194906 Desert Magazine 1949 June

8/14/2019 194906 Desert Magazine 1949 June

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Desert Wheels ...Everywhere in the desert land, weathering wheels are re-

min ders of a historic pas t. Upp er left, a 10-foot diam eter pla nkwheel at Goler, once used on a booster pump for Randsburg'swater supply, photographed by William F. Sprinkle, Jr., Te-ha ch ap i, California. Upp er right, the hu b of a 20-mule teamborax wagon, taken at Furnace Creek ranch, Death Valley, byBen Pope , Dinub a, California. Lower left, ore wag on s fromsilver boom days, at Tombstone, Arizona, pictured by Carl H.Schaettler, Pa sad en a, California. Lower right, pioneer w ago nwheels have been built into this fence at Brigham City, Utah,photographed by Willard Luce, Provo, Utah.


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D E S E R T C A L E N D A R

May 18-June 8Exhibit GuatemalanTextiles, costumesof the Indiansof Guatemala, Museumof North-ern Arizona,Flagstaff, Arizona.

June 10-12 Thirty-second annualCherry festival, paradeSaturday,11 a.m., Beaumont, California.

June 11-12Sixth annual showof theSan Fernando Valley MineralandGem society, Sat.1-10p.m.; Sun.10 a.m.-9 p.m. North Holly-wood Recreation center, Califor-nia. Admission free.

June 11-12Sierra club hike. ClimbWinnedumali, ancient landmarkinInyos east of Independence. Over-night camp.

June 11-26First International exhi-bition of Latin American photog-raphy, Museum of Northern Ari-zona, Flagstaff, Arizona.

June 13San Antonio day, Corndance, Taos Pueblo,New Mexico.

June 13San Antonioday, GreenCorn dance, Sandia Pueblo,NewMexico.

June 16-19De Anza days, annualfestival combined this year withGem and Mineral exhibit. Chuckwagon breakfast, parade, streetdances, Riverside, California.

June 19Corpus Christi Sunday,out-door religious procession fromSt.Francis Cathedral, SantaFe, NewMexico.

June 23-25Grand assembly, Rain-bow Girls, Gallup,New Mexico.

June 24San Juan day, afternooncorn dance, Taos Pueblo,NewMexico.

June 24San Juanday, annual fiestaand corn dance,San Juan Pueblo,New Mexico.

June 24-26Conventionof Americanand California State Federationsof Mineralogical societies. Exhib-its, field trips, bus tours, Sacra-mento, California.

June 24-26 State F.F.A. Rodeo,(Future Farmers of America) ,Santa Rosa,New Mexico.

June 26 DeVargas memorialpro-cession commemorating recon-quest of Santa Fe in 1692 andheld annually since that date,from St. Francis cathedralto Ro-sario chapel, SantaFe, New Mex-ico.

June 29-30 Lehi roundup, Lehi,Utah.

June 30Fishing contest, awards,Parker, Arizona.

JuneFred K. Hinchman exhibitofSouthwestern artsand crafts, in-cluding jewelry, blankets, costumes,pottery, basketsand Plains Indianbeadwork. Southwest Museum,Highland Park, Los Angeles,California.

Vo l u m e 12 JUNE, 1949 N u m b e r 8

C O V E R

FEATURE

C ALENDAR

NATUR E

HIS TORY

M INING

H O M E S T E A D I N G

H U M O R

EXP LOR ATION

DESERT QUIZP ER S ONALITY

FIELD TRIP

P H O T O G R A P H YP OETRY

B O TA N Y

M INING

S URVEY

LETTERSC LOS E-UP SC O N T E S TN E W SLAPIDARYHOB B YC O M M E N TB O O K S

DESERT SPARROW HAWK. Photog ra ph ta keneast of Banning, California, by Robert Leath-erman, San Bernardino, California.

Desert Whee ls 2

June event s on the des ert . 3Why Tree Yucca Wears a Hat

By EDMUND C. JAEGER 4

He Planned to Change the Desert ClimateBy DAVID HELLYER 5

There's Placer Gold in the Desert Baja dasBy ADDISON N. CLARK 8

I Got My Five-Acre TitleBy MELISSA BRANSON STEDMAN . . . 11

Hard Rock Shorty of Death Val ley 12

Ancient Artists Lived on Rattlesnake PeakBy THERON MARCOS TRUMBO 13

Test your desert knowle dge 16Cowgirl of Brown's Hole

By CHARLES KELLY 17Rocks by the Roadside

By HAROLD O. WEIGHT 20Contest winne rs in April 25Billy the Burro, an d other poe ms 26Emigrant Flowers that Never Fade

By MARY BEAL , . . . . 27

Current ne ws of dese rt mine s 28

Who re a ds Desert 29

Comments and views of Desert 's readers . . . 30About thos e who write for Desert 32Prizes to photogra phers, annu al cover contest . 32From her e a nd there on the dese rt 33Amateur Gem Cutter, by Lelande Quick . . . 40Gems an d minera ls 41Just Between You an d Me, by the Editor . . . 46Reviews of Southwes tern lit erature 47

The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Press, Inc., Palm Desert ,California. Re-enteredas second class matter July17, 1948, at the post office at Palm Desert ,California, underthe Act of March 3, 1879. Title registeredNo. 358865 in U. S. Patent Office,and contents copyrighted1949 by the Desert Press, Inc. Permission to reproduce contentsmust be secured from the editor in writ ing.

RANDALL HENDERSON, EditorAL HAWORTH and MARION HEWES, Associate Editors

BESS STACY, Business Manager MARTIN MORAN, Circulation ManagerUnsolicited manuscriptsand photographs submitted cannotbe re turned or acknowledged

unless full return postageis enclosed. Desert Magazine assumesno responsibility fordamage or loss of manuscripts or photographs al thoughdue care will be exercised. Sub-scribers should send noticeof change of address by the first of the month preceding issue.

SUBSCRIPTION BATESOne Year . . . $3.50 Two Years . . . $6.00

Canadian Subscriptions25c Extra, Foreign50c Ex t r a

Subscription to Army Personnel OutsideU. S. A. Must Be Mailed in Conformity WithP. O. D. Order No. 19687Address Correspondenceto Desert Magazine, Palm Desert, California

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Why Tree Yucca W earsa 'Hat'HAT is it, you ask, that some-times causes yucca treesto die

off at the stem-tip and look asif they had some strange sortof "hat"pushed down overthe apex of thestem.

Personal investigation revealedtome some yearsago that this was dueto the work of a beetle(Psyphophorusyuccae), close relation of the smallsnout weevil thatis such a vexatiouspest of our granaries and kitchen pan-tries. The adult insects are large, hand-some black fellows almostan inchlong with a long, curved, slender,moveable beak,set marvelously likeaswivel into a cup-like socket at thefront of the head.

In late spring these insectsmay beseen in numbers crawling overandamong the long saw-edged yuccaneedles. The mother beetleslay theireggs in the soft tissues at the baseofthe narrow, bayonet-like leavesof thestem-tip and when these eggs hatch,the young grubs immediately begintofeed, bringing severe injuryto theplant tissues. This causesthe topmostleaves to turn yellow, wither at thebase and turn downward, makingthetop of bristling needles look liketheproverbial Chinese coolie'shat.

When the young grubs havefed,they utilize the fiberous plant tissueswhich had previously enteredandpassed through their bodies,to maketheir queer pupal cases; cases which,at least in shape, resemblethe cocoonof the silk worm moth.In these, theyspend a short period of seeming restbefore coming forthas restive blackadult w eevils.

If you will tear into one of the in-fested yucca stem-tips,you will find

The cases or cocoons from whichthe young grubs emerge as full

grown yucca beetles

By EDMUNDC. JAEGER

Mojave tree yucca, showing whathappens when the yucca beetle

selects it as a nesting place.

these pupal casesin numbers, some-times whole handfulsof them, each

about the size of the last joint of thelittle finger. They are very hardandtough to tear apart, the coarse fibershaving been tightly cemented togetherby the maturing grub.If you are for-tunate to find the skillfully constructedcases just at the right time, you mayfind the fat pupae inside.

Naturally the killing of the stem-terminus ends further upward growthof the tree's branch.Not discouraged,and, perhaps even stimulatedby thisinjury, the yucca plant soon sendsoutone or two new side shoots. Thus,we

see that this workof the weevils isreally a very useful aidin causing theseyuccas to have beautiful branchingcrowns insteadof consisting of merestraight stems. Of course thereareother causesof branching suchas windor fire injuryor the forming of a pan-icle of blossoms at the stem-tip;butthe weevils playa very important rolenevertheless.

Yuccas, other thanthe tree yuccas,are visitedby similar weevils. Perhapsbecause the stemless, Whipple's yucca,sometimes called Candleof the Lord,of the coastal mountain slopes,hasmore tender tissues,it is most fre-quently attacked; much moreso thanthe more hardy, slow growing speciesof desert yuccas.I have seen manyafine old plantof the wide-spreadMo-jave yucca (Yucca schidigera)with itslong yellow-green bayonet-like leavebrought to an inglorious end by theactivities of yucca weevils. Curiouslyenough, thereis in Hawaii a nearlyre-lated beetle that causes great damageto sugar plantationsby boring in thestalks of cane.

This is Psyphophorus yuccaewhich lays the eggs and eventu-ally reverses the growth of the

yucca

THE DESERT MAGAZINE


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It seems quite fantastic to-day, but in 1873 Dr. J. P. Wid-ney started a nation-wide con-troversy by proposing that theSouthern California desert beconverted to a great inlandsea by diverting the entireflow of the C olorado river intothe basin now known as Im-perial and Coachella valleys.Newspaper editors endorsedthe idea, and the territorialgovernor of Arizona actuallywent to Washington to urgethe appropriation of moneyfor the project. Here is thestory of one of the strangestepisodes in Southern Cali-fornia history.

WIDNEY SEADrawing by Norton Allen showsthe area proposed to be inundatedunder the Widney scheme. Pres-ent da y place nam es are imposed

to identify that area.

STRIDE his sweat-flecked horsethe hot bowels of the Colo-

rado Desert, Dr. J. P. Widney,U.S.A. paused again to search the dis-tant cliffs. Little did he dream that thegreat, scorched basin would soon benailed as "the Widney Sea," or that histheories would form the storm-centerof a violent coast-to-coast controversy.

His sun-weary eyes narrowed to slitsas he scanned the red rock bluffs.What he saw prompted him to write, inthe Overland Monthly for January,1873:

"For miles and miles I traced withthe eye a strange, well-defined linealong the mountain sides, always atthe same level, as undeviating as thechalk-line of a carpenter's markingtwine.

"Riding out to it, I found it to bethe beach of an old sea. The rockswere worn and rounded up to thatlevel, as by the constant washing of

water, with coarse coral formations intheir crevices and upon their sides.

an-

Above that lineand jagged."

Along the littoral zone ofcient sea, the young army surgeonfound the sand white with countlesssea-shells, some minute, some fragile,"such as are found in sheltered armsof the sea."

"I found numbers of them," he re-ported, "fragile bivalves, about an inchwide and an inch and a half long, theshells scarcely thicker than half a doz-en sheets of ordinary note paper,closely pressed. These shells driftabout in the restless winds, beaten up-on by the raging sandstorms, scouredand worn by the constant attrition ofthe sharp grains."

That they were paper-thin did notsurprise the doctor. He was amazedthat they had not been pulverizedcompletely by the ravages of wind andsand.

"How long could these shells with-stand such constant wear," he pon-

dered. "Not possibly more than a fewcenturies, probably not more than twoor three."

A man of medicine, Dr. Widney in-tuitively reasoned from effect to cause.

Fingering the fragile fragments, thesurgeon told himself that he stood onthe bed of a long-dead sea. He reflect-ed that the land once must have blos-somed and bloomed where now onlythe "lone whirlwind rears its statelycolumn of sand hundreds of feet in theheated air, and travels slowly on forhours."

At least twice Dr. Widney exploredthis thermal waste, which seemed tohim "the scorched, blasted bedofsome old cyclopean furnace." Furtherstudy convinced him that the Coloradoriver, emptying into the Gulf of Cali-fornia, had for centuries deposited thered mud of Arizona's northern plateaus

J U N E , 1 9 4 9

He Plannedto Change theDesert Climate

By DAVID HELLYER


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The Salton sea of today occupies only a fraction of the area that would have beensubmerged had the Widney scheme been carried out.

might swell into boa constrictors, whilefrogs could easily evolve into alligators!Endlessly the argument raged, some ofit sheer whimsy, much of it grim seri-ousness.

Then Arizona entered the fray. Noneother than General John C. Fremont,then governing the territory of Ari-zona, probed into the matter. The"Pathfinder" found the territory worthyof federal consideration, and straight-way embarked for Washington to laythe subject before his superiors.

Meanwhile, no one had thought toconsider the problem mathematicallya disastrous and embarrassing over-sight. General George Stoneman, oneof the more practical residents of theGity of the Angels, decided the timehad come to shine the light of reason

on the issue. Said he to a shocked LosAngeles audience:"Much has been said of late regard-

ing a great geological basin lying be-tween the coast range of mountains inCalifornia and the Colorado river onthe east.

"This basin is represented as beingthree hundred miles long, fifty mileswide, and three hundred feet deepabout the size of Lake Erie. We aretold that Governor Fremont of Ari-zona has just returned from Washing-ton, where he has been for the purposeof inducing Congress to lend the aidof the treasury to enable some one tofill this basin with water.

"The governor, during his checkeredlife, has been engaged in some grandand conspicuous enterprises, but inthis case he has evidently laid his plansbefore he consulted his figures. Let usmake the calculation for him.

"To fill such a pond in one year,supposing the bottom to be water-tight and evaporation entirely checked,would require a small stream 20 mileswide, 20 feet deep, with a current ofthree miles an hour. To fill such a lakeby a stream 1000 feet wide, 10 feetdeep, and running at the rate of threemiles an hour, would taketwo hundredyears!"

General Stoneman then estimatedthat "after this lake was filled it wouldrequire a river 250 feet wide, 10 feetdeep, and running at the rate of five

miles per hourabout the size of theColorado river at ordinary stagesto compensate for evaporation at therate of eighteen inches each year.

"Archimedes, you know, said thathe could move the w orld, only give hima fulcrum. Fremont says he can makea sea, only give him plenty of green-backs. When he makes his estimateshe will come to the conclusion thatlong ere he can fill his basin with water,the great Engineer of the universe willhave filled it with the sands of the des-ert, driven down by the ever-prevailingwinds of the north."

Thus, with one well-aimed blow ofhis slide rule, General Stoneman

knocked the bottom out of the "Wid-ney Sea." That the general's measure-ments and calculations are somewhatless than accurate may be true. Butthey were sufficiently potent to dampen

the ardor of the sea-builders.Years later, irrigation was to cometo the vast wasteland. Farm s, andranches today dot the desert floor inall save the bleakest and most inac-cessible areas. Cities like Coachella,Indio, Brawley, El Centro and Calex-ico have brought man's civilizingtouch to a land where before was"only the glare of the never-endingsand, and the silence of death."

Dr. Widney's contention that the in-land sea once was part of the gulf hasbeen variously supported and dis-claimed by opposing teams of scien-tists. Opponents of his theory claimthat the countless bivalves which litterthe desert floor were of freshwater ori-gin. Who really knows?

Today, at the site where Dr. Widneysat astride his sweat-flecked horse scan-ning the red rock cliffs, the silence ofdeath still reigns. It is unlikely thatthe silence will ever be broken by thewash of waves on a shoreline. In theapt words of General Stoneman, thedesert probably will remain devotedeternally to "the purposes intended bythe Almighty for occupation byhorned toads, rattlesnakes, and theSouthern Pacific railroad!"

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Inexpensive placer operation in the Leonard creekfield.

now Chief of the Division of Minesand then Chief Geologist, in the chap-ter on "Geology of .Placer Deposits''says: "Recent study of the geologicprocesses at worK in the desert has ledto a better understanding of the desertplacers, which otter a practically virginfield for exploration, holding a poten-tial wealth not yet known."

However, with placer mining oper-ators who for years have dredged anddraglined the gold gravel deposits ofCalifornia now actively scouting fornew fields to workand more andmore of them turning from well-wat-ered California mining regions to thearid and semi-arid desert regions, withincreasing success in the latterthebajada type of auriferous deposit in-evitably will come into its own as anadded source of gold production.

The word is of Spanish parentage(bah-HAH-dah) and is the Spanishterm for slope, locally used in the

Southwest to indicate the lower or footslope of a mountain rangethe partconsisting of rock debris, standing ata much lower angle than the rock slopeof the range proper. The term was firstused by C. F. Tolman for confluentalluvial fans along the base of a moun-tain range, in an article on erosion anddeposition in the southern Arizona bol-son region, in the Journal of Geology.In my field work I have likened thebajadas to ruffles of a formal gownaround the feet of a range, betweenthe alluvial fans at the mouths of ar-royos and canyons.

In the clear desert air you can spotthem for miles. They merely are

stretches of eroded detritus from upthe mountainnot water-worn graveland pebbles such as you'll find in thearroyos, but just plain dirt. Unimpededby timber or anything more stablethan sagebrush roots, the dirt has sliddown the steep slopes of ranges foruncounted seasons perhaps thou-sands of yearsand carried with it the

gold eroded from apexes of quartzveins up in the range.And the gold is utterly unlike any

preconceived idea you may have ofplacer gold, such as is recovered fromriver or ancient beach gravels, orfrom the lava-buried Neocene Ageriver channels of the Sierra Nevadawhich for decades have been mined bydrifting and "breasting." That placergold usually has been transported aconsiderable distance by fast-runningwater, and hammered and wornsmooth by pebble and boulder impactand abrasion. The gold found in ba-jada deposits along the feet of desertranges is what in engineering reportsand published technical articles I havechristened "short-haul gold"a termthat appears to have caught on withprofessional associates. It is sharp andangular, and bright yellow instead ofrusty, or in some cases blackened byiron and manganese solutions as is the"long-haul gold" of California's pres-ent-era or Neocene Age placers.

Another characteristic of some ba-jada deposit gold I have studied is thatmuch of it remains "frozen" to the bitsof the quartz matrix from veins whenceerosion wore it and washed it to thebase of the granite-back-boned range.

In the accompanying panoramic photo-graphs, taken by the writer in 1947for his report on a large LeonardCreek placer property, those bajadascan be seen plainly between the steeprock-slopes and the more level abut-ting ground. The captions of thosepictures explain them in more detail.

I have found bajada gold in quartz

matrices in sizes from mere granules topieces as big as pencil erasers. Thatmakes it hard to recover gold by ordi-nary washing-plant sluice-riffles, be-cause the lighter quartz too often car-ries it along over the riffle-lips and ondown to the tailpile; especially whereheavy black sand is present in quantity,as it often is. In design of any washingplant for such recovery, means eventu-ally must be provided for grinding orroll-crushing of such frozen matrix,else too high a percentage of gold willbe lost. That, of course, is where weengineers come inwhen a discoveredand tested bajada deposit has provedthat it warrants commercial-scale de-velopment and operation, and requisitecapital has been enlisted.

But this article is for readers ofDesert who are mine-minded and liketo comb the Southwest's most fascinat-ing regions for sign of history's moststable legal tenderfor the amateurprospector who isn't hidebound byhoary traditions, who can read plainsigns, and who has some knowledge ofthe procedure of filing placer mininglocations under federal and state min-ing laws. The commercial phases willcome along later, after he's found sucha deposit, filed on it, and worked out

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ways and means for testing its goldcontent. Pamphlets covering claim lo-cation and recording procedure can beobtained from the California State Di-vision of Mines at San Francisco; theNevada State Bureau of Mines at Reno,or the Arizona Bureau of Mines atPhoenix, depending on which desertregion is involved.

As for Nevada's bajadas, a couple ofparagraphs from my article publishedin the Mining World for July, 1947("Nevada Desert Placer Mining")bear directly on this:

"You need only drive up and down andacross Nevada to see a thousandbajadashundreds of them from her arterial high-ways alone. If they abut against the rightkinds of ranges, and the geology and topog-raphy below them are right, every suchba -jada can be a potential source of short-haulplacer gold. However, as to its degree ofconcentration or distribution, certain simplefacts govern, and only a proper test sam-pling, and a wash test with water, will dis-close whether values be commercially recov-erable or too disseminated to warrantacquisition and development. So few of theold-time, or even recent, prospectors haverecognized thesebajadas as possible sourcesof revenue, and they are mostly far fromavailable water or else well above, that todaythey are almost a completely virgin field forexploration.

"The keys to whether they offer possibili-ties or not are simple: One, the uplift againstwhich they lie must be an amply-mineralizedrange, built of the right brand of rocksrocks that make gold (batholithic granite isideal). Two, the eroded detritus must neces-sarily have been estopped from transporta-tion to and dissemination in the great openspaces of flat desert country, and burialthere under prohibitive depths of alluvium."

The property shown in the accom-panying photographs has an almostideal detritus catchment condition. Butthat is only one spot in the Nevadadesert. Offhand I can name half adozen other spots, within a few hours'drive from there, where definitely fa-vorable conditions exist for bajadaplacer gold deposition. In his articlewhich I have cited Dr. Olaf Jenkinssays: "There are probably many ex-amples of typicalbajada placers in theMojave desert and the Great Basin re-gions of California, but recognition ofthem as such has not yet reached publi-cation." In my Arizona engineeringsafaris I've spotted likely ranges alongthe feet of which I'd be willing to putdown a bet, at reasonable odds, I'dfind bajada placer gold.

True, the water problem in the des-ert regions can be a hard nut to crack.But it is far from insurmountable. Ican name two Nevada mining areaswhither water has been.piped a dozenmiles merely for use in commercially-successful miningin one case a largescale bucket-line gold dredging opera-tion. For any early-stage ground-test-ing, samples of dirt can always betaken by light truck or jeep to where

there's plenty of water for simple wash-

Addison N. Clark, mining consult-

ant and author of the accompany-ingarticle on bajada placer mining.

ing tests. And if the "plain dirt" tenta-tively tests up to your hopes and ex-pectationswell, I'll quote a letter re-ceived from Jay A. Carpenter, directorof the Nevada State Bureau of Minesand head of the Mackay School ofMines of the State University:

"Introduction of new mechanicalequipment has expedited sampling ofplacer ground. Thus, the modern jeepcan travel off the highways to placerground, and with an auger attachment(as used for post-hole work) can sam-ple shallow ground rapidly for finematerial. Likewise, heavier truck equip-ment for modern well-drilling can rap-idly put down holes up to 30 inchesin diameter to 30 feet depth, allowinglowering of men for removal of largerocks and for inspection of gravel lay-ers." Those factors, Prof. Carpenteradds, plus available modernized gold-saving apparatus and dirt-moving costfigures, take much of the former uncer-tainty and risk out of placer miningand put its operation more on a cal-culated business basis.

Sonow that you know you don'thave to hunt for and find old-schoolplacer-gravel, characterized by water-worn pebbles and "long-haul gold"and know how to spot and recognize abajada deposit with its characteristic"lag-line"perhaps you may be luredto prowl your favorite desert regionfor such likely-looking spots.

Especially since, although the U. S.mint price of gold has been stubbornlypegged down by the secretary of thetreasury at its pre-war level of $35 pertroy ounce while about everything elsehas doubled in price, recently the direc-

tor of the mint issued official sanction

and instructions for lawful disposal of"unprocessed" gold (i.e., in its nativeraw state, never having been cyanide-dissolved, smelted, melted, amalgamat-ed or retorted) and its marketing andtransportation within the ContinentalUnited States through negotiable ware-house receipts. Such unprocessed goldhas been disposed of and traded in,

during recent months, at prices wellabove the treasury-pegged $35 perounce.

Many economists believe a raise inthe U. S. mint price inevitable. I my-self can see no way it can be arbi-trarily held down, in the face of thewell known law of supply and demand,much longer. Gold is selling in openmarkets abroad (Argentina, India,Egypt, the Philippines with their fa-mous and rich gold mines, etc.) up to$100 and more per ounce. That Con-gress will sooner or later create anAmerican free market for gold is thereasonable hope, even conviction, oflong-handicapped western mining in-terests, and of forward-looking sena-tors and congressmen who have beencontinuously working to that end.

Q U A RTER LY M I N E J O U R N A L'SNEW ISSUE PUBLISHED . . .

Full text of the "Atomic Energy Actof 1946" and a chapter on MineralResources of Kern County are of par-ticular public interest in most recentissue of California Journal of Minesand Geology, just published by theState of California department of natu-ral resources.

The Journal is a quarterly publica-tion printed and distributed by thedivision of mines, Olaf P. Jenkins,chief. Copies may be purchased fromdivision headquarters, Third Floor,Ferry Building, San Francisco 11,California.

Other topics treated in latest issueof the Journal are:

Water-Flooding as a Method of In-creasing California Oil Production;State Geological Surveys; IndustrialUses of Limestone and Dolomite. Alist of new division of mines publica-tions is also included.

The mineral resources of Kerncounty are covered in a report byW. B. Tucker, R. J. Sampson and G.Oakeshott. It is a comprehensive re-port, technical for the scientist, under-standable for the amateur.

Letters of inquiry addressed to theCalifornia division of mines, depart-ment of natural resources, will be an-swered by technical staff members fa-miliar with the particular field in-

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


11/48

This is the a uthor's original cabin on her Mo rongo valley jackrab bit home stead.

I Got My Five-Acre TitleIt took a long time10 years to be exactfor Uncle Sam to get around

to the detail of issuing titles to those entrymen who have been leasingtheir 5-acre homesitesunder the Small Tract Homestead Act of 1939.But now those who have qualified by erecting cabins on their sites arebeing given the opportunity to acquire deedsat a cost of from $10 to$20 an acre in most cases. Melissa Stedman was one of the first to fileon a "jackrabbit homestead" and the accompanying story is a sequelto one she wrote for Desert Magaz ine reade rs in December 1945 in whichshe related her experience in locating the homestead.

By MELISSA BRANSON STEDMAN

JACKRABBIT homesteading hasH* finally come of age. I got a gov-

^ ernment deed to my desert para-dise, but it came only after eight yearsof working, worrying, and wondering.

I never really doubted that eventu-ally my government would carry outits part of the contractand issue apatent to my homestead. But it re-

quired much time and many letters. 1wrote to the secretary of the interior,to my congressman, and to my senator.No tangible results were forthcoming.

Finally as a last resort in May, 1948,I wrote to President Harry Truman,little dreaming that so busy a manwould have time to bother about anunimportant school teacher's five-acrehomestead. But I was wrong. He didbother. I got a reply from the depart-ment of interior in quick order. Ap-praisals were made, a price was set,and now the five acres are mine.

My memorandum permitting pur-chase came through early in October,1948. I lost no time in remitting the

$95, which was $20 an acre less the1948 rental. Acreages in MorongoValley and in the Coachella andJoshua Tree areas sell at $20 an acre.Those east of Twenty-nine Palms areappraised at $10 an acre.

The U.S. office of land managementbegan issuing certificates of sale toqualified homesteaders several monthsago, but it was only recently that grantdeeds actually were received by thosehomesteaders who have made the re-quired improvements on their prop-erty. Only a few of the 12,000 entry-men have qualified for deeds so far.

Eight years seemed a long time whenI was anxiously awaiting action fromthe government, but now that it isover, it seems only yesterday that Istarted homesteading.

I first filed on a five-acre tract nearTwenty-nine Palms in 1940, but in thespring of 1941 I had the claim trans-ferred to a tract near the foothills in

Morongo valley.My present cabin was built in No-

vember 1941, and I applied for pur-chase in 1942. My application was de-nied at that time because appraisalsand inspections had not been com-pleted. The excuse the inspector fromthe San Francisco land office made wasthat his men could not make desert in-spections during the hot weather.

The slowness with which the smalltract homestead act was put into oper-ation is not strange when we realizethat the law passed in 1938, permit-ting employed persons to lease five-acre tracts for health and recreation,was a radical departure from any previ-ous plan for disposing of public lands.Every move had to be worked out stepby step without precedents.

From the first I did everything thehard way. When I started in 1940, de-termined to own a desert cabin, deter-mination was about the only resourceI had. However, I supplemented mydetermination with a very fair creditrating, and the bank loaned me themoney for necessary labor and materi-als to complete the cabin.

Ray Finlay, a friend, took week-ends off from his business to build asturdy 12 by 14-foot cabin. We hadour Thanksgiving dinner and family re-union at the cabin in 1941.

During Christmas vacation, 1941,my sister Nancy Beitzer went with meto the cabin for a few days. Water wasour big problem, so while Nancy didthe house work I dug a hole in theground for a rain water cistern. WhenI started plastering to make it watertight my troubles began . I finishe dthe bottom first, and it was soonhard enough to stand on while plaster-ing the walls. Then it rained andsnowed, and sleet came down in hard

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With her own hands, Melissa Stedman is now spending her w eekends building aperm anent cabin, with gla ss coffee jars set in cemen t.

little pellets. My feet were icy, but stillI worked. Nancy is resourceful. Shegathered rocks and heated them in theoven and kept me supplied with hotrocks to stand on while I worked. Thejob finally was completed, and it didhold water. From that day to this thecistern has never been empty.

The installation of a six-volt batteryand a Wincharger to keep it charged

for lights and radio was the next pro-ject.I wanted a larger cabin, but materials

were too scarce until the summer of1946. While spending my vacationworking in a glass factory, I got theidea of a house made of cement anddiscarded glass coffee jars. In Septem-ber of that year I started the coffee jarhouse. I laid out the base line for a20 by 20 cabin and started the wall. Ilaid jars neck to neck making a wallthe thickness of two one-pound jars,with the bottoms forming the two sidesof the wall, and cemented them to-

gether, being careful to get no cementinto the necks to block out the light.The direct rays of the sun comethrough only two or three minutes atsunrise and sunset in March and Sep-tember when the sun is due east orwest.

People ask strange questions aboutthe bottle house. One stock query is:"Suppose someone should throw a rockat the house, or shoot holes in it?" Tothat I say, "It's easier to repair onesmall bottle hole than a whole plateglass window."

Another question that men thinkvery funny is: "Why don't you use

beer bottles?" To that I say, "I don'tdrink that much beer."

The coffee jar house is now almosthalf finished. One wall with windowand door is complete, and another wallhas one window frame in, and the wallis about half finished. If I run out ofjars before the walls are finished I willuse window glass or rocks, for of rocksI have plenty, since about one acre

of my lot has enough rocks on it tobuild a skyscraper.

My land is now my own, and I havereached that stage where I realize thatanticipation was almost more fun thanthe realization, but I am building otherhopes and anticipating the completionof the coffee jar house and lookingforward to the time when I will havemore leisure to enjoy it.

HardRock Shortyof Death Valley

"Sure it gets hot here," HardRock Shorty was telling the sales-man who had arrived for his semi-annual call on the proprietor ofInferno store. Shorty continued:

"Last summer it melted the an-vil over in the blacksmith shop,and that sheet-iron roof on Pis-gah Bill's cabin all melted andran down the sides o' the house."

"But how do you live when itgets that warm?" the salesmanasked.

"We all wear asbestos clothes,"Shorty answered.

"What an awful place to spendthe summer," exclaimed the visi-tor.

"Aw that's nothin'," saidShorty. "Summ er 'fore last we hadone day so warm the lizards all

got blisters on their feet, an' a

lot o' the jackrabbits died fromsunstroke.

"That was the summer PisgahBill whittled hisself a pair o'chopsticks and learned to eatlike a Chinaman. Yep, burnedhis tongue eatin' beans with hisknifean' made him so disgust-ed he threw all his metal eatin'tools out the window an' he'sbeen eating with mesquite chop-sticks ever since.

"Got so hot he had to keep awet blanket on the cookstove tokeep it from meltin' and runnin'through the cracks in the floor.

"Then one day a big stormblew in over the Panamints andthe temperature dropped down to100. An' if we hadn't had a bigpile o' wood and kept stokin' the

fire we'd all froze to death."

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


13/48

One of the glyph rocks on R attlesnake peak. These ancient Indian pictures werechalked with limestone for photographic purposes. Keith Dewey, who accompanied

the w riter, is a soldier at Wh ite Sands Prov ing Grou nds.

Ancient Artists Livedon Rattlesnake Peak

By THERON MARCOS TRUMBO

No one today knows fromwhen ce they came or where theywent, but hundreds of years agoa tribe of prehistoric Indiansdwelt around a desert playa atthe base of New Mexico's Rattle-snake peak where mesquitebeans probably were their prin-cipal item of food. The story ofthese ancient dwellers is partlyrevealed in the tools and theglyphs found here by the writerof this story*

7 E ancient ones bundled up theirbelongings in their blankets,pulled them wearily upon theirbacks and walked down the dim, sandytrail leading away from the Rattlesnakepeak campground. They left the corn-grinding pestles still in their mortars.Others came and went. And finally,after long desperate years, there wereno travelers on these desert trails. Thevermilion sands drifted over the camp-site, covering the dead ashes of theirfires, the broken cooking pots, and therock with the grinding holes . . .

Several centuries later, I stood onthis same spot. The mortars still had

the pestles of stone in them. Here inthe desert, time had stood still. I mighthave stepped suddenly out of the twen-tieth century back into the fourteenth!

On many occasions, Rattlesnakepeak had drawn my attention, for it isplainly visible from U. S. Highway 80at Cambray, New Mexico. The factthat it rises sharply from the level des-ert floor, with no mountains other thanrounded cinder cones within manymiles of it, makes it a conspicuouslandmark. A local photographer stirredmy interest by telling me that Indian

artifacts could be found around itsbase.

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MS LINE ROAD

T heRATTLESN A K E PEA K A REA

N E W MEXICO

CATTLEGUARD

"MM/- &' CAMP URUOWHEADS

SITE \i l POTSHERDS S MORTARS

!S. W IT H K S T U E S

/Vo/ To Sc a le - from trjmbo

Keith Dewey was easily persuadedto accompanyme on my first trip tothe peak.He is a soldier from Pennsyl-vania, stationed at the White Sands

Proving Grounds,and has often beenmy companionon such jaunts.When we finally reached the trail

leading directly to the mountain,wefound it blocked with fine blow sand,passable to a car only after a hardrain. It was July, and the sun blazedincharacteristic desert fury.Our enthusi-asm waned somewhat,yet neither of uswanted to quit, after getting this close.So, with canteens and camera, westruck out across the hot sand to coverthe remainingtwo miles to the baseofthe mountainon foot.

We did not find much on that firsttrip. More timewas spent coveringtheland and trying to locate the interestingpoints. But we did discover one ex-quisite petroglyphon the side of themountain,and consequently,the "Sing-ing ro cks."

Keith had gone up to explorea shal-low cavern in the south face of themountain.I stayed at the foot becauseI was unwilling to tote my camera upover the rocks. But when he shouted,"Petroglyphs!"I scrambled up to seethem. They were beautifully carvedinthe sideof the cliff. Nearby were others

less discernible.In an effort to makethem more distinctto photograph, I

took a bit of limestone and begantracing the old marks. The instantmypiece of stone touched the rock, astrange melodious sound echoed about

me. At firstI thought it was the wind,yet it sounded more as if someonewere gently strokinga huge bell. Bothof us were a trifle awed.I tried tappinggently, and at the merest touch,themonolith rang out. Investigationshowed thatthe glyphs were inscribedon a rock slab no more than a footthick. This was leaning againstthesolid side of the mountain, makingasort of crude sounding board. Nearbywere other boulders that spoke strange-ly when we stepped upon them.

That discovery endedour adventurefor the day. By the time we pulledour

feet through the two miles of sandback to the car, we were nearlyex-hausted. We both felt that therewasmuch moreto see in the area.

The opportunity to return camesooner thanwe expected.I becameac-quainted with Howard Rankin,theownerof a jeep. Recently fromthe east,he wanted to see something of thedesert,but did not know exactly whereto go. I was eager to show him Rattle-snake peak.

Our companions were Keith Dewey,his 12-year-old son Harold, and aTurkish studentat New Mexico A. &

M. We started from, Las Cruces at7:00a.m.

By 8:30 we were ascendingthe boldsouth facadeof the peak. Our goal wasa cairn of rocks, erectedby surveyors,on the top of the mountain. From this

point we got a splendid view of thispart of New Mexicoand across the RioGrande to Chihuahua,Old Mexico.

At the east base of the mountain isa playa or dry lake. Possibly the ex-istence of this once-permanent lakeac-counts for the popularity of Rattle-snake peak as a campground for theprehistoric Indians. Thisbig desertwaterhole may have been the conver-gence of several old trails, connectingthe many pueblos of southernNewMexico. A sentinel on top wouldpro-vide protection against ambush.Theentire areafor miles aroundis coveredwith mesquites, assuringa generoussupply of food.

From the top we surveyed the desertimmediately at the foot of the moun-tain and located several sitesto explorefor artifacts.

Since Rankin, Haroldand the stu-dent had only leather-soled shoes, theytook an easy way down. This left Keithand me to explore the face of the cliffsfor further petroglyphs.We foundmany, but some were almost obliterat-ed by time, being recognizable onlyata distance. Mostof them were picturesof snakes, turtles, mountain-goatsor

deernot crude sketches,but graceful,almost modern-looking designs.

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


15/48

"There are so many snake patterns,"Keith remarked, "they must have calledit Rattlesnake peak, even then."

The most unusual picture of all wasscrawled over about six feet of solidrock at the base of the mountain. Itrepresented some sort of prehistoricanimal, long and reptilian with finsrising from its back. It may have beenonly a gila monster, a horned toad, ora lizard. But the thought occurred to usthat, in that ancient day, some prehis-toric survival might have inhabited therocky crevices of Rattlesnake peak!The petroglyph lay at such an awk-ward angle I was unable to photographit satisfactorily.

In several places on the mountain-side we found hand-worked cavities inthe rock filled with rainwater. The an-cient people must have tired of drink-ing alkali water from the playa, and en-larged the natural tanks available.

At noon, in earth already blackenedwith numerous ancient fires, we builtour own campfire to make coffee.While it boiled, we strolled around,looking for relics. The sand here wasstrewn with pottery shards, mostlyplain undecorated cooking ware. Oc-casionally we would find a bit of poly-chrome vessel, indicating commercefrom the lake region of Chihuahua, ahundred miles to the south.

A bit of Mimbres black-on-whiteware showed that the trail from theMimbres mountain pueblos must alsohave crossed here. And scattered overthe whole area were dozens of shardsworked into rough discs. These, identi-fied as gaming chips, have been foundin almost every excavated pueblo orcampground site in the Southwest.Authorities say that the ancient Indiansmust have had a checker game similarto that played at Zuni today, in whichrounded stones or bits of pottery areused as "men." From the numbers ofdiscs found, we concluded that thetravelers at Rattlesnake peak musthave spent much of their spare timearound gaming boards outlined in thesand.

We spent the afternoon scoutingthe desert in the jeep and discoveredthree grinding holes with the pestlesstill in them. Usually such loose objectshave been carted away by enterprising,if not conscientious, relic hunters. Thisone rock, nearly level with the sur-rounding sand, contained about a doz-en of such mortar holes. It may havebeen covered with sand, only recentlyblown away to reveal the prehistorichome equipment. As a matter of rec-ord, we, too, left the relics intact. Wefound a huge boulder covered withshallow grooves.

"What do you suppose that could

Keith Dewey and Harold R ankin puzzling over some of theglyphs left by ancient tribesmen.

have been used for?" Rankin wantedto know. We could only guess. It mayhave been used for sharpening stoneaxes, or for straightening arrows.

Stone metates were strewn over aconsiderable area nearby. They weremade of separate stones about 18 by24 inches in size, with a long hollowin the center. Every one of them wasbroken! At several old campsites, I

have seen these broken metates. Ar-cheologists have offered various theo-ries to explain these broken metates.Generally they weigh from 18 to 50pounds. Indians leaving a site couldnot take them along. Possibly an an-cient version of the scorched earthpolicy! More likely a superstition! Wedo not know for certain.

At four o'clock, we headed the jeep

Three ancient Indian grinding holes, probably used for making meal ofmesquite beans, were found here with the pestles in them.

J U N E , 1 9 4 9 15


16/48

# | k i ^ ^ ^ '"Ilr-1

" " "" I * * ' " ' ^ ' M I

i

R attlesnake peak, with the surveyor's marker v isible at the top.

along the return trail. We were fiveweary sunburned humans, with a 40-mile ride home. But it wasn't ourweariness alone that made us silent onthe way. It was something else. Wehad just been in close contact withthose long-gone people who once livedin this desert land of ours. We had hada glimpse of ancient American history.Not enough to satisfy us, but justenough to lure us on to other trips, ina vain effort to solve the enigma ofRattlesnake peak.

ANOTHER HUGE LAKECREATED IN DESERT . . .

Davis dam on the Colorado river,which will create a lake extendingmiles upstream to the tailrace ofHoover dam, is virtually complete only10 months after the river was divertedat the dam site, Regional Director E. A.Moritz of the reclamation bureau atBoulder City, Nevada, has announced.The earth and rock-fill embankment

across the old stream bed has beenbrought to its maximum elevation of655 feet, approximately 138 feet abovethe original river bed level. A power-house and installation of power gen-eration equipment will not be com-pleted until next year. First energy isexpected to be generated in the latesummer of 1950.

The house appropriations committeehas granted $28,056,000 for the Na-tional Park service of the interior de-partment. This was near the $29,485,-600 figure requested.

T R U E O R FA L S EHere are 20 more of thosebrain-teasers for the folks whothink they know a great deal

about the Southwest desert countryor for those who would like to learnmore about this fascinating region. The questions include geography,history, botany, mineralogy and the general lore of the desert. Twelve to 15is a fair score. Sixteen to 18 is excellent. Any score above 18 is exceptional.Answers are on page 24.

1The Colorado desert is located in the State of Colo rado. TrueFalse

2Several species of humm ingbirds live on the desert. True False3Yucca is a member of the cactus family. True False4If your hostess served piki bread you probably would be at a Navajo

hogan. True False5The tarantula is more poisonous than the sidewinder. True..... False6Flagstaff was once the state capital of Arizona . True False7M onticello is located in the southeastern part of Utah. True False8The White Sands Proving Grounds are in New Mexico. True

False9The Virgin river of Nevada empties into Lake Mead. True False

10An arrastre was used in connection with the mining of placer gold.True False

11Azurite is found in copper ores. True False12Color of the agave or wild century plant flower is yellow. True

False13Moro Rock, sometimes known as Inscription rock, in New Mexico,is under the custody of the National Park service. True False14Father Escalante accompanied Juan Bautista de Anza on the trek

that brought the first white settlers to California. Tru e False15Brigham Young's Beehive House may still be seen in Salt Lake City.

True False16The Humboldt river of Nevada is a tributary of the Colorado.

True False17A Mescal Pit was used by prehistoric Indians for burying their dead.

True False18Juniper trees are seldom found below the 2000-foot level. True

False19T he door of a Navajo hogan always faces north . True False20Pisgah is the name of an extinct volcanic crater in Southern California.

True False



17/48

Cowgirl ofBrown's Hole

The cattle business in the West was a rough andtumble game a half century ago when big outfitswere extending their domains and sheep men wereedging onto the range. But Ann Bassett was able tohold her own with the roughest of themin a regionwhere six-shooters were more potent than laws.

By CHARLES KELLY

J-

N l

day in the spring of 1882,Slippery Jim, handyman on Bas-sett's ranch in Brown's Hole, was

busy mending fence. Ann Bassett, 7years old, had been tagging his heelsall day. She was dressed in a buckskinsuit given her by a friendly Indianand wore a fancy headdress which saton her head like a crown. Because ofthis, cowboys on the ranch nicknamedher "Queen Ann."

"Listen, Ann," Slippery Jim said,"how come you foller me around allday wearin' that Injun suit? Why'ntyou wear dresses like a gal should, andstay in th' house? You're gettin' bigenough to learn to act like a lady."

"I don't want to stay in the house,"replied Ann, who already had a mindof her own. "I don't want to weardresses and I don't want to be a lady.I want to be a cowboy."

Ann never outgrew that ambitionand never allowed anyone to call her"Miss." She spent most of her time ona horse, learning to ride, rope andshoot. When she found a stray calfshe roped and branded it herself andwas started in the cattle business. Bythe time she was 16 she had a finesaddle horse and a herd of her own,was rated the best cowhand and bestshot in Brown's Hole, and already hadbecome, through force of personality,recognized leader of the stockmen inthat wild section. She held her ownagainst some of the roughest charactersthe west ever produced, maintainingthe dignity of her title, Queen Ann.

When she was about 15 an Indianwoman she had befriended gave hera beautifully beaded buckskin ridinghabit consisting of fringed jacket, di-vided skirt and laced leggings. After-ward she had others made on the samepattern and believes she set the stylefor cowgirl costumes. While she maynot have been the first girl to own cat-tle, the introduction of this distinctive

Ann Bassett Willis. She was "Queen Ann" of Brown's Hole.

costume gives her priority to the titleof "first cowgirl."

To appreciate the story of QueenAnn, one should know something ofthe early history of Brown's Hole,which lies in the extreme northeastcorner of Utah, where the Utah-Colo-rado line joins Wyoming's southernboundary. Parts of it lie in all threestates. It actually is a deep hole orvalley almost completely surroundedby high mountains, through which runsGreen river. Being protected from se-vere winds, it was an ideal winteringground for cattle.

Between 1825 and 1840 Brown'sHole became a favorite winter campingplace for the old Fur Brigade and theirIndian friends, boasting a trading postknown as Fort Davy Crockett. QueenAnn remembers old trappers like JimBaker, his brother John, and UncleLouie Simmons, Kit Carson's son-in-law, who remained there even after itwas settled. Soon after the Civil Wargreat herds of cattle were driven intoWyoming from Texas and the Holewas their favorite wintering ground.

Queen Ann's uncle, Sam Bassett, anarmy scout, first saw Brown's Hole in

1852, and wrote his brother, Herbert,describing the place as a wonderfullocation for a cattle ranch. HerbertBassett came west, worked for a timeas bookkeeper for A. C. Beckwith &Co., in Evanston, then went to theHole to become one of its first set-tlers. Queen Ann was born there in1875.

After the railroad came to Wyomingin 1868 this hidden valley became thehideout for a number of desperatecharacters. Because it was so wellhidden and difficult of access, it re-mained an outlaw rendezvous until1900. The McCarty brothers, MattWarner, Butch Cassidy, Elza Lay andmany others were well known there,even after the place had been occupiedby several pioneer families.

Since the law never ventured intoBrown's Hole, settlers had to get alongwith the outlaws as best they could.These bad men usually behaved them-selves while living in the Hole and weretolerated, but their presence gave theplace a bad name and outsiders con-sidered everyone living there to be anoutlaw or cattlethief.Before many years all of Wyoming's

J U N E , 1 9 4 9 17


18/48

range landhad been occupiedand thehomesteaders in Brown's Hole foundthemselves surroundedby big oper-ators owningup to 100,000 headofcattle. These cattle barons wantedtheHole for a wintering ground, and triedin every possibleway to squeezeoutthe original settlers. Some left,butQueen Ann and a few others decidedto stay and fight it out.

Since everykid in the valley wasanexpert rider and roper, a miniaturerodeo was in progress everyday.Queen Ann was always the leader inthese activities. One fall, when she was14 years old, a herd of 50 strangecows was found grazingin the valley.They had been run in by one of thebig outfits justto see what would hap-pen. If they were not molested thou-sands more wouldbe broughtin.

Without notifying anyof the parents,Queen Ann and other young buckaroosin the valley rounded up the cows,drove them across Green riverandscattered themon Diamond mountainso effectively someof them haven'tbeen found yet. When these animalscould not be found, Ann was accusedof rustling cattle. Newspapers begancalling her Queen of the Rustlers,aname that stuckfor many years.Butit served noticeon the owners to keepoff her range.

After a few years other big operatorstried similar tactics. When thishap-pened Ann would organizea drive andpush the cattleoff her range, scatteringthem in the hills. This was illegalonpublic domain,but it was the only wayto keep from being overrun. Becauseof

these activitiesa cowman once hadherarrested for cattle stealing,but failedto provehis charge.

Finally, to stop such trespassing,Ann Conceived the idea of herdingsheep over a wide strip entirelysur-rounding the Hole. Cattle wouldnotvoluntarily cross groundon whichsheep had grazed. When driven overitthey were shot. Such activities madeher very unpopular with the big outfits.

The following incident will illustratethe kind of fool-hardy courageAnnpossessed. When she was17 yearsoldshe started with two cowboys to de-liver a herd of cattle on Little Snakeriver, a dry drive of 45 miles. Arrivingat Thompson's ranchshe learned thattwo overzealous game wardenshadtried to arrest a young Indianfor kill-ing game.The boy's motherhad triedto resist the officers, whereupon theyshot both motherand son.

Ann knew trouble would follow.When the wardens tried to leavesheforced themat gunpointto remainandhelp defend the ranch, after tellingthem exactly what she thoughtof theiraction. Then, althoughshe had beenin the saddle for 18 hours, she rodedirectly to the Indian camp, hopingtoexplain to her Shoshoni friends thatshe did not approve of the killings.When she got there, long after dark,no Indians werein sight, but smokesignals were rising amongthe hills.Recognizingher horse, the Indiansdidnot molest her. Afteran all night rideshe reached Brown's Holeat sunriseto give the alarm. T hose leftat Thomp-son's ranch abandonedit during the

night, just before the Indians burnedit to the ground.

During the 90's Butch Cassidy,no-torious Utah outlaw, and his WildBunch were frequent visitorsinBrown's Hole. They attendedall localdances and were well liked personally.Elza Lay, Cassidy's partner, wasa tall

dark dashing youngman, originallyfrom Boston. QueenAnn met him atone of the dances and they struckup alasting friendship. When CassidyandLay held up a train at Wilcox, Wyo-ming, and took $30,000 fromthe ex-press car, they rode straightto Brown'sHole, knowing they wouldnot be fol-lowed. Making campin a hidden sidecanyon, ElzaLay went to the Bassettranch after dark, calledto Ann, andasked for food. She fixed him a bigbasket whichhe took back to camp.He told her he had buried his shareofthe loot in a certain spot, gaveher amap of the place, and asked her tosend it to his mother if he failed toreturn withina year. He later retrievedthe money,but in another train holdupat Folsom, New Mexico, was caughtand sentencedto the pen. After beingpardoned he went straightand QueenAnn kept in touch with him untilhisdeath in Los Angeles in 1933. ButchCassidy avoided entanglements withwomen. While Ann knew him well,she never liked him. She also knewMatt Warner, another well known out-law, who was good company whensober but a terror when drunk.Helater becamea peace officer in Price,

Utah.In 1897 Harry Tracy, a desperate

Grave of Jack Bennett, outlaw who was hanged on Bassett's corral gatein 1898.

-ft \ *


19/48

Brown's Hole w as a hidden valley 30 miles long, watered from the G reen river.

killer, escaped from the pen in SaltLake City, hiding out in Brown's Hole.There he joined Pat Johnson, a minoroutlaw who had just shot a young boyliving in the Hole. Settlers followingJohnson unexpectedly ran into Tracy,who shot Val Hoy, a rancher. It wasthen decided to invite the law to takea hand, so sheriffs from Utah, Colo-rado and Wyoming were sent for. Af-ter a long chase the killers were cap-tured and taken to Bassett's ranch,headquarters for the posse. Here theyfound Jack Bennett, an accomplice,hanging from Bassett's high gatepost.

He was later buried behind the ranchhouse.By 1898 cattle stealing had become

so common that stockmen had to or-ganize for protection. When legal ac-tion failed, the association hired TomHorn, an ex-Indian scout, to pick offthe thieves one by one. After he had"dry-gulched" two minor outlaws inBrown's Hole, the others left betweendays and it has been a law abidingplace ever since.

When the forest service was organ-ized, Queen Ann took an active partin her district, and was appointed for-

est ranger. This appointment was latercancelled because the service wouldnot accept women rangers.

Queen Ann's worst battles had al-ways been with the Haley Cattle Co.,but she was able to hold her own. HiBernard was foreman for Haley dur-ing most of the trouble. In time he ac-quired a great admiration for thespunky Ann and quit his job and mar-ried her. For eight years they operatedtogether; but when Ann found thather husband had been instrumental inbringing Tom Horn to that section, sheleft him. Later she married her presenthusband, Frank Willis, who had alsoworked for Haley, and at one time

J U N E , 1 9 4 9

had refused a $500 bribe to manufac-ture evidence against her.

By that time the days of great cattleranches were about over. Sheep hadruined the range. Eventually QueenAnn sold out and left Brown's Hole.Her husband became a mining engi-neer and now they travel from placeto place wherever his work calls him.

While writing the book "OutlawTrail" I heard many stories of QueenAnn, some true and others fabricated.I had formed a mental picture of heras a hard-bitten, leather-faced oldwoman. When we finally met in 1943she proved to be a handsome, poised,well-read and charming woman of 68.Even as I listened to her it was diffi-cult to believe she had ever been apart of the wild frontier life of oldBrown's Hole, that she had been thesweetheart of a celebrated bandit, andthat almost single handed she had de-fied and beaten some of the biggestwestern cattle barons at their owntough game.

But it was evident that behind thosegray eyes and calm exterior lay the un-conquerable will and flashing spiritwhich had made her, even at the age

of 16, a recognized leader of men inone of the west's roughest pioneercommunities. Her nickname of"Queen" had not been bestowed with-out reason. She left her mark as onewoman who could not be intimidated,held her ground against ruthless an-tagonists, and finally gained their ad-miration and respect.

Western fiction is full of cowgirlheroines, but so far as my researchextends, Queen Ann of Brown's Holeis the original of all those fictionalcharacters, the only woman who actu-ally performed those imaginary ex-

ploits, and the first genuine westerncowgirl.

CHARG ES WILL BE MADEFOR USE OF CAMPGRO UNDS. . .

National Forest officials atFlagstaff,Arizona, have announced that chargeswill be made this season for campingfacilities at Camp Townsend forestcamp and the four forest camps in OakCreek canyon. T he new plan is expect-ed to go into effect early in June, inaccordance with instructions from re-gional headquarters of the forest serv-ice.

This policy is being carried out part-ly on an experimental basis, it is ex-plained. Theory is that proceeds willbe used to maintain the areas, keepthem clean, provide improvements.

Forest service headquarters has in-structed each regional office to applycharges in two recreational areas. Inthe Arizona-New Mexico region, bothareas where charges will be made arein Coconino National forest.

Under one system to be tried, con-cessionaires will collect the charges,will in turn be responsible for main-taining the camp. A second plan callsfor forest service personnel to handlecollections and maintain camps. Tenta-tive basic charge is 50 cents per dayper car for camping, 25c per day percar for picnic parties.

A forest service explanation statesthat in recent years, since the recre-ational areas have become so popular,the maintenance and sanitation levelhas dropped because of lack of appro-priations.

Before charges become effective inany area, the area will be posted andarrangements made for tickets andother details.

Charging at campgrounds was in-augurated in some California areas lastseason, but there has been no definiteconclusion announced as to whether thesystem is financially practical.

19


20/48

The jasper in Bear hills, near Brenda, is sca ttered over the lava-strewn slopes,washing down from a ledge in the hill in the background.

By HAROLD O. WEIGHTrockhoundsand I am

one of thosejust naturallyseem to figure that the rougher

the road and the deeper the sand, thebetter the rocks at the trail's end.

But it isn't always true. Take theBear hills near Brenda, Arizona, forinstance. I have passed through thosehills on Highway 60-70 many times onrock collecting trips without givingmuch thought to the rash of dark lavaboulders in that area. Probably I neverwould have stopped to investigate ifBill Keiser of Quartzsite hadn't shownme some colorful material he foundthere.

Quartzsite, where Bill Keiser hashis mineral specimens in his rock andrelic museum, is another example ofthe deception of outward appearances.It isn't much of a town as numbers go.Motorists generally stop there onlywhen they are in trouble, or need sup-plies. Nevertheless, the little commun-ity, like all desert towns both large andsmall, has an interesting record.

Most of those interested in westernhistory catalog Quartzsite as the placewhere Hadji Ali, the Greek-Arab

camel driver, is buried. But the littlecommunity has many things of interest

Rocks By the R o a d s i d eThanks to the guidance of an

old-timer in Quartzsite, HaroldWeight this monthhas been ableto map a mineral field where col-lectors may find good cuttingmaterial close by one of themain transcontinental highw ays.The Quartzsite area not only isrich in minerals, but also in his-tory and legend as you willdiscover in the reading of thisstory.

besides its camel driver. I learned some-thing of its history the night before theBrenda field trip while I sat beside ahot ironwood fir e in Bill Keiser's home.Bill and his wife Mary and Bert Hart,old-timer of Quartzsite and Cibolavalley, interrupted the playoffs of apinochle tournament to act as localhistorians.

There was a settlement here longbefore it was named Quartzsite. TheU. S. postal authorities must acceptresponsibility for that name, accordingto Bill Keiser. You will find it spelledQuartzsite, Quartzite and Quartsite,but the citizens of the community

didn't pick any of the three. Therewas so much white quartz in the area

that, when they petitioned for a post-office, established in 1893, they askedthat it be named Quartz Valley. Asthere was another Quartz Valley inArizona, the postoffice departmentcooked up Quartzsite which, accord-ing to their definition, meant the siteof quartz. Since another member ofthe quartz family, which is not com-mon in the area, is spelled quartzite,confusion was bound to result.

When Pauline Weaver discoveredplacer gold near the Colorado river in1862, the booming town of La Pazresulted. La Paz became Yuma countyseat. But, Keiser and Hart declare, itwas the gold from La Cholla, Middle-camp, Plomosa and other back-coun-try placers which kept La Paz going.The diggings close to the river were toopoor to satisfy many of the old-timeplacer miners. If they couldn't averagea pound of gold per day they movedon. Charles V. Genung, pioneer ArT-zonan now dead, once declared thatonly those who were too timid to goout among the roughnecks of theQuartzsite area, where the real goldwas being dug, remained in La Paz.

The settlement which eventually be-

came Quartzsite was first located twomiles south of the present town at a



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spot on the pioneer wagon road knownas Picture Rock and Point of Rocks.At Picture Rock a big natural tanka gravel-filled depression in the arroyobedfurnished a semi-permanent wat-er supply for settlers and travelers.Half-obliterated petroglyphs on therock show this spot to have been adesert watering place in ancient times.Exact date of the first white settlementat the tank is uncertain, but a mannamed Valenzuela ran cattle there inthe early '60 s.

The end of the settlement at PictureRock came abruptly in 1870 when acloudburst obliterated the community.Just before the flood, the storekeeperat Picture Rock and his wife visitedthe home of Mrs. Joe Martinez, halfway between the old town and thepresent one, to return some borrowedsad-irons. When the waters subsidedso that they could return, it was im-possible to locate even the spot wheretheir store once stood. Before thestorm, the wash had been only 200feet wide arid the store was on its eastbank. After the torrent, the merchantcould not determine where the bankhad been.

And there Quartzsite's lost treasurestory started. The storekeeper assertedthere was $50,000 and his wife'sjewelry in the store safe when it washedaway. For 15 years, according to Bill,

the merchant returned to the old town-site and prospected for his lost safe.Since then, many others have searched,but no one has reported finding it.

Down in the valley, in the meantime,Charley Tyson found shallow water atthe spot which became known as Ty-son Wells. The washed-out villagersset up their new community at thewells. Today only a tumbled rock walland holes dug into the hillside to actas crude ore-reducing furnaces, markthe old camp at Picture Rock. TysonWells became a stage station on theEhrenberg-Prescott road, and not aparticularly attractive one, according toMartha Summerhayes, army wife, whopassed through it in the '70s. InVan-ished Arizona, she reported it as reek-ing "of everything unclean, morallyand physically."

Not far west of the Yuma road in-tersection and on the south side ofHighway 60-70 stand the partially re-constructed adobe ruins of old FortTyson. Soldiers never were stationedthere and, so far as I know, it neverunderwent siege. It was built by thesettlers around Tyson Wells as a pro-tective measure when trouble with theAoache-Mo'fve Indians loomed. Whenthe threat of Indian warfare passed, itbecame the Oasis hotelthe town'sfinest. Finally it was abandoned, andhas weathered away. But the citizens

of Quartzsite were not content to seetheir principal historical monumentmelt back into the soil. After much ef-fort, in which Bill Keiser was a leader,the state reconstructed Fort Tyson.Then, apparently, there were no fundsto furnish accommodations for a care-taker, and fires and vandals wreckedit again. More reconstruction has beendone, and Bill and other Quartzsiteresidents are not going to give up untilthe work is completed and old FortTyson preserved.

Quartzsite had a boom during themining excitement which swept theWestern states in the first decade ofthis century. Between 1900 and 1906,a man named Beamer built a road fromthe area to the Congress mill, andplanned to run gold placer through ahuge stamp mill to be located west ofQuartzsite. Foundations for a 65-stamp mill were put in before expertstold him the "cement" placer heplanned to work was not amenable tothat method of recovery. Beamer in-stalled three stamps and proved theexperts were right, then abandoned theenterprise.

Miners were scratching about allover the area, and some were makingwages and better. Promoters were evenmore successful than the miners. They

would "beg, borrow or steal" speci-mens, go to the coast or back east and

J U N E , 1 9 4 9 21


22/48

sell stock on the strength of thesamples.

"O . A. Pease bought up all the nug-gets he could get," Bill told me. "Hegave a big dinner in San Francisco forstock prospects. When they lifted theirplates, there was a gold nugget undereach one." It was effective promotion,but not much help in actual develop-ment of Quartzsite properties. Theboom passed and the 11 saloons whichonce dominated the town's main streetvanished. Mining has continued spo-radically. Bill and his partner haveshipped eight carloads of ore from theirHumdinger lead mine. Most of theresidents hold claims and prospect thehills and wait for the price of gold togo up or the cost of labor and equip-ment to go down.

For most tourists, the item of princi-pal interest at Quartzsite is the monu-ment to Hi Jolly, over his grave in thetown cemetery. There is a fascination

in the history of our army's experimentwith camels and native drivers in thewestern deserts. With the gold discov-ery and opening of the port at La Paz,the camels were used to carry suppliesbetween La Paz and Fort Whipple forseveral years, while the road was be-ing built. Some time after the gold dis-covery, Hi Jolly quit cameling andstarted mining. He was not a prospec-tor, according to Bill, but he wouldfollow the strikes and wash out enoughgold for his needs, which were chieflyof a liquid nature.

Hi Jolly is Americanese for Hadji

Ali, the driver's Mohammedan name.He also was known as Philip Tedro,probably the name his mother gavehim. He reportedly was a Syrian,half-Greek and half-Arab. The Arabs raid-ed Greek settlements and carried offwomen, and Hi Jolly and his brotherwere said to be the result of such aunion, and were raised as Arabs.

It was a surprise to me that Hi Jollyhad a brother, but Bill Keiser knewthem both. The brother, whom theycalled Blackie, was a barber at Ehren-berg. Blackie told Bill some interestingthings about the camels. They could,

he said, carry 600 pounds 60 miles aday and go three days without water.But they never were loaded that heav-ily and were watered every day. Theyperformed well in the desert, but theirpads became sore on terrain differentthan that to which they were accus-tomed.

And if Blackie was correct, he hasexplained something which always puz-zled methe difficulties mule driversand freighters had with camels stam-peding their animals. Why couldn't theoutfits be kept apart? According toBlackie, camels, mules and burros went

together in caravans in the old coun-

try. And whenever, over here, thecamels saw mules, burros or freightoutfits, they insisted upon joining theparty and could not be held back.Their intentions were friendly, notvicious, but the results were disastrous.The mules stampeded in all directionsas the weird and monstrous animalsbore down , upon them. Desperate

freighters even resorted to shooting thecamels.It was late and cold when I went to

my cabin, and during the night thetemperature dropped below freezing.But a bright morning sun promised aperfect December desert day. I hadcome to Quartzsite more or less as anadvance scout, to locate an accessiblerock field. My wife, Lucile, and M arionHewes and Martha Berry drove overfrom Desert Magazine's Palm Desertpueblo Saturday afternoon and we setout for the Brenda field. Bill, who waschopping energetically at a pile of iron-

wood snags he had dynamited andhauled in for wood, stopped his exer-tions to wave.

Bill's directions to the field weresimple and direct. We zeroed thespeedometer at the intersection of theYuma road with Highway 60-70, andfollowed the highway along the longvalley slope toward the rugged Plo-mosa mountains. The great washesalong the highway were crowded withpalo verde trees and ironwoods, orpalo fierro, and spotted with grotesque-ly posing saguaro. At 8.3 miles wepassed the dirt road, right, which

eventually winds to Bill's lead mine onthe slopes of Dos Picachos, and to theold Apache mine.

The highway reached its highest ele-vation in the Plomosas nine miles fromthe Yuma junction, and curved downtoward the Ranegras plain. We passedBrenda service station at 16.3 milesand started looking for the Indian onthe hill. The Indian was one of Bill'schief points of identificationa white-painted figure with outstretched point-ing armon the north side of the road.I don't know why the Indian wasplaced there, but he is handy for rock-hounds. His hand points a little to theeast of the jasper field, but he did notmiss it far. %

Our two-car caravan pulled off theroad 17.2 miles from Quartzsite. Iopened the pickup door and there, onthe scraped shoulder of the highway,was a bit of red moss jasper. We scat-tered over the slope and wash, south ofthe highwayand soon dropped thefirst small specimens we had picked upas bigger chunks came into view.There seems to be a great deal of ma-terial here, and many colorful varieties.

The jasper most closely resembles that

found near Lavic, although we did notlocate any of the beautiful moss inchalcedony which sometimes is foundin the California field.

Incidentally, I wish someone wouldestablish a Board of MineralogicalNames, patterned after the Board ofGeographic Names, to name and de-fine minerals and gem stones. It wouldsave much confusion. Few stones meanso many things to so many people asjasper, jasp-agate, jasp-opal, moss jas-per, flower jasper, paisleyand all theother official and unofficial names forthis group. When I say moss jasper, Imean a rock at least slightly translucentwith a tangle of what looks like mossin it. Some collectors insist that if it isat all translucent it isn't a jasper.Others say that a moss jasper is onewhich has tendrils of moss in clearchalcedony, but to my mind that is thestone called flower agate, but which Ibelieve should be called flower chal-cedony.

Perhaps we should look at somebasic definitions. Dana identifies jasperas impure opaque colored quartz, andQuartz Family Minerals further de-scribes it as being essentially fibrousunder the microscope, which sets itapart from other quartz minerals.There are many varieties. Usually jas-per forms from a jelly-like solution ofsilica and it frequently is found inplaces where there are recent lava flows,which fits both the Brenda and Lavicfields.

Two quartz rocks similar to jasper

are flint and chert, the principal dif-ference being in the manner in whichthey originated. Flint occurs as lumpsor concretions in chalk and limestoneand is composed of a mixture of quartzand opal. It may have formed fromsilica in the muds at the bottom of theocean. Chert, once classified as an im-pure form of flint, now is believed tobe beds of limestone replaced by silica.

Personally, I'll go along with Dake,Fleener and Wilson, writers ofQuartzFamily Minerals, that material wellcolored and suitable for gem purposescan be termed jasper, although actu-ally a chert. Moss jasper, according tothe same authorities, shows a mixtureof colored jasper and chalcedony. Ofcourse, it isn't really a moss in thestone, no matter how much it lookslike it. The black ferns or moss in thefamiliar moss agates of Montana andWyoming are due to the presence ofmanganese. The colors in moss jasperare believed to be due to impurities inthe percolating silica from which thestone was formed. Similar moss hasbeen made in laboratory experimentswhere artificial silica jel was mixedwith various substances.

The collecting at Brenda is almost22 T H E D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


23/48

too easy, but there is always the possi-bility that other and more varied rockscan be obtained by searching fartherinto the hills. The jasper is weatheringdown from a big dike, but there isfloat enough to last a long time. Muchof the material has the common faultof many jaspersthe iron which fur-nishes some of the brilliant coloringalso occurs as red and yellow ochrein tiny holes which ruin the piece forcutting and polishing. However, it ispossible to find much solid jasper withlines and patterns, and there is redand yellow moss.

We collected the specimens we want-ed within a short distance of the roadand in less time than we expected touse. There was a chill in the air thatwarned us temperatures might againfall to freezing when night came, anda protected camping spot would benecessary. Many places in washes nearBrenda would have been excellent for

camping, but for scenic attractions andrugged country to hike over in themorning, Bill Keiser had recommendedone back in the Plomosas near his leadmine, so we headed back west alongthe highway and turned south alongthe dirt mine road, into a maze ofjagged hills and volcanic buttes.

As we followed a wash into themountains, we stopped from time totime to pick up pieces of ironwood anddead palo verde branches for use atthe campfire. We reached the campingplace just before darka spot whichevidently was a long-time favorite with

prospectors. It was a protected littleflat, almost at the base of Dos Pica-chos. We found a pile of rocks in theclearing, with flat slabs on top to forma table. And there was a small rockfireplace which, after minor repairsand the addition of a grill, we used tocook our evening meal over ironwoodcoals.

When supper was cleared away and

AboveOld Fort Tyson was nevera regular army post, having beenbuilt near the middle of the lastcentury by settlers who feared at-tacks from the Mojave-Apache

Indians.

CenterPicture R ock, original lo-cation of the little mining campwhich became Quartzsite. A natu-ral tank in the wash here has madethis a rendezvous since men firstroam ed the desert, as is indicatedby the half obliterated petroglyphs

on the rock.

BelowWilliam G. Keiser at oneof the old mining camp ruins inthe Plomosa mountains. This was

used as a crude ore smelter.

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Dead ironwood logs provided a warm campfire in the Plomosas. Left to right:Marion Hewes, Martha Berry and Lucile Weight.

a campfire blazing, we gathered at itswarmth to talk and w atch the flames.Sound carries clearly on a cold night.We could hear the engines of cars andtrucks on the highway, more than fourmiles to the north . From that road, all .T o. S l ta b y a campfire and watch thethis desert land looks barren and dancing flam es now disclose, now mask

the work of vanished hands is a re-

sas lost their mechanical note and iden-tity. They became natural noisestheroar of the wind in a canyon, perhaps,or the far mutter of thunder.

empty. People racing by on the oiledribbon see what they think is a raw,new naked land. Human beings willnever be able to exist here, theybelieve.

But this brooding desert has beeninhabited a long, long time. Petro-glyphs and painted rocks aboundwherever there is a permanent or semi-permanent water supply. Mining hasbeen carried on for a century at leastlead, silver and gold. Isolated canyons,which look as if they had never beenentered since erosion commenced theirmaking, unexpectedly reveal ancient

prospect holes and shrub-grown dumps.Tumbled stone walls, worn arrastresand deep-rutted trails tell their silentstory of man's ferment.

As we sat in the light and warmthcreated by the simple yet profoundmiracle of burning wood, with the pun-gent perfume of ironwood heavy aboutus, we were in a world entirely our ownin which time had no meaning andspace expanded and contracted withthe varying light of the fire. The campsof the pioneer prospectors we talkedabout were therejust outside thewarm circle of light. The sounds ofcars where the highway cut the Plomo-

vealing experience. It is one of the in-calculable benefits which reward thosewho come to the desert to hunt rocksor flowers or a silence in which theymay seek themselves. It is somethingthat the people who live on highwaysshould know. We all like smoothstraight wayslike the one to theBrenda fieldbut we miss so muchwhen we cling to them alone. It is goodto turn, now and again, onto the nar-row rutted sidepaths which haveknown the feet of pioneers, into asimpler world where roads curved andtwisted from spring to well to naturaltank, to waterhole, driven by the sim-ple reality of thirst.

I think some of the highway travel-ers are trying to outrun themselvesand the lack of satisfaction in theirliveslike clouds racing their shadows.If they would only slacken speed andturn aside on a rutted trail, to meetthemselves face to face and sit quietlyfor a while beside a desert campfire,they might find in the world and intheir lives an underlying unity whichhas been obscured by the shambles ofmodern living.

Indian V illage Exhibit . . .Visitors at the Chicago Railroad

fair which opens June 25 will have anopportunity to see an authentic South-west Indian village. More than 100 In-dians from Arizona, New Mexico,Oklahoma and other parts of theSouthwest will live in the village, work-ing at native arts and crafts, perform-ing ceremonial dances. Living quarterswill consist of pueblos, wikiups, hogansand other exact duplicates of homes theIndians occupy on their reservations.

A N S W ER S TO TR U E O R FA LS EQuestions Are on Page 16

1False. The Colorado desert is inCalifornia.

2True.3False. Yucca belongs to the lily

family.4False. Piki bread is made by the

Hopi Indians.5False. The bite of the so-called

tarantula is less venomous thana bee sting.

6False. State capital of Arizonaonce was at Prescott.

7True. 8True. 9True.10False. The arrastre was used for

crushing ore.11True. 12True. 13True.14False. Father Escalante sought a

new route to Monterey throughwhat is now the State of Utah.

15True.16False. The Humboldt river flows

into Humboldt Sink.17False. A Mescal Pit was used for

roasting Mescal buds.18True.19False. A Navajo puts the door on

the east side of his hogan.20True.



25/48

To Martha Burleigh of Glendale,California, goes first prize in Desert'sApril photograph contest for her un-usual picture, NAVAJO SHEEP. Thephotograph was taken at 2:00 o'clockin the afternoon with a Medalist II

using Plenachrome (Ansco) film. Ex-posure i l l , 1/ipO second.

OldLeatherBellowsSecond prize in the April contest was won by

Nell Murbarger, Costa Mesa, California, with herpicture, OLD LEATHER BELLOWS. The photo-graph was taken in May, 1948, at 2:30 p.m. withan Argoflex. She used Eastman Verichrome film,a K-2 filter, set the c am er a at 1/50 sec ond , f. 16.

JUST A REMINDER that Desert's June contestwill be the annual Cover Contest. For detailsplease see announcement in this issue.

Navajo Sheep . . .


26/48

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DESERT WESTBy NITA R. ENGLISH

Pioche, Nevada

Have you ever seen the sunsetAs the day drewto a close,

Evening skies ablaze with brilliantOrange, purple, rose?

Have you ever smelled the tangof cedarsAnd the stunted mountain pine?Have you stood entranced,and gazed with

aweAt the far horizon line?

Have you searchedfor Yucca blossomsOr the fragrant juniper?

Have you seen the waxen cactus bloomsAnd desert lilies rare?

Have you seenthe old deserted mines,With buildings gaunt and bare,

And sensed the hopes and effortsOf those who labored there?

This is the West I know and loveWith its peace and majesty.

And its mighty silence throbbingWith the pulseof centuries.

You may walk in mighty forests,And hills in foliage dressed

But the peaceof all the agesLies in the Desert West.

DESERT IN BLOOMBy GRACE PARSONS HARMON

Los Angeles, CaliforniaThe desertin bloom 'neatha high, white sun,Is gaudy and gay, with colors o'errun;The desert in bloom when the sunis low,Is rich with the warmthof the twilight glow:

But the desertin bloom, whena great moongleams,

Is a shrine for the desert-lover's dreams!

26

DESERT SANDBy E. M. BARTLETT

Angels Camp, CaliforniaBrothers of mine, who share with me

The land, the sea, and the sky,Choose a place to call your home

To live, and toil, and die.And leaveit a name, with honor and fame

Give it the best you've got.But don't let them tell you the desert landIs the place that God forgot.

Live in the cities and townsif you willAnd hobble your soulin a street;

Or find youa piece of land to tillAnd plow the sod with your feet.

But give me the landof the cedar and sage,The cactus, the sun and the sand.

Let me dream in the peace of a still desertnight

And commune with the Great Master-Hand.

06,,By TANYA SOUTH

San Diego 10, California

Oh dawn, oh dawn, come swiftly,while the night

Is softly shedding moonlight o'ertheplains.

Within the inky shadows terror strains,An d all the world is clamoringfor

light.Too well we sense the dangers that

are near.Where can we turn away from death

and grief?Oh help us, Lord, through loveand

true beliefTo gain that light whereis no longer

fear.

Billy the BurroBy WILLIAM A. RAYMOND

Upland, CaliforniaBilly the Burro has long been dead;Or passed away,it is better said.A sandy grave now holdshis bones,Under a pile of desert stones.He had followed me for many a day,Over a hard and rocky way.Always he patiently plodded alongThough never honoredby verse or song.When water was gone and feed was rareHe would shrinka littlebut did not care.Sometimes at night he would stand by my

bedAnd waggle his ears and nodhis head.

For looks he never would takea prize,Except for his gentle trusting eyes.His faded coat hada dingy hue.There were saddle sores wherethe white

hair grew.It seemed that his overgrown head would

failTo balance the weightof his flimsy tail.

He had his faults,I regret to sa yHe would riflethe camp while I was away.He would scatter the loot thathe could findThen leisurely chewon a bacon rind.In spite of his faults whenall is saidHe was

194906 Desert Magazine 1949 June

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Transcript of 194906 Desert Magazine 1949 June