NOVEMBER, 1946 ANNIVERSARY NUMBER 25 CENTS

DESERT CRESTED IGUANA GILA MONSTER

Winner of first prize in Desert Magazine's September Second prize winner was Claire Meyer Proctor of
"Reptile" contest is this photograph taken by Dr. R. B. Phoenix, Arizona.
Cowles of Los Angeles. This iguana is part of the "zoo" Photos of merit purchased from contestants for future
of the biological laboratory at the University of Cali- use in Desert included an Alligator lizard and a Side-
fornia, Los Angeles. This is a floodlight photo taken with winder by Dr. Cowles, and a Scorpion photographed by
a Contox. Harry W. Dacquet near Daggett, California.
 DESERT

• Toney Richardson has spent most of

his life in the Navajo country. His father
is trader at the Inscription House trading
post near Tonalea, and Hubert Richard-
son of the Cameron trading post is his
uncle. Toney not only speaks, but can
think in Navajo. During the past 10 years
he has written 40-odd western fiction
novels, most of them published in Eng-
land. Following his return from the
South Pacific a year ago where he served Volume 10 NOVEMBER, 1946 Number 1
as a naval officer, he decided he wanted
to do some writing for the "slick" maga-
zines, and he selected DESERT as his COVER PETROGLYPHS O N C A N O P Y ROCK, s o u t h e a s t Utah.
first choice of markets. So—this month Photo b y R a n d a l l H e n d e r s o n .
we print the first of a series of feature
stories written by a man who really PHOTOGRAPHY Prize w i n n e r s in S e p t e m b e r contest 2
knows the Navajo country. Gladwell
Richardson is his real name—but to CLOSE-UPS Notes on Desert contributors 3
DESERT readers he will be known, as he
is known to his close friends—as Toney. CALENDAR N o v e m b e r e v e n t s on the desert 3

INDIANS Last P o w w o w of the N a v a j o

DESERT CALENDAR By RICHARD VAN VALKENBURGH . . . 4

Nov. 2—State conference of Centennial HUMOR
beautification committees, Hotel Utah, H a r d Rock Shorty of D e a t h V a l l e y 7
Salt Lake City. To plan campaigns to LOST MINES
prepare and beautify state for Centen- 'Lost P e g l e g Gold is not a Myth'
nial observance in July, 1947. By HENRY E. W . W I L S O N 8
Nov. 2-6—28th annual livestock show, CONTEST Rules for N o v e m b e r p h o t o g r a p h contest . . . 10
Ogden, Utah. At Ogden Union stock-
yards. EXPLORATION G l y p h Hunters in the I n d i a n Country
Nov. 6-9—Annual Turkey show, Hemet,
California. By RANDALL HENDERSON 11
Nov. 9-11—Sierra Club, Southern Cali-
fornia, led by Frank A. Schilling, will CARTOON J a l o p y Joe, b y FRANK A D A M S 16
visit Parker Dam and vicinity.
Nov. 8-17—Arizona state fair, Phoenix. ART OF LIVING Desert Refuge, b y MARSHAL SOUTH . . . . 17
Special exhibits by Mineralogical So-
ciety of Arizona. HELD TRIP W h e r e Tree Stumps T u r n e d to Stone
Nov. 15-17 — Branding - time rodeo,
Tucson, Arizona. Junior chamber of By TONEY RICHARDSON 19
commerce.
Nov. 17—Annual all-breed dog show, MINING
Palm Springs. American Legion. Current n e w s briefs . . . .• 22
Nov. 17-18—Fall rodeo and show, Palo NEWS
Verde Rodeo and Livestock associa- Here a n d There on the Desert 23
tion, Blythe, California. TRUE OR FALSE
Nov. 30-Dec. 1—Show of minerals, A test of y o u r desert k n o w l e d g e 26
gems, lapidary and fluorescence by San LAPIDARY
Fernando Valley Mineral and Gem A m a t e u r G e m Cutter, b y LELANDE QUICK . . 28
society, North Hollywood Recreation
center, 5301 Tujunga Ave., North HOBBY
Hollywood. Gems a n d Minerals 29
• • • BOOKS
Review of Southwest b o o k s 36
HUNTING SEASONS
COMMENT
Nov. 1-17 —• Deer season throughout
Just Between You a n d Me, b y the Editor . . . 38
Arizona, except Kaibab North national
forest. Desert mule deer south of Gila LETTERS
river, Nov 11-17 only. C o m m e n t from Desert r e a d e r s 39
Nov. 1-17—Turkey season in specified
The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Press, Inc., 636 State
Arizona national forest areas. Street, El Centro, California. Entered as second class matter October 11, 1937, at the
Nov. 10-21—Regular big game season, post office at El Centro. California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title registered No.
New Mexico. Apply State Game War- 358865 in U. S. Patent Office, and contents copyrighted 1946 by the Desert Press, Inc. Permis-
sion to reproduce contents must be secured -from the editor in writing.
den, Santa Fe.
Nov. 20-Dec. 4—Elk hunt, Arizona. Ap- RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor. LUCILE HARRIS, Associate Editor.
plications during October: H. L. Reid, BESS STACY, Business Manager.
director Arizona Game and Fish com- Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledged
mission, Phoenix. unless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility for damage
or loss of manuscripts or photographs although due care will be exercised. Subscribers should
Nov. 23-Jan. 6—Ducks, geese, mudhens, send notice of change of address by the firBt of the month preceding issue. If address is un-
California counties of San Bernardino, certain by that date, notify circulation department to hold copies.
Riverside and Imperial. Same dates, SUBSCRIPTION RATES
New Mexico. One year . . . $3.00 Two years . . . $5.00
Nov. 26-Dec. 15—Scaled or Gambel Canadian subscriptions 25c extra, foreign 50c extra.
quail, New Mexico. Pheasants, special Subscriptions to Army personnel outside U.S.A. must be mailed in conformity with
New Mexico areas only, Nov. 23-25. P.O.D. Order No. 19687.
Address correspondence to Desert Magazine, 636 State St., El Centra, California.

NOVEMBER, 1946
 Navajo raid on the Mexican settlement o\ Cubero, led by Manuelito, as envisioned by
Charles Keetsie Shirley, Navajo artist.

Last Powow of the Navajo

Headmen of the Navajo tribe were assembled on the plain near Chinle, chiefs who said, "Wait! We will destroy
Arizona. They were to decide between war and peace with the white men. them when the omens are right!' "
Nataleeth, the chief medicine man, presided. He counseled peace. "The sol- Old Nata had been born before 1847
diers you see at Fort Defiance." he said, "are as only one hair on the back of and was in his 90th year when he told the
a thousand fleeces. They are a great and powerful tribe." But the oratory of story. It was in 1849 that Colonel John
the war chiefs prevailed and an attack was made on Fort Defiance. Four Washington and his troops had a skirmish
years later the Navajo had been subjugated and most of them were prison- with the Navajo at Tsehootso. And it was
ers at Fort Sumner. Here is the story told by an aged Navajo who was pres- the fall of 1851 when Colonel Edwin V.
ent at the last Powwow. Sumner established Fort Defiance.
By RICHARD VAN VALKENBURGH "It was in my 12th summer that word
came to my grandfather that the chiefs had
summoned the tribe to a powwow to be
YING comfortably against the pile "Lay by these crumpled hands that pack of held at Tsin sikaad. This meant a tribal
of goatskins I had laid by a juniper cigarettes I see looking at me from your emergency. It could mean peace, or it could
/ tree, Old Nata, the Navajo, pocket. Old men don't talk well without be war. From all corners of Navajoland the
watched the twilight turn into deep blue the comfort of tobacco. Then I am going People got ready to move toward this
the sun-tanned flats of Tsin sikaad, Tree to tell you of something of which few Na- place.
Setting Up, 1 2 miles northeast of Chinle, vajo and no white men know!" "With the falling of the white blossoms
Arizona. With our fire blazing comfortably and of the carrizo my family began to leave
Finally turning to peer at me through Old Nata settling down to chain-smoke my their summer camps near the head of Naz-
slits of eyes set deep in a leathery face that cigarettes, the story was told. As it unfold- lini canyon. Led by my grandfather, who
was not unlike that of a mummy I once had ed I realized I was listening to the saga of was local headman, we moved through the
dug in the Canyon del Muerto he whis- a great Navajo and of an event long buried forest with the sun. Our travel toward the
pered, "Build up the fire. 'Tis a place of in the dust of Navajo memory. Chinle valley was slow, for we had to scout
ghosts! For it was here over one old-man's- "I was born near Tsehootso, Meadow in ahead for the enemy.
life that Nataleeth, Going to be Chief, the Rocks, or what you call Fort Defiance.
made a prophecy before the last Natch'it When I was still bound to the cradle board "I rode in the middle with the women,
or Tribal Assembly." the soldiers came. They drove my family old folks and little children. Led by fast
Right then my ears sharpened! Was this away from their hogans to hide deep in the walking bell-goats our flocks moved right
old friend, who had always been so reticent forests under Fluted Rock. My first mem- along. Strung out behind were the mules
of the past, going to talk of that last ory came while we were starting to fight loaded down with everything we needed
politico-religious assembly of the Navajo the blue-coats. for a long camp. Ahead of us, behind us,
era before the white man? Had he brought "When I had passed five winters news and on our flanks rode the warriors.
me to Tsin sikaad to give me on the spot came that the soldiers were building a log "Swinging out of the forest by 'Where
first hand information on the ceremonial and sod fort near our sacred springs at the Rat Ran Out' we crossed the Chinle
that was practically unknown to ethnolo- Tsehootso. As these springs were used by valley upstream from the mouth of Canyon
gists? our medicine men for offerings and medi- de Chelly. After striking the broken coun-
Seeming to sense my excitement there cine, the People were angry and started to try off Blackish Mountain we went north
was a trace of a smile on his face as he said, fight. But many were held back by the toward Round Rock. We did this for we

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

heard that there were soldiers camped near
the site of present Chinle.
"Just below Round Rock we again
crossed the Chinle wash traveling east.
Long before we reached this place we could
see the grey pall of smoke that hung in the
sky, for the fires were numerous. And from
this knoll upon which we now rest I had
my first sight of the assembly.
"The flat was covered with people. In
the center was a ceremonial hogan partly
under the earth. To the east there was a
cleared dance ground. Outlining this was
a fence of spruce boughs which I later
learned had been brought down from the
Lukachukai mountains.
"As my family went into the encamp-
ment we moved to the south side of the ho-
gan. This was according to the tribal status
of my grandfather who was one of the 12
Peace Chiefs. Those who followed the 12
War Chiefs were camped on the north side
of the ceremonial enclosure.
"We soon learned that runners had been
sent by the head chief of the tribe to get
medicine. He is known to white men by the
Mexican name of Sarcillas Largo. South-

NOTES ON NAVAJO WORDS

USED IN TEXT
Natch'it, naa-chit—Said by some to
refer to semi-subterranean hogan
used in ceremony. By others to re-
fer to gestures used in dance. In
this feature the word Tribal Assem-
bly or assembly is used.
Tsin sikaad. sin-see-cod—Tree stand-
ing. Common descriptive term. This
particular location is 14 miles
northeast of Chinle, Arizona.
Nataleeth—Going to be Chief. Known
in literature as Sarcillas Largo, or
Big Head.
Tsehootso. say-hoe-tso—Meadow in
the rocks. Fort Defiance, Arizona.
Bilakana, bill-eh-cana—Americans.
Nanit'ani, nah-knee-tah-knee — Old
term for natani. headman.
Ashiih. ah-she-ee—Salt.
Asdzaan, Oz-saan—Woman.
Nashtui. nash-too-ee—Wildcat.
Yanbaa, yahn-bah — Woman who
met the enemy. Common woman's
war name.
Tsegi' hastsosi—Slim rock canyon.
Common descriptive term. One re- Picture made in 1884 of Manuelito and his elder wife. Known as Naba jihlta,
ferred to in this text is that a few
miles south of Chinle, Arizona. Warrior Grabbed Enemy, he was one of the chiefs who counseled war against the
Other is northwest of Kayenta, Ari- whites. Photo courtesy Arizona Pioneers' Historical society.
zona.
Nahobdni, nah-hoe-bah-knee — Man
of war. Refers to famed war chief ward, 12 of the finest young men and "With their buckskin bags filled they
who lived during early half of 19th women of the tribe ran toward the sacred turned northward. In four days they came
century. Grandfather of Henry lake of Ashiih, the salt lake south of Zuni.
Chee Dodge on mother's side. to this place. I was among those who
Nabd jihlta — Warrior grabbed en- "Avoiding the main trails of the Zuni watched them as they ran across the flat
emy. Probably first time used in and their Mexican friends they came to the and then descended into the hogan. As
print. War name for Manuelito who white-rimmed lake. While they scooped
was commonly known in American they laid down their bags of salt the great-
era as Hastin Chilhazhin, Mr.
up the salty mud a medicine man chanted. est medicine men in the tribe began to
Blackweed. I can remember only a part of this—
chant:
Ba'ith lichii—Red Shirt. Navajo name
for Captain H e n r y Lafayette Over the Trail to The South
Dodge, agent for the Navajo (1854- We have traveled Over the Turquoise Trail
1856). Over this Trail of Beauty Over the Holy Trail
Chindi. cheendee — Ghosts or evil We have traveled to Ashiih, The Pure Youth of Navajo
spirits. Have traveled to Ashiih.
the Salt Place.

NOVEMBER, 1946
 warriors. On the Rio Grande the Mexicans
cried when we stole their women and
burned their houses. I was among those
who attacked the supply trains coming to
Fort Defiance. And in the rocks behind
'*'•' " : * v my hogans are the scalps of the enemies I
have killed.
" 'Blood revenge for my nephews who
were killed near Wide Reeds, which the
Mexicans call Pueblo Colorado, has never
been taken. Women of my family are now
slaves weaving blankets for the Mexicans.
And in the last big ripening soldiers
burned my hogans and corn fields. With
you I have suffered!'
"With this the War Chiefs' faces grew
angry. A cloud passed between the sun and
•
the earth. As a misty red light came down
on the assembly a young warrior jumped
to the side of Nataleeth. With his bow in
his hand he stood there stripped and paint-
ed just as the warriors did before they at-
tacked."
Hazarding an interruption I questioned,
Rock, three miles south of Fort Defiance. It was here in 1858 that Manuelito "Tell me something of this, Grandfather.
and his warriors attacked a wagon train supplying the fort. What did he look like?"
"All he wore was his breech clout. The
In the depths of the hogan the only light been for peace there would have been upper half of his face was painted white
came from two coals that gleamed like the digging-sticks, carrying-baskets and other while the lower was black. And across the
eyes of Nast/iii. the Wildcat. Shaking the domestic implements. front of his body were wide stripes of
turquoise in his buffalo-hide rattle, Nata- "Nataleeth lifted his hand as he rose to black, yellow and red. And on his feet
leeth, the medicineman-chief led the chant- speak, 'La, Brothers. It is seven seasons were moccasins painted black. And on the
ing from his seat on the westside of the since we held the Natch'it on the flats be- soles were painted snakes to give him the
chamber. low Tsegi'hotsosi, Thin Canyon, on the guile of that reptile.
"Against the north wall sat the aged and other side of Chinle. At this time the great "People whispered, ' 'Tis Naba jihlta,
fierce Yanbaa. the Woman Who Met the Nahabani, Man of War (now dead) called Warrior Grabbed Enemy.' This one who
Enemy. Beside this famed warrior were the us together to make war on the Mexicans was later known as Manuelito began to
six maidens who had returned with sacred and Bilakana (white) soldiers who were shout, 'We will stop this suffering. I, who
salt from Ashiih. And against the south building a fort at our sacred springs at was born in four days will lead the Navajo.
wall sat the chiefs and the six youths who Tsehootso. We will make war and drive these blue-
had accompanied the maidens." I was younger then. Agreeing to fol- eyed ones from Navajoland!'
"Between chants Natileeth instructed low the war trail I made medicine for the "Running around in circles the elo-
the girls and boys as to the significance of
their part in the ceremony, 'La! You have Fort Defiance today. It was founded in 1851 on the site of the sacred springs
been chosen from the best families of the known to the Navajo as Tsehootso. Meadow in the Rocks. It was their attack on
People. For eight nights you shall be told this fort ivhick eventually led to the complete subjugation of the Navajo.
the secrets of the Natch'it. the Powwow.
And on the ninth you shall dance for the
gods!'
"Outside in the waning moonlight a
rose glow reached into the sky from the
fusing of a thousand fires. Awed and in-
tent the People listened to the faint sound
of the chanting. And even when the grey
announced the coming of dawn the Navajo
stood waiting to learn what the new day
would bring.
"When the sun reached five fingers
above the line made by the Tonitsa range,
Nataleeth opened the Assembly. Seated in
the center of the dance ground were the 24
chiefs of the tribe. On the north sat the
War Chiefs and on the south were the
Peace Chiefs.
"Lying between them was a pile of war
gear. There were bows and arrows, lances
with sharp metal points, shields with pic-
tures of lightning, rainbows, the sun and
other things. We knew then that the As-
sembly had been called for war. For had it

6 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

cpence of the young warrior began to stir again. He called for his horse and as he are no Navajo around here. It will be just
up the flames in the blood of the People, rode away Naba jihlta laughed at the as Nataleeth said. There will be only
'Have I not just returned from Water-in- prophecy and said to his warriors, 'Til wolves, and all other kinds of things that
Crevice which the Mexicans call Cubero? Come. There's a wagon train moving to- like to live with our chindis or ghosts.' "
Did we not steal women and horses from ward Black Rock. After that we will start Taking advantage of the break that the
under the very eyes of the soldiers camped getting ready to attack Fort Defiance it- old Navajo made at this point, I asked,
there? These few men who have invaded self!' "And did the prophecy come true, Grand-
Navajoland cannot defeat us if we fight!' "But many of the People refused to go. father?"
"For four days the young warriors For they were frightened. They stopped Looking down across the sweeping flat
talked like Naba jihlta—bragging of their the meeting right then and started moving where shafts of moonlight were coming
deeds and telling of how they always de- toward their camps. I remember as they down through a rift in the clouds to cast a
feated the Bilakana in battle. Finally the spread out in all directions like spokes in soft blue light over the historic site where
Peace Chiefs began to agree with them. In a great wheel. They moved in fear that the some 78 years before Nataleeth had made
sorrow Nataleeth rose to speak when the great medicine man's prophecy might his dire prophecy, Old Nata was silent a
tribe agreed to continue the war against the come true. long time before he answered with great
invader: "In the following year a thousand war- sadness in his voice:
" 'Brothers! I see things different. Not riors attacked Fort Defiance. They suf-
"From that time on you people wrote
that my blood has grown thin. No! Not for fered defeat and many were killed. Life
the history of the Navajo. Everyone knows
any reason that I myself fear. You all knew was never safe for soldiers moved all over
that Kit Carson with his Mexicans and
and respected our great friend, Ba'ith the country. And in the fourth year after
Utes came into Navajoland like wolves
lichii, Red Shirt whom the Bilakana called the Natch'it, Nataleeth ran into a Zuni
and brought blood and sorrow to the Peo-
Captain Henry Dodge. You know that war party at Sage Brush spring. When the
ple. And that in less than six moons most
when he spoke he traveled in the straight fight was over our great chief was dead!
of the Navajo were starting on their 'Long
path. "Hearing this my grandfather said, 'It Walk' into captivity at Fort Sumner, New
" 'It is his teaching that changed me. is starting to come true. Pretty soon we will Mexico. Need a Bilakana ask if the pro-
For in my visits to his stone house in the all be dead. It won't be long until there phecy of Nataleeth came true?"
eastern opening of Washington Pass I have
learned many things about these men you
intend to fight. They are not like the "So I let 'im have the truck an' a
Mexicans. For they have magic that makes
me fear for the People!' " Sez Hard few days later he shows up with a
big crate full o' woodpeckers. 'Got
'em over'n Arizony,' he sez, 'where
Historically, Henry Lafayette Dodge, or
Red Shirt, to whom Nataleeth referred,
was one of the most effective of early Na-
Rock Shorty all them woodpeckers live in the big
cactus.'
"Next mornin' Bill wuz up early,
vajo agents. Taking over the affairs of the
tribe in 1854 he married the niece of Nata- of fussin' around over at that ol' rock
leeth and gained great influence therefrom. house by the spring. A few days later
Upon his murder by the Chiricahua
Apaches in 1856 south of Zuni the delicate
Death I wandered over there an' Bill ex-
plained what he wuz doin'. He had
peace between the Navajo and the Ameri-
cans soon snapped.
Valley closed up all the windows with rock,
all except one little hole that wuz
covered with glass from an ol' car
' 'The soldiers you see at Fort Defiance windshield. An' the woodpeckers
are as only one hair on the back of a thou- "Naw, we don't have no wood-
wuz all inside.
sand fleeces. Look how quickly they swal- peckers aroun' here," Hard Rock
lowed up the Mexicans. Red Shirt told me Shorty was explaining to the new ' "Yu see that petrified log stand-
that their main camps hold over ten thou- Park ranger who had just come to in' in the middle o' the floor,' sez
sands of hogans. And that many are piled Death Valley monument. "Ain't no Bill. 'I brought that back from Ari-
on top of each other as many as eight times! wood fer 'em to work on—nothin' zony too. Now them birds has got no
They are a great and powerful tribe! except those ironwood trees down place to go, and no place to drill
on the lower end of the Mojave, an' holes 'cept in that petrified tree. I
" 'For four days the War Chiefs led by the only woodpecker ever tried to figger if they work on that awhile
the eloquent Naba jihlta have been stirring drill a hole in ironwood busted his they'll get their peckin' tool so tough
you up to fight these people. Now you have beak and starved to death. they can drill holes in rock. Then I'll
agreed to follow them instead of the Peace take 'em down in the mine. Ain't
Chiefs. With this my power is gone. No "Remin's me o' the time ol' Pis-
gah Bill got one o' them smart idears much light in the stone house so
longer can I sing Going-to-War songs. they'll be sorta used to workin' in the
For as with many of you—I am going to o' his'n. Bill wuz workin' on a tin
prospect over th' other side o' the dark.'
die! "Well, a couple months later Bill
Vinegaroon mountains. Took a lot
" 'Last night I had a dream. The four o' blastin', and Bill run out o' drill wuz lookin' kinda droopy and I ast
sacred mountains were smothered in a bits. They was a war goin' on, and him how the birds was gettin' along.
black fog. Inside the whole of the Navajo nobody had any bits t' sell. So Bill " 'Hell!' he said. "Them peckers
country was void. No Navajo moved in the sat aroun' broodin' over his bad luck. got their bills plenty tough alright.
sandy deserts, on the spruce tipped moun- "Then one day he sez t" me. I went out to look at 'em this morn-
tains, or in the deep canyons. All that 'Shorty,' sez he, 'I don't need no drill in' and they wuzn't a bird in the
broke the silence was the howl of the bits. If you'll loan me that ol' truck house. They'd drilled a hole through
wolves and the whining of the Black Wind o' yourn fer a few days I'll get some- the side o' that stone house an' gone
of Death!' thin' to drill them holes.' back t' Arizony!' "
"Finishing, Nataleeth never sat down

NOVEMBER, 1946
From this base camp in Palm wash m
the Borrego badlands, Henry Wilson
conducted many of his later-year
quests jor the Pegleg gold.

Off and on for 46 years, Henry

Wilson has been trekking over
the Colorado desert of Southern
California in quest of the lost Peg-
leg gold—the black nuggets
which according to legend are
exposed on the top of one of three
hills. Despite his many disap-
pointments Henry believes the
essential facts of the Pegleg
story. And here is the evidence
on which his confidence is based.

winter for the next three years I returned to

Lost Pegleg Gold the desert to continue my explorations with

Collins. We looked the desert over very
thoroughly—the Borrego badlands to the
south of the Santa Rosas, the Fish creek
and Carrizo mountains, Vallecito and

is not a Myth Mason valley and as far west as Campo.

We traveled over desert mountains and
followed Indian trails. We slept on the
sand under the stars until the lure of this
By HENRY E. W. WILSON indescribable region of solitude and pastel
colored hills became so deeply rooted that
neither of us ever outgrew it. We became
/ 7 FIRST read the story of the Pegleg that point began my long search for the rich in camp experience and Indian lore,
J mine in the Los Angeles Express of Lost Pegleg. which Collins obtained from the Indians
July 13, 1900. Very much the same I bought a burro, and as Collins owned living at San Ignacio reservation.
story, with additional commentary, was four of them we had a good outfit. We fol- The chief of the latter group, Bernado
written by Charles Michelson and pub- lowed Indian trails around the end of San- Segundo, since deceased, was a well-
lished in the Munsey Magazine for De- ta Rosa mountains where we both got our
cember, 1901. educated and very intelligent Indian who
first view of Salton sea, which was then spoke good English. I met him on two oc-
At that time I had no thought of going virtually a dry basin with the New Liver- casions, and liked him. Collins talked with
to the desert to seek this lost treasure, or pool Salt works in full operation near the him often. One of the subjects he dis-
for any other purpose. But I met, by northwest end. I remember stopping at the cussed with Collins was the fish traps we
chance, Frank Hike, who told me he was edge of the salt field and using some of the found near the old shoreline of ancient
going to drive a team and wagon to the salt to season my food. On the same trip I Lake Cahuilla. These traps have been un-
desert of the Lost Pegleg in October, 1900, picked up the bowl of a small pipe hol- der water since 1906 when the Colorado
and offered to take me with him. I accept- lowed out of pumice stone. It had two flowed in through an emergency intake
ed the invitation, and quit a good job in holes in which to insert stems, and I won- of the Imperial irrigation system and
Los Angeles to search for riches on the dered, and still do, if it was intended to filled the basin.
Colorado desert. be used as a peace pipe to be smoked by These traps were enclosures shaped like
Hike did not believe the Pegleg story, two persons. There was no evidence it had a mule shoe with the opening on the land
but had found rich dirt in a canyon of the ever been used. side, and were made of fairly large rocks.
Santa Rosa mountains, and he was making There is much pumice float between As Bernado explained it, the fish were
the trip to relocate the claims. Salton sea and the Santa Rosa mountains, stranded in these enclosures when the level
We drove by way of Lake Elsinore, but it is in small pieces. On the northeast of the sea dropped, as it often did. Many
Temecula, Warner's ranch, Julian and side of the sea along the Southern Pacific people have confused the Indian fish traps
Borrego spring. Before we reached the railroad I have seen large chunks of pum- with the circles of rock which the Indians
Santa Rosas, Hike was forced to abandon ice, while at the southeast end is an entire piled up at the base of their circular ho-
the trip for family reasons. butte of pumice and obsidian. There is gans. But it is easy to tell the difference if
However, not far from where we were widespread evidence of ancient volcanic one remembers that the traps were oblong
camped when he turned back, lived John action in this area. with their opening away from the sea,
Collins and wife and three: children. When We found no mineral deposits worth lo- while the hogan bases were round with the
Hike left me I moved my camp close to cating, and after a three-month search I opening facing the sea. The latter generally
their home in Coyote canyon, and from returned to Los Angeles. However, every are on higher ground.

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 From many sources we heard stories of
lost mines, buried gold and other legen-
dary treasure, but as to finding anything
with which to buy beans, we drew a com-
plete blank.
In the fall of 1903 I gave up the hope of
bringing into town a million dollars worth
of nuggets from their well-hidden resting
place, and it was not until 1920 that the
old urge caught up with me again—and it
has never left.
Since then I have made many trips—
sometimes with companions, often alone.
I have seldom failed to interest listeners in
my story, and have raised more than one
grubstake just by talking, for I always had
plenty to talk about. The Pegleg story
which led to all my wanderings may be
told briefly as follows:
About the year 1852, John O. Smith,
known as Pegleg Smith, journeying from
Yuma to Los Angeles by way of Warner's
ranch, attempted a short-cut across the des-
ert. He was familiar with this part of the
Southwest, having been a horse-trader and
guide.
Somewhere in this desolate region he
climbed one of three hills, on the top of
which lay a quantity of black lumps of
metal which Smith took to be copper. He
picked up a few for his collection of curi-
osities. Arriving in Los Angeles he showed
his "native copper" to a mining friend who
pronounced it pure gold. Though coated
with black desert varnish, the nuggets were
the real thing beneath the surface.
The news quickly spread, and Smith was
followed to San Bernardino where he out-
fitted for a trip that was to make him rich
beyond his wildest dreams. Taking three
or four friends he left in the night for the
new El Dorado. Later, all that was left of
Smith and members of his party were
found on the edge of Salton basin. Smith
was never heard of again.
A few years later a discharged soldier
from Fort Yuma made a journey over
about the same route, climbed the hill, and
discovered the same black nuggets. He
knew gold and took as much as he could
carry to Los Angeles. Then, like Smith, he Howard M. {Barney) Barnes points to one of the old trail markers in the Bone go
returned with two companions to get more. badlands where much of the search for the Pegleg nuggets has centered.
As far as is known, he never relocated the Photo by S. P. Stilwell.
three hills, and a few years later the three
bodies were found in the foothills of the water. Once she climbed one of "tres pica- tracks well, and the secret source of his
San Ysidro mountains 30 miles west of chos" and from there saw the smoke of the wealth remained undiscovered. On one or
Salton sea. construction train. She showed a bandana more of these trips he took his wife Car-
Nothing more was heard of the "burned full of black nuggets, giving one to the en- melita with him. When he finally was
black gold of the Pegleg" as it was spoken gineer in charge of the camp. Then she re- knifed in a brawl, more than $4000 in
of in those days, until about 1876 when the sumed her journey and was. never seen coarse gold was found in his bunk.
Southern Pacific railroad company was again. When Carmelita was questioned, and
building its line. One day an Indian wom- The fourth and last time the black gold offered a share if she would lead others to
an staggered into the railroad construction was actually known to have been found on the gold, she said: "We left early in the
camp at Salton, nearly dead of thirst. After the three hills was a few years later. A half- morning, camped at the 'Spring of the
being revived she related how she and her breed working on Warner's ranch ap- White Ledge,' and when the sun was so
buck started from the reservation at the peared one day, after a trip to the desert high (pointing to the sky), we would be
head of the Rio San Luis Rey to go to the with a quantity of black nuggets. When where the gold was." Her questioners
Cocopah reservation near Yuma. Their the coins he got in exchange for them ran never found the gold, nor does history re-
canteen leaked, and her man had died of low he disappeared and eventually re- veal they even found the spring.
thirst. She wandered two days in search of turned with more gold. He covered his Collins and I believed we located the

NOVEMBER, 1946 9
 i
\ - ' % KOrocovo

: ? •;:•':';•;•: Coyote •••""••'•:•.,••- ' • %

i'|<V'.-; COVOTE WELL

^.""••^ i ^BOUNDARY—
CAMPO
O

Colorado desert of Southern California as of 1900. The circle encloses approximately

the area in which the author of this story has carried on his search for the lost Pegleg gold.

spring in an almost inaccessible part of the has been coined into U. S. money, accord- Until this gold is rediscovered, if it ever
Santa Rosa mountains in 1920. It was good ing to good authority. In my opinion the is, the Pegleg deposit of black nuggets will
water which seeped from a wide ledge of story is in no sense a myth as in the case remain one of the unsolved mysteries of the
feldspar—the white ledge. of many of the lost bonanza tales. Southwest.
On one of the halfbreed's trips to the
desert he was met by Tom Cover, former
sheriff of Riverside county, who was hunt-
ing horse thieves. Cover and a friend
named Russell drove out to the desert some
SUNSETS Picture Contest
time after the halfbreed's death. At the Colorful sunsets are one of the many enchantments of the desert country.
place where they had seen the Indian they Often the cloud formations are so bizarre as to make excellent black and white
pictures—and those are the ones Desert Magazine is seeking for its November
separated, Russell driving the team to an prize contest.
appointed meeting place while Cover pro-
ceeded on foot. First prize is $10, and second $5. and for each non-winning picture accepted
for publication $2.00 will be paid. Pictures must reach the Desert Magazine office
Cover was never seen again. Russell re- by November 20, and the winning prints will be published in the January issue.
turned to Riverside and although Mrs.
Cover offered a reward of $5000 for the re- HERE ARE THE RULES
covery of her husband's body, no trace of it
1—Prints must be on black and white, 5x7 or larger, printed on
was ever reported. glossy paper.
In 1902 I went to Riverside and inter- 2—All entries must be in the Desert Magazine office by the 20th
viewed both Mrs. Cover and Russell. The of the contest month.
latter told me that when he and Cover sep- 3—Prints will be returned only when return postage is enclosed.
arated, the sheriff had a nugget of gold 4—Contests are open to both amateur and professional photo-
from the Pegleg mine, and a map of its lo- graphers. Desert Magazine requires first and full publication rights
of prize winning pictures only.
cation.
5—Time and place of photograph are immaterial except that
It wili! never be known how many lost they must be from the desert Southwest.
their lives in the search of this legendary 6—Judges will be selected from Desert's editorial staff, and
treasure, but according to the reports which awards will be made immediately after the close of the contest each
have come to me during the 46 years I have month.
been interested in this lost treasure, the 7—Each photograph submitted should be fully labeled as to
subject, time, place. Also as to technical data: shutter, speed, hour
number is very great. Water is scarce in of day, etc.
that region, and the terrain is so rugged as
to make travel impossible except to a man ADDRESS ALL ENTRIES TO PHOTO EDITOR. DESERT MAGAZINE.
with a sure-footed animal.
However, that such a deposit exists
hardly can be doubted in view of the recur-
ring evidence which has come to light
during the 94 years since Pegleg Smith EL CENTRO, CALIFORNIA
made the original discovery. Gold from it

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 On thousands of rocks in the desert Southwest are to be
found the picture writings of prehistoric Indians. No one
knows what they mean, or whether they were put there to
convey information, to express art, or to doodle away idle
hours. But students and scientists haven't admitted yet that
they cannot find the answer. They are working on it. Here
is a story of the latest expedition sent out to photograph and
measure these petroglyphs—in the hope that a little more
light may be cast on the unsolved mystery.

By RANDALL HENDERSON

LAD only in a breech-clout, his

long black hair tied with a cord of
Yucca fiber, a bronzed Indian
stood before a sandstone wall pounding
with a sharp-pointed piece of obsidian
on the smooth surface of the rock. Gradu-
ally, a figure was taking form as the im-
pact of the flint-hard tool chipped away
tiny particles of the softer stone—the
crudely formed outline of a mountain
sheep of the bighorn species.
The sandstone cliff rose in terraces
above, with the deep green juniper on the
ledges outlined against the yellow and
white coloring of the canyon wall. Al-
though he was intent on making his image
as life-like as possible, the artist was con-
scious always of the sounds that came from
the virgin wilderness around him—the
rustle of the wind in the leaves of willow
trees, the music of a little stream tumbling
over the rocks, the descending scale of the
canyon wren's call, the snapping of a twig
as a deer moved through the underbrush.
No white man witnessed this tribesman
at his work, for the scene I have described
was enacted perhaps 700 or a thousand
years ago—long before the European in- These glyphs, Arthur Woodward is telling his youthful helpers, probably are
vaded American shores. What I have writ- dancing figures, incised there possibly 700 or 800 years ago.
ten about this aboriginal artist is the pic-
ture which took form in my mind recently
In my notebook I identified this unusual My visit to Indian canyon was made pos-
when I stood before a great wall of rock
collection of Indian writing as Canopy sible through the courtesy of Ansel Hall,
literally covered with glyphs incised there
Rock. The name is suggested by the wide former naturalist at Mesa Verde national
by prehistoric tribesmen.
smooth shelf of sandstone which projects park in southwestern Colorado. Hall has
The place was Indian creek in south- from the wall just above the etchings. Per- been identified with exploration and ar-
eastern Utah—a tributary of the Colorado haps the protection against sun and rain cheological work in the Southwest for
river. There are many Indian "art galler- provided by this natural canopy had some- many years.
ies" along the base of the cliffs which con- thing to do with the selection of this place More recently he conceived the idea of
fine Indian creek. One of them is outstand- by the Indians for some of their finest and establishing a summer camp for boys in
ing. It far surpasses in both number and most extensive art work. Certainly the the mountains near Mesa Verde. The Ex-
clarity the glyphs on the famous News- overhang is responsible in a large measure plorer's camp consists of a 10-week train-
paper Rock in the Petrified Forest national for the excellent preservation of the petro- ing course in mountaineering, archeology,
monument. glyphs found there. camping and other phases of outdoor life.

NOVEMBER, 1946 11
 Barbara Loomis photographing a horned symbol on the A section of the great "art gallery" at Canopy Rock in
wall of Indian canyon. Indian canyon.

The boys range from 14 to 17. Camp head- vacation for Desert Magazine's editor, and project of scientific importance to the mu-
quarters is at the old Gold King mine in I was glad to accept his invitation. An seum. His program was the mapping and
La Plata canyon, nine miles from Hes- added inducement was the fact that this recording of as many of the Indian writ-
perus, Colorado. group would be headed by Arthur Wood- ings, both petroglyphs incised in the rocks
Early last summer 32 boys from more ward, curator of history at Los Angeles and pictographs painted on the rocks, as
than a score of states arrived at the Gold museum, an experienced archeologist and could be covered in a 10-week period.
King where they were quartered in old an occasional writer for Desert. Since glyphs may exist in any canyon in the
mine buildings. They were divided in On the morning of August 7 our little vast Indian country that extends over four
three groups. One group with leader, caravan departed from Gold King on an of the Southwestern states, and there are
cook, packer and physician was assigned expedition that covered parts of Colorado, literally thousands of glyph sites which
to a high mountain camp to spend the time Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. One have never officially been mapped and re-
studying the arts of camp life, exploring, truck provided transportation for the 14 corded, the use of a troop of boys to search
climbing and nature study. A second boys in the party. Another truck was canyon walls and explore tributaries gave
group went to an old Indian site in Utah "chuck wagon." We had a jeep for scout- Woodward a wider range than is possible
and spent the time excavating prehistoric ing purposes. In addition to Woodward, for a normal field party. And the boys re-
ruins in quest of artifacts which might the adult members of the party were Bar- garded it as great sport. Their job was to
throw light on the culture of the ancients. bara Loomis, curatorial assistant at the Los locate the Indian art work, and if it was of
A third group went out to explore the Angeles museum, Dr. J. E. Hughes of sufficient importance, Woodward and
canyons in the Four Corners region in Shawnee, Oklahoma, in the role of camp Miss Loomis would follow up and take
search for petroglyphs and pictographs physician, Ray Jahn of the Chadwick Sea- pictures, make sketches, secure measure-
which would be photographed and meas- side school near Los Angeles as camp man- ments and other data to be assembled and
ured for future study. The assignments of ager and cook. Also, with us part of the studied later. With all the material be-
the groups were alternated so that eventu- time were Forbes Parkhill, writer for na- fore him, Woodward hopes in the months
ally all the boys had the opportunity to tionally known magazines, and Fran Hall, ahead to be able to discover patterns or ar-
participate in every phase of the general photographer. rive at conclusions which will penetrate the
program. Through arrangement between Ansel mystery now surrounding most of this an-
Ansel Hall wrote several months ago Hall and the Los Angeles museum, Arthur cient Indian art work.
suggesting that a couple of weeks with the Woodward, while serving as group leader It soon becomes apparent to one en-
glyph hunters would make an interesting for the boys, was also engaged in a field gaged in this study that while there is con-

12 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

siderable variation in the artistic skill of the
Indians who made these pictures, and often
enough difference in design to distinguish
one tribe or one period from another, at
the same time there is an amazing degree of
similarity in subjects selected by tribesmen
as widely separated in geography and cul- Route -
Glyphs
ture as are the Pueblans of Colorado and
New Mexico from the desert Cahuilla of
Southern California.
At Canopy Rock, Woodward soon
reached the conclusion that the figures had
been made by Utes, some as recent as 150
years ago. However, in some instances the
more recent forms had been incised over
old glyphs which appeared to be of Pueb-
lan design.
The dating of glyphs is very difficult,
except in the rare instances when they oc-
cur near ancient ruins where timbers are
available for tree-ring dating. And even in
such cases there is an element of uncer-
tainty as to whether or not the incisions
were made by local Indians during the
period of residence at the local site.
There is a wide divergence of opinion—
perhaps speculation would be a more ac-
curate word — as to the motive that
prompted these Indian inscriptions. There
are many theories: (1) That the figures are
designed to convey information to other
Indians—the location of springs, the abun-
dance of game, or perhaps illustrate an ad-
venture or experience in the life of the ar-
TO FLAGSTAFF
tist. (2) That they are mere doodling—an
occupation to pass away idle hours, and
represent only a passing whim of the ar-
tist. (3) That they represent the first prim-
itive impulse toward self-expression, and
were prompted by the same creative urge
which causes humans to paint landscapes
and write poetry and do sculpturing today. Bold line on the map shows the route covered by the
And that they are the work of the most ad- glyph-hunting expedition described in this story.

Clan symbols of the Hopi at Willow Springs.

NOVEMBER, 1946 13
vanced and skilled artisans of their period. opy Rock where not less than 350 figures gun loaded with some mysterious concoc-
Arthur Woodward rejects the idea that remain clear and sharp on the well- tion which had the reputation of being a
they are the work of doodlers. But beyond protected wall, there were a number of less very potent getter-upper. Arthur never
that conclusion, he admits he is as much at conspicuous 'art galleries" which I record- used the gun, so no one ever knew just
sea as other students of Indian glyphs. In ed in my notebook as Nine Goats, Arrow- what was in it—but he did such an effec-
the months ahead when he has assembled head, Big Snake, Ladder and Maze glyphs. tive propaganda job that he merely had to
in his workshop the hundreds of photo- I merely used the most conspicuous figure bring the weapon out where the sleepy-
graphs s.nd measurements taken during the in each group to identify the location. eyed youngsters could see it, and there was
summer expedition, and has the time to The water in the creek was clear the day an immediate scramble to get clear of the
study and compare them with relation to we arrived there. But that night there were sleeping bags.
the geography of their occurrence, perhaps rains in the Blue mountains at the head- From Indian creek we returned to Mon-
much new light will be thrown on the mys- waters, and the next morning the stream ticello and followed State Highway 47
tery of these glyphs. was flowing a thick muddy mixture that south through Blanding, Mexican Hat,
We camped three days along Indian wasn't even fit for washing dishes. It never Monument valley, Kayenta and Tonalea to
creek. We struck pay dirt there. The can- cleared while we were there, so we hauled Tuba City, Arizona. It rained the night we
yon walls for a distance oi five miles along our drinking water from the headquarters camped in Monument valley. Those who
the stream carry hundreds of well pre- of the S. & S. cattle ranch down the canyon. did not have waterproof bedrolls found
served petroglyphs, and in two places we The boys scrambled over rocks, climbed shelter in or under the trucks. And when
found badly eroded pictographs in white walls, explored tributaries and had a great we reached Kayenta at midday water was
and red paint. time. Getting them up at 5:30 in the morn- coming down in sheets.
While the outstanding group is at Can- ing was never easy. But Arthur had a flip- That night we camped near the top of
Marsh pass, and the next day along the
road to Tonalea (Red Lake) we found the
Below—''Growing marks'' on the cliff below Shipaulovi. When a Hopi youth gets dips running full of water. At one point a
his mark inside the square it is a proud day—he has then become a man. bridge approach had gone out, and we had
to do some emergency road engineering to
build a passable detour. At another wash
the flood had brought down a great drift
of tumbleweeds and piled them squarely
across the road. The drift was seven feet
high and soggy with mud. The jeep tried
to crash through what appeared to be a
mere pile of weeds—and bounced back as
if it had hit a rubber wall. W e tried burning
the drift, but it was too wet. Then we tried
tearing it apart with shovels—and in the
end we built a detour around it. I would
not have believed this story if I had not
been through the experience.
At Tuba City we took a little-used road
that led off into a jumble of rimrock and
boulders, and after some search located
Willow Springs, a historic old waterhole
on the ancient Hopi salt trail. In the days
before traders brought salt in sacks and
cakes to the Indian country, the Hopi made
long treks to a rock-salt ledge deep in the
canyon of the Little Colorado.

I
The trail has not been used for many
years, but near Willow Springs are more
than a score of glyph-covered slabs and
boulders—relics of the days when every
Hopi salt pilgrim stopped here to incise
his own clan symbol as a permanent record
of his trip.
These glyphs probably cover a span of
many hundreds of years—some of the later
ones being incised over the more ancient
ones. One huge block-like boulder 22 feet
long and nine feet high is literally covered
with them, all four sides and the top.
According to tradition the traveler add-
• . - - ,

ed a new symbol for each trip. Thus there

will be a row of cornstalks put there by the
same corn clansman, each representing one
trip to the salt deposit. There are symbols
of the sun clan, spider clan, katchina clan,
coyote clan, eagle clan, lizard clan and
scores of others, some of them now extinct.
Dr. Harold S. Colton published a de-

14 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 Canopy Rock in Indian canyon, these glyphs probably were made by the Utes.

tailed report on these Hopi petroglyphs in and Hopi reservations to Hotevilla. The spent a pleasant hour with Chief Joe Seka-
the July, 1946, issue of The Plateau, quar- rains had been ahead of us there too, and kuku and then one of the younger Indians
terly publication of the Museum of North- we pulled a truck out of Dinnebito wash took us to the base of the mesa where are
ern Arizona, of which he is director. just before we reached the Hopi Third located the tribal "growing marks." For
From Willow Springs we took the road Mesa. many hundreds of years it was Hopi cus-
through Moenkopi and across the Navajo At Shipaulovi on the Second Mesa we tom for the Indian boys, as soon as they

The glyph hunters: Standing, left to right: Emile Behre of Baton Rouge, La.; Roger Hall, Mancos, Colo.; Paul B. Wiggin
Montclair N. ] ; Harold Lundberg Jr., Wilmette, III.; Alan D. Stuart, Royal Oak, Mich.; Arthur Woodward leader- Barbara
Looms Los Angeles museum; Dorm Schindler, Scarsdale, N. Y.; George Brunstetter, New York City; Ralph Condit Green-
wich Conn.; MikeMaule, El Monte, Calif. Seated: Ray Jahn, Chadwick Seaside School, Los Angeles, camp manager and cook;
Dr. j . b. Hughes, Shawnee, Okla.; Jack Pickering, Goshen, Ind.; John Anderson, Randolph, Minn.; Clay Doss, Bloomfield
Hills, Mich.; John Randal, New York City; Duncan McEyre, Colorado Springs, Colo.

NOVEMBER, 1946
15
 animal and other forms on the sandstone
walls.
Today's generation of Indians is able to
throw little light on the origin or meaning
of the older glyphs except those at Willow
Springs. There are a few oldsters on the
Hopi mesas who traveled the old salt trail
and know the story of the clan symbols left
along the way. But for the most part the
glyphs of the ancients remain an unsolved
mystery, and Arthur Woodward will tell
you frankly that while his studies may
throw some new light on the subject, he
does not expect to discover any magic key
which will unlock the secret.
• • •
Wanted—Brains, not Rubber Stamps
Part of the red tape which previously
has encumbered the Indian service has
been tossed out the window by Secretary
of Interior Krug. The secretary not only
has given Indian Commissioner William
A. Brophy greater authority than previous
commissioners have enjoyed, but he has
Unidenti- jf ° S* made plain that wider discretionary pow-
ers are to be passed down the line to sub-
Moon ^ (T 0 ordinates. Here are some of the functions
(extinct)
which previously required secretarial ap-
proval, but which now have been delegated
symbols on the rocks at Willow Springs, identified by Edmund Nequatewa, a to field officials: Execution of contracts for
Hopi Indian. These drawings reprinted from the quarterly magazine, The Plateau, medical, nursing or hospital organizations,
through the courtesy of Dr. Harold S. Colton, director of the Museum of for social service, relief and child welfare;
Northern Arizona at Flagstaff. execution of leases for oil, gas and other
mineral rights covering restricted allotted
were old enough to climb down the trail, to days were spent in Canyon de Chelly where Indian lands; exchange of lands between
stand beside a vertical slab of rock while a the Navajo even today are inscribing crude Indians and non-Indians.
member of the family incised a mark show-
ing the height of the youngster. At peri- JALOPY JOE By Frank Adams
odic intervals through life new marks were
made showing growth to full-sized man-
hood. There are a number of these marker
rocks, and the wear of hundreds of inci-
sions indicates that the tradition continued
among the Hopi for many generations.
At many places around the Hopi mesas
are found the glyphs inscribed there by an-
cient members of the tribe. Along the trail
to Walpi is Tally Rock, where the Tewa
Indians, brought to Hopiland to protect its
residents against Apache marauders, kept
a record of the enemies slain by incising a
vertical mark on the rock lace for each vic-
tim. Dama Langley once told me she had
counted 180 marks on the Scoreboard.
Today's generation of Hopi youngsters
have been learning the ways of their white
neighbors. The fast disappearing glyphs
of the ancients are being replaced by crude-
ly scrawled initials and names, sometimes
incised, more often painted on the rocks.
Perhaps the picture writings of the ancients
and the ugly initial writing of the mod-
erns are prompted by the same exhibition-
ist urge in human nature. I do not know.
But I much prefer the art of the savages,
primitive though it may be.
During his summer trip Woodward and
his boys covered many glyph sites in addi-
tion to those I have mentioned. Several "It's takin' an awful lot o' air to get this thing blowed up tonight."

16 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 Marshal South has discovered that the desert has
its grapevine, no less than the primitive sections of
Africa. The grapevine recently brought him another
chapter in the lives of Rhett and Scarlet, the burros
which for a time made Ghost Mountain their home.
But the information serves only to reveal that still
another chapter remains to be unfolded. Marshal
believes that some other desert dweller holds the
key to their origin.

By MARSHAL SOUTH The runaway burros in 1937, before they were called Rhett
and Scarlet, packing ore down the trail from Lost Angel
mine. Left—C. L. Wood and "Stubbie." Right—George
~j~ HE AMERICAN desert is a big place and its dim Perry and "Jake."
/ mystery-haunted leagues sometimes seem limitless. Yet
it is astonishing how closely knit and interwoven its af-
He said we could have Rhett and Scarlet in return for giving
fairs are. In this respect it is like Africa which, especially in its
them a good home. Randall Henderson, Desert's editor, made
more primitive sections is so crossed and criss-crossed with na-
the long trip out to Ghost Mountain to drive me over to Thou-
tive grapevine lines of gossip and communication that the hasty,
sand Palms. Here I took over the burros from Paul and trekked
ill advised words which you thought you said in confidence and
them back over the 120 miles of road which separates Thousand
secrecy at one end of the country are likely to rise up and shout
Palms from Ghost Mountain.
at you—with many colorful additions—at the continent's other
extremity. You can't get away with anything—not for long It took Rhett and Scarlet quite a while to accustom themselves
anyway. to Ghost Mountain. It was a different country and there were
And you can't, indefinitely, get away with anything in the no palms and no running water. For a long time they were
desert. Even burros can't. And burros can be awfully foxy some- homesick. They did like Rider, Rudyard and Victoria though,
times. and the children fussed over them so much that finally they gave
These reflections are the result of a letter which came to me up pining over vanished days and settled down as part of our
the other day from Mrs. C. L. Wood of Long Beach, California. little family.
As I slit it open out fell two photographs which caused me to sit But they were no good for packing burdens. The savage rocks
up suddenly. For there, looking up at me from the table top, of Ghost Mountain were a little too much even for burro pa-
were the unmistakable, long-eared countenances of our old-time tience. Some parts of the grade were altogether too steep. We
pets and faithful burden bearers Rhett and Scarlet. soon discovered that we could pack stuff on our own shoulders
There wasn't any mistake. You could pick out the disarming- with less grief than we could wrestle with the job of loading
ly innocent appearing faces of those two desert nomads from and unloading—and coaxing—our patient, panting little
among a million others at first glance. But what startled me was friends. We retired Rhett and Scarlet from the active list.
that they were in unfamiliar surroundings. They appeared to be Thenceforth their function became purely decorative. They
in the possession of other owners. There was a suggestion of didn't protest at this and they and the children got along very
strangeness and mystery about the whole matter. Eagerly I happily.
turned to the letter. Then came the event of our long trip through Utah, Nevada,
And there was the whole story. The good old desert "intelli- Arizona and New Mexico in search of another "Ghost Moun-
gence system" finally opened a dark chapter of mystery in the tain"—one with permanent water. We couldn't take Rhett and
lives of Rhett and Scarlet. Scarlet along. So we took them down to Everett and Lena
Campbell's property on the desert and turned them loose on the
For you may remember that there always has been a mystery cattle range near some flowing springs.
around Rhett and Scarlet. They had no beginning. They just
happened. Out of the thirsty shimmer of the desert mirages they Rhett and Scarlet had a good time there. But they were a little
came trudging one day to the shade and water of Paul Wilhelm's lonesome. Going back and forth to the springs for water with
Thousand Palms oasis. They were weary and the rustle of the just their own company didn't appeal to them. So they invented
palm fronds and the trickle of the little stream sang sweet music the practice of waiting around the waterhole until a small bunch
to their ears. They stayed on and they adopted Paul—or he of cattle had collected. Then they would calmly round up the
adopted them. They settled down and became part of Paul's obliging cows and steers and herd them along to the feeding
idyllic establishment. Every once in a while they would go off grounds. Thus they satisfied their craving for companionship.
on rambles. Sometimes they stayed away for three weeks or a When they wanted another drink they would take the cattle back
month. But they always came back—sometimes under their own to the waterhole with them.
power and sometimes having to be rescued by Paul from foolish It was a good game and one which they carried on for some
predicaments into which they had maneuvered themselves. time, as Everett Campbell told me, with amusement, after we
Paul's oasis to them was home. came back. But after a while they tired of that also. The desert
Then the war came. Paul expected to be called into the army. was wide. They were freeborn spirits. Why should they stop in
He was worried for the future of his long-eared pets. He learned one place. They decided to drift. They said goodbye to the
that we, on Ghost Mountain, were trying to find a couple of bur- Campbell ranch and vanished.
ros in the hope that they would solve our burden-packing prob- Then, after long wanderings, we ourselves came back from
lems. Through the Desert Magazine Paul got in touch with me. our unsuccessful search. Water or no water, there was only one
NOVEMBER, 1946 17
 NEW MEXICO Old Dance is Revived . . . Stamp to Honor Gen. Kearny . . .
Chee Dodge Draws Golden Ticket ZUNI—For the first time since 1932, the SANTA FE—Postmaster Robert E. Hanne-
colorful Zurii Corn Dance was held here in Sep- gan was invited to take part in ceremonies here
GALLUP—Chee Dodge, veteran chairman of tember. Many of the Zufii children had never October \6 in connection with the issuance of a
the Navajo Tribal council, pot a golden ticket seen the dance, which is a religious ceremony of Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny commemorative
in the drawing for colors at the Window Rock thanksgiving for bountiful crops. Most of the stamp. Design of the stamp shows Gen. Kearny
agency in September. Sam Akeah, vice-chairman dancers are women, and they are required to reading his proclamation of occupancy as the
drew silver, and the third candidate for the tri- wear old-style deerskin moccasin-leggings. Stars and Stripes were raised over the Palace of
bal election drew green. Colored ballots are used the Governors 100 years ago. The new postage is
in the Indian elections because of the high il- a purple 3-cent stamp the size of a special deliv-
literacy rate among the Navajo. The general
Harmony at This Meeting . . .
ery stamp.
election was scheduled for October 16-17. SANTA FE—While lower basin states are
squabbling over the division of their share of
the water in the Colorado river, the upper basin Park Service Awaits Transfer . . .
group of five states has decided to make a com- ALAMOGORDO—While the national park
For Nice Things . . . plete survey of the water available to them with service is going ahead with plans for the opening
a view of securing maximum utilization. The of the spot where the world's first atomic bomb
• INFANTS' AND was exploded as a national monument, the war
CHILDREN'S WEAR upper basin commission met recently at Chey-
enne and requested John R. Ritter of the U. S. department has not yet made the property avail-
• LADIES' READ/.TO-WEAR
able for that purpose. In the meantime recom-
• MEN'S FURNISHINGS Bureau of Reclamation to make the survey. The
mendations have been made as to the boundaries.
« FINE LINENS commission is composed of Clifford Stone of Assurance has been given that the "Great
Colorado, L. C. Bishop of Wyoming, Ed. H. Ariste," the B-29 which dropped the second
Watson of Utah, Charles Carson of Arizona and atomic bomb on Nagasaki, eventually will be
OUSTER'S Thomas McClure of New Mexico. placed on display in the new monument.
206 W. TENTH STREET PHONE 246
LANCASTER. CALIFORNIA
THE HEART OF ANTELOPE VALLEY
•RlLL.A CUSTER GALEN CUSTER
TRUE OR FALSE Relax your body in a good comfortable
chair. Have a pencil to check the answers,
and prepare for some brain exercise that
will be fun for an active mind. Some of these questions will tax your memory,
SCENIC GUIDES . . . others your imagination—and probably you'll just guess at a few of them. But
The most complete travel guides ever they cannot put you in jail for that. This test covers a broad field of general know-
attempted. Attractive covers in full color. ledge of the desert Southwest, and if you get half of them right you are a smart
Descriptions, pictures and maps to lead tenderfoot. Fifteen indicates much better than an average knowledge of the desert,
you to the many scenic wonders of the
West. and 18 is a score that few even among the desert rats achieve. The answers are on
page 34.
Guides to Northern California and Ne-
vada are available now. More to come 1—Prairie dogs, ground owls and rattlesnakes often live together in the same
hole. True False-
PRICE $1.00 EACH 2—Turkeys were first brought to North America by the Spaniards.
True False
Address Scenic Guides 3—Billy the Kid was an Apache Indian chief. True False
Box 2S8 Susanville, California 4—The balsa was used by the Colorado river Indians for water transportation.
True False
5—The native Washingtonia palm of the desert was named in honor of George
By BARRY STORM
Washington. True False
PRACTICAL PROSPECTING 6—Water in the Salton sea has a higher salt content than water in the Great Salt
Electronic Technique Lake. True False
7—Obsidian often goes by the name of volcanic glass. True False
When ore can no lonjror be found "in sipht"
prospectors must adopt scientific methods for 8—El Tovar Hotel and the Phantom ranch are located in the Carlsbad national
locating unseen mineral.
Such methods make up the science of geo-
park. True False
physical prospecting and with the full devel- 9—Old tires with smooth treads are better for travel in heavy sand than new
opment of electronic instruments the obsta-
cles of prohibitive cost and technical training treads. True False
have been eliminated for the lone prospector. 10—Prospectors have been known to locate hidden springs by following the
Such electronic locators induce, measure
and automatically record the vast differences course of wild bees in their flight. True False
in the physical property of electric conductiv-
ity between metal -bearing rock and barren 11—The famous Mormon battalion which was part of Kearny's Army of the West
surrounding masses, and have proved particu-
larly valuable for locating unseen mineralized
was organized in Salt Lake City. True False
areas, high-grade shoots and pockets, hidden 12—New Mexico's famous Shiprock is not visible from Albuquerque.
placer channels, and even buried treasures, if
properly handled by proved use techniques. True False
What these use methods are, how they are 13—Gen. Lew Wallace, author of Ben Hur, was once governor of New Mexico.
utilized with inexpensive, portable instru-
ments offering depth-finding ranges up to True False
250 feet, are explained in detail with photo- 14—The cliff houses built by the ancient Indians in the Southwest generally were
graphs and charts.
"Practical Prospecting" is an invaluable constructed of adobe bricks. True False
pocket-sized manual that should be in every
prospector's kit. The price is $1 postpaid from 1 5—The Dipodomys is a desert rodent. True False
SOUTHWEST PUBLISHING CO. 16—Aspen trees shed their leaves in winter. True False
P. O. Box 502 Phoenix, Arizona 17—Manhattan, Nevada, is famous for its gold dredging operations.
True False
18—Of the five completed dams in the lower Colorado river Laguna dam is the
WATER DIVINING . . . southernmost. True False
Easy to acquire the cert of Water Di- 19—Walpi is the name of a village on the Navajo reservation.
vining by following simple directions in True- False
this practical book of instructions. $1.50 20—"Jumping Cholla" is the common name of a species of desert lizard.
postpaid. PALMER PUBLICATIONS, Box
643, Pasadena, California. True False

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 1

petrified tree stumps described by Toney Richardson are rapidly disintegrating due to
exposure to rain and freezing temperatures.

On the Navajo Indian reservation near the

northern rim of the Painted Desert stands the
remains of a forest that grew millions of years
ago. Only the stumps of the trees remain, and
they long ago turned to stone. Here is the first
of a series of stories written for Desert Maga-
zine by a novelist who has spent most of his
life in the Navajo country.

By TONEY RICHARDSON

/ / UBERT Richardson of Cameron bluish-grey, are known as The Sleeping The first one proved disappointing. The
y~7 trading post in north central Ari- Elephants. A mile farther on in a small condition of that stump prepared me for
zona first told me about the Petri- cove on the same side of the road, between the worst. As the accompanying photos
fied Tree stumps. He had visited them in larger, painted humps, are two natural show, the stone stumps now are breaking
the early summer of 1914 after Hosteen monuments named The Hat and Mush- into fragments.
Goldtooth, a Navajo, had told him about room Rock. On the west side of the road While this disintegration was noticeable
them and given directions for reaching a larger cove cuts into a once solid dome before 1941, the past few years seem to
them. of grey, blue and mauve. It is called Nudist have hurried the process along until today
Down through the years the area has Cove. the knolls are littered with pieces of wood
been visited by a number of white explor- The highway here climbs a saddle. Be- from the stumps.
ers, and considerable disintegration has yond, the bridge over Seven Mile wash In 1914 when Hubert Richardson first
taken place. Recently I decided to return comes into sight. Slowing down, I drove saw them, the stumps had emerged,
to the place and see how these ancient tree on to within half a mile of the bridge, then through erosion of the blue-grey earth,
stumps of stone had fared through the war turned off to the right on a little used Na- only a few years earlier. The petrified
years. vajo wagon road. Continuing two miles wood was still intact. Disintegration start-
On a golden sunny morning—the sun to the east, winding between great hunks ed slowly at first. But by 1935 it was under
always seems to be shining over this por- of remnants of Chinle shales, then veering way to such extent the sides of the stumps,
tion of the Painted Desert—I crossed the to the south, I came out on a slight prom- some as high as five feet above the base,
bridge over the Little Colorado river on ontory. were breaking down. The process seems to
U. S. Highway 89 at Cameron, and set out The panorama extending to the east and have been accelerated during the past four
the short distance northward. south seemed almost wholly bare of vege- years. Fragments, splinters and small
At a distance of two and a half miles tation. The old view looked familiar. Over blocks of wood now litter the base of the
from the bridge ocAir the first of a mass of the area were small knolls, each rising to a stumps, and are found over a wide area.
eroded humps of Chink shales. Those on peak. The summits of these knolls contain No doubt some of this breaking up has
the east side of the highway at this point, the petrified tree stumps. been helped along by man, yet the greater

NOVEMBER, 1946 19
Ghost Mountain in the whole desert. We were glad to come understand why so many prospects and mines are lost." They
home. argue that if you could locate a place once the:e is nothing in
the world to prevent your going right back to it. But it doesn't
At Banner, on our way home with the first load of household always work out that way. Old timers who know their desert
effects, the first person we met was Bill Mushet of Banner understand this and will never argue over the reason mines are
Queen ranch. We hardly had exchanged two dozen words when lost. But it is hard to convince other people that the desert can
Bill said, confidentially, Say, do you know I've got something play tricks.
of yours- " He was going to say more, hut at that moment I
happened to glance Lip and 1 saw the "Something." On the other The canyon of the olla is a sizable place. It is a giant slash be-
side of the fence were Rhetl ami Scarlet eating watermelon. They tween harsh thirsty hills. At the bottom of it there is a thin,
wore smirking grins of contentment on their deceptive coun- scribbled line of white which is the bleached sand that wind
tenances. and water have spread along the channel scoured by rare storms.
"We found (hem wandering in the desert," Bill explained. It is very quiet, down there in the bottom, and there is always a
"They needed water. So 1 just brought them home and the thin wind that comes stealing up out of the lowlands to sway the
boys—" The boys. Mike and Buzz, emerged from the house jus' green branches of the stunted catsclaws across the glass-smooth
at that moment. Anxiety was written all over their faces. (I surface of the age-polished rocks. Sometimes you see a silent
learned afterwards that they had been frantically going through bird, flitting like a shadow through the bushes. And sometimes,
their joint savings with the idea of making me an olfer for the on the clean carpet of sand, you will see the imprint of a coy-
burros on the spot- -anything to avoid losing their new pets.) ote's foot. But these traces of the presence of life are few. High
But they didn't have to say anything. I could see it in their eyes. above, tremendous, fantastic boulders teeter terrifyingly along
Especially in Buzz's eyes. So I just looked at Buzz and I looked at the precipitous rim. Black clefts and pools of shadow pattern
the two graceless watermelon munchers and I thought of the their immensity. Mostly the canyon of the olla is the haunt of si-
hard, hot rocks on Ghost Mountain and the scanty pickings of lence and the sun.
squaw tea and cholla. Then 1 looked at Bill. "You keep 'em," I I spent the best part of three hours in the canyon. But I did not
•;aid. "From now on this is their home. They belong to Mike find the cave. Three hours is not a long time, but it is a consid-
and Buzz. But for the Iove-of-pete don't feed them all the time erable period when you devote it to locating one little spot of
on watermelon. They'll ruin you." whose position you are absolutely certain. I would have guaran-
"Oh no, we won't," agreed Buzz happily. "Mostly we give teed that I could find that cave. I could have drawn you a map
them apples and peaches and oranges and green corn just stuff of it and 1 would have been willing to make a bet on my ability
like that." to go right there. But when I tried I failed. Yet the cave is no
myth. It is no dream wrought up of hardship and thirst. A very
And so that is how Rhett and Scarlet came to have a new home sizable olla came out of that cave. We hefted it out ourselves.
at the Banner Queen. Except when wanderlust grips them and And the olla was no dream either. It is still in existence. But the
they go off on a ramble. But they come back. They know a soft cave has vanished.
snap when they find it.
Of course there arc explanations. There are people who will
And now for the secret page which the letter and photographs try to tell you that giant, side wall boulders slip; that they cover
have revealed. up openings that previously existed. This may be true to a limit-
Rhett and Scarlet are not Rhett and Scarlet at all. They arc- ed extent. Perhaps once in a thousand times this explanation
lake and Stubbie. They are runaways. They are escapees from will be the correct one. But I am convinced that such a thing
the Lost Angel mine, away out in the desert north of Indio. rarely happens. It is more probable that we shall find the correct
Once, in 1937, they were peaceful burden bearers, packing ore answer in the confusing sameness of the desert and the hypnotic
down the desert trail from the mine. But they tired of a steady effect which this quality has upon the senses of the searcher. Dis-
job and security. So, after a year of ordered ways, they abandoned tances are vast and deceptive. Objects which appear near in re-
their post and lit out for the open desert. There was no reason ality are far off, while landmarks that are seemingly at a distance
for their going, save the call of the wild. They had had a good sometimes are relatively close. There is a sameness, even to the
job with an abundance of hay, oats and wild Iced, and they had very diversity of rocks, clefts, ridges and buttes. And in this maze
been the pampered pets of the miners. But freedom and love of the eyes of the searcher and his sense of direction alike are led
the open range is in their blood. They just had to go. As Mrs. astray. It is not "inefficiency," for seasoned desert dwellers are
Wood says in her letter, "We could never catch up with them, repeatedly subject to the same failure. It simply is a peculiar
and we decided that they loved the freedom of the desert as quality of the desert. Most of the "lost" mines really are lost.
much as we did." l hey are not myths. And every once in a while some newcomer
to the district -sometimes a tenderfoot—stumbles upon one
So now we know a little more of Rhett and Scarlet (they have-
of them and proves the old tale to have been the truth.
worn the names Paul gave them so long now that Jake and Stub-
bie might as well be laid aside). They are characters in their The pet population of Yaquitepec has increased. For the two
own right, and perhaps have earned a niche peculiarly their "back-handspringing" mice suddenly decided to set up house-
own among the famous of burroland. And, inasmuch as it was keeping and greatly to the joy of Rider, Rudyard and Victoria,
through seeing their portraits in Desert Magazine that their for- presented the world with quadruplets. For a while there was a
mer owners, the Wood's, recognized them, perhaps there may- great fluttering of excitement caused by fears that the proud
be other readers of Desert who, seeing these pictures, can trace
father might harm his diminutive offspring, so another cage was
back the Rhett and Scarlet history a little further. They are old—
hastily provided for him. Poor little father greymouse however
too old lo have to shoulder the burden of work any longer—
and undoubtedly there are long unrecorded years of their exist- pined so much and was so obviously unhappy at being separated
ence, prior to their sojourn at the Lost Angel mine which might from his mate and family that the children feared he might die
be of interest. of a broken heart. He was accordingly restored to the old home
-to his own joy and the joy of Mrs. Mouse and her babies. The
A while ago I made an excursion down into the big canyon little family is getting along famously. But there is a shadow in
where, years ago, we found the huge ancient olla in the cave. I
the offing. A shadow cast by arithmetic.
was curious to see if I could locate the cave again, for it is not
easy to do so ami I had failed on a previous attempt. Individu- Because, having done a little figuring, I am disturbed as to
als who are not familiar with the desert always find it hard to just where this mouse multiplication business is going to end.

18 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

rump conglomerate litter the ground be- To LEES FERRY 6 UTAH

tween the knolls, which are scattered wide

apart. In between may be found the frag-
ments of logs, still in place. These petri-
fied trees are much smaller in diameter
than any of the standing stumps.
The medium of purification seems to
have been largely lime, but some parts of
the tree stumps are of harder material. The
varying degrees of red, black and yellow,
have the hardness of the wood in the Petri-
fied Forest at Adamana.
Six miles to the north of the stone tree
stumps, and half a mile off the Tuba City
road is a forest of black, hard logs occupy-
ing a horizontal position. However, these
are not similar to the colored portion of the
standing stumps and geologists say there
is considerable difference in age between
the two fields.
The whitish-grey petrified logs littering
the area, and right alongside Highway 89,
are of softer material than the grey of the
standing stumps. The outside of the
stumps when they were still in place was
stained red, black and yellow. This cover-
ing was harder than the centers. The grey-
ish white fragments, as seen in the illustra-
tions, show the grain of the wood clearly.
Another curious feature is that the pieces
tend to break with the grain, as one would
use an ax to split kindling wood.
The diameter of the stumps varies from
about four feet to 15. Where the soil has
eroded away, roots as large as a man's arms
may be found going down into the ground.
These are of harder material than the por-
tions above, and will no doubt remain un-
broken as long as they are protected from
frost and ice. Directly underneath it is
probable there are other roots which are
from a few inches to one or two feet thick.
None of them ever have been dug out.
Dr. Barnum Brown, curator of fossil
reptiles, American Museum of Natural
History, New York City, explored the area
in 1929. He found and recovered for study
\A.
many fossil bones. Some of these were ly-
ing exposed on the surface. Many were dug
To U.S. HWY. 66 6 FLAGSTAFF
from the eroded shale domes and hills. It
was during this period that the stone remained in place these many millions of The stumps on the crest have protected
stumps received the only printed publicity years. It must have been a great accident of the knolls from rapid disintegration.
ever given them. geological times. While some of them are small, a few reach
During the late 1920's and the early This extinct species of trees grew along 10 to 20 feet in height. These dot the ter-
193O's, a stage line of sedans carried tour- a lake shore. Then in time they were cov- rain over a wide expanse. From the larger
ists from Cameron north across the Navajo ered by strata thousands of feet deep as the knolls, dry waterways course down into the
reservation to Navajo mountain on the land gradually sank. All this tremendous flat land. In the wind blown sand can be
Utah border, a distance of 135 miles. weight crushed some of the logs, flattened found particles of wood from the outer
These were sent out with a competent and broke others apart. Finally, after an- crust of the stumps. They are colored, and
guide, who, passing near the tree stumps other few million years the land began to shine brightly in the sun.
would halt and show them. Few people rise once more. The covering strata of soil, The petrified stumps are still there, and
would believe petrified tree stumps, actual- sandstone and shale began to wear away, agatized wood is to be found, though un-
ly standing in place, existed. eventually exposing the tree stumps as they fortunately the area is not protected from
One scoffer of those early days re- appear today. vandalism. It is not even marked on the
marked, "This can't be possible. These That, in a few words, is what happened. highway. The wood is not as colorful as
stone stumps are just something people The reptile tracks and the fossilized bones that found in the Petrified Forest national
who cater to the tourist trade put up!" found in the sandstone layers of Dinosaur monument farther east. But as far as is
Geologists, who understand better than canyon, 15 miles to the southeast, and in known, this is the only place on the con-
anyone else, marvel that despite the great the bed of the Little Colorado river, are of tinent where petrified stumps are found
upheavals of the earth's crust, the stumps a much later time. in place.

NOVEMBER, 1946 21
 river. Its ranges have been the scene of
more than one gun battle between oppos-
ing cattlemen. Coconino county officers
drove 15 Navajo families from it in 1898,
returning them across the river into the
Melgosa desert.
The Tuba City road once passed closer
to the stone tree stumps than it does today.
On this route near the stumps in 1931, a
youth hiking in the Melgosa lay down one
night to sleep. Having heard the old super-
stition that a rattlesnake would not cross a
rope, he placed one about himself. In the
morning hours before dawn an Indian
driving a truck ran over and killed him.
During the spring of 1897 Jim Parker,
northern Arizona cowboy turned train rob-
ber, killed Lee Norris, a deputy district at-
torney in a jail break at Prescott. Escaping
into the Grand Canyon and Gray mountain
regions, Parker dodged 100 pursuing offi-
cers for a month, and escaped into the
Melgosa desert only to be captured to the
north a week later.
Right where the petrified tree stumps
stand the Navajo procure bright colors for
their famed sandpaintings. Also they ob-
tain a greyish stone which when powdered
and mixed with water gives them a bril-
liant white body paint.
The tree stumps are near the extreme
northern rim of the Painted Desert, as it
ends a few miles to the north against the
reddish walls of Echo cliffs. The east and
south portion continues on through the
Little Colorado river basin beyond the
Petrified Forest 150 miles away.
In 1932 a rather exciting gold rush oc-
curred around the petrified tree stumps.
A prospector came out with samples of
gold which he claimed to have found in the
bluish grey mounds of the eroded Chinle
shales. Indeed he took along two bonafide
witnesses to observe his discovery. Half
the business places in Flagstaff were closed
Hubert Richardson, trader at Cameron. Arizona, who was first guided to the stone as clerks and owners made a run for the
tree stumps in 1914 by Hosteen Goldtooth, a Navajo Indian. Melgosa to stake claims. Within a week
the newly cut marker stakes could be seen
for miles up and down the vari-colored
part of it has been due to the elements. Al- cone towering to more than 1000 feet is
basin.
most all precipitation in the area falls dur- famed Shadow mountain.
ing the winter months. Water or melting No matter at what hour of the day it is On one claim a gold washing machine
snow settles in the cracks, and after night- viewed, or the position of the sun, there al- was brought in and set up against the side
fall freezes. A fragment is broken off, or ways appears to be shadows on this moun- of an enormous colored butte. Then some
else the beginning crack widens and goes tain. This phenomenon is due to the com- one belatedly remembered they had to
deeper. Undoubtedly in a few more years position and coloring matter of the slopes. have water to operate this machine to get
there will be hardly more than the stone Shadow mountain has been the locale for at out the fine particles of gold, if any. Water
tree roots in place. least two western novels, one by the late was one thing the Melgosa desert did not
The petrified tree stumps are in a por- Dane Coolidge and one by myself. have.
tion of the Painted Desert known locally Deeper in the southwest rises flat Meanwhile samples had been removed
as the Melgosa. Captain Melgosa for topped Gray mountain, over behind the from other claims. The first reports indi-
whom it was named, was one of Corona- village of Cameron and toward the Grand cated mercury, but no gold. The rush of
do's men. He passed through the area in Canyon on the south side of the Little eager seekers for sudden wealth began to
1540 with Don Lopez de Cardenas, to find Colorado river. Gray mountain has figured die down. Would-be miners drifted away
the Grand Canyon. in a number of important episodes of local in disgust. Today there are a few die-hards
To the cast and north a few miles, rising history. It was a guide for Cardenas from who believe there is gold in the buttes
against the azure blue sky, is a rim of Win- the Hopi villages toward the Grand Can- around the stone tree stumps. But there
gate and Navajo sandstones of the Juras- yon. But he missed the Hopi Salt trail are others who declare the old prospector
sic series. This is Ward terrace. On the somewhere and did not view the grandeur salted his original claim with a shotgun.
west side of the highway an old volcanic of the lower gorge of the big Colorado Bright colored pebbles from the Shina-

20 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 THE HOTEL
on tkz AT THE
PALMS
ARIZONA Would Restore Ancient Village . . .
Shoot 'em on Sight . . . HOPI MESAS—Believed to be the oldest • • •
continuously inhabited town in the United FIREPLACE-
PHOENIX—Candidates for election in No- States, Old Oraibi on the Hopi Third Mesa, is
vember have received letters from the Arizona to be restored and preserved if a resolution ADOBES
Game Protective association asking how they passed by the Federation of Western Outdoor
stand on the question of bears. Under existing • • •
clubs at its annual convention in September is
laws, sponsored by stockmen, bears are classi- approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Old ALL SPORTS
fied as predatory animals and may be shot on Oraibi was partly abandoned many years ago
sight. The Game Protective association believes when Indian converts to Christianity left the an-
the legislation should be repealed, and bears re- cient city to establish New Oraibi at the foot of
turned to the status of game animals. OPEN
the mesa. While many of the old Hopis remain ALL YEAR
in the original town, some of its historic build-
Moving Rock at Davis Dam . . . ings have fallen into decay and a few have col-
KINGMAN—Excavation of the diversion lapsed. The plan for its restoration is sponsored
channel at Davis dam is half completed accord- by Harry C. James of the Trailfinders school Gateway to Joshua Tree Monument
ing to the report of H. F. Bahmeier, director of for boys at Altadena, California, and other ROBT. VAN LAHR, Mgr.
the project for the U. S. Reclamation Bureau. friends of the Indian tribesmen.
Employment has reached a peak of 1500 men For reservations write or call at
• • • 29 Palms Inn, Twentynine Palms, Calif.
with a weekly payroll of $90,000. The 4500- Regents of the Arizona university and state
foot diversion cut involves 3,500 000 yards of or Call any Travel Bureau or Automobile Club
colleges have accorded to the state teachers' col-
rock and earth removal, of which more than lege at Flagstaff the right to grant degrees in
1,700,000 have been taken out. A new highway
from Kingman to Davis dam is scheduled to be
arts and sciences, subject to certain limitations to P AIMS
be determined bv a special committee. Liberal
completed December 1. arts degrees will be given starting in 1948. This I NN
action ends a controversy of long standing.
Report 77-mile Tunnel Feasible . . .
KINGMAN—Three of the nation's leading
geologists have submitted a report to the U. S. CALIFORNIA
Reclamation Bureau stating that it is feasible Big-Inch Line on Desert . . . GUIDE BOOK TO HIGHWAY 66
from an engineering standpoint to bring water Just published! Gives full data on U.S. 66
BLYTHE—A contract for the installation of from L.A. to Chicago: history, scenic spots,
from the Bridge canyon site in the Colorado a 30-inch pipeline 214 miles long to carry gas roads and grades, accommodations. Maps
river through a 77-mile tunnel to water lands in from the California border to Santa Fe Springs and mileage readings. 128 pp., pocket size.
central Arizona. The board, consisting of has been given the H. C. Price company. This Only $1 postpaid and tax paid. Get your copy
of 1st edition I
Charles P. Berkey of Columbia university, John contract covers the California sector of the line JACK D. RITTENHOUSE
W. Vandeerwitt of New York and Joseph L. that is to bring West Texas natural gas to the 1416 W. 59th Place Los Angeles 44, Calif.
Burkholder of San Diego gave no estimate of Pacific coast. Amount of the contract was $3,-
the cost of the project. 750.000.

FROM SO U T H OF T H E B O R D E R

I /<!
——W3fs^\\ /

\f
HERE'S the West you've dreamed about
—cowhands, desert rides, game,
fighting fish, carefree days of endless
sunshine. You can plunge into the whirl
of Las Vegas night life — famous bands,
^-SSSS^"" COLORFUL floor shows, luxurious hotels... casinos
^ C O R R E S P O N D E N C E CARDS that never close! There's golf, tennis,
swimming, Boulder Dam, G rand Canyon,
^i Something really different in stationery. Death Valley.
Your friends will compliment you on your Las Vegas is
taste and originality. Assortments of cards the place for

-_-~—
— 1 and folders with bright, gay decorations
fun. Conven-
_<.—^~ S j ^ characteristic of the lush land of sunshine
f£^* and siesta—across the Rio Grande. Assort-
Wi ments of 12 Correspondence Cards or
I T Christmas Folders and envelopes, $1.25
iently reached
by air, rail or
\J per box postpaid. Space for personal
•Xfjj message. The coupon below will bring

3 "Mid you a free sample card.

BABCOCK a BOROUCH, 214 W. Gold Ave., Albuquerque, N. M.

Please send me. sample South of the Border Correspondence Card.
,
sample South of the Border Christmas Card.

Signed:
Address.
Slteet or P 0 Box City Stale

NOVEMBER, 1946 23
 Independence, California . . .
Ore from the old Modoc mine in Argus range
GAid MtitUUj, . . soon will be moving to Utah smelters according
to Leo Baccoccina, who recently has leased the
lead, silver and zinc property. Believed to have
been opened originally by Mexican miners, the
Tonopah, Nevada . . . Tucson, Arizona . . . Modoc has not been worked since 1890. At thai
Closed down since 1943 the Ni Mine Values ranging from S5Ji to SI60 a ton m time Chinese labor was used and charcoal kilns
formerly operated by Dese i Silver, Inc., are to gold and silver are reported from the new gold were constructed in Wildrose canyon. The char-
be reop< rding t Harry I I . H u g h e s , strike in the Baboquivan range southwest of this coal was freighted by mule team across Pana-
presiden general ma lager of the Nivloc . The mine, located two miles from the Alh- mmt valley to a crude smelter.
company Betw een 1938 a id I 94 3 this proper- mme of the Tom Reed Gold Mining com- • • •
ty was s u] to be An/on. 's largest silver pro- V. was located by Alfred and Fred Ybarra Tombstone, Arizona . . .
ducer. L d F. I r lynor is VIC • president and William Ferguson. The ore lies in a fissure
superint ndent and James J. (H tk is secretary- i in a broad band of red conglomerate. Southwestern Mines, Inc., is reported to have
if the impany. secured a lease and option on 23 patented claims
of the Great Western mines in the Dragoon
Roswell, New Mexico . . . mountains at Courtland, 25 miles from Tomb-
Ajo, Arizona . . . Twenty-four wells in the Caprock field 40 stone. Announcement of the deal was made re-
A 64-ounce nugget of quartz-gold of which miles east of here have been sold to the Consum- cently by Vincent Riccatdi of Phoenix. President
m o r e t h a n h a l f w a s g o l d , is r e p o r t e d to h a v e ers Cooperative association of Amanllo, Texas, and general manager of Southwestern is A. J.
b e e n t a k e n o u t r e c e n t l y by Ora M a c k e y in t h e for over S 1,000,000 according to officials of the Daugherty, vice-president and general manager
Covered W e l l s district. Malco company which included 12 of its wells of Hoosier Veneer company at Indianapolis.
in the deal. Daugherty plans to move to Douglas.
• • •
Bishop, California . . . Panamint City, California . . .
Sierra Mines expects to install a 500-600 ton Battle Mountain, Nevada . . .
reduction plant at Bodie to replace the Roseclip Drillings are in progress to determine American Silver corporation of Los Angeles
mill destroyed by fire five months ago, accord- whether or not there are still ore bodies in the has been restoring the old road to this once fam-
ing to S. B. McCluskey, manager. A subsidiary old Tuscarora camp sufficient to justify big ous ghost city preparatory to the reopening of
of the American Goldfields Development com- mining operations. Utah Construction company two silver mines. Considerable clearing and re-
pany, Sierra Mines controls a number of proper- has obtained a lease and option on the property tnnbering in the shafts and tunnels will be ne-
ties in the historic Bodie field, and is doing the exploration work. cessary before mining operations can start.

Beatty, Nevada . . .
Due to the inaccessibility of their recent gold
strike. Leo Montoya and Frank Oleniczck are
packing high grade ore from their Bare moun-
tain mine out on their backs. A recent 900-pound

FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY shipment ran $350 to the ton, and they have
1600 more pounds on the dump at the foot of
the trail ready to be shipped. They report that
they recently have opened up another vein which
The runs high m silver.

FARM FRONT WAS IMPORTANT DURING Salt Lake City, Utah . . .

THE WAR. Utilization of the waters of Great Salt Lake
and of waste materials now discarded at the
IT CONTINUES TO BE VITAL DURING THIS smelters and Geneva steel plant will bring the
POST-WAR PERIOD. cost of magnesium to five cents a pound under
newly patented processes, according to the pre-
diction of Alfred M. Thomson, research chem-
ist. Thomson predicted that Utah will become
the greatest magnesium producer in the world.
That is why Imperial Irrigation District is
straining every resource at its command— Mesa, Arizona . . .
to keep essential crops growing. Thirty residents of Mesa have formed the Sil-
ver Crescent Mining company to work 150
claims of the 300-claim silver property three
miles north of Tiger mine near Mammoth.
While the assay value of the ore is not fully
known it is believed to be one of the largest
With 3000 miles of canals and drains to silver properties in Arizona, with estimates run-
ning as high as 300,000,000 tons of producing
maintain, 30,000 canal structures to keep in ore. Milton Roe is managing agent of the com-
repair, over 1,500,000 acre feet of water di- pany.
verted into the system and more than 200,000
water deliveries made each year—it's a big The Union Pacific railroad has agreed to pur-
job—but the District is doing it. chase 1000 open-top all-steel gondolas to haul
raw materials to the Geneva, Utah, plant recent-
ly purchased by the U. S. Steel corporation.
AIDING ITS FARMERS TO GROW FOOD!
Fourteen thousand tons of salt are to be taken
from Kane lake this year according to the esti-
mate of J. Mai lory, superintendent of the plant

Imperial Irrigation District on the Mojave desert near Randsburg.

Chemicals in Mono lake, California, have a

gross value of over two billion dollars, accord-
ing to estimates of the U. S. Geological Survey.
Highest content is sodium carbonate 92,000,000
tons which in a marketable form is worth $15.50
Use Your Own Power-Moke it Pay for the All American Canal a ton. Other chemicals are sodium chloride 86,-
000,000 tons, sodium phosphate 47,000,000
tons, potassium chloride 10,500,000 tons.

22 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

No Jazz at Borrego Springs . . . The Fish Win This Dispute . . .
BORREGO—Plans for the development of a
new desert resort community to be known as
LAS VEGAS—Arizona Fish and Game com-
mission has severed "diplomatic" relations with WANT TO START
Borrego Springs, have been announced by South- Nevada to the extent of canceling the two-state
ern California builders, including A. A. Burn-
and, owner of the Anza ranch in Borrego valley.
fishing agreement covering sports fishing at
Boulder dam. Under the reciprocal agreement
SOMETHING?
According to the statement of Robert Ransom of formerly in effect a license issued by either state
Palm Springs, "the jazz note will be missing at was good on both sides of the river below the
Borrego Springs. W e plan to develop a city dam, and the lake above. The Arizona commis-
which will preserve the beauty and peace of the sioners in making known their decision, asserted
desert. Automobiles are to be barred from the that Nevada had failed to do its part in restock-
business thoroughfares. Homesites will be over ing trout below the dam. The Arizonans say they
an acre in size." have put 10,000 creel-size trout in the stream,
and that Nevada has contributed none. The
Party for an Old-Timer . . . break in relations becomes effective January 1.
LUCERNE VALLEY—Celebrating the 85th
birthday anniversary of James E. (Dad) Gould- Silk on the Nevada Desert . . .
ing, 1800 cowhands, ranchers and dudes from STILLWATER—Silkworm culture is to be
the guest ranches gathered here for a grand bar- introduced here through the interest of Mr. and
becue and rodeo. Dad Goulding came to Lu- Mrs. James McNelly who have made known There are a number of ways to
cerne valley 50 years ago and homesteaded 160 their plans for planting the necessary mulberry start something.
acres of land which is still part of the ranch. He trees next spring. They will follow the Thorn-
brought in the first artesian well, and started the wood plan for the culture and handling of cater- For instance, you can get things
first school 45 years ago. pillars. It is believed that silkworms can be cul- going by building a fire under a
• • • tivated in many parts of the United States. A
Oliver Jaynes has become the publisher of mule.
sericulturist can raise two crops of worms a
the Desert Sun, weekly newspaper of Palm year and spend the other ten months leisurely They sometimes tie a can to the
Springs. The Sun was owned for many years by reeling the silk, hatching eggs and caring for
Carl Barkow, publisher of the Record at Ban- lead husky's tail in a dog team to
the trees. It takes 50 pounds of foliage to pro-
ning. Under its new publisher, it will continue duce one pound of silk, so with 40,000 pounds produce forward motion.
to be printed in the office of the Record. of foliage one acre of 1400 trees produces 800
• • • pounds of silk.
And one sure fire way of secur-
The town of Coachella, claiming more than ing quick action is to wave a red
1500 population, will vote on incorporation as Would Abandon Ghost Railroads . . . flag at a bull.
a city of the sixth class on November 26.
• • • TONOPAH—When the army asked for the
The weekly Limelight-News of Palm Springs, return of the diesel locomotive leased to the
published by Harry Schultz and Charles Leeds, Tonopah and Goldfield railroad for its 97-mile
line, the company's attorney announced that
was scheduled to become a daily newspaper Oc-
tober 15.
freight service on the line would be discontin- A l l of these methods will get you
ued and the road abandoned. Protests from
• • • shippers affected brought promises from Sena- someplace — especially in the case
NEVADA tors McCarran and Bunker that they would try where you flirt with a cow's hus-
Kill Horses to Save Range . . . to secure relief through federal channels. This band.
FALLON—Hundreds of wild horses in cen- is the second time in three years the Tonopah
tral and western Nevada have been killed during and Goldfield company has asked the Interstate But most of us are interested
the past year, and many more hundreds remain, Commerce commission for permission to aban- principally in going places in an
according to the report of Gordon F. Barkley, don its trackage. On August 20 the Nevada
Copper Belt asked permission to abandon its automobile.
range rider for the U. S. Grazing service. In the line between Hudson and Wabuska. If both
mountains and valleys of eastern Churchill these requests are granted only two of the
The first step in that direction
county, Barkley estimates 400 horses have been mining-days short lines will remain in operation, is, naturally, on the starter button.
slaughtered. Many of them were small inbred the Nevada Northern between Ely and Cobre,
stock. Hunters, called mustangers, are paid one and the Virginia and Truckee running between
Success in this particular com-
dollar a head and shoot them to save the range Reno and Carson. mencement exercise is dependent
for the grazing of marketable livestock.
upon a well-charged battery.

INSIST ON THIS
A battery is where spare elec-
tricity is stored for use when you
need it.
HALLMARK OF GENUINENESS ON Don't wait until your battery ex-
NAVAJO AND PUEBLO SILVER pires like a lease. Have it tested
Only genuine Indian handmade silver Jewelry oi good craftsmanship. regularly at your Shell Service
sound construction and ornamented with typical Navajo or Station.
Pueblo designs bears this mark.
If the battery is low, the Shell
man will be glad to take your order
for a recharge.
In this way you will always have
UNITED&INDIAN sure reserve energy — safe deposit
volts, as they say.
TRADERS ASSOCIATION So if you want to start some-
thing, and that something is your
INCORPORATED
automobile, be sure to have that
OR&nniZCE> FOR m P€RJ>€TUATIOn S»PR0T€CTIOn little black box inspected regularly
OF HflnDmfiD€ inomn ARTS ADD CROFTS at The Sign of the Shell.
GALLUP. NEW MEXICO
- B U D LANDIS

NOVEMBER, 1946 25
 Service for Desert Travelers . . .

THE DESERT TRADING POST

Classified advertising in this section costs 7 cents a word, $1.00 minimum per issue
PANAMINT SPRINGS—Marking the com-
pletion of the new cafe, curio shop and service
station built to replace the structures destroyed
by fire in the spring of 1945, Agnes Cody Reid
invited desert friends from Inyo county and
Death Valley to a gala open house in Septem-
ber. Mrs. Reid, cousin of Buffalo Bill Cody, be-
MISCELLANEOUS CAMP AND 'FRAIL INCIDENTS OF PIO- g'n construction of the new buildings in Febru-
NEER LIFE, by W. liven Lively. A desert ary and the completion of the project is a monu-
BINOCULARS -Cleaned, repaired and col- book by a desert author, who has lived for ment to her courage and tenacity.
limated, all makes by Factory Trained man. fifty years in the Southwest. It has the real
Fast Service. Write, tell me your trouble for tang of the Desert. If you like poetry, you will
like ;t; if you do not like poetry you will Mrs. Patton Approves
estimate. THE GUNSHOP—12 W. Roose-
velt St., Phoenix. Ariz. read it and forget that it is poetry as you be- Monument Idea . . .
come absorbed in its narrative and descriptive INDIO—Plans for a General Patton Me-
WANTHD Old desert pictures and paintings thrills. $1.50 postpaid. Address W. I. Lively. morial to be erected at the desert site where he
or prints, old brass and copper and Nevada Route 6, Box 1111, Phoenix, Ariz. trained his armored units were given new im-
fire opal specimens. A. Singer. Santa Paula. petus at a meeting of sponsoring groups here in
Calif. INDIAN GOODS late September. Bartlett H. Hays, friend of the
Pattons, stated he had discussed the memorial
A N N O U N C I N G — Handmade silver jewelry WE ARF AGAIN RECEIVING real hand-ham plan with Mrs. Patton and she approved Camp
(not I n d i a n ) . D i s t i n c t i v e d e s i g n s or m a d e to mered Indian jewelry from the reservation Young site and expressed the wish that the
your design. Unusual stones or use your all made by top silversmiths. For our rock- monument be a simple type of structure. It was
stones cut to any style of cabochon and customers we have bought another collection suggested that nationwide interest in the proj-
mounted. Correspondence invited. W'm. '1 . of rock, making this one of the largest col- ect be invited by having each state which sup-
Doran, 1823 Ralston. Independence, Mo. lections of rocks and minerals in this part of plied men for Patton's army represented in the
the country. Our collection of rugs, baskets bronze plaque. A huge shaft with a General
DESERT COLOR SLIDES- In gorgeous Ansco and jewelry is still large despite the shortage. Sherman tank at its base has been proposed.
and Kodachrome transparencies. See ad on Come in and sec us. Daniels Indian Trading
page 27. Post, 401 W. Foothill Blvd., Fontana, Calif. Mystery in Deoth Valley . . .
HAND WROUGHT COPPER, in all types of DFATH VALLEY—Encrusted with salt, the
metal arts for the home. Many desert gems INDIAN ARTIFACTS. Arrows. Spears. No
Catalog. Write Herbert Lewis, Builder of clothes of a man believed to have met death on
cut and polished or rough Inlays for the fire- fine Indian collections. Box 4, Strafford, Mo. the desert more than 60 years ago recently were
place and barbecue. Send for a list of out- found by a Florida visitor to Death Valley near
special items. Valley Crafts Shop, 14135 Ox- WANTED TO BUY: Two or three fine speci- the Devil's Golf course. The clothes included a
nard St., Van Nuys, Calif mens of Porno baskets entirely covered on pair of corduroy pants, woolen underwear and a
CACTI AND SUCCULENTS From the des- outside with feathers. Also one Yaqui feath- cartridge belt with shells of the center fire type.
erts of the world. Don-Rita brand. By ap- ered sun basket. J. D. Pyatt, Trenton, Mis- There were no bones, and Dr. Pelty who made
pointment only. Write US your needs and we souri. the discovery believes they had disintegrated or
will try to help you. Michael Donnelly Cacti been carried away by animals.
NAVAJO RUGS—Just returned from my old
Gardens, i.i-i Lowell St., Daly City, Calif. home at GANADO and ORAIBI, Arizona,
COMMERCIAL LAPPING and Polishing on with beautiful assortment ruys from 13V2X
flat surfaces. Finishing of bookends and pol- I6y 2 feet, 12x7, 11x8 feet. COCHITI KARAKLiLS. Producers of Persian Lamb fur
ished rocks for fireplaces a specialty. Send for HANDMADE INDIAN DRUMS, KAT- are easy to raise and adapted to the desert
estimate. Joseph R. Matlieu, 123OV2 Boyle CHINA DOLLS, fine NAVAJO Indian which is their native home. For further in-
Ave.. Rt. 1, Box 841, Fontana, Calif. Handmade INDIAN TURQUOISE SET formation write Addis Kelley, 4637 E. 52
JEWELRY, OPEN SUNDAYS. HUBBELLS pi.ice, Maywood, California.
FOSSILS—Geological supplies, Geiger count- INDIAN TRADING POST (Tom S. Hub-
ers, thin sections, picks, hammers, etc. Omaha bell), 2331 Pico, Santa Monica, Calif. REAL ESTATE
Scientific Supply Co., Box 1750, Omaha 4,
Nebraska. FOR SALE: 62 genuine Indian baskets in good SERVICE STATION and store at historic Coy-
condition. They are old and authentic, part ote Wells on Highway 80 between El Centro
of collection purchased last fall in California. and San Diego for sale by owner. Clean at-
BOOKS — MAGAZINES Will sell as collection only. J. D. Pyatt, Tren- tractive property in one of Southern Cali-
ton, Missouri. fornia's most fascinating desert areas. Paint-
NEW MEXICO, Model Craftsman, Trains,
INDIAN RFLICS: 4 very fine ancient Indian ed canyon, coral reefs, fossil beds, old Indian
other magazines, bought, sold, traded. John
arrowheads SI.00. 4 very fine bird arrow- sites and wide variety of mineral deposits
Wesley Davis, 161 I'/, Donaldson St., Los
heads $1.00. 10 nice perfect arrowheads within 25 mile radius. Ideal spot for roadside
Angeles 26, California.
SI.00. Stone tomahawk SI.00. 2 flint skin- mineral dealer. Write owner, O. D. Stephens,
PIONEER MATERIAL I buy and sell old ning knives SI.00. 10 arrowheads from 10 P. O. Box 812, Seeley, California.
and scarce books on tin.- early West and different states $1.00. 10 arrowheads of 10
Southwest. Address Galen P. Perry, Box 704, different materials SI.00. 2 nice spearheads FOR SALE: 50 acres Old Woman Mountains
Carpinteria. Calif. SI.00. 4 small spearheads $1.00. 5 stone net mineral land, $150. Near Needles. Address
sinkers $1.00. 5 stone line sinkers Si.00. 2 Box E, Desert Magazine.
ENJOY THE GREAT OUTDOORS: Learn fine flint chisels SI.00. 4 finely made duck
wildcraft, woodcraft, Indiancraft. By experts. bill scrapers $1.00. 10 stemmed scrapers FOR SALE- -Want to retire and am offering
Articles on outdoor living. Hunting, fishing, SI.00. 5 rare round hide scrapers $1.00. 5 my ranch and business on Highway 66, ad-
camping, trapping. $1.00 per year, 35c copy. small finely made knife blades $1.00. 2 joining town of Daggett, Calif. Equipment for
Subscribe today: Wildcrafters World, Rt. 2, stemmed hoes $1.00. 4 fine drills $1.00. 5 10,000 chix, fully equipped dressing plant,
Lawrenceburg, Ky. fine awls SI.00. Rare ceremonial flint $1.00. malt shop and cafe, antique shop and desert
4 sawedged arrowheads $1.00. 4 odd shaped zoo with all equipment, antiques and collec-
DEALER & COLLECTOR; Worldwide Fire- tor's items. Ranch has 1990 feet frontage on
arms publication. $1.00 yearly; Foreign arrowheads $1.00. 4 fine drill pointed arrow-
heads SI.00. All of the above 23 offers for both sides of Highway 66. Is doing a gross
$2.00. Dealer & Collector, 71HR, Flushing, business of more than $1500 month which
New York. $20.00. Fine Stone Celts or ungrooved Axes,
50c, 75c, SI.00, $1.50, $2.00 each according can be greatly enlarged. Elevation 2100 feet,
to size. 100 assorted Sea Shells $10.00. Loca- cool nights. Fine for asthma. Wonderful
BOOKFINDERS! (Scarce, out-of-print, unu- view of historic Calico mountains 7 miles dis-
sual books). Supplied promptly. Send tion given. 20 slightly damaged arrowheads of
good grade $ 1.00. 100 damaged arrowheads tant. One half cash. Balance your own time.
wants. Clifton, Box I377d, Beverly Hills, Grail Fuller Ranch, Daggett, Calif.
Calif. S3.00. List free. Lear's, Box 569, Galveston,
Texas.
BOOKS OF THE SOUTHWEST. For outstand- For Imperial Valley Farms—
ing titles on the desert country--Travel, His- LIVESTOCK W. E. HANCOCK
tory, Desert Plants and Animals, Gems and
Minerals, Indians, Juvenile — write Desert DESERT PETS of all kinds, wild and tame. "The Parm Land Man"
Crafts Shop, 636 State St, El Centro, Calif. Grail Fuller Ranch, Daggett, Calif., Phone Since 1914
Free catalog. 3489. F.I. Cr.NTRO — — CALIFORNIA

24 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 The Lordsburg Liberal, Hidalgo county news- Utah Doesn't Want Rocket Range . . .
paper, has been taken over by Paul Tooley and
Ralph Mason. The Liberal formerly was owned
by Gen. C. G. Sage and was leased to Mr. Mc-
SALT LAKE CITY—Proposal of the federal
government to withdraw 3,440,000 acres of
Utah land as a rocket-bomb testing area is meet-
"LOST MINES OF
Innis, who is retiring.
UTAH
ing with widespread opposition, both from cat-
tlemen and from the state attorney general's of-
THE OLD WEST"
fice. The proposed range is in the western part 60c Postpaid from Distributor
Sleuthing for Pre-Dawn Evidence . . . of the state in Juab, Millard and Tooele coun-
VERNAL—Geologists, paleontologists and ties, and is a strip of land approximately 55 by
100 miles in extent. At a hearing early in Sep- RAY'S
other scientific men have been having a field day WESTERN BOOKS & MAGAZINES
in Uintah basin during the past summer. Dr. tember conducted by the department of interior,
John Clark of Carnegie museum, Pittsburgh, James A. Hooper, executive secretary of the 33iy2 S. Hill St. Los Angeles 13, Calif.
studied the sediments to determine their origin Utah Wool Growers' association asserted the
and character. Dr. Bronson Stringham of the withdrawal would cost the state's economic
University of Utah held a 10-week field course structure $5,000,000. Army officers testified
that between $100,000,000 and $200,000,000
for students in geology. Robert and George Wit-
ter of Princeton spent a month collecting fossils
from the Tertiary beds. Dr. Charles L. Camp and
Dr. Samuel Wells of the University of Cali-
would be spent on the project, from which Utah
would receive many benefits. Stove Pipe Wells Hotel
fornia spent two weeks studying the vast Trias- New Ferry at Historic Crossing . . . offers you
sic exposures, their prime interest being fossil BLANDING—Governor Herbert B. Maw
reptiles and amphibians. Richard Taylor of Comfort and Relaxation in the
of Utah was among the 350 visitors who assem-
Creighton university, Nebraska, spent several bled on the Colorado near Hite September 17 Heart of Death Valley.
weeks studying fossil localities, and geologists for ceremonies marking the opening of a river
of the Monsanto Chemical company made a sur- ferry on a new highway route between Hanks-
vey of phosphate deposits. EUROPEAN PLAN — DINING ROOM
ville and Blanding. Arthur Chaffin will operate BAR
the ferry at a point on the river known as Dandy
Mormons to Make Historic Trek . . . Crossing. The Hanksville-Blanding road taps MODERN ACCOMMODATIONS
SALT LAKE CITY—Following the trail one of the least known wilderness areas in the HOTEL AND COTTAGES
taken by Mormon pioneers in oxcarts 100 years United States. As a by-product of the new road
ago, a caravan of motor cars is to leave Nauvoo, connection, Harry Aleson has announced that "The Oasis of Death Valley"
Illinois, next July for a centennial trek over the he will schedule boat trips down the Colorado
old route to Utah. Sponsored by the Sons of from Hite to Lee's ferry.
Utah Pioneers, the 1947 journey will require • • • OWEN MONTGOMERY, Manager
eight days, compared with four months in 1847.
General Electric engineers have been called
Honoring the memory of Randall Jones for in to make recommendations for the air condi-
his life-long effort to preserve and publicise the tioning of the Salt Lake tabernacle of the Mor- DESERT COLOR SLIDES . . .
mon church. According to J. W . Stribling, head Gorgeous 35mm color desert slides of Palm
beauties of southwestern Utah, a monument is Springs, Indio, El Centro, Borrego and Paint-
to be erected at Cedar City. Sponsoring the of the engineering group, it will be one of the ed Desert area in selected planned pieked
movement is Union Pacific Old Timers club of largest air conditioning units in the world, if shots by Hollywood color expert. Series in-
installed. clude balanced clear-sharp properly exposed
Salt Lake City. transparencies of Borrego Desert with wild
flowers in bloom; Palm Springs, famous
Seven Palms, Indio Palms, and spectacular
restful views of California Painted Desert be-
tween Indio and El Centro. Series of six slides
EL BAHA CACTI GARDENS $2.60—Six slides with Hollywood Profession-
al (third-dimensional-effect) Viewer $5.00.
Immediate delivery by first class mail. Full
2220 Main Avenue — Laredo, Texas desert list sent on request.
DESERT COLOR SLIDES
IMPORTED RARE MEXICAN CACTI Box 345 Beverly Hills, Calif.
Specializing in Specimen and Show Plants
Astrophytum Myro. V. Columnaris $l-j|0
Astrophytum Myro. V. Potosina — - - - - i- 00 COUNTY MAPS . . .
Astrophytum Cap. V. Major - - I- 00 MINES, Paved, State Improved, Inferior
Astrophytum Assorted Varieties 5 different plants - 5.00 ROADS, TRAILS. R.R.s., GAME REFUGES.
Cephalo Cereus Senilis 8 in. plants - - 2.50 CREEKS, SCHOOLS, RANGER STATIONS,
CAMPS. LOOKOUTS, ELEVATIONS, NAT'L
Cephalo Cereus Senilis 5 in. plants - 1-00 FORESTS, LAND GRANTS, C O U N T Y
Cephalo Cereus Palmerii... no small plants. 18 in. to 3 ft. Per ft. 1.50 LINES. POWER LINES. CANALS, DITCHES,
Cereus Marginatus. 2 to 5 ft. plants only _ Per ft. 1.50 TOWNSHIPS. All Counties $1 except as list-
ed: Tuolumne, Santa Barbara, Plumas, Placer,
Mammillaria Compressa De Condole (Clusters) Head .50 Modoc, Madera, $1.50; Tulare, Tehama, Siski-
Mamm. Gemnispina, large plants, beautiful clusters Head .50 you, Imperial, $2 ; San Diego, Riverside, Men-
Mammillaria Hahniana (Beautiful) 75 docino, Kern. Humboldt, Fresno, $2.50; Trin-
ity, Shasta, Mono, San Luis Obispo, Monterey,
Mammillaria 10 varieties assorted 10 plants _ - 5.00 Lassen, Los Angeles, $3.
Mammillaria Candida White and pink spines _ 1.00 Also Oregon, Idaho and Washington
Agave Victoria Reginae (We have all sizes) — - 50 to 1.00 County Maps.
Specimen Agave V. Reginae $10.00 and 25.00
WORLD'S MINERALS
WE SPECIALIZE IN OUR ASSORTMENTS FOR WE COLLECT OUR OWN PLANTS 2417 San Pablo Ave. Oakland 12, Calif.
AND WE NEVER PASS UP AN INTERESTING SPECIMEN. WE CAN NOT LIST THEM
FOR WE FIND SO MANY DIFFERENT KINDS AND ONLY A FEW OF EACH. THE
ONLY WAY WE CAN GIVE OUR CUSTOMERS THE ADVANTAGE OF GETTING
SOME OF THESE PLANTS IS TO SELL ASSORTMENTS. NON-RATIONED . . .
ASSORTMENT 1—
10 Assorted Rare Cacti, 10 different varieties, postpaid $ 6.00
Basketball,
ASSORTMENT 2—For the Advanced Collectors— Bowling,
15 Different Varieties _ __ 15.00
ASSORTMENT 3—For the Professional Collector— Baseball
20 Different Varieties. (These plants are quite large.) _ 30.00
We select these plants to the best of our ability so that you will receive a fine as-
SHOES
sortment and one that you can arrange in a garden or in a patio. This assortment
should win a prize in any flower show. Please bear in mind that our plants are fully
matured, blooming size. Write us your wants for indoor decorating with Cacti. We
VAN DEGRIFT'S
have a fine collection of large plants at very reasonable prices. 717 W. 7th Street
No orders less than $5.00 please. LOS ANGELES. CALIFORNIA

NOVEMBER, 1946 27
 RX
A COMPLETE LAPIDARY SHOP
IN ONE SMALL MACHINE
WMTSOM
By LELANDE QUICK
People write and ask me how to build their avocation into a vocation. Since they won't move
own lapidary machinery because "the commer- to the Atlantic coast where the professional gem
cial machinery costs too much." They little re- cutting centers are we predict that the growing
alize that if such inquiries were properly an- gem cutting trade in America (now the world's
swered it would take many hours even if I knew largest) eventually will move to the Pacific side
how to reply. It happens that I am one of the of the country. This movement already has be-
world's worst mechanics. I'm not quite as bad gun with the projected building of the first dia-
as the fellow who never did solve the intricacies mond cutting plant west of New York. It will be
Entirely made in the EX factory by of putting the top back on the toothpaste tube built at Pasadena in the near future by Lazare
skilled mechanics. but the lathe is as deep a mystery to me as atomic Kaplan & Sons, cutters of the famed Jonkers
energy. The only thing I know about my own diamond. The new plant will be equipped to
True running, and will last a life time. automobile is that I once succeeded in changing cut $50,000,000 worth of diamonds a year and
12 inch saw. a tire all by myself. On the whole I believe that will employ 200 cutters. Only about 15 skilled
the great majority of gem cutters are in the workers will be brought from New York to su-
The gem machine you have been same category and that they should not attempt pervise instruction of amateur gem cutters, most
waiting for. to build their own machinery. They may succeed of whom will be drawn from the ranks of the
Only seconds required to change from in creating something at less cost but they cre- disabled veteran who must sit at his work.
one operation to another. ate something that pleases them only and has lit- • • •
tle resale value when they are through with it.
Start with the best and you make If you live in the vicinity of Banning, Cali-
I believe that most of the lapidary machinery fornia, and are interested in joining a new lapi-
no mistake. on the market today is good machinery and that dary society forming there drop a postal to
See your lapidary dealer or write direct it is relatively inexpensive. Some of it is not George Buckner at Banning and tell him so. He
for Bulletin A. sturdy and in purchasing it is wise to see and will notify you when an organization meeting
examine it before buying if that is possible. I will take place.
also believe that most of the lapidary machinery • • •
RX LABORATORY being built is the result in almost every case of
1143 Post Ave. Torrance, Calif. Just as I had decided to take a real vacation
ideas that have been contributed by the combin- in the Four Corners region where Colorado,
ation home mechanic and amateur gem cutter Utah, New Mexico and Arizona all meet, the
working out ideas and short arts in his shop. preliminary reports appear of Randall Hender-
Professional lapidaries are grinding gems al- son's month's sojourn in that section. This
most exactly as they did a century ago except that area is said to be the greatest untapped section
they have applied electricity. In some gem cut- for gem hunters in the country. I expect to see as
ting centers in Germany they don't even use that much of it as one can see from an automobile
but men still lie on their bellies to grind gems at but I realize that is not the way to see it. I was
water wheels just as their grandfathers did more impressed with a statement made to me recently
than a century ago. It is the amateur gem cutter by a train companion who said "there's only
who is responsible for the fine array of good one way to see the world and that's on horse-

Lapidary Supplies lapidary machinery now available and unless you

are a mechanic with plenty of tools I suggest that
you buy machinery rather than make it. I have
back." I agree but that method for me will have
to be long deferred. And so, as this appears, I
will be undergoing my first experience at at-
a shop full of homemade machinery and com- tempting to trade some fine spider web Per-
for the pared with the newer things for sale it is defin- sian turquoise to the Navajo for their fine py-
Gem Cutting Shop itely "button shoes" and isn't worth the powder rope garnets which they gather in the Grand
to blow it to Iceland. Canyon country. These are some of the finest
What usually happens is that some enterpris- garnets in existence and I've been told the Na-
ing machinist, who is also a gem cutter, visits vajo do not care for them at all but they will not
Diamond Saws

VBECO Grinding Wheels

Polishing Wheels
many shops containing homemade equipment,
incorporates a consensus of ideas and then
builds a model diamond saw or faceting head.
He goes into business and produces a few ma-
chines. Shortly after marketing them to ama-
sell them. They measure their wealth in tur-
quoise and it's only turquoise they want. Since
good turquoise is scarcer than good will at a
peace conference I expect to get some garnets
for the Persian turquoise I was fortunate to ac-
quire recently.
teurs (professionals are never interested) they
Abrasive Cloth

VBECD Polishing Powders

Abrasive Grains

WRITE FOR COMPLETE LISTING

come and show him where efficiency ideas can
be incorporated to greatly improve the equip-
ment and a new machine is evolved. This evolu-
tion has developed so rapidly that machinery of-
fered today is as far ahead of that offered seven
years ago as the automobile is ahead of the
The term "vacation" means all things to all
people. To a woman it usually means going
some place where someone else does the cook-
ing. To too many people it means going some
place else to do the same things more intensive-
ly than they do at home under the delusion that
carreta. This is history repeating itself for it the "change of scene" benefits them. I believe
OF ABOVE ITEMS AND OTHER was the improvements in the automobile worked that the best type of vacation is one that loosens
VRECO SUPPLIES out by race drivers that contributed most to that the habit chains that bind all year and for-
great industry and it was the amateurs building getting every care that wears down the soul in
home radio sets in the early twenties who con- the everyday process of "making a living." I ex-
tributed most to that industry. pect to make a N E W living for a time wander-
VREELAND It is because the West coast is the center of
amateur gem grinding activity that nearly all this
ing through the Petrified Forest, contemplating
in long deep silence the unspoiled grandeur of
the Grand Canyon, getting away from the high-
development has taken place here and most of
MANUFACTURING CO. the machinery is built here because it is the cen- ways for dinosaur bone and wood and seeing
2026 S. W. Jefferson Street ter of a growing market. More and more ama- the original Americans. I'm taking with me a
teurs have improved their skill by the use of this particularly bad but heavy piece of jasper. I'll
PORTLAND 1. OREGON adequate machinery to the point where they now present it, very roughly, to the first person I
have the desire to turn professional and turn an meet who says "atom."

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 GEMS AND MINERALS
ARTHUR L. EATON. Editor

6" HIGH-SPEED TRIMMING SAW. AH cast

metal. No wood. This saw saves tint* and ma-
terial. Saw operates at 2000 R.P.M. Priced at
$47.50 without motor, F.O.B., Los Angeles,
Calif. This price includes saw-blade, belt and
pulley to give you the correct speed. Requires
Vt -horse motor. Shipping weight approxi-
COLORADO GEM VILLAGE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY GEM mately 60 pounds.
HOLDS SECOND ANNUAL SHOW SHOW SET FOR NOV. 30-DEC. 1
By T. RALPH BENNETT Plans for fall show of San Fernando Valley Highland Park Lapidary Supply
Fort Lewis College, Hesperus, Colorado Mineral and Gem society are maturing under 1009 Mission St.. South Pasadena. Calif.
Second annual rock show September 7-8 at direction of Dan Hamer, display chairman.
Frank Morse's rockhound colony, Gem Village, Deadline for those who plan to display is No-
near Durango, Colorado, drew 111 visitors from vember 1. Judges have been selected from mem- AGATE JEWELRY—MOUNTINGS
ten states—Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, bership of other societies. Invitation cards will
be available for those members who wish to in- AGATE RINGS, Pendants, Brooches, Ear
Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Illinois, Rings, etc., good Montana agate sets, Heavy
California and Virginia. Eighteen Colorado vite friends. silver cast rings, either rough or polished
towns sent unofficial delegates. Noted outof- A large display of fluorescent material and ready to set stone in a variety of styles and
demonstrations of the lapidary art have been shapes. All Mountings, jewelry, and custom
state collectors and exhibitors were present. cutting offered to authorized dealers at at-
Exhibitors included Bob and Dan Ellsbury of planned. To publicize the show, arrangements tractive discounts.
Marvin's Rock Shop, Mrs. Geneva Brown, and have been made to place displays in all Valley
Mr. and Mrs. Hood and son David of the Moun- libraries and in store windows. PACIFIC AGATE SHOP
tain Gem & Supply company—all of Durango; Show will be held Saturday and Sunday, No-
vember 30-December 1, at North Hollywood O. R. and GEORGE JUNKINS
Frank Morse, S. N. Green, and Wilfred C.
Eyles of Gem City, and Mr. and Mrs. Bill Little Recreation Center, 5301 Tujunga avenue, North Box 1483, Nye Beach Newport, Oregon
of La Plata Gem Shop near Hesperus, Colorado. Hollywood. Hours: 10 a. m.-ll p. m. Saturday,
Others with displays were Mr. and Mrs. 10 a. m.-9 p. m. Sunday.
Claude C. Neely and Mr. and Mrs. Jim Wiley of • • • MINERAL
Cahone, Colorado; O. D. Elarton of Salida, Members of Sacramento Mineral society took IDENTIFICATION
Colorado; Philip Griebel of Fruita, Colorado; a field trip in August to a cinnabar mine near
Earl and Wesley Floyd of Trinidad, Colorado; Knoxville, Lake county, California. While very SIMPLIFIED
few specimens of this ore were found, agate and By O. C. Smith, A.B., A.M.
and N. S. Bellman and Jesse L. Myers, both of 2nd Revised Edition
Pueblo, Colorado. onyx were abundant over a considerable area,
both on the mine dumps and as outcrops in the Price $3.50
Highlights of this second annual rock con-
gress in the nation's first and only exclusively field. Some good salmon-tinged specimens were Plus Tax in California
found, also white and grey with a little yellow, Order from — O. C. SMITH - Dept. D
rockhound colony were a tiger-eye quartz pseu- 5157 Santa Ana St. — Bell, California
domorph after asbestos bracelet and ring set in which afterward proved to take a good polish.
the Marvin's Rock Shop exhibit of exquisitely
worked silver; silver-copper specimens from
Lake Superior and zeolite in soft greens and EXCLUSIVE SOUTHERN CAUFORNIA DISTRIBUTOR FOR—
pinks from the S. C. Green collection; a jasper
nodule displayed by Jim Wiley (it weighs
293Vi pounds and measures 4 feet 8 inches
around!); carnelian roses, pseudomorph after
barite, in the Neely display; what is thought to
Lapidary Equipment Co. of Seattle
be Colorado's first discovery of chrysoprase, in
in the Little exhibit; and W. C. Eyles' museum HILLQUIST H 16V DIAMOND SAW UNIT
piece showing of quartz with inclusions. HILLQUIST 3V COMPACT LAPIDARY MACHINE
Other superb specimens included quartz from
Brazil; magnesium crystals from Henry Kaiser's SUPERLOE DRUM SANDERS
plant at Gilroy, California; Benitoite, found HILLQUIST GEM DRILL & HOLE SAW
only in San Benito county, California; neptun-
ite crystals from the same locality; and precious
opals from Virgin Valley district in northwest- All Units in Stock ior Immediate Delivery
ern Nevada.
1946 VICTORY CATALOG NOW AVAILABLE . . .
PHOENIX MINERAL SOCIETY This 64 page illustrated catalog and 8 page supplement cost 45c to produce. For this
PLANS STATE FAIR EXHIBITS reason w e are asking you to send 20c in coin for your copy. It contains a listing of
A. L. Flagg, president Mineralogical Society
of Arizona, is superintendent of the mineral ex- LAPIDARY EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES. SILVER IN MANY FORMS (SHEET. WIRE.
hibit in the Mines building of Arizona state fair, BEZEL). JEWELRY FINDINGS. ROUGH. PREFORMED. AND POLISHED GEMS.
to be held at Phoenix November 8-17 inclusive. FLUORESCENT LAMPS. MINERALS. BOOKS. MAGNIFIERS. RING MANDRELS, ETC.
He is assisted by Ben Humphreys. South end of
the ground floor is reserved for the four miner-
alogical societies in Arizona and others related
to the hobby groups.
The Phoenix mineral group is planning a
GRIECER'S
comprehensive and diversified exhibit. Some of GEMS AND MINERALS
the special features will be: Atomic energy min-
erals, with charts illustrating the processes in- 1633 E. Walnut Street
volved in release of atomic energy; Birthstones; PASADENA 4. CALIFORNIA
Crystallography; Working of semi-precious
gemstones; Micromounts, and the MSA unit Business hours 9:00 a. m. to 5:30 p. m.
of Rocky Mountain Federation of Mineral Socie- Closed All Day Sunday
ties circulation collections.
Volunteer members of the society will act as Phone SY 6-6423
guides to the various mineral exhibits.

NOVEMBER, 1946
 ARIZONA AGATES, jaspers, and petrified
wood in fine gem and fine picture gem will
GEM MART A I) V E R T I S I N G RATE
7c a Word — — Minimum $1.00
be available in the rough soon. We are work-
ing five claims now and will open a sixth in
November. Orders will be filled as of Decem-
ber 1, 1946. We have no price list. Just send
ARIZONA AGATES: Moss, small beautiful HUNGRY! Satisfy your craving for candy with- the amount you wish to spend. Good mine run
pieces, 85c lb. Lovely Pink banded, solid Blue out sugar. We have caramel crystals of Wul- comes at $3-00 per pound in five pounds or
Agates or Dendritic, red veined, mustard fenite on matrix that will make your mouth less; 100 pounds sells for $175. Large orders
Jasper, 50c lb. APACHE TEARDROPS, In- water. $1.00 to $15.00. Green apples you sold and filled on contract only. All gem sold
dian Gems, stones Y2, % or 1 inch are 15 for crave? See our apple green Californite. It cuts, in the rough is sold as mine run and shows
$1.00; $2.00; $3-00. All material in the polishes, and looks like jade. $3.50 a pound. moss, ferns, flowers, and pictures. This comes
rough. Minimum order $1.00. Postage EX- Collectors' items — Descloizite — rare and in many bright beautiful shades of reds,
TRA. Also other mineral specimens. Mary- beautiful silvery-tipped grey-brown crystals. greens, purples, golden—in fact just about
Ann Kasey, Box 230, Prescott, Arizona. Choice specimens $1.00 to $7.50. Higginsite all colors. Orders will be numbered as they
specimens 75c to $10.00. Aurichalcite speci- come in and filled as soon as the stock is
ATTENTION is called to the new location of mens $2.00 to $7.50. Water-bubble Selenite ready. Satisfaction is guaranteed or your
Swisher's Rock and Novelty Shop, at 4719 crystals. Some have more than one bubble. money refunded. Chas. E. Hill, 2205 N . 8th
So. Hoover St., Los Angeles 37, Calif. The $1.00 to $5.00. Glauberite crystal clusters Street, Phoenix, Arizona.
place for rare novelties. Petrified Woods, 25c. Calcite crystal groups 50c to $5.00. Opal
mine minerals, Agates, Geodes, etc. Beau- from Mexico— clear, amber, and cherry, in INDIAN RELICS, Curios, Coins, Minerals,
tiful costume jewelry made from lovely Petri- matrix. Not fire opal. 25c to $25.00. Amber Books, Old Buttons, Old Glass, Old West
fied Wood. When visiting Los Angeles call calcite from Mexico. Crystal groups from 10c Photos, Weapons, Catalogue 5c. Lemley An-
on us. Swisher's, 4719 So. Hoover St., Los to $3.00. No orders less than $1.00, please. tique Store, Osborne, Kansas.
Angeles, Calif. Postage not included. GEMARTS COM- GILDE GEM CUTTER. We now offer this
PANY, 4286 Marlborough, San Diego 5, compact portable outfit to the home cutter.
BEAUTIFUL CARNEI.1AN and Moss Agate Calif.
in designs. Cabochon cut matched sets for Write for details and new catalog listing over
rings and brooches, ready for mounting. $5.00 one hundred varieties of rough. Also all kinds
AGATE RING cabochons—$8.00 and $10.00 of supplies. Gem Exchange, Bayfield, Colo.
per set postpaid. Agnes Mick, Box 1, Morris- per dozen. Agate Jewelry—Wholesale only
town, Ariz. —Approvals. Men's cast SS Rings set with BARGAIN BUNDLES—Assorted rough cut-
NOTICE to fluorescent collectors. I have many Montana agates. Custom Cutting and mount- ting material—Agates, Jasper, Geodes, Var-
beautiful fluorescent specimens now in stock. ing. North West Gem Shop, Box 305, Ta- iscite, Turquoise, Chrysocolla, Petrified
Each one tested before being sent out for coma 1, Wash. Wood, Obsidian, etc., 5 lbs. $3.50, 10 lbs.
color and beauty. 10 nice sized, all different, $6.00, 20 lbs. $10.00. Assorted sawed cut-
$5.00. jack the Rockhound, Box 86, Carbon- BARGAIN ASSORTMENT — Fluorescent — ting material—20 sq. in. $3.50, 50 sq. in.
dale, Colo. One chunk dumortierite. One chunk Fine $7.00, 100 sq. in. $12.00. Agate, Jasper,
Sun Valley Calcite, pink. One chunk dolomite Chrysocolla, Variscite, Turquoise, Wood,
ANY ONE wishing to buy Petrified Wood from new find in Indiana. One chunk Nevada Rhodonite, Obsidian, Opal, etc. Please in-
write William Hutton, Green River, Wyo. selenite. One chunk shellite from Canada. clude postage. Send for price list of cutting
One chunk Texas pink calcite, one of the material, minerals, specimens, jewelry, etc.
FOR SALE—Cabochon blanks, Rose Quartz, most phosphorescent minerals. One chunk John L. James, Tonopah, Nevada.
Moss Agate, Jade, Palm Root, Jasper, Poppy calcite in limestone new material from In-
Jasper, Polka Dot Agate, Tiger Eye, Petrified diana. One chunk lovely flaming calcite, new 100 GOOD GRADE ancient Indian arrowheads
Wood and Labradorite. Name your wants, material. One chunk Old Mexico tribolumin- $4.00, 1000 $30.00. Tomahawk, hoe, discoi-
we will supply them. $1.75 per dozen. The escent sphalerite. One chunk molybdenite dal, axe and 20 arrowheads $5.00. Large flint
Agate Nook, 6206 Santa Fe Ave., Huntington from Ontario, Canada, very fine. One chunk knife, large spearhead, game ball, celt and
Park, Calif. norbergite, rare, from New Jersey. One chunk 20 stemmed scrapers $5.00. 100 blemished
Virgin Valley Opal, lovely soft green. One spearheads $10.00. 100 fine arrowheads
20 ASS'ORTED colorful specimens including chunk willemite, from New Jersey. One $10.00, 100 slightly blemished stemmed
Amethyst crystals, Agates, Chalcedony Roses. chunk franklinite, calcite, and willemite. All scrapers $4.00. 100 beautiful sea shells
Jasper, Geodes, Copper specimens and for $3.00 plus postage on 5 pounds. West $10.00. List free. Lears, Box 569, Galveston,
others. Generous size. $1.50 postpaid. Trager Coast Mineral Co., P. O. Box 331, La Habra, Texas.
Mick, Box 1, Morristown, Ariz. California. Mailing address. Shop location,
1400 Hacienda Blvd., La Habra Heights, WANTED: TO BUY and sell crystals and
EASY INSTRUCTIONS for cutting and polish- superbly colorful rare minerals, strictly top
ing cabochons with description of necessary California. Open every day but Monday.
Thousands of specimens, as well as cutting grade. Sam Parker, 2160 East Van Buren,
equipment sent postpaid for $1.00. Western Phoenix, Arizona.
Lapidary Supply, 117 23rd St., Manhattan material. From Los Angeles, come by Whit-
Beach, Calif. tier Blvd. to Highway 39, turn north to 1400.
From Pasadena or vicinity come by way of WANTED: Excellent crystallized specimens,
Valley Blvd. to Highway 39, turn south to outstanding cutting material for wholesale
CABOCHONS—Cut from numerous types of trade. Send specimen samples and prices.
semi-precious stones, suitable for jewelry 1400. Phone 81707.
Jack Frost, 59 E. Hoffer St., Banning, Cali-
making or collections. Prices very reasonable. fornia.
Rough sliced materials—Including Horse MINERAL SETS—24 Colorful Minerals (iden-
Canyon agates, Fine gem quality silicified tified) in l x l compartments—Postage paid, "PERRY DRILL"—New model. Drill youl
rhyolite, Palmwood. etc. 10 to 25c square $3.50. Prospector's Set of 50 Minerals (iden- own pendants, beads, buttons, etc., for pleas-
inch. W. J. Kane Lapidary, 1651 Waller St., tified in lxl compartments in cloth rein- ure or profit. For professionals or amateurs.
San Francisco 17, Calif. forced sturdy cartons. Postage paid $5.75. Drills fast—none better at any price. $14 00.
Elliott's Gem Shop, 26 Jergins Arcade, Long L. E. Perry, 111 N. Chester, Pasadena 4, Calif.
Beach 2, Calif.
TEXAS URANIUM FLUORESCENT: Grey,
weathered, oddly honeycombed breccia of SPECIAL MAIL OFFER: 20 square inches
translucent chalcedony and opalite with ig- $2.50 brings you prepaid six rare and beautiful agates, jaspers, petrified woods, etc. (not
neous matrix. Dazzling lemon-yellow fluor- crystallized Arizona minerals. Vanadinite, trimmings). Enough for 50 cabochons. $2.50
escence in colorful contrast with deep indigo Dioptase, Wulfenite, Willemite, Chrysocol- postpaid. Fred's Gem Shop, Hansen, Idaho.
blue of matrix. One of varied fluorescent la, Azurite. Specimens l'/2 x 2 or larger.
chalcedonies, opalites, and agate in stock. Wiener Mineral Co., Box 509, Tucson, Ari- LARGE ASSORTMENT of good quality gem
3x3" $1.50; 3x4" $2.50: 4x5" $4.50. Three zona. stones. Prices in the rough run from $2.00
larger choice specimens $5.50. $6.50 and per pound up. Sawed slabs, assorted $3-50
$10.00. New Fluorescent Price List Mailed on MONTANA MOSS AGATES in the rough for per pound up. One pound of slabs will cut
Request. Frank Duncan &: Daughter, Box 63, gem cutting, $1.00 per lb. plus postage. El- dozens of excellent cabochons. Send for ap-
Terlingua, Texas. liott's Gem Shop, 26 Jergins Arcade, Long proval selection of beautiful cabochons. Cus-
Beach 2, California. tom silversmithing and lapidary work esti-
MINERAL SETS- Selected specially for Pros- mates on request. Sterling silver sheet and
pectors. 50 mineral specimens mounted, iden- MINERALS, GEMS, COINS, Bills, Old Glass, wire in small quantities. I purchase good
tified and pocket booklet describing each Books, Stamps, Fossils, Buttons, Dolls, quality gem stone in the rough. Correspon-
specimen. In cloth reinforced carton. Postpaid Weapons, Miniatures, Indian Silver Rings dence invited. Satisfaction or money-back
$4.00. Old Prospector, Box 21R98, Dutch and Bracelets. Also Mexican. Catalogue 5c. guarantee. Paul F. Fryer, Walpole St., Dover,
Flat, Calif. Cowboy Lemley, Las Cruces, New Mexico. Mass.

30 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

100 MINERALS and fossils, nice size, $4.00. MINERAL SPECIMENS, slabs or material by Rock collection of Charley Williams of Bar-
40 small $1.00 ppd. Bryant's Rockpile, Rt. 2, the pound for cutting and polishing, RX stow, one of the state's outstanding ones, is be-
Lawrenceburg, Ky. Units, Felker Di-Met Saw Blades, Carborun- ing exhibited by Walter Reinhardt at Mountain
dum wheels, Cerium Oxide, Preform Cabo- View, California, schools.
AMAZING BARGAIN—High quality stones. chons, Indian jewelry, neck chains. Be sure • • •
Almandine garnets (Madagascar) $1.50 ea., and stop. A. L. Jarvis, Route 2, Box 350,
Watsonville, California, 3 miles S. on State Trona was brought to the attention of visitors
Green garnets (Australia) $2.00 ea., Opals at the Northwest Federation of Mineralogi-
(Australia) $1.20 ea., Moonstones (Ceylon) highway No. 1.
cal Clubs exhibition at Boise, Idaho, in Sep-
$1.50 ea., Sapphires (Blues or Golden) In- tember, when a crystal specimen display of Mo-
dia $2.80 ea., Aquamarines (Brazil) $2.00 desto Leonardi's won first prize in that classifi-
ea., Sardonyx (South America) $1.00 ea., cation.
Quartz topaz (Brazil) $2.00 ea., Amethysts • • •
(Brazil) $1.50 ea., Turquoises (Persia) AMONG THE
$1.10 ea. All stones cut and polished. We Selma, California, lapidary class has started its
guarantee complete satisfaction. See that
funds accompany your order. L. de Crissey,
ROCK HUIITERS eighth year of operation under Adult Evening
Education program. Some of the original mem-
P. O. Box 93, Times Square Station, New bers are still in attendance and the class has its
York 18, N . Y. same instructor, Gates Burrell.
John Hilton has sold his gem and mineral
business near Indio, California, to J. W. Greb
ATTENTION TOURIST: When passing of Seattle. But John isn't out of a job. He still August meeting of Long Beach Mineralogical
through Modesto, California, do stop and see has his art studio and his cactus gardens to oc- society was highlighted by Jack Streeter's talk on
the Ken-Dor Rock Roost at 419 South Frank- cupy his time. This disposal of his gem business mineral collecting in Brazil. He described many
line St. We Buy, Sell or Trade Mineral Speci- will give him more time for his painting and good localities in the country, and gave account
mens. Visitors are always WELCOME. writing—and for aviation which he has taken up of various incidents during his trip and a wealth
as a hobby. Publication of his Sonora Sketch of information about Rockhounds in Brazil.
BEAUTIFUL PANHANDLE Flint, Amarillo Book by the Macmillan company is scheduled • • •
Stone, several colors, stripes and figures. As- for the spring season in 1947.
sorted. Finest cutting. Finishes like 3j;ate. • • • At first fall meeting September 17 of Minera-
Found on an old Indian camp ground. One logical Society of Southern Nevada, Boulder
dollar per pound. Joe H. Green, Box 666, Officers of Mineralogical Society of Arizona,
Phoenix, for 1946-47 season are: A. L. Flagg, City, Paul Mercer was elected to take the place
Hereford, Texas. of Mrs. Dora Tucker who resigned due to ill
president; Dr. G. G. McKhann, vice-president;
H. B. Holloway, treasurer; George D. Hough, health. Mrs. Florence McMillan, in turn, was
MAKE OFFER—1" synthetic sapphire, rough, secretary; Joe E. Shelton, historian. chosen to take Mr. Mercer's office as secretary-
clear. M. J. Hiland, Lansing, 111. treasurer. New president outlined an interesting
• • •
program for the season including trips to Davis
SUPER GEM WOOD, in the most gorgeous New officers of Monterey Bay Mineral so- dam area, Searchlight, Nelson and other favor-
colorings, and unique designs. Ideal for jew- ciety, Salinas, California, were installed at a ite haunts of rockhounds. First field trip was to
elry making. Price $3.00 per pound, or $2.50 banquet meeting August 11, at which Robert be to Fortification mountain October 13. The
per pound for 2 or more. Postal order only Deidrick, past president of East Bay Mineral area of banded agate and flowered jasper locat-
please. Include State tax 3 % and postage. society, spoke on mineral identification. The ed there will be reached by crossing Lake Meadl
E. S. Bateman, 5108 W . Olga St., Seattle. new officers, installed by Paul Lawrence, presi- by boat.
Wash. dent of Y.M.C.A. board, are: T. G. Emmons,
Salinas, president; A. W. Flippin, Salinas, vice-
CAN SUPPLY Montana moss agate, agatized president; Ruth Hacking, Santa Cruz, secre-
wood, jasper, jade and sapphires. The sap- tary; Alice R. Everett, Santa Cruz, treasurer; TURQUOISE & CHRYSOCOLLA
phires are small and are put up approximately Past President Wm. O. Eddy, Salinas, adviser.
Directors are D. E. Perry, H. Samuelson, R. L. JEWELRY
75 in a glass vial with rwo or three Montana
rubies included for $1. Good grade agate $1 Dey, all of Salinas. Retired president, Wm. O. (Wholesale Exclusively)
per pound plus postage. Jade in various Eddy, was presented with a beautiful gavel.
shades of green $3 per pound and up. E. A. • • • HAROLD D. MARYOTT
Wight, 217 Hedden Building, Billings, Mon- Long Beach Mineralogical society has set Oc- 40 Oak St. Rt. 1 Miami, Arizona
tana. tober 20 as date of its third annual mineral
show. It will be held at 4104 Allin street, Long
AGATE SLABS O N APPROVAL. Brilliant Beach, California, one block east of Belmont
colors, exquisite patterns, plume, flower and pier. The public is invited. 2 Pound Box of Beautiful Mineral Speci-
moss. Choice gem quality for jewelry making. • • • mens. Assorted, nice size. Price $2.00.
End pieces and slabs for outstanding cabinet Write for list and prices on others. I
Marquette Geologists association, Chicago, at have many for you to choose from.
specimens and colorful transparencies. Send its latest meeting, elected the following officers
$10.00 deposit for approval selection and for the 1946-47 season: Langdon H. Longwell, JACK THE ROCKHOUND
state types desired. Now by the pound to tho«e chairman; Winton E. Platte, vice-chairman; P. O. Box 86 Carbondale. Colo.
who will call in person. Mae Duquette, 407 Marjorie Scanlon, secretary-treasurer; Selma
N. Muscatel, San Gabriel, Calif. Jenner, curator-librarian. Directors are: Arch
Nisbet, Wm. E. Menzel, G. G. Putman, T. J.
THE DESERT RATS NEST will reopen with a Scanlon. STUDENTS AND HOBBYISTS
good supply of minerals, sold under the old • • • ALIKE FIND THE
guarantee. But I shall cater mainly to facet At August meeting of Los Angeles Miner-
and fine cabochon cutters. Third Brazilian
shipment now in—all first grade gem mate-
rial. Amethyst, Andalusite, Golden Beryl,
Chrysoberyl, Brazilian Almandite, Garnet,
Blue and white Topaz. Now in, Ceylon ship-
alogical society, during the period when guests
were introduced, Mrs. Dearborn, secretary of
the New England Federation, extended a wel-
come to anyone coming to Boston.
Dflflfl
A Source of Accurate and Always
• • •
ment, Gray and gray Star Sapphires, Ceylon Timely and Interesting Informa-
Moonstone, will wholesale some. On hand, About 25 members of Los Angeles Lapidary
facet material—Australian Sapphire, Mon- society who are interested in faceted gems have tion on the Absorbing Sub-
tana Garnet and Sapphire, small Mesa Grande formed an "inner group" which meets monthly jects of . . .
bi-color green and rose Tourmaline. On hand, to discuss problems concerning gem faceting. A
Finest cabochon Aventurine for stars, star similar group for the jewelry workers may be • GEOLOGY
garnets, Star sapphires, Ceylon Moonstone, formed in the near future. Society planned a • GEMOLOGY
poor grade Mexican opal, green and golden field trip to Chuckawalla mountains for latter
Beryl, topaz blue Amethyst, Citrine, Tigers part of October. • MINERALOGY
Eve, Rutilated Quartz, 3 colors Rutile, tiny • • • Subscriptions are $2.00 Yearly
blue Tourmalines in Quartz, Sagenite, Sweet- Richard R. F. Lehman has written an article,
water Agates. Lots of specimens, tell me what Good Field Trip Behavior, in September issue
Single Copies 20c
you want, no list. Mail address, Geo. W. of Pacific Mineralogist, bulletin of Los Angeles TELEPHONE TUcker 6801
Chambers, P. O. Box 1123, Encinitas, Calif. Mineralogical society, which would be a good
Home address, 640 Fourth St., between F & G code for every rockhound. He stresses special 428 Metropolitan Bldg.
Sts. Come on down and bring your surf fish- problems which confront collectors in Southern LOS ANGELES, CALIF.
ing rod. California.

NOVEMBER, 1946 3L
 Heber H. Clewett, physics instructor Pomona
Materials Are Still Scarce! . . . high, was speaker at September meeting of Po- HEIRLOOMS OF THE FUTURE . . .
mona Valley mineral club. In his talk on quartz
oscillator plates he stated that only a small pro- Marvin's fine handicrafted sterling

ORDER NOW portion of quartz crystals is satisfactory for

making oscillators, and that until the past three
or four years only Brazilian crystals were con-
silver jewelry.
MARVIN'S ROCK SHOP
U. S. Hiways 160 & 550. Durango, Colo.
TO BE SURE OF sidered usable. Much of that material was dis-
carded due to imperfections such as fracture or Visitors Always Welcome
twinnng. During the war it was discovered that
Christmas Delivery oscillators could be made much smaller than had
previously been thought possible and that in- MONTANA AGATE . . .
Sawed slices in packages $5.00 per package.
trusions, phantoms or cloudiness did not impair
Sawed slices mixed gem materials $6.00 per
oscillation properties. Also quartz from Vir- package. No culls in these packages. Montana
ginia, Arizona, North Carolina and California Agate, rough, good cutting material, $1.00 to
was found satisfactory. $ 2.0 0 per pound. M on tana Agate, fine to
choice, $3.00 to $10.00 per pound. Rough
• • • Montana Sapphires, mixed pale colors, choice
Before you buy any lapidary equipment- San Fernando Valley Mineral and Gem so- gem but not large, cut about half carat, each
50c. Finished Montana Agate cabochons $1.00
ciety has sent copy of its bylaws, directory and and up. Precision facet cutting. All work and
its bulletin Rocks and Gems to a group in West materials guaranteed or money refunded.
Australia who wish to form a gem society.
NEW CATALOG • • •
FLATHEAD HOBBY MUSEUM
Highway 9 3 Rollins, Montana
Orange Belt mineralogical society plans to re-

LAPIDARY UNIT sume regular indoor meetings October 1 (first

Tuesdays) at 7:30 in San Bernardino, Cali-
fornia, junior college. JEWELRY CUT STONES
it • • •
SAVYING • POLISHING Wholesale and Retail
LAPPING • FACETING Taylor Martin, Box 295, Pecos, Texas, has a Satisfaction Guaranteed
SANDING • GRINDING limited quantity of dendritic calcite crystals
SPHERE CUTTING which he would like to trade for other specimens Thunderbird Gem Shop
• THE LATEST in lopid rjry of interest. P. O. Box 111 Claypool. Ariz.
equipment, with mtiny AVAILABLE
'ITHOUT PRIORITY
• • •
exclusive features found Searles Lake gem and mineral society plans its
in no other machines More than 1000 in use.
Price includes diamond saw, gr nding wheels, sanding fifth annual hobby show October 26-27 at Trona
wheels, polishing buff and everything necessary fc> unified school. Hobbies of any kind may be ex- DESERT SPECIMENS . . .
made cabochons and specimens up to capacity of the hibited, but rocks will predominate. Several con- BARGAIN BUNDLE—Mixed cutting mate-
8" saw. Saws up to 10" can be used on this machine. rial. 25c per lb. or 5 lbs. for $1.00.
ducted field trips to near-by points of interest
have been arranged. Admission 50 cents. SHOWY MINERAL SETS—20 colorful min-
erals attractively arranged and hand lab-
• • • eled in neat box. Excellent for gifts—study
F A C E T I N G ATTACHMENT At September meeting of Desert Gem and
Mineral society, Blythe, California, Collis May-
—collections—$2.00.
ASSORTED PREFORM CABOCHONS — 25c
• A FINE precision tool that flower and Jerome Keim were appointed to each—10 for $2.00.
greatly simplifies the cut- HEADQUARTERS for beautiful XI lined
ting of any faceted gem. serve with club officers on the mineral show Strawberry Geodes. Priced from $1.00 to
Con be used with any hori- committee. Date of the next gem and mineral $10.00. Complete satisfaction guarantee.
zontal lap thru the use of. show was to be announced at the October meet- Postage and Tax Extra
a simple adaptor socket. ing. At the same meeting it was decided to have Send dime for Catalog of Showy Specimens
a mineral auction at each meeting, proceeds to VISITORS WELCOME
go to the treasury. Each member will bring a
specimen for the auction. Glenn Vargas spoke JACK FROST
on his recent collecting trip to Wyoming. 59 E. Hoffer Street Banning, California

DIAMOND SAW ONI • • •

San Jose Lapidary society recently received
• HANDLES from
a 10" to 16" blade. Safe word their articles of incorporation have been Cluutqe Scuidtiuq. Cloth
p hold quickly adjusted granted by the State of California. Orlin Bell, M i W U!
to any size stone. Cross feed San Francisco, who did the legal work, was to be
permits several parallel cuts
^ H I L L Q U I S T SUPERLOK
present at the October 1 meeting to present them
without reclamping stone,
ntei-nal Pressure grease officially. 1 D R U M SANDER
brication . . . adjustable oil
surrjp. Splash proof, yet
• • •
'AND POLISHER
work is visible at all time*. ROCKHOUND MOUNTAIN
ALL METAL. Exclusive "Super-
Apologies to author Big Rock Candy Mountain lok" system locks cloth firmly
in place at a twist of the wrist.
By RITA MATSON Can be used for both sanding and polishing. Unexcelled for making
Santa Barbara, California hearts, crosses, stars, etc., because it works right into the hard-to
get corners. Light weight, perfectly machined and balanced two
On a summer day in the month of May, sixes-2'x7", 3 "x7". Fits 1/2", 5/8 " and 3/4 "arbor State which.
An old rockhound came striding
PRICES Up a rocky slope, through the brush—the dope
1545 W. 4 9 ST. I
BLADl

TIUI1U vlf
Hoped to find where gold was hiding. oviu EWPMMFCOSEATTLE ? Wash-I
7" •(4.75 $4.00 As he roamed along he sang a song ' INC.

8" 5.75 4.75

• USERS say our Hiltquist
Of the land of rockhound heaven,
7.85 6.85
10" SupeiSpeed D i a m o n d Where all glitter's gold, and there's nothing sold
9.50 8.25
12"
11.75 10.00
Saws cut faster cwid o u f But a sample's freely given.
14' *" last many sows that sell
13.50 11.50
|6' for twice the money, rf
you n^ed a new saw or Oh ! the buzzin' of the bees in the petrified trees,
the old one needs recharg- Near the opalescent fountain,
W E PAY POSTAGE ing, tr/ a SuperSpeed- At the quartz crystal springs where the di'mond
you'll swear by it, and not
at it. lie sure to state sire saw sings
In the far-off Rockhound mountain.

"Come along with me," says this rockhound free

"And let your cares go sliding.
Take a sample here, try for color there,
And ne er your luck be chiding.
We will trade our rocks, smart like a fox
And we'll never be outsmarted.
1545 W. 49 ST., SEATTLE 7. WASH. They will call us queer, but let them jeer—
From our rocks we'll ne'er be parted."

THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 Highlights of Sequoia Mineral society's Sep-
WHOLESALE— tember meeting were musical numbers and re-
To Authorized Dealers . . . ports by members of their summer trips. Several
members displayed specimens. Others had slabs
'Alta' Lapidary Equipment
AGATE JEWELRY in lots of 1 Dozen or and specimens for sale at the meeting.
more—Pendants, Rings, Brooches, Ear-
rings. Each item in attractive gift box. • • •
CABOCHON CUT STONES, in lots of Past presidents of Los Angeles Mineralogical
100 or more. society were honored at the annual birthday
party meeting September 19, at which time they
Prices on Request gave anecdotes of the past and suggested aims
ABERCROMBIE'S AGATE SHOP for the future. Past presidents in attendance
were: Dr. Thomas Clements, Mrs. Gertrude
335 So. Lakewood Blvd., BelHlower, Calif. McMullen, Dr. John A. Herman, O. C. Smith,
Ernest Peterson, Jas. C. Arnold, Gordon Funk
and Dick Lehman. About 60 members and
guests were present.
• • •
Guest speaker at September meeting of Yava-
ANEW pai Gem and Mineral society, Prescott, Arizona,
was Homer R. Wood, former state senator and
FIELD TRIP old-time Arizona resident. His stories of early
prospectors and trail blazers in Prescott area,
dating back to early 1860s when gold was first DIAMOND SAW UNIT, 16" Capacity.
Take an easy field trip through our discovered, were both humorous and interesting. Will cut slabs 6 by 8 inch with 4" cross
new display yard. All the hard • • • eed. 3 speed power feed with quick re-
urn feature.
work has been done and the rock Chicago Rocks and Minerals society, at Sep- Price (less motor and blade) $127.50
has been separated and cobbed tember 14 meeting, heard Frank L. Fleener, Jo- Shipping weight 115 lbs.
liet geologist and collector, discuss fossils and
into just the size you want. Box the discoveries of buried records of human ac-
after box of choice material is on tivities of prehistoric times. Ben Hur Wilson,
display at our new "Easy To Find" also from Joliet, presented the speaker. George
location. C. Anderson, president, presided.
• • •
R. M. Addison, San Jose, and Mrs. D. D.
PRESTOLITE OUTFITS AND TANKS Smythe of Santa Cruz, spoke at September 9
ARE IN STOCK meeting of Monterey Bay Mineral society. Mr.
Addison exhibited his beautiful and unique
See our new lapidary shop. All the new cameos and told how he made them. Mrs.
machinery is in operation. Visitors are Smythe gave an interesting talk on jade and
always welcome. See and use lapidary showed some of her priceless pieces which she
equipment before you buy. brought from China.
• • • GRINDING ARBOR Heavy construction.
Members of Santa Monica Gemological so- Sealed SKF Ball bearings. Shaft 15" lg.
Open daily 9:30 a. m. to 6:00 p. m. ciety at September meeting enjoyed an air tour of with %" arbor for up to 10" dia. wheels.
Sundays 1:00 to 5:00 p. m. Alaska via "Wings to Alaska," a colored mo- 42" Belt furnished. Built to last a lifetime.
tion picture. Also an educational talk by Prof. Price (less wheels) $22.50
Remember Our New Address W. R. B. Osterholt of Santa Monica city college, Shipping weight 23 lbs.
on glaciers. Minerals of California were ex-
hibited by members in Mineral of the Month
LONG BEACH contest.
MINERAL & LAPIDARY • • •
Minnesota Mineral club, Minneapolis, in D
SUPPLY CO. looking about for ideas to swell the treasury, is
considering sale of paper-weights and bookends I
1850 E. Pacific Coast Highway made from scrap material left from the cutting F
LONG BEACH 4, CALIFORNIA wheel and assembled into form with some sort F
Phone 738-56 of plaster, to sell at $2.50 to $3.50. They would E
use only native Minnesota material and advertise R
in national magazines.
E
N
T

1MHBB HERE ARE THE GIFTS

YOU'VE SEEN LOOKING FOR!
Petrified Wood, Moss Agate, Chrysocolla,
Turquoise, Jade and Jasper Jewelry
SANDER & POLISHER Alum, construc-
tion. Die cast pulleys. Eccentric cam de-
vice makes changing and tightening oi
belts easy. This unit is ideal for sanding

119
HAND MADE IN STERLING SILVER and polishing.
Bracelets, Rings, Necklaces, Earrings Price (less belts) $19.50
3 Belts 120. 220. 320 Grit 1.00
and Brooches 1 Woven polishing belt _. 1.95
Shipping weight 15 lbs.
SPECIALLY SELECTED STONES WITH
CHOICE COLORS AND PICTURES LAP UNIT All alum, construction except
alloy steel bevel gears and sealed bal!
Write for Folder with Prices bearings. With 8" dia. "MEEHANITE'
Wholesala and Retail Lap plate. Ideal for lapping flat speci-
mens.
ELLIOTT'S GEM SHOP Price $28.50 — Shipping weight 20 lbs.
26 Jergins Arcade Long Beach 2, Calif. Prices are F.O.B. Pasadena. California
Entrance Subway at Ocean and Pine
Open 10 A. M. to 10 P. M. Daily ALTA ENGINEERING C O . -
P. O. Box 1149 Pasadena 20. Calif.

NOVEMBER, 1946 33
 It is reported that Glen Waters is forming a
club in Rochester, Minnesota. Another report SPECTROGRAPHIC
has it that clubs are forming in Duluth and
other areas. ANALYSIS . . .
• • • will detect valuable metals in your mineral
Program subject for September 12 meeting of samples. Rare metals are easily detected even
in extremely small amounts.
San Fernando Valley Mineral and Gem society Complete qualitative analysis only $4.00
was minerals of Cornwall. Kilion and Margaret per sample. Prices for quantitative analysis
Ben.susan presented a joint lecture on the min- and research sent on request.
erals and mining industry of the English coun- SEND SAMPLES PREPAID TO—
ty-
GEM VILLAGE • • • PACIFIC
Black Petrified Wood. 5-10 lbs., lb $2 Ninety members and guests of Orange Belt SPECTRO-CHEMICAL
Colored Wood. 5-10 lbs., lb. $1 Minera logical society met at the home of Mr. LABORATORY
and Mrs. I. V. Graham, San Bernardino, August
Ricolite, striped serpentine, lb. 50c 11 for a covered dish dinner. Members recounted 2891 So. Robertson Blvd.
Black Obsidian, lb. ...50c vacation experiences. Mrs. H. Clark, president, LOS ANGELES 34, CALIFORNIA
Snowillake Obsidian, lb. 50c gave several polished specimens for prizes, and
Garnets, pyrope, cutting quality, oz. ..50c a desert painting donated by a member was
raffled. All enjoyed the grab boxes. September GENUINE HANDMADE
Colorado Plume Agate, per slab $1 to $30 meeting was scheduled for Pinetum, Sylvan STERLING SILVER JEWELRY
Other materials too numerous to men- park, Redlands, final outdoor gathering of the WHOLESALE ONLY
tion, also, cabinet specimens, cut stones, season. Each member was requested to bring Rough Cutting Material—Petrified Palm,
silver jewelry, fluorescent materials, polished specimens for display. A "rock rush" Petrified Cat-tails, Bloodstone
was planned to complete the evening's fun. PRICES ON REQUEST
mineral books, lapidary work, gold and
silver work to order. • • • A. J. GARDNER
North Hollywood high school, night school, Box 265 Needles, Calif.
THE COLORADO GEM CO. has announced a class in mineralogy, which
BAYFIELD, COLO. started September 16.
• • •
As Mineralogical Society of Arizona, Phoe- Lapidary Supplies
nix, opened its twelfth year of continuous ac-
DRILL GEMS . . . tivity, with more than ten times the membership & Equipment
with which the first year ended, it was an- PLENTY OF GOOD CUTTING ROCK
. . . DRILL JEWELRY nounced that the aim of adding at least one new
member at each meeting during last year was "The answer to PRECISION work—is a
MIDGET DRILLER again achieved.
• • •
PRECISION BUILT TOOL"

A Universal Drilling Machine East Bay Mineral society, Oakland, has full POLY PRODUCTS ARBORS—
A Real Instrument . . . schedule for October activity, including illus- D3 Heavy Duty for 10" wheels $27.50
trated talk on Goose Lake meteor by Earle G. D12 Junior for 8" wheels ... 22.50
Linsley. of Chabot observatory (October 3), C2 Universal single end yg" 9.00
field trip October 6 for volcanic bubbles and C2 Universal single end y4" 10.00
petrified wood, and on October 17 an unusual SARTWELL Automatic Drill $29.50
program presented by Don Clark, who will RX Complete Lapidary Unit $125.00
show his pictures of Arabia set to music—a pic-
ture which was shown at a command perform- All Items are F.O.B. BelHlower
ance for the royal family of Arabia during CARBORUNDUM BRAND ABRASIVES
United Nations conference in San Francisco. FELKER DI-MET SAW BLADES
Sterling Silver Ring & Pendant
Mountings
TRUE OR FALSE ANSWERS Silver and Gold Chains
Questions are on page 26 XMAS is just around the corner, make
your selection early
1—False. Rattlesnakes and ground owls
sometimes usurp the prairie dog's HELPFUL TIPS ARE FREE
holes, but they never live at peace.
2—False. Turkeys are native of North ABERCROMBIE'S AGATE SHOP
America. 335 So. Lakewood Blvd.. BelHlower, Calif.
3—False. Billy the Kid (William H.
Bonney) was born in New York
City in 1859.
4—True. 5—True. Miners and
MODEL A PROFESSIONAL
Departure Sealed Ball Bearings, Jacobs Key
6—False. Salinity of Saltern Sea .355 per "| Prospectors
Tightening Chuck, 3 Drilling Blocks, Motor
cent, Great Salt Lake 19.558 per
cent. The percentages vary from r } INSTANTLY
Pulley and Belt . . .
year to year, these figures being jP IDENTIFY
$37.50 Without Motor taken from D. T. McDougal's The URANIUM
Salton Sea. MERCURY
Use any sized motor. We furnish the pulley
for yotir motor free. Give your motor shaft 7—True. MINERA LIGHT SCHEEUTE
dia. and R.P.M. when you order. Deposit re- 8—False. El Tovar and Phantom ranch DETECTS U R A N I U M WILLEMITE
quired with oriler—Balance P.P. (C.O.D.). and other valu-
Circular on request. are in Grand Canyon national park. "The available methods for delecting
9—False. Good treads are best for sand. uranium lacked one or more of (he de- able Orel with
sired characteristics. Etentually, however,
DIAMOND DRILL POINTS 10—True. a meihod was worked out that is prob- MINERALIGHT
ably more specific and sensitive than the
NO TUBES — NO PASTE 11—False. The Mormon battalion was usual qualitative methods for. uranium. <?<«J jfidd.H
recruited while the Mormons were Since uranium is rnosi susceptihle to
For Drilling Agate, Ruby and Sapphire short-wave ultra-violet light, the lamp
Very Fast. camped in Iowa enroute to their used in this work was the MINER-
ALIGHT V-41 . . . which emits short-
3/64 (0.045) Dia $ 7.50 promised land in Utah valley. •wave ultra-vielct fays at 2,537" Angstrom FREE
1/16 (0.062) Dia 8.50 12—True. 13—True. units."*
|| A four-color II
2/MM (0.078) Dia 9.00 14—False. Cliff houses generally of MINERALIGHT
3/MM (0.118) Dia 10.00 Copies of the full report, "Fluorescence Test Catalogue
The 1/16 Size is the All Purpose Size
stone, with mud as mortar. for Uranium," are available from the Bureau WRITE DEPT.T
15—True. 16—True. of Mines. Office of Mineral Reports, Wa= lODAtl
Prompt Delivery ington, D. C.
17—True. 18—True.
Post Paid, Cash with Older or C.O.D.
19—False. Walpi is a Hopi village.
20—False. Jumping cholla is a species of
SHUMAKER PRODUCTS CO. cactus. ULTRA-VIOLET PRODUCTS, INC.
1312 East Fourth St. Sterling, III

34 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

DESERT ROCK GARDEN
FOR SALE . . .
ISbf |ieij:i:idll^|
Possibly the most beautiful and unique
Desert rock garden in the west. Fantastically
shaped volcanic scoria and other rocks. Over
a quarter of a century was spent collecting
Of a Rockhound pit!
» • • INDIAN ** i
these rocks.
COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED
By LOUISE EATON TRADING POST
NAVAJO INDIAN RUGS * JEWELRY
No pieces sold separately. Would greatly Tom S. Hubbell, 2331 Pico Blvd.
enhance the beauty of any country estate. Rockhouns can't comprehend how en-
Santa Monica, California
nywun, evun the most fervent unrock-
EARL STANDARD houn, can take a trip and not bring home
Brown, Kern County, Calif. r o x —at least wun speciment uv what may
be found in the locations visited. True PAUL & WARNER . . .
rockhouns can't pass evun a cut in the
road without xaminin it. Sum cuts pays THE INDIAN SHOP
CRYSTALS. Unusual and Superb Speci- dividends, too, in the guize uv mineral
mens. Indian Jewelry, Navajo Rugs, All Other
speciments or fossils. Hiway cuts also Indian Crafts
SLABS. Polished or Rough. tells geologic stories about the surroundin
MINERALS. Large Varied Assortment. country. Open Daily, Sundays and Evenings
GEM MATERIAL, Many new additions 233 Grand Av. (Hy 39), Buena Park. Cal.
and finds. Rockhouns most genrally isn't vege-
STOP AND GET ACQUAINTED tarians and in view uv the present meat
sitchewation they sumtimz almost wishes
RO MART GEM AND MINING CO. that they could relish eatin the things
Rt. I. Box 1313 Indians wunst did—rattlesnakes, chuck-
5 Miles West of Barstow, Calif. awallas and sutch. Only, evun in rock-
houndin territory, rattlesnakes is skarser
than T-bones in a chain store.
MINIATURE SETS, Asst'd per doz
synthetic
SYNTHETIC RUBIES or GENUINE GAR-
$6.00
50 RING STONES, including genuine and
$7.50
Cuttin and polishin rox is certainly a
lucrative hobby—wun that can be turned
LAPIDARY
NETS, per carat $1.25 to good account if desired. Specially if yu
CAMEOS or OPALS—Genuine—12 for $3.75 can do facet cuttin. Therz increasin de-
100 JEWELRY STONES removed from rings, mand for distincktive gems, and lots mor
etc., $2.40; 50 large ones $2.40
12 ARTICLES ANTIQUE JEWELRY, rings, folkes are becomin rok conscious. When
pins, etc $3.00 rockhouns mounts their own stones they
500 COSTUME JEWELRY STONES $2.00 adapts the settin to the rok thus producin
B. LOWE. Holland Bldg.. St. Louis 1. Mo. xquisite and unique joolry. Diamond Abrasive Blades

HILTON & GREB GEM SHOP Mr. and Mrs. Walter A. Anderson of Snyder,
J. W. Greb, past president of Gem Col- New York, vacationed briefly in Phoenix dur-
lector's Club of Seattle and one of the ing September. Mr. Anderson, member of Buf-
founders and directors of the Northwest falo Museum of Science, is responsible for loan
Federation of Mineralogical Societies, of Mineralogical Society of Arizona traveling
has taken over the rock, mineral and collection to the Buffalo museum, where it has
gem business of John W. Hilton east of been on display for three months. He also is a
Indio, California. leader in the amateur lapidary class sponsored
Greb's rocks and minerals from the by the museum, one of the largest programs of
Northwest, combined with Hilton's large its kind in the country.
and representative collection from the • • •
Southwest and Mexico make this one of At October 5 meeting of Marquette Geolo-
the largest and most comprehensive dis- gists association, Chicago, Frank L. Fleener of
plays in the West. Future announce- the Joliet Mineralorists spoke on fossils, their
ments will list special offerings from nature and implication. Among honored guests
month to month. In the meantime we in- were Mr. and Mrs. J. O. Montague and Ben
vite correspondence and visitors. Bagrowski of the Wisconsin Geological society.
Shop on Highway 99, 11 miles south- • • • FELKER D I - M E T
east of Indio, at Valerie Jean's corner. Meeting of Midwest Federation of Geological
Address Thermal, California. M O D E L DH
Societies was scheduled for October 19-20 at
Minneapolis. Tentative program included busi-
ness meeting, mineral exhibit, lectures, sight- Most practical, economical cut-off
seeing tours, field trips and a banquet. saw yet developed for amateur
• • • Lapidary use!
Marion Speers, of Western Trails museum,
Huntington Beach, and recently elected presi-
dent of West Coast Mineral society, was speaker WRITE FOR PARTICULARS
at September meeting of Long Beach Mineralo-
gical society. Watch next month's announce-
ment of new Felker Di-Met UNI-
World's Largest Diamond Mine LAP. A complete, compact lapi-
Reported Found in Tanganyika dary machine with both vertical
Diamond mine with a surface area eight times and horizontal spindle positions in
greater than the world's largest previously one unit!
known diamond mine has been discovered at
Mwadui, near Shiryanga lake in Tanganyika,
department of land and mines announced from
Dar es Salaam, Africa, September 26. Owner of
FELKER
mine was said to be Dr. J. T. Williamson, na- MANUFACTURING COMPANY
tive of Canada and graduate of McGill univer-
1128 Border Avenue
SEND FOR LITERATURE 15 sity. Production for this year was estimated at
LAPIDARY ENGINEERS more than $8,000,000 and the mine surface re- TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA
portedly has been only scratched.

NOVEMBER, 1946 35
 Coronado to the present.
In the section, More or Less Heroes,
which includes Coronado, Escalante and
Ives, one of the best realized chapters is
the wistfully beautiful story of Padre
Garces, whom he calls the Little Man with
the Big Cross. Row Your Boat is an eight
chapter section giving highlights of man's
struggle with the Colorado river, from the
little known Virginian, William Henry
ROMANCE OF SOUTHWEST'S unfolded, with emphasis on the personali- Ashley, through the expeditions of Powell,
GREAT RAILROAD UNFOLDED ties that built it—Colonel Cyrus K. Holli- the Kolb brothers, Clyde Eddy and more
In the style that makes history interest- day especially. All of the detailed trials, recent explorers and adventurers. He does
ing to all ages, SANTA FE, The Railroad tribulations and triumphs of the railroad not pretend a complete story of river men,
That Built an Empire, is the complete story are dramatically, and often humorously, but rather has chosen some of the most dra-
of the building of the famous Atchison, reported. matic or the most significant, giving them
Topeka and Santa Fe line. The author, Random House, New York., 465 pp., rather detailed attention, thereby more
James Marshall, begins his story back in appen., index, 32 pages photographs. effectively arousing curiosity about the en-
early Pueblo days when the West knew $3.50. tire story.
only short foot trails, before the introduc- —Aliton DuBois
Grand Canyon "characters" and trail
tion of the horse. Against this background, NEW BROCHURE ON SOUTHWEST guides, tourists and dude wranglers are
the history of the great Santa Ye is quickly HOME CONSTRUCTION pictured with deft and humorous words
A hundred pages of designs and details which will be especially appreciated by
for Southwestern homes make up a new those who have visited the Canyon. His so-
brochure, MODERN SPANISH-PUEB- journ in the Land of the Sky Blue Water,
A VIVID S t LO HOMES, designed and written by where "nothing ever happens" covers sev-
William Lumpkins, a native Southwest eral amusing chapters about the Havasupai
NOVEL ABOUT architect. Forty-one plans with perspective Indians.
drawings and details, from small economi-
CALIFORNIA'S EARLY cal houses to four bedroom units. It con- The author chose a tremendous sub-
tains a foreword on the historical develop- ject—filled with eons and centuries, with
DAYS history and adventure—and he has pro-
ment of the adobe house in the Southwest,
illustrations and discussions of such details duced a book that to the general reader will
by a well-known be convincing and realistic.
as fireplaces and doors. A page descrip-
Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York,
California newspaperman tion of each house plan faces the illustra-
1946. Maps, index, 312 pp. $3.75.
tion.
• • •
Ed Ainsworth Construction plans and specifications on
all the designs are available from Western BOOK BRIEFS . . .
Plan Service, Santa Fe, New Mexico. University of California Press an-
S2.00. nounces that Ordeal by Hunger, the story
GRAND CANYON SITS of the Donner party by Dr. George R.
FOR ITS PORTRAIT Stewart, professor of English on the
Berkeley campus, will be reissued shortly
Edwin Corle, in his newest book in a centennial edition.
LISTEN, BRIGHT ANGEL, has put ge- • • •
ology and history into the best-seller class. One of the valuable documents of the
He has written about the Cyclopean birth Donner Party, who were snowbound in the
and growth of the Grand Canyon and Sierras in 1846-47, has been published by
about the four centuries during which men Dr. George R. Stewart, professor of Eng-
have known the canyon, in such a way that lish, University of California, under im-
a reader will ask for more geology and his- print of Book Club of California. Entitled
tory—of that kind. Diary of Patrick Breen, the book presents
It is true historians and possibly geolo- text and facsimile of the original, with ad-
PAUL JORDAN - SMITH SAYS: gists will find some faults. But there is no ditional notes by Dr. Stewart.
"Ainsworth missed nothing of doubt this book will awaken a deeper and
California's amazing early his- more active interest in Canyon Country and Two books of the late W. A. Chalfant,
tory. That of itseli would carry the entire Southwest than has heretofore Tales of the Pioneers and Outposts of Civi-
the delighted reader through elicited ohs and ahs of tourists as they have lization, are being combined in a single
gone down Bright Angel and other trails volume entitled Sagebrush and Mining
these exciting pages: delayed
via muleback. Tales, according to Stanford University
romance quickens his pace . . . There are moments, especially when Press. Foreword for the new book was
It is easy to see that EAGLES Corle is writing of persons and events written by Horace M. Albright, former di-
FLY WEST will be one of the which have become idealized in general rector of national park service.
most eagerly read novels the literature, when his tone sounds superfi- • • •
Pacific Coast has produced in cial. But when analyzed one realizes he is Another in the long line of stories on Su-
many a long day." using the idiom of the day. Perhaps for perstition Mountain and its lost treasures
that very reason his places, events and peo- is a booklet, True Story of Jacob Walzer
$3.00 at your bookstore ple seem so real. He looks at them from the and his Famous Hidden Gold Mine, writ-
viewpoint of a 20th century man who tries ten by Charles Frederick Higham of Phoe-
MACMILLAN to see through the silk screen of glamor nix, and published by McMath, El Paso, at
which has veiled historic figures from $1.00.

36 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

 A Group of Four Distinguish!i d . . •

PU B L I S H E D
BOO K s
BY DUELL S L O A N & P E A R CE, N E W Y O RK

1. FIT FOR A KING . . .

A new edition of Merle Armitage's famous book of food with articles
by Louis Untermeyer, Crosby Gaige, Bob Davis, Abbe Dimnet; and
recipes from Alfred Lunt, Angna Enters, James M. Cain, John Charles
Thomas, Feodor Chaliapin and a host of others. Drawings by Elise.
Photographs by Edward Weston.
. . . $5.00

AN D T H R E E S O U T H W E S T E R N ITEMS
BY E D W I N C O R L E . . .

2. D E S E R T C O U N T R Y . . .
Fourth large printing. . . . $3.00

3. LISTEN, BRIGHT ANGEL . . .

A panorama of the Southwest from 1540 t<a 1946 containing material
never before published.
EDWIN CORLE'S LATEST BOOK. $3.75

4. BURRO ALLEY . . .
Merle Armitage has designed a new edition limited to 1500 numbered
and signed copies of Mr. Corle's exceptional novel of Santa Fe.
. . . $5.00

A o l i l U U K DUUAo ELLER
ACIf VAIID DAAVC

NOVEMBER, 1946 37
 (Lu5t Hatween Ifou and Me
A--S-A' ,£^

By RANDALL HENDERSON
ESPITE all the advances being made by scientific man in- could readjust themselves to new conditions—in other words,
eluding the harnessing of atomic energy, the physical the radicals—came through the test and survived. Not always,
structure and mental equipment of the species homo however. Sometimes they became too radical, and perished. But
sapiens has not changed much in the past 500,000 years, nor will the conservatives were doomed, without exception. Change is
it change radically in the next half million years, according to the an immutable law.
view of anthropologists. Bearing on this subject the San Diego The ancient dinosaur was a conservative. He could not adapt
Museum of Man in a recent issue of its monthly bulletin, offers himself to changing conditions—and that was the end of the
the following estimate: dinosaur.
"His head will not get much bigger, although it may become The scientist, in the true sense of the word, is a radical. He ac-
rounder. The brain will not become much bigger, although it cepts no precedents as his final authority. His mind is eager and
has possibilities of becoming more specialized. Stature of some curious—he seeks ever a new and better way to achieve the end
human groups appears to have increased but they may be due to he has envisioned.
better diet and medical care rather than any real evolutionary I wish our schools were doing a better job of instilling in our
changes. children the eager open-minded approach to our social, political
"One of man's weak spots, the lumbar region of the back and economic problems which the scientist uses so effectively in
could stand some improvement and may in time develop the dealing with material problems. I would teach the students that
needed reinforcement. Any expanded muscular development of nothing man-made is too sacred to be changed—not even the
the 'superman' type is unreasonable because the present frame- constitution of the United States. That constitution was written
work would not stand the strain. Man's feet are weak and need by men who were radicals in their day.
improvement to support man's present weight. Wisdom teeth My generation has made a rather bad mess of things. There
and little toes are going out for lack of use. are too many human dinosaurs among us. The solution for our
"There is a general tendency to the loss of body hair. In fact confused world is in the adaptibility of youth—youngsters who
the Caucasoids, particularly whites in Europe and the Americas, have been taught that it is within their power to take the re-
seem to be following the lead of the Negroids and Mongoloids sources and scientific knowledge of this earth, and with a some-
and going them one better by losing the hair on their heads as what different mould than their mothers and fathers have used,
well. Man has not changed a great deal in the last 500,000 to re-create a social order in which they will regain their heri-
years except in the development of the brain, and it is doubtful tage of security, freedom and happiness.
if he will change much in the next 500,000 years. All this de- * * *
pending on whether we become too efficient at annihilating one With this issue, Desert Magazine starts its 10th year. It is
another, and man is not around in 501946 A. D. to take a good just a youngster yet, but it has been through a few years of de-
look at himself." pression and a war—and a lot of headaches caused by the short-
* * •» age of paper. We had to take another cut in our paper quota this
The Creator has given us a beautiful and bountiful earth. In month, but I think we will be back to our 48-pages-or-more next
the soil and the rocks are all the resources man needs for a full month. Let's hope it will be for keeps.
rich life. And in the hearts and minds of humans is the potential The things of the desert thrive on adversity. Also, they like
genius necessary to use these natural resources to the end that plenty of space. They don't like to be crowded. And that is Des-
there may be security, freedom and happiness for all. ert Magazine's problem too. We must find bigger quarters for
Who then, is responsible for the misuse of these resources— our growing staff of editors and printers and circulation girls.
the misdirection of these human talents? You say it is the presi- When we erected the present building in 1939 we thought it
dents, the premiers, the dictators, the capitalists, the labor rack- would serve our needs permanently. But we were wrong. We
eteers. But there is neither vision nor understanding in such an underestimated the numbers and enthusiasms of that strange
answer. tribe of humans who can see beauty in pastel-colored rocks and
In a democracy, stupid or dishonest leadership merely is a who find peace and strength—and poetry—in a land once feared
measure of the intelligence and courage of those who select that and shunned by their ancestors.
leadership. And so, plans are in the making for a new and much larger
Who, then, is at fault for the confusion we see in America to- publishing plant, to be started as soon as building materials are
day? My friends, the paleontologists, can show you a very prob- available. There we will have ample space, not only for the staff
able answer to that question out on the mesas and in the can- and printing equipment, but also for friends to call in and say
yons of the land that is called desert. Nature has a law that is "hello" and enjoy the botanical gardens and the desert exhibits
inviolate. It is the law of adaptation. The arid region of the which are to be a very important part of the new project.
Southwest is sprinkled with the fossils of plant and animal life Inscribed on the door of Desert's publishing plant in El Cen-
that became extinct because it could not change—it could not tro, California, is an invitation: "Friend or Stranger, you are
adapt itself to a world that never stands still. welcome here!" We are going to take that sign with us when
The lesson we can learn from this is that those forms which we move.

38 THE DESERT MAGAZINE

LETTERS...
Return of a Historic Marker . . .
Jacumba, California
Dear Editor:
I am glad to advise you that the original
grave stone which marked the burial plot
Andreas Canyon is Correct . . . Who Wrote These Lines? . . . of Frank Fox near the old Carrizo stage
Pasadena, California Mendenhall Peak, Angeles Forest station on the Butterfield route has been
Gentlemen: Sir: located and returned to the grave by Bud
It annoys me a little to see the Desert This inquiry is in regard to a poem, the Sackett of Anaheim, California.
Magazine referring to "San Andreas Can- name of which has been forgotten. Some The stone carved by Mr. Sackett (see
yon" as you do on Page 2 of your October 40 years ago I had this poem in a scrap Desert, October '42) to replace the orig-
issue. Andreas Canyon was named for old book, but during the first World War I inal after it had disappeared, is to be placed
Chief Andreas of the Palm Springs Indi- mailed it to a friend. The opening lines in my museum four miles west of Jacumba.
ans, and I think San Andreas should be are as follows : HAPPY SHARP
content—perhaps doubtfully—with hav- • • •
ing the biggest fault in California named Side by side on the white sands resting, Pegleg Was an Honest Man . . .
for him. Sleeping on and on. Calipatria, California
WILLARD S. WOOD Not a sign or soul attesting,
Editor, Desert Magazine:
• • • Whence they've come or gone.
Your October issue contained reference
Regarding the Sacred Bird . . . Not a beast about them crying,
to two men who played important roles in
Topango, California Not a bird about them flying . . .
the early history of the desert country, and
Gentlemen: A. W. OLSON I think you have done an injustice to one
I wish to add my two cents worth in the • • • of them which should be corrected.
"Sacred Bird of the Hopi" controversy. Days on the Reservation . . . One of the men is Jedediah Strong
We consider that Mr. J. B. Dixon is the San Diego, California Smith whose figure is included in the
best authority on the life and habits of the "This is the Place" monument being erect-
Golden Eagle that this country has ever Dear Mr. Henderson: ed by the Mormons in Utah. Jedediah
developed. He is the author of many books I was much interested in an article by Smith left a record which has never been
and papers along Nature lines and we are Richard Van Valkenburgh in your July is- questioned.
only too happy to indorse anything that he sue, since I went to Keam's Canyon as a However, on another page of Desert you
says. teacher in October, 1903, and later became mentioned Jedediah's nephew, Pegleg
I might add that my own personal ex- disciplinarian. I knew Lorenzo Hubbell
Smith, whose lost gold mine has become a
periences during these past 50 years has intimately, since we were both young and
single and often played tennis and base- legend on the desert. Pegleg's real name
told me that the Golden Eagle is one of our was Lazarus Smith, and he was my great
ball. It seems strange to think that the old
most timid of birds and I never have heard uncle. I have heard older members of my
trading post is gone. I used to slip away
of a single instance where any attempt was from the boarding school and run down to family tell much of his life's story.
made to defend their nests. I have spent the trading post and back before breakfast. Some of the legends about Lazarus
many a happy day exploring the Indian Smith have been rather uncomplimentary.
Country and learned to take with a grain Keam had been gone a few months be- For instance, your writer Charles Kelly im-
of salt the vivid tales that flowed from fore my arrival, but I heard quite a little plied that he had once been a horsethief
their conversations. about him. Mr. Van Valkenburgh men- in association with the Paiute Indian chief
W. LEE CHAMBERS tioned the differences of opinion which de-
Joe Walker. Lazarus, or Pegleg if you pre-
veloped between Charles E. Burton, super-
NOTE—Mr. Chambers is business intendent and disbursing agent for the res- fer his nickname, was never a thief.
manager of the Cooper Ornithologi- ervation. Mr. Burton was a lovable gentle- He was my grandmother's brother. He
cal club, organized in 1893. man, quite strict in his religious beliefs, lost his leg in a sawmill accident when he
• • • hence had little sympathy for Indian cus- was about 17. Two years later he came
toms or tribal ceremonies that conflicted West, and remained many years in the des-
The Spots Tell the Story . . . ert country, and it was on one of his trips
University of California with his interpretation of orthodox Chris-
tian teachings. that he found the famous "hill covered
Los Angeles, California with black nuggets." Eventually he re-
Dear Randall Henderson: I regard Lorenzo Hubbell as a wonder- turned to his home at Penn, Michigan,
I would like to bring to your attention ful personality. He was just a kid at that where he died of pneumonia, and where
the fact that one of the lizards pictured in time, fun-loving and always full of mis- his body is buried today.
Mr. Blackford's article on page nine in chief, yet stern and business-like when he Lazarus was a quiet unassuming young
your September issue is mislabeled. It is got behind the counter. I shall never forget man, and like his uncle, Jedediah Smith,
marked Leopard lizard, while in reality it his wrestling match with "Bullneck," a was honorable in all his dealings. Unfor-
is the Desert Crested iguana. powerful Navajo, nor can I forget my ride tunately, another man—an outlaw—pos-
The Crested iguana has a crest of dorsal when I borrowed Lorenzo's cayuse and ing as Pegleg Smith because he too was
scales along the reptile's back. The Leopard rode to Holbrook to get a message through minus one limb, was responsible for the
lizard does not. The spotting of the iguana to Albuquerque. I rode the 85 miles in two slander which became attached to the name
is light with a dark encircling band, while days, starting at 10 o'clock in the morning, in later years.
the spots of the Leopard lizard are dark stopping at the Halfway house that night The story of the Pegleg gold has been
with a light area around the spots. The en- and on to Holbrook next day. I made the much garbled in the re-telling. Lazarus
closed photograph will make clear this dis- return journey, if I remember correctly, did find gold, but it was not black nuggets,
tinction. without stopping there, arriving home late nor were they located on one of three hills
The paragraph regarding the carnivor- at night. One of the Hathorn boys was in the desert west of Yuma. The proper
ous habits of the lizard shown in your pic- in charge of the Halfway store. He had location is not far from the old Spanish
ture is therefore incorrect, the food of the married a Navajo, as had his brother— trail on the Mojave desert. I hope some
iguana being flowers and other vegetation. Herman, I think his name was. day to make a search in that area.
GERHARD BAKKER LUCIEN M. LEWIS O. H. EDDY

NOVEMBER, 1946 39
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