193801 desert magazine 1938 january

8/4/2019 193801 Desert Magazine 1938 January

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THE

M A G A Z NE

1938 25 CENTS


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FOLLOW THE SUNJ HOUHS FROM IO S ANGiL IJTHED E S E R TIN NLet your fancy lead you to thedesert and to the DESERT I N N a 35-acre garden in the midst ofscenic beauty. Rid ing, gol f , ten-nis, swimming, sun- laz ing.

'/Von; in its twenty-ninth season"P A L M S P R I N G S , C A L I F O R N I A

Enjoy theDesert at

i ts Glor iousBest.

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D E S E R T(i&Und&tfor January

Civic groups in the desertarea are invited to use this col-umn for announcing fairs, ro-deos, conventions and othereven ts which have more thanmere local interest . Copy mustreach the Deser t Magazine bythe 5th of the month precedingpublication . There is no cha rgefor these announcements .DEC. 26 Duck season ends inArizona.DEC. 31Quail season closes inCalifornia desert area.JAN. 1New Year dances at vari-

ous Indian pueblos in NewMexico.JAN. 1-2Sierra Club of Cali-fornia to make overnight campat Chuckawalla springs andhunt geodes in Chuckawallamountains.JAN . 6 Installation of Indiangovernors in New Mexicopueblos.JAN. 7-8Rodeo Association ofAmerica to hold annual con-vention at Ojrden, Uta h. Head-quarters at Hotel Ben Lomond.

President, Maxwell McNutt,Redwood City, Calif.; Secre-tary, Fred S. McCargar, Sa-linas, California.JAN 22-23 B uffalo hunt inHouse Rock valley, Arizona.Only 12 buffaloes to be killed.JAN . 28-29 Rodeo at PalmSprings.JAN . 28-29-30 Rodeo at CasaGrande, Arizona.JAN. 29-30Sierra Club of Cali-fornia to camp overnight atBorego Palm canyon and ex-plore Borego painted desert.

D E S E R T O F T H E P ALM SD E S C R IBE D BY W R IT E RWritten for desert visitors who wishto know more about the trees, flowers,geology and geography of the SouthernCalifornia arid country, Don Admiralof Palm Springs has just published a56-page booklet entitled "Desert of thePalms."Printed in attractive style for theDesert Magazine press, the new hand-book is profusely illustrated with actualphotographs taken in the area covered.

Vol. 1 JANUARY, 1938 N o. 3COVERCALENDARPHOTOGRAPHYNATUREPERSONALITYGEMSRECLAMATIONTRAVELOGC O N T E S TH I S T O R YWILD LIFETRAVELOGDEVELOPMENTAR TLANDMARKSN E W SFICTIOND R A M APOETRYLETTERSBOOKSCOMMENT

Joshua tree in Mojave DesertPhoto by F. V. Sampson, Barstow, Calif.Future events on the desert 1Prize contest win ners 2Water That ' s Guarded by ThornsBy DON ADMIRAL 3Famed Guests Play in Her 'Sandpi le 'By MERLYNE M. OSBORN E 4Anno uncem ent of new Deser t Ma gazine Fea tu re 6He Is Bringing Water to a Thirsty DesertBy WM . E. WARNE 7Bandit Trail Led First Visitors to Colossal CaveBy JONATHAN BART 8Prize Picture An noun cem ent 9Irateba, Big Injun of the MojavesBy ARTHUR WO ODW ARD 10CoyoteBy LAURENCE M. HUEY 12Where Ind ians Found a Deser t Parad iseBy RANDALL HENDERSON 14Heat and Hard Rock Held No Terrors for TheseDesert Invaders By J. WILSO N McKE NNEY .. 16Cliff PalaceBy. W. M. PENNINGTO N 19Identify this New Mexico Lan dm ark 21Here an d There on the Desert 22Sez Hard Rock ShortyBy LON GARRISON 27Nature ' s Emergency Sta t ionsBy JEFF WO RTH 23Om nipresen ce and Other Poem s 28Com ment from Desert M aga zine Re ade rs 29Pas t an d Pre sent Literatu re of the Desert 30Just Between You and MeBy THE EDITOR 32

The Desert Magazine is publish ed mon thly by the Desert Pub lishing C omp any, 597 State Street,El C entr o, C alif orn ia. En tered as second class matter, Oct obe r i 1, 1937, at the Dost office atEl C entro , C alifo rnia , under the Act of Ma rch 3, 1879.Ti t le regis tered, contenis copyr ighte d 1937 by the Desert Publ ishing C ompa ny. Permiss ionto repro duce conten ts must be secured from the edito r In wr itin g. Subsc ription rate $2.50 ayear in U.S.A. or possessions. Single copy 25 cents.

Editor: Randall HendersonAssociate Editor: Tazewell H. LambBusiness Manager: J. Wilson McKenney

Nat ional A dvert is ing Representatives: S. H. W i l l iamsC h i cago , New York. C o . , Inc., Los Angeles, San Francisco,Manuscr ipts and photographs submit ted must be accompanied w i th fu l l return postage. TheDesert Magazine assumes no respo nsibil i ty for dam age or loss of manuscripts or phot ogra phs althou ghdue care wil l be exercised for their safety.Notice of change of address should be received by the c i rculat ion department the f i rs t of themonth preceding issue.

J a n u a r y , 1 9 3 8


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OcotllloBy CLAIRE MEYER PROCTOR1119 N. Fifth StreetPhoenix, Arizona

This is the first prize winning photo-graph submitted in the Novembercontest of The Desert Magazine.This is an enlargement of a phototaken with a Recomar 18, S. S. Pan-chromatic film, f22, 1/50, color filter,at noon.

tojanBy WALTER FORD1410 Cedaredge AvenueLos Angeles, Calif.Winner of the second prize in theNovember contest, this picture is oneof the realistic stone images foundin the Hidden Valley section of the

Joshua Tree National Monument ofSouthern C al if or ni a. Picture wastaken with a Contax, Panatomic film,f.6.3, 1/50, at two p.m.


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By DON ADMIRALDesert Scientist of Palm Springs

I' 1 1 HIS is the story of a desert plant thai_|_ famous by misinformation.Bisnaga, or Visnaga, the Mexicans imajority of Americans it is Barrel cactusbooks it is an ever-present source of water for parcheddesert travelers.

has been madeall it. But to aIn the fictionlimited amountinside tissue ise. In an emer-

In truth, the Barrel cactus does yield aof liquid if the top is removed and thepummeled with the end of a stick or storgency it quenches the thirstbut I have yet to come uponevidence of this cactus having saved the life of a thirst-maddened wanderer on the desert.The water is therebut it is surrounded by a formidablebarrier of spines which are both strong and shar p. Themost striking thing about Bisnaga is the beautiful patternof its thorny fortress. For detail and harm ony the spinynetwork that covers this plant is one of nature's master-pieces.The yellow flowers which appear in the spring grow in acrown-like circle at the top, forming an exquisite pictureagainst a background of yellow, white, pink and red spines.Candy makers found a commercial use for the Bisnaga.In former days they hauled it in by the tfuckload andmade cactus candy, a sweetmeat which closely resemblescandied melon rind in flavor. Laws have now been passedto protect the plant, but cactus candy is still a saleablenoveltyeven when there is no cactus in it.

Before the protective regulations were passed serious in-roads were made on the striking field of Bisnaga which grewin the Devil's Cactus Garden northeast of White Water inthe Colorado desert of Southern California. Thousands uponthousands of huge barrels, sometimes seven or eight feettall, grew there. Despite the work of despoile rs, the gardenstill contains many fine specimens of this cactus.B'.snaga, Barrel cactus and Cylinder cactus are inclusiveterms referring lo the species of large cacti that arecylindrical in form. The terms are most aptly applied toEchinocaclus acanthodes (Lemaire), for it is the largest,of widest distribution and most numero us. This species isalso known by the names of Echinocaclus cylindraceus(Englemann ), and F erocactus acanthodes (Britton & Rose I.Other cacti falling under the three common names ofBisnaga. Barrel and Cylinder are the variety Rostii ofEchinocaclus acanthodes, Ferocactus Lecontei and Echino-cactus Wislizeni.Bisnaga is well equipped for life on the desert as itsinternal structure is such as to allow for the storage ofmoisture during the rainy season, to be used later duringthe dry seasons. Its roots are not particularly strong andoften the plant is loosened and falls over. After lyinguprooted for many months in the hot desert sun, the plant,if righted , may again grow. It is constructed somewhatas an accordian in the sense that the plant slowly contractsunder conditions of limited moisture but during a rainywinter will gradually expand with the storage of wateruntil the distended sides notifv the world that a period ofprosperity has overtaken the Bisnaga.

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By MERLYNE M. OSBORNE,/"I["T IS lovely herelove lier every year. But I wonder

JL ^ Palm Springs with all its charm isn't missingthat intangible something which drew people herewhen this was a primitive little settlement and life wass impler?"It is a question which thoughtful persons often askNellie M. Coffman of the Desert Inn."People always loved Palm Springs," she answered,"even when there was nothing here but a few flappingtents."Sometimes when that question is asked I offer thevisitor an opportunity to go back to the dear old days.I still own a few acres of undeveloped desert near theVilla ge. I offer to build the same kind of a little tenthouse we had thirty years ago. I'll furnish it with aplain iron bed, and an oil heater and a wash basin andpitcher just as we used to have. And I promise I willcome around every winter night and put hot stones,wrapped in newspapers, in the beds as I did in the olddays. No one has ever accepted my offer. They all wanttheir bathrooms."We were seated on the veranda of Mrs. CofTman's en-chanting retreat at the base of San Jacinto peak in theSouthern Californ ia desert. Th ere were folks from theVillag e and guests from the outside. All the rest of theworld is "the outside" to desert dwellers. A New Yorkbroker was telling a )roung woman who spends her daysover an art loom about the fickleness of the stock market.A Village newspaper editor was chatting with an easternsociety girl who found the desert "an adorable place" forhorseback riding."Perhaps, in a way, we do miss something that was

"Hotel keeping is nothing more than housekeeping ona larger scale," says Nellie M. Coffman, whose DesertInn at Palm Springs is the mecca for travelers from allparts of the world. Mrs. Coffman arrive d at A gu a Cal ientesprings, as Palm Springs was then called, in a typicaldesert sandstorm nearly forty years ago. The firs t "Inn"was a collection of tenthouses. But their owner envisionedthe day when ci ty dwel lers would seek the warm deser tsunshine for re laxat ion and heal thand today her dreamhas come t rue.

here in the early days ," continued Mrs. Coffman. "Butyou know nothing stands still. It either grows or it de-cays, and I want to be where there is growing."There is a clue in this last remark to the unusual char-acter of the woman whose Desert Inn is the mecca of travel-ers from all over the world. She has never stopped grow-ing.Years ago she had a vision and she has been able tomake it grow into reality. Now, at an age when mostwomen are playing bridge or knitting for their grand-children, Mrs. Coffman not only is the guiding spirit ofa famed hotel but she also is the benign mother of a wholedesert community which has made amazing growth inrecent years.Inside the wrought iron gates that tactfully but firmlyshut out the curious throngs who flock to the Village,Mrs. Coffman has kept the best of the old Palm Springsand embellished it with the new, without destroying theeffectiveness of either. Cottages and larg er un its of suitesand rooms are scattered about the Inn grounds among theold willows, the gnarled mesquite trees and the flutteringcottonwoods that were native to the place."Eleven years ago," Mrs. Coffman said, "when we wereabout to build the new hotel, I looked at the plans andfound that they had ignored my trees.

' 'What are you going to do about that willow t re e? 'I asked Mr. Charles Tanner, the architect." 'Cut it down, of course,' he replied." 'Indeed, you'll do no such thing,' I told him. 'You'lljust cut that unit in two and move half of it forty feetsouth.'"He thought I was crazy, but he did it."The Persians knew that there is no more soothing soundon the desert than the music of runnin g water. Theirgardens are full of rills and fountains. In the same way,the murmur of the little stream in the old Tahquitz ditchas it flowed down to the Indian reservation from the moun-tain canyons was one of the dearest memories of OldPalm Springs. The canal remains today and the waterripples down the rocky flume and along the way gathersrose petals and the blossoms that fall from the mesquitetrees.The DESERT MAGAZINE


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One of the original g uest houses ofDesert Inn. These were in use for aperiod of ten years. Beside the houseis Melba, the musical burro, whoplayed a noisy role in the pioneeringperiod of Palm Springs. This particu-lar tenthouse ivas occupied by Mrs.Coffman for a number of years.

"Hotel keeping is nothing more thanhousekeeping on a larger scale," de-clares Mrs. Coffman.But she is more than a housekeeper.She is a home maker. She likes to seepeople comfortable and enjoying them-selves. She keeps an eye on everybodyfrom her own flock of grandchildrenl.o the newest guest.This evening she sent the childrenoff to Banning to a high school dance.Their guardian is Segundo. He hasbeen her chauffeur for 20 years andshe knows they are safe with him.Tomorrow Mrs. Coffman will take amother's place at the wedding of avoung girl. The house boys are busyIrimming one of the cottages with whiteflowers for the ceremony. In the eve-

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ning there will be a barbecue at thetennis court. The Palm Springs ranchboys are busy around the charcoal pit.Monday morning the school boardwill come to breakfast at the Inn. Fromthe early days of the Village Mrs. Coff-man has taken an active part in schoolaffairs and now she maintains an ele-mentary school within the hotelgrounds for the children of the wintervisitors.There are 50 tribesmen on the AguaCaliente reservation which adjoinsPalm Springs and Mrs. Coffman callsmost of them by their first names.Many of them work around the Innas gardeners or entertainers.This little group of Cahuilla Indianscelebrates a curious festival every two

In architecture and furnishings therehas been a miraculous change in theDesert Inn since the tenthouse daysbut there still prevails that atmosphereof homelike simplicity which Mrs.Coffman has always sought for herguests.


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years, the Feast of the Dead, whenhonor is paid to those who have diedduring the interval. After a week ofdancing and games which stir the par-ticipants to an emotional frenzy, theIndians go to the burial grounds atdawn, and just as the first rays ofsun touch the tip of Tahquitz peak theyburn life-sized effigies of the dead uponthe graves. The Indians are sensitive,and it is annoying to them to havecurious white visitors come too nearduring the ritual."One October many years ago." saidMrs. Coffman, "I told one of the In-dians I would like to see these rites. Ina few days he came back to me witha message from his chief: 'He say youcome. You not laugh at Indians.'"I told him that of course I wouldnot laugh, and since that time I havetaken many people to see these inter-esting ceremonies."Mrs. Coffman does not carry the en-tire burden of the Desert Inn estab-lishment alone. Her two sons, Georgeand Earl, are her partners, and thethree of them have divided the respon-sibility into congenial units.Il wasNellie Coffman, however, whofirst saw the possibilities of the desertas a playground. She first heard ofthe Springs in 1899 when she spent asummer in Strawberry Valley as Idyll-wild was then called. There she metMrs. Keen who later established Keen'scamp in the San Jacinto mountains.Mrs. Keen told her about the hotsprings in a grove of native palm treesdown at the desert base of San Jacinto.Her friend painted such a glowingpicture of the spot that Mrs. Coffmanresolved to see this strange paradise.She took one of her small sons andbought a railroad ticket to old PalmSprings station, now Garnet.

Arrived in SandstormThey arrived in one of those sand-storms which sweep down unannouncedfrom San Gorgonio pass. The mailcarrier drove them to the settlement inhis rickety old spring wagon, the dishedwheels sinking deep into the sand.Struggling against sand both underfootand in the air, it took them more thantwo hours to drive the six and one-halfmiles to Palm Springs.The driver dumped his guests with-out ceremony at the door of a dimlylighted adobe house and departed.Their knock was answered by an eld-erly man clad in a skull cap and afunereal frock coat. The greeting wasnone too cordial and after a meagersupper they were directed to an icybedroom.Here Mrs. Coffman spent a wretchednight nursing an earache and hoping

she would live long enough to get backhome again. She was still awake whenthe sun came upand then her mis-givings began to vanish. An incom-parable desert sunrise was followed byone of those perfect daysand Mrs.Coffman was captivated.Her next trip to the desert was madein the milder weather of February. Shewrote for accommodations for herselfand sister, and Dr. Wellwood Murray,first citizen of the Village, who kepta little health resort near the hotspring, said she might come.

WILL TELL ABOUTG E M S T O N E SOF THED E S E R TDesert gem stones! Whereare they found? How can theybe indentified? Wh at is thevalue of them? What do theylook like in the rough?T h e s e and many other ques-tions about the semi-preciousstones found in the desert areaswill be answered in a series ofarticles to be published in theD esert Mag azine beginning withthe February number.Copy for this new feature isbeing written by lohn W. Hil-ton, practical expert in theidentification and also the cut-ting and polishing of desertgem s. Pictures will be givento aid the amateur collector in

identifying the specimens.H ilton is known to m a n y des-ert visitors as the owner of apicturesque gem shop alongH i gh w a y No. 99 in SouthernCalifornia between Indio andOasis . He is also a writer,artist and photographer. Someof his Desert magazine articlesw i l l be a c c o m p a n i e d bysketches showing the locationof the fields from which he se-cured specimens for his owncollection.As the two got off the train the sta-tion master, who was also the postmas-ter, came running up, very excited:"Get right back on the train," he ex-claimed. "The old doctor's changedhis mind. He says you can't stay. You'dbetter go on to Indio or you won'thave any place to eat and sleep."Mrs. Coffman had not started forIndio and she had no intention of go-ing there. The postmaster furnishedtemporary lodgings and Mrs. Coffmaneventually made a working truce withthe eccentric doctor.The Indians were having trouble

over their water rights when Mrs. Coff-man next visited the desert. A whiteman from over the mountains was go-ing to run a private ditch across thereservation whether the Indians likedit or not. When diplomatic negotia-tions failed, the tribesmen captured theintruder with his son and tied them toa tree on the reservation and held themfor thirty-six hours.Carrying this tale back to Santa Mon-ica, Mrs. Coffman horrified her familyby informing them that she meant totake them all out to the desert to live."When I told my father that I plannedto develop a winter resort on the des-ert, he exclaimed: 'Oh, my poor girl!"Father ," I argued, "you believe inLos Angeles. You feel that some dayit will grow right down to the water sedge here at Santa Monica. Well, allthose people you expect to see in LosAngeles will want some place to play.I mean to have a sand pile in Los An-geles' back yard."Small Beginning

Nearly thirty years ago the DesertInn was opened. The main buildingwas a six-room cottage, the one nowused for an art gallery. There werealso a 10x12 tent house and four littlescreen rooms spread over an acre andthree-quarters.The first guests were two reportersfrom the Los Angeles Times. Theycame one night, cold, tired and fam-ished. Lamb chops, hot biscuits andsalad served on a red checkered tablecloth by candle-light completely wonthe newspaperm en. They spread thegood word and soon guests began tocome in numbers.The homelike atmosphere of the Innis due partly to Mrs. Coffman's suc-cess in keeping many of the same staffyear after year. Returning guests liketo find the same waitress and gardenerto greet them on their arrival."Quon Woon, the Chinese chef ofearly days, waswith me for twenty-oneyears," Mrs. Coffman explained. "Hebecame a friend and support to me. Iremember a day during the war. Myson had just left for France and I wassitting alone in a darkened room afterbidding him good-bye. Someoneknocked at the door and there wasQuon with a little supper tray." 'You better eat,' he said. 'Don't youworry. God keep care of him.' "An d so the home maker goes on withher glorified housekeeping, a benign in-fluence, preserving the best of the oldand looking with discriminating ap-proval on the new. A fine, vital, hu-morous personality, Mrs. Coffman isshowing people what Westerners meanwhen they talk about the lure of thedesert.

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


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By WILLIAM E. WARNEW HEN Frank T. Crowe, generalsuperintendent for the Six Com-panies, Inc., reached the bottomof the excavation pit for the foundationat Parker dam a few weeks ago he senta telegram to John C. Page, Commis-sion of Reclamation at Washington.which read in part:"It was the toughest hole ever under-taken by fool man."Immediately the reply came back:"Congratulations! You were the rightJ a n u a r y , 1 93 8

kind of a man for that job."To those who do not know the menit might appear that this was a ratherdirty crack for the High Chief of theBureau of Reclamation to make to theNo. 1 Construction Boss of today's gen-eration of American engineers.But to those acquainted with FrankCrowe and John Page, it merely con-firmed what they already knewthatthe new Commissioner in the Reclama-tion office at Washington has a well de-

A s C o m m i s s i o n e r of R e c la m a t io n ,John C. Page is the directing head ofone of the biggest technical organi-zations in the United States . HisBureau is now engaged in recla im-ing an additional 2,000,000 acres ofarid land in western United States .Although he has been in h is presentposition only a year, his Bureau isclicking with the precision of a well-o il ed mach ine beca us e h i s menlike him and have confidence in hisintegrity and ability. Here is aglimpse of a man who is playing aleading role in the development ofthe desert.veloped sense of humor in addition toother fine qualities.Page and Crowe worked together on(he Herculean task of building Boulderdam, one as the chief administrativeofficer representing the federal govern-ment, and the other as the constructionchief who put through the biggest en-gineering job ever undertaken on NorthAmerican soil two years ahead of sched-ule. They have been together on a firingline which was a terrific test of bothcharacter and skill.Both of them passed the test withflying colo rs. Crowe is qualified for abigger job if human imagination andcapital can provide one. Page has beenpromoted to the highest office which hisdepartment of government can offer.Crowe's name has been in the head-lines many times. But Page, until hispromotion to his present high post inWashington, was not so well known.

Plays Lead RoleSince he is destined to play a leadingrole during the next few years in thedevelopment of the arid west, readers ofthe DESERT MAGAZINE should have abetter acquaintance with this man.He is 50, was born in Syracuse,Nebraska, comes from old Americanstock, and was educated as a civil en-gineer at the University of Nebraskaand at Cornell. He has worked for theBureau of Reclamation for more than25 years, climbing slowly through the

ranks without fuss or feathers, until nowhe is at the top. He is married and hastwo daughters, one married and residingat Boulder City, Nevada.Meeting him on the street, you wouldglance at features that have been weath-ered by sun and wind, and pass himas just another westerner. He claimshe has a homely face, and no one hasever been heard to contradict him onthis score.But if ability, and a knack of goingstraight to the heart of a problem andthen rationalizing it in an unexcitedway, coupled with a friendly and un-assuming manner were traits that wereContinued on Page 23


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BandittrailLedFirst Vistors toColossal Cave

CCC Boys built this adm inistration b uilding for the ParkService at Colossal cave. U. S. Park Service Photo By JONATHAN BART

A SHERIFF'S posse in hasty pur-suit of four express train banditsbrought to Tucson the first newsof a great "hole in the ground" whichhas since become a famous tourist at-traction. Colossal Cave, 29 miles south-east of Tucson is a "different" under-ground limestone formation whichmerits the visit of any traveling desertfan.Although the story of Colossal Cavebegan millions of years ago, it hasfound a place in human record for onlya few years.It was in 1884 that four masked ban-dits held up and robbed a train atPantano, a Southern Pacific railwaystation in southern Arizona. They es-caped on horses with a loot of $62,000

and made their way to theEmpire ranchnear Vail. There they forced a negronamed Crane to provide them withfre'-h horses, curtly told him he couldfind his horses at "the hole in thegrounds."Meantime Sheriff Bob Leatherwoodand a small posse of soldiers foundthe bandit horses and followed tracksfive miles up a nearby canyon to asahuaro covered hillside. There theyfound the mouth of a dark cavern intowhich footprints disappeared. Not beingfamiliar with the passages and fearfulthat the bandits would ambush them,the sheriff and his menwaited to starvethe desperados out.They waited several days but theban-dits did not appear. Then word was

brought to them that the outlaws hadbeen seen in Willcox, that three hadbeen killed and the fourth had beencaptured. The survivor was sentencedto 28 years at the Yuma territorialprison. He served his time and was re-leased in 1912.Some time later the ex-convict wasseen in Tucson but about the time offi-cers decided to keep an eye on him,he disappea red. Deputies went to thehideout on the mountain and searchedit thoroughly. They found some emptymail bags but no trace of the missing$62,000. Apparently the robber hadmade his escape with the loot acrossthe nearby Mexican border.Frank Schmitt, a naturalized German,filed a mining claim on the cave in

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PANTANO*CAVE INTERIOR SH OWINGSTAL ACT ITES AND STALAGMITESCopyright 1938by MARY HALLATWOOD.

2 7 BENSON

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Organ Pipes in Colossal Cave1922 and two years later obtained a per-manent lease from the state. Withshrewd foresight, he developed the caveso that tourists would pay for the chanceto see its grotesque formations.When the New Deal came along in1933 he turned the lease back to thestate in order to make the property eli-gible for improvements by the federalgovernment. The state subleased it toPima county and the Tucson chamber ofcommerce became its sponsor.Two hundred CCC boys were put towork cleaning up the many passage-ways., laying stone walkways, installingindirect electric lighting and hand rails.In three years the government spent$500,000 on the project.In 1924 Schmitt took Prof. Hibbardof the University of Chicago and twoother men on a tour of exploration inthe seemingly endless series of passage-ways. They took food for three daysbut were gone seven days and six nightsin the still darkness underground. Bychains they measured the distance theyhad traveled as 39 miles. They did notfind the end of the Caverns.They did find, however, a secondexit which now bears the appropria tetitle of Robber's Exit. Drafts along thetunnels told them there were other open-ings but they were not able to find these.From 1922 to 1933 Schmitt escorted15,000 adults and 1,200 children on thetour of inspection of the first main pas-sage, which is about three-quarters of amile long. The complete round trip

tour with a few side trips is a mile anda half long. The guide fee of onedollar a person helps to maintain theservice.The Colossal Cave trip is a two-houradventure in geology and symbolism.Near the entrance is the sunrise and sun-set illusion which Schmitt calls the"Bingen on Rhine" exhibit. By meansof rheostats he is able to produce start-ling changes of light on a fantasticcastle formation of stalagmites.Names have been attached to many ofthe weird limestone formations, allbeautifully lighted by hidden wiresand bulbs. There is the Drapery Shop,the Devil's Chamber, the Bridal Cham-be r and Altar, the Dinosaur and Ele-phant, Fairyland and 'the Witch'sGrotto, the Praying Nuns and theChimes, the Pipe Organ, and the Water-falls. Tourists are constantly thinkingup new names for the figures they see.The autoist who wishes to visit Col-ossal Cave drives south and east out ofTucson on the El Paso highway (U.S.80 ) 22 miles to a junction with agraveled road turning north toward theRincon mountains. At 1.4 miles fromthe junction he crosses the railroadtracks at Vail, at 2.5 he passes theRancho del Lago, and at 7.3 he arrivesat the large parking area near themouth of Colossal Cave.Two large picnic areas are providednearby. El Bosquecito has a barbecuepi t and will accommodate 500 people.Sevilla is a smaller camp area which

will accommodate 200 people. Bothplaces have piped water and sanitationfacilities. Camping overnight is per-mitted but staying for longer periodsis not encouraged. A shelter room isprovided for tourists caught in incle-ment weather.

WANTEDDESERT PICTURESPrize contest announcementTO THEamateur photographerwho sends in the best photo-graphic print each month theDesert Magazine will pay cashprizes of $5.00 to first place and$3.00 for second place winners.There is no restriction as to theplace of residence of the photog-rapher, but prints must be essen-

tially of the desert.Here are the subjects which willbe favored by the judges :Close-ups of desert animal life.Close-ups of desert flora.Unusual personal or candidcamera pictures.Desert homes and gardens.Strange rock formations.Exceptional pictures of desertwater-holes and out-of-the-wayscenic places.While other types of picturesar e not excluded, the above willbe given the preference.The Desert Magazine is seekingfine photography, and composi-tion and lighting and the use offilters, etc., will be no less impor-tant than subject in the decisionof the judges.Rules governing the contest fol-low:1Pictures submitted in theJanuary contest must be receivedin the office of the Desert Maga-zine by January 20.2Winners will be required tofurnish original negatives if re-

quested.3Prints must be in black andwhite, 21/4x31/4 or larger.4No pictures will be returnedunless postage is furnished.For non-prize-winning picturesaccepted for publication $1.00each will be paid.Winners will be announced andthe prize pictures in the Januarycontest published in the Marchissue of DESERT MAGAZINE.Address all entries to

CONTEST EDITOR, Desert MagazineEl Centro, CaliforniaJ a n u a r y , 1938


12/36

Iratebra,Big Injun of the Mohaves

By ARTHUR WOODWARD

O N the deck of his noisy little tinpot steamer the "Explorer." Lieu-tenant Joseph C. Ives stood in thehot May sunshine of 1857 anxiouslyscanning the happy, noisy crowd ofMohave Indians, clustered along thehanks of the Colorado river. Ives washoping to see two friendly faces inthat naked throng, two Mohave menwho were well known to him, the faith-ful guides of Lieutenant Whipple in1854, Cairook and Irateba, the most im-portant leaders of the Mohave tribe.

''You know um Cairook and Ira-teba?"Mud plastered heads of shy river In-dians nodded yes and no.Cairook. yes. "Him across the river.Him come bimeby."Irate ba? Black eyes roved restlesslyone to the other. Irate ba? They did notknou' him by that name.On the edge of the throng sat a tall,well formed man, naked save for abreech clout. Now and then his eyesturned toward the white men in themidst of the animated thron g. Ivescaught one of the roving glances. Theseated figure rose to six feet of bronzedMohave manhood. A shy smile ofrecognition crossed the strong brownface.Ives Meets IratebaIves pushed through the crowd andheld out his hand. He had foundIrateba, one of the two men he soughtto aid him in his exploration of thedesert lands that lay on either side ofthe tawny flood of the swirling Colorado.Piloted by Irateba, Ives entered un-known terrain on the eastern shore ofthe river. When at last the party pene-trated mountains strange to the Mo-haves, Irateba and his friends turnedback, loaded with presents and carryingwith them the good will of the Amer-icans.

The following year Cairook andIrateba were actors in one of those in-explicable frontier tragedies.One muggy afternoon, early in Aug-ust, 1858, a party of Iowan emigrants,the first wagon train over B?ale's newroad, rested in the shade of the cotton-woods prior to crossing the Coloradointo the Promised Land of California.10

Irateba, Chief of the Mohaves when the soldiers first came to the valley of theColorado river. Sketch was drawn by Gloria Widmann from an original woodcut which appeared in Harper's Weekly in 1864.The men, weary after a morningoccupied in making the wagons readyfor the river passage, sprawled in theshade of the vehicles taking a muchneeded siesta. Two little girls sat play-ing with their dolls . One of the girlswas removing the glass beads from apair of Indian moccasins obtained incrossing the southern plains. All wasquiet with the sultry stillness of mid-day heat.Then quite suddenly death rode outof the leafy river undergrowth on aflight of fire hardened Mohave arrows,and the heavy air throbbed with theclamor of Mohave war cries.

There had been some difficulty whenthe train reached the banks of [hestream. The Mohaves had demandedand received gifts in payment for pas-sage through the Indian lands and thewhite men thought the matter settled.However, the Mohaves decided thathere was a group of defenseless men.women and children with many finecattle, wagons and other valuableplund er. Why not slay the white in-truders and take all their belongings?The daze d m id we s te rn farmersstumbled to their feet and returned thefire with ready rifles. Brown, lea derof the wagon train, who had been out-The DESERT MAGAZINE


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side the camp with a timber cuttingparty, spurred his horse through theattackers, leaped the lowest point in thewagon barricade and rolled into thedust under the cottonwood tree, hisbody feathered with shafts."Rose," he gasped, calling to LeonardJ. Rose, one of the organizers of theparty, "Rose, where's my wife? I'mshot full of arrows . . ." and died.In the meantime the emigrants hadrecovered from the initial surprise and,maintaining a spirited fire, drove theIndians back. The latter rounded upthe bulk of the emigrant's stock anddrove the animals across the Coloradoto the California shore. That night thedispirited group, under cover of the hotdesert night retreated from the river,halting at intervals with bated breath.A renewed attack was expected at anymoment. Overhead blazed a firy comet,which to the terrified survivors seemedan omen of doom.Irateba vs. Army

It is said that Cairook was one ofthe leaders of this attack.The result of this outrage was thatColonel Hoffman with a detachment oftroops was despatched to Mohave ter-ritory with instructions to select thesite for a post. His small command wasattacked by the Indians and it is re-corded that Irateba commanded thewarriors in this skirmish. The Indianleader posted himself on a point ofvantage in a mesquite tree. Observingthat the soldiers had fixed bayonets andbeing unfamiliar with such a procedure,he shouted to his men: "They havestopped up the ends of their guns. Theycannot shoot. Go in and give them theknife."This was a costly error on the partof the Mohaves and the Indians were

Irateba (left), Cairook and Mohave squaw and papoose. This is a reprint of anold lithograph which appeared in Ives' report of his exploration of the Coloradoriver.soon dispersed by heavy musketry fire.This affray took place in January,1859. Hoffman retreated, but in Aprilhe returned once more to the heart ofthe Mohave country with a force of 600men. infantry and artillery. The In-dians, awed by the display of force,were glad to sue for peace.

Under a green arrow weed ramada.with freshly cut cotton wood logs asseats, blue clad troopers and breechclouted Mohave warriors, headed bysix of their important leaders, Irateba,Cairook, Tomas, Capitaran, Carriou,and one other, unnamed, met in coun-Fort Mohave in the 1860's.

V,

cil on the morning of April 23. It wasa windy day and the Indians coughedconstantly. All were on edge and theybecame more nervous as they saw acordon of armed soldiers gradually en-circle the whole camp.However, the American officers man-aged to allay their fears and eventuallythe treaty of peace was concluded. TheIndians agreed to allow the white mento build a fort in Mohave territory.White emigrants were to be allowed topass through unmolested and in orderthat the whites might be sure the In-dians would keep the peace, Hoffmandemanded the surrender of ninehostages.Th e six chiefs volunteered to serveas such. It developed afterward theydidn't know what the term hostagemeant. Cairook is said to have acknowl-edged at this time that he was the ring-leader in the attack upon the emigranttrain. He was taken as one hostage.His nephew and the nephew of Iratebawere also taken. Sixmore were selectedand sent down on the river steamer toFort Yuma where they were imprisonedin the guard house.

Confinement irked the sons of thedesert. It was a new and hated experi-ence to them to be enclosed in a narrowroom with small barred windows.They could not understand why thewhite men kept them shut up in ahouse. In desperation one of the cap-tives begged a soldier guard to do himthe favor to cut his throat and let himContinued on Page 24

J a n u a r y , 1938 11


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Wild dog of the desertthat is how Edmund C. Jaeger de-scribes the coyote. "This wild dog has a reputation of beinga coward," says Jaeger, "yet he is in fact a ferocious carnivorewho pursues his prey with daring and skill. . . . Relentlesslytrapped and shot at by stupid gunners and killed by paid poisonsquads, he is no more king in his kingdom. We are genuinelysorry, because the coyote in his natural range is an animalworthy of our respect and admiration and a valuable destroyerof noxious rodents."From "The California Deserts."

12

Is the coyote s fear of man a natural-born instinct? Or isit an acquired trait? You may take either side of the argu-ment you wish. But no matter what your view may be, youwill find interest in this story of actual experience with ayoung coyote, told by a man whose veracity cannot bedoubted. Laurence M. Huey, the writer, is a zoologist associ-ated ivith the Natural History Museum of San Diego. Editor.By LAURENCE M. HUEYO UR PARTY was camped in the mesquites on the western edgeof the dry Laguna Salada lake bed 25 miles below the inter-national boundary in Lower California.A shallow well known as "Poso Demara" furnished brackishwater for a score or more of cattle that ranged through the desertshrubbery. These cattle were tended by Yermo, a 20-year-oldIndian boy.One day while riding range he discovered coyote tracks leadinginto a large hole in a sand dune not far from his palm-thatchedhut. That was in April, 1936.A few days later he returned to the hole and tunneling intothe sand found a den in which were five young coyotes with eyesjust beginning to open. Selecting one of the largest of the puppies,a female, he determined to try his luck at raising it.It was seven months later, near Thanksgiving Day, when we firstmet Yermo and his coyote. The puppy was almost full grown.Yermo came to our camp to pay his respects a few hours after

our arrival. Two of us were in our tent preparing natural historyspecimens when we heard his cheery "Buenos Tardes" outside.When I opened the flap to bid him welcome I was astonished tosee a coyote skulking under the truck and sniffing at the lunch boxon the running board. Yermo noted my surprise and explainedthat the animal was his pet.The coyote had been raised with two dogs as companions. Likemost Indian dogs all three were thin of flesh. Their only foodwas what they could hunt for themselves. The fur coat of thecoyote was more sleek and the tell-tale depressions between herribs less noticeable than those of the other two. She was quick andcunning, and her keen eyes better able to see the noctural rodentsthat lived about the mesquite covered dunes."Preety" was the name Yermo had given her. Where he pickedup this broken English word I was unable to find out, although Italked with him many times. It was the only English word he everspoke and the only one he seemed to understand. The coyote re-sponded to the name, or, when out in the brush, came in answer tothe Indian's shrill whistle.Preety soon located the garbage pit, and then was attracted to thetent by the smell of freshly skinned birds and small animals. Shemade several attempts to enterbut that was forbidden ground.Finally Yermo mounted his mule, unloosed his lariat and swungit deftly over the animal's head. When he started away the coyotehung back and put on all four brakes, but to no availit was comealong or be dragged.When we showed some concern that the animal would be chokedto death, the Indian stopped his mule, pulled in the riata andhoisted his pet into the saddle and into his arms. The half-strangledbeast offered no resistance and actually seemed thankful for theride.Yermo must have fastened Preety that evening for we saw nothing

The DESERT MAGAZINE


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Yermo clipped the coyote's ears sothat he could identify the animal if itreverted to ivild life. Below, Phil Lichtyis making "Preety" work for his meal.

more of her until after lunch the follow-ing day. She came into camp by acircuitous route while we were workingon our specimens. Nosing aroundunder the dining table looking forcrumbs she found a bar of soap, stillmoist from the noon dish washing.Then a strange thing happened. Thecoyote began rubbing its face on thesoap, first on one side and then theother, repeating the performance manytimes. There must have been a sweetscent to the soap that she liked. In allmy experience with canines I hadnever seen anything just like this before.Then Preety moved to the garbagepit and not only ate the bird and mam-mal bodies we had deposited there, butalso the newspapers in which they werewrapped. To climax the meal she atethe tinfoil which had been removedfrom a brick of cheese. There seemedto be no limit to her appetite.

Later she came to the door of thetent where I was working and when Itossed pieces of meat from the skinningboards she caught them with the skillof a well-trained dog. I reduced thesize of the bits of meat and then shebegan closing up like a baseball catcheron s. tight play, until she was snatchingthe food out of the air only a footfrom my hand. Her lightning-likeagility was phenomenal.But I carried the game too far. Therecame the moist piece of meat that failedto loosen from my hand and I felt thesharp teeth graze my fingers. Thatended the ball game.Phil Lichty of our party next took

up the task of satisfying the hungrycoyote. He held food high in the airwhile she jumped for it. We took pic-tures of this act, but apparently thecamera held no fear for this daughterof the sand dunes. As long as therewas food to be had nothing else mat-tered.Preety's crowning proof of domes-ticity came one night when CharlesHarbison, another member of our party,slept in the open near the tent. Sometime during the night we were awakenedby a provoked voice in the outside dark-ness, "Get out o' here you blanketybeast.""What's the matter?" one of usshouted."I was awakened by that blamedcoyote licking my face," he exclaimed,"and that is carrying this friendshipbusiness a little too far."A day or two later we moved. Therehas been no further report of Yermoand his pet. But this experience istold for the added insight it will giveinto the character of a desert animalwhich under normal conditions regardsevery man as its enemy.

l i . - ^

J a n u a r y , 1 9 3 8 13


16/36

By RANDALL HENDERSON

THERE IS ONE sheltered canyonalong the western edge of theSouthern California desert where Igo occasionallyand find myself think-ing ''what a perfect paradise those an-cient Indian tribesmen found when theydiscovered this campsite."Generally speaking, the desert In-dians whooccupied the Cahuilla basinbetween the Colorado river and thecoastal range led a sorry existence.

Father Font, who accompanied the DeAnza expedition, described them as "sosavage, wild, and dirty, disheveled,ugly, small and timid, that only be-cause they have human form is it pos-sible to believe they belong to man-kind."But I am sure that the good padrewould have had a more cheerful entryfor his diary if the route had led himto the camping grounds of the littleband of Cahuillas whose former homeis now called Andreas Canyon.Andreas is one of those picturesquepalm-lined arroyos which time and thenatural elements have created at the

desert base of San Jacinto mountain.There are many scenic canyons alongthe eastern base of San Jacinto. Allof them have natural charm. But An-dreas has an added element of inter-est due to the well preserved relics ofancient Indian civilization which arestill to be found there.I have visited many of the desertedvillages of the desert Indians. But atnone of the others is it as easy to visu-

alize the daily life and routine of theaboriginal dweller as at Andreas. Thestage props and background are therefor an artist who would re-create oncanvas the domestic scene of a Cahu-illa family of 200 or 500 yearsago.Indians Found Shelter

A spacious cave was used for shelter.Just outside theentrance is a huge slabof rock in which are the grinding holeswhere countless generations of Indianwomen crushed the seeds and nuts andacorns which were their main foodsupply. In the dark recesses formed

by boulders which are piled high overtrie roof of the cavern there still re-main faint traces of the only writtenlanguage known to the Indianspicto-graphs, in red paint.A few steps from the entrance is astream of cool mountain water, freshfrom the snow banks high up on theslopes of SanJacinto. Four miles down

the trail are the hot springs with cura-tive powers well known to the prehis-toric Indian dwellers.Native palm trees and mesquitesgrowing on the fan that spreads outat the mouth of the canyon bear seedsof high nutritive value. Wild sheepand deer and rabbits were numerousin this area when thewhite men came.The abundant life, to a primitiveCahuilla Indian, consisted of water,food, shelter and securityand he hadthem all in Andreas canyon.Nearly every visitor to Palm Springs

has visited Palm Canyon. But it isonly within recent months that An-dreas Canyon has become accessible tothe motoring traveler. Thanks to theinitiative of a progressive Indian agentand the interest of an enterprisingcommunity, a new road now leads offfrom Palm Canyon highway at a pointfour miles from Palm Springs, andends near the old Indian cave. Hereis a new recreational area which willbe visited by increasing numbers ofdesert visitors as it becomes betterknown and the projected improvementsare completed. Future plans includethe building of a swimming pool

SAN JACINTO PKl0,8O5'EL.

PALM 6SPRINGS

FATM SPR1N1TS(3 /9A3 &Y MARY HALL ATWOOD

The DESERT MAGAZINE


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through which will flow a constantstream of fresh mountain water.Andreas is more precipitous thanPalm Canyon. It does not contain asmany of the native Washingtonia palmsbut the floor of the canyon is ajungle of trees and shrubs of manyspecies. Sycam ores, cottonwo ods, ald-ers, willows and mesquites grow in adense thicket of smaller shrubs. Wild-flowers are in blossom every month ofthe year.

The canyon was named for CaptainAndreas. Cahuilla chief whose adobehome during the latter part of the 19thcentury was located on a bench abovethe creek and a half mile up the can-yon. According to the meager recordsavailable, Capt. Andreas was an ableand worthy leader until the white mantaught him how to distill strong drinkfrom the grapes and figs which grewin his little orc hard. His venture inillicit liquor trade ended, however,when Dr. Wellwood Murray, who op-erated a health resort at the hot springs,convinced him that alcohol was badmedicine and emphasized the lesson bydestroying the still.Near the entrance to Andreas can-yon is a magnificent grove of Wash-ingtonias which provides a green can-opy of growing palm fronds for theplayground beneath.A mile up the canyon the rocky wallsclose in and form a precipitous gate-way. Just above this natu ral portal isa majestic veteran of the palm family

that towers high above the jungle ofother trees. So outstanding is this palmthat it was given special mention inthe books of both George WhartonJames and J. Smeaton Chase. Jamescalled it the "Lone Palm," while Chasegave it the more romantic title of "LaReina del Canyon."Apparently it is the lone survivor ofan older generation of palms that wereswept away by one of the raging tor-rents of water which come down the

Continued on Page 31

Upper picture Veteran palmin Andreas canyon to which J.Smeaton Chase pave the name"La Reina del Canyon." This pic-ture was taken less than tw omonths ago by the editor oj Des-ert Magazine.Loner picture Shows the en-trance to Indian cave near the endof the Andreas canyon road. Inthe dark recesses of the rocks

above the cave are faint traces ojIndian pictographs.J a n u a ry , 1938


18/36

By J. WILSON McKENNEYTHEY MOVED the portal of oneof the world's greatest tunnels 100feet in order to avoid desecratingthe grave of an early California pioneer,yet they pushed their great aqueductacross the breadth of a great state, overwide deserts and through hardrockmountains without deviating a foot fromthe most efficient flow across the greatestnatural barriers.Engineers who planned the Coloradoriver aqueduct 242 miles from the Colo-rado river to the Los Angeles coastalplain found an old Spanish grave atthe western foot of the San Jacintomountains directly in the path of theproposed conduit. They had hurriedconsultations, refigured their estimatesand specifications, changed the courseof the tunnel, encouraged a movement

to preserve the grave and erect a his-torical marker.This is one of the curious records ofsentiment triumphing over engineeringprecision. Will the ghost of the Span-iard serve as a guardian angel at theportal?No series of events in any history ismore thrilling than the daily routineof the men who are carving this, the

world's longest artificial river, out ofthe desert wastes.The thrills will not be recorded in theengineering histories of the aqueduct.There will be no record of the fear inthe miners' hearts when supports gaveway and death stalked them in darktunnels far underground. And who willever know the whole story of the motiveswhich prompted fellow workers tobrave danger in order to effect unsung

rescues?In every little rocky arroyo over anarea of 25,000 square miles on theMojave and Colorado deserts are littlesun-whitened wooden stakes, the trailsof pathfinding surveyors. The hard-ships and thrills of these desert menwould make ano ther adven turouschapter in the conquest of the waste-land.Thousands of men lent their brainsand brawn in a struggle with the des-ert which has already lasted a dozenyears and may continue another twoyears.Who could "take it" best and why?What caused men to stick to their jobsin the desert? Was it the thrill of ac-complishment, the determination ofmen long jobless, or a combination ofundefinable qualities?The Desert Magazine reporter talkedto engineers, office clerks, cooks, doz-ens of men on the project in quest ofthe answers. A division engineer inone of the Metropolitan Water District'sneat air-conditioned desert offices poiseda pencil over his polished desk andthought a moment before he replied."Well, it's hard to define," he said,"but I can say that out of thirty yearsin big construction camps of all kinds,I have never known an outfit to treatthe men better, serve better food, orprovide better dormitories than they do

THE METR.OPO F S O U T H EH A I

EADQUARTERS 306 W 3S2 STREET' LOS ANGELES CAUF FIELD HEADQ UART ERS-BA NNIN G, C ALJfFRANK E WEW.QU TH -GENERAL MANAGER AND CHIEF ENGINEER

t r I '

ffiw *zyv" * , ,


19/36

native lizards of the desert. There are

on this job." This ideal condition, heconcluded, is the chief factor in main-taining high morale.At least 30,000 men have worked onthe big job for varying periods of time.Even during the general shutdown ofthe past summer, with the major con-struction practically completed, the pay-roll averaged 4700 men.In a project of these proportions, re-quiring the provision of facilities forcommunication, transportation, water,and power in a vast uninhabited area,much has been learned about meetingand solving the problems presented bythe desert.Virtually every technical point con-cerned with construction of the aque-duct was settled on paper long beforethe dirt began to fly. Chief EngineerFrank E. Weymouth had a large corpsof engineers working under his directionfor three years prior to the official dirt-turning ceremonies. The only proble-matical factor which could not be re-duced to mathematics was the human re-action to desert conditions.The desert has always resisted change.Only by great effort has man bent thearid wastes to his will. So with greatcare and foresight the engineers as-signed to the job planned to smoothNature's hazards.

They built a system of paved high-Photo by WILL N. FOX

ways in places the prospector's burrohad never reached. They sunk wells andpiped water great distances. Theyerected enough power and telephonelines to serve several cities, built mod-ern towns with every factor to assurecomfort and safety of the workmen.Some of the men who accomplishedthis task in the field have learned to"take it." There's John Stearns, for in-

stance. He is division engineer incharge of operations from Iron moun-tain to the Coachella tunnels and hisheadquarters are on the edge of theEagle mountains north of Desert Center.He has spent four years on this job andthree decades in the business of bossingmen, materials, and figures."Weather conditions are not thegreatest barrier to progress on a jobof this kind," Stearns said. "With airconditioning in dormitories, mess halls,and offices this factor is reduced to aminim um. Of course no concrete is

poured in the open during the summermonths and temperatures rarely goabove 90 degrees in the tunnels. Sowe have Old Man Climate by the horns.I think the biggest hazard is temper. Aman must control himself. On a joblike this when you are so far from enter-tainment and change of environment, themisfits will show up. And the fellowswho have the character will also de-velop. Individual weakness and strength

%&*r?wrWy*n>F&

- r > . HAYFIELD J i v C EAG


20/36

Thanks to theartistry of Will N.Fox, official photographer for the aque-duct project, an unusually fine photographic record lias been kept of thework and workmen. The above pictures show a section of the big concreteconduit in SanGorgonio pass, and a group of the structural steel men onthe job.

always crop out sooner or later on abig job, not only on the desert, butanywhere.""Who can 'take it' best?" Stearnsconsidered a moment. "Well, I thinkthe young fellows from 25 to 30 standthe gaff best. The old miner was ourtoughest problem during the firs'fmonths of the tunnel jobs. The hardrock miner is traditionally a hard liver.He might work faithfully for twelvedays butwhen he took his two days offhe almost invariably became drunk, en-gaged in a free-for-all fight, and cameback to camp all battered up."We beat this condition by puttingsmart young fellows in the tunnels aschuck tenders. They helped theminersat the automatic drills. The first timea miner came into camp after a bigbinge he found that the chuck tender18

had moved into his place and a newboy was helper. The old hard rockminer finally worked his way off thejob. The boomer doesn't stand muchchance on modern jobs.""Turnover? Labor turnover rose andfell during the various phases of con-struction. It averaged I'd say fromseven to eleven percent per month.Reaso ns? Construction labo rers oftenkeep on the move just to see newscenery or to be with a buddy. Theymight transfer to some other part ofthe aqueduct, leave for some new jobthey had just heard about, just becausethey didn't like the color of the fore-man's hair. The percentages show,though, that most men stuck with thejob until it was finished."Steve Ragsdale keeps liquor out ofhis stores along the highway. John

Stearns keeps it out of his camps. Thetwo men are suspected by the workmenof being almost fanatical against drunks.They managed to close several of themore notoriously unlawful liquor jointson the highway in an effort to reducean alarming fatality record amonghard-drinking auto-driving aqueductworkmen."They used to tell me in the rail-roading days," the engineer said, "thatyou couldn't lay rails without liquor.I believe that's all foolishness. We canlay three times as much rail or con-crete or anything else in the construc-tion business if we keep liquor out."This philosophy may have accountedfor some of the achievement recordsset by Stearns' men.Stearns graduated from Cornell in1906, started engineering on easternrailroads and came west to help buildthe first Los Angeles aqueduct underWm. Mulholland.

Pioneer SurveyorsFor several years before the Metro-politan Water District was formed andmillions appropriated to divert Colo-rado river water to the Los Angelescoastal plain, Engineer D. C. Walkercruised the desert, checking on morethan 100variations of proposed aque-duct routes."We went places in those old ModelT's that prospectors hadnever reachedor where they did not dare to go."Walker reviewed the pioneering dayswith apparent relish, comparing thesmall tents of the field parties withthe present attractive air-conditionedoffice buildings."Most of the first crews on the des-ert were made up of young surveyors.clean fellows in splendid physicalcon-dition. We had real mountaineeringjobs. The tough work in the open setthe fellows up andmade them hard asnails. Although I wasolder than mostof the men, I have been used to a lifeof roughing it and this job was just acontinuation of my life's work."

The experience of the builders ofBoulder dam taught the District engi-neers that a workman well fed is a work-man well satisfied. Here is a typicalbreakfast table: platters of fresh fruit,bowls of dried or cooked cereal, friedham and eggs, hotflapjacks, fresh milk,hot coffee, French fried toast, honey andbutter, hot biscuits. If any customarybreakfast food is overlooked, it is prob-ably the chef's mistake. Great quantitiesare placed on the table. The men areunhurriedthey can take it or leaveitand they preserve a high average oftable etiquette.

"Yes, many young menhave madegood out here." said Walter Neale,Continued onPage 26The DESERT MAGAZINE


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51

* ,CL IFF P AL ACE Photo by W. M. Pennington

THE FEEL O F T H E D E S E R TM Y S T E R YM YSTERY is the chief impressionconveyed by this view of ancientCliff Palace. The contrasting lightsand shadows in the scene display morethan b ar e piles of lifeless ston e. For thislargest ruin in the Mesa Verde group wasthe communal home for generations of theSouthwest's prehistoric builders, and thecareful workmanship of Stone Age me-chanics stirs the imagination of modernbeholders.Who were the builders? Where did theycome from? W hat becam e of them? Thetypes of masonry displayed in the ruinsseem to resemble those of no other raceof ancient people.

A Navajo legend asserts that the cliff-dwellers, who were displeasing in thesight of certain gods, were turned intofishes and carried away by the floods.Navajo Indians, accordingly, will not eatfish.Possibly long continued drought mayhave driven the people from their pre-historic apartment houses. There are saidto be Hopi legends which indicate kinshipwith the ancient people who lived in thesecliff dwellings.Cliff Palace is the most pretentious pre-historic apartment house built by ancientmen of the Southwest without the aid ofmetals.J a n u a r y , 1 9 3 8 19


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Winter Sportsand Desert Sunshine . .you wil l f ind them near Brawley. Hig hin the C uyamaca and Laguna mountainsabove Brawley is a paradise of wintersports . . . skiing . . . toboganning . . . acarnival of fun in the deep snow . . .while just below on the beautiful Boregodesert scenic attractions and in t r igu ingtrails beckon to hiker and motor is t .Yo u may indu lge in all these pleasuresand headquarter in Brawley; for Brawleyis a thriving city with every modern con-venience and ample facil i t ies for thet rave ler.

For Information Write:Chamber of CommerceB R A W L E Y , C A L I F .

AMBASSADORA P A R T M E NTS

YOUR DESERT HOMEStrictly ModernLuxuriously Appointed

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Phone 285Kathryn Wookey, Mgr.

PALM SPRINGS

F R I E D L E Y ' S Texaco Products C omplete Auto Serv ice Studebaker Headquarters6015 State St., El Centro , Calif.

CLARA LEETANNER, assistant professor ofanthropology at the University of Arizona,Tucson, won the $5.00 prize offered by TheDesert Magazine for the best identification of the November Landmarkphotograph. Mrs. Tanner's prize story is printed beneath the picture.

Home of Col. Boyce Thompson

Boyce Thompson Southwestern ArboretumBy CLARA LEE TANNER

B OYCE THOMPSON SouthwesternArboretum is situated in the PinalMountains 65 miles east of Phoe-nix, near Superior, Arizona. It is onHighway 60. Railway connections arecircuitous: from Phoenix via the South-ern Pacific to Magma, then via theMagma Arizona line to Superior.Upon his retirement from mining ac-tivity in 1923, Colonel William BoyceThompson started construction on his

home, Picket Post House. Soon he hadplanned a great adjoining Arboretum.In 1924 several residences were built,an irrigation system installed, a stor-age reservoir constructed and tempor-ary shelters erected for plant research.The following year two great structureswere added for the handling and propa-gation of plants. In 1926 an Adminis-tration Building was constructed. Herewere housed offices, laboratories, li-brary, herbarium, seed room, photo-graphic room and supply rooms. Twogreenhouses adjoined. Later additionsinclude further residences, a guestroom, an outdoor amphitheater, ga-rages and other work rooms.A total of 1,127 acres in the Pinal

foothills has been acquired for use bythe Arboretu m. This area is virtuallyin the center of the 500.000 squaremiles it is to serve. Within the Ar-boretum acreage elevation rangesfrom 2.300 feet to 4,400 feet above sealevel. Different soil types, temperaturesvarying from a minimum of 25 degreesto a maximum of 112 degrees F. andtopography including rugged crags,rolling hills, level mesas, deep canyonsand high peaks present variable cir-cumstances requisite to the pursuits ofthe Arboretum.The aims of the Arboretum are, "research, investigation and experimen-tation in agriculture, horticulture, bi-ology, botany, arboriculture and otherscientific subjects." This plant labora-tory further cooperates with individ-uals, institutions and associations en-gaged in similar work, and prepares,publishes and circulates the results oftheir own efforts. The field includesinvestigation of plants from this same

climatic zone throughout the world:central Asia, Australia, Africa, south-ern Europe and South America.20 T h e D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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NEW MEXICO LANDMARKWho knows the story of this ruin?

PR IZE OFFE RTo the person who sends to the Des-ert Magazine the most accurate identi-fication of the above landmark, togeth-er with the most accurate and in-formative story of not over 300 wordstelling location, accessibility to rail-road or highway, and its history, acash prize of $5.00 will be paid.To be eligible for the prize, answers

must be in the office of The Desert Mag-

azine, El Centro, California, by Janu-ary 20, 1938. The name of the winnertogether with the prize winning replywill be printed in the March numberof the magazine.Writers should give the source oftheir information, stating whether thefacts quoted are a matter of record orhearsay. Answers should be writtenonly on one side of the page and ad-dressed to Landmarks Department,

Desert Magazine, El Centro, California.

Ge nuine Navajo RugsIdentified by Labels(From Holbrook Tribune-News)Fo r the first time one may now pur-chase a Navajo blanket with trade-markof authenticity protected by the UnitedStates government.

When Harold L. Ickes, Secretary ofthe Interior, approved regulations forthe use of certificates of genuineness forNavajo all-wool hand-woven fabrics, heestablished a method of protecting boththe buying public and the Indian crafts-men in the making and marketing ofhigh-grade Navajo products.Certificates of authenticity will befastened to rugs and blankets with wirecaught in a lead seal. The certificatesstale the weight and size of the fabricand certify that it is made entirely oflocally hand-spun wool, woven by amember of the Navajo Tribe on a tradi-tiona l Nava jo loom. Certificates stat-

ing the facts can be obtained by any-body dealing in Indian goods. To pro-tect the certificates from misuse, how-ever, anyone wishing to use them mustgive $500 bond and obtain a licensefrom the Indian Arts and Crafts Board,a government organization which seeksprotection, better marketing, and higherstandards for Indian crafts products.Navajo rugs and blankets are thefirst Indian-made products to receivethis protection because of the economicimportance of the craft, whose salestotal hundreds of thousands of dollarsannually. Standards for silver werepromulgated many months ago, butgovernment stamps of authenticity havenot been supplied as yet.

NEEDLES, CALIFORNIAPreliminary work has been started on the

construction of a power line to deliver Boulderdam electricity to Needles, the project hav-ing been undertaken by the Needles Gas &Electric Company.

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4{ete and ihete. . . O N THE DESERT

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Alone in its field as the hours-fastestan d only extra-fare daily train betweenChicago and C ali fornia, the Chief is tobe dressed anew from end to end ihiswinter With delivery of car after ca rof their new light-weight equ ipmen t ,sheathed in gleaming stainless steel, thesix regular trains of the daily Chief ar egradually acquiring the matchless beautyan d comfort of the famous Super Chief.T HE SUPER CHIEF

This superb ex tra-fare train, Diesel drawnan d streamlined in stainless steel, strictlyfirst-class a nd but 3 9 ^ hours betweenChicago and Los Angeles, attained in-stant an d continuing popularity amongdiscriminating California travelers forits roominess an d beauty of appoint-ment, its speed an d smooth-riding comfort. Again this winter. four timeseach week, the Chief will carrya through Phoenix Pullmanfrom Chicago, and there will besplendid service to and from SanBernardino, for Palm Springs, viaboth the Super Chief and Chief.CALIFORNIA LIMITED

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B O U L D E R C I T Y , N E V A D A Construction of a series of horseback trailsto two of the highest peaks on the Nevadaside of Boulder clam is to be started at once,according to the announcement of Guy Ed-wards, superintendent of the Lake Mead rec-reational area. Four new rangers and threenaturalists are being added to the park serv-ice forces in this area. A coast-gua rd cu tteris to be shipped from Honolulu and launchedon the lake.W I N D O W R O C K , A R I Z O N A Two more summers of work will be requiredto complete the excavation and restorationwork at the prehistoric Kinishba Pueblo, ac-cording to the estimate of Byron Cummings,director of the state museum . University stu-dents working with a band of 25 Apache In-dians at the pueblo during the last two sea-sons excavated 140 rooms and restored 70,including five 2-story structures.P H O E N I X , A R I Z O N A Approximately 160,000 bales of Arizona'sestimated 260,000-bale cotton crop had beenginned December 1 according to figures com-piled by local growers. Shortage of labor isreported in several sections.NE E DL E S , C A L I F O R N I A -TWO new caves recently discovered in theProvidence mountains near the well knownMitchell caverns are reported to have yieldeda number of interesting Indian artifacts.N O C A L E S , A R I Z O N A Construction is now in progress south ofthe international border on the first unit ofthe 1.193-mile highway to connect Nogaleswith Guad alajara. The project now beingbuilt involves an expenditure of $1,120,000.The entire route from the American borderto Gu adala jara is schedule d to be completedin 1938, opening a new west coast route forAmericans desiring to visit Mexico City bymotor.T U C S O N , A R I Z O N A Portions of the facade of the San Xavierdel Bac mission, founded by Father EusibioKino in the latter part of the 18th century,collapsed during the latter part of November.The damage occurred at night, a few hoursafter Papago Indians had held mass in theancient structure. Church authorities havenot yet announced their decision regardingthe rebuilding of the old mission. Rev. FatherMark Bucher is priest in charge.P AL M S P R I N G S For the purpose of holding regular rodeoprograms for the entertainment of guests dur-ing the winter, a Palm Springs Rodeo asso-ciation has been formed, with Frank Bogertas president and Jack Wentworth as secretary.The first program was staged Sunday, No-vember 28. Trav Rogers is in charge of theevents.

GRAND CANYON, ARIZONAAs an aid to air travel in the Grand Can-yon area the U. S. Weather Bureau has estab-lished a new meteorological station here. Re-ports are made every six hours to Chicagoand relayed from there to other points.P A L M D A L E , C A L I F O R N I A To combat the increasing damage done bycoyotes in the South Antelope valley, LosAngeles county has offered a bounty of $1.00for each animal killed after November 6.Claimants for the bounty must first registerat the office of the county game warden. Hidesmust be registered within 10 days after thekill, and affidavits signed as to place wherethe coyote was slain.M I L F O R D , U T A HUnemployment has ceased to be a problemhere as a result of a rich lead, zinc and silverstrike made a few weeks ago 18 miles fromthis city. Assays showed value running from$30 to $200 a ton. Th e strik e was mad e byAmbrose McGarry and his three brothers ofLos Angeles.Y E R M O , C A L I F O R N I A Showing the relative popularity of the deserthighway routes, the California department ofagriculture which operates the border quar-antine stations, announced the following countof vehicles and passengers for the month ofOctober:

Parker1,623 cars, 4,051 passengers.Daggett6,933 cars, 3,382 passengers.Yuma8,643 cars, 23,345 passengers.Blythe10,464 cars, 28,002 passengers.Yermo12,611 cars, 36,352 passengers.These figures do not include trucks or stagecoaches.Y U M A , A R I Z O N A Federal aid is to be given for the restora-tion of the old Arizona prison located on ahill overlooking the Colorado river, accordingto assurance given by W. J. Jamieson, stateWPA director, to Yuma civic groups whichare sponsoring the project.S E L I G M A N , A R I Z O N A Adding approximately 128,000 acres to hisother holdings, W. L. Mellon, Jr., nephew ofthe former Secretary of the Treasury, re-cently purchased the historic Fort Rock ranchsouth of here. The ranch is named for theold Fort Rock station of the Hardyville-Prescott stage road. Already the owner of theApache Maid ranch near Rimrock, Mellon isnow one of the largest cattle raisers in thestate.INDIO, CALIFORNIAFor the purpose of protecting Coachellavalley wildflower areas against grazing cattleand sheep, the Riverside county chamber ofcommerce has named George Ames, Mrs. M.E. Alderman, Don Admiral, Francis Koehlerand Mrs. Roberg as members of a specialcommittee to plan protective sleps.

22 T h e DESERT MAGAZINE


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E L CE N T R O , CA L I FO R N I A Congressman Ed. V. Izac is preparing legis-lation to be introduced in congress providingan appropriation of $100,000 for the construc-tion of an agricultural station on the desertmesa east of Imperial valley. The stationwill be devoted to experimental farming pre-paratory to the opening of 350.000 acres ofnew desert land along the route of the All-Anierican canal which is scheduled to becompleted in 1939.

P H O E N I X , A R I Z O N A Discussing the recent scientific trip to theShiva temple in Grand Canyon, M. R. Tillot-son, superintendent of the national parkthere stated recently that there are a numberof other "sky islands" along the Coloradoriver which have not been scientifically ex-plored. He ment ioned the "Fish Tai l" plateauwhich is about 25 miles downstream fromShiva as one of these.BOULDER CITY, NEVADA

According to the statement of W. E. Cor-fitzen, assistant engineer of the U. S. Bureauof Reclamation, clear water from Lake Meadhas lowered the bed of the Colorado riverfor a distance of approximately 50 miles be-low Boulder dam. The average depth towhich the riverbed has been degraded alongthe first eight miles below the dam is 6.7feet. It is estimated th at durin g the first 25months after the completion of the dam12,000,000 cubic yards of silt have beenscoured from the bed of the stream.A M AR I L L O, T E X A S

Only 17 miles of U. S. 66, known as theWill Rogers highway, remained to be com-pleted between Chicago and Los Angeles,according to the report of President CarlHinton at the annual meeting of the roadassociation in this city November 22. Ft wasstated that the uncompleted link, which isbetween Amarillo and the New Mexico line,will be open before spring.P H O E N I X , A R I Z O N A

More than a half million persons visitedArizona's 15 national parks and monumentsduring the past season according to parkservice reports.Grand Canyon National park drew 297,800compared with 268,400 during 1936.Other national monuments included Canyonde Chelley, 1,090; Casa Grande, 27,700; Chi-ricahua, 6,015; Montezuma Castle, 10,650;Navajo, 329; Organ Pipe cactus, 5,000; Pet-rified Forest, 161,190; Pipe Springs, 4.200:Saguaro, 15,000; Sunset Crater, 4,800; TontoForest , 5.900; Tumacacori , 214.100; WalnutCanyon, 10,960; Wupatki 2.200.P AL M S P R I N G S , C AL I F O R N I A Plans have been initiated by Warren Pin-ne y of El Mirador hotel to provide wintersnow sports for guests at Palm Springs.Through cooperation with resort owners atIdyllwild, ski runs and toboggan slides areto be, laid out in the Fern valley area. Theservices of E. Des Ballets, Swiss sports ex-pert, have been secured to plan the newplayground.M O A P A , N E V A D A

Discovery of another important Nevadacave five miles south of Mexican Wells re-cently was reported by S. Mans Purple, engi-neer and archeologist . Purple said that he hadnot completed exploration of the new caverns,but that they evidently extended a consider-able distance underground. They are of theusual limestone formation with striking sta-lactiles and stalagmites.

L A S V E G A S , N E V A D A Between 75,000 and 100,000 bass, some ofthem weighing as much as five pounds, weretransferred from the Las Vegas hatcheries toLake Mead during the latter part of Novem-ber. The transfer was made under the direc-tion of Claude Mackey, WPA director. Ac-cording to Mackey more than 300,000 basshave been placed in the lake during the pastyear.P I OC H E , N E V A D A

More than 4500 upland game birds, mostlypheasants and part ridges, have been dist rib-uted by the Nevada state fish and game com-mission in 15 Nevada co unties. The distri-bution of fowl by counties was: Churchill 860.Clark 150, Douglas 450, Elko 150, Esmeralda10, Eureka 150, Humboldt 150, Lincoln 150.Lyon 656, Mineral 30, Nye 10, Ormsby 496,Pershing 150, Washoe 992, White Pine 150.This is the largest planting of birds in anyone year in the history of the state.Y U M A , A R I Z O N A

Pecan growers in the Yuma valley aremarketing the largest nut crop in the historyof this industry here. It is estimated the out-put will exceed 400,000 poun ds. Better gr adenuts are said to be bringing 24 cents a pound.T U C S O N , A R I Z O N A

Wild turkeys will again be available forsouthern Arizona hunters if plans initiated bythe Pima County Game Protective associationare successful. The association, Dr. Harry E.Thompson, president, is planning to securebirds from northern Arizona where they arestill plentiful for restocking the Catalina,Santa Ri ta and Rincon mountains. The statelegislature will be asked to close the seasonuntil the turkeys have become reestablishedin sufficient numbers to warrant hunting.

HE BRINGS WATERContinued jrom Page 7apparent on the exterior of a man, thenyou would take a second look at JohnPage. He has all of these to a remark-able degree.

When he was appointed Commission-er, after serving as Acting Commis-sioner for a year following the deathof Dr. Elwood Mead, he received con-gratulations in telegrams, letters andpenciled notes by the bale from allparts of the west. They came from gov-ernors and farmers, and from muckerswho had been on the midnight crewat Boulder damall friends of John C.Page.He is a builder, a practical man, witha deep sense of responsibility to desertpeop le. He doesn't know every washand sand dune in the arid states, but heis familiar with an amazins: number ofthem.In the year since his term of officebegan. Commissioner Page has giventhe Reclamation Bureau an efficient andcompetent administration. He is direct-ing the largest construction programever undertaken by the federal govern-ment in the field of reclamation, and heis doing it in a manner to win the con-fidence of westerners and Washington'sofficialdom alike.

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J a n u a r y , 1 9 3 8 23


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IratebaBig Injun of the MojavesContinued from Page 11

die. Then he would be free of thestifling room and the endless misery.The thermometer hovered around118 in the shade that fatal afternoonof June 21, 1859, and the guards, feel-ing sorry for the poor devils cooped upin the guardhouse, allowed the prison-ers to come out on the porch where itwas a trifle cooler. A few hundred feeteast of the prison flowed the broadmuddy flood of the Colorado. Captiveeyes gazed longingly at the murkywaters.Cairook could stand it no longer.Suddenly he seized the musket of thenearest guard by the muzzle, thengrappled with the soldier. The otherprisoners immediately broke and ranfor the river. The trooper wrenchedfree and lunged at Cairook, stabbingthe Indian in the abdomen. Cairookstaggered away on a faltering run. AMinie ball through his head tumbledhim in the hot dust. The other guardsbegan firing on the glistening blackheads of the escaping prisoners as theyswam frantically through the river cur-rents. Four were slain, two werewounded but escaped with the otherthree who were never captured.

Cairook's death left Irateba the un-disputed leader of the Mohaves, whichposition he was to fill for the nextfifteen years.After his accession to chieftainshipof the Mojave nation, troubles betweenthe white men and that tribe ceasedand the people along the river gaveIrateba all the credit.Gold fever swept the Colorado in theearly '60s. Prospectors swarmed up-stream and spread out across the aridlands of Arizona. New towns mush-roomed into existence over night.Irateba remained staunch in his friend-ship and although the white men wereengaged in war to the hilt with theApaches, the Mohaves steered a neutralcourse, even aided the newcomers onoccasions.In 1863 Irateba guided John Mossand William Furlong to gold fields be-

yond the Weaver and Walker diggingson the Hassayampa and a new copperdistrict was named after him.Moss was Indian agent at the timeand he thought it would be a good ideato take Irateba on a trip to the east toshow him the power of the Great WhiteFather, thereby making the Mohaveleader an even more powerful ally.Accordingly, on December 2, 1863.Irateba and Moss arrived in San Fran-cisco on the steamer Senator from LosAngeles. Irateba was good copy for allthe newspapers of the Golden Gatecity. He was referred to constantly asthe 'Big Chief or the 'Big Injun'. Hehad the run of the city and was invitedto all sorts of functions. He stayed atthe Occidental Hotel and ate his mealsat the "What Cheer House." He wasgarbed in somber black and wore atall light felt sombrero. On January13 Moss and Irateba sailed for NewYork on the Orizaba.

Big Chief ReturnsFour months later Irateba returnedfrom a triumphal tour of the easterncities and a reportorial wag in SanFrancisco described him thus as hemade ready to sail south to Los An-geles whence he would go by wagontrain to Ft. Mohave:"O n the wharf stood Irateba,On his head a general's chapeau;Chinese thingumbobs on his shoulders;

Colt's revolvers in his waistbeltBowie knives and swords enough toSink a seventy-four gun frigateIn his baggage; and a pleasantFragrance, as of Eugene Clicquot,Or the wine of Bourbon county;Issuing from his mouth and nostrilsLike the fog from the PacificOn a lovely summer morning.Then he went upon the steamer,Told the captain he could start her;Turned and waved his hand in parting;Heard the newsboys say: "ForeverFare thee well old Irateba."Then descended to the cabin,And inquired the hour for dinner.Thus departed Irateba

Irateba the big InjunIn the glory of the sunrise;In the roseat mists of morning,To the blessed lands forninst theDeserts of San Bernardino.What he did and what he saw there,When at home among his people;What he said of Mr. Lincoln.New York and the Yankee nation;What he told about his journey;How he felt when once again heStood on his old stamping groundYou shall hear from us hereafter."In truth it was time Irateba was re-turning home. The Mohave tribesmenwere growing restless. All sorts ofrumors were drifting like smoke amongthe arrowweed and mud rancherias ofthe Indians. Irateba had been im-prisoned. Irateba had been shot. Thewhite men had poisoned him. Wipe outthe white men before they destroyed allof the Mohaves.Then Irateba, arrayed in all the gloryof a major general's uniform with acocked hat on his head, his chest ablazewith various medals, including oneabout the size of a 'dobe dollar set withcolored stones and inscribed, "IRA-

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SNIFFS DATE GARDENSDept. D, Indio Calif.24 The DESERT MAGAZINE


27/36

TEBA. CHIEF OF THE MOHAVES,ARIZONA TER.," revolvers in his belt,a long Japanese sword at his side andhis pockets stuffed with daguerreotypesof Washington politicians rattled out ofthe west in an army wagon and all waspeace on the river.Oddly enough Irateba's trip acted asa boomerang on his prestige. The uni-form and the young arsenal he carriedawed his followers but when the oldleader began relating his experienceshis stock fell to zero. In short, whocould trust a man who told so manylies?Early in March, 1865, the Mohaveslew a Paiute medicine man for failingto cure some small pox patients. Inretaliation the Paiute killed two oldMohave women and the feud was on.In September word was received that aband of Paiutes were on their waydownthe river to attack the Mohave strong-hold on Cottonwood Island. The Mo-haves decided to carry the war to theirenemy and Irateba, as befitted a leaderof his people, sallied forth in all theglory of his Major General's uniformat the head of his warriors. The Mo-haves had borrowed a dozen shot gunsfrom some of the miners at Hardyville,and about a dozen of the latter wentalong to see the fun.

In their ignorance and eagerness theMohaves unlimbered the shotguns atlong range on the Paiutes, whom theymet about twenty miles north of theIsland

193801 desert magazine 1938 january

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