. V

«#*" I

ANLJARy. 1939

'

-*,*• * -

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HITCH YOUR WAGON"TO THIS-STAR

j i I D Q I ' Become qualified to start your own profit-__.__ »•„...,•• „ - _ . „ ^ able Air Conditioning business . . . or to beWhen you choose l O m career. Tit LP a w e l l . p a i d e x p e r t l n t h i s fast.growing newto Air Conditioning and Refrigeration— profession. You can get the finest trainingthe industry that is "going places ' . . . r i g h t h e r e i n t h e Southwest at our splend-and go up with it. Old callings are i d l y e q u i p p e d L o s A n g e l e s s c h o o l . . . o rstanding still—pass them by. Get into y o u c a n s t a r t y o u r t r a i n ; n g r ;ght at home.this booming new field . . . through F m d o u t h o w t 0 c a sh ; n On the Southwest'sThermo Institute training. big opportunities in Air Conditioning and

"Nation-wide Training Refrigeration—SEND COUPON. Schools and F R F HWorthy of the Industry" laboratories also in Chicago and New York

T H E R M O AfR~c~6Nl>fff6NlN^196 So. Alvarado St., Los Angeles, California

Please send free 16 page book "The Air You Breathe" and data on your courses.Name Age

Address .- I-4-I,

The Five Best Months are HereJanuary, February, March, April, and

May are the most beautiful months in thedesert, according to most of our readers.Then the air is snappy but mild, the sun-shine is comfortably warm, the sunsetsare incomparable, the water holes arebrimming, and the vast fields of wild-flowers present their fragrance and vividcolor.

To get the most from these months you shouldhave the Desert Magazine at your side as you travel.It will open new vistas, introduce you to interestingpeople, picturesque camping spots, significant devel-opments.

Here is the solution to that belated ChristmasGift problem: three one-year subscriptions to theDesert Magazine (including your own) for $5.00.Your friends will appreciate the thoughtfulness thatgives a year of release in the desert's wide openspaces.

Single subscription $2.50. Back copies of first14 editions available at 25c each; first year file withbinder $3.50.

T H

m fl G n z 1 n E597 STATE STREET, EL CENTRO, CALIFORNIA

D E S E R T

dndatCivic groups in the desert area are

invited to use this column for announc-ing fairs, rodeos, conventions and otherevents which have more than local in-terest. Copy must reach the Desert Mag-azine by the 5th of the month preced-ing publication. There is no charge forthese announcements.DEC. 29 to JAN. 2—Sun carnival

at El Paso, Texas.DEC. 31, JAN. 1-2—Sierra club

of California to spend weekendexploring Split Mountain can-yon in Vallecito mountains, in-cluding trip to Elephant trees.W. E. Andrews, leader.

JAN. 1—New Year dances in vari-ous New Mexico Indian pueblos.

JAN. 2—Charles Wakefield Cad-man to assist in directing theopera SHANEWLS, to be givenby university glee clubs at Tuc-son.

JAN. 6 — Installation of Indiangovernors in New Mexico pu-eblos.

JAN. 14-15—Riverside chapter ofSierra club to visit Painted can-yon and Salton Sea mud geysers.

JAN. 14-15—Annual state conven-tion of Arizona Lions clubs atPhoenix.

JAN. 20-21-22 - - Annual buffalohunt in Houserock canyon, nor-thern Coconino county, Arizona.Permits to be issued for 14 buf-falo this year. Applications mustreach State Game Warden Will-iam H. Sawtelle by January 15.

JAN. 21-22—Sierra club to campat Rattlesnake canyon near Twen-tynine Palms, California, and hiketo Fortynine Palms.

JAN. 23—St. Ildephonsus Day tobe observed at San Ildefonso,New Mexico.

JAN. 25-26 — National W o o lGrowers Association, San Ange-lo, Texas.

JAN. 29-30 — R o d e o at CasaGrande, Arizona.

JAN. 29-30—Third Annual Rodeoat Palm Springs, California.

JAN. 31-FEB. 1--Arizona CattleGrowers Association meets atSafford, Arizona.Continuous through fall and winter:

series of public art exhibits in Fine Artsbuilding, University of New Mexico,Albuquerque. Featured are paintings byrepresentative New Mexico artists.Ralph Douglass, director.

Volume 2 JANUARY. 1939 Number 3

COVER

CALENDAR

PHOTOGRAPHY

LEGEND

LIVING

POETRYPERSONALITY

CAMERA ART

REPTILES

MYSTERY

ADVENTURE

RECREATION

HOBBIES

WRITERSFICTION

MINING

HOMES

NEWS

WEATHER

PRIZES

TRAVEL

LANDMARK

PLACE NAMES

BOOKS

COMMENTLETTERS

Horned ToadPhoto b y Claire a n d Ralph Proctor, Phoenix, Ariz.

January Events on the Desert 1

Prize winning pictures 2

S ipapu—a Hopi folk taleBy HARRY C. JAMES 3

Letter from W a r God SpringsBy EVERETT RUESS 5

STARS OVER MOJAVE a n d other poems . . . 6Bob Arnold—Friend of the Navajos

By MRS. WHITE MOUNTAIN SMITH . . . . 7"Feel" of the Desert

Photo b y WM. M. PENNINGTON 9Desert Reptiles a r e His Friends

By MARGUERITE NAEGLE a n d BERT FIREMAN 10

Lost Ship of the DesertBy CHARLES C. NIEHUIS 13

W e Climbed the Falls on San JacintoBy RANDALL HENDERSON 15

Riders of the DesertBy ANTHONY BURKE 18

So You W a n t to Collect Gems!By JOHN W. HILTON 20

Contributors to this edition 22Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley

By LON GARRISON 22

News notes on recent developments 23

Suggestions for desert architecture 24

Here a n d There on the Desert 26

Desert temperatures during November . . . . 27

Announcement for ama teu r photographers . . . 28

Road information from Death Valley 29

Prize announcement for January 31

Compiled b y TRACY M. SCOTT 32

Reviewing publications of the Southwest . . . 34

Just Between You a n d Me, b y the Editor . . . 36

Comment from Desert Magazine readers . . . 37

The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Publishing Company, 597State Street, El Centro, California. Entered as second class matter Oeteber 11, 1937 at thepost office at El Centro, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879.

Title registered No. 358865 in U. S. Patent Office, and contents copyrighted 1938 bythe Desert Publishing Company. Permission to reproduce contents must be secured fromthe editor in writing;. Subscription rate $2.50 per year in U. S. A. or possessions. Singlecopy 25 cents.

RANDALL HENDERSON, EditorTAZEWELL H. LAMB, Associate Editor

J. WILSON McKENNEY, Business ManagerManuscripts and photographs submitted must be accompanied by full return postage.

The Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility for damage or loss of manuscripts or photo,graphs although due care will be exercised for their safety. Subscribers should send noticeof change of address to the circulation department by the fifth of the month preceding issue.

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 3 9 1

It/kite.By MARIE T. SCOTT1106 West 165 Street

Los Angeles, California

Second prize winning picturein the November contest. Takenin the Joshua Tree nationalmonument of Southern Califor-nia with a Welta camera, f8 at1/50 second.

By JACK WOOTAN3288 Sierra Way

San Bernardino, California

Awarded first prize in the No-vember photograph contest ofthe Desert Magazine. The sur-veyor is Bertrum W. Shaw em-ployed in the engineering de-partment of the Southern Cali-fornia Gas Company. The pic-ture was taken in the glare of amidday desert sun with a 35mm Wirgin camera, f4.5 lens atfl6, 1/25 second, K-2 filter.

o/ MenltIn addition to the prize win-

ners, the following photogra-phers submitted prints of morethan usual quality in the No-vember contest:

R. Frederick Heckman, LagunaBeach, California, "Sentinel ofPainted Canyon."

Harry W. Dacquet, Los Angeles,California, "Clouds and Shad-ows."

Chas. S. Webber, San Leandro,California, "Wupatki NationalMonument."

HALIKSAI!This is one of a collection of Hopi legends gath-

ered durina camping trips through Grand Canyoncountry of northern Arizona.

Around the campfires at old Oraibi, along therim of the great Canyon itself, and down in thebottom of the gorge, I have listened to Tewaquap-tewa, the old chief of Oraibi, to Poli and AnthonyNeumkewa, to Jim Kewanuwatewa and other Hopitell these stories of the olden days.

"Once Upon a Time" is a favorite way to beginthe legends of the white man. HALIKSAI is the"Once Upon a Time" of the Hopi.

Ljaapu(The journey up from the underworld)

As told to HARRY C. JAMES

I I ALIKSAI! Many, many snows ago, when our grand-/ / fathers' grandfathers played among the willows that

' / bordered the winding streams, all the people lived inthe center of the earth. As the years went by quarrels hadbroken out among them and they had grown discontented.

Game was scarce. The crops failed. The people grumbledmore and more and grew restless for a change, saying overand over: "It was not always thus." The chiefs counseled to-gether in vain attempts to make the lives of their people morehappy.

With the passing of time the troubles grew greater andgreater. Wars between the good and the bad people werealmost continuous. Husbands and wives watched their chil-dren die of strange sicknesses. Warriors returned with naughtsave wounds to show for their efforts on the war trail.

Finally, the oldest and wisest of the chiefs, in a desperateeffort to regain their lost happiness, called a council of all thegood people. Among the people sitting around the councilfire were the Earth Mother, whom we call Spider Woman,and the twin little war-gods, Pookonghoya and Baloongwa-hoya. As the council fire lit up the faces of the gloomy as-sembly, the old chief stood up and said:

"For many moons we have gathered together talking andplanning. But our talk was as the wind that moans at dusk,—empty sounds. Our people die day by day. Our enemies growstronger and stronger. Game is harder and harder to get.

"Long have I prayed for a way and I have searched thewhole underworld for a better place to live. At last in one ofmy wanderings I heard footsteps overhead and my heart wasfilled with gladness for I knew my prayers were answered—a sign was sent me.

"Always have we wailed like women instead of acting likewarriors. We have been blind to our own magic powers andwe have complained instead of acting. If there is anotherworld above, it cannot be more unfriendly to us than our own.

Chief Teuaquapteiva and the Author

We will send a messenger to view this unknown world. Timehas come for action and to put behind us empty words!"

The old man sat down and long the chiefs deliberated, butas this seemed the only escape from their troubles they final-ly agreed to do as the old chief suggested. They gatheredwater and clay and with sacred songs and prayers they fash-ioned the mixture into the image of a little bird called Motsni,which by means of their magic powers they brought to life.

Immediately the bird asked the council: "What do youwish of me?"

The old chief answered the bird's query. "We are nothappy here. Our people are sick and they are constantlyquarreling. We want you to fly up and up, high beyond oursun, and search for an entrance to the upper world."

At once the little bird spread its wings and sped away intothe darkness.

While they awaited the messenger's return the chiefs dis-cussed what should be done with the bad people, for theyrealized that if their enemies were to escape with them theirtroubles would continue. Finally, the councillors decided tocause a great flood and to create huge serpents which woulddevour all who were not drowned.

Motsni, the bird messenger, returned at last, quite ex-hausted, to report that it had been too weak and small to findan opening in the upper world.

Again the chiefs took counsel, saying: "We must create astronger bird." Once more they used their magic powers and

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 3 9

' -4KL

Spider Woman and the little War Gods, Pookonghoya and Baloongaivhoya. Thisconcept of the arrival of the Hopi from the center of the earth ivhere living con-

ditions had become unbearable, was painted by Mootzka, a Hopi Indian boy.

this time they created a mocking bird, strong of wing andunafraid. As before, they watched the bird take wing andspeed away.

Ever higher and higher flew the Mocking Bird in his searchfor the opening. At last, just as the faithful bird was aboutto give up in despair, it spied a tiny opening. Up through theopening it flew and found itself in what is known to us asthe Grand Canyon.

It returned at once to the chiefs and told them of the beau-tiful land that awaited them above and the delighted menmade preparations to leave. They sent the Crier Chief through-out the underworld to announce: "Attention, all people ofgood heart! In four days time we leave this underworld fora happier land. Let the women prepare food for the journey."

On the fourth day all the people gathered under the open-ing and once again the chiefs had recourse to their magic.Songs were sung over a pine seed and as the people watchedthe seed sprouted and grew quickly upward until a hugepine tree towered up through the opening to the upperworld.Then the wise men tested it, but they found it was not strongenough to bear the weight of all the people. The ceremonywas repeated and another pine tree grew beside the first. How-ever, this tree did not quite reach the opening. Singing moresacred songs, they planted a strong seed and then a greatsunflower. When the last-named found that it could not reachhigh enough it hung its head in shame and since that timeall sunflowers droop with the thought that they could notserve our ancestors because of weakness.

At last Spider Woman and the two little war-gods of theHopi people, Pookonghoya and Baloongawhoya, climbed thepine trees and the reed and so were the first to reach theopening into the Grand Canyon and the upperworld. The

little war-gods then grasped the tops of the trees to steadythem for the people who followed.

When Spider Woman reached the new world she sat downto watch the joyous people enter into this beautiful land.The Mocking Bird perched beside her and burst into songafter song as the people emerged. In their gratitude to thebird for the service it had rendered and in their happinessover the future, the people remembered that song, and evennow you will hear it sung in times of joy.

As each one came into the great Canyon that reached highabove the opening, the same bird gave to him his place inthe world and the language he was to speak. To one hewould say: "You shall be a Navajo and speak that language."To another he would say: "You are to be a Hopi and speakthe language of the Hopi." Not only to the Indians did thebird give places and languages, but to each and every tribein the world, including all the white men.

As clan after clan emerged from the underworld, the birdgrew tired and finally it could sing no longer. Reluctantly,those who were still climbing had to turn back to live for-evermore in the world below.

The opening to underworld we call "Sipapu" and to thisday it remains hidden in some remote spot of this GrandCanyon. In all our kivas, the underground ceremonial rooms,and in all the dance plazas of our villages you will find smallshrines fashioned of flat rocks representing Sipapu and whichremind us constantly of the day our ancestors came up fromthe underworld.

Ju Other Hopi legends from Harry C. James' note- ^\Tj book will appear in future numbers of the Desert J)V Magazine. J

The DESERT MAGAZINE

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J-ettet fitom WatEverett Ruess, artist and poet, vagabond of the trail, vanished in the desert wilderness of

southeastern Utah in November, 1934, as told by Hugh Lacy in the Desert Magazine of lastSeptember. His fate remains a mystery to this day. But the dream which impelled this youngman to forsake civilization for the solitude of remote canyons and arid plateaus has beenpreserved in the letters written to family and friends. Through the courtesy of Mr. and Mrs.C. G. Ruess of Los Angeles, parents of Everett, the Desert Magazine is privileged to repro-duce some of these letters. The first one, printed in this number, was written to Everett's friend,Bill Jacobs of Hollywood, June 12, 1934:

Navajo Mountain, Utah, \ EAR BILL:7 / A high wind is roaring in the^^ tops of the tall pines. The moonis just rising on the rim of the desert,far below. Stars gleam through the pineboughs, and through the filmy cloudsthat move across the night sky. Graceful,slim-trunked aspens reach u p w a r dthrough the towering pines. Their slen-der, curving branches are white in thefirelight, and an occasional downwardbreeze flickers their pale green leaves.

The beauty of this place is perfect ofits kind; I could ask for nothing more.A little spring trickles down under asp-ens and white fir. By day the marshyhollow is aswarm with gorgeous butter-flies; tiger and zebra swallowtails, theanglewings, the mourning-cloak, andothers. There are a hundred delightfulplaces to sit and dream, friendly rocks tolean against, springy beds of pine need-les to lie on and look up at the sky orthe tall smooth tree trunks, with spiralsof branches and their tufted foliage.

Two small bands of handsome bayhorses, each with a bell-mare, water here.Often I hear from opposite directions thedeep-toned music of their bells, againstthe sharper tinkle of the burro bell. Nohuman comes to break the dreamy soli-tude. Far below, the tawny desert, seamedwith canyons, throbs in the savage desertsun. But here it is lofty and cool.

It is hard not to be sentimental aboutmy burros; they are such droll, friendlycreatures. On the trail, particularly whenthey do the wrong tiling in a tight place,I am often impatient with them. Butwhen they stand up to their knees in wild-

This photograph taken two years be-fore Everett vanished in the Utah

wilderness.

flowers with blossoms in their lips, andlook at me with their lustrous, largebrown eyes, cocking their furry ears andswitching their tails at their fat sides—then who that knew them could helploving them?

I had to laugh a few mornings ago onthe desert, when tracking the two foolish-looking pals, I saw their trail leading upto an abandoned hogan and heard a snortand scuffle inside. With all the spaciousdesert around them, they had chosen tobed down in that little hogan, whichjust comfortably contained the two ofthem!

. . . Now the moon swings clear of thetree tops. The wind is in the pine trees;what other sound is like it?

The perfection of this place is one rea-

son why I distrust ever returning to thecities. Here I wander in beauty and per-fection. There one walks in the midst ofugliness and mistakes . . .

Here I take my belongings with me.The picturesque gear of packing, and mygorgeous Navajo saddle-blankets, make aplace my own. But when I go, I leave notrace.

The post where I last got my suppliesis a costly place to trade. The owner hasto haul his stuff 350 miles by truck, overthe worst of roads. In this remote placehe never sees a tourist, and seldom adime crosses his counter in a year. Allhis business is trade, in wool, sheepskins,and blankets. Gallup, New Mexico, isthe nearest place where he can disposeof them. He has been offered seventeencents a pound for the wool which costhim twenty if he will haul it to NewMexico.

The beauty of this country is becominga part of me. I feel more detached fromlife and somehow gentler. Except forpassing flurries, it has become impossiblefor me to censure anyone . . .

Meanwhile I have used my body merci-lessly, seldom giving way to it untilforced, so that I should not wonder if itwill turn traitor to me sometime. Anywayas Omar says, "If the soul can naked onthe air of heaven ride, wer't not a shamefor him in this clay carcass to abide?"That is a big "if," but may the timenever come when I have to minister tomy body.

. . . Now the aspen trunks are tall andwhite in the moonlight. A wind croonsin the pines. The mountain sleeps.

Peace to you,EVERETT.

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 3 9

DESERT DREAMBY MARTY HALESteubenville, Ohio

(Written for Desert Magazine)

You who live where long miles sweep—Where the western sunGlints on mesquite, brush and sageWhen the day is done—Know the light of western stars.Love their silver gleam,YOU can LIVE its loveliness,I can only—dream.I, who live a-top a hill,Watch the setting sun,Through a rim of locust trees,And the shadows runLengthening, down a wooded slopeTo the river's edge,Where grow brambles rank and deep.Like a giant hedge.But I dream of canyons deep,Gypsy-colored trails,Cactus-bloom and cereus,When the sunset pales—Long for sound of clumping hoofsBy a sun-dried stream.You can ride your cares away,I can only—dream.It may be I'll never treadShifting desert sand,Never hear a coyote cryIn the desert-land . . . .Snuggled in my eastern hills.Funny—it would seem—That I yearn and long for youOf my desert dream.Cactus-bloom will keep it sweet,True in every part—Keep my dream of sand and sageEver in my heart.

DESERT CURE

BY TRELLE MOONWinslow, Arizona

They said my lungs were carrying me to death,And urged me west to gain a brief respite.They did not know that soul and heartHad lost the will or wish to fight.

And then, through clear, cold airI saw the stars almost within my hand.I felt the strong, relentless sun of dayOr saw it blotted out by clouds of sand.

I learned the beauty of the cactus bloomsSo quiet among their sharp forbidding thorns.I heard the sudden roar of waters in the wash.I felt the bracing chill of desert morns.

I saw mesquite and catsclaw swayed by whirl-ing winds.

I heard the coyote bark, the wild cat cry;And I made friends with little horned toads,And watched the snakes go slithering by.

How soon I learned that distant hills,Against the glory of setting sun,Could cure a mind grown sick with worldly

illsAnd feed a starving soul when day was done.

I saw the giant saguaro still and strong,And flash of birds across the sky.I felt the dry, health-giving air,And knew it was not time to die.

CACTUSBY T. V. WOODSON

Long Beach, CaliforniaWith obstinate unfriendliness it bristles,Repelling your approach with all its thistles,Until in an apologetic hourIt humbly begs your pardon with a flower.

Staid Mo^aoe-BY MAUDE CLEO GILLETTE

I watched the flaming sun go down;Saw old FUNERAL squint, then frown

As I picked the CACTI out of myboot,

And ditched the stuff I thought wasloot.

In the mournful wail of the singingsand,

I heard a BANSHEE close at hand,And hope forever lost to me,I sat me down on a dune to dee.

Lo! out of the east, a little starFlashed a message, "Oh there you are!

Pick up your pack, don't forget yourhat,

One more ridge, and you're a mon,at that."

• • •ADVENTURER'S HOMEBY EVA CARPENTER IVERSEN

Lone Pine, California

A miner sat by his cabin doorLazily eyeing a hunk of ore;And sometimes he'd smile, and sometimes

cuss,And sometimes he ruminated thus:

"When Bill and me first hit these hillsWe wuz two fool kids out after thrills.I reckon we found 'em. Seems as ifWe prospected every gorge and cliff.And we had to have whatever it takesTo battle the mountains, desert, and snakes.After years of adventurin' we settled downSome fifty mile frum the ni'est town.

"Then a blast misfired in the mine one dayAnd blowed my ole pard Bill away.I buried him out on the Panamint floorBut always he seems to stand at my door.I reckon I'm gettin' too ole to roam.Bill lived here and the place is home.And this is my last request and will—Just plant me out in the wilds with Bill."

CREED OF THE DESERTBY JUNE LE MERT PAXTON

No

No

No

No

strident noise the peaceto mar,air defiled by man-madecar.

time marked off bycalendar,

structure raised to hide astar.

ENVIRONMENT

BY HUNTINGTON MACKGlobe, Arizona

I live in a town called UGLY!

No ordered streets attest its pride,Or flower bordered lawns.Its shacks and shanties cling precariouslyTo sides of steep ravinesOr burrow crooked footings in the rocky

wallsAlong the winding washes of the town.Only the morning glory vines,Running in not over scraggly roofsSpeak of the love for flowers that seldom

bloomAnd find scant substance in a barren soil.

Yet I have seen . . .Deserted smelter chimneys,Sturdily gaunt and high,Warming their naked lengthAgainst a flaming sky . . .And cringing mongrel homes,Poverty stricken and old,Their tattered windows shiningWith a wealth of sunset gold . . .I have seen dawn come slowlyOn tangled peaks that mightHave been creation stirringIn the gray and formless light . . .Have seen the round moon glowingIn an ecstacy of prideAs she poured her eerie magicOn the jagged mountain side.

And I have felt flow through my soulThe peace of ageless rocks,The faith of trees,The strength that only hills can give.

I live in a town called UGLY . butI live!

GHOST TOWN

BY K. V. BENNISTemecula, California

Across the wastes of desert sandA pale moon, with her spectral light,

Comes to the old deserted townTo 'waken there the shades of night.

Atotter with its memories,The old saloon stands in despair;

Windows, that once were warm and bright,Look out with blank and vacant stare.

Temptation's tinkling tunes once swayedIn rhythm, boots and slippered feet;

Eyes spoke to eyes when parted lips,With hurried breath, were warm and sweet.

Ambition's anxious footsteps spedAlong this silent dust-strewn street—

Greed's grasping fingers beckoningAdventure's light and careless feet.

Love lingers where a slanting rayOf moonlight, on a cabin floor,

Has found a long forgotten dollStill sleeping by a long-closed door.

Where gold was God no spires standBut down in desert's distance rise

Tall summits where, in reverence,They pierce the silent storm-scarred, skies.

DUSK ON THE DESERT

BY HELEN MCMAHANPond Creek, Oklahoma

Swiftly, sable-vested shadowsBorne on night's majestic wings,Touch the grey abysmal canyonsWhile the moon rides high and flingsArgent glory on the sage brushAnd the dunes of drifted sand,Bringing chaste unworldly beautyTo the arid desert land.

6 The DESERT MAGAZINE

'

Bob Arnold was a modest littleman—a half-caste. But his heartwas as big as all outdoors andhe had a generous share of thatgreatest of all human assets—understanding. M r s . W h i t eMountain Smith wrote this storyabout Bob early last fall. Hedied in November, before itreached the printers. His deathwas mourned by Indian andwhite man alike—they were allhis friends because Arnold wasone of those rare souls to whomcreed and color and race meantnothing. The picture at the leftwas taken a few weeks beforehis death. On the right is theshrine he built on the rockybank of an arroyo at FortDefiance.

£ol> -fltnold— Tttien

the A/avajojBy MRS. WHITE MOUNTAIN SMITH

D ESERT wind twisted a Chindeewhirlwind around and around,and the sullen thoughts of the

Navajo boy leaning against the old logbuilding at Fort Defiance in northernArizona went around just as aimlessly.

Now that eight years of schooling atPhoenix were ended; now that he hadcarried the ball across the goal for thelast time while the crowd roared; nowthat the blaring band of which he wasleader had marched at the head of thelast parade, he was dumped back here onthe reservation to get along as best hecould. He hated the place. He hated thehogan and his family living in it; hehated the bleating smelly sheep; he hatedthe mutton stew and the bread baked ona hot rock. Most of all he hated the gov-ernment that had whitewashed him foreight years, and then in one swift hourturned him back again into an Indian, astranger in his own land. He scowled at

the brisk little old man who stopped be-side him.

"Just get home, son? Great, isn't it, tosmell the sage again, and be back whereyou were born. Old as I am, I still wishI could be back in India now and then!''

"I don't see anything good about be-ing here."

"Well, let's sit down and talk aboutit," suggested the 92-year-old counselor.Together they sat on the log step, RobertArnold, the world-weary old half-castewho had sailed the Seven Seas andtramped every continent, and AlbertSombrero, discouraged Navajo schoolboy.

"What did you learn while you werein school? What did they teach you todo?"

"To farm and mend farm machinery.Lots of good that'll do me here. I'm go-ing to the railroad to get a job."

"There's a job for you here. The gov-

ernment has work for you boys. Dozensof young fellows your age are helping tobuild dams for irrigation and for thesheep. Dozens more are working on soilerosion control and erecting windmills.There's plenty of work here among yourown people, at better pay than you'll getoff the reservation. This is your home. In-side of a month you won't want toleave!"

Albert had listened with strained in-terest. "How can I get one of thosejobs?" The old man told him where toask for employment and watched himstart for Window Rock. How many,many boys had come home, lost in theirown country, strangers in their own land,to find just such help and encouragementfrom Robert Arnold.

Two months later Albert was happyand contented. He was driving a truckfor the soil conservation supervisor, andin the meantime he had brought four ofhis discontented friends to Fort Defiance

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 3 9

for help. Robert's home, almost crude inits simplicity, was always open to theselads. Robert's food was shared, and ifthere wasn't always enough to fill healthyyoung stomachs, still it was shared whiletroubles and triumphs were discussed.The little cottage at Fort Defiance has be-come an unofficial club room for returnedschool boys.

The life of this self-appointed mentorof Navajo lads has been such a high ad-venture in strange places that it soundslike a story of Sinbad the Sailor.

Kipling's warning that "East is east,and West is west, and never the twainshall meet," came 42 years after RobertGuian Arnold was born at Delhi, India,of an English father and an East Indianmother. Two years after the birth of herson the young mother died.

Small half-caste Robert was turnedover by his distraught father to a nativeayah. Each morning the ayah took thechild out to watch the sun rise over thestately Himalayas, and taught him tokneel at the cry of the muezzin. Today,in his 92nd year he still remembers andrepeats the Mohammedan call to prayer.

At Window Rock, heart of the Navajonation, adventures ended, hardshipspassed, and the hot wild blood of youngmanhood cooled by almost a century'spassage, Robert Arnold has come at lastto the place where he hopes to spendwhat little time is left to him.

Father to Homeless BoysHis influence on the Navajo boys who

return to their reservation homes afteryears of absence, cannot be estimated.What is more desolate than a young In-dian homesick for a home that he hasbeen trained to despise? Pseudo-whites,these boys are returned to the reserva-tion with the smug explanation: "Wehave fitted you to appreciate the finerthings of life and to elevate your peopleand to better their living conditions."Their own people do not sympathizewith their changed viewpoint; they hesi-tate to talk to government employees, butthey can always find friendship and helpin the little cottage of Robert Arnold.With his deep understanding of alone-ness and bewilderment, taught by hisown years of orphanhood in a strangeland, he seems to know just how to reachthe confidence of the Indian boys. Middleaged men, who were once boys in hiscare, speak of him as one would of a be-loved father. Chee Dodge, wise oldleader of his people, wishes there were athousand "Bob" Arnolds on the reserva-tion. "He is a very wise man. He hasnever been heard to speak unkindly, andno one would want to say unkind thingsabout him!"

When I met Arnold in the dim olddocument room of historic Fort Defiance,he stood very straight and still until he

had inspected me thoroughly with clearbright blue eyes. I've never seen morecharacter or dignity in any face, and Iwas grateful when he smiled and ex-tended his hand. If he had not approvedof me there would have been none of thehours filled with breathless tales of ad-venture in far places; of northern lightsand southern seas; of revolutions and re-ligious wars; of illustrious names re-membered only in history's pages. Therewould never have been the pleasant hoursspent with a kindly gentleman, mademellow and wise by time.

Childhood in IndiaSometimes we spoke of his childhood

in India and then I heard of soldiers inan alien land feeding a little motherlessboy raisins and candy until he had a per-petual stomachache; and I lived the ter-ror of natives when a man-eating tigerlurked near the village. I thrilled to thesight of stately elephants going to theriver to drink and bathe at sunset, andI shared the excitement of a small boybeing lifted in the trunk of a gentle ele-phant and passed to its driver.

For my benefit Robert bridged the dec-ades and touched lightly on the highspots of his career. Childhood passed tooquickly in the eastern land, and when,after 21 years of soldiering in foreignlands, the father was invalided home, hetook with him the son of his native wife,took this boy, born in the drenching sun-light of India, back to foggy London.

The father knew that death was notfar off and he wrote to a former closecomrade in the 13th Fusileers askinghim to look after the boy. The greaterpart of his old regiment had been wipedcut in the Sepoy Mutiny. That letter wasaddressed to a dead man.

The orphan lad was friendless untilthe Masonic lodge stretched out a help-ing hand and placed him in the famousold Christ Church Blue Coat Homeschool. A seaman's widow had directcharge of young Robert and he still re-members how hunger kept him awakeunder her roof. He twinkles and tellshow the penny she gave him each Sundayfor the poor box never reached that des-tination. He always spent it for candy.

It was a stern school and punishmentmeant that a hundred lines of Caesarmust be mastered. There Robert laid thefoundation for the splendid fund ofknowledge he has acquired. He is a stu-dent of Caesar and Cicero; a master ofthe Iliad and Odyssey. One might saythat his manners are Victorian, but he isdeeply content to spend his last yearsamong the Navajo people!

When Robert was 15 he was calledbefore the school board to select his vo-cation and he asked to be taught naviga-tion. The following year he was signedas an apprentice to the P & O line andfor eight years faced and fought the seas

around the world. When he returned toLondon he was baptized into the Catholicfaith by Cardinal Newman and confirmedby Cardinal Manning. He lived up to hisfaith and 30 years ago gave the first dol-lar and laid the first stone for the Catho-lic church serving Indians and whitealike at Fort Defiance. Erected near thechurch, on a cliff overhanging the littleriver is a shrine of which Robert is veryproud. But when it was first unveiledand the gleaming white figure of the Vir-gin Mary burst upon the sight of theNavajos, they lashed their ponies to arun and looked back fearfully over theirshoulders! They are used to it now, how-ever, and it doesn't affect them in anyway. To most of them it's just anotherqueer fancy of the invading whites.

But before Robert Arnold ever heardof the Navajo people he played his partwell in other corners of the world. Itmust have been fun helping to make his-tory as he did in those days. For instancethere was the convoying of the ship carry-ing Louis Napoleon and Eugenie to theirexile in England in 1871.

Companions Die in BoatEngland was making great effort at

that time to colonize South Africa andRobert took service with the Castle line.Gales lashed the vessel on their secondtrip and for ten days they were at themercy of the storm. With 17 others Rob-ert took to an open boat and when theywere picked up two weeks later nine ofhis companions were dead of hunger andexposure. One would have thought thesea's allure might have dimmed aftersuch an experience, but it was the onetrade Arnold knew and he shipped withthe White Star line. He was aboard theCroma when it was rammed and sunk offthe coast of Wales and he swam to shore.The Mediterranean knew him for a timeand then China Seas beckoned. In 1883he sailed on the German Lloyd ship,Elba. Nine hours later a British collier,the Sunderland, rammed the Elba and800 people lost their lives on the twoships. Robert Arnold was picked up by atrawler.

In all these adventurous years Ameri-can soil had never been touched by Rob-ert. One night in London he saw sometoughs attack a stranger and he went tothe rescue. He found that he had savedCapt. Edwin White, U. S. Naval Attacheat the American Embassy. James RussellLowell was then the American Ambassa-dor to the Court of St. James, and be-tween them they persuaded Robert toleave the sea. As an orderly he followedWhite to Belgrade and later to theUnited States. Here, armed with a letterof introduction to Richard WashbourneChild, he applied for his citizenship

Continued on page 33

The DESERT MAGAZINE

REBELLION Photo by Wm. M. Penninglon

red oh thBy JOHN STEWART MacCLARY

Not every mood of the desert is benign—or at least not every mood ofevery desert-dweller is admirable. In this petulant face you can detect the dis-content that breeds rebellion.

Twenty-five years ago this son of defiant old Be-Zhosie (Desert Magazinefor December, 1937) committed the act which launched the notorious BeautifulMountain rebellion. He took the wife of another Indian—although he alreadyhad one wife to bear his burdens and his children.

The episode might have passed unnoticed, had the injured husband notcomplained to the Navajo agent at Shiprock, New Mexico. Indian policesought the wife-stealer and when he eluded them they brought the two womento the agency pending his capture and trial.

The fugitive and his father attacked the agency in an attempted rescue—and the Beautiful Mountain rebellion was started.

f A N U A R Y , 1 9 3 9

Is the bite of a Gila monster deadly? So many conflicting answershave been given to this question that the average person is all at seaas to the truth. Charley Evans of Phoenix, Arizona, who is qualified bymany years of experience with the reptiles to express an authoritativeopinion, says the answer is both yes and no. In the accompanying ar-ticle he tells what he has found out about Gilas and other crawlingdenizens of the desert country.

Charley Evans with one of his pet Chuckawallas. When frightened they inflatethemselves like a toy balloon. They are not very pretty—but they're harmless.

10

'Peiett

Rep tile 5

•flte iti*

rtlend.5By MARGUERITE NAEGLE

and BERT FIREMAN

/ ^ H A R L E Y EVANS probably knowsI snakes and other reptiles as well

as any person in the desert country.His collection includes many species butthe Chuckawalla lizard is his favorite.

The Chuckawalla is a comical andharmless little beast, neutral in color andpurposeless in life. Trapped and held, heinflates his body like a toy balloon. Thislittle trick enables him to resist beingpulled out of crevices in the rocks wherehe makes his home. Pull on him whenhe is thus wedged in a crack and Mr.Chuckawalla will sacrifice tail or limb ifnecessary to escape capture.

Evans lives on the desert near Phoenix,Arizona, his establishment identified bythe startling legend on a huge sign: "IRaise the Dead!" Actually he is a taxi-dermist and his work is devoted to re-storing to life-like appearance the ani-mal, bird and reptile specimens brought:o his workshop.

His reptile collection is his hobby. Inhis odd rock garden he has king snakes,red racers, tiger rattlers, blacktails, bullsnakes, lithe iguanas and Gila monsters.Although he is fond of the Chuckawalla,he has an intimate acquaintance with rat-tlesnakes and Gila monsters.

He believes the Gila is deadly if it re-tains its hold long enough, which it issure ts do if given an opportunity. Butif the jaws of the monster are pried looseimmediately the flow of blood acts as a

T h e D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E

wash to cleanse the wound and the ven-om's effect is minimized. Evans has beenbitten several times by Gila monsters, butsuffered no ill effects from their bites.No physician was called. The only treat-ment was the application of iodine.

The experience of Tom Reap of CasaGrande, Arizona, was a different story.One of the reptiles with which he wasplaying, seized his thumb. It was severalseconds before he could get a pair ofpliers and twist the monster away fromits death-grip. Reap died within twohours, after intense suffering. The Gilaretained it grip only about 60 seconds,and Reap was unconscious within threeminutes after he was released.

In Evans' pens are reptiles of all ages,from baby snakes which have yet to seetheir first summer, to veterans which haveknocked off the index to their age bylashing their rattles against the stones inthe pit, or lost them in combat with fel-low-captives. The number of rattles isnever a sure guide to the age of a snake.

Most of his snakes are natives of theArizona desert. A few came from Mexico,Texas and Florida. He does not hirehunters because he has a constant sourceof supply from persons who capture thereptiles along the roadside and on hikingtrips. They bring him poisonous rattlersand harmless lizards, and get paid accord-ing to the supply in Evans' pits.

Years ago, before his collection waswell known, he engaged snake hunters.Only one of these, a Mexican, ever wasbitten. He had been teasing the snake

VENOM OF THE GILA

The venom of the Gila mon-ster is secreted in glands in thejaws near the base of the teethand is released with the saliva.This explains the difference be-tween the instantaneous pois-oning which accompanies thebite of the rattlesnake, and theslower injection of the venomfrom the Gila after it has fas-tened its teeth into its victim.

The Gila generally is a slug-gish reptile, does not strike,and never molests human be-ings unless it is cornered orannoyed. When attacked itopens its jaws and awaits theopportunity to seize its enemyand then hangs on with bull-dog determination.

with a stick and the infuriated rattlerhad exhausted most of its venom supplyin striking at the wood. Finally it caughthim on the arm. He was sick for a fewhours but recovered.

Many persons who are bitten recover,their chances being especially good ifthey slash the point where the fangs haveentered, suck the wound, apply a tourni-quet and get a doctor. Prospectors andsurveyors on the desert generally carry aspecial kit for treating snake bites.

A student of living animals all his life,Evans' taxidermy shop formerly was lo-

cated in downtown Phoenix. He secureda few reptiles and put them in the win-dows. But his collection kept growingand it was necessary to find a larger homefor his pets and so he moved out to thesuburbs along Highway 80.

"Snakes prefer to be their own butch-ers—they seldom eat animals alreadykilled. They are light eaters—otherwiseMrs. Evans and I would find it quite achore to provide mice and gophers forthem." Mrs. Evans is chief assistant atthe gardens.

Separated from the rattlers is a pitwhere there are many orange and blackGila monsters, sprawling on the groundor lazily seeking the shady spots. Theyare hearty eaters and have a special pre-ference for eggs. Evans keeps a penof white Leghorns as a source of food forthem. Once a week two eggs are fed toeach of the 50 monsters in the pen.

In shallower pits he keeps Chucka-wallas, iguanas and tortoises, the latterdemanding a different type of food, pre-ferring melons, lettuce and fresh vege-tables.

Evans seldom removes the fangs fromhis rattlers. They do not live so long ifthis is done, he says. He handles themwith caution and has never been bitten.

To Charley Evans snakes are friends,and a source of legitimate profit. A longtime ago he adopted the policy of tell-ing his visitors only the truth about thereptiles and their habits. He has littleregard for would-be naturalists whosupply the public with strange fantasiesabout the life and habits of desert rep-tiles.

The bite of a Gila monster is not deadly if the jawspried loose from their victim immediately.

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 3 9 11

lad Slup—Qad a*, fiction!Fabled ship of the Southern California desert! Is it

pure myth, or is there a basis of fact for the oft-re-peated story that somewhere beneath the shifting sandsof the Cahuilla basin is buried an ancient hulk inwhich a rich treasure aivaits the finder?

Many versions of the lost ship legend have beengiven. One of these is the story told by Fierro Blancoin his book "THE JOURNEY OF THE FLAME."Blanco's novel is a strange mixture of fact and fiction.Historical records would indicate that his version ofthe lost pearl ship belongs in the category of fiction.

Another "lost ship" story ivas ivritten by FlorenceHaines Apponyi and appeared in "THE GOLDENERA" in San Diego, 1885. This appears to be anauthentic record—but since the element of lost treas-ure is missing, it lacks the glamour of the Blanco

These two versions are given on this page. A neivlost ship story, printed for the first time in the Des-ert Magazine, appears on the next page. The readerwill find all three stories interesting—and may drawhis own conclusions as to their authenticity.

f\ I 0 1 . In the year 1615 Juan De Iturbe,IJ6>GL?l>l> ^*'t4>4jt> after a successful season of pearl

fishing and bartering with the In-dians along the coast of the Gulf of California sailed northin the hope of finding the fabled Straits of Anian throughwhich he could pass to the Atlantic ocean without thenecessity of returning on the long route around the Horn.In the hold of his ship were many chests of pearls.

Reaching the head of the gulf he found a channel ex-tending inland between two ranges of mountains. Hepassed through this channel without difficulty and enteredan inland sea so vast that northern shore was not visible.

He sailed around the western shoreline, but a day ortwo later while his ship was anchored overnight near theentrance to a great arroyo, the waters subsided and thecraft was grounded on a sandbar. Before the vessel couldbe released a cloudburst came down from the westernrange and poured a flood of water and debris into the sea.While the debris made navigation difficult at first, thevessel floated clear and soon was out in deep water again.

Continuing his journey, Iturbe eventually came to thenorthwestern shore, but could find no passage beyond.Several weeks were spent in seeking an outlet, and alsoin hunting and fishing to supply provisions for the re-turn trip to Spain.

Finally, he gave up the quest for a water route to thenorth and turned the ship southward again. There he dis-covered that the channel from which he had entered thesea had disappeared and sandbars blocked the way in everydirection. He and his crew were trapped in a landlockedsea.

From a high mountain he had seen a wide channel ofwater some distance east of the sea, and he sailed northalong the eastern shore seeking a way into this channel, butthe waters were falling rapidly and it finally was necessaryto abandon the vessel.

The sequel to this version of the loss of Iturbe's ship,

is the story told in later years of a young muleteer whowas a member of the Juan Bautista de Anza expeditionacross the Southern California desert in 1775. Two orthree days after the Anza party crossed the river at Yumathe young mule driver was sent out to scout the sandywastes of the desert in search of water. He came one eve-ning upon the decayed hulk of an ancient sailing vesselpartially buried in the sand and when he went down intothe hold to explore the interior of the ship he found manychests. Breaking one of them open he discovered that itwas full of pearls. He filled his pockets with them andinstead of rejoining the Anza party headed for the Pacificocean which he knew was beyond the mountains to thewest.

After many days of hardship he reached the missionsettlement at San Diego and sought to enlist the interestof one ef the Spanish soldiers stationed there. The soldierwas willing enough to join him, but while they were mak-ing secret preparations for their departure a revolt amongthe Indians and the killing of one of the padres upsettheir plans. Finally the young muleteer secured a horseand several days' food and returned alone to the desert torecover the fortune he had discovered. He made friendswith some of the mountain Indians and from their campmade many journeys down into the desert—but nevercould re-locate the old ship. Following his death in lateryears the story became another legend of lost treasure inthe desert.

P f\ (91 . Briefly, the story is to theJLG> lJUfy &Vl4/p> effect that in 1862 Joshua

Talbot was one of a smallparty of gold seekers bound for the mines near La Paz,Arizona. The outfit ordered a small skiff built in Los An-geles. The boat was 21 feet long and rigged with a singlemast for sailing. According to records brought to light byArthur Woodward, curator of history in the Los Angelesmuseum, such a craft was turned out in the workshop ofPerry & Woodworth late in May, 1862.

Commenting on the use of this craft, the Los AngelesStar of May 31, 1862 said: "It was built for one of thecompanies starting for the mines, to be used in crossingthe river. The Colorado now is greatly swollen from theheavy rains in the mountains, and there is no ferry estab-lished at the mines; it is a provident forethought to goprepared to cross the stream without loss of time or ob-struction."

The boat was put on wheels and two wagon loads ofprovisions were sent along with it. Enroute across thedesert the teams gave out and the men were forced toabandon the craft.

Within 10 years the ship had become a legend. In 1870Indians reported having seen the boat and the locationwas given as 40 miles north of the San Bernardino-Yumaroad, and about 30 miles west of Dos Palmas.

In 1870 a party of men headed by Charles Cluskerwent out to salvage the vessel and what valuables it con-tained. Local newspapers reported the men had found it50 miles or more from Dos Palmas in a region of boilingmud springs. Clusker returned to secure equipment forreaching the boat—but none of the newspapers of theday contained any further reference to the expedition.

12 The DESERT MAGAZINE

J2o5t SAi)ipthe 'PeiettBy CHARLES C. NIEHUIS

The legend of the lost ship of the Colorado des-ert persists. Here is a new version from an unex-pected source. When this manuscript reached theoffice of the Desert Magazine a note of inquiry wassent to Mr. Niehuis, the author, to learn whetherthe story was pure fiction, based on the old legendof the lost pearl ship, or an authentic report fromliving characters. He replied that while Jim Tuckerrecently passed away, his wife Petra was still livingat the time this story was written and would vouchfor its truth.

(7 IM TUCKER has gone now. HejL went on his last "prospecting trip"

^7 over on the other side of the GreatDivide. He left here his wife Petra, aMexican woman who had been his com-panion on trips into the mountains andover the desert for nearly 40 years.

I can still see Jim as he sat on theedge of his bed at the Arizona Pioneers'Home near Prescott and told me thestrange story which I am going to repeatas accurately as memory will permit.

A grizzled beard of a week's growthwas on his face. He sat erect — broadshoulders and straight back that theweight of 79 years could not bend. Blue

eyes twinkled under shaggy eyebrows.His voice boomed and rumbled in hismassive chest like the distant blast ofdynamite in a prospector's hole.

"Charlie, I'll tell you a good one. Youwon't believe it, but it's the truth any-way." Then he hesitated.

"Shall I tell him about the ship,Petra?" he asked the small dark womanwith snow white hair, who rocked stead-ily in the corner.

"Si, no le hace," she murmured, thenturned to flash, "But, don't tell himwhere, Jim!"

I sat silent, neither urging nor dis-couraging them.

"I'm Petra's second husband," Jimcontinued, after he had shifted his chewinto his cheek.

"Her first husband was Santiago Socia,a high class Mexican from Los Angeles.He killed a man there, and had to leavein a hurry—afraid they'd lynch him, be-cause it was an American he shot. He hidin the hills, and finally worked his waydown into Mexico. Petra followed himas soon as she found out where he washiding. So they lived in Tecate, BajaCalifornia, and Santiago was working ina field, harvesting grain. One day a peoncame up to him, looking for work." Jim'srumbling voice ceased a moment as the

Indian legend goes back to the time when the basin nowknown as Imperial and Coachella valleys was filled with agreat clear water lake—Lake Cahuilla—into which the Colo-rado river poured its flood waters at periodic intervals. Anoutfloiv channel probably carried excess waters south to the

gulf when the lake reached a level high enough to overflowthe silt dike on the south. Th accompanying sketch by Nor-ton Allen suggests the approximate shoreline of the ancientsea, with present day place names given for the surroundingmountain ranges.

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 3 9 13

old man shifted his suspenders off hisshoulders, dropping them to his waist.

"Santiago had almost finished, andtold the beggar—what was his name?"Jim asked, turning to Petra.

The dark woman ceased her rocking,put down a bit of embroidery, pressedfinger tips to the bridge of her nose,thinking, searching that age-dimmedpage of memory.

"Yo pienso—Leonardo, Jim. Si, it wasLeonardo."

"Well, Charlie, you know how Mexi-cans are—they rolled 'cigareets', and saton their heels in the shade of a mesquitetree and talked it over."

The mention of cigarettes started achain of reflexes in Jim, and he fishedin his breast pocket for papers and hissack of "smoking." The brown paper"cigareet" was soon rolled, and Jim lit itwithout removing the chew of tobaccohe already had in his mouth.

Petra laughed when she saw my lookof astonishment.

"Jim, he like the tobacco, no?"Then with cigarette between thumb

and finger, Jim leaned forward and puthis elbow on his knee.

Santiago Makes a Journey"Well, the beggar told Santiago he

had a map from a padre in Californiathat showed where Indians had hid someollas filled with gold dust when theSpanish stampeded them. The ollas wassupposed to be hidden in the mountainsjust across the line north from Tecate."

"Santiago was like Jim," Petra inter-rupted, "you say, 'Come, Santiago, Iknow where there is gold,' and he go,right now.

"The peon, he tell Santiago he haveto take two other men along, who he livewith."

She paused, and linger tips went toher forehead again.

"Ah, I remember, the peon, he wasLeonardo, and the two men who goalong, was Loreto Alvarez, who had thehorses, and Juan Morales and his littleboy, about 12, I think—and his namewas Juan, too."

I was astounded at the old lady's mem-ory, and prodded further, "How longago was all this?"

She turned to Jim, and they spoke inSpanish, and I caught only words thatmeant years, towns, people; then atlength:

"It was 1892," Jim boomed through acloud of smoke.

"Santiago, he furnish the money," shecontinued, "and one day they go, and Inot see Santiago for almost two months.It was late one night when he comeback and come into the tent. He saynothing to me, but go to sleep rightaway.

"I get up early and was making tor-

, • "

Perta is groiving old—but her memory still is clear and there is no doubt in hermind as to the truth of the story that is repeated in these pages of the Desert

Magazine.

tillas on a comal; what you call 'comal'in English, Jim?"

Tucker paused in the rolling of histhird cigarette, and turned to me.

"A 'comal' is an iron, or a flat stonethat Mexicans bake tortillas on. It is flatand big around." Jim circled his armsto illustrate.

Petra continued, not looking at Jimor me, as she spoke of Santiago, her firsthusband.

"Santiago he finally get up, and comeoutside the tent. I have a fire under a cot-tonwood tree, and was baking the tor-tillas on the comal.

"He not say anything at first, then hesay, 'Petra, if I had a chisel on our trip,I could get a nice comal for you—betterone than that one.'

"I laugh, and say to him, 'Ah, Santi-ago, where you find iron for comal inthe mountains?'

"He say, 'I tell you somethingstrange. You will say I am crazy, that Ilose my water and get thirsty, and seedreams, but it is the truth.

" We was looking for the ollas ofgold in every canyon where the mapshow, but we could not find them. Then—one day—in one canyon, we find—aship! A big boat, in the sand!'

"Then I say, 'Santiago, you tease me!'"He say, 'No, Petra, it is the truth of

God. I find a ship and stand on thefront. It is ten feet high, and the back itis buried in the sand!'

'But, the comal,' I say.'The comals was big round iron

things on the sides. Bright and notrusted; not like any metal I have seen be-fore.' "

Petra paused, then extended her arm.Her other hand measured it at theshoulder, and she said, "Santiago, he dothis, and say, 'This big, Petra.' "

She again described the sight as Santi-ago saw it. A narrow box canyon withhigh sheer walls, and a sandy bottom;and, partially buried there, a boat of an-cient appearance—an open boat but big,

Continued on page 2.5

14 The DESERT MAGAZINE

Two botanists and two rock-climbers teamed upfor a day of exploration on the rugged desertslopes of San Jacinto peak in Southern California—and found a precipitous gorge where a crystalstream cascades down over a series of magnifi-cent falls. Although this scenic retreat is close byone of the main highways, it is a place seldomreached by visitors.

the rail* onSan Qacinto

By RANDALL HENDERSON

>n am not quite sure whether this little journey into one( / of the out-of-the-way canyons in the desert coun-

—"* try should be classed as a botanical excursion or aclimbing adventure. It involved some of the elements of both,and was doubly interesting because science and explorationmake a happy pair of teammates.

The scientific men in our party were Dr. E. M. Harvey ofthe U. S. Department of Agriculture, and Don Admiral,Palm Springs naturalist. Dr. Harvey's hobby is taxonomy. Atone time he was associated with Dr. D. T. McDougal at theCarnegie Desert Laboratory at Tucson.

Willard R. Hillery of Cathedral City, California, and Iwere the other two members of the quartet, and since neitherof us ever has achieved anything worth mentioning in thefield of science, our roles simply were those of a couple ofrough-and-ready rock-climbers who like to explore the des-ert canyons.

Don Admiral had been telling us about the scenic water-falls which cascade down the precipitous north face of SanJacinto peak, and so we started out in an early morning latein October to see the falls, and climb to the top of them ifpossible.

From Palm Springs we took the main highway toward LosAngeles. We crossed Whitewater river and the SouthernPacific tracks and then turned left on the abandoned roadwhich runs along the railroad right-of-way.

In less than a mile we turned left again, recrossed thetracks and rolled across the sandy floor of the Whitewaterarroyo toward the base of San Jacinto. We were on the roadto Snow Creek canyon, that great gash in the north slope ofSan Jac which extends from the floor of the desert almost tothe summit.

Snow creek formerly was the site of a state fish hatchery,but the project was abandoned in 1932 due partly to the factthat prior water rights on Snow creek left an inadequate sup-ply of water for the trout tanks, and partly because of thecloudburst hazards in this canyon.

Climbers pause at the lop of one oj the falls to view thedesert landscape below. Left to right, Dr. E. M. Harvey,

Willard R. Hillery and Don Admiral.

Leaving the river bottom the road climbs the gradualslope of the fan which leads back to the mouth of the can-yon. The road is rough and rocky in places and requirescareful driving, but presents no serious difficulties.

Our motor trip ended at the locked gate of the enclosurewhere the intake gatekeeper lives. The waters of Snow creekare controlled by the Palm Springs Water company and theSouthern Pacific Land company, and from this point arepiped to the desert below where they serve the domesticneeds of a growing population.

Our objective was not Snow creek, but a little known can-yon which forks to the left. We wanted to explore Falls creek,which tumbles down a steep gorge from the pine-clad heightsof San Jacinto east of Snow creek.

We followed the trail eastward from the intake—but thetrail soon came to an abrupt end, and from there it wasevery fellow for himself, over and around a jumbled massof boulders which can be traversed safely only with rubber-soled shoes.

This was a leisurely trip—it couldn't be otherwise with acouple of those botany fellows along. Dr. Harvey and Don

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 3 9 IS

Admiral were meeting old friends amongthe rocks—friends with strange Latinnames which meant nothing to Bill Hill-ery and me. To us, a goatnut bush is agoatnut bush—but to Doc and Don it isa Simmondsia calijornica.

From our scientific companions Ilearned about the life zones encounteredon the rock slopes of old San Jac. Itseems that on the side of that mountainone can travel all the way from centralMexico to the arctic circle. From the sea-level floor of Coachella valley to thecairn at the top of San Jacinto the climbis 10,805 feet and the distance by trail—if there was a trail - - is less than 10miles. But along that route are foundthe life zones of plants normally grow-ing over a range of 2,000 miles.

During the entire trip up Falls creekwe encountered only one small shrubwhich Dr. Harvey could not call by sci-entific name. I want to remark in passingthat on any trip to the desert the pleas-ure is doubled if there is in the party ageologist or botanist or gernologist orzoologist to discuss the significance ofthe things seen along the way.

While the gradient of the lower can-yon is not steep, the water splashes overthe boulders in a never-ending series ofminiature waterfalls and clear crystalpools—always a delight to the hiker.

Don Admiral searched the pools for aglimpse of trout. Dr. Harvey finally set-

PLANT LIFE ZONESIN CALIFORNIA

to[ The Lower Sonoran

1—Colorado desert, 0500 feet.2—Mojave desert, 1000 to5000 feet.3—Valley Sonoran (SanJoaquin), 10 to 500 feet.

II The Upper Sonoran, 1000 to5000 feet.1—Lower foothill belt.2—Chaparral belt.

III The Transition, 2000 to 4000feet.1—Arid transition.2—Sierra transition.3—Redwood transition.

IV The Canadian, 5000 to 7000feet.

V The Hudsonian, 7000 to 9000feet.

VI The Boreal (True Alpine)9000 to 14,500 feet.

Plant specimens of all thesezones are f o u n d along the10,805-foot climb from the des-ert floor at sea level to the sum-mit of San Jacinto peak.

tied the fish problem by suggesting toDon that the only species of trout inthese waters is Salmo non-existus. And

that settled the matter until later in theday when we met a fisherman comingfrom higher up the stream with 10speckled beauties in his creel.

We scrambled along the boulder-strewn creek bed for a mile and a halfwhile the botanists talked their strangejargon. And then we came to the firstmajor waterfall • - a gorgeous whitespray dropping 150 feet over an almostvertical wall of granite. It is a lovelyspot. In a more accessible place thesefalls would be a lure for hundreds ofvisitors every month.

But we could not pause long to ad-mire the beauty of this retreat for therewere other falls beyond, and immediatelyahead of us was the problem of detour-ing the steep slopes to reach the top ofthe waterfall.

It was a climb that called for the useof both hands and feet, but we foundgood toeholds and the ascent was madewithout difficulty. Reaching the top itwas but a few hundred yards until wewere blocked by another sheer wall overwhich the water was pouring into a poolalmost large enough to be called a moun-tain lake.

Our measurements were made with analtimeter and are therefore only approxi-mate, but this second major fall, washigher than the first, probably 175 feet.Moss and ferns decorated its glisteninggranite face.

Another detour was necessary but na-

SAN JACINTO PEAKEL. 10,805 FT.

TOPALMSPRINGS ~r.-•—^?~~-

16 The DESERT MAGAZINE

ture had been kind and the climb to thetop was made through a heavy mat ofwild grapevines which furnished goodhandholds where the going was steep.

Then we came to the daddy of all theFalls creek cascades—a magnificent dropof 350 feet. As the water struck project-ing rocks on its way down the cliff itbroke into cloud-like sprays that floatedoff and faded against the blue sky.

Countless ages of downpour over therocky wall have eroded a deep-set covein the canyon. From where we stood atthe bottom it appeared that the streamwas coming over the bare-faced top of amountain. We were eager to climb thatwall and see what lay beyond.

The top of these falls was the goal ofour day's excursion—and it was quiteevident the last 350 feet would be thehardest. For our detour we selected asteep chute. It was fairly easy climbingat the start, but as we made our way up-ward we found slopes of decomposedgranite that offered uncertain footing. Itwas one of those treadmill slopes whereyou lift your foot 12 inches upward inthe loose gravel—and if you slide backonly 11 inches you are lucky.

At one point we used our rope foradded security, but the greater part ofthe ascent involved more hard work thanhazard.

Eventually we reached the top andfound ourselves on a rolling plateau—asort of bench with the canyon droppingaway sharply to the desert on one side,and above our heads the almost verticalwalls of upper San Jacinto mountain.

It was lunch time and we sat down onthe smooth granite slabs at the top ofthe falls and enjoyed the scenery as weate our sandwiches.

Our altimeter registered 3150 feet—less than one-third the way to the topof San Jacinto. I have a high respect forthose Sierra club boys and other moun-taineers who have made the climb fromWhitewater to the summit in a singleday. !

At the bottom of the first of the threemajor falls our altimeter read 2250 feet.Falls creek wastes no time getting downover the intervening 900 feet.

On the distant horizon beyond SanGorgonio pass the bald-headed peak ofold Grayback was the outstanding land-mark. Across the desert below we couldfollow the route of the Colorado riveraqueduct and the main highway. Thous-ands of motorists roll along over thatpaved road, unaware of the scenic gran-deur of the deep canyon recesses in themountain slopes between them and thetop of San Jacinto.

Leaving the stream above the upperfalls for the return trip we crossed overa low ridge to the west and dropped

This is one of the many smaller cascades which tumble down the north slopesof San Jacinto peak.

down into the watershed of the east forkof Snow creek. An old trail followsalong the crest of the canyon. The pathevidently has been little used in recentyears and is in a bad state of repair—but old trails always have a fascinationfor the explorer in the desert country be-cause many of those found in this regionwere first trod by the moccasined feet ofprehistoric Indians.

We followed the trail back to the in-take. According to Don Admiral, ourtrip had taken us up through LowerSonoran and Upper Sonoran life zonesand into the chaparral or transitionalarea.

We had covered five miles in sevenhours — an easy day's hike, but who

would want to hurry when there were acouple of botanists along, exclaimingover their discoveries like prospectorsfinding gold nuggets? Bill Hillery and Ienjoyed it, even if we couldn't under-stand the words. Bill and I were just acouple of dumbheads during the scien-tific part of the expedition, but we tookthe lead when the time came to climbthose rock faces around the falls. Wehad the men-of-brains groggy and hang-ing on the ropes when the job called forbrawn-without-brains.

If you like the rugged scenery of thecanyons found on the rim of the desert,and do not mind a day of vigorous tramp-ing and climbing, Falls creek canyonoffers a thrilling reward for the effortit will cost to scale those granite boulders.

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 3 9 17

•LOS VAQUEROS DEL DESIERTO

By ANTHONY BURKEMap by BEE NICOLL

.̂ / ROM the shelter of San Jacinto peak into one of theI weirdest lands under a desert sun rode a happy troop

of men this fall—los Vaqueros del Desierto. They leftbehind them the luxuries of the colorful city of Palm Springsto face the "rigors" of a five-day trek into the mysteriouslands lying to the north.

The idea was born among members of the riding fraternity

• * ;

at the Southern California desert resort many months ago.Plans began to take definite form in September when invita-tions were mailed to congenial friends of the saddle in allparts of the country.

The response was immediate. And so the Vaqueros wereorganized. Sam Buckingham was elected president; WarrenB. Pinney became treasurer, and Frank Bennett secretary. Anexecutive committee was named to arrange campsites, foodsupplies, and solve the problem of providing water for manand animal on a desert where waterholes are sparse.

PRLITIS-

QUBILSPRlriGl A *

I DEVIL'SGflRDEn

PflLlffSPRinGS CLUB

^Pc—j*^.- —«

O SEEP WELL

S^r-s-^ «

18 T h e DESERT M A G A Z I N E

Such a trek involves a thousand and one details—enter- bath—but most of them returned to Palm Springs carryingtainment for the evenings, lighting equipment, firewood, cook the grime and beards of five days away from a tiled bath-stove and portable tables and chairs. Seven trucks were kept room,rolling. No cavalry division ever was better served. This was the first trek of los Vaqueros del Desierto—but

Stage coaches and a four-horse covered wagon joined the the success of the event made certain the fulfillment of thecross country procession through the Joshua forests. Not all plan of its sponsors, that it should be an annual event,the Vaqueros were seasoned riders—there were lawyers and Officers and riders who contributed to success of the trekdoctors, innkeepers, industrialists and movie stars. Cushioned are officially listed as follows:buckboards were provided for those unaccustomed to long F L PRESIDENTE Sam J. Buckinghamhours in saddle leather. Yet there was one member of the Check Book Boss—Treasurer Warren Pinneyparty, who had never been astride a horse before, who rode Round-up Boss—Secretary Frank Benneitthe entire 85 miles. Camp Boss—Silverware Col. Cliff Meade

„ ., . . . . . , , , T-. i o • .1 i Buckboard Boss—Transportation Travis Rogerst rom their initial rendezvous at Palm Springs they rode T n u | G u i d e *_ F r a n k B o | e r t

through the Devil's Garden and on toward the fantastic Corral Boss—Registration Dr. Bacon Clifftonwonderland of rocks which the government has set aside as Straw Boss—Identification Bob Ransomthe Joshua Tree national monument. Tack Boss Lee Bergen

From the floor of the desert they rode to a mile-high mesa lop ^tmglet"j " E a r l C o f f m a n

. . . i i i Pony Express Rider George Roberson- p a s t isolated palm oases through rocky canyons, among Medicine M a n - O / W D0f/Or Dr Jas. Olivergrotesque Joshua trees and up into the juniper and pinon Horse Doctor Alvah Hickspine. And when night came they slept beneath the desert Chow and Java Professor Jack Petrasstars. Beverage Baron Harry Sperb

_,. , i i - i r i Mule Skinner Pat Patterson

They sang as they rode—a congenial group of men who B u l l rhiowet-Publicity Tony Burketreasured the opportunity for a recess from stuffy offices and Hay Fever Champ Charlie Farrellcrowded pavements. And when they came to the evening Water Boy W. Parker Lyoncampsite, tired but happy, they found a steaming meal of v i c e Investigator John Pyleswell-cooked chow, prepared by Jack Petras, awaiting them. D e a n of Wimmen Don Lake

Some of fhe hardier souls braved the chill of a sponge Continued on page 31

Scene of the last night's camp at Thousand Palms canyon—Photo by Chuck Abbott

i . m.

*£»* ' Hi a .*

V

So If on Want to CollectMany inquiries have come to the Desert Magazine from readers who

want to know how and where to start collecting gem stones and minerals asa hobby. Because of this widespread interest, John W. Hilton, collector andlapidarist of many years' experience, was asked to write an article forbeginners. For those who do not know one stone from another, the accom-panying text will suggest a starting place. Gem collecting, like any other hobbycalls for enthusiasm and effort—but for those who are willing to give the timeand energy this pastime offers a rich reward in indoor entertainment andoutdoor recreation.

By JOHN W. HILTON

were just rocks to me,"sa 'd a visitor the other day,"until I began reading the

Desert Magazine. Now I think it wouldbe interesting to collect them, but I don'tknow where to start."

It is for people like this I have pre-pared this article, and for dozens ofothers who have written or called at mygem shop with questions as to how to goabout starting a collection.

"Why stop at gems?" asked one pros-pective collector. "You seem to have allkinds of minerals in your collections."The answer is that there is no reason weshould stop with gems. We merely startwith the more precious types of mineralsbecause the idea of collecting them hasa greater appeal for the novice.

Mineral collecting is a large field withmany interesting variations. No matterhow hard the collector tries to specialize,sooner or later he will find himselfbringing home an interesting fossil whenhe went out to find copper ores, or carry-ing back some pretty calcite crystals whenit was agate he was seeking.

The field is so broad, however, thatthe real collector eventually will special-ize in a particular class of stones. Thenatural interests of the person and theopportunities for collecting will governthis decision.

Advanced hobbyists may specialize inthe chemistry of stones. Those with a lik-ing of mathematics will be fascinated bythe crystalline structure of minerals. Manycrystalized minerals form beautiful groupswhile others are found as single or modelcrystals.

I know one collector who has made alife-long hobby of collecting tiny modelcrystals of the earth's minerals. Hisspecimens range in size from that of apinhead to a crystal that will fill a medi-cine capsule. These small specimens whenviewed through a low power microscopeoften are more interesting and beautifulthan the larger crystals. The small sizeenables the collector to obtain many rari-ties at little cost.

For instance, he has practically every

20

Lodestone—a magnetic iron foundon the Colorado desert of SouthernCalifornia. Original discovery of thisstone by the Chinese led to the in-vention of the compass.

variation known in diamond crystals—all at a cost of less than a single carat ofmarketable material. These small capsulesare easy to catalog, and the entire col-lection with microscope and index can becarried in a light trunk.

Other collectors specialize in the opti-cal properties of minerals, or in thefluorescent and phosphorescent minerals.

But all of this is for the advancedcollector, and we are interested just nowin the person who hardly knows onestone from another—but who would liketo gain an elementary knowledge of howto identify the more common gem min-erals.

One of the most primitive and lasting

reasons for collecting minerals is theirbeauty. The stone age man who firstpicked up a rock for any other purposethan self-defense probably did so becauseit was pretty. This admiration for beautyin specimens persists, regardless of howspecialized or scientific the collector maybecome. I have seen professors of min-eralogy who have handled rare speci-mens all their lives, dig into their purseto buy a crystal as common as pyrite ofiron simply because it was an exception-ally beautiful piece.

I have met a number of collectors whogathered rocks for their beauty, and noth-ing else. "I care nothing about the scien-tific classification or the chemistry of myspecimens, I merely gather them for therare artistry of their color and form,"one such collector told me.

Human curiosity being what it is, thistype of collector sooner or later does ac-quire some scientific knowledge of hisspecimens. Eventually he is on the bandwagon with the rest of us, boring or in-teresting his friends—as the case may be—with a full history of each specimen inhis possession.

As a start, I recommend to every as-piring collector a good handbook bnminerals and semi-precious stones. Thereare many such books and the names ofa few are suggested in connection withthis article.

The next step is to secure a "hardness"set, consisting of small pieces of mineralsthat range in degree of hardness fromone to ten. Any good handbook will tellhow to use this set in testing stones. Toassist in becoming acquainted with colorand general appearance of the more com-mon specimens, small sample boxes ofminerals may be obtained ranging in costfrom 35 cents to several dollars. Theseare available from supply houses and fre-quently are on sale in curio stores.

After materials have been secured fordetermining color and hardness, the col-lector will want to secure a "streak plate,"which is nothing more than an ordinaryslab of rough white porcelain. The"streak" is determined by scratching the

The DESERT MAGAZINE

mineral specimen across this plate. Someminerals leave no streak while othersleave a mark of an entirely different colorfrom that of the specimen. This is an im-portant test in identifying many of themetallic minerals.

Both the hardness sets and streak platesmay be purchased quite reasonably fromfirms which supply collectors and schoolswith such materials.

A small magnifying glass adds muchinterest to a field trip, and a collectorshould also have a light prospector's pickand a specimen bag. In the bag should bea supply of soft paper for wrapping therocks. An old collector once told me "amineral worth picking up is worth wrap-ping up." Nature spent millions of yearsforming these specimens, and it isthoughtless of man to risk spoiling theirbeauty for lack of a little wrapping paper.

After the prospective collector has as-sembled his equipment, the next ques-tion is where to go. Perhaps I am prej-udiced in favor of the desert because Ihave enjoyed so many happy and profit-able field trips in the desert country—but I do recommend it as the finest areafor mineral and gem collecting.

If the beginner can accompany an ex-perienced collector on the first trip ortwo, this will give him - - or her, forwomen become no less enthusiastic col-lectors than men—the "feel" of the col-lecting art, and help train the eyes to seeand recognize good specimens. Soon he

This photograph shows the doublerefractive type of calcite known asIceland spar. A piece of string pho-tographed through the calcite crys-tal becomes two images.

BOOKS AND SUPPLIESMany books and magazines are avail-

able relating to the subject of gems andgem-cutting. The list is too long to begiven here, but the following are citedas authoritative publications:

Gems—How to Know and Cut Them,bv Horace L. Thomson, published byGraphic Press, 4314 Sunset Blvd., LosAngeles.

Handbook for the Amateur Lapidary,by J. Harry Howard, 504 Crescent Ave.,Greenville. S. C.

The Pacific Mineralogist, semi-annualpublication of the Los Angeles Min-eralogical Society, 6731 Arbutus Ave.,Huntington Park, Calif.

The Mineralogist, published monthlyat Portland, Oregon.

For lapidary and collector's equip-ment the following concerns are knownto be reliable:

The Johns Co., maker of the JohnsGem Cutter, Sappington, St. Louiscounty, Mo.

Southwest Gem & Jewelry Co., 321W. 5th St., Los Angeles, Calif.

W. A. Felker, maker of home lapi-dary units, 3321 Emerald St., Torrance,California.

Ward's Natural Science Establish-ment, Rochester, N. Y.

will find he is observing many things notseen by the casual hiker.

We who are fortunate enough to live

on the desert or visit it frequently havea decided advantage over collectors towhom the desert is not accessible. Thereare not many of the important mineralsknown to man which are not foundsomewhere in the desert Southwest.

I want to stress the matter of goodsportsmanship in the gathering of min-eral specimens. After all, there are thou-sands of us who are interested in collect-ing and we should be considerate of ourfellow hobbyists. The first rule of a goodcollector is not to waste or destroy. Ifeach selects only what he wants for hisown collection, and perhaps a few speci-mens for exchange, there will always beplenty for others who will follow. Thebreaking up of rocks out of mere curiosi-ty or without thought of taking themalong comes in the same category withthe shooting of game and leaving it.

Another important thing to keep inmind is the rights of owners of privateproperty. Many mine dumps and ore binsmay be wonderful sources of mineralspecimens if the collector respects therights of the mine owners. Miners gener-ally are a friendly lot and if approachedin the right way will allow collecting ontheir property. If they take an unfriendlyattitude, more than likely it is becausethey have had previous experience with

Continued on page 28

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 3 9 21

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It was while he was working at histrade in the Arizona Pioneers' Home atPrescott, Arizona, that CHAS. C. NIE-HUIS became acquainted with Petra and]im Tucker and was told the strangestory which appears in this number ofthe Desert Magazine.

Niehuis earns his living as a barber,but when the day's work is done at th.2shop devotes his time to his hobbies—historical research, photography andwriting. His manuscripts have appearedin Arizona Magazine (now out of publi-cation), Arizona Highway Magazine,Sports Afield and the American Baptistpublications.

• • •

HUGH LACY, whose story of the Ev-erett Ruess mystery in the Septembernumber of the Desert Magazine was oneof the most unusual and fascinating fea-tures yet published in these pages, is acomparative youngster in the field ofwriting. He is 22 years old, was born atBisbee, Arizona, but now makes hishome in Whittier where he has a wifeand two-year-old daughter. Despite hisyouth he has had a varied experience—laborer, shipping clerk, grocery boy,salesman and amateur and professionalboxer at various times.

He is now WPA Senior Editor in LosAngeles.

It was through Lacy's friendship forthe Ruess family in Los Angeles that theEverett Ruess letters, the first one ofwhich appears in this number of theDesert Magazine, have been made avail-able for publication. Mr. and Mrs. Ruesshave been unwilling at any time to cap-italize the mysterious disappearance oftheir son, but they still cling to the hopethat Everett may be alive, and they con-sented to the publication of the letterswith two thoughts in mind—one thatthey might bring to light some additionalinformation about their missing son, andthe other, that from Everett's experienceother young people may gain some en-couragement in the pursuit of the artswhich meant so much to their son.

Everett's mother, Stella Knight Ruess,is an artist of unusual versatility. Shedoes blockprints, bookplates, Christmascards, carving, modeling and is a writerand poet. Her books include Poems inTrees. Los Angeles in Blockprint, and abiography William Henry Knight, Cali-fornia Pioneer, has recently been pub-lished. Her collection of Madonna figur-

Sez HardRock Shorty

of

Death

By LON GARRISON

"Well, anyhow," commentedHard Rock Shorty, "these here des-ert alum water springs'll outdrawanythin' I ever seen, right down toan' includin' them birdseed poul-tices my Maw used to plaster onme."

Hard Rock tipped back in hischair on the porch and producedan ancient, well caked fumigatorthat once-upon-a-time was a pipe.Now it was just something thatlooked like it had been a pipe andsmelled worse than fertilizer. Hestuffed it full of ground hay thathe kept loose in his pocket, andhow he lit it without getting hiswhiskers involved remained a per-petual mystery.

"Why, lemme tell you aboutwhat happened to Gene Bank'shorse over in the Panamints lastyear. He got bit by a sidewinder inthe leg—the horse, not Gene—an'the durn leg swole up 'til it lookedlike it was on wrong end up.Wouldn't go down , neither.Gene'd one o' them alum watersprings up in Fried Egg Canyon onhis ranch, an' he just led the ol'horse over there an' soaked theswole up leg in the alum water.The leg went down like a puncturedballoon, but Gene'd went at it abit too vigorous like, an' didn'tstop soakin' in time so that leg gotto be a bit shorter'n the others.Gene had quite a time tryin' to get'em squared up, splashin water alittle on this leg, an' then onthat'n, an' he never did get 'emjust right. The horse ain't got muchmore legs left'n one o' them Ger-man weenie dawgs, an' still limps abit on odd corners—but Gene didget rid o' that swellin."

ines and icons has been widely exhibited.Christopher G. Ruess, Everett's father,

is a California pioneer in probation workand formerly was chief probation officerat Oakland. He is a Harvard graduateand is now a member of the Los Angelesprobation department.

22 The DESERT MAGAZINE

MlneA andSalt Lake City, Utah . . .

Employing 150 men, the Tooele, Utahcopper smelter of the International Smeltingand Refining company has reopened. Thesmelter had been closed since June. A leadfurnace of the American Smelting and Re-fining company at Murray, Utah, has beenreopened, employing 300 men. It has beenclosed since May.

• • •

Reno, Nevada . . .Confidence in the maintenance of pre-

vailing prices by leading domestic metalswas expressed by leaders in the nation'smining industry, says Director Jay Carpen-ter of the Mackay school of mines, in a re-view of the American Congress of MiningEngineers. Foreign rearmament is using thelion's share of the present copper supply,Carpenter says, with domestic consumptionslowly increasing. Believing that maximumproduction would be poor policy, major op-erators are said to have agreed to limitedoutput.

• • •Goldfield, Nevada . . .

Law to protect the badger, the prospect-or's best friend, is proposed by A. J. Coss,Winnemucca mining man. Coss said that 16or 17 mines in Nevada have been discoveredwith the assistance of badgers. He believesa bill should be introduced in the state leg-islature providing a penalty for harmingone of them. "First thing a prospector doeswhen he examines the country with an eyeto finding a mine, is to look at the dirtdug out by the badgers, to see if there isany quartz in it," says Coss.

• • •

Globe, Arizona . . .Mine workers are included in interstate

commerce or in the production of goods forinterstate commerce and therefore most ofthe mining industry comes under the pro-visions of the federal wage-hour law, Wes-ley O. Ash, a regional director of the labordepartment's wage and hour division, toldthe American Mining congress. Small minesselling products in crude form to processingplants in the same state will be subject tothe law, he declared.

• • •

Phoenix, Arizona . . .Arizona's Small Mine Operators associa-

tion is working on a completely new statemining code to be presented to the 14thlegislature. Hope is that a law similar tothe federal code will be enacted to facilitatelocating and operating mining properties onstate lands. It is proposed to provide a taxin lieu of assessment work, much higherthan the tax on grazing land, "to discour-age holding of non-mineral lands and tobar holding mineral lands in idleness." Theproposed code will be submitted to the 46councils of the association before it is sentto the legislature.

• • •

Tonopah, Nevada . . .Manhattan Gold Dredging company has

placed in commission a mammoth dredgerat the Donald and Cole-Kirchen placers inManhattan Gulch, Nye county. Largest everbuilt in Nevada, the unit is said to have acapacity of 350,000 cubic yards of gravelper month. The dredge is said to have costS75O,OOO.

Washington, D. C. . .Silver lining for tin cans is recommended

by the U. S. bureau of standards as offeringimportant new commercial use for thewhite metal. A thin coat of silver, says abulletin from the bureau, increases resist-ance to corrosion, improves preservation ofcanned foods. The new lining may alsohave germicidal value. With cash providedby silver producers, bureau experts aretesting silver for use in alloys for airplanecastings.

• • •

Silver City, New Mexico . . .Reinstatement of 71 employes discharged

by the Nevada Consolidated Copper cor-poration at its mine workings here has beenordered by the national labor relationsboard. Back pay, or amount lost throughdischarge, is also recommended for the re-instated men, in a report by ExaminerJoseph Kiernan, who presided at a hearinglast summer here, and who charges the com-pany with attempting to interfere withunion activities.

Winnemucca, Nevada . . .Donald C. Gillies has been elected presi-

dent of the American Institute of Miningand Metallurgical engineers. His genius fororganization and administration and aScotch sense of the value of profits arecredited with his rapid rise in the miningworld. His first job was pushing slag potsin a Montana smelter. Then he was an as-sayer, mining engineer, chief engineer, gen-eral superintendent and manager for all theproperties of Senator William A. Clark.Now he is vice president of Republic Steel,at Cleveland. In Nevada he is especiallyremembered for his operations in Tonopahand Goldfield boom days.

Tucson, Arizona . . .Samples of ores and their associated

rocks from more than 200 of the world'sfamous mines make up a collection in theschool of mines and engineering at the uni-versity of Arizona. Platinum, gold, silver,copper, iron, molybdenum, cobalt, tin, nickeland other ores have been collected from allthe mining states in the U. S., provinces inCanada, South American countries, Mexico,Alaska, Philippine Islands, Russia, Japan,Korea, Germany, Spain, Austria, Australia,south Africa and Newfoundland. In noother mining school in the world is there acomparable display, it is claimed.

Big Pine, California . . .Displaying a gold nugget worth $160,

Harry Mornway came to town on electionday from his claims in Marble canyon. Thefind is largest reported from that district,although several other nuggets have beendiscovered there. Increased activity is ex-pected on placers in the vicinity, with ar-rival of spring.

• • •

Las Vegas, Nevada . . .On the Nevada desert near Pahute springs

surveyors found a boulder weighing nearlya ton. It assayed $270 gold and 200 ouncesof silver. Searchers are trying to locate theledge from which the rock broke loose.

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Broad and simple lines makethis home harmonize with itsbackground . . . . rugged con-struction makes it comfortablefor desert living.

24

Nestled on the sunny slope of a semi-desert mountain, this ten-room modernhome of Architect Kenneth A. Gordon embodies many features of interest tothe desert dweller planning new construction. The home pictured is an earlyCalifornia-Spanish ranch house design. Walls are of concrete adobe-sizeblocks, topped by red tile roof. The porch floor is made of hand-shaped Mexi-can tile, while the tile floor in the dining room is of San Salvador design.

Redwood beamed ceiling is usedin living room and dining room,while eucalyptus logs serve as raft-ers on the porch.

The house has simple lines, theroof line repeating the profile of thehills. Native vegetation is used inlandscaping and large bouldersbreak monotony of the yard. Boul-ders were also used to make an in-formal wall around the exposedsides of the property.

The Gordon home is at an eleva-tion of 1200 feet, overlooking a can-yon. This type of structure will fit ad-mirably into the architectural vogueof Palm Springs, Tucson, and otherfast-growing resort communities ofthe desert southwest.

The long porch is protected bywings of the house and opens on afountain in the patio. The broad andsimple lines harmonize with thewestern spirit and the constructionassures comfort in desert climate.

The DESERT MAGAZINE

LOST SHIP OF THE DESERT . . .Continued jrom page 14

with round metal disks on its sides.I was bursting with questions, and

Jim laughed when he saw me jerk for-ward with eagerness.

"It's a good story, eh?'' he roared witha grin.

"You bet it is! But why didn't theyreport it, or claim the ship?"

"Well, Charlie, Petra's told me thestory many times, and I asked all thosequestions, too. Santiago was the only oneof the men who realized he had foundsomething. The others were only inter-ested in the gold in the ollas, which theydidn't find. Santiago couldn't go back toclaim the find, because the ship was inthe United States, and he'd have had tofile in Los Angeles—and he was stillsteering clear of that place."

"Didn't any of them ever go back?""Petra claims they all died, of one

thing or another, and none of them evergot back."

Here Petra began speaking swiftly inSpanish. Jim started translating, for mybenefit, so Petra changed to Englishagain.

"One time, my husband, Santiago was

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riding in the mountains in the Estados,and I was with him. We was up high,and could see more mountains, 15, maybe20 miles away, and he stop and say,'Petra, I am a poor man, now, and maybesome time I die before you, and leaveyou nothing. You get a good man, andcome back here. You go to those moun-tains,' and he point, 'the ship, it is there.It is worth more than the gold in theollas!

'The sand is blowing in there, Petra,and will cover the ship soon, in fewyears. So, look for writing on the wall ofthe canyon—high up. Too high to reachfrom the ground, and too far down toreach from the top! It is not Indian writ-ing, nor English, but some strange writ-ing which must be made by the man ofthe strange ship. Look for it.'

"So, when Santiago is gone, aftersome time I do get a good man," hereshe turned and looked at Jim a moment,with her hands folded in her lap.

"But, he don't believe my story forlong time. Now it is too late, we are tooold."

I, too, looked at Jim. He lit his brownpaper cigarette, and drew deeply. Wordscame out with the pale smoke.

"We went to San Diego once, Charlie,and I stopped in a station to get gas, andgot to talking. I asked the fellow if heknew if there was much placer gold inthe hills. He said, 'I don't know if thereis any gold up there, but there's supposedto be a ship up there in some canyon.'

"We were in the right place too, justnorth of Tecate.

"Did anyone else ever find it?" Iasked.

"A fellow in Phoenix told me he sawa newspaper account in a coast paper,where a prospector, who had been in thehills had come to town. The first placehe hit was a bootleggin' joint, and he gotdrunk. He told a story about finding aship in the mountains, and of course gotlaughed at. Then as he was on his way tothe courthouse to file a claim he got hitby a street car, and killed instantly. Theyalways get killed, or die some way, don'tthey, Charlie? Kinda queer, in a wayain't it?"

I could feel a spell of mental indiges-tion coming on, and I must have shownit.

"Don't believe it, do you, eh?" Jimqueried, leaning toward me. "Well,neither do I, sometimes! Then, again—but, say, Charlie, I told this story to aprospector once. Was trying to get himinterested enough to go with me to lookfor it. And, you know what he told me?He said 'Jim, if you ever tell that storyto a burro, he'll kick your brains out!'"

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-tfete and iltete. . . ON THE DESERT

ARIZONATucson . . .

Arizona Pioneers society heard FatherBonaventure Oblasser, veteran Indian mis-sionary priest, offer to lead the Marcos deNiza centennial parade next year, dressedas the priest who arrived in Arizona in1539. Father Bonaventure said he would befollowed in the parade by a group of Papa-go Indians dressed in gee strings, the cus-tomary garb of their ancestors of 400 yearsago. J. A. Rockfellow of Tombstone toldthe pioneers of a Scotsman who pulled hisown teeth, and presented to the society theforceps used by the hero of his tale.

Santa Claus . . .Between Kingman and Boulder dam,

where there was no town for 80 miles, Mrs.Santa Claus has established this new com-munity. She has built a toy town for chil-dren and expects Jim Farley to add SantaClaus to the list of postoffices. There's a"Christmas stocking" filling station, a Toy-town Tavern, and Cinderella's doll-househas been completed recently. Mrs. NinonTalbott is the founder of the communityand she is happy to find that tourists ontheir way to Boulder dam are delightedwith her idea. "I am building up the char-acter of Mrs. Santa Claus," says Mrs. Tal-bott. "She seems to have been neglected upto this time. I have started a gift shop andcoffee shop, but the town of Santa Claus isprimarily a toy town for children. We willhave a postoffice soon."

Bouse . . .Seventeen-months-old Kay Donovan wan-

dered away from home and when hergrandmother found the child Kay had atwo-foot rattlesnake in her arms. Whenthe grandparent separated baby and snake,the child made a dive for the reptile. Grand-dad killed the snake, which had four rat-tles. The baby had not been bitten.

Window Rock . . .Thousands of Navajo Indians journeyed

through cold and snow from the far-flungcorners of their vast reservation to witnessinstallation of their new tribal council of 72members. First election employing whiteman's ballot on the reservation was heldweeks ago. Votes were of different colors,the color voted denoting the favored candi-date. When Jake Morgan took the gavel asnew chairman and the old council was dis-solved, radio microphones, hanging over theheads of moccasined, long-haired old menand younger tribesmen garbed in modernraiment, carried the proceedings to outly-ing hogans. Dashue Cla Chischillige, Ship-rock, N. M., councilmen, in a speech said:"We pray and sing every day to get rich.We should study the white man's stock, hisherding and his breeding methods."

Mojave . . •In the recent statewide election a full set

of officials was named to preside at thevoting in Keohan's ranch precinct. Al-though two judges and a clerk were dulyappointed to take care of the 16 voters reg-istered there, when final returns were tabu-lated it was found that no one in the pre-cinct, including the officials, had cast avote.

Yuma . . .What to do with 1,000,000 acres of land

in the Castle Dome, Kofa and Cabeza Prietamountain districts of Yuma county? That'sthe issue with clashing proposals from fed-eral and state agencies. A. A. Nichol, incharge of wild-life work for the nationalpark service, wants the area set aside fordwindling herds of Arizona desert bighornsheep. He says 700 bighorns are left nowin the state, while there were nearly 4,000in 1913- Department of the interior hasdesignated the land as grazing area. Thegovernor of Arizona, opposed to givingsupervision of any more state lands to fed-eral government has launched a counter of-fensive to withdraw national park landsfrom U. S. control and turn them over tothe state.

Bisbee . . .A huge white cross, 60 by 11.2 feet, with

a 12-foot statue of the Spanish priest Marcosde Niza and a kneeling Indian before him,will be erected on the new Bisbee-FortHuachuca highway near Palominas, if theproject approved here is carried out. The lo-cation is near the spot where historians saythe priest entered Arizona, first white manto touch the soil of the state. Advocates ofthe memorial say it will be the greatestmonument of its type in all Arizona. Workis scheduled to start at once, following ameeting of local citizens and state highwayofficials.

CALIFORNIA

Indio . . .Riverside county has bought several

acres of land at Avenue 66 and Jacksonstreet for park purposes. The site containsrocks with prehistoric pictographs and offi-cials will now be able to protect these in-scriptions against mutilation.

Blythe . . .Lee Harden, farmer, killed and ate a

young rabbit. Ten days later Harden devel-oped symptoms of what he thought wasinfluenza. His physician said Harden was avictim of tularemia, blamed the rabbit. Thefarmer's hands were scratched when heskinned the rabbit, infection in that wayentering the man's blood stream. Tularemiais usually accompanied by high fever, ach-ing body. Recovery in this case is expected.Doctors warn against any contact at all withrabbits in this district. Palo Verde valleyhas had five tularemia cases in the past twoyears, all traced to rabbits, which carry thedisease.

El Centro . . .Desert grapefruit growers from Salt River

and Yuma valleys in Arizona, Imperial andCoachella valleys in California, have electedB. A. Harrigan, Imperial's agriculturalcommissioner, as piesident of the board oftrustees to market their crop. Ike Pearsonof Brawley is statistician for the organiza-tion. Spread between field and retail priceprompted the plan thus inaugurated.

26 The DESERT MAGAZINE

Needles . . .Reclamation Bureau engineers are laying

out routes for construction roads to Bulls-head canyon damsite on the Colorado rivet-north of Needles. Arizona and Nevada ap-proaches are being studied. On both sidesof the river, this area is the roughest ofmountain country. It will be a tough job tobuild roads over which materials and ma-chinery can be hauled to the damsite. It isestimated that construction of this projectwould irrigate 200,000 acres of mesa land.H. P. Bunger, Reclamation engineer, is, in-vestigating possibilities of new irrigationprojects on the lower Colorado in the Cibolaarea, between Palo Verde and Picacho, andin the Chuckawalla district.

Banning . . .Mighty blasts have ripped away the last

remaining granite barrier in 13-mile SanJacinto tunnel of the Metropolitan districtaqueduct. Drilling crews working fromeast and west portals of the big hole pierc-ing the towering mountain clamberedthrough the opening, celebrated "holingthrough." From Parker dam on the Colo-rado, across sun-scorched desert and underhigh peaks, 1 billion gallons of water willbe delivered daily to 13 cities, nearly 300miles from the river. Behind Parker dam alake has been created 60 feet deep. Greatpumps are now sending water from theriver to Gene Wash reservoir, first of thelong series of lifts necessary to supply thecities of the coastal plain.

Furnace Creek . . .During 12 months ended September 30,

Death Valley national monument was visitedby 58,320 people, according to a reportby Superintendent T. R. Goodwin. The fig-ures represent an increase of 19-3 per centover the preceding year, and a jump of 548per cent above the 9,000 visitors for 1933when the national park service took on thearea. In five years first class highways havebeen built, approaching the valley from alldirections; the park service has surfacedroads to all points of major attraction; re-creational opportunities, camping and hotelfacilities have been provided. In 4,854 carspeople traveled to Death Valley last yearfrom forty-eight states, the District ofColumbia, Alaska, Hawaii and the Phili-ppines ; from England, Canada, Mexico,Africa, China, Panama, Japan, New Zea-land, Germany, Argentina. France, Australia,Holland and Austria. In the year, 87 air-planes landed at Furnace Creek airport.With completion of a new road from Beatty,

Indio . . .Los Angeles newspapers recently reported

discovery of specimens of the elephant tree,or "tree of death" by John W. Hilton in acanyon near Thermal. Cahuilla Indians aresaid to believe this tree is deadly poison,useful for disposing of their enemies. TheDesert Magazine (November 1937) pub-lished an article, accompanied by a sketchmap giving the location of elephant treesnear Fish creek wash. These trees were lo-cated and identified by Dr. E. M. Harvey ofthe U. S. Department or' Agriculture, andDon Admiral, Palm Springs naturalist inJanuary 1937.

NEVADA

TonopahProclamation has been issued by the office

of Indian affairs establishing 3,721.48 acresin Nye county as reservation for use oflandless Shoshone Indians resident insouthern Nevada.

Boulder City . . .Boulder dam recreational area drew 564,-

800 visitors during the travel year endedSeptember 30, 1938. California sent 218,039,almost half of the total, with Nevada insecond place, represented by 58,852 per-sons; Arizona third with 38,491 and Utahfourth with 26,699. Most of the other sight-seers came from the middle western states.The army of travelers came in 185,400 ve-hicles; 3,042 by airplane; in 11 specialtrains carrying 2,510 persons, and 16,150arrived at the dam by stage.

Silver Peak . . .Twenty-eight leading citizens here faced

trial on a charge of "stealing" the localhigh school from its legal location on thedesert south of town. On Hallowe'en thebuilding was moved to the center of thevillage. School board members swore to thecomplaints. The defendants were fined $1.each, Justice of the Peace Thomas Whyteholding them guilty of disturbing the peace."Theft" of the building was outgrowth ofa quarrel between Silver Peak residents andcertain county school trustees. Grateful par-ents of high school students gave a banquetto the 28.

Reno . . .Supt. E. R. Sans of the Charles Sheldon

refuge, wildlife domain in northwestern Ne-vada, used an airplane to take a census ofantelope in the 600,000-acre district. Re-sult: Sans estimates there are now 3,000antelope, three times as many as when theU. S. biological survey assumed jurisdictionover the refuge in 1931. It will be severalyears before hunters will be permitted tokill any of the antelope, he says.

Las Vegas . . .U. S. Coast and Geodetic survey intends

to find out how the earth's crust is standingup under the weight of dam-made lakes.Studies will be made in the neighborhood ofBoulder and Parker dams on the Coloradoriver. In addition, engineers will visit ap-proximately 150 stations scattered throughthe west and southwest.

• • •

NEW MEXICOAlbuquerque . . . ,

When the Republicans made up theircounty ticket in Rio Arriba they had no can-didate for surveyor, so they wrote down thename "John Doe." This name went on theballot and John came within 243 votes ofbeing elected.

Santa Fe . . .New Mexico livestock owners complain

that the government is giving too much ofthe state back to the Indians. Floyd Lee,chairman of the N. M. wool growers associ-ation, told the state tax commission thatthe livestock industry faces a crisis becauseUncle Sam has made "vast purchases" ofland for the red man. He wanted a 20 percent slash in tax valuations on grazingland.

Lordsburg . . .First wholesale cattle rustling case in

Hidalgo county in 40 years has attractedwide interest in western New Mexico andeastern Arizona. Four men are accused.Witnesses testified a herd of 52 was stolenin New Mexico, driven into Arizona andoffered for sale. It was alleged that brandswere changed by cutting away hair withscissors, applying a tooth brush dipped inacid, to burn on new symbols. Pioneer cat-tlemen and veteran peace officers were wit-nesses, told of trailing the herd across partsof two states; later trailed shod saddlehorses to the ranch where the accused menwere arrested. The defendants were held toanswer after a preliminary hearing.

Albuquerque . . .President Roosevelt has endorsed reques;:

for $200,000 federal appropriation to pro-mote New Mexico's Coronado Cuarto Cen-tennial, scheduled for 1940. Participationof all Latin-American nations in the cele-bration will be urged, on suggestion ofU. S. state department. Call for international conferences of educators, historians, an-thropologists and scientists was sent to thePan-American conference at Lima in De-cember.

UTAHOgden . . .

Richard H. Rutledge of this city has beenappointed director of the division of graz-ing, commissioned by Secretary Ickes to suc-ceed Farrington R. Carpenter, resigned afterfour years' service. Rutledge took up hisnew duties November 15. For the past 18years he has been in charge of the inter-mountain region of the forest service, withheadquarters here.

Cedar City . . .Mr. and Mrs. Harold E. Radford, Bakers-

field, Cal., were patients in a local hospital,following their honeymoon in the SouthernUtah Dixie national forest. They receivedtreatment for severely frozen feet. Lost ina blizzard, the honeymooners trudged twodays through a blinding snowstorm beforethey found shelter in unoccupied Duckcreek ranger station. Two days later forestservice crews rescued them with a snowtractor. Doctors said amputation of severaltoes might be necessary.

Kamas . . .Winterton Brothers of Kamas ran away

from all other exhibitors at the WesternLivestock show in Los Angeles in collectionof cash from sales and prizes. They took$6,000, said they would use the money toliquidate a mortgage and buy a generalstore here.

Wecdk&iNOVEMBER REPORT FROMU. S. BUREAU AT PHOENIX

Temperatures— DegreesMean for month 56.0Normal for November 59.7High on November 1 79.Low on November 13 31.

Rain— InchesTotal for month T.Normal for November 0.70

Weather—Days clear 25Days partly cloudy 4Days cloudy 1

G. K. GREENING, Meteorologist.FROM YUMA BUREAU

Temperatures— DegreesMean for month 59-0Normal for November 62.4High on November 7 81.Low on November 21 40.

Rain— InchesTotal for month NoneSixty-nine year average for November.. 0.29

W e a t h e r -Days clear 27Days partly cloudy 2Days cloudy 1Sunshine 96 per cent (301 hours out ofpossible 314 hours).

COLORADO RIVER—November discharge atGrand Canyon 500,000 acre feet. Estimatedstorage December 1 behind Boulder dam22,550,000 acre feet; behind Parker dam482.000 acre feet.

JAMES H. GORDON, Meteorologist.

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 3 9 27

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Continued from page 21

greedy or careless collectors. At anyrate, it should be remembered that theremoval, without permission, of ore froma bona fide mining claim constitutes lar-ceny in most western states.

So far I have discussed only one meth-od of acquiring mineral specimens —that of actual field collecting. Since noneof us can hope to visit all the interestingmineral localities in the world it is onlyby purchase or exchange that we canmake our collections well balanced.

Mineral dealers offer two main typesof specimens. The cheaper grades are forcomparison and study, and the bettergrades are for permanent addition to thecollection.

One of the most interesting phases ofmineral collecting is the exchanging ofspecimens. There are thousands of per-sons with this same hobby scattered overthe earth, and they are glad to exchangespecimens, especially from the desert.Their addresses can be obtained throughnaturalists' directories and hobby andmineral magazines. Membership in oneof the mineral clubs or societies providesan excellent opportunity for exchanges.Nearly every city of any importance hasone or more of these societies.

In preparing specimens for exchangethey should always be carefully labeledboth as to variety and locality. The lo-cation from which the mineral comes isespecially important for it often helps inaccurate classification. New minerals are

BJ \\W» . .

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being found constantly and no one per-son can identify all of them.

Several years ago a chemist in Los An-geles came upon a specimen of graylimestone which exhibited some unusualproperties. Laboratory experiments dis-closed that this limestone could be madethe basis of a commercial process whichwould be worth a fortune. When he gotin touch with the friend who had givenhim the specimen, however, it was learnedthat the rock was from an old collectionwhich had not been labeled as to locality.

A search for this deposit of limestonewas carried on for a period of years. Re-wards were offered for information as tothe location of the deposit and a freetesting service was established to en-courage prospectors to send in specimenswhich might be identical with the origi-nal. Considerable money was spent onthe project but the property never waslocated and the process was lost to man-kind—all for lack of a label. I merelyam emphasizing the importance of mark-ing your specimens at the time they arefound.

In exchanging with others, it has beenmy experience that good specimens prop-erly labeled and packed will bring backgood specimens in return. Remember thatwhen you send a geode, a garnet or acrystal of calcite you are sending a bitof the very desert itself—and we do notwant to distribute inferior or damagedsamples of our desert domain over therest of the earth.

fp.1 . .

Each month the Desert Magazine offers prizes for the best desertpictures submitted by amateur photographers. This contest permits awide range of subjects—personalities, desert plant and animal life,landscapes, scenic canyons and rock formations, in fact any subjectthat belongs to the desert country.

For the prize winning picture an award of $5.00 is made, and forthe second $3.00. Following are the rules governing the contest:

1—Pictures submitted in the Januarycontest must be received at the DesertMagazine office by January 20.

2—Not more than four prints may besubmitted by one person in one month.

3—Winners will be required to furnisheither good glossy enlargements or the or-iginal negatives if requested.

4—Prints must be in black and white,21/4x31/4 or larger.

5—Pictures will be returned only whenpostage is enclosed.

For non-prize-winning pictures acceptedfor publication $1.00 will be paid for eachprint.

Winners of the January contest will beannounced and the pictures published inthe March number of the magazine. Ad-dress all entries to:

CONTEST EDITOR,DESERT MAGAZINE,El Centro, California.

28 The DESERT MAGAZINE

Jbeatk VaJJef *1>uwel 2>aiaAs a guide to motorists who may be planning trips into

the Death Valley national monument of California during thewinter season the following information was given by thenational park service as of December 6:

APPROACH ROADSFrom Southern California: via U. S. 66 to Barstow, U. S.

91 to Baker and State route 127 to Death Valley. Or, viaU. S. 6 through Mojave to Lone Pine, thence on State Route190 to Death Valley. Alternative entrances from U. S. 6 areprovided by way of Trona or Olancha; the Trona route has25 miles of unsurfaced road and the Olancha route has 19miles of unsurfaced road; both are well maintained.

From Northern California via U. S. 99 to Bakersfield, U.S. 466 or State route 178 to junction with U. S. 6, thenceby way of Trona, Olancha or Lone Pine. Or, via Reno, Ne-vada, thence by U. S. 395 or State (Nevada) routes 3 and 5.

From Las Vegas, entrance can be made by either Beatty orDeath Valley Junction over all paved roads.

Furnace creek road - - An unauthorized and misleadingbulletin has been circulated representing this road as being inbad condition. On the contrary this road is oiled and in ex-cellent condition for the entire distance between Death Val-ley Junction and the floor of Death Valley. Between DeathValley Junction and the monument boundary there is a newroad under construction which in no way interferes withtraffic on the present road. Within the monument there areseveral short stretches of gravel on the road, but these patchesare well maintained and are in excellent condition.

DEATH VALLEY ROADSNatural Bridge road—slightly rough but easily passable.Dante's View—rough in spots but easily passable.20 Mule Team canyon—good condition.Salt Pools road—rough but easily passable.Titus canyon—reopened December 10.Badwater and eastside road—rough in spots but easily

passable.Ubehebe crater road—all paved except 3 miles.Grapevine canyon and Bonnie Claire road—unsurfaced but

in good condition.Scotty castle road—all paved except 3 miles.

WEATHERIdeal fall weather prevails, with warm sunny days and cool

clear nights.CAMPING

All modern camping facilities are available in Death Val-ley. The national park service maintains the Texas Springpublic campground near Furnace creek; water, tables andrestrooms are available without charge. Firewood, however,must be purchased, or obtained before entering the monu-ment, for it is prohibited to cut or disturb trees or otherplantlife in national parks and monuments.

At the Furnace creek auto camp, campsites for trailers areavailable with electric outlets, toilet and bath facilities, fornominal charge.

ACCOMMODATIONSFurnace creek Inn—American plan hotel, from $9.50

single.Stovepipe Well Hotel—Hotel and cabins, restaurant, from

$3-00 single.Furnace creek auto camp—cabins, restaurant, store, from

$2.00 single.Accommodations are also available in the nearby localities

of Death Valley Junction, Beatty, Nevada, Panamint Springsind Owens Valley points.

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In the heart of luxuriant Imper-ial Valley, Brawley basks in de-lightfully mild winter climate . .no snow or sleet, no icy winds orfrozen fingers.Vacationing this winter is notexpensive at Brawley. Modernhotels and auto courts offer com-fortable hospitality at moderaterates.

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WRITE THE

BRAUULEY CHAMBEROF COmfTlERCEBrawley, Calif.

Located in the Joshua Tree NationalMonument of Southern California.Edith M. Brininstool of Pasadena,

California is the winner of the prize offered by the Desert Magazine in No-vember for the best identification and description of this desert landmark.The winning entry is printed below.

By EDITH M. BRININSTOOL

The Southern California landmark,pictured in the November issue of theDesert Magazine, is Split Rock. It standsin the area known as the Wonderland ofRocks, in the newly created Joshua Treenational monument near Twentyninepalms, San Bernardino county, California.

Split Rock gets its name from the cleftin the top of the rock, plainly visible inthe picture. It is well known in that sec-tion and is a special point of interest anda popular scenic resort.

There is a cave below the rock, andin it are markings said to be of Indianorigin. It is known to have been used bythe Indians. Many relics of Indian oc-cupancy have been found in this region,which contains miles of mountainousrocky formations, fantastic and beautiful,including caves, inaccessible canyons,towering precipices, pools and waterholes.

This landmark is reached from LosAngeles by going to San Bernardino, fol-lowing U. S. highway 99 through Red-lands, Beaumont, Banning, to Twenty-nine Palms junction, which is about twomiles beyond the Whitewater bridge.There the road turns north through the"Devil's Playground," up a winding can-yon to Morongo Valley, through forestsof Joshua trees to Twentynine Palms, 45miles from the junction.

Take the road south from Twentynine

Palms toward Cottonwood Springs andMecca. At the Riverside county line, 9.3miles from Twentynine Palms take theright fork leading toward Keys Ranch,Quail Springs, etc. About two miles fromthis junction a sign points toward SplitRock on the right. The Rock is a halfmile away at the end of the road.

Nearest point where it can be reachedby railroad, is the Southern Pacific route,from the Palm Springs station, 50 milesfrom Twentynine Palms.

LAND OFFICE DRAFTINGFIVE ACRE-TRACT RULES

Regulations governing the lease and sale ofpublic lands under the Izac five-acre tract billare being drafted but will not be completeduntil some time in 1939, according to thestatement of Thomas C. Havell, technical ad-visor for the General Land Office at Wash-ington. Havell and A. C. Horton, districtcadastral engineer for the Land office, were inthe desert area in December securing addition-al data as to available lands and water supply.

"It is our understanding that the law is de-signed primarily for those who seek homesand recreational opportunities on the desert,rather than as a source of livelihood," saidHavell, "and we are trying to design the regu-lations accordingly."

Copies of the new rules will be availableat the office of the Desert Magazine as soonas they are issued and the information will bepassed along to the readers without delay.

30 The DESERT MAGAZINE

Cliff Dwellings in ArizonaWho can identify this picture?

rind Uout he SUN

Prize Contest for JanuaryThere are many ancient Indian ruins in Arizona, some of

them within the jurisdiction of national parks and monu-ments, and others protected only by state or local authorities.

For the Landmark Contest this month the Desert Maga-zine has selected one of the best known of these ancientruins. Many visitors have viewed the above cliff dwellingsfrom the spot where this picture was taken.

They are located within the boundaries of Arizona, andhave been named for certain characteristics which distinguishthem from other ancient dwellings.

To the reader who sends in the best descriptive article ofnot over 400 words identifying this spot and giving all avail-able information as to location relative to towns and high-ways, geology, legend and historical data a prize of $5.00will be paid.

Entries should be addressed to Landmarks Editor, DesertMagazine, El Centra, California. The contest closes January20, 1939, and the winning answer will be published in theMarch number of the magazine.

• • •

RIDERS OF THE DESERT . . .Continued from page 19

Cashier Chuck AbbottTin-typers—Photographers Gilbert Morgan, Frank Bogert

Howard StaplesImpresarios—Entertainment Committee Anthony Burke,

Robert Ransom, Frank BogertRaffle Racketeer Hal KellyJudge of Kangaroo Kouit Mayor Phil BoydProsecuting Attorney Warren PinneyAttorney for Defense Stuart SalisburySheriff Clarence BeesemeyerJailer Ivon ParkerMAESTRO OF CEREMONIES LEWIS STONE

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DESERT PLACE NAMESCompiled by TRACY M. SCOTT

For the historical data contained in this department, the Desert Magazine is indebted tothe research work done by Miss Scott; to the late Will C. Barnes, author of "ArizonaPlace Names;" to Frances Rosser Brown of New Mexico and to Hugh O'Neil ofOgden, Utah.

Please send me free, "Lure of Death Valley"

Name

Street

City State

(Please print name and address)

PHONE

VANDYKE 2937

CHRISTINA V. FORSYTH607 S. SPR.NG ST. LOS ANGELESfor better reservations — travel information

T C R O S SGUEST RANCH K

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One of California's newer guest ranchesoffering American Plan accommodations inunique stone cottages all with private bath.Rates are reasonable, ranging from $5 dailyand $30 weekly, per person.

Write for full details and reservations.

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ARIZONAASHURST LAKE Coconino county

Northeast of Mormon lake. After Will-iam Ashurst, pioneer cattleman, father ofSenator Ashurst. In 1900 Mr. Ashurst wasprospecting in the Grand Canyon aboveBright Angel creek. Accidentally caughtunder a dislodged boulder he was unableto release himself, and died. When found,he had written his last messages in a smallnote book which lay by his side. He wasburied on the rim of the canyon.

AUBREY (Peak and landing)Mohave county

Landing is at mouth of Bill WilliamsFork. Important early day stop for Colo-rado river steamers, 250 miles above Yuma.Named for Francois Xavier Aubrey, knownas the "Skimmer of the Plains." In 1850 herode horseback from Santa Fe, New Mexi-co, to Independence, Mo., on a wager of$1,000 he could do it in eight days. He fin-ished three hours less than that time, kill-ing several horses on the ride, which he re-peated later on a faster schedule. Historiansagree Aubrey was killed at Santa Fe "in apersonal encounter with Major Weight-man.'" Name was also given to a spring,valley and cliffs in Coconino county, aswell as a station on the Santa Fe in Yavapaicounty. Spelling of the rr station waschanged to Audrey.

CHASE CREEK Greenlee countyFirst railroad in Arizona was built UD

Chase creek between Clifton and Metcalf.The first locomotive ever operated in Ari-zona was over this 20-inch gauge line in1880. After Chase, an early prospector.Creek rises above the town of Granville,flows southeast, enters San Francisco riverat Clifton.

CALIFORNIA

LONE PINE Inyo countyEstablished in 1859 by the Hill party

prospecting the Iowa silver mine.JURUPA (hoo roo' pah) Riverside county

Means a watering place; a place offriendship. Rancho by that name granted in1838 to Juan Bandini, and became the siteof Riverside, founded in 1870 and firstknown as Jurupa.

KEARSARGE Inyo countyPeak named in 1864 by northern sympa-

thizers after the engagement between thefederal ship Kearsarge and the ConfederateAlabama. Nearby Alabama Hills werenamed by Southern loyalists to commemor-ate the same naval battle.

SAN BERNARDINO (ber nahr dee'no)City and county

St. Barnardinos was founder of Monte dePiedad, an institution of municipal pawn-shops for the poor. Padre Garces visited thedistrict in 1776 and called the vicinity SanJose. In 1810 Padre Francisco Dumetz re-named it San Bernardino de Sienna, fromMay 20, feast day of the saint. Indians hadpreviously called the valley Guachama,meaning (according to Drury) "plenty toeat." The county has an area of 20,175 sq.miles; largest county in the world; 20times the size of Rhode Island. Rancho deSan Bernardino was granted to the Lugosin 1842. In 1853, the townsite, 1 mile

square, was laid out by the Mormons. Mt.San Bernardino, ele. 10,000 ft., used byU. S. surveyors as starting point for landsurveys, both as base line and meridian.

NEW MEXICOROSWELL Chaves county

First settled about 1865 by supporters ofthe Confederacy from Kentucky andMissouri who came west rather than sur-render. (Dills) Vann Smith, first post-master, named the town for his father, Ros-well Smith. Site of the Bottomless lakestate park. Eight miles southeast is thelargest artesian well in the world, flowing9,100 gallons of water a minute. Old-timerssay Chaves county bears the name of AmadoChaves, a Spaniard who took up a claim inthe early days about 13 miles east of Ros-well on the Pecos river and for many yearsmaintained the most dependable crossingon the Pecos. By others the name is some-times credited to Col. Francisco Chaves, aSpanish-American politician and at onetime superintendent of public instruction ofNew Mexico, who had a hand in formingChaves county when it was carved out ofLincoln county.

RATON (rah tone') Colfax countyCounty seat. Sp. for "rat."

NEVADAORMSBY county

Named to honor Major Wm. M. Ormsbya pioneer who was killed at Pyramid lakein 1860 when his forces were defeated byIndians. County established November 25,1861, smallest in Nevada, oniy 172 sq.miles.

COLUMBUS Esmeralda countyOrganized in 1864 by Mexican miners

who named their claim in honor of the ex-plorer. By 1870 the town had a populationof more than 1,000. Five miles to the souththe Pacific Borax company began operationsin 1872.

UNIONVILLE Humboldt countyOriginally laid out about a mile up can-

yon by Capt. Hugo Pfersdorf, J. C. Hannanand Indian associates, looking for newmines. Pfersdorf, hoping to cash in on hisreal estate venture, kept the price of townlots so high that a rival town-founder. ChrisLark, set up a new community at the siteof present Unionville in 1860. Majority ofnew settlers were southerners and the placewas named Dixie, but in a year the majoritywere Federals and the name was changedto Unionville. In 1870 became the countyseat.

UTAHPAROWAN (pahr o wahn) Iron county

Formerly Parvan. Indian tribal and pueb-lo name. Present town established 1850.

KAYSVILLE Davis countyNamed after Wm. Kay, Mormon bishop

and early settler (1850). Incorporated Feb-ruary 13, 1868 and was a flourishing townin 1886.

NEPHI fuab countySettled in 1851 by Timothy B. Foote,

named for a character in the Book of Mor-mon. Incorporated March 6, 1852.

32 The DESERT MAGAZINE