196311 Desert Magazine 1963 November

8/14/2019 196311 Desert Magazine 1963 November

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H E N D E R S O N


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Tragedies, Triumphs and Tall Tales of

D E A T H V A L L E Y7 >f\

Death Valley in late 1800 and early 1900 was exactly what its name implied. No one willever know how many prospectors or people, heading for the Pacific Coast, died of thirst andstarvation while crossing the blazing sum mer inferno. Ma ny stories of the tragedies , triump hsan d tall tales ha ve been printed in Desert, The Ma gazine of the Southwest. To relive thesetales abou t the famous California-Nevada ba dla nd s, read these back issues of DESERTMAGAZINE.

ORDER BY YEAK & MONTH

DEATH VALLEY PROSPECTORS, Edna Price, July '54 ^WE LOST A LEDGE OF GOLD, Asa M. Russel l , Septe mbe r '55 JBOOM AXD BUST AT LEADFIELD, Russ Leadabrand , January '57RIVER OF BITTER WATERS, Edmund C. Jaeger, July '58 VDOLPH XEVARES OF DEATH VALLEY, Harriett F a rn s w o r t h , D e c e m b e r '58DEATH VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL, Eugene L. Conrotto , January '59ALEC RAMY'S LOST BONANZA, Ken Wortley, May '59TATZUMBIE WAS BORX IN THE TRAGIC YEAR, Dorothy Robertson. Nov. '59DEATH VALLEY SCOTTY, Tom G. Murray, September '61P1OXEER ROUTE INTO DEATH VALLEY, Lucile Weight , November '61CHRISTMAS OX THE EARLY DESERT, John Baur, December '61MAXLY'S TRAIL TO DEATH VALLEY, Charles Kelly , September '62

ORDER BV YEAR & MONTH

These issues are complete and in good condition. Orders promptly filled, and mailed postage paid toany U . S. address, but supplies are limited and we reserve the right to make approp riate substitutions.

ANY SINGLE ISSUE FROM THE ABOVE LIST: 30cALL 12 ISSUES: $3.00

Mail al l orders to: Dept. 1113DESERT MAGAZINE

Palm Desert , Calif. 92260Personal check or postal order must accompanyall orders. Do not send cash. Be sure to

include your complete mailing address.


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we TM $mmy O R D E R F O R M -IMA N N M I R O U N D U PWESTERN CHRISTMAS CARDSIN F U L L C O L O R

trry Christmas and Best Wishes (or aHappy Hol iday SeasonQ r c i t i n g i f r o m ouroutfi t to y o u r t - W i t hBest Wishes lo r Christmas an d all h e NewYearTha Cow m a n ' s f i i thG r e e t i ng is a warmand fr iendly western verse. D t t i r t T r a i l i - M a y th e w a r m th an d f r i e nd-liness of th e Christmas Season be with yo uthrough th e Coming Year

Viowdxj... Irent tkm tu>o 0} u*!W hi n w i n te r c hor e i arad o n * M a y theSpir i t of Christmas Abide With You Through-ou t th e Coming Year

Fr i ond i h i p at C h r i i t m a i - A f r ie n d ly wi shlor a Merry Christmas and a Happy Ne w Year . . . f r om the two ofu ! -W i th Bes t W i s hesat Christmas an d through a l l th e New Y e a r ! W a i t i n ' o u t th e S t o r m - B e s t W i s h e s for aMerry Christmas an d a Ha ppy Ne w Year

A friendly Cbrljtmaj G rwtln

D e f e r t C a n d e l a b r a - M a y the S p i n !o\Christmas bewith yo u an d Happiness bey ours th r oughou t [he Com i ng Y e arA f ri e n dl y C h r i t t m n Q r a a t i n g - W i t h B es tWishes for theSeason andaProsperousNew Year

T h o L o r d ' i C i n r J I a i - M a y thewonderfulSpir i t ofChristmas be with yo u through allthe YearG i r l an d F r i t n d s - M e r r y C h r i s t m a s an d aHa ppy Ne w Year

Cow boy S a nta -G r e e t i ng is a humorousverse describing this color photo of anoriginal wood carv ing."The y pr e i e n ta d unto H im gifts " Maythe Peace an d Happiness of Christmas abidewith yo u th r ough allth e Coming Year

Th i nk i n 1 of yo u atC h r i i t m a i - W i t h B e s tWishes for aHappy Hol iday Season Ca the dr a l ofth e W e s t M.u theS p m l ofChristmas Abide With You Throughout theComine Year

w l n t t r Chor a l Appr opr i a te w es te r n v e rs es onfront of card. Merry Christmas andHappy Ne w YearF r o t t t d S t M m M e r r y C h r i s t m a s and aHappy Ne w Year C h r i s t m a i D a w n - T o w i s h yo u aBlessf'dChns tm a s an d 3 Ne w Year of Happiness Q m t i n g t , N a i g h b o r ! Withi Best Wishes atChristmas an d aHa ppy Ne w Year from OurOutfi t to Y our s !

All new and different for1963. Beautiful ful l-color reproductions oforiginal paintings byopwestern artistsfeaturing Lorenz and including Kleiber, Fogg, Hilton, Eggenhofer, Harman,etc. Finest quality, heavy-grade paper single folds toV/i"xf>3A"with matching white envelopes.We always include a few extra envelopes with each order. Cards can be ordered with or withoutyour name custom printed inred tomatch greetings. These exclusive cards available bymailonly. Your order carefully fil led and shipped within 24 hours right up 'tilChristmas.H O W TO O R D E R : Write quantity ofeach card you want inbox below illustration.Cards may be assorted atno extra cost. Order all ofone kind oras many ofeach as desired.Circle total quantity and cost on price list. You may order byetter orfill out coupon and mailthis entire page with cash, check, ormoney orderto:

TOTAL QUANTITYWITHOUT NAMEWITH NAME

15$2.75$3.75

253.654.65

Canada residents remit in U.Names obe printedon cards

507.258.75

7510.8512.85

S. dollar values.

10013.4515.45

15019.7522.45

20025.9529.45

30038.2543.45

50062.4569.95

. Colorado residents add 2% sales tax

T h e L A Z y R L R A N C H SEND CARDS TO:Box 1500Boulder, Colo. R t e . , S t . , or ox N oC i t y _Zone StateFULL COLOR MONEY BACK GUARANTEE WE PAY POSTAGE


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CONTENTSVolume 26 Number 11

N O V E M B E R 1963This Month's C over

By Jack Pepper. One of the Southwest'sfinest pe troglyp h sites. Grapevine Canyonin southeastern Nevada.6 NewIdeas forDesert Living

By DAN LEE8 Motorists are for theBirds

By JOHN SINKANKAS

9 Three Lost MinesBy PANAMINT RUSS11 Driftwood Chen lie

By BOBRICHARDS13 Death Valley Days

By RANDALL HENDERSON15 The Desert is Yours

By ERLE STANLEY GARDNER19 New andInteresting Books20 Sedona

By JANICE BEATY21 Photo of Sedona. Arizona

By RALPH D. CORNELL22 Petroglyphs. theUnsolvedMystery

By CHORAL PEPPER28 Hunting Buried Treasures

By LEE OERTLE31 TheExotic Kumquat Tree

By EDMUND C. JAEGER32 Desert Cookery

By LUCILLE I. CARLESON38 Letters from ourReaders

PHOTO CONTEST RULES1Prints for monthly contests must be

black and white, 5x7 or larger, printed onglossy paper.2Each photograph submitted shouldbe fully labeled as to subject, time andplace. Also technical data: camera, shut-ter speed, hour of day, etc.3PRINTS WILL BE RETURNED ONLYWHEN RETURN POSTAGE IS ENCLOSED.4All entries bust be in the DesertMagazine office by the 20th of the contestmonth.5Contests are open to both amateurand professional photographers. DesertMagazine requires first publication rightsonly of prize winning pictures.

ERLE STANLEY GARDNER DEMONSTRATES TO JACK PEPPER, DESERT M A G A ZINE PUBLISHER,THE NEW BUTTERFLY, SPECIALLY DESIGNED BY J. W. BLACK FOR USE BY THE FAMOUS AUTHORON BEACHES OF ilAJA CALIFORNIA. THE FIRST OF TWO CHAPTERS OF MR. GARDNER'SNEW BOOK "THE DESERT IS YOURS" STARTS IN THIS EDITION OF DESERT MAGAZINE.THE SOUTHWEST IN NOVEMBER By JACK PEPPERPHOTO CONTEST GATHERS MOMENTUM. Although several ent r ieshave been r ece ived for the new DESERT MAGAZINE Photo Contestannounced last month , there have not b e e n e n o u g h to m a k e a fairselection. The f irst winning photographs will , therefore, be pr inted inthe December i ssue. Contest ru les are pr inted in a box on t h i s page .First prize is $15, second $8, and non-winning pictures accepted forlater publication, $3 e a c h .SILVER DOLLAR SAGA. Don' t throw away those pants wi th the rein-forced pockets! The Silver Dollar, long a t r ademark of the west , iscoming back . Not minted since 1935, the governmen t had previouslydec ided to let t hem g radua l ly run out of existen ce. Protests, boom-ing Nevada s lo t machine t rade and a sudden t r easu re hun t by coincol lectors changed the p lans . A new batch will be minted in 1964,probably wi th a new design.RIDE UP, WALK DOWN. The new Palm Spr ings Tramway , a spec-tacular r ide up the side of Mt. San Jacinto, reports a very successfulfirst 10 d a y s of operat ion. A total of 9,675 persons made the trip.Twenty-four of these bought one-way t ickets , meaning they rode(probably up) the T r a m w a y and then hiked down the u n s u r p a s s e dscenic trails as desc r ibed in the October i ssue of DESERT.DOUBLE BARREL ATTRACTION. Imperial Valley offers a wide var ie tyof attractions over the Vete r an ' s Day W e e k e n d , Nov. 9 through 11. TheSalton Sea 500, featuring the world's fastest l imited speed boats will

DESERT it published monthly by Deiert Magazine, Palm De iert , Cali f. Second Clan Pottage paid at Palm Datert , Cali f . , and at additional mailingoffice! under Act of March 3. 1879. Title registered No.358865 in U. S. Patent Office, and contentt copyrighted 1963 by Deiert Megazine. Un-to l icited mertuicript i and photograph! cannot be returned or acknowledged unlet i fu l l return pottage it encloted. Perminion to reproduce content!m u l t betecured f rom theeditor inwriting. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: $4.50 peryear (12 i n u e i ) in the U. S.J S5eltewhere. Al low f ive weeki forchangeof address, an d belure to tend the old wel l at new ad d re t i .To subscribe, or to give a DESERT gift subscription, use thecoupon on p ag e 5

NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES:Arden E. Roney & Associates580 South SonVicente Blvd., LosAngeles 48,Cal i forn ia. Phone: 651-3930N E W YOR K- 4 1 E. 42nd St. 9860625 C H I C A G O - 3 5 E. Wacker Dr. 7827790S A N F R A N C I S C O - 1 4 9 California St. 9810848 B O S T O N - 7 5 1 Main St. 8893475DETROIT 424 Book Bldg. 9615240 M I AM I 208 A lmer ia Ave. 4448326JACK PEPPERpublisher CHORAL PEPPEReditor

Address Correspondence To:Desert Magazine, Palm Desert, Calif. 92260 Phon e: FI6-8144


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TH E SILVER STREAKA low pr iced, featherweight , h ighly sen-sit ive, all metal locator for ghost towns andbeachcombing. To locate small gold, copper,silver coins, rings, etc. Price only: $79.50.Terms available: $29.50 down and $5.00per month. 5% discount for cash. For freefolder wr i te to:

WHITE'S ELECTRONICSSWEET HOM E, OREGON

C H R I S T M A S. . . is just around the corner. This yearremember your friends with a gift that says"Merry Christinas" 12 times a year: a sub-scription to DESERT. $4.50 a year, andwe send gift cards that arrive a few daysbefore Christmas.

I T 'S T I M E T O E N J O Y ADNNWffOmtknL u x u r i o u s Amer i can Plan

M o d e s t E u r o p e a n P l a nPlan your magical winter vacation ateither of these famous Fred HarveyResorts. Swimming, riding, golfing,lawn sports, and sightseeing.Furnace Creek InnDeath Valley, California

In Los Angeles, phone 627-8048In San Francisco, EXbrook 7-2717

be held an d in Brawley there'll be anR.C.A. Rodeo and Parade. Famedrodeo rider Casey Tibbs is in charge.BI-PARTISAN BICYCLE SUPPORT.Both former President Eisenhowerand President Kennedy have ad-vocated greater use of bicycles forcycles in operation today are morethan were on the road in the GayNineties when the "bike" was at theheight of its popularity, accordingto E. C. Sauter, tire salesmanager ofGoodyear Tire and Rubber Co. Resi-dents of Palm Desert, home of DES-ERT MAGAZINE, expect someday tosee General Eisenhower and Presi-dent Kennedy cycling along to-gether. Eisenhower spends his win-ters here and President Kennedym ad e his second visit, stay ing inBing Crosby's home, in September.NOVEMBER CALENDAR. 1-3Fiestade la Cuadrilla, Balboa Park, SanDiego. Gem and mineral Show, Im-perial, Calif. 1-11Arizona S t a t eFair, Phoenix. 4-10Imperial ValleyRodeo and Cattle Call, Brawley,Calif. 8-10Death Valley Encamp-ment, Death Valley. 8-11HemetJeep Clubs Third Ann ual 4-WheelDrive Junket. Write P.O. Box 841,Hemet, California for directions tocampsite. 9-10Salton Sea 500 MileBoat Race, Salton City, Calif. 17Annual Mother Goose Parade, ElCajon, Calif. 24-25Inboard BoatRaces, Parker, Arizona.

r DESERT Subscription Service| (Enter a Subscription fju \Jj f Address Change! Only fj

FREE!Helpful brochurefor rock hobbyists!

This ne w brochure,fresh off the presses, isavailable withoutcharge to rock hobby-ists and readers ofDesert Magazine. Spe-cial sections on sharp-ening, reversing an dinstallation of diamondblades for better lapi-dary cutting... alsoincludes useful tips oncoolants, lubricants,speeds and feeds, andother suggestions onhow to get longer and better wear fromyour cutting equipment. Compact andeasy-reading, well-illustrated. Writetoday for your copy.

Please mail me your free brochure, "Do's& Don' ts for Lapidary Cutt ing."N a m eAd d ress C i t y , Sta te -Dept. D- l l MK DIAMOND PRODUCTS126 0 0 C h ad ro n ,Hawthorne, Cal i f .M . K D I A M O N D S I N C E (866

DESERT BINDERSKeep your Desert Magazines foryears as a reference and guide tofuture trips. Special 12-issue bind-ers only $3.50 (inc. tax & postage )DESERT MAGAZINEPalm Desert, Calif. 92260

To Change Your AddressMagazines are no longer forwarded by the postoffice when you move. To insure uninterrupteddelivery please attach your magazine addresslabel here and print your new address below.

3 .* a 8

1-year subscription$4.50 One 2-year subscrip-tion, or,D Two 1-year sub-scriptions . S8.00

Name?o AddressTo Give a Desert Subscription

D New Renewal

Print your name and address above, and name and address of recipient below.

oS New Renewal

Sign Gift Card: "FromQ Payment Enclosed BUI Me Later 103


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S T O P 2 - W H E E LD R I V E D R A G

Save gas, gears, tires! Warn Hubs on your 4-w.d.give it double-duty value thru economical free-wheeling 2-W.d. with added pep, speed and han-dling ease; plus normal 4-w.d. automaticallywith Warn Lock-O-Matics, manually with Lock-ing Hubs. Used by the majority of 4-w.d. owners.See your dealer soon!W A R N M A N U F A C T U R I N G C O . , I N C .R i v er t o n B o x 6 0 6 4 - D M S e o t t l 8 8 , W a i h .

OPALS and S A PPH IRESDirect From AustraliaThis Month's Best Buy

SPECIAL OFFERMINE RUN SAPPHIRESBlue, Green, Parti-Colours, Black Stars,Blue Cabochons Mixed Lot, Ungraded1 W hole Pound $10 .00 FREE SEAMA ILSend personal cheque, international moneyorder, bank draft . Free 16 page list of allAustralian Gemstones.A U S T R A L I A N G E M T R A D I N G C O .294 Little Coll ins StreetMELBOURNE, C .I . A USTRA LIA

B O T T L E C O L L E C T O R S"CHIPS FROM THE PONTIL"by J. C. Tibbitts, f irst president of th eAntique Botle Collectors Assn. and edit-or of "The Pontil." Just off the pressand available from the author. Manypertinent facts and interesting informa-tion about bottles and bottle collecting.Full color group ph oto on cover. 17black & white photos with full descrip-tions. Autographed if requested.Price $3.00 plus 25c handling$3.25postpaid. Calif, residents add 12c tax.

T H E L I T T L E G L A S S S H A C K3161 56th Street Sacramento, Cal i f . 95820WHEN YOU WRITE. . . or phone in response to an ad inDESERT, it only takes a moment to men-tion where yo u saw it. The firm yo u aredoing business with will appreciate know-ing how yo u l earn ed o f them, an dDESERT will be gratefu l for your supportand fr iendship thus expressed.

KEY BEAMNo batteries or bulbs to buyever. Just squeezeand fingertip pressure lights the way to houselocks, auto locks and ignitions, road maps andeven milady's purse. Easily attaches to, and be-comes part of any car or house key. The life-time of light secret is the world's tiniest lamp(developed for computers) wired with platinumfor lasting brightness, and powered by costlysilver energy cell that recharges itself. Lifetimeguarantee. Specify sky blue, white, black or fu-chia. $2.95 plus .25 postage. MIKAN'S, Dept.DM 11, 1212 Park Avenue, Mamaroneck, N.Y.

NEW IDEAS for DESERT LIVINGB y DAN LEE

Combination Telescope-CompassJust the trick for hikers and weekendprospectors, SUPER SCOPE is 10 tools in

o n e . This amazing product is telescope,compass, reading glass, solar watch, signal-ing mirror, magnifying glass, campfire light-er and code transmitterall in one! Palmsized at just 3x1 Vi inches, it fits yourpocket. Only $3.00, postpaid, from UnitedBinocular Company, 9043 S. Western Ave.,Dept., DM, Chicago 20, Illinois.

New Clamp-On Boot CleatsThe maker calls them SLIP-NOTS. Lea-ther bindings clamp SLIP-NOTS to yourhiking boots to provide sure-footed tractionon steep or slippery hillsides when huntingrocks or chasing wild game. Strong steel

cleats built into the soles of SLIP-NOTgrasp the terrain in a firm bite, keep yourfeet from sliding, and allow the wearer tocarry bigger loads safely. Avoid a back-wrenching slip by wearing SLIP-NOT onyour next expedition. Fully adjustable toall foot sizes, both in width and length, andpriced at only $6.98 a pair! Fro m SL IP-NOT, P. O. Box 31, San Dimas, Calif.

Novel Barbecue Basting BrushHere's a new outdoor cooking brushthat's both novel and practical. SAUCYSAM is the name . It's a plastic squeezebottle with a built-in brush protruding from

the cap. Just squeeze the tube and spreadthe basting sauce all with one hand!SAUCY SAM is made of unbreakable plas-t i c , weighs almost nothing, and sells forjust 98c from Anro Products Company,I n c . , Aurora, Illinois.

Intercom For TrailersThis new product is a fully-transistorizedmessage center. Passes your voice electroni-cally from truck-cab to camper coach in-stantly, so driver and passengers can talk.Called the CAMPER 88, this new intercomsystem consists of two units. One unit forthe cab, which is the master, and a remote

unit for the coach. CAM PER 88 comescomplete, with all wiring and connectingcables, for only $49.50 per pair, from TexasCommunications, P. O. Box 35-534, Dallas3 4 , Texas.

Help! Help! Help!Here's a tricky little item that will appealto traffic-bound vacationers or freewaydrivers. A small plastic banner which at-taches to your car radio antenna, whichis then hoisted like a pirate flag. But in-stead of skull and crossbones, your flagscreams HELP! Color of bright fluorescentorange can be seen for long distances.

Helpful to the driver who runs out of gas,stalls in the heat, or is stranded along alonely road with mechanical difficulty.Priced at just $1.00, HELP! is availablefrom the Clay Agency, 645 N. MichiganAvenue, Chicago 11, Illinois.

10 in IS C O P E

H E L P

CM


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H-120A ALUMINUMH E A T - R E S I S T A N T P A I N T

New Expanding FoamNow you can make your own boat buoy-ancy chambers, repair leaky boat docks,swimming-pool rafts or make a plastic Christ-mas snowman . . . with EZ FOAM. Thisnew product is the essence of simplicity.Just mix two ingredients (supplied by mak-er) together for an astonishing, rapid ex-pansion into unicellular foam. In three min-utes, EZ FOAM rises from 35 to 45 timesoriginal volume. Extremely light weight (at2-pounds per cubic foot) and totally un-

sinkable, the new foam kits can make anyboat safe. Mix the liquid chemicals sup-plied by EZ FOAM, pour them into boatbilges' under seats, etc, to provide a rigid,buoyant safety chamber. Available onlyby mail, this is the same product used byboat manufacturers to make small craftsafe. For a two-quart kit (makes three cu-bic feet of foam), priced at $12.50 plus$1.00 postage. For a two-gallon kit, whichmakes 13 cubic feet of foam, $32.50 plus$2.00 postage, from EZ FOAM, P. O. Box5 9 1 , Chino, Calif.

Portable Steam BathNORDIC CLOUD, a portable homesteam bath can be set up at home or car-ried on trips. Safe, sanitary, and inexpen-sive, it is an aid to weight control, skincleansing and relief from nervous tensionfor athletes, sportsmen, families, and busi-nessmen. No installation or drain is re-quired and it can be plugged into any 110Volt outlet. Com plete unit consists of cabi-net, generator/vaporizer, chair and twolarge towels. Sells for 129.50 plus freight.For more details write to Algert Co. Dept.DM , 1037 Elden Ave., Los Angeles.

Emergency Tire CleatsSNOWMASTER EMERGENCY TIRECLEATS strap to rear wheels of mostAmerican autos and provide positive tank-tread traction under severe conditions. Easeof installation makes them attractive towomen drivers. Further information fromMaster Craft Products, Dept DM, 1900Euclid Ave., Cleveland 15, Ohio.

Car CoolerKAR KOOL is the short but hard-hittingname of this new portable air-cooler. Oper-ating off a 12-volt battery with a 4000-rpm

motor and 4-inch fan, KAR-KOOL weighsonly 6-pounds. Dimensions are 16x6Vix6-inches. Has easy-fill water reservoir thatlasts up to three hours. Priced at only$34.95 complete, from J. C. Whitney Co.,1917 Archer Ave., Dept DM, Chicago 16,Illinois.

Heat Resistant PaintNeed a paint that will withstand temper-tures to 1200 degrees? New HEAT-REMmay be the answer. Apply it by brush, bydipping, or by spray to such hard-to-holdareas as heaters, furnace pipes, radiators,

heat stacks, or other areas where ordinarypaints flake and bake off. HEAT-REMnumber H.I20A is available in most popu-lar container sizes, in a bright silvery color.From Speco, Inc., 7308 Associate Avenue,Cleveland 9, Ohio.

CHRISTIAN OIL LAMPSfrom ANCIENT PALESTINERecently excavated: GENUINE Terra-Cottaoil lamps. Found In an early Christian ne-cropolis, apparently placed on tombs on"All Saints Day." Perfect holiday gifts andattractive display pieces for home and office!Truly a collectors treasure! Mounted onwood base with parchment certificate ofauthenticity . . . only $10, postpaid, readyfor immediate shipment . . . Money-backguarantee! Limited number of lamps withCHRISTIAN CROSSES . . . $15 ppd.Annotated illus. of GENUINE: coins, Romanglass, weapons, flints, tomb figurines, dolls,textiles and more. Plus: color card of ancientEgyptian Jewelry. A must for the curiouscollector and gift giver! Write for yourFREE CATALOG today.A LA D D I N H O U S E, LTD. Dept. D-ll520 Fif th Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10036

SAVE YOUR BREATHNew Lectro-Flate air pump plugs into auto cigar-ette lighter, will inflate air mattresses, rubberboats, swim pools, beach balls, etc., with nary ahuff or a puff f rom you. Fits all types of valves.Wil l not overinflate. Relax and let Lectro-Flatedo the work. $10.45 ppd. Order now f romWILLIAMS, Dept. Bl l , Box 1577, Moab, Utah.

1

Approxin g all

HICKORY FARMS OF O H I O"BEEF STICK"" N o Pepper"" N o G a r l i c "" N o Vi ne ga r "" N o P or k "

FORSPORTSMEN A MUST for Fishing, Hunting,Camping, Picnics, Boating, Pack-ing Trips Because of its longlasting f reshness will keep wi th -out refr igerat ion.Guarantee of Satisfactionand Safe DeliveryNo Charge for Mail ing1 0 0 % Pure BeefHickory Farms of OhioWestern Div is ionP. O. Box 3 3 0 6 , VanNuys, Cal.. 4 Ib, beef sticks are $5.98 ea. inc lud-pack ing and ma iling . Send check ormoney order.

Please ship me Beef Sticks at $5.98 ea.New Customer Old CustomerT o:

"DON'T FORGET A FRIEND THIS CHRISTMAS"


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desert-southwestart gallery

Formerly the Desert MagazineGallery1963-64 Sch edu le

OCT. 4-22-VAL SAMUELSON andKARLALBERT. "Diversity inoils bytw o of theSouthland's best."

OCT. 23-NOV. 12-ART FORMS: Sculpturein metal by FRANCES RICH; wood carv-ings byMOGENS ABEL; ceramic figuresby HILDRED REENTS; mosaics by JOYCECLARK; silverwork by LYN CHEVLI.

NO V. 13-DEC. 2GERDA WITH an d STER-LING MOAK. "Contrasting expression,oils, and water colors, bright colors, bytwo Gal lery favor i tes ."

DEC. 3-26JOHN HILTON and BILL BEN-DER. "We ll-kno wn tradit iona l desert oilpainters ."

DEC. 27-JAN. 14-ROBERT RISHELL andDR. RAYMOND BROSE. "Two of th e BayArea's best artist-teacher combinations."

JA N . 15-FEB 3-E AR L CORDREY and BILLHAMPTON. "Flashing colors, dynamic de-sign, Southwest subjects."

FEB 4-2 5-N ED JACOB an d BILL SHARER." T w o of thebest young artists from theTaos Art Colony . "

FEB. 26-MAR. 17 -EM IL KOSA, JR., andSAM HYDE HARRIS. "Oils by twofavor-ite Western artists."

MAR. 18-APRIL 7-MILFORD ZORNES,REX BRANDT, and ART RILEY. "Three ofthe Southwest's best-known water color-ists."

Visit the Desert-Southwest BookShop, largest of itskind inth ecountry; and the SouthwestCrafts and Navajo Rug Shop inthe Desert Magazine Building.Desert cards and prints a speci-alty.Open daily, including Sundays,

9 to 5. No Adm ission feeHighway 111

In The Desert Magazine BuildingPalm Desert, Calif.

BIRDSJOHN SINKANKASA GGRESSIVE, COCKY and insufferably noisy, the English spar-row isroundly condemned from one end of the United Statesto the other as an unmitigated nuisance and a poor substitute forthe colorful native song birds he has crowded out.

Imported to this country about 1860 by awell-meaning thoughmisguided admirer ofbirds (some say atransplanted Englishman nos-talgic for the sights and sounds ofhis former home), the tiny immi-grant spread rapidly throughout the East, consolidated his position,then marched westward to join in settling the rest of the United States.Now he isfound everywhere, even inthe inhospitable deserts

of the Southwest, as farfrom his original home inthe green BritishIsles as one could imagine. Itwas here we saw him, demonstrating hisincredible versatility inmaking a living incompany with man, ap-parently as ferociously happy in aclimate that would make an Apacheshrivel as in a misty English village.Our ringside seats were in asmall restaurant inthe oasis com-munity of Dateland, aquiet retreat on the edge of amile-square patchof date palms offInterstate Highway 8between Yuma and Phoenix,Arizona. Wh en we pulled into the parking space infront asparrowflock took wing and fluttered a fewfeet away towatch warilyun til we disappeared inside. N o sooner were we seated at awindowtable opposite our car, than they flew back and began a performanceas puzzling as itwas intriguing.A number ofthe birds flew to the car bumper and began hop-ping past the metal grill bars, peering intently inside. Others stationedthemselves underneath the front of the car, craning their necks up-ward as if listening tosome strange music which compelled theirat-tention. We watched for several minutes before itdawned on us thattheir odd antics were not the result of too much desert heat, but asystematic search ofthe part ofthe car most likely tofurnish foodthe radiator! Some sparrows were waiting forinsects tofall offth eradiator honeycomb while others onthe bumper looked forinsectsinside the grill. Unconsciously, we had brought the sparrows their food.While eating alunch lengthened purposely towatch the per-formance, we waited with asmuch anticipation asthe sparrowsforthe arrival ofnew cars. As each came, the same performance was re-peatedthe sudden flurry ofwings toget out ofthe way, the waituntil the coast was clear, then the flocking around the car hoods. Somecars had grill openings large enough for the bolder birds to dart insideto feed, but even they would hop out amoment later to be sure thatno unseen danger had crept up on them. The less daring patrolled thestreet beneath the car.The unfolding of this small drama passed unnoticed byourfellow diners who perhaps saw nothing strange about the flutterings

of some small drab birds outside the windows, but tous they werean object lesson insurvival by a courageous little creature, neitherswift ofwing, nor strong, but fitted with the most precious heritageof allthe will to survive! / //


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W H E R E T H E P A V E M E N T E N D S

ARNINGNT *BVIS*BLE T9TRAVEL THIS IjBAB

! * WATER GASOLINE( OTHER SERVICES

X T M IL ES ,

VIAJAR POB ESTE CAMINONO HAY AGUA GASOLiNA

Nl OTRO SE9VIO0 , "? ^0 MiLLAS

T h r e e l o s t m i n e sb y P a n a m i n t R u s s

N O T I C ETHIS RQAD IS NOTMAINTAINED BEYONDTHIS POINT.PROCEED AJ YOUROWN Rf$K.

I F you have the time and nerve andwish to look for a lost gold ledge,I know a mountain that has threeof them.Let's start at the lowest spot in theUnited States, Death Valley, andwork our way up to Manly Peak.Drive to the foot of Jubilee Passas it drops into Death Valley that'swhere the pavement ends. Take thedirt road that goes down the westside of the Valley about four milesand you will hit a dirt road on yourleft, marked or posted, "Butte Val-ley 20 m iles," also a couple ofwarning signs reading, "This roadnot maintaine d proceed at yourown risk" or "No more servicesahead."

But, turn your back on the BlackMountains and take the road any-way. The Black Mountains form theeast slope of Death Valley, which isas barren as a tombstone in a ceme-tery. Volcanos leave nothing whenthey go wild. They are well named,these Black Mountains.

You should have had enough senseat the town you left 30 miles back,called Shoshone, to have acquiredfive gallons of water, ten gallons ofg a s , tire patching, a jack, pump,spare tire and food for an emergency.You could run into a sand storm, ex-cessive heat, tail wind, blow-outsfrom hot tires, hit a rock or lose youro i l . On this road, you're on yourown.Climb quickly out of Death Val-ley up on a long ridge. Here vege-tation begins to occur and the airgrows cooler. You have 30 miles togo from the floor of Death Valley tothe foot of Manly Peak. Some of thedirt road is rocky, so proceed slowly.After reaching the high bench, youdrop into Warm Springs Canyon.It's neither wide nor narrow, justordinary. Soon you will pass, on yourleft, one of the largest Talc Minesin the United States. Continue upthe Canyon five or six miles to thehead of Warm Springs Canyon andenter Butte Valley.

There is only the one road, so nofear of being sidetracked. Travelingsouthwest in Butte Valley, you soonpass the Striped Butte on your right.It's about 500-feet high and one-halfmile long with no dirt nor vegetation just layers of striped rock all colors.Beautiful !Two miles south of Striped Buttelies Anvil Springs. You are now at4500 feet and can see Death Valleybelow through Anvil Springs Canyon.

Anvil Springs must be fed from afissure of Mount Whitney becauseevery few miles from Mt. Whitneyto Nevada a spring comes to thesurface regardless of snow o rrainfall.Even in dry years these springs nevervary in their surface flow.Rising above Anvil Springs is Man-ly Peak, the north side of which is7158 feet and the top shaped likethe letter "L."So far, from the floor of Death Val-ley where the pavement ends, youhave been in the Death Valley Na-tional Monument. Here mining is


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\

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL MONUMENT

allowed and all mining rights re-spected. But as you turn right at An-vil Springs and travel northwesttoward Redland Canyon and proceedabout three miles clown the Canyon,you leave the National Monumentboundary line. After another coupleof miles you turn left at Wood Can-yon and proceed to the foot of ManlyPeak on the west side.Here practically the whole area isopen for location. This is the hotspot to look for lost veins of preciousgold

Manly Peak is composed of a horn-blende granite full of iron. Pinonpines begin at about 5000 feet andcover most of the top. A fragrance ofsage, desert tea, and greasewood re-freshes the air and makes it a pleas-ant place to prospect and relax.Legends of lost mines are alwaysinteresting. Very few are ever found.Those who do find one keep it quietfor several reasons; taxes, snoopersand property claims.There are three lost veins, orledges, on the "L" shaped mountainpeak two lost by persons I can per-sonally vouch for and one I was apart of and am still trying to findmyself.Manly Peak is rough, rocky ter-rain. There are cliffs with rattle-

snakes, side-winders, scorpions, tar-antulas, insects, and slippery roundpebbles that lay on smooth rocks. Afall of any kind could happen here it's steep, rocky and in some places

you need a rope. A careless momentmight be fatal. So you chip a pieceof rock from a vein, knowing it mustbe panned and assayed later as it'simpossible to do it there on the sideof the hill. Then later, when you getaround to the panning, you suddenlyfind that you can't pinpoint the spotwhere you found it.I know, because I was prospectingwith an old Alaskan miner when thishappened.Prospectors, working as partners,usually keep a distance apart in orderto cover a larger area. As the sunwas sinking one evening and he wasout of food and water, my partnerchipped a piece from a vein thatdidn't look like much, as a coatingof light brown mud concealed thequartz, but it was too heavy to ignoreso in the dark he lugged it back to

camp.For three weeks it remained in hispack sack forgotten. When we fi-nally got around to panning it, itturned out to be $15,000 ore. Mypartner is dead now, but he almostwent insane trying to locate thatledge.The other two lost veins I did notpersonally participate in, but I knowthey are true and are not more thanone or two miles from the one I amlooking for on this same "L" shapedmountain.About two years ago a miner fromColorado stopped at my camp. Hehad just returned from Alaska wherehe'd been on a field trip for a com-

pany, checking some placer ground.We had coffee, supper and he spentthe night.He said that he'd never havecome here, but while in Alaska, atDawson in a cafe, he met a miner whocarried a piece of rich ore he'd foundaround the south end of the Pana-mint Range at Manly Peak. The manclaimed to have found it while cross-ing over the north side of ManlyPeak, but when he arrived at hisdestination a letter directing him togo to Alaska awaited, so he hadn'tpanned it until he got up there. Athis suggestion, the Colorado man hadcome to look for it. This was duringwinter and bad weather interferedwith his prospecting trips. When heleft he said he'd be back in the sum-mer.Lost ledge number three:Last February, in the middle ofour worst weather, a couple of fel-lows came to my camp asking for in-formation as to the nearest cabinavailable for rent. I advised them tocome back after Easter, to no avail.They were grubstaked and wanted toget busy.The fellow who grubstaked themhad come up the back way of Manlyfrom Panamint Valley, through Coy-ote Canyon, which is very steep andthe roughest approach to the Peak.Although advised by his doctor notto go up over 4000 feet, he never-theless went to the top 7156 feet.While prospecting around he came

(continued on page 35 )


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The PRIVATE WORLDofby BOB R I C H A R D S

M ost people who come uponDriftwood Charlie Kasling andhis Desert Garden that is lo-cated just outside the Death ValleyNational Monument on CaliforniaHighway 190 some 15 miles west ofDeath Valley Junction like to regardthemselves as his discoverer^."You must meet this fascinatingman who lives in a trailer out there

on the desert surrounded by a fan-tastic collection of carvings andsculpture. He's done them himselfan d he's a natural born artist. Wejust happened to be driving by "And son on and so on.Although this is quite correct,

every year hundreds of people "dis-cover" Charlie and spread the wordabout him. During the past fewyearsmore than ten thousand visitors havesigned their names in Charlie's guestbook.Charlie has lived in that wash ofhis since 1959, and to those who won-der about the danger of cloudburstsCharlie tolerantly points out that ifnecessary he could move his trailerou t of there mighty fast. "Besides,"he adds, "the water won't hurt theserocks very much."Those "rocks," i.e., sculptures, area comparatively recent endeavor;Charlie began creating his figures

out of pumice, travertine, wood andcement only a fewyears ago.There'sa natural, primitive, almost eeriequality to the works that awes every-one. As one recent female visitorput it, "I'd hate to come upon all ofthis on a bright moonlight night. Itwould scare me to death.""Some of these things are sort ofscary," Charlie agrees.It must be emphasized that Drift-wood Charlie is not a character inthe commonly accepted sense of theterm. He is a courteous, well travelledand well spoken man, and here itmight be hazardous that the mis-spellings that add a touch of quaint-


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..

D R I F T W O O D C H A R L I E , T H E A R T IS T , P OS E S B ES ID E H I S M O N U M E N T A L G A L L E R Y D E S T I N E D T OS E N D F UT U RE A R C H E O L O G I S T S I N T O A S P I N ! .

ness to the many signs and placardsin the Desert Garden are just a weebit contrived.The Garden covers about an acre,and it is threaded by a veritable mazeof rock bordered paths with Charlie'sart works meeting one at every turn.Some of the pieces are laboriouslyexecuted, others are quick and ingen-

ious alterations of oddly shaped hu nksof stone or wood or pumice with afew licks of the chisel emphasizingtheir resemblance to animals, hu-mans or monsters.Most writers who heretofore havetold of Charlie and his works areoverly impressed by the fact that heis an ex-sailor; he spent 25 years inthe U.S. Navy, saw considerable ac-tion during World War II, and re-tired with the rating of Chief Bos'nsMate. But really there's nothing un-usual about a seafaring man choosingthe desert as a place to live. As Char-lie himself points out, both the des-ert and the ocean are a lot alike,grand and far reaching, sometimesbenign and sometimes merciless.A native of Huntington, Arkansas,Charlie acquired his nickname fromhis first post-war hobby of collectingunusual pieces of driftwood that hefound along various seacoasts andlake shores. He first saw Death Valleyin 1950 and except for six summersspent as caretaker of Mariposa Grove

in Yosemite National Park has beenin that area ever since.Any archeologist or anthropologistwho studies Driftwood Charlie's worksimmediately detects many ancient in-fluences, for instance, a Cretan stylestatue recalls one of man's earliestcivilizations and a decorated stumpreminds one of the tiny model vil-lages so distinctive of Japanese crafts-manship.

His sun disc was common to manyearly civilizations and the beast be-side it recalls the long gone eons whenmen propitiated animals by contriv-ing images of them.

When questioned about the motifs,Charlie merely shrugs and says, "Idon't know where I get the ideas.Maybe they come from pictures Ionce saw, maybe I'm reminded ofthings I came across in my travels."Whatever the inspirations, it re-mains that Charlie's garden has a feel-ing of timelessness and universalityabout it.And when will he consider the Des-ert Garden finished?"I've enough work lined up to lastme two hundred years," says Drift-wood Charlie Kasling.


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O BSERVING the 114th anniver-sary of one of the most heroicepisodes in California history,many thousands of motorists will betrekking into Death Valley in No-vember to participate in a 4-day pro-gram of entertainment and instruc-tion such as could be staged only inthe desert Southwest.

This is the 15th annual Encamp-ment sponsored by the Death Valley'49ers, a non-profit corporation form-ed in 1949 to perpetuate the traditionof courage and loyalty of the mem-bers of a wagon-train of gold-seekerswho, enroute to the California goldfields in 1849, wandered into thedesolate California desert where all

but two of the party survived afterweeks of thirst and starvation.Last year 18,000 visitors attended theannual Encampment. Since over-night accomodations in Death Valleyare limited, a majority of the motor-ists brought house trailers, or equip-ment for camping in the camp-grounds provided by the NationalPark Service.

The program this year, to be stagedNovem ber' 7-8-9-10, with Hugh C.Tolford, a Los Angeles advertisingexecutive as chairman, is to followthe general pattern of previous years.On Thursday, November 7, a dedi-cation program is to be held at Crow-ley point on the highway west of the

Death Valley National Monument,where residents of Inyo county havearranged for a bronze plaque to beplaced on a cairn honoring the mem-ory of the beloved padre of the des-ert.Friday morning the first of thethree visitors' breakfasts is to be serv-ed on the Furnace Creek Ranch goldcourse where the rugged Panamintmountains provide a majestic back-drop for a pretty oasis of green fair-ways and date palm gardens. Th eFriday breakfast honors southwesternauthors and writers, with Ed. Ains-worth of the Los Angeles Times asmaster of ceremonies.

The Saturday morning breakfast,

BY


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in recognition of the photographers,both amateur and professional, willbe chairmaned by Floyd Evans ofPasadena, with an informal programof instruction for those who seek des-ert subjects for their photographicart. Sunday morning the well knowndesert artists John Hilton, Emil Mor-hardt and Bill Bender are to presideat a breakfast honoring the artists ofthe Southwest.

Each day, following the breakfastprogram, visitors are invited to joina motor caravan for a conducted tourof the colorful topography of DeathValley. The conductor on these toursis Dr. Tom Clements of the Univer-sity of Southern California, author ofthe book Geological Story of DeathValley. With loud speakers mountedon top of his guide car, Dr. Clementslectures informally on the interestinggeological features of the Death Val-ley landscape. One of the tours takesthe visitors to Ubehebe Crater andScotty's Castle. Other tours includethe great below-sea-level basinto thehighly eroded Zabriskie Point, toBadwater, the Devil's Golf Course,Artist's Drive and many other spec-tacular landmarks of the region.Campfire programs are to be heldThursday evening at Stove PipeWells and on Friday evening at the

Texas Springs public campgroundnear Furnace Creek Ranch wherethere will be community singing,other musical entertainment andspeakers to reminisce on the earlydays in Death Valley when jackassprospectors roamed over this arid ter-rain in quest of precious minerals.Saturday evening there is to be ageneral assembly near the Park Ser-vice Visitors' Center where a hugescreen will be erected for the show-ing of desert photography in color.Supplementing this visual program

will be a concert by the North Ameri-can Male Chorus.Sunday morning a Sunrise Servicefor those of the Protestant faith isto be held in Desolation Canyonwhile padres of the Catholic churchwill hold early morning mass at theVisitors' Center.The comedy event of the 4-dayprogram, and always the most popu-lar feature of the Encampment, is tobe the Burro Flapjack SweepstakesSaturday afternoon at Stove Pipe

Wells. For this event old-time pros-pectors are recruited to participatein a burro race, the final scene ofwhich is the kindling of a wood fire,the making of a batch of flapjacks,

and then persuading the burros to eatthem.Each evening following the otherfestivities there is to be outdoor danc-ing at Furnace Creek Ranch, withmusic for both the old-time and mod-ern dance steps.For relaxation in the busy pro-gram, visitors are invited to enjoyspecial exhibits on display at Furn-ace Creek Ranch and the Visitors'Center. These include an art showin which many of the leading oil andwater-color artists of the Southwesthave their work on display, an exhib-it of ancient firearms of the WellsFargo stage coach days, a gem andmineral display, and a collection ofIndian artifacts from the prehistoricperiod in Death Valley.In the early 1950s, members of theDeath Valley '49ers envisioned amuseum where visitors could becomeacquainted not only with the geo-logical history of this arid and mys-terious region, but also with the plantand animal life which has becomeadapted to this land of little rain-fall. Financed join tly by the Stateof California and the National ParkService, this dream of the '49ers be-came a reality two years ago whenthe new museum was dedicated, alongwith a Visitors' Center w hich includes

an auditorium where illustrated rang-er lectures are presented at intervalsduring the Encampment.Since many of the services to whichurban-living Americans are accustom-ed are lacking in Death Valley, the'49ers have arranged for a first aidstation during the Encampment per-iod, with Dr. S. R. Broadbent, a di-rector of the organization, in charge.The Autmobile Club of SouthernCalifornia provides a moble unit foremergency car service on the roadsduring the Encampment.Dining service is available at Furn-ace Creek Inn and Ranch and atStove Pipe Wells hotel, but the facili-ties were not designed for a throng of18.000 customers for a 4-day period,and those who plan to attend the En-campment should take this factor in-to account in preparing for a threeor four day sojourn in Death Valley.One of the suggested items is campstools for use at the campfire assem-blies and the Saturday night con-cert and photography program. En-campment reservations at FurnaceCreek, Stove Pipe and the Castlegenerally are booked months in ad-vance.Superintendent John Aubuchon of

the Death Valley National Monumentand an enlarged staff of rangers willbe on duty for any service they mayrender, and officers from the sheriff'sstaff in Inyo, Kern and San Bernard-ino counties, and from the statemotor patrol, will be on duty duringthe Encampment.One of the unique features of theDeath Valley Encampment is thecomplete absence of vendors of thecarnival varietyno hot dog or colddrink stands, nor hawkers of souven-irs along the roadsides. The FredHarvey Company operates FurnaceCreek Inn and Ranch with a smallgrocery and newsstand at the Ranch.Handicrafts and books are availableat Stove Pipe Wells hotel, and thereis a small souvenir shop as Scotty'sCastle.

Under the custodianship of the Na-tional Park Service, the colorful andfantastic formations of this arid re-gion have been preserved as the forcesof evolution created them, with onlyenough surface roads to enable thevisitor to enjoy and study them. ThePark Service rangers take pride intheir outdoor housekeeping, and theroads are litter-free with little evi-dence of vandalism.There are no admission chargeseither to the Monument or to thevarious entertainment events. Thefunds necessary to stage the Encamp-ment come from the $2.00 dues whicheach visitor has the privilege of pay-ing for membership in the '49er or-ganization, from modest appropria-tions from supervisors in the partici-pating counties, and from generouscontributions by a few individualsand business concerns.The Death Valley '49ers is a vol-unteer organization, composed ofcivic-minded men and women from

all over Southern California. Direct-ors of the organization give theirtime and skills, pay their own travelexpenses and carry on the Encamp-ment project year after year as apublic service which pays its own re-ward in personal satisfaction.The creed of the '49ers, as one ofthe directors express it: "W hile we re-gard the staging of this annual En-campment as a worthy public service,we also recognize and are dedicatedto continued loyalty to the greatergoal of preserving the wild beauty

and charm of the Death Valley Na-tional Monument as God created it,as a precious and unexploited heri-tage for future generations of Ameri-cans." ///


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"

8ERL E S T A N L E Y G A R D N E R T A K ES H I S T U R N A S C A M P C O O K O N A D ES ERT E X P L O R A T O R Y T R IP W I T H J O E T E M P L E T O N

T H E D E S E R T I S Y O U R SS r k S t a n l e y G a r d n e r

Prior to the publication of T HE DESE RT IS YO URS, scheduled for a pre-Christmas re-lease, author Erie Stanley Gardner and publishers William Morrow and Compan y, Inc.have granted Desert Magazine exclusive permission to reprint Chapter 1 and excerptsfrom Chapter 5, to follow in December/

F ROM time immemorial the deserthas been cast in the role of asinister adversary.Brooding in parched silence, thedesert has been pictured as a furnacetrap which lures its victims to theirdeaths. We hear stories of strandedmotorists who, with sun-cracked skinsand blackened tongues, stagger feeblyto a highway and are rescued, or elsefall in heat-induced delirium andleave their bleached bones for subse-quent travelers to find.There is an opposite side to thispicture of the desert which I found

when I first explored it years ago.In those days I would travel in my"camp wagon" out to some of itswildest parts. This second side of thedesert story is one about which wehear too littlethe health-giving side.When I first knew the desert andcame to love it, there were few roadsthat could be traversed with any de-gree of safety. Even the main roadswere unsurfaced. Between Las Vegasand Barstow the road was a wash-

board nightmare. Between Yuma andEl Centro the road was a veritablegamble with death. No matter whatimprovements were attempted on

this stretch of roadway, the driftingsand would cover it. Th en someonedevised the idea of a plank roadwhich would have no foundation ata l l , but would stretch like a windingribbon, simply a line of rough boardstied together with metal strips. Whenthe sand covered this road, workmenpulled the road on top of the sand.Then when the sand covered it again,the board road was once more raisedabove the sand.During sandstorms the road wasimpassable. After the sandstorm itwound and twisted its sinuous way,first tilted dangerously to one side,


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CONSTANTLY DEVISING A ND TESTING NEW EQUIPMENT FOR BACK-COUNTRY EXPL ORING,GARDNER ENCOURAGED DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRAIL SCOOTER.

then to the other, like a torturedsnake.It was not only a single-track roadbut its width was only a few inchesmore than the tread of the car. Atlong intervals there were turn-outs.This road was very expensive toconstruct and main tain. It was a jolt-ing and hazardous experience todrive over it, but the desert dwellerwho had to use it, and who had beenfamiliar with the old sand-coveredroad, considered it the last word in"conquering the desert."Even in those days I found thatthe health-giving side of the desert,which was little publicized, was ofgreat significance.The majority of the people whodwelt there then told stories with asimilar pattern. An individual whohad been suffering with hearttrouble, lung trouble, or some otherdisease that medical science had pro-nounced hopeless, had been given up

to die by the doctors.He had sought the solitude of thedesert as a place where he couldspend his last days as inexpensively

as possible and without being a bur-den to friends and relatives.Slowly but surely the gentle fing-ers of the desert had sought out thelesions and healed them. The tran-quility of the desert silence, the free-dom from tension, the pure, life-giv-ing air accomplished wonders, andthese unfortunate victims of civiliza-tion came to know the beneficent sideof the desert, the caressing care ofMother Nature. They continued tolive on and on.To be sure the desert is cruel. Ithas to be. The plant-studded sur-face where each individual growthseems to be cottony-soft in the sun-light is actually an optical illusion.Each plant is armed with myriadthorns, each thorn a needle-sharpbayonet. Sunlight glistens from thesethorns to give an effect of beautybut don't dare brush even lightlyagainst one of these innocent-appear-ing plants.Those thorns are not only needle-sharp but they have microscopicbarbs which make it very painfulwhen one tries to extract them.

Extractions take so much force thecactus spine may break off, leavinga good-sized thorn in the wound, andbecause of these barbs it then be-comes difficult for the body to ejectthe broken point by the usual pro-cess of having it fester out. Instead ,after days of painful sore, the thornmay become tolerated by the body,probably because the irritant coating(a type of natural desert creosote) willhave dissolved. Then the thorn startsworking its way deeper and deeper,the point will change direction be-cause of muscular activity and thenthe person may find, to his surprise,a sharp, needle-pointed, almost trans-parent object emerging from his bodymany inches from the point of entry,long after the thorn entered thebody.

In the span of a single lifetime Ihave seen great changes come to thedesert; the Diesel engine, the cater-pillar, the growth of transcontinen-tal automobile traffic, the develop-ment of four-wheel-drive automo-biles, the so-called dune buggies, theair-cooled two-wheel power scooters,the airplane, and above all, the de-velopment of electric power and theconstruction of a i r - c o n d i t i o n e dhouses, have all contributed to chang-ing the face of the desert.The "civilization" which my friendthe Chinese philosopher insists Imust refer to only as "urbanization"marches relentlessly on. The desert

can stop it in places, but the desertis continually retreating before it.During World War II General Pat-ton wanted a place to train his tanktroops where they could become ac-customed to sand and terrific heatand learn to fight in an environmentthat would make the African desertseem familiar terrain to them whenthey arrived there with their tanks.Artillery wanted a place to prac-tice reasonably near centers of habi-tation, yet where they had virtually

unlimited space for hurtling theirdeath-dealing implements of warfare.So the desert became a militarytraining center, a dumping groundfor artillery shells and air bombs.Air conditioning revolutionizeddesert living in settlements. The littlevillage of Las Vegas became a hugesprawling city. Palm Springs starteda gradual growth which suddenlymushroomed with the force of an ex-plosion.It became fashionable to spendweekends in the desert. Los Angeles,growing so that it was bursting itsseams, had to have some nearby re-sort where people could get away


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from it all. Palm Springs was theanswer.From the viewpoint of the citydweller, the desert began to come in-to its own, but at the same time itbegan to melt away before the en-croachments and "improvements" ofurbanization and population pres-sures.But the mystery of the desert and,

in places, the danger of the desert re-main unchanged. Th e desert can bespanned but it can't be conquered.It will co-operate with man in ahealth-giving program but it willnever yield as the result of ruthlessconquest.Behind its facade of monotony, thedesert is ever changing.The line of sand dunes always lookthe same, yet these sand dunes aremarching and changing just like aline of surf at the seashore.The rate of change in the sanddunes is, of course, slower but it isjust as relentless.During certain seasons of the yearthe desert is windy, and when thewind blows hard it carries particlesof sand along with it. When some-

thing happens to slow the velocity ofthe wind, those sand particles are de-posited.Once a sand hill begins to form itslows the wind down so that moreand more sand is deposited. T heprocess is cumulative.There are other changes, too.Where the wind moves with greatvelocity, the sand particles carried onthe wind are capable of cutting intosolid granite boulders forming caves,pits and cracks.For that reason the granite coun-try in the desert is filled with wind-worn rock of odd shapes.Sometimes one finds old tent stakeswhich have been left in the desertthe bottom part, which has been pro-tected by the dry soil, well preserved,the upper portions checkered by sun-light, worn by blowing sand.Behind the solitude of vast openspaces is a certain eloquence.At night when the winds springout of nowhere, the sand begins todrift and gradually makes the soundof a whisper, a peculiar, rustlingwhisper as it hits against the side ofcactus, Joshua trees, and prickly pear.

When the branches of the grease-wood whip back and forth on thesand, they make a gentle, sibilantwhisper.Finally comes the most subtle whis-per of all, the whisper of sand rustl-ing against sand as it is borne onthe wings of the night winds whichwill suddenly come up, blow for awhile, then as suddenly die down.Many times, lying in my sleepingbag and just dozing off, I have feltthose sand whispers made words,sometimes sentences. The sentenceswere soft and soothing and I woulddrift off to sleep with them in myears. Then I would realize thesounds had words and I would snapwide awake trying to remember whathad been said. I would have thefeeling that the whispering sands hadgiven me some message that was im-portant, but which I couldn't remem-during my waking state any morethan I could recall some vaguedream.Things that are left in the desertfor any period of time show the markof the desert.Glass that lies in the shade of abush will be etched by moving sandsuntil it has an opaque finish. Left in

O L D R A I L R O A D N E A R R IS O R P R O V I D E D M O D E R N T R A N S P O R T A T I O N W H E N G A R D N E R F IR S T S T A R T ED E X P L O R I N G T H E D E S ER T.

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the sun, it will frequently take on apurplish hue and sometimes becomesa deep lavender.This change in color depends toa large extent on the chemical com-position of the glass, on the lengthof time that it has been exposed tothe sunlight, and various other fac-tors.At rare intervals, the desert travel-

er may come upon a pile of discardedarticles including a bottle that hasnot been broken. These lavender bot-tles are even greater treasures forthe collector than the odd piece ofglass.The present generation knows lit-tle about the real mysteries of thedesert: the stories of the lost mines,or the extent of the mineral wealthlying undiscovered in the region.Anyone who has traveled fairly ex-tensively in the desert can be certain

that he has heedlessly passed over richmineral deposits which would makehim a wealthy man if his eyes couldsee only a short distance beneath thesurface.Now and then someone discoversa rich mine, but for the most partthe easy-to-find discoveries have beenlocated and exploited. Th e mineralthat remains is, in most instances,beneath a surface that gives little clueto the location.John Nummel, veteran prospector,

tough as rawhide and wise in theways of the desert, sat down in theshade of a paloverde tree to rest andtake a few swallows of water fromhis canteen. His back was proppedagainst a ledge of rock so ordinarythat one would hardly give it a sec-ond glance. Yet from sheer force ofhabit the old prospector took hishammer and knocked off a piece ofthe weathered rock.To his surprise, he found under-neath the richest gold quartz he hadever seen.He had no tools with which to de-velop a claim at the moment, and noprovisions. Ra ther than stake out aclaim that might be "jumped" dur-ing his absence, Numm el decided tha tsince the gold had lain undiscoveredfor millions of years, a week or twomore wouldn't make any difference.He carefully covered up his find andwent down to take a job at the LaFortuna Mine below Yuma in orderto get enough money to develop hisclaim.He got the job, saved some money,tried to retrace his steps, and wasnever able to find the gold ledge de-spite years spent in fruitless search.

The desert is full of "lost" minesand there is a good reason why thisis so.There may be few landmarks ina given section of the desert. Thecountry has a monotonous similarityof appearance yet is, paradoxically,subject to change. Cloudbursts in thehot summer months, winds thatsweep up sandstorms, and the ever-drifting sand dunes, make the surfaceof the desert a place of shifting con-tours.Somewhere up in the sand hillsnear Kelso, a teamster, driving a wag-on laden with barrels of whiskey tosatisfy the thirst of a mining com-munity, found that one of the wheelson the wagon was giving way.

THER E A R E FEW PA R TS O F THE DESER T THA TG A R D N E R H A S N ' T E X P L O R ED B Y F O O T , H E L I -C O P T E R , H O R S E B A C K , B U R R O , C A M P E R , P L A N E ,S C O O T E R O R 4 - W H E E L E R .

He drove the wagon far enough offthe road where is would not presenttoo great a temptation to some pros-pector who might stumble on it, tookoff the wheel, unharnessed the horses,lashed the wheel to the back of oneof the horses and eventually reachedtown where he could secure the ser-vices of a blacksmith.While the wheel was being repair-ed, a terrific windstorm came up

and when the teamster rode hishorses back to the place where he hadleft the wagon, he was unable to findit. The drifting sand had moved in,

the wagon was buried, and to thisday has never been uncovered.The true stories of the desert, fullyvouched for, are almost incredible.Within the last few days, while ona trip into the desert, I visited a manwho was searching for a "lost" mineon a twenty-acre piece of propertywhich he himself owned.A tourist prowling arou nd the place

(and it is on a surfaced highway, oneof the main arteries of the desert)broke off some rock from a ledge.The rock didn't look valuable butwas unusually heavy. So the touristtook it along with him and eventual-ly had it assayed. T he rock ran some-thing over twelve hundred dollars tothe ton.The man hurried back, tried tobuy the twenty acres. Failing in that,because his eagerness aroused theowner's suspicions, he told the ownerhis story and suggested they open upthe mine under an equitable finan-cial relationship.Then the tourist took the ownerout to show him the ledge of gold-bearing rock. He cou ldn't find it.This is only a twenty-acre plot. Theman had carefully taken bearingsfrom landmarks. He and the ownerhave repeatedly searched the proper-ty but so far they have been unableto find the place from which thetourist broke the rich ore. There areledges all over the place. One of them

is fabulously rich.This is the story of the desert.Today it is possible to get four-wheel-drive automobiles which canprowl into many isolated parts of it.The so-called dune buggies are madewith large, low-pressure airplane tireswhich send the automobile fairlyfloating over the loose sand. The Pak-faks, the Burritos, the Tote Gotes,the Hondas, and dozen of other"scooters" furnish a means of trans-portation that will take the explorerfar out into its trackless reaches.It is easy if everything goes right.If anything goes wrong, the desertcan still be the implacable, cruel ene-my which took the lives of so manyearly pioneers and prospectors.But for the most part things don'tgo wrong.Yet even today, with all the newtypes of transportation available, onlya comparatively few people realizethe wonderful possibilities of the des-ert.The desert is there. It is available.It furnishes excitement, health andrecreation.And the desert is yours. / / /


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NEW DESERT BOOKSTHE DESERT IS YOU RS, by ErieStanley Gardner.

Mr. Gardner began exploring theSouthwest deserts in a self-contrived"camp er" in the days when roads wereplanked instead of paved.Today, while some long-time desertdwellers complain that the desert isruined with 4-wheelers, trail bikes,dune - buggies, and now motorized"butterflies," Gardner wastes no timelooking back. As a change of pacefrom his prolific turnout of PerryMason TV scripts and mystery bookproduction, he launches his fleet ofmodern vehicles and chases downnew clues to lost mines, facts behindold legends, minerals, or just spends

a night under the stars. Trail bikes,4-wheel drive vehicles, helicoptersand planes, he's found, open areasonce too remote even for prospectorsof the old school.No matter how you've traveled thedesert, by burro or golf cart, if youlong for bright sun and black shadow,d e s e r t land where your soul canstretch, and air so invigorating thatit sends middle-aged adventurersforth on motor scooters, you'll findthat a lot of mysterious empty spacestill awaits those who read THE

DESERT IS YOURS.Illustrated with photos by theauthor, and published by Wm. Mor-row and Co., Inc. Price $7.50. Hardcover.CRUISING THE SEA O F CO RTEZby Spencer Murray.

Two men aboard a 25-foot cruiserfind adventure in an expedition to"prove the infinite square miles ofthe virtually empty Gulf of Califor-nia beckons invitingly to the thou-sands of small boat skippers."Although others may have explored

the west coast of Baja by boat before,the author has compiled a factual andfirst-hand report on facilities, condi-tions, ports and other problems facingskippers who have not been able togather this information previously.The free lance writer blends thefactual information into a fascinatingadventure story and gives a personalinsight into the people and customsof Baja California.

Photographs by Ralph Poole, thesecond member of the two-man crew,are outstanding in catching tense mo-ments of the trip, the marine life andthe Mexican people as only can bedone by a professional photographer.Whether you actually plan to make

a trip down the Gulf, of just wantsome armchair sea adv enture, CRUIS-ING THE SEA OF CORTEZ is def-initely good reading. Published byDesert-Southwest, Inc., Palm Desert,Calif. Price $6.75. Hardcover.LAS PO SADAS, A Christmas Storyby D e Grazia and Fraser.

Nick De Grazia has illustrated this,his first book, in the same gay, vib-rant style made famous by his artistfather, Ted De Grazia, while Ari-zona State College libra rian JamesFraser has composed a text as de-lightfully simple and colorful as theart.

Although it is a book for children,adu lts will enjoy this au thenticallyrecounted Christmas tale about LasPosadas in the Mexican village ofSanta Marta. This is more than justa "sweet" book. When you read ityou'll smile.Published by the Northland Pressin Flagstaff, Arizona, LAS POSADASis a hardcover book printed on heavypaper with excellent color reproduc-tion. Price $2.75.

{continued on page 33 )

DESERT CHRISTMAS CARDSDramatic Western photographic scenes rem-iniscent of the desert setting of the firstChristmas. Plastichrome awa rd - win nin gnatural color. 4'/2"x5'A". Twelve cards andenvelopes. $1.35.DESERT NOTE STATIONERYTen natural color photographic scenes ofdesert. Envelopes. $1.25. All items postpaid.

Money back if not delighted.CHRIS CARDSP.O. 5454, China Lake, Cal i f . 94556

SELECTEDSOUTHWEST BOOKS

A U T U M N ' 6 3desert-southwest

book storeFormerly the Desert MagazineBook Shop OLD TIME CA TTLEMEN ANDOTHER PIONEERS OF THE ANZA-BORREGO AREA by Lester Reed. Apersonal recollection by the author, him-self a working cowman today, of thethe pioneer cattle ranches and cowboysin and around the Borrego, Anza, Ca-huilla, Aguanga and Hemet areas. Thebook has a full report from a familydiary of a cattle drive from Texas to theAnza area in 1864. There are many his-toric photographs. There is a chapteron early-day Indian culture in the Bor-rego Valley. Short biographical sketchesof such pioneers as the Clark Brothers,Sal Biles, the Reeds, John McCain, theTripp Brothers, Carlos Moreno, Pat Cas-sero, "Doc" Beaty, and Howard Bailey.An excellent documentary source for his-tory of the region. Published October,1963. Spiral bound. Price $3.50. CRUISING THE SEA OF CORTEZby Spencer Murray. A fully-documentedreport of a wandering power-cruiser tripdown the Gulf coast of Lower Californiaand across the Gulf from Loerto toTopoiobampo. Photographer R a l p hPoole returned with excellent pictures ofthe ports, the bays, the rocky headlands,the deserted beaches, the handful ofdocks, and towns that line the Sea ofCortez. There are 76 photos, some fullpage, in the 240 page book. Charts, con-version tables, three maps, and even auseful page of nautical words in Spanish.The book is handsomely bound in afour-color dust-jacket. Hard cover. $6.75. COACHELLA VALLEY GUIDE -BOOK. The latest guide to the CoachellaValley, with a center-spread map of thevalley and the surrounding points of in-terest, including the site of the PalmSprings Aerial Tramway, TwentyninePalms, the Salton Sea, and golf coursesof the area. Thirteen pages of four-colorphotos. Riding and hiking trips. Printedon 80-pound coated stock. Excellent sou-venir for those interested in the fabulousCoachella Valley. 40 points of interestdescribed. $1.50.

Order from theDesert-Southwest Book Store,Desert Magazine Building,Palm Desert, CaliforniaAdd 25c each order for packaging andpostage. California residents add 4%State Sales Tax.

November, 1963 / Desert Ma azine / 19


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W HEN ancient man stole fire from the godshe must have turned it loose at Sedona. Noother tale can quite explain why earth dis-solved in flaming glory at this one spot.N ot so, cry th e geologist. It is the rocks . . .the red, red rocks. The Supai Sandstone and theRedwall Limestone derived their colors from aniron stain . . . long ago. Th e one leached do wninto the other making burgundy and tangerine.Just look at them . Drive to the top of Schneb-ly Hill and gaze unhampered at a sunset of rocks.

Climb into then. Walk through a wind-blowntunnel in the tan-white "belt" that rings the Mer-ry-Go-Round Rock on top. Drive to the Ruins ofRed Rocks over on the Vedre River where ancientman built dwellings in the caves.Bu t do not miss the trees. It is these, claimothers in-the -kno w, th at makes Sedona red. Themaples, oaks and sycamores in autumn ruby, wineand scarlet. Th e cedars and Arizona cypresses con-trasting green on blood-red cliffs. And don 't for-get the apple trees. Sedona thrives in a fertile land

of red and luscious fruit.Or could it be the people? The men withpalettes and tubes of liquid red . . . Dr. HarryWood and his summer artists . . . Max Ernst, sur-realist . . . capturing crimson on canvas . . .Charlesand Otelie Loloma, Hopi Indians, creating withclay from the earth itself.

And men who paint with words have madeSedona red: " . . . the gold-red ramparts againstthe sky, the crannied cliffs, the crags of eagles,the lofty, distant blank walls, where the winds ofgods had written their wars"Zane Grey depictedin the Call of the Canyon.Men with cameras are flame-makers too. Thetourist with his kodachrome . . . the Hollywoodtechnician, swiveling his lens to find a technicolorspectacular at every tu rn of the tripod. "Ridersof the Purple Sage," "Flaming Arrow," "Copper

Canyon," "Hellfire," "Coyboy and the Red Head"and "Strawberry Roan" are but a few filmed inpart or whole at Sedona.Nor should the early settlers be overlooked. TheSchneblys who exposed the ruddy soil with theirplows . . . Sedona Schnebly herself, for whom thetown was named . . . their red adobe bricks and redblock walls.And then in autumn come the Red-coats . . .legions of hunters tramping Barney Pasture highon mesas above Sedona, after the blood of the

black-tailed deer.Finally, there's the sun. Its dawning and de-mise begin and end the carmine pageant on Se-dona's am phithea ter. An d should a sudden stormdescend from the Mogollon Rim, the fading sunwill truly sear the ancient rock with a final touchof fire primeval. / / /

20 / Deser t Ma azine / November 1963


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" 'V N ' F -


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ft ...vi,/Photo by Randall Henderson from Utah's Land of Standing Ro cks

W H A T 0 0 T H E Y M E A N ?W H O M A D E M M ?

H O W L O N G A G O ?

THE UNSOLVED MYSTERY OF THE SOUTHWESTBy Choral Pepper

T HE greatest unsolved mystery ofthe Southwestand the least ex-plored lies in strange prehis-toric markings engraved and inscrib-ed on our desert walls.Until recently, modern man's a-wareness that examples of these an-cient Indian writings still existedoutside of museums was limited toa few cow pokes, prospectors anda r c h e o l o g i s t s . T o d a y t h i s h a schanged. With the growing populari-ty of vehicles able to penetrate coun-

try formerly accessible only by ard-uous pack trips, newly discoveredpetroglyph and pictograph sites arecapturing the imaginations of desertadv enture rs. A new breed of hobby-ists has sprung from the 4-wheeldrive the p etroglyph hunter.The most intr iguing quali ty ofpetrography is that no one has yetfigured out wh at it mean s. Th ere'sno such thing as a petroglyph author-i ty. There might be a few "nuts" inthe field and anyon e who pursues

the subject will begin to sound likeone but although a small num berof professional studies have been pub-lished, none is considered more thanspeculative, even by i t s a u t h o r .This is astonis hing. Sub stantia lconclusions have been reached in thestudy of prehistoric pottery. Ecolo-gists have presented evidence as tohow early man reacted to his environ-ment, and vice versa. Archeologistshave reconstructed Basketmaker pithouses and ethnographic identifica-


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tions have been ascribed to variousIndian tribes. But prehistoric rock artremains a mystery. And yet, theseprofessionally neglected markingspecked and painted on the walls ofcaves and canyons might some dayprovide the key to the origin ofAmerica's "native" people, as theRosetta Stone solved mysteries of pre-history in Egypt.For want of a better term, this ar-ticle will refer generally to prehis-toric rock art as "petrography ." Morespecifically, we use the term "picto-graph" in reference to subjects paint-ed onto walls of caves or protectedcanyons and "petroglyph" is the prop-er term applied to markings whichwere pecked, or incised, by aboriginesinto rock walls with stone tools. Thus,both sculptors and painters are repre-sented in our prehistoric gallery.Petrography, however, is not exclu-sively an old American custom. The

Altamira caves of Spain, discoveredin 1879 but not recognized as authen-tic until 1903, upset all previous ideasof man's pre-ice age development.On its walls were found beautifullyrendered yellow, brown, red andblack painting of mammoth bison,wild boar, horses, cave bear and otherextinct animals sketched by n nsome 20 or 30 thousand years aguSimilar subjects were fount! \nntrayed in caves of France. A fi nunespecially prevalent in bot!> hirupean and Am erican prehis' >rii mi

A primitive Michelangelo caived unit thtabove ground near Vernal, Utah '/.v cl.i

is the imprint or likeness of humanhands. Certain prehistorians inter-pret these as symbolic of man's powerover beast, while others suggest thatthe prints were used as signatures toshow the number of individuals oc-cupying a particular campsite, like ahotel register. They also could havebeen printed as a part of a ceremonyinitiating participants into certainmystic rites which took place amongprimitive peoples everywhere.Throughout northern Europe andnorthern Asia, early man left hismark on sunlit walls as well as indark caverns. Petroglyphs are incisedon horizontal planes of cliffs alongthe Russian shores of Lake Onegawhere stylized representations of elk,reindeer, whales, fish, birds, wheel-like suns and all kinds of magic sym-bols, with a few human figures, werediscovered in 1848. Similar petro-glyphs later turned up in Sweden,Norway, in the Urals, on the shoresof the White Sea, and along the up-per course of the Yenisei River.

Among the most famous of pre-historic art work is that created bypigmy Bushmen in crevices of rocksin South Africa where they recordedactive scenes depicting elephants,rhinoceroses, lions, zebras and gi-raffes. Other African petroglyphs,which precede the relatively recentBushman engravings, may be the old-est surviving art in the world.Aboriginal Australian sites are ex-

tensive where red and white earth-colors depict animals, footprints andabstract signs in calcareous rock and, again, hand prints. Althoughto our knowledge no systematic re-cording has been instituted, petro-graphy is also known to occur in Car-ribean areas, Central and SouthAmerica and Mexico. It is interest-ing to note that it has not been re-ported in areas occupied by Eskimos,other than the Kodiac Islands.Closer to home, outstanding picto-graphs were discovered in a cave ofthe San Baltazan Mountains of BajaCalifornia near Mulege in 1929 andin 1962 famous mystery writer andexplorer Erie Stanley Gardner dis-covered similar paintings in otherBaja caves which he described in hisbook, The Hidden Heart of Baja.These interested arclieologists becausethey represented a higher culture thanhad previously been ascribed to ab-origines of Baja and, depicting enorm-ously tall people painted half red andhalf black, exhibited a style unlikeany cavepainting known elsewhere.How could a highly developed cul-ture begin and end within this limit-ed environ? Most likely it did not.Future exploration will turn upsomewhere, someplace, paintings ofred and black striped people and amystery will be solved.

In the United States, ancient petro-graphy has been reported in all butnine states, although the greatestpainted these figures working from a \4-inch ledge on the face of a cliff \00-feetigure represents the "Su n Ca rrier" and is probably the finest example of Indianpetrography in the United States.


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legend, a buried treasure lies in aladder holds the key! Lower picto-motif. Often re-

of the Shang dyna sty of C hina.

Crossed bar pictograph found by author near Las V egas closely resembles one photo-graphed by Cloyd Sorensen in Poway Valley near San Diego. At both sites, the X isnon-typical of other symbols in the area

c v Photographer Joe Wherry reports that above glyph in China Lake has been likenedto the ancient Buddist "Code of the Lotus." It also resembles a head-on view of ananimal. Lower glyphs appear near Parowan , Utah. Big loop may represent migra-tion, with each bar a stop. Squares with dots are believed to symbolize houses withmany rooms; others calendars.

.:


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An astonishing similarity exists between prehistoric artist's interpretation of mountain sheep in theCoso range of the MohaveDesert (left) and petroglyph found inMonum ent Valley, Utah, some 1000 miles tothe east. B oth show Persian influence. Lessdelicately designed are sheep (right) commo n toareas located between these two points.

Perhaps prehistoric witch doctors devised the maze totrap evil spirits. Petroglyph onleft inGrapevine Canyon, Nevada resemblesCloyd Sorensen's photo of amaze pecked into a rocky ledge ofPoway Valley near San Diego. At the Poway site, red paintedpictographs duplicate the pecked petroglyphs.be found atthe same site, they wereundoubtedly produced by separatetribes and often different eras. Itwas believed bythis same authoritythat since hunting magic was themotivation for prehistoric writings,superstition prevented one medicineman or tribe from adopting the mag-ic ofan unknown tribe, as itmightbring on illrather than good. Thiswould seem particularly true of tribeswhich feared the dead, as traditionsuggests many did.

However, at asite only ashort dis-tance from Las Vegas, Nevada, knownas Red Rock Canyon, we found pic-tographs painted in a shallow cavewhich were identical in style to petro-glyphs pecked into the slab walls ofa nearby cliff several hundred feetabove the groun d. A pine tree grow-ing adjacent tothe paintings of thecave shelter dates them prior to itsinception, but how prior, ofcourse,is impossible to judge. The se partic-ular glyphs, with rows ofdots resem-bling an accounting system orcalen-dar and a peculiar pattern best de-scribed asstacked champagne glasseswith legs kicking out of them, are un-like most Nevada petroglyphs. One

motif, a pair ofcrossed bars, has acounterpart in SanDiego, CountyCalifornia. Other than that, some liz-ards, serpents and stick men, the sub-ject matter isabstract and unrelatedto hu ntin g motifs. Fu rther, mescalpits are ground into the rock floor ofthe cave shelter, establishing itsuseas acampsite.As yet, no means has been devisedto adequately judge the age of petro-graphy. Certain subjects, such as bowsand arrows which didn't appear until

after 700 A.D., date glyphs contain-ing those subjects with a degree ofaccuracy, but others remain ageless.Scientists are unable to determine therate of time it takes to form thedesert varnish (abrown coating ac-quired byhydrous iron and manga-nese oxides asmoisture isdrawnbysun from rock) which oftens patinasthe face ofcliffs and frequently allbut obliterates the most ancient ofpetroglyphs. Scientists do know tha tdesert varnish takes longer than thehistoric period of ourcountry toform and that deposits grow slowly.Another sign of extreme age is theexfoliation ofgranite surfaces, as isnoticeable at the Grapevine Canyon

site in southeastern Nevada. InSouthern California some petroglyphshave been found covered with traver-tine.One interesting example whichtaunts professional and amateurpetroglyph hunters is the mastodonof Moab, Utah. T he mastodon pho-tographed with this article is believedto have originated as a copy ratherthan from an actual mastodon model,as the beast is endowed with toes. Wehave heard that there are two others

in the Moab area which appear toconsiderably predate the one pictur-ed and without toes. One oftheseis located on acliff overhanging theColorado River in such a positionthat during historic times, man wouldhave been unable toreach it; a factwhich leads many to believe thatmastodon and early man co-habitedthese parts and that the above-men-tioned mastodon was copied from thisoriginal by a later Indian attempt-ing todescribe what he had seen inthe other location . Be that as itmayit's part ofthe petroglyph mystery.Psychologists h a v e g i v e n theRorschach Test toprimitive Indiantribes, hoping todiscover innate pe-

26 / Desert Mrrnmino / Nnvomlior 1 R3


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culiarities which might lead to aninterpretation of archaic petrography.Probably the most revealing result ofthis attempt was determination thatthe particular tribe tested tended toclassify things under large headings.A herd of buffalo, for instance, mightbe depicted as two or three of theanimals. One animal would indicatea single buffalo, but two could indi-cate any number from two to hun-dreds just as long as it was morethan one.

A fascinating and recent study per-formed by Heizer and Baumhoff andpublished by the University of Cali-fornia Press is the book PrehistoricRock Art of Nevada and SoutheastCalifornia. Of special interest is achronological dating of petroglyphsigns. They believe that curvilinearmotifs, such as meandering lines, cir-cles and other curved, abstract formsare the most ancient, followed byPuebloan painted figures and, laterstill, rectilinear abstract designs (grids,crosses, squares) and representation-al subjects (bighorn sheep, quadru-peds, hands, etc.). This classificationapplies to the Nevada and Californiaareas studied, but could well provetrue of other prehistoric writings. Ifartwork of nursery children is any in-dication of primitive culture, thesesame classifications hold true today.

Because there aren't any establish-ed petroglyph experts, amateurs arein a position to make a real contri-bution. The Archeological ResearchFacility of the University of Cali-fornia at Berkeley urges all personsinterested in furthering this study tosend photographs and relevant infor-mation to be included in their filesfor study and comparison. For thisreason, it is important that petro-glyph hobbyists stay abreast of de-velopments in the field.In many instances the desert re-plenishes itself. In the instance ofprehistoric petroglyphs, it does not.Nevertheless, when coming upon acliffside totally covered with them,only an individual educated to thevital importance of preserving thesewritings can resist an impulse to chis-el off just one little sample or lughome a single decorated rock. As aconsequence, it is imperative to thepreservation of all prehistoric rock

art that petroglyph collectors collectwith cameras only, and if you comeupon an individual defacing one,don't just stand there. Speak up! ///

(Right) Red and black striped cave paint-ings in Baja discovered in 1962 by ErieStanley Gardner.(Below) The Mastodon of Moab, repletewith toes!

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Perhaps these glyphs represent bodies wrapped for burial. (Left) Grapevine Canyon,Nevada; (Right) Inyo County, California

Petrogylphs at San Cristobal pueblo in New Mexico indicate feline complex closelyassociated with that o f the Incas o f Peru in 900 B.C.


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F O R B U R I E D T R E A S U R E

j-:*?r


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strument detects changes in the elec-trical con duc tivity of the area itpasses over. In other words, metal ob-jects buried in the soil will cause adifference in the "reading" of thedetector dial, and thus tip off theoperator that he is over pay-dirt . Theobject may be a lump of pure gold afoot thickor a metal foil wrapperoff a cigaret te package. Unfortun-ately, there is no way to tell what theobject is without digging for it .Some of the metals a good locatorcan "read" are gold, silver, iron, cop-per. Remember that a metal detectoris just wh at the n ame imples: i t de-tects metal (or metal l ic objects). Itwon't flick a needle or buzz your earat the biggest pile of rubies or a stackof old Confederate paper money. Theterm "treasure finder" in this busi-ness is grossly ove rdo ne. M ore pro p-er and to the point is the phrase"metal locator."One of the fascinat ing things aboutusing a detector is that every readingmay be the "strike" you've alwaysdreamed ofSpanish gold in anearthen jar, a suit of silver armorleft behind by Cortez and his con-querors or, perhaps, a Well-Fargometal chest complete with huge rust-ed padlock. Such visions spring tomind easily, because we want to thinkwe'll strike it rich. Many times I'veb e e n in l ike ly count ry snoopingthrough old ruins only to dig out abattered teapot or handful of oldbean cans. One fel low I know spent14 hours digging out a steel-core tirecasing! Picking through the hardpanof the Mother Lode ghost towns forthat long sort of burns the humorout of the situation. One feels morel ike crying than laughing when sucha "treasure" comes out .Because of all these intangibles,the excit ing prospects and the won-derful uncertainties, every day is justl ike Christmas with your metal de-tector in han d. Th at 's the only wayI can describe this passion, t h i s

strange lure which compels intel l i -gent people to chuck an office job tocrawl through old ruins.The BasicsWhat You NeedAfter testing six of the most popu-larly advertised metal detectors, I didfind one I thought was more rel iablethan the others , but the di f fe rence-believe me was slight. So far assensitivity is concerned, most of thedetecto rs sold today are am azinglysimilar in range. Where they differis in physical ways the carryinghandle, the weight of the unit , con-venience in storing and packing.After these tests, it's my firm beliefthat it 's a waste of money to look fora "barga in" meta l de tec tor .

O F T E N O L D - T I M E R S H I D T H E I R T R E A S U R E S I N W A L L S .

The technical proficiency requiredto manufacture a rel iable detector iscostly. Steer clear of the surplus de-tector bargain, too, unless you enjoytoting heavy loads and using clumsyequ ipm ent. Th eir range is poor, astheir sensitivity is gauged to find bigslabs of metal.Before buying, write to several ofthe manufacturers of metal detectors.Don't buy the first unit you see. Lookat their literature and, if p

196311 Desert Magazine 1963 November

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Transcript of 196311 Desert Magazine 1963 November