195806 desert magazine 1958 june

8/14/2019 195806 Desert Magazine 1958 June

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Among the most gorgeous of alDesert Southwest blossoms are thoseof the fleshy-fruited yucca (yuccabaccata). This month's first prizephotograph was taken in Navajoland near Kayenta, Arizona, by NelMurbarger of Costa Mesa, California. At one time the yuc ca w as veryimportant to the Indians. The greenpods were eaten either roasted orraw; soap was made from the rootsand the leaves were used for weav-ing baskets and sandals. Cam eradata: Rolleicord Camera; EastmanPlus-X film; 1/125th second at f. 11K-2 filter.

P i c t u r e s o ft h e M o n t hSand and Skull

Fran Birdwell of Dallas, Texaswins second award with this pictureof a bleached cow skull casting itsshadow across the arid sands. Cam-era data: Century Graphic Camera;Super XX film; 1/100 second at f. 22

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D E S E R T C A L E N D A RMay 31-June 1-Fiesta de San Felipede Neri, Albuquerque.June 1Lincoln County Homecom-ing Day, Caliente, Nevada.June 1Sheriffs Posse Rodeo, Pres-cott, Arizona.June 1-22 Southwest PhotographyExhibit, Museum of Northern Ari-zona, Flagstaff.June 6-8Pecos Valley Horse Show,Roswell, New Mexico.June 7-8Hesperia Days, Victorville,California.June 8Parade, Kaysville, Utah.June 8Tour to the Grave of Eu-gene Manlove Rhodes, Alamogor-do, New Mexico.June 8Corpus Christi Sunday Pro-cessions, Santa Fe, Taos and Ran-chos de Taos, New Mexico.June 12 La Loma Fiesta of St.

Anthony, Evening Procession, Taos,New Mexico.June 12-14 Pony Express RaceMeet, Ute Indian Ceremonials,Teenage Rodeo, Vernal, Utah.June 12-15 41st Annual CherryFestival, Beaumont, California.June 13San Antonio de Padua CornDances, Taos and Sandia Pueblos,New Mexico.June 13Flora Dell Flower Show,Bountiful, Utah.June 13-1460th Anniversary Cele-bration, Home Show and Rodeo,Alamogordo, New Mexico.June 14-15 Carson Valley Days,Gardnerville, Nevada.June 15 Canyon Country RiverMarathon Power Boat Race, fromGreen River to Moab, Utah.June 15 Kamas Valley LivestockShow and Parade, Park City, Utah.June 15 and 22Procession of LaConquistadora, Santa Fe.June 20-213rd Annual Pages of thePast, Tombstone, Arizona.June 20-22 11th Annual StateChampionship High School Rodeo,Santa Rosa, New Mexico.June 20-22National Turtle Races,Joshua Tree, California.June 23-July 48th Annual South-west Writers' Workshop, ArizonaState College, Flagstaff.June 24Corn Dances, Taos, Acomaan d San Juan Pueblos, N. M.June 26Old Timers Day, Albuquer-que.June 27 Amateur Rodeo, Vernal,Utah.June 27-28Rodeo, Hemet, Calif.June 27-29Roundup, Lehi, Utah.June 27-298th Annual Junior Ro-deo, Globe, Arizona.June 28-29Indian Capital Rodeo,Gallup, New Mexico.June 28-29 Silver State Stampede,Elko, Nevada.

V o l u m e 21 I U N E , 1958 N u m b e r 6C O V E RP H O T O G R A P H YC A L E N D A REXPERIENCEG H O S T T O W NPOETRYM Y S T E R YDESERT WEARFI CTI ONP E R S O N A L I T YF O R E C A S TLETTERSTRUE OR F A L S EFIELD TRIPH I S T O R YN A T U R EE D U C A T I O NC L O S E - U P SG A R D E N I N GN E W SC O N T E S TM I N I N GH O B B YL A P I D A R YC O M M E N TB O O K S

Prehistoric Pictographs in Monument ValleyBy JOSEF MUENCH

Pictu res of the Month 2June events on the desert 3First Day in the White Man's School

By ELIZABETH WHITE 4The Seven Troughs Bonanza

By NELL MURBARGER 5A Canyon of Palms an d other poe ms . . . . 10Mystery Shrine on the Mojave Desert

By DOROTHY ROBERTSON 11From Sunbonnet to Sunshine

By PHYLLIS W. HEALD 12Hard Rock Shorty of Death Val ley 14Saga of Death Valley's Jimmy Dayton

By AUDREY WALLS LLOYD 15Southwest river runoff predic tions 16Comment from Desert' s re ade rs 18A test of you r desert knowl edg e 18The Desert Was White With Chalcedony RosesBy EUGENE L. CONROTTO 19Old Harmony Borax Works

By JOSEF and JOYCE MUENCH . . . . 23"Dry Lake" Filled With Water

By EDMUND C. JAEGER . 24Adult Education for the Papagos

By CHARLES J. HOFFMAN 27About those who write for Desert 28Lavender from an Arizona Garden

By MRS. EFFIE BRELAND DAY 30From here and there on the desert 31Picture-of-the-Month contest annou ncement . . 34Current news of desert mines 35Gems and Minera ls 37Amateur Gem Cutter, by DR. H. C. DAKE . . . 41Just Between You and Me, by the Editor . . . 42Reviews of Southwes tern literature 43The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Press, Inc., Palm Desert,California. Re-entered as second class matter July 17, 1948, at the postoffice at Palm Desert,California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title registered No.358865 in U. S. Patent Office,and contents copyrighted 1958 by the Desert Press, Inc. Permission to reproduce contentsmust be secured from the editor in writing.RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor EUGENE L. CONROTTO, Associate EditorBESS STACY, Business Manager EVONNE RIDDELL, Circulation ManagerUnsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledgedunless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility fordamage or loss of manuscripts or photographs although due care will be exercised. Sub-scribers should send notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding issue.SUBSCRIPTION BATESOne Year $4.00 TwoYears $7.00Canadian Subscriptions 25c Extra. Foreign 50c Extra

Subscriptions to Army Personnel Outside U. S. A. Must Be Mailed in Conformity WithP. O. D. Order No. 19687Address Correspondence to Desert Magazine, Palm Desert, CaliforniaJ U N E , 1 9 5 8


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L I F E O N T H E D E S E R TFirst Day in theW hite Man's School

RETIRED after 31years of teaching the childrenof my Hopi tribesmen andneighboring Navajos, I often picturethe faces of the beginnerssome ex-cited and sparkling with interest, otherstearful and frightened. Then , invari-ably, my mind goes back to my ownfirst day at school.Until I was of school age therewere no classrooms in our part of theHopi Reservation. We played in thevillage streets of Oraibi, helped ourparents, and followed the gentle Hopipattern toward maturity.Then, the abrupt change came. A

Hopi girl and her baby sister.Photo by Frashers, Pom ona.

Here is the story of a Hopi girl's introduction to a formal educationwhich led to a 31-year teaching career. To Elizabeth W hite's mother,the white man 's school w as a terrifying thing. There her child wouldembark on a new way of life from which there would be no turning back.By ELIZABETH WHITE

day school was built about a mile be-low our mesa.I was giving my baby sister a rideon my back beneath my blanket shawl,when my mother called me . Her voicewas filled with fear."Hide behind that roll of bedding,Polingaysi," she said. "Th e white manand the Indian police are coming.They are catching little children forthe school down there."I handed my little sister to her, andhid under the blankets. She threw anextra sheep pelt over me.When the men came to our door,Mother told them she had no children

of school age except my brother, whowas ill.They went away, but I was alertafter that. The instant I saw themcoming, I hid.But, soon I discovered that I waspractically the only child of my agegroup in the village during schoolhours. I asked my friends aboutschool. Their reports were good."They will give you a dress likethis," they said, showing me the stripeddress made of ticking. "It feels good.It is not as heavy as our Hopi dresses,but it is warm enough."I wanted to try it on, so we ranbehind the house and exchanged cos-tumes. Tha t was my first step towardadopting the white man's ways.The very next day I went to theedge of the mesa and looked down atthe school. I could hear the childrenlaughing during recess. Finally, Iwalked down the trail toward theschool and hid behind a rock.One of my friends saw me and camerunning over. She took my hand andled me to the schoolhouse.

For the first time I saw the red-faced fat man who was the superin-tenden t. He said something to one of

the older Hopi girls. She led me intoanother room and gave me a bath ina big tub, then put one of the tickingdresses on me.At noon I stood in line with theothers at the kitchen. We were givena tin cup full of water, a round hard-tack cracker, and tin saucer full ofsyrup. That was our lunch.After the play hour, we lined upand were counted. The fat manpointed to me and said something tothe teacher, another white ma n. Hetalked to me, but I could not under-stand him.The teacher led me to a seat besidetwo other girls, and gave me a penciland piece of paper.When the teacher turned his back,my seatmate whispered: "He willmake marks on the blackboard andwe must copy the marks many times."I copied the marks as best I could,with no idea that the three marksspelled "cat."I had been so interested and excitedthat I had no thought of the offenseI had committed until I saw my moth-er's face after school."Who took you off to school?" sheasked. "The white man has not beenin the village all day."Standing before her in my newwhite man's dress, I hung my head."I went by myself," I said in a meeklow voice.She was very grieved. "Now , thereis no turning back for you," she said.She spoke the truth. There was noturning back. I went forward into theteaching profession, and during mylong and satisfying career I tried tomake up for some of the early mistakesof the government teachers.Looking at the faces of the begin-

ners in my classrooms, I could beunderstanding and sympathetic, be-cause of my own first day at school.D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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Seven Troughs, Nevada, in 1908. Photo by Ewing Smoot.

Here today gone tomorrow.That w as the story of the four greatmining camps o f the SevenTroughs district, and especially ofMazuma which was the tragicvictim of a flash flood.By NELL MURBARGERMap by Norton Allen

THE first decade of thiscentury, mining journals werecrammed with news of Nevada.From a dozen camps came tales ofincredible riches, and of even morespectacular treasure awaiting the nextround of shots. Tonopah, Goldfield,Rhyolite, Hornsilver, Rawhide, Na-tional and Fairview gleamed like theaurora borealis on a cold nightandbetween the Stone House Range andthe Trinity Mountains lay the fourequally brilliant camps of the SevenTroughs District.

Vernon, on the south, and Farrell,only eight miles distant near the min-ing district's north boundary, flankedthe towns of Seven Troughs and Ma-zuma. Sheep had ranged this vicinityfor many years, and it was a cluster oflivestock watering troughs around aspring that gave name to the newmining district, to one of its towns,and to the canyon in which that townand Mazuma were located.During the first two days of work

on a claim near Seven Troughs, over$3600 in ore was taken from a holeonly 10 feet deep, reported the Tono-

The Seven Troughs Bonanza . . .Mazum a's vulnerable position at the mo uth o f Seven Troughs Cany on ledto its destruction by flash floods in 1912. Photo by Lee Jellum, loaned byMabel Purdv.

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\

TO RENO

pah Bonanza on January 19, 1907.This made a great story until Decem-ber of that year when ore worth adollar a pound was found in the WildHorse Mineeclipsed, in turn, by two-dollar-a-pound rock at the Little Herotunnel northwest of Farrell!But these stories dwindled to medi-ocrity on March 7, 1908, when theSeven Troughs Miner reported that theKindergarten Mine had hit an oreshoot running $100,000 in gold to eachton of rock.On October 3, of that year, theSeven Troughs District News revealedthat the Wihuja Company, operatingthe Stoker Lease, had tapped ore as-saying $125,000 a ton! When theWihuja began storing its unmilled orein the vault of the Vernon bank forsafekeeping, the ultimate had been

reached. Even the state which had cuther teeth on the fabulous Comstockand grown fat on the "jewelry rock"of Goldfield, conceded that placingraw ore in a bank vault was bignews and Seven Troughs boomed!No one knows who first found goldor silver in these hills, nor the year ofthat discovery. Although prospectorswere ranging over this vicinity in the1860s, no special excitement attendedthese initial efforts, and no camps wereestablished. Likely the first importantstrike was made by W. A. Stautts andJack Bishop in the late autumn of1905. Other outstanding discoveriessoon followed. In June, 1 906, JohnnyMackedon and Billy Kavanaugh lo-cated a group of claims purchased byL. A. Friedman for $50,000. Thisground became the great Fairview

Mine. Another pioneer mine therich Kindergarten was located byTommy O wens, Joe Therien and FrankCrumpacker, who sold the claims toFriedman for $75,000. Where Fried-man acquired $125,000 to buy thetwo mines is a mystery, for Lovelockold-timers remember him as a sewingmachine agent. Everyone agrees, how-ever, that he was a "sharp operator."With four towns founded and nearly500 men employed in local mines andmills, the district settled down to asteady and orderly growth. Buildinglots in Vernon, which had sold for $75in the fall of 1906, were bringing$1500 the following summer. Eachof the four towns had its own postoffice, and both Vernon and Mazumahad banks. The Vernon Miner, pub-lished by J. R. Hunter, made its bowon January 4, 1907. Six months later,Howard W. Cherry launched his Ver-non Review. Then came the SevenTroughs Miner, edited by Roy D. Har-ris; and in September, 1908, the SevenTroughs District News, published atMazuma by Howard N. Riddle.

By this time the district also had twopublic schools, about 30 stores, a halfdozen real estate and brokerage officesand about that many lodging houses.The local miners' union had a mem-bership of 200, and wages ranged from$4 a day for muckers to $5 for engi-neers and timbermen.Baseball teams of Mazuma andSeven Troughs played each other andLovelock, and Mazuma's gay bladessupported a lively athletic club whichcollected a purse of $100,000 as a bidfor the Jeffries-Johnson cham pionsh ipboxing match. Vernon's smartly-uni-formed brass band played for ballgames, parades, drilling contests andcivic functions, and the Seven TroughsMinstrels were considered tops in en-tertainment their performances atthe Miners' Union hall in Mazumadrawing heavy attendance from milesaround.

Holidays were roundly observed,each Fourth of July finding residentsof the district gathered at Mazuma forpatriotic oratory and song, foot andhorse races, tug of war and ladies'nail-driving contests, boys' pie-eatingbouts, and competition in hardrockdrilling and mucking. Boxing matches,dancing and the firing of giant powderbrought such events to thunderousconclusions.

Labor Day celebrations were heldat Seven Troughs, and followed thesame general pattern marking JulyFou rth. One notable exception wasthe barbeque and drilling contest whichfeatured the 1908 Labor Day observ-ance. The affair took place at Fried-man's Kindergarten Mine, where hun-

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dreds of personsone newspaper re-ported nearly 5000 were served abarbecue dinner for which chefs hadcooked two fat beeves, gallons ofbeans, and a barrel of coffee, and localbakeries had produced 400 loaves ofbread.After gorging themselves to reple-tion, contenders squared off for thehardrock drilling contest in which oneman of a team held a piece of regula-tion drill steel and gave it quarter turnswhile his partner hammered the steelwith quick sharp blows. Winning teamwas the one which, after 15 minutes,drilled deepest into a block of granite.On this memorable Labor Day, theVernon team, composed of DrillersHenderson and Nomes, sank theirsteel to the depth of 35-1/6 inchesan achievement that came close tomatching the world's record. Thencame the Seven Troughs boys, Ray andMartin, and after their steel had dug

into the granite for 15 minutes andthe hole measured, they had beatenthe Vernon team by seven-sixteenthsof an inch, thereby winning the firstprize money of $250.Challenging the winners to a returnmatch the following day, Hendersonand Nomes drilled to a depth of 36%inches thereby claiming the localtitle as well as a side bet of $200.Another contest that evoked an un-usual amount of interest was the auto-mobile road race.In the early months of the SevenTroughs boom, all freight consignedto the new camps was hauled from therailroad at Lovelock in wagons drawnby heavy draft animals, while passen-ger traffic and the mails were shuttledover the road in four-horse stage-coaches. The 30-mile trip from L ove-lock was made with one change ofanimals at Halfway Housea smallstation at a good spring of water on

the west slope of the Trinities. Stagesrequired about five hours to cover thedistance, and wagons even longer.Before the Seven Troughs strikewas a year old, automobiles appearedon the scene. Although low in horse-power, they were well-suited for thebad roads and inexperienced driversof that day. High wheels providedadequate clearance, and solid rubbertires were invulnerable to sharp rocksand other hazards of the road.By averaging better time than eventhe fastest horse-drawn stage, the gasbuggies captured the mail contractsby 1907; and because they scared thedaylight out of any draft or saddleanimal they chanced to meet en route,a toll road exclusively for their usewas built a short distance south ofthe main stage road.Rivalry ran high, and in April, 1909,when 15 autos were in service on theLovelock-Seven Troughs run, owners

Ed Green and Link Nickerson knew the Seven Troughs' camps in the boom daysof 50 years ago. Photo by the author.

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of the several competing lines agreedto a road race . In view of the deepsand and alkali dust along the way,it is incredible that Dick Keyworth'sPackard completed the 30-mile coursein only one hour and three minutes,Bert Bailey's Franklin crossed the fin-ish line one minute later, and StanleyMclntosh 's Schandt Roadwagon was20 minutes behind.Aside from occasional claim jump-ing, camps of the district were remark-ably well behaved, recalls EwingSmoot of Lovelock who located atVernon in 1906 and remained in thatvicinity until the boom subsided. Fewmen, according to Smoot, carried guns;there were few known toughs, and

rolled over the Seven Troughs Rangenearly every day for a week past.Sometimes the clouds brought a lightsprinkle of rain that spattered the hotrocks and sent little puffs of dust ris-ing from streets and yard s. M oreoften, they brought only lightning andthunder and continued drouth, so noone at Seven Troughs paid much at-tention to the threatening sky.Perhaps the first realization that thisparticular storm was different fromthe others came to Ellsworth Bennett,sitting in the office of Coalition MiningCompany, when he glanced out thewindow and saw water roaring downSeven Troughs Canyon!Thundering through the dry wash

Stages that connected Vernon, Seven T roughs, Mazuma and Farrell withLovelock. Photo loaned by Mabel Purdy.

only on rare occasions did violentdeath lay its hand on the camps.But Death was not taking a holidayit was conserving its main thrustfor the tragic Third Act for whichMazuma would be the setting.Of the district's four towns, Ma-zuma was the largest. In addition tostores, newspapers, bank and fraternalorganizations, it had a well-equippedfire department, a Board of Trade,mining engineers, attorneys, brokeragehouses, a bath house, and a good hotel.It also had several real estate pro-moters, and one of these, in 1908, wasadvertising: "Buy a lot in the EastAddition to Mazuma and be Comfort-able in Old Age. Eas t Add ition isSituated at the entrance to SevenTroughs Canyon, the Ideal Place toLive. Lots Reasonable in Price, Ele-gant in Location . . ."Less than four years later the per-sons who read and answered that ad-vertisement would have good reasonto remember i t .Although the air was hot and atrifle sultry, Mazuma saw nothing un-usual about the morning of July 18,1912. Big white thunderheads had

with the speed of a cannon-ball ex-press, the cloudburst flood deepenedas the canyon narrowed and by thetime it reached upper Mazuma, it wasa furious gray wall with frothing crestriding high as the roof of a two-storybuilding!Nothing could withstand this terri-ble tide. Automobiles were rolled overlike toys, cabins were sent whirlingoff their foundations, and stout storebuildings were reduced to kindlingwoo d. Postoffice patr on s saw the floodcoming in time to flee for their lives,but as Postmistress Maude Ruddellreached the street door she remem-bered the postoffice money, andwhirled back to save it. She had b are -ly re-entered the building when theliquid battering-ram crashed upon it,bursting its walls as easily as a mandriving his fist through a sheet of tis-sue paper .The flood roared on to annihilatethe bank, the brokerage office, thehotel , stores, homesand as quicklyas it had come, it subsided. One m o-ment the streets had been dust dry.The next moment they were buried

under 20 feet of waterand by thethird moment, the town vanished.Through all that horror-r idden night,searchers probed mud-layered heapsof splintered wood, broken brick andglass; and through all those long hours,voices choked with grief and dwindlinghope shouted into the darkness thenames of missing loved ones.Not until five days later was thelast body locatedseven miles down-canyon.Nine persons were drowned, fourof them children. The victims includedthe Postmistress who had lost her lifetrying to save the postoffice money,and Mike Whalen who died in a vaineffort to save one of the children.Many others were seriously injured.The only business buildings in Mazu-ma that escaped destruction were FredPreston's hotel and Bill Kromer'sstore.If there was any thought of rebuild-ing M azum a, it was forgotten afterfour more cloudbursts roared downthe wash in the next 10 days.Mazuma was through.Seven Troughs and Vernon contin-ued to operate for a few more years,but with the inevitable depreciation ofore and rising cost of operation, theygave up the struggle. Due to the greatrichness of the ore pockets, and thevast amount of highgrading that hadtaken place during the camps' bestyears, it is impossible to determine thefull extent of production, but conserv-

ative estimates place it between $3,-000,000 and $4,000,000 in gold, silvercopper and lead.In addition to talking to severalpersons who had taken part in theSeven Troughs boom, I was especiallyfortunate in having placed at my dis-posal complete files of the area's news-papersa treasury of information nowowned by Paul Gardner, publisher ofth e Lovelock Review-Miner. Afterporing over these fascinating old jour-nals, I felt as if I had known person-ally half the men and women whotook part in that long-ago boom . But

I still wanted to talk to Link Nickerson, the "Sage of Seven Troughs."On each of three earlier visitsspread over a period of eight years, Ihad failed to find Link at homehewas always off in the hills workingmine assessments. But, I was deter-mined to locate him before writingthe story of these camps.Ed Green, who drove stage betweenLovelock and Seven Troughs in theearly part of the boom, rode with meto the old diggings, now reached byshort branch roads leading off gradedState Highway 48.After a gradual 12-mile climb tothe juniper-feathered crest of the Trin-ities, Ed pointed out the green seepD E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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Freight wagons on Lovelock streets in 1907, ready to depart for Seven Troughs.Included in the cargo is a printing press and paper cutter for the "Seven TroughsMiner." Photo by Ed G reen.where Halfway House once stood. Thenwe dipped into a wide valley andclimbed another long sunny slope toVernon whose only remaining build-ings are a few small cabins and theold concrete jail, complete with barredwindows and doors.

"The hotel sat here," said Ed, indi-cating a plot of desert identical to theground surroundin g it. "Pre ston 'sGeneral Store, and Trenchard andCarey's Hardware were on the flat,yonder; and the Northern Saloon stoodnear the head of that ravine. Afterthe town died, I got permission to tearthe saloon down for the lumber."From Vernon, a steep narrow ruttedroad led up a canyon to the famousFairview Mine. Later, we skirted thebrown hills to the site of Seven Troughswhere gray mine dumps spilled downboth sides of the canyon. A few ghostlyheadframes stood guard over inactivemines, and near the end of the roadthree wooden cabins drowsed in theafternoon sun.As we drove back down the canyon,bumping over rocks and ruts, anddodging giant sagebrushes that disputedour way, I reminded Ed that I wantedto get some pictures of Mazuma."You do?" said Ed, gr inning. "Then,you'd better stop quickwe're rightin the middle of it!"It didn't seem possible that anytown even a cloudburs t victim could be so completely obliterated. Ifthere was one fragment of wall, onecellar, or even one cement foundationremaining, I failed to find it.

Near the canyon's mouth we turnedon a branch road that led south towarda clump of trees and some woodenbuildings. A man, seated on the stepsof the first cabin, regarded us quizzi-cally as I halted the car in his frontyard."You've hit it, this time," said Ed."Here 's the old boy, now!"The man who came forward togreet us was thin and wiry, his eyesbrimming with good humor, and hisstep still held the enthusiastic springof youth.Born in McMinnville, Oregon, LinkNickerson answered Adventure's callwhen in his teens. After a short per-iod spent in the booming camps ofTonopah and Goldfield, he followedthe rush to Seven Troughs in 1907and here he has lived these 51 years!After the original town died, he

moved to New Seven Troughs, a smallcamp that came into existence about30 years ago when a tunnel was beingdriven into the mountain to connectwith the original Fairview shaft. Alsoat New Seven Troughs stands a large$200,000 cyaniding mill built in 1929.After operating only a few monthsthe mill closed, and is now owned bya rancher who bought it several yearsago for back taxes.Link owns the little cabin in whichhe lives. From an old iron pipe nearhis front door pours an unfailing streamof clear cold spring water which sup-

plies his domestic needs and runs ondown the slope to water the cotton-woods in his front yard. A kero sene-

operated refrigerator preserves his per-ishables. Abo ut once a month hedrives to Lovelock for groceries andhis mail.After Link had helped me with sev-eral details of local history, and Edand I were about ready to leave, Ilooked out over the wide dry desertvalley between the Seven TroughsRange and the Trinities."This is a strange place for an Ore-gon Webfoot to have lived for a halfcentury," I remarked."Ain't it the truth," the desert manchuckled . "I 'm not sure, but I suspectthe webs dried up and fell off about49 years ago!"

On our return, we halted at thelittle graveyard below New SevenTrou ghs. Its fence was lying pron e,and the dozen rocky mounds it con-tained were barren of flowers or grass.On only four of the weary woodenmarkers could we decipher time-fadedinscriptions. One headed the grave ofFrank Reed, kil led by a gambler; an-other marked the resting place ofJames R. Ratliff, died Jan. 5 , 1909;and two wooden crosses identified themounds of James, George and RonaldKeheolittle boys lost in the tragicflood of 1912.

Except for this old cemetery, threecabins and a few idle mines in SevenTroughs Canyon, the old jail at Ver-non, and a few old newspapers andphotographs, the four great boomtowns of the Seven Troughs districthave all but vanished from the earth.

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MOJAVE INTERLUDEBy JAMES MADDEN MACINTYREBaker, CaliforniaHow could the men who mapped the sandOf desert valleys knowThat other men would love a landWhere only salt-plants grow?

Perhaps because cool, starry nightWould end each burning day,And mighty meteors in flightSuggested God at play?Or was it sunrise serenadesOf whispering winds that changeFor tumbleweed to play charadesAnd bounce across the range?There is noplace where God's Sweet Face

So fills the earthly air,In desert skies men open eyesAnd find Him everywhere!HERITAGE

By GRACE BARKER WILSONKirtland, New MexicoThis is ourwestern heritage:Beneath the turquoise tinted skiesThe tangy smell of purple sageAt morning comes to tantalize.Across the cactus studded sandA hurrying coyote stalks his prey;Two buzzards far above the landAre circling in the blue skyway.But none disturbs the quietnessOf countless ages that has spreadAcross thedesert's fathomlessDominions uninhabited.

RANGE WIFEBy JEAN FENDLASON FITEAlbuquerque, New Mexico

Upon the range, a day is masculineAnd wives of rugged men ride straight andstrong.They live with sun and dust and drivingwindAnd patiencefor a desert day is long.But they await the night. The mood willchange.A desert night is feminine andsweet.Soft stars and cactus bloom and pungentsageAnd moonlight in the place of desert heat.Within this realm, a strong man drops the

shellThat must surround him through the busyda yBecomes the tender man she knows so wellAnd for awhile, the world seems far away.

G o d a n d Y o uBy TANYA SOUTH

Whichever way you try to live,There's only God and you.Whatever you may take or give,It still is God and you.However much you curse or pray,Whatever you may do or say,Or reap or sow, or charge or pay,There's only God andyou.

A C a n y o n of P a l m sBy LOUINA VAN NORMANRiverside, CaliforniaThey lean together andwhisper,Where they have gathered by the stream.They areages old andshaggy,And share an ancient dreamOf time before the white menDisturbed their quiet days,

When only beasts and red menMoved in the desert haze.WAYSIDE WITNESSBy KATHERINE L. RAMSDELLTempe, ArizonaCrude things they were,And fashioned hastilyOf things that lay at hand:Two sticks of wood,Or rusting iron wagon rims,Banged straightAnd crossed.No one misunderstood.

The rutted trailsAre gonetheir ridges pressedIn smooth and glisteningMacadam strands.Now trim white crossesLonely vigil keepAnd still no passing soulMisunderstands. THESE SOMBER HILLSBy P A U L W I L H E L MThousand Palms, CaliforniaAs palms that root in desert earthAnd these uplifting lilac dunesI stand amid these somber hillsThat gave mebirth, that nurtured meWith springs and soil andgarden rows.This flesh and blood within myveinsThe same substance that made the hills;This desert land myliving fleshAnd ever after it remains

Enduring more than f lood and war.This land is where I live and sing,Watch sunset fall and taste the dawn,Hoe corn at noon or climb a heightTo trace a rainbow through the rain.These somber hills a part of m e,My bed the sand, myroof the sky,My symphony the blowing wind,The piping frogs, the coyote'scry. THE DESERT HOMEBy FERNE CABOT DYSARTWildorado, TexasIt's a little placeWith a sun burned faceAnd thedoor is debonairWith a welcomematAnd a manner thatInvite you to enter there.The windows beguileWith a beckoning smileAnd the chimney puffs awayLike a calm, old m anW ho in pipe dreamscanRelax at the end of day.The roof slants downLike a rakish crownOn the head of a vagabond.And splendor liesWhere the distant skiesMeet the mountain range beyond.There are mansions that standOn restricted landThat possess not half the charmsOf the little placeIn the close embraceOf the desert's gentle arms.

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Mystery Shrine onthe Mojave DesertComplete mystery surrounds the origin of a crude altar on whicha Bible is framed in cement at a lonely spot in the Rademacher Hillsnorth of Johann esburg, California. Here is the story a nd per hap samong Desert Magazine readers are some who will know the answer.

By DOROTHY ROBERTSONWe have known about this shrinefor over two years now, and still havenot been able to discover a single clueas to how it came to be placed in thesehills. I have heard versions of onestory which, if true, could possibly

lead to the answer. Durin g the lastwar, a group of assertedly patrioticreligionists supposedly came to thisarea, and, among other observances,daily held a flag-raising ritua l. Un for-tunately (for them), a Canadian planeis said to have picked up a radio beamfrom the illegal short-wave antennaconcealed atop the flag pole.But, is this spy story just anotherwild desert tale? Or is there, perhap s,some significance?The Bible is opened to Hebrews,last page of Chapter 11, and the firstpage of Chapter 12. Some of theverses are highly thought-provoking:"By faith he sojourned . . . as in astrange country . . ."

ON A RIDGE over look ingSearles Mesa in the Rade-m a c h e r H i l l s a b o v e I n d i a nWells Valley, California, lies a glass-encased open Bible set like a gem ina vari-colored rock-stud ded frame. Apiece of mesh wire with its center cutout to afford an unobstructed view ofthe text, covers the frame.A friend, returning from a hike inthe hills, first told us about this shrine."There's a Bible framed in cement,"he explained, "as if some one hadwanted to build an altar there on ahuge rock."This was something we had notknown about and we were interested.He gave explicit directions for reach-ing the place, and soon members ofour family started in a jeep to find thismysterious Bible in the hills.

Although the glass pane coveringthe Bible is cracked, and the pagessomewhat damaged, most of the textstill is perfectly legible.Bible altar in the lonely Rademacher Hills.

The Bible is opened to Hebrew s,last page of Chapter 11, and thefirst page of Chapter 12.". . . and confessed they werestrangers and pilgrims . . ."". . . they . . . declared plainly thatthey seek a country.""When she (Rahab) had receivedthe spies with peace.""They wandered in deserts and inmountains and in the dens and cavesof the earth."Why were the pages of these spe-

cific chapters chosen?Who placed the Bible in these lonelyhills?When was it placed here, and arethere others nearby?Strangest of all is that none of theold-timers who live in this regionknow about the altar .The turnoff to the mysterious shrineleads east from Highway 395. It isjust north of the railroad tracks, 3.1miles south of the Ridgecrest Junction,or 10.4 miles north of the junctionwhere the Randsburg road joins High-way 395 from Johannesburg (note:there is a second railroad crossing only3.9 miles north of the RandsburgJunction which should not be con-fused with the one near the Bible altarturnoff) .The dirt road passes between anold silver-painted house trailer on theright and a shack housing a mine shaftopening on the left. The Bible altaris 2.3 miles from the highway. It ison the south side of the main trailjust beyond the crest of a high ridgethe road climbs over . Many trackscriss-cross the main dirt road . A jut-ting point of jagged rock on the leftabout a mile from the house traileris a good midway landmark.

J U N E , 1 9 5 8 11


12/44

Hat Styles present few problems to women wholive in the sunny Southwest. They know it's farmore in keeping with the casual and natural spiritof desert livingand far more attractivenot tohide hair under straw, cloth or feathers.

F r o m S u n b o n n e t . . .

ABOVE Cowgirls wear hats, but not to look smartor modish. They are copying the cowboy's outfit.Photo by Western Ways.LEFT Sunbonnet is uncompromising completelycovers crowning glory. Style never b ecame popularin the Southwe st. Photo by R. Fra nces Smith.. . . t o S u n s h i n e

By PHYLLIS W. HEALDIN THE Southwest wherethe sun shines 350 days a year,and some guest ranches makeno charge when it does not appear,you'd think we women would haveevolved a desert hat. Something large,colorful and protective to preserve ourcomplexions, eyesight and hair. Butwe haven't.

Strangely enough, hats do not fitinto the Southwest picture. The wom-enfolk of this country have lived foryears without finding a need for them.Even the sunbonnet, romantic in po-etry and picturesque in effect, hasplayed no lasting part in Western cos-tuming. Brought into this country by12

the pioneer women of a century ago,it never became popular. It held noattraction for the natives. To them itserved only to cover part of their fem-inine beauty, hide their jeweled earsand obscure their precious necklaces.As time passed the sunbonnet wassloughed off with the same abandonas the tight bodice and high-collareddress. And the women of the South-west continued to enjoy their own de-sign for living.

Actually, the lack of a typical headcovering for this part of the countryis not unusual at all. In the first place,Indians, from whom we adapted manyof our present-day clothes, considerhairdress vital to their beauty. Trad i-tionally it is part of their costuming

par t of their way of life. In fact ithas distinct significance and meaning.One can recognize, by hairdo alone,whether an Indian is Hopi or Navajo;married or single.The Mexicans too, take pride intheir thick lustrous locks. Never wouldthey dream of despoiling their femininecharm, dimming the bright sparkle oftheir eyes or belittling their crowninggift from God, with a broad-brimmedcover.Hats are a Nordic innovation. Veryfew women of Latin countries, theSouth -Seas or other sultry romanticplaces in the world, effect them . Thesewomen use decorationflowers, man-tillas, scarfs, elaborate combs and evenshawls. But, rarely do they desecrate

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Any hat would detract from a costume as effective asthis. Instead, the short bob, easy to care for, gives asense of informality. Photo by Western Ways.Long hair is not a problem. A barrette to keep it of) theface, and it is free to dance in the wind and sparkle withsunlight. Photo by Western Ways.

their shining glory with anything asconfining, stylized and often unbecom-ing, as a hat.Cowgirls wear sombreros when rid-ing only because their costume is fash-ioned af ter the cowman's. And menthe world over have taken to headcoveringprobably because they haveno wondrous tresses to hide.Older Indian and Mexican womenoften wear shawls pulled tightly aroundtheir faces. This is a purely p rotectivegestureto keep out dust and cold.But at pow-wow or fiesta time, theirheads are exposed to the elements andregally dressed with turquoise combs,mantillas or gaily-petalled flowers.Today, many visitors from the East,especially blondes, worry about lack ofheadge ar. They often shed their for-mal citified millinery fashions, butcompromise by wearing inexpensivesouvenir Mexican straw hats available

at the border towns. However, thefear that sun and wind will ruin hairis a bogy fast being disproved. Yo u

need only look at Mexican childrenand women to see the absurdity ofthis belief, for the exquisite thick rich-ness and hair-beauty that apparentlyis our southern neighbors' inherentr ight, is a perpetual wonder . Ma nyof those glamorous heads have neverenjoyed the dubious pleasure of sup-porting a hat.For the ladies whose hair is notaccustomed to weather exposure, beau-ty shops can easily restore the naturaloil and curlusually at a price morepleasing than that of a fashionable hat.Then, too, colorful scarfs can beused, especially for sportswear. Thes evaried kerchiefs serve a dual purposethey hold straying locks back dur-ing tennis games, golf, hiking or motor-ing, and add flattering brilliance tothe scene. Worn in many ways, theycan cover the hair or dramatize it.But always, like every manifestation

of Southwest dress, they imply unre-stricted freedom and a sense of alive-ness.

Another helpful and decorative sub-stitute are dark glasses. Made nowfor beauty as well as utility, they areavailable with colored rims so one cankeep the harmony of an outfit intact,yet protect eyes from brightness andglare. Some of the modern designsare fascinating. I have seen frameswith tiny bells hanging to the outsideedge, others studded with rubies, em-eralds or sapphires to sparkle in thesunlight. Fra m e shapes are especiallystyled to flatter different face types.

And so, the costume of our desertland remains unique. After weeks ormonths of Southwest living, newcom-ers capitulate and adapt their clothingto the comfort and color that is native.Squaw dresses, moccasins, beadedbags, leather jackets and striking In-dian jewelry all have survived the fash-ions and frills of passing seasons be-cause they possess the basic requisitesof charm and freedom.It is the same with women's hair.Short, long, waving or straight, it

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This Ap ache girl in ceremonial dress, wears her hair in traditional simplicity.Parted in the center, it is held in place and accented with a colorful hand-beaded head band. Photo by W estern Ways.should be unrestrained to shine, gleamand blow. Winds whip and give itlife; sun niters through and makes itsparkle; moonbeams dance a halo in

its glory. But always it must remainfreeunhampered and unhiddentoadd its beauty and romance to theSouthwest scene.EASY MONEY, LIQUORHARMFUL TO UTE INDIANSNewly gained riches from oil andgas leases and liquor have set the UteTribe back 25 years, believes JudgeHeber T. Hall of Roosevelt, Utah.Roosevelt city officials are seekingstate funds to help enlarge the localjail to cope with a big increase indrunken Indians."We have had four to five times asmany Indians arrested for being drunkor disorderly since 1955 when a statelaw was repealed banning sale of liquorto Indians," Mayor Kenneth R. Ay-cock reported.Judge Hall said 370 Indians had

been arrested in Roosevelt last yearfor being drunk, compared with only20 whites. It is difficult to collect fine sfrom the Indians, and there is notenough space in the small jail to lockthem up, he added.Most of the nation's 300 reserva-tions still forbid liquo r. As a result,the tribesmen do most of their drink-ing in public for all to see."When they get their monthlychecks at Ft. Duchesne, the Indiansdrive to Roosevelt for liquor whichthey drink in our town because theyare not allowed to take it back to thereservation," the judge said. VernalExpress

Death Valley"Are you Mister Hard RockShorty?" asked the stranger whohad just arrived at Inferno store.Shorty looked the visitor over,noted the brand new levis andboots and Stetson hat. "Yu canjest call me Shorty," he repliedafter a pause."You're just the man I'm look-ing fora real old desert rat, ifyou'll pardon the use of thatrawther uncomplimentary termyou prospectors apply to eachother," the stranger gurgled. "I'vealways wanted to meet a desertminer and go on a prospectingtrip with him. Of course I willfurnish all the groceries, and I'vegot a new tent and some cannedcaviar and a portable radio.""I guess I ain't the feller yo u'relookin' fer," Shorty interrupted,and sauntered into the store toshare his disgust with the clerk."One o' them blasted dudes!"he exploded. "I took one o' themon a trip once, an' no more o'that fer me. We set up campover at Alum Spring the firstnight. Had a sack o' spuds, an'some flour an ' coffee enoughfer a week, an' 1 left word withPisgah Bill to bring us anotherload o' grub in a few days."I told the dude to wash thetaters, an' do you know whatthat blankety - blank tenderfootdid? While I wuz out gatherin 'some wood he took the wholesack o' potatoes over an put 'emin the springsack an' all."Fust thing I knowed I heardhim hollerin' an' when I wentover to see what wuz up therehe wuz fishin' around in thatwater tryin' t' find the taters.When he finally brought 'em upthat alum water'd shrunk 'emdown to about the size o' peasin a Bull Durham sack."An' all we had to eat fer aweek wuz sourdough biscuits an'coffee. I ain't got no more timefer dude prospectors."

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15/44

Jimmy Dayton's first Death Valley job was as a swamper on a 20 Mule Teamborax freighter.

S a g a o f D e a t h V a l l e y ' s J i m m y D a y t o nJimmy Dayton's name crops up repeatedly in the lore of DeathValley. While more articulate contemporaries such as Death Va lleyScotty and Shorty Harris supplied the ingredients for bizarre anecdotesand clever newspaper copy, Dayton's attributesloyalty and sincerityw ere largely o verlooked b y the local-color-seekers. But, that's theway Jimmy Dayton preferred it. He was mat kind of man.By AUDREY WALLS LLOYD

T WAS NOT in Jimmy Dayton'sheart to leave Death Valley. Per-haps he never should have tried.Jimmy had lived quietly in the val-ley for nearly 20 years. To him thisregion was a siren who held him en-chanted, while those who did notknow these arid acres regarded Jim-my's siren as a hag whose searingbreath and clawed hands conspiredonly with tragedy.Jimmy stayed on even during theforbidding months June, Ju ly, A u-gust and September. He knew DeathValley, its wagon ruts, canyons, waterholes, burro trails, mesquite thickets,and sand dunes. As for lonelinesshe never thought of it until he fell inlove. Only then did he try to leave theValley.Most motorists who pass the stonemonument erected to the memory ofJimmy Dayton and Shorty Harris onthe west side of Death Valley canrecall a little of Shorty's storybutnothing of Jimm y's. Unlike a numberof other pioneer Valley residents,Jimmy was not an exhibitionist, aspinner of tall talesa charac ter. In-stead, he was a soft spoken salt-of-the-earth fellow who contributed as muchperhaps moreto the Valley's tra-ditions as the more talkative frontiers-men.

Most notable of the characters wasDeath Valley Scotty who made frontJ U N E , 1 9 5 8

page news for 50 years. Shorty Harris,the inveterate prospector who wasburied at his own request at Jimmy'sside, is remembered for his individu-ality. Then there was Bellerin' TeckBennett who, upon his arrival at Fur-nace Creek to begin ranching opera-tions, roared to the Heavens (therewas no one else around to hear hiswo rds) : "All this belongs to me!"meaning not only the acres he culti-vated, but all of Death Valley.

In 1882 Jimmy was swamper forEd Stiles, the first man to drive a 20Mule Team outfit out of Death Valley.Later Jimmy was made foreman ofGreenland Ranch and he began thiswork almost where Bellerin' Teck leftoff, b ut he did his job quietly. Thelegacy Jimmy left to the Valley washis sense of loyalty.The ranch, whose name was changedto Furnace Creek in 1907, was thenowned and operated by the HarmonyBorax Works. It was here at the baseof the Funeral Mountains, on the whitefloor of Tomesha ("Land Afire") thatan oasis grew.Under Jimmy's hand alfalfa fieldswere planted and harvested to providefeed for the Harmony 20 Mule Teams,pasturage for cattle, hogs and sheep,

The Death V alley road a half century ago. Photo by F rasher's, Pomo na.

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and feed for turkeys and chickens.Thus was fresh food provided for theHarmony crews during the Octoberto May working season.During the summer months the Val-ley was unbearable for everyone ex-cept Jimmy Dayton. Supplied withwater from Furnace Creek Wash, theranch practically took care of itself

during the off-season and all Jimmydid then was guard the Borax Worksequipment. He took it easy in theshade of the tamarisks and drankplenty of water.Sometimes during the summersJimmy would pack his outfit and leavethe blazing pit for a brief vacation inthe cooler atmosphere of Los Angeles.

A d d i t i o n a l R a i n f a l l B e n e f i t sS o u t h w e s t R i v e t W a t e r s h e d s . . .

Above average precipitation fellover most Southwest river watershedsduring March, to further improve thecurrent water-year outlook, the Weath-er Bureau reported.GREAT BASINStreamflow forecasts for the majorstreams of the Great Basin were re-vised upward from 5 to 15 percentover the previous month's predictions.With near normal precipitation throughJune, the April to September runoffis expected to be near the 1938-52average for the upper Bear River; 115percent for the Logan; Ogden, 130;Upper Weber, 125; Six Creeks nearSalt Lake City, 115.

Sevier and Beaver, 150; Humboldtnear Palisade, Nevada, 85; South Forkof the Humboldt, silghtly above aver-a g e ; Martin Creek, 150; Walker, nearor slightly above average; Carson, 90;Owens, 95.March rainfall over the MojaveRiver Basin was much above normal.Outlook for the water-year stream-flow is for near 135 percent of aver-a g e , if precipitation through June isnear normal.UPPER COLORADO BASINMarch rainfall was inconsistent over

the Colorado Basin, but most areasreceived above average amounts.The Colorado and its tributariesabove Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado,is forecast to flow near 85 percent ofthe 1938-52 average; Blue River andthe Roaring Fork, near average; Tay-lor River, 115; Uncompahgre, 130;Dolores, 120.The April to September flow of theColorado near Cisco, Utah, is pre-dicted to be 4,450,000 acre feet or99 percent of the 15-year average.Near average runoff is in prospectfor the extreme headwaters of the Up-per Green in Wyoming, but below av-erage streamflow is indicated for that

river at Linwood, Utah . Streamflowfor the lower Yampa and White riversin Colorado is forecast to be near 120percent of average. Forecasts for thetributaries in Utah range from 115percent of average for the upper Du-chesne and Huntington Creek to nearaverage for the lower Duchesne andPrice rivers. The expected April toSeptember flow of the Green at GreenRiver, Utah, is for 92 percent of the15-year average; San Juan and Nav-ajo rivers, 95 percent.LOWER COLORADO BASINFor the second consecutive month,precipitation over the Lower ColoradoBasin was much above normal. Whilethe Little Colorado's water-supply out-look was improved, below averageNovember, 1957, to June, 1958, run-off still is expected for that river atWoodruff, Arizona. Above averagestreamflow is in prospect for the Chev-elon Fork and Clear Creek near Wins-low, Arizona.The runoff of the Upper Gila Basinis forecast to be above the 15-yearaverage. The April to June stream-flow of the Salt River near Roosevelt,Arizona, is forecast to be 73 percentof average; Verde River above Horse-shoe Dam, Arizona, 173 percent.

RIO GRANDE BASINMarch precipitation over the Colo-rado portion of the Rio Grande Basinranged from near normal to near 150percent of normal, while it was evenmore favorable over the New Mexicoportion. These streamflow p redictionsresulted: Upper Rio Grande in Colo-rado, 110 percent of the 15-year aver-a g e ; Alamosa Creek and ConejasRiver, 90 percent; eastern tributariesalong the Sangre de Cristo Mountainsnear the Colorado-New Mexico stateline, near normal; smaller streams nearSanta Fe, 150 percent; Rio Chama,1 2 8 ; Rio Grande at Otowi Bridge,New Mexico, 97.

With several month's pay in his pock-ets he would go on a spree sufficientto last him the year ahead.On one of these Los Angeles out-ings he fell in love. When he returnedto the ranch he brought his red-hairedbride with him.At first Mrs. Dayton was thrilledwith the novelty of her new home.Greenland Ranch was beautiful in thespring and winter months. She reveledin the delicacy of the blooms, thegolden poppiestiny cups of yellowthat floated on invisible stems.There were brown-eyed primroses,fragrant by day, and wild roses thatfilled the night air with sweetness. Tallwhite daisies nodded to her, and shelistened to the yellow whispering-bellsthat dried on their stalks and clungthere to rustle sweetly when the windblew.The parched days of summer endedin unbelievable sunsets. Nowhere elseon earth were they as beautiful. Thenthe stars trooped out to form greatbeacons in the sky. This valley was astark and lovely cathedral.But apparently it was not enough.Gaiety beckoned from Los Angeles.She heard laughter and voices andmusic.At first she struggled against thesedisconcerting sounds. She turned hereyes to the flamboyant Panamint andFuneral mountains that enclosed herworldthis white pit in the lap of theearth. She listened to the killdeer, thedoves and rock wrens, and she watchedthe crested long-tailed road runnersscurrying swiftly across the sands.There were poisonous snakes, too, andthe ravens which circled heavily inthe sky filled the air with hoarse croak-ing . . .

What kind of man was this whoasked her to make a home in a blis-tering sink? "Jimmy! Take me back!"Sadly he outfitted a wagon for thetrip.When Jimmy returned alone, thingswere different. The re was little workto do at the ranch now, for the Har-mony Borax Works had been closedfor several years, and Death Valleysaw little life except the Indians, plod-ding prospectors and their burros.Years passed and the ghost-like re-mains of the old borax plant depreci-ated under the erosion of wind andneglect. But Jimmy stayed on. Hebelieved, like others, that the shut-down was temporary, that the newlydiscovered borax deposits at Calicowould play outand then the Har-mony would come to life again.

These were long and lonely years,but Jimmy faithfully performed hisduties. He grew and baled alfalfa and15 D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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kept the yard in order and the tama-risks watered.It was a blazing August sun thatpoured its heat into the Valley duringthe summer of 1899. It created aninferno over the salt and borax sinks,and in the heart of Jimmy Dayton ashe lay in the shade with a jar of waterat his side. He watched the suddenflight of three sparrow s. Back to themountainsthat's where the sparrowswere goingwhere the air was moistand the butterflies plentiful."If we are to live together," his wifehad told him, "you will have to gowhere there is life."Suddenly he became aware that hiswork in the Valley was done. It wasa dream to think that the 20 MuleTeams would return. Having tastedhuman companionship, his lonelinesswas more unbearable. He would go.A man ought to be as smart as asparrow!

He wrote his letter of resignation,addressed to W. W. Cahill of the Har-mony Borax Works at Daggett, thecompany's nea rest office, 150 milesto the south.In the letter he mentioned the datehe planned to leave, and that he wasbringing a four horse team, two ledhorses which he had borrowed in Dag-gett the last trip, a wagon with hishousehold goods and, of course, hisdog. The letter was a precautionarymeasure. Even in summer the trip toDaggett should not take longer thana weekbut it was always a good ideato notify the office in advance. Ifsomething did go wrong help wouldbe sent.The nearest post office was on theother side of the Panamints at Balla-rat. For five dollars Jimmy hired anIndian to mail the letter. The messen-ger climbed the mountains, spent thenight at the spring in Wild Rose Can-yon, and reached Ballarat the follow-ing evening. Tired and thirsty afterthe long hike, he headed for the near-est saloon. It was two weeks beforethe letter reached Daggett."Something has happened to Jim-my!" Wash Cahill exclaimed. "Thisletter is two weeks old which meansJimmy is a week overdue now. We'llhave to find him.""I'll go," Frank Tilton offered."Who will go with me? It's a terribletrip!"Dolph Navares stepped up. "I'mready," he said.They passed Garlic Spring, CoyoteWell, Saratoga Spring and BradburyWell. No sign of Jimmy.On the fourth day the men headedinto the furnace. They toiled on, deepin the salt and alkali floor of the Val-ley. Now they were only 22 milesfrom G reenland. If Jimmy had started

out surely he would have made it toBennett's Well. That was it! He hadchanged his mind decided not toleave after all. "W e'll find him asleepin the shade, with a jar of water by hisside . . . "Tilton and Navares tried to smile.Their heat-parched lips would not re-spond.Three miles beyond Bennett's Wellthey found Jimmy's wagon, the fourhorses dead in their harness. The ani-mals had made a wild effort for free-dom and lay sprawled in the churnedsand. The two led horses lay dead atthe rear of the wagon, their necksstretched from the short halters tiedto the end gate.Jimmy had tried to save the horses.

somehow made it to the mesquitethicket.Tilton and Navares fed and wateredthe dog, and continued on to theranch. Next morning they rippedboards from the barn and made a cof-fin. Then they returned to the thicketand buried Jimmy in a shallow grave.One of them said a prayer while theother placed a wooden headboard tomark the grave.Later, after the headboard split topieces in the sun, Pauline Gower, wholived at a nearby mine, thoughtfullyreplaced the marker with an old iron-ing board on which she wrote thename, Jimmy Dayton.They gave Jimmy two more funeralservices after tha t. The second came

Stone monum ent now marks the graves of Jimmy Dayton and Shorty Harris.The reins which had been tied to theback of the driver's seat, were slashedthrough. But an instinctive habit car-ried over from his swamper daysofsetting the brakes the instant the wag-on stoppedkept the animals fromreaching water and forage.Jimmy's dog, whining weakly froma nearby mesquite thicket, attractedthe attention of the two men. Thestarving heat-crazed animal's legs weredraped across the body of Jimmy Day-ton.They knew that his illnessstroke,heart attack or whatever it washadbeen induced by the heat. Jimmy hadnot wanted to lie down in the broilingsun, and the horses would take thewagon that provided the only patchof shade. After slashing the reins, he

35 years afterward when Shorty Harriswas buried by his side. A few yearslater, State Senator Charles Brown ofShoshone had a bronze plaque madeto mark the graves. And when a newroad was built along the west side ofthe Valley, a monument of nativestone was erected for the graves, andthe bronze plaque cemented in itscenter. This event provided the thirdservice for Jimmy.

The date on the plaque, as on theironing board marker, gives the yearof Jimm y's death as 1898. Historicalsources indicate that it was the follow-ing year. But, Jimmy doesn't care oneway or the other. He never wantedto leave Death Valley anyway. So, inthe warm sands he loved, Jimmy Day-ton sleeps.J U N E , 1 9 5 8 17


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L E T T E R SThey're More Than Pebble Pups . . .

Encinitas, CaliforniaDesert:

The title "Pebble Pups" for the pic-ture on the April back cover of twoboys examining rocks was certainlyinadequate.You sold that picture short a thou-sand percent!A better title would have been:"AmericaPast, Present and Future."Those young men (not pups) arelearning the value of the land the hardway. They have on the uniform ofwork. MERLE A. HARRIS

Black-Petalled Wildflower . . ._ Willits, CaliforniaDesert:While exploring the desert on thewest side of the Palo Verde Valley inFebruary, my husband and I discov-ered a strange wildflower. It had blackpetals and a center of pure white. Theplant was about three inches in heightand had no foliage. The flow er wasless than two inches in diameter andshaped like a miniature sunflower.We were unable to identify thisP l a n t - MRS. E. H. MAIZIDear Mrs. Maizi According to Dr.Edmund C. Jaeger, the plant prob-ably w as a dried or drying specimenof a fungus called "tylopoda." Itswide-spreading thin flat spore disksplits into rays and resembles aflower such as a daisy. Dr. Jaegerhas never heard of or seen a black-petalled flower. R.H.

T R U E O R F A L S E Here are 20 more of thosebrain-teasers for the folks whothink they know a great dealabout the desert land of the Southwestor for those who would like tolearn more about this fascinating are a. The questions include geography,botany, mineralogy, history and the lore of the desert country. Twelveto 15 is a fair score, 16 to 18 is excellent. Any score above 18 is excep-tional. The answers are on page 32.1The tarantula is more poisonous than a sidewinder. TrueFalse2A Mescal Pit was used by prehistoric Indians for burying their dead.True False3 Juniper trees are seldom found below the 2000-foot level. TrueFalse4 The door of a Navajo hogan always faces north . True False5T he Colorado Desert is located in the State of Colorado . TrueFalse6If your hostess served piki bread you probably would be dining withthe Apach es. True False7The Virgin River of Utah and Nevada empties into Lake Mead.True False8Father Escalante accompanied Juan Bautista de Anza on the his-toric trek that brought the first white settlers to California. TrueFalse9Butch Cassidy was a notorious outlaw. True False10Azurite is found in copper ores. True False11Pisgah is the name of an extinct volcano in Southern California.True False12Ocotillo is a member of the cactus family. True False13Lowell Observatory is located near Flagstaff, Arizona. TrueFalse14Color of the blossom of agave or wild century plant is red. TrueFalse15Archeologists are now able to translate most of the petroglyphs lefton the rocks in the Southwest by ancient Indians . True False16The ghost mining camp of Rhyolite is in Nevada . TrueFalse17Much of the Imperial Valley in California is below sea level.True False18Solid chunks of ironwood will float in the w ater. TrueFalse19Motoring from Flagstaff to Sedona, Arizona, you would follow thepaved road through Titus Canyon. True False20M ontezuma Castle National Monument is in Arizona. TrueFalse

Is It Against the Law? . . .Yucaipa, CaliforniaDesert:I like to go to the desertnot tokill rabbits and snakes; not to finduranium; not to look for lost mines;not to go rockhounding; not to digfor artifacts; not to gaze upon desertflow ers; not to behold a desert sunse t;not even for fresh airI have plentyof it where I live.All I want is to find a little clay insome out-of-the-way wash, take ithome and see if it is workable on mypotter's wheela fascinating hobby.Now, I'm wondering after readingabout the antiquities laws in the No-vember '57 Desert if it is unlawful tocart home a bucketful of dusty clay.Clay is rather antique, isn't it?M. L. NORSTAD

Friend Norstad: No, clay is not anantique at least not in its naturalstate. Perhaps 10,000 years fromnow when the archeologists of thatperiod dig up some of those beau-tiful ceramics you are now m aking,they w ill be classed as antiques. An dyour ghost will be thankful there isan an tiquities law to insure that yourhandiwork will be carefully pre-served in a museum rather thanbroken up by vandals. R.H.

Wrong Date . . . Austin, NevadaDesert:Stokes Castle near Austin was notbuilt in 1879 as reported in the May'58 Desert. The Stokes brothers builtit in 1897. JOCK TAYLORReese River ReveilleK A N E C R E E K R O A D R E G R A D E DF O R G L E N R I V E R R U N N E R SSeveral bad spots on the Kane Creekjeep road have been repaired, the Bu-reau of Reclamation announced.Boating parties entering Glen Can-yon at Hite, Utah, used the KaneCreek jeep road exit from the Colo-rado River all last year, but winterflash floods damaged it and repairswere necessary.The road can be traversed only byheavy duty high-centered vehicles, andfour-wheel drive is recommended.Passenger cars should not attempt totravel the road.Blasting at the Glen Canyon Dam-site at the spillway and keyway sec-tions on both rims of the canyon is adaily occurrence. As the blasted areasare mucked out, rocks and dirt arepushed or dumped over the rim con-tinually, and because of this hazardouscondition, Glen Canyon Damsite isclosed to passage by river runners.



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The Whipple Mountains inSoutheastern California are achalcedony treasure house. Inone large foothill area the authorand his companions found millionsof the beautiful white stone ros-ettes covering the ground likefallen snow .By EUGENE L. CONROTTOMap by Norton Allen

JACK LIZE R, field trip chairmanof the Shadow Mountain Gemand Mineral Society of PalmDesert, California, is not the kind ofman who allows a desert rainstorm,darkness or vague directions deter himfrom finding a gem field. A Coachellabox manufacturer by trade, he is avery practical and self-sufficient per-son. "I have to be," he laughed, "I'vegot six childrenand they can't eattumbled stones."Last winter I had the pleasure ofaccompanying him on a scouting tripinto the Whipple Mountains for anunusual concentration of chalcedonyroses someone had described to him.These desert jaunts are a regular partof his field trip duties, and precede bya week or two the club's visit to theareas he selects. Between 70 and 100persons usually attend the field trips,and only twice in the last two yearshas he led members into an area pre-viously visited by them. During thisperiod Jack drove 3500 milesall athis own expensescouting gem areasand leading convoys."Isn't that rather expensivefor afather of six?" I asked.

Jack Lizer of Coach ella.

T h e D e s e r t W a s W h i t eW i t h C h a l c e d o n y R o s e s

Chalcedony Roses from the W hipple Mountains.

J U N E , 1 9 5 8

"I hope to tell you it is!" he an-swered in his good-natured way, "butthe outing is the important thing. Ican't describe just how wonderful itfeels to sit down with the family nextto that campfire after everyone hashad a good day collecting rocks inthe fresh air."The Whipples are a low and highlydissected desert range lying northeastof Vidal Junction, California, a gaso-line station-cafe-border inspection sta-tion crossroads on U.S. Highway 95midway between Blythe and Needles.The mountain mass trends east andwestflanked on the east by the Colo-rado River waters of Lake Havasubacked up behind Parker Dam, andon the west by the highway which cutsup the broad alluvium valley separat-ing the Whipples and the craggy TurtleMountains.

In the exploratory party, besidesJack and myself, were club presidentHerb Ovits of Oasis, Doug Duckeringof La Quinta, Henry Hiatt of RanchoMirage, Bob Sharman of Indio andChuck Hill of Palm D esert. We made

19


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T O N E E D

9.7 Mi.

CHALCEDONYAREA *y

T O D E S E R T C E N T E R S I N O I O TO BLYTHE39 Mi. to N eedles

Ma in b /> ^ S e a m ChalcedonyCh alc ed on y R ose I .-//.-^Weathering From HillsideConcentrat ion ^ L I A ) X A ? F ??*

P A LO V ER D E,TRCC

9.7 Mi.toVidal Jet. (From Turnoff)the trip in two vehicles, Jack's ruggedbutane-burning travelall, and a jeep.Despite the offhand directions andthe fact that we entered the Whippleslong after the dreary overcast dayturned into a pitch-black night, Jackfound the right wheel tracks which leadeastward from Highway 95 into thefoothills along the mountain's northernflank. The turnoff is 9.7 miles northof Vidal Junction at the bottom of adip in the highway, and just beyonda Highway 95 sign. A large palo verdetree stands near the turnoff. On theopposite side of the highway, at thetop of the rise, is a Milepost 270marker.

As we turned off the pavement, ourglaring headlights caught a bewilderedbobcat. A few yards down the dirttrail a lean coyote stood in frozenconcern as the monstrous lights boredown on him. Civilization, except for

a very rareand very unfortunatetin can or hot dog wrapper, has notradiated far from the lightly-traveledhighway which serves this 8 000-sq uare-mile corner of California's easternMojave Desert.There is little evidence of man'sencroachmen t in the Whipples. TheColorado River Aqueduct runs alongthe mountain's southern base, andabout two dozen mines, most of theminactive, are indicated on the area'stopographic maps. Gold, copper, man-ganese and other deposits have beendeveloped here on a small scale duringthe past half century. The desert isslowly dissolving the wheel tracks madeduring wartime maneuvers, and hereand there throughout the range arebits of rusting shrapnel.

We camped that night on the banksof a wide sandy wash overgrown withpalo verde trees. Wood was plentiful,

and in the cheery light of a blazingfire we ate a hearty supper, and thenturned in.Next morning seven men nevermoved fasterit was raining! In thesemi-light of the misty dawn the"Thumbs of the Turtles" massivevolcanic cores dominating the westernskylinewere seemingly rooted to thedark and ominous clouds rolling to-ward us and the Whipples. In amatter of minutes we ate breakfast,broke camp and were on our way.There was no grumbling. It takesmore than rain to lessen the joy of anew desert day. A little water wasn'tgoing to hurt us."Besides," sang out Jack, "the rainis going to wash those specimens niceand pretty like!"We continued on the firm and well-marked entrance road for nearly a milebeyond the wash, and then swung rightonto a rougher trail. After workingaround the malpai shoulder of a prom-inent peak jutting a couple hundredfeet out of the creosote-dotted andwash-furrowed plain, Jack pulled toa stop on the knob's northeastern flank.Experienced desert drivers should beable to take conventional cars withhigh clearance to this site.

In the rainfallwhich had turnedfrom a drizzle to a heavy downpour the desert pavement stretchingnorthward glistened like freshly pouredasphalt. It covered most of this widerolling basin, interrupted in manyplaces by ridges, meandering washesand boulder-strewn mound s. This isnot a place to visit during the hotsummer months, for the ground tem-perature on the shadeless heat-retain-ing malpai must be terrific. Even inthe midst of a winter storm, some ofthe stone-lined side canyons neededonly a roof to completely resemble theinteriors of brick ovens.The rain turned the land's norm-ally subdued colors into vivid reds,golden yellows, grays and greens. Mostconspicuous were the bright red spines

of waist-high barrel cacti scatteredthroughout the area. These plants,along with palo verde, ocotillo, cats-claw, smoke tree and other speciesindigenous of the low Colorado Desert,are widespread throughout this Mo-jave Desert range.Rain or no rain, this was the placeto look for gem stones, we decided,and shouldering collecting sacks androck hammers we fanned out over thearea. In an hour we met back at thepeak's flank. Doug Duckering hadfound a very good jaspagate outcrop-ping on a continuation of the hill slopeonly a few hundred yards from theparked vehicles, and Henry Hiatt lo-cated the fantastic chalcedony rose bed20 D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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Members of the party collect chalcedony roses. Light area men are in is almostcomp letely covered with the stones.in a narrow draw on the other sideof the basin's main wash."At first I thought the rain hadturned to snow," Henry said, "but thedarned stuff was chalcedony rosesthe ground is covered with them."We drove first to Doug's jaspagate

deposit. Here large and very excel-lent specimens were weathering outfrom beneath the malpai surface stones.Four colors predominated in the ma-terial: gold, red, blue and brown.These specimens are suitable for book-ends and other large polished pieces.

For the collector who does not dolapidary work, they have value as at-tractive garden stones and cabinetpieces.From the jaspagate outcrop we cuta trail to the wash, crossed it and onceon the opposite side headed in a moreTime out for lunch. Bob Sharman, Herb Ovits and Doug Duckering, from left,prepare meal.

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northerly direction paralleling the ar-royo for a short distance, and thenveering right into the foothills. Jackparked at thebase of a redknoll nearthe entrance to an open side canyon.It was a short hike up thewash to thechalcedony roses.No one in the party had ever seena sight to compare with this. We weresurrounded by millions of the thumb-nail-to-hand-sized rosettes. Here inseveral white patches 25 to 50 feet indiameter were some of Nature's mostfantastic designs. We crawled onhands and knees to better examinethe stones, and exclamations of "Lookat this one!" and "I found a beauty!"filled the draw for the next hour.The delicate porcelain-like chalced-ony was twisted into pink-white gar-

goyles, ringlets, bubbles, cones, sau-cers, commas, flowers, curls, spires,buttons, knots, plumes, caricaturesno twoalike.Although the Whipple roses do notcompare in color to the white, pink,red and brown chalcedony found atCoon Hollow 125miles to the south-west, nor to Coon Hollow's fire-to-

clear chalcedony varieties and evenmore fantastic shapes, the concentra-tion of good roses in the Whipples istruly outstanding.The rain helped a great deal, butchalcedony roses must be cleaned inan acid bath to remove all stains, dirtand foreign matter. Here is Jack'smethod: soak the stones for 24 hoursin clear water; scrub lightly with tooth-brush; place in tightly-covered glass

Henry H iatt in a heavy concentration ofwhite chalcedony roses.

bowl containing a solution of one partmuriatic (hydrochloric) acid to sevento 10 parts water; after 24 hours inacid bath, remove stones andrinse infresh water; finish cleaning with tooth-brush. Do not pour the used aciddown the drain for it will corrodeplumbing.The rose baroques find wide usein lapidary art, including settiags forbola ties, brooches, earrings, breastpins, buttons, pendants, etc. Fo r thesepurposes and many others, a largevariety of metal mounts are availablefrom lapidary dealers.The larger roses make excellentpaperweights, ash trays, cabinet speci-mens and novelties.Chalcedony roses are ideal for folkswho think they might be interested inthe lapidary hobby, but who have notyet purchased equipment. The stonesrequire nocutting, sawing or polishing,although artistic hobbyists often usesmall hand tools to enhance designson some specimens. Occasionally anuneven back must be sanded down toassure a better contact on the mount,but this is a simplejob.

Some of the igneous and sedimen-tary rocks that make up the WhippleMountains date back to the Pre-Cam-brian era800,000,000 years ago andlonger, the age of larval life and prim-itive invertebrates. When mamm alsand flowering plants appeared on thisearth in the more recent Tertiary per-iod (2,000,000 to 60,000,000 yearsago), volcanics joined the Whipples'older stones.

We traced an infinitesimal portionof this range's life story eons ofmountain building by colossal pres-sures beneath the earth's crust, andeons of grain-by-grain mountain level-ing by wind and rain. On the slopeabove the rose area, the very stormwe were in washed away a bit of mudthat had once concealed a beautifulchalcedony seam."Now you see why I don't believein 'cleaned-out' gem fields," said Jack."Nature will keep weathering out theseroses for centuries."Following the wash at the base ofthe low hill around to the right fornearly a half mile, we found roses onthe low ground and exposed seamchalcedony on the hillside along theentire distance. The further upcanyonwe prospected, the more drusy (cov-ered with minute quartz crystals),andmore pink incolor was the chalcedony.Before we left the Whipples, thesun broke through for a brief moment.The foothills glistened fresh andcleanin the bright light, and the crystal-lined roses sparkled at our feet. Ithad been a day to remember.

22 DESERT MAGAZINE


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HISTORIC PANORAMAS XVI

O L D H A R M O N YB O R A X W O R K S

By JOSEF and JOYCE MUENCHAn interesting Death Valley land-mark is the first borax mill to be oper-ated therethe Old Harmony. Boraxwas mined on the valley floor, refinedat the mill, and then transported toMojave, 160 miles away, by the famed20-Mule Team wagons.Operated from 1882 to 1887, theborax works (photograph below) havelong been a Death Valley ghost. Inthose early days, the ore was hauled

to the mill in crude wagons poweredby wood-burning steam engines (photoat rig ht ). Significantly, today boraxis an ingredient of powerful jet androcket engines. Old Dinah, a wood-burning steam engine used to haul borax from mine tomill in Death Valley. The engine was abandoned because of its huge fuelrequirements.

. ,

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O N D E SE R T T R A IL S W IT H A NA T U R A L IST L"Dry Lake" Filled With Water

For the first time in many years, the normally dry Laguna Saladacontains a sh allow b ody of water on its flat an d barren surface. But,dry or wet, the naturalist finds much to interest him in this stark anduncompromising land.By EDMUND C. JAEGER, D.Sc.Curator of PlantsRiverside Municipal MuseumPhotos by the authorMap by Norton Allen

7HE PAVED ROAD betweenMexicali and San Felipe in BajaCalifornia passes through a 10-mile-wide area of dry gray mud flats.This unusually barren region is thesoutheastern entrance to the PattieBasin, a near-or-below sea level valley,similar in many respects to the adja-cent Salton Sink to the north. PattieBasin is bordered on the west by thesteep and picturesque escarpment ofthe Sierra Juarez; and on the east bythe barren and austere Coco pahs. Onits floor is a desolate 40-mile-longmesquite and saltbush fringed dry lakethe Laguna Salada.

Since late autumn of last year thereare wide stretches of water on the mudflat area along the Mexicali-San Felipehighway. Under the road causewaynumerous large culverts channel waterto the road's west side. On emergingthe water spreads out into a vast placidsheet which finally pours into severalfoot-deep streams rushing northwardto fill the below-sea-level flat bed ofthe Laguna Salada.When Bill Wells and I visited thisarea in March, the water covered athird of the lake bed. It was confinedfor the most part to the eastern orlowest part of the basin. Here the landhas sunk slightly along a fault whichborders the Cocopah Mountains. Thelake's water was shallow, and whenthe summer sun pours down upon it,evaporation will occur at a prodigiousrate, probably as much as a quarter toa half inch daily.Except for small amounts of waterderived from winter rains and infre-quent summer cloudbursts, the Laguna

has been dry for many years. The rea-son for this recent appearance of wateris that more water than usual hasbeen released at Hoover Dam in an-ticipation of a large summer runofffrom snow packs in the Rockies.Chances are much water will be sentdown the Colorado this year, and thenthe erstwhile dry Laguna may be nearlyfilled. What a thrilling and refresh-ing sight it will be to see this broadbody of calm water after all these dryyearsshimmering like a mirror inthe brightness of the desert's summersun!In times past the most often usedname for the intermittent lake we nowcall the Laguna Salada was Laguna



25/44

*On the Laguna Salada.

Maquata or Macuata, probably derivedfrom the Central Mexican Indian wordmacua or maqua which means "In-dian." Maquata may also mean "yel-low," "yellow place" or "yellow water"according to University of Californiaarcheologist Dr. Albert B. Elsasser.This is based on the alternate name forLaguna Salada mentioned by histori-ans Rio Amarillo (Yellow River).M a as a prefix may refer to locationin the Yuman languages, while kwasor kwat means yellow, red or orange.The below-sea-level basin in whichthe Laguna lies, like the Salton Basinto the north, is without doubt an an-cient arm of the Gulf of Californiafrom which it was cut off in recenttimes by the building of the extensiveColorado River delta. It probably hasbeen filled and refilled much more fre-quently than the Salton Sea since fora long time it has had a more directconnection with the Colorado River.Records show that the lake occupiedPattie Basin six times between 1884and 1928.The basin is joined to the Colorado's

main stream by the Rio Hardy. Attimes of high streamflow, such as isoccurring this season, water from Rio

Hardy slips around the southern endof the Cocopahs and into the Laguna.Rio Hardy was named after Lt. R.W. H. Hardy of the British Navy, whoin 1827 made the earliest examinationof the mouth of the River and chartedthe estuary and gulf. At the time ofhis visit, "Hardy's Colorado" carriedthe entire volume of the Colorado.Only a few years later the tumultuousstream changed course and dischargedthrough a channel far to the east.There is an old road along the full

length of the dry lake bed. Once itwas much used by smugglers, but to-day most of its traffic is by wood cut-ters entering the ironwood and paloverde tree thickets on the western bor-ders of the Lagu na. They sell theirloads of fuel to the poorer folks ofMexicali who still rely on wood forcooking and warmth.A number of sinuous branch roadslead into several of the picturesquecanyons which gash the eastern faceof the Sierra Juarez. Among these,perhaps the best known is beautifulGuadalupe Canyon, with its groves ofWashingtonia and blue palms, and hotsprings.I seldom pass over the Laguna roads

without meeting several of these woodcutters in battered trucks loaded highwith cords of hard and heavy wood.Often I stop and chat, for generallythey are friendly men full of smilesand jollity. They often give me quitevaluable information about the coun-try, and sometimes bits of interestingNature lore as well.If the day is sunny I never fail tosee numbers of intricate, mysteriousand beautiful mirages on the flat La-guna floor, especially when travelingsouthward. The strangeness of someof these distortions caused by the ris-ing waves of heated air, are an everrecurring wonder to me. I may seewell-formed trees ahead, apparently10 to 15 feet high, but when I get towhere they ought to be, there are onlysmall bushes a foot or two high. Anold tire or automobile part rejected bysome luckless traveler may loom inthe distance as large as a vehicle.

When dry, the level gray mud-cracked rubbery-to-hard playa surfaceoffers a good foundation for highspeed travel. But with a little rain orwhen a thin flat sheet of water accu-mulates from a cloudburst, this surfacebecomes an impassable quagmire,

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"slick as gravy or the eel of proverb."In many places I have seen evidencewhere cars or trucks have sunk deeplyinto the soft mud, floundered andskidded sideways as the drivers at-tempted to extricate them from softspots.The Laguna Salada is what geogra-phers call a wet-type dry lake. Al-though the surface may appear quitedry, there always is wet rubbery-tex-tured salt-impregnated earth beneath.On the lower east side of the playaare several perennial seepages of watersurrounded by white salt encrustationson which growths of salt cedar, sedgeand saltbush occur. One of these,about midway down the length of theplaya, is a hot spring with water tem-perature between 112 and 128 degrees

From the surrounding area greatnumbers of half-starved coyotes comein to partake of the feast. For themit is a time of bounteous eating.I am always amazed to find numbersof small birds flying about or runningon the surface of the level plantlessclay bottoms killdeer, flocks ofhorned larks and occasionally spar-rows. What attraction this place hasfor them I cannot imagine.Vegetation zones mark the variousmore or less permanent water levelsof the past. A margin of mesquite aquarter to a half mile wide occurringon the sand hummocks, indicates thehighest levels the water ever reached.Inside this is a much narrower belt ofsalt bushes and mallows, indicatinglower levels. Below this zone grows a

Palom ar Canyon . The Pa ttie party traveled up this canyon on its way toSanta Catarina Mission.Fahrenheit, in which blue-green algaeflourish. A small "rain water fish" oftroutlike form (Lucania brownii) isfound darting among the algal masses.An old faded road runs down the eastside of the Laguna to this spring. Dr.Robert L. Miller of the University ofMichigan located a population ofcyprinodont minnows, common in iso-lated desert springs, at a pool knownas Pozo del Tule on the northwesternedge of Laguna Salada.

When overflow waters of the Colo-rado River flood this basin, shoals offish are brought in. As the shallowsheet of water evaporates, the saltconcentration rises to the point whereit becomes lethally poisonous to allfish life. Their bloated bodies floatto the edge of the lake to form wind-rows of decaying and dried fish. Thespecies represented are mostly carpand mullet.

marginal strip of sea purslane if soilmoisture is sufficient. Here and therein isolated places are lines or clumpsof salt cedar and salt-tolerant sali-cornia. Thickets of flow ering tama r-isks spring up after each flood ing.I have found many indications oftemporary Indian settlements in themesquite thickets on the playa's west-ern edge. In some of the larger neigh-boring canyons are perennial streamsfurnishing water, and native palms,the seeds from which were food forthe tribesmen.Across the southern end of the Pat-tie Basin just below the Laguna, anold Indian trail leads westward upthrough well-watered palm-inhabitedPalomar Canyon to the pinyon andyellow pine forests of the mile-high

Sierra Juarez. I have hiked over muchof this trail and found it in excellentcondition, particularly in the higher

ground. It is still traveled by Mexicancattlemen. This route often was usedby Indians of the Colorado delta re-gion. They first went over a low passin the Cocopah Range to Agua de lasMujeres (Women's Springs), a not-too-good but dependable seep. Fromthere they headed southwest into Palo-mar Canyon.It was along this trail in the springof 1828 that the intrepid frontier trap-per and tradesman, James Ohio Pattie,his father Sylvester, several compan-ions, and two Indian guides, passedon their way to the Spanish settlementson the Pacific Coast. After much suf-fering from thirst, they reached SantaCatarina Mission where they weretaken prisoners and sent to San Diego.In commemoration of the brave trekof these first Americans to reach theColorado River Delta overland, andtheir strenuous journey across the La-guna Salada trough, Dr. T. D. Mc-Dougal of the Carnegie Institutiondesignated it the Pattie Basin. Theancient lake represented by the high-est of the old strand lines was namedLake Pattie by Carl L. Hubbs andRobert L. Miller, who wrote the firstadequate account of the fish history ofthe western United States and north-ern Mexican desert basins.A second intertribal trail to the Si-erra Juarez began at the delta of theColorado, ascended over a southernspur of the Cocopah Mountains toPozo Coyote, an unfailing but not al-

ways drinkable supply of water. Fromhere the trail cut across the barren,waterless and flat plain of Pattie Basinto Tinaja Altas, or directly up a widewash to the southeast known as ArroyoGrande where a dependable supplyof water is found. It is a route stillfollowed occasionally because it "af-fords the easiest grades from the back-bone of the peninsula to the ColoradoRiver and is composed of short tan-gents from water to water."There is reason to believe that someportion of the Pattie Basin may havebeen viewed by Father Kino 200 years

before the Patties saw it. Fath er G ar-ces, on his fifth visit to the Rio Colo-rado Delta in 1775 and 1776, prob-ably went as far south as MontagueIsland near the head of the Gulf, andin so doing glimpsed the great openplain leading into the Basin. It isquite possible that he went into theBasin and saw the Laguna at a timeof low water. In his diary he wrote:"Thus I perceive that at time of greatrisings of the river, water can verywell overflow this valleyas far as theplace where the first expedition (of1774) found stranded that heap offish of which is made mention in thediary."



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A d u l t E d u c a t i o n f o r t h e P a p a g o s . . .On the Papago reservation in southern Arizona Uncle Sam hasopene d the door to a n ew world of interest for the tribesmen by conduct-ing clas ses in adult education. The Indians are learning reading, writing

and arithmeticand they are ea ger students.By CHARLES J. HOFFMANPhotos by Bernie Sedleydesert sunlight, it soon became appar-ent that Lopez Carlos, like many otherIndians, was reluctant to talk with astranger. But he did know a fewwords of English which helped bridgethe language barrier between us.Only a handful of Papagos speakEnglish, and I asked Carlos if he hadlearned it at home or in school. Thiswas the type of double-barreled ques-tion I had been warned about. He

CARLOS is a PapagoIndian who like

195806 desert magazine 1958 june

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