197906 desert magazine 1979 june

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W ILL IAM and JOY KNYVETTCo-Pub lishers/ Editors

GEORGE BRAGA, Art DirectorSHARLENE KNYVETT, Art Department

MARY FRANCES STRONG, Field Trip Editor

K. L. BOYNTON , Naturalist

Color Separations by

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Volume 42, Number 6

MAGAZINE

(USPS 154-940)

JUNE 1979

CONTENTSF E A T U R E S

\THEY ALL LOST THE LOST LEE

THE OLD BORAX HAULER

THE CONTROVERSIAL PREDATOR

"DESERT STEVE," THE TOWN FOUNDER

CHAPAPOTE

NORTHWESTERN NEVADA'S HISTORIC LITTLE HIGH ROCK COUNTRY

THE BOOJ UM OF BAJ A

MOUNTAIN PALM SPRINGS: NORTH GROVE

A CANYON CALLED MULEY TWIST

CORNBREAD

8

12

16

20

24

28

32

35

36

40

Harold 0. Weight

R. M. Lowe

Thomas M. Jenkins

Bill Jennings

Roy Sails

Dorothy Robertson

Barbara Bigham

Dick Bloomquist

Roger Mitchell

Stella Hughes

D E P A R T M E N T S

THE COVER:The coyote, center of a con-troversy. Photo by GeorgeService, Palm Desert, Calif.See article Page 16.

A PEEK IN THE PUBLISHER'S POKE 4

NEW BOOKS FOR DESERT READERS 6

TRADING POST 42

BOOKS OF THE WEST 44

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 46

CALENDAR OF WESTERN EVENTS 46

William Knyvett

Book Reviews

Classified Listings

Mail Order Items

Readers' Comments

Club Activities

AND ADVERTISING OFFICES: 74-425111, P. O. Box 1318,Palm Desert, California 92260. Telephone714346-8144. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: United States and pos-

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ert/ June 1979

old addresses with zip codes. DESERT Magazine is published monthly.Second class postage paid at Palm Desert, California and at additionalmailing offices under Act of March 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1979 byDESERT Magazine andpermission to reproduce any or all contents mustbe secured inwriting. Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs will not be

returned unless accompanied by self-addressed, stamped envelope.



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fro m 1959 to 1965Package of 10

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in thepublisher's

yokeUCH HAS been writte n in the pages

of Desert Magazine on the Tonopah

&Tidewater Railroad. The r ise and

decline of the railroad has been fuel for

authors for many stor ies. Few, however,

were writte n by someone who was there!

Author R. M. Lowe, of Snyder, Okla-

homa, was just a youngster in his late

teens when he wore many hats as he

operated the T& T's depot at Silver Lake,

California. Take a walk down Memory

Lane as he tel ls about "The Old Borax

Ha u le r . "

Also, in this issue, lost mine buffs will

enjoy Harold O. Weight's second fascin-

ating article on the final days of prospec-

tor George Lee and his efforts to deter-

mine just where the Lost Lee is really

located.

Everyone loves the Roadrunner, and

the Coyote is just a poor second. But,honestly, that cover shot by George Ser-

vice has to win over a few h earts. Tha t's

just the start as Thomas Jenkins updates

the tr ials and travails of this desert fa-

vorite. Seen in ever-decreasing numbers

in the low desert, they are scu rrying into

the hills ahead of the developers.

Rockhounds will want to take note of

Dorothy Robertson's article this month

on a tr ip to Nevada's nor thwest "L i t t le

High Rock C ou nty ." Beautiful scenery,

plus choice specimens —a good com bina-

t ion. Roger Mitchell takes us to Muley

Twist Canyon in Utah; Barbara Bigham

tells us about the unusual boojum of Baja

California; Stel la Hughes tempts us with

her tantal izing corn bread recipes; Dick

Bloomquist vists the North Grove of

Mountain Palm Springs in his Oases

Series; Bill Jennings reminisces about

"Desert Steve" Ragsdale, a colorful

" town founder ," and to ba lance th ings

up we added a dash of archeology from

the La Brea Fossil Site in Los Angeles.

p pWANCIERER

By Slim BarnardThe tours by the Happy Wandereis contain excellent maps, mileage, historof the areas, costs of gasoline consumpt ion, lodging meals, what to wear anthe best time of the year to make tht r ips. A family can plan their trip andetermine the exact amount of time anmoney required.

Volume Number One covers 52 tourthroughout California's deserts, mounta ins , lakes and seashores. In VolumNumber Two, Slim and Henrietta explorArizona, Nevada and O ld Mexico,, wi tthe areas rang ing from m odern resortto ghost towns.

When order ing BE SURE to state Volu mOne or Volume Two. Both books are largformat, heavy paperback with 150 page

$2.95 each

P l ease add 50c for post age/ handl i ng

Cahi residents ad d 6% sales tax

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£MtioCaptutka§unshit\e

A marvelous ne w book about

John W.Hilton

"The Dean ofAmerican Desert Painters"

by

Katherine Ainsworth

Just one of the many beautifully reproduced Hilton paintings included in the book.

The Man Who Captured Sunshine is a biography of a

rem arkable, m odern day, Renaissance Man — John W. Hil ton.

Though John Hilton is best known as the " D e a n of Am erican

Deser t Paint er s, " he is also a dist inguished botanist , gem ologist ,and zoo logist. Hilton also is a noted writer and linguist, aguitar ist

and singer.

Th e Man Who Captured Sunshine is i n s p i r a t i o n a l . . . a

book which inspires one to o ver co me adver s i t y , to achieve

excel lence, tostr ive for agenuine joy of l iving. Thereader willcry,

but m ore o f ten wil l f ind him se lf/herse lf e njoying the pleasure of

hearty laughter, of grand adventure. Thesignificance of this book,

above allelse, l ies in an im pelling fo rce which inspires the reader

to l ive a f u l ler , mo r e m eaningful , m o r e jo yo us l i f e . . . to be adoer, a

creator, a giver .

The author, Kather ine Ainsworth, makes no apology for the

"lack of object ivi ty" in writing this book . . . she hasbeen a friend

and adm irer of John Hilton for over thirty years. Katie's late

husband, EdAinsworth, wasJohn Hilton's best friend for almostas many years. This "labor of l o v e " hasresul ted in a m agnificent

book about a m agnificent man.

TO PLACE ORDER:

Please send check or money order ($12.95 per copy)

DESERT MAGAZINE BOOK SHOP

P.O. Box 1318

Palm Desert, California 92260

California residents add 6%sales tax, andplease enclose

SO C for postage and handling.v- AN ETC PUBLICATION



Chuck\Nacpr\

I Cookin'by STELLA HUGHES

A tantalizing collection of cow-camp cook tales and 112 authen-tic old-time dutch oven recipes.165 pages. )

Stella and her chuckwagonon the way to

Washington, D.C.

Calif, residents add 6% sales tax

only

plus 50c po stage/hand ling

D e s e r t M a g a z i n e B o o k S h o pP.O. Box 1318, Palm Desert, California 92260

GIVE DuviLSubscriptions as Gifts

"FROM PICK TO POWDlft"

ISBN 0-87004-265-3 Paperbou nd

Appr o ximat e l y 160 Pages

Many Photo graphs $4.95

Like much of Western history, Telluride'smelodramatic character emerges from the ex-aggerated scale of people and events thatmade up its day. Here were men blasting a rail-road out of solid rock, Big Billy the kindheartedmadam, a world's first in power generation, astrike that angered the nation, and a daringbank robbery by a kid named Butch Cassidyand a group called the Wild Bunch. Telluridehas not become a museum. Telluride today isvery much alive, and as fine a living rem inder ofthe Old West as one can find.

The CAXTON PRINTERS, Ltd .P.O. Box 700

Ca ldwe l l , Idaho 83605

'Booksfor

TDesert

TradersAll books reviewed are available throughDesert M agazine Book Shop. Please adper total order for handling and Califresidents must include 6% state sales tax

ALIVE IN THE DESERT

The Complete Guide for Desert

Recreation and Survival

By Joe Kraus

You're probably saying "we

don ' t need another deser t surv

guide," but we say, wrong, you can

ways pick up something new, perha

lifesaver, from each new guide.

The advantage of this book comp

to some others around is that it

writ ten by a professional writer as

as a person who lived —and still does

the desert, in the Coachella and A

lope valleys, where many of our res

take place.

Kraus has enlisted the assistanc

the High Desert Rangers, a searchrescue team from Lancaster in the A

lope Valley, in his text, and part icu

in his well-chosen and posed p

graphs of rescue situations.

He lists essential supplies that

desert hiker should carry, whether h

a backpacker or a car traveler. Forem

of course is water. Kraus suggests a

lon per person, for each day you pla

be in the f ie ld . This works two w

Water can save your life and a g

weighs more than eight pounds, so




n't plan on too long a tr ip i f you figu re

And, Kraus points out, a l i tt le elem-

Perhaps even more important, be sure

Wel l , for more, try reading Kraus'

Jean Leetch

A Southern California classic has been

updated and improved by the

o f the Anz a-B or reg o

The origina l guide book, writt en and

received instantly when first published

by the Balboa Island veter inarian, the

huge park's best fr iend in many ways.

When compared to the or iginal, the

current edition has a strong family re-

semblance, with the addition of many

new photographs and revised text cover-

ing newer areas of the huge park. Much

of the original material has been retain-

ed intact, even the first maps prepared

by another veteran park ranger, Jack

Welch.

Dedicated to Dr. Parker, the new edi-

tion has a lovely color photograph on the

cover, taken by Paul Johnson, the park

naturalist and has an introduction by

Maurice (Bud) Getty, the current area

manager of Anza-Borrego. Besides these

two unofficial connections with the pqrk,

the guide book was published with the

cooperation of the California Department

of Parks and Recreation.

Leetch has served two hitches in thepark, the largest u nit in the state system,

and perhaps more than any other living

person is the au thor ity on its beauties,

mysteries and hidden corners. All are

covered thoroughly.

The book has another advantage. It is

bound with the same "lay flat" plastic

spine that proved so useful in the earlier

editions. It will remain open to the page

you want, valuable when you're dr iving

down a wash and haven't t ime to find

your place as you steer around the sand

drifts and away from the rocks that lurk

in the middle of the wash.

Welch's or iginal maps have been re-

vised and laid out in a more useful man-

ner, so the b inding doesn't obscure the

print , a vital feature particular ly for the

f i rst- t ime vis i tor .

One of the most useful additions to

this revision is a bibliography of selected

desert texts. Another is the presence of

the editors. Paperback, 154 pages, two

maps, m any photos, $6.95.

BAJA CALIFORNIADon't leave without OFFBEAT BAJA,

Jim Hunter's guide to the backroads, lost

beaches, and forgotten mountain

villages. OFFBEAT BAJA

lere other guide books

end. 156 pages, 66 photograph s,

maps, difficult roads classified

1 to 10. Send check or money order

to FREELANCE WEST, Box 2142,

Monterey, CA 93940. $6.95 covers

postage & handling. California

residents please add

6% sales tax.

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C O O K B O O K SF o r t h e o u t d o o r e n t h u s i a s t ,and those who l ike to f lavorthe ir l i fe wi th the unusual

. AM DUW .fKX>DAKDLO«:

AMERIC AN INDIAN FOOD AND LORE byCarolyn Neitham m er. Original Indian plantsused for foods, medicinal purposes, etc., de-scribed, plus unusual recipes. Large form at,191 pages, profusely illustra ted, $5.95.

C H U C K W A G O N C O O K I N ' by St e l laHughes. Recipes collected straight from thesource—cowboy cooks. Contains Mexican re-cipes, instructions for deep-pit barbecue and

he art of using Dutch ovens for cookingeverything from sourdough biscuits to Son-of-Gun stew . Paperback, 170 pages, $4.95.

DUTC H OVEN COOK BOOK by Don Holm .Mew and exciting culinary adventures inDutch Oven cooking. Heavy paperback, 106pages, $4.95.

ARIZONA COOK BOOK by Al and MildredFischer. Unusual recipes for Indian cooking,Mexican dishes, Western specialties. Uniquecollection. Paperback, 142 pages, $3.00.

De GRAZIA AND MEXICAN COOKERY, I I -lustratred by De Grazla, text by Rita Daven-port. A de lightful presentation containing allthe favorite Mexican recipes that have be-come standard throughout the Southwest.

Beautiful illustrations, in color, by the incom-parable De Gra zia. $4.95.

CAC TUS COOK BOOK com piled by Joyce L.Tate. An excellent selection of recipes thatemphasize their edible or potable qualities.Also includes chapter on Food Preservation.Paperback, 127 pages, $2.00.

SOURDOUGH COOKBOOK by Don andMyrtle Holm . How to make a sourdoughstarter, and many dozens of sourdough re-cipes. Paperback, 136 pages, illus., $4.95.

CITRUS COOK BOOK by Glenda McGill is.An unusual and outstanding treasury ofcitrus cookery. Includes tips on freezing,juicing and shipping. Paperback, spiralbound, $2.00.

CALIFORNIA COOK BOOK by Al and Mil-dred Fischer. Recipes divided into "EarlyCal i fornia," "Cal i fornia Frui ts," "Cal i forniaProducts," "Sea Foods" and "Wine Cook-i n g . " 400 more unique collections by theFischers. Paperback, 142 pages, $3.00.

Please add 50c per total orderfor postage and ha ndling

California residents please aad 6% Sales tax

Send check or money order today to

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P.O. Box 1318Palm Dese rt, California 92260

mine . ' This mine he had worke d, off and

on, for several years, often laboring by

himself , bu t sometimes em ploying others

to aid him . . . This mine was situated in

the desert, near what is now known as

Waterman.

"In August, 1879, Lee started on one

of his trips to his mines. A. Alexander,

with his team, conveyed Lee and his out-

fit through the Cajon Pass and part of the

way beyond, on the road toward this

mine. From this point Lee proceeded

along, on foot, and Alexander returned

with his team.

"Lee never returned.

"After the appointed t ime for his re-

turn had passed, his fr iends, alarmed by

his protracted absence, made inquiry

and search for him, but no trace of him,

alive, was ever discove red. )

"The next year, 1880, R. W. Water-

man proceeded to Lee's (Pencil Lead)

mine, took possession of it, relocated it

in his name, and has 'owned' it, or leastheld it, ever since.

"That mine made Waterman r i c h . "

As a polit ical weapon, the Examiner

art icle f izzled m iserably. Despite a large-

ly Democratic sweep, Republican Wa ter-

man won easily, even outpoll ing by

10,000 votes the Democrat who was

elected governor. Most of the charges

made had been aired and answered

years before. Title to the silver mine had

been fought throu gh the courts, even the

California State Supreme Court, withWaterman winning every act ion.

But the Examiner article did create a

state-wide interest in the Lost Lee, and

in a way authenticated the missing

ledge. Or at least the surge of lost mine

hunters that followed thought so. It also

made Waterman the improbable vil lain

of many of the Lost Lee stories written

since.

According to the Examiner and San

Bernardino Daily Times stories, Lee

made his desert expeditions on foot. Not

only when prospecting, but even when

he went to develop and work his claims.

There is no mention of even pack

animals. Neither is there an explanation

of how he would carry the food, water,

min ing tools and supplies he would have

needed.

The only person I ever knew who had

personal recollection of George Lee and

of the stories then circulat ing, Herman

F. Me llen , said that Lee had a buckboard

when he disappeared. In 1879 Mellen, a

10

boy of thirteen, was at Oro Grande on

the Mojave River, helping his carpente

father. In 1882 and for some time after

they were in Calico, building tramway

and ore bins.

"I remember Lee at Oro Grande,

Mel len said, " te l l ing the men what

fine mine he had down river near Crape

vine. When he disappeared, he had no

done his assessment work on it. Whe

his filing ran out, Waterman relocated i"Lee met his end at Old Woma

Springs. They found his team and outf

at the springs two days later. It was

buckboard. Old Woman Springs wa

then the end of navigation for wagons

Indians were around it. They used t

take their old women out there and leav

them to die. Some thought the Indian

might have made way with Lee. But the

would have taken his clothing, f o o d

stuff they could use. Some though

Waterman did it to get possession of th

mine, which supposedly was secret."I didn't know enough about the Lo

Lee then to ask questions I would now

Who found the buckboard? Two day

after what? There is no known printe

record of anyone f inding anything know

to be Lee's after his disappearance

Now, too, I recognize the partial confu

sion between the Pencil Lead and th

lost ledge which complicates so man

versions.

With or without reason, Old Woma

Springs has been the focal point of thLost Lee legend. And a brisk litt le pro

pecting rush developed in the nearb

Dry Lake area at the time Lee disappea

ed . The Dry Lake Mining Distr ict,

fact, was organized on May 19, 188

little more than a month after Lee

death there was asserted. The distric

10 by 20 miles, had one corner on O

Woman Springs. Twenty-f ive location

had been made some sixteen mile

northeast of the springs by J une 4. Lod

assaying from $100 to $1000 with som

gold, and others from $50 to $600 gold, assertedly had been found. Disco

eries there, the San Bernardino Valle

Index predicted, would help make th

county "one of the largest bullion pr

ducers on the coast."

They didn't. But Calico may have bee

to blame. With in a year, that exciteme

was in full swing probably, as usual d

populat ing all surrounding distr icts. B

mines opened in the Dry Lake Distr

continued to operate unti l World War

Desert/June 19



Not all lost ledge hunts were confined

ountains —which was blown up

which could move Lee's ledge to

George Lee told the keepers of

said, that

was going out to work his Black Kett le

I t was " in the eastern Mojave,"

Belden then noted that there was no

corded a quartz location. He hired a man

to help him, then sank a shaft, put up a

windlass and built an arrastre. He made

no effort to conceal the location, even in-

viting possible investors to come see his

mine.

On one visit to town, Lee told the

storekeeper he must hurry back. His

helper was almost out of food. He left

that night. Next morning his body, a

bullet in the head, was found near SanBernardino. He had not been robbed.

The kil ler was never discovered. The

public administrator set out with a party

to search for the mine and the helper.

They did not f ind either.

uin, now gone, marked site of Emerson m ine mill in Dry Lake District. For

Ames obtained his water from Eme rson well at edge of dry lake. 1949

by Harold O . Weight.

reat difference between cast iron black

kettles and cast iron Dutch ovens of the

per iod. Back in the 1890s, Tom Scofield

is supposed to have followed an old trail

into the Clippers and at its end found anold shaft and a tattered and abandoned

prospector's camp— an d a Dutch oven

f i l led with mined gold. Once having left ,

he could not f ind it again. Could this lost

Dutch Oven mine really have been

George Lee's Black Kett le camp, Belden

wondered.

Sometime in this century, the Lost Lee

legend itself underwent drast ic changes.

In 1936 (Rufus Wilson: "Out of the

W es t") a version went l ike this: One day

Lee came into San Bernardino and re-Des ert/ June 1979

Wilson indicated the story came from

a veteran prospector and Lost Lee

hunter. Veteran prospector and Lost Lee

hunter Amargosa Charley Gibbs was re-

sponsible for the next variat ion, in theTwentynine Palms Desert Trail, Apr i l 2,

1937. I t fol lowed the Wilson version

c lose ly —w i th two s tar t l ing changes

George Lee had become Robert Lee, anc

his discovery of the ledge and his death

(by being shot through the heart instead

of the head) both were moved up into the

1890s.

Amargosa Charley said he had redis

covered the Lost Lee some twenty miles

north of Twe ntynine Palms, which woulc

Continued on Page 38

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11



Looking north atTonopah &Tidewater

depot and post office-freight

house and platform beyond.

The

Borax Haulerb y R . M . L O W E

ITS CORPORATE name of "Tonopah

& Tidewater Rai l road" conjured up a

railroad upon which gold andsilverf lowed from the hard rocks of Tonopah to

the seething waters of the ocean. How-

ever, the name was amisnomer inthat

the l ine never reached the l imits ofeither

place, and from the day t star ted, its

main cargo was borax.

After Francis Marion (Borax) Smith

took over W. T. Coleman's borax proper-

t ies, which included the Lila Cmine,he

turned hisattent ion tosome method of

t ransport ing his borax to the Pacific

Coast. His i rs t exper iment was with a

12

steam tract ion engine pull ing wagons of

borax over a rock base road. The scheme

fizzled, and Smith f inally got it through

his rather solid noggin that a railroad

was the only pract ical way.

Upon considered advice from Senator

Clark, Montana copper king and ownerof the SP,LA&SL railroad (Pedro Line),

Smith picked thesmall rail terminal of

Las Vegas as thestart ing point for his

rail line tothe Lila Cmine.

In early 1905, Smith's assistants,

headed by John R yan, established a tent

headquarters at Las Vegas andbegan

throwing up a roadbed forthe new rail

l ine. After about a month, men and

horses had completed anine mile grade.

However, atthis point, clouds began to

gather over thescene when Clark be-

came suspicious of Smith's intent io

Big strikes at Tonopah andGoldf i

gave Clark the idea that Smith was on

way to thenew strikes, instead of

Lila Cmine.

In order to discourage Sm ith, rates

Clark's road rose abruptly. When Smfound that the rate on 10,000 cross ti

from San Pedro toLas Vegas, had go

up to 45 cents per tie , he was astound

Finally, when Smith could stand t

pressure no longer, he pulled the pin

the project and moved his entire ou

by wagon t ra in , to themore fr ien

Santa Fe Railroad atLudlow, Californ

In November, 1905, Smith took a

again athis Lila C when the f irst rails

his T&T crawled slowly down the

f rom Ludlow toward Silver Lake. SmD e s e r t / J u n e 1



and Clark tangled again over crossing

the Pedro l ine at Crucero. Smith won the

battle and continued building. Silver

Lake was finally reached in March of

1906. It was obvious then that steel driv-

ing men would soon put an end to the

"Twenty Mule Team" scenar io forever .

Laying rails across the dry bed of

Silver Lake was an error that would cost

Smith plenty. To prove it, the tal l San

Bernardino Mo unta ins shed a thick coatof snow in the spring that turned into a

wall of boil ing w ater as it rol led down the

u su a l l y d r y Mo ja ve R i ve r b e d . A t

Crucero, the water turned nor th, past

Baker, and dumped its load into Silver

Lake. T&T tracks were inundated for

about seven miles.

Battl ing Smith got up again and start-

ed hauling train loads of rock to the lake

in order to raise the track to what he

thought would be above water level in

f lood t imes. I t d idn ' t work out—in 1916,old Big Bear called his hand again by

sending an even bigger load of l iquid

down the tube. This t im e, water covered

the track so deep that on several occa-

sions it poured into locomotive fireboxes

a n d s t a l le d t h e m . W o o d e n p i l i n g s ,

holding the Silver Lake depot fair ly high

off the ground, began to lean from

pounding waves unt i l they turned com-

pletely over, dumping the structure in

several feet of mud and water. The old

station agent escaped unhurt, but was

heard to complain that the last t ime he

saw his chair cushion, i t was sail ing to-

ward Avawatz Mounta in.

Smith grudgingly gave up the lake

route, and buil t a l ine on higher ground

along the lake's east shore. Residences

and business houses were skidded to a

point near the new depot. Evidence of

the old rock bed across the lake can be

seen to this day, but being too rough to

drive on, it's still as useless as the day it

was bui l t .Laying track north, across hot sands of

Dumont on to the mouth of Amargosa

canyon, proved to be almost too much for

man and horse. Instead of high water,

the nemesis was now scalding heat.

Finally, in June, al l work had to be

stopped until a crew of 95 Japanese la-

borers arr ived from Los Angeles. After a

few days, Roadmaster Ben Horton,

checking on the new crew , found that o ut

of the 95 men, only 27 were actually

work ing . The others were spraying the

working ones with whooshes of water

from their mouths—Chinese laundry

fashion.

Rock-walled Amargosa canyon was a

hard one to crack, and Tecopa was not

reached unti l May of 1907. In this wel-

come oasis of potable water and handy

hot springs, a terminal was established.

Wh en the l ine was finally c ompleted to

Death Valley Junction, in the fal l of

1907, Smith lost no time and buil t a

branch out to his Li la C mine. A ship-

ment of borax went out on the new l ine

as soon as the last spike was driven.

Borax Smith br istled, and then laughed

at his completed dream.

After I learned telegraphy from my fa-

ther, D. W. Lowe, who was agent at Te-

copa for the T& T, I was ordered to S ilver

Lake in December of 1923 to take over

that station from D. A. Gray, an old

Spanish-American War veteran who had

suffered a stroke while on duty.

In that l i tt le depot, which included myliving quarters, I wore many hats, some

of which proved almost too large for my

18-year-old swelled head. In addition to

agent, I was the telegrapher-postmaster-

weighmaster-water pumper-and express

agent.

Silver Lake was on the main and only

road between Yermo and the mining

town of Goodsprings, and an important

gasoline stop. M y depot was the gas sta-

t ion. I 'd measure out "Red Crown" gas-

oline in a one gallon can from a barrel,then pour and spil l i t into their tanks, at

30cents per gallon. Windshield washing

was taboo, because water was scarce, so

I told them. My cl ientele averaged about

four cars per day.

It was a big day for me when, in 1924,

I received my appointment as postmas-

ter , s igned by President "Si lent Cal"

Coolidge— true to for m , he was brief and

to the point about it. I liked that job as

postmaster, especial ly the reading of

postcards in transit, and did al l r ight

unti l I took exception to one and answer-

Group of

tourists with

author,

extreme right,

in front of

Baker's first

garage, in late

fall of 1924.

Desert/June 1979

Hiffl *** *\Jt

13



ed i t . What t ranspired from there made

me wish I 'd never learned to read.

Litt le Silver Lake perked up quite a bit

when Frank X. Hoveley established a

store in one of our old buildings. It was

handy for us, and d id n ' t h ur t Ralph 's b ig

store in Los Angeles one bit. Frank's

young wi fe , My r t le , and two babies f i l led

a gap in our environment that was sorely

needed. I had to laugh when some old

cabin dwellers shaved for the first t imein weeks, then pranced by the store

l ike youngsters on their way to the post

office. A woman in the town restr icted

our ways some, but i t was worth i t.

When a rumor ci rcu lated about town,

in the summer of 1924, that a new high-

way through Baker was planned, and

that Silver Lake would die on the vine,

the old-timers just snorted and said,

"There 's a sand p i t known as 'Cronise

Valley' that wil l stop them. It always

has—so forget i t." They had to eat their

words wh en, a few weeks later, w e saw

dust r ising above busy machines near

Baker. We learned that they had not only

crossed Cronise, but were well on their

way to Halloran Springs and Vegas.

Frank believed the hand writ ing on the

wall by closing his store at Silver Lake,

and moved to Baker where he buil t the

first gas station, lunch room and garage.

Sometime later, Fairbanks & Brown,

from Shoshone, established businesses

across the tracks from Frank's layout.

The area was jumping and I had to

keep up with i t. To start w i th , I str ipped

an old Model-T Ford down to i ts engine

and frame, then added a Rajo head,

Stromberg carburetor, bucket seat andtwo meta l t runks. One trunk for grub,

the other one I slept in when out on the

prow l —sidew inders dictated that move.

I l ike to th ink that o ld "sand-hog" was

the forerunner of today's "dune-buggy."

Getting back to the ra i lroad, the stable

of T&T locomotives, at Ludlow, came in

as many varieties as the famous 57 of

p i ck l e s . Ho we ve r , t h e y we r e We l l

shopped, and when one of them went

sour, Master Mechanic Jack Stalker and

his hearties put it back in mint condition

in no time. In my memory album, I can

sti l l see the gr im visaged grandeur of a

T&T locomotive leading a mixed train of

borax, merchandise and people across

aklali flats and into the restless sand

dunes of Dumo nt. I can sti l l hear the pur-

M O T O R

LODGE

346-8113

75-188 H ighway 111,

Indian W ells,California 92260

First Phase of Ou r Re m o del ingP ro g ram No w C o m p le t e d

THE DESERT'SMOST FAM OUS BISTRO

346-2314

Author and

passengers in his

"Sand-Hog,"

early forerunner

of modern-day

dune buggy.Tonopah and

Tidewater depot

and p ost off ice

at Silver Lake,

California in 1924.

Author, at 18 years

of age, was

youngest

postmaster in

the state.

poseful l i tt le steamer, fussing and blast

ing reverberating chunks from the walls

of Amargosa canyon, and how melodious

solos from its whistle sent curious

coyotes scurrying from tal l cl i ffs above

It was a train out of never, never land

such as a l i tt le boy might draw with un

certain crayons in a nickle tablet;

drawing to be remembered, but impossi

ble to duplicate.

T&T employees were Superintenden

Wash Cahi l l 's b ig fami ly—he kneweveryone of them —and they knew him

They gladly traded many days of hones

sweat in order to keep things solvent

but in spite of their good motives, the

li tt le hauler never made a dime of prof

during its life of 35 years. A sad an

tearful group of employees watched

expire on J uly 18,1942, when contractor

Sharp & Fellows jerked up the last ra i

Now and then, when I wander amon

the mounds of rusted tin cans and pile

of talc at Silver Lake, I can still see th

old town as it was. Sometimes I seem t

hear the drumbeat of marching feet—

oldtimers that I knew, going about the

work and using a unique brand of rhe

tor ic, that i f cut, would have bled. Lik

the l i tt le t ra in , they dwell today in mem

ory only.

The first tenant of this area, the an

cient w i nd , in ful l charge now, may shi

the desert sand as it wi l l , but i t wil l neve

blow away the dear memories of thing

that used to be.

14 Des ert/June 19



" The or i g i nal of t h i s pai nt i ng not for sal e . Nowin the collect ion of Dr. & Mrs . Ft. S. Baddo ur,P alm S pr i ngs, C al i for ni a ."

7 4 - 4 2 5 H I G H W A Y 1 1 1P A L M D E S E R T , C A L I F .

C o l o r a d oR i v e r

G h o s t T o w n sBy Stanley W. Paher

Ghost Tawm

The skel e t al rem ai ns of abandone d m i nes

and t ow ns i n t he Cer bat Mount ai ns and

ot her bar r en r anges i n w est er n Ar i zona

al ong t he Col or ado Ri ver ar e v i s i t ed byt he aut hor . Lavi shl y i l l ust r at ed w i t h r ar e

o l d p h o t o s . L a r ge f o r m a t . S t a n da r d

edi t i on i s $2.95.

B e a u t i f u l 91/2x12 3/ < h a r d c o v e r e d i t i o n

cont ai ns 15 four -col or r epr oduct i ons of

e t chi ngs by not ed Roy P u r cel l . $9.95

P lease add 50c for pos t age/ handl i ng

Cal i f , r es i dent s pl ease add 6% st at e sal es t ax

Magazine Book Shop

P .O . Box 1318, P al m Deser t , Cal i for ni a 92260

D e s e r t / J u n e 1 9 7 9 15



pack of four coyotes with two pups were

seen strolling up Sunset Boulevard in

Pacific Palisades. An old Indian legend

seems to have predicted al l this activity:

i t said that the coyote wil l be "the last

an ima l on ear th . "

According to wildl i fe scientists, the

coyote is an importa nt l ink in the chain of

preda tion. As a control ler of range-

destroy ing roden ts, the coyote wins most

of the awards, even outclassing owls,

hawks and foxes as a ski l led mouser,

gobbling mice with as much ease and

consistency as any anima l on ea rth. Coy-otes wil l fol low elk herds waiting to pick

off mice disturbed by their passing; they

also follow harvest machines and some-

times snowplows. Coloradoan Louis Vid-

akovich says, " I l ike to watch them in the

evening. They come down to the mea-

dow and sit there , waiting for the mice to

start coming through the grass. Then

they pounce and whack down at the

ground with their front feet unti l dark.

Every pounce is a mouse." Likewise,

they eat gophers and jack rabbits,their

Desert/June 1979

principal non-vegetable food supply.

Jack rabbits, in only a few nights, can

denude a farm er's green field w ith the

thoroughness of grasshoppers.

As a predator, the coyote serves an-

other ecological function by helping to

produce stronger game-animals such as

antelope, deer, elk and moose by ki l l ing

the weak, sick and aged, el iminating

these infer ior specimens from the breed-

ing cyle. The wolf, w ith his superior size,

had done a more intensive job, but pre-

dator control and inadequate adaptabil-

i ty have removed the American wolfalmost entirely. The coyote, along with

the rare cougar and less aggressive black

bear, remain to carry out this task.

The classic exam ple of ecological irony

took place on the Kaibab Plateau in Ari-

zona early in this century, an area set

aside by President Theodore Roosevelt

as a national game reserve. The crucial

error was to al low predator con trol lers to

kill over 4000 carnivores over a 20-year

period, most of them coyotes. The deer

on the p la teau increased to abou t

100,000, among them inferior speci-

mens, freaks and disease carriers. Even-

tually the entire herd died, leaving the

area nearly stripped of forage, ravaged

and desolate.

The opposite occurred in 326-square-

mile Dinosaur National Monument in

northeastern Utah, where coyotes have

kept the deer herd strong and healthy by

preying on weak fawns and yearl ings, as

well as large populations of rodents in-

cluding muskrats, porcupines, marmots,

beaver, prair ie dogs, cottontai ls, hares,

pack rats and shrews.Not everyone understands the coy-

ote's beneficial contr ibution to the bio-

sphere (or agrees to this point of view).

The bounty-hu nter and the conservation-

ist, the sheepman and the w ildl i fe biolo-

gist, among others, are usually at odds

and at war with one another. In particu-

lar, the sheepmen and the wildlife scien-

tists continue to figh t as epitomized by a

superficial and distorted dichotomy of

bumper-sticker assertions: "Eat lamb;

20 thousand coyotes can't be w ro ng ." vs

17



however, that the coyote does indeed kill

sheep during severe winters when car-

r ion is unavailable.

Sheepmen, nevertheless, say that in

1974 in this country, 800,000 sheep were

kil led by coyotes, a total value of

$17,000,000. (This took place after the

1972 ban on the use of poison as a pre-

dator control.) They insist that predator

control (particularly of the coyote) is es-

sential to the protection of their flocksbecause sheep are "d u m b ," wander

often, and are therefore easier to find

and attack than the more alert wild

rodents.

Over the years, the weapons of this

des i red p reda to r con t ro l have been

varied (guns, leg-hold traps, bait-explod-

ing devices, as well as trackin g and chas-

ing with airplanes, helicopters and snow

mobiles), but direct poisoning has been

the most deadly and effective. Even

emetic conditioning and anti- ferti l i ty

chemicals were tr ied with l imited suc-

cess. Poison killed over 90,000 coyotes

each year during the 60s, but when a

Presidential order banned its use on all

public lands in 1972 (with restrictions

eased somewhat three years later), the

sheepmen-conservationists feud inten-

sif ied.

Despite the 1972 ban, hunters and

trappers under federal sponsorship con-

t inued ki l l ing coyotes. Most an imals,

however, adjust their reproduction to en-

vironmental conditions: as animals areremoved from a populat ion, the rem ain-

ing members find l iving easier with more

available food, producing healthier l i t-

ters. The coyote can withstand a loss up

to 70 percent of i ts numbers and sti l l p ro-

duce abundantly enough to replace

them.

A l th o u g h a g i ta te d sh e e p me n a n d

wildl i fe biologists argue over the coy-

ote's worth as a predator, both confirm

the coyote's undaunted and almost un-

canny adaptabil i ty to al l conditions. Pre-dator control has been attempted for

more than 100 years as western farmers

and ranchers tr ied to exterminate coy-

otes. Mil l ions of dollars have been spent

on poison-bait programs, paid govern-

ment trappers and hunters and expen-

sive bounties; despite these extended ef-

forts, the coyote's habitat now include

forest, farm and wood lot as well as the

pra ir ie . He has not lost but has expanded

his range.

This re la t ive ly smal l an imal , w eighing

The wily coyote

peers down

from a rocky ledge.

Photo by E. P. Haddon.

20-40 pounds and standing about 16-21

inches at the shoulders (western coyote)

is found from South America to northern

Alaska. Suspicious and opportunistic,

the coyote learns from his mistakes andteaches its young not to make the same

ones. His ingenuity and instinctive ca-

pacity to develop hunting and denning

patterns give him what Alfred Etter call-

ed a " te r r i to r ia l impera t ive . "

Wh en a farm er, rancher or hunter fai ls

to understand and honor a coyote's terr i -

tory, he may cause more predation.than

he (thinks) he is prev enting. Coyotes fol-

low a runw ay or circuit in their area

which includes trai ls, washes, ditch

banks and old roads used throughout hisl i fetime, given sufficient food. The coy-

ote's young are born and raised in the

same area and wi l l , in t u rn , learn the

same secret places and paths, seasonal

knowledge and location of prey from

their parents. Only starvation or con-

tinued persecution cause the animal to

forsake his terr i tory.

A coyote "wel l -ad justed" to h is terr i -

tory has no need to attack sheep or

game-animals. His natural ly-managed

food supply is sufficient. Outsiders —

knowingly or otherwise—who disturbthe balanced l i fe within the terr i tory by

kil l ing the usually few coyotes l iving

within i ts boundaries create a vacuum

into which a greater number of "d r i f t -

i n g " coyotes may be drawn, often to in-

discr imin ately ki l l sheep or game. These

intruders wil l not usually impose them-

selves upon an established territory if

the resident, high-ranking coyotes are

alive.

In his eloquent book, "Slaughter the

Animals, Poison the Earth," Jack Olsensays, "By meddling in the coyote's terr i -

tor ial imperative, interrupting the nor-

mal processes of nature, the killers of

coyotes appear to have created a self-

perpetuating dynasty, where the work

they do is made necessary by the work

they have done." No one has said it

better.

The life cycle of the coyote is typical of

nature's ult imately efficient system. The

coyote's reproductive rate is usually low,

with less than 50 percent of a litter (aver-

fc.. s t -

7 to 10 pups) surviving the first

winter. Coyotes are intensely protective,

affectionate and devoted, with even un-mated females protecting and feeding

the pups of another female when the

mother is absent. Despite these close re-

lationships, there is f ierce comp etit ion in

a season when hunting is poor, with re-

sulting high mortal i ty. Fast growers, the

young coyotes are soon capable of

joining their parents in the hunt for small

prey. Once the hardships of winter and

the dangers of other predators during

the first year have passed, the coyote's

only real enemy is man.Man's threats, however, are abun-

dant. The guns, traps, poisons, hounds

and cars are seemingly everywhere, but

some coyotes survive the hum an gauntlet

for 12 years or more until old age slows

them down. Then weakened by the in-

ability to feed fully, parasites or disease

wil l inevitably take hold. The next winter

the coyote will become too weak to hunt

arid eventually become food to his suc-

cessor in the uny ie ld ing cyc le o f

l i fe-death. , •

Desert/June 1979 19



I « . • • •

M7V

I I

NOT MANY people of the mid-20th

Century have had the satisfaction of

found ing a tow n, but S. A. Ragsdale

d i d , and more than one.

Desert Steve, as he was known more

than a half century , died in M ay 1971, 88

years old, with not one place name butseveral to survive him. His primary

monument is the Riverside County com-

munity of Desert Center, California,

which he established on a 700-acre

homestead in 1921.

Ironically, the community, st i l l pri-

marily owned by Ragsdale's Desert Cen-

ter Service and Supply, Inc., has been

bypassed by the national highway it was

established to serve, U.S. 60. Unlike

many such deser t oases , however ,

Desert Center is st i l l thrivi ng . Not so the

20

other sites Ragsdale and his family

created —U topia, Cactus C ity and Hel l .

Cactus City as a place name exists in

the two state highway rest stops along-

side Interstate 10 and as a pumping sta-

tion on the Big Inch gas pipelines from

Texas to the Los Angeles area.Not so remembered are Utopia, near

the Junction of 1-10 and State Highway

195 about a dozen miles east of Cactus

City, and Hel l , which survived several

highway improvements over the post

World War I I years but is now buried

under the westbound lanes of 1-10 about

eight miles southeast of Desert Center.

A group o f dy ing tamar isk and

thriving palo verde trees and a few

broken slabs of concrete still mark the

site of Hel l , which had the dist inct ion of

" D e s e r t

S t e v e "T h e

T o w nF o u n d eby BILL JENNINGS

"Desert Steve'

Ragsdale.

carrying both the shortest and perha

the most controversial of all place nam

along the major Los Angeles-Phoen

highway. To be sure, there are a fe

shorter place names in the southweste

Arizona and California deserts, part ic

larly Ajo and Why, within a few miles each other southwest of Tucson.

Hell was controversial in the preci

way Ragsdale wanted it to be, so peop

would remember it , and him. A form

protestant minister, the Kansas nati

sometimes jarred his companions, ora

and in print, with his mild profanity,

least mild by today's standards. Some

his neighbors and friends objected to t

naming of the gas station and garage f

the Devil's country club but it nev

bothered Ragsdale.

D e s e r t / J u n e 1 9



High in the Santa Rosa

Mountains, Steve is silhouetted

above the desert he loved.

He came to the desert originally from

Ragsdale's version of how he moved to

but consistently he alluded to crop

"W en t broke on seven-cent cot-

he once told Randall Henderson, a

Desert

I f you knew both men you might won-

l love and deep un-

of the desert, made perman-

Henderson, a graduate of the Univer-

orld W ar I as editor and prin ter for the

Herald, one of several weekly

lly in the boom and boost t imes

Maybe they went busted at about the

another starving weekly, at

the same t ime the Ragsdale fam ily

to Ford Dry Lake, to Old M an

the first m id-des ert service station in

then a dirt track that meandered

Cruen dyke, one of the desert 's earl iest

homesteaders, has been lost to history,and the only first name or initials for him

appears to be "Ol d M a n. "

That f irst stop didn't last long, an d

M r s . Ragsdale and the f irst children of

he couple followed faithfully. Soon the

ld road was rerouted some miles south

of Ford Lake and Ragsdale wisely

selected the site of present-day Desert

Center for his permanent town. A wise

choice, because during General George

Patton's armored training center days

ear ly in W or ld Wa r I I the oas is

e s e r t / J u n e 1 9 7 9 21



Im'Steve Ragsdale, P oet and Pioneer.

• • . • . m *

f lour ished and the Ragsda le fami ly

became surrogate kinfolks for thousands

of homesick GIs, part icularly Mother

Lydia.

Then, however, the strong character

of Ragsdale became famous. He refused

to sell beer to the troops, or permit any-

one else to do so at Desert Center. He

once told Henderson he had been offered

$5,000 for the beer concession, even be-

fore the war.

" I tu rne d it down because no person

could afford to pay so high a price for the

privilege of serving beer at Desert Cen-

ter , " he said. "I knew they intended to

get their money back if they obtained a

lease. I will not have any honkytonks at

Desert Center, not at any price."

Henderson , in the same art icle, a com-prehensive history of Desert Center and

its founder, said Ragsdale had two vices,

tall tales and bad poetry. In my l imited

acquaintance with the old boy, dat ing to

my own early desert weekly newspaper

days in Indio after Wo rld W ar 11,1 wou ld

have to add a few m ore, a sometimes te r-

rible temper, intolerance on several sub-

jects and a disregard of the working

schedule for other people.

1 ran into all three tra its at the same

t ime , when he visited the news depart-22

ment of the Old Date Palm newspap

and used to harangue Editor Ole No

land and myself, especially when I h

the temerity to defend the New Deal a

the liberal influences in the governme

But Steve had so many admirab

sides you tended to forget the few fau l

He was kind to his friends, went out

his way to help unlucky miners and

porters who might be a litt le shy in t

desert lore department.

He built the Peg Leg Monument ne

Borrego Springs in 1949 because o

New Year's resolut ion he made dur

one of the early Peg Leg Liars Cont

sessions, which used to be held on N

year's Eve. His old sign survives, alo

with the p ile, but the mail box and gu

register long since disappeared. His sreminds liars and all seekers for the P

Leg lost gold lode to place 10 rocks

the pile before them embark, and ma

sti l l do.

Ragsdale was a write r of prose, as w

as doggerel, and one of the few stor

that ever saw print was "M y Friend ,

Tortoise," which appeared in Deser

July 1939. Some of his poetry surviv

too, in the form of old printed signs

used to post on the rough road leading

his Santa Rosa Mountain cabin.

Desert/June 1



The signs are collector's items of

ourse, but part of the same legend still

ppears in fading print on a granite

oulder along the Forest Service road to

Santa Rosa and Toro.

"Santa Rosa Mountain — Desert

teve 's E igh th Heaven — Al l Decent

Fo lks We lcom e . E n joy , bu t D on ' t

Des t roy . "

The poetry that followed was indeed

950 tr ib ute , called Ragsdale " a cour-

geous pioneer and the world's worst

oet . "

I can 't buy tha t last pa rt, because I've

here's a sample from the Santa Rosa

signs:

"I f hung ry then come to our house

made of logs

We will share our beans and also

our hog.

But don't shoot our deer or birds,my f r iend,

If I catch you at it, I 'll kick your

rear end. "

There's more, before and after, but

isn't that enough?

In his later years, Ragsdale spent most

of his time in the Santa Rosas, while son

Stanley took over at Desert Center. Son

Thurmond operated Utopia for several

years and more recently has been a resi-

dent of the Kaiser Steel mining town of

Eagle Mountain, northwest of Desert

Center.

Perhaps the most bizarre chapter in

the long l ife saga of the Co ffeyvil le, Kan -

sas, native occurred in his declining

years and after his de ath. The fam ily be-

came estranged and Steve was denied

his wish for burial in the rocky tomb he

had prepared years before in a spur of

the Chuckwalla Mountains just south of

Desert Center.

For years, before his removal to the

Santa Rosas, Steve had maintained an

old trailer in those hil ls where he did

most of his wri t ing and spent many days

in solitude, alone with his sometimes bit-

ter thoughts about the New Deal, the

later-day vandalism and overcrowding of

the desert.

Afte r his death at P inyon F lats —now

called Pinyon Pines by its more sophisti-

cated residents —b urial was sou ght at

the rocky eyrie above the Palen Valley.

Riverside County regulat ions prevented

this wish and Steve's last resting place

became the shaded Coachella ValleyDesert/June 1979

Cemetery, peaceful but not the same.

Steve's old fr ie nd , a fellow Palo Verde

pioneer, County Coroner Ben Wh ite, had

given oral permission for the private

bur ia l , but the combination of bureau-

crat ic red tape, and family reluctance,

combined to prevent Ragsdale's long-

t ime wish. Despite his bad heart, con-

stant care and instantly available oxygen

in his succession of big Chrysler cars

helped Steve outlast White.

Terry Low, who had been Desert

Steve's secretary and general helper for

more than 25 years, by her own state-

ment, said his friends should not mourn

his passing.

"A few days before his death," she

wrote me in 1971, "Steve said, 'Terry,

no one ever rea lly ever dies, for he or she

lives in the mind of others who have

known them , for the principles they l ived

by, and what they have done. I have

lived a long l ife; made many errors, buthave always tried to do more good than

h a r m . "

I ronically, two o ld single blanket pros-

pectors he had befriended in the early

days, Gus Lederer and Tommy Jones,

fared better after death than Ragsdale.

He had buried both in rock-covered

graves at Aztec We l l , upstream from

Corn Spring in the same Chuckwalla

Mountains, and except for the predict-

able vandalism, their lonely graves are

st i l l out there.

I hate to repeat any more Ragsdale

poetry, but perhaps his own epitath

should be memorialized, as follows:

DESERT STEVE

Worked like hell to be

An Honest American citizen

Loved his fellow men

and served them

Hated Booze Guzzling

Hated War

Hated Dirty Deal

Hated Damn Fool Politicians.

Hopes a guy nam ed Ragsdale

Will ever serve humanity

At Desert Center.

He dug his own grave.

Here are his bones.

I put this damn thing up

Before I kicked off.

Nuff said—Steve.

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23



T H E S H IMME R IN G hea t w av es

blurred the horizon as the soldier

squinted against the sun. Wiping the

sweat from his brow with his sleeve, he

tugged on the reins of his pack horse.

His usual utterance about the animal 's

ancestry was strangely absent in the

Augu st heat. In fact, the entire company

of the King's soldiers was unusual ly

quiet as they trudged over the dusty

t ra i l .

It had been two days since the expedi-

t ion had experienced a severe earth-

quake. The many aftershocks had made

the animals uneasy and the religious

Span iards more respec t fu l i n the i r

language. When the soldiers had joined

Gaspar de Portola in his trek to Mon-

terey they could not have imagined the

strange sights and experiences that

would greet them on the Los Angeles

Plain. They had camped on the banks of

the Santa Ana River the evening of the

earthquake. When the main shock oc-curred men and horses were knocked to

the ground. The river i tself was thrown

from its channel. Portola was so moved

by the experience that he named the

river "The River of the Sweetest Name

of Jesus of the Earthquakes."

Riding at the head of the column Por-

tola noticed the uneasiness of the men

and animals. He glanced at Father Juan

Crespi riding at his side. The friar was

engrossed in jott ing in his journal.

"August 3, 1769," he wrote s lowly, t ry-

ing to avoid the uneven movement of hismount. A wisp of wind suddenly ruff led

the pages in the journa l. The friar 's eyes

met those of the expedition's leader in a

si lent communication. The two men

turned in their saddles towards a now

fam il iar sound approaching from th e dis-

tant San Gabriel Range.

At f i rst i t sounded l ike distant thun-

der, but experience had made the men

well aware of the approaching terror.

The animals bolted as the soldiers strug-

gled to control them as well as their own

panic. The sound increased as it ap-proached and the earth shuddered. As

the tremblin g increased the men half fe l l

— half kneeled to the ground uttering

long forgotten prayers of their chi ld-

hood. The animals broke their restraints

and ran with a stumbling gal lop on the

unsure footing. Then, as suddenly as i t

started, the trembler was over.

The expedit ion recovered the animals

and continued across the dusty plain

24 De



by ROY SALLS

with the men muttering about the value

of such expeditions and their own sanity

for becoming involved. Shortly after the

aftershock they came upon another won-

der of this strange land. They had en-

tered an area of bubbling asphalt springs

cal led "brea" by the Spanish. Crespi

recorded the first account of Europeans

sighting the famous La Brea Tar Pits. An

entry in his journal described the sight-

ing. "The 3rd (August 1769). We pro-

ceeded for thre e hours on a good road; to

the right of it were extensive swamps of

bi tumen which is cal led "chapapote"

(by the Indians). We debated whether

this substance, which f lows melted from

underneath the earth, could occasion so

many earthquakes."

Father Crespi thought the asphalt

flows or tar seeps were volcanic in na-

ture and the cause of the earthquakes.

He was correct in making the relation-

ship between earthquakes and the as-

phalt f lows, but incorrect in determiningthe i r poss ib le vo lcan ic na ture . The

asphalt f lows, known the world over as

the La Brea Tar Pits, are the result of

earth movement along the 6th Street

Fault. The fault fractures an oi l bearing

layer of Mio-Pliocene age in what has

become known as the Salt Lake Oil Fie ld.

The fault allows the asphalt to flow to the

surface along the fault l ine by the aid of

natural gas pressure.

What the explorers did not know was

that below their feet were the remains of

prehistoric animals that wou ld make thissite one of the most famous fossil locali-

t ies in the world. Forty thousand years

before Portola, great herds of wi ld ani-

mals ranged over the Los Angeles Plain.

Camels, bison, mastodons, mammoths,

ground sloths, lions, sabertooth cats,

bears and antelope lived their l ives near

the Tar Pits, many becoming mired over

countless years in what has been called

"The Death Trap of the Ages."

Portola would have been amazed to

see such an unfamiliar animal as aGround Sloth mired in the asphalt, or at

the sight of a prowling Sabertooth. How-

ever many of the animals would have

been famil iar. Such common animals as

kangaroo rats, coyotes and grizzly bears

were contemporary with the other large

extinct animals and are found as fossils.

Mastodons, as they may

have appeared.

Photos byC. B. Obara.

25



Similodon cali fornicus [sabertooth cat] re-creation from La Brea fossils, life-size at

Page Museum in Hancock Park, Los Angeles.. California.

Today, as the result of 76 years of oil

production from the Salt Lake Oil Field,

the asphalt flow at the Tar Pits has been

severely curtai led. In Portola's t ime, In-dians were gathering the chapapote for

many uti l i tar ian uses. In fact, archaeo-

logical evidence indicates that man has

been using the asphalt for over 8,000

years. Early settlers also saw the value

of the product and quickly put it to use.

James Ohio Pattie, an early trapper,

visited Los Angeles in 1828 and noted

that the people roofed their houses with

the asphalt from the Rancho La Brea

land grant west of the pueblo. Pattie

wrote, "The houses have flat roofs cov-

ered wit h bituminous pitch brough t from

a place within four miles of the town,

where the article boils up from the earth .

As the l iquid r ises, hollow bubbles l ike a

shell of large size are form ed. W hen they

burst the noise is heard distinctly in the

town. The large pieces thus separated

(dried asphalt) , are laid on the roof prev-

iously covered with earth through which

the pitch cannot penetrate when it is

rendered l iquid again by the heat of the

s u n . "

26

It is difficult to believe that one could

hear the gas bubbles exploding four

miles away in Los Angeles but people

had diff iculty believing Jim Bridger 's

stories of hot steam boiling from the

ground in what was to become Yellow-

stone National Park. It may be that the

removal of oi l from the park has dimin-

ished the activity of the past.

Asphalt, brea, pitch, tar, bitumin or

chapapote are all names used to de-

scribe the black oily residue of the La

Brea Tar Pits. All the names are cor-

rect and the value of the substance in the

history of Los Angeles has been over-

looked by the histor ians. The originalland grant of Rancho La Brea was given

to Antonio Jose Rocha on April 8, 1828.

The grant contained a stipulation that

the people of Los Angeles had the right

to enter upon the land with the unmo-

lested right to carry away such brea as

Harlan's ground sloth,

one of the most comm on fossils

from La Brea Fossil Site.

Page Museum Exhibit.

D e s e r t / J u n e 1 9 79

they needed for the waterproofing

their adobe houses. This stipulation fo

lowed the land ti t le through many ow

ers into modern times. It is interesting

note that the asphalt deposit was also

mining claim. This gives r ise to the u

usual situation of the claim being th

only one in California where any clai

jumper could remove the "ore" legall

The claim was an important comme

cial interest in Los Angeles until oil wa

discovered on the property in 1902. Th

dried asphalt was mined in slabs an

melted down in vats. The rehardened ta

was then transported to various loc

tions by wagon. Many tons of the m

terial were loaded on sailing ships

Santa Mon ica for transport to San Fra

ciso. The early streets of the Bay Ci

were paved with part of Los Angeles, th

La Brea asphalt.

During the mining activity, mine

discovered many animal bones. As thewere constantly assisting the ranche

remove mired livestock from the ta

pools they considered the bones the re

sult of such entrapment. The bones,

reality fossils ranging up to 40,000 yea

in age, were tossed aside until there wa

a large accumulation. It was discovere

that the bones would burn. An ente



Major Henry Hancock acquired the

f ind . His discovery escaped the no-

In 1905 two famous California geolo-

Cali-

avate d betw een 1906 ^.and

In 1913 Mr. G. Allan Hancock, owner

The atriumarea of the

Page Museum

of the La Brea

Discoveries.

The fern

forest is

surrounded by

fossil exhibits.

Los Angeles County Museum the ex-

clusive r ight to excavate the property.

The Museum excavated for three yearscom plet ing the most extensive work ever

conducted on the site. It took another 15

years to clean, catalog and store the 200

tons of fossil material found. At the con-

clusion of their work the musuem had

uncovered the largest collection of Ice

Age fossils ever found. The discovery

was so importan t to paleontology that La

Brea was made a type locality for the

latest part of the Pleistocene or Ice Age.

Today, Rancholabrean is the term ap-

plied to all late Pleistocene fossils

throughout North Amer ica.

G. Allan Hancock donated 23 acres of

the most prolific fossil sites to the Coun-

ty of Los Angeles as an educational park

in May 1915. Hancock Park, named after

the donor, is located in Los Angeles at

the corner of Wilshire and Ogden Drive

in the heart of the Miracle Mile. In June

1969, a new excavation was started in

the park and is open to the public view as

well as seeking volunteers to assist in

this search of the past. Two years ago

(April 1977), through the efforts of the

D e s e r t / Ju n e 1 9 79

industr ial ist George C. Page, the Coun-

ty Museum of Natural History was able

to open the new George C. PageMuseum at the site. This museum was

the fulf i l lment of a dream of the Han-

cocks to see the fossils disp layed on their

original discovery site. Mr. Page spared

nothing in obtaining the f inest archi-

tects and exhibit designers for the mu-

seum. He has created the finest facility

of its kind in the world.

As summer approaches the desert

heat causes the search for cooler activi-

t ies. The cool tropical atr iu m with its fal-

ling waters and shady walkways beckon

to the Page Museum. The park and mu-

seum offers a day of relaxation in an ed-

ucational setting. There are tours of the

park grounds and the Museum. Two

theatres show the La Brea Story and the

Dinosaur theatre has a continuous pro-

gram. Prehistoric animals come to life on

the screen and through your guides, or

you can wander slowly at your own pace

in these pages of the pa st.

The museum is open daily except

Monday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

and admission to all attractions is free. •

27



The old Billy Denio Homestead,

right, of the early 1900s,

still stands intact. At right, center, is the bunkhouse where the posses

from two states took turns trying to bed down from the killing

snow and cold before setting out on the trail of renegade

Shoshone Mike and his band.

Opposite page: Our friends Eva and Ken Jacobs, discuss

with Al Robertson the possibility of g etting into the canyon to view

the massacre site when the way is barred by wa ll-to-wall water!

N o r t h w e s t e r n

N e v a d a ' sH i s t o r i c

L i t t l eH i g hR o c k

C o u n t r yb y D O R O T H Y R O B E R T S O N

28

M l INTER IN northwestern Nevada is

MM just too cold and w indy for an ex-

| | p l o r i n g - f o r - f u n t r i p . C o nv e r s el y ,

summer months are much too hot. But

both spring and autu mn, say the months

of May-June and mid-September-Octo-

ber are usually ideal prowling weather

months.

This region is wide open sage, rabbit

brush, buckbrush, juniper and pinyon

pine country. Inhabited homesteads are

rare; towns or hamlets are anywhere

from 50 to 100 miles apart. So if you like

to get away from elbow-to-elbow people,

northwestern Nevada is for you!

We love exploring the unmade roads

of this outback land. Most of these roads

wil l accommodate the average automo-bi le, but there is a good rule to follow in

desert travel: Don't go exploring un-

known country without adequate maps,

water and gas, and , of course, take a leaf

from old Noah's book—go two by two!

Then i f anything untoward should occur,

the second vehicle can go for help.

While poking around this fascinating

region we found three areas to be of par-

ticular interest. These are: Little High

Rock Canyon, where a gruesome Indian

Dese rt/June 1979



^

ambush and massacre of four Surprise

Valley Basque ranchers (from nearby

California) occurred back in 1911; Billy

Denio's homestead which lies a few

miles northward of the canyon, and site

of the infuriated avenging posse that

tracked down the Indians, and a knoll of

pure opalite that lies between nearby

Yellow Rock Canyon and Little High

Rock Canyon.

Gerlach is the last gas and potablewater stop for approximately the next

100 miles or so. Be sure you have enough

of both to see you back to Gerlach, or

west to the California line and the little

town of Eaglevi l le, on the other side of

Forty-nine Pass. Sometimes called the

Lonely Road —and for good reason— you

could sit by the side of the highway all

day without seeing another vehicle—so

much for Route 34!

This whole area is Pioneer Country,

even from before the days of '49, for this

is the Lass en-Applega te Tra il road. If

you take the time to explore the north-

western end of High Rock Canyon you

can seethe wagon ruts s ti l l embedded in

the rocky terrain; see the large caves

mentioned by the emigrants. Signs

pointing directions and mileage are

t.'-



placed along the highway. Here and

there histor ical monuments and plaques

appear.

We made our last tr ip out on Route 34

which junctioned with Route 8A at Vya—

nothing there but an old bui ld ing hous-

in g a one-time maintenance station, and

turned due south, heading for adventure.

Approximate ly 23 miles south of the

Vya junction a signpost on the east side

of the highway designates Litt le Indian

Springs: 3 Miles; Nell ie Springs: 1 Mi le ;

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Plaque set up at the mouth

of Little High Rock Canyon,

pointing the way to the

actual m assacre site.

Massacre Ranch 17 Miles,and Yello

Rock Canyon: 6 Miles. Follow the u

made road which winds around a lo

hil l-slope to skir t a swampy area (in wweather), then heads in a northeaster

d i rect ion. You wil l notice that en rou

there is quite a number of colorful India

chippings to be seen here. This is th

road to Yellow Rock Canyon, but at th

road fork designating the Canyon roa

turn r ight and fol low the gentle r isin

slope for a couple of miles to a sm

knoll which you wi l l see glistening in th

sunlight. This is Opalite Hi l l !

The knoll lies to the left of th

road—you can't miss it. The beautif

creamy opalescent vitreous-l ike mater

comes in shades of yellow, orange a

various browns. The poorer pieces ma

gorgeous decorative garden rocks.

Since th is is a hard material to min

we just picked up small pieces that l

around. Fractures are conchoidal. Som

pieces worked up into nice cabocho

larger chunks worked into nice spheres

After backtracking to Highway 3

proceed south (left turn) for appro

mately 12 miles where a wide road lea

east. Look to the skyline along the eaern hi l ls, and you will notice a rugge

natural gateway-l ike si lhouette. This

the landmark which is the entrance

Litt le H igh Rock Canyon. Fair ly new re

wood signs now point the way. A sh

drive leads to the canyon-mouth whe

the Northern California Cedarvi l le Tro

53, BSA has placed a commemorat

plaque showing directions and milea

to the actual site of the ambush-massa

of the four Basque ranchers. This

rough, rugged volcanic country!

When we were there, there had be

heavy rains just a few days prior to o

visi t , and thecreek that runs throu gh t

canyon was now wal l - to-wal l . We we

unable to hike the two miles in to t

actual massacre site, much to my disa

pointment, for I had been told that t

Indians' teepee wil low poles were sti l l

upr ight position on their hidden cam

site.

Here, too, at the mouth of the cany

there are many colorful Indian chippin

30 Desert/June 1



Rough opalite specimen and

sphere obtained from a

large chunk.

»«,

—chippings made from ob-

chert, rhyolite, jaspagate and

On your way out again you wil l not ice

ff in a due north

and between tall stands of sage-

you can glimpse the highway

wi th , it is only a few miles to the

I not iced at the t ime tha t the old sign-

—

It is th ril lin g to those of us who are his-

seen from the access road in.

distance, the rugged rocks show

as a sort of gate-way.

tory buffs to stand on the site and re-create those olden days, back in 1911

when the old homestead was alive with

buckeroos, lawmen and posses of aveng-

ing friends and relatives of the murde red

men, as they mil led around on their

horses, gett ing ready to follow the

Indians ' t ra i l . Even the old corral still

stands, as does the old house and bunk-

house out-buildings.

This high desert country of Route34— the Lonely Road —is a fascinating

place to visit. The air is sweet and fresh

and smogless; the effluvia one of sage

and pinyon and juniper, besides the

ever-present rabbit brush. At night, the

coyotes h owl and deer and sage hens and

chukarca l l . It is a place to visit and clear

the cobwebs of city life from your mind —

at least for a bliss ful few days! •

^

•„,.... f ,



The snark was a boojum, you see . . .

the boojum is a creature said to

live on distant, unfrequented desert

shores.

Lewis Carrol l ,

"T h e Hu nt ing o f the Sn ark"

B ILBERT SYKES had read Lewis Car-

roll's book, and when he saw the ta l l ,

skinny tree growing in the Mexican

desert, he knew he had found the " cre a-

t u r e " that Carroll had only imagined." H o , ho, a boojum, definitely a boo-

j u m ! " he is said to have exclaimed.

Since that day in 1922, the boojum has

had a name, but few people have ever

caught a glimpse of them. They are

rare —n ative only to a sma ll area of Baja

California, along a 275-mile stretch of

desert between El Rosario and San Ig-

nacio, and a small, isolated section of the

Sonoran coast between Puerto Liberdad

and Desemboque.

Until recently, the only access to the32

boojum-forest was a road that had been

described as "two cow trails which

sometimes run a parallel course." Diff i -

cult even for well-equipped four-wheel-

drive vehicles, the road was nearly im-possible for ordinary passenger cars.

About the only people who managed to

trek far enough to see the boojum were

hardy campers or curious botanists.

For those who made the tr ip , the sight

of the tree was worth the trouble. One

researcher told of his journey: "It was a

long half-day's journey beyond El Ro-

sario before we spotted our first boojum

trees . . . I t was a worthw hi le, indeed

memorable, exper ience."

Young boojums are litt le more than a

by BARBARA BIGHAM

Strange appearing cirio column

or boojum with various fl

forms that m ake Baja a botanist's ed

Photo by Ge orge Serv




V ; . ! : %

^

J'



The boojum seems to grow wildly in all directions!

prickly bal l , fat and covered with greyish

bark and spiny twigs which protect them

from predators. They grow slowly, elon-

gating and tapering off to a point unti l

they look like an upside down carrot.

During the rainy season they may

"s pu r t " up a fraction of an inch, but

during the dry season they hardly grow

at all. One cultivated specimen was mea-

sured periodically and after 25 years, it

had grown only 10 inches in height, and

two inches around its base. A boojum

can grow to well over 50 feet, and al-

though they have no tree rings, their size

indicates that they can easily be 500 to

700 years old.

The dry desert of Baja often goes up to

two years without ra in, and the boojum,

like other desert plants, survive by soak-

ing up a reservoir of water in its pulpy

trunk. During a wet spell, the boojum

will sprout leaves and even flower, but

within weeks, the blades of the leaves

drop off to conserve water loss. The

stalks of the leaves harden to form spin

twigs . M ost of the year, the boojum tre

doesn't resemble a tree at all. Its lon

tapering body is covered with leafles

twigs and spines that create a weird a

pearance.

Adding to the oddness of the booju

is the fact that few of them grow straig

upwards. Many twist into seemingly im

possible contortions, as if they'd lost a

sense of direction. They curve in lazloops and even arch down to earth agai

sinking their "heads" into the ground

fo r m wh a t e n v i r o n me n ta l i s t Jo se p

Wood Krutch described as a "gatewa

into a wizard 's garden."

Afte r seeing some of these astonishin

trees, Kru tch noted that, "Dou btles

God could have made a queerer tree .

but if He did, I have never heard of i

As comical as the boojum may seem

there is a sadness in their scarcity. S

rare are they that botanists have pthem in a class by themselves—they a

the only species in the genus Idris C

lumnaris. And even their native rang

so limited to begin wi th , is shrinkin

They are falling prey to natural enemie

such as the lichen, as well as sightsee

who uproot them as curiosities an

smuggle them into the United State

Local farmers often receive a large pa

of the ir income from "harvest ing" bo

jums which have become infested wi

bees. A single boojum hive can conta

up to 100 pounds of honey.The Mexican government has alrea

taken steps to protect the boojum a

their Baja companions. A system

elijos programs encourage the cooper

tive development of public land in Ba

by groups of farmers and ranchers. An

one who removes plants, timber or ev

rocks from the public land must have t

permission of the local elijos or risk

stiff jail sentence.

Although the new, paved Baja hig

way makes travel there less difficult thbefore, there are several adopted bo

jum trees being cultivated in the Unit

States. For a look at these oddballs of t

plant world, stop by the Desert Bota

cal Gardens in Phoenix, the Boy

Thompson Arboretum in Superior, A

zona, the Arizona-Sonora Desert M

seum in Tucson, or the Huntington B

tanical Gardens in San Marino, Calif

nia. They, as well as other desert bota

cal gardens have several examples of t

boojum of Baja.

34 D e s e r t / J u n e 1 9



N O . 31 IN A SERIES ONC A L I F O R N I A PA L M O A SES

Mountain

byDICKBLOOMQUIST

O W B A C K a t M o u n t a i n P a lm

Springs Primitive Camp after having

visited the Pygmy and Southwest

food. Desert

a l o w - g r o w i n g , s i l v e r - le a v e d

Blanched boulders stud the arroyo

ra in. Small quantit ies of water

Aft er a quarter of a mile or so, Sur-

Pencil sketch ,

by author. j

now, however, our trai l runs straight

ahead to Ma ry's Grove, a tr im l i tt le col-

ony of 35 trees. This oasis is divided into

two sections: a smaller one to the left

(which remains hidden unti l the last mo-

ment) and a larger one to the r ight

(which can been seen from the camp-

ground). At f irst glance the arroyo ap-

pears to end at the r ight-h and grou p, bu t

Mountain Palm Springs:North Grove Log

0.0 Junction of San Diego County RoadS2 and good dirt road to MountainPalm Springs Primitive Camp insouthern part of Anza-Borrego Des-ert Park. This junction is one milesouth of turnoff to Indian Gorge andValley. Turn right and drive to prim i-tive camp.

0.6 Dirt road ends at primitive camp atbase of Tierra Blanca Mountains.Hike up the arroyo entering camp-ground from the right to Mary's

Grove, which is visible from end ofroad. Just beyond uppermost palm inMary's Grove, the arroyo curves toleft. Follow it for another quarter of amile to North Grove. Total hikin g dis-tance f rom campground approx i -mately two-thirds of a mile. Elevationat N orth Grove 960 feet.

a closer inspec tion reveals that it bends

to the left beyond the uppermost palm.

For a few feet, rocks clog the channel,

which looks unpromising indeed. Within

one-quarter mile, however, the narrow

wash suddenly spreads out into the

mountain hollow which harbors the

North Grove.

The availability of water has caused

the palms to grow in vir tually a straight

line along the far side of the hollow.

Damp or muddy soil near some of the

trees and a wa ter-fi l led cavity pawed out

by an animal indicate how very close this

moisture is to the surface. As is the casewith many other alkaline desert oases,

the seepage could be drunk in an emer-

gency by humans, despite its bitterness

and probable laxative effect.

At the North Grove , 19 dignified veter-

ans watch over a large brood of 70 or 75

yo u n g e r t r e e s , a p p r o x ima te l y 4 0 o f

which are less than six feet ta l l . Fire has

not seared the oasis in recent years, and

ful l skir ts adorn al l but a handful of the

Washingtonias.

A robust elephant tree about ten feetta l l , i ts numerous fleshy l imbs contorted

like octopus tentacles, strikes its roots on

the slope south of the. grove . The

branches gave off a spicy aroma when I

brushed against them. W ith i ts purp l ish-

blue berr ies, red sap and twisted trunk

and l im bs, the elephant tree offers an ex-

traordin ary blend of colors and contours.

Next, we'l l backtrack a bit to well-

named Surprise Canyon, one of the

Anza-Borrego country's most rewarding

arroyos. •

35



<i/L Cannon

CalledULEY TWIST Canyon is one of

those out of the wayand forgotten

corners of the West that you would

pass right on by f you d idn ' t know it wa s

there. And l ike many of these back-road

places, youwould be somewhat poorer

for your ignorance. This is particular lytrue for Muley Twist Canyon. It offers

the back-country enthusiast agrand view

of the geologically famous Waterpocket

Fold, a notable landform in South Cen-

tra l Utah.

Capitol Reef National Park is a colorful

and geologically fascinating area, yet t

is largely overlooked by the hoards of

tourists who annually swarm by the mi l -

lions to Yellowstone, Yosemite and the

more " famous" parks. Capi to l Reef is a

"quiet park" where the visitor cap often

find soli tude aplenty.

Muley Twist Canyon is n the southern

en d of Capitol Reef National Park. It is

entirely open to hikers and the i rst twoand one-half miles are accessible to

motor vehicles, although four-wheel-

dr ive is usually needed to negotiate the

twisting sandy wash. To find the canyon

you can take the " B u r r T r a i l " (see Des-

ert, June 1977) going east out of Boul-

der , Utah, or yo u can take the Bullfrog

Ma rina Road, which heads south from

State Route 24 between Park Headquar-

WATERPOCKET FOLD COUNTRY

MULEY TWIST.

CANYON

TRIASSIC PERIOD %

190 - 230million years ago 135 - 190million years

ago

CRETACEOUS

65 - 135

million

years

ago

2 miles

VIEW LOOKING NORTH

36

by R O GE R M I T C H E L

tecs and Caineville. Both roads are gra

ed dirt, and except for brief periods af

summer or winter storms, areopen

year round. The start of Muley Tw

Canyon is33 miles east of Boulder, or

miles south of State Roue 24.

A National Park Service sign pointsthe proper turnoff. A pair of tracks

north across a small juniper-r inged fl

then start up the bottom of a sandy wa

in Muley Twist Canyon. The color

rocks here are part of the Moenkopi fo

mation, deposited in the bottom o

shallow sea during theearly part of

Triassic period some 225million ye

ago. Asyou can see, the once horizon

layers have subsequently been thr

upward so they now rest at an ac

angle. The strata here is l ike looking a

cross-section of a book, and he Mokopi isbut one brief chapter. Asyou lo

eastw ard, each successive layer of str

is younger than the onebefore it.

After winding up the wash two

one-half m iles, a small sign points to

r ight where a oot trai l of less than a m

leads out o Strike Valley Overlook. T

spectacular view iswell worth the sh

walk. From your vantage point on to p

this r idge, the geologic heart of t

Waterpocker Fold isexposed. From t

to p of this r idge to the top of the ridacross the valley, some seven geolo

fo r ma t i o n s r e p r e se n t i n g 100 m i l l

years of the e a r th ' s a n t i q u i t y a

exposed.

Whe n you leave your car in the wa

yo u are n theMoenkopi formation.

you start hiking on the t ra i l , you f

cross the Chinle formation, the Kaye

sandstone, and finally the Navajo sa

stone at the viewpoint. Just below in

valley you can see the thin redband

the Carmel formation, fol lowed by

D e s e r t /J u n e



a sandstone, the Summerville for-

the Morrison formation, and fin-

side, the Mancos shale.

the ominous and foreboding massif of

s are common throughout the Colo-

o Plateau Country, so the strata

ake them different here, however, is

u might have to drive many miles to

u way up from the Moenkopi to

ancos formations. But here, in less

es, they are all exposed from

single vantage point. It is like seeing

s of all the pages in a book, not

looking down on one single page at a

Capitol Reef

TORRE V L_

1B O U L D E R

r'\ A,,\ v.V

•

1IT" 79

MILES

0 5 tO 15

National Park

CANEvyj ^ V

rtv5T<2 4

HANASVILLE

T J \rpli™ MULEY

) \ TWIST\ 1 -!m C A N Y 0N

BUL LFROG

BASIN

MARINA

J ust beyond the foot trail to Strike Val-

p those willing to walk. There is very

le Arch is

and one-half miles up the canyon

And beyond Saddle Arch, there are

The next time your travels take you

tral Utah, stop and visit

Reef National Park, and of

time in Muley Twist Canyon. •

Above:

The Strike

Valley

Overlook.

Right:

Muley

Twist

Canyon.

: /

V

1979 37



Bob Waterman, grandson of Governor Waterman, did not believe the Lost Lee

ledge existed. Photographed here in his home at the Waterman Mill, about 1956.

Burr B eldon Collection, San Bernardino Weste rners ' Corral.

LOST LEEContinued from Page 77

put i t in the heart of the Bull ion Moun-

tains—and the present Marine Corps

Base. There he had found an abandoned

shaft, an old arrastre, and in the vicinitya boulder inscr ibed "Le e and M arc us ."

Ore samples he had assayed ran over

$1000 a ton. Gibbs said he had checked

the location "with the claim of Robert E.

Lee, filed in San Bernardino in 1897, and

found i t to correspond."

With no record of bonanza develop-

ments in that part of the Bull ions later,

there might be a question of whether

Cibbs had found a lost mine or was seek-

ing a gull ible mine buyer.

Since then the legend has trended to-ward a Lee, usually Robert, and the

1890s. In 1952 another hunter, who

though t the Lost Lee was a mine and two

stamp mil ls he had found in a San Ber-

nardino Mountains canyon, also offered

specifics. He went to county officials and

found a mine location made by a man

named Lee in 1890, and a record of his

death three years later due to having

been shot. So it goes.

However , Howard D. Clark, who pub-

lished several stories of the Lost Robert

Lee Ledge, also disposed of it to his own

satisfaction. In a letter to Desert Maga-

zine, Apri l , 1965, he said: "Please

scratch one lost mine . . . A man who

knew I had written about the Lee

working s wanted me to see it. There was

a short extension of the scarred old ar-rastre post above the sands. Down in the

wall of the gulch was a small tunnel. He

even found a rusted metal box which was

buried by a large bush and in it was a

mass of wads of ma terial. He sent this to

the U. S. Treasury and was informed

that i t was the residue of gold certi f i-

cates, but not redeemable . . . Yes, the

ore was gold and the place is 'out from

Old Woman Springs.' Evidence is con-

clusive that this is the site of the Lee

lo d e . "

Well, perhaps the Lost Lee should be

scrapped by now—but for reasons other

than the one Clark offered. No tunnel or

arrastre were part of any legend of

George Lee's Lost Ledge. Certainly

George's ledge produced no wads of

gold certi f icates. Lost mine hunters can

keep looking for the original Lost Lee.

That is, if they can decide where to

look, and if the area is not closed off.

A pivotal question in the solution of

the Lost Lee puzzle is whether the W hite

Metal claim really was George's r

str ike. Burr Belden's computation, bas

on Lee's filing and the location of t

Lone Star mine, placed the White Me

about ten miles northeast of Baldw

Lake. That would put it at the northea

ern edge of the San B ernardinos, sou

east of Old Woman Springs. No prod

ing mines are of record there.

But was George Lee, while seeking

legal protection of a recorded claim , ceptive on the mileage or compass dir

t ion? To misgive the mileage would n

invalidate his claim, and it might thr

potential claim jumpers completely

the track. Go another ten miles in

same direction and you are close to

Los Padres, one of the Dry Lake D

t r i c t ' s mo s t p r o d u c t i ve m in e s .

another five and you are near Earl Am

Desert King mine . You can't go that l

f ive miles today, though. The Des

King is well within the Marine Co

Base boundaries.

With every lost mine, there is alwa

the possibi l i ty that while the search fo

continues, the ledge actually has be

rediscovered — knowingly or unknow

ly—and worked under another nam

What about the Lost Lee? Some beli

the claim name, White Metal, is pr

George found si lver. But he was mig

literal in naming claims. The Pencil Le

rock looked to him like pencil lead. W

any ore besides si lver found in the

Lake Distr ict that would qualify as whmetal? There is an intr ig uing possibi

In 1969, Robert E. Ames publishe

fascinating l i tt le book entit led, " I

member . . . " in wh ich he reca lled

early life in San Bernardino and the d

erts and mountains. Among the most

teresting recollections are those of

fa ther , Earl . Earl Ames was a st

mason and bricklayer by trade, a

long prospector and miner by cho

whenever possible. According to Cha

Mecham, Ames built the earl iest adoin Calico, the first of which becam

saloon.

Around 1900, Ames discovered

Desert K ing , a few m iles east of Em

son Dry Lake. He is remembered th

today by the place name Ames Wel l .

a boy, Robert Ames went with his fa

to work the King. Traveling with a h

vily loaded wagon pulled by two la

burros, it took four days to reach

mine. The first night's camp was n

the summit of Cajon Pass, the secon

38 D e s e r t / Ju n e



the th i rd at Old Woman

and on the four th day they

at the

was th i r ty feet deep.

was in a grani te and porphyry

wasvery hard . Thevein

and lost value as they went

the wind-

and brought up the rock his father

out. Then his father would sort

it.

nd th is is Robert's description of the

as he remembered it: "The ledge of

ore was cal led 'Si lvern i te '

per ton. My father

in several hundred

of high grade ore. He would sh ip

to the mi l l and would always get a

for severa l hundred dol lars."

I have not been able to identify Silver-

However , there is the r ich tel lur ide

andsilver called Sylvanite whichrun to $1600 a ton. Compar-

it is usually associated with

and commonly in deposits

in the upper zone of the ear th 's

It has not been reported from the

but is found in Cali-

Its color is si lver -whi te to steel gray.

isbr i l l iant, meta l l ic.

If the ore Lee found was Sylvanite,

in theAmes cla im or elsewhere,

why he called it the

If it waswor th $1600 a ton

SanBernardino fr iends saw as-

it would expla in why such a deter-

was made for the ledge.

So—is the Lost Leesilver, gold or Syl-

Was it rediscovered and worked

t in the Dry Lake District? Does it lie,

in some canyon of the San

Or did Robert W. Waterman III have

Bob Waterman st i l

in what had been the Waterman

we f irst visited hisin 1950. By that t ime

b had spent too much t ime try ing to

and correct the misrepresenta-

and falsehoods in the cont inu ing

of Lost Lee stor ies.

"There never was a Lost Lee," he tolc

. "A prospector wil l hit a pocket anc

in his ore, and he's a big shot as

as that lasts. He tel ls how big his

is. And probably there 's no more

It's a ' lost mine ' not only be

hecan' t f ind i t—it isn ' t there." [

1979

Exploring Calif. Byways

#ll In and around

Los Angeles


#ll l Desert Country


#IV Mountain Country


#V Historical Sites

& L


«VI Owens Valley

Exploring Calif. Bywa

•VI I An Historic

Sketchbook

Guidebook to the

Colorado Desert

ot California

Guidebook to the

Mountains of San Diego

and Orange Counties

Exploring Historic

California

A S p e c i a lG u i d e b o o k

O f f e r i n g !

Guidebook to the

Missions of California

. : ( . - • ' •

Exploring the Unspoiled

West Vol. 1

Wyoming, Montana,

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Great reading about theWest fromthe pens of such authors asRuss Leadabrand. Choral Pepper,Marjorie Camphouse and theSocietyofAm erican Trave l Write rs.Inform ative l i t t le books that will m akeyour futu re tr ips m ore enjoyable.Well illustrated, paperback.Supplies arel im i t e d .

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39



What's

o n theDesert?

by STELLA HUGHES

C o rn Brcai l!M HERE'S AN o ld say ing , "W ha t ever

4 wi l l satisfy hunger is good fo o d . "

• Now , just thin k about that for a mo-

ment. I ' l l wager the meal you remember

best was very simple fare. Right?

The meal I ' l l never forget was prepar-

ed in camp, after a day of r id ing the rug-

ged Salt River Canyon country in Ari-

zona. Spring, that year, had settled in

l ike a nervous br ide , and Apr i l saw chil l

winds howl ing down the canyon. After

ten hours in the saddle, a cold mashed

potato sandwich would have tasted l ike

pure ambrosia.

Instead, we warmed up left-over pinto

beans and made a Dutch oven of corn

bread. The steaming bread, browned toa golden hue on top with a crunchy crust

on the bottom, made a per fect "p us he r"

to roundup the last tender beans on our

plates.

Maybe it was l ike an old Mexican

cocinero once to ld me, "W he n I 'm hu n-

gry, I 'm pretty damn good cook. When

I'm not hungry, I 'm not ver-ee good

cook. "

Cornmeal is unique to the Americas,

and corn should be a symbol of our coun-

try. Meal made from ground corn was

40

called Indian meal or Injun Corn. Differ-

ent parts of our country have synonyms

for just plain corn bread. There's hoe-

cake, ashcake, johnnycake, corn dodger,

corn pone, spoonbread, Indian slapjacks

and corn fr i tters. There are a lot more,

such as Hush Puppies, Hopi piki and the

Mexicans have masa used mostly formaking corn torti l las. There's no end to

the l ist and the New Englander, the

Midd le W est, the Deep South, the W i ld

West and the Southwest al l have their

regional favorite breads made of corn-

meal.

Remember, no matter what i t 's cal led,

cornbread mus t be served piping hot and

usual ly used as a "sop per- upp er ." Gr id-

dle cakes made from cornmeal are eaten

with a fork and covered with hot buttered

syrup.Back in the early 1940s, my husband

and I lived in the ancient village of

Oraibi, on the Hopi Indian Reservation

in northern Arizona. Here I saw piki

bread made for the first t ime. Here also,

is the only place I've ever seen the small,

stubby, blue corn as raised by the Hopi

farmers.

Traditionally, the midnight blue corn

is ground for piki when used for cere-

monies, and there are many during the

year. The blue cornmeal was home

ground on ancient stone metates w

smooth stone manos. The batter is m

by pouring boil ing water into the m

while stirr ing with a wooden spo

Then cold water is added unt i l the ba

is a thin g ruel. Finely sifted juni

ashes are added to give a special fla

The ashes are made by burning

green foliage and not the wood. So

prefer greasewood ashes.

The Hopi women all had a piki stoMost were of sandstone over two inc

thick and placed a few inches abov

cedar f i re . The sandstone beca

smooth and shiny from use with mu

tallow used for greasing. Sitt ing alo

side their smoky, cedar fire for ho

the women dip into the gruel, swi

with several graceful sweeps with

palm of their hand, the paper-thin br

bakin g in mome nts. No tim e is los

peeling the sheet from the gr i l l and

ing it up with sides tucked in. The fin

ed roll is about th e size of a corn cob

is as crisp as a potato chip. If you'v e

made milk gravy, and after pouring f

the sk illet, the residue on the

drying and curl ing l ike tissue pa

gives you an idea how piki looks

feels.

Piki is still being made by the Pu

Indians of Arizona and New Mexico,

the modern housewife gr inds her c

more often than not, with an ele

grain gr inder.

It 's a long, long way from Hopi

bread to New England johnnycake,

both derive their or igin from anc

grown corn. Rhode Island's early his

tells us johnnycake may have first b

called journey cake, and as time pa

became simply johnnycake.

The true Rhode Island johnnycak

made from white cornmeal, salt

water. Some add sugar, but the or i

recipes did not call for sugar. The d

in-the-wool New Englanders don't

sugar to their johnnycake even todOnly the corn called whitecap flin

ground for making Rhode Island joh

cake. It must be stone ground and in

East you might find the meal for sa

supermarkets, gourmet stores or h

food stores. Here in Arizona, I 'd p

ably starve before I could find a poun

stone-ground whitecap flint cornm

Howe ver, i t can be ordered from Ke

Co r n Me a l Co m p a n y , Usq u e p a

Rhode Island 02892. Wr ite them for

t icu lars.




Johnnycake

A cups boil ing water

A tablespoons melted buttersalt to ta ste

milk

Mix cornmeal, salt (and sugar if de-

ot melted butte r. I f too thick to d rop

tter should be thicker tha n hot

vegetable oil or bacon dr ip-

Because I had only commercial white

johnnycake from non-stone ground

john-

Just remem ber, johnnycake is not

Southern Style Buttermilk Corn Bread

Below the Mason and Dixon l ine, it is

or crit te rs.

1 cup cornmeal (yellow or white)2 tablespoons melted butter

i cup mi lk

2 eggs, beaten

i teaspoon salt

i teaspoon soda

1 cup but termi lk

cup all purpose f lour

Blend all dry ingredients in a bowl.

wel l . Add hot

n. Bake at 450 degrees about 25

Mexican Sourdough Corn Bread

1 cup sourdough starter

IV2 cups yellow cornmea l

VA cups milk

2 eggs

2 tablespoons sugar

V* cup melted shortening

Vi teaspoon salt

Vi teaspoon soda

1 cup whole kernel corn (drained)

Vi cup grated onion

1 cup grated Chedda r cheese

1 small can diced green chiles1 small jar diced pimientos

Mix together sourdough starter, corn-

meal, milk, eggs and sugar in large

bowl. Stir in melted shortening, salt ,

soda, corn, onion, cheese, green chiles

and pimien tos. Pour into a two-inch-deep

bread pan at least 8 x 10 inches. Bake at

400 degrees for 35 minutes. Cheese, plus

Grinding corn

on m etate.

the corn makes this heavier, thus takes

longer to bake.

Mexican corn bread goes well w ith fr i-

joles and barbecue beef. It 's almost a

meal in itself and you'll f ind your guests

passing up the main course of a dinner

and taking seconds on this satisfying

cornbread.

There 's dozens of wond erful cornmeal

recipes which space does not allow to

include here. Old Fashioned Indian Pud-

ding with fruit , which has absolutely

nothing to do with Indians, is a great fa-

vorite with roundup cooks on the range.

Then t he re ' s f r i ed co rnm ea l m ush

served with sausages—that's something

to write home about, not to mention crisp

corn sticks, tamale pie and on and on

unti l wh ole books could be writ ten about

corn and cornmea l cookery. •

An oasis in the red rock and canyoncountry of southeast Utah—

R E C A P T U R E L O D G E§ T O U R SBluff, Utah

Nightly slide shows - geologist-guidedtours - heated pool - automaticlaundry - lawn games - group accomo-dations. San Juan river trips arranged

Ge ne and M ary Fou shee / Blu ff, Utah 84512 / [801 ] 672-2281



• BOOKS-MAGAZINES

DESERT MAGAZINES—assorted '46 to '74.Send addressed, stamped envelope for list andprice. Also, True West, Vol. I, No. 1, plus as-sorted; Old West, Vol. I, No. 1; Frontier Times,new issue, miscellaneous copies. S pecify desire.Harvey, P. O. Box 1024, Joshua Tree, Calif92252. (714)366-2894.

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FOR SALE, best offer. Desert Magazines,1954-1978. Some 1940s. I.K.G., 2300 WalgroveAve., Mar V ista, California 90066.

HOW TO HIKE the Grand Canyon. Don't gowithout it! Recommended hikes for Beginnersand Backpackers. Maps. Safety, Equipment,Clothing, Food Tips. More. Send $2.25. Adven-tures, 363 East River Road, Tucson, Arizona85704.

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• MAPS

OLD STATE, Railroad, County Maps. 70-110years old. A ll S tates. Stamp for catalog. N orthernMap, Dept. DM, Eagle River, Wisconsin 54521.

RARE OLD MAP—Big Bear District, 18" x 20"Reproduction on simulated parchment. Mailedrolled ideal for framing. $2.00 postpaid. <Calif.residents add 12c tax). Melco P ublications, P. O .Box 744 D, Big BearCity, Calif. 92314.

MINING

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• DESERT PAINTINGS ART

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42

PROSPECTING MISCELLANEOUS

DRYWASHERS! GOLD CONCENTRATORS!Guaranteed to recover minerals, gold. A hobbythat pays for itself! Write to: Nick's Nugget,P. O. Box 1081, Fontana, California 92335. (714)822-2846.

PLACER GOLD $2.00, Black sand and placergold (mixed), $2.00. Placer Gold Nuggets $1.00to $300.00 sizes. Prospector Jack Ward, Box380, Sandia Park, New Mexico 87047.

GOLD-SILVER Geologic report on most likelyprospects in California. Maps show where tolook. $5.00 to: Resource Survey DevelopmentCo., 3515 Mungall Dr., #2, Anaheim, Calif.92804.

FREE GOLD, fun, sun and exercise. All thesecan be yours on your next outing when you areprospecting with your own portable, hand-powered dry washer you built from our excel-lently detailed blueprints. Mail $5.00 to Bill

Larrabee, Box 725, San Dimas, C alif. 91773.

• SEEDS & PLANTS

JOJOBA—25 clean seed, instructions. $1.50prepaid. Indian Trail Nursery, Star Rt. 2, Box75, Twentynine Palms, California 92277.

HOW TO PLACE YOUR ADMail your copy and first-insertion remittanceto : Trading Post, Desert Magazine, PalmDesert, Calif. 92260. Classified rates are 25cper word, $5.00 minimum per insertion.Deadl i ne l or Cl ass i f i ed Ads i s 10t h of second

m o n t h p re c e d i n g co v e r d a t e .

UNIQUE HAWAIIAN Sewing Patterns for muumuus, holokus, sun dresses, pareaus (sarongs)bikinis, shirts, resort wear. Hawaiian quiltinand needlepoint patterns. From Hawaii's Pattern People: Pauloa, Pacifica and Poakalani. Fo

complete mail-order catalog send $1.00 to Patterns, Dept. D, P. O. Box 11254, HonoluluHawaii 96814.

BELLEW MEMORIAL ARTHRITIS MedicaClinic, D.H.S., Calif. Practice limited to theBellew Vaccine Method of treating arthritisDesert sun and climate. Phone 714-329-8723Write P. O. Box 305, D.H.S., California 92240

ORNAMENTAL WINDMILLS, 8 f t .—$69.50freight included. 41/2 ft.—$52.50, freight included. California residents please add 6% sales taxIndian Trail Nursery, Star Route #2, Box 75, 2Palms, California92277.

1000 QUALITY ADDRESS Labels. Beautifullprinted in blue. Satisfaction guaranteed. $1.50California residents please add tax. Ron Sellers209 East Ave., P-2, Dst., Palmdale, Calif. 93550

BE PREPARED with Sam Andy Emergency anSurvival Foods. Insure your family today. Fodetails, w rite : Valley Food Reserves, Post OfficBox 211, Scio, Oregon 97374.

SOURDOUGH FOR the soul. Make your owstarter. Easy and delicious recipes includedSend $1 SASE to P. B. Inc., Box G, Cima, Cali92323.

Desert/June 197



MAPS!

MAPS!DESERT OVERVIEW MAPSUsing topographic rhaps as basic under-lays, are two excellently detailed maps forback country explorers of the Mojave andColorado Deserts. Maps show highways,gravel routes, Jeep trails, plus historicroutes andsites, oldwells, which are not onmodern-day maps, plus ghost towns,Indian sites, etc. Mojave Desert Overviewcovers from U.S. 395 at Little Lake to Boul-der City, Nevada, to Parker Dam to Victor-vil le. Colorado Desert Overview coversfrom the Mexican border to Joshua TreeNational Monument to Banning to the Ari -

zona side of the Colorado River. Be certainto state which mapwhen ordering.

$3.00 each

ANZA-BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK

TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS

A set of 7 maps covering the Anza-Borrego

Desert State Park, 81/2"x11" format, spiral

bound. $5.50

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL MONUMENTUPDATED TOPOGRAPHIC MAPSA set of 12 maps covering the Joshua TreeNational Monument, 8 1 /2 "x11" format,spiral bound. $7.95

MAP OF PIONEER TRAILS

Compiled by Varna Enterprises, this istheir new large map on pioneer trails blaz-ed from 1541 through 1867 in the westernUnited States. Superimposed in red onblack andwhite, 37"x45" $4.00

R O A D M A P TO C A L I F O R N I A ' S L O STMINES ANDBURIED TREASURESCompiled by Varna Enterprises, 38"x25"and scaled Southern C alifornia on one sideand Northern California on theother. $4.00

MAPS OF THE OLDWESTPrinted in two colors on rich Parchmentpapers; each map has the rustic appeal ofthe Old West. Hundreds of sites—names,dates anddescriptions of places and eventsassociated with the Old West, includingghost towns, old forts, old mines, lost andlegendary gold, Indian tribes, battle sites

and early tra ils.Arizona Lost Mines & Ghost Towns $1.25

Calif. Lost Mines & Ghost Towns $1.25

Nevada Lost M ines & Ghost Towns $1.25

(Each above map17"x22")The Historic West—237x30" $1.75

(Includes the11 western states)Arizona Treasure Map —30"x38" $2.00

(Field Map)

Please add 50c tor Postage/handling

Calif, residents add 6% state sales tax

Order from

, M ag az i n e Book S h op

P. O. Box 1318,Palm Desert, Calif 92260

EACH

Including tax and postage

Gold embossed on brown vinyl. Space for

12 magazines easily inserted. A beautiful

and practical addition to your home book-

shelf. 1

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DESERT MAGAZINES FOR FUTURE REFER-

ENCE AND READING PLEASURE. THE BEST

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Desert/June 1979 43



Send orders toBox 1318

Palm Des er t , C ali fornia 92260

GHOST TOWNS OF THE COLORADO ROCK-IES by Robert L. Brown. Written by the authorof Jeep Trails to Colorado Ghost Towns, thisbook deals with ghost towns accessible by pas-senger car. Gives directions and maps for f ind-ing towns along with historical backgrounds.Hardcover, 401 pages, $9.95.

HISTORICAL ATLAS OF C ALIFORNIA by War-ren A. Beck and Ynez D . Hasse. Extensive docu-mentation and pertinent detail make this atlas avaluable aid to the student, scholar and everyone interested in the Golden S tate. 101 excellentmaps present information on the major faults,ear ly Spanish explorat ions, Mexican landgrants, routes to gold fields, the Butterfield andPony Express routes, CCC camps, World War IIInstallations, etc. Hardcover, large format, ex-tensive index, $12.50.

HISTORICAL ATLAS OF NEW MEXICO byWarren A. Beck and Ynez D. Hasse. Geographi-cal data, sites of prehistoric civilizations, eventsof history, first towns, stagecoach lines, historictrails, etc., are included in this comprehensiveatlas. Excellent maps, index. Hardcover, largeformat, highly recommended, $9.95.

HOPI KACHINA DOLLS [With a Key to TheirIdentif ication], by Harold S. Colton. Kachinadolls are neither toys nor idols, but aids to teach-ing religion and tradit ion. This is a definit ivework on the subject, describing the meaning, themaking and the principal features of 266 vari-eties of Kachina dolls. Line drawings of each va-riety , plus color and b/w photos make it a com-plete guide to learn more of the richness ofAmerican Indian culture. Paperback, 150 pages,$4.50.

THE ROCKS BEGIN TO SPBfi x by LaVan Mar-t ineau. The author tells how his interest in rockwriting led to years of study and how he haslearned that many—especially the complex pe-troglyphs—are historical accounts of actualevents. Hardcover, well illustrated, glossary,

bibliogra phy, 210 pages, $10.95.

FORKED TONGUES AND BROKEN TREATIESEdited by Donald E. Worcester. This book givesus a better understanding of the unequal strug-gle of native against immigrant while our nationwas being explored and settled. Profusely illus-trated with excellent photos, a "m u s t" refer-ence for historians, students, l ibrarians. Hard-cover, 494 pages, $9.95.

HIGH MOUNTAINS & DEEP VALLEYS by Lewand Ginny Clark, with photographs by Edwin C.Rockwell. A history and general guide book tothe vast lands east of the High Sierra, south ofthe Comstock Lode, north of the Mojave Desertand west of Death Valley, by oldtimers whoknow the area and have since birth. Paperback,192 pages, 250 photographs and many maps.

$6.95.SHADY LADIES OF THE WEST by RonaldDean Miller. Everyone knows that the h arlot wasthe vanguard of every move w estward, and thatshe was as much of a part of the western sceneas the marshal, the badman, the trai l-hand orthe rancher. Many are the reasons she has beenneglected by the historian—none of them valid.Author Miller, in this enlightening book, seeksto remedy some of the paucity of information onthe American pioneers of this ancient profes-sion. Hardcover, comprehensive bibl iography,224 pages, $7.95.

FIELD GUIDE TO WESTERN BIRDS by RogerTory Peterson. The standard book for field iden-tification sponsored by the National AudubonSociety. Second Ed ition, e nlarge d, 658 photos in

full color. Strong, durable paperback, $6.95.44

GHOST TOWN: El Dorado by Lambert Florin.The colorful, outrageous characters of the West-ern mining towns come to life on every page ofthis fascinating volume crammed with photos ofghost towns in Colorado, California, Arizona,Utah, etc., plus exciting history and anecdotes.246 photos and illustrations. Large format, hard-cover, originally published at $12.95, now priced

at $5.95.

ARI ZONA TREASURE HUNTERS GHOSTTOWN GUIDE by Theron Fox. Early maps of1868 and 1881 show 1,200 place names, roads,forts, early county arrangements, mining dis-tricts, ghost towns, steamboat landing, moun-tain ranges, lakes, etc. A handy reference. Pa-perback, $1.95.

LAKE POWELL & RAINBOW BRIDGE, Gemsof the Southwest, by the Warren L. Dowlers.This latest publication by the Dowlers presentsthe many faces of America's longest man-madelake, and features the world's largest naturalbridge, located in the scenic Canyon NationalRecreation Area of Arizona-Utah. The story isrecorded in word and beautiful four-color colorphotos. This new book, in addition to theDowlers' Lake Powell Boat & Tour Guide, is amust for those who love that fabulous area.Paperback, 9" x1 2" format, $4.95.

WILLIE BOY, by Harry Lawton. The story of anincomparable Indian chase, its unexpected con-clusion, woven into an authentic turn-of-the-century h is tory o f Cal i forn ia 's Twentyn inePalms country. T his desert classis offers rare in-sights into Indian character and customs, as we llas a first-hand look at a colorful desert region asit was nearly a century ago. Historic photo-graphs and colorful m aps, paperback, $4.95.

CAMP AND CAMINO IN LOWER CALIFOR-NIA: Explorations and Adventures on the Baja;1908-1910, by Arthur W. North. A handsomenew edition of an old favorite of many Baja Cali-fornia travelers, with new illustrations and all ofthe author's original photographs. A classic ac-count of land and sea travels in a raw territorywritten after travels 70 years ago. Modern writ-

ers use North as a starting place. Hardcover, 130photograp hs, 346 pages, $20.00.

A SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAN'S GUIDE TOWILD FOOD by Christopher Nyerges. Thisnewly published manual describes the mostcommon plants of So. California in detail andtells how to include them into your diet. Beat thehigh cost of food by utilizing free wild food inbackyards, vacant lots and wilderness areas.Many recipes included. Paperback, $4.95.

DESERT GEM TRAILS by Mary FrancesStrong. DESERT Magazine's Field Trip E ditor'spopular f ield guide for rockhounds. The "bible"for both amateur and veteran rockhounds andback country exp lorers, and covers the gems andmineials of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts.

Heavy paperback, 80 pages, $2.00.

CALIFORNIA PLACE NAMES by Erwin G.Gudde. This book presents the story of thous-ands of geographical names of California, givingtheir dates, circumstances of naming, their ori-gin and evolution, their connection with our na-tional history and their relation to the Californialandscape. This third edition incorporates manynew en tries and extensive revisions to older en-tries. An important addition is the reference listof obsolete and variant names. Hardcover, 416pag es, $15.75 .

A FIELD GUIDE TO WESTERN REPTILESAND AMPHIBIANS by Robert C. Stebbins. APeterson Field Guide, 207 species, 569 illustra-tions, 185 in full color, 192 maps. The best bookof this type . $6.95.

GHOSTS OF THE ADOBE WALLS by Nell Mu r-barger. A re print of Arizona h istory by one of thedesert's outstanding reporters. Old mines,towns, army posts, people and areas are reborninto vivid life by an expert w riter who knows herareas and subjects. With handy locator mapsand many photograph s. Paperback, $7.95.

SOVEREIGNS OF THE SAGE by Nell Murbar-ger. A collection of previously tol,d tales aboutthe people and the places of the great A mericanSouthwest by the original author, a longtime re-porter of the desert. Many photographs , some ofthem now lost, several excellent Norton AllenMaps . Paperback, $7.95.

BAJA CALIFORNIA GUIDEBOOK by WaitWheelock and Howard E. Gu lick, form erly Ger-hard and Gulick's Lower California Guidebook.This totally revised fifth edition is up-to-the-min-ute for the Transpeninsular paved highway, withnew detailed mileages and desc riptive text. Cor-rections and additions are shown for the manyside roads, ORV routes, trails and little-knownbyways to desert, mountain, beach and bay re-cesses. Folding route maps are in color and new-ly revised for current accuracy. Indispensable

reference guide, hardcover, $10.50.

FORGOTTEN DESERT ARTIST, The Journalsand Field Sketches of Carl Eytel, an early-daypainter of the Southwest, by Roy F. Hudson.This is the story, prima rily told in sketches, of anearly and highly talented desert artist and natur-alist, told by a distinguished educator of theCoachella Valley. Eytel's horseback and foottrips throughout the Indian Country of theSouthwest made him a valuable early observer.Hard bound, 118 pages, many paintings andsketches, $22.50.

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 sandy

roads, steep rocky hills, etc., as cautions. Lawsregarding collecting on Federal and Indian landoutl ined. Paperback, 88 pages, illus., $4.00.

WHERE TO FIND GOLD IN THE DESERT byJames Klein is a sequel to Where to Find Gold InSouthern California. Author Klein includes losttreasure tales and gem locations as he tellswhere to find gold in the Rosamond-Mohavearea, the El Paso Mountains, Randsburg andBarstow areas, and many more. Paperback, 112pages, $3.95.

BAJA CAL IFORNIA A ND ITS MISSIONS byTomas Robertson. This book is a must for all ofthose who are interested in the saga of the m is-sion fathers and who may wish to visit those al-most forgotten churches of the lonesome penin-sula of Baja Ca lifornia. Paperback, 96 pages, il-

lustrated w ith photos and maos, $3.50.Des ert/June 1979



Please add 50c per to tal orderfor Handling/Postage

C alif , add 6% state sales tax

GHOST TOWNS OF ARIZONA by James andBarbara Sherm an. If you are looking for a ghosttown in Arizona this is your waybil l . I l lustrated,maps, townships, range, co-ordinates, history,and other details make this one of the best ghosttown books ever published. Large 9x11 format,heavy paperback, 208 pages, $5.95.

TRACKING DOWN OREGON, by Ralph Fried-man. An excellent general history of California'snorthern neighbor, which has as much desert ofa differe nt descr iption plus a lot of sea coast andexciting history. Many photographs of famouspeople and places and good directions how to getthere. Paperback, 307 pages, more than 100photographs, $5.95.

Don Holm 's Book of FOOD DRYING, PICKLINGAND SMOKE CURING by Don and MyrtleH o l m . A complete manual for all three basic me-thods of food processing and preservation with-out refrigeration or expensive canning equip-ment. Also contains instructions and plans forbuilding the equipment needed at home. An ex-cellent publication and highly recommended forthe nomemaker, camp cook or the expedit ionleader. Paperback, well illustrated, $4.95.

THE KING'S HIGHWAY IN BAJA CALIFOR-NIA by Harry Crosby. A fascinating recountingof a trip by muleback over the rugged spine ofthe Baja California peninsula, along an historicpath created by the first Spanish padres. It tellsof the life and death of the old Jesuit missions. Itdescribes how the first European settlers werelured into the mountains along the same road.Magnif icent photographs, many in color, high-light the book. Hardcover, 182 pages, large for-mat, $14.50.

TEMALPAKH by Lowell John Bean and Kath-erine Siva Saubel. Temalpakh means "from theearth , " in Cahu illa, and covers the many uses ofplants used for food, medicine, rituals and thoseused in the manufacturing of baskets, sandals,hunting tools; and plants used for dwell ings.

Makes for a better understanding of environ-mental and cultural relationships. Well i l lus-trated, 225 paqes, hardcover, $10.00.,

A N U N N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y O F D E A T HVALLEY, With Reflections on the Valley'sVarmints, Virgins, Vandals and Visionaries, byPaul Bailey. An irreverent history of Death Val-ley and its annual 49ers Encampment, by anoted writer and editor who has been thereevery year since. Mixed in with the humor is al i t t le real history coupled with outstanding Bil lBender sketches. Paperback, 83 pages, with 50sketches and pho tographs, $3.50.

OWYHEE TRAILS by Mike Hanley and EllisLucia. The authors have teamed to present theboisterous past and intriguing present of thisstill wild corner of the West sometimes called

the I-O-N, where Idaho, Oregon and Nevadacome togeth er. H ardcove r, 225 pages, $9.95.

CALIFORNIA GHOST TOWN TRAILS by Mick-ey Brom an. Thirty-six photographs showingsome of the old towns as they appear today, notas they did 50 or 100 years ago. Thirty -six mapswith detail mileage to the ghost towns, shown tothe tenth of a mile. Interesting and historicaldata for treasure hunters, rockhounds, bottlecollectors and western-lore enthusiasts. Paper-back, $2.95.

WILDLIFE OF THE SOUTHWEST DESERTS byJim Cornet t . Wr itten for the layman and seriousstudents alike, this excellent book on all thecommon animals of the Southwest deserts. Amust for desert explorers, it presents a brief lifehistory of everything from ants to burros. Paper-

back, 80 pages, illustra ted, $3.95.Des ert/ June 1979

C ALIFORNIA-NEVAD A GHOST TOWN ATLASand SOUTHWESTERN GHOST TOWN ATLASby Robert Ne il 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 wil lsee; also mileage and highway designations.

Heavy paperback, each contains 48 pages, each$2.00.

JEEP TRAILS TO COLORADO GHOST TOWNSy Robert L. Brown. An i l lustrated, detailed, in-formal history of life in the mining camps deepin the almost inaccessible mountain fastness ofthe Colorado Rockies. 58 towns are included asexamples of the vigorous struggle for existencein the mining camps of the We st. Illus trate d, 239pages, end sheet map, paperback, $6.95.

SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAIN TRAILS byJohn W. Robinson. Easy one-day and more rug-ged hiking trips into the San Bernardino, SanJacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains of SouthernCalifornia. 100 hiking trails are described in de-tail and illustra ted so you will not get lost. Heavypaperback, map , 258 pages, $6.95.

DEATH VALLEY: Geology, Ecology, Archaeol-ogy, by Charles B. Hunt. Death Valley has long

been a place of fascination for people the worldover, and much as been written about it. Now,however, a ll aspects of this famous (or infamous)desert have been brought together in this book.Lavishly illustrated with 163 photos and linedrawings, 234 pages. Paperback, $6.95; hard-cover, $14.95.

THE BLACK ROCK DESERT, by Sessions S.Wheeler . One of Nevada's least-known and mostscenic historical desert areas is described by thestate 's leading profess ional h is tor ian andauthor. Black Rock is part of the huge GreatDesert Basin and was the setting for Indian bat-tles and several tragic incidents during the 1849California Gold Rush. Paperback, 186 pages,many black and white photographs, sketchesand map s, $4.95.

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, his tory, c rafts, ceremoniesand what the American Indian has contributed tothe white man's civi l ization. A MUST for bothstudents and travelers touring the Indian Coun-try. Heavy paperback, illus., $2.95.

THE SEA OF CORTEZ, The Gulf of California,Baja, and Mexico's Mainland Coast by RayCannon and the Sunset Editors. A rich and color-ful text acquaints the traveler and outdoorsmanwith the history, people, climate and travel op-portunities of this exciting wonderland. Each ofthe 12 regions that make up the Gulf ofCaliforn ia is covered in a separate chapter w ith aspecial section on how to catch "Cortez fishes."

Large form at, ha rdcover, 272 pages, $14.95.

STEAMBOATS ON THE COLORADO RIVER,1852-1916, by Richard E . Lingenfelter. The firstcomprehe nsive, illustrated history of steamboat-ing on the entire length of the Colorado Riverand its principal tributaries. Covering nearly acentury of western history, this book fills a realneed and joins the gaps in the saga of m arine na-vigation in the arid desert. Many maps, illustra-

tions and a list of all the river steamers. Paper-back, 195 pages, $9.50.

DEAT H VALLEY IN '49, by William LewisManly. The newest reprint of a Death Valleyclassic, written by one of the heroes of its mosttragic period, with a new foreword by the super-intendent of the Death Valley National Monu-ment. Paperback, 498 pages, $8.95.

NEVADA PLACE NAMES by Helen S. Carlson.The sources of names can be amusing or tragic,whimsical or practical. In any case, the readerwill fin d th is book good reading as well as an in-valuable reference tool. Hardcover, 282 pages,$15.00.

ARIZONA PLACE NAMES by Will C. Barnes,

Revised and enlarged by Byrd H. Granger. Ex-cellent reference book with maps, BiographicalInformation and Index. Large format, hardcover,519 pages, $11.50.

LAND OF POCO TIEMPO by Charles F. L u m -mis. A rep rint of the famous writer and historianof his adventures among the Indians of NewMexico. L ummis was one of the foremost writersof the W est. Paperback, 236 pages, $3.95.

CALIFORNIA DESERT WILDFLOWERS byPhilip A. Munz. Illustrated with both line draw-ings and beautiful color photos, and descriptivetext by one of the desert's finest botanists.Paperback, $3.95.

C AC TUS I DENTI FI ER I ncl uding Succul ent°lants by Helm ut Bechtel. This gem of a little

book contains 119 beautiful color photographs of:acti and succulent plants. Detailed desc riptionsof each, plus where they are to be found, andhow to care for them. 256 pages of informativereading, hardcover. $4.95

FIELD GUIDE TO ANIMAL TRACKS by OlausJ. Murie [Peterson Field Guide Series]. Thiscomprehensive book helps you recognize andunderstand the signs of all mammals—wild anddomestic—on this continen t, as we ll as those ofmany birds, reptiles and insects. More than 1000drawings; individual tracks, different track pat-terns, animals in their habitats, droppings,gnawed trees—all the types of clues the trackerneeds. Strong, durable paperback, $5.95.

THE C REATIVE OJO BOOK by Diane Thomas.Instructions for making the colorful yarn talis-

mans originally made by Pueblo and MexicanIndians. Included are directions for wall-hungojos, necklaces, mobiles and gift-wraft tie-ons.Well illustrated with 4-color photographs, 52pages, paperback, $2.95.

DESERT EDITOR by J. Wilso n McKenne y. Thisis the story of Randall Henderson, founder oDESERT Magazine, who fulf i l led a dream andwho greatly enriched the lives of the people wholove the West. Hardcover, illustrated with 188pages, $7.95.

RAILROADS OF ARIZONA VOL. I by David FMyrick. More than 30 railroads of Southern Arzona are presented, together with 542 nostalgiillustrations, 55 special maps and an Index. Avaluable travel guide and a reliable historicareference. Large format, hardcover, 477 pages

$19.50.4



•Lettersto the

•EditorLetters requesting answers mustinclude stamped self-addressed envelope

No Se ns e to Ji m D o l l a r . . .

I put this off a long t ime , but since I am now

ret i red, I feel an obligation to set a few things

straight while I am sti l l on this side of theriver.

In the June, 1964 issue of Desert

Magazine, there was a nice story about KenMarq uiss and the J m D ol lar Lost Cold Ledge

or Mine. Please f ind enclosed four pictures:th e road, the hil l from a distance, the nose on

th e h i l l , l ike he said (hump ed hogback wi th apoint l ike a turned- up nose on the north en d,

l ies roughly N&S. And you would be facingabout E, SE. As you travel the nose should be

on your left), and photo no. 4, the hil l and thenose from the other side looking SW. I must

congratulate the man on his di rect ions —righton the ball .

Also on page 11, he says . . . " sta nd on the

RR tacks at Danby and the easterly straightl ine at right angles to the tracks is your

'Walking Line' and if you look out the eastdoor of a box car at Danby, you'l l be lookingsquare at a mi l l ion buc ks." Right again, ex-

cept for the mil l ion bucks.

I located the Jim Dol lar Lode Mine—re-corded December 16, 1974. It is in the Litt lePiute Mountains, just north of the Old

W o m a n M o u n t a i n s , a n d r i g h t o n " t h ewa l k i ng l i ne . "

The pale butterscotch rock (what the rock-

hounds left) was sti l l there stuck in the rock

up at the point, but the entire hil l had beenmined to a fare-thee-wel l and they made a

good job of i t . All the gold-bearing quartz onthe east side was ripped o ut. It was a peculiar

formation. The east side is l ike a wall and thequartz was plastered up against i t , also on the

point where some of the butterscotch was sti l lin place in 1973 when I first saw it.

Down below the point is a l i t t le wash, "he

says ! " It ain't a l i t t le wash anymore. It 's at

least 25 feet wide and it runs past the pointunder the "nose" and goes past the east side

of the hi l l running south thereaf ter.

I had a mine in the Cl ipper Mountains justwest of Danby and l ived there for three years.

It 's a well kn own fact that in the '30s the en-t i re area —Tu rt le Mou ntains, Old Wom an

Mountains, Ship Mountains, Li t t le Piutes,Sacramentos —all were prospected and mined

thoroughly. Near Coffs you wi l l f ind the Von-tr igger Diggings, some of the biggest old

mines in San Berdoo County. When they f in-ished there was nary a f i f ty cents worth left,and that 's the way i t was when Marquiss qui t

looking for i t in 1935. What they didn't get inthe '20s, they f inished in the '30s. When I

first spotted it in 1973, I passed it up as"worked out ," but when I read about the J m

Dollar, I went back thinking there sti l l had tobe something left. I just wasted my time and

money. My best advice to all the people whorun all over creation looking for a mil l ion

bucks is as fol lows:

The "o ld - t im ers " miners knew more about

prospect ing and f inding gold than you wi l lever know. And as for " looking out the east

door of a box car at Danby," don't look forany at Danby. There isn' t any more Danby.

The ent i re rai l road stat ion, siding, watertank, bui ldings , etc. , are gone—25 years ago.

Ken's advice about old unexploded ammu-nit ion is quite right. There is sti l l some of i t

there plus a lot of tank tracks leading no-whe re. They told a story about a tank that wasdisabled and abandoned out there. If some-

body finds it, that might make a pretty goodJ m D ollar at the scrap yard .

A . M . Z W E Y E R ,San Pedro, California.

West side of hill.

Calendarof

•EventsThis column is a public service and there ischarge for listin g your event or meeting—so tadvantage of the space by sending in your nouncement. We must receive the informatat least three months p rior to the event.

JUNE 2 & 3, 13th Annual Rockatomics Cand Mineral Show, 8500 Fal lbrook Av

Canoga Park, Cal i fornia. Exhibi ts, dealeDemon strat ions. Adm ission and parking fre

JUNE 9 & 10, Lassen Rocks & Minerals S

iety's 7th Annual Rocks, Minerals and IndArtifacts Show, Jensen Hal l , Fairgroun

Susanvi l le, Cal if . 96130. Exhibi ts, tai lgat incamping spaces for campers and trai lers.

JUNE 22 & 23, 1979, Reunion of men w

served in the states and South Pacif ic with 417th Bomb Croup. Contact Glenn Cla

1705 Bradley St., Bossier City, LA 71112.

JUNE 30-JULY 4, 50th Annual Al l -IndPow Wow, Flagstaff, Arizona. The five-d

program wil l provide a medley of attractioNavajo, Hopi , Zuni , Apache, Papago, Ch

enne and Kiowa wil l participate along wIndian visitors whose tribal homes are sc

tered throughout the United States aMexico. For informat ion on accommodat ioetc. , contact the Pow Wow Wranglers,

Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce, 101 Santa Fe, Flagstaff, Ariz. 86001. Be wise a

make reservations early.

JULY 13-15, "Fi ler Cem and Mineral Sho

in Filer, Idaho. Demonstrations, dealers,

hibits. Free public parking and admission.

JULY 14 & 15, Reno Gem and Mineral Soety's Annual "Jackpot of Gems '79" Sh

V. & T. Room, Centennial Coliseum, 4590

Virginia St., Reno, Nevada.

JULY 20-22, First annual "Cinco de Flores" Flower show and plant sale, Agric

tural Bui ld ing, Ventura County Fair GrounVentura, Cal i f . Categories: African Viole

Begon ias, Bo nsai, Fu'Schias and Orc hids. Twil l be a judged show. Donation, $1. Fparking on Fair Grounds.

JULY 20-AUGUST 26, Art -A- Fair Fest i

Boy's Club, 1085 Laguna Canyon Road, guna, Calif., featuring f ine artists and cra

persons. For information, write to P. O. B

547, Laguna B each, Calif. 92652.

4 6 Desert/June 1



GREATR E A D I N G From

T h eO R E G O ND E S E R T

THE OREGON DESERT by E. R. Jackson andR. A. Long. Filled with both facts and anecdotes,this is theonly book on the little but fascinatingdeserts of Oregon. Anyone whoreads this bookwill want to visit the area—or wish they could.Hardcover, illustrated, 407pages, $9.95.

BLACK i l C Iitsirt

THE BLACK ROCK DESERT by Sessions S.

Wheeler. One of Nevada's least-known andmostscenic historical desert areas isdescribed by the

state's leading professional historian and

author. Paperback, illus ., maps, $4.95.

...

GHOST TOWNS OF THE COLORADO ROCK-IES by Robert L. Brown. Written by the authorof "Jeep Trails to Colorado Ghost Towns," thisbook deals with ghost towns accessible by pas-senger car. Gives directions and maps for find-ing towns along with historical backgrounds.Hardcover, 401 pages, $9.95.

C A X T O N P R I N T E R S

HELLDORADOS, GHOSTS AND CAMPS OFTH E OLDSOUTHWEST by Norman D. WeisThe author takes you on a7,000-mile tour of theOld Southwest, visiting some 67ghost towns andabandoned mining camps, one never beforementioned in written history. 285 excellentphotos. H ardcover, 320 pages, $9.95.

Don Holm's Book of FOOD DRYING, PICKLINGAND SMOKE CURING by Don and MyrtleHol m. A complete manual for all three basic me-thods of food processing and preservation with-out refrigeration or expensive canning equip-ment. Also contains instructions and plans forbuilding theequipment needed at home. An ex-cellent publication and highly recommended forthe homemaker, camp cook or the expedition

leader. Paperback, well illustrated, $4.95.

Send check or money order to

MAGAZINE

Box 1318,

Palm Desert , Cal i f . 92260California residents please add 6% tax

Please add 50c for postage/ handling

Tlih;• KVAOADESERT.

1

.****

THE NEVADA DESERT bySessions S.WheelerProvides information on Nevada's state parks,historical monuments, recreational area, andsuggestions for safe, comfortable travel in theremote sections of western Am erica. Paperback,illustrated, 168 pages. $2.95.

untilT i m W

OWYHEE TRAILS by Mike Hanley and EllisLucia. Theauthors have teamed to present theboisterous past and intriguin g present of thestillwild corner of the West sometimes called theI-O-N, where Idaho, Oregon andNevada cometogether. Hardcover, 225pages, $9.95.

GHOST TOWNS OF THE NORTHWEST byNorman Weis. The ghost-town country of thePacific Northwest, including trips to many little-known areas, isexplored in this first-hand fact-ual and interesting book. Excellent photogra-phy, maps. Hardcover, 319pages, $9.95.



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"The Hi l ls o f Home'



ence i t is the r icher o f the two . . . "

Although Lee's Pencil Lead mine,

mentioned by Delameter, was never a

lost mine, it and Robert W. Waterman

are inextr icably entangled with the Lost

Lee. The f irst wide circulat ion of the

story occurred on October 22, 1886,

when it was spread across half the front

page of the San Francisco Examiner. Not

as a lost mine story. It was an attempt,

two weeks before the general e lect ion, todefeat Waterman, Republican candidate

for Lieutenant-Covernor, by l inking him

with Lee's disappearance and possible

murder. As such, every sentence is sus-

pect. But this account of Lee and his dis-

appearance sounds factual:

"George Lee was a quiet, unobtrusive

man of about 50 years of age. He lived

here (San Bernardino) for many years

and was known by most of our citizens.

He had prospected various parts of the

country for mines and had taken up sev-eral claims, some of which we re suppos-

ed to be of great value. For years he had

been in the habit of going to his claims

every few weeks or months to work

them. He frequently went alone. To one

of them, which he regarded as his best,

he invariably went secret ly. He exhibited

specimens from it of marvelous richness,

but its location he revealed to no one,

and it is to this day unknown.

" M y story, however, related especial-

ly to one of his claims commonly known

as 'Lee's mine, ' or 'Lee's quicksilver

i

" - . ' - . •

'.

*3*

Lost mine

hunters

believe that

the Lost Lee

was richer

than Ceorge

Lee's Pencil

Lead claim

\tne... tWaterman

Mine] where

the silver vein

[right] was

gouged out

hundreds of

feet into the

mountain.

Burr Belden

advancedtheory that

the Lost Dutch

Oven mine,

believed to be

in the Clipper

Mountains

[below], might

be the ledge

George Lee

found. 1950

photos by

Harold O.

Weight.'m m

197906 desert magazine 1979 june

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