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CREED OF THE DESERTBy JUNK LE MERT PAXTON

In the desert the Yuccas standguarding

With daggers drawn ready to fight,To protect the calmness of eveningAnd the long restful peace of the

night.

D E S E R T

(zalend&tCivic groups in the desert area are

invited to use this column for announc-ing fairs, rodeos, conventions, and otherevents which have more than localinterest. Copy should reach the DesertMagazine by the 5th of the month pre-ceding publication. There is no chargefor these announcements.

JULY 26—Fiesta and dances, SantaAna Pueblo, New Mexico.

JULY 28—Corn dance at Taos,New Mexico.

JULY 29-31—Rodeo and Air show,Hobbs, New Mexico.

AUG. 1-25—Wood block prints incolor by Gustave Baumann ofSanta Pe to be exhibited at Mu-seum of Northern Arizona, Flag-staff.

AUG. 2—Dances at Jemez Pueblo,New Mexico.

AUG. 4—Corn dance at Santo Do-mingo Pueblo, New Mexico.

AUG. 4-5—Rodeo at Cedar City,Utah.

AUG. 5-6—State convention ofUtah department of AmericanLegion at Cedar City, Utah.

AUG. 10—Great Corn dance atNambe and Picuris Pueblos, NewMexico.

AUG. 12—Corn dance at SantaClara Pueblo, New Mexico.

AUG. 13-14—Spanish trails fiestaand rodeo at Durango, Colorado.

AUG. 24-26— Inter-tribal IndianCeremonial at Gallup, NewMexico.

AUG. 25-27 - Miners' SummerJamboree to be held at Prescott,Arizona.

AUG. 26-27 — Rodeo at Elko, Ne-vada.

AUG. 28—San Agustin's Day atIsleta Pueblo, New Mexico.Announcement of the Hopi Snake-

dance to be held in August will bemade about 1 0 days before the cere-mony.

Vol. I AUGUST. 1938 No. 10

COVER

CALENDAR

PHOTOGRAPHY

PERSONALITY

HOBBY

CAMERA ART

TRAVELOG

INDUSTRY

ADVENTURE

FIESTAPRIZESPOETRYINDIANS

NEWS

TALL TALESMININGPLACE NAMESFICTION

LANDMARKSBOOKS

CONTRIBUTORSCOMMENT

LETTERS

Pueblo Boy, Photo by Frasher's, Pomona, California

August events on the desert 1

Announcement of contest winners 2

62 Years a Trader in Apache LandBy TAZEWELL H. LAMB 3

So They Built a Museum on the MojaveBy RANDALL HENDERSON 5

"Feel" of the DesertPhotc by W. M. PENNINGTON 9

Navajos Call it Nat-sis-anBy HULBERT BURROUGHS 10

Roadside Date Shop on the DesertBy J. WILSON McKENNEY 13

They Climbed the Great White ThroneBy GLEN DAWSON 16

Inter-Tribal Ceremonial at Gallup, New Mexico . 17

Amateur photographers' contest 20

"Eagle Nest Lake" and other poems 21

Willie of Death Valley

By LAURENCE M. HUEY 22

Here and There on the Desert 24

The Desert's No. 1 Liar 26

Brief notes of desert mining operations . . . . 27

Compiled by TRACY M. SCOTT 28Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley

By LON GARRISON 29Prize contest announcement 30

Reviews of past and present books of the desert . 34

Writers of the Desert 35

Just Between You and Me—by the Editor . . . 36

From readers of the Desert Magazine — Back Cover

The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Publishing Company, 597btate Street, El Centro, California. Entered as second class matter October 11, 1937 at thepost office at El Centro, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879.

Title registered No. 402,937 in U. S. Patent Office, and contents copyrighted 1938 bythe Desert Publishing Company. Permission to reproduce contents must be secured fromthe editor in writing. Subscription rate $2.50 per year in U. S. A. or possessions. Singlecopy 25 cents.

RANDALL HENDERSON, EditorTAZEWELL H. LAMB, Associate Editor

J. WILSON McKENNEY, Business Manager

WNational advertising representatives: S. H. WILLIAMS & CO., INC.: Los Angeles

..estern Pacific BIdg.; San Francisco, 220 Montgomery St.; Chicago, Wrigley Bldg • NewYork, 507 Fifth Ave.

Los Angeles Advertising Agent: JOHN C. PUTMAN, Phone FEderal 9495.Manuscripts and photographs submitted must be accompanied by full return postage.

The Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility for damage or loss of manuscripts or photo-graphs although due care will be exercised for their safety. Subscribers should send noticeof change of address to the circulation department by the fifth of the month preceding issue

ribers should send noticehe month preceding issue.

A U G U S T , 1 9 3

Ik* Weaken,

By

CLAIRE MEYER PROCTOR

1119 N. 5th St.

Phoenix, Arizona

This picture was awardedfirst place in the June ama-teur photographers' contestconducted by the DesertMagazine. The flower is aSaguaro blossom. Takenwith a Recomar 18, f22,1/100 sec, Panatomic film.

Pictures of special merit were submitted in the Junephotographic contest by the following:

George Clayton, Long Beach, California—"Beavertail"Jack E. Knowles, Flagstaff, Arizona—"Sunset Crater"Jerry McLain, Phoenix, Arizona—"Highway to Heaven"

2>e*tU Valley

By ARTHUR BUCKWALTER

562 8th Street

Upland, California

Awarded second prize inJune photographic contest.Picture taken with a FothDerby camera, 1/75 sec. atf9, Panatomic film. Exposureat five p.m. April 12, 1938.

Louise and Gustav Becker

62l/cea%5

In -flpache JLandBy TAZEWELL H. LAMB

"Best thing to do when c man threatens you isto push right up against him. You want to stand upas close to any trouble as you can. Never runaway." This is one of the rules that enabled GusBecker to live and prosper on the western frontierduring a period when his little trading post was pat-ronized by bandits and cattle thieves. Becker wentto Springerville, Arizona, 62 years ago with all hisbelongings on a saddle pony. Today the Beckername is associated with a score of highly success-ful business enterprises.

USTAV BECKER was a boy of20 when he rode horseback intoRound valley 62 years ago, a Ger-

man emigrant lad with all the dreams ofyouth in his heart. His worldly posses-sions were his horse, his saddle, theclothes he wore and a Winchester rifle.His stomach was as empty as his purse.On a 160-mile ride from the Rio Grandehe had gone two days without food.

No wonder he was glad to see his eld-er brother, Julius, who had precededhim into a wild region on the headwatersof the Little Colorado river, high in theWhite mountains 100 miles west of thecontinental divide. Here the Becker bro-thers built a log cabin and opened a store.The year was 1876. It was Apache coun-try. Their neighbors were Indians whofought 250 years of uninterrupted waragainst enemy redskins and whites. In thenearby mountain coves along the Arizona-New Mexico line outlaws made their ren-

dezvous. In those lovely retreats banditsplotted stage and train robberies, raids oncattle and horse ranches. From those hide-outs gunmen rode to plunder and to thatsanctuary fled with their loot, chased byclattering posses.

Today Gustav Becker is 82 years old.His original log cabin still stands on thebanks of the river. He sits now at a deskin the modern building of the BeckerMercantile company at Springerville, Ari-zona, a few miles from the old store.From his office window he looks acrossMain street to a long block of Beckerbuildings—the Apache Tavern, the bankbuilding, the Becker Motor company, theBecker Tourist court. Down the street isthe Round Valley Light and Power com-pany's plant. He is chief stockholder andpresident. In the White mountains grazeBecker herds of fine cattle. On the Blackriver, in the district where Ike Clanton ofTombstone days died at the muzzle of adeputy's gun, he owns Diamond Rocklodge, built in the heart of 350 miles of

trout streams and game country. Beckerproperty interests are held in many states.The name Becker is literally good as goldwith connections from coast to coast.

On the first day of June this yearSpringerville dedicated a new $105,000federal building. The Becker home townis the smallest community in the countryUncle Sam has so favored. An easterntourist in Springerville on dedication daystared across a green lawn at the two-storied concrete structure and turned tohis wife: "They'll be building 'em in cowpastures next."

How the federal building came toSpringerville is a good story. But it can'tbe told now.

From a list of the guests at the dedica-tion ceremonies you'll get a hint of howthe Springerville influence reaches out.There was a barbecue; 1500 people heardspeeches; distinguished visitors went ona motorcade 65 miles over forest serviceroads to the White mountain recreational

A U G U S T , 1 9 3 8

area of 2,000,000 acres. A grand bademade a festive evening.

The Fourth Assistant Postmaster Gen-eral came from Washington. The Gover-nor of Arizona was there. Jim Farley'sright hand, Ambrose O'Connell-they callhim the Postmaster General's ExecutiveAssistant—was one of those present.Bishop Paris Ashcroft of Eagar deliveredthe invocation. Other speakers were B. M.Shimonowsky, state commander of theAmerican Legion; William Bourdon,president of the Arizona Cattle Growersassociation; F. C. W. Pooler, Albuquer-que, New Mexico, regional forester;Howard Reed, state engineer; SuperiorJudge Levi Udall; C. W. Pfoffenberger,San Francisco post office inspector; MayorW. A. Sullivan of Globe.

It was appropriate that Gustav Becker,spry, lean, vigorous, alert, quick thinkingand straight talking, made these and theother guests welcome. It was characteristicthat he spoke of the future of the countryhe loves; that he said no word of thepast, no word of Gus Becker.

But his spare, erect figure dominatedthe day. The quiet, positive force of theoctogenarian is as real as the long row ofBecker buildings on both sides of Mainstreet.

Not many men past 80 wear their agejauntily. He does. A smart gray Homburgsits at a jaunty angle on his crisp whitehead. His gray eyes twinkle. His tailor isclever and his dress almost fastidious. Helikes a panatela of fine Havana tobacco

Approach him with personal questionsand he shuts up, a clam. Actually, he re-sents a quiz. It takes a great deal of in-direction, a lot of persistence, to get any-thing out of him about himself.

You dig out this, after long listeningand discreet silence:

"In the early days it was pretty wild.We had no law. A man wore his gun allthe time. I was shot at a good manytimes, but (he laughs) I never was kill-ed. So that was all right.

"Whatever happens I never let itbother me.

"Best thing to do with a man whothreatens you is to push right up against

him. You want to stand up as close toany trouble as you can. Never run away."

There were 15 settlers in Round valleywhen the Becker store opened its door tothe first customer. At Christmas 1937 theBecker Mercantile company sent holidaygreetings to 1500 patrons.

Other early day merchants didn't do sowell. One, bluffed by outlaws into extend-ing credit, went broke. Another, arous-ing anger of a bandit gang, had his storeburned over his head.

"I stood for no foolishness," Beckersaid.

In a rare reminiscence he tells how twomembers of Ike Clanton's gang held upthe store one night in 1883-

"They were Big Dave and Cub. Wehad our gold in a cigar box under thecounter. They came in and poked theirguns in our faces. My brother Juliusand I were in the store. I kicked the cigarbox further under the counter. I couldhear the gold rattle when I kicked it.

"One of them opened the cash drawer,scooped out the money there. Then theybacked out. They took one of our rifleswith them.

Gun Fight in Dark

"Soon as they got out of the door Igrabbed my pistol and went after them.It was pitch dark. We went to shooting.One of their horses staggered and I shotat the other as they rode off." From an-other source you learn that the young mer-chant's shot hit Big Dave through thebody. He went to Clifton and died.Through the efforts of Gustav and hisbrother, Cub was caught in San Bernar-dino and sent back to St. Johns for trial.He got 12 years in prison.

Once Round valley harbored so manybad men that troops were sent from FortApache, martial law was declared, twobandits were lynched and there was ageneral exodus from the neighborhood."It was quieter after that."

Fifty-three years ago Mr. Becker mar-ried a girl who came west from St. Louis.His brother Julius had married her sister.

Nine children were born to Mr. and

Mrs. Becker. Walter died in childhood.Arthur, one of twins, youngest of thefamily, was killed two years ago in Phoe-nix, in an accident by contact with a highvoltage wire. He was electrical engineerfor an Arizona power company.

"There was not a black sheep in theflock. We are both in good health. Wehave enjoyed life. We enjoy it now," de-clares Mr. Becker.

The family lives in a comfortable home,set back among the trees on a wide, shadylawn, with a walk from the house to theside entrance of his office. One son, Julius,is his father's constant and neverfailingassociate in the big store. Alvin is man-ager of the power business; Edward runsthe Becker Motor company; Hugo is anelectrical engineer in San Francisco, sellspower plants to cities all over the west.One daughter, Mrs. Gustav Reib, lives inSpringerville and another daughter,Emma, is with her father and mother inthe home. Paul is a Portland, Oregonbusiness man.

Springerville is at one of those crossroads of the world to which pathfindersseem always beating a trail. Four hundredyears ago Spanish soldiers in clankingarmor rode up out of Mexico, first ofwhite trail blazers to pass here. Fromeastern plains Apaches ranged to thesemountains. Here Geronimo led their finalfutile uprising. Here came covered wagontrains pushing ahead of the westwardthrust of steel. Motor scouts huntingtranscontinental routes across the coun-try's rooftop plotted the way for U. S.Highway 60 here.

The background is still the backgroundof four centuries ago. Now as then, cathe-dral pines, tall red fir and slender point-ed spruce pierce the turquoise sky, snow-fed creeks tumble down the mountainsides.

Deer, wild turkey, bear—and Apaches—still roam the forests. Trout feed in theicy streams.

But down in the valley where thesmooth surface of Highway 60 runs

Continued on page 33

One of the many Becker enterprises Springerville's $105,000 federal building

The DESERT MAGAZINE

When their collection of Indianrelics grew too big for their littledesert home, Mr. and Mrs.Howard Arden Edwards built anaddition on the house—and thenanother and another. And nowthey have a big rambling struc-ture filled with rare curios—eachwith an interesting story of pre-historic civilization in America.This private museum out on theMojave desert is open to thepublic every day in the year.

Photographs byGORDON W. FULLER

So TkeySuiLt aMu5eum

on theMojcure

By RANDALL HENDERSON

NLY one thief has passed thisdoorway!"

Visitors stop to read thisstrange inscription, posted at the en-trance of a room which contains one ofthe most unusual collections of Indianartifacts to be found in any museum inthe Southwest.

There is an interesting story behindthat terse accusation—a story which shedssome light on human nature in general,and a great deal of light on the characterof Howard Arden Edwards, the man whowrote the sign and the owner of the mu-seum where it is posted.

The Edwards collection of Indian rel-ics—known as Antelope Valley IndianResearch Museum—is located in a re-mote corner of the great Mojave desertof Southern California. It is Howard Ed-wards' hobby—more accurately, one of

A U G U S T , 1 9 3 8

He is artist. She is housekeeper. But when vacation time comes they both be-come field archeologists and have gathered 98 per cent of the relics in their mu-seum with their own hands. This picture of Mr. and Mrs. Edwards was taken attheir desert retreat in Antelope valley, California.

5

his many hobbies for he is a man of ver-satile talents.

Perched high among the boulders ofPahute Butte 25 miles east of Lancasterand about the same distance from Palm-dale, the Indian Museum looks down ona forest of ageless Joshua trees extendingacross the landscape as far as the eye cansee. None but an artist would have select-ed this spot for such an institution.

There is a vacant place on one of themany panels which form the walls of themuseum room. Until the "one thief" vis-ited that room this space was occupied

by a prehistoric Indian fishhook made ofabalone shell. There are many such fish-hooks in the panel. They were found onone of the islands off the coast of South-ern California.

"I have left that space vacant," saidEdwards, "because I believe that sooneror later the thief will return and perhapsfeel a little shame, for the artifact wasdestroyed in trying to remove it, and cannever be replaced."

Vandals could not steal such trinketsfrom a well-regulated public museum inwhich portable objects are kept under

As an artist Howard Edwards has reproduced on canvas what his experienceas an archeologist has taught him about the homes and daily life of the prehis-toric Indian tribes on the Mojave desert. These paintings add much to the inter-est of his museum. The above photograph shows one of the many panels in the

Edwards exhibit.

glass, or beyond the hands of thepilferers.

But conventional museum practices arenoticeably absent in the institution atPahute Butte, and perhaps that is one ofthe reasons why visitors find it so interest-ing.

Thousands of people come to his mu-seum every year, and there is seldom acustodian on duty in this room—and yetduring the seven years this place has beenopen to the public there has been butone theft.

"Put people on their honor and theywill live up to the best that is in them. Itis a simple axiom—and I have proved tomy own satisfaction it is a true one."

This is Edwards' explanation for theapparent laxity of discipline in his insti-tution. Nothing is under lock. The dis-plays are arranged so informally that thevisitors, if they chose, could do irrepara-ble damage. But they do no harm. Thelittle message at the doorway is a re-minder that they are on their honor.

Howard Edwards has other ideas notfound in the rule book. He insists that acollection of Indian artifacts has no valuefor exhibit purposes unless it tells a storythe lay visitor can understand.

"Long rows of show cases containingIndian beads and such relics mean noth-ing unless they record the lives and lovesand emotions of human beings," he as-serts.

And so, every exhibit in his uniquecollection tells a story. There is the evo-lution of the Indian grinding mill —graphically illustrated by a carefully ar-ranged and labeled series of metates andmortars.

An arrowhead is only a piece of stoneuntil it is disclosed in one section of themuseum how the Indian went about theoperation of chipping the point out ofsolid rock and making it into a usefulweapon. Edwards devoted his spare hoursduring many weeks to a study of howthose arrowheads were formed with thecrude tools available—and by the Indian'sown methods became a proficient arrow-maker himself.

At various times he has advancedtheories which other archeologists regard-ed as absurd. For instance there is a relicknown among collectors as a "doughnutstone" because of its resemblance to thepopular product of the kitchen. Well-tooled specimens of the doughnut stonewere excavated along the sea coast andscientists generally believed it had beenused as a sinker for Indian fishing nets.

Edwards was convinced that too muchlabor had been expended in making thistool to justify such a conclusion. Efficientsinkers could be turned out with less ef-fort. He decided it was the head of anIndian killing club—and eventually onewas found by a sheepherder on SanMiguel Island with the handle still in

The DESERT MAGAZINE

place in the hole of the stone doughnut."Good archeology is mostly plain com-

mon sense," he asserts.The Edwards collection has been as-

sembled over a period of 12 years, 98per cent of the artifacts having been gath-ered by Mr. and Mrs. Edwards them-selves. They have spent much of theirvacation periods traveling over the coun-try in quest of new fields of research—al-ways with a strict regard for laws againstpromiscuous collecting in state and fed-eral domains.

He shares a true archeologist's disdainfor mere "pot-hunting."

"A pot-hunter," he says, "is a collectorwho seeks nothing but intact pottery, andlearns nothing from the experience. Ascientist attaches more value to a tinybroken segment than a complete vessel ifit reveals some new bit of informationabout the movements or life of the pre-historic races of men.

"No relic of Indian occupation has anyvalue unless it discloses something of thehabits and character of the people whomade it."

Indian Museum ivas built entirelyby Mr. and Mrs. Edwards and theirson Arden. It took them jive years toerect this rambling home for theircollection oj Indian relics. The rocksof Pahute Butte may be seen in thebackground.

Visitors wonder why this out-of-the-waysite was selected for such a remarkableinstitution. Mrs. Edwards, who first of allis a domestic woman, and becomes a fieldarcheologist only when it is the mosteffective way of helping her husband,gives the answer:

"H. A. always dreamed about one ofthose palm-thatched little cabins in theSouth Sea islands where nature provideseverything and life is undisturbed bylaws and conventions. I guess most menhave that fancy at one time or another.

"One day when we were out trampingamong the Joshua trees we came uponthe spot where the museum is now locat-ed. 'There is the spot for your SouthSea island retreat,' I suggested.

"H. A. agreed it was the next best

thing—a beautiful desert panorama, withJoshua trees instead of palms, and plentyof sand—with perhaps a mirage to takethe place of the South Sea.

"And so we decided to build a homethere—just a little cottage where wecould have quiet and rest. But after acouple of weeks friends began comingout from the city, and they have beencoming ever since. One day when thespring flowers in Antelope valley wereexceptionally pretty we had over 2,000visitors."

The large crowds did not start comnig,however, until the little cottage had ex-panded into a big museum.

"I am an incurable collector," Edwardsexplains in telling about starting themuseum. "I have collected nearly every-thing under the sun, including coins,stamps, shells, mushrooms, snakes andbirds' eggs. But none of them had enoughhuman interest. And so I began studyingIndian life through the artifacts I hadpicked up from time to time.

"We had plenty of room here, and thethree of us—our family included Mrs.

A U G U S T , 1 9 3

ANTELOPE VALLEY• COUNTRY CLUB

Edwards and our son Arden—started themuseum building. We did all the workourselves during our spare time over aperiod of five years. We had to removea big boulder to make room for the bal-cony in the rocks, and since there was nodynamite we pounded it away with asledge hammer. Mrs. Edwards spent hoursat a time swinging that hammer."

Although purely a private institution,Indian Museum is an institutional mem-ber of the Southwestern ArcheologicalFederation, and Edwards is a member ofthe Society for American Archeology.

Adult visitors are charged 25 cents ad-mission but under-privileged groups areadmitted free. There are times when Mr.and Mrs. Edwards have to borrow fromtheir personal bank account to keep themuseum open.

Six years ago Edwards planned anddirected a gorgeous outdoor spectacle."The Crimson Arrow," in a natural

amphitheater among the rocks near themuseum. For three hours the guests saton the sand and watched a beautifullylighted pageant of Indian life on the Mo-jave desert before the period of the whiteman. The only criticism came from thosewho complained that the performance didnot last long enough.

"The Crimson Arrow" was repeatedannually for five years. It was designedoriginally to help finance the maintenanceof the museum. But the cost of presentingdrama on so grand a scale in this re-mote desert region has been so high thenet profit to the museum has been negli-gible. This, despite the fact that players

and helpers worked without compensa-tion. Edwards expressed doubt that thespectacle would be repeated this year.

Howard Edwards' life story is no lessastonishing than the museum he hasbuilt. Few men have had more variedcareers.

As a tattered 11-year-old bootblack inhis native city of Springfield, Illinois, hewould sneak past the guard at the localmuseum and spend hours copying thebeautifully colored bird pictures found inthe Audubon books. Last year he returnedto Springfield to deliver a lecture on ar-cheology from the stage of a fine new mu-seum which has replaced the old one.

As far back as he can remember hewas interested in birds and art work. Foryears he was an ornithologist specializingin oology. His rare collection of birds'eggs is at Pomona college. He perfectedhis own technique for "blowing" eggspecimens from a hole in the shell sosmall it is invisible to the naked eye.

The strange paradox of this man'scareer is that he carried on his studies inscience and art during a long period ofyears when he was earning his livelihoodin occupations far removed from art gal-lery and laboratory. He was a cigar-mak-er's apprentice until he got his journey-man's card, and then quit the trade. Henever uses tobacco.

He was a professional dare-devil, mak-ing the bicycle dive from a 110-foot run-way into an 8-foot tank of water. He trav-eled with Al G. Barnes circus as an acro-batic clown, his specialty being a comedyact on stilts.

Then he became a professional on roll-

er skates and resigned his job as managerof the old Jim Morley rink in OceanPark to become a theatrical scene painter.

In 1924 he was one of the owners of adecorating concern in Pasadena. Hisscenic work had attracted widespread at-tention and he was asked to teach a classin one of the schools. He accepted theoffer—but had never completed his com-mon school education and so it was nec-essary to do intensive summer schoolwork for the next four years to obtainteaching credentials.

Later, "just to keep the recordsstraight" as he explains it, he took thenecessary examinations and received hishigh school diploma. He is a member ofthe art department at Lincoln high schoolin Los Angeles.

Today Howard Edwards is 55 years ofage, a well-preserved man with penetrat-ing steel-blue eyes and a tremendous re-serve energy which may yet lead to newfields of research and achievement.

Mr. and Mrs. Edwards reside in a mod-est little home in Los Angeles, going outto greet visitors at the museum during theweekends. A caretaker is in charge thereduring the week days.

Navajo rugs and exquisite paintingslend to their home the atmosphere ofthe Southwest desert which has been thehappy hunting ground for many of theirvacation periods.

"Only one thief has entered IndianMuseum and I believe he will come backto apologize some day." A man with suchunbounded faith in his fellow humanbeings is worth knowing.

The DESERT MAGAZINE

INTEGRITY'

. . oh the

)i} ffoLn Oflewarl Qflc

A U G U S T , 1 9 3 8

Pholo by W. M. Pennington

IJ WHATEVER his name, his race, or the color of his skin, ayl/ man with these features might be trusted to do the right

thing—if he thought it was right. Life in the open de-mands and develops integrity—the most important element infitness for survival.

The bandeau on his head, the ear-drop in his lobe, thecoral-and-turquoise necklace over his shoulder—all proclaimthe Navajo birth and tribal training of this patriarch.

Whiten the skin ever so little, shorten the hair a bit, placea military hat or a ten-gallon Stetson on the head and you willhave the resemblance of at least a dozen pale-skinned heroesof American frontiers . . . Integrity.

Mavajos it A/at-5i5-&n

/ / A V A J O Country"yy/ magic words! For years I

had read and heard tales ofthose wild regions of northern Ari-zona and southern Utah that are a partof the Western Navajo Indian reserva-tion and the southern Pahute country.Stirring accounts of old John Weth-erill and his early explorations through an actually unexploredpart of the United States, of the wonderful prehistoric cities ofthe cliff dwellers he found hidden away in remote canyons;stories of Clyde Kluckhohn's thrilling and finally successfulefforts to reach the top of Wild Horse mesa, a great table-landupon which until very recent years no known white man had

Instead of taking the established trailto the top of Navajo mountain, HulbertBurroughs and his companions chose amore difficult route, spurred by thehope that they might actually find thecrudely carved image of the Navajowar god which according to legendstands somewhere on the rocky slopes.

By HULBERT BURROUGHS

ever set foot; how a young artist-adventurer had ridden alone into thebroken and treacherous terrain northof the Rainbow Bridge never to beseen or heard of again; and of my owntwo friends who had scaled the broadslopes of Navajo mountain, becomelost at night in a cold and bitter wind-

storm without food or blankets. All these stories had mademe want more than anything else to see this wild Indian coun-try for myself.

But the opportunity came sooner than I had hoped. Al-most before I knew it I found myself a member of a partyheaded for the great Rainbow Natural Bridge—a party led by

10 The DESERT MAGAZINE

the same Clyde Kluckhohn who had pioneered to the top ofWild Horse mesa!

We were not long in reaching Flagstaff, Arizona, andfrom there we headed north on the Salt Lake City road,through Cameron on the Little Colorado, turned off to TubaCity, thence past Tonalea through the Navajo national monu-ments where stand the famous cliff dwellings of InscriptionHouse and Betatakin, and finally to the Dunn's Trading Postright at the foot of the eastern slopes of Navajo mountain.

Here we outfitted with Indian ponies and by noon thenext day were actually on the trail to the Rainbow Bridge.

Rich in Indian Legend

Among great boulders and into deep ravines the trailskirted the southern slopes of Navajo mountain. This massivelandmark rising abruptly from a fairly level plain to a heightof 10,416 feet is visible for miles around. Nat-sis-an, as theIndians call it, is rich in Navajo legend and is believed bythem to be the dwelling place of their god of war, of thunder,and of certain other spirits. A good Navajo fears to venturetoo far upon its slopes lest the falling night should find hima trespasser in the land of the gods. And I could well imaginethe feelings of the Navajos, for Nat-sis-an, standing huge andlonely in a wild country, gave us all a feeling of mystery anda sensation closely akin to fear. How I wanted to explore itsvast timbered slopes, and stand upon its broad summit; tolook out over the great expanse to the north and west—WildHorse mesa and the Escalante desert!

Three hours of rough going among turreted rock forma-tions, out of one deep ravine into another, brought us at lastto the crest of a mighty divide.

Breathless we stopped to gaze upon a vast panorama.Down beneath us wound the thread-like trail into a deep can-yon far below. Tremendous red cliffs rose to awe-inspiringheights above the rocky defile that was the streambed 2,000feet below. Far off to the right we caught a fleeting glimpseof Wild Horse mesa—that mysterious table-land we had heardso much about. Clothed in deep purple in the late afternoonsun, its wall towered above the surrounding country.

So big, so ominous was the scene that none of us spoke aswe started the long descent into the deep canyon. I think wewere all conscious of that stirring sense of the sheer magnitudeand godliness that only the great works of Nature can inspire.There is a saying that no man can come away from the Rain-bow Bridge an atheist.

That night we camped at the bottom of a mighty gorge.Great red cliffs seemed to close in upon us. I don't recall everhaving had the sense of such complete isolation from the restof the world. I was beginning to realize why this is for themost part the least explored land in the United States.

Tragedy Lurks in Canyons

The region is almost entirely solid rock—great dome-likehills separated by deep canyons whose beds have been cut bycenturies of stream erosion. Once in the bottom of one ofthese canyons there is no seeing out. You must either go upor down stream. An intricate maze of side canyons with lit-tle or no water makes this a land in which to be lost means al-most inevitable death by thirst or starvation.

Such thoughts, however, were not enough to keep us fromsleeping soundly; and early the next morning we were againon the trail, refreshed and eager for our first glimpse of theRainbow Bridge which Clyde insisted was not far ahead.

We had all seen pictures of the bridge and had heardmuch about it. But no amount of words or printed mattercan ever describe great natural wonders as they actually existin their own setting. Thus it is impossible for me to impartto others the emotions that came to me with that first sight of

the Rainbow Bridge—Nonne-zoche Not-se-lid, the incompar-able Arch of Nature!

Because of the height of the surrounding cliffs the firstimpression is not of its great size, but rather of the gracefulcurves of its arch. Yet as you finally stand beneath it, the tre-mendous height immediately becomes apparent. From thefloor of the canyon to its magnificent crest is close to 400feet! The time required for the infinite artistry of Nature tocarve such a work is almost inconceivable!

Although a road has been opened during the past fewyears to the Rainbow Lodge, within 12 miles of the Bridge,it is hoped that it will never be brought any nearer. Theidea of hot-dog stands beneath that majestic arch, and"O'Leary's Garage" painted across the lovely pastel shades ofits rock face, is repugnant. For after all, it is the isolation,the difficulties of reaching it, together with the final gloriousreward for hardships endured, that in part make it so appeal-ing.

Two days later found us again at the Dunn's Trading Post.There we held a discussion about plans. Our vacation timewas growing short; duties at home could not be ignored too

Gordon Pettit, one o\ Burroughs companions on the hiketo the top oj Navajo mountain, takes a short cut down

slope.

A U G U S T , 1 9 3 8 11

long. Yet as we sat about the campfire at the foot of Navajomountain I argued strongly for an extra day to make the longhard climb to the summit of old Nat-sis-an. It seemed foolishto be so close and not do the thing I had dreamed of so long.It was at last decided that those who wanted to make the climbcould do so; the others would take the day to explore a near-by cliff dwelling.

There is a trail to the top of Navajo mountain, bat whenClyde told us of the legend that a crudely carved image of theNavajo war god lies somewhere undiscovered on the slopes ofthe mountain, it seemed at the time better to choose our ownroute—one that had never been taken before—than to take theregular trail.

So a little after dawn the next morning we were on theway up the long alluvial fan that spreads out from the easternslopes of Navajo mountain. Although the climb was to be along one, our time was short and we must make it to thesummit and back before nightfall. We carried only our can-teens and a light lunch.

Rugged Climbing on Rocky SlopesIt is doubtful whether we could have chosen a much more

difficult route. With no trail to guide us, we pushed labori-ously through dense underbrush, up narrow chimneys in thecliffs. Once after a particularly difficult spot over the rockswe came to a cul-de-sac from which there was no other exitthan that by which we had entered so industriously. To re-trace our steps was discouraging because we were all tired.And then to add to our discomfort, about ten o'clock in themorning a strong cold wind came up from the north. Now,even our rest periods were far from enjoyable. To travel aslight as possible we had brought no warm coats. Thus, de-spite our fatigue, we were forced to keep almost constantly onthe move.

The top of Navajo mountain does not come to a conven-

ient peak as do conventional mountains, but is broad and slop-ing. Dense timber made it difficult for us to know how farwe were from the summit. Several times our hopes of havingat last reached the top were shattered with the sight of otherslightly higher ridges ahead. It was not until after noon, all ofus nearly exhausted, that we were rewarded with definiteproof of our success—a Coast Geodetic survey marker! Yetstill because of the trees we could not get a clear view of thecountry to the north.

But after a short and much needed rest we started explor-ing toward the north slope and were not long in finding thepoint of vantage we wanted. On the crest of a talus of greatbroken granite boulders where the trees could not grow, wefound an unbroken view of Wild Horse mesa and the fear-some Escalante desert. Tired muscles and sore lungs wereimmediately forgotten.

Where No White Man Has Been

Before us extended the rugged and treacherous regions ofsouthern Utah where the Colorado river cuts a mighty gorgebelow its junction with the San Juan river. Territory sur-rounding the canyons of these two rivers is without doubt theleast explored area in the United States. There are many por-tions of it that have seen no men since the days of prehistoricIndians, many of whose cliff dwellings nestle high in the facesof inaccessible cliffs.

Wild Horse mesa, stretching some 60 miles into the dis-tant haze, dominates the scene. Old timers call it Fifty-milemountain. Zane Grey gave it the romantic name by which itis generally known. On official maps it bears the nameKaiparowitz plateau. Although the origin of this last name isuncertain, some believe it came from the name given by theIndians to the daring pioneer, Major Powell, who led the first

Continued on page 32

Along the pack trail which leads to Navajo mountain and the Rainbow Natural bridge.

12 The DESERT MAGAZINE

As a trade name for some otthe finest dates grown on theSouthern California desert "Val-erie Jean" is known in the farcorners of the earth. The younglady who inspired this name isnot so well known. She is Val-erie Jean Nicoll, daughter of Mr.and Mrs. Russell Nicoll, who op-erate a little roadside date shopon Highway 99 and have builtup a tremendous mail orderbusiness for Coachella valley'schoice fruit. In the accompany-ing story J. Wilson McKenney ofthe Desert Magazine staff hasgiven an entertaining story ofthe Valerie Jean institution andthe people who have been re-sponsible for its success.

Pate SAoon the

Pe5ettBy J. WILSON McKENNEY

r WO passengers in a swaying Rus-sian coach-car were swapping trav-el yarns. The Siberian railway

passes through some desolate scenery andthe Americans were glad to turn theirthoughts to other lands.

"And speaking of drinks," said one, "ifyou ever visit southern California godown to Coachella valley and get a datemilk shake at a little roadside stand." Hefumbled for a moment in his wallet,finally drew out a battered card. "Here itis—yes, it's the Valerie Jean date shop."

Many months passed before the secondtraveler arrived at last before Russ Nic-oll's shop on U. S. 99 highway in southcentral Riverside county. As he sipped hisfirst date milk shake he told Nicoll wherehe had first heard about the famous drinkthat-is-a-meal. "I didn't exactly travel10,000 miles just to get this drink, but Icouldn't forget that fellow's enthusiasmand I just had to find out for myself."

This rich food drink has enjoyed a re-markable rise to fame. The man who lit-erally put Valerie on the map is Russell

Valerie Jean

C. Nicoll, a pleasant-voiced man in theprime of vigor.

A native Californian, Nicoll enteredschool in Mesa, Arizona, and at sevenyears of age he had his first lessons inmerchandising when he peddled fruit inthe good Mormon community. An or-phan at 11, he did a man's work in a LosAngeles brickyard and from there wentto other jobs to earn a living. He had hisfirst introduction to desert life when heran away from school to take a job milk-ing cows on a ranch near Holtville, Im-perial county. When the war broke he en-listed and was assigned to the motortransport corps. But not until ten years

later did he find an outlet for his creativemerchandising talents.

In 1928 Nicoll was a broken farmer,financially and spiritually too low tostruggle longer against the rigors of des-ert elements and the fluctuations of thenew date market. He had come to thedesert north of Salton sea with his brideand had attempted, in characteristic Amer-ican fashion, to nurse young date palmsinto quick production. But they wouldn'tbe hurried.

He was through with date growing.But he was held by the mysterious fasci-nation of the desert. He had learned tolove the mountain-rimmed bowl he had

A U G U S T , 1 9 3 8 13

labored in, the gray line of brush-coveredsand sweeping down from the purpleSanta Rosas to the sterile shores of azureSalton sea. And he had an idea, bornmany years before when he peddled fruitin Mesa. Why not sell dates direct to thepublic?

He had worked for a while in a datepacking house and had noticed that mo-torists—the few hardy ones who ventur-ed out on poor roads—often stopped tobuy dates in bulk to take home as a sou-venir of their visit to the desert. Russwould do more than fill a paper bag andthrow it on the scales. He would sell notonly dates; he would sell the charm of adesert oasis, mix it with artful presenta-tion of his wares, and throw in a mea-sure of western color and hospitality.

The Nicolls, man and wife, talked itover. He is the plunger, she the conserva-tive—an ideal business partnership. Theydecided to try merchandising dates for ayear. The third member of the "firm,"Valerie Jean, was then entering schooland she did not have a voice in the de-cision. But her influence became a power-ful aid in the new enterprise.

In payment for a year of hard work,Nicoll secured a small piece of land nearthe highway. He chose an abrupt curve asthe spot to set up his establishment. Hehooked a tractor to the 12 by 16 footshack in which he had lived and pulledit to the desired spot. After making fillsfor a driveway, he drove his old car toCoachella to see the banker.

"Then I made my first sale," Nicoll re-calls proudly. He brought Banker West-erfield out to the shack, approached and

The roadside shanty of 10 yearsago has been replaced with a vine-covered shop where thousands ofmotorists stop every year.

reapproached the location from both di-rections. They talked about motorist visionand speed on curves. Russ must have beenconvincing because he got his first loan.He opened for business in the shack inOctober, 1928.

The probationary year ended and withit came the financial crash on Wall street.The Nicolls heard and felt a tremor butthe little business was unshaken. By 1930the original shack had been moved awayand in its place rose a sturdy building,constructed in rustic fashion from oldrailroad ties, bridge timbers, and aban-doned telephone poles. Shaped fromprimitive materials, the new building hadhonest strength, seemed to radiate thecharm of early California haciendas fromwhich it was patterned. Across the frontwas a long ramada and up the stout pill-ars young vines began to crawl. Behind

and at the sides of the shop Russ placedtall date palms. The weed patch at theback door disappeared and in its placeblossomed an acre of flowers and shrubs.

Meanwhile Valerie Jean was growingup, became as comely a miss as ever stoodbehind a counter. When mother and fa-ther decided to put her name in neonlights over the shop, they made one of the"luckiest" decisions in the business. Thatname is read and repeated by thousandsof people every year and is stamped ingold on packages shipped to every civi-lized country in the world.

Those who had thought Nicoll a little"crazy with the heat" for starting a mer-chandising business on a lonely desertroad far from town felt impelled to ad-vise him that he was doomed to certainfailure when part of the east-bound traf-fic took the new Indio-Blythe cutoff, com-

14 The DESERT MAGAZINE

Mr. and Mrs. Russell Nicoll in one of the many flower gardens ivhich surroundtheir roadside date shop.

pleted in 1936. But he had built moresolidly than they had guessed. He hadthe names and addresses of thousands ofcustomers. He had carefully sold only the"cream of the crop." He had designedunique and attractive packages and hadadvertised carefully.

That line credited to Emerson about theworld beating a path to the door of theman who built better mouse-traps givesNicoll no illusions. He knows also that atranscontinental highway at his front dooris not the greatest factor in building hisbusiness. Seeing thousands of cars speedby has probably convinced him that agreat part of the world has not yet heardof his "better mouse-trap." But he is toobusy to do much philosophizing. Toomany cars come to an abrupt halt as

though this shop was a predetermineddestination.

Mr. and Mrs. Nicoll wait on customersthemselves. They have schooled them-selves to answer questions carefully andcourteously, with all the patience charac-teristic of a government park ranger. Itmust be trying though when visitors ask"Are your dates wormy? Are your datesclean? Do you sell dates? Do you han-dle axle grease?"

One customer wanted to know if anodd-shaped gourd (18 inches long) wasa date. It was quite apparent this manhad never seen dates before. But the cus-tomer who exasperates the merchant mostis the fellow who takes samples (at 65ca pound) for his whole party and thenbuys a nickel's worth. Some very large

light-colored dates which were on displaylast year caused much interest. Invariablyvisitors asked if they were potatoes.

Nicoll can judge the character andbackground of a customer by the way hehandles date seeds. Some pocket the seedsto take home for a backyard experiment.Some toss them indifferently in the drive-way and others drop them carelessly attheir feet. Some men take the first drinkserved across the counter; the boy whoserves his parents first and takes his re-freshment last gladdens Nicoll's heart.Very few customers are unpleasant; theyare usually thoughtful and considerate.

A number of progressive date men inCoachella valley are selling the romanceof the date. One uses an educational lec-ture, another has a famous "backyard" ina palm grove, another goes in for inten-sive direct mail advertising, nearly all usehighway signs. But Nicoll uses a combi-nation of these modern sales methods,adding a knack for creating unique pack-ages which keeps the cash register ring-ing happily.

Gourds, baskets, and kegs, as well asattractive pine and redwood boxes areinterest-compelling containers for datesand confections made from dates. His ap-titude as a creator in this field recentlyearned for him recognition in a nationalpackaging magazine.

One of the secrets of his success (andhe is not backward about letting you inon it) is the way newspaper men rush in-to type with favorable comment on theValerie Jean shop or its merchandise. Thelate Harry Carr of the Los Angeles Timesstarted the date milk shake on its road tofame. Phil Townsend Hanna, editor ofWestways, is a great booster. Ed Ains-worth, roving Times reporter, recentlyadded his contribution. A columnist onthe Salt Lake City Deseret News offereda reward to the reader who could ade-quately describe the delights of imbibinga date milk shake.

Evidence that the Nicoll personality isthe strongest factor in date salesmanshipmay be seen in a recent experiment.Nicoll undertook to establish a chain ofdate shops. But he could not be every-where at once and had to hire clerks totake care of new outlets. The expansionwas a dismal failure. The Nicoll sales-manship was missing.

Roadside stands line the highways ofthe country. But few—very few—have anindividuality which makes them memor-able in a pleasant, relevant way. RussNicoll and his charming wife, like othersuccessful operators, have brought the me-thods of modern salesmanship to their iso-lated spot and blended them with thecharacter of the background. Here thereis no use of that shocking contrast be-tween unspoiled beauty of the desert andthe insistent flamboyancy of a circus wag-on. Here is western hospitality, an OldWorld desert oasis in the modern man-

A U G U S T , 1 9 3 8 15

Glen Daivson on one of the difficult faces of Sen-tinel peak in Zion National Park. Dawson and his partymade the first ascent of this peak. Note the safety ropelooped through carabiner which is attached to a pitondriven in a crack in the rock. The patch on the climber'strousers is for protection on the rope down.

16

iheu L?limbed

the (fteat

White ihtone

/ y S far as is known, the first ascent to the top ofj / Zion National Park's famed natural monument,

the Great White Throne, was made in 1927 byW. H. W. Evans of Pasadena, California.

Evans' solitary journey was an epic adventure,but it was a feat which no code of mountaineeringcould justify. He remained overnight on the little pla-teau at the top and carved his initials on one of thered pinnacles which crown the summit.

On the descent he lost his footing, slid several hun-dred feet down a steep exposed incline, and lay un-conscious 65 hours in a thicket before he was rescuedby park rangers. Although seriously injured Evans wastaken out on horseback and recovered from the acci-dent.

Donald Orcutt, an ambitious young climber alsofrom Pasadena is believed to have reached the sum-mit of the Great White Throne in 1931, but a monthlater while undertaking another hazardous ascent ona nearby peak he fell and was killed.

So much tragedy has attended the climbing of thesandstone rock faces in Zion Park that the authoritiesin charge of the national reserve have looked withgreat disfavor on any further efforts to scale the hazard-ous walls.

It remained for five members of the Sierra Club ofCalifornia to prove that some of the difficult ascents inthe Zion area can be made by skilled climbers withproper equipment.

Last October Glen Dawson and a quartet of ex-perts not only made a successful ascent of the GreatWhite Throne, but with rope and piton also scaled theheretofore unclimbed East Temple.

Accompanying Dawson were Dick Jones, WaylandGilbert, Homer Fuller and Joe Momyer. Dawson'sstory of the successful trip to the top starts on the nextpage.

T h e DESERT MAGAZINE

By GLEN DAWSON

[J UST at dawn of an October morn-j Y ing in 1937 five of us started up

0 Hidden canyon equipped for an at-tempt on the Great White Throne. Wewalked up the East Rim trail and thenbranched off onto a footpath which leadsinto Hidden canyon just above a greatdry waterfall that drops off into Zioncanyon.

This was not my only attempt to reachthe summit of the colorful sandstonemassif which is so well known to all visi-tors at the Zion National Park.

On another occasion Bob Brinton, BillRice and I made an unsuccessful assaulton the Throne. On a warm June day wemade our way up the trail to the Grotto,a red overhanging wall at the base ofwhich Zion Park's water supply splashesout of the rocks in a little paradise offerns and flowers.

From that point we encountered diffi-cult climbing. We found pieces of an oldladder used 10 years before in the searchfor the missing climber, Evans. Ropedtogether for security, and with all thetechnical skill we knew, we made ourway one at a time across the exposed faceof a huge flake which was partially de-tached from the main cliff. Then wesqueezed up a narrow vertical gully,known to climbers as a chimney, and thussurmounted our first serious difficulty.

It became apparent however, that thechances of success that day along the routewe were following were remote, andrather than take foolhardy risks we de-cided to abandon the effort at that time.We marveled at the thought of Evans, 10years earlier, making his way alonethrough such difficult and dangerousclimbing.

The lower part of the White Thronemassif is of red sandstone of the Chinleformation. The upper elevations are com-posed of the soft friable white Navajosandstone. Both types of rock are treach-erous. Without warning they may breakoff in huge chunks or even crumble inone's hand. Dislodged rocks tumblingdown the face of the wall often breakinto sand before going a hundred feet.Extreme care is necessary in working onsuch material.

New Start Is Made

With experience gained on numeroustrips to Yosemite, and Tahquitz rock nearIdyllwild we were starting this Octobermorning on another determined effort toreach the top of the Great White Throne.

Leaving the footpath, we followed thedamp floor of Hidden canyon, sheer wallsrising many hundreds of feet on bothsides of us. The canyon narrowed and be-came more precipitous as we gained ele-vation. At irregular intervals we had tomake our way up through narrow chim-

The Great White Throne towers 2500 feet above the canyon floor of ZionNational Park. Due to the tragedies which have resulted from past efforts toscale this and other walls in Zion Park the authorities discourage all such efforts.

neys with "chock stones" at the top.These are boulders wedged in betweenthe rock walls, and are often difficult tosurmount. It was slow going with a partyof five.

Eventually this route brought us to a"sky island" plateau, with the almost ver-tical walls of the Throne towering above.It was not a promising outlook.

It was well along in the afternoon be-fore we reached the base of the final1000-foot cliff that lay between us and thesummit. Momyer remained at this pointwhile the rest of us continued our way tothe top. We had been using our rope al-most continuously. The stratifications ofthe rock formed narrow ledges and stepsfor footing, and an occasional tree servedas an anchorage for the rope.

Old fashioned "grip" climbing wouldnot do on the Great Throne. Eitherthere were no holds or else the holds weretoo treacherous to be used. One's weightmust be lifted by the feet and legs, usingthe modern "balance" method. Armsand hands were of no help. A good senseof balance is essential in this type ofclimbing. The body must be kept erectand the climber must avoid the natural

tendency to hug the wall. A rhythmicflowing motion is most effective, and withthis technique it is possible to gain somehelp from holds which are not secureenough to bear the full weight of theclimber.

Pitons, which are a special type of ironspike driven into cracks in the rocks foranchoring the climber where progress ishazardous, are of little value on the GreatWhite Throne due to the softness of thesandstone and we did not use them.

It was nearly four o'clock in the after-noon when we scaled the last face andwalked on the security of level ground—the top of the Great White Throne. Theplateau at the summit is shaped like aninverted saucer—a lovely park of perhaps60 acres. Pines and junipers cover muchof the area and at the highest point is agroup of flat-topped pinnacles. On oneof these we left a tin can containing ournames, not far from the point whereEvans had carved his initials on that ill-fated trip to the summit in 1927.

From the depths of the little forest atthe summit no rock cliffs are visible and

Continued on page 20

A U G U S T , 1 9 3 17

Upper left-Santa ClaraPueblo boy.

Lower left—Navajo Yei-Ba-Chai dancers.

Upper center—Zia Mule dance.

Lower center—Kiowa dancers.

AtGallup, New Mexico, "the Indian capital," will pre-

sent August 24, 25 and 26 its 17th annual Inter-tribal In-dian Ceremonial. From more than 30 tribes Indians willassemble then at the "Place-by-the-Bridge," their campsand camp fires circling the town during the three days ofdances, games, races, sports, magic. Indian arts andcrafts from ten states will be displayed in the exhibit hallat the ceremonial grounds. Prizes are offered for Navajoweavings, Hopi wedding robes, sacred Zufii sashes, pot-tery and basketry, bead work, paintings and drawings,and also products from modern Indian schools.

Gallup is the hub from which paved highways, lesstraveled roads and a thousand trails radiate to Indiancountry. Tribesmen by the thousands will journey to thistraditional meeting place of the red man for the ceremon-ial the last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in August;

• 4 ' ' * • • • *

Upper right—Navajo girls.

Lower right—Wayne WolfRobe and Blue-water, AcomaPueblo.

Photos on thispage by Frasher's,Pomona, Calif,except MuleDance. Pictureby Mullarky,Gallup, N. M.

~r

Primitivesturdy Navajo horsemen from their 16,000,000-acre semi-desert reservation; peaceful Hopi from the seven villagesof three high mesas; Apaches, the San Carlos, Jicarilla,Mescalero; pueblo people from Taos to Zuni; Utes fromColorado and Utah; the Kiowa, Pawnee, Comanche, andKaw from Oklahoma; from South Dakota the Sioux.Tribes from California and Nevada will be represented.

The ceremonial reaches its climax at night. Beforea blazing campfire of pifion and cedar the Navajo chanttheir mountain songs; medicine men demonstrate theirmagic; leaping figures in a maze of dances sway andstomp to the beat of the tom-tom, rattle and gourds.

Directing the intricate details of this unique Indianfiesta is M. L. Woodard, a slender young man endowedwith an uncanny understanding of the American Indian.

Upper picture—Pinnacle on thesummit of the Great White Throneon which W. H. W. Evans carvedhis initials on the first ascent in1927. One of the climbers in theDawson party is seen just below

where the initials appear.

Lower picture—Sierra club climb-ers study the route which eventuallyled them to the top of the White

Throne massif.

THEY CLIMBED THEGREAT WHITE THRONE

Continued from page 17

in the quiet seclusion of our little park itwas hard to realize we really were on thesummit of the Great White Throne witha sheer drop of many hundreds of feeton every side of us.

Thickets of manzanita and other chap-arral alternate with trees and open spaces.The top is dry since the sandstone doesnot hold moisture.

It was growing late. Reluctantly wetook the down trail—the "trail" in thiscase being a 200-foot rope belayed arounda sturdy tree. By doubling the rope andusing it as a sling we could drop as faras 100 feet, then pull the rope throughand take the next pitch from a new belay.

Thus we were able to descend swiftlyand with safety down the rock face onwhich Evans had slipped and crashed tothe floor of the little valley below.

Bivouac in Lost Valley-It was dark when we reached the little

"lost" valley and as there were trees wedecided to bivouac for the night. A firekept us reasonably warm and the elationof a successful trip compensated for anydiscomfort due to shortage of food andbedding. The moon lighted the whitecliffs above us making a picture that seem-ed to belong to some strange unnaturalworld.

Early the next morning we roped downover the chock stones of Hidden canyonto the comparative luxury of our basecamp, to eat, sleep and try to get rid ofthe fine sand which penetrated all ourclothes and belongings.

Since that memorable ascent SierraClub parties have made a first ascent ofthe hitherto unclimbed Sentinel peak andhave traversed the waters of the Narrowsof the Virgin river. There are, however,many other peaks which will remain un-climbed for many years to come.

The sheer walls which make Zion soattractive scenically also make the peaksdifficult in the extreme.

In conclusion a word of caution: Noone should attempt climbing in ZionNational Park (other than the delightfulascents of Lady Mountain and Angel'sLanding) without considerable experi-ence in correct rope technique which re-quires a party of two or three experts. Inall cases, Park rangers should be notifiedboth before and after undertaking theclimb.

Notwithstanding the difficulties of as-cent, the Great White Throne holds forall—climbers and the less venturesomepark visitors alike—a majestic splendorwhich arouses reverent admiration.

PRIZESTO AMATEUR

PHOTOGRAPHERSOn the desert lowlands the

thermometer has passed the100-degree mark many timesduring the past month—but ap-parently hot weather is no ob-stacle to the camera enthusi-asts. Many fine amateur photo-graphs have been sent to theDesert Magazine office sincesummer arrived, some of themtaken within the past month.

Since interest remains at sucha high point the monthly con-tests will be continued throughthe summer. The award is $5.00for first place and $3.00 for sec-ond place. The competition isopen to all amateurs regardlessof residence. However, it isnecessary that the pictures betaken on the desert. The sub-jects may include close-ups ofplant and animal life, land-scapes, rock formations, unusu-al personal pictures, and infact anything on the desert.

Following are the rules gov-erning the contest:

1—Pictures submitted in theAugust contest must be receiv-sd at the Desert Magazine officeby August 20.

2—Not more than four printsmay be submitted by one per-son in one month.

3—Winners will be requiredto furnish either good glossyenlargements or the originalnegatives if requested.

4—Prints must be in blackand white, 2V4x3V4 or larger.

5—Pictures will be returnedonly when postage is enclosed.

For non - prize - winning pic-tures accepted for publication$1.00 will be paid for eachprint.

Winners of the August con-test will be announced and thepictures published in the Octo-ber number of the magazine.

Address all entries to:

CONTEST EDITOR,DESERT MAGAZINE,El Centro, California.

20 The DESERT MAGAZINE

Afedt lake.New Mexico

Waters of turquoiseGleaming so bright in the sunshine,

Mirroring mountainsEvergreen, stately and tall;

Home of the EagleWhose eyrie is high on the cloudrift

High above men,Who forever are chained and in thrall.

SUNSET

By THELMA IRELANDMCGILL, NEVADA

What a mass of brilliant color-Tis the glorious death of day,Leaving in a flame of glory—Would that I could go that way.

THE MIRAGE

By AUDREY STRATTONMECCA, CALIFORNIA

Before me over desert dunesOut-dazzling the vibrant wavesMarched, or danced, in gay parade,Hordes of people from history's tombs.

Saladin rode to the beat of drums,His mount the color of richest cream.His palanquin followed in fine arrayOf silks and jewel-set pendulums.

A sovereign came from his musty tombIn glory again upon his throne;Wavered awhile in the golden mist,Faded, and then he too was gone.

Then came a pageant of shimmering hues;Dancing girls, dervishes, Arabs and Jews,Tall handsome Persians and wise Egypt's menBrought into history by some ancient pen.

Legends were acted and stories were told;Some of them new, but most of them old.Deeds that were long dead, days that were

past,Centuries of beauty, in a moment had massed.

The wondrous glory of this mystic barrageCaught in the cadences of a mirage.

By ANNA B. STEVENSONLAS VEGAS, N E W MEXICO

Eagle Nest wild,Thy mirroring lake meets the mountain,

Emerald heightsSmiling circle thy darkling blue waves;

Cloud-shadows raceOn thy waters in rarest enchantment,

Wild flowers fairFringe thy shores where the free wild bird

laves.

DESERT MOTHER

By DORIS I. BATEMANREDONDO BEACH, CALIFORNIA

My arms reach out to touch the barren hills,Seeking a cradle for my hungered soul;Yet I am part of them—their nestling stillsMy sobbing hurt, and makes me strangely

whole.

Upon their sun-warmed shoulders I may curl,Knowing that from their strength, I too, grow

strong;And when the star-flung blanket shall unfurl,My breathing shall be measured, deep—and

long.

WINGS OF THUNDERBy IRMA P. FORSYTHE

PHOENIX, ARIZONA

Hanging high above the mountains,Mountains crouched like ghosts at night,Storm clouds form a giant vulturePoised for momentary flight.

Eagle-eyed he scans the desert,Swoops down on his helpless prey,Sends a harbinger of rain toSpeed along the fading day.

Thunder rolls down through the washesWith the swish of many wingsWhile the wind like cryptic monsterThrough the tree tops moans and sings.

Then the sun, with blazing angerDraws a gleaming swordlike dart,Throws it with a death-born vigorStraight into the great bird's heart.

DESERT ENCHANTMENT

By EMILY BEACH HOGANLEMON GROVE, CALIFORNIA

O Desert, they say you are drear and bleak,That death lurks grim in the murderous

beatOf the merciless sun on your cruel sand;

That the Father of Rain disowned this land,And Mother Fertility knew you not,

O desolate one, whom God forgot.But from never a life, from never a place,

Does the great Creator turn His face;If they looked at your heart and understood,

They would cry, "Behold! the desert isgood!"

When sunset dies and the shadowy blueOf the etching mountains fades from view,

And starlit, evening coolness siftsOver the crests of your lonely drifts;

And the moon in the high-domed heaven spillsA snow-white sheen on your sandy hills;

Then your heart is revealed in the stillness,deep

As the Vast Unknown the ages seek;And your silence holds more than the mad

world gives,With its towered towns where cowed man

lives;Till something has happened, I know not why,

A something, part of the sand and sky,Has caught me and held me here on the dune,

With the red ocotillo and the gold-redmoon.

JUST TENDERFEET

By MARY E. PERDEWSANTA ANA, CALIF.

An Indian leaned against the door,Of Needles' first department store,His feet were huge and brown and bare,Done up in mud, his straight black hair.His drooping pants, and shirt much torn,Clothed scantily his massive form.Two tourist ladies hovered near,In search of sights and thrills, 'twas clear."I want to speak to that big man,"Said one girl gayly to her friend."Oh don't: he's just an Indian,He won't know what you say to him.""Yes, yes, I must. 'Twill be such fun.If he seems cross, we'll turn and run.""Say Mister Indian, Oh say!Please tell me what's the time of day,You know, what time, the clock, tick, tick!I want to know right now, be quick."The Indian slowly took a watchFrom out the pocket of his pants,And on it he bestowed a glance,

Madam, it's almost half past four,Although it might perhaps be more,My watch may be a little slow."The tourists opened wide their eyes,In deep and genuine surprise:And then no single word they said,They simply turned, and swiftly fled.While those who watched the scene near by,Laughed long and loud to see them fly.

WESTERN NATURE STUDY

By M. NOURSECORTARO, ARIZONA

Wise as a serpent is all very well.I know a secret, and I'm going to tell:Old Rattlesnake is a regular dummy;Can't tell sore throat from a pain in his

tummy.

A U G U S T , 1 9 3 8 21

Here's a Death valley storyalmost fantastic enough to havecome from the lips of that lov-able old liar, Hard Rock Shorty.But Shorty did not invent thisyarn. It is a true experience fromthe notebook of Laurence M.Huey, curator of birds and mam-mals at the Museum of NaturalHistory in San Diego.

By LAURENCE M. HUEY

7 / EARS ago, I spent the greater part(J of one spring collecting naturaly history specimens in Death valley,

California. This was before good roadsand hotels had opened this region totourists.

It was a desolate and lonely area. Thesalt impregnated floor of the valley liesfar below sea level and is absolutely ster-ile. The only place occupied by humansat that time was a farm then known asFurnace Creek ranch. It was owned andoccupied by the Pacific Coast Borax com-pany and was used to raise beef and vege-tables for miners who worked in theborax mines in the eastern hills near Ryan.

An open ditch brought water from sev-eral large springs in the hills above theranch to irrigate the fields. Along thiswater course several Indian families, ofShoshone origin I believe, were campedfor the winter. They pitched ragged tentsand supplemented these with brush wick-iups.

In one of these Indian families was an8-year-old boy whom the whites hadgiven the name of Willie. I first metWillie when he came with his father towatch me prepare bird specimens. Theyboth sat on their heels just within theshadow of the awning under which I wasworking.

I tried to converse with them, but onlythe father would talk and his answers tomy questions were short. He volunteeredno information. I was impressed withthe alertness of the little fellow. Hisbright eyes took in everything. Occasion-ally he would point to the specimens andspeak to his father in a hoarse whisper,all the time watching me to see if I un-derstood what he was saying. The onlyword he said directly to me that after-noon was "thanks" for a large piece ofsugar candy.

A few days later I saw Willie leave hiscamp with a bow and some arrows. Hewas heading for the mesquites which grewin the drainage area below the fields.

An hour or two later he returned withthree or four birds each skewered by awooden pointed arrow. I called to himso I could examine his kill and was sur-prised to find that he had shot an Eastern

Flicker, a record bird for Death valley. Ioffered him a dime for the specimen. Heaccepted without a word of response, buthis eyes showed plainly that the bargainwas a good one from his viewpoint.

During the time I remained in the vi-cinity of Furnace Creek ranch I boughtseveral good specimens from Willie, allof them killed with his bow and arrows.

His hunting skill, however, was notlimited to the bow and arrow. He had adecrepit single shot .22 rifle. It reallywas an antique. I never understood how

Willie posed for this picture aftermuch coaxing and the proffer of twolarge pieces of sugar candy.

he made the thing work, but Willie knewhow.

Early one morning he passed my campwith the old weapon in his hand.

"Going hunting?" I asked.He replied with a nod of his head."Let's see your gun."He handed me the rattle-trap rifle, and

I took it gingerly.

22 The DESERT MAGAZINE

Indian wickiups near Furnace Creek in Deathvalley. This picture taken several years ago.

"Got some shells?" I asked.

He opened his tightly clenched lefthand, revealing a single .22 short car-tridge in his palm.

"That the only one you have?" Iqueried.

"Yup!" was the terse answer.

I handed back the gun and he went hisway.

Several hours later, I saw Willie re-turning. He had two green-winged tealducks. I called to him.

"Let's see your game, Willie."

He handed me the birds without sayinga word. One of them was shot squarelythrough the head and the other throughthe neck.

"How many times you shoot?" I asked.

His eyes gleamed with pride and heheld up one finger.

"Only once?" I asked in surprise.

He nodded."How did you do it?" I questioned

him.With deliberate movements he laid

down the gun and with one fingerpointed to his eyes. "Me watch 'em—l o n g time." Then with the index fin-ger raised on each hand he spread hisarms wide and began drawing his handstoward each other, simulating two ducksswimming in the water. When the twofingers were in line with his squinted eye(a posture he had assumed to indicate thefiring of the gun) he clicked his tonguewith a snap.

And that was how he had killed twoducks with a single .22 cartridge, in a re-gion where it is a novelty even to see twoducks on a body of water. As a marks-man Willie rates high, but as a panto-mime actor I never expect to see hisequal.

DESERT RETREAT — Reader offers smallcabin at 3000 foot elevation on Mojavedesert, rent-free to party who can use it.Small advertising fee. Address Box PC,Desert Magazine.

RULES BEING DRAFTED FOR"FIVE ACRE TRACT" SALES

City dwellers who are looking forwardto the opportunity of securing a five-acrecabinsite on Uncle Sam's domain underthe Izac bill adopted by the last congresswill have to wait a few weeks longer be-fore the terms of the public land saleswill be made known.

The only information available at thistime regarding the disposal of land underthe new act is the following memorandumissued by the department of interior:

"Although drafting of regulations isalready under way, field investigationsduring the late summer months will benecessary before definite steps can be tak-en toward administration of the Five AcreTract law, passed by the last Congress,Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickestoday was advised by Commissioner FredW. Johnson, of the General Land Office.

"This law authorizes the Secretary ofthe Interior to sell or lease five-acre tractsof public land for homesite, cabin, con-valescent, recreational, or business pur-poses.

"Despite the prospects for unavoidabledelay, nearly 100 requests for allotmentof land have been received since approvalof the statute by President Roosevelt, withcorrespondence concerning the plan in-creasing daily. No consideration can begiven to applications before official an-nouncement of a date upon which requestswill be formally received, and preferentialstatus will not be given applications re-ceived in advance of that date.

"While drafting of the regulations gov-erning disposition of the tracts will becarried forward with all possible speed, itwas explained today that applications forsale or lease of the small areas of thepublic domain cannot be given consider-ation until this preliminary work has beencompleted.

"Scope of the task confronting theGeneral Land Office under the provisionsof the Five Acre Tract law is revealedin the tentative program now under con-sideration.

"Involving many millions of acres ofterritory in the public land States, locat-ed chiefly in the West and Southwest,first problem in the formidable undertak-ing will be the survey and classificationof the areas to determine which portionsare suitable for disposition under the fiveacre tract plan.

"Questions of economies, such as theeffect of the allocation of small tract set-tlements upon business and real estateconditions in adjacent communities, re-quirements for protection and sanitation,and other angles of the situation must be

studied before plans for disposal of thelands can be completed.

"It is expected that representatives ofthe General Land Office will confer withinthe near future with officials and othergroups in local communities interested inthe provisions of the Five Acre Tractlaw."

MISTERMANGELKeeps HerCool

She began thinking about airconditioning her home 'way lastspring. But she didn't knowwhere to begin. Did she needducts or individual units, howmuch would it cost, wouldpower bill go up, etc.?

John Mangel, a Nev-Cal airconditioning engineer, was call-ed in. He studied the home —drew up plans — gave esti-mates on various jobs — gotbids — told exactly how a littleinsulating would save machin-ery and power costs.

Prices are low now. It isn'ttoo late to install air condition-ing this summer or too early toplan for next summer. Mr.Mangel is ready to give youthe facts — without charge orobligation.

NEVADA-CALIFORNIAElectric Corporation

A U G U S T , 1 9 3 8 23

NEVER HAD SO MUCH VALUEAS IN THIS SEASON OF 1938

Ja/da Tfinest,fastest, mostcompjetelu varied trainservice t o -

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SANTA FE TICKET OFFICES

r/ete and jhete. . . ON THE DESERT

ARIZONATucson . . .

A leaf-nosed rattlesnake, rare reptile, hasbeen added to the San Diego museum's col-lection by Curator L. M. Klauber. Habitatof Klauber's prize is believed to be almostentirely limited to southern Arizona. Thisspecimen, taken in the vicinity of Tucson,is one of few in captivity, says Dr. C. T.Vorhies, head of the department of ento-mology and economic zoology at the Uni-versity of Arizona.

Yuma . . .Eighty-seven-year-old Andrew Jenson, as-

sistant historian of the Church of LatterDay Saints, has followed the famous Mor-mon Battalion's trail from Iowa to Califor-nia, "longest continuous infantry march inhistory." From Council Bluffs to San Diego,Jenson gathered data about the 500 men en-listed during the Mexican war for hostilitiesin which they never fired a shot. They aresaid to have planted the first American flagever raised over the city of Tucson. Jensonmaterial will be used for a church record ofthe march.

Tucson . . .School teacher shortage in Arizona is re-

ported by Dr. Austin Repp of the state uni-versity. Greatest demand is for primary,music and home economics departments,with increase of 25 per cent in teacherpositions in high schools since 1930. It willbe necessary to go out of the state to fillexisting vacancies, Repp says. Many positionsare still open.

Phoenix . . .First peaceful meeting in 15 years was

held by delegates from seven Colorado riverbasin states at Phoenix late in June. Ari-zona, holdout on the river compact signedby the other six states at Santa Fe, now linesup with sister commonwealths to speed de-velopment of the basin. To plan a programthe conference named Judge Clifford H.Stone, Colorado; A. T. Hannet, former gov-ernor of New Mexico; J. A. Mulcahy, Tuc-son; Alfred M. Smith, Nevada state engin-eer; Evan T. Hewes, El Centro, Coloradoriver commissioner for California; HarryW. Jenkins, Cora, Wyoming; William R.Wallace, Salt Lake City, Utah. Anothermeeting will be held before September 1.

Wickenburg . . .Development of a $2,000,000 irrigation

project on 18,000 acres south of here is pre-dicted by Engineer W. C. Lefebvre, whosays the plan has been approved by PWAexaminers and endorsed by Secretary Ickesof the department of the interior.

Phoenix . . .Celebration in 1939 of the 400th anni-

versary of Fray Marcos de Niza's expeditioninto Arizona will be the greatest project ofits kind ever carried out in the state, de-clares Major M. A. Strange, spokesman forthe sponsoring Dons club. Programs ofpublicity are planned to draw to Arizonaits share of what Major Strange calls thefive-billion-dollar tourist crop to be harvest-ed next year. He believes San Francisco's$3,400,000 spending for its World's Fairwill set a new high mark for tourists aim-ing at the West coast and wants thesevisitors to see Arizona.

Kingman . . .Traffic to Boulder dam area from the

Arizona side hit a new high in June. In oneweek 5,753 persons in 1,826 cars werechecked at the eastern approach. Total fromArizona and Nevada checking stations forthe dam area in a single June week was14,082 persons in 4,552 cars, representingevery state in the union, three territoriesand two foreign countries.

CALIFORNIANeedles . . .

"Lake Needles" will be the name of the5 5-mile reservoir in the Colorado river back-ed up by Parker dam, according to a tele-gram received by the Needles Nugget fromCongressman Harry Sheppard, who saysJohn C. Page, commissioner of reclamationhas promised to recommend this officialdesignation. Water is now being, stored inthe lake which will eventually extend fromthe dam to a point 6 miles below the city'of Needles, and will impound the supplyfor 13 cities of the Metropolitan water dis-trict in Southern California. From it a bil-lion gallons of water will be pumped dailyinto the metropolitan aqueduct.

Palmdale . . .Bounty of $1.00 each has been paid for

650 coyotes slain in Los Angeles countysince a campaign against these predatorswas launched in November 1937, accordingto Game Warden Spence D. Turner. Lossesto poultrymen and livestock owners havebeen reduced by the war on coyotes, thewarden says.

Brawley . . .In the state game preserve between Braw-

ley and Calipatria and Wiest lake the divi-sion of fish and game has planted 20,000perch. About 10,000 8-inch bass have beenplanted in the Palo Verde slough south ofBlythe. There will be no open season inImperial county for these fish before 1939-

Indio . . .Riverside supervisors have instructed

County Surveyor A. C. Fulmor to survey a25-mile road and to take steps to get rightsof way for a highway which will connectNiland in Imperial county with Hopkinswell near Blythe. This is the "missing link"in the Four-State International Highwayfrom Canada to Mexico. Hopkins Well is onU. S. Highway 60.

El Centro . . .Allotments to western reclamation pro-

jects by the Public Works administrationinclude:

To the All-American canal, for construc-tion of the Coachella branch, $1,000,000.

To the Gila project in Arizona, whichwill draw its water supply from the lakeimpounded by Imperial dam, $2,000,000,for building a power line from Parker damto the Gila pumping plant and for pumpingplant construction.

To the Salt River project in Arizona,$565,000 to complete Bartlett dam on theVerde river.

Last uncontracted work on the All-Ameri-can canal has been awarded, power dropNo. 1 and the Coachella turnout, and a ser-ies of 46 structures along a 25-mile stretchof the main and the New Briar canal.

24 The DESERT MAGAZINE

Mojave . . .After preying on bands of sheep in the

Mojave desert a brown bear was caught byLaurence Duntley, ten miles southeast ofhere. Duntley lassoed the bear but the ropebroke and he was forced to shoot the ani-mal which weighed about 150 pounds.Bears very rarely are found on the desert.

Blythe . . .Palo Verde irrigation district has launch-

ed a movement to irrigate mesa lands ad-jacent to its present cultivated area alongthe Colorado river. Mesa land owners arebeing listed and a committee will negotiateat Washington for development funds. Onthe first mesa it is said 16,000 acres holdClass A water rights. Ed. F. Williams is incharge of collecting data.

Independence . . .Appeal has been made to the department

of the interior to save from extinction wildburros which roam Death Valley. DistrictAttorney George Francis of Inyo countytold department officials in Washington thatburros running wild in the Panamints arebeing slaughtered for chicken food whenthey go to the waterholes.

NEVADALas Vegas . . .

Marooned on a desert island by the ris-ing waters of Lake Mead, a giant moun-tain sheep was found recently by four Over-ton boys during a four-day boat trip aboveBoulder dam. The young explorers reportthey visited an island about two milessquare, the top of a mountain now partiallysubmerged in the lake. In addition to thestranded sheep they found large Gila mon-sters and killed a rattlesnake which had 12rattles. The sheep may be captured, trans-ported to the mainland and released, follow-ing a report to forest rangers of the bighorn's plight.

Charleston . . .Eighteen baby antelope are being bottle-

fed here. Twenty cans of milk, mixed witha little water, are their daily ration. Forestservice officials hope to wean the timidyoungsters in about four weeks. Then thehand-feeding will be discontinued. Thebabies will be released in the Charlestonmountains as soon as they are big enoughto fend for themselves. They were trans-ported in trucks from Vya, in the northernpart of the state.

St. Thomas . . .On June 11 Postmaster Rox Whitmore

rose early and worked late, cancelling morethan 4,000 letters from philatelists all overthe United States, thus giving them a St.Thomas postmark on the final day of thelife of a postoffice in a "buried city." ThenWhitmore moved out, the postoffice build-ing was torn down by workmen who wadedin the rising waters of Boulder lake. HughLord, garageman, was last of the communi-ty's residents to quit the historic Mormonsettlement. He had planned to spend Satur-day night there. But the water rose too fast,lapping around his bed. Lord set fire to hisdwelling, climbed into a rowboat and de-parted. Now the town is completely sub-merged.

Carson City . . .Work was scheduled to be well under

way in July on construction of 20 miles ofthe Las Vegas-Searchlight highway, follow-ing opening of bids which disclosed J. A.Casson of Hayward, California, submittedlowest offer, $73,350. In addition to build-ing and surfacing 20 miles of new road,surfacing of 8 miles constructed in 1937will be completed.

NEW MEXICO

Albuquerque . . .Rain and hail in June broke a spring

drought in New Mexico. Heavy downpourwas reported in the northern section of thestate, the Pecos rising to a flood peak of 13feet. Alamogordo creek ran full and theCanadian was high. Hailstones, three inchesin circumference are reported to have killedmany young cattle and sheep in the Monu-ment district, southwest of Hobbs. Piles ofice were left in arroyos, in a storm describ-ed by veteran ranchers as "worst in this sec-tion's history.

Santa Fe . . .New Mexico magazine, monthly publica-

tion of the state, celebrated its 15th anni-versary with the issuance of the July number.Editor of the magazine is George Fitzpar-rick.

Las Cruces . . .To meet the requirements of increasing

enrollment, the regents of the New MexicoState College here have filed with the PWAan application for $597,000 to be spent forfive new buildings.

Fort Defiance . . .Many old medicine men of the tribe were

present here June 20 when a new half mill-ion dollar hospital for the Navajo Indianswas dedicated. A staff of 115 persons willbe on duty at the hospital and health cen-ter to serve the 45,000 Navajos on the16,000,000-acre reservation. Dr. W. W.Peters is medical director of the Navajo andHopi reservations.

UTAHCedar City . . .

Nearly 500 Lions and Lionesses attendedthe annual convention of Utah and IdahoLions' clubs here. John C. Kidneigh of SaltLake City, Salvation Army adjutant, waselected district governor of Utah Lions andVernal was selected as 1939 joint conventioncity. Rulon Dunn of Preston was electedpresident of the Idaho Lions.

Vernal . . .For the purpose of promoting tourist

travel through the Uintah basin a U. S. 40Highway Club was formed here recentlywith Thos. Karren as president and ElwoodA. Gee, secretary. Funds are being raisedto keep two full-time representatives atstrategic points on the highway to routemotorists this way.

Salt Lake City . . .Water level in Great Salt Lake has rais-

ed nearly three feet in the past three yearsaccording to A. B. Purton of the U. S.Geological Survey. During the 10 yearspreceding 1935 the lake dropped steadilyand the salt content increased to 28 percent.Rising waters since that time have loweredthe salt content to 24 percent. Purton be-lieves that the lake may continue to gainand eventually reach the high mark of manyyears ago.

Duchesne . . .Preliminary drawings have been received

by Engineers W. F. Gentry of the U. S.Reclamation bureau for the construction ofa diversion dam across the Duchesne river.The structure will not be started until highwaters have subsided, probably in Septem-ber.

ndians

of 34TRIBES

Invite you to the

INTER-TRIBAL

GALLUP . . New Mexico

AUGUST

24

25

26

More Real Indians can be seenin authentic dances, rites,sports, games and handicraftsduring three days at the GallupCeremonial than at any othertime or place.Ample Accommodations. Gal-lup has built two new Hotelsand two new Auto Courts —210 new rooms — since last Au-gust.

ELEVATION 6528 FEETBLANKET COOL NIGHTS

U. S. 66 Now ALL PAVED

INTER-TRIBAL INDIAN CEREMON-IAL ASSN., GALLUP, NEW MEXICO

Please send me free literature on theIndian country and the Inter-Tribal In-dian Ceremonial, August 24, 25, 26.

NAME

STREET NUMBER

CITY STATE

A U G U S T , 1 9 3 8 25

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Yuma, Death Valley and Needles, tra-ditional claimants of the highest tempera-tures in the United States will now haveto bow down before a new champion—no other than the little town of Delta onthe edge of the Sevier desert in Utah.

Delta's sudden rise 10 fame as the heatcapital of the Great American desert isdue to two circumstances:

First—The inauguration of a monthlyHot Air derby sponsored by the DesertMagazine.

Second—To the fact that Editor FrankBeckwith of the Delta Chronicle is thjmost eloquent liar the desert has producedthis year—at least, up to this date.

On June 30, the dead-line for the firstheat in the Hot Air Contest of 1938—the judges announced that the prize forthe No. 1 hot air story of the month hadbeen awarded to Beckwith.

This is only a temporary victory, how-ever, as the contest will be continuedthrough July and August. Other deserttowns which may be jealous of the hon-ors accorded Delta, Utah, will have anopportunity to regain their lost prestige.

Another contest is in progress—to bejudged July 30. The field is open andthe sky is the limit. The Desert Magazinewill pay $5.00 award to the July winner.

And now, here's the tall tale for June:

HELLZ BELLS, BUT IT'S HOT!

Ebeneezer Brown whose farm islocated out in the Abraham districton the Sevier desert in Millardcounty, Utah has announced he willstart extracting gasoline and oil fromgreasewood by a special distillingprocess he has invented.

The Brown place is located on theedge of the virgin desert and whenEbeneezer let his bees out in thespring they browsed on the grease-wood and came back and filled thehives up with vaseline.

This gave Eb an idear.So he built a home-made contrap-

tion in the shade of the one tree thatgrows on his place. Then he broughtthe vaseline from the beehives andput it in the main vat. It was so gol-derned hot day and night the grease-wood vaseline began to vaporizeand run off into two tubs, one tocatch No. 30 summer oil and theother for hi-oktayne E Z Start gaso-line.

As a by-product of the vaporizingprocess, six flavors of petroleum jelloare produced from the residue: straw-berry, razberry, orange, parafinshaves, grease straws and Jiffiejellfor ice cream powders—all with thetrue aroma of the desert.

26 The DESERT MAGAZINE

Desert MiningBriefs . .Moratorium Extended . . .

President Roosevelt on June 29 signed thebill extending the moratorium on miningclaims assessment work. The measure wasopposed by Secretary Ickes of the depart-ment of the interior. Ickes believes suspen-sion of assessment work prevents discoveryof new mineral deposits, closes down sourceof employment. Miners' fever, induced be-cause only a few days remained to do thework if the President failed to sign the bill,has subsided.

Washington, D. C. . . .Creation of a federal department of mines

is urged by Congressman J. C. Scrugham ofNevada. Scrugham wants the United Statesto maintain reserve stocks of strategic warminerals: copper, iron ore, nickel, zinc,bauxite, oil, tin, manganese, tungsten,chromite, antimony and quicksilver. Explor-ation of available sources in the UnitedStates is vitally important, he told the Ameri-can Society of naval engineers. An estimateby the national resources board is that fortwo-year war this nation would need1,000,000 tons of ferromanganese ore;300,000 tons chromite ore; 60,000 tonsof metallic tin; 10,000 tons of tungsten ore;35,000 tons antimony; 40,000 tons nickel;25,000 sheets mica; 25,000 flasks quick-silver.

Winnemuccct, Nevada . . .O. F. Heizer has been named Nevada

chairman for the fifth annual metal miningconvention and exposition of the AmericanMining congress, scheduled for October 24-27 at the Ambassador hotel, Los Angeles.Stanley A. Easton, president of the BunkerHill and Sullivan Mining and Concentratingcompany, Kellogg, Idaho, has been electedchairman of the board of governors of theWestern division of the mining congress.

Phoenix, Arizona . . .Membership in the Arizona Small Mine

Operators Association is approaching 1500.Charles F. Willis, secretary of the organiza-tion, predicts 2500 members will be listedsoon. At Kingman the Mohave county coun-cil of the association recently received 15new members, now has 105 on its roll. Newcouncils have been formed at Quartzsite,Bouse and Parker. The association is pleasedwith Arizona corporation commission de-cision denying application of railroads forincrease in intrastate freight rates on copperores and concentrates.

Tonopah, Nevada . . .Mines of the Tonopah-Goldfield district

shipped 56 carloads of ore during May, ac-cording to figures from J. E. Peck, superin-tendent of the Tonopah and Goldfield rail-road. Goldfield produced 13 of the 50-toncarloads, 43 originated at Tonopah.

Douglas, Arizona . . ."Other than seasonal layoff at Ajo, there

are no plans at present for suspension of anyof the Arizona operating properties of thePhelps Dodge corporation," announcesH. M. Lavender, general manager. P-D op-erates copper mines at Bisbee, Ajo andJerome, and a smelter at Douglas.

Washington, D. C. • . .Molybdenum production in the United

States set a new peak in 1937, an increaseof 71 percent over the 1936 record, withArizona probably second in the list of pro-ducing states. Output reported by U. S.Bureau of Mines was 30,357 short tons ofconcentrates carrying 29,419,000 pounds ofmetallic molybdenum. About 77 per cent ofthis total came from Colorado. Arizona'slargest producer was the Arizona Molyb-denum corporation mine at Copper creek.Other producing states were Idaho, NewMexico, Utah and Washington.

Goldiield, Nevada . . ."Nevada is falling back badly in produc-

tion of gold because there are no new minesand there are no new mines because thereare so few prospectors in the hills," L. B.Spencer of the state prospecting schools tolda Las Vegas audience. Spencer says the wayto promote mining activity is to "start atthe bottom" and help the prospector.

Phoenix, Arizona . . .After devoting all of his time during 14

years to search for the legendary "minewith the iron door", C. W. McKee toldfriends a few days before he died in June:"The mine is near Oracle. I'm going to be arich man." He was most persistent of themany who have hunted for gold said to havebeen discovered by the Spaniards in the16th century. Since 1872 McKee was fasci-nated by the story. In 1924 he quit allother activities to concentrate on his effortsto locate the fabled mine.

Tucson, Arizona . . .Although Mrs. Laura Pearson Shepley

Clark affirmed her belief in the existence ofmillions in gold hidden by Spanish priests300 years ago, and told the court she hadspent about $40,000 in her quest of this"treasure of Guadalupe," nevertheless shewas convicted by a jury on a charge of de-frauding an investor. Mrs. Clark deniedtestimony given by physicians, professors,business men, society women and othersthat she had told them she had recovered thetreasure, "worth $32,000,000" and had themoney in a Tucson bank.

Tombstone, Arizona . . .Plan to install $100,000 pumping system

at the Lucky Cuss mine is announced hereby Ed Holderness, manager of the Tomb-stone development company. In 1935 thecompany took over the 100 claims of theLucky Cuss property, located in the heart ofthe Tombstone district. Manager Holdernesssays nearly $1,000,000 worth of ore hasbeen mined since then in the levels abovethe water line. Years ago the Lucky Cussshut down when its pumps lost the battlewith rising water.

Kingman, Arizona . . .Tom Reed Gold Mines company for the

year ending March 31, 1938, reports totalgross income from mining, leases and mill-ing, $814,665.77. Total net operating in-come for the period—$40,367.48. Averageassay values for preceding year $12.37 perton for gold and .46 cents for silver. Netvalue of the company property is given as$1,655,896.34, according to the 31st annualreport.

Winnemucca, Nevada . . .County Recorder J. L. Germain reported

that 650 claims were filed here for exemp-tion from annual assessment work afternews was received that President Roosevelthad signed the mine moratorium bill.

•

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DESERT PLACE NAMES. . . Compiled by TRACY M. SCOTT . . .

For the historical data contained in this department, the Desert Magazine is indebted tothe research work done by Miss Scott; to the late Will C. Barnes, author of "ArizonaPlace Names"; to Frances Rosser Brown of New Mexico and to Hugh O'Neil of Ogden,Utah.

ARIZONA

ARIZOLA Pima countyStation and farming community on S. P.

R. R. 26 miles east of Maricopa. Was head-quarters of James Addison Reavis who claim-ed best part of Maricopa and Pinal countieson an alleged Spanish grant. Called himself"Baron of the Colorados." Lived here in al-most royal state. Landed eventually in fed-eral penitentiary. According to GeorgeMauk (1931) U. S. marshal for Arizona,Mauk was first rr agent there in 1894. Set-tler from Missouri named the place in 1892,using his daughter's name Ola and Arizonato coin the word.

CAMINO DEL DIABLO Yuma countySp. "road of the Devil." Desert road

from Sonora to Gila river near Yuma. Horn-aday says, "At the Tule Desert along theinternational boundary the trail becomes thefamous Camino del Diablo or Devil's road.It probably derives its name from the factthat between 3,000 and 4,000 wayfarers aresaid to have died on it from hunger, thirstand fatigue. It is said to be the most terribletrail in all the southwestern region."

AGATHLA NEEDLE Apache county.

Elevation 6,825 feet. On some mapsmarked "Peak." Father Haile says: "A Na-vajo word Ag-ha-la, meaning 'much wool.'A rock or place where deer, sheep and ante-lope rub themselves. In other words ascratching place for animals in the springwhile they are shedding." On Navajo In-dian reservation in Monument valley, eastside Moonlight creek. "It is a spire rising1125 feet above Monument valley, the mostimpressive of all volcanic rocks in the Na-vajo country." Gregory. Barnes says FatherHaile's spelling is doubtless correct, al-though on all maps it is Agathla.

CALIFORNIA

COSO (coh'soh) Inyo countyMountains, hot springs, village and mine.

Chalfant thinks the word is Pahute for"fire", originally "cosho"; also the CosoIndian word for "broken coal" or "fire-stone". Mott claims it is the word meaningbull fight arena. Coso mine founded I860 byDarwin French and party prospecting forsilver and lead.

LOS PATOS (lohs pah'tos) Orange county"The ducks," probably referring to flocks

of wild ducks which find this a favorite re-

MENTONE San Bernardino countySp. for "chin," but place probably named

after the town in the French Riviera.

BREYFOGLE Inyo county.Famous "lost mine" of Death Valley. In

1862 Prospector Jacob Breyfogle pursued byunfriendly Indians, came across a very richgold ore ledge. He was finally rescued,but was never able to find the ledge again.Several mine sites now called Breyfogle.

NEVADA

ANAHO (an ah ho) Washoe countyIsland in Pyramid lake. Osage Indian

word, but no meaning is found.

PAHRANAGAT (pah ran' a gat)Lincoln county

Lakes. Indian tribal name, pah "water,"ranagat "melon or vine plant." Spaniardsfound the Indians raising squash and smallwatermelons in the district.

LAS VEGAS (lahs vay' gas) Clark county.

Peak, mountain range and city. Sp. for"the meadows" because of the fertile, grassydistrict. City founded May 13, 1900 by therailroad company.

NEW MEXICO

POJUATE (poh wha'te) Valencia countyRiver. Also shown as Pojuato and Paguate.

Native name originally Kwistyi, meaning"take it down," referring to an ancient tra-dition. Formerly a Laguna village and notto be confused with the word Pojoaque.

CERILLOS (ser e' yos) Santa Fe countySp. "dies for milling coined metal." From

early Spanish mining colony.

HUECO (way 'ko) Otero countyMountains. Sp. for "a notched place; a

hollow, a gap." Referring to the skyline ofthe hills.

SEBOYETA (seboye'tah, or say boyea'tah)Valencia county.

Sp. Cebolleta, meaning "tender onions."A settlement on the Pojuate river. In 1746 atemporary settlement was made by the Span-ish and a mission built in 1749, but it wasabandoned the following year.

UTAH

TOOELE Tooele county

City founded by Mormons in 1849 andwas to be named Tule from tules in sur-rounding countryside, but the word was mis-spelled by Thomas Bullock, BrighamYoung's secretary. Tooele county formedin 1850. (Bancioft).

UNCOMPAHGRE (un kom pah' gre)Uinta county

Indian reservation. Original word was Ta-beguache (Mo-a-wa-ta-ve-wach) meaning"the people living on the warm side of amountain." Ute division in southwest Colo-rado, now officially designated as Uncom-pagre Utes.

UTAH — From Yu-tah, a tribe of Indians.The area comprising the present state wasfirst entered by Capt. Garcia Lopez de Car-denas in 1540. The Yu-tah nation, consist-ing of many tribes, belongs to the Shoshonefamily.

28 The DESERT MAGAZINE

Sez HardRock Shorty

ofDeathValleySy LON GARRISON

"There is some as sez I ain't al-ways spoke the truth."

Hard Rock Shorty mused in sor-row over this lack of honest appre-ciation.

"Like the time I found GrandpaWilson's ramrod—

"One time I was up one o' themlittle gullies off'n Wild Rose, an' Iseen a old, old Pinon stump stand-in' on the bank of a little U-shapedcanyon. While I was watchin' thetree fell over longways o' the can-yon an' rolled down the side. It hada lot o' speed by the time it got tothe bottom, an' it rolled about halfup tother side. Then, back it comean' rolled up the first side again.Back an' forth—back an' forth—itkept on rollin' up one side—down—an' up tother side. I watched ittwo hours afore I left.

"It was just a year later thatGrandpappy an' me was prospectin'up there. Grandpa'd brung alonghis old muzzle loader to try for arabbit, an' he busted his ramrodwhile we was standin' right in thislittle canyon the tree'd fell in. Rab-bits all around, nothin' to eat, ram-rod busted—was we in a pickle!

"Then I seen somethin' movin'up the hill an' when I leant downto look—

"Yes sir—there was that log stillrollin'. Wore down to just the rightsize for Grandpa's ramrod! I stillgot the ramrod to prove it, an' yetthere's some as say I just made upthe story."

NEW INDOOR SPORTSan Jacinto tunnel crews on Southern

California's Metropolitan water district aque-duct expected to hole through the Cabazon-Lawrence leg in July. Interest is high in thehardrockers' pool, in which the holder ofthe ticket on the exact minute of holingthrough will win the big prize. San Jacintotunnel, 68,843 feet long, will be last of themajor bores to be completed in the 392-mile water system. The main aqueduct is242 miles long, extending from the Colo-rado river to a point 10 miles south of Riv-erside. The aqueduct job is 85 per centcompleted. Bonds have been voted for$220,000,000.

STANDARD M—Burns gaso-line, kerosene or distillate,whichever is cheapest. Wide

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PRINTINGFOR THE DESERTFor business and professionalpeople wanting

• STATIONERY• BOOKLETS• CARDS• MAILING PIECES

Suggestive of the desert.W E SUPPLY ART WORK,ENGRAVING AND PRINTINGDummies and quotations gladlyfurnished.

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EL CENTRO, CALIFORNIA

DESERT MAGAZINE BINDERSHold twelve copies—Attractive and Durable.

Delivered, each $1

Imperial Valley Bindery12? No. 6th St. E! Centro, Calif.

Stone Cabin W. G. Keiser, veteran of the desert,who resides at Quartzsite, Arizona,is the winner of the $5.00 cash prize

offered by the Desert Magazine in June for the best identification of thepicture below. The contest did not bring out as much information asthe magazine staff had hoped to obtain, but Mr. Keiser's letter was themost informative of all those received.

By W. G. KEISER/*9 seem to recognize the old stone\J cabin in your June issue. These

rock walls are located on theQuartzsite-Yuma road about 60 milesnorth of Yuma and 30 miles south ofQuartzsite. It is near the summit not farfrom the point where the roads from theKing of Arizona, North Star and CastleDome mines intersect the main north andsouth highway.

The cabin is on the west side of theroad about 1000 feet off the highwaywhere a sign pointing to it is marked"Stone Cabin."

As to the origin no definite informa-tion is available but it likely is one ofmany such cabins found in the Quartz-site region, probably erected either byearly Spaniards or by the French at alater date. (See Bolton's History of earlyMissions in Arizona.)

At one such place near Quartzsiteoccur many stone cabins and remnants ofold mud smelters.

What the roofs of these stone housesconsisted of is a mystery. May have beensimply brush. This particular cabin isknown to have been used in 1870, andquite evidently was erected prior to thediscovery of the placer mines in 1863.Stone cabin was along the probable routefrom Prescott to Yuma and also the oldtrail from Yuma to Tyson well.

WeedkesiJUNE REPORT FROM

U. S. BUREAU AT PHOENIX

Temperatures— DegreesMean for month 85.8Normal for June 84.5High on June 5 112.Low on June 13 63.

Rain— InchesTotal for month 0.28Normal for June 0.07

W e a t h e r -Days clear 21Days partly cloudy 8Days cloudy 1

C. T. TERRY, Meteorologist.

FROM YUMA BUREAU

Temperatures— DegreesMean for month 85.2Normal for June 84.7High on June 5 I l l -Low on June 12 61.

Rain— InchesTotal for month Trace69-year average for June 0.02

W e a t h e r -Days clear 26Days partly cloudy 4Days cloudy 0

Sunshine 98 percent (411 hours out of possible428 hours).

Colorado river—June discharge at Grand Canyon, 4,722,000acre-feet. Discharge at Parker 555,000 acre-feet. Estimated storage behind Boulder damJuly 1:—22,275,000 acre-feet.

JAMES H. GORDON, Meteorologist.

30 The DESERT MAGAZINE

LANDMARK IN NEW MEXICOCan you indentify this place?

PRIZE FOR THEBEST ANSWER

How well do you know your South-west? If you have visited all the mainpoints of interest in New Mexico youhave stood on the spot shown in thephotograph above. Many thousands ofvisitors go there every year—and find it afascinating place to hike and explore.

The Desert Magazine will pay a cashprize of $5.00 to the person who sends in

a descriptive article of not over 300 wordsidentifying the above landmark and giv-ing all possible information about it.

The answers should give exact geo-graphical location, accessibility to high-ways and railroads, and any other infor-mation which would interest desert visi-tors.

This contest is open to all, regardlessof place of residence, and the deadline forentries is August 20, 1938. The winninganswer will be published in the Septem-ber number of the Desert Magazine.

SO OUT GOES THE HYPHENIN "TWENTY-NINE PALMS"

When Col. Henry Washington madethe original survey in 1855 he gave thename "29 Palms" to the oasis of nativeWashingtonias he found in the Joshuatree forest of San Bernardino county,California. More recently the chamber ofcommerce changed it to "Twenty-NinePalms," spelling out the figures and add-ing the hyphen. And now Uncle Sam hasdecided it should be "Twentynine Palms"—with the hyphen omitted—and that isthe way it appears in the postal guide.Not all the residents of the desert oasisapprove the new version, but Editor Wm.J. Underhill of the local newspaper, Des-ert Trail, announced editorially "in thespirit of cooperation we will hereafterdrop the hyphen and capital "N" andhereby urgently request our readers andbusiness associates to do likewise."

RECORD FENCE DESIGNED TOPROTECT NEW ACJUEDUCT

Designed to keep jackrabbits and coy-otes as well as range animals out of theMetropolitan aqueduct across the South-ern California desert, one of the longestfences in the world recently was com-pleted. The fence is 153 miles in lengthand is of heavy mesh topped with barbedwire. It extends along all the open ditchsections and around the reservoirs.

CHUCKAWALLA ENTRYMENGIVEN NEW EXTENSION

Entrymen in Chuckawalla valley, Cali-fornia, have been granted a further ex-emption from annual assessment work ontheir desert claims by a bill approved bythe last congress. The measure extendsthe time to May 1, 1940. Many hundredsof desert entries were filed between 1908and 1912. Exemption from cancellationhas been renewed by each congress sincethat time, pending water development.

"DESERTSTEVE"RAGSDALE

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Hotel service, cabins, cafe, store, gar-age, free swimming pool and showers,largest landing field between Los An-geles and Phoenix, lighted all night.Good mechanic, tow car service. Every-thing for you and your car day andnight.

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Navajos Call It Nat-sis-anContinued from 12

California's Outstanding Mountain Lake ResortFamous for its Four Delightful Seasons

For a vacation thatis away and aboveany other in charma n d contentment,Lake Arrowhead off-ers incomparable fa-cilities for enjoy-ment the year 'round £feGlorious scenery, allsports and mile-highah mean new pep and -5*:.Jivitality for all the _^

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Village entrance fee$1.00 per car permonth. Refund to hotel

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725 S. Spring StreetTrinity 3266

The LodgeBURTON R. OGILVIE

Managing Director21/2 Hours from Los Angeles Scenic High Gear State Highway

boat expedition down the Colorado river in 1869 and 1870.Powell had lost his right arm in the Civil war, so the Pahutescalled him kai-par-uts, or "one arm."

Only within the past 10 or 15 years have there been ac-counts of white men ever having set foot upon its timberedsummit. For centuries its precipitous guarding cliffs had keptit an unknown land. In the summer of 1928 Clyde Kluck-hohn, now a professor of anthropology at Harvard, led an ex-pedition to the top of the mesa from the southern end. Stand-ing on Navajo mountain, Clyde told us of that thrilling trip,of abundant game, fine springs of fresh clear water; and ofprehistoric Indian ruins he discovered.

He had found Wild Horse mesa a veritable garden spot.Yet as I gazed out across those endless miles of tortured rockI could scarcely imagine a paradise. I can never forget theimpression that scene made upon me—a land of solid rockcut and worn by countless ages of erosion, not a tree or a signof life to break the awfulness of its magnitude. I had then,and still have, the feeling that I might have been gazing outacross the surface of our long-dead moon. So broken, sotreacherous and dry, it seemed little wonder that no one hasdared to explore it.

That night as we sat around the campfire after the longand tedious descent of the mountain, we planned a future trip—planned as all lovers of the deserts and mountains alwaysdo—a trip to see what lies beyond that next range; and withus it will be Wild Horse mesa.

Park Service Bulletin Tells AboutBoulder Dam Recreational Area

For the information of motorists who may wish to includeBoulder Dam and Lake Mead in their summer vacation trip theNational Park Service has issued the data:

ROADS — Southern California to Boulder City via Barstow,Baker, and Las Vegas — all paved.

Kingman, Arizona to Boulder City — all paved.

Reno to Boulder City via Fallon, Tonopah, and Las Vegas —all paved.

Death Valley to Boulder City via Death Valley Jet., and LasVegas — all paved.

Needles to Boulder City via Searchlight — 57 miles gravel, 42miles paved.

Utah to Boulder City via U. S. 91 and Las Vegas — all paved.

U. S. Highway 91 to Overton Museum — all paved.CAMPING—A free public campground on the shore of Lake

Mead, six miles from Boulder City, is maintained by the NationalPark Service. Campers must carry drinking water from Boulder City.

A campground is maintained in Boulder City by the Bureau of; Reclamation with all modern facilities including electric outlets. Fee

9 50c per day.WHAT TO DO—Guide service through Boulder Dam and the

Powerhouse provided by the Bureau of Reclamation from 6:45 a.m.to 10:15 p.m. daily. 25c per persons, children free.

Natural Color futures and talk by a National Park Service3 naturalist at 11 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. daily in the air-cooled Boulder• City Theater. No charge.

Free Motion Pictures of the construction of Boulder Dam areshown continuously from 7 a.m to 9 p.m. in the Service Bureau inthe air-cooled Boulder Theater building.

Boat Trips on regular schedules to Black Canyon, Boulder Dam,Boulder Canyon, and Grand Canyon. Trips from 75c up.

Swimming —• Water temperature ideal; free dressing rooms,picnic tables and comfort stations. Floodlights in the evening until10 p.m. Lifeguard protection.

Fishing — Many large bass are being caught. Non-resident statelicense $3.00.

32 The DESERT MAGAZINE

62 Years a Traderin Apache Land

Continued from page 4

through the town, the tide that sweepsaround the world has changed the scene.Counterfeit bad men perform on a silverscreen where the real bad men of anotherday performed in person. Neon lightsblaze a challenge to the stars and the tallbronze figure of a pioneer Madonna ofthe Trail stands in front of the new fed-eral building. The monument base has aninscription:CORONADO PASSED HERE IN 1540

HE CAME TO SEEK GOLDBUT FOUND FAME

On another of the granite faces:A TRIBUTE TO THE PIONEERS OFARIZONA AND THE SOUTHWEST

Who Trod this Groundand Braved the Dangers

of the Apaches andother Warrior Tribes.

Gus Becker cocks a quizzical eye at themonument.

"Troubles with the Indians?" he re-peats after you.

"Hell, all our troubles came from whitemen."

• • •NEVADA RANGER CLAIMSTALLEST SAGEBRUSH PLANT

Forest Ranger Jay L. Sevy of Potts,Nevada, says he has found the skysraperof the sagebrush family—a plant 14 feet2 inches tall. Sage, the Nevada stateflower, is the most important plant inNevada in Sevy's opinion. He gives threereasons: (1) it is chief source of feedfor sheep and other browsing animals inwinter; (2) its roots bind the soil andkeep Nevada from becoming a dust bowl;(3) it provides both food and cover forgrouse.

TURQUOISE GEM FIELD

John W. Hilton, collector andlapidarist, whose desert gem storiesin the Desert Magazine during thepast six months have attracted wide-spread interest, will have a featurearticle of special value to collectorsin the September issue. The articleis devoted to the mining of tur-quoise in both prehistoric and mod-ern days, and will include a mapshowing where fair specimens ofthis semi-precious gem may be ob-tained on the Mojave desert of Cal-ifornia. Hilton is gathering materialfor other articles on desert gemswhich are scheduled to appear regu-larly in this magazine next winter.

ACE CLIMBERS FAIL TOREACH TOP OF SHIPROCK

Shiprock in northeastern New Mexicoremains unsealed despite the efforts oface climbers from two of the outstandingmountaineering clubs of the United Statesduring the past few months.

Most recent effort to reach the summitwas made by six members of the RockyMountain Club of Colorado. Headed byCarl Blaurock, president of the club, andWilliam F. Erwin, both of Denver, theparty spent two days working on the pre-cipitous walls of the New Mexico land-mark. They were balked by sheer cliffsseveral hundred feet short of their goal.

Blaurock is a seasoned mountaineerand with Erwin has done much climbingin the Swiss Alps.

During the past winter Glen Dawsonheaded a party of climbers from theSierra Club of California in an effort toscale Shiprock. They encountered ex-tremely cold weather which made theirwork on the exposed rock faces especiallyhazardous. Dawson expressed the opinionthat even under favorable conditions itwill be some time before this peak is con-quered.

• • •/UST TO KEEP THERECORDS STRAIGHT

A pressman inadvertently reversed one ofthe Indian jewelry pictures accompanying JohnW. Hilton's turquoise story in last month'sDesert magazine. The result was that Zunijewelry was labeled "Navajo," and the Navajopieces were marked "Zuni". Apologies to thecraftsmen of both tribes.

MAYANS MAY HAVE LIVEDON MOJAVE DESERT

Pictographs scratched in canyon walls40 miles east of Barstow lead DavidRogers, anthropologist for the Santa Bar-bara museum of natural history, to be-lieve that a Mayan-like race inhabited theMojave desert 5,000 years ago. Historyof the Mayans of Yucatan and Guatemalahas heretofore been traced back only 2500years. Rogers says he found three seriesof carvings in the Granite mountain foot-hills, first of them religious in signific-ance; second series about 2500 years oldand a third he identifies as belonging tomodern Indians.

VALERIE

Write R. C. NICOLL, Prop., Thermal, Calif.

Boats to CatalinaN I G H T L Y

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Boats for Charter—Live BaitFishing Boats.

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LONG BEACH

_ ,

Realism in line and color mark the desert canvases of Clifford Lewis, young artist whosework on Southwestern landscapes is attracting wide attention.

Clifford Lewis will have his work on display during the coming season at—

THE ADOBETWENTY-NINE PALMS, CALIF.

A U G U S T , 1 9 3 33

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CALIFORNIA DESERTSEDMUND C. JAEGER

A happy combination, this — abook about the Colorado and Mo-jave Deserts of California whichthe casual visitor can read withpleasure and yet one that the scien-tific student can most profitablyuse.

Illustrated, 209 pages $2.00

DESERT OF THE PALMSDON ADMIRAL

The Desert Magazine's contributoron desert botany presents this new56-page booklet, describing theColorado desert of Southern Cali-fornia, especially the colorful areaaround Palm Springs.

Illustrated, paper bound .... 50c

DEATH VALLEY: THE FACTSW. A. CHALFANT

An absorbing account of the phys-ical and historical facts about thisfamous sink, told by the only manwho is qualified to write this book.

Illustrated, third edition,160 pages $2.75

INDIAN TRIBESOF THE SOUTHWESTDAMA MARGARET SMITH

If you have read Mrs. WhiteMountain Smith's human and bril-liant articles in The Desert Maga-zine, you will want this book, avivid, picturesque and useful hand-book on our desert Indians.

Maps and sketches,160 pages $1.50

THE CACTUS AND ITS HOMEFORREST SHREVE

Dr. Shreve, as Director of the Car-negie Institution's Desert Labora-tory, has produced a readable bookfor anyone with interest in desertplants.

Originally $3.00, now $1.50

BORN OF THE DESERTCHAS. R. ROCKWOOD

An autobiographical account whichunfolds the true early history ofImperial Valley, combined withDr. W. T. Heffernan's "Reminis-censes."

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OF YESTERDAY AND TODAY—a monthly review of the best literatureof the desert Southwest, past and present.

LIFE ON THE RANGE ISSIMPLE—AND GLORIOUS

I had often wondered how cattle in thedry country ever managed to live morethan a few months—or how their owners,though obviously optimistic and hopeful,ever could expect to continue existence,trying to raise animals where not a bladeof anything is visible from the highway.But that was because I never left thehighway. How is anyone to know whatexists behind the purple rims of theranges, or at the edge of the shimmeringsands, if he stays on the highway? It takesa lot of living to carry on in the moun-tain-desert country, and on the surface,that effort might seem most monotonous—even appalling. Yet in MOUNTAINCATTLE, Mary Rak has produced some-thing so fine, simple, and entertaining asto have almost sold me the idea of goinginto business in the nearest canyon. Herstory is purely narrative, the real life ledby cattlemen, and concerns their ranch inRucker Canyon in Cochise county, Ari-zona.

She has drawn clear, intimate picturesof the Indians, who live by honest labor,and frequent siestas; of the constant bat-tle with elements and belligerent circum-stances; the worry of droughts, and theglory of the rainfall.

There are the surging rivers to cross;the gates to open and close; the cattle toround up, count and brand—a vicious cy-cle to one who didn't love cattle—andthe desert. Yet the author has so deftlyand ably established herself that one feelspity for those who could not understand.Above all her sense of humor has donewonders. No predicament has been toogreat to bar a jolly quip, delightfullyworded. Her scorn of dressed-up cityvisitors who feel sorry for her, is a joy tocontemplate.

She has created real intimate friendli-ness with everything on the place by giv-ing it a name: the Bang-Chook motorthat pumps water for the cattle; Mrs.Trouble the recalcitrant cow; Thanky andChristy, the turkeys, intended for Thanks-giving and Christmas, respectively, butwho survived, because they came runningwhen called—and also when not called.Then there were Negrito and Robles, thedogs who crawled under the beds at thefirst clap of mountain thunder!

What a pleasant world she lives in,and how depressing the thought that so

few people not only do not have such aworld, but would not like it if they did.

Published by Houghton Mifflin, NewYork, 1936.

TRACY M. SCOTT.

NEW EDITION OF VISITORS'GUIDEBOOK IS PUBLISHED

Charles Francis Saunders' FINDINGTHE W O R T H W H I L E IN THESOUTHWEST improves with the pass-ing years. First printed by Robert M. Mc-Bride & Co., New York, 20 years ago, afourth revised edition brings text up todate. Sixteen chapters give not only "prac-tical information for the traveler," but domore than, as the author says, "hint atthe wealth of human association thatgives the crowning touch to the South-west's charm of scenery." Mr. Saunderspleases with his choice of the worthwhile,in subject and in his description of theattractions and traditions of Arizona, NewMexico and Southern California. An in-formally intimate Baedeker, he is a thor-oughly competent guide and a happytravel companion.

Here is a sample: Near Santa Fe inmid-August, he says the season is as sun-shiny and showery as a sublimated east-ern April. "The intense blue of the skywas blotted here and there with piled upcloud masses, which broke at times instreamers of rain upon the purple rangesof the Sangre de Cristo ahead of me—and after that descending shafts of light."He remembers a village—Santo Nino—the village of the Holy Child, "and HisPeace that placid morning seemed to restupon it. The streets were narrow shadedlanes, where irrigation ditches runningfull made a murmuring music, flowingnow by adobe walls, now by picket fenceswhere hollyhocks and marigolds andmorning glories looked pleasantly out. Itwas a village not of houses merely, but ofcomfortable old orchards, too, and riotousgardens where corn and beans, chilis andmelons locked elbows in happy comrad-ery. I think every one I met was Mexican—the women in sombre black rebosos, themen more or less unkempt and bandit-ap-pearing in ample-crowned sombreros, yetalmost without exception offering me thecourtesy of a raised hand and a buenosdias, senor." This is good description.There is good description, too, when theauthor takes you to the Grand Canyon, toBoulder City, or to the sky city of Acoma.

Chapter headings include the upper RioGrande; Albuquerque, Dead Cities of theSalines; Acoma and Laguna; Zuni, via

34 The DESERT MAGAZINE

oj the.HULBERT BURROUGHS is a new

name in the Desert Magazine this monthHis story of Navajo mountain, WildHorse mesa and the trail to Rainbowbridge covers an area which every deserttraveler hopes to visit sooner or later.Burroughs is working on other assign-ments for future issues of the DesertMagazine. He is the son of Edgar RiceBurroughs of Tarzan fame.

Gallup; El Morro, the autograph rock;Land of the Navajo; Homes of the Hopi;Petrified Forest and Meteor Crater; Flag-staff as a Base; Grand Canyon; Monte-zuma's Castle and Well; San Antonioand Carlsbad Caverns; In the country ofthe Giant Cactus; Southern California andBoulder dam.

There are 15 illustrations and a map.

Tourist or stay-at-home will find thisguide valuable and entertaining.

T. H. L.• • •

HANDBOOK FOR NOVICESIN GEM COLLECTING

For those who have harbored a half-formed resolution to start a gem collec-tion, and perhaps install an inexpensivelapidary for cutting and polishing, andwho have never been quite sure where orhow to start, Horace L. Thomson haswritten an informative little book, GEMS—HOW TO K N O W A N D CUTTHEM.

This booklet has been in circulation forsome time but the author recently has re-vised the original edition and has incor-porated in the new volume a 76-page sec-tion under the heading LEGENDS OFGEMS. This supplemental material iswritten for those who are especially inter-ested in the legendary and astrological as-pects of the well known gems.

One of the first things to be learned bythe gem collector is the hardness test asa method of identifying the various min-erals. The book contains a chart showingthe hardness of 81 of the most commonlyknown gem stones. There is also a colorchart for identification purposes.

Elementary information is given forthose who desire to install a home lapi-dary, including pen and ink drawings ofthe equipment and halftone plates ofrough and uncut stones.

The book is published by GraphicPress, Los Angeles, and sells for $1.15postpaid.

LAURENCE M. HUEY who wrote thestory of Willie, Shoshone Indian boy, forthe Desert Magazine this month is a mem-ber of the staff at the Museum of Natur-al History in Balboa Park, San Diego.Huey makes frequent field trips for thestudy and identification of birds andmammals—and his note books also re-cord some interesting human specimenshe has met along the way. He hasmade a special study of desert mice andgophers and has found and named sever-al new species during his desert excur-sions.

« • •

DON ADMIRAL of Palm Springswhose illustrated features on deserttrees and shrubs have appeared in theDesert Magazine during the past ninemonths, is in Yosemite valley this sum-mer sudying the botany of that area. Heis working on a series of lectures on des-ert subjects to be given during the com-ing winter. Mrs. Admiral is accompany-ing her husband on the field trip

REG MANNING, Phoenix cartoonistwhose recent "Cartoon Guide to Arizona"proved to be a best-seller, is now pre-paring a similar guide book about theBoulder dam and Lake Mead area.

The Desert Magazine is indebted toGORDON W. FULLER of Lancaster,California, for the excellent photographsreproduced with the Indian Museumstory in this number. Gordon is clerk ofthe justice court at Lancaster and photog-raphy is just a hobby. For years he hasbeen photographing Joshua trees. Hiscollection includes Joshuas in every shapeand mood. He has caught them coveredwith snow, silhouetted against gorgeoussunsets, and growing under every con-ceivable condition. He is an amateur whocould give lessons to some of the pro-fessionals.

• • •

GLEN DAWSON, leader of the Sierraclub quartet which climbed the GreatWhite Throne in Zion National Parkseveral months ago, is associated with hisfather, Ernest Dawson, in the manage-ment of the book store in Los Angeleswhich bears his name. In addition to be-ing a highly skilled climber with experi-ence in both the United States and Eu-rope, Glen is an expert on skis. His climb-ing is done just for the fun of it—he's asportsman in the finest sense of the word.His writing is a secondary interest— andusually requires some urging on the partof editors who are eager for his material.

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/

AST summer I was in the administration office of awestern national park when one of those de luxetourists in riding breeches and boots dashed in and

asked to sign the register."This is my eighth park in 14 days," he told the ranger.

"Is there anything to see around here?"The ranger with characteristic courtesy assured him there-

was, and began naming some of the park's most worthwhile-attractions. When he mentioned a lecture one of the natural-ists was to give that evening the motorist had heard enough.

"Oh, I can't stay overnight here," he interrupted. Thenwith a meaningless "thank you" to the federal employe, hehurried out to his car and disappeared down the road—probably headed for National Park No. 9.

He was seeing the West—or thought he was. No doubthe arrived home a few days later and proudly exhibited tohis friends a windshield half covered with national parkstickers—as evidence of a vacation spent in traveling throughscenic America. And if anybody asked him what he had seen,he could give about as much information as one would gleanfrom a close inspection of a U. S. park postage stamp.

It is not necessary to call attention to the moral of this in-cident. Thoughtful people—the type of vacationist who readsthe Desert Magazine, or any quality magazine—do not spendtheir outing periods collecting national park stickers.

But all of us are prone to map trips too long for real vaca-tion enjoyment. I have made that mistake myself, more thanonce. I tried to cover too many miles and see too much scen-ery in the time available—and returned home tired from longhours at the wheel and with only a superficial knowledge ofwhat I had seen. I was just a rubber-neck tourist—not astudent.

And if I ever do that again I hope St. Peter will condemnme to a thousand years of servitude at the oars of a leaky boaton the River Styx.

Since not all of us have the time and money and courageto undertake a boat trip down the Colorado river throughGrand Canyon, I recently picked out a little canyon closerhome for my summer adventure.

With a congenial group of rock-climbers I spent a daymaking a downstream traverse of Deep Canyon in the SantaRosa mountains near Indio, California. There is only a smallstream of water and we did not need a boat for this expedi-tion, but we encountered waterfalls where it was necessary torope down 50 feet or more and swim out of the pool at thebottom.

It was an interesting day in a canyon which many people

have seen from the Palms-to-Pines highway but few have ex-plored. I'll write about it for the Desert Magazine one ofthese days.

* * *Every few days the mail man lugs in a big envelope ad-

dressed to the Desert Magazine and covered with hand-paint-ed desert and mountain landscapes. The coloring is rathergaudy at times, but there is enough artistry about them tomake me want to keep them as permanent souvenirs. Theycome from "Dauber Dan" whose studio is a little shanty onthe Mojave desert.

I've never met Dan. I do not even know his proper name.But I am sure from his letters that he has the "feel" of thedesert in his bones. In fact he likes the arid land so well hehas written a poem in defense of desert wind storms. Thepoetry is bad—but it takes a stout heart to go through a Mo-jave sandstorm and like it. And so I have put Dan's nameup near the top of my list of honest-to-goodness desert rats.

* * *

I always knew the Great American Desert had producedmore prickly cacti and lost gold mines than any other partof the known world—and now I am ready to lay claim to anew international record.

I have just been reading the stories sent in by the contest-ants in the monthly Hot Air contest—and you can take myword for it, this desert produces the finest crop of liars onearth, with the possible exception of a Los Angeles real estateman's convention.

Frank Beckwith, dark horse from Delta, Utah, won thefirst prize—but he wasn't so far ahead of some of the others atthat. We'll hold some of the best yarns over for re-entry inthe next contest. They really ought to be published.

* * *

Most of the folks who send poems to the editor now spellOcotillo correctly, and I haven't received a verse about a hop-ping horned toad for months. But there remains one otherlittle matter for the nature study class to straighten out. I re-fer to the "coyote pack" which comes yelping across the pageof an otherwise good poem every little while.

Just to be sure I am right about this, I have been askingthe old desert rats—and they agree with me that coyotes nevertravel in packs. Mr. Coyote is a—well, I was going to say arugged individualist, but perhaps "rugged" is not the rightword. Anyway, he travels through life alone most of the time,and if other members of the coyote family happen to be in thesame vicinity it is because they have been attracted to thespot by a plentiful supply of food.

Coyotes are something like those Arkansas bullfrogs—oneof them can make enough noise for a whole tribe.

36 The DESERT MAGAZINE

n

St. Thomas, Nevada, June 11Dear Mr. Henderson:

I am writing this letter from the old St. Thomas post-office, an old adobe building erected in the '60s by Mormonpioneers.

The waters of Lake Mead, rising behind Boulder dam,are lapping the doorstep and today is the final windup of thepostoffice at St. Thomas. Another historic old landmark willsoon be buried forever under the waters of this lake. And itwill be only a short time until the "Lost City," buried forcenturies under desert sands, will be buried for the last timeunder the waters of this great lake.

The postmaster here at St. Thomas has received some4000 letters to be mailed from this old office the last day be-fore the lake covers it. GEO. E. PERKINS.

Santa Monica, CaliforniaDear Sirs:

Never having written a letter to a magazine before Ihardly know how to begin. I am writing you in appreciationof your swell magazine. I was the only person in my class toreceive an "A" in my biology and botany classes. My in-structors have said that the excellent material found in yourmagazine was one of the contributing factors in my "A"grades. It contains very interesting and excellent material.

Thanking you again and wishing you success in yourswell publication, I am WARREN KINGHAM.

* * *Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gentlemen:We have noted a clipping from your magazine which

reads as follows:"Santa Fe . . ."According to State Game Warden Wm. H. Sawtelle,

complimentary hunting and fishing licenses will be issued topioneers 70 years of age who have resided in New Mexico 25or more consecutive years. Resident fishing licenses are $1.75and non-resident licenses $3.00."

This undoubtedly is an error in two respects. First, theheading should have been Phoenix, Arizona, instead of SantaFe, and the mention of the State of New Mexico should havebeen Arizona instead of New Mexico. Mr. Sawtelle is GameWarden of Arizona and not New Mexico and no such ar-rangements as referred to in this clipping have been made inthe State of New Mexico. ELLIOTT S. BARKER,

State Game Warden.

• • •Phoenix, Arizona

Dear Sir:My attention has been called to an article "Gift of the

Genii," which has just appeared in the June issue of theDesert Magazine.

I think it is grand. Such a beautiful way of presentinga subject as great as the Grand Canyon.

I am writing to commend you for selecting it for pub-lication.

Hope we may have the privilege of reading more ex-pressions from the same author.

MRS. G. L. SPENCER.

Banning, CaliforniaDear Sirs:

The picture inclosed is of a cactus growing in my backyard. I have made many inquiries of people that should knowwhat it is but no one has ventured to name it. M. FrenchGilman says it is not a native.

There are 25 flowers in the picture. Two otherscame out the day previous to taking the picture. The flowerscome annually; come out only at night and perish by sundownthe day following. They are exquisitely light pink in color.The perfume is generous and pleasing. The throat of theflower is large enough to admit a bee and is literally decorat-ed with soft golden pollen.

This particular cactus is about ten years old. We haveseveral off shoots that are coming on and one of them flower-ed this year.

I would like to know the name of the cactus and if thispicture is interesting enough to be used by you that will be-fine.

GEO. L. WING.

Perhaps some of the cactus collectors who read theDesert Magazine can solve Mr. Wing's problem. Thepicture is printed on this page and any answers sent tothe magazine ojjice u ill be forwarded to the owner ofthe cactus.—Editor.

• • •Delta, Utah

Dear Mr. Henderson:On page 29, July issue of the DESERT MAGAZINE is

given UTAHKanab . . . Word doubtless of Indian origin;meaning unknown.Consult Edward Sapir's Dictionary of Ute, in American

Academy of Arts and Sciences, page 629, top of page:"Qnan-a willow." (Q has often the sound of " K " ) .Quanavi in composition. This is Anglicised into the use

of "b" as an equivalent of "v" and becomes in EnglishK a n a b meaning "the willow" so named because in earlydays when the Indians were living there and the whites firstcame, there was a large, distinguishing clump of willows there.In other words the equivalent of the town of the willows.

FRANK BECKWITH.

Why I Bought Another

fitCATERPILLAR. . . an unsolicited endorsement

from H. A. Hastain, prominent

Imperial Valley rancher.

J-'^w

u v *

The letter shown above is a fac-simile of an actual testimonialaddressed to Ben Hulse, Imperialand Yuma valley "Caterpillar''dealer. The picture shows Mr.Hastain standing beside his new"Caterpillar" with his driver

Delbert Lunceford.

BEN HULSETractor and Equ ipmen t CompanyEL CENTRO YUMA BRAWLEY