197906 desert magazine 1979 june
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C o m evisit us.. .
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W ILL IAM and JOY KNYVETTCo-Pub lishers/ Editors
GEORGE BRAGA, Art DirectorSHARLENE KNYVETT, Art Department
MARY FRANCES STRONG, Field Trip Editor
K. L. BOYNTON , Naturalist
Color Separations by
Henry Color Service
Lithographed by
Wolfer Printing Company, Inc.
Available inMicrofi lm by
Xerox University Microfi lms
DaviL
Volume 42, Number 6
MAGAZINE
(USPS 154-940)
JUNE 1979
CONTENTSF E A T U R E S
\THEY ALL LOST THE LOST LEE
THE OLD BORAX HAULER
THE CONTROVERSIAL PREDATOR
"DESERT STEVE," THE TOWN FOUNDER
CHAPAPOTE
NORTHWESTERN NEVADA'S HISTORIC LITTLE HIGH ROCK COUNTRY
THE BOOJ UM OF BAJ A
MOUNTAIN PALM SPRINGS: NORTH GROVE
A CANYON CALLED MULEY TWIST
CORNBREAD
8
12
16
20
24
28
32
35
36
40
Harold 0. Weight
R. M. Lowe
Thomas M. Jenkins
Bill Jennings
Roy Sails
Dorothy Robertson
Barbara Bigham
Dick Bloomquist
Roger Mitchell
Stella Hughes
D E P A R T M E N T S
THE COVER:The coyote, center of a con-troversy. Photo by GeorgeService, Palm Desert, Calif.See article Page 16.
A PEEK IN THE PUBLISHER'S POKE 4
NEW BOOKS FOR DESERT READERS 6
TRADING POST 42
BOOKS OF THE WEST 44
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 46
CALENDAR OF WESTERN EVENTS 46
William Knyvett
Book Reviews
Classified Listings
Mail Order Items
Readers' Comments
Club Activities
AND ADVERTISING OFFICES: 74-425111, P. O. Box 1318,Palm Desert, California 92260. Telephone714346-8144. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: United States and pos-
; 1 year, $8.00; 2years, $15.00; 3 years, $22.00. All other countriesU. S. currency for each year. See Subscription Order Form in
for change of address andsend both new and
ert/ June 1979
old addresses with zip codes. DESERT Magazine is published monthly.Second class postage paid at Palm Desert, California and at additionalmailing offices under Act of March 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1979 byDESERT Magazine andpermission to reproduce any or all contents mustbe secured inwriting. Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs will not be
returned unless accompanied by self-addressed, stamped envelope.
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B A C K I S S U EB A R G A I N S !
ODDS AN D ENDSMiscellaneous Copies
fro m 1959 to 1965Package of 10
$0003o se lections available
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E A C H
C O M P L E T E V O L U M E SFOR YEARS
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Send check or money order to
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in thepublisher's
yokeUCH HAS been writte n in the pages
of Desert Magazine on the Tonopah
&Tidewater Railroad. The r ise and
decline of the railroad has been fuel for
authors for many stor ies. Few, however,
were writte n by someone who was there!
Author R. M. Lowe, of Snyder, Okla-
homa, was just a youngster in his late
teens when he wore many hats as he
operated the T& T's depot at Silver Lake,
California. Take a walk down Memory
Lane as he tel ls about "The Old Borax
Ha u le r . "
Also, in this issue, lost mine buffs will
enjoy Harold O. Weight's second fascin-
ating article on the final days of prospec-
tor George Lee and his efforts to deter-
mine just where the Lost Lee is really
located.
Everyone loves the Roadrunner, and
the Coyote is just a poor second. But,honestly, that cover shot by George Ser-
vice has to win over a few h earts. Tha t's
just the start as Thomas Jenkins updates
the tr ials and travails of this desert fa-
vorite. Seen in ever-decreasing numbers
in the low desert, they are scu rrying into
the hills ahead of the developers.
Rockhounds will want to take note of
Dorothy Robertson's article this month
on a tr ip to Nevada's nor thwest "L i t t le
High Rock C ou nty ." Beautiful scenery,
plus choice specimens —a good com bina-
t ion. Roger Mitchell takes us to Muley
Twist Canyon in Utah; Barbara Bigham
tells us about the unusual boojum of Baja
California; Stel la Hughes tempts us with
her tantal izing corn bread recipes; Dick
Bloomquist vists the North Grove of
Mountain Palm Springs in his Oases
Series; Bill Jennings reminisces about
"Desert Steve" Ragsdale, a colorful
" town founder ," and to ba lance th ings
up we added a dash of archeology from
the La Brea Fossil Site in Los Angeles.
p pWANCIERER
By Slim BarnardThe tours by the Happy Wandereis contain excellent maps, mileage, historof the areas, costs of gasoline consumpt ion, lodging meals, what to wear anthe best time of the year to make tht r ips. A family can plan their trip andetermine the exact amount of time anmoney required.
Volume Number One covers 52 tourthroughout California's deserts, mounta ins , lakes and seashores. In VolumNumber Two, Slim and Henrietta explorArizona, Nevada and O ld Mexico,, wi tthe areas rang ing from m odern resortto ghost towns.
When order ing BE SURE to state Volu mOne or Volume Two. Both books are largformat, heavy paperback with 150 page
$2.95 each
P l ease add 50c for post age/ handl i ng
Cahi residents ad d 6% sales tax
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D e s e r t / J u n e
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£MtioCaptutka§unshit\e
A marvelous ne w book about
John W.Hilton
"The Dean ofAmerican Desert Painters"
by
Katherine Ainsworth
Just one of the many beautifully reproduced Hilton paintings included in the book.
The Man Who Captured Sunshine is a biography of a
rem arkable, m odern day, Renaissance Man — John W. Hil ton.
Though John Hilton is best known as the " D e a n of Am erican
Deser t Paint er s, " he is also a dist inguished botanist , gem ologist ,and zoo logist. Hilton also is a noted writer and linguist, aguitar ist
and singer.
Th e Man Who Captured Sunshine is i n s p i r a t i o n a l . . . a
book which inspires one to o ver co me adver s i t y , to achieve
excel lence, tostr ive for agenuine joy of l iving. Thereader willcry,
but m ore o f ten wil l f ind him se lf/herse lf e njoying the pleasure of
hearty laughter, of grand adventure. Thesignificance of this book,
above allelse, l ies in an im pelling fo rce which inspires the reader
to l ive a f u l ler , mo r e m eaningful , m o r e jo yo us l i f e . . . to be adoer, a
creator, a giver .
The author, Kather ine Ainsworth, makes no apology for the
"lack of object ivi ty" in writing this book . . . she hasbeen a friend
and adm irer of John Hilton for over thirty years. Katie's late
husband, EdAinsworth, wasJohn Hilton's best friend for almostas many years. This "labor of l o v e " hasresul ted in a m agnificent
book about a m agnificent man.
TO PLACE ORDER:
Please send check or money order ($12.95 per copy)
DESERT MAGAZINE BOOK SHOP
P.O. Box 1318
Palm Desert, California 92260
California residents add 6%sales tax, andplease enclose
SO C for postage and handling.v- AN ETC PUBLICATION
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Chuck\Nacpr\
I Cookin'by STELLA HUGHES
A tantalizing collection of cow-camp cook tales and 112 authen-tic old-time dutch oven recipes.165 pages. )
Stella and her chuckwagonon the way to
Washington, D.C.
Calif, residents add 6% sales tax
only
plus 50c po stage/hand ling
D e s e r t M a g a z i n e B o o k S h o pP.O. Box 1318, Palm Desert, California 92260
GIVE DuviLSubscriptions as Gifts
"FROM PICK TO POWDlft"
ISBN 0-87004-265-3 Paperbou nd
Appr o ximat e l y 160 Pages
Many Photo graphs $4.95
Like much of Western history, Telluride'smelodramatic character emerges from the ex-aggerated scale of people and events thatmade up its day. Here were men blasting a rail-road out of solid rock, Big Billy the kindheartedmadam, a world's first in power generation, astrike that angered the nation, and a daringbank robbery by a kid named Butch Cassidyand a group called the Wild Bunch. Telluridehas not become a museum. Telluride today isvery much alive, and as fine a living rem inder ofthe Old West as one can find.
The CAXTON PRINTERS, Ltd .P.O. Box 700
Ca ldwe l l , Idaho 83605
'Booksfor
TDesert
TradersAll books reviewed are available throughDesert M agazine Book Shop. Please adper total order for handling and Califresidents must include 6% state sales tax
ALIVE IN THE DESERT
The Complete Guide for Desert
Recreation and Survival
By Joe Kraus
You're probably saying "we
don ' t need another deser t surv
guide," but we say, wrong, you can
ways pick up something new, perha
lifesaver, from each new guide.
The advantage of this book comp
to some others around is that it
writ ten by a professional writer as
as a person who lived —and still does
the desert, in the Coachella and A
lope valleys, where many of our res
take place.
Kraus has enlisted the assistanc
the High Desert Rangers, a searchrescue team from Lancaster in the A
lope Valley, in his text, and part icu
in his well-chosen and posed p
graphs of rescue situations.
He lists essential supplies that
desert hiker should carry, whether h
a backpacker or a car traveler. Forem
of course is water. Kraus suggests a
lon per person, for each day you pla
be in the f ie ld . This works two w
Water can save your life and a g
weighs more than eight pounds, so
D e s e r t / J u n e
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n't plan on too long a tr ip i f you figu re
And, Kraus points out, a l i tt le elem-
Perhaps even more important, be sure
Wel l , for more, try reading Kraus'
Jean Leetch
A Southern California classic has been
updated and improved by the
o f the Anz a-B or reg o
The origina l guide book, writt en and
received instantly when first published
by the Balboa Island veter inarian, the
huge park's best fr iend in many ways.
When compared to the or iginal, the
current edition has a strong family re-
semblance, with the addition of many
new photographs and revised text cover-
ing newer areas of the huge park. Much
of the original material has been retain-
ed intact, even the first maps prepared
by another veteran park ranger, Jack
Welch.
Dedicated to Dr. Parker, the new edi-
tion has a lovely color photograph on the
cover, taken by Paul Johnson, the park
naturalist and has an introduction by
Maurice (Bud) Getty, the current area
manager of Anza-Borrego. Besides these
two unofficial connections with the pqrk,
the guide book was published with the
cooperation of the California Department
of Parks and Recreation.
Leetch has served two hitches in thepark, the largest u nit in the state system,
and perhaps more than any other living
person is the au thor ity on its beauties,
mysteries and hidden corners. All are
covered thoroughly.
The book has another advantage. It is
bound with the same "lay flat" plastic
spine that proved so useful in the earlier
editions. It will remain open to the page
you want, valuable when you're dr iving
down a wash and haven't t ime to find
your place as you steer around the sand
drifts and away from the rocks that lurk
in the middle of the wash.
Welch's or iginal maps have been re-
vised and laid out in a more useful man-
ner, so the b inding doesn't obscure the
print , a vital feature particular ly for the
f i rst- t ime vis i tor .
One of the most useful additions to
this revision is a bibliography of selected
desert texts. Another is the presence of
the editors. Paperback, 154 pages, two
maps, m any photos, $6.95.
BAJA CALIFORNIADon't leave without OFFBEAT BAJA,
Jim Hunter's guide to the backroads, lost
beaches, and forgotten mountain
villages. OFFBEAT BAJA
lere other guide books
end. 156 pages, 66 photograph s,
maps, difficult roads classified
1 to 10. Send check or money order
to FREELANCE WEST, Box 2142,
Monterey, CA 93940. $6.95 covers
postage & handling. California
residents please add
6% sales tax.
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JDesert/June 1979
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C O O K B O O K SF o r t h e o u t d o o r e n t h u s i a s t ,and those who l ike to f lavorthe ir l i fe wi th the unusual
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C H U C K W A G O N C O O K I N ' by St e l laHughes. Recipes collected straight from thesource—cowboy cooks. Contains Mexican re-cipes, instructions for deep-pit barbecue and
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DUTC H OVEN COOK BOOK by Don Holm .Mew and exciting culinary adventures inDutch Oven cooking. Heavy paperback, 106pages, $4.95.
ARIZONA COOK BOOK by Al and MildredFischer. Unusual recipes for Indian cooking,Mexican dishes, Western specialties. Uniquecollection. Paperback, 142 pages, $3.00.
De GRAZIA AND MEXICAN COOKERY, I I -lustratred by De Grazla, text by Rita Daven-port. A de lightful presentation containing allthe favorite Mexican recipes that have be-come standard throughout the Southwest.
Beautiful illustrations, in color, by the incom-parable De Gra zia. $4.95.
CAC TUS COOK BOOK com piled by Joyce L.Tate. An excellent selection of recipes thatemphasize their edible or potable qualities.Also includes chapter on Food Preservation.Paperback, 127 pages, $2.00.
SOURDOUGH COOKBOOK by Don andMyrtle Holm . How to make a sourdoughstarter, and many dozens of sourdough re-cipes. Paperback, 136 pages, illus., $4.95.
CITRUS COOK BOOK by Glenda McGill is.An unusual and outstanding treasury ofcitrus cookery. Includes tips on freezing,juicing and shipping. Paperback, spiralbound, $2.00.
CALIFORNIA COOK BOOK by Al and Mil-dred Fischer. Recipes divided into "EarlyCal i fornia," "Cal i fornia Frui ts," "Cal i forniaProducts," "Sea Foods" and "Wine Cook-i n g . " 400 more unique collections by theFischers. Paperback, 142 pages, $3.00.
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mine . ' This mine he had worke d, off and
on, for several years, often laboring by
himself , bu t sometimes em ploying others
to aid him . . . This mine was situated in
the desert, near what is now known as
Waterman.
"In August, 1879, Lee started on one
of his trips to his mines. A. Alexander,
with his team, conveyed Lee and his out-
fit through the Cajon Pass and part of the
way beyond, on the road toward this
mine. From this point Lee proceeded
along, on foot, and Alexander returned
with his team.
"Lee never returned.
"After the appointed t ime for his re-
turn had passed, his fr iends, alarmed by
his protracted absence, made inquiry
and search for him, but no trace of him,
alive, was ever discove red. )
"The next year, 1880, R. W. Water-
man proceeded to Lee's (Pencil Lead)
mine, took possession of it, relocated it
in his name, and has 'owned' it, or leastheld it, ever since.
"That mine made Waterman r i c h . "
As a polit ical weapon, the Examiner
art icle f izzled m iserably. Despite a large-
ly Democratic sweep, Republican Wa ter-
man won easily, even outpoll ing by
10,000 votes the Democrat who was
elected governor. Most of the charges
made had been aired and answered
years before. Title to the silver mine had
been fought throu gh the courts, even the
California State Supreme Court, withWaterman winning every act ion.
But the Examiner article did create a
state-wide interest in the Lost Lee, and
in a way authenticated the missing
ledge. Or at least the surge of lost mine
hunters that followed thought so. It also
made Waterman the improbable vil lain
of many of the Lost Lee stories written
since.
According to the Examiner and San
Bernardino Daily Times stories, Lee
made his desert expeditions on foot. Not
only when prospecting, but even when
he went to develop and work his claims.
There is no mention of even pack
animals. Neither is there an explanation
of how he would carry the food, water,
min ing tools and supplies he would have
needed.
The only person I ever knew who had
personal recollection of George Lee and
of the stories then circulat ing, Herman
F. Me llen , said that Lee had a buckboard
when he disappeared. In 1879 Mellen, a
10
boy of thirteen, was at Oro Grande on
the Mojave River, helping his carpente
father. In 1882 and for some time after
they were in Calico, building tramway
and ore bins.
"I remember Lee at Oro Grande,
Mel len said, " te l l ing the men what
fine mine he had down river near Crape
vine. When he disappeared, he had no
done his assessment work on it. Whe
his filing ran out, Waterman relocated i"Lee met his end at Old Woma
Springs. They found his team and outf
at the springs two days later. It was
buckboard. Old Woman Springs wa
then the end of navigation for wagons
Indians were around it. They used t
take their old women out there and leav
them to die. Some thought the Indian
might have made way with Lee. But the
would have taken his clothing, f o o d
stuff they could use. Some though
Waterman did it to get possession of th
mine, which supposedly was secret."I didn't know enough about the Lo
Lee then to ask questions I would now
Who found the buckboard? Two day
after what? There is no known printe
record of anyone f inding anything know
to be Lee's after his disappearance
Now, too, I recognize the partial confu
sion between the Pencil Lead and th
lost ledge which complicates so man
versions.
With or without reason, Old Woma
Springs has been the focal point of thLost Lee legend. And a brisk litt le pro
pecting rush developed in the nearb
Dry Lake area at the time Lee disappea
ed . The Dry Lake Mining Distr ict,
fact, was organized on May 19, 188
little more than a month after Lee
death there was asserted. The distric
10 by 20 miles, had one corner on O
Woman Springs. Twenty-f ive location
had been made some sixteen mile
northeast of the springs by J une 4. Lod
assaying from $100 to $1000 with som
gold, and others from $50 to $600 gold, assertedly had been found. Disco
eries there, the San Bernardino Valle
Index predicted, would help make th
county "one of the largest bullion pr
ducers on the coast."
They didn't. But Calico may have bee
to blame. With in a year, that exciteme
was in full swing probably, as usual d
populat ing all surrounding distr icts. B
mines opened in the Dry Lake Distr
continued to operate unti l World War
Desert/June 19
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Not all lost ledge hunts were confined
ountains —which was blown up
which could move Lee's ledge to
George Lee told the keepers of
said, that
was going out to work his Black Kett le
I t was " in the eastern Mojave,"
Belden then noted that there was no
corded a quartz location. He hired a man
to help him, then sank a shaft, put up a
windlass and built an arrastre. He made
no effort to conceal the location, even in-
viting possible investors to come see his
mine.
On one visit to town, Lee told the
storekeeper he must hurry back. His
helper was almost out of food. He left
that night. Next morning his body, a
bullet in the head, was found near SanBernardino. He had not been robbed.
The kil ler was never discovered. The
public administrator set out with a party
to search for the mine and the helper.
They did not f ind either.
uin, now gone, marked site of Emerson m ine mill in Dry Lake District. For
Ames obtained his water from Eme rson well at edge of dry lake. 1949
by Harold O . Weight.
reat difference between cast iron black
kettles and cast iron Dutch ovens of the
per iod. Back in the 1890s, Tom Scofield
is supposed to have followed an old trail
into the Clippers and at its end found anold shaft and a tattered and abandoned
prospector's camp— an d a Dutch oven
f i l led with mined gold. Once having left ,
he could not f ind it again. Could this lost
Dutch Oven mine really have been
George Lee's Black Kett le camp, Belden
wondered.
Sometime in this century, the Lost Lee
legend itself underwent drast ic changes.
In 1936 (Rufus Wilson: "Out of the
W es t") a version went l ike this: One day
Lee came into San Bernardino and re-Des ert/ June 1979
Wilson indicated the story came from
a veteran prospector and Lost Lee
hunter. Veteran prospector and Lost Lee
hunter Amargosa Charley Gibbs was re-
sponsible for the next variat ion, in theTwentynine Palms Desert Trail, Apr i l 2,
1937. I t fol lowed the Wilson version
c lose ly —w i th two s tar t l ing changes
George Lee had become Robert Lee, anc
his discovery of the ledge and his death
(by being shot through the heart instead
of the head) both were moved up into the
1890s.
Amargosa Charley said he had redis
covered the Lost Lee some twenty miles
north of Twe ntynine Palms, which woulc
Continued on Page 38
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Looking north atTonopah &Tidewater
depot and post office-freight
house and platform beyond.
The
Borax Haulerb y R . M . L O W E
ITS CORPORATE name of "Tonopah
& Tidewater Rai l road" conjured up a
railroad upon which gold andsilverf lowed from the hard rocks of Tonopah to
the seething waters of the ocean. How-
ever, the name was amisnomer inthat
the l ine never reached the l imits ofeither
place, and from the day t star ted, its
main cargo was borax.
After Francis Marion (Borax) Smith
took over W. T. Coleman's borax proper-
t ies, which included the Lila Cmine,he
turned hisattent ion tosome method of
t ransport ing his borax to the Pacific
Coast. His i rs t exper iment was with a
12
steam tract ion engine pull ing wagons of
borax over a rock base road. The scheme
fizzled, and Smith f inally got it through
his rather solid noggin that a railroad
was the only pract ical way.
Upon considered advice from Senator
Clark, Montana copper king and ownerof the SP,LA&SL railroad (Pedro Line),
Smith picked thesmall rail terminal of
Las Vegas as thestart ing point for his
rail line tothe Lila Cmine.
In early 1905, Smith's assistants,
headed by John R yan, established a tent
headquarters at Las Vegas andbegan
throwing up a roadbed forthe new rail
l ine. After about a month, men and
horses had completed anine mile grade.
However, atthis point, clouds began to
gather over thescene when Clark be-
came suspicious of Smith's intent io
Big strikes at Tonopah andGoldf i
gave Clark the idea that Smith was on
way to thenew strikes, instead of
Lila Cmine.
In order to discourage Sm ith, rates
Clark's road rose abruptly. When Smfound that the rate on 10,000 cross ti
from San Pedro toLas Vegas, had go
up to 45 cents per tie , he was astound
Finally, when Smith could stand t
pressure no longer, he pulled the pin
the project and moved his entire ou
by wagon t ra in , to themore fr ien
Santa Fe Railroad atLudlow, Californ
In November, 1905, Smith took a
again athis Lila C when the f irst rails
his T&T crawled slowly down the
f rom Ludlow toward Silver Lake. SmD e s e r t / J u n e 1
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and Clark tangled again over crossing
the Pedro l ine at Crucero. Smith won the
battle and continued building. Silver
Lake was finally reached in March of
1906. It was obvious then that steel driv-
ing men would soon put an end to the
"Twenty Mule Team" scenar io forever .
Laying rails across the dry bed of
Silver Lake was an error that would cost
Smith plenty. To prove it, the tal l San
Bernardino Mo unta ins shed a thick coatof snow in the spring that turned into a
wall of boil ing w ater as it rol led down the
u su a l l y d r y Mo ja ve R i ve r b e d . A t
Crucero, the water turned nor th, past
Baker, and dumped its load into Silver
Lake. T&T tracks were inundated for
about seven miles.
Battl ing Smith got up again and start-
ed hauling train loads of rock to the lake
in order to raise the track to what he
thought would be above water level in
f lood t imes. I t d idn ' t work out—in 1916,old Big Bear called his hand again by
sending an even bigger load of l iquid
down the tube. This t im e, water covered
the track so deep that on several occa-
sions it poured into locomotive fireboxes
a n d s t a l le d t h e m . W o o d e n p i l i n g s ,
holding the Silver Lake depot fair ly high
off the ground, began to lean from
pounding waves unt i l they turned com-
pletely over, dumping the structure in
several feet of mud and water. The old
station agent escaped unhurt, but was
heard to complain that the last t ime he
saw his chair cushion, i t was sail ing to-
ward Avawatz Mounta in.
Smith grudgingly gave up the lake
route, and buil t a l ine on higher ground
along the lake's east shore. Residences
and business houses were skidded to a
point near the new depot. Evidence of
the old rock bed across the lake can be
seen to this day, but being too rough to
drive on, it's still as useless as the day it
was bui l t .Laying track north, across hot sands of
Dumont on to the mouth of Amargosa
canyon, proved to be almost too much for
man and horse. Instead of high water,
the nemesis was now scalding heat.
Finally, in June, al l work had to be
stopped until a crew of 95 Japanese la-
borers arr ived from Los Angeles. After a
few days, Roadmaster Ben Horton,
checking on the new crew , found that o ut
of the 95 men, only 27 were actually
work ing . The others were spraying the
working ones with whooshes of water
from their mouths—Chinese laundry
fashion.
Rock-walled Amargosa canyon was a
hard one to crack, and Tecopa was not
reached unti l May of 1907. In this wel-
come oasis of potable water and handy
hot springs, a terminal was established.
Wh en the l ine was finally c ompleted to
Death Valley Junction, in the fal l of
1907, Smith lost no time and buil t a
branch out to his Li la C mine. A ship-
ment of borax went out on the new l ine
as soon as the last spike was driven.
Borax Smith br istled, and then laughed
at his completed dream.
After I learned telegraphy from my fa-
ther, D. W. Lowe, who was agent at Te-
copa for the T& T, I was ordered to S ilver
Lake in December of 1923 to take over
that station from D. A. Gray, an old
Spanish-American War veteran who had
suffered a stroke while on duty.
In that l i tt le depot, which included myliving quarters, I wore many hats, some
of which proved almost too large for my
18-year-old swelled head. In addition to
agent, I was the telegrapher-postmaster-
weighmaster-water pumper-and express
agent.
Silver Lake was on the main and only
road between Yermo and the mining
town of Goodsprings, and an important
gasoline stop. M y depot was the gas sta-
t ion. I 'd measure out "Red Crown" gas-
oline in a one gallon can from a barrel,then pour and spil l i t into their tanks, at
30cents per gallon. Windshield washing
was taboo, because water was scarce, so
I told them. My cl ientele averaged about
four cars per day.
It was a big day for me when, in 1924,
I received my appointment as postmas-
ter , s igned by President "Si lent Cal"
Coolidge— true to for m , he was brief and
to the point about it. I liked that job as
postmaster, especial ly the reading of
postcards in transit, and did al l r ight
unti l I took exception to one and answer-
Group of
tourists with
author,
extreme right,
in front of
Baker's first
garage, in late
fall of 1924.
Desert/June 1979
Hiffl *** *\Jt
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ed i t . What t ranspired from there made
me wish I 'd never learned to read.
Litt le Silver Lake perked up quite a bit
when Frank X. Hoveley established a
store in one of our old buildings. It was
handy for us, and d id n ' t h ur t Ralph 's b ig
store in Los Angeles one bit. Frank's
young wi fe , My r t le , and two babies f i l led
a gap in our environment that was sorely
needed. I had to laugh when some old
cabin dwellers shaved for the first t imein weeks, then pranced by the store
l ike youngsters on their way to the post
office. A woman in the town restr icted
our ways some, but i t was worth i t.
When a rumor ci rcu lated about town,
in the summer of 1924, that a new high-
way through Baker was planned, and
that Silver Lake would die on the vine,
the old-timers just snorted and said,
"There 's a sand p i t known as 'Cronise
Valley' that wil l stop them. It always
has—so forget i t." They had to eat their
words wh en, a few weeks later, w e saw
dust r ising above busy machines near
Baker. We learned that they had not only
crossed Cronise, but were well on their
way to Halloran Springs and Vegas.
Frank believed the hand writ ing on the
wall by closing his store at Silver Lake,
and moved to Baker where he buil t the
first gas station, lunch room and garage.
Sometime later, Fairbanks & Brown,
from Shoshone, established businesses
across the tracks from Frank's layout.
The area was jumping and I had to
keep up with i t. To start w i th , I str ipped
an old Model-T Ford down to i ts engine
and frame, then added a Rajo head,
Stromberg carburetor, bucket seat andtwo meta l t runks. One trunk for grub,
the other one I slept in when out on the
prow l —sidew inders dictated that move.
I l ike to th ink that o ld "sand-hog" was
the forerunner of today's "dune-buggy."
Getting back to the ra i lroad, the stable
of T&T locomotives, at Ludlow, came in
as many varieties as the famous 57 of
p i ck l e s . Ho we ve r , t h e y we r e We l l
shopped, and when one of them went
sour, Master Mechanic Jack Stalker and
his hearties put it back in mint condition
in no time. In my memory album, I can
sti l l see the gr im visaged grandeur of a
T&T locomotive leading a mixed train of
borax, merchandise and people across
aklali flats and into the restless sand
dunes of Dumo nt. I can sti l l hear the pur-
M O T O R
LODGE
346-8113
75-188 H ighway 111,
Indian W ells,California 92260
First Phase of Ou r Re m o del ingP ro g ram No w C o m p le t e d
THE DESERT'SMOST FAM OUS BISTRO
346-2314
Author and
passengers in his
"Sand-Hog,"
early forerunner
of modern-day
dune buggy.Tonopah and
Tidewater depot
and p ost off ice
at Silver Lake,
California in 1924.
Author, at 18 years
of age, was
youngest
postmaster in
the state.
poseful l i tt le steamer, fussing and blast
ing reverberating chunks from the walls
of Amargosa canyon, and how melodious
solos from its whistle sent curious
coyotes scurrying from tal l cl i ffs above
It was a train out of never, never land
such as a l i tt le boy might draw with un
certain crayons in a nickle tablet;
drawing to be remembered, but impossi
ble to duplicate.
T&T employees were Superintenden
Wash Cahi l l 's b ig fami ly—he kneweveryone of them —and they knew him
They gladly traded many days of hones
sweat in order to keep things solvent
but in spite of their good motives, the
li tt le hauler never made a dime of prof
during its life of 35 years. A sad an
tearful group of employees watched
expire on J uly 18,1942, when contractor
Sharp & Fellows jerked up the last ra i
Now and then, when I wander amon
the mounds of rusted tin cans and pile
of talc at Silver Lake, I can still see th
old town as it was. Sometimes I seem t
hear the drumbeat of marching feet—
oldtimers that I knew, going about the
work and using a unique brand of rhe
tor ic, that i f cut, would have bled. Lik
the l i tt le t ra in , they dwell today in mem
ory only.
The first tenant of this area, the an
cient w i nd , in ful l charge now, may shi
the desert sand as it wi l l , but i t wil l neve
blow away the dear memories of thing
that used to be.
14 Des ert/June 19
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" The or i g i nal of t h i s pai nt i ng not for sal e . Nowin the collect ion of Dr. & Mrs . Ft. S. Baddo ur,P alm S pr i ngs, C al i for ni a ."
7 4 - 4 2 5 H I G H W A Y 1 1 1P A L M D E S E R T , C A L I F .
C o l o r a d oR i v e r
G h o s t T o w n sBy Stanley W. Paher
Ghost Tawm
The skel e t al rem ai ns of abandone d m i nes
and t ow ns i n t he Cer bat Mount ai ns and
ot her bar r en r anges i n w est er n Ar i zona
al ong t he Col or ado Ri ver ar e v i s i t ed byt he aut hor . Lavi shl y i l l ust r at ed w i t h r ar e
o l d p h o t o s . L a r ge f o r m a t . S t a n da r d
edi t i on i s $2.95.
B e a u t i f u l 91/2x12 3/ < h a r d c o v e r e d i t i o n
cont ai ns 15 four -col or r epr oduct i ons of
e t chi ngs by not ed Roy P u r cel l . $9.95
P lease add 50c for pos t age/ handl i ng
Cal i f , r es i dent s pl ease add 6% st at e sal es t ax
Magazine Book Shop
P .O . Box 1318, P al m Deser t , Cal i for ni a 92260
D e s e r t / J u n e 1 9 7 9 15
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pack of four coyotes with two pups were
seen strolling up Sunset Boulevard in
Pacific Palisades. An old Indian legend
seems to have predicted al l this activity:
i t said that the coyote wil l be "the last
an ima l on ear th . "
According to wildl i fe scientists, the
coyote is an importa nt l ink in the chain of
preda tion. As a control ler of range-
destroy ing roden ts, the coyote wins most
of the awards, even outclassing owls,
hawks and foxes as a ski l led mouser,
gobbling mice with as much ease and
consistency as any anima l on ea rth. Coy-otes wil l fol low elk herds waiting to pick
off mice disturbed by their passing; they
also follow harvest machines and some-
times snowplows. Coloradoan Louis Vid-
akovich says, " I l ike to watch them in the
evening. They come down to the mea-
dow and sit there , waiting for the mice to
start coming through the grass. Then
they pounce and whack down at the
ground with their front feet unti l dark.
Every pounce is a mouse." Likewise,
they eat gophers and jack rabbits,their
Desert/June 1979
principal non-vegetable food supply.
Jack rabbits, in only a few nights, can
denude a farm er's green field w ith the
thoroughness of grasshoppers.
As a predator, the coyote serves an-
other ecological function by helping to
produce stronger game-animals such as
antelope, deer, elk and moose by ki l l ing
the weak, sick and aged, el iminating
these infer ior specimens from the breed-
ing cyle. The wolf, w ith his superior size,
had done a more intensive job, but pre-
dator control and inadequate adaptabil-
i ty have removed the American wolfalmost entirely. The coyote, along with
the rare cougar and less aggressive black
bear, remain to carry out this task.
The classic exam ple of ecological irony
took place on the Kaibab Plateau in Ari-
zona early in this century, an area set
aside by President Theodore Roosevelt
as a national game reserve. The crucial
error was to al low predator con trol lers to
kill over 4000 carnivores over a 20-year
period, most of them coyotes. The deer
on the p la teau increased to abou t
100,000, among them inferior speci-
mens, freaks and disease carriers. Even-
tually the entire herd died, leaving the
area nearly stripped of forage, ravaged
and desolate.
The opposite occurred in 326-square-
mile Dinosaur National Monument in
northeastern Utah, where coyotes have
kept the deer herd strong and healthy by
preying on weak fawns and yearl ings, as
well as large populations of rodents in-
cluding muskrats, porcupines, marmots,
beaver, prair ie dogs, cottontai ls, hares,
pack rats and shrews.Not everyone understands the coy-
ote's beneficial contr ibution to the bio-
sphere (or agrees to this point of view).
The bounty-hu nter and the conservation-
ist, the sheepman and the w ildl i fe biolo-
gist, among others, are usually at odds
and at war with one another. In particu-
lar, the sheepmen and the wildlife scien-
tists continue to figh t as epitomized by a
superficial and distorted dichotomy of
bumper-sticker assertions: "Eat lamb;
20 thousand coyotes can't be w ro ng ." vs
17
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however, that the coyote does indeed kill
sheep during severe winters when car-
r ion is unavailable.
Sheepmen, nevertheless, say that in
1974 in this country, 800,000 sheep were
kil led by coyotes, a total value of
$17,000,000. (This took place after the
1972 ban on the use of poison as a pre-
dator control.) They insist that predator
control (particularly of the coyote) is es-
sential to the protection of their flocksbecause sheep are "d u m b ," wander
often, and are therefore easier to find
and attack than the more alert wild
rodents.
Over the years, the weapons of this
des i red p reda to r con t ro l have been
varied (guns, leg-hold traps, bait-explod-
ing devices, as well as trackin g and chas-
ing with airplanes, helicopters and snow
mobiles), but direct poisoning has been
the most deadly and effective. Even
emetic conditioning and anti- ferti l i ty
chemicals were tr ied with l imited suc-
cess. Poison killed over 90,000 coyotes
each year during the 60s, but when a
Presidential order banned its use on all
public lands in 1972 (with restrictions
eased somewhat three years later), the
sheepmen-conservationists feud inten-
sif ied.
Despite the 1972 ban, hunters and
trappers under federal sponsorship con-
t inued ki l l ing coyotes. Most an imals,
however, adjust their reproduction to en-
vironmental conditions: as animals areremoved from a populat ion, the rem ain-
ing members find l iving easier with more
available food, producing healthier l i t-
ters. The coyote can withstand a loss up
to 70 percent of i ts numbers and sti l l p ro-
duce abundantly enough to replace
them.
A l th o u g h a g i ta te d sh e e p me n a n d
wildl i fe biologists argue over the coy-
ote's worth as a predator, both confirm
the coyote's undaunted and almost un-
canny adaptabil i ty to al l conditions. Pre-dator control has been attempted for
more than 100 years as western farmers
and ranchers tr ied to exterminate coy-
otes. Mil l ions of dollars have been spent
on poison-bait programs, paid govern-
ment trappers and hunters and expen-
sive bounties; despite these extended ef-
forts, the coyote's habitat now include
forest, farm and wood lot as well as the
pra ir ie . He has not lost but has expanded
his range.
This re la t ive ly smal l an imal , w eighing
The wily coyote
peers down
from a rocky ledge.
Photo by E. P. Haddon.
20-40 pounds and standing about 16-21
inches at the shoulders (western coyote)
is found from South America to northern
Alaska. Suspicious and opportunistic,
the coyote learns from his mistakes andteaches its young not to make the same
ones. His ingenuity and instinctive ca-
pacity to develop hunting and denning
patterns give him what Alfred Etter call-
ed a " te r r i to r ia l impera t ive . "
Wh en a farm er, rancher or hunter fai ls
to understand and honor a coyote's terr i -
tory, he may cause more predation.than
he (thinks) he is prev enting. Coyotes fol-
low a runw ay or circuit in their area
which includes trai ls, washes, ditch
banks and old roads used throughout hisl i fetime, given sufficient food. The coy-
ote's young are born and raised in the
same area and wi l l , in t u rn , learn the
same secret places and paths, seasonal
knowledge and location of prey from
their parents. Only starvation or con-
tinued persecution cause the animal to
forsake his terr i tory.
A coyote "wel l -ad justed" to h is terr i -
tory has no need to attack sheep or
game-animals. His natural ly-managed
food supply is sufficient. Outsiders —
knowingly or otherwise—who disturbthe balanced l i fe within the terr i tory by
kil l ing the usually few coyotes l iving
within i ts boundaries create a vacuum
into which a greater number of "d r i f t -
i n g " coyotes may be drawn, often to in-
discr imin ately ki l l sheep or game. These
intruders wil l not usually impose them-
selves upon an established territory if
the resident, high-ranking coyotes are
alive.
In his eloquent book, "Slaughter the
Animals, Poison the Earth," Jack Olsensays, "By meddling in the coyote's terr i -
tor ial imperative, interrupting the nor-
mal processes of nature, the killers of
coyotes appear to have created a self-
perpetuating dynasty, where the work
they do is made necessary by the work
they have done." No one has said it
better.
The life cycle of the coyote is typical of
nature's ult imately efficient system. The
coyote's reproductive rate is usually low,
with less than 50 percent of a litter (aver-
fc.. s t -
7 to 10 pups) surviving the first
winter. Coyotes are intensely protective,
affectionate and devoted, with even un-mated females protecting and feeding
the pups of another female when the
mother is absent. Despite these close re-
lationships, there is f ierce comp etit ion in
a season when hunting is poor, with re-
sulting high mortal i ty. Fast growers, the
young coyotes are soon capable of
joining their parents in the hunt for small
prey. Once the hardships of winter and
the dangers of other predators during
the first year have passed, the coyote's
only real enemy is man.Man's threats, however, are abun-
dant. The guns, traps, poisons, hounds
and cars are seemingly everywhere, but
some coyotes survive the hum an gauntlet
for 12 years or more until old age slows
them down. Then weakened by the in-
ability to feed fully, parasites or disease
wil l inevitably take hold. The next winter
the coyote will become too weak to hunt
arid eventually become food to his suc-
cessor in the uny ie ld ing cyc le o f
l i fe-death. , •
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I « . • • •
M7V
I I
NOT MANY people of the mid-20th
Century have had the satisfaction of
found ing a tow n, but S. A. Ragsdale
d i d , and more than one.
Desert Steve, as he was known more
than a half century , died in M ay 1971, 88
years old, with not one place name butseveral to survive him. His primary
monument is the Riverside County com-
munity of Desert Center, California,
which he established on a 700-acre
homestead in 1921.
Ironically, the community, st i l l pri-
marily owned by Ragsdale's Desert Cen-
ter Service and Supply, Inc., has been
bypassed by the national highway it was
established to serve, U.S. 60. Unlike
many such deser t oases , however ,
Desert Center is st i l l thrivi ng . Not so the
20
other sites Ragsdale and his family
created —U topia, Cactus C ity and Hel l .
Cactus City as a place name exists in
the two state highway rest stops along-
side Interstate 10 and as a pumping sta-
tion on the Big Inch gas pipelines from
Texas to the Los Angeles area.Not so remembered are Utopia, near
the Junction of 1-10 and State Highway
195 about a dozen miles east of Cactus
City, and Hel l , which survived several
highway improvements over the post
World War I I years but is now buried
under the westbound lanes of 1-10 about
eight miles southeast of Desert Center.
A group o f dy ing tamar isk and
thriving palo verde trees and a few
broken slabs of concrete still mark the
site of Hel l , which had the dist inct ion of
" D e s e r t
S t e v e "T h e
T o w nF o u n d eby BILL JENNINGS
"Desert Steve'
Ragsdale.
carrying both the shortest and perha
the most controversial of all place nam
along the major Los Angeles-Phoen
highway. To be sure, there are a fe
shorter place names in the southweste
Arizona and California deserts, part ic
larly Ajo and Why, within a few miles each other southwest of Tucson.
Hell was controversial in the preci
way Ragsdale wanted it to be, so peop
would remember it , and him. A form
protestant minister, the Kansas nati
sometimes jarred his companions, ora
and in print, with his mild profanity,
least mild by today's standards. Some
his neighbors and friends objected to t
naming of the gas station and garage f
the Devil's country club but it nev
bothered Ragsdale.
D e s e r t / J u n e 1 9
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High in the Santa Rosa
Mountains, Steve is silhouetted
above the desert he loved.
He came to the desert originally from
Ragsdale's version of how he moved to
but consistently he alluded to crop
"W en t broke on seven-cent cot-
he once told Randall Henderson, a
Desert
I f you knew both men you might won-
l love and deep un-
of the desert, made perman-
Henderson, a graduate of the Univer-
orld W ar I as editor and prin ter for the
Herald, one of several weekly
lly in the boom and boost t imes
Maybe they went busted at about the
another starving weekly, at
the same t ime the Ragsdale fam ily
to Ford Dry Lake, to Old M an
the first m id-des ert service station in
then a dirt track that meandered
Cruen dyke, one of the desert 's earl iest
homesteaders, has been lost to history,and the only first name or initials for him
appears to be "Ol d M a n. "
That f irst stop didn't last long, an d
M r s . Ragsdale and the f irst children of
he couple followed faithfully. Soon the
ld road was rerouted some miles south
of Ford Lake and Ragsdale wisely
selected the site of present-day Desert
Center for his permanent town. A wise
choice, because during General George
Patton's armored training center days
ear ly in W or ld Wa r I I the oas is
e s e r t / J u n e 1 9 7 9 21
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Im'Steve Ragsdale, P oet and Pioneer.
• • . • . m *
f lour ished and the Ragsda le fami ly
became surrogate kinfolks for thousands
of homesick GIs, part icularly Mother
Lydia.
Then, however, the strong character
of Ragsdale became famous. He refused
to sell beer to the troops, or permit any-
one else to do so at Desert Center. He
once told Henderson he had been offered
$5,000 for the beer concession, even be-
fore the war.
" I tu rne d it down because no person
could afford to pay so high a price for the
privilege of serving beer at Desert Cen-
ter , " he said. "I knew they intended to
get their money back if they obtained a
lease. I will not have any honkytonks at
Desert Center, not at any price."
Henderson , in the same art icle, a com-prehensive history of Desert Center and
its founder, said Ragsdale had two vices,
tall tales and bad poetry. In my l imited
acquaintance with the old boy, dat ing to
my own early desert weekly newspaper
days in Indio after Wo rld W ar 11,1 wou ld
have to add a few m ore, a sometimes te r-
rible temper, intolerance on several sub-
jects and a disregard of the working
schedule for other people.
1 ran into all three tra its at the same
t ime , when he visited the news depart-22
ment of the Old Date Palm newspap
and used to harangue Editor Ole No
land and myself, especially when I h
the temerity to defend the New Deal a
the liberal influences in the governme
But Steve had so many admirab
sides you tended to forget the few fau l
He was kind to his friends, went out
his way to help unlucky miners and
porters who might be a litt le shy in t
desert lore department.
He built the Peg Leg Monument ne
Borrego Springs in 1949 because o
New Year's resolut ion he made dur
one of the early Peg Leg Liars Cont
sessions, which used to be held on N
year's Eve. His old sign survives, alo
with the p ile, but the mail box and gu
register long since disappeared. His sreminds liars and all seekers for the P
Leg lost gold lode to place 10 rocks
the pile before them embark, and ma
sti l l do.
Ragsdale was a write r of prose, as w
as doggerel, and one of the few stor
that ever saw print was "M y Friend ,
Tortoise," which appeared in Deser
July 1939. Some of his poetry surviv
too, in the form of old printed signs
used to post on the rough road leading
his Santa Rosa Mountain cabin.
Desert/June 1
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The signs are collector's items of
ourse, but part of the same legend still
ppears in fading print on a granite
oulder along the Forest Service road to
Santa Rosa and Toro.
"Santa Rosa Mountain — Desert
teve 's E igh th Heaven — Al l Decent
Fo lks We lcom e . E n joy , bu t D on ' t
Des t roy . "
The poetry that followed was indeed
950 tr ib ute , called Ragsdale " a cour-
geous pioneer and the world's worst
oet . "
I can 't buy tha t last pa rt, because I've
here's a sample from the Santa Rosa
signs:
"I f hung ry then come to our house
made of logs
We will share our beans and also
our hog.
But don't shoot our deer or birds,my f r iend,
If I catch you at it, I 'll kick your
rear end. "
There's more, before and after, but
isn't that enough?
In his later years, Ragsdale spent most
of his time in the Santa Rosas, while son
Stanley took over at Desert Center. Son
Thurmond operated Utopia for several
years and more recently has been a resi-
dent of the Kaiser Steel mining town of
Eagle Mountain, northwest of Desert
Center.
Perhaps the most bizarre chapter in
the long l ife saga of the Co ffeyvil le, Kan -
sas, native occurred in his declining
years and after his de ath. The fam ily be-
came estranged and Steve was denied
his wish for burial in the rocky tomb he
had prepared years before in a spur of
the Chuckwalla Mountains just south of
Desert Center.
For years, before his removal to the
Santa Rosas, Steve had maintained an
old trailer in those hil ls where he did
most of his wri t ing and spent many days
in solitude, alone with his sometimes bit-
ter thoughts about the New Deal, the
later-day vandalism and overcrowding of
the desert.
Afte r his death at P inyon F lats —now
called Pinyon Pines by its more sophisti-
cated residents —b urial was sou ght at
the rocky eyrie above the Palen Valley.
Riverside County regulat ions prevented
this wish and Steve's last resting place
became the shaded Coachella ValleyDesert/June 1979
Cemetery, peaceful but not the same.
Steve's old fr ie nd , a fellow Palo Verde
pioneer, County Coroner Ben Wh ite, had
given oral permission for the private
bur ia l , but the combination of bureau-
crat ic red tape, and family reluctance,
combined to prevent Ragsdale's long-
t ime wish. Despite his bad heart, con-
stant care and instantly available oxygen
in his succession of big Chrysler cars
helped Steve outlast White.
Terry Low, who had been Desert
Steve's secretary and general helper for
more than 25 years, by her own state-
ment, said his friends should not mourn
his passing.
"A few days before his death," she
wrote me in 1971, "Steve said, 'Terry,
no one ever rea lly ever dies, for he or she
lives in the mind of others who have
known them , for the principles they l ived
by, and what they have done. I have
lived a long l ife; made many errors, buthave always tried to do more good than
h a r m . "
I ronically, two o ld single blanket pros-
pectors he had befriended in the early
days, Gus Lederer and Tommy Jones,
fared better after death than Ragsdale.
He had buried both in rock-covered
graves at Aztec We l l , upstream from
Corn Spring in the same Chuckwalla
Mountains, and except for the predict-
able vandalism, their lonely graves are
st i l l out there.
I hate to repeat any more Ragsdale
poetry, but perhaps his own epitath
should be memorialized, as follows:
DESERT STEVE
Worked like hell to be
An Honest American citizen
Loved his fellow men
and served them
Hated Booze Guzzling
Hated War
Hated Dirty Deal
Hated Damn Fool Politicians.
Hopes a guy nam ed Ragsdale
Will ever serve humanity
At Desert Center.
He dug his own grave.
Here are his bones.
I put this damn thing up
Before I kicked off.
Nuff said—Steve.
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T H E S H IMME R IN G hea t w av es
blurred the horizon as the soldier
squinted against the sun. Wiping the
sweat from his brow with his sleeve, he
tugged on the reins of his pack horse.
His usual utterance about the animal 's
ancestry was strangely absent in the
Augu st heat. In fact, the entire company
of the King's soldiers was unusual ly
quiet as they trudged over the dusty
t ra i l .
It had been two days since the expedi-
t ion had experienced a severe earth-
quake. The many aftershocks had made
the animals uneasy and the religious
Span iards more respec t fu l i n the i r
language. When the soldiers had joined
Gaspar de Portola in his trek to Mon-
terey they could not have imagined the
strange sights and experiences that
would greet them on the Los Angeles
Plain. They had camped on the banks of
the Santa Ana River the evening of the
earthquake. When the main shock oc-curred men and horses were knocked to
the ground. The river i tself was thrown
from its channel. Portola was so moved
by the experience that he named the
river "The River of the Sweetest Name
of Jesus of the Earthquakes."
Riding at the head of the column Por-
tola noticed the uneasiness of the men
and animals. He glanced at Father Juan
Crespi riding at his side. The friar was
engrossed in jott ing in his journal.
"August 3, 1769," he wrote s lowly, t ry-
ing to avoid the uneven movement of hismount. A wisp of wind suddenly ruff led
the pages in the journa l. The friar 's eyes
met those of the expedition's leader in a
si lent communication. The two men
turned in their saddles towards a now
fam il iar sound approaching from th e dis-
tant San Gabriel Range.
At f i rst i t sounded l ike distant thun-
der, but experience had made the men
well aware of the approaching terror.
The animals bolted as the soldiers strug-
gled to control them as well as their own
panic. The sound increased as it ap-proached and the earth shuddered. As
the tremblin g increased the men half fe l l
— half kneeled to the ground uttering
long forgotten prayers of their chi ld-
hood. The animals broke their restraints
and ran with a stumbling gal lop on the
unsure footing. Then, as suddenly as i t
started, the trembler was over.
The expedit ion recovered the animals
and continued across the dusty plain
24 De
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by ROY SALLS
with the men muttering about the value
of such expeditions and their own sanity
for becoming involved. Shortly after the
aftershock they came upon another won-
der of this strange land. They had en-
tered an area of bubbling asphalt springs
cal led "brea" by the Spanish. Crespi
recorded the first account of Europeans
sighting the famous La Brea Tar Pits. An
entry in his journal described the sight-
ing. "The 3rd (August 1769). We pro-
ceeded for thre e hours on a good road; to
the right of it were extensive swamps of
bi tumen which is cal led "chapapote"
(by the Indians). We debated whether
this substance, which f lows melted from
underneath the earth, could occasion so
many earthquakes."
Father Crespi thought the asphalt
flows or tar seeps were volcanic in na-
ture and the cause of the earthquakes.
He was correct in making the relation-
ship between earthquakes and the as-
phalt f lows, but incorrect in determiningthe i r poss ib le vo lcan ic na ture . The
asphalt f lows, known the world over as
the La Brea Tar Pits, are the result of
earth movement along the 6th Street
Fault. The fault fractures an oi l bearing
layer of Mio-Pliocene age in what has
become known as the Salt Lake Oil Fie ld.
The fault allows the asphalt to flow to the
surface along the fault l ine by the aid of
natural gas pressure.
What the explorers did not know was
that below their feet were the remains of
prehistoric animals that wou ld make thissite one of the most famous fossil locali-
t ies in the world. Forty thousand years
before Portola, great herds of wi ld ani-
mals ranged over the Los Angeles Plain.
Camels, bison, mastodons, mammoths,
ground sloths, lions, sabertooth cats,
bears and antelope lived their l ives near
the Tar Pits, many becoming mired over
countless years in what has been called
"The Death Trap of the Ages."
Portola would have been amazed to
see such an unfamiliar animal as aGround Sloth mired in the asphalt, or at
the sight of a prowling Sabertooth. How-
ever many of the animals would have
been famil iar. Such common animals as
kangaroo rats, coyotes and grizzly bears
were contemporary with the other large
extinct animals and are found as fossils.
Mastodons, as they may
have appeared.
Photos byC. B. Obara.
25
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Similodon cali fornicus [sabertooth cat] re-creation from La Brea fossils, life-size at
Page Museum in Hancock Park, Los Angeles.. California.
Today, as the result of 76 years of oil
production from the Salt Lake Oil Field,
the asphalt flow at the Tar Pits has been
severely curtai led. In Portola's t ime, In-dians were gathering the chapapote for
many uti l i tar ian uses. In fact, archaeo-
logical evidence indicates that man has
been using the asphalt for over 8,000
years. Early settlers also saw the value
of the product and quickly put it to use.
James Ohio Pattie, an early trapper,
visited Los Angeles in 1828 and noted
that the people roofed their houses with
the asphalt from the Rancho La Brea
land grant west of the pueblo. Pattie
wrote, "The houses have flat roofs cov-
ered wit h bituminous pitch brough t from
a place within four miles of the town,
where the article boils up from the earth .
As the l iquid r ises, hollow bubbles l ike a
shell of large size are form ed. W hen they
burst the noise is heard distinctly in the
town. The large pieces thus separated
(dried asphalt) , are laid on the roof prev-
iously covered with earth through which
the pitch cannot penetrate when it is
rendered l iquid again by the heat of the
s u n . "
26
It is difficult to believe that one could
hear the gas bubbles exploding four
miles away in Los Angeles but people
had diff iculty believing Jim Bridger 's
stories of hot steam boiling from the
ground in what was to become Yellow-
stone National Park. It may be that the
removal of oi l from the park has dimin-
ished the activity of the past.
Asphalt, brea, pitch, tar, bitumin or
chapapote are all names used to de-
scribe the black oily residue of the La
Brea Tar Pits. All the names are cor-
rect and the value of the substance in the
history of Los Angeles has been over-
looked by the histor ians. The originalland grant of Rancho La Brea was given
to Antonio Jose Rocha on April 8, 1828.
The grant contained a stipulation that
the people of Los Angeles had the right
to enter upon the land with the unmo-
lested right to carry away such brea as
Harlan's ground sloth,
one of the most comm on fossils
from La Brea Fossil Site.
Page Museum Exhibit.
D e s e r t / J u n e 1 9 79
they needed for the waterproofing
their adobe houses. This stipulation fo
lowed the land ti t le through many ow
ers into modern times. It is interesting
note that the asphalt deposit was also
mining claim. This gives r ise to the u
usual situation of the claim being th
only one in California where any clai
jumper could remove the "ore" legall
The claim was an important comme
cial interest in Los Angeles until oil wa
discovered on the property in 1902. Th
dried asphalt was mined in slabs an
melted down in vats. The rehardened ta
was then transported to various loc
tions by wagon. Many tons of the m
terial were loaded on sailing ships
Santa Mon ica for transport to San Fra
ciso. The early streets of the Bay Ci
were paved with part of Los Angeles, th
La Brea asphalt.
During the mining activity, mine
discovered many animal bones. As thewere constantly assisting the ranche
remove mired livestock from the ta
pools they considered the bones the re
sult of such entrapment. The bones,
reality fossils ranging up to 40,000 yea
in age, were tossed aside until there wa
a large accumulation. It was discovere
that the bones would burn. An ente
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Major Henry Hancock acquired the
f ind . His discovery escaped the no-
In 1905 two famous California geolo-
Cali-
avate d betw een 1906 ^.and
In 1913 Mr. G. Allan Hancock, owner
The atriumarea of the
Page Museum
of the La Brea
Discoveries.
The fern
forest is
surrounded by
fossil exhibits.
Los Angeles County Museum the ex-
clusive r ight to excavate the property.
The Museum excavated for three yearscom plet ing the most extensive work ever
conducted on the site. It took another 15
years to clean, catalog and store the 200
tons of fossil material found. At the con-
clusion of their work the musuem had
uncovered the largest collection of Ice
Age fossils ever found. The discovery
was so importan t to paleontology that La
Brea was made a type locality for the
latest part of the Pleistocene or Ice Age.
Today, Rancholabrean is the term ap-
plied to all late Pleistocene fossils
throughout North Amer ica.
G. Allan Hancock donated 23 acres of
the most prolific fossil sites to the Coun-
ty of Los Angeles as an educational park
in May 1915. Hancock Park, named after
the donor, is located in Los Angeles at
the corner of Wilshire and Ogden Drive
in the heart of the Miracle Mile. In June
1969, a new excavation was started in
the park and is open to the public view as
well as seeking volunteers to assist in
this search of the past. Two years ago
(April 1977), through the efforts of the
D e s e r t / Ju n e 1 9 79
industr ial ist George C. Page, the Coun-
ty Museum of Natural History was able
to open the new George C. PageMuseum at the site. This museum was
the fulf i l lment of a dream of the Han-
cocks to see the fossils disp layed on their
original discovery site. Mr. Page spared
nothing in obtaining the f inest archi-
tects and exhibit designers for the mu-
seum. He has created the finest facility
of its kind in the world.
As summer approaches the desert
heat causes the search for cooler activi-
t ies. The cool tropical atr iu m with its fal-
ling waters and shady walkways beckon
to the Page Museum. The park and mu-
seum offers a day of relaxation in an ed-
ucational setting. There are tours of the
park grounds and the Museum. Two
theatres show the La Brea Story and the
Dinosaur theatre has a continuous pro-
gram. Prehistoric animals come to life on
the screen and through your guides, or
you can wander slowly at your own pace
in these pages of the pa st.
The museum is open daily except
Monday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
and admission to all attractions is free. •
27
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The old Billy Denio Homestead,
right, of the early 1900s,
still stands intact. At right, center, is the bunkhouse where the posses
from two states took turns trying to bed down from the killing
snow and cold before setting out on the trail of renegade
Shoshone Mike and his band.
Opposite page: Our friends Eva and Ken Jacobs, discuss
with Al Robertson the possibility of g etting into the canyon to view
the massacre site when the way is barred by wa ll-to-wall water!
N o r t h w e s t e r n
N e v a d a ' sH i s t o r i c
L i t t l eH i g hR o c k
C o u n t r yb y D O R O T H Y R O B E R T S O N
28
M l INTER IN northwestern Nevada is
MM just too cold and w indy for an ex-
| | p l o r i n g - f o r - f u n t r i p . C o nv e r s el y ,
summer months are much too hot. But
both spring and autu mn, say the months
of May-June and mid-September-Octo-
ber are usually ideal prowling weather
months.
This region is wide open sage, rabbit
brush, buckbrush, juniper and pinyon
pine country. Inhabited homesteads are
rare; towns or hamlets are anywhere
from 50 to 100 miles apart. So if you like
to get away from elbow-to-elbow people,
northwestern Nevada is for you!
We love exploring the unmade roads
of this outback land. Most of these roads
wil l accommodate the average automo-bi le, but there is a good rule to follow in
desert travel: Don't go exploring un-
known country without adequate maps,
water and gas, and , of course, take a leaf
from old Noah's book—go two by two!
Then i f anything untoward should occur,
the second vehicle can go for help.
While poking around this fascinating
region we found three areas to be of par-
ticular interest. These are: Little High
Rock Canyon, where a gruesome Indian
Dese rt/June 1979
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^
ambush and massacre of four Surprise
Valley Basque ranchers (from nearby
California) occurred back in 1911; Billy
Denio's homestead which lies a few
miles northward of the canyon, and site
of the infuriated avenging posse that
tracked down the Indians, and a knoll of
pure opalite that lies between nearby
Yellow Rock Canyon and Little High
Rock Canyon.
Gerlach is the last gas and potablewater stop for approximately the next
100 miles or so. Be sure you have enough
of both to see you back to Gerlach, or
west to the California line and the little
town of Eaglevi l le, on the other side of
Forty-nine Pass. Sometimes called the
Lonely Road —and for good reason— you
could sit by the side of the highway all
day without seeing another vehicle—so
much for Route 34!
This whole area is Pioneer Country,
even from before the days of '49, for this
is the Lass en-Applega te Tra il road. If
you take the time to explore the north-
western end of High Rock Canyon you
can seethe wagon ruts s ti l l embedded in
the rocky terrain; see the large caves
mentioned by the emigrants. Signs
pointing directions and mileage are
t.'-
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placed along the highway. Here and
there histor ical monuments and plaques
appear.
We made our last tr ip out on Route 34
which junctioned with Route 8A at Vya—
nothing there but an old bui ld ing hous-
in g a one-time maintenance station, and
turned due south, heading for adventure.
Approximate ly 23 miles south of the
Vya junction a signpost on the east side
of the highway designates Litt le Indian
Springs: 3 Miles; Nell ie Springs: 1 Mi le ;
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Plaque set up at the mouth
of Little High Rock Canyon,
pointing the way to the
actual m assacre site.
Massacre Ranch 17 Miles,and Yello
Rock Canyon: 6 Miles. Follow the u
made road which winds around a lo
hil l-slope to skir t a swampy area (in wweather), then heads in a northeaster
d i rect ion. You wil l notice that en rou
there is quite a number of colorful India
chippings to be seen here. This is th
road to Yellow Rock Canyon, but at th
road fork designating the Canyon roa
turn r ight and fol low the gentle r isin
slope for a couple of miles to a sm
knoll which you wi l l see glistening in th
sunlight. This is Opalite Hi l l !
The knoll lies to the left of th
road—you can't miss it. The beautif
creamy opalescent vitreous-l ike mater
comes in shades of yellow, orange a
various browns. The poorer pieces ma
gorgeous decorative garden rocks.
Since th is is a hard material to min
we just picked up small pieces that l
around. Fractures are conchoidal. Som
pieces worked up into nice cabocho
larger chunks worked into nice spheres
After backtracking to Highway 3
proceed south (left turn) for appro
mately 12 miles where a wide road lea
east. Look to the skyline along the eaern hi l ls, and you will notice a rugge
natural gateway-l ike si lhouette. This
the landmark which is the entrance
Litt le H igh Rock Canyon. Fair ly new re
wood signs now point the way. A sh
drive leads to the canyon-mouth whe
the Northern California Cedarvi l le Tro
53, BSA has placed a commemorat
plaque showing directions and milea
to the actual site of the ambush-massa
of the four Basque ranchers. This
rough, rugged volcanic country!
When we were there, there had be
heavy rains just a few days prior to o
visi t , and thecreek that runs throu gh t
canyon was now wal l - to-wal l . We we
unable to hike the two miles in to t
actual massacre site, much to my disa
pointment, for I had been told that t
Indians' teepee wil low poles were sti l l
upr ight position on their hidden cam
site.
Here, too, at the mouth of the cany
there are many colorful Indian chippin
30 Desert/June 1
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Rough opalite specimen and
sphere obtained from a
large chunk.
»«,
—chippings made from ob-
chert, rhyolite, jaspagate and
On your way out again you wil l not ice
ff in a due north
and between tall stands of sage-
you can glimpse the highway
wi th , it is only a few miles to the
I not iced at the t ime tha t the old sign-
—
It is th ril lin g to those of us who are his-
seen from the access road in.
distance, the rugged rocks show
as a sort of gate-way.
tory buffs to stand on the site and re-create those olden days, back in 1911
when the old homestead was alive with
buckeroos, lawmen and posses of aveng-
ing friends and relatives of the murde red
men, as they mil led around on their
horses, gett ing ready to follow the
Indians ' t ra i l . Even the old corral still
stands, as does the old house and bunk-
house out-buildings.
This high desert country of Route34— the Lonely Road —is a fascinating
place to visit. The air is sweet and fresh
and smogless; the effluvia one of sage
and pinyon and juniper, besides the
ever-present rabbit brush. At night, the
coyotes h owl and deer and sage hens and
chukarca l l . It is a place to visit and clear
the cobwebs of city life from your mind —
at least for a bliss ful few days! •
^
•„,.... f ,
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The snark was a boojum, you see . . .
the boojum is a creature said to
live on distant, unfrequented desert
shores.
Lewis Carrol l ,
"T h e Hu nt ing o f the Sn ark"
B ILBERT SYKES had read Lewis Car-
roll's book, and when he saw the ta l l ,
skinny tree growing in the Mexican
desert, he knew he had found the " cre a-
t u r e " that Carroll had only imagined." H o , ho, a boojum, definitely a boo-
j u m ! " he is said to have exclaimed.
Since that day in 1922, the boojum has
had a name, but few people have ever
caught a glimpse of them. They are
rare —n ative only to a sma ll area of Baja
California, along a 275-mile stretch of
desert between El Rosario and San Ig-
nacio, and a small, isolated section of the
Sonoran coast between Puerto Liberdad
and Desemboque.
Until recently, the only access to the32
boojum-forest was a road that had been
described as "two cow trails which
sometimes run a parallel course." Diff i -
cult even for well-equipped four-wheel-
drive vehicles, the road was nearly im-possible for ordinary passenger cars.
About the only people who managed to
trek far enough to see the boojum were
hardy campers or curious botanists.
For those who made the tr ip , the sight
of the tree was worth the trouble. One
researcher told of his journey: "It was a
long half-day's journey beyond El Ro-
sario before we spotted our first boojum
trees . . . I t was a worthw hi le, indeed
memorable, exper ience."
Young boojums are litt le more than a
by BARBARA BIGHAM
Strange appearing cirio column
or boojum with various fl
forms that m ake Baja a botanist's ed
Photo by Ge orge Serv
D e s e r t / J u n e
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V ; . ! : %
^
J'
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The boojum seems to grow wildly in all directions!
prickly bal l , fat and covered with greyish
bark and spiny twigs which protect them
from predators. They grow slowly, elon-
gating and tapering off to a point unti l
they look like an upside down carrot.
During the rainy season they may
"s pu r t " up a fraction of an inch, but
during the dry season they hardly grow
at all. One cultivated specimen was mea-
sured periodically and after 25 years, it
had grown only 10 inches in height, and
two inches around its base. A boojum
can grow to well over 50 feet, and al-
though they have no tree rings, their size
indicates that they can easily be 500 to
700 years old.
The dry desert of Baja often goes up to
two years without ra in, and the boojum,
like other desert plants, survive by soak-
ing up a reservoir of water in its pulpy
trunk. During a wet spell, the boojum
will sprout leaves and even flower, but
within weeks, the blades of the leaves
drop off to conserve water loss. The
stalks of the leaves harden to form spin
twigs . M ost of the year, the boojum tre
doesn't resemble a tree at all. Its lon
tapering body is covered with leafles
twigs and spines that create a weird a
pearance.
Adding to the oddness of the booju
is the fact that few of them grow straig
upwards. Many twist into seemingly im
possible contortions, as if they'd lost a
sense of direction. They curve in lazloops and even arch down to earth agai
sinking their "heads" into the ground
fo r m wh a t e n v i r o n me n ta l i s t Jo se p
Wood Krutch described as a "gatewa
into a wizard 's garden."
Afte r seeing some of these astonishin
trees, Kru tch noted that, "Dou btles
God could have made a queerer tree .
but if He did, I have never heard of i
As comical as the boojum may seem
there is a sadness in their scarcity. S
rare are they that botanists have pthem in a class by themselves—they a
the only species in the genus Idris C
lumnaris. And even their native rang
so limited to begin wi th , is shrinkin
They are falling prey to natural enemie
such as the lichen, as well as sightsee
who uproot them as curiosities an
smuggle them into the United State
Local farmers often receive a large pa
of the ir income from "harvest ing" bo
jums which have become infested wi
bees. A single boojum hive can conta
up to 100 pounds of honey.The Mexican government has alrea
taken steps to protect the boojum a
their Baja companions. A system
elijos programs encourage the cooper
tive development of public land in Ba
by groups of farmers and ranchers. An
one who removes plants, timber or ev
rocks from the public land must have t
permission of the local elijos or risk
stiff jail sentence.
Although the new, paved Baja hig
way makes travel there less difficult thbefore, there are several adopted bo
jum trees being cultivated in the Unit
States. For a look at these oddballs of t
plant world, stop by the Desert Bota
cal Gardens in Phoenix, the Boy
Thompson Arboretum in Superior, A
zona, the Arizona-Sonora Desert M
seum in Tucson, or the Huntington B
tanical Gardens in San Marino, Calif
nia. They, as well as other desert bota
cal gardens have several examples of t
boojum of Baja.
34 D e s e r t / J u n e 1 9
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N O . 31 IN A SERIES ONC A L I F O R N I A PA L M O A SES
Mountain
byDICKBLOOMQUIST
O W B A C K a t M o u n t a i n P a lm
Springs Primitive Camp after having
visited the Pygmy and Southwest
food. Desert
a l o w - g r o w i n g , s i l v e r - le a v e d
Blanched boulders stud the arroyo
ra in. Small quantit ies of water
Aft er a quarter of a mile or so, Sur-
Pencil sketch ,
by author. j
now, however, our trai l runs straight
ahead to Ma ry's Grove, a tr im l i tt le col-
ony of 35 trees. This oasis is divided into
two sections: a smaller one to the left
(which remains hidden unti l the last mo-
ment) and a larger one to the r ight
(which can been seen from the camp-
ground). At f irst glance the arroyo ap-
pears to end at the r ight-h and grou p, bu t
Mountain Palm Springs:North Grove Log
0.0 Junction of San Diego County RoadS2 and good dirt road to MountainPalm Springs Primitive Camp insouthern part of Anza-Borrego Des-ert Park. This junction is one milesouth of turnoff to Indian Gorge andValley. Turn right and drive to prim i-tive camp.
0.6 Dirt road ends at primitive camp atbase of Tierra Blanca Mountains.Hike up the arroyo entering camp-ground from the right to Mary's
Grove, which is visible from end ofroad. Just beyond uppermost palm inMary's Grove, the arroyo curves toleft. Follow it for another quarter of amile to North Grove. Total hikin g dis-tance f rom campground approx i -mately two-thirds of a mile. Elevationat N orth Grove 960 feet.
a closer inspec tion reveals that it bends
to the left beyond the uppermost palm.
For a few feet, rocks clog the channel,
which looks unpromising indeed. Within
one-quarter mile, however, the narrow
wash suddenly spreads out into the
mountain hollow which harbors the
North Grove.
The availability of water has caused
the palms to grow in vir tually a straight
line along the far side of the hollow.
Damp or muddy soil near some of the
trees and a wa ter-fi l led cavity pawed out
by an animal indicate how very close this
moisture is to the surface. As is the casewith many other alkaline desert oases,
the seepage could be drunk in an emer-
gency by humans, despite its bitterness
and probable laxative effect.
At the North Grove , 19 dignified veter-
ans watch over a large brood of 70 or 75
yo u n g e r t r e e s , a p p r o x ima te l y 4 0 o f
which are less than six feet ta l l . Fire has
not seared the oasis in recent years, and
ful l skir ts adorn al l but a handful of the
Washingtonias.
A robust elephant tree about ten feetta l l , i ts numerous fleshy l imbs contorted
like octopus tentacles, strikes its roots on
the slope south of the. grove . The
branches gave off a spicy aroma when I
brushed against them. W ith i ts purp l ish-
blue berr ies, red sap and twisted trunk
and l im bs, the elephant tree offers an ex-
traordin ary blend of colors and contours.
Next, we'l l backtrack a bit to well-
named Surprise Canyon, one of the
Anza-Borrego country's most rewarding
arroyos. •
35
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<i/L Cannon
CalledULEY TWIST Canyon is one of
those out of the wayand forgotten
corners of the West that you would
pass right on by f you d idn ' t know it wa s
there. And l ike many of these back-road
places, youwould be somewhat poorer
for your ignorance. This is particular lytrue for Muley Twist Canyon. It offers
the back-country enthusiast agrand view
of the geologically famous Waterpocket
Fold, a notable landform in South Cen-
tra l Utah.
Capitol Reef National Park is a colorful
and geologically fascinating area, yet t
is largely overlooked by the hoards of
tourists who annually swarm by the mi l -
lions to Yellowstone, Yosemite and the
more " famous" parks. Capi to l Reef is a
"quiet park" where the visitor cap often
find soli tude aplenty.
Muley Twist Canyon is n the southern
en d of Capitol Reef National Park. It is
entirely open to hikers and the i rst twoand one-half miles are accessible to
motor vehicles, although four-wheel-
dr ive is usually needed to negotiate the
twisting sandy wash. To find the canyon
you can take the " B u r r T r a i l " (see Des-
ert, June 1977) going east out of Boul-
der , Utah, or yo u can take the Bullfrog
Ma rina Road, which heads south from
State Route 24 between Park Headquar-
WATERPOCKET FOLD COUNTRY
MULEY TWIST.
CANYON
TRIASSIC PERIOD %
190 - 230million years ago 135 - 190million years
ago
CRETACEOUS
65 - 135
million
years
ago
2 miles
VIEW LOOKING NORTH
36
by R O GE R M I T C H E L
tecs and Caineville. Both roads are gra
ed dirt, and except for brief periods af
summer or winter storms, areopen
year round. The start of Muley Tw
Canyon is33 miles east of Boulder, or
miles south of State Roue 24.
A National Park Service sign pointsthe proper turnoff. A pair of tracks
north across a small juniper-r inged fl
then start up the bottom of a sandy wa
in Muley Twist Canyon. The color
rocks here are part of the Moenkopi fo
mation, deposited in the bottom o
shallow sea during theearly part of
Triassic period some 225million ye
ago. Asyou can see, the once horizon
layers have subsequently been thr
upward so they now rest at an ac
angle. The strata here is l ike looking a
cross-section of a book, and he Mokopi isbut one brief chapter. Asyou lo
eastw ard, each successive layer of str
is younger than the onebefore it.
After winding up the wash two
one-half m iles, a small sign points to
r ight where a oot trai l of less than a m
leads out o Strike Valley Overlook. T
spectacular view iswell worth the sh
walk. From your vantage point on to p
this r idge, the geologic heart of t
Waterpocker Fold isexposed. From t
to p of this r idge to the top of the ridacross the valley, some seven geolo
fo r ma t i o n s r e p r e se n t i n g 100 m i l l
years of the e a r th ' s a n t i q u i t y a
exposed.
Whe n you leave your car in the wa
yo u are n theMoenkopi formation.
you start hiking on the t ra i l , you f
cross the Chinle formation, the Kaye
sandstone, and finally the Navajo sa
stone at the viewpoint. Just below in
valley you can see the thin redband
the Carmel formation, fol lowed by
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a sandstone, the Summerville for-
the Morrison formation, and fin-
side, the Mancos shale.
the ominous and foreboding massif of
s are common throughout the Colo-
o Plateau Country, so the strata
ake them different here, however, is
u might have to drive many miles to
u way up from the Moenkopi to
ancos formations. But here, in less
es, they are all exposed from
single vantage point. It is like seeing
s of all the pages in a book, not
looking down on one single page at a
Capitol Reef
TORRE V L_
1B O U L D E R
r'\ A,,\ v.V
•
1IT" 79
MILES
0 5 tO 15
National Park
CANEvyj ^ V
rtv5T<2 4
HANASVILLE
T J \rpli™ MULEY
) \ TWIST\ 1 -!m C A N Y 0N
BUL LFROG
BASIN
MARINA
J ust beyond the foot trail to Strike Val-
p those willing to walk. There is very
le Arch is
and one-half miles up the canyon
And beyond Saddle Arch, there are
The next time your travels take you
tral Utah, stop and visit
Reef National Park, and of
time in Muley Twist Canyon. •
Above:
The Strike
Valley
Overlook.
Right:
Muley
Twist
Canyon.
: /
V
1979 37
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Bob Waterman, grandson of Governor Waterman, did not believe the Lost Lee
ledge existed. Photographed here in his home at the Waterman Mill, about 1956.
Burr B eldon Collection, San Bernardino Weste rners ' Corral.
LOST LEEContinued from Page 77
put i t in the heart of the Bull ion Moun-
tains—and the present Marine Corps
Base. There he had found an abandoned
shaft, an old arrastre, and in the vicinitya boulder inscr ibed "Le e and M arc us ."
Ore samples he had assayed ran over
$1000 a ton. Gibbs said he had checked
the location "with the claim of Robert E.
Lee, filed in San Bernardino in 1897, and
found i t to correspond."
With no record of bonanza develop-
ments in that part of the Bull ions later,
there might be a question of whether
Cibbs had found a lost mine or was seek-
ing a gull ible mine buyer.
Since then the legend has trended to-ward a Lee, usually Robert, and the
1890s. In 1952 another hunter, who
though t the Lost Lee was a mine and two
stamp mil ls he had found in a San Ber-
nardino Mountains canyon, also offered
specifics. He went to county officials and
found a mine location made by a man
named Lee in 1890, and a record of his
death three years later due to having
been shot. So it goes.
However , Howard D. Clark, who pub-
lished several stories of the Lost Robert
Lee Ledge, also disposed of it to his own
satisfaction. In a letter to Desert Maga-
zine, Apri l , 1965, he said: "Please
scratch one lost mine . . . A man who
knew I had written about the Lee
working s wanted me to see it. There was
a short extension of the scarred old ar-rastre post above the sands. Down in the
wall of the gulch was a small tunnel. He
even found a rusted metal box which was
buried by a large bush and in it was a
mass of wads of ma terial. He sent this to
the U. S. Treasury and was informed
that i t was the residue of gold certi f i-
cates, but not redeemable . . . Yes, the
ore was gold and the place is 'out from
Old Woman Springs.' Evidence is con-
clusive that this is the site of the Lee
lo d e . "
Well, perhaps the Lost Lee should be
scrapped by now—but for reasons other
than the one Clark offered. No tunnel or
arrastre were part of any legend of
George Lee's Lost Ledge. Certainly
George's ledge produced no wads of
gold certi f icates. Lost mine hunters can
keep looking for the original Lost Lee.
That is, if they can decide where to
look, and if the area is not closed off.
A pivotal question in the solution of
the Lost Lee puzzle is whether the W hite
Metal claim really was George's r
str ike. Burr Belden's computation, bas
on Lee's filing and the location of t
Lone Star mine, placed the White Me
about ten miles northeast of Baldw
Lake. That would put it at the northea
ern edge of the San B ernardinos, sou
east of Old Woman Springs. No prod
ing mines are of record there.
But was George Lee, while seeking
legal protection of a recorded claim , ceptive on the mileage or compass dir
t ion? To misgive the mileage would n
invalidate his claim, and it might thr
potential claim jumpers completely
the track. Go another ten miles in
same direction and you are close to
Los Padres, one of the Dry Lake D
t r i c t ' s mo s t p r o d u c t i ve m in e s .
another five and you are near Earl Am
Desert King mine . You can't go that l
f ive miles today, though. The Des
King is well within the Marine Co
Base boundaries.
With every lost mine, there is alwa
the possibi l i ty that while the search fo
continues, the ledge actually has be
rediscovered — knowingly or unknow
ly—and worked under another nam
What about the Lost Lee? Some beli
the claim name, White Metal, is pr
George found si lver. But he was mig
literal in naming claims. The Pencil Le
rock looked to him like pencil lead. W
any ore besides si lver found in the
Lake Distr ict that would qualify as whmetal? There is an intr ig uing possibi
In 1969, Robert E. Ames publishe
fascinating l i tt le book entit led, " I
member . . . " in wh ich he reca lled
early life in San Bernardino and the d
erts and mountains. Among the most
teresting recollections are those of
fa ther , Earl . Earl Ames was a st
mason and bricklayer by trade, a
long prospector and miner by cho
whenever possible. According to Cha
Mecham, Ames built the earl iest adoin Calico, the first of which becam
saloon.
Around 1900, Ames discovered
Desert K ing , a few m iles east of Em
son Dry Lake. He is remembered th
today by the place name Ames Wel l .
a boy, Robert Ames went with his fa
to work the King. Traveling with a h
vily loaded wagon pulled by two la
burros, it took four days to reach
mine. The first night's camp was n
the summit of Cajon Pass, the secon
38 D e s e r t / Ju n e
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the th i rd at Old Woman
and on the four th day they
at the
was th i r ty feet deep.
was in a grani te and porphyry
wasvery hard . Thevein
and lost value as they went
the wind-
and brought up the rock his father
out. Then his father would sort
it.
nd th is is Robert's description of the
as he remembered it: "The ledge of
ore was cal led 'Si lvern i te '
per ton. My father
in several hundred
of high grade ore. He would sh ip
to the mi l l and would always get a
for severa l hundred dol lars."
I have not been able to identify Silver-
However , there is the r ich tel lur ide
andsilver called Sylvanite whichrun to $1600 a ton. Compar-
it is usually associated with
and commonly in deposits
in the upper zone of the ear th 's
It has not been reported from the
but is found in Cali-
Its color is si lver -whi te to steel gray.
isbr i l l iant, meta l l ic.
If the ore Lee found was Sylvanite,
in theAmes cla im or elsewhere,
why he called it the
If it waswor th $1600 a ton
SanBernardino fr iends saw as-
it would expla in why such a deter-
was made for the ledge.
So—is the Lost Leesilver, gold or Syl-
Was it rediscovered and worked
t in the Dry Lake District? Does it lie,
in some canyon of the San
Or did Robert W. Waterman III have
Bob Waterman st i l
in what had been the Waterman
we f irst visited hisin 1950. By that t ime
b had spent too much t ime try ing to
and correct the misrepresenta-
and falsehoods in the cont inu ing
of Lost Lee stor ies.
"There never was a Lost Lee," he tolc
. "A prospector wil l hit a pocket anc
in his ore, and he's a big shot as
as that lasts. He tel ls how big his
is. And probably there 's no more
It's a ' lost mine ' not only be
hecan' t f ind i t—it isn ' t there." [
1979
Exploring Calif. Byways
#ll In and around
Los Angeles
Exploring Calif. Byways
#ll l Desert Country
Exploring Calif. Byways
#IV Mountain Country
Exploring Calif. Byways
#V Historical Sites
& L
Exploring Calif. Byways
«VI Owens Valley
Exploring Calif. Bywa
•VI I An Historic
Sketchbook
Guidebook to the
Colorado Desert
ot California
Guidebook to the
Mountains of San Diego
and Orange Counties
Exploring Historic
California
A S p e c i a lG u i d e b o o k
O f f e r i n g !
Guidebook to the
Missions of California
. : ( . - • ' •
Exploring the Unspoiled
West Vol. 1
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Great reading about theWest fromthe pens of such authors asRuss Leadabrand. Choral Pepper,Marjorie Camphouse and theSocietyofAm erican Trave l Write rs.Inform ative l i t t le books that will m akeyour futu re tr ips m ore enjoyable.Well illustrated, paperback.Supplies arel im i t e d .
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39
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What's
o n theDesert?
by STELLA HUGHES
C o rn Brcai l!M HERE'S AN o ld say ing , "W ha t ever
4 wi l l satisfy hunger is good fo o d . "
• Now , just thin k about that for a mo-
ment. I ' l l wager the meal you remember
best was very simple fare. Right?
The meal I ' l l never forget was prepar-
ed in camp, after a day of r id ing the rug-
ged Salt River Canyon country in Ari-
zona. Spring, that year, had settled in
l ike a nervous br ide , and Apr i l saw chil l
winds howl ing down the canyon. After
ten hours in the saddle, a cold mashed
potato sandwich would have tasted l ike
pure ambrosia.
Instead, we warmed up left-over pinto
beans and made a Dutch oven of corn
bread. The steaming bread, browned toa golden hue on top with a crunchy crust
on the bottom, made a per fect "p us he r"
to roundup the last tender beans on our
plates.
Maybe it was l ike an old Mexican
cocinero once to ld me, "W he n I 'm hu n-
gry, I 'm pretty damn good cook. When
I'm not hungry, I 'm not ver-ee good
cook. "
Cornmeal is unique to the Americas,
and corn should be a symbol of our coun-
try. Meal made from ground corn was
40
called Indian meal or Injun Corn. Differ-
ent parts of our country have synonyms
for just plain corn bread. There's hoe-
cake, ashcake, johnnycake, corn dodger,
corn pone, spoonbread, Indian slapjacks
and corn fr i tters. There are a lot more,
such as Hush Puppies, Hopi piki and the
Mexicans have masa used mostly formaking corn torti l las. There's no end to
the l ist and the New Englander, the
Midd le W est, the Deep South, the W i ld
West and the Southwest al l have their
regional favorite breads made of corn-
meal.
Remember, no matter what i t 's cal led,
cornbread mus t be served piping hot and
usual ly used as a "sop per- upp er ." Gr id-
dle cakes made from cornmeal are eaten
with a fork and covered with hot buttered
syrup.Back in the early 1940s, my husband
and I lived in the ancient village of
Oraibi, on the Hopi Indian Reservation
in northern Arizona. Here I saw piki
bread made for the first t ime. Here also,
is the only place I've ever seen the small,
stubby, blue corn as raised by the Hopi
farmers.
Traditionally, the midnight blue corn
is ground for piki when used for cere-
monies, and there are many during the
year. The blue cornmeal was home
ground on ancient stone metates w
smooth stone manos. The batter is m
by pouring boil ing water into the m
while stirr ing with a wooden spo
Then cold water is added unt i l the ba
is a thin g ruel. Finely sifted juni
ashes are added to give a special fla
The ashes are made by burning
green foliage and not the wood. So
prefer greasewood ashes.
The Hopi women all had a piki stoMost were of sandstone over two inc
thick and placed a few inches abov
cedar f i re . The sandstone beca
smooth and shiny from use with mu
tallow used for greasing. Sitt ing alo
side their smoky, cedar fire for ho
the women dip into the gruel, swi
with several graceful sweeps with
palm of their hand, the paper-thin br
bakin g in mome nts. No tim e is los
peeling the sheet from the gr i l l and
ing it up with sides tucked in. The fin
ed roll is about th e size of a corn cob
is as crisp as a potato chip. If you'v e
made milk gravy, and after pouring f
the sk illet, the residue on the
drying and curl ing l ike tissue pa
gives you an idea how piki looks
feels.
Piki is still being made by the Pu
Indians of Arizona and New Mexico,
the modern housewife gr inds her c
more often than not, with an ele
grain gr inder.
It 's a long, long way from Hopi
bread to New England johnnycake,
both derive their or igin from anc
grown corn. Rhode Island's early his
tells us johnnycake may have first b
called journey cake, and as time pa
became simply johnnycake.
The true Rhode Island johnnycak
made from white cornmeal, salt
water. Some add sugar, but the or i
recipes did not call for sugar. The d
in-the-wool New Englanders don't
sugar to their johnnycake even todOnly the corn called whitecap flin
ground for making Rhode Island joh
cake. It must be stone ground and in
East you might find the meal for sa
supermarkets, gourmet stores or h
food stores. Here in Arizona, I 'd p
ably starve before I could find a poun
stone-ground whitecap flint cornm
Howe ver, i t can be ordered from Ke
Co r n Me a l Co m p a n y , Usq u e p a
Rhode Island 02892. Wr ite them for
t icu lars.
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Johnnycake
A cups boil ing water
A tablespoons melted buttersalt to ta ste
milk
Mix cornmeal, salt (and sugar if de-
ot melted butte r. I f too thick to d rop
tter should be thicker tha n hot
vegetable oil or bacon dr ip-
Because I had only commercial white
johnnycake from non-stone ground
john-
Just remem ber, johnnycake is not
Southern Style Buttermilk Corn Bread
Below the Mason and Dixon l ine, it is
or crit te rs.
1 cup cornmeal (yellow or white)2 tablespoons melted butter
i cup mi lk
2 eggs, beaten
i teaspoon salt
i teaspoon soda
1 cup but termi lk
cup all purpose f lour
Blend all dry ingredients in a bowl.
wel l . Add hot
n. Bake at 450 degrees about 25
Mexican Sourdough Corn Bread
1 cup sourdough starter
IV2 cups yellow cornmea l
VA cups milk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
V* cup melted shortening
Vi teaspoon salt
Vi teaspoon soda
1 cup whole kernel corn (drained)
Vi cup grated onion
1 cup grated Chedda r cheese
1 small can diced green chiles1 small jar diced pimientos
Mix together sourdough starter, corn-
meal, milk, eggs and sugar in large
bowl. Stir in melted shortening, salt ,
soda, corn, onion, cheese, green chiles
and pimien tos. Pour into a two-inch-deep
bread pan at least 8 x 10 inches. Bake at
400 degrees for 35 minutes. Cheese, plus
Grinding corn
on m etate.
the corn makes this heavier, thus takes
longer to bake.
Mexican corn bread goes well w ith fr i-
joles and barbecue beef. It 's almost a
meal in itself and you'll f ind your guests
passing up the main course of a dinner
and taking seconds on this satisfying
cornbread.
There 's dozens of wond erful cornmeal
recipes which space does not allow to
include here. Old Fashioned Indian Pud-
ding with fruit , which has absolutely
nothing to do with Indians, is a great fa-
vorite with roundup cooks on the range.
Then t he re ' s f r i ed co rnm ea l m ush
served with sausages—that's something
to write home about, not to mention crisp
corn sticks, tamale pie and on and on
unti l wh ole books could be writ ten about
corn and cornmea l cookery. •
An oasis in the red rock and canyoncountry of southeast Utah—
R E C A P T U R E L O D G E§ T O U R SBluff, Utah
Nightly slide shows - geologist-guidedtours - heated pool - automaticlaundry - lawn games - group accomo-dations. San Juan river trips arranged
Ge ne and M ary Fou shee / Blu ff, Utah 84512 / [801 ] 672-2281
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• BOOKS-MAGAZINES
DESERT MAGAZINES—assorted '46 to '74.Send addressed, stamped envelope for list andprice. Also, True West, Vol. I, No. 1, plus as-sorted; Old West, Vol. I, No. 1; Frontier Times,new issue, miscellaneous copies. S pecify desire.Harvey, P. O. Box 1024, Joshua Tree, Calif92252. (714)366-2894.
W I N ! ! "How To Win A t Ken o" only $5.00. Tryfor the Big One, $25,000.00—the Casino's Larg-est Prize. Winnemucca Enterprises, P. O. Box1178, Winnemucca, Nevada89445.
WAN TED, DESERT MAGAZINES . Vol. 1, #1,4,6,7,8,9,10. Vol. 2, #4,7,9,11,12. Vol. 3, #2. K. E.Harms, Box 91, Shoshone, California 92384.(714-852-4471.)
FOR SALE, best offer. Desert Magazines,1954-1978. Some 1940s. I.K.G., 2300 WalgroveAve., Mar V ista, California 90066.
HOW TO HIKE the Grand Canyon. Don't gowithout it! Recommended hikes for Beginnersand Backpackers. Maps. Safety, Equipment,Clothing, Food Tips. More. Send $2.25. Adven-tures, 363 East River Road, Tucson, Arizona85704.
GEMS • REAL ESTATE
SHAMR OCK ROCK SHOP, 593 West La Ca-denaD r., Riverside, California92501. Parallel toRiverside Freeway. Phone 686-3956. Come inand browse; jewelry mountings, chains, sup-plies, minerals, slabs, rough material, equip-ment, black lights, metal detectors, maps, rockand bottle books.
• MAPS
OLD STATE, Railroad, County Maps. 70-110years old. A ll S tates. Stamp for catalog. N orthernMap, Dept. DM, Eagle River, Wisconsin 54521.
RARE OLD MAP—Big Bear District, 18" x 20"Reproduction on simulated parchment. Mailedrolled ideal for framing. $2.00 postpaid. <Calif.residents add 12c tax). Melco P ublications, P. O .Box 744 D, Big BearCity, Calif. 92314.
MINING
.ASSAYS— Gold & Silver $5.00. High qualityspectrographic analysis for 65 metals $6.00.Free price list. Reed Engineering, 2166 CollegeAve ., Costa Mesa. Calif. 926?7
FOR SALE: 640 Acres. Imperial County. Poten-tial Agriculture and Recreation. Sec. 16 Town-ship 13 South, Range 20 East, SBBM. OwnerEdward B. Freed, 6607 Drexel Avenue, Los An-geles 90048. 213-651-2835.
» TREASURE FINDERS
METAL DETECTOR enthusiasts. Keep informed on what is happening in the f ield. Send fofree treasure hunting newspaper. Exanimo Express, Box 448, Fremont, Nebraska 68025.
INSTANT RICHES —Explore ghost towns. Findburied treasure, coins, relics, antiques, andmore. Goldak—the finest "Metal and TreasureLocators since 1933." Send for free catalogGoldak, Dept. D, 626 Sonora Avenue, GlendaleCalifornia91201.
TREASURE—Locate quarter mile away with ultrasensitive locator—brochure free. ResearchProducts, Box 13441-BUC, Tampa, Florida33611
CUTE CREATIONS from ordinary rocks. Bookhas instructions and color photos. $2.95 plus 40cshipping. The Owl's Roost, 1 Corral Ln., Sp. 17,Ashlan d, O regon 97520.
BUSINESS O PPORTU NITIES
EASY EXTRA INCOME. $500/$1000 stuffingenvelopes. Rush stamped, self-addressed en-velope to Camelot Enterprises, 151 N. Hibbert#15, Mesa, AZ 85201.
• DESERT PAINTINGS ART
SEE KINGSLEY OSMUND HARRIS originalDesert Paintings display in Desert Magazine'sWestern Art Gallery, Palm Desert, California.
• EMPLOYMENT
EARN $2,500.00 MONTHLY and up, part-timeat home, as our Sales Representative! Free in-formation: K&B Distributors, P. O. Box 27131,Honolulu, HI 96827.
EQUIPMENT
PRECISION LAPIDARY Abrasive Compoundsfor tumbling, polishing and grinding. Send forfree catalogue and price list. MDC Industries,400 West Glenwood Avenue, Philadelphia, PA.19140. Dealer Inqu iries inv ited.
42
PROSPECTING MISCELLANEOUS
DRYWASHERS! GOLD CONCENTRATORS!Guaranteed to recover minerals, gold. A hobbythat pays for itself! Write to: Nick's Nugget,P. O. Box 1081, Fontana, California 92335. (714)822-2846.
PLACER GOLD $2.00, Black sand and placergold (mixed), $2.00. Placer Gold Nuggets $1.00to $300.00 sizes. Prospector Jack Ward, Box380, Sandia Park, New Mexico 87047.
GOLD-SILVER Geologic report on most likelyprospects in California. Maps show where tolook. $5.00 to: Resource Survey DevelopmentCo., 3515 Mungall Dr., #2, Anaheim, Calif.92804.
FREE GOLD, fun, sun and exercise. All thesecan be yours on your next outing when you areprospecting with your own portable, hand-powered dry washer you built from our excel-lently detailed blueprints. Mail $5.00 to Bill
Larrabee, Box 725, San Dimas, C alif. 91773.
• SEEDS & PLANTS
JOJOBA—25 clean seed, instructions. $1.50prepaid. Indian Trail Nursery, Star Rt. 2, Box75, Twentynine Palms, California 92277.
HOW TO PLACE YOUR ADMail your copy and first-insertion remittanceto : Trading Post, Desert Magazine, PalmDesert, Calif. 92260. Classified rates are 25cper word, $5.00 minimum per insertion.Deadl i ne l or Cl ass i f i ed Ads i s 10t h of second
m o n t h p re c e d i n g co v e r d a t e .
UNIQUE HAWAIIAN Sewing Patterns for muumuus, holokus, sun dresses, pareaus (sarongs)bikinis, shirts, resort wear. Hawaiian quiltinand needlepoint patterns. From Hawaii's Pattern People: Pauloa, Pacifica and Poakalani. Fo
complete mail-order catalog send $1.00 to Patterns, Dept. D, P. O. Box 11254, HonoluluHawaii 96814.
BELLEW MEMORIAL ARTHRITIS MedicaClinic, D.H.S., Calif. Practice limited to theBellew Vaccine Method of treating arthritisDesert sun and climate. Phone 714-329-8723Write P. O. Box 305, D.H.S., California 92240
ORNAMENTAL WINDMILLS, 8 f t .—$69.50freight included. 41/2 ft.—$52.50, freight included. California residents please add 6% sales taxIndian Trail Nursery, Star Route #2, Box 75, 2Palms, California92277.
1000 QUALITY ADDRESS Labels. Beautifullprinted in blue. Satisfaction guaranteed. $1.50California residents please add tax. Ron Sellers209 East Ave., P-2, Dst., Palmdale, Calif. 93550
BE PREPARED with Sam Andy Emergency anSurvival Foods. Insure your family today. Fodetails, w rite : Valley Food Reserves, Post OfficBox 211, Scio, Oregon 97374.
SOURDOUGH FOR the soul. Make your owstarter. Easy and delicious recipes includedSend $1 SASE to P. B. Inc., Box G, Cima, Cali92323.
Desert/June 197
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MAPS!
MAPS!DESERT OVERVIEW MAPSUsing topographic rhaps as basic under-lays, are two excellently detailed maps forback country explorers of the Mojave andColorado Deserts. Maps show highways,gravel routes, Jeep trails, plus historicroutes andsites, oldwells, which are not onmodern-day maps, plus ghost towns,Indian sites, etc. Mojave Desert Overviewcovers from U.S. 395 at Little Lake to Boul-der City, Nevada, to Parker Dam to Victor-vil le. Colorado Desert Overview coversfrom the Mexican border to Joshua TreeNational Monument to Banning to the Ari -
zona side of the Colorado River. Be certainto state which mapwhen ordering.
$3.00 each
ANZA-BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK
TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS
A set of 7 maps covering the Anza-Borrego
Desert State Park, 81/2"x11" format, spiral
bound. $5.50
JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL MONUMENTUPDATED TOPOGRAPHIC MAPSA set of 12 maps covering the Joshua TreeNational Monument, 8 1 /2 "x11" format,spiral bound. $7.95
MAP OF PIONEER TRAILS
Compiled by Varna Enterprises, this istheir new large map on pioneer trails blaz-ed from 1541 through 1867 in the westernUnited States. Superimposed in red onblack andwhite, 37"x45" $4.00
R O A D M A P TO C A L I F O R N I A ' S L O STMINES ANDBURIED TREASURESCompiled by Varna Enterprises, 38"x25"and scaled Southern C alifornia on one sideand Northern California on theother. $4.00
MAPS OF THE OLDWESTPrinted in two colors on rich Parchmentpapers; each map has the rustic appeal ofthe Old West. Hundreds of sites—names,dates anddescriptions of places and eventsassociated with the Old West, includingghost towns, old forts, old mines, lost andlegendary gold, Indian tribes, battle sites
and early tra ils.Arizona Lost Mines & Ghost Towns $1.25
Calif. Lost Mines & Ghost Towns $1.25
Nevada Lost M ines & Ghost Towns $1.25
(Each above map17"x22")The Historic West—237x30" $1.75
(Includes the11 western states)Arizona Treasure Map —30"x38" $2.00
(Field Map)
Please add 50c tor Postage/handling
Calif, residents add 6% state sales tax
Order from
, M ag az i n e Book S h op
P. O. Box 1318,Palm Desert, Calif 92260
EACH
Including tax and postage
Gold embossed on brown vinyl. Space for
12 magazines easily inserted. A beautiful
and practical addition to your home book-
shelf. 1
WORTH
SAVING!MOST OF OUR READERS SAVE THEIR
DESERT MAGAZINES FOR FUTURE REFER-
ENCE AND READING PLEASURE. THE BEST
WAY TO KEEP YOUR BACK ISSUES IS IN
OUR ATTRACTIVE SPECIALLY-MADE
BINDERS
DESERTP. O. BOX 1318, PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA 92260)
REPLACEABLE SUBSCRIPTION FORMJun e 1979
DiAVtJLj Check here if you
wish this issue replaced .
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Three Years 22.00 HANDSOME BROWN VINYL BINDER FOR
(Or three 1-Year) $5 50 (Includes tax and postage)
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Send orders toBox 1318
Palm Des er t , C ali fornia 92260
GHOST TOWNS OF THE COLORADO ROCK-IES by Robert L. Brown. Written by the authorof Jeep Trails to Colorado Ghost Towns, thisbook deals with ghost towns accessible by pas-senger car. Gives directions and maps for f ind-ing towns along with historical backgrounds.Hardcover, 401 pages, $9.95.
HISTORICAL ATLAS OF C ALIFORNIA by War-ren A. Beck and Ynez D . Hasse. Extensive docu-mentation and pertinent detail make this atlas avaluable aid to the student, scholar and everyone interested in the Golden S tate. 101 excellentmaps present information on the major faults,ear ly Spanish explorat ions, Mexican landgrants, routes to gold fields, the Butterfield andPony Express routes, CCC camps, World War IIInstallations, etc. Hardcover, large format, ex-tensive index, $12.50.
HISTORICAL ATLAS OF NEW MEXICO byWarren A. Beck and Ynez D. Hasse. Geographi-cal data, sites of prehistoric civilizations, eventsof history, first towns, stagecoach lines, historictrails, etc., are included in this comprehensiveatlas. Excellent maps, index. Hardcover, largeformat, highly recommended, $9.95.
HOPI KACHINA DOLLS [With a Key to TheirIdentif ication], by Harold S. Colton. Kachinadolls are neither toys nor idols, but aids to teach-ing religion and tradit ion. This is a definit ivework on the subject, describing the meaning, themaking and the principal features of 266 vari-eties of Kachina dolls. Line drawings of each va-riety , plus color and b/w photos make it a com-plete guide to learn more of the richness ofAmerican Indian culture. Paperback, 150 pages,$4.50.
THE ROCKS BEGIN TO SPBfi x by LaVan Mar-t ineau. The author tells how his interest in rockwriting led to years of study and how he haslearned that many—especially the complex pe-troglyphs—are historical accounts of actualevents. Hardcover, well illustrated, glossary,
bibliogra phy, 210 pages, $10.95.
FORKED TONGUES AND BROKEN TREATIESEdited by Donald E. Worcester. This book givesus a better understanding of the unequal strug-gle of native against immigrant while our nationwas being explored and settled. Profusely illus-trated with excellent photos, a "m u s t" refer-ence for historians, students, l ibrarians. Hard-cover, 494 pages, $9.95.
HIGH MOUNTAINS & DEEP VALLEYS by Lewand Ginny Clark, with photographs by Edwin C.Rockwell. A history and general guide book tothe vast lands east of the High Sierra, south ofthe Comstock Lode, north of the Mojave Desertand west of Death Valley, by oldtimers whoknow the area and have since birth. Paperback,192 pages, 250 photographs and many maps.
$6.95.SHADY LADIES OF THE WEST by RonaldDean Miller. Everyone knows that the h arlot wasthe vanguard of every move w estward, and thatshe was as much of a part of the western sceneas the marshal, the badman, the trai l-hand orthe rancher. Many are the reasons she has beenneglected by the historian—none of them valid.Author Miller, in this enlightening book, seeksto remedy some of the paucity of information onthe American pioneers of this ancient profes-sion. Hardcover, comprehensive bibl iography,224 pages, $7.95.
FIELD GUIDE TO WESTERN BIRDS by RogerTory Peterson. The standard book for field iden-tification sponsored by the National AudubonSociety. Second Ed ition, e nlarge d, 658 photos in
full color. Strong, durable paperback, $6.95.44
GHOST TOWN: El Dorado by Lambert Florin.The colorful, outrageous characters of the West-ern mining towns come to life on every page ofthis fascinating volume crammed with photos ofghost towns in Colorado, California, Arizona,Utah, etc., plus exciting history and anecdotes.246 photos and illustrations. Large format, hard-cover, originally published at $12.95, now priced
at $5.95.
ARI ZONA TREASURE HUNTERS GHOSTTOWN GUIDE by Theron Fox. Early maps of1868 and 1881 show 1,200 place names, roads,forts, early county arrangements, mining dis-tricts, ghost towns, steamboat landing, moun-tain ranges, lakes, etc. A handy reference. Pa-perback, $1.95.
LAKE POWELL & RAINBOW BRIDGE, Gemsof the Southwest, by the Warren L. Dowlers.This latest publication by the Dowlers presentsthe many faces of America's longest man-madelake, and features the world's largest naturalbridge, located in the scenic Canyon NationalRecreation Area of Arizona-Utah. The story isrecorded in word and beautiful four-color colorphotos. This new book, in addition to theDowlers' Lake Powell Boat & Tour Guide, is amust for those who love that fabulous area.Paperback, 9" x1 2" format, $4.95.
WILLIE BOY, by Harry Lawton. The story of anincomparable Indian chase, its unexpected con-clusion, woven into an authentic turn-of-the-century h is tory o f Cal i forn ia 's Twentyn inePalms country. T his desert classis offers rare in-sights into Indian character and customs, as we llas a first-hand look at a colorful desert region asit was nearly a century ago. Historic photo-graphs and colorful m aps, paperback, $4.95.
CAMP AND CAMINO IN LOWER CALIFOR-NIA: Explorations and Adventures on the Baja;1908-1910, by Arthur W. North. A handsomenew edition of an old favorite of many Baja Cali-fornia travelers, with new illustrations and all ofthe author's original photographs. A classic ac-count of land and sea travels in a raw territorywritten after travels 70 years ago. Modern writ-
ers use North as a starting place. Hardcover, 130photograp hs, 346 pages, $20.00.
A SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAN'S GUIDE TOWILD FOOD by Christopher Nyerges. Thisnewly published manual describes the mostcommon plants of So. California in detail andtells how to include them into your diet. Beat thehigh cost of food by utilizing free wild food inbackyards, vacant lots and wilderness areas.Many recipes included. Paperback, $4.95.
DESERT GEM TRAILS by Mary FrancesStrong. DESERT Magazine's Field Trip E ditor'spopular f ield guide for rockhounds. The "bible"for both amateur and veteran rockhounds andback country exp lorers, and covers the gems andmineials of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts.
Heavy paperback, 80 pages, $2.00.
CALIFORNIA PLACE NAMES by Erwin G.Gudde. This book presents the story of thous-ands of geographical names of California, givingtheir dates, circumstances of naming, their ori-gin and evolution, their connection with our na-tional history and their relation to the Californialandscape. This third edition incorporates manynew en tries and extensive revisions to older en-tries. An important addition is the reference listof obsolete and variant names. Hardcover, 416pag es, $15.75 .
A FIELD GUIDE TO WESTERN REPTILESAND AMPHIBIANS by Robert C. Stebbins. APeterson Field Guide, 207 species, 569 illustra-tions, 185 in full color, 192 maps. The best bookof this type . $6.95.
GHOSTS OF THE ADOBE WALLS by Nell Mu r-barger. A re print of Arizona h istory by one of thedesert's outstanding reporters. Old mines,towns, army posts, people and areas are reborninto vivid life by an expert w riter who knows herareas and subjects. With handy locator mapsand many photograph s. Paperback, $7.95.
SOVEREIGNS OF THE SAGE by Nell Murbar-ger. A collection of previously tol,d tales aboutthe people and the places of the great A mericanSouthwest by the original author, a longtime re-porter of the desert. Many photographs , some ofthem now lost, several excellent Norton AllenMaps . Paperback, $7.95.
BAJA CALIFORNIA GUIDEBOOK by WaitWheelock and Howard E. Gu lick, form erly Ger-hard and Gulick's Lower California Guidebook.This totally revised fifth edition is up-to-the-min-ute for the Transpeninsular paved highway, withnew detailed mileages and desc riptive text. Cor-rections and additions are shown for the manyside roads, ORV routes, trails and little-knownbyways to desert, mountain, beach and bay re-cesses. Folding route maps are in color and new-ly revised for current accuracy. Indispensable
reference guide, hardcover, $10.50.
FORGOTTEN DESERT ARTIST, The Journalsand Field Sketches of Carl Eytel, an early-daypainter of the Southwest, by Roy F. Hudson.This is the story, prima rily told in sketches, of anearly and highly talented desert artist and natur-alist, told by a distinguished educator of theCoachella Valley. Eytel's horseback and foottrips throughout the Indian Country of theSouthwest made him a valuable early observer.Hard bound, 118 pages, many paintings andsketches, $22.50.
GEM TRAILS OF ARIZONA by Bessie W. Simp-son. This field guide is prepared for the hobbiestand almost every location is accessible by car orpickup accompanied by maps to show sandy
roads, steep rocky hills, etc., as cautions. Lawsregarding collecting on Federal and Indian landoutl ined. Paperback, 88 pages, illus., $4.00.
WHERE TO FIND GOLD IN THE DESERT byJames Klein is a sequel to Where to Find Gold InSouthern California. Author Klein includes losttreasure tales and gem locations as he tellswhere to find gold in the Rosamond-Mohavearea, the El Paso Mountains, Randsburg andBarstow areas, and many more. Paperback, 112pages, $3.95.
BAJA CAL IFORNIA A ND ITS MISSIONS byTomas Robertson. This book is a must for all ofthose who are interested in the saga of the m is-sion fathers and who may wish to visit those al-most forgotten churches of the lonesome penin-sula of Baja Ca lifornia. Paperback, 96 pages, il-
lustrated w ith photos and maos, $3.50.Des ert/June 1979
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Please add 50c per to tal orderfor Handling/Postage
C alif , add 6% state sales tax
GHOST TOWNS OF ARIZONA by James andBarbara Sherm an. If you are looking for a ghosttown in Arizona this is your waybil l . I l lustrated,maps, townships, range, co-ordinates, history,and other details make this one of the best ghosttown books ever published. Large 9x11 format,heavy paperback, 208 pages, $5.95.
TRACKING DOWN OREGON, by Ralph Fried-man. An excellent general history of California'snorthern neighbor, which has as much desert ofa differe nt descr iption plus a lot of sea coast andexciting history. Many photographs of famouspeople and places and good directions how to getthere. Paperback, 307 pages, more than 100photographs, $5.95.
Don Holm 's Book of FOOD DRYING, PICKLINGAND SMOKE CURING by Don and MyrtleH o l m . A complete manual for all three basic me-thods of food processing and preservation with-out refrigeration or expensive canning equip-ment. Also contains instructions and plans forbuilding the equipment needed at home. An ex-cellent publication and highly recommended forthe nomemaker, camp cook or the expedit ionleader. Paperback, well illustrated, $4.95.
THE KING'S HIGHWAY IN BAJA CALIFOR-NIA by Harry Crosby. A fascinating recountingof a trip by muleback over the rugged spine ofthe Baja California peninsula, along an historicpath created by the first Spanish padres. It tellsof the life and death of the old Jesuit missions. Itdescribes how the first European settlers werelured into the mountains along the same road.Magnif icent photographs, many in color, high-light the book. Hardcover, 182 pages, large for-mat, $14.50.
TEMALPAKH by Lowell John Bean and Kath-erine Siva Saubel. Temalpakh means "from theearth , " in Cahu illa, and covers the many uses ofplants used for food, medicine, rituals and thoseused in the manufacturing of baskets, sandals,hunting tools; and plants used for dwell ings.
Makes for a better understanding of environ-mental and cultural relationships. Well i l lus-trated, 225 paqes, hardcover, $10.00.,
A N U N N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y O F D E A T HVALLEY, With Reflections on the Valley'sVarmints, Virgins, Vandals and Visionaries, byPaul Bailey. An irreverent history of Death Val-ley and its annual 49ers Encampment, by anoted writer and editor who has been thereevery year since. Mixed in with the humor is al i t t le real history coupled with outstanding Bil lBender sketches. Paperback, 83 pages, with 50sketches and pho tographs, $3.50.
OWYHEE TRAILS by Mike Hanley and EllisLucia. The authors have teamed to present theboisterous past and intriguing present of thisstill wild corner of the West sometimes called
the I-O-N, where Idaho, Oregon and Nevadacome togeth er. H ardcove r, 225 pages, $9.95.
CALIFORNIA GHOST TOWN TRAILS by Mick-ey Brom an. Thirty-six photographs showingsome of the old towns as they appear today, notas they did 50 or 100 years ago. Thirty -six mapswith detail mileage to the ghost towns, shown tothe tenth of a mile. Interesting and historicaldata for treasure hunters, rockhounds, bottlecollectors and western-lore enthusiasts. Paper-back, $2.95.
WILDLIFE OF THE SOUTHWEST DESERTS byJim Cornet t . Wr itten for the layman and seriousstudents alike, this excellent book on all thecommon animals of the Southwest deserts. Amust for desert explorers, it presents a brief lifehistory of everything from ants to burros. Paper-
back, 80 pages, illustra ted, $3.95.Des ert/ June 1979
C ALIFORNIA-NEVAD A GHOST TOWN ATLASand SOUTHWESTERN GHOST TOWN ATLASby Robert Ne il Johnson. These atlases are excel-lent do-it-yourself guides to lead you back toscenes and places of the early West. Some pho-tos and many detailed maps with legends andbright, detailed descriptions of what you wil lsee; also mileage and highway designations.
Heavy paperback, each contains 48 pages, each$2.00.
JEEP TRAILS TO COLORADO GHOST TOWNSy Robert L. Brown. An i l lustrated, detailed, in-formal history of life in the mining camps deepin the almost inaccessible mountain fastness ofthe Colorado Rockies. 58 towns are included asexamples of the vigorous struggle for existencein the mining camps of the We st. Illus trate d, 239pages, end sheet map, paperback, $6.95.
SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAIN TRAILS byJohn W. Robinson. Easy one-day and more rug-ged hiking trips into the San Bernardino, SanJacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains of SouthernCalifornia. 100 hiking trails are described in de-tail and illustra ted so you will not get lost. Heavypaperback, map , 258 pages, $6.95.
DEATH VALLEY: Geology, Ecology, Archaeol-ogy, by Charles B. Hunt. Death Valley has long
been a place of fascination for people the worldover, and much as been written about it. Now,however, a ll aspects of this famous (or infamous)desert have been brought together in this book.Lavishly illustrated with 163 photos and linedrawings, 234 pages. Paperback, $6.95; hard-cover, $14.95.
THE BLACK ROCK DESERT, by Sessions S.Wheeler . One of Nevada's least-known and mostscenic historical desert areas is described by thestate 's leading profess ional h is tor ian andauthor. Black Rock is part of the huge GreatDesert Basin and was the setting for Indian bat-tles and several tragic incidents during the 1849California Gold Rush. Paperback, 186 pages,many black and white photographs, sketchesand map s, $4.95.
SPEAKING OF INDIANS by Bernice Johnston.An authority on the Indians of the Southwest,the author has presented a concise, well-writtenbook on the customs, his tory, c rafts, ceremoniesand what the American Indian has contributed tothe white man's civi l ization. A MUST for bothstudents and travelers touring the Indian Coun-try. Heavy paperback, illus., $2.95.
THE SEA OF CORTEZ, The Gulf of California,Baja, and Mexico's Mainland Coast by RayCannon and the Sunset Editors. A rich and color-ful text acquaints the traveler and outdoorsmanwith the history, people, climate and travel op-portunities of this exciting wonderland. Each ofthe 12 regions that make up the Gulf ofCaliforn ia is covered in a separate chapter w ith aspecial section on how to catch "Cortez fishes."
Large form at, ha rdcover, 272 pages, $14.95.
STEAMBOATS ON THE COLORADO RIVER,1852-1916, by Richard E . Lingenfelter. The firstcomprehe nsive, illustrated history of steamboat-ing on the entire length of the Colorado Riverand its principal tributaries. Covering nearly acentury of western history, this book fills a realneed and joins the gaps in the saga of m arine na-vigation in the arid desert. Many maps, illustra-
tions and a list of all the river steamers. Paper-back, 195 pages, $9.50.
DEAT H VALLEY IN '49, by William LewisManly. The newest reprint of a Death Valleyclassic, written by one of the heroes of its mosttragic period, with a new foreword by the super-intendent of the Death Valley National Monu-ment. Paperback, 498 pages, $8.95.
NEVADA PLACE NAMES by Helen S. Carlson.The sources of names can be amusing or tragic,whimsical or practical. In any case, the readerwill fin d th is book good reading as well as an in-valuable reference tool. Hardcover, 282 pages,$15.00.
ARIZONA PLACE NAMES by Will C. Barnes,
Revised and enlarged by Byrd H. Granger. Ex-cellent reference book with maps, BiographicalInformation and Index. Large format, hardcover,519 pages, $11.50.
LAND OF POCO TIEMPO by Charles F. L u m -mis. A rep rint of the famous writer and historianof his adventures among the Indians of NewMexico. L ummis was one of the foremost writersof the W est. Paperback, 236 pages, $3.95.
CALIFORNIA DESERT WILDFLOWERS byPhilip A. Munz. Illustrated with both line draw-ings and beautiful color photos, and descriptivetext by one of the desert's finest botanists.Paperback, $3.95.
C AC TUS I DENTI FI ER I ncl uding Succul ent°lants by Helm ut Bechtel. This gem of a little
book contains 119 beautiful color photographs of:acti and succulent plants. Detailed desc riptionsof each, plus where they are to be found, andhow to care for them. 256 pages of informativereading, hardcover. $4.95
FIELD GUIDE TO ANIMAL TRACKS by OlausJ. Murie [Peterson Field Guide Series]. Thiscomprehensive book helps you recognize andunderstand the signs of all mammals—wild anddomestic—on this continen t, as we ll as those ofmany birds, reptiles and insects. More than 1000drawings; individual tracks, different track pat-terns, animals in their habitats, droppings,gnawed trees—all the types of clues the trackerneeds. Strong, durable paperback, $5.95.
THE C REATIVE OJO BOOK by Diane Thomas.Instructions for making the colorful yarn talis-
mans originally made by Pueblo and MexicanIndians. Included are directions for wall-hungojos, necklaces, mobiles and gift-wraft tie-ons.Well illustrated with 4-color photographs, 52pages, paperback, $2.95.
DESERT EDITOR by J. Wilso n McKenne y. Thisis the story of Randall Henderson, founder oDESERT Magazine, who fulf i l led a dream andwho greatly enriched the lives of the people wholove the West. Hardcover, illustrated with 188pages, $7.95.
RAILROADS OF ARIZONA VOL. I by David FMyrick. More than 30 railroads of Southern Arzona are presented, together with 542 nostalgiillustrations, 55 special maps and an Index. Avaluable travel guide and a reliable historicareference. Large format, hardcover, 477 pages
$19.50.4
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•Lettersto the
•EditorLetters requesting answers mustinclude stamped self-addressed envelope
No Se ns e to Ji m D o l l a r . . .
I put this off a long t ime , but since I am now
ret i red, I feel an obligation to set a few things
straight while I am sti l l on this side of theriver.
In the June, 1964 issue of Desert
Magazine, there was a nice story about KenMarq uiss and the J m D ol lar Lost Cold Ledge
or Mine. Please f ind enclosed four pictures:th e road, the hil l from a distance, the nose on
th e h i l l , l ike he said (hump ed hogback wi th apoint l ike a turned- up nose on the north en d,
l ies roughly N&S. And you would be facingabout E, SE. As you travel the nose should be
on your left), and photo no. 4, the hil l and thenose from the other side looking SW. I must
congratulate the man on his di rect ions —righton the ball .
Also on page 11, he says . . . " sta nd on the
RR tacks at Danby and the easterly straightl ine at right angles to the tracks is your
'Walking Line' and if you look out the eastdoor of a box car at Danby, you'l l be lookingsquare at a mi l l ion buc ks." Right again, ex-
cept for the mil l ion bucks.
I located the Jim Dol lar Lode Mine—re-corded December 16, 1974. It is in the Litt lePiute Mountains, just north of the Old
W o m a n M o u n t a i n s , a n d r i g h t o n " t h ewa l k i ng l i ne . "
The pale butterscotch rock (what the rock-
hounds left) was sti l l there stuck in the rock
up at the point, but the entire hil l had beenmined to a fare-thee-wel l and they made a
good job of i t . All the gold-bearing quartz onthe east side was ripped o ut. It was a peculiar
formation. The east side is l ike a wall and thequartz was plastered up against i t , also on the
point where some of the butterscotch was sti l lin place in 1973 when I first saw it.
Down below the point is a l i t t le wash, "he
says ! " It ain't a l i t t le wash anymore. It 's at
least 25 feet wide and it runs past the pointunder the "nose" and goes past the east side
of the hi l l running south thereaf ter.
I had a mine in the Cl ipper Mountains justwest of Danby and l ived there for three years.
It 's a well kn own fact that in the '30s the en-t i re area —Tu rt le Mou ntains, Old Wom an
Mountains, Ship Mountains, Li t t le Piutes,Sacramentos —all were prospected and mined
thoroughly. Near Coffs you wi l l f ind the Von-tr igger Diggings, some of the biggest old
mines in San Berdoo County. When they f in-ished there was nary a f i f ty cents worth left,and that 's the way i t was when Marquiss qui t
looking for i t in 1935. What they didn't get inthe '20s, they f inished in the '30s. When I
first spotted it in 1973, I passed it up as"worked out ," but when I read about the J m
Dollar, I went back thinking there sti l l had tobe something left. I just wasted my time and
money. My best advice to all the people whorun all over creation looking for a mil l ion
bucks is as fol lows:
The "o ld - t im ers " miners knew more about
prospect ing and f inding gold than you wi l lever know. And as for " looking out the east
door of a box car at Danby," don't look forany at Danby. There isn' t any more Danby.
The ent i re rai l road stat ion, siding, watertank, bui ldings , etc. , are gone—25 years ago.
Ken's advice about old unexploded ammu-nit ion is quite right. There is sti l l some of i t
there plus a lot of tank tracks leading no-whe re. They told a story about a tank that wasdisabled and abandoned out there. If some-
body finds it, that might make a pretty goodJ m D ollar at the scrap yard .
A . M . Z W E Y E R ,San Pedro, California.
West side of hill.
Calendarof
•EventsThis column is a public service and there ischarge for listin g your event or meeting—so tadvantage of the space by sending in your nouncement. We must receive the informatat least three months p rior to the event.
JUNE 2 & 3, 13th Annual Rockatomics Cand Mineral Show, 8500 Fal lbrook Av
Canoga Park, Cal i fornia. Exhibi ts, dealeDemon strat ions. Adm ission and parking fre
JUNE 9 & 10, Lassen Rocks & Minerals S
iety's 7th Annual Rocks, Minerals and IndArtifacts Show, Jensen Hal l , Fairgroun
Susanvi l le, Cal if . 96130. Exhibi ts, tai lgat incamping spaces for campers and trai lers.
JUNE 22 & 23, 1979, Reunion of men w
served in the states and South Pacif ic with 417th Bomb Croup. Contact Glenn Cla
1705 Bradley St., Bossier City, LA 71112.
JUNE 30-JULY 4, 50th Annual Al l -IndPow Wow, Flagstaff, Arizona. The five-d
program wil l provide a medley of attractioNavajo, Hopi , Zuni , Apache, Papago, Ch
enne and Kiowa wil l participate along wIndian visitors whose tribal homes are sc
tered throughout the United States aMexico. For informat ion on accommodat ioetc. , contact the Pow Wow Wranglers,
Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce, 101 Santa Fe, Flagstaff, Ariz. 86001. Be wise a
make reservations early.
JULY 13-15, "Fi ler Cem and Mineral Sho
in Filer, Idaho. Demonstrations, dealers,
hibits. Free public parking and admission.
JULY 14 & 15, Reno Gem and Mineral Soety's Annual "Jackpot of Gems '79" Sh
V. & T. Room, Centennial Coliseum, 4590
Virginia St., Reno, Nevada.
JULY 20-22, First annual "Cinco de Flores" Flower show and plant sale, Agric
tural Bui ld ing, Ventura County Fair GrounVentura, Cal i f . Categories: African Viole
Begon ias, Bo nsai, Fu'Schias and Orc hids. Twil l be a judged show. Donation, $1. Fparking on Fair Grounds.
JULY 20-AUGUST 26, Art -A- Fair Fest i
Boy's Club, 1085 Laguna Canyon Road, guna, Calif., featuring f ine artists and cra
persons. For information, write to P. O. B
547, Laguna B each, Calif. 92652.
4 6 Desert/June 1
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GREATR E A D I N G From
T h eO R E G O ND E S E R T
THE OREGON DESERT by E. R. Jackson andR. A. Long. Filled with both facts and anecdotes,this is theonly book on the little but fascinatingdeserts of Oregon. Anyone whoreads this bookwill want to visit the area—or wish they could.Hardcover, illustrated, 407pages, $9.95.
BLACK i l C Iitsirt
THE BLACK ROCK DESERT by Sessions S.
Wheeler. One of Nevada's least-known andmostscenic historical desert areas isdescribed by the
state's leading professional historian and
author. Paperback, illus ., maps, $4.95.
...
GHOST TOWNS OF THE COLORADO ROCK-IES by Robert L. Brown. Written by the authorof "Jeep Trails to Colorado Ghost Towns," thisbook deals with ghost towns accessible by pas-senger car. Gives directions and maps for find-ing towns along with historical backgrounds.Hardcover, 401 pages, $9.95.
C A X T O N P R I N T E R S
HELLDORADOS, GHOSTS AND CAMPS OFTH E OLDSOUTHWEST by Norman D. WeisThe author takes you on a7,000-mile tour of theOld Southwest, visiting some 67ghost towns andabandoned mining camps, one never beforementioned in written history. 285 excellentphotos. H ardcover, 320 pages, $9.95.
Don Holm's Book of FOOD DRYING, PICKLINGAND SMOKE CURING by Don and MyrtleHol m. A complete manual for all three basic me-thods of food processing and preservation with-out refrigeration or expensive canning equip-ment. Also contains instructions and plans forbuilding theequipment needed at home. An ex-cellent publication and highly recommended forthe homemaker, camp cook or the expedition
leader. Paperback, well illustrated, $4.95.
Send check or money order to
MAGAZINE
Box 1318,
Palm Desert , Cal i f . 92260California residents please add 6% tax
Please add 50c for postage/ handling
Tlih;• KVAOADESERT.
1
.****
THE NEVADA DESERT bySessions S.WheelerProvides information on Nevada's state parks,historical monuments, recreational area, andsuggestions for safe, comfortable travel in theremote sections of western Am erica. Paperback,illustrated, 168 pages. $2.95.
untilT i m W
OWYHEE TRAILS by Mike Hanley and EllisLucia. Theauthors have teamed to present theboisterous past and intriguin g present of thestillwild corner of the West sometimes called theI-O-N, where Idaho, Oregon andNevada cometogether. Hardcover, 225pages, $9.95.
GHOST TOWNS OF THE NORTHWEST byNorman Weis. The ghost-town country of thePacific Northwest, including trips to many little-known areas, isexplored in this first-hand fact-ual and interesting book. Excellent photogra-phy, maps. Hardcover, 319pages, $9.95.
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DESERT PRJNTSThrough a special agreement with famed desertartist. John Hilton, Desert Magazine is pleased tooffer a limited number of beautiful four-color prints.
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" P a p a g o D a w n "
"The Hi l ls o f Home'
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ence i t is the r icher o f the two . . . "
Although Lee's Pencil Lead mine,
mentioned by Delameter, was never a
lost mine, it and Robert W. Waterman
are inextr icably entangled with the Lost
Lee. The f irst wide circulat ion of the
story occurred on October 22, 1886,
when it was spread across half the front
page of the San Francisco Examiner. Not
as a lost mine story. It was an attempt,
two weeks before the general e lect ion, todefeat Waterman, Republican candidate
for Lieutenant-Covernor, by l inking him
with Lee's disappearance and possible
murder. As such, every sentence is sus-
pect. But this account of Lee and his dis-
appearance sounds factual:
"George Lee was a quiet, unobtrusive
man of about 50 years of age. He lived
here (San Bernardino) for many years
and was known by most of our citizens.
He had prospected various parts of the
country for mines and had taken up sev-eral claims, some of which we re suppos-
ed to be of great value. For years he had
been in the habit of going to his claims
every few weeks or months to work
them. He frequently went alone. To one
of them, which he regarded as his best,
he invariably went secret ly. He exhibited
specimens from it of marvelous richness,
but its location he revealed to no one,
and it is to this day unknown.
" M y story, however, related especial-
ly to one of his claims commonly known
as 'Lee's mine, ' or 'Lee's quicksilver
i
" - . ' - . •
'.
*3*
Lost mine
hunters
believe that
the Lost Lee
was richer
than Ceorge
Lee's Pencil
Lead claim
\tne... tWaterman
Mine] where
the silver vein
[right] was
gouged out
hundreds of
feet into the
mountain.
Burr Belden
advancedtheory that
the Lost Dutch
Oven mine,
believed to be
in the Clipper
Mountains
[below], might
be the ledge
George Lee
found. 1950
photos by
Harold O.
Weight.'m m