of the stream. Nearlynine million cubic yards of silt wereexcavated by the dredge and pumpedthrough a pipeline to be deposited onthe channel's banks as protectivelevees.The river became a menace toNeedles soon after the Los AngelesMetropolitan dam was completed 50miles downstream near Parker, Ari-zona, 15 years ago. Water in thenewly formed Lake Havasu behind thedam backed up almost to the Californiatown, slowed down the current andcaused a heavy deposit of silt whichraised the level of the stream. As siltpiled up, the river channel becamechoked with willows, tamarisks, tulesand other swamp vegetation.

Seepage water soon began to leakinto the basements of Needles build-ings. In the face of this threat Con-gress authorized emergency funds forthe protection of the community, andwork was started on the constructionof the newchannel in February, 1949.Completion of the channel is ex-pected not only to protect the town

against underground seepage, but alsoagainst floods which might follow in-creased releases of water from Hooverdam upstream.

IMPORTATION OF MEXICANNATIONALS IS AUTHORIZEDBetween 40,000 and 50,000 Mexi-can laborers will be available for farmwork in the Southwest as the result ofa treaty with Mexico approved inWashington August 2.The foreign workers will be broughtin under contract, with the assurancethat proper housing will be provided

and prevailing wages paid to them.Under the Act of Congress farmerswho employ wet-backsMexicans w hocross the border illegallywill be un-able to contract for the use of legalimportees. It is believed the new inter-national agreement will serve to stemthe tide of "wets" who have beencoming into theUnited States in recentmonths.New Book for Botanists . . .

Both the common and scientificnames of 145 of the most conspicuousor frequently-found plants of the Up-per Sonoran Zone are given in a newhandbook entitled Flowers of theSouthwest Mesas. Prepared by PaulineMead Patraw, the book makes avail-able to the interested layman muchinformation about the plants of thispinyon-juniper woodland of the South-west. All of the species described arepictured in drawings by Jeanne Rus-sell Janish for easy identification. Themesa area covered includes Arizona,California, Colorado, Nevada, NewMexico and Utah.

Published by Southwest MonumentsAssociation, Santa Fe, New Mexico.112 pp. Paper cover. $1.00.14 DESERT MAGAZINE


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J/ ie Churchill-Lyon county line marks the approximate southern end of the rockarea, where it touches Highway 50 . Material extends a n undetermined distancealong the slopes to the right of the road.

Aga te T r a il in N e v a d aCommon practice among members of the rock collectors' fraternity is tolick a pretty stone with the tonguefor the simple reason that a wet stonegen era lly is prettier than a dry stone. But the Weights Lucile a nd H aroldfound one place in Nevada where they could sit on the shore of a lake andpick up agate specimens with one hand and dip them in the lake with theother, to bring out their color va lue . Here's the story of a new ha pp y huntinggroun d for the stone collectors.

By HAROLD WEIGHTPhotographs by the authorMap by Norton AllenJONES first told usabout this unusual field. Hallieand Alfred Jones are the for-mer Southern California rockhoundswho moved their restaurant businessinto Nevada, near Fallon, chiefly sothey could earn a living in the middleof good rockhunting country. Andwe've found that every visit to themhas resulted in pleasant and profitablecollecting, for the Jones' are the sortof hobbyists who like to make othercollectors happy, too."You've collected wonderstone peb-bles on the shores of ghost Lake La-hontan," (Desert, May, 1950) Halliereminded us. "Now, how would you

like to hunt rocks by the waters of awet Lake Lahontan?"Since Lahontan is the name bywhich geologists identify a vanished

ice-age lake which once covered alarge portion of Nevada, a liquid LakeLahontan sounded like a strange con-trad ictio n. Bu t it existed , He.llie saida big lake about 23 miles long andfive miles wide. Lahontan, we thenlearned, was the official title of thegreat body of water from the Carsonand Truckee rivers stored behind La-hontan dam, about 15 miles southwestof Fallon.Desert irrigation is a wonderfulthing. Down in Southern California'sImperial Valley, land once the bed ofan old lake, the arm of an old sea, hasbeen brought into production. Up herein Nevada they actually recreated partof an ancient lake, using part of itsbasin to store water so that much ofthe rest of the basin could be culti-vated. With water from Lahontan,

part of the Carson Sink, dreaded inpioneer days, has gained the title of"The Heart of Nevada."Along the northwestern sides of thereservoir-lake, Hallie explained, weremounds of old lake and river depositsrocks from heaven knows where,rolled and washed to the edge of thesink. Among these varied materials,she and Al had found rocks which cutinto excellent stones: agates, jaspers,chalcedony and some fossil materials.On a map she pointed out some likelyhunting grounds along the lake, andwe set out.We didn't have far to go. Jones'Farm House is located at the junctionof Highways 50 and 95. Zeroing ourspeedometer there, we headed south-west on 50 and at 7.2 miles turned leftfrom the paving on a loop road to La-

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hontan dam. Though we'd seen partsof it from the highway before, the sizeof the lake as seen from the dam wassurprising. Broad, blue, rippled by abreeze, it filled the valley to the burned,volcanic desert hills. A sort of hazeagainst those hills, possibly moistureevaporating from the lake under thesummer sun, gave them a mirage-likeeffect. Bu t the lake should have beenthe mirage. What was it doing in themiddle of a sagebrush desert?These big irrigation projects are somuch a part of the desert landscapewe are used to that we take them forgranted. But in reality they are veryrecent developments in our nationalscene. This Lake Lahontan, Newlandsor Truckee-Carson Irrigation project,as it is variously known, is credited

with being the first large-scale federalirrigation development in the west.The Reclamation Act of 1902 pro-vided that "all money received fromsale and disposal of public lands inArizona, California, Colorado, Idaho,Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada,New Mexico, North Wyoming, begin-ning with the fiscal year ending June30 , 1901," with certain reservations,should be set aside as a special fundto be used in examination and surveyand for the construction and mainte-nance of irrigation works for storage,diversion and development of waterfor the reclamation of arid and semi-arid lands in those states.Under this act the Truckee-Carsonproject was inaugurated in 1903, andthe Reclamation Bureau claimed all

the surplus water of Lake Tahoe andthe Truckee river for it. The greatdam across the Carson river was builtof earth and rock, 129 feet high and1400 feet long, with a concrete damand spillway in the actual bed of theriver. Water from the Truckee wastaken by canal from that river, about20 miles east of Reno, and carried by31 miles of canal to the Lahontanreservoir.Most of the actual construction wascarried on by a force of between 250and 300 men, and a great many teams,aided by electrical and other machin-ery. A modern camp was constructedfor these workers about seven milessouth of Hazen on the Goldfield branchof the Southe rn Pacific railroad. Thecamp and railroad station there wereknown as Lahontan.The main dam structures were com-pleted about 1915, making a reservoirthat holds 290,000 acre-feet of waterwhen full. The se waters are releasedwhen needed and carried to the Car-son diversion dam, five miles below,where they are distributed through 600miles of canals and laterals. Poweris generated below the dam and car-ried to Fallon and from there to Fern-ley, Wadsworth, Stillwater and mostof the rural sections of the project.With this water and power, what wasonce the dreaded Carson desert is pro-ducing Heart of Gold cantaloupes,turkeys and a multitude of agriculturalproducts known throughout the west.The district's population, in 1947, wasestimated at 8000 with 1250 farmsunder cultivation.

Following the loop road from thedam back to the paving, which wereached about a tenth of a mile fromthe point we had left it, we continueddirectly across the highway to whatwas left of the old construction camp.It lay between the pavement and therailroad track. Two tall rock and con-crete chimneys and a ruined concreteAbove Stone ruins along thepioneer road, not far from LakeLahontan and Highway 50. Localresidents say these buildings oncewere part of the Pony Expresssystem and were known as FortFinley. Quite possibly they wereone of the "swing" stations on theOverland Stage line.Below Lahontan dam and lake,near Fallon, Nevada. Started in1903, this is credited with beingthe first large-scale irrigation proj-ect undertaken by the federal gov-ernment in the western desertarea. Its waters have convertedparts of formerly desolate Carsonsink into the heart of Nevada'sfarming and ranching country.

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cistern comprised the most prominentremnants of Lahontan . But, hikingamong the bits of cement floor, rocks,tin cans and broken glass, we foundthat the camp also was a rockfield,since it was constructed on one of theold Lahontan lake terraces.However, as the better collectingareas lay farther on, we returned tothe highway and continued southwest.A t 8.9 miles from the farm house, wereached the prize locality for hotweather hunting. Here the pavementwas close to the lake, with little sandand rock spits, spotted with willowand cottonwood, running out into thewater. We turned from the highwayonto a dirt trail probably pioneered byfishermensince this Lak e Laho ntanis stocked annually with trout, bassand catfish. Driving a short distance,we parked the jeep almost at thewater's edge. Hiking out onto the spit,we found a number of pieces of agateand jasper. Some were in the sand ofthe spit, others in the shallow water.

Lucile settled herself in the shadeof a young cottonwood at the edge ofthe lake. "Let's not go any farther,"she said, idly dipping specimens intothe water and holding them in the sun-light. "This is the way to hunt rocks."It was pleasant, after the hot sunin theopen desert. And theblue water,green cottonwoods and willows andthe vivid mountains far off made adelightful picture. Birdlife also appre-ciated such a haven. As welazed there,we saw white pelicans with black wings,killdeer, cormorants and red-billedgulls. We also soon learned there wasanother kind of flying life. Th at provedto be the flyor gnatin the oint-ment. However, wherever you findmuch water on the desert youwill findinsects, and with a sufficient amountof effective insect repellant, these sandspits of Lahontan should be delightfulcampgrounds.

If only rockhunting had been in-volved, we might have spent the restof the day along the spits. But Halliehad aroused our interest in the ruinsof an old rock building which wasvisible from the highway a few milesfarther along. According to local leg-end, it once was a station on the PonyExpress. So we reluctantly left ourshady haven and worked our way on.We stopped twice more to huntrocks. The first spotand the bestwe found that daywas at 10.2 miles.Here we turned left from the highwayand followed a little sandy track be-tween two low hills, past a corral andto the edge of an arm of the lake. La-hontan's shore was lined with tama-risk and cottonwood here, too, but alow though vertical bank hinderedspecimen dunking. The corral, Hattietold us, was leased by the sheepmen

each spring when they brought theirflocks here to lamb.We hunted over parts of the lowhills, which were made up of water-worn rocks from lake or river, andfound a considerable variety of ma-terial, mostly in small pieces. Therewas one bit of sagenite, some mossagate, red jasper, banded agate andquite a bit of fossil stuff of an inde-terminate kind. This is the sort of afield where you may find a genuineprize or just cutting material, depend-ing largely on luck, rockhound sense,an d the ability to visualize a finishedstone from the rough.Our last rockstop was at theChurchill-Lyon county line, at 11.6miles. This, according to Hallie. wasthe last point along the road whereshe had found cutting material. Andthis was the spot where I found myespecial prizea large bculder of redmoss agate, with white and clear chal-cedony "eyes.""T o the left of the road," Lucilewrote in her notebook for this stop,"are many boulders of broken reddishand black lava. Mixed through themare agate, chert, jasper, .nd mixturesof all three. The agateor sort ofagate-chalcedonyis largely of laven-der, cream and rose, or pirk andwhite.Some of the jasper is bright red. Thechert is mainly in pastels. Few of therocks have any definite pattern, buttheir color combinations are pretty.Most of them are nearly buried in thesand, and we had to dig them out toinvestigate them."Hunting back toward the lake, wefound the collecting material seemedto continue for a considerable distance.Then we drove on toward the rockruin. It lies about a mile beyond theChurchill-Lyon county line in a deepvalley, which looks as if it might havebeen an ancient river course. Theabandoned road which once went be-side the ruin cuts back from Highway50 at 13.0 miles, but it is in bad shapefo r the average car, especially whereit crosses the railroad embankment,and we elected to walk across.

On the way we passed throughblooming apricot mallow, and thou-sands of the young plants were grow-ing about the station area. Apparentlythere had been at least two stonestructures. The one behind quitepossibly the stableswas only an out-line but most of the walls of the other,a two room structure, were still stand-ing.Such places as thiswith crumblingwalls and clouded historyfascinatem e. I am driven, inescapably, to spec-ulate upon the people whobuilt them.Who lived in this isolated spot, andwhat sort of lives did they lead? Aboutthese rock walls, only scraps of infor-

mation survive. Frank Marsh, of Fal-lon, who came into the country as aboy of nine, says that the ruins werethen known as Fort Finley. So far Ihave been unable to find a writtenrecord of any Fort Finley, but thestructures are along the general routeof thePony Express andmay well havebeen one of its relay stations.It is even more likely that it was astation of the great Overland Stageline that crossed from Atchison toPlacerville before completion of thefirst transcontinental railroad. Therewere 151 of those stations betweenthe two terminals of the line, averagingabout 12 miles apart. The stations fellinto twoclassifications: home stations,usually occupied by at least one familyand with several buildings, and swingstations where often only the stock-tender and his stock were to be found.This one would undoubtedly havebeen a swing station. All of these werequite similar to one another in design,usually one story affairs built of rock,cedar logs, or whatever material wasmost easily obtained. The building hadfrom one to three rooms, and if onlyon e it was sometimes divided intokitchen, dining room and bedroom bymuslin partitions. I have been unableto pinpoint this particular station inthe accounts of the stage line, butfrom position and mileage it seemspossible it was the one known as OldRiver.

A t any rate, it is a lost and lone-some spot today. The railroad em-bankment blocks easy access to it, andthe highway has left it in a back eddy.The burned walls collapsing into ruinare perfect symbols of the desert tri-umphant. Some people aver that thosewho once occupied a dwelling leavebehind them an aura of the happinessor unhappiness they experienced there.If so, the inhabitants of this stationwere not happy. A dark spirit clingsto its walls.And present-day inhabitants of thearea are having their woes and wars.As we headed back toward the carLucile discovered a large leopard liz-ard, apparently with something in hismouth. The lizard made no attemptto escape as she approached, andwhen it did run a fewsteps, it stumbledover the object it seemed to be carry-ing. Approaching again, Lucile sawthe reptile really had gotten itself intoa jam, and that it was a living exem-plification of the danger of biting offmore than one can chew.

The object in the leopard lizard'smouth was a small, dead horned lizard.It was resting peacefully on its backwith its entire head in the leopardlizard's mouth, the horns undoubtedlysunk into that mouth. The story wasvery clear. The big lizard had tackled18 DESERT MAGAZINE


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the small either in a spirit of pure ag-gression or with eyes bigger than hisstomach. He had succeeded in killinghis victimthen discovered that heliterally could not dispose of the body.If we had not happened along, apurely accidental circumstance andcertainly a miracle for that lizard, itwould have starved to death in a veryunp leasant fashion. As it was, we hadquite a time relieving it of its problem.Lucile got a forked stick for me andI chased the leopard lizard back andforth through the brush. Fortunatelyfor it, the burden made it clumsy andat last I was able to pin the deadhorned lizard down with the stick. Ithad been my plan, then, to bend downand open the jaws of the leopard tofree it, but this proved unnecessary.With one jerk, which must have tornhis mouth considerably, it yanked itselfloose.

It made no attempt to run then, butjust sat there, working its jaws, open-ing and closing its mouth, and staringat us with a sort of reptilian interest.At the highway we turned backtoward Lake Lahontan. It was after-noon when we drove close to its watersagain. A little breeze rippled the sur-face and the wavelets sparkled in thesun. A fast outboard motorboat wascavorting across the lake.The contrast between the dancingboat on the blue lakeand the grimtotal desert we had just left struck mealmost like a blow. The highway, itseemed, was almost a dividing linebetween two worlds. On the one sidewas the ancient desertsun, sand, andthe bitter struggle for bare existence.On the other was water, and all thethings water means to man in thedesert.

I wondered what the tense, tiredPony Express riders, the sweating,dust-choked stage drivers and pass-engers would have thought of the

Road LogLahontan Resej^voir00.0 Junc tion of H ighway 50 & 95.Nine miles west of Fallon, Ne-vada. (Jones' Farm House ).Head southwest on Highway 50.07.2 Road branches left to Laho ntandam.07.4 Road left to Lahontan dam;right to site of old constructioncamp of Lahontan. Jasper andagate pebbles may be found inconstruction camp area.08.9 Left trail tow ard spit into LakeLahontan. Good pieces of agate,etc., may be found along lake-shore.10.2 Left branc h, across small sandywash, between two hills and pastsheep corral to arm of Lake La-hontan. Variety of water-wornrocks and pebbles may be col-lected on the low hills here.11.6 (Continuing on Hwy.) Churchill-Lyon county line sign. Cuttingrocks may be found on hills toleft of road, toward Lahontan.12.2Turnoff right leads to hikingdistance of old stone ruin. (Autoscannot cross railroad embank-ment.)O.OTu rnoff right leads to withinhiking distance of old rock ruinfrom south.15.8 (Continu ing on main Hw y.)Junction of Highway 50 withHighway 95 A. to Yerington orFernley . 50 continues to CarsonCity.change that had come to the CarsonSink. In their day not so long agoeach crossing of the West was an ad-venture, the passage of the Carson des-ert often a bitter struggle. I'm surethey would have felt proud of theachievement of their descendants inbringing life and beauty to a barren land.Then I thought of another of mod-ern man's developments in the Nevadadesert, hundreds of miles to the south-west. There a whole section had beenclosed off as if it were a pesthouseand perhaps it was. There the latestbrain children of our best scientificmindsthe kind of minds which once

developed electric lights and things forbetter and happier livingwere poi-soning the desert earth with deadlyradiations in a striving for moreoverwhelming engines of destruction.An d 1 wondered what our W esterntrailbreakers would have thought ofthat. Perhaps they would have ap-provedthey were rugged men. Orperhaps they would have said this wasthe obvious and inevitable product ofour machine civilization with its level-ing off of individual liberty and there-fore, inescapably, of individual con-science, duty and responsibility.I cou ldn't answer for them. Formyself, I could only think of that liz-ard, back at the stage station. It hadsealed its own death warrant by blindlygrabbing at something which seemedattractive, without thought of thedeadly spikes it might carry. But thelizard had been saved from its "atomic"mouthful by an outside miracle beyondits comprehension.

At any rate I was thankful that forat least one more time I had been ableto engage in the thoroughly uneco-nomical project of sitting on a sandspit of Lake Lahontan and dabblingpretty pebbles in the water, withoutsome commissar or district wardentapping me on the shoulder to say:"You are wasting the State's time,Citizen. Get back to the factory andworkshop and do your bit of usefulwork in preparation for your own andthe world's destruction in this gloriousCentury of the Common Man."

An a ggressor gets a mouthful. This leopard lizard, inhabitant of the rockruins, apparently tackled a horned lizard, killed him, and then found thehorns were caught in his mouth and he was unable to dispose of the body.

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m mWashington, D. C. . . .House Interior Affairs committee-men have killed a Senate-passed billto change the lawrelating to miningclaim assessment work. Chairman Mur-dock of Arizona reports that any ex-tension of time for doing past year'sassessment work is"out of the windownow." But heexpressed hope that thecommittee may later approve a bill tochange thedate for completing futureannual assessment work. MiningRecord. Lovelock, Nevada . . .Grading has been started andship-ment of iron ore from the iron districton the east side ofthe Humboldt rangeis expected to getunder way inSep-tember at therate of 1000 tons daily,according tolatest reports. The oper-ator will be the Mineral Materialscompany of Alhambra, California,which plans toemploy 30men inget-ting out the ore for shipment to aPacific Coast port. Humboldt Star . Salt Lake City. Utah . . .Four hundred pounds of uranite,running 10.91 per cent uranium oxide,have been delivered to the VitroChemical company from theclaims ofMagnolia Lead and Oil company inthe Sinbad area of the San Rafaelswell, a company spokesman has dis-closed. Analysis of thefind was con-firmed by the U. S.Bureau of Mines.The ore discovery was made about 58miles southwest of Greenriver, 45miles northwest of Handsville whilebulldozing roads on the company'sclaims. Shipments, which are expectedto reach 100 tons amonth, will run inratio of one truck load of high gradeor e tosix loads of low grade ore. Thecompany is also reported planning toship orefrom stockpiles on claims inthe Temple Mountain area. Hum-boldt Star. Hawthorne, Nevada . . .Additional information concerningthe Maxine group of copper claimsrecently located in central MineralCounty near Hawthorne was disclosedrecently by H.Victor Burgard, CarsonCity mining engineer and consultant,w ho hasvisited thesite andobtainedsamples forassay. Nine smelter assaysof the oreshow values ranging froma minimum of 2.43percent copperan d 1.80 ounces of silver up to amaximum of37.75 percent copper and17.50 ounces of silver. MineralCounty Independent.

Denver, Colorado . . .An increase from $35 to atleast $42an ounce for gold was predicted byRobert S. Palmer, director ofthe Colo-rado Metal Mining Fund. A hike innational gold prices. Palmer said, maybe necessary to trim the flow of theprecious metal from this country exports ofwhich reached anestimated250 million dollars a month last year.Much of thegold wasstored in thiscountry for safe keeping during thelast war, but isnow being sold on thefree market in other sections of theworld, where it will bring as high as$95 anounce. Pioche Record. Wickenburg, Arizona . . .Wickenburg began totake onsomeof theenthusiasm of old-time miningdays recently when the first carload ofcopper orefrom theUnida mine onthe Constellation road moved out bySanta Fe Railroad headed for theMagma Copper Smelter in Superior.Lynn Hersey, engineer for theUnitedMine Operators, Inc., owners of themine, predicted itwon't be long beforeproduction will beupped to tw o car-loads perweek or more as theminedevelops.Wickenburg Sun. Carson City, Nevada . . .

Nevada will supply more than 200,-000 long tons of iron orethis year asa part of the million ormore tons be-ing shipped from the U. S. to keepJapan's iron industries operating. Jap-anese iron mills formerly received themajor part of their raw ores fromManchuria and Korea but the war hascu t off thesupply lines. Other smallquantities were obtained from the EastIndies, but thequantities were insuffi-cient tokeep the mills in operation.Pioche Record. Beaumont, California . . .One of theoldest tourmaline minesin California hasbeen relocated andis being worked byPaul Walker andDick Gilmore of theCollectors' Martat Beaum ont. T he oldmine, formerlycalled the Columbian, but now re-corded as the Desert Rose, is onThomas Mountain inRiverside county.At about 6500 ft. elevation, it over-looks theHemet Valley. The vein is40 to 50feet wide. Insome places itis composed of pure feldspar or feld-spar and quartz. Inother places it con-sists of soft mica schist and loosely

consolidated rose quartz with somesmoky quartz and occasional pieces ofasteriated quartz. Mining Journal.

Salt Lake City, Utah . . .Complete report onpossible radio-active mineral deposits in theMoun-tain West is available for study byuranium prospectors, according to theU. S.Geological Survey. Copies of th ereport are at the Atomic Energy Com-mission offices in Grand Junction,Colorado. The agency drilled morethan 500,000 feet ofholes around the

Colorado plateau tocompile itsstudy.The findings aredescribed as an "im-portant guide" tomineral seekers, bothamateurs and professionals. SaltLake Tribune. Virginia City, Nevada . .Formerly operated on silver andgold ore, the flotation mill at Consoli-dated Virginia Mining company isbeing revamped to process tungstenore. It wasleased recently by FredVollmar, former Silver Peak mine op-erator, andassociates for a four-yearperiod andwill handle scheelite fromproperty in thePyramid Lake region,northeast of Reno. Humboldt Star. Washington, D. C.. . .Defense Minerals Administrationhas announced that ithas granted con-tracts to 12 mine operators to helpthem finance exploration for vitallyneeded minerals. The contracts arepart of a DMA program under whichthe agency will put upfrom 50 to 90per cent of necessary funds tofinancemining projects essential to defense.DMA officials said 461 applicationsfor assistance have been received sincethe program began last April. Of the12 contracts entered into so far, thegovernment's share of thecost totals$791,776. Humboldt Star . Lovelock, Nevada . . .Rube Nicolay, Tungsten miner,drilled ahole 15V4 inches into a solidgranite boulder in five minutes towinthe $175 prize in thedrilling contestJuly 4 in Lovelock. Al Ramociottiwon the$60 mucking contest with atime of five minutes, 10seconds,andFrank Quilici took $40 second moneywith five minutes, 19 seconds.Hum-boldt Star. Bishop, California . . .With supplies down and demand up,a serious tungsten shortage has de-veloped. Mining men say thecurrentU. S. tungsten boom may see the4,240-ton output of 1950 doubled byearly next year. The shortage has shottungsten prices up from $23 a 20-pound unit last year to $65 today.Veteran prospectors and an army ofeager newcomers are scouring the backcountry of thewest from Montana toMexico. Mining Record.

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D o - Ah S h o n G o e s tot h e T r a d i n g P o s tBy SANDY HASSELL

Pen sketch by Charles Keetsie ShirleyNavajo Artis tGreedy strode into thetrading post her bulk seemedto fill the place and there wasa slight backing away of all the Indiansin the store. Gold tooth the tradertightened his lips and lowered his eye-brows. He knew there was hard trad-ing ahead. The rug that she hadbrought to trade was wrapped in aflour sack and carelessly thrown overher arm instead of being discreetlytucked under her shawl like any otherNavajo woman would have carried it.Her handclasps with all of her ac-quaintances were short. No one wantedto hold her hand long even if theyhadn't seen her for months.The Indians themselves had givenher this name. None of them liked herfor she had many bad points. Shetalked in a loud voice and nagged herhusband, Hosteen Funmaker, until hewould no longer help her when she

was trading a rug. She wasn't care-ful with her skirts when she got onand off a horse. Oftentimes she hadexposed her leg as far up as her knee.She had insisted on Hosteen buildingtheir last hogan too close to a water-hole that many other Indians in thatdistrict used. This caused lots of con-fusion. When they brought their flockshere to water every other day theyoften got mixed with Old Greedy's.Getting mixed wasn't so bad but whenthey were separated Old Greedy al-ways wanted to claim a sheep thatdidn't belong to her. Anybody couldtell she didn't own it, for all the othersheep in her flock would try to fight it.And what if someone should die inthat hogan, and then abandon it?It certainly would be embarrassingwatering their sheep that close to aChinde hogan. And she had even beenknown to slap her little girl when sheshould have thrown water on her.Yes, Old Greedy was do ah short.

After shaking hands a smoke was inorder. She could get this out of thelittle box on the counter that had ahole in the top about the size of adollar. With the aid of a teaspoonthat hung on a string she could fishout the makings and a match. Gold-

tooth kept an eye on her for thesespoons had a habit of disappearingeverytime Old Greedy made a visit tothe store.After her smoke was finished shewas ready to trade. All the Indiansgave way for her when she laid her

rug on the counter. Before he un-wrapped it Goldtooth knew to a dollarhow much he was going to pay herfor it.There was very little difference inany rug she made. They were allabout the same size and weave, andjust over the borderline of being ac-ceptable. If they had been any poorerGoldtooth wouldn' t have boughtthem. The neighbors thought theworst part about her rugs was thatshe never bothered to change the de-signs in any of them.Goldtooth placed the rug on thescales. The Indians liked to see theirrugs weighed even if he didn't buythem by the pound. If he had boughtthis one by the pound he would havededucted a pound for the sand andclay, another one for the wateritwas very damp-and a pound for thegrease in the wool, for she never

The Indians called her "Old Greedy.

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washed her wool clean. Her rugs werethe poorest and dirtiest of any thathis weavers made. She thought theheavier they were the more they wouldbring.She looked to see how many poundsit weighed and then examined thescales carefully although she couldn'tread and knew nothing about how thescales worked.Goldtooth unwrapped the rug andspread it on the counter. He didn'teven bother to measure it. "It is a nicerug, Sumah." He called all womenwho had children mother. He couldoffer an Indian as little as he wantedfor a rug but he must never say that itwas a poor one.He made his customary offer andhoped that she would refuse it. Heknew that he would be lucky if hecould sell it to a tourist for that price.It would be half an hour or longerbefore Old Greedy would accept his

offer so he gave his attention to otherIndians who wanted to trade. Oneoffer was all he ever made her for arug. To add any more to that wouldbe inviting trouble.After the usual lapse of time the of-fer was accepted and the trading wason. Every article she bought she pro-tested that he was charging her toomuch, even the five-cent spool ofthrea d. Wh en she bough t the tenyards of cloth for a skirt she countedeach yard on her fingers as it wasstretched between the two yellow

tacks on the counter. But what shedidn' t noticeor any other Indian,was that Goldtooth was deducting thewidth of four fingers from each yardof cloth as he measured it. She insist-ed that he give her an extra yard ofcloth the same as he did all the otherwomen, but his ears were closed.Before her money was all spent shemust buy some wool for another rug.Did Goldtooth have a sack that shecould put it in? Yes he had two sacksbut they both had holes in them. Shecould put the two together and theywould hold wool very nicely.Old Greedy never saved wool fromher own sheep to make her rugs. Shewould rather sell it and buy wool fromGoldtooth at the same price she re-ceived for hers. He always kept woolfor weavers who had no sheep or thosewho had run short. In buying woolOld Greedy insisted on spreading iton the floor and picking the best. Eachhandful was thoroughly shaken sothere would be no sand in it. Of courseshe had to pack the wool in the sackas tightly as possible. Everybody knewthat the smaller space it took up the

less it would weigh.The room where the wool was keptadjoined the store. She was told to go

in and fill her sack. Ah, she was inluck again for there were stacks offive pou nd sugar sacks on a shelf bythe wool bin and on a shelf abovewere some small bags of salt. The lastfive times that she had bought w oolthere had been sacks of sugar thereand each time she had put one in withher wool. The last two times she hadadded a small bag of salt. The firstsack of sugar she took she thoughtGoldtooth was going to catch her forhe had poked his finger into the woolsack where the sugar was, but hedidn't say anything. This source hadkept her family well supplied with su-gar for she could get a sack each timeshe bought wool. Sometimes shebought wool when she didn't need itjust to get the sugar.The sack was filled and carried outfor Goldtooth to weigh. He alwayscomplained about the dirt she left onthe floor but when he weighed herwool he was always nice. She waspleasant also and tried not to com-plain about the price that he chargedfor wool.The wool was placed on the scalesand a couple of big bars; of yellowsoap were put on top. Yes he was go-

ing to give her these for he wanted thewool washed good and clean in thenext rug she made. She liked this forhe never gave any of the other weaversbut one bar of soap.Goldtooth was very slow aboutweighing the wool and she was gettingnervous. "Yes, Sumah, it weighs just20 pounds"this included two gunnysacks, two bars of soap, a five poundsack of sugar and a small bag of salt"and at 20 cents a pound that makesjust four dollars. That is what I payfor wool and that is what I sell it forto you. You know if I charge morethan what I pay for it that would becheating." To prove that he was tell-ing the truth about what it weighedand his multiplying was correct he hadher daughter Nettie read the scalesand look at the figures that he hadput down on a paper sack.After all Goldtooth wasn't such astingy trader even if he hadn't givenher an extra yard of cloth. Hadn't hegiven her two bars of soap and lether get away with a sack of sugar anda bag of salt? "Yes, my son, that isright. I am glad to know that thereis another honest person around herebeside myself."

M a r d K o c k S h o r t yof

DeathValley"Naw, there ain't no orchardsa round D ea th V a l ley , " H ardRock Shorty was explaining toth e m o t o r i s t s w h o h a d j u s tstopped at the Inferno store to"get some fresh fruit.""Ain't water enough in DeathValley tu grow fruit. An it spoilscomin' in on the freight wagonso we jest eat prunes, driedprunes from over th' other sideo' the mountains. Got lots o'prunes if you want 'em."But the visitors did not wantprunes. They were from the Eastthey said, and they had been toldthat you could always get freshfruit in California.One of the women in the partywas quite insistent that she musthave some California oranges."They jest ain't here," Shortyfinally exclaimed in exasperation.

"We tried growin' 'em once that is Pisgah Bill did."Got the idea he could graftorange buds on them ironwoodtrees that grow up in die wash.So he took a correspondencecourse in fruit graftin' an' thenhe made a trip out to Redlandsto get some buds from real orangetrees.

"Looked like it wuz a gooddeal at first. Them buds livedand Bill wuz quite proud o' his-self. Every day he'd make a tripup the wash to see how his"orange grove" wuz comin' along.But them buds growed purty slowand it was three years beforethem young orange grafts per-duced a blossom. Ironwood's aw-ful slow growin' yu know.

"Two oranges set on the treethat first year, an Bill wuz thehappiest man yu ever saw. Buthe kinda lost his enthusiasm inthe fall when them oranges wasstill about the size o' marbles. Ittook four years fer them orangesto git ripeand when Bill finallypicked one o' them he broke threeteeth tryin' tu take a bite outta it.Lady, yu jest can't grow orangeson ironwood treesan' that's allthe kind o' trees we got 'roundhere."

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Salt Cedar Not a Native . . .Casa Grande, ArizonaDesert:I read your interesting article in theJune issue about the Tamarisk tree.Can you inform me as to whether ornot the Salt Cedar (Tamarix gallica),which somewhat resembles the Tam-arisk in all but size, is native or im-ported? F E R R E L L S A N T O NSalt Cedar is a native of theMediterranean region. The dateand circumstance of its importa-tion to United States many dec-ades ago, is not known. R. H. A Medal for the Cubs . . .Lucerne Valley, CaliforniaDesert:In past issues you have publishedletters regarding the rubbish along theCalifornia highways. The Cub Scoutshere in Lucerne Valley really havedone something about it . They havegiven their Saturday mornings to theproject of cleaning the highway guttersfor 10 miles west of Lucerne Valley.W M . E . M I L L E R

Novel of the Black Rock . . .Berkeley, CaliforniaDesert:In the July, 1951, Desert is a fas-cinating article by Nell Murbarger onthe Black Rock desert. Your readersand Miss Murbarger will like to knowthat the latest novel of George R.Stewart, author of Storm an d Fire, isa historical evocation of this same des-ert. He called his book Sheep Rock,in order to avoid strict localization,but it is really Black Ro ck. H2 visitedthe region several times, in companywith geologists and anthropologists,and his novel is filled with the poeticalfeeling which this storied region in-spired in him. Since Sheep Rock wasnot published till early in the presentyear, Miss Murbarger can hardly haveknown it when she wrote her piece.S . G. MORLEYNo Buttes and no Gold . . .Gardena, CaliforniaDesert:After reading in your February issueJohn D. Mitchell's "Valley of Phan-tom Buttes," my brother and I de-cided that during our vacation wewould make a search for the lost gold.We tried to follow Mitchell's direc-tionsbut the terrain was all cock-eyed.We covered a big part of the area

and found plenty of malpais and rockof igneous origin, but no lava and nocrater.Does Mr. Mitchell vouch for theauthenticity of this story and is he stillalive? We would like to meet him.We found no black buttes, but wehad a good time.LEWIS R. W1LCOXJohn D. Mitchell is regarded asan authority on lost mines of theSouthwest, and the story of thePhantom Buttes was his own ex-perience as he recalled it yearslater. His home is at C handler,Arizona. R. H.

Marines o n the Desert . . .Corona del Mar, CaliforniaDesert:It was in the days following WorldWar II that I, a reasonably green sec-ond lieutenant, was assigned to a smallMarine guard detachment near Niland,California. This outpo st of the Corpshad nothing but the 18 man guardunit, and being far from other militaryactivities, operated in a rather unortho-dox fashion.This last I discovered on my arrival,in full uniform. I found m y sentriesstanding post in undershirts or no shirtsat all. After checking the orders whichhad been put out by higher echelon,my first official order was that all sen-

O K t& e V e a e n t . . . C O N T E S T A N N O U N C EM EN TLife on the desert is seldom drab and common-place. Often it is exciting and thrilling. Many of thosewho live in this land of cactus and lizards, or who havetraveled in this arid region have had interesting experi-ences or have had first hand knowledge of theexperiences of others.Desert Magazine wants some of these storiestopass along for the entertainment and enlightenment ofits readers. To obtain these personal adventures cashprizes will be awarded in a contest to close on Novem-

ber 1.For the best story of from 1200 to 1500 words, anaward of $25.00 will be made. To each other contestantwho submits an acceptable story the award will be $15.The manuscript should be a true experience, pref-erably of the writerno yarns or tall tales or heresaystories will qualify. Th e experien ce may involve dangerwhile lost on the desert, an adventure while living ortraveling in the desert wilderness, or the Indian country.It may be the meeting of an unusual character, revealinga phase of human nature, or a distinct way of life.The contest is open to amateur and professionalwriters alike, but those who plan to submit manuscriptsshould carefully observe the following rules:All manuscripts must be typewritten, on one sideof the page only.

Entries should be addressed to Editor, Desert Mag-azine, Palm Desert, California, and must reach thisoffice by Novem ber 1, 195 1, to qualify for the a wa rds.If good sharp 5x7 or larger pictures are available,an extra $3.00 will be paid for each photograph ac-cepted. Pictures are not essential, however.Writers must be prepared to supply confirmation asto the authenticity of their stories. Only true experi-ences are wanted.All stories must be essentially of the desert, andthe scene is limited to Arizona, Nevada, Utah, NewMexico and the desert area of California.True names of those involved must be given,although with the knowledge of the judges, fictitiousnames may be substituted in special cases where thereis reflection on personal character.If the story has appeared previously in print, thisfact and the time and name of the medium in which itappeared should be given.All readers of Desert Magazine are invited to sub-mit manuscripts.Judging will be done by the staff of Desert Maga-zine, and the decision of the judges will be final. Un-

accepted manuscripts will be returned if accompaniedby return postage.

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tries would wear regulation uniformsincluding shirts and field scarfs,theLeatherneck designation fornecktie.It wasn't necessary for me to feel myears burn torealize that I had, aftertwo hours incamp, become an objectof conversation.That order was the first of anumberthat were issued during thatfirstday,and by evening, Ihave little doubt thatI would have won the local ballot forthe "least popular officer ever to serveon this post."My topnon-commissioned officerwas aNavajo staff sergeant, who hadlived in the desert most of his life andwas well acquainted with desert ways.I found later inchecking his recordbook that hehad been a good manin the jungle, too, and had done wellby both himself and the Marines inmany of the island battles. As I issuedmy orders, he carried them out to theletter like the good Marine that he was.I could see, though, that hedidn'tseem tocare for the turn things sud-denly had taken.

I took as my quarters aroom in theheadquarters building forthat night.The sergeant awoke me the followingmorning totell me that my presencewas required in the guard shack. Oneof the boys, heannounced, hadre-belled and was refusing towear hisfield scarf on duty. Thesergeantwanted me to hear his story."The orders written when this placewas first opened say we will wear a

full uniform, sir," he acknowledged"but I doubt if the men who wrotethem have had tolive in this heat.""As long as the orders designate theproper uniform, I don't feel either ofus is in aposition tochange it.""Aye, sir," he agreed. "All ofthesemen have been here for a coupleofLOST MINE HUNTERS

(Armchair and Field)These Lost Mine Storiesseveral never be-fore in printhave appeared in the past tenissues of CALICO PRINT. All still available,15c eachorder by name.And Better SUBSCRIBE NOW! Lots MoreComing! TWELVE ISSUES $1.50WasThis the LostBreyfogle?TOM WAUVS LOST G010

PHASTOK MOHAWK LEOC-E *T S T S J M : : - - :T Big a.Texas

, iim liH .it the \ri/mu\ frenchmen :

Illustrated Newsprint MagazineOf Desert West Life, History & LegendEdited by HAROLD and LUCILEWEIGHTSend to our New Address:XWENTYNINE PALMS CALIFORNIA

years and have gone a little native.They've taken to caring for themselvesfirst as desert men and secondly asMarines. Living and being comfortablehere can be an art."Although it was barely seven o'clock,I was forced toagree onthat point.The temperature already was in thenineties.Fully dressed except formy fieldshoes by this time, I sat down on theedge of my bunk to pull them on. Thesergeant looked at me queerly."You had better knock themoutfirst, sir," hesuggested. As I lookedup athim inpuzzlement, hesteppedforward totake the shoe and beat itagainst the floor. Nothing happenedand he handed itback to me.When he picked up the second shoeand did the same thing, a giant scor-pion dropped out and ran across theroom."Always knock out your shoes in

the morning, lieutenant," was his quietcouncil. "Never know what'll setuphousekeeping during the night. It's thefirst thing a good desert man learns."As I sat looking up at him, his facewas serene. I laced both shoes andtied them before I looked at him again."Go ahead. Tell them to stand postwithout scarfs," I finally told him.I'llsee if I can't get the rest of the uni-form order cancelled so we can writeour own.""It ispretty hot . . . and out herewe're not held up as public examples,"

he agreed.I sat there for a long time after hehad gone, wondering ifhe: could haveplanted that scorpion inmy shoe justto serve as a practical illustrationofhis point.I'm still not sure. JACK LEWIS Photographer Gets Rich . . .Southgate, CaliforniaDesert:I should soon have agood lost minestory for your magazine. Recentlywhile taking color pictures on the des-ert I discovered the Lost Pegleg Smithmine. Itappears to be large and rich.I expect to dig a10-foot shaft to checkon same very soon.SID R. TEEPLES Desert Water Holes . . .Fullerton, CaliforniaDesert:You published a letter stating thatno water isavailable atCorn Springs.I found that out myself some time ago.However, water can be obtained threemiles up the canyon at A2tec Well.

When I was atChuckawalla Wellon February 11 there was a foot anda half ofwater in it,but when I re-turned June 21 itwas bone dry. Due

to the long drouth the water supplyat the historic old water-holes isnotas dependable as formerly.The old Indian trail between Chuck-awalla Springs and Chuckawalla Wellthree miles to the south isquite inter-esting. It runs through some of thegeode country. Inplaces the trail isseveral feet deep. The Indians wouldnot tramp inthe arroyos. They pre-ferred tostay athigher levels wherethe visibility was good.CARL R. ENGLUND

Foundsome lost films . . .Cliff Dwellers LodgeCameron, ArizonaDesert:Several rolls of film were foundinAztec Canyon between the ColoradoRiver and Rainbow Bridge, and turnedover to me as the one most likelytofind the owner. Since most of thosewho make the trip to Rainbow Bridgeare readers ofDesert Magazine per-haps anote inyour next issue wouldserve to restore the film, which hadbeen exposed, to the person who tookthe pictures. ART GREENE

Call o' the Desert . . .Flippin, ArkansasDesert:I am unable to explain my fondnessfor desert literature. Ihave never evenbeen close to adesert, yet I have readso much that sometimes in fancy I canpicture myself becoming adapted todesert life.While reading the poems in DesertMagazine these lines come into mymind. I am complying with an impulseto send them along to you.I hear the desert callin', some'ere wayout there,Soft like awhisper, but mighty plainand clear.Never seen a desert, don't know howit looks;

195109 DesertMagazine 1951 September

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Transcript of 195109 DesertMagazine 1951 September