194712 desert magazine 1947 december

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T O S H A R E I N THE I N C O M E A N D I N V E S T M E N TO P P O R T U N I T Y O F F E R E D BY

A m e r i c a ' s M o s t D i s t i n g u i s h e d D e s e r t C o m m u n i t y

p i / * s y

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U N I T N O . 4Immediately adjacent to DesertMagazine Building, Lodge andDesert Cultural Center SiteOPEN SOONLARGE IMPROVED HOMESITESPRE-OPENING PRICESFROM $ 1 2 0 0 .

Shadow Mountain Estate Area PricesSTARTAT

TERMST h e opportunities forhome seekers and for investors in income,business andbuilding properties arelimitless at Palm Desert. This160 0 acre comm unity in the heart of California's fabulous desert em pireis already one of themost talked ofrealty developm ents inAmerica.You must see Palm Desert, its amazing construction program, itsstreets, its abundant water supply, itsperfect location - where the sunlingers longer. Today, plan to seePalm Desert - and investigate theopportunities itoffers you!

WRITE FOR COLORFUL DESCRIPTIVE LITERATUREPALM DESERT CORPORATIONPalm Desert, California

CLIFFORD W.HENDERSON, FOUNDER, PRESIDENTLos An ge les Office. 6123 W. Third Street Phone WEbster 3-2661Tract Office on Property orSee Your Own BrokerEdith Ward, Tract Agent

J * * * " * K ^ c r.o tTO IDYLLWILD HEMET RIVERSIDEi

CALIFORNIA'S DATE EMPIRE PHOENIX ANDROUTES EAST 4

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D E S E k TC A L E N D A RNov. 28-30Desert Peaks section of Si-erra club to climb Picacho peak inSouthern California and Castle

Dome in Arizona. Ni les Werner,leader.Dec. 1-6National Indian Celebration,show and all-Indian rodeo, Mesa,Arizona.Dec. 4-6National Congress of Ameri-can Indians, fourth annual conven-tion, Santa Fe, New Mexico.Dec. 6Imperial Highway associat ionmonthly meeting in El Centro, Cali-fornia. Dinner at Barbara Worthhotel at 7 p. m.Dec. 6-7Sierra club hike, HiddenSprings from Box canyon, beyondMecca, California. Desert SteveRagsdale, leader.Dec. 7Lecture and color pictures:

"Cliff-dwellers of the Mesa Verde,Colorado," by Paul Coze, SouthwestMuseum, Los Angeles, California,3 p. m.Dec. 15Approximate date annualSnow Cup race (Giant Slalom)sponsored by Salt Lake Jr. Chamberof Commerce, Utah.Dec. 21Golf tournament open to al lBoy Scouts, Imperial-Yuma council.Country club, Brawley, California.Dec. 24La Posada, Christmas EveMexican ceremonies, Tucson, Ari -zona.Dec. 24Midnight Mass, missionchurches at San Felipe, Laguna, Is-leta and other pueblos, New Mex-ico.Dec. 25Christmas day dances and cele-brat ions, Jemez, Santo Domingo,Tesuque, Santa Clara and otherpueblos, New Mexico.Dec. 28Annual rendi t ion of "The Mes-siah," with full symphony orchestra,oratorio chorus of 400 voices andguest soloists. Tabernacle, Salt LakeCity, Utah.Dec.Exhibi t ion, Paint ings of theSouthwest by the late Edgar AlwinPayne. Southwest Museum, Los An-geles, California.Dec.Shalako, house dedicat ion andvisit of the Gods. Date indefinite,usually early December. Ceremoniesat night , photography prohibi ted.Zuni pueblo, New Mexico.Dec.Papago Christmas ceremonial (ex-

act date not available), Tucson, Ari-

H O P EBy T A N Y A S O U T H

Again, oh Soul of mine, look up!Again behold th e stars!Once more cling fast to love andhope!For nothing marsThe inner Light that shines so clear,W h e n we dispense with hate andfear.

V o l um e 11 DECEMBER, 1947 Number 2COVER

CALENDARINDIANSHUMORADVENTURECONTESTMINERALSPERSONALITYAR T O F LIVINGPHOTOGRAPHYARTISTRYPROGRESSTRUE OR FALSEMININGLETTERSNATUREN EWSLAPIDARYHOBBYBOOKSCOMMENTPOETRY

J O S H U A S A T SUNSET. Photo taken i n N e w Yorkmounta ins near Need les , Cal i fo rn ia , by J. K.Yoakum, Parker , Ar izona .D e c e mb e r e v e n t s on the deser t 3G e r o n i mo , A p a c h e Ra i d e rBy ROSELLA MATTMUELLER 4Hard Rock Shorty of D e a t h V a l l e y . . . . . 6G r a n d C a n y o n V o y a g eBy RANDALL HENDERSON 7P r i z e a n n o u n c e me n t for p h o t o g r a p h e r s . . . 12N a t u r e ' s O n y x F a c t o r yBy LEWIS W . WALKER 13L a d y of the Hot Spr ingsBy HAROLD O . WEIGHT 16Desert Trai ls , b y MARSHAL SOUTH . . . . 19N o v e m b e r p r i ze w i n n e r s 21For th e Deser t Home a t Ch r i s t ma s

By MARGARET CARRICK 22F o r D e s e r t Ma g a z i n e a n e w H o m e 24A test of y o u r d e s e r t k n o w l e d g e 25Cu r r e n t n e w s of deser t mines 26Comment f rom Deser t ' s readers 27A Burro 's Back is T o u g h

By BACIL B. WARREN 28F r o m h e r e a n d t here o n th e d e s e r t 29A m a t e u r G e m Cutter, b y LELANDE QUICK . . 36G e m s a n d mi n e r a l s 37Re v i e w s of cur ren t Sou thwes t l i t e ra tu re . . . 44Just Between Y o u a n d M e , b y t h e Editor . . . 46Ghost Town, a n d o ther poems 47

The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Press, Inc., 636 State Street,El Centro, California. Entered as second class matter October 11, 1937, at the post office atEl Centro, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title registered No. 358865 in U. S.Patent Office, and contents copyrighted 1947 by the Desert Pr ess, Inc. Perm ission t o reproducecontents must be secured from the editor in writing.RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor. BESS STACY, Busine ss Manager.HAROLD and LUCILE WEIGHT, Associate Editors.Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledgedunless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility for damageor loss of manuscripts or photographs although due care will be exercised. Subscribers shouldsend 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.

SUBSCRIPTION RATESOne Year . . . $3.00 Two years . . . $5.00Canadian subscriptions 25c extra, foreign 50c extra.Subscriptions to Army personnel outside U.S.A. must be mailed in conformity withP.O.D. Order No. 19687.

Address correspondence to Desert Magazine, 636 State Street, El Centro, California.D E C E M B E R , 1 9 4 7


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He was cruel and relentless in his war on thewhitesbut he was following the traditional codeof his tribesmenan ey e for an ey e and a tooth fora tooth. Geronimo's hatred of the intruders inApache country began the day his mother and wife

and children were murdered in cold blood by M exi-can troopers. But when he extended his maraudingto the settlements of U. S. citizens he was doomedto final defeatand eventually he realized thatand laid down his arms in surrender.

/ J GROUP of small boys, copper-f / skinned and naked, crept amongthe trees and rocks. Suddenly onethrew himself on the ground. With loudwhoops the others ran to him and the firstone to reach and touch him yelled"coupe." Again and again they repeatedthis and each time the same boy wouldreach the "victim" first.Finally the rest of the boys gave up indisgust, saying to the victor, "We stop.You get all the scalps.""Sure, me great warrior," the lad boast-ed with a grin.Great warrior! Did he even then havevisions of the future? Did he know thatsome day his name would chill the heart ofmany a brave man?GeronimoApache war chief! Mosthistorians have drawn a word picture ofthis great Indian fighter show ing him onlyas a ruthless and cruel savage, waging re-lentless war upon any and all whites.But delving back into his life, we findhim following the normal pursuits ofthe Apachje life until tha t fateful day in1858.Born in No-doyohn canyon, Arizona, inJune, 1829, he was a member of the Be-don-ko-be band, which made its homearound the waters of the Gila river. Hisname was Goya-thele. The name Geron-imo was given to him by the Mexicans.As a baby he hung in his cradle at hismother's back. As he grew older, hismother taught him the legends of his peo-ple. She taught him to pray to the GreatSpirit for wisdom and strength. And whenhe was big enough he was sent into thefields to help break the ground for theplanting of winter food. In the fall thebeans, corn, melons, and pumpkins wereharvested and stored away in caves to beused when needed.But the task he really liked was to cutand cure the wild tobacco. He watchedwith envy the older boys strutting aroundsmoking their first cigarette, for that meantthey had gone out alone and killed b'ggame. Not until he had accomplished thatfeat would he be allowed to smoke. Butthat day would soon come. And when itdid there would be no laughs and jeers athim for his awkwardness, he thought withsatisfaction. Hadn't he been secretly prac-

By ROSELLA MATTMUELLERticing the fine art of rolling the tobacco inoak leaf wrappers for days?The least of little Goya-thele's and hisplaymate's worries was clothing. It wassomething to do without whenever pos-sible, which usually meant all summer.Even in winter very little was worn. Beingmore modest, the women wore a skirt, con-sisting of a piece of cotton cloth fastenedabout the waist and extending to the knees.The men wore breech cloth and moccasins.In the winter they added a shirt.When Geronimo was small his fatherdied. His body was arrayed in his finestclothes, his richest blanket wrappedaround him and his favorite pony saddledand led behind the procession as they car-ried him to the cave in which he was bur-ied.Although Geronimo's grandfather hadbeen a great chief of the Mimbreno tribe,his father did not succeed him throughheredity, because he had fallen in love andmarried a girl of the Be-don-ko-be tribe,which made him a member of her people.So it was that a sub-chief, Mangus Colo-rado, became chief.When Geronimo was 17 he was admit-ted to the council of warriors. Now hecould go on the warpath with the others.And now he could marry Alope. Alope ofthe flashing eyes, the tempting lips, theslender body a maiden to grace thewickiup of a brave warrior. When he ap-proached her father, he demanded manyponies for her, many more than the youngbrave possessed. With a whispered wordto Alope he left the village and was goneseveral days. When he returned he hadmore than enough ponies to pay for thehand of the Indian girl.It was in the summer of 1858 that ChiefMangus Colorado took the whole tribeinto Mexico, traveling toward Casas Gran-des. Shortly before reaching there, theystopped on the outskirts of a small townto camp for a few days. Each day the menwould go into town to trade, leaving thecamp under the protection of a smallguvd.Late on the fourth day, after a successfuldav in town, they were returning to theircamp in high spirits, laughing and s;ng-inrr. Tust be'o'-e reaching camp, they sawsome of their women and children rushing

toward them. Sensing trouble, Geronimospurred his pony to meet them. At first hecould make nothing of their hystericalwords. When he did understand what theywere trying to tell him, their words struckbitterness to his heart.These women and children were the sur-vivors of their camp. A troop of Mexicancavalry had attacked suddenly and swiftly,killing all the men and many of the wom-en and children, including Geronimo'saged mother, wife and three children.Then they had stolen their horses, armsand supplies.Geronimo gazed on the carnage beforehim. He was as one turned to stone, hismind numb, incapable of thought or ac-tion. He had lost all! For the moment hewas conscious of nothing but overwhelm-ing grief. Then slowly, as he looked uponthe bodies of his loved ones, a terrible hategrew within him and he vowed vengeanceupon those who had done this thing tohim and to his people.That night a council was called and itwas decided that as there were but a fewwarriors left, their arms and supplies gone,they could not fight a winning battleagainst the Mexicans. So the chief orderedthem to prepare at once for the return jour-ney home.When they arrived at their own village,Geronimo burned the wickiup and all thepossessions of his beloved Alope and thelittle ones. Then he burned the things be-longing to his mother. Such was the cus-tom. Never again was he content with thequiet life, and never did he forget his vowof vengeance.It was almost one year later that ChiefMangus Colorado called a council of thewarriors, saying:"Again we have weapons. Again wehave supplies. Are you ready to take thewarpath against the Mexicans?"All were ready and eager. Geronimowas elected to seek aid from the othertribes. In making his appeal to them hesaid:"I will fight in the front of battle. Myloved ones were all killed there, and I too,will die if need be."Three tribes responded, and it was notlong before they were assembled on theMexican border. Their families were hid-T H E D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E

Geronimo, A p a c h e R a ider


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Geronimo, Apache war chiefprobably the m ost feared of all the Indians.From painting byE.A. Burbank.

Traveling on foot, each tribesman car-

Arriving at their destination they made

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airy and two of infantry were approachingthe camp. Watching closely as they drewnear, Geronimo recognized the cavalry asthose the women had told him attackedtheir camp. When he informed the chief-tains of this, he was told he could directthe battle because he had suffered morethan any of the others. This was a greathonor and he was determined to exact pay-ment in full.Despatching part of the braves to attackthe rear, he led the charge with a fury that

took him into the midst of shouting,screaming men, of slashing swords andgunfire. For two hours the battle raged,and when it was over not a Mexicantrooper was alive. Then over the bloodyfield rang the high-pitched, spine-chillingcry of Geronimo, the Apache war-cry.And there, still covered with the bloodof his enemies, hot with the joy of victory,Geronimo was made a war chief of theApaches.The others were now satisfied, they felt


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they had repaid in full the killing of theirpeople. But not so Geronimo. Peacefulpursuits were not for him. From then onhe waged constant and relentless war uponany and all Mexicans. Gathering a fewwarriors, sometimes only two or three,they attacked villages and farms, raidingand killing.These raids were not always confinedto Mexicans, and when white settlers inArizona territory began to suffer, the U. S.army appeared on the scene.Chief Cochise was prevailed upon tohold a conference with the military inApache pass. The young army officer incharge accused him of stealing cattle andattempted to arrest him. Cochise cut hisway through the tent wall and escaped,but his fellow chiefs were captured.After that, there followed a period oftreaties made and broken by both Indiansand whites, neither trusting the other.Troops were sent out to capture Geronimoand his band. The wily warrior disbandedand the soldiers could find no hostilecamp.Once it appeared that a peaceful settle-ment with the Indians was about to be con-summated. Then Mangus Colorado wasmurdered by soldiers. He had gone volun-tarily in response to a request from whitesoldiers to talk peace. He went alone totheir camp near Pinos Altos, New Mexico.They placed him under arrest and thatnight, charging that he had attempted toescape, shot him to death. Years later G en-eral Miles wrote, "Mangus Colorado wasyears ago foully murdered after he had sur-rendered."

This trickery gave added incentive toGeronimo and his band to resume theirwar against the whites. There followedanother long period of fighting, ra'ding,killing, with both the American and Mexi-can troops.Eventually, Geronimo realized he waswaging a losing battle. At this opportunetime, a message arrived at his Sonora campwith word that General Miles wanted totalk with him. He was willing, but he didnot know Miles and was distrustful. Toallay his fears, Miles dispatched Lt.Charles B.him.Lt.

Gatewood to Sonora to talk toGaitewood was well-known toGeronimo and his band. More important,

imo informed the officer they felt theycould not surrender under the terms of-feredwhich meant giving up their wholeSouthwest to a race of intruders.But Gatewood was a diplomat. Heplayed his trump-card, and that was thenews that the great bulk of the Mimbrenoand Chiricahua Indians, including rela-tives of Geronimo, who had remainedpeaceful on the reservation near FortApache, already had been rounded up andsent to Florida.This was a severe blow to the war-chief.He called his band together for anotherdiscussion, finally telling Gatewood hewould give him his final decision the nextmorning. Keeping his word, he met himand announced he would meet Miles, oncondition that Gatewood accompany them.Also that he and his men should be al-lowed to keep their arms, Gatewoodagreed. The following morning the entireband started for Skeleton canyon, reachingthere in 11 days.Here General Miles greeted Geronimowith these words, "Geronimo, if you willagree to this treaty all will be well. I willbuild you a house. I will give you cattle,horses, and farming tools. In the winterI will give you blankets and clothing sothat you will not suffer from the cold."Geronimo nodded agreement. A large

they had great respect and admiration forhim. For several years he had been "head-man" on the reservation, administeringtheir affairs. He understood thc'r natureand their customs, and he talked their lan-guage.Geronimo greeted the lieutenant warm-ly and listened attentively when he deliv-ered Miles' message, which was a demandfor surrender. Upon being asked for ad-vice, Lt. Gatewood told him his wisestcourse would be to surrender.A council was called and the Indiansdiscussed it among themselves. Feelingagainst the proposal ran high, so Geron-

stone was placed on a blanket before themand the general said, "Until this stonecrumbles to dust, so long will our treatylast."Then he swept away a spot of groundclear with his hand saying, "Your pastdeeds shall be wiped out like this and youwill start a new life."And as the old Indian fighter noddedhis head in silent agreement, the ghost ofa little copper-skinned lad v/hisperedproudly:"Sure, me great warrior." PALM SPRINGS TO CELEBRATENELLIE COFFMAN'S BIRTHDAYPalm Springs women planned to pro-vide 80 birthday cakes, each with a singlecandle, as part of an old-fashioned familypicnic celebration of Mrs. Nellie N. Coff-man's 80th birthday on November 1. Mrs.Coffman founded world-famous DesertInn as a tent hotel nearly 40 years ago, andis remembered for the personal interest shetook in the hundreds of invalids whosought health on the desert, often provid-ing them with special foods and shelteringand supporting whole families when deathstruck. The birthday will be one of thanks-giving that operations she underwent lastsummer have restored Mrs. Coffman'ssight after nearly four years of blindness.

Hard Rock Shortyof D eath V alley . . .

"That's a purty fair piece o' petri-fied wood fer a newcomer," HardRock Shorty admitted grudgingly."Shows the grain, an' them knotholes is kinda natcheral. Too bad it'sbusted up so small. 'Taint more'ntwo feet long, is it?""Holy mackeral!" protested therockhound. "Do you expect me tofind a whole tree? This piece weighsa ton!""Now don't take it too hard,"Hard Rock comforted him. "I said itwuz a nice piecefer a beginner.Course I've found whole limbs." Hepuffed at his pipe, a reminiscentgleam in his eyes."Best piece I ever found wuz alimb still fastened t' the crotch o' thetree where it growed, all petrifiedan' with petrified twigs. In the crotchamongst them twigs wuz a petrifiedbird's nest full o' petrified eggs. Youwouldn't hardly believe that unlessyou seen it, would you?"I knowed I had somethin' themscientist fellers would go crazy 'bout.But I didn't say nothin' 'cause I cal-

culated to do a little sciencin' on myown. I figgered them eggs wuzplumb dried out an' deehydrated. SoI soaked 'em in w ater and set 'em un-der a ol' hen."That hen wuz mightly faithful.Set three weeks an' began to look sur-prised. Three weeks more an' shelooked downright worried. Well,after a few more weeks o' incubatin'I heerd them eggs a-poppin' an' myol' hen come a-runnin' and a-squawk-in' at me.

"Yes siree, them durned petrifiedeggs hatched all right, but them porebaby birds wuz all born petrified."

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Vasey'sParadisea little oasis on the sidewall fed by a streamoj cool water gushingout of the cliff above.

out." Certainly climbing out would be adesperate alternative. Even in the fewplaces where it can be done, the scalingof those 2000-to-5000-foot sidewalls withonly the meager supply of water one couldcarry would be a terrifying possibility.Emery Kolb believes more shipwreckedvoyagers have lost their lives trying toclimb out of the canyon than have beendrowned in the rapids. Perhaps the skele-ton up there on the ledge above Vasey'sParadise was th e victim of a futile effortto reach the top.It was 98 degrees when we shoved offfrom Vasey's at 11:10 . W e took a last lookat the ice-cold water gushing out of thecanyon wall, and wished Nature had pro-vided more of them along the way. Mid-day temperatures always ran over 100 de-grees in the sunand the oarsmen andpassengers on these little boats have noescape from the sun. The water in the can-teens, even when it is fresh water, soon be-comes tepid. And when we drank riverwater, as we did about half the time, itstemperature ranged from 76 to 19 degrees.Muddy water at 79 degrees is not a re-freshing drink.A mile below Vasey's Paradise is Red-wall cavern where the erosive action of thesand-laden water has undercut the side-wall and formed a great open cave that ex-tended 200 feet back under the overhang.We pulled in to the sandbar that formedthe floor of the cavern, and the place wasso cool and inviting we remained there forlunch. I estimated the span at the front ofthe cavern as 500 feet across and 150 feethigh.Elma Milotte stepped over to what shetook to be a piece of driftwood, and thentook a second look when it began to coil.It was a two-foot sidewinder. Either itsensed the fact that it was among friendsor it was too comfortable in that shady

spot to be combative. It showed no resent-ment when we prodded it into all kinds ofposes for the cameras. No one wanted toharm this peace-loving reptileand forall I know the little horned rattler is nowboasting to its progeny that it is the mostphotographed snake in Grand Canyon. Iam sure that is quite true.Below Redwall we ran five small cata-racts including 36-Mile rapid where therewas fast rough water but no hazardousholes or eddies. Below here were five orsix miles of comparatively smooth waterand Norman passed the message back thatthe passengers could take over the boats ifthey wished. We took turns rowing, andperformed some feats of navigation not inthe book. We passengers soon discoveredwhat the boatmen already knew, that thoseColorado river eddies, even in what ap-pears to be mild water, are powerful cur-rents which can spin a boat around like acarnival chariot. We learned this the hardway. Before the amateur regatta was over,the flagship Wen was tagging along at thetail-end of the processiona most humil-iating position for the little craft that hasled five expeditions through Grand Can-yon.It was raining as we passed the RoyalArches, some rather spectacular recesseshigh up in the sidewall. The rain was de-licious. It dropped the temperature to 84degrees and since we were wet much of thetime anyway it made little difference fromwhich direction the water was coming.At 2:35 we reached President Hardingrapid. This is said to be the place wherethe U. S. Geological survey was campedin 1923 when word came over the radiothat the President was dead. Norman in-sists the map-makers put the name on thewrong rapid.The rapid looked tough. There was ahuge submerged boulder in midstream at

the head of the fall, and woe to the boat-man who would allow his craft to besucked into the hole below that rock. No r-man looked it over and decided to run itwithout passengers. Francis Farquhar, w hois a skilled amateur oarsman, took the Joanthrough while Otis Marston, the regularpilot, set up his tripod on the rocks andtook pictures.Night camp was scheduled for Nanco-weap bar, and we reached there at 4:35.Where Nancoweap and Little Nancoweapcreeks come in from the North Rim thecanyon walls spread out and form a littlevalley of about 400 acres*Nancoweapvalley. The landm ark for our camping spotwas a conspicuous mesquite tree on whichis a board put there by a previous expedi-tion. It reads "Nevills' 1942 Floaters."This is one of Norman's regular campingplaces. A stream of clear water comesdown the canyon, and there are great pilesof drift from which to draw firewood. The400 acres in this little valley are coveredwith dunes and mesquites and catsclawa bit of Southern California desert trans-planted to the Grand Canyon of Arizona.

Thanks to the high stage of the riverand resulting fast water we were runningahead of schedule and Norman announcedwe would remain over a day at Nanco-weap. There are prehistoric Indian gran-aries high up in the cliffs that border thevalley. Scattered among the sand dunes Isaw bushels of broken pottery and otherevidence of prehistoric Indian habitation.

Kent Frost demonstrates that a rattlerheld tip by the tail may do somesquirming but cannot strike. Thiswas the snake found at the mouth ofthe Little Colorado.T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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A day for exploring this area was an extratreat for all of us.We slept through the first night on thesandbar at Nancoweap in a drizzling rain.Most of us carried waterproof tarpaulins,but we were not expecting the rain thatblew in soon after we turned in for thenight, and some of the bed ding and clothesgot wet. But the sun was out next morningand with driftwood we built drying racksfor the bedding, and pup tents for shade.Nancoweap rapid was pounding againstthe limestone wall opposite our camp butwe soon became so accustomed to the noisewe scarcely heard it.

To give you a glimpse of how the timeis passed on shore by our little band ofvoyagers in this far-off corner of the earth ,here is an excerpt from my notes datedTuesday, August 15, at 9 a. m .: "Normanis raising a dishtowel flag over the puptent he erected early this m orning by drap-ing his tarp over a driftwood frame. Garthis sitting on a rock shaving, his mirrorperched on another boulder. Marjorie justlearned this is Elma's birthday, and is im-provising a little gift out of tin cans andtoilet paper. (It was presented later withappropriate ceremonies.) Kent is out inthe dunes looking for Indian artifacts. Ot'sis tinkering with his camerait is a busyjob keeping four cameras in ooeration inthis land of water and blow sand. Margaretis combing the sand out of her hair. Paul-ine is building a pup tentit may rainagain tonight. Al is rigging up a dark roomfor loading his cameras. Francis is readingthe Powell report he brought along on thistrip. Rosalind is heating water for somelaundry." Me? I'm pounding away on myportable on a table I improvised from tim-bers I found in the drift.The daily camp chores on such an expe-dition take many hoursunloading boatsthrough those tiny hatches, repairingclothes, doing laundry, carrying water,maintaining some semblance of cleanli-ness, laying out the bedrolls, cooking,cleaning up camp, doctoring sun-blisters,scratches and bruises that are inevitable.But for the most part these are p'easanthours, for there is deep satisfaction in be-ing on your own for awhilein a fa'-offworld where cooperation rather than com-

petition is the rule.At Nancoweap we entered the GrandCanyon national park. Noisy Nancoweaprapid proved to be little more than a heavyriffle when we bobbed through it in theboats. There were a few fleecy clouds inthe skyjust enough to make the koda-chrome photographers happy.After a short run down the river welanded above Kwagunt rapid. It is not amajor cataract, but had some spectacularwaves, and members of the party wantedto take pictures of the boats going throughit.Then Cape Solitude came into viewaprojecting point of the South Rim thatrises a sheer 6150 feet above the junction

D E C E M B E R , 1 9 4 7

where the Little Colorado enters the mainstream. But before we arrived at the Colo-rado Chiquito we ran 60-Mile rapid. Weplunged into it without stopping. Thewaves were eight feet high and three ofthem swept over the stern deck of the Wenin quick succession. But Norman hasplaced some very stout and convenientropes on the decks of his boats, and witha good grip on these ropes all I got wasanother ducking. With the temperatureat 106 degrees, the water was refreshing.

We landed just above the mouth of theLittle Colorado, and found a 3-foot rat-tler enjoying the shade of the step-likeledges which divide the two streams attheir junction.The Little Colorado was running milkyblue waterlike the famous turquoisestream in Havasu canyon. This was a rarenhenomenon. No previous expeditionhad reported such a discovery. Normallythe Little Colorado brings down a reddishstream which varies from a muddy floodto a dirty little rivulet. Today it was almostclear, and blue, and a bar at the m outh hadpartially dammed the stream and formed agreat turquoise swimming pool.So we went swimming. The rocks wereencrusted with travertine, and the watertasted strongly of the lime which obvious-ly gave it its coloring. The source of thelime-impregnated water remains a mys-tery, s;ncewe did not have time to explorethe tributary. It is certain, however, thatthe blue water comes from springs in thegorge below Cameron, for the Little Colo-rado was dry at Cameron the day wepassed the mouth of the stream. Desert

Magazine staff will be interested in get-ting further reports on this unusual dis-covery.

We made a short run after leaving theLittle Colorado and landed at the head ofLava canyon rapids for our night camp.From here it was less than a mile's hiketo the old camp and mine where Seth B.Tanner, Mormon pioneer, tried manyyears ago to develop a copper mine, withvalues in other minerals.The m ine has long been abandoned, andthe old camp out on a flat among mesquite

Vasey's""" Paradise

THIKTYSiX MILE RAPID


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Otis Marston examines the mystery skeleton perhaps of a Colorado river boatman whotried to climb out.trees is today just a shambles of decayedwood and broken equipment. With flash-lights we ientered the old m ine tunnel,wading in water to our shoe-tops. The tim-bering had decayed, and I felt none toosecure in the old workings, but I saw amineral display of rare beauty in there.

The seepage water coming through thewalls has encrusted the tunnel with whitecrystalline salt, and from the ceiling werehanging tiny stalactites of what appearedto be azurite and malachite. They weredainty little "icicles" of blue and green,the longest perhaps 2V2 inches. Occasion-ally on the sidewalls a crystalline forma-tion of deep blue azurite could be seen invugs among the salt crystals.

In a more accessible place they wouldhave to post guards to keep the rockhoundfraternity running off with this rare cav-ern. Here is a beautiful blue and green andwhite stalactite cave in the making. Andas if these ifolors were not enough I saw astalagmite stained with the golden brownof hematite. But Nature has protected thisrare mineral display well, for the old Tan-ner trail which once led down from theSouth Rim is no longer passable.Fortunately, this old mining tunnel isin the Grand Canyon national park, andthe rangers will take over for the preserva-

10

tion of this colorful formation if it everagain is made accessible from the top.Norman found a few sticks of dynamiteand some caps in the tunnel, and as a safetymeasure he and Kent took them out on abar along the river and exploded them.At Tanner camp we were in view ofHopi Tower on the South Rim, and thatnight we lighted a huge pile of driftwoodas a signal that we were running on sched-ule. Norman had arranged in advance thatother fire signals should be used in theevent we were in trouble.It was at Lava Canyon rapids that wepicked up our mascot. Just at daybreak ablue heron flew in and from its perch onan off-shore boulder, looked our campover. Evidently the bird liked the looks ofthe outfit, for it stayed with us all the waythrough the canyon to Lake Mead. Eachday it would fly over just after we hadshoved off, and keep ahead of us all day,stopping at each bend in the river until wealmost caught up and then flying on afew hundred yards ahead.

We shoved off at 9:05 in the morningand rowed across the river to inspect an-other mine tunnel visible from our camp.It was just a shallow "coyote hole" butturned out to be a veritable museum ofmining relics. When the operators aban-doned it they carefully stored their tools,

burro harness, groceries, medicines, dyna-mite and even the camp library in the tun-nel. And as it had remained dry, most ofthe items were well preserved. We foundmagazines dated 1928.The bailing crew had work to do goingthrough Lava Canyon rapids, but the boatsnever were in trouble, and after runningsome heavy riffles below, we landed at themouth of Tanner canyon, downstream 1V:miles from the mine, and spent the day ex-ploring. We were running ahead of sched-ule, thanks to high fast water in the river.It was down this canyon that Seth Tanner

built a trail to bring in supplies and packout ore. I suspect that little ore everreached the top. My impression of themine was that the rhyolite formation thereis threaded with tiny stringers of veryrich orebut it takes more than tinystringers to make a copper mine, and nolarger body of pay ore ever was uncovered.The last time the old Tanner trail wasgiven a working assignment was in 1923when the government rangers attemptedto drive 5000 head of deer from the Kai-bab plateau on the North Rim across tothe South Rim to keep them from starving

to death. It was a charitable planbut thedeer did not like the idea of being regi-mented. Before they reached the ColoradoT H E D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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river they stampededand that was theend of the deer drive.We built a signal fire again that nightfor the folks in Hopi Tower nearly 5000feet above us, and got some dots anddashes in return, but were unable to trans-late them into an intelligible message.We were up at five the next morning.AH loose items except the bailing cansSwimm ing pool oj turqu oise watersat the mouth oj the LittleColorado.

were stowed in the hatches, and lifebeltsgiven a careful checking. For today wewere to face five of the 17 major rapidsbetween Lee's ferry and Lake Mead: Un-ker Creek rapids, 75-Mile, Hance, Sock-dolager and Grapevine.Unker Creek was a long C-shaped rap id,the river plunging against a sheer wall onthe left. Norman looked it overand thenannounced we would all ride through. Itwas rough enough to be exciting but theboatmen kept well away from the wall andwe had no difficulty.

Thirty-five minutes later we reached75-Mile rapid. The waves here were thelargest we had seen, from 10 to 12 feethigh, but there were no bad rocks in theway and we ran it without stopping. Allthe boats had to do some bailing goingthrough.

Then we came to Hance, and the boat-men studied it carefully for this one reallylooked vicious. Great waves broke oversubmerged boulders in the channel, andthere were so many of them I wonderedhow the oarsmen could find a waythrough. But they did it, and Elma rodewith Norman as a passenger, the firstwoman to ride through Hance rapid.This cataract was named for Capt. John

Hance, who was guiding visitors downinto the canyon from the South Rim on atrail he built himself in the 1880's. Cap-tain John has been dead for many years,

but the tall tales he delighted in telling hisvisitors are still repeated around GrandCanyon campfires.We finished the run through Hancerapid at 10:40, and an hour later arrivedat Sockdolager. Tough ol' Sockdolager!This is a cataract no Colorado river voy-ager ever forgets. It isn't the worst rapidin the canyonbut there is no way to port-age the boats or walk around it. Abruptwalls rise many hundreds of feet on bothsidesand you either ride through or yourjourney ends here.

Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, who accom-panied the second Powell expedition in1872, described Sockdolager in Romanceoj the Colorado:"We heard a deep sullen roar and fromthe boats the whole river seemed to vanishinstantly from the earth. (From the side-wall above) we could look down on oneof the most fearful places I ever saw orhope to see under like circumstances, aplace which might have been a gate tohell . . . We were nearing the beginningof a tremendous fall. The narrow riverdropped suddenly away, and then beatento foam, plunged and boomed for a thirdof a mile through a descent from 80 to 100feet, the enormous waves leaping 20 to 30feet in the air and sending spray twice ashigh. On each side were the steep, raggedgranitic walls, with tumultuous waterslashing and pounding against them in a

Phantom ranch a little oasis main-tained by Fred Harvey near whereBright Angel creek jlows into theColorado.way that precluded all idea of portage orlet-down. It needed no second glance totell us there was only one way of gettingthrough."One of Stanton's boats, the Marie, wassmashed here, and in 1927 Clyde Eddyand Parley Galloway made it through andthen capsized in an eddy at the lower end.But Sockdolager has tamed much sinceDellenbaugh's vivid description was writ-ten. Col. Birdseye's government surveyparty took actual measurement of the falland found it to be between 24 and 25 feet.The waves when we reached there did notexceed 12 feet.But from a ledge above Sockdolagerlooks bad. The canyon walls close in toform a narrow portal which backs up thestream. Once through the portal the waterplunges down a steep incline where greatwaves look as if they would engulf anycraft which got in their way. The boatsmust stay in the waves, for ragged wallson both sides threaten to crush any boatwhich slides out of the central channel.I am sure that at the high stage of theriver Sockdolager is less terrifying thanin low water. Anyway, we hung tight tothe ropes and made it through with notrouble. Norman led out in the Wen, giv-ing the other boatmen orders to follow atfive-minute intervals. We were tossedaround like a chip in a storm, but the boatswere always right side up. Good old boats!

In quiet water below the rapid Normanpulled to shore and we climbed to a ledgeto watch the others come through. Therocks were so hot they almost blistered ourhands.Three miles below Sockdolager we

came to Grapevine rapidand this wasthe roughest of them all. Grapevine is an-other of those cataracts that have to be run.There is no way to climb out or hikeD E C E M B E R , 1 9 4 7 11


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around. This rapid is a short sharpstraight-away. The boatmen studied theirroute carefully, then we shoved off. Thewaves almost stood us on end in places,and four of them broke over the Wen andgave us a;g0od dunking. But the boat al-ways came out on top.Then all hands started bailing, for wecould hear the roar of another rapid be-low. For the next few miles the cascadescame in such quick succession the bailingpassengers never got the boats emptied.Zoroaster, 83-Mile rapid and Clear Creekwith heavy riffles between them were runin fast order. There were so many of themit almost seemed like one continuous cata-ract, and Norman, master navigator thathe is, once admitted he was lost. But wehad passed the five major rapids on thisday's journey, and we knew that aroundone of the bends below we would come insight of the suspension bridge whichspans the Colorado at the foot of BrightAngel trail.Below the mouth of the Little Coloradowe had left the limestones of Marble can-yon and entered the hard grey and blackrocks of Upper Granite gorge. The wallswere shot with intrusions of black basalt.and in some places the volcanic materialcame down to the river's edge. Between83-Mile and Zoroaster rapids the erosionof the river had cut and polished some ofthis basalt into miniature temples anddomes and battlements. Wet by the sprayfrom the river they looked like finely pol-ished ebonyjJuly 18 had been a day of thrills. We

had come safely through some of the mosttreacherous rapids in Grand Canyon, andwe were happy when Bright Angel bridgecame in sight.We pulled into smooth water below thebridge at 3:05just five minutes late onNorman's schedule. Doris Nevills, Mrs.Lon Garrison and Jim Eden, ranger, wereon the shore to greet us. And over on asandbar under a tarpaulin was a big stackof boxed food which had been packeddown on mules to replenish the commis-sary for the two weeks' journey before wereached Lake Mead.We spent two days enjoying the finehospitality of Manager Willis Malone andhis wife May and their associates in the op-eration of Fred Harvey's Phantom Ranch.The ranch is on the floor of Bright Angelcreek a half mile above where the creekenters the Colorado.There w as a swimming pool constructedof native rocks, with a waterfall at one end.The peaches in the orchard were ripe. Thestone cabins were air-cooled, and the Ma-lones served meals which, if such a thingis possible, excelled the usual Harveystandard. At mealtime deer came to thedining room door to mooch food from the

guests.Packtrains arrive at all hours of the day,bringing guests and supplies from both12

the North and South Rims. One of thepopular pastimes at the bottom is watchingthe dudes arrive. The North Rim trail tothe top is 14 miles, the Kaibab trail to theSouth Rim 7 miles, and Bright Angel trail11 miles. Riders not accustomed to the sad-dle sometimes have to be lifted off theirmules at the end of the trail. It is a ruggedjourney for the tenderfootbut after afew hours of rest and a swim in the poolthey are ready to go again.Phantom ranch is a delightful oasis in ahigh-walled desert. There are fish in thestream, which was named by Powell in1 8 7 9 - After drinking warm muddy Colo-rado river water for several days I can un-derstand why Powell called this clear coolstream Bright Angel creek.According to Cliff Jenkins, temporarilyon duty at this station as government hy-draulic engineer, the Colorado river haddropped to 26,000 second-feet during theweek since we left Lee's ferry. This is nearNorman's perfect stage for Colorado rivernavigation.Living in the stone ranger station at themouth of Bright Angel are Mr. and Mrs.Orville Stoker. Their responsibility is tokeep the trail in repair, and their kindnessoften is extended to weary hikers who

spend a night in the nearby public campground.The second day at Phantom, Lon Garri-son, assistant superintendent of the parkrode down from the rim. Lon had expectedto be there when we arrived, but a 17-year-old boy had gone outside the guard rail atHopi point on the South Rim two days be-fore, and had slipped and fallen 1000 feetdown the sidewall. Lon remained to directthe search and recover the body beforejoining us. Grand Canyon park has had arecord season for tourists, over 600,000 ofthem this year, but Dr. Bryant and Lonand the other rangers never appear toobusy to be courteous. The Park serviceprobably has the highest morale and thefinest type of public service in the entireorganization of government. Outdoor en-vironment helps make that possible.Two carefree days at Phantom ranchpassed quickly, and then we prepared toshove off for the rough water ahead of usin Middle and Lower Granite gorges be-fore we reached Lake Mead.

(The third chapter in Ra ndall Hen-derson's story of the voyage throughGrand Canyon will appear in theJanuary issue of Desert.)

S M A L L D E S E R T F O L K P h o t o C o n t e s tThe small folk of the desert are not publicity seekers and seldomdo they sit willingly for portraits. But they are always presentpackand kangaroo rats, lizards, insects, spiders, birdsand they form animportant part of the desert scen e. Desert M agazin e w ant s pictures ofthe little desert creatures, and prizes in the December contest w?ll goto the photographers who best portray them in their native habitat.First prize is $10, and second prize $5. For non-prize winning pic-tures acce pted for publication $2 eac h will b e pa id. Entries must reachthe Desert M agaz ine office in El Centro, California, not later than De-cember 20, and the winning prints will be published in the Februaryissue .

HERE ARE THE RULES1Prints must be on black and white, 5x7 or larger, printed onglossy paper.2All entries must be in the Desert Magazine office by the 20thof the contest month.3Prints will be returned only when return postage is enclosed.4Contests are open to both amateur and professional photo-graphers. Desert Magazine requires first publication rights of prizewinning pictures only.5Time and place of photograph are immaterial except thatthey must be from the desert Southwest.6Judges will be selected from Desert's editorial staff, andawards will be made immediately after the close of the contest eachmonth.7Each photograph submitted should be fully labeled as tosubject, time, place. Also as to technical data: shutter speed, hourof day, etc.

ADDRESS ALL ENTRIES TO PHOTO EDITOR. DESERT MAGAZINET H E

EL CENTRO. CALIFORNIA



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Waters from Volcan springs on the extreme left flow dow n into the bottom of the arroyoand as their mineral content is deposited a moun d of solid onyx grad ually is formed.

Nature's Onyx FactoryNothing in Nature stands still. Always the process of change is inprogresseven in the formation of rocks which appear to bs about themost stable thing on earth. Added confirmation of this fact comes fromfar down the peninsula of Lower California where the author of this story

discovered a mound of beautiful marble onyx in the making, withNature's dyes being added to give it the beauty which makes onyx aprized substance for decorative purposes.By LEWIS W. WALKER

fl T WAS Kenneth Brown, managerJ of the onyx quarries 350 milessouth of San Diego at El Marmol inLower California who first told me aboutVolcan springs and directed me to its hid-den location. Here I saw Nature buildinga new deposit of onyx.The onyx marble quarries at El Marmolare well known. The product of this tre-mendous deposit is mined for the manufac-ture of desk sets and other small articles

D E C E M B E R , 1 9 4 7

and for the colorful slabs which decoratebanks and hotel lobbies. Once a wellknown Hollywood actress of the silentdays ordered an onyx bathtub. The min-ing and carving of the block, about 3x3x7feet, was a tremendous assignment sinceit involved not only the skills of the bestcraftsmen, but also the expert judgmentof an engineer who must select a hugechunk of rock without a single flaw.But while the fame of El Marmol's onyx

marble is well established, the little oasisat Volcan springs, five miles from thequarries, is practically unknown. Thisspot, a geologist's dream, has been kept invirtual darkness as far as publicity is con-cerned. Yet in this remote arroyo everyphase that goes into the making of onyxis demonstrated by Nature.The word Volcan is Spanish for vol-cano. The natives gave the place this namewhen it was discovered that about once amonth one of the springs shoots a 60-footgeyser into the air for a few minutes. Thevillagers five miles away can detect aground tremor when the geyser is in ac-tion, and when the plugged cone finally"blows its top" they can hear the explo-sion. No doubt the same subterraneanstream that was responsible for the El Mar-mol deposits is now feeding the new erup-tive area.The first view of the arroyo is from far

13


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Circle marks Volcan springs. White out-crops mark other onyx deposits along thearroyo. Just upstream from Volcan is a30-oot dome of onyx.up on a sheerstrange Cirio cliff. Elephant trees and theplant that border the trailfrom the quarry have found a precariousfooting in cracks in the rocks. Many havebecome contortionists in their attempt tohang on in the face of the fierce winds thatoccasionally blow up the chasm. Fifty feetbelow the trail, which only a burro couldenjoy, a white stain can be seen coveringthe low spots on the lava streambed. Thesechalky marks give the first inkling thatVolcan is jus ahead.14

The country traversed is typical volcanicdesert. The landscape appears completelyarid, yet in the next 100 feet we came upona beautiful cattail-bordered pool whichgives the impression of being extremelydeep. Dragon flies skim its placid surface

while swifts and swallows circle highabove. Hoof prints of cattle, burro anddeer dot the sandy areas, while in the poola constant procession of bubbles wobbleup to the top before breaking.From 10 to 40 feet high on the easternside of the arroyo great slabs of onyx areexposed by erosionthe product of thesame set of springs when the streambed

was higher. A few rods further on a dometowers 30 feet into the air. It is coveredwith a peculiar crystalline formation andthe base is pock-marked with small caves.Vertical flow lines which run from the topgive proof that it was once an active conethat had become plugged and finally ex-tinct.Another hundred feet brought us tobubbling Volcanthe largest active conein the area. About six other potholes withlower lips or rims also release a constantflow. This really demonstrates onyx in themaking. The mound built up by thischarged water spreads over a half acre to

an estimated depth of about eight feet. Allthe outlets seem to be crystal clear, yet onein particular left the reddish stain of rustas it passed. This coloring action mightcontinue for a week, a month, or a yearbefore the stream devours the under-ground pocket of iron responsible for thetint. Centuries hence, however, when a fu-ture generation of miners comes here to re-cover this onyx the ribbon effect will stillremain, giving added beauty and value tothe product taken from this quarry.Accord :ng to an old theory onyx owesits rich coloring to different metals in their

pure form. Minute particles of gold, silveror copper are supposedly covered by thecarbonate of lime and reflect their owncolors through this translucent material.However, modern methods of analysisshow that most onyx is composed of onlythree substances. Carbonate of lime or cal-cium carbonate forms its main body, whileiron and manganese in varied combina-tions supply the basic coloring material.Many elements must be present to formonyx of commercial value. For some unex-plained reason most of the important quar-ries are in countries that have been throughviolent volcanic upheaval, yet the actualonyx was formed after the volcanoes hadsubsided. Where its formation occurredeither during or prior to the upheaval theresultant marble is so fractured that itscommercial value is lost.Another element that seems necessaryfor a good deposit is underground water ina country that has an arid surface. Whenthe onyx is deposited it usually occurs instreambeds where the runoff from rainfallwould carry successive layers of impuritieswhich would destroy its future strength.Deep underground, the stage must alsohave a delicate setting with all the propsat just the right time. Ordinary water isincapable of carrying a dense solution ofcalcium unless it also carries carbonic acid



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Onyx in the making. As the gas in the flowing water is expelled the m inerals earned in solu-tion are deposited, at first in little globules which are enlarged bit by bit u ntil asolid m ass is formed.gasthe fizz of ordinary soda water. Coldwater can carry more gas than water whichis tepid or hot. Therefore onyx springsusually have a frigid temperature. Under-ground pressure is also needed to force thegas into solution and to hold it until thewater has absorbed the necessary calcium,manganese and iron on its way to the out-let.

The lessening of pressure on thecharged water releases much of the gaswhile it is still many feet from the surfacevent. With this loss it also loses the abilityto carry some of its mineral load, and thisis deposited on the walls of the under-ground channel. After bursting to thesurface, all the remainder of the gas is lostwithin a very few feet, and with it are ex-pelled the minerals which were carriedalong in solution. The actual evaporationof water has very little bearing on the rateof deposit of the calcium. In this respect anaccumulation from an onyx spring differsradically from those which carry salts ofvaried kinds and deposit them at the bot-toms of depressions. Onyx is accumulatedin successive layers in the form of an ever-rising mound around the mouth of thespring.

Despite the fact that El Marmol hasbeen a working quarry for over half a cen-tury, less than 10 people have seen thegeyser of Volcan in actual eruption. Na-D E C E M B E R , 1 9 4 7

turally when our burro safari made thejourney we realized that our chances wererather slim, so we took along a box of soapflakes to use as an artificial stimulant. Wehad heard that a bar of soap tossed into asteaming crater at Yellowstone wouldbring almost immediate action, both inthe form of a geyser and of angry park of-ficials.

At Volcan, however, we were disap-pointed. We stirred the soap and thrust itdown the holes, but the only reaction wasa slightly accelerated release of gas bub-bles. The flowing waterso hard thatlather was an impossibilitycarried ourflakes down the iron-stained channels,where they lodged in the warty formations.In time they will become encased in min-eral, and beyond that, who knows? Per-haps in the distant future a star of televi-sion will order a tub from the deposits ofVolcan and with suds supplied, will getmore than she bargained for. MOJAVE LAND OPEN TO5-ACRE HOMESTEADERS

The government is opening large tractsfor jackrabbit homesteading in the easternMojave desert. The areas opened are lo-cated north of Wheaton Springs on High-way 91 and south of Cima in the Provi-dence mountains, and total 55,050 acres.

The land involved varies from nearly levelto hilly and has sandy soil with frequentrocky areas. Wheaton Springs is locatedabout 35 miles east of Baker, and Cima thesame distance southeast.

The tracts will be officially opened forfiling on December 2, 1947, and therewill be a 90-day period for preference-right filings for qualified veterans ofWorld War II and others claiming prefer-ence rights. Previous to this there will be a20-day advance period for simultaneouspreference-right filings, from November12, 1947. All qualified applications re-ceived during that time shall be treated assimultaneously filed.Date for non-preference filings by thegeneral public has been set for March 2,1948, and there will be a 20-day advanceperiod for simultaneous filing, startingFebruary 11, 1948. Inquiries concerningthese lands should be addressed to the act-ing manager, District Land office, Sacra-mento, California. Filings on the landshall be made at the same office.Office of director of the National Parkservice, department of interior, removed toChicago in 1942 as a wartime measure, is

being returned to Washington, D. C.Communications to the director or head-quarters staff should be addressed toWashington 25, D. C.15


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The spring, with water that is sojt and palatablegood for drinking, cooking, washing.

LadyoftheHot SpringsBy HAROLD O . WEIGHT

/ / i K E Wedell brought h is wife to/yl. the alkali flats of Gabbs valley in1908. That was in the hectic dec-ade when southern Nevada was whirlingthrough a seemingly endless series of goldstrikes and boom towns. In the mountainsacross the dry lake bed, R awhide neared itsbrawling climax, and the surroundingcountry was crowded with goldseekers.Wedell had claims in the mountainsnortheast of the flats, so he and his wifestopped at a spot known, then as now,simply as Hot Springs. Rawhide promotershad great plans on foot for the springs.They were to be a health center and pleas-ure resort for the skyrocketing miningcamp. But something happened. Perhaps

the impending end of the boom wassensed, or perhaps the dream proved big-ger than the dreamers' resources.At any rate, the Wedells found con-struction ha|lf finished, with only tworooms of thd main house roofed. But theyliked the spot, bought the springs, and setout to complete the buildings. Thingswent well for a while, as the coupleworked at the springs and Mike continueddevelopment of his claims. The springwater proved to be a profitable sideline.Bottled and: carted to "Rawhide, it soldreadily. Somb bought it for their health,but most of them enjoyed the way it fizzedlike carbonated water in lemonade andother drinks.But the mining boom in southern Ne-16

Few people go to the HotSprings in Nevada's Gabbs val-ley nowthere are no pavedroads out that waybut thatdoesn't disturb Mrs. Wedell. Aslong as she can eke out a m eagerliving in the camp where she haslived for 39 year s, sh e is satisfied.And if you wonder how and w hya white-haired little woman pre-fers to spend the late yea rs of herlife on a lonely desert where thesoil is so sterile she ha s to haul indirt to grow flowers, you will un-derstand when you have readHarold Weight's story.

vada faded away and Rawhide d'ed al-most as rapidly as it had g rown. There wasno one to whom the Wedells could sellwater, few people visited the springs, andit was almost impossible to dispose ofmining claims. From a financial stand-point, they should have moved away whenthe miners left the surrounding hills. Butthey liked Hot Springs and determined toattempt to earn a living there.They were fairly successful in runningcattle and raising Angora goats. But thegoats were a problem. They had to beclipped in March, because they could not

stand desert heat. Then, sometimes, coldrain would sweep in and the clipped goatswould die unless rounded up under shel-ter. Mrs. Wedell remembers her husband

coming in, soaked and chilled after a longsearch, with a lost goat in his arms. Thegoat was kept in the house, in a box behindthe stove, until it was dried out and friskyagain.Despite their troubles they managed toget along fairly well until, in 1925, MikeWedell died. His wife was left alone in adesolate country with the nearest townnearly 50 miles away by bad roads.Mike Wedell expected his wife to leavethe Hot Springs when he was gone. It wasthe only reasonable thing to do. But toMrs. Wedell the springs were home, andnot to be given up lightly. They are stillher home today.I first heard of Mrs. W edell at the BasicMagnesium town of Gabbs, on Nevadahighway 23. I was looking for an old road

which offered a short cut across the valleyto Rawhide. The sheriff told me how tofind it. "You won't have any trouble get-ting to Hot Springs," he said. "A mandrove over yesterday and you can followhis tracks. Whe n you get to the springs, theold lady can point out the road fromthere."I followed the wandering trail west-ward, and had given up hope of its leadinganywhere when the tracks turned abruptlynorthward through a pass in the colorfulHot Springs hills. In a few moments Igazed across a white expanse of flats. The

main-traveled ruts wound toward the drylake, dipped suddenly, and I was at thesprings which had remained invisible tothat minute.T H E D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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Mrs. M. R. Wedell and Shep, and Hvo oj her flower boxes, filled with good earth broughtmany miles to the Hot Springs.

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Monum ent Valley, on the Arizona-Utah border.''Now there is virtue in Water, and in the Sun, and inthe healing essence of many sorts of Herbs. But if a manbe sick the chief Healing lies within his own Soul:' M.S.

Desert TrailsBy MARSHAL SOUTH

F ALL the trails that wind down into the desert thereis none more sought, or more important, than the trailto Health.The Indians knew this. And ever since my few notes on thehealing water of Agua Caliente springs appeared in the pagesof Desert (July ' 47 ) it has been made very clear to me that uponat least one subjectthat of the quest for health and healingthe Indian and his white brother are one.For I have had many letters from sufferers who, in the ac-count of the curative qualities of these natural springs, caught agleam of new hope. And it is the eagerness and earnestnessof these many inquirers which leads me to believe that a fewwords regarding the desert as a mecca for health seekers maynot be amiss.To a great number of individuals, the desert has beenandisa magic region as regards health restoration. That pointhas been settled long ago. And the great army of men andwomen who have come into its domain suffering from lungtroubles and other body weaknesses and have gone away, cr re-mained, completely cured, constitutes living and uncontrovert-lble evidence as to the virtues of the dry air, sunshine and abun-dant peace of the wastelands.This much is undisputed. But we must also recognize thetruth th at a great m an)- who have come to the dry lands seekingrelief have gone away disappointed. Not for them has the sunand the wandering wind among the greasewoods brought re-newed health and vigor. Disappointed, disillusioned and oftenembittered they have turned their backs upon the Spirit of theSilence and gone away in sorrowsometimes in anger. "The*desert," they say bitterly, "is a fakelike all the other fakes."And, hopelessly, they return to their own places; their "reme-dies"and their despair.Yet the desert is no "fake." From the beginning it has heldout welco ming arms and hope t@ the sick and weary of everyrace and color and creed. And the vast majority of them havenot been disappointed. Why, then, does it fail a few?Here is an important question. And perhaps we shall findthe answer to it if we go back a little into fundamental things.Into the fundamentals of the world of Natureand especiallyof human nature.In the first place the desert is essentially a primitive region.Its characteristics, perhaps more than any other of the earth'svaried localities, precludes frills and pampering advantages. Itis true that by the expenditure of great labor, time and money,you may succeed in dressing up and improving small portions

of the desert. But the portions so treated cease immediately tobe desert. They become resortsor, at the best, artificial oases.And neither of these is desert.True desert is a raw untamed region, and it belongs by rightto a hardy, primitive people. Generally they have been notedfor their health and hardiness. And they are, in the main, fiercefighters. The people, like their desert, are fundamental andprimitive.Like attracts like. The music of Nature can tolerate no dis-cords. Unless there be harmony there will be destruction. Theharping thunder of the sea must find its answer in the heart ofthe sailorelse he will be a poor sailor. And the soft music ofthe winds which sing down through the long sunlit washes ofthe desert, or murmur amidst the desolate moonlit rocks, muststrike a deep answering chord in the heart of the dweller of thedesertelse he will be no part of it. He will be an intruder anda discordand as such will be thrust, unsatisfied and unaccept-ed, from its borders.For you cannot mix the fundamental and the true with thesuperficial and the false.And it is for this reason, I think, that so many who come tothe desert expecting great things, go away chagrined and dis-appointed.The fault is theirsnot the desert's. For, to get benefit fromthe desertor from any environmentyou must be in tunewith it. You must come with an eager open heart. You mustreally love the desertor it will not love you. And loving younot, it will not heal you.Now this, I think, is something which a vast number of hu-man beings fail utterly to understand. Enmeshed in a m an-madeweb of artificiality they have lost touch with fundamentals. Thetruths of Naturethe harmonies and vibrations of real Na-tureare so utterly foreign to them that they dismiss them asfantastic or as silly superstition. Their ears are too close to thetinny blare of radio propaganda and the trivialities of social cus-tom. To them life has become a business of price and money. Ifyou can meet the price and you lay down the money required,then you can demand the returnbe it a gilded gadget or bod-ily healing.

But in the desertin fundamental Naturematters are notarranged in this fashion at all. In Nature there must be har-mony, and faith and acceptance and humblenessand love.And without these are all hope and seeking vain.The Indian knows this. All primitive races know it. But thewhite man has forgotten.Thus it is that many of those who come to the desert withailments fail to be cured.They hear of some spring or of some particular locality whichhas helped others, and they decide to go therejust as theywould decide to purchase some new cure-all in a bottle. Theythink that if they merely drink the water, or take the baths orlive awhile at the prescribed altitude, that the reward of newhealth must certainly be theirs.And they are woefully disappointed. Because they, many ofthem, come to the desert despising it. They are frightened byits vastness and roughness. They chafe bitterly against its dis-advantages. They grumble unceasingly against its heat and its

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loneliness, its limited supplies, its lack of entertainment. Un-willingly, complainingly, they stayenduring, their every mo-ment a martyrdom. And finally, unhelped, disappointed, theysputter home onroaring motors, happy toescape. The desert isa fake.But the fake and the failure isnot inthe desert. It is inthem-selves. Aseed will find noroothold on stubborn rocknor canhealing be accomplished if the heart isnot intune with Nature.For the desert does healprovided you are of a nature thatloves thedesert. Just as themountains will healif you lovethe mountains. The answer is inyou.When I first came to thedesert, climbing theprecipitoussteeps of the old Indian trail that wound upover the last 1200feet tothe little plateau where we built Yaquitepec, it was withthe shadow of aweak heart hanging over me. But I didnot etthese ominous warnings worry me. Apart from thedesire tofind escape from a top-heavy and worry-burdened existence wasanother desire, equally strong. And that was to getback closeto the earthjTo get intune once more with the healing rhythmof Nature. To me thedesert held out its arms, notonly as ahaven of Peace butalso of Healing.But, and I think this is most important, I loved thedesert.Its vast sunlit spaces, shimmering away into thegrey mysteryof distant horizons, called tomy heart. It was, insome mysteri-ous fashion home. I loved its disadvantages. I accepted itshard-ships. The stones that bruised my bare feet, and the cholla thornsthat scarred and stabbed my bare skin, were tome, friends. Sav-age andprimitive friends, if youwillbut nevertheless be-loved. Ipanted inthe heatand rejoiced in it. I shivered in thecoldand found itgood.

And the desert repaid my confidence and trust and affection.Little by little, at first, butafterwards with increasing confi-dence, I was packing heavier and heavier burdens upthat 1200foot rise which lay between the limit of wheeled transportation

3 9 t h s e a s o n u n d e r o n j i n i i o w n e r s h i pan d m a n a e e m e n t ol N e l l i e N . C o f f m t i t ,E a r l H o f f m a n , G e o r g e R o b t r s M .

Serene and beautiful, thedesert awaits you. . .health and new vitality in every sun-drenched day

... perfect comfort in theDesert Inn's 35-acregarden estate. All sports. Come hack, enjoy life anew!PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA20

and ourmountain-crest home. Asnerves andbodily strengthgrew better the doubtful heart grew better. Until there were fewburdens that baffled me. Regularly I used tocarry upthat pre-cipitous trail, sections of which were just stepping from rockto rock, hundred pound sacks of grain, potatoes, cementandother supplies. And Ihave never been very husky. Never in mylife has my weight exceeded 140 pounds.Nor was my own case anexception. As thedesert can heal,so also can itkeep well. Our three children, raised from infancyon primitive food and amidst the so-called hardships of the des-ert mountaintop, never, up tothe time they moved from the des-ert, had or neededw ith but one single exceptionthe servicesof a doctor. And thesole exception canhardly becounted. Itwas an accident. C oming up the trail one night Rider, then abouteight years old, tripped andfell head foremost into a bed ofmescals (agav es). Th e accident probably would never have hap-pened but for the fact that his handsand attentionwere busyin carrying tenderly some little playthings which agood friendhad sent tohim. Anyway hefell. When we hauled him out wefound that several of the savage mescal spines, woody andneedle sharp, had driven through the skin and flesh of the topof his head and broken off.They were lodged between the fleshand the bone of the skull.After anunsuccessful attempt tocut these out myselfan at-tempt which failed not because of the lack of nerve onRider'spart, but my own, we took him in to adoctor. In a few minuteswith a local anaesthetic, the barbs were removed. And that wasthat. The incident was closed. It wasn't something which youcould hold against thedesert's healing power. But it was theonly time in all the years atYaquitepec that a doctor's serviceswere needed.So I think I amright in saying that the desert will, inmostcases, heal youif you go to it, accepting itand expecting to behealedand obeying the rules of Nature.For there are rules. And the rules are that you must get closeto the earthand tothe sun and to the airand to thegeneralpeace of the wilderness. Leave your civilization and its false no-tions behind. Become a denizen. Perhaps this sounds fantasticto you. But there ismagic in it.If possible gosomewhere where you need not beburdenedwith too many clothes. Give the sun and the air achance. If youcan't gobarefoot, then wear thelightest andflimsiest of san-dals. Lie around inthe sun. Loaf inthe shade. Take long prowlsthrough the canyons and upthe washes at daylight and in theevenings. Rough it. Cook and eat in primitive fashion. Andthrow away as many of your fancy camping gadgets asyou can.They keep you from the feel of the earth. Alittle sand inyourfood won't hurt you . . . nor will a creosote leaf or two inyourtea orcoffee. (The creosote is a reputedly valuable desert reme-dy, anyway.)And above all letthe peace and silence of the desert seep intoyour soul. Forget theworldand business. It will bethere

all too much of itwhen you get back. Forget money. If you arespartan-like andreally primitive a little money will go a longway on the desertat an isolated camp-spot.And, observing these conditions, it ismy belief that the desertwill cure a great number of ailments, either with or withoutnatural mineral springs. There arevirtuesgreat virtues inmineral water baths. But there are also greater virtues ingettingback close toNature and relaxing.But the greatest virtue of all lies inyour own soul. If you goin confidence, accepting, believingfeeling glad to be backagain intune with the earth, the chances are that the earth willrespond andwill cure you. Be it desertor anyother earth.So there you have the sum and substance of my personal be-lief. Can you get reliefcan you getcured at Agua Calientesprings?Y e s , I think soif you play the game and obey the rules. Butthen, I think also that you can getcured at innumerable otherplaces inthe desert.It's just up toyou.

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*

C l o u d s o v e r S a n t a R o s a s - - P r i z e P h o t oHarry Vroman of Lawndale, California, won first place in Desert Magazine's

October photo contest, with this infra-red film study of Coachella valley andthe Santa R osa mountains crowned with cumulus clouds. The picture was takenfrom Inspiration point in Joshua Tree national monument, with one second ex-posure at f.32 through a Number 25 red filter.

O w e n sV a l l e y . .Second place was taken byDon Mohr of Los Angeles withhis view of storm clouds movingin over Owens valley and theSierra Nevadas. The picturewas taken from the Inyo moun-tains, and infra-red film wasused.Entries in the October DesertCloud contest were heavy anddecisions close, with many ex-cellent photographs being re-turned because only two prizeswere available. December con-test calls for portraits of smalldesert creatures of all types, an dless keen competition is expect-ed. Rules on another page.

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Inspiring in its simplicity is this arrangement featuring alovely head of the Virgin against a background o>f up-reaching lines and balanced by the rosette of agaveat the base.By MARGARET CARRICKPhotographs by Jack Carrick

/I THINK that I should start this little story by saying_.V that it will be prejudicedvery greatly prejudiced infavor of our own Southwest. And now we shall go onfrom there22

Pine and fir and holly and mistletoe for decora-tions have become as much a part of the AmericanChristmas as Santa Claus. And a fine tradiiicn it is.But these accessories are not always available forthe desert home. What could be more appropriatethen, than that the desert dweller should look to hisown land for the materials with which to brightenthe holiday living room? And isn't this doubly truefor the first Christmas was observed on a desertno less arid than this.

Tradit ion is all very fine indeed and I would be the very lastto suggest that we do away with it in any shape or form. Weof theWest have done pretty well about establishing some ex-ceedingly good ones of our own along almost every line of en-deavor. Almost every one, I repeat, for when it comes to Christ-mas and its special chance for decorat ing, it sometimes seemsthat we're all trying to pretend that only the Atlantic slope wasever opened to the white man and his ways.

Again I must emphasize that I would not do away with firand pine, Eastern holly and mistletoe. They are the materialsthat were used first for holiday decorating because they were athand and because they reminded homesick people of the oldcountry which had been their home. Both perfectly good andlogical reasons for establishing a tradition and still good enoughfor its perpetuat ion. Anyone knows that Chr is tmas wouldn ' t beChr is tmas without thegood smell of pine, fir, balsam and juni-per permeating thehouse!The tiling that I am sugges t ing is that we not overlook thewealth of wondrous materials which are typically Southwesternand which we maywork into our holiday decorative schemes tosuch rare advantage. Eastern visitors will be much impressed atseeing something entirely new to them and we will feel, I trulybelieve, an innate satisfaction in having used well some of thethings which belong to us alone.And a r en ' t we the lucky ones in having both to choose from!Our high country provides everything that we could wish forin the way of evergreens and cones. Our desert mistletoe andholly and native California holly with its br ight red berries aremost satisfactory substitutes for the Eastern varieties, and thenjust look at all wehave besides.Ther e is such anabunda nt var ie ty of cactus and succulents intheir myriad forms and changing shades of soft coloring that itwould take a book to name and describe them all. And seedpods! Ah, that there could be so many and all so different is al-most beyond beliefand in the loveliest of desert colors: red-browns, rusts, dull golds and the color of r ipe wheatlovelysoft, blended hues that will sing of beauty in almost any colorscheme.I shall never be able to sayenough about all the poetry whichlies waiting for us over the whole of the desert country in rain-washed, sun-bleached wood; branches which fought the windand sun in their growing, roots which have writhed and reachedout- through the rock-bound earth, gnarled knots seeming to ex-press the strength and wisdom of the ages.A ll the fervor of a rockhound goes into my rock hunting butwhat is inside or howthey will look when polished bothers menot a whi t . It is enough for me that all the soft, subtle, subdued

colors of the desert are offered for my admirat ion in strong andinteresting forms-perfect accompaniments for the boundlesswealth of growing things around them.W e are the lucky ones, aren't we!

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This pleasant little three-dimen-sional picture might be titled"Desert Madonna" with its back-ground of dried seed pods andgnarled wood. It will be happyfor the whole of the holiday sea-son on bookcase, end table, con-sole or any other spot with aplain wall space to show off itsbeauty of line.

The shops are bulging with in-triguing figurines such as thislittle girl with skis which lendthemselves most fetchingly tosettings for holid ay pictures to beenjoyed by children and grown-ups alike. So little is nee ded to gowith thema few sprigs of ever-green, a dead branch or two,some rocks and ordinary tablesalt and there you have itl

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pages in El Centra and take them to LosAngeles for press and bindery work.Immediately after his return from serv-ice in World War II, Randall Hendersonof the publishing staff began looking fora larger site where magazine presses couldbe installed. Since magazine publishing islargely a mail order business, it was de-cided to establish the new plant out on

the desert beyond the limits of any muni-cipality where there would be ample roomfor expansion, and where housing couldbe provided for members of the organiza-tion.The 2000-acre cove at the base of SantaRosa mountains, then entirely vacant, ap-peared to offer the ideal solution. No t onlywould plenty of space be available, but thelocation would give Desert's staff more di-rect access to Highways 60, 66 , 70, 80 and

9 9 , which are the m ain east-west thorough-fares of southwestern desert travel. Thesite also would be more accessible for thethousands of visitors from all over theUnited States who come to the magazineoffices annuallyreaders, hobbyists, ar-tists, writers, photographers, and the trav-eling public.

Following the selection of the site, agroup of developers headed by Cliff Hen-derson, brother of Desert's editor, sensingthat the establishment of Desert Magazinewith its affiliated enterprises in the SantaRosa mountain cove would invite wide-spread interest on the part of culturalgroups, purchased 1620 acres of the adja-cent desert and made plans for a modeltown. Water mains were laid, streets sur-faced, and the new postoffice of Palm Des-ert was established. Scores of new homesand business buildings are now under con-struction there. W hile the new town is stillin its pioneering stage, the original tcwn-site designed by Landscape Architect Tom-my Tomson of Pacific Palisades, providingwide streets, ample parking areas, church,civic center and school sites, insures an at-tractive community setting for Desert'snew home. The beauty of the setting is fur-ther enhanced by the high type of businessand residential improvements and the col-orful landscaping in progress for severalyears under the management of Christo-pher Hendra and his associates at the PalmVillage community across the road fromDesert's project, and by the scenic drivealong Highway 111 through the date gar-dens and vineyards and grapefruit grovesbetween Indio and Palm Desert.

Over-shadowing this modern desertcommunity the rugged 8000-foot peaks ofthe Santa Rosa range serve as friendly al-though not easily accessible guardianswhose natural beauty has been little dis-turbed since those pre-historic days whenthey watched over the home of the ancientCahuilla.

T R U E O R F A L S E Probably no denizen of the desert is thevictim of more false propaganda than therattlesnake. Much of the common hearsaypertaining to the rattler is pure fiction. Here are 20 questions designed to separatethe facts from the popular myths. The answers givenwhether you believe themor not are backed by scientific opinion. Ten correct answers is an average score,11 to 14 is a good score, 15 to 18 is superior, and if you do better than that youmay go to the head of the class. Answers are on page 35.1A rattlesnake's age may be judged by the number of buttons in its tailonefor each year. True False2Hospitals and laboratories will buy rattlesnake venom for medical purposes.True False3A rattlesnake sheds its skin once a year. True False4 The fangs of a rattler are on the end of its tongue . True False5In summertime desert rattlers may be seen sunning themselves on the rocksunder the midday sun. True False6A rattlesnake has a backbone. True FalseCertain non-venomous species of bullsnake will coil and strike in the samemanner, as a rattler. True False8A rattler may always be identified by the diamond-shaped pattern of its skin.True False9Potassium permanganate is the best treatment for rattlesnake bite.True False10A rattlesnake will not cross a horse-hair rope on the ground.True- False

11A rattler can coil and strike only when its body is resting on the ground orother plane surface. True False12Rattlers have been known to suck milk from the udder of a cow.True False13The roadrunner bird has been known to kill rattlesnakes.True False14Rattlers and other snakes sometimes swallow their young to protect them.True- False15All venomous snakes in No rth America have fangs. True False16The first rule, if bitten by a rattler, is to run for help. True False17In case of snake bite it is important to apply a tourniquet between the biteand the heart. Tr ue - False18A second important step is to sterilize and make an incision at the wound.True False19Most effective treatment is to extract the poison by suction.True False20All venomous snakes have diamond-shaped heads. True False

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IMPERIALTh4 only transcontinentaltrain via Imperial Val-leyandOld Mexico. Fast,51-hr. Los Angeles-Chi-cago schedule; onlytwonights en route. Stand-ard Pullmans, touristsleepers and chair cars.Lv. Los Angeles 2:45

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. .Goldfield, Nev ada . . .Goldfield was swept with gold feverreminiscent of itsboom days with confir-mation byElmer Burt, general superinten-dent ofNewmont-Deep Mines operation,of a strike ofhigh grade oreinthe com-pany's Whitehorse claims. Noofficial in-dication of average values of the ore wasgiven, although rumors ballooned it to$700 aton. Oneofficial declared that thelowest assay value was $21 a ton.The strike wasmade unexpectedly whiledriving across-cut inintensive searchfora fault zone where itwashoped todiscoverore. Itwas notpreviously indicated by dia-mond drilling. Thevein wasdiscovered ata depth of385 feet and 2000 feet southofthe Florence shaft, it wassaid. Theveinwas claimed to be25 feet inwidth, withthe payshoot varying inwidth from a fewinches to10feet. Thegold values are de-clared to occur in tellurium, which wasfound occasionally in theoriginal Gold-field workings. At theendofthree weekswork, thecompany wassaid tohave drift-ed 150feet along thevein, with thevaluesstill holding.

Character ofthe ore, it isclaimed, indi-cates permanency of thevein. The findwas made interritory never before devel-oped. Thevein strikes generally north andsouth, and thepitch iswest. Adrift is be-ing extended 80feet below theexploratorylevel onwhich thefind wasmade, with theaim ofcutting the oreshoot atthat depth.The Goldfield News reports thepossi-bility that thestrike will cause the New-mont company tobuild a mill inGold-field. According to theNews there aremillions oftons oflowgrade ore, averag-ing $5 to $9atonblocked out inthearea.This ore canbeworked profitably provid-ed arirh find, such as thecurrent strike isreported tobe, canpayforthe expenseoferecting amill near Goldfield.o oLas Vegas, Nevada . . .Platinum worth $1,450,000 wasshipped

from LasVegas totheUnited States mintat Denver inSeptember. Theprecious me-tal, weighing 1800 pounds, wasshippedin heavy wooden boxes bound with steelstraps. Extreme secrecy prevailed from themoment theplatinum was removed fromBasic Magnesium plant until railway ex-press guards took itover, anditwas sur-rounded byplant guards anddeputy sher-iffs onthe trip tothestation. o

Tonopah, Nevad a . . .Report ofthediscovery by C. W.Wellsof a 24-inch vein ofbismuth oreatLoneMountain, 16miles west ofTonopah, isattracting wide attention. Bulk ofthis ore,used largely inmedicine, issaid tocomefrom theclosely-controlled production of

a fewSouth American mines. TheLoneMountain discovery was made at adepthof 75 feet when Wells broke through thewall of a vein from which hehadbeenproducing lead-silver and found aparallelvein ofeasily fusible orewhich isestimatedto contain from three to 20percent bis-muth. Oatman, Arizona . . .Oatman district isshowing renewedac-tivity with several mines under develop-ment. Officials ofTriumph Gold Mines,Inc., working attheWhite Chief and Tri-umph m ines, south ofOatman, declare thatsix months exploration on the200-footlevel of theWhite Chief hasshown themost consistently high grade ore found inthe district innearly 30years, with $500,-000 orereserves said already to be insight, with a$20atonaverage. Shaft re-habilitation isproceeding attheTriumphmine with asurface plant tounwater theshaft under construction.

Flagstaff, Arizona . . .What RoyG. Steele, ingeneral chargeof operations, declares to be one of themost promising oil prospects inArizona,located 42miles north of Flagstaff andV-h. miles south ofGray Mountain Trad-ing post, isdown 1300feet. Theprospectis being drilled intheSupai sandstone inthe center of about 130,000 acres leasedfrom thestate, theIndian service and pri-vate owners. Drilling operations are beingconducted byCanemona Drilling companyfor theBarron-Steele company. Salt Lake City, Utah . . .War Assets administration issaid to befinding theplant ofKalunite, Inc.,atSaltLake City a white elephant. After morethan ayear ofnegotiation andbidding, theW AA hasrejected the twolatest bids ongrounds theoffers v/ere too low.Bids werefor $510,000 byJ. R.Simplot ofBoise andPocatello, Idaho , and$502,500 bySterlingChemical company, NewYork. Accordingto V-7AA, actual wartime cost ofbuildingthe plant was $4,533,000 while itspres-ent minimum value hasbeen set by theagency at $1,000,000. Both bidderspro-posed touse theplant formanufactureofphosphate fertilizer.

Tennessee Schuylkill corporation, own-er oftheTennessee mine atChloride, Ari-zona, announces plans toacquire controlof theArizona Magma mine through mer-ger ofthecompany and theGreat Western

Exploration company. The Tennessee car-ries lead-zinc ores, theArizona Magma isa silver-gold property.THE DESERT MAGAZINE


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L TT B R S . . .January 1 to Be Peg leg D ay . ., .Buena Park, California

194712 desert magazine 1947 december

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