196510 Desert Magazine 1965 October

8/14/2019 196510 Desert Magazine 1965 October

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)T O B

W E S T E R N T R A V E L / A D V E N T U R E / L I V I N G

*5 J ^ - - T JRf*:

- _

: A D O RIVER DESERT TRI S E R T S


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LOW COSTPROTECTIONf o r T o t a l A b s t a i n e r s M E D I C A L( F O R D O C T O R ' S V I S I T S )

2 0 I M P O R T A N T Q U E S T I O N S A ND A N S W E R SA B O U T T H I S V A L U A B L E P R O T E C T IO N1 HowMuch Will This Policy Pay Me forSurgical Expenses?Up to $300.00, according to the schedule printed right inyour policy.O What AreSome Examples from This Schedule? For the fol-lowing, youwould bepaid these amounts:Treatment of Dislocated Hip $ 75.00Appendectomy $150.00Gastrectomy $300.00In the unlikely event you should require more than one opera-tion during the course of any single hospital confinement, sick-ness or injury, Gold Star will pay you the maximum benefitspecified for the most expensive one. And, of course, it's alltax-free cash!3 What If I Receive Surgical Treatment Outside theHospitalWould I Still Be Paid? Yes. Your policy provides for pay-ments of up to $300.00, regardless of whether thesurgery is per-formed in or out of thehospital!4 Will This Plan Pay for a Registered Nurse at Home? Yes.After youhave been hospitalized just five days or more, andyour doctor has you employ a full-time registered nurse within5 days of leaving the hospital, wewill help pay for such nursingcare right in your ownhome at the rate of $10.00 a day for upto 100days. And you need not employ the nurse for one hun-dred days in a rowbecause this benefit is payable during the 180days immediately following your hospital stay!l!j Suppose I Go to the Hospital but Don't Require Surgery.Will I Be Paid for MyDoctor's Visits? Yes. When you arehospitalized and surgery is not performed Gold Star will payyou $4.00 per day for each day your doctor visits you in the

hospitalfor up to a total of 80 visits or $320.00 for each acci-dent or illness!g Can I Collect from Gold Star Even if I Carry Other Insur-ance? Of course. This plan (#NLLE-4665R) will pay you inaddition to whatever you may receive from any other policies,including Workmen's Compensation.1 Why Do INeed This Gold Star Plan inAddition toMy OtherHospital and Health Insurance? While hospital costs havetripled in recent years, very few people have tripled their insur-ance. Thechances areone inseven that you will require medicalcare this year and youwill need money totake care of allyourother expenses, as well as your hospital bills. Your Gold Starchecks are rushed to you by air mail to use as you see fit!g May I Apply if I Am Over 65? Yes, youmay. Folks any ageare welcome toapply there is no agelimit!Q Will MyProtection BeCancelled Because I Have TooManyClaims? No. Gold Star guarantees never tocancel your pro-tection because you have too many claims or because of ad-vanced age. We also guarantee never to refuse to renew yourpolicy unless renewal is declined on all policies of this type inyour entire state. Of course, if deception isused inmaking appli-cation, the policy may be ineffective. This is another wayGoldStar protects honest folks who don't drink.JQ Will MyBenefits Be Reduced Because of Advanced Age?No . Regardless of how old you become or how manyclaims youhave, your benefits remain thesame.J J What About Pre-Existing Conditions? Any new conditionis covered immediately, of course. And,in addition, afteryour policy hasbeen in continuous effect for just twoyears, youare even covered for pre-existing conditions! This extra cover-age, not usually available at all, is a Gold Star bonus!J2 What Is NotCovered ByThis Policy? Theonly conditionsnot covered are those caused by: the use of alcoholic bever-

L E A D I N G A M E R I C A N S SAY:G E N W. K. H A R R I S O N , U.S.Army (Retired): "In my longexper ience in the Army, Ihave sadly observed thedeadly effect of the use ofl iquor . I see no reason whynon-dr inkers should helppa y the high costs of in-surance due to l iquor. Afterexaminat ion of theGold StarPlan and its operat ion, I amconv inced that it is effec-t ively achiev ing its objec-t ives."HON. KARL E. M U N D T , U.S.Senator, South Dakota:"S ince health s tat is t ics in-dicate that alcoholic bever-ages have proved detr imen-ta l to the body, I believe theGold Star Plan makes goodsense and enables non-dr inkers to receive insur-ance at rates which recog-nize that those whoabstainfrom alcohol provide an m-proved actuar ia l r isk ."

G R A T E F U L P O L I C Y H O L D E R S W R I T E :Edward L. T o m p k i n s , M I L T O N , I L L I N O I S : "It is a pr iv i lege and a pleasure to beamember of the Gold Star Family. I have called upon them four t imes in the pastthree or four years andreceived full benefits each time."Mrs. Lucy E. W a l t e r s , T R O N A , C A L I F O R N I A : "Your prompt d ispos it ion of my twoc laims with in a year has more than jus t i f ied my expectations. They were taken careof in theexact manner that youadver t ised. Thank you."William McK. Spierer, MANHASSET, NEWY O R K : "Of all the types of coverage Icarry, only yours took into account major medical bil ls both in hospita l and after.Del ighted I joined your plan. Every eligible person should be a m e m b e r . "Mrs. Eleanor H. R e e d , M I A M I , F L O R I D A : "In my o p i n i o n , the Gold Star InsurancePlan is the greatest th ing that has ever happened. It definitely rewards those whoare total abstainers. Thecharges on the policies are so reasonable and the a m o u n tof coverage is so generous."Kendall E. Garriott , MANSFIELD, OHIO: "You were very punctual (same week!) inpaying our c laim. With a f a m i l y thesize of ours, this prompt check from youmadea great deal of dif ference. In fact, because of i t, we met our obl igat ions on t i m e . "Mrs. Lil l ian Windnagle, BERGLAND, MICHIGAN: "I never in all my 71 years haveha d any insurance company deal any more fair with me than De Moss Associateshave. No red tape or stal l ing. I'm ever so grateful to you for your fairness andhonesty ."Andrew C. T e a c h m a n , M A T A M O R A S , P E N N S Y L V A N I A : "I was both surprised anddel ighted at the promptness with which my c laim was paid. No q u i b b l i n g , nononsense; just a check for the f u l l a m o u n t a week after I turned the claim paperover to my doctor for his report. It is the s implest c la im paper I ever made outfor anything."Mrs. Maysel E lva Glenn, MESQUITE, TEXAS: "I have just received my check by airmai l . T h i s was paid with in oneweek from the t i m e I sent my c laim in, w h i c h isremarkable. Also, your fast, eff ic ient service has been given my husband on fourdi f ferent c la ims for himself wi th in thepast year. I highly recommend this company."Over 25,000 Claims Paid in 1964!

Gold Star Insurance Policies, available, effective and paying claims in all fifty states and many foreign countries, are underwritten byN A T I O N A L L I B E R T Y L I F E I N S U R A N C E C O M P A N Y , V A L L E Y F O R G E , P E N N S Y L V A N I Athe pioneer and world's largest underwriter ofhealth insurance exclusively fortotal abstainers. National Liberty Life is licensedsolely under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania andcarr ies full reserves for the protect ion of all pol icyholders .


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S U R G I C A L - N U R S E P L A N( F O R O P E R A T I O N S ) ( F O R N U R S I N G C A R E )

ages or narcotics; mental or nervous disorders; pregnancy; orany act of war. Everything else is covered!1Q What Are the Requirements for Membership in This GoldStar Plan? You must not drink alcoholic beverages; youmust not have been refused any health, hospital, or life insur-ance; you must not have been advised to have an operationwhich has not yet been performed: and, to qualify during thisenrollment period, you must apply before midnight Wednesday,November 3, 1965.\ 4 Why Is This Offer Good for a Limited Time Only? Becausein this way we can utilize group insurance principles andpass the savings on to you.1K Besides the Savings, Are There Other Advantages to Joining

Gold Star During This Enrollment Period? Yes. A veryimportant one is that you do not need to complete a regularapplication just the brief form shown below . Also, duringthis enrollment period there are no other requirements for eligi-bility and no "waivers" or restrictive endorsements can beput on your policy!IB Can Other Members of My Family Take Advantage ofThis Special Offer? Yes, as long as they can meet the fewrequirements listed under question 13.1 7 How Much Does This Medical-Surgical-Nurse Policy Costper Person? Only $1 per person for the first month, re-gardless of age! Thereafter, premiums for each member are asfollows, depending upon age at time of renewal.When your age is: Your monthly premium is only:0-39 $1.9740-59 $3.89

60 or over $6.681 0 How D oes the Money-Back Guarantee Work? Examineyour policy carefully in the privacy of your own home.If for any reason you are not completely satisfied, return it within

only $f


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ta& a new face .Last month we moved into our new building, and this month wehave a new face.In addition to the editorial offices, the "New Home of DESERTMAGA ZINE" has the larges t selection of books on the West plus ourmuseum, which is growing da ily as readers b ring in Western artifactsso they may be shared with o thers. O ur new building is located at Lan-tana and Larrea, only a block away from th e old location. (See lastmonth's issue.)Our new "face" is a new type which has proven to be easier toread, more legible and will contribute to your relaxation as you travelthrough the little known areas of the West. Our new type makeup, inci-dentally, is just one of the many innovations you will find in the pagesof DESERT during the coming months.

Jack PepperPublisherJACK PEPPER, Publisher CHORAL PEPPER, Editor

Elta ShivelyExecutive Secretary Al MerrymanStaff Artist Rose HollyCirculation Marvel BarrettBusiness Lois DouganSubscriptionsBruce KerrAdvertising Director

Desert Magazine, Palm Desert, Calif. 9 226 0 Telephone 346 -81 44DEiSERT is published monthly by Desert Magazine, Palm Desert, Calif. Second Class Postage paid atPalm Desert, Calif . , an d at add it ion al m ail ing off ices under Act of March 3, 1 879 . Tit le registeredN o . 35 88 6 5 in U. S. Patent O ff ice, and contents copyrig hted 1 9 6 5 by Desert Mag azine . Unsolicitedmcinuscripts and photographs cannot be returned or acknowledged unless full return postage isenclosed. Permission to reproduce contents must be secured from the editor in writ ing. SUBSCRIPTIONPRICE: $5.00 per year in U.S., Canada and Mexico. $5.75 elsewhere. Allow f ive weeks for changeof address. Be sure to send both old and new address.

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Undated

C O N T E N T SVolum e 28 N umber 1 0OCTOBER, 1965

This Month's CoverCanyon near Cedar City, UtahBy FRANK JENSEN

6 Books for D esert R eaders8 Water for Survival

By ERNEST DOUGLAS10 Arizona's Famous Spooks

By JANICE BEATY12 Eggheaded Caveman

By CHARLES ALLEN15 Freeway Comes to Town

By RICH ARD KERR17 Little Gray Ghosts

By DOROTHY ROBERTSON18 Pioneertown

By JACK DELANEY20 River, Relics, Rocks

By JACK PEPPER24 A dobe, O ld M exican R ecipe

By GRACE KENDRICK26 An Old Town and an O ld Fish

By CLIFF and GENE SEGERBLOM2 8 Between the Horns

By KENNETH MARQ UISS32 Goldroad, Arizona

By LAMBERT FLORIN33 Desert Dispensary

By SAM HICKS35 DESERT Cookery

By LUCILLE I. CARLESON3 8 Letters from our Readers

4 / O ctober, 19 65 / Desert Magazine


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WESTERN CHRISTMAS CARDS4 INBEAUTIFUL FULL COLOR16YEARSBYMAIL USE THIS HANDY ORDER FORM

iThinkin' olyouWith friendly Greetings(of the Season and Happiness throughoutJt he New Yearby Arthur FitzSimmonsSilent Night on hePrair ie-May theI Peace and Happiness ofChristmas beI with you through all the yearEcho Hawk

A Cowboy's Christmas Eve MaythePeace and Joy of Christmas be with youthrough all the Year-by Joe Stanley" . . into a desert place .. " May the Spiritof Christmas abide with you throughoutI the Coming Year- by Wayne Lowdermilk

emory ofChristmas6 line versel end i ng. . . H av e aMerry Christmas nJthe good old-fashioned wayby Stahley

Fresh Trees and Full SteamWith BestWishes atChristmas and through all theNew Yearby H oward Fogg

" . . fair and open face ofheave n.." Maythe Peace and Good Will ofChristmas al-ways be with yo u- by Wayne Lowdermilk

One Christmas Eve out West-inside is a16 line warm, descriptive verse by S.OmarBarker plus greetinghy Joe Stahley

Happy H olidays-W ith Best Wishes orChristmas andallthe NewYear-byI Melvin C. WarrenGod's C andlesticks-May the Peace andGood Will ofChristmas always bewithI youby Thomas L.Lewis

Roadrunner Santa R.F.D.- Merry Christ-mas and Happy New Yearby WilliamTilton("And there were shepherds. ."May thejSpir it of Christmas be with you throughoutJthe Coming Yearby Gerard C.Delano

is Calm, All sBright"May theice and Joy of Christmas be with you| through allthe Year-b y John W. Hilton"H owd y, Neighbor"Christmas Greet-ings from our outfit to yours with all goodwishes for theNew Year-by Hampton

An Open Invitation-With Best Wishesfor a Merry Christmas to Your Ou tfit fromO urs -b y Charles ParisA Good Day forVisiting-May the Spiritof Christmas abide with you throughoutthe Coming Yea r-b y Bernard P. Thomas

W WJH eadin' Home for Christmas BestI Wishes for a Merry Christmas and a HappyjNew Yearby Melvin C. Warren

stmas Dawn-To wish you a BlessedI Christmas and aNew Year ofH appinessI -byJohn W. H ilton" . . . the day the Lord hath made .. . " -May the Spirit of Christmas be with you| all the Coming Year -by Russell Moreton

I "Every good gif t.. . is from above . . . " -I May the Peace and Joy of Christmas beJwi th you all theYearby Joe StahleyYes, these are the western Christmas cards you've been looking for! Best quality art insuperbcolor for 196 5. Bright, authentic scenes, by mail only. H eavy, white paper folds to arich4% x6 % card. Deluxe envelopesextras included . We can print your name in red tomatchgreetings. Cards sent safely in ourexclusive "Strong Box" carton. Our time-tested ways andexperienced staff offer 24 hr.shipping 'til Christmas. It's funtobuy from the Leanin' Tree!H O W T OO R D E R : Write quantity ofeach card you want in box below illus-tration. Cards may beassorted at no extra cost. Order all of one kind or asmany ofeach asdesired. Circle total quantity and cost onprice list. Canada residents please remit in U.S.dollar value. Colorado residents add 1% sales tax. You may order by etter or fill out couponand mail this entire page with cash,check ormoney order toThe Leanin'Tree.Thank you kindly.

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1000 MILE SUMMER by Colin Fletcner. Storyof back-packing from Mexico to Oregon-hrough the backbone of Calif. Excellentreading. Our current best seller ....$4.95JOHN HORTON SLAUGHTER by Allen Erwin.Story of famous sheriff of Tombstone. Wellresearched and written. Big $11.00GHOSTS OF THE ADOBE WALLS by Murbar-ger. Chronicles of Arizona mine camps, armyposts, ranches and amazing human charac-ters. Autographed $7.50STORY OF BODIE by Ella Cain. Stories of howthis western mining camp earned the reputa-tion of being the most lawless, wildest andtoughest in the west. Paper, $2.50GENTLE WILDERNESS. The Sierra Nevada inbeautiful color photos by Richard Kauffmanand text by John Muir. Best of Sierra ClubExhibit Format Series, incomparable $25.00DEATH VALLEY IN '49 by William Manly.Chief source book of Death Valley and famouswestward trek. Centennial Edition $8.50STORY OF INYO by W A. Chalfant. Fifthprinting of authentic history of Owens Valleyand Inyo County. How L.A. got itswater $5.95GHOST TOWNS AND MINING CAMPS OFCALIF, by Remi Nadeau. Guide book andnistory of historic areas by famous author.

$5.95MANY OTHERS. INDIANS, BOTTLES,

COLLECTORS BOOKS. Write for complete list.Postage prepaid if payment enclosed withorder. InCalif, add4%sales tax.P I N O N B O O K S T O R E

206 No. Main St., Bishop, Calif. 93514In theHeart of theEastern High Sierras

DtA&JL B O O K SWARRIORS OF THE COLORADO By Jack Forbes.Covers all Indian tribes of the Colorado Riverand is especially recommended to readers pur-suing the early history of Southern Californiaand Arizona. Illustrated with historic photos.$5.95.THE OLD ONES By Robert Silverberg. Goodbook to introduce the Anasaziancestors to thePueblo Indiansto readers newly interested incliff dwellings and ruins of Arizona and Utah.Recommened for young adults (14 or over) aswell. $4.95.THE LAME CAPTAIN By Sardis W. Templeton.A book eagerly awaited by Pegleg "aficio-nados' who seek documented information re-garding his life and trails across the desert.Hardcover, 239 pages. $7.50.GOLD! By Gina Allen. How gold since cavemendays has incited murder and war, inspired poetsand artisans and borne the commerce of theworld is told in such an exciting fashion that itreads like fiction. Recommended for everyone.$5.95.THE WESTERN HERO By Kent Ladd Steckmesser.Here the author presents the straight dope aboutWild Bill Hickok, Kit Carson, Bill Cody, Billy theKid and other heros of the early West, with agood sound theory about what made heros ofyesterday, and what makes heros of today.$5.95.

Send for Free Catalog of ourRecommended Books

fitAtJiJ Magazine BookshopPALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA 92260

Include 25c for postage and handling.California Residents add 4% sales tax.

B a d s f o b R e s e nBAJA CALIFORNIA OVERLANDBy L.Burr Belden

This is a good, practical, informativepaperback about traveling through BajaCalifornia from theborder as far southas LaPaz. It isbased upon gleanings ofa 1964 field trip for anextension studyof lower California sponsored by theUni-versity of California. Faculty membersaccompanied the trip andlectures weregiven along the waypertaining tobotany,archeology, history, etc.These have allbeen captured inMr.Belden's book, alongwith experiences from hisother 22tripsbelow theborder. Thebook contains cur-rent information pertaining to roads,short-cuts, supplies, accommodations, andthings to besure tosee.This is aworth-while little 64-page book with good blackand white illustrations. $1.95.

THE WILD BUNCHat Robbers RoostBy Pearl Baker

The Wild Bunch wasagroup ofhorsethieves anddesperadoes who operated outof an area known as Robbers Roost in thehigh desert country inSoutheastern Utahduring the latter 1800s. The frustratingexperiences of lawmen andposses whoattempted to penetrate the labyrinthianwastes totrack down the criminals istoldby Pearl Baker.Because her father hadacattle ranch inRobbers Roost where shegrew up, sheknows thearea and thedetails ofthebookcome from first hand tales told toher byher father andothers. The255-page illus-

trated, hard cover sells for$7.50.THE DESERT KINGDOMS OFPERUBy Victor W. vonHagen

More than anyother type of terrain,the arid desert preserves evidence of itsinhabitants. This isthe first detailed bookabout thelibidinous Mochias, prehistoricdesert dwellers of ancient Peru.In 1771Charles III of Spain fosteredthe earliest discovery of the Mochica-

Chimu civilizations, dating as farback as3000 B.C., but itwasn't until recent yearsthat archeologists paid much attention to

Books reviewed may be orderedfrom theDESERT Magazine BookO rder Departmen t, Palm Desert,California 9 22 6 0. Please include25 c for handling. California resi-dents must add 4% sales tax.Enclose payment with order.

the documented descriptions of this earlycivilization. When they did, further ex-cavations turned upsome of themost ex-citing andrevealing art, architectureandagricultural evidence of prehistoricAmerica.Because these materials were buried indesert land, they were exceptionally wellpreserved. Agreat number ofpottery ves-sels survived, dramatically illustrating theappearance, style of dress, domestic,andparticularly thelove life, of these unin-hibited people. As the author stresses,pornography has always been amalecon-tribution, butbecause the incidentsgra-phically commemorated on Mochias clayvessels were created by women potters andso frankly innocent in intent, archeolo-

gists today are not as shocked as wereearly Spanish priests and even earlierIncas who first came upon their civili-zation. These early people recognized aclan relationship, were of proto-mongo-loid descent, and animistic in doctrine.American ethnographer and archeo-logical historian von Hagen traveledwidely throughout thePeruvian desert togather original material for this unusualand important book. It iswell presented,interesting, and generously illustratedwith photographs andline drawings in

color andblack andwhite. 191pages,,hardcover. $10.00.

EXPLORING DEATH VALLEYBy Ruth Kirk

If you're planning a trip toDeath Val-ley, here's abook you'll want tolook overin advance of your trip. Photos andmapsare excellent and the author estimatestravel times from place toplace, and ex-plains geology, natural history andhumanhistory of Death Valley's remote and in-triguing desert land. Paperback, 87pages. $1.95.

6 / October, 1965 / Desert Magazine


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H E BOOK OF DIAMONDSan in-by Harry Winston.

From the moment this book gets offnoof the earth, unlessthe glamor, romance andof the diamond. From the first dia-in India, the authordig-of the South African diamond rushthe development of the De BeersLTD.Photographs show the process of min-and the intricacies of cutting and fa-eting in detail. Here also are the storiesof the most famous and infamous dia-onds of all timesthe Hope, the Or-loff, the famous diamonds found in Mur-freesboro, Arkansas, the Uncle Sam andthe Star of Arkansas.Diamonds are greasy looking when

found, and apparently associated withvolcanic activity. Only an informed rock-hound would recognize the natural gemfor what it is. This authoritative book,written with wit and style, is themost in-formative ever written about diamonds.Illustrated with old engravings andphotographs, the book contains 226pages, is hard-cover and sells for $5.95.

CHARM, HISTORY AND HERITAGEBy Adele Reed

This unusual little paperback presentsa fine record of early Western miningcamp architecture. From the grandeur ofNevada's famous Virginia City manorsto a miner's rock shanty in PickhandleGulch, the author has painstakingly pho-tographed the best examples and faith-fully recorded them with a wealth ofhistorical data. Included also are detailsof graveyard fences, stables, trading posts,court houses and other public buildingsnative to the desert. Areas covered in-clude ghost towns of Mother Lode com-munities and stretch on down througheastern Nevada to Death Valley. Paper-back, black and white photos, with 77pages, it sells for $2.75.

S O M E T H I N G T E L L S ME!

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D evelop Your Intuition...The Unlearned Know ledgeWhence come the whisperings of selfthe still small voice within?Who has not experienced that certain impelling impression that sud-denly flashes into consciousness? It conveys that undeniable convictionof truth that neither reason nor persuasion can set aside. The intuitionis a source of unlearned knowledge a reservoir of superior judgment,that lies enshrined in the subconscious. It strives to guide and adviseyou even against the dictates of will.

There is nothing supernatural or uncanny about intuition. Beneathyour surface consciousness exists another mind. It can be a sourceof inspiration, of new and startling ideas. Intuition is the fountainheadof creative ability. Every person's life can be fuller, richer in achieve-ment, if he learns to awaken and direct intuition. Don't wait forenlightenment. Call it forth.

Accept this FREE BOOKThere is nothing of greater satisfac-tion nor of more practicaladvantagethan the full employment of yourpersonal powers. Let the Rosicru-cians, a world-wide brotherhood oflearning (not a religion), send you afree copy of thebook, THE MASTERYOF LIFE. It will tell you about thisuseful knowledge. Use the couponfor your free copy or write ScribeC.S.Y.

Scribe C.S.Y.Rosicrucian Order, (AMORC)Rosicrucian Park,San Jose, California 95114U.S.A.Gentlemen:Kindly send me a free copy ofTH EMASTERY OFLIFE. / am sincerely inter-ested in the mysteries of self and ofthe Cosmic.N A M E _A D D R E S S .C I T Y _ S T A T E _ _

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SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA 95114O ctober, 1965 / Desert M agazine / 7


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W A T E R f o r S U R V I V A L i s E V E R Y W H E R Ei f y o u k n o w h o w t o g e t i t . . .

b y E r n e s t D o u g l a sA mimeographed circular, with adrawing and detailed directionsfor setting up a desert still, maybe had free by writing the U. S.W ater C onservation Labo ratory,R oute 2, B ox 81 6 - A , Te mpe ,A r i zona .

IF YOU'RE LOST in the desert, orstranded because a car broke down ora plane motor conked out, death fromthirst is the least of your perils. W ateris all about you, in cacti and even inthe dusty looking surface soil.All you need to extract enough ofthat water to sustain life is a squareof clear plastic that may cost $2, enoughstrength to dig a shallow hole, and theknow-how to make a simple "desert still."With the aid of sun heat you may re-

cover two pints through the day and onepint through the night from the fleshof the bisnaga, giant saguaro or pricklypear. It is no trick to collect a pint orso from the soil alone, in 24 hours.Fantastic? It is being done right along,

Chop u p the b isnaga, put it in h ole with container. Cover hole with T edlar plasticand place weight in center above container.

although until just the other day no onedreamed that recovery of water fromearth and arid-land vegetation was pos-sible without elaborate equipment.The "desert still" is hailed as the firstreal advance in desert survival techniquesince some Indian learned that he couldsmash the head of a bisnaga, chew thewhite inner pulp which looks like theinside of an unripe watermelon, and stayalive until he reached the next waterhole. He probably gagged, for the tasteof that pulp is vile. The flesh of othercacti is even more unpalatable, perhapsanother protective mechanism to supple-ment thorns.But evaporate and condense that mois-ture and it's pure water. Evaporation andcondensation are the functions of thedesert still.Inventors of the ingenious device areDr. Ray Jackson and Dr. Cornelius vanBavel, physicists at the U. S. Water Con-servation Laboratory, Tempe, Ariz. Theirdaily research is concerned with the move-

ment of w ater in soil. Almost accident-ally they hit upon a means of utilizingsolar heat to draw water out of soil andcondense it on plastic, from which itdrips into a vessel.If you have a shovel for digging pur-poses it eases the labor involved in set-ting up a still. N o equipmen t is indis-pensable, however, except a six-footsquare of clear plastic, one mil thick.By repeated trials the Tempe scientistshave determined that the pit should beabout 40 inches in diameter and 22inches deep. It should go straight downfor a foot or so, then taper toward thebottom.In the bottom set a small pail or quartcan. Stretch the p lastic across the topand anchor it at the edges with earthfrom the excavation.In the very center of the plastic astone is placed. This weights the filmdown, forming a "dimple" directly overthe vessel.Within a few minutes, if the sun is

shining, drops of water may be seen onthe under side of the film, trickling to-ward the point of the dimple, then fall-ing into the receiver.8 / O ctober, 19 65 / Desert Magazine


9/40

D i. Jackson sometimes tapes one endlong, flexible tube to the inner side

il, near its base. Within an

thirsty man on a hot day. Lackingtube, he could lift out the pail

Of all the plastics tried, a new onear is the most satisfactory be-se it is "water-adherable." Plain poly-

it israight down as they form, missing

Another plastic, Mylar, does

At the start, Dr. Jackson and Dr. vaned in gravelly mesa

day they recovered a pint or moreoisture moved in to

that withdrawn. In a heavierpercent water, after

But there is obviously more moistureplants, even prickly desert flora,

rth. So Dr. Jackson,carried on the experimentation after

ng slices

around the side of the pit, inside facingoutward. Right away he began capturingthree or four times as much water asfrom soil alone.

Fortunately, the three best wateryielders are among the most commoncacti. There is little difference betweenresults from an arm broken from a giantsaguaro, and a bisnaga or "niggerhead."The yield is slightly higher from pricklypear slabs, sliced edge to edge. Whythis should be so is puzzling, for bis-naga flesh runs as high as 94 per centwater right after a rain and is little lessmoist after months of drought.

Creosote bush foliage yields about asmuch water as plain soil, mashed chollabranches not too much more. Tests withthese and other growths have been con-ducted more out of curiosity than for anyother reason. They do not contain asmuch water as the bisnaga, saguaro orprickly pear, and at least one of thattrio is found almost anywhere in desertsof the American Southwest.

The prickly pear, which is perhapsmore widely distributed over the worldthan any other cactus family, happensto be absent from the private propertywhere Dr. Jackson has his "distillationlab." The bulk of his experimentingis done with bisnagas uprooted by a

recent Hood and doomed to die any-way. By this time he can look at abisnaga a foot or so in height and say"one gallon plus a pint" or glance atone that's full-grown and estimate "tengallons or more."

Long after bisnaga pulp is as leatheryas an old shoe, it continues to give upsome water. If it is left in the pit, recov-ery is greater than from soil alone.

Advice to desert travelers is to carrya sheet of Tedlar, which is so thin andlight that it easily slips into a pocketwhen folded. If you don't take alonga vessel of some kind, take an extra andsmaller piece of plastic to fashion a cupin the pit that you'll dig with a spade ifyou have one, with your hands or a deadsaguaro rib if you don't. A long knife ishandy for slicing prickly pear slabs buta bisnaga may be bashed to pieces witha rock or stick and the shape of the piecesinserted in the pit doesn't matter.Pick a site for maximum hours ofsunshine. Easiest digging is likely to bein the bottom of a wash, and that's wherethe dampest soil will probably be, butavoid bank or tree shadows.

And have patience. The desert still isnot instantaneous, though it may providea precious gill of pure water within anhour. / / /

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A R I Z O N A ' S F A M O U S S P O O K Sby Janice BeatyA RIZONA SPOOKS need no hauntedhouses nor dismal decor to furthertheir spectral pursuits. The open range,the craggy cliffs, the inscrutable deserthave always served them well. Fromthe canyon lands of Utah to the Mexi-can border they have flourished in favor-ite haunts staked out in ancient days longbefore white men appeared.Atop two huge rock columns at thejunction of Monument Canyon and Can-yon de Chelly in northern Arizona liveapparitions which have long frightenedNavajo children and kept them on theirbest behavior. One, an old ghost womanlives on Speaking Rock and loves totattle on naughty boys and girls to thegiant spider spirit who dwells next dooron Spider Rock. H e will then descendto earth, capture the disobedient childand carry him back up his rock to beeaten, so the story goes. Wary Navajoboys point out that Spider Rock's 900-foot top is colored white . . . from thebleached bones of its victims, they insist!

Navajo adults are just as leery of theold sink-hole in Chinle Wash Valley fivemiles south of Chinle, Arizona. It goesby the name of "Bekihatso Lake" whenfull of water in the summer. But gener-ally it is the largest dry lake in the region.Few of the older folks will approach theplace, for here dwells the terrible Navajowater monster, they believe. No oneknows when next it will appear, butold Navajos report definite groaningnoises when the lake is full of water.

The northwest corner of PetrifiedForest National P ark no rth of U. S. 66is another legendary site of Navajospooks. But visitors to the pleasant pic-nic area on Chinde Point should not bealarmed that chinde means "ghost" in theNavajo tongue. The entire area got thename Chinde Mesa quite by accident. Itseems that some years ago a geologistwith a field-mapping expedition acci-dentally fell into some water nearby andwent into a deserted hogan to change.Most hogans in Navajo country are

abandoned after a death has occurredwithin, because they are feared to behaun ted. But a party of Navajos whohappened to ride up to the desertedhogan that particular day was totally un-prepared for what it found. A naked geo-logist stepped from the darkened doorwayto see who was coming. One glimpse ofthe pale white figure, and the Indiansstreaked away, shrieking, "Chinde!Ch inde! " The mapping crew figured itwas a fitting name for the the entiremesa, and Chinde Mesa it remains tothis day.

Much of Arizona north of the Color-ado River in Mohave County is a no-man's land. Here near Mt. Turn bull isone of the Paiute Indians' most dreadedlocations: W itch Water Pocket. Firstwhite man to view it was the noted geolo-gist Major Clarence Dutton who ex-plored the area in the 18 80's. His In-dian guide feared the spot and told howthe witches who haunted it had to bedriven away from time to time becauseof the trouble they caused. Even Duttonwas chilled by the weirdness of the placeand described it as having: "jaggedmasses of black lava still protudingthrough rusty, decaying cinders . . . Thepool itself might well be deemed theabode of witches . . . "

The Grand Canyon itself had onefamous Indian ghost that only his squawcould see. At the west end of the parknear Sinyala Mesa the name of a pro-tuding point perpetuated the story of theIndian woman Yunosi and her husbandHo tuata. After H otuata's death his spiritoften appeared to his squaw so vividlythat she seemed to forget her Indiantongue and called out in the crude Eng-lish her husband had taught her. Wh en-ever his vision appeared she would shriekto those around her: "You no see? Youno see?" Hence her name, and thename of the location: Yunosi Point.Fame of the Superstition Mountainseast of Phoenix and near Apache Junc-tion has long rested on tales of the notori-



11/40

Spider Rock at Canyon de Ch elly by Frank Jensen.ous Lost Du tchman 's gold mine. But theoriginal "superstition" that named themwas the desert Indian belief that no onewho entered this haunted region wouldever return. Years ago the Apaches keptthe legend alive by ambushing any strangerwho dared enter their stronghold. Butmore recently a few modern prospectorshave also disappeared . . . without atrace!

Willcox Playa is an enormous dry lakebed west of Dos Cabezas on the road toTucson. Its spooky nature has to do withthe truly astonishing mirages that areproduced here. Battleships, buildings,water fountains, mosques and an Indianwoman carrying a papoose are only afew of the strange images that have beensighted. Almost anything can be seen,people claim, simply by staring hard atthe lake bed shimmering in the heat of

midsumm er. For instance, two navyfliers who were ferrying a flying boatacross the country during World War II,spotted a huge expanse of deep bluewater below and decided to land for arest. W hat a shock when they thumpeddown on the bone-dry desert of WillcoxPlaya!But the strangest Arizona spirit of allis surely the mysterious Blue Lady,known to the southern desert Indians asLa Senorita Azul. According to theirlegends this beautiful young womandressed in blue first appeared to theirancestors in the 1600s, coming to tellthem of the Christian God. First whitemen to hear about the Blue Lady were

the early Spanish missionaries who wereastounded to discover certain tribes al-ready professing Christianity because ofher visits.

Stranger still is the fact that MarieCoronel de Agreda, the devout head ofa religious order in Spain between 1629and 1665 whose members wore bluerobes, claimed to have repeatedly visitedthe Indians of the New Wo rld. Shegave detailed descriptions of tribes notseen by white men until after her death.Yet it has been proven beyond a doubtthat Marie Coronel never in her life leftSpain! No r would it have been possiblefor a lone white woman, afoot andwithout provisions (as the Indians claim)to have traveled through the desert un-detected.

The Blue Lady still appears to desertIndians occasionally . . . especially towomen or children, to bring them somegreat gift of heaven. To others she willalways remain the most remarkable ofArizona's ancient ghosts. / / /

O ctober, 19 65 / Desert Maaaz ine / 11


12/40

we've heard of Eggheads and we've heard of Cavemen,but this storyis by the original

TWO OR THREE days out of eachmonth I live in a desert cave atthe southern base of Negro Butte, anancient volcano.I am a college professor and, nowand then, need to get away from stu-dents, colleagues, and family. I need,now and again, to read non-academicbooks and think non-academic thoughts.The Mohave Desertany southwesterndesertis good to think and read about.For hours at a time I gaze at the landand the sky, gaze without a thought, ab-sorbed in quiet and solitude. Perhaps Iproject my inner needs onto the cloudsand the mountains, force the wide sceneto crack some of my defenses, to relaxmy soul. Perhaps I am to some degreefreed from my locked-up ego, beguiledinto a larger world, given the right to ap-prehend my small place in vastness.But first the cave, or rather the graniterun in which my den is located. It is afinger of fracturing stone, a stretch ofquartz monzo nite, a type of granite. Itis 600 feet long, about 50 feet wide, and

from five to 30 feet high. It is roughand tumbled, with crevices and recesses,sunny and shady nooks, wind breaks andwind blows.

The cave among these rocks is notlarge, about 15 square feet, high enoughto stand in, towards the front. It is re-latively cool during hot hours and can bewarmed to about 10 degrees above the4:00 A. M. cold. I cook and eat in it,read and write, and do a great deal ofsleeping. The entrance is sheltered fromthe prevailing w ind.

On my way to the cave I usually stopin the village of Lucerne Valley, Califor-nia, for a few groceries and a pound ortwo of ice cubes. Then I continue 10miles to Neg ro Butte.Arriving at my rocks, I park amongseveral flat-topped boulders, onto whichI unload my gear, a few light boxes con-taining such items as cooking utensils anda first aid kit. In a cool, shaded crevice,I store four bottles of water and an ice-cooled bag with the perishable foods.Finally I take a collapsible cot, a sleepingbag, half of a parachute, and a brief caseup to the d en. Th e cot serves as a chaiselongue. The parachute can be hung overthe cave entrance on windy days or coolnights. The brief case contains a coupleof books, writing materials, and a clipboard. Within 10 minutes my campis set.I usually breakfast around 6:00, sittingin my den and admiring the view. The

grotto entrance faces to the south, towardsthe long strike of the thrust-faulted SanBernardino Range. In the foreground thedry washes twist towards the dry lakebed two miles below. Scattered haphaz-ardly about are granite boulders, decayinggranite pyramids, and conical granite cap-rocks. Aro und these stony places, as a-round mine, the olive-colored creosotebush pours down over the gray-yellowsand and gravel alluvium cascadestowards the valley floor, and then arisesswiftly upward to the oak, the cedar, andthe pine. There at the top, where theland and the green trees meet the blue sky,the San Bernardino northern crest arches4000 feet above the Lucerne Valley floor.One of the higher spots is Silver Peak.About a half million years ago the lime-stone cap of the mo untain fell off, hit ashelf about 2000 feet below, and becamea swift rockslide. It cruised down themountain at over 50 miles an hour, ridinga thin blanket of compressed air on itssix-mile journey. Peak, launching p lat-form, and the long tongue of the land-slide rubble are part of my view. And , asI breakfast, I can see a crimson scar onthe mountain, not far from the platformwhich launched the great landslide. Thescar is a memory of the Santa Fe GoldMine, operated from the late 1800s to the

13! / Desert Maga z ine / O ctober , 19 65

Eggheaded Caveman


13/40

The Santa Fe mine is typical of gold

dreams : the Greenlan d, theReef. TheI know a man to the north of Negroas found gold. He has a mine

find of the century. Luck toAnd luck to me, as I search the

Having dined and absorbed the view,

Sooner or later they come.During the early morning hours, I ex-: collect plant and rock specimens,

of prehistoric man. There are ay of plants. Interspersed among the

During the spring months there

ow, blue, purple, pink, and red. IDesert Wild-tstanding p etroglyph site is locatedin Rodman M ountains.

flowers. Of course the most obviousplants are the creosote, yucca and Joshua.Some of the animals noted by Edmund C.Jaeger in his North American Deserts areabout, even the wildcat and black-taileddeer. I see their tracks and spoor butrarely glimpse them.As for evidence of prehistoric man, Ihave found around the cavern Shosho-nean Indian tools metates, scrapers,

hamm er stones. Several before me haveinhabited my grotto. After all, althoughthe nearest spring is about four milesaway, there are not many natural sheltersin these parts.The chipping flakes and artifacts whichI discovered around my cave, like those

' -

Boy makes friends with burro at LucerneValley dude ranch.found four miles to the southeast at Cot-tonwood and Old Woman Springs, areprobably of anywhere from 200 to 1000years old.

Of the various Shoshonean groupswhich might have left their traces aroundthe cave, the Chemehuevi are the mostlikely. According to Edmund C. Jaeger'sNorth American Deserts, "The Cheme-huevi, perhaps the most miserable Indiansin the West, were undoubtedly victims oftheir environment." Hemmed in by theYumans along the Colorado River, theMohave to the north, and by other moreaffluent Shoshoneans in the ranges to thesouth and the west, the Chemehueviworked from spring to spring in theirceaseless quest for food and water. Theyleft their petroglyphs on the basalt, butoften little else. They did have, however,

Negro Butte looms up big and black.their storage ollas for seed and water,their manos and metates for grinding,their spears and their arrows for hunting,their knives and scrapers for skinning anddissecting, their prayer sticks for the no-tice of the godsall of which have beenfound in abundance in the caves of theMohave. They also, I imagine, may havehad their water bags and amulet pouches,their cosmetic jars and their reed mats.

I also know another minor fact: not allof the descendants of the Chemehueviare to be found on a reservation near Par-ker on the Colorado, between the reser-vations of their old enemies, the Mohavesand the Yum as, as many believe. I knowof a beautiful young lady, golden amberof skin, who sometimes offers me a Mar-tini. She has a place in the desert east ofTwenty-nine Palms, Californiaand onein Beverly Hil ls, California. Indians alsoread Walden, become Phi Beta Kappas,acquire deviousness and wea lth. Indiansare people, given the chance.

I hope that the Chemehuevi who usedthe cave, for whatever purpose as ashady way station on a trade or huntingtrail, as a defense point, as a manufactur-ing center, as a hearth and home werenot too "miserable." Aad perhaps theywere not. A good supply of fresh wateris still available down at Old WomanSprings, although it is now on privateproperty. The dry lake bed a mile and ahalf to the south may not have been sodry a few hundred years ago. And wh erethere is water there are animals, and ani-mals can mean food. The re is a shallowbasin, about four feet in diameter, on anexpanse of bedrock, a couple of hundredfeet south of my cave. This small naturaltank collects a few gallons of water dur-ing every rain. Th e rabbits and coyotesare always quick to find the water, andsometimes the black-tailed deer. I do notmolest them. But I imagine that the Che-mehuevi might have.

Occasionally I take off down the washO ctober , 1 96 5 / Desert Magaz ine / 1 3


14/40

on my way to a gossiping and shoppingexpedition in Lucerne. On the way I of-ten stop at one of the ranch houses. Theranchers are usually glad to see me andI to see them. They are for the most parta hearty, independent breed, and on thewhole I enjoy their talk.One of my neighbors is a water wizard,forked peachwand and all. He has dis-covered liquids throughout the Southwest

and M exico. I know the places, and canvouch for his magic. He assures me thatthere is a strong artesian flow under myfive acres. Because he uses astrology inaddition to his wand, I am inclined totrust him ! He is a famous man aroundLucerne Valley.Boulders grade into gravel, gravel intosand, and sand into silt. Sprinkle wateron sand and silt, drop seeds, and plantsand trees burgeon on the valley floor. Iknow of an oasis, with a house and afour-story water tower, a couple of miles

from my cave. The tower shelters an elec-tric pump which draws enough water forfive acres. There is grass, and there is agarden which raises 3 5 -pound water-melons. There are 536 dawn-singingbirds among the peach and apricot andplum trees. Stand ing in its oasis, thetower can be seen for miles around. Un-like Thoreau, the owner fears that hecannot live on fruits and vegetables and

water alone. He wishes to sell. If I werea land-buying person, I think I wouldpurchase his toy: secretly, I have alwaysyearned to own a tower, and to becomea wizard.During the afternoons, I work on mydiary and jou rnal. But I mainly read. Fre-quently I read an archeological report onPinto man; or a technical geological re-port on Mohave volcanism; or a book on

Mohave flora and fauna; or a novel witha Mohave setting; or a book by Thoreau.I enjoy testing Thoreau's experience a-round .Walden Pond against my experi-ence around my cave. I have reconsideredWalden, and I have found it gooddespite its somewhat too trusting view ofnature, God and man, and despite itsshaggy reluctance to admit much of thefemale principle into its hierarchy oftranscendental truth.For dinner I eat a noodle, a tomato, ahamburger or,when I am flush a

steak or a trout. As night aproaches, Ioften sit at the mouth of my den and ob-serve a few squares yards of my "BeanField." Above the field I have seen ra-vens, buzzards, bats and hawks allhunting . On my bean patch I have seencoyotes, burrowing owls, rattlesnakes,lizardsall meat hunting . In the twi-light the small hawks swoop low and fastin their fierce search for blood and flesh.

The tortoise with his delicate lumber,and the jackrabit with his quivering nose,however, are not famous stalkers. Theyare feeders, nibblers of flowers andbushes, ravagers of my bean field. Allare welcome. I try not to trample theplants and shrubs or to rearrange thestones, for the animals do not appreciatehuman tampering with their environment.Nor do they care for man's abrupt move-ments and noises. Usually they will fleeif I move or sneeze, but once my dinnerpreparations so enraged a nesting owlthat she attacked me, flew at me whenI walked too close, hit me on the headwith her talons, scratched my scalp. Imight have died of burrowing owl poison-ing, a famous kind of death.

Or, towards darkness, I climb theButte, an oblong basaltic mass, about ahalf-mile long and quarter-mile wide.Long ago it was an active volcano vent,one of several in the area. Neg ro Buttestands almost 250 feet above the sur-rounding slope, 3559 feet above sealevel. Thomas W. Dibblee, Jr., of theU. S. G. S., indicates that this is whathappened: hot magma worked up throughthe underlying granite, spread through avent near the top of the highest peak,the cone at the north end . A volcano wasborn. The liquid lava flowed down overthe slopes of the granite, cooling rapidlyand forming a dark basalt"black, mas-sive, hard, non-vesicular"to quote Dib-blee's "Description of Map Units" whichaccompanies his Geologic Map of theLucerne Valley Quadrangle. All of thishappened at the end of the Pliocene orthe beginning of the Pleistocene, roughlyabout a million years ago. There may bea repeat performance within the nextmillion years.

Ordinarily Negro Butte wears a darkcolor, but depending on the cast of light,the angle of vision, the color of theclouds, it can appear predominantly blue,purple, brown, green, even crimson. Thecrimson is caused by the feldspar in theoriginal quartz monzonite, for in manyplaces on the lower slopes of the Buttethe lava has washed away and exposedof many colors.

The view from the top is magnificent.There is a little dry lake a couple ofmiles to the south, and a larger one aboutthree miles to the east. There are thelooping, graceful dry washes. To theeast are the Rodman Mountains; to thenor th, the Ords. Both ranges are typicalof Mohave Desert mountains barren,(continued on page 31)

14 / Desert Magazine / O ctober, 19 6 5


15/40

a l lover the

westh i s t o r y Is m a k i n g

r o o m forp r o g r e s s

h e r e ' s w h a t h a p p e n sW H E N T H E

F R E E W A YC O M E S

T O T O W N

by Richard Kerr

THE MOST SERIOUS violations inNevada City, California, today arefor overtime parking. No longer dohell-raising miners, saloon hall madamsand Chinese coolies brawl in its streets.And no longer do famous Americanslike Horace Greeley, Ulysses S. Grant,Black Bart, Lola Montez, Lotta Crabtree,George Hearst and Herbert Hoover checkin at its National Hotel, the only originalhostelry still standing in the town.

Today this old northern Californiamining town is a graveyard of memories.Referred to as "Caldwell's Upper Store"when its first canvas and stone buildingwas constructed in 1849, the town'sname was changed to Nevada 13 yearsbefore the state of Nevada laid claim tothe title. The word "C ity" was addedlater to avoid confusion.Like Rome, the town was built on

seven hills, only these hills departedthe saints to mix with sinners. Piety,Aristocracy, Lost, Prospect, Bourbon,Cement and Wet Hills were their names.The present citizens of Nevada City livewith a spirit of Old West informalityalong such romantic streets as Zion, Mt.Calvary, Coyote, Nimrod, TribulationTrail and Goldpan A lley. At one time10,000 residents frequented Long John'sTavern and weighed their gold at Ott'sAssay office, but today only 3000 loyalcitizens remain. Changes taking placehere, however, are creating enough hulla-baloo among them to equal that of thetown's former population. For the Free-way has come to Nevada City!

Boardwalks are replaced by surveyors'flags, transits stand where horses drankat water pumps, tractors and "cats" arechewing history away. No longer do oldmen spit and chew on the steps of theNational while they watch the Cones-togas and Wells Fargo wagons blow intotown. Instead, these old men watchgraders and rollers parked beside theiron rails with brass horse-heads thatserved as hitching posts to keep the car-riage horses from "tearing hell out ofBroadstreet."

There's a good deal of opposition inNevada City toward the freeway beingbuilt through the town. One objectionis the removal of an ancient sequoia thatstood in front of the Bergemann FuneralChapel. Both the chapel and the treehave been removed to clear the way forthe highway. City fathers have proposedan alternate route, but the state says thatthe alternative is impractical and toocostly. Deer Creek bridge in the middleof the town plaza will have to be re-moved, as well. Little boys, with theirpin hooks and worms, used to pull 12-inch German Brown trout out of DeerCreek under this bridge. Now all theypull out is the red clay and sludge leftby construction crews.

On the steep slopes of Prospect Hillabove the plaza stands a towering redbrick building which is one of the fewremaining symbols of pioneering archi-tecture. "The Red Castle" is a two-storystructure built in 1859 by A. B. Stewart,a pioneer in the Nevada County narrow

O ctober, 19 65 / Deser t Magaz ine / 1 5


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gauge railroad. There used to be a redand white metal sign in front of thehouse reading: "The RedCastleBuilt1859Admission 25c," A bearded care-taker wearing a red,green andyellowflowered tie on awine-colored shirt usedto totter out thedoor to greet tourists.His usual friendly greeting was, "There'snot much here to see. Sure youwantto pay a quarter?" Once inside, thevisitor was treated to a look at dustyfireplaces, cobwebs inthe attic, and housecats inpractically every window seat.

Down thehill from theRed Castle isthe site of Duck Egg's laundry whichwas built in 1858 by Duck Egg, thetitular head of a family of over 100Chinese. Duck Egg did thelaundryforLeland Stanford, Black Bart and JohnMarshall. A newlaundromat nowsitsover theplace where Duck Egg's ironwash tub used tobe and incessant Chinesechatter isreplaced by the purr ofan auto-matic washer.

Up theroad from thelaundromat theLava Cap mine isclosed down now. Theshaft has been filled with water topre-vent what gold there isdown inthe shaftfrom being removed. The price offeredby the government forgold has beenin-sufficient tomake gold mining a profit-able venture. Local prospectors and ex-miners still insist that someday the mineswill reopen. On a hill near the minestands theshiny new SPD supermarket.Parked in front of thenew pink build-ing sits an old restored Wells Fargostagecoach. SPD gives rides inthe coachon Saturdays to let the "kids relivetheWild West of the past."

The advances of progress areslowlytearing away the history from NevadaCity. The town will go on, though. Moreservice stations will bebuilt; more bill-boards will be putup; thefreeway willbe finished; more city people will moveto Nevada County andNevada City toescape thenoise andcongestion of thecity; more shopping centers and SPDmarkets andhousing developments willbe built. The oldbank buildings, stagecoach way-station, Chinese laundries,pump and wagon fire houses, and mineshafts will disappear. The town willbemuch more modern, more convenient,and have "more advantages of a city."The newpeople coming in will bringfresh and new blood to thetown.Tra-dition andold-fashioned ideas will bedone away with andnew traditionsandnorms will be established. New moresand newfads will change the wholecharacter ofNevada City. The town willnever again be thesame. But,will itreally be better? / / /

1 6 / Desert Magazine / October, 1965


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Little Gray Ghosts

bu aDorotltu l\.obertionHERE ISsomething appealing aboutour shy little desert game birds,the quail and the chukar. AlthoughValley Quail were hunted almost to ex-tinction for coast markets a half-centuryago, today they have staged a hearteningcomeback due to efforts of the CaliforniaFish andGame Commission.

As for chukars, although they arc-fairly recent newcomers to this hemi-sphere, they have taken to rough desertfoothill country with dramatic success.The exotic chukar was introduced inthe East by Benjamin Franklin's son-in-law, Richard Bache, who imported itfrom India, but it wasn't until 1928 thathis rock partridge was brought to Cali-fornia. Mr. Frank Booth purchased thefirst chukar stock (Alectoris graeca chu-kar) from a game handler in Calcutta,then Mr. Leland Smith, a private gamebreeder of Woodland, California pur-chased Mr. Booth's stock. In turn, theDepartment of Fish and Game becameinterested in an experiment to "plant"the chukar in desert upland country.They purchased the Woodland stock, inaddition to 10 (one female) from theoriginal Calcutta handler.

The birds thrived in desert uplandswhere even the hardiest of native birdsfind foraging difficult. Chukars will eatanythingseeds of sages, grasses, andweeds, as well as insects. According tocrop analysis, however, their favoriteperennial staple is the seed of the Rus-sian thistle. Even the worst pest has itsuse! By1935 chukars had been plantedin all but four California counties, butthrove best in upland desert habitat ap-proximating their own native land. To-day, these Indian imports extend from

the Coast Range, the Sierra foothills,the SanBernardino foothills to far northinto Nevada.In overall appearance the chukar re-sembles his cousin, the quail, but lacksthe Desert Quail's perky black plume.The chukar is about three and one-halftimes larger than thequail, has an over-sized breast, and weighs up to one andone-half pounds. Like the Chinese-pheasant (which is also an importedalien), the chukar is a powerful flierwith a maximum wingspread of 21inches. It is this blurring, swift flightthat gives the chukar a somewhatghostly aspect when on the wing.A handsome bird, his breast is dove-grey, with barred black andwhite sidesand his back is brownish-grey. His tailis bright rufous when spread. Hiswhitethroat is bordered neatly in black, whilethe feet, legs andbill (of the adult) arebright red. Both male and female lookalike. Often, though you might hear theirthroaty calls of "chuk-chuk chuk chuk-

arr," you will find them surprisinglyhard to detect against a background ofrocks and earth. When disturbed, thecries change to "chieu chieu." Wary andswift sprinters, at the first hint of dangerthe chukar takes off, sprinting almoststraight up the nearest steep, rocky, hill-side, taking wing only when necessary.Since the habitat of these gallinaceousbirds is semi-arid, rock country, water isa critical problem. The Fish and GameDepartment came up with an ingenious"water-guzzler"a concrete or plastic

catch-basin constructed to trap and storerainfall to sustain the birds through cri-tical drymonths. Several thousand instal-

lations throughout foothill and desertareas have extended the range of bothquail and chukar.Chukars and quail face mayhazards.Ravens account for high egg losses. Owls,too, indulge in chick-stealing. Anotherdanger is in drowning after rains.Des-pite a lack of heavy ground cover, thebirds do manage to hide their nests ingrass orbrush, desert tea,salt-bush, gold-enbush andmixed annuals. Chukar nestsare well-formed andlined with dry grass,small twigs and soft breast feathers.

Mama Chukar is a good and faithfulmother, upon occasion even adopting ababy quail.The average clutch pernest is between9 and 12 eggs. The size of the brood,of course, depends upon climatic condi-tions. Chukars have long nesting seasonsextending from the last week in Aprilto about the first week in August.When tiny, their protective coloringis such that even though they are under-foot, they are hard to detect. Another

factor in the chukar chick's fight forsurvival is itsability to flywithin 10daysof hatching. During its first days, thechick presents a mottled buff-brown ap-pearance. By 33days, hisbody colorationhas changed to a mottled striped brown;by 47 days, its flank-barring is distinc-tive. At the end of 12 weeks a chukaris considered an adult bird.Conservationists that we are, we takegreat pleasure in watching these wilybirds outwit their enemies. It does seemstrange that when hunting season comes

along, they vanish like little gray ghostsinto the most inaccessible, rocky ridges.IllO ctober, 1965 / Desert Magazine / 17


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PIONEERTOWNA ghost town haunted by people

WE ENTERED the central com-pound of Pioneertown with cau-tion, expecting a fight to tumble throughthe saloon doors any minute, or the"fastest gun in the West" to make afast draw. It was soon evident, though ,that our fears were unfoundedthistown is only a fascinating echo of theWest's wild past.Pioneertown, four miles out of YuccaValley, California, on Pioneertown Road,has the appearance of an old frontiersettlement unspoiled by the march ofprogress, though its buildings have beenattractively spoiled by the elements. Aswe stood on the board sidewalks at thehead of unpaved "Mane" Street, we sawnothing to suggest that we were living inmodern timesother than the automo-biles of the out-of-towners. A stagecoach,drawn by two horses, provides localtransportation; the town newspaper, "TheJackass Mail," is delivered by jackass;and the natives stroll around in old-time

frontier garb. This is a real chunk ofwestern lore!There's a Golden Stallion restaurantand bar, a corral well stocked with horses,a United States Post Office (officially

Pioneertown mail is delivered dailyby jackass.recognized), a printery, general store,jail, trading post, bowling alley, and allsorts of other buildingsall in keepingwith an early settlement them e. The cen-ter of Pioneertown's night life, the fa-mous Red Dog Saloon, features a massiveoaken bar, a honky-tonk piano, and a"face on the barroom floor."

You wouldn't expect to find, in thissetting, an institution usually associatedwith modern day living, but among theshanties and shacks is a motel, for thosewho wish to stay awhile. The fact that

these highway dormitories were not inexistence during the pioneer days is easilyoverlooked in viewing this one. Althoughits room interiors are modern, the Town-house Motel has walls of old railroadties cemented together, as have many ofthe other structures. One of its ownersis Jack Bailey of the "Queen For A Day"television program and it's operated byCactus Kate of old time movie fame.Cactus Kate is a friendly, outgoing(and outspoken in Western language)individual who can toss around morenames of cowboy movie greats in a fewminutes than you can recall frommemory. She's been a close friend of allof them and anyone who goes toPioneertown and doesn't drop in at themotel for a chat with Cactus Kate willbe missing a treat.Before dwelling on the interestingpast of this community, a look into theneighboring town of the future might

be in order. Yucca Valley, claimed to bethe only true high desert valley town inCalifornia, is 120 miles from Los An-geles Civic Center, and about an equaldistance from the Mexican border. FromLos Angeles, drive east on the San Ber-Vieiv overlooking Yuc ca Valley from hilltop hide-aw ay of fam ous composer Jimmy Van Heusen.



19/40

by Jack Delaney

nardino Freeway and Interstate Highway10 (100 miles), then 20 miles up theTwentynine Palms Highway. If the start-ing point is Indio, El Centro, Calexico,etc., drive northwest on Interstate 10 tothe Twentynine Palms turnoff. Easilyaccessible, Yucca Valley is tucked into ahigh valley between the San BernardinoMountains and the rugged hills of JoshuaTree National Monument. The town isa fast growing modern community, 3300feet high, with a population of 8000 andit is proud of its luxury motels, fine res-taurants, trailer parks, golf course and,especially, its desert landscape.

Visitors are always fascinated with thegrotesque Joshua treesthe floral sym-bol of high desert country, which areparticularly dramatic when silhouettedagainst a Yucca Valley evening sky. Someimagine them as a massive protest de-monstration against man for encroachingon their desert, others claim they repre-sent an army of teenagers doing theWatusi!

Among Yucca Valley's showplaces isthe $250,000 hilltop hide-away of Aca-demy Award-winning song composer,Jimmy Van Heusen, Desert Christ Park,with an inspiring array of greater-than-life-size statues located at the foot of ahill near the center of town; and Pioneer-town. The route from Yucca Valley toPioneertown passes through PioneerPass, where thrilling pyramids of fan-tastic rock formations may be comparedto those of Joshua Tree National Monu-ment. Pioneertown is not a poor-man'sDisneyland, nor Knott's Berry Farm. It'sin a class by itselfmore like a townabandoned by ghosts and reclaimed byhumans than the other way around. Itsbeginning might have been back in the1880s, but it wasn't. Actually, it wasmany years later. The man responsiblefor this shantytown is Dick Curtis, aHollywood movie personality who inter-ested Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, andseveral other celebrities into forming acorporation to erect a pioneer town com-plete in every detail to accommodate the

^ ^ s - ^

Historic photo shoivs Cactus Kate giving Gene Autry a typical Western greetingin Pioneertown.

filming of western movies a placewhere the extras could be drawn fromthe native population and horses andequipment could be stored between pic-tures. So Pioneertown is really a hugemovie set with permanent structures,not a false-front structure, and behindits rustic facades are men and womencarrying on businesses.For many years activity in the townspun as fast as film. Among moviesmade there were Pony Express withJock O'Mahoney, Dick Moore, andPeggy Stewart, Daybreak with TheresaWright and Lew Ayers; Jeopardy, withBarbara Stanwyck and Barry Sullivan,the Cisco Kid pictures, Judge Roy Beantelevision films and Gene Autry movieand television films. As realtor Alice"Honey" Fellers puts it, "If all themovie greats who played here were laidend to end, they'd reachfor their six-guns, podner!"

After years of booming success, dis-

sension developed within the corporation,and, to shorten a long story, the bottomfell out. Ghosts nudged eagerly, deter-mined to claim another "old westerntown," but the hardy settlers of Pioneer-town just wouldn't give up. Throughtheir efforts, prosperity is once againpeeking around the corner. The GoldenEmpire Corporation, now in the driver'sseat, has ambitious plans for the town(retaining its western theme) and thesurrounding area.

In recommending this spot to one-daytrippers, I very much want to de-bunka popular rumor that local lingo thereis likely to rub off on visitors. Afterbeing exposed to, and swapping yarnswith, almost every "character" in town,I personally came out with no adverseeffect on my speech. So, effen yer a-fixin ta git yerself out fer a ride forelong, jest git on up to Pioneertown andstay a spellmite be jest whut yorea-needin! / / /

October, 1965 / Desert Magazine / 19


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wer Stretching from Davis Dam on the north andNeedles on the south, the Mohave Valley islocated in Arizona adjacent to the ColoradoRiver. Not as well known or populated as themore southern river areas, it is a land of

recreation and fascinating history.

HE COLORADO River along thegreater portion of its majesticcourse shall remain forever unsuited forhabitation and unmolested."So stated Lt. J. C. Ives in his offi-cial report to Washington D. C, afterfighting his way up the Colorado Riverfrom the Gulf in 1858. Less than 100years later Hoover and Davis Dams hadbeen built principally for power andreclamation, but also forming Lake

J\ecreatlonMead and Lake Mohave and the LakeMead Recreational Area.

The southern finger of the Lake-Mead Recreation Area extends alongboth sides of the Colorado from HooverDam to five miles below Davis Dam.Whether due to the Federal restrictions,lack of government funds or the ruggedterrain, the above portion of the Color-ado confirms Lt. Ives prediction. There-are only four roads to the Colorado

Relatively uncrowded, the river offers excellent boating, fishing and swimming.Opposite page, the back country abounds in unusual rocks and gems and is excellentfor color photography.

by Jack eralong this 60-mile stretch, two on theNevada side and two on the Arizonaside.

But as the waters of the Coloradorush past the invisible barrier of theLake Mead Recreation Area and into theland of private enterprise, the landscapechanges. In the 30 miles from BullheadCity, a mile below the government line,to Needles, the Colorado flows pastnumerous facilities for fishermen, cam-pers, boaters and families. Some areexcellent, others are unimproved andcrowded, but at least they are there.

In addition, along this area of theColorado on the Arizona side, severalinvestors have purchased acreage alongthe water front and have leveled theland for sites for permanent mobilehomes and regular homes similar to sub-divisions in the suburban areas of LosAngeles. Again, some of these are in-ferior and some superior, but they arethere; giving the public a choice ofwhat they want and what they can af-ford.

Bullhead City today is not the unat-tractive fishing camp I knew 10 yearsago. As we drove into town along thepaved road on the Arizona side fromNeedles, I was impressed by the cleanand orderly appearance of the trailerparks and mobile home sites. New busi-nesses have sprung up, old ones lookprosperous, and there's a new airportwith a 4100-foot lighted runway only a(Continued on Page 22)

20 / O ctober, 1 96 5 / Desert Magazine


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R i v e r an d R e l i c s(Continued from Pag e 20)

few hundred yards from the main partof town.

At the little clean, white Chamber ofCommerce building, Hazel Flowers gaveme an informative brochure on the areaand referred me to Glen Medlin, presi-dent of the Chamber and owner of the5 Grand Bar and Restaurant. Glen tookme to his ice house to see some large bassand trout and while extolling the area asa fishing paradise, he called Mike Kee-nan, editor and publisher of the Color-ado River News Bulletin. A formerrancher, metalurgist and newspaperman,Mike returned to the latter profession tostart the local newspaper two years ago.

After explaining that the area alongthe Arizona side of the Colorado fromBullhead City to Needles is called theMohave Valley and that it has grown tre-mendously in the last five years, Mikeadded, "Some of the oldtimers do notwant the area to change and have op-posed new developments. Fortunately,they are in the minority and today resi-dents are working together to improvethe area."

M^edlin cited the current Chamber ofCommerce clean-up campaign in whichresidents are contributing their time andefforts in clearing away debris and brushand painting and cleaning up their ownbusinesses and residences. The Chamberand its constructive activities was givena big shot in the arm by a progressivenew real estate development, HolidayShores, which contributed $5,000 to theChamber and another $5,000 to thecommunity's drive to raise funds for anew hospital.

Newest and most elaborate of thereal estate developments on the river,Holiday Shores is a 2600 acre "plannedcommunity" along 2l/2 miles of riverfront with a 1600-foot marina and"boatel." A large circular restaurant over-looks the landscaped areas for residentiallots and mobile home sites. On an op-posite hill is a cemetery containing 16graves, resting places for early pioneersof the now vanished Hardyv ille. Thecemetery will be preserved as an historicallandm ark. Oth er real estate developmentsin the area include the Colorado Riviera,Colorado River Estates, Bermuda City,Willow Valley, Laguna Estates and BigBend Acres.

Whether the "old timers" like it ornot, Bullhead City and the Mohave Val-ley are growing. Plans for a multi-million

Ruins of Hardy Toll Station between Colorado River and Oatman.dollar steam generating plant to be builtacross the river on the Nevada side, withconstruction to begin in 1965, were re-cently announced by the Southern Cali-fornia Edison Company.

From below Davis Dam, the riverwinds for 60 miles through scenic andhistoric county until it once again isslowed by Parker Dam. With LakeMohave and Katherine Wash Landingonly five miles north of Bullhead City,boaters can have their choice of eitherriver or lake excursions.

The area is not limited to water acti-vities. It abound in gemstones and isthe site of exploration by many SouthernCalifornia and Arizona rock clubs.Dorothy Lane, owner of the attractive

and well-stocked Riviera Rock and GiftShop south of town, said the area con-tains several colors of jasper, a varietyof agates, colite, brucite, chalcedony roses,geodes and petrified wood.For the history buff and sight-seer thearea is fascinating, as we learned fromexploring in our Volkswagen Camper.Our first excursion was over a 12-milegood gravel road from just below Bull-head City to Oatman and Goldroad. Aswe drove up the hill to a plateau abovethe river, Choral filled me in on the his-tory of the area from the Chamber bro-chure. It was along this very route thatthe first white man came into the area80 years before the Pilgrims landed onthe eastern seaboard. Melchior Diaz, a.

IThe author is invited in for a cold drink by an Oatman merch ant.22 / O ctober, 19 65 / Desert Magazine


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A few miles further we came upon a

tage toll station. W ith no

ary maneuvers. Also named after

One friend we made along the waya strange white burro . Appearing

e. W e were so startled I forgot toW ith an expression of

Left, ruins of original Ft. Moh ave are covered with brush, Right, a ll that remains ofthe Indian Sch ool are the cemen t ivalks.motorists. Choral fell in love with him,so the next time we visit Hardy I'll nodoubt be conned into bringing a baleof hay.

Six miles further the gravel road endson the paved road between Oatman andGoldroad . Du ring former exciting daysOatman produced $18,000,000 in goldin three and a half years and Goldroadhit the jackpot with $60,000,000. (SeeLambert Florin's story, page 32.)From Oatman you can either take thepaved road to Kingman or go south toTopock and Needles, or return to Bull-head City on the gravel road as we did,since we wanted to visit old Ft. Mohaveon our way home to Palm Desert.Approximately seven miles south ofBullhead City and just before you leavethe wash to cross the second hill, there'san unmarked gravel road to the left.Although there are several other gravelroads to the left, we bore to the rightuntil the road came to the end overlook-ing the river. There we found cementwalks, stairs and culverts covering alarge area. This is all that remains ofan Indian school operated around 1870 tothe 1900s.While exploring the plateau for oldbottles, I noticed a retaining wall coveredby salt bush and mesquite. Climbingdown through the heavy brush I found

the old site of the original Ft. Mohavebuilt in I860, after Lt. Ives made hisfirst exploration of the Colorado bysteamboat. It was also at this site thatLt. Beale crossed the Colorado with hiscamels.Instead of returning to the highway,we followed a gravel road which leddirectly down the plateau from behindthe school ruins to a beautiful beachalong the river. The beauty of the areawas enhanced by its solitude. W e had n'tseen another car since leaving the high-way. We followed the gravel road southalong the river through verdant areas androcky points which must be excellent forfishing. For those who prefer to campaway from crowded areas, this is a realfind. The area is clean and I hopeDESERT readers who enjoy our experi-ence will keep it so. As we neared th eend of the gravel road, which meets thepaved road just north of the bridge goinginto Needles, we stopped to watch thesun set behind the Mohave desert. Leap-ing into the river for a swim, our 13-year-old son yelled, "Boy, would I liketo have gone to that Indian School. Thoseguys really lived in this country in thosedays!'.'

"That's right, son, and they're reallyliving today," I replied, as we headedback to the main highway and home.Il lO ctober, 1 9 65 / Desert Magazine / 23


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This $150,000 Palm Desert residence constructed for builder Fillmore Crank and wife, TV star Beverly Garland, is enhancedwith an adobe wall.

A D O BE , A N O LD M E XIC A N rECIPEm B U M S K E iiD f l

Find a bank of heavy, slick-feeling clay. Moisten the soil, Measuring w ith your eye, add 4 parts of sand to each partthen hollow out a big mud pie hole for yourself. clay. Throw in an armful of dry fibrillous sticks from the

nearby bushes.


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uMix well, using the shovel as a spoon. Wh en just the right c onsistency to makea firm mud pie, load the mixtu re into the wheelbarrow . Haul to nearby spotwhere the sandy soil is levelled off. S hovel mu d into a clean wet form. Thisform makes two bricks at once. It is simply a shalloiv bottomless box with apartition across the middle.

Call in your friends to help you pat the mud down firmly and level it off niceand smooth. Remove the mold immediately, with a shaking motion as you liftstraight up. Then, stand around and visit with your neighbors ivhile the sundoes the rest. (B ricks will b e sunbaked and usable in abou t 2 weeks.)

S L I C K T U M B L I N GB A R R E L

Many beginning "hobbis ts ' ' s tar t by tum-bling the gem and rocks they f ind. SLICKOPEN TUMBLER FEATURES:

No gas accumulationNo messLess tumbling t ime than most brandsWrit ten long- i i fe guarantee on poly

vinyl barrelTumbling instructions to help youC O M P LETE P R I C E $ 3 9. 5 0

Ship anywhere in U. S., or see your dealer.O ther equipment available .Circulars on request.S . E. LA N D O N C O M P A N Y

P. O . Box 39 8, Joshua Tree, Calif. 9 22 52

S c e n i c T o u r sH ISTO RIC MINING ANDGHOST TOWNS OFOWENS VALLEYL o n e F i n e , C a l i f .T R I P O N E 1 1 H o u r sMonday, Wednesday, Friday$22.50 person, minimum 3 faresTR I P TW O 5 HoursTuesday, Thursday,

Saturday, Sunday$12.50 person, minimum 3 fares.T R IP T H R E E " 5 HoursTuesday, Thursday,Saturday, Sunday$8.50 person, minimum 3 fares.Special Rates to groups of 15 ormore on all trips.Charter Service AvailableWrite for detailed information onthese and other tripsC HUC K A N D EVA W HITN EY

Own ersPhone: TR ipoly 6-3 45 1 or TR ipoly 6 -2 28 1P. O . Box 32 7L O N E P I N E , C A L I F O R N I A

O ctober, 196 5 / Desert Magazine / 2 5


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Model L621 for Land Rover Series II and11A. Power take-off drive on transferCase. Four speeds forward, one reverset h r o u g h L a n d R o v er t r a n s m i s s i o n .Crankshaft-drive models also available.

I ml i

m m0: BSE.

1 !i1oI 1SiModel H611S for I-HScout. Power take-off drive ontransfer case. Mounts be-tween Scout gri l le and rad ia tor. . . heavy-duty bumper supplied. Model H161S (notshown) mounts inf ront of gri l le .

T he WIN C HforAdventurers!Out beyond trail's end . . .a man has o be rugged, and sodoes hisequipment. Everything you take alongmust be as tough as the ter ra in, as de-pendable asyour r ig, assafe and sure asmodern engineering can make it. Andthat goes double for the winch that mustkeep yougoing when thegoing's impos-sible. That 's why . . .You need a King by K o e n i g . . .the quality winch that won't quit! Koenigdeveloped the first front-mount winchover 30years ago, and today there arelightweight King Winches available foralmost every popular 4WDvehicle in-cluding Land Rover, 'Jeep,' Scout, Nis-san Patrol, Ford, Chevrolet and manyothers. Every King isfurnished in a com-plete kit ready for immediate installa-tion .. .and you have your c hoice of pull-ing capacit ies from 8,000 to19,000pounds, platform orunderslung mount-ings, and asoptional equipment, an au-tomatic safety brake for really bighoist-ing capacity. Make themost ofyour nextadventure . . . make sure.you have thepower of a King!

W R I T E T O D A Y FOR THEN A M E OFYOURN E A R E S T K IN G W I N C H D I S T R I B UT O R .

B E S U R E TOS P E C I F Y THEM A K EA N D M O D E L OFY O U R V E H I C L E .

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A b o u ta n old t o w nA FTER TRAVELING miles throughthe sagebrush and desert into theheart of Nevada, thelast thing you'dexpect toencounter would be agreat seamonster.But that's what youwill find atNevada's Ichthyosaur State Monumentwhere not only one, but 37 individualfish-lizard fossils have been discovered,uncovered and preserved forviewing.

During the early Age of Reptiles,some 180 million years ago, these giantsea-going dinosaurs cruised about in thewaters of asea that extended over west-ern Nevada. Apparently the big, clumsyichthyosaurs ran aground and were trap-ped by rapidly receding tides. Thesegigantic creatures, fitted with paddlesinstead of feet, and with relatively deli-cate ribs, could not survive on land. Justas a body of a stranded whale collapsesunder itsweight of bone and flesh, theichthyosaur's body collapsed. After de-cay, the bones ofthe body separated andspread out inthe mud. The tail, beingmore durable, laystretched outbehindthe scattered bones.

The deposited bones were coveredwith mud and slime and buried for mil-lions ofyears. Later upheavals lifted thearea tobecome part of the present-daymountains ofwest central Nevada. Ero-sion eventually exposed portions ofthepetrified remains.

Early miners inthe late 1800s noticedthe fossils inthe area and used some ofthe bones in their fire hearths. Aboutthe turn of the century, school boys atUnion Canyon used thespherical clamshells in their slingshots. They calledthem "lizard heads."But it wasn't until 1928that the firstspecimens tobe recognized asgiant ich-thyosaurs were discovered by ProfessorSiemon W. Muller of Stanford Univer-

2 6 / Desert Magazine / October, 1965


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and an old fish!by Cliff and Gene Segerblom

Camp, a distinguished paleontologist, inion. Digging began on the hillsidesabove and behind the surface specimensthat had been weathered out years before.Excavation by bulldozer removed theearth down to within less than a footof the bone layer with the remainingoverburden being removed by hand tools.Final sandblasting of the bones broughtout the bluish color of the hard, heavylimestone that has replaced the originalbone. The area was established as a statemonument in 1955.

To help orient visitors, a life-sizedichthyosaur, 56 feet long, has been de-picted in bas relief on a concrete wallnear the visitor's quarry. Nevada Parkichthyosaurs reached a length of morethan 60 feet. Th e huge head was 10 feetin length with a long pointed snout hav-ing rows of conical teeth. Th e great eyew

196510 Desert Magazine 1965 October

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