197101 Desert Magazine 1971 January

8/14/2019 197101 Desert Magazine 1971 January

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JANUARY, 1 9 7 1 5 0

L o s t M i n e F o u n d


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C A P I T O L R E E F L O D G EI N C A P I T O L R E E F N A T I O N A L M O N U M E N T

S H E L LC O N O C O& U N I O N . 76

C R E D I TC A R D SA C C E P T E D

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It FROMft SALT LAKE CITY/ C A P I T O L R E E F^ ^ N A T I O N A L M O NU ME N T

1 / CAPITAL* *K i N G s T i / EDFGE HiF R O M ,GRAND fCANYON I (

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GREEN^ RIVERFROMDENVER

""41 H A N K 5 V I L L E

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Capitol Reef Tours offers a wide variety of comprehen-sive tours designed for camera fans, nature lovers, androck collectors. Our daily tours cover such areas asGoblin Valley, the Circle Cliffs, the South Desert, andCathedral Valley. Here is found some of the mostbreathtaking and colorful scenery in the world. Ourexperienced tour guides use specially designed, well-equipped station wagons. We know and cover approxi-mately 15,000 square miles of primitive area leftuntouched by civilization, some of the mos t isolated,most fascinating spots in America's land of canyons. Our Capitol Reef Lo dge provides the finest in diningroom service and cool ultramodern rooms. There is alounge and patio for your leisure use, as well as aslide show each night displaying many additional at-tractions you may wish to visit throughout Utah. CallCapitol Reef Lodge, Fruita, Utah 425-3558FOR INFORMATION AND RESERVATIONS WRITECAPITOL REEF LODGE, FRUITA, UTAH(VIA TORREY) Phone 425-3558.

NAMEAddressCity

(please pr int)

S tate Z ip Code


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COME PlAy ATBullfRoq RESORT & MARJNAthe center of the West's mostspectacular playground: L a k e P o w e l

Bull f rog Resort and Marina is the capital of everything that 'sgreat about Utah's southland . You ' l l l ike the modern fac i l i-t ies and the small town fr iendliness and service. The f loat-ing marina complex of fers you just about everything youneed for a fun-f i l led vacat ion: groceries, camping supplies,marine supplies, bait and ice. Next to the store, there's ahospital i ty area where you can relax while your boat is beingserviced. All of the boat slips, both the uncovered andcovered, are just a few steps away from the store. Fuel isavailable for your boat or car. Bull f rog Marina provides repairfacilit ies for boats, a launching service buoys, and dry stor-age for boats and trai lers. You can rent a boat at Bull f rogMarina. Choose the one you prefer for f ishing, water ski ing,or just loaf ing and looking. Bull f rog's rental f leet rangesfrom 15 to 20 footers, with engines from 55 to 105 horse-power.Houseboats are a big favorite. Rent one, and set out on anew adventure in l iv ing with al l the comforts of home. Youcan park your houseboat where the scenery is best, andf ish from your front porch. Bull f rog supplies most of thehousehold necessities. You supply the fun. Charter toursare very popular. The Bull f rog tour furnishes your party witha boat , equipment , and a Coast Guard qual i f ied guide toassure you a carefree camping and sight-seeing vacat ion.Accommodations? Bullfrog Resort has a better idea. Modernrental mobile homes provide al l the comforts you thoughtyou left behind you . You have a choice of two and threebedroom trai lers with ful ly equipped kitchens, l iv ing rooms,and air condit ioning. You can rent space for your ownmobile home or travel t rai ler, or stay in the improved gov-ernment campground which is complete with restrooms.The National Park Service has also furnished a covered picnicarea, a f ish cleaning stat ion, a boat sanitary dump stat ion,and a launching ramp. Rangers and personnel from theNational Park Service, Utah Fish and Game and Utah Parkand Recreation are stationed in the area to offer their services.

For more information, or forreservations, call or write231 East 4th SouthSalt Lake City, Utah 84111Phone (801) 355-2991


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T R E A S U R EF U N ! ,-M e t a l e r t t u r n s ano r d i n a r y w e e k e n d i n t oa f a m ily a d v e n t u r e .

Going to the b each? Or hun ting, fishingor camping? You can add extra fun toyour next family ou ting by taking alonga Fisher "Metalert" Treasure Detector.Who knows, you might bring home avaluable lost relic; even silver and gold! Unsurpassed power and sensitivitywith solid state circuits.Easy to use; adjusts and operateswith one hand! Superb physical bal-ance; arm support.Waterproof sensing head completelysubmersible. Telescoping shaft forcompact storage and transp ortation. Replaceable transistor battery avail-able everywhere; built in tester.Built to the same exacting standards asFisher precision instruments for indus-try and science. Send for complete freeliterature. Also, collectors ' editionguidebook "Discoveries From the Past"sent if you include 50


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WILLIAM KNYVETT, PUBLISHERJACK PEPPER, EDITORWALTER A R E N D A L E , Advertising ManagerM A R Y F R A N C E S S T R O N G , Field Trip EditorG L E N N V A R G A S , Lapidary EditorJ O L E E N R O B I S O N , Woman's ViewpointK . L . B O Y N T O N , NaturalistJ A C K D E L A N E Y , Staff Writer

DtlttALM A G A Z I N E

Volume 54 , Number 1 JANU ARY , 197

C O N T E N T SF E A T U R E S

T H E C O V E R :Arches National Monu-ment lies in the heart ofthe red-rock country ofsoutheastern Utah, justnorth of the picturesquet o u r i s t c om m un ity ofMoab. Balanced Rock isone of the many fantasticformations in the Monu-ment. Jack Pepper photo.

ACHIE'S LAST SECRETRAILROAD IN THE SKY

ANCIENT ARRASTREI F OUND THE LOS T S HOTGUN MINE!

AR C HES IN NAVAJ OLANDNEVADA'S BEOWAWE GEYSERS

THE Y PASSED THIS WA YB AJ A'S R OU ND VALLEY

by Choral Pepperby Peter Odensby Palmer C. Ashleyby George Pflegerby Bill Knyvettby Mary Frances Strongby Tom Hudsonby Dick Bloomquist

D E P A R T M E N T S

A PEEK IN THE PUBLISHER'S POKEBOOK REVIEWS

DESERT LIFERAMBLING ON ROCKSWOMAN'S VIEWPOINT

CALENDAR OF WESTERN EVENTSLETTERS

by William Knyvettby Jack Pepperby Hans Baertvaldby Glenn and Martha Vargasby Joleen A. RobisonClub ActivitiesReader's Comments

ELTA S HIVELY, Executive Secretary MARVEL BARRETT, Circulation Manager

EDITORIAL, CIRCULATION AND ADVERTISING OFFICES: 74-109 Larrea St . , Palm Desert , California 92260. Telephone Area Code714 346-8144. Listed in Standard Rate and Data. SUB SCR IPTIO N R ATE S: U nited States, Canada and M exico; 1 year, $5.00; 2 years$9.50; 3 years $13.00. Other foreign subscribers add $1.00 U .S. currency for each year. See Subscription Orde r Form in this issue. Allowfive weeks for change of address and send both new and old addresses with zip codes. DESERT Magazine is published monthly. Secondclass postage paid at Palm Desert, California and at additional mailing offices under Act of March 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1970by DESERT Magazine and permission to reproduce any or all contents must be secured in writing. Unsolicited manuscripts and photo-graphs W ILL N O T BE RE TU RN ED unless accompanied by a self-addressed and stamped envelope.


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COLD!Ain't NecessarilyYellow Podner!

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ReviewsGHOST TOWNS OF ARIZONABy James E. andBarbara ShermanMaps byDon P ercious

When gold wasdiscovered in Califor-nia a stampede of Argonauts started in1849 with theherd of gold-seekers head-ing pell-mell for theMother Lode Coun-try. Blinded by the tales of the Californiabonanza, the thousands of prospectorswho crossed Arizona tramped over mil-lions of dollars in gold and silver.

Not until the Gadsden Purchase wascompleted in 1853, giving the UnitedStates the portion of Arizona south ofthe Gila River, did this heretofore landof little distinction begin to disclose hermineral resources to the eager fortunehunter.As mining in theMother Lode becamea matter of big business, the individualprospector sought newfieldsand foundthem in Arizona. For several decades itseemed that rich veins of gold and silverwere discovered every month andaround every bend in what was laterto be called the Grand Canyon State.Hundreds of mining camps sprung upnear the mining sites and lasted as longas the gold and silver.The authors of Ghost Towns of Ari-

zona have selected 130 of these "ghostJIWELRY CKAFTS CATALOG

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SEND FOR F R E E C A T A L O GI World's largest selection - over 10.000 itemsI offered...imports from allparts of the world.' SrO NiS H(flf1 MA T H IA IS- MO UNTING S O O KS- CIAF T T O O LS - MACHINMY SUPPIIIS G R I E G E R ' S , INC.D.pl it -1633 I. Wolnirt tmta4*a, UM.

towns" to include in their excellent bookwhich is beautifully illustrated and in-cludes thirteen maps giving the town-ship, range and section co-ordinates, thusenabling the serious ghost town explorerto locate the towns on standard basemaps.Each of the towns are presented as aseparate entity with a precede giving

location, date post office was foundedand date discontinued. The well-writtentext of each community is illustrated byhistorical photographs. The towns ap-pear in alphabetical order. Any ghosttown buff or anyone interested in thehistory of Arizona should have thisghost town bonanza. This reviewer hopesthe authors will do one on California.Large 9 x 11 format, heavy paperback,208 pages, $3.95.

RHYOLITEGREENWATERby Harold Weight

Two excellent books byHarold Weighton ghost towns in the Death Valley areahave been enlarged and revised. They areGreenwa ter, Death Valley's "GreatestCopper Camp on Earth", and Rhyolite,Death Valley's Ghost City of GoldenDreams.In Greenwater he describes the stam-pede in 1906 and 1907 to the east slopesof the Black Mountains which depopu-lated Goldfield andTonopah andbroughtadventurers from all over the world.Called "the monumental swindle of thecentury" the boom lasted only a shorttime but in four months more than$30,000, was invested.In Rhyolite hetells thestories of ShortyHarris and Ernest Cross; of Bob Mont-gomery whose mine was the city's main-stay; of M. M. Beatty who was there be-fore gold was discovered; the most fa-mous resident, Senator William Stewart,and the men, women and children whocreated the famous Nevada town whose,ruins today are silent testimony to theirpast. Both books are illustrated with his-toric photographs, paperback, $1.00 each.

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Cachie'sLast Secret by Choral Pepper

Is Cachie's gold b onanza still hidden in Arizona's rugg ed Harquaha la Moun tains?

THE YAVAPAI Indians of a century agohad fixed opinions about the roleof the female in their society, an attitudesomewhat different than is currently invogue today. The Yavapai woman was abeast of burden. She did all of the work,raised the family and babied the braves.Any woman who rebelled or could not fitthe role, was an outcast.Such an outcast was Cachie, eventhough she was the daughter of a chief,trilingual and well-educated.

Her social disgrace came from the factshe had a deformed foot. She apparentlyhad a personality conflict as well, becauseno one would believe her even when shetried to give away millions of dollarsworth of Yavapai gold to various whitesettlers who had befriended her.As a result of an exchange program topromote integration among Indian tribes,

sponsored by a government befuddledwith Indian problems, Cachie's father,'the popular and powerful head chief ofthe Yavapai Indians named Quashackamo,permitted Cachie to be sent to live on areservation with the Chemehuevi Indiansin San Bernardino. There she learned tospeak English and Spanish. Upon her re-turn to Arizona Territory and her owntribe on the Colorado River, her fatherengaged her as his interpreter when hemet with white Spanish and Englishspeaking friends.

Among these friends of the great In-dian chief was a local miner namedCharles Genung, who had shown his sym-pathy for the Yavapais by giving themwork at a time when ranchers in People'sValley were so enraged over Indian de-predations committed by other tribes theywouldn't hire any Indian, even a peacefuland friendly Yavapai.

To relieve the situation, GeneralGeorge Crook was trying to get the Ya-vapais to agree to move to Camp DateCreek, near Wickenburg, where theywould be given government protection.Quashackamo trusted Genung, but hewasn't yet sure of General Crook's goodfaith, so he came to Genung's camp inPeople's Valley to seek his white friend'sopinion.Although Cachie was ill at the timeund feeling such pain in her twisted footthat she could hardly walk, she insistedupon accompanying her father becauseGenung spoke Spanish and if any ofCrook's soldiers happened to be at hiscamp, this was a language few of themunderstood.

After the conference was over, Gen-ung felt great admiration for the littlegirl and invited her to stay while she wasill, rather than return to the Indian camp


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several miles distant. Under his care, sherecovered quickly and remained withhim to assume the camp's domesticchores. Quashackamo came often to seehis daughter. During one of these visits,the two Indians disappeared for threedays. After Cachie had returned, shesought out Genung when he was alone.He had been good to her, she told him,and she wished to send him to a placewhere he could find so much gold itwould make him the most powerfulwhite man in People's Valley.

Genung asked a good many questionsbefore he concluded that she had mis-taken copper pyrites for gold, as the areashe described was one in which he knewmany copper pyrites lay on the surface ofthe ground. When he explained this toCachie, he was not certain whether ornot she understood him, but she neveragain mentioned the gold.Two decades later, Genung regrettedthat he had underestimated the Indian'sability to distinguish gold. The lode shehad tried to lead him to in the Harqua-hala Mountains started a gold rush thatwas unprecedented in (Arizona history.The property produced $15,000,000 be-fore it was sold to an English syndicatefor $5,000,000. Its Bonanza and GoldenEagle veins alone produced almost$3,000,000 in gold.

After a year, Cachie returned to her

own people. Compared with the respectand consideration she had been shownby the Genungs, the tauntings of herown tribe humiliated her beyond endur-ance. Again her health suffered and,again, her life was spared because of thecare she received from a white friend.This time it was a Mexican woman nam-ed Maria Valencia who took Cachie tolive with her in La Paz, a mining townthen on the Colorado River. After Cachiehad recovered, she remained with Mrs.Valencia to help with chores and oftenshe tended the children of a neighboringfamily, the Oachas.

One day, after expressing her gratitudeto Mrs. Valencia, Cachie urged the wo-man to follow her to a secret place richwith gold. Mrs. Valencia was an ex-tremely heavy woman and unable totravel into the rugged Harquahalas, buther husband agreed to go. Cachie man-aged to make her way up the steep north-ern slope of the jagged mountain by fol-lowing animal trails. She led Valenciaright to the spot where the Harquahalamine later was claimed. Float full ofcoarse gold lay all over the surface ofthe ground, but it was different lookingrock from that which Valencia was ac-customed to seeing associated with goldin the Colorado River mines, so he ig-nored it. Cachie, too timid around mento labor the point, was frustrated for the

second time in trying to reward a whitfriend.

She then led him to a tank of wateabout a mile away, where they madcamp. Had he been a prospector, hwould have found a mine even there, athe place to this day is called Cachie'Tank and the mine became the fabulouGolden Eagle vein of the Harquahalas.

In spite of her chronically poor healthCachie lived into her forties. It was athis time she made one last attempt trepay the kindnesses shown h er by whitfriends.Pete Oacha, one of the children of thValencia's neighbors whom she hatended when he was a child, now was inhis late teens and drove a freight wagoroute between Ehrenburg and PrescotCachie had moved back to People's Valley where she lived in an abandoneminer's shack and did domestic work fothe local ranchers. When Pete drove hifreight through the area, he often stopped to give her Mexican herbs sent byhis mother, which Cachie believed curedher ills.During one of these stops, Cachie followed him out to his wagon and tolhim she would take him to a place wherthere was much gold, if he would delay hideparture. Pete asked where they woulhave to go. When she indicated the Har

quahalas, he assumed that she referred

Historicphotograph showsGeneral GeorgeCrook and twoIndian scouts at thetime Crook wasfighting theApaches andwhen Cachie -wasbefriended byCharles Genung.


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to the place she had earlier taken Valen-cia and he told her that there were greatmines there now and all of it wasclaimed.But Cachie was aware of this. Theplace she wanted to take him to was noton the north side where she had takenthe others; it was on the south slopewhere no mines had yet been located.

She then went on to explain that herfather had taken her there when he wasalive and had told her to reveal this placeto no one, but to save it until she had achild of her own. Now Cachie was oldand sick. She was childless and alone.Pete had been good to her and hadbrought her medicine. She would adopthim as a child of the spirit, as was some-times a custom with her people.Pete looked at the shriveled old squawwith her twisted limb and felt only pity.

It was hard for him to imagine that shewas the daughter of a once-great chiefand had ever been hard enough to ex-plore the sheer Harquahala. However,the stories of her efforts to lead earlierfriends to a bonanza in gold were nowlegend, so he promised to return in twoweeks with supplies and a buckboard so

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they could make the trip more comfort-ably for her.That was the last time Pete saw Cachie

alive. When he returned two weeks later,it was too late.At first Pete confided Cachie's secreto only his mother and his elder brotherbut after several years of fruitless searching, they engaged the help of friendswho were experienced prospectors. Stilthey met with no success. Cachie hadgiven Pete an impression that there wasomething unusual about the appearancof the gold and this was borne out whenhe picked up some rusty quartz with goldfrom arroyos in the foothills on the south-ern slope of the Harquahalas, but he wasnever able to trace it to a source. Fortyyears later, Pete, like Cachie, was deadNow, three generations later, his grand-son is looking for it.

Other reports have told of an "oddlooking, rusty gold in quartz" found inwashes in the area, but probably thmost likely evidence of gold appeared ina story in the Yuma Sentinel in 1892. Iconcerned two Frenchmen who, some 20years earlier, had unloaded a large amounof rough gold from their pack mules inYuma, purchased supplies at the HoopeCompany general store and depositedthe remaining $8000 worth of gold totheir credit. The rough gold had beenhammered from a rusty looking quartzbits of which still clung to the largerpieces of ore.

After spending a few nights celebrating in local saloons, the Frenchmen thenheaded back into the desert toward AguaCaliente, east of Yuma. Some barroomacquaintances tried to follow them, buafter their first night's camp at AguaCaliente, the Frenchmen turned northward and eluded the pursuers. Thesouthern slope of the Harquahalas liesdirectly north of Agua Caliente.Although the Frenchmen were neverheard of nor seen again, their deposiof gold remained at the Yuma store untiit changed hands 20 years later.

Another account of "rusty gold quartz"was reported by old-timer George Searsan Ajo mine owner, who picked up about25 pounds of it from a prospect hole inorder to balance the pack on his jack. Hehad detoured into what he thought werethe Eagle Tail Mountains to do a littleprospecting en route from Ajo to Phoe-nix, but a flash storm on the desert had


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caviacci kim toseek refuge inhis bedrollon the side of awash instead. The fol-lowing morning he gave up the idea andreturned toAjo. When he unpacked hisjack, he found that therusty lookingrocks contained gold. He was never ableto return to thespot. The Eagle Tailsare adjacent tothe southern slope of theHarquahalas. The gold Sears foundmatched that ondeposit in theYumastore.

Today, the Harquahalas are asemptyof population asthey were in the dayswhen Cachie wastrying to send herfriends there todiscover the gold. Thebooming town that arose in 1889 withthe mines is a ghostly accumulation ofold foundations, crumbling fireplaces andfragments ofbroken glass turned purplein the sun. Itspostoffice, established in1 8 9 1 , was discontinued in 1918, thenrevived from 1927 to 1932 under thename of Harqua. Since then thetownhas been abandoned.

Closer to thesouthern slope of theHarquahalas isanother ghost town, Har-risburg. This town was a contemporaryof Harquahala, but arose because of waterin the region, not gold. Its postoffice wasfounded in 1887 anddiscontinued in1 9 0 6 . Harrisburg lies five miles southeastof US 60-70 and one-half mile off ofthe long straight road from Salome toBuckeye. Only an oldcemetery and afew broken foundations areevident.

Another local, unpaved road runssouth from US 60-70 two miles west ofAguila and jogs around the southern endof Harquahala Peak before itmeets withthe Salome-Buckeye road on the Harqua-hala Plain. There are few trails inthisempty desert country, so anyone searchingfor Cachie's secret will find that ruggedback country equipment andplenty ofwater is anecessity.It is unfortunate that Cachie's oldfriends didn't profit byher secret, butperhaps someone ofthis century who hasbeen kind tothe underprivileged will bethe recipient of her gratitude. PeteOacha's grandson refuses to revealhisideas as to itslocation and Cachie's lastsecret has never before been published,but family friends of the Oachas knowthe story well. When Tom Oacha packsa metal detector and heads outtowardthe desert onlong weekends, hisexactdestination may be asecret, but his mo-

tive isloud and clear. C

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12/44

Empty explosive canswere used in the wallsof this house at theupper camp.

THK ROAD suddenly ended and wefound ourselves in the foothills ofthe Coyote Mountains in the southeasternpart of Southern California's San DiegoCounty. On a flat area at the foot of alarge hill was a ghost town-an old rail-road camp which had been establishedabout 60 years ago when a railroad linewas built between San Diego and El Cen-tro in the Imperial Valley.

This was not a ghost town like mostothers in the West which had been thehomes of cowboys, miners and outlaws,yet it had undoubtedly been as rough atown as any of them. The project withwhich it was connected was worth$18,000,000the cons truct ion of therailroadbut its true value was muchhigh er, for the line formed a vital linkin the transcontinental route between thePacific and points east.

To reach the camp, we started out atthe little town of Ocotillo in ImperialValley and drove for four miles along theold Imperial Highway, now called S-2,in the direction of Warner Hot Spring.Then we turned off on a county road to-ward the Coyote Mountains and continuedon about seven miles to a point where theroad crosses the railroad tracks.

Had we continued on across the tracks,we would have passed an old miner 'scabin and would eventually have reachedDos Cabezas Springs at the foot of two

large crags which give the spring itsname. Instead, we turned north and drovealong the tracks, also on a county road.W e passed the old Dos Cabezas railroadstation, now completely in ruins, andthen for another two or three miles con-tinued along the road until we found aplace where we could cross the railroadtracks.

The going was rough as the road wasnot maintained. W e skir ted a hill know nfor the many Indian pictographs whichcan be found in caves on its slopes andthen, after two or three miles came tothe upper part of the old camp.

The walls of only one house are stand-ing today. The men who lived in it hadused empty cans of explosives to rein-force the walls which were made of rockand cement. There were several dugoutsin the camp, probably built by some la-borers who sought to shelter themselvesfrom the heat. Near the walls of thehouse stands an unusual wooden structure,a frame which might have been used inthe olden days to accommodate a hoistto load and unload heavy equipment.

The lower part of the camp is hiddenin the narrow passages and ravines ofthe hills. It is possible to drive to thispart of the camp with a four-wheel-drivevehicle along a foot path which is oftenblocked by boulders. A short distanceaway, the land drops sharply toward the

9, &ftiRuins of what mayhave been a mess hall(above) and storageroom at the lowercamp.


13/44

Railroadin

Old station atjaeumba Hot Springsis no longer inactive use.

the Skyby Peter Odens

bottom of a gorg e. The railroad tracksemerge from a tunnel on the slope, onlyto lose themselves in another tunnel ashort distance away.

A couple of hundred yards from thetunnel we found the foundations of alarge structure which may have been amess hall. ,A small storage room was at-tached to it. In another nook of the ra-vine we saw the remnants of what musthave been a blacksmith shop. It wouldseem that large vehicles brought theneeded supplies and equipment to theupper camp where it was transferred tosmaller vehicles which could negotiate

the tortuous path to the lower camp closto where the tracks were being laid andthe tunnel built .

Construction of the railroad began i1907. It was to be a 148-mile line owhich 44 miles ran inside Mexico undea special concession granted by the Mexican government .

Twenty-one tunnels were needed tprovid e a safe passage for the railro adIn the I 1-mile stretch of the CaxrizGorge, one of the scenic wonders of thwest, 17 tunnels alone were needed. Thpart of the line cost four million dollaof the total of eighteen million dollars.continued


14/44

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14

The daring enterprise was financed byJ. D. and A. B. Spreckels of San Diegoan d the Southern Pacific Railroad. Workwas done by contractors who in turn sub-let work on short stretches to smalleroutfits, mostly owned by Swedes andGreeks. Labor force included Chinese,Mexicans, Indians, Greeks and H indus .The camp we were visiting was said tohave been occupied by Chinese.Construction men had to blast throughsolid rock along the ragged edge of themountains. Some of the tracks leadingthrough the Carrizo Gorge are perchedabout 900 feet above the floor of thegorge and the longest tunnel is 2650feet long.

The road led across the Tecate Divideat Hipass, 3657 feet above sea level. Atrestle across Campo Creek is 175 feethigh and 580 feet long, one of theworld's highest bridges of its type. Itsconstruction cost was $180,000.

Many difficulties hampered the smoothcompletion of the project. High windvelocity and height made it very hard tobuild the Campo Creek viaduct. A rockslide at one of the tunnels wiped out thetracks completely and the t unne l was re-placed by a 185-foot high wood trestle.

The line finally was completed, and onN ove mbe r 15, 1919, John D. Spreckelsdrove the gold-plated spike that announc-ed to the world the l ine was ready. Trainsleft San Diego and El Centro daily atnight on a trip which took about six anda half hours to the other end of the l ine.O n the way, the two trains would meet inthe vicinity of Hipass in the LagunaMountains. Stations scheduled en routewere Seeley, Dixieland, Coyote Wells,Jacumba Hot Springs, Campo, Tecate, TiaJuana, Chula Vista and National City.

Regular fare for passengers was $6 one

way, or $5 if the passenger had no bag-gage with him. At El Centro, passengerscould catch other eastbound trainstheconnection had been completed. The l ineserved for both passenger and freight ser-vice for many years.

On February I, 1933, the propertiesand operations of the San D ie go and Ari-zona were transferred to a new opera t ion ,know n as the San Diego and ArizonaEastern, the capital stock of which is sole-ly owned by the Southern Pacific. Today,the line is used exclusively for freightservice.

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15/44

->,I This framestructure was

J % probably used as a* hoist to unload- ' & . heavy equipment at'. the upper camp ofthe San Diego andArizona Railroad.

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All prices comparably low.Price sheets and envelopesava i l ab le .No gimmicksNo lies47 years of cont inuousservice guarantees yourqua l i t y .MA R KE T BA SKE T P HO T O C O .P. O. Box 3 7 0 , Yumci, A rizona 8 5 3 6 4 orP . O . Box 2 8 3 0 , S an D i e go, C a l i f. 9 2 1 1 2A R T H R I T I S ?

MANY FIND RELIEF WITHF O R M U L A ' N 'M e d i c a l l i t e r a t u r e s u g g e s t s t h a t3-4 grams N iac inam ide da i l y p lusB g , B. |2. and Pantothenate improvej o i n t m o b i l i t y a n d l e s s e n p a i n .H a rm les s v i t a m i n s -n o s ide e f f ec t s .3 WEEK SUPPLY ONLY $5.18R . A . F O R M U L A C O . . 9 3 3 0 BS 2 0 G O L D C O I N S F O U N D ! !This picture was taken by a treasure hunter.This past summer he and his family spent afew days of their vacation treasure hunting ina ghost town. With the aid of his Garrett Hunterdetector, he found this old and valuable jewelrybox. It contained five $20 gold coins, four otherrare coins, several pieces of jewelry and two oldtin-type pictures. The value of the gold coinsalone more than paid the cost of his entirevacation!Lost treasure is being found and the value ofthe wealth yet to be recovered is so enormousthat it should no longer be overlooked. If youdon't mind hard work and lots of sunshine,then you too can find your share of this w ealth.Write for our FREE brochure and our treasurehunting guide book. We believe you will be gladyou did.

ARRETTLECTRONICS

P. O. Box 28 66 6D A L L A S , T E X A S 7 5 2 2 8

GARRETT ELECTRONICS, De par tme nt D-1 07P. O. Box 2866 6, D allas, Texas 752 28Pleose send FREE literature and treasure guide.

NameAddress.

City . S t a t e - - Z i p -


16/44

1

The author's fatherat his partiallycompleted arrastre,built in 1948 at BigOak Flat, California.Indians were usingarrastres when Spanisharrived.

THE ARRASTRE, sometimes spelled ar-rastra, is the oldest, most primitiveand least expensive machine for the me-chanical grinding and amalgamating offree-milling ore. The ore, when brokenand crushed, releases its metal particleswhich are then attracted and held bymercury to form an amalgam. As gold andmercury are heavier than crushed rock,they go to the bottom and remain thereuntil recovered.

The origin of the arrastre dates backto a period prior to the Spanish conquest.The conquistadores found this operationalready in use by the Indians of Pachuca,Mexico during the early part of the 16thcentury.

Crude in construction, but simple tooperate, it was one of the most effectiveearly methods of recovering gold and sil-ver from native ore. It was cheap, easyand convenient because it could be madeon the spot from materials at hand, suchas flat stones, clay, rough logs and raw-hide.The Mexican arrastre was a simple

machine by means of which heavy bould-ers were dragged over ore confined in a

A N C I E N T Acircular rock-paved basin. To arms ex-tending from a center post, made fromrough logs, were harnessed the drag-rocks and the power: one horse or onemule.While the use of the arrastre wasknown to the '49ers, it did not come intopopular use by American miners untilplacer gold became so scarce that simplepanning, the use of rockers, sluice boxes,etc., were no longer profitable. Hard rockmining became a necessity.

Later on, the crude original Mexicanarrastre was improved on by Americanminers with the availability of more so-phisticated materials such as cement andsteel, but the principle was the same.In the period of its more extensive

use, the arrastre consisted of a simplebasin, usually about 14 feet in diameter,made of cemented flat stones with shallowgrooves between them. The sides wereabout two feet high. In the center of thestone basin a hole was drilled and in thathole a vertical axle was firmly cemented.To this axle was attached the rotatingdrag-beam which extended several feetbeyond the rim at one end and to theedge of the basin on the other. To thesearms, inside the basin, were chained oneto four drag-rocks, each weighing aboutthree hundred pounds. These were drawnaround the basin.

They were arranged so that their headswere suspended slightly in order to drageasily over the ore while at the same


17/44

Photograph showsarm of arrastre which

pulled heavy granitestones around by

chain to break up ore.Slabs at left were once

floor of arrastre.

time the full weight of the tail-endsweighed heavily upon the ore and groundit to a very fine consistency.Eventually, the animal power gave way

to steam and finally gasoline engines,with such innovations as pulley shafts andcrown-gears. Some of the early minerswed Indian women and many a heftysquaw was harnessed to the arrastre whenanimals were not available.The ore was first broken or crushed tothe size of a large walnut. About 200pounds of it and a small amount of waterwere distributed over the bottom of thebasin while the machine was in motion.When the ore had been reduced to the

size of a pea, another 200 pounds couldbe added and the whole ground to a

pulpy mass. About four or five hourswere generally required for complete re-duction.Mercury was then scattered over the

surface of the basin in the ratio of oneand one-quarter ounce to each ounce ofgold in the ore. This was determined bypersonal analysis or assay. The grindingwould continue for another two hours sothat all the gold would come in contactwith the mercury and amalgamate.An excess of water was added grad-ually with the grinding reduced to aslower speed so the amalgam could settleto the bottom and the pulp was thendrawn off through the drain channel. The

entire process could be repeated severaltimes using the same amalgam. Most of

by Palmer C. Ashleythe mercury would be recovered by retorting and the residue easily shipped foreimbursement.

During the 1860s, forty such arrastreswere built along the Hassayampa Riverin Arizona to mill the ore from the fam-ous Vulture Mine near WickenburgSome say the Lost Dutchman Mine in theSuperstition Mountains, supposedly foundby Jacob Waltz, was a cover-up for thehigh-grading by his partner employed athe Vulture.

In the course of the early part of the20th Century, after three centuries ofconstant use, the arrastre was finally re-placed by batteries of stamp mills feedingsmelters and cyanide tanks. The era ofthe arrastre had come to a close.Today, a circle of rocks found in amineralized area should be thoroughlyinvestigated. It could mean an old arras-tre operation and a search for the source

of the ore supply could lead to an oldSpanish mine. Onien sabel


18/44

F o u n dT h eL o s tS h o t g u nM i n e !by George Pfleger

LEGENDS AND tales of lost mines havegiven the Sheephole Mountains areputation for harboring gold enough topay off the national debt several timesover.Treasure hunters and prospectors havebeen searching these bone dry rugged

hills in Southern California's San Bernar-dino County for almost a hundred yearsand to this day no one has been knownto have come up with anything more thantired feet and a healthy tan. The onlymining evidence you will find is theSheephole mine in the northern end ofthe mountains right at Sheephole Pass.I am one of the untold scores who havetrudged the canyons and ridges of therocky range seeking a fortune at the endof a legendary rainbow.The failure of so many to locate any ofthe lost bonanzas has raised suspicions inthe minds of this writer that to protect thelocation of their secret mines, the old-time miners, long deceased, merely men-tioned the Sheepholes to sidetrack anyfortune seekers who may try to find thesource of their wealth.At least three lost mines have beenaccredited to the area, the "Lost ShotgunMine," a lost "Spanish" mine, and aledge of almost pure gold alleged to

have been found by four men at the turnof the century.


19/44

D E SE R T M agazine receives dozens of articles every year on lost mines and hidden bona nzas. Most ofth e man u scr ip ts ar e mer ely a r eh ash of p revio u s ar ticles. Wh en th er e ar e n ew facts o r leg en d s weprint the m . Seldom , however, do we receive articles on lost mines found , especially one of this caliber.

So scratch one lost mine, but don't stop searching. Here's proof they can be found!

Th e California Mining Journal in theJanuary, 1965 issue, ran a story that tellsof a vein of gold eight to ten inchesthick being found by four men aroundI 900.Three of them died in a shootout overwhether or not the discovery should bemade known to the world. Also, eachman wanted it all for himself. The lonesurvivor, after giving his departed com-

rades the traditional sendoff and burial,arranged the headstones on the three

graves so as to point out the mine on theface of the mountain. The man seems tohave vanished at this point.In 1914, two prospectors spread newsaround Banning of their finding thefabulous mine. They said it was close tothree graves, 200 yards away and up onthe face of the Sheephole Mountains.This is the extent of the information onthis mine and it has never been known

to have been openly worked.The "Lost Spanish Mine" story also

In his extensive search for the m ine, the author (above,left) used a metal detector for soundings. Erected by In-dians, the turtle-like rock (above) was first indicationwater existed in the area. Clearly defined Indian trails(right) lead directly to the spring. Author was about toabandon search when he made his discovery.

started at the beginning of this centurThis tale was told by John D. Mitchein Desert, October, 1951.His research turned up the name oHermit John, an old desert rat known tmost inhabitants of the region. It seemthe old man had made a very rich dicovery of gold in a vein of gray quarwith rusty iron. The mine appeared have been an old Spanish working, su

denly abandoned about 300 years agtools and equipment were strewn aboas if Indians had attacked and drivthem off. This mine, according to tstory, is also supposed to be in the Sheehole Mountains.The gold was spilled on the platforof the railroad station at Amboy. OJohn had unloaded six ore sacks frohis burro's backs and one of them toopen exposing the jewel rock; a tercommonly used in mining circles to d

scribe such rich ore.If John had arrived at Amboy as Mchell's story says he did, from the eahis starting point couldn't possibly ha


20/44

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The author found the Lost Shotgun Mine "just around the bend" ofthese ruggedcliffs inthe Sheephole Mountains ofSouthern California's San Bernardino Countyafter detailed research and m any field trips.

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been the Sheepholes. This isthe partofthe tale that has holes in it,becausethehermit, being familiar with thedesert,would not have taken the long wayaround. Theshortest route would bearound the west end ofBristol Lake, sav-ing at least eight miles. To a man onfoot, leading loaded burros and shortonwater, the only way to go .

This would move the location ofHer-mit John's mine to themountains lyingten miles east of the Sheepholes, and aplace where gray quartz containing ironcan be found. Here is anarea where con-ditions aremore favorable. There arenarrow veins ofgray quartz in the cen-tral area of the Sheepholes, onthe westside, but they contain no minerals.Now tothe story ofthe "Lost ShotgunMine." This was virtually anunknownbonanza first discovered in 1873. Itwasnot heard of again until January, 1952when Desert published a story givingwhat little information there was avail-

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21/44

aWe on it and tills was gleaned from sonicold letters found in an ancient housebeing remodeled in northern California.The correspondence tells the sad taleof a miner who claimed he had found arich placer mine and was rewarded notonly with wealth, but with painful injuryand eventually, death.Th e way it goes, a prospector named

Long was mining placer gold in the vi-cinity of the Sheepholes and had accumu-lated about 100 ounces during severaltrips he had made to his site. Rotten luckdogged him on his last expedition andan accidental fall in the rocks near themine resulted in crushing his leg andside so severely that he had to abandonhis shotgun and other equipment andcrawl toward civilization carrying hisgoldand only a small amount of water that,due to a raging fever, didn't last long.Long died of his injuries a short timelater in San Bernardino. Before he diedhe wrote the above mentioned letters toan old prospecting partner.In them he describes the mine asbeing15 miles almost due east of Dale DryLake and in a brush-filled canyon con-taining a trickle of a spring, which is lo-

cated up aruund the bend from tlic mine.The shotgun would be found stashedunder a ledge near the mine. Thus thename, "Lost Shotgun Mine.".Armed with such explicit directions itwould seem one would be able to walkright up to the place and start digginggold. Take it from one who failed manytimes, it's not as simple as that.The search had been long abandonedand we were just prospecting around onepleasant weekend when we came to astrange sign erected by the Indians. Ontop of an outcrop of rock at the side ofa wash was an oval rock shaped aboutlike a turtle sitting on it, propped up onsmaller rocks placed so as to look likelegs. On one end is a bulge representinga head. This is the sign used by almostall Indians in the southwest indicatingwater, an extremely scarce commodity in

the great American deserts.Following this lead, we found addi-tional stone markers in thedepths of whatmust be the world's rockiest canyon. Thetrail runs for several miles through themountain to a point where it crosses overa small ridge and into another but not soContinued onpage 32

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22/44

r c h e s in N a v a io l a n dby B ill Knyvett P hotos by B ill Crawley

Hope Arch Spider Web Arch

9 fe

c overing a land area of15,132,143 acres and touchingin part the four states of Colorado,New Mexico, Utah and Arizona,the Navajo Indian Reservation isthe largest in the United States.The reservation is home to115,000 Navajos who tendtheir flocks today as they did inyears gone by.Along with the simple lifeis a simple beauty that runsthe gamut from rol l ing hi l ls ofscrub to breath-taking canyonswith walls of multi-coloredstone and mazes of weird rockformations. Dotted throughoutNavajoland are hundreds of archeof every description. Formed byerosion and weathering thesearches come in every conceivablesize and shape. Some can beseen for miles, while others arehidden from view until the lastmom ent. Each arch has its ownbit of majesty and even t h * smallesis impressive. Most areinaccessible to the averagepassenger car, which necessitatesusing a 4-wheel-drive vehicleand in most instances the use ofa professional guide.One such guide is Bill Crawley,whose favor ite hobby isyou guessed itphotographingarches. With his camera as aconstant companion he isconsistently at the right placeat the right time which is thekey to good picture taking.Through the past six yearsin operating Golden Sands Toursout of Kayenta, Arizona, withhis brother Dillard, he has


23/44

Arch Double ArchEar of the Wind White Mesa A

/}

w

v

.


24/44

accumulated a terrif ic assortmentof color slides.The arches shown here areall in Navajoland. FamousMonument Valley hasarches that have been seen bymany, while others are in remoteareas and have been seen byvery few.

A bout the photographer:B orn and raised in Flagstaff, B illhas always had a love for the wideopen spaces and even roamsthe back country on his days offever-searching for just one morearch or just the right cloudforma tion over an old favorite.Using a Pentax camera withboth telephoto and wide-anglelenses and shooting Kodachrome IB ill has had excellent resu ltsin enlarging his slides to salonsize which make a tremendoussouvenir of a trip to Navajoland.

A roundtail ground squirrel, his bright,alert eyes watching for signs of anenemy, pauses long enough to enjoy amorsel of food. He is nine inches tallwith a three-inch tail and is usuallyfound in desert valleys and low mesas.Hans Baerwald used a 400mm lens tocapture his subject.


25/44


26/44

N E W D f f S B E O W A W E

A close inspection of this empty fum arole will let you hear rumbles from deepwithin the earth as its acrid vapors fill the air.INTERSTATE 80, Nevada's northern east-west artery, is a super highway allow-ing vacationers to dash frantically frompoint to point on their itinerary with sel-dom enough time for more than a blurred

glance at the passing countryside.Few travelers notice spasmodic puffs ofsteam rising skyward in Whirlwind Val-ley, five miles south of the highway, half-way between Battle Mountain and Carlin.They do not realize they are passing closeto the second largest region of thermalactivity in the United States.Seldom visited, the Beowawe Geysersaward the traveler with an opportunity toexplore a fascinating, geologic phenome-non. (Beowawe is pronounced Bay-o-

ivah'-wee and is an Indian word meaning"gate"so named for the peculiar shape

of the hills close to town which gives theeffect of a gateway opening td the valleybeyond.)The Beowawe Geyser region is dividedinto two, distinct areas. Hot springs,

pools, fumaroles and geysers will befound on the valley floor. Two hundredfeet above, thermal vents have built up abroad sinter terrace. It stands out like awhite bench along the dark abdomen ofthe basalt-covered mountain.Throughout the valley area there is thepungent tang of acrid vapors. Steamclouds belch forth from small openings inthe earth and ominous undergroundrumblings can be heard. A great pool ofemerald-green water bubbles and burps,

while nearby, a smaller pool churns inviolent fury. With a deep roar and a

whistling hiss, a geyser of boiling waterwill leap into the sky from what earlierappeared to be an inactive vent in theearth's crust.Wrapped in the misty vapors at thecenter of this thermal region, one feelsas though time has suddenly retreated.It could be the dawn of the Cenozoic

Era, 70 million years ago, when the eartherupted into a fury of volcanism unequal-


27/44

G E Y S E R S N e v a d a F i e l d T r i pbyMary Frances StrongP hotos byJerry Strong

Looking eastacross a boilingspring, a geyserstarts to erupt.TuscaroraMountains arein background.

One of the large, emerald-green pools (above) bubbles quietly. The white, sinter-coveredbasin between the two areas of thermal a ctivity (below) makes an excellent camping site. Aportion of the geyser-built terrace is in backgr ound.ed since earlier pre-Cambrian Time. Therumblingthe earth shaking, seems as ifa volcano might be in the labor of birth.However, hydro-thermal areas denote dy-ing volcanism. They are the surface mani-festations of descending ground waterwhich, upon contact with hot, subterran-ean rock, rushes to the surface throughcracks and crevices to cause varied geyseractivity.

A climb to the terrace will impress themost blase traveler. The bench is nearlythree-quarters of a mile long and about150 feet wide. It appears to be alive withall types of thermal activity. There areboiling springs in a myriad of sizes. Deep,dark holes of fumaroles dot the benchand colorful hot pools are lined with


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pearly opal. Hot water sputters constantlyfrom a pencil-sized vent which spasmodic-ally burps water 10 inches or so into theair . Nearby, a larger geyser sends sheetsof water skyward.

Each geyser, fumarole, hot spring andpool seems to have characteristics all itsown. Many of the boiling springs havepearly, coral-like collars around theirmouths . One pool has built an enormous ,vari-colored series of terraces around itscauldron.

There has been considerable interest inthe development of Nevada's hydro-ther-mal areas. They offer a potential sourceof energy for the generation of electricity.Several exploratory wells have been drill-ed on the terrace at the Beowawe Geysers.The holes were carefully drilled to en-counter the superheated water at subter-ranean pressure. Upon exposure to at-mospheric pressure, the water will flashinto steam. This energy can be harnessedand mechanically converted into electric-ity. At the present time, there has beenno further development.

The Geyser Region is easily reachedfrom Interstate Highway 80. Thirty mileseast of Batt le Mountain and twenty miles

H E L P F I G H T P O L L U T I O NOur country is fast reaching a disgusting level of pollution. If this isallowed to continue, it will eventually become irreversible.Our group, RITTIL, was organized for the sole purpose of returning thenatural beauty to our Deserts, Mountains and Streams. The concernedmembers of RITTIL are people who will dedicate much of their sparetime cleaning up Trash left behind by thoughtless others.In order for our organization to continue this effort, it has become

necessary to raise additional fundsto help cover the operating expenses.You can help us through the pur-chase of one of these most unusualpaper weights. It contains some itemthat has been removed from ourcountryside and cast in clear plastic.Your purchase will help us, correctthis very serious problem. Also serveas a reminder to others of the des-perate need to return our ecology toNature's level and show your interestin achieving this tremendous task.R I T T I L Price S 3 5 0

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west of Car l in, a small sign "Beowawe5 miles," directs you into this historicback country. The narrow, paved roadwinds along the southern f ingers of theTuscarora Mountains on the eastern edgeof Whirlwind Valley. Sleek, fat, BlackAngus cattle graze here. Old, gnar ledcottonwood trees march majestically upthe valley f loor marking the course of thes low-moving Humboldt River . The roadsoon rounds a bend, crosses the river andthe traveler arrives at the old railroadtown of Beowawe.

A combination store and postofnce,gasol ine pumps, bar, railroad station andseveral small homes constitute the town,in days gone by, Beowawe was a busy andimpor tant shipping point on the railroad.Ore from numerous mines in the sur-rounding mountains was hauled in andloaded on cars for delivery to variousmills. Mining has been at a low ebb formany decades. However, a newgold oper-at ion32 miles southcould producevast changes in this old and quiet littlesettlement.

Three miles east of Beowawe is Gravel-ly Ford, considered by the pioneers as oneof the finest stops along the Old Emi-grant Trai l . The huge groves of cotton-wood trees provided them with shelterfrom the blazing summer sun. W a t e r wasplentiful and the valley meadows werelush with wild hay. It was a restful re-spite in a harsh and unknown land, aswell as a place to repair equipment andallow weary animals to rest and graze.Dur ing the year 1850, over 45,000 pio-neers traveled along this route on theirjourney west.

Before the coming of the W h i t e Man,the Shoshone Indians had established apermanent campground at the presentsite of Beowawe. They took advantage ofthe sheltered location, the plentiful sup-pl y of water and the abundance of gam e .They also knew about the geyser area, asmany of their artifacts have been foundthere. It is quite possible they used thesteam and pools for hot, medicinal baths;though there is noth ing to substantiatethis except such use occurred in similarareas.

From Beowawe, State 21 crosses therailroad tracks and becomes a narrow rib-bon of asphalt heading south-westerly asfar as the eye can see. Just 1.7 miles fromBeowawe, a rather disconcerting sign"Dum p Gr ounds" announces a dirt roadleading off to the northwest. Turn r ight


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Beovrawe GeysersNevada

\ .

Gravelly Ford(APPROX. S ITE)

Geyser 'Terraceonto this graded road, bypass the dumpand continue over the summit of thehills. The road now rapidly drops intoWhirlwind Valley, curves sharply westand runs along the edge of the nakedmountains. Ahead will beseen dozens ofsteam clouds puffing skyward in a sym-phony of rhythm. The road leads throughthe heart of the thermal activity, a totaldistance of 7.2 miles from Highway 21.A section of this road isalkali ground andmay be impassable when wet.

The clean, white, sinter-covered flatbetween the two thermal areas makes anexcellent camping site with hot waterliterally at your door! There are no over-night accommodations in Beowawe.Caution should beexercised when visit-ing thegeysers. It is best not to stand onthe edges of thevents or pools. Childrenand pets should not be allowed to runfree. While we found nosoft or danger-ous areas, this condition is subject tochange. The use of good, common sense

will make your visit both enjoyable andsafe.The Beowawe Geysers are on privateland but the area is open to visitors. Itwill remain so, as long as outdoor man-ners are observed. Please leave no evi-dence of your visit.

In the heart of the geyser region, theconstantly changing sounds and activitiesproduce strange andeerie feelings in theobserver. Deep within the dark recessesof the earth, Old Mother Nature seems tobe vigorously stirring hercauldrons.Theground trembles and shakes. The geysersgurgle, boil, hiss and spout in an un-earthly rhythm. What devilment is Na-ture planning? Are new mountains toriseor oldones to be destroyed? Imaginationcan runrampant at theBeowawe Geysers.With beauty second to none and in anunspoiled setting, they are one of Nature'srare jewels inthe Nevada back country.

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I F O U N D THE L O S T S H O T G U NContinued from page 21

rocky gulch on the other side.Her e the dim trail fades. Looking the

canyon over on my last trip into the area,I discovered a claim monument above anold camp that looked like it hadn' t beenused for many years. Lying along side

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a big boulder were some old burro shoes,bent from the effort of being torn fromthe animal's hoofs, and still holding thenails which once kept them in place.

Our location was roughly 15 miles eastof Dale Dry Lake, where Long claimed tohave mined his gold in 1873.

If this was the lost mine there shouldbe a spring just up the canyon and aroundthe bend and, just as described, therew a s , but it was covered with at least threefeet of sand and required much diggingto reach water. The broken Indian potteryscattered over the old trails leading infrom several directions indicate it waswell known to the early inhabitants of thearea that water existed here. This wasindeed the lost mine we had hunted forin the pas t!

Miner Long couldn' t have picked amore beautiful locale in which to findhis gold. The surrounding broken hillsturn to many shades of pastel reds andbrowns when the sun begins to set, andthe rolling desert off to the northeastfades into the blue haze that seems tosettle with the arrival of dusk.

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hadn' t been used for almost 100 yearsand burned wood from his old supply stillg r owing in the canyon in dense profusion.

In the m or ning we awakened to a blaz-ing dawn and reluctantly rolled out tobuild a fire and make coffee, the smell ofwhich brought the others crawling fromtheir sleeping bags to greet the new day.Then we searched the area.

We f ound a metate used by the Indiansto grind corn or whatever it was theygr ound , a whiskey bottle, purple with sunan d age just lying on top of the gr oundan d tin cans the likes of which have notbeen seen by many except in privatecollections.

An old file used to trim his burro'sfeet for a new set of shoes was discoveredjutting from a dirt bank along with anunexplainable piece of iron that mighthave been used as a rock chisel. The mostexciting find was just above the spr ing.A large, flat-faced rock with the words' CANTEEN TANK' s c r a tched in it,possibly by Long himself.Two more claim monuments werefound indicating about five acres hadbeen staked on the canyon and the washjust below it justifying my belief thatthis was where Long had obtained hisgold.

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33/44

Markers such as thisone left by Indianspoint direction towater in the SheepholcMountains.

The only evidence of mining to befound after 93 years are m ounds of smallrocks, the by-product of a drywasher, amachine that separates gold and otherheavy minerals from dry sand.

Satisfied this was the "Lost ShotgunM i n e , " it was a simple matter to provegold was present . Digging in the same

places that the old-timer did, and pan-ning out sand from bedrock level wefound signs of fine flour gold almosteverywhere. Although the mine is farfrom being a bonanza, it is well worthowningif only for its historical value.

A claim has been filed on 20 acrescovering the most promising area, in-cluding the spr ing. It has been named"The Lost Shotgun Mine." This may turnou t to be one of the best placer discov-eries of the century or it could just beanother mediocre mine that was over-sold, as was the custom back in thoseearly days.

The Indians get most of the credit forthe re-discovery of the "Lost ShotgunMine . " The trail they left so well markedthat others of their day could survive inthis harsh land leads directly to thespring which was the key unlocking thesecret of Long's alleged bonanza.

Benefit from the experience of thisprospector. If you're searching for lostmines, or gold, it would be wise to by-pass the Sheephole Mountains and lookin the mountains lying to the east. Thereyo u may find your "El Dor ado . "

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B A c I A ' SA pleasant and easy passenger cartrip into peaceful R ound Valley justbelow the Mexican border betweenT ecate and T ijuana where you will

f in d th e " wo r ld o f man an a."Along the road to Valle Redon do a roofless adobe stands amidboulders and olive trees. The commu nity was once much larger.

by Dick BloomquistTHE BORDERLANDS of Baja Californiaare a lively mixture of valleys, foot-hills, mountains and deserts running fromthe Pacific Ocean to the Colorado River.They are physically close to the urbanworld of coastal southern California, butfar removed from the hurry and conges-tion often in evidence north of the line.Numerous unsigned byways enter thelesser-known sectors of this border coun-try, sometimes leading the traveler tohidden valleys and remote settlementswhere the pace of life and the very lookof the land have a special charm. An at-tractive example is the road to Valle Re-dondo (Round Valle y) , a small farmingcommunity between the Tecate-TijuanaHighway 2 and the international boundary.

This route, which has its rough andrutted stretches yet is easily passable in aconventional automobile ( in dry weather,

at least) , begins inconspicuously eightmiles west of Tecate on Highway 2. Anunmarked dirt road strikes north fromthe pavement at this point, then bends tothe west and ultimately rejoins Highway2 after nearly 13 back country miles.

The road to Valle Redondo can berecognized by the olive trees whichfringe it on both sides for the first half-mile. To the left of the trees stand thesubstantial house and outbuildings ofRctncho El Gand/d, where grapes, olives,and hogs are raised. Gandul means"loafer" in Spanish, but the ranch's ap-parent prosperity belies its name.

The dirt track soon abandons its greenarbor and veers abruptly to the right, pass-ing a whitewashed house with a giantprickly pear in its front yard, then crest-ing a hill and crossing the tracks of theSan Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway.Beyond, the road dips into a picturesquehollow planted with grapes and olivetrees. A roofless adobe ruin stands by

the trees, which were laden with fruiwhen we passed by in December.

A fraction of a mile past the old adobethe winding byway comes to a "T," withthe left arm leading toward Valle Redondo. We skirted the Gavilan (SparrowHawk) Ranch, then began the brief descent into Round Valley itself. The downgrade provides an attractive prospect ofthe smooth valley floor and its encirclinghills. A few dwellings and knots of vegetation mottle the plain, while in the foreground the tracks of the S.D. & A.ERailway once again invade the landscape

The road soon crosses them and settledown to a reasonably straight coursacross the valley. W e paused to photograph an impressive home with tile rooand whitewashed walls which stood vacant along the road's northern edge. Thexterior appeared to have been just completed, and apparently more work remained to be done inside before it couldbe occupied.


35/44

i

R Q U N DV A L L E YAlthough Valle Kedond o is just below the Mexican bo rder betweeTecate and Tijuana, it seems jar removed from the urban worl

The house stands just outside a thinline of buildings which mark the settle-ment of Valle Redondo, set within thevalley of the same name. A few smallhomes, a church, the Tienda del Valle(Store of the Valley), and some mellow-ing adobe ruins make up the town today.On one of the abandoned adobes, a fadedCoca-Cola sign painted on a wall is stilllegible.

Years ago Voile Redondo may havebeen larger than it is today, for it oncelay astr ide the main road joining Tijuanawith Tecate and Mexicali. In addition,the town borders the right-of-way of theSan Diego and Arizona Eastern, a linecompleted in 1919 by sugar magnateJohn D. Spreckels. The railroad becameknown as "Old Impossible" for the seriesof tunnels and trestles which carried itthrough the awesome Carrizo Gorge. Fora time it did a thriving business in pas-sengers and freight, but then fell uponhard times. Now only freight trains rum-

ble past Valle Redondo and down tothe Carrizo.

West of town our route once againcrossed the railroad and said goodbye toVdlle Redondo. Ranches bordered theroad at intervals as we continued west-ward. We passed one small place withbright yellow walls, followed by anotherwith an equally brilliant white decor.Called Rancho El Penascal (Rocky HillRanch), it lies amid granite boulders,and specializes in the raising of chickensand hogs .

Four-and-one-half miles west of thetown of Valle Redondo is Matanuco, ascattered collection of chicken rancheswithout any apparent nucleus. Just be-yond Matanuco a side route forks to thesouth ( le ft) , joining Highway 2 nearthe El Florido Cafe two and one-halfmiles distant. We continued on a straightcourse, however, and after two moremiles entered a vast olive grov e frontingboth sides of the road. The trees most

probably are on lands belonging to EFlorido (The Flowered Place), the sumptuous estate of Miguel Aleman, formepresident of Mexico. The white-walleranch house can be seen from Highway about 17 miles west of Tecate.

After nearly one-and-one-half miles wleft the grove behind. Soon afterward wdipped under the wooden trestle of thSan Diego and Arizona Eastern and gained paved Highway 2 at a point 20 milewest of T ecate and 1 1 miles east of Tjuana.

Our road had been slow and sinuouand hadn't lacked for roughness, yet fthose very reasons had permitted an intmacy with the land not offered by higspeed pavement. And the land does haa pure Mexican f lavor. Despite Valle Rdondo's location only three miles souof the international line, it has the looof country found deep in the interior oMexico, far below the northern bordelands of Baja Californ ia.


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By M E T A L L O C A T O R S

Model! (complete)

T O " S C U B A L O O P "SE E Y O U R D E A L E R

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R O T H I N D U S T R I E SWoHdway Box 90993Los Angeles, Calif . 90 009F r o m th eL e a n i n ' T r e e R a n c h . . .D e s e r t M e l o d yN o t e s by H i l t o nThe desert is al ive withcolor in these threefa i th fu l ly reproducedfu l l -color paint ings byJohn Hilton. 15 notesand envelopes . . .a t t ract ively packaged. . . only $1.25. Per fectfor your shortcorrespondence. Idealas a gift. Money-backguarantee. Order today. . . o r send fo r ou rFREE fu l l -color cata log.Cheers.

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THJK STORY of mineral crystals is com-plex, steeped in mathematics, butalso it is very captivating. Nearly allminerals form crystals, and these areknown as the crystaline minerals. Thosefew that do not are known as the amor-phous minerals, or minerals wiithoutform. The crystal shape of each mineralis nearly always different from all others,but all crystals fall into only six basicallydifferent systems. In turn, each of thesesystems are varied to some degree, andeach mineral also varies.

The mineral calcite shows over LOOdifferent forms, but all of them still fallwithin certain mathematical limits dictatedby the hexagonal system to which it be-longs. To show the possibilities of thismathematical situation, it was found thatthe hexagonal system had a possible formthat had not been observed. In 1906, ina remote locality in San Benito County,California, that mineral was found. I t

(SM UnafflfisinnSubscriptions as G ifts

was named Benitoite and, even thoughvery rare, it is one of the most sought-after of gems.

Where can we see mineral crystals?W e can start in our kitchen by shakingsome salt into our hands. The mineral-ogist calls it halite. If we examine itwith a magnifying glass, we f ind tha teach grain is a nearly perfect cube. Thecube is the basic form of one of the sixsystems. Thus, common salt is a memberof the cubic crystal system. Note that acube has three dimensions; two horizon-tal and one vertical, all of equal length.Nearly everyone has seen a quartz crystal,also called rock crystal. If the crystal islooked at from the end, it will be foundto be hexagonal, and is a member of thehexagonal crystal system. A hexagon hasfour dimensions, three horizontal and onevertical.

To define a crystal is not easy, unlesswe use technical language. If we dispensewith most of the technical language, andsomewhat with our tongue in our cheek,we can only say that a crystal is a solidgeometric form, bounded by f lat faces.Perhaps this is too simple, because thesix systems allow the exhibition of al-most any geometric form as long as itbasically has only three or four dimen-sions. There are no fives, sixes, sevens,etc., only three and four. Only one sys-tem has four dimensions, the hexagonal.The other f ive have only three, andfour of the five differ from the cube inthe various lengths of these dimensionsand the angles at which they meet.

The many shapes of mineral crystalscan be very intriguing, but that is not theintent of this column. The story of howcrystals grow, and the forces that controlthis growth is also of interest. Yes, crys-tals grow; not like a plant, but they startfrom seemingly nothing, and may attaingreat size. The mineral feldspar is usedin the making of glazes for pottery. Onefeldspar crystal was so large that it by it-self became a quarry.

To understand crystal growth, we cango back to the shaker of table salt. Thelittle cubes were grown in a refinery. Theraw material came from the seashore, or

IJIgS

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37/44

/

a salt mine. After all impurities were re-moved, a salt solution was evaporated ina huge tank. The water

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