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JANUARY, 1945 25 CENTS

t : • • • . . . - : •

M
By E. A. BRININSTOOL
Hollywood, California

I'm in my desert fastness—the silent painted land,

Where sunrise glories thrill me, and where, across the sand
Gleam splendors which no painter but God Himself can show,
In changing lights and shadows, spilled by the sunset's glow.

Across the wide arroyos the broken buttes rise high,

And far beyond, the mountains, whose white crests pierce the sky.
The wine-like air brings to me the desert smells I love—
The scent of sage and greasewood from mesa lands above.

I'm in my desert fastness—a welcome solitude!

No city noises clanging outside my cabin rude.
Only the gentle breezes across the sagebrush floor,
In low-crooned, soothing whispers, drift idly past my door.

Wilhelm's ''Vagabond House," Thousand Palms Oh, glorious desert country! Your magic spell I know!
Your lure is strong, resistless, when from your depths I go!
Oasis, California. Wilhelm now is serving with Your wild wastes call and beckon in accents glad and true,
U. S. army in France. And your calm stretches soothe me when I return to you!

NOMADS OF THE SOIL ENCOURAGEMENT GHOST OF DEATH VALLEY

By MARGARET WOODIN COUCHE By FRANCES HOPKINS By S/SGT. MARCUS Z. LYTLE
Hollywood, California Newark, New Jersey Montrose, California
Here on this arid waste of desert sand Many a weary pioneer As twilight creeps up the Valley of Death,
No tender violet nor lovely rose Might have halted The kiln of the desert burns low,
Could brave the breath of dragon wind that But for illusive cheer The umbers fade from the Funeral Range
blows Mirage afforded, And the rose from the Panamint snow.
Unceasingly across the sun parched land. Luring the spirit on
In their stead I have found a sturdy band When body faltered. A tide of dark blue floods over the salt
As carefree as a tribe of Gorgios • • • And mounts to the verdureless strand
Who dauntlessly have overcome their foes; Where, eons ago, a rain-stippled lake
An humble throng, yet unafraid they stand. TREE OF THE DESERT Fondled a pine-covered land.
By RUTH REYNOLDS
Where others would succumb they thrive alone, The pines have withdrawn to the top of the
Tucson, Arizona peaks,
And fly no banners when their kind succeeds.
Persistently they come into their own: It asks for little sustenance, And the lake is a ghastly sink,
Brave nomads of the soil; this old earth needs This wasteland tempered tree, But its ghost comes back in the early dusk
Folk with the selfsame virtues they have shown, But waits the sun's beneficence And I hear a song on its brink:
To be victorious in life—ah, weeds. To spread a filigree A light is twinkling along the shore
Of gold-green foliage on a breeze At the foot of a purple cliff—
• • • Of sunflame that would sere Not a miner's camp bv a bitter spring,
ARIZONA The leaves of greener, prouder trees. But an Indian lover's skiff.
By W. Lou BERKNESS And yet the semi-sheer • • •
Long Beach, California And delicately faded lace
Only Arizona's sunsets Worn by the grave mesquite KEEP ME THE MOUNTAINS
Defy the painter's brush. Shelters the desert's tired face. By MINA MORRIS SCOTT
Only here, at twilight, Impervious to heat. Columbus, Indiana
Comes that breathless husli And when mesquite leaves chastely go,
Disdaining color riot, Keep me the mountains, for some day I'm
That falls upon the desert: coming;
As night comes sweeping in, Imperceptibly they flow
Into the desert quiet. Though I had to leave them, they still are my
And shadows shroud old Camelback, own.
• • •
And all the stars begin Still I remember their grandeur, their glory—
To creep so soon from out the blue TRANQUILLITY IS TREASURE God's greatest temples of eternal stone.
And twinkle, two by two. By JESSIE FISHER
Los Angeles, California Guard me the slopes where the blue spruces
I lay me down in peace tonight; flourish,
Another day is done. While some may mine the hills for gold
Or dig for gems the rocks may hold, And high peaks are gilded with glistening
My heart's as glad and warm again
As Arizona's sun. I store within my city breast snows;
The desert's quiet, closely pressed; Keep me the crests where the last rays of sunset
• • • Gleam with the splendor of topaz and rose.
A hush, like fleecy robe at night
THE DESERT Enfolding me, subduing, quite, Watch the blue mesas, and save me the blossoms
By SARA V A N ALSTYNE ALLEN The turmoil born of constant striving When dry deserts bloom in the gay month of
Mecca, California Which desert calms with peace surprising. June;
God knew • • • Search the cool canyons, and hoard the clear
That man grows weary THE DESERT CALLS crystal
Of the turbulence of beauty, Of springs and of lakes that reflect the full
By BELLE C. EWING
Ornate and frosted palaces, moon.
Too crowded green, Riverside, California
Along the river's brink, The desert calls, Prolong the spell of fiesta, siesta,
Bright colors dazzling to the eyes, I long to go, Of corn-dance and kiva where rain-gods are
And birds confusing in their melody. Where the sky climbs high sought;
And the moon swings low; Preserve traditions of far distant ages,
God fashioned Where naked mountains touch the sky The pueblos and plazas with mystery fraught.
In a quiet hour And golden galleons go sailing by.
The desert, Save me the rugged arroyo and rimrock;
And in it sowed I dream of my land Catch the strange beauty of cactus and dune;
The beauty of emptiness, In the sunset's glow— The green of the sagebrush, the grace of the
The bliss of space, Where the sky climbs high yucca—
The sands of peace. And the moon swings low. Keep them all for me; I'm coming there soon.

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 DESERT

• Major Weldon Heald, who served as

Chitf of the Climatology unit for the of-
fice of the Quartermaster General during
the past two and one half years, has re-
turned to inactive duty and is looking
forward to resuming his exploration
jaurts on the desert. Major Heald wrote
a very interesting article for Desert read-
ers on the subject of desert climate just
before he entered the army, and during Volume 8 JANUARY. 1945 Number 3
his :ime in the service has added much to
his knowledge of this subject. He will
continue in the role of civilian consultant COVER THE WIND PASSED BY, Death Valley Dunes. Photo
for the same office in which he served as by Floyd B. Evans, Pasadena, California.
an army officer. In addition to his scien-
tific material for Desert Magazine, Heald POETRY My Desert Fastness, and other poems .
has supplied mapped travelogs of out-of-
the-way places on the desert—and prom- CLOSE-UPS Notes on Desert features and their writers
ises more of them in the future.

• Story of Uncle Sam's camels in the Photographer of the Dunes

PERSONALITY
next issue will be Frances E. Watkins' By JOHN HILTON
firs: contribution to Desert Magazine. It
was 15 years ago that she became an as- INDIAN LIFE Rosita of Zufii
sistant in the Southwest Museum of Los By MARGARET STONE
Angeles. She was just out of college, and
fresh from a summer's digging at Pecos Oasis in the Chuckawallas
and Tecolote in New Mexico—full of en- WATERHOLE
thusiasm and inexperience. A month later By RANDALL HENDERSON 13
she became librarian of the museum. Her Solo Flight . . . of a Woodpecker
title since 1930 has been that of Assist- NATURE
ant Curator. While Dr. Watkins' writing By GEORGE McCLELLAN BRADT . . 16
has been largely of a scientific nature, her
story for Desert will give some of the TRUE OR FALSE A test of your desert knowledge 18
humorous sidelights of the episode of the
camels, which "nobody wanted and no- PREHISTORY The Giants of K a n a b
body loved—except Lieut. Edward Fitz- By JERRY LAUDERMILK . . . . 19
gerald Beale and their native drivers."

• Charles Kelly's next story is about the

TREASURE Soldiers' Lost Vein of Gold
Rumbling Mountains of Utah, in the By BARRY STORM 23
House Range west of Delta. Frank Beck-
with. Delta newspaper publisher, col- LETTERS Comment from Desert r e a d e r s . . . 25
laborated on the story and illustration.
Frank says that although the Rumbling ART OF LIVING Desert Refuge, b y MARSHAL SOUTH 27
Mountains have been silent for some
time now, they probably are "gaining NEWS Here a n d There on the Desert . . . 29
headway to begin chattering any day.
They have periods of quiescence, stop
grumbling, and then row and jangle, MINING C u r r e n t n e w s briefs 32
throw the rolling pin and dishes around,
and then again quit fussing." HOBBY G e m s a n d Minerals
• Next in Randall Henderson's series of
— E d i t e d b y A R T H U R L. E A T O N 33
sketches covering the native palm oases CRAFT A m a t e u r G e m Cutter, b y LELANDE QUICK . . . 36
in :he desert of the Southwest will be the
story of Hellhole canyon in the San
Ysidro mountains west of Borrego valley. COMMENT Just B e t w e e n Y o u a n d M e
This group of palms is not as well known By RANDALL HENDERSON 37
as those in Borrego palm canyon, nor as
numerous, but the canyon has botanical BOOKS W i n d int h e S a h a r a , a n dother r e v i e w s . . . . 39
features that give it high standing among
the scenic attractions in the Anza Desert
state park. On his last trip six years ago The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Publishing Company, 636
he counted 28 healthy palms. Another State Street, El Centro, California. Entered as second class matter October 11, 1937, at the
trip is to be made to verify this count and post office at El Centro. California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title registered No.
358865 in U. S. Patent Office, and contents copyrighted 1945 by the Desert Publishing Com-
secure additional photographs. pany. Permission to reproduce contents must be secured from the editor in writing.
RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor. LUCILE HARRIS, Associate Editor.
BESS STACY, Business Manager. — EVONNE HENDERSON, Circulation Manager.
Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledged
CREED OF THE DESERT unless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility for damage
or loss of manuscripts or photographs although due care will be exercised. Subscribers should
By J U N E LEMERT PAXTON send notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding issue. If address is un-
Yucca Valley, California certain by that date, notify circulation department to hold copies.
Now grandma tortoise told an ailing SUBSCRIPTION RATES

lizard, One year . . . . $2.50

To get in the sun each day. Canadian subscriptions 25c extra, foreign 50c extra.
For the touch of the sand is a tonic great Subscriptions to Army personnel outside U.S.A. must be mailed in conformity with
P.O.D. Order No. 19687.
And the air is filled with violet ray.
Address correspondence to Desert Magazine, 636 State St., El Centro, California.

JANUARY, 1945
:-.

. H.

Photo
<? r a P h taken by Evans in Death Valley.
This is a comparatively recent picture which has
been very popular with the salon juries.

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 Most of Floyd B. Evans' outdoor pictures are taken with a 4x5 Speed Graphic. He just cannot be bothered ivith a tripod-
it takes too much time and bother.

Athe
If you were to go into the Floyd B. Evans studio in Pasadena when the
artist-photographer was in the midst of his work you would find the place
all cluttered up with prints and mounts and acids and equipment. But out
of this disorder comes some of the finest salon prints exhibited in United
States in recent years—prints that show the desert in all its natural charm.
Evans has his own formula for photography—both in the field and in the
studio. If you are interested in knowing why his work is so popular with
the juries which judge salon prints, here are some interesting glimpses of
the man at work.

By JOHN HILTON

f 4- NE OF the reasons why pictures from the fact that during the year ending painting. He rented a studio in Pasadena,
\^y of the desert Southwest have occu- June 30, 1943, he placed 127 prints in 46 California, from Edward P. McMurtry,
pied so important a place in the in- international salons, and most of them recognized authority in the carbro printing
ternational photography salons held in were desert pictures. process. In that atmosphere, Evans first be-
United States during recent years is— Evans did not intend to be a photo- came interested and then enthusiastic over
Floyd B. Evans. grapher. When he gave up a business photography as an art.
When Evans takes a picture of the des- career in Chicago a few years ago to move His first public recognition in his new
ert it is a work of art, as you may judge West, he planned to spend his leisure time field of interest came in 1940 when he sub-

JANUARY, 1945
mitted four prints in the annual News and large camera, his favorite for outdoors The final, and to me the most interest-
Pictorial salon sponsored by Kent Univer- being the 4x5 Speed Graphic with pan- ing phase of the studio was the actual mak-
sity in Ohio. All four were accepted. With chromatic film. ing of the salon prints. Floyd had sifted his
that encouragement the Pasadena artist- hundreds of shots and settled down to a
He believes that color photography will few that he thought had real promise.
photographer really went to work in ear- gain steadily in popularity, and that event-
nest. Then work began in the darkroom. There
ually when costs are lowered and processes the floor was littered with discarded
But he did not attain his record as high simplified the amateurs will be taking prints. Floyd is a perfectionist and many
man in the salons without many disap- more color pictures than black and white. times makes a dozen tries with a film be-
pointments. He experimented with various fore he gets the effect he wants.
I had the good fortune to accompany
kinds of trick shots—sliced fruits, nuts and
Floyd on one of his photographic jaunts. After the first test, he decides on the
bolts, and other commonplace items which
It remains in my memory as one of the portion of the original film he wishes to
once were quite popular with "arty" pho-
most completely pleasant trips I ever have use. Sometimes it is a relatively small area
tographers. At various times he experi-
taken. It led as on a loop route through of the negative. Then this is enlarged to
mented with almost every type of subject
Flagstaff and Cameron, Arizona, Monu- salon size and studied. Some spots are too
from nudes to snow scenes. But he derived
ment Valley and Blanding, Utah, Mesa dark to suit him—others too light. The
little satisfaction in the passing fads of
Verde ruins in Colorado, Shiprock and picture is made over and dodged with his
photography.
Gallup in New Mexico, the Petrified For- hand or some other object to correct these
Then he found one field that fascinated est, Painted Desert and the great Meteor
him beyond all others. He made his first things. The print is still probably a little
Crater of Arizona. We traveled without light in the upper left corner so it goes on
trip to Death Valley—and "discovered" any set schedule and stopped when either
the desert. the floor and another is made. Finally one
one saw something that pleased him. approaches the point where Floyd ap-
His enthusiasm for desert photography It was on this trip that I first saw Evans proves, and it is laid aside for further work
never has cooled—and his pictures reflect in action. He kept his Speed Graphic with- such as spotting and shading. Salon pho-
his feeling. The desert, in turn has been in reach at all times, and was out of the tography is not as simple as it looks and
good to him. It has furnished him with a car pointing it at some object of interest Floyd's severest critic is Floyd Evans.
high percentage of his winning salon on a second's notice. He doesn't bother
prints. His picture "The Wind Passed By" The final result is a picture that brings
with a tripod. It would cramp his style. I
(Desert Magazine cover this month), a warm glow to the heart of the desert
had seen some of the very "arty" photo-
taken in the sands of northern Death Val- dweller—and to the uninitiated in a city
graphers who invade the desert loaded
ley has been accepted by 69 international thousands of miles away, a great desire to
down with a half dozen different cameras
salons. see this strange land that lends itself so
and a suitcase full of attachments. At first
Studio pictures still are represented on well to the photographer's art.
I believed that all this sort of thing was
the Evans lists, but after that first trip to necessary to good picture taking. Evans When I saw the finished print of "Na-
Death Valley, most of his film has been works with his Speed Graphic, one yellow vajo Children," all the thrills of that aft-
exposed out of doors. In the desert he has filter, and plenty of film. (This was be- ernoon in Monument Valley's Navajo
found subject matter that needs no trick fore the war.) camps returned in memory. Those two
handling. He doesn't have to roast, freeze little Indian children were part of a large
or boil in oil any of his negatives to make I soon lost track of the number of pic- family that had posed with a dignity and
them interesting. The desert itself, un- tures he took. The film supply seemed in- lack of self-consciousness seldom found in
marred by man or any of his works, is all exhaustible and so did he as long as sub- professional models. This particular pose
that he needs. If people do appear on ject matter presented itself. The day Harry was one of dozens in which these children
his desert, they are desert dwellers—not Goulding took us out to visit the camps of appeared, but Floyd had recognized the
imported models or visiting dudes dressed some of his Navajo neighbors must have fact that this was THE picture of the day.
in western costumes. been an all-time high for film consump-
tion by one photographer. The light was After prints are made and mounted they
I asked Evans why he prefers desert perfect, Harry is always an excellent guide, pass one more final test before he sends
subjects. "The answer to that is easy," he and the Navajo liked Floyd Evans. When them on their way to the salons. This is the
said. "It is the sunlight." Then he pointed we returned to the trading post that night, "living test." He hangs them in his dining
out how all-important is the matter of he had enough exposed film to have kept room or bedroom for a few weeks to see
lighting in the taking of good photo- the average photographer busy in the dark- how they "wear." If they look as good to
graphs. It is possible to secure good artifi- room for weeks. him after he has seen them every day for a
cial lighting in the studio—but on the period of time, then he considers them
desert the sunlight and clear atmosphere I watched him in his studio later going worthy. If they don't pass this test they
combine to furnish just the right high- over all those films. The darkroom looked are discarded.
lights and shadows for whole ranges and like rush season in a professional photo
entire landscapes. Floyd Evans did not finishing plant. The whole house was When I asked Floyd for prints to be
say this, but I suspect that he regards studio strewn with test prints. The housekeeper used in Desert Magazine, my request in-
lighting fixtures and gadgets as somewhat was frantic trying to keep things tidy, but cluded a picture of himself. It brought out
of a bother—just as he looks upon the Floyd was happy. About the only spots a very interesting and significant side of
use of a tripod in the field. around the place not cluttered up with the man. Of the thousands of negatives in
prints were the parrot cage and the cactus his files, there was not a recognizable pic-
Evans has little preference between ture of himself. In spite of his protests, I
early morning and late afternoon light. But garden. But it was great fun—almost as
insisted that he pose for one.
there must be shadows, and he seldom much as the trip itself. Friends dropped in
takes his camera out at midday. Cloud and after removing a stack of prints from Folks who seldom or never have the op-
effects generally are best on the desert in a chair or sofa, Floyd invited them to sit portunity of visiting the desert, owe a debt
the late afternoon. down and then he and I would vie with of gratitude to Floyd Evans for the super-
In the absence of a tripod, Evans seldom each other in recounting the high points of lative job he is doing of bringing the des-
clicks his camera at a shutter speed of less the expedition—illustrated of course by ert to them through his nation-wide salon
than 1/lOOth of a second. He prefers a more prints. exhibits.

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 • •

This Floyd B. Evans picture, taken in Monument

Nona jo. Valley in northern Arizona has been accepted
by the juries in 25 international salons.

JANUARY, 1945
 Old customs and old beliefs
still linger in the Indian Pueblo of
Zufii in northwestern New Mex-
ico. Women still follow the steep
trail to Sacred mountain east of
the village to supplicate the
House Blessing gods who dwell
there. Zufiis still look to Salt Lake,
ten miles away, as their mecca,
where dwell the spirits of depart-
ed tribesmen. And tradition and
ritual bound the simplest tasks of
daily life, as well as the pattern
for ceremonial days—as Rosita
learned to her dismay when she
returned to her home after having
lived in the modern ways of the
white man. Her friend Margaret
Stone tells how Rosita took some
shortcuts through these formali-
ties and effected a compromise
which pleased not only her "cor-
rect" mother but the headman of
the tribe as well.

night's ashes on the hearth of the corner

fireplace, and blew on them until a tiny
flame started in the dry cedar bark. Each
day she pleaded with her old mother to
allow a cooking stove to be placed in the
smaller room where the meals could be
prepared and eaten away from where the
family worked and slept.
"No. Always loaves have been baked for
this house in the outside ovens, and hewa
(wafer bread) prepared on the cooking
stone on my hearth. You will not change
these ways."
Rosita's mother had been one of the best
Zufii potters, and her fine big bowls were
sold for a good price. She was proud of
her work, and the worst part of her sick-
Rosita and small Pedro and the motherless child tvho lived with them. ness was that it left her unable to continue
the hard work connected with making
pottery. She kept two or more of her most
perfect bowls near at hand where she could
touch them and talk about them when I

Rosita of Zuni came to the house, as I did daily. Seated on

one of the wide stone ledges which ran
around three sides of the big thick walled
room with its huge log beams festooned
with feather trimmed prayer sticks, I wrote
By MARGARET STONE down stories of the Zufii people as they
U. S. Indian Service Photos were told to me by Rosita's mother. The
older woman's name was T'h-za, or at
least that was how it sounded, but it was
rt UNLIGHT streamed through the tribe, and theirs had been a non-reserva- easier to think of her and speak of her as
i windows flooding the big white- tion school courtship and marriage. When "Rosita's mother."
washed room where Rosita lay they left the school Frank worked as a When Rosita learned that a new hewa
sleeping in old Zufii Pueblo. The young skilled mechanic for the Santa Fe railroad stone was needed, she mentioned the mat-
woman stirred from her warm blankets, and neither of them knew the hardships of ter to me. We three women were all at
tucked them snugly around small plump primitive pueblo living. War brought an work in the big room, and the chubby
Pedro, and began the daily chores. Life in end to their way of life, and with Frank brown baby was helping each one in his
her childhood home was very complicated, doing his share to keep the great bombers solemn adorable manner. The five-year-
she thought, after her years spent in a small flying over South Pacific islands, Rosita old daughter of a dead sister lived there
city where she and Frank and the baby took her son and went back to Zufii to too and she was earnestly trying to make
had lived in a modern house with all the wait for peace, and to care for her crippled rabbit foot dolls along with her grand-
conveniences of civilization. mother left alone by the father's death. mother. Since she no longer could shape
Frank was a member of the Laguna She uncovered the coals, buried in last and paint pottery the old lady had been

8 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

making the tiny beaded dolls, using a take your car and help me look for one?" trying to do what I thought you expected
rabbit foot for the body and covering the "Sure will. Shall we go this afternoon?" of me." The old lady was pacified.
upper part with padded cotton and beads. I answered, my eyes on my notebook. "Tell me just what is done about getting
The trader gladly exchanged food for the Rosita and I were startled at the outburst a cooking stone." Rosita made a swift
dolls which tourists liked as souvenirs. of Indian conversation from the old
Rosita was crushing corn in the grinding mother. After awhile calm was restored
bin next to the wall. She rolled the kernels and English re-entered the scene. Zuiii girls are beautiful. These girls
up and down on the metate with the mano "You will not find a cooking stone. are waiting for the Indian Service
stone rolling pin, until the dry corn was That is not your business, my would-be- school to open. Shawls, many of
turned into meal. white daughter. Men of the Corn society them imported from Czecho-
"My mother says we are to have a new select the baking stones." slovakia, are widely worn by Pueblo
hewa stone," she said casually. "Will you "All right, Mother. All right. I was just women and girls.

JANUARY, 1945
 Domestic duties are shared by Zuni
women. To this one falls the responsi-
bility of baking bread for several
families. Baking still is done in out-
door adobe ovens. With the exception
of her modern wristwatch and leather
shoes this woman is dressed in tradi-
tional Zuni style. A pitami, or large
handkerchief trimmed with ribbons,
hangs over her back, as does her
braided hair.

stone and carry it to our doorway. Then we

feed the men, and the smoothing and
curing of the stone is your work!"
I wanted to see the quarrying of the
stone and the accompanying ceremonies.
I turned to the old house-owner. "Friend's
Mother," I began, "I will bring the men
and the stone home in the car if you think
it would be correct." The old lady was
non-committal, but Rosita carried half a
dozen bottles of the sweet pop so dear to
Indian stomachs, with her for the head-
man, when she took the traditional gift of
motion behind her mother's back and I go to the quarry at the foot of Towa'- ears of corn rubbed with salt from the
picked up my pencil and waited. This, the Yallanne (Corn mountain or Sacred banks of the sacred Salt lake about ten
sign had indicated, would be worth mountain) to find a place to get the stone. miles away. She slyly mentioned to the
recording. That member reports in the kiva to the old man that her white friend always had
"First we send a gift to the headman. society and two additional members are bottles of pop in her car and that the stone
Then he chooses a member of the clan to assigned to go with the finder, quarry the could be brought home in the car and thus
save three miles of footwork in the hot sun.
The old man and Rosita twinkled at each
These Zuni women show further contrasts between the old and the new. Younger other and he nodded his head.
woman is dressed in "ivhite" clothes. She probably has bought the boy's clothing "You just mention to my mother that
at government school. Older woman wears typical tribal dress. The dark jumper there is no harm in having the stone ride
covers one shoulder, while over the other hangs the pitami. Blouse and longer skirt home instead of walk and she'll tell me\"
are trimmed with embroidery and applique, as is her white apron. All women and Next day while beads were being carefully
girls have their ears pierced for eardrops. Older ivoman wears silver eardrops strung for doll making, the mother hinted
made by Zuni silversmiths. Her coiffeur also is Zuni style but she wears modern that since the white woman was such a
wristwatch and leather shoes instead of moccasins. Women here have just finished good friend, she had prevailed on the Corn
Society chief to allow the stone to ride
washing out the oven preparatory to baking bread.
home in her car. And since the white
woman must not go alone on such an
errand, she guessed Rosita might as well
ride along.
It probably just happened that the head-
man himself was close to the car when
Rosita and I were ready to go. Anyway he
accepted the invitation to accompany us
and he directed our course eastward
toward the base of Corn mountain. There,
since the first knowledge of the Zunis,
they have been splitting off smooth sec-
tions of sandstone for their essential cook-
ing slabs.
High noon's sun beat down on the three
men waiting for their priest. They rose
from their place under scant juniper trees
and came to the car. I suggested that a
bottle of pop might make the work go
easier, and the headman accepted the first
one opened!
Before the first effort was made to split
the stone loose, sacred meal of appropriate
colors was sprinkled toward the six direc-
tions, and a prayer stick, which was an ear
of corn plastered with Salt Lake mud and

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

adorned with eagle down, was placed on After midnight I opened a package of smoked and hissed when Rosita smeared
the shrine dedicated to the gods of the sandwiches I'd brought with me and we it with crushed pumpkin seeds. The oil
quarry. ate them in silence. Small Pedro was from the seeds went into every pore and
With all that preparation, and because spending the night in the hospital nursery then the stone was allowed to cool. Still no
the workers really were skilled in its hand- because he couldn't be expected not to word was spoken in the house.
ling, there was small chance for the slab make a noise, and Rosita would not allow When the stone was cool, Rosita, under
to break. Once free from its surroundings him to sleep with any of the neighbors. her mother's directions, polished it vigor-
and trimmed to a size approximately 24 The taboo on talking had been explained. ously with a sheepskin buffer, and it shone
by 36 inches, it was brushed clean with Loud voices attract the evil spirits, who smooth and black as ebony. Another small
juniper branches and placed on its edge delight in breaking cooking stones. The fire was kindled, and this time chunks of
against the back seat of the car. It seemed a same holds true when pottery is being raw pinon gum were rubbed over the
good time for the second round of drinks, fired. stone time and again. When fragments
and again the headman was first in line. "When a stone cracks in spite of every- hardened or broke from the lump, pine
The slab was sprinkled with meal and body keeping still—what causes that to twigs were used to brush them off—
pollen by the head of the Turquoise happen?" I questioned Rosita's mother. toward the left, of course. When the pinon
society whose blessing was for the purpose "In that case, either the one working on gum was consumed, the stone again was
of keeping sickness away from anyone the stone, or someone watching her has a allowed to cool, and this time the frag-
eating bread cooked on the stone. He then bad wicked heart!" declared the old wo- ments were swept away with juniper twigs.
carried it into the little corn room behind man. Rosita picked up my pencil and Each bunch of pine or juniper branches
the row of metates. This time a case of scribbled a message, "Let's hope our pasts was used but once and then laid aside.
cold pop was brought from the trading have been blameless!" We smothered gig- While the stone cooled, it was sprinkled
post and as a bottle was opened it was with crushed juniper twigs and berries,
gles and Rosita laid a hand on the top of
tasted and passed around from one to and the air was heavy with their resinous
another. the rock to see how warm it was getting.
odor.
On the second day the fire was increased
One side of the stone has to be as and the slab was properly tempered. It The stone had been successfully
smooth as ivory and it was days before
Rosita, working briskly with a rubbing
stone made of petrified wood, had the
surface in condition to suit her mother. She
had to work in silence, no loud word must
be spoken in the house, and all her motions
were made from right to left. Now and
then she looked at me and grimaced, but
she never flagged until her task was
complete.
Then the real period of suspense began.
The stone slab was carefully placed on
the rock supports from which the discarded
one had been removed. These rocks which
held the big slab were placed at each end
and lifted the slab about a foot above the
wide hearth. For some reason not
explained, the right side of the hearth
always holds the cooking stone, and all
motions employed in seasoning the rock,
greasing it for use and spreading the
batter is made with right-to-left strokes.
When the slab was carefully centered on
its supports a very small fire was kindled
underneath it. Live coals from one of the
kivas were carried over to Rosita in a
beautiful old bowl, which doubtless had
been used for centuries to convey live coals,
and these were blown upon until the
shredded cedar bark blazed. Bits of cedar
wood were added now and then, just
enough to keep warmth pouring upward
against the stone. No word above a whisper
was spoken. The mother, wearied with all
the excitement, slept in her chair, while I
crouched on the floor beside Rosita in
silent companionship.

Rosita's mother, a Zuni potter.

Zuni pottery is egg-shell white, with
intricate reddish brown design.

JANUARY, 1945
prepared, tempered and oiled. Now used, and sturdy women go up and down the fateful day in 1539 when Coronado's
everybody was crowding in to see it and ladders, back and forth from house to kiva, gold seeking Conquistadors sacked the vil-
congratulate Rosita on her fine work. She with great baskets piled high with white lage, and drove its inhabitants to their
looked pleased, but put off making the and brown loaves. They carry these baskets sacred Corn mountain, the Zuni Indians
hewa mixture for wafer bread until the on their heads, never needing to balance have figured in Southwestern desert his-
next day. Real bread was needed and she them with a touch. tory. They, more than any other pueblo,
mixed a huge batch of yeast bread from Zuni women are beautiful. A great part adhere to the customs, traditions and full
flour bought at the trading post. of their beauty comes from the proud religious rites of their ancestors.
Zuni women pride themselves on their graceful carriage, and I think I know how What the return of the hundred or more
beautifully browned fragrant: loaves of they won their grace and poise—those Zuni men serving in armed forces, and the
bread, wh'ch they bake in the beehive heavy baskets on their heads. I remember number of war worker girls, will do
ovens of adobe along the river's edge or in having to walk up and down stairs with a toward modernizing this ancient pueblo
the plaza. Because there are so many duties book on my head because my lady grand- remains to be seen.
confronting Indian women, they have mother thought I was inclined to slump! In the meantime Rosita, who longs to
learned to apportion their work, and some- Rosita delivered her loaves for baking be working in an airplane plant or thinks
times one woman does the baking for a and went back to mix and bake her first what a wonderful thing it would be to wear
dozen neighborhood women in one day. hewa. The mother told her exactly what a WAC uniform, cares for the helpless
The women of each house mix their bread to do. children and crippled mother dependent
in big granite d'shpans and leave it covered "Put your hewa bowl half full of water, on her. Perhaps some day she can look
with clean muslin close to the corner fire- and take enough salt to fill the hollow of back on the everyday battle she fisjhts there
place. In the morning when baking is to against superstition, dirt and disease, and
your cupped hand. Put that in the meal you
be done, it is worked down and a'lowed to realize that her's was a major conflict,
have ready in the second bin, and then stir bravely fought and valiantly won.
rise the second time, then kneaded and it all together in the water—stirring, of
shaped into loaves. Sometimes these loaves • • •
course, toward the left."
are put in pans, but more often they are HOSTEEN JOHN, FRTEND OF
That was the recipe, and I waited with
carried out on a smooth board to the hot THE NAVAJO- IS DEAD
interest to see what that unleavened, non-
oven and slipped in on the meal-sprinkled The Southwest lost one of its most color-
shortening style of batter would produce.
floor. ful pioneers when John Wetherill, aged
The cooking slab was smoking hot and
The woman selected to do the baking 78, of Kayenta, Arizona, died at Ash Fork
the mother asked to be placed in front of
has been at the ovens since earlv morning, November 30. Wetherill was on his way to.
it. She brushed away the crushed juniper
kindling her fires from bark and gradually Needles, California, seeking a lower alti-
twigs and berries, and exposed the beauti-
adding cedar wood until the oven is tude for the benefit of his health, when
fully smooth black surface. Tucking her
thoroughly heated. She has perhaps four or death came. He has been in failing health
thumb back into her palm, she dipped the
five ovens heating at once, and when the for the last two years.
four fingers of her right hand in the thin
first customer appears, she opens the rock mixture and with one swift swipe, she Respected by his neighbors, both white
door, shovels the hot coals out and puts covered the far side of the stone from end and Indian, John Wetherill played a lead-
them into the next oven, takes a long to end. Three more passages along the ing role in both archeological and geo-
handled broom made of juniper twigs and stone and it was covered. Instantly she graphical explorations in Arizona, Utah,
dips it into a pail of water. With this she lifted the thin wafer off and laid it flat New Mexico and Colorado during the last
swipes the floor clean of ashes, then throws on the hearth. When she had cooked about 38 years.
a handful of coarse meal in on the floor twenty of the wafers, she began laying He led Dr. Byron Cummings and the
before placing the loaves, which are sl'd them back, one by one, on the heated stone. first party of white Americans to see the
into the oven on the broad end of a paddle As soon as they touched it they were flex- Rainbow natural bridge in 1909, (Desert
shaped pole. The door is closed when the ible enough to be folded twice and rolled Magazine, May '40). Previous to that he
oven is full, and the baker knows just how into cylinders about the size of small ears had been one of the first to discover and
long a period should elapse before it is of corn. These were piled on a woven explore the Mesa Verde Indian ruins in
time to unchink the stone and take the plaque. Colorado, and had led an archeological ex-
sweet smelling nutty bread out for delivery pedition to the Cliff Palace in the region
to its owner. She either can take her pay "You try it now, my daughter. The
stone is true and shows that your heart is which has since been made a national park.
for the work by accepting a loaf of bread
right." Rosita looked wildly at me for help, "Hosteen John" as he was called by his
from each customer, or they each will give
but meeting a baffled look, she crouched friends on the reservation, knew the Na-
her two cups of flour for her labor.
beside her mother and began what seemed vajo better than most white men, always
Rosita had not yet learned how to regu- to her a hopeless job. Her first attempt was their friend, and his passing will be
late the heat of the outdoor ovens so in spattered the thin mixture here and there mourned by friends of many races and
lieu of her turn at baking she paid double but she grimly set her teeth and kept creeds.
toll on baking done for her. When she trying. She was a very proud daughter of John Wetherill was born at Leaven-
was summoned to bring her loaves to the the Zunis when she lifted her first perfect worth, Kansas, September 24, 1866. In
oven I walked along and helped carry wafer from the stone. Each time she spread 1906 he came to Arizona and during the
them. The ovens are bits of heaven for the mixture she learned what not to do if past 38 years made his home on the Navajo
shivering dogs and cold bare-bottomed she wished to avoid blistered fingers. reservation. During most of that time he
little boys. In winter time the youngsters, When the mother said she would finish operated the Kayenta Trading post as a
with just short cotton shirts clothing them, the task Rosita rose gratefully and accom- partner of Clyde A. Colville.
linger near the ovens and lean their chilled panied me to the door. Surviving members of his family are his
backs against them. They are very careful "Gee "Whiz," she said, examining a wife, Louisa Wade Wetherill, author of
to keep out of the way of the busy women, burn. "I hope this war ends soon!" Traders to the Navajo, and his son Benja-
and woe to any urchin who kicks up dust • • • min Wade Wetherill, now in the Aleutian
or causes any dirt to touch the precious Zuni Indian Pueblo, 40 miles south of Islands.
loaves. On days preceding village dances Gallup, New Mexico, is the largest Indian Funeral services were held at Kayenta on
or special ceremonies, all the ovens are pueblo, with more than 2000 people. From Sunday, December 3.

12 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 This is the first of Randall Henderson's series of
stories about the native palm oases found on the
American desert. Corn spring is given first place in
the series because it was here 24 years ago that the
author made his first acquaintance with Washing-
tonia filifera, the wild palm of Southwestern United
States.. Since that time he has continued his search
for these native palm groups and has logged more
than (30 of them—with others yet to be located and
photographed. Some of these oases, like Palm Can-
yon near Palm Springs, California, are well known
to desert travelers. Others are hidden away in al-
most inaccessible places and are unknown except
to a few members of the prospecting fraternity.
Palms are an infallible promise of water near the
surface of the ground. They must have their roots in
moist soil or sand—and it is because they serve as
a permanent and reliable guide to many of the
waterholes on the Southern California desert that
their location is important.

Oasis In the
Chuckwallas
Prehistoric Indians left their record on the rocks at Corn
By RANDALL HENDERSON spring before the white man came this way.

Indians who once camped bowl-like valley in California's Chuck- U. S. 60 became a paved highway. But the
beneath the native Washingtonia awalla mountains will start with a summer hospitality of our reception when we
palms at Corn spring left a rather day in 1920 when I helped push a wooden- reached there was reward enough for the
detailed record of their life in this remote wheeled motor car up the sandy wash that effort.
oasis. It is incised in the boulders close by serves as the only road to this ancient For those were the days when Gus
the little spring of clear cool water. waterhole, and saw the oasis for the first Lederer lived in a little cabin among the
But no white man, or living Indian, has time. palms—and left his door unlatched to all
yet deciphered those prehistoric glyphs. The trip across the sandy floor of Chuck- who came that way. For many years Gus
And so my story of the spring and its awalla valley and up the wash to the spring was the self-appointed guardian of Corn
guardian palm trees snuggled deep in a was a rugged adventure in the days before spring. He kept the waterhole clean. He

C H U C K AW A L L A

r * T ° - f feiHL
'*..

JANUARY, 1945 13
fed the quail and burros that came to his Chocolate mountains to Brawley and in his body lies beneath a mound of stones
door. He built a fence around the two fig six weeks made the grubstake that kept at Aztec well, three miles up the wash from
trees planted there at an earlier date by an him in flour and bacon and beans for the Corn spring, placed there in accordance
unknown hand. other 46 weeks. with his last wish, by his friend and neigh-
To his friends, Gus was the Mayor of Between prospecting excursions Gus bor Desert Steve Ragsdale. There are two
Corn spring. He was a prospector who spent his idle hours with paint brush and mounds on the little mesa above Aztec
staked many claims but never found any canvas. His was the untutored art that well. The other marks the resting place of
pay ore. During the annual melon harvest knows no rules except to transfer to canvas Tommy Jones, another of the veteran
in Imperial valley he would herd his as faithfully as possible the beauty and prospectors of the Chuckawallas. Gus and
jalopy down the sandy road through the color of the desert landscape. And con- Tommy disagreed on every subject under
sidering the fact that he had never the sun. They always were arguing about
attended an art class, he did amazingly politics or rocks or art—and perhaps that
Side by side on a rocky mesa near well. I doubt if he ever sold a picture—or was the reason they were so attached to
Aztec well, three miles up the arroyo even tried to. He just painted for the hap- each other. Life could become very dull
from Corn spring, are the graves of piness that comes from creative work—and in a place so isolated—but it was never
Gus Lederer (lejt) and Tommy gave the pictures to friends who liked boresome when these two prospectors were
Jones, veteran prospectors in them. together.
this area. Gus died in December, 1932, and today I had planned to write the story of this
Chuckawalla oasis for one of the early
issues of Desert Magazine. Then word
came that careless campers had left a fire
which swept through the palms, burning
the dry fronds on many of the older trees.
I did not want to tell Desert readers about
a pretty desert oasis that overnight had
become charred and ugly. And so the
story was postponed.
I am glad to report now that Corn spring
has regained most of its former charm.
Fortunately, fire seldom kills the native
palm trees. The Washingtonia filiferas at
this oasis are well supplied with water.
The skirts of dry fronds that once reached
the ankles, now come barely to the knees.
But perhaps even a desert oasis should
make some concession to the passing fads
of dress.
The number of trees has increased.
Twenty-four years ago I counted 57 palms,
including all those over three feet in
height. Today there are 82 vigorous trees
that rear their stately heads above the
thicket of mesquite and catsclaw and
arrowweed which grows at their base.
I visited the oasis late in November, my
first trip there in five years. The road up
the wash is still just a winding trail, but it
has been packed by rain and travel and I
made it easily in high gear.
That night I spread my sleeping bag in
a little clearing at the foot of the palms.
I had the oasis all to myself, but there is
no loneliness when the breeze is rustling
the dry fronds overhead and night birds
are on the wing.
Among the palms where Gus Lederer's
cabin once stood is a new concrete-walled
cottage. It is empty. I was told by one of
the prospectors later that a mining man
with claims in the surrounding hills had
planned to make this his headquarters
during the development of his property.
He did not know that all the land within
1320 feet of the spring has been with-

The palms quickly recovered from

the fire that swept through the oasis
four years ago. This picture was
taken this past November by
the author.

14 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 Corn spring nestles in a bowl-like valley in the
arid Chuckawallas. Photo by Sherman Ireland.

drawn from permanent settlement: by is found all over the area, and occasionally today the range is dotted with monuments
federal order, and that Riverside county a flint dart point. Gus had several metates erected by men who have found a trace of
supervisors have established this oasis as a which he had found near the oasis. color.
county park. He learned about these reser- There was food and water here for the But while gold-seekers have tramped
vations after the cabin was built—and it aborigines. From the palm trees they could the hills in vain search for wealth in this
has never been occupied. obtain an annual harvest of sweet-skinned region, the rockhounds have found the
The next morning I drove up the arroyo seeds. Great gnarled mesquites grow in the Chuckawallas a happy hunting ground.
to Azte: well to visit the graves of Gus oasis. Palms gain dignity with age, but Geodes are gathered from outcropping
and Tommy. The mounds are well pre- not the mesquite. They become twisted ledges in many places and much cutting
served, thanks to the interest of A. B. and bent with years—but they continue to material of agate, chalcedony, jasper, car-
Chaney, another of the old-time Chuck- grow a fine crop of beans, and mesquite nelian and sagenite has been recovered—
awal'a prospectors. Chaney lives in a cabin beans were a staple item in Indian diet. and much more awaits the quest of future
by the well. Periodically he gees down to Also, the catsclaw were heavy with beans collectors.
Corn spring to clean out the waterhole, when I last visited the s;pring. There al-
but except for this volunteer service on his ways has been some doubt in my mind as Corn spring is little known to the rock-
part, the oasis is unattended, and un- to whether or not the Indians used cats- collecting fraternity for the reason that
occupied except by an occasional camper. claw beans for food. It almost requires a little material has been found in the
vicinity. The rockhounds usually camp at
Miners and others at various times have sledge hammer and an anvil to crack one Wiley's well or Chuckawalla well or
sought to establish a private right to the of these seeds. But probably the aborigines Chuckawalla spring, the latter two being
water in Corn spring. The foundations of found a way. about three miles apart.
an old mill where ore from the Red Cloud Somewhere up in the hills above Aztec
mine 12 miles away once came for process- well is a little flat marked by weirdly Corn spring oasis is mainly a watering
ing, still may be seen. But that was in the eroded sandstone boulders—Monkey flats place for prospectors, and for those week-
days before the federal government with- it is called. Dick Emerson of Calexico has enders hardy enough to brave the sandy
drew this waterhole from private entry. told me about the place, but I never have trail up the wash.
Now the oasis belongs to the public, where visited it. Corn spring is a typical American oasis
all may come and camp in the shade and Gus Lederer always expected to find —and thanks to the interest of local people
replenish canteens from the spring. rich ore in the Chuckawallas. Countless and the foresight of the federal govern-
Indians who once lived by Corn spring claims have been staked out in years past, ment it is to be preserved both as a source
have left abundant evidence of their but with the possible exception of Red of life-giving water in the heart of a very
sojourn here. Many of the rock faces Cloud mine, pay ore never has been arid region, and as a haven of rest for
across the arroyo from the spring are uncovered in quantities to insure sustained those who come to the desert for peace and
covered with petroglyphs. Broken pottery operations. The search continues, and relaxation.

JANUARY, 1945 15
 If birds are subject to the same emotions as hu-
man beings, the fledgling woodpecker in this story
no doubt hopped off the fence post for his first flight
with much the same scared feeling that a flying
cadet has on his initial solo. And the parent birds
felt no less pride in their youngster than does the
average American father and mother when their
GI son writes home that he is now a solo pilot.

Baby woodpecker has just left his post-hole for the first
and last time. A moment after this photo was taken he
made a "50-yard solo flight to a nearby mesquite.

Sola While baby woodpecker stares at the camera one parent

. . . of a Woodpecker clings to side of post, having just fed the young one. Note
characteristic stance of woodpecker—stiff tail braced
By GEORGE McCLELLAN BRADT against wood, sharp toes digging in.

C' ARLY last summer my wife and I were the uninvited, nest's single occupant in the bottom of the hole. Others, prob-
r though none the less appreciative, guests at a coming-out ably three or four, must have recently left the nest for this last
party for a young ladder-back woodpecker, the species one was well feathered and almost as large as the adults them-
known as Dryobates scalaris. It is the little black and white bird selves. No wonder, with eight helpings of supper!
of the mesquite and agave. Just before seven, although it was still quite light, the little
It happened at our deserted rancho near Noria, New Mexico, bird gave a final, ear-piercing shout and disappeared into his
where we had gone for a weekend of bird study. It was while deep nest for the night. The summer sun soon dropped behind
we were spreading our bedrolls and preparing supper that we the western mountains to relinquish the desert to the silent starry
learned of the approaching fete. evening, and we turned in to dream of photographing nest after
A loud shrill cry from the direction of the empty corral nest of ladder-back woodpeckers.
focused our attention on a small, striped, long-nosed bird cling- At 5:45 the next morning a woodpecker reveille put a wel-
ing to the side of a dark fence post. It was a woodpecker, our come end to a sleepless night that had been filled with every-
first scalaris of the season. That in itself was enough to get ex- thing from a horned owl duet on the top of the creaking wind-
cited about. But when the gay, loud-mouthed fellow was joined mill to a hungry rodent tripping over a pile of tin cups and
by a second, and then the two by a third which poked its feath- plates. The sun, just gilding the tops of the cottonwoods, had
ered head out of a heretofore unnoticed hole in the post, our not yet touched the dark nest-post. But apparently sunlight had
elation knew no bounds. Here, under our very noses, was the little to do with the young ladder-back's appetite. With his little
occupied nest-hole of a pair of ladder-backs. head thrust far out of the black hole he began demanding food,
During the next half hour we watched the parent birds make food, and more food in a voice so loud, so shrill and so unceas-
eight trips, beaks laden with insect food, to the nest. Between ing that after a few minutes of listening to it I was about to go
the second grub and third pupae courses, while the adults were searching for grubs and ants myself.
foraging far afield, we hurried to the post to find out how many Within an hour we had finished breakfast, thrown together a
young birds were sharing all this food. By means of a flash-light crude blind of army cots, and set up our camera equipment a
and some prodigious eye-straining we were just able to see the few feet from the post. Two cameras were focused on the nest

16 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

cavity—one with kodachrome, the other black and white. Both next hour two tries were made by the female but on neither oc-
were operated with a throw switch from the blind. Some 75 casion could she bring herself before the cameras.
feet of wire ran from the switch to a relay which completed the At nine the male again fed the birdling. The first visit had
circuit to fire both shutters and synchronized flash-guns. By netted us a photograph of the feeding process itself. This second
seven all was ready and we climbed into the blind to await de- was a shot of the adult on the side of the post. Both adults al-
velopments. ternated during the next two hours in making four more food-
The parent birds evidently suspected that we were plotting laden visits, a total of six for the morning. Then between eleven
against them. With beaks full of breakfast they tried time after and twelve, except for one silent survey on the part of the
time to summon the courage to feed their fledgling, but the fledgling of the new world he was about to conquer, we saw
cameras were too much for them. This shyness was hard to un- nothing of the woodpecker family.
derstand, particularly since both birds had remained but two The adults doubtless needed a good rest. I know we did. The
posts away while the cameras were being set up. Now, even suspense of waiting for the cautious parents to fly to the nest,
though we had disappeared, they stayed far away while the little and the judging of the proper moment to make the exposure was
bird almost blew his top, as they say in the army, in exasperation. a nerve-racking affair.
The young ladder-back's antics during this first trying hour At the time the young bird made its single appearance during
were as ludicrous as anything in the wildest Disney cartoon. the rest hour we had our first chance to examine this whirling
Like a feathered jack-in-the-box he kept popping his head in dervish of a woodpecker. A patch of scarlet feathers, inter-
and out of his hole, looking in every direction for his parents. spersed with a few tiny white ones on the crown of his little
We expected momentarily to see him wring his own neck as he head, proclaimed him a male. In this and all other features he
looked rirst to the right, then down, then to the left, finally up—• resembled his father. Females are marked similarly except for
and then, apparently without unwinding, all the way around the vivid crown patch. Juvenile and adult plumages are very
again. But when all this maneuvering failed to locate his par- much alike, chief differences being the duller blacks and greyer
ents he raged with impatience. His calls grew louder, more in- whites, and buffy underparts of the young. All have the striking
sistent, his eyes fairly spun in his curious little head, and finally black and white ladder pattern across wings and back. This and
he leaned so far out he almost fell to the ground. At this point the curious white areas on the face are the distinctive markings
the adult male rushed to the post with some insect gruel, his of the members of the scalaris species.
concern for his offspring overcoming his fear of the cameras. By noon our little friend apparently had enough of resting for
We got our first picture at this time (eight o'clock). After he put his tiny feet on the edge of the hole and leaned far forth
the young bird had thrust his head far into the parent's beak for to call for lunch. When the last echo had died away and nothing
his first: bite of breakfast, the latter flew off with the charac- even faintly resembling food had materialized he pulled head
teristic, graceful, wavy flight of the woodpeckers. During the and shoulders disgustedly back into the nest. For the next hour

Breakfast is served. Adult's beak is thrust far into the little one's throat. Apparently feeding this time was done by regurgitation
since no food was seen in the beak.

JANUARY, 1945 17
and a half he repeated this routine, peering coyly out, inflict-
ing one raucous shout upon the desert stillness, then disappear-
ing into the hole. Finally, at 1:30 papa ladder-back appeared
with some juicy morsels. The ravenous fledgling almost swal- T R U E O R F A L S E tory" geography,
lowed papa and all. mineralogy, bot-
Another hour's inactivity, wherein the only sound was an any and desert lore—just to see how much you know about
occasional dull thump from within the post, ended with the sud- the Great American desert, past and present. You would
den appearance of the two adults. Both took up positions at one have to be a wizard to score 100 per cent. The average
corner of the corral some ten posts away from the nest. Neither person will answer less than 10 questions correctly. If
seemed to have food for the nestling. They made no effort to you know 15 of the answers you are better informed than
approach closer, but clung to their posts and cried loudly and most of the desert rats. Answers are on page 34.
long. The young one answered them, and this weird trio kept
up for about ten minutes. Af first we did not appreciate what 1—A Chuckawalla is a venemous reptile.
was happening. But the adults' refusal to approach the nest, True False
which could not be explained by fear of the now familiar cam-
eras, led us to believe that more was taking place than met the 2—Nevada and Idaho are adjoining states.
eye. At 2:45 our suspicions were borne out. Without the slight- True False
est warning the little ladder-back pulled himself out of the hole
to cling a bit uncertainly to the side of the post. 3—The famous old Goldfield mining camp is located in
Death Valley. True False

4—The book, Death Comes for the Archbishop, is plot-

Ladder-back woodpeckers, Dryobates scalaris, ted in California. True False
include some 15 subspecies or geographical
races. They inhabit the southwestern United States,
5—Desert lilies grow from a bulb. True False
most of Mexico and British Honduras. They are
non-migratory. Only four races are found in North
6—Desert tortoises hibernate in the sand or earth.
America: The Texas woodpecker (D.s. symplectus).
True False
Cactus woodpecker (D.s. cactophilus) of western
Texas to southeastern California, and the San Fer-
7—Experts can determine the species of the tree by
nando and San Lucas races of Baja California.
microscopic study of petrified wood.
They are beneficial, eating larvae, eggs and True False
adults of wood-boring insects, and weevils and
ants; nest in holes in mesquite, agave, palo verde, 8—Carson City, Nevada, was named for Kit Carson.
willows, oaks, telegraph poles and fence posts; lay True False
two to six pure white eggs from April through June.
9—Snails are never found on the desert.
True False
It was an exciting occasion for all concerned. But our exc'te-
ment was nothing compared to the adult woodpeckers'. They 10—Tinajas Altas is the name of a historic waterhole in
did everything but embrace, shake hands and say, "We knew Arizona. True False
he'd make it." They never took their eyes off their daring son
as he clung for a few seconds to his ex-home before trying out 11—Indio, California, is below sea level.
his brand new wings in a magnificent 50-yard solo to the trunk True False
of a nearby mesquite. When he succeeded in making a perfect
three point landing near the base of the tree we thought for a 12—The Bill Williams river is a tributary of the Rio
moment he was going to pat himself on the back. But all he d'd Grande. True False
was start hitching himself up the trunk, feet digging into the
bark, stiff tail braced against it, as if he had been doing it for 13—The Gadsden Purchase included part of the territory
years. now in Utah. True False
After getting about half way up the trunk, and while his
proud parents encouraged him with shouts of praise, he began 14—Asbestos is made from the fiber of a tree that grows
pecking purposefully at the dry bark. Nobody had to show him on the desert. True False
how to make a living. We couldn't tell whether or not his in- 15—Desert Mistletoe never grows on Ironwood trees.
fantile labors were rewarded but for several minutes he True - False
drummed steadily on the hard mesquite. Perhaps he was just
showing the adults that he could fend for himself. Finally, on \6—Most of the weaving on the Navajo reservation is
joyful wings he flew off alone far beyond the sunny yuccas. done by the women. True False
By this time we had spent eight consecutive hours in the
blind and were really not too sorry to see the little ladder-back 17—Dickwick Hall was a scout with Kearny's Army of
strike out on his own. We wasted no time in crawling out of our the West. True False
cramped quarters and going to investigate the nest-hole. It was
located five feet above the corral floor and six inches from the 18—Canyon del Muerto in Arizona is a tributary of Can-
top of the post. The hole's diameter was only one and one-half yon de Chelly. True False
inches, its depth seven. Quite a safe and cozy home. These facts 19—Sheba's Temple is located in Zion National Park.
determined, we dragged the cots under the cottonwoods, for the True False
sun was still high and hot in the cloudless sky. There in the cool
shade we wrote up our notes and rested, while above our heads 20—Amethyst is a member of the quartz family.
the myriad leaves sounded like little green hands clapping in True False
the soft desert breeze.

18 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 Probable scene near Kanab, Utah, about 60 million years ago when dinosaurs were a common feature of the landscape. Plants
shown in drawings reconstructed from "The Upper Triassic Flora of Arizona," by Lyman H. Daugherty.

were donated by a cooperative stone cutter

The Giants of Kanab of Kanab.

Now well equipped, Ray soon arrived
on a ledge 150 feet up the canyon wall.
There he gazed fascinated at the three-toed
When Ray Ali went hunting in southwestern Utah, he did not have to tracks of a giant whose birdlike foot had
wait for open season. He was on the trail of giants that roamed the land a total length of 16 inches and whose
60 million years ago. And when he came back to Claremont he brought stride was more than eight feet. Ray
only the footprints of Ihe giants—but from these footprints, scientists have finally succeeded in chopping out a 75-
been able to reconstruct the probable appearance and habits of these pound slab with its footprint intact from
dragon like monsters who disappeared from the earth about 25 million the red, calcareous sandstone of the canyon.
years ago. Here are some facts, theories and myths about dinosaurs, who After several narrow escapes from loss
left their tracks in the red mud of Utah, and Arizona before the Southwest and breakage including near-engulfment
became a desert land. in the quicksand of the wash, the slab with
several others finally came to a safe harbor
in the Webb School museum where they
By JERRY LAUDERMILK stand, silent witnesses to events that took
Drawings by the author place in Arizona and Utah long ago.

r HIS is a story about giants that

stalked across the Utah mud-flats
at least 60 million years ago when
the waves of the Pacific still beat against
Utah. The day had started all wrong. In
the first place, he had left without hammer
and knapsack. In the second place, he had
only a general idea as to what he might
The red track-bearing sandstone with
shale, conglomerate and other rocks makes
up the strata of the Chinle formation, sedi-
mentary deposits of the Triassic age which
underlie a vast area in Arizona, Utah and
the shores of Arizona. California was expect to find and where to find it. This part of New Mexico. The formation takes
buried deep beneath the sea. The Rockies combination generally means that you will its name from the Chinle valley of north-
had not yet been upheaved. And where wind up in good collecting territory with- eastern Arizona where the deposit is 1182
the Colorado river has since cut the terrific out means of removing or transporting feet thick. Chinle itself (pronounced Chin-
gorge of Grand Canyon, quietly meander- your choice specimens. Lee) is a Navajo word meaning "at the
ing streams flowed through a level flood- This was famous dinosaur country, or mouth of the canyon."
plain. rather, dinosaur track country. At Kanab, To date, a few bones from Kaiparowits
It was a spring morning four years ago the garage man had reported plentiful peak and some scraps from New Mexico
when Ray Alf, geologist of Claremont and tracks of all sizes in the sandstone strata are the only instances of actual dinosaur
instructor at the Webb School for Boys, of the nearby canyons and furnished direc- remains which have been recovered from
was on a geological excursion near Kanab, tions to find them. A hammer and chisel the Chinle. Aside from these two cases the

JANUARY, 1945 19
 Left—Three-toed dinosaur footprint from Triassic formation, Utah. Total length of track, 16 inches. Right—Another dinosaur
track from Triassk of Utah. This apparently is track of smaller animal of different species. Photos by Ray Alf, Claremont, Calif.

sole record of the dense dinosaur popu- made them. In the case of the tracks that different species of dinosaurs and very
lation that once lived in and around Ray Alf found we can say that the animal closely resemble the footprints from Con-
Kanab is preserved in these ancient foot- was large, probably 20 feet high, and that necticut valley where the track of one
prints left in the old muds and sand bars it walked like a man. When it made the giant named Eubrontes divaricatus is
now hardened into rock. tracks it was in no hurry for the tracks are almost a duplicate of the 16-inch track
This dinosaur track locality at Kanab is sharp and show that he set his feet down from Kanab. All the evidence indicates
not the only place where a vast concourse and lifted them up without splashing the that these dinosaurs were related species
of reptilian giants had left their footprints. mud which was a trifle too wet for ideal and ranged generally throughout North
There was something like it in the cele- casting and would have splattered if he had America and lived in the same type of cli-
brated dinosaur localities of the Connecti- been in a rush. mate*and surroundings.
cut valley, another formation which, like The Kanab tracks are those of many The Triassic was one of the most inter-
the Chinle, was a deposit esting intervals in the
of the Triassic age. Here earth's history. It was a
again the scarcity of bones time of reorganization
caused species after spe- after the great depression
cies (98 in all) to be of the Permian period
known only by the tracks when for at least 15,000,-
the animals left in the 000 years, hard times
mud of swamps and on were general throughout
the sandy banks of Trias- the whole earth. Ancient
sic rivers. Fortunately an and outmoded animals
expert sometimes can tell and plants were passing
a great deal about an an- out of the picture to give
imal from its tracks alone. place to newer but still
Since paleontologists fantastic types in a state
know in much detail the of evolution. Some as-
general anatomy and pro- pects of the late Triassic
portions of the many spe- of Arizona and Utah re-
cies of dinosaurs, examin- quire considerable effort
ation of a set of footprints In 1657 folks thought one type of dragon looked like this. Dr. John of the imagination to
furnishes an indication as Johnson, in his ''Historia Animalium" says this specimen was captured visualize.
to the size of the beast that in the fields of Bologna, and calls it a wingless, two-legged dragon. For instance, one sec-

20 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

tion of the Pacific coast line of the ancient spread out in vast flood-plains traversed region typified by the Chinle was evidently
North American land-mass extended north by slow streams carrying much driftwood. one of sharply divided rainy and dry
and south for a distance of 250 miles or The battered condition of many of the seasons. For months the rainfall would be
more almost in exactly the same meridian petrified logs shows that they have come very great, then would come a season of
as the western Utah border and was about from afar. Reeds and rushes grew in thick absolute drought and it is believed prob-
equally divided between the two states. Be- brakes in marshy places. able that it was during the long, hot, dry
ginning here and extending eastward, the Even swamps were a common feature spells that the desert aspect originated.
part of the land in which we are most inter- of the landscape. This is shown by the The temperature was mild, possibly
ested, stretched away for a thousand miles presence of fossil trees with their trunks tropical.
in the shape of a sock with the bottom of swollen at the base like those of the bald This Triassic world, which ushered in
the heel just at the coast line. The foot ex- cypress of Louisiana. On slightly higher the Mesozoic or Middle Ages of the earth's
tended to the north with the toe in central ground curious cycad-like trees and plants history, supported an animal population
Wyoming, while the leg reached all the with broad, strap-like leaves—Yuccites stranger than any that lived before or
way to central Texas. (no relation to our yuccas), grew frond to since. It was the Reptile Age just begin-
For decades geologists have been of the branch with conifers and the forerunners ning, the reign of the dinosaurs (terrible
opinion that this region was either desert of our modern hardwood trees. One of lizards). The creation of these fantastic
or semi-desert because typical red sedi- the most abundant conifers was a close beasts was not, as is sometimes supposed,
ments, generally supposed to indicate ex- relative of our star-pine frequently seen one of Nature's experimental failures.
cessive aridity, occur everywhere. The sand in parks. Actually, the dinosaurs were a great suc-
and silt of these red rocks are soil trans- The wonder of trees and logs changed cess. For 55,000,000 years these almost
ported by streams from the erosion of the to stone naturally has left a deep impres- brainless, moronic animal thugs dominated
ancestral Rockies and the mountains of sion on the legends of the Indians who the entire earth as Lords of Creation.
Cascadia, an obliterated land-mass in the saw them scattered over the waste and felt
west. Much clay from the weathering of Knowledge of the different species of
that there must be some supernatural dinosaur and their anatomy is rather new
ash from either local or remote volcanoes explanation. To the Navajo they are
is another typical feature of the region. and is being constantly enlarged by new
yeitsobitsin or the bones of Yeitso, a mon- finds and continual research. As recently
Some of the particles in these old rocks ster slain by the Sun in a great battle. The
are aeolian sand and the accepted theory as 1802 some of the tracks in the Connec-
scattered and broken bones of Yeitso and ticut valley were explained by the local
was that these materials had accumulated his congealed blood—the lava-flows—are
on the bottom of a shallow sea of immense inhabitants as the tracks of Noah's raven.
all that remain to tell the tale of the titanic They looked like gigantic bird tracks and
extent and surrounded by parched and struggle. The Pahutes explain the logs as
arid shores. Recent discoveries, however, were so accepted. Our grandfathers had
being the broken weapons of the Great not the slightest inkling that such animals
made it necessary for geologists to modify Wolf god, Shinarav.
some of their views. as dinosaurs ever existed. The dragon myth
The triassic climate throughout the appears to have had nothing whatever to
In 1941, the paleobotanist, Lyman H.
Daugherty, who then was making exten-
sive investigations of the Triassic deposits
of northern Arizona as part of the program
being carried out by the Carnegie institu-
tion of Washington, D. C, identified 38
species of plants some of which were of
types that precluded the possibility of a
permanently desert habitat. Although
Daugherty's researches were on material
from the Petrified Forest national monu-
ment about 20 miles east of Holbrook; Ari-
zona, and all of 220 miles southeast of Ka-
nab, much of the petrified wood is from the
same species of trees in the two localities.
So it is reasonable to suppose that the
flora was the same in the intervening
territory.
That the Kanab locality was not desert
is shown conclusively not only by the
abundance of fossil plants but by the
great size of some of the petrified trees, one
from Utah being twelve and a half feet
in diameter and 185 feet long. It is gen-
erally accepted that much of the region
was only slightly above sea-level and

Western half of United States during

Late Triassic Period when waves of
the Pacific beat against shores of Ari-
zona, and the red Chinle geological
formation was dominant in Utah,
northern Arizona and New Mexico.
Map adapted from Piersson and
Schuchert, "Textbook of Geology."

JANUARY, 1945 21
do with finds of the bones of these actual the meaning of fossil dinosaur bones. This brain is smaller than a pea. This animal
dragons because these myths developed was from an account of a find in the also has a third eye on top of its head, the
in parts of the earth where dinosaur re- Jurassic deposits of southern England. The pineal eye, which is a very primitive char-
mains rarely are found. Where such a question remained indefinite however acteristic also shown by some lizards in-
foundation might be expected, as in China, until 1841 when Richard Owen, the an- cluding the common horned toad. But in
the dragon was no ordinary animal but a atomist, pointed to the fact that the bones the horned toad's case the eye is marked
supernatural being connected with earth, were those of a lizard-like animal and he by a tiny opaque scale while in tua-tara the
air, fire or water. Despite the fact that the named the thing a "dinosaur." pineal eye is well developed and said to be
ancients had no data to go by and appar- It is easy to acquire the wrong impres- sensitive to temperature changes. Some
ently created their dragons from thin air, sion of dinosaurs. We are likely to think of dinosaurs, the Plateosaurs, show evidence
they sometimes did a fairly decent job in them as being simply magnified lizards, of having had a pineal eye on top of the-
unknowingly inventing an imaginary dino- but some were little fellows less than a head. Like tua-tara the dinosauran mental
saur. The reproduction shown is from foot long from nose to the tip of the tail. equipment was slight. The Brontosaur was
an old "History of Animals" published Their bones show that they were allied to sometimes 65 feet long and weighed close
in 1657 and except for the fact that it three other groups—the birds, the croco- to 40 tons yet the brain responsible for
needs another pair of legs and that the diles and a curious clan, the Rhyncho- the action of this great mass of lizard flesh
neck and tail are a trifle "arty" it almost cepbalia, a group which now has but a tipped the scales at two pounds!
could qualify as a picture of Anchisaurus, single living representative, the Sphen- From the study of the teeth and jaws,
one of the smaller carnivorous dinosaurs. odon, or tua-tara of New Zealand. This anatomists know that there were both
It was not until 1824 that any attempt low-grade, lizard-like reptile has a pee-wee herbivorous and carnivorous types of dino-
was made to explain in a scientific way brain. In specimens 20 inches long the saurs. Some with spoon-shaped snouts ate
the vegetation of the ancient swamps.
Others had batteries of teeth with serrated
edges set edgewise in the jaw to shear like
the blades of scissors. These were the typi-
cal flesh eaters, living engines of destruc-
tion like Tyrannosaurus rex (King of the
Tyrant lizards). Many species laid eggs
like those found in Mongolia with the un-
hatched baby dinosaur inside. We also
know something about the skin that cov-
ered these dumb reptiles. Casts of the
hide have been recovered in a number of
finds. This was thin like most snake skin
but not covered with scales. Instead, it
had a mosaic of tubercles like the skin of
the gila monster.
What wiped out the dinosaurs? No-
body knows for certain but there are
some attractive theories. The facts are that
for a period three times the length of the
mammalian domination of the earth, the
reptiles flourished exceedingly, and then
suddenly at the close of the Mesozoic,
about 25,000,000 years ago, the last dino-
saur died. Possibly this extinction was due
to changing of the earth's climate from
warm to cool and actually cold. Reptiles,
with their cold blood and lack of any pro-
tective covering such as hair or feathers
to cut down heat lost through radiation
could not stand the rigors of even a mod-
erate winter. With the onset of cold a
torpor would settle down on the entire
dinosaur race. This coupled with a slow
mind challenged by the problems of chang-
ing environment would have been too
much. They couldn't think fast enough to
carry on. However, on the warm day of the
Triassic when the unhurried giant left his
track in the sandy mud at Kanab, such
misfortunes were still a long way in the
dim future.

Ray Alf, Claremont geologist and in-

structor at Webb School for Boys,
who went on the trail of dinosaurs in
Utah — and brought home their
tracks. Photo by Helen Laudermilk.
22 THE DESERT MAGAZINE
 that matters little. It was the mystery of the unknown, the
Qaund a Place to SeaAcU. .. rr dangerous game of chance that was fascinating—the life
Harry Storm's tales of lost gold and silver in the Super- wagered recklessly upon the turn of incredible odds for a
stitions are partly confirmed legends, not so much of gold mirage at the end of an ever-shifting rainbow. This was
found and lost as of an enchanted wilderness, reckless men Adventure.
and the exquisite way of life that belonged to both. For Search for the lost gold and silver of the Superstitions
vast, unknown distances and wild, primeval horizons gave has continued for many decades. But while each generation
mystery to the sublime hopes of men and a hiding place for has brought new seekers into the field in quest of the elusive
the gorgeous phantoms they pursued. treasure, the lands have not changed. The same burning
Castaneda, recorder of Coronado's sanguine but fruitless deserts are there, wild and wide and thirsty, losing in sheer
hunt for the Seven Cities of Cibola, set forth the eternal immensity the infrequent cattleman's hut and prospector's
dream when he wrote: "Granted that they did not find the camp. And as always, unchanging, the giant saguaros and
riches of which they had been told, they found a place in grotesque chollas lift twisted arms over vast solitudes; yucca,
which to search for them." palo verde and mesquite march forever away to infinity over
And so the gold and its hiding place are still there, but lonely canyon chasms, eternal mountains.

Soldier's lost
VeinofGold
This month Desert Magazine publishes the first of
a series of lost treasure stories written by Barry
Storm whose search for the Lost Dutchman mine in
the Arizona Superstition mountains has extended
ovor a long period of years. Storm hasn't found the
Losit Dutchman, but during the quest he has become
acquainted with every gulch and pinnacle in the
rucfged Superstition range. There are legends of
other lost ledges and veins containing ore of fabu-
lous wealth in the region of the Superstitions—and it
is about these less known gold and silver deposits
that Storm has written his latest series of stories.
By BARRY STORM

the early 1870's, due southeast of Arizona's

Superstition range and near General Stoneman's new
military camp at Picket Post, a soldier named Sullivan,
who was working on one of the military trails for pursuit of raid-
ing Apaches, sat down one evening as he returned from work to
rest a moment. He idly picked up a handful of stones. Among
them were pieces of black silver ore of bonanza richness.
A short time later, his enlistment up, Sullivan went to work
at Charles G. Mason's ranch on the nearby Gila river. He dis-
played his black ore but refused to tell where he had found it.
Later after the soldier had departed, Mason started organizing
prospecting parties among his neighboring ranchers and finally
found and staked out on March 22, 1875, the future location of
the fabulous Silver King mine.
The strike itself was a major sensation, and mining turned
up one sensation after another—lenses of black sulphide ore
running up to $20,000 a ton. Between 1875 and January 9,
1877, when Mason sold out his interest, he and his partners
shared in over a million dollars of production. The Silver King
Mining company, incorporated on May 5, 1877, stirred wide-
spread talk of new and equally fantastic returns from the devel-
opment of a real mine—talk that was backed up in the next few
years by another production record of three million dollars, and
the growth of Picket Post into the town of Pinal.
During this same period, while Mason was still part owner The writer standing in the region below the southern
and superintendent of the Silver King mine, two other soldiers, slopes o\ the Superstitions in which the two ex-soldiers
French-Canadian adventurers doing a hitch in the U. S. Army found rich golden ore.
JANUARY, 1945 23
 Left—Route followed by the two sol-
diers past the mountain, on or near
which they discovered a vein of rich
ore. 1—East Boulder Canyon; 2—
Pass between East Boulder and
Needle Canyons. 3—Needle Canyon.

Right—East Boulder Canyon near

bend of the military trail, indicated by
arrows. Within a half mile the two ex-
soldiers found "a reddish vein about a
foot thick, halfway up a black-topped
hill." Inset—.50 caliber Spencer rifle
shell found on trail, which fits the
guns carried by ex-soldiers.

at Fort McDowell, whose right names either are buried now in Mason, doubtless remembering his luck once before with an
the archives of the war department or more probably never were ex-soldier, approached the two with the idea of forming a part-
known, were drawn by the sensational talk to seek work there nership for a share in their discovery.
for no other reason than merely seeing what a boom mining He would outfit them, he said, from the mine commissary
camp was like. To reach there, after their enlistments had ex- if they would return to the Superstitions and stake out a mining
pired late in 1875, they followed the military trail through the claim upon the site of their golden ore. And in the meant'me,
Superstitions. since neither was a U. S. citizen, he would personally vouch for
Hiking due southeast from the Mormon Flat crossing on the them and so obtain the naturalization papers that would make
Salt river, they entered the mountains between Kayhatin and La their claim valid.
Barge creeks, followed the trail past the prehistoric Indian ruins The men agreed. Next morning they set out to backtrail them-
now known as Garden Valley, over Black Mesa to West Boul- selves to fortune. But riding behind and following secretly with
der canyon a quarter mile above its mouth, crossed the low a rifle across his saddlehorn was a peg-legged gambler named
ridge that separates East and West Boulder canyons at this point Smith! And the two ex-soldiers never again were seen alive.
and proceeded on up East Boulder canyon toward Weaver's Weeks later when their remains were discovered in the pres-
Needle which now was in plain sight. Then they turned east ent Quarter-Circle-U ranch pasture, where they were buried
on the trail to go through the low pass below the southern slopes after being identified by the cost marks of the mine commissary
of the black-topped mountain which separates East Boulder upon their equipment, both were found to have been shot from
and Needle canyons, a scant half mile apart. Somewhere in this ambush. Local opinion immediately placed the blame on Smith,
region they flushed a deer, fired at it at least once with their who, it was learned, had vanished from the mining camp at the
.50 caliber Spencer repeaters, Army-issued, and in the resulting same time as the two soldiers. Later he turned up in Alaska
chase came upon a partly exposed "reddish vein about a foot with his bags stuffed with a fortune in glittering golden ore.
thick, halfway up a black-topped hill." There, many years later, he wrote to former friends in Arizona
The two ex-soldiers did not know it was fabulous golden ore and tried to persuade them to go into the Superstitions for him
that they had found. They knocked off a few pieces of the and stake out for a half interest a claim on bonanza ore to which
"pretty rock" to carry with them as souvenirs. With these he would furnish directions. No one took his offer seriously
samples still in their pockets they applied for work several days and he again dropped from sight.
later to Jack Frazer, mining foreman of the Silver King mine. Forest, however, who was a member of the coroner's jury
Frazer hired them both. After several more days in the mine which traced and buried the ex-soldiers, immediately tried to
they began to see for themselves that valuable ore had much the trail them. He said in later years that he followed their tracks
same characteristics of heavy weight, unusual coloring and into the second canyon east of Weaver's Needle, going up from
metallic content as the rock which they had brought from the the desert into the Superstitions.
Superstitions. Then they asked their foreman for an opinion Then again, a short time later, Phipps, a Superior miner, fired
of its possible value. by tales of their rich ore, said he had succeeded in backtracking
Frazer, being shown the glittering rock, took one astounded them to its source. When he returned to town greatlv excited,
look and sent for the superintendent. When Mason arrived he he added: "It's less than two miles from Weaver's Needle. I
confirmed what Frazer already was excitedly telling the ad- seen a cool million dollars in sight!" But Phipps never lived to
venturers—that they had struck it rich! From the few samples enjoy it. When he went down into his own shaft after tools with
the two ex-soldiers had with them was recovered and weighed which to work his new-found bonanza, an unexplained cave-
up more than $500 in gold which was placed to their credit in killed him.
upon the mine commissary books. Thus do the thunder gods spin their fatal web!

24 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

LETTERS...
It Is an Honor to Be Called a Desert Rat . . .
Long Beach, California
Dear Editor:
Now that I am in the Desert "family" I feel that I am privi-
leged to express my opinion in one matter I noticed in the No-
vember issue. It is the letter by Marvin E. Singleton suggesting
that the expression "Desert Rat" is obnoxious and should be
changed. Now I don't feel that way. Desert Rat has come to
mean a certain type of individual; namely, "one who inhabits
and loves the desert." This is the Turtle mountain arch near Carson's well—the
True, at one time this title was applied to some desert hoboes one referred to in Mr. Battye's letter. The two men seated
and later to desert prospectors, and st'll later to desert lovers. But in the lower left corner would indicate that this arch is
nevertheless, to me and many others the name of Desert Rat now many times larger than the one pictured in Walter Ford's
means "One who loves and inhabits, when possible, the desert." story in the November issue of Desert Magazine.
I think it's an honor, not a disgrace, to be called a Desert Rat. Photo by R. A. Martin of Oatman, Arizona.
H. J. HAGENS, A Desert Rat
• • • Let's Find the Gold—Then We'll Know Which Arch . . .
Yes, I'm a Desert Rat, and Proud of the Name . . . San Bernardino, California
Hemet, California Dear Editors:
Dear Editor: I am referring to the Ford article in the November issue of
Please do not let Marvin E. Singleton start another letter- Desert, the one titled: "We Found the Arch."
writing crusade about the Desert Rat. The Desert Rat is not a After a first reading of the story and glancing at the map I
fair-weather weekend tripper looking for a soft spot and a hot thought Mr. Ford and his companions might have reached a
bath when night comes. spot approximately near the real Arch. But further study con-
We old-timers do not mind the name. During 50 years of vinces me that they were not within miles of it—not the Arch
roaming the deserts in all directions, long before there was a of the old-timers, not the Arch of story and legend.
foot cif graded road, with a team of mules and a wagon, or only Furthermore, the real arch is not "lost" and has not been dis-
a burro or two, we were always glad to make camp where we covered by Explorer Ford. For years the camera fans of Needles
were when the sun went down. That was home, the only home have driven out to Mesquite spring, now called Carson's well,
we hssd. We took the elements as they came, sometimes 120 de- and from there climbed to the Arch—and a stiff climb it is.
grees in the shade and no shade. R. A. Martin, now of Oatman, has photographed it, also A. P.
It was the Desert Rats who located the waterholes and put up Miller of Needles and many others. I send you the photo taken
crude signs to direct others there. by Martin for comparison with the one reached by Ford. You
I was glad to read in Desert Magazine of September, 1944, will note this Arch is many times larger than the one visited by
about my old friend Charles Fletcher Lummis. I used to talk with Mr. Ford. Also, it is many miles north or northeast of the Ford
him when he was building his stone house in Arroyo Seco. If he Arch.
was living today I think he would move out on the desert, far It must be understood that these Arches are not such mas-
away from an automobile road and be a Desert Rat. He was a terpieces of Nature as those found in Utah. We old-timers
great character. of the desert, all enthusiastic readers of Desert Magazine, look
When camping at Palm Springs on the way to Mexico City with disfavor on any writer who would change the location of
in March. 1897, Nellie Coffman, now owner of the Desert Inn, our well-known landmarks. It is our earnest wish that Desert
came to look over our outfit. Dr. Welwoocl Murray and three continues to be the exponent of truth and accuracy.
others were the only white people we saw during a week at the CHARLES BATTYE
spring. Figtree John and two Digger Indians visited us when Dear Mr. Batty e:
we camped at Indio. Then we met only one white person all the You are right—there is a bigger and better known arch
way across the salt flats where Salton Sea is located today. It took in the Turtle mountains near Carson's Well. And I have .
us six weeks to make the trip to Yuma, going by way of the old heard oj other arches in the Turtles. But is it proper to refer
salt works and then down to the present site of Brawley. I walked to any of them as the REAL arch until someone finds that
all the way. legendary Lost Arch gold mine? The "real" arch is the one
John Hanlon near Pilot Knob saved our outfit from going near the lost vein of gold—and until some one locates the
down the Colorado. The river was rising fast and the next morn- gold let's just keep all the Turtle mountain arches—well,
ing our former camp was two feet under water. One has to live as the FBI would say, under surveillance. And more power
and learn. A Desert Rat is not a Water Rat; to the fellow who finds the lost gold. —R.H,
If I was able to swing a pen in literary style I could write • • •
plenty about the Mojave desert, Death Valley and the old-timers Who Built the Road in Coyote Mountain? . . .
in 1896. Fullerton, California
I often wonder if your readers who write about the terrible Dear Editor, Desert:
desert life of the Souths really know where Ghost Mountain is I would greatly appreciate seeing an article giving a descrip-
located. If they do they are one jump ahead of me. My guess is tion and history of the Painted Gorge near Coyote Wells on the
that it is somewhere around Julian and the border of old Mex- Southern California desert.
ico. If so, it is a beautiful location—with the Pacific on one side Several years ago I visited the gorge and found the site of a
and the desert on the other. cabin and also what looked like the running gear of heavy trail-
TOM CLARKE ers, with wide steel-tired wheels. Later, I think it was in 1940,

JANUARY, 1945 25
I drove from Warner's Ranch past Valle- Turtle mountains, that is if the picture in Quiz Editor Has Dumb Moments . . .
cito and Carrizo on the old stage road, and the magazine is supposed to be the arch. San Francisco, California
visited the gorge again. This picture in the magazine is one of the To Desert Quiz Editor:
This time I was able to go farther up the many pin-holes or eyes to be found on the We all enjoy your department, particu-
canyon in my car, and I noticed two old south side of the Turtles. There are many larly the questions relating to desert flora,
toads taking off from the upper canyon and more there just as small. geology, ethnology, etc.
leading into the hills. The real Turtle mountain arch is located I wonder if we read Question 9 in the
I am interested in knowing what activity on the north side of the Turtles and a stiff December magazine aright? Does this re-
in the early days required this equipment climb from Carson well, or a roundabout fer to the Lucin cut-off across the Great
and the building of these roads, which are trail via Coffin spring, which Mr. Ford's Salt Lake, of the Southern Pacific railroad.
now abandoned and badly washed out. map does not lead to; it is far longer than See Bertha Greeley Brown's article in Au-
the one shown in the magazine. gust, 1944.
HENRY P. HOLMES F. J. SOUTHERLAND
I have visited this arch and these moun-
Many other visitors to Painted tains many times, and know all the miners Apologies to DM Reader Souther-
Gorge, including the editor of Desert in that locality. They say that this arch is land and all other Quiz fans. It is
Magazine, have wondered about Mr. Ford's PEEP-HOLE and that he can- the Southern Pacific, not the Union
those old roads, which presumably not see either the lost mine or the lost Pacific which crosses Great Salt Lake.
were used in mining development. If nuggets by using this as a PEEP-SIGHT, The Quiz editor has been flying
any reader of Desert Magazine knows as there are no mines or nuggets lost in around in airplanes so much lately
the answer, we would appreciate a let- this district; they have all been located and he has sort o' lost track o\ how and
ter from him. —R.H. recorded. where the railroads run. So you may
• • • score yourself another five points in
Others have pictures of the real arch, the December Quiz — and we hope
Walter Ford's Turtle which are far larger and of different shape that makes you a Desert Rat.
Mountain "Peep-Hole" . . . than the one in the magazine, as the arch
extends far above the heads of the men —Quiz Editor
Needles, California seen in it. • • •
Dear Sir: Paging Charles Kelly . . .
This is not to cast any reflections on Mr. Los Angeles, California
Regarding the article by Mr. Walter Ford, but just to say that he has followed
Ford in the November 1944 issue of the Desert Magazine:
the wrong DESERT-TRAIL to the Please get after Charles Kelly for an-
Desert Magazine about, "We Found the WATER-HOLE, like many prospectors other story. I admire his articles very
Arch—but not the Nuggets." have in the past, which I and others have much. He seems to follow a line of facts
It is true that Mr. Ford found not the done. and history which I find very interesting.
nuggets, neither did he find the arch in the A. P. MILLER M. R. HARRISON

Imperial Irrigation District Again Wishes You a . .

Gbstiitmcvi and a
New Ijeab
Your District pledges even greater effort in 1945 to give its patrons dependable,
efficient water and power service. It also renews its pledge to the fine young men
and women of America who are serving on the far-flung battle fronts of the world,
that it will keep the faith and continue to do everything possible to preserve their
liberties on the home front.
Personnel of the District will continue to do their part toward making 1945 a year
of Victory and of Peace.

Imperial Irrigation District,

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

26 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 After many months of drought, the rain gods fin-
ally brought two small showers and then a deluge
to Yaquitepec. Now the cisterns are well filled—and
the South children even enjoyed the luxury of mud
for sculptoring miniature houses and cisterns. Rain
is very important to people who depend entirely, on
the storm water that drains from the sheet-iron roof
of their cottage.

TPe&att
By MARSHAL SOUTH

r HE SUN has moved far south into the lowlands and the
long string of "goldfish" which announce his rising each
morning, are back in their places upon the smoke-
blackened ceiling beam. The goldfish, which are fish-like
splashes of golden light caused by the sunbeams striking
through under the edges of badly fitted corrugated iron roofing,
abandon us in the summer. For then the sun is too far north and
the angle of the light is not right. But every winter they return,
varying in number from 10 to 22 as the sun moves. They serve
as alarm clocks. For, on those rare occasions when we happen to
drowse beyond sunrise, we are bound to be aroused by the sol-
emn chanting of Rudyard and Victoria as they count the long
line: "One, two, three, four . . ."
Yes, the goldfish are out, and it is high time to get up! An-
other desert day has begun.
Bui: the winter-moving sun brings us, this year, more than a
line of brilliant little fish to thrill the sense of beauty. For, on
these mornings, as it lifts above the silhouetted summit of the
juniper tree and pours his flooding beams in through our east
window, it brings us what Tanya calls "The Treasure of Kings" Tanya puts the finishing touches on one of her storage ollas.
—a great, tall jar of flashing gold, as dazzling as any that ever
were the pride of Aztec emperors. Fashioned by Tanya during
the long days of summer and as big as one of the huge oil jars ening showers. False alarms, most of these midnight scurryings.
that figure in the ancient phantasy of the Forty Thieves, it sits But we have had two tiny rains. From one we caught 25 gallons
now, against the wall, upon the summit of a green chest, waiting and from another 15. Not much, but enough to be a heartening
for the day when it will be taken out and baked in an open fire promise. The rain will be along later. Perhaps before these lines
—for it is too big for our primitive kiln. see print we will again be contentedly drawing from newly-
filled cisterns.
A homely thing. A thing of mud—of unfired clay. Yet now,
each morning as the sun rises, it flames to a thing of glory. But if our recent catch of drinking water was limited, the
Humble enough, through all the day, set there against the drab showers at least provided a welcome diversion for our trio of
background of a mud wall as unfinished as itself, it nevertheless young Yaquitepecos. Water has been for so long a jealously
leaps each dawn from the shadows to stand forth as a glowing guarded, non-wasteable commodity, that to use it for play pur-
golden urn over whose beauty we have not yet ceased to marvel. poses has been out of the question. But the two storms light as
Mud! Mud turned to gold at the touch of a sunbeam. Just a they were, fell not only upon our roof, but also upon the private
trick of the light. A simple thing, one to smile about and to for- dams of Rider and Rudyard—tiny reservoirs built carefully of
cement in strategic points among the granite boulders. There-
get. Eut somehow the thing has become our daily miracle—a
fore, after the showers, there was much excitement and rushing
flashing symbol of the manner in which human clay, touched by
to and fro with tin cans and bottles to collect the precious liquid
the rays of the Great Spirit, can suddenly flame forth to un- and store it before it could evaporate. There were hasty dash-
guessed heights of glory. And perhaps Tanya may be right when ings, with Victoria trailing along in the rear of the procession,
she calls her pet olla, "The Treasure of Kings." For the true slopping water from her own tiny bucket and shrieking in
treasure of kings lies in understanding. breathless excitement. What an orgy of "mudding"—until the
The wind gods that herald the approach of winter, prowl now water gave out.
about Ghost Mountain. And often in the night rush upon it with Rider and Rudyard build model 'dobe houses, situated cliff-
shoutings, roaring through the cliff-edge junipers and flinging dweller fashion in crevices of rocks. But Victoria builds cisterns.
quart2: gravel upon our iron roof like clattering bursts of buck- Her cisterns are constructed by the simple method of heaping
shot. Several times in the dark we have arisen and by flickering up a mound of mud and patting it nice and smooth on top.
light, gone out to sweep eaves troughs and to prepare for threat- After which the whole family is summoned to admire the work

JANUARY, 194 5 27
ctf art. "A vewwy fine cistern," says Victoria, contentedly eyeing distances. Often I have seen a fly alight to sun itself upon a
her own work. "An' after I get it smoothed out some more—" granite boulder in a section where there apparently were no
enemies. And then, from a distance, I have noted the cautious
Oh, the mud that one happy, barefoot youngster can acquire!
approach of one of the beady-eyed little lizards. You can see his
But mud is healthful—that is, clean mud. Humans would be bet- tiny eyes fixed intently on his prey. Nimbly he slides down the
ter off physically if they came more often in contact with it and sides of intervening boulders. Swiftly he darts across open
with the earth. The Indian knew this. But, being a savage, he spaces, taking advantage of every scrap of cover. With deadly
has been outvoted. purpose, keeping out of sight as far as possible, he begins to
There is an end to mudding when the water gives out. And climb the stone whereon the fly rests. Sometimes, from its thou-
there wasn't much this time. The builders now have gone back to sand eyes, the fly glimpses him, and makes off. But more often
the regular daily round of lessons and of fuel gathering and of than not it leaves the rock tucked away inside of Mr. Lizard. I
helping set and distribute type—and the score and one other even have seen these lizards leap several inches from the ground
daily duties. That is, the two boys have. Victoria has gone back and capture flies upon the wind. A feat comparable to that of a
to the job of raising Susie and Barbara, which, outside of her bare handed human catching flying birds.
light daily allotment of reading and writing, provide her with
worries enough. . . . And, just to even matters, before I could finish this the
rain gods, possibly having read what I wrote in the first part,
Victoria decided some time ago that her dolls needed sun decided to come in good earnest. In full ceremonial costume,
treatments. They should bask each day in the healing rays of the heavy laden with water jars, they swooped down upon Ghost
desert sun. "Only thing, they haven't got a truly bed," she Mountain, shouting their songs and whirling their headdresses
lamented. "They are 'fraid to sleep right on the ground. They and sounding rattles.
are 'fraid of—of mice." And she wrinkled up her nose and gig- How the water splashed from their ollas! And how the wind
gled as she said it. For mice happen to be Victoria's chief de- gods yelled in accompanying chorus. What sudden scurryings
light. to and fro on our part—adjusting rain spouts and dragging
So it came about that, taking the hint, Rider and I, in secret, dry fuel to shelter. The falling water made a deafening tumult
constructed a "truly bed" of just the right size to accommodate on our iron roof. Mud fell from the plastering over the win-
Susie and Barbara—and even, if necessity called, the somewhat dows, for a leak suddenly developed in the concrete eaves trough
dilapidated Peter Rabbit also. We flatter ourselves that the bed and spilled an overflow along the wall top and the front of the
was, in its way, somewhat of a work of art, being fashioned of house. The first fire of the season roared merrily in the big fire-
nicely trimmed dry mescal shoots, lashed and fitted together place and three happy little Yaquitepecos toasted hands and
with not a nail in all its fastenings. And the bed "spring" was toes in the cheerful warmth. And while water plunged into the
of interlaced fiber also, after the manner of the old style rawhide empty cisterns, whirling snowflakes sheeted the distant moun-
laced beds. Bringing this contraption home by stealth we hid it. tains in white.
And when Victoria's birthday came round a few days later, we Rain! and WATER! And the far sight of snow. Yes, per-
presented the bed to her, with fitting speeches. haps, as we expected, it will be a cold winter. But today the sun
Victoria sits beside her invalids in the sunshine and holds is shining again and the mudders are busy at their building.
converse with them in encouraging tones. And the bright eyed The lizard is back at his fly-catching. And it is such a gloriously
young collared lizard whose habitat is on the window screen, warm and clean-washed world that it might well be a perfect
cocks his head and wonders what it's all about. day in spring.
Quite a little desert sprite, that collared lizard. It has been "But it really isn't spring," Rudyard and Victoria object, as I
so long since he took up his residence in the vicinity of the voice the thought. "It's really almost Christmas!" "And don't
window screen that we have come to look upon him as part of forget," Victoria adds, looking up, muddy faced and muddy
the scenery. And we miss him when he happens to be away for handed from her vigorous patting of wet adobe, "that vewwy
a while. A mighty hunter of flies, he has learned that his favor- soon we all have to go and bring home the Christmas tree."
ite game always hangs round window screens. Through long • • •
practice he has developed a technique which seldom fails. Ob-
serving an alighted fly contentedly cleaning its forelegs to- LITTLE THINGS
gether in the sunlight he begins to creep cautiously toward it. These things are worthy anyone's regard:
Stealthily he executes a wide, circling approach. Then, with a A willing hand, a careful and close guard
lightning rush, he dashes upon the over-confident insect from Over our tongues and tempers, and a care
behind. You cannot see what happens to the fly. But you can That we sincerely all our burdens bear.
see the satisfied hunter going off, smacking his lips. The num- Such simple little things that all can do
ber of flies that he consumes in a day must do no little toward To guide us safely all the narrows through.
keeping the balance of nature adjusted. Life is not hard if ive sincerely try
Remarkably intelligent these harmless reptiles. The small With all the good and upright to ally.
fly-lizards, the most numerous, can spot their quarry at long —Tanya South

28 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 Drillers Strike Artesian Water . .
C A S A GRANDE — Artesian water
struck in a wildcat oil well in Casa Grande
valley may bring thousands of desert acres
„ • •
into cuhtvation. Well is being drilled 11
miles east of here for Casa Grande Oil
ARIZONA Hospital For Christmas . . . Development association, a group of local
Indians Speak For Rights . . . YUMA—Construction of the $250,000 farmers and businessmen. No other flow-
WINSLOW—While representatives of addition to Yuma General hospital, started ing wells are within many miles of this
America's 400,000 Indians met in Denver June 1, was scheduled for completion valley, and other artesian wells in the state
to organize a national council and write Christmas, according to Manager Paul all are reported to be much shallower.
a constitution and platform advocating Lipscomb. Work was started in mid-
greater equality for their race, a congres- November on the $40,000 nurses' home,
sional sub-committee headed by Congress- just south of the hospital.
man John R. Murdock of Arizona, held For Nice Things . . .
hearings in New Mexico and Arizona to Peak Crashes May End . . . • INFANTS' AND
investigate complaints and pleas of the FLAGSTAFF—It is hoped that Navy CHILDREN'S WEAR
• LADIES' READY-TO-WEAR
tribesmen. "More education and a better experiments now being completed in col-
• MEN'S FURNISHINGS
chance to make a decent living" were the laboration with Northwest Airlines will
• FINE LINENS
chief needs of Hopi and Navajo Indians. prevent plane crashes such as have oc-
Indian, spokesmen asserted that reserva- curred in San Francisco peaks near here
tion schools overstressed agricultural train- by eliminating static which has caused OUSTER'S
ing, virtually ignoring academic subjects planes to become lost when their com- 206 W. TENTH STREET PHONE 246
required for college entrance. Indians also munications signals were disrupted. Re- LANCASTER. CALIFORNIA
want voting privileges and improved con- search has been conducted in a specially THE HEART OF ANTELOPE VALLEY
'RlLLA CUSTER GALEN CUSTER
ditions in their irrigation and power rights. constructed hangar in which a plane can
Congressman Carl Mundt of South Da- be suspended as if in flight, and rain, snow
kota, committee member, stated, "This and dust storms, from which static comes,
committee doesn't like an educational pro- can be created.
gram which freezes one group of people
into one occupation. It's a hopeless, futile
Author Kelland Sells Ranch . . .
program. There is no future for the RANCHO BORREGO
Indian." PHOENIX—The 46,000-acre Yavapai
county cattle ranch owned in partnership An informal Ameri-
can Plan guest ranch
by Clarence Buddingtcn Kelland, Bruce with the open-heart-
Bird Cage Will Open . . . ed hospitality of ear-
Barton and John N. Wheeler has been sold ly California days.
TOMBSTONE — Famous Bird Cage to Daniel C. Gainey, Minnesota industrial- OPENING
theater, relic of silver mining boom here, ist who is expected to arrive in Arizona in FOR THE SIXTH
SEASON
soon will be open to the public as a his- February. Kelland, popular author who
toric museum, according to Mrs. C. L. maintains residence in Phoenix, Barton,
Cummings. Mrs. D. E. Dover of Dugger, New York advertising executive, and A REAL
Indiana, wife of present owner, recently Wheeler, president of North American DESERT RESORT
Accommodations Are
supervised repairs on the building. Newspaper alliance, acquired the ranch Limited
(Mail S times a wk.)
four years ago and built "bunk houses" for For Reservations and Information Write to
James; Babbitt Dies in Storm . . . their families and a central ranch building, Noel and Ruth Crickmer, Managing Owners
FLAGSTAFF—State Senator James E. at a reported cost of $50,000. DESERT LODGE—RANCHO BORREGO
Babbitt died November 12 from exposure Borrego. California
and exhaustion after becoming separated Sandpaintings Given Museum . . .
from his companions on a bear hunting FLAGSTAFF — A series of Navajo
trip in Fossil Creek area, 90 miles south- sandpainting prints with accompanying
east of here. His body was found five miles text has been given Museum of Northern
north of Fossil springs after all-night Arizona by Dr. Gladys A. Reichard, au-
search during one of the most severe thor of Dezba, NavajO Shepherd and
29
storms in years. Babbitt, who had just been
reelected to office with highest vote cast
Weaver, and other books on Indian life
and arts. The prints were made by the silk-
PALMS
in Coconino county for any candidate in
the general election was mourned through- screen method and are faithful reproduc-
out the state. He was member of one of tions of the original colors and designs.
INN
THE HOTEL AT THE
Arizona's oldest pioneer families, had This series of sandpaintings is used in the PALMS
studied law at Loyola university and Uni- Navajo chant, "Where the Two Came to * * *
versity of Southern California. He also Their Fathers," originally used for war- FIREPLACE ADOBES
* • *
attended Santa Clara university and riors before a battle, later coming to be FOOD TO REMEMBER
Georgetown university, where he wrote his jsed for illness. Now the chant is said SADDLE HORSES
BADMINTON
master's thesis on Colorado River project. to be returning to its former purpose and
He had been active in public life since is being given in part for young men AMERICAN PLAN
Single, $6.00 up
1933. At time of his death he was vice- entering the service, some of the paintings Double, $10.25 up
president of Babbitt Brothers Trading being made particularly for boys going into Gateway to Joshua Tree National Monument
company. His younger brother, John G. their first battle, others for men who have ROBERT VAN LAHR, Manager
For Reservations —• Write 29 Palms Inn at
Babbitt, was appointed to succeed him in crossed the water or who have been on TWENTYNINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA
office. enemy soil. or call any Travel Bureau or Automobile Club

JANUARY, 1945 29
 CALIFORNIA Mud Pots Are "Boiling". . . Resort Seeks Air Stop . . .
CALIPATRIA — Unusual activity on PALM SPRINGS —That this desert
Convention Set For May . . . resort will "in all probability" be put on
Rock hill, about three miles southeast of
PALM SPRINGS —California Osteo- the aerial map of the nation, is the belief
famous mud pots of Salton Sea was ob-
pathic association will hold its annual of chamber of commerce secretary Walter
served in November by Roy Yarbrough of
convention here next May 16-19, it has Kofeldt, who was the first witness before
Imperial Irrigation district. Rock from this
been revealed by Thomas C. Schumacher, San Francisco hearing of Civil Aeronautics
hill is used by district in riprapping cuts
executive secretary of the association. Plans board November 1. Six companies, he said,
along the canal system. After supervising
tor handling the 600 delegates and friends wish to include Palm Springs on their
hauling of this rock, he said "smoke and
expected to attend are being made by Wal- itineraries, two of them as main transcon-
steam were issuing from two deep cuts
ter Kofeldt, executive secretary chamber tinental flight stops and others with feeder
near the top of the hill" and many large
of commerce, Earl Coffman of the Desert lines touching main Southern California
boulders had been dislodged and had
fnn and local hotels.
rolled into the roadway. cities.
East Mesa Report Protested . . . Plan For Aggie Training . . .
Shoshone Chief Dies . . .
HOLTVILLE—Soil report released by EL CENTRO—More than 100 farmers
DEATH VALLEY —Johnny Boland,
University of California college of agricul- Shoshone Indian who died of pneumonia and business men in November endorsed a
ture that only about 40,000 acres of the was buried November 10 with full tribal plan to extend the work of the Meloland
East Mesa area is suited to general farming ceremony in the old Indian burial grounds Agricultural experimental station, a branch
has been protested by Evan T. Hewes and atop one of the foothills in the Funeral of the University of California. They ap-
M. J. Dowd of Imperial Irrigation district. range north of Furnace Creek Inn. Al- proved establishment of a non-degree agri-
District officials challenge findings on though a chief of his tribe, as the only cultural training school at the station at
ground that survey was not complete, that son of the late Chief John Boland, Johnny estimated cost of $165,000 for buildings
a much larger area is suitable for farming. never had exercised the privilege. This is and equipment. Training would include
They fear this report may limit develop- said to be the first time white people have agronomy, truck crops, animal and dairy
ment of area to a small portion of the been allowed to witness the burial ritual husbandry, soil technology, farm manage-
total acreage available. of Shoshone Indians in Death Valley. ment, farm machinery and shop, physical
education.

Needles Railroad Man Dies . . .

NEEDLES—Andy Miller, veteran engi-
The Desert Trading Post neer for the Santa Fe railroad at Needles,
and life-long friend of the Mojave and
Classified advertising in this section costs five cents a word, $1.00 minimum per issue—
Actually about lYi cenlt P** thousand readers. Hualpai Indians, died at the Santa Fe hos-
pital in Los Angeles November 18 and was
Indian Relics: 20 genuine Indian arrowheads
buried at Needles.
MISCELLANEOUS
$1.00, Catalog. Geo. Holder, Glenwood, Ark. • • •
Desert Tea: In original form. Large bundle only We need all types of handmade gift articles and Universal Studio in November was
$1.00 complete with instructions for use. Miil toys, preferably unusual ones with south- shooting scenes on technicolor film, re-
orders taken for government stamped Navajo
rugs and blankets, Indian potterv, desert pets,
western appeal. Give full description, prices. portedly entitled "Salome, Where She
Sleepy Burro Craft Guild, 1034 Hinton, Las Danced," in Lone Pine area.
rocks and antiques. Grail Fuller's Bora X Cruces, New Mexico.
Post Ranch, Box 26, Daggett, California. • • •
BENITOITE GEMS—After years of searching, George R. Wade, member of first Im-
"PROSPECTOR'S FEET ITCH." Experienced engineer has located many "rough" float
prospector trained in geology and mineralogy, boulders up to ten tons of Benitoite matrix. perial county board of supervisors and
seeks a grubstaker to finance a search for the Area is open ground, located in a "Y" double former Brawley city engineer, died No-
fabulously rich "Lost Dutchman" gold mine, boxed canyon in San Benito County. Respon- vember 24 in Long Beach.
in the Superstition mountains of Arizona. sible people have offered to finance any new
Thoroughly familiar with area and history strike. For substantial "grubstake" I offer a
• • • •
and has some heretofore undisclosed infor- 50-50 deal. Box K, Desert Magazine. NEVADA
mation regarding the lost bonanza. Not a Spanish Lessons For Farmers . . .
promoter or crackpot. Correspondence in- Protect your Dogs, Keys, Sporting Equipment
vited. Address Box H, Desert Magazine. and Social Security Numbers with metal RENO—To aid Nevada farmers and
name plates. Single 35c, 3 tags and SS plate ranchers in directing Mexican nationals
Desert Sun Colored Glasses: Can be cut into $1.00. State whether for dog, keys, etc. Cash
jewels, 35c. Whole big bottles $1..00. Broken with order. A. W . Bate, Ash Fork, Ariz. working for them, agricultural extension
necks for candle sticks 35c. Pieces 35c. Ob- service of University of Nevada has issued
jects, etc., reasonable. Also thousands of bot- LIVESTOCK an English-Spanish phrase book, which
tles, all colors, sizes and shapes 35c each. In- KARAKULS producers of Persian Lamb fur explains Spanish pronunciation and lists
teresting collections. One price sale—syn- are easy to raise and adapted to the desert
thetic cut gems—mineral specimens—bottles common expressions and a vocabulary of
which is their native home. For further in-
—quartz crystal specimens, turquoise and formation write Addis Kelley, 4637 E. 52 farm and ranch terms. Author is John
lazulite, peacock copper—everything one Place, Maywood, California. Agrusa, U. S. office of labor in Nevada.
price, 35c each and 3 for $1.00, 1.8 for $5.00.
Petrified wood, jasper, obsidian, agate We sell Nationally Recognized Fur Producing Snowstorm Maroons Flocks . . .
nodules, fluorescent hydrozincite. same price. Karakuls. Have permanent market for wool
All f.o.b. Federal tax 20% extra. W . Dart, and furs. Attractive investment for rancher RENO — Unusually heavy snowstorm
Goldfield, Nevada. or city investor. James Yoakam, National blanketed nearly every section of the state
Distributor, 1128 No. Hill Ave., Pasadena, in mid-November. Heaviest fall of 50
Wanted: For Cash, Lapidary and Gem Cutting California.
Equipment. G. J. Cummings, 851 Trestle inches was recorded in Marlette lake sec-
Glen Road, Oakland 10, Calif. REAL ESTATE tor, with 42 inches at Donner summit.
Gold Dust and Nuggets Really Pay Off! Proven For Imperial Valley Farms—
Stock losses were undetermined due to
methods, simple home made equipment. For isolation of ranches. More than 25,000
a profitable hobby or fortune making profes- W. E H AN COCK sheep and an unknown number of herders
sion, read "Gold Prospecting Made Easy." "The Farm Land Man"
were marooned 60 to 70 miles south of
Only 50c postpaid. Imperial Gold. 208 Del- Since 1914
mar, Vallejo, California. EL CENTRO CALIFORNIA Elko.

30 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

Half of Farms Get Electricity . . . Ceremonial Directors Reelected . . • UTAH
RENO—With the latest allotment of GALLUP—Six directors of Inter-Tribal Would Save State Relics . . .
RE A loan funds to Nevada, about 1750 Indian Ceremonial association whose SALT LAKE CITY—Utah state pub-
farms, or 49 per cent of all Nevada farms, terms expired this year, were reelected in licity and development commissioners,
are now electrified, according to report November for another two years. They are Ora Bundy and H. J. Plumhof, have pre-
from rural electrification administration in A. W. Barnes, John Brentari, J. M. Drolet, pared amendment to be submitted to state
November. When REA was established John J. Kirk, J. E. Lieberman and Clarence legislative committee stipulating that any
here in 1935, only 900 Nevada farms, or Uhland. They planned an early meeting object of historic or scientific interest
26 per cent, received central station elec- with the five hold-over board members to found in the state must first be submitted
tric power. On basis of 1940 census re- organize and select dates for next sum- to Utah colleges and universities and
ports, it seems likely that as many as 6800 mer's Ceremonial. specialists in various fields, for their use
occupied rural dwellings still do not have if desired, before the object is removed
central station electric service in Nevada. Change "New Mexico" to "Cibola"? from the state, and then only by permit of
It is believed that power lines may be SANTA FE—Ernest Thompson Seton, the commission.
built into more thinly settled rural areas writer, naturalist and founder of Seton Vil-
under the Pace act. lage near here, advocates that New Mexico Indians Predict Mild Winter . . .
change its name to Cibola. He complained BEAVER — Indians who have been
Fewer Nuts For Candy . . . that "at least 10 per cent" of his mail searching for pifion nuts which usually are
GOLD FIELD — Nevada Indians had reached Mexico before it was sent back plentiful in this locality report they have
few piiion nuts to harvest this year. Even across the border to "New" Mexico. Be- found none, and assert that the summer
Lida canyon, Esmeralda county, termed sides, the lion-maned naturalist asked, was too hot and dry for a good crop. Ac-
the "home of the pifion nut," yielded only "Why should we be 'New' anything, when cording to Indian legend when pine nuts
limited quantities. In good years Indians we have such a historically suitable name are plentiful a long hard winter is in store;
depend on this, Nevada's only wild nut, as Cibola to substitute for it?" Seton said when there are none, a mild winter will
as a cash crop to sell eastern candy makers. Dr. Edgar L. Hewett and other eminent follow. In normal years hundreds of
scholars and historians favor the change. pounds of roasted pine nuts are brought
Wants; Mead Water For Farms . . . Cibola is the old Spanish-Indian name for into southern Utah towns by the Indians
CARSON CITY—Southern Nevada as the state, which means "the land where who gather and roast them with an art
an agricultural and industrial center was we find buffalo." He added that "Cibola which the white man has hardly been able
envisioned by Governor E. P. Carville as is on all ancient maps;, Coronado first to match.
he commented on disposition of the $5,- spoke of this land as 'Cibola', and there
000,000 pipeline which has supplied water is the Cibola national forest and the Cibola Mormon Head Presents Gift . . .
for Basic Magnesium, Inc., which closed mountains." SALT LAKE CITY—To celebrate his
down in December. He believed that Lake 88th birthday, Heber J. Grant, for 26 years
Mead water running through the pipeline El Morro May Be On New Road . . . Mormon church president, presented a
could be used both for industrial and agri- gift of $25,000 from the LDS church to
GALLUP—El Morro national monu-
cultural purposes. The governor pointed ment and Gallup are on the route of one University of Utah medical school. The
out that water from Lake Mead could be of six proposed north-south highways of- gift is to be used to equip a laboratory for
used to develop small farms and ranches, fered in postwar construction program. the department of pharmacology and
a program which would fit in with plans The highway would extend from El Paso, physiology of the university's new four-
to provide returning servicemen with self- Texas, by way of El Morro and Salt Lake year medical school. Gift was accepted for
supporting acreages. the university by Dr. LeRoy E. Cowles,
City according to the plan offered by Rep.
• • • president.
Snyder of Pennsylvania.
Arthur B. Witcher, 72, Nevada pioneer, • • •
sourdough of Klondike gold rush, and an Prehistoric Air Conditioning . . . Cyrus Edwin Dallin, 82, famed native
early builder of Las Vegas, died November FARMINGTON — Air conditioning, Utah sculptor whose many works include
23 at Las Vegas hospital. considered a modern invention, actually figure of the Angel Moroni atop Mormon
is more than 1000 years old and was used temple in Salt Lake City, died at Arling-
NEW MEXICO ton, Massachusetts, November 14.
Trail Herd Days Still Here . . . by pithouse dwellers of the Governador
MAGDALENA—Picturesque tales of region of northwestern New Mexico from
the old trail herd days were revived in the 700 to 900 A.D., according to conclusions A WESTERN THRILL
wide Ojpen spaces of New Mexico, when reached in Early Stockade Settlements in
the fall movement of cattle got into full the Governador, .New Mexico, published "Courage," a remarkable oil painting
20x60 feet, the Covered Wagon Train cross-
swing in mid-November. Cowboys from by Columbia University press. Pithouse ing the desert in '68. Over a year in painting.
as far as the Arizona border drove market people dug ventilating trenches into their On display (free) at Knott's Berry Place
bound whitefaces to this railhead—largest homes, which admitted fresh air and pos- where the Boysenberry was introduced to
ranch-to-railroad shipping point in the sibly served as tunnelled entrances to their the world and famous for fried chicken din-
state—in what was expected to be a record subterranean dwellings.
ners with luscious Boysenberry pie.
You'll want (1) A 4-color picture of this
movement for recent years. huge painting suitable for framing. (2) A
Experimental Range Increased . . .
36-page handsomely illustrated souvenir,
Incoming Cars Top Last Year . . . F O R T WINGATE — Southwestern pictures and original drawings, of Ghost
SANTA FE—One-day count of incom- sheep laboratory here took possession in Town Village and story of this roadside
ing non-resident automobiles October 24 November of nearly 14,000 acres at Rock stand which grew to a $600,000 annual busi-
registered a total of 3036 motor vehicles Springs ranch northwest of Gallup to sup- ness. (3) One year's subscription (6 num-
bers) to our illustrated bi-monthly magazine
carrying 9145 passengers. This compares ply range for experimental flocks. Labora- of the West. True tales of the days of gold,
with 2627 vehicles and 7769 passengers tory, operated by department of agricul- achievements of westerners today and cour-
in the same 1943 count. Average persons ture, has been conducting experimental de- ageous thoughts for days to come. Mention
this paper and enclose one dollar for all thcee
per auto dropped from 2.6 a year ago to velopments in sheep breeding to ascertain and get authentic western facts. Postpaid.
2.3, but average persons carried in all types best suited to uses of Southwest
incoming motor vehicles including trucks Indians and to raise the grade of stock used GHOST TOWN NEWS
by them. BUENA PARK, CALIF.
and buses was up from 2.9 to 3.0.

JANUARY, 1945 31
 Santa Fe, New Mexico . . .

Mui&i and . .
First deep oil discovery in New Mexico
has been made at the Humble test well in
Lea county, at depth of 11,900 feet. It is
reported to have tested 1800 barrels per
The day of the pick and pan prospector Phoenix, Arizona . . . day.
who formerly trudged along with his According to information received here
burros, but more recently travels in a the Reconstruction Finance corporation is Salt Lake City, Utah . . .
jalopy, is not over, according to Charles now accepting applications for limited Government controls on use of mag-
Newmeyer in the Mining Record. There loans for the development and operation of nesium were lifted in October by WPB
still is pioneering to be done in the search gold mining properties. While loans can- ruling. No further restrictions will be
for minerals, and the prospector who fol- not be made at this time, it is anticipated placed upon manufacture of light metal
lows the trails year after year is the man there soon will be a modification of war- products, including all varieties of civilian
most likely to make new discoveries. He time restrictions which will enable the goods. Restrictions still will be felt in some
has gained a knowledge through exper- resumption of work on properties formerly localities however because of critical man-
ience, for which there is no substitute. active. The RFC has set a limit of $20,000 power situation.
• • • on the initial loan, with a possible second
Tucson, Arizona . . . loan of $20,000. Legislation now is pend-
Resumption of its ore testing service, ing in congress which would remove these Winnemucca, Nevada . . .
inactive since September, 1943, has been limitations. Applications should be filed Installation of 100-ton scheelite concen-
announced by the Arizona bureau of through RFC field offices. trator was made at tungsten mine owned
mines at the University of Arizona here. • • • by Joseph E. Riley to help ship high grade
Tests are made on ores originating in tungsten concentrates to industrial plants.
Winnemucca, Nevada . . . What is said to have been largest tungsten
Arizona, a minimum charge of $5 plus
the cost of analysis assessed on samples of Molybdenum Products company is clos- stockpile in United States is awaiting
100 pounds or less. No charge is made for ing its Reno office and opening a new treatment here. U. S. bureau of mines is
the services of the metallurgist. One cent headquarters in this city, according to preparing extensive diamond drilling of
per pound is:added for samples over 100 plans disclosed by President George Riley property to determine extent of ore-
pounds. Howe. The company has property in the bodies beyond present developed area.
• • • Bottle Creek district. A plant for calcining
San Francisco, California . . . and sintering is to be constructed at the San Francisco, California . . .
Walter W. Bradley, California state Blue Bucket quicksilver property and a
new camp is practically completed. Economic report for California division
mineralogist, has just issued a new edition of mines, appraising postwar outlook and
of the California Journal of Mines and • • • suggesting legislation for greater activity
Geology, devoted mainly to three major Denver, Colorado . . . and postwar employment in mineral in-
reports. These include: Geology of Palm dustries of the state, is being prepared by
Springs-Blythe strip, Riverside county; Robert Palmer, secretary of the Colo-
rado Mining association has sent out an- Samuel H. Dolbear, mining engineer.
Geology of parts of the Barstow Quad-
rangle in San Bernardino county, and nouncements of an inter-mountain mining
Geology of the Needles-Goffs region in conference to be held in this city January Las Vegas, Nevada . . .
San Bernardino county. All the reports are 26-27'. Groups from Colorado, New Mex- Nearly 200 workers in BMI plant at
accompanied by maps. This edition of the ico, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming Henderson are being laid off weekly as
Journal, Vol. 40, No. 1, may be obtained are expected to attend the conference. part of gradual curtailment order which
by addressing the Division of Mines, • • • will completely close plant in December,
Ferry Building, San Francisco 11, Califor- Gallup, New Mexico . . . officials state.
nia. The cost is 60 cents plus state sales Oil drilling activity has reached a new
tax. high in northwestern New Mexico accord- Washington, D. C. . . .
• • • ing to reports reaching here. Transcal Government production controls on
El Paso, Texas . . . Realty and Development corporation has copper industry will cease following V-
: So successful was the first International resumed drilling on the deep test well in day in Europe, WPB announced October
Mining Day celebration held here early San Juan county; the Southern Union Pro- 10. At present, brass and bronze ingot
in November that the mining committee duction company is reported to be below makers may accept orders lacking priority
of the chamber of commerce has decided 5750 feet in the Barker Dome area; Petrol- ratings but may not produce them until
to make the event an annual affair, and eum Products corporation is active in the after Germany's collapse. It is estimated
has designated the second week in Novem- Hospah dome in McKinley county where 57,000 000 pounds of copper and copper
ber, 1945, for the next conference. Over 40 producers already have been found. products will be available each quarter for
400 mining men from New Mexico, There are also several individual operators ingot makers for civilian use following
Texas, Arizona, Colorado and old Mexico sinking test holes on the north rim of San V-E day cutbacks in arms production. Re-
were present at this year's program. Juan basin and over the line in Colorado. ports on production still will be required
• • • for some products after European hostili-
• • • ties cease.
Winnemucca, Nevada . . .
Purchase depots operated by Metals Re- Cedar City. Utah . . .
serve company ceased purchase of domestic Shipment of iron ore from deposits west Kingman, Arizona . . .
tin ores and concentrates December 31. In of this city to the Kaiser plant in Cali- Ed Imus has located a large deposit of
the future tin will be bought only on a fornia, are scheduled to start as soon as a barium ore, a base in paint manufacture,
basis of negotiated contract. Persons inter- spur railroad and temporary buildings are in the Cottonwood district 30 miles east of
ested in such contracts should write to completed at the property. Forty men are here. Former production at this location
Metal Reserves company at Washington, at work on the project, the construction be- was unprofitable due to low price. Present
D. C. ing done by Utah Construction company. price has doubled.

32 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 Mineralogical Societv of Arizona enjoyed
color photographs of Four Corners at November
2 gathering through courtesy of Wendell Paul-
sen, Salt Lake City. All units of the Rocky
Mountain federation traveling collection were
started at the appointed time. Utah exhibit

GEMS AND MINERALS reached the Phoenix group in October and

Grand Junction collection arrived in November.

ARTHUR L. EATON, Editor

POLISHED TURQUOISE...
CHBYSOCOLLA AND PICTURE AGATE
Approval Shipments
HAROLD D. MARYOTT
40 Oak St.. Rt. 1 Miami, Arizona
ARCHEOLOGIST TELLS L. A. Ceacel G. Wittorff submits the following in
CLUB ABOUT ATLANTIS AND MU memory of Chris Wicht, pioneer prospector,
rancher and storekeeper of Death Valley region
Dr. Ivan Alexis Lopatin guided Los Angeles
and many times genial host to Searles Lake gem
mineralogical society in an adventure into the
and mineral society, who died October 17.
past at November 16 meeting when he spoke
on the lost continents of Atlantis and Mu (or
Lemuria). Dr. Lopatin is professor of anthro-
THE PIONEER RARE QUALITY
He followed the rainbow in his youth,
pology and archeology at USC.
Officers elected for the ensuing year are
In the days when the West was young,
He braved the heat of the desert waste,
CUT STONES . . .
Richard R. F. Lehman, president; A. J. Mac- Till his days on earth were done. Fine brilliant cut Zircons, blue, $6
Arthur, 1st vice-president; Gertrude G. Logan, He took the West to his humble breast, carat. Emerald cut Zircons, blue and
2nd vice-president; Rosalie Gotfredson, 2118 white, $4 carat. Ceylon native Zircons
Eastlake Avenue, Los Angeles 31, secretary; And dreamed his dreams in the hills,
Till he found 'twas not gold his soul has sought, $1 carat.
Ledona B. Koppen, treasurer; W. R. Harriman,
editor; R. R. Newell, business manager; Charles But true friendship and lasting goodwill. Aquamarines, 12x14 a n d 12x16 m / m
W. Abbot, field trip chairman; Gordon Funk, So he gained the peace of a soul content, $2 carat, also large sizes.
federation representative. Member Willis dis- When fortune had passed him by,
And he found his gold at the rainbow's end Rare blue precious Topaz and Golden
played some clever carvings in talc. Ceylon Quartz Topaz, line color $1 carat.
In the gold of the desert sky.
A Christmas party was held at West Ebell !Vaya usted con Dios!
clubhouse December 16. Members contributed Carved Moonstones. Black Star S a p -
• • ii phires $2 carat. Black Onyx drops $3
rock specimens to fill Santa's bag for exchange
gifts. Rockhound Record, bulletin of Mineralogical pair.
Society of Arizona, reports evidences of glacia-
tion in the San Francisco mountains. A small Brilliant cut Montana Sapphires, also
USE OF PORTABLE LAPIDARY glacier has left its marks of polishing and blue and golden.
EQUIPMENT IS DEMONSTRATED striating with well developed moraines at the Dozen Moss Agates, brooch size, $12.
Ralph Dietz lectured on gem polishing at lower end. The glacier probably was about two Dozen Ceylon Garnets $6.
November 1 meeting of Mineralogical Society of miles long and one and a half wide, and some
Southern California. He was assisted by H. G. 300 feet in depth. Rare Hessonite and Green Garnets.
Kirkpatrick who gave a practical demonstration • • •> Finest Chrysocolla cabochons in the
of cutting and polishing on portable lapidary Because of the difficulty in making field world, $15 per 100 carats.
equipment. Members divulged their own pet trips, Los Angeles mineralogical society invites
polishing tricks and propounded lap problems. dealers to bring material for sale to meetings. Rare and unusual stone cameos, 14
Month's display was polished material. • • « karat ladies gold mountings, $60 dozen.
The group enjoyed a field trip to California A daylight field trip took Searles Lake gem Synthetic Alexandrites, $2 carat.
Institute of Technology November 19 to study and mineral society to Ballarat and the late
the institute's mineral collection. W. J. Rode- Chris Wicht's place in Surprise canyon Decem-
ber 3. Ask lor My Approval Selection
kohr made arrangements with R. Von Huene of
Caltec for the visit. • • «
John Hilton has secured from an Indian a ERNEST MEIER
specimen that would make any rockhounds Church Str. Annex P. O. Box 302
mouth water. It is a cluster of amethyst crystals NEW YORK 8, N. Y.
containing about 50 water bubbles.

Of a Rockhound
By LOUISE EATON
HERE ARE THE GIFTS
Rockhounds sorta classifies into two
breeds: those what collects rox f'r esthetic YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR/
reasons 'n those what gathers speciments
f'r learnin purposes. Rings, $4.00 and Up Necklaces. $5.00 and Up
• • • Brooches, $5.00 and Up
Think uv all th little shugar sax a- Bracelet and Ring Sets, $15 and Up
waitii to bring home rox frum field trips
rockhouns'll take when th duration is
llllill Plus 20% Excise Tax and 2>/2% Sales Tax
Petrified Picture Wood and Moss Agate — Jewelry
Hand Made in Sterling Silver Mountings
Th longer folkes wurks with minerals
'n gems, th more they tends to specialize.
Sum wants metals only. Wun man may
turn out jus heart shaped pieces while
nuther can see nuthin but sagenite to
collect 'n polish. Sum wants only crystals
'n sum thinks agate nodules is tops.
HI RINGS — BRACELETS — NECKLACES
BROOCHES — TIE SLIDES, ETC.
Mail Orders Filled Anywhere in U. S. A.

ELLIOTT'S GEM SHOP

Lotsa rockhouns, however, is still om- 26 Jergins Arcade Village Long Beach 2, Calii
nivorous 'n gathers in enything that Entrance Subway at Ocean and Pine
isn't plain country rock. Open 10 A.M. to 10 P.M. Daily

JANUARY, 1945 33
 Richard Buhlis, Box 1012, Little Rock, Dr. W. J. Mead talked on aluminum, its
Arkansas, secretary of Arkansas Mineral society, source and production at November 14 meeting
AMONG THE informs us that the annual meeting and banquet of New Jersey mineralogical society. Dr. Mead

ROCK HUnTERS of the society were held October 11, in Little

Rock. The meeting opened with election of
officers, followed by several talks. Members
is director of Reynolds research, New York, and
head of the geological department at Mass-
achusetts Institute of Technology. A film was
arranged an excellent exhibit of Arkansas shown through courtesy of Reynolds metals
Long Beach mineralogical society has a new minerals. company.
meeting place. It's the Belmont recreation • • • • • •
center, 4104 Allin street, just east of Belmont Wisconsin geological society recently elected November Sequoia bulletin prints a travel-
pier. Meeting day has been changed to second the following officers: Gordon W. Borreau, log by E. E. Eldridge of a trip to Mother Lode
Wednesdays. Seal beach and east Ocean bus president; Mrs. G. O. Raasch, vice-president; district and north to Crater lake for the purpose
lines both reach the club house. Initial program Mrs. J. O. Montague, secretary; Elmer Guessel, of collecting mineral specimens to be used in
in the new quarters was a motion picture of Verne Wrenecke, Carl Hub and Ted Wieseman, geology and mineralogy departments of Fresno
Alcan highway shown by Mr. Gooclcell of Auto directors. They have just issued first copy of state college.
Club of Southern California. "The Trilobite," monthly bulletin. • • •
• • • • • • Southwest mineralogists report interesting
Identification of minerals has proved a pop- activities during September and October. Albert
Marquette geologists association, Chicago, Hake explained how he built and operates a
held its annual auction November 4. Dr. Ball of ular activity at meetings of Los Angeles minera-
logical society. A prize is awarded the member vise on his mud saw and demonstrated how he
Northwestern university outlined a series of can automatically lap square cabochons. Ernest
instructive lectures which will be inaugurated naming the largest number of minerals sub-
mitted for classification. Chapman spoke on the crystal counties of the
in January. New Jersey zeolite region. For field trips the
group visited the astronomical society club
rooms and U. S. C. laboratories where Professor
George Wyman demonstrated different methods
GEM MART ADVERTISING RATE
5c a Word — Minimum $1.00
of treating metals and ores. Charles Standridge
talked on emeralds at one October meeting.
Dana's new system was discussed and explained
at October 27 session.
ACTINOLITE—A new find: Actinolite in Rock Collectors Attention! Christmas and New • • •
quartz. These specimens are of beautiful Ac- Years Offer: Cuttables—Mexican Cherry J. Lewis Renton talked on Hawaii at Novem-
tinolite crystals that glisten like diamonds, Opals 50c, 3 for $1.00; Malachite 75c, 2 for ber 15 meeting of Northern California mineral
shot through quartz in criss-cross; layers or in $1.25; Chrysocolla slice $2.00; Variscite 50c, society. He illustrated his lecture with koda-
bunches, radiating in clusters. $1.50 brings 3 for $1.00; Snowflake Obsidian Nodule chrome slides made before the war. Last Fridays
you a nice specimen 3x3 or over. Jack the $1.00, 10 different $2.00; Tourmalines 50c, are lapidary nights under the direction of F. J.
Rockhound, P. O. Box 86, Carbondale, Colo. 3 for $1.00. Free Cabochon with all orders. Sperisen.
All above for $8.00. The Rockologist • • •
Dinosaur Bone, opaque to semi-transparent, in (Chuckawalla Slim), Garvey Trailer Park, John Hitching of Lehi was guest speaker at
a variety of colors. Pound, slab or cabochon. 941 E. Garvey Blvd., Garvey 32P, Calif. November 7 meeting of Mineralogical Society
Marvin's Rock Shop, Durango, Colorado. of Utah. He exhibited some of his choice speci-
Jewelry stones removed from rings, etc. 100 mens to illustrate his talk on archeology and
Polished Turquoise Cabochons, $1.00 per carat, assorted $2.40. B. Lowe, Box 311, St. Louis 1, Utah aborigines.
6 carats $5.00. Can be one or several stones Missouri. • • •
for bracelet and ring set. 8 stones $10 00.
New deep blue Lazulite $1.00 carat; polished GRAB A BOX: These boxes weigh 6 lbs., and Julian A. Smith talked on mineral identifi-
cabochons, 6 carats $5.00. Genuine diamonds, for $6.00 you will receive 6 lbs. of different cation at November 2 meeting of East Bsy
$2.00, about VR carat. Showy synthetic stones specimens l x l and 2x2 gathered from here mineral society; R. E. Lamberson propounded
35c, 3 for $1.00, 18 for $5.00. All prices and there. Jack the Rockhound, P. O. Box 86, true or false questions and Charles L. Mills
f.o.b. Federal tax 20% extra. Good polishing Carbondale, Colorado. showed kodachrome slides taken on a prewar
material $1.00 lb., 6 lbs. $5.00. Many kinds trip to the east coast. Adan E. Treganza dis-
Fluorescent Calcite from Colorado, a new find, cussed prehistoric Indian mining and quarrying
of generous Mineral specimens; 35c, 3 for Fluoresces vivid fushia, specimens 2x3 to 6x6
$1.00, 18 for $5.00. All sizes quartz crystals, in California at November 16 meeting, giving
at $1.50 to $5.00 postpaid in U.S.A. Marvin's a brief outline of California Indian culture,
big ones cheap. Write W. Dait, Goldfield, Rock Shop, Durango, Colorado.
Nevada. illustrating with slides the lithic materials
Swisher's rocks, minerals and petrified woods. mined, some uses of the materials mined, tech-
NEW FIND: Agatized Dinosaur Bone. Fine Island corals, shells, shell costume jewelry, nique of mining and tools used.
cutting quality. Cells filled with blending fine copper minerals from Bisbee, Arizona.
colors, red, brown and clear. Makes beautiful Fine quartz crystals from Arkansas. Also fine
cabochons and transparencies. Cutters, get line of Art Figurines. Swisher's, 5234 So.
yours now, while it lasts, $1.50 per lb. Speci- Broadway, Los Angeles 37, California. TRUE OR FALSE ANSWERS
men stuff 50c. Postpaid. Bill Little, Hesperus, $2.50 brings you prepaid six rare and beautiful
Colorado. Questions are on page 18
crystallized Arizona minerals. Vanadinite,
Dioptase, Wulfenite, Willemite, Chrysocol- 1—False. The Chuckawalla is harmless.
Montana Moss Agates in the rough for gem cut-
la, Azurite. Specimens 1V2X2 or larger. 2—True.
ting, $1.00 per lb. plus postage. Elliott's Gem
Wiener Mineral £ o . , Box 509, Tucson, Ari- 3—False. Goldfield is in Nevada.
Shop, 26 Jergins Arcade, Long Beach 2, Calif.
zona. 4—False. The story is about New Mex-
Antique Jewelry: 12 articles antique jewelry, Choice Palm Root—Full of eyes showing root ico.
brooches, rings, lockets, chains, etc. $3.60. and trunk structure. Very colorful. Sliced for 5—True. 6—True.
12 assorted hatpins—$3.00. 12 stickpins Cabochons. 25 cents per square inch. Satis- 7—True 8—True.
$2.75. B. Lowe, Box 311, St. Louis 1, Mo. faction guaranteed. GASKILL, 400 North 9—False. The desert has its own species
Muscatel, San Gabriel, Calif. of snails.
Minerals, Fossils, Gems, Coins, Glass, Indian 10—True. 11—True.
Relics. Catalogue 5c. Purple Fluorite, 25c. INDIAN RELICS, Curios, Coins, Minerals, 12—False. The Bill Williams is a tribu-
Aluminum ore, 15c. Rose Quartz, 15c. Cop- Books, Old Buttons, Old Glass, Old West tary of the Colorado.
per, 15c. Malachite, 35c. Azurite, 20c. Silver Photos, Weapons, Catalog 5c. Lemley An- 13—False.
ore, 25c. Quartz Crystal, 15c. Selenite, 15c. tique Store, Osborne, Kansas. 14—False. Asbestos is mined from the
Iceland spar, 15c. Feldspar, 15c. Pudding
stone, 15c. Talc, 15c. Obsidian, 15c. Tour- Wanted: to buy, sell and exchange specimens ground.
maline Crystal, 25c. Fossil Shark tooth, 15c. outstandingly rare and beautiful. Sam Par- 15—False. Mistletoe is common in Iron-
Fossil backbone, 25c. Fine Foss::l fish, $3.75. ker, 2160 East Van Buren, Phoenix, Ariz. wood trees.
Iron ore, 15c. Moss Agate, 15c. Fossil Amon- 16—True.
FOR SALE—Gem Aquamarine, specimen beryl.
ite, 25c. Fossil snail, 25c. Fossil clam, 25c. 17—False. Dickwick Hall was a writer
Large star quartz pieces, 7 pound crystal of
Cowboy Lemley, Las Cruces, N<rw Mexico. and prospector at Salome, Arizona.
Brazil rutile, terminated, semi plume. Moss
18—True.
and sagenite agate. 6 inch sphere of varie-
19—False. Sheba's Temple is in the
50 ring stones, including genuine and synthetic gated jasper, Montana sapphires and garnets
—$7.50. 12 genuine Opals or Cameos— up to ten carat gems uncut. The Desert Rats Grand Canyon.
$2.75. Plus 20% tax. B. Lowe, Box 311, St. Nest, 2667 E. Colorado St., E. Pasadena, 20—True.
Louis 1, Mo. Calif.

34 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 Members of Los Angeles lapidary society Arkansas mineral society observed its six- Searles Lake gem and mineral society, organ-
modestly claim that it is the largest and best teenth annual meeting October 11 at Womens ized January 8, 1940, met November 15, 1944,
lapidary group in the world. Over 100 members City Club, 401 Scott street, Little Rock. Lawton to disband and establish a new society, incor-
attended November gathering. Colored films Kimzey of Malvern, Arkansas, drew the annual porated. This step long had been anticipated but
taken on a field trip to home of Mr. Hansen cash prize for his exhibits of specimens of had to be deferred until the present time. Attor-
were shown. Ralph Dietz, foreman in an optical brookite crystals from Magnet Cove. Door ney Orlin J. Bell of East Bay mineral club
establishment, talked on pitch polishing. Mem- prize, an Arkansas diamond mounted on perido- handled necessary legal work.
bers always are willing to help anyone needing tite, presented by H. E. Powell company, was
advice or instruction regarding phases of the drawn by C. Stanfill of Morrilton, Arkansas.
lapidary art. Herbert Monlux gives free instruc- Election returns were: W. G. Shockley, presi-
tion to groups twice a month. dent; L. B. Pringle, 1st vice-president; Byron C. RX—the complete
• • • Marshall, 2nd vice-president; Richard Buhlis, lapidary shop in
Kenneth J. Hines, 1501 Palm street, Puente, secretary-treasurer, Dr. D. E. Fletcher, D. M. one small machine
California, reports a possible diamond pipe Stuart, Joe W . Kimzey, trustees.
four miles east of Jacumba, north of the road. • • • No more sales
durine duration
Orange Belt mineralogical society enjoyed a
varied program at November meeting held in W. A . FELKER 1527 Post Ave., Torrance,California
San Bernardino junior college. Howard Fletcher
told of a former field trip to the Valley of Fire,
Nevada, and of a fishing trip to upper Lake
LAPIDARY SUPPLIES Mead region where he discovered a large gyp-
sum deposit. Bernard L. Burk recounted the
story of Adams Diggings, a lost gold mine in
War priorities on many materials still prevent Apache country.
us from manufacturing lapidary equipment, but • • •
we do hiave available a good stock of the fol- Edgar B. Van Odsel, professor of geology
lowing supplies for the lapidary shop: and astronomy, University of Redlands, lectured
VRECO D I A M O N D SAWS . . . give you better on physiography of the area at November meet-
performance . . . longer life . . . faster cutting. ing of Searles Lake gem and mineral society. He
illustrated his talk with colored movies of
6-inch $4.50 12-inch $ 8.75 Death Valley and the coast district. Public was
8-inch _ 5.50 14-incn 11.00 invited to attend the lecture held in Trona school
10-inch 6.80 16-inch 13.75 auditorium.
Be sure to specify arbor hole size required. Postpaid.
• • •
VRECO G R I N D I N G WHEELS are made ex- San Fernando valley mineral and gem society
pressly for us by the NORTON C O . studied hand-wrought silver and fluorescents BALL BEARING ARBORS
80, 100, 120 at November meeting. Lucille McClure, Mrs. WITH FOUR-STEP PULLEY IN CENTER
& 180 grit 220 grit George McPheeters and Melba Ferguson ex-
4x l/2-inch $ 1.05 $1.10 Each Arbor has four Precision Ground Ball
hibited their work and talked on silversmithing Bearings. 3/4-in. shaft, 16 in. long, belt in-
6x1 -hch 2.40 2.60 and equipment. George Parker explained cutting cluded, $18.75. l-in. shaft, 18 in. long, belt
8 x I -inch 3.60 3.90 and polishing of gem stones and showed included, $21.75. Ball bearing Arbors with
10 x I -inch 5.00 5.30 pulley on end, 3/4-in. shaft, 16 in. long,
mounted specimens. Myra Sumner, Jo Iverson, $11.75, l-in. shaft, 18 in. long, $15.75. Belts
10 x 11/2-inch 7.00 7.50 Don Graham and Bill Taylor were in charge of for Arbors with pulley on end $1.20 extra.
12x1 -inch 6.90 7.50 the fluorescent display and each gave a short 8x2 in. wide drum sander $2.75, 8x3 in. wide
drum sander $3.75.
12 x M/2-inch 9.60 10.40 talk on his own rocks.
12x2 -inch.. 12,30 13.30 • • • All prices f.o.b. Los Angeles, Calif.
Be sure t o specify arbor hole size. Postage extra. ALSO CARRY LAPIDARY SUPPLIES
Kitsap mineral and gem society, Bremerton,
VRECO DRESSING BRICKS are an indispensible Washington, lists officers Paul Walling, presi- WRITE FOR OUR PRICE LIST, NO CHARGE
aid to keeping wheels trued. dent; J. J. Stoner, vice-president; Herb Brown,
of Earland Point, Bremerton, secretary. When ordering Arbors send $5.00 with order.
8 " x 2 " x l " Dressing Brick $ .85 Arbors built to order.
• • •
ABRASIVE GRAIN . . . Silicon-carbide grains in Open week days 9 :30 a. m. to 3 :00 p. m.
grit sizes 60. 80, 100, 120, 150, 180, 220, also F
Election of president of Rocky mountain Sat. and Sun. 9:00 a. m. to 5:00 p. m.
(240), FF; (300). and FFF (400).
federation of mineral societies was conducted
by mail. Arthur L. Flagg, Phoenix, Arizona, HIGHLAND PARK
50c per
Ib. in single Ib. lo+s was unanimously chosen to serve for the dura-
35c per
Ib. in 2 to 5 Ib. lots tion. He appointed Mrs. Charles W. Lockerbie, LAPIDARY SUPPLY CO.
30c per
Ib. in 6 to 99 Ib. lots Salt Lake City, vice-president, and Humphrey S. 6139 York Blvd. Los Angeles 42. Calif.
23c per
Ib. in 100 Ib. lots or more Keithley, Phoenix, secretary-treasurer. IN HIGHLAND PARK
{Postage extra) • • •
POLISH POWDER . . . Tripoli Polishing Powder Searles Lake hobby show yielded a net profit
2 lbs $ .85 of $180 to the society and the Girl Scouts
FELT POLISH WHEELS—Spanish White F e l t . . . cleared $145.
made expressly for us by Byfield Felting Co. • • *
These wheels are the proper hardness for polish-
ing gem stones and flat specimens.
W. Scott Lewis now lists his minerals under
the new Dana classification. Instant
• • •
6 x I -in
8 x l-in
$4.25
7.25
10 x I -in
lOx lV2-in
$ 11.00
14.90 Dr. Clarence J. Ryan of San Pedro donated to FLUORESCENT
Searles Lake society ten first day issues of U. S.
IOx2-in $19.00
stamps honoring Korea, affixed to first day ANALYSIS
Arbor hole sizes: l/ 2 ", %", 3/4", %", I " . envelopes mailed from Washington, D. C. They
Felt prices are postpaid.
SANDING CLOTH . . . CARBORUNDUM
may be traded for specimens or used as grab
bag prizes.
pn the job!
BRAND Silicon-carbide cloth for disc or drum
type sanders. Grit sizes, 120, 220, 320.
• • •
Member W. Scott Lewis conducted Pacific
MINEK LIGHT
Price per No. Ft. Price per Roll Ship. mineral society on an arm chair field trip to MINERS — GEOLOGISTS
Width PROSPECTORS
Ft. per $ 150 ft. Roll Weight Yosemite by means of kodachromes and a talk
on geological origin of the valley.
FREE Are you overlooking hidden
values? MINERALIGHT magic
2" 5c 24 ft. $ 4.70 with each lamp 20 ultra violet rays identity many
3 lbs.
• • • mineral samples in- valuable minerals fight in
3" 7c 15 ft. 6.90 5 lbs. Randall Henderson, editor of Desert maga- cluding— your outcrops, shafts or tun-
SCHEELITE nels. Save the cost of assay-
8" 17c 7 ft. 18.00 12 lbs. zine, talked on tropical Africa and the Sahara CALCITES ing lor Scheelite, Zircon.
Willemite, Fluorite and many
in kodachrome at December 2 meeting of Imper- OPALITES
10" 22c 6 ft. 22.00 15 lbs. HYALITES olher minerals which fluor-
esce instantly. MINERALIGHT
ial Valley gem and mineral society held in POWELLITE is now available in many
12" 25c 5 ft. 26.50 20 lbs. MERCURY
Holtville high school. Officers of the club for models for analysis, prospect-
HYDROZntCITE
the coming year are Louise Eaton, president; • ing, sorting, grading and nu-
Vreelland- Young Mflg. Co. Lloyd Richardson, vice-president; Cecil Searcy, | merou* other uses.
FREE—Beautiful 4-color
Formerly Vreeland Lapidary Mfg. Co. secretary-treasurer; Arthur L. Eaton, advisor, Catalog — Write today.
and Chuck Holtzer, board member. I.V.G.M.S.
2020 S. W . Jefferson St. Portland I, Oregon is happy to welcome Captain Henderson home.

JANUARY, 1945 35
 LAPIDARY EQUIPMENT
This page of Desert Magazine
16-inch
I LAP UNIT
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-
dent of Los Angeles Lapidary society. He will be glad to answer questions in connection
with your lapidary work. Queries should be addressed to Desert Magazine, El Centro, Calif.

By LELANDE QUICK
Send for Christmas is again upon us and I hope that it many, is done in kitchens but I would not advo-
Literature to
will be a happy one for all our readers. Despite cate that here. Another drawback is the diffi-
Coving ton Lapidary empty firesides I hope there are no empty hearts. culty in securing the necessary chemicals but if
Engineering Co. Last year I expressed the hope and belief that it you are near some large city you can secure
Redlands, Cal. would be the last war Christmas but here we are these from any laboratory supply house by con-
hard at it and I do hope that things develop be- sulting the yellow pages in the local telephone
fore this appears that will indicate that this one directory. Some enterprising dealer could really
will really be the last Christmas at which "peace build up a fine business by selling these items
SPEEDWAY GEM COMPANY on earth, goodwill toward men" is nothing but and supplying instructions.
FEATURING FINE GEMS, MINERALS, an expression and a phrase out of the past. War There are some things to remember. Agate
AND LAPIDARY SUPPLIES is a profitable venture and I hope there will be and agate only can be colored with these
enough persons in the world who have not methods because of the fact that it is a crypto-
Write for Circulars profited from it so that when it is time to sit crystalline. Banded agate is the best because it
down and talk things over, war will be outlawed produces contrasts having "soft" and "hard"
DIAMONDS everywhere forever and there will be no fine layers which react differently to the chemicals.
Do You Own These Famous Books by game of power and economic politics. The men The nodules found in the Mint Canyon area of
Professor Frank B. Wade? who do this will live in the hearts of other men California should be ideal for this purpose. Not
The Factors That Determine Their Value long after the generals of the armies are forgot- many of the books on gem cutting have much
. . . $2.00 Postpaid ten. material on coloring but the most complete in-
Textbook of Precious Stones $3.50 • • • formation available for further reading is con-
These books are internationally known. tained in Fred Young's excellent book, The Art
In the past four issues of Desert Magazine I
Written by a Master Teacher in a simple of Gem Cutting or in Geology Leaflet No. 8
have been writing about coloring agates. I cov-
and highly informative style. published by the Field Museum in Chicago for
ered the methods of coloring agate red, blue,
50 cents.
LAPIDARY MATERIAL green and black in that order and I conclude the
matter this month bv telling how to color agate • • •
Waldru Final Polishing Agent—The final
polishing agent that has replaced tin ox- yellow. This method is the simplest of all and Probably no one resists change more than an
ide in many amateur and professional usually the most successful as the stone to be amateur lapidary who has used successfully a
gem shops 1 lb.—50c, 5 lbs.—$2.00 colored is merely soaked for some time in a certain method of grinding and polishing for a
Fine Norwegian Amazonite—Will cut strong solution of hydrochloric acid after having long time. To suggest various grade wheels and
into fine gems 1 lb.—$1.25 previously had a bath in ferrous sulphate solu- speeds invites a smile of quiet tolerance, an un-
Good Montana Agate 1 lb.—75c tion. Allow the stone to soak until the desired expressed thought of "listen to that; and my
Fine Wyoming Sweetwater Agate Peb- shade of vellow has been obtained. work tops his." But the onlv way you can get out
bles 15 for $1.00 You will note that in these discussions I have of the amateur class is to do gem grindinc like
never used the term "dveinf?" but I have alwavs professionals do it and if you do vou will get
FLUORESCENT MINERALS used the term "coloring." There is a lot of dif- better results than you ever did before. Having
Large Specimens—Many Types ference. When a substance is dyed, an artificial polished stones successful Iv on a felt wheel with
E x t r a S p e c i a l 2x3 s p e c i m e n s of . . . color is introduced that sometimes fades but we tin oxide for years, I believed that was THE
Brown Ohio Fluorite 50c introduce no artificial coloring when we treat wav to do it—until I acquired a leather wheel,
agates. We introduce chemicals made from min- and then I found out that both types could be
SPEEDWAY GEM COMPANY erals and the mineral content of the agate is used with profit. And now I am even trying
651 E. 52nd St. Indianapolis 5, Indiana either changed or enhanced and the coloring is tripoli.
therefore intensified. Nine out of ten amateurs buy "J" bond grind-
Now there are readers who are "agin it" on ing wheels as a matter of course and thev run
the ground that you can't improve on nature. them at motor speed—1750 R P.M. The Carbo-
LAPIdARY SUPPLIES... "I take 'em as I find 'em," thev sav. Indeed that
is the way to take them and I prefer it mvself. for
rundum aeents told me one dav that if I used a
"K" bond No. 220 wheel at half motor speed, I
VRECO DIAMOND BLADES coloring agates is a great nuisance. But when would never crack or chip another opal. I took
it comes to improving nature in the coloring of their advice three years ago and I have never
Give better performance, longer life.
agate, it is well to reflect that nearlv every piece spoiled an opal since. In fact my cracked stones
faster cutting of agate ornament sold commercially has been of all kinds have been reduced to the vanishing
6-in. Blade.. .$ 4.50 8-in. Blade ....$ 5.50 treated to some form of color bath. In some sec- point. If you have a trim-off saw you can get
10-in. Blade— 6.80 12-in. Blade.... 8.75 tions of America there is almost no colored agate along very well with no more than two grind-
14-in. Blade.. 11.00 16-in. Blade ... 13.75 at all but there is much very sood white agate ing wheels—a No. 220 and a No. 180 h\x* if you
Arbor holes y2. 5/8, %, 1 in. that could be greatly improved bv changing the have no trim-saw you need several wheels. I use
Lapidary supplies now available without pri- mineral content. Agate, or chalcedony, includes motor speed on a No. 120 J bond wheel to
ority : Norton Crystolon Grinding Wheels, the jaspers and the petrified woods although shape a cabochon from a blank, then switch to a
Wheel Dressing Sticks, Crystolon Grain and these usually are so vividlv colored that they No. 180 J bond wheel to rough out the curved
Norbide, Drum Sanders, Sanding Cloth, By-
field Polishing Buffs, Polishing Powders, hardly can be improved. And of course you can't surface and then go to a No. 220 K bond for
Dopping Wax, Canada Balsam, etc. take the blue agate from Lead Pipe Springs, the final grinding and I cut my time in half and
CUTTER'S ASSORTMENT. For $1 w e will California, and make it vellow or the carnelian have almost no stone casualties. If I h^ve a rock
send you a 3 lb. assortment of the follow- agate from Utah and make it blue or improve that I want to finish as a specimen I "peel" the
ing rough gem materials: Rhodochrosite, their colors very much as nature has done a fine surface with a No. 80 J bond wheel and I also
Variscite, Thunder Eggs, Eden Valley job with those materials. To refrain from color- use it for "spotting" rocks. My rule is, "the
Wood Limb, Montana Moss Agate, Bra- ing on the ground that you can't improve on na- roueher the material, the coarser and faster the
zilian Agate, California Blue Agate, Tur- ture is closing your eves against the inevitable. grinder. As the work progresses use finer wheels
Is pork improved by being smoked into ham and and reduce the speed. Use a No. 220 wheel at
ritella Agate, Petrified Wood and etc.
bacon? I could cite a hundred such examples half motor speed on all soft materials."
PETRIFIED WOOD—Washington. Asst.
Varieties. 50c lb. Special 10 lib. asst. $3. that we accept every day. I have seen beach Now this is not the last word in grinding.
Slabs 15-25c per sq. in. pickers at Redondo Beach go into transports Probably no one else does it like that and most
when thev found a "ebble with a pale amethys- persons can beat my cabochon work but since
On all orders for gem material add 20% to tine color. They could have a pail full of good
cover Federal Luxury Tax. Residents of Cali- I adopted those methods my own work has im-
fornia be sure to add the 2%% Calif. State blue agates in a month if they'd just give nature proved to where it compares favorablv with top
Sales Tax. a helping hand. And the fact that these beach cutting and I can do a cabochon in half the time
pebbles can be colored at all is proof that they
WflRflER & GRIEGER are agate and not "moonstones."
I used to take. If you will vary your grinding
wheels rather than vary the pressure you will
save time and stones and you will save a lot of
405 Ninita Parkway Pasadena 4, Calif. The chief drawback to coloring agates is that
Our Phone Number is SYcamore 6-6423 it is messy and it needs a large place and ade- grinding wheel expense because you will elim-
quate vessels. Most of the coloring at Idar, Ger- inate a lot of wheel dressing.

36 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 By RANDALL HENDERSON

Aji Y friend Aries Adams has found a way to explore the swept down the canyon the seeds had been buried so deeply in
/rL. desert with an A ration card. He feeds his jalopy a the sand as to delay germination. Perhaps one of the botanists
mixture of half gas and half kerosene—three-quarters can tell which, if either, of these explanations is correct.
kerosene when the weather is warm. Our goal was a spring in the Vallecito mountains 14 miles
Of course not all motors will operate on that kind of fuel. But upstream from the Split. There is fine water trickling from the
Aries' car is no ordinary automobile. A junk dealer sold him the rocks near the rim of a basin which the cattlemen call Galleta
old Model A for $18.00—and being a very ingenious fellow, valley.
he converted the wreck into sort of a tarantula on wheels. It will This is old Indian country. San Diego museum has recovered
go anywhere a jeep can travel—and makes a lot more noise many artifacts from the area. Broken pottery is still much in
doing it. evidence, and stone metates — too big to carry away — are
Late Saturday afternoon Aries and I took the rocky trail up numerous. Also a few petroglyphs. Agave, which furnished
Fish Creek wash—through Split Mountain canyon. This is in both food and raiment for the desert redskins, grows plentifully
the Anza Desert State park. California has not built many roads here, and the floor of the valley produces a fine harvest of chia
in the park yet, but in the pre-war days there was a passable seed.
trail up the wash past the Gypsum mine and through Split I have gone into some detail regarding this trip because this
Mountain gorge. is Anza park country, and there is widespread interest in the
The route is still passable—but I wouldn't recommend it. improvements to be undertaken in Anza park in the post-war
Storm water during the past two years has created some rocky period.
barriers along the route. It requires a sturdy car and a stout- I believe it is the plan of the California park commission to
hearted driver to make the trip today. Two automobiles recently preserve much of the 400,000 acres in Anza as a primitive
had broken trail ahead of us in the lower gorge. But they turned wilderness area. I am sure that desert people with few exceptions
back at a sandstone dike which blocked the canyon about eight are in accord with this program.
miles upstream from the Split. However, this does not mean that the park is to remain
It looked as if our journey also would end there. At least, that inaccessible. If the public is to derive enjoyment and benefit
was what I thought. But Aries had a different idea. "Sit tight from the park—and after all, that is the purpose of a recreational
and hang on," he shouted, as he stepped on the throttle. The reserve—trails must be built. Some of them will be for motorists,
kerosene burner gave a few snorts and somehow bounced to others for saddle tourists, and still other routes will be planned
the top of that waterfall. for the hiking fraternity.
We camped that night in the bottom of the wash with a It will never be practicable to build a surfaced highway
blazing fire of dead Smoke tree wood. through Split mountain gorge and up Fish creek. This is one of
Ten miles above the precipitous gateway to the canyon the the routes which properly should be maintained merely as a
shrubs of the Upper Sonoran zone begin to appear—agave, passable motor trail. Each cloudburst will damage the road,
yucca, goatnut, wild apricot. Not all the desert plants observe perhaps make it impassable But since these storms seldom come
the zone classifications laid down by the botanists. Larrea, or more than once a year, and not always that often, it would
greasewood, is one of these. It thrives in both the Lower and involve only a few days work and comparatively small cost
Uppei: Sonoran zones. for workmen to go over the route and re-open it. For the most
Locoweed is another. The dark green clover-like foliage of part, the floor of the creek is well-packed sand where a careful
this desert annual was the most conspicuous thing in the canyon driver can roll along at 10 to 20 miles an hour without dis-
on this trip. I have never seen so much of it before, either there comfort or hazard. And one would miss much of the scenic
or elsewhere. Despite its sinister name and reputation, locoweed charm of this area if he traveled faster than that.
is a lovely flower. Its purple blossoms were much in evidence At a later date, when the canyon is passable and the gasoline
in the lower canyon, but at higher and cooler altitudes it had ration clerks have completed their tours of duty and resumed
passed the flowering stage and the seedpods had burst and their peace-time occupations, Desert Magazine will publish a
emptied their contents in the sand. There are two possible mapped motorlog of this trip.
explanations of this odd fact. One is that the storm waters which In the meantime, we can be grateful to the ancient Indian
carried the seeds to the lower canyon had been so timed as to women who chose for many of their grinding mills such enor-
give them a later start. The other possible clue is that in being mous boulders that no museum archeologist or common pot-

JANUARY, 1945 37
hunter can cart them off. Anza park will always have many of and Vallecito has been well guarded at much less than a full-
these relics of the prehistoric people who occupied this area. time custodian's salary.
* * * * * *
Out of the war will come many veterans with health impaired Since it is no longer a military secret, perhaps those who have
by injury or illness. Uncle Sam has made generous provision for been reading Desert during the past year will be interested to
these men, both in hospitalization and in pensions after they know that my army assignment in Africa where I wrote the
Sahara Diary stories was at the oasis of Atar in French
receive their discharges from the hospitals.
Mauretania.
Economically, they will be fairly secure. But there will remain This field was on the air route from Dakar to Casablanca,
the all-important problem of regaining their health and strength. and was maintained to service bomber and transport planes
Many of them will have ailments for which the most curative which crossed the South Atlantic and then turned north over the
environment will be the dry warm air and sunshine of the Sahara to reach the Mediterranean and European theaters of war.
desert. One of the interesting things which came to light during my
Under the Izac law, these men may obtain for a very small tour of duty there was the relationship between the Arabs of the
fee—$1.00 an acre a year—a five-acre homesite on the public oasis, and the nomads who followed their goats and sheep out
domain. And since most of the public land now available is in on the grazing areas of the desert.
the Southwest, there will be no difficulty in finding healthful The aristocrats of the Sahara are the nomads. They disdained
locations. such luxuries as permanent mud houses and brick fireplaces.
Some of these veterans will be strong enough to erect their When the dates were ripe they moved their black tents in and
own modest cabins, and will find interest and gain health in camped among the trees until the fruit was gone—then silently
the occupation. Since it is the policy of the Department of took the camel trails that led back to their various camping
Interior to open tracts of considerable acreage, the men may sites—wherever the flocks happened to be grazing.
colonize in groups, just as they did at Twentynine Palms, It was no hardship to them to be far-removed from medical
California, following World War I. Cooperatively, they can service and luxury foods. They are a lean hardy race of people—
put down wells and provide recreational facilities without great dignified yet hospitable. Their interest in the war is very remote.
cost to the individual. They only ask that they be left alone to follow their traditional
Desert Magazine readers who have friends or acquaintances way of life.
being discharged from the armed forces for disability reasons, * * *
can render them a service by calling their attention to the five- Since returning home I have been asked many times about
acre homesite law. Information as to the lands available may be the future of the British and French colonies in Africa. Do the
obtained, and applications filed, at any U. S. Land Office. natives want their independence? Are they qualified to govern
* # * themselves?
There is a very important service that may be rendered by I am sure that the nomads out on the Sahara need no govern-
some of the partly disabled war veterans—if county and state ing state to regiment their way of life. Like the American
and park authorities are willing to cooperate. Indians before this continent was invaded by Europeans, the
I can think of scores of oases and waterholes and camping Arabs have worked out a comparatively peaceful family and
places in the desert Southwest which have suffered for lack tribal relationship which serves their purpose. Nothing would
of custodians. There was no one present to assume the respon- be gained by seeking to impose changes on them.
sibility for keeping the springs cleaned out, for enforcing fire But while the problem of peace is simple enough in a
control, for coaching untidy campers, and for keeping a watchful sparsely settled region, it becomes fearfully complex when
eye against defacement of trees and landmarks. population becomes dense and people crowd together in great
cities. And since cities are a natural result of dense population—
Two places I have especially in mind—Tinajas Altas on the
even in black tropical Africa—it is meaningless to cite the
Camino del Diablo in Arizona, and Hidden Springs in the
nomad Arab or the American Indian way of life as a model for
Orocopia mountains in Riverside county, California, have suf-
social and political organization.
fered serious damage from the vandalism of thoughtless visitors.
There are countless other places—some of them inside of state During the time I spent in a half dozen African colonies,
and national parks—where a custodian on duty not only would under both French and British rule, my conclusion was that,
preserve the charm of the local landscape, but would be an with the possible exception of the Arabs on the Sahara, the
important source of historical and travel information for visitors. natives were not ready for self-government. Their own leaders,
wise in the ways of the white man, probably would subject them
It happens that a majority of the native palm oases in the
to more damaging exploitation than is now imposed by their
Southwest are located in Riverside county. The damage in these
European overlords.
oases has been especially serious because dry palm fronds are
very inflammable. But that is not the final answer. United States, in my opinion,
The supervisors of Riverside county have said very frankly has provided the best solution to the colonial problem in our
that they do not feel justified in employing a full-time custodian handling of the Philippines.
at the prevailing wage scale for every oasis. Probably they are We sent engineers and teachers to help them prepare for
right. But wouldn't it be practicable to erect a modest little their independence. We built roads and schools and hospitals,
cabin—not too conspicuously located—and allot a small salary and provided them with coaches to instruct and train them in
to a war-pensioned veteran who would remain there on duty, the way of self-government. Then we set the date on which we
and regain his health while he was serving as local ranger or would resign our management of their affairs. While the
custodian? Scores of men could be employed in such roles in the Japanese war has upset the timetable, I am sure the program
Anza Desert state park without making a serious dent in the eventually will be carried out in good faith. The Philippines will
state park budget. have their independence.
As a matter of fact San Diego county for years has maintained United States and Russia, if they are so inclined, will be in a
a similar service at the old Vallecito stage station on the Butter- powerful position at the end of this war to demand that the
field stage route. Bob Crawford runs his herd of cattle in a European-held colonies in Africa and Asia be dealt with
nearby mountain valley, and serves as custodian of the restored according to the pattern we already have provided. And if that
adobe stage building. He spends a few hours a week at the is done, one of the most serious threats to permanent peace
station, and keeps a watchful eye over it the rest of the time— will have been removed.

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 GOOD GOVERNMENT IN
PREHISTORIC AMERICA
The weaknesses in present-day democ-
racy are not in the system but in the nature
of man—and are within his power to
correct.
Presenting this thesis, Dr. Edgar L.
Hewett of the School of American Re-
search in his latest book MAN AND
THE STATE, in five brief chapters dis-
HE FOUND PEACE IN discusses their religion and their cultural cusses the complete range of governmental
THE SAHARA DESERT background and their place in the future systems from man's earliest days to the
world in broad terms, his story is mainly present in Europe and America.
It was Lawrence of Arabia who first of the intimate details of their everyday
suggested to R. V. C. Bodley that he go At one extreme Dr. Hewett cites the
life—what they ate, what they wore, how communal life of the American Indian
live with the Arabs. Bodley was an Eng- they slept—stories of love and laughter
lishman who had served as an officer in in the pre-Columbus period when the red-
and hardship. skinned native's sense of individual free-
World War I. He was unhappy over the
peace settlement. He knew no trade or The author found what he was seeking dom and of obligation to his family and
profession and he hated the regimented for himself. "Nothing changes out there," clan and tribe forbade the rise of kings or
routine of army life. He was an idealist in he wrote. "Nothing touches those golden dictators or even of all-powerful leaders.
a world in which only hard business or wildernesses. Nothing will alter my feel- There was no state in the Indian scheme
crafty politics paid dividends. His dilemma ings toward that country. I have seen most of things.
was much the same as that of hosts of of the world. I have met thousands of men The other extreme is a product of
young American soldiers who will return and women. But nowhere have I found the modern civilization—the totalitarian gov-
from World War II. same contentment as in the Great Sahara ernment in which the state is supreme, and
Desert." the individual an atom with many obliga-
It was in this state of mind that Bodley tions and few rights.
became acquainted with T. E. Lawrence. Coward-McCann, Inc., New York. 222
pages and glossary. $3.00. —R. H. Somewhere in the middle ground lies
Lawrence pointed out "that nomad Arabs democracy—struggling with a disturbing
livec by sheep. A small capital would buy • • •
trend toward centralization of political
the preliminary flock. The sheep would WESTERN ANIMAL STORIES and economic power.
multiply. The nomad had few needs. In PUBLISHED FOR CHILDREN Dr. Hewett has drawn on his life-long
time I might become rich among the Stories of Western animals for the very studies as an anthropologist to give a clari-
Arabs. But even if I did not find material young reader have just been published by fying picture of the prehistoric American
wealth, I would regain my health, I would Caxton Printers, Caldwell, Idaho. Allen Indian and the distinctive culture that
become young again, I would have peace Chaffee dedicates his WESTERN WILD existed on the American continents before
of mind. 'Go and live with the Arabs!' LIFE to "Little Crick, who loves young the coming of Europeans.
Lawrence cried." folk in fur, feathers and scales." This is a The tragedy of the Indian has been that
Bodley took the advice. For seven years collection of stories to delight children the white people have sought to judge
he lived with the nomads and oasis people while teaching them much about outdoor him by white standards. "Almost all
in the Algerian Sahara desert. And it is life and geographical environments of the trouble in dealing with the Indian would
the story of his intimate relationship with many animals. The book's three sections disappear if one group of facts could be
these: desert people — their hospitality, are: Wild Folk of Woods and Mountains, clearly apprehended: Namely that it is
their code of honesty, their religion and neither through stupidity nor perverseness
Wild Folk of Shore and River, Wild Folk
customs, and their cultural past and pres- that peace-loving, order-loving Indians
of Plains and Deserts. Among the latter resist the well-meant efforts for their
ent, that Bodley has told in his book are Coyotl, the Clever One; Ya-Ya, the betterment. It is simply the conflict be-
WIND IN THE SAHARA. Little Yellow Wolf; Shadow Bird, the tween age-old ideals of authority, morality,
"I wore Arab dress because it was most Burrowing Owl; the Cheerful Chuck- justice—ours seeming as perverted to them
suitable for desert life," he wrote. "I ate walla ; Paisano, the Road Runner. as theirs seem to us."
Arab food because it was all I could get, One of the best loved of desert folk is The welfare of the people was the su-
and also because I liked it. I practiced the A-No-Ta, the Horned Toad. The story of preme end of all authority in the tribal
Mos.em faith and did not drink wine or this little lizard, who had horns "not only relations of the Indian. Rigid adherence to
eat pork because otherwise I would have on her small brown head, but all over," is this code prevented the rise of all-powerful
seemed an outsider, a kind of disguised one of the best examples of an exciting leaders. Representative government was
the rule where authority was needed.
tourist, watching my Arab companions but child's story combined with a wealth of
Dr. Hewett does not suggest that we
not being one of them." desert and animal lore. An accurate des- attempt to return to that prehistoric system
Fcir three years the author roamed the cription of its appearance, habits, friends of human relations which was developed
desert with his Arab companions and his and enemies is given in such simple realis- by the Indians. But from our Indian heri-
flock: of sheep. Then for four years he tic manner that children will feel familiar tage we could learn very important lessons
dwelt in one of the Sahara oases. There is with A-No-Ta's desert home, within the bearing on the critical problems of the
a vast difference between the nomads and sound of the rustle of the wind in the world today.
the people of the oases—an even wider dry palm leaves—and it is also an example MAN AND THE STATE is one of a
gap than separates the farmer from the of how each story illustrates some one series of very pertinent publications under
the general title of "Man in the Pageant of
city dweller in America or Europe. characteristic of the wild folk which adapts
the Ages."
Out of his experience Bodley gained a them to their particular surroundings. Published by the University of New
high regard for both the integrity and the Amusing, realistic drawings illustrate Mexico at Albuquerque. 1944. 154 pp.
intelligence of the Arabs. But while he the red-and-silver bound book. $2.50. $2.00. —R.H.

JANUARY, 1945 39
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