THE

M A G A Z I

-', - ' ^ ! ^ ' -" •* .

NOVEMBER, 1943 SIXTH ANNIVERSARY 25 CENTS

 ;

lift!

to the point where they could produce it in

6 20^4—It takes taxes to win a war. The
volume on an economical basis.
average Union Oil employee made $211 per
1 492—The business has become so compli- 4 $5,537,329 is a lot of money, but it was month in 1942; but the tax collector got more
cated we had to look this one up ourselves. divided among a lot of people—31,652. So it of your dollar last year than all 8,192 of our
averaged just $174.94 per stockholder. employees put together (20%<i to taxes—20^
2 Only 5 proved of any importance. . to wages) and 4 times as much as the stock-
5 This isn't official, but we've done a lot of holder-owners.
3 Competition between the oil companies— research and we can't find more than five—
By 1939, when Germany invaded Poland, U. S. cigarettes, gasoline, electricity, home gas and 7 $35,696—The machine age has made our
oil companies had already developed 100 octane interest rates. tools of production rather expensive.

This series, sponsored by the people of the

UNION OIL COMPANY Union Oil Company, is dedicated to a dis-
cussion of how and why American business
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in any suggestions or criticisms you have
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THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 DESERT

• With this issue Desert Magazine be-

gins its seventh year. Over there in North
Africa where Desert's editor is serving
with the armed forces, this anniversary
despite the fast moving war scene, will Volume 7 NOVEMBER, 1943 Number 1
bring back memories to Randall Hender-
son—especially that first birthday of
Desert's, when we boasted around a COVER TOTEM POLE, MONUMENT VALLEY, UTAH. Photo
thousand subscribers. Today, on our sixth by Josef Muench, Santa Barbara, California.
birthday, Desert's reader-family is fast
approaching the 100,000 mark. That's a CLOSE-UPS Notes on Desert features and their writers . . . 3
record for a magazine with no promotion
or publicity department. It's a tribute too PHOTOGRAPHY Fort Lowell Ruins
to the ideals and imagination and judg- By J. WILSON McKENNEY 4
ment of Desert's founder—Randall Hen-
derson. HISTORY Lee's Ferry on the Colorado
By CHARLES KELLY 5
• Next treat in store for desert rock- ART OF LIVING Desert Refuge, by MARSHAL SOUTH
hounds is an imaginary trip into time— . . . . 9
two million years back, into a strange PHOTOGRAPHY Carlsbad Caverns
world of volcanic activity, forests, rhino-
11
ceri, three-toed miniature horses and INDIANS Toli Goes Back to Laguna
camels—in the Mojave desert! That's
the setting Jerry Laudermilk has de- By MARGARET STONE 12
scribed with dramatic realism for his HUMOR Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley
story of petrified wood.
By LON GARRISON 16
• Sidney Armer this month relates the LETTERS Comment from Desert Magazine readers . . .17
humorous experiences encountered when
he and his wife Laura Adams Armer es- POETRY The Roadrunner, and other poems 19
tablished their home in the remote Nav-
ajo country of northern Arizona. He GARDEN Desert Garden in Navajo Land
studied art in San Francisco and until By SIDNEY ARMER 20
1940 most of his work was illustration.
More recently he has been occupied with PRIZE STORY Shorty and the Lost Chinaman
painting California wildflowers. Visitors By WILLIAM CARUTHERS 25
to Los Angeles museum of art will see
a group of 60 of these paintings in the MINING Briefs from the desert region 27
permanent exhibit. Navajo sandpaintings
mentioned in this month's story were BOTANY Meet the Trailing Milkweed
made by Laura for Mary Cabot Wheel- By MARY BEAL 28
wright as part of the most important and
complete collection of sandpainting re- NEWS Here and There on the Desert . 29
productions in the world, now housed in
the Museum of Navajo Ceremonial Art DESERT QUIZ A test of your desert knowledge 32
in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
HOBBY Gems and Minerals
• "The Gods Walked Up There" is a —Edited by ARTHUR L. EATON 33
genuine desert Christmas story—the Nav- CRAFTS Amateur Gem Cutter, by LELANDE QUICK . . 36
ajo story of creation and the beginning
of the world as told to Richard Van BOOKS Spider Woman, and other reviews 37
Valkenburgh by the Mountain Chant
Singer. It will be illustrated with a set COMMENT Just Between You and Me, by the Editor . . . . 38
of panels created especially for this story
in tempera by Van Sinajinih. This
Navajo artist has achieved the finest
The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Publishing Company, 636
work of his career in beautiful simplicity State Street, El Centro, California. Entered as second class matter October 11, 1937, at
and gentle color. Van (the writer) says the post office at El Centro, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title registered
his technique is strikingly like that used No. 368866 in U. S. Patent Office, and contents copyrighted 1943 by the Desert Publishing
Company. Permission to reproduce contents must be secured from the editor in writing.
by Little Sheep, the primitive Navajo
artist (—1835) whose polychromes have RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor. LUCILE HARRIS, Associate Editor.
been found on the walls of Canyon del BESS STACY, Business Manager. — EVONNE HENDERSON, Circulation Manager.
Muerto. With Charles Keetsie Shirley Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledged
and Hoke Denetsoi, Van Sinajinih ranks unless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility for damage
as one of the foremost Navajo artists. In or loss of manuscripts or photographs although due care will be exercised. Subscribers should
send notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding issue. If address is un-
addition to being an exceptionally fine certain by that date, notify circulation department to hold copies.
muralist, he also has illustrated a number SUBSCRIPTION RATES
of books and articles dealing with his One year . . . . $2.50 Two years . . . . $4.50
people. Canadian subscriptions 25c extra, foreign 50c extra.
Subscriptions to Army personnel outside U.S.A. must be mailed in conformity with
P.O.D. Order No. 19687.
Address correspondence to Desert Magazine, 636 State St., El Centro, California.

NOVEMBER, 1943
 4 W icuaeM
By J. WILSON McKENNEY
Merced, California
To quell Apache Indian troubles, Fort Lowell was
established by army order March 23, 1873, and became walls remain of the once extensive adobe post. Seven
center of Tucson's brilliant social life. A few crumbling miles north of Tucson, Arizona, this scene looks north
toward Rillito creek and Catalina mountains beyond.

THE D E S E R T MAGAZINE
 Members of Julius F. Stone's 1938 Colorado river expedition at Lee's Ferry. Left to right—
Charles Kelly, Frank Swain, George Stone, William A. Cryst, Dr. A. L. Inglesby, Julius
F. Stone and Dr. Russell G. Frazier.

7<ettu on the (2olotadi

If Painted Desert were the climax of your Arizona trip, and you were on the famous old ferry before Frank Beck-
your way to the Utah parks of Zion and Bryce, you would cross the Colo- with and Maurice Howe arrived with cars
rado river over beautiful Navajo bridge, on U. S. highway 89. You prob- to take us back home. It was time well
ably wouldn't notice the dim road turning off downstream at the service spent, both from a scenic standpoint and
station just north of the bridge . . . And you thereby would miss one of the because the place was important in pioneer
most interesting places on the Colorado river, a point known to river ex- history. Since then I have visited it many
plorers since 1776. Although it has been the supply station since early times, by river or overland, collecting
times for every group of voyagers along the entire length of the Colorado, facts on its early history.
it is best known to the public for its association with John D. Lee. Fleeing Lee's Ferry has been the terminus for
Utah in 1872 to escape punishment for his part in the Mountain Meadows many boating expeditions on the upper
massacre. Lee with two of his numerous wives settled at what is now Colorado river, the starting point for even
known as Lee's Ferry. Charles Kelly sketches the history of this historic more expeditions through the wild rapids
site and he relates the tragic end of the man who is called Arizona's first of Grand Canyon, and the supply station
Indian trader. for every group of voyagers through the
whole length of the Colorado. Major
By CHARLES KELLY Powell first visited it by boat in 1869, and
again in 1871.
Nathan Galloway, trapper, landed there
a bend in the Colo- We were all happy to realize we had with many bales of beaver furs. Julius F.
ra
do river about a day's journey reached Lee's Ferry, terminus of our voy- Stone, with Galloway, stopped there in
south of the Utah-Arizona state age. It had been excessively hot in the 1909 only to find his supplies had not ar-
line, we saw an opening in the high can- canyon, we were badly sunburned, and a rived, and was forced to continue on short
yon walls which had enclosed us for many month's exploring for ancient ruins had rations. It was the supply station for sev-
days. Drifting downstream we passed a exhausted our grub supply. Landing be- eral U.S.G.S. mapping expeditions. Dr.
log cabin on the right bank and on the op- low the old cabin we beached our boats Russell G. Frazier used it as the starting
posite side saw traces of an old road. Five and crawled beneath some nearby willows point for the third leg of his river journey.
of us, in two canvas boats, had come down whose shade afforded but little relief from In more recent years it has seen Norman
the river with Dr. Julian H. Steward on the temperature of 130 degrees. Nevills begin several voyages through
an archeological expedition for the Uni- Having arrived one day ahead of sched- Grand Canyon. Since it is the only point
versity of Utah. ule we had time to explore the vicinity of between Greenriver, Utah, and the foot of

NOVEMBER, 1943
Bright Angel trail where supplies can be
obtained, it always has been an important
stopping point for every river voyager.
To most persons the fame of Lee's Ferry
lies principally in its connection with the
personality of its first settler, John D. Lee.
But it was geographically important in pio-
neer times because it was the only possible
crossing of the Colorado for wagons be-
tween Gunnison's crossing on the Green
and Pierce's Ferry below Grand Canyon.
At the mouth of Paria river, where the
old ferry is located, the canyon walls break
down sufficiently to allow wagons to reach
the river and get out on the opposite side.
But the crossing is not a ford. Instead, the
river runs deep and swift, with a rapid
just below the Paria's mouth.
The history of this spot runs back to
1776, when Father Escalante, first white
man to visit Utah, decided to turn back to
Santa Fe rather than continue on to Cali-
fornia. His return route was obstructed by
the Colorado's deep canyon, but Indians
told him they sometimes crossed at the
mouth of the Paria. When he reached that
place and looked at the muddy swirling
waters and the rapid below, he was afraid
to attempt a crossing since he could not
swim. He continued 40 miles upstream
before finding the old Ute crossing where
he was able to ford without swimming his
horses.
Eighty-one years passed before any
white man is known to have again visited
the place. Early trappers may have seen
it, particularly Jim Baker in 1841, but if
so they left no record. In 1857 two Mor- Above—Robert B. Hildebrand in front of the old log pier which elevated the ferry
mon scouts, C. A. Huntington and C. E. cable. Note landing across the river and old emigrant road leading right to the
Holladay, reached the Colorado at that Little Colorado river. Below—Original John D. Lee cabin. The author, right,
place, although they probably did not with Mr. Hildebrand who as a boy spent a year with Lee at Lee's Ferry.
cross. Their names were discovered on a
rock above the river in 1938 by Billie
Weaver, daughter of Leo Weaver. a description given him by a Mormon mis- ing his supplies. Previously he had made
sionary, probably Huntington. several trips from Utah to the Moqui vil-
The next visitor, so far as we know, was lages, using the old Ute ford or Escalante
Major John W. Powell, who stopped there In October of the same year Jacob Ham- crossing, but on this occasion he was scout-
to repair his boats in August, 1869, before blin, famous Mormon pioneer missionary ing a possible wagon road into Arizona.
continuing on through Grand Canyon. to the Indians, crossed the Colorado at He found evidence that Navajo Indians
Powell says he recognized the place from that point, swimming his horses and raft- had been crossing the river on their raids
into Utah.
Lee's Ferry, looking downstream from the old ferry house toward mouth of Paria Traveling overland Major Powell cross-
river. Photo by Hoffman Birney. ed the Colorado at Lee's Ferry in 1870 on
a visit to the Moquis, using an old boat,
the Canon Maid, abandoned in 1869. This
was the first known crossing by boat. On
his second expedition Powell reached the
crossing on October 23, 1871, the end of
his explorations for that year. One of his
battered boats, the Nellie Powell, was used
to ferry over Jacob Hamblin, who had just
arrived from another trip to the Moquis.
This might be called the beginning of
ferry service.
In the summer of 1872 some of Powell's
men were sent back to the mouth of Dirty
Devil river to bring down a boat cached
there the previous year. When they
reached Lee's Ferry on July 13 they were
surprised to find John D. Lee and one of

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

his numerous wives living in a rude log at Lee's Ferry in order to reach Moenkopi,
cabin built early that spring. He called Sunset, Snowflake and many other pioneer
the place appropriately "Lonely Dell." settlements on the Little Colorado, Salt
Back in 1857 John D. Lee, with about and Gila rivers. Although some settle-
75 others, had taken part in the Mountain ments failed, most of them succeeded and
Meadows massacre, when a party of 145 a majority of the early settlers, grandpar-
emigrants had been almost completely ex- ents of many prominent Arizonans, cross-
terminated. For 15 years nothing had been ed the Colorado at Lee's Ferry.
done to punish the perpetrators of that Soon after it began operating, a large
crime. But by 1872 the government finally number of Navajo came to the river and
began gathering evidence and hunting for wanted to cross on the new ferry. Lee car-
some of the men involved. Lee was ad- ried them all without charge in order to
vised to leave Utah Territory, so he se- keep them friendly if possible. In order
lected Lonely Dell as his hideout, then to make a profit on this operation, he
one of the most isolated spots in the West. opened an Indian trading post, said to be
During the following winter Lee built the first in Arizona. Jacob Hamblin, sent
to the river to prevent the Indians from
a two-room stone house, and later another
raiding Mormon herds, also traded with
strong stone building known as Lee's Fort. them during one winter while Lee was
A high hill nearby still is known as Lee's absent.
Lookout, although it is doubtful if he used
it for that purpose. To this hidden spot In November, 1874, while visiting some
Lee moved two of his wives, Rachel and John D. Lee. From a rare old photo- of his wives in Panguitch, Utah, John D.
Emma, with their families, leaving 17 graph in the collection of Edna Lee Lee was arrested by United States officers.
others scattered in various parts of Utah. Brimhall. Tried in Beaver, the jury disagreed and he
In 1873 a number of other men implicated was released on bail, returning to the ferry.
in the massacre, feeling they might be safer At his second trial he was convicted and
outside Utah, decided to move south to the by one of the Colorado's annual floods in March, 1877, executed at Mountain
Little Colorado in Arizona. The only place another was built to accommodate three Meadows, the only man to suffer punish-
they could cross the Colorado with wagons wagons. It was lost with its cargo in 1876, ment for the massacre.
was at the mouth of the Paria, where it was one man being drowned. A number of His wife Emma operated the ferry alone
determined to locate a ferry. Fifty men other ferry boats suffered the same fate. for a year or two but was forced to leave
were sent to assist Lee in constructing a When the ferry was in operation Brig- when Brigham Young turned it over to the
trail up the cliffs on the left bank. Johnson family, some of whom remained
ham Young ordered a number of families
The original ferry was a heavy barge to cross the Colorado and settle in north- there until recently. In later years it was
built of cottonwood logs and operated by ern Arizona. For several years afterwards moved about a mile upstream where an
sweeps large enough to accommodate one each summer saw long lines of Mormon easier out was found on the south bank
team and wagon. When it was swept away emigrant wagons waiting to cross the river and where a log ferry house was built. At

/*£*!£* PUB.

NOVEMBER, 1943
this location where the river was narrower, fireplace that evening Leo Weaver asked
a heavy rope was stretched, making opera- Mr. Stone if he knew anything about an
tion of the ferry barge easier and presum- old river boat called the Nellie Powell.
ably safer. "Certainly," replied Mr. Stone, who
When Frank Beckwith met us there in despite his 83 years has a remarkable
1932 he brought with him Mrs. Chris memory. "That was the boat abandoned
Gronning, a woman past 60 years of age. here in 1871 by Powell's second expedi-
Her family had crossed on the old ferry in tion. Why do you ask?"
1879. "The river was extremely high "Because," Weaver said, "I found that
when we reached here," Mrs. Gronning old boat half buried in the sand when we
told us, "and we had to wait a week for it took over this place."
to go down. Father took sick, our cattle "Do you mean to say the old Nellie
ran off, and we had a pretty tough time of Powell is still here?" Dr. Frazier shouted.
it. Although I was only eight years old, I
"Yes, Doctor, it's lying in a patch of
had to drive one of the ox teams while
willows not over a hundred yards from
mother drove the other. I was scared to where we sit."
death when we got the wagons on the old "We dug out of the sand all that re-
ferry boat, expecting to be drowned every mains of Major Powell's old river "Come on, boys, let's go!" shouted
minute, but we got across safely. That was boat abandoned at Lee's Ferry in Frank Swain, our head boatman, as he
53 years ago, but the place looks just about 1871." started for the door.
like it did then." Although it was nearly midnight we
Two or three years before construction Although seme of the old buildings all grabbed flashlights and rushed outside.
was started on Navajo bridge, the old ferry have been destroyed, Lee's original one- Weaver took us to the spot he remem-
bered, but seemed to have difficulty in
cable broke while the barge was in mid- room log cabin fortunately has been pre-
finding what he sought. Scratching in the
stream. Swept down by high flood waters served. Behind it stands his old black- sand I finally unearthed a bit of wood, but
the loaded craft overturned, was smashed smith shop, where horses were shod and it was burned on the edges. Then Dr.
on the rocks below and several persons emigrant wagons repaired, with giant Frazier turned up a piece, also charred.
drowned. The cable never was replaced leather bellows still in working order. The Further search revealed more fragments.
and no ferry has operated there since. old dugway up the cliff at the original Then Weaver recalled that a man working
Navajo, Lee's Ferry or Marble Canyon crossing is still visible although partly on the place had set fire to the clump of
bridge, as it is variously called, was washed away, while at the top are remains willows in which the old boat had rested
finished in 1929. It spans the head of of emigrant wagons abandoned there many and everything above ground had been
Marble canyon seven miles downstream years ago. burned. But he remembered seeing the
from the old ferry, on U. S. highway 89. name Nellie Powell painted on the bows
On their arrival at Lee's Ferry in 1938,
when he first found it.
At the service station just north of the the Julius F. Stone expedition, of which I
bridge a dim rough road leads to the site was a guest, were entertained royally by In the morning we made a more careful
of old Lee's Ferry, but few travelers know the Weaver family, who recently had ac- search and finally dug up a section about
about it and few ever visit the historic spot. quired the old Lee ranch. Sitting by the three feet long and two feet wide. It was
made of cedar, reinforced by many small
oak ribs, all held together with handmade
Lee's Port. Built with thick stone walls, high small windows and loopholes, it pro- square capper nails. Each of us took a
vided a strong defense against attack. Photo by Julius F. Stone, 1909. small bit of wood, but the larger piece was
sent by Weaver to the Grand Canyon mu-
seum where it now rests with other relics
of the Powell expeditions.
For several years a water gauging station
has been maintained at Lee's Ferry. But it
is a lonely spot and hotter in summer than
the well known hinges, for which reasons
water gaugers soon ask for a transfer. The
assistant gauger, however, seems to be a
permanent fixture. Frank Dodge, famous
river boatman and champion swimmer,
loves the great river and hopes to spend
the rest of his days on its banks. Some-
thing of a hermit, Frank loves solitude.
Anyone with a genuine interest in the
river and its history will find it worth
while to drive the seven miles from U. S.
89 to old Lee's Ferry and listen to Frank's
stories of fighting the rapids in Grand
Canyon. They're tall tales—but he has
photographs to prove them.

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 The Souths have come home. After a year of wan- M
dering in the deserts of Utah, Nevada, Arizona and
California, they have returned to Yaquitepec—that
home atop Ghost Mountain, looking east across the
Colorado desert to the craggy ranges of Arizona. Iky ft
Through the anxious months of searching for an

1 »P*T
ideal home site, they knew that somewhere it
existed. It did. On the very mountain top from which
they had set out upon their quest.
B
1 1
Ha • •
• • _!_J ' ' I
up \- •, £ •

*****
T/&M" /j Yaquitepec, the South home on Ghost Mountain,
to which they have returned ajter a year of wandering.

By MARSHAL SOUTH all of us were too full for demonstration. For a long while we
did not enter the house. We just sat under the ramada and
rested. And drank in the far vast blue-distance of the desert
f I CROSS the dim trail, between a bristling cholla and a extending east from the foot of the mountain, far below. Every-
I / bunch of withered mescal stalks, stretched a slender thing was still. Hushed and peaceful and sunny. Even the
cable of gleaming silver. From its center swung a tiny faint stirring of a drowsy breeze along the edge of the western
bell of white silk—a fairy bell swaying gently in the faint stir- cliff seemed immeasurably far away. And in the midst of the
ring of the desert air. A good omen. There in the silence and deep, solemn peace the little house, hemmed by its toylike jun-
the warm glow of the late afternoon sunshine it seemed to be ipers and clutter of giant boulders seemed to hold out invisible
ringing a glad welcome. Carefully we turned from the path and welcoming arms to us.
stepped around it to avoid injuring the work of the little desert
spider whose home it was. It might have been but yesterday that we had gone. So little
had changed. As we began to move about, treading on tip-toe
A hush held all the desert. On the horizon the mountains as though reluctant to break the hush, it almost seemed that our
rose up warm and glowing like the rim of a golden bowl—a whole wandering trail of the past months had been a dream.
golden bowl filled with a wine of silence spiced with the With a sort of wonder we picked up familiar objects, resting
fragrance of creosotes and junipers and sage. The whole world still where we had laid them down on the last day of our going.
was so still one walked as in a dream. We did not speak. No Save that there were weathered patterns beneath them and faint
one^-not even the irrepressible Victoria—wanted to break that outlines where the drifting days and infrequent storms had
hushed peace. The click and clatter of occasional stones rolling traced their imprints, we might have placed them there just a
from beneath our feet sounded startlingly loud. few minutes before.
The trail wound up the mountainside, cresting ridges and There had been visitors to the little house in our absence. But
doubling back across tiny plateaus. Soon we were clambering they had been kindly visitors and desert friends. They had dis-
among frowning boulders—clambering and panting, for we had turbed little. Some of the old toys that had been scattered
grown out of practice with steep trails. An inquisitive chipmunk beneath the ramada were ranged in ordered ranks which plainly
eyed us from a rock top as we rested a moment. Then with a told that some of the visitors to the little house had been chil-
saucy flirt of his tail scuttled for safety. There were junipers dren. And along the edge of the terrace someone had arranged
here, and bisnagas and the bristling bayonets of rank on rank of some of our colored rock specimens in a way that bespoke not
guarding mescals. We went on more slowly. For we knew we only artistic appreciation but also loving interest. Several panes
were drawing near to something. of glass had been shattered in one of the front windows. But that
evidently had been a prank of the wind.
"I see the roof!" Rudyard shouted all at once. "Look, daddy!
The roof an' the chimney an'—" We went inside after awhile. The front door, which some-
"—An' the 'ittle bird house!" Victoria shrilled in a sudden one had managed to unfasten, was held shut by a prop and sev-
wild excitement that periled her perch upon my shoulder. "The eral rocks. This loving service, together with the securing
'ittle bird house in the twee. It's still there!" of the unfastened front window and the barricading of a loose
"Yes," Rider said. "That's the roof. And the bird house." rear shutter, had been the work of the artist, Thomas Crocker,
He drew a deep, quick breath. "Yaquitepec," he said softly. at the time when he had climbed Ghost Mountain to transfer
He darted away, ostensibly to see if his special cistern had any Yaquitepec to canvas. On the table lay a wide thin piece of
water in it. Rider's feelings are deep and sensitive. But he clean white board, evidently part of the side of an apple box. It
likes to hide them. had been headed, in pencil, "Great Register" and upon it several
Yaquitepec visitors had inscribed their names. To this impro-
And so, through the junipers and the tall swaying mescal
vised visitors' book Mr. Crocker also had added a few lines of
stalks, on that warm, still desert afternoon, we came HOME.
Home to Yaquitepec—and to the end of our long trail of friendly appeal to subsequent callers to keep doors and windows
wandering and of search. The quest was over. The dream securely fastened.
place had been found. Nor does it lessen the satisfaction that We had expected to find rats' nests and a wild litter of cholla
we found our ideal on the very spot from which we had set out. scraps and mescal pods which these industrious little rascals
Rather it adds to the importance of the search and to the solid generally haul in to empty houses. But even the rats seemed to
joy of the final discovery. have realized that we eventually would return. There was no
It was not a noisy or exuberant homecoming. The hearts of trace of their activities. On the shelves where we had left them,

NOVEMBER, 1943
 nected, was still about a quarter full of water. It wasn't good
water because the open cemented pool had become cluttered up
with trash during our absence. Still it was water.
Our main drinking water cistern was dry, except for a slime-
crusted puddle in which a defunct centipede reposed peacefully
amidst a litter of other "animalitos." Another smaller cistern
likewise was bone dry. The same was true of a couple of other
containers. But to our great joy a carefully covered tank still
retained, bug-free and pure, the 60 gallons or so of water which
we had left in it. This store, with the water in the house, gave
us a head start on the water question of about 75 gallons. We
suddenly felt our chief worry evaporate.
There still was much to be done. On that first trip up the
mountain we had been unable to bring much in the way of sup-
plies. So Rider and I hurried down the long descent to the car
and trailer. Here we hastily collected a few blankets and essen-
tials and started up the mountain again, taking note, on the way
up, of several stout mescal stalks which, on the morrow, could
be pressed into service for the making of a "carrying-chair."
Dusk was closing in by the time we returned. Tanya had the
lantern lit and a sketchy camp supper on the table—to which
we did more than justice. Weary and gloriously happy we all
turned in to drowse contentedly towards slumber, lulled by the
song of the old, well-remembered desert wind, harping across
the cliff edge and the roof-top.
Marshal South sketched the carrying chair, or pack "Towards" slumber, I said. For suddenly, in the still night,
board, which he made from mescal stalks and fiber to carry there was a crash. Bamm! Wham! Clatter-te-clatter-te-clomp!
supplies up the steep trail to Yaquitepec. Note padded Bam! Slam! Tanya sat up with a startled jerk. Rudyard said
shoulder ropes and top hand-hold rope. "Ouff?" in a scared, inquiring voice. From the depths ot
her covers Victoria snuffled and yawned: "That is onwy thee
owd pack wat. He corned home to his house on thee woof," she
a. few trinkets still stood in orderly array. A couple of pictures
observed sleepily. Of course. Temporarily we had forgotten
hung on the walls. Silence and a thin filming of desert dust.
the old pack rat who has his dwelling up in a litttle pocket under
The house contained but one native tenant . . . a big, phil- an overhanging roof-eave.
osophic "Tittums 'pider" (Victoria's rendering of Tarantula
spider) who sat beside the fireplace regarding our intrusion Next day, having fashioned a pack chair from mescal poles
with a stoical indifference which wasn't in the slightest ruffled and fiber, we settled to the job of carrying in real earnest. A
when we carefully herded it into an old can and carried it out big job. It isn't finished yet. But there is joy in the labor.
to a place of safety among the rocks. When you have swung around the circle, and finally proved
that your heart lies in the location you started from, the satis-
Tanya began to open windows and dust tables and chairs— faction of the knowledge far outweighs any physical toil.
«. multitude of little preliminary tasks towards the job of re-
establishment. With the beginning of such first tasks some- For, in summing up, there is for us but one Yaquitepec. No
thing of the unreality vanished. We began to realize that we other place, no other scene, in all the desert empire we have
actually were home once more. With full hearts and a happi- traversed, can compete with it. We saw solitudes and beauty.
ness greater than anything we had known since the day of our We found wells and waterholes. We gladdened our hearts be-
leaving we all turned to the big job ahead of us. side the silver trickles of springs, singing their cool song be-
neath the glowing lift of desert cliffs. But we found no peace
And it was a big job. Every pound of our personal posssesions, and no contentment like the peace and tranquillity that wraps
which we so laboriously had carried down Ghost Mountain around the little home that perches on our bald mountain sum-
when we had gone away, had to be re-carried up the trail. That mit. Yaquitepec!
was going to be a strenuous job. But it was not particularly this
task which gave us concern. Our chief anxiety was the old ques- The granite crest shoulders back the driving' winds. The
tion of water. That was vital. Hastily we took stock of the ravens wing above it and the savage chollas crouch in the spaces
situation. between the tumbled rocks. It is barren and sun scorched and
storm harried. And there is no water. But—it is HOME.
It turned out to be considerably better than we had antici- • • •
pated. The carefully corked five gallon bottle which, from
sheer force of desert habit, we had left in the house on our de- CONTENTMENT
parture, had not been molested. And the regular inside water Who knows content? Not the exceeding rich.
barrel still contained about 10 gallons of pure liquid. We went Nor yet the prosperous. Nor e'en the poor—
out to inspect the cisterns. For it is never worldly substance which
Brings sweet content to grow within our core.
Evidently a heavy thundershower had passed across Ghost Contentment is a spiritual thing,
Mountain about a week or ten days previous to our homecoming. Nurtured by mental viewpoint and by goal'.
Evidences of the brief downpour were visible in cut channels in The outcrop of imaginings that bring
the gravel and in the mud stains in now dry catch holes. Also An understanding peace to heart and soul.
the overflow pool, to which the roof guttering had been con- —Tanya South.

10 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 One of the beautiful new caves in Carlsbad Caverns national park, New
Mexico, still not open to the public. Thirty-two miles of connecting under-
Photo courtesy ground chambers have been explored; well-lighted trails lead through seven
New Mexico Tourist Bureau miles of the limestone fairyland of stalagmites and stalactites.
NOVEMBER, 1943 11
 From birth until her fifth year,
Toli Sombrero (Shining Face Big-
Hat), Laguna Indian baby, was a
member of the White Mountain
Smith household in Petrified For-
est national monument, Arizona,
and Grand Teton national park,
Wyoming. Hundreds of famous
people knew and loved little
"Squawpoose" as she called her-
self. (She explained gravely that
"squaw" meant Indian woman,
and "poose" Indian baby, and
that she was an Indian woman
baby!) Wallace Beery, Ann
Rutherford, Leo Carrillo, Chief
Thundercloud (Tonto of Lone
Ranger fame), were her devoted
friends. Jessica Dragonette and
Lily Pons sang gay baby songs
to her. Governors, senators,
painters, photographers adoring-
ly pictured her in her gay scarlet
dress and cowboy boots. While
Toli lived with her white friends,
her young mother spent the
years in nurses training at Sage
Memorial hospital, Ganado, Ari-
zona. The time came when
Squawpoose had to return to her
own people in the ancient Indian
pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico.

Toli Cfoel
Sack to
Toli, adored by governors, senators, actors, painters. Milner portrait.

una
ii

T ELL me a story of our people,

Grandfather," little Squaw-
poose begged the grandfather.
He looked at the child snuggled against
father of Toli tilled his fields and kept his
sheep.
The old man began his story in the soft
Laguna tongue, but seeing only blankness By MARGARET STONE
him. With a baby's blessed gift of accept- on Squawpoose's face he turned to stum-
ance, she was at home and an Indian. bling English that she might understand.
Dusk had settled down on the pueblo "Our people first came from a land in good with its light and warmth. And, like
of Laguna, sprawled on its grey rocky hill- the north, where all Indians lived in a all women, she wanted it to hang where
side beside the San Jose river in northern great underground chamber. Mother of it would be the most becoming to the
New Mexico. Against the crimson sunset all was Beautiful Corn, and when a great earth.
the tower of the ancient mission loomed power created the earth, the moon, the "Well, she had it rise in the north, but
stern and uncompromising, a bulwark stars, and all things alive, there was still it didn't look well there. South was just
against too much moderness. Laguna was something missing, the sun! Beautiful as unpleasing, and for awhile she thought
the last settled of the Keresan pueblos, Corn stood on a high hill and said, "There she would leave it stuck on top of one of
dating back to 1697. There are perhaps must be light,' and the Great Power cre- the nearby mountains in the west. But
200 dwellers in the town but three thriv- ated the sun. But he left it floating around when it glowed at midday it threw too
ing villages composed of Laguna farmers loose in the sky, plaything of each wind much light and heat down against a big
and herders lie within a radius of 20 miles. that blew. Beautiful Corn, being a tidy rock where she liked to sit and rest.
Paguate, seven miles away, is the largest person, decided it must be anchored, it "Beautiful Corn angrily snatched it
of these, and it was there that the grand- must be placed where it would do the most from the western sky and tossed it out of

12 THE D E S E R T MAGAZINE
sight over the rim of the earth in the east.
Tired of all this sun-moving she stretched
herself against Mother Earth and fell into
a deep sleep. When she opened her eyes
the first timid rays of the sun were falling
on her, from where it peeked meekly over
the earth's edge.
" 'Come on up where all can see you,
Sun,' cried Beautiful Corn, 'but when we'
are weary of your light and heat, sink back
out of sight until we are rested.' And that
is why the sun comes up in the east and
goes out of sight in the west at night. It
never has learned how to turn around in
the sky and just has to keep traveling all
night long to be back in the east when
Beautiful Corn wants to see it again."
Every day, every hour in the Indian vil-
lage was an adventure to little Squaw-
poose. She followed her grandfather into
the fields where he cleaned the tumble-
weeds and silt from the irrigation ditches,
as he explained gravely to her that unless
water could reach the roots of the corn and Pueblo Laguna sprawls on the grey rocky north bank of San Jose river, 45 miles
wheat and peppers he planned to plant, west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Department of Interior photo.
they could not grow and produce food. It
no food grew all the Indians would be duced by living for generations where liv- But they are honest, hard working and un-
hungry. ing is a full-time job. They have hard en- complaining.
What crops the Laguna Indians raise in during bodies, made so by the tough coarse What real money comes into their pos-
their small irrigated fields are hardly food they must eat and by the demands of session is through the chili peppers they
earned. They have some wheat and corn, a harsh environment. They never have raise and truck to far-off towns and from
pumpkins and beans and melons which quite enough food to satisfy their hunger, the pottery the women make and sell to
they store for their winter's food. Laguna never the necessary clothes, never suffi- tourists traveling along U. S. highway 66,
Indians are typically desert people, pro- cient heat in winter nor shade in summer. which passes through their pueblo. When

RIO GRRNDE
PUEBLD5
GJB/HIHIH/SIHISJO
- PECD 5—
KERESRN
TIEUR
TEWR

DDMINGD
r
ELIPE

NEW) MEXICO-

NOVEMBER, 1943 13
 of our people here in Laguna. They are
the ones who told us to call the pueblo
'Laguna'. They said in their language it
meant 'lake' or place in the ground where
water collects and stays.
"This water stayed happily with us, held
from going on down the valley by a big
bank of earth and rocks down where the
canyon is narrow. It was the lifeblood of
our people. Our fields were always full of
growing corn and beans and pumpkins,
and in the wintertime we were never hun-
gry because we had all the storerooms full
of what we had saved from summertime
The Spaniards gave us sheep and they
never went far away to graze because grass
was everywhere.
"Our fathers tell us stories of a great
sea serpent that lived in the lake, but we
treated him kindly and he caused no
trouble. If nt>w and then a lamb drinking
at the edge of the water disappeared,
nothing was said about it because after all
the sea serpent could just as well have
taken one of our children when they waded
and played in the water.
"We watered our fields from the lake
and it was a fruitful land. Too fruitful for
our own good I guess because a tribe living
not far away had no beautiful lake with a
kindly sea serpent, and they were unable
to bear with fortitude the good fortune of
the Laguna people. One stormy night there
was no moon, and even the stars hid away
among the clouds. The envious Indians
Laguna pottery is beautiful in design, but fragile due to poor quality of clay in the came and tore away the high dike at the
region. U. S. Indian Service photo. end of the valley where the lake lay im-
prisoned. The life-giving water rushed
the crops are harvested many of the men on the doormat. They know too much madly down the canyon and was lost for-
go to the machine shops of the Santa Fe about the extremely poor manners of cur- ever.
railroad even as far away as Needles, Cali- ious tourists to encourage them.
fornia. "Our old people say the wind wailed
Back some hundreds of years ago the
Laguna pottery is attractive and in- Spanish soldiers and priests came to live in and whipped the loose desert sand around
teresting but quite fragile. The clay in this their midst and the Lagunas have found trying to stop the water from leaving, but
section of the country is too sandy, and al- that hospitality to other races does not pay! all they could do was in vain. The sand
though their design and color are fine, La- At that time, according to legend and to only covered the tracks of the wicked In-
guna women never have learned how to records left by the Spanish, there was a dians so that in the morning we could not
fire pottery properly. Small two-headed large body of water in the valley held there see which way they went. And even now,
bird ash trays and little baskets with twist- by a landslide which had blocked the can- when there is no moon and the wind calls
ed handles, black and red on white back- yon through which the river flowed. When sadly along the houses in the terraced vil-
ground, are the chief items they offer for Toli begged for another story while lage the older men say they can hear the
sale. The older women and children have Grandfather rested on the low stone step despairing cries of our friendly sea serpent
erected stone and brush shelters along U. before his door, listening to the homey as he was swept away from us in the dark-
S. highway 66, and day after day they sounds of the village, he told her about ness."
patiently offer poor pottery and bright this water and about the sacred serpent
flashing smiles to passing tourists. that had lived in it. Little Squawpoose listened that night,
as she lay snug and warm in her blankets,
In the fall when the peppers are har- Almost all the Southwest Indians have for the sound of the sea serpent. She was
vested they are strung on heavy cord and a legend of a winged serpent in one form ready to hide her smooth black head under
hung to dry. These strings cover the sunny or another. The story of the Laguna sea the covers, but the next thing she knew it
sides of every grey adobe in the pueblo— serpent is to be found in government re- was morning and Grandfather told her she
and there is no more colorful a sight. ports.
Artists travel from remote places to paint could go across the sandy hills to the farm-
"Once, long ago," Grandfather began, ing village of Paguate.
them, and miles of colored films are "plenty of water lived in our valley. That
squandered on the peppery landscape by was when the Spanish priests and soldiers That day they looked over the flocks of
movie fans. They pay dearly for the priv- came to this land looking for gold and sheep, and the little girl played with the
ilege of taking such pictures, as the La- wealth. One winter the soldiers from mischievous lambs bounding around the
gunas are not famous for their "Welcome" across the great water lived in the houses warm desert. When they went home to eat

14 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

the hot stew and crusty bread baked in an his very old grandmother who knows he
outside oven by Grandmother, a small is something sacred.
motherless black lamb went along in the The low whitewashed ceiling of Grand-
wagon to be the joy of the little girl's mother's kitchen was always fascinating to
heart—and the despair of the neat house- the little girl. Here among the strings of
keeping Grandmother. peppers were hung bunches of dried sweet
Now and then the small Indian girl corn, the husks stripped back from the
would feel a little homesick for her foster kernels and tied together. Now and then
people and then she would try to tell her an ear would be taken down, the husk
grandfather about living close to snow- chopped off and the ear put to soak over-
crowned mountains, and going out in night. The next time little Squawpoose
boats on deep blue lakes where bears came saw it the corn was part of a rich mutton
to the edge of the water and ate huckle- stew.
berries from the bushes. Of the great Dried pumpkin and dried peaches and
sulky moose that used to stand outside the apples, strings of green beans dried in the
door of the big log house where she lived, sun and in the wintertime round green
and kept her from playing in her swing melons wrapped in grass and hung in nets
hung on the limb of a huge pine tree. And added to the food store. When the dry red
she would remember the proud doe that peppers were being ground to a fine
brought hef twin babies to look in at the Squawpoose, when she was 3V2 years powder in a stone bowl, the little girl al-
window while Squawpoose and Bill of the old. ways found something to do elsewhere.
household ate their breakfast. Or maybe The pepper got into her nose and made
she'd talk about the pet antelope always anything. The stunned boy, brought out her sneeze, and tears streamed from her
begging bread from the kitchen door. She of his coma by the cool driving rain in the eyes.
asked if Grandfather knew her friend Wal- face, was carried in triumph to the village, Every week the Indian women made
lace Beery or Tonto of the Lone Ranger and even today he is the object of awe from homeground wheat into loaves to be baked
stories? But Grandfather, wise in the way
of homesick children, would take her into
the fields with him and she'd be happy Toli would go out to the fields where the old man tended the ewes and their lambs.
again. U. S. Indian Service photo.

She liked to go to the meadow where

the grass grew tall and sweet and watch
the men cut it with scythes so that it lay in
smooth windrows and cured in the sun. In
this field it was that her Uncle Felipe al-
most stopped being alive! He came there
one hot day with Grandfather to help cut
and rake the hay. But a sudden thunder-
storm broke and Felipe was sent to seek
shelter under the wagon until the rain
would stop.
There was a blinding flash, and when
the smoke cleared away one of the horses
tied close to the wagon was killed by
lightning and the little boy lay senseless
with his small face turned up heedless of
the beating rain. Grandfather did not for-
get the laws of his tribe. He longed to
snatch the small body in his arms and try
to bring back a spark of life into this, his
only son. But he stood some distance
away, his tears mingling with the falling
rain and waited for the medicine man to
come and clear away the wicked spirit of
the storm. Otherwise it might follow the
little lad into the world where he seemed
to have gone, and harm him again there.
Minutes dragged by while the village
was searched for the medicine man.
Friends and neighbors gathered in the
rain and gazed sadly at the boy, and many
of them wailed softly, adding their grief to
that of the mother. The father stood alone
and never took his eyes from his child. All
at once a small arm moved and then a
sound reached the crowd, "Father, I am
cold." There was no more waiting for

NOVEMBER, 1943 15
in the outdoor ovens. It was fascinating to Sunday, with prayer-book in hand, the
see a fire of dry wood built in the little little girl and her grandparents entered the
adobe oven shaped like a chocolate drop.
A thin stone was placed tightly against the
grim old mission, cool and dark and quiet
inside. She liked the smell of burning in-
Sez Hard
cense and the songs from the choir loft,
oven door to keep the heat inside. When
the fire was burned to coals the ashes were
pulled out with a wooden hoe and the floor
and it was amusing to turn around and
around and look at all the painted angels
Rock Shorty
wiped clean with juniper boughs dipped
in water. Right down on the hot floor
on the ceiling and the strange hungry-
looking saints on cracked canvas back- of
grounds.
went the loaves, the stone door shut again,
and after awhile when Grandmother saw That was nice, but she liked best to go Death
the sun reach a certain mark on the wall, back to the plaza where Indian dancers
she opened the door and there was a most moved to the thump of a drum and sang Valley
delicious smell of hot crusty bread. Some- songs not taught to them by a white man's By LON GARRISON
times Squawpoose kneaded a special little church. As they stamped the hard earth
loaf herself and insisted on Grandfather and chanted age-old songs to their red
sharing it with her. The inside of the loaf gods, imploring them for rain on the "Oh sure—we have cold weather
as not as fine and white as those Grand- parched fields, a chord of memory was here in Inferno sometimes!" stated
mother made, but the old man bravely stirred in the heart of the child and her Hard Rock Shorty. "Not that to-
choked it down and told her she was a fine own small feet moved in the rhythm of the day's any sample o' course but I've
little cook. drums. Toli is Indian! seen it get just as cold as you can
take it!"
Hard Rock looked out over the
Little Squawpoose liked the smell of burning incense and the painted angels on the landscape shimmering with the ris-
ceiling in the cool darkness of the grim old church—but she was attuned to the ing heat waves and shivered a bit
rhythm of the drums as her own people chanted age-old songs to their ancient gods. thinking of his last blizzard.
United Pueblos Indian agency photo. "Why, the last time it got real
good an' cold here the cold weather
saved my life! That's a fact.
"It was 14-15 years ago. The dude
business was goin' good over to the
Fried Egg Canyon hotel an' I got so
interested in the stories about the
feather beds an' the fancy-pants
waiters that I went over to look.
They give me a room up on the
fourth floor an' that was nearly fatal.
"Along durin' the night I heard
folks a-hollerin' outside an' bangin'
an' runnin' around an' when I open-
ed my door to see what the commo-
tion was all about I found out the
hotel was on fire! Yes Sir—burnin'
right up an' me there in it an' the
stairway blocked so I only had a
fourth floor window to get out of!
"I went over to the window an'
pulled it up an' looked out. That
ground was sure a long ways off!
They had ladders up gettin' folks
out o' the lower rooms but they sure
couldn't reach me. I didn't have no
rope — the beddin' wasn't long
enough to get me down to the ladder
an' I was really just about to join
Wing "A' o' the Fried Egg Canyon
hotel in the ashes when I noticed
how dad-blamed cold it was out-
side.
"Yup—it'd really got cold quick
an' watchin' the water freeze as it
come out o' the fire hoses give me
the idea that saved my life. I grabbed
the water pitcher, run over to the
window, poured the water out the
window, an' then after I put my
pants on, I slid down the icicle!"
- .
THE DESERT MAGAZINE
LETTERS...
Not Enough Facts in Desert . . .
Twentynine Palms, California
Editor Desert Magazine:
I read Desert Magazine because thereby I enlarge my contacts
with the desert and obtain information which is otherwise un-
available to me. However, I find too little in it of the FACTS
of the desert and too much of the superior white's account of his
contact with the desert, with much airy nonsense about his ap-
preciation of its beauties and so-called hardships.
The human element in the desert, especially the white man
element, is a comparatively minor part of it, and is greatly over-
shadowed by its faunae, flora, climate, geology, etc. My in-
terest is in the straight factual articles you do not, as a matter of
policy care to publish. I have to wade through much extraneous
matter to get at the facts which are thinly scattered throughout.
Occasionally you do publish a largely factual article despite your
announced policy and I suppose that is why I continue my sub-
scription though I sometimes think to let it lapse.
The factual type of article need not be a bone-dry affair. It
can and does appeal to many of us (I hope to most of us.) You
have published articles by Prof. Laudermilk, Mary Beal and
Marshal South which contained much meat to interest the non-
specialist general reader. To my mind, a good fact is worth
more than columns of esoteric descriptive matter written for the
fuzzy thinkers. A travelog of a superior white visiting the world
of the simple desert Indian wherein the traveler writes of his
personal reactions to his "discoveries" of a very few sketchy
facts he thinks he is uncovering, heavily watered with much de-
tail of the minutiae of his trip, is almost not worth the wading
through to get at those few facts.
Marshal South's early articles, wherein he describes his ex-
periences in establishing himself and his family on the desert,
his accounts of building, pottery making, mescal roasting, ex-
periments with natural desert foods, etc., are more interesting
than his later diatribes against the artificialities of conventional
civilization.
I realize my particular interests are not necessarily the same
as those of all the other subscribers of Desert but I do think my
tastes are those of the average moderately educated person who
constitute the larger part of your subscription list and who con-
tinue to read the magazine year after year because we really are Upper photo shows Mr. Simonson at Hieroglyphic canyon,
interested in the desert. I do think that if more articles are in- Utah, as it was in 1920. Middle, same petroglyphs today
cluded containing FACTS of the life and struggles of the real disfigured by vandals. Lower, another group of petro glyphs
desert dwellers, the animals, the birds, the insects, the plants, in same canyon, showing work of "chiseler clan."
the Indians, together with environmental data on the geology,
climate, etc., that we readers can supply the drama and apprecia- Utahn Scores Destruction of Indian Art . . .
tion, each to his own ability and need. Green River, Utah
You may have some subscribers who enjoy reading the drama- Editor Desert Magazine:
tized travel agency accounts of our Southwest Indians but I think My first visit to Hieroglyphic canyon, in southeastern Utah,
most of us would like more Indians and no travelers, more about on the Green river was about the year 1920. At that time the
our chipmunks, kangaroo rats, snakes, cactuses, palms and many petroglyphs were free from the obnoxious work of vandals.
cloudbursts and less about the ephemeral whites who come in oc- It is obvious from one of the pictures that those responsible for
casional contact with them. the mutilation, cared little for the work of our early Indians.
The account of Willy Boy's final adventure was enjoyed by In spite of the laws which carry stiff penalties for tampering
most of us despite the few who complained. We who are adult with such antiquities the destruction continues unabated, not
surely know that most of the early whites were not plaster saints. only in this canyon but in others. I have also seen pictographs
While I am not advocating a diet of yellow journalism I think that were ruined by those who have painted their names over the
Desert should reflect the desert as a whole as it is and not as our pictures or who have bombarded this ancient work with a srx
pollyannas would like it—all cleaned up with the "stickers" gun or rifles.
trimmed, the "immoralities" hidden and with wordy bursts of To stop the devastators from this outrage is not an easy mat-
eloquence over the hardy individuals who brave its hardships ter. It will require the cooperation of every individual who ap-
bolstered with an automobile, vacuum bottles, elaborate camp- preciates and wants to see the work of our Indians remain on the
ing equipment. walls of the canyons.
MERRITT W. BOYER JOHN P. SIMONSON

NOVEMBER, 1943 17
Desert Tops With Pioneer . . . to produce additional plants large enough to harvest. Interest-
Buckeye, Arizona ing as the hairy and wooly cacti are I think I shall just keep mine
Dear Sir: for decoration and get someone to shear the wool off a sheep,
Enclosed find money order for D. M. for one year. We have which will live most anywhere and grow much faster.
been reading it for three years but miss it sometimes at the JOHN W. HILTON
stand.
We think it is tops, as we have lived on the desert for 40 No Hope for Cactus Wool . .
years and appreciate it very much. St. Louis, Missouri
A. R. PHILLIPS Dear Miss Harris:
• • • Several thrifty-minded persons have suggested the use of cac-
About Cactus "Wool" Crop . . . tus hair as a possible economic product, but in my estimation
Brookline, Massachusetts there is no possibility of it ever being put to commercial use. All
Dear Mr. Henderson: the hairy cacti are rather slow growers and have to be many years
Enclosed is a sample fiber from a cactus in Rose Park green- old before reaching appreciative size. Then too the amount of
house in Hartford, Connecticut. It feels like wool. Through hair or wool produced on an individual is negligibly small.
hybridization could not a cactus produce a vegetable wool? I've LADISLAUS CUTAK,
heard of wool plants in Hawaii found in volcanoes. Missouri Botanical Garden
MRS. EDNA CLAIRE DAVIS • • •
Dear Mrs. Davis—We asked artist-mineralogist-cactophile Coast Guard Made Homesick . . .
John Hilton about possibilities of producing cactus-wool com- U. S. Coast Guard
mercially, and below is his answer.—L. H. Cape Blanco, Sixes, Oregon
Dear Sirs:
Thermal, California
Dear Miss Harris: The U. S. O. brought a number of magazines to our unit last
week for the boys to read. Among them was a copy of your
Species of Cephalocereus from Mexico and Orocereus from March, 1941, issue of the Desert Magazine. I'm a native Cali-
South America do produce (hair) which is soft and tough and fornian as well as a desert lover, and I think your magazine
has been used by primitive tribes for weaving, as have the fibers is tops.
themselves after die flesh has been cleaned away. The skeletons
of many of the tropical cereus species are used today for manu- The only trouble is that it causes me to get a bit homesick. I
facturing small tools, brushes and even the roofs of houses. used to love to travel over the desert and take pictures—the
Only drawback to commercialization is relatively small range photography in your magazine is excellent.
of the plants and fact that it would take from 20 to 100 years LAWRENCE E. MORRIS, Sea. lc

The final Chapter.

The people of Imperial Valley will soon write Water they now have in abundance thanks
the final chapter in a thrilling story of progress to the All American canal and Boulder dam
—danger of flood or drouth is past-—soon the
that has been twenty-five years in the story will be completed as full development
making. of the power resource is assured and pay-
ment of the canal debt by power sales become
For a quarter of a century they have fought possible.
to secure the future of this fertile valley—to
insure the vital water supply—to guarantee By purchase of the competing power system
—by elimination of this costly competition—
the economic future by full development by securing a market for double their present
of the great natural resource of power on the sales—the program will be completed and the
All American canal. final chapter written in this saga of progress.

Imperial Irrigation District

Use Your Own Power-Moke it Pay for the AH American Canal

18 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 By CARRITA LAUDERBAUGH
Pacific Palisades, California
Does anyone know where the roadrunner's gone
Who used to sit on my fence,
His Halloween noise-maker call sounding out,
So raucous, cheerful, intense?
If anyone hears that he's fighting the war
Or working in our defense,
Please tell him for me to fight firmly and long,
But come, come back to my fence!

POETRY OF THE DESERT

By MARIE ZETTERBERG JELLIFFE
Claremont, California
Poetry of earth within the desert lives
Through bright-hued clouds against a sea-blue
sky.
Its cadence fills the hearts of many flowers.
Its rhythm thrills the birds that upward fly
Toward golden suns and moons; the sifting
sands
Bejewel themselves in glints of passing light.
Their meter flows along the curving strands.
The mountains raise their gold-lit heads in song.
The lonely plains, the silent waiting trails
Re-echo verse, and melodies prolong.
All Nature's scroll unrolls the musicales
Of stars that sing in chorus to the night.
Each measure in creative glory swells
Where God the Master of all beauty dwells.
• • •
VIEWPOINT
By LANORA RUSSELL WHARTON
Long Beach, California
Together, side by side they rode the bus,
Each watching desert landscape gliding back.
To one, the road stretched velvety and black,
A ribbon, through the sagebrush and tht
flowers,
Exciting wonder at each bend and curve. —Photo by V. Stanley-Jones, Garnet, Calijornia.
The mountain hues gave testimony mute,
Inviting introspection of the soul . . .
A tuneful lure that sang and filled her heart. GRAND CANYON MOJAVE FUEHRER
By FRANCES HOPKINS By S/SGT. MARCUS Z. LYTLE
The other chewed her gum, then restless, spoke: Newark, New Jersey San Diego, California
"My Gawd! This desert sand sure gets my Here in the first Disordered lines of cloud are smashed;
goat!" Golden solitude, The conqueror breaks forth,
God left one sunset Leading a blitzkrieg of the sky
And a desert dawn Out of the stark hot north.
DESERT GLAMOUR
Held in stone-cut color, His war-song echoes through the hills,
By KATHARINE BUOY Unfading and eternal He looses fierce white fire
Portland, Oregon As beauty and wisdom, Of parching sun upon the town,
Back to the desert my spirit is flying, Fresh as wonder, The trees bow to his ire.
Over high mountains of pine-crested green, Primitive as song.
Over white glaciers on lofty peaks lying, His marching cloak flames through the air,
Over wild spaces where storm winds are sigh- Metallic, desert blue;
ing, DESERT NIGHT Unchecked, his panzers swirl the dust
Over low valleys where rain elves are crying, Down every avenue.
By MELISSA DICKSON
Crossing all barricades lying between; Riverside, California As once Attila conquered France
Over barbed cacti in sandy wastes growing There is a majesty to space— And Timur stalked through Sind,
Under the desert sun, fervidly glowing, This endless, boundless, soundless place. This fuehrer overruns our land—
Warming the winds from mountain-tops blow- There is a dignity of star, Mojave desert wind!
ing Untouchable and so far, • • •
Over the chollas' illusory sheen. Among this infinite expanse.
I pause to ask my soul, Perchance MAGNITUDE
Can I alone and in the dark By LELA M. WILHITE
Purple or lavender colors the shading, Make just one mark, one faint small mark? El Centro, California
Changing through hours until daylight is No land can hold a dread emptiness
fading, Whose solitude is a mute caress
Bringing out stars in a matchless parading, That calmly lies in the evening's haze
Waving bright torches on midnight's blue To the far horizon revealed in a sunset blaze.
CREED OF THE DESERT
Beyond the wind-etched grey, blown sand,
By JUNE LEMERT PAXTON As if they were a benediction to the serrate land,
Back to the desert I find so enchanting, Yucca Valley, California
Silences leaving my spirit serene. Are signals reared, as hope would rise,
Shadows now lengthen as day is levanting The desert broods over troubled times, The gaunt mountains towering to the skies,
Over the mountains where shining rays' slanting And waits for a change that will be;
It waits for the day of the new-born age- Westward, above the capricious mould
Hushes my breath and my heart's restless pant- Across the desert, with its floor of tawny gold.
ing, The age to set souls free. All the earth of empty space can hold no more
Conscious of entities here, though unseen! Of fullfilled dreams than the desert's store.

NOVEMBER, 1943 19
 • tit.-* •• %y\ .'91 \ '-
..BLOCK MOU'NTff/N'i

EIGHT-SIDED
HOUSE

Garden In A/ avajo
j Jland
"All that trouble for a bunch of hosh—and Heart-twisters at that!" was The high altitude and drought condition
the scornful exclamation of the Navajo Indians who watched Mister Cac- limited our garden to the plants native to
tus, as they called Sidney Armer, collect native cactus and shrubs to add our own district, but we scented adventure
to his garden. But as they helped him find rare plants about the mesas in experiment. Whereas Navajo prayers
and canyons of Black Mountain country in northeastern Arizona, a new for rain might bring no results, we pro-
interest was added to their lives. Soon they were participating as en- posed to see what could be done by causing
thusiastically as city Victory Gardeners—and now they know it does dishwater to do double duty.
make a difference whether a clump of cactus grows here or there in the Our first trophy was the Heart-twister
desert. cactus, Echinocereus coccineus. Bah-tso, a
Navajo boy, helped us collect it. We
By SIDNEY ARMER started out with a shovel and a large square
of canvas, having first arranged with
/ V N THE northeastern corner of Ari- was unknown, Laura proposed to intro- Charlie-Many-Goats who was going down
V / zona, 6,000 feet above the level of duce at least a bit of it. At her order, the valley with a wagon after mutton to
the sea, the flat-topped ridges of Navajo wagons began to haul logs and pick us up on the homeward trip.
the Black Mountains enclose a vast stretch rock from remote mountains. In due time Bah-tso's store of English was limited to
of desert wilderness. It is a bleak area of an eight-sided house was built. Facing the the words, "Over there." I happened to
sandstone wastes, with a scattering of small east, it stood on a rise of ground 100 yards know the Navajo word for cactus —
pine trees and wind-bent junipers. Navajo from Black Mountain Trading post in the "Hosh." With this equipment we started
horsemen ride among broken hills and circle made by the road which approached out, nor did we waste any time with irrele-
gullies. Navajo flocks pour in grey rivulets the post from the east and wound out again vant conversation. The boy led me for a
over the crests of barren ridges. A bleak so the trucks did not need to turn. It was mile or two up the sandy wash, then by
area—and the last place in the world one a hogan enhanced by the requirements of signs indicated that we must make for the
might choose for the making of a garden. soft civilization. The Navajo looked at it mesa top. A stiff climb brought us up on
Yet that is the setting we chose for our gar in solemn admiration and murmured, the flat. Bah-tso, with a sweeping gesture
den of native shrubs and plants. . "Nezhoni hogan" (Beautiful house). gave me to understand that our quest was
We had built our house at Black Moun- ended, that here were the cactus plants,
tain Trading post because Laura, my wife, and he was ready for instructions.
knew that a mine of riches lay beneath the I looked about. There were indeed
forbidding exterior of that area. She had many clumps of opuntias, both the flat and
found the desert her chief source of in- the cylindrical species, but no Heart-
spiration for her books. Here too she twisters were there. Fortunately, I had
fraternized with medicine men and made heard the old legend which tells of the
copies of their ceremonial sandpaintings.
As a dwelling place a Navajo hogan is
romantic but it is apt to leak. If we were Waterless Mountain . . . in a vast Right—Sidney Armer painted a cor-
destined to live where domestic comfort stretch of desert wilderness . . . ner of his native desert garden.

20 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

NOVEMBER, 1943 21
 the thorny mass upon it and cautiously
made the descent. Later, the wagon came
rolling along and took us on board. There
was much merriment among the Indians.
"All that trouble for a bunch of hosh—
and Heart-twisters at that! And why was
not a cluster of hosh just as good in one
place as another?"
But for all their merriment, a new idea
and a new interest had come to our Navajo
friends by way of our developing garden.
Hardly a day passed without some friendly
gesture in form of a gift. Once it would
be a cactus brought with difficulty from
Canyon de Chelly, 25 miles away. Again
it would be a worthless weed, earthed in a
tomato can—presented with a bashful
kindliness.
Our old friend Moqui-tso, a dignified
medicine man, tied his horse to the juniper
tree at our gate. He came up to our screen-
ed porch where a group of Navajo had
gathered, and said, "Hasteen, upon that
mesa top are fine flowers."
He pointed to the north with his lips.
"I will go with you to that place. I will
talk to the flowers in Navajo, so that they
will grow for you."
Then and there an expedition was or-
ganized. Bah-tso would furnish the wagon
and horses. His wife Tuhle, who spoke
good English arranged that. Then Moqui-
tso remembered that he was to preside at a
healing ceremony for which he needed
three colors of paint. After all, he would
be unable to go with us. He got his paint
and left.
Then Tuhle said, pointing to her hus-
band, "This feller says the Indians don't
Tuhle said, "How could there be any flowers where the sheep eat everything." want you up-on-top."
We hardly were surprised at this show
Navajos' experience with the Heart- spiny mound. If the cluster had grown of unfriendliness, as we knew Tuhle re-
twister cactus. I made a movement as it outward from the center, it must have sented our presence at Black Mountain.
pulling a hair from my head, another as thrived for a hundred years. Tom Armijo the trader came in just then.
if I were placing it upon a cactus clump. We made a litter of our canvas, placed We turned the interpreting over to him.
Bah-tso beamed his understanding and
proudly voiced his entire stock of English.
"Over there," he said. And over there we
went.
The Navajo say that many years ago
there was famine in the land and the tribe
had to subsist on the meager fruits of
desert growth. The yellow-green fruits of
the Heart-twister attracted them. Its de-
licious fragrance was reassuring, but alas,
deceptive. For a brief moment their hun-
ger was stayed but a violent twisting of the
heart followed the eating of the fruit.
Then one, wise in the lore of living things,
gave counsel. "Pluck a hair from the
head," he said, "and offer it in sacrifice,
praying to the Hosh that it does not twist
the heart."
Bah-tso shared my delight in the great
mound of plants which he had discovered.
Mine was the joy of the gardenlover who
had treasured a single plant and now was
in possession of a clustered mass of two to "It was Honogani who told us many Indian stories which account for the pic-
three hundred plants. Sixty-six scarlet turesque names of desert plants. And it was he who nicknamed me
flowers spread their velvet petals over the Mister Cactus."

22 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

He reported that the boy said nothing
about our not being wanted up-on-top. It
was as we had suspected. Laura was an-
noyed at the reception. Tuhle was told
she was not to be included in the expedi-
tion. She left the group in a huff.
On the appointed morning we looked
across the hills and saw Bah-tso's camp
stirring. Presently we saw the wagon leave
and head toward our house. When it ar-
rived Tuhle was mounted up on the seat.
She was smiling and greeted us with happy
innocence.
Secretly, Laura and I discussed the prim-
itive mind, observing that each day is a
new day to the Indian. We forgave her,
but demoted her from the spring seat. We
loaded the wagon with pick, shovels, food
and canteens of water. Then we were off,
rumbling and jolting across the valley.
In a couple of hours we had traveled
across the flat and had climbed up to the
mesa top. A wide plain lay before us. We
asked Tuhle where we were headed. She
was a bit more serious now. We sensed a
hesitancy in her answer, "Over there.
There are flowers over there." Her ex-
pression did not show any enthusiasm.
I recalled that Nestsili-begay, Big Man,
lived in this neighborhood. In an hour we
were at his camp, where we learned from
Tuhle that this was the terminus of our
journey. We looked at the barren coun-
try—then at Tuhle. We told her that while
we were delighted to be at Big Man's
camp, we nevertheless were compelled to
notice one outstanding fact, namely, that
there were no flowers there. "Mister Tall Singer could not whole-heartedly approve the rocks we had
Tuhle hardly could have missed the sar- brought in to the garden."
casm in our tone. She replied with wither-
ing scorn, "How could there be any fathom the eccentric workings of Tuhle's trate with their devastation, Laura dis-
flowers where the sheep eat everything mind we left her, mistress of the day. covered a thriving colony of Yucca baccata,
and run all over this country here?" But her victory was only a partial one. the broad-leaved yucca. Also some hardy
Her answer was so convincing that for High up among the tumbled rocks where plants of the evening primrose, good
a second we questioned whether we had knotted junipers clung perilously and specimens of the scarlet penstemon and
not been guilty of stupidity. Unable to where the sheep had been unable to pene- Gilia aggregata (Hummingbird food).
1
Later, we discovered why this expedi-
I
tion had terminated at a Navajo camp.
•
• • • ' • . ' "1 j
• j Tuhle had brought three beautiful blankets
which she had woven. These she had hid-
1t (
a. "• • " I den carefully in the wagon and here she
was, trading them to Big Man for sheep

¥ I and lambs. It was a clever stroke to have

used the expedition for her own ends
while she permitted us to pay for the hire
•

<2 -< 1 of horses and wagon.

But we refused to let her think she had
outwitted us. We exhibited our plants
• •*»
' f Ii ,• ^ <
" " " • • .

i with pride, vowed that the outing had

\

- I T * ' •• ' • - • • •-•• •••• V

turned out better than our expectations,
and expressed our pleasure that Tuhle had
"" " y i

W,
M am*
brought us there. Once embarked on the
homeward trip all memory of friction
M vanished. The best of good nature pre-
•• • v . •

vailed. Bah-tso broke into a happy Navajo

song, which meant according to Tuhle's

Tuhle and her man Bah-tso brought a tub of blooming yucca for the garden.
_ translation, "All us cousins are trotting
around."
That evening while setting out the
NOVEMBER, 1943 23
yuccas and other plants, I looked across der-pink to red, approaching crimson. In
the flat, in the direction of the monuments a single day, one specimen will change
of Tse-lani. I caught a glimpse of a truck. from a pale green-yellow in the early
Tsosi had arrived with a load of mill-slabs morning, to orange in mid-afternoon, then
from the government sawmill at Fort De- to a brown, approaching chocolate.
fiance. We were pleased to have the slabs There is more than visual beauty in our
to finish our house of logs, but doubly desert garden, for every plant recalls the
pleased to have the use of Tsosi's truck. "Our first trophy was a great clump kindliness of some Indian friend, or tells
Now we should be able to get a load of of Heart-twisters." the tale of age-old myth which brings the
rocks for our garden. It was arranged that land, the people and the plants into one
we take the truck over in the direction of beautiful unity. We called the fellowship
Mesa wash. smooth slabs of petrified wood, vertical
sections of a giant tree that in centuries complete upon that day when Tuhle and
We would need a helper. Our choice her man Bah-tso, staggering with the
fell naturally upon Honogani. Naturally, past had turned to stone. It made a capital
pavement for our garden walks, a board- weight of a big dishpan, brought us a mass
because of his interest in our garden, be- of cactus pads covered with yellow blooms.
cause it was he who told us many Indian walk indeed, converted into stone.
Tuhle herself had grown them from seed,
stories which account for the picturesque Our desert garden is flourishing now. expressly for our desert garden. She called
names of desert plants. He it was who had In early springtime the yucca bells and the them "wide cactus with thorn-rimmed
nicknamed me Hasteen Hosh, Mister cactus blooms, endless in variety, dispel all fruit," Qpuntia stenochila.
Cactus. thought of drought or of aridity. One of
our opuntias (hystricina) is in itself a fes- Our Navajo friends re£t their arms upon
Tsosi thought that the most beautiful tival of color. We have gathered many of our fence of peeled poles and silently re-
rocks would be found near the Spider these plants and the variety of their flowers gard each plant and lichened rock. They
Woman, about five miles west of the post. is a matter of constant surprise. They have found that it does make a difference
He explained that the Spider Woman range from lemon yellow through chrome whether a cactus clump is growing here or
was a pile of rocks built up to its present to apricot and golden brown, from laven-
height by the placing of votive offerings there upon the desert.
of juniper sprays, each held down by a
rock placed upon it. Navajo passing the
spot halt a moment on their journeys and
place the juniper offering with a prayer
that their mission might prove fruitful.
Our quest took us to a mesa edge where
big squared masses of rock lay each to each,
like a pueblo village of square-built houses,
lacking only windows and chimney-pots.
The rocks were mottled with gorgeous
lichens ranging in color from deepest
orange to pearly grey, their own greens
and reds and golden yellows mingling
with the lichens in fantastic patterning.
There was a great amount of broken pot-
tery all about—ancient relics of a people
gone since many centuries. There were in-
teresting wild grasses growing between
the rocks. I gathered some roots for the
garden. "That grass," said Tsosi, "is called
'Afraid of Summer.' In a month it will turn
brown even if the rains come. It knows
when summer is coming and it gets
afraid."
A load of beautiful rocks was piled upon
the truck. When after much persuasion
the truck drew up at our garden gate,
curious Navajo stood about to contemplate
and comment on our folly. The Badger
Man's son thought the rocks might not
after all be a total loss, and he proceeded
to explain how we could remove the
lichens with boiling water.
There was plenty of volunteer help in
placing the rocks in our garden. Little by
little curiosity grew into interest, and in-
terest into approval. Two or three of the
Navajo drew apart and conversed quietly.
Presently one approached and said, "If the
Mister and my Mother wish it, we will,
after the next sun-up, bring to them a
great tree."
On the afternoon of the next day their "Bah-tso's store of English was limited to the words, 'Over there'—and over
wagon arrived. They unloaded great there we went."
24 THE DESERT MAGAZINE
 William Caruthers, in Desert Maga-
zine's personal adventure prize story
series, tells about his experience in
hunting for the Lost Chinaman mine
with Shorty Harris, famed single-
blanket prospector of Death Valley
country. Shorty had been out of the
hospital but a short time — and
Caruthers was dubious about head-
ing into the broken waterless Pana-
mint where Shorty was positive he'd
find a mine of pure gold . . . But Shorty
had "learned a few things from the
Pahutes."

S>kottuand
Cabin at ghost town of Ballarat where Shorty "holed in."

the Jlo5t his claim, feted him, and one "morning

after," he woke to find he'd signed away
Shorty started to tell me more about the
Lost Chinaman. I didn't protest, though
for a song the famous Bullfrog mine—the I'd heard him tell it innumerable times to
discovery strike that had turned the barren tourists sitting under the spell of his tall
;
desert slope into a seething town. tales.
It didn't faze Shorty. He simply fol- "I was working at Searles Lake for old
lowed his burros into the hills again and man John Searles," Shorty said. "One day
By WILLIAM CARUTHERS put Harrisburg on the map, and now in I saw a fellow stagger down from the
his seventies his one ambition was to start Slate Range and flop on the edge of the
/ J /ATER, you have heard, is life on another boom. lake. I thought he was drunk, but it
yy the desert. Curiously—even fate- The jig finished, Shorty's golden laugh- turned out he was a Chinaman who'd got
fully, I was thinking of it that day ter rang out on the desert air. "Don't tell sore at the boss over at Eagle Borax works
as I sat on a slab bench in front of Shorty me I'm not fit. Let's get going . . ." and started out afoot. The Pahutes told
Harris' crumbling adobe cabin in the ghost Our purpose was to locate the Lost him to take a short cut over the Panamint,
town of Ballarat. Chinaman, which ranks with the Lost Brey- but he lost his way and ran out of water.
Shorty, dean of Death Valley prospec- fogle in the legends of Death Valley "We had him on his feet in a day or so,
tors, was urging a trip we'd planned for mines. but he got the idea he was going to croak
three years. He waved toward a long and wanted to get back to China so he
sweep of the Panamint. "I'm telling you Shorty Harris as guest at a Death Val- could be buried with his ancestors. Salty
it aint been scratched." His voice was vi- ley picnic held in Wilmington, Cali- Bill, John Searles' teamster, was taking a
brant, his blue eyes eager. "If there aint a fornia. Frashers photo. load of borax to Mojave. So we threw the
million dollars waiting up there, I'm not Chink on the wagon. I tossed his bag up
a single-blanket jackass prospector." and started away. The Chink called me
I reminded him that he had been out of back, dug into the sack, pulled out a piece
the hospital less than a month after a of ore and gave it to me. I couldn't be-
major operation, the second in two years, lieve my eyes. It was dam' nigh- pure gold.
and that the doctor had ordered him to Maybe 15 pounds. He tried to tell us
stay out of the hills for at least six months. where he'd found it. 'In the big timber,'
I had brought him home only the day be- he said, 'where a steep canyon pitches
fore. down into Death Valley.'
"Those doctors—" he scoffed . . . "they "John Searles and Salty Bill searched
don't know how tough I am. Why hell— five years for that gold. No go."
I'm losing a million dollars a day. Think Then Shorty tapped his breast import-
I'm going to sit around here with my feet antly: "I know." He pointed to the
itching? No sir. I'm going to put an- peaks. "See that sawtooth? Over and
other town on the map." He rose, danced down. There's your Lost Chinaman. And
a jig to prove his fitness. those doctors telling me to sit around here!
Thirty years before, he had walked up Why, migod—with ten million dollars in
a little canyon near Buck springs on the sight . . . maybe twenty . . . "
Amargosa desert, knocked a piece of green I yielded to his ingratiating persistence
quartz from a ledge. It was a prospector's and agreed to set out next morning.
dream. Picture rock. One of the most Shorty of course, knew every trail in the
amazing stampedes of the West followed. country, but I was not sure that he could
Towns sprang up. Bullfrog. Rhyolite. stand the arduous climb. I knew nothing
Beatty. Gold-mad men jammed the new- of that part of the Panamint, but I'd talked
made trails across that burning stretch of with Fred Gray and learned there were
hell. A railroad came. Shorty was on top places where we'd have to go on hands and
of the world. The Big Boys who wanted knees and that there was no known water

NOVEMBER, 1943 25
 tive flat valley between almost perpen-
dicular hills. As I glanced in my despera-
.-.* ...1 SISICE JiUi BA\TCi\ IK Ttv_ tion, at those forbidding walls, I noticed
- L : ^ U S LC\£C. ABOVE l.i E Vi RITE: a trail on the floor. Then another—then
h E i \ E L I S S SHCRTN K A R R I S , A SINCIE another. They seemed to converge at the
ACkASS PRC-SPECTCR> EPITAPH end. What the Pahute had said flashed
£x. ShCRTV CFRAKk! K.iRRlS over me and in frantic haste I let myself
ELOVEC CCLD KUKTEfi. l6Bie-IS2-;. down, ran along the nearest one, eyes
£ . ' A S . D.Ol'TCK. PICHEER. PERISHEC. ISSS
strained ahead. Suddenly I came upon
black ooze and seepage. I started digging
with bare hands-—saw water rise in the
little hollow I'd scooped out. And then
things went black. For how long I could
only guess.
I heard a stir in the brush, felt a tug at
my sleeve, looked. There stood Shorty
Harris.
"How the devil—" I managed to say,
"did you get here?"
Shorty looked at me with a sort of
tolerant chagrin. "A million dollars . . .
Shorty's grave, with epitaph written by the author at request of government yes—twenty, maybe—and me with a punk
officials. Frashers photo. on my hands . . ."
"How did you get here?" I repeated.
"When I came into this country 50
in the district we expected to explore. As information for the wayfarer. Perhaps years ago," Shorty said calmly, "I learned
I didn't want a cripple on my hands, I did picture writing on a boulder. The crude a few things from the Pahutes."
considerable worrying. drawing of a lone man indicated that the
Sitting on the bench in the mid-after- country about was uninhabited. If, upon
noon, I saw a Pahute, whom I'd known the pictured torso there were marks to in-
over at Shoshone, stop at the well behind dicate the breasts of a woman, he knew
the old saloon. I went over. there was a settlement with squaws, chil-
Complete Your
Now a Pahute knows his desert — its dren and food. If he found a feather under
moods, its chary tolerance of life. He a stone with a hole punched through it or
knows where the sheep hide and the fat notched, he knew that an Indian had been
DESERT files .
lizards crawl, where the drop of water there who had killed his man. Since there
seeps from the lone hill. I asked him about was a difference between the moccasins of
springs. He knew of none where we were the tribes, the dust about often would in-
going. "If Pahute lose his way, he look form him whether the buck who went be-
around for animal tracks going same place. fore was friend or enemy.
Maybe water." The Lost Chinaman? Well, it's still
It must have been a blessed urge of fate lost. We ran out of water and Shorty,
that led me to question the Pahute. In enfeebled from overexertion so shortly
broken English he went on to tell me what after the operation, collapsed. I had to
else the Pahute did about water on the leave him under a bush and set out, terror
desert. If he came to a spring, he would stricken, for water and help. Trusting to
skim the water from the surface, dash it him as guide, I had taken no bearings. I Only a few volumes of DESERT are now
upon a rock and smell it. If there was an looked out over the gutted range below available. Most of these are newsstand
odor of onion he knew it contained me, and had a panicky feeling even before returns . . . but they are complete with
arsenic, and let it alone. He knew also he I started. the exception of the November, 1937,
issue which we no longer can supply.
would find an Indian sign about and The sun was about three hours high. I
would look for it. One of these would be ran into one blind canyon after another, Following Prices Now in Effect . . .
a broken circle of stones with the opening only to struggle out with a desperate sense
pointing toward the next water. The dis- of futility, as I aimlessly headed for lower Volume 1 (Dec.'37-Oct.'38) $ 6.00
tance to that water would be indicated by reaches, confused everywhere by a criss- Volume 2 (Nov.'38-Oct.'39) 9.00
Volume 3 (Nov.'39-Oct.'40) 7.00
stones inside the circle. If there were two, cross of wild burro and sheep trails. The Volume 4 (Nov.'40-Oct.'41) . 4.00
for instance, he knew it was two days' terrific heat, the high altitude took toll of Volume 5 (Nov.'41-Oct.'42) 3.00
journey, because each stone represented my already depleted strength. The exer- Volumes 1-5 Inc. (Except Nov.'37).. 25.00
"one sleep." tion of climbing one precipitous wall, only
If you wish to secure back copies to
If more than one trail led from the to tackle another with the agony of thirst complete your files we will be happy to
water, the one that led to the nearest spring always with me, started my lips swelling send you a list of single copies now
would be indicated by an oblong stone and my throat tightening. My legs available.
placed conspicuously along the right path. dragged. I could hear the quick thumping
And we're still paying $3.00 for the
In addition, the kind of water to be ex- of an overtaxed heart and threw my shirt November, 1937, issue . . .
pected there would be indicated by the away.
color of a small rock placed on the oblong Hopeless, I finally sat down on a
one. If it were white the water at that boulder to rest, to fight off the constant THE
next spring would be good. If brown or dread that in a minute I would see a phan-
red or dark, it would be poison. tom pool of water and start running 636 State St. El Centra. California
Frequently there would be other useful around in a circle. Below was a diminu-

26 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 Tonopah, Nevada . . .

and • •
Free assays, five in any 30-day period,
are being provided prospectors in this state
by University of Nevada under new ruling.
Designed to increase search for vital wai
minerals and ores, assays without charge
Phoenix, Arizona . . . Reno, Nevada . . . are not given operating mines, engineers
More efficient work and closer co- Nearly 3000 more miners are working sampling mines, or assays to check other
operation between federal government and in Nevada's 251 operating mines this year assays. Only prospectors are entitled to
Arizona mine workers is the result this than last. Report issued by Matt Murphy, this service.
year of work done by state department of state inspector of mines, shows that num-
mineral resources, J. S. Coupal, director, ber of employes in all large mines has in-
has announced. Department has aided in creased during this fiscal year. Window Rock, Arizona . . .
obtaining development loans, access roads • • •
application approval, mineral surveys and Las Vegas, Nevada . . . New helium plant on Indian reserva-
has been active in industrial salvage pro- tion has been named Navajo Helium plant
Herbert C. Hoover is reported to be in recognition of the patriotic spirit and co-
gram. promoter of large capacity chemical process
• • • operation shown by the natives. Great in-
plant which soon may be constructed near
Eureka, Nevada . . . Pioche, Nev., for treatment of ore in terest has been evidenced in this project
Allocation of $100,000 will reopen mines of Combined Metals Reduction since it is only the second such gas plant
drilling on Richmond Eureka mines on company. Mr. Hoover recently visited and in United States, the other being in Ama-
Ruby Hill. Program includes drilling of inspected the mines, accompanied by L. K. rillo, Texas.
five additional holes to depths of 2000 feet Requa, mining engineer who is named as
or more to establish extent of ore bodies one of the directors of the new company.
Lovelock, Nevada . . .
there. • • •
• • • Las Vegas, Nevada . . . John T. Reid, 72, one of Nevada's best
Missoula. Montana . . . There is growing doubt whether the known mining men, died September 14.
First deposit of quartz crystals known in critical shortage of manpower in non-fer- Besides engaging in mining activities
United States to be acceptable for manu- rous metal mines of the West can be met which embraced many phases and proper-
facture of radar equipment reportedly has by release of soldiers to work in them. ties, he was developing a mathematical sys-
been discovered on Diamond Point moun- First experiment of that kind failed ac- tem based on ancient Mayan Indian sys-
tain, six miles northwest of Hot Springs, cording to Mining Press, because most of tem, he was a collector of rare artifacts and
Montana, by James Lozeah and J. L. Way- the men were totally inexperienced or books, and was an active friend of Nevada
lette. Estimated value is said to be "enor- physically unfit for the labor. Manpower Indians.
mous" since crystals are worth $10 per shortage still is causing considerable lag
pound and were formerly imported from in war metal production.
Brazil. Work in the deposit will be super- Pasadena, California . . .
• • •
vised by U. S. bureau of mines to insure California Institute of Technology has
correct handling of excavations in consid- Paradise Valley, Nevada . . .
Large scale development program is un- postponed tuition-free evening mining
eration of the extreme strategic value of
derway at Cahill quicksilver properties, 25 course enrollment date to October 15.
the crystals.
miles southeast of here, and new ore has Course conducted by G. A. Schroter, Los
• • •
Tonopah, Nevada . . . been discovered at Cordero land near Mc- Angeles consulting mining engineer, will
Reduction plant is being planned by Dermitt. Large crews are busy operating include development of mines and pros-
Basic Refractories, Inc., to reduce weight the high-grade cinnabar mines which have pects, ore extraction, milling methods,
of brucite now being shipped at the rate of not been active for the past year. strategic minerals, mining law and financ-
6000 tons per month from Luning. Build- • • • ing. Apply to War Training Office, Cali-
ing will be part of their plans for post-war Winnemucca, Nevada . . . fornia Institute of Technology, Pasadena 4.
production. Efforts are being made in Washington
• • • to close all small mining operations for the
duration according to J. S. Coupal who has Tiger, Arizona . . .
Washington, D. C. . . .
Uncle Sam is sending out prospectors to been requested to make immediate survey Employees of Mammoth-St. Anthony,
search from Alaska to Texas and Maine to of Arizona's small mines. Reasons sup- Ltd., lead and zinc mine here have been
California for wartime metals. No gold or porting this plan are that more labor, ma- granted 40 cents per shift wage increase
silver will be sought in the $3,900,000 chinery and supplies would be released for retroactive to June 11, 1943, by nonferrous
program but only such minerals as zinc, larger concerns. metals commission of NWLB. Directive
copper, tungsten, vanadium, mercury, tin, • • • brings base pay to $6.40 per day.
iron, and manganese. Harold L. Ickes, Independence, California . . .
secretary of interior, reported that govern- Persons having information about iron
ment-subsidized prospectors will hunt foi ore deposits were urged to get in touch Holbrook, Arizona . . .
new mines to aid the war effort. with representative-elect Clair Engle, at Test well is being drilled 27 miles
• • • his office, Washington, D. C. Engle, in southwest of here by Union Oil Company
Prescott, Arizona . . . message to Second District residents, said
that funds had been provided by congress of California and Continental Oil com-
Nearly 100 small mine operators met pany. Site is part of 54,000 acre block of
with Arizona senator Ernest W. McFar- to explore deposits and supply technical
land to draft resolutions opposing present information needed by prospective steel land held jointly by the oil companies. It
premium price quota system for mineral and mining operators on the west coast. is in virgin wildcat territory, some 200
production. Resolution recommended es- Information, Engle said, will be turned miles from any proven oil field. Supervisor
tablishing higher prices to encourage over to special committee empowered to is Union Oil company's geologist R. W.
greater production among small mines. recommend such explorations. Burns.

NOVEMBER, 1943 2?
 nation by catching the feet of visiting in-
sects and scraping off the pollen, as they
come and go from one flower to another.
The slender tapering pods are spindle-
shaped and downy with short spreading
hairs. This is common along dry washes
and draws from low to moderate altitudes
in the Colorado desert, central and eastern
Mojave desert and Inyo county in Califor-
nia, eastward into western Arizona and
southern Nevada.
Philibertia heterophylla
(Funastrum heterophylla)
This is similar to the preceding but
more of a climber, taking larger shrubs and
even small trees in its stride. Its herbage
is entirely bald or sparsely hairy and quite
green, the stems 3 to 8 feet long, the leaves
linear to lanceolate, sometimes with eared
lobes at base, 1 to 2 inches long on short
petioles. The flowers are Vi to Vi inch
long, about twice the si2e of the first spe-
cies, the corollas purplish, with purple-
veined lobes. The pods are slightly hairy,
about 2V2 to over 3 inches long, widest
Trailing Milkweed, showing characteristic habit of twining, its slender stems below the middle. Rather common on dry
i forming into ropes. Photo by the author. flats and slopes and along wash-banks
from very low elevations up to 2,000 feet
in the Colorado desert, south to Lower
California and Mexico. Eastward through

Meet the Itailina Milkweed Arizona and New Mexico to western

Texas it sometimes reaches an altitude of
5,000 feet. It may be found in flower from
March to September according to its eleva-
tion.
By MARY BEAL
Philibertia crispum
(Funastrum crispum)
J J EARLY everyone knows the up- through and over low shrubs, or just trail- This species is absent from the Califor-
Sy standing common Milkweed but 1 ing over the ground. I've seen a vigorous
Townula in such complete possession of its nia deserts but is found in southern Ari-
doubt if everyday folk are familiar
with the less conspicuous, trailing species. supporting bush that only the exuberant zona and New Mexico, western Texas and
This does not add a noticeable accent to its vine was in evidence. After enveloping Mexico. It may be identified by its short
surroundings but does vary the monotony one hospitable bush it is prone to trail off peduncles and thickish, somewhat broader
of vegetation enough to be worthy of at- across intervening ground toward another lanceolate leaves with sagittate or halberd-
tention. • promising host. In the course of their shaped bases, the margins usually wavy.
The Indians, never overlooking possi- rambles several stems often'twine together The herbage is ashy-grey with a generous
ble uses for plants, found the young pods into ropes as you may observe in the pic- covering of soft hairs but the pods are
a palatable addition to their diet But don't ture. smooth, varying in length from 3Vi to 6V2
let that give you the idea of trying out the Both stems and leaves are downy with inches, tapering to a long slender point at
edibility of any likely-looking Milkweed fine soft hairs but the fiber of the stems is apex. It blooms in summer and favors a
you happen to run across, because some tough. Leaf-nodes are quite far apart, the canyon habitat from 4,000 to 6,000 feet
species with the most promising appear- leaves linear and apt to be pointed at both elevation.
ance are poisonous to livestock1 and may ends, 1 to 3 inches long, on short petioles.
prove to be injurious to humans.. i • • • The small fragrant flowers grow in umbels Philibertia cynanchoides
The genus to which the Trailing Milk- on rather long stems springing from the (Funastrum cynanchoides)
weed belongs is Philibertia, the name leaf axils. When the pale greenish-yellow This has about the same range as the
honoring the early French botanist Phili- corolla spreads out its 5 ovate lobes it last species but at moderate altitudes
bert, author of a botanical dictionary pub- forms a perfect 5-pointed star. At flower- slightly overlapping the other's higher
lished in 1804. Discarding this early classi- ing: time, about April and May, nearly range. It climbs over shrubs in washes and
fication, some more recent botanists use every axil, from beginning to end of the along stream banks, the blooming season
the name Funastrum, evolved from the long stem, puts forth a star cluster.
from May to September. The herbage is
star-like flowers and ropes of twisted Have you ever observed closely the com-
bald or sparsely hairy. The thin leaves are
stems. The genus also was classified form- plex structure of Milkweed blossoms? It's
interesting to see how the stamens and decidedly broader than those of the other
erly, as] Sarcostemma. Townula sometimes
is used as a common name. Philibertia has style combine to form a column which is species, from broadly lanceolate to broadly
the characteristic milky juice of the Milk- attached to a narrow ring at the base of the ovate, noticeably heart-shaped or sagittate
weed family. corolla. Mostly this column bears append- at base, the apex sharply pointed. The
Philibertia hirtella sends its slender ages or hoods above and is further elabo- flowers are white, the umbels on rather
fibrous stems rambling widely about, each rated at the sides, between the anthers, by long peduncles. The pods are finely
from 2 to 10 feet long, often twining glands with slits which aid in cross-polli- ridged, usually less than 4 inches long.

28 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 CALIFORNIA
Chalfant Honored . . .
BISHOP—W. A. Chalfant, editor and
the, author of California books, recently was
notified of his election to honorary mem-
bership in the International Mark Twain
ARIZONA Buyer Escapes Death . . . society. Recognition was for his contribu-
Indian's Rights Upheld . . . KINGMAN —Wallace Woolley, ore tion to American history in his new book,
PHOENIX —f Arizona Indians have buyer, nearly lost his life when his car be- "Tales of the Pioneers" and the notifica-
won another right as citizens, the right to came stuck in sand some distance from tion was signed by Cyril Clemens, presi-
operate as public carriers, by decision oi Yuma and he tried to make his way there dent of society and relative of Mark Twain.
Justice R. C. Stanford of state supreme on foot. After 23 hours of hiking he ar-
court. Refusal of Arizona Corp. Commis- rived completely exhausted and felt no Water Holes Covered . . .
sion to issue Lee A. Bradley, Navajo, con- better when told he was the first ever to BRAWLEY — Desert travelers are
tract carrier permits on the sole grounds make the trek and come out alive. His car warned not to depend on old waterholes
that he was an Indian was declared uncon- was towed in by two soldiers from a dis- for this winter's travels since army man-
stitutional by unanimous decision of the tant bombing range, and he was said to be euvers have obliterated many of the trails
court. recovering quickly. and excessive rain has covered many of the
Arizona's eighth annual elk hunting waterholes, Henry L. Jackson has announc-
Farm Program Successful . . . season will open November 1 and end No- ed. Already one prospector nearly died
MESA—Farm production program at vember 30. from depending upon Hayden's well for
Gila River war relocation center will re- • • • water only to discover it was filled up-—he
quire $1,000,000 worth of food to be pro- Tucson has been selected as 1944 Amer- had to travel back to the railroad to receive
duced by Japanese during the next fiscal ican Legion convention city, meeting to be aid.
year for local consumption. Last July's out- held sometime between August 10 and 20.
put in pounds was the greatest since estab- • • • Date Growers Progress . . .
lishment of the project, with most produc- Javelinas, wild pigs or peccary, native INDIO—California Date growers asso-
tion in watermelons which were sold to the to Arizona, range on cactus covered ciation has made outstanding record in low
army. mountains from elevations of 1,000 to cost crop handling with securing of better
6,000 feet and are more numerous in prices and wider distribution this year.
Dust-Proofing Tests Made . . . Despite high expenses and shortage of
PHOENIX — Experiments in dust- southern part of state. Principal diet is
cactus, from which they are able to obtain labor and supplies, marketing methods
proofing motorized equipment for the were improved. Good effects will be felt
army are being staged by General Motors sufficient moisture when far from water.
Average weight is about 50 pounds. by entire industry and general public.
Corp. "somewhere on the Arizona desert."
Engineers in Army Ordnance Dept. prov-
ing ground say that dust, dirt and mud
often are more destructive than enemy fire
to equipment, and protection of vehicles,
shafts, radiators, electrical instruments and
other items is being sought.
Water Rights Denied . . .
PHOENIX—Salt River Valley Water
Users association rejected proposal of
Phelps Dodge Corp. to pump water from
Black river for use in expansion at Morenci
copper plant. Chief objection to this plan
was that such encroachment on valley
water supply ultimately would destroy the A point about our points
means of livelihood, homes and invest-
ments of others dependent on it. Maybe you've found that some Men who have been going
Sight-Seeing By Air . . . railroads serve more meat through hard training grinds
GRAND CANYON—Navy pilot Lt. dishes than Southern Pacific. need meat, and plenty. When
Leland T. Johnston has asked civil aero- Well, this is why: they get theirs, our .93 of a
nautics board for permission to operate point takes quite a beating
sight-seeing air service from Grand Can- We are allowed .93 of a point
yon national park, via Rainbow Bridge before we s t a r t serving our
per meal per person, to cover
monument to Canyon de Chelly. He asked civilian passengers.
meats, and all the rest. If we
also for hourly "elevator" service to bot- served only civilians, this would So, when you don't get yours,
tom of Grand Canyon.
go 'round better. We serve more you know why. The point is,
Power Rates Reduced . . . military meals than any other we believe you wouldn't have
YUMA—With arrival of Parker Dam three railroads combined!
power here, electric power users of Yuma it any other way.
mesa and valley received rate reductions
totalling $92,890. This action was the re-
sult of conferences held between Commis-
sioner William Petersen and representa-
tives of local companies. Also new power
S-P
line hookup to station near army hospital THE FRIENDLY SOUTHERN PACIFIC
has been completed recently. 950A

NOVEMBER, 1943 29
Aged Indian Passes . . . Bonds Voted for Power Purchase . . . Cork Trees Planted . . .
INDEPENDENCE - " P a n a m i n t EL CENTRO—Voters of Imperial Irri- INDIO—U. S. forest service will plant
George" Hanson, 103-year-old Pahute In- gation district approved $6,000,000 bond 100,000 cork oak trees this fall to deter-
dian, died September 19 in Panamint Val- issue to purchase the Imperial and Coa- mine best methods of growing such trees
ley where he was well-known and respect- chella power properties of privately-owned in Southern California. Cork is an excel-
ed by old-time residents. Born over a cen- California Electric Power company. Bonds lent pasture tree, its acorns making good
tury ago, George saw the struggling Jay- already have been sold to syndicate of 39 stock food. Several locations will be plant-
hawker Party and other early expeditions members headed by Blyth, Kaiser and Nu- ed in Cleveland national forest in River-
into Death Valley and surrounding deserts veen companies. District Secretary Evan T. side and San Diego counties.
and mountains of Inyo. See Desert Maga- Hewes expected complete transfer of prop-
zine, Feb. 1940. erties to take place by October 15. More Vegetables Grown . . .
Flyers Cheat Death ; . . Champion Alfalfa Grower . . . BLYTHE—Palo Verde valley soon may
become one of desert's biggest salad bowls,
DEATH VALLEY—Two Army flyers CALIPATRIA — Imperial county, ac-
with an increase of 700 more vegetable-
narrowly escaped death from thirst and cording to recent census compilation, is planted acres than last year. Fall plantings
heat when they crash-landed their trainer first among all U. S. counties in acreage of winter vegetables show a total of 2,320
plane on Salt Flats. One reached help at and production of alfalfa. California was acres of lettuce, carrots, onions, cauli-
Furnace Creek 20 hours later, the other first state, with second and third places flower and cabbage.
was rescued soon after. Both were taken going to Minnesota and Wisconsin. Impe-
to emergency hospital and recovered rapid- • • •
rial county's production was 340,894 tons
ly. They had drunk salt water from brack- from 114,164 acres. Yield of two tons per NEVADA
ish pools, their hands were lacerated by acre was national average; California av-
attempts to dig for water in the rocky soil. U. N. Head Chosen . . .
erage was 4.11 tons.
RENO — Charles H. Gorman, vice-
chairman and comptroller of University of
Nevada, has been named acting vice-presi-
dent to succeed the late Dr. Leon W. Hart-
The Desert Trading Post
Classified advertising in this section costs jive cents a word, $1.00 minimum per issue—
man. Gorman will serve until the new
president is chosen.
Actually about V/2 cents per thousand readers.
Boulder Fund Paid . . .
FOR SALE—Year Round Resort Hotel and CARSON CITY—State general fund
MISCELLANEOUS
Cottages in excellent condition. 2 acres with was increased by $300,000 when Treasurer
FOR SALE—12 beautiful perfect prehistoric In- family fruits. Hot water heat, Oil Burner.
dian arrowheads, $1; 10 tiny perfect translu- Dan W. Franks received a check from fed-
cent chalcedony bird arrowheads, $1; 10 per- City water, finest in America. Completely eral treasury for sixth payment of Boulder
fect arrowheads from 10 different states, $1; furnished, kitchen modern. Paved road, right
perfect stone tomahawk, $1; 4 perfect spear- at city limits. Wonderful view of Columbia dam fund. This sum brought account up
heads, $1; 5 stone net sinkers, $1; 10 perfect river and mountains. Old established business to May, 1943.
stemmed fish sealers, $1; 7 stone line sinkers, and needs younger owner. Plenty business
$1; 4 perfect agate bird arrows, $1; 5 perfect right now. Price $13,500. Address R. E. &
Tom Scott, Hood River, Oregon. Ship Honors "Borax" . . .
flint drills, $1; 7 perfect flint awls, $ 1 ; 10
beautiful round head stunning arrowheads, RENO—Liberty ship soon to be launch-
$1; 4 fine perfect saw edged arrowheads, $1; MANUSCRIPTS M A R K E T E D — Books,
stories, plays, photoplays, articles. Circular ed from Richmond shipyards will bear the'
4 fine perfect flying bird arrowheads, $1; 4
fine perfect drill-pointed arrowheads, $1; D-ll Free. OTIS ADELBERT KLINE, Lit- name "Borax" Smith in honor of the man
4 fine perfect queer shaped arrowheads, $ 1 ; erary Agent, Established 1923, 507 Fifth Ave- famous for the 20-mule team of Death Val-
4 rare perfect double notched above a barbed nue, New York, 17, New York.
ley. Smith was the first to develop non-
stem base arrowheads, $ 1 ; 5 perfect double metallic resources of Death Valley, and
notched above a stemmed base arrowheads, DESERT LAND INVESTMENT—40 acre irri-
$1; 12 small perfect knife blades of flint, $1; gated farm 7 miles from Yuma, Arizona, in later became an important figure in Cali-
rare shaped ceremonial flint, $1; 3 flint Federal Project. Well located on highway 1 fornia finance.
chisels, $1; 7 quartz crystals from graves, $1; block from church, school and store. Soil well
10 arrowheads of ten different materials in- adapted to alfalfa. Ample cheap river water
cluding petrified wood, $1. All of the above ready for use. Clear title $2900. A. Ellerman, State Population Gain . . .
23 offers for $20. Locations given on all. Box 1537, Yuma, Ariz.
100 good grade assorted arrowheads, $300
RENO—Influx of war workers in the
prepaid. 100 all perfect translucent chal- LIVESTOCK past three years has boosted civilian pop-
cedony arrowheads in pinkish, red, creamy ulation of state by 22 percent, according
white, etc., at $10.00. 100 very fine mixed KARAKULS producers of Persian Lamb fur to census bureau. This is unusual since in
arrowheads all perfect showy colors and in- are easy to raise and adapted to the desert
cluding many rare shapes and types such as which is their native home. For further in- that period civilian population for United
drill pointed, double notched, saw edged, formation write Addis Kelley, 4637 E. 52 States dropped from 131,300,000 to 128,-
queer shapes, etc., location and name of types Place, Maywood, California. 200,000, reflecting growth of armed serv-
given, $25.00 prepaid. List of thousands of
other items free. Caddo Trading Post, Glen- Karakul Sheep from our Breeding Ranch are ices. Greatest gains were in localities
wood, Arkansas. especially bred to thrive on the natural feed where strategic metals are being mined.
of the Desert. For information write James
FORTUNE: Complete File, unbound $55.00 Yoakam, Leading Breeder, 1128 No. Hill
postpaid. ESQUIRE: Complete file, un- Ave., Pasadena, California. Darker and Richer . . .
bound $40.00 postpaid. N. A. Kovach, 712
So. Hoover St., Los Angeles, Calif. WINNEMUCCA—Because of changes
REAL ESTATE in feeding practices of hens, egg yolks
WANTED—One copy federal writers project
New Mexico State Guide. Write Box NA, darker and vitamin-richer are now on the
Desert Magazine, El Centro, California. For Imperial Valley Farms — market according to L. E. Cline of agri-
25 Genuine Indian arrowheads, $1.00; Toma- W. E. HANCOCK culture extension service. Less protein and
hawk head, .50. Cat. of Indian relics, crystals "The Farm Land Man" additional green feed is said to cause
and ore specimens. Geo. Holder, Glenwood, Since 1914
Ark. EL CENTRO CALIFORNIA darker egg yolks.

30 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

Property Value Rises . . . Farm Income Increases . . . Famed Architect Dies . . .
CARSON CITY—Value of privately GALLUP—Department of Agriculture SALT LAKE CITY—Funeral services
owned lands in Nevada during past year reports show New Mexico's farm income were held in September for Richard K. A.
rose $317,460 reports George Allard, state for first six months of this year is nearly Kletting, noted western architect. The 84-
tax commission statistician. As before, $10,000,000 higher than last year for the year-old designer was fatally injured in a
Clark county showed greatest increase in same period. Vegetables marketed at al- pedestrian-automobile accident. He had
value per acre, 20 per cent over 1942 most twice as much, poultry and eggs 44 been dean of Utah and western architects
records. per cent higher, dairy products 24 per cent and designer of state capitol building and
• • • higher and livestock 14 per cent higher. others throughout the West.
• • •
NEW MEXICO
Summer Camp Exciting . . . UTAH
ALBUQUERQUE—Summer camp for Bumper Beet Crop . . . A WESTERN THRILL
Espanola Boy Scouts proved highly event- LOGAN—Approximately 78,000 tons "Courage," a remarkable oil p ^
ful, as encounters with bears, porcupines of sugar beets will be harvested in Cache 20x60 feet, the Covered Wagon Train cross-
ing the desert in '68. Over a year in painting.
and snakes kept things exciting for youth- county this year, predicted D. E. Smith, su- On display (free) at Ktiott's Berry Place
ful campers. Also an embryo forest fire perintendent of Lewiston factory. Al- where the Boysenberry was introduced to
started by some careless person was quickly though only about 5700 acres have been the world and famous fonfried chicken di
extinguished when the whole camp turned planted, tonnage is expected to be nearly ners with luscious B o —
out with tools, buckets and sacks to fight it. the same as last year's because of a bumper You'll want (1) A 4-color picture of this
crop. huge painting suitable for framing. (2) A
American Research Gift . . . 36-page handsomely illustrated souvenir,
pictures and original drawings, of Ghost
SANTA FE—Dr. Edgar L. Hewett, Aircraft Courses Given . . . Town Village and story of this roadside
educator and archeologist, has presented OGDEN—Weber college is now offer- stand which grew to a $600,000 annual
the School of American Research with ing training in aircraft and engine me- business. (3) Two years subscription (12
numbers) to our illustrated bi-monthly mag-
$100,000 gift, school officials report. It chanics to public, officials recently an- azine of the West. True tales of the days
is comprised of real estate, personal hold- nounced. Federal government has pro- of gold, achievements of westerners today
ings, art collections and library, and will vided $200,000 worth of tools and equip- and courageous thoughts for days to come.
be used to establish the Hewett Founda- ment and $500,000 worth of airplanes and Mention this paper and enclose one dollar
tion. engines. Over 300 employes of various for all three and get authentic western facts.
war plants are taking the supplementary Postpaid. G H O S T T O W N N E W S ,
training. BUENA PARK, CALIF.
Ranch Deal Closed . . .
ALBUQUERQUE — Sale of 33,700
acres of Rio Arriba ranch property was
made to Alvin McGilvray of Iran, Texas,
last month. It included ranch houses, furn-
ishings and equipment and 750 head of
cattle.
Huge Bone Found . . .
DEMING—Construction company em-
ployes in September unearthed what ap-
peared to be a six-foot leg bone, possibly
that of a dinosaur. Bone, found in a gravel
pit, will be offered to New Mexico Arch-
aeological society for inspection.
Fan Seeks Indian's Autograph . . .
GALLUP —World-wide CBS short-
wave broadcast of Gallup Inter-Tribal In-
dian ceremonial inspired autograph fan,
Lionel Athersych of Leicester, England, to
write "His Excellency, the Chief of the
Navajo" for his signature. Mr. Athersych
stated that he had always been interested
in the Navajo and thought the autograph
of the chief would provide a valuable
souvenir.
Speed Limit Boosted . . . "SUNLIGHT ON THE MOUNTAIN" . . .
SANTA FE—State highway commis- Desert artist Lon Megargee's color lithograph of Camelback Mountain in natural
sion has increased wartime speed limit to red-gold and smoky azure of Arizona. Each 16x12 print signed by the artist and
45 miles an hour, abandoning the 35-mile printed on white mat suitable for framing. A colorful bit of the Southwest for your
living room, a beautiful gift for your desert-minded friends. $3.00 postpaid.
limit suggested by office of defense trans-
portation. Governor J. J. Dempsey said Also available a limited number of Megargee's black-and-white lithographs
that the 35-mile limit was uneconomical, and block prints of "Conservation," "So What," "Wild Horses," "Mule Colt,"
difficult to enforce and a hardship on "Burros," "Sheepherder," "Hopi," "Siesta." $5.00 each.
trucks and buses. And it was discovered California buyers add 21/2% tax.
that motorists were going on an average oi S e n d orders to . . . DESERT C R A F T S S H O P , El Centro, California
44 miles an hour anyway.

NOVEMBER, 1943 31
 STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP, MAN-
AGEMENT, CIRCULATION, ETC., REQUIRED
BY T H E ACTS OF CONGRESS OF AUGUST 24,
There are reports that former Sand Dune Sages have 1912, AND MARCH 3, 1933

DESERT QUIZ fallen back into the plain Desert Rat classification
during the past few months in Desert Quiz class. So
Of The Desert Magazine published monthly at
El Centro, California, for October, 1943.
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
this month we've prepared a simple review lesson designed to help them regain COUNTY OF IMPERIAL
their former dignified status. Nearly all answers to this month's quiz will be found Before me, a Notary Public in and for the State
and county aforesaid, personally appeared Lucile
in issues of the past 12 months of Desert. If your score is at least 10, you belong Harris, -who, having been duly sworn according
automatically to the Desert Rat fraternity; if 15 or more, sit right down in that to law, deposes and says that she is the associate
editor of the Desert Magazine and that the fol-
seat reserved for Sand Dune Sages. If you score less than 10, better get out the past lowing is, to the best of her knowledge and be-
year's Deserts and brush up on your desert knowledge. Answers on page 35. lief, a true statement of the ownership, manage-
ment (and if a daily paper, the circulation), etc.,
of the aforesaid publication for the date shown
in the above caption, required by the Act of Au-
gust 24, 1912, as amended by the Act of March
1—Kaibab bridge, which crosses Colorado river at point between Kaibab Trail 3, 1933, embodied in section 537, Postal Laws
and Phantom Ranch, northern Arizona, is which type of bridge—Steel- and Regulations, printed on the reverse of this
form, to-wit:
arched Suspension Cantilever Concrete pontoon 1. That the names and addresses of the pub-
lisher, editor, managing editor, and business
2—Bullfrog mine, near Beatty, Nevada, was so named because—A frog led the managers are:
Publisher, Desert Publishing Co., El Centro,
discoverers to the site Ore was colored like bullfrog Frog was con- California.
sidered good luck mascot by the prospectors Rock formation nearby re- Editor, Eandall Henderson, El Centro, Cali-
fornia.
sembled bullfrog Business Manager, Bess Stacy, El Centro, Cali-
fornia.
3—Taos, Santa Fe, Carlsbad and Bernal have at least one point in common. They 2. That the owner is: (If owned by a corpor-
ation, its name and address must be stated and
are all—Noted art centers In same state Early cattle towns also immediately thereunder the names and ad-
dresses of stockholders owning or holding one
On Santa Fe Trail per cent or more of total amount of stock. If not
owned by a corporation, the names and addresses
4—Yucca plant sometimes is called—Soapweed Greasewood Sand- of the individual owners must be given. If owned
food Sagebrush by a firm, company, or other unincorporated con-
cern, its name and address, as well as those of
each individual member, must be given.)
5—Jet is likely to be found in—Copper mine dumps Coal veins Quartz Bess Stacy, El Centro, California; Edna B.
Clements, Long Beach, California; Lucile Harris,
veins Iron deposits El Centro, California; Randall Henderson, El
Centro, California.
6—First white European according to historical record to search for Seven Cities 3. That the known bondholders, mortgagees,
of Cibola was—Coronado Marcos de Niza Cortez Cabeza de and other security holders owning or holding 1
per cent or more of total amount of bonds, mort-
Vaca gages, or other securities are: (If there are none,
so state.)
7—Arizona's famous Camelback mountain is seen from—Flagstaff No- Bank of America, El Centro, California.
4. That the two paragraphs next above, giv-
gales Phoenix Tucson ing the names of the owners, stockholders, and
security holders, if any, contain not only the
8—Dieguenos is the name of—Pioneer settler in Borrego valley Indian list of stockholders and security holders as they
appear upon the books of the company but also,
tribe Geological stratum Crude type of brush shelter in cases where the stockholder or security holder
appears upon the books of the company as trus-
9—Correct spelling of the flame-flowered candlewood plant is—Ocatilla tee or in any other fiduciary relation, the name
of the person or corporation for whom such trus-
Ocotillo Ocatillo Occatilo Ocotilla tee is acting, is given; also that the said two
paragraphs contain statements embracing affi-
10—Amethyst is a violet-colored—Feldspar Agate Quartz. ant's full knowledge and belief as to the circum-
stances and conditions under which stockholders
Calcite and security holders who do not appear upon the
books of the company as trustees, hold stock
11—Hualpai Indians of northwestern Arizona are most noted for their—Basket- and securities in a capacity other than that of a
bona fide owner; and this affiant has no reason
making Ceremonial dances Pottery-making Belt-weaving to believe that any other person, association, or
corporation has any interest direct or indirect
12—Goldfield, famed Nevada mining center, is coming into prominence today in the said stock, bonds, or other securities than
as so stated by him.
for its production of—Gold Cinnabar Hydro-electric develop- 5. That the average number of copies of each
ment Agriculture issue of this publication sold or distributed,
through the mails or otherwise, to paid subscrib-
13—Pronuba is the name of—Arizona giant ant Moth Pink-flowered ers during the twelve months preceding the date
shown above is (This information is re-
annual Small desert bird quired from daily publications only.)
(SEAL) LUCILE HARRIS
14—Devil's Golf Course is in—White Sands national monument Death Val- Sworn to and subscribed before me this 5th day
of October, 1943.
ley One of the passageways in Carlsbad Caverns Along Bonanza BESS STACY
(My commission expires April 4, 1944.)
Highway in Nevada
15—Petroller is name for—An oil driller Rock collecting maniac Petri-
fied-shell collector Road-grading machine OH jbe4&d
16—White Shell Woman is—Title of a book Navajo mythical character With EVERETT RUESS
Noted pottery maker Rock formation The story and letters of Everett Ruess,
17—"Tales of the Pioneers" was written by—Frank C. Lockwood Sharlot young artist-vagabond who disappeared on
one of his beloved desert exploration trips
Hall W. A. Chalfant Edmund C. Jaeger
18—Robber's Roost, famous outlaw hideout, is located in—Arizona Strip IN BOOK FORM
Lincoln county, New Mexico Near Colossal Cave, Arizona South- Includes his desert letters, reprints from
his diary and illustrations of Everett's own
eastern Utah block prints.
19—Glory Hole is a name for—Death Valley's lowest point Open pit pro- MAILED POSTPAID FOR $1.50
duced by surface mining Meteor Crater in Arizona Grand Can- (Add 4c tax in California)
yon
20—One of these Hopi pueblos is on First Mesa, northern Arizona—Oraibi THE fllAGflZinE
Walpi Shungopovi Hotevilla
EL CENTRO, CALIFORNIA

32 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 WHAT DOES THAT NAME MEAN . .
Cobalt—from German kobold—a goblin or
demon.
Platinum—from Spanish platina—diminutive
of plata, silver.
Helium—from Greek helios sun, because first
GEMS AND MINERALS discovered on sun.
Chlorine—from Greek chloros, green.
Bromine—from Greek bromos, stench.
ARTHUR L. EATON, Editor
• • •
One unexpected development of the war is
the employment of many Navajo Indians to
work on the railroad right of ways of Southern
California. Some of these Indians are expert
silver workers, jewelry makers and weavers. The
increased pay has drawn them away from their
jewelry work on the reservations in northern
FEDERATION MEMBERS TO New Mexico and Arizona, but it has not de-
creased their love of turquoise and the attractive
AID MINES BUREAU REPORT
C. D . Woodhouse, president of California
C O L O R F U L (TilRERflLS rings, pins and necklaces made from it. They
are not working at their trade now, but they are-
federation of mineralogical societies sends this taking the opportunity to acquire cut and uncut
message to federation members through Septem- INDIUM turquoise for use on their return to their reser-
ber federation bulletin, Mineral notes and vation.
news: Indium ( I n ) , so named because of the indigo
"The State of California, through its Bureau color in its spectrum, has been known for 80
of Mines, has asked each member of the Califor- years, but only now is coming to the fore as an
nia federation to help in the revision of Bulletin important mineral in war work. It is used with
113. Each society will receive this fall a num-
ber of cards which members are asked to fill out
if they know of new minerals or localities which
non-ferrous metals to strengthen and toughen
them.
One of the first uses of indium was to pre-
CHRISTfimS GIFTS
have not been recorded. This is a service which vent tarnishing of table silver. In the course of In order to assist you in making your
we all should be proud to do and I suggest to experimentation it was found that indium not selection, w e are offering the following
each president of the member societies that this only increased tarnish resistance but it also suggestions from our comprehensive
work be ma4e the first order of business at each hardened the silver. At the time, about 20 years stock:
meeting." ago, none of the metal was produced in this HEARTS AND PENDANTS
• • • country. William S. Murray was commissioned
by Oneida, Ltd., to examine zinc ores in West- These are all double cabochon cut
PIMA COUNTY MINE HISTORY ern smelters and mines for the mineral. He and highly polished on two sides. Yel-
AVAILABLE TO PUBLIC located a zinc mine in the Chloride mining dis- low Gold or Sterling Silver bails are at-
Eldred D. Wilson, geologist for the Arizona trict of northwest Arizona which was rich in in- tached to best blend in with the char-
bureau of mines, has compiled and published, dium. This nation's first indium was produced acter of the gem material. In size they
through the Tucson chamber of commerce, the there in 1927. vary from 114 in. to 1% in.
first condensed history of Pima county mines Indium is soft, malleable, silver white. It Australian Opal in Lucite hearts or tear
ever to be made available to interested persons. feels oily to the touch. Specific gravity 7.4; drops $4, $5 and $6.50
This history can be obtained from the chamber atomic weight 114.8. Carnelian and Sardonyx hearts or pen-
of commerce by anyone interested enough to Indium alloy plating on engine bearings en- dants $3.25 and $3.50
write for a copy. ables bombers to increase their loads and to Night-blooming Cereus Obsidian hearts or
pendants $3.25 and $3.50
In this pamphlet is a map which shows each make quicker take-offs because they do not have
of the mining districts in the county and what to be warmed up so long. BROOCHES AND CHARMS
metals have been discovered in each, with ex- • • •
planations of the chief geographic features of Yellow Gold Filled set with Australian Opal
in Lucite, round or oval, fancy or plain.
the county. According to the pamphlet, in the MONTANA IS CHAMPION Sizes % in. to 1% in $430 to $10.00
years between the time when Pima county first GEM STONE PRODUCER Brooches set with black or green Wyoming
entered the mining game and the year 1940, the Jade, round or oval, sizes 1 in. to 1 Vz
county produced more than $222,000,000 worth Montana led the entire country for the year in $7.50
of precious and semi-precious metals. 1942 in production of gem stones, with the Yellow Gold Filled neck chains $1.25. 10 Kt.
• • • states of Nevada, Oregon, Wyoming and Cali- Gold $6.00, Sterling Silver at 35c and 50c.
fornia placing with smaller values. Montana These chains are sold only with the hearts,
pendants and charms.
MEXICAN MINING LAWS sapphires, mostly destined for industrial uses,
TRANSLATED TO ENGLISH made up 31 percent of the entire value, while APPROPRIATE GIFTS FOR THOSE IN
Mineral survey of Mexico D . F., Mexico has turquoise made up 21 percent, and the quartz THE SERVICE OF OUR COUNTRY
published an English translation of the mining family minerals 20. Our suggestion would be either books or a
laws of Mexico, complete to February 28, 1943 B. F. Couch reports that the Smith mine of yearly magazine subscription, listed in our
Publisher is P. C. Escalante. The book is di- Beowawe, Nevada, was the largest single pro-
1943 Jubilee Catalogue.

vided into the following chapters: mining law; ducer of turquoise, with 13,033 pounds, a total MINERALIGHT QUARTZ TUBE LAMPS
regulation of mining law; mining police and value of $32,000, while other Nevada turquoise
safety regulations; mining tax law; sampling miners produced only 350 pounds with a total For best results in the home, laboratory,
value of about $4,000. or for prospecting. Fully described in a 12-
and assaying; tariff or fees as payable to mining page circular. Write for your FREE copy to-
agents for registrations in public mining reg- day. In offering fluorescent minerals, we
can supply first quality material with strong
ister; instructions to applicants for filing of ap- JEWELRY INDUSTRY fluorescent or phosphorescent effects.
plications for prospect and exploitation con-
cessions. HAS GONE TO WAR
This is a most useful book for anyone operat- SPECIAL CHRISTMAS GIFT OFFER
The jewelry industry has been converted to Two Large Sized Polished Oregon Agate
ing or planning to operate in Mexico. war work. Silverware plants are making muni- Nodules ($2.00 value) $1.00
• • • tions. Some jewelry firms are making quartz
STANNITE plates for radio work, and some watch factories Our 1943 JUBILEE CATALOG contains
100 pages of information you will find of
A little known tin ore, sometimes found in are turning out jewels for instruments. value. In order to distribute this catalog to
the United States, is stannite. This ore has been By discouraging jewelry manufacture the gov- those most interested, we are asking you to
send us 15c IN STAMPS.
found in several Southwestern localities, includ- ernment attempts to divert to war bonds money
ing the El Capitan district in San Diego county, normally spent on jewelry; also to discourage
California. The common color is greenish grey, exportation of easily converted wealth, and to
although the addition of pyrite often gives it a prevent critical materials and skilled labor from WARNER & GRIEGER
brassy color. Luster is metallic and streak black- producing unessential merchandise. 405 Ninita Parkway
ish. Hardness is four and specific gravity about Bureau of mines, department of interior, re- PASADENA 4, CALIFORNIA
four and one-half. The brittle massive ore ports that production of gem stones in U. S. Our Phone Number is SYcamore 6-6423
breaks quite unevenly. It is Cu2.FeS.SnS2. was 40 percent less in 1942 than in 1941.

NOVEMBER, 1943 33
HERE'S H O W T O . . . Sequoia mineral society met September 1 at
AMONG THE Reedley city park. Reedley members furnished
Obtain the specific gravity of small irregularly the program.
shaped specimens of non-soluble ores or rocks.
Take a small glass graduate, graded in centi-
meters and large enough to hold the specimen.
ROCK HUnTERS • • •
Northwest federation of mineralogical so-
cieties, Tenino, Washington, has purchased
Place enough water in the graduate to cover the $93.50 worth of war bonds.
rock. Note the amount carefully. Then place Ann Pipkin was general chairman of Searles
the rock in the graduate and note the exact in- Lake hobby show, held October 16-17 at Trona
crease in the amount of water. Next, weigh the unified school. Exhibits were entered in various E. T. Hodge, Oregon state college, Corvallis,
rock carefully in grams. Divide the number of classes such as art, needlework,^motion picture Oregon, has issued a 75-page bulletin on the
grams weight out of water by the difference in photography, minerals and miscellany. geology of north central Oregon.
the amount of water in the graduate without the • • • • • •
stone and with the stone. This gives a fairly Chanite is the name given to a new alloy said Utah reports large deposits of alunite in Piute
accurate estimate of the specific gravity. to be suitable for making cutting tools, accord- county. Much of the vein material is pure white,
• • • ing to American iron and steel institute. It will while surrounding areas are of lower grade.
release cobalt, tungsten and other hard metals Alunite yields alumina for the manufacture of
ICELAND SPAR WARTIME for more important war needs. The composition aluminum, potassium sulphate and sulphuric
VALUE ABOVE GOLD of chanite is to remain secret until after the end acid.
of the war. • • •
William Hamilton, a miner of iceland spar • • • Kenneth Garner, for several years secretary of
and beryl, claims that in war time iceland spar California federation of mineralogical societies,
is much more valuable and more easily saleable Imperial Valley gem and mineral society re- has been promoted to radio technical inspector.
than most types of gold ore. Hamilton is a sumed its meetings October 2. Member He is located at Romulus, Michigan.
brother-in-law of the cowboy picture star Bill Arthur L. Eaton spoke on his trip into Mexico
and studies of the new Mexican volcano El • • •
Jones. The clear, rhombohedral crystals are
doubly refractive. They are used in many optical Paricutin. Dr. John Montanus was host of West Coast
instruments because of this quality. When • • • mineral society at September 14 meeting. Dr.
placed on a sheet of paper over a single Jack Ryan, research department of American Montanus displayed over 70 compartment boxes
straight line, two lines are seen. These crystals potash and chemical corporation, talked on the filled with specimens.
are used in spectroscopes, refractometers, and it Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada, area at Septembet • • •
is believed that they also are used in bombsights 15 meeting of Searles Lake gem and mineral Mineral notes and news has begun a series of
for the purpose of picking out the target to be society. Flin Flon district produces gold and articles on the fossil woods of California. The
attacked. copper. first article, by George F. Beck, Central Wash-
ington college of education, Ellensburg, Wash-
ington, deals with the Calistoga petrified forest,
north of San Francisco.

GEM MART ADVERTISING RATE

5c a Word — Minimum $1.00
• • •
Reports continue about extensive scheelite
tungsten deposits in Lower California. Rich ore
has been found in many locations in the north-
ern district of the peninsula. Some of it already
Swisher Rocks and Minerals, also Corals, Shells. HERE ARE BIG BARGAINS . . . is being shipped to points in United States for
Statues, etc. W e also buy mineral species and refining.
woods. Must be good. Swishers, 5254 So. Rare Crystals of all kinds, $1.50 and up. Mon-
tana Sapphires, cutting quality, 60c a carat. • • •
Broadway, Los Angeles 37, Calif. Santa Rosalia district, south of Ensenada,
Sawed California Geodes, 25c and 50c each.
Send for my Gem List, 10c, cost returned on Lower California, produces some fine turquoise.
20 mixed fossils for a dollar bill. 100 ancient first order. Specimens can be returned if not An old mine, after being idle for several years,
Indian arrowheads $3.00. 10 tiny bird ar- satisfactory. The Desert Rats Nest, 2667 H. once more is in production, although not yet on
rowheads $1.00. List Free. Lear Howell, Colorado, E. Pasadena, Calif. a large scale.
Glenwood, Ark.
• • •
$2.50 brings you prepaid six rare and beautiful ANTIQUE JEWELRY — Lockets, brooches, Sulphide ores, smelted at Garfield and Tooele,
crystallized Arizona minerals. Vanadinite, chains, rings, etc. 12 assorted, $3.00. B. Lowe. Utah, yield large quantities of arsenic oxide,
Dioptase, Wulfenite, Willemite, Chrysocol- Box 311, St. Louis, Mo. which is collected by the Cotrell process from
la, Azurite. Specimens lV2 x 2 o r larger- flue dust. Arsenic compounds are used in in-
Wiener Mineral Co., Box 509, Tucson, Ari- AGATES, Jaspers, Opalized and Agatized secticides.
zona. woods, Thunder eggs, polka dot and other • • •
specimens. Three pound assortment $1.50 Potassium salts are being recovered commer-
INDIAN RELICS, Curios, Coins, Minerals, postpaid. Glass floats, price list on request, cially from salt deposits southwest of Great Salt
Books, Old Buttons, Old Glass, Old West lay Ransom, 1753 Mentone Ave., Pasadena. Lake. These salts are used with phosphates and
Photos, Weapons, Catalog 5 c. Lemley An- Calif. ammonium sulphate in manufacture of commer-
tique Store, Osborne, Kansas. cial fertilizers.
ZIRCONS—OPALS—CAMEOS—3 Genuine • • •
Minerals, Fossils, Gems, Stamps, Coins, Pis- diamond cut Zircons (total 2l/ 2 carat) $2.75. Chemical engineer Adrian Nagelvoort esti-
tols, Glass, Bills, Indian Relics, Bead Work. Twelve Genuine Opals $1.50. Twelve Genu- mates that sufficient fossil resins can be recover-
Catalogue 5c. Las Cruces Curio Store, Las ine Cameos $2.50. B. Lowe, Box 311, St. ed from the coals of Utah to meet the needs ot
Cruces, New Mexico. Louis, Mo. United States for a century. These resins are
used in varnishes.
Montana Moss Agates in the rough for gem cut- 100 JEWELRY STONES removed from rings, • • •
ting $1.00 per lb. plus postage. ELLIOTT'S etc., assorted $2.00. B. Lowe, Box 311, St. Utah claims a natural monopoly on Gilsonite,
GEM SHOP. Petrified Picture Wood and Louis, Mo. a solid asphalt used in acid proof paints, insu-
Moss Agate Jewelry Hand Made in Sterling lating materials, plastics and mastics.
Silver Mountings — Rings, Bracelets, Neck- • • •
laces, Brooches, Tie Slides, etc. Mail orders ROCK COLLECTORS ATTENTION—GET
ACQUAINTED OFFER—Send two dollars D. Tucker of mineralogical society of south-
filled anywhere in U.S.A. 25 Jergins Arcade, ern Nevada reports that war conditions have
war stamps or coin, for five showy specimens
Long Beach, Calif. of Rainbow Rock, Tourmaline, Chalcanthite, made it necessary to separate the club into three
Limonite Pseudomorphs, Iron Pyrite, Inclu- groups, meeting in Las Vegas, Boulder City, and
PLUME AGATE—Rough pieces for gem cut- sion QTZ. XL., Fluorite, Beryl, Hematite Basic townsite. Las Vegas kept up meetings un-
ting $1.00 up postpaid. Bishop's Agate Shop, XLS., Martite, Pecos Diamond, Quartzoid, til July, when they were discontinued because of
North Bonneville, Wash. Neptunite, Topaz. Iceland Spar. All 15 for intense heat. Meetings were resumed Septembei
$5.00. The Rockologist Chuckawalla Slim, 13. Short field trips, which have proved profit-
CABOCHON CUTTERS with our unnamed 627 E. Garvey Blvd., Garvey, Calif. able this past year, will be enjoyed as soon as
mixture of good cutting material sawed weather permits.
ready to shape cut and polish you can finish • • •
several fine stones. 25 cents for two ounces WANTED—16 in. diamond saw and lap wheel Julia Ellen Rogers was speaker at September
and with money back guarantee. Gaskill, 400 with or without motors. Write Box FS. 10 meeting of Long Beach mineral society, held
North Muscatel, San Gabriel, Calif. Desert Magazine, El Centro, Calif. at the Nine Hole clubhouse.

34 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 Dr. D. H. Clark spoke on past field trips at Production of gem stones in the United States
September 12 meeting of Orange Belt mineralo- during 1942 dropped almost 40 percent from
gical society, held in Pinetum, Sylvan park, Red- the high point of 1941, according to reports of
lands. He also discussed iron, stressing lode- the bureau of mines. Uncut stones, used in
stone. jewelry and related industries, were estimated
• • • to have a value of about $150,000. When cut
Orange Belt mineralogical society discussed Oi a Rockhound
and polished, they were worth about $400,000.
quartz minerals at October 7 meeting, held in By LOUISE EATON The same industries, in 1941 purchased $240,-
science building, San Bernardino junior college. 000 worth of uncut stones, which had a value of
• • • $750,000 in the finished state.
Standin' night watch in a observation
Chuck Jordan and Rocky Moore have dis- post is sort uv like spendin' the night
solved partnership and now Chuck is conduct- campin' on th' desert on a field trip. Yu
ing the rock business on his own at 201-202 can watch th' big dipper's revolution 'n
Broadway Arcade, Los Angeles. He is ably as- hear night noises—after radios 'n auto-
sisted by his niece Violet Crowther. Chuck in-
troduced Utah wonderwood to Desert readers
mobiles goes to bed. Yure alone with
yur thots 'r problems, surrounded by
CUTTING SPECIALS...
through a name contest. This interesting wood limitless space, 'n inspired by heaven's This month we are featuring a selec-
is as yet unidentified. Some specimens show star pattern. But if yu spots a star movin' tion from our stock of nodules. Certain
beautiful carnelian replacements. steadily acrost th' sky it's time to stop types of them may be increasingly hard
• • • dreamin' 'n call army Flash—cause that to get in the near future, as some locali-
Texas mineral society, Dallas, has changed kind uv starz is airplanes. ties, notably that of Lead Pipe Springs,
meeting date to second Tuesday of each month. • • • are now in Military zones.
President Thos. D. Copeland has appointed 1. Oregon Agate Nodules—We will se-
Prof. Lynch program chairman and Mr. Jarvis Sum rockhouns seems to find good rox
jus' by Instink. Like horses locates water lect you nice ones from the Priday ranch
membership chairman. Anyone interested is in- of Central Oregon at 30c per lb.
vited to attend meetings held at Baker hotel. in a dry country. These lucky peepul
• • • seems to know xactly where to dig f'r 2. Geode-Nodules — Chocolate Mtns.
Searles Lake gem and mineral society held a geodes 'r whitch hill to clime f'r good of Calif.—Some of these are crystal filled
pot luck dinner at home of Mr. and Mrs. Harry agate. They can be drivin' along ('r could geodes, while some are completely fill-
L. Jewel on Bonewits ranch near Inyokern, Sep- be before we got this Duration) 'n sud- ed with agate. 30c per lb.
tember 26. denly spot a place where there's Speci- 3. Blue Agate Nodules — These are
ments, when to th' fella without a rock- one of the most beautiful of the many
houn's instink th' flat looks jus' like all nodule forms. These are usually blue
TALC HAS IMPORTANT th' rest of th' malapai roundabout. with white banding.
ROLE IN POTTERY MAKING 4. Assortment of one each of above in
Pottery is coming to the fore as a substitute good cutting size, $1.00.
for metal cooking utensils. Baking dishes, skil-
lets and top of the stove kettles are available to H. A. Trexler from S. M. U., spoke on agates SNOWFLAKE OBSIDIAN
take the place of scarce iron or aluminum ves- and their localities at Sepember 3 meeting of This beautiful material has been so
sels. Texas mineral society. Roy Yeager, Bell tele- popular that we have decided to feature
Students in the ceramics department of USC phone company of Dallas, showed his facet cut- it again at $1.00 per lb.
have been experimenting for the past two ting and polishing equipment at October 12
years with various clays. They have found that meeting. Above prices do not include postage.
10 or 15 percent talc, combined with a potas-
sium carbonate clay, gives most satisfactory re-
sults. Talc does not expand or contract when Professor D. Jerome Fisher and Alfred Chi-
The West Coast mineral Co.
1400 Hacienda Blvd.
exposed to heat, is inert to most corrosive dester have been sent by U. S. geological sur- LA HABRA HEIGHTS, CALIF.
agents, and serves as a catalyst during the firing vey into the Hemet-San Jacinto district to pros- M mile North of Hwy. 101 on State 39, be-
process. pect for beryllium (glucinum) and tantalum to tween Whittier and Fullerton, at the corner
of Avacado Crest road and Hacienda Blvd.,
be used in the war effort. Small deposits of both 1400 Hacienda Blvd. The Junction of Hwy.
minerals were located. These metals are used 101 and Hwy. 39 is about 1% miles West of
DESERT QUIZ ANSWERS in alloys. the La Habra turnoff on 101. We are NOT
located at the town of La Habra.
Questions on page 32
1—Suspension type bridge. Mailing Address:
2—Discoverers Shorty Harris and Ed Most visitors to Queretaro, state of Quere BOX 331 LA HABRA. CALIF.
Cross thought the greenish-blue ore taro, Mexico, come away with the impression
resembled color of bullfrog. that the crude ore for the beautiful Mexican
3—All are in New Mexico. opals which have been polished and sold there
4—Yucca is called soapweed, or amole, for many years is actually a product of the
and is used by Indians for soap espe- mountains in the vicinity of that city. This is ROCKHOUNDS . . .
cially in ceremonial rites. not quite the truth, at least in recent years. The We have a large stock of Cabinet specimens,
5—Jet is associated with coal deposits. Indians who cut and polish the ore usually go Gem material. Cut stones, Mineral books.
6—Marcos de Niza. by train to the smaller town of San Juan del Rio, We want to buy good gem material and
specimens. Come and see us and join our
7—Phoenix. about 30 miles south of the city on the railroad, Rockhound Colony.
8—Indian tribe of Yuman origin, in- and from thence to the opal mines. The ore is THE COLORADO GEM CO.
habitants of western Colorado desert purchased from the mines, brought back to
Queretaro, polished and sold there. Bayfield. Colorado
and Warners Ranch area, San Diego
county.
9—Ocotillo. Not an "a" in the whole
word. ZINCITE
10—Quartz.
11—Basket-making.
12—Cinnabar, ore of mercury.
Zincite is not only a colorful mineral but one
rich in zinc, as it generally carries more than 80 HILTON'S
13—Moth which brings about pollina- percent of that valuable metal. It seldom crys
tion of yucca plant.
14—Death Valley.
talizes, but is nevertheless very attractive, as its
foliations usually appear in rich red colors, or
and Qetn Sluxp,
15—Rock collecting maniac. See DM, orange yellow, due to the presence of small JOHN W. HILTON, Owner
February, 1943. quantities of manganese oxide. It is a soft brit-
16—Navajo mythical character. tle ore, with almost adamantine luster. It oc-
17—Most recent book by W . A. Chal- curs, mixed with franklinite and willemite, at
fant, winning for him membership On U. S. Highway 99. Ten
Franklin Furnace, New Jersey. Its most attrac- Miles South of Indio
in International Mark Twain society. tive form is when brilliant red lamellar masses
18—Southeastern Utah. are mixed with massive pink calcite. If a large •
19—Open pit produced by surfacing
mining. piece can be secured, try it under the ultra-violet ACROSS FROM VALERIE JEAN DATE
20—-Walpi. or black lamp. This test will guarantee it a place SHOP. P. O. ADDRBSS, THERMAL, CALIF.
with the very choicest specimens.

NOVEMBER, 1943 35
 This page of Desert Magazine
RX—the complete
lapidary shop in
AMATEUR GEM CUTTER is for those who have, or aspire
to have, their own gem cutting
and polishing equipment. Lelande Quick, who conducts this department, is former presi-
one small machine dent of the Los Angeles Lapidary society. He will be glad to answer questions in connec-
No more sales tion with your lapidary work. Queries should be addressed to Desert Magazine, El
during duration Centro, California.
W . A . FELKER 3521 Emerald St., Torrance, California By LELANDE QUICK

This section would have no reason for being line good for 50 miles per gallon. You'll have
if it did not stimulate interest in gem cutting or a trailer with refrigeration and the jeep will be
ftd^L LAPIDARY EQUIPMENT furnish ideas that helped experienced cutters do
better lapidary work. The best evidence that it
hitched behind the trailer so that you'll have
your own caravan. In a small box you'll take
fulfills its purpose is the correspondence I re- enough dehydrated food to eat for a week and
FOR QUARTZ CRYSTAL PRODUCTION ceive. This does not find its way into the "Let- by noon on Sunday you'll be parked on a side
ters" section because it is largely personal or road in the far reaches of Utah or northern New
contains questions the answering of which Mexico. Then you'll take the jeep and explore
would be redundant or questions that are for gem materials in locations that have never
answered directly in the column with the name heard the ring of a mineralogist's hammer nor
of the writer mentioned. All letters I receive seen a beer can. Fantastic? Not a bit of it.
are answered direct unless the reply contains Check up on this in 10 years and see if I'm
something original of help to gem cutters or wrong. And I haven't even mentioned heli-
Sold only something that is not merely fundamental and copters.
on priority. then the replies get into the column in an in- When almost no spot is immune to the rock-
Send for formal manner. hound will some of the charm go out of the
Literature to But I need to hear more of the readers' ex- desert? Lots of the romance of the desert is in
Covington Lapidary periences because I never receive such letters but its unattainability. Speed and convenience do
Engineering Co. that I cull something of value from them, some- not always bring content but I look forward
Redlands, Cat. thing I want to try myself. Give me a few "helps to it.
and hints" as Mr. Kane does this month. Give • • •
me ideas I can illustrate such as Herbert Monlux
and Albert Hake have given me. DID YOU KNOW . . .
• • • • Some of the finest chrysoprase ever found
came from Tulare county, California. It
<^Y- -I I/ml u Peter Zodac, editor of Rocks and Minerals
magazine tells me "your column in Desert
exists at Yokohl, on the eastern slope of the
<^ / *• SCHEELITE Magazine always attracts my attention and I
Venice hills, on Tule river and Deer creek
and one mile east of Lindsay.
hope you will continue it."
Dr. Dake, editor of the Mineralogist maga- • Kunz found ruby spinel near San Luis
zine advises, "It is possible to cut cabochons Obispo in 1905.
from a good many of the strongly fluorescent • Catalinite, found on Catalina Island, is a
minerals. When viewed under ultraviolet light
YELLOW PINE MINE they are really something magnificent. A ca- mottled jasper and onyx.
bochon cut from the red fluorescent calcite and • Psilomelane takes a beautiful polish. It oc-
green willemite gives a combination of colors curs in 37 California counties and I'll tell
flWINERALIGHT that takes the eye. One reason the fluorescent
gems are so vivid is that a smooth surface on a
you where it occurs in your county if you
send me a postal request.
Officials of the great Yellow Pint
Mine, one of the largest Tungsten mineral is free of pits and shadows. The fluores-
^ C producers in the country, say, "We cent effect is much improved by a smooth or • Brown zircons "heat treated" in air turn
C © €
r
are entirely dependent on MIN-
polished surface." Mr. Zodac's kind remarks golden or colorless. If treated in an atmos-
- ERALIGHT lamps for the selection
^ of Scheelite ores . . . " Because and Dr. Dake's interesting suggestions are ap- . phere deficient in oxygen they turn blue.
COLOR MINERALIGHT identifies Scheelite preciated. • • •
CATALOG instantly you will find it indispens-
able in your Scheelite operations- • • • LAPIDARY HELPS AND HINTS . . .
prospecting, assaying, sorting or
grading. Satisfaction guaranteed or C. L. McCullough of Modesto, California,
(Contributed by William J. Kane of San
money refunded. * wrote me some time ago that he has an iris opal
Francisco who has cut one of the best collections
and that is something I want to see. H e says
ULTRA-VIOLET PRODUCTS, INC. of cabochons to be found in that area.)
he bought it from Wendell Stewart but when
he later showed it to him Stewart said he'd never In mounting transparent, semi-transparent
seen anything like it before. Has any other and translucent stones for display polish them
reader such a stone? If as many as 25 readers on the back and place them over the colored
advised me by postal of the most unusual gem portions of magazine advertisements until you
STUDENTS AND HOBBYISTS in their collection I would have a mighty in- find the color that best complements the stone
teresting page some month. with its reflection. Cut the paper to fit and ce-
ALIKE FIND THE ment to the back of the stone with D u Pont
• • •
Duco cement. Many lifeless agates come alive

Oflflfl HGflZlflf
A Source of Accurate and Always
Louise Eaton, who writes that delightful
whimsey on another page entitled "Cogitations
of a Rockhound" always has a delightful bit of
philosophy. I agree with her that field trips are
with this method and patterns show more
vividly. Tin foil is an excellent backing agent
if you can get it.
• • •
a safety valve for the high pressure of living—•
Timely and Interesting Informa- A well-worn piece of N o . 100 sanding cloth
and how we need them now. It is true, as she
will polish cabochons better and last many times
tion on the Absorbing Sub- says, that almost every rockhound desires to own
longer than the No. 220 cloth.
jects of... a jeep after the war. Those things were made
for field trips but they tell me they do need a • • •
• GEOLOGY spring or two in the driver's seat. I don't know Clean sanders occasionally by using a piece
how many will be available but they say there of sponge rubber at running speed.
• GEMOLOGY are 10,000 rockhounds in Los Angeles county • • •
• MINERALOGY alone and that's a starter. The jeep will become Polish flats with No. 00 or No. 000 flint type
the modern burro. sandpaper on a disc wheel running at 400
Subscriptions are $2.00 Yearly; Think how the next 10 years will affect the R.P.M. The disc must be slightly convex or it
Single Copies 20c field trip. You will probably be able to leave will quickly undercut and the flats should be
Los Angeles on a Saturday night and travel all held off center. Flint usually being the same
TELEPHONE TUckor 6801 night on a lighted highway at any speed that hardness as the flat acts as a buffer but only
doesn't scare you for the speed limits on certain stones of quartz hardness ( 7 ) are successfully
428 Metropolitan Bldg. highways will be very high. You will travel on polished with this type paper. It causes a heavy
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. divided multi-laned highways on tires good for drag and a firm grip with even pressure must
perhaps 70,000 miles of driving and with gaso- be maintained.

36 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 DESERT BOOKS . . .

FOR CHILDREN
. . . TO READ AND ENJOY
Choose some child a gift from the fol-
lowing list of desert books, carefully se-
lected for youngsters of all ages to en-
joy. Beautifully written and illustrated.
WRITER LEARNS NAVAJO CACTUS-SHARP WIT IN They will fascinate and inform youthful
WEAVING FIRST HAND DESERT RAT'S BOOKLET readers, and will be treasured long after
In SPIDER WOMAN, a story of Nav- Harry Oliver, whose wit is ". . sharp as the story is known by heart. Desert cards
ajo weavers and chanters, Gladys A. will be enclosed with each gift order.
desert cactus . ." has compiled articles from
Reichard gives an intimate account of her his newspaper column Desert Briefs into A NEW MEXICAN BOY, Helen Laughlin
life among the Navajo. Dr. Reichard, a an attractive booklet called 99 DAYS IN Marshall. Day dreaming Juan finds ad-
young professor at an eastern college, spent THE DESERT . . . WITH SANDY venture with his baby burro Paco.
several summers among them to learn rug- Charming and authentic picture of Span-
WALKER. History, travel, odd bits of in- ish life in New Mexico. Many watercolor
weaving. Her experiences while learning
the complicated craft are told with rare formation are written with dry humor, and illustrations. Ages 8-12 . _ - .$2.00
humor. seasoned with the fresh simple philosophy DARK CIRCLE OF BRANCHES, Laura
of an imaginary character, Sandy Walker, Adams Armer. Beautifully told story of
She explains the various stages and oper- Ititle Na Nai, crippled Navajo boy who
ations from the time the wool is spun and who probably is a rough characterization understands the language of animals.
dyed until the rug is completed and taken of the author himself. Attractively covered Interwoven are myths and legends of his
in brown art paper with hand block prints, ancient people. Excellent illustrations in
from the loom, promoting a keen apprecia- half tone. All ages $2.50
tion of the skill employed in creation of 42 pp., end map. 25c.
PINKY FINDS A HOME, Margaret W.
the Navajo rug. She tells how the designs —A. M Nelson. Pinky Jordon, toy plush rabbit,
are worked out in color and motif—some meets comical and clever comrades
of the designs being created as the rug • • • when abandoned by his master on the
progresses while others are copied from desert. Delightful full color illustrations.
TENDERFOOT HAS MORE Ages 5-9 $1-75
sandpaintings. ARROWHEAD ADVENTURES DESERT PLANTS AND ANIMALS, Arnold
Her sincerity and interest caused the In- and Cason. A primer-handbook illus-
dians to adopt her into their family thus Continuing the exciting chronicle of trating a n d describing commonest
permitting an intimate study of their young Peter Stirling's Arizona adventures, plants, animals and insects in 61 short
character and customs and an opportunity W. H. B. Kent recently completed chapters. Index, paper $1.00
to learn the language. She describes two of RANGE RIDER. This volume follows BIRDS OF THE ARIZONA DESERT,
THE TENDERFOOT, written the pre- Gusse T. Smith. Commonest birds de-
the more sacred ceremonies—a "sing" for scribed in their desert setting. Bird draw-
the silversmith's daughter and a Navajo vious year, which first introduced to ings, desert sketches. Index, paper__$1.00
wedding ceremony. Western fans the former Yale man who GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH MIN-
To the reader who is interested in a hu- came West to make good, heroine-ranch ERALS, English. Fine introduction t o
mineralogy. 'Teen age readers on. $2.50
man and fascinating picture of the Navajo, owner Gail Gordon, amusing Saturnino, CALICO, THE WONDER HORSE, Vir-
this book is truly an ethnological treat. memorable ranch cook Footless and other ginia Lee Burton. Hank, the top cow-
The Macmillan company, New York, Arrowhead ranch characters. puncher and Calico, the fastest smartest
1934. Illus. 287 pp. $3.50. horse, find high adventure when Stewy
—Evonne Henderson Fast moving story opens with a murder, Slinker and his bad men try to disturb
and soon involves Peter in rustling and the peace of Cactus country. Comic strip
pictures in many colors. Ages 8-12..$1.00
range war action, in which he again dis- DUSTY DESERT TALES, Louise McKee,
THE FANTASTIC CLAN proves that a tenderfoot from the East need
remain a tenderfoot.
Richard Summers. Ancient Indian myths
and legends retold in the simple style o!
«g?—"* ' -—'^T~I As enjoyable as a the native storyteller. Background to the
• IHt FAN!A>!K~ The Macmillan company, New York, culture of Pima, Apache, Hopi and
• a AN ' good travelog. 1943. 193 pp. $2.00. Yuma Indians. Many photographs and
Tells you how to illustrations. All ages ___ $2.50
•—Flo Sibley THE TRADER'S CHILDREN, Laura
••I "call by name" the
• • • Adams Armer. Drama enters the lives of
odd members of the three lively children at Black Mountain
: spiny clan of the FOR TYPICAL WESTERN Trading Post in Arizona. True story of
„—J desert. RANGE WAR IS BACKGROUND fun and adventure with desert back-
THE FANTASTIC CLAN by Thornber ground. Ages from 8 on. Half tone illus-
and Bonker, describes with charm and
When Connie Dickason, head-strong trations $2.50
accuracy the strange and marvelous and courageous, and her foreman, the OUR COUNTRY'S NATIONAL PARKS,
growth on the desert. An informal intro- brave and bitter Dave Nash find them- Irving R. Melbo. Informal, often humor-
duction to the common species in their ous description of historical and natural
native habitat, including notes on dis-
selves teamed against unscrupulous cattle- background of 26 national parks. Adds
covery, naming, uses and directions for men in a grim battle of the range, unex- new significance to natural wonders
growing. Many excellent drawings, pected things begin to happen. Luke and monuments of America. All ages.
paintings and photographs, some in Many photographs and maps, index.
full color. Endmaps, glossary, pronounc-
Short tells a story of vengeance and gun Two volumes. Each Vol $2.00
ing vocabulary, index. play in his new Western novel, RAM-
ROD, with plenty of action and emotion. We Pay Postage
$3.50 California Buyers Add 2'/ 2 % Tax
The Macmillan company, 1943. 232 pp.
DESERT CRAFTS SHOP $2.00. Desert Crafts Shop
636 State St. El Centro, California El Centro, California
—A. M.

NOVEMBER, 1943 37
 Retween Ifouand Me

:
-ir' "'* ' v-

By RANDALL HENDERSON
THE U. S. ARMED FORCES IN AFRICA—Now We have palm oases on the Southern California desert—but
I've seen the daddy of all the deserts—the Sahara. The not like these on the Sahara. The native palms of my desert are
opportunity came when I was transferred from Bush- Washingtonias. Here they are date palms, tall ragged trees that
town to a new permanent station in another part of the African look as if they might have been supplying food for the Arabs for
continent. thousands of years. This is Mohammedan country, and the
For many hours I looked down on a vast panorama of white domes of mosques, nestling among the palms, bear testi-
desert—some of it so barren of vegetation or topographic fea- mony to the religious devotion of these wild desert tribesmen.
tures that our travel involved much the same problems of navi- During our brief stop, I walked across the field to a wadi that
gation as in crossing an ocean. bordered it on one side—and wished John Hilton was there to
At other times we passed over a terrain that resembled so explain the strange erosions in the limestone rocks. They made
closely the mesa between El Centro, California, and Yuma, Ari- me think of the rillensteine described by Jerry Laudermilk in
zona, I instinctively glanced around the horizon in search for the December, 1940, issue of Desert Magazine, except that these
the Algodones sand dunes or the Chocolate mountains. I erosion grooves were always in concentric circles. They looked
wondered if those tiny bushes and trees on the desert floor be- so much like the weathered cross-section of an old piece of
low have any resemblance to the creosote and ironwood of my timber that some of the passengers insisted they were petrified
home desert. wood. But obviously that was not the answer. I wanted to
take a specimen along for my collection, but when one's entire
We passed over mesas that recalled to my mind the three
kit for military service overseas is limited to 55 pounds, it is no
mesas of the Hopi Indians in Arizona, and rocky escarpments
time to be gathering rocks.
and playas and malpai flats and arroyos—only they do not call
them arroyos here. They are wadis. Camel caravans thread their way along the trails that cross
this desert. Camel transportation is picturesque. But frankly, I
There were no clouds in the sky as we crossed the great Afri- prefer to do my desert exploring in my old jalopy. I've now
can desert, but there was a yellow haze around the horizon that tried both kinds of locomotion and I think a camel is a fine in-
blended perfectly with the sand below and then softly faded into stitution—for the Sahara. At that, I am afraid this grand old
the blue of the sky above. At no time could we see a sharp four-legged ship of the desert is going to have to give way sooner
clear-cut skyline. It was as if the desert sands simply rose up in or later to these big-tired jeeps.
a distant wall that completely surrounded us, and we were flying
in a great yellow bowl, with only the terrain directly below us * * *
clearly visible. Eventually we reached our destination, and I was billeted that
* * * night in a little stucco cottage surrounded by palms, agave, al-
A range of mountains loomed ahead, and as we headed for mond, bougainvillea, pepper, eucalyptus and geraniums. It
the pass through which we were to fly, the air became so bumpy was a little bit of Southern California—but the people spoke a
some of the passengers fastened their safety belts. The co-pilot strange language and on the street we passed donkeys and
came back through the cabin reeling like a sailor on a storm- camels and clumsy two-wheeled carts, and a few automobiles
tossed sea. There was an extra heavy lurch. powered from charcoal burners.
I've had my glimpse of the Sahara, but I'll not want to remain
"Must have hit a rock," he remarked. Some of the soldiers here when the war is over. The place is too big. It is too far
grinned. between waterholes. I want to be where I can drop in occa-
"Oh yes," he added, "the sand storms up here lift huge sionally and say "howdy" to George Perkins and Jack Mitchell
boulders right up into the sky and it always makes rough riding and Steve Ragsdale and Russell Nicoll and Charles Kelly and
for the passengers." I suspect that some of those in the plane Katherine and Bill Wilson and a thousand other good friends
were sick enough just then to believe he was telling the truth. who speak the language of the desert—but a language that I
Once we stopped at an oasis for refueling. I cannot tell you know. And besides, I don't think I would ever get used to
the devious route nor the means by which high octane is brought riding these camels.
into this remote desert settlement—but a crew member told me * * *
it cost Uncle Sam $6.00 a gallon to refuel his planes at this At a future date, when they are passing out laurels to the air-
point. plane pilots who shot and bombed the enemy out of the war, I
We left the plane for a few moments while the tanks were want to put in a word for the transport pilots who every hour of
being filled. And I can assure you there was one passenger who the day and night are carrying great loads of personnel and sup-
really enjoyed the blast of 115-degree desert air that hit us. It plies across the wide expanses of ocean and desert. Combat
was the most homelike feeling I have experienced since I came pilots, in cooperation with ground forces and the navy, will win
to Africa. After six months in the humid air of the tropics I the war-—but the end will come much sooner because of the
was glad again to be in a place where my clothes would not for- skill and courage of these unsung pilots and navigators and
ever have the musty smell of stale bread. radio operators of the transport service.

38 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 You CAN Buy Back Issues of Desert
Every day's mail brings inquiries about back numbers of DESERT. For the convenience of those who
would like a varied assortment of lasting interest, we have listed 24 issues now obtainable at a spe-
cial price. Only a limited number remain. These will make the perfect gift for that special friend
to whom you would like to introduce DESERT. Subjects listed below are but samples of the many
and varied features in each issue. Every number contains stories on travel, history, Indians, botany,
wildlife, legends and lost mines, poetry, book reviews, and many others. Starred articles include
maps. (For more complete information on back copies available, write Circulation Manager, Desert
Magazine, El Centro, California.)

Feb. '38—Graveyard of the Mammoths, Utah* Jun. '41—Hiking to Rainbow Bridge*

Gem collecting in the desert River boat days on Colorado river
Monument Peak—Unclimbed Pinnacle, Ariz. Pink opal in Nevada*
Mar.'38—Powell Weaver, Mountain Man Nov.'41—Willie Boy, Indian killer*
White Sands Natl. Mon., New Mex.* Garnets in Aquarius Range, Ariz.*
Bloodstone in Orocopia Mountains* Pete Aguereberry of Death Valley*
Fun. '38—Henry Chee Dodge, Navajo leader Jan. '42—Cochiti Indian drum maker
Climbing Toro Peak, Santa Rosa Mts.* Gem stones in Santa Rosa Mts.*
Monument Valley—Graveyard of the Gods* Exploring Colorado river by boat*
Jul. '38—Goulding's Post, Monument Valley, Utah* May'42—Keane Wonder Mine*
Toro Peak, Santa Rosa Mts., California* Polk & Posey, Indian renegades*
Indian Jewelry—Genuine and Imitation Opals in Last Chance canyon*
Jun. '42—Bonanza Road special edition*
Nov.'38—Hidden Forest, Nevada* Chemicals from Dale Dry Lake*
Waterfalls in Deep Canyon, Santa Rosas* Climbing down Havasupai canyon*
Beach combing the desert for gems*
Aug.'42—Explanation of deserts*
Nov.'39—Climbing White Mt., Calif.* Amethyst crystals, Mojave desert*
Fort Mojave—Outpost on the Colorado Capitol Reef Natl. Mon., Utah*
Tourmaline mine, San Diego county*
Oct. '42—Fossil discoveries in Utah
May'40—Discovery of Rainbow Bridge, Utah Tosido, Navajo healing spring*
Petrified oyster shells, Colorado desert* Apache Devil dance
Fairy crosses (Staurolite), New Mexico*
Nov. '42—Hualpai Indians
Jun. '40—On trail of Utah gems* Giant sloth remains, Nevada*
Wupatki National Monument, Ariz.* Jet found in Henry Mts. Utah*
Discovery of Navajo watchtower
Jan. '43—Traveling Southwest trails*
Jul. '40—Woman miner on the Mojave* Coyote, phantom of the desert
Capt. John Hance, Grand Canyon guide Climbing to Moki Indian ruin, Utah*
Prospecting with Ultra-violet lamp
Nov.'40—Onyx in Orocopia Mts., Calif.* Feb. '43—City rock collectors
Lorenzo Hubbell, famed Indian trader Saga of Dirty Devil river, Utah*
Palm Oasis, eastern San Diego county* Chuska Mt. massacre. New Mexico*
Mar.'41—Palm Canyon, Borrego Park* May '43—Origin of geodes and and thundereggs
Manly's trail in the Panamints* Training a desert hawk to hunt
Quartz crystals. Superstition Mts.* Finding "Walls of Jericho", Utah*
Apr. '41—Hunting fossils in Utah* Aug.'43—Desert trees, pictorial
Malpais, New Mexico's lava flow* Visit to a Navajo home, Utah*
Thousand Palm Oasis, Calif.* Clarence Budington Kelland "goes desert"

Dear Desert: Please send to the addresses below the issues I have checked. I enclose $
Six issues $1.00. 12 issues $2.00. All 24, $3.50.

Name Name_
Address. Address^

Name_ Name
Address_ Address

Desert gift cards will be sent with all gift orders. Address: DESERT MAGAZINE
Magazines may be sent to Army personnel in U.S.A. only. El Centro, California

NOVEMBER, 1943 39
VALERIE JEAN'S -Round
DESERT GIFT
Five Pounds of Assorted
Dates, Date Candy and
Date Roll. (Also Date Cake
when materials are avail-
able for baking this item.)

DELIVERED

. . . and in the . . .
THREE POUND SIZE

$3.00

ValerieJean's
THERMAL, CALIFORNIA