Velven ant. Photo by Richard L. Cassell.

IN A GARDEN ON THE HILLBy MABEL M. CONARD

Shelby, MontanaIn a Monastery Garden with the willows

bended low,We stood in silent reveries, so none but we

should knowThat we, too, shared the beauty of the

organ's sacred strains,And the choir's blended voices through the

fragrant flower lanes.

While we strolled about the rock- paths andthe campus long and wide,

A cricket chirped his ecstasy in a cypressby my side;

He, 'tis certain, knew my elaticn when youplucked for me a flower

—A single, fragrant blossom, like that silent,fleeting hour.

We loved the silence in the gardenOn that softly starlit night

And the darkness stealing o'er usBeyond the Chapel's guiding light.

The music soon grew fainter and the lightsgrew fainter still,

As the darkly shrouded figures gatherednear us on the Hill;

A bell so softly pealed as they knelt to Loveand Pray

And we knew our hour was ended, as weturned to find our way.

Back to a worldly, lonesome road ourhopes to fill;

Back—back to Reality, far away—beyondthe Hill. '

• « •SUNSET—WASHOE VALLEY

By KATHARINE JONES

Reno, NevadaHow wide and peaceful is the sunset skyEnfolding this brown autumn landfn transient golden light;Weaving its music strand by strandIn silent rays foretelling night.Across the reed-fringed lakeA white bird takes his leisured flightUndisturbed by any moving thing,Over the still, reflected glow . . .Into the dusk of evening.

COTTONTAILBy ADELAIDE COKER

Ojai, CaliforniaAgainst the snow he lay,A fluff of silver gray,

And 1 so close to himI had the greatest whim

To tweak a flattened ear,Or stroke away the fear

Revealed in twitching noseAnd breathless, rigid pose—

Instead—I played stone blindAnd gave him peace of mind.

DESERT JUSTIFICATIONBy SARAH PHILLIPS SALINGER

Santa Barbara, CaliforniaThe desert does not ask man's leave,Nor praise, nor condemnation;It knows it is a vital partOf earth, Pnd world creation.

When tumult reigned and forces ragedEach mightier than the otherThe mystery of life beganAnd Earth became a Mother.

Man's hour on earth is short, at best;The desert will remain . . .As leng as stars and desert flowersCreaticn's word, proclaim.

SOME DAYBy TANYA SOUTH

If you would see Life just and fair,Then view it in its larger sense,

Remembering the fate we bearWill some day bring full recom-

pense.

Some day, in some existence new,There will be joys for grief now

borne,And you will reap your measure true,

For all your work for you shall earn.

LITTLE UPHOLSTERED BUGBy VIRGINIA L. BRUCE

Hemet, CaliforniaWhile strolling along on the desertHe barely escaped being mush—This miniature ebony creatureUpholstered in bright orange plush.

For I, like a two-legged monsterFrom civilized parts over yonWas steadily plodding—unheedfulOf what I was stepping upon.

Not a moment too soon did I see him,And swerve from my pre-destined trackIn hopes of successfully leavingHis immaculate perfection intact.

Then winking his black beady eyes,He briskly strolled off with his fuzz;And I don't to this bright, sunny day

knowWhat the scientific name of him was!

• • •MUCHACHO Y PERRO

By DARRELL A. TOTTENHenderson, Nevada

A boy and his dog on a desert trail,Exploring the wide "out yonder."

Their friends are the lizards and desert quailThey find wherever they wander.

They detour the rattler who sounds an alarmWhich strikes fear to most grown-up's

hearts.These two are safer —much safer —from

harmThan mariners sailing by charts.

way, both having theirThey go on theirfun—

Chasing chipmunks they never catchDodging cactus and thornbush as they run

They avoid the tiniest scratch.

They play with the horned-toad, but leavealone

The scorpion with his sharp tail.Danger and fear are to them words unknown

As they follow their desert trail.• • •

THE DESERTBy MILDRED DAVIDSONLos Angeles, California

When Mother Nature garnishedThis old world of ours,With trees and grass and waterfalls,And mountains, brooks and flowers-She painted the desert first of allFrom a bounteous color supply,Borrowing the spectrum as it wereAnd using it as a dye.

The jutting rocks, the rosy crags,The needled cactus treesThe white sand hot from the blazing sun,The sky as blue as the seas;No cloud dare ever penetrateThis place of serenity,Nor bring its gloom to this vast roomOf beauteous ecstasy.

• • •EPITAPH

By KATHARINE JONESReno, Nevada

If I could always be a partOf elemental sun and rain,The mountains and a windswept plain,Know the miracle of desert spring,And fly on a bird's unfettered wingThen this brief life would seem to meA preface to reality.

DESERT M A G A Z I N E

. '

DESERT CALENDAR!January 1 — Buffalo or Deer Dance,

Taos Pueblo, New Mexico; Severalother Indian Pueblos will stageCeremonial Dances.

January 1 — New Years Ski Races,Arizona Snow Bowl, sponsored bySki Club, Phoenix.

January 2-7—Arizona National Live-stock Show, State Fairgrounds,Phoenix, Arizona.

January 6—Installation of new gov-ernors in most New Mexico IndianPueblos; Buffalo Dance at TaosPueblo; Eagle Dance at San Ilde-fonso Pueblo; Three Kings' Day or"Old Christmas" celebrated in vari-ous northern rural villages.

January 6—"Twelfth Night," burningof Christmas Trees and New Year'sPageant, Raton, New Mexico.

January 7 — Ceremonial Dances inmany of the New Mexico IndianPueblos.

January 7—Palm Springs, California,Desert Museum field trip to DosPalmas Spring and Asbestos Moun-tain.

January 8 — Dons Travelcade toApache Trail, from Phoenix, Ari-zona.

January 8-14—Carolus Verhaeren ex-hibition, Desert Magazine PuebloArt Gallery, Palm Desert, Calif.

January 13-15 — Arizona NewspaperAsso. Convention, Hotel WestwardHo, Phoenix, Arizona.

January 14—Palm Springs, California,Desert Museum field trip, destina-tion unannounced.

January 14-15 — Phoenix, Arizona,Invitational Tennis Tournament.

January 14-15—Dons Travelcade toChiricahua National Monument-Douglas - Nogales, from Phoenix,Arizona.

January 14-15—Arizona Horse Lov-ers Club Junior Horse Show, Phoe-nix, Arizona.

January 21—Palm Spring:;, California,Desert Museum field trip to LittleParadise in Palm Canyon.

January 22—Dons Indian CeremonialDance program, Phoenix, Arizona.

January 22—Junior Chamber of Com-merce King's Canyon Trek, fromMesa, Arizona, Civic Center.

January 23 — Fiesta and BuffaloDance, San Ildefonso Pueblo, NewMexico.

January 26-27 — Southeastern NewMexico Hereford Show and Sale,Roswell, New Mexico.

January 26-29 — 20-30 Club JuniorRodeo, Mesa, Arizona.

January 27-28 — Annual WesternDance, Clayton, New Mexico.

January 27-29 — Gold Rush Days,Wickenburg, Arizona.

January 28-29—Dons Travelcade toPrescott - Flagstaff - Sunset Crater,from Phoenix, Arizona.

Month of January—Hanwood Foun-dation Free Winter Art Exhibit,Taos, New Mexico.

Volume 19 JANUARY, 1956 Number 1

COVER

POETRY

CALENDAR

FIELD TRIP

BOTANY

TRAVEL

GARDENING

GEOGRAPHY

NATURE

CONTEST

EXPERIENCE

PHOTOGRAPHY

LOST MINES

CLOSE-UPS

FICTION

LETTERS

TRUE OR FALSE

NEWS

MINING

URANIUM

LAPIDARY

HOBBY

COMMENT

BOOKS

The Prospector. Photograph by

ESTHER HENDERSON, Tucson, Arizona

Little Upholstered Bug and other poems . . . 2

January events on the desert 3Jasper at Old Sodaville

By HAROLD O. WEIGHT 4Weird Symbol of the Mojave

By NORMAN C. COOPER 9

On the Modern Apache TrailBy THOMAS B. LESURE 11

Roses in a Desert GardenBy RUTH REYNOLDS 15

Geysers of Whirlwind Valley

By NELL MURBARGER 17

Wasteland Songbird, by EDMUND C. JAEGER . 21

Picture-of-the-Month Contest announcement . . 22

Walk or Die, by JUNE HAINES BETSWORTH . 23

Pictures of the Month 25

I Saw Black Gold from Pegleg's Hills

By JOHN MARSTON 26

About those who write for Desert 28

Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley 28

Comment from Desert's readers 29

A test of your desert knowledge 29

From here and there on the Desert 30

Current news of desert mines 35

Progress of the mining boom 37

Amateur Gem Cutter 40

Gems and Minerals 41

Just Between You and Me, by the Editor . . . 46

Reviews of Southwestern Literature 47

The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Press, Inc., Palm Desert,California. Re-entered as second class matter July 17, 1948, at the postoffice at Palm Desert,California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title registered No. 358865 in U. S. Patent Office,and contents copyrighted 1956 by the Desert Press, Inc. Permission to reproduce contentsmust be secured from the editor in writing.

RANDALL HENDERSON, EditorBESS STACY, Business Manager

EUGENE L. CONROTTO, Associate EditorEVONNE RIDDELL, Circulation Manager

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6

Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledgedunless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility fordamage or loss of manuscripts or photographs although due care will be exercised. Sub-scribers should send notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding issue.

SUBSCRIPTION RATESOne Year $4.00 Two Years $7.00Canadian Subscriptions 25c Extra, Foreign 50c Extra

Subscriptions to Army Personnel Outside U. S. A. Must Be Mailed in Conformity WithP. O. D. Order No. 19687

Address Correspondence to Desert Magazine, Palm Desert, California

Jasper at Old SodavilleBut for the greed of the man who controlled the water supply, Soda-

ville, Nevada, might have been a thriving community. Instead—Sodaville today has only its ruins and its memories. But it also has agood water supply, a million-dollar expanse of blue Nevada sky—andsome nearby bajadas where the rock collector may find some colorfulstones for his lapidary.

By HAROLD O. WEIGHTPhotographs by the author

Map by Norton Allen

7HREE AND A HALF milessouth of Mina, Nevada, CarlSullivan waved at the small hill

to the east of the highway."There's the old Sodaville jail," he

said.At first glance it seemed just an

untidy heap of debris, accidentallytopped with a tangle of wood andsheet metal. But when we left the carand walked closer we made out crudewalls, either of rammed earth or ofvery primitive adobe brick, completinga one-room structure half dug into theslope of the hill. In its prime, presentday penologists would have lookedupon it as a sort of Black Hole ofCalcutta.

Stopping just outside the gapingdoorway, Sully picked up some small

rocks and threw them into the duskyinterior, listening carefully as eachlanded.

"That's my rattlesnake tester," heexplained. "I always use it on oldbuildings or tunnels. If you don't geta buzz in response, it's pretty safe togo in — as far as reptiles are con-cerned."

From the floor of the little ruin helifted a massive piece of planking towhich a big hinge still clung.

"Part of the old door. When thatthing was shut and locked, this was apretty good jail. It held some hardand ragged customers. In fact, theonly jail break I remember was dueto outside help," he said.

"The man responsible still lives inMina. When a friend of his was locked

The jasper is found on and below the steep slopes and buttes of the easternend of the Excelsior Mountains. In the valley below (right of butte) liesthe old town of Sodaville on Highway 95, once the roaring gateway to theTonopah boom. Still farther east beyond Sodaville, rise the Pilot Mountains.

i * i

WsBIM

• < • V .

S l i

in here one Saturday night, this fellowjust got a good strong bar and brokethe lock off. He explained his reasonsto me later. 'Why, that boy was justdoing a little friendly fun-raising 'roundtown,' he said. 'Nothing mean aboutit. Now that ain't sufficient reason tolock up a Nevada mining man. Fact,I doubt if it's constitutional!' "

Sully shook his head. "That musthave been all of 40 years ago, whenthere still was some real life in Soda-ville. Now—" he shrugged his shoul-ders.

Highway 95 cuts only the outercorner of old Sodaville. The heart ofthe community lies to the south andeast of the jail around the hill. Buttime and fate have dealt almost asunkindly with it as with the jail. Mostof today's motorists whisk by withoutidentifying it or even suspecting thathalf a century ago it was the roaringgateway to the new strike at Tonopahand one of the most important townsin Nevada. Its history stretches un-brokenly back to the 1880s when itsbig mill processed ore from the fabu-lous silver camp of Candelaria.

Lucile and I had been interested inSodaville since we garnered the firstfugitive scraps of its story from ourfriends among the Nevada oldtimers.But not until a few years passed, duringa visit with Grace and John Callahanat their home in Columbus ghost town,15 miles south of Sodaville, did welearn that the area might hold otherattractions.

"You'll find an old road slantingsouthwest from the highway there,"Grace Callahan told us. "Go about amile out on it and do a little huntingin the washes draining the mountainsto the west. We saw some pieces ofbright red jasper float in there a longtime ago but we never have had timeto follow it up."

It's almost a basic tenet with rock-hounds and prospectors that the moredistant and difficult fields are boundto be richer. So on the infrequent oc-casions we passed through Sodavillein the next few years, we were on thetrail of more obscure rocks and historybeyond. Each time, we rememberedGrace's suggestion however and agreedthat some day we would explore theSodaville jasper fields.

Then one scintillating May morningwe approached Sodaville just as thesun came up over the ragged easternridges. The great bajada to the west—spotted with salt bush and Lycium,

D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E

*i'^7&aSi^sfe^#<Rhodes Salt Marsh, one of the earliest places in Nevada where borax was refined,lies south of Sodaville. These buildings date back to the days of the narrow-gaugerailroad. The marsh also supplied much of the salt used in roasting non-free-milling

silver ores in Nevada's early days.

and jeweled with blooming wine-pur-ple indigo bushes, desert plumes, apri-cot mallows, cream evening primrosesand the less conspicuous Fremontpepper grass, small blazing stars andtiny purple Phacelias — lifted gentlyand invitingly to the glowing buttesand ridges of the Excelsior Mountains.Almost opposite us a dirt road, whichmight well be the one Grace Callahanhad described, slanted across the slope.

I swung the car across the highwayand we headed up the old road.

It took half an hour's wanderingto prove it was the wrong road, butthe time was not entirely wasted. Al-most immediately we saw dark piecesof jasper, although most of them provedto be too coarsely grained or with pin-holes filled with red ochre. Then Idiscovered something Grace had not

mentioned — a small piece of whiteand dark opalized wood.

Later on a side excursion along aseldom-used wash-cut pole line road,we were attracted by large light coloredboulders, different from the surround-ing rock. The boulders proved unin-teresting from a rockhound's point ofview, but running among them wefound narrow veins of an odd chertymaterial in pale pinks, whites, yellows

Carl Sullivan at the ruins of the old Sodaville jail, holdinga heavy plank that once was part of the door. With thehillside forming part of the walls of this one room lockupand solid rock and adobe the rest, it was almost escape

proof.

Ruins of the old Mt. Diablo silver mill at Sodaville,which dates back at least to the 1880s, and was thetown's first big industry. Ore was hauled down on theCarson & Colorado narrow-gauge from the nearby camp

of Candelaria.

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6

and browns, with occasional spots ofblack "ferns." Most of it was toocoarse or too fractured to cut, butsome pieces, almost of opalite, prom-ised unusual and colorful cabochons.

Our pole - line expedition endedwhere the road did—with a roller-coaster dive into a deep wash and anequally steep climb to a pole on aridge. We returned to the highwayand followed it to Sodaville. On thewest side of the highway opposite thetumor! to the old town, we saw a broadroad slanting back toward the Excel-siors, which undoubtedly was the oneGrace had told us about. We followedit for about a mile and then, in four-wheel-drive, went up a shallow washto the west. In another half mile wereached the end of wheeled travel ina small valley among the buttes at thebase of the mountains.

Even before we stopped the car andstarted hiking we knew that Grace'stip had been a good one. Along theway we had seen big chunks of yellowand red jasper. On foot we discoveredlarge quantities of it—some in patcheson the soft slopes, some in the solidrock of the narrow canyon walls, somespilling down from eroded ledges onthe hill tops.

Most of it was in dark patterns ofred and browns, but there were quan-tities of bright yellows and reds, andsome pieces with mixtures of reds,yellows, reddish purples and narrowchalcedony inclusions which comparedwell with the colorful jaspers of easternUtah. We also found small amountsof patterned and mossy reds, brownsand chalcedony, which would cut intospectacular stones. And there was oneboulder of jasper which showed vugswith fine little quartz crystals.

We came upon scattered patches ofjasper on the rugged ridges. The samewild flowers bloomed here as below,and in addition the Grizzly Bear cactus,Opuntia erinacea, blossomed lavishly,its lovely light yellow flowers still wereyielding nectar to little winged collec-tors. And when we paused for breathon one of the heights — the base ofthese mountains are nearly 5000 feetabove sea level—we were rewardedwith magnificent panoramas acrossSoda Spring Valley to the toweringPilot Mountains, and across the greatshining bed of Rhodes Salt Marsh tothe Monte Cristos and beyond.

We collected a variety of the jasperand then headed back down the ba-jada, stopping here and there as brightbits caught our eyes. At a spot oppo-site the base of the easternmost butte,Lucile made the prize find of the day—more petrified wood, three agatizedpieces in brown and yellow, with darkred dots. We searched almost untildark, but could not find another scrap,

nor a likely looking formation fromwhich it might have come.

Most petrified wood in this part ofNevada originates in beds of ancientclays and volcanic ashes which werelaid down under the waters of van-ished Lake Esmeralda. Possibly thespecimens we found came from an ex-posure of such deposits back in theExcelsiors. But it is equally possiblethe pieces came to the surface in thewashes from formations .that are lightlyburied in the bajada under the outwashfrom the eroding mountains. We hopeto be able to devote more field investi-gation to that problem in the future.

We spent that night in Mina and inthe morning drove to Luning to pickup our friend Sullivan, and headedback down to learn what we couldabout Sodaville. After our stop at thecollapsing jail, we rounded the hill andtook the turnoff from the Highway tothe old town, beside the shining bulkof the Sodaville Tungsten Mill. Themill—operated by the Sinkeys, fatherand son, and milling custom ore—wasthe principal structure and the onlyindustry when we were there.

Sully guided us to a weathered,vine-covered building where LuceliaTowner, one of Sodaville's oldest resi-dents lived. Mrs. Towner owned mostof the town and millsite — over 300acres — from the 1920s until sherecently sold it to the Sinkeys, retain-ing the right to live in her frame housewhich also dates back into Sodavillehistory. On that quiet porch duringthe next half hour aided by Mrs.Towner and Sully and the informationwe had gathered from many sources,we tried to reconstruct the old town'sstory.

From the very beginning, Sodaville'sabundant water supply singled it outfor future importance. From the con-struction of the Carson & Colorado inthe early 1880s, its life and good andbad fortune had been inextricablybound with railroads. The Carson &Colorado, a three-foot narrow-gauge,was the pet project of U. S. SenatorWilliam Sharon, once called "King ofthe Comstock." Sharon built the C. &C. because he believed mining andagricultural development along itsroute would supply freight which wouldmake up for the steadily decreasingbusiness his Virginia & Truckee Rail-road was obtaining from Virginia City.

When the line was completed toKeeler, east of Lone Pine, California,Sharon took his business partner,Darius Ogden Mills, for a ride overthe full length of track. It was Mills'first look at the C. & C , and he seemednotably depressed as the little trainrocked for two days through the openspaces of the Nevada-California bor-der, which remain sparsely populated

even today. At Keeler, Sharon eagerlyasked his partner's opinion.

"Gentlemen," Mills answered, ac-cording to Western folklore, "we builtit either 200 miles too long or 200years too soon."

Sodaville undoubtedly was includedin that "too-far, too-soon" region, butit and nearby Rhodes and Candelariagave the C. & C. far more businessthan most of the line. Rhodes Marshshipped borax, made from "cottonballs" the Paiutes harvested from thedry lake, and great quantities of saltthat went to the silver mills of thestate to help oxidize sulfide ores thathad to be roasted before processing.Candelaria's water had to be piped in,and therefore its big mills were scat-tered around the area. The Mt. Diablomine established a mill at Sodavilleand ore was shipped on the narrow-gauge.

But with discovery of other boraxdeposits, the demonetization of silverand the increasing cost of mining lowergrade ores at Candelaria, all these ac-tivities ground to a halt. The C. & C.kept struggling until 1900, then theSouthern Pacific bought it from Mills— Sharon having died — for $2,750,-000. That year the tremendous miningboom at Tonopah got under way—and Sodaville was the nearest railhead.

The narrow-gauge, renamed the Ne-vada & California, immediately startedshowing profit. For four years Soda-ville had more business and excite-ment than it could handle. Greatfreight wagons grooved the dusty trailacross the Monte Cristos from Soda-ville to Tonopah day and night. Stillfreight piled up around the sidingwhile storekeepers and saloon men andmine and mill representatives begged,ordered and bribed to have their ship-ments handled first. Stage lines ranseveral coaches a day on the road—big Concords designed to carry a dozenpassengers were always overloaded.This — the best available means oftransportation — must not have beenpleasant, for one traveler complainedthat he had to use a shovel to dis-cover which passenger was his wifeon arrival at Tonopah after the dustyride. Those unable to obtain even thispassage went on horseback, on freightwagons, on foot. A way station re-ported feeding over 200 people a dayduring one period.

"Bob Stewart was just about Mr.Sodaville in those days," Mrs. Townerremembered. "He located the wholetownsite originally and owned the ho-tel, mill and the springs. He hadfreight lines and stage lines runningto Tonopah, and he drove the freightteams himself."

The Tonopah Railroad—to becomethe Tonopah & Goldfield later, or the

DESERT MAGAZINE

"Tug and Grunt" as the local inhabi-tants called it—was completed in July,1904, and Sodaville's business boomwas smashed. Culverts along the newroad, designed by eastern engineers,were too small for Nevada flash floods,and almost as soon as it was openedmiles of track were washed away, andSodaville had a brief revival.

Later, Sodaville had a chance forpermanence — and muffed it. M. C.Sinnott, who has seen a lot of historyhappen in this country, told us aboutthat sad event the night before in Mina.

With the Tonopah road branchingat Sodaville, the Southern Pacific, in1905, planned to make the place oneof its principal stations and supplypoints. But the company wanted to becertain of a sufficient water supply.Sodaville had plenty of good water—a big spring up in the Pilots—and theSouthern Pacific offered to buy it for$35,000. Before the deal could gothrough, another party optioned thespring and upped the price to therailroad to $70,000. The SouthernPacific promptly moved a few milesup the valley, drove wells down to 700feet to water, and created the town ofMina.

"Incidentally," Sinnott added, "sev-eral years later the town of Minabought that $70,000 spring for $10,-000. By that time Sodaville was offthe map."

"I guess they gave up hope about1915. They started moving the housesout then," Mrs. Towner told us.

Lucelia Towner has spent most ofher life in mining camps and towns,from the Mother Lode to Rawhide.Sitting there in the old willow chair,

she recalled places and people nowlong gone. Always, though, herthoughts came back to Sodaville. Onceshe caught my eyes on the collapsingwooden frame of the old bath house.Sodaville's hot mineral baths had beenthe town's big attraction for many

"I've always dreamed of a big swimming pool here, and a ranch for tiredcity people," says Lucelia Towner, one of Sodaville's longest-time inhabi-

tants and until a few years ago owner of the 300-acre townsite.

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6

A^SSa^^Wl^S

When Sodaville, Nevada, M>as the roaring gateway to the Tonopah boom, thiswagon and hundreds like it carried supplies from the railroad to the mine camps.

years. They had been in operation onmy first visit to this area.

"Bob Stewart built that, too," shesaid. "In 1905. The pool ran untiltwo years ago, when the Sinkeys tookover. I think it should be runningnow."

She looked up at the spectacularwall of the Pilots, her eyes brightening."I think Sodaville still has a future,"she said. "All that good water. Allthis wonderful air. Mountains like thatat our door, and high enough to avoidthe heat of summer. I've alwaysdreamed of a beautiful big swimmingpool there on the knoll and a big,quiet ranch for people who are tiredof the city. A dude ranch, I supposeyou'd call it today. I'll bet they wouldcome from all over the country."

After we left Mrs. Towner's home,Sully guided us through the remnantsof old Sodaville to the ruins of the Mt.Diablo mill, half a mile to the south-east near the once-crowded Tonopahfreight road. Built of rough stone,without mortar, the big walls stand as-tonishingly well after nearly three-quarters of a century. It was Soda-ville's first big industry, and was stillpaying off in 1948 when the tailingswere shipped to the Selby smelter.

From the hill above the mill a tre-mendous view spread out before us.I could see the Excelsiors, and thebajada and the buttes where we hadhunted jasper the day before. To thesouthwest I looked across the newlypaved highway to Basalt, running be-tween the Excelsiors and the Cande-

laria Hills, following the roadbed ofthe old narrow-gauge, dismantled in thelate '30s. To the south and east Icould follow the right-of-way of theTonopah and Goldfield, which was re-activated by World War II, but whoserails were pulled up only a few yearsago. Looking back at Sodaville I sawthe half-wrecked bath house, sprawledgrotesquely against the alkali-whitesoil. Beyond, to the north, lay Mina,the town Sodaville might have been.The old town did indeed seem aban-doned, with the shining tungsten millits only hope for survival.

But there was nothing dead orghostly about this place. The brightsunlight poured down on me fromthe sheer blue of the Nevada sky, andthere was sharp, clean air to breathe.It stirred and drifted around me, andI felt peace drifting with it. I foundmyself looking up at the Pilots witheager eyes, as Lucelia Towner hadlooked at them. Tracing out the out-lines of "Old Elephant Head" alongthe north point, as she had done. Pick-ing out the red canyon which "should"have gold, where she had alwayswanted to go and never had. I wantedto stay in Sodaville and go up thatcanyon, too.

And I wondered if perhaps she wasright. If—like the Carson & Colorado—Sodaville had been built too soonand too far away from its real destiny?A destiny that may be realized in thefuture as more and more individualistsprobe farther into the outlands fortemporary escape from the deadly em-brace of the new city-states.

PUBLIC INVITED TO EXHIBITOF CAROLUS VERHAEREN ART

The art of Carolus Verhaeren willbe displayed at the Desert MagazinePueblo Art Gallery, Palm Desert, Cali-fornia, January 8 to 14.

Mr. Verhaeren's exhibit will featurethe Navajo Indians of Arizona. Theartist is a former resident of the GapTrading Post, Arizona, where he wasable to observe the Indians and theirway of life. The show will includelandscapes from the Palm Desert andBorrego Valley areas.

Mr. Verhaeren was born in Antwerp,Belgium on June 18, 1908, and beganhis career as an apprentice at the ageof 13. A year later he came to Amer-ica and then to Canada where hestudied portraiture under the Frenchportrait painter George DeVore.

At 19 the artist began a 16-yearcareer as a portrait painter and thenturned to landscapes, developing, as hedid, his use of the palette knife inpainting. He is regarded by manycritics as the outstanding master of thepalette knife technique.

Mr. Verhaeren has exhibited widelyin many cities of the world. Sincemoving to the west he has exhibitedat the de Young Memorial Museum inSan Francisco where he won first andsecond prizes in the annual Society ofWestern Artists shows.

The public is cordially invited toattend Mr. Verhaeren's show in PalmDesert. There will be no admissioncharge and the gallery is open sevendays a week from 9 to 5.

8 DESERT MAGAZINE

Joshua Trees on California's Mojave Desert. Photograph by Cal Godshall,Victorville, California.

Weird Symbol of the MojaveThe sturdy Joshua, with its twisted and bizarre form, has made

a remarkable adaptation to the high desert country on which it thrives.But, like many other distinguished but aloof denizens of the desert,there are a few "facts" concerning it which are in need of slight revision,and quite a few others which are not generally known.

By NORMAN C. COOPER

Professor of EducationUniversity of Arizona

7HERE ARE MANY striking andunusual plants in the DesertSouthwest which have assumed

curious shapes and forms to cope withthe climate, soil conditions, and hun-gry animals for survival. The myriad

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6

types of cacti, the crucifixion thorn,mesquite, catsclaw and creosote bushall greet the traveler from the East ashe moves along the highway throughour desert but the most curious formof desert plant life to me is the Joshua

Tree. The plant has lived on the des-ert a long time and has adapted itselfperfectly to its unfriendly environment.It has developed root and leaf systemswhich conserve the small amount ofavailable moisture and has masked it-self with a formidable exterior whichwards off its gravest enemies. It thrivesat an elevation between 3000 and 4000feet on the high desert where 5 to 10inches of rain fall each year.

The Joshua is a tree lily, the largestlily in the United States, sometimesreaching a height of 35 to 40 feet. Itblooms in March and April and hasa panicle of greenish white flowers ob-long or globose crowded on a stalk 10to 15 inches long. The flower is atrue lily. The fruit is hard, globose

Joshua seed pods. Photographed by Helen DuShane, Pasadena, California.

and filled with many shining blackseeds.

I have found the trees growing onthe arid mesas, the plains and valleysrunning through the desert and evenon the lower mountain slopes, rockybanches and low mountain plateaus inthe dry sandy or gravelly soils. TheJoshua Tree grows only on the MojaveDesert. Its boundaries approximatepretty well the boundaries of the Mo-jave. The trees extend from the lowerboundary of the Joshua Tree NationalMonument on the south, north throughAntelope Valley to central Nevada andeast into the Beaver Dam Mountainsof the southwest corner of Utah andsouth into the Detrital Valley of north-ern Arizona.

It is a sturdy tree with a columnartrunk which in some instances attainsa diameter of three and one-half feet.Young trees are covered with a brushygrowth of green upright leaves in the

10

upper portions and a mat of dead re-curved leaves on the lower parts. Oldertrees have an exposed dark brown barkon the lower trunks checked into smallsquares or plates. Leaves are onlysix to eight inches long and about oneinch wide. They are flat, rigid, andsharp-pointed and have a row of smallteeth on each margin. The stiletto-like leaves densely cover the arm-likebranches, reminding me of giant por-cupines with spread quills.

Smaller roots of the Joshua Treeare red in color and are prized by theIndians for pattern making in theirbasket weaving.

The branches of the older JoshuaTrees are covered and bent at sharpangles making the tree a bizarre, wildlooking spectre. Branching is causedin two ways. The terminal bud maystop the growth of the branch causingit to bifurcate; or the terminal bud maybe invaded by the yucca borer and

eaten away causing the lateral buds toform side branches. A well formedtree has a broad symmetrical crown.

Joshuas are not as old as is generallythought. They are far from the oldestliving things on earth. The Giant Se-quoias of the High Sierras are theoldest living things in existence. Theylive to be 3000 to 4000 years old whilethe Joshuas live only 300 to 400 years.

The Joshua Tree was named byMormon emigrants who came west intoCalifornia in 1846. When they enteredthe Mojave and saw the stark, gaunttrees against the clear blue sky, thesecurious forms had neither common norscientific name at that time. One un-known man referred to them as "stand-ing like Giant Joshua with its armsuplifted in prayer." Since then it hasbeen called the Joshua Tree. Sinceit is a lily and a yucca its scentificname is Yucca brevifolia, so named in1871 by Dr. George Engelmann, aGerman botanist living in St. Louis.I am sure the name Joshua Tree ismuch more widely known and nodoubt will continue to be used.

Another myth concerning the Joshuais that it grows only on the Mojave andin the Holy Land. It does not growin the Holy Land. It is endemic towestern North America and grows onlyon the desert of California, Nevadaand Arizona.

Desert birds nest in the trees andthe woodpecker drills holes in it. Woodrats gather its leaves and make nestsof them and the night lizard livesamong its dry protective leaves andunder the edges of flaking bark.

The tree is hard to propagate fromseed. It is such a slow growing treeone could not hope to grow it either forshade or ornamental purposes in alifetime. The middle-aged trees trans-plant fairly easily but it is against thelaw in most instances to remove themfrom their native habitat.

The 850,000-acre Joshua Tree Na-tional Monument in Southern Califor-nia was set aside in 1936 by PresidentRoosevelt to conserve this rarity ofnature and to protect it forever fromvandals, and the westward onrush ofpopulation growth.

A movement is currently underwayin the Antelope Valley for the crea-tion of a state park to embrace thefiner stands of Joshuas found there.

The Joshua Tree is a weird denizenof the dry wastelands of the West andstands as a sentinel and a sage, recall-ing the hardships of the early explorerand pioneer and reminding us ever ofstaunchness and bravery and the othervirtues of our forbears who pushedinto the West, making it possible forus now to enjoy this great land of ourheritage.

D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E

Sailboat skims across Canyon Lake, rimmed by magnificent desert cliffs.

ON THE MODERN APACHE TRAILBy THOMAS B. LESURE

Photographs by the authorMap by Norton Allen

O MATTER how many times 1drive over the Apache Trail itnever fails to fascinate me. For

this 80-mile long road, snaking throughdeserts, rugged mountains and steep-walled canyons east of Phoenix, Ari-zona, symbolizes and personifies thevery heart of the Southwest.

It symbolizes — in Indian caves,cliff dwellings and lost gold mines—centuries of colorful Indian, Spanishand American pioneer lore. In itsquiescent deserts and majestic far-flungmountain panoramas, its joyful out-door recreation, its primitive wilder-ness areas, its beauty of varied floraand lore of mineral rocks, the ApacheTrail is the epitome of things South-western. But, more important—espe-

Indians, Spaniards and pioneer Americans battled each other andthe uncertain rainfall in the Apache Trail country. The marks they leftbehind are still visible to the modern traveler who today finds theTrail a delightful passage through a beautiful and rugged wildernessbordering a chain of man-made lakes.

dally to Phoenix and the Valley ofthe Sun—it embodies the essence ofman's triumphant struggle to create arewarding, comfortable life from bar-ren desert wastes.

Along the Trail, which closely fol-lows the rambling Salt River, the Sa-lado Indians—living in brush and mudhuts and later in pueblo-like cliffdwellings—eked out an existence morethan 700 years ago by tilling the un-certain river bottoms. To their souththe Hohokam, early masters of irriga-tion, constructed canals and ditchesthat brought precious water to theirfields. But their crude efforts wereunable to support more than 50,000

people before the problems of drouthand a rising water table drove themfrom the land. Even as late as themid-1800s, the Valley of the Sun waslargely an unsettled, unproductivewasteland.

Today, as a result of modern irriga-tion, more than 368,000 persons livein a now fertile area that producescrops valued in excess of $33,000,000annually.

Behind this tremendous growth isthe Salt River Project, started by vis-ionary pioneers who, trying to stretchthe Valley's 7.72 inches of averagerainfall to meet their growing waterneeds, took advantage of the provi-

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6 11

sions of the Reclamation Act of 1902.First one dam was built, then anotherand another and another—until nowseven dams grace the Salt and VerdeRivers. With a total storage capacityof 1,754,335 acre feet along the SaltRiver—plus another 322,378 on theVerde—the Salt River Project nowsupplies water to irrigate more than241,000 acres of fertile land. Withoutthese dams, which also generate 191,-000 horsepower of electricity, Phoenix— as we know it today — would notexist.

The problem of water is still a majorone in Arizona, and recent shortagesand scanty rainfalls have not helpedthe situation.

Officials, however, are not contentto wait for Nature to provide. TheWater Users' Association has led theway in experimenting with artificialrain making devices. New and moreefficient methods of irrigation havebeen developed. And the mechanicsof water delivery are constantly beingimproved to prevent loss by evapora-tion and seepage.

It is an old story—this one of man,water and land—but it is also as newas tomorrow. In its broadest scopeit is the story of the Apache Trail, fromprehistoric times to the present.

Recently, my wife, Nancy, and Ionce again got the urge to experiencethe thrills of this drive by making aone-day, 200-mile loop trip over theTrail from Phoenix to Miami, thenceback via Superior and Florence Junc-tion. It was a perfect desert countryday — sun-filled and diamond-brightwith a gentle, relaxing breeze—as weheaded our station wagon eastwardfrom Phoenix on U.S. 60, 70. Anhour later, after passing the edge ofirrigated farmlands and citrus groveswhere the sun-blanched desert sud-denly and vividly encroaches—we ar-rived at Apache Junction, start of StateRoute 88, the Apache Trail.

Off to the right, as we turned north-eastwardly onto the Trail, stood mas-sive, 5057-foot Superstition Mountain,rising abruptly from the desert floorlike a brooding giant guarding the fast-ness of one of the Southwest's mostprimeval and mysterious wildernessareas. Once the haunt of maraudingApaches and Spanish gold seekers, itis now the supposed location of thefabulous Lost Dutchman's Gold Minefound by Jacob Walzer. Many attemptshave been made to find this legendarylode but all have ended in failure, somein tragedy. As late as 1947, JamesCravey disappeared in the mountain's

vastness while looking for the mine.His skeleton was found a year and ahalf later.

Swinging around the eastern edge ofSuperstition past the old mining townof Goldfield, we entered Tonto Na-tional Forest where the cholla, paloverde and saguaro growth is dense andwhere, far to the right, we caught oc-casional glimpses of monolithic Weav-er's Needle, a prominent landmark inthe lost mine story.

For the next seven miles we roller-coastered through jumbled rocks andhuge sandstone boulders covered withlichens. Suddenly the foregrounddropped away to reveal a breathtakingview of cliff-rimmed Canyon Lake sev-eral hundred feet below.

Formed by 229-foot high MormonFlat Dam, Canyon Lake is the Trail'sfirst introduction to the 60-mile-longchain of man-made lakes along theSalt River. Stretching for 10 miles,the lake is a favorite outing spot forresidents of the Valley of the Sun wholike to bring their boats there on two-wheeled trailers or enjoy all-day out-ings among palo verde and mesquitetrees that dot the shore. On this tripwe found the Canyon Lake PicnicGround, not far from Willow CreekBridge, a very relaxing and lovely spot

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12 DESERT MAGAZINE

to eat a picnic lunch and watch theparade of speeding motor boats.

The opportunity for boating is thebig attraction of this lake. A fewsportsmen, who can rent boats orbring their own, angle for bass andpanfish, but the fishing is unpredictable.Most fishermen prefer Apache andRoosevelt Lakes, farther up the Trail,where the bass are big and biting. Li-censes cost $5 for non-residents; $3for non-resident five-day permits; and$1.50 for residents. They may be se-cured at Canyon Lake Resort. Basslimit, with no closed season, is 10 aday or in possession.

Reluctantly leaving our picnic site,we passed the "Port of Phoenix" (fish-ing supplies, cafe, gasoline and out-board motor tune-ups), then twistedupward again over a good, graded dirtroad. This portion of the Trail is nowunder construction and will eventuallybe paved as far as Tortilla Flat, an oldstage and freighter station set in asmall amphitheater rimmed by pan-cake-like formations.

We stopped at Tortilla Flat to talkwith Jerry Stepan who, with his wife,Emily, runs a gas station, restaurantand kitchenette apartments. When weasked about the possibilities of rockhunting along the Trail, Jerry broughtout a cigar box filled with specimensand called his son, Dick, to identifythem for us.

Dick began by explaining that "whilethe area is very rough for rock hunt-ing, the collecting is varied." He addedthat interesting rocks as well as Indianarrowheads and pottery shards can befound all the way from SuperstitionMountain to the Four Peaks. What'smore, there are Indian caves scatteredthroughout the area, one of the mostinteresting being about five miles fromTortilla Flat where a well-preservedmummy is sealed in a cliff-side crevice.

Taking up the rocks — which hecalled surface pickings—-Dick showedus samples of manganese, low gradecopper, mica, quartz, iodized iron andiron nuggets, cinnabar, tourmaline,sodaspar, perlite and topaz, all ofwhich he found near the Trail. Buthe pointed out that "most of the bestrock hunting areas are one-half tofive miles off the Trail and are avail-able only about five months of the yearbecause of summer heat and lack ofwater."

Past Tortilla Flat, the Trail curvedupward again, passing even more im-pressive vistas of distant mountainsand nearby, tight-walled canyons. Fivemore miles brought us to a road onthe left which led to Horse Mesa Damwhich forms Apache Lake. Near thedam is a canyon-walled cave whereU. S. troops and Apaches fought the

Above—Masonry of the ancients—the cliff dwellings being preserved bythe U. S. Park Service in Tonto National Monument.

Below—The masonry of today—Roosevelt dam, once the largest stoneand cement dam in the world, and the source of water for Salt River

Valley farmers.

"Battle of the Caves," in 1872, one ofthe strangest affrays ever staged inArizona.

Five miles beyond this junction wecrested Fish Creek Hill where thewhole foreground suddenly vanished,revealing the massive, vividly coloredformations of Fish Creek Canyon.Vertical, moss-sheathed rock walls,looking like giant sheets of agingbronze, rose 2000 feet above the laby-rinthian canyon bottom. And grotesquerock temples, carved by wind and

water, reared skyward out of thedepths.

The view from the top was breath-taking—surpassed only by the hair-raising drive down the snaking Trailthat clings to the precipitous walls ofFish Creek Hill. It was a motoringrelief when we finally reached the bot-tom near a box-like canyon splashedwith green sycamores, cotton woods,willows and Arizona ash that line FishCreek in the Superstition WildernessArea.

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6 13

laiwiSiiisliiiiiiiw

Fish Creek Canyon where the Apache Trail crosses Fish Creek.

Soon the canyon was behind us andwe drove over a smaller hill whichgave us an excellent view of elongatedApache Lake, only a mile away. Thislake, with its rock slides and talusslopes that rise steeply to the highbuttes and terraced mesas of the 7600-foot Mazatzal Range, is a consistentproducer of big, prize-winning bass.There are boats and cabins availablefor fishermen.

The Trail follows the lake for about14 miles — past a forest camp, theBurnt Corral Recreation Area and oldmine workings — to Roosevelt Dam,the granddaddy of all the Salt Riverprojects, situated in a tight canyonnear the confluence of the Salt Riverand Tonto Creek.

The dam is almost 300 feet high andmore than 1100 feet across on top.It was dedicated by President Theo-dore Roosevelt in 1911 and was, atthe time of its construction, the largestin the world. It is still the world'shighest masonry dam. All concreteand stone for the dam were obtainedlocally and a regular construction camp—the remains of which still may beseen—was built.

Roosevelt Dam, largest in the SaltRiver Project, forms the biggest lake—two-mile wide, 30-mile long Roose-

velt Lake. Beneath its surface, notfar from the dam, is The Crossing, anold farming and ranching settlementwhose water-logged structures aresometimes visible when the lake is low.In the background, rising in hazy-blueand light purple terraces, are therugged, 6500-foot Sierra Anchas,marked with snow-like tailings ofabandoned asbestos mines and dottedwith prehistoric dwellings that haveyielded many fine Indian artifacts.

This lake is another favorite withfishermen who like to angle for its bigbass. And though there are somewhatfewer boats for rent, other facilities—cabins, cafes, groceries, fishing sup-plies—are a bit better than at otherTrail lakes.

During our drive over the Trail wesaw many yellow signs warning:"Watch Out for Cattle." It seemed likean anomaly in this rugged, almostgrassless region, and I wondered wherethe cattle might be. Suddenly, as weentered the town of Roosevelt justbeyond the dam, our four year oldLinda started pounding my shouldersand shouting, "Daddy, daddy—cows!"Sure enough, there they were, wander-ing all over the road in front of us.The signs were right!

About two miles past Roosevelt we

came to a rustic National Park Servicesign indicating a right turn for TontoNational Monument (Desert, Oct. '52)and decided to take the short drive tothis well-preserved Salado cliff dwell-ing.

The dwellings and magnificent vistasfrom the monument area offer a chal-lenge to photo enthusiasts. Perhapsthe best filming time for Trail picturesis early morning (until about 10o'clock) and late afternoon. It is thenthat the dramatic, sun-cast shadowsgive excellent contrast and perspective.During the full-sun hours landscapesoften turn out flat on film. Other tips:use yellow-orange, red or haze filters;a light meter is essential.

Returning to the Apache Trail fromthe national monument and again ad-miring the inspiring, bowl-like pano-rama of Tonto Basin, we began thelast lap of the trip over undulatingdesert rimmed with lofty mountains,across Pinto Creek, up a long hill andpast Smoke Signal Peak, once usedfor signaling by Indians, U. S. troopsand even gamblers trying to win elec-tion bets.

Just before reaching the junctionwith the road to Pleasant Valley, theTrail became paved again. At thispoint we stopped the car for a lastbackward look at Tonto Basin. Fromhere we coasted down into the oldfarming and mining country aroundWheatfields, once the scene of expedi-tions to find the Lost Doc Thorne GoldMine reputedly located near SombreroButte; through Burch where in 1876numerous small gold and silver minesflourished and where some claims arestill visible; and finally back to U. S.60, 70, near Miami.

Here we turned westward for the83-mile drive back to Phoenix—pastthe mountainous slag heaps of the In-spiration Consolidated Copper Com-pany's smelter and the site of theBloody Tanks Indian Massacre inMiami, through the pinnacle-rockedareas of Devils and Queen Creek Can-yons, into the copper town of Superiorand on past the Southwestern Arbore-tum with its hiking trails and more than10,000 varieties of arid country plantsfrom all over the world.

The sun had long since set, castingits fiery light like a halo behind themountains, when we reached homeagain. But a million stars, silveringthe darkened sky, gleamed upon thedesert—reflecting not only the radi-ance given our spirits by this trip overthe Apache Trail, but also the lore ofmore than seven centuries of man'sworks and eventual triumph over thevagaries of Nature.

14 DESERT MAGAZINE

H O M E O N T H E D E S E R T

Roses ina DesertGarden

Many species of wild roses thriveon the American desert—and do-mestic roses will thrive here also,if given proper care. This monthMrs. Reynolds tells desert garden-ers what species are most adapt-able to this region, and when andhow they should be planted forbest results.

By RUTH REYNOLDSPhotograph courtesy of

Jackson & Perkins

THE DESERT shall re-joice and blossom as the rose,'prophesied Isaiah in the Old

Testament, and the prophecy has cometo pass—is coming to pass every dayin our desert gardens, before our eyesand partly by our hands. And eachtime the desert is made to bloom thelittle miracle rejoices us.

That the Biblical prophet shoulduse the rose symbolically seems onlynatural, for the rose is almost uni-versally renowned as the queen offlowers.

If Congress should ever pass theresolution introduced last year by Sen-ator Margaret Chase Smith of Maineand Representative Frances Bolton ofOhio to make the rose our nationalflower, the Great American Desertwould be greatly represented flower-wise for many species of roses arenative to the Southwest including thebeautiful pink Mojave rose of Cali-fornia's high desert, and the Rosa Ari-zonica, most abundant and widely dis-tributed of the five species of wild rosesnative to Arizona.

So in any rose controversy that mayarise, I am a biased bystander, onewho, come planting time in January,may have a try at domestic rose culti-vation in the desert.

It has been done, I know, by manypeople for many years, despite thefact that many others still believe roseswill not grow in Southwestern gardens.

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6

The Kate Smith, a vigorous, heavy joliaged Hybrid Tea Rose with longbuds and large flowers in rich apricot tones.

Doesn't Arizona, at Tombstone, havethe largest rose bush in the world?The famous white Lady Banksia thereis over nine feet tall, with branches—bloom ladened in spring — spreadingover a 60 square foot arbor. It wasplanted, I was told, by a young bridefrom Scotland, more than 70 years ago.

But it is the modern improved rosesthat have me under their spell. Herein Tucson I have only to look aboutme to see, in some of my neighbors'gardens, roses that must surely beamong the world's most beautiful.

There is one garden in our neigh-borhood that is positively overwhelm-ing. Ted discovered it last spring andtook me to see it. "There's somethingI want to show you," he said one eve-

ning and we got in the car and wereoff. Our destination was only eightblocks from home and my husband'sdiscovery was a gorgeous sight indeed—even by street light and starlight.

We did not know then who lived inthe rose banked, bordered and trellisedhouse behind the profusely bloomingrose hedge, but one day when I wentback, parked around the corner andwalked by to have a better look, Myr-tle Eisele emerged from behind a rosebush and caught me loitering there—and I made the acquaintance of onefriendly neighbor and 60 varieties ofroses.

During the months that followed webecame better acquainted and Mrs.Eisele's garden has been my proving

15

ground for roses that do well in thedesert when cared for lovingly.

After a recent visit to the TucsonMemorial Rose Garden where thereare over 200 varieties, planted underthe direction of Dr. Rubert B. Streets,Plant Pathologist at the University ofArizona, I concluded that almost anyrose properly planted and watered doeswell in the desert even with ordinarycare. And a letter just received froma gardener in Morongo Valley, Cali-fornia, indicates that rose growing ex-tends to the Mojave Desert. GeorgeA. Stingle writes: "We did not planon planting anything but we did planta rose and then another and anotheruntil now we have 77 varieties."

Perhaps therein lies the rose growersperil! Once started there is no stop-ping place, for there are over 7000known varieties from which to choose.

The average gardener, however, us-ually chooses from among the strik-ing beauties made available throughdedicated scientific labor within thepast 25 years. Many of them carrythe significant All - America symbol(AARS) which means they have beentest grown in 20 strategically locatedgardens throughout the country. Manyare patented but a patent is not a guar-antee — it only reserves propagationrights.

Most modern roses are either Hy-brid Teas or Floribundas. The Grandi-flora, a class derived from crossingthese two, is still so new that few va-rieties of it are available. The QueenElizabeth, first of the Grandifloras, wonthe 1954 All-America award. It in-herits floribunda hardiness and HybridTea beauty in its heavy, glossy foliageand pure pink blooms.

There are also Large FloweredClimbers — Pillars, requiring little orno support; Everblooming Climbers;Trailers, for trailing over banks ortrellises; and Climbing Hybrid Teasand Floribundas with less continuousbloom than the bush varieties.

Hybrid Teas—most popular of allroses—are bred, generally, by cross-ing Tea roses with Hybrid Perpetuals.They grow from three to six feet talland produce long-stemmed exhibitionblooms, borne singly or in groups offrom three to five. The buds are longand high centered, the flowers per-fectly formed, the petals durable. Theybloom, in this climate, from Aprilthrough December, with the greatestdisplay in spring and the second great-est in fall.

An outstanding example in this classis the Peace rose—All America winnerin 1946. The plant is hardy, withglossy, holly-like leaves. Its fabulousbuds are yellow edged with pink, open-ing slowly into large flowers in pastel

yellow, pearly white and apple-blossompink.

Hybrid Teas come in every shadeof every color the rose is heir to, andin blends and multicolors. For thosewhose roses must be red there areNew Yorker, Chrysler Imperial, Mir-andy, which does best in hot weather,and others.

One of the prettiest pinks I've seenis the Mrs. Charles Bell, an unpat-ented rose. Kate Smith is a lovelyHybrid Tea in rich apricot tones. Itslarge ovoid buds open slowly and itsflowers are large and long lasting.

Floribundas result from crossingHybrid Teas with Polyanthas (BabyRamblers). They are hardier andmore disease resistant than HybridTeas. Their blooms are smaller butabundantly borne in clusters. Someof the newer varieties remain fresh fordays either on the bush or as cut flow-ers. Where they really shine is in massplanting. The 1955 All-America, Cir-cus, belongs to this class. It is a multi-color, varying from yellow and red inthe bud to orange-buff and pink andfinally to red in the flower.

Another new floribunda—one thatcaught my eye at the Memorial Garden—is Spartan, with orange-red, HybridTea shaped buds that open to reddish-coral blooms. For a splash of vividcolor in the garden it is my first choice—for the moment anyway.

It was developed by Jackson andPerkins, one of the country's oldestrose growing concerns, which now haslarge rose fields in the desert north ofPhoenix. Some of their desert grownplants will probably be carried by ournurserymen this year and it will beinteresting to see if they prove adapt-able.

For winter planting only dormantbare-root plants are sold, and winterplanted bare-roots grow best. Theyare graded by a standard grading sys-tem into grades 1, IV2 and 2. Grade1, the best, must have three or morecanes starting three inches or less abovethe bud union and at least two of themmust be 18 inches long. Grade Wzmust have two or more canes 15inches long and grade 2 must havetwo 12-inch canes.

Naturally it is best to buy a gradeone plant, especially in the desertwhere great pains must be taken andsome expense incurred in planting it.

For this important step Dr. Streets,whose method has proved itself in theMemorial Garden, offers these direc-tions: Dig a hole three feet wide bytwo and one-half feet deep; fill it six-inches deep with water to test drain-age. If the water has not disappearedwithin an hour sink an 18-inch post-hole in the bottom and fill it with sand

or gravel. Fill the original hole towithin six-inches of the top with alter-nate layers of well rotted manure andsoil mixed with a handful of sulphurand one of ammonium sulphate. Soakthis thoroughly with water and let set-tle a day or two. Then plant the rose,making a mound of soil in the centerand spreading the roots carefully; coverwith soil to just below the level of thebud union, tamp firmly and water.Continue to water regularly and deeplytwice a week.

For protection against drying outwhile the root system is becomingestablished Dr. Streets prefers cover-ing the bud union with a six-inchmound of soil, which should be re-moved later if normal irrigating doesnot wash it away.

This is not the end of the story.Roses do need care—pruning, spray-ing, feeding—but not as much as youmight expect. And if you love roses,as so many people do, there is just noend to the pleasure you may derivefrom growing them—in a desert gar-den.

• • •ILLEGAL TO SUB-LEASEJACKRABBIT HOMESTEADS

Tracts of public lands leased fromthe government under the Small TractAct cannot be sub-leased, but theleases may be transferred or assignedunder certain conditions, E. R. Greens-let, Nevada State Supervisor of theBureau of Land Management, de-clared.

The policy of the Department ofthe Interior in administering the SmallTract Act is to promote the beneficialuse of public lands and at the sametime safeguard the public interest inthe lands. As a part of this policy pro-vision has been made to guard againstspeculative transfer of tracts by sub-leasing or assignment.

The Department of the Interior willnot approve sub-leasing, in whole orin part, a tract leased under the SmallTract Act. Sub-leasing constitutes aviolation of the terms of the lease andthe lease will be cancelled.

Land office managers are authorizedto act upon and approve assignmentsof leases. No assignment will be rec-ognized, however, unless substantialimprovements have been constructedon the land. The only exception per-mitted is where the lessee makes avalid showing that failure to constructimprovements was due to unforeseenor unavoidable misfortune.

The person to whom a lease is as-signed must be at least 21 years of ageor head of a family and a citizen orhave declared intention to become acitizen, and he must be otherwisequalified to hold a lease. — NevadaState Journal.

16 DESERT MAGAZINE

Steam rises from one of the many boiling springs in Whirlwind Valley.Heavy silica content of water formed the opal nodules in foreground. Right—

Steam rises 75 feet above the largest geyser in the valley.

Geysers of Whirlwind Valley...From a sheepherder, Nell Murbarger learned about Whirlwind

Valley—a remote pocket in the mountains of north central Nevadawhere a colorful terrace of geysers and boiling pools provide an amaz-ing spectacle for the few people who venture over the treacherous roadthat leads to this spot.

By NELL MURBARGERPhotographs by the author

Map by Norton Allen

FIRST LEARNED about Beo-wawe geyser in Nevada's Whirl-wind Valley from a Basque sheep-

herder. One night when the late DoraTucker and I were camped in theToiyabe Mountains he came ridinginto camp, cold, hungry and lonely.

We had finished our supper, butDora, with true desert hospitality, piledmore sagebrush on the fire and put thecoffee pot and skillet on to re-heat.

We visited while he ate, the conver-sation drifting from sheep to ghosttowns, and finally to the subject of hotmineral springs. It was then that hetold us about Whirlwind Valley.

It was a strange story, told in agarbled mixture of French, Spanishand English—the story of an isolated

pocket in the hills where geysersspouted scalding steam from fissuresin a milk-white terrace, hot mineralwater boiled in opal-lined pools, andfumeroles gurgled and rumbled.

It was a tale perfectly suited to theflickering light of a dying campfireunder a stormy sky in the dark Toi-yabes.

As for authenticity, I had my doubts.Dora and I had tramped and campedin virtually every mountain range andcanyon in Nevada. That a place suchas the old herder described could haveescaped our knowledge seemed im-plausible.

A year later I mentioned the storyto B. F. Crouch of the Mackay Schoolof Mines in Reno.

"Yes," he said to my surprise, "thereis such a field of thermal activity inEureka County, but few know of it."

These geysers were discovered bya cavalry patrol in 1867. The firstknown published account of the fieldwas written by Albert S. Evans forthe Overland Monthly of San Fran-cisco in 1869. Sixty-five years later,in 1932, the American Journal of Sci-ence published a second report on thefield—the result of "a few hours study"by T. B. Nolan and G. B. Andersonof the U. S. Geological Survey.

"So far as we have been able tolearn," said Mr. Crouch, "nothing fur-ther has been published on the district."

While buying supplies at Beowawefor our first trip to the geysers an oldrancher warned us to leave the valleyat the first sign of rain.

"Get out—and drive like the wind,"he advised. You cross an alkali flat toget there, and once that flat gets wetyou've got five miles of grease underyour wheels. It would stall an armytank!"

Heeding that advice, Dora and Ihad twice driven into Whirlwind Val-

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6 17

ley to get acquainted with the geysers—and twice we had hurried away be-fore our exploration was completedwhen storm clouds overhead threatenedrain.

And now I had returned for thethird time to complete my explorationof this valley of steaming geysers andsputtering fumeroles.

Leaving Highway 40 at a point 30miles east of Battle Mountain, Iturned south on the paved side-roadthat leads six miles to Beowawe on theHumboldt River—a typical westerncow town, fringed with corrals andbisected by the tracks of the SouthernPacific Railroad.

I learned at the postoffice that twoweeks previously a rancher reportedthe geyser road "terrible, but passable."With that reassurance, I headed outof town toward the southwest.

For the first mile-and-a-half theroad follows the crest of a low dike—evidently built to provide all-weatheraccess to an emergency landing field

south of town. At the end of thisdike the trail is crossed by a drift fence.Beyond lies stark desolation.

The desert cattle range, rolling hills,and scrub junipers common to theregion of Beowawe, here are replacedby a wide white alkali playa, as flat asa lakebed. Flanking ridges of burnedreddish rock, rose steeply on the eastand west. Jackrabbits bounded out ofthe greasewood to cross in front of mycar and the shrill yammering of kill-deers rose from the flat. These werethe only evidences of life.

A dozen trails meandered haphaz-ardly over that sun-bleached void, theircasually - engineered routes swingingwide to by-pass gullies, easing downand through dry water courses, andadroitly dodging rocks and brush.

Bumping along at a discreet fivemiles an hour, following whicheverwheel track appeared best at the mo-ment, I laid my course by the opalineterrace, now taking definite formagainst the range to the east.

..... •-rf.ji? GEYSER g^r.;jj'•••:""M-f:-f AREA *$#.*S

Five and six-tenths miles from Beo-wawe, the several trails converged topass through a third drift-fence gate;and one and one-tenth miles from thispoint I parked the car on the whitesinter slope at the base of the terrace.Hot steam was spiraling from a dozenvents in the ledge above and boilingsprings on the lower flat were rising,overflowing and subsiding with me-chanical regularity. As nearly as Icould determine, nothing had changedin two years.

Largest of several springs on theflat is a cone-shaped pool, 15 feetacross and half as deep, filled to thebrim with churning, crystal-clear waterof 170 degrees Fahrenheit.

We had camped near this pool onprevious trips, and remembering theconvenience of having gallons of hotwater always at hand for dishwashing,laundry, and even for boiling eggs, Iunloaded my gear on the edge of asteaming cauldron where an occasionalpuff of wind sent a spray of sulphuroussteam swirling around me.

When I travel alone my desert campsare very simple affairs. A small squareof sheet tin laid on four level rocksfor a campstove, a pot of hot tea, acan of prepared soup or a skilletfulof bacon and eggs—and afterward, mysleeping bag spread on the groundunder the stars.

It was a strangely beautiful night.Tempered by the moist warmth of thegeysers, even the mile-high elevationof the flat seemed touched with a trop-ical softness. Low over the rocky hillsa tiny sickle of moon cast a misty glowon the white sinter, transforming thespiraled plumes into silvery wraithsthat silently rose and vanished into thedark sky.

In vain I listened for the single yelpof a coyote, the hooting of an owl, acricket's chirp or the rustle of a leaf.But there was no sound save an oc-casional bubbling from the big spring.Even this seemed strangely subdued.

To my relief, the morning sky wasas blue as a mountain lake, withoutso much as a single cloud to frown onmy presence. During my stay in thevalley, I wished in particular to con-duct a thorough exploration of the ter-race above camp including a completecensus of all eruptive geysers, fumer-oles and springs, and to make a photo-graphic record of their action.

I also hoped to sketch plants andbirds in the vicinity and perhaps spendsome time searching for Indian relicson a butte that rose a half mile southof camp.

With breakfast cooked on the tin-topped campstove, dishes washed inthe big spring, canteen filled, and myphotographic equipment stowed in va-

18 D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E

•US• • • . • • . .

terrace, white bench in background, viewed from the largest hot spring onthe flat. The sinter is formed by the deposit from hot siliceous springs and geysers.

rious pockets and bags, sunrise foundme hurrying across the flat to the ter-race above.

According to Nolan and Anderson'sreport, this geyser-built bench has avertical rise of 200 feet above the val-ley floor. Due to the steepness of theascent, however, its height seemedmuch greater. The loose sinter affordedpoor footing and where the periodicoverflow of a geyser spilled down theslope, the saturated earth was veryslippery.

When at last I pulled myself overthe lip of the terrace, I was little pre-pared for the sight before me. Insteadof a ledge 10 or 12 feet wide as I hadestimated at camp, the bench provedto be nearer 100 feet in width. Itslength was approximately three-fourthsof a mile—and every square foot ofthat area seemed alive with thermalactivity!

To one bent upon a scientific tallyit was a bewildering prospect, but Iresolutely began a cross-check of theterrace using five classifications: erup-tive geysers, flowing hot springs, pas-sive springs, and live and dead fumer-oles.

It would have been an impressivesurvey had the terrace shown even a

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6

slight willingness to cooperate. It wasbad enough when springs catalogedas passive suddenly changed to flow-ing springs, and flowing springs ceasedto flow, but the last straw came whenI heard a great whooshing and whistlingbehind me and looked around to seea 30-foot column of boiling water andsteam shooting from a vent I had but

Geyser's mouth on sinter terrace.

recently tabulated as a dead fumerole.With that, I put the notebook backin my pocket and decided to leave thecataloging of this geyser field to someone else.

All types of thermal activity wererepresented on the ledge, as well asboiling springs of every size. One littlegeyser with a throat no larger than anink bottle maintained a constant fret-ting and sputtering. Although it threwwater only eight inches into the air, itmade quite a fuss about it. Not adozen feet away was a dark blow-holeof unknown depth. Neither steam norwater issued from it, but far belowcould be heard an ominous roaringand rumbling like the noise made byan angry bull.

The terrace was made from siliceoussinter, a chemical sediment depositedby mineral springs whose waters havea high content of silica. Even basaltrocks, tumbled down from the hillsideabove, are covered with layers of thismaterial.

Forming bulbous collars around thegeyser mouths, and lining many of thehot pools, is a pearly-white encrusta-tion of cemented opal fragments re-sembling coral. Occasionally I foundpools in which this opal lining showed

19

lllllsiAuthor examines opaline collar on the throat of one of the larger spouting

geysers on the sinter terrace.

faint traces of rose or iridescence, butnone which exhibited any play of coloror "fire."

A few pools are highly tinted byalgae. One small geyser had a cream-colored throat bordered by alternaterings of chartreuse, sulphur yellow andsenna, with wedge-shaped blotches ofwhite, deep green and rose on its outerfringes.

I found a few mudpots on the ter-race. One six-foot radius containedseparate pots of yellow, pink, and bluemud. Analysis by the U. S. GeologicalSurvey showed that 10 percent of thesemuds consist of diatoms which wereclassified into 10 species, three of themtermed rare.

Certain sections of the terrace crustseemed extremely thin. My passageoccasionally set up an echoed rumblingfar below, and once, when I sat downto change film, I found the surface ofthe ground too hot to remain seated.

While the top of the terrace is gen-erally bare of vegetation, there arecertain portions of it where I foundsalt grass. In several places it grewon the very lip of a hot spring withits white roots protruding in wateronly 35 degrees below the boiling point!Such clumps invariably were swarmingwith giant mosquitoes.

There also were a few floweringplants on the terrace including severalspecimens of desert primrose withwhite blooms as large as saucers. WhatI consider the strangest botanical dis-covery of the trip was made while slip-

20

ping and sliding down the steep faceof the terrace on my way back to camp.

As a result of high mineral content,the water of one constantly-flowingspring had cut a red-stained water-course down the terrace face. Fring-ing this course for 100 feet or morewas a narrow band of wild cyclamen(Dodecatheon). Exceptionally luxuri-ant and of a deep red-purple, thesewere the only representatives of theirspecies that I saw in the area.

Later as I sat in the shade of thecar eating, I remembered the mealDora cooked in the big spring on ourfirst visit.

Into a burlap sack she placed a tinof roast beef with gravy, a can of wholenew potatoes and a carton of eggs.Wiring the top of the sack to a crookedbranch, she lowered the bag into thespring's hot innards.

With hot water periodically creep-ing up the sides of the pool and hotsteam swirling densely around her shestuck it out for 20 minutes and thenhauled up the bag. We found thateverything was cooked to a turn—including the hard-boiled eggs.

I managed to crowd everything I hadplanned to do including a hot mineralbath into my two-day stay. Due to theearliness of the season, several speciesof plants collected near camp were notin flower and therefore not readilyidentifiable.

Among those I was able to classifybeside the sand primrose and wild

cyclamen were desert mallow, Booth'sprimrose, candytuft, larkspur, blunt-leaf stinkweed, Esteve pincushion,white tidytips, greasewood, rabbitbrushand scale. There seemed to be littlebirdlife, due, possibly, to a scarcity ofinsects. The only species noted werekilldeers, meadowlarks, Brewer's black-birds, a few mourning doves and alone flycatcher.

While my sporadic searching forIndian relics yielded only half a brokenarrowhead and countless pieces of flintand obsidian chippings, I later learnedthat large numbers of superb arrow-points and spearpoints had been col-lected in this vicinity—particularly tothe southwest where a battle betweentribes is supposed to have occurredmany years ago.

Possibly even that prehistoric con-flict saw the big spring on the fiat ebb-ing and flowing. Perhaps, even then,the wild cyclamens were blossomingon the terrace slope, and the steamfrom the geysers spiraled upward likesilvery phantoms in the moonlight.

At least I like to think so, for in thatbelief lies my assurance that WhirlwindValley will still be unchanged whennext I have an opportunity to visit it.

INDIAN CRAFT DECLINELAID TO MEAGER RETURNS

Many of the Indian arts and craftsare rapidly becoming lost arts. A goodexample of why this is so is found inNavajo rug weaving. A modern Nav-ajo woman has been able to earn aboutfive cents an hour with her rug weav-ing when one considers the many hoursit takes to complete the rug. She takesit to the trading post to trade for creditand if she uses some of that credit, forinstance, to buy a can of pears, shewill pay 35 cents or more for the fruit—equivalent to seven hours or moreof her work at the loom. So she doesn'tbuy the pears. She gets plain tomatoesinstead. At the same time her husbandor son may be employed for off-reser-vation work at $1.50 to $2.50 an hour.So she stops weaving. Wouldn't you?—Doors Toward the Sunrise by EarleF. Dexter.

• • •

GOVERNMENT BOOSTS PUBLICLAND TRANSACTION CHARGES

A new schedule of service chargesfor processing public land transactions,mineral leases and permits were an-nounced by Secretary of the InteriorDouglas McKay.

Fees ranging from $5 to $15 will becharged for 59 separate categoriesheretofore handled without charge, andfor six other types of services for whichonly nominal charges have been made.

DESERT MAGAZINE

ON DESERT TRAILS WITH A NATURALIST - XXI

WastelandSongbird

Far out in the rocky terrain of the most ariddesert one may hear the cheery tinkling song oione of the hardiest of American birds—the RockWren. As if to compensate for the bleakness ofher habitat, the mother Rock Wren raises a bigfamily, and paves her front yard with tiny cob-blestones—for reasons that remain a mystery tohuman beings.

By EDMUND C. JAEGER, D.Sc.Curator of Plants

Riverside Municipal MuseumSketch by Lloyd Smith

Photographs by Stanley Phair

R. JOHN ROOS, able youngpathologist and competent bot-anist, recently took me along on

one of his station wagon explorationtrips into Saline and Eureka Valleysand the Last Chance Mountains to thenorth and west of the Death ValleyTrough. It was summertime and Ifound it to be an exceedingly aridregion but abounding in beautifulscenery varying from pinyon-coveredflats, precipitous walled canyons andstrangely formed mountains to salt flatsand soft-surfaced sand dunes. Dr.Roos has found this area particularlyattractive because of the number ofplants new to science which he hasbeen able to find there.

On one of our side trips to lower

Eureka Valley our jeep took us to ameeting place of dune sands and bar-ren, beautifully banded limestone moun-tains. Here, I thought at the time, isan example of the desert's most sterileland. The sand and wind, warmed bythe noonday sun were dry and veryhot; still warmer were the near-byrocks. What then was my great sur-prise when in this land of seemingdesolation I heard a faint but clear-toned bird note. Looking up I saw aneatly feathered gray-brown bird al-most as large as a sparrow and with aslightly curved beak. It was a RockWren, disporting itself in perfect com-fort on a spit of burning stone.

"Is this really a living bird I see,"I exclaimed to Dr. Roos, "or is it onlyan apparition?" Apparently no desertplace is too bleak, no area of rocktoo dry to serve as a dwelling placefor this sun loving wilderness bird.

In lonely forbidding mountains ofred volcanic rock and brown lava

where it would seem no life could pos-sibly exist in summer, 1 find the RockWren in occupancy and often enliven-ing the solitude with its cheery, tink-ling, metallic song. Especially impres-sive is this song when heard in theearly morning or late evening hoursof spring when it is most varied andfrequent.

Recently Stanley Phair and I spentseveral days on a special hunt for RockWren nests. We chose an area of largegranite bosses and boulders in the midstof the bleak Mojave Desert for oursearch. By keeping alert eyes for thesigns of nest sites, we were able tolocate eight nests, old and new, in afew hours.

The tell-tale evidence of the site ofa Rock Wren's nest is always theunique pathway of small, generallywhite, flat stones below the crevice orcrypt in which the nest is located. Thenumber of such stones, most of whichare elongate and from an inch to an

Rock Wren nest crypts. In the picture at the left may be seen the pavement of tinycobblestones—brought there by the wrens for unknown reasons.

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6 21

inch and a half long, varies from 25to as many as 100 or more. Very oftenthere are additional flat stones placedat the entrance to the nest crypt itselfto shore up the opening so that it willbe only large enough for the birds. _^

Just why the stones are placed be-low the nest no one really knows. Arethey there to serve as an adornmentor do they have some utilitarian pur-pose? Perhaps they act mostly as ameans of nest site identification. Thenumber of flattish stones attests to theextraordinary penchant for industrythis dusky-brown feathered worker has.The birds must search diligently andlong to find, select and transport somany of them. Some of the stonesmust weigh almost as much as thewren itself.

Most of the rock crypts selected fornest sites are found on rock walls fac-ing the east, perhaps to ensure earlyexposure to the sun's bright and warm-ing rays. Most of the nests are aboutthree feet above ground level. Someare much higher while others are onthe ground under the shelter of a rock—a perilously unsafe site with no pro-tection against egg-hunting rodents orsnakes.

The nesting material consists ofsmall sticks and grasses. Feathers andother soft materials are used to linethe nest. Occasionally a few thornsare added to discourage inquisitive in-truders. The eggs, white with a fewspecklings of brown, may number asmany as seven or eight. Once the eggsare hatched the parent birds spendmost of the daylight hours hunting andbringing in surprising numbers of spi-ders and caterpillars to satisfy the lustybaby-bird appetites of a big family.

One of the most peculiar habits ofthe Rock Wren is its way of curtsyingor bobbing about on the rocks just be-fore it gives its singing call note. Some-times while thus fidgeting about itwhirls completely around. A momentlater it may be seen going in and outof crevices as it explores the deep re-cesses of the rocks in its search forspiders and insects, or it may beglimpsed flying to some rock perch,there to continue its peculiar bobbingand singing.

The Rock Wren's song repertoireis a full one with many pleasing varia-tions, especially during the nesting sea-son. The bird also employs the usualwren "screeing" note of surprise anda clear ringing note of alarm, "turee,"often repeated several times whenwarning the young of danger.

Water poses no problem for thishardy desert bird. It may occasionallydrink from rain pools but does not de-pend on free water to any extent. Itgets the water it needs mostly fromthe bodies of the insects and spiderson which it feeds.

Death Valley Woman ElectedPresident of the '49ers for 1956

Directors of the Death Valley '49ers,will continue their efforts to secure amuseum for the Death Valley NationalMonument, despite Governor Knight'sveto of the previous bill which hadpassed both houses of the state legis-lature in 1955.

Senator Charles Brown of Shoshonestated that he would introduce anotherbill at the next session of the legisla-ture, and the '49ers at their annualdirectors' meeting following their En-campment program in November votedto press for the success of their projectbecause they believe there is a verygreat need for such a museum, both topreserve the historical and prehistori-cal relics of the area, and to enlightenvisitors to the monument as to thegeographical, geological, botanical andwildlife features of the region.

Margaret (Peg) Putnam, operatorof Stove Pipe Wells hotel was electedpresident of the '49ers for the comingyear as successor to Dr. Thomas Cle-ments of the University of SouthernCalifornia. Other new officers are L.Burr Beldon, vice president; John An-son Ford, 2nd vice president; Eugene

Hoffman, executive secretary; and Mrs.Yvette Mayou, recording secretary.Arthur Walker of San Bernardino wasre-elected treasurer.

Park Service officials estimated thatnearly 12,000 people were in attend-ance at the 3-day Encampment, thelargest attendance since the Centennialcelebration there in 1949.

Ed. Hale of Trona won the annualFlapjack-Burro contest in record timeof 70 seconds. Badwater Bill Frick ofVirginia City took second place andCharlie Mitchell of Barstow, third.

Sylvia Winslow of China Lake wontop honors for the second consecutiveyear in the art exhibit. Her painting,"Goodbye Death Valley," received thehighest popular vote in the exhibit ofdesert art at Furnace Creek Inn. JohnHilton took second place and OrphaKlinker, third.

The program included Artists', Au-thors', and Photographers' Breakfastsat the Death Valley Golf course, camp-fire programs, square dancing, sunriseservices and exhibits of gems and min-erals and antiquated firearms.

Contest to Photo$wphen . . .If photography is your hobby, you know well the desert's charm.

No other area on earth offers you more distinctive camera subjectsthan does this land of sunshine and space. Desert Magazine is anxiousto bring this charm to its readers each month in our Pictures-of-the-Month page. The best of the photographs submitted receive cashprizes and the monthly contests are open to both amateurs andprofessionals.

Entries for the January contest must be sent to the Desert Magazineoffice. Palm Desert, California, postmarked not later than January 18.Winning prints will appear in the March issue. Pictures which arrivetoo late for one contest are held over for the next month. First prize is$10; second prize, $5. For non-winning pictures accepted for publica-tion $3 each will be paid.

HERE ARE THE RULES1—Prints for monthly contests must be black and white, 5x7 or larger, printed

on glossy paper.2—Each photograph submitted should be fully labeled as to subject, time and

place. Also technical data: camera, shutter speed, hour of day, etc.3—PRINTS WILL BE RETURNED WHEN RETURN POSTAGE IS ENCLOSED.4—All entries must be in the Desert Magazine office by the 20th of the contest

month.5—Contests are open to both amateur and professional photographers. Desert

Magazine requires first publication rights only of prize winning pictures.6—Time and place of photograph are immaterial, except that it must be from the

desert Southwest.7—Judges will be selected from Desert's editorial staff, and awards will be made

immediately after the close of the contest each month.

Address All Entries to Photo Editor

TZe&ent PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA

22 DESERT MAGAZINE

L I F E O N T H E D E S E R T

Our car would not start . . . we were almost out of wa te r . . . the children were

frightened and no one knew we were here . . . we had one choice—

Walk or DieHere is the story of a young family which almost paid the supreme

penalty exacted by the desert for neglect and unpreparedness. Dirtyradiator water, determination, the stamina of two young children andluck finally brought them through.

By JUNE HAINES BETSWORTH

N THE LATE summer of 1954,my husband and I and our twochildren left our Los Angeles

home at 2 a.m. one early morning andheaded for Chuckawalla Springs nearDesert Center, California.

We were beginners in the rockhoundhobby and very eager to get to theseam agate beds at the Springs. Toguide us we had the Santa MonicaGemological Society's 1954 Surveymap and Darold J. Henry's book, GemTrail Journal which has maps and di-rections to the Springs.

Our supplies consisted of four waterbags hung on our 1940 Lincoln'sbumpers, five half-gallon jugs of waterin the trunk, two one-quart canteenson our pack belts, two quarts of sugar-less soda pop, a quart thermos of water,a quart of milk and enough food forone day. We planned to replenish ourwater at the Springs if needed, walka mile into the wash to the agate beds,collect during the day and then startour return trip at nightfall.

Even though we had just finishedreading Alonzo Pond's "Summer Heat"in the August, 1954, Desert, we mademany grave errors on this trip thatalmost cost us our lives and those ofour children.

Our first mistake was to attempt thetrip in a conventional automobile. Wewill never go into the desert again un-less it is in a jeep or similar four-wheeldrive vehicle.

Our second mistake was to leavehome without informing the neighborsof our destination and expected timeof return. We also neglected to leavea note in Desert Center briefly describ-ing us, our destination and when weplanned to be out of the collectingarea. Even the rescue trucks leavesuch records before each mission.

We followed U.S. 60-70 23 miles

past Desert Center to the dirt roadleading south to the Springs. A servicestation attendant told us that rain fellin the area a few days earlier, but thatthe Chuckawalla Springs road was dryand somewhat sandy. We soon foundthat the road should more properlyhave been called a wash.

From the paved highway, the twowheel ruts run almost due south forsix miles and then travel west eightmiles parallel to the main highway.The road jogs a little to the north atthe end of this stretch and then headsdue south 1.7 miles to the Springs.

A sign reading "This Is It," prob-ably erected by a thoughtful rock-hound, marks the west-leading armof this road six miles below the mainhighway. This east-west stretch wasmuch worse than the road from thehighway. We maneuvered up anddown gullies, across jagged gravel,around boulders and passed chollacactus and other desert flora higherthan our car.

The underside of our car bangedagainst the rocks on the road and soonwe knocked a hole in our muffler andin three of the water bags.

We reached the foot of the Chucka-walla Mountains, and having traveledthis far over indescribably terribleterrain, we were over confident anddecided to push on.

The sand became deeper and morefrequent. We crossed the short patchesby speeding up the car and keepingour momentum.

The inevitable happened, however,while going around a bend iri the lowfoothills. We slithered off the roadand our wheels spun down into thesand. We were 25 feet from firmground.

Our immediate thought was to re-lease air from the tires, thus gaining

traction, but we had neglected to bringa tire pump. We did not think wecould have made it back over the stonyroad without full pressure in the tires.

So we started to dig. We pushed andpulled, jacked up the car and placedstone slabs under the wheels, rockedthe car—but the wheels spun deeperand deeper. After four hours we hadsucceeded in moving three feet. Wewere confident, however, that we wouldbe able to get out.

We knew the Springs were no morethan a mile away, so we drank ourwater unsparingly. The children werehaving a good time. They played un-der a Palo Verde tree and ate theirsandwiches and potato chips. Georgeand I had little appetite for a picnic.He worked steadily in the sun and Iwith him until, finally, I becamewracked with a headache and had torest in the shade periodically.

At 5:30 that afternoon we beganto realize the seriousness of our situa-tion. We tore apart a wooden plat-form we used in the back seat of thecar for the children to sleep on. Thisgave us two planks each measuringone by four feet. We placed theseunder the rear wheels and they helpedsomewhat.

We took time out to explore thearea around us. George hiked aroundthe sandy bend to the west fork of thewash looking for the Springs. He sawtwo abandoned shacks, but nothingelse. I hiked about two miles downthe east fork. I found a small muddybasin at the foot of one of the moun-tains, but did not have the sense todig down past the mud to the drink-able water.

Walking back to the car I decidedthat our only chance was to start walk-ing for the highway. We could notwait for help for no one knew we werehere. When I got back to the car Ifound that George had managed tomove it half way out of the deep sand—we were only 10 feet from hard'ground.

We jacked up the back wheels andplaced our planks under them a dozentimes until we were out. Nadine andGeorgeen helped us load our equip-ment back into the car and we startedback up that wash as fast as the carcould take us.

The road was terrible. It was still

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6 23

daylight and after 15 minutes of driv-ing we stalled the car again trying tomaneuver past a tall bush that re-quired two consecutive turns in oppo-site directions. As our wheels startedto spin in deep sand, George steppedon the gas, our car vaulted over thebog, but we hit the bush. The motordied as water boiled out of the radi-ator.

We let it cool for a half hour, pouredsome water into it and tried again. Itwould not start.

The sun finally set and we tookstock of our water supply: a quartand a cup of water and a half quartof soda water.

We now debated our next move.Should we back-track the 8 or 9 mileseast to the junction with the dirt roadwhich led north another six miles tothe main highway? Or should we strikeout due north across the open desertto the highway? Surely this lattercourse would be much shorter. Orshould George go alone, taking halfthe precious water, to find help? But,what if he did not make it? We couldnot wait long without water. Could wecarry the children?

We made up our minds. We wouldfollow the road, traveling all night inorder to avoid being caught on thedesert by the searing sun. Georgedrained the radiator into a canteenand we started off.

Suddenly, far off in the distance, wesaw tiny pin points of light to thenorth. It was the highway! Afterquick deliberation, we decided to headout across the desert for the lights.This short-cut would save us manymiles, we thought.

Even before the walk began, Georgewas exhausted. Working in the hotsun for 10 hours after driving all nighthad left him fatigued.

Luckily, a bright moon lighted thedesert. We fixed our course on themountain landmarks.

We walked for two and a half hoursand at 10 p.m. we came to a clearingwhere we rested for half an hour.George and the children stretched outwhile 1 sat up with the flashlight guard-ing against spiders and snakes. Georgeawoke every five minutes positive thathe had slept for an hour. He wasafraid that I might fall asleep too.

I jumped over a snake that appeared*to be about three-feet long. Luckilyhe was not disturbed. If one of ushad been bitten or sprained an anklein one of the many deep gopher holeswe tripped over, I don't know whatwe would have done.

After more walking my right heeldeveloped an unbearable blister. I was

forced to take off my boot and limpon one bare foot.

We had a hard time waking Nadineafter her rest periods. We had to keeptelling her how serious our plight was—that if we did not keep walking wewould all die in the desert sun thenext day. She struggled up as quicklyas she could when we told her that.

We walked another hour without arest period, then 45 minutes, 40, 35and finally only 20 to 25 minutes ata stretch without resting.

I did not sleep at first. I was afraidthat I would doze off and not wakenbefore dawn. We were almost out ofwater and our tongues were so dry itwas difficult to talk. The occasionalswallow of radiator water we tooktasted better than bubbling spring waterbefore the night was over. I don'tthink George ever took more thanhalf-a-sip of water. I could see himweaken. He and Nadine were fallingfarther and farther behind. We triedto talk even though we knew it wouldmake us more thirsty.

After two in the morning, Nadinekept up a constant moaning: "Willwe ever get there?" "How much fur-ther is it?" "Is it time to rest yet,Momie?" "Can I sleep a little more?"

Several times the wind blew cloudsacross the moon and we could not seeour guide marks. We continued walk-ing in the dark on what we thoughtwas a northern course, but when themoonlight returned we inevitablyfound that we had strayed far to theeast or west.

Only once did we become panicstricken, thinking that we had turnedaround in some way and that we wereheading south back to the Chuckawal-las. Luckily we guessed the right di-rection and plodded on. We now be-gan picking more immediate goals—clumps of trees or bushes. When wereached them we would pick anothergoal in the distance. The silhouette ofthe horizon changed rapidly as wewalked on.

Again we caught the sight of lightsfrom the highway. We were elated,but as we walked on and the lights didnot appear closer we became very dis-couraged.

Once we heard the sound of an en-gine. At first we thought it was a truck,but it was an airplane. George lightedtwo magnesium flares, but the planecontinued on.

We began discarding all we couldas fatigue set in. We threw away thepack sack, empty canteens, the bootI had tied to my belt, and finally ourfirst aid kit.

At 3 a.m. our water" supply wasdown to half a small canteen. George

was suffering now from dehydrationand during our rest periods he wouldwake up shouting "Where am I? Wheream I?" It frightened me greatly.

I was having a hard time stayingawake. Every little nap was full ofvivid dreams—-and always of water. Idreamed of water running out of fau-cets, of trickles pouring from one can-teen to another, of the big blisters onGeorge's hand with water running fromthem—always of water! George andI called to each other during the restperiods to make sure we were at leasthalf-awake.

Then George saw the glare of head-lights to the northwest, much closerthan the distant lights we were follow-ing now to the northeast. But, whywere we unable to see lights directlyin front of us?

We veered to the west. For a timethe lights seemed to be getting nocloser. We did not care about snakesor insects any more. We sank to theground to rest anywhere we happenedto be. Soon we could hear the trucks!

We climbed a bank and saw thehighway. This bank, only four feethigh, had blocked the view of the carlights in front of us.

We wanted to shout for joy butour tongues were too swollen. I feltlike kissing that lovely, lovely strip ofasphalt.

We sat down on the north side ofthe highway at 4:30 a.m. and turnedon our flashlight to attract attention.

Our faces, arms, my legs below mypedal pushers — even my one bareankle and foot, were covered with in-sect bites. We were dirty and tired.Our lips were swollen and cracked.

A half hour later, after many trucksand automobiles had passed us, twocattle trucks stopped and took us toDesert Center.

In another hour, from between thedeliriously cool sheets of an air-con-ditioned motel, we saw the bright, sud-den dawn come in our windows. Wehad made it with an hour and a halfto spare!

Old timers in Desert Center told usmany stories afterwards of people whohad perished in the desert by wander-ing around in circles. They told uswe were very lucky.

We will never make another deserttrip in anything but a jeep and stan-dard supply for all future trips will bea compass, three times the amount ofwater deemed necessary and a note atthe last stop.

And we will never leave the road—no matter how bad or out of the wayit seems. As far as we are concerned,there is no such thing as a short cutacross the desert.

24 DESERT MAGAZINE

Pictures ofthe Month

Valley QuailThese young Valley Quail

were photographed -nearBlythe, California, by thismonth's contest winner, L. D.Schooler. Mr. Schooler fedgrain to the quail at this samespot several times before heundertook to photograph them.He used a Rolleicord camera,plus X film at f. 22, 1/50 sec,flash and remote control onshutter.

Big MuddyCanyon

Second prize win-ner is Mrs. BarbaraBixby with this pho-tograph of toweringcliffs in the Big Mud-dy River Canyon ofsoutheastern U t a h .Mrs. Bixby used aCiro-flex camera, plusX film, 1/50 sec. at f.11 with a K-2 filter.

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6 25

I Saw Black Goldfrom Pegleg's Hills

Here is an amazing new link in the tightening search for the desertvarnished black gold of Pegleg Smith—a search that is now in its 104thyear. Author Marston fully realizes the limitations of his evidence, buthe knows the Colorado Desert of Southern California and he knowsgold when he sees it—and he saw it!

By JOHN MARSTON

N THE EARLY morning hoursof April 21, 1945, we enteredthe city of Florence, Italy. Being

on detailed duty with a high priorityrating, we nevertheless found ourselvessomewhat stymied due to the tremen-dous momentum General Clark's FifthArmy had gained in the drive againstthe enemy. The front was less than 50miles north of us, and over one of itsmain highways the wounded pouredinto Florence in a constant stream.

That evening after supper, I left mybillet, the Albergo Excelsior, for astroll along the river Arno. A fewshort blocks from the Ponte VecchioI came to the corner where Dante firstbeheld his beloved Beatrice. As I wasidly planting my feet about in order

to establish that I had set foot whereonce the great Dante walked, two mili-tary police drove up in a jeep. Theyasked if I cared to donate a pint ofblood for the wounded. After exam-ining my dog tags and finding I pos-sessed the proper type blood, we droveoff for the blood-bank.

A sergeant was on the cot next tome, who was also giving his pint andto pass the time I engaged him in con-versation. I noticed from his insigniaand "patch" that he belonged to atank outfit. I asked him where he hadreceived training. He told me that be-fore his-company embarked for Africait had been put through extensive des-ert maneuvers in the state of California,all the way from Needles south,

through the Chocolate Mountains andthen across the border to Yuma, Ari-zona.

This interested me greatly for I knowthis country fairly well, particularlyaround the southern slope of the Choc-olates. I asked him if he had heardany of the legends concerning the LostPegleg Smith mine and the black gold.He admitted that he had. In fact hehad formed the habit, whenever offduty, of driving his jeep through thedesert to pick up rocks with the hopeof finding a nugget. I assured him thatmany hundreds had done likewisethroughout the years.

"I know, but here's something funnythat I've been kidded about. I reallydid find some of those black pebbles.Here, I'll show you." With that heextracted a vial from his wallet andhanded me a pebble the size of thehead of an old fashioned lady's hat pin.Excitedly I examined the piece. "Whenwe're through here I'll put it to theone test I know," I told him.

When they finished with us—andpaid us off—I suggested we go acrossthe street and donate the money to theRed Cross. There I procured a ham-mer and began pounding this pebbleof his. It was malleable and it wasgold.

"How much of this did you find?"I asked.

"Oh, I should say about 20 pounds.I mailed it to my dad in a number of

Southern California's Colorado Desert as it appeared at the turn of the centurywhen many searched for Pegleg Smith's black gold. It is the conclusion of manyof those who know the Pegleg story that the lost treasure is somewhere within the

circled area.

: . . "' V;. i=|'A'-; COYOTE WELL

:-,. .•• CAMPOO

26 DESERT MAGAZINE

pt

Borrego Badlands—z'£ was somewhere in this area that the sergeant in Patton'sarmy reported that he found the cave with the pellets of black gold.

parcel-post packages for safe-keepinguntil I get back."

"My gosh, that would be over $3000worth! Tell me more," I exclaimed.

Here is the story he told:One day while off duty he went on

a jeep prospecting trip into the Bor-rego Springs-Seventeen Palms area—known locally as the Borrego Badlands.He found the gold in a low cave orcrevice about 50 feet up the side of alow hill. In a way, this made sense tome, but a great deal more so fouryear later when I read H. E. W. Wil-son's letter, "New Clues to the PeglegGold" (Desert Magazine, October,1948).

"I'm not afraid that I cannot locatethis cave again," he told me. "Whattroubles me is that I found the goldalongside the skeleton of a man. No,it was not Pegleg Smith! This guy hadtwo legs with a good pair of heavysoled shoes on 'em.

"To the right of the skeleton laya brown coat and a broad brimmedhat. On the body was a pair of bluedungarees and a heavy woolen shirt.The right sleeve was rolled up. Atourniquet, made with a red bandanaand a pocket knife, was at the elbow.The poor guy had evidently been bit-ten by a rattler.

"To the left lay a saddle-bag. One

side contained some 10 pounds of thesepebbles, the other about the same ex-cept that it was open and pebbles werescattered all over the place.

"Well, what really worries me isthat I didn't report finding this skele-ton to my commanding officer—norto the state authorities. If I ever wentback there I might get into a peck oftrouble. And most likely they wouldtake the gold away from me anyway.That is, if there's any more in theback of that cave-—and I think thereis. When I get back home I'll haveto get a lawyer and find out aboutthese things."

The sergeant seemed most sincereand he certainly knew the country.Perhaps he is the son of one of theold timers out there, and thought thatif I ever told the story it might provea good joke on me. I never heardfrom him again and so, for many rea-sons, I have remained silent all theseyears.

What I do know is that this manknew the area and that he had in hispossession a vial of black gold—notchocolate brown or reddish brown,but black — as black as the ace ofspades.

INSECTICIDES KILL BIRDS,EXHAUSTIVE STUDY SHOWS

The effect of hydrocarbon insecti-cides on birds has been determined byan extensive scientific study recentlycompleted by James B. DeWitt of theU. S. Department of the Interior's Fishand Wildlife Service.

DeWitt found that only .0005 per-cent aldrin in the daily diet of quailswill kill every bird within 42 days.Daily amounts of .50 percent aldrinresults in 100 percent mortality in fourdays.

Aldrin is a chemical relative of DDTwhich is considerably less toxic for

birds as well as for insects. In quailsthe addition of .02 percent DDT tothe daily diet results in a 10 percentmortality in 150 days—but increasethe amount by only .005 percent (from.02 to .025 percent) and there is 100percent mortality within 45 days.

Pheasants stood up better under in-secticides than quail. In general it wasfound that aldrin was the most rapidkiller and strobane was the least rapid.

Death is not the only result of in-secticides. At a level of .0001 percentaldrin to the daily diet of quails thehatchability of eggs fell from 87 per-cent to less than 42 percent.

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6 27

Nell Murbarger

The American Association for Stateand Local History recently announcedthat Nell Murbarger, author of thismonth's Geysers of Whirlwind Canyon,has been awarded the IntermountainRegion Award of Merit for her "dis-tinguished service in the cause of mak-ing Americans better aware of theirlocal history."

During the past 10 years, Miss Mur-barger has written 149 articles dealingwith Nevada history; 56 on Arizona;46, Utah; and 59 of other Westernstates. Many of these stories haveappeared in Desert Magazine.

* * *Despite the frightful initiation June

Haines Betsworth had to the desert,described in this month's "Walk orDie," she and her husband are nowconfirmed desert lovers.

"We don't take a weekend or holi-day trip into the desert without bring-ing back bags of rocks, boxes of driftwood, sacks of sun-whitened bones ora plant to transplant in our garden,"writes Mrs. Betsworth, a Los Angelesschool teacher.

* * *John Marston, author of this

month's "I Saw Black Gold from Peg-leg's Hills," is a resident of New YorkCity where he has, since 1910, beenactively engaged in practically allphases of show business.

He first appeared on Broadway asan actor in 1922. Three full lengthplays he has written were successfullyproduced. His most recent efforts havebeen writing for television.

De&eftl Reader Way Rewew at ikeOU Rated WM ftaamt} 10,1956

In a time of rising costs it seems inevitable that even a magazinemust increase its rates occasionally. Since January, 1949, when thepresent subscription rate became effective, the materials and laborwhich are used to operate a printing plant have gone up from 10%to 35% in cost.

To meet these added costs, a nominal increase in subscriber rateshas been announced for January 1—from the present rate of $3.50 ayear to a new rate of $4.00 a year.

However, before the new rate becomes effective we want to giveall present readers of Desert an opportunity to renew at the old rates.Many thousands of them already have done so, and in order that allmay have ample opportunity to take advantage cf the saving we willextend the renewal date at present rates to January 10, 1956. All sub-scriptions, new or renewal, postmarked not later than January 10 willbe accepted. The rate schedules are as follows:

Present Rates New ratesOne year's subscription $3.50 $4.00Two years (or two subscriptions) 6.00 7.00Three years (or three subscriptions) 9.00 10.50Additional years,

or subscriptions in the same order 3.00 3.50There will be no change in the newsstand price—35c a copy

It is the goal of Desert's staff to make this magazine more interest-ing and helpful from month to month and we want you to know thatwe appreciate the confidence and loyalty of our growing family ofDesert Magazine readers.

THE DESERT MAGAZINEPalm Desert, California

Rock Shortyof Death Valley

Hard Rock Shorty sat in theshade of the leanto porch in frontof the Inferno store and lookedout across the floor of Death Val-ley where the summer heat waveswere shimmering.

"Ain't always like this," he re-marked to the new clerk who wasfanning himself with a straw hatand wondering why he had evertaken a job in this forsaken place.

"Gits cold in the winter," HardRock continued. "I've seenmornin's when I had to break theice on the spring up in Eight Ballcrick so the burros could git adrink. An' ol' Pisgah Bill whowuz drivin' stage in them dayscame in one day and swore he'dseen 50 jackrabbits an' three coy-otes hoverin' around the edge ofthem boilin' mud pots down thevalley tryin' t' keep warm.

"That wuz the coldest winterI've seen on the desert in 40years. Inside the shack we keptthe stove redhot, an' along inmidafternoon I went out to themesquite pile to bring in somelogs. Bill's pet rattlesnake wascurled up on the sunny side o'the logs tryin' to keep warm.

"When that rattler saw me hestarted shakin' his tail—friendly,like he always does when Bill an'me come around. But there wuzno rattle. He tried it again, an'still no rattle. Finally he lookedaround an' saw his rattles wuz allfroze solid. So he put his tail inhis mouth and thawed 'em out abit, and then started buzzin' jestlike he usta do. Then he lookedat me kinda silly like and slidunder the log pile."

28 DESERT MAGAZINE

No Snails, Pests . . .Twentynine Palms, California

Desert:I appreciate you printing my letter

"Making the Desert Bloom" in theNovember Desert Magazine, but wouldlike to correct an error in which infer-ence is made that "snails and otherpests present a real problem" to des-ert gardens.

We do not have these pests on thedesert and I credit a great deal of oursuccess in desert gardening to this fact.

MRS. LEOMA LANE

Who Writes Hard Rock? . . .Salt Lake City, Utah

Desert:Come now, mi compadre, do you

not think that after all these years ofanonymity that the very capable writerof those delightfully humorous sketchesof "Hard Rock Shorty of Death Val-ley" deserves a little consideration?Either give him the professional by-line he so richly deserves, or betteryet, give us a full-page write up, withphotographs, of this person in the nextissue of Desert. I have a suspicionthat here is a character, rich in desertlore, who has been forced to blushunseen, wasting away his life under abushel-basket. Adios, y mi saludos.

ELWOOD STOCKMANDear Elwood: I am sure the

author of the Hard Rock Shortytales will appreciate the fine compli-ment—but he insists that his namebe kept a top secret. I suspect thathe is wanted down in Texas for alittle affair involving the ownershipof some range cattle several yearsago, and since the statute of limita-tions has not yet run out, and he isnow trying to make amends for thefolly of his youth by living the lifeof an upright citizen, he must remainanonymous.—R.H.

Nature Lovers' Classroom . . .Mecca, California

Desert:I enjoyed Lewis Walker's story on

the Tucson Desert Nature Trails (Des-ert, Oct. '55) very much. It broughtback memories of our many visits tothe museum and zoo. Although welive on the desert, the zoo afforded usan excellent chance to get to knowthe little animals, reptiles and insectswhich live here.

We were impressed by the good carethe caretakers give all the animals.The bobcats and mountain lions wereactually purring like house pets.

TOPPER PACE

Blake's Dunes Changed . . .San Clemente, California

Desert:In your October magazine is an in-

teresting story about the Algodonessand dunes which lie in the extremesoutheasterly corner of California.Your author questions the findings ofgeologist William P. Blake who, in1853, estimated that the dunes wereabout one-half the length and one-thirdthe width that exists at the presenttime.

Old Man Wind can do some awe-some and wondrous things. He canknock you down and he can heal andcaress you. He can also move sanddunes and change the topography ofan entire area in a hundred years orless.

An enormous yucca tree grew neara road I often traveled in my workas land agent for the Southern Pacific.When I first noticed it a large sanddune was located about a mile south-west of it. In a few years the dunehad moved to where it covered halfthe height of the tree. More years wentby and the dune moved to the north-east leaving the tree none the worsefor its experience. The only marksupon it were some dead roots on thelower eight feet of the trunk which thetree had put out into the dune in avain attempt to pick up nourishment.The estimate made by Mr. Blake 100years ago as to the size of the Algo-dones dunes may have been correctin every respect.

FRANK B. RUTLEDGE

TRUE OR FALSE Sharpen your wits and yourpencils — it is True or Falsetime again. Here is an easy and

enjoyable way to become better acquainted with the Great AmericanDesert, past and present. It is suggested that you score the entire familythis month, and keep the totals through the year—a sort of "Family Schoolof the Desert." If you answer 12 to 14 correctly, give yourself a fair grade,15 to 17 is good, 18 or better is excellent. The answers are on page 42.

1—"Jumping cholla" is the common name of a species of desert lizard.True . False

2—Prairie dogs, ground owls and rattlesnakes often live together peace-ably in the same hole. True . False

3—Obsidian often goes by the name of volcanic glass. TrueFalse....

4—The famous Mormon Battalion which was part of Kearny's Army ofthe West was organized in Salt Lake City. True . False

5—The ichthyosaur, whose fossil remains have been found in Nevada,was a land dweller. True . False

6—The cliff houses built by the ancient Indians in the Southwest generallywere of stone and mud. True . False

7—Gen. Lew Wallace, author of Ben Hur, was once governor of NewMexico. True . False _

8—The native Washingtonia palm of the Southwest was named in honorof George Washington. True . False .

9—The copper mines at Ajo, Arizona, are open pit mines. TrueFalse .._. .

10—Petrified wood makes good fuel for desert campfires. TrueFalse

11—Walpi is the name of an Indian village on the Navajo reservation.True . False

12—Large numbers of bats live in Carlsbad Caverns. True . False13—Turkeys were first brought to North America by the Spaniards.

True False14—Billy the Kid was an Apache Chief. True ... False .15—The balsa was used by the Colorado River Indians for water trans-

portation. True False .16—The Salton Sea was formed during the early part of the present

century by overflow from the Colorado River. True False17—Prospectors have been known to locate hidden springs by noting the

course of wild bees in their flight. True False18—Old tires with smooth treads are better for travel in heavy sand than

new treads. True . False19—New Mexico's famous Shiprock is visible from Albuquerque.

True False .20—Phantom Ranch, in the bottom of Grand Canyon, is below sea level.

True ._ . False .

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6

Hen mi Tkete on tk Desert...ARIZONA

Yuma Seaport Under Study . . .PHOENIX — Governor Ernest W.

McFarland announced formation of anunofficial Port Authority Board forArizona and said its duty would be toexplore the matter of obtaining a sea-port for Arizona on the Colorado Rivernear Yuma. The governor said crea-tion of the board resulted from a seriesof conferences he has held with repre-sentative Arizona citizens who havelong been interested in the possibilityand feasibility of developing a seaportfor the state.—Yuma Sun

• • •Northern Forests' Potential . . .

FLAGSTAFF — Northern Arizonaforests produce enough utilizable rawmaterial to manufacture more than1000 tons of paper daily, a survey con-ducted by the Forest Service shows.The survey was prepared in responseto growing interest in the availabilityof domestic pulpwood suitable forpaper manufacture. The CoconinoPulp and Paper Co., which startedmanufacture of paper pulp last year,recently announced that it had doubledits capacity to 50 tons daily and ex-pects to increase this to 100 tons withintwo or three years.—Coconino Sun

• • eState Population Up 23.8% . . .

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The cen-sus bureau reported a continued migra-tion westward since the 1950 census,but said the West's population growthwas "well below" that of the 1940s.Arizona's population between 1950and 1954 increased 23.8 percent. Ne-vada showed a 31 percent increaseduring this period.—Phoenix Gazette

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Navajo Study Industry . . .WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo

Tribal Council announced the adoptionof a policy aimed at the developmentof industries to employ Navajos livingin communities along the fringe of theReservation. The Navajo potentiallabor force totals an estimated 32,150persons, it was announced.—NorthernYavapai Record

• • •

Southwest Observatory Planned . . .PHOENIX—Dr. A. B. Meinel of

the University of Chicago's Yerkes Ob-servatory announced the opening of anoffice in Phoenix which will be usedas headquarters in a search for a newobservatory site. Working with otherastronomers, extensive studies will beconducted by Dr. Meinel to find a loca-tion in the Southwest for a new obser-vatory.—Yuma Sun

• • •

Black Canyon Road Opened • . .CORDES JUNCTION — A paved

route from Phoenix to Prescott viaMayer was opened in late November.The rough nine-mile dirt road fromCordes Junction to Mayer has beenreplaced by a paved cutoff to Mayer.From there the route leads into a hard-surfaced country road to Humboldt.Four new bridges cross the Big BugCreek on the new Black Canyon High-way.—Phoenix Gazette

• • •Huachuca Improvements Planned . . .

TUCSON—More than $33,000,000will be spent in the next three yearsfor construction at the Fort Huachucamilitary electronic proving ground,Maj. Gen. Emil Lenzner, commandingofficer, announced.—Phoenix Gazette

• • •Navajo School Completed . . .

WINDOW ROCK—One of the mostmodern school plants in the nation hasbeen built at Window Rock on theNavajo Reservation. The school is thefirst of three new plants for Navajochildren and includes facilities forelementary and high school classes,

an administration building, classroombuilding and living quarters for thefaculty.—Phoenix Gazette

• e •

Tritylodont Fossils Discovered . . •KAYENTA—American Museum of

Natural History scientists have uncov-ered what they described as a "magnifi-cent collection" of fossils in MonumentValley near Kayenta. Included in thefind were a dozen skulls and severalarticulate skeletons of tritylodonts,long considered the "missing link" be-tween fossil reptiles and the mammalsthat evolved from them. — PhoenixGazette

• • •Live Alligator Captured . . .

YUMA—Southern Pacific laborerscaptured a young alligator from a near-empty irrigation ditch in the Yuma Val-ley recently. The 15-inch long 'gatorwas taken after a vigorous struggle ina small pocket of water beneath a roadbridge crossing Cooper Ditch, a milepast the 1st Street-Avenue C crossing.Origin of the animal has led to muchspeculation.—Yuma Sun

• • •Colorado River Bridge . . .

YUMA — Construction was sched-uled to start on the Arizona approachto the new Colorado River Bridge atYuma. Work on the main bridge isexpected to be finished by April. —Yuma Sun

• • •WASHINGTON, D. C. — Three

Indian Bureau superintendents will in-terchange assignments in Arizona andUtah, Commissioner Glenn L. Emmonsannounced. John O. Crow will movefrom Fort Apache Agency, Whiteriver,Arizona, to Uintah and Ouray Agency,Fort Duchesne, Utah; Albert M. Haw-ley will move from Papago Agency,Sells, Arizona, to Fort Apache; HarryW. Gilmore will transfer from Uintahand Ouray to Papago.

• • •CALIFORNIA

Navy Boosts Road Plans . . .EL CENTRO — Funds amounting

to more than $600,000 will be avail-able for the construction of a newBlythe-Imperial Valley road under pro-visions of a condemnation-for-leasemove presently underway by the Navy.

ROCKS AMD MINERALS(AMERICA'S OLDEST AND LARGEST MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO ROCKS AND MINERALS)

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A magazine written in simple, understandable language for those interested in rocks, minerals,crystals, ores, gems, sands, fossils. A simple knowledge of minerals could mean your fortune.For fun and adventure galore, read Rocks and Minerals and watch your spare time turn intoa fascinating and profitable hobby. A magazine for young and old alike.

ROCKS AND MINERALSBOX 29, DEPT. D PEEKSKILL, NEW YORK

30 DESERT MAGAZINE

Imperial County Supervisors wereserved with a complaint for condemna-tion of the present Blythe-Niland roadthrough the Navy gunnery range inthe Chocolate Mountains. "We hopethese proceedings will be the vehiclewhereby the Federal Government canpay us so we will be able to use thefunds to build an alternate road," NeilFifield, chairman of the board ofsupervisors, said.—Palo Verde ValleyTimes

• • •Smog Victims Invited . . .

LOS ANGELES — Smog-plaguedLos Angeles residents receive daily in-vitations to come to Phoenix by abillboard which stands on busy Wil-shire Boulevard, in front of the Am-bassador Hotel in Los Angeles. "HadEnough?" asks the sign. Three panelsshow a disgruntled character rubbingthe air pollution from his eyes, hoist-ing an umbrella against the oncomingshowers, and agitated in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Under the panels aline reads: "Try Phoenix—in Arizona'sValley of the Sun." The sign also ad-vertises a Phoenix real estate firm.—Phoenix Gazette

• • •Indians Fight Tax . . .

PALM SPRINGS — Agua CalienteIndians will fight any attempt to taxtheir lands, Tribal Council ChairmanMrs. Vyola Olinger told members ofthe Palm Springs City Council. "Untilwe can develop our land and get in aposition to pay taxes," she said, "wewill oppose them."—Banning Record

• • . •Record Land Transaction . . .

BRAWLEY — Imperial Valley'slargest real estate transaction was maderecently when Montana Farms sold3200 acres of farm lands to Los An-geles purchasers at a price in excessof $1,800,000. The land is located inthree separate parcels in the Brawleyarea.—Calexico Chronicle

• • •Donner Story for Film . . .

NEVADA CITY — The NevadaCounty Board of Trade has asked thecounty historical society to prepare anoutline of the tragic Donner Partystory with an eye toward interesting amajor motion picture company to con-sider it for a film production.—NevadaState Journal

Ranchers Turn to Wells . . .CALEXICO—Colorado River water

shortages are being felt by MexicaliValley ranchers who are now sinkingwells for irrigation purposes. However,James E. Wright, Coachella Valleywell and water system installation en-gineer, branded as "positively ridicu-lous" reports that "a fabulous number"of pumping systems are being put insouth of the border.—Desert Rancher

• • •

Bridge to Span Mojave . . .VICTORVILLE — First budgeted

item for the proposed Victorville toBarstow expressway to appear in thenew State Highway Budget is $1,500,-000 for construction of an overheadbridge and approaches for a four lanefreeway in the Victorville and MojaveRiver areas.—Victor Press

• • •Pageant Move Proposed . . .

CALEXICO — Moving of the his-toric pageant of the International Des-ert Cavalcade from Calexico to theMid-Winter Fair Grounds at Imperialwas proposed by Don Starr, presidentof the Cavalcade board of directors.A committee has been appointed tostudy the suggested transfer.—CalexicoChronicle

• • •Colorado Almost "Dusty" . . .

BLYTHE —The mighty ColoradoRiver is now a puny creek due to sub-normal moisture in the watershed since1952. The flow of the river has beencut back considerably at Hoover andParker Dams and virtually no wateris running into the gulf, sources re-port.—Palo Verde Valley Times

• • •NEVADA

Cattlemen Oppose Rain-Making . . .ELKO—The Nevada Cattle Asso-

ciation approved a resolution opposinguse of public funds to support cloud-seeding projects. Cattlemen said theyhad no objection whatever to rancher-paid rain-making projects, but saidthey objected to diverting public fundsinto cloud-seeding programs.—NevadaState Journal

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Paiutes to File Suit . . .RENO —• A house sub-committee

holding public hearings on the $43,-000,000 Washoe project was told thatthe Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian tribeintends to file a $200,000,000 damagesuit against the Federal government.The Indians will seek to collect fordamages suffered by the tribe whenwater was diverted from the TruckeeRiver by the construction of DerbyDam in 1911. Attorneys for the tribetold the sub-committee that theTruckee River agreement of 1935 andthe Truckee River final decree of 1944guaranteeing a minimum flow of waterto the Paiutes had not been fully com-plied with. The tribe estimates thatit is losing 45,200 acre feet of waterannually at Pyramid Lake and that theproposed Washoe project will takeaway another 24,400 acre feet annu-ally.—Humboldt Star

• • •Rain-Making Pact Signed . . .

CARSON CITY — Nevada's fiveHumboldt River Basin counties haveentered a $21,000 contract for a seven-month cloud-seeding project.

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California

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BURRO-FLAPJACKCONTEST

Stove Pipe Wells Hotel was until hisdeath in 1950 owned and operated byGeorge Palmer Putnam, renownedauthor and explorer. It continues un-der the personal management of Mrs.George Palmer Putnam.

Season: October 1 to June 1

You'll want to keep those

MAPSwhich appear each month inDesert Magazine—maps whichwill be your guide on many de-lightful excursions into the greatdesert playground.Attractive loose-leaf binders em-bossed in gold not only willpreserve the maps, but will bea beautiful addition to yourhome book-shelf. Each binderholds 12 copies. Easy to insert,they open flat.

Mailed postpaid for$2.00

PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6 31

THE DESERT TRADING POSTClassified Advertising in This Section Costs 12c a Word, $2.00 Minimum Per Issue

INDIAN GOODS5 FINE ANCIENT Indian arrowheads, $2.

Flint eagle ceremonial, $2. Perfect Fol-some, $5. Spearhead, $1. List Free. Lear'sGlenwood, Arkansas.

BEAUTIFUL TURQUOISE and Silver jew-elry by the Pueblo Tribes — Bracelets,earrings and necklaces priced from $2.50to $100.00. Authentic Navajo rugs 18" x36" to 50" x 54" and priced from $8.50 to$70.00. The Bradleys, 4639 CrenshawBlvd., Los Angeles 43, California.

SIX FINE Ancient Indian Arrowheads—$2.00. Fine granite Tomahawk — $2.10.Effigy pipe $4.00. Perfect flint thunder-bird—$3.00. Flint fish hook—$3.00. Listfree. Arrowhead, Box 5283, Indianapolis,Indiana.

BEAUTIFUL OBSIDIAN arrowheads fromthe Klamath Country. Black $1.00; gray$1.50; translucent $2.00; profusely illus-trated catalog 50c. Moise Penning, 158Dolorosa, San Lorenzo, California.

OVER 600 fine old baskets. Many rareNavajo rugs, both old and new, Bayeta-Germantown. Artifacts, gems, and fineIndian jewelry. Buffalo Trading Post,Highway 18, Apple Valley, California.

AMERICAN INDIAN HOBBYIST maga-zine designed for those interested in re-producing the crafts and dances of theIndian. Published 10 times a year. Sub-scription rates: $2 for one year; $3.75for two years. P. O. Box 152, Pruess Sta-tion, Los Angeles 35, California.

BOOKS — MAGAZINESBOOKS FOUND—Any title! Free world-

wide book search service. Any book,new or old. Western Americana a spe-cialty. Lowest price. Send wants today!International Bookfinders, Box 3003-D,Beverly Hills, California.

WOOD AND WEEDS. Fun with driedthings by Frances Bostic. Sixteen illus-trations of dried arrangements with text.$1.35 Postpaid, Desert Crafts Shop, PalmDesert, California.

$50.00 BUYS complete volumes, excellentcondition in binders of Desert MagazinesNovember, 1937, to March, 1951, inclu-sive. Robert Hemmig, Box 32216, LosAngeles 32, California.

WANTED—Back issues of Desert Magazine.Will pay $5 for Nov. '37; $1 for Apr. '38;$1.50 for Sept. '38, in good condition.Desert Magazine, Palm Desert, California.

REAL ESTATESAVE, BUY DIRECT from Government,

Surplus Farms, land, homes, etc. List$1.00. Box 169-DMA, East Hartford 8,Connecticut.

VIEW LOTS — Palm Desert Heights. Justabove Desert Magazine block. NearShadow Mountain Club, school, church,market, bus. 70x100, $1200 up. Paved,gas, elec, water. Restricted. For brochurewrite Box 65, Palm Desert, California.

WANT WELL DRILLED—Ocotillo Wells,Highway 78, San Diego County, will deedfree 50 acres choice subdivision land toresponsible party who will drill well onsame and sell water to community. Rogers,Box 86, Del Mar, California.

FOR SALE—164-plus acres 14 miles westPalm Springs between Cabazon and Whitewater. J. R. Scott, 3457 Santa Ana St.,Huntington Park, California.

WARM, BEAUTIFUL 80 acre desert par-cel overlooking Coachella Valley. Ownerwill guarantee big well at his cost. $500per acre. One acre near Box Canyon.Has domestic water. Price $1850, willconsider trust deed or late model car.Lovely Palm Village home, pool, garden,priced for under real value at $50,000.For any type Desert Real Estate writeRonald L. Johnson, Box 162, Thermal,California.

LIVE ON California's high desert. Forgetarthritis-asthma troubles. View lots $750terms. Fred Wasson, Box 115, MorongoValley, California.

MISCELLANEOUS

DESERT TEA. One pound one dollarpostpaid. Greasewood Greenhouses, Len-wood, Barstow, California.

GHOST TOWN ITEMS: Sun-colored glass,amethyst to royal purple; ghost railroadsmaterials, tickets; limited odd items fromcamps of the '60s. Write your interest—Box 64-D, Smith, Nevada.

LADY GODIVA "The World's FinestBeautifier." For women who wish tobecome beautiful, for women who wishto remain beautiful. An outstanding des-ert cream. For information, write or callLola Barnes, 963 N. Oakland, Pasadena6, Calif., or phone SYcamore 4-2378.

GOLD PROSPECTING CATALOG—List-ing, placer and lode maps, steel gold pans,mining and mineral books, books on lostmines, pocket magnifying glasses, min-eral collection sets, blueprints of drywashers and wet washers you can buildyourself. Catalog and Gold Panning Les-sons — Free. Old Prospector, Box 729,Desk 5, Lodi, California.

INTERESTED IN Prospecting for Goldand Industrial Minerals? Join UnitedProspectors and read Panning Gold.Write for application: United Prospec-tors, 701Vi E. Edgeware Rd., Los Ange-les 26, California.

URANIUM MAP of Southwest. Geigercounters, scintillators, snooper, $29.95up. Free catalog, or better, send $1.00for authentic uranium map of SouthwestDesert and catalog. Harry's GeigerCounters, 360 So. Hawthorne Blvd.,Hawthorne, California.

INDIAN PHONOGRAPH Records. NewSingers! Latest Songs! As well as manyold-time songs and chants—all completelyauthentic. Write for free record list No.5. Canyon Records, 834 N. 7th Avenue,Phoenix, Arizona.

SILVERY DESERT HOLLY plants: Onedollar each postpaid. Greasewood Green-houses, Lenwood, Barstow, California.

BUILD YOUR OWN real swimming pool!Fun for the entire family! Easy plan andinstructions, only $1.00. Delta Pools, Box604, Stockton, California.

HAVE REAL FUN with desert gems,minerals and rocks. The rockhound'show-to-do-it magazine tells how. Oneyear (12 issues) only $3.00. Sample 25c.Gems and Minerals, Dept. J10, Palmdale,California.

BUY SURPLUS DIRECT from govern-ment at tremendous savings. Farm tools,machinery, feed, truck, jeep, tractor.Hundreds of others. List $1.00. Box169-Daa East Hartford 8, Connecticut.

WANTED—Frontier or old revolver forDesert reader's collection. In good con-dition and reasonable. Roy W. Guerin,2190 Cheryl Way, San Jose, California.

SECTIONIZED COUNTY MAPS — SanBernardino $1; Riverside $1; Imperial50c; San Diego 50c; Inyo 75c; other Cali-fornia counties $1.25 each. Nevada coun-ties $1 each. Uranium location maps:southwestern states $1; Northwesternstates $1.50; California $1.50; Four Cor-ners area $1. Westwide Maps Co., 114W. Third St., Los Angeles.

ATOMIC RESEARCH geiger countersmodel B50, $100; Model B60, $139.95.Compare our prices. Vacationer geigercounter $35. Guaranteed. Sadler Elec-tronics, Box 475, Clayton, New Mexico.

PROSPECTING PARTNER wanted—activeor inactive to finance trip to remote lostplacer area in Arizona. I have definitevaluable information. Also intend stakingout 20 valuable placer claims in samearea. If interested write J. G. Bell, Bea-man, Iowa, RFD.

FIND BURIED TREASURE, gold and sil-ver, with Goldak's sensational 3V4 lb."Find-It" locator, only $49.50. Write forfree literature on complete line of mineral,metal locators; Geiger and scintillationcounters. Goldak, 1541 W. GlenoaksBlvd., Glendale, California.

FISHER SCINTILLA-SCOPE, 1V4 inchcrystal, $487.50 retail, $300. As abovewith gun type probe, $350. Also metallocators, geiger counters. Kenneth May-hall, Belmont, Mississippi.

KEEP KNIVES super sharp with handy "Ro-lit" knife grinder. $1.25 Ppd. "Rolit,"392 West Center, Springville, Utah.

BECOME A GAME WARDEN, Profes-sional Hunter! Join Forestry, Park, Fish-ery Services. Good Pay! OpportunitiesOpen! Free! Revealing "Select-Job Chart,"details, job-getting secrets. Write HomeStudy Educators, 1036-33 La Brea, LosAngeles 19, California.

NEW! Uranium detector kit, $8.49. Guar-anteed. Postpaid. Free catalog. CMGIndustries, Box 611-DM, Laramie, Wyo.

Industrial Dispersion Studied . . .CARSON CITY—A Nevada State

Industrial Dispersion committee, de-signed to help locate new industry soas to make it as invulnerable as pos-sible to attack, has been established inthe state by the U. S. Department ofCommerce.

32 DESERT M A G A Z I N E

Seeks End to Wardship . . .RENO—Preparation for further ac-

tion on the bill to terminate Federalwardship of four Nevada Indian col-onies is now underway by Congress-man Cliff Young. The colonies in-volved are Reno-Sparks, Carson, LasVegas and Elko. By the terms of thebill, Indians in the colonies affectedwould have a choice of four alterna-tives with regard to colony property:(1) the property could be sold andthe proceeds divided; (2) the propertycould be conveyed to a corporationowned by the Indians; (3) the prop-erty could be conveyed to a trustee forthe benefit of the Indians; (4) theproperty could be subdivided andtransferred directly to the Indians.—Nevada State Journal

• • •Land Agencies Face Crackdown . . .

RENO—Steps are being taken bythe Bureau of Land Management toclamp down on private land filingagencies which are not qualified torepresent applicants who are seekingpublic lands. W. Reed Roberts of theBureau of Land Management in Renocautioned all persons interested in pub-lic land acquisition to check the quali-fications of private land locating firmsbefore engaging them.—Pioche Record

• 9 ©

Elephant Fossils Found . . .GERLACH — ELwood Benner of

Sparks has uncovered what promises tobe the most nearly complete prehis-toric elephant remains ever found inthe area. The discovery was made atGerlach. Professor Ira LaRivers ofthe University of Nevada said the ele-phant, not a true mastodon, dates back"fairly recently" in geological history—about a million years ago.—NevadaState Journal

s • •

Farming Areas Opened . . .BOULDER CITY — Secretary of

the Interior Douglas McKay announcedthe opening to settlement of eight full-time farm units in the Wellton-Mo-hawk division, Gila Project, in south-western Arizona. The land openingcomprises 1411.3 acres and the farmsrange in size from 119.4 to 155.6 irri-gable acres. Total cost for a farmranges from $411 to $760 and al-though the lands are to be sold at theirappraised dry-land value, the disposalprocedure is almost identical to that ofhomesteading.—Needles Desert Star

• • •Litterbug War Declared . . .

CARSON CITY—Governor CharlesH. Russell announced the start of ayear-long drive to curb litterbug activi-ties in the state. The highway patrolwill cooperate in the campaign, Rus-sell declared.—Caliente Herald

Storey County Petroglyphs . . .VIRGINIA CITY — The Nevada

Park Commission is considering thecreation of a state park out of StoreyCounty's 80 acre petroglyph area, lo-cated 15 miles north of Virginia City.Scientists believe the petroglyph areawas the summer camping grounds ofthe ancient Pyramid Lake tribes. —Territorial Enterprise

• • e

Few Pinyon Nuts . . .FALLON — Hunters and Indians

report that there is a scarcity of pinyonnuts in the surrounding hills this year.Favorite places to hunt pine-nuts inthe Fallon area are at lone Valley,Westgate, Carroll Summit and Jobe'sPeak.—Fallon Standard

• • e

NEW MEXICOMilitary Hunting Stopped . . .

WASHINGTON, D. C—Authorityof military personnel to hunt on theFt. Bliss firing range in southern NewMexico has been suspended. The officeof the Secretary of the Army advisedSen. Dennis Chavez that the suspen-sion had been ordered by the Ft. Blisscommandant, Maj. Gen. P. W. Rut-ledge, pending an investigation intothe matter. Meanwhile, Senator Cha-vez announced that he will introducelegislation to prevent servicemen fromhunting on a military range withoutstate hunting licenses.

• • •Rare Desert Shrimp Found . . .

LOVINGTON—Fresh water shell-fish, commonly known as desertshrimp, have been found in a pondsix miles south of Lovington. Theshell-fish are similar to the FairyShrimp found earlier near Barstow,California, which attracted national at-tention.

• • •Apaches Win Approval . . .

SANTE FE—Peace officers of theMescalero Apache tribe may serve asdeputy sheriffs so long as they meet allother qualifications, the attorney gen-eral's office ruled.—Alamogordo DailyNews

Fort Union Now Monument . . .LAS VEGAS—Old Ft. Union was

officially made a United States Na-tional Monument. Twenty thousanddollars were raised during the effort tocreate the monument. A group calledFt. Union, Inc., organized to preservethe old fort as a historical center, raisedthe money.—New Mexican

Radar Plants Confirmed . . .AJO—The Air Force confirmed re-

ports that it plans to build radar sta-tions at Ajo and Nogales at a cost ofnearly $2,500,000 each. Radar sta-tions of this type are usually mannedby about 15 officers and 150 airmen,the Air Force said. The two SouthernArizona stations presumably will com-plete a state-wide network that hasbeen under discussion for some time.—Phoenix Gazette

• • •Homesteaders Want Mineral Rights

ALBUQUERQUE — Homesteadersin the Lindrith-Cuba area have organ-ized the New Mexico HomesteadLands Association for the purpose ofobtaining from the government a con-veyance of the mineral rights whichwere originally reserved. If this can-not be accomplished, then the associa-tion will seek the adoption of regula-tions which will give the landownersprotection and rights against prospec-tors. The association plans a state-wide meeting in Albuquerque withstate Congressional representatives.—Torrance County News

1000 TRAVEL SCENES

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J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6 33

UTAHSalt Lake Dike Studied . . .

SALT LAKE CITY — A panelgroup was organized at the State Capi-tol to investigate the feasibility of con-structing a dike on the eastern side ofthe Great Salt Lake to form a freshwater lake. A $15,000 appropriationwas recently made to the road com-mission for the survey. Elected chair-man of the study group was Grant E.Burns, Davis County planning director.—Box Elder Journal

• • •Echo Park Dam Dropped . . .

DENVER, COLORADO — Con-gressmen from four Western Stateshave given up their fight to get a hugedam built in Dinosaur National Mon-ument—a project which aroused muchopposition from conservation groupsthroughout the nation. Senator Clin-ton Anderson of New Mexico an-nounced the decision. He said theSenators and Representatives agreed"not to try to reinsert Echo Park Damin any form" into the Upper ColoradoRiver bill.—Los Angeles Times

• • •Prehistoric Fossil Uncovered . . .

HANKSVILLE — An elephantinemonster with ponderous legs, a longneck and tail, and a tiny head is being

GLORIOUS HDVEHTURE

unearthed near Hanksville by paleon-tologic teams from Yale University andthe University of Utah. The animal,which measures 50 feet long and 12feet tall, resembles the brontosaurusfound near Fruita in 1900. The spe-cies roamed the earth some 130 millionyears ago. Joseph Gregory, curatorof vertebrate paleontology at Yale isin charge of the excavation work. —Dove Creek Press

• • •

Indian Farms Uncovered . . .PARAGONAH — Evidence that a

group of Indians came to Utah ninecenturies before the Mormons andbuilt a prosperous farming communitynear Paragonah has been discovered,UCLA archeologists reported. Dr.Clement Meighan said he and his stafffound evidence that the region wassettled by Indians around 1000 A.D.,apparently arriving from Arizona. In1200 A.D. these Indians were eitherthe victims of a severe drouth or re-turned to Arizona.—Phoenix Gazette

22 Litterbugs Cited . . .SALT LAKE CITY—O. Leo Rob-

inson, Salt Lake County health director,signed complaints against 22 personsin one day, charging them with spill-ing rubbish and other matter on thestreets. "Repeated warnings, fines andeven threatened jail sentences have notstopped these flagrant violations, butwe are going to keep after violatorsuntil the practice of strewing the streetswith debris is halted," Robinson de-clared.—Salt Lake Tribune

In the Canyons of the Coloradoand San Juan Rivers

Sturdy boats and skilled boatmen-guidesinsure safe and thoroughly enjoyable passagethrough the most colorful canyons of theSouthwest desert.

SAN JUAN AND COLORADO RIVERSMexican Hat to Lee's Ferry

7-day trips scheduled in May and June$200 for each person

GLEN CANYON OF THE COLORADOHite, Utah, to Lee's Ferry

8-day trips in August and September$150 for each person

GRAND CANYON OF THE COLORADOLee's Ferry to Lake Mead

18-day trip in JulySpecial charter trips may be arranged.

Write for 1956 summer schedule and rates.J. FRANK WRIGHT

MEXICAN HAT EXPEDITIONSP.O. lex 427 Blanding, Utah

New and ImprovedProducts forDesert Living

Death Valley Route Traced . . .CEDAR CITY—William Flanigan,

79, veteran Southern Utah explorer,and Robert Pace of Thistle, completedin eight days the trip from Cedar Cityto Death Valley that took three monthsby the ill fated Death Valley pioneersin 1848-49. Flanigan and Pace wouldlike to see a marker placed at the pointon the Spanish Trail where the DeathValley party turned west on their"short cut" to the Coast. They alsosuggested the placement of other mark-ers at appropriate locations on the en-tire length of the trail. The two menmade the trip in a jeep.—WashingtonCounty News

• • •

Eocene Fossils Discovered . „ .DUCHESNE — Fossils collected

from the banks of the Duchesne Riverhave been identified as reptiles of theEocene epoch some 60,000,000 yearsago. Most of the bones found are ofturtle shells, but a crocodile and a garfish also were present in the collection.—Vernal Express

PORTABLE GEIGER-MUELLERCOUNTER FEATURES PROBE

The Menlolab Mark VII, manufac-tured by the Menlo Research Labora-tory, Menlo Park, California, is a newportable geiger-mueller counter withseparate probe. The Mark VII features0.01 mr/hr sensitivity and has a three-range stepping switch. Response toradioactivity is reflected by a flashingNE5 neon bulb which also serves toilluminate the meter face at night. Earphones, supplied with the instrument,are connected by tip-jacks when de-sired. The instrument weighs four-and-a-fourth pounds complete withbatteries and sells for $133.50.

SCINTILLATOR DESIGNEDFOR VERSATILE USE

The Jeb "Special Groundaire" scin-tillation counter features an inch-square sodium iodide crystal, foursensitivity ranges, two time constants,rugged deep-drawn aircraft construc-tion aluminum case, carrying strap,external probe and three-and-a-halfinch Simpson meter and battery draincompensation control for longer bat-tery life. The Jeb Special can be usedfrom aircraft, automobile or while onfoot. Manufacturer is Jeb Instruments,4641 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles27, California. The instrument sellsfor $249.50.

MAKE YOUR OWN GEIGERCOUNTER WITH NEW KIT

The "do it yourself" trend has finallyreached the geiger counter industry.Sierra Scientific Co., 5415 York Blvd.,Los Angeles, has perfected a new kitfrom which can be assembled a geigercounter with the latest of electronicfeatures. Small and compact, thecounter has the sensitivity of the moreexpensive instruments, the manufac-turer claims.

NEW CATALOG ONGEIGER COUNTERS

The Nuclear Measurements Corpo-ration, 2460 N. Arlington Ave., Indi-anapolis, Ind., recently issued an eight-page bulletin describing and illustratingits complete line of portable geiger andscintillation counters. Specifications,construction features and prices of thethree scintillation counters are cov-ered in the bulletin.

34 DESERT MAGAZINE

MINES and MININGSacramento, California . . .

The western governors' minerals policiesconference was told by a committee onmineral economics that tariffs ranging from15 to 100 percent for most minerals im-

Alamogordo, New Mexico . . .A resurgence of interest in copper de-

posits in the Sacramento Mountains nearAlamogordo has brought new mining com-panies into the field, with prospects good

chinery into the mountains preparatory toout mgner auues or vae * — £ ^ ™ Opening work on the Mi l rW group" ofto U.S. producers of d percentage ot the £ . Operations were scheduled to starttariffs now collected, the outlook of the ^^f,^ o n c l a i m s l e a s e d from Fredmineral industry m the 1 States is * Mayhill. Dale leased two claims

citing the necessity for higher import du-ties, the committee pointed out that "thor-ium and antimony are no longer mined;chrome, fluorspar, manganese, tungsten,gold, silver, zinc, mercury and uranium areable to plan for a future ranging in lengthfrom a few months to a few years; onlycopper and, to a lesser extent, lead canclearly see a future."—Salt Lake Tribune

• • •

Lucerne Valley. California . . .Eight placer mining claims on Cushen-

bury Grade have been sold to Kaiser SteelCorporation for $1,530,000. The claims, ina high grade limerock area, will be minedon a contract basis for Kaiser by the pro-jected Permanente cement plant to beerected along the grade. Mr. and Mrs.Allan S. Vinnell and Mr. and Mrs. ClairW. Dunton of Alhambra sold the propertyto Kaiser.—Victor Valley News-Herald

Elko, Nevada . . .Renewed petroleum drilling activity in

Nevada wildcat areas was predicted byLouis Gordon, executive secretary of theNevada Mining Association. Gordon pointedout that the Secretary of the Interior hasapproved the Rabbit Creek unit in ElkoCounty for the Gulf Refining Co. The unitis small, as units go in Nevada, comprisingless than 10,000 acres. Gulf has enteredinto an agreement with the Richfield OilCo. to drill a well on the unit at an earlydate. The Shell Oil Co. has unitized anarea along the Utah-Nevada border to beknown as the Baker Creek Unit.—TonopahTimes-Bonanza

McDermitt, Nevada . • .Jay A. Carpenter, retired head of the

University of Nevada's school of mines,reported that a mercury deposit valued at$2,000,000 has been blocked out on theNevada-Oregon state line near McDermitt.The deposit, according to Carpenter, isowned by the Shawano Development Corp.of New York. More than 35,000 tons ofmercury ore has been blocked out byrotary drilling at Shawano's Bretz Mine,near the Sun Oil Company's Cordero Mine.The present government guaranteed pricefor a 76-pound flask of mercury is $225,but open market prices in recent monthshave been from $265 to a high of $320.—Pioche Record

Lovelock, Nevada . . .Three thousand tons of tungsten ore have

been stockpiled at the Vincoze Brothersmine at Ragged Top, west of Lovelock. Anestimated 120,000 tons of ore are in sightat the mine, according to geologists. A camphas been established at the mine. Five menare employed in the operation.—NevadaState Journal

—Alamogordo Daily News

Phoenix, Arizona . . .Mining property valuations in Arizona,

after declining the last few years, havereached their highest peak in 24 years, itwas disclosed by a report of the state de-partment of mineral resources. Final 1955taxable valuations of mining property to-taled $199,502,383, for the highest figuresince 1931 when the total was $243,000,000.Last year's mine valuations were $172,319,-348, the report stated.—Phoenix Gazette

Yerington, Nevada . . .Standard Slag of Gabbs has announced

plans for extensive iron ore mining opera-tions near Yerington. Five men will beemployed in the open pit mining operationand Wells Cargo has been given a contractto haul the ore. The ore body is regardedas one of the richest in the State. The prop-erty was acquired by Hans and Fritz Jes-sen of Smith Valley several years ago andis now owned by Mrs. Hans lessen of Haw-thorne. Standard Slag is mining on a roy-alty basis.—Nevada State Journal

Eureka, Nevada . . .Excellent oxidized lead-silver-gold ore

has been encountered on the north 850-foot level of the T. L. Shaft of the EurekaCorp., Ltd. A 45-ton shipment of the firstdevelopment ore was made to the MidvaleSmelter at Salt Lake Valley, Utah.—PiocheRecord

Elko, Nevada . . .The Nevada Oil Chemical Co., Inc., an-

nounced that it will reopen the old Catlinoil shale plant two miles southwest of Elko.A new process will be used to extract oiland wax from the shale, Ben I. Rankin,president of the company said. He alsoindicated that a market already has beensecured for the products.—Pioche Record

Sulphur, Nevada . . .Sulphur Products, Inc. of Sulphur, Nev.,

i» shipping 50 tons of 35 percent soil sul-phur daily, the company reported. Nearlyall shipments are being made in self-sealing100 pounds paper bags which are asphaltlined to prevent the sulphur's chemical at-tack on the paper. Sulphur shipments arebeing made to Arizona, Washington, Idaho,California and Oregon where it is used toimprove agricultural soil. Besides neutraliz-ing alkali, it releases locked-up plant foodand replenishes the soil with sulphur. —Nevada State Journal

Las Vegas, Nevada . . •Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay

said most of this nation's high grade oreshave been depleted and the U. S. now facesa growing dependence upon imports tomeet mineral needs. "No longer can wefight a war or sustain an industrial economywithout the aid of materials from foreignsources," McKay told the American MiningCongress convention. The U.S. is heavilydependent upon imports of tin, chromium,nickel, manganese and bauxite, he said. —Nevada State Journal

Good Springs, Nevada . . .A promising strike of commercial lead-

silver ore has been made by Olympic Ur-anium, Inc., at its Bell mine at GoodSprings, company pres»dent W. W. lacobsonreported. The vein has been opened fora lateral distance of 80 feet, is eight feethigh and five feet wide and should netOlympic $30 per ton after royalty payment,Jacobson said. Initial shipments shouldreach 35 tons per week, he added.—PiocheRecord

Battle Mountain, Nevada . . .United Mercury Corporation announced

that it will begin production immediately ona site near Battle Mountain. The companyhas completed an extensive developmentprogram which included construction ofroads into the area and housing. The watersystem, ore bins, conveyors and other proc-essing facilities are now ready for operationand piers were constructed for the placingof a kiln with 100-ton daily capacity. Thekiln is now installed. Assays on ore alreadystockpiled show an excess of five pounds ofmercury per ton.—Nevada State Journal

TREASURE HUNTERSNew type metals detector. Distinguishes

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"OVERLOOKED FORTUNES"IN THE RARER MINERALS

Find war minerals! Here are a few of the40 or more strategic rarer minerals whichyou may be overlooking in the hills or inthat mine or prospect hole: columbium, tan-talum, uranium, vanadium, tungsten, nickel,cobalt, bismuth, palladium, iridium, osmi-um, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, titan-ium, tin, molybdenum, selenium, germanium,manganese, cadmium, thallium, antimony,mercury, chromium, etc. Prices booming;many much more valuable than a goldmine: cassiterite now $1000 a ton; bismuth$1500 a ton; columbite $2500 a ton; tanta-lite or microlite $5000 a ton; tungsten $3pound; platinum $90 ounce, etc. Now youcan learn what they are, how to find, iden-tify and cash in upon them. Send for freecopy "overlooked fortunes"—it may leadto knowledge which may make you rich!A postcard will do.

DUKE'S RESEARCH LABORATORYBox 666, Dept. B, Hot Springs, New Mexico

J A N U A R Y , 1956 35

New Mining Regulations SetFor Death Valley Monument

The Department of the Interior recentlyreleased regulations which will govern thesurface use of claims in the Death ValleyNational Monument:

(1) The claim shall be occupied andused exclusively for mineral exploration anddevelopment and for no other purpose ex-cept that upon written permission of anauthorized officer or employee of the Na-tional Park Service the surface of the claimmay be used for other specified purposes,the use to be on such conditions and forsuch period as may be prescribed whenpermission is granted.

(2) The owner of the claim and all per-sons holding under him shall conform toall rules and regulations governing occu-pancy of the lands within the NationalMonument.

(3) The use and occupancy of the sur-face of mining claims as prescribed in sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) of the paragraphshall apply to all such claims located afterthe date of the Act of June 13, 1933 (48Stat 139, 16 U.S.C. 447), within the limitsof the National Monument as fixed byProclamation No. 2028 of February 11,1933, and enlarged by Proclamation No.2228 of March 26, 1937, and to all miningclaims on lands hereafter included in theNational Monument, located after such in-clusion so long as such claims are withinthe boundaries of said Monument.

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(4) Prospectors or miners shall not openor construct roads or vehicle trails withoutfirst obtaining written permission from anauthorized officer or employee of the Na-tional Park Service. Applications for per-mits shall be accompanied by a map orsketch showing the location of the miningproperty to be served and the location ofthe proposed road or vehicle trail. Thepermit shall be conditioned upon the per-mittee's maintaining the road or trail in apassable condition as long as it is used bythe permittee or his successors.

(5) From and after the date of publica-tion of this section, no construction, devel-opment, or dumping upon any location orentry, lying wholly or partly within the areasset forth in subdivisions (i) to (iii) of thissubparagraph, shall be undertaken until theplans for such construction, development,and dumping insofar as the surface is af-fected thereby, shall have been first sub-mitted to and approved in writing by anauthorized officer or employee of the Na-tional Park Service.

(i) All land within 200 feet of the cen-ter line of any public road.

(ii) All land within the smallest legalsubdivision of the public land surveys con-taining a spring or waterhole or within onequarter of a mile thereof on unsurveyedpublic land.

(iii) All land within any site developedor approved for development by the Na-tional Park Service as^a residential, adminis-trative, or public campground site. Suchsites shall include all land within the ex-terior boundaries thereof as conspicuouslyposted by the placing of an appropriate signdisclosing that the boundaries of the devel-oped site are designated on a map of thesite which will be available for inspectionin the office of the Superintendent. If notso posted, such sites shall include all landwithin 1000 feet of any Federally ownedbuildings, water and sewer systems, roadloops, and camp tables and fireplaces set atdesignated camp sites.

(b) Use of water. No works or watersystem of any kind for the diversion, im-poundment, appropriation, transmission orother use of water shall be constructed onor across Monument lands, including miningclaims, without a permit approved by anauthorized officer or employee of the Na-tional Park Service. Application for suchpermit shall be accompanied by plans ofthe proposed construction. The permit shallcontain the following conditions:

RADIUM MINES, ING.140 N. VIRGINIA ST.

RENO, NEVADA

Why not deal with a prewar corporation?INCORPORATED 1940

FOR SALE: Uranium, Germanium, Rare Earths,Claims in three states.

WANTED: Claims of uranium and all otherrare elements.

(1) No diversion and use of the watershall conflict with the paramount generalpublic need for such water;

(2) Such water systems shall include tapsor spigots at points to be prescribed by theSuperintendent, for the convenience of thepublic; and

(3) All appropriations of water, in com-pliance with the State water laws, shall bemade for public use in the name of theUnited States and in accordance with in-structions to be supplied by an authorizedofficer or employee of the National ParkService.

(c) Permits. Application for any permitrequired by this section shall re madethrough the Superintendent of the Monu-ment.

(d) Filing of copies of mining locations.From and after the publication of this para-graph, in order to facilitate the administra-tion of the regulations in this part, copiesof all mining locations filed in the office ofthe County Recorder shall be furnished tothe office of the Superintendent, Death Val-ley National Monument, by the person filingthe mining location in his own behalf or onbehalf of any other person.(Sec. 3, 39 Stat. 535, as amended; 16 U.S.C.3)(F.R. Doc. 53-106-07; Filed, Dec. 22, 1953;8:45 a.m. Amended F.R. Doc. 55-2519;Filed, Mar. 28, 1955; 8:46 a.m.)

The General Rules and Regulations alsodesignate all parks and monuments as wild-life sanctuaries and prohibits the hunting,killing, wounding, frightening or capturingor attempting to do the same. The law alsoprohibits the unauthorized possession or useof firearms.

Section 1.91, paragraph (a) of the Gen-eral Rules and Regulations, Penalties states:"Any person who violates any provision ofthe rules and regulations in this chapter, oras the same may be amended or supple-mented . . . shall be deemed guilty of amisdemeanor and upon conviction thereofshall be punished by a fine of not morethan $500 or imprisonment for not exceed-ing 6 months, or both, and be adjudged topay all costs of the proceedings."

Sacramento, California . . .Four of six governors attending the West-

ern governors' minerals policies conferencecalled for either a return to the gold stan-dard or modification of laws which wouldnot let the gold price seek its own level.However, the governors were warned bySenator Alan Bible of Nevada that the out-look for a return to the gold standard was"as black as the ace of spades." — BattleMountain Scout

Santa Fe, New Mexico . . .Manuel Lujan, president of the Petaca

Mining Corp., which owns mica depositsnorth of Santa Fe, took issue with an-nounced government plans to speed effortsto develop substitutes for mica. Earlier thestate Economic Development Commissionalso protested the proposed government ex-penditures for research and development ofmica substitutes.—New Mexican

THE PROSPECTOR'S CATALOGWe are pleased to announce the advent ofa new Minerals Unlimited Catalog, specifi-cally designed for the amateur or profes-sional prospector. If you are interested infieiger Counters, Mineralights, Blowpipe Sets,Gold Pan or any of the other equipmentnecessary to a field or prospecting trip,send 5c in stamps or coin for your copy.

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36 DESERT MAGAZINE

BOOM DAYS IN URANIUM

Engineer Michael D. Obele of the Ameri-can Mineral Development Company believesthorium will compete with uranium for fu-ture atomic energy usage. Recent techno-logical advances indicate that thorium maybe more desirable than uranium for manypurposes, he said.

He based his claim of a bright thoriumfuture on the fact that thorium is safer tohandle than uranium.

The Brookhaven National Laboratoryrecently designed a thorium reactor which,if it meets its engineering potential, couldmake the uranium reactor, like that used inthe Nautilus, obsolete.

The present reactors must be charged withuranium. Fission is controlled with cad-mium rods which absorb the neutrons. Thisslows down the rate of fission and whenthe uranium is exhausted the reactor mustbe opened and the highly poisonous wastematerials cleaned out before the reactor canbe operated again.

The future of thorium is brightened bytwo additional factors, thorium metallurgy

and new research programs in the rareearths field.

Lindsay Chemical Co. has recently com-pleted a $2,500,000 plant for the processingof thorium concentrates. The ConsolidatedEdison Co. of New York announced thatit will use both uranium and thorium in itsproposed power plant at Indian Point, N.Y.—Pioche Record

Land Bureau to Issue MineLeases in Lake Mead Area

Leases for mining of uranium and otherhard rock minerals in land within the LakeMead recreational area will be issued bythe Bureau of Land Management underspecial regulations, according to Superin-tendent Charles Richey of Boulder City.

Means to facilitate a uranium develop-ment program in lands of the recreationarea created by construction of Hoover Damwere requested by the AEC and numerousprospectors.

The National Park Service pointed outthat while a national park is not involved,the regulations specifically prohibit unneces-sary damage to vegetation, pollution of thewaters of Lake Mead and erection of un-sightly buildings.—Nevada State Journal

Nation Has Large A-BombSupply, Scientist Says

Dr. Ralph E. Lapp, prominent nuclearscientist, said this country's stockpile ofatom bombs already "amounts to severaltons of TNT for every inhabitant of ourplanet."

It is so fantastically large, he said, thereis no point in keeping it secret. Dr. Lappcalled on President Eisenhower to discloseits dimensions, saying this "could be apotent force for peace."—Salt Lake Tribune

Discovery of uranium about 45 milesfrom Yerington along the Walker Riverwas reported by Gordon P. Burnet, FrankA. Williams and James A. Ellis who own53 claims in Lyon County. They reporttheir latest discovery contains an ore knownas kasolite, previously known only in theBelgian Congo. The discovery was madeat an elevation of 6500 feet. About 40 tonsof ore have been stacked at the mine.—Territorial Enterprise

The sale of uranium prospecting permitson two units of Fort Apache Indian Reser-vation has brought more than $43,000 intotribal coffers, John O. Crow, agency super-intendent reported. As a result of interestshown in the sale, it is expected that addi-tional tribal lands on the Fort Apachereservation and the adjoining San Carlosreservation may be offered.—Mining Record

The government plans to set up a $4,-000,000 nuclear reactor for developmentof the atomic airplane. The National Ad-visory Committee for Aeronautics announcedthat the site has been chosen for the testinstallation near Sandusky, Ohio, whereresearch will be carried out on problems ofdesigning and building a nuclear poweredaircraft.—Salt Lake Tribune

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Vertical Ore Vein PuzzlesMoab Uranium Co. Officials

Moab Uranium Co. officials announcedthat a new uranium strike has been madewhich has them puzzled. The strike is onthe Happy Shep claim in Moab Uranium'sMount Hillers group at the south base ofMount Hillers in the Henry Mountains.The strike might easily be of bonanzaproportions but because of a freakish for-mation there is no way to accurately esti-mate its worth, the company said. On thesouth side of Mount Hillers the Morrisonformation for more than a mile stands upand down, instead of lying horizontal as itusually does.

Since drilling was not feasible, Moab Ur-anium drifted in from the base of the out-crop, more than 60 feet below the highestpoint. Miners uncovered a vertical veinslightly more than a foot wide after tunnel-ing 86 feet. A chemical assay showed a.26 percent uranium content. A new methodof mining may have to be devised in orderto make the new strike economically pro-ductive.—San Juan Record

• o •

Uranium Strikes May ReturnBoom Days to Ballarat

Uranium in commercial quantities hasbeen found in Pleasant and Happy canyonsin Panamint Valley, California. No longera ghost town, Ballarat, on the valley floordirectly in front of the two canyons in thePanamint range, is headquarters for manyof the 50 or so mining men in the region.Many are active in developing gold, silverand tungsten claims as well as uranium.

Ore registering .18 percent uranium hasraised hopes that Ballarat's boom days willreturn.—Mining Record

Dr. Armand J. Eardley, dean of the Col-lege of Mines and Minerals Industries atthe University of Utah, predicted that themilitary requirements of the present ura-nium ore buying program will be met bythe end of 1955—seven years ahead ofschedule. The uranium ore domestic pur-chasing agreement is supposed to last untilMarch 31, 1962, but the U. S. apparentlyis far ahead of schedule, he declared. —Battle Mountain Scout

• • •

Big Uranium Discovery MadeSouth of Austin, Nevada

Austin, Nevada, once one of Nevada'srichest mineral districts, came into prom-inence again recently with the announce-ment of a radioactive ore body discoverysix miles south of town. The ore is locatedon the Diamond claim of Uranium Mines,Inc., operators of the Runberg mine.

Company officials believe the ore can bemined by open pit methods. Engineers esti-mate that between 50,000 and 75,000 tonsof ore can be taken from the vein whichlies at depths of only 12 feet. The vein is35 feet wide.

Minerals occurring in the vein structureare autunite and tobernite, two ores whichcarry uranium.

At present development work at the siteis being conducted by Uranium Mines, Inc.,and Apex Uranium.—Pioche Record

• • •Union Uranium Company President T. O.

Matkins reports that his firm has acquiredhalf interest in 131 mining claims in Wash-ington County, Utah. The company hasalso purchased the Slick Rock Mine in SanMiguel County, Colorado. — 3ove CreekPress

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House Investigators ProbingFrauds by Uranium Brokers

Harold H. Cook, a spokesman for theNational Association of Securities Dealers,told the House sub-committee on interstateand foreign commerce that the NASD hasinvestigated all 167 of its member firms inthe states of Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming,Utah and New Mexico. As a result of theseexaminations, 56 complaints have been filedin that district.

Two members of the House committee,Reps. Arthur Klein (D-NY) and John R.Bennett (R-Mich), agreed that some of thepractices of certain uranium brokers "area fraud on the public" and are akin "toracketeering." They were referring specifi-cally to commissions on stock deals rangingup to 33 percent and to certain optionagreements.

Rep. Klein said the sub-committee's in-vestigations earlier this year revealed thatin addition to charging high commissions,uranium brokers sometimes take options tobuy up to a million shares at less than acent a share.—Nevada State Journal

• • •

Old Mines Best Place toFind U-Ore, Expert Says

Uranium is found with other mineralsand most discoveries in California have oc-curred in areas where there are mines whichhave yielded lead, gold, silver or other ele-ments, according to Dr. D. Foster Hewett,a member of the United States GeologicalSurvey for the past 44 years.

He recommends that uranium prospectorsfirst study at least 30 minerals in which theradioactive ores are most likely to occurbefore setting off on any prospecting ven-ture. Actually, Dr. Hewett said, there are162 minerals in which uranium-thorium mayappear.

"The Miracle Mine, top California ura-nium producer, is located in a group of oldtungsten deposits. Go to the old mines,"Dr. Hewett recommended. "Chemical testsare costly and sometimes don't agree," headded. "Send your samples to the AtomicEnergy Commission or the U. S. GeologicalSurvey. They will give you an EU (equiva-lent in uranium—this may be misleadingin that nonfissionable thorium may also geta high EU reading) reading on your ore."Pioche Record

• • •

Plateau Uranium InterestsConcerned Over Vanadium

Mounting stockpiles of vanadium in AECand General Services Administration ware-houses are causing grave concern to ura-nium interests on the Colorado Plateau.Adding uncertainties to the situation is theproposal of the AEC to establish vanadiumtailing ponds at certain mills in the area.Vanadium removal and processing allegedlyaccounts for between 50 and 70 percent ofthe cost of uranium milling in the UnitedStates.

It has been reported that the UnitedStates has sufficient vanadinrp in stockpileto fight a three year war without anotherounce of domestic production. Dove CreekPress

Robert Lopez of Las Vegas reported re-cently that he and two partners have dis-covered rich uranium, monazite and thor-ium deposits in southern Nevada. Thethree men prospected the area by airplane.The discovery was made 11 months ago,but public announcement was withheld pend-ing court settlement of the land ownershipquestion.—Nevada State Journal

38 DESERT MAGAZINE

Colonial Co. Takes OverControl of Thorium Corp.

Colonial Uranium Co. has acquired con-trol of Thorium Corporation of America.Robert I. Ludwig, Colonial president, saidthe company assumed control with the re-cent acquisition of all outstanding TCAstock. This means that Colonial will takethe lead in filling the $1,000,000 contractwhich TCA holds with Lindsay ChemicalCo. for production of thorium concentrates.It also brings Colonial a larger share ofother important interests owned by TCA.

"Colonial and TCA now plan to embarkon an early program to create milling fa-cilities for processing thorium ores nowobtainable in Colorado, Wyoming and NewMexico," Ludwig said.—Battle MountainScout

• • •A uranium deposit described by a govern-

ment official as "ten times better than theremaining prospects on the Colorado Pla-teau," has been discovered 30 miles northof Austin, Nevada. The large deposit,Worked as the Hart Uranium Mine, wasdiscovered in March. The development thusfar consists of about 40 bulldozer cuts.Owners estimate a 3,000,000-ton area ofgood ore, with uranium being found inevery location hole and in the road cuts.The uranium occurs in lake bedded tuffa-cious sediments in layers up to 12 feet inthickness, and in outcrop for nearly sevenmiles in length and two miles in width.—Nevada State Journal

• • •The sale of 159 uranium claims including

the rich King Edward and King Jamesclaims, for a consideration of over fivemillion dollars was consummated recently.The claims originally were located by Sethand A. Shumway and then turned over toRansom Brothers Mining Company of NewMexico on a working lease option. Theclaims are all in the upper CottonwoodWash area of San Juan County, Utah. Theentire contracts were bought by Jay Bettlesof Wallace, Idaho, mining promoter, whosaid the contracts will be turned over totwo companies from the Couer d'Alenecountry.-—Dove Creek Press

Uranium ore taken from open cuts at theHappy Joe Mine, a newly developed prop-erty at Sun Flower Flat near Mountain City,Nevada, indicate that the discovery is ofmajor proportions, according to Leon andJoe Belaustegui and mining engineer OttoRadley. Five of the 45-ton carloads assayedat .34 percent for a yield of $46 per ton,while the remaining three cars assayed at.5 percent or $130 per ton.

Purchase of the Arcturus and Rusty Pikeclaims in Inyo County, California, for $750,-000 was announced by a spokesman for theApache Uranium Corp. and the King Solo-mon Mining Co., Inc., of Las Vegas, Ne-vada. The properties, which lie approxi-mately 50 miles northwest of Baker in theIbex Mining district, were purchased fromLucian Gaskins, a Los Angeles prospector.—Nevada State Journal

• • •Federal Judge William M. Byrne ruled

in Los Angeles recently that the governmentcannot be sued for damages resulting fromatomic bomb detonations because it doesnot fall within the area of claims in whichthe government may be made a party to alegal action. The ruling was handed downin the case brought by the Barthlomae Corp.for $5000 damages to the Fish Creek ranch150 miles north of Frenchman's Flat. —Nevada State Journal

Esmeralda, Nevada, County Auditor andRecorder Lena Hammond reports that ur-anium claim filings are continuing to comeinto her office. Filings totaled 6127 for thefirst 11 months of 1955. County commis-sioners have also granted many prospectingpermits with option to buy.—Battle Moun-tain Scout

Official Predicts BrightFuture for Atomic Industry

Newton I. Steers, Jr., president of AtomicDevelopment Mutual Fund and formerlyemployed by the Atomic Energy Commis-sion, made the following predictions:

The first atomic powered aircraft will becompleted in five years. Because of its greatweight, it will probably be a seaplane.

In 10 years all the Navy's capital shipsand submarines will be atomic powered.

By 1965 about 40 percent of new electricgenerating capacity built will be atomicpowered.

By 1957 uranium mining in the FreeWorld will be a $400,000,000 a year in-dustry.

Steers contends that atomic energy is theprime growth industry in the nation. Itstands today where the chemical industrystood 20 years ago and where electronicsstood 10 years ago.—Mining Record

Moab Uranium Co. and Sovereign Ura-nium, Gas and Oil Co. have begun jointventure development of 32 mining claimsin Mineral Canyon near the Green Riverwest of Moab, officials of the two compan-ies announced. Equipment has been movedto the canyon and work started on a new3 00-foot drift to follow a previously locatedvein. Over 370 tons of commercial ore wasshipped during previous development work,records show.—Dove Creek Press

• • •Anaconda Co. has already mined enough

uranium ore at its Jackpile Mine nearGrants, New Mexico, to run the firm's millthrough 1962 — termination date for do-mestic ore purchasing, Roy Glover, Ana-conda board chairman, announced. Gloversaid he expects the price of uranium to dropunless there is an extension of the purchas-ing act. Anaconda is considering going intothe nuclear reactor field, he added.—SaltLake Tribune

• • •The "uranium-range war" is continuing

in Northwest New Mexico according to theUranium City News. Violation of propertyrights is being claimed by both prospectorsand ranchers. The latter are ired at openprospect holes and trenches endangeringlivestock while prospectors, holding leaseson ranch land, feel they are entitled tocarry on mineral exploration operations.—Eddy County News

Prospector's HeadquartersGEIGER COUNTERS AND SCINTILLATORS

Tlio "Snooper" Geiger counter—Model 108 $ 28.95Tlie "Lucky Strike" Geiger Counter—Model 10B 99-50The "Professional" Geiger Counter—Model 107 189.50The "Special Sctntlllator"—Model 117 289.50The "Deluxe" Scintillator—Model 111B 485.00

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CHEMICAL TEST KITSKit for 14 Minerals (Uranium not included) 18-95Kit for 36 Minerals (Including Uranium) 31.25

BOOKS"Prospecting With a Geiger Counter" by Wright «•>"Uranium Color Photo Tone" 1.00"Facts You Should Know About Uraninm" by R. W. Ramsey 1.00"Uranium Prospectors Hand Book" 1.00"The Uranium and Fluorescent Minerals" by H. C. Dake 2.00"Popular Prospecting" by H. C. Dake 2.00"Uranium, Where It Is and How to Find It" by Proctor and Hyatt 2.50"Minerals for Atomic Energy" by Nininger 7.50"Let's go Prospecting" by Edward Arthur 3.50

MAPSMap and Geology (Uranium and Mineral Districts of California) 1.50Map of Kern Comity (New Section and Township) 1.50Map Uranium and Minerals (The Nine Southwest States) 1.00Book and Map "Gems and Minerals of California" by McAllister 1.75Book and Map "Lost Mines and Treasures of the Southwest" 2.00

OTHER SUPPLIESFluorescent Minerals set—10 Specimens—boxed 2.50Prospectors Picks (not polished) 3.85Prospectors Picks (polished) 4.10Mineral Specimen Boxes (35 Named Minerals) 1.50Pocket Camp Stove 6.9512" Diameter Steel Gold Pan 1.25

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J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6 39

AMATtUR OBM CUJTBRADVANTAGES, DISADVANTAGESOF WATER, KEROSENE COOLANTS

Here are the pros and cons in the waterversus kerosene coolant for diamond sawwork controversy. For many years the oil-kerosene mixture was a standard for lapi-daries, but in recent years various types ofwater soluble coolants have been introduced.

A few disadvantages of the oil-kerosene

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Here is a worthy companion for our larger andmore expensive Hillquist Compact Lapidary Unit.Tho smaller in size, the Hillquist Gemmaster hasmany of the same features. It's all-metal with spunaluminum tub. You get a rugged, double-action rockclamp, not a puny little pebble plncher. You get aful l 3" babbitt sleeve bearing and ball thrust bear-ing. You get a big 7" Super Speed diamond sawand all the equipment you need to go right to work.

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mixture are that: it is messy; it is difficultto wash from the sawed specimen, oftentaking weeks to evaporate from some sur-faces; it is inflammable; it tends to form aheavy, thick, messy sludge in the saw sump;some people find kerosene irritating to theskin; and it is more costly than the watersoluble mixtures.

On the other hand, the kerosene mixtureis an ideal "flushing" agent and is effectiveas a rust preventing and surface lubricatingagent.

One of the greatest advantages of watermixtures is that they may be quickly andeasily washed from the specimen by simplyrinsing in plain water. They are much lessmessy to use. A few people, however, re-port skin irritation from the water solutionstoo.

An important factor to remember inchoosing a coolant is the equipment require-ments. Kerosene will enter into a crevicewhere water would not be so likely to pene-trate and cut away the lubrication on abearing thus causing it to wear. On theother hand, a number of saws have beenconstructed with the metal rods that supportthe carriage secured at their ends on hard-wood. Kerosene and oil will offer no diffi-culties here, but water has been known towarp the wood.—The Mineralogist

DISTINGUISHING FEATURESOF QUARTZ, PRECIOUS TOPAZ

How can you distinguish quartz topazfrom precious topaz? Here are a few basicdifferences: Quartz topaz is a hexagonalsilicon dioxide while precious topaz is anorthorhombic aluminum fluo-silicate. Quartztopaz is limited to the yellow-brown colorwhile precious topaz also comes in pink,blue, green and colorless varieties. Specificgravity of quartz topaz is 2.65 and hardnesson Mohs' scale is 7. Precious topaz is 3.53and 8 respectively.

Since precious topaz is relatively rare,most of the gem stones seen in this countryare quartz topaz, but even these are toughand durable. Quartz topaz is one-fifthlighter than diamond and can be carvedinto cameos, intaglios, etc.

An easy way to tell the quartz from theprecious is by rubbing the stone. Precioustopaz will pick up small bits of paper afterit is rubbed.

The variety of quartz topaz known ascitrine is one of the most fashionable gemstones, being particularly adapted for usein rings, brooches, bracelets and lapel orna-ments.—San Jose, California, Lapidary So-ciety's Lap Bulletin

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SAPPHIRE IS RUBY'S TWINThe sapphire is a twin to the ruby having

exactly the same composition except forcolor. The ruby is red and the sapphire avariety of other hues. The true and mosthighly prized sapphire color is Kashmir blue.

The sapphire has a hardness of nine andbelongs to the corundum family. Its crys-tal form is hexagonal and it has no cleavage.Its fracture is conchoidal.

Ancient people believed the sapphire wasthe destroyer of poison and also that itwould protect the wearer from fever.

The "Gem of the Jungle" was the largestsapphire ever found, weighing 958 carats.It sold for $100,000 and was discoveredwhen a bolt of lightning uprooted a tree,revealing the stone in the roots.—VerdugoHills, California, Gem and Mineral Society'sRockhound News and Views

• • •The Minnesota Bearing Co. advises that

a sealed self-aligning ballbearing unit inyour lap equipment should be greased spar-ingly—one squirt from a grease gun. Toomuch grease causes heat and expansionwhich can blow out the retainers and ruinthe bearing. Oil-type bearings can andshould be oiled frequently for excess oilruns out.—Minnesota Mineral Club's RockRustler's News

• • •If you are having trouble sizing cabs to

fit bezels, try this: In addition to markingthe stone with the correct template size, out-line the next largest size and when you saw,nibble or grind to shape, use the outer mark-ing as a guide. This gives you a safety mar-gin for errors and slips. Then shape thetop and finish it completely and then grindthe bevel to fit the bezel. This method takeslonger, but you will not end up with thestone too small to use.—Minnesota MineralClub's Rock Rustler's News

• • •Iris agate slices will show rainbow colors

without polishing if you cover the surfacewith transparent Scotch tape. After sawingthe iris agate into very thin slices, cleanand dry them and then put the tape on bothsides. The same effect can be obtained byspraying the sawed surface with clear lac-quer.—Verdugo Hills, California, Gem andMineral Society's Rockhound News andViews

• • •If your dopping wax is breaking between

the dop stick and the wax, the dop wax isprobably too brittle. It can be made morepliable by adding a tiny amount of beeswax.For each quarter pound of wax add a pieceof beeswax approximately the size of a pea.Too much beeswax will lower the meltingpoint of the wax and the heat generatedby grinding will loosen the stone.-—VerdugoHills, California, Gem and Mineral Society'sRockhound News and Views

• • •The safest way to remove stones from

a dop stick without breaking them withpressure, or cracking them with heat is toplace the cemented stone in a pan of ice.When the ice melts your stone will be onthe bottom of the pan and the stick willbe floating on the water.—Verdugo Hills,California, Gem and Mineral Society's.Rockhound News and Views

AUSTRALIAN FIRE OPALAll types in stock. Blue, green, jelly, white,opal chips. Faceting material, slabs, finespecimens. Opal prices on request.

H. A. IVERS1400 N. Hacienda Blvd., Phone Oxford 71248

La Habra, California.

40 DESERT MAGAZINE

ROCKHOUNDS REDISCOVER PINKAGATE ON MINGUS MOUNTAIN

The value of a treasure is a relative thing.While the United Verde Mine was indus-triously digging into Mingus Mountain atJerome, Arizona, for copper, Nature se-renely guarded a delightful secret on thenorth side of the great mountain — andwaited. In 1946 a couple of curious rock-hounds stumbled onto the secret, a virgindeposit of beautiful pink agate jutting outof the ground in great chunks.

"There are only two kinds of rocks,"said one Yavapai County miner with finality,"metallic ores and junk!" Members of theMineralogical Society of Arizona, guidedby Moulton B. Smith, recently went afterthe "junk" and they are now cutting andpolishing some of the loveliest of Arizona'spink gem stones. "It's the first time," theyreport "that we drove right into a depositand just loaded up."

The road going through the deposit goesfrom Jerome over the mountain to Perkins-ville. Coming up from Perkinsville, a littlepink road, colored by iron oxide, windsamong green junipers following the old his-toric narrow gauge railroad used in theearly days to transport copper from Jerometo Chino Valley.

• • •

LOS ANGELES COUNTY GOLDSTRIKES PRECEDED '49 RUSH

Over half of the $2,500,000 in gold pro-duced in Los Angeles County came fromthe Governor Mine near Acton. About20,000 ounces came from the Saugus andSan Gabriel placers and approximately 50,-000 ounces from the lode mines in theActon-San Gabriel area. With little excep-tion, little gold production has been re-ported from these north county areas since1942. The one exception is at Azusa wheregold is produced as a by-product at a sandand gravel operation. Because of soil sedi-ments in the sand and gravel, all the ma-terial taken from the earth has to be washedand it is during this process that the gold isremoved.

The Castaic placers were first discoveredand worked in the 1830s. In 1857 6000persons were engaged in gold mining in thenorth county area. The early discoverieswere not publicized by the Mexican author-ities who probably foresaw what a goldrush, like the one in 1849, would do to theirhold on the state.—Delvers Gem and Min-eral Society's Delvings

Vivienne M. Dosse, California Federa-tion exchange bulletin editor, has beenawarded the Woodruff Cup for her thumb-nail specimen exhibit at the National Fed-eration convention and show in Washington,D. C. This marks the first time a NationalAward has been made for the finest min-eral collection exhibited at a federationshow.—Arrow Points

The famous agate fields of Muscatinehave been closed to all rockhounds andother trespassers, the Omaha, Nebraska,Mineral and Gem Club reports. Vandalismand unintentional damage were blamed forthe action.—Rear Trunk

FAMOUS TEXAS PLUMESRed Plume, Black Plume, PomPom and many other types ofagate. Slabs sent on approvalfor deposit or reference. Freeprice list on rough agate.

WOODWARD RANCH Box 453, Alpine, Texas

AMERICAN FEDERATION NAMESNEW OFFICERS FOR 1956

A. L. Flagg was elected president of theAmerican Federation of Mineralogical So-cieties at that organization's recent conven-tion. Harry Woodruff was named vice presi-dent; Hazen T. Perry, secretary; VincentMorgan, treasurer; and Ben Hur Wilson,historian. The Federation's 1956 conven-tion will be held in Minneapolis in conjunc-tion with the Midwest Federation conclavein July. — Arizona Mineralogical Society'sRockhound Record

T h i s i s b u t a s m a l l p o r t i o n o f G R I E G E R ' S I N C . s t o c k o f

BRACELET CHAINS KEY CHAINS NECKLACE CHAINSIf you do not have our FREE CATALOG ±i:55l, send for it.

THIS ILLUSTRATION SHOWS ONLYA PORTION OF CHAIN AJiD CARD

No. 26C-6NECK CHAIN — 18"

YOUR COST—78 c eachin I doz lots.

On fancy display card, jump rings madefrom as large as 19 gauge wire will fit inthese links for hanging baroques.STERLING SILVER RHODIUM PLATED

$I.IOea 3 for $2.80 I dz $8.35

$l.25eaGOLD FILLED3 for $3.10 I dz $9.30

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CHAINChain will not kink.

RHODIUM PLATED2 for $1.00

I dz $3.85 3 dz $8.65GOLD PLATED

2 for $1.00ldz$3.75 3dz$8.45

YOUR COST—24c eachin 3 doz lots.

DEALERS WRITE FOR PRICES

YOUR COST—26 c eachin 3 doz lots. No. 2 7 - 2

NECKLACE CHAIN 18"Has foldover clasp. Any of our jump ringswill fit in links.

RHODIUM PLATED 2 for $1.00 $4.10 dz 3 dz $9.25GOLD PLATED 2 for $1.00 $3.50 dz 3 dz $7.90

No. 28-3BRACELET CHAIN 7"

STERLING SILVER RHODIUM PLATED95c ea 3 for $2.15 I dz $7.60

$I . IOeaGOLD FILLED3 for $2.50 dz $8.80

These bracelet chains are ideal for mak-ing of baroque bracelet jewelry. Theclasps are the foldover type which alloweasy hooking. Any of our jump rings willfit in the links.

YOUR COST— 73c eachin I doz lots.

No. 28-4BRACELET CHAIN 7"

RHODIUM PLATED3 for $1.00 I dz $2.70 3 dz $7.30

GOLD PLATED4 for $1.00 I dz $2.45 3 dz $6.60

These bracelet chains are ideal for making of baroque bracelet jewelry. Theclasps are the foldover type which alloweasy hooking. Any of our jump rings wilfit in the links.YOUR COST—20c eac

in 3 doz lots.

PRICES QUOTED APPLY ONLY TO THOSE QUANTITIES MENTIONEDPER ITEM AND COLOR OR LARGER MULTIPLES THEREOF.ADD 1 0 % FEDERAL EXCISE TAX EXCEPT WHERE NOTED.C a l i f o r n i a r e s i d e n t s — P l e a s e a d d 3 % s a l e s t a x .

GRIEGER'S, Inc.MAIL ADDRESS: P. O. Box 41 85 , CATAUNA STATION, PASADENA, CALIF.

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6 41

G E m m u m A D V E R T I S I N G R A T E12c a w o r d . . . M i n i m u m $ 2 . 0 0

GEMS OF THE DESERT — Baroques —nicely polished, tumbled variety, petrifiedwoods, agates, jasper agates, rhodeniteand many others. General mixture alltypes and sizes, $7.00 per pound. Dealer'sprices available. Golden West Gem Com-pany, 7355 Lankershim Blvd., NorthHollywood, California.

ROCKS—opposite West End Air Base, ag-ate, woods, minerals, books. Local infor-mation. Ironwood Rock Shop, Highway60-70 West of Blythe, California.

APPROVAL SELECTIONS—slabs of agate— moss, banded, etc., turritella, desertroses (plume), Eden Valley petrifiedwood, Colorado petrified woods of reds,yellows. Send today! Robert E. Frazee,328 North Park Avenue, Valley Center,Kansas.

OPALS AND SAPPHIRES rough, directfrom Australia. Cutting opal, 1 ounce$5, $10, $20, $30 and $60. Blue sap-phires, 1 ounce $10, $30 and $60. Starsapphires 12 stones $10, $20, and $30,etc. Post free and insured. Send inter-national money order, bank draft. Aus-tralian Gem Trading Co., 49 ElizabethSt., Melbourne, Australia. Free list ofall Australian stones rough and cut, 16 pp.

GENUINE TURQUOISE: Natural color,blue and bluish green, cut and polishedcabochons — 25 carats (5 to 10 stonesaccording to size) $3.50 including tax,postpaid in U.S.A. Package 50 carats (10to 20 cabochons) $6.15 including tax,postpaid in U.S.A. Elliott Gem & MineralShop, 235 E. Seaside Blvd., Long Beach2, California.

BEAUTIFUL FREE GOLD — Specimens$1.00 each. Return if not satisfied. Pricesto dealers, J. N. Reed, Box 102, Cabazon,California.

ATTENTION ROCK COLLECTORS. Itwill pay you to visit the Ken-Dor RockRoost. We buy, sell, or exchange mineralspecimens. Visitors are always welcome.Ken-Dor Rock Roost, 419 Sutter, Mo-desto, California.

COLORADO MINERAL specimens, cut-ting and tumbling materials. Send 2 centstamp for list and terms. Dealers pleasewrite for wholesale list. John Patrick,Idaho Springs, Colorado.

NOTICE: After August first we will belocated at 2020 North Carson St., CarsonCity, Nevada. Mail address, P.O. Box117. Gold Pan Rock Shop, John L. andEtta A. James, prop.

ROUGH TURQUOISE — World famousspiderweb turquoise. $1 per ounce, $12.50per pound. Travis Edgar, Battle Moun-tain, Nevada.

FOR SALE: Beautiful purple petrified woodwith uranium, pyrolusite, manganite. Nicesample $1.00. Postage. Maggie Baker,Kingman, Arizona.

McSHAN'S GEM SHOP—open part time,or find us by directions on door. Chollacactus wood a specialty, write for prices.1 mile west on U. S. 66, Needles, Cali-fornia, Box 22.

FINE CRYSTALLIZED minerals and mas-sive ore specimens direct from westernmines. Mineralights and specimen kits forprospectors. No cutting material handled.Write for free list. Rocky Mountain Min-erals, Dept. D, Box 1204, Idaho Falls,Idaho.

STOP AND SEE US—we have minerals,rough and slab material, 32 varieties offinest baroques and jewelry. Priced tosell. P. G. Nichols, Shady Acres TrailerCourt, 1302 W. Casa Grande Rd., Tucson,Arizona.

HAVE REAL FUN with desert gems,minerals and rocks. The rockhound'show-to-do-it magazine tells how. Oneyear (12 issues) only $3.00. Sample $25c.Gems and Minerals, Dept. J-10, Palmdale,California.

JEWELRY FINDINGS for the rockhound—tumbled gems, handicraft jewelry. Freecatalog, mail orders promptly filled. Artsand Crafts Dept., Parcher-Thelan Photo-finishers, 6729 Hollywood Blvd., Holly-wood 28, California.

ICELANDSPAR — double refracting rhom-behedron-type crystals. Several crystals— 50c. Send for catalog with otherminerals listed. No CODs. Satisfactionguaranteed. Ryzelite Minerals, Box 455,Golden, Colorado.

YOUR ROCK collection is incomplete un-less you have malpais ore. Nice volcanicspecimen $1 postpaid. Sadler, Box 475,Clayton, New Mexico.

PINK TOURMALINE—Crystals in quartzmatrix from San Diego County. Somewith lepidolite and-or cleavelandite. Spe-cify wants. Specimens 25c, 50c, $1.00and $2.00 each, postpaid. Frey MineralEnterprises, Box 9090, Reno, Nevada.

TRAILING with the rockhounds — newbook portrays desert trips, areas visited,minerals, personalized experience by rock-hounds. Your name may be included.Advance sale—$3 copy. Delivery 90 days.Retta Ewers, 5893 Grand, Riverside, Calif.

GEMS A-PLENTY: Beautiful baroquegems, large variety, tumble polished allover, $10.00 for one pound (about 100stones). 10 lbs. of top grade gemstoneprepaid for $7.00. Wholesale price todealers on baroque gems and gemstonein the rough. Satisfaction guaranteed onevery sale. San Fernando Valley GemCo., 5905 Kester Ave., Van Nuys, Calif.

ROCK COLLECTORS — Attention! Forbetter rocks visit the trailer rock store,69-457 Hiway 111 between Palm Springsand Palm Desert. Open any day you findus home. Mail address: Box 181, Cathe-dral City, California. The Rockologist(Chuckawalla Slim).

TRUE OR FALSE ANSWERSQuestions are on page 29

1—False. "Jumping cholla" is acactus.

2—False. Ground owls and rattle-snakes sometimes usurp theprairie dog's hole, but they neverdwell together in peace.

3—True.4—False. The Mormon Battalion

was recruited while the Mormonswere camped in Iowa enroute totheir promised land in Utah.

5—False. "Ichy" was a fish.6—True. 7—True. 8—True.9—True.

10—False. Petrified wood is stone.11—False. Walpi is on the Hopi

reservation.12—True.13—False. Turkeys are natives of

North America.14—False. Billy the Kid (William

H. Bonney) was born in NewYork City in 1859.

15—True. 16—True. 17—True.18—False. Good treads are best for

sand.19—False. Shiprock is far to the

northwest of Albuquerque.20—False. The Colorado River leav-

ing Grand Canyon flows manyhundreds of miles before reach-ing sea-level at the Gulf of Cali-fornia.

1I1

%*e die *76e $i(Utyotc've Seen Aoo&fay, ^wifPetrified Wood, Moss Agate, Chrysocolla

Turquoise, Jade and Jasper JewelryHAND MADE IN STERLING SILVER

Bracelets, Rings, Necklaces, Earringsand Brooches

SPECIALLY SELECTED STONES WITHCHOICE COLORS AND PICTURES

Write for Folder With Prices :

ELLIOTT'S GEM SHOP235 East Seaside Blvd. Long Beach 2, California

Across from West End of MunicipalAuditorium Grounds

Hours 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Daily Except Monday

42 DESERT MAGAZINE

NEW MEXICO TURQUOISERIVALS STONES FROM PERSIA

The finest blue turquoise comes from thefamous mines near Nishapur in the prov-ince of Khorasa, Persia. However, NewMexico and other areas in the Southwesthave yielded blue turquoise that matchesthe Nishapur stones, as well as fine greenish-blue stones. Indians in the Southwest minedturquoise centuries before the white mancame to this continent.

Turquoise is most often cut in cabochonand also is frequently cut so that the finishedgem includes some of the matrix in whichthe turquoise is found. This matrix is abrownish or yellowish limonite usually inthe form of slender veins in the turquoise.This combination of colors and design pro-duces an interesting effect.

Turquoise jewelry belonging to QueenZer of the First Egyptian Dynasty has beenuncovered. The stone was carved and setwith alternate plaques of cast gold. Tur-quoise, the ancients believed, brings successin love and money.—Compton, California,Gem and Mineral Club's Rockhound Call

INDUSTRIAL EXPANSIONTHREATENS INDIANA DUNES

The Indiana dunes may be destroyed ifproposed plans to develop the Burns Ditcharea as an industrial harbor are carried out,Chicagoans were warned.

The dunes have been considered one ofthe natural wonders of the modern worldand they are a "must" on the itinerary ofgeologists traveling through the midwest.

Most of the fine sand that makes up thedunes is of glacial origin which has beentransported to the south end of Lake Michi-gan by the longshore currents. The sand ispredominately white quartz grains, withminute quantities of red, yellow and brownfeldspar, a few grains of garnet and somegrains of black ferromagnesium.—MarquetteGeologists Association's Bulletin

NEW METHOD DEVELOPED TODETERMINE AGE OF ROCKS

A new method of dating rocks has beenperfected by United States and Canadianresearch workers.

Former methods used the measurementof uranium and lead to determine age.Because uranium disintegrates into lead ata measurable rate, the age of the specimenunder study could be estimated.

The newer method is based on potassiumwhich has the advantage of being muchmore common than uranium. Potassiumdecays to form compounds or argon over aperiod of millions of years. Potassium andargon contents of a rock are analyzed andmeasured. The relative amounts of bothare used to determine the age of the speci-men.—Seattle, Washington, Gem Collector'sClub's Nuts and Nodules

• • •

TUCSON CLUB SETS DATESFOR SECOND ANNUAL SHOW

The Tucson, Arizona, Gem and MineralSociety recently announced that it will holdits Second Annual Gem and Mineral Showon March 16-18. The affair will take placein the north end of the Pima County FairBuilding at the Fairgrounds on South SixthAve. and Irvington Road.

Ribbons will be given for first, secondand third places in each of several classifica-tions including mineral collections, lapidarywork, metal crafts, fossils, oddities andothers. Adult and junior entries will bejudged separately.

• • •Zircon was known in medieval times as

a cure for plague and other ills. The strik-ing characteristic of the zircon is its brilli-ancy and fire. Among the popular gems itis only outshone by the diamond. Theancients also believed this stone could cureinsomnia. Today the chief source of zirconis the gravel-beds of Ceylon. — Compton,California, Gem and Mineral Club's Rock-hound Call

Ruth Broderson, Editor of Quarry Quips,bulletin of the Wichita Mineral Society, isconducting a survey of costs and methods ofissuing society bulletins.—Arrow Points

• • •To clean garnets use a good strong solu-

tion of hot water and soap suds with a goodstiff brush. If this does not work, use amild form of acid.

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J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6 43

GEOLOGICAL SOURCES OFIMPORTANT GEM MINERALS

Geological sources of the most importantgem minerals are:

Igneous rocks: basic rocks — diamond,garnet. Pegmatites—-emerald, beryl, topaz,spodumene, tourmaline and quartz.

Secondary deposits: alluvial sand andgravels — diamond, sapphire, ruby, agate,jadeite, rock XI, tourmaline, beryl, chryso-beryl, amethyst.

Deposits from water: opal, turquoise,malachite and quartz.

Metamorphic rocks: crystalline limestones—ruby, sapphire, lazurite, spinel and em-erald. Schists and gneisses—jadeite, neph-rite, emerald, garnet and chrysoberyl.

Here are some terms that are often usedin the hobby:

Intrusive: rocks formed by the solidifica-tion of magma below the crust of the earth.

Extrusive: rocks formed by the coolingand solidification of magma above the crustof the earth.

Batholith: huge intrusive rocks that sofar as is known extend downward indefin-itely.

Stocks: intrusive rocks exposed to viewas a result of erosion—usually circular inshape.

Dikes: the filling of a tabular fissure inrock masses by molten magma injected ina pulsating movement.

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Neck: the column of solidified magmathat occupies the conduit of a volcano lead-ing to the depths below.

Laccolith: solidified magma which wasinjected between the layers of rock fasterthan it could spread laterally so that itarched the overlying strata.

Sill: solidified magma which spread outin sheets between layered rock.

Vesicles: openings in rocks left by theescaping vapors and gases as the moltenmaterial was cooling.

Amygdaloid: rocks whose vesicles havebeen filled later with material deposited bywater.

Phenocryst: mineral crystals within ig-neous rocks, larger than the finer-grainedrock matrix, formed as the magma wascooling.

Syncline: downward fold in stratifiedrock.

Till: unstratified and unsorted glacialdrift deposited by glaciers. — EvansvilleLapidary Society's News Letter

• • •One of the rare metals coming into prom-

inence is germanium. This metal is an es-sential element in the "two-way wrist radio"for it is a speck of germanium which makespossible the magic substitute for vacuumtubes. Germanium is recovered as a by-product in the treatment of zinc concen-trates and other potential sources are copper,lead, zinc ores of southwest Africa and fueldusts from coal containing germanium.Market price today is approximately $340per pound, and the demand far exceeds thesupply.

• • •Cutting material similar to that found at

Flint Ridge, Ohio, is being found at thegravel pit near Geist Reservoir, Indiana.Some massive feldspar has been picked upthere, along with quartz with small garnetsenclosed, granite and chert. Also foundwere a few Petoskey stones and some coral,and one crinoid stem with a star center.Fossils are sparse, however, and so water-worn that they are difficult to identify.Visitors are welcome on the weekends.—Indiana Geology and Gem Society's Geolo-gem

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STARDUST JEWELRY EXHIBITEDAT ARIZONA STATE FAIR

Star attraction of the recent ArizonaState Fair Mineral Show in more ways thanone was H. H. Nininger's meteorite exhibit.Dr. Nininger displayed some of the world'smost unique out-of-space visitors from hisAmerican Meteorite Museum at Sedona.

The display featured jewelry made fromauthentic Stardust which was formed by thecooling within our own atmosphere of anincandescent cloud of metallic vapor — acloud formed when a giant meteorite ex-ploded to form the Arizona MeteoriteCrater.

This explosion turned the nickel-ironmeteorite into vapor and created, for a briefinstant, a small star which rained downtiny spheres of metal. These spheres werepolished to a brilliant luster and set in clearplastic by Dr. Nininger—true Stardust jew-elry.

Among the other unique displays wasthat of Mr. and Mrs. Harry V. Hill whoshowed their first thumbnail specimen col-lection, made in 1944 and placed in a home-made box, alongside their 1954 box ofbrilliant specimens. Caption under the dis-play read: "What we have learned in 10years by joining a mineral society."

Arthur Flagg's exhibit showed the entireprocess in mounting mineral miniatures,step by step.

• • •Rockhounds were reminded recently by

Harvey Rutledge, leaseholder of the CalicoMountain, California, silver onyx deposit,that the property is privately owned andhas not been open to collection since 1938.He reports recent damage to the propertyby rockhounds. Charles Smith, accordingto Rutledge, owns the property.

• • •Arthur Blocher of Bureau, Illinois, re-

ports the discovery of a pocket of verybeautiful calcite crystals in a quarry nearhis home.

• • •RATTLEWEED GOOD INDICATOROF URANIUM, REPORTS OFFICIAL

The rattleweed (Astragalus), a herb withodd-pinnate leaves and persistent stipules, isregarded in some quarters as a fairly goodindicator of uranium deposits below thesurface of the earth. While it is not anunfailing sign, it holds its average prettywell.

Some believe the plant has an affinity forthe soil under which uranium deposits arelodged. The discovery of this relationshipwas made two years ago when an old In-dian, who lived near Grants, New Mexico,came to Thomas O. Evans, chief miningengineer for the Santa Fe at Prewitt andhead of the company's uranium developmentprogram in New Mexico, with the newsthat he had lost 300 sheep in one night.

Evans agreed to look into the matter. Hecarefully examined the ground upon whichthe sheep died and found nothing there re-sembling ground glass or poisoned bait.

Evans noticed, however, that there wasa profuse growth of rattleweed in the vicin-ity. Suspicious and curious, he had someof the rattleweed analyzed by a chemist.The chemist found that the plants containedconsiderable amounts of the mineral selen-ium and slight traces of uranium.

Evans decided to prospect the groundand high grade uranium ore was discovered.Further investigation by the company boreout the relationship between uranium andrattleweed.

The plant is dark green and stands abouttwo feet high. Pear-shaped seed pods giveit its name.—Nevada State Journal

44 DESERT MAGAZINE

ATTENTION ROCKHOUNDSBy Helena Ridgway Stone

You may keep your samples of turquoise,amethyst,

Tungsten, emerald, dakeite, pan gold, too.The hobby I've developed and simply can't

resist,May never in this world appeal to you.It has no connection with polished agate

rock,Nor the durability of ancient jade;Nor is it botanical—to me a hollyhockMeans a lot of work for such a little shade.My avocation's thrilling; it's one I'll never

throttleUntil I've combed the desert, and found a

purple bottle!• • •

URANIUM BEARING MINERALSNUMBER 22 IN ARIZONA

Twenty-two species of uranium bearingminerals identified in Arizona to date in-clude:

Carbonates: andersoni te , bayleyite,schroeckingerite, swartzite.

N iobates - tantal ates - titanates: brannerite,euxenite, fergusonite, microlite, polycrase,samarskite.

Oxides: thorianite, uraninite.Phosphates: autunite, metatorbernite, mo-

nazite, torbernite.Silicates: kasolite, thorite, uranophane.Vanadates: carnotite, tyuyamunite, vol-

borthite. — Arizona Mineralogical Society'sRockhound Record

• • •Of all the alloying elements utilized in

steel manufacture, molybdenum is the onlyone in which the United States is self-suffi-cient. Molybdenite has a wide range ofgeologic occurrences, but nearly all aregenetically related to acidic igneous rocks.—Mineral Information Service

• • •The Tacoma, Washington, Agate Club

celebrated its 15th birthday recently witha Birthday Dinner at the South Park Com-munity Center.

Riverside County Fairand

NATIONAL DATEFESTIVAL

•

February 16 through 22,1956

INDIO, CALIFORNIA•

ARABIAN NIGHTSPAGEANT

CAMEL RACESHORSE SHOW

•Riverside County

GEM AND MINERALSHOW

Minerals • MiningMore than 10,000 sq. ft.

of floor space

The San Diego, California, Lapidary So-ciety announced the purchase of a lot onthe corner of Linda Vista Road and Jose-phine Street. The club plans to erect aclubhouse at that location.

• • •What is believed to be the world's largest

circular diamond saw is being used to cutthe familiar red granite of Scotland. Theblade has a diameter of WV2- feet and isnearly an inch thick.—The Mineralogist

• • •Unakite is an attractive blending of pink

feldspar, quartz and green epidote in ahard homogeneous mass. It occurs in manyplaces in the mountains and foothills ofVirginia and Pennsylvania.

The largest alluvial diamond ever foundin the United States is the Punch JonesDiamond, which weighs 34.46 carats. Thisstone was discovered at Peterstown, WestVirginia in 1928, and is now on exhibit atthe Smithsonian Institution in Washington,D. C.—Evansville Lapidary Society's NewsLetter

• • •G. Langford, staff member of the Chicago

Natural History Museum's geology depart-ment, gives the following recipe for clean-ing and enhancing the appearance of fernfossils: mix three tablespoons yellow dextrinto a quart of water. Wash the fossil firstand then apply the solution.—Chicago Rocksand Minerals Society's Pick and Dop Stick

LINDE " A " RUBY POWDER $3.75 PER LB.For a LIMITED TIME the factory has asked us to sell "factory seconds"of this wonderful polishing agent which normally sells for $20 per lb.Actual professional tests show this to be perfect for polishing cabochonsand for use in tumbling barrels. DEALERS WRITE FOR DETAILS.QUANTITY IS LIMITED but we should be able to fill orders until theend of the year. 8 oz. $2.00; 1 lb. $3.70; 5 lbs. for only $13.90.

TIN OXIDE $1.50 PER POUNDIf you buy $5 worth of Basic Lapidary Supplies from the following list.A $10 purchase entitles you to buy 2 lbs. Tin Oxide at $1.50 per lb.A $25 purchase entitles you to buy 5 lbs. of Tin Oxide.

NORTON CRYSTOLON GRINDING WHEELS . . .Size 6xVa" 6x1" 8x1"

80 grit100 grit _ -42.90 $3.95 $5.85220 grit _ 3.25 4.30 6.45320 grit _ 3.65 4.90 7.35Shipping weight 2 lbs. 3 lbs. 5 lbs.

Crystolon Wheel Dressing Brick 6"x2"xl" _

8x11/2"$8.208.209.00

10.256 lbs.

$1.05

lOxl'/a"

$12.4013.6515.509 lbs.

CRYSTOLON ABRASIVE for the LapidaryGrit Size 1 Pound 5 lb. Lots

80, 100, 120, 180, 220.—-$ .90 $ .562F (320, 3F (400) .94 .60

Grit Size 1 Pound 5 lb. LotsGraded 400 1.09 .75Graded 600 1.35 .98

DURITE (Silicon Carbide) ROLL SANDING CLOTH-Dry Roils—Available in 120, 220, 320 grits

2" wide, 25 ft. long—$2.15; 150-foot roll—$ 9.603" wide, 15 ft. long- 2.15; 150-foot rol l - 14.10

10" wide, 5 ft. long- 2.1512" wide, 5 ft. long- 2.40

DURITE SANDING CLOTH in round disks . . .Dry Type Available in 120, 220, 320 grits6" discs 8 for $1.10 25 for $ 2.408" discs 5 for 1.10 25 for 4.40

10" discs 3 for 1.10 25 for 6.9012" discs -.2 for 1.10 25 for 10.10

Wet Type Avail, in 150, 220, 400, 600 grits6" discs 5 for $1.00 25 for $ 3.908" discs 3 for 1.10 25 for 7.00

10" discs 2 for 1.15 25 for 11.0012" discs 2 for 1.65 25 for 16.00

CONGO OR FELKER DI-MET DIAMOND BLADES4" diameter by .025" thick _ $ 7.806" diameter by .025" thick _ 7.806" diameter by .032" thick 7.808" diameter by .032" thick 10.408" diameter by .040" thick 11.40

When ordering please state arbor hole size

ALL PRICES F.O.B. PASADENA - ADD 3% SALES TAX IF YOU LIVE IN CALIFORNIA

GRIEGER'S, Inc.

10" diameter by .040" thick $14.8012" diameter by .040" thick 18.2014" diameter by .050" thick 25.2016" diameter by .050" thick 28.6020" diameter by .060" thick... 39.2024" diameter by .060" thick 50.60

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 41851633 EAST WALNUT ST.

Catalina Station, Pasadena, Calif.PASADENA 4, CALIF.

J A N U A R Y , 1 9 5 6 45

Hetween If on and Mi

By RANDALL HENDERSON

7HIS IS AN interesting period in which to be living.All over the world, and especially in Asia andAfrica, there is revolt against colonialism. The

natives want to own their own lands and manage theirown affairs. And I have no doubt that eventually theywill attain that goal.

Thoughtful Americans are well aware that a parallel,and in some respects, a similar struggle, is going on herewithin the United States, and especially on the GreatAmerican Desert. It is similar to the extent that all hu-mans everywhere aspire to the freedom and independenceof democratic self-rule.

I am referring to the controversy which now centersaround the status of the American Indian.

In recent years the federal government in Washingtonhas been working toward the day when the restrictionsof a federal guardianship would be removed from allIndians in the United States. The reservations would beabolished.

This program received new impetus when DwightEisenhower became president and Glenn L. Emmons wasappointed chief of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The goalis to remove guardianship restrictions as rapidly as theIndians are ready to assume the responsibilities of fullcitizenship.

Already some legislation in this direction has beenpassed, and other bills are pending. But a majority of theIndians are not yet ready to assume the obligations whichgo with the rights of full citizenship—and they know it.

Some of the same groups which once were demandingmore rights for the Indians, are now accusing Uncle Samof turning his helpless orphans loose in a cruel and greedyworld without visible means of support.

Actually, Uncle Sam is doing nothing of the sort.President Eisenhower, early in his term, directed IndianCommissioner Glenn L. Emmons to visit all the majortribal groups and "give them an opportunity for a fullexpression of their desires, suggestions, hopes and aspira-tions." and to invite the cooperation of the Indians in work-ing out programs for the termination of federal controls.Both Commissioner Emmons and congressional committeeson Indian affairs have worked faithfully toward this end.

One of the chief critics of present federal policies inIndian affairs is Oliver LaFarge of the Association ofAmerican Indian Affairs, an organization financed by non-Indians. This group, once the exponent of more rights forthe Indians, has now reversed its position and is blastingthe federal administration for its efforts to extend greaterrights to the tribesmen.

Newspaper reports covering the controversy have beenvery confusing.

I have wondered what the Indians themselves were

thinking about all the hullabaloo. The answer came re-cently in a copy of a letter written by Paul Jones, chairmanof the Navajo Tribal Council, to LaFarge.

In Jones' 3000-word letter I found more sanity andstatesmanship than in any other utterance which has ap-peared in the long controversy. Jones is very appreciativeof the fact that this year, for the first time in history, allNavajo children have been provided with school facilities,and he gives full credit to Commissioner Emmons for thatachievement.

Under present policies of the federal government, allreservation lands are tribal lands. An individual Indianmight obtain a given piece of land by allotment—but henever could obtain a clear deed to the property. He couldborrow no money on it to build a good home, and becauseof the allotment scheme, Indian veterans were barred fromthe benefits of the G.I. bill insofar as home ownership onthe reservation was concerned.

Jones wrote to LaFarge: "Do you own your ownhome? Do not the overwhelming majority of your direc-tors and members own their own homes? Many of us(here on the reservation) would like to do likewise, andI have under consideration at this time, proposing legis-lation which would authorize the establishment of town-sites at the growing communities in the Navajo Reserva-tion. . . . Our younger people would find satisfaction fortheir aspirations toward home-owning if they could buyland in such townsites, particularly those who are em-ployed in the uranium mines, lumber operations, millsand other commercial activities in these communities."

Certainly that is a privilege which should be extendedto the Indians without waiting for the ultimate disposalof the reservation as a whole—the right of the individualIndian to obtain an unrestricted deed to a parcel of landwhich he could call his own, for the building of a homeand such other improvements as he wants to make. Cer-tainly that will be a long step toward the dignity of fullAmerican citizenship.

* * #Human beings need space. Too much crowding brings

out the worst, rather than the best in man's nature. Andthat is why we need the timbered mountains and thedeserts—places where men and women and children mayspend a little part of their lives at least, apart from thecrowd, in an environment of God's own making. Thereit is a little easier to get close to the Creator of it all—toappraise more accurately the things that are really im-portant in life—to realize that while modern plumbingand plush automobiles and television are convenientgadgets to have, they bring only a superficial kind of satis-faction. They do not build character. And so we want tokeep the desert clean and its air pure—a sanctuary wherethe far horizon will not be obscured by the ugliness thathuman greed too often creates.

46 DESERT MAGAZINE

BOOKS')'tkeENTERTAINING, INFORMATIVEDESERT GUIDE RE-PUBLISHED

Edmund C. Jaeger's The CaliforniaDeserts has recently been publishedin its third edition. More than a merehandbook on the various aspects ofthe state's high Mojave and low Colo-rado deserts, this book has been, sinceit first appeared in 1933, one of themost authoritative sources of informa-tion on the plant and animal life ofthe desert country.

Dr. Jaeger writes with the authorityof a scientist and explorer, but in aninformal and friendly style that giveshis books widespread popularity withthe lay reader. The new edition isslightly revised from the two previousones but is enlarged by 16 pages ofdesert photographs. Dr. Jaeger's manyline drawings are included in the newedition.

Two chapters, "Snails and OtherMollusks" by S. Stillman Berry, and"The Aborigines of the Desert" byMalcolm J. Rogers appear in The Cali-fornia Deserts.

Southwest residents and visitors willfind this book both entertaining read-ing and excellent for reference—a rarecombination.

Published by Stanford UniversityPress, Stanford, California; 211 pages;16 pages of photographs; line draw-ings; selected references; index; $5.00.

DEATH VALLEY TALESHere is a little book that brings

together the best of desert stories bythe best of desert writers—Death Val-ley Tales, the third in a series ofannual publications by the Death Val-ley '49ers.

The nine tales and their authors are:"When Death Valley Took Its FirstToll," by Phil Hanna; "Hungry BillTalks," by Carl Wheat; "The Battleof Wingate Pass," by Arthur Wood-ward; "The Law at Greenwater," bythe man who administered that law,Charles A. Brown; "Mule Skinning in1905," by Capt. R. A. Gibson; "SoNone Died of Thirst," by John Hilton;"Charles Alvord, His Rescue and HisMurder," by Ardis Manly Walker; and"The Story of 'Cap' Lemoigne," byJim Nosser.

Published by Death Valley '49ers,59 pages, $1.

• • •Books reviewed on this page are available at

Desert Crafts Shop, Palm DesertAdd three percent sales tax on orders to be

sent to California

COLORADO RIVER STEAMSHIPFEUD AIRED IN NEW BOOK

Who was the first man to steam upthe Colorado to the head of navigation?History has given the laurel for thisfeat to Lt. Joseph C. Ives, but ArthurWoodward makes a strong case forGeorge Alanzo Johnson, independentriverman of Yuma, in his book, Feudon the Colorado.

To Lt. James L. White, who accom-panied Johnson, should go the nation'sgratitude for writing the first reporton the river's navigability, Woodwardbelieves.

But White and Johnson receivedonly bitterness for their efforts whileIves reaped fame. Why? Woodwardsuggests that Ives, whose uncle by mar-riage was the Secretary of War, wasan influence-wielding Eastern Dandy;that Johnson's offer to officially ex-plore the river for the government wasdeliberately turned down to leave thedoor open for Ives; that White's re-port was never published for the samereason.

Despite the fact that the authorseems not to allow enough considera-tion to the fact that Ives' report wasmany times broader than White's, thathis observations extended to the zo-ology, botany, geography and peopleof this great area, rather than merelyto the problem of river navigation, thereader will find in Woodward's booksufficient fuel to kindle his interest inthis historical point.

As far as is known, White's reportis published for the first time in Feudon the Colorado.

Westcrnlorc Press, Los Angeles,

publishers; 165 pages; comprehensivebibliographical notes; illustrations; in-dex; $4.75.

• • •TECHNICAL SERIES PRESENTSMONTEZUMA CASTLE FINDINGS

The Southwestern Monument Asso-ciation of Globe, Arizona, has resumedpublication of its technical series withtwo works on Montezuma Castle incentral Arizona. The hitherto unpub-lished manuscripts are both records ofpre-war archeological work done atthe castle.

Montezuma Castle Archeology, Part1: Excavations, written by Earl Jack-son and Sallie Pierce Van Valkenburgh,is an important account of the findingsat Castle A, the large burned cliffdwelling ruin near the main castle. Thebook is technical but readable and notoverly difficult for the layman to digest.Students of Southwestern archeologywill find it invaluable. Also includedin the book is an appendix, "Craniafrom Montezuma Castle and Monte-zuma Well," by Katherine Bartlett.

Montezuma Castle Archeology, Part2: Textiles was written by Kate PeckKent. Expert and amateur weaverswill receive priceless information fromthis work. Each individual pattern isdiagrammed and the manufacturingtechnique explained. Indian sandals,cordage, netting, matting, nets, bagsand other textiles were recovered atthe ruins and are all presented in thebook.

Published by the Southwestern Mon-ument Association, Box 1562, Globe,Arizona.

Excavations: 84 pages, 17 line fig-ures, 46 collotype plates, folding mapof grounds. Appendix on crania, ref-erences. Paper cover, $3.00.

Textiles: 102 pages, 50 halftoneplates, 44 line figures, eight compila-tion analysis tables. Paper cover, $2.

. . . the fascination of Death Valley as revealed bystories of colorful men in a colorful region . . .

DEATH VALLEYPUBLISHED BY

DEATH VALLEY '49ERS, INC.

For your copy, send $1.00 ^~^(plus tax and 5c postage) \^_ tUti^

to ^ffDESERT CRAFTS SHOP W""^Palm Desert, California

the true and inspiring

TALES

'• fiJ /•

JANUARY 956

GREETINGS

To Desert'sNew Readers:

During the Christmas season many thousands ofnew subscribers were added to Desert's mailing list—most of them gift subscriptions—and to these weextend our greeting and the hope that they willenjoy this magazine of desert travel, recreation andliving during the months ahead.

For the information of new readers, as well aslong-time friends, Desert was started in November,1937, and we still have copies available of all theback issues except that first number which is nowvery hard to obtain.

Down through the years Desert has printed manyillustrated features, often with maps, covering everyphase of life on the desert: Field Trips for the MineralCollectors, History, Archeology, Exploration, LostMines and Treasure, Ghost Towns, Botany, Reptiles,Indian Life and Lore, Mountain Climbing, Adventure,River Expeditions, Wildlife, Homesteading, DesertArt and many other subjects.

In order that these back copies may be availablefor those who are interested in particular phases ofthe desert, we offer sets of back issues, in each ofwhich will be found at least one illustrated featurestory pertaining to the subject in which you are mostinterested. These sets of back copies dated from1942 to 1956, are available as follows:

Mapped Gem and Mineral Field Trips: 6 copies$1.00; 12 for $2.00; 18 for $3.00; 24 for $4.00;30 for $5.00.

Lost Mines and Treasure, some of them withmaps: 6 copies $1.00; 12 copies $2.00; 18copies $3.00.

Travel and Exploration, many of them withmaps: 6 for $1.00; 12 for $2.00; 18 for $3.00;24 for $4.00.

Ghost Towns of the Old West, with maps: 6 for$1.00; 12 for $2.00; 18 for $3.00.

Indian Life and Lore: 6 for $1.00; 12 for $2.00;18 for $3.00; 24 for $4.00.

History, some with maps: G for $1.00; 12 for $2.00;13 for $3.00.

Mountain Climbing and Exploration: 6 for $1.00;12 for $2.00; 18 for $3.00; 24 for $4.00.

Wildlife, including Reptiles: 6 for $1.00; 12 for$2.00; 18 for $3.00.

Most of these back issues are newsstand returns,but they are complete and in good condition, andwill be sent well wrapped and postpaid for the pricesquoted. There is no sales tax on magazines.

COMPLETE YOUR FILESTo readers who have been keeping a regular

file of Desert Magazine, we are in a position tosupply all back issues except Volume 1, Num-ber 1. When some of the issues were exhaustedwe bought them back from the owners, and forthese we charge from 25c to $2.00 each, accord-ing to what was paid for them. All others areavailable at the regular single copy price. Ifyou will send us a list of the copies you needto complete your files we will advise as to thetotal cost.

THE

LOOSE LEAF BINDERS

To keep your magazines always availablefor easy reference we supply loose leaf binders,each with space for 12 copies, and they areeasily inserted. These binders are of SpanishGrain leather design, with gold embossing, andmaks an attractive addition to your homelibrary.

$2.00 each, postpaidCalifornia buyers add 3% sales tax

mflGflZiriE

PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA