194708 Desert Magazine 1947 August

8/14/2019 194708 Desert Magazine 1947 August

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Where women are concerned, no feature ofa service station is more important than cleanrest rooms. That is why theword about UnionOil's clean rest rooms isspreading sofast amongappreciative women.Identified by the blue andwhite sign of thepowder lady, Union Oilrest rooms arechecked

hour ly for your protectionkept constantlysupplied with fresh towels, plenty of soap andfurnished with extra-large mirrors. On theroador around your town, the Minute Meninviteyo u to use their rest rooms. Just look for thesymbol of the powder lady-your guarantee ofcleanliness.Union OilMinute ManServiceTHE DESERT MAGAZINE


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D e s e r t C a l e n d a rJuly, Aug., toSept. 20Utah Centennialexposition, State fair grounds, Sa.ltLake City, Utah.July 12-Aug. 3Exhibits of block printsin color byGustave Baumann, SantaFe artist, at Museum of Nor the rnArizona, Flagstaff, Arizona.July 27-Aug. 6^Carbon County Centen-nial prografn, Price, Utah.July 31-Aug. 1-211th Annual Robbers'Roost Roundup, Price, Utah.Aug . 1-3Cowboy reunion and rodeo,Las Vegas, iNew Mexico.Aug . 1-3Flagstaff rodeo, Flagstaff,Arizona.Aug. 2Annual fiesta and dance, JemezPueblo, NewMexico. Photographyprohibited.Aug. 3Old Tim e Banning R esidents 'picnic, George St. Park, Banning,Calif.Aug. 4Annual fiesta and Summer Corndance, Santo Domingo, NewMex-ico. Photography prohibited.Aug. 4-7U. S. Archery Meet, Brighton,Utah .Aug. 7-9Annual Vernal rodeo, Vernal,Utah .Aug. 8-10Spanish Trails fiesta andFour Corners rock club gem andmineral shpw, Durango, Colorado.Aug. 9-31State-wide annual photo-graphic exhibition of Arizona pho-tographers, with emphasis on theSouthwestern scene, at Museum ofNorthern Arizona, Flagstaff, Ariz .Aug. 10Annujal Smoki ceremonial andsnake dancp, Prescott, Arizona.Aug . 10San Lorenzo day, SummerCorn dance, Picuris Pueblo, NewMexico.Aug. 12Santa Clara day, dances, Santa

Clara, New Mexico.Aug. 13-16Cache county fair and ro-deo, Logan, Utah.Aug . 14-17 Inter-Tribal Indian C ere-monial , Gal lup, New Mexico.Aug. 15Assumption day,Green Corndance, Zia Pueblo, New Mexico.Photography prohibited.Aug. 16-24W hite Pine county fa irand race meet, Ely, Nevada.Aug. 21-23West Mil lard county cen-tennial celebration, Delta andDes-eret, Utah.Aug. 22 Annu al fiesta, Squaw D anceand rodeo, Alamo Navajo commun-ity, New Mexico.Aug. 22-24W hite Pine county "GoWestern" days, Ely, Nevada.Aug. 22-24 Nevada state open golftournament Reno, Nevada.Aug. 23-24League of Utah Writers12th (Centennial) Roundup, storyand poetry forums, banquet, New-house hotel, Salt Lake City, Utah.Aug. 25-30UState fairUtah .Aug . 28 -30 \iSalt Lake

S. Horseshoe Meet,rounds, Salt Lake City,'estern Open golf meet,country club, Salt LakeCity, Utah.Aug. 28-30Ujtah Indian Days, honor-in g Ute,Whiter iver and Uncoin-pagre Indians, Roosevelt, Utah.Aug. 29-31Santa Fe Fiesta and G r i nBaile, Santa Fe, NewMexico.Aug. 29-30-Sept. 1Annual rodeo andfair, Winn^mucca, Nevada.

Aug. 29-31-Sept. 1Elko county fairand Nevada state livestock show,Elko, Nevada.Aug. 30-Sept. 1Nevada state fair androdeo, Fallon, Nevada.

AUGUST,

j&tiFTe*

V o l u m e 10 A U G U S T . 1 9 4 7 N u m b e r 10C O V E RC A L E N D A RP H O T O G R A P H YFIELD TRIPPERSONALITYA D V E N T U R EN A T U R EI N D I A N SART OF LIVINGAGRICULTUREH O M E S T E A D I N GDESERT QUIZPOETRYE X P L O R A T I O NH U M O RFIESTALETTERSM I N I N GN E W SC O N T E S TLAPIDARYH O B B YC O M M E N TB O O K S

N A V A J O GI RL , M o n u m e n t V a l l e y . P h o t o g r a p hb y M a r t h a B u r l e i g h , L o s A n g e l e s , C a l i f o r n i a .A u g u s t e v e n t s ont h e d e s e r t 3A n n o u n c e m e n t ofJ u n e C o n t e s t w i n n e r s . . . 4P o w e r F r o m P a r a d i s e

B y H A R O L D O . W E I G H T 5' Lady Wi t h Hoofs a n d H o r n s 'By NA T McK ELVEY 10

N e v i l l s P a r t y t o R u n G r a n d C a n y o n R a p i d s . . 13L o n g - T a i l e d D e n i z e n o f t h e D e s e r t

By RICHARD L.C A S S E L L 14In t h e K i v a o f t h e S n a k e C l a nB y G O D F R E Y S Y K E S 15

Deser t Tra i l s , byM A R S H A L S O U T H . . . . 19New Seed Crop f rom Ind i a 20D e e d s fo r 5-Acre Cab i n Bu i l der s 21A test of y o u r k n o w l e d g e of t h e d e s e r t . . . . 22H i g h U p o n a Deser t Hi l l , a n d o t h e r p o e m s . . . 23M a s t o d o n of M o a b

By BEEJ a n d PAUL AVERITT 24H a r d R o c k S h o r t y ofD e a t h V a l l e y 27W h e n t h e I n d i a n s D a n c e a t G a l l u p . . . . 28C o m m e n t f r o m D e s e r t M a g a z i n e r e a d e r s . . . 29Cur ren t News Br i e f s 31H e r e a n d T h e r e o n t h e D e s e r t 32A n n o u n c e m e n t ofA u g u s t P h o t o C o n t e s t . . . 32A m a t e u r G e m Cut t er , b y L E L A N DE Q U I C K . . 38G e m s a n d M i n e r a l s 39Jus t Bet ween Y o u a n d M e , b y t h e Edi tor . . . 46C u r r e n t R e v i e w s ofS o u t h w e s t B o o k s . . . . 47

The Desert Magazine ispublished monthly bythe Desert Press, Inc., 636 State Street,El Centro, California. Entered assecond class matter October 11, 1937, at thepost office atEl Centro, California, under theAct of March 3, 1879. Title registered No. 358865 inTJ.S.Patent Office, and contents copyrighted 1947 by he Desert Pres s, Inc. Permission toreproducecontents must besecured from the editor inwriting.RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor. BESS STACY, Business Manager.HAROLD and LUCILE WEIGHT, Associate Editors.Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned oracknowledgedunless full return postage isenclosed. Desert Magazine assumes noresponsibility fordamageor loss ofmanuscripts orphotographs although due care will beexercised. Subscribers shouldsend notice of change of address bythe first of the month preceding issue. If address is un-certain bythat date, notify circulation department tohold copies.

SUBSCRIPTION RATESOne Y ear . . . $3.00 Two years . . . $5.00Canadian subscriptions 25c extra, foreign 50c extra.Subscriptions toArmy personnel outside U.S.A. must bemailed inconformity withP.O.D. Order No. 19687.Address correspondence toDesert Magazine, 636 State Street, ElCentro, California.

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Vt

W inne/il in the tf-laweb PaiadeB/ad-dosn

M. L. and M. H. Carothers of LaJolla, California, were the winners offirst prize in Desert's flower picturecontest in June, with the gorgeousclose-up of the agave or mescalshown above. Photo was taken witha 4x5 Speed Graphic with Super XXfilm, 1/50 sec. at f.12 at 11:30 a. m.

Gactui.Second place winner in the June

contest was Hubert A. Lowman ofSouthgate, California. The photo wastaken with speed panchromatic film,1/25 sec. at f.19 with K2 filter at mid-day.

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Power from Paradise

When the light jails on Fossil springs, they seem to glow with concealed light-like fallen snoiv.Rock-hunters who like cool mountain temperatures and pretty scenerywith their specimens, will be especially interested in this story of an ex-cursion into the mountain country near Prescott in central Arizona. WithMoulton Smith, a modern day mountain-man, as his guide Harold Weightvisits a great spring in Arizonaand finds relics of interest to both ar-cheologists and mineralogists along the way.

By HAROLD O. WEIGHTr HE BIG sign warned: "This roadhas been closed as unsafe to pub-lic travel, by order of U. S. Depart-on divides Y avapai and Gila counties

"That," said Moulton Smith, "is theEyeing the sign dubiously, I turned into

winding mountain grades, makes me un-happy.But my share of the driving was almostfinished. Across the creek I could see thebuildings of Arizona Power company'ssettlement of Irving where we were totransfer to a company truck with Moultonat the wheel. From that point we would beon a one-way maintenance road virtuallyimpassable to a low-slung passenger car.I had never heard of Fossil springs be-fore visiting Ida and Moulton Smith attheir Top O' th' Pines lodge near Prescott.But M oulton was so enthusiastic that I wasconvinced the springs would be worth the100 mile trip from Prescott to the base ofthe Mogollon rim to see. Being a rock-hound and knowing that I was one, he

added that he had found chalcedony rosesand agate on the trail to the springs.As Moulton told me more about thesprings, among the largest in Arizona, myinterest mounted. Seeing giant towers ofHoover dam transmission lines straddle-bug their way across so much of the des-ert, I had assumed all surrounding areasdrew electricity from that project. But 20years before work started on the Coloradoriver, the Arizona Power company hadused horse and wagon, mule and burro fortransport, and had built power plants,dams, homes, transmission lines and 15miles of flume in an almost roadless wil-derness.Today the racing waters of Fossilsprings furnish power and light for thecities of Prescott, Flagstaff, Jerome,Clarksdale, Winslow, Holbrook and Wil-liams ; for the mines and towns of Y ava-pai, Coconino and part of Navajo counties.Power had been developed withoutmarring the natural beauty of the springs,Moulton said. They frothed whitely fromtree-shaded bank into the deep, swift-running stream just as they had eight cen-turies before when the cliff dwellers bur-rowed into their laboriously hand-

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Part of the pow er compan y town of Irving 25 miles from a grocery store,51 miles from a movie.

plastered dens in the surrounding bluffs,and cultivated maize patches beside theclear waters.As superintendent of transportation forthe power company, part of Moulton's jobis to rescue trucks which have brokendown in spots where no sensible truck wil-lingly would have ventured in the firstplace. These expeditions have given himan unusual insight into the wonders ofcentral Arizona's little-traveled back coun-try, but it is to Fossil springs that he re-turns whenever opportunity permits.Whole days could be spent pleasurablyon the journey between Prescott and Irv-ing. The road goes through the precarious-ly-perched old copper camp of Jerome. Itwinds along the valley of the Verde riverwhere cliff and pueblo ruins, cut intobluffs and crowding mesas, indicate agreater population in pre-Columbiantimes than at present. It passes close to Tu-zigoot, Montezuma Well and MontezumaCastle. At Camp Verde, founded in 1864as Camp Lincoln, the paving ends, but theroad from that point to Irving is good ex-cept in wet weather.On the east side of the road, 16.3 milesbeyond Camp Verde, lies a disintegrating,broken-backed log cabin which looks likean exile from the K entucky hills. Oncethat cabin was the only white habitationbetween Camp Verde and Payson. Lyingin Apache country, it was the scene ofnumerous Indian fights. It is a wonder thateither it or its inhabitants survived. Therocks behind the cabin show indications oflong-time Indian occupation, and thereis the site of a big Indian village aroundthe south and west sides of a striking fin-ger of rock nine-tenths of a mile fartheralong the road.Before settling in any part of the South-west, I think I first would make sure thatIndians had lived there. T heir ability to se-lect spots which combined beauty and util-ity amounted to genius. At the village site

R o a d L o gPRESCOTT TO FOSSIL SPRINGS

Mileage00.0Leave Prescott.34.9Jerome business district.39-8Clarksdale. Tuzigoot nationalmonument is across the Verderiver, 2.4 miles from Clarksdale.42.5Cottonwood, at entrance to lowerOak Creek canyon. Cattle, agri-cultural and mining town.47.5Turn right (south from U. S. Al-ternate 89 onto Camp Verder o a d ) .51.1Cornville. Pueblo ruins on bluffnear village.60.7Junction with Beaver creek roadto Rimrock. Left (east) on thisroad is Montezuma Wel l nat ionalmonument .62.9Road to Montezuma Castle nation-al monument, 1.1 miles left( e a s t ) .67.4Camp Verde and end of paving.Through town, road passes campof Y avapai Apache.73.9Clear creek bridge. Road to Clearcreek ranger station and canyonbranches left.83.7Old log cabin, left of road. Sceneof early Indian fights.84.6Site of Indian village on slopesof distinctive butte on right side

of road.86.4Cimarron grade into Fossil creekcanyon.90.0Child 's-Verde Hot Springs roadbranches right (southwest ). Con-tinue left.92.6Road branches left (west) to Irv-ing. Take branch.92.7Power company town of Irving.Hike up Fossil springs road.93.9Chalcedony scattered on eitherside of Fossil springs road. Con-tinues for approximately one mile.Then in scattered places remain-der of trip.97.1End of road at Fossil springs in-take. Cross dam and hike up eastside of creek for best view ofsprings, or follow west bank andcross above springs.97.6Big outlet of Fossil springs.

17.2 miles beyond Camp Verde, therewere heights on which sentinels couldstand guard, piled granite boulders intowhich the tribe could retreat under attack,and cosy holes and corners where the chil-dren could play and the old people keepout of the cold wind. Below, in the littlehollow, a spring furnished a permanentwater supply, and there was bottom landfor planting. The residents had built aseries of level terraces up the inhabitedslopes, each probably a family homesite. Acattle camp now occupies the hollow.Fragments of pottery are scattered over

the entire area, and here and around theold cabin we found bits and chunks ofhighly colored jasper. Large pieces willmake interesting cabochons. So far as Iknow, this material has not been located inplace in the surrounding mountains. Y et itmust have been found fairly near the camp,else it would not have been thrown aboutso carelessly.It was Saturday noon when we reachedIrving, and most of the 20 residents haddeparted for town. "Town" is CampVerde, 25 miles away, where groceries maybe purchased, or Cottonwood, 51 milesdistant, with the nearest movie. Irving is apretty place where white wooden housesalmost are hidden under spreading treesand roses bloom in front yards. But its iso-lation makes the employe turn-over high.The penstock, carrying Fossil springswater on its 560-foot drop from flume togenerator, passes down the center of thelong street to the power plant where it op-erates the single 350 K VA transformer.Beyond the plant it enters a flume to beused again at the Child's plant 10 milessouth on the Verde river. The Irving plantwas built in 1915 when three 350 K VAtransformers at Childs were unable to sup-ply sufficient power for Y avapai county'sbooming mines.Clinton Winters, flume foreman, cameroaring down the one-way Fossil springsT H E D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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Arizona Power company acquired title

first smelters of the county.hydroelectric project innd so the

We left the spectacular main springs

As we started back toward the flume

"The first time I came up here they senticompany, to see that I

: 'Lots of rockjs down by the car. Y ouWe could hear the roar of the big

T S"This was Lew Turner's cabin," Moul-

all the holes? Y ou'd be sur-

I looked at the futile little holes about

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 7

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Moulton Smith, in addition to being superintendent of transportation for the Ari-zona Power company, is an ardent rockhound and officer of Yavapai Gem andMineral society. Here he displays chalcedony and agate found alongthe Fossil springs road-

PREHISTORIC RUINS TO BEPRESERVED IN NEW PARK PROJECTPreservation of the prehistoric ruinssouth of Manuelito, New Mexico, as a na-tional monument approached realizationwith the recent announcement from officesof the Indian service in Chicago that thelast two Indian allotments are ready fortransfer to the state of New Mexico. Thisbrings the proposed monument area to atotal of 30,347 acres lying south of theSanta Fe railroad right of way and extend-ing from Manuelito to and a short distanceacross the New Mexico-Arizona state line.D. W. VanDevanter and the Gallup

chamber of comm erce have been leaders inthe movement to have the monument es-tablished. In 1939, the New Mexico statelegislature appropriated $20,000 to thestate park commission for purchase oflands in the area. After purchase is com-pleted, the park commission will turn theland over to the national park service, andthe national monument can be establishedby proclamation. Land involved in NewMexico was 29,757 acres, including 21,-077 acres of unentered public land, 2183acres of state public school lands, 5186acres in Indian allotments, 580 acres ofrailroad land.


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Ethel A. Hopkins of Tucson. Ari-zona, hardly knew the differencebetween a chute and a surcinglewhen she took over the duties ofediting the cow boy and rodeo mag-azine Hoofs and Horns 14 yearsago. But she has learned andwhile she was building the maga-zine she was endearing herself tocowhands and rodeo fans wher-ever horses are ridden. Today theyall ca ll her "Ma."

At first Ala Hopk ins was editor, business andcirculation manager, ad salesman, reporterand colum nist. As success has come to themaga zine she has been able to devote her timemostly to her editorial duties. This is a recentphoto by Beth Haivley.

otn5By NAT McKELVEY

( 7 H E SAT in the official box, thisj vivacious, grey-haired woman, eag-erly watching the pageant of thrills,spills and danger unfolding beneath her.La Fiesta de los Vaqueros, annual Arizonarodeo, was in full swing. Most of the top-hand performers, including Gene Rambo,world's champion cowboy, recognized hersitting there, caught her cheery smile, andwaved their hats in affectionate greeting.But across the arena, in the jam-packedaudience pavilion, a ruddy-cheeked oldsterwith binoculars mused aioud: 'I wonderwho she is.'l10

Overhearing, a program salesman sid-led up. "Say," he said, "you must be realnew around here. That is Ma Hopkins, thelady with Hoofs and Horns."For 14 years, MaEthel A. Hopkins ofTucsonhas edited and published Hoofsand Horns, the cowboys' Bible. Throughit, she has become "Ma" to thousands ofsaddlebowed punchers and rodeo fans.Topflight authors and artists, "names"in the field of western writing, expend

their talents on Hoofs and Horns for thelove of itand of Ma. In its pages haveappeared Walt Coburn, L. Ernenwein,Nelson Nye, Chuck Martin, FoghornClancy, and the late Clem Y ore. Its covers

have come from Jack Van Ryder, PeteMartinez, Lone Wolf, J. R. Williams (theSkull Valley man) and Olaf Wieghorst.The saga of Ma Hopkins is a successstory. It stems from her personality; fromher belief that the worthwhile things inlife are essentially simple, wholesome andquite apart from material glitter. As a re-sult, Ma has enjoyed friendships with suchmen as the late Eugene Manlove Rhodes,western novelist, and of Gene Autry,famous cowboy singer.Ma started life on a Missouri farm. Be-tween college years at the University ofMissouri, she taught in the grade schools.Following graduation in 1908, she spent aT H E D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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year in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, teachinghandicrafts to children in the first sixgrades. Adept at basketry, weaving, claymolding and paper work, Ma proved bothsuccessful and popular.From Bartlesville she migrated to Mus-kogee, teaching primary grades there foranother two years. Though busy, shefound time to heed the call of ol' Dan'l

Cupid. In Muskogee, she married JoeIkenberry, a lawyer from Sedalia, Mis-souri.Ma and Joea favorite name with herw ent to live in K ansas City. But Macouldn't keep out of harness. She soon ac-cepted a special job for the University ofMissouri. Working with county agricul-tural agents, her'chore was to judge schoolwork and home economics exhibits attownship and county fairs.In 1916, Joe Ikenberry's health broke.

Gene Autry and Champion is another of "Ma's boys."A U G U S T , 1 9 4 7

One of the most popular of ivesternwriters, Walt Coburn, often contrib-utes to Hoofs and Horns withoutthought of compensation because headmires its editor. Photo by EstherHenderson.Seeking recovery, he and Ma journeyed toArizona. For Ma, it was back to schoolteaching. For three years she again in-structed primary grades. Then, opportun-ity called her to the College of Agricultureof the University of Arizona where sheworked as stenographer. Shortly, she be-came personal secretary to the dean, a po-sition she held for six years.

While in the Dean's office she had herfirst taste of editorial work. She began ed-iting the manuscripts written by facultymembers for inclusion in the university'svarious bulletins. She had a natural apti-tude for the work and her excellence boost-ed her to the full-time job of editor of bul-'etins and catalogs. Meanwhile, Joe Iken-11


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Everett Boivman, deputy sheriff of Markopa county and former president of theTurtle association, of which Ma Hopkins was the first woma n memb er.berry had died. Alone for seven years shecontinued her editorial work.But the depression of the 'thirties,bringing with it the necessity for job con-servation, cost Ma her editorship. In 1930,she had married J. W. Hopkins. As a mar-ried woman, she found herself releasedfrom the University staff to make way fora jobless man.

Ma Hopkins has always been close tothe people who, with their hands, wrest aliving from the outdoors. Genial, tolerant,kindly, she has an infinite capacity to lovemankind. Naturally, she is loved in turn.Nelson Nye, author of the best seller,"Wild Horse Shorty," dedicated anotherbook: "For that great old gal who editsthe Cowboys' Bible, Ma Hopkins!"Hoofs and Horns reflects Ma's person-ality and philosophy. It mirrors the spiritof rodeo, the lives and aspirations of sim-ple folk. Its cover is always black andwhite, its contents informal, friendly, chat-ty. Ma has resisted every attempt to makeit otherwise.Wherever cowhands gather for rodeosin all but six of the United States, inEngland, France, Canada, Australia, and

MexicoHoofs and Horns is read as anofficial representative of the sport.During the war, Hoofs and Horns went

12

to every part of the world where Americantroops fought or were garrisoned. Ex-cowboys, riding herd on Japs and Ger-mans, took time out to express their appre-ciation. Typical is this comment from Cpl.Jack Dupree. While in the Admiralty Is-lands, he wrote: "I still get my Hoofs andHorns wlr'ch I enjoy very much. I receivedthe last issue when I was in a fox hole."Revelatory of the affection this quietlady engenders is a note from Pfc. BillLeonard. Stationed in Burma, he wrote:"Dear Ma, I hope you don't mind my call-ing you 'Ma,' but I've heard a lot aboutyou and feel like I kinda know you person-ally . . ."Once, something more unusual than alaudatory letter reached the Hoofs andHorns office. Recently, the arrival of achipper fox terrier, crated and addressedto her, drew from Ma an expression of in-credulity."But I dcn't know anyone who wouldsend me a dog!"Three days later, a Texas cowhand, notpreviously known to Ma, turned up toclaim the terrier."Y ou see, Ma'am," he expla ;ned, "I wasmovin' to Tu rson an' I didn't know a soulto keep my dog, an' that's a fact. But I'mreadin' your magazine, so I think, 'There's

a good woman. I'll just send my dog toher!' "When Ma Hopkins came to Hoofs andHorns in the depression year of 1933 themagazine was dying. No one thought itcould be saved. No one, that is, except Maand her husband, J. W. Hopkins, a print-ing company official. When Ma tookcharge, the monthly had a mail circulation

of 1000. Newsstand sales were nil. Fortwo years, in order to preserve a secondclass mailing permit, Ma sent the maga-zine to her list of 1000 subscribers with-out cost.At the start, she was circulation mana-ger, editor, advertising manager, publish-er, advertising salesman, reporter and col-umnist. From that beginning, Ma has seenher staff increase and the magazine circu-lation surpass 10,000, tremendous in ahighly specialized field.Rehabilitating Hoofs and Horns was atonce unglamorous, arduous, yet a fascinat-

ing challenge. Never before had Ma Hop-kins sold advertising. She sold it nowtramping endless hours in summer heatand winter cold .. . "I didn't like selling,"Ma explains, "but there were moments oftriumph."One bitterly cold rainy day. after wa'k-ing from early morning to late eveningwithout selling an ad, Ma finally clicked."It was only a one inch ad for a dollar,"she recalls, "but it made that long day asuccess."In her second year as ed'tor, she securedthe help of Miss Virginia Smith. Still with

Hoofs and Horns, Virginia has provedherself an able organizer. She holds thepost of circulation chief.Ma has had other help, some of it bad.Her collection of advertising managers hasincluded a drunkard and a dope fiend.Others wanted to "go Hollywood" withthe magazine, put color on the covers, in-clude a fast, racy content. Down wentMa's foot. "It must be a simple magazine,"she decreed, "for cow country folk."In Australia, a Melbourne publisher hasaccorded Ma's magazine the flattery of im-itation. Published for the Australian Ro-deo club, a "down under" Hoofs andHorns h as, without permission, lifted bod-ily Ma's copyrighted name plate, featureddrawings and a column h eading pa'nted byPete Martinez, his name appearing boldlyas in the original.Without shouting her wares. Mabrought Hoofs and Horns to the attentionof the nation. Todav. at the great rodeosof the worldMadison Square Garden,the Boston Garden, the Perdleton Round-up, Cheyenne Frontier Days, CalgaryStampede, La Fiesta de los Vaqueros, theLivingston RoundupHoofs and Hornsis an institution.Appreciation for Hoofs and Horns, per-meated by the soint and energy of MaHopkins, pours in from such men as OlafWieghorst whose program covers are

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to thousands of rodeo fans at Madi-

"Skull Valley" W illiams once sent her

he rodeo at Hayward,Y7 , he was trampled by

Tempted to befriend all homeless cats,

Ma's multitude of friends is endless asnight, world's champion bronc rider in

In her grief, Ma Hopkins penned this"Wherever rodeos are known, the namenight m bans the best there is in

ur. Pete K night coming out on;ll the crowd

"Pete K night has gone out over the:s going, the re were smiles

There is the spirit of Hoofs and Horns."Y es, sir, mister," the program sales-man repeated. "Y ou must be real newaround here. That's Ma Hopkins, the ladywith Hoofs and fjlorns."*: * *NEVILLS PARTY TO RUNGRAND CANYON RAPIDSNorman Nevills, ace boatman of Mexi-can Hat, Utah, has announced three fast-water voyages en the Green and Coloradorivers this summer including the first runthrough Grand Canyon since his 1940 ex-pedition.June 21, Nevills and a party of 12 tookoff at Green River, Wyoming, on a tripsponsored by Dr.: Otis Reed Marston ofBerkeley.Leaving Green River, the party's distri-bution by boats was Nevills, Mexican Hat

I, as pilot; his 10-year-old daughter, Joan,youngest person ever to make the trip;Rosalind Johnston of Pasadena. Cali-fornia, noted horsewoman, and Al Mil-

Wo Have Ho Field ItpeativeRead bv MoreContestants and Fans Than Any OMwrRodeo Publication

Taming A Wild Onei

Hoofs a nd H orns, started in 1931, was headed for the journalistic graveyard whenMa Hopkins became its editor in 1933. Today it is read by cow hands and rodeo fansall over the world. The cover on this issue is a reproduction of a paintingby Orren Mixer.lotte, Hollywood, California, Walt Disneycameraman.

Mexican Hat II was piloted by Dr. OtisReed Marston, Berkeley, California;Garth Marston and his wife, Shirley,Berkeley, and A. K . Reynolds, 17, GreenRiver. In the Joan was K ent Frost, Monti-cello, Utah, rancher; Willie Taylor,Berkeley, and Misses Loel and MaradelMarston, 16-year-old twin daughters ofDr. Marston.After the run through Red Canyon andAshley falls and Lodore canyon with itsDsaster falls, the trip was scheduled toend at Jensen, Utah, July 4, from where

the boats would be returned by truck toMexican Hat.The second section of the summer ex-pedition was to start at Lee's ferry July 12

when Nevills' four especially-constructedcataract boats, the Wen, MH II, Joan andSandra were to be launched for the runthrough Marble canyon to Bright Angeltrail, reaching there a week later.Pilots of the boats were Nevills, Dr.Marston, K ent Frost and Archie Morris,and the passenger list included Marjorieand Francis Farquhar of San Francisco,two Walt Disney photographers, MargaretMarston, Rosalind Johnston, Pauline Say-lor and Randall Henderson.At Bright Angel trail the passenger listwill change again, the same boatmen hav-ing as passengers Joe Desloges and fivemembers of his family from St. Louis, Mo.,Margaret Marston and Randall Hender-son. After running the rapids through theGranite gorges, the boat party is scheduledto reach Hoover dam August 3.

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 7 13


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15/47

Kiva of theSnakeClanLate in August the Hopi Snakepriests will make their annual

pilgrimage out on the dsseit togather in their "little brothers,"the snakes, for the annual rcrin-prayer to the gods. Then beginsa nine-day ritual which ends onthe village plaza when thetribesmen dance with snakes intheir mouths to the rhythm ofgourd rattles. But before thedance can be held, the snakesmust be cleansed. The washingof the snakes is a secret ritucilheld in the underground kivasof the clansmen. Few Anglo-Americans have ever witnessedthis underground ceremony.Godfrey Sykes, through hisfriendship for the Indians, wasinvited to participate in itandhere is the story of his experi-ences.

By GODFREY SYKESr OD AY visitors from all over theworld follow the dirt roads to theHopi villages in northern Arizonato watch the Snake dances, held annuallyin August on days announced two weeksearlier by the Snake priests.But 50years ago few people other thanethnologists and students of Indian cus-toms and traditions knew about thesedances. The mesa-top pueblos of thetribesmen, then called Moqui Indians,were inaccessible except to those hardytravelers who were willing to make thelong trek in a buckboard or on horseback.

Captain Bourke had written about thedances ten years earlier, but few Anglo-

Americans had seen them. The Indianstook their ceremonies seriouslyas theydo todayand while they were nothostileto visitors, they made no effort to encour-age them.I was living on the reservation at thattime, in charge of the trading post of myfriend TomKeam, and was in almost dailycontact with the chief men in the nearbyvillages. Alexander Stevens, ethnologistand a good friend of the Moquis, alsomade his headquarters at the trading post.As the time for the Snake dance ap-

proached there were two or three stray sci-entists, artists and literary folk in residenceThis photograph of the plaza at Walpi was taken in 1895 just before theannual Snakedance. Theladders in theforeground lead to underground kivas, and in the left center isthe kisi a bower of cottonwood branches ivhere thesnakes are confined when the dancestarts. Today theHopis do notpermit thetaking of pictures during thedance ceremonial.

A U G U S T , 1 94 7


16/47

i

Close-up of the kisi, o r snake bower, where the reptiles are confined when the dan ce starts.As the dancers file past the kisi a snake priest reaches into the boiver of co ttonwood branchesand pulls out a snake which is handed to the clansmen and the m iddle o f its bo dy placed inhis mo uth. T he "little brothers" include rattlers, sidewinders, gopher snakes, racers an yspecies found on the desert and the p riest takes 'em as they come.with us. K eam was abroad, but he had leftword with Stevens and myself to treatthese strays kindly and help them all wecould with their note-taking and investiga-tions.16

The full Snake dance is a nine-day af-fair, the ceremonies being held every otheryear in one or more villages, but alternatedso that generally there are two or threedances each August. At that time the most

elaborate dance was held in Walpi on theodd-numbered years.Steve, who had lived and workedamong the Moquis for a generation ormore, had arranged with the chief of theT H E D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


17/47

Steve had witnessed the washing of

myself.My foster parent, the Antelope chief,

The washing ta


18/47


19/47

It is the clothes people wearand not the peoplethemselveswhich cause the denizens of the wildto flee in terror when a hum an app roach es. At least,this is the theory advanced by Marshal South thismonth in the first of a new series of stories he willwrite for Desert Magazine. Y ou may not agree withMarshal's philosophy of life in every detailbutyou must respect them as honest opinions from aman who lives what he believes. This world wouldbe a dull place if we all had the same ideas.

By MARSHAL SOUTH/ / Y FRIEND Bob Crawford had told me about the Ele-phant tree which grows on a steep sidehill within sight

of the camp ground at Mountain Palm Springs canyonElephant trees are not especially rare or remarkableexcept

And so I had driven my aged jalopy out to the secluded coveNext morning, not long after the sun had blazed into a clearky to make hot patterns across Carrizo wash, I found it. It took

little scrambling and some searching. But after I had locatedt I was astonished that I had not seen it from the first. It isvisible a quarter of a mile away, north of the improvised fire-place at the camp ground where the road ends.It isn't a big tree as trees usually are reckoned. Below theit is said to grow occasionally to a heig ht of 30 feet. Butthe specimens to be found in the arid region of the United Statesrarely exceed 15 feet. The one growing on the rocky slope atMountain Palm Springs is about eight: feet high, with a branchspread equal in diameter to its height.Scientifically, Elephant trees belong to the Burseraceae, theTorchwood family, from which division of plants the aromaticproduct known a$ frankincenseoften mentioned in religiouswritings in connection with myrrhis obtained. The copal,which is burned as incense by various tribes of American Indi-ans in religious ceremonies is a product of the E lephant tree, theresinous properties of which are very marked. The tree is cred-ited with having a blood-like juice, or red sap, in the bark atcertain seasons. But curiosity in this respect should be sternlyrepressed. For anyone who wanders round with a hatchet gash-ing Elephant tree? to see them "bleed" is a type of human whodoes not belong in the desertor any place else.Like many othersbefore I had seen my first Elephant treeI was curious as to the reason of the name. But after you havestudied the growth the designation is readily understandable.The swollen, tapering branches suggest very strongly thetrunks and the general characteristics of elephants. Althoughan equally apt definition might have been "Octopus" treebecause the smooth, tapering, writhing limbs suggest equallywell a sprawling marine monster, upside down and waving itstentacles toward the desert sky. The tree, in many ways, carriesa resemblance to some weird growth from the ocean d epths. Thetips of the branches are reddish brown, giving the tree, whenseen from a distance the appearance of a brown blur on the des-

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A U G U S T , 1 9 4 7

This isn't the Elephant tree described by M arshal South inthe accompanying textbut it is a good illustration of thespecies, ]ound rarely in California, but comm on in Sonoraand Lower California.ert or rocky slope. The rest of the bark, however, which clothesthe limbs and low trunk, is a mixture of white, whitish-yellowand green. This coloration is due to the construction of thebark, the outer layers of which are white. These, peeling off inthin sheets, expose inner layers that are green. The bark layersbelow are thick and red.

There were only a few leaves on this Elephant tree when Ivisited it in late May. But the crevices of the rocks surroundingit were thick with a rust red deposit of fallen dead ones. Theleaves on the tree are an almost perfect reproduction, in minia-ture, of the frond of a date palm. But they are very tiny "fronds."The tree does not assume its full dress of leaves until after theflowers appear, which usually is sometime in June. The fruit, atiny berry about the size of a pea which turns from green to darkreddish-brown as it matures, ripens along in October.

The wood of the Elephant tree is hard, close-grained andyellow. In places across the Mexican border the trees are report-ed to be so numerous they are used for firewood. But it is mysincere hope that my brothers of the desert who may come afterme to view the tree whose location I have revealed, will refrainfrom any clipping of souvenirs. The guardian spirits of the des-ert-and especially of Mountain Palm Springswill not lookwith approval on such vandalism. Y ou may not be superstitiousand you may laugh it off. But it won't help you. I have enoughof the redman in me to be wholesomely convinced as to the fateof people who work thoughtless mischief.The day was still young when I got through checking up on

19


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21/47

e e d s f o r 5 - A c r e C a b i n B u i l d e r s . . .5 - A c r e L e s s e e s M a yS o o n B e c o m e O w n e r s

Jackrabb it hcjmesteaders of whomthere are now 8000 in Southern Californiaand hundreds more in other desert statesmay soon acquire deeds from Uncle Samfor their 5-acre tracts.Announcement of the interior depart-ment's decision to grant titles to lands nowheld under lease, was made by SecretaryK rug June 4.However, no deeds will be issued untilafter a one-year lease period, and not untila cabin or other permanent improvementsare made on the property. The sale priceof the land will be determined by federalappraisers. The Small Tract Act of 1938under which any American citizen mayacquire five acres of vacant public landprovides, however, that the sale price in noevent will be less than the cost of survey-ing the land.In making his announcement of the newregulations, Secretary K rug said: "It is thepolicy of the Secretary in the administra-tion of the Act of June 1, 1938, to promotethe beneficial utilization of the public landsubject to the terms thereof and at the sametime to safeguard the public interest in thelands. To this end applications for sites

will be considered in the light of their ef-fect upon the conservation of natural re-sources and upon the welfare not only ofthe applicants themselves but the com-munities in which they propose to settle."No direct sales will be made of landsunder the act. Use and improvement underlease will be required before it will be sold.Leases of lands which are classified forlease and sale W|ill contain an option per-mitting the lessee to purchase."Explaining the procedure under thenew regulations, Paul B. Witmer, actingmanager of the District Land office in Los

Angeles stated that as soon as forms areavailable, new lease contracts w ill be m adewith 5-acre claimants in which the option-to-purchase claijse will be inserted. Thisclause will provide that after one year, alessee who has made substantial improve-ments on his tract will be given the privi-lege of buying the land at a figure set bythe appraisers.Witmer added, "I hope all the 8000 5-acre lessees in Southern California will notrush up to this office and ask for new con-tracts containing the option-to-buy clauseimmediately. We do not even have thenew lease forms] yet. And with our limited

personnel, many months time will be re-quired to convert the old leases to the newforms."Those who have already made im-

Following is the complete text of theSmall Tract Act of 1938.AN ACTTo provide for the purchase of publiclands for home and other sites.Be it enacted by the Senate and Houseof Representatives oj the United Statesof America in Congress assembled, Thatthe Secretary of the Interior, in his discre-tion, is authorized to sell or lea'e, to anyperson who is the head of a family, orwho has arrived at the age of twenty-oneyear, and is a citizen of the United States,or who has filed his declaration of inten-tion to become such a citizen, as requiredby the naturalization laws, a tract of notexceeding five acres of any vacant, unre-served, surveyed public land, or surveyedpublic land withdrawn or reserved bythe Secretary of the Interior for any otherpurposes, or surveyed lands withdrawnby Executive Orders Numbered 6910 ofNovember 26, 1934, and 6964 of Febru-ary 5, 1935, for classification, which theSecretary may classify as chiefly valuableas a home, cabin, camp, health, conva-lescent, recreational, or business site inreasonably compact form and under suchrules and regulations as he may pre-scribe, at a price to be determined by him,for such use: Provided, That no tractshall be sold for less than the cost ofmaking any survey necessary to properlydescribe the land sold; that no personshall be permitted to purchase more thanone tract under the provisions of thisAct, except upon a showing of goodfaith and reasons satisfactory to theSecretary, and that patents for all tractspurchased under the provisions of thisAct shall contain a reservation to theUnited States of the oil , gas, and othermineral deposits, together with the rightto prospect for, mine, and remove thesame under such regulations as the Secre-tary may prescribed: Provided further,That this Act shall not apply to any landsin the Territory of Alaska.Approved, June 1, 1938.

provements on their land will be givenfirst consideration. My suggestion to theothers is that they continue their dollar-an-acre-a-year lease payments until theyare ready to start their construction work,and then make application to this officefor the new form." Southern California is leading all otherregions of the U nited States in the num berof applications for 5-acre tracts under themodified homestead law of 1938. ActingManager Witmer states that nearly 12,000applications have been received in his LosAngeles office in the last eight years.Several thousand acres of land on theColorado and Mojave deserts have beenmade available for these applicants. Thelargest concentration of "jackrabbit home-steaders" is in the Twentynine Palms area.However, sections have been classified asavailable also near Victorville, in Moron-P O and Coachella valleys and in the Valle-citos area.

H e r e ' s G u i d e f o r5 - A c r e A p p l i c a n t s

Y our name is John Smith or BettyJones, and you think you want to becomethe owner of five acres of Uncle Sam'spublic domain, of which there are 169million acres in the United States.Y ou r' first step is to select your site.Then you go to the U. S. District Land of-fice in the state where the site is located todetermine whether or not it is vacant pub-lic land, and if it has been surveyed. Mostof the accessible public land in the UnitedStates has been surveyedthat is, ironposts have been set at the section andquarter-section corners marked with the

section, township and range of that parcelof land. Sometimes those posts are hard tofind, but it will simplify matters if youwill search the terrain until you locate oneof them.If you can locate the survey posts andobtain a legal description of the site, youmay carry on your dealings with the Dis-trict Land office by mail. But do not writeto the Land office and tell them you areinterested in a 5-acre tract two miles westof Humpity-Dum pity peak, or a mile southof Hobgoblin spring. The chances arethe clerks in the Land office never heard of

those places. Unless you can obtain a legaldescription of the land you'll have to makea personal visit to the Land office whereyou will have access to detailed maps ofevery section of land in the district.Perhaps the land you want has not beenclassified yet. Go ahead and make yourapplication anyway. And get some of yourfriends and neighbors who are also inter-ested in jackrabbit homesteads to make ap-plications. The more applications therea r e , the sooner Uncle Sam's inspectors willget around to the task of classifying thatland.Y our application is made in duplicateon forms supplied by the District Land of-ficeone tract to each adult single personor head of a familyno more. With theapplication you enclose a fee of $5.00 asevidence of good faith.There are some lands in Southern Cali-fornia already classified and ready forleases. Y ou can learn the location of theselands at the District office. Y ou may evenfile your application without inspectingthe landbut it isn't advisable unless youknow others who already have filed onadjoining tracts and are willing to act ontheir recommendation.It may require many months before youget action en your application, even afterthe land has been classified. But just takeit easy, for while Uncle Sam is sometimes

A U G U S T , 1 9 4 7 21


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very slow, he also is very trustworthy. InLos Angeles applications are being madeat the rate of 50 to 100 a dayand thelimited staff can process only about 25 aday. They are nearly 4000 behindbutthey will catch up eventually.Y our lease, when it finally arrives, willbe for five years. Then you have to remit

another $5.00a dollar an acrefor thefirst year's lease. Thereafter you send$5.00 each year for the renewal. UncleSam doesn't mail out statementsyouhave to remember about that lease pay-ment. But if you overlook the paymentyour lease will not be cancelled until youhave been sent a registered notice of yourdelinquency. If you decide to drop thelease, there is no further obligation, exceptthat as a matter of courtesy you should ad-vise the Land officeso the tract will beavailable for another person.Probably your lease will stipulate thatyou must spend $300 for a cabin or im-provements on the land. But you will havefive years to make the improvements, un-less you want to obtain a deed sooner. Un-der new regulations, deeds will be issuedupon payment of the appraised value ofthe land anytime after one year if the re-quired improvements are made.Applicants should understand that goodagricultural lands available for homestead-ing are no longer availablethey've longago been taken up under the homesteadlaws. Remaining lands which are nowavailable under the Small Tract Act aremostly arid terrain without water or soilsuitable for intensive cultivation. As asource of livelihood they have little or novalue. As stated in the Act they are classi-fied "chiefly valuable as home, cabin,camp, health, convalescent, recreationalor business." There is no requirement as tocontinuous residence on the tract. Aftergovernment patent is issued they may bebought and sold the same as any other realestate, but mineral rights are reserved tothe federal government. However, if thelessee discovers minerals on the property,he has the same privilege as any otherAmerican citizen of filing on the mineralrights.The intent of the law is to open the re-maining public domain for any legitimateuse the people of United States desire tomake of it.Formerly these lands were under thejurisdiction of the U. S. Land office, witha registrar in charge of each regional of-fice. More recently the term "U. S. LandOffice" has been abolished and its func-tions taken over by the Bureau of LandManagement. Regional offices have be-come District Land offices, and the regis-trars have become "acting managers." Thelocation of these offices in the five south-western states is as follows:Southern California, as far north asK ern county: U . S. District Land office,Postoffice building, Los Angeles.No rthern California, K ern county and

22

north: U. S. District Land office, Sacra-mento, California.Arizona: U. S. District Land office,Phoenix.Nevada: U. S. District Land office, Car-son City.Utah: U. S. District Land office, Salt

Lake City.New Mexico: U . S. District Land office,Las Cruces.

In Arizona, lands near Ajo recentlywere classified as suitable by the PhoenixDistrict Land office, and there has been arush of applicants to obtain tracts in thatsection.The progress with which additionallands will be made available in all westernstates depend s on two factors, (1 ) the in-terest of local people in obtaining thesetracts, and (2) the interest and initiativeof the acting manager of the District Landoffice in that region.

D E S E R T Q U I Z It is too hot to do much poking around on the des-ert these days, but in your imagination you maytravel far and wide across the scenic areas of Ne-vada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Californiaand that is what you will bedoing when you tackle these quiz questions. They cover a wide range of desertsubjects and places, all of them fairly well known. Don't be discouraged if you geta low scoreyou'll do better after you have read Desert a few months. Ten is apassing score. Fifteen qualifies you as an expert. Occasionally a reader scores 18and that is super. The answers are on page 37.1A metate was used by the Indians for K illing gameGrindin g meal Storing food Ceremonial purposes2K ayenta, Arizona, is remembered as The burial place of K it Carson.Th e former capital of the state Th e place where Geronim o was cap-tured The home of the W etherill family3Highest peak visible from the Colorado desert of Southern California isSan Gorg onio San Jacinto Tahqu itz Santa Rosa4A javelina is A species of bird A lizardAn animal resembling a wild hog A poisonous insect5Going west through Daylight Pass the motorist would arrive inThe Valley of Fire in Nevada Death ValleyThe Tonto basin of Arizona Albuquerque, New Mexico6The famous Nevada "Bottlehouse" is located atGoldfield Tonopah Rhyolite Searchlight7In New Mexican history the date 1680 marks the Discovery of the Seven

Cities of Cibola Annexation of New Mexican territory to USAFounding of Santa Fe A general revolt of the Pueblo Indians againstthe Spaniards8The Epitaph is the name of a famous frontier newspaper published atY uma Tombstone Nogales Virginia City9The mineral, azurite, belongs to one of the following groupsCopper Zinc Iron Tin10According to legend, the Enchanted mesa of New Mexico formerly was oc-cupied by The Zuni Indians- The HopiThe Acoma The Apaches11The region known as the Great Basin occupies the v/estern part of the stateof Nevada New Mexico Utah Arizona12Leader of the first known party to navigate the Colorado river through GrandCanyon was Dellenbaugh Powell Wheeler Bill Williams13The University of Arizona is located atTucson Phoenix Flagstaff Tempe14Salton Sea maintains its water level despite rapid evaporation as a result ofSeepage of water from the Gulf of California Storm water drained fromsurrounding mountains Drainage from the Imperial irrigation sys-tem Periodic overflow from the Colorado river15D irector of the N ational Park service isCollier Drury Straus Brophy16Walpi is the name of an Indian village in the reservation of thePapago Navajo Paiute Hopi17Most conspicuous cactus on the landscape in Arizona is SaguaroCholla Prickly Pear Bisnaga18Chief product of the mills at Geneva, Utah, isCopper Magnesium Lead Steel19To reach Jacob's lake you would take the road to Zion park, UtahNo rth rim of Grand Canyon Taos, New MexicoThe White mountains of Arizona20Roosevelt dam was built to impound th e wafers of Gila riverBill W illiams river San Pedro river Salt River

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


23/47

Sierra club hikers on the Buckskin mountains overlooking Bill Williams river north ofParker, Arizona. Photo by Dick Freeman.

H i g h U p o n aD e s e r t H i l lBy W I L L I A M C A R U T H E R S

Ontario, Cal i forniaIf you'll give me a desert trail that leads toGod-knows-whete ,I'l l find some twisting canyon's end and spreadmy blanket there.I'l l give to you th$ brick-lined gorge and danc-ing neon lightsIf you'll give me the big still skies and silvereddesert nights.I'l l give to you the fevered thrills, the salvosan d the g a i n ;I'l l let you beg a free man's chance and get amaster 's chain.If you'll give me a yellow road with rusty hillsbeyond,I'll find the altars! of the gods that bless avagabond.I'll let you pay a Christ ian 's t i the to call yoursoul your own,And get instead, a pagan's dole and gnaw ameat less bone.Bu t not for me the vassalage, the Gods of Grabdesign,For high upon a desert hill , all this world ismine.

S&EN CALLBy NpLL MURBARGERCosta Mesa, California

There 's gold, yel low gold,In the streams and the mounta ins ;There 's gold in the rocks and the sand;There 's gold in the desertThe cactus-bound desert There 's gold in the frigid Northland.There 's gold in the junglesThe serpent-filled junglesThere's gold at the mighty earth 's core;

There 's gold where the snowsOf onewinter descend,O n the snows of the winter before.There 's gold, precious gold,That 's been steeped in deep crimson,The blood of adventuresome men,W ho fared forth, full of courage,Determined to conquer,And paid with their l ives for it, then.But there 's goldyel low goldThat's stil l free for the taking,And somehow it beckons me on . .So I'll load up a packOn the back of my burro,And be off on the trail with the d a w n !

NEW HORIZONBy K I T T I E R I S T IN EGalveston, Texas

W h a t joy possessed the starving soul,W h e n it found both meat and drink,In the nourishing air of the desert rare,In a place where man could think.How fast, grew the beat in the aching heart,Unfettered, at last, and free,Free to expand in a spacious land,In a land where man could see.How soon came a vision and courageTo that spirit , bleeding and worn.W o r n by the strife of a workaday life,Where seldom a hope was born .Ah, such ecstasy, vigor, and courage,The desert alone could give,It gave in full measure, its natural treasureT o man, and again he could live.For peace had come, to that shattered soulWhich had found life hard to face.As it found repair in the nourishing airOf God's great open space.

DESERT IMPRESSIONSBy C H A R L E S V. P O W E RDesert Hot Springs, California

O u t on the desert where the sun sets red,G ot a rock for my pi l lowsand for my bed.The whine of the wind and the coyote's callA re the vagaries of natureI can't sleep ata l l .There 's the hoot of the owlthe rattling snake,An' I know it's not fever that makes myknees shake.The mosqui toes, the ants, and the pestiferousbatsPut bumps on the spots that were missed bythe gnats.There 's no water here when I suffer with thirstBut get me right neighborthat wasn't thewors t ;It came just at daybreak when I first closed myeyesIt was the glare of the sun in the bright des-ert skies.It was a beautiful spotbut I wanted to roamAnd that 's why I tookthe shortest roadhome.

Y O U S T I L L A R E Y O UBy T A N Y A SO U T H

Laugh and feel merry! Grief and sorrowWill stil l await you on the morrow,Never fear. Laugh and feel free!The bars of Destiny shall beStill there, howe'er your spirit soarsTo farthest heights and lands and shores.Whate 'e r the evil luck you drew,Whate 'e r the terror, pain or hate,Y ou st il l are you, vital and warm,Alive, aware, fil led wjjh desire!With hope that shall outlast all storm,And wing you higher!

A U G U S T , 1947 23


24/47

The Moab mastodon, incised in a cliff along the Colorado river raises an unanswera blequestion What d id the Indian artist of long ago use for a model?

Mastodon of MoabDeep in the canyon of the Colorado below Moab, Utah, there is astrange carv ing of an extinct mastodon, pla ced there by an Indian artisanwhose people left numerous other evidences of their passing. Althoughonly a few m iles from a traveled highw ay, these relics are seldom visited.Beej and Paul Averitt who have paid many visits to the desert country ofsoutheastern Utah, here record the results of an interesting expedition.

By BEEJ and PAUL AVERITTARRIVED at the mastodoncarving at noon, and after rubbingour fingers inquisitively across theroughened surface, relaxed in the shade ofa juniper to eat and to study its crude out-lines. Here, unquestionably, was an au-thentic, primitive carving of an extinctanimalan eerie tie with the past thatconjured visions of a period when mon-sters and reptiles roamed prehistoric for-ests.

We had been on the trail of the Moabglyph since our first visit to southern Utahseveral yea's ago, but in spite of the mostpersistent inquiry had never been able toobtain directions for reaching it. Except,24

of course, for the typically vague state-ment, "It's several miles down the riverand up on the cliffs left-handed."So, we had very little to guide us as wedrove into Moab one afternoon last fall.The sun was just setting behind the mas-sive orange and red cliff that borders theMoab valley on the west, and we stopped amoment to watch the shadows rush acrossthe valley floor and climb up the flank ofthe snow-capped La Sal mountains on theother side. Winding across the valley in agraceful sickle-like curve was the young

and vigorous Colorado river, here strange-ly out of place in a pastoral setting. At theend of the curve the river surged through

a yawning portal in the middle of the cliffand disappeared from view in tortuouscanyons. With the sun setting behind it,the portal loomed invitingly as the en-trance to a bright and colorful land.In town after dinner we looked upWayne McConkie, to whom we had beenreferred as the local authority on the na-tural history of the Moab region. Hegrinned understanding^ at our rush ofquestions, and when we had subsided, pro-duced the stub of a pencil and started to

draw a rough map on the back of an oldenvelope. As we had anticipated, the trailhe sketched began at the portal and con-tinued down the canyon. As the sketchgrew Wayne warmed to his work and in-serted directions for locating several hid-den granaries, an interesting collection ofpetroglyphs, and finally, the mastodoncarving. All of this, we subsequently dis-covered, was neatly compacted into a shortdistance of two miles in a setting of ma-jestic beauty. Although immediately ac-cessible by car, the trail to the mastodoncarving is off the line of tourist travel,and the Indian relics have not been dam-aged by vandals.We started in a thin, early-morning sunthat threw long black shadows across theT H E D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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Beej Ave ritt wishes the v andals hadnot defaced this panel of ancientpetroglyphs.

cliff.

Continuing on foot on a well-traveled

G U S T , 1 9 4 7

climbing as much as 150 feet above theriver, now disappearing in the narrow for-est of cottonwoods and rabbit brush thathugged the water's edge.As the morning was yet young and theair cool, we resolved to deviate from ourmain objective and include the Indiangranaries in the traverse. According to thepencil sketch provided by McConkie, thesewere hidden in a niche under a particu-larly prominent ledge overlooking theriver. This ledge, fortunately, sloped downand intersected the river trail at a point op-posite the natural arch, and upon reachingit we doubled back on our tracks, follow-ing the ledge instead of the trail. It was aneasy climb up the flat sloping surface,though the way was obstructed locally bygreat piles of slumped boulders, individu-ally as large as automobiles. One felt quitesmall scrambling through and over thesemonsters.

As we ascended we took advantage ofevery opportunity to drop over and ex-plore the zone just below the main ledgein order to avoid any chance of missing the

Looking down the Colorado from theriver trail below Moa b.

IIHBHB m B y - ,B "1 ) > - '~i 'v'25


26/47

Right angle turnin US IbO indowntown Moab

area2.4 mi.from Moob

Indian granariesArch neartop ofcliff

Kings Bottom springBo x canyonz Indian petroglyphs at base of cliff

Mastodon carvingBear carving

'Indian camp, chips

granaries. But in the end we almost missedthem, for at a point about 300 feet verti-cally above the river where a promising bitof a ledge jutted out just below us, the de-scent could be made only by jumpingdown about five feet while overlookingthe entire 300-foot drop to the river. Afterconsiderable debate we took this exhilarat-ing leap, and were immediately rewarded.Tucked in under the overhang of themain ledge were three granaries in variousstages of preservation. The largest, whichexcited immediate admiration, is as freshand clean as the day it was built. It is near-ly circular with an inside diameter of about

six feet, and the inside walls are lined withsmooth, flat slabs set in a plaster of mudand ashes, which still render it nearly ro-26

dent proof. Here and there, especiallyaround the tiny entrance, finger prints maybe observed in the plaster. These, some-how, engendered a feeling of warmth andfriendship for the hunter-farmer whobuilt so well.Climbing up on the main ledge again,we back-tracked to the river trail, and con-tinued the traverse downstream. At K ing'sBottom spring, in a setting obviouslychosen for its beauty, we passed the ruinsof an abandoned homestead, and a shortdistance beyond came to a small box can-yon, -the entrance to wh ich was g uarded b ya grove of ancient cottonwoods. Here, on

a provocatively smooth, vertical sandstonecliff at the right of the entrance was a verygood panel of petroglyphs, somewhat

edited to be sure, but completely legible.To reach the mastodon carving one mayabandon the river trail at either of twopoints. We took the most direct route andturned into the box canyon. Before we hadgone 100 yards it was apparent that thevertical walls were closing in just ahead,and the route continued up one wall acrossa slick, water-scoured surface, and over aseries of step-like ledges. Following theline of least resistence we emerged shortlyon a broad, gravel-covered terrace about150 feet above the river flats.

This terrace extended uninterrupted forseveral miles downstream, and formed amighty step on the side of the canyon. Onone side was a vertical drop to the riverflats. On the other rose impassable sand-stone cliffs, which had been weatheredinto an endless variety of columns andspurs. It was difficult to believe that in thedistant past the Colorado had flowedacross this high gravel surface, but the evi-dence was unm istakable. Every pebble wassmooth and water worn, and among themany varieties present was the peculiarspeck'ed grey trachyte from the La Sals,and beautiful chalcedony and flint nodulesthat occur typically in tributaries of theColorado upstream.Hugging the cliff on our left and fol-lowing a faint deer trail, we headed down-stream on the terrace. In about ten min-utes we reached the most prominent spurin the distance, which was readily identi-fied as the one we sought by the presenceof numerous petroglyphs. The mastodoncarving, however, was not immediately

visible. We searched frantically, and foundit finally in p'ain sight on a flat surfacefacing downstream.The mastodon figure, which is about 14inches high, had been incised in the sand-stone by many blows from a pointed in-strument. All of the pick marks wereclearly visible, and contrary to what m ightbe expected, the figure was not badlyweathered. It appeared that the Indianartisan was trying to depict some one ofthe elephant-like animals that were con-temporaneous with early man on theNorth American continent, but it is equal-ly true that his model was not a living an-

imal. In the first place, his figure has toes,which certainly never were observed ona living specimen, and the amount ofweathering the figure has undergone docsnot suggest great antiquity. It is morelikely the artisan was copying from mem-ory some older carving he had seen, or hadbeen told about. Or possibly the story ofthe huge beasts, told in accompaniment tocrude sketches drawn in sand before manygenerations of camp fires, as part of thefolk-lore of his people.Following the base of the cliff from themastodon carving into a small amphithe-

atre, we passed numerous other petro-glyphs, including a small, faint bear. Inthe sand nearby were numerous whiteT H E D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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Author's pensketch of one of the Indian granaries. With slight repairs it could beput back in use.

Hard Rock Shortyof D ea th V alley . . ."No, ma'am, I wouldn't give onecorner o' this here desert fer a wholeforest o' ferns an' evergreenery. Notme!" Hard Rock Shorty was address-ing his remarks to a persistent younglady in slacks who obviously wasamused by the odd "character" shehad found on the porch at the In-ferno store."Why take one little item," con-tinued Shorty, "The mos' interestin'vegetable in the hull kingdom is thishere jumpin' cactus.""Does it really jump?" cne of the

tourists asked."Does it jump! Why o' course itdoes! Better'n Mexican jumpin'beans."Shorty gazed thoughtfully at hiscorncob pipe."Y ou should o' seen the pipe Imade outa a joint o' that cactus. Thatwas oncet when my ol' corncob woreout just when our stock o' corn cobswuz gone. I wuz walkin' alongthinkin' how to git me a pipe whenI come to one o' them chaw-yabushes, and one o' the joints jumpedout at me. Q uick as a flash I seen thelikeness between a corncob an' ajoint o' that cactus. It wuzn't no time'til I hollered it out and fitted it onto

the steman' it made as good a pipebowl as yu ever seen."Wai, ma'am, that pipe was jeslike one o' them magnets. All I hadto do wuz reach out an' that durnedcactus joint'd jump right into myhand. Trained good too. Jumpedfurther an' further the more practiceit had."But they wuz one drawback.No'm it didn't hurt my hand. I gotplenty o' callouses workin' over inmy gold mine. But the pipe wouldjump at my ol' chuckerwaller houn'whenever it came sniffin' around."A chuckerwaller houn'? Wai,that's a special built dog. Y u see hehas one fang long and sharp so hecan puncture a chuckerwaller whenit runs into a crevice in the rocks andblows itself up. An' his nose has t'be extra sensitiveso o' course hecouldn't have no cactus jumpin' athim. So, on account o' my ol' houn'I had t' git rid of that pipe as soon assome corncobs come in."But I like t' go out an' watchthem cactuses jump around. Espe-cially when it g'ts hot. On themwarm days they jump around on theground like a litter o' kittensif it'shot enough."

chalcedony chips, evidence of a formercampsite of considerable size. We spentalmost an hour searching for artifacts,and were rewarded finally with a fair ar-row point. This site, we thought, would bea good one to explore at greater length.Leaving the campsite we continueddownstream on the terrace towards a pointwhere the cliff overlooking the river flatsappeared quite low. Here we found sev-eral easy means of descent to the river trail.So, reluctantly, as the sun droppedbehind the canyon wall we turned to-wards home. As we passed the K ing'sBottom spring on the back trail, westopped at the ruins of the old homestead,and for a few moments indulged ourselvesin a magnificent plan for its reconstructionand alteration, for after all this might bethe spot we would return to.

P R O M O T E D ...

William E. Warne, a Californian, and aveteran of the Reclamation Bureau, wherefor more than three years he has been as-sistant commissioner, has been appointedAssistant Secretary of the Department ofthe Interior. On Secretary J. A. K rug'srecommendation, President Truman sentWarne's nomination to the senate whereit was confirmed.

Raised on an irrigated farm in the Im-perial valley, Warne graduated from theHoltville, California, high school and theUniversity of California at Berkeley in1927. He worked on newspapers in Braw-ley and Calexico and for the AssociatedPress in Los Angeles and San Diego beforegoing to Washington where, in 1935, hejoined the Reclamation staff as an editorialassistant to the late Dr. Elwood Mead,then commissioner, who was also a Cali-fornian.A U G U S T , 1 9 4 7 27


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Sylvia and "Slim" Winslow in the Turtle moun tains of California. Their pickup hasbeen outfitted not only to carry camp and artist's supplies, but serves a ssleeping qua rters at night.

L E T T E R S . . .Arch Was ThereBut No Gold . . .Bodfish, CaliforniaDear Mr. Henderson:

Ever since reading Walter Ford's storyabout the Lost Arch mine (Desert, Nov.'44) we have wanted to go into the Tur-tle mountains and paint and explore. Afew weeks ago we did just that, and thanksto Desert Magazine we saw some wonder-ful country and did some exploring on ourown.After what seemed like endless drivingalong old jeep trails we found the roadthat led into Mopah springs where the twopalms are located. We had a lovely campunder two palo jverde trees, a quarter of amile from the spring. We followed a dimtrail to the palms. They stood side by sidelike twin sisters!holding hands, and belowthem a tiny pool of what proved to be ex-cellent water. I^ty husband cleaned it outand removed the largest scorpion I haveever seen.One day we took the Ion/; hike to theLost Arch. We found the lcne Saguarotree pictured by Ford, but its broken andsplintered trunk lay on the ground. I won-dered how a Saiguaro came to be growingso far from its native habitat, only to besplintered by machine gun firefor thatis my husband's version of its fate. Westood by the fallen giant in reverence,feeling helpless to prevent the slow deaththat was enveloping it.Nearby was the gem field John Hiltonhad found, and then we climbed the slopeto the archbut did not find the gold

which legend has located in this area. Laterwe tried to find the road that leads in toCastle butte among the maze of trails leftby army vehicles. Wh en we finally locatedwhat appeared to be the m ain trail, it led toan old target range. But we found somevery pretty flower agates.SYLVIA WINSLOW Wh o W ants Ornamental Rock? . . .Darwin, CaliforniaDesert Magazine:I am appealing to you as the one prob-ably most qualified to give me informationconcerning the most reliable markets for"beauty" rock and possible gem stones.My partner and I have taken a lease onsome copper-silver-gold property nearhere, and the type of ore is such that itseems a shame to ship it all to the smelter.I used to be in the garden masonry busi-ness, building retaining walls, fish ponds,fireplaces, etc., and have traveled manymiles to find ornamental rocks that hardlyapproached the beauty of much of our ore.It is a hard quartz highly impregnated withbornite, malachite, chrysocolla, azurite,hematite, the mixture being best describedas "Christmastree-ite." Now and then werun into bunches of jewelry rock, andspecimens worthy of mineral display. Weintend setting the best of this aside for saleto such collectors as will give us a fairprice. I would rather ship all of it to somewholesaler in the ornamen tal rock businessthan see it melted up for its metal content.

We will appreciate an early reply tothis, as we expect to start ore shipmentssoon, and have nearly a carload out as it is.Out of the ten carloads or more in sightwe could sort a few truckloads for the or-namental market, and several hundredpounds of material suitable for gem-cutting. All of the coloring in the ore ap-pears as solid crystalline substances andnot just stains. We will be glad to send yousome samples for your own specimenshelves. WILLIAM M. McKEEVER

NOTE: Messrs. McKeever andDitmore are miners not m ail orderdealers. Hence they are interestedonly in wholesaling their material.Editor. Water in the Barrel Cactus . . .Los Angeles, CaliforniaDear Editor:In regard to L. B. Dixon's letter whichyou published in the June Desert Maga-zine, in which he discounts the idea of get-ting water from Bisnaga cactus: I wouldsuggest that he read Campfires on Desertand Lava by Wm. T. Hornaday. Pages217-218 give a very accurate account ofthe Bisnaga or barrel cactus.I can truthfully say from experience thatthe water contained in the barrel cactus hassaved the lives of many a desert wanderer.J. O. OSWALD Rights of the Indian . . .Santa Y sabel, CaliforniaDear Mr. Henderson:In the article "Tsianina Speaks for theIndians" in the July issue of Desert, HopeGilbert quotes Tsianina as saying:"Not one of the Indians (reservationIndians) may sell a cow, bequeath prop-erty, hire a lawyer, go to court, or engagein any kind of business without expresspermission from an agent of the Bureau."I must take issue with this statement.The Indians who have organized underthe Act of 1934 (the Wheeler-Howardbill) are authorized by Congress to per-form all the aforementioned acts without

permission of the agent, except to hire alawyer (and that, my 40 years' experiencein defending Indian rights, tells me is avery wise prohibition).Furthermore, it is net correct to statethat "the effect (of the India n reorganiza-tion bill) has been to regiment them evenmore completely under the paternalisticthumb of the Indian Bureau." Where such"thumbing" occurs, it is nothing else butusurpation of power by local officials,against the rulings of the Act. To this samedisregard of the Act must be attributed thesaddling of too many government em-ployes on the Indians.The Act does emphasize segregation asTsianina asserts, but this segregation doesnot make a concentration camp of the res-ervation, but rather it gives effective back-A U G U S T , 1 9 4 7 29


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ing to the Indians' plea: "Please stranger,keep off my property and let me run myhouse the way I want."Finally, the phrase "to force upon thema collectivist system" would seem to implythat the U.S.A. is trying to make a Sovietout of the Indian community. But this isnot at all the case. The collectivism of theAct is only in the matter of title-in-fee tothe land. The title-in-fee to all the landsof the community is held by the govern-ment in trust for the community. But theindividual member has the exclusive rightto use the land occupied by him or her.This is tantamount to a title-in-fee withoutthe right to sell or lease to anyone outside

the community. The reason for this re-striction is that since everyone in the com-munity is the owner, the consent of everymember would be needed to alienate theland.This idea of land ownership did notoriginate in the mind of John Collier, butembodies the concept all major Indian na-tions, who practiced agriculture, had, agesbefore the White man approached theseshores.It is the full observance of the provi-sions of the Reorganization Act of 1934that will give the Indians, in the words ofTsianina "the right education to live as afree citizen, responsible for the conduct

A E C I N V I T E D !I n t e r - T r i b a l I n d i a n

CEREMONIALAUG UST 14 - 15 - 16 - 17GALLUP, NEW MEXICO

30

of his own affairs . . . and let him grow upand take his rightful place in the land ofhis birth."FR. BONAVENTURE OBLASSER,O.F.M. Let's Forget the Palms . . .Three Rivers, CaliforniaSirs :W e are all hoping that Randall Hender-son will get all the palms counted prettysoon. It's getting to be the part of themagazine that is a waste of good news-print, and could be used to good advantagefor anything else, as there are many of uswho don't give a darn how many palmsthere are in a wash. But I still think it is agood magazine so don't let me miss anycopies. L. P. JORDA NMaybe you've got something there,partner. Anyway, if things go accord-ing to sched ule 1 am going to give thepalms a recess ivhile I spend a monthin a boat with Norman Nevills count-ing the rapids in G rand Canyon. I'lltell you about it later. Maybe it'll bemore exciting than palms. R.H. Fetishes for the Medicine Men . . .Guam, GuamDear Mr. Henderson:Some time ago I read in Desert the In-dians over in Arizona needed a few bonesof fallen enemies to make some dance orritual authentic.Today I came across a lot of Jap bonesin good ord er. I could send some if I k newwhere to send the things. If you figurethey want them please send your reply airmail as ship sailings are infrequent.F. D. O'KEEFE Protection for Agua Caliente . . .Riverside, CaliforniaDear Mr. Henderson:After the Agua Caliente article in yourlast issue, people will be flocking there asthey did to the healer at Palm Springs!Marshal South says that a movement isnow in progress to grab this wonderfulplace. Such a movement was under way atCorn Springs years ago, but August Led-erer and his prospector friends put a stopto it by writing to Washington and gettingit made a water preserve. Surely you andyour friends have more influence than halfa dozen prospectors.W on 't you please save this place? I havenot seen it yet, and I do not want to gothere and be confronted by a NO TRES-PASSING sign. In case it is being takenover by a party who is not a G.I., I think aG.I. has prior rights and can bump himoff. In that case, get Paul Wilhelm tobump him off. He'll need a place to go,anyway, when he sells those Palms.H. E. CARTERFriend C arter: I am glad to assureyou Uncle Sam has taken steps to pro-tect Agua Caliente for the public.R.H.T HE D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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M ine*. . .John Fay has reported a gold strike justoutside Y uma city limits and 700 yardsfrom Highway 95, with ore assaying

$44.80 a ton across a four-foot vein. Fay,61-year-old manager of Fay Mining com-pany, says that for nearly two years theyhave been following a stringer varyingfrom six inches tjo a foot in width and av-eraging $20 a ton. At the 105-foot levelthe big vein was encountered. Fay plans toerect a 25-ton mill at the mine. He spentmany years digging barren holes on hisY uma claims but feels that finally he hashit it. "I've got a paved road, power lineand railroad running right beside mymine," he said. *Tve found plenty of wa-ter for my mill and the city of Y uma w illbe my camp." Bishop, California . . .U. S. Vanadium corporation has re-sumed mining operations at its Pine creekunit. Mine and mill operations were sus-pended last December 31 , until new orecould be made available. Work on thecompany's tunnel under the main ore bodyis expected to reach its goal of 7000 feet inSeptember and it is hoped that enough orewill be stockpiled November 1 to keep themill running all winter. Jim Galloway ismill superintendent and Jack George as-sistant. The payroll will include 225 em-ployes when full production is reached.Pohruxnp, Nev ad a . . .Jack Crowder of Bakersfield, Cali-fornia, is reported to have purchased theJohnnie gold mine 17 miles north of Pah-rump. Installation of mine equipment andreduction plant is planned as soon asmachinery is available. Water for millingis available. The Johnnie first was workedabout 1892 and: is credited w ith a $3,000,-000 production. Gold occurs in rich shootsin massive white quartz, which weremined by early operators. The old work-ings are said to contain substantial re-serves of milling ore. Goldfield, Nevada . . .Location notices for 31 claims, cover-ing the entire Goldfield townsite, havebeen filed by C. E. Collins, according to re-ports. The claims are said to be based onthe allegation that there is an error in theoriginal townsite patents, filed in the landoffice, which opens the town lots to filingas mineral claims. Mining excitement is aresult of a reported rich strick by New-mont corporation in the old Florencemine. Efforts of the company to developthe rich streaks with a 60-foot raise fromthe spot values were found, have failedto cut ore. Development work is continu-ing.A U G U S T , 1 1 9 4 7

Prescott, Arizona . . Discovery of a high-grade lead-silverore body in the old Ruth mine, llh milessouthwest of Prescott, is reported by Wal-ter L. Smith, general manager of the Calanmining company. Two years have beenspent by the company in driving a haulagetunnel through the Bradshaw granite atthe mine, and the big vein was discovered200 feet west of the tunnel objective. Themanagement declares that there is suffi-cient lead for a long period of mining andthat high -grade zinc occurs at lower levels. Round Mountain, Nevada . . .The Last Chance antimony property inWall canyon, directly across Smoky valleyfrom Round Mountain has been takenover by N. L. Brown, M. E. Niece and as-sociates and the new owners have starteddriving a 125-foot tunnel into the ore. Thedeposit was acquired from Joe Bostain andNick Porovich of Round Mountain. Thereis a 50-ton flotation mill, partly set up, anda power plant already on the property. Aconsiderable quantity of the ore wasshipped to Southern California for treat-ment some years ago, but the shaft fromwhich it was taken has caved. Tonopah , N e v a d a . . .Al and Bob Montell, prospecting on theold Reed property in the K awich range, 85miles from Tonopah, found a large bodyof gold ore several hundred feet away fromthe original Reed discovery. The brothersobtained a lease from the Reed estate, butthe discovery is on land embraced in theacreage of Tonopah army air field and theyhave been unable to obtain permissionfrom army authorities to work the prop-erty. Original discovery was made by O. K .Reed, now dead, in 1902-1903. Gold thencovered the surface of the outcrop, and wasvisible 40 feet away. Property is said tohave sold at one time for $60,000 , later re-verting to Reed.

Searchlight, Nevada . . .Searchlight Mining and Milling com-pany, operator of the Q uartette mine,while doing development work 600 feetwest of the old mine shaft picked up whatis said to be the lost Q uartette vein andhas a shaft down 80 feet in milling ore.The shaft workings also have opened up aparallel vein 400 feet back in the footwallwhich at 35 feet in depth shows three feetin width of $40 a ton gold and silver ore,according to Homer C. Mills, companypresident. Ore in both locations is freemilling. Q uartette has not been workedexcept in a small way during the past 40years but was a big producer in the earlydays of the camp.

Lovelock, Nevada . Iron ore for fluxing purposes is beingshipped from the iron district south of theHumboldt airfield and 30 miles east ofLovelock, with a carload going out everyother day. Assays show ore to be 68 percent pure, but care must be taken to removeall ore with pyrites in order to avoid phos-

phorous. Mining is being done with jack-hammers, blasting and hand loading, withworkers sorting out the ore as they go.During the war large quantities of the orewere used to make an iron cement for shipballast. Property belongs to A. N. Blair.Bill and John Cooney are doing the min-ing with Martin Gandiaga and GeorgeCerini trucking the ore out. Tonopah, Nevad a . .

Frank Burnham has purchased the de-posit of Nevada wonder rock located 25miles east of Tonopah and is developing asteady sale for the material. Former opera-tors were Macy and Schole of Tacoma,Washington. Frank Trueba and CharlesJoseph, locators, still retain a royalty inter-est in the deposit. The banded rhyolite isused principally as an ornamental stone forcement facing, patio work, fireplace andother finishings. It also is made into book-ends, paper weights and other items. Burn-ham's future plans may lead to establish-ment of a large cutting and surfacing plantin Tonopah.

Manhattan, Nevada . . .The 103 foot derrick and big boom usedin construction of the big gold dredgewhich dug up Manhattan gulch has beenreassembled and will lift the dredge fromthe pond. The dredge will be truckedpiecemeal to Greenan placers, 16 mileswest of Battle Mountain. Manager J. L.James stated that total gold production bythe equipment in the gulch was $4,500,-0 0 0 . No large gold nuggets were caught bythe dredge but it did pick up one goldnugget stickpin and a number of silver

coins, chiefly dimes. The four mile stretchworked once was spotted with settlementsand cabins.

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Lovelock, Nevada . . .The dust by-product of diatomaceousearth from the Chickbed company opera-tions near Brady's hot springs, 40 mileswest of Lovelock, is being used to manu-facture bricks and blocks. The new mate-rial is known as Thermorock. PresidentOtto K ohl of the Chickbed company de-clares the material has an insulating value35 per cent greater than cork and that thebricks are light and eliminate damp andtermites. The dust is being processed atFernley, Nevada. Washington, D. C. . . .Representative Clair Engle, of Cali-fornia, announces that the treasury depart-ment has ruled that gold in its natural statecan be freely bought and sold domestically.This according to Engle, means goldwhich has not been melted, smelted, re-fined or otherwise treated by heating orby chemical process. J. P. Hall, presidentof the Western Mining Council, Inc., ex-plains: "This means, simply, that placergold is exempt from the provisions of theGold Reserve Act of 1934, and you canbuy and sell it anywhere in the UnitedStates to anyone at any price you can get."Goldfield, N e v a d a . . .A gold nugget with value estimated at$53 was displayed at Goldfield countycourthouse by A. A. Go ehring, who said hepurchased it from an Indian named LesterSeepee who reportedly found it in upperTule canyon. The specimen was 1% incheslong, 1 inch wide and % inch thick andweighed 37 pennyweight. Monticello, Utah . . .Vanadium Corporation of America sub-mitted the high bid of $85,000 for the sur-plus vanadium oxide plant at Monticello,including 75 acres of land, 17 buildingsand production machinery. Corporationwas war-time lessee of the plant. No bidswere submitted for the townsite area, butMountain Lodge American Legion postbid $1500 for one building, to be used fora recreation hall. Winnemucca, Nevada . . .The tungsten unit of the Getchell Mine,I n c . , 55 miles northeast of Winnemucca,has resumed operations suspended in 1946and is milling 4 00 tons a day. Ore is milledunder contract for U. S.' Vanadium cor-poration and comes from Riley mine.Work on Granite creek tungsten propertyof the Getchell company is being resumedand ore from it will be milled shortly.Tungsten operation is employing about 50men. One gold unit of the Getchell mill,with 100-ton capacity, will open soon. Ex-tensive development work on the com-pany's gold property has been carried onduring the mill shutdown, and a new orebody is reported opened.32

on the.ARIZONAWhere the Yaqui Live . . .

TUCSON Study of Y aqui communitylife at Potan, Sonora, will be continuedthis summer by Dr. Edward H. Spicer, as-sociate professor of anthropology at Uni-versity of A rizona, and his wife. Work wasstarted in September, 1941, under a Gug-genheim fellowship, but was interruptedby the war. It is being continued under thefellowship and a g

194708 Desert Magazine 1947 August

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