195110 desert magazine 1951 october

8/14/2019 195110 Desert Magazine 1951 October

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OCTOBER. 1951 35 CENTS


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B O O K S OFTHE SOUTHWEST . . .HERE IS A SELECTED LIST OF BOOKS FOR YOU TO ENJOY ANDSHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS GUIDE BOOKS FOR YOUR MOTORTRAVELS, BOOKS OFHISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, OF INDIANS AND OFLOST TREASURE IN THEDESERT SOUTHWEST. AND IF YOU DO NOTFIND THEBOOK YOUWANT IN THIS LIST, PLEASE WRITE TO DESERTCRAFTS SHOP, PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, FOR CATALOG OF ALLSOUTHWESTERN BOOKS AVAILABLE.

GUIDE BOOKSGl ARIZONA, A Guide to the Sunset State.American Guide series. Historical, naturalsetting; social, agricultural, industrial development.19 detailed tours containing much history, geology,wildlife, etc. General tourist information, chro-nology, biblio. .Many halftones, maps. 530 pp. $4.50G2 CALIFORNIA, A Guide to the Golden State.American Guide series. Comprehensive cov-erage of the state. Special sections on Death Val-ley, Sequoia, General Grant and Yosemite nationalparks. 14 tours, pocket map, 713 pp $4.50G3 NEVADA, A Guide to the Silver State. Ameri-can Guide series. Same type of coverage asothers in series. 8 detailed tours. Many photos,pocket map. 315 pp $3.00G4 NEW MEXICO, A Guide to the Colorful State.Another complete handbook in AmericanGuide series. 18 tours. Special pocket map. 458pages $4.50

HISTORY-BIOGRAPHYH9 JACOB HAMBLJN, Buckskin Apostle, PaulBailey. Mormon trailblazer and missionarywho lived adventure and made history in Navajo-land, the Grand Canyon and along the Old Spanishtrail. An important Southwest book, in a limitededition. Illus., endmaps, 400 pp $4.50H4 DUST ON THE KING'S HIGHWAY, HelenC. White. Entertaining, valuable introductionto a great-hearted Southwestern adventurerFr.Francisco Garces, a fictional biography. Life withIndians along the Colorado, experiences with DeAnza expeditions in California, travel amcng theMojaves, the Yavapais, to the Grand Canyon andland of Havasupai. 468 pp $3.50H27 BUCKY O'NEILL, Ralph Keithley. Sheriff,editor, judge and Rough Rider, Bucky O'Neillwas one of the most colorful characters in Arizonahistory. This is a sparkling biography of a manwho played a tremendous role in Arizona history.244 pp. Index $3.50

THE ART OF THE LAPIDARY, Francis J.Sperisen. Here is an understandable treatiseon selecting, cutting, polishing and settingprecious stones. Materials and equipment arediscussed. A book for hobbyist and profes-sional. 382 pp., 400 illustrations, index $6.50

LOST TREASUREXI AP ACH E GOLD AND YAQUI SILVER, JFrank Dobie. Fascinating lost mine and buriedtreasure stories by a master story teller. LostAdam Diggings, the Sierra Madre, Lost Tayopa.Scalp Hunters' Ledge, El Naranjaland others ofArizona and Mexico. Beautiful color plates andblack-and-whites by Tom Lea $4.50T3 GOLDEN MIRAGES, Philip A. Bailey. Thisis a favorite of lost mine books. PeglegSmith's Gold, ghosts of Vallecito, Lost Ship of theDesert, many lost treasures of the Southwest. In-dex. 553 pp., photos, maps, biblio $4.50T5 LOST MINES OF THE OLD WrEST, HowardD. Clark. Lost Pegleg, Lost Dutch Oven and20 other lost mine legends of California, Nevada.Arizona and Texas. Illus., 64 pp., ppr., limited.$ .60

I N D I A N SA 3 BLOOD BROTHER, Elliott Arnold. Vivid rea-listic novel of Apaches in Arizona, 1856-72.Story of Cochise and Tom Jeffords, Indian agentwho worked with the Apache leader to end con-flict and who became his blood brother. Also thetragic love story of Jeffords and his Indian bride.Endmaps, 558 pp $3.50A18 SPIN A SILVER DOLLAR, Alberta Hannum.Story of Wide Ruins trading post in Arizona.Delightful account of life with Navajo, highlightedby the Indian boy artist, Little No-Shirt (BeatienYazz), and illustrated with 12 color reproductionsof his work $3.75Al ACOMA, Mrs. Wm. T. Sedgwick. Story of theIndians in New Mexico's Sky City. Based ondiaries, archeological notes of Bandelier, Fewkes,Parsons and Hodge, and legends and folklore. End-maps, photos, biblio., index, 318 pp $2.50A20 NAVAJOS, GODS, AND TOM TOMS, Dr. S. H.

Babington, a practicing surgeon, tells of therites and methods used by Navajo medicine men.A careful analytical contribution to literature onthe Southwest. 240 pp., 41 photos, biblo, index $3.50DEATH VALLEY IX '49, William L. Manly.Reprint of Manly's thrilling account of theJayhawkers' historic trek across Death Val-ley in '49. Terrible suffering, desperate brav-ery and high courage recited by a man wholived the experiences. Photos, 524 pp...$6.50

Prices postpaid toyou. California buyers add3% salestax

DESERT CRAFTS SHOPPalm Desert, CaliforniaDESERT MAGAZINE


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D E S E R T C A L E N D A RSeptember 27-29Quay County Fair,Tucumcari, New Mexico.September 28-30County Fair, Span-ish Fiesta and San Geronimo cele-bration, Taos, New Mexico.September 28-October 1OsteopathicConvention, Las Cruces, New Mex-September 29-October 7New MexicoState Fair, Albuquerque. New Mex-September 30 Julian's Apple Day.Gold Rush Days relived, Julian.California.October 1-7 Golden Aspen WeekCarson National Forest Aspen-cades, planned by Forest Office andTaos Chamber of Commerce. Oc-tober 3, Solemn Vespers and Can-dlelight procession.October 4Fiesta of San Francisco

Ranchos de Taos.October 1-31Paintings of CaliforniaIndian Costumes at Southwest Mu-seum. Artist, Charles Packard.Highland Park, Los Angeles.October 6-7Cochise County Fair,Rodeo and Horse Show, Douglas,Arizona.October 7 Colorado River Mara-thon, Needles, California.October 9-13Eastern New MexicoState Fair and Rodeo, Roswell,New Mexico.October 14Annual Klobase barbe-

c u e . Deming, New Mexico.October 14-27 Annual Conventionof California State Hotel Associa-tion, Desert Inn, Palm Springs,California.October 15Opening of Desert Bo-tanical Gardens, Phoenix. Arizona.October 17-21Pima County Fair,adjoining Rodeo Grounds, Tucson,Arizona.October 17-20Grand Chapter O.E.S.convention. Las Cruces, New Mex-i c o .October 18-20 Arizona AviationConference. Phoenix, Arizona.October 18-20 Conven tion of Na-tional Association of Secretaries,Phoenix, Arizona.October 1 9 - 2 1 14th Annual PioneerDays, Twentynine Palms, Califor-nia. Parades, bands, gymkhana,fashion show, bowling tournament.October 21 Mesilla Valley PecanFestival, Mesilla Park, New Mexico.October 23-28Gobarino HarvestFestival, Oildale. Mojave Desert.Gay nineties theme.October 26-28 Tombstone Helldo-rado, Tombstone. Arizona.October 29-31 Western RegionalConference of AAA Motor Club,Phoenix. Arizona.

V o l u m e 1 4 OCTOBER, 1951 N u m b e r 1 2C O V E RC A L E N D A REXP LO RATIO N

LO ST G O LDFIELD TRIPFICTIONI N D I A N STRUE OR FALSEG H O S T T O W NPOETRYN A T U R EP H O T O G R A P H YLETTERSB O T A N YMININGN E W SC O N T E S TH O BBYLAP IDARYB O O K SC O M M E N TCLO SE-UP S

DESERT RAT. Ph oto gr ap h by T . D . Venc i l l ,A n g e l e s .O c t o be r e ve nt s on th e d es er t . . . .T r a ' l t o H a w k e y e N a t u r a l B r i d g eB y B A R R Y G O L D W A T E RL o st L e d g e of t h e S h e e p H o l e M o u n t a i n sBy JOHN D. MITCHELLG e o d e s i n L i z a r d G u l c h

B y H A R O L D O . W E I G H THa rd Rock Sho r ty cf Ds a th Va l l ey . . .W h e n V i s it o r s C a m e to t h e H o g a n

By SANDY HASSELLA t e s t of y o u r d e se r t k n o w l e d g e . . .G h o s t of M u d d y V a l l e yB y G E N E S E G E R B L O M" W h a t W o r t h th e D e s e r t " a n d o t h e r p o e m sH e W e a r s a C o l l a r t o r I d e n t i f i ca t i o n

B y G E O R G E B R A D TPic tures o f the MonthC o m m e nt from D es er t ' s r ea d e rs . . . .S p r i n g C a r p e t f o r t h e D e se r t

By MARY BEALC ur r e nt n e w s of d es er t m in es . . . .F r o m H e r e a n d T h e r e o n t h e D e se r t . .P r i z e s t o r y a n n o u n c e m e n tG e m s a n d m i n e r a l sA m a t e u r G e m C u t t e r , b y L E L A N D E Q U I C KR e v i e w s of S o u t h w e s t e r n l i t e r a t u r e . .J u s t B e t w e e n Y o u a n d M e , b y t h e e d i t o rA b o u t t h o se w h o w r i t e f o r D e se r t

I .os

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The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Press, Inc., Palm Desert,California. Re-entered as second class matte r July 17, 1948, at the post office at Palm Desert,California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title registered No. 358865 in U. S. Patent Office,and contents copyrighted 1951 by the Desert Press, Inc. P ermission to reprod uce contentsmust be secured from the editor in writing.RANDALL HENDE RSON, Edito r BESS STACY, Business ManagerMARTIN MORAN, Circulation Manager E. H. VAN NOSTRAND, AdvertisingLos Angeles Office (A dver tising Only ): 2G35 Ad elbert Av e., Phon e NO rmand y 3-1509Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledgedunless full retur n postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility fordamage or loss of ma nuscr ipts or photogra phs a lthough due care will be exercised. Sub-scribers should send notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding issue.SUBSCRIPTION RATESOne Year $3.50 Two Ye ars Sfi.00Canadian Subscriptions 25c Extra, Foreign 50e ExtraSubscriptions to Army Personnel Outside U. S. A. Must Be Mailed in Conformity With

P . O. D. Order No. 13687Address Correspondence to Desert Magazine, Palm Desert, CaliforniaO C T O B E R , 1 9 5 1


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Dotted line shows the best route from the parking place on the rim of the mesa toHawkeye Natural Bridge. The walking distance is about 3V2 miles.

Trail to HawkeyeNatural Bridge

By BARRY GOLDWATER Photographs by the author

Hidden away in a remote can-yon near the base of NavajoMountain in northern Arizona isa great natural arch of sand-stone that until recent years wasknown only to the Navajo Indi-ans . Barry Goldwater spottedthe stone arch from the airbut his effort to reach it by foot-trail was quite fruitlessuntil aNavajo showed the way.

Map by Norton AllenNE EVENING at Rainbow Lodge ,Bill Wilson and I were studyingthe Baker topographic map ofthe Navajo Mountain region in north-ern Arizona. Tucked away in one

corner of the map, between the moun-tain and the San Juan River, we foundthe words "Hawkeye Natural Bridge."Bill said he had never heard of the

place. Neither had his wife, Kather-ine. Since Bill has been guiding ex-ploring parties over that region fornearly 25 years, and he and Katherineknow all the Indians ir. that part ofthe reservation, it seemed strange thatthey should have missed a naturalbridge imposing enough to have beengiven a name on the map.

My airplane was at a landing stripdown the road a few miles, and sinceI had promised to take members ofthe One Salt family on a flight the nextmorning, I decided I would try to lo-cate this bridge of mystery from theair.On the flight the following day it didnot take long to find the bridge, and

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Haw keye Natural Bridge, a sandstone arch approxima tely 200 feet high and 250feet wide. Apparently the arch resulted from the erosion of the top of what wasonce a huge cave.O C T O B E R , 1 9 5 1


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Members of theparty missed the trail andreached the natural bridge byfollowing the floor' ofBisha canyon. from the air it appeared to be ex-tremely large, perhaps as big as Rain-bow.Air search for ruins and caves haslong been a favorite pastime of minean d a technique has been developedwhereby the best routes to the dis-covery areeasily determined. The air-plane is flown in a direct line betweenthe area in question and a conspicuouslandmark that is known to be visiblefrom the ground. Thecompass read-ings are noted carefully and checkedby several flights. Then a careful searchis made for trails, wagon roads or thebest canyons for ground approach. Inthis instance the road from NavajoMountain Trading Post around LostMesa to the edge of the San JuanCanyon appeared to be thebest route.

Quite certain that I could reach thebridge by the route I hadnoted, I re-turned to the landing strip and a fewhours later left the lodge in a pickupto get pictures of the bridge from theground. My companions were SonnyNeal 16,Mickey Doyle 11, myyoung-est son Mike 11. and a Navajo boy,Wilson One Salt 8.We stopped at Kerley's NavajoMountain Trading Post to inquire asto the best road around Lost Mesa.

The Indians have made many wagontrails in this area, and it would beeasy to take thewrong road.Approximately 6'/2 miles from the



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Luke Chief, the Navajo Indian who guided the Goldwater party to the bridge,located in an unnamed tributary to Bisha Canyon.O C T O B E R , 1 9 5 1


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Navajo, sacred mountain of the Indians, in the background. The natural bridge islocated in the canyon in the foreground.trading post our road ended abruptlyon the edge of the mesa. There is alittle sand along the way but none thatsoft tires will not negotiate.We found several trails leading offin the general direction of the bridgeand we took the wrong one. Weshould have kept to the left of a con-spicuous butte some distance aheadbut we did not find that out until sometime later.Instead of keeping on top of themesa, we dropped down into Bishacanyon on our right, and spent theentire afternoon in a fruitless searchfor our objective. Toward evening wecame to a spring of cool water andbedded down for the night on thesand in an old Indian hogan.Next morning we took up the searchagain and must have walked severalmiles in heavy sand before we cameto an Indian camp where a sing hadbeen in progress the previous night.Several Indians were loitering around

one of the hogans, and with WilsonOne Salt as interpreter I approachedthem and asked if they knew the loca-tion of the natural bridge.One of the Navajos, Luke Chief,said he knew the bridge well, andstarted off at a great pace to lead theway to it.At first sight of the great bridge ofstone all the weariness of our longhike was forgotten. Hawk eye is amagnificent archnot so imposing asRainbow, but worthy of more atten-tion than it has received. Und oubted lythis formation was at one time a greatsandstone cave, but erosion has eatenaway the top of it to the extent that adefinite arch does now exist.I would rank it in importance withWhite Mesa Arch. It is a landmarkthat should be seen by those who areinterested in searching out the unu-sual land ma rks of the Southwest. Ithas amazing symmetry, and the softtexture of the stone enhances the

beauty of its structure.It is not an easy bridge to photo-graphit hugs too closely to the rockmassive from which it was carved tomake a spectacular picture. One hasto see the bridge itself to appreciatefully the magnificent job of sculptur-ing Nature has done here.Our return trip was by the more di-rect route shown on the accompanyingphotographand this is the route Iwould recommend for those who planto visit this little known natural monu-ment.This entire region is a fascinatingland for the explorer. Trem endo uscaves are to be seen east of the bridgeand no doubt in some of these will befound the ruins of prehistoric Indiandwellings. I am going back there atfirst opportunitybut next time I willfollow the Navajo trails instead offloundering around in the sand andamong the rocks at the bottom ofBisha canyon.



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"When the torn sack wasemptied on the depot plat-form it almost started astampede."

Nearly every important mountain range in the Southwest countryhas its legend of lost gold, and the Sheep Hole Mountains east ofTwentynine Palms in San Bernardino County, California, are no excep-tion. As the result of a recent act of Congress reducing the boundarieson the Joshua Tree National Monument, this area is again open huntingground for prospectorsand may one of them find Hermit John's lostl ed ge .

By JOHN D. MITCHELLIllustration by John Hansenstories, some of which, no doubt, havegrown in magnitude as time elapsed.Most traditions become distorted intime. The Lost Ledge in the SheepHole Mountains seems to be an ex-ception to the rule. The old prospec-tor had plenty of whiskers, but therewere no wild Indians.Early one summer morning about50 years ago old Pete Ring, John

LOST mine stories leavethe reader with the impres-sion that the richest mineswere found and lost in wild Indiancountry by old prospectors with longwhiskers. The wilder the Indians andthe longer the prospector's or DesertRat's whiskers, the richer the minesseem to be. Western lore is repletewith lost mine and buried treasure

Lock, storekeeper; Jim Walsh, sec-tion foreman; Bill Pine, Santa Fe sta-tion agent; and the writer were stand-ing on the depot platform at Amboy,California. A group of strange objectswere seen bobbing up and down ontop of the heat waves that hung overthe dry lake northeast of the station.The lake bed had filled with clearwater and the dancing heat waves hadlifted everything high into the warmair above the ground. Even old PeteRing's mine that stood on a smallbrown hill near the eastern edge ofthe lake seemed to be high up in theclouds with fairy palaces all aroundit. As we stood looking at the strangeobjects dancing around in the shim-mering mirage, Pete Ring remarked,"Hell, that's Hermit John and hisoutfit." By the time the He rmit had

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Lost Ledge of theSheep Hole Mountains


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reached the western edge of the miragehis outfit was down on the groundagain and he was heading for theSanta Fe depot.While the Hermit was very secretiveabout his business, he was by no meansa total stranger to the few residents ofthe little desert railroad station. Thiswas the third time he had shownup at the store and railroad station.Despite the fact that the tall whitewhiskered man rode a large mule, hisfeet almost dragged the desert sands.The heat waves had made him lookmuch taller as he rode across the drylake bed. After unloading six sacksof ore on the depot platform Bill Pine,the station agent, told him that one ofthe sacks was badly torn and that hecould not receive it for shipment in thatcondition. The old man returned tohis pack outfit and brought anothersack. When the torn sack was emp-tied out on the depot platform it almoststarted a stampede. The ore was alight gray iron-stained quartz literallyplastered and matted together withbright yellow gold. Everyone crowdedaround to see the ore. Pete Ring ex-claimed, "Jumping John D. Rocke-feller, that's the richest ore that evercame out of the California desert."

The old man gathered the ore upquickly, putting it in the new sack,weighed it and had the agent bill it toa San Francisco smelter. Some veryrich gold ore was being hauled intoAmboy at that time from a gold mineat Virginia Dale, operated by someArmenians from Los Angeles, but itwas an entirely different kind of ore.While it showed considerable free gold,it was nothing to be compared withthat brought in by the Hermit.

After watering his five burros andsaddle mule at the tank car on theSanta Fe tracks, the old prospectorwent into camp just behind the littlegrocery store and near the railroadtracks. We all naturally wanted toknow where the ore came from, butthe old man was secretive and did notvolunteer the information. In thosedays it was not considered good eti-quette to inquire too closely into astranger's personal affairsespeciallyif he happened to have a large sixshooter handy.The Armenian freighter told us theold prospector had been seen aroundtheir camp on several occasions andthat they understood he was prospect-ing somewhere in that part of the des-ert. Later that evening the writervisited the old fellow around his camp-fire and found him reading the Psalmsof David aloud from a large leather-covered bible which he carried in hisoutfit.He was worried because the otherDesert Rats had seen his rich ore. He

was afraid they would try to followhim to his mine.He told me that while prospectingin the Sheep Hole Mountains north-east of Dale dry lake and southwest ofCadiz dry lake, he had found an oldSpanish or Mexican mine that showedevidence of having been worked hun-dreds of years before. An old arras tranearby showed that the ore had beentreated on the ground. However, therewas no water other than a caved shaftnear the arrastra that might have beena well. Two or three old graves nearbyindicated that the former operators, orat least, some of them, had been killedor died there. Old-time mining toolswere scattered around.During our conversation it devel-oped that we had something in com-mon. We were both from Kentucky.We proceeded to celebrate the occa-sion with a small nip or two from abottle of Snake Medicins I happenedto have in my hip pock et. After some

talk the old man told me that he haddone considerable prospecting aroundthe desert, but that old Spanish shaftwas the only deposit he had everfound that amounted to anything. Theo r e , he said was enormously rich andthere was enough in sight to makehim wealthy beyond his fondestdreams. His description of the placewould locate it either in the northeastcorner of the Joshua Tree NationalMonument, or just across the line tothe west. This area recently has beendeleted from the Monument bound-aries.

During our conversation the pros-pector told me he had done someprospecting around a large outcrop-ping of iron ore to the north of hismine, but that it was too lowgrade ingold to pay expenses of transporta-tion and treatment.

Early the following morning whenthe Santa Fe passenger train pulled intothe station the old fellow was observedto drop a letter in the slot in the mailcar. The next morning, after wateringhis saddle mule and five burros hepacked up, filled his numerous waterkegs and followed one of the Armenianfreight wagons out of town. No oneever saw or heard of him again. Theletter probably instructed the smelterto mail the returns to some other post-office or to family or friends in theeast. He was never seen around Vir-ginia Dale or any of the other railroadstations along the Santa Fe.This happened many years ago, andas far as the writer knows no one hasever found, or even looked for theLost Ledge of the Sheep Hole Moun-tains. The Hermit probably met thefate that has befallen many others onthe desert wastes of the Great South-west and his bones lie covered withdrifting sands. If the original operators

were killed by bandits or Indians theyprobably left some treasure buried inor around the small rock house, theruins of which still stand there. Indians Walked on Their Toes . . .Anthropologists of the University ofNew Mexico excavating a cave east ofCapitan on the Fort Stanton militaryreservation, report the finding of 300pairs of prehistoric Indian sandals soconstructed as to cover only the toeand the ball of the foot. Th e conclu-sion: that the Indians walked on theirtoes. Some of the artifacts were sentto Yale for radioactive tests which willestablish the period when they werein use.Excavations have yielded 300 pairsof these sandals. Others of similar de-sign have been found in other ruins,but never in such large numbers.

A n n u a l D e s e r t I n d e x t o b e in D e c e m b e r I s s u e . . .The first issue of Desert Magazine was published in November, 1937.At the end of the first yearin the issue of October, 1938the firstannual index was published. Since then each O ctober issue of Desert has

carried an index of the year's editorial conte nt. In other word s, DesertMagazine's year ran from November to October.Librarians have told us on more than one oceasion that the indexingand cataloging of our publication would be much simpler for them if ourpublication year was the same as the calendar yearand our annual indexappeared in the December instead of the October issue.And so, this year we are going to make the chan ge-ove r. The re willbe 14 issues in this Volume 14and the Volume 14 index will appear inthe Decem ber numbe r. Volume 15 will start with the January , 1952,issue. This will in no way affect subscription accounts.Subscribers who keep their magazines in binders will find it possibleto insert the two additional copies in their Volume 14 coversand twoextra binder wires will be forwarded without cost to any subscriber ornewsstand buyer who makes the request.The new binders for Volume 15, and thereafter, will carry both thevolume number and the year VOL UM E 15 1952.D ES ERT S TA F F10 D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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The geo cles of the Beatty a rea are fantastically varied as to shape. These aretypical specimens, although m uch larger ones can be found.Geodes in Lizard GulchBeatty, Nevada, is very small in population, but very large in hospi-talityand one of the reasons for its reputation as a friendly communityis Brow nie who se real nam e is W. H. Brown. He runs the gener al storein Beattythat is, he works in the store when he is not engaged in thevariou s goodw ill enterprises wh ich occup y much of his time. On e of hisgood turnsseveral months agowas to show a couple of Chicago rock-houn ds where they could find som e choice geo des . And this story is theoutcome of the good deed.

By HAROLD O. WEIGHTPhotographs by the authorMap by Norton AllenN E OF TH E leading business con- name. To them i t is "Brownie 's ," and

cerns in Beatty, Nev ada, is the the nickname is a symbol of the highregard in which W. H. Brown, theowner, is held by his neighbors.There's a sign on the building:Beatty Mercantile company. Butth e folks who live and trade in thatpart of Nevada never call it by that

"Dea th Valley Inform ation." Beatty isat the eastern gateway to Death Valley,and since Brownie is an old-timer inthe Nevada-California desert, there isno one better qualified to answer thequestions which motorists have to ask.Actually, it would require a much big-ger sign to enumerate all the goodwillservices he dispenses to townsfolk andvisitors alike. An hour in the storegave me the impression that it is acombined information, message andsocial center with the business ofselling merchandise merely a sideline.It was one of his friendly gesturesto my notion a highwater mark in mak-ing tourists happythat brought EvaWilson, Lucile and me to Beatty last

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Jun e. Early in the spring, it seems,Luther Morris and his wife of Chicago,stopped at Brownie's to buy baconand eggs. In the conversation usuallyaccompanying such purchases, Mr. andMrs . Morris dropped the informationthat they were on a rockhunting vaca-tion and that one of their rockhoundambitions was to pick a few geodeswhere they grew.Brownie's information service in-cluded even that. He knew wherethere were geodesand not far fromBea tty. But he was n't satisfied to give

direction s to them . In a ma tter ofmoments he had turned the store overto his daughter and was on the wayout to the field with the Chicagoans.If Brownie were a collector, the wholething might have been an excuse toget in a little huntin g. But he insistshe's no rockhound . He just keeps tabon such things to pass the informationon to those interested. So Browniemade the trip just to give a bit ofpleasure to the mid-westerners whilethey were in Beatty.He succeeded in doing just that.

C Ft A T E RFLAT

"Needless to say," Luther Morriswrote to Desert Magazine, "we spentthe remainder of the day making ourselection of geodes and exploring theold mine roads and mines found backin the Yucca Mountains. Mr. Brown,and men like him, seem to flourishmore plentifully in the West thanaround here. Or else this soot andsmoke and hustle seems to fog every-one up a bit and hide friendliness."The material in the field, accordingto Morris, was made up of wholegeodes and much incomplete geode for-Nevada zebra-tailed lizard, the species which seemed most prominent and activein Lizard Gulch.

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Brown ie's store in Beatty is center for tourist information. Here BrownieW. H.Brown former constable of Death Valley, points out to Eva Wilson some of theattractions of the below-sea-level valley he knows so well.mation composed of layers of agatizedand crystalized material. "If you wishto pass this on to anyone who wantsa sure-fire location in a hurry, whythat is the plac e. It is easy to get to andthere is plenty of material there . If thishelps out any passing tourist or vaca-tioner, who like ourselves had neverfound any geodes before, why thenwe feel we are starting to repay Desertby emulating you in your efforts tomake life more enjoyable for others."Desert's editorial staff, knowing theenthusiasm collectors have for geodes,passed the letter and sketch map onwith the suggestion I check the extentof the field, "And tell us somethingabout Brownie."So we came to Beatty, a tree-shadedoasis along the course of the under-ground Amargosa river. Beatty hasbeen a popular spot on the Nevadadesert since the first white man came

that way and probably for a longtime before. It is nam ed for WilliamMartin Beatty, who lived with his In-dian wife and their children on a littleranch just outside the present town,before the Bullfrog-Rhyolite boombuilt the town.Beatty was something of a prospec-tor, but it was Shorty Harris and EdCross who struck rich green ore inAugust, 1904, about eight miles westof Beatty ranch and touched off theexcitement which created Rhyolite, acity of stone and concrete businessbuildings which reached more than10,000 popu lation at its peak . Beattybecame both freighting center andsource of water for Rhyolite and hersister cities and all the mines and pros-pects of the surrounding country.

When the boom cities died, Beattysurvived. One reason was its abundantwater supply; another, its strategic po-

sition on the road between Goldfieldand Las Vegas. And its trees, waterand elevation of 3400 feet, made it apleasant supply center and cooling offplace for prospectors and miners formany miles around. Those last featureswere the ones we appreciated most,reaching Beatty through Daylight passafter an afternoon, night and morningin the heat-drenched sink of DeathValley.We'd been in Beatty several timesbefore and we knew Brownie by repu-tation and through correspondence,but this was our first real meeting. Assoon as there was a break in the flowof cash and information customers, hestudied the map Morris had sent andadded a few more landmarks to it. Hehad no one to relieve him at the mo-men t, he said regretfully. But therewere plenty of geodes in the area, andif we didn't go too farbeyond that

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Brownie, as the emigrant Wade,the part he played in the DeathValley Centennial pageant, held inDesolation canyon in 1949. WithBrownie, left, is Seldom SeenSlim, famous desert prospector.red hillwe should have no troublelocating them. If we didcome backand see him.At other meetings, we learned moreabout Brownie. For 14 years he hadbeen constable of the whole of the DeathValley area to theNevada state linethe "Law East of thePanamints ." Hisexperiences as constable formed thebackground for the "Death ValleySheriff" character on thePacific CoastBorax Company's "OldRanger" radioprogram, sopopular a fewyears ago.Brownie first came to the desert in1920, when thePostal Telegraph com-pany sent him from San Franciscowith a Packard truck andtrailer loadedwith equipment, to reset the telegraphpoles between Barstow and Needles.The Santa Fewas being double-trackedand it was necessary to move all thepoles over to give them room.At that time there were only 16milesof paved road between Needles andSan Bernardino. But he liked thecountry sowell that when he was of-fered the job of lineman on the Tono-pah andTidewater railroad, he quicklyaccepted. For three years he kept allthe instruments working along thatfamous and now-vanishing line, re-paired all batteries , kept waterpumpsand engines operating and "just mademyself useful."Then he was at Ludlow for a longtimeholding eleven titles at once,

including chief clerk to the presidentof the railroad andjustice of thepeaceand deputy clerkso he could bothissue marriage licenses and then marrycouples. As justice of the peace, oneof hisduties was to help select namesfor the Mexican babies, vv'hose parentswould come to him for suggestions.On those occasions everything includ-ing the almanac was consulted.He wasstation agent at Silver Lake,held various jobs in the valley itself,an d wassuperintendent for the PacificCoast Borax Company at Death Val-ley junction from 1942 to 1946. Hismost recent official connection withDeath Valley was in the big Centen-nial pageant at Desolation canyon in1949. Brownie and his wife, Louise,with a 16-year-old son andtwo smallerchildren, played the Wade family ofemigrants.The oxen for the occasion hadbeenbrought in from Utah, Oregon and

Hollywood and considerable troublearose through theinexperience of thosetrying to handle the animals. ButBrownie did not have much troublewith his oxen, since he'd driven 20-mule teams hauling grain in Washing-ton state. One of the high points ofhis Death Valley days was the trip hetook with the last 20-mule team andborax wagon that followed the oldborax road into Death Valley. Thatwas in November, 1939,shortly afterthe opening of the San Francisco BayBridge.A t the bridge celebration the 20-mule team andwagon andtrailers weredriven across the Baybridge and intoSan Francisco, with Johnny O'Keefe,an old-time driver at the jerkline. Theoutfit was then shipper to Mojave,assembled, and driven over the oldroute to the Harmony Borax Worksin Death Valley. That trip was acomparatively fast one,since the wag-ons carried only hay for themules andfood for the crew, and was completedin nine days.Besides Johnny O'Keefe, the driver,and Brownie, whoacted as cook, the

wagon crew was George Ishmael,Shorty Evans, Sonny Wagnon. a fel-low called "the Candy Kid" and W.W. Cahill. O'Keefe is dead now, andone of Brownie's prized mementos isthe six-foot shot whip the old driverused on this last trip.On that expedition, Brownie sayshe proved to the photographers andnewspapermen along, that coyotes willtalk back. Before daylight one morn-ing he asked them if they would liketo hear a coyote holler. Naturally, theywould."S o I let out a warwhoop, and sureenough, two or three coyotes back inthe hills answered me. They'll do itevery time if you're out in the coyote

Geode field on the edge of theYucca Mountains. The redcliffymountain, left center, is the and-mark for thefield. Ledge of per-lite, carrying some of the geodesca n be seen to the right, fore-ground. "Lizard Gulch" area isjust to theleft of the car.country and away from everyone.Wake up in the night sometime outthere andholler and you'll find out."It wasmuch later than we'd plannedwhen we left Brownie's, but the geodefield was only a short distance away,so we set out,zeroing the speedometerin Bcatty. We headed northeast onHighway 95, which follows a prettyvalley with tree-shaded ranches wateredby springs and by the undergroundAmargosa. The first landmark was apumice mine to the left of the road,which wepassed 3.5miles from Beatty.At 3.8 we turned right on an unim-proved road. This road follows closeby the highway for a short distance,then crosses a powerline and swingsfarther right, winding up a big washthrough low hills. Two and a halfmiles after crossing the pole line, westopped, facing the redhill, on the left,which Brownie had given us as theprincipal landmark to the field.

To the right, climbing the steepslope, we could see the great perlitedike in which thegeodes had "grown."The wash was so soft at this point itdid not seem advisable to pull out ofthe double ruts, so westopped in them.We doubted that our car would be amenace to traffic, since the road con-tinued into the Frenchman's Flat sec-tion of the new Atomic test areaanother half million acres of theonce-free desert area which have vanishedbehind our own spreading "Iron Cur-tain." And we were rightno othercar followed thesingle-track road whilewe were there. We later discoveredthat there is amuch better spot topark,turn or camp about one-tenth of amile farther along.

I doubt if this particular little can-yo n or side-pocket where we firststopped has any name. So, until I'mcorrected, I'm going to call it Lizard14 DESERT MAGAZINE


15/44

Gu lch. I believe that in the few h ourswe were there, we saw about everyvariety of that branch of the reptilefamily that lives in southern Nevada.As soon as we stopped, we saw a fatchuckawalla sunbathing on the pin-nacle of a big boulder about 20 feetaway, with his back to us. It would,we knew, make a perfect picture if wecould get close enough before he wasdisturbed.But if he wasn't aware of our pres-ence, other members of the local lizard

fraternity were. While we were grab-b ing camera s and e qu i p m en t , abeautiful zebra-tailed specimen racedup the boulder, halted close to thechuckawalla and apparently said a fewwords to him. The big "chucky"turned his head slowly and contem-plated us with the lack of emotion ofa cud-chewing cow. Then he turnedhis back again. But the ring-tailedPaul Revere was insistent and appar-ently his warning finally sank through.for the chuckawalla scurried clumsilv

off the boulder, across the sand andup to the shelter of the wide verandaof his cliff-niche.The ring-tail remained on his highperch, confident of his own speed untilwe were quite close, then with a swishwas gon e. I climbed up the little cliffuntil I could look into the chucka-walla's apar tmen t. He lay watching mewith beady eyes while I shot a picturefrom some distance. When I tried tomove in for a closeup, he slipped backout of sight and, apparently contain-

Beatty, green oasis along 'he course oj the underground Amargosa river of southernNevada, has been a sui;.ly and information center for miners and prospectors sincethe Bullfrog-Rhyolite boom of 1904 -05. Now it is one of the principal gatewaysto Death Valley National Monument. Bare Mountain, center and right background.Yucca Mountains which contain the geode field, left.

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ing the insatiable curiosity of his tribe,refused to stick his neck out again.When we returned to the car, it wasnoonand hot . We were hungrybut there was no shady nook in whichto spread a lunch . So we ate in thecar with the door wide open tocatch the breeze we hoped would sooncome up the wash.After lunch we set out to check thegeode area. As soon as we startedclimbing the steep grey perlite slope,we saw numerous pieces of brokengeodes. But human hammerhou ndshadn't been smashing them. In fact,with these thin-shelled hollow rockswhich must weather slowly out of thecompact perlite, while they are attackedby cold and heat and moisture andthe bombardment of rocks from above,it is a wonder that any survive intact.Most of the complete geodes wefound on the slope facing the roadwere from two to five inches in diam-eter. Some of them had botryoidalchalcedony centers, some quartz crys-tals; some were nodules with commonopal, agate or chalcedony centers. Thematrix of all appeared to be a silicifiedrhyolite in greys and lavenders whichwill polish well.

The geodes of Lizard Gulch arestrikingly similar to many of thosefound at Searchlight, Nevada, and alsoto some I have found in perlite inparts of Arizona. They are not out-standingly beautiful among geodes, buta few will be of interest in any collec-tion. And they are remarkable fortheir fantastic shapes. Particularly wasthis true of those I found by continu-ing across country to the southeast, tothe slopes of the next range of hills.Here, unbroken ones lay about inabundance and they were much largerin sizea number of them bigger thanany one man would want to carry. Inless than half a mile, I emptied mycollecting sack several times, to sortand resort for the best specimens, orthe oddest shapes. It was a great dealof fun, and I probably would havecontinued my search through the after-noon, if it had not been so hot. Whileit is true that you can collect through-out most of the yeareven in this por-tion of Nevadayou'll find it muchmore pleasure if you make the trip inlate spring or early fall.

In an hour, I found that I had al-most emptied my canteenand thatwas a sign it was time to head back tothe car. When I arrived, I found Lu-cile and Eva had collected all thegeodes they wanted and were busychasing lizards. The particular speci-men occupying their attention at themoment was a colorful Bailey's Col-lared lizardand as often seems to bethe case with this species, he wasn'tmaking the chase too hard for them.

in fact, he was posing in a variety ofpositions chest out, head cocked,looking over his shoulder, full frontand profile. While Eva followed him,winding and snapping her camera, hedid just about everything but roll overon his back.As we turned the car around toleave, we saw that the chuckawallahad come out to the edge of his ver-anda to supervise our departure, andthe little zebra-tailed lizard was up onthe boulder pinnacle, pumping up anddown. We even had trouble with traf-fic. Two more zebra-tails were doingsome mystic sort of dance in the wheelruts, waving and curling and uncurlingtheir tails at one another.But we finally got by them withoutcasualties, and headed toward thehighway. We were sorry that it wasso hot we couldn't stay and becomebetter acquainted with the inhabitantsof Lizard Gu lch. It would have beenpleasant to camp there for days, hik-ing the surrounding hills to see whatthey might contain . But we had foundthe geodes and learned thatbarringravishment by truck collectorstherewere enough of them in the surround-ing hills to supply all comers.

And like Mr. and Mrs. Morris, we

wanted to express our thanks toBrownie for a good and healthy dayin the desert hills. Perhaps, as LutherMorris wrote. Brownie and men likehim flourish more plentifully in theWest. But a man who will actually goto any effort to make strangers or ac-quaintances happierto try to helpthem just because he wants to helpis rare enough in any land. WILSO NS CARRY O N DESP ITEBURNING O F RAINBO W LO DG ERainbow Lodge, at the base ofNavajo Mountain in northern Arizona,burned to the ground in the earlymorning of August 11. The cause hasnot been ascertained. A letter fromBill and Katherine Wilson, known tomany readers of Desert Magazine asthe keepers of the lodge for the last25 years, stated that the guest cottagesescaped the flames, and a fine newgarage has been converted into a tem-porary dining and lounging roomso the Lodge is carrying on as usual.Rainbow Lodge is at the end of themotor road for Rainbow Bridge visi-tors, and the Wilson's, in addition tosupplying guest accommodations, alsofurnish saddle and pack horses for the14-mile trip to the Bridge.

M a r d K o c k S h o r t yof Death Valley

Some one gave Pisgah Bill achamber of commerce folder fromImperial Valley and he had beenreading about the carbon dioxidethat came from fissures in theground around the south end ofSalton Sea. They had even set upa plant down there for condens-ing the gas into dry ice."I'll bet that's the same kindagas that comes from them holesin the ground down the otherside o' Badwater," Pisgah toldHardrock Shorty.Pisgah couldn't talk about any-thing else. If they could makedry ice in Imperial Valley, whycouldn't they make it in DeathValley? He sent to the govern-ment printing office for all theliterature they had on makingdry ice, and the more he readthe more certain he was that a

new industry was about to belaunched in Death Valley.At first Shorty was skeptical.

He had been listening to Pisgah'sdream projects for years andknew that nothing ever came ofthem. Finally he lost patience."'Pisgah, yu ol' galoot, you'dbetter go back t' minin' and fer-get about them crazy ideas o'yourn," he finally exclaimed."I know all about that dry icebusiness. I wuz pros pectin' downin them Chocolate mountains thesummer they put in that dry iceplant at Niland. Everybodythough t it wuz a great idea. Oneo l ' geezer down there got theidea he could feed the stuff tohis cows and milk ice creamoutta 'em. So he busted the stuffup fine and mixed it with the milomaize he wuz feedin' the familymilch cow.

"Wuz a fine idea only itdidn 't work out right. Froze thecow's stomach and the poor beastnearly starved to death before theycould get 'er thawed out again.



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"Money from her rugs bought most of the groceries."

W h e n V i s i t o r s C a m et o t h e H o g a nBy SANDY HASSELLArt work by Charles Keetsie Shirley, Navajo artist

A sitting position on theground in front of her loomMrs . Little Whiskers stood up,took a couple of steps backward andlooked with satisfaction at her half-woven Navajo rug. She was sure ifshe worked steadily she could finish itin another moon. When completed itwould be the largest rug ever madeby any Navajo woman in this part ofthe reservation. It would be five spanslonger and three spans wider than theone Mrs. Bluegoat made last year.Now the women around the tradingpost were talking more about this rugand less about the one Mrs. Bluegoathad made.

Almost a year ago she had decidedto make this rug. That was a shorttime after her husband, Hosteen LittleWhiskers, received his first pensioncheck from Washington, and hadstarted acting so importanteven tell-ing her the color of the dresses sheshould wear. She couldn't see anysense in him making such a fuss aboutsomething that he had done a longtime ago. To hear him talk and seehim act people would think he wasthe only one in the family whoamounted to anything. Didn't peopleknow that she was considered the bestweaver in the district? Ha dn't two ofher rugs won first prize at the fair and

didn't trader Tall Man pay her morefor her rugs than he did other Navajowomen? Wasn't it the money fromher rugs that bought most of the gro-ceries?Getting the yarn ready for this rughad taken much longer than weaving.First she had saved an extra big sackof wool as much as it took twostrong men to lift. She didn't need thismuch wool for one rug but when rela-tives helped with the spinning she al-ways gave them as much wool as theyspun. A big rug like this one had to bemade outdoors and a special loommade for it. While she had been pre-paring for this rug she had woventhree smaller ones inside the hogan.That was when the weather was badand she couldn't work outside.

When weaving, about every hour,Mrs. Little Whiskers liked to get upand walk around. This kept her fromgetting tired. This morning on her firstwalk she had gone over the hill to thefield to see if the corn was sprouting.On her way back when she reached thetop of the hill she could see that sev-eral cars had stopped at her hoganwhile she was away. There must havebeen a dozen people around the loomlooking at her rug. Lately many whitepeople had come to look at it and takepictures, but never had this manycome at one time. Coming close inshe recognized Tall Man but didn'tknow any of the rest. Tall Manwalked forward and greeted her witha light handclasp; then he explainedwho the people were and what theywanted. They had come from a longdistance to take a picture of her rug.They also wanted a picture of herwhile she was working on it. Wouldshe put on her best clothes and jewelrywhile they made the picture? Mrs.Little Whiskers didn't mind doing thisbut she knew it would be better if shemade Tall Man ask her several times.The white men were going to stayall day and had brought many thingsto eat. Tall Man knew what Navajosliked and had brought flour, bakingpowder, sugar, coffee and lots ofgrease. He wanted to have plenty offried bread and coffee. There werealso sacks of fruit and candy andother things in tin cans. This wasgoing to be one day when everybodywas going to have all they wanted toeat.

After being properly coaxed, Mrs.Little Whiskers put on her best clothesand got ready for the picture. Itseemed that the white men not onlywanted pictures of her weaving butthey wanted pictures of her spinningand carding wool. Also pictures ofher doing many things around thehogan.At first Mrs. Little Whiskers was

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shy with so many white strangersaround, but Tall Man told her funnystories and she got to laughing andafter a little while she didn't care.These people wanted other Indians inthe picture, so all the members of herfamily were asked to dress up. Thesheep, goats, dogs and even old Kelleethe burro were brought close to camp.The children were hard to manage atfirst. Wh en the wh ite men would tryto get them in the picture they puttheir hands over their faces; but aftershe and Tall Man had scolded themseveral times they stopped doing thisand after a while they got to laughingand acting just like the grown folks.After a while Tall Man said it wouldsoon be time to eat so he bought asheep from her. Said he and the whitemen wanted mutton broiled over thecoals. While she broiled mutton shealso cooked fried bread and made cof-f e e . The white men even took picturesof her cooking. Silly things, hadn'tthey ever seen anybody cook before?She knew some white people said In-dians were dirty. She was going toshow these people she wasn't thatkind. Four times when she was mak-ing the bread she stopped and washedher hands. And at least half a dozentimes that morning she had brushedout the hogan. The white people didn'tseem to be very hungry but Hosteenand Tall Man ate mutton until shewondered if there was going to be anyleft for the children.

The white people wanted a pictureof Hosteen, and they did not have toask but once. Hosteen had put on hisbest clothes and jewelry without beingasked. While they took his picturethey wanted Hosteen to talk about thetime he had been an old scout. No th-ing could have pleased him more. Allthe time the picture machine wasturned toward him he talked and madesigns with his hands just as things hadhappened. Hosteen hadn't been inmany of the pictures that morning butnow his turn had come and he wasacting very important.The time had come for the whitepeople to leave, for the sun wouldsoon be hiding itself. Mrs. LittleWhiskers was tired but this had beena happy day for heras happy as anyshe could remem ber. Everyone hadlaughed and had a good time, and hadall they wanted to eat. People all overthe country would see a picture of hermaking the big rug and know what afine weaver she was.Now why was Tall Man giving papermoney to the little children? She couldsee that it was dollar bills, and that

was a lot of money for little children.Now he was giving money to the olderIndianstwo dollars to each one whohad helped with the pictures. Yes and

he was giving five to Hos teen . If hegave her two dollars she would bepleased. Now he had come to her andhe was going to give her money forhe was putting it in her handnot twoor three dollars, but a whole handfulof bills, three or four times the amounthe had given Hosteen.

Well this settled the question for alltime. From now on she and every-body else would know who was themost important person around Hos-teen Little Whiskers' camp. No longerwould she listen to Hosteen when hewould tell her what dress he thoughtwas the prettiest.

T R U E O R F A L S E Not all of Desert's readers canfollow the desert trails as oftenas they would likebut throughthe monthly quiz it is possible to visit many interesting places and learnmuch abou t this great national playgrou nd of the Southwest. Thesequestions include a wide range of subjects which the student of the desertwill kn ow or will wan t to know . A score of 12 to 14 is fair, 15 to 17good, 18 or over is excellent. The answ ers are on page 32.1The bite of a Chu ckaw alla lizard som etimes proves fatal. TrueFalse ... .2Cochise was an Apache Indian chief. True . False3Death Valley's Ubehehe crater was active within the last 25 years.Tru e . False4Rainbow trout are caught in the Colorado River below Hoover dam.True . False5The greasewood or creosote bush that grows on the desert is aperen nial. Tru e . False6Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon church, never saw Utah.True . False7 Calcite is hard er than rose qua rtz. Tru e Fals :8N avajo weaving is done mostly by the men of the tribe. TrueFalse9George Wharton James wrote Wonders of the Colorado Desert.Tru e . False

10 The Great White Thron e is in Zion N ational P ark. TrueFalse1Hopi Kachinas generally are made of clay. True False

12 The waterfall known as Great Falls is in Grand Cany on. TrueFalse13 Ocotillo is one of the cactus species. True . False14 The Wasateh M oun tains may be seen from Suit Lake City. TrueFalse .. .15Visitors to the Petrified Forest National Monument in Arizona are

permitted to take away specimens not exceeding one pound in weight.Tru e . False16The Giant Ground Sloth roamed the Nevada desert within themem ory of Indians now living. Tru e . False17Barstow, California, is located on the bank of the Mojave River.Tru e .... . False18A ferry boat still operates regularly at Lee's Ferry, Arizona. TrueFalse.19Certain species of date palm trees were found growing in the South-west when the white men first came to this region. Tru eFalse20 Th e blossom of the agave or wild century plant is yellow. Tru eFalse



19/44

A t *

Ghost ofMuddy ValleyShow ing the exposed shoreline of Lake Mead in the background. In the foregroundis the cement slab of one of St. Thomas' former ranch homes.

In 1937 when the great reservoir behind Hooverdam was being fi l led with water it became neces-sary for the Mormon settlers in the little town ofSt. Thomas, Nevada, to abandon their homes. Itwas believed then that the site of St. Thomas wouldbe forever buried beneath the waters of LakeMead. But exce ssive d ema nds for power andscanty snowfall in the Rocky Mountains combinedin April this year to reduce the water level belowthe level of the old townsite. Since this story w aswritten the annual June and July flood runoff ofthe Colorado has again submerged this ghost townof Muddy V alley.By GENE SEGERBLOMPhotographs by Cliff Segerblom

7HE OLD Nevada settlement ofSt . Thomasor rather what isleft of St. Thomasmost of thetime is buried 60 feet below the sur-face of Lake Me ad. This year, how-ever, the level of the lake was excep-tionally low and St. Thomas emergedfrom its watery grave.

This was the fifth time since thewaters of Lake Mead inundated St.Thomas in 1937 that the water re-ceded enough to reveal the skeletonsof once-majestic shade trees and thefew remaining cement foundations.The surface of Lake Mead this yeardropped three feet below the elevation

of the old town of St. Thomas whichis 1145 feet above sea level. The lakewas the lowest it had been since April,1947, when it was nine feet lower thanthis year. During the summer monthswhen the snow melted high in theRockies, the lake again covered thesite of this once thriving farm village.

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All that remains of the farmhouse which once occupiedthis site in St. Thomas is the cistern shown in thispictureand the trees which died of too much water.This replica of a prehistoric Indian pueblo is located atthe National Park Service museum at Overtoil, Nevada.Gene Segerhlom, the author, is in the doorway.

Many of the residents of southernNevada either were born or lived atone time in St. Thomas in the MuddyValley. In 1864, Utah pioneers camehere to establish a Mormon colonyalong the old Arrowhead trail betweenSalt Lak e City and Los Ang eles. Ir-rigation water was readily availablefrom nearby Virgin River. At thattime, the Valley was in Pah-uteCounty, territory of Arizona. By anAct of Congress in 1866, Muddy Val-ley became part of the present stateof Nevada.Disagreements soon arose betweenthe Mormon settlers and the officialsof Lincoln County, Nevada, over taxesand the Mormons returned to Utah,with the exception of Daniel Bonelli.He remained and operated a ferry atRioville on the Co lorad o River. This

is now known as Bonelli 's landing, afishing camp on the Arizona shore ofLake Mead.The Mormons returned to southernNevada in 1881, and St. Thomas witha population of 800, was one of thelargest communities in the area untilthe completion of Hoover Dam andsubsequent filling of Lake Mead.The loss of St. Thomas and approx-imately 1000 acres of irrigated landhas been offset by diversion of the ir-rigation waters to upstream land, mak-ing the cultivation of more land possi-

ble.All that remain of St. Thomas' farm-houses after 14 years bene ath the lakeare rows of cement foundations and

cellar excavations. The buildings havelong since disintegrated.When the Bureau of Reclamationengineers determined in the early 1930sthat St. Thomas would be doomed bythe construction of Hoover Dam, gov-ernment agents acquired all the pri-vately owned land through purchaseor, in cases of resentful farmers orother pioneers who refused to leave,through condemnation. Many of thesehad to be evicted when the lake actu-ally entered their homes.Most of the population moved tohigher ground in Moapa Valley andswelled the population of the nearbyvillages of Overton and Logandale.Others moved as far away as LasVegas, 70 miles southwest. A few ofthe aged pioneers returned to Utah.When St. Thomas does appear, manyformer residents as well as tourists

St. Thomas appeared abovethe water level of Lake Meadon March 24. The level of thelake continued falling until May11 when the flood dischargefrom the upper watershed be-gan pouring more water intothe reservoir than was beingdischarged at Hoover dam. ByMay 29 St. Thomas was sub-merged again . Due to the lightrunoff from the watershed thisyear it is expected that St.Thomas will emerge again in1952.

make a pilgrimage to the desolate ruins.Oddly enough, flood control expertshave pointed out that St. Thomaswould have been lost forever in itswatery grave had it not been for thegrowth of Los Angeles and the indus-trial southwest. During and sinceWorld War II, the metropolitan areaused such great amounts of powerfrom Hoover Dam, the increased flowof water through the dam's generatorslowered the level of the lake. St.Thomas made its first appearance dur-ing this period.Inundated too by the lake, but per-manently, is the prehistoric Indian set-tlement "The Lost City." This largegroup of pueblos is located in the Val-ley just opposite St. Th om as. Pueb loIndians are believed to have occupiedthis village from about 800 to 1200A.D. It is the only permanent Indianvillage found in this area. As much aspossible of the irreplaceable evidenceof Indian culture was salvaged beforethe waters covered it forever. ThisIndian lore was placed in a museum ofarcheology at nearby Overton. Atom Tests Planned in Nevada . . .According to information from rep-resentatives of the Atomic EnergyCommission further tests of nuclearexplosives are scheduled to be held onthe AEC reservation in Nevada north-west of Las Vegas "in the near future."The new tests, it was stated, will be"under controlled conditions" withadequate provision for safety.



21/44

By WILLIAM M. MCKEEV ERDarwin, CaliforniaO silent terrain, gullied here by rivers' ghosts.Thy sands in wavelet patterns of oceansthat were,But are gone, and in their ancient beds thehosts .Of horned outlaws and fanged who creepand stirIn the shadows of outlawed tree and shrub.Whose mightiest stature we liken to a scrub.And all subordinate to thy rocks and tor-tured 'scapeWhere piling clouds have jettisoned wateryloadsTo wash the faces of monarch crags, per-chance reshapeSome outflung gorgeor puny Man's poortendril roads,1 ask thee, what is thy pain?I beseech thee, what is thy gain?Thou must have meaning were thou meantto beSuch contrast to water-blest lands that bearand multiplyAll their charges that are living, numerous,yet dated in Eternity,Even their kingdoms, empires born them-selves to die.But thy datelessness is like Eternity in sweetreposeAs if veriest Time must seek his where tolie and dozeAway from turmoil and demand of self-repeating Life,And in that life, all too fleet within itstime-set dates,Is the very Mother soil subordinate to sup-port its strife.The living, the dying, the living again whileEternity waits.Old Desert, 1 know thy w orth;My Dese rt, 1 love thy ea rth!

DESERT H O MEBy GRACE PARSONS HARMONDesert Hot Springs, CaliforniaI've got me a place with adobe walls.Where the moonlight spills, and thesunlight falls,A snug little place, with a red tile floor,A ceiling high-beamed, and a great latcheddoor.

There's a fireplace built in a corner, too,To burn wood stacked up, as the Indiansdo A warm, friendly place for a chat or funAs neighbors drop in when work is done.The sand may blow inbut the windssing throughThe door stands wide, and the windows,tooThen the desert rain comes! How it fills theairWith the greasewood's scent, like thedesert's prayer!

DESERT PRAYERBy ELIZABETH COBBOLDLos Angeles, CaliforniaMy fireside is the smoke treeWith ocotillo flame.Its warmth the sunbaked rockface.Its hearth never the same.My bed's a roll of blanketsStretched on the grey-gold sand,My friend, the little burro.Pal of the desert land.I do not pray for cities,I do not pray for wealth.I just pray God to leave meMy desert and my health.

Photo h\ Ivan B. MantisF A M I N E I N N A V A J O L A N D

By FERN TAPSCOTT BELLAztec, ArizonaLet me sing it now, my song,While my heart remembersHogan fires with mutton ribsSizzling on the embers.Hungry People wait outsideWith a hopeful simper.Coyotes howl against the dark.Wind People stand and whimper.Gone a re the sheep from Navajoland.Hushed is the Trail of Song.Gods hear not the hollow voiceOf a hungry throng.Comes the Cold Woman from the north.Leaning on the wind,Shrieking with each frost-plumbed breath .Gaunt and hunger-thinned.It is finished now, my song,Hunger thoughts intrude.Ancient gods, take back your wrath.Give The People food.

By TANYA SOUTHYou stand before me, an immortalsoul.Or rich or poor, or bondaged or aking,Or any other station, any roleThat you may play, or any outwardthingCan m atter nothing. You are still mybrother.And be your color yellow, black orwhite.You still are. like the soul of anyother.My brother dear. There is no brighterlightThan recognition of the one true clan,Th's brotherhood called Man.

DESERT MAIDBy JEAN ANDERSONSeattle, WashingtonTawny mesa spreading farAt noonday, dawn or starry night,Holds this blossom of the desert,This miracle of young delight.

Lovely maiden of her tribeMoves with swift, elusive grace.Strangers may but rarely glimpseThe radiant shyness of her face.Quiet beauty of the mesaHovers gently where she goes.Only native folk are sureHow a desert blossom grows.Note: While traveling in the Southwestrecently, 1 saw this beautiful Indiangirl, at The Gap Trading Post, Arizona.

MY DESERTBy EVA L. BROW NELas Vegas, NevadaLand of the pale hot skies, and gray earthlying under.Land of the molten air, ashes of the whitesun's plunder.Land of the unclothed hills, bare as thebabe new-born.Washed with improbable color, of uselessdrapery shorn;Rejecting man and his seed, his puny plow-ing and reaping.As in a cauldron tossed, purified bleachedand steeping.My desert, Improbable One!My desert. Facing the Sun!

G H O S T T O W NBy MIRIAM LENARTChicago, IllinoisAh, the pretty little ghost town

That once was a host townTo a silver vein.But its pockets were pickedOf silver so quickThat only the ghosts remain.O C T O B E R , 1 9 5 1 21


22/44

He W ears a Collar for IdentificationBy GEORGE BRADT

CO LLA RED LI ZA RD (Crotaphytuscollaris): This lizard is one of thehandsomest of them all. It is strik-ingly marked with a double blackcollar, blotched and banded legs andtail, and all this over a vivid yellow-ish-orange ground color. It has alarge head, thick body, and a tailmeasuring twice the body length.These are rather speedy creaturesand when pursued can be seen torise up onto their hind legs and runalong half erect. The Collared Liz-ard is found from New Mexico west-ward into central California. Thespecimen in the photograph livedin an ancient volcano crater nearLas Cruces, New Mexico.



23/44

P I C T U R E S O FT H E M O N T H

O c o t i l l o B l o s s o m s . . .First prize in Desert Magazine'sAugust photo contest was awardedto K. J. Shepard of Tucson, Ari-zona, whose picture shows the finedetail of the Ocotillo in blossom.

The photograph was taken witha Graphic Master View camerawith Super XX film, K2 filter, 1/5second at f. 4.5.!

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. , - -.

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S t o r m O v e r W u p a t k i . . .Hubert A. Lowman of SouthGate, California, was winner ofsecond prize with the accompany-ing picture of the ancient ruins inthe Wupatki National Monumentin northern Arizona. Storm cloudshung over the desert as the pho-

tograph was taken with SpeedGraphic using high speed pan-chrom atic film, A25 filter, 1/50second at f. 19.


24/44

When They Find a Lost Mine . . .Joplin, MissouriDesert :

I have enjoyed reading in yourmagazine about the many lost minesand treasures in the Southwest.But I have been disappointed in theabsence of any information as to there-discovery of any of these mines.Recently I read in a national magazinethe report of a salesman who stated hehad found the "Lost Dutchman" inArizona. Why doesn' t Desert give usthe information about the finding ofthese mines?EVANS W. B USKETTDear Evans: Desert Magazine has

a standing offer of $100 for firstpublication rights to the story ofthe re-discovery of any of the 40-odd lost mines and treasureswhich have been published in thismagazine during the last 10 years.Reports of the re-location of theseold mines appear frequently inthe newspapers but they invari-ably turn out to be false alarms.The "Lost Dutchman" has been"found" at least 20 times withinmy memory. When they reallyfind one you'll read about it inDesert.JR. H.

Geronimo Was "All Injun" . . .Globe, ArizonaDesert :In your August issue I read the let-ters relating to the Apache warrior,Geronimo, and the controversy as tohis parentage. Later I looked oversome old newspaper clippings givenme by a friend and found one pub-lished in the Arizona Silver Belt in1885 in which the following wasquoted from the Socorro, New Mex-

ico, Bullion:"The Socorro Bullion states thatGeronimo is not an Indian; that hewas born in La Joya of poor but hon-est parents. His father, a noted fiddler,was Jose Luis Peralta, and was wellknown in Socorro County, where giv-ing music at fandangoes was his chargeas well as bread and butter. Geronim odid not live to man's estate under thepaternal wing. His biographer. Pro-fessor Longuemare, says when he was13 years of age, he, his mother andtwo sisters were returning from Man-zana to Socorro when they were takencaptive by the Nav ajos. Some yearsafter their capture Geronimo was sep-arated from his mother and sisters and

sold to the Apaches, with whom hehas since remained, and has taken ranksecond only to Nacha, chief of theChiricahuas because of his refinedcruelty, ferocity and cunning. . . . Not-withstanding the professor disclaimsIndian lineage for Geronimo, we mustbe allowed to think otherwise. Wehave seen Geronimo many times andfailed to recognize the suavity of man-ner so marked in the Castilian race.To us, he seemed all Injun and a gooddeal of him."The editor of the Silver Belt at thattime was Judge Aaron H. Hackneywho had come to Globe from SilverCity in 1878. Previous to that he hadlived in Old Mcsilla for nearly 20years and had seen Geronimo manytimes. CLARA T. WOODY Tour for Collectors . . .San Rafael, CaliforniaDesert:I am planning an expedition throughthe deserts of Nevada and Californiathis fall and want to contact three orfour possible companions who wouldlike to go along in search of minerals,petrified wood, etc.I have the car for the trip, and wouldonly ask that each pay his own shareof the expenses.FR ANK PENN1NGTON11 Vendola Drive Rooms a nd Baths for Eveiyone . . .Angel's Camp, CaliforniaDesert:It was with surprise and chagrinthat we read in Lelande Quick's "Am-ateur Gem Cutter" page in your Au-gust issue the statement that Angel'sCamp does not have adequate hous-ing accommodations for the next con-vention of the California State Feder-ation of Mineral Societies.

We feel Mr. Quick has been grosslymisinformed as to the facilities avail-able here. We want to assure you thatwe have a delightful place for such aconvention, and provision will be madefor the accommodation of all whocome. W. G. DANIEL. PresidentCalveras Gem & Mineral Society Rocks for Wheel-Chair ProspectorsTucson, ArizonaDesert:Liked your comment about the"rockhogs." Why not have them scat-ter some of their excess material in acentrally located level space so thewheel-chair prospectors and rock-hounds, and the pebble puppies of thetoddler set, could have a field trip?SYLVIA SADDLER

Salomeand Dick Wick Hall . . .Salome, Arizona

Desert:I didn't like your article about Sa-lome in your August magazine. Ithink before a person writes an articlehe should know some facts.One fact is that Dick Wick Hall'sgrave and home are owned by his

children who will not let anyone touchthem. In fact, his broth er who livesin Salome, can't fix the house becausehe can't get permission from the chil-dren.Another fact isif people like theSheffiers who came to Salome andspent lots and lots of money in develop-ment had stayed home the town ofSalome today would be a ghost town.The main thing I am trying to sayis that I don't want any more of yourmagazine. RALPH K. FAIRManager for Sheffler'sRalph Fair: Desert Magazine hasnothing to gain financially in ad-vocating that the Dick Wick Hallhome be preserved as a historicalmonument. But we think it wouldbe very much to the credit andadvantage of the community ofSalome to do this. We think mostof the old-timers in Arizona andelsewhere who knew Dick WickHall will share our viewpoint.We'll have to reject your explana-tion it doesn't make sense.

R.H.Holding Back the Flood Waters . . .

Mountain Center, CaliforniaDesert :You know for many years I havebeen building little check dams in theravines which wind their way downthe north slope of California's SantaRosa Mountains.I am glad to report that during therecent cloudburst I had an opportun-

ity to see how well these dams work,and that they were a big success. Theycompletely stopped the runoff of waterin some of the canyons. The watersimply soaked into the ground and willresult in more beautiful vegetation onthe mountainside, and better under-ground storage for the date gardens inthe valley below.I can recommend such dams toevery owner of mountain property.The dams are easily built out of na-tive rock. I will be glad to show mysystem of dams to anyone who is

interested enough to drive to my homeat Ribbonwood on the Pines-to-Palmsroad.WILSON HOWELL



25/44

Spring Carpe tfor the D e se r tBy MARY BEAL

7RAVELING ALONG Mojave Desert roads in thespring, sizable patches of soft green may catchyour eye, spreading out over the gravelly or stonyground like fine rugs. On dry mesas and stony uplandsthese inviting patches are common, softening the barrenlook of scores of arid stretches. Their green color oftenhas a tinge of slate, with touches of deep red, rose, orpurple. You'll find it intriguing to inspect carefully oneof these verdan t carpe ts. Ten to one it will be made upof Oxytheca or Chorizanthc plants, small members of theprolific Buckwheat Family, which includes many first-classfabricators of ground-covering, the desert harboring agoodly share of them in refreshing profusion.One of the comm onest of these small-fry is . . .

Oxytheca perjoliataThis singular little herb has no common name in gen-eral use, a strange oversight for a plant with so muchindividuality, though Oxytheca isn't a difficult cognomen,even for a botanical novice.A low widely-branching plant standing 3 to 7 incheshigh and spreading out from 4 to 12 inches across, it risesfrom a small basal rosette of spatulate leaves an inch orso long. The short erect main stem branches repeatedlyby 2s, often by 3s at the first node. The leaves on the

branches are replaced by conspicuous circular or some-what triangular bracts, tipped with delicate spines at theapex of the 3 ribs.The peculiarity that intrigues the novice is the waythe stems pierce the saucer-like bracts, rising from thecenter as twin stems, this double branching continuingseveral times. The minute white or pinkish flowers nestlein the center of the disks against the base of the twinbranch es, a solitary involucre in each disk. There are 3to 7 flowers clustered in each involucre, which is deeplycleft into 4 narrow lobes tipped with needle-like spinesas long as the lobes.The protruding stamens are tipped by bright-redanthers. You'll need a magnifying glass to discover these

distinguishing points but I'm sure you'll marvel at thedelicate perfection of these miniatures and be glad youmade close study of their interesting features.As it ages the whole plant stiffens and loses its greencolors, turning reddish or dusty-rose. It remains thus formany months, its most attractive state. Taken indoorsout of reach of wind and other adverse conditions, itsdecorative form and coloration seem everlasting. Nodoubt they become more fragile as time goes by but theirappe arance is unchan ged. In my hom e are a few suchspecimens, gathered several years ago, their unusual color-ing often attractin g the notice of visitors. It is foundfrequently on mesas, plains, and slopes above 2000 feetin the Mojave Desert, western Nevada, and northern

Arizona, thriving on gravelly and sandy soils, in bloomfrom May to July.In the western Mojave Desert is a yellow prostratespecies,

Oxytheca perjoliata, one oj the most common of thelittle buckw heat carpets.Oxytheca luteolaIts pattern is made up of several branching stems 2 to5 inches long, spread out from the base, the herbagerather hairy and the whole plant yellowish. Th e tinyrounded long-temmed leaf blades are in pairs at thelower nodes but mostly basal. At each node are also 2

or 3 spreading, needle-like bracts and the stemless invo-lucres, which are deeply divided into 5 very narrow, un-equal lobes, bristle-tipped and out-spread. The entirenodal set-up is like a sparkling star, centered by a clusterof several tiny flowers. The wee yellow calyx is almostround and more-or-less hairy, much resembling a corolla.It thrives in alkaline soils, especially about the drylakes of the western Mojave Desert and ranging into thesouthern S'an Joaquin Valley.Oxytheca trilobataThis engaging species comes out in maroon coloring.From a basal tuft of spatulate, slightly hairy leaves (upto 2 inches long) it rises erectly and soon branches widely,from 4 inches to over a foot high. Atop the first short

node it branches by 3s, and above that usually in pairs.The bracts are deeply cleft into 3 spine-tipped lobes andthe stemmed involucres are as deeply 5 lobed, each lobeending in an equally long bristle. At the top of the stoutwooly tube of the white calyx its 6 out-spread lobes arecleft into 3 lanceolate segments, margined irregularly.This is truly captivating, a prize-winner under the lens.It favors dry slopes above 3000 feet elevation in theJoshua Trje National Monument and the western bordersof the Mojave Desert for its desert locations, but is verycommon in the bordering mountains and on down thewestern slopes.

Fairy Duster for Domestic Gardens . . .Experiments in progress at the Desert Magazine gar-dens during the last two years indicate that Calliandraeriophylia, the pretty perennial known as Fairy Duster,not only does well under cultivation, but is an attractiveshrub for any home landscape.Two plants sprouted from seed by Ted Hutchinson ofthe Greasewood Greenhouses at Lenwood, near Barstow,have grown luxuriantly reaching a height of 2Vi feet.In March and April they are covered with fluffy pinkand white blossoms which look like an exploded ballof thread. With frequent watering they blossomed twicein one year.Volunteer plants found growing near the parent plantswere transplanted, and one out of six of the transplantslived. The seeds are in a pod which opens on maturityspreading the little "beans" on the ground where theymay be gathered.

O C T O B E R , 1 9 5 1 25


26/44

Trona, California . . .The route in the Panamint rangeand Saline valley area will be cut morethan half its present length when twonew roads, now under construction,are complete. A ten and a half mileroad, privately constructed by WilliamSkinner and Roy Hunter, extendingnortheastward from the county roadto the Gold Belt spring area in thePanamints and a county-constructedroad from a point on state highway190 between Keeler and PanamintSprings to the southern end of Salinevalley will greatly benefit operators oftalc mines in these isolated sections.Inyo Independent. Goldfield, Nevada . . .Newmont Mining Coporat ion, ac-cording to report, plans to revamp itsgold mill into a tungsten concentratingplant as soon as sufficient commercialgrade scheelite is assured for steadyoperation. The outlook is favorablefor substantial supplies from Coaldale,Haw thorne, R ound M ountain and otherareas. Newmont is developing theSeligman lead-silver-zinc property inthe Hamilton district near Ely, recentlyacquired on a purchase option fromPatrick Fraser. Los Angeles Times.

Mojave, California . . .The Metal and Nonmetallic MineralMining convention of the AmericanMining Congress is scheduled to beheld at the Biltmore Hotel, Los An-geles, California, October 22-25. Ar-rangements for the convention areunder the direction of Harvey S. Mudd,chairman of the Western Division ofthe American Mining Congress, andRoss D. Leisk, general manager ofSunshine Mining company, Kellog,Idaho. Federal Government officialscharged with defense mobilization,stimulation of mineral production,stockpiling, and wage and price sta-bilization are being invited to addressthe meeting. Mojave Desert News. Win n emu cca , N evad a . . .Plans are under way for develop-ment of the Little Jupiter gold-leadmine in Grass Valley, 16 miles south-west of Winnemucca, and construc-tion of a 50-ton concentration mill,according to Alexander Hutton, en-gineer for Sono ma corpo ration . Offi-cials of the corporation ar e: T. W.Baker, construction engineer of Port-land, Oregon, president; Joseph A.Hall, secretary; Fred C. Krives, assist-ant engineer; and Lyle Bradley, millsuperintendent. Humboldt Star.

Henderson, Nevada . . .Following the recent signing of aletter of intent by the U. S. GeneralServices administration, it was an-nounced that establishment of the newtitanium plant at Henderson, Nevada,will increase the world production oftitanium eight-fold. This will be thefirst large scale and self-contained plantfor the production of titanium metalby Titanium Metals Corporation ofAmerica and will require immediateexpenditure of $14,000,000 in newconstruction at the site of the formerBasic Magnesium plant. Terms of thecompany's contract with the govern-ment call for initial production of 3600tons of the metal a year. Op erationsare expected to reach this level by late1952. The project will require theemployment of 1000 men. Las VegasReview. Winnemucca, Nevada .. . .Purchase of a group of lead-silverclaims in the Gold Run mining dis-trict, 30 miles southwest of Winne-mucca in Pompernickle valley wasrecently completed by Mrs. L. B. Low-man of Win nem ucca. It is planned tostart construction of buildings androads immediately. J. A. Freeman willbe general manager of the operation;S. E. Davis will be mine superinten-dent; W. E. Blake will be geologist andMrs. Lowman will manage the office. Humboldt Star. Winnemucca, Nevada . . .Government engineers have ap-proved a U. S. loan for the develop-ment of the Bottomley-Rogers uraniummine in Rocky Canyon. Sampling andassaying has shown a metallic uraniumcontent of 1.88 percent. A content aslow as 0.15 percent is considered ofcommercial grade. The deposit is thefirst in the United States to be classi-fied as pitchblende, the primary ore,and its secondary mineral, gummite.A broad vein has been traced 110 feeton the surface. Pioche Record. Tucson, Arizona . . .Arizona State Department of Min-eral Reso urces has again open ed a fieldoffice in Tucson with field engineerAxel L. Johnson in charge. The pur-pose of the department is to assistsmall mine operators with the newfederal regulations designed to aid themining industry. Field offices in Phoe-nix, Prescott and Tucson have beenmade possible by the additional $50.-000 recently appropriated by the statelegislature.Tombstone Epitaph.

Grants, Ne w M exico . . .For the second time in nine months,news of a huge uranium strike alongthe mesas near Grants, New Mexico,has been announ ced. The original dis-covery was made at Haystack Moun-tain, 15 miles northwest of the carrotcenter. The new find is located atLagu na, about 30 miles east. On April27 an Indian, Joy Sinyella of Laguna,

brought a piece of uranium-bearinglimestone to the office of the GrantsBeacon and asked Publisher GlyneBailey whether or not it contained theprecious material. A Geiger checkshowed the rock to be "very hot."Sinyella was advised to keep his findas quiet as possible until arrangementscould be made with the Departmentof Interior and the Tribal Council fora prospector's permit by a reputablemining company; but other Indianslearned of the discovery and bootlegprospecting has been underway atvarious points on the reservation,though Federal law provides stiff pen-alties for such activity. Caliente, Nevada . . .Officials of the Lincoln mines di-vision of Black Rock Mining corpora-tion have announced plans to build,within the near future, a $600,000tungsten concentrating plant west ofHiko. The plant will be designed totreat 250 tons daily. At present, ap-proximately 60 tons of ore are beingtrucked daily to Bishop from Hiko for

processing.Tonopah Times-Bonanza. Gardnerville, Nevada . . .Joe Morris, Emery W. Grauhke andJ. S. Drendel recently have incorpor-ated the Metallurgical Developmentcompany to operate mills for customprocessing of ores in Douglas County.The corporation has leased the millof the Alpine Mining and Milling com-pany in the Pinenut area and is capi-talized for $ 100,00 0 with 60,000 sharesof common stock at $1 and 40,000shares of preferred stock at 8 per cent. Record-Courier.e Bisbee, Arizona . . .The mine boom in the new Laven-der pit area has necessitated the re-moval of 200 buildings to a new site1000 yards away. The last buildingto be moved by the R. C. Burke mov-ing company was one of the largestprojects of its kind ever attempted inthe west. The 300-ton brick structure,formerly the Shattuck-Denn officebuilding, required 60 days of prepara-tion ancl blasting of foundations beforeit could begin its one-foot-in-ten-min-utes trip to the new location. Thebuilding contained a 10-ton safe. Tucson Daily Citizen.



27/44

< y * t 'DecentARIZONA

. . .TUC SON Members of Tucson'sand num-bering committee have made the inter-sting announcement that Tucson hasmore street names than Chicago andthat there are only seven through-streets in town with the same namefrom beginning to end. CommitteeChai rman, H. A. Arnold, is the MCof a Sunday morning radio contestwhich will award a cash prize to theperson who turns up a single block inTucson that has the same system ofnumbering houses on all four sides.As yet, there have been no winners.Arnold hopes that the necessary ordin-ance will be passed to establish a uni-form system of numbering and namingthe town's streets. Tucson Citizen. W a s It a Wolf or a Dog? . . .VVINSLOWReport that a wild dogor wolf, has been attacking sleepingtourists about 40 miles west of Win-slow on Highway 66, is being investi-gated by game and fish officials. Atourist who had pulled off the road fora nap, reported that he had beenawakened about 3:30 to find a dogor wolf biting his face. The manwas treated at the Winslow hospital.Later, a 20-months-old baby wasdragged 20 or 30 feet before its par-ents were awakened in another mys-terious attack by the animal. Bothattacks took place on the southside ofthe highway. Coconino Sun. Wanted10,000 Scorpions . . .T U C S O N D r . H. L. Stahnke, di-rector of the research laboratory atArizona State college, Tempe, wants10,000 scorpions, alive and kicking.He wants the little fellow which rarelyexceeds two inches in length and isyellowish, greenish yellow or strawcolor over its entire body. This is thedeadly species. Non-poisonous scor-pions are stockier and sometimes hairy.Collection depots arebeing establishedin Phoenix, Globe and Tucson. JohnOve, Railway Express agent at Tucson,explained that his company will guar-antee safe shipment of the scorpions toTempe. They may not be sent throughthe mail. The scorpion serum supplyis dangerously low and Dr. Stahnkesays there is a tremendous need for alarge supply in this area. In recentweeks the serum is credited with sav-ing the lives of two little Tucson girls,Rachael Barraza, 4, and Carol Ken-worth, 3. Tucson Daily Citizen.

Rare Lynx Is Caught . . .TUCSON Albert Goosens, ofRancho Estrellita on the Thornydaleroad, recently befriended a thin and

strange-looking kitten which he found,apparently in distress, under a tree onhis ranch. At first the kitten vigor-ously resented the human interest anglein his life but thrived on milk andhorse meat. As it grew, Goosens calledin one of the famed Lee brothers, lionhunters of this area, who diagnosedthe breed of the cat as Arizona lynx,a relatively rare critter to be foundnow. The animal has been sent toGoosens' hometown zoo in Rochester,N. Y. It's name? Why, Tucson, ofcourse. Tucson Daily Citizen.

Flagstaff Was Resort in 638 A.D.. . .FLAGSTAFFFrom evidence 850to 1300 years old, Prof. John C. Mc-Gregor and archeologists from the Uni-versity of Illinois whohave been work-ing with the Museum of NorthernArizona have solved mysteries aboutthe Cohonina camp sites leading tobelief that the almost forgotten tribescame to this area only during thesummer hunting season. None of thehouses had fire places inside, evidence

of summer occupation only. Tree ringsin wood and charcoal found from out-door fires, date the sites at 638 to 1090A.D. Although 7300 pieces of potterywere recovered, mostly in broker, state,this total is far below that to be ex-pected and points to temporary occu-pancy with everything of value re-moved from the site each season. Onthe wall of a small canyon the arche-ologists found petroglyphs which mayhave been made by the Cohoninas.Coconina Sun.

Arizona Leads in Cotton . . .C ASA GR ANDEHal f of Arizonastate's farm land is planted in cottonthis year in order to meet governmentdemands for this basic commodity.T h e A riz on a C o o p e r a t i v e C o t t o nGrowers Association expects produc-tion in 1951 to exceed the $118,000.-030 crop of 1950. Arizona leads thenation in the per-acre production ofshort staple cotton with the 906 pound-per-acre crops, more than tripling thenational average of 265 pounds

195110 desert magazine 1951 october

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