196909 desert magazine 1969 september

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SEPTEMBER, 1969 50c

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D e s e r t M a g a z i n e B o o k S h o pNEW MEXICO PLACE NAMES edited by T. M.Pearce. Lists and gives a concise history of theplaces, towns, former sites, mountains, mesas,rivers, etc., in New Mexico, including those set-t led by the ear ly Spaniards . Good for t reasurehunters, bott le col lectors and history buffs.Paperback, 187 pages wi th more than 5000names, $2.45.A FIELD GUIDE TO ROCKS AND MINERALS byFrederick H. Pough. Author i tat ive guide to iden-t i f icat ion of rocks and minerals. Experts recom-mend this for all amateurs as one of the best3rd edi t ion wi th many new color i l lustrat ions.Hardcover . $4.95.ANZA-BORREGO DESERT GUIDE by Horace Par-ker. Third edit ion of th is wel l - i l lus t rated anddocumented book is enlarged cons iderably . Topsamong guidebooks, it is equal ly recommendedfor research material in an area that was crossedby Anza, Kit Carson, the Mormon Bat ta l ion,'49ers, Railroad Survey part ies, Pegleg Smith, theJackass M a i l , Butterf ield Stage, and t o d a y sadventurous tourists. 139 pages, cardboardcover , $3.50.EXPLORING CALIFORNIA BYWAYS by Russ Lead-abrand . There are two separate books underthis t i t le. Volume 1 covers the area from KingsCanyon National Park, near Bishop, to theMexican Border. Volume 2 covers one or two-day t r ips around Los Angeles. Both books con-ta in maps for each t r ip wi th photographs, his-tor ical in format ion, recreat ional fac i l i t ies , camp-sites, hiking trai ls, etc. Excellent t ravel guides.Both volumes are slick paperback, 180 pages,$1.95 each. WHEN ORDERING BE CERTAIN TOSTATE WHICH VOLUME NUMBER.THE WEEKEND TREASURE HUNTER by A. H.Ryan. A companion book to his Weekend GoldMiner, this volume is also concise and packedwi th informat ion on w h a t to look for and w h a tto do with your t reasure af ter you have foundit . Subjects range from Beach Combing to Sunk-en Treasures. Paperback, 76 pages, $1.95.DEATH VALLEY JEEP TRAILS by Roger Mitchell.Al t hough a system of paved roads covers DeathVal ley Nat ional Monument , there is even alarger network of back country roads leadingto old mining camps, s tamp mi l ls and otherl i t t le-known areas of interest. The author hasprov ided a guide to these places for explorerswith back country vehicles. Paperback, i l lustra-t e d , 36 pages , $1 . 00 .GHOST TOWNS OF NEW MEXICO by MichaelJenkinson and Karl Kernberger. This except ion-al ly wel l wr i t ten volume is more than a ghostt own gu ide . It spans the history of New Mexicofrom the past to the present and brings back tolife the conquis tadors , gunmen, miners , mer-chants and pol i t ic ians who won the West. Kern-berger 's photographs are gal lery qual i ty . Hard-cover , qual i ty paper, large format , 153 pages.$7 . 50 . Makes an excellent gif t .

MEXICAN COOK BOOK by the Editors of Sun-set Books. Mexican recipes for American cooks,thoroughly tes ted and suited for products avai l -able in the United States. Includes comprehen-s ive shopping guide, all cooking techniques andrecipes from soups to desserts and drinks. Larges l ick paper format , wel l i l lus t rated, 96 pages,$1 . 95 .

R E L I C S

BOTTLES AND RELICSBY MARVIN AND HELEN DAVIS

This latest bottle book has more than 30pages of full-color illustrations with thebottles shown in natural settings. In ad-dition to the color there are also dozensof black and white photos of more than500 bottles. It also includes sections ofcollection and display of relics such asguns, horns, cooking utensils and othercollectors' items. Slick paperback, 155pages, four-color cover.$4.50

METAL DETECTOR HANDBOOK by Art Lassagne,2nd edition. Includes history, operat ing tech-niques, interpretat ion of signals, and Directoryof Manufacturers . One of the most completehandbooks of its k i nd . Paperback, 65 pages.$3 . 00 .ROUGH RIDING by Dick Cepek and Walt Wheel -ock. Two veteran travelers have compiled an ex-cellent book on how to dr ive and survive in theback count ry . Al though based on dr iv ingthrough Baja Cal i forn ia, the in format ion is ap-pl icable to all areas of the West. Stronglyrecommended for both amateurs and veterans.Paperback, 36 pages , $1 . 00 .REDWOOD COUNTRY by the Editors of SunsetBooks. A comprehens ive t ravel guide and his-tory of the giant Redwood trees of NorthernCal i forn ia, p lus a complete descript ion andgu ide to the newly publ ished Redwood Nat ionalPark. Accurate maps and more than 1 00 photo-graphs. Large format sl ick paperback, 96 pages,$ 1 . 9 5 .

WHEN ORDERING BOOKSPLEASE

Add 50 cents PER ORDER(Not Each Book)

for handling and mailingCALIFORNIA RESIDENTS ALSO

AD D 5 PERCENT SALES TAXSend check or money order to Desert Maga-zine Book Shop, Palm Desert , Cali fornia92260. Sorry , but we cannot accept chargesor C.O.D. orders.

BOOK OF CACTUS by Harry C. Lawson. Wri t t enfo r the amateur, this book tel ls how to p lan t ,care for and ident ify cactus found in the West .The 36 pages contain 409 smal l photographsand descript ions of the plants . Paperback, $2.00.

TREASURE HUNTER'S GUIDE TO THE LAW byClair Martin Christensen. Answers all of thequest ions relat ive to the legal aspect of f i nd -ing treasure trove. Subjects include Ant iquit iesAct, Mining Claims, Gold Regulat ions, Trespassand Salvage, Claim Recordings, Tax Aspect andmany others. Concise and fac tual . Paperback, 46pages , $2 . 75 .WILD FLOWERS OF THE PACIFIC COAST byLeslie L. Haskin. A completely revised and en-larged edi t ion, th is guide gives a broad scien-t i f ic basis for a def in i t ive ident i f icaton of w i l df lowers . Wi th descr ipt ions are more than 100fu l l -color photographs, p lus b lack and w h i t e ,descr ib ing 332 f lowers and shrubs. Hardcover,450 pages , $5 . 95 .WESTERN CAMPSITE DIRECTORY by the Editorsof Sunset Books. Just published, this book l istsmore than 5000 pr ivate and publ ic camp-grounds in the 1 1 western states and BritishColumbia and Western Alber ta, inc luding hun-dreds of new campsites to care for the everincreas ing amount of people, tak ing to the openr oad . Just r ight for p lann ing a vacat ion. Largeformat , s l ick paperback, i l lus t rated, 128 pages,$ 1 . 9 5 .THE WEEKEND GOLD MINER by A. H. Ryan. Anelectronic physicist "bit ten by the go ld bug,"the author has wr i t t en a concise and in format ivebook for amateur prospectors te l l ing where andhow go ld is f ound and how it is separated andtested, all based on his own pract ical ex-perience. Paperback, 40 pages , $1 . 50 .A GUIDE FOR INSULATOR COLLECTORS by JohnC. Tibbitts. Long t ime collector and author ofseveral bott le books, the author has wr i t t en twovolumes on insulators, covering 90 percent ofth e f i e l d . Insulators in Vol. 1 (127 pages) aredi f ferent than those in Vol. 2 (119 pages) .Paperbacks, wel l i l lus t rated. $3.00 each. OR-DER BY VOLUME NUMBER.CAMPING AND CLIMBING IN BAJA by John W.Robinson. Contains excellent maps and photos.A gu idebook to the Sierra San Pedro Mart ir andthe Sierra Juarez of upper Baja Cal i f . Muchof this land is unexplored and unmapped st i l l .Car routes to famous ranches and camping spotsin palm-s tudded canyons wi th t rout s t reamstempt weekend tour is ts who aren ' t up to h ik ing .Paperback, 96 pages , $2 . 95 .A GUIDEBOOK TO THE SOUTHERN SIERRANEVADA by Russ Leadabrand. I l lus t rated wi thgood photographs and maps, this volume coversthe Sierra region south of the Sequoia Nat ionalPark, including most of the Sequoia Nat ionalForest. Paperback, $1.95.EARTHQUAKE COUNTRY by Robert lacopi. Pub-l ished by Sunset Books, this well i l lustratedbook separates fact f rom f ict ion and showswhere faul ts are located, what to do in theevent of ar\ earthquake, past h is tory and w h a tto expect in the future. H ighly recommended foral l Cal i forn ians. Large format , s l ick paperback,160 pages, $2.95.

FOR COMPLETE BOOK CATALOG WRITE TO DESERT MAGAZINE, PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA 9 22 60


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W I L L I A M K N Y V E T T , P U B LI S H ERJ A C K P E P P E R , EDITORJACK D ELANEY, Staff WriterBILL BRYAN, Back Country Editor MAGAZINE

Volume 32, Number 9 SE PTEMBE R , 1969

THE COVER:Utah's C apitol Reef Na-tional Monument is nowthree times its former geo-graphical size. Typical ofthe hundreds of miles ofspectacular scenery in theMonument is this watercanyon photograph byDavid Muench, Santa Bar-bara, California.

RE LICS OF THE R IDGE ROUTENOODLING IN VIRGIN VALLEY

BACK TRAIL TO LA PL ATAD ESER T T O WHEE T AC T IC S

C ANYON OF THE BIG SLEE PFISHING FOR DESE RT BROWNS

PAN HAPPYEARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOES

SAN JUAN BAUTISTAEXPLORING SOUTHEASTERN OREGON

by R obert C . Likesby D orothy Robertsonby George A. Thompsoby K. L. Boyntonby Ernie C owanby Hartt Wixomby Ken Marquissby T. H. Hagemannby Isabel Dunwoodyby Marjorie O'Harra

BOOK REVIEWSA PEE K IN THE PUBLISHER 'S POKE

BACK COUNTRY TRAVELDESERT SHOPPER

CALENDAR OF WESTERN EVENTSWOMAN'S VIEWPOINT

LET T ER S

ELTA SHIVELY, Executive Secretary

by Jack Pepperby William Knyvettby Bill BryanNew ProductsClub Ac tivitiesFeminine TactsReaders' Comments

MARVEL BARRETT, Business

EDITOR IAL AND C IR C UL ATION OFFICE S: 74-109 Larrea, Palm Desert, C alifornia 92260, AC 714 346-8144. NATION AL ADVER-TIS IN G OFFIC E S : 8380 Melrose Street, Los Angeles 90069, AC 213 653-5847. Listed in S tandard R ate and Data. S ubscription rates:United States, Canada & Mexico, 1 year, $5.00; 2 years, $9.50, 3 years, $13.00. Other foreign subscribers add $1.00 currency for each year.See Subscription Order Form in this issue. Allow five weeks for change of address and send both new and old addresses with zip codesDesert M agazine is published m onthly. Second class postage paid at Palm Desert, C alifornia and at add itional mailing offices under Act ofMarch 3, 1879. C ontents copyrighted 1969 by Desert Magazine and permission to reproduce any or all contents must be secured in writin g.Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs WIL L N O T BE RE TUR NE D unless accompanied by a self-addressed and stamped envelope.


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N e w f a c t u a le v i d e n c eo n t h el e g e n d so f t h e W e s t

By Brad Williams andChoral Pepper

This book examines many little-known stories and legends thathave emerged from the westernregion of North America.Included are such phenomena asthe discovery of a Spanish galleonin the middle of the desert; thestrange curse that rules over SanMiguel Island; the discovery of oldRoman artifacts buried near Tuc-son, Arizona; the unexplained be-heading of at least 13 victims inthe Nahanni Valley; and manyother equally bewildering happen-ings. E laborate confidence schemesand fantastically imagined hoaxesare documented, along with newfactual evidence that seems to cor-roborate what were formerly as-sumed to be tall tales.

Hardcover, illustrated, 192 pages.$5.95Send check or money order toDesert Magazine Book Shop,Palm Desert, Calif. 92260Add 50 cents for postage andhand ling. C alifornia residentsadditional 30 cents tax.

B o o kR e v i e w sby Jack Pepper

B E A C H C O M B E R S ' G U I D E T O T H EP AC I FI C C O A S TBy the Editors of Sunset Books

The sea and the edge of the sea in thisscientific age still hold enough mysteryto draw curious men. They also holdenough known attractionsfish, shell-fish, driftwood, semi-precious stones,surfing waves and other attractions to in-terest all types of people who are not somuch curious as they are in need of a dayof outdoor exercise and relaxation.Today thousands of people are heedingthe call of "I must go down to the seasagain" and finding a reward in their ven-tures. This book provides informationabout the publicly accessible beaches be-tween San Diego and C ape Flattery,Washington to help vacationers and week-enders decide where they want to goproviding they can find space on thebeach, and parking areas.Subjects in the interesting and informa-tive book range from How to See a SeaOtter to How to Surf to How to Fish,with many other how-to-hobbies included.It is beautifully illustrated and includesdetailed maps of how to get to the beach-

e s . And once you are there it shows howto identify sea shells. L arge format, four-color cover, heavy paperback, 112 pages,$1.95.

U N D E R C O V E R F O R W E L L S F A R G OEdited b y Carolyn Lake

The memoirs of old-timers can betiresome and boring in this day of thejet-set, or they can move as fast as a JohnWayne western. I will be greatly sur-prised if this book is not used as thebasis for a western movie or televisionseries.Fred Dodge was an undercover agentfor Wells Fargo during the days when

the West was lawless and when men'slives depended upon how fast they werewith a gun.Dodge wrote as he lived, with vigorand honesty, relating his experiences andadventures as though they were commonplace everyday happenings. Born in

1 8 5 4 , Dodge was raised among Indiansand miners and throughout his life hewas associated with men such as WildBill Hickock and W yatt E arp, but, be-cause of being a "secret agent" he re-mained in the background and kept hisanonymity.

C arolyn L ake has done an excellentjob of editing the voluminous materialand letters about Dodge which she foundin a trunk after the death of her father,Stuart Lake, who made Wyatt Earp fam-ous in his book Wyatt Earp, FrontierMarshal. He died before starting his bookon Dodge. His daughter has fulfilled herfather's plans in producing a fascinatingand factual history of the wild Westwhich you will find hard to put downonce you have started reading. Hard-cover, 280 pages, illustrated, $6.95.

NO TICEUnless otherwise stated inthe review, all books re-viewed in DESERT Maga-zine are available throughthe Desert Magazine BookShop. Please add 50 centsper order (not per book)for handling and postage.California residents mustalso add 5 percent salestax for the total amount of

books.


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A P e e ki n t h eP u b l i s h e r ' sP o k e

Y ' o u M A Y have noticed some subtlechanges in the format of yourDESERT Magazine and we hope allof our readers are happy with the endresults. The pictures are being givena more dramatic presentation and anendeavor is being made to keep thephotos large and clear for easy identi-fication. Some of the articles are setin a different type face to break upthe monotony of all the pages look-ing the same. W e hop e you like thesechanges and that we are making

S E R T easier for you to read. W ith the coming of fall we plan to run a monthlyr to the desert. W e have been receiving many letters from readersy they like the new DE S E R T although we appreciate those lettersactuallyove 'em . . . we do not publish them in the L etters to the E ditor page. W hat weprint is new information and criticisms. W e wan t you to tell us what you thinkYOUR magazine.

For it is YOUR magazine. Other than the articles written by the editor andmyself, all the material is sent in by "freelance" writers and photo-

, accompanied by black and white photograp hs if at all possible. W e are alsowhich must be larger than 35mm.of scenic areas of the western desert. Please, no close-ups of flowers. If you

We were greatly cheered with the recent re-opening of the home of the lateCabot Yerxa, a desert pioneer whose man-made pueblo has been mentioned previouslyin this column. Just when it appeared that vandals would destroy this most unusualstructure a group of conservation-minded people got together and purchased the oldueblo from his estate. With extensive restoration having been done it was openedJuly 4th and is now being operated as a museum exhibiting many of the articles thaterxa had garnered during a lifetime. The pueblo-museum is located in the thrivingdesert city of Desert Ho t S prings in the C oachella Valley of C alifornia.

The cover shot this month features the dramatic scenery to be seen in theC apitol R eef Nation al Mon ume nt, which we learned just recently has had its boun-daries extended by the Department of the Interior. The new boundaries start northof and include C athedral Valley and extend south almost to the Purple H ills. Thiswill assure us that another area of this beautiful southwest will be preserved for allto enjoy for generations to come.

B R A N D N E W !" M E T A L E R T " *t e l l s y o uw h e r e t h ea c t i o n i s !

Award-winning "Metalert" Model70 leads you straight to the actionfabulous relics, valuable minerals,scarce silver and gold! Use it any-where, even in streams and at thebeach!Unsurpassed pow er and sensitivity.R ugged, lightweight and beautifullybalanced for hours of tireless treasurehunting. Revolutionary solid-statecircuits powered by easily replacedstandard battery.Built to the same exacting stand-ards as Fisher precision instrumentsfor industry and science. Look for"Metalert" the finest detector youcan buy!"TrademarkWRITE FORFREE LITERATURE

II

F I S H E R R E S E A R C H L A B O R A T O R YDept. DE Palo Alto, Calif. 94303I want to be a winner! Rush me infor-mation about "Metalert" treasureand metal detectors, success stories,Discovery brochure.

NameAddress

Zip - A


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OFTHERIDGEROUTEby Robert C. Likes.

IN T H E E A R L Y 1900s, a paved road wasneeded to span the mountains thatblocked the flow of traffic northwardfrom Los Angeles to the San JoaquinValley. After several routes were consid-ered, one was finally selected and con-struction began in 1914.This pioneer highway became knownas the Ridge R oute, a narrow ribbon ofconcrete that followed the very top ofthe ridges from Newhall to Bakersfield.By 1916, the R idge R oute was hailed asthe greatest influence in promoting unitybetween the northern and southern sec-tions of the state. It was the main arterythrough which flowed C alifornia's ever-growing motoring population. Several

Inns were built to accommodate the wearymotorist who had to muscle their horse-less carriages for long hours of seeming-ly endless miles of twisting and turning.The R idge R oute was relocated in1933, and the historic Old R idge Routewas abandoned. Once familiar landmarkslike the Halfway Inn and Tumble Inn be-came nothing more than ruins and weresoon forgotten. Sandberg's popular resort,where the great and near-great stoppedto dine, was slowly dying. In 1963, this

R E L I C S


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v fRain and erosion followinga forest fire revealed old bottledumps resulting in thisbonanza found by the author.Bottles had been hidden formore than 30 years.

f l

famous old landmark, now deserted anddecaying, burned to the ground, bringingto a close the last link to the roaringtwenties on the Old R idge R oute.It was these ruins that first attractedme to the Old R idge Route. R ecords

showing the volume of traffic thesehavens of rest handled were proof theremust be large dumps of discarded oldbottles existing near each ruin. But,could they be found? The washes and ra-vines had grown over with brush so im-

mense that it defied man to enter, yetpermitted rains to cover the relics of theridge under a blanket of sandy soil. Thismade it almost impossible to determinewhere the main dumps were located. Theend result of hours of searching and dig-ging was a token display of the treasuresof old glass that lay hidden just out ofreach.Sometimes nature has a way of reveal-ing the very things she has carefullyguarded for years. A forest fire, movedby high winds, consumed the densegrowth of shoulder high manzanita,leaving in its wake nothing but smolder-ing stubs on the parched ground. Monthslater, seasonal rains began washing awaythe acres of ashes. Trickles of waterflowed unrestrained down the ridgesover the now unprotected soil, while tothe northwest, thunderheads moved inand soon the naked earth felt the full

force of the winter storm. Each depres-sion became a churning body of water,eroding top soil that took years to build.These were the conditions that broughtabout the discovery of one of the large

Continued on Page 36

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IF YOU would like an exciting and re-.warding adventure then go noodlingthe Australian term for combing opaldumps. There are numerous opal sitesthroughout various parts of the westernstates and if you know where to go youcan hunt opal free. But it is much easierto pay a fee to a bonafide opal mineowner for the privilege of hunting thegem stones on his propertyand be 99percent sure of bringing home "braggingstones."

W e chose Keith H odson's R ainbowR idge Opal Mine in northeastern N e-vada's Virgin Valleyjust this side ofthe Oregon line. Keith has two choicesfor opal hunters; he charges a $5 fee fornoodling his dumpswith a take-hometotal of opal worth $200, or a $150 five-

month season "miner's license" in whichyou can take your time to dig for opalin virgin ground. For this $150 fee youcan take home a total of $600 worth ofgem opal. If you exceed this total, youmay purchase the excess at a fraction ofthe cost.When noodling, your finds are gener-ally small chips. But, even a tiny grain isstill a gem opal! Immersed in glycerinein small glass spheres, capped and jump-ringed to ear-clips for earrings, or hungon a gold chain as a pendant, these smallchips are gorgeous!Using Winnemucca as a starting pointto reach Virgin Valley take U.S. 95 northout of Winnemucca. Thirty miles north

is the junction with State 8A. Turn weston 8A to Denio. The road goes through

NOODLING INhistoric pioneer country the QuinnR iver-King's R iver region where manyclashes took place between the Paiute In-dians and the early settlers.

In this country you will see fantasticmirages and funnels of dust devils. It isalso a very lonely area. Houses are manymiles apart and most are abandoned.Seventy miles from the turnoff you reachDenio where State 8A turns due westagain. This is the through road to C e-darville, Calif., some 100 miles west-ward, and just over the C alifornia-Ne-vada line.At Denio fill up with gas and checkyour oil and water. If you need moregroceries, this is the place to procurethem as it is the end of the line, as faras stores or gas stations are concerned.There is a 30-mile drive from theDenio road junction to Virgin Valleyand the Thousand C reek region. This


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Virgin Valley's opal beds (left)are part of a large prehistoric lakesaid to be 13 million years old.Digging for opal takespatience but the finds areworth the effort. Specim ens ofopal (below) in tray arefrom Virgin Valley. Largerones in right tray areAustralian opal.(Opposite Page) deer andantelope feed in the meadowsearly in the mornings.

by Dorothy Robertson

valley is well watered with springs andcreeks in many areas. Here, also, is theCharles Sheldon National Antelope Re-fuge where the Department of the In-terior Fish and Wildlife Service head-quarters is called Duferrena Sub Head-quarters. On the Duferrena Ponds thereare many ducks and other waterfowland early in the morning you can seedeer or antelope browsing among thegrasses fringing the ponds.

This is where you will see the largesigns of the R ainbow R idge Opal Minepointing south. The road takes you to anold C C C C amp where you will find hotand cold running water, a stone showerroom building, rest rooms, picnic tablesand benches and stone fireplaces.From the camp it is just a five-miledrive on the left-hand road junction tothe opal fields. Keith Hodson maintains

a small sales-room office at the entrance


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Some o f the fine pieces of opal found by the author and her husband w ho calledtheir collection an "out-of-this-world jackpot." Pho to by Chuck Vollmer.to the dumps and mine area, where youwill sign in and pay your chosen fee. Healso has hundreds of specimen bottles forsale. The opal fields are open from 7:30A.M. to sundown, every day in the weekexcept Wednesday. The season ends Sep-tember 30.

Actually, I had m ade two trips to R ain-bow R idgethe first trip one week priorto the one I took with my husband. Onmy initial trip I paid my noodling feeand brought home a quart jar almostfilled with gorgeous scintillating opalchips and a few larger chunks valued atabout $200. When my husband, Allan,saw my loot he decided he wanted to tryhis luck. He took a week's leave andheaded for Virgin Valley, where he de-cided to gamble on the $150 digging fee.On my previous visit to the dumps, Ihad watched one man digging excitedlyas he uncovered a "hot spot" in the claybank. He had a pail full of opal chunksvalued at over $2300! He had foundblack opal, honey-colored and clear"jelly" opalall a blind kaleidoscope offlashing rainbow colors. And he hadbeen digging for less than a week!Naturally, we wanted to try and locate

the "hot spot" but the clay bank lookedso different after a week's interim that I10

could not locate the place. Keith showedus where he thought the area was, andat dawn the next morning, Allan was atthe wall. Keith provides pails of waterin which to wash and soak the opal,miner's pick, shovel, and a sharpenedscrewdriver which is ideal for workingout opal pieces.Virgin Valley's opal beds are a part ofa large, prehistoric and long-dry lake,with an age of some 15 million years.This is fairly recent as far as opal is con-cerned, for Australian opal beds are 75million years old. Opal was formed eonsago by the conifers, mostly sequoia red-woods, as driftwood dropping into thelake and becoming immersed. The beachmaterial is a clay of the bentonite familycalled montmarillinite. This bentonite is

an altered volcanic ash. Every bit of Vir-gin Valley opal is a cast after wood. It isnot a petrification and that is why younever find growth rings in Virgin Valleyopal specimens. But you do find an opal-ized outer shell or "bark" appearancearound limb-sections of opal.As the wood rotted away, it was re-placed with the silica which came fromthe clays. Opal was first found in VirginValley down among the sagebrush rootsalong the old shorelines. But as opalhunters began working the areaSj the low-

er reaches of the ancient lake shore werecleaned out. In time all this earth-movingcreated mounds, and the opal levels be-gan to extend upwards until they reachedthe present level. R egularly Ke ith bull-dozes the acreage, equalizing the earth,making it easier for prospective huntersto find opal.Keith's mine proper is off-limits, for

he and his family work it themselves.Sometimes he will make an exceptionand take viewers down into the mine.The tailings from his own mine aredumped outside by ore-cars and peoplemay noodle the mine dump also.On the morning of our dig, Allanworked for four hours without finding asingle chip of opal. Then I heard a shout.I arrived at his diggings in time to seehim gently disengage the most beautifulspecimen I have ever seen. It wasn't

largeonly 2l/2" in length, % " in widthand almost % " thick. But the color! Itwas black opala gorgeous deep-burningflashing flame of royal purple, ruby, deepemerald and gold. Keith said it was abeautiful, rare specimen with a potentialvalue of $1000 if it was cut up into in-dividual jewelry stones, and worked andpolished. If left as a specimen, it wouldbe worth far less.Within two days, we dug and re-covered our $600 quota of gem opal. Imust say Keith is extremely generous inhis grading of the precious stones. Asfar as I know, I have never heard of anyopal-hunter at R ainbow R idge leavingdissatisfied.We had different types of opal, allfantastically beautiful. Some were alight, honey-opal suffused with flashingpinfire in a myriad of colors; others wereblack opal, and clear jelly opal allscintillating with fire.And to augment the bigger pieces ofopal Allan dug out, I spent my time onmy knees combing through the clods topick up each tiny chip. I have dozens ofsmall bottles filled with opal chips thatdazzle the eyes.Was it worth it ? I 'll say it was! I havemade numerous gift items by makingfloating-gems jewelryglass bulbs filledwith glycerine and opals.S o, for a different type of trip try yourluck at the opal fields. You'll never bethe same againonce you find your firstflashing opal!


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BACK TRAILtoAPLATAN AUGUST 1889, a sheepherder waswalking behind his band of sheep inthe high mountain country near the head-waters of the S outh Fork of the L ittleBear R iver. This small willow-borderedstream, lined with beaver dams, drainsthe mountain area northeast of Ogden,Utah and flows into C ache Valley, event-ually to find its way into the Great Saltake.

While following the sheep he noticeda rock reflecting the sun's rays with anunusual gleam. When he picked it up hediscovered it was exceptionally heavy forits size. Several days later, when the fore-man brought supplies to his camp, theherder showed him the rock. The fore-man took a piece of it back to Ogdenwith him. The sample was sent to a SaltLake City assayer who reported that itcontained more than 400 ounces ofsilver to the ton!

The foreman hurried back to the sheepcamp. With the herder he went to thediscovery site and located a mining claimwhich they named the Sundown. The re-quired location papers were filed at the

county courthouse in L ogan. Althou ghthe newly discovered area of expectedriches was located nearer to Ogden thanto Logan the discovery site was in CacheC ounty, of which L ogan was the countyseat. C ache C ounty had been named forthe fur caches hidden in its valleys byearly day trappers but its name wouldsoon be better known for the cache ofmineral wealth discovered by the sheep-herder.When news of the sheepherder's dis-covery leaked out prospectors rushed intothe area and located other claims. Some

of these later became famous for thewealth they produced, including the Lu-cretta, Mountain Boy, Yellow Jacket andRed Jacket.Due to lateness of the season and theapproach of winter to the high moun-tains little work was done on the claimsthat year but as snow began melting onthe high ridges activity began to boom.Prospectors who had been waiting im-patiently in the lower valleys moved intothe area and by the time the Sego Lilies

were blooming 1500 miners, prospectors,

by George A. Thompson

promoters, merchants, and camp followerswere on the scene and more than 100new claims had been located. That sum-mer a line of log cabins and false frontbuildings, which the miners called LaPlata, Spanish for silver, sprung up alongthe small creek. The clear cold snowwater of the stream soon became muddiedand the beaver dams were broken downby prospectors in search of silver treasure.Cabins and business houses spread outwhere only a few months earlier a coyotehad silently followed the herder's sheep.

The community soon boasted twostores, a barber shop, and a combinationsaloon and gambling hall. The ThatcherBrothers opened a bank, and a newspaperwith the impressive title of The SpecialCourier appeared on the streets. Appar-11


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ently the miners had little time for read-ing or else they spent their idle time inmore entertaining pursuits for the newpaper published its last issue when win-ter's first snow blanketed the ridges. Apost office was also opened and amongthe first riders to carry the mail fromOgden Valley was David O. McKay, now95 years old and president of the LatterDay Saints (Mormon) Church.

Rich silver was found right at the sur-face in many of the claims with valuesas high as $1700 per ton being reported.Some of the ore contained as much as46% lead and 28% zinc in addition tohigh silver values and reports of otherrich finds w ere being heard daily. C on-fidence and prosperity were evidenteverywhere in La Plata while speculationin its mining stocks kept the Salt LakeMining Exchange busy. And, like mostboom camps, promoters fleeced the un-wary with their fancy gilt-edged stockcertificates, often issued on propertiesthey had never seen and which at bestwere of doubtful worth. At least one saleappeared to be legitimate; the sheepherd-er and his foreman partner sold their

Sundown claim to Thatcher BrothersBank for a reported $10,000.Ore from La Plata's mines was hauledby teams up the bottom of the steepgulch where the town was located andacross the ridge top to the headwaters ofBeaver Creek which they followed dow na rough and winding road to the SouthFork of the Ogden R iver. From there

the teams followed the river to Hunts-ville, past the present site of PineviewDam, and down a narrow, twisting can-yon to Ogden. There the ore was loadedaboard the Utah Northern R ailroad andshipped to the smelters west of Salt LakeCity. The stage road followed the sameroute from Ogden to Huntsville butthere it turned up W olf C reek, climb-ing a steep and rocky canyon to LaPlata. The stage route was too steep forthe heavy ore wagons to follow.After weathering the blizzards of win-ter, La Plata appeared to be prosperingbut there were warning signs that allwas not well. Several of the smallermines closed when they ran out of orewhile ore values at the larger mines de-creased rapidly as their shafts were sunk

T o M o n t e C r i s to

Evening shadowsover the

abandoned miningtown of

La Plata with theback road winding

down to theempty cabins.

OGDEN

deeper. Many of the shafts had beensunk near the bottom of the canyon andsoon water seeped into the workings.As ore values decreased and depthand pumping expenses increased moreand more of the mines ceased to oper-

a t e . The new owners of the Sundownsank an expensive shaft but no greatbonanza was uncovered and when win-ter came again it closed also.Still new claims were located and new

mines employed miners from the closedproperties. Housewives went about theirchores, coins still clinked across storecounters and card tables, and the logboarding houses still housed crews ofbachelor miners. But it was apparentthe boom was over and the decline hadbegun. The saloons closed earlier andthe tinkle of the honky-tonk piano didn'tsound quite so loud. With fewer minersworking there was less money in circula-tion and stores began to close their doors.Only a few hopefuls stayed to weatherthe silver panic of 1893. When the lastmines closed the miners left the silentworkings and boarded up their cabins.Over the years the deserted buildingsfell victim to the deep snows of the highmountain winters and the driving windssweeping down from the peaks of theMonte C risto R ange. Soon little re-mained of the small camp at the head ofthe L ittle Bear R iver. Beavers returnedto build their dams and deer came backto drink water from the creek which was

sparkling clear again. And sheepherders


13/44

followed their herds along the canyonbottom which once knew the shout ofvoices and the roar of mine machinery.By the standards which western min-ing camps were measured La Plata wasnever a boom camp of great notorietybu t it produced $3,000,000 during itsshort-lived heyday. Today the old wag-on road up Beaver Creek is a pavedhighway passing several miles from theold camp but separated a world away bybarbwire fences and locked gates. Thereis almost nothing left of the stage roadup Wolf Creek and the way is long, butif the hiker takes along a fly-rod andstops to fish awhile he might be re-warded with a catch of native trout.

Several miles below the old camp onthe Little Bear River a water storageproject called the Porcupine Dam hasbeen built. Fishing is good there andthere are uncrowded camp sites. An oldroad which winds up the canyon beyondthe lake deteriorates quickly into a foottrail. This back trail to La Plata is prob-ably the most interesting and scenicway to get to the old town. Althoughthe climb is steep the magnificentmountain scenery more than compen-sates the hiker for his effort.

I t was on one of those perfect au-tumn days, when golden Aspen leaveswere falling, that I followed the backtrail to La Plata. A gray coated deerstanding by the decaying two story logboarding house where bachelor minersContinued onPage 39

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A S BIRDS go, Abe rt's towhee isn'tvery glamorous. A dingy over-all grey bird except for a dark face,it is about robin size and has a longtail. Songwise, its sharp "Peek!"forcefully delivered doesn't callforth raptures from listeners. Butthis drab looking bird, at home inthe seared and blistered wastelandsof California, Arizona and NewMexico has achieved a bit of fameamong desert scientists.True enough, the Abert towheesare found in cottonwood thickets,mesquite and chapparal near irr iga-tion ditches and streams and not inbarren open stretches far fromwater. Still, so well adapted are thesebirds to high temperature living theythrive even in the low hot Coloradodesert.Every animal has a normal rangeof body temperature within whichhe operates. A drop too far belowthis, or a rise too far above, is fata l .

To stay in business, therefore, the14

animal must somehow maintain thisbalance between the heat of its ownbody and that of its surroundings.It must not produce or take on moreheat from its environment than itcan lose.Obviously, such balance keepingis hard in the desert. Many rodentsand some birds such as certain owlsavoid extra heat loads by going un-derground during the day, but notthe Abert towhee. A tree and bushpercher, he must face additional

problems caused by poor shelter.Just being a bird in the desertis tough in the first place, for birdsare great litt le heat-making machinesthemselves. Their small bodies workat a fast rate, burning up oxygen, asa very high expenditure of energy isnecessary for flying. All this activityproduces heat and results in higherbody temperature. Feathers are hot,

too, designed to hold in body heatby trapping warm air layers, so birdsare overdressed for hot air tempera-

tures. To make matters worse, theyhave no sweat glands.The Abert towhees haven't heardall this bad news about themselves,and hence they do not know theyshouldn't be living in the desert.They go ahead raising bouncingfamilies of from three to four bright-eyed chicks in deep cup-like nests

in what trees or bushes there arearound. And when the youngsters areat last feathered and smart enoughto know the clan's food f inding tr ickof kicking the ground debris aroundto find seeds, they take up desertresidence, too. The Abert towheetribe increases.Desert Biologist Dawson, observ-ing all this asked himself: what doesthis bird have going for him? Howcome he flourishes when cousinbrown towhee so much like him isnot to be found in desert conditions,sticking instead to the more moder-ate coastal regions? Does this oneknow better how to exploit arid con-ditions, or is there something underthose grey feathers that doesn'tmeet the eye some temperatureregulating device?So naturally enough Dawson setabout finding the answer, and hecame out with some facts surprisingin themselves, and st imulat ing tosome long, long thoughts on life ingeneral.Being a bird has its drawbacks,to be sure, but there are some ad-vantages too. Birds can fly to sourcesof water, and change residence overa distance to a more favorable spot,both of which are real survivalpluses. Oddly enough, the high bodytemperature that is normal in birdscan be an advantage up to a point,

too. Desert birds run from 102.2 to107.6 on the average (a dog's nor-mal is 101.4F) thus birds can stay" c o o l " longer because they continueto lose heat to the environment un-til the day's air temperature equalsand passes that of their own. Thenin turn they must begin to take onheat from the environment.And here, paradoxically, the fea-ther overcoat helps to a point, act-ing as insulation and delaying the

heat transfer for awhile. And birds,

Tow heeTactics


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by clamping down their feathers,squeeze out the warm layers of air,and cool themselves further. Onemore ace under the wing, so tospeak, are the more sparsely fea-thered areas, generally located onthe chest sides, so that by holdingits wings out, the bird can unloadheat at these barer spots.Also, while lacking sweat glands,birds can cool themselves by pant-ing. Stepping up their breathingrate increases the movement of airover the moist surfaces of theirlungs and bronchial tubes and cool-ing takes place by evaporation. Inthis too, a set-up peculiar to birdsmight play a very important part.They have a series of air sacs thatconnect with and supplement thework of their lungs. These large thinwalled bags lie outside the lungs in

the body cavity, and they may wellhelp ventilate and cool the interiorpart of the body dur ing panting.But panting involves water lossthrough evaporation, and a bird diesif it becomes dehydrated, as doesany animal. Thus, while it helps forawhile, panting is a source of dan-ger and its accompanying water lossmust be compensated by additionalintake.Now all these being-a-bird pluses

and minuses apply equally to theAbert and the brown towhees, so,thought Dawson, it must be that theAbert's body temperature can gohigher without being fata l . But tohis surprise, he found that the lethalpoint was exactly the same for bothbirds: 116.4F; ( in man it is 110F.)Does heat tolerance up to thelethal point make the difference inAbert's desert success? Well, th ebrown towhee has to drink much

more water under the same air tem-perature conditions. And above acertain point loses water faster, soshowing greater sensitivity to heat.How about body heat productionthrough stepped-up metabolism asthe day gets hot? Yes, beginning at93.2F, the brown towhee startsmanufacturing slightly more heatper unit of weight. And actual pant-ing differences? Neither bird losesmore by panting than half the heat

it produces, so Dawson concluded

it didn't do either of them enoughgood to be a sure way to lose heatin high air temperatures. Both birds,therefore, accumulate heat as theday gets hotter.Does the Abert have a specialsystem of slowing down the speedof its body processes such as sink-ing into a torpor dur ing the long hothours? Nothing doing; he's wideawake. Everything pointed to thefact that the Abert does not haveanything fancier than his cousin tobuck high temperature l iving.This naturally left the status atthe old quo: the brown towhee inthe coastal regions, the Abert re-joicing in the desert, and the scien-tist stil l without an answer.But Dawson took another hardlook at his figures and findingsand he saw that the Abert had sev-eral small edges over the brown,any of which might be discountedas not significant in itself, but whenthey were added together could totalup a score that might mean survivaland success. For instance, the Abertshowed it could tolerate heat slight-ly better than the brown. It lost alitt le less water at high tempera-tures, its body temperature was a lit-tle lower under heat stress, and itwas unable to go without water en-

tirely for 24 hours at an air tempera-ture of 102.2F with no ill effects. Infact, in hot temperatures with wateravailable, the Abert drank consider-ably less water than the b rown, show-ing that it needed less for cooling.For a bird that has to face hightemperature l iving these "edges"didn't look like much to work with ,but with the right behavior, theymight indeed count.So Dawson did a lot of Abert tow-

hee watching and found that be-havior-wise this bird "knows" whathe's about. He times his schedule,being act ive in the ear ly morningon the ground seed foraging, flyingshort distances, or socializing. Inthe hot hours of the day he takeshimself out of circulation, retir ing tothe deepest shade he can find asclose to water as he can get. Hedrinks occasionally, splashes wateron himself now and then wetting hisfeathers, which acts as evaporative

cooling. While he can't keep his tem-perature steady, he can slow downits r ise until the big desert cools offtowards the end of the day. Thenhe's out seed eating again. Thus hecan stand the heat of desert livingthat keeps the brown towhee out.The Abert towhee is in his way ascient i f ic headliner because heshows what a BIG difference litt le

differences can make, and how it isthat a b ird , small of body, fast ofmetabolism, can stay above groundin the desert day.His is a successful life because heis in balance, albeit it a very delicateone, with his surroundings. All ofwhich gives rise to philosophic con-templation of the ways of birds andmen: everyone has litt le "edges" tohis advantage; if birds can make themost of the irs, why can 't men?

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A r i z o n a ' s C a n y o no f t h eB ig S l e e py Ernie CowanWE CALL it La C anada de S uenoGrande, but the official name ismuch less descriptive. To us R amsey C an-yon in the Huachuca Mountains of south-east Arizona is better called the C anyonof The Big Sleep.

R amsey C anyon could have been thespot where R ip Van Wink le curled up to

One of the many weirdgeological formations inRamsey Canyon (left)is The Box, entrance to agreen valley w ith treesand high grass.The narrow apertureis 150 feet long. A visitor(right) examines some ofthe m any bottles ondisplay and sold by NelBrown , long-timeCanyon resident.


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slumber those 20 years. The lush greenhills which surround the canyon are teem-ing with wildlife and natural history. Itis a paradise spot to be explored and en-joyed.Grass-covered meadows invite one topause awhile and catch a few winks, andthe musical brook running through thecanyon is a marvelous lullaby. We aren'tthe only ones to think so highly of R am-sey C anyon. In 1965 the federal govern-ment declared the area a natural historicallandmark because of the significant plant,animal and geologic formations foundthere. Within the few square miles of thecanyon there are several rarities includingbirds, snakes, and rocks which are foundnowhere else in the world.The mountains surrounding RamseyC anyon overlook the community of S ierraVista on the fringes of Army Fort Hua-

chuca. This was Apache country and thestories of the R edman and his activitiesin this area are plentiful. Fort Huachucawas a major Army stockade during fron-tier days and it wasn't many miles fromthere that Cochise made his last standagainst the calvary as they won the west.To get to Ramsey Canyon take State90 east from Sierra Vista, between Tucsonand Douglas, turn south on State 92 and

look for Ramsey Canyon Road on yourright in about six miles. There are severalfeatures to enjoy just motoring into thecanyon, but there are also places to stayfor the family that has time and wants toexplore.Adrian and Alta Hon have two moderncottages on the banks of Ramsey Creekwhich they rent to Canyon visitors. Hon'sHummer Haven is a prime spot for hum-

mingbird watching and fanciers havecome from all over the nation in the pastto view the pocket-sized birds. Varietiesrare to the United States are commonhere. Many tropical varieties of hummersreach the northern limits of their rangein R amsey C anyon which is only about10 miles north of the Mexican border.The Hons are experts on the manyvarieties of winged visitors and can quick-ly point out the rare ones found only inthe area. Spring and early summer are

the best times for bird watching, butthere are always feathered visitors to en-joy no matter what the season.At the end of the public road into thecanyon lives Nel Brown. Nel is as mucha part of the canyon as the trees. She haslived there many years and knows thecanyon intimately. Nel has perhaps one ofthe finest collections of old bottles thatI have ever seen. Many of them are for

sale to anyone who happens along. Ram-sey C anyon was an early gold m iningarea and Nel has combed the many goldcamp dumps and collected the fragiletreasures, many valued at well over $100.For the naturalist, Ramsey Canyon isa Disneyland of nature. Within the can-yon can be found the wild pig of thesouthwest Javelina, the racoon-likeC oati Mu ndi, white tail deer, mountain

lions and occasionally the jaguar orocelot.Geologic formations of the area areastounding. The creek has cut throughhundreds of feet of rock in one areacreating a formation known as "TheBox." The Box is about 150 yards longand in places not more than an arm'sspan wide. The rock cliffs tower over-head several hundred feet. Once throughThe Box the canyon opens into a widegreen valley with pine, oak, and fir trees

and a mat of high grass. Permission topass beyond Nel's home into The Boxmust be obtained since you must crossprivate property. But if you are not ahunter and just want to enjoy the scenery,your chances are pretty good.The area can be reached from MillerMountain to the east along public trails,but this is a little longer and less scenicroute. A check with the U.S. Forest Ser-vice to obtain a map of the area wouldbe helpful in planning a hiking trip intothe canyon from Miller Mountain. TheU.S . Geological Survey Topographicalmaps of the area are also an invaluableaid in locating trails and old mines. TheSunnywide 15-minute quadrangle coversthe canyon area.Beyond The Box an old mining roaddrops to the canyon floor from the sur-rounding hills and curves along the can-yon bottom and leads one to several oldmines in the area. It's paradise for therock hunter or photographer.Man has left his mark in Ramsey C an-yon, but nature is slowly reclaiming herdomain in the area south of The Box. Noone lives beyond this point today, butthe valley was once teeming with activityaround the turn of the century and theprevious 25 years.If you have a week, or maybe only aday to spend in R amsey C anyon, try tosave a few minutes for a nap under abig shade tree. Only then can you reallyappreciate La Canada de Sueno Grande.

17


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fishing fordesert..M Y T H R E E youngsters watched fromthe sagebrush as I cast a smallsilver spinner into the back eddy. As Iretrieved it through the slack water tothe current's edge my leader stopped. Itugged cautiously in case of an unseensnag, and instantly my line began power-ing downstream.

Whatever it was, I knew it was big.Since this stream carried nothing buttrout and chubs, I felt a little more an-ticipation than usual. Finally the fishmoved into rapids. There I had my firstlook at a brown trout at least 21 incheslong.

Another 50 feet downstream he lashedinto a root-laden bank. I wasn't certainhow long the light leader would holdhim. Yet without some pressure on himhe would hopelessly entangle himself.I 'd brought the kids along so theirmother, back at the camper, could enjoya short nap. One had been entrustedwith the net. In several minutes the fishbegan to tire, and Wade, age 5, cameup with the net. Then I put the meshunder four pounds of brown trout.

Back at the camper, Wade showedthe fish to his mother. We were onlygone 20 minutes, but the kiddies hadalso each landed one fish. What's morewe were parked on concrete; it was themiddle of the day, and there was nosigns of any anglers having fished here.18


19/44

Yo d


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with the remote, trackless names; Sul-fur Creek, Grand Wash andDirty Devil.They include water but hardly soundlike names associated with trout.What does not show on the map isthe cold water supplied by springs alongthe stream, and the high altitude whichprovides trout food. Rock rollers andstone fly nymphs of large size are found

among the moss and clay banks of thisalmost rockless river. The smooth, murkywater surface hides a major lunkerstaple, thechub.Most of the 6900 to 6500 foot alti-tude of the Fremont is without trees orother scenic picnicking areas. Perhapsthat is why few fishermen bother withthe Fremont. But for those who havecast into these waters there are usuallyjust as many quickly convinced anglers.This isn't to say there are not some slowtimesin the summer months even thisspring-fed river seems to be too hot forfeeding trout. But in spring and fallthe browns go on a feeding rampage.March is the best time for rainbows,

and many spawning fish up to sixpounds are taken each early spring.There are many intriguing forestareas around the Fremont Valley. Oneis the Boulder plateau where alpinelakes filled with brook trout can bevisited by jeep or horseback. Fish Lake,Johnson R eservoir, M ill Meadow andForsythe R eservoirs are others produc-

ing large fish. The upper Fremont R iveris also a good place for large cutthroat.Many veterans of this desert countryprefer the lower Fremont, hot sun,sand, and winds notwithstanding. Thetrout are larger below Bicknell, and iffishing early or late in the day it is anexcellent place for the entire family.With little brush or trees, and a likelylunker lair almost anywhere in the deepwater, it is an easy place to fish. I usu-ally let the smaller ones throw out a

worm and wait. There are fewer streamsin the West where they are just as likelyto hook into a huge trout.Another nice thing about the desertsurroundings. With little farming and

--> v ; iv .

Richfield,.

Salinail

AnVT / . ' V ^ E I s i n o r e % v


21/44

closed land to worry about, the vaca-tioner and angler can go up and downthe stream just about any place hepleases. Naturally there are some live-stock gates, and landowners appreciatethe usual amount of courtesy. Or thevacationing family can camp at the cot-tonwood meadow at C apitol R eef anduse it as a base of operations for hikingto Hickman Natural Bridge, looking atthe wind-carved cliffs, hiking downthe old pioneer road which once followedGrand Wash, or fishing. There are alsoIndian writings and rocks.

The Utah non-resident fishing licenseis $15 a season, or $5 for five days. A2-day license may be purchased for $2.50.Further information may be obtained bywriting to the Utah Fish-Game Depart-ment, 1596 West North Temple, SaltL ake City, Utah. Inquiries to C apitolReef should be sent to the headquartersoffice in Fruita. In addition to a scenic,cliff-surrounded campground, Fruita alsohas a lodge, two gasoline stations and acafe-store. Other supplies, including filmand bait, can be purchased at Torrey, ninemiles upstream from Fruita. Below Fruitaare some spectacular waterfalls and cas-cades, but few trout. The elevation hereis too low, the water too warm.

Fly fishing is best near Bicknell, butbig bucktails and streamers in the handsof a skillful angler are also good bets onthe river near Torrey. It is a good idea totake along extra leader tippets becausethe Fremont's big browns have a way ofcoiling them around sub-surface rootsand rocks, however few the angler maysee. These fish grow heavy and huge-finned, often amazing an angler withtheir strength. Both browns and rainbowsare prone to jump at any time.A fish hatchery near Loa suppliesplenty of rainbows at easy access points.But the browns, sometimes naive due tothe low fishing pressure, are the specieswhich keep fishermen happiest here.Some of the bigger ones are taken afterdark. The Fremont, as is usual with allUtah year-around waters, is also opennight and day. Its fishing season nevercloses.It can yield a lunker almost anytime,and it often does. But you don't have totake my wordtry it and see for yourself.

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1 *

i\ i i


23/44

PANHAPPYby Ken Marquiss

DON'T L E T my establishment lookfool you. It is true I have no un-washed guru mop, beads, daisies or tin-kle bells. I have no polka dot blueprints,cranked out of an egghead sociology fac-tory for instant Utopia, and I don't payweekly tribute to some psychiatrist. Nev er-theless I, too, belong to a kind of lostgeneration and have my own hang-upI'm gold pan happy!

So is my wife. From 40 yards down-stream, by the pitch and power of thesqueal, I can tell exactly what has shownup in her panwhether it is a plinker, aplonk er, or a rare, nerve- shatteringgrowler.

If you haven't already guessed, a plink-er is a very small nugget just big enoughto pick up in the fingers which makesa musical little "plink" when droppedagainst the in-sloping wall of her goldpan. The medium nugget makes a deeperbut very melodious "plonk"; while thebig nugget (after about the third clean-ing pass) can actually be heard "growl-ing" beneath the sand against the baseof the paneven before you see it!Where my wife picked up the plinkerand plonker bit is obvious, but the growl-er tag is legitimate and goes back to For-ty-niner days. Georgetown, on the MotherL ode north of Placerville, in the old days

was originally known as Growlertown be-cause of the early profusion of "growlers"found in the discovery panning.With us, river bank snipingthe smalltime panning of gold dug out of bedrockcrevices, from under boulders, tree roots,etc.,is strictly a vacation fun project.There is something about it that gets toyou.There is a strange magic to findingyour first good nugget. Against the wet,swirling cloud of drab sand it suddenlybeams with a steady yellow evening starglow. Understandably, the Mejicanoscall them "chispas" or "sparks." Yourdiscovery may actually be worth only acouple of bucks, but right then youwouldn't swap it for a " C " note.Oddly enough, from that time on you'llrarely be fooled by shiny mica or glitter-ing pyrite in your pan againyou'vepassed your test; you are an old-timer!C hasing the yellow rainbow is prob-ably worse than golf or fishing, but, un-less you really get hooked, the cost ofequipment and play is a whole lot less.All you need is a gold pan, and around-home items like a pinch bar, a foxholeshovel or big garden trowel, a longshanked thin screw driver (with % inchof the end bent at right angles and point-ed to clean out crevices), an assortment

Al Morton, a professional photograph er and adventurer fromSalt Lake City, Utah, illustrates the proper gold panning posture.He took the photograph in the Mother Lode Country.

2i


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of old stirring and tablespoons, a bucket,whisk broom, old clothesand a littleknow how.

Because of its extreme weight16 to18 times as heavy as waterany hunk ofgold big enough to see acts like it's aliveif there is any motion whatever in its en-vironment, and will dig like a gopher forthe bottom. Watching an inanimate ob-ject act this way is almost spooky. Thisweight peculiarity is the whole "why-for" of the gold pan, and the basic secretof where to look when hunting placer.The technique of panning can begleaned from books, or by watching and flatteringan old-timer with hisfeet in a gold-country river; but actuallythere are only two simple basics to master.The fancy footwork that looks so impres-sive is just the product of practice.Fill your pan three quarters full ofgravel. Holding firmly level, submergeit beneath a few inches of water on to aflat rock or sand bench, and stir withone hand until the bubbles stop andyou've got a gooey mess. Then, still hold-ing the pan level, raise it above waterand shake horizontally with a very short,firm stroke, alternating two or three timesbetween a reciprocating and circular pat-tern. This first step sends the gold to thebottom of the pan, and in the more dis-reputable camps is called "putting yourbaby to bed." Pour out the water.Fill your pan with water again andwhile gently shaking right and left, slow-ly tilt the pan away from you to about 15degrees.

24

Authors' wife displaysgold necklace made fromnuggets she panned.Weekend gold panning isbecoming a popular familyrecreation throughout the West.Author uses sluice box in theYuba River (lower photo)where the scenery is asrewarding a s the discoveringof gold.

Then slowly raise and lower the "slop-ping" lip of the pan just above and justbelow water level. That's all there is toit. The water runs in and out, and theshape of the pan is such that the outflowtakes off some top sand each trip, leavingheavy objects behind.Panning is just repeated alternating ofsteps One and Two. You can practice in10 inches of water in a tub, using drive-way sand and gravel, and seven slightlyflattened BBs confiscated from a neigh-bor kid with an air gun. When you canpick all the BBs out of the last of thesand in the pan, with your bare fingers,you are ready for the riverswhere youcan find out for yourself what the sec-ond step is called!Placer gold is sparse grains of yellow

metal weathered out of the high, ancientmother rock (which was eroded eonsago) and, gathered by gullies andstreams, pushed down the rivers towardthe sea by flood waters. Sand and gravel,being only about twice as heavy as water,whirl and churn in the flood currentsand kick and slap the gold along muchfurther than it would move by wateraction alone. So each year there are newgoodies hidden often in differentplaces.Airplanes drop when they hit turbu-lencemainly because there is no lift fortheir wings in spinning air. Gold doesexactly the same thing in water. So theplace to look is behind (downstream of)big rocks, on the inside of bends, and innarrow bedrock crevicesany place wherethe flood waters would spin, or be mo-mentarily still in their rush downstream.Be sure to clean the last two inches ofsand from such places thoroughly, sweepthe bedrock, and spoon the sweepingsinto your bucket.

Try to visualize what the water wouldhave been like in flood stage, what pro-jection it was bouncing off of, where itwould eddy. This will give you pointerson where to look.As a rule for elevation, a search zone isfrom waterline to about 15 feet abovewaterline; but there are exceptions, suchas sharp bends, changes of flow direc-

tionsor your wife's E .S .P! After youget started, don't waste time drooling forthe big caches of raw gold you imagineare in the bottoms of the deep river pools.With rare exceptions, they are just notthere. It cost me over $4000 for divinggear and trip costs, and weeks underwater to find this out. This is particularlytrue of V-shaped canyons. A little reflec-tion will show that the greatest waterpressureand flood stage kickis at thepoint of the V. So the sand, gravel andgold is thrown up and out, on to therough sides, where the heavy shore tur-bulence (and less water pressure) exists.You can illustrate this by dumping yourcoffee grounds in the kitchen sink, andtrying to scoop them down the drain witha single pot of water poured from one


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location. The pattern you see may helpin your search.C amping gear is a matter of choice andexperience, but three additional panningitems should not be forgotten. They area good magnet, your "bragging bottle"to carry your gold in, and a small, twoegg, sheet iron fry pan. Find a small emp-ty polyethylene (hair goo) bottle intowhich you can loosely drop the magnet,and cut off all but the bottom four inches.About half way through your panning,you should begin to see a lot of blacksands showing. These are mainly grainsof magnatite, a common, heavy iron ore.Fill your pan with water, set it on alevel spot, and (with the magnet inside)swish the bottle around the pan justabove the sand. All the loose magneticblack sand will jump in clusters to yourbottle. Lift out of pan, submerge in abouttwo inches of flat river water, and jerk

out the magnet. (I tie a string to mine.)That way you don't have to clean yourmagnet, it retains its full force; and youcut final clean-up panning by a goodhalf. Some people use a plastic sack, butI prefer the stiffer polyethylene. There

are prospectors who will tell you to saveyour black sand"it's fabulously rich inmicroscopic gold"but they always seemto be the ones who need to borrow alittle bacon and flap-jack flour.Gold nuggets and colors in a glassbottle full of water are something to see,as the water magnifies them. Braggingbottles are a matter of whim and fancy,

but the smaller your bottle, the betteryour loot looks. Always use a bottle witha screw topI like a little 30-day vita-min bottle I can carry in my pocket; butmy pan-happy spouse prefers a smallcologne bottle with a wide flaring bot-tom, tied on a string around her neck.Since bragging bottles are a status symbolin the river camps, of far more impor-tance than even a shiny new pickup, youcan understand the choice.When you first find your gold it may

appear dull, even distinctly rusty in color.A quick way to burnish it up is to dumpit in the clean, small fry pan, and heat itdry to a good scorching hot. R emovefrom the stove, let it cool a bit, and thendribble in about a cup of vinegar. Bringto a rolling boil for three or four min-utes, and your loot will "turn to gold"before your eyes. Pour off the vinegarand gently wash with hot water. Pouroff the excess water and slowly dryyour gold. Care should always be usedin drying gold in any pan over stoveheat. If done too fast some of the lastdrops of water will suddenly form steamunder any bunched gold and "pop!"and you'll lose some of your hard earnedgoodies.This is all the refining you will need.I had a jeweler solder some of the wife'sprize, odd-shaped little nuggets to a chainto make a necklace. They were originallycleaned in camp in this fashion, and arestill bright and beautiful.If the gold bug really bites, you canbranch out andlike an avid fishermanbuy or make yourself all kinds of"really needed" tackle. I prefer to makemy own stuff, and had a lot of sparetime shop-fun building portable sluices,rockers and other gimmicks. The prizeof the lot was a light, big-as-a-breadbox,weird shaped contraption I designed ofrubber lined aluminumwith no movingparts but a tricky interior configurationwhich for lack of a better name I call

Continued on Page 37

I N B O W ' SE N D . . .begins with a

T R E A S U R E L O C A T O R '

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E A R T H Q U A K E S& V O L C A N O E Sby T. H. Hagemann

Lake at the bottomof a true crater

in the Inyo NationalForest. About 600

feet across the top,the crater narrowsdown to 100 feet

at the bottom.

26


27/44

Zf'i rather ascary descent 55 feetbelow the surfaceto the bottom ofan earthquakecrack where snownever melts.

A FASCINATING GROUP of varied geo-logical features is concentrated with-in a small area of Inyo National Foreston the eastern escarpment of the SierraNevada range between Mammoth Lakesand Lee Vining, C alifornia.

The features include an earthquakefault, lakes in the bottoms of craters, anobsidian dome, a chain of pumice cones,and a strange, alkaline lake with no out-let, but with two craters and many tufadomes rising above its surface. The Sier-ra Nevada themselves are fault moun-tains, created by the uplifting of theearth's crust along a complex system offractures.Driving north from B ishop, C aliforniaon U.S. 395 for about 40 miles, you cometo Casa Diablo Hot Springs where a roadto the left takes you to Mammoth Lakes.About two miles up the Ski Lift roadfrom the village is the Mammoth Earth-quake Fault.

The fault actually extends intermittent-ly for some 22 direct miles from Mam-moth Mountain to Mono Lake, but thisparticular, easily-reached section of it hasbeen made available to visitors because

of several distinctive features. At thispoint the cleft is from 10 to 20 feet wideand from 30 to 70 feet deep. At thispoint also you may observe how perfectlythe two walls of the crack would fit to-gether if it were closed, since there hasbeen no vertical displacement on thissite. Therefore, this opening is technic-ally a fissure. At other places, one side ofthe opening may be as much as 60 feetlower than the other, making a true fault.

There are tall, red fir trees growingfrom the sides of the fissure. Some ofthem are about 200 years old, whichproves that the fault must be older, sincethe trees could not have started growingfrom its sides until the crack was opened.Indian legends tell of violent earthquakesin this area in the 1700s, long beforewhite men arrived there.

All around you the earth's surface iscovered with pumice, a frothy volcanicsubstance so light that it will float inwater. It is full of air spaces where gasexpanded when the material was spewed,still molten, from nearby craters manycenturies ago.Then you climb down into the crevice.27


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It is a thrilling and rather scary descent.At the top the walls are about 20 feetapart but at the bottom, less than ten.With long arms you can touch bothwalls while fervently hoping that thefissure will not choose that moment tocome together again!It is always cool down here, for thesnow at the bottom never melts and it is

said that the Indians used this place asnature's ice box for food storage. Al-though you are standing 55 feet belowthe earth's surface, the snow beneath yougoes down to a depth of about 70 feet.On your way along the bottom of thecleft, you notice steel inserts embeddedin the walls. These are to enable scien-tists to measure any expansion or con-traction of the opening You also notice

that the sides of the crevice are not earth,but volcanic rock which, as molten lava,covered this area to a great depth thous-ands of years ago. On it, moss and lichenare growing. These tiny, patient plantswith their weak acid will slowly breakoff particles of the rock in their never-ending process, over centuries, of soilbuilding.It is an exciting experience to havebeen so far inside the earth's crust, butyou breathe a little easier as you climbout again.R eturning to U.S. 395 and proceedingabout five miles north, turn left a, ainonto a dirt road for five miles to reachthe Inyo C rater L akes. These are at thebottoms of two spectacular, funnel-shaped holes in the ground which are

A ch ild is almost invisible lower lefton the huge jumble of volcanic glass.Obsidian D ome is 300 feet high an d a mile wide.

28

true craters. The north crater is about100 feet deep, the south crater a littlemore than 200, and each is about 600feet across.Sometime between 1115 and 1465A.D., ground water seeped down andcame into contact with magma or moltenlava deep beneath the earth's surface.The heated water changed to steam, builtup a tremendous pressure, and finally

"blew its top." The explosion hurledmillions of tons of rock upward and out-ward and, since the pressure was re-lieved, the molten lava did not emerge.The small lakes now in the bottoms ofthese craters have been formed over theyears from summer rains and meltingsnows.Most of the rock brought to the sur-face by these explosions was pumicewhich blankets the forest floor severalfeet deep for miles around. It is some

of this pumice which you see at Mam-moth Earthquake Fault.In the walls of the craters may be seenvarious types of rock, lava, and vol-canic ash, as well as some ancient logs.R adio-carbon d ating has established theirage to be somewhere between 450 and850 years old.Back to U.S. 395 and continuingnorth for about nine miles you againturn left on a dirt road for about onemile and come to Obsidian Dome, a

huge jumble of volcanic glass about 300feet high and a mile wide. This wasformed by hot lava oozing up througha narrow neck somewhat like the stem ofa mushroom, and then spreading out allaround the top of the stem like a mush-room cap. The obsidian here is not allshiny black glass such as one sees atObsidian Cliff in Yellowstone NationalPark; here much of it is speckled withwhite spots and other intrusive material.R eturning to the highway and con-

tinuing northward you will see a chainof light-colored volcanic cones dominat-ing the landscape on your right. Althoughthey are not true craters, these are calledthe Mono C raters; they are believed tohave originated about 65,000 years ago.Highest of the chain is Mo unt R ussell,elevation 917 2 feet. C loser views may behad from State 120 going east, WestPortal R oad, and the Devil's Punchbowlroad.Some of the cones have retained theirshape; in others, great columns of ob-


29/44

Although not "true" craters, Mono Craters are believed to have originated about60,000 years ago. This is a view of the Southern Coulee.

sidian arose and overtopped the pumicerims, flowing as a sticky mess onto theplains andforming a coulee.A third step in their development isshown in The C aldera which is believedto have come about when enormous pres-sures beneath a coulee resulted in violentexplosions, leaving a steep-sided craterabout 450 feet deep and2000 feet across.Here again, the greater part of thematerial exploded was pumice, and thearea is mined by a corporation whichsupplies this light, frothy material formany commercial purposes, from toothpowder tobuilding blocks.Only a few miles farther north, andoverlooked by the town of LeeVining, isMono Lake covering an area of 10 by14 miles. It is about 152 feet deep now,although it was much deeper and largermany years ago.First called L ake R ussellafter an early-day geologist, it was form-ed when the uplifting of the Sierra Ne-vada to the west caused a depressionwhich quickly filled with melting glacierwater as the Ice Age ended. The shorelines of that ancient lake are still clearly

visible on nearby mountains, the highest

mark being about 770 feet above thepresent lake. The town of Lee Viningstands on what was the beach of LakeR ussell. The evaporation of that largebody of water over many years left thesaline and other chemical content of thepresent lake, and the odd little whitetufa towers showing above the surface ofMono Lake are formed by some of theseminerals.

Mono Lake has no outlet, yet is con-stantly fed by springs and by twomoun-tain streams Rush and Lee ViningC reeksalthough part of their water isdiverted to theLos Angeles water supply.In the lake are two islands, one blackand one white; both are of volcanic ori-gin. The black cone of Negit is probablymore recent; Paoha's beds of lake sedi-ment appear to show that it was onceunder water. Paoha has hot springs ofsulphur water and, in the center of itscinder cone, a heart-shaped lake.For a weekend outing and a fascinatinglesson in geological phenomena fewplaces in the world can compare to thissmall area in C alifornia's Inyo National

Forest.

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5 - 1 0 - 2 0 - 4 0 A C R E SFor people who love the landA tractof Recreation Land for YOUROwn!In Northern Idaho, Northeastern Washing-ton, and Western Montana. In the heartof lakes and big game country. AM cov-ered with growing timber. Access, Titleinsurance with each trac t. This is selectland with natural beauty, recreational andinvestment values. We have tracts ofmany types and sizes from which tochoose, including beautiful Northwest Wa-terfront property on the Pend Oreille,Priest andKettle Rivers; and property onPend Or eille Lake. Your inspection wel-comed. Write us for free list, maps andcomplete information. Write to: Dept. 31

P.O. Box 8146, Spokane, Wash. 9920329


30/44

by Isabel Dunwoody

S AN JUAN BAUTIS TA


31/44

J US T T H R E E miles east of C alifornia'smain coastal artery, U.S. 101, betweenGilroy and Salinas, lulled by the sound ofhoney bees in its many beautiful gardens,the quaint little town of San Juan Bau-tista appears to be catnapping in thesmog-free sunshine.While all of San Juan Bautista is alivewith Americana, the area designated as

the State Historic Monument is bestknown for its history within a city ofhistory. Here time stands still. Once justa large open space in front of the oldMission, the plaza gradually acquiredThe Castro1 House, The Zanetta House orPlaza Hall, the Plaza Stable and thePlaza Hotel. They represent three periodsof C alifornia History; S panish, Mexican,and early American.A good' place to begin your tour intothe past is the Plaza Hotel. Helen HuntJackson, creator of R amona, enjoyed thehotel's gardens. C ivil Wa r General S her-man signed the register and many fin-anciers and cattlemen made it their head-quarters. C limbing the stairs in theseearly day commuter's footsteps, you seetheir rooms, typically furnished with or-nate dresser and highback quilt-coveredbed.In 1813 the hotel was a one-storyadobe barracks for Spanish soldiers guard-ing Mission San Juan Bautista. WhenAngelo Zanetta bought it, he added a

second story. Once a chef in New Or-leans, his insistence on the finest winesand juiciest beefsteaks made the hotel amust on the stagecoach line between LosAngeles and San Francisco. Since SanJuan was the market place for C aliforniaranchers to sell their thousands of cattle,steaks were no problem to come by. Theycost $1.00 a piece.That the hotel was a going concernspeaks for itself in the records. One itemreads, "L oaned by the Hotel C lerk to

Daniel Harris, (one of the wealthy mer-chants of the town) $1,000.00 in cash."A day or two later the entry was markedpaid. And if they didn't have creditcards in those days, they had credit. Alsofrom the records, "May 25th, 1872,Brotherton, 2 bottles claret, $1.00; 1small b ottle w hiskey, $ .50; P aid, cab-bage $ .50."At one time there were seven C oncordstage lines operating in and out of SanJuan. Stagecoaches no longer dash up

to Zanetta's Inn, but some of them are

displayed in the 1874 Plaza Livery StableMuseum across the street. So are variousother horse drawn carriages, includingthe Eagle Fire Wagon that served SanJuan in 1869.Down the street from the Plaza Hotelis the historic General C astro House,now restored and open to the public.One of the finest examples of housesbuilt during the Spanish era, the adobebricks were made by the Mission Indians.The two-story house first belonged to thegeneral who had it built as his officialresidence where he was Prefect of the 1stDistrict in California until the Ameri-can occupation. After secularization ofthe Mission in 1835, Castro establishedthe Pueblo of San Juan. For a time thecapital of the North was called San Juande C astro.One day an Iowa Irishman, PatrickBreen, and his family arrived in SanJuan. Survivors of the ill-fated DonnerExpedition in the Sierra Nevada moun-tains, they were destitute save for Pat-rick's now famous diary of the tragedy.The sympathetic people of San Juan gave

them food and clothing. Not to be out-done, the General put them up in hisfine house, rent free. When the cry ofgold echoed through the town, theBreen's eldest son answered it. He return-ed home with $12,000 in gold. TheBreens purchased their benefactor's housewith the green-railed balcony and fouracres of San Juan's richest land.The part adobe, part clapboard, ornateyellow building with its startling pinktrim, green shutters, facing the Missionis the Angelo Zanetta house. The nameplate on the double door can still beseen.In 1868 the hotel proprietor answeredSan Juan's long need for a public hall.During the mission period there had beena nunnery by the Mission, used to houseyoung, single Indian girls until they mar-ried. When it was no longer needed, the

dormitory crumbled into disuse and wasused to store hay. Zanetta salvaged thebest of the adobe bricks for the outerwalls of the Hall's first floor. He addeda second story of wood for the "swing-ing" ball room. Many a lovely senoritawas whisked around its dance floor.

San Juan Bautista was the fifteenth and largest of the F ranciscan Missions. It isstill in use today for services and w eddings. One of the three p icturesque entrances(opposite page) in the verdant Mission garden. Adobe was made by the Indians.31


32/44

Plaza Hall is one of several historic buildings around the Mission Plaza open to the public. Other buildings are a liverystable, hotel and several shops. Authentic Spanish, Mexican and early American objects are on display in the buildings.

When Angelo Zanetta tired of run-ning his hotel, he made the lower floorof Plaza Hall his private residence, nowopen to enjoy, furnished with authenticeighteenth century furniture, MargretZanetta's wedding dress is in one bed-room, black button shoes and a blacklace dress is in another. A white long-sleeved nightie waits on the bed. Youbecome so caught up with this long agoera, you almost feel an intruder, or thatyou might pass one of the Zanettas inthe hall.The old sounds of the Plaza itselfhave become less than whispers throughthe years. Once they were far more. OnSundays it overflowed with carretas andsaddle horses, waiting for their occu-pants to attend mass. Squealing Indianchildren, wards of the Missions, ran bare-foot. It was parade grounds for GeneralC astro's straight-backed S panish soldiers,bugles sounded, drums beat. Occasion-ally there were bull and bear fights. A

picture of one of these bloody fights is52

painted on the wall back of the bar inthe Plaza Hotel. And there was romance,like the time the vaquero Tony stole aSpanish senorita right out from underwatchful eyes, without Plaza bystandersrealizing it was an elopement.To the back of the plaza and runningalong the Mission are vineyards withgreat clusters of grapes thick amongthe leaves. The padres no longer tendthem or make the wine. Wine is made inthe Almaden Wineries across the way.

You can sip it in their wine tasting roomoverlooking the beautiful sprawling valley.A part of the famous old C amino R ealruns along the side of the Plaza and be-side the church. Once crowded on Sun-days with chattering people coming toMass, it is now as quiet as the Missioncemetery where 4300 Mission Indianssleep in sacred, unmarked graves. Theirnames can be still read in Missionrecords.Popeloutechom is what the C umulos

Indians called the church that was home

to them, the 15th and largest of the Fran-ciscan Missions. It still serves San Juantoday. Bricks for the floor were madeby the Indians, under the tutelage of thepadres, from the surrounding adobeclay. The int

196909 desert magazine 1969 september

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