197407 desert magazine 1974 july

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JULY, 1974 75cICD 08256


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The Best of the WestThrough the photography of

David MuenchUTAH

UTAH by David Muench, text by Harit Wixom.The impressions captured here by DavidMuench's camera and Hartt Wixom's pen bringto life a most beautiful under-one-cover pro file ofthe fascinating state of Utah. Large 11x14 form at,hardcover. 188 pages, $25.00.

CALIFORNIA

CALIFORNIA by David Muench and Ray Atke-son. Two of the West's greatest color photo-graphers have presented their finest works to cre-ate the vibrations of the oceans, lakes, mountainsand deserts of California. Their photographicpresentations, combined with the moving text ofDavid Toll, makes this a classic in Wes tern Amer-icana. Large 11 x14 format, hardcover, 186 pages,$25.00.

One of the West's truly great pho-tographe rs, David has spent almosthis entire life in pursuit of the per-fect picture. It is incredible thatone man could be at the right placeat the right time so consistently,but with camera in hand he hascaptured the West for publicationssuch as Audubon, The AmericanWest, National Wildlife, West-ways, Arizona Highways, Coloradoand has been a con tributor to Des-ert Magazine for many years.These are all large format booksthat make a terrific gift item foranyone who loves the West.

timberBneancients

TIMBERLINE ANCIENTS by David Muench,text by Darwin Lambert. Bristlecone pines arethe oldest living trees on earth. PhotographerDavid Muench brings them to life in all their fas-cinating forms, and Lambert's prose is likepoetry. Hardcover, 11x14 format, 125 pages,$22.00

Send check or money order to

MAGAZINEBox 1318,

Palm Des ert, C al i f . 92260Calif. Res. add 6% sales tax

\R IZON

ARIZONA by David Muench, text by David Toll.The finest pictorial presentation of the GrandCanyon State ever pu blished. Muench has select-ed 160 of his 4-color photographs which are aug-mented by the comprehensive text of David Toll.Hardco ver, 11x14 forma t, 200 pages, $25.00.

ANASAZI: Ancient People of the Rock. Photo-graphs by David Muench, Text by Donald G.Pike. The superb photography of David Muench,and fascinating text by historian Donald G. Pikeblend to product an outstanding publication onthe Anasazi, Navajo for "T he Ancient O nes."Beautifully illustrate d, 11x8'/z forma t, 192 pages,$16.95 un til December 31,1974, then $18.95.r


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WILLIAM KNYVETT, Publisher-Editor

C E O R C E B R A C A , . Art DirectorM A R Y F R A N C ES S T R O N G , Field Trip EditorJACK PEPPER, Special Feature EditorE N I D C. HOW ARD, Assoc i a t e EditorF A . B AR N E S, Utah Associate Editor.G L E N N V A R C A S , Lapidary EditorK. L. B O Y N T O N , NaturalistM A R V E L B A R R E T T , Circulation Manager

Volume 37, Number 7 JULY1974

CO

T H E C O V E R :An airplane is caught inf l ight over The Maze incolorful Canyonlands Na-t ional Park. Seeart icle onpage 12. Photo by F.A.Barnesof Moab, Utah.

F E A T U R E SOREGON'S FORT ROCK COUNTRY 8 Mary Frances Strong

AIR TOURING INCANYONLANDS 12 F.A.BarnesA RUN ON MEXIC01 18 JimSmullen

AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR READERS 22 Jerry & Mary Frances StrongFATHER LIEBLER 24 Jack Pepper

OF ANTS AND PLANTS AND MAN 28 K. L. Boynton

THE SMOKI DANCERS 32 joe KrausTHE KING OF ARIZONA 36 Dick Bloomquist

D E P A R T M E N T SBOOKS FORDESERT READERS 6 Book Reviews

DESERT LIFE 17 Hans BaerwaldRAMBLING ONROCKS 42 Glenn and Martha Vargas

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 46 Readers'CommentsCALENDAR OFWESTERN EVENTS 46 Club Activities

EDITO R IAL, CIR C ULATIO N AN D ADVER TISIN G O FF IC ES: 74-109 LarreaSt., Palm Desert, C alifornia92260. Telephone Area Code 714 346-8144.Listed inStandard R ate and Data. SUBSCR IPTION R ATES: United States, C anada and Mexico;1 year,$6.00; 2years, $11.00; 3years, $16.00. Otherforeign sub scribers add $1.00 U. S.currency foreach year. See Subscription O rder Form inthis issue. Allow five weeks forchange ofaddress andsend both new and oldaddresses with zipcodes. DESERT Magazine ispublished monthly. Second class postage paid at Palm De sert, C aliforniaandat additional mailing offices under ActofMarch 3,1879. Co ntents copyrighted 1974 byDESERT Magazine and permission to reproduce anyor allcontents m ust be secured inwrit ing . Manu scripts and photographs wil l not bereturned unless accompanied by aself-addressed, stamped envelope.


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California residentsplease add6% state sales tax

GEM TRAILS OF ARIZONA by Bessie W. Simp-son. This field guide is prepared for the hobbiestand almost every location is accessible by car orpickup accompanied by maps to show sandyroads, steep rocky hills, etc., as cautions. Lawsregarding collecting on Federal and Indian landoutlined. Paperback, 88 pages, illus., $3.00.SPEAKING OF INDIANS by Bernice Johnston.An authority on the Indians of the Southwest,the author has presented a concise well-writtenbook on the customs, history , crafts, ceremoniesand what the American Indian has contributed tothe white man's civilization. A MUST for bothstudents and travelers touring the Indian Coun-try. Heavy paperback, illus., S2.50.THE WEEKEND GOLD MINER by A. H. Ryan.An electronic physicist "bitten by the goldb u g , " the author has written a concise andinformative book for amateur prospectors tellingwhere and how gold is fou nd and how it is separ-ated and tested, all based on his own practicalexperience. Paperback, 40 pages, $1.50.THE WEEKEND TREASURE HUNTER by A.H. Ryan. A companion book to his WeekendGold Miner, this volume is also concise andpacked with information on what to look for andwhat to do with your treasure after you havefound it. Subjects range from Beach Combing toSunken Treasures, Paperback, 76 pages, $1.95.FIELD GUIDE TO WESTERN BIRDS by RogerTory Peterson. The standard book for field iden-tification sponsored by the National AudubonSociety. 2nd edition, enlarged with new sectionon Hawaiian birds. 658 in full color. Hardcover,$5.95.

EXPLOR INGC A L I FO R N I A R VV I " - '

COINSHOOTING, How and Where To Do It byH. Glenn Carson. This book presents tips and'tricks' on coinshooting and hunting other itemslost by people over the years. Metal detectorowners will find their hobby made more profit-able, says this veteran "c oins hoo ter." Paper-back, illustrated, 58 pages, $2.50.LOST MINES AND HIDDEN TREASURES byLeland Lovelace. Authoritative and exact ac-counts give locations and fascinating data abouta lost lake of gold in C alifornia, buried A ztec in-gots in Arizona, kegs of coins, and all sorts ofexciting booty for treasure seekers. Hardcover,$4.95.MINES OF THE EASTERN SIERRA by MaryDeDecker. Facts about the mines on the easternslope of the Sierra Nevada and Inyo Mountains.Paper, $1.95.BYROADS OF BAJA, by Walt Wheelock. Inaddition to describing the many highways nowbeing pa ved, this veteran Baja explorer also tellsof back country roads leading to Indian ruins,missions and abandoned mines. Paperback,illus., $1.95.ROCKS AND MINERALS, A golden NatureGuide. More than an aid to id entifying rocks andminerals, this book will also help the reader un-derstand the importance of rocks and minerals inour daily lives. Tells where to look for rocks andminerals. Compact paperback, profusely illus.,$1.25.

EXPLORING DEATH VALLEY by Ruth Kirk.Good photos and maps w ith time estimates fromplace to place and geology, natural history andhuman interest information included. Paper-back, $2.25.CAM PING AND C LIMBING IN BAJA by JohnRobinson. Contains excellent maps and photos.A guidebook to the Sierra San Padro Matir andthe Sierra Juarez of upper Baja, C alif. Much ofthis land is unexplored and unmapped sti l l . Car'routes to famous ranches and camping spots inpalm-studded canyons with trout streams temptweekend tourists who aren't up to hiking. Paper-back, 96 pages, $2.95.THE INDIANS AND I by Peter Odens. Intimateconverstions with Indians by a compassionateauthor who w rites in the style of Ernie Pyle. Pa-perback, illustrated, 89 pages, $2.00.Desert/July 1974

BACK ROADS OF CALIFORNIA by Earl Thol-lander and the Editors of Sunset Books. Earlystagecoach routes, missions, remote canyons,old prospector cabins, mines, cemeteries, etc.,are visited as the author travels and sketches theCalifornia Backroads. Through maps and notes,the traveler is invited to get off the freeways andsee the rural and country lanes throughout thestate. Hardcover, large format, unusually beau-tiful illustrations, 207 pages, $8.95.OLD ARIZONA TREASURES by Jesse Rascoe.C ontaining many anecdotes not previously cov-ered in Aizona histories, this book covershaciendas, stage stops, stage routes, miningcamps, abandoned forts , missions and other h is-torical landmarks. Paperback, 210 pages, $3.00.CALIFORNIA-NEVADA GHOST TOWN ATLASandSOUTHWESTERN GHOST TOWN ATLASby Robert Neil Johnson. These atlases are excel-lent do-it-yourself guides to lead you back toscenes and places of the early West. Some pho-tos and many detailed maps with legends andbright, detailed descriptions of what you willsee; also mileage and highway designations.Heavy paperback, each contains 48 pages, each$2.00.TREES OF THE WEST [Identified at a Glance]by Matilda Rogers, Photographs by Wynn Ham -mer. Miss Rogers has written graphic descrip-tions of all of the trees generally found in theWestern area of the United States. Mr. Hammerhas photographed them when in their prime.The result is a handbook that everyone can un-derstand and enjoy. Paperback, illustrated, 126pages, $2.50.

BEACHES OF BAJA by Walt Wheelock. Beach-es on the Pacific side of Lower C alifornia are de-scribed by the veteran Baja explorer. UnlikeC alifornia beaches, they are still relatively freeof crowds. Paperback, illus., 72 pages, $1.95.A FIELD GUIDE TO WESTERN REPTILESAND AMPHIBIANS by Flobert C. Stebbins. APeterson Field guide. 207 species, 569 illustra-tions, 185 in full color, 192 maps. The best bookof this type. Hardcover, $5.95.BAJA CALIFORNIA by Choral Pepper. Packedin this comparatively small book is a world offacts about the land, the insects, vegetation, theseashore, the missionaries, vanished missions,lost treasures and strange stories, tall and true ,of Baja Ca lifornia. F ascinating rea ding. Paper-back, 126 pages, $1.95.TURQUO IS by Joseph E. Pogue. [Memoirs of theNational Academy of Sciences]. First printed in1915, Turquois has in its third printing (1973)been updated in many ways. Among them arelisted currently-operated Turquois mines, morecolor plates. The book is full of incredible resultsof research and an in-depth study of this fascina-ting mineral of superficial or igin. H ardcover, 175pages, beautifully illustrated, $15.00.

A NATURALIST'S DEATH VALLEY by Dr. Ed-mund C. Jaeger. In this revised third edition,Dr. Jaeger covers and uncovers some of themysteries of this once humid, and now aridtrough. He tells of the Indians of Death Valley,the mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians,fishes, insects, trees, wild flowers and fossils.Paperback, 66 pages, $1.50.UTAH GEM TRAILS by Bessie W. Simpson.The casual rockhound or collector interested incollecting pe trified wo od, fossils, agate and crys-tals will find this guide most helpful. The bookdoes not give permission to collect in areas wri t-ten about, but simply describes and maps theareas. Paperback, illustrated, maps, $3.50.GHOST TOWNS AND MINING CAMPS OFCALIFORNIA by Remi Nadeau. The only good,hardcover book on the Ca lifornia ghost towns.We recommend it highly. $7.50.

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S O UTHERN IDA HO GHO S T TO WN SBy Wayne SparlingThe state of Idaho isso large, so geo-

graphically diverse, and soabundantlyendowed with natural beauty that tolearn about a part of tonly serves as en-couragement tot ravel a bit farther, todig a litt le deeper. This book has beenprepared as a guide to acquaint vacation-ers and tourists with but one facet of avery fascinating state: the oldminingcamps.

Scattered through the rugged desertsand mountains of southern Idaho, arethe remnants of towns that once wereroaring mining centers. Most aret rueghost towns, marked now bydecayingcabins, the relics ofore mil ls, and ma-

chinery that ranges from abandonedtram cars toremarkably intact arrastras,used tocrush raw ore.

The early gold seekers, following inthe footsteps of the fur t rappers, didmuch to explore Idaho, and their miningcamps helped tocreate aneed for per-manent communities. Some of the campswere merely ten t cit ies, others consistedof a few log cab ins, and st i l l others, suchas Iron Springs, became quite plushcities intheir day. The author describes84 of these sites, which he has visited bypickup, by 4WD rig and by oot. Discus-sing the history and highlights ofeach,95 photographs accompany the text, andmaps detail the ocation of the camps.

As most mining camps in Idaho wereup inthe mountains, July, August andSeptember are thebest months for avisit. The main Salmon River as it cros-ses Idaho has often served as a north andsouth divider, and so t does with thisbook. All mining camps mentioned arelocated south of the r iver with theexception of three in theSalmon area.

A welcome addit ion to he l ibraries ofghost town buffs, or tothose fascinatedby Western history. Paperback, 135pages, 3.95.

N OW TA K IN G R ESER VA TION Sfor

Fall and W inte r Tripsto Death Valley

D E S E R TE X P E D I T I O N S ,I N C .

W rite for our brochure describingour 7-day camping tou rs.

Box1404D,Palm Desert, California92260

TO HELLON WHEELSTHE DESERT MOBILITYMANUAL

T O H E L L O N W H E E L SThe Desert Mobi l i ty Manua lBy Alan H. Siebert

To Hell on Wheels isnot just anothesurvival book. It is amanual of mobi l i texecuted specifically for the recreationavehicle driver who is looking forsomething more than theorganized campground. The deserts have becommagnets of attract ion to hundreds othousands of adventure seeking recreationists, but the extremes of climatichange, improper distance-endurancjudgements and other natural hazard

De ser t/; u/y 197


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can turn a relat ively simple problem ofmobil ity into a nightmare.

This book divides the problems of des-ert mobil i ty into two parts: The Vehicleand Survival Afoot. Theauthor describesDeceptions in theDesert, such as miragedistor t ion, climate predict ion distort ionand mental distort ion due to dehydra-t ion, and gives excellent survival tipswhen planning t r ips. He also advises onproper equipment, gett ing stuck andunstuck in the sand, what to do for over-heating and vapor lock, t ire problems,punctured gas tanks, as well as dr iv ingtechniques for turning around, tract ionin soft sand and maneuvering rocks.

A must for every desert traveler is hischapter onpersonal survival inwhich hisf irst aid andbasic kit needed for heat ill-ness should be included inevery outing.Equally important is the chapter onpoisonous varmits of the desert and howto administer f irst aid if bit ten.

Precautions with water, methods ofpur i fy ing water and how to construct asun st i l l ; information on edible animalsand plants, plus poisonous plants toavoid; navigation and proper methodsfor signaling make this a manual of mo-bil i ty designed for the newcomer, but ofinterest to the old- t imer as carry-alongreference material.

Paperback, glovebox-size, 64 pages,well i l lustrated, $2.95.

T H E B A J A B O O KA C omplete Map-Guide toToday's Baja C aliforniaBy Tom Miller andElmar Baxter

This new book, the work of veteranoutdoor writers Tom Mi l le r and ElmarBaxter, was published in conjunctionwith theopening of the newBaja C alifor-nia Transpeninsula Highway and coversthe entire Baja Peninsula featuring amile-by-mile grapic map of the newhighway.Desert/July 1974

Maintaining a t railer home at CoronaBeach south of Ensenada for manyyears, TomMi l le r is undoubtedly one ofthe leading authorities onBaja today. Hehas driven thousands of miles through-ou t the entire peninsula, exploring,char t ing, photographing and takingnotes against the day the long-awaitedtranspeninsula highway, Mexico 1,would be opened.

Elmar Baxter, a long-t ime fr iend ofM i l l e r ' s , hasbeen anoutdoor and t ravelwriter, editor and photographer since1946. Traveling well over one mill ionmiles to all parts of the world, he listsMexico as his favorite country, Baja ashis favorite place.

The two friends have pooled their tal-ents and knowledge to give you every,minute detail youwant to know about in-surance, fuel , weather reports, healthhints, boat ing, sur f ing, d iv ing, f ly ing,f ish ing, beachcombing, in addit ion to aBaja Roadlog which has been brokeninto convenient segments of about twohours drive between easily recognizablelandmarks. More than 100 illustrationsan d 50 maps list all highways, resorts,trailer parks, campgrounds, gas sta-t ions, beaches and missions.

In addit ion to the interest ing text de-scribing the b i r th , history and people ofBaja, there is also included a small syn-opsis of each mission and town, giv ingaccommodations available and informa-tion on pets, entertainment, f ishing,telephone numbers, etc.

A great package in onebook, andeasi-ly thebest guidebook of its kind for everytype of recreationist who is interested invisit ing this fascinating country.

Paperback, 178pages, profusely illus-trated with maps and guidelines, $7.95.

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Desert Editor . . . the story of Ran-dall Henderson and Palm Desert is astory of a man who fulfilled a dreamand who greatly enriched the lives ofthe people who love the West.$795ardcpver,illustratedwith 188 pages.California residents please add 40centsSend check ormoney order to:MMHEL- Magazine Book ShopBo x 1318, Palm Desert , Ca l i for n ia 92260

F I S H ! F I S H ! F I S H !TROUT, BASS AND CATFISHGet your share at Hall's Crossing

HALLS'S CROSSING MA1IINA OFFERS: Gas and oil, l ive bait and lures, f ishing gear, boat repaiifacil i t ies, cold beer, ICE, groceries, slips and buoys for rent. O vernig ht accommodations thatsleep two to eight persons. Write or call for reservations. At the general store: fresh milk, eggs,butter, frozen meat, cold cuts and canned items for camping or picnicking. Take a boat trip toRainbow Bridge in one day. 2, 3 and 4-day tours to various parts of the lake, camping andsleeping under the stars. Ferry service for travelers with l ight vehicles. All types of pleasurecraft for rent, from 14-ft. to houseboats. Airstrip is 4000 feet wi th t iedown faci l i t ies ava i lab le .H A L L 'S C R O S S I N G M A R I N AWrite Lake Powell Ferry Service, Blanding Utah or ca l l Moab Mobi le Operator, ask for Unit 56


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O R E G O N ' S F O R T' C O O L , G R E E N , O R E G O N , " as th ebrochures so aptly describe it, has yetanother face not as well-known as itshandsome coas t , luxur ious fores ts ,'..now-capped mountains and sparklinglakes . Encompass ing some 24,000:


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R O G K G O U N T R Yby

M A R YFRANCES

STRONG

Photosby

JerryStrong

ogic formations , appears to beh rim .l ly, it is the rem ains of a very lar ge,crater called a "m aa r" . Left: "Lost

. M any of the trees are quite large

, such as these, recall the early

Desert/ July 1974

PPB


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i\ luff r ing or "maar" as geologists nowrefer to such basaltic tuff landforms.t< l iars are relatively shallow, f lat-f looredexplosion craters, the walls of which con-sist largely or entirely of loose fragmentsol country rock and only partly of essen-tial magmat ic e jecta."

W hile ap pearing sizeable, Fort R ock isthe remains of a much larger maar form-ed by eruptions of subterranean lavaalong the shores of an ancient lake. Theit u ptions were followed by a slumping ofmaterial which plugged the vent. Then,water rushing into the crater furnishediteam for subsequent explosions. Grav-ity sorted the expelled particles whichdropped into place and resulted in thehundreds of layers now exposed in the.leep walls. Studies of this layering in-

dicate the vent was outside and north-west of the crescent-shaped formation.I he unusual shape of F ort Rock is due towave action in a Pleistocene Lake. WaveIcrraces can readily be observed.

We explored Fort Rock on trailbikes,using a dirt road that followed along theliase of the rim. Almost immediately wei limbed well above the valley floor andliad the feeling of steep walls encirclingu s . Inside, the rim, Fort Rock seemed to

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have grown immensely in size. Perhapsthis was due to our being on bikes, but itappeared much larger than when viewedfrom below. Actually, it is about a th i rd-of-a-mile across the rim with the wallsrising well over 300 feet from the desertf loor.

At the center, beneath the north rim, asummit was reached and the road begana descent. We elected to park and enjoythe view. The buildings at Fort Rock andnearby ranches were reduced to toy sizeand O regon 's Desert stretched endlesslyto the horizon. It was October and thebrilliant blooms of rabbit brush hadgiven a golden hue to the usu ally somberland. I tarried w hile Jerry sped down thewestern rim. In what seemed only a fewmoments, he was on the road farbelow a tiny f ig ure , almost unrecogniz-able. A desert has a vastness that seemsto diminish all else in size. I was reluct-ant to leave. The song of the wind pleas-ed my ears and the beauty before mesoothed my eyes. I am always "ath o me " on a desert, no matter wh ere it islocated.

At least a week or m ore could easily bespent enjoying the sights in Fort RockC ountry. O regonians are proud of their"lunar landscape," as this region of vul-canism is often calle d. State maps clearlyindicate the locations of special interest.If time is limited, it is difficult to selectbetween areas with such enticing namesas "Ho le- ln-T he-G roun d" a depres-sion 300 feet deep and a mile across. Itsresemblance to a lunar crater is start-l ing. The "Lava Beds, Lavacicle Cave,Ice Cave and C rack- ln-The-Grou nd" areself-descriptive. "Big Hole" is anothermaar within easy access of Highway 31.

East of Fort Rock lie two importantand unusual areas Lost F orest andFossil Lake. Now a "happ y p layg round "for dune buggy enthusiasts, the latter issurrounded by over 12 miles of shiftingsand dunes. A lake "full of bones" layamong them unnoticed until GeorgeDuncan, first postmaster at Silver Lake,recognized their important scientificvalue. In 1902, many fossils of prehistor-ic mammals and birds were gathered bystudents and sent to the Smithsonian In-stitute.

"Lost Forest" isn't lost at all, since itslocation is shown on O regon 's officia lhighway map. Scientif ically speaking, itis a 9,000-acre pine fores t grow ing whereit should not! Y et, here in a desert region

1 0

of only 10 inches rain annually , the forestsurvives. This unique forest has beenstudied for over 20 years and some inter-esting data uncovered. Lost forest pinesdiffer from other Ponderosas only in tha"their seed germinate more quickly."However, at the present t ime, theycannot perpetuate their kind due to thearidity and extreme temperatures occurring throughout the year.

The forest is believed to be the descendant of a forest which covered the re-gion 10,000 years ago. Its surv ival is probably due to a layer of compacted, volcanic ash being covered by driftedsands. Ac ting as a mulch , the sand readily absorbs the slight rainfall and holds iin basins above the somewhat impervious ash layer. This provides the treeroots more moisture than 10 inchesnormally would.

Further studies of Lost Forest areplanned by the Bureau of Land Management. As a protective measure, thehave f i led an application to withdraw tharea from all forms of appropriation onpublic land.

Enroute to Lost Forest and FossLake, we passed the little community oFort Rock and recalled this region habeen heavily homesteaded around thturn-of-the-century. Prior to the inf lux o"sod busters," men, wise to the ways oarid land, had developed successful cattle ranches. The ranchers were a hardlot and survived through their own init iat ive. The nearest town was 100 mileaway and one's neighbors were "dowthe road a pie ce " u sually 15 to 2miles. They lived with the land rathethan on it; and the weather was theipartner. C att le ranching continues today.

Before the f irst ranchers, long beforeIndians lived in Fort R ock C ountryMany art ifacts, including mortars, pest les, skinning knives, arrow and speaheads have been uncovered in thecampsites and caves. It would seem thprehistoric tribes found it a land of plenty, where lakes and game aboundedWhen the lakes began to dry up, the Indians moved out. However, the regioremained a common meeting grounwhere several tr ibes regularly returneto hunt and trade.

Homesteaders did not fare as well athe Indians and early ranchers. It watheir way to change the land by fencingplowing, planting and building towns

Desert/luly 19


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Bendb r_ \> s

O R E G O N

ChristmasVolley

K o s s i l - '

Hwy 39537mi.

F O R T R O G KC O U N T R Y^ G r a d e d = == = = 4 W - D

Lakeview96mi. I uke County^

They were uninformed and i l l-equippedto survive in a desert region. By 1914, adozen small com munit ies had sprung upwithin 40 miles of Fort Rock. All had apostoffice and a few stores. Wh en apost-office was removed, the town wasdy ing.Wi t h in two years, Burleson and View-point had met this fate. Arrow, Woodrowand Conley hung on a l i t t le longer.

The year 1920 seems to have loweredthe f inal curtain on the rest with the ex-ception of Fort Rock, Silver Lake, Sum-mer Lake and Fremont . All but the latter(deceased 1928) survive today. UnlikeWestern mining towns, there are noghostly remains of those departed.Visitors in Fort R ock Co untry, who livein crowded cities or classic rural areas,quite possibly wil l as


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:

oses

Delicate Arch

by F. A. BARNESTHE AVERAGE VISITOR to the canyoncountry of southeastern Utah has a verylimited t ime to spend gett ing a glimpseof a land so vast and complex that learn-ing to know it int imately would take al i fe t ime.

Those with only a few days availablegenerally drive through this sprawling,elevated desert wilderness, stay a nightor two at one of the several communitiesthere, take a boat tour on Lake Powell tosee Rainbow Bridge, drive to one or twoof the more publicized viewpoints inC anyonlands N ational Park and take aswing through Arches National Park.

If a l it t le more t ime is available, visi-tors often take one or more guided toursinto various canyonlands wildernessareas, aboard river crafts, or in an off-road vehicle. Those planning to spendtheir whole vacation in the region mayalso do a little hiking along the variousmarked foot trails in the region's nation-al parks and monuments.

But most visitors overlook what can beDesert/luly 1974 13


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Upper left: The TotemPole, in MonumentBasin in CanyonlandsNational P ark, is over350 feet tal l , yet seemssmall when viewed froman airplane. Upperright: Monument Basin,in Canyonlands NationalPark, closely resemblesa city of skyscrap ers.The "bui ld ings" seenhere are over 4ostories high .Right: Scenic flying canbe enjoyed by wholefamilies in the comfortof six-and eight-seat enclosed airplanes .Left: Coyote Na turalBridge is in a remotebranch of the EscalanteCanyon system to thenorth of Lake Powell.

the most exciting, spectacular and novecanyonlands adventure conceivableaguided tour by air, over the most breathtakingly beautiful scenery in the world

Even the most hurried tourist canspare an hour or two for a scenic flighthat will provide an overall view of a national park that would take months to attain by land and water travel. And thosewho have more tim e to spend should alsonot neglect this approach to seeing and

Desert/ July 197


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V '-ft-u

understanding the diverse beauty of acanyon country that rivals the GrandCanyon for sheer magnitude and color,and far exceeds it in variety.

Of those who have sampled thisbird's-eye-view of canyonlands, somewould rather take a flight first, thenspend time to explore special points ofinterest by land or water. Others preferfirst to visit various areas and featuresby car, four-wheel-drive, boat or on foot,

ACCOUNT FROMA S S O C J A T E E d J T O R

F. A. Barnes < #! * ;PERHAPS DESERT READERS would l ike to know that the last of the severalf l ights I took toobtain photos for the accompanying ai r-touring art icle turned out to beone of themost spectacular, excit ing andbeaut i ful adventures I have had in six years ofexploring thecanyonlands of southeastern U tah. Thef l ights were provided through thecourtesy of SkyWest Aviat ion out of Canyonlands Field, the airport that services GrandCounty and thebig-l i t t le ci ty ofM o a b . On anearl ier f l ight over Arches N at ional Park, asingle plane, pi loted by BobRynio, manager-pi lot for SkyWest , hadbeen used , but orthis f l ight weuti l ized twoplanes so that I could photograph a plane in f l ight over scenicC anyonlands N at ional Park. This turned out to beeasier said than done. But let me tel l itlike it happened, wi th a few of my own personal impressions thrown in.Using a four-place Cessna 172 and asix-seat Cessna 206, we hadpicked the lateafternoon for our f l ight because the lowering suncasts shadows that make thethree-d i -mensional features of this rugged land stand out in sharp relief. The ground tempera-ture was in the upper 70s and the skies were blue with a few scattered and photogenicclouds. Once in the air, I t r ied out thearrangement we hadmade for taking pictures un-

obscured by theoptical imperfections of the plane's window. A retainer brace hadbeenremoved on the pi lot 's hinged window so that it could be unlatched and swung upwardagainst thewing andpermit both forward and rearward picture-taking. Once the planewas ai rborne, the air stream under the wing kept the window pinned to the wing. Thisdidn' t always work sowel l . Once in awhi le, when we slowed down, thediminished airstream let thewindow come down, obscuring myview. Of course, to use the window, Iha d to ride in the pilot 's seat, and the pi lot , DonCar r i ck , had to use the co-pi lot 's con-trols. That open window sure made for f ine picture-taking, but it also hadseveral draw-backs.When Iwanted toclose thewindow af ter a series of pictures, it was all I could doto reach into theairst ream and get thewindow pul led down! It gotcool, too. The temper-ature at our f l ight level was 40degrees! It also made thecockpit noisy, causing problemswith radio communicat ions, and it gave me several thri l ls when Don made sharp leftturns, leaving me looking down at the rugged terrain through a thousand feet of purenothing! It'samazing howmuch security you can get f rom apane of plexiglass! But de-spite the di f f icul t ies, the resul ts were thri l l ing and spectacular. From my v iewpoint ,

Bob's red-and-white Cessna added anelement of graceful man-made beauty to the starknatural wonders spread outbelow us to the far horizons. Formore than an hour we f l i t -ted about over the gigant ic parkland.Beauty, indescribable beauty, waseverywhere below andaround us. The slant-ing shadows of TheN eedles spea red across the open meadows of Chesler and VirginiaParks, giant arches stood out in stark rel ief, the elevated tableland upon which theystood was edged by dark-shaded bluffs that plunged steeply into the darkened rivergorges, and to the south andnortheast thesnow-capped peaks of the Abajo and La Salmountain ranges pierced adeep blue skyafloat with islands of colorful cumulus clouds.Reluctant ly, weheaded for home, out of t ime and out of f i lm , and t i red f rom our twohours of concentrated ef forts, butsti l l fascinated by thecont inuous, moving panorama ofgorges andmesas anderoded rocky wilderness below us.Past thevast plateaus of HatchPoint, Dead Horse Point and Is land in the Sky we f lew in the vivid evening sun.That f l ight wi l l be a cherished m emory for me so long as I l ive. And I sincerelyhope that all who take myadvice and try a scenic f l ight over this wonderful country,those who fol low my invisible path over this land that defies superlatives, have air

adventures as unforget table as mine.

then take a scenic flight over the sameareas, spotting familiar landmarks andplaces they have already seen from a dif-ferent perspective.

Whenever a guided air tour is taken,however, whether before, after orinstead of more earthbound explora-tions, this method of sightseeing offersrewards and thrills that cannot be attain-ed any other way. Where else in theworld could you spot a dozen or more

giant arches in red-hued sandstone with-in a few minutes? By what other meanscould you see spread out below you themany twisting, blue arms of Lake Pow-el l , set in its salmon-pink rocky gorge?What land-based vehicle or water-borneboat can move over this rugged terrainquickly enough to give the human eye atrue sense of the appalling depth andmaze-like complexity of its canyons, theheight of its massive walls and towers

Desert/July 7974 15


16/48

- T R Y THE NEW ONELocation: Onemile east of Green R iver, besidethe river Gateway towestern C anyonlandsand Lake PowellFacilities: Leve l, shaded sites Store and laundry 150 ull hookups Slide show & Large swimm ing pool campfire programs

UnitedCampgroundsof Green RiverIn cooperation

with . . .

Specializing in one-day float trips throughGray Canyon. Write Moki Mac River Ex-peditions, Box 116, Green River, Utah84525 for brochure describing longerriver trips.For campground brochure orreservations, write or call.UNITED CAMPGROUNDSOF GREEN RIVERBox G, Green River, Utah 84525[801] 564-3212

Floating Gray Canyonon theGreen Hiver

GORDON'S& Mineral1741 Cherry Ave., Long Beach, Calif.Phone (213) 591-8956

Open Monday thru Friday, 9:30 to 6 Saturday, 9:30 to 5Headquarters for:

Lapidary Suppl ies Jewe lry Making Rockhound Supp l ies Silver & Gold C ast ing Mach ines Cut Stones Rough RockWrite for FREE ALL NEW GEM SHOPPER

T o u r s nC a n y o n la n d s N a t io n a l P a r k ISLANDINTHESKY WALK ING ROCKS WASHERWOMAN MONUM ENT BASINT o u r s n e a r

C a n y o n l a n d s N a t io n a l P a r k ARCHES NATIONAL PARK ONION CREEK . HURRAH PASS GE MIN I BRIDGES ROCKHOUNDINGSend for free brochure and detailedrelief map of C anyonlands N ational Park.

RATES8 Hours $15 perperson4 Hours $10 perpersonSpecial Tours $20 perpersonMinimum: 2Full Fares 12and under, Half FareL I N O T T IN G E R 'S T O U R SMoab Rock Shop, 137 N. M ain , Moa b, Utah 84532Phone 801 259-7312 for Reservat ions

Walking Rocks n CanyonlandsA ll ourtrips are designed especially forphotographers, but "one view isworth a housand p ictures.''

SLIDE SHOWNight ly, 8p.m.16

and mesas of colorful sandstone, thesheer size of its lakes and rivers andsnow-capped mountain ranges?

F ly ing, in the comfortable interior of asmall plane, operated by a pilot whoknows the country, at elevations lowenough for good viewing yet highenough for safety, can provide all theseadvantages over conventional touringmethods. Flying can also provide an ex-cit ing h ighl ight for traveling familiesand most air tour services offer speciarates for families or groups.

Most such services also offer a varietyof flight routes, some short and surprisingly inexpensive, some longer but stilreasonably priced. For example, thesame air service might offer short flightsover Arches N ational Park, longer onesover Canyonlands N ational Park and halor full-day excursions over the LakePowell region.

O utstanding scenic f l ights can betaken from four air f ields within the Canyonlands area, one 15 miles to the northof Moab, Utah, another near BlandingUtah, the th i rd at Page, Arizona, neaGlen Canyon Dam, and the fourth aCanyonlands Resort.

The f l ight service at Page specializesin air tours over Lake Powell, but alspenetrates other nearby scenic areas onlonger f l ights. The tour guide at Blanding specializes in tr ips over the southernpart of Canyonlands National Park andfamous Monument Valley, but alsoffers longer flights to Lake Powell, aswell as combination land-and-air toupackages.

The Moab air tour operator specializein Arches and Canyonlands NationaParks, but has longer routes over LakPowell, aswell as avariety of short tourto other scenic highlights in the Moavicin i ty.

Scenic flights are also available fromother air f ields on the borderlands ocanyonlands c ountry, but due to their locations cannot offer travelers the amounand variety of scenery in a short f l ighthat is available from air f ields in thvery heart of the more picturesqucountry.

Taking a scenic air tour is simpl ic i tyitself. Although it is possible to make advance reservations, and even advisablfor large families or groups, normally athat is necessary is just to drive to thairport, wait a few minutes for the planto be readied or to return from a f l ight

Desert/July 797


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then climb aboard fo r a thrill'im anrioutstandingly scenic air adventure.Most of the four- to eight-seat air-

planes used in scenic air tours are notpressurized, but since they rarely attainhigh elevations, even those with disabil-it ies that preclude high alt itude travelcan enjoy this kind of f l ight. C hildren,too, especially like sightseeing by air,and this is an excellent way to introduceyoungsters to their f irst f lying experien-ience.

Photographers wil l f ind themselveschallenged by the unique opportunit iesand limitations offered by low elevationscenic air travel. The colorful, variedlandscape below provides an endlesssource of spectacular pictures, andpoints of interest can be photographedfrom the air that cannot even be ap-proached by any other practical means.

This type of photography also has itsproblems, however, problems unique tof lying and not normally encountered bythe average amateur photographer. Thespeed of the plane is one such problem,taking pictures through glass or plast icwindows has its disadvantages, and des-ert scenery is exceptionally bright whenviewed from the air. Those unpreparedfor these unusual conditions are oftendisappointed with their pictures.

Movie cameras, of course, do well foraerial photography, especially those thatadjust automatically to changing l ight

conditions.A few helpful hints will make still pho-

tography from a plane more fun and lessdisappoint ing. First of all, non-adjust-able, point-and-click cameras are gener-ally un suitable because they cannot com-pensate for the speed of the plane andthe brilliance of the landscape. Suchcameras can, however, take good pic-tures of more distant scenes during sea-sons, or t imes of day, when the l ight ingis not so bright.

Adjustable cameras should be set fortheir fastest shutter speeds, and allow-ances made for the brilliant desert sun-light. Care should also be taken to shootthrough clean and unmarred areas of theplane's windows, at roughly a r ightangle to avoid optical distortion. Thisprecaution applies to movie cameras,too. Win dow frames should also be care-fully avoided, although often a picturewil l gain perspective by including a wingof the plane.

Even the most skilled photographers,though, have trouble with composing apicture in the normal manner. The sceneis shifting too fast for leisurely study.The only answer to this problem is akeen eye for composition, alertness towhat is coming up next, and a fastshutter f inger. At best, however, photo-graphers should expect to get a lowerpercentage of outstanding pictures fromthe air than they would normally pro-

duce. To uvei


18/48

l iB R U A R Y 9 - L E A V I N C E ns en ad a,I l.ija C alifornia, after a night spent at theluxury trailer park in Estero Beach, itwas an opportunity to fill the water tankill our motorhome with what we knew tobe good water. Water supplies aheadwere unknown.

The highway south, the new Mexican11,ins-peninsular Route 1, was strange tous. It would lead all the way to the tip ofK.ija, ending atC aboS an Lucas, a 1,000-mile-plus stretch opened the prior De-M'mber. It ended, perhaps forever, thenld Baja Adventure over the torturousroute that tore at the endurance of bothmen and mac hines. N ow there was a newmad costing the Mexican Government1-160 million that expanded the promiseof Baja for the American traveler.

From what we had read, it offered newproblems with its promises: narrow.Iretches that had already claimedlives one re por t sa id as man y as 100which we discoun ted and wh ile not ashortage of gasoline, a scarcity of loca-iions where it could be bought. Tourist.iccommodations were more scarce thanthe spotty gasoline supplies. We knewI hat the most successful means of travelwas by recreational vehicle, preferablyone with large capacity gasoline tank.I his we had.

The two of us, my wife and I, alongwith our two dogs, were old hands atMexican travel. But that was the main-land where we knew almost every turnon Mexican 15 from Nogales to MexicoC ity. This would all be new.

About a dozen miles south of Ensen-ida at Maneadero, we stopped to haveour visitor permits verif ied by the offi-cials. This permit is available at thatpoint, or from the Mexican GovernmentTourist O ffice in Los Ang eles, after proofof U.S. citizensh ip is shown . W e had alsopurchased Mexican automobile insur-ance which is a must as U.S. policies arenot valid in Mexico. And an uninsuredmotorist Mexican or American isheaded for troub le in Me xico if he has anaccident and is not covered whether heis at fault or no t.

On the mainland, a car permit is re-qui red, but throughou t Baja no permit isnecessary. The dogs had their up-to-daterabies innoculation certificates which areusually needed to return to the states.Technically, there is a provision that aspecial visa be obtained to take dogs intoMexico. Much paper work is involved1 8

A MOTORHOME OWNER TELLS OF HIS EXPERIENCES QN THENEW BAJA CALIFORNIATRANS PENINSULA H IG H W A Y. ..

ARUNON by JIM SMUl.LEN

A typical scene on the new highway.and it is very time-consuming. A dozenyears ago, we had gone throu gh th is p ro-cedure only to find nobody on the Mexi-can side cared to see the visa. Sincethen, on our annual treks, we have elim-inated that formality.

With all documents in order, wemoved out on the w ide two-lane highwaythrough farmlands we learned producedolives and chili peppers. It was much likethe agricultural valleys in Southern Cal i -fornia. Reports told of the possibilities of

fog through this area as the road beganits climb to the higher desert countryWe encountered none.

At Colonet, about 75 miles south of Ensenada, there is a gasoline station whereit is a good idea to top off your tank if it isof average capacity. Just as you enteC olonet, there will be a R ed C ross amb ulance parked by the road. Volunteersseek donations. We have never failed tocontribute to this cause whenever wehad the opportunity.

Desert/luly 7974


19/48

Lagoon created by underground river at San Ignacio.

Stretch of beach just a boveNow the road continue;; south toward

Camalu and you notice the large fields oftomatoes and the many packing shedsalong the road. A few miles farther andyou approach the village of ColoniaGuerrero and from there another 15miles wil l bring you to Bahia de SanQuin t in , known for hunting and f ishing.Quail and brant are plent iful on all thebays from San Quint in north to Ensen-ada. Again, if your gas gauge indicates,a f i l l-up would be in order here.Desert/ July 197 4

the tip at Cabo San Lucas.There are more vegetable farms

spreading toward the horizon and thenyou come to a parador. This is a govern-ment-provided stopoverunder con-struct ion when we went throug h whereby now the gas station is in operation,along with a restaurant and grocerystore. A mile away, on the beach, a66-room hotel was under constructionalong with another hotel, the CielitoLindo.

El Rosario is the next community and

the last of the coastal villages on the Pa-cific side. At El Rosario, we decided tocall it a day. We had traveled over 150miles, had seen no accidents and verylitt le traffic. Buses came booming downthe highway, but they were no threat.The road was wide, but in some spotslacked the encouragement of a solidshoulder. However, we could see noproblem.

There were no camping facil i t ies in ElRosario, and while we would have feltperfectly safe and comfortable pullingoff the road somewhere, we did decide tohead out toward the ocean for the night.It is not a good idea to leave the mainhighway unless your vehicle is equippedwith four-wheel-drive. This can lead todisaster. However, we did see some ve-hicles heading out toward the ocean anddecided to give it a try.

As we moved out in low gear, wefound the road deeply rutted and readyto test every squeak in our rig. A camperpreceded us and we held back until wesaw how it fared . Gingerly, we both pro-ceeded until we came to water. It provedto be only an inlet and not the coast line.We had taken the wrong fork in the road.By now there were four vehicles movingout in search of the shore and finally wefound it, a high bluff overlooking anempty expanse of beach stretching northand south.

FEBR UAR Y 10The next morning , inthe company of two other campers, weheaded over the same rough road towardthe highway. We made it without inci-dent or accident. A few miles down theroad was Punta Prieta where we thoughtthere would be a gasoline station at theparador. We found the parador underconstruction and no station , so we pickedour way through the sleepy town hope-fully looking for gas. There was no des-perat ion on our part, but the two camp-ers were in need. Finally, we found gaso-line in 50-gallon drums siphoned out intosmall containers and then transferredinto the gas tank. The two campers tookon about 15 gallons apiece and we tookon five just to be sociable. High octanegas (about 94) comes in at 64 cents pergallon and lower grade about 50 cents.This lower grade produced a ping in thecampers but, because we had an amplemix of higher octane, it did n't bother us.

Back on the highway we climbedthrough more desert country. Cardon

continued79


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Hotel caban as at the very tip o f Baja.c.ictus reached out toward the horizon inall directions and ocotillo dotted the des-ei I f loor. Then , for the f irst t im e we wereintroduced to the c/r/o (or boojum) trees."I hese are clowns of the d esert, rakishlythrusting their trunks in unpredictabledirections in defiance of the orderly;; iowth of the circumspect cardons.

At G uerrero N egro, one of the largest. . i l t - p ro d u c in g co mmu n i t i e s in t h eworld, we were greeted on the highwayby a parador under construction, plus anational monument being built . Themonument, an ultramodern design sug->''Sting the section of a draw brid ge, wasul steel and promised an arresting sightwhen f inished. We turned off into theinwn and found a gasoline station with a\ i ipp ly o f "p remium" gas.

O ur destination for the night wasScammon's Lagoon on the coast. Thiswas the breeding ground for the greatgrey whales that rendezvoused thereeach year from November until Februarywhen they would go north to cooler Paci-fic waters. It was our hope to catch sight(if them.

But we must again leave the pavedhighway. This t im e the roads were only atrifle better as compared to the route atI I Rosario. It was a 20-mile trip and took.in hour over the washboard surface.When we came to a camping spot, weaw the f irst indications of the invasion

(if Baja from the north. On the road wehad seen a number of recreational vehi-i les, but they were well spaced along thehighway. But here there were at least 15

clustered in one spot hoping to see thelast of the whales. All had come over therough road well marked with signsbearing the drawing of a whale and theword ballenas, which is whales in Span-ish. A group of four motorhomes provedto be a motion picture unit from DisneyProductions that would be there for twomonths shooting activity in the area.

FEBR UAR Y 11 The next morningwe found that this excursion to Scam-mon's Lagoon wasn't in vain. O ut in thebay we could see the giant spouts of thegrey whales, the last contingent, per-haps, putting on a final display becausethis was February and their schedule de-manded they head north.

Our schedule dictated that we movesouth, so in late morning we left thecluster of recreational vehicles andrumbled our way over the unpaved roadback to the main highway. O ur destina-tion that night would be over on the Seaof Cortez, perhaps on Bahia C oncepcion.

As the highway turned inland towardthe east, we encountered the narrow partof the road (nineteen and one-half feet).True, as the repo rts had said, there werestretches where there were no should-ers, and some spots promised a plungedeep into ravines if a driver wasn't alert.Off in the sand and brush, you could seethe old road, broken and winding, andwe had been told that many Mexicansstill used it, preferring it to crazy driv-ers on the new road. This may have beent rue, but again traff ic was extremelyl ight .

Several times we had seen Americandrivers stopped for some emergency.When we paused to see if we could be ofhelp, we were always told the problemswere minor. For anyone with eithermajor or minor troubles, it was reassur-ing to know that if there should be anemergency, another American would bealong in a matter of minutes. Then thereare the Green Angels, the radio patrolsponsored by the Mexican Government.These rescue units, equipped w ith emer-gency know-how and equipment, havethe sole duty of helping drivers in dis-tress. Every mile of the highway ispatrolle d at least once daily by the GreenAngels.

About 80 miles from the junction ofthe Scammon's Lagoon road with High1, you come to San Ignacio. Here, therewas a parador under construction and itis also here that the hurried driver, if heisn't careful, could miss one of the mostunusual sights in Baja. By taking theroad to San Ignacio, he will suddenly beexposed to two shimmering blue lagoonsringed by swaying palm trees. This is notrickery, no mirage in the dryness of thesurrounding desert. Here is a true oasiscreated by underground rivers that sur-face to create an instant paradise amongthe yucca and cactus. San Ignacio itselfis a picturesque lit t le town with its quietplaza and mission dating back to the1700s. A pause here is an immediate re-treat of several centuries into the past

The highway from San Ignacio goesthrough the main desert for about 35miles and then, very abruptly, begins asteep descent through the hil ls, windingits way toward the Sea of C ortez. F inallythere is a glimpse of blue water, thenafter several miles the sight of beachesand breakers greeting the desert sandsAt sea level, the highway approaches thetown of Santa Rosalia where all servicesare available in this mining vil lage.

We didn't stop in Santa Rosalia, bukept going to Mulegethat resort cityonce only accessible by boat or byair exclud ing the hardy souls who usedthe old road. We checked our gas at thestation in Mulege, admired the oasis atmosphere where dates and bananas aregrown, and then continued down thecoast.

Between Mulege and Loreto is stretch of country hugging the coastlinewhere many access roads u sua l lrough but passable take you down t

Desert/July 797


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the beach. O n one of these, at Bahia dela C once ption, we dropped down for astay. Again we found the area crowded,more so than at Scamm on's Lagoon. Ourspot had no facilit ies and most recrea-t ional vehicles were s elf-contained. Goodwater could be obtained back at Mulegeand a truck sellin g groceries came byeach day.

The area abounds with f ish and offshore a shrimp boat moored each day.For a dollar, a small motcrboat takes youout where you could buy shrimp for$3.00 per kilo, or about $1.50 a pound.

F EBR UAR Y 13 After spending a dayhere in the calmness of the bay, wemoved south. This t ime it would be ashort trip to Loreto and a trailer parkwith hookups. We found one at the Fly-ing Sportsmen Lodge where there waspotable water and electr icity in the t ra i l -er facil i t ies under the palms.

FEBRUARY 14Ahead lay the 200-mile tr ip to La Paz. At this point the roadc l im bs up and t h rough spec t acu la rmountainous area, and breaks on desertcountry where we came to Vil la Insur-gente, a thr iv ing agr icul tural comm unitythat ref lected the thriving l i fe in thesouthern part of Baja.

Flanked by yucca and cactus, thehighway winds through roll ing hil ls forabout 100 miles until it enters La Paz.This city of 50,000 has all services, in-cluding modern supermarkets. Two re-creational vehicle parks, one with 20spaces and another with 478, were eachnearly fu l l , demonstrat ing the draw ofBaja C alifornia on the R V'er from thenor th.

FEBRUARY 15Our f inal dest inat ion

Lowest Photo Print PricesHighest QualityKODACOLOR FILMDEVELOPED & PRINTED

. .1.93tandard 12 Jum bo Pr in tsStandard 12 Jum bo P rin ts andN e w R o l l o f K O D A C O L O R 2 .8 4Kodacolor N eg. Standard repr in ts 14S E N D FO R P R I C E S H E E T S& ENV ELO PES. A l l Pho toPrices are Comparably low.N o g i m m i c k s .No l ies. .More than 50 years o f con-t inuous photo serv ice guar-antees your qual i ty and ourin teg r i t y .

MARKET BASKET P H O T O C O .P. O. Box 370, Yuma, Arizona 85364 orP. O. Box 2830, San Diego, Calif. 92112

was still 151 miles south. This was CaboSan Lucas at the very tip of thepeninsula, but our arrival was delayed-.About a dozen miles from the city andafter we had gone past San Jose delCabo, we saw an inviting stretch of near-ly deserted beach with breakers thunder-ing in . An access road took us to with in afew yards of the high -t ide mark. Here westayed, with occasional neighbors com-ing and going, for two days. Cabo SanLucas could wait. It had been there along t ime and now would be there at ourleisure. R ight now, we wanted to savorthe luxury of doing nothing. The road,

most of it r was behind us and the shortstretch ahead was predictable. W e knewwe were approaching the end, and wewanted to postpone it a l i t t le.

FEBR UAR Y 1 9-C abo San Lucas, fo rall of its distinction of resting on the veryt ip of Baja C alifornia and across theTropic of Cancer, is another Mexicantown , quaint and charming. It boastsluxury hotels and all the ref inements,including chartered marlin boats, cock-tail lounges and airstr ips.

For us, the real Baja lay back up theroad over that 1,000 miles among thecirio trees.

You haven't seen it...#til you've seen it from the air!

Fabulous liake Powell is only one of the many scenic wonders y ou 'llsee, when you fly the 'sun coun try' of Sky West Airlines. The ruggedcanyonlands of Moab, the broad vistas of the Kaiparowits Plateau,the majestic Rainbow Bridge, all take on a new breathtaking beautywhen viewed from the air. W ith fixe d base operations in St. Georgeand Moa b, Uta h, as well as Page, Ariz on a, Sky West affords the mostspectacular scenic flights to this vast wonderland.

Wri te now fo r comp le te in fo rma t ion :N a m eA d d r e s s .

Sky West AirlinesSt. George Municipal A irpo rtP.O. Box TSt. George, Utah 84770

C i t y -S t a t e . - Z i p .Salt Lake City(8011 364-8676

St. George(8011673-6101

Moab(801)259-7781

Desert/July 1974


22/48

AnOpen LettertoOur Readers

EDITOR'S NOTE:Desert Magazine has for 37years represented the high-est standards of preserva-tion and conservation. It hasbeen alluded and impliedthat the magazine was re-sponsible for tremendousvandalism being done to awell-known group of petro-glyphs. This we must cate-gorically deny and the pho-tographer-writer team thatproduced the article hereinanswer those charge s.

A I THE PR ESENT T I M E, there is agi eat concern in our country in regard tothe protection and preservation of ourPublic Land, wild l ife and antiquit ies.1 Ins is as it should be, as they are a valu-able natural heritage which should beenioyed by our generation and those whofollow.

To preserve, protect and enjoycouldbe easily the consensus of all citizens, ifa sensible approach to the problemwould be put forth. This is not an impos-sible dream. We Americans have thesivoir-faire and dedication for the task.

Unfortunately, there are many peoplewho are not will ing to "give a lit t le indider to obtain a whole lot" for every-one. Special interest groups have organ-ized. No longer is the good of the land,animals or antiquities the real issue. In-:.i


23/48

that many of us have come to love, eachin his individual way. Is it their own in-herent greed that makes them distrus tfulof others?

Make not the assumption that all whoenter the Great Mojave Desert are bentupon its destruct ion. Were th is t rue, M r.Eastvold and his compatriots would notbe seeing the hundreds of petroglyphsites they have only lately decided toprotect.

Desert Magazine's policy has beenbuilt upon the strong moral ethics of itsfounder, Randall Henderson. PublisherWill iam Knyvett and his staff continuethe policy of, "To tell of this sublimeland, to enjoy and to protect it ." Nearlyall of the petroglyph sites mentioned inarticles are shown on the U.S. GeologicalSurvey maps available to the generalpublic. They are available in most librar-ies. Auto Club maps also pinpoint manyof the sites. It does not take lengthy re-search in obscure files to find them, asMr. Eastvold indicates.

Should the beauty of a Monet, Renoiror Piccasso be denied the view of thosewho love great art and reserved to onlythe professional artists? Should every-one be punished for the actions of thosewho have stolen paintings from galler-ies? Of course not. Nor should anyonewho loves our Great American Desert bedenied the right to read about petro-glyphs and perhaps visil a prehistoricIndian art site.

It is our concern that all endangeredspecies and rare antiquities be protect-edand they can be. Surely those es-pousing a just and worthy cause need notresort to untruths and innuendos in or-der to interest the citizenry. To do so,leaves doubt and arouses deep concernabout their motives. Good is not attainedthrough e v i l .

There is a movement underway toclose the Desert to all recreationists ex-cept the back-packer and hiker. We urgeDesert's readers to be on guard and re-sist such actions. Do not be fooled intorelinquishment of the enjoyment and useot Your Public Lands by those who wouldtake away your birthright under the pre-tense of "protecting the desert." Keepinformed. Write your Congressman andSenators. Save the desert land for all ofus who love, but don't fibuse it.

Jerry and Ma ry Frances Strong.Desert luh 1974

Above: This photograph of a group of petroglyphs in Woods Wash appeared in the October 1973issueof DESERT M agazine. Mr . Eastvold stated "Th at photo is now one-of-a-kind. L ittle remains atthe site because it has been defaced, blasted and most of it hauled a wa y. " N ote cracks and loosenessof glyph in upper right-hand corner.

Above: The same group of petroglyphs photographed in M arch 1974. Careful study will show theglyphs have not been blasted, defaced or hauled away as Mr. Eastvold stated. Note the crackedsegment of glyph in upper right-ha nd corner is missing. Below: The missing glyph was lying on theground, a victim of erosion not vandalism . An in-the-field study of the Woods Wash petroglyph siteshowed, just as these photosno vandals had damaged the area, since we photographed it in 1972!


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Dramatic aerialview of Monument Valley

at sunrise.

byJACK

PEPPER

Color photo byS T E V E T O H A R I

WH E N EVER H IS N AM E is me n tion e dthroughout the Indian reservations ofUtah and Arizona, it is with respect, re-verence and affection. The older nativesof Navajoland refer to him as "the priestwith the long hair," while others call himEe-nii-shoodi "the one who drags hisr obes . " The younger generations of In-dians and the white sett lers address himsimp ly as "F a ther L ieb le r . "

But only a few of the thousands offamilies to whom he has brought spirit-ual solace, physical health and comfortand restored pride in their individualabil it ies and crafts during the past 30years know he resigned an im portant po-sit ion as an Episcopal clergyman in aprosperous eastern community to devotehis l ife to the underprivileged.

Born in Brooklyn, New York and edu-cated in eastern universit ies, the Rever-

24

end Harold Baxter Liebler had a secureposition as a rector of an affluen t Episco-palian parish in O ld Greenwich, C onnec-t icut. If he had remained, he undoubted-ly would have advanced to a much high-er posit ion in the hierarchy. But in 1942,at the age of 50 and after 25 years inchurch service in the east, the life of thisman of Cod suddenly changed.O n a vacation to visit the Spanish mis-sions of the West, Father Liebler decid-ed to visit the Indian reservations.Dressed in his long black cassock andriding an Indian pony, he traveledthrough Arizona and into Utah. With theexception of not being escorted by con-quistadores, he must have appeared likethe Spanish padres who first entered thecountry in the mid-1700s.

After several weeks of travel, FatherLiebler f inally arrived at Bluff, Utah, on

Desert/July 7974


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if-


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the 5an J uan R iver. O n the day of his ar-r iv. i l , he started his new life as a mis-sionary.

I 've got to stay," he wrote to friendsin C onnecticut. "These N avajos seemlike Fortune's stepchildren to me. It 'sunMievable that human beings are livingsuch underprivileged lives in our greatcountry. In this Bluff area, the Navajoseems the most primit ive. Not a school,noi a church, not a hospital in 1500square miles!

A mission here could perform mir-a' I


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,grey)n long hairtied in hark, Navajn-style sharply contrasted his we atheredand tanned face and was further accent-uated by his long, black cassock. Hislaughter was soft, and his blue eyes be-came azure as he talked about his adopt-ed land and people. Father Liebler doesnot reminisce in the sense of lookingback. Even when he talks of his past ex-periences, he does so only in how theyhave helped him in the present and howthey can be applied to the future.

Dedication to a causewhether it bespir itual, scient if ic or in other f ields ofhuman endeavoris not unusual. Whatis unusual is those whose dedication isbased on their belief in the dignity andindividuality of their fellow man, whosee each person as a total entity withinhimself , yet know they are only minutesegments of the universe. They respectthe beliefs and faiths of each individual,and do not destroy the individuality ofeach person by categorically brandingthem as whites, blacks, Jews, Arabs,Yellows or Indians.

Father Liebler's dedicat ion to the dig-nity of man is illustrated by the followingincident:

When Brother J uniper told Father Lie-bler about my outburst concerning thesale of donated clothing, the good Fath-er's eyes twinkled. He introduced me toHelen Sturges, who also has dedicatedher l i fe to the underprivi leged and tohelping Father Liebler in his work. Shewas holding a cigar box which containedsmall coins, but no bil ls.

"These people are poor and needhe lp , " he explained. "Before the whiteman came West, their ancestors were aproud and independent people. Therewas no need for what we call welfare.These men, women and c hildren you seehere today are also proud and have dig-nity. That's why we charge for clothes they wil l not take them otherwiseweknow the families and how much theycan pay."

At that point, an elderly Navajo cameby with a pair of nearly new Levis. Shelooked at Helen Sturges, w i o smiled andsaid something in Navajo. A quarterchanged hands. C arrying the Levis f i r m -ly under her arm and with her head heldhigh, the woman walked out into thecourtyard. The barely audible voices ofthe Navajo women st i l l shopping weredrowned out by the shrieks and laughterof the children playing outside.Desert/July 7974

Father Liebler. Photo by Clyde Deal.My half-hour stay had extended to

foui hours. When I reluct lant ly saidgoodbye to Father Liebler, he informedme that he would ret ire and that a newvicar would arrive. As he told me of hisplans, I noticed that Helen Sturges andBrother Juniper turned their heads andlooked toward the sandstone b luffs. T heclothing sale was over and I followed the

Navajo families as they slowly left thearea and headed back to their hogans inthe colorful, but bleak lands which havebeen their homes for centuries.

That was in 1962, more than 20 yearsafter Father Liebler had established thefirst mission, school and medical clinic inthe area. Father Liebler's efforts andzeal had borne fruit . Gradua lly, other re-l igious foundations, state governmentsand even the Bureau of Indian Affairs inWashington recognized the need ofAmerica's nat ive cit izens.

And with this inf lux of the white man,the Navajos themselves became stronger

and the Navajo Tribal Council started along-range plan to develop their landand establish it as a tourist attract ion.Then came the renaissance and Indiancraf ts were suddenly "discovered" bythe white merchants from the east.

The Indian reservations throug h w hichFather Liebler f irst traveled on the backof a pinto today are criss-crossed withpaved highways. Horse-drawn cartshave been replaced by new pick-uptrucks and oil companies are digging intowha t we re once " sac red hun t i nggro un ds ." Environm entalists and ecolo-gists charge Indian lands of Utah andArizona are being exploited and thatblack smoke is destroying the colorfulmesas and valleys. Some white and In-dian business men call the crit ics "out-s ide hippies " and "do-go ode rs" who arenot familiar with the economic problemsof the land and the people.

Cont inued on Page 4027


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Manby K. L. B OYN TON

1974

Photos byGEORGE SERVICE

18

THROUGHOUT THE ages, ants andtheir penchant for hard work have beencited as shining examples of industryand diligence and young sluggardsamong the human race exhorted tomodel their future conduct after them.Why ants have this imbred passion forhard labor and human beings by andlarge a seemingly inbred desire to avoidit , nobody knows. Maybe this differencecan be laid to the fact that some half bil-lion years ago, the insect tribe took off onone line of evolution and man's ancienancestors went another route so diver-gent as to make a mu tual unde rstandingof the other fellow's behavior forever im-possible.

As everybody knows, ants live in col-onies centered abcit a queen whohaving left her home colony and matedonly once, founded a new one of herown. What all this enterprise nets her isa long lifetime of hard work devoted 100percent to laying eggs. Now the catchhere is that while one egg may look likeanother, each hatching larva has its future role in the colony determined for itAnd what that career will be depends onthe amount and kind of food it receiveswhile in this helpless grub-like stateSome larvae develop into femalesothers into males. When these reachmaturity they leave the colony at swarming time and mate perhaps with eachother, but more likely with ants of thesame species from other swarming col

Desert/luly 797


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onies. The females, now queens, willfound new colonies; the males, theirroles f inished, die.

By far the greatest number of larvae,however, turn out to be neuter ants,whose lives are just one big binge ofhard work. They handle all the nestchores of caring for the queen, stowingthe eggs in special cells en d nursemaid-ing the developing youngsters. Theyform the labor gangs, doing all the pickand shovel work of excavating the vastlabyrinth of tunnels and chambers thatmake up the colony's homesite. Theytrudge out to forage for food, lug it homeand prepare it for storage and eating.They keep the colony spic and span, andin times of danger rush to its defense. Itobviously doesn't pay to develop into aworker ant, not that the individual hasany choice in the m atter, the r igid differ-entiat ion of roles being quite inf lexible.

Granting that devotion to toil is alaudable trait, it would sti l l seem thatgoing at it in a desert may be carryingthings too far. Yet, ants are busy work-ing even at Badwater, in Death Valley,C alifo rnia , one of the hottest spots onearth.

Desert ants are mostly harvesters bytrade, gatherers of seeds they store inunderground granaries. As seed eaters,they compete with local rodents for whatthe desert has to offer In t u rn , th eplants that produce the seeds competewith ants and rodents alike, since theirDesert/July 1974

A small breadcrumb causes a flurry ofactivity w hen dropped n ear an anthill.

surviva l as a species.depends on enoughseeds escaping being eaten to germinatein time and produce more plants.

Not that this competit ion is anythingnew. All this has been going on for ages,and somehow all parties manage to stayin business under extremely severe con-ditions. Thus scientists, who like to pon-der on such matters, have a fine big pro-blem to wrestle wi th . First of all, how areants, plants and rodents adapted withinthemselves to live in the desert? Then,what is their relationship to each otherwhen they coexist under such circum-stances? And finally, what effect does allthis have on the place where they live?

Ecologist Lloyd Tevis, Jr., greatly im-pressed with the success of harvester antoperations, set about finding what thestory was as far as they and the plantswere concerned. For a study area, heselected a particularly barren regionbetween Indio and Palm Springs, Cal i -fornia, which at its best is so hot and drythat only a few stunted creosote and salt-bush can make it there. Yet, in certainyears, given rainfall at the right season,this apparently sterile area is known toburst into bloom when annual plants,appearing as if by magic, carpet thedesert with color.

O f the several species of harvesters

working the area, Tevis picked out alittle shiny black number Veromessorpergandei by name, a close relative, bythe way, of the Old W orld ants busy inKing Solomon's day. Twenty colonies ofthese, whose underground abodes arecharacterized topside by large craterssurrounded by trash piles of discardedseed husks, were on the receiving end ofan entire year's intensive study. Somemighty interesting facts were discover-ed .

Now being cold-blooded animals, antsare unable to keep their body tempera-ture stable within themselves, and nothaving any special physiological adapta-tions to desert conditions to help them,they are at the mercy of temperaturesaround them. Stif f with cold at 40 F.,they are still wobbly and uncertain evenat 50 F. They can't stand high tempera-t u re , a few seconds exposure on a hotsurface of 122 F. being fatal. They there-fore cope with desert temperature ex-tremes by avoiding them.

First of all, they put their l iving quar-ters undergrou nd deep, deep down , asTevis found the hard way. Attempting tomap the layout of a colony, he shoveledand dug and never did reach the maingranaries and chambers although he wasalready 11 feet down wh en forced to q uitThis anthill plainly show s the discardedseed hulls and chaff at the mound site.


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du e to the unstable shift ing sand.Putt ing in appearance above ground

only at favorable t imes is the second waythe ants handle the temperature prob-lem. But this cuts their food foragingt ime, since the desert's surface may bebelow freezing in winter, or zoom up to158 F. or higher at noon on a summer'sday. Hence, the food detail schedule, itseems, goes something like this:

Spring and fa l l , when the sun beginsto warm the sand, theworkers appear atthe entrance hole, stagger around warm-ing themselves unt i l , when the groundtemperature is over 55 F., the big trekcan start. Streaming out by the hun-dreds, theants march off in a line acrossthe desert, following a scent trail laiddown theprevious day.Food is generallyto be hadwith in 130 ee t of thecolony, sothe first ants to pick up their cargo headfor home, forming a second marchingcolumn as they go. The warming dayspeeds up the tempo, the ants rushingalong the outgoing route and hustlingback with their burdens along the returntracktwo big streams of ant traff icmoving in opposite directions. Then,when the sand hits about 90 F., all for-

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agers head for home, empty-handed ornot, the stragglers hot-footing it to makeit to the entrance before collapsing withthe heat. Later in the afternoon, fromabout 3:30 to 5:30, another trek takesplace. Wintert imes hunt ing is possibleonly from about 10A . M . to 2 P.M. Summertimes, although the workers are outbefore sunrise, they must quit by 8 A.Mfo r the day,because thehammering heatkeeps the sand hot until after dark.Viewing hisparched study area wherea major drough t hadbeen in progress for12 years, Tevis wondered what on earththe ants were f inding to eat. So for anhour a day hecaptured homeward-boundforagers in a spoon and hijacked theirloads. To his surprise, he saw that theants were indeed f inding a wide varietyof seeds: sand verbena, hoary saltbush,pincushion, forget-me-not, spectaclepod, l i t t le trumpet, storksbill, desertgold, creosote bush, white mallow,blazing star, brown-eyed primrose,comb-bur andwoolly plantain. But a ewants, looking just as busy, were in factcarrying junk: grains of sand, mica,charcoal, feces of rodents and bats, bitsof defunct insects, such inedible trophiesregularly showing up on the trashdumps.

Seeds of the comb-bur and woollyplantain made up some nine-tenths ofthe seed take. Both plants are small andnot much to look at compared to themore showy desert f lowers, yet it wastheir seeds occurring in abundance thatkept the ant larders stocked during thelong drought when no annual flowersbloomed.

Then, in January, the rains came.Even an olddesert hand like Tevis was

astonished to see the myriads of seed-lings that popped up everywhere some800 per square meter, by actual count.They were just about as thick in the for-aging range of the colonies as beyond,due probably to the mixing and scattering of seeds by the desert winds. Nor, asthe seedlings grew, was there a shorsupply of oldseeds, those notburied andhence not sprouting sti l l being availableon the surface. So the cargo haulingwent right on, the ants weaving theirway through the forest of growing annuals towering over their heads.

When seed ripening t ime came inA pr i l , theants shifted their foraging act ivit ies upstairs. Swarming all over theplants, they helped themselves directly.

Desert/July 1 9 7 4


31/48

The old standbys of plantain and comb-bur were ignored as the ants chose theirfavorites: brown-eyed primrose, whitemallow, blazing star. Now the seed cap-sule of the blazing is a neirrow tube withan opening at the end which tended tomake things interesting since to get aseed each ant had to go in head first andthen back out. The next ant in line natur-ally trie d to shove in too soon, and henceeach blazing star plant was the dailyscene of a subway rush hour in minia-ture.

By the middle of April, the new seedswere mostly on the ground. So were theants, and Tevis set about f inding whateffect they would have on this new crop.

He set up a system of counting eachseed-carting ant that reached home. Asexpected, the number was small in thecool of the early morning, and increasedsteadily as the ants became more activewith the warming temperatures to a toprate of 325 ants per five minutes. Then,when the sand got too hot, work ceasedabruptly. Based on these figures, theaverage number of seeds collected by acolony in a day turn ed out to be about7,000. Since there were six colonies peracre, some 42,000 seeds would be sub-tracted in a day, 1,260,000 in a month,and something like 15 million seeds peracre per year.

At the same time, what the plantswere doing about seed production had tobe known. So he counted the seeds onmature plants in sample plots, punchedaway on his adding machine, and cameup with a figure of about one and one-half billion seeds per acre. Compared tothe mere 15 million per acre the antswere removing, the plants obviouslywere doing all r ight.

All this was under prolonged droughtconditions. The ants themselves wereless numerous than in favorable years,and hence their food take smaller. Theplants were also less numerous due tolong drought and to the fact that while itdid rain in January, the moisture was in-suff icient so that the plants maturedsmall and produced fewer seedsper-haps only five percent of their potentialin favorable years. In good times, bothsides would do better, yet the propor-tions would remain about the same.

On the face of it, there seems to be akind of balance between the seed pro-ducers and the seed eaters in the desertthat takes into consideration the fat andDesert/ July 19 74

lean years, a regular phenomenonthrough the ages. Thus, ant dining doesnot affect the total supply of seeds m uch.What may be a long term result is thecomposition of the vegetation in theirarea. Since ants do like certain seeds somuch, they might have an eventual ef-fect in cutting down the number of theseparticular plants around to produceseeds. This would work to the advantageof plants such as the comb-bur andwoolly plantain, whose seeds ants tendto leave when the others are available.

Anyhow, 15 million seeds per acrecarted home per year (and in an off-yearat that) is no slouch of a figure, andagain testifies to the industry of the antt r ibe. A study such as Tevis made, whichproduced such a wealth of new informa-tion under very rugged field conditionsand at the cost of hard, hard work, is noslouch of a study, either; and it testifiesto the industry of at least one humanbeing. Who knows? Perhaps erringyoung Veromessor pergandeis are nowexhorted to model themselves after thisfellow's example, who showed himself tobe a toiler-deluxe, even by ant stand-ards.

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r

TheSmokillancei

' )N A SATURDAY, early in August ofeach year, visitors from near and farinurney to Prescott, Arizona. And thereIhey spend the evening gazing spell-bound at a most astounding spectacle.I hey call it the Smoki (pronouncedSmoke-eye") Ceremonials.This year, the Ceremonials will be

held on August 10th, and will includeI he Aztec Pole dance, The Apache Pu-lierty rites, The Crow Feather dance, in.KIdit ion to the awe-inspiring SnakeI )ance.

The traditional dance, using livesnakes, is the climax of a giant pageantwhich has become famous in many partsill the world. Magnificently costumed,dramatically executed in a primitive set-l i ng , the show gives to its audiences thesensation of being transported into an-other world a mysterious world return-ed from ages past.

The performers are the Smoki People,I he name chosen by the "tribe" of whitelousiness and professional men living inthe community. And their particular taskis to preserve age-old Indian ceremonials,ind present these ceremonials to theI>ublic once a year.

byJOEKRAUS

To produce the utmost authenticity,the Smoki People engage in months ofpreparation for their annual pageant.Costumes, properties, dance steps,make-up and pantomine join together inthe production. And all are brought toperfection by the skilled work of the"tribe's" gifted artists.Every bead and feather, every paintedsymbol, every gesture has its own signi-ficance. And to insure that all is authen-tic to the last detail, research teams aresent out across the country. Detailedstudy is made of old reports provided bythe United States Bureau of Ethnology.And while a few teams are lookingthrough dusty records kept by the Smith-sonian Institution in Washington, D.C.,others are contacting the various Indiantribes themselves for detailed informa-t ion.

The annual pageant is held in the com-munity's famed Yavapai County Fair-grounds where it is reported the world'sfirst rodeo was held. As a permanent ad-dition to the Rodeo grounds, the SmokPeople have constructed an authenticHopi Indian pueblo. Quiet all year, thepueblo is turned into a busy Indian vil-lage each August when the production isheld.

But visitors, who come many miles tothe central Arizona community, discoverthey must make reservations early. Foronly one performance is held, during thedark of the moon. And the grandstandseats only about 5,000 persons. Hotelsand motels in the town are also bookedwell in advance. And every year duringSmoki , the frontier town in the heart ofthe state's cattle ranch empire comesalive with activity.

Desert/ July 1974


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Opposite page: Harmless, but nevertheless fierce looking, bullsnakeshave replaced live rattlesnakes in the Smoki duplication of the ancientHopi Indian cerem ony. Above: Smo ki snake dancers prepare for part theyplay in the annual pagea nt. R ight: S moki eagle dancer. Below: Most im-pressive of all Smoki ceremonials is the traditional Snake Dance . Held infront of the replica H opi pueblo, the dance ends each year's performance.

The Smoki Dance Ceremonials aresupplemented by street dances and anoutdoor art festival which completelyf i l ls the one-block park-like CourthousePlaza. The town also sponsors downtownsong fests and outdoor square dancingwhich are always well attended.

Months before the pageant, however,the townspeople start gathering togetherthe stars of the showlarge area bul l -snakes. Captured for the one pe rform-ance only, the snakes are highly regard-ed and well kept during their stay withthe Smoki People.When the annual per-formance is completed, the snakes aretaken, again unharmed, eind released inthe general area in which they werefound.

To get everyone involved, contests areheld and prizes awarded those who cap-ture the largest bullsnake. Several areaDesert/July 1974


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nung "Indian" braves gain real talent from months of practice for the hoop dance

197407 desert magazine 1974 july

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