196803 desert magazine 1968 march

8/14/2019 196803 Desert Magazine 1968 March

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IARCH 1968

S T E R N T R A V E L A D V E N T U R E L I V I N G

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Southern ifornia Desert


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DIRECTORY OF SOUTHERN NEVADA PLACENAMES byWalter Averet t . L imi ted ed i t ion. 1 3 00entries. Includes obscure names of ghost townsand old mining camps. Hardcover. $5.00.WATER WITCHING by Earl Shannon. Enterta in-in g and inst ruct ive, whether or not you acceptwater wi tch ing. Paperback. $2.75.A GUIDE TO WESTERN GHOST TOWNS by Lam-bert Florin. Includes maps andmileages of ghosttowns in 15 western states. Large format, card-board cover, $2.25.ANZA AND THE NORTHWEST FRONTIER OF NEWSPAIN by Bowman and Heizer. Explodes myththat Anza founded c i ty of San Francisco andother interesting data related to Anza. Goodearly Cal i forn iana. Hardcover, $8.75.COOKING AND CAMPING IN THE DESERT byChoral Pepper, Foreword by Erie Stanley Gard-ner and special section on desert driving andsurviving by Jack Pepper. A book to read cover-to-cover for anyone who t rave ls back countryroads. Up-to-date cooking ideas which br inggourmet fare in to camp wi th l i t t le e f fort . 12-page section of exclusive desert camping photoswith lo ts of ideas for places to go. Beaut i fu lhardcover book, $3.95.CAMPING AND CLIMBING IN BAJA by JohnW. Robinson. Guide to the Sierra San PedroMar t i r and Sierra Juarez of upper Baja Cal i -forn ia . Paper, $2.95.OLD-TIMERS OF SOUTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA byLester Reed. Recounts episodes of pioneers cov-ering an area f rom Owens Lake to Anza-Bor-rego and f rom San Bernardino east to Twen ty -n ine Palms. Spira l -bound. $5.95.ARIZONA: GUIDE TO THE GRAND CANYONSTATE. Newly revised and edited by JosephMiller. Past and present covered. Highly recom-mended. 532 pages, i l lust ra t ions and maps.$ 7 . 9 5 .SAN DIEGO BACK COUNTRY 1901 by GordonStuart. Filled with local color and nosta lg ia forhigh-but ton shoes and shivarees. 241 pages,$ 5 . 0 0 .HISTORIC SPOTS IN CALIFORNIA Revised byWilliam N. Abeloe. Only complete gu ide to Cal i -forn ia landmarks wi th maps, photos and l ive lytext covering both historical and modern eras.639 pages , $10 .00 .BUTTERFIELD OVERLAND MAIL by Waterman L.Ormsby , a New York newspaperman who wasthe on ly through passenger on this f irst west-bound stage. Western Americana, 177 pages,$ 4 . 5 0 .THE LIFE OF THE DESERT by Ann and MyronSutton. Covers desert creatures, perennial waterprob lems and how an ima ls and plants surv ive.231 pages , $4 .95 .OFF THE BEATEN TRACK IN BAJA byErie StanleyGardner. About people and places in enchant-ing Baja Cal i forn ia of Mexico. Colored photos,368 pages, $8.95.HANDBOOK OF CRYSTAL AND MINERAL COL-LECTING byWilliam Sanborn. Describes environ-ment typ ica l of collection sites and physica lpropert ies of minera ls and crystals. Paper, 81pages , $2 .00 .REDIGGING THEWEST for old time bottlet byLynn Blumenstein. Photographs of over 700bot t les wi th art ic les that te l l the story and aphotograph of each . $4 .25 .

WHEN ORDERING BOOKSPLEASE

Add 25cents PER ORDER(Not Each Book)for handl ing and mai l ingCalifornia residents add 5 percentsales tax, regardless of whe the r youar e a Republican or Democrat.Send check or money order to Desert Maga-zine Book Shop, Palm Desert, California92260 . So r ry , but we cannot accept chargesor C.O.D. orders.

ALL OFMEXICO andGuatemala at lowcost byNorman Ford. Excellent guide for do-i t -yourse l ft rave ler. Paper. $2.00.THE CONQUEST OF APACHERIA by Dan L.Thrapp. Covers both sides of the early Ar izona-Apache controversy. Hardcover, 403 pages,$ 6 . 9 5 .EXPLORING JOSHUA TREE by Roger Mitchell.Excellent guide to Joshua Tree Nat iona l Monu-ment in Southern Cal i forn ia . Paper. $1.00.PIONEER FORTS OF THE FARWEST by HerbertHart. Fourth in series, large format, i l lustratedwith h istor ica l photos, good text . $12.9 5.THE MINING FRONTIER edited by Marvin Lewis.Col lect ion of rare art icles related to old West .Hardcover. $4.95.1200 BOTTLES PRICED by John C. Tibbitts. Up-dated ed i t ion of one of the best of the bot t lebooks. $4.50.A FIELD GUIDE TO WESTERN REPTILES ANDAMPHIBIANS by Robert C. Stebbins. A PetersonFie ld gu ide. 207 species, 569 i l lust ra t ions, 185in full color, 192 maps. The best book of thistype. Hardcover. $4.95.FIRE OVER YUMA by Peter Odens. Histor ica ltales and anecdotes from the Lower ColoradoRiver area. Paper. $1.00.ANTIQUE BOTTLES by Marvin and Helen Davis.Paperback, full color, 62 pages , $3 .00 .CALIFORNIA, A Guide to the Golden State.Edited by Harry Hansen and newly revised, itcontains an encyclopedia of facts f rom ear lydays up to the Space Age. Mi le by mile de-script ions to camping spots and commercia l ac-commodat ions. Maps. Hardcover, $7.95.

DEATH VALLEY BOOKSPublished by the Death Valley '49ers thesefour volumes have been selected by ' 49ersas outstanding works on the history of DeathVa l ley . All are durab le paperback on slickstock.A NATURALIST'S DEATH VALLEY (Revisededi-t ion) by Edmund C. Jaeger, ScD $1.50MANLY ANDDEATH VALLEY. Symbols ofDes-t iny , by Ard is Man ly Wa lke r $1.25GOODBYE, DEATH VALLEY! The story of theJayhawker Party, by L. Burr Belden $1.50CAMELS ANDSURVEYORS IN DEATH VALLEYBy Ar thu r Wood ward $2 .00DEATH VALLEY TALES by 10 d i f f e ren t au-thors $1.25

THE MYSTERIOUS WEST by Brad Williams anChoral Pepper. Rare book examines legends thcannot be proven t rue, nor untrue. New edence presented in many cases which machange the history of the West . Hardcove$ 5 . 9 5 .ANZA-BORREGO DESERT GUIDE by Horace Paker. Second edit ion of t h i s we l l - i l l u s t ra ted andocumented book is enlarged considerab ly. Topamong gu idebooks , it is equal ly recommendefor research material in an area that wascrosseby Anza , Kit Carson, the Mormon Ba t ta l io'49ers, Railroad Survey part ies, Pegleg Smith, thJackass M a i l , But terf ie ld Stage, and t odayadventurous tour is ts. 139 pages, cardboacover, $2.95.O N DESERT TRAILS by Randall Henderson, f ounde r and publ isher of Desert Magazine for 2years. One of the f i rs t good wri ters to revethe beauty of the mysterious desert areas.Henderson 's exper iences, combined wi th his coments on the desert of yesterday and t o d amake th is a MUST for those who rea l l y waot understand thedesert. 375 pages, i l lust ra teHardcove r . $5 .00 .RARE MAP REPRODUCTIONS from theyear 188Series I inc ludes three maps, Ar izona, Cal i fornand Nevada. Ser ies II includes New Mex icUtah and Colorado. Reproduced on f ine papeThey show old towns, mines, spr ings and t ra inow extinct. Each set of t h ree , $3 .75 . Be sure tstate series number with order.THE NEVADA ADVENTURE, a History by JameHulse. Covers era f rom preh istor ic Ind iansranching, a tomic test ing and tour ism of t oda306 pages , $7 .50 .NEVADA'S TURBULENT YESTERDAYS byDon Atbaugh. The best book about Nevada 's ghotowns and the rugged ind iv idua ls who buthem. 346pages , $7 .50 .GUIDE TO COINS. Recent U.S. coin priceCanad ian , Mex ican and fo re ign co ins, medaltokens and emergency money, Colon ia l , Terrto r ia l , and Civ i l War co ins. Hardcover. $3.5THE HOME BOOK OF WESTERN HUMOR editeby Phillip Ault. Collection of old and ned anedotes about the West . Wor thwh i le g i f t . Ha rcover. $7.50.RELACIONES by Zarate Salmeron. Wri t t en b17th century Franciscan and is only source oknowledge publ ished for Spanish exp lorat ionin to Ar izona and New Mexico f rom 1538 1 6 2 6 . 121 pages , $6 .00 .NATIVE SHRUBS of Southern California by PetH. Raven. Well i l lust ra ted, some in co lor, wiinteresting text anddescript ions of shrubs. Pape$ 1 . 9 5 .N A V A J O RUGS, PAST, PRESENT ANDFUTURE bGilbert S. Maxwel l . Concerns thehistory, legendand descr ip t ions of Navajo rugs. Full colphotos. Paper, $2.00.OLD CALIFORNIA MINES (1899) byCharles YalReprin t f rom ear ly min ing indust ry recordPhotos show different types of min ing , ma inin Mother Lode country. Text contains stat ist icand discussions of ea r ly p rob lems $2 .00 .EXPLORING CALIFORNIA BYWAYS from KingCanyon to the Mexican Border by Rust Leadbrand. Maps for each t r ip wi th photographhistor ica l in format ion, recreat iona l fac i l i t iecampsi tes, h ik ing t ra i ls , etc. Paper, 165 page$ 1 . 9 5 .

2 f Desert Magazine / March , 1968


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Number 3MARCH,1968 C O N T E N T SJACK PEPPERPublisher

CHORAL PEPPEREditor

ELTA SHIVELYExecutive Secretary

MARVEL BARRETTBusiness

AL MERRYMANStaff Artist

JACK DELANEYStaff Writer

n ia 9226 0 . A rea Code 714 346 -814 4.

a 90017 , HUbbard 3 -05 61 115 New

t, Cal i forn ia 922 60. Area Code 714 34 6-DESERT MAG AZIN E is publis hed mo nthly ;

MARCH COLOR PHOTOS

Calif. Color photo on page 23

4 Book Reviews6 The Desert Unicorn

By ELEANORE McCOWAN

8 A Pretty Kettle of FishBy JACK DELANEY

10 Fossils in ProvidenceBy MAX FERGURSON

12 Bighorns of JoshuaBy EDNA NICHOLS

14 Museum by the Side of the RoadBy HARRISON KARR

16 The Forgotten Treasure of Lost Horse MineBy FRANK TAYLOR

18 There are Those Who Look BackBy WILLIAM E. STONE

22 The Dale Min ing DistrictBy GEORGE SERVICE and KENT WERGES

26 The Home of the IguanaBy CHORAL PEPPER

29 Indian Reminders of the PastBy MARIE VALORE

30 Ram bling with RoverBy JACK DELANEY

32 An Industry Was Born34 Garlock, California

By LAMBERT FLORIN

36 Mystery of the Arrowby RETTA EWERS

37 New IdeasBy LEE OERTLE

38 Back Country Travel42 DESERT Cookery43 Letters

March. 1968 / Desert Maaazine / 3


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KE V I E W SHIGH TRAILS WESTBy Robert F. Leslie

This book is about camping along thelittle known Western trails from theCanadian border to Mexico. Along withhis collection of personal experiencesand the interesting persons he has metalong these trails, the author provides in-formation about the most important trailsystems with itineraries, maps, trail tipsand what to do in case of danger. Heeven explains how to make a rough as-say of silver ore, should you stumble up-on a promising deposit. Some of thetrails covered include areas of the SierraNevada, the Cascade Wildernesses ofCalifornia and Oregon, a float tripthrough Utah's Desolation Canyon, Na-vajo Trails in Utah and Arizona, theBridger-Absaroka ranges of Wyoming,and many others. The book is illustratedwith black and white photos and is highlyrecommended to the back-pack brigadewho are always looking for new trails toconquer. Hardcover, 277 pages, $4.95.

ROCK ART OF THE AMERICANI N D I A NBy Campbell Grant

Here is the first reliable, well-illustra-ted book to be written about AmericanIndian pictographs and petroglyphs. Theauthor has done something no one elsehas dared to undertaketally all of thedifferent types of North American rockart and refrain from attempting to makethe results fit a preconceived theory.One theory that did develop, however,is that often this early rock art was exe-cuted to depict dreams or visions visitedupon their artists during puberty ritesand other ceremonies in which the sub-jects were required to go into a period ofseclusion and fasting in order to obtaina supernatural vision important to hisfuture hopes. By studying the illustratedexamples from all sections of NorthAmerica it is evident that the motives be-hind the rock art were as varied as werethe tribes who executed it. Some sites re-corded important events, some were ameans of hunting magic, others repre-sented fertility rites, clan symbols, or evenidle doodling.

The book contains an interesting chap-ter on dating techniques. Although it is

Books reviewed may be orderedfrom the DESERT Magazine BookOrder Department, Palm Desert,California 92 26 0. Please include25c for handling. California resi-dents must add 5% sales tax.Enclose payment with order.

impossible to tie anything down definite-ly, the evidence suggests that rock artexamples in the Southwest were madefrom several thousand years past, continu-ing up until very recent times. Certainmotifs and types of designs are olderthan others and this is discussed in detail.One of the greatest mysteries to arisefrom this study is that of the Minoan

maze. This is a maze so distinctive thatit seems impossible two different contin-ents could have arrived at it independ-entlyyet it occurs in three areas in Ari-zona, on a silver coin from Knossos inCrete, and the earliest example is on anEtruscan vase dating from the 7th cen-tury B.C. Later it turned up in the Ital-ian Alps and in Ireland.DESERT readers will be familiar withthe writings of this author from his pastarticles on rock art near Santa Barbaraand in Sonora, Mexico. This is a fascina-

ting book written by a most capablewriter and extraordinarily well illustrated.The text is interesting and adds greatlyto our knowledge of this mysterious sub-ject. All back country wanderers will findmuch of interest here. Hard cover, 178pages, $12.95.

FOLK PRACTICES IN NORTHMEXICOBy Isabel KellyThe Mexican folkways described inthis book are directed toward anthropol-ogists, but will fascinate laymen. Thewriting is easy to follow and not a sen-tence is wasted in non-essential trivia.Dr. Kelly, a remarkably witty and cur-ious woman, has managed to win theconfidence of Mexicans of economicallypoor rural areas who have a long historyof folk practices related to health, heal-ing and magic. She has observed firsthand the esoteric cults of various sorcererswho practice both black and white magic

and whose services are required to negatthe effects of evil eyes, to arrange amorous meetings, to return wandering husbands and to cure all manner of ills. Toinsure the return of a wandering spousefor instance, a housewife might keep afrog encased in an eggshell with onlyits head emerging or tie a live lizard tothe bedstead and maintain it for life byfeeding it flies. Some of the prophylaxisof course, are more simple. A coral necklace will protect the heart from failingand other amulets, such as "male" and"female" stones tied into little packagewith dried hummingbird and certainherbs will accomplish other miracles.

A great number of plants that growwild on the northern Mexican desertsas well as those of our own Southwestdo effect certain cures, however, and areused in recognized drugs. Both thosassociated with superstition and those approved by scientific experiment are discussed in this book, although certainlynone are recommended by the author focuring anything. Latin and popular namesare used for plants. Hard cover, 166pages, $4.50.

RETIRE TO ADVENTUREBy H arrison M. Karr

To quote the author, "Other adventurers no doubt have faced greater hardships and dangers . . . , but not one ofthem, I feel sure, has derived more down-right fun from searching for and findinglively adventure." In his book, he suggests a mode for adventuring that is available to almost any retired person of reasonably good health and a modicum offinancial independence adventure bytravel trailer. In their search for a Shan-gri-la the author and his wife traileredover Canada, the United States and Mexi-co. They found that they could live onthe best beaches, fish the best streamsand see the most thrilling sights all ona low budget with most of the comfortsof home. In his book, Karr discussestrailer living problems that had to besolved and the advantages of trailerclubs for fun and sociability. Those read-ers in rehearsal for retirement will get alot from this 121-page, paperback book$1.95.

4 / Desert Magazine / M arch, 1968


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Here's a book with newactual evidence on thelegends of the West.

This book examines many little-known stories andthe western regions of North

Twounsolved mysteries, unearthed in this centuryin this absorbing book, furnish evidence that the

to set foot onAmerican soil dateto ancient times. Old Roman artifacts buried near

and Phoenician hieroglyphics inscribed onsome miles southwest of Albuquerque,NewArearcheological finds or elaborately conceived anded hoaxes? These unusual discoveries form but a small

of theintriguing history, legend, and folklore that make upH E M Y S T E R I O U S W E S T .

Included are such phenomena as the discovery of ain the middle of the desert; the strange curse

SanMiguel Island; the unexplained beheadingat least 13 victims in the Nahanni Valley; and many other

and fantastically imagined hoaxes are documented,new factual evidence that seems to corroborate

to be tall tales.

T H EMYSTERIOUS WEST.by Brad Williams andChoral Pepper $5 .9 5

Illustrated with photographs, this fascinating surveof Western Americana will bewelcomed by all readers inteested in the folklore and history of the United States.About the authors:B R A D W I L L I A M S hasworked for various newspapers ranging in location from Oregon and California, tMexico and India. He has published several mystery noveland nonfiction works; his books include Flight 967an

Due Process.C H O R A L P E P P E R hails from the mysteriouwest Palm Desert, California. She is the editor of DeseMagazine and she has been a columnist, free-lance writeand author. Her most recent book is Zodiac Parties.Send check or money order to Desert MagazinBook Shop, Palm Desert, California 92260. Add 25^ fopostage and handling. California residents add 5% sales taxTHE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANYA SUBSIDIARY OF THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANYCleveland and NewYork


6/44

On UniicornL eanore ou/an

HE d e s e r t is alwayscoming up with the un-expected. Some time agoI wasasked by the dir-ector of an herbariumto be on the lookout forMartynia Proboscidea altheaejolia, a spe-cies of the Martynia family commonlyknown as the Unicorn plant or Devil'sClaw, which grows "somewhere" on theSouthern California Colorado desert.Be-cause the pods of this plant are attrac-'tive in dried arrangements, I alreadyhadsome growing in my Imperial Valleygarden, the seeds for which I had ac-

quired from a mail order house, but itwas a surprise to me to learn that theplant grew native in myown area.My plants are comparatively large an-nuals with coarse hairs on both stemsand leaves and trumpet-shaped flowerswhich vary in coloring from lavender topurple and have yellow markings intheir throats. Unfortunately, they alsohave a disagreeable odor. The seed podsare large and while green have a longcurved beak that gives the plant its Uni-corn label. Later, as the pods ripen andshed their outer fleshy coats, the beakssplit into two curved prongs with very

sharp points. This is what gives it thcommon name of Devil's Claw. Theplants in mygarden thrived in July andAugust, when they were green and corful. In the lower Mississippi basinwhere this species is native, it is cosidered a nuisance in meadows becausit catches unwary ankles and cattlhooves. For this same reason, in Mexicoit is called ElToro.To determine the species native environment on the Colorado desert, I cosulted Jaeger's Desert Wild Flowers.Hdescribed the flower as being vivid yellow with smaller leaves than the specie

The leaves are like felt and the pod green.

Unicorn plant inbloom.*. I n..rl / Unrrh 1 OAR


7/44

The Chocolate Mountains and the

Then came the unexpected. We were

When we returned to the area in late

Growing desert natives in the garden

loam with poor drainage and is wateredby irrigation. In order to grow cacti andother succulents, I had built a raised bedfilled with coarse sand and a little leafmold and compost.Early the summer after I had foundthe Desert Unicorn plant, I soaked someof the seeds overnight and planted themin the raised bed, watering it down well.Only a few germinated, but these grewrapidly in the summer heat. When the

first blooms appeared, I decided to crossthem with the two species now growingin the garden with the idea that it mightproduce a variety with lovely coloring andfragrance along with the Louisiana spe-cies ability to grow in heavy soil. Takinga stamen from one species, I brushed thepollen against the stigma of the other.This is when I received my second sur-prise. The stigma of the Martynia familyis of a very slender style topped by twoflat lobes that make up the stigma. Thesecond that I touched the stigma, the twolobes folded together like a clam shelland in seconds had closed tightly to-gether. In his manual, Jepson had saidthe stigma was sensitive, but this was fas-cinating. I went about playing bee toevery flower in sight just to see the stig-ma fold shut. Here was another adapta-tion of a plant to insure good pollination.Unfortunately, my hybridizing proved afailure, but a few pods of the desert spe-cies did mature before dying prematurelyfrom over-watering.

In checking back through the variousmanuals on my shelf, I found that al-though all other members of the Martyniafamily were annuals, this one was listedas a perennial. I knew they must beright, but I wondered how these plantscould live from year to year in an areathat might go for a long time withoutwater.

The following summer, I again plantedseeds in the bed and this time succeededin maintaining them until late November,when they died naturally in the coldweather. Not until this summer when,after a good soaking, shoots came upwhere the plants had grown the summerbefore, was I convinced that they wereat least short-lived perennials. They musthave the ability of the "Coyote Melon"gourd which stores life in its roots overthe long dry spells.

For desert residents who stay in thedesert through the long hot summer,this can be a welcome addition to yourgarden. It must have sandy soil and sharpdrainage, of course. When fully grown,the plant will spread over a four or fivefoot circle and is at its best in the hottestsun.

Let's Go To Baja!'

ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME!Are you dreaming of Baja down Mexicoway? Baja California in Old Mexico has mein its spell and I must go back again. Maybeyou have always wanted to see this fascina-ting peninsula that time forgot. If so thennow is your chance. Come with me in4-wheel drive air conditioned station wagonsfor a wonderful trip. We leave San Diegoarea Jan. 10 and go all the way down toLa Paz and the cape on a leisurely triplasting 30 days. Or you may take thereturn trip leaving La Paz Feb. 11. I amtaking a limited group so make your reser-vations soon. Write to me for details.

MITCH WILLIAMS156 North First West Moa b, Utah 8453 2Phone 253-4346

WESTERNGATEWAYSMagazine of the Golden Circle

WESTER N GATEWAYS IS A QUAR-TERLY MAGAZINE FEATURINGTRAVEL INFORMATION, MAPS,ARTICLES, AND PICTURES OFTHE INDIAN COUNTRY, UTAH'SCANYONLANDS, LAKE POWELL,AND THE FOUR CORNERS AREA.Join us in time for theSummer issue, featuring

Off the Boa tin' Pathw herethe real scenery is A deta iled list of the Ma rinafacil i ties at Lake Powell Up-to-date Map of the LakeWestern Gateway s 2 1 1 5 Talk ingtonFlagstaff, Ariz. 86001

1 yr. $1.80 3 yrs. $4.50Send to:NameCity State Zip Code

March, 1968 / Desert Maaazine / 7


8/44

There is a shady picnic area near White-water Trout Ranch (right.) Below: inaddition to the large pond, there is asmall pond, where large lunkers lurk.

A PKETTYSETTLE OF FISHby Jack Delaney

OULD you rather be abig fish in a little pondor a little fish in a bigpond? If reference ismade to the WhitewaterTrout Ranch it makesno difference. In either case you'd haveto await your turn at the worm! Thepond population here is so dense thatfishermen, in baiting their hooks, turntheir backs to keep the trout from meet-ing them halfway. It just isn't sportingto catch a fish in mid-air!

A mountain setting with lakes, meadows, and babbling brooks is projectehere in capsule size. You'll enjoy brook, even though it may not babbletwo fishing pools, enclosed and oudoor grills, a shaded picnic area, and store with groceries, soft drinks, beeetc. The pools contain fully stockeschools of trout with students eager t"drop out" at the wiggle of a wormIn facing this captive audience, anfisherman who fails to catch a batch ofish would do well to throw away hi

/ Maaazine / March. 1968


9/44

and take up lawn bowling.Whitewater Trout Ranch is locateda few miles northwest of Palmthe freeway10) take the Whitewaterand drive north about fiveon a paved road. You'll find anoffor your car, and a liberal attitudedog (provided he is keptin the recreation areas).This resort is open the year around,day except Monday; and the peakis during the summer monthsthe temperature is at least 10it is on the lower desert.9 a.m. to 5 p.mto 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in sum-You may picnic here all day forper person, with a minimum charge$1.00 for your group.As a fisherman, you may enjoy yourfor $1.00 per pole, which includesof the equipment, a bucket, a

of bait, and the cleaning andof your catch. There is aof 400 each for the small trout(11 inches or smaller), andper pound for the whoppers2 inches and over). No license isand you may cook and feastor take them home.

per year. Theirthe supply-of fish to many other trout farmsthe 15 or 20 acres of recreation areaor drinking cokes)is suggested that you stroll up to thethe parkingbe welcome, and you'llit very interesting.

you will see the rearing facili-with trout from kindergarten agethe adult stage. There are20 ponds containing pure springis changed continuously,per day. The water is not re-it is directed outtheWhitewater wash.be a good idea to markon your calen-as a place to go when Old Sol startshis finger at the desert regionand during the summerthe cool shade

is in patronizing the pisca-or just picnicking and re-the heatof our finny friends.

TreNesmane5 yr:PLU!builtcent.sun-cshak20%

F OR T H AT W E E K E N D R E T R E A Tsecond home ideal for retire-ment in city of Palm Springs or inPalm Desert. CANTON VISTA"Desert Homes of Distinction" from$17,500 to $28,500some with pools.Call collect Palm Springs (714) 327-2713 or Palm Desert (714) 346-3713or write Canyon Vtota, P.O. DrawerV, Palm Spring*, California. Wellbuilt, custom appointments, only 5%down: BARGAINS!

Make Your Outings More Funand Pto^cta^te *7


10/44

H u nting fossils in Providenceb y M ax F ergu son

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..JWeathered cave formations (speleothems) such as these can be found along the side

of the wash.

ACH time I return to theProvidence Mountains, am amazed at the overwhelming quietness thahammers at my ears whenI turn off the ignitionletting the last chug of civilization dieaway. Then slowly, very slowly, theringing stops, and the delicate, desersounds come out of hiding. The whir ofoffice machines, the meeting of deadlinesare but a memory. Here in thedesert, one of the few remaining remoteareas of our country, you are faced withnature as it has been for thousands ofyears.To reach the town of Providence andthe fossil area, travel east from Barstowon Route 66 to Essex, and turn left onan asphalt road. This road, within abou11 miles, will become a well-gradeddirt road which you follow to the 7ILranch sign. Turn right, and travel foabout six miles to the forks of the road

bearing the old Providence Town signBear left and follow the most used roadto the few remaining buildings of Providence. Drive up to the lone wooden framehouse and park. The fossils are in thecanyon behind it.On your left, as you hike up the canyon, is Fountain Peak; on your right isSilver Hill. In the float material at youfeet you will notice pieces of the grayPermian Birdspring limestone. Any oneof these may have an abundance of fusu-linids, appearing as dark grains of whea

in slight relief against the lighter graylimestone. The fusulinids are Wolfcampian in age, occurring at the bottom ofthe approximately 2,000-foot thick limestone. The Permian here is theorized tocorrelate with the Nevada Birdspringformation, thus the name.Fusulinids are interesting little creatures (now extinct) that swarmed the seasof the Pennsylvanian Period, culminatedin the Permian, and had completely van-ished by the beginning of the TriassicPredominantly salt water creatures, they

usually built their shell out of a carbona-10 / Desert Maga zine / March, 1968


11/44

growth lines and patterns. Then, undermagnification, compare them with platesor drawings from a reliable reference.Among the genera you find will probablybe theSchwagerina, Triticites, and thePseudoschwagerina.Crinoid stems are in abundance here,but the coiled cephalopod (coiled later-ally as awatch spring )ishard to find.The cephalopods began their rise duringthe Permian, and during the next period(Triassic), they were incommand oftheinvertebrates. Of course, thecollector'spiece de resistance is thehoneycombedcoralas rare now asthey were in thePermian.Located at some recent "diggings"about 100 yards upthe canyon, issomebeautiful white and chocolate calciteforthe rockhound. If you plan tospend thenight, as I did, bring your black light forthe fluorescents. Pieces of cave "coral"helectites, stalagtites, andother speleo-thems may befound bythe side of thewash. It is quite possible that anothercavern, such asMitchell Cavern, maybe

F R O M

Exploring the old P rovidence ruins can be exciting, as well as educational.ceous material. Because of their smallsize, they areinvaluable in thecorrela-tion of strata beneath thesurface. Forexample, as an oilwell isbeing drilledand the drill brings the fusulinids tothesurface, themicropaleontologist studiesthese minute forms of ancient life andcan tell by correlation from which forma-tion they came.

Identifying your fusulinids may be aproblem. It isnecessary tomake an axialcross-section of the fossil and studythe

found inthis area, for inthe cracks andcrevices of the Birdspring limestonearemany miniature caves and grottoes filledwith speleothems, toentice cave hunters.Returning to theruins of Providencewith your load offossils and rocks, taketime toexplore the old town. (DESERT,April '65) With alittle imagination youcan hear the dumping ofthe ore cars andechoes of yesterday's loud, eager voices.I wonder if any of those people werefossil hunters?

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March , 1968 / Desert Magazine / 1


12/44

N e i g h b o r s of J o s h u a T r e eby Edna NicholsNa t io n a l

Desert Bighorn sheep at the spring. Be-low: Rocks for climbing contribute to thefun of Joshua Tree National Monum entcampsites.

U T on the desert inSouthern California, notfar from the towns ofJoshua Tree and Twen-ty-Nine Palms, lies thearea of the Joshua TreeM onumen t. G oo d c a m pgrounds and picnic spots are scatteredthrough the confines of the monument,with settings in the natural beauty ofthe high desert country and the added in-terest of huge boulder formations. Visit-ing children, and their elders too, havea heyday climbing the big rocks.

A highlight in camping here is theopportunity to sit in on a Campfire Circle

in which a Ranger talks about the plantand animals of the Monu ment. Fromhim you will learn the difference between a "Monument" and a "Park." Ia Monument al l plants and animals musbe kept in their natural state. No firewood may be gathered, no plants pickedThis conservation program is institutein order to keep the desert as it wabefore the white man came.1 FalleJoshua trees, dead leaves or grass, helto enrich the soil from which they greweven rattlesnakes have a place, as theeliminate small rodents. As the Rangetalks, you will gain respect for thsmall chipmunks who live on seeds othe plants and get their water from thplant juices. Water holes have been constructed at some locations to catcscarce rain run-off, but even then manof the little animals have to go lonmonths without real water.

There are wildcats and coyotes and few deer in the Monument, and also band of Desert Bighorn Sheep. Visitorwho ask about rattlesnakes are told towatch out before they put their handover a rock when climbing, and twalk on the marked trails.

If you wish to see the Bighorn Sheepit is necessary to get a permit from thRanger station, where you will also bgiven directions as to which road tfollow and how far you can drive youcar before making the mile-long hikto a view point overlooking the Bighornwatering spot. Do not wear any whit

12 / Desert Magazine / March, 1968


13/44

clothing, as white means danger to theBighorns.We found the hike an interestingone. There were birds, odd rock for-mations and shrubs, and myriad tracksof small animals on the sandy trail. Thepath is steep and winding, and we wouldhave appreciated some encouragingsign posts along the trail, such as, "Don'tgive up when the path is steep," or"You are now just one-slope-and-a-dipfrom the observation point."Just as we thought we had missed thespot, one of our party said, "Look, therethey are now!" Sure enough, there theywere, two big rams, both with hugehorns. Excited as we were we kept ourvoices normal and slowly went to the topof the hill. Across a narrow wash, thesheep advanced cautiously as they watch-ed us. At the spring, one of them benthis forelegs to kneel for a drink whilethe other, coveting his spot, clashed hishorns sharply against his rival's, pro-ducing a noise like that of two collidingblocks of wood. The first sheep movedover at once, letting the bossy one havethe preferred drinking place. With theirbacks to us, they drank deeply, theirrumps showing creamy white, until theyhad drunk their fill and turned to boundup the hill.

. . . . . . .

Cam psites are strategically placed among the boulders for privacy.After returning home, we consulteda reference book and learned that moun-tain sheep live in many different parts ofthe world. American Rocky MountainSheep (Ovis Canadensis), or Bighorns,inhabit areas from northern Mexico tonorthern British Columbia. In the norththese sheep are usually grayish-brown in

color, though in Alaska another speciesis entirely white. In our Southwest, theBighorns (O. Nelsoni) are a paler ver-sion of the grayish-brown and the mas-sive horns, particularly those of therams, curl toward the front of the head.Desert sheep live on plants and shrubs

such as mesquite, catsclaw, paloverdand cactus. Though this might seem tbe rather rough fare, the rams we sawat the spring looked sleek and well-fedTo see these shy, elusive Bighorns, athey cautiously file down a rocky hillside to a trickling spring, or to somdesert water-hole where there is still small supply of precious rain water lefis to feel a wonderful thrill. To realizthat these wild sheep forage for themselves in the inhospitable, often cruealmost waterless, land of our Southwesdesert, is to be filled with an overwhelming respect for the magnificent animals

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March, 1968 / Desert Magazine / 13


14/44

M U S E U MBY THES I D E OFT H E R O A Dby Harrison Karr

N one of Southern Cali-fornia's broad moun-tain valleys, beside aqu ie t coun t ry road ,stands a museum of na-tural history that is notas well known as it deserves to be. Onefeature alone makes it worthy of atten-tion. That is the spirit of the man, HarryBergman, whoowns and operates it.

The museum lies in an extraordinarylocation. Indeed, finding it may giveyou something of a start. Here you are,driving through the isolation of rollinghills andquiet valleys with little human

habitations, when suddenly you comeupon a modern stucco building of a sizeto make you sit up in surprise. Contribu-ting to your astonishment is a weirdfigure atop thebuilding which resemblessomething straight out of Alice in Won-derland. It is a huge caricature of adinosaur balanced on one foot atop agreat round ball. A prominent signover the museum's door announces,Bergman's Museum of Natural History,followed by the surprising word Free.

No matter what unhappy experiencesyou may have had in the past trying toget something for nothing, have no fear

Harry Bergman (right) isalways ready tovisit with guests who come tobrowse amongthe relics at his museum, (below).

here. Thesign means what it says. Thonly things commercial about the placare a gift shop and lunch counter.Thgift shop presents an attractive displaof Mexican and Guatemalan arts andcrafts and the snack bar providespleasant, inexpensive place to eat.This museum also stands apart in it

open-handed friendliness. At its faend you will find a large fireplace, comfortable chairs, and a printed invitatioto sit down and relax. Very likely it ihere that you will meet the owner. Hary Bergman loves to sit in one of thosbig comfortable chairs andgaze througthe window upon the rolling hills andspring-watered meadows he has roamefor 70years. Visiting with himand hloves to visit, especially if you displayknowledgeable interest in his exhibitsis a rich experience.Many of therelics come from the museum's vicinity. Bergman began collecting them while he was still a boy on ranch close to where the museum nowstands. It all started, he states, when hwas setting a trap to catch a quail folunch. He came upon a green arrowpoint which he thinks was made from anearly Spanish wine bottle. Now he hascollection of over 10,000 arrow pointassembled from expeditions that havcarried him from Arctic glaciers toGuatemala's tropics. Bergman can tel

you of the origin of each arrow in hcollection and of the Indian tribeswhomade them. One set is over 30,00years old, made by prehistoric Folsommen.On these collecting excursions Harrytravels by trailer. He claims that he hhauled a trailer the farthest north anytrailer has ever beennorthwest ofthe dead gold town Circle.Mexico also holds a warm spot inhis collector's heart. He has taken 27trips into Mexico, exploring its ever

state and territory with the single ex14 / Desert Magazine / March, 1968


15/44

ofone small area between Yuca-and British Honduras.Large andimpressive in stature, his

andlively eyes belie86years. Bergman comes from rug-His grandfather, Jacob Berg-

as TheDutchman, drovee of the oldButterfield stages andand operated the stage sta-at Aguanga. In 1896 Harry Berg-

thestationandit.Although Har-thestation nor

heand his bride, Alice,aneighboring ranch in1922 and

and Alice sold 1500 acres of thisa26-acre plotand the museum

Of his wife, Bergman says, "She hasall of my explorations.her cooperation I couldn't have

and he looks withonwhat they together

Among items of special interest istheof gems and semi-preciousand polishes them forhimself. In other cabinets are

Ofthese, Harry says, "They comefar andwide, but they

set ascientific man frantic. Theyfortheir beauty." Acollection of

andmoths is equally exten-andapparently

When it comes toguns and knives,ne gun came from Harper's Ferry andwas used in John Brown'sAknife, a handsome creation ofis aas an

andfish, fos-andmastodons, dinosaurs and pre-be-ice) areincluded in theTo reach the museum from U. S.

395between SanDiegoand71 aboutof Temecula. At Ag-The museum

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toHemet orIdyllwild, turn west71and gothrough Anza. The mu-

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Above: Johnny Lang, the last man alive to know the exact location of a secret treasuredied with h is boots on in the traditional Western ending, b ut in a snow storm not agun fight. His grave is located next to the S alton View-Ca p Rock Roa d in Joshua

Tree National Monument.

Below: B ill Key s, the last survivor ofJohnny Lang and his buried cache ofto it, but not the exact location. Lang

mining days in the Joshua Tree area remembersstolen gold. He can give plenty of facts relatingtook that information to the grave with him in

1926.

T h e L o s tT r e a s u r e ofL o s t H o r s eM i n eby Frank Taylor

H E treasure of JohnnLang and his death in desert snow storm is fading legend of JoshuTree National Monument's mining era. Except for Bill Keys, who still rememberLang and his gold, the story would havbeen lost. Keys, now in his 80s, is thlast survivor of mining in the monument who still resides there. Closelassociated with the historical characterwho once roamed the high desert, Keyhimself was a successful miner andprospector.

Although Johnny Lang carried thexact location of his gold cache to higrave, Keys remembers enough of Lang'activities to piece together an approximate location. If Lang's gold ever ifound, it will become the property othe United States government, as it iburied on Monument land.Lang himself was a strange man. Thson of wealthy parents, he was educatedin St. Louis and could have led a cul

tured life there. Instead, he came wes16 / Desert Magazine / Marc h, 1968


17/44

As the partners prospered, they

malgam than Lang's crew. At first it

uction differences between the two

Several years later the mine ceased

malgam. Subequent attempts to findnother bonanza had met with little

ort himself for the rest of his life.Treks to recover portions of this

imates that Lang sold him close to

It was during this latter year that

hat year, Lang decided to pay a visito his cache, even though at the time heas suffering with a cold. On his returnome, a violent storm forced him tocamp in the open desert. Weakened by

/wo cabins are left of the dozens that on ce dotted the hillside opposite the LostHorse Mine shaft and tower. One of them belonged to Johnny Lang and near it lies

a horde of g old b uried in clay crucibles that he hid from his partner.fought dea th for several days before cabin. The contents of each cruciblefalling prey to it in his bed roll. would be worth about $1500 on to-W hen Lang didn 't reappear, three of day's market.his friends organized a search and foundhis body beside the trail. They dug agrave on the spot and buried the oldprospector as they had found him,wrapped in his canvas sleeping bag. Themen, Frank Riler, Jeff Peeden and Keys,were certain that Lang had several hun-dred dollars worth of amalgam in hispockets, but didn't disturb it.Lang's death strangely paralled that ofhis father, who also died in a snowstorm, but in Alaska. Both men hadmoney in their pockets at the time ofdeath and both had been warned againstmaking the trip because of weatherconditions.

As a tribute to his old friend, and toprevent the grave from becoming lost,Keys returned a few years ago and carveda stone monument with the date ofLang's death and the names of themen who discovered him. The spot isabout three miles south of Cap Rock,on the right side of the road going toSalton View.

No one is sure how much of Lang'sgold still lies hidden at the Lost Horse

The cabins used at the mine aroundthe turn of the century have long sincedisappeared and only the main stampmill with one hammer poised in mid-motion and a few donkey engines areleft. Below the main shaft and tower,only two clapboard buildings remain, soit is now impossible to determine whereLang had his cabin. A metal detectorcould narrow the search, but it wouldstill be difficult to locate Johnny Lang'samalgam horde.The road leading to the Lost Horseis about 100 feet south of Lang's grave.It cuts to the left and is easy to followin an ordinary passenger car for thefirst mile. After that, only pickups withheavy duty tires, 4-wheelers, or hikersshould try to reach the mine. From theSalton View road, the mine is aboutseven miles.Because of its relatively high altitude,it is generally cooler at the Lost Horse,which makes it a pleasant place to visiteven in hot weather. The view is magni-ficent. From the hill opposite the mainshaft, San Gorgonio can be seen and

Mine, but Keys has a few clues that o n a c l e a r d ay y o u should be able to seemig ht help someone locate it some day. San Jacinto, over 40 miles distant.While Johnny Lang's treasure maynever be found, its story is an excitingLang buried his amalgam at night nearthe cabin in which he lived. He placeda lump of amalgam in a clay crucible, part of the min ing adventures of thepu t a rock over the mouth of the cru- high desert and looking for it can makecible, then buried it within sight of his part of that adven ture yours.



18/44

Anza^s Living Fenceby Ernie Cowan

-.Hidden'Springs

L o 5 TL L E Y

SHEEP '?.CANYON-'"o \m Sonto '.: CatoermaE l V A d o

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1

T WASlate December,1775 and a band ofSpanish colonists werebeing led into Californiaby Juan Bautista de An-za. This was the secondtrip Anza had made through the desertarea. Only a year before he had travelednearly the same route to open the firstinland trail to Alta California.

This trip was to bring the first groupof colonists into Alta California over thenewly discovered inland route. Theweary band had been traveling forweeksand were entering what today is knownas Coyote Canyon, about seven milesnorthwest of Borrego Springs.Hard luck and badweather had been

the fate of the expedition. It was bittercold, according to Anza's diary, andwater was scarce. A number of days hadpassed since the party last camped atgood water andspirits dipped low.When the band arrived at CoyoteCanyon they made camp andconstructeda corral for their more than 300 head oflivestock. Anza's diary is not clear atthis point, but he wrote that the corralwas made from "native vegetation."Today, near the lower willows inCoyote Canyon, there is a "living fence"made of ocotillo. The growing plantsform a huge square that measuresseveral h un dr ed feet along eachside. Many feel the living fence wasplanted by the Anza expedition. Oco-

tillo is about the only "native vegeta-

tion" that would serve this purpose. Tsoldiers of the expedition probably cthe stalks of the spiney desert tree, placthem in the ground and then strurope around the stalks to form a corfor the animals. Since that time thstalks have grown into full-grown octillo plants to form a "living fence."

The diaries of Padre Pedro Font, whserved as astronomer and cartographon the expedition, and Anza indicathat the travelers decided to spend several days at their camp in Coyote Cayon. An abundance of water here anthe canyon's shelter offered a haVfor the weary band. This would be other good reason for the permanenature of the corral.

16 / Desert Magazine / March, 1968


19/44

The expedition ofcolonists consistedof 240 with 38 soldiers, all under thecommand ofAnza. The emigrant partyhad set out from Sinaloa, Mexico. Thefinding ofwater and the birth of achild inCoyote Canyon onChristmasEve was marked by the travelers as agood sign and gave them the strengthto push on and complete their journey.The 2 5-mile length ofCoyote Canyonstill offers desert travelers beauty andadventure.At thesouth endnear BorregoSprings isthe ford, orEl Vado. Thisspot ismarked with abronze plaquewhich tells ofthe Anza expedition andexplains that this was the point wherethe party forded theflowing creek.About amile above this point on theleft, just after crossing the creek again,is the living fence. Itlies afew feetfrom the dirt road and is easy to see ifyou watch for it.Further up thecanyon aredensestands ofwillow that form abeautiful

oasis inthe arid desert. In some placesthe willows grow so thick that the roadtunnels through them. About midwaythrough Coyote Canyon isSheep Can-yon, which takes off to the west. Herethe state park maintains aranger out-post and visitors can enjoy hikes intothree side canyons that offer views ofdesert palms and scenic areas.At the upper end ofCoyote Canyon,across the Riverside County line, is theWhite Child Monument. This markerwas erected as amemorial to the childborn to the Anza Expedition ofChrist-mas Eve, 1775. For anumber ofyearsthis was believed tobe the first whitechild born inAlta California, but laterresearch showed that the first whitechild was actually born in the pueblo ofSan Diego.After emerging from the canyon, youcan continue on to State Highway 71 atAnza, California. Theentire trip throughthe canyon makes adelightful day'strip. D

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20/44

HILE visiting the terri-torial prison in Yuma, Iwas standing on theplatform over the oldwater tank, enjoying thepanoramic view. It wasin the spring and the air was cool andexceptionally clear, allowing the desertto stand out majestically, but somewhatisolated compared to the hustle and bus-tle of the modern day world.As I stood there I couldn't help hear-ing the people in a group next to me.They, too, must have caught the atmos-phere of the morning because they look-ed out at the Colorado River dividingCalifornia and Arizona and followed itstwists and turns into the distance. Oneof the group mentioned how peacefuland uncomplicated life must have beenin the days of the Old West. As theothers nodded in agreement, I was re-minded of an old timer I had recentlyvisited. I had asked him what life on thedesert had really been in the early daysof Yuma and the Imperial Valley. Theold gentleman sat erect in his chair, tookthe pipe from his mouth, and stared atme from over his glasses. "The desertof today and of that which I came to

know over 60 years ago are two differentthings altogether," he said.His name is William F. Knapke andhe was born July 17, 1870, in East St.Louis, Illinois, where he started rail-roading at the age of 16. This careerspanned a period of 50 years, until heretired in 1936 and started a new career.He became a writer whose successes in-cluded over 200 published stories andtwo books."Take the run from Indio, California,to Yuma, Arizona, for instance," he con-

tinued. "When I started working for theSouthern Pacific, in 1903, Indio con-sisted of two short blocks, on one was astore and on the other a meat market. Iwould say there weren't more than 15houses in all. The main road for gettingout of town was on parallel bars whichappeared from the western horizon anddisappeared into the east."In those days it was a vast loneliness,inhabited for the most part by tarantu-las, scorpions, snakes, and varmints. Theonly humans around worked in the tele-

graph offices scattered along the line. A

ty TViUtcuK S. Stonedescription of one of these was writtento me by Harry Bedwell (a famous rail-road writer), and it couldn't have betterfitted. The letter read: 'Yes, there itwas, a lone yellow telegraphic office seton the sand, with the rails, and sema-phore before it and the dun colored des-ert sloping down behind. The trainsslammed by, seldom stopping, then thesilence would come back. And the sunshined furiously or the stars winked im-pudently. Nothing else, except if youwaited long enough, there did seem tobe something, something that came inout of the silence that you could almosttouch, only those who touched it, theysent away and didn't let them comeback.' "Thinking back on his own days, Knap-ke said, "Yes, the desert was rough andthe telegraph operators in those dayswere the least best dressed men in thecountry. A pair of stagged off overallsand a pair of shoes was usually the ex-tent of their dress. And some had thewild-eyed look that loneliness brings.

"By comparison, the desert seemsdomesticated now. Almost everywhereyou look, it's criss-crossed with wires,buildings or highways. I once wrote astory called, The Silent Land. In it, Isaid, Go one short mile from this arteryof trade and you'll find a place un-touched by the foot of man since thedawn of history. Go one eighth of thatdistance today and you'll be trampingin some Bo's backyard. That's one of thebig differences between then and now.Another is the weather. We didn't havecoolers nor refrigerationall we coulddo was grin and bear it. And the heatin the desert at that time was far greaterthan it is today, due to the later irriga-tion and the growing of cropsandparticularly, the formation of the SaltonSea. Prior to that, 125 to 135 was nor-mal summer temperature. A trainmancould not work without wearing leathergloves; otherwise, he would get hishands blistered. Once, in Grape, Califor-nia, which was a blind siding betweenBrawley and Imperial, I saw a govern-ment thermometer in a white louveredbox register 144. That was the hottestI've seen it, although it registered 124in the caboose shed in Yuma at midnighton two separate occasions.

"When we started across the desefrom Indio on my first trip, the enginecalled my attention to a piece of pipe Salton Station. I walked up to examiit and noted it had been driven into tground and had a brass head on it whicread: United States Geodetical Surve264 feet minus, which was the depbelow sea level. About a mile south the tracks, there was what looked like bank of dirty snow. It was salt, left bthe evaporation of the former Gulf California which had been shut off bsubseismic disturbances ages ago. Tsalt had been mined by the New Livepool Salt Company.

"After leaving Salton, the next stowas a place called Volcano, later nameLano. I no sooner got there and steppeoff the train than the ground tremblelike an earthquake. After talking to toperator, I found that they had 15 or 2of those tremors a day. He said that I went around to the other side of ttrain I could see the cause. I walk

Mud pots pose a m ystery to early eplorers near Niland before Salton Sewas formed.around and found a pool of liquid muabout 40 feet across and three feet belothe level of the tracks, with a narrobeach around it. This mud was boilinfuriously in spots, stopping at one plaand starting again at another. My brakman partner suggested we turn a buckupside down over one of the boils anlight a match. I did, and the gas lighteup just like a burner on a kitchen stov

20 / Desert Magazine / Ma rch, 1968


21/44

ea had formed. I might add that the

"It seems that in order to widen aater heading between the Coloradoey, a temporary ditch was dug as a by-However, an unexpected rise in the

it melted the soft soil as if it were sug-r. Before long the whole Coloradoiver was coming through. It started in1904 and by 1906 the railroad had

ime to try and stop it. All effort failednd the project was about to be given ups hopeless when a friend of mine, auggested they give him 10 days to seeif it could be done. It only took himeven to do the job. How he did it, I

"A man named Epes Randolph, one

hat time head of the S.P. lines in Mexi-Anyway, as a reward he took Tom

The old man paused to relight hispipe. After a few puffs, he laughed andsaid, "Now to get back on the track.After we left the boiling mud at Vol-cano, we came to the next station, whichhad once been called Imperial Junction.A telegraph operator, Dick Hobgood,had homesteaded the land around thereto establish the town which is now Ni-land, but he spread out too much andended up losing all of it."Continuing east, we came to FlowingWells which was a blind siding near awell of arsenic water. From there wewent up a steep grade to Iris. FlowingWells had been 29 feet below sea leveland now we were 179 feet above. Thenext station was Tortuga and then acrossthe desert until we came to Ogilby, whichwas at the edge of what we called theflats. Almost flat, the ground was cov-ered with rocks the size of your fist. Thetops of those rocks were as black as tarfrom sunburn. I think they call it desertglaze now. Down the hill from PilotKnob, we soon came to the ColoradoRiver, across the drawbridge that wasthere at that time, and then into Yuma."The Colorado was navigable. Therewere steamboats on it that came up fromMexico and could go as high as Needles,Californiauntil Laguna dam was putin 12 miles above Yuma."The Yuma draw bridge was a novel-

ty. A riverboat's arrival had to be known24 hours in advance so the railroadcould have one of their section foremenwaiting on the Arizona side with a big"T wrench. There were two bolt headssticking out above the bridge. When thewrench was placed on one of theseheads, it took six men walking aroundin a circle to lift that end of the bridgeoff its solid foundation. Then thewrench was placed on the other studhead and turned in the same manner toallow that part of the bridge to swingaround and let the boat go through.

"At that time the town of Yuma con-sisted of about three blocks which beganat the river. The penitentiary up on thehill, above the present railroad stationwas still in full operation, but abouevery other building was a saloon, orworse. No decent woman walked intothe street after 6:00 P.M. In fact, thingsgot so bad that a vigilante committeewas formed to herd the bad element ouof town."The old man thought silently for amoment. "In answer to your questionmy boy," he finally admitted, "it wasgood in the old days and I have manypleasant memories, but life was toughhard and bitter. All in all, I think ifyou knew them as I did you'd agree thatthe 'good old days' are really rightnow!"

The steamer Cochran that ran on the Colorado River in 1890. Niland railroad siding in 19 03.

' 1* "52Isx hthe break of the Colorado

River in 1907.Early Yuma boasted of three blocks of bars.



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Exploring Dale Mine Districtby George Service and Kent Werges

ECAUSE it is relativelyu n k n o w n , the D a l eMining District on theSouthern California des-ert is often overlookedby those who pursuehistory in more famous ghost townsand mining camps. The Dale MiningDistrict didn't develop into a largetown OF city, but the area still containsa wealth of interesting buildings andmachinery, much of it dating back tothe turn of the century.Split into two parts bythe Pinto Moun-tains, I have grouped the mines roughlyinto a north and a south group becauseto drive from the northern to the south-ern mines you must either cross themountains or go around them. Thesouthern group is the most remote, butit is worth the extra time it takes toreach it. Of the two roads leading intothis group, the eastern road is best suitedfor passenger vehicles. The western roadrequires a high clearance along the baseof themountains where it passes close to

the Goldenrod and Moose Mines. TheGoldenrod is identified by two bunkshacks on the desert floor below theheadframe of the inclined shaft. TheMoose is noteworthy because the oldhoisting engine that hauled ore out ofthe inclined shaft is still in place.

If youapproach the area in a passenger vehicle on the western road, stowhen you reach the yellow gate at thmouth of the canyon and examine throad ahead before you drop down intthe wash. As you advance up the cayon the Gold Coin Mine will be onyour left, the Rose of Peru Mine directly across from it. Just beyond thesmines are buildings that served as livinquarters for the miners. These structureare more recent than most in the areapossibly dating back to the '20s. Dinto the hillside behind the northernmost of the three buildings is a smaroom used for cool storage of foodstuffsCaves similar to this near the minshafts were intended for safe storage oexplosives.

Beyond this point, the road climbup to the Brooklyn Mine. The stampmihere is intact and is one of the most interesting structures in the district. Thiprobably is the mill that waserected in1906; the three stamps, complete witcast iron base and automatic feed orechutes, are still in place. The cam-shaand wooden flywheel that drove thstamps is still in excellent condition.

The original claim at the BrooklyMine was filed in 1890, although mininoperations were not begun in earneuntil 1899when financial backing wafound. The Brooklyn Mining Compan

M / Desert Magazine / March,1968


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^ . ; ^

^


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In 1906 the main shaft at the Brook-yn was 270 feet deep with tunnels run-ing off of it each 50 feet. The mine

tonwood Springs at a cost of 59! a gal-on. As it required approximately 200through the stamp mill, it is not hardto imagine the expense and effort ittook to keep the business going! Itroved so impractical that the minersdug a well 180 feet deep at Dale DryLake, put in a 10 horsepower gasolineump, and ran a pipeline seven and aalf miles over the mountains to theine. The plant had a capacity of 7000lly shared the supply with another mineearby.Beyond the Brooklyn the road dropsinto another canyon where the Los An-eles mine is located. The buildingsall of stone, are still in fair con-ition, although their roofs are liable tolow off in a few years. Better builthan most mining camp structures, theargest house has good window and doorframes, a false ceiling, and a screened-in porch. Of special interest here are theacid tanks which were used to dissolveanks had false, slatted bottoms thateld the crushed ore eight to ten inchesabove the actual base of the tanks. Alayer of canvas was spread over theottom of the tank to prevent the firmlyrushed ore from falling through. Cy-anide was poured over the ore and al-lowed to filter down through. When itcame out the bottom it brought with itthe gold. The solution was then run offto a settling tank where the gold wasprecipitated out. The cyanide could bedrawn off and re-used.

This process was widely used in thetreating of gold, silver, and copper. Theink mounds of dried mud around thethe acid tanks at the Los Angeles Minere characteristic of the process; similarrun-offs will be noticed, particularly at4 / Desert Magazine / M arch, 1968

the O.K. and Supply Mines later on.If you double back from the Los An-geles Mine and go down the canyonrather than up and over the ridge, youwill pass the Gold Standard Mine be-fore joining the original canyon nearthe Gold Rose. The mine building atthe Gold Standard is in good conditionand is a fine place to spend a night ifyou like a roof for shelter better thanstars.Nearby to the east are Zulu Queenand the Outlaw mines, but the roads tothem are poor and the going is slow.There is little left at the Zulu Queen tomake the trip worthwhile, although theheadframe of the vertical shaft is in-tact. It is the only one which includesan elevator used to haul up loaded orecars. At the Outlaw Mine are only twoshacks and an assortment of disintegra-ting machinery. Its headframe has falleninto the shaft.The town of New Dale forms a focal

point for the mines on the northernside of the Pinto Mountains, but unlessyou watch carefully, you may drive overthe site and not realize it. The town,which housed some 70 people in 1916,has disappeared completely, leaving be-hind a few bedsteads and the usualmounds of rusty cans. The town moved

The Brooklyn M ine was established in1906twice as the Dale Mining District ex-panded to the east before it settled atthe mouth of the canyon below IvanhoeMountain. The Supply Mine, a mile tothe north, was one of the richest pro-ducers in the district. Total value is un-certain, but it probably was over a mil-

lion dollars. The headframe here standsover an inclined shaft 1200 feet deep.The ore was processed in a six-stampmill and in cyanide tanks with a capa-city of 300 tons. The run-off from thetanks filled a good portion of the can-yon below the mine before operationsceased in 1917. The mine was largeenough to support a small communitymost of which still stands in a delapida-ted condition. The final grade up to theSupply is suitable only for jeeps andpick-ups; passenger cars able to crossthe sandy wash at the bottom of thegrade may be brought to a point withina quarter mile of the mine.

Behind the Supply Mine the roaddrops into an area of many smallermines and prospects. Another road runsfrom the mine up the side of IvanhoeMountain to three mines at the summit.

A four-wheel-drive vehicle is a must formost of the way and watch for washed-

out roads! tThis road is not for the weak-hearted;at times the drop-off over the edge isalmost 1000 feet. It is not a bad roadfor jeeps, though, and from the top theview to the west stretches beyond Twen-tynine Palms to Mt. San Gorgonio, 60miles away.

One of the most interesting minestructures in the region is the aerialbuckets system east of New Dale. Thelower terminus of the tramway can bereached by a short, steep road from NewDale. Steel cables still stretch betweenthe loading dock and the mine tunneland an ore bucket hangs over the loadingdock in position for dumping.

The Ivanhoe Mine is situated nearthe summit of the mountain at an ele-vation of 3000 feet. The road fromNew Dale is in fair condition and af-fords a spectacular view of the desertsand mountain ranges to the north andeast. Two or three sheet-metal buildingsstill stand, but the headframe and load-ing ramps are gone. Just before youreach the Ivanhoe, a side road branchesto the left. This leads to another mine


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Relics are everywhere, but bew are of unm arked shafts.overlooking the aerial tramway, theO.K. mine, and the Pinto Basin.The O.K. Mine may be reached byseveral routes, the most direct of whichheads south from a point directly belowthe aerial tramway. The enormous tail-ings at the mine indicate clearly themagnitude of the workings here. Theshaft at the O.K. was 600-feet deep andfed ore to a large 10-stamp mill. Theone building still standing is missingmost of its siding but the exposed 2 x 4framing indicates a prior use as a ladder.Wood is valuable in an area where itmust be brought in by freighter.

Most of the mines in the northernpart of the district received suppliesfrom Amboy, 40 miles to the north. Thesouthern mines ran their freight wagonsto Mecca, and later through Cotton-wood Canyon and Box Canyon to theCoachella Valley, a distance of 45 miles.he connecting road between the north-ern and southern mines is passable onlyby 4-wheelers.There are two ways to reach this re-ion. The quicker of the two is fromhe north on the Gold Crown Road. Thisis a graded dirt road that leaves Califor-nia State Highway 62 at a point 15

n the Pinto Range. The junction at

The approach from the south is long-

er, but the route runs through JoshuaTree National Monument and providesa better sampling of the desert countryin this region. Seven miles north of theCottonwood Ranger Station in the Monu-ment is a three-way fork in the road. Themiddle fork is the Old Dale Road andleads straight across the Pinto Basin tothe m ining district; this is the 'same

road that was used by the miners tobring in supplies from the railroad aMecca. The road today is in good condition although there are stretches ofsoft sand where washes cross the routeIt should pose no problem to a drivereasonably experienced in desert drivingThe road leading to the mines in theDale Mining District have seen little ono maintenance since the mines wereabandoned. Pick-up trucks and 4-wheel

ers should be able to cover 90% of throads without difficulty. Drivers of lowslung passenger cars who exercise caution and don't mind walking a bit shouldbe able to reach almost every workingdiscussed here.The Dale mining district is almosentirely outside the northern boundaryof Joshua Tree National Monument andthere are no restrictions on campingBring your own firewood and plenty ofwater; there is little fuel in the mountains and no water at all.If you take children or pets, keepthem all on leashes. The shafts and tunnels are not marked, they are not sealedand they are not safe. Often there wilbe more than one shaft at each minethey may be 20 or 200 feet deep. Thereis plenty to see without falling down amine shaft!

March, 1968 / Desert Ma azine / 25


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I nby Choral Pepper

Editor, Desert MagazineHE night was full ofsounds. Softly they wovethrough my dreams guitars serenading themoon and stars, tambor-inos beating in hypnoticrhythm with the surf. A grid of starlightseeped through the jalousie of my hotelwindow, casting its shadow against thethick adobe wall. This was Mexico, butmore than that, it was Puerto Vallarta.

With dawn came the crow of roostersand a clatter of horse hooves against cob-blestone streets. Salt-scented air stimula-ted my hunger for fresh papaya spikedwith lime juice, for coffee and a hard-crusted Mexican roll. Soon they appearedbefore me on a linen-shrouded table ofthe Oceano Hotelsophisticated fare fora primitive land. Puerto Vallarta may bea Mexican village, but there is no othervillage in Mexico remotely like it.

"It's like the South seas ought to be,but isn't," a visitor at the next table com-mented.His remark provoked thoughts of a se-ductive hand snaking through a beadedportiere, of Methodist missionaries har-anguing naive sinners. It is all here, too,but with a difference. The South Seas hadSadie Thompson; Puerto Vallarta had

Elizabeth Taylor. But the missionarieshere wore the robes of Franciscans andJesuits and the native sins they discour-aged are the artifacts prized by archaeolo-gists today. Still, there are strong similiar-ities, if one is to take seriously the writ-ings of Somerset Maugham when hedescribed grass-roofed huts clusteredamong banana groves and endless idledays watching native maidens glide alongjungle trails bearing trays of tropicalfruit on their heads.But you can't fly directly to the South

Seas from Tijuana with our good friend

Captain Francisco Munoz on the BajaAirlines, and this you ca n do when youfly to Puerto Vallarta, which is the rea-son I chose this romantic spot for a five-day vacation from the desert.Accessible only by air, unless you wishto hazard a new route over which bridgesmay or may not be built and which inpart requires a 4-wheel vehicle, thischarming fishing village climbs roughlyup the tilted sides of a tropical mountainoverlooking the 40-mile sweep of Ban-deras Bay. Its cobblestone streets, tiers ofred-tiled rooftops and layer upon layer ofwhite adobe reflect the wedding cake

, j

theme of its pla2a's filigree-crownedchurch.There is scenic variety, too. Towardthe beach on the far side of GringoGulch, a name given the banks of a river

along which "rich Americans" have builtpicturesque casas, the land flattens broad-ly to hold a village of thatched-roof hutswhere the Mexicans live who do menialchores for the rich Gringos. Withoutthese Gringos there would be no industry,no monied population to buy fish andlush tropical fruit, no building construc-tion to provide wages for artisans; norwould there be tourists to purchase the

The swimm ing beach of Puerto Vallarta is a happy rollicksome place where everyonegoes. Photos by Trent Lowe.

26 / Desert Magazine / M arch, 1968


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smartly designed dresses appliqued andembroidered by clever Mexican hands.For these reacons the Gringos and nativeslive happily together, both giving andtaking from the other.On holidays everyone goes to thebeach. Summer or winter, the water iswarm, the air balmy, and there is noquestion of segregation, even though thehistoric name of the best swimmingbeach, Playa los Muertos, is now tagged

"Gringo Beach." This refers to the own-ers of the split-level hillside villas fram-ing the beach rather than to the sun bath-ers who loll on it. Everyone is there,drinking green cocoanut milk straightfrom the shell, eating crisp tuna smokedon sticks right before their eyes, or racingin and out of the surf. It is a joyous, rol-licksome beach, not a fashionable one. Ifit is privacy you want, you will have torent a boat or jeep and travel to one ofthe glorious beaches south of town.Of these beaches, Mismaloya is the

best known, where the movie Night ofthe Iguana was filmed and where filmstars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Bur-ton launched their illustrious romance.When the film is forgotten, it will prob-ably be known as the "Ghost Town of theIguana." White plastered houses withred tile roofs climb the hillsides, but bats,racoons and perhaps a tiger or two nowoccupy them. These abandoned structureswere built originally to house equipmentand members of the film company. Afterthe shooting was over someone tried toconvert them into a hotel complex, butthe venture failed. Except for a replica ofan old castle which is used for a winery,the other buildings stand empty. Soonred tile, plumbing fixtures and adobebricks will be embraced in a strangle-holdof roots and vinesa puzzle for futureghost-town chasers.

Because of its isolated jungle location,there are few automobiles on the streetsof Puerto Vallarta, which is just as well,for they were designed to accommodatehorse-drawn carts, pedestrians, or maybea chicken, sow, burro or runaway steer,but not passenger cars. Consequently,everyone walks or climbs or travels byboat. The town is compact and easy tocover by foot and the shops and buildingsare so interesting to visit or peer into thatyou would probably choose to walk evenif you didn't have to.

The most interesting boat trip is a day-long jungle excursion to Yalapa, a primi-tive native village that caters to a colonyof American artists and semi-recluses.Boats sail close to the shore on the firstlap of the trip so you can photograph the

jungle and the coastline. Here the oceanfloor drops away sharply and deeply.Underwater ridges cast occasional slashesof luminous green across the dark paletteof the sea, but elsewhere it is a fathom-less, study in black and white. Intensify-ing the moody scene are Los Arcos, acluster of eroded rocks rising mistilyabove the water's surface, more like sculp-tures than islands. Some have eroded a-way entirely through their lower regionsto form arches under which a boat canpass. Pelicans nest in the ancient figtrees, whose roots clasp the knotty blackrocks above sea level, while the heavy-billed silhouettes of their mates return-ing from fishing expeditions darken thesky.

Near this landmark at the southernend of Banderas Bay lies Cape Corrien-tes, once the landfall of China ships asthey crossed from the toe of Baja Cali-fornia en route to Acapulco. In the year1586 more than 12 million pesos worthof silver left Acapulco on China-boundvesselssilver to pay for the treasuresthe galleons would bring back to NewSpain. Yet there was not a single cannonnor military post on the Mexican coast toprotect these ships. Consequently, Eng-lish, Dutch and French pirates hid outin these coves, too, collecting Spanishbounty both coming and going. Theonly record of a skirmish occurred when

the famous buccanneers, Swan anTownely, sent a landing party ashore tlook for provisions and the men surprisesome Spaniards who were camped therThe battle resulted in the loss of foubuccaneers and 18 Spanish soldierTownely and his entire fleet then joinethe landing party and spent six days kiling and salting beef for jerky in plaisight of the intimidated Spaniards!Probably no one will think to tell yo

to take your bathing suit to Yalapa, buthis you will want to do. The beach ansurf is perfect, the water clear. If yoskin dive, bring your snorkle and masDugout canoes carved in one piece frothe great trunks of native guanacastrees carry you ashore from the excursioboat at Yalapa and are also availablewith the oresman to take you to rocky point where tropical sea life anclear water will tempt you to give up thbattle and become a savage. It is doubful that you will recover an underwatgalleon off this shore, but it isn't impossible. On his explorations of thMexican coast Cortes sent two ships thway. One was driven ahsore during storm and landed near the present PuerVallarta; the other sank out of sight.

You might be tempted to sit under tHotel Lagunita ramada with a beer ana taco, imagining yourself meeting iguana on a moonlight night, but yo

The filigree-crowned church above the plaza is as fancy as a wedding cake.March, 1968 / Desert Magazine /


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embrace trees in jungle melee.

As you reach further and further into

tree. Enormous boulders block the wayand you wonder how they managed totumble from the peaks above and breakthrough the vegetation.I was reminded of the climb fromLake Powell to Rainbow Bridgeyouforce yourself to continue the jungleclimb, thinking that if the falls isn'taround the next turn you'll forget thewhole thing. Then suddenly there it is!

Falling from several hundred feet over-head, foamy water gushes down the sideof a granite cliff to collect in a pool sur-rounded by water-worn boulders whichrise like limpid sculptures from the vine-covered banks of the grotto. It is veryquiet. No matter how many are in yourparty, you feel alone and there are hiddenniches in which you can sit to dangleyour feet in the water while your guidescollect the nuts of the nut palm andcrack the shells between rocks. These re-semble in appearance and taste a minia-ture cocoanut. It is from them that co-

coanut oil is extracted and it is their20-foot long, spineless leaves that areused to roof the grass huts of the nativevillages.You may wish you had come preparedto stay the night at Yalapa so you couldrent a horse and explore further into thejungle. Accommodations here are in-triguingseparate, round grass huts, eachwith bath, which rent for $16.80 in sea-son, as compared to $12.00 for two at

the Oceano Hotel in Puerto Vallarta.We were told that Puerto Vallarta lostits native charm with the publicity en-gendered during the filming of Iguana.Possibly this is true, but there are com-pensations. The restaurants, as a result,are excellent and cater to U.S. ideas ofsanitation and there is a choice of mod-ern hotel accommodations in which theplumbing works. As for native atmos-phere, laundry is still washed in the Ar-royo Caule stream where Gringo Gulchshrieks with the colors of vivid blouses,skirts and blinding white underwearhanging on bushes to dry. Church bellscontinue to ring with abandon, if for nological time nor reason, and pretty girlsstill exchange shy looks with slick-hairedboys strolling along the esplanade. Every-one talks to everyone else. You might bea Gringo or a native, but you are nevera stranger.' You can fly directly to Puerto Vallartain a 47-passenger, pressurized plane onthe Baja Airlines for $117 a round trip,or from the U.S. you can fly to Mazatlanor Guadalajara and transfer to a PuertoVallarta plane from there. If you go theTijuana route, it is safe to store your carat the airport while you are gone, whereit will be guarded for a maximum fee of$3.00 for your entire stay. At PuertoVallarta you can purchase dresses, shirts" or wro ught iron, glass and ceramic ob-jects of great originality for prices farbelow their market value at home andyou can have a perfectly marvelous va-cation with more luxury for less moneythan in any other spot I know. You canrent a jeep for a jungle safari onto roads

where jaguar, ocelot and coati roam;you can go deep sea fishing and bringup a sailfish, dolphin or marlin; you cancruise to various beaches in Bahia deBanderas where pirates stalked theirmasted prey long ago; you can boogaloowith the mini-mods at a discotheque oryou can revel in the guitar music andserenades of a troubadour at La Botawhile you devour a superb steak.Whatever you want relaxation oraction it's at Puerto Vallarta. Even ifyou can only stay for five days, as I did,

you'll be glad you did it! Desert Magazine / March, 1968


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by Marie ValoreLTHOUGH San JacintoValley gives birth tonumerous golf coursesand health spas wheretourists come to bask inSouthern California sun-shine, it differs in one significant wayfrom most resort communities. It issteeped in a traditional and colorful past.This picturesque valley in Riverside

County lies in the azure shadows of

Author holds Indian basket and stonepestle found atsite.Mount San Jacinto. At one time the re-gion was under the dominance of Mis-sion San Luis Rel de Francia, one of the21 missions founded by Father JuniperoSerra. Indian vaqueros rode herd overthe sprawling cattle and sheep ranges.

Yet long before the padres or JuanBautista de Anza and Pedro Fages claim-ed it for Spain, it was home to countlessIndian wanderers who left their indeli-ble mark on the region in the form ofpictographs, petroglyphs and mortar-filled caves. Even today stone artifactsand Indian arrowheads are found.

Our own wanderings led us threemiles south of Hemet, on Highway 79,to a rocky area studded with evidencesof the past. We turned off the countrylane onto Gibble Road, where we foundhollowed-out mortar holes embedded inrock among the hills. About a mile anda half further down the road is a cavecalled the Eagle's Nest, located behindthe home of Clyde Robbins, a man who

has set out to preserve the ancient cave.Robbins believes that the history of thecave is mostly hearsay, although an ar-chaeologist who once visited the areajudged it to be 14,000 years old. A leg-end claims that little people once livedthere; another account refers to Mayanswho came perhaps 4000 years ago.The roof of the shallow cave is smoke-encrusted and its granite floor is covered

with mortar holes. The holes wereground into the floor over the years byIndian women using stone pestles togrind meal. A little stream once ranthrough the cave and was diverted intoa tiny pond, which served as a reservoir.Behind the cave on a high boulder, acarved eagle's head juts toward the smog-less blue sky. Some believe that Mayans,using obsidian stone as a tool, carved theintricate eye, beak and wings, but who-ever the patient artisans might be, theywere master craftsmen.In this area rich with aesthetic beauty,wind whistles over the rock-strewn hillsand giant boulders groan in the sun.

. -TO SAN D I E G O H WY . 35

H W Y . 74

GIBBELROAD CAVEHEMET I

RAMONA)Local Indian bands believe the Cahuillaand Cascadians once made it their home.Visitors are welcome to visit the site onweekends when Clyde Robbins displaysartifacts uncovered in the area. He show-ed us plant life that was used as foodby the Indians. The blue-flowering chiaplant near the mouth of the cave wasonce a main staple of the Cahuillas. Tothe left of the parking lot is a large liveoak tree estimated to be 550 years old.Lithograph paintings have also beenfound here. Directly south of the caveis a small, but spectacular sunburst petro-glyph and to the southwest of it is acarved turtle nearly a yard long. The

paintings and carvings probably had religious significance, but they ashrouded in mystery.We found another landmark in Reihardt Cany

196803 desert magazine 1968 march

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