197403 Desert Magazine 1974 March

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    M A R C H , 1974 5

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    F I V E B I G B O O K V A L U E S !BEAUTIFUL BOOKS AT BARGAINPRICES. ALL ARE HARDCOVERAN D HA VE FOUR COLOR DUSTJACKETS. THE SE BOOKS WILL BEAN ASSET TO YOUR WESTERNAMERICANA LIBRARY, OR WILLMAKE A DELIGHTFUL GIFT.

    GHOS T TOWN A LB UMBy Lambert FlorinOver 200 photos. Fascinating pictorialaccounts of the gold mining towns of theOld Westand the men who workedthem. Large format, new edit ion $3.95.Originally published at $12.50

    COLD RUSH A LBU MEditor in Chief Joseph Henry Jackson352 authentic f irst-hand pictures withtext. The complete story of the mostexcit ing treasure-hunt in history whensome 200,000 persons sought gold inCalifornia. New, complete edit ion only$3.95.Originally published a t $10.00

    ORDER TODA YFROM

    THE GREAT AMERICAN WESTBy James D. HoranWith over 650 i l lustrat ions, many in fullcolor, this is the full western story fromthe days of the conquistadores to the20th Century. Many rare photos neverpublished before. Large 9x12 format,hardcover, 288 pages, now only $4.95.Originally published at $10.002

    MagazineBook Shop

    P O S T P A I DBox 1318Palm Desert, California92260

    Ca lifornia residents please add5% state sales tax

    TALES THE WESTERNTOMBSTONES TELLBy Lambert FlorinThe famous and infamous come back tolife in this great photo history includ ingmissionary, mule driver, bad guy andblacksmith what tales their tombstoneste l l . Now only $3.95.Originally published at $12.95

    OLD FORTS OF THE NORTHWESTBy H. M HartOver 200 photos and maps. Excitingpictorial history of the military posts thaopened the West. Hardcover, beau tifullyi l lustrated, New Edit ion $3.95.Originally published a t $12.50

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    WILLIAM KNYVETT, Publisher-EditorGEORGE BRAGA, Art DirectorMARY FRANCES STRONG, Field Trip EditorJACK PEPPER, Special Feature EditorENJD C. H O W A R D , Associate EditorF A . B AR NE S, Utah Associate EditorGLENN VARGAS, Lapidary EditorK. L. BOYNT ON, NaturalistMARVEL BARRET T , Circulation Manager

    Volume 37, Number 3 MARCH, 1974

    CONTENTS

    -T HE COVER:The stately Joshua tree,in Ca l i fo rn ia 's JoshuaTree National Monument.Photo by Howard Neal,Arcadia, Cali fornia.

    F E A T U R E SROAD FROM THE PAST 8 Russ Mills

    TRADE BEADS OF THE NORTHWEST 12 James 6. FreestoneSECRETS OF THE SAN GABRIELS 16 Russ Leadabrand

    SILVER BOW AND GOLDEN ARROW 18 Fred B. NelsonSCULPTURE IN WOOD 22 Stan Sommerviile

    INDIAN SIGNS ALONG CARRIZO WASH 24 Dick BloomquistTHE DESERT MINER 28 K. L. Boynton

    M E T A L D E T E C T IN G . . . A H O B B Y TO T R E A S U R E 32 Bill KnyvettMONUMENT TO SURRENDER 35 Phyllis Heald

    D E P A R T M E N T SBOOKS FOR DESERT READERS 6 Book Reviews

    DESERT LIFE 40 Hans BaerwaldRAMBLING ON ROCKS 42 Glenn and Martha Vargas

    LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 46 Readers' CommentsCALENDAR OF WESTERN EVENTS 46 Club Activities

    ED ITOR IAL, CIR CULAT ION A ND A DVER TISING OFFICES: 74-109 Larrea St., Palm Desert, California92260. Telephone Area Code 714 346-8144.Listed inStandard Rate and Data. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: U nited S tates, Canada and M exico; 1 year, $5.00; 2years, $9.50; 3years, $13.00. Otherforeign subscribers add $1.00 U. S.currency foreach year. See Subscription Order Form in this issue. Allow five weeks forchange of address andsend both new and oldaddresses with zipcodes. DESERT Magazine ispublished monthly. Second class postage paid atPalm Desert, California andat additional mailing offices under Act of March 3,1879. Contents copyrighted 1974 by DESERT Magazine andpermission to reproduce any or allcontents must be secured inwrit ing. Manuscripts and photographs w ill not bereturned unless accompanied by aself-addressed, stamp 3denvelope.

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    Send orders toBox 1318.Palm Desert. Cal i fornia 92260 BOOKS OF50 YEARS IN DEATH VALLEY by Harry P.Gower. First hand account of the dramaticmining years by a man who spent his life in themysterious valley. Describes the famous charac-ters of Death Valley. Paperback, illustrated, 145pages, $2.95.THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTHWEST by the Editorsof Sunset books. A pictorial with a brief textshowing modern day activities of cities such asPhoenix, El Paso, Taos, and communities belowthe Mexican border, and covering the South-western states, canyons and deserts. 240 photo-graphs of which 47 are four-color, large format,223 pages, hardcover, $10.95.NORTHWESTERN ARIZONA GHOST TOWNSby Stanley W. Paher. Directions to and historyabout 23 of Arizona's most famous ghost towns.Historical photographs and artist sketches en-hance editorial content. Large 11x14 format,slick paperback, 48 pages, $2.95.THE NORTH AMERICAN DESERTS by Ed-mund C. Jaeger. A long-time authority on allphases of desert areas and life, Dr. Jaeger'sbook on the North American Deserts should becarried where ever you travel. It not only de-scribes each of the individual desert areas, buthas illustrated sections on desert insects, rep-tiles, birds, mammals and plants. 315 pages,illustrated photographs, line drawings andmaps. Hardcover, $6.95.BACKYARD TREASURE HUNTING by LucieLowery. The strange world of auctions, swap-meets, backyard and garage sales, treasurehunting and metal locators is examined by theauthor and described in zestful language. Paper-back, cartoon illustrated, 95 pages, $1.95.

    GHOST TOWNS OF THE NORTHWEST byNorman D. W eis. The ghost-town country of thePacific Northwest including trips to many little-known areas, is explored in this first-hand fact-ual and interesting book. Excellent photo-graphy. Best book to date on ghost towns of theNOrthwest. Maps. Hardcover, heavy slickpaper, 319 pages, $6.95.DESERT GEM TRAILS by Mary Frances StrongDESERT Mag azine's Field Trip E ditor has revis-ed and brought up to date her popular fieldguide for rockhounds. She has deleted areaswhich are now closed to the public and addednew areas not covered before. The maps havealso been updated. This is the "bible" for bothamateur and veteran rockhounds and back coun-try explorers. Heavy paperback, 80 pages andstill the same price, $2.00.4

    SOURDOUGH COOKBOOK by Don and MyrtleHolm. How to make a sourdough starter andmany dozens of sourdough recipes, plus amusinganecdotes by the authors of the pop ular Old Fash-ioned Dutch Oven Cookbook. A new experiencein culinary adventures. Paperback, 136 slickpages, illustrated, $3.95.LOST LEGENDS OF THE WEST by Brad Wil-liams and Choral Pepper. The authors examinethe "lore, legends, characters and myths thatgrew out of the Old West." Included among themore than 20 "lost legends" are such intriguingsubjects as lost bones, lost ladies, lost towns, andlost diamonds. H ardcover, illus trated, 192 pages,$5.95.RELICS OF THE WHITEMAN by Marvin andHelen Davis. A logical companion to Relics of theRedman, this book brings out a marked differ-ence by showing in its illustrations just how "s ud -denly modern" the early West became after thearrival of the white man. The difference in arti-facts typifies the historical background in eachcase. The same authors tell how and w here to col-lect relics of these early days, tools needed, andhow to display and sell valuable pieces.Paperback, well illustrated in color and b/w, 63pages, $3.95.

    BACKPACKING by R. C. Rethmel. Stressescaution and confidence in this popular sport andincludes details about equipment, clothing, foodand techniques for trail and camp preparation.Good for the novice, too, who wants to go w ilder-ness camping with family or a few friends. Pa-perback, $3.95; Hardcover, $6.95.LET'S GO PROSPECTING by Edward Arthur.Facts and how-to-do-it on prospecting are pre-sented by the author who has spent 30 yearssearching for gems and minerals in California.For those who think there are no more valuablesleft in California, they will find a new field in thisinformative book. Included marketing data,maps, potential buyers for discoveries. Large8x10 format, illustrated, heavy paperback, 84pages, $3.95.CALIFORNIA-NEVADA GHOST TOWN ATLASand SOUTHWESTERN GHOST TOWN ATLASby Robert Neil Johnson. These atlases are excel-lent do-it-yourself guides to lead you back toscenes and places of the early West. Some pho-tos and many detailed maps with legends andbright, detailed descriptions of what you willsee, also mileage and highway designations.Heavy paperback, each 48 pages, $2.00 each.A FIELD GUIDE TO THE GEMS AND MINER-ALS OF MEX ICO by Paul Willard Johnson. Tipson food, maps and information , driving and trail-ering in Mexico, Border regulations, wrappingspecimens of gems and minerals and all aboutyour proposed mining venture are covered. Pa-perback, many good maps and illustrations, 96pages, $2.00.WILY WOMEN OF THE WEST by Grace Er-nestine ray. Such women of the West as BelleStarr, Cattle Kate and Lola Montez weren't allgood and weren't all bad, but were fascinatingand conflicting personalities, as researched bythe author. Their lives of adventure were a vitalpart of the life of the Old West. Hardcover, illus-trated, 155 pages, $5.95.

    GOLDEN CHIA , by Harrison Doyle. This book il-lustrates the great difference between the highdesert chia, and the Mexican variety presentlysold in the health food stores. It identifies the en-ergy-factor, a little-known trace mineral foundonly in the high desert seeds. Also includes asection on vitamins, minerals, proteins, en-zymes, etc., needed for good nu trition . Referredto as "th e only reference book in America on thisancient Indian energy food. 100 pages, illus trat-ed, Paperback, $4.75; Cloth Cover, $7.75.THE CALIFORNIA MISSIONS by the Editors ofSunset Books. A beautifully written history ofCalifornia's 21 missions. One can feel, as hereads, the ferver of the padres as they gatheredmaterials to build their churches, and an insightinto history develops as the authors tell in simpleprosewha t was going on in the wo rld at the sametime. 300 pages, complete with artful sketchesand photographs, and paintings in color, hard-cover, large format, $12.75.NEVADA GHOST TOWNS AND MININGCAMPS byStanley W. Paher. Covering all of Ne-vada's 17 counties, Paher has documented 575mining camps, many of which have been erasedfrom the earth. The book contains the greatestand most complete collection of historic photo-graphs of Nevada ever published. This, coupledwith his excellent w riting and map, creates a bookof lasting value. Large 9x11 format, 700 photo-graphs, hardcover, 492 pages, $15.00.

    GOLD RUSH C OUNTRY by the Editors of SunseBooks. A revised and up-dated practical guide toCalifornia's Mother Lode country. Divided intogeographical areas for easy weekend trips, the8x11 heavy paperback new edition is profusely illustrated w ith photos and maps. Special featureand anecdotes of historical and present dayactivities. Four-color cover, 96 pages. $2.95.GOLD AND SILVER IN THE WEST by T. HWatkins. The author brings together for the firstime the entire story of gold and silver mining ithe West. It tells of conquistadores chasingmyths in Old Mexico, gold and silver strikes inthe West, Alaska, Mexico and Canada, the riseand fall of mining ventures, prom otional schemeand today's operations. Hardbound, largeformat, 212 illustrations (75 in 4-color), 288pages, $17.50.

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    California resident!please add5o s tate sales tax

    JOURNEY OF THE FLAME by Walter Nordhoff.The most exciting tale of early Baja and AltaCalifornia ever written. Recounts lost treasurelegends and its accurate historical account pre-sented in fictional style. Hardcover, $4.95.LOST DESERT BONANZAS by Eugene ConrottoBrief resumes of lost mine articles p rinted in backissues of DESERT Magazine, by a former editor.Hardcover, 278 pages, $7.50.THE ROCKS BEGIN TO SPEAK by LaVan Mar-tineau. The author tells how his interest in rockwriting led to years of study and how he haslearned that manyespecially the complex pe-troglyphsare historical accounts of actualevents. Hardcover, well illustrated, glossarybibliography, 210 pages, $8.95.BOTTLE RUSH U.S.A. by Lynn Blumenstein. Anexcellent book for identifying old bottles withphotographs of over 700 items and current pricelist. Background bottle information. 184 pages,paperback, $4,25.BAJA [California, Mexico] by Cliff Cross. Up -dated in 1972, the author has outlined in detail allof the services, precautions, outstanding sightsand things to do in Baja. Maps and Photos galorewith large format. 170 pages, $3.50.GHOSTS OF THE GLORY TRAIL by Nell Mur-barger. A pioneer of the ghost town explorers andwriters, Miss Murbarger's followers will be gladto know this book is once again in pri nt. First pub-lished in 1956, it is now in its seventh ed ition . Thefast-moving chronicle is a result of personal inter-views of old-timers who are no longer here to telltheir tales. Hardcover, illustrated, 291 pages,$7.00.

    BIRDS OF THE SOUTHWESTERN DESERTSby Gusse Thomas Smith. Thirty-one of the mostcommonly sighted birds of the Southwest are de-scribed and illustrated in 4-color artist drawings.Heavy paperback, 68 pages, $3.95.

    THE GOLD HEX by Ken Marquiss. A singleman's endeavors, Ken has compiled 20 of histreasure hunts in book form. His failure to hit the"jackpot" does not mean he is treasureless.From gold panning to hardrock, from d redging toelectronic metal detecting, he enjoyed a lifetimeof "Doing his thing." Slick paperback, illustrat-ed with photos and maps, 146 pages, $4.00.GEM MINERALS OF IDAHO by John Beckwith.Contains information on physical and opticalcharacteristics of minerals; the history, lore, andfashioning of many gems. Also eleven rewardingfield trips to every sort of collecting area. Slickpaperback, maps and photos, 123 pages, $2.95.THE STERLING LEGEND by Estee Conatser.The story of the Lost Dutchman Mine is in a classof its own. Here the author presents the JacobWalzer story in a realistic and plausible manner.An introduction by Karl von Mueller, and a mapinsert leaves the reader to draw his own con-clusions between fact and fiction. Paperback, il-lustrated, 98 pages, $3.50.HOW AND WHERE TO PAN GOLD by WayneWinters. Convenient paperback handbook withinformation on staking claims, panning and re-covering placer gold. Maps and drawings. $2.00.

    30,000 MILES IN MEXICO by Nell Murbarger.Joyous adventures of a trip by pick-up campermade by two women from Tijuana to Guatemala.Folksy and enterta ining, as well as instructive toothers who might make the trip . H ardcover, 309pages, $6.00.LOST MINES OF DEATH VALLEY by HaroldWeight. This is a new approach to the enigma ofDeath Valley Scotty's life and legends and givesadditional insight into the Lost Gunsight andBreyfogle bonanzas, plus other Death Valleymysteries. Paperback, historic photographs,reference material, 86 pages, $2.50.COMMON EDIBLE & USEFUL PLANTS OFTHE WEST by Muriel Sweet. A description withartist drawings of edible (and those not to touch)plants along with how Indians and pioneers usedthem. Paperback, 64 pages, $1.50.Desert/Mar. 1974

    BACK ROADS OF CALIFORNIA by Earl Thol-lander and the Editors of Sunset Books. Earlystagecoach routes, missions, remote canyons,old prospector cabins, mines, cemeteries, etc.,are visited as the author travels and sketches theCalifornia Backroads. Through maps and notes,the traveler is invited to get off the freeways andsee the rural and country lanes throughout thestate. Hardcover, large format, unusually beau-tiful illustrations, 207 pages, $8.95.BAJA by Doug Richmond. Motorcycling's topauthority on Baja California, Doug Richmondtells all there is to know in preparing for a two-or four-wheeled trip into this barren, but fascin-ating country. Each one of the 112 pages iscrammed with authoritative information, includ-ing route and camping tips. Paperback, illustrat-ed, 112 pages, $4.00.HANK AND HORACE by Richard Lillard andMary Hood. How and why the tall-tale of HoraceGreeley's ride with Hank Monk over the Sierrain 1859 became nationally significant in thefolklore of the West is carefully documentedwith scholarly precision, historic perspective andearth-wise humor by the authors. Paperback, il-lustrated, $5.95.SOUTHW ESTERN INDIAN TRIBES by TomBahti. An excellent description, history and cur-rent status of the Indians of the Southwest, in-cluding dates of their ceremonies and celebra-tions. Profusely illustrated with 4-color photo-graphs of the Indian Country and the arts andcrafts of the many tribes. Large format, heavypaperback, 72 pages, $2.00.SOUTHWEST INDIAN COUNTRY by theEditors of Sunset Books. A concise and compre-hensive guide covering the 48 reservations andPueblo villages in Arizona, Utah, New Mexicoand Colorado. Includes what to see. how to buy,conduct, history and ceremonials. Large format,colored illustrations, heavy paperback, 80pages, $1.95.

    ON DESERT TRAILS by Randall Henderson,founder and publisher of Desert Magazine for 23years. One of the first good writers to reveal thebeauty of the mysterious desert areas. Hender-son's experiences, combined with his commentson the desert of yesterday and today, make this aMUST for those who really want to understandthe desert. 375 pages, illustrated. Hardcover,$6.95.LOST MINES OF THE GREAT SOUTHWESTby John D. Mitchell. The first of Mitchell's lostmine books is now available after having beenout of print or years. Reproduced from theoriginal copy and containing 54 articles based onaccounts from people Mitchell interviewed. Hespent his entire adult life investigating reportsand legends of lost mines and treasures of theSouthwest. Hardcover, illustrated, 175 pages,$7.50.LOST MINES & BURIED TREASURES ALONGTHE OLD FRONTIER by John D. Mitchell. Thesecond of Mitchell's books on lost mines whichwas out-of-print for many years. Many of theseappeared in DESERT Magazine years ago andthese issues are no longer available. New read-ers will want to read these. Contains the originalmap first published with the book and one pin-pointing the areas of lost mines. Mitchell's per-sonal research and investigation has gone intothe book. Hardcover, 240 pates, $7.50.

    GHOST TOWN BOTTLE PRICE GUIDE by Wesand Ruby Bressie. A new and revised edition oftheir popular bottle book, first published in1964. New section on Oriental relics, plus up-to-date values of bottles. Slick, paperback, illus-trated, 124 pages, $2.95.TRAVEL GUIDE TO BAJA CALIFORNIA byKen and Caroline Bates. Published by the Edit-ors of Sunset Books, this is a useful book on Bajaand should be a companion piece to Gerhard andGulick's Lower California Handbook and CliffCross's Baja by Road, Airplane and Boat. TheBates' book takes the reader to the people withtext, photographs and maps. Anyone going toBaja should have all three books. Large 8x10format, heavy paperback, 80 pages, $1.95.

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    For those who ov e theDeserts . . .and those who love the West...

    A LIMITED SUPPLY!!!

    YOUR DESERTAND MINEbyNina Paul Shumway" Y O U R D E S E R T ANDM I N E is a significant historyof Riverside County's date culture from itsorig ins tothe p resen t . To the collector of deser t books, how-ever, this is a book that deserves a place on the sameshelf as classics by Geo r g e W h ar t o n James , J. Smea-ton Chase, and E d mu n d C.Jaeger . Nina Pau l Shum-wa y hasspen t much of her l i fe exp lor ing the desertan d she has theability toevoke itsvarian t moods wi tha lyricism tempered with theobjectivity of a first-rate

    n a t u r a l i s t . " Har r y W. Lawton in Riverside Press-Enterprise.

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    . Magazine Book ShopBox 1318, Palm D esert, C alif.Calif. Res. add5% sales tax

    JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT is what"Fami ly Fun In Joshua Tree" isabout.The interesting and educational formatis designed to make every member of thefamily aware of the natural surroundingsof this favorite Southern California at-traction. In addit ion, the mile-by-miletour guide helps you make sure you don'tmiss any of thepoints of interest in theMonument. Quizzes and games to keepthe little ones entertained. $1.25 per copy(Calif, residents add 5%sales tax) . . . a"must " for the Monument visitor and agreat gift for the "armchair" traveler.. ct Dealer nq uiriesWelcomed.

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    B o o k s f o rD e s e r tH e a d e r sAll books reviewed in this column areavai lablethrough Deser t Magaz i ne Book S hop, postpa i d .

    DICTIONARY OFPREHISTORICINDIANARTIFACTSOF THEA M E R I C A NSOUTHWESTByFranklin Barnett

    A highly informative book that both l-lustrates anddescribes Indian artifactsof the Southwest, it is a valuable guidefo r theperson interested in archaeologyand anthropology. Dealing with theperiod pr ior torecorded history (1540), icovers artifacts from four basic majoIndian cultures.

    In the north central portion were theAnasazi. The early Anasazi were callethe Basketmakers, A.D. 1to750, and thlater Anasazi were called thePueblo Indians, A.D. 700 odate. In he south central portion was the Mogol lon Cul tureThe early period, as early as B.C10,000, iscalled the Desert Culture. Thlater period, about B.C. 5,000, is callethe Cochise Cultu re. Theperiod pre B.C300 to A.D. 1,000, is theMogol lon Cuture.

    West of the Mogol lon Cul ture, thHohokam Culture existed preA.D. 1 1 4 0 0 . Tothe west of these cultures, thPatayan Culture came into existencabout B.C. 4,000, but the culture datecirca A.D. 200 o 1,300 s best known

    Two hundred and f i fty major types oarti facts are ipcluded. Basic materiafrom which implements were made, arcovered as are the various methods oproducing beads, points, etc. Eveeffort has been made to includrepresentative arti facts of a workadayprojecti le and weapon, charm anornamenta l , andceremonial nature.

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    The dictionary will enable one to morequickly identify objects and at the sametime supply the proper terminology.Each item has a photo and a definition.No attemp t has been made to date all th eobjects, nor are the cultural connectionsof the arti facts defined.

    Written pr imari ly for the amateur andbeginning student of archaeology, itshould serve its purpose wel l .

    Paperback, 130 pages, beautifully il-lustrated, $7.95.

    DESERTVACATIONSARE FUNBy RobertNeedham

    Here, under one cover, is a complete,factual and interesting handbook for thedesert vacationer. From desert vehiclesthrough camping hints to staying out oftrouble, i t contains al l the informationyou will need to have a safe and delight-ful desert vacation.

    This 5V2X8V2 book tells you: Where tog o ; What to do when you get to whereyou are going; How to locate your camp,and where; Things to do (and not do!);Information on desert wildl i fe, mines,ghost towns and desert hobbies; Emer-gencies and how to handle them . . . Andhow to enjoy doing nothing.

    Desert Vacations are Fun is based onthe experience gained by the authorfrom hundreds of camping tr ips in theremote desert areas of California andArizona. From the Utah border to ElCamino del Diablo along the Mexicanborder and into the back country ofDeath Valley, the author has been there.He has experienced countless days and

    nights of delightful and unforgettablecamping in this beautiful "out back" ofthe West. He shares his experienceswith you in this book.

    Enjoy a brief history of the people whoopened up our western desert lands,from the '49ers to the prospectors ofawesome Death Valley. And in between,the story of the Comstock Lode of theNevada desert. Learn about the Ameri-can deserts and desert climate; why thedeserts are the way they are. Explore themany facets of desert camping and findout how to begin your desert venture.Valuable information on weather condi-tions, desert vehicles, campsites, foodand water requirements, how to conductyourself in the desert, CB radios, fire-arms and desert emergencies.

    Soft cover, illustrated, 10 maps, 134pages, $3.95.

    Books may be ordered from DesertMagazine Book Shop, Box 1318,Palm Desert, California 92260. Besure to enclose check or moneyorder and Ca l i fo rn ia res iden tsmust add 5% state sales tax.

    G a b a u a sd e P u e r t o M e i i a16 miles from La Paz by unpaved road, one ofthe very few spots of desert and sea beautywhere you can forget about time.In an almost isolated small cove with only fivecabins, completely equipped with all the ne-cessary things for simple living. Lighthouse-keeping basis.For further information and reservations,contact: D R R Q D O L F O GIBERT R.Av . 5DEMAYO#24 ,Telephone 2-03-32LA PAZ, B.C. MEXICO

    -NEW BOOKD E S E R T V A C A T I O N Sa r e f u n !he "How To Do I t "Camping Book150 pages 5'/2x81/2 - Valuable and author a-tive inform ation on where to go, what to do(and not do), Desert Wildlife, Precautions. . . and much more.

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    A beautiful array of IndianJewelry is available from ourhuge display of craftsmanshipby authentic Indian artisans.May we send you a selection?This enables you to see themerchandise before you buy it.Send today for our convenientapproval form.

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    A Road fromthe Pastby Russ Mills

    - " V

    - .

    Kings Canyon Road looking southeast toward Ca rson Valley.

    TRAVEL ALONG ONE OF THEFEW HISTORIC STAGECOACHAND WAGO N ROADS TH AT HASNOT BEEN W IDE N ED OR PAVEDTO ACCO MM ODATE MODERNVEHICLES. COMPLETED IN 1863KINGS CANYON ROAD, FROMCARSON CITY TO LAKE T A HO E,R E M A I N S E S S E N T I A L L Y T H ESAME SOME 111 YEARS LATER.

    T HROUGHOUT THE Far West, fewroads remain that once were bath-ed in the dust from wooden wheels andrattling hoofs. Just as the stagecoachesand wagons have been replaced by bus-ses and autos, so have most of the oldtrails and roadways been buried underasphalt and concrete.

    The gold str ikes in Virginia City, Ne-vada in the early 1860s, generated thebuilding of two lumber roads on the easside of the Carson Range. One of theroads evolved from an old emigrant traiwhile the other was hacked out of the dirand rock.

    Today, the emigrant t ra i l , buried under asphalt, is U. S. Highway 50, ClearCreek grade, an efficient four- lane thoroughfare that carr ies the noisy traffic

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    from Nevada's capital to Lake Tahoe.The other, however, is Kings Canyonroad, a narrow dirt and rock roadwaywhere only the imaginary echoes of clat-ter ing hoofs and creaking wagons dis-turb the quiet.

    Prior to the road's construction, theComstock Lode's expanding timberrequirements created a lumber boom atLake Tahoe that started in 1861 at Clen -brook, on the eastern shore of the lake.In this scenic cove of meadowland, sur-rounded by vast stands of pine and fir,the logs were freighted up ClenbrookCanyon, past Spooners to Sum mit Cam p,then down the old emigrant tr ai l in ClearCreek Canyon to Carson City. Later, asfreight traffic increased with VirginiaCity's boom, the additional road was

    needed to connect the Clenbrook saw-mil ls to Carson City

    Originally known as the Lake BiglerToll Road, Kings Canyon road was com-pleted on the 6th of August, 1863. NearSumm it Camp, at the top of Clear Creekgrade, the Kings Canyon " turnpike"branched off to the northeast and emerg-ed 12 miles later from Kings Canyon intothe center of Carson City. Although itwas created to handle the additional traf-fic, it was also intended as a stagecoachroad.

    Benton's Stage Lines in Carson Cityused it as their primary route on the Car-son City-Glenbrook run, while ClearCreek grade was the alternate. However,the Kings Canyon Toll Road was not onlya route from Carson City to Lake Tahoe,

    but also was the last leg of the passageover the Sierras from San Francisco toVirginia City on the PlacerviHe-EchoSummit run.

    The continuing flurry of activity, plusLake Tahoe's growing recreation spots,attracted workers, dr ifters, and touriststo the area, keeping all of the stage linesbusy. The boom continued until the1890s when the mining declined and themil ls closed, causing King s C anyon roadto fall into disuse.

    Today, the dr ive over Kings Canyongrade is not as perilous as in the stage-coach era, but the road is, nevertheless,quite narrow in places and occasionallyrough.

    From the center of Carson City youproceed west on King Street, and in a

    A narrow section looking east with supporting rock retaining wall.

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    Beginning the climb around granite-studded mountainside.few blocks cross the city limits into thelower section of the sage-dotted canyonas it widens into the valley. The fertileground here supports grass and poplartrees where the old ranches and tollhouse were located. Beyond the homesnow sprouting up, the road turns to dir tand begins climbing along the north hi l l -

    side. Kings Canyon itself extends only ashort distance, and as the road continuesthrough the sage and pines, the top nar-rows to a crest, then drops away on theleft to a meadow far below. Past thecrest, the road is perched high on theside of a steep, granite and brush-stud-ded mountain, snaking its way past the

    In the forest area, the road is wider and not as rough, though steep throughmost of the area.

    sharp, creek-eroded gulleysHere, as the sage gives way to man-

    zanitaand bitterbrush, you are suddenlytreated to a beautiful panoramic view ofCarson Valley to the southeast. The val-ley's fertile grassland stretches to thesouth encircl ing the towns of Mindenand Gardnerville. This is also a good lo-cation to look south, where valley meetsmountain, and see the typical steepeastern escarpment of the Sierras.Nestled at the edge of the valley underthe peaks, although it is not visible fromthe road, is Genoa, the oldest town inNevada.

    Below the road some distance away,Clear Creek grade twists i ts way towardthe north side of the canyon where it willrun parallel with K ings Canyon for aboutthree miles. The old Clear Creek grade,which more closely fol lowed the or iginalemigrant t ra i l , is still visible in the lowerpart of the canyon, south of the presenth ighway.

    Though the road is not too steep in thissection, it becomes narrower, especiallyat the sharp ravines where the creek andsnow run-off tumble down the mountainto the meadow below. The thought ofracing along in a Concord stagecoachcould easily make one wish he were backin the valley.

    For the next three miles, the road be-comes somewhat rougher as the granitebegins erupting through the surface. Athe same time, large outcroppings alongthe bank seem to crowd you to the out-side of the turns. A steeper drop-off oc-curs along this portion of the road andthe outside shoulder is supported by aloose rock re taining wal l . In many placessome of the rocks are breaking off, leaving small cave-ins along the crumblingedge. If the previous section of roadwaycould make a stage traveler uneasy, thissection would be downright fr ighteningThe thought of those iron-r immedwheels clatter ing along the protrudingrock while the dr iver wheeled his teamaround sharp bends would be enough togive the modern day traveler a good caseo f the "wi l l i es . "

    And no driver could do a better job o"wheel ing" than the legendary HankMonk, "master whip of the Sier ra.Hank's colorful career was built upon areputation of wild tales and wild r ides. Adesire for his travelers to meet their appointments on time, and his penchant fo"d ist i l led sp ir i ts," were a combinat ion

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    that left a stagecoach ride stamped for-ever on his passengers' memories.

    Near the end of this steep and rockypart of the dr ive, a turnout has beencleared on a small promontory. This isthe last place on this section of the roadfrom which to enjoy the magnificent, un-obstructed view of the valley.

    Past the turn out, the road descends in-to the forest and meanders through theheavy stands of pine and cedar. Alderand aspen-l ined ravines funnel thecreeks into the valley, and in a few loca-tions the browns and greens of the forestfloor are punctuated sharply by the br i l -l iant scarlet of the snow plant. In directcontrast to the white, granite-strewn hil l -sides of the previous stretch of the road,the cool shade of the pines and soft need-le-covered soil have a relaxing effect much the same as the pioneers musthave felt a century ago.

    At a spot about two and a half milesfrom the summit is the site of Swift 'sStation, the only stop-off on the oldKings Canyon run. This was a scheduledrest on the Carson City-Clenbrook tr ip,and it was used as an eating andovernight stop for the stage and wagontraffic in general. As with many histor icsites in the West, nothing remains ofSwift 's Station today.

    West of the station site, the roadclimbs again along the east side of themountain and finally descends to joinClear Creek grade east of Spooners Sum-mi t .

    Kings Canyon road may not have thespectacular scenery, awesome heights,or magnificent f lora of other westernhighways and trai ls, but i t is one of thefew historic stagecoach and wagon roadsthat have not been widened, straighten-ed , and paved to accommodate today'svehicles. With the exception of a roadgrader and occasional patching, it re-mains essentially the same road that wasgradually worn down by the horses,wheels and oxen of Lake Tahoe's lum-bering days.

    Although many highways passthrough histor ic locations, the reflectionof history in the mind's eye is usuallyblurre d by the high speed distractions ofthe freeway. On Kings Canyon road,however, the solitude and leisurely pace,combined w ith a knowledge of the area'spast, can easily transport you backthrough time; a far more interesting wayto enjoy a dr ive . Deser t Mar. 1974

    *>

    Above: Looking southeast, one can almost picture a stagecoach wheeling'round the curve. Below: Lower Kings C anyon with the road visible on the

    upper right, heading for the crest.

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    AUTHOR'S PREFACEThe simple glass bead presone of the most complex antriguing histories that canimagined, and one difficuwrite about. The advanceddents of trade bead historylikely find little in this athat is new to them. Howthis material was written esally for the majority of the ple who have perhaps not aware of the important parthe glass trade bead playearly American history, anwas written only after exte

    Figure 51-A

    by Jame s B. FreestoneFigure 55-A

    12

    THE INTRODUCTION of the glastrade bead into NorthwesterAmerica marked the advent of a new ein the history of our country as they, together with other trade goods, were responsible for the cul tural , f inancial anmoralist ic changes that were brougabout in the life of the American IndiaToday, it is dif f icul t to visualize thmagnitude that a simple bauble of glaplayed in the subjugation andacculturt ion of the native Indians. Twenty dollaworth of beads bought today in anten-cent store would have netted a kingransom 150 years ago.

    In this art icle, we will deal with trabeads that were made of glass, metshell, stone andbone andwere used asmedium of exchange between Indiansdi f ferent t r ibes, fur companies, tradiships of many nations, mountain meand religious leaders. The lat ter,course, used glass beads as an art iclethe creation of good wil l with the Idians.

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    investigation and col-ing that involved thousands

    f travel in the Westernf years. Numerous re-

    s thell material present-

    the readers of this accountaccurate within reason.

    Figure 56-A

    Color photos by Eriand PreeceThe so cal led "glass" Indian t radebead is somewhat misleading as the In-dian did not work with glass, but ratherwith shell, bone, metal andstone. Whenthe glass bead became available to theIndians, they were being used by thewhite people aswel l . Thus, at th is t ime itseems app ropriate to present a short his-tory of the glass bead.Beginning in the 13th century, andending in the 19th century, the greaterpart of theglass beads, in almost endless

    variet ies, were made at the strictly regu-lated glass factories at Murano, Venice.Here, the Inquisitors enforced socialsanctions to theextent that any defectionof a glass wo rker to another country, whorefused to return to this former place ofemployment, could expect the culmina-t ion of his career in death. However, inthe early part of the 19th century, a con-siderable number of glass beads werebeing made in France and Bohemia.The various methods that were used in

    manufacturing glass beads would be vol-Desert, Mar.7974

    Figure 53-A

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    uminous. Therefore, only a brief sum-mary will be presented on this subject.

    In reality, the glass bead was made ofbasically the same material as ordinaryglass. The color and quality of theproduct was achieved by the introductionof different mineral ingredients into theraw mixture before fusing it into the pro-per consistency necessary for the shap-ing of the finished product.

    After the glass bead had been manu-factured, those that were acceptable tothe standards set for the type beingmade were sorted, packaged and sold tothe numerous distr ibut ing companieswho, in tu rn , bartered them to the greattrading companies of the world. Thenthey were transported to far-f lung out-posts throughout the world where theywere used as a medium of exchange withthe natives

    In order that this article may present areasonably full account of trade beads inNorthwestern America, it is necessary atthis time to revert to the time when theglass t rade bead was unknown inAmerica.

    It is perhaps impossible to determinewhether the dentalium shell or the hand-made stone bead was the f irst to becomean important item of exchange in North-western America. Therefore, we wil ldeal with the known facts and let thereaders draw their own conclusions. It isthe opinion of the author that the discoi-dal and oblate spheriod stone beadswere the first to be made

    At The Dalles, Oregon, there is a rath-er small area where tens of thousands ofstone beads of different sizes and shapeshave been found. Those found would re-present only a small part of the totalnumber that were made. They were, nodoubt, an item of barter as the numberpresent at this site are too numerous tohave been utilized by the then indigen-ous population of the immediate area.Another possibility is that these beadswere made at a different location some-time before the great Missoula floodwhich occurred in the late stages of theWisconsin glacial period. At that t ime,about five cubic miles of water were re-leased as the melting ice dam that washoldin g it back collapsed. This caused anenormous volume of water to enter theColumbia River Gorge where it reacheda depth in excess of 1000 feet and at thepresent site of Portland, Oregon, the wa-ter was at least 400 feet deep.

    14

    Thus, if these stone beads were madeat a different location, gravitational se-gregation and water current are suggest-ed by the author as a possibility to ac-count for the dense concentration ofthese beads at this particular place. Thishypothesis seems plausible in view ofthe fact that the Indians who were firstencountered when the white man arriveddid not know of the existence of this"bead patch," and the extent of it wasdetermined only after extensive excava-tion done by the white man in historict imes. An alternative explanation is thata large prehistoric burial ground was lo-cated at this site and some great catas-trophe occurred that caused its existenceto become unknown.

    It has also been suggested by qu alifiedpersons who have studied the situation,that this site was the place where thesebeads were made. Perhaps this is true,but it seems unlikely that the Indians,making beads of hard pyroclastic stonewith very crude tools, would have lostsuch a large number within the smallarea in which they are found.

    The dentalia shells entered the traderoutes of the American Indian at a veryearly date and were used as an article ofpersonal adornment by many tr ibesliving in a vast area extending eastwardinto the Rocky Mountains and the GreatPlains states, and as far south as north-ern California where they reached theirpeak of value.

    The place where the dentalia shellswere acqu ired was in a small area off thenorthwest coast of Vancouver Island.They were the exclusive item of barter ofthe Nootka Indians and their closely as-sociated neighbors. The areas wherethey were found were the property ofcertain families and were carefullyguarded secrets. The location of thedentalia beds was marked and known bya system of aligning natural features ofthe terrain with the known location of thedentalia beds. Only those people of rankand status high enough to be entrustedwith the secret knew the natural featuresof the area that were used as "bearingpo in ts . "

    The method used in obtaining theseshells was one that required patienceand ingenuity as the dentalia shells werein quite deep water. First, enough poleswere assembled that, when fastened endto end, they would reach the ocean floor.The first pole was splintered in such a

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    wa y tha:,when thrust hard at the oceanbottom, it would fray out much the sameas abroom would do.Above this, acircu-lar weight encompassed the pole whichdescended when the poles contacted theocean bottom, compressing the splintedends together, thereby entrapping all ofthe dentalia shells that may have beenencountered. Thepoles were then allow-ed to float to the ocean surface and theshells were removed. After a sufficientnumber had been acquired, they werecleaned andpacked in bark wallets andwere ready for t rade.

    The lower Columbia River, from theocean upstream to The Dalles, was con-trol led by the Chinook Indians who ex-tracted tol l on all trade items that involv-ed transportation on the r iver. TheDalles was the location of the greatestIndian trading center in northwesternAmerica. Here, numerous tr ibes, usingthe "Ch inook ja rgon" as a language incommon, gathered to exchange itemsthat were a surplus in their native areafor things from other areas that were indemand, to fil l their needs. For example,slaves brought in by the Klamaths andother tr ibes from south of the ColumbiaRiver, w ere exchanged for dentalia fromthe Nootkas, Olachen oil from the Tsim-shians, andpacked salmon from the riv-er tr ibes. Thedentalium shell was one ofthe most important i tems of exchange,an d up unt i l the t ime when the beaverpelt became the standard of value, den-talia was considered the money of thePacific Northwest. At The Dalles, thisimportant trade item wastraded to otherIndians and was then transported thous-ands of miles along the Indian traderoutes of Western Amer ica.

    The Porno Indians of Lake andMendo-cino counties in California, made goodbeads from the mineral magnesite andused them extensively as a trade item upunt i l the t ime when the white man re-placed them with an imitation made ofglass. This was a disappointing turn ofevents as the Porno Indians had reliedheavily upon these beads as an item ofexchange with other tr ibes. However,this event may have been a blessing indisguise as the Pomos then turned tomaking baskets in a number of weaves,including some that were decorated w ithtrade beads that were obtained from theRussians at Fort Ross, which was builtby them at Bodega Bay in 1812 andmarked the southern l imit of Russian in-Desert/Mar. 1974

    t luence. The baskets were unexcelledanywhere andwere diff icult for the whiteman to duplicate.Other types of beads were made by

    the American Indian, many of thembeing unique in fashion and material.The Indians of the Northwest maderolled metal beads of native and tradecopper. Figure 51-Ashows some of thesebeads, together with glass trade beadsand brass thimbles. The thimbles werealso used to make tinklers and as otheradornments. Theauthor has yet to f ind ath imble at an old Indian site without ahole in the top which indicates that theIndians turned an object of uti l i ty intoone of ornamentation to best serve theirown particular desires.

    Th e p r e h i s to r i c Ba ske tma ke r s ofnortheastern Utah made many beads of adiscoidal shape and small diameter.These beads present a baffl ing problemas to themethod used in making them asthey are so small that it is di f f icu l t toimagine how they were produced withsuch perfection. They are not all thesame size, varying from one-eighth toone-quarter of an inch in diameter, butotherwise, they are as perfect as if madeon a machine. It is the opinion of theauthor that these beads were beingmade before the introduction of ceramicsinto the Basketmaker culture , as some ofthem are found in sites that contain nosigns of pottery sherds. If this opinion is,in fact true , then these beads would havebeen made in thef i rst andsecond phasesof the Fremont Basketmaker Culture, orabout twelve to fourteen hundred yearsago. Figure 53-Ashows a str ing of thesebeads that were collected by the authorin the Uintah Basin of Utah.

    The Mimbres people, of southwesternNew Mexico, made a simiar bead ofshell. Some of these areshown in Figure54-A) and were traded at least as farnorth as southern Wyoming. In Figure55-A, another interesting str ing of beadsis shown. Here, Chinese coins were usedin combination with abalone shells inmaking anattractive necklace which waswashed from the banks of theSacramen-to River at flood stage. Thecoins were nodoubt obtained from early Chinese goldgold miners andshow dates in excess of100 years ago.

    The Spanish were probably the f i rst totrade beads with the Indians, beginningwith the expedition of Coronado in 1540

    Continued on Page 36

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    Left: This headframe remainsas a monum ent to a Golden Arrowminer's dream. Below: A lightblanket o f snow covers the groundat Silver Bow.Opposite Page: The sage isslowly reclaiming Colden Arrow.

    T HE ONLY movement to be seen isrippling sage, blown by chil l butgentle winds, the vapor trails of high-f ly-ing transcontinental jets, and an occa-sional jackrabbit darting across the oldwagon road. This is the scene on a morn-ing in late November, near the ghosttown of Colden Arrow, Nevada a farcry from what was experienced by theresidents of that village shortly after thedawn of the 20th Century.

    Colden Arrow is situated at a pointabout 13 miles south of a signpostedjunct ion on U.S. Highway 6, approxi-mately 36 miles east of Tonopah, Neva-da . At that point, a graded, but ratherwashboarded, dirt road heads souththrough a broad north-south valley, tothe west of the mineral- laden KawichRange. A two-track side road to the left,leading to Golden Arrow, is reached at apoint 10.1 miles from Highway 6.The remains of Colden Arrow arefound on the western slope of theKawich Range, at the southern base of ahill overlooking the broad expanse ofCactus Flats and the Nevada Test Site ofthe Atomic Energy Commission, to thesouthwest.

    The first discovery of a valuable ledgein this district was made by the Pagebrothers, who were reportedly deaf andd u mb , in August, 1905. The Pages locat-ed three claims, and sank a 20-foot hole,discovering a vein of gold four feet wide ,18

    averaging $120 to the ton. The brotherssoon after sold their claims for $45,000 toW. G. Cotter, who later became a majormine owner in the distr ict .

    When a townsite began to take shape,it was, as many Nevada towns of thatperiod were, a tent city. Its originalname was Longstreet, in honor of JackLongstreet, a Nevada pioneer. By Mayof 1906, Golden Arrow was an activecommunity, with a hotel crowded to fullcapacity, plus a number of stores andsaloons. One million dollars in stock inthe Golden Arrow Development Com-pany was issued during that year, butproduction became erratic in 1907 and,10 years thereafter, Golden Arr ow wasbut a ghostly memory.

    Today, the remnants of Golden Arrowconsist of a few wea thered wooden b uild -ings, two shells of former concrete struc-tures, and a gaunt mine headframe, sil-houetted against the broad expanse ofdesert in the seemingly endless dis-tance.

    One thing str iking about ColdenArrow, at least to this bottle-crazy writ-er, was the evident lack of digging bybottle hunters and the like. A town withsaloons and plenty of thirsty minerssurely had its share of beverage contain-ers covered during the years since bydesert storms and flash floods.

    At the "center" of Colden Arrow, afaint two-track road heads east-north-

    east, becoming more visible at the edgeof tow n. This is the road to the other halfof the ghostly "dynamic duo," SilverBow. The road, for the most part, is fair-ly good, but somewhat high-center, andis passable for all but the most low slungpassenger cars. A t a point 6.7 miles fro mGolden Arrow, you wil l encounter theTonopah-Silver Bow wagon road. Thatroad was completed in September, 1905,at a total cost of $427.05 (highw ay eng in-eers of today, take note)!

    Once you hit the Silver Bow road, i t 'sonly seven miles east to the townsite ofSilver Bow over a fair, graded dirt road.Silver Bow is located in a canyon withinthe Kawich Range, at an elevation of6,600 feet. It is surrounded by mountainson three sides, with the taller peakscapped with heavy snow during winter.

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    N e v a d a G h o s t T o w n s

    by Fred B. Nelson

    The townsite itself is blanketed withlight snow frequently between Novem-ber and March.There is no great concentration of

    buildings in Silver Bow; rather, a num-ber of structures are strung out throughthe canyon for a distance of about a halfmi le, and some buildings can be seen inside canyons beside mines operated bytheir former owners. The lower edge ofthe town borders on the Nevada TestSite, and visitors are not permittedbeyond that point.

    Silver Bow's discovery preceded thatof Golden Arrow by about six months.Although the discoverer is not generallyagreed upon, one report by the Reno Ga-zette in early 1905, and reprinted in theJ uly 8, 1905 issue of the Tonopah Bonan-z a , credits the discovery to Prince CatlinDesert, Mar. I974

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    of Carson City, due to the followingquote attr ibuted to him: "It is true, Ihave struck it rich, I do believe. Ofcourse, I cannot accomplish startling re-sults unless I get capital to back me. Ihave a wide vein of ore with high silvervalues. The vein runs heavily in what isknown as ruby quartz. The name of themine is Silver Bow."

    The backing to which Prince Catlin re-ferred arrived in the summer of 1905,when famous Nevada mining promotersGeorge Wingfield and Senator GeorgeNixon laid out a townsite, at which timeSilver Bow began its real growth. Beingsituated as it was, timber and water wereavailable in such an abundant quantitythat a fairly large population could besupported. By the end of the year, over400 people called Silver Bow home, mak-ing it the largest town in eastern NyeCounty. The community contained num-erous stores, saloons, a post office, and a

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    newspaper, the Standard. One edition ofth e Standard is said to have had its frontpage printed with ink mixed with goldassaying $80,000 to the ton!

    However, ore gleaned from thecanyons surrounding Silver Bow during1905 generally assayed out at anywherefrom $100 to $1,200 per ton , being aboutseven-tenths silver and three-tenthsgold. The ore bore a marked resem-blance to that which caused the stam-

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    pede to Tonopah, five years earlier.Silver Bow had its lawless element,

    too, and claim jumpers were a problemin particular. One instance involved twogood friends who had begun an eveningin a friendly discussion at a local water-ing place. The talk turned to argument,and finally erupted into a shooting matchover who owned which claim. One of themen was lucky enough to emerge soleowner, and was later acquitted afterpleading not guilty, by reason of self-de-fense.

    Silver Bow began its decline in early1906 upon the rush to the strike at Man-hattan, to the north. Although a ten-stamp mil l arr ived by freighter fromGoldfield in Ap ri l , by the end of the year,the town was nearly deserted. Miningrevivals in the next 15 years were at-tempted, but suffered the same fate.

    Apparently there are those who sti l lbelieve in Silver Bow's riches, as thiswriter found numerous assay samplepackets showing test f inds of " A u / A g "(gold/si lver), and dated August, 1971.These were found in a deserted cabin atthe upper end of town.

    Leaving Silver Bow, the shortest andeasiest route back to Tonopah is by theold wagon road, west to its junction withthe paved Nevada Test Site road, a dis-tance of 20 miles. From there, it's 17miles back to Highway 6, then another12 miles west to Tonopah.

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    A view ofGolden Arrow froma hill a bove thetownsite, with CactusFlats in thebackground.

    This side tr ip through Nevada's yes-terdays can take anywhere from a fewhours to a few days, depending on theindividual traveler's pace in looking foror at whatever interests him.

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    The Ghost TownDesert Mar. 1974

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    by Stan So mm erville 4The grace of this spirited horsecould w ell outdo the fame of Pegasusthe flying horse of Greek m ythology.

    Charley has pet names for someof his creations. Left to right: Sand y,Valparaiso oak; Fifi, Rogue river driftwood;and, Hans, Arizona ironwood.

    Deser t Mar. 7974 23

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    , by Dick Bloomquist

    "C AR RIZ O " THE very sound ofthe word embodies the spirit andtextu re of the Southw est. It is a common-place name in the arid lands of Mexicoand the United States, a name which fitsits setting of sandy washes, sunshot can-yons and peaceful oases like a glove.Carrizo means "reed grass" in Spanish;along moist arroyos, in the cienagas, andat springs and waterholes this ta l l , bam-boo-like plant wil l be found growing inthe manner of the desert palm with it;;feet in water and its head in the sun.

    In California, "C ar riz o" is the name ofseveral geographical features in the

    Four shaggy-headedpalms in the Carrizo Washarea. Color photoby Edward Neal.

    southern corner of the Anza-BorregoDesert. Chief among these is CarrizoWash, born amid the tumbled graniteboulders of the Jacumba and n-Ko-PahMou ntains, w here it is known as CarrizoGorge and Carrizo Canyon. After reach-ing the desert f loor near Bow Willow, itveers east to the Carrizo Stage Stationsite and the famed "Slot" between theCoyote and Fish Creek Mountains.Through this co rridor came the SpaniardPedro Fages in the late 1700s, followedby California-bound emigrant:; and thecoaches of the Butterfield Line in themid-19th Century.

    Beyond the Slot, Carrizo Weish swingsnorth around the Fish Creek Range intothe deep desert, heading toward aneventual meeting with San Felipe Creeknear the Salton Sea. It is here, along thesunrise side of the Fish Creeks, that the

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    wash enters an undisturbed sector of theBorrego country r ich in Indian prehis-tory.

    This land is public doma in, outside theAnza-Borrego Desert State Park, andmay be reached from State Highway 78on the nor th . One warm , br ight Februaryday, I turned off Highway 78 at Ocoti l loWells and drove south on the paved roadleading to the United States GypsumCompany mine and nearby Split Moun-ta in. After eight miles, I turned left on adirt road which fol lows the gypsum com-pany railroad east along the base of theFish Creek Mountains. This narrowgauge railw ay it is barely thre e feetwide runs to P laster City on interstate8 near the western edge of the ImperialValley. Several t imes a day the si lver-and-white trains, made up of diesel en-gines and about 20 cars, move quietlyover their slender roadbed, which isballasted in places with large chunks ofgypsum.

    The road varies in i ts condition, run-ning wide and smooth in a few places,then becoming narrow and sandy, withoccasional rough wash crossings. I havenever had to shift to four-wheel-dr ive onit, but desert byways do change eachyear as wind and rain do their work, sothe ideal vehicle for the tr ip would besomething other than a low-slung pas-senger car.

    After a l i tt le over two and one-half

    miles, the road passes the first railwaytrestle. Soon, Superstit ion Mountaincomes into view ahead and to the right.Petr i f ied wood, concretions, Indian leg-ends, and tales of lost mines season thisdrab-appearing desert ridge (see Desert,October, 1956). Farther alon g, at a pointapproximately six and one-half milesfrom the pavement, the beach line ofvanished Lake Cahuilla stands outclearly on a spur of the Fish Creek Rangea short distance to the r ight. This fresh-water lake, formed by the waters of theColorado River, once stretched from theCoachella Valley into Me xico; i t dr ied upcompletely about f ive centuries ago.

    Three and one-half miles beyond thebeach line ridge (or a total of 10 milesfrom the pavement near the gypsummine), the road dips into a broad, barearroyo which the railway crosses via atrestle, its second. This is the storiedCarr izo Wash which drains so much ofthe southern Anza-Borrego country. Mycourse lay upstream (right) under thewooden trestle. (Turning left, the travel-er wil l reach Harper 's Well and San Fel-ipe Creek near Highway 78.)

    Again, a word of caution: the route upthe wash is not a " r o a d " in the formalsense of the word; the motorist merelyfol lows the dry stream bed, which isnormally smooth and well-packed. I havebeen up Carrizo when a passenger carcould have negotiated it easily. At other

    This aboriginal stone cirr iorises only a few inches abovethe grip of the desert pavementon the we st side of C arrizo Wash.times, though, i t can be soft with sand,particular ly outside of the wheel tracksof previous travelers. Once I nearly be-came mired in mud a few days after adesert rainstorm. Most of the wash haddried out, but there were occasionalstretches which appeared damp butf i r m . Just beneath the surface, however,lay a layer of ooze. Only by shifting tofour-wheel-dr ive and backing up in mytracks, was I able to reach solid ground.

    Carr izo Wash runs wide, shallow andopen along the foot of the Fish Creeks,with only a few smoke trees, desert wil-lows and scattered tamarisks to mottleits smooth surface. A l i tt le over twomiles upstream from the trestle I dreweven with a low, rocky hi l lock, set sl ight-ly in front of the main mountain r idge.Practical ly bordering the wash on thewest at this point is a sandy flat marbledwith much pottery in red, brown andblack; rock fragments showing humanworkm anship possibly the remains ofpounding tools lie here and there amidthe shards.

    Beyond, closer to the hi l l , a weatheredring of stones is slowly returning to thedesert from which its materials cameThe enclosure consists of a single tier ofapprox imately 50 stones and r ises only afew inches above the grip of the deserpavement.

    The aboriginal rock enclosures foundin the Southwest, according to some archeologists, can be divided into two classes: sleeping circles and house ringsThe sleeping circles, dating back possibly 10,000 years in some cases, served asshelters from the elements. Their builders, called "San Dieguitoans," sincetheir culture was first studied along theSan Dieguito River near San Diego, slepwithin these low enclosures. Much laterduring histor ic and recent prehistor it imes, Indians of the Yuman familyknown as Kamias, or Eastern Dieguenos, occupied much of the A nza-Borrego Desert. They also left behind stoneenclosures, but in this case, the ringsserved to anchor small brush dwell l ingsA door opening and the presence oYuman pottery and other arti facts heldistinguish this type of circle.

    The apparent antiquity of the circle in26 Desert Mar. 1974

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    lack of a door opening, leads me tobelieve it is an ancient sleeping circle ofthe San Dieguito people, rather than ahouse ring of the recent Yuman inhabit-ants. Of course, time may throw newlight on the age and purpose of thesestill-mysterious enclosures of the South-f ina l ; perhaps, for example, the circleshad a ceremonial value to their builders.But even though we may be ignorant oftheir true purpose, they still serve to en-rich the present-day exploration of des-ert places.

    Cutting between the stone circle andthe knoll is a small arroyo, green withcatsclaw and desert lavender. Watermay have surfaced here in earlier dayswhen a wetter cl imate moistened theCarrizo country. I walked toward themountains in the warmth and sunshine,followin g the nameless arroyo upstream.The month was February, but Februaryis springt ime in the low desert.

    Sunflowers lent color to the land,along with Spanish needle, sand-ver-bena, encelia and primrose. Creosotewas in bloom everywhere, five-spot andpoppies added dots of brilliance, while asolitary apricot mallow, three feet ta l l ,brightened its rocky nook with dozens ofred-orange blossoms. The faraway Choc-olate and Orocopia Ranges stood out ontheir portion of the horizon and a spur ofthe Santa Rosas seemed proppe d againstthe northern sky. Closer at hand, the Su-perst it ion Hil ls and Superst it ion Moun-tain raised their pale ridges above thesurrounding plain.

    On the south side of the shelteredcove, drained by the wa sh, I came upon adeep mortero, or grinding hole, worninto a boulder. Two unbroken pestlesrested on a nearby rock, and consider-able pottery l i t tered the ground in thevicinity. These art ifacts, relat ively fresh-appearing and similar to those found inYuman camps elsewhere, are of Yumanor ig in .

    I then climbed the low saddle immedi-ately behind the site on the south.Signal Mountain, on the Mexican bor-der, rose in the distance, while to its

    Two unbroken pestlesand a deep mortem may be seen

    in the sheltered covebehind the stone circle.

    Desert Mar. 1974

    r ight, the hump-backed Coyote Moun-tains dominated the skyline. But ofgreater interest were the two dim abo rig-inal trails visible below the saddle.These faint threads, left by vanishedtravelers, run along the foot of the FishCreek Range only a few paces above thedesert floor. This is typical trail country,for the Indian favored the middle groundfor his routes of travel, avoiding sandywashes and canyon bottoms as well asthe highest r idges.

    Seeking out the old pathways is a re-warding pastime, since in the desertthey have not been obscured by soil orvegetation and can sometimes be tracedfor long distances. Even when a trail isinterrupted by a wash, it can frequentlybe picked up again beyond the break.These paths are usually dim andoverlooked, but the shadows of earlymorning or late afternoon reveal thembetter than does the bright light of mid-day. When you are hiking along anIndian t ra i l , the route immediately aheadoften appears quite faint, while the dis-tant sections stand out with greater clar-ity. Occasionally, you may lose the trailent irely, but aboriginal rock markers sometimes just one stone on top of an-othermay indicate the correct route.

    A helpful technique, when searchingfor Indian signs, is to walk a few paces,then stop and look about carefully in alldirections. In this way, you will have agreater chance of locating trail markers,

    potshards, and the many other rcYtcs of-prim it ive cultures . The desert, harsh anddevoid of interest to the casual visitor,becomes friendly and rich in detail whenseen through sympathetic eyes.

    It would have been enjoyable to followthe trails southward along the FishCreek Mountains, but the sun was al-ready low in the sky. I did find some pot-tery along the lower path, then turnedback. It is certain that many more signsof Indian habitation await the explorer inthis corner of the desert.

    (Carrizo Wash can be driven for anoth-er five miles beyond this point to thewell-posted boundary of the Carrizo Im-pact Area. Although abandoned, the Im-pact Area is st i l l contaminated with un-exploded ordnance and is thereforeclosed to the public.) The freedom anddiscovery offered by the still-virgin sec-tors of the desert are among its greatestrewards. But respect the land or morerestrictions will be applied to back-coun-try travel as the number of thoughtlessvisitors increases.

    It was early evening as I hiked back tothe truck. Superst it ion Mountain, acrossthe way d ull tan in color earlier nowstood transf igured in luminous yellowsand browns. A full moon rose in the eastand the fragrance of verbena was in theair. The desert's fascination deepenedwith the twil ight here along CarrizoWa sh , the Indians' home of other days.

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    MINERby K. L. Boynton

    1974

    The desert miner com es well prepared for work with a n efficient set of tools.

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    Photos by Karen Fowler

    ONG BEFORE the f irst prospectorset foot on the land, the West had

    its miners a four-footed, bewhiskeredlot who were hard at work better than 10million years ago and whose descend-ants are still delving away in the deserttoday. These are the pocket gophers, astrange tribe of rodent vegetarians, bur-rowers by trade, and highly adapted formaking a l iving in this most inhospitableland. They come in several styles, withmany local variations on the theme, andtheir coat coloring tends to match theearth tones of their particular area.

    The pocket gopher's mining opera-tions actually consist of digging a vastunderground burrow system made up ofmain tunnels, side tunnels, enlargedsleeping quarters, storage chambers andlatrines. The excavated earth is shovedout and dumped as work progresses, be-coming the characterist ic mounds thatindicate gopher whereabouts, and fromwhence cometh their family's scient if ic

    name, Geomyidae, meaning earth ro-dent.

    Each adult gopher has his or her ownburrow system in which each resides insolitary splendor. Not only is this homesweet home, it is also where food is to besecured. The burrow is, in short, homerange and territory, and as such it is vig-orously defended. Digging goes on prac-tically all the time, for the job is neverdone. Tunnels are constantly being ex-tended in search of food as pocket go-phers dine on roots and tubers, bulbsand the l ike encountered underground.They also like topside vegetation, anddigging a brand new extension off themain tunnel is the best way to get to anew grocery area without being exposedto enemies enroute.

    Naturally enough, to do all this dig-ging the pocket gopher has to have theproper equipment and here, let it besaid, of all hole-dwelling rodents, he hasthe very best. His body is short andstout, sturdily bu ilt ; his shoulders broad,

    and he has hardly any neck at all. Hishead is extra large, with thicker andmore rigid skull bones. Attached to it aremasses of muscles which have to do w iththe operation of his outsized front gnaw-ing teeth , which he uses as picks, chiselsand pry bars in his digging. His frontlegs are big and strongly muscled forpowerful digging strokes, his pawsprovided with very long claws. Dirt iskept out of his eyes by protective eye-lashes and tightly fitt ing lids with extralarge tear glands to wash them clean.Valves close up his ears, and the dirt ex-cavated by his big teeth can 't get into hismouth, since his furry lips fold aroundand f it up behind them, making a neatclosure.

    Biologist W. J. Breckenridge, inter-ested in seeing how the gopher did hismin ing , built a glass observation box,filled it with dirt and took a front seat atwhat proved to be a most remarkableperforma nce. The go pher, it seems, goesat his digging with dash and style. Brae-

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    ing himself with his hind feet, he slapshis big front teeth into the soi l , gougingand loosening it up, his big clawed frontfeet taking over imme diately with power-ful alternate strokes to sweep the soildownw ard and backward under his body.The accumulating heap is kicked on backand when it begins to pile up, the gopherstops digging and proceeds to performthe impos sible: he turns around in a pas-sageway too narrow and too low to do iti n , by some sl ight-of-whisker tr ick thatlooks l ike a somersault. W ith the d ir t p i lenow ahead of him, he spreads out hisfront paws, puts his chin down on thepile, and shoving with paws, shoulders,head, body and hind feet, makes a bull-dozer out of himself. The dir t is pushedalong ahead of him and out the entrance,thus making the character istic mound atthe surface.

    No gopher in his right mind is going toleave a door open. When it is t ime toshut it, he pushes a dirt pile forward intoposition. Then, putting his weight ontohis front paws and bouncing up anddown on the pi le, he rams the dir t pluginto place, closing the hole up tight fromthe inside.

    With al l this constant mining and cut-ting of tough roots for food, to say noth-

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    i ng o f f i gh t i ng , t he re i s bound t o be at remendous amoun t o f wear and t ea r ont he gopher ' s b i g f ron t t ee t h . Now, ro -den t i nc i so rs g row con t i nuous l y , rep l ac -i ng wear and keep i ng t he i r ch i se l -shape .So Z o o l o g is t s W a l t e r H o w a r d a n d M e l -v in Smi th suspected that those of thepocke t gophers mus t g row a l o t moret han t hose o f o t he r gnaw i ng roden t s ,s i nce t hey use t he i rs so much h a rde r . Tocheck on th is theory, they put a smal ldenta l notch on the teeth near the gumsand t hen added no t ches as needed , t ak -i ng f requen t measuremen t s . They cameup w i t h t he as t on i sh i ng f i gu re o f 8 . 91inches of growth per year for the upperf ron t t ee t h , and a wh opp i ng 14 . 9 pe ryear for the lower ones. The to ta l for a l lf ou r gophe r t ee t h was 225 pe rcen t h i ghe rt han comparab l e t oo t h g row t h i n t hedomes t i c rabb i t , and 370 pe rcen t b i gge rt han t ha t o f t he po rcup i ne , bo t h an i ma l sbe i ng f i r s t c l ass gnawers t hemse l ves .

    W hy t he l ower t ee t h shou l d g row evenfaster than the upper ones, which look ast houg h t hey ca t ch mos t of t he ha rd wor k ,i s no t known. To be su re , t he work i nglower jaw moves, the upper one be ingstat ionary s ince i t i s par t o f the sku l l ,the lower teeth have more leverageand g rea t e r ab ras i on . They a re l onger ,t o o , and s t ra i gh t e r , and separa t ed s l i gh t -l y and t he re f o re t hey ch i p and b reakeas i e r . Pe rhaps the fas t e r g ro w t h ra t emay a l so have somet h i ng t o do w i t h t heway t he upper and l ower t ee t h rub t o -g e t h e r .

    S ince they a lso work h a r d , t he b i gc l aw-na i l s on t he go phe r ' s paws a re sub -j ec t ed t o ex t ra wear and t ea r and How-a rd ' s subsequen t no t ch t es t o f t hemproved that the longest ones on them i dd l e t h ree f i nge rs , wh i ch t ake t hewors t o f i t , g row some th ree and one-ha l f

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    inches a year, a rate about twice that ofthe other two nails.

    Like all good workmen, the gopherkeeps his tools in order, cleaning his bigteeth with the claws of one hand steadiedwith the other. Zoologist Terry Vaughan,listening to the loud scratching and click-ing noises that accompanied these dentalablutions, and noting the head bobbingand vigorous attack, concluded that avery thorough job was being done, par-ticularly since the claws themselves werethen picked neatly clean with the teeth,stray bits of debris being ejected.

    The gopher also likes his comfort, hisbedchambers being furnished with softgrasses from topside, his food lockerswell stocked with supplies, all luggedhome in his built-in satchels. These areenormous fur-lined pouches located onthe outside of his head. One is on eachside, opening with a slit at the angle ofhis jaw and extending back to his should-e r s . Bag-like, they are capable of greadistension. Cargoes are loaded with sur-pr ising speed, the gopher's hand stuf-fing and wadding the material in, fortime outside the burrow, even a fewinches from a mound entrance, can beexceedingly dangerous. There is alwaysbound to be some hawk, coyote, snakeowl or wildcat on grocery patrol most othe time , or worst of al l , a badger, who isa l ightning-fast digger himself.

    Safely back inside, with the door plug-g e d , the gopher unloads his poucheswith swift movements of his paws, tu rning the empty sacks inside out finally forcleaning. Working careful ly with hisclaws, he combs and neats up their furryl ining, l icking and smoothing it, andfinally leaving the bags open for a timeto dry.

    Since about 99 percent of his life iscentered in his burrow, the gopher'snotoriously inhospitable atti tude, anddownright anti-social point of view, isunderstandable, particular ly when hislong evolutionary isolation is consideredBiologist Robert Russell, working withgophers in Texas and the desert regionsof Mexico, could plainly see howfossorial annimals such as these, whodepend on underground roots for foodsupplemented by what poor plant supplies were available on the surfacewould have to be highly competit ive tol ive. Selection, operating down throughthe evolutionary ages, would result in intolerance of others as a necessity fo

    Deserr Mar. 7974

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    All of which explains why,ut two pocket gophers togeth-

    Nor can the gopher help being so pug-

    whip up the animal body (including

    after a lot of behavior testing with

    But the tribe must increase, to beand so at the proper time of year,

    on where they reside, gophereat to repro ductive urge . Plural oc-

    for instance, finding that 75 per-

    f to d ig the irs, the old status quo return s.

    with single occupancy once moreThat is, single as far as gophers are

    ing characters, they have their free-Terry Vaughan, invest igat ing burrows

    Mar. 1974

    pendent, being unable to survive in thisdry, arid region without the cool home ofthe gopher. Pondering all this, Vaughancould see that the extensive burrow sys-tem and large quantities of soil pushedto the surface had a marked effect bothon local conditions and on other wildlifecit izenry dwell ing in the environs.

    Indeed, the gopher is a record earth-mover, as Zoologist Voit Richens foundwhen he turned one loose in October inhis garden near Logan, Utah. Here, thesoil was compact clay loam, and in 15minutes the gopher had a tunnel 18inches long. Richens started his recordkeeping right there, ending it when thegopher turned up defunct in February.Du ring this t ime , the animal had dug 480feet of feeding tunnels alone, in spite ofthe fact that the ground was frozen fortwo months. The deeper tunnels, wherethe nest chamber and toilet would be lo-cated, were not invest igated, butmounds were everywhere showing thatmuch digging had been done. Richensair-dried and weighed the dirt in themounds and found that the gopher hadremoved some 1062 pounds of dirt in fivemonths.

    Based on this exploit, he figured that30 of these gophers per acre (a reason-able populat ion in good digging terrain)would move over 38 tons per acre peryear. This, along with Zoologist Aldous'modest report of five tons per acre peryear, for a small population residing in adry section of central Utah , goes to showthat gophers are, in truth, prodigioussoil movers, good circumstances or bad.

    Hence, many scientists regard thesefat-faced litt le diggers as soil makers de-luxe. Their mining operat ions bring rawearth to the surface to weather and re-lease the minerals that plants require.And their burrows catch water, holding

    it from fast run-off. The gophers storemore vegetable food than is finally eat-e n , and this, in rotting, creates neededhumus. Even their latr ines contributeneeded nitrogen. Ecologists R. M.Hansen and M. J. Morris found that inColorado the most luxuriant growth ofplants on uncultivated land was wheregophers were common, and that rangeland improvement there was largely dueto their mixing of the soil, helping the in-f i l t rat ion of water, and aerat ion.

    They also noted that the gophers con-sistently selected gravel-sized rocks andmoved them up to the surface, thus alsospeeding the decomposition of rocky ma-ter ia l . From this they concluded that fur-ther study might prove that well-devel-oped mountain soil, for instance, thatlacked gravel-sized rocks, but containednumerous larger-sized ones, could verywell be soils that had been subjected tobeneficial gopher influence for thous-ands of years.

    The desert is particularly in need of allthe help it can get to keep its plant lifegoing. Gophers, l iving in their l i t t le "is-lands of favorable soil, surrounded byseas of unfavorable or downright unin-habitable terrain," as Russell neatly putit , are wo rkin g, well . . . like gophe rs . . .to keep the desert alive and be au tiful.

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    y to T r e a s u r e !

    Photo by Jack Pepper

    THE DICTIONARY de f ines "hobby"as "a subject or pursuit of absorb-ing interest, undertaken primari ly forpleasure during one's leisure time."

    Metal detecting is fast becoming oneof America's favorite hobbies. Given themildness of the Southwest's climate, itcan be a year-round pleasure search thatmore often than not turns up items ofsome worth that can make the hobbyself-supporting.

    It has few equals as a family hobby,and with al l members having their owndetector, i t offers a great opportun ity forcompe tit ive fun . Each outin g, whether toa beach, park or ghost tow n, turns into aminiature treasure hunt with the antici-pation of a " f i n d " urging one on.

    Some hobbyists band together andform clubs and associations. One suchtypical group is the Prospectors Club ofSouthern California which has some 700members. The highlight of the club'sactivities is their annual Conventionwhich is one big round of fun. Men,women and children all get a chance toprove their mettle with metal detectors.

    Pictured on these pages are scenesfrom their most recent event and itappears that the hobby paid off somepretty f ine dividends in the form of mer-chandise prizes.

    Five thousand happy hunters gatheredin Galileo Park, near California City, andhad a great t ime meeting and talking tomanufacturers and their representa-tives. The Convention is an excellentshowcase for all the new models and isreally an eye-opener to anyone who hasnever seen a detector operated efficient-ly Armed wi th a retr ieving tool, varyingfrom a garden trowel, screwdriver or icepick to a professionally designed job,and an apron to place the coins in, the

    33

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    entrants all stand in a l ine await ing thestart ing gun. In front of them, severalacres of desert have been "planted"with coins.

    Everyone has their own style; someuse the earphones, others hang thephones around their neck, with the vol-ume turned up fu l l . Almost all use asweeping motion, moving quite rapidly,sensitive to any change in tone or nee-dle. Once this occurs, they drop to oneknee and quickly locate the coin withtheir probe. The rules state that youmust cover up the hole after you have re-tr ieved the coin.

    The action is fast and although the ma-chines are lightweight, it is a bit of aworkout if you're to finish among the topechelon.

    The manufacturers are generous anddetectors are awarded to the highfinishers in all categories, proving thatmetal detecting is, indeed, a hobby totreasure.

    Above: a small portion of thecampground, packed with

    vehicles of every descriptionRight: A group of youngsters

    await the start of the junior hunt.Below right: Prize winners in

    the women's division,left to right, Kay Modgling, third place;

    Ann Hamilton, second place;and Mary Masters, first place winner.Below left: Men's winners, left to

    right, Roy Roush, winner;Don Pepper, second place;Harold Coots, third place;

    and Dean Chapman,fourth place, all with their

    trophies and prizes.

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    M o n u m e n tS u r r e n d e rby Phyllis Heald

    G E RONI M O'S com ing ! ! "Two words that never failed toRape, torture, massacre always fol-

    There are those who claim Geronimo's

    It was the Mexican soldiers who dub-ger-

    ( he r -m e-NA R) m ean ing ' t out' because he would appear so sud-

    As soon as the Apaches sensed thet ra in ,

    Eventually, the Indians them-o' and so, in time, his true name of

    was forgotten.Although the Marines had nothing to

    ironically, the American Indian

    world is that of a cruel war chief whoruled a small Apache tribe of Bedonko-hes in Arizona.

    And, oddly enough, a strikingly effec-tive monument has bee