196712 desert magazine 1967 december

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Oide*Desert Magazine BOOK Shcp

DIRECTORY OF SOUTHERN NEVADA PLACENAMES by Walter Averett. Limi ted edi t ion. 1300entries. Includes obscure names of ghost townsand old mining camps. Hardcover . $5.00.WATER WITCHING by Earl Shannon. Entertain-in g and instruct ive, whether or not you acceptwater wi tching. Paperback. $2.75.A GUIDE TO WESTERN GHOST TOWNS by Lam-bert Florin. Includes maps and mileages of ghosttowns in 15 western states. Large format, card-board cover , $2.25.ANZA AND THENORTHWEST FRONTIER OF NEWSPAIN by Bowman and Heizer. Explodes myththat Anza founded city of San Francisco andother interest ing data related to Anza. Goodear ly Cal i forn iana. Hardcover , $8.75.NO MORE THAN FIVE IN A BED by SandraDallas. All about early Colorado hotels, somefamous, some infamous. Highly amusing, goodhistory. Hardcover, $5.95.CALIFORNIA MISSION PAINTINGS by Edwin Dea-kin. Paint ings from the 19th century portrayearly missions prior to modern restorat ions. Finetext gives history of each. Full color reproduc-t ions. $7.50.CAMPING AND CLIMBING IN BAJA by JohnW. Robinson. Guide to the Sierra San PedroMart i r and Sierra Juarez of upper Baja Cal i -forn ia. Paper, $2.95.OLD-TIMERS OF SOUTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA byLester Reed. Recounts episodes of pioneers cov-ering an area from Owens Lake to Anza-Bor-rego and f rom San Bernardino east to Twenty-nine Palms. Spi ra l -bound. $5.95.ARIZONA: GUIDE TO THE GRAND CANYONSTATE. Newly revised and edited by JosephMiller. Past and present covered. Highly recom-mended. 532 pages, i l lustrat ions and maps .$7 . 95 .SAN DIEGO BACK COUNTRY 1901 by GordonStuart. Fil led with local color and nostalg ia forhigh-button shoes and shivarees. 241 pages,$5 . 00 .HISTORIC SPOTS IN CALIFORNIA Revised byWilliam N. Abeloe. Only complete guide to Cal i -forn ia landmarks wi th maps, photos and l ivelytext covering both historical and modern eras.639 pages, $10.00.BUTTERFIELD OVERLAND MAIL by Waterman L.Ormsby, a New York newspaperman who wasthe only through passenger on this f irst west-bound s tage. Western Amer icana, 177 pages,$4 . 50 .THE LIFE OF THE DESERT by Ann and MyronSutton. Covers desert creatures, perennial waterproblems and how animals and plants survive.231 pages, $4.95.OFF THEBEATEN TRACK IN BAJA by Erie StanleyGardner. About people and places in enchant -ing Baja California of Mexico. Colored photos,368 pages, $8.95.HANDBOOK OF CRYSTAL AND MINERAL COL-LECTING by William Sanborn. Describes environ-ment typical of collection sites and physicalpropert ies of minerals and crystals. Paper, 81pages, $2.00.REDIGGING THE WEST for old time bottles byLynn Blumenstein. Photographs of over 700bott les with art ic les that tel l the story and aphotograph of each . $4 . 25 .

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WILDFLOWERS OF THEGRAND CANYON byJohnStockert. Fine photos and descript ion. Paper,$1 . 25 .FIRE OVER YUMA by Peter Odens. Historicaltales and anecdotes from the Lower ColoradoRiver area. Paper. $1.00.NEVADA'S TWENTIETH CENTURY MINING BOOMby Russell Elliott. First detai led work to coverthe promoters and leaders who inf luenced thestate's second mining boom. 344 pages, $5.95.LANGUAGES, TERRITORIES ANDNAMES OFCALI-FORNIA INDIAN TRIBES by Robert Heizer. Schol-arly book contains probably as much about theCalifornia Indian society as we wi l l ever know.62 pages, $4.00.CALIFORNIA, A Guide to the Golden State.Edited by Harry Hansen and newly rev ised, itcontains an encyclopedia of facts from earlydays up to the Space Age. Mile by mile de-scriptions to camping spots and commercial ac-commodat ions. Maps. Hardcover , $7.95.

DEATH VALLEY BOOKSPublished by the Death Valley '49ers thesefour volumes have been selected by 49ersas outs tanding works on the history of DeathVal ley . All are durable paperback on slickstock.A NATURALIST'S DEATH VALLEY (Revised edi-t ion) by Edmund C. Jaeger, ScD $1.50MANLY AND DEATH VALLEY. Symbols of Des-t iny , by Ardis Manly Walker $1.25GOODBYE, DEATH VALLEY! The story of theJayhawker Par ty , by L. Burr Belden.. . .$l .25CAMELS AND SURVEYORS IN DEATH VALLEYBy Arthur Wo odw ard $2.00DEATH VALLEY TALES by 10 di f ferent au-thors $1.25

O N DESERT TRAILS by Randall Henderson, founde r and publ isher of Desert Magazine for 23years . One of the f i rs t good wr i ters to reveathe beauty of the mysterious desert areas. Henderson's experiences, combined with his comments on the desert of yesterday and t odaymake th is a MUST for those who real ly wanot understand the desert . 375 pages, i l lus t ratedHardcover . $5.00.RARE MAPREPRODUCTIONS from the year 1886Series I inc ludes three maps, Ar izona, Cal i forn iaand Nevada. Series II includes New MexicoUtah and Colorado. Reproduced on f ine paperThey show old towns, mines, springs and t ra i lnow ext inct. Each set of t h ree , $3 . 75 . Be sure tostate series number with order.THE COLORFUL BUTTERFIELD OVERLAND STAGby Richard Pourade and Marjorie Reed. Wi t h 2stage coach paint ings by Miss Reed, the texconcentrates on the Fort Yuma to San Franciscrun of the tough But ter f ie ld route. Album Format , heavy art paper , $6 . 75 .OLD FORTS OF THE FAR WEST by Herbert HarMaps are inc luded wi th remarkably l ive ly anaccurate accounts of Western forts back to CivWar t imes. This volume covers the SouthwesLarge format , good photos . $12.95.THE NEVADA ADVENTURE, a History by JameHulse. Covers era f rom prehistoric Indians tranching, atomic test ing and tourism of t oday306 pages, $7.50.NEVADA'S TURBULENT YESTERDAYS by Don Asbaugh. The best book about Nevada's ghostowns and the rugged indiv iduals who buit hem. 346 pages , $7 . 50 .GUIDE TO COINS. Recent U.S. coin priceCanad ian , Mex ican and fore ign coins , medaltokens and emergency money, Colonia l , Terrt o r i a l , and Civi l War coins . Hardcover . $3.501200 BOTTLES PRICED by John C. Tibbitts. Updated edi t ion of one of the best of the bott lbooks . $4 . 50 .RELACIONES by Zarate Salmeron. Wri t ten b17th century Franciscan and is only source oknowledge publ ished for Spanish explorat ioninto Ar izona and New Mexico from 1538 t1 6 2 6 . 121 pages , $6 . 00 .A FIELD GUIDE TO WESTERN REPTILES ANAMPHIBIANS by Robert C. Stebbins. A PetersoField guide. 207 species, 569 i l lus t rat ions, 18in ful l color, 192 maps. The best book of thtype. Hardcover . $4.95.NATIVE SHRUBS of Southern California by PetH. Raven. Well i l lustrated, some in color , w iinterest ing text and descript ions of shrubs. Pape$ 1 . 9 5 .NAVAJO RUGS, PAST, PRESENT ANDFUTURE bGilbert S. Maxwel l . Concerns the history, legendand descript ions of Navajo rugs. Full colophotos. Paper, $2.00.OLD CALIFORNIA MINES (1899) by Charles YalReprint f rom early mining industry recordPhotos show dif ferent types of min ing , ma inin Mother Lode country. Text contains statisticand discussions of ear ly problems $2.00.EXPLORING CALIFORNIA BYWAYS from KingCanyon to the Mexican Border by Russ Leadab rand . Maps for each t r ip wi th photographhis tor ical in format ion, recreat ional fac i l i t iescampsites, hiking trai ls, etc. Paper, 165 page$ 1 . 9 5 .

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Volume 30 Number 12DECEMBER, 1967 C O N T E N T S

JACK PEPPERPublisher

CHORAL PEPPEREditor

ELTA SHIVELYExecutive Secretary

MARVEL BARRETTBusiness

AL MERRYMANStaff Artist

JACK DELANEYStaff Writer

EDITORIAL OFFICES: 74-109 Larrea, Palm Desert,Cal i forn ia 9226 0. Area Code 714 3 46- 814 4.Unsolic ited manuscripts and photographs notaccompanied by self addressed, stamped and zipcoded envelopes wil l NOT be returned.ADVERTISING OFFICES: James March & Asso-ciates Inc., 1709 West 8th Street, Los Angeles,Ca l i fo rn ia 900 17 , HUbbard 3 -05 61 115 NewMontgomery , San Franc isco, Cal i forn ia 94105,DOuglas 2-4994. Listed in Standard Rate & Data.CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT: 74-109 Larrea, PalmDesert , Cal i forn ia 92260. Area Code 714 346-8 1 4 4 . DESERT MAGAZINE is published monthly;1 year , $5.00; 2 years , $9.50; 3 years , $13.00.Foreign subscribers add 75 cents for postage.See Subscription Order Form in back of this issue.DESERT is published monthly by Desert Magazine,Palm Desert, Calif. Second Class Postage paid atPalm Desert , Cali f . , and at addit ional mail ingoff ices under Act of March 3, 1879. Tit le regis-tered NO. 358865 in U. S. Patent Off ice, andcontents copyrighted 1967 by Desert Magazine.Unsolic ited manuscripts and photographs cannotbe returned or acknowledged unless ful l returnpostage is enclosed. Permission to reproduce con-tents must be secured from the editor in writ ing.SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: $5.00 per year in U.S.,Canada and Mex ico. $5.75 elsewhere. Al low f iveweeks for change of address. Be sure to sendboth ord and new address.

COVER COLORCapturing the Spirit of Christmasin the West, Photographer JeanWoodward took the cover photo-graph of the colorfully clad saguarocacti depicting the Three Wise Menin the front yard of Mr. and Mrs.George Bradbury, Scottsdale, Ariz.

4 Book Reviews6 The Heritage of Lum inarias

By PHYLLIS HEALD7 The Christm as Flower

By ISABEL DUNWOODY9 Lost Gold in the Turtle s

By J. H. GILL12 Lava Bed Petroglyphs

By RUSSELL McDONALD15 Sleep-in at Amboy

By WALTER KEMPTHORNE17 Letter from the Man Who Found Peglegs' Black Gold18 Monte Carlo of the Southwest

By HUNTER GOOCH19 Beautiful Yucaipa

By JACK DELANEY21 Mystery of the Charcoal Iron

By OLLIE McNETT22 Life in the Green Desert

By HENRY LANSFORD25 Hot Springs in Nevada

By DORIS CERVERI26 The House on Ghost Mo untain

By MYRTLE TEAGUE28 Ruby is All Alone

By JERRY JENKINS31 Cave of the Golden Sands

By JOHN MITCHELL33 And Giants Trod the Earth

By STANLEY DEMES35 Strange Interlude

By STANLEY DEMES36 Gard iner, New Mexico

By LAMBERT FLORIN38 Back Coun try Travel42 DESERT Cookery43 Letters and Answers

December, 1967 / Desert Mag azine / 3


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A Gift That's REALLY Different!Zodiac PartiesMenus and Recipes

By Choral PepperEditor of DESERT Magazine

The author plans a different partyfor every month in the year. Hersuggestions on the guests to in-vite and the food to serve arebased on astrological analyses ofthe tastes and interests of thoseborn under each of the twelvesigns of the Zodiac.

HARD COVER, 130 PAGES, ILLUSTRATEDORIGINALLY $4.95

$3.00While They Last!

(Autographed Copies on Request)Order fromDesert Magazine Book Shop

Palm Desert, California 92260California residents add 15 cents sales tax.No C.O.D. 's please.

bOOK REVIEWS

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DESERT MAGAZINEBOOK STORE

Palm Desert , Cal i forn ia 92 2 60

j T H E A N T I Q U E B O T T L EC O L L E C T O R

Third Edition$2.50 post paidAmerica's most popular bott le book tel ls howto date and evaluate bott les of the nine-teenth century.

Price Supplement toTHE ANTIQUE BOTTLE COLLECTOR$1.50 post paidA companion book to be used in conjunc-t ion wi th the ANTIQUE BOTTLE COL-LECTOR. Teaches one how to buy and sellold bottles with common sense and truevalues. Buy from author:Grace Kendrick485 W. 4t h St.Fallon, Nevada 89406

Books reviewed may be orderedfrom the DESERT Magazine BookOrder Department, Palm Desert,California 92 26 0. Please include25c for handling. California resi-dents must add 5% sales tax.Enclose payment with order.PIONEER FORTS OF THE FAR WESTBy Herbert M. Hart

Herbert Hart's fourth edition in hisseries on forts of the old West is thesame high caliber as the previous threevolumes. The author has traveled morethan 64,000 miles to photograph fortsand spent hundreds of hours researchingin the National Archives. For his effortsto preserve history he has been awardedthe Army Commendation Medal.Hart is not only an outstanding photo-

grapher, but also a vivid writer whomakes the reader feel he is actually liv-ing during the era when the forts playedsuch an important part in settling theWest. Eighteen of the forts covered inPioneer Forts of the Far West are locatedin California. Not only of interest tohistory buffs, the detailed descriptionsof the forts, showing their location andbuildings will greatly aid explorers usingmetal detectors in search of military sou-venirs. Profusely illustrated, the hardcover volume is 8 x 11 inches with 192heavy slick pages. Price, $12.95. Willmake an excellent Christmas gift.THE MINING F R ONTIERCollected and Edited by Marvin L ewis

To catch the spirit of the mining campsduring the 1800s, Marvin Lewis has col-lected articles which appeared in news-papers and other publications throughoutthe West during the era when men lived,fought and died for gold and silver.Historically, another and more subtledividend than gold came out of the minesof Western America during the latter halfof the nineteenth century a rough,tough, honest, flamboyant, carefree modeof literary expression called mining fron-tier journalism, best exemplified in thewritings of Mark Twain and Bret Harteand their swashbuckling compadres.Because he wrote as the frontier spiritmoved him, as the miner talked, laugh-ing and slapping his thigh and mincingno words, he brought to journalism avitality and independence unequaled be-fore or since.By reproducing the articles of these

journalists, the author has brought backto life in a novel way the miners whohelped settle the West, although noknowingor caringat the time theylooked for El Dorado. Hardcover, illusstrated with old cartoons, 229 pages$4.95.THE INCREDIBLE STORY OFARIZONABy Francis H. Feeney

"Arizona, according to its detractorsis surrounded on all sides by cactus andsage brush, and above by hot air. Actuallyhowever, it is bounded on the north bygeological extravaganzas, on the east bylost horizons, on the south by El Pais deManana (Land of Tomorrow) plus hottamales, and on the west by that famousCalifornia River, the Colorado."If more history books were written in

Feeney's style there would be fewer stu-dent "drop-outs". With 40 pages, thepaper-back volume is well worth the$1.25 price.ALL OF MEXICO and Guatemalaat low costBy Norman Ford

Today you can drive the family carover splendid highways all the way southto 400-year old Colonial cities, to pyra-mids, or to coral white beaches virtuallyuntouched by the machine age. Mexicoand Guatemala boast more ancient his-tory and culture than the rest of the West-ern hemisphere combined.

The author, a veteran traveler whoknows how to pinch pennies without ithurting, claims that you can reach Mexicofor one-half to one-third the cost of visit-ing Europe and he tells you how to do it.For as little as $6 a day, meals included,you can stay in delightful inns or in con-verted palaces, if you are of a thriftynature. If you aren't, you'd better counton a luxurious $13 per day . . . for meals,rooms and tips. These prices are for dou-ble occupancy. The cost is less for singletravelers.This is a book for the do-it-yourselftravelerthe kind who has the most fun.Norman Ford has written a number ofexcellent travel books and is a conscien-tious, honest writer. This is a new bookand the information is up-to-date as ofnow. An enormous amount of travelinginformation is included, as well as trans-portation by plane, train, bus, ship, androutes from point to point in your ownautomobile. Paperback, 175 pages, $2.00.

4 / Desert Mag azine / December, 1967


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Here's a book with newfactual evidence on thelegends of the West.

This book examines many little-known stories andlegends that have emerged from the western regions of NorthAmerica. Two unsolved mysteries, unearthed in this centuryand detailed in this absorbing book, furnish evidence that theearliest European navigators to set foot on Am erican soil dateback to ancient times. Old Roman artifacts buried nearTucson, Arizona, and Phoenician hieroglyphics inscribed ona rock uncovered some miles southwest of A lbuquerqu e, NewMexico, raise startling questions about America's past. Arethese genuine archeological finds or elaborately conceived an dexecuted hoaxes? These unusual discoveries form but a smallpart of the intriguing history, legend, and folklore th at mak e upT H E MYS T E RI O US WE S T .

Included are such phenomena as the discovery of aSpanish galleon in the middle of the desert; the strange cursethat rules over San Miguel Island; the unexplained beheadingof at least 13 victims in the Nahanni Valley; and many otherequally bewildering happenings. Elaborate confidenceschemes and fantastically imagined hoaxes are documented,along with new factual evidence that seems to corroboratewhat were formerly assumed to be tall tales.

T H EMYS T E RI O US WE S T .by Brad Williams andChoral Pepper $5 .9 5

Illustrated with photographs, this fascinating surveyof Western Americana will be welcomed by all readers inter-ested in the folklore and history of the United States.About the authors:B RAD WI L L I AMS has worked for various news-papers ranging in location from Oregon and California, toMexico and India. He has published several mystery novelsand nonfiction works; his books include Flight 967 andDue Process.CH O RAL P E P P E R hails from the mysteriouswest Palm Desert, California. She is the editor of DesertMagazine and she has been a columnist, free-lance writer,and author. Her most recent book is Zodiac Parties.Send check or money order to Desert MagazineBook Shop, Palm Desert, California 92260. Add 25 4 forpostage and handling. California residents add 5% sales tax.THE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANYA.SUBSIDIARY OF THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANYCleveland and New York


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Paper bags, filled with sand to balance the ca ndles, add Christmas charm to a pictures-que chapel.

The Heritage ofLuminariasby Phyllis Heald

NCHANTING is the bestword to describe lumin-arias, those "little ligh ts"that are traditional toMexico and the South-west at Christmas time.No other region in the world uses sucha simple, easy decoration to turn homesinto fairy castles and gardens into heav-enly vistas.

Luminarias are a gift to us fromsouth of the borderone of the lovelycustoms Mexican people brought intothis land when they came to establishtheir northern outposts in the early1600s.But luminarias are as old as Chris-tianity itself.The original "little lights" were bon-fires built by shepherds to guide theHoly Family toward Bethlehem. And

for centuries after, small bonfires con-tinued to be used on Christmas Eve.Made of pitchwood and placed a fewfeet apart in double rows, they formeda path that always led to the entranceof a dwelling, symbolically lighting theway for the Santa Nino.Then, as time went on and living be-came more gracious in the westernworld, donas of the haciendas began tosubstitute candles for bonfires. Thesewere easier to handle and more decora-tive. Placed in beds of sand, they burnedall through the night of Christmas Eve,

providing the wind didn't extinguishthem.Oddly enough, it was our Yankee an-cestors who brought the final change toluminarias. About 150 years ago tradersarrived in the Southwest with papersacks. Brown, plain and uninspired, noone was more surprised than these samemen when, at holiday time, they foundtheir paper bags avidly sought by localhousewives to be used as luminariaholders. Ingenious senoras would filleach bag one-third with sand, fold itstop back to form a cuff, then nestle acandle deep inside. Sturdy, safe andshining with the bewitching glow of asubdued spotlight, luminarias took onadded glory.

Today they are made exactly the same,except for the candle. Now, special typeluminaria candles are cast by the tens ofthousands. Shaped for practicability, nottapered beauty, they are short, thick, solidand designed to burn for 15 hours.It was quite by accident that lumin-arias were converted from a simple re-ligious expression into exquisite decor.The story goes that one Christmas agreat party was planned at the palace ofthe Territorial Governor of New Mexi-co. To decorate the building, someonewas inspired to light the house andgrounds with luminarias. Hundreds andhundreds of candled brown paper bagswere spotted about at every conceivablelocationalong the roof, on windowsills, outlining paths and gardens. The

result was sheer magic. Then, years later,when a fraternity at the University wastoo low on funds to buy decorations forits house, one of the men rememberedthe story of the Governor's Palace. Sacksand candles were cheap. Sand was free.So these were used profusely and again,the effect was so striking that the entireUniversity of New Mexico took overthe idea. Now each Christmas season oncampus is aglow with more than 8,000"little lights."

All through the Southwest desert theluminaria is growing in popularity as aholiday decoration. In Tucson one of themost effective displays, and one that at-tracts hundreds of visitors, is at artistTed De Grazia's Mission in the Sun. AtChristmas time its more than a hundredluminarias radiate such timeless beautythat Father Kino would feel at homesaying la misa del gallo before the ex-quisite altar, were he alive today.Often luminarias are displayed in clus-ters with the candles set in tall, translu-cent colored glass. Such arrangements ap-pear in groups of 7, 9, or 12 to symbolizethe 12 apostles, the 9 principals of thenativity or simply the Virgin, Joseph,Christ Child, Lamb and The Three WiseMen. Others are displayed in little brownbags along driveways, across roof topsor on window sills. As luminarias in-crease so may the hope of EverlastingPeace, for these are the decorations thatwere truly meant to "Light the Way forChrist."

6 / Desert Magazine / December, 1967


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A Christmas Miracleby Isabel Dunwoody

ECAUSE of one man'sfascination for a strangevibrant Mexican flower,and his desire to intro-duce it to his own UnitedStates, hundreds of thou-sands of poinsettias will be in floristshops and homes this Christmas season.Dr. Joel Roberts Poinsett, one timebotanist and our first diplomatic ministerto Mexico in 1830, first saw the exoticplant growing wild along a Mexicanroadside while out for a stroll.Upon closer observation, the brilliantred flowers appeared to be flamingleaves rather than a single flower. Dr.Poinsett was so impressed by the strangeplant he took cuttings to the market-place to inquire about it. Here customerswere buying huge bunches of the same

flaming plant to decorate their homesand churches and to place before theChrist child in the manger. He learnedit appropriately bursts into color eachDecember.The friendly Mexican people wereeager to tell Dr. Poinsett about the an-cient legends that surround their Christ-mas flower. All the different originsstem from some miracle because some-one cared deeply.One legend tells of a little Mexicangirl who, in desperation to give a thingof beauty and value to her church, pickedsome roadside weeds and placed them onthe altar. The weeds were immediatelytransfigured into the scarlet brillianceof the poinsettia.Some claim it was a small Indian girl,whose floral offering of weeds outshone

all other gifts. Still another insists it wasa little Mexican boy, Pablo. Eager tovisit the manger in the village church,but having no suitable gift to present tothe Holy child, Pablo gathered branchesof green leaves from a bush growingalong the dusty road. The children mock-ed Pablo's gift, but when they looked asecond time at the altar a brilliant star-shaped flower topped each branch. Allthe stories bore a similar explanation.An ancient Azlecas legend says theAzlecas called the crimson wild plant"cuetlaxochitl." Many years ago an Aztecmaiden loved unwisely, and drops ofblood from her broken heart showeredthe earth. Where the drops fell they took

root and grew into the brilliant flamingplant.These legends of the beautiful flower



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WESTERNGATEWAYSMagazine of the Golden CircleWESTERN GATEWAYS IS AQUARTERLY MAGAZINE FEA-TURING TRAVEL INFORMA-T ION, MAPS, ARTICLES, ANDPICTURES OF THE INDIANCOUNTRY, UTAH'S CANYON-LANDS, LAKE POWELL, ANDTHE FOUR CORNERS AREA.Join us in time for the

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with the Spanish ancestry made Dr. Poin-sett even more determined to have itgrow also in his homeland. When he re-turned from his diplomatic mission, hebrought cuttings to propagate in thegreenhouses on his plantation in Green-ville, South Carolina. Some cuttings weresent to Philadelphia where they werealso grown in hothouses, since theirnatural habitat was the "tierras calientes"(hot land). The flower so pleased thePhiladelphia nursery-man he named itafter the diplomat, calling it the Poin-settia.The plants were tried out in our south-ern states, especially Florida, where itflourished under the warm sun. Finallythis sun-loving plant found its way toCalifornia with its warm climate. Todayin California this flower is a populargarden shrub growing to ten feet tall. Itis shipped as Christmas plants and decor-ations throughout the United States.According to a survey by Florists' Tele-graph Delivery Association, "America's

favorite Christmas bloom is the brilliantpoinsettia." Ventura, California, hasadopted it as its official flower and isknown as the Poinsettia City.The poinsettia also grows in othercountries. In Africa it is but a poor rela-tion, since it is a leafless, spiny succulentand grows cacti-like in arid desert re-gions. One British florist alone growsabout 100,000 potted poinsettias. It isfast becoming a Swiss symbol of Christ-m a s .In 1906 German-Swiss Albert Eckebecame fascinated by the red-brackt flow-er that was now thriving in SouthernCalifornia. He introduced it to his flowerand vegetable business in Hollywood. To-day his son, Paul, a commercial growerhas 500 acres of Dr. Poinsett's miracleflowers growing right to the edge of thePacific Ocean, 30 miles north of SanDiego, California, from which he sup-plies the entire world. Some thirty-fivemillion plants will have had their begin-ning in the Ecke Ranch.

Like both Poinsett and his father Al-bert Ecke, Paul, through love of this wildplant, nursed and pampered the poinset-

tia into becoming even more beautifuladding more than twenty-five new varieties. The double poinsettia, HenriettaEcke, was named for his mother. It is afavorite flower of Brisbane, Australiawhere it blooms in late Spring. PauEcke had added pink, white, coral andyellow poinsettias to his family of scarleones.Botanists call America's favorite Christmas bloom Poinsettia pulcherrim, as ibelongs to the Euphorbiacae family. Buthe Spanish, with their soft musical language do it more justice, when they calit, flor de fuego (fire flower) and flor dnoche buena, (flower of the Holy Nighor Christmas Eve).

Poinsettias are relatively easy to growin a frostfree area. They can be startedfrom a cutting, handed over the backfence by an obliging neighbor, and theywill grow and bloom their hearts out fabeyond the holidays. They can't taksudden changes in temperature and humidity without losing their leaves andturning yellow, and should not be allowed to dry out between wateringsThere is one word of warning concerning the beautiful poinsettia. Accordinto pharmacists a leaf, if eaten, containenough poison to kill you.On his commercial ranch, Paul Eckmust have his plants bloom exactly oschedule for market. If there is a possibility that they might burst forth prematurely they simply turn off the builtin alarm clocks by switching on thgreenhouse lights.It is befitting that so lovely a planshould have a festival in its honor. EachDecember as hundreds of thousands othese poinsettias spread their crimsoblanket over the Ecke's 400 acres, alonHighway 101, the Poinsettia Mid-WinteFestival begins, continuing throughouChristmas Day, complete with a Poinsettia Queen."Truly a Christmas miracle," Dr. Poinsett would say, and those who visit thispectacular outdoor garden show mighadd, a miracle because someone care

enough to bring it about. C O W B O Y B O O T S

WesiefinLocated in "The Center" (across from the Desert Inn), The Moccasin Shop offers one of the largestselections for foot comfort this side of anywhere. Moccasins with be autiful bead work , velvety-soft imported deerskin, rugged rawhide, durable full-grain cowhidesome for riding, some forflying, all for just plain walking comfort. Look for us on your next desert trip.

WRITE FOR FREE CATALOG



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L O S T G O L D I N T H E T U R T L E Sby Herb Gill

rugged terrain of the Turtle Mou ntains has been the scen e of man y a lost mine search. Photo by Sam H icks.ELL, I guess I have losta mine toonot a mineexactly, but a good goldprospect anyhow. Withthe rumors of gold goingup to 70 or 100 dollars,an ounce, I decided to go back and re-locate two holes where I had taken outsome 20-odd dollar assays back in the 30s.But the intervening 30 years seems to

have changed the country a lot. All theold landmarks have disappeared, even theold road into the area. Operation "DesertStrike" by the Army did that job; just tryto trace out an old desert road that hasbeen criss-crossed by tank tracks!To go back to the beginning, to themid-30s, I used to go out to Carson Wellsin the north end of the Turtle Mountainsand stay with old Charlie Brown, ownerof the Arches Mine.Old Charlie was one of the early pros-pectors in that area and he knew every

foot of the Turtle, Whipple and Chem-ehueve Mountains and all the mineraloutcrops in them.Charlie was as honest as a midsummerday is hot in describing outcrops in thearea so long as you could pass his pros-



10/44

pector's test by identifying a fewtrickore samples hekept in hiscabin.Charlie would, however, never ask afee of thenewcomer who thought thesesamples were gold; hewould freely giveadvice on the roughest route toreach thesources of this wealth andwould calmlydescribe all theperils of the tripthesnakes, thirst, andhidden traps. He al-ways stood ready tohelp aslong as it did

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not involve acting as aguide to the lode.The lowest manonCharlie's pole wasa Colonel Clark, a promoter whohad acabin some miles to the north of theArches. Col.Clark would invite somegreenhorn (who paid theexpenses) outto inspect and invest in aclaim onone ofthe numerous, but worthless, rich lookingpegmatite outcrops which abound in theTurtles. As much asore point with Char-lie as hisfleecing of thesuckers was thefact that Col. Clark would never visit withhim when their paths crossed. Charlieliked company and to talk of minesandmining. Of all thelost mines Charlie re-called, theonly one I knew himtoadmitas being of whole cloth was theLostArches Mine of theTurtles, which he be-lieved to be inone of theranges to thewest.But to one whocould identify hissamples, who showed agood hand at pan-ning gold, and whoconducted himself asa miner and a gentleman (like panningout the supper dishes), Old Charlie

would drop many gems of advice aboutminerals in thearea. I followed some ofhis waybills and found the outcrops.Others I missed, butonly when Ihad mis-read. Charlie made nomistakes. Out ofone of these waybills came mylost goldprospect. I found theplace and took somesamples. They assayed out at about $23in gold. I intended to rush back, butschool, a job, then marriage intervened.Aside from a quick look during myhoneymoon, when there wasnaturally notime forprospecting, I never sawCharlieagain.His cohort, Jessie Craik took over theArches andcarried on thehospitality ofthe Arches Cabin, but Jessie was not aminer. He hadabsorbed a little miner-alogy from Charlie, butretained little ofthe waybills to the mineral outcrops.

Here is what I remember of Charlie'swaybill tomy lost gold ore. Unfortunate-ly, thecritical keys arelostotherwise I

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would not be telling this story. I havelooked as much as I can; perhaps someonelse maybemore lucky.The road from Highway 95 toCarsonWells runs straight for 15miles; then iforks atthe foot of a little black lava hillThe left fork bears south and leads to thArches Mine and Carson Wells. Theright fork crosses a wash, andnowgoeW 150N to aspur of theTurtles far tthe west. Right here aretwo of theloskeys. In the old days, this fork meandered, as olddesert roads do,along thenorth base of theblack lava hill and had amore southwesternly trend than hasthe present road.Just to thesouth of this road was mkey landmark, Col.Clark's Cabin. Thiswas no ordinary desert cabin; it was prim Eastern style with a door in thecenter, symmetrical windows, a gabledroof, andneatly painted white with greentrim. Now the cabin hasvanished, and nslab, pile ofcans norother talisman of thtypical desert shack remainswhich is

unfortunate for thewaybill. Today thereis a well and corral to the southwesof thelava hill, but I recall this asbeingtoo far away from thehill to be thesiteof my landmark.The next missing keyis inmymemorythe distance one had to gobeyondCoClark's cabin along the old road. I cannoremember if it was one or two or whmiles. But I remember Charlie's otherwords perfectly: "Go miles beyondCol. Clark's Cabin andjust to thenorthof the road, less than 100 feet away, yo

will seetwo little prospect holes. Take asample of theshowing atthe end and yowill find gold."I found the twoholes, about 50 feeapart andboth about thesize of a bath-

t u b , deeper at one endthan theother. Itook samples from the nearly verticawall atthedeeper end.The outcrop was notquartz, as I re-

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11/44

call, but a fine angular breccia such asoccurs in earthquake faults. The detailsof the rock are hazy. I suppose I didn'tpay much attention because I intended toreturn immediately if the assays showedvalue.The holes were on relatively flat landnorthwest of the black hill; they wereon the flat of a malpais bed. There wereno hills in the immediate area and I didnot cross the large wash to the north of

the flat area, but I may have crossed thewash to the west of the hill while on theroad. This is another lost key.The old road has been cut to pieces bythe tank tracks and there now appear tobe several fragmentary parallel roads run-ning east-west across the area. Thepresentstraight road is definitely not the one Ifollowed. Which of the fragments is thecorrect one, I cannot tell. Thirty years

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12/44

NEAR LUCERNE VALLEY ON CALIFORNIA'S MOHAVE DESERTIS FOUND O NE OF THE WEST'S MO STANCIENT PETROGLYPH SITES

Petroglyphs in the Lava Bedby P. M. MCDONALDI N D E R Cone standsapart from the neigh-boring hills of RodmanMountains. It rose someeons ago in a wide val-ley, thrust its volcanic

cone some 300 feet high and sent asteaming, hissing wave of molten lavasearing toward the foothills.The contrast today is sharply defined.Its thick blackened lava flow, cooledand still, resists even the sparce growth

Abstract, curvilinear petroglyphs such as the a bove are amon g the oldest found in theWest. Others, depicting a nimals, are more recent, but still prehistoric.

which covers the other hillsides. CinderCone itself stands naked of life, red andblack rubble fired to ceramic hardness.The lava bed, viewed from the top ofCinder Cone, covers an area of almostsix square miles and appears to be an al-most flat surface.Once in time nature m ight have reach-ed some semblance of success in coveringthe rebellious mountain in a mantle oflife, for Indians long ago lived on thevolcanic flow. Across the south-easternend of the flow a sink, filled with .soil,allowed a natural drainage of water fromthe higher mountains to run across it be-fore dropping into a 20 foot deep crackin the lava flow. Along this wash arecircular prayer stones, ceremonial ringsleft by the ancestors of the ShoshoneIndians, and a few broken arrow tips ofjasper and agate among bits of pottery.

Further proof that Indians camped onthe hard barren surface is found in thehundreds of petroglyphs etched in therocks wherever a smooth surface exists.Figures of stick men, elaborate diamondpatterns, wavy lines and circles, figuresof goats and sheep and the sun, rows ofdots with arrows pointing upwards.There are several ways of reachingCinder Cone and the lava flow, one fromDaggett, California, over a fair but un-maintained hard surface road. We chosethe route from Lucerne Valley. From the

Union 76 service station in the town ofLucerne Valley, bear to the right on apaved road, then turn north on BessemerMine road, a wide, hard-surfaced road,which leads across Soggy Dry Lake bedto a U.S. Naval Testing Station 10 milesfrom the highway. One mile beyond theNavy installation, turn east onto a smal-ler dirt road for 4.5 miles to a power-line road. We were towing a small housetrailer and had no trouble, although partsof the road were sandy and rough. Fol-low the powerline road for eight miles.12 / Desert Maga zine / December, 1967


13/44

The road climbs up into mountains and,once on top, runs along the side of thedouble metal powerline towers. At theturn off to the lava flow, unmarked, thetower (N umber 14 5/2 ) has a red stripepainted at the base. Beyond the turnoffat the next tower the road changes andgoes between the power poles. // yo ufollow it there you have missed the turn-off by 3/10 of a mile. Two miles wester-ly you reach the lava flow and its highcharcoal-colored edge jutting across thevalley. At the base of the lava flow theroad makes two sharp S turns down intoa deep arroyo, then climbs abruptly ontothe top of the lava itself.There is plenty of room to camp eitherhere or along the road before it dropsdown into the wash at the edge of thelava flow. There are no camping facili-ties, however. Bring your own water andfirewood.To travel the side roads, which arenumerous, would require a 4-wheel drivevehicle, but a passenger car will make itto the main area of the lava and CinderCone without trouble.The view from Cinder Cone is a must,with visibility stretching out across theupper Mojave to Newberry. This is anideal family trip, not only for the beauty

Petroglyphs line the can yon wall above an ancient spring.

and solitude of the desert, but for thehiking trails and opportunities to exam-ine the petroglyphic writings of a van-ished peoples. Tim e and weather isslowly fading some of these, and some

have been mutilated by vandals. It is con-ceivable that in a few years the countrymay be robbed of one of the largest col-lections of Indian writing ever to befound in such close abundance.

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Desert Mag azin e / December, 1967


14/44

Sleep-in at Amboyby Walter Kemptborne

VER had an urge tosleep in an extinct vol-cano? Forty members ofth e M o u n ta in E a r thScience Association ofRiverside, California,did just that on a weekend trek to the200-foot high pumice and cinder conethat rises above the desert floor nearAmboy. They had no guarantees of safe-ty, but no eruptions have been reportedfrom this former hotspot in the past10,000 years.

From southwestern Utah throughsouthern Nevada and into the easternand southeastern deserts of California,more than 100 examples of similar cin-

der cones can be identified by highwaytravelers. One 10-mile stretch of roadbetween Baker and Halloran Spring inCalifornia has 27 cones huddled togetherin a concentrated cluster. All of theseexhibits have one trait in commontheyexist in stark isolation in a potentiallydeadly environment.

Intruders like JMESA respect thisdanger. Snake-bite kits were carriedalong with extra water for both vehicleand occupants. Bagdad, a scant 6 milesaway from the Amboy Crater, exper-ienced one three-year period when nota drop of moisture fell! Except for anoccasional scrub cottonwood grubbing outan existence at a rare oasis where brack-

ish water has been unaccountably trapped,the landscape here is barren, dusty, anddevoid of green vegetation. The desertfloor, primarily flat, is treacherouslysandy, interrupted only by areas of rockmosaic where lava pebbles are "paved"into the sand as compactly as thoughcompressed by steam rollers. Wind andrare rain are responsible for this pattern,having beaten the rocks deep into thefine alluvial sand of the desert floor.

Throughout the Amboy Crater vicin-ity, black porous lava outcrops are dis-astrous to high pressure tires, their jag-ged edges penetrating through rubberas surely as would a knife or razor.JMESA's Field Trip Director, Joe



15/44

Parnell, and Owen Crowley, another hot-weather expert, narrowed their choice ofcinder cones to Amboy because it liesonly two miles off Highway 66 , a loca-tion easily accessible via either the Bar-stow or Twentynine Palms routes. Pas-senger car travelers rounded-up on thehard packed sand at the edge of the lavafield one-fourth of a mile from the high-way from which spot four-wheel drivevehicles relayed them to the crater. Astraight-line, cross-country distance to thecrater base is approximately one mile, ifyou choose to hike it, but the lengthier,snakier road is easier to follow, evenafoot, because sandy depressions boundedby 15-foot walls of lava rock make de-tours necessary which add up to morethan the extra mileage of the road. Un-seen residents, burrowing beneath thesurface, add further to the problems ofcross-country walking.

On the advice of their guide, clubmembers continued along the road pastthe north path up the crater sidea 35climb on loose pumice and cinder recom-mended only for expertsand followedinstead a shorter southeast ascent to thecrater rim. This precipitous entry path isalso hazardous due to frequent gustywinds which funnel up a gulley andblast their way across the cone's rim, butit is navigable with proper caution. Ashort 100-yard climb ends abruptly at aminor plateau of cinder. Just beyond itwas the club's destination: the flat de-pression at the bottom of the cone's in-terior, now covered by sand blown in bystrong winds.

During the trip, sleeping-bag enthu-siasts learned that the desert wastes har-bor a variety of night prowlers who dis-appear into nowhere during the day.Emerging from some hidden den, a foxstealthily slipped in over the lava to digup the refuse buried a foot deep in thesand after the campfire was extinguishedand the first light of morning broughtinnumerable ants, both red and black inaddition to a family of flat-nosed, squeak-ing horned toads who came out to in-vestigate. Small, fleet lizards darted fromrock to rock or fled behind the silver-grey desert holly while spiny shrubsprovided cover for the birds that jettedinto them when we approached.Since part of JMESA's credo is to edu-cate as well as entertain, one crafty mem-ber decided to graphically illustrate thevolcano in action. While the others weresafely at breakfast he reactivated thecone for 10 minutes by sending up adense pall of black smoke 300 feet abovethe rim. He refused to disclose his for-mula, but it was an awesome sight tothose trapped among the piles of lava atthe other end of the crater's floor.Immediately west of the cone we dis-covered volcanic "bombs" which hadbeen airborne during the eruption. These"bombs," circular or spindled-shapedmasses of lava which solidified in flight,range from small, smooth egg-sized pel-lets to basketball-sized chunks and arefound in a limited area near the south-west breach in the cone wall.Our JMESA sleep-in at Amboy Craterwas a huge success. We recommend itfor other groups .

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16/44

A S urprise Letter From . . .

T h e M A N W H O F O U N DP E G L E G ' S B L A C K G O L D

In the Ma rc h , 1965 issue of DESERT Magazine, an anonymous writerclaimed to have found the legendary Pegleg black gold within a 30-mile radi-us of the Salton Sea. He also claimed to have cashed in the gold for some$ 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 by removing its black covering and selling it to collectors andjewelers in Alaska. Many readers doubted this storyuntil they saw the evi-dence displayed in the DESERT Magazine bookshop. Including the large nug-get received with the following letter, "Mr. Pegleg" hassent a total of eightgood-sized nuggets to prove his point. They may be seen in the DESERT Ma-gazine Bookshop in Palm Desert , California.

The "Man WhoFound Pegleg's Black Gold'" offered to answer letters fromreaders published on the Letters page of each issue. Following his originalstory, there have been six of these answers, each as interesting as the first.The last appeared in the August-September 1966 issue in response to a sug-gestion by Robert Buck in an earlier issue that the black gold nuggets mayhave been carried to the desert by the Peralta mule train and didn't originatein the desert locale where they were found. Here is further evidence intro-duced by the Man Who Found Pegleg's Black Gold which maysupport sucha theory.

Dear Choral Pepper:Yes, I did see your note in the Novem-ber issue and, as always, I am enclosinga Pegleg nugget with this letter, one thathas been treatedas I've described be-foreto remove the black coating fromthe outside.

I am also enclosing another artifactwhich I think may be of even more in-terest to you and the readers of DESERTMagazine.

In the latter part of August I made atrip to my original discovery site, not with

the idea of hunting for more nuggets, butto search the surrounding area more care-fully. Ever since Robert Buck's story ap-peared in the June 1966 issue I've beenintrigued by the theory that the Peglegblack nuggets may have been Peralta'sshipment from the Spanish mine on theCalaveras river.

The corroded buckle I found duringone of my trips seemed to lend credenceto this theory, which I explained in myletter that appeared in the August/Sep-



17/44

tember issue of 1966. I brought thebuckle home, but not realizing it mightbe important later I took no special painsto preserve it in a safe place. I promisedto send you a photograph of it and al-though I've looked several times, I stillhaven't found it. Nevertheless, the en-closed artifact may be even more import-ant to Buck's theory of the origin of theblack nuggets.During my last trip I was walkingalong a shallow gully about five or sixhundred yards from the discovery site,looking carefully at the ground. Therewere patches of blow sand here and there,and in the edge of one of them I noticedwhat appeared to be a bit of rusty metalsticking out of the sand. At first glanceit appeared to be a rusty bottle cap or theedge of an old tin can, and I started towalk on. Then out of curiosity, which Ialways have when I see something inthe desert that isn't natural, I stopped andpulled at it. What came out of the sandgave me the same eerie feeling I hadwhen I scraped the black coating off ofthe first black nugget and saw the glitterof gold.I quickly recognized what I had in myhands as the hilt section of a sword scab-bard. The scabbard itself was iron, butthe band around the center of it withtwo rings atached seemed to be preciousmetal, as there was no corrosion as therewas on the iron portion. The back of theband is smooth, but on the front is thefigure of what appears to be a Spanishsoldier in armour, wearing a sword. Heis holding a child in his arms. Obviouslythe scene is that of a soldier dressed inhis armour, bidding goodby to his wifeand child as he prepares to go off to war.As I stood there in the desert holdingit, my mind conjured up a long ago daywhen a train of laden burros came labor-ing over the low hills, prodded along bya few sweaty men; man and beast aliketired and suffering from hunger andthirst. If the scabbard or the black nug-gets could talk, what story would theytell? That a lack of water and failinganimals had caused the caravan to behalted and unloaded while the strongestmen rode ahead through the burningdesert in a desperate search for water,only to perish of thirst themselves? Andwhen they did not return, perhaps oneof those left to guard the black nuggetsstruck out over the hills in the finalagony of approaching death and staggereda few hundred yards before falling to hisknees to pray for the end, his swordthrown behind, his empty scabbard flop-ping at his side to remain there a centuryand a half while all else dissipated under

the pitiless sun until finally only a rem-nant of the scabbard marked the point ofdeath?Or was there another story of a swiftattack by fierce desert Indians who wouldhave no use for the black nuggets andleave them scattered after the packs wereremoved from the burros and opened;and did a wounded survivor run for hislife, sword in hand, before being sur-rounded an put to death, his scalp and

shiny sword taken by the Indians withonly the mutilated body and empty scab-bard left behind to mark the place of hislast stand ?Only the corroded scabbard and thedesert sand could tell the true story, ifthey could talk.But back to reality. Perhaps there isno connection between the scabbard andthe black nuggets. Perhaps it is of an-other time. I do not know. Nor am I anauthority on early Spanish culture inCalifornia. The scabbard may be only 50

years old, instead of 150. This is why Iam sending it to you. Perhaps by pub-lishing a photograph of it and having iton hand for examination, a more com-prehensive analysis can be made. I am,of course, greatly interested myself inthe opinions of readers and competentauthorities as to the origin of this artifact.You will note in examining it that Ihave scraped a few tiny marks with thepoint of my knife to try to determine thecomposition of the metal. I would guessthat it is silver, although the side con-taining the figures is somewhat reddish,possibly being copper or an alloy of sil-ver and copper, possibly even being goldor electrum (an alloy of silver and gold).I cannot say and I won't pretend to know.I did not try an acid test as I did notwant to deface or change the condition inwhich I found it.If it proves to be early Spanish, then Ithink none of us can ignore the possibil-ity that the black nuggets were from thelost Peralta caravan.In this instance I am asking you andthe readers of DESERT to solve the my-

stery of this scabbard and tell me what itis. I would like to loan it to you for dis-play in your bookshop. I know it will besafe in your custody. Sincerely yours,The man who found Pegleg's(Peralta's?) black gold.P.S. I will answer Bill Bean's letter in de-tail the next time. Although he is in erroron a couple of things, I believe he mayhave found my discovery area. If not theexact location, then at least the generalarea. P

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December, 19 67 / Desert Mag azine / 1 7


18/44

MONTE CARLO of the SOUTHWEST by Hunter Gooch

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beautiful women in the casino's plushbars, sometimes hiking up trousers andskirts to dash into the adjacent bay whenthe tide was right for a grunion hunt.Tales are told of a colorful character whoate champagne glasses and lived to gam-ble again. Nights were long, wild andgay, always accompanied by the tinkle ofglasses d enied above-border Americans ofthe prohibition era.

The golden years of Ensenada came toan en d when the federal governmentoutlawed gambling in 1934. Five yearslater the casino's vaults were sealed. Fu-tile attempts were made to operate it as ahotel without gambling, but income fromits 57 rooms could not support the largestaff necessary to maintain its buildingsand expansive grounds. Slowly the build-ings fell into disrepair.Today termites, vandals and scavengersare its occupants. The hotel is unlockedand unprotected. Anyone can roamthrough its once richly furnished room s.Surprisingly, the brilliant, stained-glasswindows are still intact and until recentlya large oil painting of a scene of th eSpanish conquest of Mexico restedagainst a musty hallway wall. Thegrounds, once ablaze with colorful flow-ers, are now choked with weeds andpocked with gopher holes. A marble-fountain that splashed water amid coloredlights bears the autographs of thosethoughtless wanderers who destroy beautyeverywhere.The future holds little promise for theelegant old structure, although the fed-eral government plans to build a 300-room hotel, golf course, convention hall,cock fight ring, shopping center andother facilities next to it in about a year.These plans may realize the same fate asformer plans for a 200-room additionwith an Olympic swimming pool meantto lure tourists down the newly completedTijuana-Ensenada freeway, however. Theywere forgotten.Except for occasional announcementsof schemes to rejuvenate the casino, it hasbeen forgotten, too. If you should ask anEnsenadan where the casino is located,he will often shrug and say he doesn'tknow. Once you find it, though, on thesouth end of town, and wander throughits rooms and halls, you will be aston-ished that the noble edifice has been al-lowed to become a 20th century ruin.



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A one day tripto the apple strip

Beautiful Yucaipa Valleyby Jack Delaney

Apple blossoms brighten Yucaipa in the springtime F IT were true tha t "anapple a day keeps thedoctor away," medicalmen in the Yucaipa Val-ley would hardly needhang up a shingle. Resi-dents of this area, the largest apple pro-ducing region in Southern California,enjoy an apple or two a day as a routineway of life.Yucaipa Valley is an enjoyable one-daytrip from most points in Southern Cali-fornia. It is 70 miles east of Los Angelesby Freeway; 40 miles west of PalmSprings; 29 miles from Riverside; andjust 8 miles from Redlands. This warmand rural region stretches lazily alongthe sunny slopes of the beautiful SanBernardino Mountains. It offers an ap-pealing blend of town and country at-mosphere, where horseback riders arenot an infrequent sight along the road-ways.The history of this area fits into theregular pattern of many Californiatownsa triple play from Indians toLatins to Americans. The Indians were a

peaceful group of the Serrano tribethey built the Serrano Rancheria, a smallcollection of circular brush huts withrounded domes. They called the landwhere they settled "Ucipe," which meant"wet and sandy." While the descriptionis not accurate for the area today, it mayhave been appropriate in the 1700s whenthe Indians were here. Later the nameevolved into "Yucaipa," officially adopt-ed in 1909-Part two of the triple play introducedthe patient and plodding padres of the

December, 1967 / Desert Magazine / 19


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Mou ntains rise above Yu caipa's orchards where intriguing roads lead to resorts.

San Gabriel Mission who felt that theyhad a job to do and were determinedto do it. This region was designated asthe San Bernardino Rancho, under thesupervision of the Mission. Also, in theLatin category, when powerful Mexicanfamilies established catt le empiresthroughout California, the valley was in-cluded. A flavor of the early days will befound in the historic Yucaipa Adobe, the

. .;rf5&

oldest house standing in San BernardinoCounty. This registered State Landmarkdates back to 1837 and is presently beingrestored by the County.Part three of the historical picture oc-curred in 1851 when two apostles of theLatter Day Saints Church arrived with acovered wagon train of 500 persons andpurchased the entire Yucaipa Valley. Inaddition to having many wives and many

JOMT^s - - >*- '

children, this Mormon group evidentlyhad many dollars! Their leaders hadplans for farming the good land andbuilding a town, but pressured by devel-opers who had similar ambitions, theMormons decided to "let George do it"and yielded around 1859.Yucaipa today is a community of ap-proximately 20,000 persons, with a majorportion of the population in the happy,carefree retired category, although a re-cent development has been to integrateyounger families with the retired folks.About 10% of the residents live in roll-ing homes, but there are also 31 trailerand mobile home parks in the valley.Many of the swank installations can beseen by driving along California Street,in Yucaipa.Artists have been attracted to the val-ley for many years as its rolling hills,blossoming trees, and mountain back-drops have been furnishing them withthe peace and beauty that inspires creativ-ity on canvas. Hun dreds of daubers,

professionals and amateurs, live and pro-duce masterpieces here. An all-valley artshow is held annually in conjunction withthe Yucaipa Valley Days celebration.Yucaipa Valley is a quiet, peaceful at-tractive area with an additional featurethat has a special appeal to visitors. It canbe expressed in one wordapples. Themain concentration of orchards is in OakGlen, a scenic region between the townsof Yucaipa and Beaumont. Once youhave seen it you will return each year.The compelling lures to this enchanting

part of back-country are many. One is theinteresting drive up gently-winding OakGlen Road, entering the well-known"Loop Tour," either from Beaumont orYucaipa.The choice of Beaumont as a startingpoint results in an easy carefree driveconcentrated on a fascinating, orchard-scented eight miles of scenic beauty. Tostart it, drive north on Beaumont Avenue,which changes into Oak Glen Road, andcontinue to the apple mecca of Oak Glen.Then, after you have had your fill ofapples, apple cider, and inspiring vistas,continue on down to Yucaipa and com-plete the loop.Oak Glen Road winds through mile-high apple country. This enchantingdrive attracts thousands of motorists eachharvest season when colorful fall foliageis on display. Roadside stands sell tree-ripened fruit by the boxful, sackful, orbasketful. Freshly made cider may besampled by the cupful or taken home ingallon jugs. Picnic areas set among giantoaks and sycamores are provided by the



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growers and are available to visitorswithout charge.Other attractions at Oak Glen andalong the inspiring mountain road in-clude art galleries, specialty shops, a wild-life museum, a curio shop, and a candyfactory. Also, there are three coffeeshops, or eating places, serving smallorders or regular meals. In these places,hot apple pie is the specialty. A charming

mountain motel with a fireplace in eachunit provides a temptation to cancel allengagements and just stay here in thefresh air.Ranch families who live here have

been a part of this country for the pastcentury, giving the area an appealingstory-book quality. Many were born hereand most of them came from familieswho peopled the Glen when it wasknown as Potato Canyon, many years ago.Their characters and personalities are re-flected along the entire length of AppleOrchard Row, a healthful outdoor regionwhich includes camps for Boy and GirlScouts and various church groups.

The harvest season runs from Octoberto January. Eighty percent of the crop isthe delectable Rome Beauty. This varietyhas no equal as a firm eating, cooking,and canning apple. Early season fruit in-cludes Greenings and Gravensteins (goodfor cooking). Mid-season offerings areRome Beauties, Jonathans, Macintosh,Red Golds, Red Delicious, Standard De-licious, King David, Hoover and GoldenDelicious. These are all excellent eatingapples. Late season features are RomeBeauties, Black Twigs, Winesaps andArkansas Blacks. Before the apples areoffered for sale to visitors they are in-spected for quality, washed, polished,rigidly graded for size, and packed.

As a one-day tripper wishing to ex-tend his trip, you may explore the SanBernardino National Forest by driving afew additional miles east of Yucaipa.This is a region of spectacular views,boasting the highest mountain in South-ern CaliforniaSan Gorgonio Peakwhich is 11,502 feet high. Fascinatingplace names, such as Monkey Face Falls,Wildhorse Meadows, Poopout Hill, Sug-arloaf Mountain, Bellyache Springs, andCoon Creek Jumpoff lend atmosphereto the region.

T he M ystery of the Charcoal Ironby Ollie McNett

T ISN 'T unusual to findin the desert an articlewhich has no known use,but that isn't always theend of the mystery. Some-times you can figure outwhat the article was used for, but thenthe mystery ariseswho left it there?On an artifact hunting trip in thefoothills of the White Mountains nearFish Lake Valley, Nevada, we recentlyfound an antique charcoal iron. It wassetting on a hilltop near Indian Gardens.Indian Gardens is situated in a canyonmouth near a bubbling stream where theground is soft and ideal for farming. InNevada's early days a tribe of Paiute In-dians used this land to grow what theycalled taboose, a small nut that grows inthe ground similar to peanuts, but whichtastes and resembles cocoanuts.During the 1860s, Borax Smith of 20-Mule Team fame came to Nevada andstarted mining the borax that grows onthe Columbus Marsh near Coaldale.Later he moved to Fish Lake Valley where

he reaped the harvest of the Ulaxite boraxknown as "cotton balls." His laborers con-sisted of Chinese and the remnants of hisborax works and the crude houses builtfor the Chinese laborers can still be seen.Now, did one of these Chinamen, whoare well known for their laundry abilities,move to Indian Gardens to raise vege-tables and do laundry for the Chineseminers? Was this iron we found broughtin by him?Constructed on the principle of a stove,the iron has a sliding door on the topwhere charcoal was inserted, and thenthe door was slid back and locked. Onboth sides of the body are draft doors tokeep the charcoal smoldering. On thetop, at both ends of the handle, arespouts resembling chimneys which re-leased the steam and smoke. Thesespouts were once coated with a silver ma-terial. Und erneath the handle is a round-ed, scooped-out piece of metal whichevidently held asbestos or similar type ofmaterial to protect the hand from theheat.

Or, was this iron one used by Felix

Redlich, a roving prospector who drovea team of mules instead of using burros,as did other prospectors of his time.Whenever Redlich began a prospectingtrip, he filled a charcoal iron with glowingcoals and placed it under a laprobe tokeep his feet warm on the long, coldtrips. W hen the charcoal burned out, hehalted his team to reload his iron, keep-ing warm with a sagebrush fire in themeantime.Or, did some lonesome farmer's wife

Rare charcoal iron rests on table.have this iron and treasure it as her mostprized possession ?

The iron we found has the words"Patent Applied For" printed on thesliding door of the top, but there is noidentification as to the manufacturer.Mrs. Harold Story of Taylorsville,

California, has a charcoal iron with thenames W. D. Cummings, R. Taliaferdeand E. F. Bless, Patented 1852. Her ironwas made with only one draft and onespout chimney, the chimney in the shapeof an old man with a beard. Ours pos-sibly predates hers, after later usage hadproven only one draft was necessary andthat the back chimney of the iron wasdangerous to the wrist.Like many another desert mystery, oursof the charcoal iron may never be solved.

December, 196 7 / Desert Ma gazin e / 21


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Washingtonian Palms add green toAndreas Canyon Creek nearPalm Springs, California. Brittlebrush lend yellow accent.

Photo byDavid Muench.

Life in the Green DesertHAT color is the desert?W e l l , it depends onwhich desert you aretalking about. Th e Paint-ed Desert, down in thecanyon country of theSouthwest, is painted in broad strokes ofred and purple. The scrub-and-sagebrushdesert of the Great Basin between theRockies and the Sierras is gray. And theSahara, if we can believe technicolor

movies, is blinding white.But would youbelieve a green desert?A dull and dusty green is the pre-dominant color of the desert that jutsup into Arizona and California from theMexican state of Sonora. Classified bybiologists as an arboreal, or tree-typedesert, the Sonoran desert is green withan elfin forest of runty butgenuine trees

by Henry H. Lansfordsuch as the palo verde, ironwood, andmesquite, as well as with cacti thatoften grow larger than the trees. Thisgrotesque forest teems with birds,mam-mals, and reptiles which, like theplants,have had to adapt themselves to surviveon considerably less than a foot of rain-fall a year. Most of them cope with hightemperatures and severe water shortageby one of three methods: economizing,lying low, or storing.

Among the plants, the trick of econo-mizing is used very successfully by Ari-zona's state tree, thepalo verde. This tree,named in Spanish for its green stalk, isone of the most common inhabitants ofthe green desert. Most trees in temperateclimates lose a great deal of water to theatmosphere through their leaves by aprocess called transpiration. The palo

verde cuts down on transpiration by cutting down on leaves. It has only a filmyveil of tiny leaves to begin with, andwhen water is unusually scarce it shedseven these, thus beginning photosynthe-sis, a process vital to plant life with itsgreen trunk and branches which containthe chlorophyll that most plants haveonly in their leaves. Thecacti, of course,have carried this tendency one step fur-ther andhave given up leaves completely.Bu t the palo verde is still a tree, if astrange one, and not a succulent plantlike thecacti.

The ocotillo, another non-cactus, relieson the device of lying lowwhen there isnot enough water. The thorny, whiplikestalks of a mature ocotillo shoot up high-er than a man's head from a commonbase andeach stalk normally bears small,



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24/44

closely spaced leaves along its entirelength. But when the weather gets toohot and dry, the ocotillo dro ps its leaves.Unlike the palo verde, the ocotillo goesdormant, as do the oaks and maples ofcolder climates at the onset of winter.The ocotillo, however, responds to theweather and n ot the seasons; it may growand shed half-a-dozen sets of leaves in asingle year.Lying low when the weather is too hotand drythe opposite of hibernationisknown as estivation. The behavior of theocotillo is just as logical as that of theoak or maple; it is simply less familiarto most of us. In the spring the palo verdeblossoms out in yellow and the ocotilloproduces small brilliant bursts of scarletat the ends of its long, waving stalks.Nature's rules are neither changed norsuspended in the desert, but are appliedin ways to which we are not accustomed.A spring that follows a rainy winterwill see the desert floor between theshrubs and trees and cacti covered with

a carpet of small but colorful floweringannuals, many of them desert versions ofold garden favorites such as the mari-gold, the poppy and the primrose. Theseannuals spring from seed that may havelain dormant for two or three dry years,ignoring light showers that would haveresurrected their garden cousins. Thesedesert seeds are able to lie low until theyare awakened by a winter rainy seasonlong and wet enough to ensure the sur-vival of the small and tender plants fora brief life span of six weeks or so. Thatis all the time they need to complete thelife cycle from seed to flower and backto seed again.

The third trick of desert survival, stor-ing, is used by the Sonoran Desert's big-gest and most grotesque inhabitant, thesaguaro cactus. The saguaro, or giantcactus, may spread its arms as much as40 or 50 feet above the crowns of thescrubby desert trees. The stranger to thedesert would assume that its taproot mustreach very deep into the rocky soil, butactually its taproot is seldom more thanthree feet long. Its main root system isshallow, but highly efficient, and mayspread nearly 50 feet out from the baseof a mature saguaro.

When a sudden cloudburst turns loosea deluge that may represent half the totalrainfall for a year, the saguaro's water-works go into action. The sprea dingroots pipe the water into the trunk, whichat the end of a long dry spell will haveshrunk down close to its skeleton of hard,woody ribs. As the water enters the softtissues that surround the skeleton, thevertical ridges in the waxy outer skin ex-24 / Desert Mag azin e / December, 1967

pand like pleats. A large saguaro can ab-sorb as much as a ton of water at a time,and saguaros have been known to splittheir sides when freakishly heavy rainsgave them more water than they couldstore.Desert animals also use these threebasic tricks for survival. Economy is prac-ticed by snakes and lizards, as well as byground squirrels and other small mam-mals, which stay in their burrows duringthe day when the searing sun wouldquickly dehydrate their small bodies. Thespadefoot toad is the champion at lyinglow, spending the major part of his lifeunderground and coming out only for ashort period in the summer when there

Ocotillo, cbolla and saguaro produce adesert jungle.are big enough rain puddles to hold theeggs and hatch the tadpoles for a newgeneration of toads. The desert tortoise,like the saguaro, stores his water supply,using a built-in tank under the hump ofhis shell.

Among animals, the grand prize foradaptation to the arid environment surelyshould go to a little fellow who uses amethod that no plant is equipped to use.He is the kangaroo rat, sometimes called"the mouse that never drinks." This nick-name is at least half accurate; the kan-garoo rat is not a mouse, but it is quitetrue that he never drinks. Unlike somedesert rodents such as pack rats andground squirrels, who get along withoutdrinking much water by eating greenplants with a high moisture content, the

kangaroo rat survives splendidly on a dietof dry grains and seeds, with never adrink to wash them down.The kangaroo rat's body has learnedto make its own water. The chemical for-mula for water is H20, which means itis made up of one part of oxygen andtwo parts of hydrogen. The seeds andgrains that the kangaroo rat eats containhydrogen, in the form of compoundsknown as hydrocarbons, and the body ofthe little rodent has the unusual ability totake hydrogen from the hydrocarbons,combine it with oxygen from the atmos-phere, and produce that precious com-pound H20. The kangaroo rat nevertakes a drink for the same reason that theTennessee moonshiner never buys a bottleof whiskey. They both prefer to maketheir own.If you are a stranger to the green des-ert, looking for an introduction to itsunusual plants and animals, you woulddo well to visit a couple of institutionsthat specialize in interpreting the life of

the desert to those who want to learnabout it. The Arizona-Sonora Desert Mu-seum lies just west of Tucson. This "liv-ing museum" combines the best featuresof a museum, a zoo, and a botanical gar-den, and it displays the life of the desertin a particularly friendly way. In the tor-toise enclosure, for example, children areencouraged to pick up the ungainly deserttortoises for a close eyeball-to-eyeball in-spection. An underground tunnel isequipped with windows opening into theburrows of nocturnal creatures that couldnot be observed otherwise. The museumis located in the middle of a splendidstand of saguaro cacti, ocotillo, paloverde, and other typical species of thearboreal desert. Another such institutionis the Boyce Thompson Southwest Ar-boretum at Superior, Arizona. This gar-den of desert plants from both hemis-pheres is operated by the Desert BiologyStation of the University of Arizona.Trails wind among the arboretum's plant-ings, allowing the visitor to observe atclose range many desert species thatmight not be found within miles of oneanother, or even on the same continent,in their native habitats. A third is cur-rently being constructed in Southern Cali-fornia's Coachella Valley, near the Des-ert Magazine headquarters in Palm Des-ert (DESERT, March 1967).

So if you have been thinking of thedesert as a dull and lifeless place, withnothing to see but miles and miles ofsterile sand and desolation, perhaps youought to pay a visit to the green Sonoranor Colorado deserts. You may be in forquite a surprise.


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AIUTES who maintainedan all year camp at Beo-wawe Hot Springs innorthern Lander County,Nevada, were certain thatmany powerful spiritslived in the bowels of the earth. In away they were right, as this area has moregeysers and geyser activity than any othersection of the United States, with the ex-ception of Yellowstone.At present there are five wells at Beo-wawe. One of them, discovered in I960,supplies a flow of 40,500 pounds ofsteam per hour, and a whopping total of1.43 million pounds of hot water alsopours out every hour.Nevada's warm springs, some unnamedand others bearing vividly descriptivemonikers, are not confirmed to one par-ticular desert area. In every one of its 17counties the earth bubbles, boils andburps. In an arid state such as Nevada, itis startling to discover that 186 areas havebeen mapped and designated as thermalby the Nevada Bureau of Mines. OnlyCalifornia and Idaho can compare withthis figure as they, too, have an abundanceof hot springs. Most of the springs are

H O T S P R I N G So f N E V A D Aby Doris Cerveri

long distances apart and often in inacces-sible places where extensive volcanic activ-ity once occurred.Indians have many legends, especiallyabout unusual phenomena, and Diana'sPunch Bowl is a favorite. Located innorthern Nye County 50 miles south ofthe old mining town of Austin, Diana'sPunch Bowl is a large, natural cauldroncontaining hot water in a pool at the bot-tom of a huge cone-shaped bowl 50-feetin diameter and 40-feet deep. Whencooled, the water is fresh and potable.

They say an Indian couple decided theywanted some eagle eggs which were in aniche on the inner side of the bowl. Thebrave told his wife to hold firmly to hisfeet while he descended for them headfirst. She held on tightly until she spiedtwo small eagles flying nearby. In her

Eilley Orrum Bowers would glow with pride were she to see these families of todayenjoying her impressive mansion and its pool filled with w ater from the hot springs

near Ca rson City.

eagerness to grab the eaglets she releasedher husband. The legend is that her hus-band's scalp and leggings eventually re-appeared from underground channels androse to the surface of the water.The Hot Springs of the Forty-MileDesert were familiar to early travelers whocalled them the Springs of False Hope.Hot, parched oxen plodding across thedesert from the Humboldt Valley regioncould smell water as they neared the

springs. Half mad from thirst, they wouldrush forward and plunge their noses intothe scalding water, bawling piteouslywhen their noses and tongues wereburned. The wagon masters, of course,allowed the water to cool before drinkingit.Divers have discovered hot springsbubbling in the depths of Pyramid Lake,home of the Paiute Indians, who haveutilized the springs for thousands ofyears.Darroughs Hot Springs in Nye Countynear Tonopah was mentioned by Fre-mont in his journal of 1845 in which herelated that the water evidently had beenin use by the Indians for many centuries.The old stone building at Darroughswas headquarters of a stage station aftera mail route through Smokey Valley wasestablished and is probably the oldestsettled station there.In 1886 a small settlement near Gol-conda Hot Springs, 16 miles east of Win-nemucca on the Humboldt River, was theunofficial headquarters for all activity ofthe Gold Run Mining District. The Cen-

tral Pacific Railroad ran a line to thesprings a few years later, but shortly after-wards the mines petered out and thesprings became a health resort where itstherapeutic qualities were well known toearly westbound travelers.Eilley Orrum (Sandy Bower's wife)had washed clothes several times in thehot water flowing out of a crevice in themountain in back of their mansion beforeit was completed. She remarked at thetime how easily dirt came out of theclothes; it was handy, too, because shedidn't have to carry heavy buckets to beheated over a hot stove. The comfortablywarm pools at Bowers Mansion have beena source of pleasure to bathers for manyyears. Recently the entire swimming areawas rebuilt and now incudes new bathhouses and a public area.Several hot springs in Nevada havebeen designated as unlimited sources ofgeothermal energy. Tremendous plans fortheir future development are a far cryfrom the past when they were only visitedfor recreational and therapeutic reasons.

December, 196 7 / Desert Mag azine / 15


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A strange story about...T h e H ouse on G host Mountain

by Myrtle Teague

E were exploring BlairValley in the Anza-Bor-rego desert when wepaused to visit with apark ranger. "Had weever heard of the Southsof Yaquitepec," he asked, "the familywho wrote about their experiences inprimitive living for DESERT Magazineback in the 1940s?"It just happened that we had, havingbeen long-time DESERT subscribers.For us, this was an exciting subject. Thelocation of the adobe house on GhostMountain, built by Marshal and TanyaSouth and their children, had been ahighly protected secret during the 15years they occupied it. Often we hadwondered just where it was.Directing our eyes across the vast des-ert valley toward a rugged mountainthat protruded high into a veil of grayclouds, the ranger said, "That's the placethey called Ghost Mountain, but youcan't see the house until you are withina few feet of it. When Anza-Borrego be-

came a state park, the South propertywas included within its boundaries."Always anxious for adventure, we un-hooked our jeep from its tow bar, check-ed our directions on a topographic mapand started across the valley. While wind-ing through cacti, washes and uneventerrain, we maintained a watch for pot-sherds lying on the ground. Long ago alarge Indian population lived in thisvalley and there is much evidence of theirpottery making for those who look hard.Complete ollas may be hidden underoverhanging rocks or washed up afterrains from burial places in the sand.As we drew near the base of the moun-tain, I wondered, incredulously, how any-one could have built a house up there.The sides of the mountain appeared end-lessly high and utterly vertical. Afterparking our car, we searched for a trailthat serpentined faintly among graniteboulders, rocky ridges and sharp mescaltoward the summit. In places it gave outentirely, but we continued to climb until,exhausted, we all but crawled to thebrow of the hill. And there it was! Ele-

gant in simplicity, splendid in isolation,the adobe walls of Yaquitepec nestledamong huge boulders in a natural setting.Their years of work, their mastery offrustration, their joy which came as aresult of rewarding toil; all of the emo-tions that

196712 desert magazine 1967 december

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