197302 desert magazine 1973 february

8/14/2019 197302 Desert Magazine 1973 February

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FEBRUARY, 1973 50cICD 08256

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ANOTHER UNBELIEVABLE FIRST FOR D-TEXA L L N E W D - T E X " C O I N S H O O T E R "andTreasure.

Bill and Lorraine Kueter with 6 of their 8 children test the new D-TEX "COI NSHOOTER". Coin hunting is their specialty with over 13,000coins plus numerous rings and other jewelry found in the last 15 months. They are members of The Prospector Club of Southern California.Camping and coin shooting is the family hobby. After testing, Bill says the "COINSHOOTER" is the detector for him.

A V A C A T I O N T H A T P A Y S - THE D - T E X W A Y* IN FAMILY TOGETHERNESS * IN FUN FOREVERY MEMBER OF THEFAMILY * INCASHMONEY IN THE FORM OF OLDVALUABLE COINS, RINGS & JEWELRY * IN MORE GOODFINDS IN LESS TIME - ELIMINATES UNNECESSARY DIGGING * WITH THE ALLNEW D-TEX"COINSHOOTER" YOU MAY SEARCH THE AREAS WHERE OTHER DETECTORS GIVE UP* TAKES THE FRUSTRATION OUT OF COIN SHOOTING * THE ONLY DETECTOR THATPOSITIVELY DIFFERENTIATES BETWEEN TRASH ANDTREASURE.F A R E X C E E D S A L L O T H E R M A K E S O F D I F F E R E N T I A L A N D A N A L Y T I C A L T Y P E D E T E C T O R S .REJECTS: Bottle caps, foil , nails and other ferrous and non-ferrous trash.DETECTS: Silver, gold or copper coins, gold rings and other jewelry.LO GIC AL SPOTS : School yards, old churches, playgrounds, swimming beaches, old picnic areas,

carnival sites, oldhouses. Even therecreation vehicle camp grounds. Around eachcamp area and theplayground.

REMEMBER - EVE RY PLACE PEOPLE HAV E B EEN, COINS AND JEWELRY HAVE BEEN LOST.The Coinshooter is made in twomodels, "COINSHOOTER I" and COINSHOOTER I I" . Both modelsreject sea water and may beused on the beach with no nterference from the water. Easily detects goldand silver doubloons and pieces of eight inthe sand and under sea water. The most efficient detector forbeach combing atany price.

f o r ou r f o l d e r on the " C o i n s h o o t e r " orou r c a t a l o g ofa llD - T e xu n i t s w i t h f o l d e r i n c l u d e d .

THE FIRST REALLY NEWTREASURE LOCATOR IN 30 YEARS!P.O BOX 451 F-9 D-TEX E L E C T R O N I C S Garland, Texas 75040614 EASY ST. - PH. 272-2622


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WILLIAM KNYVETT, PUBLISHERJACK PEPPER, EDITORGEORGE BRAGA, Art DirectorMARY FRANCES STRONG, Field Trip EditorENID C. HOWARD, Utah Associate EditorGLENN VARGAS, Lapidary EditorK. L.BOYNTON, NaturalistMARVEL BARRETT, Circulation Manager

Volume 36, Number 2 FEBRUARY, 1973

CONTENTSF E A T U R E S

THE COVER:C a l i f o r n i a ' s R i v e r s i d eCounty is a "Land of Con-trasts" which offers manyscenic areas andpalm oaseswhere Desert Lovers canfind peace andsolitude un-der the blue skies. Photoby Jack Pepper.

WEEP FOR WEEPAHTREASURES IN THE TURTLES

DESERT LOVE STORYTHE CASE OF THE YALLER JACKPOT

COACHELLA VALLEY MAPLAND OF CONTRASTS

CHANNELS THAT CHANGEANTELOPE GROUND SQUIRREL

THE GHOSTS OFTULE HOLESRECIPES FOR M'LADY

Mary Frances Strong

Jack PepperErnie CowanKen MarquissRoger Deanjack PepperAl PearceJack C.Turner, Jr.Roberta StarryHelen M. Peterson

D E P A R T M E N T SA PEEK IN THE PUBLISHER'S POKE William Knyvett

BOOK REVIEWS Jack PepperDESERT LIFE

RAMBLING ON ROCKSCALENDAR OF EVENTS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Hans BaerwaldGlenn andMartha VargasClub ActivitiesReaders' Comments

EDITORIAL, CIRCULATION AND ADVERTISING OFFICES: 74-109 Larrea St., Palm Desert, California 92260. Telephone Area Code714 346-8144. Listed in Standard Rate andData. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: United States, Canada and Mexico; 1 year, $5.00; 2 years,$9-50; 3 years $13.00. Other foreign subscribers add $1.00 U.S.currency for each year. SeeSubscription Order Form in this issue. Allowfive weeks for change of address and send both new and old addresses with zipcodes. DESERT Magazine is published monthly. Secondclass postage paid at Palm Desert, California and at additional mailing offices under Act of March 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1973by DESERT Magazine andpermission to reproduce any or all contents must be secured in writing. Unsolicited manuscripts andphoto-graphs WILL NOT BE RETURNED unless accompanied by a self-addressed andstamped envelope.


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P.D.QTHE MOST VERSATILE UNIT

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longer lived and will drill more holes per dollar. Thehollow core style drill has a hollow steel tip which iscoated with diamonds by a special process. This styledrill, drills very fast and is less delicate and can beused by the beginner with good success. We do recom-mend this type drill for beginners and for extra fastdrilling in Opal, Obsidian, etc.T h e N e w " W H I Z -Z - Z S in t e r e d D i a m o n d Drills

N o. Point Size Shank Size Price Each89 1.00 m m 1.00 mm $5.5090 1.50 m m 1.50 mm ._._ _ _ _ 5.0091 2.00 mm 2.00 mm _.... 5.5092 2.50 mm 3/16 inch 6.0093 3.00 mm 3/16 inch _ 7.0094 3.50 mm 1/8 inch _.... _ _ . 8.0095 4.00 mm 1/8 inch _ __ 9.00Prices on request fo r larger drillsup to 8 mmM e t r o D i a m o n d D r i l lV i t r o m e t B o n d e d D i a m o n d D r i l l s

Here are the handiest Vitromet Bonded DiamondTools developed for the Jewelry and Lapidary Crafts-man for drilling, reaming and beveling Gemstones.| ' " - D r i ll s W i t h 3 / 3 2 " S h a n kNo. 8 1 mm (3/16" diamond depth) $7.50No, 9 IV i mm (3/16" diamond depth) $700No. 10 1V4 mm - $6 50No. 11 2 mm _ $7.00No. 13 2V4 mm _ _ $s!ooNo. 6 3 mm - _ _ $9.50No. 7 3Vi mm _ $11.50No. 5 4 mm - $14.0(1

A S A DRILLBasic unit. Drills clean holes faster. Comes withmotor, chuck, foot rheostat, drill pan and drilling tem-plate. Booklet of operating instructions included,Nickle Plated - - $42.50(Does not include price of diamond drill point.)

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TRAVELit goes without saying..,.I f you l ike easy t rave l ing , anywhereyo u r h ea r t d e s i r e s , p l u s u n eq ua l e dcom fo r t a n d c o nve n i e nce whe n yo uwant a ho t meal , o r jus t some re f resh-ment and re laxa t ion . . .the n you ' ll love a !I TRAVELEZE.Beaut i fu l in te r io r s , spacious k i tchensand baths , comfor tab le beds, s tu rdycon st ru ct io n . . .a TRAVELEZE is easy toown and easy to love.Look into a TRAVELEZE travel t rai ler ,

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motorhome, o r camper . Yo ur TRAVEL-EZE dealer wil l show you how easy i tis to t rave l in s ty le and comfo r t . ..any-wh e re . .. anytime. I f you d on 't know whohe is , wr ite to us fo r h is name and f ree ,ful l-color l i terature.W e 've spen t the las t 41 years engi -neer ing your nex t TRAVELEZE. You ' rego ing to love i t . . . i t goes wi tho u t s aying.For Canad ian dealer information contactHastings Trailer Sales Ltd., Burna by 1, B.C. "

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A P e e ki n theP u b l i s h e r ' sP o k e

THE FEBRUARY ISSUE brings you an-other Southern California specialfeaturing a search for various types oftreasure in the T urtle Mountains with JackPepper; Ernie Cowan, a regular Desertcontributor, tells about one of his favor-ite desert spots, the Carrizo Badlands;Roger Dean, a Palm Desert commercialartist, offers an unusual four-color map ofthe Coachella Valley with an aerial-viewtype format; Jack changes from treasure totravel, to back up Roger's presentationand has compiled a guide of interestingplaces to see and things to do while inthe area.Al Pearce points out the tremendousimportance of water to the inland empireand just how the barren desert lands havebeen transformed by the use of irrigationcanals and reservoirs.Upcoming in the March issue an oldfavorite, Ken Marquiss, takes a differenttack from his usual treasure-hunting epi-sodes and tells about a great area forgathering garnets. Mary Frances Strong,who regularly has gem and mineral field.trips, takes a turn at telling us abouta recreational area in the Mojave Desert.A new face in Desert, Robert Cronin,tells of the trials and tribulations in takinga mule ride down into the Grand Canyon.In short, our same familiar format, withsomething for everyone.

F I N D B U R I E D T R E A S U R ELocates buried gold, silver, coins, Ajewelry, old zveapons. Works -^**lthrough earth, vegetation,water, wood, etc.

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

All books reviewed are available throughDesert Magazine Book Shop

TH ECAHUILLAI N D I A N SByLucileHooper

Recently a visitor from New Yorkstopped by Desert Magazine and askedif "there are any American Indians inthis area?" Realizing he was sincere, weinformed him there were Indians in Riv-erside County and that the phrase "Am-erican Indian" is redundant in that In-dians lived in the Western Hemispherelong before the word "Ame rica" wascreated.

During our discussion it was broughtout that Indians throughout the WesternHemisphere are not homogeneous andthat their customs, myths and way of lifevary from east to west as much as thoseof the white man who lives in rural andurban areas and is influenced by climate,economy and his own heritage. Th e Indiantribes of the North American Continentare as different as the Italian, Polish, Jew-ish, English, Negro, or other ethnicgroups in America.

Which brings us back to Californiaand Riverside County where one of thelargest surviving Indian tribes of South-ern California not only flourishes, but ispart of the social and economic phases ofthe communities of Coachella Valley.

Although, compared to the Navajos,Hopis, and other larger tribes of the West,the C ahuillas are comparatively sm all, theyhave played an important part in the his-tory of Southern California. The re arethree groups which occupy three contigu-ous but different habitats; the MountainCahuillas which live above the 4,000-foot level in the Santa Rosa Mountains;the Pass Cahuilla which live mostly onthe Morongo Reservation in the San Gor-

wilderness pinesS A N J A C I N T O M O U N T A IN S I D Y L LW IL D , C A L I F O R N IA

[o Los A ngeles W ILDERNESSV . i PINES IPalm SpringsP i n e C o v e V v - : * Hemel

* A C o m p le t eC a m p g r o u n df o r Re c re a t io n V e h ic le sRelax i n a 190 acre park ad jacen t t o246 ,000 acr e w i ld e r n e s s p r e s e r ve250 shady s i tes at 6500 f t . e levat ionamong t he ta l l p i nes o f t he San Jac i n t oMoun t a i n s o f Sou t h e r n Ca l i f o r n i aS t ab le y o u r o w n h o r s e s o r u s e o u r s o nm ile s o f sa fe t r a i l s ; r o d eo a r e naF i s h i n o u r p r i va t e pon d s o r in n ea rbyLake Heme t and F u l mo rEn j oy o u r sw i mmi ng p o o l , p l a y g r o u n d s ,h i k i ng t ra i lsE l ec t r ic & wa t e r h o o k -up Res tr o oms H o t s h owe r s Laun d r y Ic eDump s ta t i onReservations accepted. For freebrochure write or call: WildernessPines, P. O. Box 2265, Idyllwild,California 92349 m Ph. 714/659-2123 From U.S. 395 lake State H wy. 74 thru H emetto Mt. Cente r; no r th 3 miles, past Idyl lwildt o e n t r anc e s ign .From Ints t . 10 take Idyl lwild turn -of f in Banning;22 miles to Pine Cove, to e ntrance s ign.

L I M I T E D P R I N T I N G !DesertEditor

the story of Randall Hendersonand Palm Desertby f. Wilson McKenney

Desert Editor . . . the story of Ran-dall Henderson and Palm Desert is astory of a man wh o fulfilled a dreamand who greatly enriched the lives ofthe people who love the West.H a r d c o v e r , $795illustrated ^with 188 pages. p o s t p a i dCalifornia residents please add 40 cents

Send check or money ord er to:

Magazine Book ShopBOX 1318 PALM, DESERT,

CALIFORNIA 92260


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. m e t a ll o c a t o riso b s o l e t e !PRECISION'S M ARKSMAKES IT SO;N o w P r e c is i o n g iv e s y o u t h e b e t t e r l o c a t o rt o do the j o b s d e m a n d e d by t o d a y ' ss o p h i s t i c a t e d p r o s p e c t o r an d t r e a s u r eh u n t e r .Heres whyit's better. T r u e t o n el o u d s p e a k e r . S e n s i t i v ei n d i c a t i n g m e t e r . 7 " s e a r c hl o o p . B a t t e r yt e s t e r . G r o u n d

c o n t r o l . T - R c i r c u i t . M e t a l - M i n e r a lc o n t r o l . T e l e s c o p i n gs h a f t . S p a c e a g eh e a d p h o n e s V e r n i e rt u n i n g . 2 y e a rg u a r a n t e e .

N e w u l tr a s c an w a t e r p r o o f s e a r c h l o o p w i t h up to4 - t i m e s as m u c h c o v e r a g e as o t h e r T - R ' s . Com-p l e te w i th P r e ci s io n s g e o - b a l a n c e c o n t r o l, fo r w o r k -in g in h i g h ly m i n e r a l i z e d g r o u n d , s a l t w a t e r , wetg r a s s , e t c .

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gonio Pass; and the Desert Cahuilla whoreside and own land around Palm Springsand in the Coachella Valley.

Like other Indian cultures whose mod-ern-day members are adapting to our pres-ent-day civilization, the legends, myths,and beautiful poetry of their ansectorswhich tell of the creation of the Indiansand the world are being lost in the mael-strom of today's literary and "on-the-scene" television accounts of violence andprotest movements.

To truly understand the culture of anycivil izationwhether i t be Roman, Eng-lish, American or Indianone must knowthe people and their beliefs. Lucile Hoop-er gives such an insight into the DesertCahuillas in her presentation which wasfirst published in 1920 by the Universityof California Publications in AmericanArchaeology and Ethnology. Now againin print, it will help the white man under-stand and appreciate the culture of theCahuilla Indians of Southern California.Paperback, large format, bibliography, 65pages, $2.50.

/),THEYFOUNDGOLDByA . HyattVerrill

W he n the word treasure" is mentionedto Western hunters, we think of lostmines, placer diggings, Spanish gold,buried bank robbery loot or lost missions.

But treasure hunting is not restrictedto the West. It is a worldwide avocationand many hundreds of thousands of dol-lars have been spent by men seeking theseelusive treasures both on land and underthe oceans.It can be either a hobby or a businessand it can meet with both success and fail-u r e . This is brought out in A. Hyatt Ver-rill 's book which he subtitles, "The Storyof SuccessfuTTreasure Hunts."

First published in 1936 and out-of-print for many years, it is once againavailable in its original text with an up-dated Publisher 's Preface and Introduc-tion by veteran treasure hunter Karl vonMueller.

This book does not contain waybills tolost treasures of the West. It is a fascin-

ating account of sunken ships and millionsof dollars in gold and silver and of bur-ied treasures on lonely tropical islandsput there by pirates who once roamed theseas unmolested.

A professional scientist and avocation-al treasure hunter, the author was a mem-ber of professional ethnological expedi-t ions between 1920 and 1953. During1933 and 1931 he was the organizer ofthe expedition on which this book is basedan effort to locate and salvage sunkentreasure ships off the coast of Yucatan andCentral America. He also went on exten-sive explorations in Bermuda, West In-dies, Central America, and Panama, writ-ing 105 books on natural history, treasurehunting, and travel. He died in 1954.

He was not only an archeologist andtreasure hunter, but an excellent writer. Inreading his chapters about the buccaneersof the 17th and 18th centuries, one feelshe is with the blood-thirsty pirates as theyscuttle ships and then, because they hadso much loot they could not haul moreaboard, buried their booty on lonely is-lands. Some returned and retrieved thetreasures, others were killed and their bur-ied loot still remainsa challenge tomodern day treasure hunters.

Equally fascinating are his first-personaccounts of his expeditions to salvage thetreasures from sunken shipsof the frus-trations, dangers and the thrill of findingthe ships and bringing up the coral-en-crusted hardware and the gold and silver.

Although he states that most peoplewho find treasures do not report the finds

and he agrees with themsome haveand he tells of their successful searches.

"Treasure hunting, whether on land orunder the sea, is not a poor man's game.In fact, it is not a game for anyone unlesshe or they look upon it as a game, an out'and-out gamble, and enter into it for theadventure, the thrill, and the fun to behad for the investment," he warns.

Whether you are poor or rich, a treas-ure hunter or an armchair reader, you willfind They Found Gold will take you intoa world of adventure and back to the dayswhen the buccaneers ruled the seas. Hard-cover, illustrated, 267 pages, $7.50.

Books reviewed may be orderedfrom the DESERT Magazine BookOrder Department, Palm Desert,California 92260. California resi-dents please add 5 % sales tax.

Desert Mavarin


7/52

300 S. PALM CA NY O N DR,

'Did you l now^H iiw ay 111

Not r e ally bu t we call it

Because th e re are th ree Santa Fe o ffices to se rve you .A l l l o ca t e d o n H ighway 111 !A n d eve ry o f fice fea tu r e s F REE safe d epos it bo xe s *

F RE E t rave le r s checks an d money o rde r s t o savings cus tomerF RE E co l lec t ion se rv ice*, F RE E T rans mat ic se rv ice ,

FREE iden t i f ica t i on meda l l i ons and key r i ngs ,and many o the r FREE services and ben ef its . . .

* Fo r cus tomers wi th $1 ,000 o r mo re d epos i t ;Palm Desert off ice now taking box reservations

INDIO**

PALMS TO PINES PLAZAH I G H W A Y 1 1 1 b y U CB

DICKVO CE H IG H W AY 11 1 A T MO NRO EINDIO PLAZA

Santa Fe Federal Sayings[Wll-HI'lP*!C H A R T E R E D 189(I

O FF ICES A LSO IN SA N BE RNA RDINO V ICT O RVILLE 'Y UCA IPA AND SO O N IN DEL MARFebruary 1973


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Fred Steen and Ernie Stockwell (left) discussthe day when Ernie, right, found three pounds ofgold nuggets! Weepah as it looked (below)in 1927, just 11 days after the original gold discovery.Historic Photo courtesy Gerald Roberts,Tonopah Times.

W E E PF O RW E E M Hby

MaryFrancesS t r o n g

Photosby

JerryStrong

IT W A S early in March, 1927, when ateenage boy discovered the "pot-of-gold" which rocked the mining worldand caused a wild stampede unequalledin modern Nevada history. Immediate-ly after young Leonard Traynor and hispartner, Frank Horton Jr., placed theirore in the hands of an assayer and hisreport disclosed it ran $78,000 to thetonthe boom was on!"Boys Hold Secret of Great Wealth Greatest Strike in History G oldAll Over Tfte" Gro und " screamed news-paper headlines, which were picked upand carried in papers around the world.The nature of the discovery, embellishedby the press, stirred the emotions andcaptured the public's interest.This was a flamboyant time in our

country's history the apex of the"Roaring Twenties." Within 24 hours,

hundreds of goldseekers, experienced andneophyte, had loaded their autos withpick, shovel, tent and grub box to headfor Tonopah even though the site ofthe strike was a closely guarded secret.Oh yes, they had also included gunnysacks as repositories for the golden treas-ure they would pick up from the ground!Though under heavy pressure from thepublic and press, the boys showed con-siderable maturity by remaining silent asto the location of the strike until the sen-ior Horton a mining man could re-turn from California. The only statementthey made was, "No, it is not on virginground. Our strike is in an old district."Tonopah literally quivered with excite-ment. Heavily loaded touring cars, trucksand flivvers lined the main street wait-ing to rush to the golden grounds as

soon as the location was disclosed. Specu-lation ran rampant.Desert Magazine


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* .

The boys' movements, prior to thestrike, were tracked down in a mannerrivaling a super sleuth on a murder case.The first clue came when it was learnedthe boys had stopped at Alkali Springs ontheir way back to Tonopah. A miningscout deduced they might have been inthe Weepah District and he hastily headedfor the hills.Investigating one of the claims, hefound "fresh tracks" in the blacksmithshop and noted a shallow cut nearbywhich appeared to have been recentlycovered. Then, upon examining particlesleft in a recently used mortarhe foundgold dust. He had reckoned properlyhere was the golden groun d!

When this news circulated the rushbegan. The following day, some 200 menand four women poured into the WeepahDistrict. Traffic through the hills wasalmost bumper to bumper. There was aFebruary 1973

Although most of Weepah's dw ellings were temporary, a few (above) are stillstanding. Jerry Strong (below) investigates what is reportedly the original discov-

ery hole. He failed to find any gold.

> : *


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notable absence of the prospector's muleand burro, since the auto hadcome intoits "hey day" as theultimate in transpor-tation vehicles. Itwasanexciting trip overbouncing, rutted roads leading to theUtopia of men's dreamsa golden treas-ure forthe taking.Hot on the tracks of the goldseekerswere thepromoters, merchants, gamblersand prostitutes. Weepah's populationsoared to500in twoweeks andcontinuedto climb rapidly. It was an instant cityof tents with boards between boxes serv-ing as counters for shop keepers display-ing their wares. All types ofgeneral mer-chandise were available along with "hotdog" stands and saloons. Gasoline wasdispensed in three-gallon lots andwaterwas reportedly dearer than booze.The Tonopah Daily Times continuedto cover the excitement at Weepah.TheMarch 6, 1927 issue carried the follow-ingStatement byGilbert Anderson, Tono-pah Mine employee who had gonethrough theGoldfield rush. "I sawaledgeabout 18 inches wide with a4-inch core ofalmost pure gold."At Weepah, the entire area for milesaround was a forest of claim stakesbut

SEND FORFREE CATALOGDept. D KEENE ENGINEERING

11483 Vanowen St., North Hollywood, CA 9 1 6 0 5(2 1 3 ) 7 6 4 -6 1 1 4 (213) 8 7 7 -7 2 4 0

still they came. Easter Sunday found Wee-pah accepting thehomage ofan enthralledcitizenry from Tonopah and Goldfield.Scores of cars paraded by the discoverysite where Frank Horton Sr., his son andLeonard Traynor held court and dis-pensed gold-ore samples to their admirers.A fewdays later, the Pathe Newsreelcrew arrived and took films of the dis-

covers picking up handfuls of soilcon-taining $6.00 ingold. The showing of thefilm added fire to the already mountingexcitement over the new strike. Peoplefrom all over thecountry began to makeplans to go toWeepah. The Miami, Flor-ida Auto Club received so many requestson howto reach the strike that they mim-eographed maps showing the best cross-country route toWeepah.It soon became necessary to place anarmed guard at the discovery site. EdRenone, founder of the Jarbridge Goldcamp, accepted this responsibility. Thehundreds of curious visitors would nolonger be permitted to scoop up goldsamoles.The serious work of developing themines wassoon underway. Townsite leaseswere made available at $150to $250perlot for possessory rights. This gave theoccupants protection fortheir rights whichcould be sold or traded, if desired.With reportedly over 2,000 people atWeepah, permanent buildings began to

appear. The pace was frantic. A largegambling house wascompleted in fourhours by 19carpenters! TheGold NuggetClub wasbuilt bythree meninabout eighthours. Wm.J.Tobin, Pioneer Mine man-ager, forecast "1,000 homes in sixmonths." A daily stage line ran betweenTonopah andWeepah and a newspaperwas soon scheduled tostart publishing.Lead sulphides showing gold andsilverwere found during exploratory work atthe Electric Mine and, 12days later, thenews all Weepah had been waiting forwas announced. A 10-inch vein of quartzhad been cut on the Electric Lease expos-ing a ledge for a length of four feet. Freegold wasvisible^ to the naked eye! OnMay 1 2ththeTonopah Daily Times pro-claimed "Weepah discovery vein tracedfor 61 feet on theSellers Lease. Ore wasfound worth Si50,000 per ton makingthis the most eventful dayinthe WeepahDistrict."The camp went crazy upon receivingthe good news. A wild night of celebra-

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tion followed during which speculators"invested heavily" in theprospects of theleases making good. Claims changed handsas often as thewind changed directionTwo weeks later, the first Weepah orewas shipped, though not from the dis-covery site. Driver Jack Belmont delivered31/? tons from the Seymour Mine and De-velopment Company tothe Westside Millat Tonopah. Sampling found the oreaver-aging $13.45 per ton. Three weeks laterore from the Springer-Mulcoy lease washauled to theSilver Peak Mill. This wasgood milling ore and 60tons daily werecontracted for processing.Four months after the Weepah strike

had caught thenation's fancythe boomwas over! It had become apparent thatconsiderable time anddevelopment wouldbe required tomake thetwo major minesproductive. Small claim holders began todrift away and, within theyear, Weepahhad reverted tothe status of a small min-ing camp.In 1935, the golden ores of Weepahwere finally readied for big-time produc-tion. A newmill with a 250-ton capacitywas built. A pipe line carried water upto the camp from a well near GilbertJunction, seven miles northwest. A new

Desert Maeazine


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substation at Millers supplied electricpower via a special pole line to the iso-lated cam p.The open-pit method of mining wasused and power shovels stripped awaythe overburden exposing a 40 to 60 foot-wide ore bodythe depth of which wasstill unknown. J. C. Perkins was mine su-perintendent and 50 men were employed.Three years later, operations were shutdown. T he reasons were clouded. Possibly,the ore was too low grade or the ore bodyhad run out. The mill was dismantled andhauled to North Umberland in MonitorValley.Many interesting stories are told aboutWeepah and Ernie Stockwell's is one ofthe most exciting. We met Ernie whenvisiting Tonopah old-timer Fred Steenformer auditor of the Belmont Mine.Ernie was employed at Weepah as a power

shovel operator. He told us about the dayhis shovel uncovered a small vug in thehanging wall. When he inspected ithefound it filled with gold nuggets. Erniecalled Supt. Perkins and they raked aboutthree pounds of nuggets into a hat.Another story involves one of the manyout-of-state visitors to Weep ah. An elderlylady, in a battered car with an Indianalicense plate, stopped at a Goldfieldgarage and requested direction to Weepah.After supplying them, the attendant asked

her what she was going to do there.Smiling, she reached down and picked upa prospector's pick and an ore sack. "I'mon my way to visit my daughter in Cali-fornia," she replied, "and while I was inSalt Lake City I read about the big strikeand decided to spend a few days digging

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a couple of sacks of gold."Today, Weepah still lies in a remotevalley far from civilization. Only a half-dozen buildings remain among the ruinsof dozens. Near the discovery site, theskeleton of the mill looks down on theempty main street. To the west, the gloryhole lies like an open wound among thetremendous dumps. There is a feeling ofnostalgia and loneliness for the strikewhich promised so much and gave solittle. We join the lonely ghosts thatmourn the golden dreams and we, too,weep for W eepah. Q

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F e br ua r 1 97 3


12/52

T R E A S U R E S I N T H ET U R T L E Sby Jack Pepper

% .

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13/52

ON TH E surface th e w aybill to re-discover the Lost Arch Mine is easyto read. Just find a natural arch in South-ern California's Turtle Mountains andthen start scooping up the yellow nuggetsin the nearby wash.But, like one old-timer once told me,"the more time you spend reading aboutlost diggings, the more confused you get.

You can't find gold in a library." I laterlearned one of the reasons for his sageadvice was he couldn't read.Even so, maybe I should have taken hisadviceor maybe I should have done evenmore research so I would have become soconfused I would have scratched thewhole thing. Instead I took my notes andheaded for Indio, California, where twoveteran treasure hunters operate a tele-vision shop to make enough money to pro-vide for their familiesand finance their

treasure trove expeditions.Mel Jenkins and Hank Reans have asideline company called T reasure ResearchUnlimited. I have been with them onmany expeditions in the West and inMexico. They are practical business menin their store, but just mention "lost mine"in their presence and they automaticallyreach for their metal detectors.The following weekend, in two four-wheel-drive vehicles, we headed for theTurtle Mountains, which are located south

of Needles and west of the Colorado Riv-er, to find the Lost Arch Mine, first dis-covered in 1883.

The steep and washed-out road up to Horn Spring and the Virginia May Mine isonly for veteran four-wheelers. But rockh ounds will find it a lucrative area.

Three months and three more expedi-tions later we still have not found theRIGHT arch.

Although so far we have not found

Veteran Treasure Hunter,Ken Marquiss, in 193?took the photo (left) ofold-timer Charlie Brownwho took advantageof "city dudes" bydirecting them into theTurtles in exchangefor grub.

February 1973

the arch, we have discovered a wealth ofgem material such as chalcedony, agate,jasper, and geodes, not to mention petri-fied wood and beautiful nature-sculpturedironwood. (See Desert, February '71 foran article by Mary Frances Strong on gemcollecting in the northern part of theTurtles, which is more accessible than thesouthern section.)

Also we have discovered two aban-doned mines where we found several goodbottles and other artifacts. And, due toits rugged terrain, even for four-wheel-drive vehicles, the area is uncrowded andoffers spectacular photographic challen-ges. WARNING: ONLY VETERANFOUR-WHEELERS SHOULD ENTERAND MORE TH AN ONE VEHICLE ISSUGGESTED AS IT IS MILES TO THENEAREST HIGHWAY IN CASE OF ABREAKDOWN.

The fact that we so far have failed tofind the Arch puts us in some good com-pany. The late Erie Stanley Gardner (us-ing airplanes and helicopters), and vet-eran treasure hunters Walter Ford andKen Marquiss also came up with a blank

13


14/52

Hank Reans andMel Jenkins(left) foundseveral old coinsat a mill site.Castle Rock(below) as seenfrom one of therugged Turtlepeaks. TheMopah Peaks(right) riseabove the valleyfloor.

to find the right arch.But, like the others, we are firmly con-vinced the gold is somewhere in the Tur-tles, or the nearby Old Woman Moun-tainsor in the Trigo Mountains acrossthe Colorado River. If this sounds con-fusing, it is because it is so. So, beforegoing into the search areas, let's examinethe facts;and legendsof which thereare several. Following is the one acceptedby most explorers:

In 1883, two miners, a Jim Fish andhis partner known only as Crocker, weremaking a leisurely prospecting trip whileenroute from Nevada to San Bernardino.

They were traveling in an "old-fashionedbuckboard" pulled by two horses and inwhich they carried their mining supplies,grub and a large wooden barrel of water.It is reported they spent at least twomonths on their prospecting trip. If so,they must have either had an inland watersourcewhich is unlikely due to their la-ter tragedyor else they kept fairly closeto the Colorado River from which theyreplenished their water supply. Let's as-sume they prospected in the vicinity ofthe Turtle Mountains or the nearby OldWoman Mountains. And here is wherethe confusion starts, for many old-timers

did not make a distinction between theTurtles and Old Woman Mountains asis made today on the maps of the SanBernardino County.One evening, as they made camp andwere starting to cook their chow of sour-dough biscuits, beans and rabbit meat,they discovered the water barrel hadsprung a leak and the life-giving liquid

was nearly gone. Only a couple of can-teens of water remained.It was summer andaccording to re-portsthey were at least two days awayfrom the Colorado River. As long-timeprospectors, they knew two canteens ofwater would not support them and theirhorses for a two-day trek across the sear-ing desert. And they hesitated to travel

.,at night since there would be no visiblelandmarks to guide them to the river.

That night they agreed to spend thenext morning looking for a water holeso they could replenish their supply. Theydecided they would meet back at camp atnoon, and, if not successful, would try tomake it to the Colorado.The following morning, according toFish, Crocker went up a wash (or can-yon) to the left and Fish went to theright looking for palo verde or palmtrees which might indicate undergroundwater.Fish later stated he had gone up thecanyon past giant boulders and then en-tered a small wash and around a bend


15/52

and sighted a natural arch or "naturalbridge that spanned the wash." Exhaust-ed, he crawled up to the arch to rest inthe shade. It was then he sifted the coursesand to see if there were indications ofwater. Instead, he found gold nuggets!His thirst momentarily disappeared ashe jammed the nuggets into his pantpockets and realized he had struck a bo-

nanza. But, as the noonday sun created atemperature of over 100 degrees, his san-ity returned and he headed back to camp.Arriving at the buckboard before hispartner, Fish took a swig of water (prob-ably more than his share) and whenCrocker returned he showed him the gold.But now it was over 100 degrees so theydecided to try and make it to the Colorado

*

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- ' 9.-."- : "OB

River. They were down to less than acanteen of waterand gold could notbe spent by dead men.They traveled all that afternoon andall that night, heading for the river bywatching the stars. On the late afternoonof the second day they reached the Colo-rado and plunged into the life-saving wa-ters of the river.They were life-saving for Fish, but notfor his partner. Crocker died en route toEhrenberg. Why Fish went to Ehrenbergwhich was located across the river in Ari-zona, is a matter of conjecture. It is pos-sible that since Needles, California, was

just being established there were no medi-cal services as would be available in the

Arizona community which was a flourish-ing freight station.It was several months before Fish wasable to return to the Turtle (or Old Wo-man?) Mountains to find his lost bonanza.But his search was fruitless. From 1883until his death in 1900, he searchedthroughout the desolate mountains butfailed to rediscover his gold nuggets.

Before his death in San Bernardino,Fish was interviewed by a Horace Westwho later related a sequel to and anothersearch for the Lost Arch Mine.Around 1900 a German naturalistturned prospector whose name was Kohler

was in the same country and discovereda natural arch which intrigued his scien-tific mind. He made a sketch and notesabout the arch, but, not having heardof the Lost Arch or Fish, did not pros-pect that immediate area. Having runout of supplies and money, he decided toreturn to civilization and work until hecould provide himself with another grub-stake.

On his last day out, he met anotherprospector named John Packer and theycamped together that night. During theirconversation around the campfire, the Ger-man mentioned the arch. Packer, who was

All that's leftof the mill site at

Horn Springs(above) are old

artifacts,abandoned

vehicles andtrash. Robert

Jenkins (right)found three

good bottles andseveral agatespecimens.


16/52

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looking for the Lost Arch, suggested theyjoin forces.

They agreed tofind work, get the neces-sary supplies andmeet in one month atSunflower Springs, located on theeast side

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of the Old Woman Mountains. At theappointed time, Packer arrived at themeeting place. When Kohler failed toshow up,Packer went toNeedles.

He learned the German had secured ajob loading lumber for theSanta FeRail-road at Amboy, but waskilled when rail-road ties fell on him in a freak accident.For more than adecade Packer searchedin the OldWoman andTurtle Mountains,but he, too, failed to find the right arch.Despite his failure, just before he died,Packer said he still believed in the LostArch placer diggings.Author Walter Ford, who has spentdecades exploring the Southwest and re-searching lost mine legends, gives a dif-ferent version of the Lost Arch in anarticle which first appeared in theNovem-ber, 1944 issue of Desert Magazine. Inhis article entitled, "We Found the LostArchBut Not the Nuggets," he states:"O n a withering summer day in theyear 1883, a man named Amsden stag-gered into the little town of Goffs in thelast stages of exhaustion, hispockets load-

ed with gold. Some weeks previous hehaddeparted from Needles with a local pros-


17/52

,,pector on a secret mission into the TurtleMountains."When he had been revived sufficientlyto talk he told about his finda find sorich that gold nuggets could be had forthe mere trouble of picking them up.Amsden stated that they were too intentin adding to their hoard of gold to noticetheir diminishing supplies of water andfood until they found them nearly gone.Taking what gold they could carry anda scant amount of water, they started tomake their way back to Needles.

"Somewhere along their return jour-ney the prospector succumbed to the heatand Amsden was forced to continue onwithout a guide. According to accounts,the two emerged from the Turtles on thewestern side, but when Amsden had tocarry on alone he headed down a longwash toward the Santa Fe Railroad tracksand finally reached Goffs." (Goffs is lo-cated north of the Turtle Mountains andeist of Needles.)

Evidently, Amsden had had enoughof prospecting for, immediately after re-covering, he returned to his home in theEast taking his secret with him. How-ever, a few years later, Dick Colton, oneof the men who assisted Amsden when hetottered into Goffs, received a letterfrom Amsden, describing the locationand enclosing a vague map. He stated theplacer was in the Turtles and not farfrom a natural arch.

Colton and three friends spent all oftheir spare time trying to find the arch.Ford says one of the searchers, Mort Im-mel, stated, "I suppose we would havebeen out there yet if our shoes had notgiven out. The other boys were certainwe were on the right track, but I toldthem to throw the darn fish story in thefire and forget it."And that's what Walter Ford did until

one evening he was visiting his friend,John Hilton, the famous Western paint-er and a veteran rockhound. Ford saidthat during the conversation he men-tioned the Lost Arch and Hilton recalledseeing a natural arch on one of his gem-hunting expeditions.Ford recounts in his detailed articlehow he and Hilton, a month after theconversation, entered the Turtles in acar especially built for desert explora-tion. This was during World War II and

before the civilian use of four-wheel-Continued on Page 24

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18/52

DESERTBureau manager in Escondido

for the San Diego Union-Tribune, Ernie Cowan spendsspends most of his free tim eexploring the back country of

San Diego County, Arizona andMexico. An authority on the

Anza-Borrego desert, here isanother of his interesting trips

into that scenic area.

IT WAS nearing midnight as we bumpedalong in our topless World War IIjeep, huddled in heavy coats to protectus from the December cold. As we slowlymoved through this new gorge, our lightsdanced strangely on the high canyon walls.My love affair with the desert was still inthe dating stage. I had not yet settleddown to a full-time relationship with thisbeautiful area.

We had started our journey into theCarrizo Badlands early in the morning andwe were following a series of maze-likecanyons in an attempt to return to ourstarting point, which was the cabin of afriend.The cold and hunger were catching up,however, so we pulled into a shelteredcove of the canyon and sat in the sand toenjoy a cold-can dinner. Love was grow-

ing. A deeper relationship between myselfand the desert was developing.This was nearly 10 years ago and somecollege buddies and I were exploring thetwisting washes which finger north fromVallecito Creek in the southern part ofCalifornia's Anza-Borrego Desert StatePark.Since then I have explored most of thisinteresting area on foot or by vehicleand none of the love has worn away. Ofall the areas of Anza-Borrego, perhaps

none offer the same kind of beauty, soli-tude, mystery and adventure that can be


19/52

L O V EA f f A J R

byE r n i eCowan

Photos by the author

Author and hisparty (oppositepage) camped atPalm Spring andexplored ArroyoSeco del Diablo,photographedscenic Palm Spring(above) andcrawled inside themud caves (left)at Arroyo Tapiado.

February 1973

found in this patch of earth, roughly eightby ten miles square.The canyons here can swallow a jeepclub, or thrill the lone traveler. There areview points where you can see forever, orwatch shadows creep across the land atsunset.The Carrizo Badlands are an incredible

jumble of rock and earth located northof the historic Butterfield Overland StageRoute and extending from the Imperial-San Diego County line west about 10miles. A day's jeep loop trip throughsome of the interesting canyons here canbe an adventure, while more time caneasily be spent examining the many out-of-the-way places to be found.A good place to begin a visit to theBadlands is Mesquite Oasis, also knownas Palm Spring. This is located 1.6 miles

north of county highway S-2 and aboutfour miles east of Aqua Caliente HotSprings.Palm Spring is a popular camping lo-cation since it can easily be reached tow-ing a trailer. There are sheltered littleareas here that provide for privacy. Thespring is also a place of history, once be-ing the location of a stage station servingthe needs of the Butterfield Overlandline that operated from 1858 to 1861.State park rangers can give you a good

map of the area, but the most detailedContinued on Page 3919


20/52

by Ken Marqu iss

W ITH ALL due respect to the wisdomof a host of well-meaning friendsand/or loving relatives, I still maintainthere is a differene between "lost minehunting" and plain old sordid gambling.It is true that no self-respecting Vegasor Reno gambler would have the gall tosuggest that kind of oddsbut the win-nings from just one good mine strikeputs their kind of rewards in the piker

class. And there are the fringe benefitstoo! Good healthy exercise, a goal tochase, and your choice of style costs forenjoying the joys and tribulations of theout-of-doors.And then there is the scheming andplanning for your trips. Those kindlycritics just don't understand the interest-ing intricacies and fascinating facets ofa man's pet hobby!Take the case of what I call "TheYaller Jackpot" for example.Some time before World War II, Iwas starting a single-handed new-roof-

0 \

and-repairs operation, and was doing O.K.until the defense preparations for wardried up the supply of shingles, roll stock,nails and mastic. Most customers waiteduntil rain leaks sold them on a roofingjob, but old Mr. McGee was different.It was a warm sunny spell; he wanteda good roof right awayand he hungaround watching the job until it was done.So we had several lunch hours to shoot

the breeze. He was friendly enoughina brusque sort of way.Somehow the talk drifted to Arizona,and when I told him I had shipped goldorefrom a leaseto the Reed custommill in Oatman, Arizona a few days be-fore, he started to get really interested.He quizzed me at length about what Iknew of the area south of Oatman.Then there were questions about mymining background; next were some quiz-zes about personal references, and finally

a prospecting proposal of going "halvers"with him if he gave me an honest-to-


21/52

gosh, first-hand gold lead with "real bigmoney possibilities."The story was about a rich dry placergold discovery in the area south of Oat-man; and the information looked goodenough to warrant a real try in the searchzone. So I put the information away in thelittle black notebook until work slackedoff and I could make a trip.I had new-family responsibilities inthose days, and work was more plentifulthan usual; so it was late winter before Igot squared around for a trip. A pros-pecting buddy named W. E. "Doc" Reedand I borrowed a car with fat donut tiresfor sand travel, went over to the area,and dug dozens of barren test holesbutcouldn't find the right "marker."The second trip, alone and several yearslater, wasn't any better. Most of my avail-able time was spent repairing a "lemon"of a car that had steering problems.The third trip was not until the latespring of '67. My older son had just beenmustered out of the Navy, and wantedto borrow the old man and his rig "fora trip to camp in the wilds, look up atthe stars at night, and listen to the desertquiet for a change!"So on a treasure hunting trip to centralArizona, we swung by the placer area. Wedid some brief foot slogging and trail bikesearchingwithout luckuntil the siren "Ralph Nader was still playing marbles when, on my second trip, I had to walkout nine miles to find another steering knuckle for my broken-down Lafayette."

Photos by the author

"On the third trip, withgood equipment, wefound a camping spot.Johnny said mybreakfast grub wasgreat, but objected to theearly hours, pointingout he was NOT inthe Navy anymore."

song of the other treasure dream becametoo strong and we took off.The placer story Mr. McGee had toldme 50 long ago seemed solid enoughbutit had a couple of strange twists.He said that he and an old friendnamed George Conrad, who I understoodwas then a city councilman or somethingin Los Angeles, had for several years inthe early Twenties grubstaked an old guyname McCloudor Macleaugh.The prospector had a hardrock holesomewhere six or seven miles southwardof Oatman. It was a pockety kind ofstringer that he worked alone, with singlejack, old-fashioned fishtail drill bits, andpowder. McCloud used a team of burrosto hoist his small bucket of rocks by wayof a rickety snatch-block and roller gim-mick hooked to his pole head frame.The stringer would widen out enoughto furnish a few pack-saddle loads of goodore, and he would write his grubstakers

that "we got a real mine!" Then it wouldpinch down, and in a couple of monthsF eb ru a r 1 97 3


22/52

McCloud would put the bite on McGeeand Conrad for more groceries andpowder; sort of an on-again, off-againsituation.This had gone on for a little over ayear when the prospector got sickwor-risome serious but still-able-to-walk sick.So he decided to take his burros, andgo for medical help. He headed west tocut the Oatman road north to Topock,and catch a ride into Needles. He rodeone burro, and loaded food and water anda few possessions on the other.There was a small all-season springabout three miles west of his workings,and he headed for that first.The weather was hot, and progress waswas slow; so when he came "to a little cup-like valley with a flat bottom, maybe asbig as a city block that was easy to re-member," he decided he had better lightenthe load on the pack burro so he couldalternate his saddle and make faster time.The pack saddle held a short-handledshovel, mortar, test pan, carbide light,

small pick and other tools. These he de-cided to bury in the flat sand a few yardsabove a "little puddingstone dyke that raneast and west and would make a goodmarker."After a big drink of water he got busywith the shovel, and "he hadn't gone kneedeep before he hit hardpan" topped by afour-inch layer of the thickest concen-tration of black sand he had ever seen.Gleaming like a multitude of little sparksagainst this dark background were smallnuggets and "colors" of placer gold.Forgetting his misery for a while, hefilled a two pound cloth salt sack with drypanned concentrate. Then he buried histools in the hole, and headed for the road.His luck held, and he had barelyreached the road when a man in a newOverland Star gave him a welcome liftto Needles. There he caught a train for

Los Angeles, where there was a doctor heknew and trusted.This medico diagnosed his illness asterminal, put him in the hospital, and

\

"The winter after I first heard of the 'Yaller Jackpot' I teamed up with a prospectorbuddy and w e did a lot of searching. This w as before the days of the modern four-wheel-drives, as you can see."22

gently as possible disclosed his findingsand suggested he take care of any import-ant matters as soon as possible.The prospector called Conrad on thephone, gave him the sack of concentrate"to pay my bills" and told his grubstakerthe story of his find. As he said, "She'spotater patch shaller, and we got us aripsnorter of a yaller jackpotman whata jackpot!" Mr. Conrad promised himthey would all go out to stake the areatogether as soon as McCloud was on hisfeet againbut it was not to be. Withina fortnight the old prospector had cashedin his chips; and McGee and Conrad wereleft with only a puzzling story and asalt sack of concentrate.They panned out and sold $809.00worth of gold dust from that sack ofconcentrate; which would make it betterthan 36 ounces (at the old price). So they

could hardly wait until the desert cooledoff and they could make the first of sev-eral trips looking for the gold. Trips thatwere no more productive than mine.The puzzling angles are: why woulda sick man pack a lot of tools with him,and was the find made on the east orwest side of the little spring?When I asked McGee about that, hegave me a funny look and said, "Whothe ---- can figure the mind of even a wellprospector?" And maybe he had some-

thing there!The two original grubstakers have longsince staked their final claim, and I'msure won't begrudge you your turn atthe wheel of fortune; and I'm too old andbusy with other things to give the timeto it.The black sand is shallow enough thata good metal detector might help; if youwork a "bug" over the old rusty tool itwill be sure to howl like a banshee.I never could find the "little pudding-

stone dyke" (most of the area is igneousintrusives) and there were two seeps orwaterholes that mightby stretching apointfit the directions. The topographicdescription certainly would indicate a nat-ural riffle and concentrating area; butwhere did the gold erode from?Your guess is as good as minemaybethe answer is in the old saw "Gold iswhere you find it!"If you pull the lucky handle I hopeMcGee's words ring true. The only yellow

slot machine stuff I ever saw waslemons! Q


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The'73 Jeep Truck-For exploring in style,you'll

This pickup comes with new passenger car interiors and rugged Jeep guts.The Jeep T ruck h as always had a reputation for beingtoug h. After all, it's got the m ost famous 4-wheel driveof them a l l . . . and a payload capacity, on its 8000Gross Vehicle W eight m odel, of 3500 pou nds. I t's beenknown for its low center of grav ity, which gives youextra sta bility on s teep, rocky hills. And its highground clearance, which takes you over those stubb ornobstacles tha t would make other pickups turn b ack.Now th e Jeep T ruck will be famed for its interior, too.

Seats have deep foam padd ing. (Buc ket seats areavailable.) There 's a new padded instrument panel.And a new padded steering wheel. Plu s color-keyedma ts. And air conditioning, if you w ant. When you'reout exploring for yo ur own cam psite, you needgutsand comfort. The Jeep Truck gives you both .Toughest A - l e t t e r word on wheels.

ri JeepBuckle up for safety... drive your Je ep vehicle with care and kee p America the Beautiful.February 1973 23


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Eileen Workman finds some chalcedony on one of the slopes. There are many ex-cellent rockhounding areas in both the Turtle and Old Wom an Mountains.

TREASURE IN THE TURTLESContinued from Page 17

drive vehicles.Leaving the road (now the paved high-way from Desert Center to Vidal Junc-tion ) 14 miles east of Rice, they traveled16 miles north "over some of the rough-est desert country I have ever encount-ered," according to Ford.Ford found Hilton's arch and nearbya giant saguaro cactus, which he statesmust have been a landmark even back in1883- However, as Ford stated in his ar-ticle and told this author recently, thearch was in volcanic lava. There were notraces of hematite, magnetite or limonite,iron ores which might contain gold, lead-ing him to think it was not the RIGHTarch.Armed with the information suppliedby Walter Ford, on our second expeditioninto the Turtles last October we foundthe site of Hilton's arch. However, it hadcollapsed (as Walter had predicted) andwe, too, found no signs of placer gold.We did bring back some beautiful chal-cedony roses. The area is located on asmall hill a few hundred yards to the eastand south of Castle Rock, a large butteand landmark which appears on most SanBernardino County maps of the area.24

A third version of the Lost Arch dig-gings is found in John D. Mitchell's LostMines and Buried T reasures Along theOld Frontier.

Although Mitchell places the gold inthe same area, he states it was originallydiscovered by a group of Mexican pros-pectors. After the discovery, according toMitchell, the Mexicans built two separateadobe rooms and extended a roof overthe open space between the two huts.This large adobe arch was called a SanJuan.Mitchell states the Mexicans "sluiced$30,000 worth of gold before the dryseason dried up the water holes." They

abandoned the site and weather and In-dians destroyed the huts, leaving onlythe man-made arch. When the Mexicansreturned, they could not find their orig-inal discovery, he states in his book. (Oneof the first lost mine authors, Mitchell,died several years ago .)Whether the above accounts are factsor legendsor boththey are the onlypieces so far reported about the confusingand complicated jig saw puzzle of theLost Arch Mine.As stated at the beginning of this ar-

ticle, this author, along w ith veteran treas-use hunters Mel Jenkins and Hank Reans,has spent many weeks in search of theplacer gold. We have explored the westside of the Turtles, the inside of what wecall the "horseshoe" on both the east andthe west sections and the southern areas.The area we call the "horseshoe" isthe section in which is located Castle

Rock and Mopah Peak and is bounded bythe east and west pinnacles of the TurtleMountains. It can only be reached by go-ing north from the dirt road which crossesthe railroad and canal about 8 miles westof Vidal Junction. To our knowledge, itforms a cul-de-sac at the northern end.Some searchers say there are a few na-tural arches in the Turtles. Other old-tim-ers say "there are more arches than thereare hunters for the placer gold." WalterFord states, "with the exception of theLost Pegleg mine, the Lost Arch mineprobably has been more sought after thanany other of the lost mines of the Califor-nia deserts."All we know is that we found iron oreswhich should contain g old, we have foundbeautiful gem cutting material, we havefound old mines and mills and we havefound an area of fantastic rock forma-tions where heavens are so clear the starsseem to be only a few hundred feet aboveyour sleeping bagand where somewherethere are gold nuggets buried only a fewinches under the coarse sand of an elu-sive arch.We will be out there again soon. If yousee us, don't hesitate to join us aroundthe campfire and we will share our knowl-edge with you. The Turtle and Old Wo-man Mountains are too big to be coveredby a small party. And its just possiblewe might rediscover the Lost Arch Mine.

A round-tailed ground squirrel pausesduring his search for food in the saltbush areas of the sand dunes on theSouthern California deserts. Squirrelsare between 5 and 6 inches.

At ^ -'--


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^ ^ ^ H u j y

I D Y L [.WILD

74

L A V A L L E


27/52O F C O N T R A S


28/5228 Desert Magazine


29/52

byJackPeppe r

A% # % / ithin the easternW W half of SouthernCalifornia's Riverside County, snow-cap-ped mountain peaks jut into the clear bluesky, towering thousands of feet above thewarm desert valley floor and the CoveCommunities of Coachella Valley.The Cove Communities along StateHighway 111, which include Palm Springsand Palm Desert, home of Desert Maga-zine, have more golf courses and swim-mining pools than any area of similar sizein the United States.

South of Coachella Valley is ImperialValley, whose sprawling citrus and dateranches surround the Salton Sea, a year-round fishing and boating paradise, 248feet below sea level.Just outside the periphery of Coachellaand Imperial Valleys are sparsely popu-lated mountains, hills and deserts. Thesethousands of acres of public lands are un-der the domain of the Bureau of LandManagement and are a year-round play-ground for explorers, campers, rock-

hounds and photographers.. And within this half of RiversideCounty there are a variety of museums,art centers, Indian reservations, animalsanctuaries, scenic palm canyons, countyand state parks, and national monuments.The Colorado River, only 100 miles fromPalm Desert, forms the eastern boundaryof Riverside County and California.Following are some of the places andattractions which make the area one of theprime vacation lands in the United States:

W H I T E W A T E R T R O U T R A N C HOpen t h e y ea r - r o u nd ev e r y day e xc ep t Monday ,th i s i s a scen ic p icn ic area which has two largepoo l s s t ock ed w i t h Ra i nbow t r o u t f o r f i s h e rmen o fa l l ages. A no minal f ee i s charged f o r p icn ick ingand c o s t o f ca t c h i ng t h e t r o u t d epend s upon t h es i ze . No lic e n se r equ i r e d . Take t h e W h i t ewat e r o f f-r amp f r om I n t e r s t a t e 10 ju s t n o r t hwes t o f PalmSpr ings.

T H E L O W D E S E R TLeav ing I n te r s ta te 10 a t t he Palm Spr ings o f f -r amp on t h e San Be r na r d i n o F r e eway f r om LosAnge l e s 120 m i l e s wes t , H ighway 111 goe s t h r o ughthe Cove Communi t i es o f Palm Spr ings , Cathed ra lC i ty , Rancho Mi rage. Palm Dese r t , I nd ian W el lsand c onnec t s w i t h I n t e r s t a t e 10 eas t o f I n d i o .Among t h e a t t r ac t i o n s a l o ng S ta t e 1 11 (wh i c h o f -

f e r s a var ie ty o f mote l accommo dat ions , t ra i l e rpa rk s and f i n e r e s t au ran t s ) a r e :February 1973

Wilderness Pines Recreational Vehicle Park, near Idyllwild, provides plenty ofpines (above) while on the floor of the Coachella Valley (below ) scenic canyonsdotted with palms are a great lure for the cam era buff and desert lover.


30/52

/ h | j ^K fc

( ,

P A L M S P R I N G S A E R I A L T R A M W A YF rom the Val ley Sta t ion , 2 ,000 fee t above sealevel , the Aerial Tramway cable cars carry passen-ge r s i n 1 8 m in u t e s t o t h e 8 ,000 - f o o t s ta t i o n i n t h eSan Jacin to Moun ta ins whe re a pano ramic v iew o fthe Coache l la Valley is matched on ly by the s igh to f the majes t ic San Be rna rd ino Moun ta ins mo ret h an 50 m i l e s d i s ta n t .The Moun ta in S ta t ion has an A lp ine Res tau ran t ,cockta i l lounge and g i f t and appare l shops . H ik ingand sk i ing t ra i l s lead to Round Val ley and 11campg ro u n d s .T r ie T ramway is open seven days a week, Novem-be r 1 th rou gh June I , f rom 10 A . M. to 7 :30 P. M.

Du r ing the summer season i t i s c lo sed Tuesdayand W edne sday. Fares a re $3.50 pe r adu l t , $2.50f o r age s 1 3 t h r o u gh 1 7 , a n d $1 .00 f o r ch i l d r e n .P A L M S P R I N G S D E S E R T M U S E U MLoca ted in the hear t o f Pa lm Spr ings , the Dese r tMu s e u m i s a n o n -p r o f i t , e d u ca t i o n a l -cu l t u ra l i ns t i -t u t i o n f o r t h e p u rpo s e o f co l l e c t i n g , p r e s e rv i n g an din te rp re t ing ce r ta in aspects o f the f ie ld s o f A r t andNatu ra l H is to ry , wi th supp lemen ta l ac t iv i t ie s inMu s ic an d t h e Pe r f o rm in g A r t s . Ope n t o t h e p u b l i c ,i t i s a p lace o f cons tan t ly var ied , con t ras t ing p ro -g rams and o f fe rs chang ing exh ib i t s o f the a rcheo -logical , e thn ico log ica l and o the r a reas o f na tu ra lh is to ry o f the Sou thwes t . A new $4 ,000,000 bu i ld ingt o h o u s e t h e Mu s e u m i s s ch e d u l e d t o o pe n i n 1 97 4 .

M O O R T E N B O T A N I C A L G A R D E NOn e o f t h e larg e s t b o ta n ical gard e n s in t h e W e s t ,the re a re ove r 2 ,000 var ie t ie s o f cactus and o the rexo t ic p lan ts a long na tu re t ra i l s ove r the two-acres i t e . I t is open f rom 9 A. M. to 5 P. M. seven daysa week. Admiss ion i s 50 cen ts fo r adu l t s and f reefo r ch i ld re n u nde r 12 accompan ied by adu l ts . Lo -ca ted a t 1701 Sou th Pa lm Canyon Dr ive , on ther ig h t h an d s i d e j u s t a f t e r t u r n i n g o f f H ig h way 1 1 1toward the Pa lm Canyons men t ioned be low.P A L M C A N Y O N

Approx imate ly 11 ,000 na t ive pa lmsknown asW as h in g t o n ia f il if e ra an d n o t t o be co n f u s e d w i t hthe da te pa lms wh ich we re impo r ted f rom the FarEas t 70 years agogrow in the wi ld canyons o fSou the rn Cal i f o rn ia . Majo r i ty o f these a re in thecanyons o f Rive rs ide Coun ty. The mos t spectacu la rare in Palm Canyon, easily reached by passengercar by tu rn ing off State 111 at So. Palm CanyonDrive in Palm Springs.30

The a rea is owned by the Cahu i l la Ind ians whocharge a nomina l ca r fee fo r the p r iv i lege o f p ic-n i ck i n g an d h i k i n g t h r o u gh t h e ve r d an t can yo n s .L I V I N G D E S E R T R E S E R V E

A mi le sou th o f H ighway 111 on paved Po r to laRoad in Pa lm Dese r t , th i s i s one o f the mos t in te r -e s t ing and unusua l na tu ra l h is to ry and wi ld l i f es an c t u ar ie s i n t h e W e s t . T h e ma in bu i l d i n g h o u s e sd io ramas wi th l ive snakes , l i za rds and o the rdese r t dwe l le rs , p lu s d isp lays dep ic t ing dese r tf l o ra an d f a u n a .Na tu r e t ra i l s w i n d t h r o u gh t h e d e s e r t wh e r e yo ucan see wi ld l i f e and a cross sec t ion o f iden t i f ied

des e r t p lan ts . The L iv ing Dese r t Rese rve is a no n -p ro f i t o rgan iza t ion and a nomina l don a t ion i s re -ques ted fo r ope ra t ion o f the Rese rve . Fami l ie sshou ld no t leave Palm Dese r t wi thou t see ing th isfasc ina t ing na tu re re se rve .D E S E R T S O U T H W E S T A R T G A L L E R Y

Fea tu res pa in t ings , wate rco lo rs , scu lp tu res ando t h e r a r t fo rms by t h e W e s t 's mo s t o u t s ta n d i n gar t i s ts . On H ighway 111 in Pa lm Dese r t .L A K E C A H U I L L A

A man-made lake and recrea t iona l a rea nes t leda t the foo t o f the San ta Rosa Moun ta ins whe rethe sho re l ine o f anc ien t Lake Cahu i lla can be seen .Take H ighway 11 1 eas t f rom Palm Dese r t to Wash-i n g t o n Bo u l e va rd . T u r n r i g h t a n d go t h r o u gh t h echarming commun i ty o f La Qu in ta , le f t on Avenue52 to Je f fe rson St ree t and then r igh t to the lake .A coun ty park , i t has good f i s h ing .

INDI0Highway 111 re jo in s the f reeway a t Ind io wh ichis the home o f the Nat iona l Date Fes t iva l he ld eve ryFebrua ry. A l though ca l led a "Fes t iva l" i t i s one o fCal i f o rn ia ' s la rges t coun ty fa i rs and fea tu res a l le xpos i t ion act iv i t ie s , p lu s the famous and spectacu-la r A rab ian Nigh ts Pagean t . Th is year ' s Nat iona lDate Fes t iva l wi l l be he ld Februa ry 16 th rough 25.S A L T O N S E A A N D A N Z A - B O R R E G O S T A T E P A R KF ro m I n d i o , I n t e r s ta t e 1 0 co n t i n u e s o n t o B ly th eand the Co lo rado Rive r , 100 mi le s to the wes t . S ta te1 1 1 go e s s o u t h a n d t rave l s a l o n g t h e e a s t s i d e o fSa l ton Sea whe re the re a re many s ta te and p r iva tecampgrounds a long the sho re l ine . S ta te 86 goes

sou th a long the wes t s ide o f the Sa l ton Sea (no pub-l ic campgrounds on th is s ide ) pas t T rave r t ine Rockand to Sa l ton Ci ty . To v is i t Anza-Bo r rego Sta teDesert Magazine

Live desertanimals

(above, left) areon display at the

Living DesertReserve in Palm

Desert. It alsohas nature trails

where visitorssee identifiednative plantsand flowers.

Life-size figuresof Biblical

settings (right)are on display at

Desert ChristPark.


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A cable car(left) arrives atthe Palm SpringsAerialTramway'smountainstation, 8,000feet above theValley floor.Giant sandstoneboulders (right)in Joshua TreeNationalMonumentmake it an idealfamily campingarea.

- 3 5

* N *Park , t u rn wes t on the paved Bor rego Sal ton Seaway(S22) which takes you to Bor rego Spr ings and ParkHeadqua r t e r s .

S A L T O N SEAFed by t h e wa t e r s o f t h e cana l s and ranc he s o fImper ia l Val ley and the runo f f o f t he nearby moun-ta ins , Sal ton Sea i s more than 30 mi les l ong and15 miles w ide . I t is a year - roun d f i sh ing , campingand wate r sk i i ng lake. The sa l t con ten t i s s l igh t lyh ighe r t han the Pac i f ic Ocean. I t was f o rmed in1906 when the Co lo rado Rive r broke i t s banks andf loo de d much o f Imper ia l Val ley . Anc ien t Lake Ca-hu i l la , more than 500 years ago , covered the samearea bu t was 100 mi les l ong and 60 mi les w ide .

Mi l l i ons o f years ago mos t o f R ive rs ide Coun tywas u nde r oc ean wa t e r s .A N Z A - B O R R E G O S T A T E P A R K

This spectacular California State Park of fers al ltypes o f scene ry and i s r ich in h i s to ry . SpanishCaptain Juan Baut i s ta de Anza f i r s t b lazed a t ra i lt h r o ugh t h e a r ea i n 1 774 . La t e r t h e Bu t t e r f i e l dS tage Rou t e wen t t h r o ugh t h e d e s o la t e d e s e r t . T he r ea r e pub l i c ov e r n i gh t campgr ound s and d u r i ng t h espr ing i t i s a parad ise o f co lo r f u l w i ld f l owers . Pas-s enge r car d r i v e r s can s ee mos t o f t h e park o n goodgrave l roads . The re are a lso o the r areas which on lycan be reache d by f ou r -whe e l -d r ive veh icles . Fo r ade ta il e d map o f t h e a rea and t h i n gs t o s e e . v i s i t t h ePark Headqua r t e r s j u s t o u t s i d e o f Bo r r ego Sp r ingswh ich has e xc e l le n t mo t e l s and o t h e r f ac il it i e s . T or e t u r n t o Palm Dese r t by t h e mou n ta i n r o u t e , t akeS22 wes t f rom the Park to Sta te 79, no r th o f Agu-anga, pas t t he Bergman Museum (which i s we l lw o r t h a s t o p ) t o S ta te 7 7 a n d t h e n e a s t o n th e"Palms to Pines H ighway" to Palm Dese r t .L O W D E S E R T S I D E T R I P S

There are many passenger car s ide t r ips , wh ichbegin and te rminate i n t he Coache l la Val ley area.D i ll o n Road pa ra ll e ls I n t e r s t a t e 10 o n t h e n o r t h andgoes f rom Palm Spr ings to I nd io . The re are severa li n t e r e s t i ng canyon s a lo n g t h e r o a d , t h e ma i n o ne o fwh ich i s San Berdoo Canyon which f ou r -whee l -veh ic les can use as a sh o r tcu t t o Joshua T ree Na-t io n a l M o n u m e n t .A good paved r oad o u t o f Mecca ( s ou t h o f I n d i o )goe s t h r o ugh sc en i c Box Canyon and c onnec t s w i t hI n t e r s t a t e 10 and t h e s o u t h e r n e n t r anc e t o J o shuaTree Nat ional Monument . Dr ive rs o f passenger carsare warned to s tay on paved roads o r hard grave lroads as they can be eas i ly s tuck in t he so f t sandof canyon washes .February 1975

S A N T A R O S A M O U N T A I N SThe Palms to Pines H ighway (Sta te 74) was re-cent ly designated as an of f ic ial Cali fornia ScenicRou te . I t l eaves Sta te 111 a t Palm Deser t and windsth rough the San ta Rosa Moun ta ins as lower dese r tp lan ts gradual ly g ive way to those o f t he h ighe re levat ion s such as yucca and agave , and the n c limbsin to the p ine f o res t s a t t he 5.000- foo t mark .A t Parad ise Val ley , Sta te 74 i s i n te r sec ted byState 71 which (as s ta ted unde r "Anza-Bor rego Sta tePark") goes eas t t o Aguanga and sou th to t he Sta tePark , o r wes t t o U. S. 395 and then to e i t he r LosAnge les o r San Diego.Con t inu ing on the Palms to Pines H ighway , Sta te

74 goe s n o r t h pas t Lake Heme t t o t h e c ha rm i ngcommuni ty o f I dy l lw i ld . a summer and win te r re -s o r t . Du r i ng t h e w i n t e r i t is u s ua l ly u nde r s n ow socheck wi th t he H ighway Pat ro l . To make a loop t r ipcon t i nue on the paved h ighway pas t Lake Fu lmorand c l own t h e w i n d i ng moun ta i n s l ope whe r e i tconne c ts w ith I n te r s ta te 10 a t Bann ing. You cant h en e i t h e r go l e f t t o Lo s Ange l e s o r r i gh t t o Pa lmDese r t .W I L D E R N E S S P I N E S

Near I dy l lw i ld t he re i s an unusual and comple tecampgroun ds fo r rec reat ion veh ic les . W i lde rn essPines has a 190-acre park with 250 campsites hav-ing a v iew o f t he San Jacin to Mo un ta ins and n es t l edin natu ra l t e r ra in . Open a l l year , w i th t he excep-t i o n o f t h e mon t h o f Janua ry , i t i s o n e o f t h e f ewcampgrounds which have fac i l i t i es f o r campers 'h o r s e s and r i d i ng t r a i l s . T he r e i s a sw imming poo land th ree f i sh ing ponds , p lus a l l fac i l i t i es f o r ove r -n i gh t o r l o nge r s t ay s .T H E H I G H D E S E R T A N DJ O S HU A T R E E N A T I O N A L M O N U M E N T

Th i s i s a p l easan t and i n t e r e s t i ng o ne - day l o opt r i p t h r o ugh t h e H igh Dese r t c ommun i t i e s o f Mo r -ongo Val ley , Yucca Val ley , Joshua T ree and Twen ty -n ine Palms and re tu rn ing to Palm Deser t by go ingt h r o ugh J o shua T r e e Na t i o na l Monumen t .Ju s t n o r t h o f Palm Dese r t o n S tat e 1 11 t u r nr igh t on Bob Hope Dr ive which takes you pas t t heE isen rower Med ical Cen te r t o t he ramp over I n te r -s ta te 10. Jus t ove r t he ramp tu rn l e f t where youwi l l see the n ewly ren ovated F o r t O l ive r , f o rmerhome o f Har ry Ol ive r , dese r t ra t and te l l e r o f ta l lt a l e s .Fo l l ow the paved road which paral le l s I n te r s ta teContinued on Page 40


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THE STEADY hum of the diesel enginethat pushed the large chartered busalong the highway south of the SaltonSea in California's Riverside County waslike a sleep-inducing tonic.This, combined with the early hour andthe gentle rays of the early morning sun,just beginning to creep over the distantChocolate Mountains, was enough to coax

me into sort of a half sleep. It had rainedthe night before and the desert was alivewith a sparkle not too frequently seen.As I dozed, I caught bits of the run-ning commentary presented by LowellWeeks, general manager of the CoachellaValley County Water District. He hadbeen born in Imperial Valley, and knewthe area's history better than anyone Ihad ever met.He was saying: "There used to be asmall community east of here known as

17 Palms." He swung his arm to thewest, taking in an area of desert that

rushed to join the foothills of the SantaRosa Mountains."That community consisted of a num-ber of far-flung ranches held together bya nail keg," he said. I came wide awakefor the moment and gazed to the west,wondering what a nail keg had to dowith a community.Weeks explained: "When one of the

ranchers was desperate enough to makethe long ride into Indio after supplies,he would pick up mail for everyone andleave it in the nail keg on his way backhome. Other ranchers would check thekeg whenever they happened to ride by."I thought Weeks' review of this smallbit of history was interesting. I had neverheard about 17 Palms before; but as thetrip continued, I was to learn that Weeksknew a lot of things about this SouthernCalifornia desert that I had not previously

known.\S the bus hummed on, I couldn't help

but wonder about what life must havebeen like for those ranchers who dependedon a nail keg to keep them in touch withthe outside world.The short distance into In dio, by today'sstandards, must have been quite a tripthen. That was before the days of four-wheel-drive vehicles and recreation-seek-ing enthusiasts, who now gad about this

whole area with ease.Conditions had changed a lot. I livein Palm Desert in a comfortable threebedroom, air-conditioned home, equippedwith electricity, running water, and a tele-phone. Those early ranchers, who ekedout a living from the barren desert, hadnone of these things.What was responsible for this change?At the turn of the century, few peoplelived anywhere on this expansive South-ern California desert. Even fewer people

came here seeking relaxation. What madethe difference? Why was it now attrac-t s a result of the vast canal system, the once deserted w asteland of Imperial an d Coachella Valleys have been changed intoan agricultural empire. Opposite: The All-American Canal under a desert sky. B elow: Coachella Canal and date groves.

32 Desert Magazine.


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five, and then so unattractive? Was itthe Colorado River?The bus I was riding had been char-tered by the Coachella Valley CountyWater District to carry a few VIPs onan inspection tour of the facilities thatprovide water for this vast region, notedfor its date palms, agriculture and recre-ation. Lowell Weeks was guiding the tour.We had left the water district's officesin Coachella shortly before 7 A. M. Asthe sun climbed over the ChocolateMountains and introduced a glimmeringsparkle to the Salton Sea, we were travel-ing south on Highway 86. We had passedTravertine Rock, that famous land markon the west side of the Sea, and was nowrushing by Truckhaven.

I can remember when Truckhaven wasno more than the name of a Jeep trailacross the desert. There is a paved roadthere now that cuts through the lowerfinger of the Santa Rosa Mountains toconnect with the Anza-Borrego StatePark. It's a beautiful drive; passing byFebruar 1 71

favorite camping areas and interesting4WD roads that drop from the plateauinto the many canyons along the way.One of these roads, just beyond a radiotower, leads to an old calcite mine whereeager rockhounds still uncover crystalsfor their collectionsA little way beyond the Truckhaventrail, another highway joins 86, and cutsacross the desert to Burro Bend, a popu-lar area for campers and dune buggy en-

thusiasts.It was below this turnoff that Weeksonce again interrupted my thoughts:"Captain Anza was saved here," hesaid, pointing towards the area knownas San Sebastian Marsh. I knew the areawell. It was the only place I was everstuck so badly I couldn't get out withouta tow truck.Weeks was saying, "Anza and his party,which came this way in 1774 going toSan Francisco, were desperately in need

of water. They found it here, otherwisethey probably wouldn't have made it."

Here was the question of water again.No matter how you look at the SouthernCalifornia desert, the issue of water isalways present. There seems to have al-ways been either a critical shortage or a critical over-abundance.Driving east across Southeastern Cali-fornia, it's hard to imagine that this vastHesert is so closely connected to the Colo-rado River. For thousands of years, thewater rushing down the river from as faraway as Wyoming has played an import-ant part in shaping the Southern Cali-fornia desert.

The Colorado River has filled the SaltonSea Basin more than once. Just how manytimes is unknown. But it seems that allthat dirt that came out of the GrandCanyon was deposited at the mouth ofthe river; often forming a dam, causingthe water to back up and spill into thebasin.During the mid-1800s, when white man

first became interested in this area, theContinued on Page 42


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T h e A n t e l o p eG r o u n dS q u i r r e ly Jack C. Turner , J r .T H E COLORADO Desert is home fora great diversity of specialized ani-mal forms, of which the AntelopeGround Squirrel (Ammospermophilusleucurus) has perhaps one of the great-est distributions and abundance. Althoughthe antelope ground squirrel has a fos-sorial habit (lives in a burrow) he isactive during the daylight hours at allseasons, even during the summer monthswhen most other closely related formsaestivate (summer hiberation) to avoid

desert extremes.This presents some rather intriguing3 4

questions when one considers the natureof the desert's summer environment. Thelarge amounts of solar energy, termedinsolation, which is received accounts forthe high temperatures and in part for theextreme aridity of the desert. Combinedwith low rainfall and a paucity of nutri-ents, it is no wonder that deserts are someof the most hostile of all terrestial en-vironments.The antelope ground squirrel resemblesthe chipmunk in both personality andsemblance, hence his common name "Des-ert Chipmunk," although they are not

closely related. This high-strung desertdweller is constantly in motion. His tail,which is held curved over his back ex-posing his white rump patch, twitcheswith his every move. It is his white rumppatch which suggests the appearance ofa pronghorn antelope for which he isnamed.Summer conditions make rather severedemands on animals that live in the des-ert, and as such these animals must havesome special physiological and behavioraladaptions to cope with these conditions.The antelope ground squirrel begins hisday at sunrise and remains active, forag-ing for food until sunset. They are activeeven when air temperatures exceed 110degrees Fahrenheit and the ground tem-perature rises above 160 degrees. His ac-tivity under such extreme heat has re-sulted in many scientific inquiries intohow this small squirrel can survive.Man can not allow his body tempera-ture to rise. If it does he is said to havea "fever." The antelope ground squirrelallows his body temperature to rise witha concomitant rise in the environmentalor ambient temperature. Dr. G. A. Bar-

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tholomew, of the University of Californiaat Los Angeles, has measured body tem-peratures as high as 110 degrees Fahren-heit with the ground squirrel exhibitingno discomfort. These body temperatureswould in most cases be fatal to man! De-spite his ability to "store" heat the groundsquirrel must be able to rid himself of theaccumulated body heat lest his tempera-ture go too high, which would prove tobe fatal.

This the animal does by flattening him-self against a rock or the ground in ashaded area and thereby transfers someof his "extra" body heat to the ground.If conditions are too extreme, the squirrelretreats to his underground burrow whereit is an average of only 70 degrees Fah

197302 desert magazine 1973 february

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