Desert Magazine 1946 May

25 CENTS
Joshua Tree National Monument

Twentynine Palms, California
By JERRY ANSON
In the March photographic contest,
Camping on the Desert, first prize of
$10 was awarded Jerry Anson, Los
Angeles, California. Photo taken at
9 a. m., exposure 1/100 sec. at f22.
IZieahjjG.lt
By W. FORD LEHMAN
This camping scene taken at Gal-
way Dry Lake by W. Ford Lehman,
San Diego, California, won second
prize of $5 in the March contest. Taken
with Kodak Monitor camera, Super
XX film, K2 filter. 1/50 sec. at fl6, 7:30
a. m.
May Contest is open to any desert

subject suitable for Desert Magazine
covers. Special awards are: $15 for
first prize winner, $10 for second
place, and $5 for each photo accept-
ed for publication. See rules else-
where in this issue.
THE DESERT MAGAZINE

DESERT
« What is probably one of the most

significant projects in the history of
Western Indians is in its first stages
iilong the lower Colorado river near Par-
ker, Arizona. Last September, 24 Hopi
families moved from their barren mesa
homes in northern Arizona to establish
what is hoped will be the nucleus of a
much greater colony of Hopi and other Volume 9 MAY, 1946 Number 7
Indian tribes who are finding it impos-
sible to produce sufficient food in their
traditional homelands. Dama Langley COVER PALM C A N Y O N , n e a r P a l m S p r i n g s , California.
<;oon will report to DESERT readers the
progress they have made to date. Photo b y Hubert A. L o w m a n , S o u t h g a t e ,
California.
• Richard Van Valkenburgh is not con- PHOTOGRAPHY Prize w i n n i n g p h o t o s in M a r c h contest . . . . 2
fining his interest these days to arche-
ology and Indian lore. At Tucson he is CLOSE-UPS Notes o n Desert features a n d contributors . . . 3
editing The Arizona Nightingale, lively
tabloid about people and things in south- WEAVING ART C r a f t s m a n or W a g e E a r n e r — T h e N a v a j o Must
ern Arizona. There's a little bit of verse, C h o o s e , b y D A M A LANGLEY 4
n lot of humor, sprinkled with history,
travel notes and miscellaneous news in TRUE O F FALSE A test of y o u r desert k n o w l e d g e 9
the personal Western style.
FIELD TRIP Rare Gemstone of the Ancients
" Lon Garrison, who wrote Hard Rock By JOHN HILTON 10
Jihorty yarns in DESERT several years
snd for whom various writers have been HUMOR Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley 12
pinch hitting, took up his new duties
February 20 as assistant to Superinten- BIOLOGY Pest of the R a n g e , b y HARRY S. SMITH . . . . 1 3
dent Harold C. Bryant, at Grand Canyon
national park. He transferred from assis- PERSONALITY Benson's V a l Kimbrough
tant superintendent position at Glacier By MARY M A R G A R E T H U N T I N G T O N . . . 1 4
national park. Previously he had served
at Sequoia and Yosemite national parks, HISTORY When Hawaiians Came to the Utah Desert
Hopewell Village national historic site. By CHARLES KELLY 17
He is a native of Iowa, a graduate of
Stanford and has taught school in Alas- POETRY O l dM a no ft h e M o j a v e , a n d o t h e r p o e m s . . . 2 0
ka. Lon is a free lance writer for outdoor
publications. ART O FLIVING Desert Refuge, b y M A R S H A L S O U T H . . . . 2 1
OASIS By Jalopy Through the 'Sweepings of the World'
By RANDALL HENDERSON 23
DESERT CALENDAR WILDFLOWERS Notes on May Bloom 28
May 1—Annual Green Corn Indian fes- BOTANY Country Cousins of the Dandelions
tival, San Felipe Pueblo, New Mex- By MARY BEAL 29
ico.
May 3—Green Corn ceremonial, Taos LETTERS Comment from Desert readers 30
Pueblo, New Mexico.
May 4—Pioneer May Day, Twentynine
NEWS Here and There on the Desert 31
Palms, California. Parade, "mid- HOBBY Gems and Minerals
way," barbecue, horse events, enter-
tainment. —Edited by ARTHUR L. EATON 37
May 4-5—Food Fair, Shrine auditorium, MINING Current news briefs 44
Phoenix, Arizona.
May 4-5—Ramona Outdoor play, Hemet, CRAFT A m a t e u r G e m Cutter, b yL E L A N D E Q U I C K . . . 4 5
California. Starts 2:45 p. m. (First COMMENT Just B e t w e e n Y o u a n d M e , b ythe Editor . . . . 4 6
performances, April 27-28; last
weekend, May 11-12.) BOOKS Pueblo Indian World, a n d other reviews . . . . 4 7
May 4-June 28—Fifth annual exhibition The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Publishing Company, 636
of gems and jewelry made by mem- State Street, El Centro, California. Entered as second class matter October 11, 1937, at the
post office at El Centro, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title registered No.
bers of Los Angeles lapidary society, 358866 in U. S. Patent Office, and contents copyrighted 1946 by the Desert Publishing Com-
main art gallery Los Angeles Muse- pany. Permission to reproduce contents must be secured from the editor in writing.
um, Exposition Park. Daily free ad- RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor. LUCILE HARRIS, Associate Editor.
mission. Evenings of May 4-5 only, BESS STACY, Business Manager. — WALTER E. KNAPP, Circulation Manager.
exhibition of lapidary equip'tnent. Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledged
unless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility for damage
May 8-11—Festival of art and music, or loss of manuscripts or photographs although due care will be exercised. Subscribers should
Boulder City, Nevada. send notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding issue. If address is un-
certain by that date, notify circulation department to hold copies.
May 18-19—First annual show of Impe- SUBSCRIPTION RATES
rial lapidary guild and Imperial One year . . . $3.00 Two years . . . $5.00
Valley gem and mineral society, Le- Canadian subscriptions 25c extra, foreign 50c extra.
gion Hall, El Centro, California. Subscriptions to Army personnel outside U.S.A. must be mailed in conformity with
P.O.D. Order No. 19687.
Address correspondence to Desert Magazine, 636 State St., El Centro, California.
MAY, 1946
their looms in readiness so that all could
start the actual weaving at the same time.
The top and bottom loom bars were laid
on the ground which had been swept bare
with a broom of juniper and pifion twigs.
"Why don't you use your mother's store
broom?" I asked Adele.
"Who can tell what chindee spirits have
been imprisoned in that broom?" Adele
answered gravely. "We know only the
wind and sun have spoken to our own •
trees." She continued industriously to
sweep grass and twigs toward the west—
because the sun travels in that direction
and carries darkness before it. Navajo
women take their weaving seriously!
Rough side sticks the length of the
chosen rug were placed so that the four
poles made an elongated square. Since the
top and bottom poles were smooth and
polished I questioned the roughness of the
side sticks, and was told they were to help
the loom stringer keep in mind the width
of the rug to be woven. Wool would not
touch them at any time. The warp yarn,
hand spun and twisted, but undyed, was
tied at one end of the top beam and
passed to the woman sitting beside the bot-
tom beam. She stretched it over the top of
the beam and brought it up on the under
side. When it went back to the top beam
that helper did the same thing, so that the
thread formed a figure eight crossing in
the middle. This particular rug when fin-
ished was to be about six feet long and
four and a half wide, but since the warp
would "take up" in weaving, the web was
made about seven feet long. The entire
warp was one continuous thread and when
This Navajo girl has proved her ability completed the end was tied to the lower
in modern production, drawing wages beam. Again I asked why the thread wasn't
undreamed of on her native reservation. taken to the top beam where it began, but
the women said: "This is the way our
mothers do it."
sparse cedar and pifion forest within speak- vajo loom has been shaped by the mode of With the warp strung on the beams I
ing distance of the hogan. A temporary Navajo life. Life is hard for these people, thought it would be placed in the frame,
shelter of juniper branches was built to living on a 16 million acre reservation but the owner took three strands of yarn
protect the workers from the strong winds which encompasses snowy steppes of the and wove them in and out among the
and serve as sleeping quarters until their continental divide, empty wastes, red threads until she had formed a strong bor-
rugs were completed. Camp tasks of wood mountains and dry plains. They must travel der cord, and in some way separated the
gathering, water carrying and preparation with the seasons, keeping their flocks threads as they would stay throughout the
of food were apportioned among the five ahead of ice-locked winter and escaping weaving. The bottom was treated the same
women. drought and dry waterholes in summer. way, and then these border cords were
The simple efficient character of the Na- Wherever the Navajo go, the looms and lashed to the end beams, and the loom
prepared wool go. So each loom has mere- swung to a tension beam and lashed there
ly top and bottom beams, a supplementary with the cowhide rope. By loosening the
or tension beam, and rawhide rope for rope the web, as the work progressed up-
This is the second of two ar- lashing it into a frame—an ideal portable
ticles in which Dama Langley ward, could be lowered to where the sit-
device. ting weaver could reach it.
tolls the story of the Navajo rug.
In the April issue she described Each member of Adele's class had de- With the looms all swung in place, the
the preliminary steps of prepar- cided upon the size of the rug she wanted women built up their campfire and re-
ing the wool for weaving— to weave, and where she'd swing her loom. freshed themselves with fried bread, cof-
shearing, washing, c a r d i n g , If two trees were close enough together to fee and canned tomatoes. The ever-ready
spinning and dyeing. T h i s serve as posts between which a top beam pot of mutton stew had not yet been put on
month the actual weaving pro- could be fastened, well and good. Two of the fire. Once it was ready to eat the work-
cesses are detailed and five the women could not locate satisfactory ers would stop when hungry and dip into
tjrpes of Navajo rugs are de- trees so they borrowed the hogan's shovel the stew. Navajo families keep no set hours
scribed. and set posts where they wanted them. for eating. They let nature ring the dinner
All the women worked together getting bell.
MAY, 1946
her rug, showing her fragments of old
blankets retrieved from destruction by
collectors. My special interest was centered
on this rug which Rosele from the Canyon
de Chelly country would weave. Rugs pro-
duced in that locality are famous for their
silky softness and flexibility. They are fine
for use on sleeping porches and as covers
for daybeds and couches, as well as in
rooms where light modern furniture is
used.
2. Saddle Blanket. No self respecting
Navajo wife or sweetheart allows her man
to ride forth without a blanket of her
weaving under his saddle. The saddle blan-
ket is approximately 3x5 feet, and is doub-
led once when placed under the saddle.
Sometimes only the end which will show
is woven with color and the other half is
a solid grey. This is all right when the rug
is used only as a saddle blanket but be-
cause of its useful size and sturdiness it is
favored by housewives to place in service
halls and doorways. Then the unmatch-
ing ends are rather startling.
The saddle blanket depends upon its
color and fanciful firm weave for its charm.
Big designs are not used, and it usually is
woven in stripes or else with a solid cen-
ter and small conventional designs in the
corners. Gay yarn tassels finish the four
corners. Most of the "double weave" done
by Navajo women is found in their saddle
blankets. The youngest girl in Adele's
group chose to make a saddle blanket.
Since she spoke no English she followed
Adele's words and the motions of her
hands with eager puzzled attention, but
when the teacher lapsed into their native
tongue she literally beamed with enthusi-
asm. She came from the high Chuska
mountains, and this blanket was to be for
someone very special. All the women
teased her affectionately but they offered
advice and help. When Adele and I met
in New York a few years later she told
me the special friend was one of many Na-
vajo boys in the famous Bushmasters.
When this mother has packed her rug on her pony and taken it to the trader's, it 3. Tivo Grey Hills. These distinctive
will buy the family's food and clothing. Although she probably cannot afford the rugs using natural colors—black, white,
bit of gay velveteen for a blouse, she won't be able to ignore the sight of her little grey and sometimes touches of tan or
girl pressing her small nose against the candy counter. brown, have become favorites because of
their beautiful intricate designs, and be-
Five distinct types of Navajo rugs would stripes-and-no-border design was easier to cause they can be used in almost any home
be produced by this group of weavers. weave than those with intricate figures. without clashing with other furnishings.
The yarn for both the warp and woof of a
1, Chinlee Blanket. This rug warp was Chinlee rugs take their name from the Two Grey Hills is spun finer and tighter
for a finished work 5x7 feet. The yarn, in- Canyon de Chelly stream where it leaves than that used in ordinary rugs. They take
cluding the warp, had been spun four the canyon at Thunderbird ranch. Chinlee their name from the clan whose women
times, and all dyes used were made from means " The Place Where the Water produce them.
natural materials found on the desert. The Comes," or so the Navajo say. Here, at his In the class was a member of the Two
background was a creamy white, and the trading post, Cozy McSparron for the past Grey Hills weavers, and she planned a rug
pattern which ran crosswise from edge to 30 years has worked unceasingly for the with dimensions something like 5x7 feet.
edge was of a soft rose with touches of rebirth and betterment of the old-time na- It would have a complicated design cover-
golden yellow. Ever so often an uncom- tive dye blankets, and regardless of what ing the rug at the middle and tapering out
promising stripe of black strengthened the honors are given others for this work, he towards the ends. I had a sketchbook of
colors. Owing to the fineness of the yarn is the one who induced the Indians in that Navajo rug designs with me, and as I
used in this rug, it would require several region to go back to their priceless type of turned through the pages she sat beside me
hours more weaving than those with rugs. I've seen him spend hours conferring looking with interest at the various types.
coarser yarn. On the other hand the with an old weaver regarding the colors in The booklet was issued as an advertisement
THE DESERT MAGAZINE

by one of the best known trading compan- meaning. It is true that certain things are dunes, or in thunderheads rising behind
ies and held dozens of pictures. She put out avoided in weaving, most of which have the hills on a hot summer day. Form and
her hand and stopped the turning leaves to do with animals, zigzag lightning be- movement of sullen snow laden clouds
at an exquisite Two Grey Hills. "Some- cause of its death dealing frequency, and suggest pictures to her. Many of the softer
thing as that looks will my rug be!" she designs which require circles. In the begin- woven rugs seem to incorporate tracks of
said. She never looked at the page again ning all weaving was to create fabrics de- the small desert animals in sand and snow.
because she already knew just how she signed for warmth and protection. As Rainbows arch themselves across the sky
wanted her finished rug to look. One pays weavers became more skillful the primi- but they, like clouds, are reduced to cubes
more, as a rule, for a Two Grey Hills rug, tive urge of all womankind to make some- by the weaver.
but it is money well spent. thing beautiful with their hands, animated Oriental rugs woven on British ma-
their vision, and this vision is fulfilled in chines and directed by Ottoman skill are
4. The Modern Design Rug. Eight out the Navajo rug. The inherent love of wild bewilderingly intricate. Navajo rugs are
of ten rugs offered for sale these days are stark beauty lies deep in every Navajo, restful because their designs are so simple
"typical." This means they are woven and the weaver finds ample inspiration and uncrowded. On first being introduced
from thread heavy enough to withstand when she lifts her eyes across the valleys to to Navajo rugs the buyer may be struck by
hard wear, and that they contain bright the mountains surrounding her hogan. Or the amount of red used in them. This color
colors woven in conventional designs. Also she may find design in the branches of is favored by the weaver, not because of its
they have borders on all four sides. wind-tortured trees against the sun or vividness, but because red signifies sun-
The Navajo women invented the moon; shadows of stone spires on sand light, without which life for mankind
scheme for breaking the horizontal line
reaching from edge to edge of the work,
and they were the first North American
Indian weavers to form designs of different
colored threads in their weaving. Since the
Navajo woman sits before her loom with
her feet doubled under her she has to rise
and move her sheepskin pad from side to
side as she weaves. Sometimes a figured
design is woven high above the level of
the plain color carried across the loom, and
the bickground color is woven in and
around the design. Then when she is
ready to move to the other side of the web
and make a corresponding design she fills
in hei background. That makes what the
Hopi men weavers like to call a "lazy line"
—this faint diagonal line where the join-
ing takes place. To me it adds an appealing
human touch to a rug, and in no way mars
its appearance or wearing quality. It is a
definite way to tell whether a rug was
made by a Navajo woman or by a pueblo
man weaver.
Adele chose to make a modern rug about
4V2x6'/2 feet in size. She would use red,
black, grey and white yarn, the red being
made with a dye accepted by the Arts and
Crafts board. Her rug would have a fig-
ured border. Although the old-time rugs
had no borders, fashions change every 50
years or so in Navajoland, and about that
long ago it became the accepted thing to
frame the weaving in a bordered design.
5. Old Type Navajo Rug. The oldest
weaver in the group talked to Trader Hub-
bell about the sort of rug she wanted to
weave. It must look like the blankets her
grandmother wove when she was a small
girl, she said. And so she planned one after
the manner of the old-time stripes and no
border, heavy duty rugs. Her colors had
been produced by using commercial dyes,
and the rug when completed should be
about 4 feet 10 inches by 6 feet, colorful
but without figured design to clash with
slip covers or drapes.
While color in the Navajo scheme of
things has an all important significance, Loom for Navajo rug. A—Lower loom bar. B—Upper loom bar. C—Tension
the most exhaustive research fails to prove beam. D—Upper beam. E—Suspension cords. F—Tension cord. G—Loom strings.
that design has any religious or tribal H—Lower beam. I—Border cord. J—Warp. K—Selvage cords.
MAY, 1946
would end. It denotes warmth and growth invariably will disclose a grey, or the back- I carried in my camp equipment, and
and health. White, always present in a rug, ground color thread reaching on through which I left with her. I suspected that part
even if it is twisted with black to form grey, the black or red border to the very edge of her time was consumed in efforts to de-
represents the east where light is born. of the web. This is the path by which fend this clock from the covetous advances
Blue is for the cloudless south, and yellow chindee spirits pass out of the weaving. By of her mother's ten year old son. I couldn't
speaks of the west's sunsets. Black, after the making this bridge the weaver has not pronounce his name, but I dubbed him
amused weavers could control their gig- confined herself within the borders. "Ben," and solved the problem by telling
gles, I was told denotes maleness, strength him if he would keep his fingers off I
There are so many types of rugs from
and a ruling power. Black is for the north would give him the clock for his very own
which to select, one must use individual
whence comes the harsh enduring cold and just as soon as the last rug was out of the
taste in buying. Whatever size is chosen,
the great dull colored clouds bearing snow. loom. The scheme worked, and while he
the thing to insist upon is quality. This task
All of those colors would appear in the graciously permitted the women to look at
is being made much easier for the unini-
rugs being woven. the clock when necessary, he guarded it
tiated buyer by the Navajo themselves. Re-
Each weaver has her own special weav- alizing that the finest workmanship in any jealously.
ing implements which she uses and treas- of their arts must be maintained in order to The looms were strung ready for the
ures during her life. When she is dead they keep the industry alive, they have formed first woof thread when the August moon
are destroyed by fire, together with her un- guilds in each tribe to pass on handicrafts was in the last quarter, and the last one
finished work should a rug still be in the offered for sale. The Navajo rug, in order was removed from the frame when Septem-
loom. Each has a batten stick about 24 to merit a tag from the guild, must be of ber's moon was round and golden as the
inches long and three inches wide, with good color, well spun and dyed wool, pumpkins ripening near a sheltering cliff.
one edge shaped into coarse teeth. She also firmly and smoothly woven, and the rug Since the entire time of the weavers was
has a short paddle shaped tool, with teeth, must lie flat without curled edges. It must given to their work it was comparatively
used to tamp design threads into place. have wool warp, and maintain an even easy to clock time spent in actual weaving,
Different colors of yarn are wound width from one end to the other. When and from Adele's records I could estimate
loosely on flat bits of bone or wood and buying a Navajo rug, unless you are fami- time spent in preparing the wool. But there
usually are piled in a basket made by some liar with these points, it is best to deal with was no way to estimate the hours and days
other Indian tribe. With the aid of the an established trader on the reservation, or and weeks involved in caring for the
weaver's fingers the woof yarn is pushed buy from a reputable firm handling In- flocks, herding, dipping, shearing and se-
between the warp threads and then tamped dian goods. A rug inspected and passed by lecting suitable wool. But beginning with
down with the batten stick. The warp the tribal guild will bear a ticket of ap- the actual work we arrived at these fig-
fastened to the bottom beam is taut and proval, or one which says: "Certified In- ures for each weaver:
hard to separate, but with the aid of the dian Enterprise, Navajo Arts & Crafts
Guild." The red symbol of the guild is a HOURS
batten stick the yarn can be inserted. By Picking and fluffing wool in
means of a heald, which is a polished stick registered trademark. The ticket will tell
the name of the worker, the object or type preparation for carding 3
swung from the top beam and inserted be- Carding wool ready for spinning 10
tween the warp threads above the figure of article, the size and the price. Each
ticket is given a number. With this guide Spinning wool ready for washing 30
eight formed in stringing, the crossed Digging yucca root and
warp threads are thrown back and forth. no buyer can go wrong.
preparing suds 5
Adele stressed the importance of having A Navajo rug is almost indestructible as Carrying water from government
a rug's pattern well balanced and placed in far as wear is concerned. They are easily project Yi mile away 4
relation to the center. Since the weaver cleaned with a vacuum cleaner, but if one Washing and drying wool 4
works from memory only, with no yard becomes badly soiled it should be dry Preparing and using dyes and
stick and no scaled pattern, it is marvelous cleanest They should not be shaken as winding wool into balls 24
how well she manages to gauge the spac- that stretches the warp threads and results Stringing warp and setting up loom .... 8
ing. The rug is woven from the bottom up. in a misshapen rug. If small ones are to be Actual weaving time 147
When the work reaches an inconvenient washed at home use Iuke warm water and Removing rug and finishing ends 5
height she unlashes the tension beam and mild soap flakes. Dry them as quickly as
lowers the warp. The completed weaving possible without artificial heat. Ordinary Total time 240
is folded and tightly sewn to the bottom precautions protect them from moths.
beam. Often the thread marks can be seen I am not so much concerned with the A member of the Arts and Crafts board
after the rug has been in continuous use. buyer of a Navajo rug being misguided, was at the hogan the day the rugs were
taken from the looms and the ends fin-
A true lover of Navajo weaving will de- as I am with the fact that there will be ished. The last few rows of weaving are
light in the small inaccuracies found in a few or no Navajo rugs for sale unless the
the most difficult owing to the shortness
rug. Over a period of months, when I American people wake to the fact that this, of space in which to work, and these
chanced to be sitting in a room carpeted their unique native craft, must die out un-
threads were pushed through on slim slot-
with a seemingly perfect Two Grey Hills, less something is done to keep it going. ted sticks of wood.
I searched the black and white design for Even Indians must eat. They must have
the flaw I knew was cunningly concealed. clothes and buy food for their children, The rugs were appraised as follows:
At long last, by the method of elimination and they cannot continue to do this unless Adele's $22.00
I found a serried cloud with four steps an appreciative public is willing to pay a Rosele's 22.00
forming the height instead of the three fair price for the material and time put into
Two Grey Hills 30.00
steps employed in half a hundred similar a Navajo rug. Old Type 17.00
clouds. This weaver, carrying out the su- As I watched the development of these Saddle Blanket 8.00
perstition of her weaving ancestors, made rugs I began to figure out in hours the time
sure her rug was not perfect, else for her it which goes into the making of each one. $99.00
would have been her last rug. Her rug Adele, under my instruction, had kept a
would have reached perfection, and the labored memorandum of the time used in Figure it out for yourself. These were
gods of a primitive people are jealous gods. actual preparation of the yarn, measuring specially good rugs, commanding highest
In a bordered rug close searching almost the time by a battered Big Ben alarm clock prices, yet each woman worked 240 hours
8 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

for a little less than $20. That figure does
not include the value of the wool used. This is the time of day when you can settle
Will the modern Navajo girl, who
worked beside her white sister in the war TRUE OR FALSE back in the over-stuffed upholstery and ex-
ercise the brain, while the body relaxes.
factory, WAC ranks or nurse's corps be Don't take this True or False pu2zle too seriously—it is no crime to miss a few of
willing to weave rugs with all the labor 'em. But every Desert reader should take the test. If you get a high score it feeds
involved, supplying all materials includ- your ego, and if you miss a lot of them that doesn't mean you are dumt>—it merely
ing her knowledge and skill—for the sum means you still have a lot to learn about this old world. Ten is an average score.
of 51 Ms cents a pound for the finished Fifteen is excellent, and any score over that is super. The answers are on page
product? That amount is what the Indian 42.
Service says the average rug delivered to
the trading post brought to its weaver dur- 1—Coyotes will never attack a human being. True False
ing Ihe years just before the war. Wool to-
taling 750,000 pounds was woven into 2—Ironwood is too hard to burn well. True False
rugs and the amount received for these 3—The Great Salt Lake is below sea level. True False
rugs was $385,000. 4—Roosevelt dam is in the Salt river. True False
Many Navajo families have no other 5—The state flower of Arizona is the Saguaro. True False
source of income. When a Navajo mother
finishes a rug she ropes and saddles her 6—Translated to English, agua caliente means cold water. True False
horse, ties the rug on, takes her baby on his 7—The route of the Kearny Army of the West was by way of Yuma, Arizona.
carrying board in her lap and puts the True False
slightly older child behind her. She rides 8—Death Valley was given its name by Death Valley Scotty.
from three to ten miles to the trader's, True False
where the rug is examined, weighed and
priced. The offer seldom is declined. Then 9—The Bullion mountains are on the Mojave desert of California.
knowing what she has to spend, the weaver True False
begins her careful shopping. Coffee al- 10—The color of the agave or mescal blossom is yellow. True False
ways, and flour and lard and baking pow- 11—Frijoles canyon is a tributary of the Colorado river. True False
der. If there's enough due her she adds a
little sugar, and perhaps a few yards of 12—To reach Desert Center, California, you would travel on Highway 60.
cloth. Only on very special occasions can True False
a weaver afford to buy the 2Vi yards of gay 13—Malachite and chrysocolla sometimes come from the same mine.
velveteen needed for a blouse. That comes True False
when the lambs are sold to keep the flock 14-—Jacob's lake is near the north rim of Grand Canyon. True False
within legal count. No mother can ignore 15—Asbestos comes from a tree that grows on the desert. True False
the sight of her children pressing their 16—Peccaries run wild on the desert of southern Arizona. True False
small noses against.the candy counter, and
a few pieces of candy are bought. 17—Gold is never found in quartz formation. True False
18—The meteor which is believed to have caused Meteor crater in northern Ari-
Most families manage to have small
zona has been definitely located far beneath the surface.
plantings of corn and beans and pumpkins,
and they trade for dried peaches from other True False
tribes. But the rug buys most of the food 19—Mexican pesos are generally used by the Navajo Indians for their silverwork.
and clothing of the Navajo family. True False
If you have a Navajo rug, treasure it. 20—Stock raising is the main industry of the White Mountain Apache Indians.
Soon they may be very difficult to find un- True False
less we encourage and protect the art.
INDIAN TRADERS SET in the association and use of the stamp on the aid of nothing more than their hand
STANDARDS STAMP FOR SILVER the same basis. tools.
United Indian Traders association, with In detail, Navajo and Pueblo hand-made 4—All applique elements of the orna-
a membership extending over seven South- silver objects to merit the association ment are to be entirely hand made by Na-
western states, has announced its code of stamp of genuineness must meet the fol- vajo or Pueblo Indians.
standards for genuine hand-made Navajo lowing specifications: 5—Turquoise and other stones used
and Pueblo Indian jewelry and prepared to 1—Silver of nine hundred fineness must be genuine stones, uncolored and un-
licerse use of its stamp and mark on silver (coin) or better shall be used only in the treated by any artificial means. Stones used
so that quality hand work may be identified following forms: squares or slugs; scrap; may be cut and polished by Indians or
by purchasers. sheet; round, half-round, square and tri- others without restriction as to method or
The mark which will be used to desig- angle wire. Solder of lesser fineness and equipment used.
nate genuine Navajo and Pueblo jewelry in any form is permitted. Findings, such 6—-Casting only by the sandstone mould
consists of the initials of the association, as pinstems, catches, joints, ear wires, tie method is permissible where the Navajo
UITA, with an arrowhead breaking the let- holders, spring rings, jump rings, clips, or Pueblo craftsman carves out the mold
ters n the center and followed by a number clasps, chain, etc., may be made mechan- which is entirely hand made aided only by
designating the member who applied the ically of any metal by Indians or others. simple hand tools.
marl: or stamp. 2—Dies used are to be entirely hand 7—After the manufacture of an object
Licenses for the use of the trademark made by Navajo or Pueblo Indian crafts- is completed by a Navajo or Pueblo crafts-
stamp will be issued to members of the as- men using no tool more mechanical than man within these regulations, it may be
sociation who have control over the pro- hand tools and vise. cleaned, buffed and polished by Indians
duction of the jewelry articles they market, 3—Dies are to be applied to the object or others without restriction as to methods
and to others who apply for membership only by Navajo or Pueblo craftsmen with or equipment used.
MAY, 1946
On a hill overlooking Lake Mead, John Hilton found great quantities
of green jasper—one of the most highly prized among the gemstones of
the ancient world. This is one of those field trips where the rock-nuts of the
family may gather loot, while others in the party go swimming in the lake.
Bill Brown and John Hilton in the green jasper field near the shore of Lake Mead.
then made us honorary members of their

club (complete with handsome member-
ship cards).
Anyone who has examined a collection
of ancient Egyptian artifacts will remem-
ber such items as scarabs, figurines, or
earrings carved from green jasper. This
material was considered very fine by the
Egyptians, judging from the delicate
workmanship they lavished upon it. Green
By JOHN HILTON jasper must have been quite a rarity in
those days as it has been found only in the
Photos by Harlow Jones tombs of the aristocrats and princes.
Today green jasper is no longer the rare
11/ HEN Harlow Jones and I arrived to be held that evening at the high school, and expensive gem known to the Egyp-
YY at Las Vegas, Nevada, we went to she told us, and we would be welcome tians. If one of the ancient gem hunters had
the chamber of commerce to ask visitors at the gathering. wandered as far as the present vicinity of
about gem locations in that area. Ruth It was at the high school that night that Las Vegas he would have acquired untold
Lusch, director of publicity for Las Vegas, we met William M. Brown, president of riches—for on a sun-drenched hill not far
admitted she did not know a thing about the society. Desert Magazine readers are from the Nevada city is enough green jas-
mineral fields. But she is a very efficient indebted to Bill Brown for the field trip per to have made earrings for the entire
person. She dropped what she was doing information in this issue of Desert—and population, including the slaves.
and began telephoning. for more field trips to come later from It was to this field that Bill Brown took
Eventually she gave us a clue that led to that area. We found a typical welcome us. We started early in the morning, and
one of the most interesting fields I have from the rockhounds we met that evening. we soon found that we had a top-notch
visited. A regular meeting of the Miner- They told us about enough mineral fields guide. Brown is a mining engineer turned
alogical Society of Southern Nevada was to wear out a set of automobile tires—and rockhound. He spent five years as a scout

for a mining corporation in this area and
later was with the bureau of reclamation.
He yelped install the seismographs which
measure the delicate earth movements
caused by Lake Mead's weight on the
earth's crust. During the war he was elec-
trical superintendent at the plant of the
Manganese ore company, so he really
knows the region.
Now he has decided to quit working for
someone else as an engineer and become
a desert lapidarist on his own. He thinks
that it will make him as much income in
the long run and be a lot more fun.
We drove out the road toward Boulder
City and turned left at the settlement of
Henderson (one of the housing projects
for Basic Magnesium). A good paved road
leads from this point down Vegas wash to
the Vegas boat landing and past the Man-
ganese ore company's huge plant. Impor-
tant ore was processed in this plant during
the war. Around it were some of the mines
that furnished part of that ore. Brown ex-
plained that much of the high coloring in
the hills in this region is due to mangan-
ese. In some instances this ore gives inter-
esting color and markings to the local
gems.
Just past the manganese plant we turned
off the main highway to the old roadbed
and stopped our car. The hill we were fac-
ing looked about the same as the rest of
the surrounding country, but we knew ap-
pearances can be very deceiving when it
comes to hunting gems.
Bill pointed out a monument high on
the hill and explained that he and a friend
had filed on these deposits so that they
would not be claimed by commercial col-
lectors who might keep the amateur rock- BASIC LL..
hounds out. They have other cla.ims which MAGNESIUM £
they intend to work for rarer and more C,TY
saleable material, but they are willing that
Desert Magazine readers visit this claim
and help themselves to reasonable quan-
tities. The one thing he did ask was that
collectors stop by his place (which is eas-
ily located in Las Vegas) and register in
his guest book so that he can get an idea water on earth. Certainly one of the most
He was right. When we neared the
as to how many are interested enough to interesting and beautiful. Here is another
monument on the hill we came upon out-
make such a trip. "Then too," he contin- of those trips where if some members of
crops of jasper that would have gladdened
ued. "I like to talk to rockhounds and the family don't care to gather rocks they
the heart of any lapidarist of ancient Egypt,
swas specimens and this is a good chance may go fishing, boating or swimming.
and I am sure will delight many an ama-
to get acquainted with some new ones."
teur who follows our footsteps. There is Desert plant lovers will be pleased to
/Jong the base of the hill he pointed out excellent material here for all the collec- hear that here on this hillside, sometimes
where he had found some amethyst vugs tors who care to visit the area, unless some growing between the gems are a few indi-
in the granite, but our hunting failed to of them come with trucks. We photo- viduals of the rather rare cactus Sclero-
turn up any new ones. Later he showed us graphed one large nodule of fine material cactus whipplei. This plant is easily over-
some at his home, picked up at this spot. that Brown had partially uncovered but looked except when its brilliant flowers
They were well worth hunting for, but I hadn't moved yet. I estimate it will weigh advertise its whereabouts. One of the rea-
guess he and Doctor Park have found all about 400 pounds—all good cutting masons this and its cousin S. polyancistrus
that were on the surface. terial. have become so scarce is the temptation
Farther up the hillside we began to pick From the top of the hill Lake Mead they present collectors when in bloom. We
up pieces of what I considered good qual- stretches its blue arms into the many col- hope the Desert Magazine readers will re-
ity green jasper. Our guide just laughed ored canyons and desert washes. It is a member that here is a genus of cacti ex-
and predicted that we would throw them sight that never fails to give me a thrill. tremely hard to raise in cultivation for any
away when we reached the real deposit. This lake is the largest man-made body of length of time, and so scarce even in its
MAY, 1946 11
type locality as to be threatened with ex-
tinction if collecting continues. These
plants should be in bloom about the time
this article appears in print. Let's remem-
ber the sign Desert Steve Ragsdale has near
Santa Rosa Peak: "ENJOY BUT DON'T
DESTROY."
We walked down the hill discussing the
various items that can be cut from the fine
grained, good colored green jasper. Brown
has friends who have made excellent
spheres from the material. It seems made
to order for bookends or carvings, for the
pieces can be picked almost to order.
The one thing we all agreed upon was
that we were happy some enterprising
modern Egyptian hadn't gotten hold of the
property in time to turn out thousands
more of the fake scarabs that were offered
to our G.I.'s in North Africa. As it was,
they sold more of those imitation green
pottery trinkets to our armed forces than
the ancient population of Egypt ever
owned.
• • •
Lands Restored to Entry . . .
Over 37,000,000 acres of public land,
withdrawn from homestead entry by presi-
dential order last September to protect
U. S. rights to radioactive minerals, are
open to entry again. Since not all radioac-
tive minerals are now regarded as fission-
able, the withdrawal order in the future
will apply only to lands containing thor-
ium, uranium and certain other elements.
Sez Hard
Rock Shorty Hilton estimates that 10 per cent of the rock on this hillside is green jasper.
of
"Well, Bill got all het up over the body in camp to give 'im a hand—
Death idea. He talked about it fer weeks,
and after that every time he saw a big
sorta drafted us fer duty as snake
wranglers. Gave us each a stick with
Valley snake he'd lasso it and bring it back
to camp. Soon had a big pen of 'em
some feathers on the end of it, and
told us to be keerful not to bruise the
out behind his cabin. hides, cuz they wuz worth a lot o'
"But snakes has to be fed, and it money.
"Yeah, ol' Pisgah Bill is always a got so's Bill spent most of his time "I guess the idea was all right, but
thinkin' of some new-fangled out gatherin' lizards and rats and just about the time we got that herd
scheme fer makin' money," Hard gophers to feed 'em. Then one day o' crawlin' reptiles headed out across
Rock Shorty mumbled, half to him- he got another idea. Instead o' bring- the desert toward the first prairie-
self, and partly for the benefit of the ing the rodents to the snake pit, Bill dog town, one o' them big army air-
dude riding club which had just thought it would be easier to build planes cum over and dived down at
stopped at Inferno store for a round one o' them portable pens and move us like a giant buzzard. Them snakes
of iced cokes. the snakes from one gopher village started goin' in all directions and by
"Take fer instance, that time he to the next, and let them ketch their the time that flyin' machine wuz
started his bull snake farm. Some fel- own grub. Movin' the snakes 'd be gone there wasn't a bull snake, 'r
ler from the east was out here and no trouble, he said. He'd just herd any other kind of a snake on top of
he wuz tellin' Bill what a fine market 'em along like the Hopi Indians do the ground.
there wuz fer snake hides. Said they at a snake dance. "Bill looked kinda flabbergasted,
make ladies' purses and belts and a "Well, Bill got the pen built, and and said he reckoned he'd better go
lot o' things to sell to the dudes. when the big day come he ast every- back to minin'."

Desert Magazine is grateful to
Harry S. Smith, professor of en-
tomology at the University of
California's experiment station at
Riverside, California, for a letter
outlining the experiments now
being conducted for the control of
pest cactus through the importa-
tion of certain feeder insects. Con-
cern has been expressed in some
quarters that the insects might
get out of control and extend their
depredations to species of cacti
not in the pest class. To clarify
this situation, Professor Smith's
letter is reprinted on this page.
Picture taken near Pomona, California, where Opuntia littoralis is spreading over
By HARRY S. SMITH the hills and destroying large areas of cattle range.
f \ HAVE read your editorial in the Desert Magazine for stricted to the particular weed pest, or at any rate, which species
\J March in which you express some fear regarding our starve on plants that it is desired to preserve.
—*^ project on introduction of insects for control of pest cac- In the present project, since we are not bringing in insects
tus Opuntia littoralis in Southern California. Since this ques- from another continent, we have relied on the very extensive and
tion has arisen in other quarters and since in the absence of thorough tests conducted by Australian and American entomolo-
complete information on the subject, it is only natural that lovers gists during the period when the Australian Prickly Pear com-
of cactus should feel some concern about such activities, I mission did their extensive work in the Southwest, where their
thought you might like to have more detailed information. studies covered a period of over 10 years. The four species of in-
There are two principal reasons which seem to us to justify sects brought into California are those which were determined by
the attempt to control this pest. One is, of course, that Opuntia studies to be restricted to certain species of the genus Opuntia.
littoralis is taking a great deal of range land in Southern Cali- I am not very optimistic about the success of this experiment,
fornia, particularly on the Channel Islands, reducing the carry- since the introduced insects come from both a different climate
ing capacity of the ranges as much as 25 to 50 per cent, and is and from different species of Opuntia, but the trial has been very
continually spreading. The other is that the fruits of Opuntia inexpensive and so it seems well worthwhile. I feel sure, how-
are hosts of the Mediterranean fruit fly. If this pest, which is so ever, that even though the experiment does not result in control
destructive in the Hawaiian islands, should ever be discovered of the pest cactus, it will at any rate do no harm, because of the
here it is certain that the State of California would undertake very restricted food habit of the insects.
to exterminate it as was done in Florida. Such a campaign would While these particular insects were obtained in Texas, the
require the removal of all host fruits, including the fruits of same species occur in Arizona, so that if they had the capacity to
Opuntia, and it would cost the taxpayers millions of dollars. The develop on saguaro or beavertail this fact would have been ob-
cost of such a campaign would be very materially lessened if the served during the very extensive studies of the last 20 years.
pest Opuntia could be greatly reduced in abundance. These two I am in thorough accord with your statement that "we don't
reasons we feel justify an attempt to control this species of cac- want those cactus-chewing insects invading the great natural
tus providing a method can be developed which does not cost gardens of cacti on the desert side of the mountains. No one
more than the land is worth. The only possibility of doing this would ever want to destroy a beavertail after seeing the beauty
seems to be the biological method: that is, by bringing in in- of its blossom." I yield to no one when it comes to preservation
sects which feed upon it, as was done in Australia, where over of our wild plant and animal life, and in the maintenance of
30 million acres of land was reclaimed and resettled after it had primitive areas in their natural state. I hold membership in the
been completely overrun by related species of Opuntia.. As a re- Wilderness Society, the Grassland Research Foundation, the
sult of this Australian demonstration, biological control of Ecological Society of America, and the Andreas Canyon Club.
weeds, particularly on range lands, has become a well estab- All these organizations are active in the preservation of plant and
lished practice in various parts of the world. animal life under natural conditions, and I try in a small way to
Such work would not be possible were it not for the fact that contribute to this program. However, when plants like Opuntia
many insects are very restricted in their food habits and will littoralis become pests because of a disturbance of natural condi-
starve if not associated with the proper host plant. Many species tions by man, such as overgrazing, and crowd out most of the
of insects can develop on a single species of plant only. Others other vegetation, we are not preserving natural conditions, but
may fce restricted to a single genus or group such as is represent- on the contrary are permitting them to be destroyed. If by the
ed by Opuntia. And still others feed only on the members of the introduction of these insects we could bring about a successful
family Cactaceae. The problem biologists have to solve in such biological control, we would then be restoring the vegetative cov-
biological control work is to determine by field study and by ering to something approaching its condition before the advent
starvation tests in the insectary, which species of insects are re- of man, since insects never exterminate their host plants.
MAY, 1946 13
Sen&on 5 l/al Kimbtouak . . .
The mayor of Benson spends many hours in his workshop where one of his hobbies is the
polishing and mounting of the horns of the Texas longhorn. The high polish is
attained on the buffer shown in this picture.
THE DESERT MAGAZINE

r HERE were a half-dozen of
them—bright faced, excited
youngsters, racing purpose-
fully down Benson's main street,
He is the town's mayor, its leading barber,
and he has so many hobbies you'll wonder
how he finds time to make a living—but some-
how he does all these things and still has a
the array of mounted Texas long-
horns on the wall, they all smiled.
They knew how proud Val is of the
mighty horns he polishes and
freed from school for the rest of the few hours every week to spend with the mounts. He announced that he was
day. And if you had stopped any of youngsters in his community, and pass along going to work on a pair of the horns
them and asked him where he was to them the lore accumulated in a rich full life shortly. Would the visitor like to
going he would have told you en- in the Southwest. The man we're writing about stay around and watch?
thusiastically that he was rushing to is Val Kimbrough of Benson, Arizona—a west- A westerner by birth, breeding
take a history lesson—an American erner of whom the West is proud. and temperament, Val not only lives
history lesson. a western life, but he makes an ef-
Only he wouldn't have said it in By MARY MARGARET HUNTINGTON fort to preserve the lore of the Old
quite ::hat way. He would have pant- West by transmitting it to the west-
ed: erners of tomorrow.
"I'm going down to the barber shop and ning to use their own arrowheads on the Born in Texas in the 1890's, Val Kim-
see Val." next trip. While they experimented with brough grew up on a ranch, and like many
Val Kimbrough is the mayor of Benson, the flint and deer horn, Val talked to a suc- other western youngsters cannot remember
Arizona. He is also its best barber, the cession of visitors. when he learned to ride. The Kimbroughs
owner of its only museum, an inveterate He explained that he couldn't lecture moved into Indian territory when Val was
hobbyist, an authority on Indian culture, a to the Boy Scouts on Monday. There was a seven, and there he met old Dave Owen,
fascinating lecturer and one of the West's council meeting that he had to preside a full-blooded Chickasaw Indian who lived
most interesting personalities. over. (Val is justifiably proud that Benson a mile from the Kimbrough ranch.
When he invited me to sit in on one of is a progressive little city, and that he has For 11 years the most familiar sight in
his sessions with Benson's youngest gen- served 14 years on the city council—six of that part of the country was a hawkbilled
eration, I was more than glad to accept. I them as mayor.) But he would be glad to Indian, with small black eyes and bright
had once taught American history in the talk to the boys on Friday. What would red cheeks, accompanied by a wiry little
public schools for a year, and this eagerly they like for him to talk about? boy with snapping black eyes. They
sought instruction in the subject was some- The next visitor was a tourist who had tramped and hunted, talked and lived the
thing I wanted to see. stopped in Benson to see Val's museum. It life of the Indians who claimed the whole
Val had promised to show some of the has well over 4000 pieces—Indian and out of doors for their home.
boys now to make an arrowhead, and as pioneer relics, a large collection of nearly- Val never forgot the things Uncle Dave
they crowded into his combined barber priceless guns, and many remnants of the told and taught him. He not only remem-
shop, museum, and workshop, he was as- Old West, each with a fascinating story. bers them, but he practices them and feels
sembling the tools he needed. As he described the past of an old musket a deep obligation to perpetuate them in the
Pushing his sombrero back from his or explained the making and origin of the minds of the youngsters he knows. He and
forehead, Val said quietly: "Old Dave Indian pottery, the boys listened. This was Uncle Dave were inseparable, and even
told me once that the Indians used deer real, live, exciting history, and they ab- yet most of his stories start with a reference
horns when they made their arrowheads, sorbed it avidly. When the visitor admired to his Indian friend.
but he couldn't remember just how they "Uncle Dave said that the Indians could
went about it." (Old Dave needed an in- predict weather from ant hills. If the win-
troduction to the class. He was a Chickasaw ter was going to be dry, the ants would
Indian—a friend of Val's when he was build a large sharp cone at the top of the
growing up—who had passed on all he hill to funnel all the moisture into the food
could remember of Indian lore and legend storage place. If the winter was going to
to Val. Val, in turn, was passing it on to be wet, there would be no cone.
everyone who was interested.) "Uncle Dave knew all about animal
"I spent a lot of time in trying to find calls. Did you know that jay birds act as
out just what they did with the horn, and guards and warn all the wild life by
when I finally figured out the secret, I was screaming at the approach of strangers?
surprised at how simple it was." And that old buck deer generally travel
He picked up a section of deer horn, with a young companion, forcing the
composed of the center section and two young buck to go ahead and scout the
prongs. The sharp points of the horn had country?"
been cut off, leaving two stubby ends. The "Dave and I always hunted with arrows
center part and one prong assured a firm made from old barrel hoops, shot from
grip, and the second prong, held between dogwood bows."
the thumb and forefinger, acted as the Comment on some pen-and-ink sketches
chipping implement. of rodeo performers brought forth the in-
One of the boys handed Val a piece of formation that Val had followed the
flint, and he started shaping it. Holding rodeos, in the manner of nearly every boy
the flint firmly on a board, he carefully who grows up on a western ranch.
flaked off small pieces, first on one side Starting as a summer pastime, he soon
and then on the other. "The deer horn, you became a top rodeo performer, and was
see, is hard enough to force the chip to confident of ITS ab'lity even when he drew
break away, and still not so hard that it Snip at the 1918 Bromide, Oklahoma, ro-
slips away from the chip." deo. Snip was an outlaw with a mean trick
AH the boys wanted to try their hand at Archeology is one of Val Kim- of rearing and falling backward as soon as
it, of course. Val is an archer—he always brough's hobbies, and he is adept at he came out of the chute. Val was prepared
hunts with a bow and arrow, and the boys restoring broken pottery found in the for him when they left the chute, but Snip
often go with him—and they were plan- old Indian ruins. changed his routine this time. Waiting un-
MAY, 1946 15
of horns that Joe gave him, and the pro-
cess is an interesting one. Using simple
tools, many of which he made himself, he
turns the battered horns into things of
beauty. He first scrapes off the top layers.
This leaves the horn clean and smooth and
brings out the patterns of dark and light
spots.
Next he smooths the horns with sand-
paper, and puts a high polish on them with
an electric buffer. Before he begins the
buffing he rubs on the horns an abrasive
substance—much like the old fashioned
powder women once used when they
buffed their nails—and after the rubbing
by machine, the old horns take on a splen-
did sheen.
Val has the manual training classes at
the Benson high school make the cores on
which the horns are mounted. The cores
are round blocks of wood about the width
of the steer's head and tapered at each end,
and onto them he fits the horns.
The thing that makes Val's horns differ-
ent and more attractive than those made
by others, however, is the unusual leather
work with which he covers the wooden
cores. Val tools the leather himself in pat-
terns of horses, desert landscapes or flow-
ers, wraps them around the wood and fin-
ishes them on the ends with strips of
leather. And with the painstaking care
that goes into the horns and the handsome
leather finish, his Texas longhorns are
indeed striking.
A few of the horns he sells—their bril-
liant polish and the artistry of the leather
tooling brings a fancy price—but for the
most part, he feels about his horns as he
does about the rest of the things in his
museum. They are his hobby and the pro-
duct of many years of his life, and he just
does not want to part with them. He says
that he would not take $50,000 for his col-
lection, but as a matter of fact, he wouldn't
sell it for any price, because it gives him an
Val Kimbrough is half Cherokee, and he is an expert with the weapon of his opportunity to meet the kind of people he
Indian ancestors—the bow and arrow. likes.
His days are full: running his barber-
til Val had stuck through a little pitching collection of relics he had been accumu- shop, guiding the progress of his busy lit-
and bucking, Snip suddenly went up and lating over the years, put them up in his tle city, preaching the doctrine of having a
over. Val was under him—his neck broken. shop, and settled down to becoming Ben- hobby. He lectures at civic meetings, talks
Eight months later, Val was still in the son's first citizen. to the many people who stop in to see his
hospital, but his insatiable curiosity and his As the apprentice arrowsmiths fin- museum, and still has time to spend at
chafing against the inactivity of conva- ished their work, they helped Val to get least one-quarter of the year poking around
lescence had found an outlet. He had spent out his horn-working equipment. I asked in the nearby desert, finding museum
hours in the hospital barber shop, and by him where the longhorns came from—the pieces and shooting his bow and arrow.
the time he was well, had learned the trade. animals are nearly extinct now from breed- And of all his activities, he most enjoys
Early in 1923 he decided to move farther ing and from inroads made by Hollywood talking to a group of young westerners,
westward. Through Texas, New Mexico on the herds for movies—and he said they passing on to them the great heritage that
and Colorado, he and his brother traveled came from another Texan. belongs to those who live in the frontier
in a Model T Ford. Waking up one morn- A friend of Val's father, Joe Burnett, country.
ing in Benson, they looked around and had collected the horns as the Texas long- Generously he gives of his time and en-
decided, "This place looks good. It looks horns disappeared from their colorful ergy—not for nothing, but for the deep
just right." niche in Texas history. Val admired them satisfaction it gives him to make real and
And it still does to Val. He worked in greatly, and when Joe died, he acquired vivid to youth the story of the magnificent
the local barber shop until he was able to them. courage and faith that brought their an-
buy out the owners. Then he sent for the Val has mounted most of the 50 pairs cestors to the West.

All that remains of losepa, ghost town of Skull valley, ivhere a colony of Hawaiian converts
to the Mormon faith found it impossible to make the desert bloom.
learned some of the history of Skull valley
When Hawaiians came and were so fascinated by the place we

returned again and again, eventually re-
sulting in a book. We were told that the
first white man to see Skull valley was the
trapper Jedediah Smith. He nearly lost his
to the Utah Desert life while crossing it on his return from

California in 1827. In 1846 the Donner
party camped at one of its springs to cut
grass for their oxen before attempting the
In most instances, the ghost towns of the West are grim reminders of a Great Salt desert just over the western
mining boom that collapsed, or an ore vein that played out. But in Skull ridge. Some '49ers also used this route to
valley, Utah, are to be found the tragic remains of a community of fanners reach California. The Pony Express gal-
—of Pacific islanders who were converted to the Mormon faith and who loped across Skull valley, where Matthew
fought against impossible odds to establish new homes on the American Orr, father of the Orr brothers, kept a sta-
desert. Here is one of the strangest ghost town stories in the annals of the tion. Later the Overland stage used this
Wtsst. same route.
By CHARLES KELLY After it was discontinued in 1869, Mat-
r
thew Orr started a cattle ranch in the val-
' HE FIRST real desert trip my wife by the Cedar mountains, but extending ley. In those days it had been a good stock
and I ever made was to Skull valley, north and south as far as the eye could range and not nearly as barren as when we
just west of Great Salt Lake in Utah. reach. In that wide sea of sand, stunted first looked down into it. Finally the Lin-
That was, of course, many years ago. We greasewood and shadscale, unrelieved by coln highway, following old trails across
had just purchased our first Model T Ford tree or stream, we could discern no sign of the continent, had been opened to auto-
and wanted to see what it would do. Hav- human habitation. Its apparent desolation mobile travel. Altogether the place had a
ing lived in Salt Lake City only a short seemed to warrant its name, since anyone most interesting history, but the strangest
time we were unfamiliar with the sur- crossing it, we thought, would certainly story connected with that history concerns
rounding country, but had somehow heard be running a race with death. the old settlement of losepa.
of a place called Skull valley. The name "Will you hand me those field glasses?" As early as 1844 missionaries of the
intrigued us and so we selected that place I asked Harriette after we had studied the Mormon church, led by Addison Pratt,
as the object of our first exploratory trip. scene several minutes. "There seems to be were sent to the Sandwich Islands to bring
We were told to follow the old Lincoln a tiny patch of green out in the middle of their gospel to the natives. From that time
highway, first transcontinental road across the valley. Maybe it's a spring." on it became a favorite missionary field,
Utah, which passed through Skull valley. "There must be a house down there," I since Mormon elders, like other white
It was marked at wide intervals with the told her. "I can see the tops of some lom- men, found the south sea islands delightful
old familiar yellow signs so we had no bardy poplars. But who on earth would and their inhabitants friendly. Thousands
great difficulty in finding our way. At best want to live in a place like this?" of converts were made.
it was only a narrow track in the sagebrush, Following the road which ambled down In course of time about 50 converts from
barely distinguishable from numerous the mountain, cut by innumerable gullies, the Hawaiian islands were induced to come
trails made by sheep wagons. After driving we arrived at what appeared to be a small to Salt Lake City, fountainhead of their
70 miles we crossed the Stansbury moun- settlement—the Orr ranch. A little lake new religion. These immigrants, however,
tains, stopped to let the steaming radiator surrounded by trees made it a real oasis soon tired of city life and asked for land
cool, and looked down into Skull valley. It in the desert, a famous stopping place on of their own where they could live together
was a moment never to be forgotten. the most dangerous section of the old Lin- as a group. By that time most agricultural
Below us lay the wildest stretch of des- coln highway. We were welcomed by Dan land already had been settled and there
ert we ever had seen. At that point it was Orr and his brothers, Will and Hamilton. was some difficulty in finding a suitable
about 10 miles wide, bounded on the west From Dan, spokesman for the trio, we location.
MAY, 1946 17
fruitful, climate perfect and living easy.
In Skull valley the soil was poor, vegeta-
tion scant, climate extreme and rainfall
almost zero. Not a tree relieved the monot-
onous landscape. There scarcely was shade
for a horned toad in summer. In winter
icy blasts swept the valley constantly. Only
a half dozen of the hardiest Mormon pio-
neers had been able to make a living there
and then only by back-breaking labor. A
more unsuitable location for these happy,
easy-going Kanakas could not have been
found in the whole state of Utah.
Encouraged by their leaders and some-
what fortified by their religion, these peo-
ple put in long hours of hard labor in an
effort to get their colony on a productive
basis. Cattle were purchased, some land
seeded to alfalfa, and other acres irrigated
for garden use. But there never was enough
water, and gardens withered in the hot
blasts of summer. There were no wild
fruits to be had for the picking, no fish
from the sea, no surf to swim in, no exotic
flowers for their hair. The view of dusty
desert and dingy mountains unrelieved by
a touch of green was depressing to a people
accustomed to abundant rainfall and lux-
uriant vegetation.
Within the next five or six years more
colonists were brought to Iosepa so that
at one time its population numbered over
a hundred. It is reported that in one good
year the project sold cattle, hay and grain
to the value of $20,000. Social life in the
town was more lively than in any other
small settlement in Utah. Dan Orr recalls
how he and other young men of Skull val-
ley used to ride horseback 20 or 30 miles
to dance with the attractive Hawaiian girls
or attend concerts of Hawaiian music.
Some kind of entertainment always could
be found at Iosepa.
By all accounts the people of this unique
colony were industrious and did their best
to make a success. But their constitutions
were not suited to the rigorous climate and
constant labor. Soon sickness of various
kinds began to take toll and a small ceme-
tery was started at the foot of the moun-
tain a mile east of town. Then, in 1896,
several persons were found to have devel-
oped the dread disease of leprosy. At first
these lepers spent much time lying in the
Eventually church authorities selected a ing a limited amount of poor pasture for black mud of two warm springs below
site for the new colony, purchasing 960 stock. Houses were constructed, a com- town, hoping this treatment would be of
acres of land. It was—you guessed it—in bined school and church building erected some benefit. Later they were quarantined
Skull valley! On August 28, 1889, 46 Ha- and a store opened. Streets were laid out in a small building at the mouth of a can-
waiian converts were moved to the site and a water system installed. When a bish- yon where they remained until death re-
of their new home and the infant settle- op was appointed to manage the project the lieved their sufferings. As disease reduced
ment named Iosepa (pronounced Yo- Hawaiians were ready to demonstrate their numbers the people lost heart and
seppa), Hawaiian for Joseph, after their their ability to provide for themselves in finally, in 1916, when the Mormon church
prophet Joseph Smith. this strange land. built a temple in Hawaii, the survivors re-
This location was near the base of the Imagine the contrast between Hawaii, turned happily to their native land.
Stansbury mountains about 18 miles from former home of these people, and Skull In October, 1945, we visited Iosepa, the
the upper (north) end of Skull valley. A valley, their new settlement. According to ghost town of Skull valley, with Mr. and
small stream now called Kanaka creek was song and story the south sea islands con- Mrs. Gardner Young and Rod Korns, to
brought from the mountains for irrigation, tained everything delightful to humans, get photographs for this story. We found
while below the settlement were several whether brown or white. Soil was produc- the old administration building being used
springs and some swampy ground provid- tive, rainfall plentiful, vegetation rich and for a ranch headquarters. Two or three

foundations of the old schoolhouse, also
used as church and dance hall. We kicked
• • ' • ' • • . * • *
*1
up bits of broken bottles turned purple in
J
the desert sun. Our greatest surprise was
to find a line of water hydrants still stand-
ing upright in the sagebrush, marking the
town's main street. Many cottonwoods had
in
been planted for shade but only their dead
stumps remained.
A young man at the ranch house pointed
out some white specks near the mountain
which he said were tombstones in the Ka- 1
naka cemetery. No burials had been made
flj
there since 1916 and no road led to it, so
we hiked through the brush to photograph
some of the markers. This cemetery, now
unattended, once had been neatly enclosed,
but the fence had fallen down. An iron
fence surrounded one grave while others
had been fenced with pickets. There were
several marble headstones, but most graves
were unmarked. There must have been al-
together nearly a hundred, indicating that •
few survivors ever returned to their be-

loved islands. Most deaths occurred in the
90's, and the latest readable date was 1910.
• • "mm R
• •' K^%M * .
The inscription on one headstone read:

"' ' § 4. B. *>.
J. W. KALILEINAMOKU
Hanau ma ka la
27 Oct. 1837 Ma Hilo
A few of the headstones in losepa Hawaii • '
cemetery have survived the passing Make ma Josepa Margaret Young discovers an old
years. Skull Valley, Utah water hydrant—a relic o\ better days
]ulai 21, 1890 in the losepa colony.
original Hawaiian homes still remain in a Near the mouth of a canyon south of
state of decay, while the two "leper the cemetery stood a small house where,
springs" have been fenced in. Crossing a intended it to be anything but a desert.
we were told, lived the last Kanaka of
slope east of the ranch house, now com- losepa, who was working a small mining Even the lowly Goshute Indians who once
pletely reclaimed by sagebrush, we stum- claim in the mountains. Unfortunately this inhabited it were hard put to keep them-
bled upon numerous foundations and old man was not at home at the time of our selves alive. The contrast between Hawaii
cellars, the site of former homes. Here and visit. There are still a few Hawaiian Mor- and Skull valley was much too great to be
there were rows of carefully placed stones mons living in Salt Lake City and vicinitv, overcome by people transplanted from the
where a walk had been built from a home but no other settlement ever was attempted. south seas. They died, I think, mostly of
to the street. Rising slightly above its sur- To one who likes the desert Skull val- heartbreak. The desert is now trying to
rounding desert growth we came upon the ley is a fascinating place. But nature never hide the remains of their tragic efforts.
Margaret and Gardner Young visit the cemetery ivhere the hopes of Skull valley colonists
were buried with their remains.
>
MAY, 1946 19
Old Man op the. Moj&ue
By W A L T E R L. D I X O N
Burbank, California
He stands alone, like a little old man
With arms and legs askew.
His silhouette against moonlit sky
Gives off a ghostly hue.
Says he never a word as he stands alone,
And never utters a sigh.
He looks and looks and looks at me each
Night as I pass by.
He's a scary sight in the pale moonlight,
But he wouldn't hurt a flea.
We're friends we are, and I know him well
From seeing him every night.
He's as crooked as a dog's hind leg, still
He's honest as can be.
He's an old, old man by the side of the road.
My friend the Joshua Tree.
APPRECIATION
By J. E. KYLE
Tucson, Arizona
God built a chasm, wondrous to behold,
Photo by Cal Godshall. Worn through the granite by a river's flow
Till, from the brink, the torrent viewed below
Seemed like a tiny streamlet of white gold.
TWILIGHT CLOUDS FAIRY CROSSES Then people came and camped along the rim,
Stared down and uttered bright inanities
By R. G. BEIDLEMAN By KATHARINE BUOY And yawned and shivered in the twilight breeze,
Colorado Springs, Colorado Portland, Oregon Then left to satisfy some other whim.
But one there was who came and stood and
Paint the clouds . . . In far-off places fairy rings are found. gazed,
Paint them over the sea and over the land Minute brown stones shaped like the holy cross Watched the rich sunset crimson turn to gold,
With the sweep of a brush in an unseen hand. Lie scattered underneath a green reredos. Saw scarlet streamers slowly growing cold
Paint the clouds from a palette of sunset and These symbols mark each region sacred ground, And purple change to silver, stood amazed
dawn For once, the story goes, a muffled sound To see a castle rising in the air,
Tinted colors and hues 'till the twilight is gone. Of tears fell on the soft wood-scented moss Felt a great calm and knew that God was there.
Paint the clouds . . . Where fairies learned about the world's great
• • • loss—
DESERT HOLLY The Crucifixion on Golgotha's mound.
HASSAYAMPA WATERS
By D E A N T. SMITH In tiny crosses tears were crystallized, By W H E E L E R FORD N E W M A N
Twentynine Palms, California Mementos of those hours of dread despair; San Pedro, California
In mystical repute their worth transcends
Fairy of the wasteland Unnumbered talismans that love has prized . . . Beneath tall cottonwoods I watched it glide—
Such you seem to me Strung on a rosary they form a prayer, The river with the legendary tide
Child of drouth and sunshine So legendary truth with fancy blends. Possessing alchemy to make of him
How came you to be?
Kneeling to drink upon that sandy brim
What gives you survival A one who seemingly has lost the power
Through the searing heat SPRING LYRIC To speak the truth to others from that hour.
Lacking rain or dewdrop By GRACE PARSONS HARMON
This legend may be true—and yet the gleam
Or moisture at your feet? Los Angeles, California Of scattered starlight in that desert stream!
And silver-dust the eager ripples seek
Feathery crinkly foliage, A desert Spring! There are no words Between the sandbars, as beyond the peak
To graceful greys attune For such a lovely thing; Of Wickenburg the full moon glows, to change
You fit your own surroundings There is no brush can paint its charm, The brooding aspect of the Vulture range,
In crevice or in dune. Its magic blossoming! The spectral washes and dim mesas where
The coyote haunts the flats of prickly-pear!
Dainty Desert Holly But, kin to that rare ecstasy, O Hassayampa waters, fateful stream,
Rooted in the sand, A meadowlark can sing!
I'd love you on my mantel Could not your tide be quickened by a dream
Of such calm beauty and divine desire
But I'll leave you where you stand.
That he who drinks beholds the truth entire
• • • DESERT MAGIC Yet, fearful of the ridicule of men
DESERT NIGHTFALL By A N N A D E VORA Who mock all things that lie beyond their ken,
Highland Park, Illinois Endeavors to guard his revelation by
By MADELEINE FOUCHAUX
Fantastic story and embroidered lie?
Los Angeles, California
The Desert is no gay, exotic siren, O desert stars and moon, at least you know
The valley fills with evening and the light Who lures us on with coy, coquettish wiles. The nature of the spell within that flow!
Lifts to the loftier rims. Blue shadows crawl Nor yet, does she endeavor to entice us,
In rising tides upon the mountain wall With courtesies, and suave come-hither smiles.
Where cobalt canyons vein the sloping height.
The contours of the dunes are blurred to sight N o ! Rather, she seems hostile and forbidding,
Like women's sleeping forms beneath a shawl. Dispelling all illusions of romance. CREED OF THE DESERT
The hush of somnolence envelops all, Her sullen sands, and crags and thorny cactus
By J U N E LEMERT PAXTON
As rose-lit ridges dim with coming night. Repel intruders seeking to advance.
Yucca Valley, California
And when the sun's effulgent glories fail. But—for those, undaunted by such barriers, Night brings a field mouse out to play,
Low-swinging stars reach down audaciously Who love her, despite her stark austerity, And visit with his neighbor.
To touch the peaks, grown purple in the cold. When sunset radiance deepens into twilight, Of course he gathers in his food,
A lone prospector leaves the darkened trail With queenly grace and calm serenity, And mixes fun with labor.
To spread his blanket by a Joshua tree She conjures forth her royal-purple veiling,
And dream of long tomorrows, bright with gold. To prove—just how alluring she can be!

In their desert home the South family live con-
genially with a variety of animal friends—pack-
rats and tortoises, lizards and snakes, and even a
"hydrophobia" skunk. They also have visitors who,
though too shy to associate with humans in daytime,
make nocturnal raids on tidbits intended for the
dump. Such a visitor was the little grey fox which
Marshal tells about this month.
By MARSHAL SOUTH
III ARM days and the drift of drowsy wandering winds
\A/ along shimmering dry washes fringed by yuccas and
' " creosotes and the bright green of stunted catsclaw. All
the desert sleeps in the sun, wrapped in a veil of turquoise and
shadowy indigo that is flecked here and there with the gleam
of flowers. Forgotten are all the bleak days and the thin whining
winds. The hummingbirds are back. The eager sap that pulses
in the new flower shoots of the mescals lifts their tall green
wands higher and higher toward the cloudless sky.
California grey fox. Photo by G. E. Kirkpatrick.
Every spring we marvel at the mescals. The fact that we have
watched their sprouting over a stretch of many years does not
lessen the thrill. If anything time has increased it. For now we And those buds, handicapped and stunted though they were,
know many things about mescal of which in the beginning we came to successful flowers and seeds. Sometimes the plant, seem-
were ignorant. The mescal—the agave or century plant—is a ingly in a frenzy of desperation, accomplishes things that are
remarkable organism. It has so many virtues it is in a class by little short of miracles.
itself. It has been our chief standby so long that whenever we The other characteristic of the mescal plant which always has
find ourselves in a district in which the mescals do not flourish, struck us forcibly is that, in its life-cycle, it typifies the civiliza-
we feel more than a little inconvenienced. When sandal cords tions which man, from time to time, builds. They start feebly.
break on tramping trips, we have been accustomed to make re- For a long period there is little sign of growth or expansion.
pain; simply by stripping a length of stout fibers—furnished Then, bit by bit, they become larger, better organized. Defended
with an excellent attached natural needle—from the nearest behind the ramparts of spears they come finally to lusty power.
mescal. So, when there are no mescals, it is disconcerting. Also Then, in one wild burst of effort they fling forth to the world a
they would be missed for light building poles, for brushes of final flowering of glory. After which they swiftly die. Worms
many varieties and a host of other purposes for which the mes- gnaw at their hearts. They crash into oblivion, and their decay-
cal stands ready to supply the primitive desert dweller. ing bones form the soil from which arise their successors.
There are several varieties of mescals. The one which bristles The little grey desert fox, who for some time has done us the
the landscape on Ghost Mountain and vicinity is the Desert honor to include our domicile in his regular circuit, came again
Agave. Not a large plant, as sizes go, but the area over which it last night to see what pickings were to be found. In the still
grows in our neighborhood, is the largest, for its variety, in the night hours I was aroused by the stealthy clinking of metal.
United States. One of the most appealing things about our Looking through the window I saw our visitor in the moon-
agaves is their food value. For, roasted in the proper manner, light, industriously going through a collection of tin cans that
the young flower shoots and hearts are delicious. But there are had been assembled for removal to our dump. Though he looked
two Dther angles of interest, which always have impressed us. my way and I am certain he knew he was being watched, he be-
First, is the tenacity with which the plant clings to life. trayed no concern.
Against its efforts to flower and produce seeds, thereby guaran- He was very systematic, going through each can as though it
teeing the continuance of the life-cycle of its species, every force were a single problem. Several cans which had held milk came
of the desert seems to be arrayed. Its enemies display cunning of in for special effort. He seemed very fond of milk. Though the
a high order in outwitting the defense of needle-sharp spines. It cans had been opened in the usual manner, by punching two
is one of the tragic sights of the wastelands to see a majestic small holes in the tops, he upended them so that he could catch
flower stalk, the sole supreme effort of perhaps 20 years of in his tongue the few drops of liquid which they still contained.
growth-fight against heat and drouth, cut down just before the Sometimes a can would slip from his paws and go rolling away.
breaking out of its flower buds, by the industrious gnawings of At such times he would bound gracefully after it—a soft, sound-
some sweet-toothed rat or squirrel. less grey wraith, almost invisible even in the moonlight. After
I have seen stalks that have been gnawed through to all but a a while he would come back, appearing to be licking his lips,
mere wisp of outer rind continue the fight. Unable to stand, and and start pawing for another can. When he had been through
fallen by their own weight, they somehow hang onto life. They the whole bunch and was satisfied that this stopping place held
turn back, and up, upon themselves, forming grotesque figure- nothing further for the night, he lifted his head, gave a final
eights and other weird knots, until they can lift their summits glance at my window, and trotted away.
once more toward the sun. From the contorted ruin of what He was a quiet, fascinating little fellow, reminding one more
once was a proud, lusty stalk, they finally fling forth their ban- of a shadow than a creature of flesh and blood. It is impossible to
ner of yellow flowers. imagine him raising a racket like our friends the packrats. Or
They will do more than this. I have seen stalks whose budding fussing about with self-important swaggerings like the little
tips have been completely severed, send out from the edges of spotted skunk who has condescended to adopt us. "Jimmy," as
the ragged stump fresh flower buds in a queer, struggling ring. he is called, has lots of assurance but not good manners. He was
MAY, 1946 21
making such a disturbance prancing around in the porch the barred themselves up in the innermost rooms of their fortress
other night I went out with a bit of food as a bribe. For some and swore venomously at him. (And if you think a packrat can-
reason he was offended at my appearance. After glowering at not swear you are in for a terrible shock sometime.) But lately
me from his temporary vantage point upon the lid of a water the family has lived together more peacefully. Jimmy takes
barrel, he retired into a crevice behind a cupboard, scuffling and fewer malicious leaps into the leaf heaps. And the rats swear in
scratching vigorously. But he could not resist the bribe. After I a softer voice.
had called him several times he came out in his best masked- Oh yes, there is another packrat living in the porch. He's the
bandit manner, sniffed the tidbit, grabbed it from my fingers fellow who must have been reading about the hanging gardens
and retired to his hide-out. As a rule, though, Jimmy is very of Babylon. At any rate he has his nest inside an old saucepan
sociable—almost too much so. When we meet him on evenings which hangs, top in, from a nail in the wall. There is just room,
in the porch he scampers around our bare ankles like an amiable between the top edge of the pan and the wall, for an active rat
kitten, the beautiful plume of his tail giving him a background to wriggle in. The "nest," just like that of a very neat bird, is
like a cascade. constructed entirely of ropeyarn . . . Yes, we like the general
Our porch, which is Jimmy's stamping ground, is an outrage arrangement of our back porch. And we wouldn't want it any
to the neat and orderly arrangement of any refined person. In it other way. Of course, other people might react differently.
—in addition to screen-wire coolers for food—we keep miscel- A friend stopped me some time back, on one of my periodic
laneous piles of sticks and dead branches and bits of dry cactus visits to "civilization," and asked me if I were really happy living
intended for fuel and an assortment of old boxes, mud nests of out in the desert. "Don't you ever feel," she said, "that you and
mason wasps, chairs and benches, picks, rakes, axes, crowbars, your family are missing something?"
wood saws, lanterns and water barrels. In addition there is, in "Yes," I agreed. "I think we are. Transportation strikes, for
one corner, a large packrat's nest, with all the trimmings of instance. And newspaper scare heads. And jazz. And nervous
sticks and junk which are so dear to a packrat's heart. The over- prostration. And other things."
flow from the nest, consisting mostly of dead, dry cottonwood "No," she said. "I didn't mean that. But isn't there anything
leaves, spills artistically over a great deal of the porch floor in you'd like?"
a formation which geologists refer to as "a perfect alluvial fan." And I said yes to that too. But when I started to tell her sev-
We never have the heart to hurt our friend's feelings by sweep- eral of the things I'd like—especially things I'd like to see done
ing it out. Besides, what's the use? He would only lug it back. •—she stopped me again.
There are two other packrats' nests on the porch. One is up "Oh, but that's politics. I didn't mean that either. What I
under the eaves—a sort of penthouse dwelling. The other is on meant was Happiness. Opportunity. Money. Couldn't you do
the lid of a water barrel. To this one the builder has added tin better for yourself somewhere else?"
cans and odds and ends of the children's discarded playthings. And to that I had to say no. Of course I couldn't say it so
At one time Jimmy the skunk used to come into the porch and briefly. I had to explain that it was all a matter of viewpoint.
stamp around among the litter of dry leaves, making a rustly, That, as far as I was concerned, I had found Happiness and
scrattery sound, and scare the daylights out of the packrats, who Opportunity. And that, as to money, it depended upon the
value which you place upon money—whether you command it
or it commands you. And that there can be more enjoyment de-
rived from spending a nickel or a quarter, if you spend it with a
contented heart, than can be obtained by many a man who reck-
ons his income and his spending by thousands of dollars—be-
ing harassed the whole time by the devils of worry and uncer-
tainty. I pointed out that times hadn't changed so much from
that period in which was written: "Better a meal of herbs,
where love is, than a fatted ox and hatred withal." We had quite
a long talk. And my friend went away feeling, I think, that sym-
pathy for my "underprivileged lot" was entirely wasted.
Rudyard is shouting loudly for assistance. The perpetual
motion machine which he has invented from some old cogs,
springs and rubber bands, has stopped. This is a fearsome in-
vention, which, as the advertisements say, "must be seen to be
appreciated." Briefly the idea is that if one rubber band re-
volves the flywheel half a revolution, and you have another
rubber band and some springs and cogs adjusted so that they
will take over and revolve the wheel the rest of the way, so that
it will engage with the tension of the first rubber band again,
then why in tunket won't the wheel keep on going round and
round ad infinitum?
I'm sure I don't know. But it won't. And that is what Rud-
yard is so mad about. He demands the services of a "specialist."
• • 4
i THE LITTLE THING
IN 1946
. . . take the thrilling trip on mule back down Rainbow Trail 'mid Do faithfully the little thing
colorful scenes so vivid no artist could portray . . . to the most That comes to you each day,
spectacular of all national monuments . . . RAINBOW BRIDGE. The duty small that seems to cling
Rest at picturesque RAINBOW LODGE, backed by the breath-
taking span of Navajo Mountain . . . where comfortable lodging,
To each one on the Way,
excellent food and hospitality are, as before, directed by Bill and The little tasks that must be done
Mrs. Wilson. And none but you can do,
W R I T E BILL W I L S O N , TONALEA, ARIZONA, FOR RATES
Thus shall you grow from sun to sun
AND A BROCHURE DESCRIBING " T H E RAINBOW." And blessings shall accrue.
—Tanya South

Average speed IV2 »z//&f <*» /&o#f. Zfrfj JF.W explores ahead while Aries Adams guides the
jalopy through and over boulders which cloudburst storms have deposited in Coyote canyon.
Penetrating the heart of Anza Desert State park Nor were the Indians more friendly than the landscape. The
by a route no car had been able to travel for ten padre described them: "The Indians came out of their grottoes
years, Randall Henderson brings to Desert readers as if they were angry, motioning to us with the hand that we
this month a report on one of the least known among must not go forward, talking in jargon with great rapidity,
the palm canyons of Southern California. This re- slapping their thighs, jumping like wild goats and with simi-
gion was once the home of a tribe of jumping Indi- lar movements . . . One especially, who must have been some lit-
ans—but the redskins have long since disappeared, tle chief, as soon as he saw us, began to talk with great rapidity,
and today it remains a place of rare scenic beauty shouting and agitated as if angry, and as if he did not wish us
for those who have the hardihood to explore its to pass through his lands, and jerking himself to pieces with
hidden recesses. blows on his thighs, and with jumps, leaps and gestures. The
women did not show themselves, but the men were unarmed,
By RANDALL HENDERSON ugly, emaciated, disheveled, and dirty like all those who live in
this sierra . . . The clothing of the men is nakedness; the women
wear little skirts made of mescal or from the skins of deer."
I' / / HEN Father Pedro Font traversed Coyote canyon in Those were the impressions recorded 171 years ago when
v\/ December, 1775, he was not impressed either by the Captain Juan Bautista de Anza's first colony of California set-
scenery or the Indians he found there. tlers, on their tortuous journey from Tubac in what is now
Of the landscape, he wrote in his diary: "This canyon is southern Arizona to Monterey, spent a cold wet Christmas eve
formed by various high and very rocky hills, or better, by great in Coyote canyon.
mountains of rock, boulders and smaller stones which look as if The Indians have long since departed from this rugged can-
they had been brought and piled up here like the sweepings of yon. The road mentioned by Fray Font was only an Indian trail,
the world . . . The road in places is somewhat broken and grown since no wheeled vehicle had ever passed that way, and it too is
with shrubs or brush and a little hediondilla (creosote bush), gone—lost in the churning avalanche of sand and rock which
for since this shrub is of evil augury, it is not lacking in these flood torrents have brought down this canyon many times since
salty and worthless lands." that day.
MAY, 1946 23
To H#m«t : /".''J\ , J ,^;'•/•., %M.-\TO Htm$t:%,,.\>tTo Coochello VaJJ'y""\'jt .;.; ; ' J V-
To BORREGO VALLEY
Captain de Anza and Fray Font, responsible for the lives of year to try the upper approach, coming in from Clark's ranch
240 companions and over 1000 head of horses, mules and cat- at the point where Anza and his party had climbed out of the
tle, had neither the time nor incentive to explore the areas ad- gorge. Years ago the CCC built a fairly passable road down that
jacent to their route. Had they done so they would have found grade to the floor of the canyon at this point.
in the tributary canyons flowing into Coyote, streams of cool In our stripped-down V-8, equipped with oversize tires, we
sweet water lined with majestic palm trees, spreading sycamores, left the Clark ranch before noon on a Saturday late in February.
and great natural gardens of a thousand botanical species most As a third passenger we had Irtis Ward, whose best recommen-
of which, in season, bear gorgeous blossom and fill the air with dation for the trip was that he had lived most of his life on a
fragrance. Kansas wheat ranch and knew how to handle a crowbar. The
A later generation of men, impressed with the charm of these crowbar was Aries' idea—and we would never have gotten
tributary canyons, took steps to preserve them for the benefit of through without it.
all the human family. The "sweepings of the world" have be- At its upper end, Coyote canyon splits into three separate
come part of the Anza Desert State park. arroyos, with Horse canyon going off into the hills to the north,
Those palms were the lure which first took me to Coyote can- Tule canyon to the south, and Nance canyon between. The junc-
yon 12 years ago. At that time there was a passable road up the tion of the three channels is known to old-timers in the area
canyon, used by cattlemen and prospectors. Wilson McKenney as the "turkey track."
and I spent two days there—our time being about equally divid- It was rough going down the grade from the ranch corral. No
ed between discovering palm trees and digging our jalopy out work had been done on the road for years, and the rains had
of the sand and mire along the route. rutted and scoured it until it wasn't a fit trail for a burro. Bump-
Soon after that trip, Coyote canyon became impassable to mo- ing and skidding down that grade we wondered if we would
tor travel. The willow trees which thrive in the moist soil around ever get the car back to the top. There wasn't much said about
Santa Catarina spring simply took possession of the entire can- it at the time, but Aries and I were thinking of a possible al-
yon in that sector. Like the jungle in Africa, they encroached ternative.
upon the little-used road until it became impenetrable. No car We knew that a mighty cloudburst torrent—one of those
has ever been able to traverse the full length of Coyote canyon record-breakers which visit every desert canyon at long inter-
for eight or ten years. Aries Adams and I attempted it a year vals—perhaps 10 or 25 or 50 years—had raged down Coyote
ago—and finally had to discard our jalopy in favor of horses canyon last August. We knew it had destroyed part of the Anza
loaned to us by Lawrence Way, foreman of Anza ranch. (Des- ranch irrigation system below Santa Catarina spring. We won-
ert Magazine, July '45.) dered if that torrent had been powerful enough to uproot the
But there is one palm tributary to Coyote creek which Aries trees and cut a channel through the willow forest at Santa Cata-
and I have long wanted to explore. It appears on the maps as rina. By the time we reached the bottom of the grade we knew
Thousand palms canyon, not to be confused with another we were going to explore that possibility before attempting the
Thousand palms canyon in the hills northwest of Indio, Cali- five-mile climb back up to Clark's ranch.
fornia. Hulbert Burroughs and Charles Shelton photographed Twelve years ago the wide floor of Coyote canyon was fairly
this area for Desert Magazine in the summer of 1941—but level. The old road zigged and zagged back and forth across the
their's was a backpack trip and they lacked the time fully to ex- bottom and crossed the stream many times. But we found a
plore Thousand palms. changed Coyote canyon today. The deluge last summer was no
Having been turned back by the Willows at Santa Catarina ordinary storm. It had gouged out a secondary channel from
spring on our previous visit to this area, Aries and I decided this three to 12 feet deep in the floor of Coyote. This new channel

closed in on us immediately below the turkey track. We had no
alternative route. We were boxed in by vertical walls of sand
and: boulders. There was no climbing out for detours.
And so we bounced along downstream, stopping frequently
to pry huge boulders out of the way, filling in channels, explor-
ing ahead to discover the most passable route, hoping always that
no obstacle would appear that could not be overcome by shovels
and jacks and the crowbar—and manpower. The jalopy behaved
beautifully. On such a trip you can learn to love an old wreck
Looking downstream in Salvador canyon jrom the top of

the 60- foot waterfall. There are 302 palms in this canyon,
and 58 in a fork which branches to the left just below the
main palm group shown in this picture.
l*,£ W - v * v _ A •• • "
These palms, perhaps 150 years old, show the slender form
of the W'ashingtonia filifera found in some of the
desert canyons.
like that. More than once we were hung up on boulders and had
to get out the jacks and pile in rocks to give footing to the spin-
ning wheels. Aries at the wheel, took the car between rocky
portals that scraped the fenders on both sides.
But traversing Coyote canyon was merely incidental to the
main purpose of our trip. We had come to explore Thousand
palms canyon. Just before dusk a side channel branched off to
the south and gave us an opportunity to climb out in the direc-
tion of Thousand palms tributary. The auxiliary channel was
dry and shallow, and we followed it a short distance and then
made camp for the night. There was plenty of driftwood for the
campfire and it was a perfect camp—with one exception. The
Desert Magazine reporter had forgotten part of the cooking
utensils. But the Kansas farmer saved the day. He showed us
how expertly eggs and hotcakes could be flipped over with the
blunt end of a machete—which we had brought along for a pos-
sible attack on the willows.
Next morning we followed the base of the mountain to a point
on the bajada opposite Thousand palms canyon. We were in
MAY, 1946 25
coming in from the south the sun was glistening on the fronds
of what appeared to be a sizable oasis.
However, we continued up the main canyon, with palms in-
creasing in both size and number as we climbed higher. There
were waterfalls which had to be detoured, but the going gen-
erally was not as rough as in a score of other palm canyons de-
scribed in previous issues of Desert. We passed another tributary
coming in from the south, and could see a few palms high up
in that channel also.
At 2V2 miles from our starting point the main canyon forked,
with a good stream of water coming down both branches. I do
not know which of the two forks should be considered the main
canyon above this point, but we decided to explore both of them.
We continued up the left branch but our way was soon blocked
by a jungle of mesquite, catsclaw and arrowweed and we were
forced up on a precipitous sidehill, where toe-and-hand climb-
ing was necessary. It was rough going, but the air was scented
with wild apricot in blossom. It is a delicious aroma.
In another half mile the floor of the canyon had cleared and
we dropped down to better footing. Here we saw a number of
aged palms—tall slender trees whose skirts long ago had been
burned but whose tops were still a healthy green. Nature had
planted them above the floor of the canyon—hence their sur-
vival of the storm floods through the 125 or 150 years they
have been growing.
The walls had now closed in until the floor of the canyon was
only 12 or 15 feet wide in places. Then, rounding a sharp turn,
we faced a dry waterfall 60 feet in height. Its face was almost
vertical but we found a chute going up one side that could be
scaled, and eventually reached the top. Beyond this point we
found one lone palm, growing at an altitude of 2810 feet.
We continued up the canyon some distance, passing the up-
permost of the springs which feed the creek in this canyon.
When it became evident that we were beyond the range of the
palms we rested in the shade of a boulder and compared notes.
It was too early for many species of wildflowers to be in blos-
som, but we had seen an occasional encelia and many chuparosas
in bloom. The most colorful display was the wild apricots which
grew plentifully on the slopes. They were covered with white
flowers—and bees. I do not know whether it is the fault of the
bees, or just what flaw there is in the fertilization of wild apri-
cot blossom, but hardly one in a hundred of these flowers ever
produces an apricot—and it is not very palatable fruit at that.
Two botanical specimens seen on this trip will remain long
in memory. One was a bellflower phacelia, growing in a handful
of dirt lodged in a boulder at the point where we turned back.
There is no richer color on earth than the royal purple of the
bell-shaped blossom of this graceful little plant. The other
specimen—a sword fern with fronds 18 inches long was grow-
ing in a shaded nook beside the creek. I have seen myriads of
ferns on the desert—the maidenhair that often clings to the
shaded face of a waterfall, and many species of dwarfed desert
ferns—but in all the years I have tramped these desert canyons,
this was the first sword type I have found—just a lone specimen
"Rounding a sharp curve ive faced a 60-foot dry water- in Thousand palms canyon.
fall." The climb to the top was by way of a chute on the left. From this point we climbed over a ridge and down into the
headwaters of the right fork of the main canyon. In this branch
Collins valley, which merely is a wide bulge in the floor of Coy- we counted 58 palms, making a total of 360 Washingtonias in
ote canyon. From the distance, Thousand palms is not a con- the main canyon with its two forks.
spicuous canyon. There are neither palm trees nor other land- There is a considerable variation in the types of Washington
marks to distinguish it from a score of other side-canyons in the palms found in different areas, as Dr. L. H. Bailey of Cornell
area. university confirms in his monograph on this genus. At various
times botanical authorities have classified five species—W. fili-
The elevation at the entrance is 1500 feet. Leaving the car we fera, robusta, gracilis, sonorae and arizonica. After years of study
hiked over boulders and coarse rubble for a mile before we Dr. Bailey concluded that the species classifications should be
reached the first trickle of water—the point where Thousand reduced to two—filifera and robusta. The filifera is the native
palms creek disappeared in the sand. Occasionally a dead palm palm of Southern California and the Kofa mountain locality in
trunk was seen lodged among the rocks—the debris of some western Arizona. Robusta is a native of Sonora, Mexico. It is
ancient flood. A mile and a half from the car we saw the first the tall slender tree used so widely for landscaping in Los An-
palms, just an occasional young tree. But far up in a side canyon geles and other southwestern cities.

These palms, perhaps 100 years old, have escaped the destructive power of storm floods
because Nature planted them on the sidehill.
But filifera, generally with a much thicker trunk, also grows name a half dozen canyons in Southern California with a greater
quite spindly in some of the oases, and this characteristic is number.
especially noticeable in Thousand palms canyon. Also, there is another Thousand palms canyon—Paul Wil-
At the foot of one of the waterfalls we ate lunch, while a helm's oasis in the Indio hills 50 miles to the north. This place is
canyon wren flitted overhead from rock to rock and paid for its well known to travelers, while the Thousand palms canyon in
dinner of crumbs by an occasional outburst of song. The trilling Anza park has been little publicised and seldom visited. As Anza
reverse-scale of the canyon wren is one of the most delightful park becomes more accessible confusion in these place names
theme songs of the desert. is inevitable.
Aries and I are not too happy over the naming of this canyon. Aries and I offer the suggestion that the Anza park oasis be
I do not know who first gave it the term "Thousand palms" but named Salvador canyon—honoring California's first white baby,
as a descriptive title it is far from accurate. Making liberal al- born in a tent less than five miles away at Upper Willows
lowance for the palms in the tributary canyons, it is doubtful if spring when Captain de Anza's colonists camped there on
there are 500 Washingtonias in the entire canyon system. I can Christmas eve in 1775.
Where last summer's flood cut a swath through the Lower Willows at Santa Catarina spring
—otherwise the journey through Coyote canyon would not have been possible.
MAY, 1946
27
Salvador Ygnacio Linares was the name given when Father Our actual working time coming down the main Coyote chan-
Font christened the newcomer. His parents were Ygnacio and nel was a little over eight hours—our average speed lVi miles
Gertrudis Rivas Linares. Salvador and his mother were hardy an hour.
pioneers, for on the second day after his arrival he and his Large acreages in Borrego valley are being cleared and lev-
mother continued on horseback with the Anza caravan. eled by vegetable growing concerns for winter crops. As a re-
It was early afternoon when we returned to the car again, and sult of their need for a road to market, impetus is being given
we lost no time in resuming our journey. We did not know yet a movement for the construction of a highway down Coyote
whether we could get through the willows at Santa Catarina canyon—above the flood water mark. This road would follow
spring, but the only alternative was to retrace our route up that roughly the route taken by Anza when he crossed the sierra to
boulder-strewn canyon, a trip that would be more difficult than the coastal plain near Riverside.
on the previous day because the grade would be against us. Southern California's vacationists also have a stake in such a
The cloudburst of the previous August had given us plenty of road. It will make accessible one of the most fascinating areas
trouble. Perhaps it had also given us one good break—a clean in Anza desert park, including Coyote, Indian, Cougar, Sheep
swath through the forest of willow, which would enable us to and Salvador canyons. The jumping Indians of Fray Font's day
complete our traverse of the entire canyon. Anyway, we were are no longer there, but the scenic splendor of the region which
unanimous in our decision to make the effort. was once their home, is far beyond anything the good padre
We retraced our route back to the stream, and found the go- could have imagined when he described this area as the "sweep-
ing rougher than it had been on the previous day. The fall in ings of the world."
the lower canyon is not as great as above, and the current had • • •
piled up ridges of boulders like glacial moraines. Once we had NOTES ON WILDFLOWER BLOOM FOR MAY
to build a road and dig our way out of the channel for a long PALM SPRINGS—Commonest flowers blooming in April in
detour. the Palm Springs region were: chuparosa, desert lavender, creo-
The sun was low when we reached the critical point in our sote, desert paintbrush, bush pentstemon, encelia, phacelia, lem-
journey—the willow forest. But our spirits rose to the high point onade berry, goatnut, deer weed, wild buckwheat, deerhorn,
of our adventure when we found a clean 20-foot channel cut beavertail and barrel cactus, sand verbena, mountain lilac. Joshua
through the jungle. The flood had uprooted hundreds of trees. trees were blooming along the road to Twentynine Palms. Best
Some of them were still clinging to the caved banks by a shred areas for bloom during May will be in canyons and slopes.
of root. We maneuvered the car through without difficulty— NEVADA—In vicinity of Boulder City, park officials expect-
and then found more and bigger boulders below. But Nature ed a good display of flowers during Easter vacation. Among the
had removed the toughest obstacle of all and we pushed and commonest are sand verbena, several kinds of evening primrose,
pried our way a mile downstream to where the Anza ranch own- encelia, lupine and desert dandelion. Among those expected
ers had built a low diversion dam as a temporary method of re- later (these should be blooming in May) are purple phacelias,
storing their water supply after the flood had carried away part chicory, mallows (orange and pink) and yellow senna. Also
of their big pipe line to Santa Catarina spring. We climbed out various cacti and ocotillo. More than 600 varieties are known in
of the channel to the first road we had seen in 30 hours. this area, and many of them should be in bloom during May.
A A A 4 A A AA REPRESENTS THE 1945 CROP AND LIVESTOCK VALUA-

TION
M \ % I HM Illl TOTAL OF THE AREA SERVED BY IMPERIAL
l & U V l I V V l V V IRRIGATION DISTRICT IN IMPERIAL COUNTY . . .
(Statistics Compiled by Agricultural Commissioner B. A. Harrigan)
Included in this Record-Breaking Total are 15 Items Imperial Irrigation District's Water Distribution
Exceeding One Million Dollars— System which has over 3,000 miles of canals and
Alfalfa - $11,848,335.00 drains, serves the greatest Irrigated Empire in the
Lettuce 9.163.440.00 Western Hemisphere.
Cattle 7.666.726.00
Cantaloupes 5.850,720.00 * • •
C arrots
,, 5'5Si'ioS"SS fc» Power System with more than 1.800 miles of
riax 4/ZoU#/zu«uu _
Sugar Beets 2.105,000.00 Transmission and Distribution Lines keeps Farms
Dairy Products and Market Milk 1,430,396.00 and Businesses running in an area larger than
Tomatoes 1,418,040.00 some States.
Sheep 1,283,656.00
Ice 1,252,500.00
Honey Dew Melons 1,202,625.00 TVTPFRTAT TRRTPATTOW nmTRTPT D,,W^I,.
Cattle (Dairy) 1,135,500.00 IMPERIAL IRRIGATION DISTRICT — Pubhcly-
Bariey 1,070,055.00 Owned and Operated—Is the Lifeline of Imperial
Citrus Fruits 1,025,750.00 Valley.
Imperial Irrigation District.

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

Ciounttu Clou6ln6
on the
By MARY BEAL
/ j MONG the next of kin to the Dandelions are two species

~T~J which merit special attention. The Chicory tribe, to
which they all belong, has no members more attractive
thiin these two sunny flowers. They usually are called Dande-
lions by the casual visitor to the desert areas where they grow,
but they are not found in multitudes as are their more gregari-
ous cousins. Although they weave no great carpets of glowing
gold, this does not mean they are aloof or shyly retiring. They Scale-bud, or Anisocoma acaulis, is a charming little cousin
merely lead a quiet stay-at-home life in the country. of the desert Dandelion. Photo by Mary Beal.
The most noticeable of the "country cousins" likes plenty of
room to stretch out its branching stems. Here and there it cre- Anisocoma acaulis
ates individual patches of bright yellow whose brilliance is a
lure to passers-by. Botanically it is known as This charming little annual, sometimes called Scale-bud, also
produces no breath-taking sweeps of glorious color but is so
Calycoseris parryi lovely in every way that its delicate grace would ornament any
Its species name honors Dr. C. C. Parry, one of the botanists garden. The herbage is smooth, a pale grey-green, veiled with a
of the United States-Mexican Boundary Survey, whose interest bloom, the fleshy, pinnately-lobed or toothed leaves 2 to 4 inches
in the plants discovered on that expedition led him to make long, arranged in a basal rosette. From this lacy base rise the
m£:ny subsequent collecting trips into the Southwest. The genus naked flower scapes, 3 to 6 inches, infrequently up to a foot in
name is derived from the Greek words for cup (kalux), refer- height, each one crowned by a single pale-yellow flower-head,
ring to the shallow cup at the summit of the achene, and seris, usually an inch and a half across, the rays often tinged pink on
the name of a cichoriaceous plant. the back. The silvery-white bracts of the long, very slender in-
volucre are striped down the center with green or brown. The
The plant averages 6 to 12 inches in height, usually with sev- densely hairy achenes are tipped by a glistening white pappus of
erd branching stems from the base, which reach out a foot or plumose bristles of two lengths, arranged in lopsided fashion,
more, even up to 2 feet under very favorable conditions, gener- the long bristles on one side and the short ones on the opposite
ously adorned with radiant blossoms. The leaves are divided side. Because these two sets of pappus bristles are unlike, the
into very slender, widely spaced lobes, growing mostly on the botanists compounded its genus name from the Greek anisos
lower parts, while the upper leaves are tiny and bract-like. The (unequal) and kome (tuft of hair). Its species name is from
upper parts, especially the flower-stems and involucres, are dot- the Latin, meaning stemless.
ted with dark, tack-shaped glands. This latter characteristic has
earned it the common name of Yellow Tack-Stem. It is found rather commonly on mesas, sandy plains, moun-
tain slopes and washes of the Mojave and Inyo deserts from 2000
The sunny flower-heads are 1 to V-h inches across, their eyes to 7000 feet altitude, from March to June, according to eleva-
a dear bright yellow. The bristles of the copious white pappus tion. Less frequently it favors southern Nevada and northwest-
are joined at the base, an intriguing circlet of silky fluff when the ern Arizona.
wind lifts it from the tiny cup at the tip of the achene's beak.
I'm glad that it has homesteaded a sandy strip within reach of
It adds sparkle to sandy plains and mesas of the Colorado des- my footsteps, around Daggett in the Mojave, for the sight of it
ert, the central and eastern Mojave and Inyo deserts, Arizona, always is one of the most welcome smiles of the desert spring.
southern Utah and Nevada, usually in April and May.
Calycoseris wrightii is very similar to the above, but the tack-
shaped glands are pale and the flower rays are white, streaked RARE MIDGET PARASITE PLANT
or spotted on the underside with rose-pink, the whole ligule DISCOVERED IN COLORADO DESERT
turning rose-colored or purplish as it ages. From March to May The "midget" of the desert, Pilostyles thurberi, which Jerry
it takes an attractive part in embroidering the tapestries of blos-
Laudermilk wrote about in Desert, June, 1945, and which at that
som on Arizona mesas, plains and rocky slopes up to 4000 feet.
Less commonly it graces similar areas from Utah to northern time had been reported only from a restricted area in Arizona,
Mexico, through Nevada and the California deserts, and as far was discovered in a new location January 30, 1946. Eva M. Wil-
east as Texas. son, El Centra, found this tiny parasitic plant growing on its
usual host, Indigo bush, 30 miles west of El Centro, California.
It too was named for an early collector in the West, Charles Identification was verified by Stanford university. The plants
Wright (1811-1885). Wright was a young surveyor and first appear like thickly scattered blackish pepper on stems and
teacher, who first collected plants in Texas and sent specimens lower branches of the Indigo bush. These are the tiny flower
to Asa Gray. Many of the plants he discovered when he accom-
buds of the "midget" which have just broken through the bark.
panied United States troops from San Antonio to El Paso in
1849, proved to be hitherto unknown species. He was botanist They soon develop into a colony of minute brown flowers like
with the North Pacific Exploring and Surveying expedition crumbs of burnt toast. Laudermilk suggests there are probably
from 1853 to 1856. He collected in central California in 1855 many undiscovered Pilostyles localities waiting for someone who
and 1856. knows what to look for.
MAY, 1946 29
LETTERS...
Indian Cradleboard . . .
Fallon, Nevada
Dear Mr. Henderson:
Glancing over the April copy of Desert
I saw the query, "Can anyone tell us the
The Colorado Desert . . . Report on Rattlesnakes . . . name of the cradleboard used by Indians
Lordsburg, New Mexico Death Valley, California to carry papooses?"
Dear Sirs: Dear Desert Mag: A few years ago Gladys Rowley, who
I have asked so many people and none Since Elmo Proctor has been neglecting writes the column "Reno Revue" in the
knew where the "Colorado desert" is lo- his job, will you permit me to substitute as Nevada State Journal, asked the same
cated. Why not draw a map in some forth- a critic of Desert? question and was flooded with answers.
coming issue showing where it is, and Your comment on the danger from rat- Bill Powers of Reno, whose knowledge of
how large an area it covers. tlesnakes sounds like a rank amateur. I do Nevada Indians and their language is ex-
MRS. A. H. McDANIEL not know just how much danger there is tensive, informed the column that both
We'll be running such a map of being hit by a meteor, but I do know I the Pahutes and the Shoshones called the
sooner or later. For your information have been routed out of bed three times by snug little home in which the papoose trav-
in the meantime, the Colorado desert, rattlers. They were coiled up on the covers, els on its mother's back a hoob. Another
so named by W. P. Blake in 1853, is and it isn't a pleasant experience. In the informant said the word was hoob, but pro-
defined approximately as that part of late 'nineties most of the cowboys in the nounced like hoop, as though it had three
the lower Colorado river watershed in Tonto basin country used large hair ropes o's in it.
California south of the Little San Ber- around their beds to keep the rattlers away. Still another quoted Chalfant's Story of
nardino and Chuckawalla mountain Yours with best wishes. biyo, chapter on home life of the Pahutes:
ranges. The Imperial or Salton basin "The infant Pahute was cradled in a wick-
R. M. WIMMER erwork contrivance called a huva or heuba,
occupies the greater part of this area.
—Editor with a tree fork as a foundation."
Okay, friend Wimmer, but we ama- One informant explained how to tell the
• • • teurs long ago learned that the idea of
How Joshuas Got Their Name . . . sex of hoobed babies. Certain tribes dec-
a hair rope to keep rattlers off the bed orate the cover or hood with a diamond
Kingsport, Tennessee comes from the same school of voo-
Mr. Henderson: shaped figure for girls, a half diamond for
doo as the old superstition that if you boys.
Desert Magazine is a real treat for those fed white leghorns yellow corn their
of us who live in far-away places, especial- One reader wrote, "Our local Indians
feathers would turn yellow.—R.H. call it a burkus. That is the name used by
ly some of the names used out there in the
Southwest—"Desert Rat," "Rockhound" • • • many western and midwestern tribes."
and "Joshua Tree." Tale of a Centipede . . . MRS. BEN HICKS
Did some prospector camp under those • • •
trees named Joshua, or were they named Banning, California
Yanko Henderson: Cradleboard Made Flat Heads . . .
after the great General Joshua of biblical Rowood, Arizona
history, who made both the sun and moon Long time ago I lived where there were Dear Editor:
stand still all night while he defeated his real centipedes, not these common little I read the inquiry in your magazine
enemies? We read that he hung the five things you write about. If they were not about the name of the papoose carrying
kings on five trees, and I can imagine he seven or eight inches long we paid no at- cradle. You did not state what language
may have named them Joshua trees. tention to them. you wanted it in, so I am giving it to you
But the name hardly would have come We had a leghorn rooster that got the in Papago. The Papagos call it vool-coot,
this far from Palestine, so it probably is pip, or was disappointed in love, or some- meaning bandaged cradle. When I was a
of modern origin. They surely are of much thing. Anyway his comb was a sort of sickly boy the Papagos made the cradles out of
importance or they would not be kept un- yellow and he had no pep. I was thinking small twigs of the willow that grew along
der government supervision. of shooting him to put him out of his mis- the rivers. You can tell the approximate
Please enlighten us readers on this sub- ery—but wasn't sure he was worth wastin' age of an old Indian by feeling the back of
ject. a .22 cartridge on. his head. If the skull is flat, the Indian be-
DR. J. H. HURST longed to the age of the carrying cradle.
But one day Mrs. Pierce called me out
Dear Doctor: Joshua trees were in the yard, and there was the sick rooster THOMAS CHILDS
given their common name by a band in mortal battle with the daddy of all cen- • • •
of Mormon colonists under the lead- tipedes. He would wrap himself around The Mojave Had a Name, Also . . .
ership of Elisha Hunt in 1851. They the rooster's head, then the leghorn would San Bernardino, California
were crossing the Mojave desert en- claw him off and start peckin' at him. Dear Mr. Henderson:
route from Utah to San Bernardino, Mrs. Pierce thought I ought to do some- Tucked away in an inconspicuous corner
California. It was approaching sum- thing about it, but I just told her the rooster of the April Desert was a request for in-
mer and a bank of clouds rolled over- was having some fun, and I would kill the formation regarding the Indian word for
head, tempering the sultry air, as they winner. cradleboard.
approached a forest of Joshua trees. Well, naturally every Indian language
The leader exclaimed, "Look breth- I won't go into the battle round by has its own word, but I can give you the
ren! the sky no longer is like brazen round, but the rooster finally won the Mojave word. It is hu-ma-ra pa-va-vai.
brass. God has sent the clouds. It is as fight, and ate the victim. After that I Hu-ma-ra means baby, hu-ma-ra keen-ya
if the sun stood still—as Joshua com- didn't have the heart to kill the leghorn. is baby boy, and hu-ma-ra cheen-ya is baby
manded. These green trees are lifting Next day he was out in the yard with the girl.
their arms to heaven in supplication. reddest comb and the cockiest strut you I cannot give you the exact meaning of
We shall call them Joshua trees! ever saw, and crowin' as if he had killed pava-vai but quite evidently it means hold-
Soon we will reach the Promised a whole den of rattlesnakes. er, carrier, or container.
Land!"—R.H. JIM PIERCE CHARLES BATTYE

2000 Trek for Treasure . . .
APACHE JUNCTION—The ghost of
Jacob Walz may or may not have been
on tlte stalking around his Superstition Mountain
haunts on St. Patrick's day. If it was he
ARIZONA Picket Post to Be Guest House . . . must have been amazed to see what he
Vets Have Priority on Arizona Land SUPERIOR—Picket Post House, desert started. More than 2000 men, women and
COOLIDGE — About 5000 acres of mansion of the late Col. William Boyce children motored to the mountain range,
Arizona land is included in the approxi- Thompson of Chicago, adjoining South- made base camp then tramped the rugged
mately 600,000 acres of federally owned west Arboretum near here, has been pur- mountains which are believed by many to
property on which house of representatives chased by Walter A. Franklin, who plans conceal the Lost Dutchman mine. Their
has decided war veterans shall have prefer- to operate it as a guest ranch. Thompson, guides were gaily-clad members of the
ence purchase rights. Property is known as mining tycoon, started construction on his Phoenix Dons Club, sponsors of the an-
Casa Grande Farms, Inc., near here. It is home in 1923, and soon after planned the nual trek. This year's trek was the first
held by the agriculture department as a arboretum which extends over an 1100 since prewar days. Treasure hunters came
rural resettlement project. acre area in the Pinal foothills. Aims of from 14 states and seven foreign countries
arboretum are "research, investigation and —England, Sweden, Denmark, Australia,
Wetherill Memorial Planned . . . experimentation in agriculture, horticul-
FLAGSTAFF—A monument to John ture, biology, botany, arboriculture and Cuba, Ireland and Canada.
and Louisa Wade Wetherill will be erect- other scientific subjects."
ed on a hilltop overlooking their former
home at Kayenta, according to plans dis-
Desert Colors Captured and Named
closed by Dr. Harold S. Colton, treasurer
of the Wetherill Memorial fund now being TUCSON — From the deserts and
STILL AVAILABLE-
raised. Donors to the fund have suggested mountains and from crumbling adobe
a large natural boulder bearing a bronze walls come "native" colors to help make
plaque. Committeemen working with Dr. Tucson "the most attractive city in the na-
Colton include Dr. Emil W. Haury of Ari- tion." This is the aim of Tucson Regional
zona state museum, Dr. Clyde Kluckholm Plan, Inc., a cooperative city-county group
of Harvard, James Swinnerton the artist, which is influencing architecture and land-
and Harry C. James of Altadena, Cali- scaping of southern Arizona. It recently is-
fornia. sued a color card as a guide for painting
homes. The dozen shades, originated by
Hotel Has Jail Accommodations . . . Dale Nichols, artist, and Harry Bacal,
TOMBSTONE — Historic old court- paint chemist, included palo verde blossom
house, built here in 1882, soon will be re- yellow, cielo blue, saguaro green, tierra
converted into a modern hotel by Albert brown, Castilian pink.
Kazal, representing interests in Douglas.
Under terms of the 25 year lease, exterior More Pack Mules at Rainbow . . .
DELUXE
appearance of building is to be preserved. LIMITED EDITION
However, no announcement was made CAMERON—Rainbow lodge, closed
about a new jail, so the lessee has a private the past three years, was reopened April 1
A Fellow of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science and President of
jail on his hands. with an added string of 30 pack-mules and both the Rocky Mountain Federation of Min-
eral Societies and the Mineralogical Society
four additional wrangler guides to serve of Arizona, Mr. Flagg has been a "Rock-
visitors on the 14-mile scenic trail from the hound" for half a century, forty of which
have been devoted to the minerals of Arizona.
lodge to Rainbow bridge this season, ac-
THE HOTEL cording to Barry Goldwater. Katherine
In this fascinating new book, of which only
a limited edition has been printed, Mr. Flagg
presents in five parts a wealth of construc-
AT THE and Bill Wilson, operating the lodge, state tive facts and information that will be in-
that the 35-mile road from Inscription valuable to both the novice and the experi-
PALMS House trading post to the lodge is in better
enced "Rockhound."
• • • condition than in years. A new trading

Part 1 The Rockhound and his hobby. What,
where, how to collect. How to iden-
tify and care for specimens. How to
FIREPLACE— post and more cottages are to be built at the enlarge a collection.
ADOBES lodge this season. Part 2 Common minerals of Arizona with
complete identification key.
• • • Part 3 Common rocks of Arizona with table
H. B. Farmer Asks Gila Appropriation of igneous rocks.
ALL SPORTS Part 4 The amateur Lapidary.
YUMA—Gila reclamation project, east Part 5 Mineral Societies.
of here, is one of the first which can be de- Also Bibliography and complete list of
veloped for war veterans. This was the Arizona Minerals.
OPEN
statement of Hugo B. Farmer, representing Beautiful in typography, cloth-bound and
ALL YEAR illustrated with interesting sketches and with
Gila Project association of Yuma county, plates of Arizona minerals and polished
stones faithfully reproduced in true colors
in March before house appropriations from natural color photographs "Rockhounds
Gateway to Joshua Tree Monument committee which was considering a $2,- & Arizona Minerals" is a handsome addition
to your library as well as an invaluable hand-
ROBT. VAN LAHR, Mgr. 000,000 appropriation for the 150,000 book.
For reservations write or call at acre project. Farmer said that due to the Edition is limited to 1800 autographed and
29 Palms Inn, Twentynine Palms, Calif. numbered copies.
cr Call any Travel Bureau or Automobile Club
fact there are no engineering problems in- Price—$2.00 postpaid anywhere in U. S.
volved and a large part of the canal system A d d r e s s orders t o . . .
is already constructed, this area could be
PALMS developed rapidly to provide homes and WHISPERING WIND PRESS
INN farmlands for nearly 100 veterans. About Fred Wilson's Indian Trading Post
25 North Central Ave., Phoenix, Arizona
70,000 acres of the project is public land.
MAY, 1946 31
Leave Your Plane at Home . . .
THE DESERT TRADING POST

Classified advertising in this section coats 7 cents a word, $1.00 minimum per issue
PHOENIX—Only oldfashioned hunt-
ing methods will be tolerated by Arizona
game and fish commission. In March all
game rangers were notified that it is illegal
to "take, hunt or pursue any wild animal by
MISCELLANEOUS HANDICRAFT PRODUCTS of Alaska Indi- means of aircraft or airplane."
ans, Aleuts and Eskimos—ivory ornaments, • • •
D E S A R T A T I O N S : Reckon the reason we can't dolls, moccasins, baskets, bear hides, others.
Northwest Indian Novelties, 2186 N. W. Gli-
Plans for a permanent camp for use of
not git no black pepper er tapioky is 'cuz the motion picture companies on location in
Folkses that grow the stuff her found a way san, Portland 10, Oregon.
t' make likker outen it, like they did sugar. picturesque Oak Creek canyon, south of
The DesArt Shop at 329 College St., Santa HAVE THE SHELLS your son or husband Flagstaff, were announced in March by
Fe, is gittin' lots o' repeat biz from y'u desert brought home from the South Pacific made
into something useful, beautiful, lasting. I Anderson Boarding and Supply company
photograffists which is jist swell fer them
an' me too, also. Azzever yourn, Art of the make them into brooches or earrings at a of Phoenix and Los Angeles.
Desert. reasonable price. Write to me. Mrs. Philip • • •
Stalker, P. O. Box 900, Walla Walla, Wash. Dr. Daniel Boone Herring, 72, soldier,
MIDDLE AGED active man wishes to make policeman, clergyman, author, lecturer,
occupational and living adjustment from city ATTENTION FOSSIL COLLECTORS! Our
over to the desert. Caretaker or wage earn- new 1946 price lists have just arrived from died March 13 at a veterans' hospital in
ing responsible work. No objection to depth the printers. Mail us your name and address Tucson.
or distance or small town in desert country. for free copy. Omaha Scientific Supply Com- • • •
J. A. Cooney, 1157 So. Vermont Ave., Los pany, Box 1750, Omaha 4, Nebr.
First all-Indian post of the Department
Angeles 6, Calif. of Arizona was chartered by American Le-
HAND WROUGHT COPPER, in all types of
ANNOUNCEMENT: Visit the fine collection metal arts for the home. Many desert gems gion recently, when Navajo Post No. 342
at the Mission Mineral Mart (formerly El cut and polished or rough. Inlays for the fire- of Window Rock, was formed.
Dan Dora Rock Shop) when you come to San place and barbecue. Send for a list of our
Diego. Rare minerals, Petrified wood, Gem special items. Valley Crafts Shop, 14135 Ox- • • •
materials. Mineralite Agency for San Diego nard St., Van Nuys, Calif. Douglas chamber of commerce and
County. A Fluorescence Laboratory with mines estimates population of Douglas at
beautiful and instructive display. Full infor- CACTI AND SUCCULENTS—From the des-
erts of the world. Don-Rita brand. By ap-
13,000 and that of its trading area at 45,-
mation on San Diego County's fabulous back-
country, Mission Mineral Mart, 818 Ft. pointment only. Write us your needs and we 000.
Stockton Drive, San Diego 3, Calif. will try to help you. Michael-Donnelly Cacti • • •
Gardens, 334 Lowell St., Daly City, Calif. L. S. Cates, New York City, president
INDIAN BEADED Belts. Typical Western Phelps Dodge Mining corporation, has
Craft. Handmade in California. Wear with leased the 1000 acre P-M ranch, 25 miles
slacks or riding breeches. Beautiful bead BOOKS — MAGAZINES
strips mounted on fine leather belts. % inch north of Nogales.
belts $4.25. 1 inch belts $4.75. Give waist READY MARCH 15th: "Lost Mines of the • • •
measure and width wanted. Shipped C.O.D. Old West" by Howard D. Clark in collabora-
tion with Ray Hetherington. Original pen
Cmdr. W. C. Lefebvre, of Phoenix, took
or postpaid if remittance accompanies order. over duties of state highway engineer
Dealer inquiries welcomed. Send orders to and ink sketches by Cedric W. Wiadas. Fea-
Will-Kraft Industries, 4416 Georgia St., San turing the lost "Peg Leg" along with 24 April 1, after having served in the navy
Diego 3, California. other famous lost mine stories. See your near- since December, 1942. He is former city
est book dealer or order direct from distribu- engineer of Tucson, Pima county engineer
WE ARE AGAIN RECEIVING real hand-ham- tor. Price $1.10 postpaid. Western Book and
Magazine Shop, 33lV2 So. Hill St., Los An- and city manager of Phoenix, and was state
mered Indian jewelry from the reservation
all made by top silversmiths. For our rock geles 13, California. highway engineer from 1924 to 1929.
customers we have bought another collection • • •
of rock, making this one of the largest col- WILL TRADE 250 page cook-book for any two The Inselbic Survey Foundation of New
lections of rocks and minerals in this part of copies "Arizona Highways." Hellar, P. O.
Box 2507, Los Angeles 53, Calif. York has completed a nationwide housing
the country. Our collection of rugs, baskets
and jewelry is still large despite the shortage. survey which shows that Arizona is the
Come in and see us. Daniels Indian Trading BOOKS—(Out of print, scarce, new, old hardest state in the country in which to rent
Post, 401 W. Foothill Blvd., Fontana, Calif books) quickly supplied. Send wants. Hellar, a house or apartment.
P. O. Box 2507, Los Angeles 53, Calif.
INDIAN RELICS: 4 very fine ancient Indian
arrowheads $1.00. 4 very fine bird arrow- PRIZE for every reader. Send dime for copy of LIVESTOCK
heads $1.00. 10 nice perfect arrowheads Continental Congress News, 587 West 55th
$1.00. Stone tomahawk $1.00. 2 flint skin- Street, Los Angeles 37, California.
URGENT: Want to buy two burros, preferably
ning knives $1.00. 10 arrowheads from 10 from general vicinity of Yosemite National
different states $1.00. 10 arrowheads of 10 BOOKFINDERS! (Scarce, out-of-print, unu-
Park. Address Box E, Desert Magazine.
different materials $1.00. 2 nice spearheads sual books). Supplied promptly. Send
$1.00. 4 small spearheads $1.00. 5 stone net wants. Clifton, Box 1377d, Beverly Hills, KARAKULS. Producers of Persian Lamb fur
sinkers $1.00. 5 stone line sinkers $1.00. 2 Calif. are easy to raise and adapted to the desert
fine flint chisels $1.00. 4 finely made duck which is their native home. For further in-
bill scrapers $1.00. 10 stemmed scrapers GOLD PANNING FOR PROFIT. Healthy, formation write Addis Kelley, 4637 E. 52
$1.00. 5 rare round hide scrapers $1.00. 5 fascinating occupation. Beginners' big in- Place, Maywood, California.
small finely made knife blades $1.00. 2 struction book, blueprints, photograph—
stemmed hoes $1.00. 4 fine drills $1.00. 5 $1.00. Desert Jim, 208 Delmar, Vallejo,
fine awls $1.00. Rare ceremonial flint $1.00. California. REAL ESTATE
4 sawedged arrowheads $1.00. 4 odd shaped
arrowheads $1.00. 4 fine drill pointed arrow- ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, Deserts, National DISCHARGED SOLDIER will sell mining
heads $1.00. 4 flying bird arrowheads $1.00. Geographies, other magazines, bought, sold, claim on Colorado River, fishing, hunting,
All of the above 23 offers for $20.00. Fine traded. John Wesley Davis, 16liy 2 Donald- well water, shade. Highway crosses claim.
Stone Celts or ungrooved Axes, 50c, 75c son St., Los Angeles 26, Calif. Address Box 517, Calipatria, Calif.
$1.00, $1.50, $2.00 each according to size.
Finely made grooved axes $3.00 to $17.00. BOOKS OF THE SOUTHWEST. For outstand-
100 assorted Sea Shells $10.00. Location For Imperial Valley Farms—
ing titles on the desert country—Travel, His-
where found given. 20 slightly damaged tory, Desert Plants and Animals, Gems and W. E. HANCOCK
arrowheads of good grade $1.00. 100 rough Minerals, Indians, Juvenile — write Desert "The Farm Land Man"
and damaged arrowheads $3.00. List free. Crafts Shop, 636 State St., El Centro, Calif. Since 1914
Lear's, Box 569, Galveston, Texas. Free catalog. EL CBNTRO CALIFORNIA

CALIFORNIA Date Dealer Buys Travertine . . .
"Then the Ground Opened" . . . INDIO—Twelve hundred acres includ- NOW DON'T LOSE
INDEPENDENCE — Residents of ing Travertine Point, prominent landmark
Inyo-Mono area were jolted out cf sleep 23 miles south of Indio on Highway 99, YOUR BEARINGS
March 22 by a series of sharp earthquakes recently was purchased from George Cros-
which rocked lower end of the valley and by of Duluth, Minnesota by Russell Nicoll,
resulted in a break in Los Angeles aque- owner of Valerie Jean date shop at Valerie
duct 70 miles south of Lone Pine. Damage Corner. The new owner will preserve, as a
to aqueduct, in section between Nine Mile perpetual Easter sunrise shrine, Sunrise
and No Name canyons, was caused when Hill on Travertine, site of past Coachella
boulders crashed down mountainside into Valley Easter services.
the open canal. Water surged over edge of
Site Chosen for Patton Park . . .
the dirt bank in two spots, cutting a chan-
INDIO—G. Stanley Wilson, Riverside
nel as it gushed out. When it had reached
architect, has been commissioned by the
U. S. 395, some five miles to the east, it had
Highway 60 Association to prepare plans
spread into a small river some 20 feet wide
for the proposed 320-acre memorial park
and hub-deep across the road. Jesse R.
planned in tribute to Gen. George S. Pat-
Smith, Lone Pine photographer, aban-
ton at the site of old Camp Young on the
doned efforts to photograph damage when
Riverside county desert where Patton
the ground began to open under his feet.
trained the third armored division. Native
He was watching tilting of the ground on IMany of the Wide Open Spaces
desert materials are to be used in any con-
a sidehill when, he said, "Suddenly with were closed for the duration.
struction work undertaken.
a wrench, the ground began to split open. During the war car owners were
I looked down and saw a widening crack Smoke Tree Land Sold . . . just car owners — about all they
forming on the spot where I was standing. TWENTYNINE PALMS—Sale of en- could do with the car was to own it.
That was when I left." Earthquake shocks tire real estate holdings of Pacific Coast Motors were powerless for want
in neighborhood of Owens valley may be Land company and J. I. Sklar, to a group of gasoline and wheels were tire-
expected for the next several months, C. F. of local business men and one Los Angeles less for lack of rubber.
Richter, professor of astronomy at Califor- associate was announced in March. Buy-
nia Institute of Technology, declared. Last ers are Leonard P. Wikoff, Edward J. Ken- The poor motorist had to con-
major earthquake in this area, he said, was ney, Earl H. Nicholes and Ralph W. fine his touring to weaving in and
in 1872. Fault line, which extends through Schneider, local men, and Mrs. Anne out of over-stuffed parking lots.
the southern part of the valley, is clearly Honn of Los Angeles. Transfer includes
visible in some sections where the land over 200 lots in various subdivisions and
suddenly drops some 15 to 20 feet. Two nearly a section of undeveloped acreage,
spots just north of Lone Pine are particu- all in Smoke Tree district. Acreage com- IJut this year he plans to get away
larly noticeable. prises nearly a mile of frontage on Twenty- from the city's form-fitting traffic.
nine Palms highway, lying south and north He's going to head for the fish
To Submit Tramway Bids . . . of the road, and extending through to the and game country to welfare him-
PALM SPRINGS—Three engineering Two-Mile road. New owners will maintain self among the scenery.
firms are expected to submit bids soon for a Los Angeles sales office. Development Trouble is, when he starts travel-
the construction of the San Jacinto moun- hereafter will be known as Smoke Tree ing unfamiliar roads, he's liable to
tain tramway, according to Earl Coffman, Lands. get himself awful lost.
head of the group in charge of the project. So, to help the roving motorist
Fifteen months' time will be required to Propose Tunnel Through Lagunas . . . keep his bearings, Shell Touring
complete the project, which has been au- CALEXICO — A proposed 33-mile Service is replenishing its maps
thorized by California legislation. highway and railroad tunnel through La- and material.
guna mountains which would shorten dis-
tance from Imperial Valley to San Diego This famous guide service has
by 26 miles could be built for $80,000,000 overhauled its directives and is put-
DESERT SOUVENIR and could be self-liquidating by means of ting all its steering gear in order.
A four-color picture suitable for framing toll charges, according to H. A. Hansen,
shows the Covered Wagon Train of '68 Long Beach engineer. Hansen described
crossing the desert; now on display at
Khott's Berry Place, Highway 39, two
the plan before the San Diego-Imperial-
miles from Buena Park out of Los Angeles Yuma council at Westmorland late in Jjut there's another way the out-
2 2 miles. This remarkable oil painting 20x60 March. Tunnel would provide for 4-lane of-practice wayfarer can lose his
ftret took over one year to complete. A copy automobile highway, double track railroad bearings on his roamin' holiday.
will be mailed you together with the special
souvenir edition of our Western Magazine and an aqueduct to carry Colorado river If not properly oiled, the motor
jampacked with original drawings and pic- water to San Diego. bearings might stop, lock or loosen.
tures and complete description of Ghost • • • In fact, a whole Shellubrication
Town and Knott's Berry Place. Both will be W. G. Thayer, Needles, in March re-
mailed with current issue of our 36-page job should be as much a part of
magazine for 25 cents postpaid in the U.S.A. ceived award from Field and Stream maga- trip preparation as laying out the
Thousands have already viewed this great zine for catching one of ten largest bass itinerary.
work of art and acclaim it a wonderful con- caught in northern area of United States
tribution to the history of the West. Ad- —a 9 lb. 3 oz. big mouth black bass at And while the prospective tour-
mission is without charge whether you stay ist has his car in the Service Station
for the chicken dinner and boysenberry pie Lake Havasu.
for Shellubrication, he can pick up
o.r not. Send 25 cents for all three: picture, • • • his road maps — or he can get an
souvenir and current issue to Ghost Town New census count gives Palm Springs
News, Buena Park, California. entire routing just for the asking.
population of 7157, as compared with
3434 in 1940. — BUD LANDIS
MAY, 1946 33
Los Angeles bureau of power and Beautiful Murray canyon, between An- Whipple Caves Sold . . .
light plans to construct five buildings at a dreas and Palm canyons in San Jacinto PIOCHE — Whipple caves, 60 miles
cost of $100,00 on property east of Beacon mountain, will be opened by construction south of Ely in White River valley, have
Tavern, Barstow, it was reported March of Los Compadres Trail next fall, accord- been sold to Ernest R. and Laura Y. Wool-
28. ing to plans of Desert Riders of Palm ley by J. L. Whipple, the latter announced
• • • Springs. in March. Caves are said to exceed Lehman
Up to March 1, winter travel in Death • • • caves both in size and scenic attraction.
Valley country was on par with that of Officers of California Date Growers as- Some 3000 feet of the series of chambers
1942. At that date more than 100,000 visi- sociation elected at Indio in March in- have been explored. Stalagmites and sta-
tors had come to valley; most resorts were clude: Wm. W. Cook, president-general lactites form an underground wonderland.
booked to capacity through April. manager; H. L. Cavanagh, vice-president; One stalagmite is said to be 50 feet high,
Mrs. E. V. Gillespie, treasurer; Mrs. Hazel others ring with musical tones when struck.
M. Burns, secretary. There is ice cold water within the caves.
• • •
PALM First 1945-46 pool payment of United You Have to Be a Real Farmer . . .
Date Growers association totaled $603,- BOULDER CITY—Some of the rea-
985.90. sons applicants for federal reclamation
• e e
lands are turned down were explained
Lone Pine Stampede association, head- here in March by Ian A. Briggs, chief of
ed by Stampede president R. B. Spain- division of land use and settlement, bureau
hower, was all set for its annual celebra- of reclamation. In his files are 10 applica-
A secluded community of hornet
for a select clientele; highly de- tion to take place April 27-28. tions for every piece of land available, he
veloped, landscaped and with
all utilities; surrounded by desert • • • said. "At least half of the applicants would
with mountain views on all sides. be harmed if they were given the land.
Here's healthful desert sunshine Bill Keyes, colorful desert character con-
at its best; just 12 miles south- They wouldn't be fitted to take it over and
east of Palm Springs on Rt. 111. victed of manslaughter in slaying of Worth make it produce. Some of them couldn't
H O M E S I T E S from $795 to $ 3 0 0 0 Bagley near Twentynine Palms in 1943, become accustomed to the desert and
FULLGROWN CITRUS ACREAGE will apply to Gov. Warren for a pardon, it wouldn't like it, others would know noth-
A N D DATE GARDENS AvaUabtt
was reported in March. ing and couldn't learn about irrigation and
For Further Information and
Descriptive Folder Contact • • • there are others among them that just are
PALM VILLAGE LAND CO. A group of 20 county civic leaders fol- not qualified for farming." Briggs cited
210 W. 7th, LA. 14. TU-31M lowed the old Anza route through Coyote the Yuma mesa project as an example of
canyon early in March using army scout "making the grass grow green in the mid-
cars. Following a route blazed by a Desert dle of the desert." "This sandy mesa could
Magazine expedition two weeks previous be bought a few years ago by picking up tax
GENUINE STKRH1DE the group made the trip in four hours, 45 titles at 50 cents an acre. Following the
minutes. pre-development work done there by the
THE SANDALS • • • bureau land now is selling at $60 an acre."
THAT MADE MEXICO FAMOUS
ARE HERE A 6 A I N NEVADA
Carefully h a n d c r a f t e d from finest
natural beige cowhide to give you the Snow Runoff Below Normal . . .
same cool comfort, the same rugged
wear as of old. Send us your foot BOULDER CITY—Reports from U. S. TOP O 1 TH* PINES
outline, or mention shoe size. We'll weather bureau at Denver, made on basis
send you the best looking huaraches
of snow pack in Rocky mountain watershed SUMMER RESORT
you ever saw by r e t u r n mail, and
guaranteed to fit. March 1, indicate the inflow of Colorado Clean Cabins in the Cool Pines
river into Lake Mead during the April-to- Reasonable Weekly and Monthly Rates
july runoff period will not exceed 6,800,- ROCKS — MINERALS — CURIOS
000 acre feet. This is 25 per cent below
Located 5 Miles South of Prescott
average of the past 25 years. Deficiencies on Highway 89
in the various tributary sheds range from
In the Sierra Prieta Mts.
16 per cent below normal on Green river
to 58 per cent on the San Juan. Rains dur- MOULTON B. and IDA SMITH
ing March and April would affect these P. O. Box 1084 Prescott. Arizona
figures favorably.
Plan Expansion for Mead Guests . . .

BOULDER CITY—Program of expan- NON-RATIONED . . .
sion for Boulder Dam Tours, which has
operated on Lake Mead since its forma- Basketball,
tion behind Boulder dam, was to be pre- Bowling,
sented to national park service officials
Please send _ pairs Huaraches
late in March, according to Guy D. Ed- Baseball
wards, superintendent Boulder dam recrea-
Foot outlines enclosed, sizes
Name _ _ tional area. Much of the development on SHOES
Address the lake depends upon congressional ap-
propriation, Edwards said, as some of the VAN DEGRIFT'S
expansion is dependent on availability of 717 W. 7th Street
roads in the section, which would have to
LOS ANGELES. CALIFORNIA
be constructed by national park service.

Park Museum Reopens . . . Frank T. Crowe, 63, famed engineer Zuni Katchinas Conduct Rites . . .
BOULDER CITY — National Park who built Boulder dam and 18 other west- ZUNI—Sixty Zuni Indian boys, rang-
Service museum opened here in March ern reclamation and power projects, died ing in age from five to nine, were conduct-
February 28 while on his way to inspect ed through mysterious and colorful rites of
after being closed for three years. Museum,
featuring flora, fauna, archeology and ge-still another dam on Sacramento river near the Zuni Indian whipping ritual in
ology of the area, is located on New Mex- Redding, California. March. The ceremony, scheduled to start
ico avenue at foot of Avenue F, is open • • • on the day of the third full moon after the
daily 8 a. m. until noon and 1 p. m. until NEW MEXICO winter solstice, is to protect the boys from
5 p. m. evil spirits, or in case of death to insure
Find "Parents" for Ranch Boys . . . eternal life with the Katchinas. Whipping
Start Davis Dam Road . . . ALBUQUERQUE — A "father and was administered by 18 members of the
LAS VEGAS—Work was to start im- mother" have been found for the Flying Katchina cult into whose mysteries the
mediately on construction of highway to BR, as the New Mexico Boys Ranch home boys will be initiated at a later date. The
Divis dam, it was revealed in March by will be called. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Jack- Katchinas were beautifully masked and
State Highway Engineer Robert A. Allen. son Gordon of Mountainair were chosen costumed, their horns painted turquoise
Announcement followed awarding of as an ideal couple to direct the 2000 acre blue. Tortoiseshell rattles were strapped to
contract to Westbrook and Pope company, ranch for "problem" boys on the east bank the calves of their legs. The Mudheads as-
Sacramento, who submitted low bid of of the Rio Grande in northern Socorro sisted them.
$422,096.05. county. Mrs. Gordon is a specialist in home
• • • economics, wood working, weaving, paint-
Vic Johnson of Las Vegas in March as- ing and drawing, first aid, clay modeling
sumed managership of Riddle Scenic Tours and household budgeting. Gordon has had WILD FLOWER SEEDS
of Yellow Cab company, including super- a wide range of experience including ranch Attractive SOUVENIR GIFT package
vision over operations in southern Nevada foreman, superintendent of schools, dis- 1 packet 20 varieties
and Death Valley. trict conservationist. He is a qualified car-
penter, electrician, plumber. As soon as 1 packet each 3 rare varieties
• • •
Construction of 120 room resort hotel, housing is obtained steps will be taken to ALSO: Beautiful 4i/2x5i/2 hand colored
to cost approximately $1,250,000 is under establish boys in the ranch home. photo of floral landscape, nice for fram-
ing, 6 views available—mailed to you in
way on the Los Angeles highway about plain package for re-mailing—postpaid
two miles south of Las Vegas, it was an- Bomb Town Booms . . . $1.00.
nounced in March. LOS ALAMOS—Plans for construction
• • • of 300 to 500 permanent residences at Los S. S. LAWRENCE—SEEDSMAN
Construction on Winnemucca's $500,- Alamos atomic bomb project this spring P. O. Box 408 Las Vegas, Nevada
000 bus depot and hotel was started March and summer and laying of a $75,000 water
25, it was reported. line to the project site from artesian wells
• • • in the Rio Grande valley near San Ilde-
Major Max Fleischman has added a new fonso were announced in March by Lieut.
girt of three animal life dioramas to the Col. W. A. Stevens, commander of Los Desert sun and
five he previously had presented Nevada Alamos military post. New water system
state museum, at Carson City. for this town of approximately 5000 is al- lots off fun at
ready under construction, and to meet tem-
S C OT T Y'S
porary housing needs the first of 100 pre-
fabricated houses are being set up here.
Stevens said privately owned concerns
IAS VEGAS
NEVADA
such as drug stores and groceries will be
D E S E R T R E S O R T given full business privileges. All stores,
Here, in America's newest luxury play land,
Modern Housekeeping Cabins however, will operate under government you'll find every kind of sport to entertain
On Highway 78—35 miles east of concessions. Stevens said firms could ob- you. There's good fishing, boating and
Julian. Land by plane on dry lake tain concession-bidding forms from his of- swimming at Boulder Dam all year 'round.
by Highway. fice. There's sun-drenched desert to ride and
golf in, ghost towns to explore, and a gor-
For Reservations Phone . . . geous mountain to climb. And at your
Highway Contracts Let . . .
M. W. Scott. Ocotillo. through resort hotel you'll find all sorts of enter-
El Centro, California. Exchange SANTA FE—Public roads administra- tainment—from floor
tion has approved awarding of two high- shows to swimming
way construction contracts totaling more pools—from glitter-
than $500,000, state highway engineer ing casinos to night
Fred G. Healy reported in March. Includ- barbecue rides. Yes,
ed is construction on state highway 92 be- a sunny dry climate
For Nice Things . . . and a warm Western
tween Elida and Dora in Roosevelt county, greeting await you
• INFANTS- AND
CHILDREN'S WEAR
and U. S. 54 between Carrizozo and Tula- at this modern
• LADIES' READY-TO-WEAR rosa. frontier town! LAKE'S FULL
• MEN'S FURNISHINGS OF BASS, TOO
• FINE LINENS Social Security Asked for Navajo . . .
GALLUP—Extension of state and fed-
eral social security to Navajo tribesmen For information and rales
CUSTERS was asked of government agencies in
write to Chamber of Commerce,
Las Vegas, Nevada
206 W. TENTH STREET PHONE 240
LANCASTER. CALIFORNIA March by United Indian Traders associa-
THE HEART OF ANTELOPE VALLEY tion. A resolution adopted by the traders
'RlLLA CUSTER GALEN CUSTER called for all necessary steps to "correct this
neglect and discrimination."
MAY, 1946 35
Aim toImprove Highway 8 0 . . . No Conviction—No Pay . . . Rio Grande Project crop value for 1945
was $21,834,706, almost half a million
i DEMING—Southwestern New Mexico RUIDOSO—This little southern New gain over previous year. Bureau of Recla-
{highway association, organized here re- Mexico mountain resort is off to a running mation project covers area from Caballo
cently, set as their No. 1 project the im- start for postwar modernization as an in- reservoir in New Mexico to Hudspeth
proving of Highway 80 between Las corporated village, but clings tightly to its county line below El Paso, Texas.
old west tradition. On the modern side, • • •
Cruces and Lordsburg. Fletcher C. Bow-
they're installing street lights, extending
man of Deming is president. telephone service; they've completed han- UTAH
gar and runway for new airport and built Centennial Gets Grant . . .
road to the old golf course. They're even SALT LAKE CITY—Funds totaling
SCENIC GUIDES going to have a paved road and probably $150,000 were made available to Utah's
a ski course. But Old West tradition will centennial commission by Gov. Herbert B.
THE KEY TO WESTERN TRAVEL
be preserved when it comes to names—and Maw in March. Pageant committee was
Now the SCENIC GUIDE TO law and order. Frank Ivy, former Texas authorized to proceed with plans for pa-
1
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA ranger, is village marshal, and George rades to be conducted between May 15 and
is ready. Seele is village police judge. Village dads, Oct. 15, 1947, official dates of the centen-
• WORDS that tell of things to see. determined to uphold Law and Order, de- nial, although due to seasonal conditions
• PICTURES that capture the scenic cided to pay Judge Seele no salary but al- some events probably will be held before
beauty. low him instead $1 for each conviction. official opening of the centennial. Daugh-
• MAPS that really show the way. Acquittals are worth nothing. ters of Utah Pioneers, state association, has
• ALL alphabetically arranged for
quick reference. • • • been named the official agency to select a
A limited quantity of the . . .
centennial queen.
El Morro national monument, it was
FIRST EDITION SCENIC GUIDE announced in March, will have $106,000 Timpanogos Runoff Below Normal...
TO NEVADA spent for improvements under three year LEHI—Water content on Timpanogos
are available. $3,000,000 New Mexico park improve- mountain watershed March 1 was the low-
Guides to other Western States ment program. est since 1939, Calvin Walker, U. S.
will follow soon.
• • • weather bureau observer, reported. Meas-
Price $1.00 Each Postpaid
New Mexico farmers this year are ex- urements made early in January indicated
ADDRESS pected to plant almost 95,000 trees and "above normal" water conditions, but a
SCENIC GUIDES shrubs to establish windbreaks and for dry January and February completely re-
P. O. Box 288 streambank erosion control. Trees, most versed the picture. At Timpanogos na-
SUSANVILLE. CALIFORNIA popular of them the Chinese elm, are sup- tional monument camp grounds, instru-
Send for Yours Today plied by soil conservation districts. ments recorded a precipitation of eight
inches but all snow had melted.
Chinese Studies Utah Irrigation . . .
LOGAN — China and Utah have so
Prizes for desert Covers much in common a Chinese scientist is

studying this region to aid in rehabilitating
his homeland. Hsu Shuh-haw, member of
Chinese supply commission and former as-
May is the month when the Desert Magazine staff will select many sociate professor at Hupeh Provincial Ag-
of the cover pictures to be used during the ensuing year. In order to ricultural college, in March was visiting
bring out the best photographs available for cover purposes substan- Utah under guidance of Dr. O. W. Israel-
tial cash awards are to be made to successful entrants—$15.00 for sen, professor of irrigation and drainage at
first place winner, $10.00 for second place, and $5.00 each for all Utah state agricultural college, to learn
non-prize winning entries accepted for publication. principles he can adapt in China. Chinese
The contest is open to all photographers. Of course the subjects government is training 160 agriculturists
must be of the desert country, but there is a wide range of possibilities in the United States. Before the war, China
—landscapes, wildlife, personalities, rock formations, botany, Indians, started large reclamation projects in north-
canyons, dunes—anything that lives or occurrs on the desert. west China, Mr. Hsu said. The projects are
being resumed and the Chinese students
Here are the specifications: now being trained will aid in these devel-
opments. Mr. Hsu planned to continue his
Glossy vertical prints 9x12 or larger, black and white only. observation in Arizona and Oregon.
Entries must be in Desert Magazine office by May 20. 1946. • • •
Prints will be returned only when postage is enclosed. Edwin Evans, 86, native Utahn, died at
Each photo should be labeled as to subject, time and place. his home in Venice, California, in March.
Judges will be selected from Desert's editorial staff, and He was president of Utah Art institute 12
awards will be made immediately after the close of the contest. years, head of University of Utah art de-
partment 22 years.
ADDRESS ALL ENTRIES TO PHOTO EDITOR, DESERT MAGAZINE • • •
Brigham City has scheduled its annual
Peach Days for September 6-7.
• • •
Logan chamber of commerce has an-
nounced summer schedule of horseback
EL CENTRO, CALIFORNIA trail rides, to extend from May to Septem-
ber.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN FEDERATION
MEETS AT SALT LAKE CITY, 1947
Mineralogical Society of Utah will be host to
1947 convention of Rocky Mountain federa-
tion of mineralogical societies, it was decided at
the second annual convention held at Phoenix
in March. Date will be set later by host society.
New federation officers elected at Phoenix in
March are: Prof. J. J. Hayes, president of Min-
eralogical Society of Utah, president; Chester R.
Howard, president of Colorado Mineralogical
society (Denver), vice-president; Mrs. Chas. H .
Lockhard of Salt Lake City, secretary-treasurer.
Members who attended the convention in
Phoenix left the three day program of lectures,
exhibits and field trips feeling that the effort
of keeping the federation alive during the war
IMPERIAL CLUBS SET FIRST NEW SOCIETY STRESSES years had been well worth while. Although ex-
ANNUAL SHOW FOR MAY 18-19 LAPIDARY EDUCATION AIMS hibits were not large, they were colorful and in-
Imperial lapidary guild and Imperial Valley An ambitious program has been set by San troduced new features. Among outstanding ex-
gem and mineral society plan a joint gem and Fernando valley's newest cultural group, the hibits were two by non-federation members.
mineral exhibit May 18-19 in American Legion Western Lapidary and Jewelry society, which John W. Greb of Tacoma, Washington, showed
hall, El Centro, California. Doors will be open held its first regular meeting March 27 at Ros- a beautiful collection of several hundred cabo-
1-9 p. m. Saturday and 1-6 p. m. Sunday. Leo coe Recreation center. chons, and Thomas J. Bones of Vancouver,
DeCelles and Sam Robinson are co-chairmen Washington, displayed a fine assortment of
Aims of the society, as set forth in Article II polished slabs. Unusual exhibits were the
representing each club. Most committee heads of the society's constitution, include the collect-
have been appointed and are working enthusi- "Thumbnails" of H. S. Keithley and the micro-
ing and study of precious and semi-precious mounts of A. L. Flagg, both of Phoenix.
astically to make the show a success. This will stones and gems; disseminate knowledge of
be the first exhibit in Imperial Valley. In the museum room of the Rock house in
cutting, polishing and engraving of precious South Mountain park, where most of the activi-
All mineral societies or individuals are in- and semiprecious stones; disseminate knowledge
vited to exhibit. They are asked to inform Mrs. ties took place, 149 guests registered. Geodes
of art of jewelry making; provide special classes found on one of the field trips were the equal
Grace Huffman, secretary, 1125 Main street, El of instruction in lapidary and jewelry arts for
Centro, how much space they will need for dis- of any yet discovered in Arizona, some contain-
the physically handicapped and for junior mem- ing scepter quartz crystals, some of the crystals
play purposes. This is an all-amateur show; no bers; provide opportunity for exhibition and
commercial exhibits will be placed. Grab bags tipped with hyalite or chalcedony. Especially en-
exchange of gems and jewelry; encourage social joyable were talks by Barry Goldwater, who told
will be available containing specimens ranging relations among members and the exchange of
in price from ten cents to one dollar. of his exciting trip down the Colorado in 1941;
ideas regarding lapidary and jewelry subjects. by Barry Storm, who supplemented a field trip
Unless weather is unusual mid-May should
prove a pleasant time to visit Imperial Valley. The society's educational program has been with Superstition Mountain legends, and by
It is hoped adequate housing will be available designed to include detailed instruction cover- Ben Humphreys who told stories of lost mines
but at that season camping will be comfortable. ing every step of the jeweler's art. Beginners will and treasures at an evening meeting.
experience no difficulty in learning to cut and
Following committee chairmen have been ap- polish gems, and to set them in jewel mounts.
pointed by Robinson and DeCelles: Lloyd
Richardson, Sam Robinson—registration; Sam
Payson, Chuck Holtzer—fluorescents; George
Special attention will be given to the phy-
sically handicapped, many of whom in veterans LAPIDARY EQUIPMENT
Moore, L. G. Beleal, Leon Miller—floor mana- hospitals have taken up lapidary work as a hob-
gers; Ira Huffman—wiring; C. K. Patton— by only to find it is becoming a remunerative
show cases; Eva Wilson, Louise Eaton—pub- vocation. At Birmingham hospital, Cash Fergu-
licity; A. L. Eaton—circulating advisor; Mrs. son, acting president of the society, taught lapi-
L. G. Beleal, Mrs. Laura DeCelles—Desert dary work for a year and a half, assisted by his
Magazine; Harold Flood, Mildred Richardson wife Melba who taught the boys how to make
—grab bags. jewelry. If demand warrants, classes for the
E'ealers in lapidary equipment are invited physically handicapped and for juniors will be
to exhibit. organized throughout the valley.
• • • All persons interested in gems and jewelry, Send for
whether novice or expert, are cordially invited to Literature to
NEW MINNESOTA CLUB HOLDS attend meetings, which are held fourth Wednes-
FIRST EXHIBITION IN APRIL day of each month at 7:30 p. m. in Roscoe Recre- Cavingtan Lapidary
ational center, on Vineland just south of San Engineering Ce.
Minnesota mineral club, an organization Redlanda, Cal.
formed in the Twin Cities last December, Fernando road.
scheduled its first annual exhibit of members'
collections and lapidary work, April 14, at Cur-
tis hotel, Minneapolis, from 1 to 9 p. m.
This new club is extremely active, with a
growing list of members from all parts of Min-
HERE ARE THE GIFTS
nesota. As of March 17, there were 65 members,
nearly all of whom attend the monthly meet-
YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR!
ings. Any interested person visiting Minneapolis Petrified Wood. Moss Agate, Chrysocolla,
from other clubs will be welcomed, according
to B. G. Dahlberg, publicity director, 3537 Oak- Turquoise, Jade and Jasper Jewelry
land avenue, Minneapolis 7, Minnesota. HAND MADE IN STERLING SILVER
• • •
Bracelets, Rings, Necklaces, Earrings
Dolomite-Calcite Test
and Brooches
Several persons have inquired by mail for a
simple test to distinguish calcite (calcium car- SPECIALLY SELECTED STONES WITH
bonate) from dolomite (calcium magnesium CHOICE COLORS AND PICTURES
carbanate). Both effervesce in dilute hydro-
chloric acid, but dolomite does not react with Write for Folder with Prices
the cold acid. Cold acid, dropped on calcite ef- Wholesale and Retail
fervesces at once, but it is necessary to heat the
acid to nearly 100 degrees to get a reaction with
dolomite. Simplest way is to powder a small ELLIOTT'S GEM SHOP
amount of the suspected dolomite, place it in a 26 Jergins Arcade Long Beach 2, Calif.
test :ube or glass, and pour the acid on it. If it is Entrance Subway at Ocean and Pine
dolomite, cold acid does not react, while the Open 10 A. M. to 10 P. M. Daily
warm acid does so at once.
MAY, 1946 37
MINERAL SPECIMENS of all kinds. Collec-
tions for museums and students. Micro-mount
GEM MART ADVERTISING RATE
7c a Word — Minimum $1.00
mineral collections. Rocks and minerals by
the pound or by the specimen for display,
study and research. H. Goudey, Box 529,
Yerington, Nevada.
ARIZONA BLUE, Rose, Pink banded Agate. I WILL BE READY to resume silver and gold
50c per lb. Uncut Geodes 3 for $1.00. Deal- work at my new location in BEAVER, PETZITE (Silver-gold telluride). Lustrous
ers, lower rates. Minimum order $1.00. UTAH, soon after the first of April. Beaver masses of this rare mineral in matrix. Excel-
POSTAGE EXTRA. Maryann Kasey, Box is on U. S. Highway 91, so be sure to stop lent specimens for $5.00, $7.50 or $10.00,
230, Prescott, Arizona. and see us when you travel that way. Cabo- according to richness. Postage extra. H.
chon mountings in 10K gold or sterling sil- Goudey, Box 529, Yerington, Nevada.
ROCK COLLECTORS — ATTENTION! Send ver, made to fit your stones. Ladies sterling
me your address and I will notify you, when rings from $3.00—10K gold from $7.50 de- PETRIFIED WOODS, 50c to $1.00 lb. Eden
in your city, with the Trailer Rock Store. The pending on amount of gold used. Men's sterl- Valley limbs 25c to $2.50. Cabochon material
Rockologist (Chuckawalla Slim), 1152 So. ing rings from $3.50—10K gold from $9.00. 50c to $1.00. Sawed nodule halves 50c up.
2nd Ave., Arcadia, Calif. Prompt service, satisfaction guaranteed. Your Postage extra. Mrs. E. Cailland, 3642 Gar-
correspondence invited. K. K. Brown, Beaver, denia Ave., Long Beach 7, Calif.
FANCY JASPER: Have Jasper in many colors, Utah (formerly Castle Rock, Washington).
some plain, others mottled, flowered and MINERALITE: For best Ultra-Violet fluor-
banded. Assorted $1.00 per pound. A. L. BARGAIN ASSORTMENT N O . 6—One cut- escence. Every rockhound should have one.
Ogilvie, Barstow, California. ting chrysocolla slab enough for 8 or 10 cabo- Every prospector of minerals needs one. Send
chons. 1 slab flowering obsidian. 1 pound today for free catalog with natural color illus-
CRYSTAL MOUND Superior Selenite Crystals. cutting jasper. 1 slab lovely banded onyx to trations and valuable information. Gaskill,
Choice select cabinet specimens $1.00 to $3.00 polish or make 15 or 20 cabochons. 6 petri- 400 North Muscatel, San Gabriel, Calif.
each, postpaid, depending on size, quality and fied wood slabs with moss. 1 sawed nodule
shipping charges. Cutter slabs of transparent ready to sand and polish. 1/2 pound Yermo LARGE ASSORTMENT of good quality gem
crystals suitable for fluorescent light covers. palm. Enough turquoise to make 8 or 10 stone. Prices in the rough run from $2.00
Also inner slabs for aquariums through which cabochcons. One Virgin Valley fire opal. 6 per pound up. Sawed slabs assorted $3.50 per
fish and water life can be displayed very rough Ceylon sapphires, small. All for $3-00 pound up. One pound of slabs will cut doz-
pleasingly. These slabs are especially selected plus postage on 6 pounds. West Coast Min- ens of excellent cabochons. Selection of cabo-
and vary in size from 1 to 3 feet long and eral Co., Post Office Box 331, La Habra, chon blanks sent on approval priced from 15c
from 3 to 8 inches wide. Exact sizes cannot California. up. Custom silversmithing and lapidary work
be furnished. Price 40c per lb. plus postage. estimates on request. Sterling silver sheet and
Crystal Mound, Box 142, Hurricane, Utah. A LIMITED QUANTITY of black Petrified wire in small quantities. I purchase good
Wood. This wood is hard and will cut gem quality gem stone in the rough. Correspon-
BEGINNER'S SPECIAL: Thirty-five showy, stones of jet black with a high luster. $2.00 dence invited. Satisfaction or money-back
labeled Minerals, boxed for mailing. Contains per pound, transportation prepaid. Address guarantee. Paul F. Fryer, Walpole St., Dover,
many rare specimens. Average l x l inch. Bar- orders to V. C. Hague, 600 W. Hill St., Gal- Mass.
gain at $3.75 postpaid. THOMPSON'S lup, New Mexico.
STUDIO, 385 West Second Street, Pomona, $2.50 brings you prepaid six rare and beautiful
California. ATTENTION TOURIST: When passing crystallized Arizona minerals. Vanadinite,
through Modesto, California, do stop and see Dioptase, Wulfenite, Willemite, Chrysocol-
"OWL DOPPING WAX"—and now home the Ken-Dor Rock Roost at 419 South Frank- la, Azurite. Specimens IV2X2 or larger.
from the war, a new different, DOPPING lin St. We Buy, Sell or Trade Mineral Speci- Wiener Mineral Co., Box 509, Tucson, Ari-
WAX. Special formula. Is not greasy, lasts mens. Visitors are always WELCOME.
longer—holds your gems for that final mir-
ror finish in any climate. Per lb. $1.00 plus WE ARE OFFERING banded Rhyolite from MONTANA MOSS AGATES in the rough for
postage. Send for sample. L. E. Perry, 111 the famous Nevada Wonderstone mine, for gem cutting, $1.00 per lb. plus postage. El-
N. Chester Avenue, Pasadena 4, California. sale in two varieties. The gem stone variety is liott's Gem Shop, 26 Jergins Arcade, Long
widely used by lapidaries for making jewelry, Beach 2, California.
SOMETHING N E W AND DIFFERENT— bookends and miscellaneous ornamental items.
Deep Purple and Amethyst colored stones. The building stone variety is now being used MINERALS, GEMS, COINS, Bills, Old Glass,
Cutting material $25 lb., $7.50 1/4 lb., $1 for by contractors and home owners for fire- Books, Stamps, Fossils, Buttons, Dolls,
Cutting sample. Vein run specimens—75c lb. places and building facings, patios, stepping Weapons, Miniatures, Indian Silver Rings
Money refunded if not desired. The American stones, fish ponds, swimming pools and and Bracelets. Also Mexican. Catalogue 5c.
Fluorspar Group, Inc., Santa Fe and Hot flower garden arrangements. There is no stone Cowboy Lemley, Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Springs, New Mexico. in the world that has more lines of assorted
STERLING SILVER ladies' and men's ring colors and designs than Nevada Wonder- AGATE SLABS ON APPROVAL. Brilliant
mounts, reasonably priced. Satisfaction guar- stone. Write for prices. State item desired. colors, exquisite patterns, plume, flower and
anteed. Send for bulletin. Fremont Gem Shop, Carroll L. Perkins, Box 1128, Tonopah, Nev. moss. Choice gem quality for jewelry making.
3408 Fremont Ave., Seattle 3, Wash. End pieces and slabs fer outstanding cabinet
PETRIFIED WOOD: Twigs in bog from Sad- specimens and colorful transparencies. Send
TEXAS JASPER-AGATE: As the original col- dle Mt. Sliced and slabbed, 50 sq. in. $2.50 $10.00 deposit for approval selection and
lector and advertiser of agate of this district, postpaid in U. S., taxes included. 1 piece pol- state types desired. Mae Duquette, 407 N.
I found it extremely difficult to interest col- ished. Gilbert Morgan, Smyrna, Washington. Muscatel, San Gabriel, Calif.
lectors. Today, it is in great demand. It was
the superior quality and beauty of the jasper- DIAMOND SAW OUTFITS. Heavy duty, 14
inch blade, new $100.00. Also a 20 inch out- JUST RECEIVED a lot of fine Amazonite crys-
agate that has made "Texas Agate" supreme. tals from eastern Colorado. A few clusters but
We now have a limited quantity of select fit with lateral feed, used, $150.00. A. E.
Davies, P. O. Box 93, Alamo, California. mostly singles. $10c to $1.00. Colorado Gerr
quality from a new location in beautifully Co., Bayfield, Colo.
pictured, mossy, and flowered types in bril- MONTANA MOSS Agates in rough for gem
liant varied colored combinations of golden cutting, direct from diggings, $1.00 per
browns, carnelian and vermilion reds, blues ROCK COLLECTORS ATTENTION. When
pound, prepaid. Nels Christofferson, Richey, you visit the Desert this spring look for the
and rich purples. 1 lb. assortment—$2.50. Montana.
Others $3.60; $6.00 and $9.00 per lb., includ- ROCKOLOGIST, one mile east of Cathedral
ing tax, according to size and quality. Dis- City, California.
TURQUOISE: 1/4 to 20 lb. lots. Lazulite y4 to
counts allowed on quantity orders. FRANK 50 lb. lots. Black Onyx Obsidian y4 to 100
DUNCAN AND DAUGHTER, Box 63. lb. lots. Agate Wood 14 to 100 lb. lots. Ne- IN STOCK for immediate delivery. Felker Di-
Terlingua, Texas. vada Agate I/4 to 100 lb. lots. Wholesale only. Met Saw Blades, 6" $4.60, 8" $6.65, 10"
Death Valley Curly, Box 495, Goldfield, Nev. $8.70, 12" $10.75, 14" $14.80, 16" $16.85.
MINERAL SETS—24 Colorful Minerals (iden- Give bushing size. RX Lapidary all in one
tified) in l x l compartments—Postage paid, WHOLESALE ONLY: Lazulite, Agate Wood, unit $125.00 F.O.B. Torrance, Calif. Grind-
$3-50. Prospector's Set of 50 Minerals (iden- Nevada Agate, Nevada Variscite, Obsidian, ing wheels, Sanding Cloth, Cerium Oxide
tified) in l x l compartments in cloth rein- black, Obsidian, black and red. Amygdeloids, polish powder $2.50 per lb. Residents of
forced sturdy cartons, Postage paid $5.75 Carnelian, Travertine, Death Valley Onyx, Calif, should add 2l/ 2 % State Sales Tax.
Elliott's Gem Shop, 26 Jergins Arcade, Long Lone Mt. Onyx, Paymaster Onyx, Death Val- A. L. Jarvis, Route 2, Box 350, Watsonville,
Beach 2, Calif. ley Curly, Box 495, GoHfield, Nev. Calif. Closed on Wednesdays.

GILDE GEM CUTTER. We now offer this com- A new group interested in lapidary will be
pact portable outfit to the home cutter. Write organized in the Beverly Hills area soon. Persons ANNOUNCING . . .
for details and new catalog listing over one interested should send their names to Lelande IDAHO GEM MATERIALS FROM IDAHO
hundred varieties of rough. Also all kinds of Quick in care of Desert Magazine, El Centro, Agate, Fortification and Moss (Reds. Yel-
lows, Greens, etc) 75c lb. up.
supplies. Gem Exchange, Lake Bluff, Ills. California. Jasper, Opalized and Agatized Wood 50c
• • • lb. up.
OLD TREASURE MAPS interpreted $10.00. Another new society, the Lodi gem and min- Nodules, Hog Creek or Grouse Creek, %
New Mexico moss, mottled, ribbon agate, or whole, 35c each up.
eral club, was organized when on March 17 a Send for approval assortment of slabbed
$1.00 per lb., red, peach and carnelian $4.00 material: Only $1.00 deposit. First 50 mail
per lb., no matrix. Flaming Arrow, Lake group met in Lodi, California. The following
officers were elected: John Schafer, president; order customers one slice free.
Arthur, New Mexico. We'll do your cutting and polishing for you
Mrs. Fred S. Wolfe, vice-president; Dorothy at the following rates : Sawing 5c per sq. in.
WANTED: TO BUY, sell and exchange speci- Bowen, secretary-treasurer; Mrs. Ann Schafer, Min. charge 25c per cut. Polishing 10c per
reporter. Members of program committee are sq. in. Min. charge 25c per surface.
mens outstandingly rare and beautiful. Sam
Parker, 2160 East Van Buren, Phoenix, Ariz. F. D. Boone, Jean Pryor and J. A. Ward. Regu- LAY-ART GEM SHOP
lar meeting place will be the Lodi high school 2620 Idaho Street (Temporary Address)
INDIAN RELICS, Curios, Coins, Minerals, building, and the club will meet third Wednes- BOISE, IDAHO
Books, Old Buttons, Old Glass, Old West day of the month.
Photos, Weapons, Catalogue 5c. I.emley An- • • •
tique Store, Osborne, Kansas.
San Jose lapidary society planned a joint field
BARGAIN BUNDLES—Assorted rough cut- trip with East Bay mineral society to Pescadero
ting material—Agates, Jasper, Geodes, Var- April 14. Objects: to hunt beach agates and en-
iscite, Turquoise, Chrysocolla, Petrified joy an old-fashioned swapping bee.
Wood, Obsidian, etc., 5 lbs. $3.50, 10 lbs. • • •
$6.30, 20 lbs. $10.00. Assorted sawed cut- Each member of Gem Stone Collectors of
ting material—20 sq. in. $3.50, 50 sq. in. Utah, Salt Lake City, at the March 21 meeting,
$7.00, 100 sq. in. $12.00. Agate, Jasper, introduced himself, told how far he had pro-
Chirysocolla, Variscite, Turquoise, Wood, gressed and spoke of his specific interest in rock
Rhodonite, Obsidian, Opal, etc. Please in- collecting and cutting. A field trip to collect
clude postage. Send for price list of cutting agate was planned for March 31. Immediately
material, minerals, specimens, jewelry, etc. following each meeting, a miniature rock mar-
John L. James, Tonopah, Nevada. ket place is set up where members can buy, sell
or swap materials.
• • •
Jerry Laudermilk was guest speaker at March
AMONG THE meeting of Pomona Valley mineral club held at
the residence of Mr. and Mrs. James Kryder,
ROCK HUflTERS Claremont. He discussed the Rosamond forma-
tion in Mojave desert and explained the forma-
tion and coloring of jasper. The group meets
second Tuesdays at Pomona junior college, Po-
A new lapidary group was organized March 2 mona, California.
in Glendale, California, for the people in that • • •
area by Lelande Quick of Desert Magazine. Ernest Chapman talked on Australian rocks
Thirty-five persons, with the help of several and minerals at March 5 meeting of Orange Belt
members of Los Angeles lapidary society, formed mineralogical society. He had a display of beau-
nucleus of the new organization which will reach tiful material to illustrate his lecture. Meeting
full status as a society soon. Interested persons was in social hall, San Bernardino junior college
in the Glendale area may send their names to with 75 members and guests present. H. Car-
Dan White, chairman, 4621 West Avenue 41, penter won attendance prize.
Los Angeles, and they will be notified of later • • •
meetings.
Dr. Dean S. Carder of the coast and geodetic
survey spoke before Mineralogical Society of
Southern Nevada March 19. Dr. Carder is in
Kern county mineral society planned a field
charge of the seismological laboratory which
trip to Boron March 3.
studies earth disturbmces in Boulder Dam proi-
ect area. Dr. G. C. Baldwin of the national park
service showed a color-sound film, Jungle Quest
for the Great Stone Heads. All who are inter-
ested in earth sciences are invited to attend
meetings, or they may write Secretary Paul Mer-
cer, Box 925, Boulder City.
• • •
Those who are planning displays at Miner-
alogical Society of Southern California conven-
T HE New Compact No. 3V is the latest in lapidary
equipment... a worthy successor to our pre-war
Compact Lapidary Units, of which there are more
tion June 14-16 are reminded to communicate than 1000 in use. Scientifically designed and pre-
with the secretary, Miss Betty Holt, 233 E. cision built, it embodies many exclusive features
Glenarm street, Pasadena, 5. found in no other equipment, and makes possible
GEM VILLAGE • • •
A successful field trip to Pope creek, about
the fullest enjoyment of the lapidary hobby. The
price of our standard unit is $88.00 f.o.b. factory
Paradise for Rockhound. Artist. Collector. (less motor and stand). It includes everything neces-
60 miles from Sacramento, was enjoyed by 30
Hobbyist and Sportsman sary to make cabochons and specimens up to the
members of Sacramento mineral society and their
Plan to visit the only Gem Colony guests March 24. They found interesting speci- capacity of the 8" saw. Saws up to 10" can be used
in America mens of jasper with color ranging from deep on this machine.
Cver 40 lots sold to date. Write for par- crimson to brown, yellow and shaded green. WRITE TODAY FOR OUR NEW FREE CATALOG. It
ticulars. We have a large stock of cutting George Winslow was leader. shows you the four simple steps in making a cabo-
materials, slabs, cabinet and museum • • • chon . . . tells you how to lap specimens . . . how to
specimens, cut stones—both facet and Ernest Chapman of Mineralogical Society of make spheres . . . and how to cut a faceted gem
cabochons, fluorescent minerals, mineral Southern California talked on mineral and crys- stone. SEND NOW! This 32-page catalog is chock-
books, Indian silver jewelry. Do silver tal cavities of New Jersey zeolite locality at ful of helpful information on the lapidary art.
and lapidary work to order. March meeting of San Fernando Valley mineral
Special — Colorado Plume. Agate. and gem society. He displayed some rare and
sawed slabs from $1.00 to S30.00. on unusual tvpes of zeolites and pseudomorphs.
approval. New find, none better. New members Mr. and Mrs. John Clark exhibit-
ed some of their work consisting of cabochons,
FRANK AND GRACE MORSE bookends and novelty lamps. Field trip was to
The Colorado Gem Co.. Bayfield. Colo. Cajon pass, San Bernardino county, for rhodon-
ite, piedmontite and actinolite.
MAY, 1946 39
Miners and Robert Cartter, at March 20 meeting of Searles Captain B. J. Chromy, who has been doing
X Prospectors Lake gem and mineral society, Trona, showed government work in connection with atomic
color slides which he took while serving in bomb development at University of California,
\ \ INSTANTLY army both in the States and in Alaska. It was was scheduled to speak at April 4 meeting of
f IDENTIFY announced the '49er party earned $2214 for East Bay mineral society, Berkeley, on the atom-
\ •Jpr URANIUM Searles Valley war chest. Special display of min- ic bomb and radio-active minerals.
MERCURY erals found in vicinity of Calico showed mem-
SCHEELITE
MINERALIGHT WIUEMITE
bers what they could expect to find on March
22-24 field trip. Next trip was planned for Wyoming jade and Tehachapi agate are the
DETECTS U R A N I U M ! and other valu- Death Valley April 27-28. main attractions now in the Parlier, California,
"The available methods for detecting lapidary class. A new trimming saw and drill are
uranium lacked one or more of the de- able ores with • • •
sired characteristics. Eventually, however, recent additions to class equipment.
a method was worked out that is prob- MINERALIGHT East Bay mineral society announces that Mr.
ably more specific and sensitive than the
usual qualitative methods for,uranium. <5W JliAcUn Henley, a San Francisco member, has given
Since uranium is most susceptible to lapidary training to youngsters in summer
short-wave ultra-violet light, the lamp
used in this work was the MINER- camps for several years, and that there are open-
ALIGHT V-41 . . . which emits short-
ings in this field this year. Anyone wishing
wavc ultra-violet rays at 2,537s Angstrom FREE
IIA four-color II further information may write San Francisco IRIECO
MINERALIGHT || Boys Club, Mr. Newbauer, director, 21st and
Copies of the full report, "Fluorescence Test
for Uranium." are available from the Bureau
Catalogue.
WRITE DEPT.Tll
Alabama streets, San Francisco. LAPIDARY SUPPLIES
of Mines, Office of Mineial Reports. Wai • • •
inpon, D. C TODAYI
Richard Noyes, formerly of chemistry depart- *
ment at Cal Tech, spoke on atomic energy at VRECO Lapidary Equipment will again be
ULTRA-VIOLET PRODUCTS, INC. March 21 meeting of Los Angeles mineralogical available. So, may we ask you to please be
society. The new term for atomic energy and patient for a little longer; new VRECO
related subject matter, he said, is Nucleonics. equipment is on its way. VRECO Dependa-
• • • bility is well worth waiting for.
Sequoia mineral society, at March 5 meeting VRECO Lapidary Supplies are available {or
G. & W. DIAMOND SAW held in Parlier high school, enjoyed moving pic-
tures of Indian cliff dwellings, Yellowstone na-
tional park, Yosemite, the fair at Treasure Is-
immediate delivery. Order now.
VRECO DIAMOND SAWS . . give you better
land, Lake Louise and Banff national park, performance . . longer life . . faster cutting.
shown by Dan Chamberlain of Fresno. Elmer 6-inch $4.50 12-inch $ 8.75
Geese and Frank Dodson reported on their trip 8-inch .5.50 14-inch 11.00
to Blythe, the latter showing samples of mate- 10-inch 6.80 16-inch 13.75
rials found on the trip. POSTPAID
• • • Arbor Hole Sizes: "172", 5/8", 8/4", 7/8", 1"
Be sure to specify size required.
Dr. James Hillier, of RCA laboratories,
Princeton, New Jersey, told of the infinite pos- VRECO GRINDING WHEELS are made ex-
sibilities of the electron microscope in finding pressly for gem stone grinding.
new knowledge of minerals, when he spoke be- 100 Grain
fore New Jersey mineralogical society at Plain- 6" 100 & 180 220 Grit
field public library March 5. Dr. Hillier is the 6 x 3/4,inch.. $ 2.10 $ 2.25
designer of the first commercial electron micro- 6 x 1 -inch 2.JD 2.60
scope in America. 8 x 1 -inch 3.60 8.90
• • • 10 x 1 -inch.._ 5.0q 5.80
Selma Union High School lapidary class, sec- 10 x 11/2-inch 7J)0 7.50
ond of its kind in the United States, is now six 12 x 1 -inch 3.75 7.25
years old and more than 50 people are availing 12 x 11/2-inch... _ . 9.60 10.40
themselves of the opportunity of expert instruc- 12 x 2 -inch 12.30 13.30
tion and use of the fine equipment available. Arbor Hole Sizes: 1/2", 5/8", 8/4", 7/8", 1"
A diamond saw designed for the ama- Gates Burrell is in charge of the lapidary class Be sure to specify size required.
teur and professional. Sawmill type car- and Mrs. Eleanor Lehfeldt gives instruction in
riage. Completely shielded. Equipped silversmi thing.
with 12" Felker Di-Met Blade. Send for • • • VRECO DRESSING BRICKS—
illustrated circular. Marquette Geologists association, Chicago, at For removing glaze and loading from
IMMEDIATE DELIVERY the March 2 meeting, heard Prof. Frank Fleener Grinding Wheels. Keep them cutting
of Joliet, speak on uranium minerals and atomic at top efficiency.
$82.50 F.O.B. power. Dr. John R. Ball of Northwestern uni- 8"x2"xl" Dressing Brick _....$ .75
versity continued his "Short Talks on Geology."
GRINDING ARBOR L-100 • • •
A large approval shipment of specimens from VRECO POLISHING TRIPOLI—
A sealed ball bearing arbor with 15 in.
shaft, 1 in. in diameter machined to % in. the mercury mines of Terlingua, Texas, was 2 lbs $ .85
spindle. Mounts up to l'/2x8 in. wheels. shown at February and March meetings of Texas
A sturdy, true running arbor with 4 step mineral society, Dallas. Many of the specimens
were bought by members for their collections. VRECO POLISHING TIN OXIDE
pulley. Designed for gem grinding. o • • The superior polishing agent for a
$22.50 F.O.B. H. C. Loesche, U. S. bureau of mines, pre- final high polish. At pre-war prices.
sented talking motion pictures on mining at Per pound ...$1.25
SEE THE RX LAPIDARY MACHINE March meeting of Yavapai gem and mineral
AT OUR STORE society, Prescott, Arizona. They included the
story of copper, from mining to minting and VRECO POLISHING WHEELS—
MINERALIGHTS fabrication of factories; and mineral resources Highest quality wheels for gem stone
and scenic wonders of Arizona. polishing.
M-1I $24.75 V-41 $48.75
• • •
See and try the Mineralight at our store. 6 x 1 $ 6.75
Mineralogical Society of Arizona, Phoenix,
planned a field trip April 14 to an opalite-geode 8 x i 6.25
Felker Blades — Grinding Wheels locality southwest of Superior, to be led by Ben 8 x 11/2 - ----- 8.5D
Abrasives — Sanders — Byfield Felts Humphreys. 8x2 11.00
Doping Wax • • • 10 x 1 11.00
New York mineralogical club has invited 10 x 2 _ 16.90
LONG BEACH New Jersey mineralogical society to cooperate 12 x 2 24.40
in preparing a book giving details of all min- Arbor Hole Sizes: 1/2", 5/8", 3/4", 7/8", 1"
MINERAL & LAPIDARY Be sure to specify size required.
eral localities within 50 miles of New York.
SUPPLY CO. The president has appointed Dr. A. C. Haw-
1614 East Anaheim St. Phone 738-56 kins, L. Morgan, Dr. S. S. Cole, E. Blank, J. Vreeland Manufacturing Co.
LONG BEACH 4. CALIFORNIA Coleman and P. Falcone as a committee to pro- 2026 S. W. Jefferson St. Portland 1. Oregon
ceed with the project.

Imperial lapidary guild at its March 15 meet-
ing at the home of L. G. Beleal, El Centro, en-
tertained Mr. and Mrs. John Greb and Mr. and
Mrs. E. K. Brown, prominent Seattle collectors.
The guests displayed excellent plume agate in
Of a Rockhound MBit HUB BELL'S V
large nodules and gave entertaining talks on
plurre-collecting in Oregon and Texas. By LOUISE EATON
•• INDIAN
TRADING POST
NAVAJO INDIAN RUGS & JEWELRY
**
It
Nacher shure put plenty uv extra space Tom S. Hubbell, 2331 Pico Blvd.
in field trip territory. Yu gotta tramp over Santa Monica, California
a lot uv country rock before yu find good
speciments—an' sumtimz it's a long hike
frum yur auto to th' place where yu be-
gins to hunt. Tho uv course no rockhoun
ever walks over hill or vale where therz TEN
enny thing that resembles rox without BEAUTIFUL HIGHLY COLORED
givin' th' groun a close scrutiny just to
see if by chance there may be at least one MINERAL SPECIMENS
good speciment. for
«" HIGH-SPEED TRIMMING SAW. All cast • • •
metal. No wood. This saw saves time and ma- A nuther nice feacher about rock shows $2.00
terial. Saw operates at 2000 R.P.M. Priced at is that yu meets in person folks yu've read POSTPAID
$4V.5O without motor, F.O.B., Los Angeles,
Calif. This price includes saw-blade, belt and about or whoz names yu've seen in rok Average Size lxP/2 Inches
pulley to give you the correct speed. Requires magazines. What they looks like sur-
Vi- horse motor. Shipping weight approxi- prizes yu sumtimz too. People yu've pic- Start Your Mineral Collection with a
mately 60 pounds. tured as young turns out to be greybeard- Riot of Color
ed (no rockhoun ever really grows old).
Highland Park Lapidary Supply Short wuns are tall and even sum with H. GOUDEY
10(19 Mission St., South Pasadena. Calif. Dr. for a handle proves to be wimmen. Box 529 Yerington, Nevada
MINERAL
IDENTIFICATION
Irma Clark of Redlands spoke on iris agate
and displayed beautiful pieces from her collec- 1946 VICTORY CATALOG
SIMPLIFIED tion at March 13 meeting of Long Beach min- NOW AVAILABLE
± ByO. C. Smith, A.B.. A.M. eral society. Roy Wagoner, field trip chairman,
2nd Revised Edition reported on a recent trip which 25 members took
Price $8.80 to Chocolate mountain area. It was announced
Plus Tax in California there are now 120 members in the society. Next
Order from — O. C. SMITH - Dept. D field trip was scheduled for Bicycle lake, where
611 7 Santa Ana St. — Bell, California chalcedony and agate in all colors are found.
• • •
Lelande Quick and James Hilton (Lost Hori-
MINIATURE SETS, Asst'd per doz $6.00 zon and Goodbye Mr. Chips) conducted an all
50 RING STONES, including genuine and
synthetic $7.50 day program for Los Angeles Ebell club March
SYNTHETIC RUBIES or GENUINE GAR- 27. Quick spoke on Gems of California and
NETS, per carat $1.25 displayed his collection. More than 400 persons
CAMEOS or OPALS—Genuine—12 for $3.75 attended.
10(1 JEWELRY STONES removed from rings,
etc., $2.40; 50 large ones $2.40 • • •
12 ARTICLES ANTIQUE JEWELRY, rings,
pins, etc $3.00 Los Angeles lapidary society's March 4 meet- As it costs 40c to produce one of these
500 COSTUME JEWELRY STONES $2.00 ing was one of the most successful ever held. 64 p a g e illustrated catalogs, we are ask-
B. LOWE, Holland Bldg.. St. Louis 1, Mo. Following dinner, at the Police Academy, 174 ing you to send 20c in coin or stamps
members and guests enjoyed the famous collec- for your copy. It contains a listing of—
tion of thin section gem materials of William
Pitts, nationally known as the dean of lapidaries, LAPIDARY EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES
and honorary curator of gems and minerals at SILVER IN ALL FORMS
California academy of sciences at San Francisco. JEWELRY FINDINGS
Charles Knowlton of Fullerton displayed about BROOCH. PENDANT, AND RING
80 varieties of his famous garnet collection ac- MOUNTINGS
companied by an interesting lecture on garnets. ROUGH, PREFORMED. AND
with RX • • • POLISHED GEMS
Members of Mineralogical Society of South- FLUORESCENT LAMPS AND
FACETING ern California at April 2 meeting were privi- MINERALS
leged to hear Bill Sanbom talk on the Mammoth BOOKS, MAGNIFIERS, ETC.
UNITS mine at Tiger, Arizona, which has produced DO YOU WANT THE BEST DIAMOND
Enables precision some rare and beautiful minerals. Field trip SAW BLADE MANUFACTURED? Stop in
area for discussion was Greenhorn mountains, and let us show you the radically NEW
faceting of all
Kern county. Mr. Rodekohr told about the NORTON SLOTTED RIM DIAMOND
gemstones. Di- mines and minerals to be found there. BLADES. They cut faster and last longer
• • • than a n y other diamond blade on the
vides up to 32
March meeting of Seattle Gem Collectors market.
evenly spaced facets. Head adjustable was devoted mainly to election of officers: Ralph
Gustafson, president; Mr. Allen, vice-president; 6" $6.00 10" $10.00
for height by micrometer control. Heavily 8" $8.00 12" $12.00
Mrs. Claude W. Cox, secretary; J. W. Fields,
constructed for utmost precision and long treasurer; G. I. Canfield, new board director. Postage or Express Extra
L. D. Leader spoke briefly about his recent trip
life. Available as complete unit includ-
to Mexico and the Southwest, and members of WE HAVE MOVED — VISIT OUR NEW
the lapidary class had their most interesting SHOP — NEW FOREIGN SHIPMENTS
ing lap and spindle, also head and
specimens on display. NOW ARRIVING.
stand only for use on existing equip-
• • •
ment. Ask for Bulletin 100-B.
RX LAPIDARY MACHINES also available.
Ralph T. Salsbury, a mining engineer who re-
cently has opened a rock and lapidary shop in
GRIEGER'S
San Diego, California, says he will be glad to 1633 E. Walnut Street
give information to rockhounds and collectors PASADENA 4, CALIFORNIA
LABORATORY at all times. His shop, the Mission Mineral This is the same firm that formerly adver-
W . A . FELKER Mart, is located at 818 Ft. Stockton drive, San tised as Warner and Grieger.
1143 Post Ave., Torranee, Calif. Diego 3, California.
MAY, 1946 41
HEIRLOOMS OF THE FUTURE . . . Bert Van Cleve of Owens-Illinois glass com-
pany, San Francisco, showed his film Sand and TURQUOISE & CHRYSOCOLLA .
Marvin's fine handicrafted sterling Flame and spoke on modern advances in the JEWELRY
silver jewelry. glass industry before an interested group of 125 (Wholesale Exclusively)
MARVIN'S ROCK SHOP at March meeting of Monterey Bay mineral so-
ciety. Mrs. H. M. Samuelson of Salinas again do- HAROLD D. MARYOTT
U. S. Hiways 160 & 550, Durango. Colo. nated a polished specimen moss agate which was
Visitors Always Welcome 40 Oak St. Rt. I Miami, Arizona
awarded to John Grau, Salinas. A sapphire sent
from Missouri by Scriber was awarded to A. L.
Jarvis, Watsonville, who presented it to Dr.
K. W. Blaylock. The group voted that 20 per
COMPLETE LAPIDARY SHOP cent of any sales made at meetings by outsiders
Cabochon Cutting Material...
go to the treasury, and 10 per cent of member Montana agate in slabs, $5 pkg. Mixed
• • • i n one small unit package cabochon material $5. Montana cabo-
sales. chons $1 up. All sales under money-back
• • • guarantee. Cabochon and fancy facet cutting
a specialty.
Joint meeting of Searles Lake gem and min-
eral club and Los Angeles mineralogical society Flathead Hobby Museum. Rollins. Mont.
in February included field trips, tour of Trona
plant and Searles lake, and a banquet. One field
trip was made at night to Ophir mine where PAN SOME GOLD while on that rock hunting
good fluorescent specimens were obtained. Jack trip, The Old Prospector's book. Gold In
Streeter, president of Mineralogical Society of Placer—How to Find It—How to Get It, has
Southern California talked at the banquet about 160 pages of instructions on the modern way
his trip to South America. He described a hill of HOW. Send your name for free eight page
of iron in Brazil, a five ton quartz crystal, a seven folder with pictures. Explains everything.
Just a card to Old Prospector, Box 21R12,
inch tourmaline and diamonds in the rough. Dutch Flat, California.
Earl Coleman showed Pan-American airways
color film, Wings over Latin America.
RX LAPIDARY MACHINE simultaneously op- • • •
erates either 12" mud or diamond saw, both Approximately 80 members and guests of CHOICE FRANKLIN, N. J., FLUORESCENT
coarse and fine abrasive wheels, and choice East Bay mineral society, Berkeley, California, MINERALS, and other fine Minerals always
of 6" or 8" cast iron laps, cloth covered enjoyed a field trip to Winters, March 17. The in stock. Will consider trades for Western
wheel or leather polisher. Polishers and laps fine minerals.
party gathered at Recreation park, on Putah
interchangeable in seconds. Nothing more creek where red-buds were in full bloom. After JOHN S. ALBANESE
required for cutting, shaping and polishing lunch everyone took to the creekbeds and came
oil rocks, minerals, gemstones. Ask for Bulle- P. O. Box 536
tin 146-B. back laden with jasper and chert. Picks of all NEWARK, NEW JERSEY
RX FACETING MACHINES also available. kinds were in action during the day—garden
picks, ice picks, prospectors picks, and tooth-
picks.
LABORATORY
RX W. A. FELKER
,1143 Post Avc, Torrance, Calif.
• • •
The Goose Lake meteorite, one of the larg-
est ever found in California, was the subject of
Prof. Earle G. Linsley's talk at March 7 meet-
BLACK OPAL
DOUBLETS
ing of East Bay mineral society. The speaker is Fine Black Opal Doublets—Price $1.00 to
$10.00 per carat. We can send you a beautiful
professor of astronomy at Chabot observatory, black opal doublet (ring size stone) for $10.00
with the Oakland schools and Mills college. At to $50.00 each.
CALAMITES the second March meeting, W . E. McKittrick,

geologist for Shell Oil company spoke on min-
erals and igneous activity.
• • •
New stock of Aquamarines, facet cut, ap-
prox. 1 carat
Tourmalines, green or pink, approx.
V4 carat
Amethyst, large cabochons
$2.00
$1.50
$2.00
(CATTAILS) PALEOZOIC We regret to hear of the death, February 11,
of Mrs. Louise Iverson, secretary of San Fernan- BOOKS
Pink, purple and white in each do mineral and gem society, as result of injur- An Encyclopedia of Gems,
by H. E. Briggs $1.50
piece. Roots, whorls, eyes, feathers, ies received in an auto accident. The Story of Diamonds,
by Austin Mercer $1.25
and fibre. Gem and other grades. Famous Diamonds of the World,
Solid dense agate. Have your sets by R. M. Shipley $1.00
Dictionary of Gems and Gemology,
different from any now out. ANSWERS TO TRUE OF FALSE by R. M. Shipley $6.50
Introductory Gemology,
Questions are on page 9 by Webster and Hinton $2.75
This is such outstanding mate-
rial that it will sell on sight Send 1—False. When rabid, coyotes will J. J. JEWELCRAFT
sometimes attack humans. P. O. Box 446, Dept. D
your order in with the money and 2—False. Dead ironwood makes an ex- MONTROSE, CALIFORNIA
if for any reason you are not satis- cellent campfire. Calif, residents please add 2 % % sales tax.
fied send the package back in good 3—False. Salt Lake is approximately
4000 feet above sea level.
condition and you will get your 4—True. 5—True.
money back. 6—False. Agua caliente means hot wa- Beautiful Desert Specimens--
ter.
CALCITE in superb crystal groups. Unusual
As this material is in large 7—True. combination of basal pinacoid and scalenohe-
8—False. Death Valley was given its dron. 2"x2"—$2.00 to 4"x5"—$7.50.
chunks and breaking with a ham- name by the Manly party. DESERT ROSES (Chalcedony). Picked for
mer spoils it, I will saw in pieces 9—True. 10—True. beauty and size. 25c and 50c.
2x3 inches, and the price is $3.00 11—False. Frijoles canyon is in the Ban- STRAWBERRY GEODES. Complete showy
per piece. Postpaid. delier national monument in New geodes, nicely broken to show crystal lined
Mexico. interior. Weight from 1 to 15 lbs. and priced
12—True. 13—True. 14—True. from $1.00 to $15.00.
Specimens for the Collector. 15—False. Asbestos is a mineral that BEAUTIFUL DESERT SAGENITE. Small
comes from the ground. slabs ideal for cabochon and bracelet sets.
Write for Prices. 16—True. 50c per square inch
17—False. Quartz often bears gold. Complete Satisfaction Guaranteed
18—False. The meteoric mass has never Please Include Postage
been located.
BROWN'S ATELIER 19—False. Indians now use bar and wire
silver.
20—True.
Write for Price List.
JACK FROST
Visitors Welcome.
Box 1134 Las Vegas. Nevada 59 E. Hoffer Street Banning, California

FIRST TIME EVER OFFERED FOR A beautifully appointed dinner, attended by
SALE BY ME . . .
138 members and guests, marked seventh annual
celebration of Sacramento mineral society March
Stones of Rare Quality
1 at Coca Cola club rooms. Highlight of the Aquamarines—10x8, 12x10, 16x12 m/m
Lucky Magnetic varied program was an illustrated talk on the
Orinoco, "river that runs two ways," by C. P.
and larger sizes, $2.00 per carat, also
round cuts.
Mother Lodestones Holdredge, official geologist and photographer
of a party of engineers sent to South America in Ceylon Sapphires — Blue, Golden $2.00
There is a legend that these stones 1943 by the war department to survey possibili- per carat.
bring luck and health to the pos- ties of using that river as a route for transpor- Ceylon Red Garnets — $5.00 per dozen.
tation of rubber out of the area. Distinguished Ceylon Hessonite Garnets — $1.00 per
sessor. Send for a pair today. guest of the evening was Dr. Vincent P. Gian- carat.
Pocket Size only — $1.50 ella, department of geology, Mackay school of Brilliant Cut Sapphires—$5.00 per carat.
mines, Reno, Nevada, who presented the society
with a large specimen of orpiment and realgar Carved Sapphires and Rubies—$3.00 per
M. DUINO from his state. carat.
998 The Alameda San Jose. Calif. • • • 100 Carved Obsidians—$40.00.
Mrs. M. E. Pratt, El Centro, California, on her Ceylon Zircons—$1.00 per carat.
first field trip, picked up an uninteresting look- Rare Chrysocolla—$10.00 per 100 carat
A BOX OF COLORADO MINERAL SPECI- ing bit of agate which, when cut and polished, lot.
MENS. Nice for any collection. Try a box, turned out to be rainbow sagenite. A medium Moonstones—$35.00 per 100 carat.
foe pleased and be surprised. Write for price sized cabochon was appraised by an experienced
list on hundreds of specimens now in stock. Rare Green Garnets—$5.00 per carat.
rockhound "worth $20 of anybody's money."
JACK THE ROCKHOUND Beginner's luck! Moss Agates—$6.00 to $12.00 per dozen.
P. O. Box 86 • • • Rare Cameos of all kinds.
CARBONDALE, COLORADO Clarence Wadsworth, oldtimer of Searles Optical Prisms—1% inch, $1.50 each.
Lake district, passed away March 2. He had
mined in the hills east of Searles Lake, pros- Many Other Gems at 25c to $5.00 each.
pected throughout the desert, finally settling in Ask for My Approval Selection
CALIFORNIA FOSSIL SPECIMENS . . . his Summit diggings.
Marine and Land Flora—Marine Fauna 5 • • • ERNEST MEIER
classes—8 species of Marine Fauna identified. Mojave Desert gem and mineral society, Bar- Church Street Annex P. O. Box 302
10 SPECIMENS $3.00 stow, at its March meeting, installed the follow-
ing officers: Ray Langworthy, president; Earnest NEW YORK 8, N. Y.
C ANIP S McMichael, first vice-president; John Loffler,
4258 Bellingham Ave., No. Hollywood, Calif. second vice-president; Cecil Goar, Box 133, Bar-
stow, secretary-treasurer. Board of directors:
Oscar Waters, George Fink, Kenneth Jackson,
Walter Lauterbach and William Gabrial.
• • •
DID YOU KNOW . . . A collection of gem and mineral materials,
Besides Sunflowers KANSAS produces some most of them native to immediate vicinity of
very colorful and distinctive gem materials. Blythe, has been made a permanent display in
$2.0C will bring you a slab assortment of ap- lobby of Citizens First National Trust and Sav-
proximately 15 sq. inches. Assorted rough
material $1.30 lb. $2.30 for 2 lbs. $5.00 for ings bank, Blythe, California. Materials on dis-
5 lbs. Or if you prefer a deposit will bring play are owned by members of Desert gem and
you an approval selection of slabs or pre- mineral society.
form cabochons.
The PACIFIC CATSEYES people are raving
• • •
abom grow in a snail much as a clam produces Mrs. Virginia Tasker Kent, teacher of art
a pef.rl. We offer polished specimens at 60c, metalwork at Minneapolis Miller vocational
90c, $1.20 and $1.80 each. high school was to speak to Minnesota mineral
Better include $3.00 with your order for a club April 13 on design in handmade jewelry.
copy of the book Gems and Gem Materials. Mrs. Kent, after graduating from universities of
We recommend it!
Minnesota and Wisconsin, took postgraduate
ATI prices federal tax and postage paid. work in Vienna in jewelry making.
• • •
GRAFFHAM'S Plans for Los Angeles lapidary society show
COMMERCIAL MUSEUM in Los Angeles county museum May 4-June 28
421 Ash Ottawa, Kansas are reaching final stages, under direction of Fred
Rugg and his assistants. The nine competitive
classes with many sub-classes will bring out the
best stones produced by members. In addition
there will be about 60 cases for general display
Navajo Indian not in competition. On May 4 and 5 lapidary
machines will be in operation, demonstrating
various stages in fashioning of stones.
Silversmith • • •
Dr. Robert I. Jaffee of Battelle Memorial in-
stitute describes germanium as a rare element
Here's a fine precision tool that
I now have expert Navajo silver- which can now be used profitably. It is pro- greatly simplifies the cutting of any
smiths making jewelry to order. duced in New Jersey and Missouri as a by- faceted gem. Though made for our
Rings, b r a c e l e t s , pendants, product with cadmium from the zinc ores. It is a Compact Lapidary Unit, the Hillquist
crystalline grey-white metal similar to silicon or Facetor can be used with any other
brooches, earrings, etc. Have your horizontal lap thru the use of a simple
tin. It is rare; only about one ton per year is
cabochons mounted in pure silver produced as a by-product of zinc ore. adaptor socket which we can furnish.
mountings. Prices on request. • • • $28.00 f.o.b. factory. Adaptor socket,
HEAVY HAND MADE MEN'S RINGS Several members of Imperial Valley gem and $1.50. NO PRIORITY NEEDED.
set with Black Petrified Wood or Tur- mineral society recently have found specimens
quoise — Mounted with 14 Carat Gold of uranium ores. The first, found in 1942 by SEND TODAY FOR OUR
Lodge Emblems — Elks, Masons, Shrine, members of Holtville union high school miner- NEW FREE CATALOG.
etc. alogy class, was identified at that time. More re-
cently, Sam Robinson, Alton Hoyt and others
ART'S GEM S H O P have found larger quantities. University of Ari-
218 M. 3rd St. Box 225 zona made the identification.
GALLUP, NEW MEXICO • • •
(Home of the Navajo) Membership of Monterey Bay mineral society
ART PUFFER. Owner had grown to 68 by February 11, reports Mrs.
2020 WESTLAKE SEATTLE 1, W A S H
A. W . Flippin, secretary.
MAY, 1946 43
Trona, California . . .
Mln&i . .
When war-time investigations disclosed
that 90.79 per cent of the capital stock of
American Potash & Chemical company
was German owned, the U. S. Alien Prop-
Salt Lake City, Utah . . . Las Vegas, Nevada . . . erty Custodian took possession. On March
The Geneva Steel works in Utah, war- A number of Nevada mines are seeking 28, the Custodian announced the sale of
time plant which has been the center of men, both miners and muckers, according his holdings—478,194 shares, to an east-
much speculation since V-J day, is to be to L. E. Black of the U. S. Employment ern banking syndicate whose high bid was
sold by the War Assets corporation about service here, and employment in this field $32.29 a share, or a total of $15,440,884.
May 1, members of the Western States offers a possible solution to the housing It is reported that the syndicate will im-
council were told at their March meeting problem of many veterans and others. Most mediately offer the stock for resale at $35
here. It is reported that Henry Kaiser and of the mines have housing facilities for a share, with employes of the company
"at least one other bidder" are interested both married and single men. being given an opportunity to share in the
in acquiring the property. • • • ownership.
• • • Goldfield, Nevada . . . • • •
Searchlight, Nevada . . . Gold Point mining syndicate is now op- Lone Pine, California . . .
George Emberling, veteran prospector, erating its Golden Eagle property adjoin-
has filed suit in the Las Vegas district court ing the Ohio Mines corporation ground 35 Full scale operations were scheduled to
making claim to much of the Searchlight miles south of here. The ore, silver-gold be started April 1 at U. S. Vanadium's
townsite by virtue of having staked out the with lead, is to be milled seven miles away Pine Creek property, according to Arch
"Grand Central Lode" in 1939. Not satis- at the Nevada Gold (State Line) plant. Boyd, superintendent. Both underground
fied with mineral rights, Emberling also Golden Eagle originally was in the old Sil- and open pit work is to be carried on, and
asks "surface rights" and since his "claim" ver King group, located by "Black Dick" an additional 200 miners are to be em-
includes hotels, grocery stores, taverns and Richards and Charles Howard. Later it was ployed.
public utility properties he is asking that acquired by the D'Arcy interests, then by • • •
the owners of these improvements make an the late Fred Ashman of Goldfield. Presi- Washington, D. C. . . .
accounting for all leases and rentals. Prop- dent of the syndicate is Roy E. Daugherty Either the ceiling prices of 12 cents a
erty owners have raised a defense fund to of Hawthorne. pound for copper, 6.5 cents for lead and
fight the suit. • • • 8.25 cents for zinc must be raised, or the
• • • Elko, Nevada . . . federal government will have to subsidize
Boulder City, Nevada . . . A gold-silver strike at the old Mountain the mining of these metals, according to
Problems involved in the utilization of City camp is reported by the Knowles the report of a sub-committee of the Sen-
low grade ores are occupying much of the brothers who have driven a 600-foot tun- ate's Small Business committee. A bill to
attention of the U. S. laboratory here. Ex- nel below any previous workings in the provide $50,000,000 for premiums to pro-
periments are being conducted with titan- property. The operators state that samples ducers of the three metals has been intro-
ium in an effort to lower the present cost from the exposed face assayed 2.02 ounces duced by Representative Leo E. Allen of Il-
of $5.00 a pound, according to Dr. R. S. gold, value $70.70, 732.20 ounces silver linois.
Dean. Chromium, electrolitic magnesium worth $519.86, lead 14.1 per cent worth • • •
and cobalt also are being subjected to ex- $26.09—total value $616.65 a ton. The Hot Springs, New Mexico . . .
perimental work designed to make avail- property was discovered in 1869 by Jesse
Gem quality fluorspar that resembles
able increased supplies of metal from de- Cope, and is now owned by Davidson
amethyst in color is now being mined in
posits which in the past have been regard- brothers of Mountain City who gave a
the American Fluorspar group of proper-
ed as too low grade to be mined profitably. long-term lease to the Knowles.
ties near here. It is said to test 97.70 pure
fluorspar and occurs in crystal form. For
lack of an established name, it is being
called Andreasite for the San Andreas
mountains near where it is found. The
owners report they have been offered $60
a pound for the best crystals.
• • •
The Arizona Mining Journal, founded
26 years ago by Charles F. Willis, has been
sold to the Miller Freeman Publications,
Inc., of San Francisco. The new owners
plan to consolidate the Journal with the
Mining World, to be published from
Phoenix.
• • •
Blue Gem turquoise mine, located 36
miles north of Tonopah, has been pur-
chased by Bert King and associates, former-
ly of New Mexico. Former owner of the
property was Lee Hand.
• • •
E. A. Adams of Niland, California, has
sold the Broken Hills property in River-
side county northeast of Niland to H. H.
"It's really a swell short cut, if I can only find it!" McGinnis of Los Angeles.

This page of Desert Magazine is
AMATEUR GEM CUTTER for those who have, or aspire to
have, their own gem cutting and
polishing equipment. Lelande Quick, who conducts this department, is former president
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 Centra, Calif.
By LELANDE QUICK
The sincerest flattery I can offer the always cutting again is being presented as an art form
enjoyable and useful Rocks and Minerals maga- and not as a hobby by the Los Angeles Museum
zine is to imitate a clever puzzle feature Peter of Science, History and Art. The Fifth Annual
Zodac: published in the February, 1946, issue. Exhibition of Gems and Jewelry presented by
In an excerpt from a soldier's diary, written by the Los Angeles Lapidary society will be pre-
an an onymous member of the Thomas Rock and sented in the main art gallery and rotunda of
Mineral club of Philadelphia, ten mineral names the museum beginning Saturday, May 4, contin-
were well hidden. I puzzled over it a full hour uing through June 28. Last year the museum A FASTER CUTTING
and could get only eight of the names. authorities lifted gem cutting out of the hobby
class when they invited the exhibit and achieved
LONGER LASTING
Determined to get even, I spent the rest of
the highest record of attendance for any event
the evening making a similar puzzle containing
the names of 14 gem materials. If you have half ever held at the museum. This year the exhibit,
under the chairmanship of Fred Rugg, moves
LAPIDARY CUT-OFF WHEEL
the fun solving it as I had in assembling this puz- In the Bevil Diamond-Impregnated Cut-Off
2le, you are going to enjoy yourself for a few into the main art gallery of the museum and be-
comes the most important and largest gem and Wheel, the cutting rim and body of blade are
minutes, perhaps an hour or—perhaps you won't flowed together. This produces a fusion bond
solve it at all. The gem names will appear here jewelry exhibit ever presented anywhere. Be it
art or hobby, this exhibition will hold interest instead of the usual physical bond. The result
next month. Here it is; see what you can do with is a cut-off wheel that cuts much faster, and lasts
it. for everyone and it will be a grand free treat to
be enjoyed, not in just a cursory visit but in many times longer than the average diamond-
several visits for contemplative study. impregnated cut-off wheel. Cuts all non-metallic
THE T W O GREEKS materials of dense, brittle structure. Write for
A Gem of a Tale For those who are curious about lapidary Bulletin No. 4, stating your cutting requirements.
Ovar and Petos, ancient Greek architects, procedure there will be a separate room with
were often at odds over structural details.
On a donkey trip to Palomar Ovar is cited
as having said that a mansard roof needed
a keystone. "But," said Petos, "Keystones
working lap wheels, diamond saws, grinding
heads and polishing wheels operated by society
members. This exhibit will be open only on
Saturday and Sunday, May 4 and 5 however,
TYPE
"T" 6 " - $6.50 r_ $9
TYPE "R": 6"-$19.00; 8"-$24.0O;
are for arches only. An overlap is sufficient but it will be open in the evening hours on those 1O"-$32.OO; 12"-$38.5O; 14"-$45.OO.
for strength in a roof. However, I am be- days with entrance from the famous rose gar-
rating you in vain for you came of a poor dens in Exposition Park. The rest of the ex- Ij»l»/"»/» *)/!/" 815 Fremont Ave.
master and the fault is not yours entirely." hibit, until June 28, will be at regular museum V * f X C l / , , %/IH*. South Pasadena, Calif.
"Now then," said Ovar, "It is not proper hours. There also will be an educational ex- Safes Division of BEVIL CO., Los Angeles. Manu-
I co think for you to berate my master hibit on display for the duration of the show- facturers of BEVIL Diamond Abrasive Cutting Tools
whom you knew not. Rub your eyes of their ing. This will include magazines and books
own motes before you pick one out of relative to gem cutting with pictures of for-
mine." As they came to the city Petos was mer exhibitions and society activities of the Los
jettisoned from his mount as they passed Angeles Lapidary society.
through a gate too narrow for both. He QUALITY ROCK SHOP . . .
knocked over a fruit vendor's stall at the If you are looking for the great blessing of Woods — Agates — Shell Rock — Fossil
city wall and as he reached forth to grasp doing something with your hands; if you are Sharks Teeth — Commercial Cutting
in elegant gestures a pear, lest his donkey looking for a hobby; if you want to "express MAY SPECIAL—Delicate pastel colored, fern,
trample it, Ovar derided him by saying, yourself;" if you want to combine a hobby and flower, etc. Horse Canyon cabochon s l i c e s -
quiet study and combine that again with the best 35c to $5.00 each at 35c per sq. in. Cabo-
"Ha, me! Thy stomach is thy master still, chon Grab Bag. $3.15 each. Enough top qual-
I see!!" great outdoors in the third largest gem bearing ity material for 35 cabs. Felker DiMet blades,
area in the world you should visit this exhibi- all sizes. State arbor size. California residents
tion to see what gem cutting offers. Or, if you add tax. Postage not prepaid.
I have no quarrel with folks who prefer to merely want to "kill an afternoon" I can recom-
call the lapidary art a hobby. Hobby or art or mend the exhibition as a means of painlessly DEAN P. MIDDLETON
craft or what you will, it is a great satisfaction using the shortest afternoon one could spend. I 727 Jefferson St. Bakersfield, California
to create something rather than be just a col- defy anyone to be bored, as many people are with
lector With the increasing leisure time that other art forms. This art is too easily understood
the American people are securing for them- and appreciated to be boring.
selves through shorter working hours, some
hobby or art form should be developed as a During the gem exhibition, I will list on this
matter of mental, spiritual and physical health. page in the July issue all gem and lapidary so- Revised Lapidary Handbook
Although the most energetic people on the cieties with the secretaries' names and addresses
and times and places of meetings. There are 18 By J. HARRY HOWARD
face C'f the earth when it comes to producing,
we ar; the laziest people when it comes to em- such societies known to me and a new society This book is a successor to the author's
ploying leisure time for personal enjoyment. will be organized in Beverly Hills, California, HANDBOOK FOR THE AMffTEUR LAPI-
Instead of indulging in healthful sports, we sit meanwhile. Drop me a postal if you are inter- DARY.
on benches as spectators and watch others play. ested in associating with the Beverly Hills It is completely re-written.
We do not attempt to entertain ourselves or group. Secretaries of groups that have not noti- It is much enlarged—225 pages.
each other, but "kill time" in movie houses hav- fied me should do so if they want their organ- It has about 70 illustrations.
ing people entertain us in pictures we really do ization listed. It describes modern techniques.
, not care to see most of the time. W e think that I am sure that all gem groups with the excep- It has much new material never
education stops when we get a high school or tion of the Los Angeles Lapidary society (with published before.
college diploma instead of continuing our edu- a closed membership because it is now too Excellent cloth binding.
cation to the grave as they do in Denmark where large) will welcome interested persons to their Good index.
everyone voluntarily goes to school as long as ranks. About half of the groups have been or-
life lasts. This is not my idea; it is the picture ganized in the past year, and many more will be
PRICE $3.00 POSTPAID
that other nations have of us and that many organized in the next year. It now seems to be PUBLISHED MAY 1
Americans acknowledge. This foreign view is the predominating tendency to include the word
exaggerated, of course, for we do know how Order from your book store, or your
"gem" in the titles of new mineralogical groups, lapidary supply dealer, or this maga-
to do something besides make money. But indi- and one new society has included the word
viduals predominate who have a real problem zine, or the author.
"jewelry." I noticed too, that a society recently
in marshalling their leisure into something sat-
isfying.
made a happy choice in the words "excursion J. HARRY HOWARD
committee" instead of "field trip" committee,
a much more inclusive term. 504 Crescent Ave. Greenville, S. C.
All of this is a prelude to saying that gem
MAY, 1946 45
£u5t Hetween If on and Me
By RANDALL HENDERSON alienable right to go out and slash down the forests, overgraze
the range, tear up the earth for minerals and drain the fertility
/ y SPENT an evening recently with Elmer E. Dunn who from the topsoil for his own profit without regard for the wel-
\J lives alone in a little cabin in the Santa Rosa mountains. fare of the national community as a whole.
Elmer and I got along fine together despite the fact that Elmer Dunn and his kind are clinging desperately to the old
we are miles apart when it comes to questions of economics and way. They may win today or tomorrow. But eventually they
politics. He cooked dinner on a wood stove stoked with manzan- must lose. For America's natural resources have been diminish-
ita cut from his homestead and then with a kerosene lamp for ing at an appalling rate—and a later generation is going to
light we argued until midnight. fight even more desperately than the mining fraternity is now
Elmer is an old-time mining man who writes long articles for fighting, for an economy in which they will share in the distri-
the newspapers. One of his pet peeves is the Joshua Tree na- bution of these dwindling resources.
tional monument. Like most of those in the mining game, he * * *
thinks the monument should be opened to prospectors. My friend Harry Oliver of Thousand Palms, California, is
The controversy over the status of the monument has been building a 'dobe house, a quaint little replica of an old Spanish
brought to a focus by H.R. 4703, introduced by Congressman mission. Harry has a formula I can recommend to those who as-
Harry R. Sheppard of San Bernardino. pire to live to a ripe old age. He calls it his "20-year plan."
The Joshua tree monument contains 838,258 acres, and the It is very simple. The first day he makes 10 adobe bricks—
Sheppard bill would reduce this area by 310,000 acres, excluding good bricks with just the right amount of adobe and gravel in
from the present boundaries most of the mineralized areas in- them. It takes three days for the bricks to cure and Harry spends
cluding the old Dale mining region and the iron deposits in the the three days in contemplation of his handiwork. On the fifth
Eagle mountains. The measure would add 30,000 acres of non- day he carefully lays the bricks in the wall. Then he is ready to
mineralized land, and would provide a fund of $210,000 for start work the following day on the next 10 bricks. And thus
the purchase by the Park Service of privately owned lands with- the cycle continues.
in the monument, most of them belonging to the Southern Pa- Not a very speedy way to build a house perhaps—but Harry's
cific railroad. theory is that too much speed is taking all the fun out of life for
This measure has the endorsement of the National Park serv- a majority of Americans. And perhaps he has something there.
ice and a majority of those who are interested in the preservation
* * *
of the monument as a scenic and recreational park for Southern
California. Another desert neighbor with a 20-year plan is Cabot Yerxa,
But the mining men, for the most part are not satisfied. They one of the old-timers in the Desert Hot springs section of Coa-
want all bans on mining removed, so they can go in and gopher chella valley. Cabot recently brought a Texas bride to his des-
the park at random. They are opposing the Sheppard bill be- ert homestead, and now they are building a combination dwell-
cause they want all or nothing. ing and art studio up in a gully at the foot of the Little San Ber-
In my opinion, by their uncompromising attitude, the min- nardino mountains. Cabot has been gathering materials for that
ing fraternity is defeating its own best interests. If Joshua na- studio for the last 15 years. He has lumber and chicken wire and
tional monument is restored to the status of public lands I can bolts and sash scattered all over the landscape. But slowly, a stick
foresee such a stampede of jackrabbit homesteaders to that area at a time, Cabot is putting his house together and it is going to
as has not been witnessed since the 5-acre-tract law was enacted. be a work of art when finished—which will be in about 20 years
Of course homesteader's claims would be subject to mineral if he stays on the job and doesn't go galavantin' around with his
rights, but a prospector records his filing in the county while a easel and paint brushes as these artists are prone to do.
homesteader gets his rights through the district federal land * * *
office. The result would be endless trouble and litigation. But Harry Oliver and Cabot Yerxa are speed demons com-
The Sheppard bill impresses me as being a happy compromise pared with Paul Wilhelm at Thousand Palms oasis. Paul already
by which all interests stand to gain, and it is to be hoped that has been on the job 20 years—and his grand plans for the devel-
conservation-minded Americans will lend their influence for opment of a super-resort at the oasis are still in the dream stage.
its passage. At the present rate of progress Paul will need at least a hundred
And if the controversy eventually is solved in that manner, I years to convert his poetical ideas into cement and wood and
suspect that my friend Elmer Dunn will be as well pleased with window-panes.
the outcome as I will be—for after all, despite his horse-and- But don't get me wrong. I envy those fellows—Harry and
buggy-day prejudices, Elmer is a reasonable sort of a fellow. Cabot and Paul. Somehow, they have found a way to detour all
* * * the zip and bustle and worry that keep the rest of us in a state
The Joshua park controversy merely is a local phase of a broad of demoralization. They are healthy and happy in doing the
issue which every American citizen must face. It is important be- things they want to do. As far as I am concerned, it all adds up
cause it goes to the roots of our American way of life. The time to this—we need more poets and artists in this old world, and
has passed when any and every citizen may regard it as his in- less chamber of commerce secretaries and super-salesmen.

Winner of first prize in current O. Hen-
ry Memorial prize short story collection
published annually by Doubleday Doran
and company is "The Wind and the Snow
of Winter," story with Nevada mining
town setting written by Walter Van Til-
burg Clark, University of Nevada gradu-
ate and son of Dr. Walter E. Clark, former
president of the university. Clark also is
NEW HANDBOOK DESCRIBES There is now available for the first time author of two novels, Ox-Bow Incident
WORLD OF PUEBLO INDIAN a popular guide on fossil amphibians and and City of Trembling Leaves.
In the sixth volume published by Uni- reptiles, with particular attention to the • • •
versity of New Mexico and School of dinosaurs. It is THE DINOSAUR BOOK, Experiences of a game warden are told
American Research in Handbooks of Ar- by Edwin H. Colbert, published by Ameri- in When the Dogs Barked 'Treed' by El-
chaeological History series, Edgar L. Hew- can Museum of Natural History, New liott Barker, New Mexico state game war-
ett and Bertha P. Dutton describe the York, as Handbook 14 in Man and Nature den. Chapters include lion hunting, game
Pueblo Indian world which lies in a 75 series. The author, in tracing the evolution animal habits, relations of predators to
mile wide strip along the Rio Grande be- of dinosaurs and their relatives, also has their prey and hunting episodes. Scheduled
tween Taos and Isleta, New Mexico. hold how they lived with other animals ex- for April publication by University of New
Primary aim of THE PUEBLO INDI- isting at the time and he has described the Mexico Press.
AN WORLD is well stated in the sub- world as it must have been many millions • • •
title, "Studies in the Natural History of of years ago when these cold-blooded rep- Jack O'Connor's latest book, Hunting in
the Rio Grande Valley in Relation to tiles lived. the Southwest, treats of both big and small
Pueblo Indian Culture." Both the Pueb- Although dinosaurs are extinct now, game in the American Southwest and the
los' relation to their geographical environ- and have been for some 60 million years, northern states of Mexico. He gives his
ment and to one another are portrayed they were highly successful, having sur- personal hunting experiences from Utah
through their origin legends, their place vived for many millions of years. The au- to Sinaloa and records his opinion on a
names, uses of wild plants, preparation of thor has traced the evolution of their fish number of controversial phases. Any
foods, their agriculture and their attitudes ancestors, whose life began more than 340 sportsman should enjoy his tales of deer
toward animals familiar to them. million years ago, through the culmina- and desert bighorn, of bear, mountain lion
Second part of the Handbook is a view tion of dinosaur life, to their modern day and javelina, of quail, dove, whitewing
of the Pueblo world as seen by the first survivors—the crocodiles, lizards, snakes and wild turkey. Illustrated. Published
white men to explore that area, especially and turtles. 1945 by Alfred A. Knopf Inc. $4.00.
as described by Castaneda, Coronado and Both the author's style and the dis- • • •
Benavides. tinguished illustration make such a scien- Pottery Making in an Indian Pueblo is
Two significant chapters, included in tific subject interesting to the layman. Be- a unique production of the School of
the appendix, are written by John P. Har- sides photos and charts, the book is illus- American Research, Santa Fe, New Mex-
rington, ethnologist with Smithsonian in- trated with many drawings, chiefly the ico. This is an 18-minute documentary
stitution, who announces here for the first work of John C. Germann, which show film in full kodachrome showing the en-
time his discovery that "all the Pueblo restorations of the animals, as they are be- tire process of Indian pottery making, from
stocks are related to one another by having lieved to have appeared in life. the gathering of the clay to the final phases
had a common origin and source." He ac- How and where dinosaur remains are of decorating and firing. Juanita and An-
cordingly has adopted a new classification found, value of fossil study, and stories of tonio Pena are the potters whose work
of the Rio Grande tribes. Also in the ap- the pioneer students of dinosaurs are chap- John Wallace has photographed at their
pendix is a list of scientific and common ters which provide an interesting back- home in San Udefonso Pueblo, New Mex-
names of flora and fauna of the Pueblo ground to a study of the reptiles them- ico. Throughout the film each step is nar-
world. selves. rated in detail by Dr. Edgar L. Hewett, in-
156 double-column pages, 8x11 inches. ternationally known archeologist and edu-
Much of the material presented here
cator. $125.00.
comes from earlier reports which have 1945.
been edited and supplemented to make it • • •
available in non-technical form to a wider BOOK BRIEFS . *. . Harvard University in 1945 published
reading public. Major credit for research Newest contribution to Death Valley as a paper of the Peabody Museum of
upon which the work is based is given Dr. literature is that of Major George Palmer American Archaeology and Ethnology,
Harrington, formerly on School of Ameri- Putnam, whose book Death Valley and Its Emil Haury's The Excavation o\ Los Muer-
can Research staff. Country will be released in a few months tos and Neighboring Ruins in the Salt
by Duell, Sloan and Pearce. There are River Valley, Southern Arizona. This
Photos, maps, drawings, biblio., index. chapters on desert gem stones, geology, paper is based on one phase of the Hemen-
176 pp. $4.00. flora, fauna, history and interesting char- way Southwestern Archaeological Expedi-
• • • acters of Death Valley. Much of his mate- tion of 1887-88, the pioneer expedition
THE WORLD BEFORE rial was obtained from desert old-timers which laid the foundation for future sci-
THE DAWN OF MAN and rockhounds. entific exploration in the Southwest, the
Some of us have seen dinosaur skeletons • • • expedition which was organized and led
in museums, others have seen tracks of Another booklet on Indian Silverwork by Frank Hamilton Cushing (although
dinosaurs in remote desert areas, and many of the Southwest is Band Bracelets: Em- Fewkes continued when Cushing became
more are acquainted with Alley Oop's fav- bossed, published by Laboratory of An- too ill), and for which Adolph Bandelier
orite mount "Dinny." But not many of us thropology, Santa Fe, as Bulletin 19 of the served as historian. Haury gives a resume
know much more about the strange reptile General Series. Origin of this unusual type and interpretation of the findings on the
that disappeared from the earth millions of silverwork has not been determined. Hohokam culture in the Salt River valley.
of years before man lived (despite Alley Includes photos of 28 examples, with notes Illustrated with maps of ruins and canals,
and his cave dwelling friends). by H. P. Mera. with photos and plates.
MAY, 1946 47
%ie loan
the Desert. . .
A date butter cream for spreading on toast, making date pie, date cake,
date cookies, DATE MILK SHAKES, date ice cream or topping for ice cream.
Can be mixed with cereals or eaten just as it is.
This 2V* lb. container DELIVERED for $2.00

One gallon (9 lbs.) DELIVERED for 6.40
Recipe for making a delicious date cake and for making the date milk shake
sent with each order.
VALERIE JEAN DATE SHOP

THERMAL, CALIFORNIA

Desert Magazine 1946 May

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25 CENTS

Joshua Tree National Monument

May Contest is open to any desert

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

« What is probably one of the most

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

8 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

then made us honorary members of their

10 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

12 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

16 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

learned some of the history of Skull valley

When Hawaiians came and were so fascinated by the place we

to the Utah Desert life while crossing it on his return from

18 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

few survivors ever returned to their be-

The inscription on one headstone read:

20 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

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Looking downstream in Salvador canyon jrom the top of

26 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

A A A 4 A A AA REPRESENTS THE 1945 CROP AND LIVESTOCK VALUA-

Imperial Irrigation District.

28 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

/ j MONG the next of kin to the Dandelions are two species

30 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

• • • condition than in years. A new trading

THE DESERT TRADING POST

32 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

Plan Expansion for Mead Guests . . .

34 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

Prizes for desert Covers much in common a Chinese scientist is

36 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

38 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

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CALAMITES the second March meeting, W . E. McKittrick,

Box 1134 Las Vegas. Nevada 59 E. Hoffer Street Banning, California

42 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

44 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

46 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

This 2V* lb. container DELIVERED for $2.00

VALERIE JEAN DATE SHOP

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