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D e s e r t M a g a z i n e B o o k S h o pROAD MAP OF CALIFORNIA'S PIONEER-TOWNS,GHOST-TOWNS AND MINING-CAMPS compiledby B. V. Terry. More than 400 place names arepr inted in red on this 38 x 25 blue and whi t eroad map with nor thern Cal i forn ia on one sideand Southern California on the other . $2.95.A GUIDE FOR INSULATOR COLLECTORS by JohnC. Tibbitts. Long t ime collector and author ofseveral bott le books, the author has wri t ten twovolumes on insulators, covering 90 percent ofth e f i e l d . Insulators in Vol. 1 (127 pages) aredif ferent than those in Vol. 2 (119 pages).Paperbacks, well i l lustrated. $3.00 each. OR-DER BY VOLUME NUMBER.ANZA-BORREGO DESERT GUIDE by Horace Par-ker. Third edit ion of th is wel l - i l lus t rated anddocumented book is enlarged considerably. Topsanong gu idebooks , it is equally recommendedfor research material in an area that was crossedby Anza, Kit Carson, the Mormon Bat ta l ion,-19ers, Railroad Survey part ies, Pegleg Smith, theJackass Ma i l , Butterf ield Stage, and today 'sadventurous tourists. 139 pages, cardboardcover , $3.50.THE MYSTERIOUS WEST by Brad Williams andChoral Pepper. Rare book examines legends thatcannot be proven true, nor unt rue. New evi-dence presented in many cases which maychange the history of the West. Hardcover.SS.9S.THE WEEKEND GOLD MINER by A. H. Ryan. Anelectronic physicist "bit ten by the gold bug,'the author has wri t ten a concise and in format ivebook for amateur prospectors tel l ing where andhow gold is found and how it is separated andtested, all based on his own pract ical ex-perience. Paperback, 40 pages, $1.50.BEACHCOMBER'S GUIDE TO THE PACIFIC COASTby the Editors of Sunset Books. Provides infor-mat ion about the publicly accessible beachesfrom San Diego to Cape F lat tery , Washington.Complete data on w h a t to do and w h a t to seewith detai led maps. Large format, four-colorcover, heavy paperback, 112 pages, $1.95.G E M , MINERAL AND 4-WHEEL-DRIVE MAPS com-piled by Dale Hileman. Maps showing gemand mineral col lect ing areas, roads for passen-ger cars and 4WD roads only. Map No. 1 is onLast Chance Canyon, Mesquite Canyon andI ron Canyon in Kern County. Map No. 2 coversthe Opal Mountain and Black Canyon areas inSan Bernardino County. Map No. 4 is on theRandsburg - El Paso Mountains area. All are on16x17- inch parchment paper. $1.00 per map.

DEATH VALLEY BOOKSPublished by the Death Valley '49ers thesef ive volumes have been selected by '49ersas outstanding works on the history of DeathVal ley . All are durable paperback on slickstock.A NATURALIST'S DEATH VALLEY (Revised edi-tion) by Edmund C. Jaeger, ScD.. $1.50MANLY AND DEATH VALLEY. Symbols of Dest iny , by Ardis Manly Walker $1.25GOODBYE, DEATH VALLEY! The story of theJayhawker Par ty , by L. Burr Belden $1.50CAMELS AND SURVEYORS IN DEATH VALLEYBy Arthur Woo dward - . . .$2.00DEATH VALLEY TALES by 10 di f ferent au-'hors $1.25

LOWER CALIFORNIA GUIDEBOOK

By GERHARD andGULICKThis is the "bible" for both amateur andveteran Baja travelers who wou ld notventure south of the border without thebook. It combines the history of everylocation, including towns and missions,with detailed mileage maps and sourcesof gasoline, water and other services.Anyone going south of San Felipe orEnsenada without this book just shouldn'tbe there. Hardcover, 243 pages, 16 de-tailed route maps, 4 city maps, 22 illus-trations. $6.50

HISTORY OF THE SIERRA NEVADA by Francis P.Farquhar. History of the Spaniards, Argonauts,pioneers, mil i tary and ra i l road bui lders whofought and conquered the rugged Sierra NevadaMountains. Paperback, i l lustrated, 262 pages,$2 . 65 .S U N , SAND AND SOLITUDE by Randall Hender-s o n . For more than 50 years Randall Hendersonhas traveled across the deserts of the West unt i ltoday he is known as the voice and prophet otthis region of mystery, sol i tude and beautyFounder of Desert Magazine in 1 9 3 1 , he has de-voted his life to unders tanding the great out-doors. His second and latest book is a culmin-at ion of his experiences, thoughts and philoso-phy. Hardcover, deluxe format, deckle-edgedpaper, 16 pages ful l color, excellent i l lustrat ions,$7 . 95 .LOWER CALIFORNIA GUIDE BOOK by Gerhardand Gulick. The authors have revised the th i rdedit ion to br ing it up to date. Veteran travelersin Baja Cal i forn ia would not venture south ofthe border without this authoritat ive volume. Itcombines the fascinat ing history of every loca-t ion , whether it be a town, mission or aban-doned ranch, w i th detai led mi leage maps andlocat ions of gasoline supplies, water and otherneeded information on Baja. 243 pages withthree-color folded map, 16 detai led route maps,4 city maps, 22 i l lustrat ions. Hardcover $6.50.NEW MEXICO PLACE NAMES edited by T. M.Pearce. Published by the University of NewMexico, this book l ists and gives a concise his-tory of all the places, towns, former sites,mountains, hi l ls, mesas, r ivers, lakes, arroyos,etc., in New Mexico, including those sett led bythe early Spaniards. Paperback, 817 pages withmore than 5000 names, $2.45.MINES OF DEATH VALLEY by L. Burr Belden.About fabulous bonanzas, prospectors and lostmines. Paperback. $1.95.

TRAVEL GUIDE TO ARIZONA by the Editors ofSunset Books. Completely revised new edi t ionincludes maps, photographs and descript ivemater ia l for the t raveler throughout Ar izona.Large format, four-color cover, heavy paper-back, 96 pages, $1.95.BOTTLES AND RELICS by Marvin and HelenDavis. This latest bott le book has more than 30pages of ful l-color i l lustrat ions with the bottlesshown in natural sett ings. In addi t ion to thecolor there are also dozens of black and whi tephotos of more than 500 bott les. It also includessections of collection and display of relics suchas guns, horns, cooking utensils and other col-lectors' items. Slick paperback, 155 pages, four-color cover. $4.50.DEATH VALLEY U.S.A. by Kenneth Alexander.An excellent photographer, the author presentsthe moods and history of Death Valley throughhis pictures and descript ive text. One of thebest quali ty books published on Death Valley.Beaut iful gif t . Large 9 x 11 format , qual i typaper, profusely i l lustrated, hardcover, $8.50.1000 MILLION YEARS ON THE COLORADO PLA-TEAU by Al Look. For 40 years the author hashiked over and explored the Colorado Plateau.Cit ing the area as a t ypical example of theearth's overal l evolut ion, he gives a v iv id ac-count of the geology, paleontology, archeologyand uranium discoveries start ing back 1000mill ion years. Writ ten for the l ayman, the non-f ict ion account reads l ike a journey throught ime. Hardcover, i l lustrated, 300 pages, $3.75.METAL DETECTOR HANDBOOK by Art Lassagne,2nd edition. Includes history, operat ing tech-niques, interpretat ion of signals, and Directoryof Manufacturers. One of the most completehandbooks of its kind. Paperback, 65 pages.$ 3 . 0 0 .HO W TO COLLECT ANTIQUE BOTTLES by JohnC. Tibbitts. A fascinat ing insight of ear ly Amer i -ca as seen through the eyes of the medicinecompanies and their advert is ing almanacs. Ex-cellent book for avid bott le col lectors and thosejust start ing. Also includes chapters on collect-i n g , locations and care of bottles. Heavy, slickpaperback, wel l i l lus t rated, 118 pages, $4.00.FANTASIES OF GOLD by E. B. Sayles. Duringhis search for archeological f inds for more than30 years, the author was exposed to the rumorsand legends of lost gold and t reasures. Afterhis ret irement as curator of the Arizona StateMuseum, he classif ied and delved into thesest i l l unsolved mysteries. An interest ing and in-format ive book on lost bonanzas and legends,many of which have never been published.Hardcover, well i l lustrated, 135 pages, $6.50.

WHEN ORDERING BOOKSPLEASE

Add 50 cents PER ORDER(Not Each Book)

for handling and mailingCALIFORNIA RESIDENTS ALSOADD 5 PERCENT SALES TAX

Send check or money order to Desert Maga-zine Book Shop, Palm Desert, California92260. Sorry , but we cannot accept chargesor C.O.D. orders.

FOR COMPLETE BOOK CATALOG WRITE TO DESERT MAGAZINE, PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA 9 22 60


3/44

WILLIAM KJNYVETT, P U B L I S H E RJACK PEPPER, E D I T O R

JACK DELANEY, Staff WriterJOLEEN ROBISON, Woman's Viewpoint Editor DtwULMAGAZINE

Volume 33, Number L JANUARY, 1970

Located north of Los An-geles, Red Rock Canyonis now a California StatePark. Once the home ofprehistoric Indians, todayit is a popular campingarea. Photo and article(Page 30) by Bruce Barn-baum.

TRAIL OFTHE GRAVESDREAMS TURNED TODUST

"W E WANT THOSE CHECKS!"LOTTIE JOHLBODIES SAD SOUL

PEGLEG AND APAIUTESCHWAB SWINGS...NO LONGER

T H E DESERT FOXEXPLORING NEVADA'S GYPSUM CAVERN

R ED ROCK CANYONGHOST TOWN WITH A SILVER LINING

by Walter Fordby Betty Tuckerby KenMarquissby Marion Holbrookby John Totvnleyby Roger Mitchellby K. L. Boyntonby Florine Latvlorby Bruce L.Barnbaumby Roberta Starry

A PEEK INTHE PUBLISHER'S POKEBOOKREVIEWS

RAMBLING ONROCKSDESERTGARDENING

CALENDAR OFWESTERN EVENTSWOMAN'SVIEWPOINT

LETTERS

by William Knyvettby Jack Pepperby Glennand

Martha Vargasby Eric JohnsonClub Activitiesby Joleen A. RobisonReader's Comments

ELTA SHIVELY, Executive Secretary MARVEL BARRETT, Circulation Manager

EDITORIAL, CIRCULATION AND ADVERTISING OFFICES: 74-109 Larrea St., Paim Desert, California 92260. Telephone Area Code714 346-8144. Listed in Standard Rate and Data. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: United States, Canada and Mexico; 1 year, $5.00; 2 years,$9.50; 3 years $13.00. Other foreign subscribers add $1.00 U.S. currency for each year. See Subscription Order Form in this issue. Allowfive weeks for change of address and send both nrw and old addresses with zip codes. DESERT Magazine is published monthly. Secondclass postage paid at Palm Desert. California and at additional mailing offices under Act of March 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1970by DESERT Magazine and permission to reproduce any or all contents must be secured in writing. Unsolicited manuscripts and photo-graphs WILL NO T BE RETURNED unless accompanied by a self-addressed and stamped envelope.


4/44

A I N B O W ' SE N D . . .begins with a

T R E A S U R E L O C A T O R !

" C O M M A N D E R " 7 2 0Th i s Go I da k T r ea su reLocator is unsurpassed forlocat ing buried t reasure,coins. Civil War relics andfor beachcombing. Features"Tell-Tone " Signal. Locatesany metal object under dirt,sand, mud, rock, etc. Nocumbersome co rds -com -pletely transistorized, bat-tery powered.

When it comes to f ind -i ng your pot of gold, gowi th the leadergo wi thGoldak!EFFECTIVE DEPTH RANGE(Under Normal Conditions!

Start out right-send $1.00 pre-paid for authen tic gold-platedreplica o f a Spanish doubloonfound off Cape Kennedy.GOLDAK COMPANY, INC.

1101-AAirWayGlendale, California 91201

Please send free literatu re on GOLDAK trea-sure locators. I enclose $1.00 prepaid for my gold-plateddoubloon replica with pouch.Name Address -City\ S ta te - - Z i p -

A P e e ki n t h eP u b l i s h e r ' s

w ' I T H TH E New Year of 1970comes new challenges, newplaces of interest to visit and exploreand to DESERT readers two newcolumns which were mentioned brieflylast month. For the rock collectorsGlenn and Martha Vargas will devotetheir monthly column not only to rockcollecting, but will also provide youinformation on lapidary and jewelrymaking. Glenn has 30 years experi-ence in these fields and for the past23 years has been an instructor inlapidary and jewelry making and is currently at College of the Desert in Palm Desert.He is ably assisted by his wife, Martha. He is the author of a recently published book,Faceting For The Amateur. In addition, he is a Baja California buff, spending hissummers there for the past 13 years. A most welcome addition to DESERT Magazine.

Since graduating from the University of California at Davis in 1935, Eric A.Johnson has devoted his time to horticulture and landscape designing. For 12 yearshe was garden field editor of Sunset Magazine and is presently writing weekly forthe Los Angeles Sunday Times. Presently associated with Neel's N ursery of PalmSprings, his column will cover the high and low deserts of California, Arizona andNevada. Eric is also an avid bird watcher and has promised an article or two on thatarea so it looks like we'll get good mileage from the garden man.

W e have had numerous reports from the readers that they have had anincreasingly difficult time in obtaining DESERT Magazine on the newsstands. Ifyou could drop us a card when this occurs repeatedly we will try to correct this.W hen corresponding please note whether the dealer is selling out before you havean opportunity to pick your copy up or if he has just discontinued carrying the maga-zines. In any case, if you had trouble finding the November issue don't bother towrite as that particular issue was a sell-out. Which goes to prove that the nameDeath Valley has lost none of its magic appeal to our readers. The response thatwe have had with the distribution through the Midwest and on the Atlantic seaboardhas been most encouraging and the DESERT family is growing by leaps and bounds.

This is the first time that the Christmas Gift portion of the subscription listhas been computer processed so I fully expect a boo-boo or two. So if Uncle Jackdoesn't get his January issue let me know. Any information regarding time of order orcancelled check will expedite tracking down anyone missing from the gift list. Imight also add how much it is appreciated here at DESERT Magazine that so manyof you feel that our magazine makes a worthwhile gift. The response was absolutelyamazing.I'm not much for making resolutions, perhaps defeating the purpose by mak-ing too many. Here's one for all you readers: Resolve to visit Jack and me at leastonce in 1970!


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A m a z i n g 2 0 0 t h A n n iv e rs ar y C e le b ra tio nL i m it e d T i m e O ffe r o n t h is N e w E d i tio n

on this new200th Anniversaryedition ofE N C Y C L O P A E D I AB R I T A N N I C A

Y o u g e t a l l v o l u m e s n o w . . . d i r e ct f r o m t h e pu b li sh e r . .pa y l a te r o n e a s y B o o k a M o n t h P a y m e n t P l a n

Few people are aware that the firs t edition of Britann ica wasoriginally published over a three-year period. That is why thepublishers have decided to extend the Anniversary Celebration.

Yes, the response to our 200th Anniver-sary Celebration last year was so favor-able that Encyclopaedia Britannica hasextended the Celebration, by makingavailable to you now, a completely newoffer. Under this new offer you may ob-tain this magnificent new 200th Anni-versary edition pictured above at afull 25% discount for this year only!In addition to this new offer, we'll in-clude Britannica Junior, free of extracost, on our Cooperative Plan. Both setswill be placed in your home NOW, youpay later on convenient budget terms.It's as easy as buying a book a month.B e n e f i t s P a s s e d o n t o Y o u . You maywonder how we're able to make thisdramatic discount offer. First, becausewe hope for great demand on this mag-nificent new 200th Anniversary edition,we'd expect to materially reduce ourcosts. And, because we'd like everyyoungster to have the advantages ofthese two great encyclopaedias to helpwith homework and to answer questionswe pass these benefits on to you.Bri tannica Junior is written, illustratedand indexed especially for children ingrade sc ho ol .. . easy to read and under-stand, rich in picture interest and care-

fully matched to school subjects. It willhelp your children get a head start inschool and it leads right into the greatEncyclopaedia Britannica.T h o u s a n d s o f S u b j e c t s o f P r a c t i c a lValue. The new edition of Britannica hasspecial articles on household budgets,interior decorating, medicine, health,home remodeling, child care; informa-tion that can save you many dollars.New E d i t i o n P r o f u s e l y I l l u s t r a t e d .Britannica offers 22,000 magnificent il-lustrations, thousands in vivid color. Butit does not merely show "attractive pic-tures," it's the work of 10,400 of the

world's great authorities.E s s e n t i a l f o r H o m e w o r k . For students,Britannica is indispensable. It is thefinest, most complete reference pub-lished in America. Its use develops theactive, alert minds that bring success inschool and later life. May we send youour special new 200th AnniversaryPreview Booklet which pictures anddescribes the latest edition? For yourfree copy and complete informationabout this dramatic discount offer a v a i l a b l e o n l y d u r i n g t h i s y e a r p lu sBritannica Junior free of extra cost onour Coop Plan, mail the coupon now.

M A I L T O : E n c y c l o p a e d i a B r i t a n n i c a , I n c .P . O . B o x 2 9 8 9 , C l i n t o n , I o w a 5 2 7 3 2 Dept 10033GENTLEMEN: Please send me, free and without obligation, details of this amazing 200thAnniversary Celebration discount offerand your colorful Preview Booklet which picturesand describes the latest edition of ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA-plus complete informa-tion on how I may obtain this magnificent set, direct from the publisher, on the Book aMonth Payment P lan, and get Britannica Junior- free of extra cos t.hallengeoftomorrow

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6/44

R e v i e w sby Jack Pepper

TH E IN TIM A TE D ES ER TBy Walter Collins O'Kane

"All through my life the outdoorworld, near and remote, has made its re-peated appeals for visits and exploration.A footpath in the woodland urges that Icome with it and discover what lies atthe hidden end . . . distance is no barrier,but rather increases the strength of theattraction because of remoteness."The desert country of the Southwestis in itself an invitation and a challenge.It is a world of its own. Everything thatexists within its borders lives a life thatcontinually faces necessity, not merelypreference. In softer regions there maybe choice without pressure. In the desert,pressure accompanies choice and enforcesits way with penalties."

In the preface to his delightful book,W alter Collins O'Kane sets the mood forThe Intimate Desert and from the be-ginning to the end he takes the readerwith him as he gives an intimate insightinto the lives of the plants and animalsof this so-called barren kingdom.

But the desert is not barren to the au-thor and in his writing he brings to lifeand makes the reader feel an associationwith the plants and animals he describes.You are walking with him as he exploresthe "hidden" desert and strolls down ob-scure desert trails.Even the lowly tumbleweed is broughtto life when he ends his description with"a tumbleweed is a confirmed adventurerin the outdoor world." The author's out-standing prose is augmented by thegraphic illustrations of Artist C. M.Palmer, Jr.In his Introduction, the author states:"All through the desert, on mountainslope and in valley, in the sand of a washand on rocky outcrop, adventure and

drama are unfolding . . . The occupantsof the stage, countless in their numbers,6

are enacting a drama that is vital in itsimport and rigid in its requirements. Inthe midst of the vastness of mountainsand canyons, the actors live their lives.This is the intimate desert."Publishers of many fine books, theUniversity of Arizona Press is to be con-gratulated for including The Intimate

Desert in the fall selections. Hardcover,143 pages, $2.95.

EXPLORING CALIFORNIAB Y W A Y S V O LU M E TH R EED ES ER T C O U N TR YBy Russ Leadabrand

In his third volume on ExploringCalifornia Byways, Russ Leadabrand has11 trips through the desert country ofCalifornia. Volume One covers KingsCanyon to the Mexican Border, and Vol-ume Two lists trips around the Los An-geles area.

Although the desert country trips arebasically for passenger cars, he does covera few four-wheel-drive off-roads. Likehis other guide books, the author pre-sents historical background of the areasalong with descriptions and detailedroad maps.Trips include those to the Mojave des-ert, Death Valley, Panamint City, El PasoMountains in Kern County, Burton'sTropico Mine, the Lancaster area, a visitto the San Bernardino Museum, DaleMining District near Twentynine Palms,San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountainsabove Palm Desert, Anza-Borrego DesertState Park and the Truckhaven Trail.Paperback, well illustrated with photo-graphs and maps, $1.95.

BAJA CALIFORNIABy Joseph Wood KrutchPhotographs by E liot Po rter

Naturalist Joseph Krutch and Photo-grapher Eliot Porter have combined theirtalents to create a work of art withnature as the inspiration and focal pointfor their creativity.The subtitle of this book is The Geo-

graphy of Hope and can best be explainedby the author's words in the Introduction:"Eliot Porter's photographs, for alltheir detail and realism, are not just a

traveler's record of Baja, they are worksof art which record an individual artist'sspecial vision. Looked at from one pointof view, they are primarily mood andpattern pictures. In this respect they be-long to the finest tradition of modernart. But they are fundamentally differentfrom pure abstractions because the moodsare generated by external nature and thepatterns are those discovered in nature,not purely human inventions."Porter's is an art which reasserts theold conviction that nature is the sourceof all beauty and the sole inspiration ofart. Much of modern painting turns itsback on nature and attempts to affirmman's independence of her. These photo-graphs, on the other hand, reaffirm theconviction of those among us who holdfirm to belief that 'in wilderness is thepreservation of the world,' not merelybecause wildness is a source of health andjoy but also because it supplies at leastthe hint seized upon and emphasized byeven the least representational forms ofart when they are at their best."

The author and the artist selected BajaCalifornia as their "geography of hope"because it is one of the few countrieswithin a relative close vicinity of metro-politan areas which have riot been dese-crated by man and machines. This is duesolely to the fact that Baja's roads areonly passable with four-wheel-drive ve-hicles, thus limiting mass travel.

Krutch points out that by "happychance" Baja was not annexed by theUnited States in 1848 when those charg-ed with negotiating a peace treaty withMexico were instructed to ask for but"not insist too strongly" if giving it upappeared to have bargaining value. Mexi-co wanted to keep it and, as a result, itis in its natural state today rather thanbeing similar to the coastal highway areafrom Los Angeles to San Diego.Baja California is the stage selected byKrutch and Porter to present their mov-ing and graphic appeal to keep someareas of the world in their natural stateso that man, who, in this modern age isviolating and desecrating his birthplace,can find the time and place to once againfind peace in the silent world.

After reading the text accompanyingthe 73 four-color photographs, you, too,will want to return to nature and all hersurroundings. Heavy paperback, 160pages, $3.95.


7/44

R a m b l i n go n sR o c k sby Glenn and Martha Vargas

WE ARE frequently asked questionsabout geodes. How are theyformed? W hat are the minerals in them?W here are they formed? A nd, most fre-quently of all, is any round rock a geode ?W e are not able to completely answersome questions, because geodes are high-ly variable geological phenomena, andformed under a wide variety of con-ditions.

The term geode comes from the Greekword geos. meaning the earth. In thetruest application of the word, a geodeis, more or less, a spherical rock that ishollow. The internal cavity may be linedwith crystals of different minerals. W henthe interior is solidly filled with mineralssuch as agate, quartz, or calcite, the termnodule should be used. The two termsbreak down at the point where theyoverlap.

W here does a geode end and a nodulebegin? If one could find a pinhead sizehole in the center, would this automatic-ally make it a geode? This could lead tolong arguments, and still not really set-tle anything. This geode versus noduledefinition is somewhat ridiculous as it isworthless unless the object is broken orsawed open in order to see the interior.Here we shall use the word geode whenthe interior is obviously hollow, and usenodule for those that are solid or virtu-ally so. W e shall discuss geodes now, andcover nodules in a later column.

Geodes are found in many locationsthroughout the world, but the greatestnumber of locations are in desert areas.The sites where they can be found areusually in volcanic ash beds. This hasgiven rise to the common term "geodebeds." Finding geodes in volcanic ashautomatically presupposes that they areof volcanic origin, which is usually true.

Geodes are sometimes found under otherconditions which we shall cover whendiscussing nodules.W e are not sure the formation ofgeodes is completely understood, but wehave a pet theory that we like because ithas a minim um of difficulty to answerside issues. If geodes are commonlyfound in volcanic ash beds, they must,

in some form, have been ejected from avolcano. This was done in the form ofa ball of mud-like material, falling withand being covered with ash. After aperiod of time, the mud dried and solidi-fied into a hard rock-like material. Thedrying took place from the outside in-ward, creating a hard shell which shrunkslightly to give the typical wrinkled sur-face. This dried shell stopped furthershrinkage in size. Any shrinkage as a re-

minerals, much as water precipitates onthe inner surface of a bottle.

Many minerals were dissolved duringthe ascent through the rock layers, andthese could easily be deposited in thegeode. Each mineral will precipitate at adifferent temperature. Under such con-ditions, minerals are usually deposited inlayers, each formed at a different tem-perature. The first layer could be agate,colored by some impurities; followed byquartz (the same mineral as agate, withlittle or no impurities), with later de-positions of calcite and others. The quartzis usually clear, but may be lightly color-ed, or perhaps amethyst. This coupledwith the colors of the other mineralsmakes a beautiful interior. A radiatinggroup of perfectly clear quartz crystals,with the tips of the individual crystals

Cut in half,geode shows rough exterior and beautiful interior crystals.suit of further drying took place on theinside, and eventually created the hollowinterior. The end result was a shell witha number of cracks or opening from theoutside into the hollow interior.

This hollowing out of the "mud ball"took place under high temperatures. Sub-sequent to the drying out, extremely hotvapors and gases were rising from theearth's interior, just below the ash bedand its underlying rock layer. Thesevapors are capable of dissolving manyminerals and transporting them upward.Finally, upon reaching the ash beds nearthe surface, the temperature dropped tothe point where these minerals could nolonger stay in solution. The cavity tendedto have an affinity for these precipitating

capped with more quartz crystals, or jetblack calcites, is a thing to behold.There are many easily accessible loca-tions in the desert of W estern U nited

States where geodes may be found. Thefinest concentration is in Riverside andImperial Counties of southeastern Cali-fornia. The Hauser geode beds are thebest known. Others are widely scatteredin Arizona's Yuma County, Utah andNevada. Past issues of Desert and otherperiodicals contain explicit directions tomany of these locations.The geode is still a thing of somemystery, but this feature of not beingtotally explainable adds intr iguing

thoughts to their unending physicalbeauty.


8/44

by Walter Ford

DURING TH E late 1860s Tom Cullen,or Culling history is not clear onthe spelling established a stage stationon the Wickenburg-Ehrenberg road about10 miles east of the present town ofW enden , A rizona. He needed water forhis station. The death of many travelerswho had perished on the long waterlessstretch gave the route the ominous nameof "Trail of the Graves."Although marauding Apaches account-ed for many of the victims, many moredied from thirst. Culling located his sta-tion in a spot where experts insisted nowater could be found, but easy discour-agement was not one of his faults. Hedrilled a well and eventually found anabundant supply of water.Early Arizona history records little ofCulling's activities between the time hebuilt his station and his death, when JoeDrew showed up on the scene to take

over Culling's work. Drew had not onlythe qualities of a true humanitarian but

possessed imagination as well. Late oneevening at the end of a withering sum-mer day while reading in his station, ayoung man nearly dead from thirst stag-gered out of the desert and fell at Drew'sdoorstep. After being revived, the way-farer told Drew he had given himself upto die, but seeing the light made onefinal effort to reach the station.

The next night Drew swung a lightedlantern from a tall pole mounted on hiswell frame. The light was visible formany miles along the trail, and for yearsit guided the weary travelers to waterand safety. Thus came into being theparadox of a lighthouse on a sea of sageand sand.The chief incentive to travel over theTrail of the Graves was the discovery ofgold in 1863 by Henry Wickenburg,about 12 miles west of the town whichnow bears his name. The mine whichWickenburg called the "Vulture" becameone of the greatest producers of gold inthe Southwest. (See Desert, December69.)Hostile Apaches were quick to take ad-vantage of the increased travel over the

Wickenburg-Ehrenberg road. Many pros-pectors, whose thoughts were more con-cerned with finding a second Vulturemine than being alert to the Indian men-ace, paid for their carelessness with theirlives. The Apaches became so bold intheir attacks on the white man that Gen-eral Crook was ordered to the scene to re-place General Coleman, who allegedlywas unable to cope with the rising tempoof depredations against defenseless trav-elers.

Arriving about the same time was apeace commissioner named Vincent Col-yer, who was sent out from W ashingtonto soothe the Apaches with music otherthan the sound of a rifle. It was Colyer'sbelief that increased rations were all thatwould be necessary to curb Apache at-tacks, but even during the year he wasattempting to put his program into effectsome 40 more murders were chargedagainst the roving bands.

W hen General Crook assumed com-mand of m ilitary operations in the W ick-enburg area the harassed settlers felt thatat last they could look forward to the daywhen Apache atrocities would end, butwhen that would have arrived under ex-


9/44

Stage station at Cullings's Wellas it appeared in 1954.

isting military plans is now only a matterof conjecture. A group of Apaches wereinvolved in an incident which completelychanged the military schedule and hasten-ed the time when the whole tribe wouldbe brought under absolute subjugation.

On November 4, 1871, a stage coachcontaining eight men and a woman leftW ickenburg for California. A bout tenmiles west of W ickenburg Apaches at-tacked the stage and killed five of itsoccupants instantly. Two received woundsfrom which they died later. The two sur-viving passengers barricaded themselveswithin the stage and held off their at-tackers until they could make their escape.The loot taken by the Apaches amountedto about $12,000, but perhaps even morewelcome were several jugs of liquor

Continued on Page 39

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10/44

A S M Y hubsand and I drove our camp-er across the Amargosa Desert onthe California-Nevada border and up theroad that winds between the BullfrogHills and the Bonanza mountains, wespotted some rhyolite, a greenish quartzrock. Harry pulled over to the side ofthe road and, as I picked up a chunk ofthe rock, it seemed to squat down in myhand. Now I knew what had promptedShorty Harris to call his discovery theBullfrog Mine.On that August day in 1904, Shorty

Harris and Ernest Cross had left Day-light Springs with a string of burros andthe everlasting hope for a discovery.They were headed toward Goldfield, andhad agreed to share anything that theymigh t find fifty-fifty. T his was a pre-caution most miners used when pros-pecting together.They were traveling along, pokinginto rocks and always alert for the firstsign of color, when Shorty or Cross(they never settled which but Shorty took

the credit) found a greenish quartz rockshot with gold. Certain they had founda bonanza, they staked their claim and"hot footed" it to the Beatty Ranch. Nextday Old Man Beatty located the Mam-moth claim. Cross and Harris went onto Goldfield where they told their friendsabout the find. It assayed out high andthe rush was on. From then on the townof Rhyolite grew rapidly on speculationand the conviction that gold was "every-where in them hills."Holding a piece of the colored rockin my hand, I turned it over and over

10

D r e a m sT u r n e dt oD u s tb y B e t t y J . T u c k e r

as Harry and I talked about the way theymust have felt at such a discovery. I thinkShorty liked the prestige of discoverymore than the wealth it might have givenhim. The thrill of being the "good guy"outweighed any potential wealth as hegot drunk in Goldfield and sold his halfof the mine for less than $1000. Most ofthat he lent to his friends. Cross sold hishalf in 1906 for $25,000 and bought aranch in California near San Diego. Hewas one of the few to profit from the"big strike."

As we drove up the once populatedGolden Street of Rhyolite we felt theghosts of the dreams and high hopeslingering around the ruins of the oldtown. In 1904, thousands of men, womenand children had camped on the slopesof the Bullfrog Hills in canvas and bur-lap tents. They wintered there, scarcelyable to keep warm. Fuel was scarce. They

cut down anything on the barren desertthat would burn. Water was hauled infrom Beatty and the price was much high-er than they could afford. W ere theychasing rainbows or did they hope togain a home, property and a place toraise their children? As we looked overthe desolate slope there seemed to lingera certain feel of these rainbow chasers.The big speculators who encouragedother "moneyed" friends to invest inthe burgeoning city could afford the dis-appointments that came later. Our tentdwellers couldn't. They worked hard andbuilt their hopes into a sturdy, stablecommunity.

Finally they had dry goods stores, twonewspapers, two large banks, and even apost office flourished after a timid startin a tent in 1905. By 1907 the post officeboomed along with everything else andmoved into the basement of the Cook


11/44

building (one of the large bank build-ings). It boasted a postmaster, assistantpostmaster, and a money order clerk. The10,000 people of Rhyolite also voted forand built a $20,000 school but it wasnever used to its full capacity as the townby then was on its way to a slow demise.W e parked our camper in front of the

ruins of the H.D. and L.D. Porter drygoods store. The brothers had been inbusiness in Ran dsburg. W hen they heardof the big strike in the Bullfrogs they de-cided to follow the golden star and inMarch, 1905 they crossed Death Valleywith an 18-mule wagonload of merchan-dise. Now, 65 years later, all that re-mains of this once proud and thrivingbusiness is the store front and the wallstapering down and clinging to the en-croaching desert.Across the street and slightly up thehill are the ruins of the three-story John

S. Cook and Co. bank building. Besidesthe post office, it housed brokers officesupstairs. It was a fancy building with im-ported stained glass from Italy and ma-hogany baseboards from Honduras. Aswe walked over the weathered thresh-old and picked our way through thefallen cement blocks and wrought ironrailings, we felt very close to those eager,gold searching pioneers who tried to in-still civilization in the unconquereddesert.

W e drove up the hill and stopped be-fore an impressive brick building onthe front of which was a large "Rhyolite"sign.An elderly lady was puttering in theshade of the porch. She was tall, thin,and wore a large floppy hat perched ontop of her greying hair. Mrs. Herschel

Heisler lives alone in what used to be theLas Vegas and Tonopah Railroad Station.

Buildings of the oncebooming town of Rhyolite,Nevada a re fighting a futilebattle against the elements.

In 1908 it was the finest in Nevada. Nowit serves as her home and a tourist at-traction. Mrs. Heisler's husband passedaway recently but she told us how theyhad spent many happy years searchingthe abandoned town for "left behinds,"some of which are now on display forsale or just enjoyment.

Surrounding the old station is a largecollection of pick axes, old shoes withweathered, cracked and curling soles (mybut they had small feet in those days!)huge blackened coffee pots and old blueand cream colored chipped enamel ket-tles that made chimes as they clanged to-gether in the wind.Driving down the hill we stopped atthe famous bottle house. No one was

there at the time so we walked up andlooked at the construction of the house.During the days when Rhyolite was firstgrowing, lumber was scarce and what wasavailable was expensive. However, bot-tles could be picked up from any friendor behind any saloon. One miner whoeither drank a lot or else knew a free"brick" when he saw one, built his houseout of beer bottles. Through the yearsthe hot desert sun has turned the emptybottles into beautiful shades of purpleContinued on Page37

11


12/44

"We wantthose checks!' / T O ~ by Ken Marquiss

THE CASTE system is not exclusivelythe tainted property of the Hindus.1 have some well-heeled friends fromcollege days who make a fetish of tryingto figure the market trends. They cooltheir breakfast coffee by panting over ituntil the morning paper comes with thelatest quotations. They have reams of1 nose-leaf notebook pages covered withmathematical hieroglyphics and mysticsymbols they say are the basics of "chart-ing" and would you believe it, theseBrahmins think I'm a crazy wild-eyedgambler chasing a needle-in-the-haystackjust because I like to prospect and lookfor buried money with a metal detector.

If the whole truth were known andreduced to batting averages I have ahunch my "gambling" odds are almostas respectable as their "earnings-to-capi-tal-gains-ratio" mumbo-jumbo!So this is written for my ow n caste;the understanding, respectable haystackersand doodlebuggers who lack the fundsto fool with ticker tape, and have their

own ideas of who's crazy.At the mouth of narrow Mill Creekcanyon, up above Redlands, California,is a Southern California Edison Companypowerhouse built many years ago. Thewater that spins the turbines is divertedout of its course several miles up MillCreek above this generating plant. It runsat an easy gait in a ditch and flume com-bination along the south wall of the can-yon until it reaches the nose of the ridgedirectly above the powerhouse, where itspills into a reservoir kind of thing calleda forebay.12

A big steel pipe connects the forebay tothe powerhouse, and by the time thewater drops all that distance it really hasplenty of zap when it hits the turbineblades.

The amount of water power needed forthe generators fluctuates considerably withthe time of day, and the load on theelectrical system. The electrical engineers,not being politicians, know the logicalplace to stop trouble is at the sourceand so today the flow of power is regu-lated at the forebay by big electricallycontrolled valves at the head of the pipe.

In the old days (which were not solong ago) before the big automatic valveswere put in, the water flow was regulatedby a large hand wheel turning on a heftyworm screw that, in turn, opened andclosed the valves. Turning this wheel wasthe job of the forebay tender. The amountof flow needed was phoned up from thepowerhouse, and the tender set the valvesaccordingly.It was a very necessary job, quite easyand with a lot of fringe benefits butboring, and very confining. However, itsuited "O ld Man W agner" to a tee sohe kept the job for a long time.He seems to have been a bachelorwhether officially or not I don't knowand he soon enough had figured out therhythm of the flow levels, so that hecould almost set the valves by the timethe big outside bell for the phone rang.The tender's house the company sup-plied was nice and snug; the climate was

brisk and b right, and W agner found hehad almost unlimited time at his dispos-al. Visitors were infrequent and so likeRobinson Crusoe, he set about to makehimself comfortable AN D to develop afood supply.

The tender seemed to have been en-dowed with strong squirrel instincts inmore ways than one, as it later developed!He had free rent, the need for clotheswas reduced to a functional minimum,and if he could raise the major part ofhis own food then the salary checkscould be mostly gravy (or nuts) to becached away. This pleased him no end.

The last time I was at the forebay thecement walls of his above-ground potatocellar and pantry were still standing, thefruit trees in the orchard still made amecca for the deer in the fall, and whatwas the garden plot was weed strewnbut still reasonably level.Not having known old man Wagner

myself, I can't vouch for what followsbut I talked to several people who did;and their stories were like a horsehairrope; multicolored and differing inminor details, but all tieing together andgoing the same strong way.

The forebay tender soon developedcertain pecularities that irritated the ac-counting department down in the bigoffice. But he was too steady and reliableto fire, so all they could do was fumeand send "please note" memorandumsto the personnel office complaining thatW agner took his own sweet time to cashhis paychecks and was lousing up their


13/44

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14/44

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Mill Creek power house.Pipe trench scars go up the

mountain behind it tothe forebay.

bookkeeping system again the ultimatesin in any proper accountant's bible!Three or four times a year he wouldsend his accumulated checks down to thebank with a certain camp supply man hetrusted, to turn his pay into ten andtwenty dollar gold pieces. These goldpieces seemed to travel a one way road,because "that old tightwad never oncepaid for his skimpy supplies and his can-ning jars with anything but silver"probably the silver change left over frommultiples of ten! No half-eagles for him!The miser tendency seemed to applyonly to money, for he was reported to bea genial host to his few visitors. He wasan excellent cook, and had developedgenius at preserving and canning thebounty of his orchard and berry bushes.The meat wasn't limited to slab baconand brush rabbits, either. I've seen troutbig enough to lap both sides of a fry-ing pan, feeding at the foot of the flumespillway; and the forebay is in the lowermanzanita and pine zone. An old deerhunter once told me he was caught in anunseasonal snow storm, took shelter atthe forebay, and "ate the best plate of fastveal and applesauce in my whole life"at Wagn er's table.Just how much gold actually hiber-nated at the cabin by the forebay can onlybe guessed at but the estimates of thosewho are supposed to know range from$7000 to $12,000. If found it wouldn'tbe enough to endow a charitable founda-tion but at the present market for gold

coin it would sure make a lulu of a grub-stake !The only person who ever saw part ofthe money was a certain "widow" of thefoothills area who was an occasionalweekend guest at the forebay. She is re-ported to have said that one night aftersupper her host was full of cork con-vivality, and, doing some tall bragging,resented her laughing skepticism. Hewent outside "towards his pantry, andstumbled around in the dark for awhile."

W hen he came back he was carrying twocanning jars, one big, one small, packed

to the lids with gold coin. She said thebig one was so heavy she could barelylift it.I only heard the story second hand, butthe gist was he spread a flour sack onthe table, dumped the coins (as fast asa Vegas pit boss) and then let her runher fingers through the tumbling goldfor fun "But he watched me like ahawk; it was spooky, and I was sort ofscared!" He later replaced the gold in itshideout, still without benefit of a light.

The next morning as dawn was drift-ing down off of Old Grayback (MountSan Gorgonio) while W agner was stillsnoring she sneaked out in her slippersto the pantry and garden to have a lookaround. But wherever the hiding placewas she couldn't locate it.An hour or so after breakfast he spot-ted her tracks, a first class war dance en-sued; and that was the last time she evervisited the forebay area.It wasn't too long after this troublethe hoarding project came to an abruptend. Perhaps the treachery triggered whatdeveloped.The trusted supply man on his nexttrip to the little flat by the forebay, was

greeted by a volley of wild cursing andgunfire and after the first fractured sec-


15/44

ond of surprise he made a frantic dashfor the cover of the manzanita clumpsbeside the turn in the trail. His returnjourney down the mountainside brokeseveral local records, and he wasn't longreporting in to his boss.The authorities were notified and, aftersome skirmishing, W agner was capturedand taken in a straight jacket to the in-sane asylum across the San BernardinoValley.The old man subsequently had a num-ber of visitors to the institution (friendsand otherwise) who found him "per-fectly normal" until the inevitable sub-ject of his last two uncashed checks (orhis gold) came up and then there was

no doubt as to his condition. He passedaway in the asylum without ever im-proving.1 first heard about the gold at the fore-bay from a money hunter of great zealbut questionable tactics, who was con-stantly teetering along the brink of thelaw. He had a heavy antiquated "boxesand sticks" metal detector, and heswapped me a lot of information for re-pair work and to double check with mynew detector some of the places where hehad picked up questionable beeps withhis old bug.

He claimed he was present when theytore down the old forebay tender's house,and that the gold was N O T in or underthe house. So the cache has to be some-where else in the vicinity.Shortly thereafter this doodlebuggerstepped over the legal line and was pickedup in Arizona for assaulting an officeron a grand-theft-auto. He went to prison

for a long stretch.Not wishing to be snared in his dis-repute, I went to the Edison Company'sSan Bernardino division to see if I couldget permission to really search the forebayarea on a legitimate basis.It was not easy. They didn't want peo-ple "fooling around the forebay," theydidn't know anything about the story, itwas almost forest fire danger season, etc.I finally found an older official with asympathetic ear, who knew all about the

chain of events. He verified the basicsof the tale, but his estimate of what hadbeen hoarded was in the lower end of thebracket. He wouldn't make a guess as towhether the gold was still there or not,but he had not heard of any local peopleblossoming out with sudden spendingmoney.If I could get an okay from the ForestService, he would give his blessing "B ut(and he pointed a finger under my nose)there is one condition, I don't care what

you do with the gold if you find it, butWE WANT THOSE CHECKS!! ! Foryears now our books have had a condi-tional balance. W e want to final i t" !On the theory that W agner was reason-ably sane when he hid the stuff, I packedin pup tent, detector and cooked food;and bugged every spot that seemed like areasonable hiding place and then a lotof others that were unreasonable with-out any luck whatever.I mean no disrespect of course, but ifyou can "relate" (as the hairy, unwashedacademic freedom fighters say) to a crazyman better than I can and can figureout where he cached his goodies thendon't forget the oblique, gently warpedcode of ethics of ou r caste, to wit:Don't tell anyone anywhere anytime

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16/44

L o t t i e J o h l -B o d i e ' sG a d S o u lby Marion Holbrook

No ONE on the good side of townknew that Lottie Johl existed untilshe married Eli, a prosperous butcher.Then the tongues wagged and whispersflew, for Lottie was a girl from the RedLight District and Eli was the partner ofCharlie Donnelly, whose wife, Annie,was mighty high-falutin'.

"W ill A nnie accept Eli's wife?" wasthe question on everyone's lips. For inthe 1880s, even in the boisterous goldrush community of Bodie, California, re-spectable folks had very strict rules. Thosewho broke with convention were censor-ed, regardless of any consideration.Annie Donnelly didn't approve of

Eli's rough ways and broken English, buthe was Charlie's good friend and partnerand had been invited to attend all thesocial affairs for Bodie's High Society atthe Donnelly home. Occasionally Eli ac-cepted an invitation, but more often hewas drawn to the part of town that the"nice people" frowned upon. For herewas gaiety, music and dancing, prettygirls and laughter.Eli loved to dance with the beautifulgirl with the hazel eyes named Lottie. He

was enchanted with her lovely smile andsoon found himself falling deeply in16

love with her. He showered her with ex-pensive gifts, and when he asked Lottieto marry him she didn't find it hard toreach a decision. She liked Eli, he hadbeen kind to her, and Lottie felt shecould be happy as his wife. But shedidn't reckon on Annie and her influencewith the "good" women of the com-munity.

W hen A nnie learned of Eli's marriage,she attempted to persuade her husband tosever his business relationship with Eli.Charlie refused. Not only was Eli Johlhis good friend, but Charlie knew he wasthe brains of the business, having learnedthe butchering trade in his homeland ofGermany. He was the one who tended tothe buying of the livestock and the workat the slaughterhouse, while Charlie wascontent to wear a white apron, stay in theshop, and wait on the customers. Thisarrangement was far more to his wife'sliking, also, for shortly after her marriageto Charlie she had set herself up as thesocial leader in the bustling town.

Eli built a lovely home for Lottie andfurnished it in an elegant manner. H egave her the finest piano that was everbrought to Bodie. But no one came tovisit. D espite Lottie's attempts to make

Eli a good wife, and to conduct herselfin a proper manner, the "good" backswere turned upon her.Before Annie Donnelly's marriage she

had been an art teacher and her home,so often filled with guests, was decoratedwith her paintings. Lottie decided shewould learn to paint like Annie so peoplewould flock to her home to see her paint-ings, too. So Eli sent for the best can-v a s , oils and brushes, and Lottie painted.Garish pictures they were of landscapesand sunsets, but Eli told her they weresplendid, and she continued to paint untilthe house was cluttered but still nobodycame to call.

Then came the night of the GrandMasquerade Ball. Eli was sure if every-one could see how beautiful his newyoung wife was they, too, would fall inlove with her and forget her past life. Heordered the finest gown he could finda gorgeous creation of white satin, trim-med with rhinestones and pearls. On herhair she wore a tiara of diamonds. Eliinsisted Lottie go alone so no one wouldsuspect her identity. She put on hermask and went without him."Who is she?" "Who can it be?" Allof the women were envious of the myster-


17/44


18/44

a n daP a i u t eby JohnTow nley

A SHORT PARAGRAPH in a Nevadanewspaper 67 years ago is one ofthe few references in print to a fabledbonanza that was worked sporadically bya Paiute Indian renegade and probablydiscovered by Thomas L. "Pegleg" Smith.The connection between these two hasnever been made and is the basis for thisarticle.

On March 21, 1902, the fol lowingnotice appeared in the Pioche (Nevada)Record: "John McClanahan, who took atrip back to old Missouri to rest his wearybones, recently returned to Sandy, and isnow out hunting up what is called the"M ous e " m ine . The I nd ia n M ous e us e dto bring in rich ore, and it was to thismine he was guiding the two prospectorswhom he killed several years ago. Johnknows the locality of the mine and be-lieves he will be able to unearth it."

The Lost Pegleg has been pursued bytreasure enthusiasts for well over a cen-


19/44

Headframe of the White HillsCom pany (right) whereMouse clerked before he

murdered two prospectors.Somewhere on this dry lake(opposite page) Mouse was

pursued and killed.

turf. Tt has stimulated a long list ofbooks, pamphlets and magazine storiesand has been "found" innumerable times;the latest claim being the Mr. Peglegseries in DESERT Magazine starting withthe March 1965 issue.According to Smith himself, the dis-covery was originally made in the springof 1827 while he was a member of a

beaver-hunting expedition along theColorado River. Smith picked up smallnuggets of what he believed to be nativecopper in a dry wash on the northwestside of the river near the present town ofOverton, Nevada. A quantity of the metalwas collected by Smith and others to useas lead for their bullet molds.The Sutter's Mill gold discovery inCalifornia some 20 years later promptedPegleg to reconsider his earlier decision.Convinced of his error, he organized a

prospecting expedition to return to thesite in April, 1854. A description of the

party was printed in the April 22, 1854issue of the Los Angeles Star. Sixty dayslater, the group was back in Los Angelesunsuccessful and dispirited. From thattime until his death in 1866, Pegleg con-tinually insisted his earlier discovery wasnear the junction of the Colorado andVirgin rivers and the only reason he hadnot been lucky in 1854 was the cowardiceof his companions.Forty years passed before additionalevidence was found to support Pegleg'sclaim. Many changes were made in thearea surrounding Smith's campsite of1827. The valleys of the Virgin andMuddy rivers became farmland and alarge ranch was established where theVirgin flows into the Colorado. ThePaiute Indians settled near the white

communities and worked in the fields.Into this farming valley came a Paiute-Mexican halfbreed known as Mouse. Hewas born in the Indian village locatedon the reservation at the upper end ofthe Moapa Valley. The date would bearound 1870 since Mouse was in his earlytwenties when he began exchanging smallamounts of placer gold for liquor and

merchandise in valley stores about 1890.That an Indian should have raw goldwas not unusual since many lode depositshad been located in the mountains sur-rounding the valley. Many Indians werepassable prospectors and often workedtheir claims themselves. Mouse workedas a herdsman for Daniel Bonelli andwas believed to have located his findwhile moving cattle from one grazing


20/44

area to another. The unique feature ofMouse's discovery was the placer originof the nuggets. W hen questioned, Mousesmiled gently and suddenly was unableto understand English.After several years, the inhabitants be-came accustomed to the trade. Theamounts were minor, and desert placershad a history of being small and low-grade, usually hardly worth the troubleto work them. No one connected Peg-leg's earlier discovery with Mouse. Old-timers in Overton maintain that the nug-gets were encrusted with black, dull

The next morning, Mouse was sobered upin the horse trough and discharged.At the time, the mining camp of W hiteSills, Arizona, only 40 miles south ofBonelli's landing, was at the height of itsboom. Mouse drifted into the town andmanaged to get a job in a mercantilestore because of his facility with English.After a month's stay, he stole a rifle, pro-visions and a horse from his employerand headed back for Nevada. He reachedthe Colorado opposite the mouth of LasVegas Wa sh and m ired his horse in thequicksand while trying to cross. He walk-

This h istorical photograph shows Daniel Bonelli's ferry on the Colorado Riveras it appeared at the time of the M ouse murders.

metal that had to be shaved with a knifeto expose the golden core.The climax to Mouse's story occurs

as any good treasure story should witha double murder. Despite his good for-tune, Mouse continued to work for theBonelli family, who pioneered the settle-ment of Rioville, where the Virgin meetsthe Colorado. During the Christmas holi-days of 1896, Mouse bought a bottle ofChristmas cheer and proceeded to becomeking of the hill in the camp that housedBonelli's Paiute workers and their fam-ilies. Usually tolerant of what transpiredafter working hours, Bonelli and his fore-man had to disarm Mouse after he de-cided to shoot up the camp with his Colt.20

ed upstream several miles and saw aminer's camp on the opposite side. Acouple of shots from his W incheste ralerted the miners, who crossed the riverin their driftwood raft and carried Mouseover to the Nevada side.

The next morning, Mouse offered toshow the miners his gold deposit in re-turn for their favors. Mouse must havetold his story convincingly because thethree prospectors decided to split up,leaving one man to watch the camp,while the other two went with Mouse.Tn anticipation of spending several dayssampling the lode, the two miners packeda heavy load of provisions and tools forthe trip. It was agreed they would send

word back to the remaining man byMouse if they thought they would be oc-cupied for more than two days. W iththis agreement, the two prospectors andMouse left camp heading northwest intothe mountains that rise from the ColoradoRiver channel.The next morning the crew back atthe Bonelli ranch discovered one of amatched pair of grey horses and a bridlewere missing. A set of tracks showed theanimal had been led from the corral toa nearby arroyo and then headed cross-country toward the Las Vegas Ranch. Agroup of ranch hands started after theunknown thief, but arrived too late tofind either the horse or its rider.W hen B onelli's impromptu possereached Las Vegas Valley, they stoppedfirst at the Kyle Ranch. The Kyle familyhad seen Mouse earlier that morning,

and he had been on foot. His story wasthat his horse had gone lame and he wasforced to shoot it. He was armed with anew repeating rifle and a pair of revol-vers. Also, he refused to stop for morethan a quick meal, explaining he was ina hurry. The Kyles noticed that Mousekept going toward the northwest anddid not stop at the Paiute village besideLas Vegas Spring.The return trip of the posse took thempast the camp of the prospector party

visited by Mouse earlier in the week. Theremaining man asked if any of the grouphad seen his two partners. Five days hadpassed since they had departed, and noword had been passed back to him ontheir activities. The entire party returnedto Bonelli's ranch and outfitted for asearch of the area where the miners weresupposed to be working. Two days laterthe bodies of Davis and Stearns werefound at the bottom of a cliff in almostinaccessible country.Both had been shot through the headat close range with a Colt 45. The posi-tion of the wounds showed they hadbeen following Mouse up the cliff whenhe had shot each of them quickly fromabove. The supplies and equipment hadbeen taken, but the personal effects ofthe men were intact. Mouse had beenafter a camping outfit and took the easiestmeans of obtaining one. Bonelli wroteto the Lincoln County (Ne vad a) Sheriff'soffice and rewards for Mouse were offer-

ed by both Nevada and Arizona. Thedescription of the renegade that Bonelli


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Schwab SwingsN E of the most un-usual but least knownghost towns in DeathValley is the once roar-ing mining camp ofS c h w a b , l o c a t e d i nEcho Canyon. It is an interesting half-day trip from Furnace Creek for four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Between 1901 and 1907, the moun-tains on the east side of Death Valleycontained a score of optimistic miningcamps. Some of these camps developedinto thriving cities, and towns like.Rhyolite have managed to leave theirimprints on the pages of history. Inother communities like Schwab, thecycle of birth, boom, and bust did nottake long. Today the sands of EchoW ash have reclaimed what briefly be-longed to Schwab, and history scarcelyremembers its finest hour.

Charles M. Schwab was a steel mag-nate, financier and noted mining specu-lator of the times. He had acquiredcontrolling interest in the famousMontgomery-Shoshone Mine at Rhyo-lite and had bought many promisingclaims at Greenwater.Although it was not true, peopleseemed to think that whatever CharlieSchwab touched, turned to gold. There-fore, it was not unlikely that the citi-zens of Echo W ash chose "Schw ab" asthe name of their camp. W ith a name

like t hat ,. investors were bound to beattracted. Perhaps the logic partiallyworked. The Tonopah and TidewaterRailroad had their tracks a few mileseast of the Funeral Mountains, and they

were considering a spur line over toSchwab. A rival line, the Las Vegasand Tonopah Railroad actually had theroad grade to Schwab surveyed. Un-fortunately, the bank panic of 1907struck a demoralizing blow to miningspeculators and Schwab was among theearly casualties. If the quartz veins ofEcho W ash contain much gold, most ofit is still there.To reach Echo Canyon and the siteof Schwab, take State 190 up Furnace

Creek Wash. At a point two miles eastof Furnace Creek Inn, look for a smallsign on the left side of the road read-ing "Echo Canyon Jeep Road." Turnleft here, starting up the wash. Afterthree miles you will enter the canyon.A t a point 4y2 miles from the high-way look for "Eye of the Needle," anatural window eroded out of the can-yon's right wall. At a point 7.2 milesfrom the pavement, the wash divides.Take the right fork and within a mile

an d a half you will see the weatheredbuildings which mark the site of theInyo Mines. These mines were workedduring the depression years of the1930s and many of the buildings arein relatively good condition.Backtrack down the wash a quarterof a mile, and you will see a road pass-in g an abandoned cabin and crossinga low ridge to the north. Turn off herean d you will soon be in the next washto the north. Turn right again, going

up this wash. After a little more thana mile you will reach the site ofSchwab. Only a few foundations andcrumbling ruins remain as a symbolof man's shattered dreams. N o L o n g e rby Roger Mitchell


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S MAL L E ST OF the canine tribe residingin North America, the desert fox isindeed a desert fellow at heart. Fromthe soles of his feet, haired to carry himskimming lightly over a loose sandy sur-face, to the tips of his tall air-condition-ing ears, this miniature fox is specializedfor desert living. In fact, his particularkind is found only in the semi-arid andarid regions of the great Southwest. Heis known as Vuples macrotis fox, bigeared.24

A handful of fur and bone, decoratedby large ears and a bushy tail, the desertfox is surprisingly little, averaging onlythree to five pounds and standing about1.2 inches at the shoulder. (Cousin redfox, perhaps weighing as much as 12pounds is small, too, but a whopper incomparison.) Dainty and shy, this Lilli-putian desert dweller seems too fragilefor such a harsh environment.

Yet he's at home in the worst of ter-

rains in places avoided by even thedoughty coyote places which, becauseof extremely tough conditions for pro-longed field work, most scientists like-wise avoid. Hence, only bits and pieceswere known of the affairs of this elegantlittle animal until biologist Egoscue, mak-ing the most of a stay at the U.S. Prov-ing Ground in Utah's desolate desert, be-gan a study that went on for severalseasons.He worked in a valley at an elevation


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of some 4000 feet. It consisted of flatareas with stunted growths ofshadscale,inkweed and the like, some taller grease-wood flats, and a dune region bearingvarious desert shrubs such assalt bush,shrubby buckwheat and Indian rice grass.Marking offan area ofsome 25 squaremiles hedetermined to find out howmany fox neighbors he had inthe firstplace residents and transients by livetrapping, tagging and releasing all adultsand pups. Byrecapturing the foxes asoften aspossible, healso expected tofind out how they moved about inthisarea, how they made their living andwhat went on socially speaking.

Coming out of his burro in the cool ofthe evening, the desert fox begins a sys-temaric check of thebetter huntingspots, trotting lightly along, hissharpnose busy testing the night air for newsof rodents feeding. Too small and short-legged for a long chase, hehunts onpadded feet, ears cocked for the slightestrustle until close onthe scent he be-gins his stalk, moving in quietly, tensingfor a final swift rush and capture.Sofast are his reactions, sogood his bodycontrol for quick turns and reverses, thateven that most artful of dodgers,thekangaroo rat, can't escape him.

Like all the dog tribe, the little desertfox has aface full ofbusiness-like teeth,the main performers being four longsharp pointed canines up front for grab-bing and holding, and apair ofbackteeth upstairs and downstairs oneachside that come together like blades of ascissors excellent forsevering tendonsand ligaments and chopping meat up intochunks small enough toswallow.

A pigeon fancier when he can get one,he has the foxfamily's neat trick ofshearing off the tail feathers close to theflesh toleave the succulent pope's nose.For variety, insects arecaught, cactusfruit eaten.

Of all possible delicacies thejack-rabbit ishis favorite and a triumphantcapture here nets abig meal, plenty fora family back home if papa ishuntingfor the youngsters. But it's hard to catchone ofthese long legged speedsters whois offand away at the slightest sound,and afox has to be a good stalker to con-nect with one. Overcoming the jackrab-bi t is abig job since it isjust about thesame weight, and isequipped with pow-erhouse kicking machines in his hind legs

and feet. One fox tagged had a blindeye no doubt compliments of a jack-rabbit.

A diet offresh meat gives the desertfox the moisture he needs even ifwateris unavailable. By staying inhis burrowduring the heat ofthe day and huntingat night, heavoids lethal temperatures.H e also utilizes evaporation for cooling,panting like a dog. His outsized earsfurther present alarge surface tohe airthrough which heat islost, acooling de-vice also seen in certain other desertdwellers such asjackrabbits, burros andcousin fennec fox who lives in deserts ofthe Old World.

H is fur coat acts as an insulator againstheat. Dusty hued incolor, it makes agood camouflage when the fox isabroaddaytimes before the sun gets too hot. Aheavier coat donned byOctober keepshim active through the severe desert win-ter, his big bushy tail serving as awrap-around comforter for nose andpawswhen he curls up to sleep.

The desert foxuses his denyeararound, and that isprobably why he cancoexist with coyotes in those places whereboth are to be found. The entrance to thehome den is not more than about 10inches wide, which discourages biggeranimals from inviting themselves in; or,if one such should begin digging, the oc-cupant can hotfoot itout anemergencyexit. There are always at least three orfour of these back doors. One den, thehome of adesert fox family that appar-ently was taking no chances, had 24, allin use.The home den is atunnel about nineto ten feet long, slanting quickly downto about five feet below thesurface,where the temperature is fairly stable theyear around. There are many side tun-nels, one ofwhich isused as adaytimelatrine. Repair and upkeep ofthe homeden goes on allthe time, debris beingkicked out periodically. Inhis way thedesert fox is agardener, since around hisden the plants, ifany, are greener, com-pliments offox fertilizer.In addition tohome sweet home, thefox has several emergency pop-in burrowslocated usually near the hunting ground.Preparations forfamily raising beginin January and the first business athand

is the selection of adifferent den, sincethose occupied since last fall are loaded

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with fleas. Old unoccupied dens withspiderweb "vacancy" signs across theirentrances are inspected, and a flurry ofhousekeeping takes place. Debris is haul-ed out, new emergency exits opened up.As a matter of fact, two or three densmight be renovated with Mr. Fox doingmost of the work before the she makesup her mind finally that THIS ONE ISIT .Gestation probably takes about 49-55days. Most litters arrive in March, andgenerally consist of four or five woollyyoungsters, furred like collie pups. Theynurse for about 10 weeks, papa keepingtheir mother well supplied with food.

But once the pups are weaned, both par-ents work the hunting detail. If some-thing happens to the mother at this point,the father takes over the entire feedingand training job by himself a very longhaul since it may be October before thepups, almost fully grown, are smartenough to shove off for themselves. Theyapparently disperse well outside the area.For a little job, the desert fox can makea lot of noise, and possesses a surprisingrepertory. There's the good old standarddog tribe bark with varying tones Mrs.Fox using a peculiar sharp one that sendsher pups tumbling back into the den.Growling goes on under suitable circum-

As Carol picks up a piece ofcharcoal, the little fox

(below) circles our camp.He did this several times

before actually looking atCarol (right) and decidingwhether he could trust her.

Evidently he liked herlooks (top photo) as he

cautiously approaches.

During a recent camping tripwith some members of theeditorial staff of Desert Ma-gazine to California's Anza/Borrego State Park, we wereawakened just before dawnby a kit fox "stealing" char-coal from a half-opened bri-quet bag. He made severaltr ips, taking one piece ofcharcoal at a time and nottouching the hot dog andcookies I placed on the bag.


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stances, prior to a bit of gentlemanlyfighting which incidentally involves theuse of the bushy tail as a foil, the adver-sary getting a mouthful of fur instead ofconnecting with body flesh.The usual clamor is raised by lost pupsand a plaintive "lonesome call" given bypaired adults separated one from another.There is also a kind of croaking sound

which only foxes understand, and lastlya rattlly noise used when the fox isabout to dine on something especiallytasty he's caught.Somewhere tucked inside this diminu-tive fox body is an outsized curiosity.Abroad in the cool of the morning, he

may sit statue-still, watching proceedingsat a desert camp. His dusty colored coatmerging into the background, he's onlya bit of the big desert, almost impossibleto see. Or, if darkness is upon the land,and the fragrance of meat sizzling atyour campfire is in the air, you may seehim trot, trot trotting at the far edge ofthe fire's glow, waiting for scraps thatmight be had.But should you try to get chummy atany time, he's off like a shot, streakingout over the desert in a flash of instantspeed that earned him the name of "des-ert swift." A bit of fluff a blurr ofmovement, and he's gone.

Carol holds her breathas her little friend (left)takes the charcoal from herhand and then (below)heads for ho me. Evidently hedecided he was sticking hisneck out too far as thatwas the last we saw of him.Why he preferred thebriquets to the meat andcookies is a mystery.

< t "

With daylight, he did not re-tu rn . However, about an hourlater everyone had left campexcept Carol Bryan and me.Carol was quietly washingthe breakfast dishes and Iwas sitt ing in my camperloading my camera when Ispotted our litt le visitor.Carol picked up a piece ofcharcoal and I took thesephotographs from the camp-er. Jack Pepper, Editor,Desert Magazine.


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E X P L O R I N G N E V A D A ' SG Y P S U MT HROUGH EVERY rift of discoverysome seeming anomaly drops outof the darkness, and falls, as a goldenlink, into the great chain of order in ouruniverse unknown.

Still munching the succulent fibers ofthe yucca, the ponderous ground-slothmade his way into the cool depths of alarge cave. The summer heat had lingeredlate that year and the cave offered shelternot only for the now extinct ground-sloth, but for Pleistocene man as well.Deep in the limestone spur of Nevada'sFrenchman Mountain where the cave islocated, a slight tremor began reachingquake proportions only seconds later.Masses of loose rock plummeted fromthe cave's ceiling crushing animal andman alike. Tons of limestone and selen-ite gypsum partially covered the entranceto the cave, leaving the dark interior un-disturbed for countless centuries.

In 1924, Dr. Mark Raymond Harring-ton had his first inkling of the cave whenseveral old time Nevadans told of legendsthat surrounded a large gypsum cave inFrenchman Mountain. Some old-timerclaimed a band of renegade Apaches hadhidden out there. Others told tales ofdried seaweed that covered the floor ofthe cave. Dr. Harrington, spurred on bythese mysterious tales, decided to form anarcheological expedition and examine theGypsum cave for himself. In 1925 hemade his way through the low entranceand into the cavernous depths of thefabled cave. Here Dr. Harrington found

C A V E R Nby Florine Lawlor


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Trail leading to mouth of cave(right) is shown b ehind

Volkswagen. Mouth of GypsumCave which is located in the spur

of the Frenchmen (Sunrise)Mountains. Photos by

Jackie Buck.

one of our most important golden linksto the past. In the Gypsum cave he dis-covered the remains of man and sloththat had been entombed for over 8000years.The cavern received its name fromthe large deposits of selenite gypsum thatform most of Room Four. The entranceto the cave is 65 feet across and about15 feet high. It drops sharply for 50 feetand then levels off. The slope is very

hazardous due to the rock slides that af-fected the area for so long a time. Thecave is divided into five sections or roomsmeasuring a total length of 300 feet, thewidest spot being 120 feet. Most of therooms lie below the level of the cavemouth. In Room One, there are a seriesof crevices that house a great number of

'

bats. This room was occupied more fre-quently by man than any other portionof the cave. A layer of refuse measuringover 20 inches in depth is the prime in-dication. The first layer consisted of ash,charcoal, burned sticks, flint chips, bones,shells of desert tortoises, as well as selen-ite pendants and braided fiber, grindingslabs and small potsherds. This layer toldof frequent visitors and of the earlyPueblos that seemed to stay the longest.They obtained the clear crystals of thegypsum and made pendants for orna-ments. The Basket Makers frequentedthe cave also, hunting the mountain sheepthat sought the depths of the cavern.Layer number two consisted mainly ofsheep dung, worked gypsum and atlatldarts; layers three and four were verymuch the same. In the fifth and sixthlayers evidence of ground sloth and Pleis-tocene man living contemporaneouslywere found. In one place abundant sloth

hair was discovered only inches from adart knife indicating man's hunting thegreat beast.In Room Two, brightly painted dartfragments were located along with gam-ing sticks, atlatl dart shafts, stone chop-pers and scrapers and flints of blackobsidian. Near the surface were twopieces of string made of sinew and abroken flint* knife. In R oom Five manyspecimens of great interest, both archeo-logical and paleontological were found.

An entire sloth skull, and a beautifullyshaped quartzite dart point still showing

the pitch that had been used to attach itto the shaft. Coarse hair and a thickerbone also indicated the Canupalama camelhad once used the cave as a shelter.A few pieces of decorated pottery wereunearthed near a prominent fire pit. Oneof the most interesting finds was a dec-orated hollow deer hoof rattle. No doubtthis had been used in some ceremonialrite. At the northwest end of the rooman unusually large desert tortoise shell

was found along with the wing boneand some large feather quills of the hugeCalifornian condor. Also unearthed wasthe intact skeleton of a new-born sloth,the size of a house cat, and that of asmall species of extinct horse.In small crevices a number of speci-mens of four-inch sloth claws were dis-covered and in these same rocks wherethe claws lay was a fiber string with aquantity of small feathers attached, per-haps to form some sort of headdress forthe ancient man who had once inhabitedthe cave.In looking over the collection of arti-facts from the Gypsum cave now on dis-play in the Southwest Museum in High-land Park, California, the question offood stands out as of foremost import-ance. In Room One, the only room actu-ally lived in by man, many bones of ani-mals were found as were the remains ofvegetal foods. The bighorn sheep and therabbit seem to have been the favorite

Continued on Page 3829


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REDROCKONLY A four hour drive from LosAngeles, California's newest statepark is a geological wonderland of bril-liant red cliffs and caves where Indianslived long before the W hite M an cameto the Mojave Desert.

Red Rock Canyon is composed of threebranches, roughly shaped like a capitalY. The longest branch of the canyon de-scends from the northeast toward thecenter, while a shorter branch descendsfrom the northwest. Upon merging, thecanyon cuts a deep, narrow gorge straightsouth to the flat northwestern MojaveDesert. State Highway 14, the main arterythrough the canyon, enters this gorge atthe southern end and continues northwardpast the point of convergence, thus bi-secting the canyon. W ithin the canyonarc numerous cliffs, mesas and buttescomposed of black, grey, red, white andpink volcanic material which has beentilted by earthquake an d' molded overmillions of years by rain and wind.

Below the cliffs to the east of the high-way lies a broad, flat valley floor, basic-ally treeless and flowerless except for asmall patch of Joshua trees near the cen-ter of the canyon. A primitive dirt roadwinds its way along the dry, dusty floorfrom the main highway to the canyon'senclosed northeastern extremity. Thebumpy road leads the visitor willing torisk its discomforts past several interest-30

C A N Y O Nby Bruce Barnbauming formations set apart from the maincanyon walls. The most notable of theseis a graceful beige-brown solitary struc-ture which rises regally from a low hill.Behind it stands a narrow ridge of ele-gantly fashioned clay and mud. Each ver-tical column within the ridge is cappedwith a block of pale reddish-brown lava.To those interested in exploring theregion in greater detail, a short walk fromthe road to the base of the cliffs parti-cularly those far into the canyon be-comes a strange, almost eerie experience.The ground is extremely spongy, so muchso, that I felt as if I were walking on afirm mattress. W ha t gives the ground itspeculiar bounce is the porous volcanicmud of which the cliffs themselves areconstructed.Exploring the cliffs closely becomes a

new adventure. The walls, which appearso cleanly modeled from a distance, areseen to be dried, cracked mud at closerange. In fact, these solid rock walls arenot solid at all, but easily given to crumb-ling at all but the gentlest touch. Yet,the cliffs often reach heights of nearly350 feet. W ith in the deep crevices of themassive walls are large enclosures seem-ingly open only to the sky. The outsideworld is far removed from the solitudeof these deeply shadowed rooms.W ildlife in the eastern portion of RedRock Canyon is far less evident than the

3Ss:' '*


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sparse plantl ife. Despite my many visi ts

197001 DesertMagazine 1970 January

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Transcript of 197001 DesertMagazine 1970 January