194203 desert magazine 1942 march

8/14/2019 194203 Desert Magazine 1942 March

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D E S E R T

MAR. 1 Trek to Superstition Mt. 56miles east of Phoenix, Arizona.Annual all-day trip sponsoredbyThe Dons , V. E. True, president,to search for Lost Dutchmanmine. Chuckwagon dinner, west-ern campfire program.

3 Abram Chasins, pianist, Univer-sity of Arizona fine arts series,Tucson.

6-7 New Mexico Cattle Growersas-sociation meetsat Albuquerque.

6-8 Dow nhill, giant and regular sla-lom ski tournament, AltaSki club,Alta, Utah.

7-8 Sierra club to camp at MountainPalm springsin Anza Desert statepark. Randall Henderson, leader.

7-15 Imperial Valley's 13th annualmidwinter fair, Imperial fair-grounds. Dorman V. Stewart,manager.

8 Annual student rodeo, Tucson,Arizona. Open to national entries.Arizona Citrus show, Phoenix.Commemorationof Pancho Villa'sraid, Columbus,N. M.

12-14 New Mexico state basketballtournament, SantaFe.

15-16 Inyo-Monoski meet, McGeeMt..near Bishop, California.

16 Rockwell Kent, artist- lecturer,University of Arizona fine artsseries, Tucson.

20-21 Southern Arizona music festival,College of Music, UniversityofArizona, Tucson.

21 Annual tri-state Rotary meeting,Needles, California. Rotariansfrom Arizona, Nevada, Califor-nia.

22 Swiss Swing , Ho ltville, Califor-nia. Paul Eggler, president.

25-28 Desert Circus, Palm Springs.Frank Bogert in charge.

29 Trad itional Palm Sunday outdoorplay, Taos, New Mexico.

B I N D E R SF o r yo u r

D e s e rt M a g a z in e sSPECIAL GOLD-EMBOSSED

LEATHERETTE BINDERS

00Keep your copiesof Desert Maga-zine neat, cleanand convenient.Each binder holds12 copies. Simplyinsert your newissue each month.

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(Plus Sales Taxin Calif.)

Volume 5 MARCH, 1942 Number 5

COVER

CALENDAR

PHOTOGRAPHY

ADVENTURE

CONTEST

BOTANY

NATURE

CONTEST

FIELD TRIP

ARTIST

POETRY

ART OF LIVING

WILDFLOWERSHISTORY

LETTERS

LANDMARK

PUZZLE

MINING

NEWS

BOOKS

HOBBY

HUMOR

PLACE NAMES

COMMENT

Coachella Valley Dunes, San Jacinto in background.

Current even ts on the deser t 3

Prize win nin g pictu res in Jan uar y 4

Adventure on Nuvat-i-kyan-biBy HULBERT BUR ROUGHS 5

Anno unce ment of Lan dmar k contest 8

Gold en Plu mes for the Desert Flower Pa ra deBy MARY BEAL 10

The Lichensa case of peonageBy J. D. LAUDERMILK 11

Ann oun ce men t of cover photo contest . . . . 1 4

Dig gin g for Petrified RootsBy MOR A M. BRO WN 15

Art Without Gl amo ur

By JOHN W. HILTON 18

Desert in Bloom, an d other po em s 19

D es er t Ref uge, b y MAR SHA L S OUT H . . . . 20

A fore cast of spr ing bl oom 21

Oasis at Vallecito

By ARTHUR WO OD WA RD 22

Comment from Desert Magazine readers . . . 28

The Cam pan il e, by HUGH McNAB 30

Deser t Qui zA Test of Your Dese rt Kn owl ed ge . 31

Briefs from the des ert reg ion 32

Here an d There on the Desert 33

The Pueb los an d other rev iew s 36

Gems and Minerals-^Ed ite d by ARTHUR L. EATON . . . . 4 1

Har d Rock Shorty of Deat h Val leyBy LON GARR ISO N 44

Origin of Na me s in the Sout hwest 45

Just Between You and Me, by the Editor . . . 46

RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor. LUCILE HARRIS, Associate Editor.Dick Older and A. J. Kupiec, Advertising

Manuscripts and photographs submitted mustbe accompanied by full return post-a g e . The Desert Magazine assumesno responsibility for damage or loss of manuscriptsor photographs althoughdue care will be exercised for their safety. Subscrib ers shoulsend notice of change of address to the circulation departmentby the fifth of the monthpreceding issue.

SUBSCRIPTION RATESOne year, including gold-embossed loose leaf binder $3.00Two years, including binders for both years 5.00

Y d d 50 h f bi d if d i d


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Sa n Francisco peaks as seen from Bill W illiams m ountain, just south o\ W illiams, Arizona.

Snow is not generally regarded as one of the hazards of the desertand yet during the winter months some of the mountain oases in the

desert Southwest are blanketed with drifts so deep they become inac-cessible except to members of the ski fraternity. Hulbert Burroughs and acompanion undertook the ascent of the snow-capped San Franciscopeaks without the benefit of skisand here is the story of an experiencethat came near resulting in tragedy.

By HULBERT BURROUGHSPhotographs by the author

mur Stefansson but I have reflectedupon them many times since. I have an-alyzed my own "adventures" under theircruel light and I find that nine times inten he was right. I landed in trouble either

through poor judgment or failure to giveadequate thought to a problem beforejumping in head first

DVENTURE is the result of poor~\ l judgment, inefficiency, incompe-

tence, and general stupidity. Thus,in so many words, a wise man once wrote.A bitter pill for the adventurer to swal-

low!I do not recall who wrote that choicegrojp of ords it prob bl s Vilhj l

What occurred last May near the sumit of Arizona's highest mountain in

deep snows of San Francisco peak seras a fair example of what I have in mAnyone who has had experience in mountains or the desert appreciates importance of a hiking companion trand experienced in the outdoors. Hanot ignored this axiom there would hbeen no "adventure" and our climb wohave been no more than a very pleasouting.

George Clary was in no way to blafor what happened, for I talked him making the trip. I asked George to clthe San Francisco peaks with me solely

cause he was a swell fellow and I enjohis company. I foolishly ignored the th t h f h f th t d

Adventure on

Nuvat-l-kyan-bi


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never been in the mountains before. Andtherein I used poor judgmentand setthe stage for adventure.

George himself has asked me to writeof our experience in the belief that othersmight profit from it. I hesitated at firstbut consented only after he agreed to letme use a fictitious name in place of his.Inasmuch as the lesson to be learned isthe most important point in question andnot particular individuals, I believe this isentirely permissable in a factual article.

It was during the first week in May thatwe started up the 13 mile road north ofFlagstaff, Arizona. At the 9000 foot levelwe were forced to abandon the car. Aheavy drift of snow and ice made furtherprogress by road impossible. WhileGeorge wedged rocks behind the rearwheels I drained the radiator as a precau-tion against freezing. At 6:30 a. m. with alight pack of cameras and food we took tothe trail. Ahead of us was a climb of only3500 feet. Plodding through deep snowmight be tiring but I did not anticipatemore than a good workout.

Rangers in Flagstaff had warned usabout the snowtold us we would bewise to wait another month and the climbwould be easy, that we could drive allthe way to the summit. But that is pre-cisely why we wanted to make the ascentin Maywe did not want todrive to thetop of the San Francisco peaks, we want-ed to see this mighty mountain in its win-ter garb, to experience a good hikethrough deep snow.

The preceding night we had campedin the wonderful pine forests above Flag-

staff. We had chosen a small clearingfrom which we could see the three mainpeaksHumphreys on the left, 12,611feet; Agassiz in the middle, 12,340 feet;and Fremont on the right, 11,940 feet.Early in the 17th century the Franciscanswho established a mission at Oraibi gavethe name San Francisco to the peaks inhonor of St. Francis of Assisi, founder oftheir order.

The night was icy cold with a brilliantmoon cutting the clear Arizona atmos-phere. George was much impressed. Itwas his first night sleeping on the ground.The smell of pine, the sound of the wind

in the tall trees"Why haven't I donethis before?" he exclaimed.High above us jaggedNuvat-i-kyan-bi,

Hopi for "the place of the snow peaks,"softened and mellowed by the moon'srays, seemed of another world. We couldwell visualize the awe and sense of mys-tery it must have instilled within theprimitive minds of the Indians who hadlong lived about its base. From time im-memorial oldNuvat-i-kyan-bihad been asleeping volcano. No lava had pouredfrom its massive crest since Tertiary times,but the countless lesser cones about itsbase had been active in comparatively re-

cent timessince Indians had learned tocultivate its fertile soil. Legend teemed

with stories of the underground giant andof the time he last spoke in A. D. 885. Inthat year, fateful to the tribesmen of thelocality, Sunset crater a few miles to theeast of the big mountain suddenly came tolife. Today prehistoric villages are foundthere covered with many inches of vol-canic sand and ashes.

But to George and me hiking along the

snow covered road early that May morn-ing there was little indication that thisgreat mountain was an extinct volcano.It was not until we reached the high passknown as Fremont saddle that we couldlook down into the great eroded amphi-theater and partially visualize the oncegreat crater. Desolate and bleak now. it isstrewn with millions of feet of fallentimbersilent skeletons of a once denseforest that lightning or a careless handhad set ablaze. Dropping abruptly to thenorth, the huge depression descends in along canyon to the plains beyondthe en-tire north rim of the crater having longago eroded away.

During our short stop on Fremontsaddle I noticed that George was a bitwinded and rather quiet. I thought littleof it at the time because many hikers areslow starters. I was busy taking picturesof Fremont, Agassiz and Humphreys,Fremont saddle offering a particularlygood vantage point for a spectacular pano-rama of the three main peaks. W hen I hadmade the last exposure George jumpedup quickly and we started on our way.

Crossing over the saddle we found thenorthern slopes were more deeply m antledin snow. We could see the faint outline of

the road but there was little advantage infollowing it. Our plan was to scale Mt.Agassiz first and then proceed along thevery lip of the cratera sharp rocky ridgeto the top of Humphreys, highest of thethree peaks. We set our course diagonal-ly upward along the slope of Fremont'snorthern shoulder so as to arrive at thebase of Agassiz without losing elevation.

It was my first experience hiking indeep snow and I must say it was not par-ticularly easy. We found that the snowin the shade of the pine trees had formeda relatively hard crust enabling us to walkeasily over the surface. But where the sunshone it was soft and we sank in to ourknees. At first we essayed a somewhat zig-zag trail from one area of shade to thenext, but soon found that this consumedtoo much time. We then decided to headas straight as possible for our goal, andplodded on as best we could.

George began to lag behind duringthe half mile stretch to the foot of Agas-siz, but we had plenty of time and restedoften. Once on the ridge joining Fremontand Agassiz we had little more difficultywith snow. The long steep ascent of Agas-siz' southeast face is made up of greatsharp edged blocks of broken trachyte, the

product of ancient eruptions. There waslittle or no snow clinging to them so we

climbed more or less easily from blocblock. These massive rocks show practly no sign of erosion. Their edges sharp and jagged as if they had beenrecently fractured.

Shortly before noon we reached summit of Agassiz peak at an elevatio12,340 feetnamed in honor of Louis Agassiz (1807-73), noted geoland zoologist famed for his pioneer win classifying marine fossils and forvancing the theory of the glacial epTwo days before we had been swelterinthe heat of southern Arizona. Now astood practically on the top of the san icy biting wind whipped savagely dfrom the north. We were thankful foheavy jackets that gave us some protecfrom the bitter cold. Despite the discfort it was highly exhilarating andfelt keenly thrilled as we surveyed themendous panorama extending on all far into the aerial haze of the distance

Miles below us to the south lay theested region around Flagstaff. Intespersed with green meadows, here there a tiny lake, it was a beautiful tern. The town itself was an insigniffeature of the vast Coconino plateau ctry that reaches its lofty apex in tgrand San Francisco peaks. On tiny hill not: far from Flagstaff we pickethe famous Lowell observatoryidsituated because of the clarity of the atpherewhere Professor Percival Lcarried on his interesting observationstudies of the planet Marsstudies wled him to believe that our sister planinhabited.

Farther to the southwest we couldthe tortuous cleft of colorful Oak Ccanyonone of Arizona's most beauSwinging to the west we found Bill liams mountain rising out of the above the town of Williamssougateway to the Grand Canyon. Dimlthe far northwest horizon, barely tinguishable from the ground haze wasouthern edge of the Grand Canyoncarpment. To the north extended a plain, a few rolling hills reachingthought, into southern Utah. It is saidon a particularly clear day portionCalifornia and Nevada as well as Uta

easily discernible. We thought we stiny bump on the horizon in the nortthat might have been Navajo mount10,000 foot landmark in the Navajdian country on the Arizona-Utah bo

We were amazed at the number ofscoriaceous craters along the lower ern slopes of Nuvat-i-kyan-bi, the fifeeble outpourings of a dying volThere are said to be several huncones of such perfect shape as to surecent origin. Geologically speakingare very recent. J. C. McGregor saylast activity occurred in A. D. 885 Sunset crater had its spectacular birtshort-lived spree.So cold and penetrating was the


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and concluded George was wise not have assailed Humphreys, although it wunfortunate to have come so far and thhave to stop so short a distance from summit. Many persons say they canunderstand why anyone can be fenough to expend thousands of ergs energy and many hours of valuable ticlimbing mountains. To them a mount

climber is just a plain fool. But as I stupon the crest of Humphreys an inscribable feeling of ecstacy was my copensation for the gruelling hard climb.me the fascination in climbing a mountis a complex combination of several f

George Clary on the long snow slopebelow Humphreys peak. The bigpeak itselj is in the b ackground. Thispicture was taken shortly after ice leftthe sum m it of Agassiz and just before

George was takensick.

that we spent little time refrigerating ontop of Agassiz. I took a few picturesamong the most difficult and painful Ihave ever made. My fingers became sonumb and stiff I could barely focus thecamera and release the shutter. A quicksnack of lunch and we started down thesteep snow slide along the lip of the oldcrater to Humphreys peak.

George had surprised me on the shortbut very steep climb up Agassiz. I falselyassumed that he was in excellent shape.From what he told me later he reached thesummit of Agassiz on sheer will poweralone. At the low saddle between Agas-siz and Humphreys he stopped and satdown.

"I don't think I'll try it," he said, andhis face and eyes showed his fatigue. "Yougo on ahead. I'll wait for you here."

We found a sheltered recess amongthe rocks well protected from the freezingwind. He was obviously tired, but as ourreturn trip would be entirely down hillI felt there was no need for worry, so didnot hesitate leaving him there. It wouldtake me probably half an hour to reach thesummit of Humphreys and return. A half

the descent. I left him with what remainedof our lunch and told him to eat a choco-

late bar.Fighting a stiff raw wind, climbingthrough knee-deep snow banks, over steepcrags of jagged lava, I finally reached thevery crest of A rizona 12,611 footHumphreys peaknamed for AndrewAtkinson Humphreys (1810-83) whosurveyed for a railroad to the Pacific, be-sides being an authority on river hydrau-lics, a corps commander of the Army ofthe Potomac, and later chief engineer ofthe army. Two days ago we stood at thestate's lowest point near Yuma. Today itwas this mighty mountain towering aboveall else in Arizonaloftiest elevation be-tween California's Mt. Whitney and Colo-rado's Pike's peak.

- . ' ' . . J U

Looking west from Fre m ont saddlshowing Frem ont peak(11,940 ft.)

on the left, and Agassiz peak(12,340ft.) on the right. Note the snow-covered outline of the road thatclimbs to the h igh saddle betwee n

Agassiz and Humphreys.

tors. It is partially an animal pleasurehard deep breathing, the pitting of and heart muscles against the mighty mof a mountain. It is the thrill and safaction in knowing that your body isgood health, that you are not too decaas a consequence of your city existencis the emotional excitation of standupon a lofty summit and looking far and down upon a strangely diffeworld beneath you. It is a feeling of h


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ture that built the mountain. Perhapsitis a satisfaction of man's inherent desireto conquer and rise above his surround-ings, to be the ruler of all he surveys.Whatever the underlying reasons, onceamountain climber always a"damnedfool."

A half hour laterI found George lyingunconscious behindthe rocks whereI hadleft him. I worked over him for severalminutes beforehe opened his eyes. He wasvery weak. I massaged his arms and legsvigorously untilhe felt strong enoughtosit up. He said he didn't know whathadhappenedonly thathe suddenly grewterribly weakand then lost consciousness.He complainedof blurred vision.A mo-ment laterhe became nauseated.I was con-vinced it was a case of severe exhaustioncombined with high mountain sickness.

The only thingto do was to get him out ofthe mountains.

It was then about 2:30 in the after-noon. I explained to George the necessityof starting downas soon as possible.Heagreed and rose slowlyto his feet. He saidhe felt better. I led the way, making foot-prints in the snow for him to follow.Wehad gone onlya few hundred feet whenhefell down and could not rise. As I helpedhim to his feet he was crying. Whenhetried to talk he went all to pieces. Hesobbed patheticallyand repeated overandover again thathe couldn't makeit. I puthis arm around my neck and w ith my othersupportinghim we headed downthe longsnow covered slope toward Fremontsad-dle . Deep wracking sobs shookhis bodyand he mumbled incoherently.

Th e sun was directly at our backsnow

L A N D M A R KIN U T A H !Who can identify this picture?

Spence Air Photo

P R IZ E C O N T E S T A N N O U N C E M E N T. . .For the landmark contest this month

Desert Magazine presentsa photographtaken by Robert E. Spence while flyingover a mountainous sectionof Utah.

This is a place well known to manytravelers, and a book might be writtenabout the operations being carriedonhere. In order that someof the moreim-portant details of this project may beknown to all Desert Magazine readersacash prize of $5.00 will be paid for thebest story of not over 500 words The

manuscript should givethe location, own-ership and accessibilityof the landmarkand as much detail regardingits historyand present activityas can be included in500 words.

Entries must reachthe Desert Magazineoffice not later than March20, and thewinning story willbe published in theMay issue of this magazine. Envelopss

should be addressed to "LandmarkCon-test," Desert Magazine,El Centro, Cali-fornia

and George was watching our longsha-dows moving grotesquelyout in front ofu s . For a few momentshe was quiet. Suddenly he hung back. His eyes scannthe horizon wildly thenhe pushed my araway.

"We're on the wrong trail!' he sobbe"You're taking me in the wrong dire

tion!" Tears were ru nning downhischeeks and his eyes shone wildand chalenging.

"This is the right trail, George,"I as-sured him. "See, there's Fremont sadright down there."He looked at it inteniy -

"You're lying!" he sobbed as he santo his knees in the snow. "We're loWe're lost and you're afraidto tell me!"

Here was a problem I had never facbefore. I had no idea how to handle a mawho had lost all self control.I was confdent that he was suffering from sheerexhaustion and didn't know whathe wassaying. The problem confrontingme wato get him out of these mountains befdarkness. Neitherof us was dressed forspending a night in the snow. It woube suicide to attempt itespeciallyfoGeorge in his weakened condition.I de-cided to humorhim.

"Okay, George, we're lost.But thereno use staying lost in this particular spMight get sort of cold tonight. Let'sgdown hill a ways and be lost where it'slittle warmerdown toward those treI reached downto pull him to his feet.Hjerked his arm away.

"I can't! I can't!" he sobbed. "I canget up!" I lifted him to his feet but agahe jerked his arm away from me.The effort unbalancedhim and he fell downithe snow. "Leaveme alone!" he shoute

There was no further timefor this soof thing.I knew I had to act quickly befwe really found ourselves in seriotrouble. What I was forced to do nexthope I never haveto do again. I had onseen a life-guard forcedto knock a strugling swimmer unconsciousin order trescue him. That seemed my only out. Ipulled Georgeto his feet held his jaw wimy left hand and struck him sharplyothe point of the chin with my right fiHe collapsedin a heap in the snow. I haquite a time getting him to my shouldI had no idea a human body couldbe limp and heavy.

Fortunately the trail to Fremont saddle was all down hill. I plodded stumlingly onw ard.I was more exhausted fthe Humphreys ascent thanI had realizJust west of the saddle I stumbledanwent down. I doubted that I could evget George onto my shoulders again.Aslay panting in the snow he regainedconsciousness.His eyes roved blankly aro

until they fell upon me. "What happened?" His voice was quite calm. I tohi h t I h d b f d t d H


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Looking e ast from the sum m it oj Agassiz peak. Fremont peakat the right. Frem ont saddle to the left of the peak whe re theroad crosses the shoulder of the m ountain. Note in the far dis-tance some of the hundreds of sm allscoriaceous cones which are

the result of com paratively recent volcanic activitylong aftthe great mountain itself was extinct. Our ascent of Agafrom Frem ont saddle followed diagonally across the sncovered slopes shoicn here in the right ioreground.

smiled wanly and rubbed his jaw. He wasentirely rational now and apologized forhis lack of control, said he didn't remem-ber much of what had happened. He triedto get to his feet but was suddenly nause-ated and fell back on one arm. A fewmoments later I helped him up. He stag-gered on a few steps then slumped down.He was breathing very hard. "I simplycan't make it," he gasped. "I'm just tootired and weak."

I tried carrying him again but I wasgood for only a couple of hundred feet.I was becoming almost frantic at thethought of the approaching darkness. Atthis elevation and with no warmth Georgein his weakness would undoubtedly freezeto death before morning. I had to get himback to the car. For a moment I felt my-self in the grip of mild panic. What couldI do? I might hurry on back to the car,drive down to the ranger station in Flag-staff for help. But that would require ful-ly two hours. Lying alone in the snow that

long would finish George.Suddenly a thought occurred to me.

George. Seeing that he was entirely ra-tional I explained my plan. He was en-tirely cooperative and agreed that it wasthe best and probably the only solution.I left him as comfortable as possible andhurried down to the nearest edge of theforest. With my hunting knife I labori-ously hacked down two young pine treeseach about six feet high. After strippingoff the branches I swung them to myshoulder and hurried back to George.

I laid the two poles down side by sideand tied the two small ends together. Ithen removed my canvas jacket fromGeorge and zipped it around the two polesabout two feet from the larger ends. Withthe aid of a length of strong string andGeorge's belt I fastened the two heavyends to my hips. With George seated onthe canvas jacket stretched between thepine poles and leaning against my backfor support I dragged him travois-likeacross the snow.

Fortunately for both of us the ideaworked. After many rests we reached thecar at 8:30 that night. Although suffering

gained control of himself and seemeno danger. I took him to a hotel in Fstaff that night where in a warm bedropped off to sleep and did not awuntil 12 the next day.

I cite this experience as a warninprospective hikers who through lackexperience or knowledge of their powers of physical endurance may attdifficult climbs without first properly ditioning themselves. Some persons wendurance seems endless in lower altitmay be so affected by higher elevatioto be rendered almost helpless. Sucperson was George Clary. A well-muslad whose athletic training had babove the average he had never beethe mountains beforeespecially atelevation above 12,000 feet and it so pened that he was not able to acclihimself quickly.

I do not blame him for what m ight been a tragedy. The fault was mineerror in judgment, of ignoring the that my hiking companion was inexenced and untried. That is why we


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Slanleya pinnata.

By MARY BEAL

IJ/ HEN Spring puts on its annual Pageant of the Desert\/\/ Flowers, tall yellow plumes wave proudly above the

legions of the rank and filelike standards carriedby troops marching in review.

These conspicuous flower stalks belong to a plant knownbotanically asStanleya pinnata (named for Lord Edward Stan-ley) . But to those who do not care to remember scientific namesit is Desert Plume.

Between blooming seasons the shrub attracts little attention.It is just a common bush a few feet higha part of the general

landscape. But with the approach of warm weather it perks upand dons fresh herbage of a pale bluish green.

leaves 3 to 8 inches long, the lower one long-petioled anally cleft into one long lanceolate lobe and two or moreof smaller lobes. The upper leaves are short-stemmed andeeply cleft or not at all. This rejuvenation is advance notithe flowering season is at hand. Then the plant burgeointo long wands of feathery blossoms. Often a dozen ortall flower-stalks lift their golden plumes to a height of feet.

The individual flowers are commonly less than anacross, centered by six long-protruding stamens whichthe raceme its fluffy plumose appearance. The four byellow petals have oval or oblong blades spreading outa long claw above the greenish-yellow sepals, which arand narrow . Th e slender pods are IV2 to 3V2 inches spreading horizontally and usually curving downward.

This showy perennial brightens mesas, mountain plainwashes of Inyo and Mojave deserts, extending to the eastas Texas and Nebraska. Sometimes acres and acres of it argiving the landscape a breath-taking radiance.

There are a few other members of the Stanleya genufrequently found, which I list below:

STANLEYA ELATA

Panamint Plume is the everyday name of this Stanleyanot a shrub but a shorter-lived perennial. The lanceleaves are thick and leathery, 4 to 10 inches long, entirwith only a few small basal lobes and are mostly massedense cluster at the base. The tall flower stalks shoot up feet, the upper part a plumose raceme of small pale-yflowers, the crimped petals narrow and less noticeable thsepals, which resemble petals. The thread-like pods are inches long. This species is restricted to the ranges at the ern border of the Mojave desert, favoring especially the mint mountains. The Indians of that area use it for gwhich usage has inspired the name Pahute Cabbage. A flo

ing young elata plant does look good enough to eat, fumuch so as choice spinach or chard, but I'm told it mproperly prepared to be edible, boiled in two waters to rdisturbing elements.

STANLEYA ARCTUATA

The light-green stems, I1/: to 3V2 feet tall are smooth shining, turning straw color as they age. The thick leavIV2 to 2V2 inches long, rather short-stemmed, the yellowbroadly elliptic and the pods IV2 to 2 inches long, strcurved bow-fashicn. Dry plains and valleys harbor this sfrom Nevada and California to New Mexico and Wyom

STANLEYA CANESCENS

This species also has light-green stems IV2 to 3V2 febut they are finely and minutely hairy. The greyish leavlikewise hairy, 2 to 3 inches long, the lower one with olateral lobes and a large oval end lobe, the upper leaves obolate and entire. The yellow petals are linear-oblong ancurving pods 2 or 3 inches long. Found on dry ground izona and Utah.

STANLEYA ALBESCENS

Also growing in Arizona and Utah and extending intoMexico and Colorado, this Stanleya prefers the habitat obanks and draws, growing 1 to 3 feet high, has larger l

4 to 6 inches long, pinnately cleft into oblong lobes, thminal one larger. The pale petals are broadly oval, the h i d h d b 2 i h l


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Slims "sulphur" at the bottom ofPisgah crater. The author is pointingto a colony of Candelariella lichens.

Parme lia conspersa. This beautifullichen, colored like a Luna m oth,light green, one of com m on species.

a ca se of p eo n ag eEvery desert visitor has seen lichenspronounced liken, as in like.

They occur as pretty oddly-patternsd splotches of color on desert andmountain rocks everywhere. Scientists generally agree they are plantsrather than mineralsbut their ancestry goes so far back there is still agreat deal of mystery attached to them. In his role as "nature detective"J. D. Laudermilk ha s stu died them both in the field a nd u nder the micro-

scope at Pomona collegeand has written a very readable story for thoseinterested in the strange things found on the desert landscape.

By J. D. LAUDERMILK

Jl / Y PR OSPECTOR friend Jim was/y[_ sure there was a deposit of sul-

phur at the bottom of Pisgahcrater on California's Mojave desert. Heeven went so far as to make a rough sketchshowing where the mineral was located.

He apologized for not bringingsamples. It was a long hot hike across thelava-flow from Lavic station he ex-plained and he was just too "tawr'd" toclimb down inside the cinder cone. Buthe was sure it was sulphur because it wasthe right color.

I was not only skeptical but downrightimpatient with this identification of amineral made at a distance of 200 yards.Sometimes it's hard enough to do at 14inches under a microscope. Pisgah wasthe wrong kind of volcano to have min-erals like sulphur or other sublimates. Ifby any remote chance sulphur had beenthere as Slim said someone would have

reported it a long time ago. This volcanois an old played-out cinder-cone that riseshumped up from her surrounding lava-

flow like a prehistoric pig in a petrifiedhog-wallow.

This sulphur business bothered me a lot.It was exactly like hearing a yarn about ahaunted house. Even if the narrator hasneither seen nor heard spooks heha s hadan interesting experience ofsomekind. Incases like this, the proposition is likely tobecome a sort of obsession. Finally, theonly thing left to do is to go see for your-self. This is exactly what I did in the caseof Slim's "sulphur."

It was early afternoon in the fore partof July when I visited Pisgah for the firsttime. The crater is a pocket-size volcanoconveniently located in the hot part of thedesert about 17 miles east of Newberrystation on the Santa Fe railway in San Ber-nardino county. On this afternoonthelava-flow was as hot as onlyaa and pahoe-ho e lava can get at this time of year, per-haps 150 degrees in the shade. A recent

and freakish cloudburst had not helped,and by the time I had scuffled my way tothe top of the cinder cone I was "tawr'd"

Pisgah crater, in the backgr17 miles east of NewberryMojave desert. Lava in fore

myself. My temper was in rags. Fortuately I was a!one. In the great pit belme the rocksdi d show some yellow. Maing a splash of color against the dull background of weathered lava, was Sli"sulphur." Although I could understahis reason for not climbing down into pond of hot air at the bottom of the craI went Slim one better and rattled my wthrough the clinkers toward the stuff,whatever it might turn out to be.

By the time I had reached the causeall this trouble, there didn't seem to much of it. It occurred as scattered patchof dry, crinkly, yellow, orange and grecrusts that stuck so tightly to the surf

of the lava that it was hard to scrape osample. You don't perspire under thcondition:;, you dry upand the disption suffers a lot of damage. Howevehad enough energy and a couple of lons left so that I could climb out again eventually get back to my laboratoryClaremont.

Right from the start I knew that stuff was some sort of lichen, but that as far as my appreciation of this interesgroup oi: rock-growing desert-dwelwent at the time. Like many another roologist, I had seen these curious spotscolor smeared over the rocks in mplaces and had passed them up or knocthem off without a second thought. SiI had brought back a sample, I decithat it was worth the trouble of examition.

After I had crushed a sample in a dof water and looked at it under the micscope I began to see things that brouback memories of the days when I been "all out" for biology. The whthing was made up of clusters of tgreen spheres wrapped up in a tanglefilaments coated with a yellow pigm

The filaments gripped the spheres in alentless grasp like that of a taxpayer hi l t b k B t I'll b kt


12/50

LICHENSRED. VESICULAR., v*v

WEATHERED LAVA-Iff

Floor plan of Pisgah crater, from G. B. G aylord's m ap. Distance from A to B isabout 1,000 feet.

the subject of Slim's "sulphur" later onsince this is a good place to talk about li-chens in general.

Practically everything about this curiousgroup of dry granular crusts that fre-quently coat the rocks in many parts ofour desert has furnished material for muchscientific ire and whisker-pulling amonglichenologists. Although these are defin-ite, classifiable plants, every species oflichen is the joint product of an alga anda microscopical fungus growing in moreor less friendly cooperation.

Both partners in the lichen firm haverather shady pasts and the business is notconducted along perfectly ethical lines. Alittle peonage, scientifically calledhelot-

ism, enters into the proposition: that is,the algae do all the hard w ork and the fun-ll h b h

of the proceeds in the way of mineral mat-ter and products of the algae's growth.This two-party aspect of the case has been

the cause of a lot of trouble. Some expertsconsider only the fungus to be importantand say that the name of the lichen speciesrefers only to that member, while othershold both partners to be equally respons-ible and say that the name refers to thewhole firm orconsortium.

Another remarkable thing about thelichens is the fact that the fungi that occurin these plants are unlike any otherspecies. It has been supposed by many au-thorities that this condition has comeabout from ages of dependence upon thealga for "visible means of support."

Whatever their present condition may be,all fungi have descended from a long linef h ifi d i d

back even to ages when the junglegiant bullrush and tree-ferns furnisheraw material for the coal beds of tod

The fungi were old even in those and their origin is most mysterious. authorities think that the algae themswere the original stock and considefungi to be the degenerate descendanthis old and aristocratic family. Otherdents of the subject make an even astounding proposal and present sevidence to show that the fungi, planday, mind you, are off-shoots of the primitive form of animal life, theprotzoa, and never had a green ancestotheir whole family tree. This is an aced theory in spite of its fantastic imptions.

The algal partners, the white-cslaves of the consortium, have a crecord; they are simply unfortunate iing mixed up with a bad outfit, the fBy scientific coaxing, the algae can b

duced to leave the company and gobusiness for themselves. When this p'ace, the fungus promptly starves.

Like the fungi, the algae are also mendously old and interesting familycept for the fact that they contain chphyl, the green coloring substance fin all plants that utilize the energy osun for compounding food materialstarch and sugar from carbon dioxidewater, some of the lower types mighteasily be mistaken for simple, one-canimals. One common type of microsalgaknown by the almost unpronoable name of Chalymydomonas,and

cause of the green color of stagnant pand puddlesis an egg-shaped orgawhich swims by means of a tail likeof a tadpole. It not only goes about pleases but also has an eye, an actual sensitive, optical organ with a lensother parts like any other eye. This is supposed to direct the alga towarlight. That any plant should be able by means of an eye takes a lot of belibut appears to be true just the same

There are a great many species of One very common type isPleurococcthe cause of the green stain on the side of trees and rocks in moist placoccurs not only in moist places butin cracks in rocks in even the dryestof the desert. Near Yermo, Californiaalga forms a green stain just at the grline on many of the Indian artifactsare scattered over the hills a few mithe east. Neither Pleurococcus nor other of the higher algae have eye-sp

All the algae that occur in lichencommon types,Pleurococcus itself is Rivularia and Nostoc, types that propshould be growing in running wateothers.

By the time I had absorbed enou

these preliminary details about the and fungi that go to make up a lichh i h bj


13/50

Parmelia (large) and Rinod/na,small and black in color.

identify the common species that occur

locally in Southern California. Lichenol-ogy is perhaps one of the most fascinating-ly d:fficult branches of botany. Keys anddescriptions help, but familiarity withtheir anatomical makeup is necessary un-less you know someone who already has alichen collection. I started from scratchand bought a book on the subject and itwas a job, much tougher than mineralogy.

The reproduction of lichens is as fan-tast:c as everything else about them. Thereare four different ways of managing thisnecessary function if the firm intends toget anywhere. About the most importantis by means of soredia. These are tinyclumps of the algae twisted inside a tuft ofthe fungus filaments. They get carriedaway by the wind and if one happens tofall on a suitable surface under properweather conditions, the alga and fungusboth start growing and make a new plant.A second way is byfragmentation. In thiscase, small pieces of some size get blownaway and take the same chances as thesoredia. The third way is by rejuvenation.

Here one simply abandons the old folksin the center or settled part of the plantand "moves out to Kansas," as it were.This is a heartless and realistic method,but dead certain to succeed. Finally, andmost chancy, but a shotgun system whenit works, is propag ation by m eans ofspores. These can very well be consideredthe frirt of the fungus. In many species,when everything is just right, the fungusbestirs itself and produces millions of tinydust-like particles. W he n these are ripethey are blown about by the wind. If aspore has the good luck to land on a sur-face where some alga such asPleurococaishas al-eadv taken out a homestead, thespore germinates, its web starts taking interritory and a new lichen is the result. Ifno algie arc present the spore is simplyout of luck.

Lichens are well adapted to lead a hardl;fe. Some paleontologists have even sug-gested that they may have been amongthe first forms of life on the land and thatthey may be the lastin the old age ofour planetsince they are able to standextreme variations in the temperature andmoisture content of the;r surroundings. Itis an interesting fact that the ultimate liv-ing organ;sms found by Admiral Byrd onhis way to the Pole were lichens which hefound on Mt. Nans:n at a point 85 de-grees and 27 minutes South, wherever ex-posed rock surfaces gave them a foothold.Some forms of this weird organism willstand a temperature of 40 below withoutmuch trouble and are able to take on car-bon dioxide at that temperature, but 60below w'll kill others ins:de an hour.

It is possible that lichens are the onlyform of life on the planet Mars. Astron-omers have proved that the planet haspolar caps, poss'bly of solid carbon diox-ide (dry ice) and ice. These are known tomelt at the beginning of the Martianspring. It is absolutely certain that whenthis takes place, blue-green stretches de-velop rapidly on the reddish desert sur-face of the planet and wax and wane with

Parmelia, large and light green, and.Umbilicaria, brown.

the seasons. Although they would have

stand a temperature range of from 4below to 60 above zero every 24 hoeven in the Martian tropics, this routreatment might not be too much forlichen that had had a billion years which to become acclimated.

The colors of our common lichens nearly always strikingor at any rate teresting. The color is greatly influenby the degree of moisture prevailing at time. In the rainy season the colors are ways brighter. The greenish types otheir colors, in most cases, to the natugreen of the algae showing through web of the fungus. The brilliant oranyellow and red colors are the result highly colored pigments associated wthe fungi. In some cases the black abrown colors are due to salts of iron amanganese which may practically incrthe plant. In other black species the cois due to a black vegetable coloring sstance.

Frequently, a lichen that is not partilarly striking itself becomes so when gr

Physcia stellaris, a little blue-grey lichen that decoratesrocks whereve r a trace oj moisture is available.

Rhizocarpan geographicum growing on theground. Thisyellow-gree n lichen adds brightness to the landscape.


14/50

ASOCAUP OR FRUIT OFTHE tICHEN WITH SPORES

DE%MiS~

CORTEX ^

in g on a contrasting background. Thisist rue of many of the species growingin thelava beds. Againsta red or black lava,asin some places in Pisgah crater and espe-cially on the walls of Odessa canyon, nearCalico, the rocks look as if they had oozed

Greatly m agnified cross-sectionof a typical

lichen. The drawing, made under a micro-scope, shows all the essential parts that go tomake up one of these weird and composite

desert dwellers.

melted gold or sulphur. Wherever theyoccur, the lichens are performing theirmost important work of rock erosion,turning the hardest rock into soil throughthe action of the acids they secrete.

H ow the lichens eat rock is strikingly

to-A year ago Desert Magazine conducted a special contest for desert

photographs suitable for cover pictures on our monthly issues. The con-test was so successful we are announcing another contest this yearwith an increase in the prize money.

For the winning cover picture submitted on or before April 1 we willpa y $15.00, for second prize $10.00, and for third winner $5.00.

The contest is limited to desert pictures, and may include a wide rangeof subjects. We are especially interested in close-ups of desert wildlifeanimals, reptiles, birds and shrubs. Human interest pictures will also befavoredIndians, prospectors, campers, etc. Any subject that belongsessentially to the desert will be acceptable. Following are the require-ments:

3There is no limit as to the number

of pictures submittedby a contestant.Prints must reachthe Desert Magazineoffice by April 1, 1942.

4Judges will be selected from theeditorial staff of ihe magazine,and win-ners will be announced and prizechecks sentout within 10 days. The Des-ert Magazine reservesthe right to buynon-winning pictures submittedin thecontest at $3.00 each. Non-winningpic-tures will be returned only if postageaccompanies the entry.

This contest is independent of ourregular monthly photographic competi-tion for amateurs. In order that entriesin the cover contest may notbe confusedwith picturesin the regular monthly con-test, they should be clearly marked:

COVER CONTEST, DESERT MAGA-ZINE, EL CENTRO, CALIFORNIA.

1Contest is open to both amateurand professional photographers, withnorestriction as to residence.

2Prints should be approximately9x12 inches, glossyblack and white,un-mounted, with strong contrast.We pre-fer picturesso composed thatthe DesertMagazine masthead letteringmay beimposed on the photograph without tres-passing on the main subject. Neutralshades should be avoided as far aspossible in the upper three inchesof thepicture. We prefer dark shadesat theto p on which we can impose letteringin light-colored inks, or light back-ground on which we can print dark inks,to secure the needed contrasts.We areseeking pictures onlydonot send in

prints carrying printingor lettering ofany kind.

shown both on the red vesicular lavPisgah crater and on the granite bunear Victorville.At these places the rbeneath the lichen has been so softeby the acids that a knife blade willcualmost as easily as it would soapor wax

The collection of lichens can be minto a fascinating hobby,but there is big drawback besides the difficulty

their identification: few species haveacommon namesand the plants are subto much reclassificationby lichenologSince some species grade into otheriway that is confusing evento experts,hard to keep certain kinds permanplaced. Many species leaveno roomdoubt, othersare all that anyonecan was raw material for an argument. S"su lphur" is a good example.I never been able to decide whether thisis Calariella vitellina or C. artrella. It had emarks that madeit elig:ble for either itification. I gave up the matter temarily. Today its label simply givesthe

of collection,the locality, its surroundand nameof the collector. I intend to lit this way until someone more conthan myself comes alongto attach a label. Even then, any alterations in ttitle will not be considered permbut "subject to change without notic

BOULDER DAM APE AOPEN TO VIS ITORS

Boulder Dam national recreationalis open to visitors as usual accordingtoformation givenby the national park

ice. While Boulder dam itself is unrestrictions made necessaryby the natal emergency and enforced by the buof reclamation, the recreational around Lake Mead is still open toing, camping, hikingand other vacuse.

Pierce Ferry, Overton,and HemenWash wil l continue to welcome viswho want out-of-door lakeside recrin the bracing, dry air of the ArizNevada desert .Th e regular boat tripsthe western portion of the Grand Cyo n are running on schedule and the

restriction on Lake Mead prohibitboats from approachingor enteringBlack canyon in which Boulder damisuated. Also,the bureau of reclamationdiscontinued escorted trips intothe dand powerhouse. Travel continuesonroad from Kingman, Arizona,to BouCity, Nevada, across Boulderdam. Nstopping is permit ted on the dam and alltravel acrossit is under armed escort.

The Boulder Dam national recreatarea is administered by the national service. Boating, swimming, fishinhiking are popular activities. Public grounds are maintained and lodgemotor camps are available.


15/50

MOB

A shovel is more useful than aprospector's pick ivhen rock-hunting on the Mojave desert at Kram er Hills.

Petrified Roots

There its mu ch difference of opinio namong the experts as to the true origin ofthe so-called petrified palm root found oc-casionally on the desertbut it looks thepart, and makes attractive specimens, andis a popu lar item w ith the rockhounds. Hereis a very accessible field where small speci-mens may be foundwith larger ones be-neath the surface for those who will substi-tute a shovel for their prospector's pick.

Q

By MORA M. BROWN

TALL weathered man stood infront of the general store atKramer Hills on the Mojave des-

ert."Are you lost?" he asked as our car

stopped beside him."No," I answered. Then I saw the

name J. B. Ross on a sign p rojecting fromthe small frame building. "Are you Mr.Ross?"

"Yes, that's my name. Folks generallydo not come here unless they have losttheir way."

Which was not so strange when youknow that Kramer Hills is practically aghost town, that the shelves and countersof the general store long have been empty,and that it was sheer good fortune whichbrought Mr. Rosswhose home is in SanBernardino, Californiato the front ofhis store when we stopped before him. Hewas there for a tryst with memory. Wewere on our way to look for rocks.

This sleeping town was not our destin-ation. It was a short side-trip taken be-cause we had been told that once there

was a gold mill here. We had not betold, however, that we would find empstores and empty houses, a corrugated-irworkshop from which came sounds hammering, and a small gold mill in oeration.

It was early November, comfortabwarm, an ideal desert day. On a Saturdafternoon, with Mabel and Jack Philbrior Arlington, we went from Riverside Highway 395 to hunt for petrified paroot and for good specimens of the jaspchalcedony-opal combinations which N


16/50

/ . B. Ross explains the workings of the bow l m ill at old ghost town oj Kram er Hills.

ture has planted in the Kramer Hills sec-tion of the Mojave desert. Above the SanBernardino mountains cirrus clouds drewblurred white lines across a hazy sky. Sun-flowers bloomed in Cajon pass. The treeswore half a crop of yellow leaves. Thedried stalks of yucca pointed toward thesky.

Beyond Adelanto the highway met andparalleled a power-line, and almost atonce began a long succession of dips andhumps, as if dizzied by the contact. But itsdirection was as straight as an arrow,shooting toward a low ridge to the north.The Joshua trees thinned. There were butfew creosote bushes. Mostly the groundheld the dry remains of springtimegrowth. Twenty-two miles north of Ade-lanto we saw a small white sign marked"Kramer Hills" and, having both timeand curiosity, we turned east on the gooddirt road. It was 3.8 miles to the old goldcamp where we met Mr. Ross.

It was about 15 years ago, he told us,that he opened his store at Kramer Hills.There was a small gold boom then. Butthat was not the beginning of the town.Up the pole line half a mile or so, maybe,we had noticed a corrugated-iron build-ing and a wooden towerwell, 50 yearsago Kramer Hills began up there. We'dsee plenty of signs if we'd look. The oldtown started fine, but the gold was notin veins and ledges. It lay in "spots."From the rich areas it was hauled to themill and the gold washed out. At first thepockets yielded better than a thousanddollars to the ton, but it wasn't long un-til the rich areas had all been worked,and the town died. Its second life begana bit to the south. It was then Mr. Rossopened his store. The gold here was foundin spots, too, but the areas were small, the

yield moderate. The ever-vital water hadto be piped from so far that it was a con-stant problem. It was not long until thetown went "ghost" again.

"Then," said Mr. Ross, "came the bowlmill. Ever see a bowl mill?"

"W e never even heard of one."So he climbed into our car and took us

down to the mill. We turned east just be-yond his store, passed several desertedhouses and the workshop, then dippeddown a short hill, and there it wasout-doors.

We had hardly stopped before a carcame racing from the workshop, and anexcited young man jumped out. When hesaw that we were guided by a local citi-zen, he told us to look around as muchas we liked. Had we been alone we wouldhave been less welcome, for this is privateproperty.

The bowl mill extends out from a lowhill on top of which are iron bars. Thegold-bearing earth is dumped throughthese to screen out the largest rocks. Then,by a belt-and-bucket system, it is carriedto a series of revolving screens which sep-arate out the remaining rocks. Eventuallythe gold-bearing earth reaches the bowl.The bowl is made of rubber. It looks likea black bath tub circled with very deepcorrugations. Powered with gasoline,washed by water hauled seven miles, thisbowl whirls the gold particles into thecorrugations, while the water carries offthe worthless dirt. Sixty percent of thewater is recovered to use again. The bowlis capable of handling 35 tons a day. Theyield is two dollars to the ton.

"Nope," Mr. Ross mused, stoopingover to pick up specimens from a rockpile at his feet, "there's nothing wrongwith Kramer Hills got just about every

mineral here there isonly sparinand if we just had water . . ." Thereiron in one rock that he held, cinnabanother. With water, his tone impKramer Hills would have more lifethan a cat.

When we returned to the store he ped eastward. "See that peak beyondrow of mountains? It's Telescope,

miles .way."Shadows were long when we rejthe h'ghway. The western hills lolike coba!t-blue slabs standing onhind another. Clouds were fixing ua grand sunset parade.

Continuing north the highway sto the right around a hill, then cback to cross under the power line.scries of curves we passed under itimes, and, because we knew that marks were scarce, we began at thunder-crossing to count towers. Thone to the north we called "one."beyond the tenth tower we turned ea dirt road which led us into thefields we were seeking. On our someter the distance from the first to the tenth was 1.3 miles.

That dirt road twists every way, ining up and down, but there are nrocks nor high centers. At 1.6 milesthe main highway we stopped. Aof rock crossed the road just ahead.on a flattened hill we spent the nighabout us were the rocks we had cofind. A little farther east a line of wpo'es carried wires into the north.

It was sunset. All about us was sal

colored by frost to every autumn from salmon pink to rust. The stalks of desert candle were pale rosunset's light. The clouds were color and reached clear across the skJoshua tree made a silhouette againwest.

It was a perfect desert night. Th e cdisappeared and left a half-grown The sky was so full of stars it was hrecognize even the constellations I best. I gave up finally, tucked myinto my bag, and went to sleep. Swas the beginning of another glday.

We spent it hunting. Jack PhilbricAmon hunted and dug for palm rothe vicinity of the cars. In an arelarger than a town lot they gatherthe surface of the ground several pof palm root. We were surprised aWe had been told that no longer wwe find specimens without digging. were not large piecesthick slabs two to four inches square. But by dthey found a few rocks too large to hwithout breaking.

Mabel and I went farther afield twhat lay upon the other hills. To thof the at' we found specimens of reper marked with black in patterns sufor cabochons We found stones w


17/50

JOSHUA T,TREE

"--X

TENTH _TOWER

0.

contained jasper, chalcedony and opal. ;|S>:'---:.'.: .' ' IWe found dendritic petrified palm root.In a hole someone had dug we saw a greatrose-colored boulder in which petrifiedroots were easily traced. We had the feel-ing that the person who found that wouldbe back with the equipment to lift it. Wehunted to the pele line and there werecountless rocks beyond.

To the west of the cars, in a hollow, wefound specimens of yellow dendritic jas-per. The dendrites were small and vine-like. The hunting now is not so easy asit once was, but it is still a large field, andycu can find good specimens both aboveand below ground, depending on whatyou want, and how hard you are willingto work to get it. There is also rock whichwill fluoresce.

This field is easily accessible, near thehighway, and is fine hiking country.

For us it was a gocd trip. We foundsome nice specimens, had grand weather,

and good companions. It still would havebeen an enjoyable desert outing even if wehad been less successful in finding speci-mens.

CLOSED AREA AT LAKEHAVASU IS DEFINED

Clarifying the "closed area" restric-tions around Lake Havasu in the Coloradoriver, from which Los Angeles receives animportant part of its water supply, S. A.McWilliams, construction engineer onthe project, has issued the following regu-lations:

1.Lake Havasu is closed to all boatsfrom Hayden's Camp, north of the intakepumping plant, for one mile up the BillWilliams river. Boats or persons trespass-ing in this area may be fired upon.

2.The river is closed to all boats andfishing from the Dam to the No. 1 guardstation (below the No. 1 trailer camp).Trespassers in this area may be fired uponby the guards or the soldiers.

3.Everyone must stay out of the hillsoverlooking the dam and camp areas. It isimperative that this ruling be followed.Anyone violating this may be fired uponby the guards or soldiers guarding thisarea.

The above regulations do not directlyaffect the Needles landing or the areaabout it, which is still open to fishing .

ZUNI THOUGHT METEORWAS ENEMY BOMB

When a small meteor fell near Zuni vil-lage in New Mexico on January 29, theIndians thought it a bomb from an air-plane. They remained away from the spotfor a week, waiting for it to explode.

When nothing happened, an examinationdisclosed an 18-inch dust-filled hole ofd i d d h

TO KRAMER WNC7WNH.I MILES

TO U.S. HUY.

IPU- :

o'clock, A. M.

An aimed escort tra vels through the Indian country with e.ich mail train, for thepinlection of the mails and passengers.

Passengers nr v provided with provisions dning the trip except where the CoachMops at 1'iiMk Houses along the Line, at which each Passeng er will pay for hiscwn nu'ftl.

Each Passenge r is allowed thirty pounds of personal baggag e, exclusive ofblankets midnnns.

Passengers coil!inc to San Antonio cnti lake the line of mail stcnmoi.- from NewOrleans twice a week to India nola; from the latter place there is a daily line offour horse mail coaches direct to this place.

On the Pacific side the C alifornia Steam Navigation Company are running a first*lass Hteanior, semi-monthly, to and from San Francisco and San Diego.

F A B EON T H I S L IN EASF O L L O W S , IN C L U D I N G R AT I O N S :

Antonio to San Diego, $200" " Tucson, 150 Sau Antonio to El Paso, $100Intermediate stations 15c. per mile.Extra baggage, ic/wu carried, 40 cents per pound to El Paso, aud $1 per pound

to Son Diego.Passengers can obtain all necessary outfits in San Antonio.Por farth er inform ation, and for toe purchase of tick ets, apply at the oftic* of

the Company in this city, or address I. C. WOOD S, Superintendent of the line,e*re f American Coal Company, 50 Exchange Place, New York.

G. H. GIDDINGS,R E. DOYLE,

Proprietors.

/ / cost$200 to travel by stage from San Antonio, Texas, to San Diego, whe n the old

stage line wasin operation. This copy of an old advertising poster re pi nted

through the co urtesy of Harry Olive rs Old We st Trad ing post at San Juan Capis-trano California

By ARTHUR WOODWARD

rWO half-naked Diegueno Inans squatted beside the warm sphurated waters of El Ojo Gran

in the arrowweed thickets at Vallecwashing the long yellowish yucca fibused in making mats, in the mineralipool. Suddenly they froze like rabbwhen a hawk whistles overhead, andan instant like brown ghosts were gamong the green leaves. A few momelater the advance guard of Stephen WKearny's ragged troopers of the FUnited States Dragoons paused beside pile of abandoned fibers.

"Looks like we had company," drawone of the m en. His eyes ranged the he

thickets as he slipped a fresh cap uponnipple of his Hall's breach loading cbine.

"Had is right," grunted one of companions sliding from his scrawmule to finger the wet fibrous ma"Detcha we never see them squaws agWish they had left us some grub instof this grass string. That mule meat buscaredyesterday didn't stick to my rlong enough."

"We'd better be gettin' somethin' puquick or none of us will be able to swa saber at a greaser. I hear the gineral ohad a few boiled beans last night wnary a smidgin' of grease. That saw bohad the best of it. He had some potmeat and brandy. Then he ate pinole wKit Carson and afterward guzzled stea and grub with Captain Moore. Hthe gineral decides to camp here a days. Our mules are plum tuckered and I could do with a little restmyself.This is the best place we've struck swe left the Geely."

The tattered dragoon voiced the sement of hundreds of other travelers were to follow that long hard road acthe Colorado desert. He was one of first of Kearny's Army of the West torive at the little oasis that spreads likragged green handkerchief careledropped in the barren hills on the eof the desert in San Diego countylittle valley that is known as Vallecito,oasis of romance.

The dust powdered leather jacket diers of Don Pedro Fages, the Spasoldier, are said to have been the Europeans to experience the hospitaof the lonely valley in 1782. Perhaps gave it the name Vallecito, I do not kn

Before the coming of the SpaniardsYahano Indians, known today as

Dieguefios, made that green haven thome. Their brush huts crouched bethe salt grass sward Yahano trails


23/50

Crumbling ivalls oj Vallecito stage station before it was restoredand as it is today.is a register inside the building jor visitors, and a shady place jor a picnic lunch unde

huge m esquites that grow in theyard.

down to Vallecito from the high peaks ofCuyamaca where the rancherias of Jama-tagune, Guatay, Matarague, Cuyamac andHuacupin harbored some of the most in-dependent bands of the Yahanos.

Here in Vallecito the Indians were safefrom Spanish soldiers. After the firsten-trada, this trail across the desert was seem-ingly little used. Although the Dieguenoat Santa Ysabel were missionized, their

brethren on the slopes of Cuyamaca andthe desert beyond remained free. It wasnot until the days of the Mexican war that

the loneliness of Vallecito was shattered.But even then the Indians did not deserttheir desert homes. The ashes of theirdead rested in pottery ollas not far fromthe springs of Vallecito. In 1862 twenty ofthe band lived there and in 1874 FatherUbach counted 100 Diegueno in theirhuts beside the warm waters. John Audu-bon, Jr., encountered the Indians there in1849 and has left for us the earliest knownsketch of any habitation, red or white atVallecito.

General Kearny lined his ragged men

up for a final inspection at Vallecito the last day of November, 1846. the weary half-starved soldiers, some out shoes, their trousers in tatters, sinto the saddle and rode up the vwith a cold northwest wind bthrough campaign scarred garmentsIndians crept from their hiding placewatched them go.

The first wheeled vehicles to bla

road through the sands of Carrizo were those of Lt. Col. Philip St. GCooke commanding the famous Mo


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battalion. Cooke camped at Vallecito onthe 18th or 19th of January, 1847. Kearnyhad already been defeated at San Pas-cual. The battle of La Mesa on the SanGabriel had been fought and the Ameri-can forces occupied Los Angeles. Thewar was over. Cooke and Irs men werenot needed. Vallecito or "Dajiocito" asCooke termed the place was a welcome

oasis to the trail weary men and beasts.Here they ate the last of their flour,hooked up their wagons and rolled up thevalley.

Four miles from the springs they werehalted by the boulder spudded hi'lside ofVallecito hill. Until Everett Campbellconstructed a new read with an easiergrade along the hills:de a few hundredyards south of the old road, that stretch oftrail was a bugaboo to civilian and armyteamsters alike.

The next American soldiers to pass thatway were more dragoons under Lt. CaveCouts, marching out of Mexico. Theywent into camp at Val'ecito December 3,1848, and remained in the restful oasisuntil December 23. Then they too movedon.

After Couts came the gold-seekers.Into California by the hundred and thethousand poured the first horde of '49ers.

When Lt. Couts retraced his stepsthrough the valley and camped once moreon the edge of the salt grass cienega, Sept.20, 1849, with a combined command ofinfantry and dragoons as an escort for

Whipple's boundary survey, Vallecito waslonely no longer.

The place was thronged with campers.Gold seekers, many of them almost desti-tute, were everywhere, all rejoicing thatthe long hard trip was almost done. Theywere in California at last and Vallecito,desolate as it might seem to a cty dweller,was a patch of heaven to those desertweary men and women.

It was in October of '49 that JohnWoodhouse Audubon, the youngest sonof John James Audubon, the famous na-turalist, who had left his father's housebeside the Hudson on Manhattan islandto seek adventure in the west, camped atVallecito. His gifted pencil has left usmany contemporary impressions of'49.The view of the Indian huts in this articleis the only one I have ever found that de-picts Val'ecito in those golden days.

The immigrants rolled through Valle-cito, toiled over Vallecito hill, and four

miles beyond that point, wormed a tor-tuous way through Box canyon, that nar-row defile where Cooke wrote, "with axeswe pounded, broke, split and hewed therocks to increase the opening. . . ." Boxcanyon today is just about as it was, buta new road now winds over the hills to thewest.

To the army goes the honor of havingmaintained the first permanent camp atVallecito. October 29, 1850, CompaniesD, H, and I, of the 2nd Infantry undercommand of Bvt. Major Samuel P. Heint-

zelman left their barracks at Mission SDiego to establish a military post at mouth of the Gila river. On Novembethe troops went into camp at 'VallecitIt was decided that a portion of the munder Capt. Davidson, Lieut. ThomSweeney and Capt. Hardcastle, would main at Vallecito and establish a depot supplies for a wagon train route to t

place from San Diego.Lieut. Sweeney, a lively fighting Iri

man who had lost his right arm in Mexican campaign chafed at the inactity. Vallecito might be a touch of greheaven to the dust covered and starvimmigrants who ate up the rapidly dwiling supplies of the small military detament, but to Sweeney:

"This is rather an unpleasant placeis warm in the day and very cold at nigWe are all in good health, thank Go

Owing to lack of supplies and the ability to furnish Fort Yuma with p

visions rapidly enough by sea and rivessels, Heintzelman was forced to abdon the Colorado river station, and June, 1851, he left the river and fell bto Santa Ysabel. The problem of reling supplies across the desert route wagain considered and on January 1852, a train of 30 wagons rolled outSan Diego to establish a sub-depot Vallecito. By April the desert waterplace was well established as a militcenter and it is quite possible the fpermanent sod building was erected


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Vallecito at this time. This structure waslater occupied by Lassator and incorpor-ated into the larger stage station duringthe days of the Overland Mail.

In June, 1852, Sergeant Richard Kerrenwith a detail of 24 men was sent to gar-rison the depotto patrcl the road anddetain or capture any deserters who at-tempted to escape from Fort Yuma to

the coast. Shortly afterward Lieut. F. E.Patterson with a detachment of men fromthe First artillery and a six-pound fieldpiece relieved Kerren and his men. Toanyone who has ever visited Vallecito,the idea of defending the place with asix-pounder seems just a bit absurd. How-ever, there may have been some artil-lery practice just to break the monotonyfor I have been told that a cannon ballwas found a year or so ago in the nakedhills just east of the Vallecito campground.

In June, 1852, the military depot wastemporarily abandoned and the troops

moved to Jacumba. However, in Augustmore soldiers came under Captain H. W.Brown. This enterprising gentleman hadall the comforts of home. His quartersboasted a shower bath! At this time a band

Marble headstone on the grave ojJohn Hart still stands in the brushnear Va llecito stage station. Vandalswere using it as a target until SanDiego county named Robert Craw-jord as custodian of the restored

stage station.

of 30 Indians were held prisoner at Vacito, accused of having stolen and kilimmigrant: stock on the desert. The prits denied the charge but they wsent to Santa Ysabel for punishment their chief Capitan Tomas.

One pleasant afternoon in early Stember, 1857, a lone traveler, J. G. Woformerly of New York, camped at Vacito. He was the advance agent for JamE. Birch, the successful bidder for mail contract between San AntonTexas, and San Diego, California. Woendeavored to get an Indian guide to thim across the hills to San Diego. Failin this he pushed on alone. On this Wood selected Vallecito as one of stations for the Jackass Mail and thenforth the Little Valley was to become faous in its role as a stage station. The nyear, Birch being dead, the ButterfiOverland Mail took over the route, the sandy rocky road echoed to the raand squeak of mail coaches. A stat

house of sod was built on a knoll besthe salt grass swamp from which the hoitself was constructed. A barn crammwith hay for the horses stood not from the house.

About this time one of the most inesting residents of Vallecito came dofrom his home in Green valley, high the side of Cuyamaca to live beside desert highway. This man was JamesLassitor or Lassiter. He was to be asciated with Vallecito until the latter pof 1863, two years after the Butterfi

' ' ' '' ' T & ' T 'ifrM'* " '


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, The inscription on the sketch is: "Yeguino In-dians. Hut. Very like those of the Pim o tribes,varying only in the m aterials used in puttingthem up. Hut o f willow and half dried grass.Mountains dark in dee p ne utral haze. J. W.Audubon, Tuesday, Oct. 23, 1849. One milewest of the desert 20 from St. Phillippe."

The inscription on the hill ne ar the hut is"Bald hills like all the re st!'

Alhw . : * f

,:->

o/ d Digueiio Indian cam p at Vallecito was m ade by John WoodhonseAudubon when he stopped he re on his w ay to the Pacific coast October23, 1849.

ceased to operate over the southern route.Sometime during the middle 1850's

Lassator married the widow of an emi-grant who died enroute to California. Hername was Mrs. Mulkins. Her son JohnMulkins lived in Vallecito several yearsafter the murder of James Lassator.

Lassator was at one time a supervisorof San Diego county. In 1863 he went to

the gold fields of Arizona. Late in thatyear, he started for Vallecito in companywith Frank Gardiner of Philadelphia.They had $4000 in gold gleaned fromthe mines along the Hassayampa. Theyfailed to reach the desert oasis and youngJohn Mulkins, then only 17 or 18, wentin search of his stepfather.

The bones of the two murdered menwere found in a mesquite grove near aslough at Texas hill on the Gila river, 18miles below Martin's ranch and only 90miles above Fort Yuma. Among the rifledeffects were papers and other belongingsthat identified the skeletons. The gold

was gone.After Lassator passed out of the pic-ture a John Hart seems to have taken uphis residence in the old sod house. Hedied there March 16, 1867, and his bul-let splashed white marble tombstone yetstands on a sun baked knoll a short dis-tance east of the stage station. Later in thesame year, December 13, his widow JaneFillen Hart married John C. Wilson,familiarly known as "Red" Wilson whohad been one of the stage drivers alongthat route.

Thus through the years Vallecito seemsto have been occupied by one tenant afteranother. However it was not until JamesE. Mason, who had been one of the car-

riers of the Jackass Mail, and who laterwas on a survey party in the Vallecito re-gion about 1879, took out a patent for ahomestead of 160 acres of land which in-cluded Vallecito, that the lonely valley hada legal owner. Mason acquired title toVallecito November 1, 1884. At thistime Charles Ayers, who was married toa soft spoken little Mexican woman,

lived at Vallecito.Ayers deserted his wife and Masonmarried her. Later, she died and hergrave is not far from the site of Mason'shouse a few rods north of the old roadnear the head of the grade on Vallecitohill. In 1886 Mason sold Vallecito toM. S. Roo! of Pala, California. Root de-faulted in his payments and the tract wentto C F. Holland in 1887. Holland, a resi-dent of Los Angeles, gave the land uponwhich the ruins of the stage station stoodto the county of San Diego. Mason diedat Glendale, California, May 6, 1929. Hisashes, preserved in an urn, were being

held by Holland, to be placed in a monu-ment to be erected in Mason's memory atVallecito.

The years dealt harshly with the aban-doned sod station at Vallecito. Bit by bitthe walls crumbled and the roof caved in.Cattle wandered in and out of the oldbuilding and it was well on the way tobecoming just another mound of rainwashed ruins.

In 1934, Dr. and Mrs. Louis Strahl-mann of San Diego became interested inrestoring Vallecito. They began collect-ing all the pertinent data possible in theway of old photographs and records that

concerned Vallecito. Mr. Holland was in-terested in preserving the old landmark

and he donated four acres of ground to tcounty of San Diego. Later he increasthis gift to six acres to include the cemtery near the station. An SERA grant $lS00 was obtained from the state to prvide money to pay the workmen. Froneighboring CCC camps came the pitimbers necessary for the rafters.

John S. Siebert, architect of San Diecontributed his services while MalcolRogers of the San Diego museum acted consultant on the archaeological probleinvolved in making excavations before atual construction began. The original rotree of the station, bearing bullet marsaid to have been made in an altercatibetween two immigrants who killed eaother in a fracas over a card game, hbeen rescued from destruction by EverCampbeU, a cattleman at Vallecito, awas replaced in the new structure.

By May, 1935, the building was pratically finished and today the sod statiat Vallecito lives again. It is an entirenew building. "All new," said MrStrahlmann in a letter to the writer in M1936, "with the exception of one remaiing room, this has the originalroof. Itwas regrettable, we all admitted that, bMr. Rogers and Mr. Siebert, the architefelt it would be utterly impossible to to build around those crumbling walThey were in a dreadful state. . . Thouse is a perfect picture of the past. spite of the fact that it is new, it is amaingly beautiful and the charm is bringtourists by the hundreds."

Robert Crawford, who has a cat

ranch at the head of Cancbreak canyabove Carrizo creek, is on full time das custodian at the restored station, avisitors there will find him a courteosource of information regarding the srounding area.

In spite of the changes that have takplace in the stationitself, the natural seting is virtually untouched. The sanroad is unimproved. The desert hills srounding the oasis are unchanged sith-? dawn of time. Visitors find their win a trickling stream to the camp grouunder the mesquites but they are few copared to the hundreds of immigrants a

soldiers who once passed along that losome sandy trace to enjoy a brief respfrom the monotony of the weary detrek.

The Indians have long since abandothe valley. No more will the leatspringed mail coaches swing to a jouncstop at the station door, permitting travel stiffened passengers to alight rub the stage coach "twitches and stafrom their cramped bodies. Those dare gone, but the lover of the desert plwho camps on the salt grass sward besthe cienega will re-live all these sceagain as his camp fire flickers in the d

and he hears the wind in the mesquunder the stars of Vallecito skies.


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Winter fair in the Hea rtof the deser t . . .11/ HILE many annual civic events in more exposed areas[/]/ are being cancelled this year, California's Imperial

Valley Midwinter Fair will open its gates as usual towelcome the throngs who come here annually to witness themiracle of production which results when Colorado river wa-ter is applied to an arid desert.

The fair is to be held March 7 to 15 at Imperial on the Colo-rado desert of Southern California.

Secretary-Manager Dorman Stewart and his associates notonly are planning a fair as usual, but they have added elaborateimprovements to the 40-acre fairgrounds and have announcedmany new departments in the exhibit halls.

In addition to a colorful array of winter-grown fruits, vege-tables and other products of the farms, they are offering sub-stantial prizes for exhibits of the metallic and non-metallic min-erals found in the desert that surrounds the cultivated area ofImperial Valley, a department for antiques and heirlooms anda division of art in which desert paintings always predominate.

Other attractions include a horse show March 14 and 15, alivestock show that will this year for the first time include ababy beef exhibit, apiary and dairy products, and competitivedisplays from the various farming communities within the Im-perial area.

When it is realized that all of these products come from abelow-sea-level desert basin which was regarded by early west-bound American pioneers as one of the most fearsome regionsto be encountered in the long trek across the Great American

desert the miracle that has been accomplished during thyear interval since Colorado river water first was divertthese lands, becomes all the more amazing.

The fertility which has brought fame to Imperial Valle

the "winter garden of America" is due to the deposits oand other sedimentary matter brought down from the wshed of the Colorado river in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado,Mexico and Arizona, over a period probably extending hundreds of thousands of years. Inch by inch these sedimhave been filled in after their long trip through the GCanyon, until today the soil in some parts of the Imperial is 1000 feet in depth. Carrying both humus and a high coof beneficial mineral matter, this soil merely waited focoming of American engineers who would apply the one ing elementwater.

Visitors to Imperial Valley during the Midwinter fairsion have an opportunity not only to see the finest produca reclaimed desert region, but to enjoy interesting sidetrip

the surrounding desert where wildflowers will be in blowhere many kinds of semi-precious gem stones and minare found and where scenic canyons, ancient fossil bedshistoric Indian campsites and unusual geological formahold interest for both Nature students and those who liexplore the desert for the pleasure and health that comes tramping in the outdoors.

March is generally regarded as one of the ideal monthdesert travel, and this year the promise of a fine wildfloweplay is an added inducement for a trip to Imperial Valley.

V i s i tt h e. . .

IM P E R IA L CO U N TY M ID - W INand see for yourself the tremendous all out defense effort beingcontributed b ythe Imperial Valley, one of America's greatest agricultural producing areas.

R OCK COLLECTOR S . . .The Rockhound fraternity in ImperialValley will have a colorful array ofthe minerals and semi - preciousstones found here.

Not just a carn ival for you r entertainme nt . . . but a mam-moth exhibit of agricultural and mineral products from theWINTER GARDEN OF AMERICA, the Imperial ValleyofCalifornia, one of the most productive agricultural areas inthe United States. An area, once known as the most arid re-gion in the country, which this year is contributing more than65,000 carloads of foodstuffs to the defense of America.

. . . MARCH 7 to 15 . . .13th ANN UA L

m p erial C o unty l i l n t e r fa iImperial, California

Ample accommodations are available at reasonable rates in El Centro, Brawley, Calexico, Imperial other nearby Imperial Valley towns.

For premium list or additional information write D. V. Stewart, Secretary, Imperial Co. Fair, Imperial,Calif.


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LETTERSDeseit Has Its Tragedies . . .

Los Angeles, CaliforniaDear Mr. Henderson:

In the January issueof Desert is a letter protesting your publicationof the " 'Willie Boy' rehash." I am one of those who enjoyed thatar-ticle, not of course for the sheer beautyof the story, but for the histori-cal aspect in a locality with whichI am famili"r. Cheap fictionof acomparable nature would certainlybe objectionable,but when existentfacts and photographsc.tesufficient to form the complete storyof suchan episode,it should be given ample spacein the pages of Desert b; ittragedy or otherwise.We all should realizeby this time thatthe desertis not immune to tragedy. For those who find such reading distastefulIsuggest that they quietly turnthe pages to something more pleasantinwhich your magazine abounds.

Herewith is my renewal subscriptionand a sincere requestto keepfreedom of the press for Desert Magazinein order that it may continueto be of interest to all and fulfill its obligation to publish everythingof fact pertainingto the desert.

L. B. HENRY

THE SUN SYMBOLArtist's sketchof an ancientIndian petro-glyph one ofthe most note-worthy Indiansymbols foundin the South-westand juston e of manyI n d i a n picto-g r a p h s andpeiroglyphs tobe found near

YUMAARIZ.

I "... *m?m :?-v'V"." * * :i- * vi #': ' " 'lji .: (* Si * ". "* : . I 4* "i '; * '

:- sfe; f>^"'0

,*.V S"

The Sunshine Capital of the Uniied Statss

Plan to spend some timein YUMA. Famousfor her climate,YUMA is equally famous for her untold mineral wealth.Those geologically inclined find recreationand pleasurein seeking mineral depositsand semi-preciousgem fields.Archaeologistsmay study the hieroglyphic writingsof an-cient people.

Yuma is rich in historical interest. Nearbyare the ruins ofth e old Territorial Prisonand Museum. One of the South-west's most interesting sights,and open to the public . . .It is located on U. S. Highway 80 and easily accessibletotourists or visitors.

Come to Yuma this winter! The coupon below will bringyou loads of additional information why you should!

YUMA SUNSHINE CLUB, YUMA. ARIZONAPlease sendme, entirely freeof cost, your illustrated foldercontaining interestingand historical facts about Yuma.

NAME _ _

ADDRESS

First Aid for Sick Tires . . .Ocotillo, Californ

Dear Mr. Henderson:Bill Tudor from Lethbridge madeus a desert visitat Ocotillo befor

going intothe Canadian army.He left us a bit of information thatmaybe of use to desert rats,as well as city mice,now that rubber is scarceand high.

A spare tireon a trailer had never been used,and the tube becamporous withage. Bill said thatthe Canadian remedyis to put about atablespoon fullof gasoline intothe tube and then inflate it. The gasoline softens the rubber and closes the pores. He says the cure is per-manent, but advises carein not using too much gasoline, lestit rot ahole in one place.

THORWALDSIEGFRIED

Graveyard at Calico . . .Los Angeles, Californ

Dear Mr. Henderson:I recently noticedthe Desert Landmark photoin the December issu

of your excellent publication.The picture is of course the little buryinground at Calico.

The appearanceof this picture has brought out in me a resentmenthat has been smoulderingfor a long time,and here's whereI get it offmy chest.

This little graveyardis pointed out to the traveler on the Calico roaby a sign that designatesit sacrilegiouslyas "Boot Hill Cemetery."Whydo I call it a sacrilege?A few moments looking this place overas themeager enough resting placeof those who gave their livesin buildinthe West will bringone thing forcibly to attention. That thingis thevery high percentageof graves are of little tads from infancyto eightornine years of age. Bandits indeed! Foul desperadoes whose grehaul was a grimy handfulof cookies snitched fromthe kitchen.

And they callit "Boot Hill Cemetery!"I am not entering this in the Landmark contest.On the contrary

would liketo kick in five dolbrs for a fund for fencing this graveyaand putting up a suitable markerto the memory of those true Amercans who rest there.No, I am not selling fancy fencingor gravestoneI just hateto see witless tourists tramping overthe remains of youngstewho once meantas much to their parentsas mine do to me.

Please acceptmy congratulationson the continued excellenceof Des-ert Magazine.

F. J. SCHAEFE

R O B B E R S ' R O O S TLAIR OF BANDIT

VASQUEZ

DEEP IN THE MOJAVE EMPIRE . . .R elive the days of notorious Tiburcio Vasquez and hi3gang of bandits! Visit R obbers' R oost,the hiding p'aceused by Vasquez and hi3 cut-throats. This 13 just one oi themany interesting sight3in the colorful country a few mile3north of Barstow. See Pilot Knob. Granite Wells. CopperCity and historic Fire Hole.

FreeTravelogues

A note to theChamber ofCommerce

will bring youa mapped, il-l u s t r a t e dtrave 1 o g 11ecover ing thesehis tor ic spots .

ASK FORT R I P NO. 17

C e n t e r o f t h e S c e n i cM O J A V E E M P I R E

B A R S T O W. . . Ca l i f o r n i a . . .


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30/50

T H E C A M P A N I L EWinner of Desert Magazine's Janu-ary Landmark contest is Hugh(Shorty) McNab of Carson City,

Nevada, who has prospected the Nevada hills nearly 30 years, and usedthis rock formation as a guide long before the waters of Lake Meadbacked up around it. Today the formation is known as the Campanileand it is one of the scenic points observed by motorboat visitors who takethe Lake Mead trip. Shorty's winning story is published on this page.

By HUGH McNAB

EFERRING to the Landmarkpicture in your January issue, Ifirst saw this huge rock when I

was prospecting up the Colorado rivermany years agolong before they startedwork on Boulder dam. We camped across

the Colorado river and it was a good land-mark to go by while we worked that area.I never heard any name for it in those

days, but I understand it is now calledthe Campanile by the boatmen and tour-ists who take the motorboat trip up LakeMead.

It i

194203 desert magazine 1942 march

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