194808 Desert Magazine 1948 August

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AUGST,1948 CENTS



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



P e s er t C a le n d a rJuly 24-Aug. 15—Exhibit Southwest:rn

Indian paintings from collectionofM r. C. H. Dietrich, Museum ofNorthern Arizona, Flagstaff, Ari-zona.

Aug . 1—Walker Lake annual outboardmotor regatta. Hawthorne, Nevada.

Aug . 1—Summer visitors' tour to Moen-copi, Hopi village, sponsoredbyFlagstaff Cavaliers, Flagstaff, Ari-zona.

Aug. 1-7—National archery tournament,Reno, Nevada.

Aug. 2—Feastday, Old Pecos dance,Je-mez pueblo, Ne w Mexico.

Aug. 3-4—Ogden juniorfat stock show,Ogden, Utah.

Aug. 4—Feast day of Santo Domingo,Fiesta and summer corn dance,San-to Domingo pueblo,Ne w Mexico.

Aug. 4-7—Pioneer days celebration,Ra-ton, Ne w Mexico.

Aug. 6-8—Annual Cowboys' Reunion,Las Vegas, Ne w Mexico.Aug. 8—Summer visitors ' tour, Walnut

Canyon, sponsored by FlagstaffCavaliers, Flagstaff, Arizona.

Aug. 8—Annual Smoki ceremonialandsnake dance,Flagstaff, Arizona.

Aug. 10—Feast day of San Lorenzo,fiesta and summer corn dance,SanLorenzo (Picuris) pueblo,Ne wMexico.

Aug. 12—Feastday of Santa Clara, fiestaand corn dance, Santa Clara pueblo,New Mexico.

Aug. 12-13—W asatch county fairandBlackhawk encampment, HeberCity, Utah.

Aug . 15—Summer visitors ' tourto apetrified forest and to dinosaurtracks north of Flagstaff, sponsoredby Flagstaff Cavaliers, Flagstaff,Arizona.

Aug. 15—Assumption day, fiesta andcorn dance, Zia pueblo, New Mex-i c o .

Aug. 19-21—Summit county fair, Coal-ville, Utah.

Aug. 19-21—Box Elder county fair,Tre-monton, Utah.

Aug . 19-21—Davis county fair, Kays-ville, Utah.

Aug. 19-22—Twenty- seventh annualInter - Tribal Indian Ceremonial,dances and rodeo, Gallup, Ne wMexico.

Aug. 20-21—Millard county rodeoandfair, Deseret, Utah.

Aug. 21-Sept. 12— Third AnnualAri-zona Photographers statewidepho-tographic exhibition, with emphasison the Southwestern scene. Museumof Northern Arizona,Flagstaff, Ari-zona.

Aug. 22— Annual horse show,111thCavalry at Camp Luna, Las Vegas,New Mexico.

Aug. 22—Summer visitors ' tourto typi-cal cattle ranch, sponsoredby Flag-staff Cavaliers,Flagstaff, Arizona.

Aug. 25-28—Salt Lake county fairandhorse show, Murray, Utah.

Aug. 26-28—Cache county fairand ro-d e o , Logan, Utah.

Aug. 28—Feastday of San Augustin, fi-

esta and dance, Isleta pueblo,Ne wMexico.Aug. 28-29—Annual rodeo sponsoredby

20-30 club, Flagstaff, Arizona.

Volume 11 AUGUST.1948 Number 10

COVER

CALENDAR

PATHBREAKER

INSECT

CEREMONIAL

PHOTOGRAPHY

MINERALS

TRUE OR FALSE

POETRY

PERSONALITY

ART OF LIVING

NATURE

NEW ADDRESS

TRAVEL

HUMOR

LETTERS

MINING

NEWS

CONTEST

LAPIDARYHOBBY

COMMENT

BOOKS

TAHOUITZ CANYO N FALLS, California. Phot ogr aphby Nicholas H. Kozloff, San Bernardino, Cali-fornia.

Augu st eve nts on the dese rt . 3

Padre of the San JuanBy MARIAN HUXOLL TALMADGE a n dIRIS PAVEY GILMOR E 5

He's not as Pious as he LooksBy RICHAR D L CASS ELL 10

Warning Rattles for Snake Dance VisitorsBy RAY JACKSON MILLER 11

A n no u n ce m e n t of C ov e r C on te s t Wi n ne r s . . . 13

Magnetic Bombs from PisgahBy JERRY LAUDERMILK 14

A test of you r des ert kn owl ed ge 17

Little Ghost Town, by GRACE PARSONSHARMON. Art by HARRY OLIVER . . . 18

Artist of Coppe r Ca nyo nBy HAROLD O. WEI GHT 19

De s er t Tr ai ls , b y MARS HAL S OUTH . . . . 21

Fur Animal of the Desert CountryBy EDMUND C. JAEGER 22

Dese rt Ha s Move d 23

Utah's Incredible Arch of StoneBy CATHERINE a n d DICK FREEMAN . . 24

Har d Rock Shorty of Dea th Val le y 28

C o m m e n t from D es e rt M a g a z i ne r e a d e r s . . . 29

Current ne ws of dese rt mine s 32

From here a nd there on the dese rt 33

P ri ze a n n o u n ce m e n t for p ho t o g r a ph e r s . . . 38

Am a te u r Ge m Cutt er, by LELANDE QUICK . . 40Ge m s a nd Mineral s 41

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

Revie ws of Sout hwest Literature 47

The Desert Magazineis published monthlyby the Desert Press, Inc., Palm Desert,California. Re-enteredas second class matterat the post office at Palm Desert, California underth e Act of March 3, 1879. Title registered No. 358865 in U. S. Patent Office, and contentscopyrighted 1948 by the Desert Press,Inc. Permission to reproduce contents mustbe securedfrom the editor in writing.

RANDALL HENDERSO N, Editor. BESS STACY, Business Mana ger.HAROLD and LUCILE WEIGHT, Associate Editors.

Unsolicited m anuscriptsand photographs submitted cannotbe returned or acknowledgedunless full return postageis enclosed. Desert Magazine assumesno responsibility for damageor loss of manuscripts or photographs althoughdue care will be exercised. Subscribers shouldsend notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding issue.

SUBSCRIPTION RATESOne Year . . . $3.00 Two Years . . . $5.00Canadian subscriptions 25c extra, foreign 50c extra.

Subscriptions to Army personnel outside U.S.A. mustbe mailed in conformity withP.O.D. Order No. 19687.

Address correspondence to Desert Magazine, Palm Desert, California.

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 8



U N S P O I L E D D E S E R T L I F E I N L U X U R Y

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DE SE RT C O M M U N I T Y

N O T A D R E A MO F T H EFUTURE—A REALITYO F T O D AY

Picture a cove sloping down to the floor of the Desert, a fford ing unobs tructedviews of snow-capped San Jac into and San Gorgonio and charming vistas of theValley. Bridle trails to beau tiful canyons, drives to the Salton Sea or the mountainsin thirty minutes. Long-range planning preserves the charm of the Desert but givesto America its finest Desert C omm unity with miles of surfaced roads, ample water,lights, power, stores, Post Office, homes, income units, and the fabulous ShadowMou ntain C lub . Plans have been made for every recreationa l, spiritual, and culturalneed with a $1,200,000 construction program nearing completion.

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Padre of the San JuanFather Liebler —missionary to the Navajo. Photo by George Thompson,

Espanola, New Mexico.

Caught in a symphony of des-ert sounds in minor key the windsobs mournfully; wagon wheelsgrate over the trackless trails; ahuge bel l is shaken on its wood-en frame by the shrill wind andadds its jangled resonance tothe softer rustle of the tumble-weed speeding acrossthe thirstyterrain. On this parched, dustyfloor of the desert is a uniquemission — St. Christopher's —which stands like a sentinel ofGod at the edge of the world. St.Christopher's is a Mission to theNavajo Indians.

By MARIAN HUXOLL TALMADGEand IRIS PAVEY GILMORE

/ y T ' S the only road—you can't miss_ * / it," we were told at Bluff, Utah,

when we inquired the way to St.Christopher's mission. Blending intothestark weatherworn bluffsand rimrocksonthe floor of the narrow San Juan Rivervalley, St. Christopher's stands at thenorthern rim of the Navajo reservation.It's 150 miles to the nearest railroad,50miles to the nearest paved highway,and acouple of miles to the ghost townof Bluff.

The missionwas built by the ReverendH. Baxter Liebler, Episcopal clergyman,to help someof the neglected Navajoad-just to changing conditions thrust uponthem by the white man.

Father Lieblerat 56 is one of the mostpicturesque figuresof today's Southwest.Tall, lean, tannedto a leather brownthepadre presentsa striking picturein eitherhis flowing black cassockor his frock coatand flat-topped hat. His once coal blackhair, now threaded with grey, is wornlong, Navajo fashion.His blue eyescan bevery gentle witha feverish Indian child;or they can flash fire whenhe tells of themany injustices sufferedby his Navajofriends.

His black-robed figureis silhouettedagainst the red sandstone mission manytimes eachday ringing the old locomotivebell, calling the Navajo to church, toschool, for trips to town, or for emergen-cies. Daily he hustles about the groundshelping with the chores, hoeingthe gar-den, instructingthe Navajo in silverwork,teaching songsto the children, kneelinginprayer before the altar, or sitting at his

A U G U S T , 1948



trusty portable pecking out a reply to theletter of a well-wisher.

His long fingers are deft at executing asandpainting or planting alfalfa. Hespeaks with equal ease the language of thehorse trader or the connoisseur, the dryfarmer or the irrigation expert, the touristor the Indian sheepherder.

"Almost from the first I was greeted bythe name the Indians gave me," he told us."As I rode across the reservation the Na-vajo were politely amused at my clericalgarb and affectionately dubbed meEe'nii-shoodi—The One Who Drags His Robeor The Drag Robe."

Five years ago this Episcopal priest gaveup a fashionable parish to become a mis-sionary among the Navajo. He was rectorof Old Greenwich in Connecticut. He re-ceives no pay for his work, only his foodand clothes—"mostly old ones," he says.In this desert country where every drop ofwater counts, his robes are often dusty, hisshoes worn, the cuffs of his frock coatfrayed and his shirt is patched in manyplaces.

It was in the summer of 1942 that thismiddle-aged New England clergyman tooka vacation. He trekked across the Navajoreservation on a spotted Indian pony.

"I've got to stay," he wrote to friends inConnecticut. "These Navajo seem likeFortune's stepchildren to me. It's unbeliev-able that human beings are living such un-derprivileged lives in our great country. Inthis Bluff area the Navajo seem the mostprimitive. Not a school, not a church, nota hospital in 1500 square miles!"

As the padre stood on the banks of theSan Juan and gazed toward the vast track-less reservation he had just covered, he saidto himself: "God has brought me here torealize the need of these people." He gavehis spiritual bootstraps a tug and his Yan-kee ingenuity whispered: "A mission herecould perform miracles. I'll build one. It'llbe a mission to serve the whole man—body, mind and spirit—because you can'tpreach the gospel to the hungry and tellthem to be warmed and clothed."

Father Liebler soon realized he couldn'tbuild the mission alone. He explains:"Father Clement, Brother Juniper andBrother Michael, members of an EpiscopalBrotherhood, became interested and joinedme. Helen Sturges, whose work with manyminority groups recommended her, casther lot with us to become the teacher.

"We chose this spot on the San Juan forthe mission," the padre reminisces, "be-cause an abundance of vegetation in a highcrevasse in the canyon wall showed a seep-age which could be developed into aspring. There had once been a trading poston the site with part of the walls still stand-

ing. W e could make use of these old walls.The staff lived in tents our first seasonwhile we finished the building."

The next problem was one of education.

Uncle Sam had forgotten the pledge hegave in the treaty of 1868 to provide aschool for every 30 Navajo children. Fa-ther Liebler saw the Navajo ill qualified tocope with a world which demanded abilityto speak and understand English, to readand write the language, and to understandsimple arithmet'c. Their world was chanc-ing, more rapidly than they unaided couldchange to meet it.

So they established a day school. Hechuckles when he remembers that even to-day he wears his hair long because of theschool.

"Once for months I was not near a bar-ber shop," he relates, "and my hair grewlong. I was planning a trip home to Con-necticut and just before leaving I thoughtI'd better have my hair cut so I wouldn'tembarrass my eastern friends.

"One day three Navajo men came intothe mission. When a Navajo wants to at-

tract your attention he slaps you on theshoulder bone. I heard these three Indianstalking very earnestly. Then one came uoand thumped me on the shoulder andasked:

" 'Are you going to build a school?'"I answered, 'Yes.'"They went into a huddle with more

conversation. Again he beat me on theshoulder: 'If you have school, will it bemission school?'

"Again I answered: 'Yes.'"Back he went to the huddle. The third

time he pounded my shoulder I knew therewas something in the wind. 'Will it be likegovernment school?' I asked him what hemeant. 'Government school take little boysand girls. Chop off their hair,' he saidpointing to his hair roll. 'We don't like!'I answered quickly, 'Doesn'tEe'niishoodilet his own hair grow long like you do?'That settled the question for them and forme—I've never had a haircut since."

Perhaps there is no schoolhouse any-where like the one at St. Christopher's.The building, a former CCC shack, loanedby Uncle Sam, was the largest that couldbe trucked from Blanding, Utah, throughnarrow Cow canyon. The blackboards arepainted wallboard. Discarded automobilemaps are used for teaching geography. An-cient dog-eared National Geographies be-come reference books. A few well-thumbed copies of textbooks—no twoalike—are carefully preserved. The Lord'sPrayer in Navajo hangs conspicuously onthe wall.

The writing of Navaio as well as Eng-lish attracts the attention of visitors atonce. Father Liebler early discovered whatsome educators fail to recognize: the prob-lem of communication with a people whocannot read or write their own language.Children might learn English much fasterif they were literate first in Navajo. Butbecause many of the older Navajo were

impatient to learn English, Father Lieblerinnovated the study of Navajo and Eng-lish simultaneously.

Whole families come to school. The totof three sits next to a grandfather of 63.There aren't any baby-sitters on the reser-vation so the mothers bring their babiesstrapped to the cradleboards and line themup against the wall.

Helen Sturges — calledBaa'oolta'i—•The Counter, because she teaches them tocount—is the teacher. She taught themtheir ABC's through the song: ABCDEFG HIJK LMNOP, QRS and TUV,double U, and XYZ. They love to singrounds such as "Are you sleeping, BrotherJohn?"

Ben Whitehorse, 45-year-old shepherd,stands next to eight-year-old Bobby Ben-nally, adding a long column of figures atthe blackboard. In the geography class,Jennie—18 years old and married—shyly,but proudly, points out New York City,the G reat Lakes, the Rocky mountains, andfinally her home on the desert Navajo res-ervation. They know about both oceansand that Father Liebler used to live nearthe Atlantic.

Father Liebler encourages them to keeptheir native art alive. On the walls are pic-tures made by the pupils varying from Na-vajo sandpainting designs to illustrationsof the gospel stories. "The Indians drawthe Biblical figures in Navajo costumewith hair roll in back," he explains. "Myfavorite picture is the one of the VirginMary colored in the traditional Navajo redand yellow calico dress with black velvetblouse and necklace of silver squash blos-soms."

The mission school furnishes a hot lunchat noon: soup is the main dish, and milktill the cow goes dry.

There are six hogans within easy walk-ing distance of the mission now. Theywere built by families who want their chil-dren to attend school with greater regular-ity than is possible if they live across theriver. The San Juan is dangerous many sea-sons of the year. Fording becomes impos-sible during flood stage or when it is toocold. The quicksands are treacherous andto miss the fording trail by so much as afew feet is to court disaster.

"Recently school had to be closed for thesemi-annual c linic," said the Padre, "as wehaven't enough staff to handle both. BillStash, almost five years old and a bit overone yard tall rode through the treacherousriver and quicksands, alone to come toschool. He was very unhappy when hefound the school closed. He trotted underthe horse's belly, pulled the horse over toa post, climbed from there to its back androde sadly home. No wonder his family

plans to build a hogan near the school forthe winter."Twice a year the staff rolls up its sleeves

and pitches in at the medical and dental




Mary Rose Allen of the staff at St. Ch ristopher's mission stops for a visit with Stash andhis family as theyare on their way to the trading post atBluff. Photo by George Thompson,

Espanola, New Mexico.

clinic which Father Liebler organized un-der the supervision of the U. S. IndianService doctor. Ears are probed, achingteeth extracted or filled, hypos injected,anti-toxins given, festering sores cauterizedby the dozen.

Trachoma cases if neglected causeblindness. Difficult as it is, the patientsmust receive three treatments daily—a fulltime nurse's job—only there isn't one! Atouching sight are the little children hold-ing their own eyes open to receive the pain-ful treatment.

Mustache Begay was a stubborn objec-tor to medical help. Big Stash, as he iscalled by Father Liebler, is one of the fewcapitalists of the reservation. He shows hiswealth by a mouthful of gold teeth, a well-dressed wife and a large number of well-

fed children. One hot summer day, to ev-eryone's surprise, his wife and childrendrove down the trail in the finest wagonon the reservation. Father Liebler won-

dered why Big Stash's family was comingto the mission. Big Stash had alwayslooked down his nose at Father Liebler'swork.

The wagon drew near with wheels

rumbling in and out of chuckholes to theaccompaniment of the bark of a dog. Mrs.Stash brought a 15-month-old baby whoseleg was swollen to five times its normalsize because of a cactus thorn.

"I never worked harder," said thepadre. "As the sweat poured off me thechild screamed louder. With all my prob-ing into that swollen leg I couldn't find thethorn and I didn't think I was going to.But Mrs. Stash's black glowering looks be-came a challenge to me. Suddenly the vi-cious thorn appeared. I cut it out care-fully, sterilized and dressed the wound.They left without a word of thanks but re-lations with Big Stash improved afterthat."

Since that time Big Stash brings his

wagon to the medical and dental clinicwhere he uses it to haul sick Navajo in tothe mission for treatment.

"Since many of the Navajo have littlemoney sense," the padre explains, "we've

tried to teach them the value of money."Kindness and patience are his by-words.

But behind extreme kindness and sym-pathy is a will of iron. Soon after they bu iltthe mission an old Indian asked FatherLiebler to order a vise. The vise was a longtime coming and when it finally arrivedthe Indian had spent his money. "I decid-ed to let him have the vise anyway, as heneeded :t. Some time later he brought in agun to be repaired. I had it fixed in Duran-go, Colorado, and brought it back with me.The next day he came in and asked: 'Didyou bring my gun?' I answered, 'Yes,' butI made no move to give him the gun. Hecame in the next two days and each timehe asked the same question. Each time Ianswered, 'Yes.' The fourth day he

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 8



- '

Navajo mother with her baby pose for their first photograph, in M onumen t valley.Photo by Jack Breed, Swam pscott, Mass.

brought the money for the vise and re-ceived his gun."

One day Big Stash asked Father Lieblerto have a gun fixed for him in Cortez,

Colorado. The padre had it repaired. Itcost $18.25. He knew Big Stash would bevery unhappy about the price. Big Stashtook the gun, but did not offer to pay thebill at once. Some time went by. FinallyFather Liebler approached him and askedhim to pay for the gun. He said, "Prettysoon I get no money I get thin." Big Stashlooked at the padre for several moments.Then he reached in his pocket and pulledout a roll of bills. As he peeled off thenecessary amount he said, "Now Drag-Robe can eat."

The padre understands the Navajo love

of drama. On one occasion when severalhundred were camped near the mission fora squaw dance, Father Liebler donned hisPlains' Indian war bonnet, complete with

all its eagle feathers, dressed in a breechcloth, leggings and moccasins. Jumping onhis Indian pony he rode at breakneck speedup to each hogan or campfire w ith a whoop

to ask if they needed anything. The Na-vajo responded with delight.Much of the activity at the mission cen-

ters around the Common Room. This maingathering place has a hardpacked dirt floorand is furnished with crude splinteredwooden benches and tables made of two-by-four wooden horses with slabs for tops.Huge pinyon logs crackling in the over-size native stone fireplace give a pungentfragrance to the air. A single remnant of aluxurious yesterday "back home" is thebrass candle sconce. A portable typewriterof ancient vintage, partially hidden by

stacks of old newspapers, magazines andunanswered mail, teeters on the edge of atable. A few plank bookshelves augmentedby orange crates hold books and papers.

Knives, tools, bits of silver and lumpsof turquoise liven a quiet corner whereFather Liebler directs the Navajo youth intheir own art of silvercraft. He considersthis silver work a must because of the aug-mented income it affords.

On Wednesday nights the Youth Can-teen holds forth. Brother Michael—BingCrosby to the Navajos—is not a crooningbaritone, but the Indians like to hear himsing. Bobby-soxers would not consider alone flute—practiced while sheep herding—a good substitute for Benny Goodman.But the rhythm is right for the NavajoNight chant.

After church every Sunday the wholecongregation goes into the CommonRoom to sing hymns. Usually glasses ofmilk are passed around. The Indians—oldand young—color hektograph pictures ofthe gospel lesson for the day, with the textin Navajo at the bottom. Randolph Ben-

nally, who is one of their most faithfulmembers, has an unusually beautiful voiceand leads the singing. The padre secureda number of phonograph records of Hopitunes which is one of his ways of teachingthe Navajo about another tribe. The In-dians love to play these records and theyjoin their voices with the recordings. Thepadre beats on an Indian drum in rhythmand they love it.

Anywhere in the Four Corners region,driving his battered Ford pickup, FatherLiebler's black frock coat and flat-toppedhat are well-known: In Blanding he goes

for supplies; to Cortez, Colorado, for re-pairs for the Ford; to Monument Valleyto hold service in a roadside shack; or toFort Defiance to dicker with the U. S. In-dian Service for some needed innocula-tions.

When Twentieth Century-Fox was onlocation in Monument valley filming "MyDarling Clementine," Director John Fordand Actress Linda Darnell, intrigued withthe man and his work, asked the padre tobe their guest at dinner. He happened tohave two Navajo with him so he acceptedthe invitation on condition that his friendsbe allowed to eat with them.

Bluff is predominantly Mormon, butFather Liebler has found his neighbors tobe genuinely tolerant. When the staff firstcame the people of Bluff gave them gardenproduce, lent them tools and horses andwere generally helpful.

For some time the padre has been secre-tary of the Bluff Irrigation Ditch associa-tion. On one occasion there was a squabbleover water. "Water in this desert countryis more precious than gold," he explained."One man said he'd rather kill an Indianthan let him have water." Father Liebler

settled the dispute. The Indian got hisshare of the water and Father Liebler isstill secretary of the Irrigation association.

In his approach to religion, the padre is




'*• : : ' : . • W ." "

The mission and school nestle at the foot of the sandstone cliffs w hich gaveBluff, Utah,its name. Father Liebler laid many of these stones with his own hands. Photo by

wise enough not to tap the Navajo on theshoulder and say: "Do you want to becomea Christian?" Instead he lives and worksamong them, using and adapting Indiancustoms whenever possible. "Because," hesaid, "I soon found that the Navajo reli-gion and living are interwoven to such adegree that you can't tell where one leavesoff and the other begins." Many mission-aries try to force one religion over another,but the padre tries to teach the Navajo intheir own medium.

Father Liebler doesn't preach "Love thyneighbor," he practices it. His nearestwhite neighbors—the Mormons at Bluff—help to make Christmas Eve at St. Chris-topher's a happy celebration. The Com-mon Room is lighted only with candlesand there is a flaming Yule log in the fire-place. The good ladies of Bluff busy them-selves in the kitchen helping BrotherMichael prepare refreshments. Father

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 8

George Thompson, E spanola, New Mexico.

Liebler tells some Christmas stories andends with the legend of St. Christopher.Then they sing carols until midnight whenthe altar candles are lighted and the mid-night service begins.

Music lessons as a boy, glee club sing-ing in college and a natural love for musicwere of infinite help to the padre in de-veloping a strictly Indian musical churchservice, one which is used exclusively at St.Christopher's. The Kyrie he adapted froma part of the Hopi Snake dance chant; theSanctus and Agnus Dei are Omaha andZuni melodies, slightly adapted to fit thewords; the Navajo Night chant is usedfrom time to time.

We shall never forget our last evening atthe Mission during Vesper service. The airwas heavy with the smells of incense, ofsweat, of burning juniper and sagebrush.Hashka'an reminded some of the thought-

less to remove their hats. Randolph Benal-ly who was passing by the mission bring-ing his sheep in for the night heard thesinging inside and suddenly he joined inwith that hauntingly beautiful Navajo

Night chant. For the moment we forgotthe singing in the chapel and listened tothe melody outside. As his voice faded inthe distance we suddenly realized that ithad been in perfect harmony with the sing-ing inside. Looking again at the music wewere holding we saw that Father Lieblerhad adapted the words to the Indian mel-ody and then we understood. The Navajoshepherd's song had been different fromours but the melody was the same!

Perhaps that is the secret of FatherLiebler's success with the Navajo at St.

Christopher's. He has found the touch-stone that brings harmony between people.He has learned that the words may be dif-ferent but our melodies are the same.



r HIS strange member of the insect world derives hiscommon name from the pious pose he assumes when heis at rest—the Praying Mantis.

Actually, he is ugly and awkward and is said to be a canni-bal. The species best known in the Southwest—StagomantisCarolina —is smaller than the Chinese mantis, and is found overa wide area.

The habits of all the mantids are about the same, however.Related to the grasshopper, this insect has developed enormousfront legs which seize and hold a quarry as big asitself.

Due probably to its malignant appearance, the creature isheld in superstitious awe by some native tribes. Many believethe bite is poisonous, but it has no venom and while it can bite,it leaves no infection.

10

By RICHARD L. CASSELL

One of the riddles of Nature is the mantids' eyes, generallybeing yellow in daytime and brown at night. With a very flex-ible neck, it can turn its baleful eyes in any direction.

As a flyer the mantis is not strong, its slow fluttering motion•reminding one somewhat of a helicopter in miniature. In somespecies the wings serve as camouflage, being highly colored tomatch leaves and blossoms of the flowers where it lays in am-bush awaiting the nectar-feeding insects.

The mantis deposits its eggs in masses, covering them witha quick-drying mucilaginous substance. The nests are attachedto the stems of plants in late summer or fall. The next summerthe young emerge and grow to maturity after several moults.

He's not as pious as he looks—nor as dangerous as some su-perstitious folks would have us believe.

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



Walpi on the Hop i F irst mesa is perchedprecariously on a treeless island of rock.The dirt roads leading to the Hopi mesas are crossed by m any dry arroyos which becom etreacherous torrents when rains fall. Norm ally there is little rainfall in this area until late

August—but visitors should kee p a weather eye on the clouds.

By RAY JACKSON MILLERPhotographs, courtesy

Riordan Collection

^ / O M E time during August, eaglel feathers will dangle from the lad-

der poles that project through thehatchway in the roof of a kiva. This willbe on one of the three Hopi mesas innorthern Arizona. The priests of the An-telope and Snake Clans are assembled be-low in underground council chambers.

Word of the feathers is quickly passedabout the village, and Indians collect out-side the kiva. Some stand in small groups,

while others sit on the flat roofs of nearbyhogans.The Hopis wait with keen interest while

the priests confer on signs they have seen

in the sun, in the moon, and in the drynessof the silk on the ears of ripening corn.From these they determine the date of theirannual snake ceremony.

There is a general murmur from thewaiting Indians as a slim figure emergesfrom the kiva. He steps from the ladder tothe adobe roof. He is the oldest and mostlearned of the snake priests, yet there isnothing in his dress to show his office. Heraises his hand and there is silence.

The priest's lips open and he speaks inlow harsh tones that seem to come from farback in his throat. He tells them the datesof the coming Snake dance and the villagesin which it will be held.

Runners are sent out to the other Hopivillages with the news. The traders hearit from their Indian customers, and so the

The annual Snake dance ofthe Hopi Indians in northernArizona is not a fiesta—it is a re-ligious ceremonial of deep sig-nificance. Each year in Augustincreasing numbers of visitorswitness this strange rite, andmany go back year after year.Here are some useful hints forthe guidance of those who planto attend this ceremonial thisyear or in the future—written bya man who has witnessed thedances many t imes.

date of the annual Snake dance filtersalong until it reaches the outside world.

The newspapers will give it only a fewlines and there will be no heavy headlinesto attract your attention. There is no rea-son for advertising because nothing is of-fered for sale and there are no gate receiptsto boost.

It is worth the time and effort to seethis primitive rite of the Hopi Indians. Itis the most colorful and spectacular of anyIndian ceremony.

The Snake dance of the Hopi Indians isheld on one of three Hopi mesas in the

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 8 41





camera is positively forbidden at the Snakedance. Don't try it.

At any other time the Indians will posefor you. Most of them will refuse currency.They want silver. Make your bargain andpay them before you take the picture. Theywill live up to their agreement and will tryto pose to your satisfaction. To sneak a pic-ture may result in your camera being con-fiscated or broken.

Indian police will direct you to the plazaon the mesa top. You will find it surround-ed by flat roofed houses built of rock andadobe, from one to three stories of thepueblo type. You can identify the plaza bythe kisi. This w ill resemble a shock of corn,but it is built of fresh cottonwood brancheswith the leaves untrimmed. An openingon one side is curtained with a tanned deerhide. On the ground in front of this open-ing a short cottonwood plank covers asmall pit, calledsi-pa-gug, and makes a

sounding box. In choosing a spot fromwhich to view the dance be sure you areable to see this side of the kisi.

In late years it has been customary to paythe owners of the hogans for the privilegeof sitting on their roofs. Among the Hopis,all property rights are vested in thewomen. So hunt up the lady of the houseand make your deal.

Here is another rattle. Do not intrudein the houses. Ask, and you will never berefused, for the Hopis are hospitable butthey resent being scrutinized like a freak

in a side show. They are proud, and thisis their home. Do not make any commentsunless it is to praise something. A goodtarget for that is their baby, strapped in itscradleboard. Your praise will come easyand be genuine. Notice the war records ofthe family. You will find them framed andhung on the wall. You will find a numberof purple hearts and citations of manygrades of distinguished service.

Late in the afternoon, the Antelope clanfiles into the plaza. There is no fanfare orattempt at showmanship. None is needed.The dance proceeds without a narrator or

lecturer. It is a religious ceremony, andthose who view it are soon gripped by itssolemnity.

The last rattle is for the ladies. TheSnake dance is held on the Hopi reserva-tion which is entirely surrounded by thatof the Navajo. Neither the Hopi nor theNavajo approve of sun tan suits.

Look for the news item. You haveplenty of time to prepare for the trip, forthe clan spends nine days making prayersticks, and gathering snakes. Their re-galia must be put in order and their prayerssaid in the kiva.

Arrive there early, for last year severalhundred cars never reached the mesa onaccount of the rain.

Above—Antelope clansmen lined up in jront of the kisi wh ere the snakes areconcealed, awaiting the coming o j the snake priests.

Below—Snake priests returning to their kiva after releasing the snakes on the floorof the desert below following the dance.

Gove/i . .

First prize in Desert Magazine's annual photo cover contest, heldin June, w as take n by Nicholas N.Kozloff, San Bernardino, California,with a picture of six prickly pear blossoms, taken in Cajon pass.Second place went to Joseph Muench, Santa Barbara, California, forhis photograph, "With the Navajo Flock," a winter scene in Monu-

ment Val ley.The winning photos will serve as future covers for Desert Magazine.

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 8 13



MagneticBombsFrom PisgahThe idea of bombarding the

earth with bombs from the skydid not originate with man. Na-ture was doing it thousands and

probably millions of years ago.One of the most recent of theseaerial bombardments came fromPisgah crater on the Mojave des-ert of Southern California. Thebombs are still lying on the des-ert around the volca nic cone . Butwhile man-made bombs are de-signed to explode, or repel otherobjects. Nature worked on the op-posite theory. Her bombs attract—through magnetism. Jerry Lau-dermilk tells us more about themin the accompanying article.

By JERRY LAUDERMILKSketches by the Author

r HERE were four of us, three rockfans and myself floundering up-ward through the boot-ruining

slope of cinders and volcanic ash thatforms the cone of Pisgah crater on the Mo-jave desert. It was my tenth and most re-cent visit to the old slag heap. We wereon the trail of volcanic bombs of a veryunusual sort, which, so far as I am able tolearn, have never been described before—magnetic bombs.

Before I move along with my story, Iwant to refresh the memories of thosereaders ofDesert who may not be acquaint-ed with Pisgah crater and volcanic bombs.Pisgah is recently extinct—it may be onlya few hundred years old—a volcano of atype rather common in the desert countryof the Southwest. It is a ring-shaped heapof cinders surrounding a crater whose flooris a tumbled pavement of black basalt. Thecone, which stands out against the sky-lineabout 30 miles east of Daggett, California,dominates the lava flow which spreadsover the desert like an ink spot on a map.

Now about the bombs:These are hunks of lava that were shot

from the crater by explosions of gas with-in the hot magma as it rose to the surface.Once white hot and plastic, these gobs ofmelted basalt hardened rapidly as theyhurtled through the air to form interestingshapes of stone. Now, these chunks of coldbasalt resemble such homely items assweet potatoes, avocados, pickles and ba-nanas and on down the scale of groceriesto things like petrified pecans and peanuts.All are made of the stuff that Pisgahpoured out by the millions of tons in thedays of her booming youth—black basalt.Unlike the military article we think ofwhen we say "bombs" these are solid ex-

Source oj the magnetic bombs—Pisgah crater viewed from the north. Th e sur-rounding a rea is covered with basalt and other forms of lava.

cept for gas bubbles, a regular feature withmost of the lava that makes up the flow.

Basalt, just in case you have forgotten,is a type of lava which may be of any colorbut is usually grey or black. At Pisgah itranges from yellow and orange throughvermilion to purple and black. It is mostcommonly black. Had this melted rock-stuff cooled quickly it would have frozento obsidian or volcanic glass. Slower cool-ing would have allowed large crystals toform and the product would have been adark, coarse grained rock calledgabbro.The chemical composition varies but toqualify as basalt the rock must consist ofabout half silicon dioxide and smaller per-centages of aluminum, iron, calcium, mag-

nesium, sodium and potassium, all as ox-ides, and traces of rare elements like van-adium and titanium. Iron, the most impor-tant constituent from the standpoint of mystory, is usually present in the proportionof five to eight per cent. The color of ba-salt depends upon the amount of iron itcontains. With much iron it will be greyor black.

Most of the bombs from Pisgah arelighter colored than the basalt of the flowalthough they all came from the samebatch of melted rock. As a usual thing thebombs are ash-colored with a suggestionof rusty brown—practically the color of arat.

The mineral magnetite or lodestone is

a chemical compound made up of threeparts of iron to four of oxygen. It's com-mon stuff and sometimes an important ore

of iron. More frequently it occurs as scat-tered grains in igneous rocks such as gran-ite. It also occurs abundantly as black sand.A common horseshoe magnet draggedthrough sand from a wash will pick upmore or less magnetite as black grainsdangling from its ends. Gold panners soonlearn that next to gold, black sand is theheaviest stuff remaining in their pan afterthe lighter sand and gravel have beenfloated out.

Magnetite is frequently polarized. Thatis it sometimes behaves as a magnetitself.In fact, this natural magnet was the first

source for making compass needles. Or-dinary specimens of magnetite, while ofthe same composition as lodestone are un-polarized and powerless to pick up otherpieces of iron but may themselves be at-tracted to another magnet.

The only common elements that areeasily picked up by small magnets are iron,nickel and cobalt. Iron and steel are themost familiar materials for making mag-nets. When a steel rod has been magne-tized it gains a new quality which m akes itentirely different from an unmagnetizedpiece cut from the same bar of metal. If

you suspend one of these magnetized rodsby the middle it will finally steady itself inan approximately north-south line. In most

14 T HE D E S E RT M A G A Z I N E



S MS J/ S

The ivhy of m agnets: A, a long magfiet broken at X makes tivo new ones as shownat B; you can't have half a magnet. You could break your magnet as at C or D oron down to the final iron molecu les as shown at E and ea ch molecule would stillbe a tiny magne t. E, an u nmagn etized iron bar, consists of a helter-skelter multi-tude o f magnetic molecules. F, when such a bar is placed inside a m agnetic fieldthe molecular magnets are pulled into orderly array and the total effect gives thebar an N and S pole. One proo f of this explanation is shown at G by using a shal-low copp er trough filled with m elted paraffine and iron filings. H, when the wa xhardens within a magne tic field as shown it develops en d p olarity. I, if cooledlengthwise of the m agnet's poles, the poles of the w ax magne t will be developed

along its opposite sides; this condition is sometimes found to o ccur in themagnetic bombs.

places it points a little off true north be-cause the rod, actually a compass needle,points toward the earth's magnetic poleand not toward the north polar axis. So a

magnetized rod is said to be polarized sinceit has a north-seeking end and one thatpoints in the opposite direction. This com-pass needle is, of course, familiar to most

folks as a handy means of finding one'sway about over the earth's surface.

But a compass needle also furnishes adelicate means for telling whether or not

materials are magnetic and whether theypossess polarity. In testing a mineral it isenough to hold it near a compass needle atrest. If the specimen is magnetic the needle

will swing toward it. If the sample is itselfpolarized and one of its poles brought nearthe needle, then, the identity of the pole,whether north or south, can be found atonce by the way the needle responds.

A short time ago some localpetrophiles(a word I have adapted from the Greekmeaning "lovers of rocks") and I weretrying the effects of mineral specimens

upon the compass needle. We had ex-plored the possibilities of most varieties ofiron ore when some one asked what wouldhappen if black volcanic glass, known toowe its color to a cloud of tiny magnetiteparticles, were to be tested. I hunted up aspecimen but it made no difference howwe held it, the needle showed no interestwhatever. Next we tried a hunk of vesicu-lar black lava from Pisgah crater and theneedle ignored this specimen also. Severalother fragments of lava were tested andthe results were the same—complete in-difference on the part of the compass.

Next I tried the effect of a bomb shapedsomething like a wilted dill pickle. Herewas something different. The needleswung around as brisk as life with itsnorth-seeking pole pointing toward thebomb. We were all completely astonishedand supposed, of course, that the ends ofthe bomb would be the parts most stronglypolarized. The ends were polarized but notin the way we expected. If we held theends (either end) slightly above theneedle it would be repelled but if held alittle below the needle's tip it would beattracted. The meaning of this finally be-came clear. The areas of different polaritywere equally strong on the opposite sidesof the ends of the bomb. More tests withthe needle showed that one entire sideof the bomb from end to end was a northside (pole) and the other the south.

A thing like this is enough to rock anobserver back on his heels; it was down-right improper. I hauled out all my bombsfrom Pisgah. Some were big, almost a footlong, others little things the size of pecans.They were all tested and results grewstranger and stranger. Some were completeduds, others showed polarity but only oversmall areas on their flattest opposite faces.Only two out of 20 showed end polarity.Here was a challenge not to be ignored andthe result was my tenth trip to the crater.

We found bombs galore. But at thecrater itself all tests were unreliable sincethe whole area seemed to be a magneticfield and it was only when we had carriedour bombs about a mile away from thecone that we had satisfactory results. Oneof the bombs picked up was a unique speci-men. It had dropped onto the still soft sur-face of the flow and stuck there like apetrified lemon glued to a hunk of slag.The bomb was strongly polarized but thelava to which it had pasted itself was inert.

Just why these bombs are magnetic is amystery too recent for a ready answer; but

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 8 15



there are several pieces of evidence thatpoint toward a solution. If a magneticbomb is crushed to small pieces about thesize of match heads the fragments can bepicked up by an ordinary horseshoe mag-net. Close examination of a fresh surfaceshows many tiny, glittering points of blackmineral that look like magnetite and if abomb is ground to fine powder a little

heap of magnetite can be separated by themagnet. Although the flow lava at firstwas thought to be inert, small chips thesize of a pin head were feebly magneticshowing that some magnetite was presentbut in such small proportion to the non-magnetic material that it couldn't pull thedead weight of very large pieces along withit when influenced by the magnet. So muchfor the bombs just now since this is a goodplace to look into the subject of magnetismin general:

There are a good many details aboutmagnetism which are still awaiting finalanswers; but in its broader aspects the sub-ject is well understood. For instance, if abar magnet, either of steel or one sawedfrom a piece of lodestone, is broken in two,each piece will be a complete magnet. Ifeach of these is broken you will have fourseparate magnets. Now from this it caneasily be understood how a magnet mightbe broken into ten, a hundred, a thousandor a million pieces to make as many smallerbut complete magnets as there might befragments. So it is only reasonable to as-sume that this property of being polarizedmight continue on down to the molecular

A bomb with poles on opposite faces.Lined areas are those w ith strongest

polarity.

structure of the magnetic material andthere is strong evidence to show that thisidea is correct. In an unmagnetized steelbar or piece of lodestone the molecules thatgo to make it up are considered as beingtiny magnets but so jumbled that mutualrepulsion between their poles cancels outany polarity of the bar as a unit. Accordingto this view, when a bar is magnetized the

molecules are swung around with theirnorth ends pointing toward one end of thebar and their south ends toward the otherso that the bar now shows the collective re-sult of their polarity.

This theory is very probably true since amagnetized bar is slightly longer than asimilar but unmagnetized piece cut fromthe same rod. Accurate measurementsshow that when the piece is fully magne-tized it will be longer by about1/200,000of its length. "While being magnetizedwithin an electric field a faint sound is

produced by movement of the moleculeswithin the bar. ThisBarkhausen effectasit is called, can be shown in a very impres-sive way and a piece of steel can be madeto "blat" the whole story of its internalwrigglings as it is being magnetized.

The most satisfactory way for making astrong magnet is to place it inside a coil ofcopper wire carrying an electric current.As the current flows through the coil it setsup a secondary or induced current in thebar. When this induced current is led

Bombs with longitudinal polarity.The black N-S line shows area of

strongest polarity.

through an amplifier and then through aloud speaker a continuous series of clickscan be heard until the bar is entirely mag-netized or saturated. Further evidence thatthe magnetization of a bar is molecular isshown when the surface of a magnet isetched with acid and an emulsion contain-ing very fine steel filings is spread over it.The filings orient themselves in more or

less parallel lines over patches of the metal.Some of these patches are at right angles tothe others. On increase of magnetizationmore and more of the patches, actuallylarge molecular clusters, fall into line withthe polarized patches until the entire barshows polarity. Since it seems evident thatthe polarity of a magnet results from thepolarity of countless tiny magnets thatmake it up; then it ought to be possible tomake artificial magnets from aggregatesof tiny magnetizable particles. All this hasbearing upon the magnetic bombs but firstI will show how I made my artificial mag-nets.

I made a shallow copper trough fourinches long and half an inch wide andfilled it nearly full of melted paraffin. Fineiron filings w ere stirred in until the troughwas brim full. The mixture of hot wax andiron filings was stirred until it began toharden. The little bar of wax and filingswas next removed from the trough andtested with the compass needle. Althoughthe bar was magnetic so far as attractingthe needle was concerned, it was not polar-

ized. So next I remelted the bar and placedthe trough and its contents across the poles

Two "duds" which shore no polarity.A is a cluster of three bom bs, B is a

single piece of lava.

16 THE DESERT M AG AZIN E



f a strong magnet to cool and solidifygain. Before the bar had hardened enougho be opaque, the filings could be seen toave strung themselves out in long chainsxtending from end to end of the trough.

The cold bar was removed and nowhowed strong polarity. So far so good.

I repeated the experiment but in thiscase I used powdered magnetite which wasmagnetic but unpolarized. As in the case ofhe iron filings the jumbled particles in thebar when allowed to cool naturally pre-vented polarity of the bar as a whole. Now,I reheated the bar and cooled it upon amagnet as in the other experiment and thecold bar was strongly polarized. These ex-periments showed that permanent mag-nets could be made by acting upon an ag-gregate of a vast number of tiny particles.The next experiment offers a probable so-lution to the fact that some bombs havelengthwise rather than terminal polarity.

I remelted the bar with the magnetiteparticles and let it cool between the polesof a magnet so that the chains of magnetiteparticles arranged themselves across in-stead of lengthwise of the copper trough.The cold bar was found to have its polesextending along opposite sides just as wasthe case of the first volcanic bomb we ex-amined.

As the story stands, my theory to accountfor the magnetism of the bombs is thatwhile both kinds of lava, that from theflow and that from the bombs, containsmagnetite, the flow lava shows no polaritybecause slow cooling and constant motionof the hot mass as it crept over the terrainprevented any orientation of the magnetiteparticles suspended in the fluid mass. Inthe case of the bombs, cooling was rapid,each bomb was actually a single unit con-taining an isolated swarm of magnetiteparticles. Before the soft mass of the bombhad become too pasty to allow free motionof the particles of magnetite, these had ar-ranged themselves in some predominantlydefinite direction so that in the aggregatethere were enough oriented particles togive polarity to the bomb when it froze.

The orientation of the particles could haveresulted from the magnetic field at the cra-ter area where a vast amount of magneticmaterial is carried by the basalt or it couldhave resulted from fields generated bystatic electricity which always accompaniesa volcanic eruption.

Before the mystery of the magnets fromPisgah is completely cleared up, I mayhave to trek up Pisgah's cinder cone forthe eleventh time. In a case like this thereare always loose ends to be rechecked andany excuse to go back to the desert is agood one. In the meantime I suggest that

rockhounds who have gone in for collect-ing these souvenirs from the infernal re-gions j ;e t out their compasses and testother bombs from other craters.

FORTY-NINE PALMS OASISSWEPT BY FIRE

Flames and smoke which spiraled 3000feet into the air on June 2 3, marked theburning of 49 Palms oasis in Joshua Treenational monument. Before the fire wasput out by the forestry fire department,national park service men and others, ithad swept IVi acres in 49 Palms canyon.

The dry fronds on 44 of 53 large palmsreportedly were burned. Hope is held thata majority of the trees will live, althoughbadly scarred. Partially burned were sixlarge palms, 18 young ones, several cotton-woods and mesquites. Two young menfound near the oasis admitted, when ques-tioned by rangers, that they had built acampfire but declared they had extin-guished it before leaving.

N E W COLONIZATION PLANNEDF O R BAJA CALIFORNIA

The Mexican government reportedlyhas signed a contract with the Companiade Terrenos del Colorado, formerly theColorado River Land company, which willpermit the company to colonize 67,000hectares of land (165,000 acres) . The till-able area will be divided into lots and soldto the colonists. According to the agree-ment, the company will have five years tosell the land and receive payment. Afterthe five year period, the land which has notbeen divided into lots and sold to colonistswill be subject to expropriation. The Com-pania de Terrenos del Colorado has largeland holdings in the Colorado delta knownas Mexicali valley. Wheat, flax, barley, al-falfa and cotton are among leading cropsof the area.

T R U E O R F A L S EOne way to get acquainted with the inter-esting facts of the Great American Desertwithout spending money for gasoline and

tires is to spend an hour each month with Desert Magazine's quiz lesson. You'llnot answer all these correctly, but it is no disgrace to be wrong. Twelve to 14 is agood score. Fifteen to 18 is excellent. Nineteen or 20 is too good to be true.Answers are on page 35.

1—Desert mirages are seen only during the summer months.True False

2—The Rainbow Bridge national monument is in Arizona.True False

3—The berries on desert mistletoe are salmon-pink. True False4—The old trail known as Camino del Diablo (Devil's highway) crossed the

Colorado river at Yuma. True False5—Charleston peak may be seen from Las Vegas, Nevada.

True False6—Greasewood or creosote bush never grows below sea level.

True False7—Indian symbols incised in rock with a sharp tool are known as pictographs.

True False8—Stalactites form on the ceilings of caverns, stalagmites on the floor.

True False

9—A chuckawalla lizard is more venomous than a Gila monster.True False

10—The man who killed the notorious outlaw Billy the Kid was Wyatt Earp.True__ False

11—As far as is known no human beings inhabited Death Valley before thewhite men came. True False

12—A roadrunner will attack and kill a rattlesnake. True False

13—Woodpeckers often drill holes in the trunks of Saguaro cacti and make theirnests inside. True False

14—The United States government once declared Utah "in a state of substantialrebellion." True False

15—The capital of New Mexico is Albuquerque. True False16—The leaves of aspen trees turn yellow in the fall. True False17—The site of old Fort Callville is now buried beneath the waters of Lake Mead.

True False18—Malachite is an iron ore. True False

19—One of the desert's most spectacular programs—the Inter-Tribal IndianCeremonial—is held annually at Gallup, New Mexico.True False

20—Beaver trapping is still an important industry along the Colorado river.True False

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 8 17



Li t t l eG h o s t

To w n

By GRACE PARSONS HARMONManh attan Beach, CaliforniaArt by

Harry OliverFort Oliver, California

Shadows creep along faint trail-marks throughthe ghost towns,

Little ghost towns where lost golden dreamslie still;

Desert devils race unheeded through the ruinsWhere the desert-purpled glass sags from the

S i l l .

Rawhide, Calico and Skinflint had theirheyday,

Shinbone Peak and Ground Hog's Gloryshowed the ore,Chinese Camp and Rough-and-Ready scratchedthe pay dirt,

Dead Mule Canyon and old Charleston areno more.

18

Little ghost towns where the valiant spiritswander,

Little ghost towns where they worked andloved and played,

Now the crumbling walls are broken, roofs havefallen,

Only pack rats cache the treasures that theytrade.

In the sunset's gold or desert moonlight'ssilver,

Soft sounds croon about the crumbling walls,But the happy days of hope and love and

laughter,Find no answer, when the voice of Memory

calls.

THE DESERT MAGAZINE



.-w--

Marion R eese and Sm oky at the c abin in Copper canyon ivhere Marion lives alone,painting, prospecting and studying.

Folks with creativeminds never grow lonely—and that is why MarionReese, after an active life on the desert frontier, finds happiness in a littlecabin in a canyon where her only companions are the animals whichshare her dooryard. Her modest livelihood comes from the things shecreates with her hands, and a lively imagination.

By HAROLD O. WEIGHT

/ 7 PICKED up the ancient sherd of\J pottery in surprise. On its reddish

convex surface an Indian rider andhis pony were painted in tempera. The"canvas" was the most unique I had everseen, and I wondered who had thought ofthe strikingly appropriate use of bits ofIndian pottery for Indian portraits. IdaSmith, who had the sherd in her shop atTop O' Th' Pines near Prescott, Arizona,noticed my interest.

"Marion Reese painted that," she said."I think you would like Marion. She livesalone in a mining cabin in Copper canyonsouth of here. A hermit? No, I certainlywouldn't call Marion that! She's drivenstage coaches and freight teams and taughtriding—and once she was woman rodeo

champion of Nevada. Ill health forced herout of that sort of work, and she turnedprospector. Painting has been a hobby. Isell her paintings and rock novelties whichshe makes from specimens she collectsfrom abandoned mine dumps.

"She always has loved horses. She mightpaint them even better than she does, if shehadn't loved them so much. She left artschool before graduation because she washomesick for the horses on her uncle'sranch in Montana."

I was not enough of an artist to judgethe quality of the painting. But as I looked

at it, I was certain Mrs. Reese must under-stand how a horse stands and moves andeven thinks. That little Indian pony wasalive.

I went with Ida Smith to visit MarionReese. Six miles southwest from Top O'Th' Pines, we left Highway 89 for a dirtroad that dove head-first into Copper can-yon. It looped back so abruptly on itselfthat I had to see-saw to make the turn.Then it plunged through a concrete con-duit that carried Copper creek through thehighway embankment.

"Marion brings her Model A aroundthese curves as if she were still riding ahalf-broken bronco," Mrs. Smith lament-ed. "I'm always afraid we'll have to fishher out of the canyon."

The road wound down through box el-der, ponderosa pine and juniper. Thesmall creek was blue with the copperwhich makes it undrinkable and forcesMarion to haul domestic water. It was May

and we caught occasional flashes of thebright red blossoms of the strawberry cac-tus against the rocks. We came to thecabin, beside the creek and under the el-

A U G U S T , 1 9 48 19



Navdjo—painted on a pottery sherd by the artist o\ Copp er canyon.

ders, about a mile above the Hassayampariver.

Ida Smith had described Marion Reesewell. She is tall and slender, and her faceis lined. She has lived an active life andone that sometimes was violent. But that ispassed now and she seems possessed ofpeace and warmth and quiet, and an innerstrength which often is the mark of thosewho live intimately with Nature.

Marion lives alone only in the sense oflacking human associates. Her companionsare Smoky, an 18-year-old shepherd dogwho is totally deaf and who "doesn't seetoo well any more," two cats, chickens, anda family of grey squirrels who scamperabout the cabinroof, successfully frustrat-ing th e cats.

The cabin had a lived-in look. Chickensscratched in the yard, rock specimens wereheaped against the walls. Great stacks ofwood, which Marion had hauled in andsawed herself, were mute indicators of thecoldness of winter in these mountains. Shewas preparing for the needed warmth on

long days when she would paint, read,study botany and mineralogy, and watchthe comings and goings of small wildthings which gather about the cabin to befed.

The interior of the cabin was friendlyand informal. There were many pictures,especially those of horses. Marion showedme some of her paintings and sketches. "Iwas always moving, and I would sell mypictures or give them away," she said. "Inever got enough time for my painting.Sometimes I dropped it completely, andthat isn't good. I've still got a lot to learnand re-learn."

She sat at the table where she does herpainting and works up mineral specimens,

looking through an old scrapbook of pho-tos and clippings. She was born MarionCarterett in May, 1892, at Paradise, Mon-tana. Her mother died when she was nine,her father when she was 16. She went tolive on the cattle ranch of an uncle, Mon-roe Mann, in Montana. A cousin, JamesKirkpatrick, saw her sketches and sent herto the New England Academy of Arts inBoston.

"One day I just left the Academy," shesaid. "I was too far from the West and myhorses. I guess I scandalized my relatives.They never wanted me to ride, but I iusthad to work with horses. I taught ridingfor a while at a livery stable in Boise. In191 ' . I taught grade school to Paiute andShoshone kids at Western Shoshone In-dian reservation in Duck Valley, Nevada.That was all right, because I also carriedthe mail by horseback into the reserva-tion."

In 1912-13, Marion was relief driverfor stage lines in northern Nevada andIdaho. Once she had to take the place of adrunken driver who had scared the womenpassengers badly. The run was betweenSalmon City, Idaho, and Red Creek, Mon-tana.

"They didn't think much of a womandriver taking over," Marion explained,"but at least I looked sober. When westarted down a rocky mountain grade, Ifound the stage didn't have any brakes left.If the horses had traveled their normalspeed, the stage would have ridden intothem, scaring them into a runaway or overa cliff. I had to keep whipping them upand trust to fate that the wheels would

stay in the ruts. The lady passengers hadlittle faith in fate and none in me. Whenwe got off that mountain they were con-

vinced every driver on the line was tryingto kill them. I'm glad they didn't knowhow scared I was."

Marion left the stage lines to ride inrodeos. For three years she followed thecircuits—Pendleton, Cheyenne, Salt LakeCity, Calgary and the rest. In 1914, whenshe was 22, she won the woman's ridingchampionship of Nevada. Rodeo life wasgetting into her blood. "But I was hurtpretty badly inside on some of those falls,"she said. "Finally the doctors told me theywouldn't be responsible for my life if Ikept riding.

So Marion retired to the job of post-mistress of Deeth, Nevada. Senator KeyPittman recommended her, and she wonthe position over a number of men. "Itused to be a railroad station namedDeath," she explained. "Somebodythought Deeth would be less gruesome."

Marion went into the trucking businessin Idaho with her husband, after WorldWar I. She drove a clumsy Diamond Ttruck over a regular route. Then came theModel T's. Marion laughed as she showedme a photo in which she was leaning,stiff-legged, against a truck.

"If you've never driven a Model T truck250 miles a day over primitive roads, youcan have no idea of how I felt."

Parted from her husband, and with fail-ing health requiring some not-too-strenu-ous outdoor occupation, Marion Reesetook up prospecting. During good weath-er, she covers Copper canyon country,bringing home, panning and testing anylikely specimens. She hasn't struck it yet,but she does obtain colorful minerals fromold dumps, and crucibles which have beenused but not broken at old assay offices. Bycementing the minerals over the exteriorof the crucibles, she makes attractive vases.

The sale of these, with miniature fire-place-ashtrays and other rock noveltieswhich she creates, forms a good part of hersmall income. And she finds free time topaint, to attend meetings of the YavapaiGem and Mineral society, of which she isan active member, and to continue herstudies of wild life.

Marion Reese closed the scrapbook."Looking back," she said, "I am satisfiedthe way things have gone. I just couldn'thave lived any other kind of life."

Copper canyon is quiet, after most of alifetime spent in the rush of the competi-tive world. Marion welcomes the quiet.But she does miss her horses.

"Friends offer to bring valuable horsesand leave them here with me," she ex-plained. "All they ask is that I train theanimals. It is terribly tem pting and I wouldlove to do it. But I no longer can givethem the care and attention they deserveand must have.

"So I guess that from now on my horseswill be the ones I can remember—andpaint."

20 THE DESERT M AG AZ INE



'Pelett "TtaiUBy MARSHAL SOUTH

/ y BOUT 13 miles down from the mountain town of

I / Julian, California, State Highway 78 shoulders its wayinto the high and barren desert ridges which form theentrance to Sentenac canyon. And right by the canyon entrance,thrust out Gibraltar fashion amidst the green ocean of tuleswhich parallel the road, there stands a rocky promontory. Uponthe top of this boulder-piled headland old Paul Sentenac oncehad his home.

Paul was an emigrant from France. And, in the 80's, he had agoat ranch at the mouth of the canyon which now bears hisname. His stock ranged the surrounding foothills and desertplayas and doubtless grew fat on the lush herbage of the tulemarshes which are fed from the waters of the San Felipe creek.

Old Paul was a rugged character about whom many pictur-esque stories still are told. The imagination of the tellers hascolored these tales and with the passage of time they have drift-ed into the province of legend. You may hear many yarns aboutPaul. And, as would be expected, nearly all the versions hintthat he had a cache of treasure. This is quite in keeping withdesert tradition, because almost everyone who has become anold-timer or an outstanding character on the desert, is popular-ly believed to have dug holes and buried away a mysteriouscache. Some did, it is true. But not many. However the tale-tellers must have their fling at mystery. Someday, undoubtedly,eager diggers will go prodding and gophering about my oldhome at Yaquitepec on Ghost mountain. I wish them luck.There was and is wealth on Ghost mountain—but not the kindyou can put in holes in the ground.

But it was not with old Paul's legendary treasures or withthe details of his picturesque life that we were concerned on the

bright desert day when I parked my car in an alcove in the mes-quites alongside the highway and made my way on foot acrossthe marshes. I wanted to see his homesite. I had never visitedit and had a craving to view at first hand what might be leftof this former citadel of a salty emigrant from France.

White faced Herefords of the San Felipe ranch herds dottedthe green of the tule marshes with generous splashes of red.Some of them didn't look too friendly, so I detoured to a de-serted section before invading their realm.

Water in the desert country has an enhanced significance.And the gurgle of the San Felipe creek, as it swirled about myankles as I floundered through the tangle of reeds was pleasant.There was much watercress growing among the tules, and, inspite of my water-sloshed shoes, I delayed a little while to gatherand nibble some of this tangy herb packed with vital energywhich science calls vitamins. The Herefords, browsing afar,watched with suspicious interest, and I reflected that in somerespects the dumb animal has an advantage over theself-important human. Animals can rustle their food with a mini-mum of fuss—and they get all the good out of it. Whereas thelords of creation cannot enjoy a meal without the employmentof a host of gadgets.

The first trace of man's abode as I made my way out of athicket of mesquites and started up the rocky slope was the re-mains of an old post and brush corral. In her unhurriedindif-ference to man Nature is very thorough. Winds wipe out foot-prints and storms dissolve walls. And the endless drift of themellow days consigns, in the end, the mightiest sweat-rearedhuman works to oblivion. As time is measured in human affairs

not many years had gone past since that old corral was in activeuse. Now it was a few forlorn heaps of blackened sticks lostamong the desert bushes. But it served to whet my interest.

Sherds of old Indian pottery were scattered on the boulder

On the crest of a bou lder-strewn promontory the ruins ofPaul Sentenac's "castle" lift above the green of the tulemarshes like the rem ains of some medieval stronghold.

strewn slope above. The dusky dwellers of the desert had appre-ciated the strategic importance of the site long before Paul hadpre-empted it. Pottery is a "book" which reveals many secretsof the lives of p rehistoric tribesmen. "Man," says the sage, "wascreated from the dust of the earth." And, following the exampleof his own Creator, man himself created his pots from the samematerial. But the pots survive the physical forms of their mak-ers. And give foothold for the imagination.

Standing there on the slope with a scatter of earth-brown ollafragments spread out before me it was not hard to reconstructthe past. The same silent mountains had rimmed the horizon.The sky had been the same blue. And the far-reaches of thedesert had swum in the same haunting elusive haze of distanceand mystery. There had been no cattle in the marshes. Nor hadthere been the ribbon of concrete highway with its shuttles ofspeeding cars. But it was somehow easy to forget these laterdetails. Brown feet were again on the slopes. And healthy freenaked bodies at work or play about the old camps. One seemedto hear voices in a strange primitive tongue. But perhaps it wasjust the wind, coming up the canyon and stirring through thecreosotes.

One may wonder just what dream was in old Paul Sentenac'smind when he settled here and built his castle. For castle it was

—at least in the making. The desert has a way of sappingdreams. And more often than not heroic plans wilt bit by bit—even during the sweaty labor of them—until the final result isanother monument to futility.

At any rate Paul began his dream on a heroic scale. Massiveretaining walls of laboriously piled boulders and powder-cracked rocks bear witness to his toil—and to the play of a di-recting imagination. The mortarless walls are falling. Stormsand vandals have overthrown many of the granite blocks. Butenough remains to show that the Frenchman who chose this ashis desert homesite had ambitions far beyond the rearing of amere desert shack. Perhaps he had in mind one of the old feudalcastles of his far-away homeland. It may be^ that in the back ofhis mind, banners floated from the summits of towers that werepierced with narrow slits through which bowmen could launchtheir barbed shafts. Perhaps mailed knights trod the courtyardsand made a brave show upon the lofty battlements. Whoknows? At any rate the beginnings of a dream are still there.But it is a crumbled dream. How full the world is of them.

Let no one think that there was ever any magnificence aboutPaul Sentenac's residence—even in its heyday. It was probablyquite humble—even the scanty remains of the old stone cabinattest that. Perhaps, to a casual visitor, there would appear to belittle of interest in the tumbled rocks and the remnants of theold retaining walls. But if one looks deeper, there is a better keyto the nature of the builder than is obvious on the surface. Paulhad something. One must have something of the poet or theartist or the dreamer to build his home upon a hilltop. Mostmen build theirs in holes and hollows. It is easier.

Creosotes and cactus grew among the old foundation wallsand cluttered the road which once led around the brow of therocky bluff. There were a few fragments of shattered dishes. Afew old nails. Bits of rusty iron and the usual scatter of old tin

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 8 21



cans. There w eren't many relics. The place has been thoroughlycombed over during the years that have elapsed since Paul died.Among the rocks, though, weather-bleached among scraps ofobsidian from ancient Indian arrowheads and cheek-by-jowlwith sherds of shattered olla, we picked up an old-time pocketlighter. Upon its embossed copper side was engraved the dateof its manufacture—the year 1900. Not much of an antique, butstill almost half a century.

Treasure hunters and seekers after Indian relics have con-

tributed in no small measure to the wrecking of Paul's old home.The myth of buried wealth has been responsible for many trialholes sunk within the enclosure of the old walls. Such miningoperations bring speedy ruin to any building. And today thereisn't much standing that will give any clue to what the houselooked like. There are the remains of a small fireplace—with, ofcourse, a treasure hole gaping in the earth not far from it—anda couple of angles of foundation wall. Paul used some old In-dian stones in his building. Some of the walls were, on that ac-count, wrecked by relic hunters to extract rubbing stones andmetates. The seekers have made a thorough job of it. Nothingnow remains to tempt further effort.

None of the stories I have been able to gather about Paulthrow much light upon the manner of individual he was. Sinceit is so hard to judge those among whom we are thrown in dailycontact, how shall we form opinions of a man about whom thevague threads of gossip and misunderstanding have been wovenfor many years since his death. Some say that he was a hardman. Others that he had a wealth of likable qualities. We doknow that after his death a brother came out from France to set-tle up the estate.

But what matter? Human life is a fleeting thing. And afterall it is not the physical that counts; nor the success or failureof earthly affairs. The thing which is enduring is somethingwhich cannot be seen, touched or measured by material stan-dards. It is the spirit of a man. His ideas—the inner light orurge by which he m oves. Such a hidden light burns in every manand woman regardless of the valuation either for good or evilwhich the world places upon them. And as surely as he lives,

each will in some manner in life, betray something of that secretinner nature that is the realself. In the ruins of his desert castle,Paul Sentenac has left his monument and his epitaph. He wasone who dreamed dreams. He had something of the divine fireof the poet. The tumbled stones of his hilltop Gibraltar proveit.

With my companions I ate lunch in a shady cove formed bythe spreading trunk and branches of an ancient mesquite treeabout half a mile from Paul's homesite. In backward glance,through the lacy pattern of leaves and branches, the old castlesite lost none of its romance. The warm sunshine of the desertbeat down in the silence, and the rocks and ridges and the dimreaches of the desert quivered in the heat waves. The winddrew up from the lower reaches of the canyon in lazy widespaced drifts that rustled the leaves over our heads and threw ashimmer of sun patterns over the brown twig-strewn soft earthupon which we sat.

Where the old tree grew had once been an ancient Indianburial ground. All around the surrounding area it was possibleto pick up pieces of fire-blackened ollas, and according to re-ports, more than one cache of human remains had been dug upand removed w ithin a few paces of where we sat. But the rustleof the leaves in the gnarled old tree whispered only of peaceand forgetfulness and of something better and beyond and moresatisfying even than the bright silent sunshine of the desert.

We ate our lunch with peace and contentment in our hearts.It mattered not to us that beside the lunch basket, in the chang-ing pattern of sunlight and shadow, there lay a scatter of tinyfire-scorched bony fragments. W e knew they were ancient frag-

ments of human bone. But peace was upon them also. Theywere part of a mighty pattern that is free from fear. It is the pat-tern of Eternity.

Although there have been no reports of Sonoraotter along the Colorado river for several years, itis possible the animal may not be entirely extinct.If any of Desert's readers have seen this species ofotter recently it is requested that a record of thetime and place and other pertinent information beforwarded to the magazine staff.

Animal

By EDMUND C. JAEGERSketches by the Author

f 4 N A cold rainy day in 1776, Fray Francisco Garces,\^ / Spanish explorer and missionary, met a little group of

Mojave Indians at their village near the Mojave rivernot far from the present site of the Camp Cady ranch 15 mileseast of Daggett, California.

The tribesmen were poor and naked, and because of the rainand low temperatures could do no hunting. They were livingon tule roots. But within their crude shelters, Garces tells usin his diary, they had blankets made of rabbit and otter skins.

Now the question immediately arises: From what source didthese beggarly natives of the arid mid-desert secure otter skins?Since they lived along one of the principal caravan routes trav-

eled by traders going east with furs for the markets in Santa Feand St. Louis they may have secured these skins from the trad-ers. But it is more likely the Indians had trapped the ottersalong the Colorado river a hundred miles to the eastward.

The Indians in this village were probably of the Chemehuevitribe, a people whose principal dwelling place was along theColorado. They doubtless visited their brethren there as wellas the Mojave Indians who dwelt along the river in the vicinityof present-day Needles.

One thing of particular interest in Garces' account is his men-tion of the ingenious snares made by the Indians of the Mojaveriver village—snares made of wild hemp cord. It may well bethat these snares made it possible for them not only to securerabbits for blanket-making but also otters which doubtless wereplentiful then. It is only in recent years that otters have becomerare or extinct along the Colorado.

Sonora otters (Lutra sonora) are known to have been seenbetween Needles and Topock as late as 1920 and farther up theColorado river as late as 1933. John Leam, locally known as"California Jack" reported in that year that he saw an otterplaying on a sand bar at the mouth of El Dorado wash (in Clark




county, Nevada) where it enters the Colorado river. In thesame year, Bill Ross, a trapper living a few m iles above Needles,secured an otter skin from an animal killed by dogs just a fewdays before Christmas.

The Sonora otter is a subspecies of the common North Amer-ican otter {Lutra canadensis), differing from otters found else-where on the continent mainly in its paler coloration andlonger overall body length (about 5 feet, 4 inches). The ac-companying drawings show well its form and general features.The otter's head is seen to be rather small, broad and flat; themuzzle very broad, the lips thick, and with strong sensitivewhiskers. The eyes are very small as are the external ears. Thelimbs though short are exceedingly flexible and well adaptedfor aquatic life. Each of the broad, round feet has five clawedtoes connected by webs. The muscular tail, about 18 incheslong, is very thick at the base and somewhat flattened. It too isused in swimming. Next to the beaver, the otter was probablythe most sought-for fur-bearing animal in the old trappingdays and this because of the exceedingly fine quality of itsbright rich brown fur. There was a time when famous trappersbraved desert heat, mountain snow storms and hostile Indiansto reach California to trap otter in its streams. Among these ad-venturers it may be recalled were Ewing Young and WilliamWolfskill, men whose picturesque careers are narrated in everygood book of early southwestern history.

Otters are almost wholly nocturnal in their habits althoughat times they may be seen in daytime, especially in early morn-ing or late afternoon. Being exceedingly shy they are seldomobserved by humans sauntering along river banks. Their pres-ence is most easily detected by their foot prints on muddyshores, their fecal heaps, their rolling places and scent posts orby their slides on slippery clay banks.

When an otter comes out of the stream one of the first thingsit does is to get the heavy load of water out of its thick fur. Thisis accomplished by shaking itself much as a dog does. Then tofinish the job it rolls in the grass or other vegetation. As someone once remarked, the grass is the otter's towel on which hewipes himself dry. Such rolling places are used over and over

again and so become well defined and easily spotted. Again theotter is given to twisting grass into little tufts or bunches and onthese depositing strong scents from the anal glands, thus givingsign to others passing by.

This water-loving carnivore is a born gamester and one of itsfavorite pastimes is gliding down m uddy banks, head downwardon the belly, ending its slide each time in the water. Often sev-eral animals play together, their sportive tobogganing beingrepeated over and over again. The otter displays high intelli-gence and always has a penchant for boisterous play. When ex-cited in sport it utters a kind of shrill whistle. At other timesit may make a yelping bark, a satisfied grunt, or mumble or athreatening snarl, depending upon its various moods.

In the water otters exhibit astonishing ability, swimming anddiving beneath the surface with speed equal to or superior tothat of many fishes. The principal food is fish and they find iteasy to get a living. T he fish m ost preferred by the Sonora otter

were probably the humpback sucker(Xyrauchen texanus), thebony-tail (Gila elegans), and the Colorado river "squawfish"or "salmon" (Ptychocbeilus lucius)—all common to the brownsilty waters of the river when the otter was plentiful. They catchtheir food by overtaking and seizing it, the sharp cuspid molarteeth helping them to retain their slippery prey and piercing thetough body scales with ease. The fish generally is held in theforepaws as it is devoured.

In late February, March or April the female makes a nest ofgrass or tules in a den or hollow of the river bank and there pro-duces three to five young. Three is the usual number.

Otters are closely related to minks and weasels and with theexception of the sea-otter belong to the mammalian genusLutra. Fresh water otters are widely distributed over the earth,in fact no genus of mammals with the exception of some batshave a wider geographical distribution, A ustralia being the onlycontinent without a representative.

Once plentiful in many of California's inland waters, theotter has gone the way of much of our most valuable wildlifeheritage. It is the old story—a fine animal excessively trappedor shot to near extinction. It is to be hoped that the Bureau ofReclamation working with the Fish and Wildlife commissionwill find somewhere soon the necessary stock to give back tothe Colorado's waters the remarkable Sonora otter so that desertdwellers and visitors again can come to know this highly in-telligent denizen.

N o t e th e H e w A d d r e s s , p le a s e . . .BARSTOW

All mail for Desert's editorial and business offices—and Desert Crafts Shops—should in the future be sentto —

PA L MD E S E R T ,C A L I F O R N I AA U G U S T , 1 9 4 8 23



Utah'5 UncteditU -fltch ofiStA newly completed road makes it possible to reach Delicate Arch in eastern

Utah's Arches national monument without all the struggles earlier visitors faced.But Dick and Catherine Freeman are agreed: it was worth the muddy roads, thequicksand and slick rock for a glimpse of the incredible crimson-hued rainbowof stone at the trail's end.

one

I J / HEELS spun and mud flew as theyy rear end of the government's old

Chevy truck settled into a bowl offine silt "pudding." Our hopes had beenhigh that morning as Custodian RussellMahan of the Arches national monumenttold us he was sure he could reach thatamazing circlet of stone known as DelicateArch. Now they sank to our boots.

Ranger Mahan, undaunted by slick mudoozing up over his boot-tops, reassured us."We'll get her out of here all right," hesaid. "Bring a lot of that brush, and I'lldig out around the wheels. This is a regu-lar occurrence on these roads," he added,grinning.

Now we understood why he had wornoveralls and work boots, and had broughta strong shovel. But it was tough workdigging out the mud faster than it oozedin, and pounding the brush down into theholes. Again and again we tried and eachtime the wheels of the old truck edged for-ward a few inches and then spun without

progress."She'll make it next time," Ranger Ma-

han would say confidently. At last, shereally did. With a snort and rattle the carrolled out onto firmer ground. An extend-ed survey of the road and flats beyondbrought our hopes to a new low. It was evi-dent the car could never cross the bogswhich lay ahead. So we fell to cutting moredesert atriplex and artemisia to make aroad back over the soupy mud for the car'sreturn.

After that experience we expectedRanger Mahan to tell us we would have

to try another day. But he wasn't born anIrishman for nothing. As soon as we wereback on solid ground, he proposed anotherpossible route to the arch.

"If we go 15 miles farther around byThompsons, I'm sure we can make it," hepredicted cheerfully. His confidence wasinfectious and we were hopeful as webounced away toward Thompsons.

Our driver warned that we hadn'treached the bad place yet. But rolling overa smooth desert road on the higher mesasmade it easy to believe nothing could stopus again. Then we saw water on the roadahead. Russell and Dick jumped out to re-connoitre. Before they had returned with-in hailing distance I knew we would notget through that day. Their shoes, caked

24

By CATHERINE FREEMANPhotos by DICK FREEMAN

Russell M ahan, Uncle Sam 's custo-dian at Arches national monumentgreets visitors to his coloredsand-

stone domain with a friendlywelcome.

with mud to the tops, were mute testimonyof the condition of the road.

"This'll dry up in a couple of days,"said Russell, "and then we'll try it again.Might even be all right tomorrow." Thusended our first attempt to reach DelicateArch. It was only a short distance from us,according to the custodian, yet it might aswell have been on the moon.

There are 88 known arches in Archesnational monument in southeastern Utah.Delicate Arch attracts, perhaps, more at-tention than any of the others. After onehas seen a picture of its graceful contourshe feels he m ust see the o riginal, no m atterhow difficult it may be to reach.

Two days later we made our second at-tempt to reach Delicate Arch, and the godsof desert roads were good to us this time.Although the valley route was still deep inmud, we were able to traverse the roadfrom Thompsons without serious diffi-culty.

Since that first visit to Arches nationalmonument a passable road has been com-pleted to Delicate Arch, and today visitorsto the Monum ent are able to reach this rarenatural "rainbow" without difficulty.

On each side of the road were acres ofpinyon and juniper. Hoary old specimens,healthy and strong, they complement therose-reds of the sandstone with their richgreen foliage. Not quite so plentiful, butfound in great numbers, was the single-leafed ash, a small tree, but lovely andgolden in the fall. As we followed thewashes, yellow tamarisks, willows andcottonwoods intensified the brilliance ofthe sun where just two or three weeks be-fore, orange - hued rabbitbrush hadbloomed in profusion.

At last we pulled up beside an ancientweatherbeaten log cabin. The low ratherflat roof was covered with small pieces ofcrushed greenish rock containing copper,and the logs were whitened and grey likepieces of driftwood on the beach. Turnbowcabin had been used, we were told, forover 50 years by sheepmen who came inevery winter to pasture their sheep. Locat-ed at the end of the road, it had been oper-ated as a source of supplies. All the cow-boys and sheepherders for miles aroundhave beaten a shiny trail over the slick rockto its door. The interior, a rendezvous fornumerous rodents, is not inviting. But the

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



This photograph of Delicate Arch was taken in the jail when the La Sals in the backgroundwere covered with the first snow of the season.

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 825



I

While Nature has s

greenish roof and greying sides blend har-moniously with the soft tones of the land-scape.

"It's about two miles by trail now. We'llhave to watch for quicksand as we crossSalt wash," warned the custodian. "Lastweek I got into it, and was down to my

knees before I knew it. Luckily I hadsomeone with me."In the salty wash we found pickleweed

and coarse grasses through which wepushed our way to higher ground. Therewe found great outcroppings of rosy agatewhich in the process of cooling had beencracked so much the stone is not commer-cially valuable in spite of its beauty.

Russell called our attention to the pol-ished trail we were following on the sand-stone. It had been m ade by the hoofs of thecowboys' horses. We needed no markersto follow it, but we did need wind to keep

up with the long legs of the custodian. Aswe were visualizing mounted cowboyscarefully picking their way over these sand-stone shoulders, Russell interrupted ourthoughts.

"There it is," he called. "Probably youcan't see it." We looked uncertainly overthe landscape. "Right there," he pointed."It's end-on and looks like a pillar insteadof an arch. We'll get a better view soon."

A final pull over a high sandstoneshoulder and a drop into the bowl belowbrought us within close range of the amaz-ing arch of stone. We wanted to stop andlook, but Russell kept us going "for thebest viewpoint," he explained.

Delicate Arch is located on the edge ofa great sandstone bowl smoothed by the

countless ages carving Delicate Arch she also has b een erodingthe bowl in w hich it islocated.

wind-driven sands of countless years. Thetrail leads up the edge of this great bowland as we reached the foot of the arch itssmoothness seemed somewhat alarming.Russell and Dick were disappearingaround one of the buttresses, their feetclinging to what appeared to be the nar-

rowest kind of an indentation. It is a goodidea to wear rubber-soled shoes for thistrip.

W e cautiously followed Russell Mahanaround the rim to where we could lookthrough the slender crescent of stonewhich is Delicate Arch. Rising from thesandstone ridge it looks like a giant handleby which the bowl might conceivably belifted. Soft salmon-pink against a brightblue sky, the arch forms an exquisite framefor the snowy 13,000 foot La Sal moun-tains to the south. This was the view Rus-sell had wanted us to see first, and it was

well worth the trouble of carrying heavycameras and tripod. Dick fairly trembledwith excitement as he carefully set up hisequipment on the slick rock where onemisstep might have been fatal.

Sweeping down 200 feet between himand the arch, the great pink sandstonebowl looked like a huge Indian mortar.Here the wind, carrying sharp crystallineparticles, sweeps around like a whirlwind,grinding very, very slowly as a fine lensis ground.

All the great arches in Arches nationalmonument were originally integral parts

of huge sandstone ridges, or " fins" as theyare called. As wind and sand wear awaythe softer parts a large block of stone be-comes undermined and breaks away from

its original position frequently leaving anarch. Then the sand-filled winds smoothof the rough edges, a process which thehardest rock withstands the longest.

So Delicate Arch itself has been leftstanding, with all the less resistant stonearound it eroded away. Sturdily the greatbases of the arch cling to the ridge like twofirmly placed elephant's feet. Save for onedeeply eroded crease on the eastern abut-ment, the arch looks as if many centuriesmight pass away before the wind couldconsummate its destructive work.

As we stood marveling at the incrediblestructure, Russell Mahan told us how thecowboys of the region used to call it the"Chaps" and at other times the "School-marm's Pants."

"I can see how they got the chaps, but Ican't see the other," he said, shaking hishead and chuckling. But there wasn't much

doubt that, regardless of what it might becalled, Delicate Arch is Russell Mahan'spride and joy. His anxiety that we get thebest view first, and the pleasure on his facewhen we showed our appreciation of theexquisite arch made that perfectly clear.

This "delicate" arch is not so dainty insize. As Dick passed between it buttresses,each about 15 feet in diameter, he lookedvery small beneath its 65-foot height and85-foot breadth. He was going to take apicture from the side up which we hadclimbed, where a narrow shoulder extendsto the east. He still didn't realize there wasa 500-foot sheer drop below him. How-ever, the slick and sloping rock made himexceedingly cautious. Without the rubber-shod tripod legs, he probably could not




To Crescent Jet& Son Lake City

HRCHE5NHTIDNHL

Colorado RiverScenic Drive

Fisher Towers 24 Mi.

This m ap, recently revised by Custodian Mahan, shows the n eiv roads in the Monum ent.

Double lines are dirt roads subject to weather conditions. Dotted lines are joot trails.

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 8 27



The size of the span may judged by the figure of Ranger Mahan beneath andbeyond the arch.

have secured the pictures and might havelost his camera.

Looking southwest from Delicate Archin the direction of headquarters, Russellshowed us where the new road to DelicateArch was to be built. Instead of the round-about route toward Thompsons covering50 miles, this road adds but six miles to thealready existing nine mile road into theWindows section.

We had left the wash and the Salt valleyroad when the vivid colors of sunset beganto paint the softening outlines of the cliffs.The snow on the distant La Sals becamesuffused with a delicate glowing pinkmelting into lavenders and deep blues asthe sun sank, while the cliffs in every direc-tion made a constantly changing pattern ofexquisite coloring from the deeper roses

to soft mauves and purples.It seemed no time at all before wereached Moab canyon where a little of theold Mormon dugway, built in 1855 by the

first missionaries, is still visible. U. S.Highway 160 curves down the grade be-low this old road, passing the monumentheadquarters just beyond the cliff whichformed the barrier those early pioneers had

to cross. Our trip to Utah's most extraor-dinary and lovely arch had become a realityat last and we had had a never-to-be-forgotten glimpse of the spectacular won-ders of amazing Arches national monu-ment.

M O S TI M P O R TA N TB y TA N YA S O U T H

Have patience, then, and go your wayWith love and blessing every day,And peace and goodwill every nightToward everyone. For to live rightIs most important of all things,And nearest unto heaven brings.

H a r dR o c kS h o r t yof

DeathValley

"Are you Mr. Hard Rock Shorty,"asked the stranger who had just ar-rived at Inferno store.

Shorty looked the visitor over, andnoted the brand new levis and bootsand Stetson hat. "Yu can jes' call me'Shorty,' " he replied, after a pause.

"You're just the man I'm lookingfor—a real old desert rat, if you'llpardon the use of the uncomplimen-tary term you prospectors apply toeach other," the stranger gurgled."I've always wanted to meet a realdesert m iner and go on a prospectingtrip with him. Of course I'll furnishall the groceries, and I've got a newtent and some canned caviar and aportable radio . . . "

"I guess I ain't the feller you'relookin' fer," Shorty interrupted, andsauntered into the store to share hisdisgust with the clerk.

"One o' them blasted dudes!" heexploded. "I took one o' them on atrip once. But no more o' that. W e setup camp over at Alum spring thefirst night. Had a sack o' potatoes an'some flour an' coffee—enough for aweek, and we left word with PisgahBill to bring us another load 0' grubin a few days.

"I told the dude to wash the spuds,an' do you know what that blastedtenderfoot did. While I wuz outgatherin' some wood he took thatwhole sack o' potatoes over and put'em in the pool below the spring towash 'em off—sack an' all.

"Fust thing I knowed I heard himover there hollerin' and when I wentover t' see what was up there he wuzfishin' around in the water tryin' tofind the taters. When he finallybrought 'em up that alum water hadshrunk 'em up to about the size o'peas in a Bull Durham sack.

"An' all we had to eat for a weekwuz sourdough biscuits an' coffee. Iain't got no more time fer dude pros-pectors."

28 THE DESERT M AG AZ INE



L E T T E R S . .Exploring Mexico . . .

Mexico, D. F.Desert:

No doubt that your readers will be in-terested in knowing of an exceptional findof oriental blue opal in Mexico.

This opal is of exceptional quality andaccording to experts is superior to that ofthe Orient.

The writer visited you in the fall of 1946just before leaving for Mexico on my ex-ploration trip. Since then, we have foundmany interesting gem stones. The most ex-ceptional however, is the oriental blueopal.

We have visited old unexplored tombsand buried cities and have collected manybeautiful relics. A lot of the material found

in the tombs was carved from jade, butthere is no known deposit of jade in Mex-ico. This leads me to believe that the In-dians brought jade with them or they hadsome form of commerce with other tribeswho possessed jade deposits.

We talked with a very old Indian whotold us that he knew where there was atomb that contained the remains of giants.The way he described them, they would be15 or 20 feet in height and some of themaccording to him, had an eye socket in thecenter of the forehead. This is very inter-esting and we hope to make a trip to in-vestigate this rumor this fall after the rainy

season. These tombs are in the Terra Ca-liente and at present it is too hot to attemptany exploration. We are in hopes of in-teresting some adventurous souls who willbe willing to help finance such an expedi-tion. The necessary government authoritycan be obtained. This exploration wouldlast about three months, and I have nodoubt that much data of interest could beuncovered.

T. B. BAIRD• • •

Gold in Volcanic Ore . . .Canoga Park, California

Desert:Mr. Eads' letter in June Desert touches

a question that I have had in mind for along time.

It is well established that gold is foundin certain types of volcanic rock. Many ofthe bonanzas of our western states occur inrhyolite and other acidic volcanics, but ba-salt flows such as those found at the Am-boy cinder cone are not generally consid-ered a likely source of gold.

However, a piece of rock the size ofone's fist was picked up in the area of lavaflows near the eastern edge of the Colum-

bia plateau and on the west side of Coeurd'Alene lake in Idaho about the same timethat the Santa Fe agent's daughter madeher find at Amboy. It too showed free gold

and assayed over 50,000 dollars per ton.Subsequent search revealed no more, butmaterial from an ash bed near by ran a fewcents per ton in gold.

Could it be that basalt flows do containeconomic deposits of gold yet to be found?FRANK B. KELSEY

Farce of State Inspection . . .Santa Barbara, California

Desert:May I add a bit of comment to the dis-

cussion of the annoying border inspectionto which we are subjected when we crossmany of the state lines?

Leaving Santa Barbara for Ajo, Arizona,with some home grown avocados, I wasstopped at the Arizona state line and toldI could not take them to Ajo. I returned tothe nearest California postoffice andmailed them to their destination, with norestraints.

If this inspection really is important, Ithink they should do a good job of it. Ifautos and buses are to be inspected, whyshould the rule not also apply to trains andfreight cars?

Moving from Detroit to Santa BarbaraI was forced to remove my trunk from thecar, and unlock it so the inspector couldget his fingers inside. Then he told me toput it back in the car and lock it up. If thatsame trunk had come through in thefreight car with other freight no one wouldhave bothered to open it.

Either this inspection job should bedone well, or not at all.

NELSON WHITTEMORE• • •

Old-timer in the Turtles . . .San Bernardino, California

Desert:Mr. Weight's excellent article about the

Turtle mountains in your July issue inter-ested me very much, for that range wasone of my stamping grounds in the early'nineties.

The Turtles were by no means unknowneven then. We all knew Carson's well asMesquite springs. Then along came a KitCarson and behold, he named the springafter himself. He claimed to be a grandsonof the original Kit.

Four miles southerly, up high, is Coffinspring where William Hutt and I, alongwith a Chemehuevi Indian named Hiko-rum, used to wait for mountain sheep com-ing down to drink.

Mr. Weight mentioned finding a rockhouse once built by a Dutch prospector,who later lost his life while unloading ma-

chinery elsewhere. Well, that prospector'sname was Karl Kirschner. I knew himwell. He was about 35, and between tripshe would work for wages. He was killed

unloading a car of heavy mining timbersat Amboy, between Needles and Barstow.That was in 1906 or 1907.

CHARLES BATTYE

More Health and Less Taxes . . .Agua Caliente Springs, California

Desert:Perhaps some of your readers would be

interested in a current report on thesesprings, described in your issue of July,1947, by Marshal South.

This is truly a poor man's paradise—norent to pay, no taxes, and a complete ab-sence of "No Trespass" signs. Food is ouronly expense, and while we have to travelto Julian or some distant point for our sup-plies, our menus are simple and nourish-ing. We live in tents and house trailers.

We receive mail twice or three times aweek. Elevation is 1300 feet. Sun shinesevery day. Any one suffering from arthri-tis may remain here until their health im-proves—and it generally does.

I will be glad to answer any questionsfrom persons wishing to know more aboutthis camp, if they will address me at Julianand send stamped reply envelope.

RICHARD JORDAN

Friends in the Wild . . .Santa Cruz, California

Desert:My husband and I have spent many

years prospecting including the Chocolaterange and the Mojave desert. Of coursewe have run across certain odd things.

Last fall we camped on the Kern river

about two miles below Isabella. It wasn'tlong before we discovered we had a robberin camp. One night we turned our flash-light on and found the guilty culprit wasa grey fox.

Every night from then on we set a canon a rock with some food in it for him. Hewas especially fond of anything sweet.

After a couple of weeks he decided notto wait until dark so he showed up at dusk,and finally became so friendly we couldthrow things to him to eat.

Then one evening he brought his mate.She was timid at first but when she sawhe was not afraid she also came into camp.One evening we were waiting for themwhen up came a civet cat and started eatingthe food. Then the fox showed up and hedid not know what to make of it.

The civet cat saw the fox and raised upon her front paws and began to wave hertail in the air. The fox backed away.Frenchy who lived nearby had brought usa lovely cake that day and we carefully putpart of it away for our lunch next day.

During the night the fox got it and wesaw the crumbs lying around. That eve-ning we put out the food as usual but thistime used two cans. Just after dark here

came the two foxes and the civet cat, andbelieve it or not all three of them dinedtogether.

MARY WILLIAMS

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 8 29



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30 THE DESERT MAGA7INE



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A U G U S T , 1 9 4 8 31



Min&i and . .

R a n d s b u rg ,California . . .Aetna Mines corporation, of Los An-

geles, has given Edwin Black a contract tostrip five acres of kaolin clay deposit in theRademacher district north of Randsburg.The contract also called for five miles ofroad to be opened in anticipation of min-ing the clay. The road work is completedand stripping, which reportedly will makeavailable 320,000 tons of kaolin is underway. Aetna holds a deposit of abrasive vol-canic ash and a gold property in the samearea.

• • •Monticello, Utah . . .

The Atomic Energy commission plansto begin receiving uranium ores at its Mon-ticello plant in July and in the Durango,Colorado, plant shortly thereafter. Pur-chases will be under the commission's an-nounced buying program. Actual process-ing of the carnotite and roscoelite types ofore for their uranium concentrates will notstart until sometime in 1949, when an ade-quate stock pile has been built up. The re-ceiving stations will be operated by U. S.Smelting and Refining company, whileother firms will run the processing plantsthrough contracts with the commission.

• • •Kingman, Arizona . . .

Plans are under consideration to buildand operate two. 250-ton custom ore mills

in or near Kingman. V. H. Hazen andW. J. Howard, at present operating theGolden Gem mine at Cerbat, are planningthe mills. Howard feels that the gunneryrange site east of Kingman would be themost desirable location, if arrangementscan be made with Mohave county to obtainthe Hackberry water which is brought tothe airfield in a 16 inch pipe. Howard andHazen were said to contemplate operationof a small fleet of trucks to bring the oreto the mill.

• • •Monticello, Utah . . .

Drillers for Western Natural Gas com-pany reportedly have brought in a well 40miles southwest of Monticello which isproducing 25,000,000 cubic feet of gasdaily. Paul Kayser, president of the ElPaso Natural Gas company, which owns asubstantial amount of Western NaturalGas company stock, says an application isbefore the federal power commission toconstruct a pipe line from the well in theSan Juan basin to Needles, California, toconnect with Pacific Gas and Electric com-pany at that point so the gas may be usedin California. A connecting line to runsouth from Needles to Blythe also isplanned. The company expects to drill 10wells in the basin, with the idea of deliv-ering 250,000,000 cubic feet to the lineeach day.

Washington, D. C. . . .The department of interior has drafted

a bill providing for subsidization of min-eral exploration up to $20,000,000 annu-ally, with a limit of $500,000 to any oneproducer. Under terms of the proposedlaw, the secretary of interior would be au-thorized to contract with private produc-ers for exploration, at locations designated,for critical or strategic minerals or metals.Secretary Krug declared that the Russellmineral incentive bill is too complex anddoes not guard against shifting of minersfrom profitable to marginal mining, andthe interior department bill was advancedas a substitute.

• • •Reno, Nevad a . . .

Blasting has begun on the northeast cor-ner of the campus of the Mackay school ofmines in Reno, for a model mine to be ex-cavated there. The John W. Mackay tun-nel, .as it will be called, will permit stu-dents of the school of mines to work undernear-real mining conditions. Studentsgraduating from the school this June willbe in charge of the work, according toProf. Jay A. Carpenter, school of minesdirector. In the mine, students will studytimbering m ethods, the actual employmentof mining machinery and tools, and tun-neling technique. The tunnel will increasein length with the work of each class.

• • •Hawthorne, Nevada . • .

Broken Hills Mining and Milling com-pany has been incorporated and will main-tain offices in Hawthorne. Its property islocated at Broken Hills, in northeast Min-eral county. According to company offi-cials, a major object in forming the newcompany is the construction of a millingplant in the vicinity of Gabbs where bothwater and power are available. Officialsestimate ore worth $240,000 is in sight onthe dumps and in the mine. The ore car-ries high values in silver but has zinc andantimony for which the shippers are pen-alized at the smelter. James L. Caver ofBabbitt is president of the company.

• • •Teco pa, California . . .

The W estern Talc mine, 14 miles south-east of Tecopa now is employing 23 men.The vein of talc is 60 feet wide, it was said,and runs for over 6000 feet on the sur-face. Colman O'Shea, mining engineer andWestern Talc company consultant, callsit the largest, highest grade deposit of talcin California. Use of talc in pottery,ceramics and tile is increasing, it was said,until manufacturers are using 60-70 percent talc to 25-40 per cent clay. The largepercentage of talc reportedly gives a finertexture and higher gloss.

Silver Peak, Ne vad a . . .The Eureka company has taken a lease

on the easterly section of the Nivloc mineat the 700 and 800-foot levels, it is report-ed. The Nivloc was an important silverproducer before war conditions forced itsclosing. The Eureka company owns theBig Horn extension group of claims ad-joining the Nivloc and was said to planextension of a drift from the Nivloc intoits own property. It is reported that theEureka company plans to erect a mill assoon as ore bodies are developed.

• • •Washington, D. C. . . .

A bill suspending for an additionalyear the requirement that $100 worth ofwork be performed annually on unpatentedmining claims, was passed by house andsenate in the closing days of the last con-gress, and signed by President Truman.The bill will be effective until July 1,1949.

• • •Experimental tests on Nevada oil shalesfrom Elko, Churchill and Eureka countieshave been authorized by the U. S. bureauof mines. Tests will be run at the bureaupetroleum and oil experiment station, Lar-amie, Wyoming. If results show furtherinvestigation warranted and sufficientquantity can be obtained, the Nevadashales will undergo retorting at the bu-reau's pilot plant at Rifle, Colorado.

• • •Present plans of Builders Supply of

Phoenix, manufacturers of pumice blockbuilding material, call for erection of apumice crushing and grading plant at Wil-liams, Arizona, to supply the m arket whichhas developed for the graded raw material.

• • •Late Pre-Cambrian Cross Sections

through Southern Nevada,by Dr. Harry E.Wheeler, is the title of the latest bulletinissued by the Nevada state bureau of minesand the Mackay school of mines. Wheeleris a recognized authority upon the Cam-brian formation in Nevada. The bulletinwill be mailed free to Nevada citizensupon request.

• • •

Paul Troester, 80, for many years man-ager of Segal Mining company of Nevadaand superintendent of the Eureka HillMining company, died in Salt Lake CityMay 30.

• • •The 1948 Metal Mining convention ex-

position of the western division of theAmerican Mining congress will be held inSan Francisco the week of September 20.

• • •Floyd Johnson was killed while work-

ing in the Eclipse talc mine, 16 milessouthwest of Shoshone, when the entireinterior of the tunnel collapsed. ForrestJohnson, Floyd's brother, brought aidfrom Shoshone but when the tunnel wascleared, Floyd was found dead.




_.. anARIZONA

In the Dark . . .PRESCOTT —Tw o eagles fighting over

their supper blacked out half a dozen com-munities south of Prescott all night June6. The charred bodies of both birds withthe partially eaten remains of a young goatwere found in a tangle of copper wire, in-sulators and charred cross arms at the footof one of the poles carrying the 44,000-volt power line of the Arizona Powercompany.

First-Hand Folklore . . .PAT AGO NIA — Learning that the

University of Arizona was trying to com-pile a collection of songs and stories of

the early Southwest, students of a Pata-gonia Spanish class conducted by DorisSeibold combed the town seeking infor-mation for the folklore committee. Thetownspeople were so cooperative the stu-dents decided to hold a fiesta for allSpanish - speaking people who helpedthem. More than 300 from surroundingtowns and even across the border attendedthe party which was held in the old operahouse. In the collection of folklore sent tothe university were poems, lullabys, rid-dles, superstitions and tales which hadbeen in families for many years.

Desert Boat Club . . .YUMA—Formation of a Yuma boat

club is in progress, and plans are beingmade for year-around outings and races.Also in the offing is the possibility ofstaging boat races from the Coloradobridge to the Gulf of Mexico. Upon com-pletion of the Mexican dam at Algodones,sponsors of the club believe the river willprove even more suitable for races and thefew hazardous sand bars below the Yumabridge will be eliminated. Plans includehaving the river buoyed and completelycharted.

He Dove in Montezuma W ell . . .FLAGST AFF — Herbert L. Charbon-

neau, former navy diver and now a resi-dent of Flagstaff, has explored the depthsof Montezuma well, about 50 miles south-west of Flagstaff. He used homemade div-ing apparatus and found the depth of thewell, once considered bottomless, to aver-age 55 to 60 feet. Charbonneau said thatfrom 35 feet to the bottom of the well hefound "millio ns" of leeches. The diver wasaccompanied to the well by Dr. Harold S.Colton of the Museum of Northern Ari-zona, and it is reported the museum will

attempt to secure some of the leeches tostudy their origin and species. Charbon-neau remained at the bottom for threehours.

State Indian Education? . . .PHOENIX—Richard Harless, Arizona

representative in congress, has proposedthat the federal government grant con-tracts to the state of Arizona for educationof its large Navajo Indian population.Harless says the foremost problem of theNavajo people is education, with the en-tire framework of the rehabilitation pro-gram resting upon it. But the federal gov-ernment is too far removed from the Na-vajo to conduct the educational program,he contends, and waste of administrativeexpenses in Washington would be toogreat. "Let's spend the money on the In-dian instead of the white man," he sug-gested.

Discovers Frontier Colt . . .TOMBSTONE—While digging out an

old cesspool, Gilbert Lumm discovered afrontier model Colt .45, loaded and com-plete with holster. The gun was found 15feet down and with it was unearthed anold pocket watch. Those seeing the gunspeculated upon its story, wondering if itwas a murder weapon which the killer dis-posed of or whether it was stolen, thenhidden . Th e violence of life in early Tomb-stone probably explains why the man bury-ing it never had an opportunity to dig uphis cache.

Source of Saguaro Infection . . .TUCSON—University of Arizona sci-

entists, seeking to halt a disease whichthreatens to wipe out the giant saguaros,have discovered the source of infection tobe a moth which lives only three days, isactive only at night, and feeds exclusivelyupon the tissue of the giant cactus. Dr.Alice Boyle, working for seven years onthe problem, solved it by tracing the life

cycle of a grub which is known to carrythe bacterial force which is destroying thesoft tissue of the saguaro. The bacteria wasisolated, identified and namedErwinacamegh'ana in 1941. But the method bywhich it was transmitted from one plant tothe other was unknown until Dr. Boylefound the grub spends nine months in thelarval stage, then develops into the moth.The new knowledge is expected to makeeffective control work possible.

Apaches Claim Old Reservation . . .SAN CARLOS—The tribal council of

San Carlos Apache Indian reservation re-portedly has asked Washington attorneysto determine what encroachment has beenmade upon their lands and to presentclaims against the government. The coun-cil contends the original treaty with thefederal governm ent would extend the pres-ent reservation boundaries west to includethe Globe-Miami area, south to Mt. Turn-bull and the Hayden-Winkleman area, east

through the Safford and Duncan valleysto the New Mexico border and north tothe Black river, including the Clifton-Morenci districts. The Apaches base theirclaim on the assumption they were illegal-ly pushed back to their present boundariesand that withdrawals of land from theirreservation were made by executive orderwithout authority.

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A U G U S T , 1 9 4 8 33







Navy Wants More Land . . .EL CENTRO—The county board of su-

pervisors has deferred action on a Navyrequest that all county roads into the Choc-olate mountains area claimed as a navygunnery range be discontinued. AlthoughCamp Dunlop has been declared surplusand the buildings there demolished, theNavy declared it was reposting the Dun-

Something Else That 's New inPalm Desert Apa rtme nts . . .

See the new Palm Desert AdobeHotel Apartments when youvisit the Desert Magazine Build-ing.

• • •Lorraine and Vernon Peck Jr.

Palm Desert, CaliforniaOpen for Season of 1948-49

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Palm Desert, California

lop aerial gunnery range within the next30 days. Vaughn W ood, county road com-missioner, said there were nearly 40 milesof county road there and the closing ofthe roads would cost the county $20,000in gasoline tax money. Some board mem-bers felt that the navy can consolidate itsgunnery range so it will not interfere withthe proposed Four-States, Niland-Blythehighway.

• • •NEVADA

Davis Dam Progresses . . .DAVIS DAM—Construction on the

$77,000,000 Davis dam, 67 miles belowHoover dam, has reached the half waymark, and the Colorado river will be di-verted around the dam site in the near fu-ture, according to the bureau of reclama-tion. This will mark the fourth time manhas taken the Colorado out of its naturalchannel. At Hoover and Parker, diversionwas accomplished through tunnels driventhrough the rock and at Headgate Rock

dam, an Indian service project, it was di-verted through an open channel. At Davisdam, the river's new route w ill be througha 4500-foot ditch, part of which is excavat-ed to a depth of 200 feet in solid rock. Tochange the course of the river, draglineswill remove earth plugs in the diversionchannel and huge trucks will dump rockfrom a trestle across the river until the oldcourse is blocked off.

Development for Nevada Park . . .LAS VEGAS—Negotiations are under

way to bring southern Nevada's scenicValley of Fire under the national park

service for development. At present thestate owns a strip of land sections border-ing the valley on the west and south whilethe federal government owns nine town-ships which include the major scenic por-tions. The state owns the secondary roadfrom Crystal, on Highway 91, to the east-ern boundary and the park service ownsthe road from Overton Landing to the east-ern boundary. The state plans to transferits land to the United States governmentin exchange for other federal lands in Ne-vada. The national park service has pro-posed that when transfer is complete, the34,000 acre Valley of Fire scenic section

be added to the Lake Mead recreationalarea.

Gold at Death Valley Castle? . . .BEATTY—Death Valley Scotty is back

in the news with the story of a secret cacheof $250,000 in gold dust which he be-lieves his partner, the late Albert M . John-son, hid somewhere in the vicinity of thefamous Death Valley Castle. Scotty saysthat two years ago Johnson made a trip tohis ranch, located a few miles from thecastle, and produced bags of almost puregold dust which totaled 7533 ounces whenweighed by the two men. Scotty could not

say where the gold came from but whenthe hoard was not mentioned in John-son's will, he started to search for it. Par-

tial confirmation of the story came fromMr. and Mrs. Henry Ringe, managersofthe castle, who told of a conversation withJohnson during which he expressed con-cern over disposal of the gold.

Pay Dirt at Museum . . .CARSON CITY—TheNevada Appeal

believes officials of the Nevada state mu-seum might well abandon their model

mine project in the basement of the mu-seum and switch over to actual mining op-erations. The museum is in the old U. S.mint building in Carson City, and dirttaken from beneath the stone structure hasassayed nearly $100 a ton, gold and silver.J. E. Green, museum director says thatW. M. Donovan, Silver City, tested theground and reported $66.50 in gold and$27.09 in silver. Green believes the dirtbecame "salted" with gold and silver dustthrough the floor while the mint was inoperation.

Up the Colorado . . .BOULDER CITY—Four men—a Mr.

Hudson and his son Edward of PasoRobles and Otis Marston and Willie Tay-lor of Berkeley—were to attempt to runthe Colorado river from Lake Mead up-stream to Lee's Ferry in June in a 19-footcruiser, Esmeralda II, powered with a 75h.p. marine engine. In 1944 Hudson at-tempted the voyage, but low water blocked

Think of relaxing under a "Violet Bay"sun in America's finest winter climate—care-free life in a choice nook of the un-spoiled desert.

THAT IS

PALM VILLAGEOver one million dollars of improve-

ments to provide such city conveniencesas pav ed streets, electricity, natural gas.telephones, shops, restaurants, well-stocked market, sparkling water,99.6%pure.

Lovers of the desert are buildingbeautiful hom es. Just 12 miles b eyon dand through Palm Springs on Highway111.

Thirty minutes ride from the snow andmountain resorts.

HOMESITES from $795 to $3100.

Business and income opportunities—reasonable terms.

No place offers so much in restfuldesert living.

PALM VILLAGE LAND CO.P. O. BOX D.D.

PALM SPRINGS, CALIF.TELEPHONE, INDIO 7537




the effort. This June a stage of 70,000 to80,000 second-feet, higher than when anyprevious boat trip has been made on theriver, is expected. Twenty days were al-loted for the 345 mile trip and gasolinewas cached by pack train and Indian pack-ers at the head of Lake Mead, Diamondcreek, Havasu creek and Grand Canyon.

It Buzzed, He Jumped . . .TONOPAH—Listing the dangers a

man alone on the desert faces, the Tono-pah Times-Bonanza tells the story ofE. M. Booth. Booth was standing beside abig rock peering down into a 10-foot holein the Reveille country, when a rattlesnakesounded off behind him. Booth lookedaround, saw the snake within 18 inchesof his back, coiled and starting to strike.The man spread his wings and soared overthe 10-foot hole. It might have been a 30or 40-foot hole, Booth says. He wouldhave jumped anyhow. He barely made itto the other side. Had he fallen in that or

a deeper hole, he might never have got-ten out.

Big Pinyon Crop Predicted . . .GALLUP—The 1948 pinyon nut crop

will be the heaviest in years, according toreports from Zufii and Navajo Indians. Agroup of Zunis displayed heavily ladenbranches in Gallup in May and said theharvest to the south would be good. Na-vajo report the trees on the Ganado ridgeloaded with cones. The cones in May were

about the size of walnuts. Each one carriedmany pinyon nuts which are freed w ith thefirst heavy frost in the fall. The nuts are animportant cash crop for the Indians.

Is Billy the Kid Alive? . . .CARLSBAD—Billy the Kid has been

in Mexico since his supposed death in1881 instead of lying in a grave at FortSumner, according to J. W . W eldy, 83, ofCarlsbad. Weldy claims he talked withBilly in a Las Cruces drygoods store fouryears ago. Weldy says Billy became sus-picious while on the way to the Maxwell

house where history declares he was shot

to death by Sheriff Pat Garrett on the nightof July 14, 1881. The K id kept on ridingand reached Mexico where he married andwent into cattle ranching. The man whowas shot to death at Fort Sumner, accord-ing to W eldy, was a spy for a cattle baron.

Taos Artist Honored . . .SANTA FE—An exhibition of the life

work of Ernest L. Blumenschein, notedTaos artist, opened at the Museum of NewMexico gallery late in May. The exhibitcommemorates the 50th anniversary ofthe founding of the Taos art colony byBlumenschein and Bert Phillips in 1898.At the opening of the show, Blumen-chein was to be awarded an honorary artfellowship of the School of American Re-search.

Social Security for Indians . . .ALBUQUERQUE — Reservation Indi-

ans can apply for assistance under the so-cial security act now, Eric T. Hagberg,

United Pueblo agency superintendent, no-

NEW MEXICO

Zufii Can Vote . . .GALLUP—Mason Harker, Zuni In-

dian, became a registered voter in Mc-Kinley county by presentation to thecounty clerk of receipts for taxes paid onland he owns in Valencia county south ofthe reservation. A district court ruling byJudge David Chavez last year held NewMexico Indians were eligible to registerand vote if they paid an ad valorem tax onreal property.

Change Ceremonial Program . . .GALLUP—Changes in the Inter-Tribal

Indian ceremonial programs for this yearwere decided upon by directors of the showat a meeting in May. All ceremonial dancesare to be eliminated from afternoon pro-grams, which will consist entirely of rodeoevents, sports and special features. Nightprograms will be devoted to ceremonialdances. Directors believe that many visi-tors who have seen an afternoon perform-

ance and who have gone away with mis-taken ideas about the ceremonials will nowremain for the night show, which is thehighlight of the program. The Inter-Tribalceremonials will be held August 19-22 thisyear.

Aztec Monument Expanded . . .AZTEC—President Truman has added

a 1225-acre tract of land to Aztec Ruinsnational monument here. The land, whichthe president's proclamation said containsruins of unusual scientific value, was do-nated to the United States by the South-western Monuments association. The orig-inal monument contains a large E-shapedpueblo ruin, with approximately 500rooms, dating to about 1100 A. D.

T H R E E M I L L I O N D O L L AP O W E R B U S IN E S S

IMPERIAL IRRIGATION DISTRICT'S POWER REVENUEFOR 1947 TOTALED MORE THAN THREE MILLIONDOLLARS.

TOTAL NET POWER SALES for 1947 was $3,057,296.33—an increase of $370,000.00 over the sales of the previousyear. MORE IMPORTANT is the total of $1,133,364.71 inNET REVENUE as compared with the 1946 TOTAL OF$932,744.28—A GAIN of $200,620.43.

This large increase in power revenue was made possibleby greater consumption of electricity, previous eliminationof competition, and careful business planning which iscontinuing to provide for expanding power needs of rapid-ly growing communities.

Twelve years of successful growth is ample proof thatImperial Irrigation District's Power Program when fullyde velo pe d will take care of future requirements, eve n betterthan it ha s past nee ds.

Im p e r ia l Ir r ig a tio n D is tr ic t

U s e Yo u r O w n P o w e r - M o k ei tP a y f o r t h eA l lA m e r ic a n C a n a l

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 8 37



tified Pueblo governors in May. Those eli-gible are needy persons over 65, physical-ly disabled persons and needy children.Plans call for the public welfare depart-ment to pass on the applications and In-dian agencies concerned to pay the allow-ances. Hagberg said, however, that theagency had less than $500 to use on suchcases until the end of the fiscal year, June3 0 , 1948.

• • *UTAH

Inventory Pioneer Material . . .SALT LAKE CITY—The state central

company of the Daughters of Utah pio-neers has completed inventory and filingof thousands of pioneer journals, bi-ographies and related historical material.M r s . Kate B. Carter, president, directedvolunteer workers in the project, whichwas preliminary to publication of a cata-logue. The collection includes 20,000 pio-neer biographies, 1700 Bibles, documentssigned by Brigham Young, Joseph Smith

and other Mormon church and territorialleaders. Important new source materialswere said to have been uncovered andmade accessible to researchers through theinventory.

River Adventurers . • .BLUFF—The Explorers Scout group of

Encinitas, California, started an expeditiondown the San Juan and Colorado riversfrom Bluff to Lee's Ferry, Arizona, June1 4 , with Harry Aleson in charge. TheScouts, guests of Charles W. Larrabee ofEncinitas, were to visit many attractionsalong the river, including Rainbow bridge.From Moab came the report that Mr. andM r s . Preston Walker of Grand Junction,Colorado, and Otis and Margaret Marstonof Berkeley, California, had completed thefirst boat trip down the Dolores river fromnear its source to its junction with theColorado. The voyage was made in acataract-type boat built by Norman Nevillsand the Dolores was declared to be moreturbulent than the Colorado and Snakerivers. A voyage on the Green from LilyPark, 75 miles above Jensen, was less suc-cessful. Near Island Park, the rubber raftstruck a rock in swift water and all fouroccupants were thrown into 12 foot waves.Arnold Kidd, Harold Twitchell and Er-win Day managed to reach the river bank,although scattered out for three miles. But,at last report, Everett Billings had not beenheard from. The life preserver he was be-

W IN IN D E S ERT 'S PH O T O C O N T E S TIt's a little warm on the low deserts of the Southwest—but there is no

limitation on subject matter for Desert's monthly photo contest, so longas the picture is essentially of the desert. Photos of the Grand Canyon'scool North Rim, the Indians and their plateau country, the high desertsof Nevada, the beautiful land of Utah, the mountains of New Mexico—all have a chance for prize money and for the recognition of photographsreproduced in Desert Magazine.

Entries for this month's contest must be in the Desert Magazine office,Palm Desert, California, by August 20 and winning prints will appearin the O ctober issue. First prize is $10; second prize, $5. For non-winningpictures accepted for publication, $3 each will be paid. Entries whicharrive too late for one month's contest are entered in the next.

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

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

time and place. Also technical data: camera, shutter speed, hour of day, etc.3—PRINTS WILL BE RETURNED ONLYWHEN RETURN POSTAGE IS

ENCLOSED.4—All entries must be in the Desert Magazine office by the 20th of the

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

Desert Magazine requires first publication rights only of prize winningpictures.

6—Time and place of photograph are immaterial, except that it mustbe from the desert Southwest.

7—Judges will be selected from Desert's editorialstaff, and awards willbe made immediately after the close of the contest each month.

ADDRESS ALL ENTRIES TO PHOTO EDITOR, DESERT MAGAZINE,

TH E

PALM DESERT. CALIFORNIA

lieved to have been wearing was recoveredthree miles down the stream near themouth of Green river gorge.

Will Open A neth Indian School . . .BLUFF—Two quonset huts for dormi-

tories at the Indian service school at An-eth, 20 miles east ofBluff, will be built thissummer under supervision of the Ameri-can Friends (Quaker) service committee.

The committee is sponsoring a nine-weekwork camp for about 25 college students atAneth, and the school building, vacant forsix years, will be put into condition foruse this fall. A Hopi Indian will be jobforeman. The society sponsors the workcamps to provide service for people of alocality and to give the students first handinformation on conditions in other partsof the country. The Indian service willboard students at the reopened Anethschool, and the state of Utah will pay theteachers.

It's Their Reservation . . .

BLANDING—The state of Utah has50,000 acres of land down in San Juancounty—but the Navajo won't admit it.The land is spotted in sections through thewestern Navajo reservation. The Navajoknow the general boundaries of their aridland, including San Juan river on thenorth, and when a lessee of state land at-tempts to reach his property, state officialsreport, the Indians promptly run him out.They refuse to believe that any land with-in the reservation boundaries belongs toanyone else. J. Fred Pingree, Utah landboard commissioner, says that unsuccessfulattempts have been made to trade the 50,-

000 acres for federal land—or the use offederal land—outside the reservation.

Jeep Reac hes Escalante Crossing. . .ESCALANTE—What is claimed to be

the first trip by automobile to the Cross-ing of the Fathers on the Colorado rivernear the Arizona border has been made byJack Breed, photographer, and ten com-panions. Two vehicles, a jeep and a four-wheel drive half-ton truck made the trail-less overland trip to the rim of Glen can-yon, the drivers fighting the vehiclesthrough miles of sand dunes, down slickrock, through canyons and over ledges.

Burnet Hendrix, Panguitch, drove the jeepand Rollie Allen, Panguitch, the truck.The Crossing of the Fathers is the fordused by Padres Escalante and Dominguezin their explorations in 1776.

Green River Bridge Opened . . .GREENRIVER — The new bridge

across Green river, located at Greenriver,Emery county, has been opened to alltraf-fic, including heavy trucks. The bridge is600 feet long, of reinforced concrete andsteel. Work on the structure started 20months ago when an overloaded truck col-lapsed the old bridge.

• • •M r s . Ruby Pratt Beesley, 74, daughterof Orson Pratt, apostle of the Mormonchurch, died in Salt Lake City, April 22.




Navajo Farm Workers Chosen . . .FAR MING TON — Navajo Indians

working on farms in Davis county provedso satisfactory last year that the countyfarm labor association has canceled re-quests for Mexican nationals and will relyentirely on Indian labor this year. The firstgroup to reach the area, 32 students fromthe Indian school at Shiprock, New Mex-ico, were housed in barracks movedfrom Hill field to the sugar factory nearLayton. Mrs. Nettie Nick, employed bythe government at the Shiprock school, isin charge of the barracks and does thecooking with the assistance of two girls,selected in rotation from the group. Farm-ers show up at the barracks in the morn-ing, request a certain number of workersand take those assigned to their farm forthe day. All the students speak English,but other family groups arriving in thecounty do not know any language exceptNavajo.

D e s e r t

P u m p sALL TYPES

ANY USE

SAMUEL T. HALSTED withROSCOE R. McCREA CO.

1408 So. Santa Fe — Los Angeles 21Mutual 1629 — at Nite Olympic 2360

U T A H D R E A M H O M EFOR SALE

Refer to July, 1943. Desert Magazinefor article and pictures by Charles Kelly.Known as Pleasant Creek ranch, located24 miles so utheast of Torrey, Utah, in theheart of Capitol Reef National Monu-ment, Wayne Wonderland, Waynecounty, Utah.

400 deeded acres, about 100 tillableacres. About 60 acres now in alfalfa andgrain. Excellent water rights from troutstream at no cost. 640 acres leased forgrazing and public domain rights. Allfarm land fenced.

Unique modern home and semi-modern foreman's home. Allis-Chalmerstractor with complete set implements in-cluding combine.

Excellent guest ranch site. Will pro-duce most of food for operation. In anarea of great scenic beauty now beingopened to the public. Airport site. Oiland Mineral possibilities.

TOTAL BARGAIN PRICE $32,000

Will consider half cash. See or writeL . I. KNEE. Owner

Pleasant Creek Ranch, TORREY, UTAH

Wild Horses Vanishing . . .SALT LAKE CITY—C. L. Forsling,

grazing director, estimates there were100,000 wild horses on federal range inthe fall of 1942. In March, 1943, an orderwas issued closing federal grazing districtsin the 10 western states to wild horses asa war measure to preserve fodder for cat-tle and sheep. During 1943, 25,273 wild

horses were removed and destroyed. ByJune 30, 1944, the bag had reached 77,-1 6 3 . The big roundup was said to be con-tinuing, while the remainder of the herdsare retiring to the wild country where thebreaks of deep-cut rivers cross mountain-ous desert land.

Land Transfer Approved . . .SALT LAKE CITY—Congress has ap-

proved a bill to permit states or cities tobuy surplus federal land for parks andrecreational areas. The land, mostly un-needed military reservations, would besold at half of fair value. It may be trans-ferred without charge for use as historicalmonuments if the size of the area is ap-proved by the national parks commission.Separate bills to transfer a number of for-mer military posts, including Fort Douglasat Salt Lake City, to public agencies havebeen delayed until agreement was reachedon the bill.

« • •A new map of part of the Colorado river

and its tributaries in Utah and Coloradois reportedly available for purchase fromthe U. S. Geological survey, Washington,D . C.

• • •The army intends to hold its bombingbase at Wendover in western Utah, ac-cording to Representative William A.Dawson.

• • •A 14-foot mirror owned by Clara

Decker Young, wife of Brigham Young,has been added to the historical exhibit ofthe Central Company, Daughters of UtahPioneers, in Salt Lake. Despite a tripacross the plains by ox-team, the mirroris perfect, except for a small crack in thelower right hand corner.

Whiterocks trading post, a Uintah basinlandmark, has been sold by Robert L.Marimon, Jr., to Lawrence E. and HaroldM. Phillips. Marimon had been trader atthe post for 18 years and the Marimonfamily had operated the post since 1902,except for a three year period.

• • •President Truman has signed the Wat-

kins-Dawson bill authorizing the bureauof reclamation to expedite completion ofthe Deer Creek irrigation project and theSalt Lake aqueduct.

FOR DENS AND COLLECTORS—Authentic Historic Map of

ARIZONA and NEW MEXICOYear 1866

Find the UNEXPLORED Areas—16x21 inch photo of ORIGINAL

Desirable for Framing$2.50 Postpaid

MAP SERVICE, Room 14845 N. 4th Ave. Phoenix, Arizona

VuU . . .ROMANTIC

ENCHANTING

Old

Personally escorted tours leave El Paso,Texas, on regular schedules. Twenty-fivedays of delightful sightseeing and recrea-tion included in these all-expense, strictlyA-l Mexican tours— licensed and fullybonded by the Federal Tourist Bureau ofMexico. You'll see Pyramids, Volcanoes,Bullfighting, and the unexcelled beauty ofFortin de las Flores. You'll visit such in-triguing cities as Monterrey, Mexico City,Acapulco, Taxco and many others. Accom-modations and meals at Mexico's finest ho-tels and resorts only. Transportation fromyour city to El Paso credited against priceof tour. Write for full details, prices andschedules.JOSE LEWELS' MEXICAN TOURS

Hotel Fisher, El Paso, Texas

COUNTY MAPSFor Schools, Hunters, Fishermen, Public Offices, and Travelers

CALIF.: with Twnshp., Rng., Sec, Mines, Roads, Trails, Streams, Lakes, R.R., Schools,Rngr. Sta., Elev., Ntl. Forest, Pwr. Lines, Canals, Boundaries, etc.

Sizes: 20x30 to 73x100 inchesAlameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn,Kings, Lake, Marin, Mariposa, Merced, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Sacramento, San Benito, SanFrancisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma, Stanis-laus, Sutter, Ventura, Yolo, Yuba—each $1 .

Tuolumne, Santa Barbara, Plumas, Pla-cer, Modoc, Madera—$1.50.

Tulare, Tehama, Imperial—each $2.San Diego, Mendocino, Humboldt—

$2.50.Trinity, Shasta, Mono, San Luis Obispo,

Monterey, Lassen—$3.

W O R L D 'S M I N E R A L S

Fresno, Kern, Riverside—$2.50 - $5.Los Angeles—$1 and $3.Siskiyou—$2 and $4.Inyo County, $15; E or W%$7.50; San

Bernardino, 73x110, $15; No. or So. %$7.50; NW., SW, NE., or SE%,$3.75.

Also Oregon, Idaho and Washington County Maps.2417 San Pablo Avenue — TEmplebar 2-3870

OAKLAND 12, California

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 8 39



L A P ID A R Y E Q U IP M E N T

S e n df o r . . .

C o v i n g t o n L a p i d a r y C a t a l o g u eEvery Lapidist will want to own one of theseneatly designed Loose-Leaf Catalogues of

Covington Lapidary Equipment and Sup-plies .Printed in two col-ors and bound inloose-leaf fashion,this beautiful cat-a 1 o g u e containsmuch useful in-formation for thebeginner as wellas for the profes-sional lapidist.

The large quanti-ty of COVING-TON Equipmentand Supplies thatis listed, illustrat-e d , priced and de-scribed, will makeit easy for you toselect practicallye v e ry t h in g y o un e e d *•" t h e IaP !"dary line.

The Covington "Loose-leaf Service" is a newfeature which brings to you free of chargenew and supplement sheets from time totime, thus keeping your catalogue up todate at all times.Send twenty-f ive cents in coin or s tampsTODAY, for your copy and the Loose-LeafService.

Size

RX-47

A COMPLETELAPIDARY

SHOPIN ONESMALL

MACHINE

The Most Practical Ever Devised forGem Cutting and Polishing

Send for Circular A

RX LABORATORY1317 Seaman Av e . El Monte. Calif.

A NATIONAL MAGAZINE FOR THEGEM CUTTER, COLLECTOR AND

SILVERSMITH

Published the First of Every Even Month$2.00 a Year (6 Issues)

Send for Price List on Books AboutGem Cu t t i ng—Si lve rc r a f t—Mine ra l s

P. O. Box 1228 Hollyw ood 28.Calif.Lelande Quick. Edi tor and Manager

A M AT E U R

By LELANDE QUICK, Edi tor of The Lapidary Journal

Once again we offer an interesting communi-cation from Harold Odle of Rollins, Montana.He writes: "Recently you referred to a fellowwho used a one-horsepower gasoline engine torun his machinery. I learned faceting with anold Evinrude outboard motor hooked up witha belt wheel on a propeller shaft with quite anelaborate system of hoses and tanks to circulatewater. I didn't waste water as every drop hadto be hauled in barrels from the lake. Later Ibought a second-hand Fairbanks-Morse one-and-a-half-horsepower stationary engine and ranthat faceting machine, cabochon outfit, lathe,planer, bench saw, jig saw and saw gummingwheels with a length of ^4" pipe for a lineshaft. Of course I didn't run all these at oncebut then I couldn't be at all of them at one timeeither. The gas engine was actually much lowerin runnin g cost than the electric motors 1 nowu s e , but not so handy. Now I have individualmotors on every tool except the saws which areon a line shaft. I run three saws with ahalf-horsepower motor.

"In regard to lapidary speeds, much could bewritten and still not much said, but in the mainyou are right. Grinding wheels should alwaysbe run at the correct speed of 6600 surface feetper minute. Sanders are almost always run tooslow. We hav e been running a series of sand-ers as high as 4500 r.p.m. with no more heattrouble than at slower speeds as the touch islighter at higher speeds. The higher the sand-ing speed the better the finish but be sure yourequipment can take it and still be safe. A disin-tegrating wheel at high speed is about as so-ciable as a hand grenade in a glass factory."

These columns have contained informationin the last year about substitutes for motors, soanyone in the desert regions without electricpower should be able to build himself a gemcutting outfit that will be as efficient as any-thing run by electricity. W e mentioned sometime back about the Savonius type windmill andwe promised several interested correspondentsthat we would run an article about it. Investiga-tion however indicates that an article severalpages in length would not do justice to the sub-ject. It was the Savonius principle that poweredthe sensational rotor ships some years ago. Amodern adaption of the principle can be ob-served in the S type advertising signs that re-

volve with the wind. To explain the building ofa Savonius windmill involves higher engineer-ing, but almost anyone mechanically inclinedenough to build his own lapidary outfit shouldnot long be puzzled by the problem of harness-ing the wind for his use. And besides, there isnever any wind in the desert. (? )

As for grinding speeds, we always hesitate tooffer advice, for what is one man's meat is an-other man's cracked cabochon. We do thinkthat amateurs particularly should not be greatlyconcerned about speeds but be guided by therecommended speeds printed on the wheels bythe manufacturers. If one is used to machineshop practices and wants to mount wheels di-

rectly on the motor shaft one should do so. Butby and large the whole subject of speeds is con-fusing to the amateur and some folks attempt to>make the whole thing far too complicated.Grinding gems is not difficult. Let the amateurbuy a good arbor and run the wheels on aquarter-horsepower motor; grinding at the mo-tor speed (usually 1750 r.p.m.), sanding a lit-tle slower and polishing at about half motorspeed and he won't go wrong. Besides that, he-will be playing safe with himself as well as-with his cabochons.

When one becomes fairly skilled in cuttingand polishing, and time means more to him, theexperimenting with higher speeds is interesting.

However the amateur cuts for fun and a fewmore minutes spent in finishing a gem shouldbe of no consequence when he is not on a pro-duction line basis.

When it comes to saws—well, one couldwrite a book, but who wants to read a book onsawing? There are saws which cut through arock almost before you touch the rock to thesaw blade. Others take a long, long time. Somepeople run them slow to "save" the blade whileothers run the blade fast so that it doesn't stayin the rock so long and "wear out so fast."Something like the lady arrested for speedingwho gave as her excuse that she was speeding toa service station because she was running outof gas. A good rule and a safe rule is to sawand polish at about 500 r.p.m., sand at 1000and grind at about 1800 and quit worrying

about it. • • •W e are happy to report that the first con-

vention of the American Federation of Miner-alogical Societies featured a great amount of ex-cellent lapidary and jewelry work. Mr. Unruh'sminiatures were the best we have ever seen andMr. Renton's cabochons won us because we likebig cabochons and he does them that way. Mrs.Lloyd Roberson's jewelry equalled the finest wehave ever seen and it was displayed in such aunique manner that one could not fail to lingerfor more than a casual glance. It invited study.

Richard Pearl, well known author on gemand mineral subjects, was elected president ofthe Federation. Mr. Pearl is the only man in ourmemory who ever wrote and dedicated a bookto his mother-in-law. She must be a gem, andno pun is intended. Mr. Pearls new book isPopular Gemology and we discussed it lastmonth. It is receiving wide acceptance for itpresents the subject of gemology (not gem cut-ting) in a highly interesting manner.

The federation convention was not a big meet-ing. It may have seemed so to many in attend-ance, for it was certainly crowded. As a matterof fact, only about 1100 persons registeredwhereas the San Jose Lapidary society registered4968 persons recently at a non-commercial,strictly lapidary show in a much smaller com-munity. The California Federation show at LongBeach will be in progress as this appears andwe shall be greatly chagrined indeed if peopledo not visit it at the rate of 1000 an hour.

This page of Deser t Magazine i s for those who have, or aspi re to have, the i r owngem cu t t i ng and po l i sh ing equ ipmen t . Le l ande Qu ick , who ed i t s "The Lap ida ryJourna l ," wi l l be g la d to an sw er a l l que s t ion s in conn ect ion wi th your lapid ary work.And he wou ld l i ke de t a i l s abou t new sho r t cu t s o r dev i ce s wh ich l ap ida ry worke r shav e d i s cove red , t o pa s s on t o r ead e r s . Que r i e s an d in fo rma t ion shou ld be add re s s edto Deser t Mag azin e , Palm Deser t , Cal i fornia .






GEM MART A D V E R T I S I N G R A T E7c a Word Min imum $1.00

MINERAL SPECIMENS, s labsor material bythe pound for cutting and polishing, RXUnits , Felker Di-MetSaw Blades, Carborun-dum wheels, Cerium Oxide, Preform Cabo-chons, Indian jewelry, neck chains.Be sureand stop. A. L. Jarvis, Route 2, Box 350,Watsonville, California,3 miles S. on Statehighway No. 1.

ATTENTION ROCK COLLECTORS.It willpa y you to visit the Ken-Dor Rock Roost.Webuy, sell, or exchange mineral specimens.Visitors are always welcome. Ken-Dor RockRoost, 419 So. Franklin, Modesto, California.

MINERALS, GEMS, COINS, Bills,Old Glass,Books, Stamps, Fossils, Buttons, Dolls,Weapons, Miniatures, Indian Silver Ringsand Bracelets, Also Mexican. Catalogue5c.Cowboy Lemley,Las Cruces, New Mexico.

AT THE DESERT RAT'S NEST—Coobei

pedy opal, pinpointand blue fire (10 caratanthill garnets will wholesale smaller grade),cu t and uncut moonstones, Ceylon.AllBrazilian facet material in stock. A newblue sapphire up to 10 carats, flawless.Australian and Siam uncut zircons, Burmarubies. Tasmania white zircons, Queenslandsapphire.Geo. W. Chambers,P. O. Box 1123,Encinitas, Calif. Visitors inquire at Kizer 'sfilling station, corner101 and F St. for ad-dress.

PERRY 8" TRIM SAW. Now $24.75 at alldealerrs. L. E. Perry, 118 N. Chester, Pasa-dena 4, Calif.

MICRO-MOUNT boxes90c dozen, $7.00 perhundred, J. E. Byron, 1240 Pearl Street,Boulder, Colorado.

FO R THE BEST in New Mexico Agate visitorwrite James T. Lawyer, Industrial Minerals,92 3 W. Birch, Deming,New Mexico.

TEXAS AGATE—The best from many beds.A generous assortment postpaidfor $10. ElPaso Rock & Lapidary Supply, 2401 Pitts-burg St., El Paso, Texas. Phone M-4840.

INDIAN RELICS, Curios. Coins, Minerals,Books, Old Buttons, Old Glass, Old WestPhotos, Weapons, Catalogue5c. Lemley An-tique Store, Osborne, Kansas.

MINERAL SPECIMENS: Mic ro -moun tandThumb-nail sizes; write todayfor free list.J. E. Byron, Mining Engineer,1240 PearlStreet, Boulder, Colorado.

FINE PA P E RW E I G H T S — Pen mounts,matched sets, many mineral types. FeaturingTexas fluorescent turitella. Senton approval.Discount to dealers. Clay Ledbetter,2126McKenzie, Waco, Texas.

CORRECT INSTRUCTIONSfor cutting an-Jpolishing cabochons with description neces-sary equipment. $1.00. Western LapidarySupply Co., 117 23rd St., Manhattan Beach,Calif.

C O M B I N AT I O N of Rhodonite and Jasper.Very colorful and unusual. Samples $1.00.Al Thrower, P. O. Box 305, Santa Cruz,California.

ROCK COLLECTORS—Attention!I am cover-ing California, Oregonand Washington thissummer with the finest variety of rock andmineral specimensin the West, for sale, inthe Trailer Rock Store. Send your address—Iwill notify when in your district.The Rock-ologist (Chuckawalla Slim),1152 So. 2ndAve., Arcadia, Calif.

GOOD CUTTING material from Nevada,5lbs. $3.50, 10 lbs. $6.00, 10 sq. in. $2.00, 25sq . in. $4.00. Send for price list on other cut-ting material, minerals, hand made siiverjewelry, etc. John L. James, Box 379, BattleMountain, Nevada.

MONTANA MOSS AGATESin the rough forgem cutting $1.00 per lb. plus postage. AlsoSlabbed Agate25c per sa. in. (Minimum or-de r $1 00). Elliott Gem Shop. 26 Jergins Ar-cade, Long Beach2, California.

MINERAL SETS—24 Colorful Minerals (iden-tified) in lxl comnartments—Postage paid,$3.50. Prospector's Set of 50 Minenls ( iden-tified) in lxl compartments in cloth rein-forced sturdv cartons. Postage paid $5.75.Elliott's Gem Shop, 26 Jergins Arcade, LongBeach 2, Calif.

ROSE QUARTZ: $1.00 per lb., rough. Fromfinest deposit known. Europeanand Asiaticmarket before war. Rose Quartz, 283 Wild-wood Park, Fort Garry,Man., Canada.

$1.00 BRINGSYOU 1 beautiful spedmenofFluorescent Colorado Travertine. Writeforprice list on other mineral SDecimens. Tackthe Rockhound, P. O. Box 86, Carbondale,Colo.

JADE SLABS: whiteor green, also rhodoniteslabs, four square inches or more in eachslab, 50c. Jade by the pound $5.00 Chas.O.Larson, 613 French St., Yreka, Calif.

STRIKING GEMS, brilliant minerals, dazzlingfluorescents. Highway 91. center of town,next to court house. St. George, Ut^h. Su-perior Minerals.(N o mail orders untilDec.)

PSEUDOHEXAGONAL Aragonite crystals,a few sharp edges, show twinning flames,light limonite color, translucent. Some pene-tration twins.y 2 " to 3" dia. From Palo DuraCanyon, Texas. $1.00 to $3.00. W. F.Dukes , P. O. Box 17, Golden, Colo.

BEAUTIFUL ARIZONA AGATES: Pol ished

samples and listings $2.00. Unpolishedsam-ples $1.00. Arizona Agate Mines, Cave Creek,Ariz.

R O C K H O U N D S :The Black Range Lodge,op-erated by rockhounds, locatedat Kingston,New Mexico, welcomes those interestedinminerals as well as all others. Kingston is a"ghost town" in the Black Range mountains.The elevationis 6200 ft., the climate is pleas-ant. Rates are reasonable.

FIFTY MINERAL SPECIMENS,% " or over,boxed, identified, described, mounted. Post-paid $4.00. Old Prospector, Box 21B139,Dutch Flat, Calif.

M O N TA N A A G AT Ein the rough for gem cut-

ting. From the Yellowstone river area. Goodcutting material$1.00 lb. Extra good $2.00lb . All prepaid. Minimum order5 lbs. NelsChristoferson, Richey, Montana.

LOOK—Just purchased Chuck Jordan'ssur-plus stock and we will do business at 453 E.Garvey, El Monte, in Chuck's old place ofbusiness. Chuck willdo business at Town &Country Market,Los Angeles. We will addtwo other large collectionsto the stock wehave. We will do wholesale and retail. All or-ders guaranteed or your money will bepromptly refunded. So here we go—Slabs,$2.00 per lb. Geodes and nodules, 70c lb.Cutting material,6 lbs. for $5.00. Tear drops,$1.50 lb. I musical geode, large size.If inter-ested, write. V2 'b- dopping wax, 50c. 220 &320 grit, 50c lb. Slab holders 12" long, holds5 slabs, 75c ea. Highland Park Lapidary toolsfor sale. Havea large assortmentof minerals—write your needs. Havea large saw willcut that big rock for you. Come on over to ourplace and we will talk it over. Bring youtswapping materialand money along. Comeready to look at a lot of ROK. Oh, yes, pic-ture wood $3.00 lb.—youbet it's first class.By the way, Tiger Eye $2.50 lb. This is Benthe Miner, signing off. Me wife, she say"enough—no more advertising, thisis al-ready too long." Above material shippedmixed. Morton Minerals& Mining, 453 E.Garvey, El Monte, Calif., and 1901 S. Mus-catel Ave., Rosemead, Calif. Ben and EdnaMorton.

15 ARROWHEADS, $1.00.3 spears, $1.00.7 birdpoints, $1.00. Groovedaxe, celt, 100beads, drill, knife and blunt—all for $3.00.Have Folsoms, Yumas, pipes, Indian carv-ings, pipe-tomahawks, antique guns, longsteerhorns. (Indian relics always wanted—•cash or exchange.) P. L. Summers, Stamford,Texas.

OPAL PORPHYRY, from Llano County,Texas. Most beautiful "Opaline Granite"inthis hemisphere.A limited amountof 1 to 60pound chunks suitablefor slabbing or cabo-chons. Its hardness of 6.5 to 7, and fine graintakes high polish. Chunksat 50c per pound,f.o.b. 124 So. Giavanola, San Bernardino,Calif. E. J. Woodmansee .

ARIZONA PETRIFIED WOODS,all colorsfrom beautiful redsto jet black. Highlycol-ored gem woods, grey and black gem wood20c inch, $1.50 pound. Have logs to 300pounds. Jet black and picture wood 25c inch.Very fine. AGATES. New find. Escadilloagate, bluish translucent, clearor banded.Takes high polish.You will like this. BlueHills agate anothernew find. Opaque, brownan d red coloring, with fossil-like treesandplants. Also fine golden moss agate.All 20cinch, $1.00 pound. Extra finered and goldenmoss 25c inch. These are all gem materials.Money back if not well pleased.We prepaypostage. SequoiaGem and Mineral Shop,321West Tulare Avenue, Visalia, California.

OREGON PLUME AGATE, from notedCen-tral Oregon gem fields. Finest quality plume,$1.50 sq. in. Assorted, vari-colored types,$1.00 sq. in.; cabochon sized slabs,50c each.Small rough chunks, $5.00lb. Fair warningfolks; this Plume is in strong demandand isgoing, going— ChoicestRed Moss Agate$3.00 lb. Other gemmy typesof Moss $1.25lb . From Plume vein, mixed mossand plume,vari-colored, 2 lbs. $3.00. Include postageon rough Agate, please. Satisfaction guaran-teed. C. G. Springer, 862 Roosevelt Ave.,Bend, Ore.

THE GEOLOGIST: This Rockand Mineralcollection is excellent for field use. The"Mother" or country rock familiarto manytypes is carefully picked.In reinforced card-board box 9x12x1, 50 rocks and minerals$4.00. Postage prepaid. Eckert MineralRe-search, 112 East Main St., Florence, Colo.




AMONG THE

R O C K H U n T E R S

Members of the Cheyenne Geology clubjoined with Colorado Mineral societyin a tripto the vicinity of Chimney rock, northern Colo-rado, early in May. The trip was reported aswindy, but aragonite crystals were collectedforuse in gift packages at the national mineralcon- •vention in Denver, and for private collections.

• • •

Mineralogical Societyof Utah and the GemStone Collectors of Utah made a field trip toClear lake for cutting quality labradorite. Eachsociety filed a claim covering areasin the collect-ing field in order to preserve collectingfor theirmembers and for others who obtain permissionfrom club officers. It was the third attempt toreach the field, the others being abandonedbe-cause of bad weather.

Many beautiful minerals that occurin Utahwere discussed in a talk, "Mother Nature'sJewel Box," given by Dr. Olivia McHugh atthe April 16 meeting of Gem Stone Collectorsof Utah, Salt Lake City.Dr . McHugh is an or-ganizer and charter memberof the Mineralogi-cal Society of Utah and supervisor and sponsorof the junior mineral clubof Salt Lake City.

• • •

A big "swapping party" was held by sixnorthern California mineral societiesat theAmerican Legion parkin Modesto, June20. So-cieties scheduled to participate were: Sequoia,San Jose, Monterey,San Francisco, EastBay andMother Lode.

R O C K B O O K - E N D S WA N T E D .All k i n d s -agate, onyx, jasper, howlite, petrified wood,marble, or what have you? W e are seekingboth conventionaland unusual designs, fullypolished or spot-polished.We are wholesalebuyers. Send full descriptionor sample onapproval. Desert Crafts Shop, Palm Desert,California.

COPPERS, SILVERS, GOLD. Choice crystal-lized minerals. Free lists. Thompson'sMin-eral Studio, Box 124, Soquel, Calif.

LOST GEMS from jewelrycut and replaced.Faceted stones to order. Custom sawing,5 to10c per sq. in. Souvenir and keep-sake stonesground and polished. Book Ends made fromwhat have you? Watson's,11074 EmelitaSt.,North Hollywood,Calif.

BACK AGAIN froma three months' triptoArizona, New Mexico, Utah and Coloradowith a beautiful selection of Agates, Tubes,Mosses, Red Banded, Blackand White Band-ed—best ever. Fern Opal, Agatized Dino-saur Bone, Malachite, Chrysocolla. BakerRanch Eggs with the most beautiful bandingever found. Garnets and Peridot for facetcutting. Let me send you an assortment ofslabbed materialat 15c sq. in. or 25c sq. in.,every inch a gem. You will be more thanpleased. Money back if not satisfied. Mini-

mum order $1.50, approximate postageplease. Call and pick out your own cuttingmaterial by the pound if down thisway. Geo.C. Curtis, The Agate Man, 645 1st St., Her-mosa Beach, Calif.

T he 17th annual meeting and picnic of theMineralogical Society of Southern Californiawas planned for June 6 in Oak Grove park nearDevil's Gate dam, Pasadena. Officers and di-rectors decided this yearto eliminate competi-tion among the exhibitions at the meetingandinstead to give an exhibitor's ribbon to every-one having a display. Chairmenfor the meetingwere: publicity and invitation, Don George;reception, Pauline Saylor; decorations,Mrs. Es-telle Ellery; exhibits, Louis Vance; grabbag,Jack Rodekohr; auction, Willard Perkin. Offi-cers for 1948-49 wereto be elected at the meet-ing.

• • •San Jose Lapidary society electedthe follow-

ing officers at its June meeting: president,Charles Murphy; vice-president,Mrs. NormanPendleton; secretary, Burton Stuart;and treas-urer, David Burridge.Ne w committee chairmena r e : field trips, Al Cook; programs, NormanPendleton; salesand display, Morton Bachrach;hospitality, Sue Bachrach; membership,Ger-trude Pendleton; librarian,R. D. Will iams;historian, Russell Grube; reservations, FrankGardiner. FrankJ. Esterlin, lapidaryof WalnutCreek, told about his apprenticeship and earlycareer cutting and polishing stones. A roundtable discussion on sphere cutting was sched-

uledfor the

July meeting.The

society's addressis P. O. Box 942, San Jose, California.• • •

Minnesota Mineral clubof Minneapolishasplanned a series of field trips for the summer.First trip of the season, May 16, was o Marineon the St. Croix where 90 collectors huntedingravel pits and washes for agate and petrifiedwood. June tripwas scheduled to Crosby,Min-nesota, and the July trip will be to Moose lakewhere there are several large gravel pits.

• • oA demonstration of faceting was staged by

Lowell Gordon at the May meeting of LongBeach Mineralogical society.A stone was com-pletely faceted, with Gordon explaining eachstep as the work progressed. June meetingofthe society was to be the quarterly potluckdin-

Richard M. Pearl, department of geology,Colorado college,was elected president of theColorado Mineral societyat t he May meeting.Ray W . Thaler is first vice-president; ChesterR. Howard, second vice-president;Mrs. JaneHayward, secretary-treasurer;Mrs. Mignon W .Pearl, 1130 Wood, Colorado Springs, Colorado,corresponding secretary. The society recentlywelcomed the 500th person to membership.Atth e May meeting colored slidesof Texas agatestaken by R. C. Mclver of Dallas were shown.

M O U N T I N G S1 8 " NECK CHAIN—Sterling,doz $ 3.50

Gold Filled, doz 4.50N o . 201-S Sterling Silver Bezel,ft 30N o . 201 Gold Filled Bezel,ft .55N o . 238 Gold Filled Bezel,ft .50CLEVICES for pendants, GF, doz 1.25CLEVICES for earrings, GF, doz 1.20PENDANT FRAMES, with chain,

22mm Round or 18x25mm Oval,Sterling Silver or Gold filled, doz 12.00

TIE SLIDES—Gold filled,doz 6.00CAST RINGS—Men's heavy Sterling,

asstd. shapes, unfinished, doz 9.00Additional Items when Available

A g a te J e w e l r y W h o le s a le(Price List Available)

O. R. JUNKINS & SONP. O. Box 1295 Newport . Oregon

D I S T IN C T I V E J E W E L R YM O U N T I N G S

WIDE SELECTION IN STERLING.GOLD FILLED, 10K GOLD

FREE ILLUSTRATED PRICE LISTSend for Your Copy TodayMail Orders Sent Post-PaidOpen Daily9 a. m. to 7 p. m.

ABERCROMBIES AGATE SHOPAGATES—LAPIDARY SUPPLIES

16505 So. Lakewood Blvd. .P. O. Box 727BELLFLOWER, CALIFORNIA

RARE MINERALS! . . .Rare Mineral Specimens photographedin

beautiful Natural Color!Send 50c for sample 2x2 in. color

slide and catalog.

H. G. GERNANDT8 0 4 % E. Palmer Ave, Glendale 5, California

ZIRCONS, loose, 1st quality. Pure white.Special: 3 Zircons approximate totalweight 3-kts. $6.40.W e can supply Zir-cons in all sizes and mountings of alltypes. Send order or write for details to-day. B. Lowe, Dept.DM, Holland Bldg.,St. Louis,Mo.

H E R EA R E T H EG I F T S

Y O U ' V E B E E N L O O K IN GF O R !Petrified Wood, Moss Agate, Chrysocolla.

Turquoise, Jade and Jasper Jewelry

HAND MADE IN STERLING SILVER

Bracelets, Rings, Necklaces, Earringsand Brooches

SPECIALLY SELECTED STONES WITHCHOICE COLORS AND PICTURES

Write for Folder with Prices

ELLIOTT'S GEM SHOP26 Jergins Arcade Long Beach 2. Calif.

Entrance Subwayat Ocean an d PineOpen 10 A. M. to 10 P. M. Daily

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 8 43



F I R E O PA L- M E X I C O10 small pieces—averageW''

3/*" $1-00

5 larger—average 3/4"-l" 1.006 still larger—1"-2" or over 2.001 small vial clear iire opal 1.50

50 rough mixed Mexican Opals,including honey, cherry, etc.,average 1" 1.50

ALL 5 LOTS POSTPAID—$6.00Although these are sold chiefly as

cabinet specimensand have plentyoffire, many of them will work up into nicecabochons.

Money Cheerfully Refunded if NotEntirely Satisfactory.

Polished Mexican Opalsand othergem stone cabochonson approval toresponsible persons.

DR. RALPH E. MUELLER3701 Valentine Road Kansas City2, Mo.

m i C ATA L O G -g pful Lapidary Inst-

ruc+ions..-Shou/d be inevery rocknuH library.I

fflui complete inform arion on the fimous I

Hilli^uist line oflapidary layjipmenr- includingIHill<juisra>m>3crUpi;nir,Hill<iuisM6'1?ock Sa w,'

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TRADING POST

NAVAJO INDIAN KUL.3 at J tTom S. Hubbell, 2331 Pico Blvd.

Santa Monica, California

NEW FACETING MATERIALAquamarine, Citrine, Topaz, Amethyst

and Smoky QuartzLapidary Equipment and SuppliesSheet Silver, Trim and Findings

Write for ListsS - T GEM & MINERAL SHOP

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mKZrmtTMPvort^Stll

According to the bulletin of the Hast Bay Min-eral society: "The num berof rocks a rockhoundhas does not always mean more happiness.Arockhound with 10,000,000 rocksis no happierthan one with 9,000,000."

• • •

Fifty members of the Mother Lode Mineralsociety, Modesto, metat Valley Springs, May2,and visited a new opal find where they dugtotheir hearts content. May 23, Bill Weston long-time member of the club, held open housefoithe Lodi and Modesto societies.At the regularMay meeting Roy Brown and F. R. Chatfieldshowed colored picturesof various trips,in-cluding club field trips.

o • •

Northern California Mineral society will sus-pend club activities during July and August,ex-cept for lapidary work which will continueatheadquarters.K. C. Peer, technical directorofMultiphase Laboratories,Inc., was to addressthe regular meeting June16. Topic: "Spectro-graphic Analysis of Minerals." O. E. Bowan,geologist with the state division of minesandDr. Austin Rogers spokeat the May meeting.May field tripto Fairfield was reported success-ful, with members obtaining blue, bandedandwhite onyx. June trip wasto Lombardi's ranchfor crystals.

• • •Climaxing a successful year, 120 members

and guests of the East Bay Mineral society helda barbecue dinnerat the Park Boulevard clubhouse, June 6. Officers elected May20 werein-stalled. MillardV. Moore is the new president;Ernest M. Stone, vice-president;J. J. Mallon,secretary; GerouldH. Smith, treasurer; GordonWhite, corresponding secretary;Dr. David F.Houston, director. Afterthe dinner, an exhibitof minerals, cut and polished stones,and handmade jewelry was shownin the display room.

• • •

Dr. Richard H. Jahns of the California Insti-tute of Technology, was to speak on "Pegma-tites in the Northern Partof San Diego County,"at the June meeting of San Diego MineralandGem society. Dr. Jahns has been activelyen-gaged in making a survey of pegmatites in thecounty. At the May meeting, Prof. BaylorBrooks spokeon origins of primary and secon-dary minerals. Tom Hall, studentin San Diegostate college, departmentof geology, showedslides of thin sectionsof minerals photographedunder the microscope. The board of directorshas voted to accept persons interestedin ceram-ics into the society, and it is planned to form aceramics division whenten or more sign up asbeing interested.

• • •Officers elected at the June meeting of the

Texas M ineral societyof Dallas were: president,William H. LaDew; vice-president, Otis Doz-ier; secretary-treasurer, RalphD. Churchill ;board of directors, Dr. Vernon M. BryantandAsa Anderson. Mrs. Robert Peck and FredBentley have unexpired termsas directors.

• • •Frank Latta wasto lecture on "Hunting Meth-

ods and Ceremonialsof the Yowlumee Indians"at the June 14 meeting of Kern County Mineralsociety of Bakersfield. Twenty-nine membersan d 10 guests attended the May meeting. Fieldtrip for the month was to the Parkfield jasperlocality.

• • •The Clark County, Nevada,Gem collectors

me t at Mrs. Anna Park's new museum, Las Ve-gas, June 5. About 30 members were present anda potluck supper was served. The new clubmeets every Saturday night and plansa field tripfor the next day.

• • •Dr. David Monach spokeat the May meeting

of Chicago Rocks and Minerals society.Dr.Monach, retired physicianand surgeon, startedhis hobby of silverwork after he wa s 65 yearsold.

COLUMBINE SOCIETY IS NEWSALIDA, COLORADO, GROUP

Membership in the new Columbine Gem andMineral societyof Salida, Colorado, reached23in May. Peggy L. Perry of Poncha Springsispresident, and Mavis Clark, Salida, secretary-treasurer. The club meets firstand third Tues-days at the junior high schoolin Salida.

• • •Marquette Geologists association was hostto

the Wisconsin Geological societyof Milwaukee,Joliet Mineralorist societyand Chicago Rocksand Minerals societyat their May meeting. Mostof the evening was takenup in examinationofthe exhibits on display. Electionof officers andshowing of two color films, oneon Grand Can-yon and on e on the Navajo, were plannedforthe June meeting, last before the summer recess.

• • •

San Fernando Valley Mineral and Gem societyof North Hollywood helda picnic and annualauction June 10. Profits from the auction areused to defray expensesof the fall gem show.There were two large tablesof jewelry and gemmaterial donated by members. June field tripwas planned to Gem hill.

• • •According to the Los Angeles LapidarySo-

ciety, Inc., 200,000 persons in Los Angelescounty are interested in cutting and polishinggem stonesas a hobby, and estimatesof gem andequipment dealers indicate that 30,000 actuallyown some kindof gem cutting equipment. Thesociety has built 100 glass show casesfor dis-play of the members' workin gems and jewelryduring the past two years. The societyis hold-in g its sixth gem show in conjunction withthestate conventionof the California FederationofMineralogical societiesin Long Beach munici-pal auditorium, July 16-18.

• • •

Wendell Stewart was guest speaker at Junemeeting of Pomona Valley Mineral club, heldin the chemistry building of Pomona college.His topic was "Mines and Mineralsin Mexico,"an d he projected Kodachromes whichhe and

Earl Calvert tookon trips into the Mexicanin-terior. He exhibited many specimensof Mexi-can gems and minerals, including opalscut andpolished by the Mexicans with crude equip-ment. The club will hold its annual picnicinJuly and plansa trip to California InstituteofTechnology museumfor August.

• • •

Modesto Leonardiwas to speak at the Junemeeting of Searles Lake Gemand Mineralso-ciety at the Trona club. July meeting wasto bea potluck dinnerand swapping partyat ValleyWells, July24.

• • •

Seattle Gem Collectors clubhas invited theTacoma Agate clubto join them in a picnic inSaltwater park, July 18. PaulH. Soil will be incharge. Bernard Knudson spokeat the May

meeting, tellingof his experiences during eightyears while he lived in and near Nome, Alaska.

• • •June meeting of Dona Ana County Rock-

hound club of New Mexico was held at thehome of R. V. Bandies, Mesilla Park. Studyofthe quartz family was continued, and Mr. andMrs. Fred Lemon of Las Cruces demonstratedfluorescence of minerals from their collection.May meeting was at the home of RuthRan-dell, Mesilla Park. Duringthe month the clubha d two official and several unofficial fieldtrips and obtained much material. June fieldtrip was plannedto Tiergarten cavein the SanAndreas mountains.

• • •

Walter Fiss, Barstow photographer, present-ed a pictorial trip to Pisgah crater at the Junemeeting of the Mojave Desert Gemand Min-eral society of Barstow. The pictures showednumerous lava blisters, someof them broken,and one natural bridge formation.

44 TH E DESERT MAGAZINE



Hollywood Lapidary society planned annualelection of officers at the June meeting. Presentofficers are James C. Arnold, president; FrankGraf, first vice-president;Mrs. Ken Baxter,sec-ond vice-president; EvinitaNew, recordingsec-retary; Delia Holbrook, corresponding secre-tary, A. H. Behner, treasurer; Stuart Peck,con-stitution and by-laws; Arthur Hawkins,his-torian. Virginia Lee Haithcock is editor of thesociety's newsy mimeographed bulletin.TheJune election will markthe society's secondan-niversary, with their membershipof 75 com-

plete. At the May meeting Jack Gaston, presi-dent of Los Angeles Lapidary society, gaveanillustrated lectureon all phases of gem cutting.

• • »Ocie Randall, writingin the Sequoia Mineral

Society Bulletin, advises buyersof uncut tur-quoise to try to detect a strong odor of matrixor to let the rock dry a short time in the hot sun.Some of the material, he says, is soaked in waterto brighten the color temporarily before it issold.

M IN E R A L S E T SHIGH GRADE SPECIMENS

42 Metal l ic Min erals $3.2542 Non-Meta l l i c Mine ra l s 2.7542 Rocks an d Rock Si l ica tes 2.50

126 S p e c i m e n s — C o m p l e t e Set 8.00In % -inch spaced compartment trays, handlabeled and identified as to ore, type and lo-cation. Assembled by engineer-prospectorfor practical study and field use . . . PostagePrepaid and Guaranteed.

LOUIS A. SAUERSP. O. Box 177 Tujunga . Calif.

1121 Broadway, Eureka, California

• SAWED SLABS

• AGATE JEWELRY• SPECIMENS• UNCUT MATERIAL• CUTTING & MOUNTING

G e o . A. Greive — Delia C. GreiveO n H i g h w a y U. S. 101

Oppos i t e S tump House in Eureka, Calif.

HEART - PEAR - LOBE - OVAL s h a p e s ,cut a nd po l i shed cha lcedony aga te .$1.00 each. A FREE COMPARATORwi th each .

Box 134-D, Victory Center An nexNorth Hollywood, California

PRESCOTT JUNIORSWINAT NATIONAL CONVENTION

Seven Prescott rockhounds—four from Yava-pa i Gem and Mineral societyand three from theJunior Rockhounds—who visitedthe first na-tional convention of the American Federationof Mineralogical societiesin Denver, June13-1 6 , reported an interesting and eventful expe-rience. The Prescott Junior Rockhoundswon iheprize for the junior mineral exhibit. Delegatesto the convention were Mr. and Mrs. E. E.Michael, YavapaiGem and Mineral society,andChip Murdock and John Butcher of the JuniorRockhounds. Alternates were Charles Murdockand Harold Butcherof the Yavapai societyandPete Murdockof the juniors. Special awardsforexhibits were won by Mr. and Mrs. Michael,Chip Murdock, John Butcher, Nancy Merwin,John Yount, Ann Crittenden, Bobby Williams,Eddie Brooks and Geoffrey Butcher.

• • •

Sequoia Mineral society scheduledthe firstoutdoor meetingof the year for June 5, 1948, inRoeding park, Fresno, witha picnic dinnerplanned.

• • •The Southwest Mineralogists, Inc., have

elected the following officersfor 1948-49: WaltShirey, president; Frank Trombatore, vice-president; Mrs. James Creighton, recordingsecretary; Connie Trombatore,338 Pomelo St.,Monterey Park, California, corresponding secre-tary; Pearle Arnold, treasurer.The club's boardof directors consist of the officers and JamesCreighton, Henry Greenand George Schwarz.

• • •Sound films on "Oil for Aladdin's Lamp"

and "Chemistry of Aluminum and Its Process-ing" were shown to the Pacific Mineral societyat the June dinner meeting.The society's fieldtrip for May was to Goodsprings quadrangle,Nevada, where feldspar crystals, hydrozincite,smithsonite, lead and other minerals werecol-lected.

• • •

J. W. Anderson of Baltimore offers a goodsuggestion for the person who likes to make.his own tools. He claims that good woodenmallets may be made by using ordinary gaspipe T connections. Grind, file and polishthese and then use a pipe wrench to screw3 " long pieces of hard wood into the connec-tions and another piece 10" long for the handle.Then shape, sand paperand varnish. The Tconnection will give weightto the mallet andprevent the wood from splitting.

• o •

Copper was used by man as early as 4000B.C.• . •

Fluorite, or fluorspar, is made up of calciumand fluorine. It was named from the Latin word"to flow," since it melted easily. The propertyof minerals to glow under ultraviolet lightwascalled "fluorescence" becauseof its observancein fluorite. Fluoriteis used in making glassandenamels and as a flux in the iron and steel in-dustries. Hydrofluoric acidis used in the pre-paration of high octane gasoline, refrigerants,plastics and insecticides.

• . •If you long to cover your old homemadesaw

with a nice plastic hood, likeyou see on someof the new saws, but you cannot get the mate-rial we offer the following idea. No matterwhere you are located you should be near anx-ray. Go to your nearest hospital or to yourdoctor, if he has an x-ray, and ask them to saveyou their under-exposed films.The best tech-nicians will spoil films occasionallyand theyare thrown away. Afteryou collect a few large

negatives, that are grey instead of deep black,only a lack of ingenuity will prevent yourcut-ting out and putting together someof the trick-iest hoods and splash pans ever invented—andyou can see right through them.

The story of granite is told by J. DrexelMil-ler in September Rock Rustlers' News, bulletinof the Minnesota Mineral club. Graniteis aproduct of heat in ancient times, formed fromalava rich in silica, alumina, potashand soda,but poor in iron, lime and magnesia. It flowedquietly over the land, welling up from subter-ranean cavities. The name, granite, designatesthe granular crystalline rock composedof crys-tals of quartz, orthoclase feldsparand mica.

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A U G U S T , 1 9 4 8 45



ffun

By RANDALL HENDERSON

rHE TEMPERATURE outside has been hovering around110 degrees. That means it is just an average summerday on the floor of the desert. But indoors it is very

comfortable, for most of the folks who live in the desert countrynow have air coolers in both homes and workshops.

Motorists from cooler climates speed along the highways andwonder why anyone would come to the desert for a permanenthome. Actually, the summer heat holds no terrors for healthypersons with active minds. Children thrive in this climate. Oc-casionally there are adults who cannot take it for physical rea-sons.

But for those who enjoy reading, or who have work or hob-bies which keep their minds active the days pass quickly andpleasantly, and when one perspires freely the body is cleansedof some of the poisons that come from over-eating.

It would be good for all normal humans to spend a summeron the desert periodically.

* * *Archeology is a glamorous occupation—only for those who

have never worked at it. And if you want confirmation of thisassertion, let me quote from a little mimeographed bulletin is-sued monthly by the San Diego Museum of Man:

"This is the time of year when we get many calls and requestsfrom people who want to be archeologists and go exploringfor the summer. And when we show them one of the archeolo-gists's most important tools—a shovel—some of them exclaim"Not that!' When they really are serious, we tell them aboutthe digging and the bugs and dirt and heat. Most archeologistsin the field look forward to a day of hot baths, fresh vegetablesand fruit, and some of the basic comforts of life. And after theyhave been home a few months they leave again for more bugsand dirt and heat."

* * *Down through the ages the desert has been a place of re-

treat for those who were preparing for the ministry, or whosought that poise which can come only when we are at peacewith ourselves. But Suzanne Dean of Fullerton, California, hasreminded me that it is not necessary to go to the desert to findsolitude. She sent me this quotation from Emerson'sSolitude:

"It is easy in solitude to live after our own, but the great manis he who in the midst of the crowd, keeps with perfect sweet-ness the independence of solitude."

* * *My desk this June 30th morning is a little retreat in a con-

fusion of boxes and crates and cabinets. The reason: Desert'sstaff is preparing to spend the Fourth of July weekend movingto our new publishing plant at Palm Desert in California'sCoachella valley.

This August issue is being made up in El Centro, but willbe mailed from the less-than-a-year-old postoffice at Palm Des-ert. For many years we have been trucking the page forms toLos Angeles for press-work and binding. As soon as the bigpresses are installed in the new plant, the entire printing opera-tion will be done in our own shop.

There is much work yet to be done at the new site. Thegrounds around the building are still littered with constructiondebris. But that will all be cleared away and the site landscapedwith the native plants and rocks of the desert. We are planningto carry photographs and a more complete story of this desertpublishing venture in our anniversary issue in November.

Around the new building will be generous parking areas re-served for Desert's growing family of readers. Don't come toosoon for it will require several weeks to put our new house inorder—but by early fall we will have the welcome sign out forall of you.

El Centro has been kind to us. This is a progressive andfriendly community—the nerve center of one of the most pro-ductive farming areas in the land. We are grateful to El Centropeople for their loyalty to our publishing project.

But it was necessary that we have more space—and we want-ed to build our new home out on the sands among the grease-wood and palo verdes. Hence the move to the lovely desert coveat the base of the Santa Rosa mountains overlooking Coachellavalley. That spot has a sentimental interest for me. The SantaRosas have always been a favored area for camping and explor-ing, and it was during a climbing trip on the 8000-foot ridgeoverlooking the Palm Desert cove that Wilson McKenney andI more than 12 years ago reached the final decision to launchDesert Magazine.

You'll see some new type faces in later issues of Desert, andperhaps more advertising, for it will require increased incometo maintain so spacious a plant. But we have no thought ofchanging in any important detail the editorial policies of themagazine. For nearly 11 years we have kept always before usthe goal expressed in our first issue in these words:

"The desert has its own traditions—art—literature—industry and commerce. It will be the purpose of DesertMagazine to crystallize and preserve these phases of des-ert life as a culture distinctive of arid but virile America.W e w ould give character and personality to the pursuits ofDesert peoples—create a keener consciousness of the heri-tage which is theirs—bring them a little closer together ina bond of pride in their desert homes, and perhaps in somemeasure break down the prejudice against the desert whichis born of misunderstanding and fear."

46 TH E D E S E RT M A G A Z I N E



KINO WROTE THE STORYOF PIMERIA ALTA

Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kinowas missionary, church builder, explorer,map-maker and ranchman. During theears 1687-1711, when he founded andesided at Mission Dolores in present-dayonora, he made more than 50 journeyslong unknown trails in Sonora, Arizonand Lower California. Despite his almostonstant labors, Kino found time to writepersonal account of his wanderings. His

ecord was used by early Jesuit historians,

hen became lost for a century and a halfwhile its very existence was questioned.

About 40 years ago, Dr. Herbert E.Bolton discovered the manuscript in thearchives at Mexico City, written in Kino'sown hand. Bolton translated and editedhis find and it was published in 1919 asKINO'S HISTORICAL MEMOIR OFPIMERIA ALTA. That edition has longbeen out of print, and a collectors' item.Bolton's later biography of the great Jes-uit missionary, Rim of Christendom alsois out of print and selling for double thepublished price. The only work easily ob-tainable has been Frank Lockwood's ex-cellent but brief With Kino on the Trail.

Now KINO'S HISTORICAL MEM-OIR OF PIMERIA ALTA has been re-published by offset from one of the orig-inal editions. It again is possible for thegeneral reader to follow Kino's day-by-day story of the spiritual affairs, explora-tions, Indian troubles, native customs andmission life in Pimeria Alta (Sonora andArizona) from 1687 to 1710, in the formof diaries, letters and historical summar-ies.

Kino's own story, told in the letters andan introduction, is almost unbelievable.Some of his expeditions on foot or horse-back were over 1000 miles long. He madethe first accurate map of Pimeria Alta,published in 1701 and the standard for along period. He proved California was apeninsula rather than an island. He trav-eled up and down the arid Carnino delDiablo, whose waterless length was tocost the lives of many later adventurers.He founded a chain of missions, includingSan Xavier del Bac. A man of tremendousvitality, Kino averaged 30 miles a day inthe saddle over long distances when hewas 60 years old.

Kino's historical memoir is one of thebasic works of Southwestern history andessential reading for anyone interested inthe Jesuit missionary and his times.

University of California Press, Berke-ley, California. Maps, plans, index, bib-liography, introduction outlining the lifeand writings of Kino. Two volumes inone, 708 pps. $10.00.

THEY MADE REMEDIESFROM THE DESERT PLANTS

How intimately desert plants are re-lated to the life and lore of the New Mexi-cans is told by L. S. M. Curtin in the beau-tifully printed book, HEALING HERBSOF THE UPPER RIO GRANDE. A trav-eler through the desert may think it a bar-ren wilderness. But for those who belongto the earth it is grocer and druggist. Ityields food and fuel, provides householdnecessities and craft materials—and mostof all is a source of remedies for all ail-ments from colic to bewitchment.

Having no access to doctors or supplystores, natives developed their own curesand took their necessities from what grewaround them—the roots, leaves, stems,bark, blossoms, gum—even the earth it-self. Many of the plants yield products formultiple uses. Juniper, mistletoe berries,

the gourd, red chile, creosote, lemonadeberry, prickly pear, corn, yuccas, pinyonpine, mesquites—all contributed fullmeasure to native life. Rabbitbrush pro-duces a gorgeous yellow dye. Chia sageseeds are so nutritious one tablespoonfulwill sustain an Indian 24 hours on aforced march. From the cottonwood bolethe Pueblo Indians fashion drums andfrom its roots the Hopi carve Katchina

dolls. Even the decorative scarlet bugler isa valued item of the native medica.

Inspired by the interest of the late MaryAustin who deplored the rapid disappear-ance of folklore, L. S. M. Curtin startedthe long, intensive research which wasconcluded with publication of HEALINGHERBS OF THE UPPER RIOGRANDE. In it, the plants and otherremedies are listed under their Spanish ornative names, then popular and scientificclassifications. But it is far more than acompendium of native plants and theiruses. The work combines botany, plantgeography and history, customs, mythsand superstitions, daily rites of cookeryand handicraft, and other facets of lifeamong Southwest Indians and Spanishspeaking peoples of New Mexico. Thebook was designed by Merle Armitageand illustrated with drawings by P. G.Napolitano. While carrying the imprintof the Laboratory of Anthropology, it isthe first publication of the San Vicentefoundation.

San Vicente Foundation, Inc., Santa Fe,New Mexico, 1947. 281 pps. 30 photo-graphic illustrations, remedy and generalindexes, bibliography, endmaps. $7.50.

The Indians Are Dancing . . .

DANCING GODSBy ERNA FERGUSSON

The first popular account of the Indian ceremonials of New Mexico and Arizona,will add to your understanding of the Snake dance, the Corn dance, the Devildance. Erna Fergusson, born in the Southwest, describes and interprets the dancesof the Rio Grande and Zufii pueblos, the Hopi, Navajo and Apache Indians. With

16 halftone illustrations from the paintings of famous Southwestern artists.THIRD PRINTING $3.50 POSTPAID

OTHER BOOKS TO ENRICH YOURINDIAN COUNTRY VACATION . . .

FIRST PENTHOUSE DWELLERS OF AMERICA, Ruth M. Underhill $4.25Beautiful revised edition of a standard work on the Pueblo Indians.

ACOMA. Mrs. William T. Sedgwick ... $2.50Substance of all that has been written about New Mexico's Sky City.

SPIN A SILVER DOLLAR. Alberta Hannum _ $3.75The story of Wide Ruins desert trading post, with color illustrations by theNavajo Indian boy-artist, Little No-Shirt.

Books Postpaid to YouCalifornia Buyers Include 2%% Sales Tax

DESERT CRAFTS SHOP — — — — — Palm Desert, California

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 8 47



Photograph by Alice M. Hartman, Indio, California.

D A T E L O A F. , . f romVa l e r i eJ e a n O a sisPictured above in theloaf, sliced, and in finger strips is Russell Nicoll's new

confection—one of several contained in the Deluxe Gift Pack featured in the

Desert Magazine ad last month.DATE LOAF is an uncooked, pressed roll of delicious date meat, candied

fruits and nuts. You'll be delighted with the rich full flavor of fruits and nutscontained in this nourishing confection.

FOR DESSERT order loaf slices and then serve them topped with your favoritesauce—lemon, brandy or just plain whipped cream.

For eating just as candy ask for strips—the convenient finger-size dainties.2 pounds $2.003 pounds 2.755 d 4 45

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