194311 Desert Magazine 1943 November

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lift!

1 492—The business hasbecome socompli-cated we had to look this one up ourselves.

2 Only 5proved of any importance. .

3 Competition between the oil companies—By 1939, when Germany invaded Poland, U. S.oil companies ha d a lready developed 100 octane

to thepoint where they could produce it involume on aneconomical basis.

4 $5,537,329 is a lot of money, but it wasdivided among a lot of people—31,652. So itaveraged just $174.94 per stockholder.

5 Th is isn 't official, butwe've done a lot ofresearch and wecan't find more than five—cigarettes, gasoline, electricity, home gas andinterest rates.

6 20^4—It takes taxes to win a war.The

average Union Oilemployee made $211permonth in1942; but the taxcollector got moreof your dollar last year than all8,192 of ouremployees puttogether (20%<i to taxes—20^to wages) and 4 t imes asmuch as thestock-holder-owners.

7 $35,696—The machine age hasmade ourtools ofproduction rather expensive.

UNION OIL COMPANYO F C A L I F O R N I A

A M E R I C A ' S F I F T H F R E E D O M I S F R E E E N T E R P R I S E

This series, sponsored by thepeople of theUnion OilCompany, is dedicated to a dis-cussion of how andwh y American businessfunctions. We hope you'll feel free to sendin anysuggestions or criticisms youhaveto offer. Write: ThePresident, Union OilC o . , Union OilBldg., Los Angeles 14, Calif.

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



D E S E R T

• W ith this issue Desert Magazine be-gins its seventh year. Over there in NorthAfrica where Desert's editor is servingwith the armed forces, this anniversarydespite the fast moving war scene, willbring back memories to Randall Hender-son—especially that first birthday ofDesert's, when we boasted around athousand subscribers. Today, on our sixthbirthday, Desert's reader-family is fastapproaching the 100,000 mark. That's arecord for a magazine with no promotionor publicity departm ent. It 's a tribute tooto the ideals and imagination and judg-ment of Desert's founder—Randall Hen-derson.

• Next treat in store for desert rock-hounds is an imaginary trip into time—two million years back, into a strangeworld of volcanic activity, forests, rhino-ceri, three-toed miniature horses andcamels—in the Mojave desert! That'sthe setting Jerry Laudermilk has de-scribed with dramatic realism for hisstory of petrified wood.

• Sidney Armer this month relates thehumorous experiences encountered whenhe and his wife Laura Adams Armer es-tablished their home in the remote Nav-ajo country of northern Arizona. H estudied art in San Francisco and until1940 most of his work was illustration.More recently he has been occupied withpainting California wildflowers. Visitorsto Los Angeles museum of art will seea group of 60 of these paintings in thepermanent exhibit. Navajo sandpaintingsmentioned in this month's story weremade by Laura for Mary Cabot Wheel-wright as part of the most important andcomplete collection of sandpainting re-productions in the world, now housed inthe Museum of Navajo Ceremonial Artin Santa Fe, New Mexico.

• "The Gods Walked Up There" is agenuine desert Christmas story—the Nav-ajo story of creation and the beginningof the world as told to Richard VanValkenburgh by the Mountain ChantSinger. It will be illustrated with a setof panels created especially for this storyin tempera by Van Sinajinih. ThisNavajo artist has achieved the finestwork of his career in beautifu l simplicityand gentle color. Van (the writer) sayshis technique is strikingly like that usedby Little Sheep, the primitive Navajoartist (—1835) whose polychromes havebeen found on the walls of Canyon delMuerto. With Charles Keetsie Shirleyand Hoke Denetsoi, Van Sinajinih ranksas one of the foremost N avajo artist s. Inaddition to being an exceptionally finemuralist, he also has illustrated a numberof books and articles dealing with hispeople.

Volume 7 NOVEMBER, 1943 Number 1

COVER

CLOSE-UPS

PHOTOGRAPHY

HISTORY

ART OF LIVING

PHOTOGRAPHY

INDIANS

HUMOR

LETTERS

POETRY

GARDEN

PRIZE STORY

MINING

BOTANY

NEWS

DESERT QUIZ

HOBBY

CRAFTS

BOOKS

COMMENT

TOTEM POLE, MONUM ENT VALLEY, UTAH. Photoby Josef Muench, Santa Barbara , California .

No t es on De s er t f e a tu re s a nd t he ir wr i te r s . . . 3

Fort Lowell RuinsBy J. WIL SON McKENNEY 4

Lee 's Ferry on the Colorado

By CHAR LES KELLY 5

D esert R efuge, b y M AR SH AL SO UT H . . . . 9

C a r l s ba d C a ve rns 11

Toli Goes Back to Laguna

By MARGARET STONE 12Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley

By LON GARR ISON 16

Comm ent from Dese r t M agaz ine read ers . . . 1 7

The Roadrun ner , an d o the r poem s 19

Deser t Garden in Nava jo Land

By SIDNEY ARMER 20

Shorty and the Los t ChinamanBy WILLIAM CARUTHER S 25

Briefs from the des ert reg ion 27

Meet the Trai l ing MilkweedBy MARY BEAL 28

Here an d There on the Desert . 29

A test of you r desert kn ow led ge 32

Ge m s a nd Mi ne ra l s

—E dited by ARTHUR L. EATON 33

Am ateu r Gem Cutter, by LELANDE QUICK . . 36

Spide r W om an, an d o the r rev iews 37

Just B et we en Y ou a n d M e , b y t he E dito r . . . . 38

The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Publishing Company, 636Stat e Stre et, El Centro, California. Ente red as second class matte r October 11, 1937, atthe post office at El Centro, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title reg istere dNo. 368866 in U. S. Patent Office, and contents copyrighted 1943 by the Desert PublishingCompany. Permission to reproduce contents mu st be secured from the editor in writing.

RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor. LUCILE HARRIS, Associate Editor.BESS STACY, Business Manager. — EVONNE HENDERSON, Circulation Manager.Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledged

unless full retur n postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility for damageor loss of man uscrip ts or photog raphs altho ugh due care will be exercised. Subscr ibers sho uldsend notice of change of address by the first of the mon th preceding iss ue. If addre ss is un -certain by that date, notify circulation department to hold copies.

SUBSCRIPTION RATESOne year . . . . $ 2.50 Two years . . . . $ 4.50

Canadian 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, 636 State St., El Centro, California.

N O V E M B E R , 1 9 4 3





Mem bers of Julius F. Stone's 1938 Colorado river expedition at Lee's Ferry. Left to right—Charles Kelly, Frank Swain, George Stone, W illiam A. Cryst, Dr. A. L. Inglesby, Julius

F. Stone and Dr. Russell G. Frazier.

7<ettu on the (2olotadiIf Painted Desert wer e the climax of your Arizona trip, and yo u w ere on

your way to the Utah parks of Zion and Bryce, you would cross the Colo-rado river over beautiful Nav ajo bridge, on U. S. hig hw ay 89. You prob-ably wouldn't notice the dim road turning off downstream at the servicestation just north of the bridge . . . An d you thereby w ould miss o ne of themost interesting places on the Colorado river, a point known to river ex-plorers since 1776. Although it has been the supply station since earlytimes for every group of voyagers along the entire length of the Colorado,it is best known to the public for its associa tion with John D. Lee. FleeingUtah in 1872 to esc ap e pu nishmen t for his part in the Mountain M ead ow smassacre. Lee with two of his numerous wives settled at what is nowknown as Lee's Ferry. Charles Kelly sketches the history of this historicsite and he relates the tragic end of the man who is called Arizona's firstIndian trader.

By CHARLES KELLY

We were all happy to realize we hadreached Lee's Ferry, terminus of our voy-age. It had been excessively hot in thecanyon, we were badly sunburned, and amonth's exploring for ancient ruins hadexhausted our grub supply. Landing be-low the old cabin we beached our boatsand crawled beneath some nearby willowswhose shade afforded but little relief fromthe temperature of 130 degrees.

Having arrived one day ahead of sched-

ule we had time to explore the vicinity of

a bend in the Colo-ra do river about a day's journeysouth of the Utah-Arizona state

line, we saw an opening in the high can-yon walls which had enclosed us for manydays. Drifting downstream we passed alog cabin on the right bank and on the op-posite side saw traces of an old road. Fiveof us, in two canvas boats, had come downthe river with Dr. Julian H. Steward onan archeological expedition for the Uni-

versity of Utah.

the famous old ferry before Frank Beck-with and Maurice Howe arrived with carsto take us back home. It was time w ellspent, both from a scenic standpoint andbecause the place was im portant in pioneerhistory. Since then I have visited it manytimes, by river or overland, collectingfacts on its early history.

Lee's Ferry has been the terminus formany boating expeditions on the upperColorado river, the starting point for evenmore expeditions through the wild rapidsof Grand Canyon, and the supply stationfor every group of voyagers through the

whole length of the Colorado. MajorPowell first visited it by boat in 1869, andagain in 1871.

Nathan Galloway, trapper, landed therewith many bales of beaver furs. Julius F.Stone, with Galloway, stopped there in1909 only to find his supplies had not ar-rived, and was forced to continue on shortrations. It was the supply station for sev-eral U.S.G.S. mapping expeditions. Dr.Russell G. Frazier used it as the startingpoint for the third leg of his river journey.In more recent years it has seen NormanNevills begin several voyages throughGrand Canyon. Since it is the only point

between Greenriver, Utah, and the foot of

N O V E M B E R , 1 9 4 3



Bright Angel trail where supplies can beobtained, it always has been an importantstopping point for every river voyager.

To most persons the fame of Lee's Ferrylies principally in its connection with thepersonality of its first settler, John D. Lee.But it was geographically im portant in p io-neer times because it was the only possiblecrossing of the Colorado for wagons be-

tween Gunnison's crossing on the Greenand Pierce's Ferry below Grand Canyon.At the mouth of Paria river, where the

old ferry is located, the canyon walls breakdown sufficiently to allow wag ons to reachthe river and get out on the opposite side.But the crossing is not a ford. Instead, theriver runs deep and swift, with a rapidjust below the Paria's mouth.

The history of this spot runs back to1776, when Father Escalante, first whiteman to visit Utah, decided to turn back toSanta Fe rather than continue on to Cali-fornia. His return route was obstructed bythe Colorado's deep canyon, but Indianstold him they sometimes crossed at themouth of the Paria. W hen he reached thatplace and looked at the muddy swirlingwaters and the rapid below, he was afraidto attempt a crossing since he could notswim. He continued 40 miles upstreambefore finding the old Ute crossing wherehe was able to ford w ithout swimm ing hishorses.

Eighty-one years passed before anywhite man is known to have again visitedthe place. Early trappers m ay have seenit, particularly Jim Baker in 1841, but ifso they left no record. In 18 57 two Mor-mon scouts, C. A. Huntington and C. E.Holladay, reached the Colorado at thatplace, although they probably did notcross. The ir names were discovered on arock above the river in 1938 by BillieWeaver, daughter of Leo Weaver.

The next visitor, so far as we know, wasMajor John W. Powell, who stopped thereto repair his boats in August, 1869, beforecontinuing on through Grand Canyon.Powell says he recognized the place from

Above— Robert B . Hildebrand in front of the old log p ier which elevated the ferrycable. No te landing across the river and old emigrant road leading right to theLittle Colora do river. Below— Original John D. Lee cabin. The au thor, right,

with Mr. H ildebrand w ho as a boy spent a year with Lee at Lee's Ferry.

a description given him by a Mormon mis-sionary, probably Huntington.

In October of the same year Jacob Ham-blin, famous Mormon pioneer missionaryto the Indians, crossed the Colorado atthat point, swimming his horses and raft-

Lee's Ferry, looking do wnstream from the old ferry house toward mouth of Pariariver. Photo by Hoffman Birney.

ing his supplies. Previously he had madeseveral trips from Utah to the Moqui vil-lages, using the old Ute ford or Escalantecrossing, but on this occasion h e was scout-ing a possible wagon road into Arizona.He found evidence that Navajo Indianshad been crossing the river on their raidsinto Utah.

Traveling overland Major Powell cross-ed the Colorado at Lee's Ferry in 1870 ona visit to the Moquis, using an old boat,th e Canon Maid, abandoned in 1869. This

was the first known crossing by boat. Onhis second expedition Powell reached thecrossing on October 23, 1871, the end ofhis explorations for that year. One of hisbattered boats, the Nellie Powell, was usedto ferry over Jacob Hamblin, who had justarrived from another trip to the Moquis.This might be called the beginning offerry service.

In the summer of 1872 some of Powell'smen were sent back to the m outh of DirtyDevil river to bring down a boat cachedthere the previous year. Wh en theyreached Lee's Ferry on July 13 they weresurprised to find John D. Lee and one of




his numerous wives living in a rude logabin built early that spring . He calledhe place appropriately "Lonely Dell."

Back in 1857 John D. Lee, with about75 others, had taken part in the MountainMeadows massacre, when a party of 145migrants had been almost completely ex-erminated. For 15 years nothing had been

done to punish the perpetrators of thatcrime. But by 1872 the government finallybegan gathering evidence and hunting forsome of the men involved. Lee was ad-vised to leave Utah Territory, so he se-lected Lonely Dell as his hideout, thenone of the most isolated spots in the West.

During the following winter Lee builta two-room stone house, and later anotherstrong stone building known as Lee's Fort.A high hill nearby still is known as Lee'sLookout, although it is doubtful if he usedit for that purpose. To this hidden spotLee moved two of his wives, Rachel andEmma, with their families, leaving 17others scattered in various parts of Utah.In 1873 a number of other men implicatedin the massacre, feeling they might be saferoutside Utah, decided to move south to theLittle Colorado in A rizona. The o nly placethey could cross the Colorado with wagonswas at the mouth of the Paria, where it wasdetermined to locate a ferry. Fifty m enwere sent to assist Lee in constructing atrail up the cliffs on the left bank.

The original ferry was a heavy bargebuilt of cottonwood logs and operated bysweeps large enough to accommodate oneteam and wagon. Wh en it was swept away

John D. Le e. From a rare old photo-graph in the collection of Edna Lee

Brimhall.

by one of the Colorado's annual floodsanother was built to accommodate threewagons. It was lost with its cargo in 1876,one man being drowned. A number ofother ferry boats suffered the same fate.

When the ferry was in operation Brig-ham Young ordered a number of familiesto cross the Colorado and settle in north-ern Arizona. For several years afterwardseach summer saw long lines of Mormonemigrant w agons waiting to cross the river

at Lee's Ferry in order to reach Moenkopi,Sunset, Snowflake and many other pioneersettlements on the Little Colorado, Saltand Gila rivers. Altho ugh some settle-ments failed, most of them succeeded anda majority of the early settlers, grandpar-ents of many prominent Arizonans, cross-ed the Colorado at Lee's Ferry.

Soon after it began operating, a largenumber of Navajo came to the river andwanted to cross on the new ferry. Lee car-ried them all without charge in order tokeep them friendly if possible. In orderto make a profit on this operation, heopened an Indian trading post, said to bethe first in Arizona. Jacob Ham blin, sentto the river to prevent the Indians fromraiding Mormon herds, also traded withthem during one winter while Lee wasabsent.

In November, 1874, while visiting someof his wives in Panguitch, Utah, John D.Lee was arrested by United States officers.Tried in Beaver, the jury disagreed and hewas released on bail, returnin g to the ferry.At his second trial he was convicted andin March, 1877, executed at MountainMeadows, the only man to suffer punish-ment for the massacre.

His wife Emma operated the ferry alonefor a year or two but was forced to leavewhen Brigham Young turned it over to theJohnson family, some of whom remainedthere until recently. In later years it wasmoved about a mile upstream where aneasier out was found on the south bankand where a log ferry house was built. At

/*£*!£* PUB.

N O V E M B E R , 1 9 4 3





The Souths have come home. After a year of wan-dering in the deserts of Utah, Nevada, Arizona andCalifornia, they have returned to Yaquitepec—thathome atop Ghost Mountain, looking east across theColorado desert to the craggy ranges of Arizona.Through the anxious months of searching for anideal home site, they knew that somewhere itexisted. It did. On the very mou ntain top from which

they had set out upon their quest.

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T/&M" /j Yaquitepec, the South home on Ghost Mountain,to w hich they have returned ajter a year of wandering.

By MARSHAL SOUTH

f I CROSS the dim trail, between a bristling cholla and a

I / bunch of withe red mescal stalks, stretched a slendercable of gleaming silver. From its center swung a tiny

bell of white silk—a fairy bell swaying gently in the faint stir-ring of the desert air. A good omen. There in the silence andthe warm glow of the late afternoon sunshine it seemed to beringing a glad welcome. Carefully we turned from the path andstepped around it to avoid injuring the work of the little desertspider whose home it was.

A hush held all the desert. On the horizon the mountainsrose up warm and glowing like the rim of a golden bowl—agolden bowl filled with a wine of silence spiced with thefragrance of creosotes and junipers and sage. The w hole worldwas so still one walked as in a dream. W e did not speak. Noone^-not even the irrepressible Victoria—wanted to break that

hushed peace. Th e click and clatter of occasional stones rollin gfrom beneath our feet sounded startlingly loud.

The trail wound up the mountainside, cresting ridges anddoubling back across tiny plateaus. Soon we were clamberingamong frowning boulders— clambering and panting, for we hadgrown out of practice with steep trails. An inquisitive c hipmu nkeyed us from a rock top as we rested a mom ent. Then with asaucy flirt of his tail scuttled for safety. The re were jun ipershere, and bisnagas and the bristling bayonets of rank on rank ofguarding mescals. W e went on more slowly. For we knew wewere drawing near to something.

"I see the roof!" Rudyard shouted all at once. "Look, daddy!The roof an' the chimney an'—"

"—An' the 'ittle bird house!" Victoria shrilled in a sudden

wild excitement that periled her perch upon my shoulder. "Th e'ittle bird house in the twee. It's still there! "

"Yes," Rider said. "Th at's the roof. And the bird house."He drew a deep, quick breath. "Yaq uitepec," he said softly.He darted away, ostensibly to see if his special cistern had anywater in it. Rider's feelings are deep and sensitive. But helikes to hide them.

And so, through the junipers and the tall swaying mescalstalks, on that warm, still desert afternoon, we came HOME.Home to Yaquitepec—and to the end of our long trail ofwandering and of search. The quest was over. The dreamplace had been found. No r does it lessen the satisfaction tha twe found our ideal on the very spot from which we had set out.Rather it adds to the importance of the search and to the solidjoy of the final discovery.

It was not a noisy or exuberant hom ecoming. Th e hearts of

all of us were too full for demonstration. For a long while wedid not enter the house. W e just sat under the ramada andrested. And drank in the far vast blue-distance of the desertextending east from the foot of the mountain, far below. Every-

thing was still. Hushed and peaceful and sunny. Even thefaint stirring of a drowsy breeze along the edge of the westerncliff seemed imm easurably far away. An d in the midst of thedeep, solemn peace the little house, hemmed by its toylike jun-ipers and clutter of giant boulders seemed to hold out invisiblewelcoming arms to us.

It might have been but yesterday that we had gone. So littlehad changed. As we began to move about, tread ing on tip-toeas though reluctant to break the hush, it almost seemed that ourwhole wandering trail of the past months had been a dream.With a sort of wonder we picked up familiar objects, restingstill where we had laid them down on the last day of our going.Save that there were weathered patterns beneath them and faintoutlines where the drifting days and infrequent storms hadtraced their imprints, we might have placed them there just afew minutes before.

There h ad been visitors to the little house in our absence. Butthey had been kindly visitors and desert friends. They had dis-turbed little. Some of the old toys that had been scatteredbeneath the ramada were ranged in ordered ranks which plainlytold that some of the visitors to the little house had been chil-dren. And along the edge of the terrace someone had arrangedsome of our colored rock specimens in a way that bespoke notonly artistic apprec iation but also loving intere st. Several panesof glass had been shattered in one of the front w indows. But tha tevidently had been a prank of the wind.

W e went inside after awhile. The front door, which some-one had managed to unfasten, was held shut by a prop and sev-

eral rocks. This loving service, together with the securingof the unfastened front window and the barricading of a looserear shutter, had been the work of the artist, Thomas Crocker,at the time when he had climbed Ghost Mountain to transferYaquitepec to canvas. On the table lay a wide thin piece ofclean white board, evidently part of the side of an apple box. Ithad been headed, in pencil, "Great Register" and upon it severalYaquitepec visitors had inscribed their names. To this impro-vised visitors' book Mr. Crocker also had added a few lines offriendly appeal to subsequent callers to keep doors and w indowssecurely fastened.

We had expected to find rats' nests and a wild litter of chollascraps and mescal pods which these industrious little rascalsgenerally haul in to empty houses. But even the rats seemed to

have realized that we eventually would return. There was notrace of their activities. On the shelves whe re we had left them,

N O V E M B E R , 1 9 4 3



Marshal South sketched the carrying chair, or packboard, which he made from mescal stalks and fiber to carrysupplies up the steep trail to Yaquitepec. Note padded

shoulder ropes and top hand-hold rope.

a. few trinkets still stood in orderly array. A couple of pictureshun g on the walls. Silence and a thin filming of desert dust.

The house contained but one native tenant . . . a big, phil-osophic "Tittums 'pider" (Victoria's rendering of Tarantulaspider) who sat beside the fireplace regarding our intrusion

with a stoical indifference which wasn't in the slightest ruffledwhen we carefully herded it into an old can and carried it outto a place of safety among the rocks.

Tanya began to open windows and dust tables and chairs—«. multitude of little preliminary tasks towards the job of re-establishment. W ith the beginning of such first tasks some-thing of the unreality vanished. W e began to realize that weactually were home once more. W ith full hearts and a happi-ness greater than anything we had known since the day of ourleaving we all turned to the big job ahead of us.

And it was a big job. Every pound of our personal posssesions,which we so laboriously had carried down Ghost Mountainwhen we had gone away, had to be re-carried up the trail. Thatwas going to be a strenuous job. But it was not particularly thistask which gave us concern. Ou r chief anxiety was the old ques-tion of water. That was vital. Hastily we took stock of thesituation.

It turned out to be considerably better than we had antici-pated . Th e carefully corked five gallon bottle which, fromsheer force of desert habit, we had left in the house on our de-parture, had not been molested. And the regular inside waterbarrel still contained about 10 gallons of pure liquid. W e wentout to inspect the cisterns.

Evidently a heavy thundershower had passed across GhostMo untain about a week or ten days previous to our homecoming.Evidences of the brief downpour were visible in cut channels inthe gravel and in the mud stains in now dry catch holes. Also

the overflow pool, to which the roof guttering had been con-

nected, was still about a quarter full of water. It wasn't goodwater because the open cemented pool had become cluttered upwith trash during our absence. Still it was water.

Our main drinking water cistern was dry, except for a slime-crusted puddle in which a defunct centipede reposed peacefullyamidst a litter of other "an imalitos." Another smaller cisternlikewise was bone dry. Th e same was true of a couple of othercontainers. But to our great joy a carefully covered tank stillretained, bug-free and pure, the 60 gallons or so of water whichwe had left in it. This store, with the water in the house, gaveus a head start on the water question of about 75 gallons. Wesuddenly felt our chief worry evaporate.

There still was much to be done. On that first trip up themountain w e had been unable to bring much in the way of sup-plies. So Rider and I hurried down the long descent to the carand trailer. He re we hastily collected a few blankets and essen-tials and started u p the mountain again, taking note, on the wayup , of several stout mescal stalks which, on the morrow, couldbe pressed into service for the making of a "carrying-chair."

Dusk was closing in by the time we returned. Tanya had thelantern lit and a sketchy camp supper on the table—to whichwe did more than justice. Weary and gloriously happy we all

turned in to drowse contentedly towards slumber, lulled by thesong of the old, well-remembered desert wind, harping acrossthe cliff edge and the roof-top.

"Tow ards" slumber, I said. For suddenly, in the still night,there was a crash. Bamm! W ham ! Clatter-te-clatter-te-clomp!Bam! Slam! Tanya sat up with a startled jerk. Rudyard said"Ouff?" in a scared, inquiring voice. From the depths other covers Victoria snuffled and yawned: "Th at is onwy theeowd pack wat. He corned home to his house on thee woof," sheobserved sleepily. Of course. Tem porarily we had forgottenthe old pack rat who has his dwelling up in a litttle pocket underan overhanging roof-eave.

Next day, having fashioned a pack chair from mescal polesand fiber, we settled to the job of carrying in real earnest. Abig job. It isn't finished yet. But there is joy in the labor.When you have swung around the circle, and finally provedthat your heart lies in the location you started from, the satis-faction of the knowledge far outweighs any physical toil.

For, in summing up, there is for us but one Yaquitepec. Noother place, no other scene, in all the desert empire we havetraversed, can compete with it. W e saw solitudes and beauty.We found wells and waterholes. We gladdened our hearts be-side the silver trickles of springs, singing their cool song be-neath the glowin g lift of desert cliffs. But we found n o peaceand no contentment like the peace and tranquillity that wrapsaround the little home that perches on our bald mountain sum-mit. Yaquitepec!

The granite crest shoulders back the driving ' winds. Theravens wing above it and the savage chollas crouch in the spacesbetween the tumb led rocks. It is barren and sun scorched andstorm harried. And there is no water. But—it is HO M E.

• • •

CONTENTMENT

Who knows content? Not the exceeding rich.Nor yet the prosperous. Nor e'en the poor—For it is never worldly substance whichBrings sweet content to grow w ithin our core.Contentment is a spiritual thing,Nurtured by m ental viewpoint and by goal'.The outcrop of imaginings that bringAn understanding peace to heart and soul.

—Tanya South.

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



Photo courtesyNew Mexico Tourist Bureau

One of the beautiful new caves in Carlsbad Caverns national park, NewMexico, still not open to the public. Thirty-two miles of connecting under-

ground chambers have been explored; well-lighted trails lead through sevenmiles of the limestone fairyland of stalagmites and stalactites.

N O V E M B E R , 1 9 4 3 11



Toli, adored by governors, senators, actors, painters. Milner portrait.

ii T ELL me a story of our people,Grandfather," little Squaw-poose begged the grandfather.

He looked at the child snuggled againsthim. W ith a baby's blessed gift of accept-ance, she was at home and an Indian.

Dusk had settled down on the puebloof Laguna, sprawled on its grey rocky hill-side beside the San Jose river in northernNe w Mexico. Against the crimson sunsetthe tower of the ancient mission loomedstern and uncompromising, a bulwarkagainst too much moderness. Laguna wasthe last settled of the Keresan pueblos,dating back to 1697. There are perhaps200 dwellers in the town but three thriv-ing villages composed of Laguna farmersand herders lie within a radius of 20 miles.Paguate, seven miles away, is the largest

of these, and it was there that the grand-

father of Toli tilled his fields and kept hissheep.

The old man began his story in the softLaguna tongue, but seeing only blankness

on Squawpoose's face he turned to stum-bling English that she might understand.

"Our people first came from a land inthe north, where all Indians lived in agreat undergro und chamber. Mother ofall was Beautiful Corn, and when a greatpower created the earth, the moon, thestars, and all things alive, there was stillsomething missing, the sun! BeautifulCorn stood on a high hill and said, "Theremust be light,' and the Great Power cre-ated the sun. But he left it floating aroundloose in the sky, plaything of each windthat blew. Beautiful Corn, being a tidyperson, decided it must be anchored, itmust be placed w here it would do the most

From birth until her fifth year,Toli Sombrero (Shining Face Big-Hat), La guna Ind i a n ba by , wa s amember of the White MountainSmith household in Petrified For-est nat ional monument, Arizona,and Grand Te ton na t iona l pa rk ,Wy om ing. Hund reds of famouspeople knew and loved l i t t le

"Squawpoose" as she ca l led he r-self. (She expla ined grave ly tha t" s qua w" m e a n t Ind i a n wom a n ,a nd "poos e " Ind i a n ba by , a ndtha t she was an Indian womanbaby !) W al lace Beery, AnnRutherford, Leo Carrillo, ChiefThundercloud (Tonto of LoneRanger fame), were her devotedfriends. Jessica Drag onette andLi ly Pons sang gay baby songsto her. Gov ernors, senators ,pa in te rs , photographers ador ing-ly pic tured her in her gay scarle tdress and cowboy boots . Whi le

Toli lived with her white friends,he r young mother spent theyears in nurses t ra in ing a t SageMemoria l hospi ta l , Ganado, Ari -zona . The t ime cam e whenSquawpoose had to re turn to he rown people in the ancient Indianpueblo of Laguna, New Mexico.

Toli CfoelSack to

una

By MARGARET STONE

good with its light and warmth. And, likeall women, she wanted it to hang whereit would be the most becoming to theearth.

"Well, she had it rise in the north, butit didn't look well there. South was justas unpleasing, and for awhile she thoughtshe would leave it stuck on top of one ofthe nearby mountains in the west. Butwhen it glowed at midday it threw toomuch light and heat down against a bigrock where she liked to sit and rest.

"Beautiful Corn angrily snatched itfrom the western sky and tossed it out of




sight over the rim of theearth in theeast.Tired of all this sun-moving shestretchedherself against Mother Earth andfell intoa deep sleep. When sheopened hereyesthe first timid rays of the sunwere fallingon her,from where itpeeked meekly overthe earth's edge.

" 'Come on upwhere all can see you,Sun,' cried Beautiful Corn, 'butwhen we'are weary ofyour light andheat, sink backout ofsight until we arerested.' And thatis why the suncomes up in the east andgoes out of sight in thewest at night. Itnever has learned how to turn around inthe sky andjust has to keep traveling allnight long to be back in the east whenBeautiful Corn wants to see it again."

Every day, every hour in theIndianvil-lage was an adventure to little Squaw-poose. Shefollowed hergrandfather intothe fields where he cleaned the tumble-weeds andsilt from theirrigation d itches,as heexplained gravely to her that unless

water could reach theroots of the cornandwheat andpeppers he planned to plant,they could notgrow andproduce food. Itno food grew all the Indians would behungry.

What crops theLaguna Indians raise intheir small irrigated fields are hardlyearned. They have some wheat andcorn,pumpkins and beans and melons whichthey store for their winter's food. LagunaIndians are typically desert people, pro-

Pueblo Laguna sprawls on the grey rocky north bank of San Jose river, 45mileswest ofAlbuquerque, NewMexico. Department of Interior photo.

duced byliving forgenerations where liv-ing is a full-time job. They have hard en-during bodies, made so bythe tough coarsefood they must eat and by thedemandsofa harsh environment. They never havequite enough food tosatisfy their hunger,never the necessary clothes, never suffi-cient heat inwinter norshade insummer.

But they are honest, hard working and un-complaining.

What real money comes into their pos-session is through the chili peppers theyraise andtruck to far-off towns and fromthe pottery the women make and sell totourists traveling along U. S.highway 66,which passes through their pueblo. When

RIO GRRNDEPUEBLD5

G J B / H I H I H / S I H I S J O

- PECD 5—

KERESRNTIEURTEWR

DDMINGDrE L I P E

NEW) MEXICO-

N O V E M B E R , 1943 13



Laguna pottery is beautiful in design, but fragile due to poor quality of c lay in theregion. U. S. Indian Se rvice photo.

the crops are harvested many of the mengo to the machine shops of the Santa Ferailroad even as far away as Needles, Cali-fornia.

Laguna pottery is attractive and in-teresting but quite fragile. The clay in thissection of the country is too sandy, and al-though their design and color are fine, La-guna women never have learned how tofire pottery properly. Small two-headedbird ash trays and little baskets with twist-ed handles, black and red on white back-ground, are the chief items they offer forsale. The older women and children have

erected stone and brush shelters along U.S. highway 66 , and day after day theypatiently offer poor pottery and brightflashing smiles to passing tourists.

In the fall when the peppers are har-vested they are strung on heavy cord andhung to dry. These strings cover the sunnysides of every grey adobe in the pueblo—and there is no more colorful a sight.Artists travel from remote places to paintthem, and miles of colored films aresquandered on the peppery landscape bymovie fans. They pay dearly for the priv-ilege of taking such pictures, as the La-

gunas are not famous for their "Welcome"

on the doormat. They know too muchabout the extremely poor manners of cur-ious tourists to encourage them.

Back some hundreds of years ago theSpanish soldiers and priests came to live intheir midst and the Lagunas have foundthat hospitality to other races does not pay!At that time, according to legend and torecords left by the Spanish, there was alarge body of water in th e valley held thereby a landslide which had blocked the can-yon through which the river flowed. WhenToli begged for another story whileGrandfather rested on the low stone stepbefore his door, listening to the homeysounds of the village, he told her aboutthis water and about the sacred serpentthat had lived in it.

Almost all the Southwest Indians havea legend of a winged serpent in one formor another. Th e story of the Laguna seaserpent is to be found in government re-ports.

"Once, long ago," Grandfather began,"plenty of water lived in our valley. Thatwas when the Spanish priests and soldierscame to this land looking for gold andwealth. One winter the soldiers from

across the great water lived in the houses

of our people here in Laguna. They arethe ones who told us to call the pueblo'Laguna'. They said in their language itmeant 'lake' or place in the ground wherewater collects and stays.

"This water stayed happily with us, heldfrom going on down the valley by a bigbank of earth and rocks down where thecanyon is narrow . It was the lifeblood of

our peop le. Ou r fields were always full ofgrowing corn and beans and pumpkins,and in the wintertime we were never hun-gry because we had all the storerooms fullof what we had saved from summertimeThe Spaniards gave us sheep and theynever went far away to graze because grasswas everywhere.

"Our fathers tell us stories of a greatsea serpent that lived in the lake, but wetreated him kindly and he caused notrouble. If nt>w and then a lamb d rinkingat the edge of the water disappeared,nothing was said about it because after all

the sea serpent could just as well havetaken one of our children when they wadedand played in the water.

"We watered our fields from the lakeand it was a fruitful land. Too fruitful forour own good I guess because a tribe livingnot far away had no beautiful lake with akindly sea serpent, and they were unableto bear with fortitude the good fortune ofthe Laguna people. One stormy night therewas no moon, and even the stars hid awayamong the clouds. The envious Indianscame and tore away the high dike at theend of the valley where the lake lay im-

prisoned. The life-giving water rushedmadly down the canyon and was lost for-ever.

"Our old people say the wind wailedand whipped the loose desert sand aroundtrying to stop the water from leaving, butall they could do was in vain. Th e sandonly covered the tracks of the wicked In-dians so that in the morning we could notsee which way they went. And even now,when there is no moon and the wind callssadly along the houses in the terraced vil-lage the older men say they can hear the

despairing cries of our friendly sea serpentas he was swept away from us in the dark-ness."

Little Squawpoose listened that night,as she lay snug and warm in her blankets,for the sound of the sea serpent. She wasready to hide her smooth black head underthe covers, but the next thing she knew itwas morning and Grandfather told her shecould go across the sandy hills to the farm-ing village of Paguate.

That day they looked over the flocks ofsheep, and the little girl played with themischievous lambs bounding around the

warm desert. W hen they went home to eat




the hot stew and crusty bread baked in anoutside oven by Grandmother, a smallmotherless black lamb went along in thewagon to be the joy of the little girl'sheart—and the despair of the neat house-keeping Grandmother.

Now and then the small Indian girlwould feel a little homesick for her fosterpeople and then she would try to tell her

grandfather about living close to snow-crowned mountains, and going out inboats on deep blue lakes where bears cameto the edge of the water and ate huckle-berries from the bushes. Of the greatsulky moose that used to stand outside thedoor of the big log house where she lived,and kept her from playing in her swinghung on the limb of a huge pine tree. Andshe would remember the proud doe thatbrought hef twin babies to look in at thewindow while Squawpoose and Bill of thehousehold ate their breakfast. Or maybeshe'd talk about the pet antelope alwaysbegging bread from the kitchen door. She

asked if Grandfather knew her friend W al-lace Beery or Tonto of the Lone Rangerstories? But Grandfather, wise in the wayof homesick children, would take her intothe fields with him and she'd be happyagain.

She liked to go to the meadow wherethe grass grew tall and sweet and watchthe men cut it with scythes so that it lay insmooth windrows and cured in the sun. Inthis field it was that her Uncle Felipe al-most stopped being alive! He came thereone hot day with Grandfather to help cutand rake the hay. But a sudden thunder-storm broke and Felipe was sent to seek

shelter under the wagon until the rainwould stop.

There was a blinding flash, and whenthe smoke cleared away one of the horsestied close to the wagon was killed bylightning and the little boy lay senselesswith his small face turned up heedless ofthe beating rain. Grandfather did not for-get the laws of his tribe. He longed tosnatch the small body in his arms and tryto bring back a spark of life into this, hisonly son. But he stood some distanceaway, his tears mingling with the fallingrain and waited for the medicine man tocome and clear away the wicked spirit ofthe storm. Otherwise it might follow thelittle lad into the world where he seemedto have gone, and harm him again there.

Minutes dragged by while the villagewas searched for the medicine man.Friends and neighbors gathered in therain and gazed sadly at the boy, and manyof them wailed softly, adding their grief tothat of the mother. The father stood aloneand never took his eyes from his child. Allat once a small arm moved and then asound reached the crowd, "Father, I am

cold." The re was no more waiting for

Squawpoose, when she was 3V2 yearsold.

anything. The stunned boy, brought outof his coma by the cool driving rain in the

face, was carried in triumph to the village,and even today he is the object of awe from

his very old grandmother who knows heis something sacred.

The low whitewashed ceiling of Grand-mother's kitchen was always fascinating tothe little girl. Here a mong the strings ofpeppers were hung bunches of dried sweetcorn, the husks stripped back from thekernels and tied together. No w and thenan ear would be taken down, the huskchopped off and the ear put to soak over-night. The next time little Squawpoosesaw it the corn was part of a rich muttonstew.

Dried pumpkin and dried peaches andapples, strings of green beans dried in thesun and in the wintertime round greenmelons wrapped in grass and hung in netsadded to the food store. When the dry redpeppers were being ground to a finepowder in a stone bowl, the little girl al-ways found something to do elsewhere.The pepper got into her nose and madeher sneeze, and tears streamed from hereyes.

Every week the Indian women madehomeground wheat into loaves to be baked

Toli w ould go out to the fields where the old man tended the ewes and their lambs.U. S. Indian Service photo.

N O V E M B E R , 1 9 4 3 15



in the outdoor ovens. It was fascinating tosee a fire of dry wood built in the littleadobe oven shaped like a chocolate drop.A thin stone was placed tightly against theoven door to keep the heat inside. W henthe fire was burned to coals the ashes werepulled out with a wooden hoe and the floorwiped clean with juniper boughs dippedin water. Right down on the hot floorwent the loaves, the stone door shut again,and after awhile when Grandmother sawthe sun reach a certain mark on the wall,she opened the door and there was a mostdelicious smell of hot crusty bread. Some-times Squawpoose kneaded a special littleloaf herself and insisted on Grandfathersharing it with her. Th e inside of the loafas not as fine and white as those Grand-mother made, but the old man bravelychoked it down and told her she was a finelittle cook.

Sunday, with prayer-book in hand, thelittle girl and her grandparents entered thegrim old mission, cool and dark and quietinside. She liked the smell of burning in-cense and the songs from the choir loft,and it was amusing to turn around andaround and look at all the painted angelson the ceiling and the strange hungry-looking saints on cracked canvas back-grounds.

That was nice, but she liked best to goback to the plaza where Indian dancersmoved to the thump of a drum and sangsongs not taught to them by a white man'schurch. As they stamped the hard earthand chanted age-old songs to their redgods, imploring them for rain on theparched fields, a chord of mem ory wasstirred in the heart of the child and herown small feet moved in the rhythm of thedrums. Toli is Indian!

Little Squawpoose liked the smell of burning incense and the painted angels on theceiling in the cool darkness of the grim old church— but she w as attuned to therhythm of the drums as her ow n people chanted age-old songs to their ancient gods.

United Pueblos Indian agency photo.

- .

Sez HardRock Shorty

of

DeathValleyBy LON GARRISON

"Oh sure—we have cold weatherhere in Inferno sometimes!" statedHar d Rock Shorty. "N ot that to-day's any sample o' course but I'veseen it get just as cold as you cantake it!"

Hard Rock looked out over thelandscape shimmering with the ris-ing heat waves and shivered a bitthinking of his last blizzard.

"Why, the last time it got realgood an' cold here the cold weathersaved my life! Th at's a fact.

"It w as 14-15 years ago. The dudebusiness was goin' good over to theFried Egg Canyon hotel an' I got sointerested in the stories about thefeather beds an' the fancy-pantswaiters that I went over to look.They give me a room up on thefourth floor an' that was nearly fatal.

"Along durin' the night I heardfolks a-hollerin' outside an' bangin'an' runnin' around an' when I open-ed my door to see what the commo-tion was all about I found out thehotel was on fire! Yes S ir—burnin'right up an' me there in it an' thestairway blocked so I only had afourth floor window to get out of!

"I went over to the window an'pulled it up an' looked out. Thatground was sure a long ways off!They had ladders up gettin' folksout o' the lower rooms but they surecouldn't reach me. I didn't have norope — the beddin' wasn't longenough to get me down to the ladderan' I was really just about to joinWing "A' o' the Fried Egg Canyonhotel in the ashes when I noticedhow dad-blamed cold it was out-side.

"Yup—it'd really got cold quickan' watchin' the water freeze as itcome out o' the fire hoses give methe idea that saved my life. I grabbedthe water pitcher, run over to thewindow, poured the water out thewindow, an' then after I put mypants on, I slid down the icicle!"




. . .Twentynine Palms, California

I read Desert Magazine because thereby I enlarge my contacts

ith the desert and obtain information which is otherwise un-available to me. How ever, I find too little in it of the FA CTSof the desert and too much of the superior white's account of hiscontact with the desert, with much airy nonsense about his ap-preciation of its beauties and so-called hardships.

The human element in the desert, especially the white manelement, is a comparatively minor part of it, and is greatly over-shadowed by its faunae, flora, climate, geology, etc. My in-terest is in the straight factual articles you do not, as a matter ofpolicy care to publish. I have to wade through much extraneousmatter to get at the facts which are thinly scattered throughout.Occasionally you do publish a largely factual article despite yourannounced policy and I suppose that is why I continue my sub-scription though I sometimes think to let it lapse.

The factual type of article need not be a bone-dry affair. It

can and does appeal to many of us (I ho pe to most of us.) Youhave published articles by Prof. Laudermilk, Mary Beal andMarshal South which contained much meat to interest the non-specialist genera l reader. To my mind, a good fact is worthmore than columns of esoteric descriptive matter written for thefuzzy thinke rs. A travelog of a superior wh ite visiting the worldof the simple desert Indian wherein the traveler writes of hispersonal reactions to his "discoveries" of a very few sketchyfacts he thinks he is uncovering, heavily watered with much de-tail of the minutiae of his trip, is almost not worth the wadingthrough to get at those few facts.

Marshal South's early articles, wherein he describes his ex-periences in establishing himself and his family on the desert,his accounts of building, pottery making, mescal roasting, ex-periments with natural desert foods, etc., are more interesting

than his later diatribes against the artificialities of conventionalcivilization.

I realize my particular interests are not necessarily the sameas those of all the other subscribers of Desert but I do think mytastes are those of the average moderately educated person whoconstitute the larger part of your subscription list and who con-tinue to read the magazine year after year because we really areinterested in the desert. I do think tha t if more articles are in-cluded containing FACTS of the life and struggles of the realdesert dwellers, the animals, the birds, the insects, the plants,the Indians, together with environmental data on the geology,climate, etc., that we readers can supply the drama and apprecia-tion, each to his own ability and need.

You may have some subscribers who enjoy reading the drama-tized travel agency accounts of our Southwest Indians but I think

most of us would like more Indians and no travelers, more aboutour chipmunks, kangaroo rats, snakes, cactuses, palms andcloudbursts and less about the ephemeral whites who come in oc-casional contact with them.

The account of Willy Boy's final adventure was enjoyed bymost of us despite the few who com plained. W e w ho are a dultsurely know that most of the early whites were not plaster saints.While I am not advocating a diet of yellow journalism I thinkDesert should reflect the desert as a whole as it is and not as ourpollyannas would like it—all cleaned up with the "stickers"trimmed, the "immoralities" hidden and with wordy bursts ofeloquence over the hardy individuals who brave its hardshipsbolstered with an automobile, vacuum bottles, elaborate camp-ing equipment.

MERRITT W. BOYER

Upper photo shows M r. Simonson at Hieroglyphic canyon,Utah, as it was in 1920. Middle, same petroglyphs todaydisfigured by vandals. Lower, another group of petroglyphs

in sam e canyon, showing work of "chiseler clan."

Utahn Scores Destruction of Indian Art . . .Green River, Utah

Editor Desert Magazine:My first visit to Hieroglyphic canyon, in southeastern Utah,

on the Green river was about the year 192 0. At that time themany petroglyphs were free from the obnoxious work of vanda ls.It is obvious from one of the pictures that those responsible forthe mutilation, cared little for the work of our early Indians.

In spite of the laws which carry stiff penalties for tamperingwith such antiquities the destruction continues unabated, notonly in this canyon but in others. I have also seen pictograp hsthat were ruined by those who have painted their names over thepictures or who have bombarded this ancient work with a srxgun or rifles.

To stop the devastators from this outrage is not an easy mat-ter. It will require the cooperation of every individual who ap-preciates and wants to see the work of our Ind ians remain on thewalls of the canyons.

JOHN P. SIMONSON

N O V E M B E R , 1 9 4 3 17



Desert Tops With Pioneer . . .Buckeye, Arizona

Dear Sir:

Enclosed find money order forD. M.foroneyear. Wehavebeen reading it for three years butmiss it sometimes at thestand.

We think it is tops, as wehave lived on thedesert for 40years and appreciate itvery much.

A. R.PHILLIPS

• • •About Cactus "Wool" Crop . . .Brookline, Massachusetts

Dear Mr. Henderson:

Enclosed is a sample fiber from acactus inRose Park green-house inHartford, Connecticut. It feels like wool. Throu ghhybridization could notacactus p roduce avegetable wool? I'veheard ofwool plants inHawaii found involcanoes.

MRS. EDNA CLAIRE DAVIS

Dear Mrs. Davis— We asked artist-mineralogist-cactophileJohn Hilton about possibilities of producing cactus-wool com-mercially,and below ishis answer.— L. H.

Thermal, CaliforniaDear Miss Harris:

Species of Cephalocereus from Mexico and Orocereus fromSouth America doproduce (hair) which issoft and tough andhas been used byprimitive tribes forweaving, ashave the fibersthemselves after dieflesh hasbeen cleaned away. Theskeletonsof many ofthe tropical cereus species areused today formanu-facturing small tools, brushes andeven the roofs of houses.Only drawback tocommercialization is relatively small rangeof theplants and fact that itwould take from 20 to100years

to produce additional plants large enough toharvest. Interest-ing as thehairy andwooly cacti areI think I shall just keep m inefor decoration and get someone toshear thewool off a sheep,which will live most anywhere andgrow much faster.

JOHN W. HILTON

No Hope forCactus Wool . .

Dear Miss Harris:St. Louis, Missouri

Several thrifty-minded persons have suggested the useof cac-tus hair as a possible economic product, but inmy estimationthere is nopossibility of itever being put tocommercial use.Allthe hairy cacti arerather slow growers andhave to bemany yearsold before reaching appreciative size. Then too the amountofhair orwool produced on anindividual isnegligibly small.

LADISLAUS CUTAK,Missouri Botanical Garden

• • •

Coast Guard Made Homesick . . .U. S.Coast GuardCape Blanco, Sixes, Oregon

Dear Sirs:

Th e U. S. O. brought anumber ofmagazines toourunit last

week forthe boys toread. Among them wasa copy of yourMarch, 1941, issue ofthe Desert Magazine. I'm anative Cali-fornian aswell as a desert lover, and I think your magazineis tops.

The only trouble isthat itcauses metogetabithomesick. Iused to love totravel over thedesert andtake pictures—thephotography inyour magazine isexcellent.

LAWRENCE E. MORRIS, Sea. lc

The final C hap ter .The people of Imperial Valley will soon write

the final chapter in a thrilling story of progress

that has been twenty-five years in the

making.

For a quarter of a century they have fought

to secure the future of this fertile valley—to

insure the vital water supply—to guarantee

the economic future by full developmentof the great natural resource of power on theAll American canal.

Water they now have in abundance thanksto the All American canal and Boulderdam—danger of flood or drouth is past-—soonthestory will be completed as full developmentof the power resource is assured and pay-ment of thecanal debt bypower sales becomepossible.

By purchase of the competing power system—by elimination of this costly competition—

by securing a market for double their presentsales—the program will be completed and thefinal chapter written inthis saga of progress.

I m p e r i a l I r r i g a t io n D i s t r i c t

U s e Y o u r O w n P o w e r -M o k e it P a y f o r t h e A H A m e r i c a n C a n a l

18 THE DESERT MAGAZINE



By CARRITA LAUDERBAUGHPacific Palisades, California

Does anyone know where the roadrunner's goneWho used to sit on my fence,His Halloween noise-maker call sounding out,So raucous, cheerful, intense?

If anyone hears that he's fighting the war

Or working in our defense,Please tell him for me to fight firmly and long,But come, come back to my fence!

POETRY OF THE DESERTBy MARIE ZETTERBERG JELLIFFE

Claremont, CaliforniaPoetry of earth within the desert livesThrough bright-hued clouds against a sea-blue

sky.Its cadence fills the hearts of many flowers.Its rhythm thrills the birds that upward flyToward golden suns and moons; the sifting

sandsBejewel themselves in glints of passing light.Their meter flows along the curving strands.The mountains raise their gold-lit heads in song.The lonely plains, the silent waiting trails

Re-echo verse, and melodies prolong.All Nature's scroll unrolls the musicalesOf stars that sing in chorus to the night.Each measure in creative glory swellsWhere God the Master of all beauty dwells.

• • •

VIEWPOINTBy LANORA RUSSELL WHARTON

Long Beach, CaliforniaTogether, side by side they rode the bus,Each watching desert landscape gliding back.

To one, the road stretched velvety and black,A ribbon, through the sagebrush and tht

flowers,Exciting wonder at each bend and curve.The mountain hues gave testimony mute,

Inviting introspection of the soul . . .A tuneful lure that sang and filled her heart.

The other chewed her gum, then restless, spoke:"My Gawd! This desert sand sure gets my

goat!"

DESERT GLAMOURBy KATHARINE BUOY

Portland, OregonBack to the desert my spirit is flying,

Over high mountains of pine-crested green,Over white glaciers on lofty peaks lying,Over wild spaces where storm winds are sigh-

ing,Over low valleys where rain elves are crying,

Crossing all barricades lying between;

Over barbed cacti in sandy wastes growingUnder the desert sun, fervidly glowing,Warming the winds from mountain-tops blow-

ingOver the chollas' illusory sheen.

Purple or lavender colors the shading,Changing through hours until daylight is

fading,Bringing out stars in a matchless parading,

Waving bright torches on midnight's blue

Back to the desert I find so enchanting,Silences leaving my spirit serene.

Shadows now lengthen as day is levantingOver the mountains where shining rays' slantingHushes my breath and my heart's restless pant-

ing,

Conscious of entities here, though unseen!

—Photo by V . Stanley-Jones, Garnet, Calijornia.

GRAND CANYONBy FRANCES HOPKINSNewark, New Jersey

Here in the firstGolden solitude,God left one sunsetAnd a desert dawnHeld in stone-cut color,Unfading and eternalAs beauty and wisdom,Fresh as wonder,Primitive as song.

DESERT NIGHTBy MELISSA DICKSONRiverside, California

There is a majesty to space—This endless, boundless, soundless place.There is a dignity of star,Untouchable and so far,Among this infinite expanse.I pause to ask my soul, PerchanceCan I alone and in the darkMake just one mark, one faint small mark?

CREED OF THE DESERTBy JUNE LEMERT PAXTONYucca Valley, California

The desert broods over troubled times,And waits for a change that will be;It waits for the day of the new-born age-The age to set souls free.

MOJAVE FUEHRERBy S/SG T. MARCUS Z. LYTLE

San Diego, CaliforniaDisordered lines of cloud are smashed;The conqueror breaks forth,Leading a blitzkrieg of the skyOut of the stark hot north.

His war-song echoes through the hills,He looses fierce white fireOf parching sun upon the town,The trees bow to his ire.

His marching cloak flames through the air,Metallic, desert blue ;Unchecked, his panzers swirl the dustDown every avenue.

As once Attila conquered FranceAnd Timur stalked through Sind,

This fuehrer overruns our land—Mojave desert wind!

• • •

MAGNITUDEBy LELA M. WILH ITEEl Centro, California

No land can hold a dread emptinessWhose solitude is a mute caressThat calmly lies in the evening's hazeTo the far horizon revealed in a sunset blaze.

Beyond the wind-etched grey, blown sand,As if they were a benediction to the serrate land,Are signals reared, as hope would rise,The gaunt mountains towering to the skies,

Westward, above the capricious mouldAcross the desert, with its floor of tawny gold.All the earth of empty space can hold no more

Of fullfilled dreams than the desert's store.

N O V E M B E R , 1 9 4 3 19



• tit.-* •• %y\ .'91 \ '-

..BLOCK MOU'NTff/N'i

EIGHT-SIDEDHOUSE

Garden In A / avajo Jland"All that trouble for a bunch of hosh—and Heart-twisters at that!" was

the scornful exclamation of the Navajo Indians who watched Mister Cac-tus, as they called Sidney Armer, collect native cactus and shrubs to addto his garden. But as they helped him find rare plants about the m esasand canyons of Black Mountain country in northeastern Arizona, a newinterest w as add ed to their live s. Soon they were participating a s en-thusiastically as city Victory Gardeners—and now they know it does

make a difference whether a clump of cactus grows here or there in thedesert.

By SIDNEY ARMER

/ V N TH E northeastern corner of Ari-V / zona, 6,000 feet above the level of

the sea, the flat-topped ridges ofthe Black Mountains enclose a vast stretchof desert wilderness. It is a bleak area ofsandstone wastes, with a scattering of sm allpine trees and wind-bent junipers. Navajohorsemen ride among broken hills andgullies. Navajo flocks pour in grey rivuletsover the crests of barren ridges. A bleakarea—and the last place in the world onemight choose for the making of a garden.Yet that is the setting we chose for our garden of native shrubs and plants. .

We had built our house at Black Moun-tain Trading post because Laura, my wife,knew that a mine of riches lay beneath theforbidding exterior of that area. She hadfound the desert her chief source of in-spiration for her books. Here too shefraternized with medicine men and madecopies of their ceremonial sandpaintings.

As a dwelling place a Navajo hogan isromantic but it is apt to leak. If we weredestined to live where domestic comfort

was unknown, Laura proposed to intro-duce at least a bit of it. At her ord er,Navajo wagons began to haul logs androck from remote mountains. In due timean eight-sided house was built. Facing theeast, it stood on a rise of grou nd 100 yardsfrom Black Mountain Trading post in thecircle made by the road which approachedthe post from the east and wound out againso the trucks did not need to turn. It wasa hogan enhanced by the requirements ofsoft civilization. Th e Nav ajo looked at itin solemn admiration and murmured,"Nezhoni hogan" (Beautiful house).

Waterless Mountain . . . in a vaststretch of desert wilderne ss . . .

The high altitude and drought conditionlimited our garden to the plants native toour own district, but we scented adventurein experiment. Wh ereas Navajo prayersfor rain might bring no results, we pro-posed to see what could be done by causingdishwater to do double duty.

Our first trophy was the Heart-twistercactus, Echinocereus coccineus. Bah-tso, aNavajo boy, helped us collect it. W estarted out with a shovel and a large squareof canvas, having first arranged withCharlie-Many-Goats who was going downthe valley with a wagon after mutton topick us up on the homeward trip.

Bah-tso's store of English was limited tothe words, "Over there." I happened toknow the N avajo word for cactus —"Ho sh." W ith this equipment we startedout, nor did we waste any time with irrele-vant conversation. The boy led me for amile or two up the sandy wash, then bysigns indicated that we must make for themesa top. A stiff climb brough t us up onthe flat. Bah-tso, with a sweeping gesturegave me to understand that our quest wasended, that here were the cactus plants,and he was ready for instructions.

I looked about. There were indeedmany clumps of opuntias, both the flat andthe cylindrical species, but no Heart-twisters were there. Fortunately, I hadheard the old legend which tells of the

Right— Sidney Armer painted a cor-ner of his native desert garden.




NOVEMBER, 1 9 4 3 21



Tuhle said,"How could there be any flowers w here the sheep eat everything."

Navajos' experience with the Heart-twister cactus. I made a m ovement as itpulling a hair from my head, another asif I were placing it upon a cactus clump.Bah-tso beamed his understanding andproudly voiced his e ntire stock of English."Over there," he said. And over there wewent.

The Navajo say that many years agothere was famine in the land and the tribehad to subsist on the meager fruits ofdesert grow th. Th e yellow-green fruits ofthe Heart-twister attracted them. Its de-

licious fragrance was reassuring, but alas,deceptive. For a brief m oment their hun-ger was stayed but a violent twisting of theheart followed the eating of the fruit.Then one, wise in the lore of living things,gave counsel. "Pluck a hair from thehead," he said, "and offer it in sacrifice,praying to the Hosh that it does not twistthe heart."

Bah-tso shared my delight in the greatmound of plants which he had discovered.Mine was the joy of the gardenlover whohad treasured a single plant and now wasin possession of a clustered mass of two tothree hundred plants. Sixty-six scarletflowers spread their velvet petals over the

spiny moun d. If the cluster had grownoutward from the center, it must havethrived for a hundred years.

We made a litter of our canvas, placed

the thorny mass upon it and cautiouslymade the descent. Later, the wagon camerolling along and took us on board. Therewas much merriment among the Indians."All that trouble for a bunch of hosh—and Heart-twisters at that! And why wasnot a cluster of hosh just as good in oneplace as another?"

But for all their merriment, a new idea

and a new interest had come to our Navajofriends by way of our developing garden.Hardly a day passed without some friendlygesture in form of a gift. Once it wouldbe a cactus bro ugh t with difficulty fromCanyon de Chelly, 25 miles away. Againit would be a worthless weed, earthed in atomato can—presented with a bashfulkindliness.

Our old friend Moqui-tso, a dignifiedmedicine man, tied his horse to the junipertree at our gate. He came up to our screen-ed porch where a group of Navajo hadgathered, and said, "Hasteen, upon thatmesa top are fine flowers."

He pointed to the north with his lips."I will go with you to that place. I willtalk to the flowers in Navajo, so that theywill grow for you."

Then and there an expedition was or-ganized. Bah-tso would furnish the wagonand horses. His wife Tuhle, who spokegood English arranged that. Then M oqui-tso remembered that he was to preside at ahealing ceremony for which he neededthree colors of paint. After all, he wouldbe unable to go with us. He got his paintand left.

Then Tuhle said, pointing to her hus-band, "This feller says the Indians don't

want you up-on-top."We hardly were surprised at this showof unfriendliness, as we knew Tuhle re-sented our presence at Black Mountain.Tom Armijo the trader came in just then.We turned the interpreting over to him.

"It was Honogani who told us many Indian stories which account for the pic-turesque names of desert plants. And it was he who nicknamed me

Mister Cactus."




He reported that the boy said nothingabout our not being wanted up-on-top. Itwas as we had suspected. Laura was an-noyed at the reception. Tuh le was toldshe was not to be included in the expedi-tion. She left the group in a huff.

On the appointed morning we lookedacross the hills and saw Bah-tso's campstirring. Presently we saw the wagon leave

and head toward our house. When it ar-rived Tuhle was mounted up on the seat.She was smiling and greeted us with happyinnocence.

Secretly, Laura and I discussed the prim-itive mind, observing that each day is anew day to the Indian. W e forgave her,but demoted her from the spring seat. W eloaded the wagon with pick, shovels, foodand canteens of water. The n we were off,rumbling and jolting across the valley.

In a couple of hours we had traveledacross the flat and had climbed up to themesa top. A wide plain lay before us. Weasked Tuhle where we were headed. She

was a bit more serious now . W e sensed ahesitancy in her answer, "Over there.There are flowers over there ." Her ex-pression did not show any enthusiasm.

I recalled that Nestsili-begay, Big Man,lived in this neighborhood. In an hour wewere at his camp, where we learned fromTuhle that this was the terminus of ourjourney. W e looked at the barren coun-try—then at Tuhle. We told her that whilewe were delighted to be at Big Man'scamp, we nevertheless were compelled tonotice one outstanding fact, namely, thatthere were no flowers there.

Tuhle hardly could have missed the sar-casm in our tone. She replied with wither-ing scorn, "How could there be anyflowers where the sheep eat everythingand run all over this country here?"

Her answer was so convincing that fora second we questioned whether we hadnot been guilty of stupidity. Una ble to

"Mister Tall Singer could not whole-heartedly approve the rocks we hadbrought in to the garden."

fathom the eccentric workings of Tuhle'smind we left her, mistress of the day.

But her victory was only a partial one.High up among the tumbled rocks whereknotted junipers clung perilously andwhere the sheep had been unable to pene-

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Tuhle and her m an Bah-tso brought a tub of blooming yucca for the garden.

trate with their devastation, Laura dis-covered a thriving colony of Yucca baccata,the broad-leaved yucca. Also some hardyplants of the evening primrose, goodspecimens of the scarlet penstemon andGilia aggregata (Hummingbird food).

Later, we discovered why this expedi-tion had terminated at a Navajo camp.Tuhle had brought three beautiful blanketswhich she had woven. These she had hid-den carefully in the wagon and here shewas, trading them to Big Man for sheepand lambs. It was a clever stroke to have

used the expedition for her own endswhile she permitted us to pay for the hireof horses and wagon.

But we refused to let her think she hadoutwitted us. W e exhibited our plantswith pride, vowed that the outing hadturned out better than our expectations,and expressed our pleasure that Tuhle hadbrought us there. Once embarked on thehomeward trip all memory of frictionvanished. The best of good nature pre-vailed. Bah-tso broke into a happy N avajosong, which meant according to Tuhle'stranslation, "All us cousins are trottingaround."

That evening while setting out the

N O V E M B E R , 1 9 4 3 23





William Caruthers, in Desert Maga-zine's personal adventure prize storyseries, tells about his experience inhunting for the Lost Chinaman minewith Shorty Harris, famed single-blanket prospector of Death Valleycountry. Shorty had been out of thehospital but a short time — andCaruthers was dubious about head-

ing into the broken waterless Pana-mint where Shorty was positive he'dfind a m ine of pure gold . . . But Shortyhad "learned a few things from thePahutes."

S>kottuand

the Jlo5t

By WILLIAM CARUTHERS

/ J /ATER, you have heard, is life onyy the desert. Curiously—even fate-

fully, I was thinking of it that dayas I sat on a slab bench in front of ShortyHarris' crumbling adobe cabin in the ghosttown of Ballarat.

Shorty, dean of Death Valley prospec-tors, was urging a trip we'd planned for

three years. He waved toward a longsweep of the Panam int. "I'm telling youit aint been scratched ." His voice was vi-brant, his blue eyes eager. "If there aint amillion dollars waiting up there, I'm nota single-blanket jackass prospector."

I reminded him that he had been out ofthe hospital less than a month after amajor operation, the second in two years,and that the doctor had ordered him tostay out of the hills for at least six months.I had brought him home only the day be-fore.

"Those doctors— " h e scoffed . . . "theydon't know how tough I am. Why hell—

I'm losing a million dollars a day. Thin kI'm going to sit around here with my feetitching? N o sir. I'm going to put an-other town on the map." He rose, danceda jig to prove his fitness.

Thirty years before, he had walked upa little canyon near Buck springs on theAmargosa desert, knocked a piece of greenquartz from a ledge. It was a prospector'sdream. Picture rock. One of the mostamazing stampedes of the West followed.Towns sprang up. Bullfrog. Rhyolite.Beatty. Gold-mad men jammed the new-made trails across that burning stretch ofhell. A railroad came. Shorty was on topof the world. The Big Boys who wanted

Cabin at ghost town of Ballaratwhere Shorty "holed in."

his claim, feted him, and one "morningafter," he woke to find he'd signed away

for a song the famous Bullfrog mine—thediscovery strike that had turned the barrendesert slope into a seething town.

It did n't faze Shorty. He simply fol-lowed his burros into the hills again andput Harrisburg on the map, and now inhis seventies his one ambition was to startanother boom.

The jig finished, Shorty's golden laugh-ter rang out on the desert air. "D on't tellme I'm not fit. Let's get going . . ."

Our purpose was to locate the LostChinaman, which ranks with the Lost Brey-fogle in the legends of Death Valleymines.

Shorty Harris as guest at a Death Val-ley picnic held in Wilmington, Cali-

fornia. F rashers photo.

Shorty started to tell me more about theLost Chinam an. I didn 't protest, though

I'd heard him tell it innumerable times totourists sitting under the spell of his talltales. ;

"I was working at Searles Lake for oldman John Searles," Shorty said. "O ne dayI saw a fellow stagger down from theSlate Range and flop on the edge of thelake. I thought he was drunk , but itturned out he was a Chinaman who'd gotsore at the boss over at Eagle Borax worksand started out afoot. The Pahutes toldhim to take a short cut over the Panamint,but he lost his way and ran out of water.

"We had him on his feet in a day or so,but he got the idea he was going to croak

and wanted to get back to China so hecould be buried with his ancestors. SaltyBill, John Searles' teamster, was taking aload of borax to Mojave. So we threw theChink on the wagon. I tossed his bag upand started away. The Chink called meback, dug into the sack, pulled out a pieceof ore and gave it to me. I couldn't be-lieve my eyes. It was dam ' nigh- pure gold.Maybe 15 pounds. He tried to tell uswhere he'd found it. 'In the big timber,'he said, 'where a steep canyon pitchesdown into Death Valley.'

"John Searles and Salty Bill searchedfive years for that gold. No go ."

Then Shorty tapped his breast import-antly: "I know." He pointed to thepeaks. "See that sawtooth? Over anddown. There's your Lost Chinaman. Andthose doctors telling me to sit around here!Why, migod—with ten million dollars insight . . . maybe twenty . . . "

I yielded to his ingratiating persistenceand agreed to set out next morning.

Shorty of course, knew every trail in thecountry, but I was not sure that he couldstand the arduous climb. I knew nothingof that part of the Panamint, but I'd talkedwith Fred Gray and learned there wereplaces where we'd have to go on hands andknees and that there was no known water

N O V E M B E R , 1 9 4 3 25



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Shorty's grave, with epitaph written by theauthor at request ofgovernmentofficials. Frashers photo.

in thedistrict weexpected toexplore. AsI didn't want acripple on myhands, I didconsiderable worrying.

Sitting on the bench in the mid-after-noon, I saw a Pahute, whom I'd knownover at Shoshone, stop at thewell behindthe oldsaloon. I went over.

Now a Pahute knows his desert — itsmoods, its chary tolerance of life. Heknows where the sheep hide and the fatlizards crawl, where the drop of waterseeps from thelone hill. I asked him aboutsprings. Heknew of none where weweregoing. "If Pahute lose his way, he lookaround foranimal tracks going same place.Maybe water."

It must have been ablessed urge of fatethat led me to question the Pahute. Inbroken English hewent on totell me whatelse the Pahute did about water on thedesert. If he came to a spring, hewouldskim the water from the surface, dash itupon a rock andsmell it. If there was anodor of onion he knew it containedarsenic, and let it alone. Heknew also hewould find an Indian sign about andwould look for it. One of these would bea broken circle of stones with theopeningpointing toward thenext water. The dis-

tance tothat water would be indicated bystones inside thecircle. If there were two,for instance, he knew it was two days'journey, because each stone represented"one sleep."

If more than one trail led from thewater, theone that led to thenearest springwould be indicated by an oblong stoneplaced conspicuously along theright path.In addition, the kind of water to be ex-pected there would be indicated by thecolor of a small rock placed on theoblongone. If it were white the water at thatnext spring would begood. If brown orred ordark, itwould bepoison.

Frequently there would beother useful

information for the wayfarer. Perhapspicture writing on a boulder. Thecrudedrawing of a lone manindicated that thecountry about wasuninhabited. If, uponthe pictured torso there were marks to in-dicate the breasts of a woman, he knewthere was a settlement with squaws, chil-dren and food. If hefound afeather undera stone with ahole punched through it ornotched, heknew that anIndian hadbeenthere who hadkilled hisman. Since therewas a difference between themoccasinsofthe tribes, thedust about often would in-form himwhether thebuck who wentbe-fore was friend or enemy.

The Lost Chinaman? W ell, it's stilllost. We ran out of water and Shorty,enfeebled from overexertion so shortlyafter the operation, collapsed. I had toleave himunder abush and setout, terrorstricken, for water andhelp. Trusting tohim as guide, I hadtaken nobearings. Ilooked out over the gutted range belowme, and had apanicky feeling even beforeI started.

Th e sun wasabout three hours high. Iran into oneblind canyon after another,only tostruggle outwith a desperate senseof futility, as I aimlessly headed for lower

reaches, confused everywhere by a criss-cross of wild burro andsheep trails. Theterrific heat, thehigh altitude took toll ofmy already depleted strength. Theexer-tion of climbing one precipitous wall, onlyto tackle another with the agony of thirstalways with me, started my lips swellingand my throat tightening. My legsdragged. I could hear thequick thum pingof an overtaxed heart and threw myshirtaway.

Hopeless, I finally sat down on aboulder to rest, to fight off the constantdread that in aminute I would see aphan-tom pool of water and start running

around in a circle. Below was a diminu-

tive flat valley between almost perpen-dicular hills. As I glanced in mydespera-tion, at those forbidding walls, I noticeda trail on thefloor. Then another—thenanother. They seemed toconverge at theend. What the Pahute hadsaid flashedover me and in frantic haste I let myselfdown, ran along the nearest one, eyesstrained ahead. Suddenly I came uponblack ooze andseepage. I started diggingwith bare hands-—saw water rise in thelittle hollow I'd scooped out. Andthenthings went black. For how long I couldonly guess.

I heard a stir in thebrush, felt a tug atmy sleeve, looked. The re stood ShortyHarris.

"How the devil—" I managed to say,"did you gethere?"

Shorty looked at me with a sort oftolerant chagrin. "Amillion dollars . . .yes—twenty, maybe—and me with apunkon myhands . . ."

"How didyou gethere?" I repeated.

"When I came into this country 50years ago," Shorty said calmly, "I learneda fewthings from thePahutes."

C o m p l e t e Y o u r

D E S E R T f i l e s .

Only a fewvolumes of DESERT are nowavailable. Most of these are newsstandreturns . . . but they are complete withthe exception of the November, 1937,issue which we no longer can supply.

Following Prices Now in Effect . . .

Volume 1 (Dec.'37-Oct.'38) $ 6.00Volume 2 (Nov.'38-Oct.'39) 9.00

Volume 3 (Nov.'39-Oct.'40) 7.00Volume 4 (Nov.'40-Oct.'41) . 4.00Volume 5 (Nov.'41-Oct.'42) 3.00Volumes 1-5Inc. (Except Nov.'37).. 25.00

If you wish to secure back copies tocomplete your files wewill be happy tosend you a list of single copies nowavai lable .

And we're still paying $3.00 for theNovember, 1937, issue . . .

T H E

636 State St. ElCentra. California




andPhoenix, Arizona . . .

More efficient work and closer co-

operation between federal government andArizona mine workers is the result thisyear of work done by state department ofmineral resources, J. S. Coupal, director,has announced. Departme nt has aided inobtaining development loans, access roadsapplication approval, mineral surveys andhas been active in industrial salvage pro-gram.

• • •Eureka, Nevada . . .

Allocation of $100,000 will reopendrilling on Richmond Eureka mines onRuby Hill . Program includes drilling offive additional holes to depths of 2000 feet

or more to establish extent of ore bodiesthere.• • •

Missoula. Montana . . .First deposit of quartz crystals known in

United States to be acceptable for manu-facture of radar equipment reportedly hasbeen discovered on Diamond Point moun-tain, six miles northwest of Hot Springs,Montana, by James Lozeah and J. L. Way-lette. Estimated value is said to be "enor-mous" since crystals are worth $10 perpound and were formerly imported fromBrazil. W ork in the deposit will be super-vised by U. S. bureau of mines to insurecorrect handling of excavations in consid-eration of the extreme strategic value ofthe crystals.

• • •Tonopah, Nevada . . .

Reduction plant is being planned byBasic Refractories, Inc., to reduce weightof brucite now being shipped at the rate of6000 tons per month from Lun ing. Build-ing will be part of their plans for post-warproduction.

• • •Washington, D. C. . . .

Uncle Sam is sending out prospectors tosearch from Alaska to Texas and Maine toCalifornia for wartime metals. N o gold or

silver will be sought in the $3,900,000program but only such minerals as zinc,copper, tungsten, vanadium, mercury, tin,iron, and manganese. Harold L. Ickes,secretary of interior, reported that govern-ment-subsidized prospectors will hunt foinew mines to aid the war effort.

• • •Prescott, Arizo na . . .

Nearly 100 small mine operators metwith Arizona senator Ernest W. McFar-land to draft resolutions opposing presentpremium price quota system for mineralproduction. Resolution recommended es-tablishing higher prices to encourage

greater production among small mines.

Reno, Nevad a . . .Nearly 3000 more miners are working

in Nevada's 251 operating mines this yearthan last. Report issued by Matt M urphy,state inspector of mines, shows that num-ber of employes in all large mines has in-creased during this fiscal year.

• • •

L a s V e g a s , N e v a d a . . .Herbert C. Hoover is reported to be

promoter of large capacity chemical processplant which soon may be constructed nearPioche, Nev., for treatment of ore inmines of Combined Metals Reductioncompany. Mr . Hoover recently visited andinspected the mines, accompanied by L. K .Requa, mining engineer who is named as

one of the directors of the new company.• • •

L a s V e g a s , N e v a d a . . .There is growing doubt whether the

critical shortage of manpower in non-fer-rous metal mines of the West can be metby release of soldiers to work in them.First experiment of that kind failed ac-cording to Mining Press, because most ofthe men were totally inexperienced orphysically unfit for the labor. Manpow ershortage still is causing considerable lagin war metal production.

• • •

Paradise Val ley , Nevada . . .

Large scale development program is un-derway at Cahill quicksilver properties, 25miles southeast of here, and new ore hasbeen discovered at Cordero land near Mc-Derm itt. Large crews are busy operatingthe high-grade cinnabar mines which havenot been active for the past year.

• • •Win n e m u c ca , N e v a d a . . .

Efforts are being made in Washingtonto close all small mining operations for th eduration according to J. S. Coupal who hasbeen requested to make immediate surveyof Arizona's small mines. Reasons sup-porting this plan are that more labor, ma-

chinery and supplies would be released forlarger concerns.

• • •Indepen dence, California . . .

Persons having information about ironore deposits were urged to get in touchwith representative-elect Clair Engle, athis office, Wash ington, D . C. Engle, inmessage to Second District residents, saidthat funds had been provided by congressto explore deposits and supply technicalinformation needed by prospective steeland mining operators on the west coast.Information, Engle said, will be turnedover to special committee empowered to

recommend such explorations.

Tonopah, Nevada . . .

Free assays, five in any 30-day period,• • are being provided prospectors in this state

by University of Nevad a u nder new ruling.Designed to increase search for vital waiminerals and ores, assays without chargeare not given operating mines, engineerssampling mines, or assays to check other

assays. Only prospectors are entitled tothis service.

W indow Rock, Arizona . . .

New helium plant on Indian reserva-tion has been named Navajo Helium plantin recognition of the patriotic spirit and co-operation shown by the natives. Great in-terest has been evidenced in this projectsince it is only the second such gas plantin United States, the other being in Ama-rillo, Texas.

Love lock , Nevada . . .

John T. Reid, 72, one of Nevada's bestknown mining men, died September 14.Besides engaging in mining activitieswhich embraced many phases and proper-ties, he was developing a mathematical sys-tem based on ancient Mayan Indian sys-tem, he was a collector of rare artifacts andbooks, and was an active friend of NevadaIndians.

P a sa d e n a , California . . .

California Institute of Technology has

postponed tuition-free evening miningcourse enrollment date to October 15.Course conducted by G. A. Schroter, LosAngeles consulting mining engineer, willinclude development of mines and pros-pects, ore extraction, milling methods,strategic minerals, mining law and financ-ing. Apply to W ar Tra ining Office, Cali-fornia Institute of Technology, Pasadena 4.

Tiger, Arizona . . .

Employees of Mammoth-St. Anthony,Ltd., lead and zinc mine here have beengranted 40 cents per shift wage increaseretroactive to June 11, 1943, by nonferrousmetals commission of NW LB . Directivebrings base pay to $6.40 per day.

Holbrook, Arizona . . .

Test well is being drilled 27 milessouthwest of here by Union Oil Companyof California and Continental Oil com-pany. Site is par t of 54,000 acre block ofland held jointly by the oil companies. Itis in virgin wildcat territory, some 200miles from any proven oil field. Supervisoris Union Oil company's geologist R. W.

Burns.

N O V E M B E R , 1 9 4 3 2?



Trailing Milkweed, showing characteristic habit of twining, its slender stemsi forming into ropes. Photo by the author.

Meet the Itailina Milkweed

By MARY BEAL

J J EARLY everyone knows the up-Sy standing common Milkweed but 1

doubt if everyday folk are familiarwith the less conspicuous, trailing species.This does not add a noticeable accent to itssurroundings but does vary the monotonyof vegetation enough to be worthy of at-tention. •

The Indians, never overlooking possi-ble uses for plants, found the young podsa palatable addition to their diet But don'tlet that give you the idea of trying out theedibility of any likely-looking Milkweedyou happen to run across, because somespecies with the most promising appear-ance are poisonous to livestock1 and mayprove to be injurious to humans.. i • • •

The genus to which the Trailing Milk-weed belongs is Philibertia, the namehonoring the early French botanist Phili-bert, author of a botanical dictionary pub-lished in 1804. Discarding this early classi-fication, some more recent botanists usethe name Funastrum, evolved from thestar-like flowers and ropes of twistedstems. The genus also was classified form-erly, as] Sarcostemma. Townula sometimesis used as a common name. Philibertia hasthe characteristic milky juice of the Milk-weed family.

Philibertia hirtella sends its slenderfibrous stems rambling widely about, eachfrom 2 to 10 feet long, often twining

through and over low shrubs, or just trail-ing over the ground. I've seen a vigorousTownula in such complete possession of itssupporting bush that only the exuberantvine was in evidence. After envelopingone hospitable bush it is prone to trail offacross intervening ground toward anotherpromising host. In the course of theirrambles several stems often'twine togetherinto ropes as you may observe in the pic-ture.

Both stems and leaves are downy withfine soft hairs but the fiber of the stems istough . Leaf-nodes are quite far apart, theleaves linear and apt to be pointed at bothends, 1 to 3 inches long, on short petioles.The small fragrant flowers grow in umbels

on rather long stems springing from theleaf axils. When the pale greenish-yellowcorolla spreads out its 5 ovate lobes itforms a perfect 5-pointed star. At flower-ing: time, about Ap ril and May, nearlyevery axil, from beginning to end of thelong stem, puts forth a star cluster.

Have you ever observed closely the com-plex structure of Milkweed blossoms? It'sinteresting to see how the stamens andstyle combine to form a column which isattached to a narrow ring at the base of thecorolla. Mostly this column bears append -ages or hoods above and is further elabo-rated at the sides, between the anthers, by

glands with slits which aid in cross-polli-

nation by catching the feet of visiting in-sects and scraping off the pollen, as theycome and go from one flower to another.The slender tapering pods are spindle-shaped and downy with short spreadinghairs. This is common along dry washesand draws from low to moderate altitudesin the Colorado desert, central and easternMojave desert and Inyo county in Califor-

nia, eastward into western Arizona andsouthern Nevada.

Philibertia heterophylla(Funastrum heterophylla)

This is similar to the preceding butmore of a climber, taking larger shrubs andeven small trees in its stride. Its herbageis entirely bald or sparsely hairy and quitegreen, the stems 3 to 8 feet long, the leaveslinear to lanceolate, sometimes with earedlobes at base, 1 to 2 inches long on shortpetioles. The flowers are Vi to Vi inchlong, about twice the si2e of the first spe-cies, the corollas purplish, with purple-veined lobe s. Th e pods are slightly hairy,

about 2V2 to over 3 inches long, widestbelow the middl e. Rather common on dryflats and slopes and along wash-banksfrom very low elevations up to 2,000 feetin the Colorado desert, south to LowerCalifornia and Mexico. Eastward throughArizona and New Mexico to westernTexas it sometimes reaches an altitude of5,000feet. It may be found in flower fromMarch to September according to its eleva-tion.

Philibertia crispum(Funastrum crispum)

This species is absent from the Califor-

nia deserts but is found in southern Ari-zona and N ew Mexico, western Texas andMexico. It may be identified by its shortpeduncles and thickish, somewhat broaderlanceolate leaves with sagittate or halberd-shaped bases, the margins usually wavy.The herbage is ashy-grey with a generouscovering of soft hairs but the pods aresmooth, varying in length from 3Vi to 6V2inches, tapering to a long slender point atapex. It blooms in summer and favors acanyon habitat from 4,000 to 6,000 feetelevation.

Philibertia cyna nchoides

(Funastrum cynanchoides)This has about the same range as the

last species but at moderate altitudesslightly overlapping the other's higherrange. It climbs over shrubs in washes andalong stream banks, the blooming seasonfrom May to September. The herbage isbald or sparsely hairy. The thin leaves aredecidedly broader than those of the otherspecies, from broadly lanceolate to broadlyovate, noticeably heart-shaped or sagittateat base, the apex sharply pointed. Theflowers are white, the umbels on ratherlong peduncles. The pods are finely

ridged, usually less than 4 inches long.

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



the,ARIZONA

Indian's Rights Upheld . . .PH OE NIX —f Arizona Indians have

won another right as citizens, the right tooperate as public carriers, by decision oiJustice R. C. Stanford of state supremecourt. Refusal of Arizona Corp . Comm is-sion to issue Lee A. Bradley, Navajo, con-tract carrier permits on the sole groundsthat he was an Indian was declared uncon-stitutional by unanimous decision of thecourt.

Farm Program Successful . . .MESA—Farm production program at

Gila River war relocation center will re-quire $1,000,000 worth of food to be pro-duced by Japanese during the next fiscal

year for local consumption. Last July's out-put in pounds was the greatest since estab-lishment of the project, with most produc-tion in watermelons which were sold to thearmy.

Dust-Proofing Tests Made . . .PH OE NIX — Experiments in dust-

proofing motorized equipment for thearmy are being staged by General MotorsCorp. "somewhere on the Arizona desert."Engineers in Army Ordnance Dept. prov-ing ground say that dust, dirt and mudoften are more destructive than enemy fireto equipment, and protection of vehicles,shafts, radiators, electrical instruments and

other items is being sought.

Water Rights Denied . . .PHOENIX—Salt River Valley Water

Users association rejected proposal ofPhelps Dodge Corp. to pump water fromBlack river for use in expansion at Morencicopper plan t. Chief objection to this planwas that such encroachment on valleywater supply ultimately would destroy themeans of livelihood, homes and invest-ments of others dep endent on it.

Sight-Seeing By Air . . .GRAND CANYON—Navy pilot Lt.

Leland T. Johnston has asked civil aero-

nautics board for permission to operatesight-seeing air service from Grand Can-yon national park, via Rainbow Bridgemonument to Canyon de Chelly. He askedalso for hourly "elevator" service to bot-tom of Grand Canyon.

Power Rates Reduced . . .YUMA—With arrival of Parker Dam

power here, electric power users of Yumamesa and valley received rate reductionstotalling $92,890. This action was the re-sult of conferences held between Commis-sioner William Petersen and representa-tives of local companies. Also new powerline hookup to station near army hospitalhas been completed recently.

Buyer Escapes Death . . .KING MA N —W allace Woolley, ore

buyer, nearly lost his life when his car be-

came stuck in sand some distance fromYuma and he tried to make his way thereon foot. After 23 hours of hiking he ar-rived completely exhausted and felt nobetter when told he was the first ever tomake the trek and come out alive. His carwas towed in by two soldiers from a dis-tant bombing range, and he was said to berecovering quickly.

Arizona's eighth annual elk huntingseason will open November 1 and end No-vember 30.

• • •Tucson has been selected as 1944 Amer-

ican Legion convention city, meeting to be

held sometime between August 10 and 20.• • •

Javelinas, wild pigs or peccary, nativeto Arizona, range on cactus coveredmountains from elevations of 1,000 to6,000 feet and are more numerous insouthern part of state. Principal diet iscactus, from which they are able to obtainsufficient moisture when far from water.Average weight is about 50 pounds.

CALIFORNIA

Chalfant Honored . . .BISHOP—W. A. Chalfant, editor and

author of California books, recently wasnotified of his election to honorary mem-bership in the International Mark Twainsociety. Reco gnition was for his contribu-tion to American history in his new book,"Tales of the Pioneers" and the notifica-tion was signed by Cyril Clemens, presi-dent of society and relative of M ark Tw ain.

Water Holes Covered . . .BRAW LEY — Desert travelers are

warned not to depend on old waterholesfor this winter's travels since army man-euvers have obliterated many of the trailsand excessive rain has covered many of thewaterholes, Henry L. Jackson has announc-ed. Already one prospector nearly diedfrom depending upon Hayden's well forwater only to discover it was filled up-—hehad to travel back to the railroad to receiveaid.

Date Growers Progress . . .INDIO—California Date growers asso-

ciation has made outstanding record in lowcost crop handling with securing of betterprices and wider distribution this year.Despite high expenses and shortage oflabor and supplies, marketing methodswere improved. Good effects w ill be feltby entire industry and ge neral public.

A point about o ur points

Maybe you 've found th at some

r a i l r o a d s s e r v e m o r e m e a t

dishes than Southern Pacific.

Well, this is why:

We are allowed .93 of a point

per meal per person, to covermeats, and all the rest. If weserve d only civilians, this wouldgo 'round bet ter . We serve moremilitary meals than any otherthree railroads combined!

Me n w h o h a v e b e e n g o i n gthrough hard t raining grindsneed meat , and plenty. Whenthey get theirs, our .93 of ap o i n t t a k e s q u i t e a b e a t i n gb e f o r e w e s t a r t s e r v i n g o u r

civilian passengers.

So, when you don 't get yours ,

you know why. The point is ,

we bel ieve you wouldn 't have

i t any other way.

S-PTHE FRIENDLY SOUTHER N PACIFIC

950A

N O V E M B E R , 1 9 4 3 29



Aged Indian Pas ses . . .

INDEPENDENCE - " P a n a m i n tGeorge" Hanson, 103-year-old Pahute In-dian, died September 19 inPanamint Val-ley where hewas well-known andrespect-ed byold-time residents. Born over a cen-tury ago,George saw the struggling Jay-hawker Party andother early expeditionsinto Death Valley andsurrounding deserts

and m ountains of Inyo. See Desert Maga-zine, Feb. 1940.

Flyers Cheat Death ; . .

DEATH VALLEY—Two Army flyersnarrowly escaped death from thirst andheat when they crash-landed their trainerplane on Salt Flats. Onereached help atFurnace Creek 20 hours later, the otherwas rescued soon after. Both were takento emergency hospital and recovered rapid-ly. They had drunk salt water from brack-ish pools, their hands were lacerated byattempts to dig forwater in therocky soil.

Bonds Voted forPower Purchase . . .

EL CENTRO—Voters of Imperial Irri-gation district approved $6,000,000 bondissue to purchase the Imperial and Coa-chella power properties of privately-ownedCalifornia Electric Power company. Bondsalready have been sold tosyndicate of 39members headed byBlyth, Kaiser and Nu-veen companies. District Secretary Evan T.

Hewes expected complete transfer ofprop-erties totake place byOctober15.

Champion Alfalfa Grower . . .

CALIPATRIA — Imperial county, ac-cording to recent census compilation, isfirst among all U. S. counties in acreageand production of alfalfa. California wasfirst state, with second and third placesgoing toMinnesota andWisconsin. Impe-rial county's production was340,894 tonsfrom 114,164 acres. Yield of two tonsperacre wasnational average; California av-erage was 4.11 tons.

The Desert Trading PostClassified advertising in this section costs jive cents a word, $1.00minimum per issue—

Actually about V/2cents per thousand readers.

MISCELLANEOUSFOR SALE—12 beautiful perfect prehistoric In-

dian arrowheads, $1; 10tiny perfect translu-cent chalcedony bird arrowheads, $1 ; 10 per-fect arrowheads from 10different states, $1;perfect stone tomahawk, $1; 4 perfect spear-heads, $1; 5stone netsinkers, $ 1; 10perfectstemmed fish sealers, $1;7 stone line sinkers,$1 ; 4perfect agate bird arrows, $1 ; 5 perfect

flint drills, $1; 7 perfect flint awls, $1; 10beautiful round head stunning arrowheads,$1 ; 4 fine perfect saw edged arrowheads, $1;4 fine perfect flying bird arrowheads, $1; 4fine perfect drill-pointed arrowheads, $1;4 fine perfect queer shaped arrowheads,$1 ;4 rare perfect double notched above a barbedstem base arrowheads, $1; 5 perfect doublenotched above a stemmed base arrowheads,$ 1 ; 12small perfect knife blades of flint, $ 1 ;rare shaped ceremonial flint, $1; 3 flintchisels, $1; 7quartz crystals from graves, $1;10 arrowheads of ten different materials in-cluding petrified wood, $1. All of theabove23 offers for $20.Locations given on all.100 good grade assorted arrowheads, $300prepaid. 100 all perfect translucent chal-cedony arrowheads in pinkish, red, creamywhite, etc., at $10.00. 100very fine mixed

arrowheads all perfect showy colors and in-cluding many rare shapes and types such asdrill pointed, double notched, saw edged,queer shapes, etc., location andname of typesgiven, $25.00 prepaid. List of thousands ofother items free. Caddo Trading Post, Glen-wood, Arkansas.

FORTUNE: Complete File, unbound $55.00postpaid. ESQUIRE: Complete file, un-bound $40.00 postpaid. N. A. Kovach, 712So. Hoover St., LosAngeles, Calif.

WANTED—One copy federal writers projectNew Mexico State Guide. Write Box NA,Desert Magazine, El Centro, California.

25 Genuine Indian arrowheads, $1.00; Toma-hawk head, .50. Cat. of Indian relics, crystalsand orespecimens. Geo. Holder, Glenwood,Ark.

FOR SALE—Year Round Resort Hotel andCottages inexcellent condition. 2acres withfamily fruits. Hot water heat, Oil Burner.City water, finest in America. Completelyfurnished, kitchen modern. Paved road, rightat city limits. Wonderful view of Columbiariver andmountains. Oldestablished businessand needs younger owner. Plenty businessright now.Price $13,500. Address R. E. &Tom Scott, Hood River, Oregon.

M ANUSC RIP TS M A R K E T E D —Books,stories, plays, photoplays, articles. CircularD-ll Free. OTIS ADELBERT KLINE, Lit-erary Agent, Established 1923, 507 Fifth Ave-nue, NewYork, 17, NewYork.

DESERT LAND INVESTMENT—40 acre irri-gated farm 7 miles from Yuma, Arizona, inFederal Project. Well located onhighway 1block from church, school andstore. Soil welladapted to alfalfa. Ample cheap river waterready foruse. Clear title $2900. A.Ellerman,Box 1537, Yuma, Ariz.

LIVESTOCK

KARAKULS producers of Persian Lamb fur

are easy to raise and adapted to the desertwhich is their native home. For further in-formation write Addis Kelley, 4637 E. 52Place, Maywood, California.

Karakul Sheep from our Breeding Ranch areespecially bred to thrive on thenatural feedof the Desert. For information write JamesYoakam, Leading Breeder, 1128 No. HillAve., Pasadena, California.

REAL ESTATE

For Imperial Valley Farms —

W . E. H A N C O C K"The Farm Land Man"

Since1914EL CENTRO CALIFORNIA

Cork Trees Planted . . .

INDIO—U. S. forest service will plant100,000 cork oak trees this fall to deter-mine best methods of growing such treesin Southern California. Cork is anexcel-lent pasture tree, its acorns making goodstock food. Several locations will beplant-ed in Cleveland national forest in River-side and SanDiego counties.

More Vegetables Grown . . .

BLYT HE— Palo Verde valley soon maybecome one ofdesert's biggest salad bowls,with an increase of 700more vegetable-plante d acres than last year. Fall plantingsof winter vegetables show a total of 2,320acres of lettuce, carrots, onions, cauli-flower andcabbage.

• • •

NEVADA

U. N.Head Chosen . . .

RENO —Charles H. Gorman, vice-

chairmanand

comptrollerof

Universityof

Nevada, hasbeen named acting vice-presi-dent tosucceed the late Dr. Leon W. Hart-man. Gorman will serve until the newpresident ischosen.

Boulder Fund Paid . . .

CARSON CITY—State general fundwas increased by$300,000 when TreasurerDa n W.Franks received acheck from fed-eral treasury for sixth payment ofBoulderdam fund. This sumbrought account upto May, 1943.

Ship Honors "Borax" . . .

RENO—Liberty ship soon to be launch-ed from Richmond shipyards will bear the'name "Borax" Smith inhonor of themanfamous forthe 20-mule team ofDeath Val-ley. Smith was the first to developnon-metallic resources of Death Valley, andlater became an important figure inCali-fornia finance.

State Population Gain . . .

RENO—Influx of warworkers in thepast three years hasboosted civilian pop-ulation of state by 22 percent, accordingto census bureau. This is unusual since in

that period civilian population for UnitedStates dropped from 131,300,000 to128,-200,000, reflecting growth of armed serv-ices. Greatest gains were in localitieswhere strategic metals arebeing mined.

Darker andRicher . . .

WINNEMUCCA—Because of changesin feeding practices of hens, egg yolksdarker andvitamin-richer arenow on themarket according to L. E. Cline of agri-culture extension service. Less protein andadditional green feed is said to causedarker egg yolks.




Property Value Rises . . .

CARSON CITY—Value of privatelyowned lands in Nevada during past yearrose $317,460 reports George A llard, statetax commission statistician. As before,Clark county showed greatest increase invalue per acre, 20 per cent over 1942records.

• • •NEW MEXICO

Summer Camp Exciting . . .ALBUQUERQUE—Summer camp for

Espanola Boy Scouts proved highly event-ful, as encounters with bears, porcupinesand snakes kept things exciting for youth-ful campers. Also an embryo forest firestarted by some careless person was quicklyextinguished when the whole camp turnedout with tools, buckets and sacks to fight it.

American Research Gift . . .SANTA FE—Dr. Edgar L. Hewett,

educator and archeologist, has presentedthe School of American Research with$100 ,000 gift, school officials report. Itis comprised of real estate, personal hold-ings, art collections and library, and willbe used to establish the Hewett Founda-tion.

Ranch Deal Closed . . .ALBUQUERQU E — Sale of 33,700

acres of Rio Arriba ranch property wasmade to Alvin McGilvray of Iran, Texas,last month. It included ranch houses, furn-ishings and equipment and 750 head ofcattle.

Huge Bone Found . . .DEMING—Construction company em-

ployes in September unearthed what ap-peared to be a six-foot leg bone, possiblythat of a dinosaur. Bone, found in a gravelpit, will be offered to New Mexico Arch-aeological society for inspection.

Fan Seeks Indian's Autograph . . .GALLUP — Wo rld-wide CBS short-

wave broadcast of Gallup Inter-Tribal In-dian ceremonial inspired autograph fan,Lionel Athersych of Leicester, England, towrite "His Excellency, the Chief of the

Nav ajo" for his signature. Mr. Athersychstated that he had always been interestedin the Navajo and thought the autographof the chief would provide a valuablesouvenir.

Sp eed Limit Boosted . . .SANTA FE—State highway commis-

sion has increased wartime speed limit to45 miles an hour, abandoning the 35-milelimit suggested by office of defense trans-portation. Governor J. J. Dempsey saidthat the 35-mile limit was uneconomical,difficult to enforce and a hardship ontrucks and buses. And it was discoveredthat motorists were going on an average oi44 miles an hour anyway.

Farm Income Increases . . .

GALLUP—Department of Agriculturereports show New Mexico's farm incomefor first six months of this year is nearly$10,000,000 higher than last year for thesame period. Vegetables marketed at al-most twice as much, poultry and eggs 44per cent higher, dairy products 24 per cent

higher and livestock 14 per cent higher.• • •

UTAH

Bumper Beet Crop . . .LOGAN—Approximately 78,000 tons

of sugar beets will be harvested in Cachecounty this year, predicted D. E. Smith, su-perintendent of Lewiston factory. Al-though only about 5700 acres have beenplanted, tonnage is expected to be nearlythe same as last year's because of a bumpercrop.

Aircraft Courses Given . . .OGDEN—Weber college is now offer-

ing training in aircraft and engine me-chanics to public, officials recently an-nounced. Federal government has pro-vided $200,000 worth of tools and equip-ment and $500,000 worth of airplanes andengines. Over 300 employes of variouswar plants are taking the supplementarytraining.

Famed Architect Dies . . .

SALT LAKE CITY—Funeral serviceswere held in September for Richard K. A.Kletting , noted western architect. T he 84-year-old designer was fatally injured in apedestrian-automobile accident. He hadbeen dean of Utah and western architectsand designer of state capitol building and

others throughout the West.

A WESTERN THRILL

"Courage," a remarkable oil p ^20x60 feet, the Covered Wagon Train cross-ing the desert in '68 . Over a year in painting.On display (fre e) at Ktiott's Berry Placewhere the Boysenberry was introduced tothe world and famous fonfried chicken diners with luscious B o —

You'll want (1) A 4-color picture of thishuge painting suitable for framing. (2) A36-page handsomely illustrated souvenir,pictures and original drawings, of GhostTown Village and story of this roadside

stand which grew to a $600,000 annualbusiness. (3) Two years subscription (12numbers) to our illustrated bi-monthly mag-azine of the West. True tales of the daysof gold, achievements of westerners todayand courageous thoughts for days to come.Mention this paper and enclose one dollarfor all three and get authentic western facts.Postpaid. G H O S T T O W N N E W S ,BUENA PARK, CALIF.

"SUNLIGHT ON THE MO UNT AIN" . . .

Desert artist Lon Megargee's color lithograph of Camelback Mountain in naturalred-gold and smoky azure of Arizona. Each 16x12 print signed by the artist andprinted on white mat suitable for framing. A colorful bit of the Southwest for yourliving room, a beautiful gift for your desert-minded friends. $3.00 postpaid.

Also available a l imited number of Megargee's black-and-white l i thographsand block prints of "Conservation," "So What," "Wild Horses," "Mule Colt ,""Burros," "Sheepherder," "Hopi," "Siesta." $5.00 each.

California buyers add 21/2% tax.

S e n d o r d e r s t o . . . D E S E R T C R A F T S S H O P , E l C e n t r o , C a l i f o r n i a

N O V E M B E R , 1 9 4 3 31



D E S E R T Q U I ZThere arereports that former Sand Dune Sages havefallen back into theplain Desert Rat classificationduring thepast fewmonths inDesert Quiz class.So

this month we've prepared a simple review lesson designed tohelp them regaintheir former dignified status. Nearly allanswers tothis month's quiz w ill befoundin issues of thepast 12months of Desert. If your score is at least 10, youbelongautomatically to theDesert Rat fraternity; if 15 ormore, sit right down in that

seat reserved forSand Dune Sages. If you score less than 10, better get out thepastyear's Deserts andbrush up onyour desert know ledge. Answers onpage 35.

1—Kaibab bridge, which crosses Colorado river at point between Kaibab Trailand Phantom Ranch, northern Arizona, is which type of bridge—Steel-arched Suspension Cantilever Concrete pontoon

2—Bullfrog mine, near Beatty, Nevada, was sonamed because—A frog led thediscoverers to thesite Ore wascolored like bullfrog Frog wascon-sidered good luck mascot by theprospectors Rock formation nearby re-sembled bullfrog

3—T aos, Santa Fe, Carlsbad andBernal have atleast one point incommon. Theyare all—Noted art centers In same state Early cattle townsOn Santa FeTrail

4—Yucca plant sometimes is called—Soapweed Greasewood Sand-food Sagebrush

5—Jetislikely to befound in—Copper mine dumps Coal veins Quartzveins Iron deposits

6—First white European according tohistorical record tosearch forSeven Citiesof Cibola was— Coronado Marcos deNiza Cortez Cabeza deVaca

7—Arizona's famous Camelback mountain is seen from—Flagstaff No-gales Phoenix Tucson

8—Dieguenos is the name of—Pioneer settler in Borrego valley Indiantribe Geological stratum Crude type of brush shelter

9—Correct spelling of the flame-flowered candlewood plant is—OcatillaOcotillo Ocatillo Occatilo Ocotilla

Agate Quartz.0—Amethyst is a violet-colored—FeldsparCalcite

11—Hualpai Indians of northwestern Arizona aremost noted for their—Basket-mak ing Ceremonial dances Pottery-making Belt-weaving

12—Goldfield, famed Nevada mining center, is coming into prominence todayfor its production of—Gold Cinnabar Hydro-electric develop-ment Agriculture

13—Pronuba is the name of—Arizona giant ant Moth Pink-floweredannu al Small desert bird

14— Devil's Golf Course isin— Wh ite Sands national monument Death Val-ley One of thepassageways in Carlsbad Caverns Along BonanzaHighway inNevada

15—Petroller isname for—An oildriller Rock collecting maniac Petri-fied-shell collector Road-grad ing machine

16—White Shell Woman is—Title of abook Navajo mythical characterNo ted pottery maker Rock formation

17—"Tales of thePioneers" waswritten by—Frank C. Lockwood SharlotHall W. A.Chalfant Edmund C.Jaeger

18—Robber's Roost, famous outlaw hideout, is located in—Arizona StripLincoln county, NewMexico Near Colossal Cave, Arizona South-eastern Utah

19—Glory Hole is a name for—D eath Valley's lowest point Open pit pro-duced by surface mi ning Meteor Crater in Arizona Grand Can-yon

20—One of these Hopi pueblos is onFirst Mesa, northern Arizona—OraibiWalpi Shungopovi Hotevilla

S T A T E M E N T OF THE O W N E R S H I P , MAN-A G E M E N T , C I R C U L A T I O N , ETC., REQUIREDB Y THEA C T S OF CONGRESS OF A U G U S T 24,1 9 1 2 , AND M A R C H 3, 1933Of The Desert Magazine published monthly atEl Centro, California, for October, 1943.

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

COUNTY OF IMPERIAL

Before me, a Notary Public in and for the Stateand county aforesaid, personally appeared LucileHarris, -who having been duly sworn accordingto law, deposes and says that she is the associate

editor of the Desert Magazine and that the fol-lowing is, to the best of her knowledge and be-lief, a true statement of the ownership, manage-ment (and if a daily paper, the circulation), etc.,of the aforesaid publication for the date shownin the above caption, required by the Act of Au-gust 24, 1912, as amended by the Act of March3, 1933, embodied in section 537, Postal Lawsand Regulations, printed on the reverse of thisform, to-wit:

1. That the names and addresses of the pub-lisher, editor, managing editor, and businessmanagers are:

Publisher, Desert Publishing Co., El Centro,California.

Editor, Eandall Henderson, El Centro, Cali-fornia.

Business Manager, Bess Stacy, El Centro, Cali-fornia.

2. That the owner is: (If owned by a corpor-ation, its name and address must be stated andalso immediately thereunder the names and ad-dresses of stockholders owning or holding oneper cent or more of total amount of stock. If notowned by a corporation, the names and addresses

of the individual owners must be given. If ownedby a firm, company, or other unincorporated con-cern, its name and address, as well as those ofeach individual member, must be given.)

Bess Stacy, El Centro, California; Edna B.Clements, Long Beach, California; Lucile Harris,El Centro, California; Randall Henderson, ElCentro, California.

3. That the known bondholders, mortgagees,and other security holders owning or holding 1per cent or more of total amount of bonds, mort-gages, or other securities are: (If there are none,so state.)

Bank of America, El Centro, California.4. That the two paragraphs next above, giv-

ing the names of the owners, stockholders, andsecurity holders, if any, contain not only thelist of stockholders and security holders as theyappear upon the books of the company but also,in cases where the stockholder or security holderappears upon the books of the company as trus-tee or in any other fiduciary relation, the nameof the person or corporation for whom such trus-tee is acting, is given; also that the said twoparagraphs contain statements embracing affi-

ant's full knowledge and belief as to the circum-stances and conditions under which stockholdersand security holders who do not appear upon thebooks of the company as trustees, hold stockand securities in a capacity other than that of abona fide owner; and this affiant has no reasonto believe that any other person, association, orcorporation has any interest direct or indirectin the said stock, bonds, or other securities thanas so stated by him.

5. That the average number of copies of eachissue of this publication sold or distributed,through the mails or otherwise, to paid subscrib-ers during the twelve months preceding the dateshown above is (This information is re-quired from daily publications only.)

(SEAL) LUCILE HARRISSworn to and subscribed before me this 5th day

of October, 1943.BESS STACY

(My commission expires April 4, 1944.)

OH jbe4&dWith EVERETT RUESS

The story and letters of Everett Ruess,young artist-vagabond whodisappeared onone of his beloved desert exploration trips

IN BOOK FORM

Includes his desert letters, reprints fromhis diary and illustrations of Everett's ownblock prints.

MAILED POSTPAID FOR $1.50(Add 4c tax in California)

TH E fllAGflZinE

EL CENTRO, CALIFORNIA




G E M S A N D M I N E R A L SARTHUR L. EATON, Editor

FEDERATION MEMBERS TOAID MINES BUREAU REPORT

C. D. Woodhouse, president of Californiafederation of mineralogical societies sends thismessage tofederation members through Septem-ber federation bulletin, Mineral notes andnews:

"The State of California, through itsBureauof Mines, has asked each member ofthe Califor-nia federation tohelp inthe revision ofBulletin1 1 3 . Each society will receive this fall a num-

be r ofcards which members are asked tofill outif they know ofnew minerals orlocalities w hichhave not been recorded. This is aservice whichwe allshould beproud to doan d I suggest toeach president of the member societies that thiswork be ma4e the first order ofbusiness ateachmeeting."

• • •

PIMA COUNTY MINE HISTORYAVAILABLE TO PUBLIC

Eldred D. Wilson, geologis t forthe Arizonabureau of mines, hascompiled andpublished,through the Tucson chamber of commerce, thefirst condensed history of Pima county minesever to bemade available tointerested persons.This history can beobtained from the chamberof commerce by anyone interested enough towrite for a copy.

In this pamphlet is amap which shows eachof the mining districts in thecounty and whatmetals have been discovered in each, with ex-planations of thechief geographic features ofthe county. According to the pamphlet , in theyears between the time when Pima county firstentered the mining game and the year 1940, thecounty produced more than $222,000,000 worthof precious and semi-precious metals.

• • •

MEXICAN MINING LAWSTRANSLATED TO ENGLISH

Mineral survey of Mexico D. F., Mexico haspublished anEnglish translation of themininglaws ofMexico, complete toFebruary 28, 1943Publisher is P. C. Escalante. T he book is di-vided into the following chapters: mining la w;

regulation of mining law; mining policeandsafety regu lation s; mini ng taxlaw; samplingand assay ing; tariff orfees as payable tominingagents for registrations in public mining reg-ister; instructions toapplicants for filing ofap -plications for prospect and exploitation con-cessions.

This is amost useful book foranyone operat-ing orplanning tooperate inMexico.

• • •

STANNITEA little known tinore, sometimes found in

the United States, isstannite. This ore has beenfound inseveral Southwestern localities, includ-ing the ElCapitan district inSan Diego county,California. The common color isgreenish grey,although the addition of pyrite often gives it abrassy color. Luster ismetallic and streak black-

ish. Hardness isfour and specific gravity aboutfour and one-half. The brittle massive orebreaks quite unevenly. It is Cu2.FeS.SnS2.

C O L O R F U L ( T i l R E R f l L S

INDIUM

Ind ium ( In ) , sonamed because of the indigocolor in its spectrum, hasbeen known for 80years, but only now iscoming tothe fore as animportant mineral inwar work. It isused withnon-ferrous metals to strengthen and toughen

them.O ne of thefirst uses of indium was topre-

vent tarnishing of table silver. Inthe course ofexperimentation it was found that indium notonly increased tarnish resistance but it alsohardened the silver. At he time, about 20 yearsa g o , none of themetal was produced in thiscountry . Will iam S.Murray was commissionedby Oneida, Ltd., toexamine zinc ores inWest -ern smelters andmines for themineral . Helocated azinc mine inthe Chloride mining dis-trict ofnorthwest Arizona which was rich inin -dium. This nation's first indium was producedthere in1927.

Indium is soft, malleable, silver white. Itfeels oily to the touch. Specific gravity 7.4;atomic weight 114.8.

Indium alloy plating onengine bearings en-ables bombers to increase their loads and to

make quicker take-offs because they do not haveto bewarmed up so long.

• • •

MONTANA ISCHAMPIONGEM STONE PRODUCER

Montana led theentire country for theyear1942 in production of gemstones, with thestates ofNevada, Oregon, Wyoming and Cali-fornia placing with smaller values. Mon tanasapphires, mostly destined for industrial uses,made up 31percent of theentire value, whileturquoise made up 21percent, and thequartzfamily minerals 20.

B . F.Couch reports that theSmith mine ofBeowawe, Nevada, was thelargest single pro-ducer of turquoise, with 13,033 pounds, a totalvalue of$32,000, while other Nevada turquoiseminers produced only 350 pounds with a totalvalue of about $4,000.

JEWELRY INDUSTRYHAS GONE TO WAR

The jewelry industry hasbeen converted towar work. Silverware plants are making m uni-tions. Some jewelry firms aremaking quartzplates forradio work, and some watch factoriesare turning out jewels forinstruments .

By discouraging jewelry manufacture the gov-ernment attempts todivert towar bonds moneynormally spent on jewelry; also to discourageexportation of easily converted wealth, and toprevent critical materials and skilled labor fromproducing unessential merchandise.

Bureau of mines, department of interior, re-ports that production of gem stones in U. S.was 40 percent less in1942 than in1941.

WHAT DO ES THAT NAME MEAN . .

Cobalt—from German kobold—a goblin ordemon.

Platinum—from Spanish platina—diminutiveof plata, silver.

Helium—from Greek helios sun, because firstdiscovered onsun.

Chlorine—from Greek chloros, green.Bromine—from Greek bromos, stench.

• • •

One unexpected development of the war isthe employment of many Navajo Indians towork onthe railroad right ofways of SouthernCalifornia. Some of these Indians areexpertsilver workers, jewelry makers and weavers. Theincreased pay has drawn them away from theirjewelry work on thereservations in northernNew Mexico andArizona, but it has not de-creased their love of turquoise and the attractiverings, pins andnecklaces made from it. Theyare not working attheir trade now, but they are-taking the opportunity toacquire cut and uncutturquoise forus e ontheir return totheir reser-vation.

C H R I S T f im S G IF T SIn order toass i s t you inm a k i n g y o u rse le c t ion , we areoffering the fo l low ingsugge s t ions f r om our c o m p r e h e n s i v estock:

HEARTS AND PENDANTS

These are all double cabochon cutand highly polished ontwo sides. Yel-low Gold orSterling Silver bails are at-tached tobest blend inwith thechar-acter of thegem material. Insize theyvary from 114 in. to1% in.

Australian Opal in Lucite hearts or teardrops $4, $5 and $6.50

Carnelian and Sardonyx hearts or pen-dants $3.25 and $3.50

Night-blooming Cereus Obsidian hearts or

pendants $3.25 and $3.50

BR OOC HES A N D C HA R MS

Yellow Gold Filled set with Australian Opalin Lucite, round or oval, fancy or plain.Sizes % in. to 1% in $430 to $10.00

Brooches set with black or green WyomingJade, round or oval, sizes 1 in. to 1 Vzin $7.50

Yellow Gold Filled neck chains $1.25. 10 Kt.Gold $6.00, Sterling Silver at 35c and 50c.These chains are sold only with the hearts,pendants and charms.

APPROPRIATE GIFTS FOR THOSE INTHE SERVICE OF OUR COUNTRY

Our suggestion would be either books or ayearly magazine subscription, listed in our1943 Jubilee Catalogue.

MINERALIGHT QUARTZ TUBE LAMPS

For best results in the home, laboratory,or for prospecting. Fully described in a 12-page circular. Write for your FREE copy to-day. In offering fluorescent minerals, wecan supply first quality material with strongfluorescent or phosphorescent effects.

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS GIFT OFFERTw o Lar ge S iz e d Pol i she d Or e gon A gate

N odule s ($2 . 00 va lue ) $1.00

Our 1943 JUBILEE CATALOG contains100 pages of information you will find ofvalue. In order to distribute this catalog tothose most interested, we are asking you tosend us 15c IN STAMPS.

W A R N E R & G R I E G E R40 5 Nin i ta P a r k w a y

PA SA D EN A 4, CALIFORNIAOur Phone N umbe r is SYcamore 6-6423

N O V E M B E R , 1943 33



H E R E ' S H O W T O . . .

Obtain the specific gravity of small irregularlyshaped specimens of non-soluble ores or rocks .Take a small glass graduate, graded in centi-meters and large enough to hold the specimen.Place enough water in the graduate to cover therock. Note the amou nt careful ly. Then placethe rock in the graduate and note the exact in-crease in the amount of water . N ext , weigh therock carefully in grams . Div ide the number ofgrams weight out of water by the difference inthe amount of water in the graduate wi thou t thes tone and wi th the stone. Thi s gives a fairlyaccurate estimate of the specific gravity.

• • •

ICELAND SPAR WARTIMEVALUE ABOVE GOLD

W il l i am Hami l ton , a miner of iceland sparand beryl, claims that in war time iceland sparis much more valuable and more easily saleablethan most types of gold ore. Hami l ton is abrother- in- law of the cowboy picture s tar Bil lJones. The clear, rhombohedral crystals aredoubly refractive. They are used in many opt icalinstruments because of this qual i ty. W henplaced on a sheet of paper over a s inglestraight line, two lines are seen. These crystals

are used in spectroscopes, refractometers, and itis believed that they also areused in bombsightsfor the purpos e of picking out the target to beattacked.

A M ON G THE

ROCK HUnTERS

Ann P ipk in was general chairman of SearlesLake hobby show, held October 16-17 at Tronaunified school. Exhibits were entered in var iousclasses such as art, needlework,^motion picturephotography, minerals and miscellany.

• • •

Chanite is the name given to a new alloy saidto be suitable for making cutting tools, accord-in g to American i ron and steel institute. It willrelease cobalt, tungsten and other hard metalsfor more important war needs . The compositionof chanite is to remain secret until after the endof the war.

• • •

Imper ial Val ley gem and mineral society re-sumed its meetings October 2. MemberAr thur L. Eaton spoke on his t r ip into Mexicoand studies of the new Mexican volcano ElParicut in.

• • •

Jack Ryan, research depar tment of Americanpotash and chemical corporation, talked on the

Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada, area at Septembet15 meet ing of Searles Lake gem and mineralsociety. Flin Flon district produces gold andcopper .

GEM MART A D V E R T I S I N G R A T E

5c a W o r d — M i n i m u m $1.00

Swisher Rocks and Minerals, also Corals, Shells.Statues, etc. We also buy mineral species andwoods . Mus t be good. Swishers, 5254 So.B roadway , Los Angeles 37, Calif.

20 mixed fossils for a dollar bi l l . 100 ancientIndian arrowheads $3.00. 10 tiny bird ar-

rowheads $1.00. Lis t Free. Lear Howell ,Glenwood , Ark.

$2.50 br ings you prepa id six rare and beautifulcrys tal l ized Arizona minerals . Vanadini te,Dioptase, Wulfeni te, Wil lemite, Chrysocol-la, Azur i te. Specimens lV2 x 2 or larger-W iener Minera l Co., Box 509, Tucson, Ari-zona.

IN DI AN R ELIC S, C ur ios, C o in s , Minera ls ,Books, Old Buttons , Old Glass , Old W e s tPhotos , Weapons , Catalog 5c. Lemley An-t ique Store, Osborne, Kansas .

Minerals, Fossils, Gems, Stamps, Coins, Pis-tols, Glass, Bills, Indian Relics, Bead Work.Catalogue 5c. Las Cruces Curio Store, LasCruces, New Mexico .

Montana Moss Agates in the rough for gem cut-t i ng $1.00 per lb. plus pos tage . E LLIOTT 'SGEM SH OP. Pe t ri f ied P ic tu r e W oo d andMoss Agate Jewelry Hand Made in SterlingSilver Mountings — Rings, Bracelets, Neck-laces, Brooches, Tie Slides, etc. Mail ordersf i l led anywhere in U.S.A. 25 Jergins Arcade,Long Beach, Calif.

PLUME AGATE—R ough p ieces for gem cut-t ing $1.00 up postpaid. Bishop's Agate Shop,North Bonnevil le, Wash.

C A B O C H O N C U T T E R S w i t h our unnamedmix ture of good cut t ing mater ial sawedready to shape cut and polish you can finishseveral fine stones. 25 cents for two ouncesand with money back guarantee. Gaski l l , 400

Nor th Mus ca te l , San Gabriel , Calif.

HERE ARE BIGBARGAINS . . .

Rare Crystals of all kinds , $1.50 and up. Mon-tana Sapphires , cut t ing qual i ty, 60c a carat.Sawed California Geodes, 25c and 50c each.Send for my Gem List, 10c, cost returned onfirst order. Specimens can be returned if notsatisfactory. The Deser t Rats Nes t , 2667 H

Colorado, E. Pasadena, Calif.

A N T I Q U E J E W E L R Y — Lockets, brooches,chains, rings, etc. 12 assorted, $3.00. B. Lowe.Bo x 311, St. Louis , Mo.

AGATES, Jaspers , Opal ized and Agatizedwoods , Thunder eggs , polka dot and otherspecimens . Thre e pound assor tment $1.50postpaid. Glass floats, price list on request,lay Ransom, 1753 Mentone Ave., Pasadena.Calif.

Z I R C O N S — O P A L S — C A M E O S — 3 G e n u i n ed iamond cut Zircons ( total 2l/2 carat) $2.75.Twelve Genuine Opals $1.50. Twelve Genu-ine Cameos $2.50. B. Lowe, Box 311, St.Louis, Mo.

100 J EW ELR Y STON ES r emoved from r ings ,etc., assor ted $2.00. B. Lowe, Box 311, St.Louis, Mo.

R O CK C O L LE C TO R S A T T E N T I O N — G E TA C Q U A I N T E D O F F E R — S e n d two dollarswar s tamps or coin, for five showy specimensof Rainbow Rock, Tourmaline, Chalcanthi te,Limonite Pseudomorphs , I ron Pyr i te, Inclu-sion QTZ. XL., Fluor i te, Beryl , Hemati teXLS., Marti te, Pecos Diamond, Quar tzoid,Neptuni te, Topaz. Iceland Spar . All 15 for$5.00. The Rockologist Chuckawalla Slim,62 7 E. Garvey Blvd., Garvey, Calif.

W A N T E D — 1 6 in. diamond saw and lap wheelwi th or without motors . Wri te Box FS.

Deser t Magazine, El Centro, Calif.

Sequoia mineral society met September 1 atReedley city park. Reedley members furnishedthe program.

• • •

Northwest federat ion of mineralogical so-ciet ies , Tenino, Washington, has purchased$93.50 worth of war bonds .

E . T. Hodge, Oregon state college, Corvallis,Oregon , has issued a 75-page bulletin on thegeology of north central Oregon.

• • •

Utah reports large deposits of alunite in Piutecounty. Much of the vein material ispure white,while surrounding areas are of lower grade.Aluni te yields alumina for the manufacture ofaluminum, potass ium sulphate and sulphuricacid.

• • •

Kenneth Garner , for several years secretary ofCalifornia federation of mineralogical societies,has been promoted to radio technical inspector.H e is located at Romulus , M ichigan.

• • •

Dr . J ohn Montanus was host of West Coastmineral society at September 14 meeting. Dr.Montanus displayed over 70 compartment boxesfilled with specimens.

• • •

Mineral notes and news has begun a series ofarticles on the fossil woods of California. Thefirst article, by George F. Beck, Central Wash-ington college of education, Ellensburg, Wash-ington, deals with the Calistoga petrified forest,nor th of San Francisco.

• • •

Reports continue about extensive scheelitetungs ten depos i ts in Lower California. Rich orehas been found in many locations in the north-ern district of the peninsula. Some of it alreadyis being shipped to points in United States forref ining.

• • •

Santa Rosalia district, south of Ensenada,Lower California, produces some fine turquoise.A n old mine, after being idle for several years,once more is in product ion, al though not yet on

a large scale.• • •

Sulphide ores, smelted at Garfield and Tooele,Utah, yield large quantities of arsenic oxide,which is collected by the Cotrell process fromflue dust. Arsenic compounds are used in in-secticides.

• • •

Potassium salts are being recovered commer-cially from salt deposits southwest of Great SaltLake. These salts are used with phosphates andammonium sulphate in manufacture of commer-cial fertilizers.

• • •

Chemical engineer Adrian Nagelvoort esti-mates that sufficient fossil resins can be recover-ed from the coals of U t a h to meet the needs otUnited States for a century. These resins are

used in varnishes .• • •

Utah claims a natural monopoly on Gilsoni te,a solid asphalt used in acid proof paints, insu-lating materials, plastics and mastics.

• • •

D. Tucker of mineralogical society of south-ern Nevada repor ts that war conditions havemade it necessary to separate the club into threegroups , meet ing in Las Vegas, Boulder City, andBasic townsite. Las Vegas kept up meetings un-til July, when they were discontinued because ofintense heat. Meetings were resumed Septembei13. Short field trips, which have proved profit-able this past year, will be enjoyed as soon asweather permits .

• • •

Jul ia El len Rogers was speaker at September10 meet ing of Long Beach mineral society, held

at the Nine Hole c lubhous e .




D r. D. H. Clark spoke on past field trips atSeptember 12meeting of Orange Belt mineralo-gical society, held in Pinetum, Sylvan park, Red-lands . He also discussed iron, stressing lode-stone.

• • •

Orange Belt mineralogical society discussedquartz minerals at October 7 meeting, held inscience building, SanBernardino junior college.

• • •

Chuck Jordan and Rocky Moore have dis-solved partnership and now Chuck is conduct-in g the rock business on his own at 201-202Broadway Arcade, LosAngeles . He is ably as-sisted by his niece Violet Crowthe r. Chuck in-troduced Utah wonderwood to Desert readersthrough a name contest. This interesting woodis as yet unidentified. Some specimens showbeautiful carnelian replacements.

• • •Texas mineral society, Dallas, has changed

meeting date to second Tuesday of each month.President Thos. D. Copeland has appointedProf. Lynch program chairman and Mr. Jarvismembership chairman. Anyone interested is in-vited to attend meetings held at Baker hotel.

• • •Searles Lake gem and mineral society held a

pot luck dinner at home of Mr. and Mrs. Harry

L. Jewel onBonewits ranch near Inyokern, Sep-tember 26.

TALC HAS IMPORTANT

ROLE IN POTTERY MAKING

Pottery is coming to the fore as a substitutefor metal cooking utensils. Baking dishes, skil-lets and top of the stove kettles are available totake the place of scarce iron or aluminum ves-sels.

Students in the ceramics department of USChave been experimenting for the past twoyears with various clays. They have found that10 or 15 percent talc, combined with a potas-sium carbonate clay, gives most satisfactory re-sults. Talc does not expand or contract whenexposed to heat, is inert to most corrosiveagents, and serves as a catalyst during the firingprocess.

DESERT QUIZ ANSWERSQuestions on page 32

1—Suspension type bridge.2—Discoverers Shorty Harris and Ed

Cross thought thegreenish-blue oreresembled color of bullfrog.

3—All are in NewMexico.4—Yucca is called soapweed, or amole,

an d is used by Indians for soap espe-cially in ceremonial rites.

5—Jet is associated with coal deposits.6—Marcos de Niza .7—Phoenix .

8—Indian tribe of Yuman orig in , in-habitants of western Colorado desert

and Warners Ranch area, San Diegocounty.

9—Ocotil lo . Not an "a" in the wholeword.

10—Quartz .11—Basket-making.12—Cinnabar, ore of mercury.13—Moth which brings about pollina-

tion of yucca plant.14—Death Valley.15—Rock collecting maniac. See DM,

February, 1943.16—Navajo mythical character.17—Most recent book by W. A. Chal-

fant, winning for him membershipin International Mark Twain society.

18—Southeastern Utah.19—Open pit produced by surfacing

mining.20—-Walpi.

Oi a Rockhound

By LOUISE EATON

Standin' night watch in a observation

post is sort uv like spendin' the nightcampin' on th' desert on a field trip. Yucan watch th' big dipper's revolution 'nhear night noises—after radios 'n auto-mobiles goes to bed. Yure alone withyur thots 'r problems, surrounded bylimitless space, 'n inspired by heaven'sstar pattern. But if yu spots a star movin'steadily acrost th' sky it's t ime to stopdreamin ' 'n call army Flash—cause thatkind uv starz is airplanes.

• • •

Sum rockhouns seems to find good roxj u s ' by Instink. Like horses locates waterin a dry country. These lucky peepulseems to know xactly where to dig f'rgeodes 'r whitch hill to clime f'r goodagate. They can bedrivin' along ('r couldbe before we got th is Duration) 'n sud-denly spot a place where there's Speci-ments, when to th' fella without a rock-houn's instink th' flat looks jus' like allth' rest of th' malapai roundabout.

H . A. Trexler from S. M. U., spoke on agatesand their localities at Sepember 3 meeting ofTexas mineral society. Roy Yeager, Bell tele-phone company of Dallas, showed his facet cut-ting and polishing equipment at October 12meeting.

Professor D. Jerome Fisher and Alfred Chi-dester have been sent by U. S. geological sur-

vey into theHemet-San Jacinto district to pros-pect for beryll ium (glucinum) and tantalum tobe used in the wareffort. Small deposi ts of bothminerals were located. These metals are usedin alloys.

Most visitors to Queretaro, state of Queretaro, Mexico, come away with the impressionthat the crude ore for the beautiful Mexicanopals which have been polished and sold therefor many years is actually a product of themountains in the vicinity of that city. This isnot quite the truth, at least in recent years. TheIndians who cut and polish the ore usually goby train to the smaller town of SanJuan del Rio,about 30miles south of the city on the railroad,and from thence to the opal mines. The ore ispurchased from the mines, brought back to

Queretaro, polished and sold there.

ZINCITE

Zincite is not only a colorful mineral but one

rich in zinc, as it generally carries more than 80

percent of that valuable metal. It seldom crystalizes, but is nevertheless very attractive, as its

foliations usually appear in rich red colors, or

orange yellow, due to the presence of smallquantities of manganese oxide. It is a soft brit-tl e ore, with almost adamantine luster. It oc-curs, mixed with franklinite and willemite , at

Franklin Furnace, NewJersey. Its most attrac-tive form is when bri l l iant red lamellar massesare mixed with massive pink calcite. If a largepiece can be secured, try it under the ultra-violet

or black lamp. This test will guarantee it a placewith the very choicest specimens.

Production of gemstones in theUnited Statesduring 1942 dropped almost 40 percent fromthe high point of 1941,according to reports ofthe bureau of mines. Uncut stones, used injewelry and related industries, were estimatedto have a value of about $150,000. When cutand polished, they were worth about $400,000.The same industries, in 1941 purchased $240,-000 worth of uncut stones, which had a value of$750,000 in the finished state.

C U T T I N G S P E C I A L S . . .This month we are featuring a selec-

tion from our stock of nodules. Certaintypes of them may be increas ingly hardto get in the near future, as some locali-t ies, notably that of Lead Pipe Springs,a re now in Military zon es.

1 . Oregon Agate Nodules—We will se-lect younice ones from the Priday ranchof Central Oregon at 30c per lb.

2 . Geode-Nodules — Chocolate Mtns.of Calif.—Some of these arecrystal filledgeodes , whi le some are completely fill-ed wi th agate . 30c per lb.

3 . Blue Agate Nodules — These areone of the most beautiful of the m a n ynodule forms. These are usual ly bluewi th whi te banding.

4 . Assortment of one each of above ingood cutt ing size, $1.00.

SNOWFLAKE OBSIDIAN

This beautiful material has been sopopular that we have decided to featureit again at $1.00 perlb.

Above prices do not include postage.

T h e W e s t C o a s t m i n e r a l Co .1400 Hacienda Blvd.

LA HABRA HEIGHTS, CALIF.M

mile Northof Hwy. 101 on

State39, be-

tween Whittier and Fullerton, at the cornerof Avacado Crest road and Hacienda Blvd.,1400 Hacienda Blvd. The Junction of Hwy.101 and Hwy. 39 is about 1% miles West ofth e La Habra turnoff on 101. We are NOTlocated at the town of La Habra.

M a i l i n g A d d r e s s :BO X 331 LAHABRA. CALIF.

ROCKHOUNDS . .We have a large stock of Cabinet specimens,Gem material. Cut stones, Mineral books.We want to buy good gem material andspecimens. Come and see us and join ourRockhound Colony.

THE COLORADO GEM CO.

Bayfield.Colorado

H I L T O N ' Sand Qetn Sluxp,JOHN W. HILTON, Owner

On U. S. Highway 99. Ten

Miles South of Indio

•

A C R O SS FR O M V A L E R I E J E A N D A T E

S H O P . P. O. A D D R B SS, TH ER M A L, C A L I F .

NOVEMBER, 1943 35



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LOS ANGELES, CALIF.

This page ofDesert Magazineis forthose whohave , oraspireto have, their owngemcutting

and polishing equipment. Lelande Quick, whoconducts this department, isformer presi-dent of theLosAngeles Lapidary society. Hewill beglad toanswer questions inconnec-tion with your lapidary work. Queries should be addressed toDesert Magazine, ElCentro, California.

By LELANDE QUICK

This sect ion would have noreason forbeing

if itdid nots t imulate interes t ingemcut t ingorfurnish ideas that helped experienced cutters dobet ter lapidary work. Thebest evidence that itfulfills itspurpose is thecorrespondence I re-ceive. This does notfind itswayinto the "Let-ters" section because it is largely personal orcontains questions the answering of whichwould be r edundan t or ques t ions that areanswered directly inthecolumn with the nameof thewriter mentioned. All etters I receiveare answered direct unless thereply containssomething or iginal of help togem cutters orsomething that isnot merely fundamental andthen therepl ies get into the column in an in-formal manner .

B ut I need tohear more of thereaders 'ex-periences because Inever receive such letters butthat I cull something ofvalue from them, some-thing Iw a n t to trymyself. Give meafew"helps

and hints" asMr.Kane does this month. Giveme ideas Ican llustrate such asHerber t Monluxand Alber t Hake have given me.

• • •

Peter Zodac, editor of Rocks andMineralsmagazine tells me "your column in Deser tMagazine always attracts myattention and Ihope youwill cont inue it."

Dr. Dake, edi tor of theMineralogis t maga-zine advises, "It is possible to cutcabochonsfrom a good many of the strongly fluorescentminerals . When viewed under ul t raviolet l ightthey arereally something magnificent. A ca-bochon cut from the red fluorescent calcite andgreen wil lemite gives a combinat ion of colorsthat takes the eye. Onereason the fluorescentgems are sovivid isthat a smooth surface on amineral isfree of pits andshadows. The fluores-cent effect ismuch improved by a smooth orpolished surface." Mr. Zodac's kind remarksan d Dr. Dake's interes t ing sugges t ions are ap-preciated.

• • •

C. L. McCullough of Modesto, California,wrote mesome t ime ago that he has an iris opaland that is something I w a n t tosee. Hesayshe bought it f rom Wendel l Stewart but whenhe later showed ittohimStewart said he'dneverseen anything like it before. Has anyotherreader such a stone? If asmany as 25readersadvised me bypostal of themost unusual gemin their collection I would have a mighty in-teres t ing page some month.

• • •

Louise Eaton, whowrites that delightfulwhimsey on another page ent i t led "Cogitat ions

of aRockhound" always hasadelightful bit ofphilosophy. I agree with her that field trips area safety valve for thehigh pressure of living—•and how weneed them now. It is t rue, as shesays, that almost every rockhound desires to owna jeep after the war. Those things were madefor field trips but they tell me they doneed aspr ing ortwo inthedriver's seat. I don' t knowhow many wil l beavailable but they say thereare 10,000 rockhounds inLosAngeles countyalone andthat 's astarter. Thejeep will becomethe modern burro.

Th ink how thenext 10years will affect thefield trip. Youwill probably beable to leaveLos Angeles on a Saturday night and travel allnigh t on a l ighted highway atany speed thatdoesn't scare you for thespeed limits oncertainhighways wil l be very high. Youwill travelondivided mult i - laned highways ontires good for

perhaps 70,000 miles ofdriving andwith gaso-

l ine good for50miles per gallon. You'll have

a trailer with refrigeration and the jeep will behitched behind thetrailer so that you'll haveyour owncaravan. In a small boxyou'll takeenough dehydrated food toeatfor aweek andby noon onSunday you'll beparked on a sideroad in the far reaches ofUtah ornorthern NewMexico. Then you' l l take the jeep andexplorefo r gemmater ials in locations that have neverheard the r ing of a mineralogist 's hammer norseen a beer can. Fantastic? Not a bit of it.Check up on this in 10years and see if I'mwrong . And I haven't even mentioned heli-copters.

When almost nospot isimmune totherock-hound wil l some of the charm goout of thedesert? Lots oftheromance ofthedesert is inits unattaina bility. Speed and convenience donot always bring content but I look forwardto it.

• • •

DID YOUKNOW . . .

• Some of thefinest chrysoprase ever foundcame from Tulare county, California. Itexists atYokohl , on theeastern slope of theVenice hi l ls , onTule r iver and Deer creekan d onemile east of Lindsay.

• Kunz found ruby spinel near SanLuisObispo in 1905.

• Catalinite, found on Catalina Island, is amott led jasper and onyx.

• Psilom elane takes a beautiful polish. It oc-curs in 37California counties and I'll tellyou where it occurs inyour county if yousend meapostal request.

• Brown zircons "heat treated" in air turn

golden orcolorless. If treated in anatmos-. phere deficient inoxygen they turn blue.

• • •

LAPIDARY HELPS ANDHINTS . . .

(Contr ibuted by Will iam J. Kane of SanFrancisco whohas cutoneofthebest collectionsof cabochons tobefound inthat area.)

In mounting transparent, semi-transparentand translucent stones fordisplay polish themon the back and place them over thecoloredpor t ions of magazine advertisements until youfind the color that best complements the stonewith itsreflection. Cut thepaper to fitand ce-ment to theback of thestone with DuPontDuc o cement. Many lifeless agates come alivewith this method and pat terns show morevividly. Tin foil is anexcellent backing agent

if you can get it.• • •

A well-worn piece of No. 100sanding clothwill polish cabochons better andlast many timeslonger than the No. 220cloth.

• • •

Clean sanders occasionally byusing a pieceof sponge rubber atrunning speed.

• • •

Polish flats with No.00 orNo.000 flint typesandpaper on a disc wheel running at 400R.P.M. Thedisc must beslightly convex or itwill quickly undercut and the flats should beheld off center. Flint usually being thesamehardness as the flat acts as a buffer butonlystones of quartz hardness (7)are successfullypolished with this type paper. Itcauses aheavydrag and a firm grip with even pressure must

be maintained.

3 6 THE DESERT MAGAZINE



WRITER LEARNS NAVAJOWEAVING FIRST HAND

In SPIDER WOMAN, a story of Nav-ajo weavers and chanters, Gladys A.Reichard gives an intimate account of herlife among theNavajo. Dr.Reichard, ayoung professor ataneastern college, spentseveral summers among them tolearn rug-weaving. Herexperiences while learningthe complicated craft are told with rarehumor.

She explains thevarious stages andoper-ations from thetime thewool is spun and

dyed until the rugiscompleted and takenfrom theloom, promoting akeen apprecia-tion of theskill employed increation ofthe Navajo rug. Shetells how thedesignsare worked out in color and motif—someof thedesigns being created as the rugprogresses while others are copied fromsandpaintings.

Her sincerity andinterest caused the In-dians toadopt her into their family thuspermitting an intimate study of theircharacter andcustoms andanopportunityto learn thelanguage. She describes twoofthe more sacred ceremonies—a "sing" forthe silversmith's daughter and a Navajowedding ceremony.

To thereader whois interested in a hu-man andfascinating picture oftheNavajo,this book istruly anethnological treat.

The Macmillan company, NewYork,1 9 3 4 . Illus. 287 pp.$3.50.

—Evonne Henderson

T H E F A N T A S T I C C L A N

«g?—* ' -—'̂ T~I As enjoyable as a• IHtFAN!A>!K~

• a A N ' good travelog.

Tells you how to

••I "call by name" the

odd members of the: spiny clan of the

„—J desert.

THE FANTASTIC CLAN by Thornberand Bonker, describes with charm andaccuracy the strange and marvelousgrowth on the desert. An informal intro-duction to the common species in theirnative habitat, including notes on dis-covery, naming, uses and directions forgrowing. Many excellent drawings,paintings and photographs, some infull color. Endmaps, glossary, pronounc-ing vocabulary, index.

$3 .50

DESERT CRAFTS SHOP636 State St. El Centro, California

CACTUS-SHARP WIT INDESERT RAT'S BOOKLET

Harry Oliver, whose witis ". . sharp asdesert cactus . ."hascompiled articles fromhis newspaper column Desert Briefs intoan attractive booklet called 99DAYS INTHE DESERT . . . WITH SANDYWALKER. History, travel, oddbits of in-formation arewritten with dryhumor,andseasoned with thefresh simple philosophyof animaginary character, Sandy Walker,who probably is a rough characterizationof theauthor himself. Attractively covered

in brown artpaper with hand block prints,42 pp., endmap.25c.

— A . M

• • •

TENDERFOOT HASMORE

ARROWHEAD ADVENTURES

Continuing the exciting chronicle ofyoung Peter Stirling's Arizona adventures,W . H. B. Kent recently completedRAN GE RIDER. This volume followsTHE TENDERFOOT, written the pre-vious year, which first introduced toWestern fans theformer Yale man whocame West tomake good, heroine-ranchowner Gail Gordon, amusing Saturnino,memorable ranch cook Footless andotherArrowhead ranch characters.

Fast moving story opens with amurder,and soon involves Peter in rustling andrange waraction, inwhich he again dis-proves that atenderfoot from theEast needremain a tenderfoot.

The Macmillan company, NewYork,1 9 4 3 . 193 pp. $2.00.

•—Flo Sibley• • •

FOR TYPICAL WESTERNRANGE WARISBACKGROUND

When Connie Dickason, head-strongand courageous, and her foreman, thebrave andbitter Dave Nash find them-selves teamed against unscrupulous cattle-men in a grim battle of therange, unex-pected things begin to happen. LukeShort tells a story of vengeance and gunplay in his newWestern novel, RAM-R O D , with plenty of action andemotion.

The Macmillan company, 1943. 232 pp.$2.00.

— A . M.

DESERT BOOKS . . .

F O R C H I L D R E N. . . TOREAD AND ENJOY

Choose some child a gift from the fol-lowing list of desert books, carefully se-lected for youngsters of all ages to en-joy. Beautifully written and illustrated.They will fascinate and inform youthfulreaders, and will be treasured long afterthe story is known by heart. Desert cardswill be enclosed with each gift order.

A NEW MEXICANBOY, Helen LaughlinMarshall. Daydreaming Juan finds ad-venture with his baby burro Paco.Charming andauthentic picture of Span-ish life in NewMexico. Many watercolorillustrations. Ages 8-12 ._ - .$2.00

DARK CIRCLE OF BRANCHES, LauraAdams Armer. Beautifully told story ofItitle Na Nai, crippled Navajo boy whounderstands the language of animals.Interwoven aremyths andlegends of his

ancient people. Excellent illustrations inhalf tone. All ages $2.50

PINKY FINDS A HOME, Margaret W.Nelson. Pinky Jordon, toy plush rabbit,meets comical and clever comradeswhen abandoned by his master on thedesert. Delightful full color illustrations.

Ages 5-9 $1-75

DESERT PLANTS AND ANIMALS, Arnoldand Cason. A primer-handbook illus-trating and describing commonestplants, animals and insects in 61 shortchapters. Index, paper $1.00

BIRDS OF THE ARIZONA DESERT,Gusse T. Smith. Commonest birds de-scribed in their desert setting. Bird draw-ings, desert sketches. Index, paper__$1.00GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH MIN-ERALS, English. Fine introduction t omineralogy. 'Teen age readers on. $2.50CALICO, THE WONDER HORSE, Vir-ginia Lee Burton. Hank, the top cow-puncher andCalico, the fastest smartesthorse, find high adventure when StewySlinker and his bad men try to disturbthe peace of Cactus country. Comic strippictures in many colors. Ages 8-12..$1.00DUSTY DESERT TALES, Louise McKee,Richard Summers. Ancient Indian mythsand legends retold in the simple style o!the native storyteller. Background to theculture of Pima, Apache, Hopi andYuma Indians. Many photographs and

illustrations. All ages ___ $ 2 . 5 0

T H E T R A D E R ' S C H I L D R E N , L a u r a

Adams Armer. Drama enters the livesofthree lively children at Black MountainTrading Post in Arizona. True story offun and adventure with desert back-ground. Ages from 8 on. Half tone illus-trations $2.50

OUR COUNTRY'S NATIONAL PARKS,Irving R. Melbo. Informal, often humor-ous description of historical and naturalbackground of 26 national parks. Addsnew significance to natural wondersand monuments of America. All ages.Many photographs and maps, index.Two volumes. Each Vol $2.00

We Pay Postage

California Buyers Add 2'/2% Tax

Desert Crafts ShopEl Centro, California

N O V E M B E R , 1943 3 7



Retween Ifou and M e

:-i r' "'* ' v-

By RANDALL HENDERSON

THE U. S. ARMED FORCES IN AFRICA—NowI've seen the daddy of all the deserts—the Sahara. Theopportunity came when I was transferred from Bush-

town to a new permanent station in another part of the Africancontinent.

For many hours I looked down on a vast panorama ofdesert—some of it so barren of vegetation or topographic fea-

tures that our travel involved much the same problems of navi-gation as in crossing an ocean.At other times we passed over a terrain that resembled so

closely the mesa between El C entro, California, and Yum a, Ari-zona, I instinctively glanced around the horizon in search forthe Algodones sand dunes or the Chocolate mountains. Iwondered if those tiny bushes and trees on the desert floor be-low have any resemblance to the creosote and ironwood of myhome desert.

We passed over mesas that recalled to my mind the threemesas of the Hopi Indians in Arizona, and rocky escarpmentsand playas and malpai flats and arroyos—only they do not callthem arroyos here. They are wadis.

There were no clouds in the sky as we crossed the great Afri-can desert, but there was a yellow haze around the horizon that

blended perfectly with the sand below and then softly faded intothe blue of the sky above. At no time could we see a sharpclear-cut skyline. It was as if the desert sands simply rose up ina distant wall that completely surrounded us, and we were flyingin a great yellow bowl, with only the terrain directly below usclearly visible.

* * *

A range of mountains loomed ahead, and as we headed forthe pass through which we were to fly, the air became so bumpysome of the passengers fastened the ir safety belts. Th e co-pilotcame back through the cabin reeling like a sailor on a storm-tossed sea. There was an extra heavy lurch.

"Must have hit a rock," he remarked. Some of the soldiersgrinned.

"Oh yes," he added, "the sand storms up here lift hugeboulders right up into the sky and it always makes rough ridingfor the passe ngers." I suspect that some of those in the planewere sick enough just then to believe he was telling the truth.

Once we stopped at an oasis for refueling. I cannot tell youthe devious route nor the m eans by which high octane is broughtinto this remote desert settlement—but a crew member told meit cost Uncle Sam $6.00 a gallon to refuel his planes at thispoint.

We left the plane for a few moments while the tanks werebeing filled. And I can assure you there was one passenger whoreally enjoyed the blast of 115-degree desert air that hit us. Itwas the most homelike feeling I have experienced since I cameto Africa. After six months in the humid air of the tropics Iwas glad again to be in a place where my clothes would not for-ever have the musty smell of stale bread.

We have palm oases on the Southern California desert—butnot like these on the Sahara. Th e native palms of my desert areWa shingto nias. Here they are date palms, tall ragged trees thatlook as if they mig ht have been supp lying food for the A rabs forthousand s of years. This is Mo hamm edan country, and thewhite domes of mosques, nestling among the palms, bear testi-mony to the religious devotion of these wild desert tribesmen.

During our brief stop, I walked across the field to a wadi thatbordered it on one side—and wished John Hilton was there toexplain the strange erosions in the limestone rocks. They mademe think of the rillensteine described by Jerry Laudermilk inthe December, 1940, issue of Desert Magazine, except that theseerosion grooves were always in concentric circles. They lookedso much like the weathered cross-section of an old piece oftimber that some of the passengers insisted they were petrifiedwood. But obviously that was not the answer. I wanted totake a specimen along for my collection, but when one's entirekit for military service overseas is limited to 55 pounds, it is notime to be gathering rocks.

Camel caravans thread their way along the trails that crossthis desert. Camel transpo rtation is picturesque. But frankly, Iprefer to do my desert exploring in my old jalopy. I've nowtried both kinds of locomotion and I think a camel is a fine in-stitution—for the Sahara. At that, I am afraid this grand oldfour-legged ship of the desert is going to have to give way sooneror later to these big-tired jeeps.

* * *

Eventually we reached our destination, and I was billeted thatnight in a little stucco cottage surrounded by palms, agave, al-mond, bougainvillea, pepper, eucalyptus and geraniums. Itwas a little bit of Southern California—but the people spoke astrange language and on the street we passed donkeys andcamels and clumsy two-wheeled carts, and a few automobilespowered from charcoal burners.

I've had my glimpse of the Sahara, but I'll not want to remainhere when the war is over. Th e place is too big. It is too farbetween waterholes. I want to be where I can dro p in occa-sionally and say "howdy" to George Perkins and Jack Mitchelland Steve Ragsdale and Russell Nicoll and Charles Kelly andKatherine and Bill Wilson and a thousand other good friendswho speak the language of the desert—but a language that Iknow. And besides, I don't think I would ever get used toriding these camels.

* * *At a future date, when they are passing out laurels to the air-

plane pilots who shot and bombed the enemy out of the war, Iwant to put in a word for the transport pilots who every hour ofthe day and night are carrying great loads of personnel and sup-plies across the wide expanses of ocean and desert. Combatpilots, in cooperation with ground forces and the navy, will winthe war-—but the end will come much sooner because of theskill and courage of these unsung pilots and navigators andradio operators of the transport service.

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



Y o u C A N B u y B a c k I s s u e s of D e s e r tEvery da y' s ma il brings inquiries about bac k nu mb ers of DESERT. For the convenien ce of those whowould like a varied assortment of lasting interest, we have listed 24 issues now obtainable at a spe-cial price. Only a limited num ber re ma in. These will m ake the perfect gift for that special friendto whom you would like to introduce DESERT. Subjects listed below are but s am ple s of the m an yand varied features in each issue. Every number contains stories on travel, history, Indians, botany,wildlife, legends and lost mines, poetry, book reviews, an d ma ny others. Starred articles includema p s . (For more complete information on bac k copies av aila ble , w rite C irculation M ana ger , DesertMagazine, El Centro, California.)

F e b . '38—Graveyard of the Mammoths, Utah*Gem collecting in the desertMonument Peak—Unclimbed Pinnacle, Ariz.

Mar.'38—Powell Weaver, Mountain ManWhite Sands Natl. Mon., New Mex.*Bloodstone in Orocopia Mountains*

F u n . '38—Henry Chee Dodge, Navajo leaderClimbing Toro Peak, Sa nta Rosa Mts.*Monument Valley—Graveyard of the Gods*

Jul. '38—Goulding's Post, Monument Valley, Utah*Toro Peak, Santa Rosa Mts., California*Indian Jewelry—Genuine and Imitation

Nov.'38—Hidden Forest, Nevada*Waterfalls in Deep Canyon, Santa Rosas*Beach combing the desert for gems*

Nov.'39—Climbing White Mt., Calif.*Fort Mojave—Outpost on the ColoradoTourmaline mine, San Diego county*

May'40—Discovery of Rainbow Bridge, UtahPetrified oyster shells, Colorado desert*Fairy crosses (Staurolite), New Mexico*

J u n . '40—On trail of Utah gems*Wupatki National Monument, Ariz.*Discovery of Navajo watchtower

Jul. '40—Woman miner on the Mojave*Capt. John Hance, Grand Canyon guideProspecting with Ultra-violet lamp

Nov.'40—Onyx in Orocopia Mts., Calif.*Lorenzo Hubbell, famed Indian traderPalm Oasis, eastern San Diego county*

Mar.'41—Palm Canyon, Borrego Park*Manly's trail in the Panamints*Quartz cry stals. Superstition Mts.*

Apr. '41—Hunting fos sils in Utah*Malpais, New Mexico's lava flow*Thousand Palm Oasis, Calif.*

J u n . '41—Hiking to Rainbow Bridge*River boat days on Colorado riverPink opal in Nevada*

Nov.'41—Willie Boy, Indian killer*Garnets in Aquarius Range, Ariz.*Pete Aguereberry of Death Valley*

J a n . '42—Cochiti Indian drum makerGem stones in Santa Rosa Mts.*

Exploring Colorado river by boat*May'42—Keane Wonder Mine*

Polk & Posey, Indian renegades*Opals in Last Chance canyon*

J u n . '42—Bonanza Road special edition*Chemicals from Dale Dry Lake*Climbing down Havasupai canyon*

Aug.'42—Explanation of deserts*Amethyst crystals, Mojave desert*Capitol Reef Natl. Mon., Utah*

Oct. '42—Fossil d iscov eries in U tahTosido, Navajo healing spring*Apache Devil dance

Nov. '42—Hualpai IndiansGiant sloth remains, Nevada*Jet found in Henry Mts. Utah*

J a n . '43—Traveling Southwest trails*Coyote, phantom of the desertClimbing to Moki Indian ruin, Utah*

F e b . '43—City rock collectorsSaga of Dirty Devil river, Utah*Chuska Mt. massacre. New Mexico*

May '43—Origin of geo des and and thundereggsTraining a desert hawk to huntFinding "Walls of Jericho", Utah*

Aug.'43—Desert trees, pictorialVisit to a Navajo home, Utah*Clarence Budington Kelland "goes desert"

Dear Desert: Please send to the addresses below the issues I hav e checked. I enclose $

Six issu es $1.00. 12 issu es $2.00. All 24, $3.50.

Name Name_

Address. Address^

Name_ Name

Address_ Address

Desert gift cards will be sent with all gift orders.Magazines m ay be sent to Army personnel in U.S.A. only.

Address: DESERT MAGAZINEEl Centro, California

N O V E M B E R , 1 9 4 3 39



V A L E R IE J E A N ' S

D E S E R T G IF T

- R o u n d

Five Pounds of Assorted

Dates, Date Candy and

Date Roll. (Also Date Cake

when materials are avail-

able for baking this item.)

D E L I V E R E D

. . . a nd in the . . .

THREE POUND SIZE

$3.00

ValerieJean's

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