197812 desert magazine 1978 december

8/14/2019 197812 Desert Magazine 1978 December

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B A C K I S S U ER A I N B A R R E L S A L E !YOU'LL HAVE A BARREL OFFUN READING THE TIMELESSPAGES OF PAST ISSUES OFDESERT MAGAZINE!oe a c h

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W ILL IAM and JOYKNYVETTC )-Publishers/EditorsG O R G E B RA G A , ArtDirectorS H A R LE N E K N Y V E T T , ArtDepartmentM


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H A T AN issue to wind up 1978!omo We've got medicine men and theirI I wares; Indian hostility in Arizona;

hunting for railroad spikes with a metaldetector; a quick look at the humbleearthworm; a Southern California wil-derness area is visitedand that's justthe half of it!

We revisit the ghost town of Bodie;learn about a nasty fungus that causesDesert Fever; take a trip to BorregoPalm Canyon; take a look at the Jimsonweed; definitely to beoverlooked only isToroweap on the rim of the GrandCan-yonand then we top it all off with a fav-orite recipe for Vinegar Cobbler!

It has been a good year, meeting somany of you personally for the first time,and reviewing friendships from the past.

We at Desert Magazine wish to sin-cerely thank all our loyal advertisers,subscribers and patrons of our BookShop. Mayyou all have a Happy HolidaySeason and avery Prosperous NewYear.

M A P S !AN ZA-BORRE GO DESE RT ST ATE PARKTOPOGRAPHIC MAPSA setof 7maps covering theAnza-BorregoDesert State Park, 8 1 /2"x11" format, spiralbound. $5.50J O S H U A T R EE N A T IO N A L M O N U M E N TUPDATE D TOPOGRAPHIC MAPSA setof12maps covering theJoshua TreeNational Monument, 8 1 /2"x11" format,spiral bound. $7.95R O A D M A P TOCALIFORNIA'S P IONE E RT O W N S , G H O S T T O W N S AND M I N I N GCAMPSCompiled byVarna Enterprises. 38"x25"and scaled. Southern C alifornia on onesideand Northern California on theother.Con-tains detailed location of place names,many ofwhich are not on regular maps.$3.50MA P OFPIONEER TRAILSCompiled by Varna Enterprises, this istheir new large map on pioneer trails blaz-ed from 1541 through 1867 in thewesternUnited States. Superimposed in red onblack and white, 37"x45". $4.00R O A D M A P TO C A L I F O R N I A ' S L O S TMINE S A ND BURIE D TREASU RESCompiled by Varna Enterprises, 38"x25"and scaled Southern California on onesideand Northern Ca lifornia on theother. $4.00

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D e s e r t / D e c e m b e r 1978


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Angel Arch in Canyonlands National ParkGive


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TH EAN ZA-BOR R EC ODESERT REGIONA Guide to theState Parkan d theAdjacent AreasBy Lowell andDiana LindsayAfter more than a decade, there has ap-peared a new guidebook to the famousAnza-Borrego Desert State Park to suc-

ISBN 0-87004-257-2306 Pages 6 " x 9" Paperbound$5.95

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T R A C K I N G *D O W N *O R E G O N

Oregon, says author Ralph Friedman, ismore than places and names on the map." It is people, past and present, h istory ,l egend, fo lk lo re . . . ." So we invite you totrack along with him, n this newbook fromCaxton, to encounter the rare and unusualin Oregon, "to locate a waterfal l seen onlyby a ew, to hunt out aburial ground soakedwith the ju ices of history , to discover theamazing Jim Hoskins of Pilot Rock, thetragic Captain Jack, the remains of Fair-f ie ld, the cavalry names etched on a desertbluff, the legend of a g u n s l i n g e r . . ."

T h e C A X T O N P R I N T E R S , Ltd.P.O. Box 700Caldwell, Idaho 83605

ceed the series writte n and published bythe late Horace Parker. It hasbeen worththe wait.

Th e new guide, from WildernessPress, theWest's most prol if ic publisherof trai l guides, is the result of manyyears' f irst-hand research by a husband-wife team, Lowell and Diana Lindsay,now of Amari l lo , Texas, but formerCalifornians.

M r s . Lindsay earl ier completed hermaster's degree requirements in west-ern history at San Diego State Universityby wr i t ing the history of the hal f -mi l l ion-acre park, which was later made into abook, "Our Historic Desert: The Story ofthe Anza-Borrego Desert . "

To compare the Lindsays' new guidewith the Parker series, "Anza-BorregoDesert Guidebook," is unfair to bothpublications. Each is superb in its ownway; each shares certain techniques,part icularly in trip logs and historicalvignettes.

The Lindsays have driven or hikedhundreds of miles in the huge park andadjoining Yuha Desert Unit administer-ed by the U. S. Bureau of Land Manage-ment. They have taken or accumulatedhundred of new and old photographsfrom which the 80 prints and maps usedin the book were selected. Most part icu-larly appreciated is the fo ldout map inthe back of the book and the series oflocator maps showing roads, trails andeven the names of U.S.G.S. topo mapscovering the region.

The Lindsays have not rel ied on de-scriptions, mileages and history compi l -ed by researcher-writers. They havedone their own, over a period of severalyears. The result is a book long overdue,wel l worth wait ing for and very interest-ing for both the casual reader and theserious visitor who intends to drive orhike the region described.

There are 65 tr ips along 700 miles ofjeep trails, paved roads and hikingroutes.

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4

THE BLACK ROCK DESERTBy Sessions S. W heeler

Dr. Wheeler, a professor at the Uni-vei sity of Nevada, Reno, hasbecome there: ident expert onsome of themostrug-gest's most elusive and least-knownab iriginal peoples.

The Black Rock is a relatively smallenclave in theoverall Great Basin but tsimportance has been properly assignedby the author, who prefers to be cal led"E uck." Which is very appropriate be-ca ise he's aswestern as the big countryhe writes about and hardly seems to beburdened by his academic status.)ne of the plus features of this newvo lume is the outstanding art contr ibu-t ion by Craig Sheppard, an oldt imeworking cowperson who acquired formalt ra in ing as a painter and educator andus d thecombinat ion, as in this book, todi : play outstanding i l lustrations involv-inf horses, Indians , cavalry androcks. Itis i rare combination of wr i t ing and ar-t isiic skil ls.

Wheeler traces the true history of theBlack Rock as an immigration route be-fo i e,during andafter theCalifornia GoldRush, itsstatus as thescene ofone of theep>c, if l i t t le-known Indian-Army batt lesof iheWest , its physical and geologicalh istory , as wel l as its importance to theIndians to the region.

In addition to Sheppard's st irr ingad ionpaintings, there aremany contem-pot aryphotographs and several accurateand pictorial maps.

Many Desert Magazine readers wil llecirn of the Black Rock Desert for thefirst t ime by reading Wheeler's colorfulhistory. Others, who have toured, rock-Desert/ December 1978

hounded and camped in its barren butbeautiful canyons andplayas, wil l learnmore of its history, part icularly the PeterLassen party andother '49ers who mis-takingly assumed it was a shortcut, com-plete with animal feed, ample water andeasy grades.

In fact, the Black Rock today, as yes-terday, is a rare spot, tough on the un-init iated but rewarding for those able tohandle its terrain and cl imate.

Paperback, 186pages, many black andwhite i l lustrations , $4.95.

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W A Q O N L O A DO F B E L I E Fby R O B E R T J O E S T O U T

An ad vertisement from the Massopust Store, C. 1851.Photo courtesy Minnesota H istorical S ociety.

THE PAIR of gaily bespangled, mudrawn wagons attracted only slattention as they dawdled westwinto the orange groves surround

Riverside, California, one crisp sprmorning 70 years ago. The driver of lead wagon, a short, Dickensian charter with a red nose overlooking a mstrous curled pipe, smiled and t ippedhat to the farm people he passed.

"Come on inta town, see the medicshow . . . you're invited to the medicshow . . . come see the fabulous mcine show . . . " he croaked, so geniah is approach tha t the townspeocouldn't resist l iking him. Now and the'd hand a gir l or reticent, shawrapped old woman a nostrum inodd-shaped bo t t le covered w i thcheaply inked inscription: Dr. Mbrun's Precious Skin Balm and IrriSalve.

Near the railroad station, eight or blocks from the center of town, the wagons pul led into an empty lot. "DMaybrun hopped down from his perubbed his hands together and gestuto the driver of the wagon that had lowed him. A few curious boys, baref8 Des ert/ December


9/48

and mop-haired, the stat ion agent and acoiple of women in long dresses andsunbonnets threaded their way throughthist les a nd Johnson grass to get a closerlook at the "Doctor" and his t ravel inger ipor ium. He smi led, t ipped his some-wl iat dusty bowler over one eye and com-mented on the town's beauty and ob-vi 'us wholesomeness of its inhabitants.

His head rocked back; his laughterdeepened ; w i t h p rac t i ced po i se hest 'pped to the box of the nearest wagonarid waved towards the heavens. Thun-dr crackled and a bur st of incandescentgreen zigzagged into the clear sky abovethem. Childre n scattered and the womeng; sped. The doctor laughed.

"Ladeez! Good cit izens! Is that thew ly you awaken in the morning? Zesty?Popping with life? What? Who said no?A night of good rest should recharge theelectr icity in your systems! You shouldle ip fr om th e b ed . . . "

Poof! Another skyrocket burst abovethe good doctor. He leaned forwa rd to in-spect the faces of his audience. Thefi eworks had attracted attent ion; men,women and children were approachingthe vacant square from al l direct ions. Helet them crowd closer to his wag on, then,with a worried professional air, hesi ngled out one of the f irst-com ers. "T el lrr e honest ly , m a'am . Do you suffer fromb tckaches? Zestlessness? Low spirits?Do you catch yoursel f th ink in g y ou w on'tmake it throug h the day? Do yo u have tos lop f requent ly to rest?"

The woman, a slender, dark-hairedmother in her early thirt ies, hung herhead and n odded. The do ctor leaned to-v ards her. " M ad am , I assure yo u,there's no need for it. The Indians neverf i l t that way. Neither did the Chinese.Why? They took the sun's own tonicc l i l y .

"The sun's own tonic! " He thrust h ishead back and shouted the words.' Madam, I happen to have with me oneof the last of an origin al pot ion, a recipeg ven me by my grandmother whosiudied on the lap of an Orientalpr incess."

Sure enough, from beneath his longc )at Doc May bru n produced a dark-colored bott le labeled Original Old In-dian Zephyr Tonic. In ful l view of his ra-pidly assembled, curious audience, heuncapped it and thrust it into themother 's hands. "Dr ink as an Indianwould, " he urged, "and te l l these peo-hesert/ December 1978

pieneighbors of yourswhat effect ithas. I t 's freeabsolutely no cost! Justdrink from it , deeply. Here, face yourf ri ends , l e t t hem see you . . . "

The woman, despite embarrassment,fol lowed the doctor's instruct ions andtook a long pul l f rom the f lask-shapedbott le. Her face reddened and she nod-ded. Heeding the doctor's continuingurgings, she drained the bott le andtossed it aside. The doctor, standing be-s ide her, c lapped his hands. " O h ! " shegasped. "Oh, my goodness . Why, I I. . . i t 's wonderful! I t 's real ly wonder-f u l ! "

On-lookers joustled each other for achance to bid for the few remaining bot-t les. The doctor sold the last few that hehad in his wagon, then went scramblingthrough the smal ler, back-up wagon formore. Three, four, f ive bott les appearedat a t imeand were snatched by eager

customers. Somehow, he managed tosatisfy everyone's demands, abett ingthe dol lar-a-bott le that he col lected byputt ing squat l i t t le jars of skin balm anda spec ia l o l d Tu rk i sh co rn - rem ove r(made from scented lye soap) on sale for50 cents each.

Six such performances in three daysnetted Doc Maybrun more than the localdruggist had made in four months. Hishighly sought el ixir was nothing more

*',.

Typical postersfrom the days

of the travelingmedicine shows.

Photos courtesy of theNew York Historical

Society, New York City.


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An herb seller of the past.th in a combination of senna leaves, hy-pophosphite calcium, fennel seed, sugarand . . . a lcohol!

By contemporary barkeeping stan-d.irds, it was 78 proof.

No wonder a bott leful made a harr iedmother feel good!

May brun 's medicines weren ' t the on lypoient ones being marketed at the turnof the century . Scarcely a year before,thr United States Treasury had ruledth.it the popular ly distr ibuted Perunamust have a medicinal smel l or i t wouldbe taxed as l iquor. Lydia Pinkham'sCompound, possibly the most popularal l '?viant for "women's distress" everdeveloped, ran about 36 proof (the sameas modern-day Cal i fornia sherry) andAngostura bitters, essential for a goodm inhattan , was sold througho ut thecountry as a health tonic long before itbe< ame a mix er.

i he invention and sale of herbal curescan be traced through history to Ur andEf /|)t. Plants known to possess healingqual i t ies were carr ied throughout the10

civi l ized wor ld by merchants from al lcorners of the Roman Empire. Through-out the Middle Ages various types of" n a t u r a l " medicines were sold by tra-ve l i n g p e d d l e r s ( i n c l u d i n g a b s in th e ,opium and a variety of fermented bever-ages) and commentators on the earlydays of l i fe in the New World, includingJean de Crevecoeur and Ben Frankl in,make note of European and Indian curesavai lable in this country , both at apothe-cary shops and from it inerant m erchants.

By the end of the Civi l War, thesetravel ing pitchmen had developed bothroutes and reputations. For 40 years theyranked with the m ost colorful characterson the American scene. So seldom weretheir remedies medical ly sound, a Tope-ka , Kansas drugstore adver t ised, " W esel l patent medicinesbut we don't re-commend them!" Pr ince Nanzetta , whotoured the West for years, publ icly ad-vised his brethren, "Take the easydough and get out of town fast!" Hun-dreds of people died every year aftertaking some p i tchman's "snake o i l " or

"wiza rd l o t ion . " Bu t t imes were hard,the winters severe and entertainmenthard to come by. Homesteaders in placesl ike Wil bur , Nebraska, and Socorro, NewMexico, loved the patent pitchmen even though the char latans, knowinglyor unknowingly, damned near ki l ledthem.

Nor were al l the enterprises str ict lysmal l potatoes. A New York-born f l i m -f lammer who ca l led h imsel f " D o c"Healy temporari ly took on an Iroquoisassistant (the two had met in an up-statemadhouse and gotten drunk together).Hea ly drummed "Old Ind ian" recipes(the "chief" provided tangible proof thatthe nostrums had indeed originated witha tribe of he-men in the great outdoors)and was so successful he proceeded tolaunch the Kickapoo Indian MedicineCompany. In less than three years hehad nearly 100 wagons touring the We st,each with a pitchm an, an entertainer andat least two Indians (none of whom werefrom the smal l Texas tr ibe bearing thatname). They sold balms, l iver pads andmoonshine mixed with spices and fruitsyrups. Their founder became a mil l ion-aire.

As did Lydia Pinkham, Dr. DavidJayne (creator of a famous vermifuge),James Ferdan, who exploited the digni-f ied and Godly Quaker image, and Dr.Haml in , whose "Wiz ard O i l " was who le -saled to drugstores and ordered and re-ordered until well after the passage ofthe Federal Pure Food and Drug Act of1906.

Lost manhood tablets, bust devel-opers, dyspepsia pi l ls, aborti facients,V.D. cures (euphemistical ly label led "atreatm ent for a disease result ing fro my outhfu l indiscretions . . . " ) and cornremovers f looded the West. Dr. Sway-me's Wild Cherry Tonic was touted as acure for " th e Civi l War Arm y d isease"(morphine addiction). It contained mor-phine sulphate and was a fix , not a cure.(An even more sinister use of morphinesulphate was a compound peddled as achi ldren's teething medicine.)

Nevada Ned, a highly successful pitch-man who never had set foot in the statehe claimed had yielded so many of na-ture's secrets to him, developed an ad-d ict ion to h is own "Cata rrh Pow der ." ( I twas a mixture of menthol, sugar, milkand cocaine.) Fel low's Hy pophosphites,commercial ly bott led somewhere in theEast, contained glucose, sugar, water,

Desert / December 1978


11/48

Kickapoo Indian Medicine Showit Marine, Minn., C. 1890. Photo cour-

tesy Minnesota Historical S ociety.

quinine, calcium, potassium, manganeseand st rychnine! Haml in 's Wizard Oi l , anexternal medicat ion, was 4/5ths alcoholan d 1/1Oth chloroform with a l i t t le gumc tmphor and oi l of sassafras thrown in.Hashale w's E l ixir of Life was a combina-tion of cocao (the source of cocaine) andalcohol; once the pitchman had a routeestabl ished, he could count on a highvolume of return trade.

Women ranked high as medicine ped-dlers. They traveled under exotic nameslike Lotus Blossom, Princess Ida andMadame DuBois and toured the smal lt iwns west of the Mississippi with an en-tourage of musicians and male protec-tors, Their best customers were middle-aged men and their best products weremale "rev i ta l izers, " suppposedly devel -oped from some Asiat ic or American In-dian source.

South Texas and Louisiana residents\ ere graced by the summ ert ime appear-ance of Suzanne, "Th eC aju n Pr incess.""I al l , dark-h aired, a native of New Y orkCity ( though legi t imately marr ied for awhile to a New Orleanian of French; ncestry), she swung into towns l ike( onroe and Abbev il le w ith verve andstyle; Two black buglers and a banjoplayer raced into town to proclaim herarr iva l . An enormous Acadian, broad of! houldera Paul Buny an of a man es-< orted her to the square. She had al ospeler's sincerity and, though in herthirt ies, was young in appearance andphys ica l l y we l l -endowed. "Perhaps , ": he'd begin her spiel, "y ou ladies: hou ldn 't l isten to this . . . " aches. My appreciation for southernA:


13/48

Right:Sceneof the wagon

train ambush.Below: All that

remains ofJohn Ward's ranchhouse can b e seen

on a bluff e astof Highway 82.

v as bayoneted to the ground . M irac u-lously he survived. The other Indians,sti l l inside the tent, were captured andtied up.

Later, on the afternoon of February 5,C ochise and a num ber of his war riorsaopeared at the stage station. Cochisehad contracted with the stage companyt i cut f irewood and was on friendl yt i ' rms with the stage employees. The sta-t'on keeper, Charles Culver, his assistantWalsh and stage driver, James Wallace,were stil l unaware of what had happenedin Bascom's tent. Thus, when Cochisec i l led to them the three men went out tohim unarmed and in shirt sleeves. As theIndians tried to seize them, Walsh andCulver rushed for the station followed bya shower of bullets. Culver was shot inthe back at the door of the station. Walshtried to escape over the wall of thecorra l , but meanwhile Bascom's menhad arrived and entered the corral fromthe rear. A soldier, mistaking Walsh foran Indian, shot him in the head, ki l l inghim instant ly. Upon seeing the soldiersCochise retreated, dragging Wallaceaway with him to the Apache camp.

That evening a wagon train enteredApache Pass from the west on its way toIhe Rio Grande. The wagons were beingiJriven by eight Mexicans and twoAmericans, Jordon and Lyons. Just be-

yond the summit the party pul led off themail road and made camp in a wide mea-dow. As soon as they had made campCochise attacked. The eight Mexicanswere tied to the wagon wheels andburned. Jordon and Lyons were takenalive.

C eser t / D ecember 1978 13

Evidently that same evening Cochiseappeared with Wallace on the hil l east ofthe station. A stake with a paper attach-ed was drived into the groun d. The mes-sage from Cochise to Bascom read,"Treat my people wel l and I wil l do thesame by yours of whom I have three."

:

i*0


14/48

E. iscom had n ot know previously ofpiisoners other than Wallace.

The next day, while his warriors re-mained hidden in a deep ravine west ofthe station, Cochise appeared with Wal-lace on the flat ground between the ra-vine and the station. Wallace was boundand showing the effects of his captivityand exposure to the February cold. Co -chise offered to exchange Wallace and16 government mules for the Indianpiisoners. Bascom refused, demandingthat Lyons and Jordon also be released.Cochise would not agree and so the par-Icy ended. Cochise and Wallace wentback to the ravine and retreated with theother warr iors.

The Butterf ie ld Stage was due in fromtl i? east that night, February 6. TheIndians had placed piles of brush acrossthe road hoping to ignite them as thesu g e a p p ro a ch e d . Th e f i r e s w o u ldblock the path and provide enough lightfc>r the Indians to shoot the occupants ofthe stage from the canyon wal ls. F ortun-ately on that day the stage was runningtwo hours ahead of schedule and the In-di ins were not on hand to execute theambush. The brush was removed andthe stage proceeded safely to the sta tion.The conductor, A. B. Culver, brother ofthe station keeper Charles Culver, de-cided to go no farther.

The east-bound stage which arrive d inApache Pass near midnight on February6 did not have such a peaceful passage.

Two miles west of the station, not farf rom the si te of the wagon t ra inmassacre, Indians fired on the stage.The driver, King Lyon, was shot in theleg and the lead mule was kil led. Aftercutting out the dead mule the stage andpassengers proceeded toward the sta-t ion. Several times they stopped to re-move obstructions placed in the road byIndians. A t one point the stage road des-cended a rocky gulch a nd crossed a stonebr idge. Cochise had removed the sidesof the bridge and otherwise damaged ithoping to plummet his enemies into theravine and make easy prey of the survi-vors. However, the stage was going sofast when it reached the bridge that itslid safely across on its axles. Thewheels, hanging off the sides of thebr idge, took hold on the other side andstage and passengers were able to reachthe station about 2:00 A .M . Thursdaymorning.

After four days of conflict in the passCochise appeared to have the upperhand. At this point Lieutenant Bascomdecided to send a messenger to FortBuchanan ask ing fo r supp l ies andmedical assistance.

Wil l iam Buckley, superintendent forthe Tucson-El Paso division of the But-terf ie ld Company, had arrived on theeast-bound stage. He sent A. B. Culverto Tucson to ask troops from Fort Breck-enridge (later to be called Camp Grant)to escort the wes t-bound stage out of the

Chiricahua Mountains.Meanwhile the excitement in Apache

Pass was not over. On February 7th or8th Apaches hid in the brush just belowApache Spring about 700 yards east ofthe station and ambushed a party of sol-diers as they were return ing from water-ing the stock. One Butterf ie ld employeewas kil led and one soldier wounded.Fifty-four mules were driven off.

On February 10 Assistant SurgeonBernard J. D. Irwin arrived with a smallescor t f rom For t Buchanan. Theybrought with them three Coyotero Apa-ches captured with stolen stock in Sul-phur Springs Val ley.Shortly thereafter reinforcements ar-rived from Fort Breckenridge without in-cident. Cochise had seen the reinforce-ments coming and was nowhere to befound, nor were his captives.

Vultures were seen circling close tothe ground near the mail road at thewestern end of the pass. When soldiersinvestigated they found the muti latedbodies of the three Americans. Wallacewas identif ied by the gold f i l l ings in histeeth. The soldiers buried the dead nearwhere they had been found next to thestage road.

14 Desert /December 1978


15/48

Many soldiers demanded that the In-dian hostages be hung inreprisal. Bas-com hesitated, butwhen Moore, theranking off icer from Fort Breckenridge,offered to assume ful l responsibil ity Bas-com agreed toth e plan. The soldiersbroke camp to return to their respectiveforts. As they prepared to leave the passthey stopped atthe graves ofthe threeAmericans. The six warriors were hungfrom the limbs of a large oak tree nea rby .The woman and child were taken to FortEJuchanan and later released.

Cochise did not soon forget the fate ofhis relatives. His attacks against the in-vading white man lasted for 12yearsunti l Major General Oliver O. Howard,nicknamed the one-armed general, madepeace with Cochise in1872. Incidentsbroke out again in 1876 following thedeath of Cochise. The Apache Warscontinued intermittent ly unti l thesur-render ofGeronimo in1886.

As we stood shivering inthe winterw ind on theridge overlooking SiphonCanyon, we tried toimagine the peopleliv ing those events of over 100 years ago.We had descriptions ofthe Bascom Af-fair taken from mil itary reports and fromiccounts byButterf ie ld employees whoOesert/ December 1978

Left:Foundation ofthe oldApacheSpring Stage

Station.Opposite:Butterfieldstage roadas itdescendstoward thebridge whichwas damagedby Indiansduring theBascomAffair.

were involved. With these and the helpof Bil l Hoy, ranger at the Fort BowieNational Historic Site inApache Passand expert of he history of he Chirica-hua Mounta ins, wehad relocated thesites of most of the major incidents of theBascom Affair. Itwas not difficult to letour imaginations reconstruct the action,but we wondered what became of thepeople after Bascom left the pass.

Felix Ward was never returned tohisfamily. He was probably captured by theWhite Mounta in orCoyotero Apaches,no t byCochise's Chiricahuas. He wasraised as an Apache and emerged as ayoung adult, becoming an Indian scoutand interpreter known as Mickey Free bythe Army .

Exactly one year after the Bascom Af-fair, Lieutenant Bascom, now acaptain,was kil led atthe age of26 inthe CiviWar batt le ofValverde, New Mexico.

Cochise remained in the vicinity of theChiricahua Mountains. Having brokenhis peace with the Americans during theBascom Affair, he began towage fu l l -scale war against the invading settlerwho continued to bedrawn toApachePass by the life-giving waters ofApacheSprings.

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16/48

F ollow ThoseO ld R aiP ROSPECTING ALONG old railbedswith a metal detector can be very re-ward ing , and there are many miles ofuntouched areas left. My treasure hunt-'

ini; partner, Alan Shaw, and I recentlysp< nt a day foll ow ing one in Northe rnNevada and found it to be very profit-able. This part icular rai lbed had oncebeen used by the historic Virginia andTruckee Railroad.

We started at the ruins of an old ra i l -ro.id town cal led Mound House, aboutseven miles from Carson City. Duringthe 1860s, this was a busy interchangebetween the V&T and the narrow gaugeCaison and Colorado Railroad. At thattime the Carson-Comstock stage road

also ran through M ound House, and tol lswere col lected there.

By 1869, this l it t le town was a thriv inghub of activity and a jumping-off pointfor the surrounding com munit ies of Day-ton, Pine Grove and Sutro. Tents, rockand wood houses dotted the landscape,and in 1884 a post office was finally es-tablished.

The town grew slowly, but l ived onuntil 1905 when the Carson and C oloradoRailroad converted from narrow gauge tostandard gauge rails and built a by-passwhich rerouted its l ine from MoundHouse. In November of 1905 the postoffice was removed and the town beganto decline.

Betwee n 1913 and 1921 ther e was a re-vival when gypsum mining began nearMo und House. A camp of about 20 build -ings was erected and used during thoseyears. In 1921 the gypsum companytransferred its operations to Gerlach andthe town died again, except for the V& Trail station. That old building surviveduntil 1939 when the last V&T locomotiveblew its lonely steam whist le and opera-tions ceased. The tracks have all beentaken up since and the only reminders ofthe town are a lot of scattered tin cans,purple glass, junk and an old tombstoneprotected by a faded picket fence.

One very intriguing fact is that thisl it t le town was in existence during theyears that a U. S. mint operated in Car-son City, just seven miles west, whichmeans that the populace in Moundb y R I C H A R DT A Y L O R

My treasure hunting partner, Alan Shawprospects at the site of an old cabin be-side the V& T railbed. It was here that wefound an old buckle, a n 1853 two-centpiece and more railroad spikes.16

House undoubtedly carried, lost andburied coins minted in Carson C ity.

Many of these coins are rare and wel lworth the treasure hunter's t ime. Ashort while prior to our visit to the site,we had seen three very nice Carson Cityminted coins that a treasure hunter hadfound at Mound House. He had aquarter valued at $1500 in the red book,a dime worth $1100, and a half-dol larworth $95. Very nice f inds, indeed, andwe hoped to have some of the same goodluck.

After putt ing in several hot dustyhours at the site of Mound House, ourdetectors went ape! There is more metal-l ic junk in the ground there than at manyof the larger sites we've visited. Wefound dozens of tin cans and squarenails, but no coins. However, when Alanturned up a perfect narrow gauge ra i l -road spike, inspiration hit us like a ton ofbricks.

"H ey , Dic k!" he ca l led, ho ld ing upthe o ld spike. "D 'y a know what they ' regetting for these up in the tourist shopsin V i rg in ia C i t y?"

"No t exact l y , " I rep l ied ."Up to a buck apiece," he answered.

" If you brass plate them and frame themon an old piece of wood, the y 're worth alo t more . "

My interest was aroused."What do you have in mind , A lan?""Maybe they d idn ' t take the spikes

when they pul led the rails up," he said."You might have something there," I

answered. "What are we wait ing for?"As with any old railway, the railbed

was built very we l l , and quite easy tofol low. We crossed the highway and be-gan fol lowing it down the hil l toward thelong defunct mill sites on the CarsonRiver.

It was not long before the detectorsbegan sounding off. The railroad spikeswere everywhere. They were buriedunder about three inches of topsoil with

Desert /December 1978


17/48

W

rwh ich t ime and the wea the r hadconcealed them.

Lucki ly there was a gunnysack inAlan's pickup. He hurried back to get i twh i le I continued uncove ring one spikeafter another.

Before we'd gone an eighth of a mi le,we had found a thi rd of a gunnysack ful lof perfect narrow gauge rai lroad spikesand were already eagerly count ing therevenue we'd get for them in VirginiaCity. Lady Luck must have been with usD esert / D ecem b er 1978

Above: The 7853 two-centpiece and railroadspikes we found at thesite of the old cabin.

9 Left: Alan Shawchecks around theremnants of a V& T Railroadbridge near theCarson River.

that day, because we were soon to makean extraordinary f ind .

It happened at the ruins of an oldcabin that we came upon next to the rai l -bed. We were tak ing turns lugging theheavy sack of spikes when we spottedthe cabin remnants.

"M ay be this was a crew shack forgandy dancers at one ti m e ." I suggestedWe bo th though t i t was wor thchecking with the detectors, so we decid-ed to do a real job of it. Our efforts

paid off royal ly, as the detectors pin-pointed an interesting old buckle and an1853 two-cent piece. Unfortun ately , Iaccidental ly scraped the face of i t whi led igg ing . The dry cl imate had preservedit w e l l , but no amount of cleaning wouldremove the scratch.

We also found several more perfectspikes at the cabin site, before the sunstarted to sink.

This had proven to be one of our moresuccessful treasure hunting trips, andwe sti l l have many more mites of oldC&C rai lbed to fo l low. Hopeful ly , wewon't f lood the rai lroad spike market.

For those of you who choose to followthe old rai lbeds in your areas, there areprobably many good old spikes justwaiting for you under the topsoi l, aswell as gandy dancer camps and shacksto explore. I hope your luck wi l l be asgood as ours. Good hun ting !

17


18/48

After mating, some earthwormsproduce egg capsules [cocoons filled with eggs]so tiny that they are difficult toseewithout amagnifying glass.

T h a t H u m b l eH e r o - T h eE a r t h w o r mUR EARTH is inhabited by a vast

Oj mult itude of strange and wonderfuly animals. Some spend most of theirl ivi s n the air, and others dwell in riversor in the depth of lakes and oceans.Some creep, crawl, hop or scamper onth i surface of the land, and countlessothers, such as the earthworm, maketheir homes in the dark and silent under-wo i Idbeneath the surface of the ground.

Ithough they are seldom seen exceptin ireshly duggardens and f ishermen'sbail cans, earthworms are found in al-mo ii every part of the wor ld . All in all,there are about 7,000 differe nt species ofea hworms and their relatives known tozoologists. About 90 of these speciesarenaiive to North America.

I he most common varieties of ourfamiliar earthworms grow to about fouror live inches in lenghth. Occasional ly,some can be found that measure up to

ten inches. Inequatorial South Am erica,however, a giant earthworm grows to alength of seven feet, and in t imes notlong past wasworshipped by native In-dians. Giant earthworms also are foundin India, Austral ia, andSouth America,where some are said to reach asmuchasten feet in length.

Earthworms have never been verytempt ing to most people of the civi l izedworl d as food. But among more prim it iveraces, such as the Maori tr ibesmen ofNew Zealand, they have been lookedupon as asty and nourishing items for afami ly meal .

Humble as it ma y be in size, appear-ance, and habits, one would not ordinar-i ly think of the lowly earthworm as anunsung hero. Yetthat is exactly what itis inevery sense of the word. Only whenwe get to know it better in the way itl ives and abors do we begin to realize

by C. W ILLIA M HA RRISON

that it is t ru ly a doer of mighty deeds.Because it manufactures fertile soil

ou t of sand andother substances, theearthworm is a maker of lush meadowsand productive f ie lds for the raising offoods and fibers for human beings.Wi thou t it, ourearth would be a far lesshospitable place for people and otherl iv ing th ings. As a matter of fact, ourplanet might be so harsh and barren thatman andmost other forms of l ife couldnot exist on it.

To some people, this lowly creature isknown as an "ang le worm." Others re-fe r to it as a "n ight crawler" because it

' ? CliteUum.(JReprodLwetivfe

There are as manyas 500 rlngllke segmentsin the body ofsomespecies ofearthworms.Each has its ownnetwork ofnerves,its own blood vessels,its own muscles,and its own systemof carrying offwastes.18 Desert /Dec emb er 1978


19/48

Even though theearthworm has no eyes,ears, or lungs [it absorbsoxygen throug h the tissuesof its body wal l], nor abrain capable of thin kingor remembering, it Is wellequipped to carry on Itssimple way of l i fe .Unlike animals that digdens and burrows ,the earthworm does notiimply push the soil aside.Instead, he actually eatshis way through the earth .The tunnels he leavesbehind him pe rmits air andwater to enter the soil m oreeasily , and enables plantsto put down and spreadtheir root systems morerapidly and with less effort.

is after dark that it crawls out of its bur-row to feed and mate. In some places it isbest known as a "dew worm" because itoften is foun d in the dew "that settles onlawns and meadows during the night. Inother areas i t is ca l led a " ra inworm"because it is so frequently seen on thesurface of the ground after daytimerains.

So many earthworms emerge fromtheir burrows after a heavy downpourthat people once believed they actually' ra ined down" f rom the storm cloudsabove. This was only a superstit ion, ofcourse. It would be more correct to saythat they " ra in up" dur ing a drenchingshower as they become flooded out oftheir underground burrows.

Having no feet or legs, the earthwormtravels by means of four pairs of tinybristles that grow from the lower edgesof each of the many riblike segments ofits small but mighty body. It is able tomove forward or backward at wil l bygripping the ground with its brist les andthen expanding or contracting either thetibs in front or those behind.

With scores of body segments joinedtogether by softer tissues, the earth-worm can shrink or stretch itself to analmost unbelievable extent. When ne-cessary, it can taper its nose down to aneedle-sharp point and make its body[lesert/ December 1978

thin enough to enter tiny crevices andholes. Then, by expandiing its sturdyl it t le frame powerful ly, it widens andlengthens its burrow by thrusting thesoil particles apart.

For its size, the earthworm is probablyone of the strongest creatures on earth.Given t ime, it can force its way throughdense, hard clays. A worm weighin g lessthan 1/3Oth of an ounce is capable ofmoving a stone weighing as much as twoounces. This is the equivalent of a 100-pound boy or gir l muscling out of theirway an object weighing 6,000 pounds!

Nature created the earthwo rm to be anexpert at what it does besteating.An y thing and everything that happens tolie in its p ath decay ing roots , anim aland vegetable remains, l iving and deadbacteria, even mineral soil and smallstonesall are to the earthworm thingsto be devoured. In due t ime, everythingthat has not been absorbed into theworm's body as food is deposited on thesurface of the ground in tiny mounds ofwaste materials, cal led "castings." Richin nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus andother important elements, earthwormcastings are probably nature's m ost val-uable source of plant food.

If it seems difficult to believe that any-th ing as sma l l and low ly as theearthworm could accomplish anything

real ly worthwhile, we must consider thecreature in terms of numbers. It hasbeen estimated that the total weight ofearthworms in the United States is atleast ten times the weight of our nation'sentire human population!

The noted Brit ish natural ist, CharlesDarwin , estima ted tha t each acre of goodsoil contains up to 50,000 earthworms,and that in a year's t ime they producemore than 15 tons of soil-nourishingcastings. In 20 y ears, this would amountto a layer of new humus (decomposedanimal and vegetable matter) from twoto three inches thick deposited on thesurface of the ground.

One modern scientist sees the earth-worm as a possible solution to A merica 'srapidly-growing waste disposal problem.His idea is to place an army of earth-worms in a vast enclosed container f i l le dwith garbage, leaves, and the l ike, andlet the worms take care of the disposalproblem in their own way. A hundredtons of earthworms, he estimates, couldconsume in a day's time the 100 tons ofwastes that are produced daily by a cityof 75,000.

So it wel l may be that the lowly earth-worm, that humble hero of fert i le soils,will someday become an unseen hero inman's efforts to clean up his littered andpol luted environm ent!

19


20/48

AuiUMTibia3Wilde

2*SiZ. Arroyo Seco Creek,^ normally a trickle,

is swelled bywinter rains.

iHIN SHAFT of sunlight piercedthe pale canopy of the sky as werested contentedly on our perch ofrocks at Eagle Crag. Below us a mightycanyon yawned, choked with brush andboulders; and beyond, a succession ofpurple ridges marched southerly towardan ethereal horizon deep within BajaCalifornia. Silence andstil lness hung inth e air. Wehad arrived at thepinnacle ofour journey, a f i t t ing c l imax to a longtrek through the Agua Tibia Wildernessof Southern California.

My h iking partners and I were savor-in g our success at " b a g g i n g " a newpeak, but this was not the sole object ofthe c l imb. As SanDiego area residents,this was an opportunity for us to studyand appreciate thegreat diversity of na-t ive f lora and fauna in our own localmountains, and to enjoy thequiet gran-deur of San Diego County's only statu-tory wilderness.

We were fortunate to have chosen anopportune t ime ofyear for a visita coolFebruary weekend fol lowing a sustainedperiod of ra infa l l . Ear ly in the year, theshaggy foothil ls clad in soft chamise andf lowering ceanothus sti l l looked invit ing.Scores of giant manzanita were in fu l lbloom, with thousands of white to pink-ish-white, tubular f lorets. High on AugaTib ia Mounta in, we strol led through a

"Bagging" apeak sometimesrequires a bit of detective work.

20 Desert / December 1978


21/48

by J E R RY S C H A D

On Eagle Crag, theviewstretches from theChannel Islandsto Baja California.

magnif icent coniferous forest with lin-gering patches of snow at our feet. Weendured a chil ly evening at "basecamp" amid the pines, with nothing towarm us except conversation andgoodcheer; then scrambled out of bed thenext morning at dawn to meet the chal-lenge of Eagle Crag.

It's perhaps not surprising that theworld of Agua Tibia is l i t t le-known evento Southern Californians, outside of amodest number of semi-regular usersand members of scouting or outdoor or-ganizations. Like many wilderness areas,its existence is not publicized in touristor travel guides, not can its location begleaned on most road maps. But it doesexist on Forest Service maps. The 28-square-mile wilderness occupies acornerof theCleveland National Forest on thenorth slope of the Palomar Mountainsastride the Riverside-San Diego Countyl ine.

Before 1975, the w i l d e rn e ss wasknown as the Agua Tibia Prim it ive A rea,a designation applied by the Chief ofForest Service in 1931. Of the roughly27,000 acres contained within the boun-daries of theprimitive area, about 9,000at the south end included a temporarydesert /December 1978

Indian withdrawal that dated back to1903. This "Mission Indian Reserve" isa curious anomaly that persists even to-day. It is assigned to no particular tr ibein San Diego County, although severalreservations are nearby. The local In-dians continue to use it occasionally for

hunting and o cut a few trees for theirow n use.

In January, 1975, the northern two-thirds (about 18,000 acres) of thepr imi -tive area acquired full wilderness statusby federal law. This insures that man-made " improvements" sha l l never in-

21


22/48

P/ne Flat Trail[left[ offers easypassage through anotherwiseimpenetrablethicket o f live oakand chaparral.Palomar Dividefire road [below]is no longermaintained, butprovides anexcellenthiking route.

t rude , and the area wil l forever remain inits natural state.

To enjoy Agua Tibia as we d id, plan tocome after the rains of winter or earlyspring. In the brief periods fol lowingstorms, the normal l y t inder-dry canyonsand bleached arroys come al ive with thesound of rushing water. Late spring al-most guarantees the appearance of my-riads of del icate wildf lowers.

Wildl i fe is plent iful here, but covert inits appearance. The list includes westerngray squirrels, cottontai l and jack rab-bits, raccoons, opossums, bobcats, r ing-tai led cats, f lying squirrels, gray foxes,coyotes, weasels, skunks, badgers, m uledeer and mountain l ions. The sight ing offeral hogs has even been reported! Birdspecies seen here include golden eaglesand four kinds of hawks.

There is but one public access to thewilderness D ripping Springs Camp-ground located ten miles east of Inter-state 15 on California Highway 79 inR ive r s ide Coun t y . The cam pgrounditself is a del ightful place to spend anight (fee $2 per site) under spreadingoaks, sycamores and cottonwoods. Ar-royo Seco Creek tr ickles alongside. Theelevation here is 1600 feet.

There are seasonal restrictions on en-tering the adjacent wilderness. Entry isprohibited during f ire closure, whichruns from July 1 to the f irst appreciablerainfal l in autumn . Check with the ForestService beforehand if in doubt.

Prior to entering the wilderness area,you must obtain a "wi lderness permit "from the Forest Service ranger station atthe entrance to the campground. Sincewater is general ly not available outsidethe campground, you should pack alonga canteen if you plan to hike more thanan hour or two. Overnight backpackersshould be equipped with a camp stove,since open fires are not allowed in anyseason.The wilderness area is entered fromthe south end of the campground. HerePine Flat Trai l fords Arroyo Seco Creekand immediately begins a switchbackascent leading to the summit of AguaTibia Mountain on the Palomar Divide.The trai l is wel l-engineered, with gradesseldom exceeding ten percent. A mile orso up brings into view Vail Lake in neigh-boring Rancho California to the north.On clear days, a panorama of SouthernCa l i f o rn ia ' s l o f t i es t m oun t a ins O ldBaldy, San Gorgonio and San Jacinto 22 Desert /December 1978


23/48

form an impressive backdrop. As youc l imb, the ow brush along the trail giveswa y to larger shrubs; t hen, at aboutthree miles , the giant chaparral appears.

Ord inari l y , periodic f ires sweep acrossthe dry hil lsides ofSouthern California inlate summer or early fa l l , discouragingthe growth of mature chaparral. Buthere, at anelevation of about 3500 feet,there areexamples of t ru ly gargantuan-sized shrubs m anzanita and red shanksgrown to heights of 20 feet. They repre-sent the equival ent of a "c l imax, fo rest , "unburned and undisturbed for at least acentury .

At four miles the trail descends al i t t le, and a view opens up to thesoutheast. Thewhite dome of the HaleTelescope at Palomar Observatory spar-kles on a distant ridge. Again you re-sume switchbacking, while the scenerychanges from chaparral to oak andpineforests.

At trai l 's end (elevation 4400 ft.), on asaddle atop Agua Tibia Mountain, is theF'alomar Divide Road. This former main-tained fire road is nowabandoned andleft for the elements to slowly (and insome cases, rapidly) return it to nature.

A f ine view of themountains and val-leys to thesouth, and the Pacific Oceanto the west, may be had by wa lking a fewhundred feet southeast on the fire roadto a point overlooking Castro Canyon. Itis approximately six andone-half milesone-way from the trai lhead to this view-point, probably the arthest anyprudenthiker should venture on a one-dayout ing .

Ove rn ig h t b a ckp a ck in g , h o w e ve r ,opens up the possibil ity of visi t ing themost spectacular landmark in the wilder-nessthe 5077-foot Eagle Crag. Toreach this dramatic outcropping, youmust continue about four miles south-cast on the fire road, then scramble up at imber- andbrush-infested slope to thepile of rocks at the top. Theregister onthe summit has recorded only a fewvisits each year.

The Agua Tibia Wilderness uniquelyp reserves a vegeta t ive cover tha ts. t retched unbroken across SouthernCalifornia's mountains as l i t t le as a< entury ago. Today there is at least this(me parcel of land in which it shall re-main. Whether you come for a fewhoursor a few days, walk two miles or twen ty ,Agua Tib ia has something original tooffer you. Desert/ December 1978

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24/48

Toroweap Overlook, Grand Canyon National Park.Photo by David Muench, Santa Barbara, California.

REMO TE JEW ELING RA N D CA N YO N 'SM O F BEAUTYby BI LL J E N N I N G S

I THE entire 277 miles of the GrandCanyon, from Lee's Ferry to GrandWash, there is only one place whereycu can drive a passenger car to thebrink of the Inner Gorge of the ColoradoRiver and look down 3,000 feet directlyto the river, at least from the North Rim.

That place is Toroweap Point in theTuweep Unit of Grand Canyon NationalPiirk, some 70 miles southwest of Fre-donia, Arizona. If the official name of thepi,ice draws a blank, remember it wasthe Grand Canyon National Monumentunti l about two years ago.

If that 's st i l l a blank, don't worry.Yo u're not alone. In a good year perhaps1,500 to 2,000 people vis it Toroweap , ascompared to the several million loggedinto the better known of the park's at-tractions, South Rim and North Rim.

For one thing, there's a 65-mile-longwashboard dirt road off Arizona StateHighway 389 eight miles west of Fre-donia on the way to Pipe Spring NationalMonument and St. George, Utah. That'sthe best access road!

For another, there are no accommoda-tions, only emergency drinking water

and almost daily thunderstorms arel ikely to drive campers off the rim duringthe peak summer vacation season, par-t icu lar ly in Ju ly and August .

However, the long trip, the inconven-ience and the lack of company add to thespel l of Toroweap for many. Remember,if you want to stay in your car right up tothe end, it's the only place to gaze intothe Inner Gorge and see the River. Theonly place. And it was sti l l free lastsummer.

The parking circle at the end of thesix-mile track from Tuweep Ranger Sta-tion is deceptive. There are two some-what worn picnic tables, a sign-in re-gister with typewritten sheet explainingthe geology and a l it t le of the natural his-tory of the place. If you stop first at theranger station, Caretaker Ranger JohnRiffey, a l iving legend in the NationalPark Service, gives you a two-pagemimeographed handout. Not one ofthose sl ick "You are here" maps andtrail guides the Park Service favors, justa two-sheet paper that explains how theMr. a nd Mrs. Joh n Riffey, the only re-gular residents of Toroweap-TuweepUnit of Grand Canyon National Monu-ment, look down on Lava Falls, 3,000feet below. Worst rapids in Grand Can-yon make only a low murmur from thisdistance, and only when wind is right.24 Desert /Decem ber 1978


25/48


26/48

MOUNT TRUMBULL. SAWMILL SITE Mt. Trumbullsawmill, usedbriefly in the1870s, providedhuge pinetimbers forMormons' famedDixie Tabernacleat St. George,Utah, 80 milesaway. Site hasbeen preservedby Forest Serviceand BLM and isoften visited byMormon familiesin summer.

Campgroundsat ToroweapPoint on theColorado Riverare spartan b utjust right formanyhiker-campers,this is the onlyplace a publicroad reachesthe Inner Gorgein Grand Canyonfor more than180 milesdownstreamfrom Lee's Ferry.

1932-era monument got here and whatvast upheavals of nature resulted in thegorge y ou are about to see and the spec-tacular rock work around it.

Just getting out of the car doesn't domuch for the f irst-t ime visitor to Toro-weap. Boy, the second t ime, y ou're sureready.

You have to walk maybe 100 feeteither south or east to get there. Therebeing the Edge, and for those of you withacrophobia, such as the writer, look out,hang on to your teeth. You are about tobe scared right out of your trail boots,jogging shoes, thong sandals or what-ever. There it is!

You get a premonition about halfwayfrom the car. You suddenly notice thereis a void of some kind just beyond thatline of junipers and pinyons, sort of anairy nothingness that stretches about ahalf mile over to the other side, but youhave to get closer.

Many writers have tried to explainthat f irst-t ime feeling at Toroweap. Theonly one I know who came close wasFrancois Leydet in his Sierra Club clas-sic, "Time and the River Flowing: GrandC a n yo n , " published in 1964. He had justcompleted a dory or skiff tr ip from Lee'sFerry through to Upper Lake Mead andcame back to Toroweap to sort it all out.

The ground beneath his feet turnedinto 3,000 feet of fragile air, Leydetrecal led. My f irst t ime, with my acro-phobia, fortunately was at night, after ahard day's jeeping up from Grand Washthrough the Wolf Hole, lonely, almostabandoned ghost town Mount Trumballand the loveliness of Nixon Spring. Ididn't see the hole in the wal l unti l Iwoke up next morning. Wisely, I hadthrown down my bedrol l by the car,sensing but not seeing the abyss just be-yond.

Since then, I've been to Toroweaptwice, over the past decade, and had thewhey scared out of me both time s. I'msti l l try ing to get my perfect picture ofthe r iver f rom the r im, but just t ry ing,not succeeding.

The best time to come up on the noth-ingness, the 3,000 feet of bird fly ingspace out there between Toroweap andthe Hualapai Indian Reservation acrossthe river, is during a thunderstorm,which I did the second t ime.

Then the gasping sound you make in-voluntari ly is punctuated by crashingthunder and you can only occasional ly26 Desert /December 1978


27/48

loroweap roadhead eight miles south-west of Fredonia, Arizona. Here the longwashboard clay track to the remote Tu-weep Unit of Grand Canyon NationalPark leaves the highway. Road is markedby BLM for Nixon Spring and Mt. Trum-bull, but makes no mention of the park.

see the blank space in the strata of hardrock, much of it l imestone, and the morerecent lava, l it by the bri l l iant momen-tary f lash of l ightn ing.

They say there is another way. Take adory or one of those huge aquatic blimpsof rubber liferafts down the river andcamp at Toroweap Beach, just before thebottom drops out at Lava Falls. On ascale of 1-10, Lava generall y rates 11 -plus to many river runners. That's whyF'iffey scratched a sort of trai l from Vul-can's Throne down the lava slide to theriver so faint-hearted river visitors canclimb out to his l it t le airstrip and safety.

Few do, but it must be comforting toknow there is a way out of the gorge justbefore the meanest rapids of them all.

Riffey is a legend in the park servicebecause of his tenure at Tuweep, re-portedly a longevity record. Zeke John-son, who was the first custodian at Na-tural Bridges National Monument, 250miles to the northeast near Blanding,Utah, served from 1916 to 1948, much ofthe t ime for $1 a month. Riffey , however,equalled his mark some years back, be-fore the 1932-established Grand CanyonNational Monum ent was merged into theGrand Canyon National Park, and he ex-pects to retire from Tuweep in a fewyears.

We missed Riffey this tr ip . His wife (aprofessor of biology at Western Wash-ington State University at Bel l ingham)said he had taken a tire up to Fredoniafor repair and was due back that night.We left very early the next morning, forthe two-day run home by way of Kanab,the North Rim, House Rock Val ley andFlagstaff. We didn't see him at dayl ightwhen we drove out past the comfortablesandstone house that is both ranger sta-tion and home for the Riffeys up theval ley from the point.Believe it or not, this is Aimee SempleMcPherson's Tuweep Valley temple, anannex of the fame d evangelist's Los An-geles headquarters of the 1920s. Build-ing was established by a sect of herchurch and has long been abandoned.Des ert/ December 1978 27

But we' l l return in another year ortwo, this t ime maybe to stay for a week.We hiked part way down Riffey's trai l tothe river a few years ago, but turnedback when it became a race to see whowas going to reach the river fir st over th educk-marked switchbacks, us or the lavaboulders we kicked loose.

It's stil l amazing to some that the ParkService doesn't attempt to increase visi -tation at Toroweap. There is only aBureau of Land Management sign at thehighway showing the way to NixonSpring and Mount Trumbull , an almostghost town established by the Mormonsnearly a century ago. After y ou go down

the red clay washboard road a mile or soyou can see a small Park Service signindicating the distance to Tuweep anddenoting the change in status from mon-ument to a- unit of the huge park.

The changeover was ordered in a Con-gressional bil l four years ago when con-servationists became alarmed that theU.S. Bureau of Reclamation might installtwo or more dams, one in Marble Gorgeupstream and another at B ridge Cany on,25 miles downstream from Toroweap.The bil l merged Marble Gorge andGrand Canyon monuments with the m ainpark, which had admisinstered themanyway Continued on Page 39


28/48

...

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28

J I M S O NW E E DT HERE ARE only two wide ly natura-lized plants occurring in the south-g western desert and adjacent chapar-

ral which are dangerously poisonous.Both of these plants are members of thepotato family a group of plants wel l -known for their poisonous constituents.

One of these dangerous plants is thetree tobacco, Nicotiana glauca, a ta l l ,leggy shrub recognized by its tubularyel l ow f lowers which are abundant in the

by R O N S C O G I N

spring and summer. The tree tobacco isnot actual ly native to the AmericanSouthwest but was introduced fromSouth America and has found it sohospitable here that this plant is nowvery commonly seen in disturbed areas.

The other poisonous plant is con-siderably more dangerous and the objectof our story; it is the native jimson weed,known scientif ical ly as Datura mete-loides. This plant and its relatives havebeen used by man for hundreds of yearsfor both the noblest and basest of mo-tives. Its constituents have been utilizedto rel ieve pain during primit ive surgeryand the settin g of broken bones, to intox-icate users and yield hal lucinations en-hancing communications with gods andspirits and to stupify the intended vic-tims of thieves and assassins. The plantand its constituents were the same only the motives of the user and the dos-age applied varie d.

Our n ative jimson weed is one of about15 species of this plant group which arefound world-wide in warm temperate

Desert/ December 1978


29/48

regions. Wherever these plants arefound they have been universal ly ut i-l ized by ancient peoples for one purposeor another. Two species of Datura arefound in our American Southwest. Da-tura meteloides is a native here, prob-ably originat ing in Central America andmigrat ing natura l l y through Mexico andinto America. Datura stramonium, verysimilar in appearance and also com-monly known as j imson weed, probablyoriginated in Central Asia but has beencarried worldwide by the act ivit ies ofman frequent ly as seed in the soi lbal last of early sai l ing ships.

Both species of jimson weed areindeed weedy plants, usual ly foundalong roadsides and in other areas suchas fields or pastures disturbed by the ac-t ivit ies of man. They are sprawlingshrubs, one to three feet ta l l . The leavesare large and emit a rank, heavy odor,especial ly when crushed or bruised;hence, one of the common names for thisplant, the st inkweed. Numerous large,showy, tubular, pure white f lowers orna-ment the plant during the summer. Bylate summer the flowers are replaced bya spiny fru it the size of a smal l app le andcontaining numerous smal l , disc-shapedseeds. The spiny armament of the fruitgives this plant yet another of its sev-eral common names, the thornapple.

The most commonly used popularname for Datura plants is "j imsonw e e d , " which is a corruption of thename "Jamestown weed." This namederives from an incident in our nation'searly history in which Brit ish soldierswere sent to Jam estown, Virgin ia in 1676to que l l a r io t known as Ba con 'sRebel l ion. The soldiers were poorly pro-visioned and due to lack of food many atea leafy potherb which is commonly foundin the Jamestown area. The plant was anEastern relative of our jimson weed andmany of the soldiers became deathly i l land others exhibited very strange, aber-rant behaviors. These soldiers discover-ed anew the fact, known for hundreds ofyears to native American Indians, of thepotent chemicals contained in this plant.

The j imson weed, l ike many of its rela-t ives in-the potato family including po-tato, tomato, eggplant, tobacco andmany others, are very r ich in powerfulchemicals known as alkaloids. Thesecompounds are present in all parts of thejimson weed, but especial ly concen-trated in the seeds and leaves. ThroughDesert /December 1978

the centuries p rimit ive people have usedthe jimson weed and its close rela-tives to produce concoctions for variousre l i g i ous , m ed ica l , r ec rea t i ona l andviolent act ivit ies.

The Aztecs of Mexico used j imsonweed, known to them as "o lo l iu hq u i " o r" the magic p lant , " to prepare dr inksused by priests and medicine men dur-ing ceremonials to aid them in com-municat ion with their gods or to helpdiagnose a part icular medical problem.The seeds were considered sacred andsacrifices were made to them. The Incasin Peru made a preparat ion of the plantwhich was given by their ancient sur-geons to numb patients before minorsurgery or, by giving stronger doses, torender them comatose for several days ofpost-operative recovery. Another ancientPeruvian Indian tribe (the Chibachas)put the plant to a dif ferent purpose, us-ing it to induce a stupor in women orslaves who were then buried al ive withtheir deceased husband or master. Rel-atives of the jimson weed have beenused for centuries in India by thieves andassassins to produce insensibility in theiri n t e n d e d v i c t i m s ; w h i l e i n T u r k e y ,poorer natives smoke the leaves of thisplant rather than the much more ex-pensive opium and wi:h somewhat simi-lar results.

In our Southwest there was wide-spread knowledge ard use of Datura,known to the Indians as " to loache."They used bruised leaves and rootsmixed with water to produce a pain-rel ievin g, narcotic (sleep-inducing) d rinkand a recreational intoxicant, the effectdepend ing on dosage. Pou l t ices o fmashed leaves were appl ied to burns,bruises, cuts and wounds to rel ieve painand an ointment was prepared by com-bining mashed seeds and grease to beappl ied to sores, boi ls and swel l ings.Sixteenth century Europeans and earlysouthwestern p ioneers wou ld smokeDatura leaves or, for children, inhale thesmoke of burning leaves as a cure forbronchial asthma because the alkaloidseffect ively reduced bronchial spasms.This practice occasionally came to griefbecause the amounts appl ied were im-precise and poisoning of small childrensometimes occurred.

The powerful poisonous principles injimson weed are now wel l known chemi-cal ly and st i l l widely used in purif iedchem ica l fo rm as an ant ispasm odic

agent, an anodyne (pain rel iever) and anarcotic (depressant and sleep inducer),but are now used in precisely measureddosages.

An unusual pattern of poisoning isnoted in Datura in that more humans,unfor tunate ly usual l y chi ldren, are re-ported poisoned each year by this plantthan are livestock; the reverse is theusual case in plant poisoning. Lifestockf inds this plant general ly distasteful dueto the high alkaloid content of about one-half percent of the plant weight and wil leat it only in the absence of othersuitable forage. A few leaves or severalseeds conta in su f f ic ien t a lka lo id topoison a sm al l chi ld . Numerous cases arereported of the poisoning of chi ldrendrinking the nectar of the showy, whitef lowers, eat ing the seed or making" t e a " f rom the leaves. Famil ies spend-ing much t ime in the desert would dowel l to teach their chi ldren at an earlyage to recognize and avoid j imson weed.

Once ingested the poisoning syn-drome is first expressed as intense thirstand disturbance of vision (due to greatdi lat ion of the pupil of the eye). This isfol lowed by a red, f lushed appearance toth e skin, a rapid pulse and weakheartbeat. The vict im may become de-l ir ious and incoherent, hal lucinate andmay experience convulsions and be-come comatose. The precise effects ofthe poison are highly variable dependingon the plant part eaten, the amount in-gested, the size of the victim and otherfactors. Appropriate treatment for a vic-t im is to induce vomit ing with salt wateror syrup of ipecac and seek immediatemedical aid.

The physiological act ion of the alka-loids in j imson weed is so potent that thepupils of the eyes may become di latedsimply by rubbing the eyes af ter handl -ing the leaves of this plant. The alka-loids of Datura are, in fact, precisely thecompounds, prepared in careful ly mea-sured, pure form, which are used byopthalmologists to di late the pupil dur-ing routine eye examinations. Thesecompounds are also one of the fewknown antidotes for debil i tat ing nervegases developed for mil i tary use.

When you see the j imson weed alongdesert roadsides, treat it with the re-spect it deserves and marvel as well atthe variety of uses to which the ingenuityof the human mind has put its powerfulconstituents.

29


30/48

N O . 25 IN A SERIES O NC A L IF O R N I A PA LM O A S ES

Canyonby DICK BLOO MQUIST

ORRECO PALM CANYON, underthe sign of the Indianheada jaggedpeak immediately to the northis

the third largest palm oasis in Ca l ifornia.A l though w e' l l be explor ing only the f i rs tgrove, which totals some 245 trees, theentire canyon probably holds between800 and 1000 Washingtonias in f ive orsix separate clusters.

Pa lm Canyon near Pa lm Spr ings(Desert, April, 1977) reigns supreme innumbers of trees, with over 3000.Nearby Murray Canyon (Desert , March1977), with at least 1000, is the crownprince. The only threats at present toBorrego Palm's po sit ion as number threeare Andreas Canyon [Desert, March1977) and Thousand Palms. Andreascontains close to 700 Washingtonias inthe port ion open to the publ ic; the uppercanyon is closed to entry, but I haveviewed it from a distance and doubt thatthe grand total for this oasis equals Bor-rego Palm's. Privately owned ThousandPalms in the Indio Hil ls has at least 700trees.

A self-guiding nature trai l one andone-half miles long lead to the first grovefrom a parking lot adjoining the statepark's Borrego Palm Canyon Camp-ground. It's an easy hike and one thatprovides much information on the plantl i fe of the desert, for the trai l folder iden-t if ies several of the wide-ranging specieswe've already encountered elsewhere;catsclaw, cheesebush, creosote, desertwil low, mesquite, ocoti l lo, desert laven-der, ironwood and others. On numberedpost along the route calls attention to se-veral shal low Indian grinding holes in30 Desert /December 1978


31/48

granite; near the base of the outcrop Isaw a fragme nt of reddish pottery . Man ykinds of birds occupy the gorge seasonal-ly or y ear round , and as I walked along Inoted a Wilson's warbler as wel l as anoccasional thrasher.

The broad canyon gradual ly narrows,Borrego Val ley fades from view, and therough, rust-colored walls of the SanY s i d ro ( " S a i n t I s i d o r e " ) M o u n t a i n senclose the hiker. Soon the first palmsappearthree smal l ones just below aknot of gigantic boulders. On my lastvisit a waterfal l dropped over theserocks, but earlie r this section of the creekbed had been dry, no water appearinguntil the edge of the main grove wasreached. Not far beyond the f a l l , th epalms begin in earnest, accompanied byarrow-weed , wil lows and scattered syca-mores. At one t ime a length of rustedpipe could be seen here, perhaps a relicoi cattle-ranching days or of the state

MILEAGE LOG0.0 Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs.Dr ive west toward Anza-BorregoDesert State Park headquarters onPalm Canyon Drive.1.5 Enter A nza-B orrego Desert StatePark.3.4 Road ends at parking lot. From hereit is one and one-half miles by trail toBorrego Palm Canyon oasis. Eleva-

tion at palms 1200 feet.

park 's C iv i l ian Conservat ion Corpsyears. Before the park's establ ishmentin 1933, cattle camps were sometimesset up at the mouth of Borrego PalmCanyon.

This first grove consists of approxi-mately 245 trees, the tal lest of whichpush luxuriant crowns 35 to 40 feet intothe sky. Fire has struck almost al l theWashingtonias, scorching their f ibroustrunks. At the upper end of the oasis thep.ilms spread out from the creek, form-ing an attractive litt le forest free of un-dergro wth. Wa ter runn ing over the rocksand the aroma of vegetation add to thecharm of this idyl l ic retreat.

With Borrego Palm Canyon we saygoodbye to the northern reaches of theAnza-Borrego Desert. We'l l be travel ingmany miles to the south now on the oldSouthern Emigrant and Butterf ield trai lsto Palm Spring, once an importantwater ing p lace a long these h is tor icroutes.Desert /December 1978

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32/48

" G o o d b y e

B o d i e ! "by CHA RLES R. TA LIAF ERRO

Bodie street scene.Color photo by

Neil Zakar, Bishop, Calif.

A UR TITL E is at t r ibuted to a l i t t le g ir l4 Jwhose f a m i l y was m o v ing f r omSj Aurora to Bodie, and concluded hereven ing 's prayer w i th "Goodbye, God,I 'm going to Bodie. "

There is no pretense about Bodiebeing a real ghost town, its ancientbui ld ings teem with his tory and a re-d o u b t a b l e r e p u t a t i o n a n d t a r n i s h e dg l o r y .Bodie is located in Mono County, eastof the Sierra-Nevadas, approximately 15miles from the smal l community of LeeVinin g on Highw ay 395. You can a lso getto Bodie by taking a dirt and gravel roadseveral miles south of Bridgeport. Bothroutes are "wash-board" roads andwind through scenic vistas. You passrel ics of headframes and ramshackle

32

stone shelters, w hich are best app reciat-ed in the springt ime or early summermonths.Bodie is part of the State of Califor-nia's Park Sy stem and its russet and goldwooden bui ld ings are discreet l y main-tained in a condit ioned of "a rrested de-cay, " whi le the natura l e lements s lowlybut surely take their seasonal t o l l .Just before entering Bodie proper,

Main Street is blocked off, as no vehicu-lar traff ic is al lowed in the town itself .Drive several hundred feet north andeast to the spacious parking lot. Here,clean comfort stat ions are available forthe weary t raveler .

Af ter walk ing for a few minutes downa short pathway, you are immediate lywitness to one of the most astonishingscenarios in the history of the WestaDesert /December 1978


33/48

great bonanza and a great bust! Thewooden bui ld in gs, rest ing in an immensearid sink, their false-fronts leaning withtheir mass, the old boards curled by t imeand weather, a cornucopia of signboarddel ights, welcomes your inspection. Nosmoking is al lowed due to the high f iredanger inherent wi th the o ld woodenbui ld ings .A l ong M a in S t ree t t he c reak ing

wooden sidewalk takes you past theMiners Union Ha l l , the Odd Fel lowsHal l and the classic post office. Long un-used streets, paths and al leyways criss-cross the town . The venerab le facades ofthe buildings speak of Bodie's unbound-ed prosperity, while the weeds growf ree l y a round t he m any sca t t e redart ifacts.The cemetery above Bodie offers a

tour of the past and you can almost hearvoices long si lenced. The inscript ions,careful ly carved in the headstones, bearmute test imony to the violence and pas-sions of Bodie, and varied memoriesflicker in the silent shadows of f lowersplaced long ago in remembrance ofsomeone long since gone. On one oldheadboard I found that l ine later used inthe "Wol f v i l l e " s tor ies : "L i fe a in ' t inholdin' a good hand but in playin' a porehand w e l l . " In another I found a gravewhich love had tr ied to safeguard with apyramid of stones al l undermined bysomeone seeking treasure under the be-loved dust.

For the history buff , Bodie is truly agold mine (no pun intended). Ha rdly hadthe discovery of gold been made in thesummer of 1860 before two Cal ifornians,James Stark and John Tucker, beganbuying up c la ims f rom the or ig inalowners. By the end of 1862, they hadbeen joined by Judge F. K. Bechtel, andthe three soon owned most of the majorgold-producing claims in the youngdist r ic t .

Addit ional capital was required for ful ldevelopment, however, and in the earlymonths of 1863 the tr io went to Cal ifor-nia's then Governor Leland Stanford,who emerged in March as president ofthe Bodie Bluff Consol idated MiningCompany and was capital ized for overone mi l l ion dol lars. A fur ther amalgama-t ion took place the fol lo wing year w hen anumber of mines and claims that had notbeen picked up by Stark, Tucker andBechtel in 1863 were absorbed, alongwith the Bodie Bluff Consol idated, intothe Empire Company of New York, capi-ta l ized at ten mi l l ion dol lars.

I t wasn't unt i l 1877 that the Bodiemines began to pay in quantit ies suffi-cient to just ify the investments. In thatyear, the Standard Mine struck an ex-tremely r ich vein of go ld , and in 1878 un-covered a vein th at was assayed at thre eto four thousand dol lars a ton. The lodewas found, the bonanza was here!

Bodie became a "boom town." Act iv-ity suddenly blossomed, 65 saloons wereopen for business and were notoriousthroughout the West . Gunplay wascommon as disputes were sett led in thetown's gambl ing hal ls . Miners lav ishedgolden nuggets as t ips to the infamousmadames of Maiden Lane and VirginAl ley. One of the town's newspapers,th e Bodie Standard, in an editorial corn-Desert / December 1978


34/48

rnenting on the daily violence seenthroughout the district said: "There is51 nne irresistible power that impels us toCut and shoot each other to pieces."

Out of this violence came the no torious"ba d man f rom Bod ie." H istory doesn'tfactually record the existence of this in-div idua l , and it isn't even known if hewas a single person or a composite ofseveral men . In any case, the "b ad manliom Bodie" became a legend in its owntime and survives to this day. Theminers "toi led and wrest led, and l ived af ierce, riotous, wearing, fearful ly excit-ing l ife," one historian wrote.

Bodie can lay claim to the honor ofhaving the first long distance powerplant and transmission l ine terminus inthe United States. Although electric>ower had been developed, up to 1862 it

i-ould only be effectively uti l ized at its.ource of generation.

The superintendent of the StandardM i n e , Thomas Legett, was convinced111at electric power could be transmitted

y wires to any distance. After months ofnguing for his proposal, Legett got the

-ahead to construct a power plant atreen Creek, a half-dozen miles above

Hridgeport. The stockholders of thestandard Mine had many reservations,ibout the electric plant and the 13-mile

transmission l ine to Bodie, and cal ledthe grandiose pro ject "Legett 's Fo l ly . "

Legett had a straight line surveyedfrom the power plant site to Bodie, andthe resultant power transmission linehad no angles or curves. At this point oftime in the development of electricalpower transmission, Legett was afraidthat the electricity would f ly off intospace if the power line wasn't built in astraight l ine. A telephone l ine was buil talongside the power line for communica-tion between the Standard Mine and thepower plant at Green Creek.

The Standard Mil l was shut downtemporari ly and equipped with electricmotors and everything needed to convertfrom steam to this "new" means ofpower. The stockholders were furiousabout the expenses and the shut-down ofth e mi l l . Thomas Legett knew his ideahad better work or his reputation wouldbe ruined.

The switches at the power plant weret h rown, the l ights slowly came on, andthe huge primit ive motors hummed tol i fe. Thomas Legett 's grand experimentwas a bril l ia nt success!

People were coming to Bodie indroves, by horse, mule, wagon, walkingand by stagecoach. It was a diffi cu lt jour-ney by any means of the day. One news-

paper offered the following list of traveltips for stagecoach passengers:

"The best seat inside a stage is theone next to the driv er. Even if you have atendency to seasickness when ridingbackwards, y ou' l l get over it and wil l getless jolts and jost l ing. Don't let any slyelph trade you his midseat.

"In cold weather don't r ide with t ightfitting boots, shoes or gloves. When thedriver asks you to get off and wa lk, do sowithout grumbling. He won't request itunless absolutely necessary. If the teamruns away s i t s t i l l and take yo urchances. If you jump, nine out of tentimes you wil l get hurt.

"In very cold weather abstain entirelyfrom l iquor when on the road; becauseyou wil l freeze twice as quickly whenunder its influence.

"Don't growl at the food received atthe station; stage companies generallyprovide the best they can get. Don't keepthe stage wa it ing. Don't smoke a strongpipe inside the coach s pit on theleeward side. If you have anything todrink in a bottle pass it around. Procureyour s t imu lan ts be fo re s ta r t ing as' ranch' (stage depot) whiskey is not'nectar. '

"Don't swear or lop over neighborswhen sleeping. Take small change to pay

The cemeteryoverlooking Bodie isillustrative of theboom and bust ideasof the early miningcamps. The mill[to the right] slowlyrusts away, and behindcan be seen theold slag pilesand tailings.34 Dese rt/ December 1978


35/48

r: *'

Two early-typegas pump s reflect

Bodie's final days inthe Age of the

automobile.Discarded mining

machinery aboundsin the deserted street.

In the backgroundi the old school house

and the hillssurrounding the

once boom town.expenses. Never shoot on the road as thenoise might fr ighten the horses. Don'tdiscuss pol it ics or rel igion. Don't pointout where murders have been com mittedif there are any women passengers.

"Don't lag at the wash basin. Don'tgrease your hair because travel is dusty.Do n't imagine for a mome nt that you aregoing on a picnic. Expect annoyances,discomfort, and some hard ship . "

Nevertheless, people kept coming toB od ie ; m ine rs , ca rdsha rps , sa l oon -keepers, men, women and childrenalllooking for their individual "end of thera inbow. "

After several years of glory the va lu-able pay-dirt started to dwindle. Themines of Bodie were running out of therich ore, however, and only two minescontinued operat ing past the turn of thecentury. The boom and bonanza days ofBodie had come to an end. From themiles and miles of dark tunnels beneathBodie had been dri l led, blasted andmil led an est imated 21 mil l ion dol lars ingold, half of this amount suppl ied by theStandard Mine alone.

Speculators in San Francisco providedgrubstakes to prospectors gambling onone long shot after another for the dis-covery of a second Bodie bonanza, andwith every gl immer of possibi l i ty a str ikeDesert /December 1978

would develop, it was as much the pro-duct of wish ful thin king as it was the dis-covery of gold or silver.

These men, hacking, chopping dig-g ing and wash ing ; t hese ung i f t edamateursformer law clerks, gent lemenfarmers, del ivery boys, butchers andb l acksm i t hs in f es t ed t he h i l l s S u r -rounding Bodie like ants, each of themdetermined to f i l l his own pocket, withno more sophist icated equipment thanpan, pick, shovel, sweat and optimism.But the gold had vanished beneath thevery primeval e arth the prospectors werestanding on. Is it really gone? Perhapsdeep with in some dank shaft or drif t , th esquare-set t imbering stands si lent vigi lover the golden speqtrum of nuggetsawait ing their eventual discovery bysomeone. And of these nuggets, in itsgl it terin g str iat ions, can be read much ofthe history of Bodie mining, from dreamto civi l izat ion. I t 's over now, the dream-seekers and the empire-builders havegone forever.

Today, Bodie is a l iving monument tothe hopes and dreams of its pioneerminers and their famil ies. The cluster ofold buildings w il l del ight the heart of anyghost town buff. While only a faintglimmer of its former self, Bodie's re-maining structures al l contribute to the

general feel ing that here t ime hasstopped, the turmoil is over. What is leftis a ghost town with an atmosphereworth sampl ing.

You won 't f ind , however, any shops orsouvenir stands sel l ing bumper-st ickers,postcards or phony sarsapari l la drinks.Instead the Park Ranger wi l l give you aninformational booklet about Bodie andspare you and y our fami ly the feel ing ofbeing in a tourist-attract ion environm ent.

Visitors are cautioned in visit ing Bodieduring the winter months. Drif ts of snow10 to 20 feet deep are not uncommon,and the temperature often drops belowzero. During the summer months it 's hotand dry , so be certain to have a ful l tankof gas and plenty of drinking water. Youcan make the trip to Bodie in an ordinarypassenger car, but for side trips, often afour-wheel-drive vehicle is required.

The uriimproved roads to Bodie arestudded with picturesque remnants oflong ago mining operat ions. The crumb-l ing remains of someone's wind-blownshack or stone shelter, the dark en-tranc

197812 desert magazine 1978 december

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