197411 Desert Magazine 1974 November

8/14/2019 197411 Desert Magazine 1974 November

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Tainter oj tfieMany art critics consider John Hilton the foremost painter of desert scenesof the West. His oils are hung in galleries throughout the U nited States andare constantly in demand. Desert M agazine has a limited supply of p rints ofhis painting entitled "Contrasts" showing sand dunes covered with desertwiidfiow ers and the Santa Rosa Mountains in the background .This beautiful four-color print is 11x17 inches on high quality mat paperwith two-inch margins, ideal for framing. Available to Desert Magazinereaders, mailed rolled, in a tube, for only $3.00, including tax and postage.Send check to DESERT, Contrasts, Box 1318, Palm Desert, Calif. 92260.


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Wll LIAM KNYVETT, Publisher-Editor

GEORGE BRAGA, Art DirectorMAKY FRANCES STRONG, Field Trip EditorF. V BARNES, Utah Associate EditorCLI NN VARGAS, Lapidary EditorK. I BOYNTON, NaturalistM AKVEL BAR R ETT , Circulation Manager Volume 37, Number 11 NOVEMBER 1974

CONTENTS

THI COVER:Mini cakes and driedstalks present a searedscene in Death Valley Na-tio lal Monument , Ca l i f .Phnlo by David Muench.

F E A T U R E SDWARFS OF DEVIL'S HOLE 10 K. L. Boynton

NEW MEXICO'S BOSQUE DEL APACHE 14 Buddy MaysGHOST CITY OF THE AMARGOSA 16 Howard Neal

HEAD FOR THE ALAMO! (ARIZONA) 20 Mary FrancesStrongDEATH VALLEY-1974 24 ChuckCebhardt

WE WALKED A MISSION TRAIL 28 George Leetch

MINING COLD IN DEATH VALLEY 32 Harold O. WeightDESERT MIRAGE 36 Helen Walker

D E P A R T M E N T SA PEEK IN THE PUBLISHER'S POKE 4 William Knyvett

BOOKS FOR DESERT READERS 6 Book Reviews

CALENDAR OF WESTERN EVENTS 40 Club ActivitiesRAMBLING ON ROCKS 42 Glenn and Martha Vargas

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 47 Readers'Comments

I DITO RIAL, CIRCULATION AND ADVER TISING OFFICES: 74-109 Larrea St., Palm Desert, California 92260. Telephone Area Code 714 346-8144.I isted inStandard Rate and Data. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: United States, Canada and Me xico;! year, $6.00; 2years, $11.00; 3years, $16.00. Otherinreign subscribers add $1.00 U. S.currency foreach year. See Subscription Order Form in this issue. Allow five weeks forchange of address andwn d both new and old addresses with zipcodes. DESERT Magazine ispublished monthly. Second class postage paid atPalm Desert, Californiaandit additional m ailing offices under Act of March 3,1879. Contents copyrighted 1974 by DESERT Magazine andpermission to reproduce any or alli niiten ts m ust be secured inwriting. Manuscripts and photographs will not bereturned unless accompanied by aself-addressed, stamped envelope.

Des.71/November 1974


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it M A:ISSUEComplete'65 '66 '67 '68V O L U M E S

Complete'70'71 '72V OLUME S

Mail all orders to : DEPT. TDESERT Magazine

Palm Desert, Calif. 92260Personal check or money order mustaccompany your order.

Be sure to include your zip code.

A P e e ki n t h eP u b l i s h e r sP o k e

OVEMBER IS always a specialmonth here at the Magazine as itmarks another anniversary of our

existence since Randall Henderson be-gan the publication back in 1937. Timeshave changed considerably since then,but the Magazine still has its faithfulfamily of subscribers and continues to at-tract new readers each year.

November is also a special month forDeath Valley fans as it marks the h oldingof the Death Valley '49ers Encampmentwhich, this year, is being presentedNovember 7th through the 10th. This is a

most popular event and literally thousands of people attend the varied programs of-fered. This iss.ue is featuring Death Valley with articles depicting past and presentconditions and an in-depth presentation on the pupfish of Devil's Hole. Phil Pister,Fishery Biologist for the California Department of Fish and Came and one of thebiggest fighters to save the pupfish has this to say about the tiny creatures:

" W e have here a unique natur al resource whic h is facing extin ction because ofencroachment on the habitat by man for economic gain. This is essentially the basisof the world's environmental problems today. Hopefully in our quest to save thedesert fishes we can set up guidelines and procedures which will be helpful in solv-ing similar problems elsewhere. Man must begin, sooner or later to decide wherethe line must be drawn between environm ental preservation and economic develop-ment. In manv cases, if he is prudent, he can eat his cake and have it too. Perhapswe can help guide him."

November is a special month for noted author and Desert Magazine contributorStanley W. Paher. Stan, the author of Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps,Death Valley Ghost Towns, Ponderosa, etc., won the Republican nomination forSecretary of State for the state of Nevada and we wish him success in the upcomingelections.

November is also Thanksgiving month, and I would like to sincerely thank themany people who make Desert Magazine possible. Firs t, the subsc ribers, manywho have been with the M agazine for 38 years; secondly, the advertisers w hose sup-port is necessary in any publication; and finally, the scores of freelance writers andphotographers who really are the Magazine. It has been a rewarding experiencethese past years as Publisher/Editor to be a part of a product as highly esteemed byso many.My heartfelt thanks to all of you.

Death Valley has something for everyone, and authors Chuck Gebhardt, HaroldO We ight and How ard Neal present a varied offering on the most famous of Califor-

nia's valleys. Rounding out the Novem-ber issue is the concluding installm enton Hiking an Old Mission Trail in Bajaby George Leetch, and a visit to a greatvacation spot in Arizona's "Bill Wil-l i am s " Country, Alamo Lake State Park,by our Field Trip Editor, Mary FrancesStrong.

Helen Walker tells us some interest-ing facts about mirages, and BuddyMays covers an unusual game refuge inNew Mexico.

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THE STORY OFCRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARKby Howard and Marian Place

Here is the story of Crater Lake and the Crater LakeCountry, from John Wesley Hillman's discovery onJu ne 12, 1853, to the pr es en t tim e. Copiously illus-trated with both current and his torical photographsof the place and time, including many by Peter Britt ,first ma n to ph otog raph t he lake. Included are photo-graphs of Sergeant Orson A. Stearns, first white manknown to have climbed down to th e lake, Jim Su tton,the man who named it, Hillman, the discoverer, andJoaquin Miller, famous poet who visited and campedthe re. The cover features a color photo by Ray Atke-son, plus inside maps.Pa per , 8V2 x 11, 84 pag es, 50 ph oto gr ap hs $3.95

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inlormative chapters on the topographyand temperature; flora, animal and rep-tillan life; Jeep roads and trails, back-park ing, day hikes, summer hiking;ao ommodations and campgrounds; 12of I ie main points of interest, plus onechipter devoted to other points of inter-esi and including the Place Name Indexfoi easy reference.

I he author concludes this valuableguide with a chapter on the routes de-pcuiing from the Valley. Whether yourdiirction be north, south, east or west,he gives detailed descriptions of roadconditions, accommodations, historicalinlnrmation and points of interest.

I inly an authority on Death Valleycould prepare such an all-inclusive textard guide. Profusely illustrated withphnios, maps and line drawings, 160pares, paperback, $4.95.

Explore a Byway" series, Russ returnsto a remote area in the San GabrielMountains; discovers new areas in theLos Padres National Forest; visits an oldadobe in San Luis Opisbo that posed apuzzle; visits the Tehachapis and Mon-tana de Oro State Park; finds a new parkin Ventura County and an unusual at-mospheric condition on the Salton Sea.

Combined with the talented sketchesof Elin Waite, Russ has added anotherdelightful Volume to his series. 112pages, paperback, $1.95.

Others in the series are: Volume I,Kings Canyon to the Mexican Border;Volume II, In and Around Los Angeles;Volume III, Desert Country; Volume IV,Mountain Country; Volume V, HistoricalSites, Trips for a day or a weekend;Volume VI, Owens Valley. All paper-back, $1.95 each.

EXPLORING CALIFORNIA BYWAYSV ' H.UME VIIB\ Russ Leadabrand

I here are hundreds of small roads inC ilifornia that beg to be explored hun-dreds of places to drive, bike or walkarid Russ Leadabrand seems destined tofind them all.

In his introduction, Russ states: "Theardcles in this volume deal with travel inSouthern California, AND history, thefun of searching for the unusual, and thereaching for weekend adventure.

I he pursuit of these li ttle roads inCalifornia, and then writing about them,h e 1 , been a labor of love on my part formany, many years. Not just love, but anex i ess on of joy and wonder. For while Ihave lived in California for most of mylife, I never seem to see it all. There is al-w;n s another di rt road, another ruin, an-ot ler beach, another hill that I have notsen before."

In this volume, another of his "Let 'sD e ; i > i t/November 1974

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MAPS!DESERT OVERVIEW MAPSUsing topographic maps as basic underlays, aretwo excellently detailed maps for back countryexplorers of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts.Maps show highways, gravel roads, jeep trails,plus historic routes and sites, old wells, whichare not on modern-day maps, plus ghost towns.Indian sites, etc. Mojave Desert Overviewcovers from U.S. 395 at Little Lake to BoulderCity, Nevada, to Parker Dam to Victorville. Colo-rado Desert Overview covers from the Mexicanborder to Joshua Tree National Monument toBanning to the Arizona side of the Colorado Riv-er Be certain to state which map when ordering.$3.00 EachANZA-BORREGO DESERT STATE PARKTOPOGRAPHIC MAPSA set ol 7 maps covering the Anza-Borrego Des-ert State Park, 8V4 "x l 1 " format, bound, $5.50

ROADMAP TO CALIFORNIA'S PIONEERTOWNS,GHOST TOWNS AND MININGCAMPSCompiled by Varna Enterprises, 38"x25" andscaled. Southern California on one side andNorthern California on the other. Contains de-tailed location of place names, many of whichare nol on regular maps. $3.50MAP OF PIONEER TRAILSCompiled by Varna Enterprises, this is their newlarge map on pioneer trails blazed from 1541through 1867 in the western United States. Su-perimposed in red on black and white, 37"x45".$4.00ROADMAP TO CALIFORNIA'S LOST MINESAND BURIED TREASURESCompiled by Varna Enterprises, 38"x25" andscaled. Southern California on one side andNorthern California on the other. Contains de-tailed location of place names, many of whichare not on regular maps. $4.00

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D e s e r t M a g a z i n e B o o k S h o pGEM TRAILS OF ARIZONA by Bessie W. Simp-s o n . This f ie ld guide is prepared for the hobbiestand almo st every lo cation Is accessible by car orpickup accompanied by maps to show sandyroads, s teep rocky hi l ls , etc . , as caut ions. Lawsregarding col lec t ing on Federal and Indian landout l ined. Paperback, 88 pages, III us. , $3.00.SPEAKING OF INDIANS by Bernlce Johnston.An author i ty on the Indians of the Southwest ,ths author has presented a conc ise we l l -wr i t tenbook on the customs, his tory , c raf ts , ceremoniesand what the Amer ican Indian has contr ibuted tothe white man's c iv i l izat ion. A MUST for bothstudents and t ravelers tour ing the Indian Coun-try . Heavy paperback, i l lus . , $2.50.T H E W E E K E N D G O L D M I N E R by A . H . Ryan.An elec tronic phys ic is t "b i t ten by the goldb u g , " the author has wr i t t en a conc ise andinform at ive book for amateu r prospectors te l l in gwhere and how gold is found and how it is separ-ated and tes ted, a l l based on his own pract icalexper ience. Paperback, 40 pages, $1.50.T H E W E E K E N D T R E A S U R E H U N T E R b y A .H. Ryan. A companion book to his WeekendGold Miner, th is volume is also conc ise andpacked with informat ion on what to look for andwhat to do with your t rea sure af ter you havefound i t . Subjects range f rom Beach Combing toSunken Treasures, Paperback, 76 pages, $1.95.

FIELD GUIDE TO WESTERN B IRDS by RogerTory Peterson. The s tandard book for f ie ld iden-t i f icat ion sponsored by the Nat ional AudubonSociety . 2nd edit ion, enlarged with new sect ionon Hawai ian birds . 658 in fu l l color . Hardcover ,$5.95.

EXPLORINGCALIFORNIA BYWAY,

fjnstyEXPLORING DEA TH VALLEY by Ruth Kirk .Good photos and maps with t ime est imates f romplace to place and geology, natural h is tory andhuman in te res t in fo rmat ion inc luded. Paper -back, $2.25.CA MP ING A ND CLIM B ING IN BAJA by JohnRobinson. Conta insexce l le n t maps and photos .A guidebook to the S ier ra San Padro Mat ir andt h l Sierra Juarez of upper Baja, Cal i f . Much ofth is land is unexplored and unmapped s t i l l . Ca rroutes to famous ranches and camping spots inpa lm-s tudded canyons w i th t r ou t s t reams temptweokend tour is ts who aren' t up to hik ing. Paper-back, 96 pages, $2.95.THE INDIANS AND I by Peter Odens. In t imateconvers t ions with Indians by a compass ionateauthor who wr i tes in the s ty le of Ernie Py le. Pa-perback, i l lus trated, 89 pages, $2.00.

California residentsplease add6% state sales taxPlease add 25c for postage & handling

LOST MINES AND HIDDEN TREASURES byLeland Lovelace. Author i tat ive and exact ac-counts give locat ions and fasc inat ing data abouta lost lake of golc in California, buried Aztec in-gots in Arizona, kegs of coins, and all sorts ofexc i t ing booty for t reasure seekers . Hardcover ,$4.95.MINE S OF TH E EASTERN S IERRA by MaryDeDecker. Facts about the mines on the easterns lope of the S ier ra Nevada and Inyo Mountains .Paper , $1.95.BYROADS OF EIAJA, by Walt Wheelock. Inaddit ion to descr ib ing the many highways nowbeing paved, th is veteran Baja explorer also te l lsof back country 'oads leading to Indian ruins ,miss ions and abandoned mines. Paperback,i l lus . , $1.95.ROCKS AND MINERALS, A golden NatureGuide. More than an aid to ident i fy ing rocks andminerals , th is book wi l l a lso help the reader un-ders tand the impor tance of rocks and minerals inour daily l ives. Tells where to look for rocks andminerals . Compact paperback, profusely i l lus . ,$1.25.

B E A C H E S O F BAJA by Walt Wheelock. Beach-es on the Pacif ic side of Lower California are de-scr ibed by the veteran Baja explore r . Unl ikeCal i fornia beaches, they are s t i l l re lat ively f reeof c rowds. Paperback, i l lus . , 72 pages, $1.95.A FIELD GUIDE TO WESTERN REPTILESAN D AM PH IB IAN S by Robert C. Stebbins. APeterson Field guide. 207 spec ies, 569 i l lus tra-tions, 185 in full color, 192 maps. The best bookof th is type. Hardcover , $5.95.BAJA CALIFORNIA by Choral Pepper . Packedin th is comparat ively smal l book is a wor ld offacts about the l and , the insects , vegetat ion, theseashore, the miss ionar ies , vanished miss ions,los t t reasures and s trange s tor ies , ta l l and t rue,of Baja Cal i fo rnia, Fasc ina t ing reading . Paper-back, 126 pages, $1.95.TURQUOISby Joseph E. Pogue. [Memoirs of theNational Academy of Sciences]. Firs t pr inted in1 9 1 5 , Turquois has in its third printing (1973)been updated in many ways. Among them arel isted cur ren t ly -opera ted Turquo is mines , morecolor plates . The book is full of in cred ible resultsof research and an in-depth study of this fascina-t ing mineral of suaer f ic ia l or ig in. Hardcover , 175pages, beaut i fu l ly i l lus trated, $15.00.

BACK ROADS OF CALIFORNIA by Ear l Tho l -lander and the Editors ol Sunset Books. Ear lys tagecoach routes, miss ions, remote canyons,old prospector cabins, mines, cemeter ies , etc . ,are v is i ted as the author t ravels and sketches theCal i fornia Backroads. Through maps and notes,the traveler is invited to get off the freeways andsee the rural and country lanes through out thestate. Hardcover , large format, unusual ly beau-t i fu l i l lus trat ions, 207 pages, $10.95.OLD ARIZONA TREASURES by Jesse Rascoe.Containing many anecdotes not prev ious ly cov-ered in A izona his tor ies , th is book covershac iendas, s tage s tops, s tage routes, miningcamps, abandoned for ts , miss ions and other his -tor ical landmarks. Paperback, 210 pages, $3.00.C A L I F O R N I A - N E V A D A G H O S T T O W N A T L A San d S O U T H W E S T E R N G H O S T T O W N A T L A Sby 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 detai led maps with legends andbr ight , detai led descr ipt ions of what you wi l ls e e ; also mi leage and highway des ignat ions.Heavy paperback, each contains 48 pages, each$2.00.TREES O F T H E WEST [ Ident i f ied at a Glance]by Mat i lda Rogers , Photographs by Wynn H a m -mer. Miss Rogers has wr i t ten graphic descr ip-tions of all of the trees generally found in theWe stern area of the United States. Mr . Ham merhas photographed them when in their pr ime.The resu lt is a handb ook that ev eryon e can un-ders tand and enjoy. Paperback, i l lus trated, 126pages, $1.95.

A NATURALIST 'S DEATH VALLEY by D r. Ed-mund C. Jaeger. In th is rev ised th ird edi t ion,Dr. Jaeger covers and uncovers some of themyster ies of th is once humid, and now ar idt r o u g h . He tel ls of the Indians of Death Val ley ,the mammals , b i rds , r ep t i les , amph ib ians ,f ishes, insects , t rees, wi ld f lowers and foss i ls .Paperback, 66 pages, $1.50.UTA H G EM T RAILS by Bessie W. Simpson.The casual rockhound or col lec tor intere sted incol lec t ing petr i f ied wood, foss i ls , agate and crys-tals wi l l f ind th is guide most helpful . The bookdoes not give permission to collect in areas writ-ten about, but s imply descr ibes and maps theareas. Paperback, i l lus trated, maps, $3.50.G H O S T T O W N S A N D M I N I N G C A M P S O FCALIFORNIA by Remi Nadeau. The only good,hardcover book on the Cal i fornia ghost towns.We recommend i t h igh ly . $7 .50 .

Desert/November 1 9 7 4


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D w a r f sCyprinodon diabolis, the dwarf of Devil's Hole.Photo by R. Liu.by K. L. BOYNTON1974

Photos courtesy of California Department Fish and Came. D e v i l ' sD ESERT LIVING would seem to be outof the question for any member of thefinny brotherhood. Yet, Death Val-ley, one of the hottest and driest of allthe deserts in the world, is home for anastonishing tribe of l it t le fellows knownas pupfish. True enough, these minnow-like fish are small, the largest reachingonly about an inch-and-a-half in length,but they are making a big splash in theworld today.

I he tale of the pup fish is part of theage-old story of the Remaking of theFace of the Earth that has been going onfen billions of years as the mighty forcesof t ime, mountain upheaval, erosionwork and climates change accordingly.The pupfish's part of it goes like this:

Parched and heat-ridden today, theDeath Valley region of Nevada and Cali-fornia once was a land of lakes and riv-ers, for when the ice sheets coveredmuch of North America during the earlypart of the glacial period, the Southwestwas cool and moist. The Valley itselfformed the sump for a vast drainage sys-tem. A body of water some 100 mileslong and 600 feet deep, known to geolo-gists as Lake Manly, covered much of it,fed by the overf low from the Owens Riv-er and by waters from the Amargosa andMuhave. Other lakes, some small, somelarge, were in the vicinity as well ass t re a ms a n d r i ve rs a n d , d w e l l i n gthroughout this connected water system,were the ancestors of today's pupfish.70

As t ime w ore on, the glaciers receded.Waters from the Owens River no longerreached Death Valley and the flow fromthe Mohave and Amargosa rivers greatlydiminished. The lakes and streamsbegan to go and Lake Manly itself disap-peared. The climate became hotter andhotter. The land became drier and drieruntil all that is left now of the great riverand lake system that once was are a fewsmall spring and intermittent watercourses spotted here and there in a vastand desolate desert. But pupfish are stillaround, descendants of the old ones whoformerly ranged throughout the ancientriver and lake system.

Now many of these springs andstreams that became separated fromeach other when the water courses driedup remained isolated. This meant thatthe inhabitants of each one, being fishand unable to strike out across the drydesert to seek their fortunes elsewhere,were stuck in their particular wateryhomesite. Nor could their descendantschange residence.

The pupfish evolved with t ime, andthey differed from the ancestral type ascould be expected. But more went on.Out of contact with other pupfish, thepopulations in the various isolated placesevolved along different lines until today,some five distinct species and severalsubspecies exist.Scientists view this situation with de-ligh t. H ere in the desert before their

very eyes evolution is takin g place.These relict pupfish, with their greatability to adapt to exceedingly hostile en-v i ro n me n ta l co n d i t i o n s , sh o w th echanges that have occurred and are stillgoing on due to the scarcity of water andisolation. In a way, each population ofpupfish is a kind of natural expe riment ofevolution. As such, each offers a chancefor brand new information in genetics,physiology and behavior. Pupfish are, inshort, a scientif ic treasure.

Charmers, too, these mini-f ish. True,most of the Death Valley region pupfishladies dress rather plainly in brownishtones with dark vertical bars. But thegentlemen, in their court ing att ire, aresomething to behold in irridescent blues,purples with golden touches and perhapsdark fin edgings. The clan's small sizeand rather delicate appearance are fool-ers, for pupfish are really very tough lit-t le characters imbued with great vitalityand a strong survival instinct. In fact,some species have lived for thousands ofyears in pools so small and poor in re-sources that they could only support afew hundred individuals.

Take the dwarfs of Devil's Hole, forexample. Eclept Cyprinodon diabolis,this inch-long species of pupfish residesin a freshw ater sprin g located in a crag-gy hole high on the side of a limestonemountain in the Ash Meadows vicinity.Fed by water drawn up from deep under-ground limestone caverns, the spring

Desert/ November 1974


11/48

been in residence here for a long, longtime. In fact, pupfish probably movedinto this spring back in the good old wetdays when a lake covered Ash Meadowsand f looded this hole, and they were leftbehind when the waters receded. Geolo-gists think this all happened some 30,000to 100,000 years ago which, while recentgeologically speaking, isn't yesterday byany means. Completely isolated and cutoff from connections with other popula-tions of Death Valley pupfish for so long,C. diabolis is today the most highlyevolved of them all.

While the food supply has been limit-ed , and reproduction facil it ies cramped,the pupfish of Devil's Hole have one en-ergy saver: the constant temperature ofthe spring's water. But what about otherpupfish who dwell where condit ions areanything but stable?

Cottonball Marsh, located below sea

level on the floor of Death Valley, is afine example of instabil ity. (Unless beinga godforsaken spot the year around canbe considered some form of stability.)Anyhow, fed by underground waterseepage, the marsh is actually a barrencrust of salt and gypsum with a few per-manent pools. During the fa l l , winterand spring the t ime of the mostwaterthe crusty surface cracks openinto narrow channels and the waterspreads into additional shallow pools.Summertimes, most of these dry up,those left being dotted here and there onthe baked surface. Salt-encrusting algaegrows at their edges, eventually practic-ally roofing them over. So rugged areconditions here that only a few scatteredclumps of pickleweed and salt grass canmake it high on the alluvial fan wherethe water first seeps out. The lower fanis a lifeless p lace, the high salt content of

he hole's entrance w hich is cover-

long:food; an d

Ke\ to the whole thing is suff icient

f upstairs whic h,f ish. Under

e very best of conditions, home sweetil's Hole has been a touc h-

f ish.Yet the C. diabolis population has

owering of underground waterd shelf dry-out in Devil's

( diabolis is in real trouble. Biolo-built an artificial shelf and installed

lights to help stimulate agalin an effect to save the pupfish,e met with little success.-vember 1974


12/48

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Devil's Hole has long been a detached part of Death Va lley National Monu men t.the soil making it impossible for any-thing at all to grow. But here in the sal-ine pools and channels of this desolatemarsh one of the most extreme fishhab i ta ts ye t d iscovered dwel ls aspecies of pupfish known as Cyprinodonmilleri.

To a f ish, the relation between the saltcontent of its blood and the salt contentof the water outside is a matter of life ordeath, since it is the key to the properwater balance in its tissues. Fish gillsand mouth membranes work like the oldphysics osmosis test where when a semi-permeable membrane separates two saltsolutions of different strength, waterpasses through it from the weak solutionto the strong as if to make the two sidesequal. So any fish that lives in water salt-ier than its olood is in danger of losingtoo much body water unless physiologi-cal adjustments are made constantly tomaintain the proper balance.

The team of biologists J ames La Boun-ty and James Deacon, out to see whatthe Cottonball Marsh pupfish were actu-ally up against in regard to salinity,found that the salt content varied amongthe channels and pools. Pupfish were inall of them, even in pools where it ran ashigh as 160 p M a m atter of grea t sur-prise.

12

Now another kind of pup fish, Cyprinodon salinus by name, which lives in thvery s aline waters of Salt Creek, has lonbeen known for its ability to stand heavsa l t con cen t ra t io n . So na tu ra l ly , LBounty and Deacon had to put their newmarsh dweller up against this championBoth f ish did O.K . at 67.3 p M salinitybut when the test water was increased t7 8 . 5 , the Salt Creek entry died, while thCottonball Marsh dweller was sti l l goinstrong when the test was ended five daylater.

Geologists figure the time that Cottonball Marsh fish have been cut off fromother pupfish to be only some 360years, or even perhaps as little a300-400, when there might have beewater connections on the floor of DeatValley. Pondering this, La Bounty anDeacon wondered about the differencein form between the Salt Creekers anthe Cottonball Marshers that made themtwo dist inct species and different fromother pupfish. They concluded that saliness of the wa ter, of course, was a majofactor, but what could be even more important here and, in fact, affect the evoution of other populations of pupfisthroughout the Death Valley systemwas the actual chemical content of thparticular water where each l ived. A n d

Desert / November 1 9


13/48

t o o , maybe the variable seasonal tem-per.iiures had something to do with it.

Temperature, the three-man team ofRobrit Naiman, Shelby Cerking andThomas Ratcliff, were betting had a bigeffet t at Cottonball Marsh, since a sum-mer .corcher at Furnace Creek, only afew miles away, can hit 132.8degrees F.when it feels like it, andwinter days canbe I M ' IO W f reezing. So they tested thewat'M in the marsh, expecting to f ind itven hot in the summer. But the water issurpi isingly cool, due to the fact that itrun , underground for a considerable dis-tancc before emerging at the marsh.Evaporation helps in cooling, the saltdome formation over many pools helpswith shade. An 89 degree F. registeredin si mmer, for instance, is far below theleth.i l l imit of 109.4 for this f ish. So, act-ually, C. milleri does not suffer hightemperature water stress even on hotsummer days. But what does happen isthat the temperature of the water f luctu-ates daily, adifference of some three de-gree, in the channels to as much as 25degices in the last shallow pool.

Fluctuation is rough on fishes. Sincet h e \ .ire unable to maintain a constanttemperature within themselves, theirbodies simply adjust passively to that ofthe water around them. Rapid changesare I he hardest to stand, for while theremig l i i be a chance for some fishes tohandle unusual temperatures, they can-not adjust fast. Heat is picked up or un-loaded mainly throug h the skin and largecapill.iry areas in their gills and thistake1, t ime.

Cogitat ing on all this, Naiman, Cerk-ing .md Ratcliff concluded that whilethere is no big pressure evolut ionaryspeaking on the Cottonball Marsh to de-velop tolerance to high heat, there cer-tainly is plenty of pressure for toleranceto wide temp erature ranges. Individualsthat i ould not stand f luctuation would beweeded out by natural selection.

C milleri is a big th ing to evolutionistsfo r yet another reason: the populationcould not have been isolated for moretha n S600 yea rs at most, but due to theseleii ive pressures imposed by themarsh, andbecause the generation t u rn-over is rapid (pupfish breed at an earlya g e ] , species differentiation took placehere in a very, very short t im e m aybeas Mule as 300-400 years? an eyebrowraisei bound to revise some old th ink ing .

The dwarfs of Devil 's Hole had the irDeseit November 1 9 7 4

turn at theory-upset, too. Since this dia-bolis bunch had been living in their 92degree F. spring for 30,000 years , it wasfully expected that they would havedropped off any ability to adjust to tem-perature changes just as cave dwellershave gradually lost their eyes throughdisuse elimination bynatural selection.S o , biologists James Brown and RobertFeldmeth, testing the dwarfs againstother pupfish who lived in an artesianwell outf low and were accustomed towater temperature variance, were all setto show that diabolis couldn't take it.

They had a big surprise coming Thedwarfs, it seems, had not lost the abilityat all, but could still stand a 66 degreerange in water temperature as long asthe change was not too sudden. Accli-mated to 32 degrees cold, they could goto 102 O.K. Start ing from a warmer 40acclimation, they could make it easily to1 0 8 . This is a very big deal, evolutionar-ily speaking again, for it shows that,while eyes and the l ike might be lost un-der disuse and disadvantage, the oldhomeostatic systems basic to the run-ning of the fish machine are highly resis-tant to evolutionary change. Further-more, it showed that what an animalmight be able to stand is not always soclosely correlated only with what it isaccustomed to, as wasformerly thought.

S o , with all these new angles comingto light, and with researchers privatelybetting more upsets in scientif ic thinkingare bound to come, compliments of pup-f ish, it is obvious that EACH populationof these invaluable little fish is exceed-ingly important. Not ONE of the strangeisolated habitats should be upset.

Hence, the dismay and frantic effortsto preserve the Devil's Hole fish doomedby pumping operations in the vicinitythat have lowered the undergroundwater level and all but wrecked theirfood and spawning shelf. (This, in spiteof the fact that the Hole has been a na-t i o n a l mo n u me n t for years . ) Otherpopulations are threatened throughoutthe Death Valley system by land devel-opment and its concurrent lowering ofthe underground water supply. Hence,t o o , bills before the House andSenate byCongressman Jerome R. Waldie andSenator Alan Cranston to establish apupfish national wildlife refuge andmonument in California and Nevada, arean effort to save these finny treasuresbefore they are lost forever.

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14/48

; pBuck mule deerNew Mexico's Be

by BUDDY MAYS

IYOU'VE ever had a raging desireto see a "semipalma ted p lov er," or a"marbled godwit , " Bosque del Apa-che National Wildlife Refuge, in thesouthern part of New Mexico, is theplace to go. Chances are that you mighthave to scour nearly 58,000 acres ofmarshy river bottom to find one of thesebipedaled critters, but if you look hardenough, you're sure to triumph in theend.

On the other hand, if you're not es-pecially interested in these two uncrown-ed kings of avian nomenclature (which,by the way, are birds), but still have ahankering to view nearly 400 otherspecies of southwestern wildlife, Bosquedel Apache is still the place. Snuggled ina wide, pastoral valley near the RioGrande River, just 15 minutes south ofSocorro, New Mexico, the refuge con-tains just about everything that walks,crawls, swims, runs or f l ies.

Established in 1939, the Department14

of Interior originally designated Bosqueas a protective breeding grounds for theSandh ill Crane once almost e xtinct inthe Southwest. Since then, the Sandhillshave steadily increased their numbersuntil now, hopefully, they are out ofdanger. Each fa l l , the cranes migrate tothe refuge by the thousands, feeding onwild and cult ivated grain in the m arshes.Along with them come flock upon flock ofCanadian Geese on their way to awarmer habitat.

To the advantage of the modern visi-tor, though, Bosque del Apache hasmore than geese and cranes. A 15-mileautomobile tour on well-graveled roadstakes the visitor back in time to an erawhen wild anim als roamed the country atwi l l , unafraid of man or his machines.Such critters as the mule deer, bobcat,coyote and porcupine are common sometimes almost abundant. These ani-mals are not hunted on the refuge. Con-sequently, they have increased theirnumbers so much that it would be impos-sible to travel the tour route at all wi th-out seeing at least some of them.

At the check station, where visitorsare asked to stop before entering the re-fuge, tourists can pick up a list of 284

birds which are found in Bosque. Some,like the Mississippi Kite, are extremelyrare, but others upland game birds likethe ringneck pheasant, Cambel quail,and almost all species of ducks are socommon that they can be approachedeasily.

Birds of prey such as the prairie falconand the golden and bald eagles are inevidence, too. Watching them swoopand glide on the wind as they patientlyhunt mice in the river bottom is an ex-perience that shouldn't be missed.

One unusual addition to Bosque in re-cent years is the display pond near theentrance. At various t imes of the year,most species of waterfowl will feed in thepond, making it easy for photographersand bird watchers alike to view, at closerange, their favorite subjects. A shortway from the display p ond, rangers haveconstructed a tower especially for photo-graphers. Here, they can record the an-tics of huge flocks of white snow geesethat call the refuge home during thewinter months.

Acco rding to naturalists, Bosque is themajor waterfowl wintering area in themiddle Rio Grande Valley. Rangers esti-mate that the total population of the re-*

Desert/November 1974


15/48

r ; ?

Sandhill cranesque del Apache Snow-geeseWILDLIFEREFUGEfugc stays at about 35,000 from Octoberthnrngh March. During the fa l l , there isa short goose and quail season, but mostof the year the birds are allowed to live inpea< e.

The written history of Bosque delAp.uhe dates back to 1845, when thelanl was part of a huge land grant, butthe ,tory of Bosque began long b eforethai On the west side of the San PasqualMountains near the river, Indian ruinsdating back to 1300 A.D. are commonand, for the most part, undisturbe d. Theruins were fort if ied with high stone andadobe walls, and the largest village con-tain1, about 50 rooms. Seven-hundred-yeai old petroglyphs cover the rocks inmany places, and high desert winds of-ten uncover broken pots and arrowheadsleft by the area's ancient inhabitants.

W he n the land was originally purchas-ed ( H I the refuge, the thousands of acresof bottom land formed a marshy, grass-cov' ied savanna, an enticing habitat forwaterfowl, but of little use to mammalsand other forms of wil dli fe. In 1941,hovever, severe flooding by the unpre-dictable Rio Grande covered the savannawith a deep layer of silt. The silt gave theDepartment of Interior the init iat iveDesiv I 'November 1974

needed to turn the area into a preservefor all kinds of anim als not on ly cranesand ducks.

Bottom land fields were cleared andleveled, later to be planted with grainand corn. Irrigation canals were dug toallow water run-off to flow in an orderlyfashion, thereby cutting down the possi-bility of future flooding. These canalswere planted with largemouth bass, cat-fish and frogs. Nowadays, the waters ofBosque are filled with f ish. Although noboats or other floating devices are allow-ed on the waters, the fish don't seem tonotice. Most patient anglers can easilycatch enough to fill even the largest fry-ing pan.

Recently, New Mexico declared waron spot-lighting poachers who were tak-ing enormous numbers of deer illegally.Consequently, the refuge is closed to alltraff ic from dusk t i l l dawn. Campers,with hopes of staying inside the refugeovernight, sometimes find this a bit of anuisance, but the rule is as much for theprotection of the camper as it is for theanimals. Since most of Bosque is stillmarsh, a hiker or driver could easily getlost at night, drop into some boggy hole,and never be heard from again. Luckily,

it hasn't happened yet, but there is al-ways a first time. For those who wish tospend one night or several, campingareas have been set up in the surround-ing area outside of the refuge.

The primary objective of the Bosquedel Apache refuge, says the Departmentof Interior, "is to provide suitable win-ter ing, feeding and resting habitat formigratory waterfowl of the Central Fly-way, and to provide a safe refuge forother animals of the southwest." TheDepartment adds, "Recreational use ofthe refuge is permitted only when activ-ities do not interfere with wildlife ob-ject ives."

In this day and age, when the possibil-ity exists that man may soon destroy hisnatural neighbors, Bosque stands as amilestone in the preservation of wildcreatures. You may not see a "semipal-mated p lover" or a "m arble d god wit" inBosque, but don't be too disappointed ifyou miss them. You won't be the f irst.What you will see, though, if you takethe time and trouble to look, is the seren-ity, the peace, and the beauty of natureat its finest. And in the words of thatold song, "who could ask for anythingm o r e . "

15


16/48

S o m e w h e r e n e a r D e a t h V a l l e y ,Char les Breyfogle lost a golden bon-a n z a . In the Amargosa Deser t , a fewmiles from Death Val ley , ShortyHarr is and Ed Cross found one. Werethey the same? Was i t rea l ly Brey-fogle gold that built the desert city ofR h y ol it e? N o w t he . . .

The John S. Cook Bank Buildingis the most imposing ruinin the ghost town of Rhyolite.

by HOWARD NEAL

IWAS spring, the spring of 1864.Yet, as the three men and their packanimals moved down toward the f loorof Death Valley, they knew it was goingto be hot. They were already t i red . Theyhad covered nearly 200 miles of desertsince they had last seen any civilization.

As night was closing in, they decidedto camp. The spot they selected wasknown as Mesquite Spring. They wereabout 30 miles north of Stovepipe Wellsand the heart of Death Valley.

A stranger followed them into campthat night. He introduced himself andtold them that he had been followingthem since they had left Geneva, Ne-vada. His name was Charles Breyfogle.The three men were not surprised byBre y fo g le ' s a p p e a ra n ce . Th e y h a dknown that they were being followed forsome time. It was Breyfogle who wassurprised. He had presumed they were16

prospectors looking for the celebratedlost silver of Death Valley, the Lost Gun-sight. He had hoped to join them. Theywere not prospectors at all. They wereSoutherners traveling home to join theConfederate Army.

In spite of his disappointment, Brey-fogle asked if he could travel with themfor a few day s. He d id not share hisknowledge, but he had heard that theDeath Valley party of 1849 had buried aniron chest containing some $20,000 nearStovepipe Wells and, even though hecould not prospect for the Lost Gunsight,he wanted to search for the treasurechest before returning to Nevada.

The Southerners may not have beenenthusiastic, but they allowed Breyfogleto join them. For two days the groupmoved south into the great sink of DeathValley. When night fell that second nightafter their meeting, they camped near



17/48


18/48

Stovepipe Wells. Breyfogle, as he haddone the two prior nights, spread hisblanket some 200 yards away from thec.impfire. Perhaps he was being allowedto travel with the trio, but he was nota member of their party. Their att itudemade that clear.

That night Breyfogle awoke to the ter-rifying screams of death. Indians wereattacking. The pack animals had beendriven off and the Southerners werebeing murdered. Breyfogle's forcedhabit of sleeping apart had saved his life.The Indians did not know he was there.Qu ietly , B reyfog le pick ed, up his shoesand, barefoot, crept off into the night.

The next morning found him in thefoothil ls of the Funeral Mountains. Hisfuture was, at best, in doubt. He foundsome brackish water. He drank, and f i l l -ed his shoes for use as canteens. He thencont inued walking.Upward he moved, into the moun-tains, through Boundary Canyon, towardDay light Sp ring, the pass, the A margosaDesert, and, perhaps, beyond. Whoknows how many days he had traveledwhen he spotted the green of a treeagainst the side of a red-colored hill?1 he green meant wa ter, and eagerly hemoved toward it . He discovered therewas no surface water, but the tree was a

mesquite, and he ate the green beanswith re l ish.

While he was sitt ing there, resting inthe shade, he spotted it. Quartz float,heavily laced with gold. He could not be-lieve its weight. It must have been halfgold! He looked around and quicklyfound the golden ledge. The amount ofgold was fantastic. Bonanza! He hadstruck it r ich!Marking the spot well in his mind, hepicked up several pieces of the float,wrapped them in his bandana and movedon . Breyfogle traveled nor th, almost as ifby instin ct, toward the parts of Nevadahe knew, the Big Smokey Valley, Genevaand Aust in .

One night he was again attacked by In-dians. Struck on the head and left fordead, he was injured to the point of laterhaving a faltering mem ory, but he didnot die. And, the Indians did not get hisgold.

On he walked. Incredibly, he walkedfor more than 100 miles until he was dis-covered by a rancher near Austin.

That spring and summer he recoveredfrom his ordeal and, in the fall of 1864,he returned with friends to f ind his gold-en bonanza. The red hill could not befound. The mesquite tree could not befound. The gold could not be found. The

\ two-story concrete school building was completed in January of 7909 at a cost of$20,000. Although designed for 400 students, it never housed more than 80.

fo l lowing spr ing, he and others returned . Again, no luck. For f ive years, untilhis death, Charles Breyfogle searched.He searched the Funeral Mountains, hesearched Boundary Canyon, he searchedthe Amargosa Desert. He searchedsouth beyond Death Valley, north intoNevada, and west as far as the PanamintValley. His golden ledge remained lost.Others searched. And, perhaps, someare searching to this day. Stil l , it is saidthe Breyfogle gold is out there some-where, wait ing to be found.

So goes the legend of the Lost Brey-fogle. Or, does it? Read any other ac-count of the Lost Breyfogle and you willread at least a slightly d ifferent version.There are authors who say it was notCharles who lost the gold, but his broth-er, Jacob. It is said he was travelingsouth from Geneva, north from Los An-geles, or even west from Las Vegas. W ashe with Southerners, with friends, oralone? How many Indian attacks werethere, if any? From where, to where, wasBreyfogle traveling when he found hisfabulous gold? And on, and on go thequestions about the Lost Breyfogle.

Of all the questions surrounding theLost Breyfogle, though, one must standout above the others. Has the gold beenfound?

Although most lost mine enthusiastssay- that the Brey fogle has not beenfound (and what lost mine enthusiastwould give up the Lost Breyfogle?) thereare those who say it has. Various peoplehave claimed that such Death Valleymines as the Keane Wonder or ChlorideCliff are really the Breyfogle. There havebeen claims made that the Johnniestrike, to the north, were really discover-ies of the same gold found before by aman named Breyfogle.

A nd , there are those who say that inAugust of 1904, Frank (Shorty) Harrisand Ed Cross found the Breyfogle in thehills, beyond Daylight Pass, at the north-ern end of the Amargosa Desert. In thatmonth, and on that spot right in themiddle of Breyfogle country, they madethe gold discovery they called the Bul l -f rog, the strike that was to create a cityon the edge of Death Valley, the city ofRhyolite.

In J uly of 1904, Shorty Har ris celebrat-ed his 47th birthday at the Keane Won-der Mine in the Funeral Mountains ofDeath Valley. More than 30 of his yearshad been spent as a full or part-time


19/48

prospector. Yet, he had had little suc-cess. He always seem ed to reach thegold country a little too late. The storywas I he same when he reached theKeane Wonder that summer. The goodclaims were already gone.

Fc and his friend, Ed Cross, decidedthat they might as well return to Cold-f ield and do some prospecting along theway W ith their pack anima ls, they madetheir way along the foothil ls of the Fun-era l . , into the mountains through Boun-dary Canyon, past Daylight Spring andinto the Amargosa Desert. According toHarris, the pair camped and he andCro each wen t out p rosp ecting . H arrisfound a quartz ledge and broke off apie< e. He could no t believe wha t he saw.The rock was heavily flecked with gold.He broke off more pieces of the quartz.Each was as full of gold as the first.Shcily Harris had made his strike!Ed Cross later said that it was he whohac made the initial discovery, but itdoes not matter. The two men put up amonument together and shared theclaim. They did not even look around fora rii her outcrop. One claim was enough!Quickly they loaded samples on theirbun us and moved on to Goldfield to haveth e ore assayed. They found out that theore was worth more than $600 per ton. Itseemed that B ullfrog was to be a bonan-za il l major proportions.

Shorty Harris was not a quiet m an. Heenjnved his l iquid refreshment, and heenjiyed talking. It was not long until thewon I was out and the rush was on .

I n 1 9 0 4 , N e va d a h a d "Go ld f ie ldf e v ' i . " Were those hil ls, now known asthe I ullfro g Hill s, to be the site of anoth-er < .oldfield? Or even another Com-sto< k? In the fal l of 1904, the mi nin g men(evi'ii the storekeepers and clerks) ofNev.ida did not wait to find out. Itseemed as if half the people in the stateweir moving to the Amargosa. By theend of September, there were m ore than100 ( ampers on the desert between theoripnal Bullfrog claim and the BeattyRanch. Within six months, the popula-t ion of the district was approaching1,000.

The f irst to arrive were prospectors.M oi c than 1,000 claim notices were scat-tered through the Bullfrog Hills. Namessuch as the Tram p Consolidated, the Na-tion.il Bank, the Senator Stewart and theCibi alter became part of the m ining leg-end 'if the northern Amargosa as claims

The Porter Brothers' Store was completed at a cost of nearly $10,000 in 7906. ThePorters brought their f irst load of merchandise from Randsburg in April of 1905.became mines. Although the OriginalBullfrog was probably the most famousmine in the area, the Montgomery-Sho-shone was certainly the richest.

E. A. (Bob) Montgomery was one ofthe early prospectors on the scene in theBullfrog Hills. He, and an Indian namedJohnny, f i led a number of claims. O ne ofthese, located on what is now calledMontgomery Mounta in, became theMontgomery-Shoshone. Bob Montgom-ery sold his interest to Pittsburgh steeltycoon, Charles M. Schwab, for a report-ed $2,000,000. The mine, in t u rn , pro-duced more than that amount for Schwaband the other stockholders.

Other mines, such as the Tramp Con-solidated, on Bonanza Mountain did notproduce much gold, but they were veryprofitable for their promoters. TheTramp was purchased for $150,000.Then, stock in the mine was sold to thepublic for $2,000,000. Little ore wastaken from the Tramp. No dividend wasever paid. An d the company quietly wentout of business.

Neither Shorty Harris nor Ed Crossdid nearly as well as Bob Montgomerydid with his mine, nor as the stock pro-moters did with some of the other pro-perties. Ed Cross sold his interest in theOrigin al Bullfrog for a reported $25,000.

Harris apparently had a few too manydrinks one night and sold his interest foras little as $500.

Mines brought miners to the district.Miners, in t u rn , brought families. Over-night, settlements sprang up on thedesert. Some lasted just a few days,some much longer. Beatty is now a com -mercial center and is alive and wel l .Amargosa, Orion and Bonanza diedquickly and went quietly into the historybooks. The demise of Bullfrog took a lit-tle longer. Another, in its day, grew tosubstantial stature only to suffer a pain-ful death. Rhyolite was the boom town.

If hope for a bonanza brought peopleto the Bullfrog Hills, mine promotionsustained them. Rhyolite was a citywhich , in reality, was built on paper. Thepaper stock certificates of mine specu-lation. Yet, the people of Rhyolite believ-ed the promoters and built a city to en-dure.

In January, 1905, the town was laidout along the slopes of the desert foot-hills, about half-way between the Or ig-inal Bullfrog and the Montgomery-Sho-shone. Business lots were then offered,free, to merchants in nearby settle-ments. Finally, lots were put up for sale.

Continued on Page 38


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Head fortheAlamo!(Arizona)

by MAR Y FRANCES STRONGPhotos by Jerry S trong

" E

20 - ' .

EN D EZVOU S AT AL AMO" w aoften the cry of early-day outlawas they parted com pany to escap

lawmen. Few of the latter would attempto apprehend renegades once they entered the rugged Bill Will iams Country iwest-central Arizona. This vast, forbidding land was home to outlaws and prospectors for many years. A man's gun sett led most disputes.

Its remoteness has protected the prvacy of Bil l Will iams Country. In spite omining activities since the 1870s and development of numerous cattle ranchesthe region has rem ained little known Siyears ago, this all began to changeToday, more and more recreationists arsaying, "Let 's head for the AlamoArzona, that is!"

In the early days, Artillery Peak was themain landmark for refuge-seeking outlaws and prospectors searching for goldin the vast Bill W illiams Coun try. F romthis summit, it is less than a mile northto a good jasp-agate and sagenite agatecollecting area.


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> > ^ . ^ r - ^ ^ "K

' : P - ' . , . . . * " ' ' . -

Above: Alamo Lake State Park offers several types of cam ping facilities includingtent and picnic areas. Self-contained units may park along the lakeside. Full hook-up and cement pads for trailers are provided on a terrace above the lake. Right:Thr Alamo Lake region offers the scenic beauty of a Sonoran Desert Zone. Thesay.uaro assumes many interesting and diverse forms

( utting across this section of Arizonafrom east to west, the Bill W ill iam s Riverrushes to a junction with the ColoradoRiver near Parker Dam. Fed by the BigSandy and Santa Maria Rivers, plusnumerous intermittent creeks, it is themam drainage channel through an ex-tremely arid land. True to the tradit ion ofdesert rivers, it f luctuates with the sea-son -a t iny stream during dry periodsand , i raging torrent following infrequentstorms.

In 1968, the Army Corps of Engineersde< ided to dam the Big Williams River atAlamo in order to control heavy flooddamage on the lower Colorado River.Th>' result is an outstanding "waterpai k" in the Arizon a State Park System .

Alamo Lake State Park provides finelakeside camping sites, plus full-hookuptrailer pads in a nearly prist ine desertsetting. Behind the dam is a 500-acrelak> where fishing, water sports andDes.'t 1/Novemher 7974

swim ming may be enjoyed. It also makesan excellent base camp from w hich to ex-plore this remote and fascinating sectionof Arizona. Old mines, mill sites, ghosttowns, 4WD trails, scenic drives androck collecting make the Alamo Regionan ideal winter vacation area for desertenthusiasts.

We arrived at Alamo Lake in mid-No-vember. It had seemed almost sacre-ligious to have followed a paved roadalong a route that had once been roughand sandy over most of its 35-milelength. After registering and selectingthe luxury of full-hookups, we returnedto Park Headquarters to study theirseveral displays. Then, l ike most visit-ors, we drove up to the dam and enjoyedthe view of the lake and surroundingcountry.

It had been a cloudy day , but as we satdown to dinner the clouds began lif t ing.Rays from the late-afternoon sun bathed

red-volcanic peaks in an almost ethereal,pinkish glow. Now quiet, the blue-greenlake waters were polka-dotted with mi-grant v isitors d ucks, geese, seag ulls,coots, dowitchers and great blue herons.A variety of shorebirds were busily seek-ing food along the water's edge. Severalboats were heading across the lakewhere stands of reed and cattail offeredgood f ishing grounds.

Looking from our trailersite with aview, Art i l lery Peak seemed to ride highin the sky and blazed in the reflectedlight. It was easy to see why it had serv-ed as the main landmark for early trav el-ers in this unmapped region. We hopedon the morrow it would serve us as wellwhen we would try to locate a gem f ie ld,reportedly near its base.

Morning found us heading north.Broken cumulus clouds were spreadacross the sky and shafts of the sun'srays streaked through at every opp ortun-

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Occasional pieces of petrified wood may be found as float scattered over this ge neralarea, two miles east of Alamo Road in Bill W illiams Country.ity. We jogged eastward, then onceagain turned north to ford the Bill Wil-liams River at Brown's Crossing. OldAlamo Crossing is now under the lake.The wide river bed told of times lesstranquil, but this day found a smallstream of water floundering over sandyexpanses on its way to the man-madelake.

Once across the river bed, our roadquickly climbed into the hil ls. Weslopped at an old mill site and lookedover some manganese o re . Dur ingW orl d W ar 11, a great deal of this impor-tant element was mined in the RawhideMountains. Later, large quantities werestockpiled at Wenden for reserve use.

The road was gradually climbing as itled us through scenic back-country.Nearly five miles from the river wereached a sum mit a ffording a full view ofArtillery Peak. Jerry was setting up histripod on the opposite side of the roadwhen he remarked, "Better look aroundover here, i see agate and jasper f rag-ments on the ground. This might be thelocation we are looking fo r. " I hastilyshoved the cork back into the the rmo s. A22

coffee break could wait. I scrambled upthe hillside and found it covered withsmall pieces of beautiful jasp-agate inbril l iant colors.

The specimens, however, were notlarge enough to cut, so we decided totravel a l it t le farther no rth. "T he collect-ing area is due west of Ar till ery Pe ak, "we had been to ld . Less than a mile fromthe summit, agate rocks were spottedalong the roadside. We parked in a con-venient pull-out area and found our-selves in a gem f ie ld . A fire ring andcastoff specimens told of earlier rock-hound visitors.

This locale is reminiscent of manysuch deposits of jasp-agate on the Mo-jave Deser tplen ty o f mate r ia l infloat some good color and qualitylotsof junkite. Collecting has been minimal,and the major field of m aterial seemed tobe on the hillside west of the road. How-ever, we did not explore all the poten-t ials.

Walking up a small ravine, I picked uptwo nice chunks of sagenite agate. Theywere just dark rocks and I don't knowwhy they caught my eye. Cutt ing reveal-

ed beautiful interiors of pastel blue andlavender agate with inclusions of white,beige and coral sagenite. The latter isdense and resembles material from theOwlhead Mountain deposit near DeathValley, California.

We had stopped and "browsed" so of-ten along the way, the day had quicklypassed. Plans to visit the ghost camps ofRawhide and Signal would have to wait afew days. Tomorrow, we would hunt forpetrif ied wood.

Great billows of clouds roamed theskies over the Alamo Region all duringour stay. We enjoyed watching theirchanging shape and the brief periods ofsunshine they allowed. This was wildand wonderful country with wide andcolorful skies.

Looking for wood, we took a trail lead-ing east, just prior to Brown's Crossing.We drove along, stopping at each roadfork to make a decision on which one tofollow and to look over the float. Eventu-ally, we ended up on a small hillto p over-looking the junction of the Big Sandy andSanta Maria Rivers with the Bill Wil-l iams. There were bits of agate and jas-per scattered around and one chalcedonyrose but, so far, no wood.

After lunch, we started back andstopped in a small valley where a sideroad headed northerly. Almos t sim ultan-eously, we each picked up a small,brown limb section. Scouting around dis-closed many such specimens throughoutthe immediate area. I wouldn't say theywere plentiful, but we could have easilyfilled our rocksacks. Sizes varied fromtwo to five inches in length. They are alittle difficult to see, as they blend wellwith the country rock.

The exteriors w ere of two types deepiron-brown and very light tan, almostbeige. While not too exciting on the sur-face, cutting disclosed the dark brownspecimens showed good grain pattern inshades of brown, red and pink. Thel igh te r spec imens showed beaut i fu lwood grain (reminiscent of the "f igw o o d " of Last Chance Canyon on theMojave Desert). Quality of the materialwas excellentvery f ine-grained. Thiswas a bit of a surprise, since the exteriorgave the impression of only specimenmater ia l . "You can't be sure until youcut it" is a good rule to follow.

We no longer collect more than a half-dozen, high-graded specimens from a lo-cation. One or two for our limb-section


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collection and, when it is good cutt ingmater ia l , a few specimens for this pur-pose. After many years of collecting lo-c.ilion andqual i ty, notquant i tyare themost important considerations.

Returning to thepickup, I waswalkingalong the roadside and idly kicked at aprotruding, rounded rock. I darn nearbroke my toe when it didn ' t budge. Itried to pry it outno luck, it was evi-dently of fair size. Jerry came to my res-cue and in a fewminutes wehad exposeda large limb section weighing about 65pounds!

Rockhounds visiting this locale shouldfine ample small specimens. Take only afe w and leave some for other collectorsto f ind. Keep in mind , there is a l imit onthe amount of petrif ied wood you are al-ii iwed tocollect. No doubt further explor-alions will disclose other sizable speci-mens of petrif ied wood, as well as othergem f ields in the Alamo area.

The intermittent use of what is nowknown asBill Will iams Country seems tohave begun w ith the prehistoric Halche-domas Indians. They planted crops inI.ivorable sites along the river's f loodplain. The Hualapais Indians, from thenorth, are also believed to have visitedthe region for the same purposes. Manypotsherds andpoints of agate andchert,left by these early visitors, have beenfound. A few are on display at AlamoPark Headquarters.

The river was named after the famedMountain Man" Wil l iam Shir ley Wil-

liams. Originally from North Carolina,Bi l l" Williams lived among the Indians

for many years andaccepted their cus-toms andbeliefs. Eventually, he driftedwest where his expertise as a guide,hunter andtrapper gained his fame. Bi l lIs said to h a v e a l s o e n g a g e d in a l i t t l e< . it t le ru stling and scalp hunt ing. He methis demise at the hands of " Ind ianf l lends" in 1849.

The camp of Alamo served prospec-lors and miners following the discoveryol gold and copper in 1868. It was themain river crossing along the old roadl iom Wenden to Kingman unt i l the late

>0s when Highway 93 was completed.J m Rodger 's Mil l wasbui l t on a bluff

,il>ove the l i t t le sett lement and itprocessed ores from various propertieslor many years. Its last run was in1941.\ leisurely drive around the area willdisclose the old sites and ruins of manyearly-day activit ies.I vsert/November 1974

AlamoCountryArizonaToday, Alamo provides the recreation-

ist just about everything hewill need foran outstan ding desert v acation w atersports, fishing, rock- collecting, birdwatching, exploring old trails, hiking orjust rest and relaxation in a Sonorandes-ert sett ing. October through May are theideal months atAlamo. For those who donot mind heat, summer temperatures of100-plus can always be countered by apleasant swim in the lake.

This remote section of desert countryis readily accessible, yet provides excit-ing recreation and exploration, plus the

quiet peacefulness of desert nights.Perhaps I had better amend the laststatement. It is very quiet except for theraucous braying of wild burros who tourthe campground all night . Thesounds ofnature arealways pleasing to hear andwe enjoyed being lulled to sleep by theiroff-key serenades.

The enjoyment of watching the anticsof the wily l it t le burros, whohave madethis region their home, was but one ofthe many reasons wewere glad we hadheaded for the AlamoArizona, thais .

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Famous Scotty's Castleis one of Death Valley'sgreat attractions.Photo by Ed Cooper.

by CHUCK GEBHARDT

m LTHOUCH THE geological and na-LJ tural phenomena of Death Valley are[ij undetectably slow in their changingfeatures, the man-made edif ices andother inroads marking civil ization's en-croachment are rapidly varying.

Amid budget cuts, manpower short-ages and the energy crisis, the peoplethat live and work in Death Valley haveeffected some changes to roads, build-ings and services. In addition to theseval id a l terat ions, the vis i t ing "pothunt-e r s " and "graf f i t i ar t ists" have contr i-buted their share to the modif ication ofvar ious h is to r ic and na tu ra l s i testhroughout the Valley.

Should you happen upon the time andgasoline to visit Death Valley, the veryfirst noticeable change are the entrancesigns at the Monument boundaries. Theoriginal signs were engraved, brassplaques set into native stone and now re-placed by attractively engraved woodpanels. The three-foot by eight-foot pan-els of green-grey with white lettering24

rest upon a three -foot-h igh stone base. Amountain scenic, etched across the largepanel, depicts the typical terra in encoun-tered when entering the Monument fromeast or west. The signs on CreenwaterJeep Road, Big Pine Road and otherfour-wheel-drive entrances remain thesame.

In the past year, the familiar emergen-cy water tanks along the highway passeshave put on a new coat. The striking in-ternational orange color has been chang-ed to a dark gr een. Since these tanks arefor emergency water and most oftenplaced at the higher elevations wherebrushland is prominent, it is diff icult tosee the tanks with the almost-camou-flage color.

Many visitors to the Valley might re-call the corrugated roads that providedaccess to some of the more popularsights, and how that visitor in the pas-senger car wished his car was a Jeep. Asof this year, you m igh t just need a speci-ally-sprung vehicle. The roads to Natural

Bridge, Desolation Canyon, Titus Can-yon, Mosaic Ca nyon, Grotto Canyon andthe West Side Road sport the newpicture symbol signs. The signs depict apassenger car with a broad, red linethrough it and above is a picture of aJeep. The broad, red line is the symbolrepresenting "N O ! " A good portion ofthese roads, at one time considered ac-ceptable for passenger vehicles, havebeen reclassified as Jeep roads. T his has



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come about primarily because of budgetand manpower reductions in the ParkService. Major road changes permit thePark Service to reduce or eliminatemaintenance and patrols in these areas.

Despite the Jeep road designation, the1974 Easter season saw a large numberof passenger cars of all types successful-ly travel through Titus Canyon and theWest Side Road. If you should entertainthe idea of driving a passenger car alongDesert/November 1974

these reclassified roads, it is strongly re-commended that the Park Service becontacted for road condit ions. As an ex-ample, the Na tural Bridg e road was onceslightly corrugated, but now is extremelybumpy and severely ridged. Exaggerat-ed corrugations along West Side Roadfrom the Trail Canyon turnoff to CinderHi ll make it a risky trip for all but 4W D.The high crown of the road to TitusCanyon along the 12 miles of the Amar-

gosa Desert has not greatly improved, soyou should notify someone of any intend-ed trip along back-country roads.

There have been two changes at Scot-ty's Castle of minor consequence to thevisitor. The Park Service now conductsthe Castle tours for the same price andscheduled t imes as previous. What isdifferent about the Service-conductedtours is the length of tour t ime and de-scriptive talk along the way. During a

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canyon [or wash.'] in the beautiful foothills of the Black Mountains.particular heavy visitor load at EasterWeek '7 4, the average tour consumed 57minutes. Prior to the Service-conductedtours, the average time was about 36minutes.Some of you might remember the per-sonable young people a few years agoconducting the tours with dispatch and adescript ive talk almost in a monotone.The Service personnel talk with gustoand excitement, and make it seem asthough the events' of the past were hap-pening at that moment. Their informa-tion is updated and relatively accurate.

On another note, the concessions atthe Castle are now being operated byTWA Services. What once was the curioshop/snack bar is now a much largercurio shop handling Navajo rugs, Indianjewelry, books f i lm and assorted gif ts.The snack bar is located around thecorner and above the curio shop. TheUnion 76 gas station is in operation forgas only, with no other automotive ser-vices available.

Depend ing on how long you have beenaw.iy from the Valley, large changeshave taken place in the campgroundare.is. Texas Springs, Furnace Creekand Sunset Campgrounds are enlargedconsiderably. The exposed, open area of26

Sunset Campground, primarily develop-ed for trailers, motor homes and pickupcampers, now has a capacity for about1,000 vehicles. In fact, the 49er Encam p-ment of 1973 saw 1,120 vehiclescrammed into this rocky plain withothers looking for space. A new road hasbeen cut through the Furnace CreekCampground just north of the VisitorCenter to reduce congestion of traffic infront of the museum. Texas SpringsCampground has the upper level fullycompleted and both levels can now ac-commodate over 100 camping groups.Shade is still at a premium at all camp-sites. Stovepipe Wells Vil lage Camp-ground is a litt le larger, reportably hold-ing up to 500 vehicles. Mesquite SpringsCam pgroun d, about three miles south ofMesquite Junction, is expanded toalmost 100 sites and extends up to theedge of Death Valley Wash. Camp-ground fees are $1.00 at Texas Springs,Furnace Creek, Sunset and StovepipeWells. Mesquite Springs Campground atthe north end of the Valley has a $2.00camp fee.

Several campgrounds of considerablepopularity have been closed to the publicfor years, and a few recently restrictedfor use. Competely closed are Midway

We l l , Bennett 's We l l , Saratoga Springsand Sand Dunes Campgrounds. Most ofall these areas were overused and clos-ure was just a matter of time. Perhapsthe saddest of all was the Midway Wellshutdown, a 10-site campground on thenortheast edge of Mesq uite Flat and f ivemiles south of Titus Canyon exit road.Low sandhills scattered about were de-corated by spreading mesquite treeswhich shaded visitors from the gatheringheat of the spring sun. The old-fashionedhand pump setting atop its cement plat-form served as a miniature communitycenter as campers chatted while theypumped water for one another for suppercleanup.

In the spring of 1971, Mid wa y We llhad upwards of 200 campers fanned outwell beyond the 10-site campgroundcaus ing cons ide rab le env i r o nm en t a ldamage to the local sensitive terrain.The Park Service, unable to remove theexcess campers, bladed over the entryroad at the close of the season and re-moved all signs relating to the camp-ground. One can still see the black wellcasing left behind and a few dilapidatedpicnic benches b ut if you are not veryfamiliar with its former location, MidwayWell Campground is nonexistent.

Saratoga Springs Campground suffer-ed a similar fate in addition to problemsarising within, and because of its pecul-iar natural setting. This delicate area isthe home of one of four species of the en-demic pupfish , a migratory bird stop andthe only place in the Valley with enoughsurface water to qualify as a lake. Theair here is usually cooler due to the high-er hum idity, and the colorful Ibex Mou n-tains make an attract ive background todraw visitors.

Since campsites were not rigidly es-tabl ished, campers were free to parkthemselves and equipment where theychose. Some of the choices made by thecampers were, unfortunately, in deli-cately-balanced natural terrain near theponds or pupfish h abitats. The surround -ing hills were becoming scarred by manytrails of man and machine. Soon, thecampground area began to spread out ofproportion to its intended capacity. Clos-ing of the campground was inevitable.

The Tamarisk, or athel, trees in andaround Saratoga Springs were introduc-ed and cult ivated by man and not naturalto the area. Close observation of theseathe l t rees revea ls an unseeming ly


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massive leaf surface which transpireswater at an alarming rate. The numberof 11 ees, coupled with their transpirationrai l ' , have resulted in more water beinglosi than can be supplied by numeroussprings and underground water systems.Consequently, the Park Service mustremove all or part of the trees to con-serve the natural water supply so de-pended upon by the pupfish and migra-toi \ birds. Saratoga Springs is now a re-stru ted day use area and may be reach-ed along a mild 4WD road six milesnoi ih of the Harry Wade exit from High-w a \ 127.

'^nce the Spring '73 season, FurnaceCreek Ranch has undergone a majorfai ( l if t ing. At the front driveway into theRanch, the inconspicuous shack hasbeen replaced by a conspicuous redwoodbuilding housing administration and re-servation offices. On your left, as youenier the main gateway, the old Ranchhad an aud itorium , store, lobby, cafeter-ia and the Corkscrew Lounge. Now com-ing in the main entrance on your left is asmall gazebo-style ice cream stand onthe patio. Walking on through and look-ing left you will see the new store, res-tamant, cafe, the old cafeteria and theCoi kscrew Lounge now closed to thepublic. The restaurant has table andcounter service, and also doubles as acol lee shop u ntil 8:30 P .M . Past the res-ta i I I ant and on the site of the old lobby isthe cafe, complete with bar, tables andsell lights. Following the cafe is the cafe-tei la doing a landslide business, as usu-al Even with the new restaurant, thebreakfast and supper lines at the cafe-teria in season have diminished onlyslightly.

( ither changes that have taken place inaruI around the Valley are more subtle;none were solicited, paid for, or wanted.Check the salt pool at Badwater; see allthn'.e large rocks? Parents looked onwiile their three children hauled theroi Is to the pool and g leefu lly threwt hem. When approached with this af-front to a natural landmark, the fatherremarked, "What d id i t hurt?" Howabout the Dayton-Ha rris gravesite wherethere was a stone on either side of themonument, each stone with their namepainted in white. Now there is only theDayton stone someone made off wit hHarris'. Remember the beautiful bronzeplaque bolted to the cement table atDante's View? It was whisked away a

One of the many branch canyons of the Black Mou ntain area which show evidence off low path of some rushing stream of water.couple of years ago. The Val N olan head-stone that you now see is the fourth sincethe original. The Park Service has re-placed the last three that were stolen.Did you ever notice that all of the head-stones were missing from the Skidoograveyard? And what do you supposethe two m en did with tha t three-foot saltpinnacle they had broken off at Devil's

Colfcourse and loaded into their pickup?Wel l , people will be people and there

are not enough rangers to go around.The bulk and complexity of the Valleyworks to dampen the punit ive efforts ofthat man called Americanus boobus.Death Valley and its geological, histori-cal and natural phenomena will remainunchanged despite man.

I n t h e h e a r t o fD E A T H V A L L E Y

HistoricS T O Y E P I P E W E L L S Y I L L A 6 ECentrally located as a base from which to visit Death Valley's numerouspoints of interest. Stay with us and enjoy comfort and friendly serviceas you tour the area.

Luxurious new units Bea utiful new dinin g room , cocktail loungeGift Shop Heated Pool General Store Service Station

Landing Strip CampgroundWRITE OR CALL:

Death Valley, California 92328 Area Code 714 Stove Pipe Wells # 1 Toll Station


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I r

Photos depict the groupat various pointsalong the route.WE WALKED A

by GEORGE LEETCH

Synopsis: Last month the authortold of the origination of the idea tofollow an old mission trail in a re-mote portion of Baja California, in-cluding the preparations and aerialreconnaissance prior to making thehike. This month finds our sixhardy backpackers ready for thechallenge.

T HE A IR f l ig ht had passed quickly andwithin four short hours after leavingthe Borrego Desert we were circlingover Loreto, the first capital of Baja Cali-fornia. The revving motor had announc-ed our arrival to our friend Paula Davisfor we could see her waving to us out infront of her Casa Casi.

She had prepared an exotic lunch ofse.i turtle steak, fresh clams and succu-lent papayas, and as we ate we talked211

about our backpack adventure which wassoon to begin.That afternoon we would drive in

Paula's truck to Ensenada Blanca, a bay20 miles south of Loreto near the Liguimission t ra i l . Provision had been madeat this point for two fishermen to meet uswith their boat. The sea voyage part ofour journey would take us down the gulfcoast to Agua Verde. At that remote vil-lage we would shoulder our packs andcommence the return trip along the an-cient Ligui mission t ra i l . If our estimatesproved correct, we should arrive at En-senada Blanca and Paula's pickup trucksometime on the third day out of AguaVerde.

We camped that night on the clean,sandy shore. Juan and Manuel Vialejo,the two fishermen who would carry ussouth, motored in with their boat later inthe evening. The two brothers wereagreeable, capable young men and itwas a pleasure to have their company.They elected to spend the night aboardtheir boat anchored a few hundred feetout in the bay where the moon reflected

on the smooth surface of the water andthe silence was broken occasionally bythe splash of leaping f ish.

We were up in the morning before thesun and fumbled through a hurriedbreakfast in the darkness. Our gear waspacked and sleeping bags rolled, butdawn revealed our boat was still bobbingat anchor with no signs of our boatmen.We shouted and f lashed our l ights untilJuan and Manuel paddled ashore. Whilewe impatiently stowed the equipmentthey explained that it was much saferand easier to travel after daylight. Themorning was made for such a trip as oursand I wouldn't have traded places withanyone in the world as we crossed thebay and headed down the coast.

The boat was a sturdy craft, 18 feet inlength and broad of beam. At f irst, wewere apprehensive that it wasn't bigenough to safely carry eight of us alongwith the cargo of packs, food and water.Manuel assured us, however, that theboat was built for heavy loads and theyoften hauled over a ton of f ish. The 40-horse-power motor seemed to push it


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MISSION TRAILeasily through the water so we all satb.ic k to relax and enjoy the ^cen ery.

I he towering cliffs were painted ochreb\ I he early m orn ing sun and their for-tress-like appearance was broken occa-s iona l ly by ha l fmoon bays, sandyb


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"Scouting party withoutOASIS Canteen B ad Trip."

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Oasis Canteens come in 5 sizes, 3stylesand in 2mater ia ls . . .12 models fromwhich to cfioose . . . acanteen to suit, every n e e d . Priced as lo w as $2.59.II not available atyour local SportingGoods, Hardware orDepartment Storeswrite forFREE Catalogand Mail Order Information./ / f S / S CANTEENSMANUfACTURfD 8/M. E. SHAW A SONS

P.O. BOX 3 1 4 2 8 , LOS A N G E LE S , C A L I F . 9 0 0 3 1

B U R I E D T R E A S U R ELOCATE ITFROM \A LONG DISTANCEV

With my sensitive 1i l DIRECTIONAL LOCATOR

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Looking back down the trail.eral hundred feet, the

197411 Desert Magazine 1974 November

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Transcript of 197411 Desert Magazine 1974 November