195805 desert magazine 1958 may

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MAY , 1958 . . 35 Cents

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OUaHenry P. Chapman's close-up ofa Zuni Indian woman carrying anolla on her head is this month's firstprize photo contest entry. Cha pm anis a resident of Santa Fe. Theseollas are made by the Zuni womenwithout the aid of a potter's wheel,and are handpainted without pre-liminary sketching of the designs.The Zuni Pueblo is in New Mexicoa few miles south of Gallup. Cameradata: Rolleiflex 2.8c camera; f. 16 at1/50 sec; Pan-X film; yellow filter.

P k i u m o ft h e M o n t h

Time and the elements have re-duced these wagon wheels to pic-turesque ruins weathered remind-ers of an age when transportationdepended on horseflesh and wood.Second prize photo by L. D. Schoolerof Blythe, California, was taken justacross the Colorado River in Ehren-berg, Arizona. Camera data: Rollei-cord cam era ; f. 11 at 1/50 se c ; Plus-X film; red filter.

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D E S E R T C f l L E N D f l RApril 26-May 1824th annual Jun-ior Indian Art Show, Museum ofNorthern Arizona, Flagstaff.April 30-May 3Las Damas Trek,Wickenburg, Arizona.May 1 Fiesta and Spring CornDance, San Felipe Pueblo, N. M.May 3Santa Cruz Corn Dance andCeremonial Races, Taos Pueblo,New Mexico.May 3-431st Presentation of theRamona Pageant, Hemet, Califor-nia.May 3-4 Newhall-Saugus Rodeo,Newhall, California.May 3-5Cinco de Mayo (MexicanIndependence Day) Festivities atNogales and Gilbert, Arizona, andmost border towns.May 4 Colorado River Regatta,Parker, Arizona. Western barbecueon preceding evening.May 4-5Desert Panorama Displays,China Lake, California.May 9FFA and 4-H Stock Show,Kaysville, Utah.May 9-10 Humboldt County Auc-tion and Fair, Winnemucca, Nev.May 9-10Western Division Rodeo,Brigham Young University, Provo,Utah.May 10Re-enactment of the GoldenSpike Ceremony, Promontory, U.May 10-1117th annual Lone Pine,California, Stampede.May 10-11Desert Rat Days, Twen-tynine Palms, California.May 10-119th annual Racquet ClubTennis Tournament, Palm Springs,California.May 10-15Equestrian Trails Ridefrom Calico, California, to LasVegas, Nevada.May 10-25Wildflower Show, Julian,California.May 11Sacramento Peak Observa-tory east of Alamogordo, NewMexico, open to public every Sun-day throughout summer.May 14-15San Ysidro Processionand Blessing of Fields, near LosCordovas, New Mexico.May 15-16Dairy Days, Plain City,Utah.May 15-18Helldorado, Las Vegas,Nevada.May 16-18Grubstake Days, YuccaValley, California.May 182nd annual 90-mile Out-board Marathon, Blythe, California.Barbecue on preceding evening.May 18Horse Show, Sonoita, Ariz.May 18 Beaver County LivestockShow, Milford, Utah.May 23-25 New Mexico MobileHome Show, Albuquerque.May 24-25Sanpete Rambouillet andJunior Livestock Show and Parade,Ephraim, Utah.May 24-25American Legion '49ersDay, Milford, Utah.May 26-27 Uranium Convention,Albuquerque.May 30Davis County Sheriff's Ro-deo and Posse Review, Kaysville,Utah.May 30 Memorial Day Rodeo,American Fork, Utah.May 30 Memorial Day Regatta,Provo, Utah.May 31 Homecoming Day, Cali-ente, Nevada.May 31-June 1Fiesta de San Felipe

de Neri, Albuquerque.

V o l u m e 21 M A Y . 1958 N u m b e r 5C O V E RP H O T O G R A P H YCAL E NDARHI ST ORYG H O S T T O W NW I L D F L O W E R SPOE T RYFIELD TRIPC O N S E R V A T I O NFI CT I ONH O M E M A K I N GLETTERSM E M ORI ALNAT UREDESERT QUIZEXPERIENCEC O N T E S TF O R E C A S TCL OSE -UPSN E W SM I NI NGL API DARYH O B B YC O M M E N TB O O K S

Mosquito Rock in the Valley of Fire State Park,Nevada, by JOSEF MUENCHPictures of the Month 2May events on the desert 3Stokes Castle, by JOSEF and JOYCE MUENCH . 4When the Brass Band Played at TaylorBy NELL MURBARGER 5Flowering predictions for May 8Tuzigoot Pueblo Ruins and other poems . . . 10Apache Tears in the Chuckawallas

By EUGENE L CONROTTO 11We Would Protect Desert Plant Life

By HARRY C. JAMES 15Hard Rock Shorty of Death Val ley 18Desert Living in the City

By WELDON and PHYLLIS HEALD . . . . 19Comment from Desert's rea ders 20In Memory 22Night Life on the Desert

By EDMUND C. JAEGER 24A test of your desert knowledge 26Night in Gateway Canyon

By BARBARA HAMMEN 27Picture-of-the-Month contest announcement . . 28Southwest river runoff predictions 29About those who write for Desert 29From here and there on the desert 30Current news of desert mines 34Amateur Gem Cutter, by DR. H. C. DAKE . . . 36Gems and Minerals 37Just Between You and Me, by the Editor . . . 42Reviews of Southwestern literature 43

The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Press, Inc., Palm Desert,California. Re-entered as second class matter July 17, 1948, at the postoffice at Palm Desert,California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title registered No. 358865 in U. S. Patent Office,and contents copyrighted 1958 by the Desert Press, Inc. Permission to reproduce contentsmust be secured from the editor in writing.RANDALL, HENDERSON, Editor EUGENE L. CONROTTO, Associate EditorBESS STACY, Business Manager EVONNE RIDDEL L, Circulation ManagerUnsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be re turned or acknowledgedunless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility fordamage or loss of manuscripts or photographs although due care will be exercised. Sub-scribers should send notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding issue.SUBSCRIPTION RATESOne Year $4.00 TwoYears $7.00Canadian Subscriptions 25c Extra. Foreign 50c ExtraSubscriptions to Army Personnel Outside U. S. A. Must Be Mailed in Conformity WithP . O. D. Order No. 19687Address Correspondence to Desert Magazine, Palm Desert, CaliforniaMAY, 1958


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HISTORIC PANORAMAS XV ... S t o h e s C a s t l e . . . By JOSEF and JOYCE MUENCHJust out of Austin, Nevadaat the junction of U.S.50 and State 8Athis crumbling ruin overlooks shaftswhich once yielded rich silver ore. When it was built in1879 by brothers J. G. and Anson Phelps Stokes ofPhiladelphia, it almost justified the title which now clingsto its denuded walls. Balconies on the second and thirdfloors, a sun-deck on the roof, deep narrow windows, andits lofty position on a hill all marked it as unusual for its

time and locale. Intended as a residence, it was neverfinished.Legends, rather than clinging vines which a moremoist climate might have produced, have grown uparound these stone walls. None of these stories seembased on fact, but include such lurid tales as foremenhigh-grading rich ore, and the brothers spying from theupper windows.

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Ma/w Street, Taylor, Nevada, in the 1880s. Old timers say this photograph wastaken on the day President Garfield died (Septem ber 19, 18 81), which wouldaccount for the flag flying at half-mast. Photo courtesy Irwin Fehr, Ely, Nevada.W h e n t h e B r a s s B a n dP l a y e d a t T a y l o r . . .By NELL MURBARGERMap by Norton Allen

GARDNER'S first jobat Taylor, Nevada, was helpinghis dad demolish the operahouse. Claude was 12 years old, Mc -Kinley was president of the UnitedStates, and Taylor, even then, was aghost mining camp.Today Claude Gardner is the lastremaining resident of Taylor. He livesin an old rock store building withthree-feet thick walls and a porch heldtogether with square-cut iron nails. Hestill owns 26 mining claims and sev-eral leases; and now and then makesa shipment of ore. Claude enjoys goodfriends and flowers and sunsets andM A Y , 1 9 5 8

good books. He is a hearty eater,sleeps well, laughs a lot, has struck atruce with the worldand at 70 yearsof age looks much younger than manymen of 50."This was main street," said ClaudeGardner, indicating the narrow desertroad up which I had driven from themouth of the canyon. "When Dadand I came here in 1899 there werehouses and store buildings along bothsides of this street, but only two orthree of the cabins were occupied. Theopera house set down yonder, aways.This rock building I live in was DaveFelsenthal's general store, and that

With two of Nevada's mostproductive silver mines in op-eration, the community of Tay-lor came to life and prosperedduring the 1880s. Then silverwas demonetized and Taylor'sboom ended without fanfare orapparent remorse. Fifteen hun-dred people left their sunnycanyon homes on the westslope of the Schell CreekRange, and headed for newbonanzas. Claude Gardner,who still lives in Taylor, is theonly one who came back.

piece of wall down in the ravine is allthat is left of George Metzger's Phila-delphia Brewery. Even now, folksprowling through the sagebrush occa-sionally find one of its old quartbottles. Below the brewery was China-town. Those dumps on the hill be-longed to the Argus Mine, and theMonitor laid over that little rise tothe north. . ."As I roamed over the hillside where

Taylor had stood, with Claude as my5


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To ELY, 5Miles

ToPIOCHE, 79Mi les.

guide, I learned more about my host.He was born in the old Mormon lum-bering town of Pine Valley in theSouthwestern part of Utah. His pa-ternal grandfather and granduncle,Robert and Archibald Gardner, hadestablished the first sawmill in Utah,near Salt Lake City; and after movingto Pine Valley, had cut trees and sawedlumber for construction of the Mor-mon Temple at St. George.Claude developed an early interestin mining, and when he grew olderstaked several claims in the Taylordistrict. As time went on he strayedperiodically to other sections of theWest, but always returned to the oldcamp in the Schell Creek Mountains.About a dozen years ago he realizedthat Nevada's dry canyons, sagebrush,nut-pines and junipers meant more tohim than all the chimerical green pas-tures of the worldand he came hometo stay.After gaining what information Icould at the long deserted campsite, Ireturned to Ely and spent the next twodays in the recorder's office scanningthe files of the White Pine Reflex andWhite Pine News, Taylor's two news-papers, and the Ward Reflex, pub-lished in the 1870s and 1880s at themining camp of Ward, a dozen mileswest of Taylor. In the news columnsof these priceless old journals is faith-fully recorded week-by-week the storyof Taylor.

First ore discoveries in this part ofthe Schell Creek Range were made in1872 by Prospectors Taylor and Pratt,but their strikes failed to attract muchattention, and most of the originalclaims were permitted to lapse. Severalof these were relocated about eightyear later by W. G. Lyons, RobertBriggs and W. N. Billy McGill, whodeveloped their holdings into the Mon-itorone of the district's two greatestmines, and producer of some of therichest silver ore ever found in Nevada.

The other big mine was the Argus,discovered by Jim Ragsdale, an Indian,who assertedly sold it for $500 in cashand a good team of horses. The Arguswas developed by Joseph S. Carothers,prominent Nevada mining man of thatday, with the financial backing of thewealthy Aultman family of Canton,Ohio. During their few productiveyears, the Monitor and Argus eachyielded $5,000,000 in free-milling sil-vermost of it mined within 50 feetof the surface.The silver camp of Ward had beenflouris hing about a half-dozen yearswhen on May 16, 1880, its newspaper,The Reflex, issued the first provoca-tive mention of the new mining districtacross Steptoe Valley to the east:"Visions of untold wealth agitatethe venturesome portion of this com-munity. It is concentrated in TaylorDistrict, and mum is the word for thepresent. The assays are stiff, and those

on the inside are communicative onlyto the favored few . . ."Before year's end, almost everyonein Nevada knew about the Taylor dis-trict. The bonanza brought an influx

of boomers, and the town of Taylorbegan to collect in the trough of thecanyon below the main mines. Soonthe population soared to 1500. Va-cant houses in the declining town ofWard were moved to Taylor.By June, 1883, a seven-foot orebody, assaying as high as $4000 a ton,was being worked at the Monitorwhich now was paying more bulliontax than any other mine in the state.H. A. Cumins was importing windows,doors and finishing lumber fromCherry Creek, 60 miles to the north.Before the end of that summer, Taylor

boasted three general stores, twobutcher shops, seven saloons, four res-taurants, three boarding houses, adrugstore, dentist and doctor. Th eReflex noted that even a Chineseopium den was flourishing.The summer of 1883 also witnessedthe organization of Taylor's WhitePine Brass Band, an event hailed asa great step forward since Taylor, likemost country towns of that era, didnot possess an abundance of ready-made entertainment. Second and thirdrate traveling show troupes occasion-ally drifted into town for one-nightperformances at the opera house, also

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he said. In the World War I days,Claude explained, a mining and mill-ing company from Cody, Wyoming,acquired 16 claims here and erecteda 100-ton cyanide plant. After a fewruns the mill closed down and thecompany pulled stakes.Halting the Jeep beside an un-guarded open shaft on the crest of alow rise, Claude explained that thishad been the original shaft of theMonitor . The great mine principally

had been worked as a "gophering op-erat ion." In the rocky sloping wallsof a shallow ravine a few rods northof the shaft were several dark openingsresembling the mouths of volcaniccaves. It was from these excavationsthat the major portion of the Monitor 'swealth was taken.Claude lighted the carbide lampsandwe crossed the threshold into one ofthe strangest mines I have ever visited.There was no semblance of conven-

tional tunneling, andvery little timber-ing. Following the contours of the richkidneys of ore, the miners had hol-lowed out huge chambers, some ofthem 40 feet in diameter and 15 feethigh. Unmined pillars had been leftscattered throughout the workings tohelp support the rock ceiling, and insome places there were massive stullswedged into placeusually lengths ofnut-pine or juniper trunks. Passage-ways the size of ordinary mine tunnels

D m H W i l d f l o m t s B e c k o n M a y V i s i t o n . . .M ay is normally the month of mostabundant wildflower bloom on thehighdesert, and this year's show promisesto be even more spectacular becauseof the unusually heavy and well-dis-tributed precipitation of past months .In the areas where winter and springrains have penetrated deepest, manyof the annuals which came into flowerearlier than usual still should be bloom-ing in May, especially in the higherelevations such as Yucca Valley, alongth e Old Woman Springs Road, inJoshua Tree Nat ional Monument andin foothill areas of the Antelope Val-ley.In addition, May will seemany per-ennials in bloom, including apricotmallow, indigo bush, salazaria, cassia,cheese-bush, sandpaper-plant, Mojaveaster andpossibly cat 's-claw, mesquite

and chilopsis. The tiny yellow flowersof widespread blackbrush should beshowing, as well as blossoms of deer-weed and pepper-grass .Lucile Weight of Twentynine Palmspredicts one of the best May flowerareas will be along the O!d W o ma nSprings Road which connects YuccaValley with Lucerne Valley and Vic-torville. Here one can expect to seethe blooms of desert mariposa, lark-spur, desert rock-pea, white tidy-tips,phacelia, lupine, blazing star, viguiera,apricot mallow, Mojave aster, pricklypeppy , and possibly earlier bloomingchia, gilia, penstemon, lupine, verbena,malocothrix and pincushion. Cassia,pepper-grass and the elegant desertplume also should be in flower alongthis road.Yucca Valley should be a very goodMay flower area, with nearly all theabove mentioned species plus othersshowing, Mrs. Weight added.Even in the remarkable flower yearsof 1938 and 1949, observers do notrecall seeing the green of plants climb-ing to the very tops of high desertmountains as it has this year. Bythe first of April, blooming flowershad moved one-third of the way up

the slopes of the Sheepholes, Cox-

combs, Pintos and Little San Bernar-dinos. During May there should bemuch bloom near the tops of theseranges.Joshua Tree Nat ional Monumentvisitors canexpect to find the followingplant species in bloom during Mayand June: nolina, creosote, senna,blazing star, woolly marigold, lupine,sand verbena, large white desert prim-rose, forget-me-not, phacelia, gilia,mariposa, desert willow, tidy-tips,poppy and many others . M onumentSuperintendent Elmer N. Fladmarkespecially recommends the drive fromHighway 60-70 through Pinto Basinin May, and visits to Lost HorseVal-ley and Salton View in June .

The Antelope Valley in the south-western corner of the Mojave Desertshould see a continuing of bloomsinto May of species that came intoflower especially early this year. Mrs.Jane S. Pinheiro suggests a drive eastalong Highway 138 for mariposa, lu-pine and perhaps poppy. West on138 from Lancaster to Gorman, thereshould be wonderful displays of ment -zelia, mallow, gilia and cassia. High-way 6 from Mojave north to the Wal-ker Pass also promises a good Mayflower show.

Natural is t Roland Wauer of DeathValley National Monument writes thatthere is a good chance wildflowers onthe lower valley elevations will last tomid-May , and on the higher portionsthroughout the summer. In early Aprilthe high gullies and slopes were greenwith new plants, and cacti were juststarting to bloom in the low warmvalley areas.Additional rainfall probably willprolong the Lake Mead Nat ional Rec-reation Area's outstanding wildflowerseason, according to Natural is t JamesW. Schaack. The desert is a mass ofyellow, sprinkled with purples andwhite, and an occasional spot of orangean d red. Joshua tree, yucca, sunray,creosote and barrel and hedgehogcacti blooms appeared in late March.Schaack recommends the back coun-

try drive to Pierce Ferry for reward-ing views of the Joshua tree forest inbloom. Another May trip which shouldbe excellent for both wildflowers andscenery is theCrystal to Valley of FireState Park drive (see cover ) .Abundant rainfall assures good Maywildflower blossoms in theGlobe, Ari-zona, area, reports Naturalist EarlJackson of the Southwest ArcheologicalCenter . Among the species expectedto be in flower are covena, lupine,deer-weed, marigold, wallflower, globemallow, mariposa, poppy and especi-ally phac elia. Sagua ro and other cactispecies, owl clover and brittle-bushblooms also are anticipated.These blossoms are forecast for theCasa Grande Nat ional Monument: lu-pine, desert marigold, ironwood, gold-fields, fiddleneck, crown-beard, brittle-

bush, apricot mallow, palo verde, andprickly pear, saguaro, cholla and stag-horn cacti .Saguaro cacti should be startingto flower in Saguaro Nat ional Monu-ment near Tucson, writes SupervisoryPark Ranger Robert J. Heying. Inaddition, over 50 wildflower specieswhich came up in Apri l are expectedto be in blossom duringMay.Organ Pipe Cactus National Monu-ment in southern Arizona is coveredwith lush green vegetation, and ChiefRanger John T. Mullady predicts Aprilblossoms will continue into May.Sen-ita and organ pipe cacti blossoms areexpected during the latter part of themonth.Clyde E. Strickler, supervisor ofAnza-Borrego Desert State Park, looksfor cacti to be blooming there duringMa y . It is unlikely wildflowers will befound in the lowdesert areas of Coa-chella and Imperial valleys. However,the past winter and early spring wea-ther has been very unusual, and thepossibility exists that more April show-e r s , the continuing absence of desic-cating sandstorms, and warm May daysmay bring out a second wildflowerblooming, especially of verbena, hairy-leaved sunflowers and primroses.

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, ,Gardner at the workings of the Monitor Mine. Photo by the author.

led from these huge rooms deeper intothe mountain, there to rewiden intomore rooms. Occasionally the walls ofa chamber had been worked so thinthey had broken through to the out-doors, and the entire canyonside washoneycombed like a Swiss cheese.As we wandered through the chillcorridors of this strange man-madegrotto, shining the beams of our car-bide lamps on streaks of rich ore stillvisible in the walls, I rememberedsnatches of stories from the old Taylornewspapersa 30-pound specimen ofMonitor ore worth $2.50 a poundspecimens of horn silver and chlorideworth $5 a pound . . .

From the old Monitor we drove toNorth Taylor where a few nearly ob-literated foundations and walls markthe sites of former homes."Most of the Monitor employeeslived in North Taylor," said Claude."Those who worked for the Argus

lived in South Taylor, and the business

districtwhere I live nowwas inthe middle.""Do you think the Monitor will everre-open?" I asked as we drove backto the old rock store building."That's hard to say," .Claude re-plied. "After Briggs, Lyon and Mc-Gill took out several million dollarsworth of oreprobably a million dol-lars netthey sold to an English com-pany in 1888 for $185,000. Soonafter, the high grade ore pinched outand before there was time to do anymore development or exploration work,the bottom fell out of the silver market.

"There's still plenty of ore in theMonitoryou saw that for yourselfthis morning. But, in view of today'shigh operating and milling costs, andthe relatively low price of silver, itseems doubtful whether anyone couldmine it at a profit . . ."In the last issue of the White PineNews published at Taylor on Septem-ber 8, 1888, the editor wrote:

"Taylor, though now under a cloudthrough no fault of its mines or itspeople, but through a chain of causesfamiliar to all and not necessary torepeat, is not a dead mining camp. Itis only resting awhile until the cloudthat hangs over it like a nightmarerolls away. The mines are here andthey look better than they did threeyears ago, and it will be strange if aproperty so valuable as the Argus willbe permitted to remain idle long."The frontier editor was a betterwriter than he was prophet; and al-though nearly 70 years have passedsince those hopeful words were pub-lished, the nightmare cloud has notrolled away.The great Argus and the Monitor,the June, the Hixonall the rich minesthat nurtured Taylor three-quarters ofa century ago, still are standing idle;and the little mining town in the can-yonthe place that once had threetimes as many registered voters as Elytoday is the home of only one man.

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Photograph by Beth SwansonHOMESTEADER'S FAMILY PLOTB y PA U L W I L H E L MThousand Palms, CaliforniaThese men lived lives so stillTo you, unknowing, die;At rest beneath this hillMy sands to dignify.

These men met death sublime;Now let their quiet sing.In this, their silent time,Cool winds are murmuring.From strong lives lived unsaid,These desolations die;There lifts a green homestead,Silence must signify.For you, the golden daySince they the terrors faced;They broke the old trail way,The endless desert waste.

CLARET-CUP CACTUSBy JEAN HOGAN DUDLEYInglewood, CaliforniaNow I have learned to look beyond thenameOr the appearances of any man,

Since I have learned a thorny cactus canBecome a claret-cup of petalled flame.

Pue&t*By JEANE TTE SWANSONPhoenix, ArizonaOn a silent brooding hillsideIn the honeycomb of room on room,The Old Ones lived, well fortifiedFrom enemies who sought their doom.And in the valley stretched below,Where the Verde River carves its way,They dug canals for water flow,Much like our own this modern day.They grew small crops and stored them well,Refrained from war and crippling strife;This hillside was their citadel,This valley source of strength and life.The Old Ones, gone from this gaunt hill,Pervade it with their presence still.

By TANYA SOUTHAll that is needed to advanceLies deeply in your source,And every height of eminenceFrom deep within must course.Thus are you master of your fate,Whatever be your worldly state.

DESERT BREEDBy MA BEL COOPERCitrus Heights, CaliforniaI'm desert bred but I'm city bound,Tied hand and foot, as it were.And mem'ry must serve as eyes for the soulThough it sees but a distant blur.A love and a duty holds me hereIn the heart of Gotham's might.But the city lights are a far, far cryFrom the desert stars at night.I'm city bound by a trust that's old,As old as the desert sands,And it ties me here by a bond too strongTo be broken by human hands.

THE DESERT'S SECRETB y A M Y V IA USanta Ana, CaliforniaTo the bruised old cactus, I paused to say"Did you happen to notice one long pastday,Great covered wagons that came this way?"And I knelt close by the cactus-baseWhile I searched the sands from place toplace,But could find no wagon wheel print nortrace.And yet, I knew that none would be thereFor deserts seldom their secrets share.

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DESERT CENTER^( 32 Mi . to W i ley Wel lTurnoff from Desert Center)

Apache Tears, on cloth, are difficult to distinguish from the dark malpa istones they are found on. Photo by Loran Perry.

what it's for." And I did. Today itrests on my bookcase to commemoratethe praiseworthy event I witnessedthat morning.We made a fast 13-mile trip overthe bladed and nearly straight dirt roadwhich parallels the pole line along thesouthern flank of the Little Chucka-wallas. From a creosote and ironwoodflatland in the Wiley's Well area it car-ried us w estward across one wash afteranother to a region dominated by thegreen-boughed palo verde.

The Apache Tear area lies alongthe malpai flanks of the Little Chucka-wallas about a mile and a half northand slightly east of the bladed road.The turnoff is on the near side of along reddish malpai - covered ridgedotted w ith a few whip-armed ocotillos.An experienced desert driver shouldhave no difficulty bringing a standardcar to this junction from Highway 60-70 via Wiley's Well. The numerouswashes which the road crosses aresandy and could present some diffi-culty if a driver allows his vehicle tolose momentum while crossing them.

From the pole line road we madeour own trail t o the collecting fieldin four-wheel drive all the wayovera trackless wash area in which thepalo verde jungle often hid the land-marks we were steering toward. Forthis reason it is best to take your bear-ings at the pole line road. The col-lecting field is on the malpai flank sthat rise out of the wash and climb tothe dark eroded range beyond. Thesebackground hills lie between two prom -inent points in the horizonthe BigChuckawallas on the west and theLittle Chuckawallas on the east towering like two giant bookends abovethe center hills.Once beyond the wash, Loran rec-ognized the malpai slopes that con-tained the Tears from the severalshattered white plasterboard artillerytargets on the higher ground that wereused in wartime maneuvers.Hunting for Tears was fun becausethey were sparse enough to afford athrill every time I found one, and asmy eyes became accustomed to spot-ting the dark obsidian nodules lyingon the surface of the equally darkmalpai, I became more expert at thegame. While the somber rocks whichmake up the desert pavement here arehighly varnished and in the right lightglisten like polished shoe leather, theApache Tears are dull black in color.Thus, the traditional prospecting pro-cedure is reversedinstead of look-ing for a bright object on a somberbackground, you look for a subduedobject on a shiny background.

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Louise DeWolfe, right, holds Apache Tear nodules. With her in the col-lecting field isRose Perry. Photo by Lou DeWolfe.

Indian quarry 50 miles south of Delta ,Utah, where mottled obsidian is found;an d the several Nevada fields nearBeatty (Desert> June '42),Fish LakeValley near Coaldale (Desert, Sept.' 5 0 ) , and in the Monte Cristos north-east of Coaldale (Desert, May '51).There also is a Tear area on the Mo-jave Desert about five miles north ofBagdad in the shadow of the AmboyCrater (Desert , Nov. 49).

When everyone in the party had ahalf dozen or so Tears"enough fora necklace," as Rose Perry put itwe circled back to the parked Jeepsthrough a port ion of the wash. Herethe palo verdes were dense and thesong of quail came to us from every

direction. In the clean sands werenumerous tracks of small animals, andthe larger prints of deer and possiblyburros .

We spread a potluck lunch on thehood of a Jeep, and while we ate inthe warm sunshine, I had an oppor-tunity to become better acquaintedwith the DeWolfes.Lou, an aircraft engineer by t rade,and Louise , an organist and musicteacher, explore the desert in what isnow their fourth Jeep. He is one ofseveral men I have met in recent yearswho has switched from hunting andfishing to gem stone collecting as an

outdoor sport . In fact Lou had ahunting and fishing prog ram on a local

Salt Lake City television station a fewyears ago."Hunting for rocks is more fun thanhunting deer," he explained. "Youmeet more interesting and sociablepeopleand it's a sport you can sharewith your wife."The temptation to "bang aroundwith rocks" apparently outweighs anydesire on the part of Mrs. DeWolfeto protect her hands, unlike so manyother talented people who play a musi-cal instrument."When I come out here ," she toldme, "I divorce myself from the life Ilead in the city. The desert gives mean opportunity to critically examinemyself."After lunch we drove back to thebladed road, crossed it, and made ourway to Taylor Well, a dangerous gap-ing four-foot wide and 40-foot deepdry hole on the opposite bank of asand-filled wash. The rotting paloverde supports appeared ready to giveway with the slightest pressure. Bycrawling as close to the edge of thehole as I dared, I caught a glimpse ofa short crudely-fashioned ladder onthe bottom of the pit.This is one of many now abandonedand forgotten wells along the oldBradshaw Road which themain bladedroad in this area closely follows. TheBradshaw Road was built in 1862 asa direct overland route from San Ber-nardino to the La Paz, Arizona, placergold fields. It entered the ColoradoDesert through San Gorgonio Pass,skirted Mt. San Jacinto, followed theflank of the Santa Rosas to the Indianvillages of Toros and Martinez belowpresent-day Indio, and then headedalmost due east across the northernen d of the Salton Sink to a line ofprecious wellsDos Palmas, CanyonSpring, Tabaseca Tank, ChuckawallaWell, Mule Spring, Willow Springand finally northward to the Colorado,Bradshaw's Ferry and La Paz.The Bradshaw Road heyday lastedonly two years, for the La Paz bust

followed close on the heels of theboom. In 1877 the Southern Pacificrailroad completed its San Bernardinoto Yuma line, and theBradshaw Roadwas relegated to only occasional use.Wiley's Well was dug in 1908, manyyears after the Bradshaw Road's per-io d of prominence.From Taylor Well the jeep trail con-tinues south and east past the BlackHills and their famed Hauser and Po-tato Patch geode beds (Desert, May' 4 7 ) , to the Ogilby road at a pointfour miles south of Wiley's Well. Nearthis juncture is theDouble Butte agate

area (Desert, Nov. 50 ), and the fireagate fields of Coon Hollow.DESERT MAGAZINE


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TVe W ou ld P note ct'De&e i t

Down through the centuries the f lowers and shrubs and trees whichgrow on the desert have developed their own special devices for sur-vival . Som e ha ve thorns, others bitter juices , a few unpleasa nt odors,and al l of them ha ve adap ted to mea ger and erratic rainfal l. But inmodern t imes a new enemy has appeared aga ins t whom they have nodefenseand that is the hand and tool of thoughtless or unscrupuloushuman beings. And so, s ince plant l i fe is essentia l to the welfare ofmankind, i t has been necessary to pass laws for the protection of thenativ e shrubs of the desert. Here is a brief sum ma ry of those l a w s .By HARRY C. JAMESExecutive Director, Desert Protective Council

I learned that he was taking the plantsto a Los Angeles company that soldthem as "Ming trees."Later I described the species to aYosemite ranger-naturalist who saidthat it was a rare one and that thecommercial outfit in question had justabout obliterated it in that area. Thedesert region being so despoiled wasoutside the boundaries of YosemiteNational Park, so I wondered wasthis within the law?What is the law with regard to thetaking of desert plants? Is the desertflora protected by state or county laws or by both? Here is what I foundout .With the exception of Utah all thestates of the Southwest have laws pro-tecting native plants. With regard to

Evening P rimrose is more decorativeafter it is dead than when alive and lasts many times longer.

j WONDER i f youknow it i s against the lawto pick those flowers!"The well-dressed woman straight-ened up and glared at the old-timerwhose desert-scarred jalopy had pulledup behind her big shiny automobile,parked along the roadside."And what law am I violating, mayI ask?" she retorted in a haughty toneof voice.The old-timer scratched his head."Darned if I know, lady," he said.

"All I know is it 's against the law."Unabashed the woman went onpicking wildflowers. The old-timershrugged his shoulders and drove off.Many of us desert lovers have doubt-less often been in the same predica-men t as the old-timer! We wanted toprotect the wildflowers, but we lackedthe authority to do it.Recently a group of Sierra Clubmembers were hiking up a rather iso-lated arroyo in Anza-Borrego StatePark . Close to a trickle of water theycame upon a party of boys."We're on a primitive desert camp-ing trip," their leader explained."Prim itive" indeed! Here in a StatePark the boys had a good-sized barrelcactus slowly broiling over a bed ofcoals. They had stripped innumerablesmall palm trees and were using thefronds to line a channel to bring thetrickle of water closer to cam p. Theywere using more green fronds to makebeds.One time as I was skirting a lowdesert hill near Mono Lake I saw alarge stake-bodied truck pull out of ashort dirt roa d. It was filled to capac-ity with a species of some small squattwisted desert shrub. From the driver

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Desert lily is fighting a losing battleagainst thoughtless persons wh ofind that it wilts soon after it isplucked and the seed that mighthave been broadcasted by the windfor future flowering is lost forever.Utah, Dr. Walter P. Cottam, Profes-sor of Botany at the University ofUtah, has this to say:"Utah appears to have no laws onits statutes protecting certain species offlowering plants or preventing their re-moval. A year ago a group of us metand considered these matters, butnothing yet has specifically been for-mulated to present to our legislature.Seventy-two percent of our area be-longs to Uncle Sam and as you know,removal or picking flowers is prohib-ited by the Forest Service. Our mou n-tain areas not regulated by the ForestService are privately owned and itseemed to us that any laws framed tocover these matters would be ineffec-tive and would certainly be vigorouslyopposed . . . We do have a seriousproblem along Highway 91 near thecorners of Utah, Arizona, and Nevada,where there has been reported seriousremoval of own warm desert cac-tus flora. Your laws in California seemto direct some of your people therefor cactus garden specimens . . . Over-grazing constitutes such a serious prob-lem in this state that to worry thepublic with laws prohibiting the pick-ing or removal of flowers would belike attacking fleas rather than ele-phants . Maybe I am wrong."

Following is a summary of the statelaws; designed to protect the floralland scap e inf Arizona, California, N ey-

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ada and New Mexico, and of countyordinances in Southern California:ARIZONAState laws in Arizona prohibit thedestruction or removal from publiclands of any plants growing within200 yards of any highway, and beyondthat zone the following are protected:

All species of the following families Fe ra , l ily, iris, amaryllis, orchid, or-pine, saxifrage and cactus.All species of the following genera Columbine, lobelia, shooting star,primrose, ocotillo and native palm.All the following species Scarletgilia, desert holly, western red bud,smoke tree, crucifixion thorn and flan-nel bush.The above species may be removedfrom private lands only on writtenpermission from the owner.The Arizona Commission of Agri-culture and Horticulture may issuepermits for a specific number of plantsin the protected group for scientific or.educat ional purposes . No permit , how-ever, may be issued for more than oneshipment of plants, nor for more than30 days .The Commission may issue a per-mit for the removal of Yucca leaves

Yucca Whipplei one of SouthernCalifornia's most decorative shrubs.It is protected by law.

for processing to obtain fiber, providedthe processing plant is within the state.No person or common carrier withinthe state may receive plants in theprotected group or transport unless theperson offering them exhibits a writtenpermit showing legal right for the re-moval of the plants.Violation of the law is a misde-meanor punishable by a fine of notmore than $300 for each separate of-fense. CALIFORNIAThe California penal code providesthat every person who willfully or neg-ligently cuts, destroys, mutilates or re-moves any native tree or shrub, or fernor herb or bulb or cactus or flowergrowing on public land, or on privateland without a written permit from theowner or his authorized agent, or whooffers or exhibits for sale any nativetree or shrub, fern, herb, bulb, cactusor flower taken from public lands orfrom private lands without the writtenconsent of the owner, shall be guiltyof a misdemeanor and upon convic-tion shall be punishable by a fine ofnot more than $200 or imprisonmentin the county jail for not more thansix months, or by both such fine andimprisonment .The California law, however, shallnot apply to any native tree, shrub orplant which has been declared by lawto be a public nuisance.Any peace officer and any fire war-den in California is authorized to en-force the law, which also applies tothe removal of leaf mold.NEVADAState law in Nevada provides thatit shall be unlawful for any person orcompany to cut, pick, mutilate, destroyor remove any tree, Christmas tree,shrub, plant, fern, wildflower, cacti,desert flora, or any seeds, roots, bulbsfrom any land owned by or under thecontrol of the State of Nevada, orwithout written permission from theowner or occupant of any private land.Violation of the Nevada law is amisdemeanor punishable by a fine ofnot less than $10 nor more than $200,or by imprisonment in the county jailfor not less than five days or morethan three months for each violation.In Nevada, however, the provisionsof the act do not apply to personspicking cacti or desert flora for the useand adornment of homes and gardenswithin the State of Nevada, nor is thelaw intended to restrict the researchactivities of institutions of learning.NEW MEXICO

New Mexico state law provides pro-tection for the following plant fam-ilies: Fe rn , lily, iris, ama ryllis, crow -foot, lobelia, primrose, heath, gent ian,violet, purslane, apple, phlox, orchid,

orpine, saxifrage, evening primrose,dogwood, ivy, butterfly weed, figwortand cactus.It is unlawful to destroy, mutilate orremove these or any other native plant,except noxious weeds, growing within400 yards of any public highway onpublic land, or on private land withoutthe written consent of the owner.Penalty for violation of the NewMexico law is a fine of not less than$50 and not more than $300 for eachoffense.Coun ty Ord inances Pro tec t ing Plan t sNearly all the counties of SouthernCalifornia have regulations pertainingto the protection of native plants.Some of these county laws are simpleand direct and would seem to givevery adequate legal protection to thedesert flora within their boundaries.Other county laws seem decidedly in-adequate in the plants they list forprotection.So far as I have been able to deter-mine, the counties of Inyo and Monohave no laws for plant protection.Riverside County has only an ordi-nance, passed in 1940, which estab-lishes two Wild Flower Reserves in thedesert section of the county wheregrazing is prohibited from March 1 toMay 13. The ordinance of KernCounty has one interesting sectionwhich makes it unlawful "for any per-son, firm, or corporation to destroywantonly the wildflowers of KernCounty, by using said wildflowers inthe decoration of automobiles, except

in the case of public displays, under apermit to do so . . ."The lack of uniformity in countyregulations is confusing, but fortun-ately the state laws of California whichof course apply in all counties, are sobroad as to provide adequate protec-tion and the problem is largely one ofenforcement.Following is a summary of the vari-ous county ordinances in SouthernCalifornia designed for the protectionof plant life:Imper ia l Coun tyIt is unlawful for any person, firmor corporation to dig up, remove, mu-tilate or destroy any of the followingshrubs or blossoms growing upon pub-lic or private land without a permitissued by the Board of Supervisors,except by the owner or with the writ-ten consent of the owners:Yuccas, fan palm, desert holly, des-ert verbena, smoke tree, lupine, oco-tillo, scarlet bugler, indigo bush,agaves or cacti, of which 11 speciesknown to be growing in this county arespecifically named.Kern CountyKern County regards it as a mis-demeanor, punishable by a fine of notexceeding $50.00, or six months' im-



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Devil's Garden in Coachella Valley, California as it was before plan t robbersdenuded the area of its Barrell Cactus. San Jacinto peak in the background.Photo by Fred Ragsdale.prisonment, or both, to mutilate, de-stroy, collect or remove desert holly,cacti, Joshua trees, Spanish bayonet,all species and varieties of Mariposalilies, fremontia, wild quince, leather-wood, etc.Permits for educational or scientificcollecting may be issued by the CountyAgricultural Commissioner.

Los Angeles CountyLos Angeles County has an ordi-nance which makes it unlawful to"pick, mutilate, cut, dig, destroy, orremove . . . any native wild plant, fern,vine, shrub, or tree, or any bloom orflower thereof growing upon the landin the unincorporated territory of theCounty of Los Angeles."Furthermore, it is unlawful "for anyperson to knowingly sell, offer or ex-pose for sale any native wild plant,"etc., removed from any public land.Any violation of the Los AngelesCounty ordinance is considered a mis-demeanor punishable by a fine of not

more than $500.00, or by imprison-ment for not longer than six months,or both.Riverside CountyRiverside County has no ordinancegranting general protection to desertplants, but it does have OrdinanceNumber 258. This ordinance estab-lished two Wild Flower Reserves in

the county, where grazing is prohibitedfrom March 1 to May 13.Ordinance Number 238 was passedby the Board of Supervisors in 1940as a result of public protests over thedesecration by grazing of hundreds ofacres of wildflowers in Coachella Val-ley in a year of an especially fine dis-play.San Bernardino CountyIn San Bernardino County Sections4 and 5 of Ordinance No. 310 defineas unlawful the digging up, removal,mutilation, or destruction of Joshuatrees, Spanish dagger, Spanish bayo-net, the desert lily, smoke trees,

desert holly, and indigo bush, as wellas a great variety of cacti.Any one who violates this ordinanceis guilty of a misdemeanor.San Diego CountyA San Diego County ordinance,Number 341, declares it unlawful to"cut, pick, dig, collect, remove, mu-tilate or destroy the whole or any partof any species of yucca, cactus, oragave, or any native tree, floweringshrub, ornamental plant, berry-bear-ing plant, vine, fern, or wildflower."To knowingly sell any of these is alsounlawful.

In this ordinance it is expressly pro-vided that its provisions shall not ap-ply to any native plant which is de-clared by state law to be a publicnuisance.National and State Park RegulationsThe general public, I am sure, isthoroughly aware that there are verystrict regulations which give almostcomplete protection so far as any

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Agave or wild century plant, justcoming into blossom. This plantfurnished both food and fiber fordesert Indians. Today it is takenfrom the desert only for ornamen talpurposes.law can give complete protection toall plants growing in National Parksand Monuments and in various StateParks. In National Parks and Monu-ments even dead plants are protected!Lest this seem slightly absurd thereader is reminded that such deadflora renews the necessary ground cov-ering of duff, affords protection tosmall wildlife, and helps to preservethe natural scene as is.Educational and scientific collectingis possible even in these highly re-stricted reservations, but permits mustbe secured from the proper authorities.All the foregoing would seem toindicate at least two definite steps thatmust be taken to secure adequate pro-tection for our desert flora. Certainlygrazing should be restricted during thewildflower season in those areas of ourdeserts where, thanks to favorable win-ter and spring rains, choice displays ofannua l wildflowers occur. The River-side County ordinance is just a firststep in this direction. And there mustbe developed some more effectivemeans than we now have for curbing

the ruthless taking of desert plants bycommercial dealers. The growing num-ber of complaints that come in toDesert Magazine and to the DesertProtective Council indicate this need.Many landscape gardeners and nur-serymen are just as interested as weare in protecting plant life in the des-ert. Thanks to Theodore Payne, forexample, many rare and choice Cali-fornia wildflowers have been savedfrom extinction, so excellent has beenhis work in the commercial cultivationof many species. Unhappily there aretoo many of the other kind of dealersin plants men who, eager for thequick dollar, encourage the mercilessharvesting of desert shrubs and cactus,which bring big money these days tolandscape men not harassed byi anyethical qualms of conscience.One very effective curb could beapplied by the Plant Quarantine sta-tions operated at state borders by theState of California's Department ofAgriculture. Every load of desertplants entering California should berequired not only to pass inspectionbut also to be accompanied by properpermits indicating ownership and qu an-titysuch as are required by Arizonalaw, for/'example.Another method of curtailing thisunfortunate traffic in desert flora wouldbe to require both the state and thecounty highway patrol officers of thesouthwestern states to make frequentchecks of trucks loaded with desertplants. Such roadside checks shoulddemand proper inspection slips if theload is from out-of-state, and owner-ship certificates if the load originateswithin the boundaries of the state.Inspection officers at weighing sta-tions also should be alerted to requireproof of ownership, point of origin,e t c . , when loads of desert plants areweighed.While there is need for protectivelaws in Utah, and in some of Califor-nia's counties not now covered by or-dinances, the imperative need, if thefloral landscape of the Southwest is tobe fully protected, is in the field of lawenforcement and more and moreeducation, in the homes, the schools,and civic organizations.It is imperative that youth groupsof all kinds, even so-called conserva-tion classes, be made aware of theneed for protecting certain species, ofthe laws that try to afford such pro-tection. The amount of damage thata large group of youthful collectorscan do to a desert landscape is trulyastonishing. I have seen such groupsalmost put John Muir's "hoofed lo-custs" to shame! Even the voung frycan. and must be taught that it isagainst the law to rob the landscapeof its decorative and protective cover.

R o c kS f o H y

ofDeath Valley

Hard Rock Shorty had beenmissing for several days from hisusual place on the porch of theInferno store, and so when hereturned he was the target fora lot of questions from his fel-low sitters and whittlers."D oin' a little assessment workover on Eight Ball crick," heyawned."Yeah, the place is improvin'right along," he answered one ofthe old-timers. "One o' PisgahBill's oF hens hatched a batcho' chickens last week." N o , Pisgah ain't so well. He'sailin' in his neck an' is onlyeatin' soupstrained soup. Bill'stroubles started the day some-

body brought' a new mail ordercatalog into camp."Bill set right down to lookat the pitchers in that catalog,an' that give him the springhouse-fixin' fever. He decidedthe shack autta be papered, andthe purtiest paper in the book iswhat he got, rolls 'n rolls of it.Bill sure worked hard stickin' allthat paper onto the shack wallsan' ceilin' inside, an' what wuzleft he put in the outhouse."He sed he never knew whata big house he had 'til he got togluin' all that paper down. An 'when he got through his neckwuz cricked at a right angle an'his tongue wuz swollen tight tohis false teeth, an' his mouth wuzstuck shut, all but a little slitwhich he drinks his soup through."What dunnit? Waal, yu seethis here wallpaper Pisgah or-dered was that new fangled stuffwith the glue on the back of itlike, stamps, an' Bill got all crip-pled up lickin' it to make it stickto the wall."



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Unless we have a rich uraniummine, most of us who dwell in theSouthwest must make our homesin or close by the cities which pro-vide our livelihoods. But this isno reason to miss out on the joysof desert livingincluding privacy,fresh air, sunshine, a naturalnessin our surroundings, and even w ild-life. Weldon and Phyllis Heald,who moved from a vast cattleranch to the heart of Tucsonpop-ulation center for over 200,000people write of the discoveriesthey made on city living andwhy they prefer it to living in thewide open spaces.

By WELDON and PHYLLIS HEALDPEOPLE who love thedesert and want to live closeto it are under the impressionthat the only place to build a homeis far off in the great open spaces awayfrom the beaten track. Unless theyare completely isolated or near a smalltown or resort area, they feel that theyare missing the delights of desert liv-ing.From personal experience we knowthis is not true . There are many citiesin the Southwest big and little where over a million people enjoybenefits of the desert as much as dothe detached far-removed hermits.Tucson is such a Southwestern city.Three years ago we sold our 8000-acre cattle ranch in southwestern Ari-zona and moved there. We didn'teven compromise by building in oneof the brand new subdivisions on theedge of town, but bought a 14-year-

TO P Front entrance to the Healds'charming brick and adobe home.Photo by M. V. Murphy.CENTER View of the enclosedpatio from the glassed-in porch. Inbackground are the Santa CatalinaMountains. Photo by M. V. Murphy.BOTTOM The Healds enjoy out-door living in the privacy of theirneat and attractive yard.

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m

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old house in a long-settled neighbor-hood near the heart of the Old Pueblo.This was rank heresy, we knew, andour friends gave us a year to come toour senses. A former neighbor evenoffered to take care of our collie, Beau-tiful, for she was convinced city exist-ence would kill a dog that had spenther life in the open chasing cows andrabbits. Not quite so much sympathywas shown our two cats, Barney andWhitey, although they were raised onwarm milk served directly from itssource to their saucers.But strange as it may seem to theuninitiated, the five of us have dis-covered desert city living to be themost pleasant we have ever experi-enced. In fact, we thrive on it. He re,on our 65-foot lot, we have morepeace, quiet, comfort and conveniencethan we ever had on the ranch, plus allthe desert birds, plants and vistas thatany five desert lovers could ask for.In our secluded walled patioa greenoasis in a world of goldthe sunshineis as brilliant, the stars as bright, andthe moonlight as enchanting as in theremotest places. The small blue swim-ming pool supplies cool pleasure, notonly to us but to our night-flying vis-itors, the bats, who swoop down and

skim its surface. Each morning andevening we greet other acquaintanceswild doves that come in pairs orsmall groups to sit on the flagstonesalong the water's edge and drinkdeeply. That Barney and Whiteymight be out sunning themselves both-ers no one. Even we have ceased toworry, for we find that by keeping thecats well-fed we have cut their interestin birds to a minimum.In the patio grow tall oleanders,forming a charming frame for theSanta Catalina Mountains which standhigh on the northern horizon. Twofamilies of cardinals nest among thethick foliage and white blossoms ofthese trees. They are loud-spoken anddictatorial in their manner, telling thecats off in no uncertain terms, andrefusing to permit other birds to stakeout homesites. But they allow thedoves, robins, orioles and sparrowsto enjoy the fruit of our nectarine tree,

and to sway on the fronds of theCocos plumosa and date palm.Our front yard is planted as a des-ert garden and proudly possesses twopalo verde trees, 25 to 30 feet high.Ocotillos, barrel cactus, young sa-guaros, prickly pears and other nativeplants are scattered about with natural-

looking casualness. Along the drive-way is a colorful Texas Ranger hedge.In spring, when our miniature desertis in bloom, we look from the sandyground to the lavender, cream andbrilliant red of the various flow ers,through the lacy yellow blossoms ofthe palo verdes to a clear blue sky,and find it mighty satisfying. The cac-tus wren, Arizona's state bird, findsit so too, as does the verdin, for bothbuild nests in our front yard and livewith urban unconcern within a fewfeet of the paved street. Even a citi-fied roadrunner stayed with us lastwinter and appreciated the water weput out for it.Our house, like most in the OldPueblo, is not flamboyant. It wouldn'tbe given a second look in Palm Springsor Apple Valley for it lacks both dashand color and misses the modern touchby having windows instead of glasswalls. But Tucsonians have learnedthrough the wisdom of years of desertliving that the beauty of a Southwest-ern city is subdued like the land fromwhich it rose. So, our home is one-story brick and adobe, with walls nineinches thick. It is trimmed in whiteand yellow and follows the Spanish-Mexican style by having a simple ex-

ummrtifacts on Forest Lands . . .Editor's Note The statement "In-dividuals may collect Indian artifactsfound on the surface of the groundon National Forest lands without apermit," made by O. V. D enting inhis November '57 Desert Magazinearticle, "The Antiquities Laws andYou," recently was challenged by areader. The following is a letter re-ceived by Mr. Deming from the V.S. Department of Agriculture's Gen-eral Counsel Office which supportsthe information given in his article.

Washington, D.C .O. V . Deming:You cited the following provisionof the Antiquities Act (16 U.S.C. 43 1-433) and asked whether it applies toa person collecting arrowheads and"similar Indian artifacts" found on thesurface of lands of the United States."Any person who shall appropriate,excavate, injure, or destroy any his-toric or prehistoric ruin or monu-ment, or any object of antiquity,

situated on lands owned or con-trolled by the Gov. of the United

States, without the permission of theSecretary of the Department of theGovernment having jurisdiction overthe lands on which said antiquitiesare situated, shall, upon conviction,be fined . . ."There appears to be no formal de-cision with respect to such activity onlands administered by any agency ofthis Depa rtment. However, the ForestService knowingly allows private indi-viduals to collect stone arrowheads,spearheads and mortars which arefound on the surface of National For-est lands. The Service has adhered tothis policy for many years, therebyindicating that small stone objects ofthat character, lying on the ground,are considered to be outside the pur-view of the Antiquities Act, as appliedto Nationa l Forests. This office agreeswith that view of the matter.HERMAN D. PLAVNICKActing Assistant General Counsel.

Bulldozers for Assessment Work . . .Randsburg, CaliforniaDesert:I go along with you 100 percent onthe anti-litterbug campaign, but howabout a word regarding miners whohaphazardly rut beautiful mountain

and canyon landscapes? There shouldbe a law against using a bulldozer for

assessment work, unless all the workis done in one place on the claim.MIKE E. LEE Perlite Is "Bock." Not "Ore" . . .Fullerton, CaliforniaDesert:In your March Mines and Miningsection an item datelined Taos, NewMexico, tells of the discovery of "an'almost inexhaustible' supply of perliteore."Perlite is a form of obsidianvol-canic glassand ores are rocks fromwhich metals can be recovered byproper processes, or from which sul-fur, arsenic, phosphorus, etc., can berecovered. I do not think that anymetal or other mineral can possiblybe obtained from any of the manyvarieties of obsidian, so they wouldbe classified as "rocks."

CHAR LES S. KNOWLTONDear Charles: According to Web-ster, you are correct but we'vegot a partial leg to stand on. "Ore"is "any m aterial containing metallicconstituents for the sake of whichit is mined," but the dictionarydefinition goes on to say "althoughnot strictly correct, ore, for want ofa more appropriate term, is oftenapplied to nonm etalliferous mater-ial . . ."R.H.



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terior. The pulse and heart of thehouse is centered in its patio, well-hid-den from the public eye.Inside we have striven for restfulcoolness. The desert glare is kept out-doors where it belongs. The livingroom, which divides the house in half,goes through to a glassed porch andlooks out onto the patio. Its walls area neutral yellow-green and the open-beamed ceiling is silver-gray with adriftwood finish. Hardw rought iron isused for all fixtures. Dining area,kitchen, Weldon's study and library,bedroom and bath are in the westwing, while Phyllis' study, bedroomand bath are on the east. Weldon,because his New England blood flow sbetter in a cool summer climate, hashis section refrigerated. With hernorth-country Scots ancestry, Beauti-ful also prefers it. Bu t Barney, Whiteyand Phyllis like the more realistic tem-peratures of evaporative cooling. Theyfeel the out-and-in contrast is not tooterrific. The pros and cons of the twotypes of air-conditioning make for fas-cinating family discussions.

The animals cannot change theirwardrobe for summer living in Tucson,but the two-legged mammals of thehousehold enjoy wearing bathing suitsor shorts during the day. Then whenthey dress for an evening affair, asmart pearl-buttoned Western shirt,topped off with a bolo tie, is as formalas Weldon need get. The squaw dress,sleeveless and full, permits Phyllis toattend any kind of party.

Weldon and Phyllis Heald.Entertaining is casual and pleasant.Swimming parties and barbecues inthe patio are always informal and keepsocial life easy and unharassed. Ourbarbecue, which is built into a cornerof the patio wall, stands close to theramada where we have hot and coldrunning water, electric hot plates and

A corner of the glassed-in porch the H ealds use for brea kfast and summerdining. Photo by M. V. Murphy.

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a refrigerator, eliminating the need todash back and forth to the kitchen.There is plenty of room and the num-ber of guests is no problem.Churches, markets, shops, the Uni-versity with its library within a fewblocks, three little theaters and themany other cultural advantages of amodern urban area all add pleasureto our desert city living. Even Beauti-ful has found it more exciting to chasecars, from the safe runway of the side-walk, of course, than to sit around theranch house waiting for a stray cow towander by.

"But, don't you miss the quiet, soli-tude and naturalness after living for10 years on a remote ranch?" ourfriends of the open spaces ask."What do you mean?" we ask inreturn.In a 15 minute drive we can be outon the desert, and in an hour amongmountain pine forests. In fact we nowhave much more opportunity to gowherever we wish, for one of thegreatest benefits of city living is thatwe have far less responsibility and axeless tied down then when we lived inthe country. We keenly appreciatethis freedom. It's like having our cakeand eating it too.

So for those who work for a livingwe are still hard at itand cannotmove into the desert hinterland, don'tbe downhearted. Discover as we havethe delights of living in a desert city.In it you will find the pulse and heartof the great Southwest you love beat-ing clear and strong.

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IN MEM ORY .From the northland forests, the fertile plains,and the cities of the East they camelured by thesiren, gold. And in their trek westward they estab-lished trails and charted waterholesthey blazedthe way for the exploration and conquest of thegreat virgin West.Some of them gained wealth; many of themnever reached the rainbow of their dreams. Butrich or poor, they had courage and the hardihood

to accept in good faith the hardship and sacrificethat are always the price of pioneering.Today they lie in almost forgotten graves, theirfinal resting places marked only by weathered head-stones and crumbling fences.Their greatest contribution to mankind was notthe gold and silver they mined from the earth butrather the tradition of daring to blaze new trailsinto an unknown landthe faith and courage toleave behind them comfort and security and ventureforth into a new world where the way would behard and the returns often disappointing.To the memory of these men and women wepay a grateful tribute.Photographs: Top row, from left Vallecitocemetery along old Butterfield Stage Route inSouthern California, Photo by M. Carothers;Boot Hill at Calico, California, by Carlos H.Elmer; Church on road to Chimayo, New Mex-ico, by Fred H. Ragsdale; "Slip" McVey's lastresting place at Calico, by Carlos H. Elmer.Middle row , from left A remembrance ofNora Young at Calico, by Carlos H. Elmer;Goldfield, Nevada, cemetery scene, by JohnMeyerpeter; Graveyard at Jerome, Arizona,by L. D. Schooler.Bottom row, from left Grave at Columbus,Nevada; Ehrenberg, Arizona, grave marker, byL. D. Schooler; Cross of the Martyrs, SantaFe, by George W. Thompson; Fray GarcesMonument near Yuma, Arizona, by M. Ca-rothers.

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ON DESERT TRAILS W ITH A NA TU RA LIST -- XLIX

Wildlife activity observed on the desert during daylight hours isonly a fraction of that wh ich occu rs at night. Most wildlings seek con-c e a l me n t from their enemies as well as protection from the dehydratingeffects of the sun, by hiding out during the da y. Important les son s inthe ways of these creatures can only be learned by watching themperform in the environment their specie s h as adap ted to.By EDMUND C. JAEGER, D.Sc.Curator of PlantsRivers ide Munic ipa l Museum

the note of the female bird severaltimes. Almost immediately the far-off deep stirring measured vigorous"whoo-hu-hoo-whoo-whoo" of a malewas heard, quickly followed by equal-ly distant and similar responses fromseveral other interested males of whosepresence we had not had the slightestawareness .Again Dr. Miller gave the female

N O V E MBE R ma n y y e a r sa 8 I camped in the haunts ofthe Pacific Horned Owl with Dr.Loye Holmes Miller, a very adeptimitator of the call notes of owls.As darkness came on, he sounded

Horned ow ls. Their courtship procedure is interesting and noisy. Draw-ing by Morris VanDam e.

call note, and again came the forcefulanswe rs of the inquisitive ma les. Wecould tell by the increasing loudnessof their calls that they were comingin closer and closer. In a matter ofminutes at least four of the big birdswere calling to their ladylove fromtrees and cliffs in our camp area.In the light of the rising moon wesaw them delineated against the nightsky. After giving several decidedlyvigorous "whoo-whoos" and waiting along while for an approving answerfrom the prospective mate, the males,seemingly befuddled by the strangesituation, flew away.A few moments later Dr. Millerrepeated the quavering feminine callnote. The response was almost im-mediate, and big lusty male voices re-sound ed throug h the still air. Soonthe male birds were back with us, do-ing their best to discover the unac-countable female which could be heardbut not seen.However, even feathered suitorshave limits to their curiosity and pa-tience, and after a third attempt tofind the source of the fascinating notes,they left for good."A kind of mean trick to play oninnocent owls," observed Dr. Miller.I agreed, but with reservation, for theincident had its humorous side, andtoo, we learned something of the owl'sways that night.On a cool autumn night a yearlater, I was fortunate enough to witnesssome other curious antics of hornedowls. I had just slipped into mysleeping bag when I heard strange chip-pering and wheezing noises. Lookingup I saw outlined against the moonlitsky a large and a slightly smallerhorned owl perched two feet apart on

a cottonwood limb.Presently they began addressing eachother in peculiar hoots and shrieks,some of it sounding very much likebits of demon iacal laughter. Imm edi-ately following each period of noise-making came a short silence duringwhich the birds, moving sideways alongthe limb, drew closer to one another.Then, face to face, puffed up theirfeathers, thus greatly exaggerating theirsize, and began ludicrously movingtheir heads up and down in unisonthis followed by a bringing together ofbeaks .After repeating this "owl kissing"



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several limes, the birds suddenlysnapped back three feet apart on thelimb, and again engaged in the eerienightmarish hooting. I soon concludedthat horned owl courtship was notonly a very interesting procedure towatch, it was also an extremely noisyone. This whole series of outlandishperformances was repeated again andagain for a half hour, and then theyflew off.These experiences convinced me ofthe importance of studying wildlife atnight. There are hosts of animalswhich are active only after dark. Tojudge them mostly by what can beseen by merest chance in the daytimegives only a partial and often errone-ous picture of their life histories.A more adequate estimation of thepredominance of nocturnal animal ac-tivity to that which takes place duringthe day is realized from an observation

made by Scripps Institution of Ocean-ography's Dr. Carl C. Hubbs. Oneearly summer morning along a six-mile stretch of freshly oiled road in arather barren desert area in south-eastern San Bernardino County, Dr.Hubbs collected 104 snakes and liz-ards which had become hopelessly en-snared in the viscous substance, most-ly during the hours just before day-light. Rodents, scorpions, beetles,walking sticks, dragonflies, cricketsand sun spiders also were present ingreater or lesser numbers."Numerous small patches of fur

gave mute evidence," said Dr. Hubbs,"that much larger numbers [of ro-dents] had pulled themselves out ofthe tar or had been eaten by predatorsgrading in size from innumerable antsto coyotes."And all this on an ordinary stretchof creosote desert road where travelingby day one would have been luckyto see a dozen animals large and small.For my after-dark observations Isometimes use a flashlight or kerosenelantern, occasionally a Coleman lan-tern . I often exam ine flow ers, especi-

ally the larger ones, to see whatinsects may be sleeping or hiding inthem. Many of the small flower-haunting bees hide among the petalsand pollen-laden anthers; others liein slumber or are entrapped in flowerswith deep throated tubes which closeat sundown. The bees do not chooseflowers at random on which to passtheir sleeping hours, but show partial-ity for particular kinds.Some of the most unforgettable andrewarding of my night walks werethose taken on warm summer nightswhen I had only a bright moon to help

me see where I was going. Once along-eared owl swooped down right

Noel McFarlandcollecting moths.in front of me to pick up a pocketmouse, and twice I witnessed side-winders swallowing kangaroo rats. Onanother occasion I watched a coyoterout out a jack rabbit from his hidingplace in the brush.

Soon after dusk, especially in springand early summer, I often hear thesoft notes of Nuttal's Poorwill. Whenthe birds are quite near I often hear,along with the m ore forceful two notes,a third quickly-given note with risinginflection. If there is a dusty roadnear I will walk along it and then amalmost certain to see one of the Poor-wills flying up before me as I ap-proach; perhaps even see it hawkinga moth, then settle down in the dustagain with face circumspectively turnedtoward me. As I walk on, it allowsme to get quite near before againflying a short distance ahead. It ap -pears to be a game the bird is playingwith m e. If I turn on my flashlight I

may see a bright red metallic glowcoming from its two large eyes.One evening just after dark, ThomasDanielsen and I took a long walkalong a stony road that cut across thesteep and rocky eastern barancas ofPanam int Valley. It led past the num-erous mesquite thickets which edge thedry lake on the valley floor. As wesauntered past a seep of water, therising moon revealed great swarms ofsmall bats feeding upon the numerousmoths which had flocked in to feedupon the nectar of the millions ofsmall mesquite flowers which every-where gave fragrance to the balmyApril air. We could hear their highpitched notes which, coming from somany throats, made a combined soundof no mean intensity thousands oflittle squeaks each vying for recogni-tion.

An hour earlier, when it was stillsomewhat light, we had seen the soft-M A Y , 1 9 5 8 25


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winged creatures issue like miniatureclouds from a slot-like canyon inwhich they hung up in caves or crev-ices during the day.One of my very interesting and ca-pable correspondents is Noel McFar-land, a student at the University of

New Mexico studying to become afield natu ralist. Recently I enjoyed hiscompany on a camping trip to wildareas of Baja California, and I mar-veled at his knowledge of insects andspiders.Moths make up a huge percentage

D e s e r t Q u i z The desert is not all sand and sagebrush. Ithas delightfully varied geography, interestinghistory, much wildlife, gems and mineralsgalore, colorful personalities, and is rich in tradition and good literature.This monthly Quiz will reveal the wide range of subjects of interest tothose who read and travel. Twelve to 14 is a fair score, 15 to 17 is good,18 or better is excellent. The answers are on page 41 .1Stove Pipe Wells is a famous hostelry in: Southern NevadaDeath Valley The Painted Desert Escalante Desert.v2C orrect spelling of the largest city in New M exico is: Albaquer-que Albuquerqe Albuquerque Albquerqua3The color of the Evening Primrose blossom so common on dune andmesa this year is: White Indigo Pink Blue4K olb Brothers gained fame for their: Discovery of Rainbow N aturalBridge First photographic expedition through the Grand Can -yon of the Colorado Exploration of Death Valley Dis-covery of Carlsbad Cavern5Jerky, an important food item for the desert pioneer, is made bydrying brine-soaked mea t: Over an open fire In the sunIn an oven In a smoke-house6The main business of the Phelps Dodge company is: Stock rais-ing Lumbering Mining Transportation7To see the annual dance of the "Smoki" Indians you would go to:Gallup, New Mexico Prescott, Arizona The Hopimesas Havasupai Canyon8The major farm crop raised by prehistoric Indians in the Southwest

w a s : Corn Cotton Tobacco Beans9Among the Navajo a Chinde is a: Medicine Man A tool formaking sand paintings A weapon for hunting A devil orevil spirit10The predominating minerals in granite are: Calcite and lepidoliteManganese and apatite Malachite and azurite Quartzand feldspar11San Xavier del Bac mission is located near : Phoenix SantaFe Tucson El Paso12The U.S. Army officer in charge of the first camel caravan acrosswestern United States was: Lieut. Beale Lieut. EmoryCapt. Cooke Lieut. Ives13To reach Roosevelt Dam you would take: Coronado Trail high-way Sunkist Trail Apache Trail Highway 8014Frijoles Canyon cliff dwellings are located in: Bandelier NationalMonument White Sands National Monument Mesa VerdeNational Park Navajo National Monument15The Epitaph is the name of a newspaper published at : RhyoliteTombstone Goldfield Searchlight16A former governor of New Mexico was author of the book: BenHu r Quo Vadis Last Days of Pompeii LookingBackward17The historic Piper Opera House was located at: Tombstone 1Virginia City Calico Santa Fe18W eaver's Needle is a well known landmark associated with: PeglegSmith's lost gold Lost Arch mine Lost Dutchm an'sgold Breyfogle's lost ledge19The Salt River Valley in Arizona is watered from the reservoirbehind: Coolidge dam Roosevelt dam Hoover damParker dam20The river flowing through Marble Canyon in Arizona is: The GilaThe Colorado The Verde The Bill Williams

of the creatures out at night, Noelexplained one evening as we sataround a glowing ironwood campfire.Because of their nocturnal habit, fewpeople are aware of the great manydifferent kinds of moths to be foundin almost any locality where the nativevegetation is undisturbed. At lastcount there were 692 known speciesof butterflies and 9184 of moths inthe United States and Canadaa ratioof 13 moth species to one butterfly.This surprising proportion probablyholds true even on our deserts, Noelbelieves.The great variety of form and colordisplayed by desert moths, and theirunique habits, make them most fas-cinating creatures to study. Accordingto Noel, the best time to do this ison a night when there is no wind, nomoon and the temperature is not toolow. If there is considerable moisturein the air, it is even better.The most common method employedby scientists to collect moths is byusing lights. The best ordinary lightbulb is a 100 or 150 watt clear bluedaylight bulb, but far more effectiveis the 15 watt black light (ultra vio let),G.E. F15T 8/B L. In a good localityand on ideal nights, 3000 or moremoths, along with hundreds of othernight-flying insectsbeetles, ant lions,wasps, true bugs and flies, may beattracted by a single black light. Noelhangs his light on a white wall or toa surface on which a sheet is tacked.These white areas reflect the light out-ward."On an ideal night when moths andbeetles come flocking to the light, thesound they make as they hit the walland surrounding objects resembles thatof a steady light rainfall. One neverknows what beautiful creature is go-ing to fly in out of the darkness andalight on the wall," Noel said.Moths fly from dusk to dawn. Mostspecies will be found during the firstthree or four hours of darkness, andmany fly only during certain hours ofthe night. A beautiful species of tiger

moth found in certain parts of South-ern California only flies between 2and 4:30 a.m., and then only duringabout two weeks in late April! Onewould never know this beautiful mothexisted unless he happened to havehis lights on at that particular time,Noel said.In other species, the male m ay flyearly in the night, and the female muchlater, or vice versa. In some species,the male flies during the day andnever comes to the light at all. Andthen, there are others in which bothsex es' fly only during the day, likebutterflies. By far the largest numberof species fly at night.



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LIFE ON THE DESERT

The little-used canyon road hadbeen damaged in several placesby heavy rains, but the Hammenspushed onuntil they were too ex-hausted andunsure of theroadahead to continue. Andthen aflash flood came roaring downGateway Canyon . . .

By BARBARA HAMMENSUMMER we travel alongthe backbone of the Rockies,from the lush forests and alpinepeaks of western Montana to the bril-liant desert and mighty plateaus ofsoutheastern Utah . Camping with chil-dren provides a variety of experiences,but none has ever equaled the nightin Gateway Canyon when thedisasterwhich might have been, became the

adventure we shall never forget.We were warned in Vernal, Utah,that this 72-mile short cut from Mytonon U.S. 40 to Wellington onU.S. 50was a seldom-traveled dirt road. Fur-thermore, we knew the possible mean-ing of the ominous black clouds whichlay over the rough desert ahead of us .But ignoring all warnings, we turnedsouth on State Route 53.For 20 miles we drove through openrange scantily covered with low sage,without seeing even a jackrabbit, butcongratulating ourselves on the factthat the road was noworse than manywe had traveled over.Descending into a broad canyon itbecame evident that a heavy rain hadjust preceded us, but again wecom-plimented ourselves on choosing aroad that was shale-covered and hencenot slippery. Continuing down thegorge our optimism received a joltwhen we came to a ditch washed acrossthe road too deep for our stationwagon tocross. But we were preparedwe had a shovel and a folding spade .

While my husband and13-year-oldson Richard repaired the road, Iwalked ahead with John, our10-year-old. What we found was notreassur-

A washout on the Gatew ay Canyon road is filled-in with stones.ing. A flash flood had recently passedand a large section of the road bankhad broken off into the normally-drystream bed below, inwhich some waterstill flowed. At a glance it seemedimpossible to squeeze our car betweenthe rocky cliff face and the gapingwashout. We should have left it as animpossibility and turned back. Butwe didn't. Instead, myhusband care-fully measured the width of the carbase and the remaining roadway. Therewere inches to spare!

We inched forward, but next to thecliff was a muddy spot weneglectedto test, and in steering a course asclose to this wall as possible, the carbecame mired in silt up to the hubcaps.It was five o'clock. The sky had adeceptive brightness even though thesun was ow . We had not passed asingle ranch and we did not know ifthere were any ahead. Wewere in

no personal danger, but I dreaded tothink what would happen to our newstation wagon if another flood came.For the next three hours we workedfeverishly, shoveling heavy back-break-ing mud, carrying rocks and gatheringhuge quantities of rabbit brush topack into themud. Time andagainOscar jacked up the car, each timemoving it slightly until the jack broke.Fortunately, by then the rear wheelswere sufficiently clear and he drovethe car out of the mire and safely pastthe narrow ledge. Our troubles seemedover.We were exhausted, butdespitethefact we had noteaten since ourlightroadside snack at noon, Oscar and Iwere too tense to feel hunger, and theboys were uncomplaining. We wantedto get out of the awful canyon assoonas possible.The sun haddisappeared over thebroken canyon wall long before, and

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the unknown lay beyond in the deepdusk. For several miles we droveslowly downward, cautiously stoppingto examine each puddle in the roadbefore proceeding. After rounding acurve we reached a high wide place inthe road, and myhusband s topped thecar.Aided by our kerosene and electric

lanterns, we investigated the surround-ings as best we could in the thick dark-ness that comes between late dusk anda night yet unlighted by moon andstars. We seemed to be above thejunction of a side canyon dimly out-lined on our left . Beyond our parkingplace the road sloped sharply down-ward anddisappeared around a curve,presumably into the main canyon."Let 's eat,"suggested my husband ."And let 's spend the night here," Iadded, opening the end-gate and set-ting up the Coleman stove.The boys, who had been dozing,sprang into helpful action and withinminutes a pot of coffee was cheerilyperking and the frozen cube steaks Ihad purchased in Vernal were sizzlingin the frying pan, while the cot wasse t up and sleeping bags unrolled.

We were enjoying the first mouth-fuls of steak sandwiches when Johncalled our attention to a pecul iar rum-bling noise from upcan yon. This soonbecame an increasing roar . T here wasno doubt as to its meaning! The airbecame heavy with the odor of fluidearth . A flash flood, laden with silt,was coursing down the murky sidecanyon to the main gorge below. Mo-mentarily, the pungent scent sickenedme and my coffee cup fell from myhand .

H a d we followed our first resolveto get out of that canyon as quicklyas possible, wemight have been caughtin that suffocating water downcanyon!To underscore what might havebeen, we learned next morning at theNutter Ranch that indeed sucn hadbeen the fate of a man and his daugh-ter some 15 years earlier in that verycanyon. The father was buried in themu d , but the girl crawled out of the

tumultuous s t ream. She was foundthe next morning, half-crazed, walkingalong the upper wal l of the canyon.But we were safe at our roadsidecampsi te, and I gradually relaxed whilethe leaden water roared on and mynostrils became accustomed to the

f a s h f o t D e s e r t P h o t o s . . .We need desert photosunusual pictures of wildlife, revealingscenes of men, women and children working or playing in the out-

doors, landscapes, botany, natural phenomena, ghost towns, etc.Each month the photographs received are carefully judged, the besttwo are reproduced in the magazine (seePictures of the Month), thewinning photographers receive cash prizes, and those pictures notselected are returned (if return postage is included). Why not makeDesert's contest a part of your photography hobby? Mail us yourentries today !Entries for the Maycontest must be sent to the Desert Magazineoffice. Palm Desert, California, andpostmarked notlater than May 18.Winn ing prints will ap pear in theJuly i s s u e . Pictures which arrive toolate for onecontest areheld over for thenext month. First prize is $10;second prize $5. Fornon-winning pictures accepted forpublication $3each w i ll be p a i d .

HERE ARETHE RULES1Prints must beblack and white. 5x7 orlarger, onglossy paper .2Each photograph submitted should be fully labeled as to subject, time andplace. Also technical data: camera, shutter speed, hour of day, etc.3PRINTS WILL BE RETURNED WHEN RETURN POSTAGE IS ENCLOSED.4Entries must be in theDesert Magazine office by the20th of thecontest month.5Contests are open to both amateur andprofessional photographers. DesertMagazine requires first publication rights only ofprize winning pictures.6Time andplace ofphotograph areimmaterial, except that it must be from thedesert Southwest.7Judges will be selected from Desert's editorial staff, andawards wil l be madeimmediately after theclose of thecontest each month.

Address All Entries to Photo Editor'De&ent 7ttayajine PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA

smell of "wet dust," as John calledit . Overhead the stars took their placesin the heaven, each at its appointedt ime.After 20 minutes , all was quiet.A nd we were silent also, each withhis own thoughts.The remainder of the night was likeany other desert eveningcrisply cooland with an eerie beauty and silencewhich forces wakefulness from sheerwonder. In any event, none of usslept well that night.Countless meteorites streaked acrossth e sky lighted by myriads of starsseen only when themoon is a crescent.How small and alone and insignificantwe seemed! Yet we were a par t ofthe pattern of the Universe, and anUnseen Hand, which guides it all, hadled us to safety.Then came what is to me the mostmagnificent time of all,when the stars,on e by one, mysteriously disappearinto the gray dawnthe bir th of ane w day.Quietly I gathered dead pinyonbranches, built a warming fire andprepared a hearty breakfast. Whilewe ate, a family of Indians in a Dodgetruck drove up thecanyon. Wewavedto them to warn them of the washoutabove, but they did not stop. Weknew no major washouts were aheadof us, since the truck hadcome up thecanyon.We were on our way long beforeth e sun appeared over the canyon rim.

Its cheering warmth made us light-hearted even gay as we wieldedshovels and laid rocks in dozens ofplaces on the road so our car couldproceed.In three hours we covered the fivemiles to the Nut ter Ranch at themouthof Gateway Canyon which meets NineMile Canyon at a right angle. Aftera very pleasant chat with Mr. Priceand his wife, the former Virginia Nut-ter, we drove on into Nine Mile Can-yon .The walls of this gorge containthousands of petroglyphs. We were

excitedly photographing some of themwhen Richard said calmly, "There'sa rattler." The snake design is com-mon among petroglyphs, and Oscarand I kep t on with our picture-taking.But when we glanced up, we sawRichard staring at the ground. Threefeet from him was a live rattler, thefirst we had ever seen."I didn't notice him until I heardhis rattle. He warned me," said Rich-ard. Myhusband took several picturesof the l i t t le diamondback before itslithered away into the rocks .H e had not harmed us. He, too,belonged in the pattern we knew.

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A d d i t i o n a l R a i n s I m p r o v e W a t e rO u t l o o k F o t M o s t D e s e r t A r e a s

February precipitation over South-west watersheds varied considerably,but in general the desert water outlookwas improved. This rainfall resultedin the following runoff forecasts bythe U.S. Weather Bureau for the cur-rent water-year which ends in Septem-ber. GREAT BASINFebruary was unusually warm andwet in the Great Salt Lake Basinthe second warmest and second wettestFebruary in the past 30 years. Thefavorable precipitation resulted in anupward revision of about 10 percentin the streamflow forecasts for thebasin's major streams. River runoffforecasts: Bear, 95 percent of the1938-52 average; Logan and Ogden,1 1 0 ; Upper Weber, 115; Six Creeks,1 0 5 ; Provo, 115 ; American Fork, 110;Spanish Fork, near average.Over 200 percent of normal precip-itation occurred during February overthe central valley areas of the SevierBasin. The Beaver Basin also receivedmonthly amounts well above normal.

River runoff forecasts: Sevier aboveKingston, Utah, 125 percent of the15-year average; East Fork Sevier,1 3 5 ; Sevier below Kingston at PiuteDam, 138, near Gunnison, Utah, 126;Beaver, 140.Heavy rainfall also was recordedover these basins, and their runoffforecast percentages are: Carson, 80;Inflow to Lake T ahoe, 101 ; Walkerand Owens, 80 to 90; Mojave, 85.

COLORADO BASINFebruary rainfall averaged belownormal over the headwater areas ofthe Colorado River, but was morefavorable over the Gunnison and Do-lores basins. River runoff forecasts:Colorado and tributaries near Granby,Colorado, 85 to 90 percent of the1938-52 average; Taylor and Dolores,1 1 0 ; Uncompahgre, 130; Coloradonear Cisco, Utah, 100.

Precipitation was above normal overthe Yampa and White river drainagesin Colorado, but, in general, was be-low normal over the Wyoming water-

shed of the Green River. The SanJuan Basin's February precipitationwas above normal. River runoff fore-casts: Green in Wyoming, near orless than the 1938-52 average; Yampa,107 to 116 percent; White, 120; Du-chesne, 110; Price, 90; Green at GreenRiver, Utah, 91; Upper San J

195805 desert magazine 1958 may

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