194103 desert magazine 1941 march

8/14/2019 194103 Desert Magazine 1941 March

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& f f the. Congratulations toDICK FREEMAN!After accumulating enough Desert Maga-zine rejection slips toplaster the inside ofhis garage, Dick finally has gained aplacein thepages of theDM two months in

succession.Last month hismanuscript on desertphotography was published, and thismonth it is aninteresting story ofhis tripto thehistoric Manly Falls in theDeathValley region.Dick deserves to gain a place in thejournalistic field. Fortwo years hespentmost of hisevenings taking night classinstruction inwriting and photographyand at the end of that time hequit hisregular job andlaunched out to sink orswim inthe field offree lance journalism.During the past year hehas sold pic-

tures to many publications, and featurestories toFord News andPopularPho-tography.

Until hecame west two andone-halfyears ago and secured a job aseditor ofthe Tucumcari, NewMexico, Daily News.

STUART MORRISON was a roving re-porter who had worked from New Yorkto Florida andinmany ofthe Mississippivalley states.Morrison's editorial position has givenhim theopportunity ofclose acquaintance-ship with both theTucumcari irrigationproject and the men who aredirecting thisimportant engineering development, andit is through this association that he hasbeen able to give Desert Magazine readersthis month anaccurate and complete storyof this new reclamation program.

Morrison is 40, has awife andthreechildren, wants toraise the youngsters inthe West, and isknown among his associ-ates as"Stu."

LOUIS P. LesCARBEAU, Jr., whoseunusual series of desert tortoise picturesis reproduced in the Desert Magazinethis month is an amateur photographerwho earns his livelihood as paint shopsupervisor at the Douglas Aircraft factoryin ElSegundo, California.Many years ago he acquired acouple of

tortoises aspetsand today hehas abigfamily of them. "They take care of them-selves," he explains, "feeding on grassand other vegetation that grows in thebackyard."In answer to aquestion about the carea mother tortoise gives her young, he said:"The adult tortoise lays her eggs and thenforgets about them, leaving the youngones tohatch out when they are ready andthen shift for themselves. Occasionally,ou t of sheer curiosity, the adults will ap-proach the newly hatched babies, lookthem over andtake a sniff or two, andthen go onabout their business. I thinkthey are what you would call 'rugged in-dividualists.' "

J O H N H ILTO N is taking time offfrom his writing and painting tomanagethe mineral display atthe Riverside coun-ty fair at Indio, California, February20-2 3 . HARLOW JONES, who accompaniesHilton onmany ofhis field trips as officialphotographer forthe Desert Magazine, iscooperating with Hilton in thepresenta-tion of a kodachrome picture program asone ofthe features atthe fairgrounds. Be-tween them, they have one of thefinestcollections of colorful desert photographyin both stills and movies tobe found any-where.

A re youT IREDof Winter?C ome to INDIOands e e theworld! Foratrip into the desertland around INDIOis like a trip into for-eign lands .Going East your firstglimpse is had of thegreat shifting wind-swept sand dunes,reminding one ofnor-thern Africa. Then on to thedate gardens ofAraby. . . ourown Coachella Valley date gardens. Thenwe touch a bit ofSmyrna as wereach theorchardsof fig trees, while thegreat stretches of vineyardsmight well represent portions of Spain andItaly.What better view of Egypt could anyone desirethan that furnished bybeautiful Palm Canyon?But scene ry isnot all. The desert has many myster-ie s . . . many s tories totell . . . tothose who arewilling tolisten and toexplore.So we say,"Come toIndio. Never has thedesertbeen more beautiful. Never have costs been lower."

I N D I O - C a l i f o r ni a

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D E S E R T

F E B . 27-MAR . 1 District basketballtournament at Santa Fe, NewMexico high school, followed onMar. 13-15 by state tournament.Paul McDavid in charge.

MAR. 1-2 Horse races at Phoenix, Ari-zona. Harness races March 2, 9,1 6 , 23, 30.

1-9 Imp erial county's 12th annua lfair, Imperial, California. DormanV. Stewart, secretary-manager.Student cowboys and cowgirls ofUniversity of Arizona hold fourthannual rodeo at Tucson city rodeolot.

2-23 Utah State Institute of Fine Artsto hold 39th annual exhibit inthe Capitol building, Salt LakeCity. Elzy J. Byrd in charge ofarrangements .Superstition mountain trek, spon-sored by the Dons of Phoenix,Arizona. J. C. Bonnell, president.Reservations limited to 400.

21-23 Arizona state sewage and wate rworks convention in Yuma, Ari-zona.23 Scenic and histori cal tour to Ca-beza Prieta game refuge dedica-t ion near Tule Wells , Arizona.Sponsored by Yuma county cham-ber of commerce.23-25 New Mexico Cattle Growers as-sociation to hold annual conven-tion in Albuquerque.26i28 American College of Surgeonsconvene in Salt Lake City, Utah.Surgeons from 11 We stern statesto attend.26-29 Desert Circus in Palm Springs,California. Earl Gibbs, presidentof Palm Springs Field Club, chair-man.27-30 Horse show, Phoenix, Arizona.

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Volume 4COVERCONTRIBUTORSCALENDARREDISCOVERYPERSONALITYDEVELOPMENTFIELD TRIPHUMORTRAVELOGPERSONALITYPHOTOGRAPHYNATUREPOETRYTREASUREQUIZBOTANYMININGLETTERSEDITORIALPLACE NAMESPRIZE CONTESTNEWSHOBBYTRAVELCOMMENTBOOKS

MARCH, 1941 Num ber 5SAGUARO, courtesy The Wigwam, Litchfie ld Park,Arizona.Wr iters of the deser t 2Current events in the desert 3On Manly 's Tra i l in the PanamintsBy DICK FREEMAN 4'The West Wasn ' t so Wi ld , ' Says SanD ieg o R aw so n, By O REN A RNO LD . . . . 9The Man Who Brought Water to TucumcariBy H. STUART MOR RISON 11Crystals in the Shadow of the Superst i t ionsBy JOHN W . HILTON 15Hard Rock Shorty of Death ValleyBy LON GARR ISON 18Palm Canyon in Borrego Desert State ParkBy RANDALL HENDERSON 19Artis t Who Grinds His Own PigmentsBy JOHN W . HILTON 22Prize winn ing photos in Janu ary 23Life Begins for a Desert TortoiseBy L. P. LESCARBEAU, JR 24DESERT WINDS, an d other poe ms 26Lost Dutchman MineBy JOHN D. MITCHELL 27A Test of your desert kno wled ge 29CactiE dited by LUCILE HARRIS 30Briefs from the de ser t reg ion 31C o m me nt from D es er t M a g az in e r e ad e r s . . . . 32Th ese Lan ds Belong to the Public 34Origin of na m es in the South west 36Ann ouncem ent of Land mark contes t 37Here an d There on the desert 38Gems and Minera l sEdited by ARTHUR L. EATO N 42Rambling RocknutsBy BERTHA GREELEY BROW N 44Ju st B e tw e en Y o u a n d M e , b y t h e E dito r . . . . 46T RIG GE RN OM ET RY , a n d o th er r ev i ew s . . . . 47

The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Publishing Company, 636Stat e Street, El Centro, California. Entered as second class mat ter October 11, 1937, atthe post office at El Centro, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title registeredN o . 368865 in U. S. Patent Office, and contents copyrighted 1941 by the Desert PublishingCompany. Permission to reproduce contents must be secured from the editor in writing.RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor.TAZEWELL H. LAMB and LUCILE HARRIS, Associate Editors.Richard B. Older, Advertising Representative, 416 Wall St., Los Angeles, Calif. Phone TR 1501Manuscripts and photographs submitted must be accompanied by full return post-a g e . The Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility for damage or loss of manuscriptsor photogra phs although due care will be exercised for their safe ty. Subscribers shouldsend notice of change of address to the circulation department by the fifth of the monthpreceding issue.SUBSCRIPTION RATES: 1 year $2.50 2 years or two subscriptions $4.00Canadian subscriptions 25c extra, foreign 50c extraAddress subscription letters and correspondence to Desert Magazine, El Centro, California

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U t& 2>edebt . . .Congratulations toDICK FREEMAN!After accumulating enough Desert Maga-zine rejection slips toplaster the inside ofhis garage, Dick finally has gained aplacein thepages of theDM two months in

succession.Last month his manuscript on desertphotography was published, and thismonth it is aninteresting story ofhis tripto thehistoric Manly Falls in theDeathValley region.Dick deserves to gain a place in thejournalistic field. Fortwo years hespentmost of his evenings taking night classinstruction inwriting and photographyand at the end of that time hequit hisregular job andlaunched out to sink orswim inthe field offree lance journalism.During thepast year he hassoldpic-

tures to many publications, and featurestories toFord News andPopular Pho-tography.

Until he came west two andone-halfyears ago andsecured a job aseditor ofthe Tucumcari, New Mexico, Daily News.

STUART MORRISON was a roving re-porter who had worked from NewYorkto Florida andinmany ofthe Mississippivalley states.Morrison's editorial position has given

him the opportunity ofclose acquaintance-ship with both theTucumcari irrigationproject and the men who are directing thisimportant engineering development, andit is through this association that he hasbeen able togive Desert Magazine readersthis month anaccurate and complete storyof this new reclamation program.Morrison is 40, has awife andthreechildren, wants toraise the youngsters inthe West, and isknown among his associ-ates as"Stu."

LOUIS P. LesCARBEAU, Jr., whoseunusual series of desert tortoise picturesis reproduced in the Desert Magazinethis month is an amateur photographerwho earns hislivelihood as paint shopsupervisor at the Douglas Aircraft factoryin ElSegundo, California.Many years ago he acquired acouple of

tortoises aspetsand today hehas a bigfamily of them. "They take care of them-selves," he explains, "feeding on grassand other vegetation that grows in thebackyard."In answer to aquestion about the carea mother tortoise gives her young, he said:"The adult tortoise lays her eggs and thenforgets about them, leaving the youngones tohatch out when they are ready andthen shift for themselves. Occasionally,out of sheer curiosity, theadults will ap-proach the newly hatched babies, lookthem over andtake a sniff or two, andthen go onabout their business. I thinkthey are what you would call 'rugged in-dividualists.'

JOHN HILTON is taking time offfrom his writing and painting tomanagethe mineral display at the Riverside coun-ty fair at Indio, California, February20-23. HARLOW JONES, who accompaniesHilton onmany ofhis field trips as officialphotographer forthe Desert Magazine, iscooperating with Hilton in thepresenta-tion of akodachrome picture program asone ofthe features atthe fairgrounds. Be-tween them, they have one of thefinestcollections of colorful desert photographyin both stills and movies to befound any-where.

A re youT I R E Dol Winter?Come to INDIO andsee theworld! Foratrip into the desertland around INDIOis like a trip into for-eign lands.Going East your firstglimpse is had of thegreat shifting wind-swept sand dunes,reminding one ofnor-thern Africa. Then on to thedate gardens of Araby. . . ourown Coachella Valley date gardens. Thenwe touch a bit ofSmyrna as wereach theorchardsof fig trees, while thegreat stretches of vineyardsmight well represent portions of Spain and Italy.What better view of Egypt could anyone desirethan that furnished bybeautiful Palm Canyon?But scener y isnot all. The desert has many myster-i e s . . . many stories totell . . . tothose who arewilling tolisten and toexplore.So we say,"Come toIndio. Never has thedesertbeen more beautiful. Never have costs been lower."

I N D I O - Cal i f o r ni a

FOR RANCHERS . . .OUTDOORSMEN . . .TAILOREDWOMEN . . .COLLECTORS OF DESERT CRA FTS;A

W E S T E R N B E L TOf finest natural cowhide, flower-stamped like thefamous Porter saddles. Individually made in thePor-ter store inPhoenix, bycraftsmen who have spent alifetime perfecting this native western art.Both East-erners andWesterners find they add an individualtouch to anywardrobe!

5/8"wide $1.95 1 "wide $2.50as shown aboveORDER FROM DEPT. F5,PORTER'S, PHOENIX, ARIZ.Mail orders

receive promptattention

Write DEPT. F5Porter's, Phoenix,Ariz, for FREE

portfolio ofFrontier* Fashions

The DESERT MAGAZINE


5/48

been located, also the spring he found ashort distance above the falls. The re-discovery of the falls and the spring pro-vide a definite key to the Manly-Rogersroute through the Panamints, across Pan-amint valley and into the Argus range onthe west side, and unlocks one more doorto the history of the trials and sufferings ofthis group of heroic pioneers.Knowing that T. R. Goodwin, superin-tendent of Death Valley national monu-ment had devoted time and research to thisroute, I went to see him."Do you believe Manly Falls actuallyhas been located?" I asked him."Oh yes, quite definitely," he replied."Everything that Manly said about thefalls and the spring tallies with what hasbeen found. Sometime ago I loaned mycopy of Death V alley in '49 to John Thorn-dyke, who has mining properties locatedhigh in the Panamints in South Park can-yon. A few days later Joh n came to me andsaid excitedly, 'Why do you know thosefalls Manly tells about in his book, thatthe little mule had such a hard time gettingover, and the spring just above them, areon my property in South Park canyon?His description fits perfectlyeven partof the ledge along which the little mulecrept is theremy pipe line from thespring to my mine runs along it.' Later, Iaccompanied Mr. Thorndyke to the place,and I believe he is right," Goodwin added.Manly and John Rogers were membersof the Sand Walking company of gold-seekers who left Salt Lake City in the win-ter of 1849 to follow a southern route tothe California gold fields. Dissension inthe wagon train over the routes to be fol-lowed caused a split in the ranks and bythe time the surviving members reachedCalifornia there were 16 separate groups.The Bennett and Arcane families, withwhom Manly and Rogers were traveling,eventually reached the floor of Death Val-ley in a starving condition. The two youngmen volunteered to go ahead and bringback provisions and horses, since it ap-peared impracticable to get the wagonsover the rugged Panamint and Argusranges. They struggled through to LosAngeles and obtained two horses and amule, and with pack loads of provisions,started the return trek to Death Valley.

The two men were scheduled to returnwithin 15 days, but due to many unlookedfor hardships and mishaps tRey graduallyfell behind. As the days passed they fearedthe little group in Death Valley would be-come impatient and attempt to strugglethrough on their own, which attemptwould probably end in tragedy.As they neared the Panamint range,their two horses, unused to desert traveland with little water and forage, becameweaker and weaker and it began to appeardoubtful if their strength would hold out.The mule however, got along well and

carried most of the provisions. The twomen finally reached the eastern edge of

Spring 300 feet ab ove the falls where Man ly and Rogers obtained ivater for them-selves and their mule. T he recess where the spring is located is so dark it requiredan eight-second exposure to obtain this picture. The man is Henry Beaver who ac-companied Dick Freeman to this region.

Manly Falls as it appears today. The shrubs at the b ottom of the picture are growingin the deb ris which has filled in below the falls to an estimated depth of 20 feet sinceManly and R ogers came this way. The ledge over which the mule w as taken is justto the right of the picture.

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On M anly 5 'TtailIn the J^anam int5

Looking down South Park canyonfrom a point on the clijfs ab ove Man-ly Falls. Panam int valley b elow andthe Argus range in the bac kground.The Manly-Ben nett-Arcane party de-scended this canyon 91 years ago.By DICK FREEMANPhotographs by the author

When William Manly and John Rogers broughtaid to their starving companions in Death Valleyin 1849. one of the most serious obstacles they en-countered was a precipitous waterfall high up inthe Panamint mountains. Thanks to the sure-footed-ness of a sturdy pack mule they won through andsaved the lives of their companions. John Thorn-dy ke, a min ing ma n, and Superintendent T. R. Good-win of the Death Valley national monument arereasonably sure they have located that waterfall ,which Manly described so graphically in his book.Recently, Dick Freeman and two companions under-took to secure photographs of this historic spot forDesert Magazine readersand here is the story oftheir excursion into that arid mountain wilderness.

' I J / E found the little mule stopped by a still higher\/\/ precipice . . . Our hearts sank within us and wesaid that we should return to our friends as we wentawaywith our knapsacks on our backsand hope grew verysmall."Thus wrote William Lewis Manly in his remarkable book,Death V alley in '49, of the precipitous falls which almost wrotefinis to himself and John Rogers as they returned with foodand supplies to the Bennett and Arcane families, stranded andstarving at one of the waterholes in Death Valley.Manly's book was written from memory many years afterhis heroic trip. Since he kept no day-to-day record of his jour-neys, an accurate retracing of his route between Los Angelesand Death Valley was considered practically impossible. Con-sequently, until recently Manly Falls has been only a namerather than a reality.In the fall of 1940 I learned that Manly Falls recently had

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Bess and Bob Cline and their burros Pete and Shony. Th e Clines have a cab in highup in the pass and the b urros are used to pack gold ore down from the M oily Mc -Guire mine. The ore is stacked in front o f the C line home, and later packed downto the Bante cyanide plant.

the Argus and Slate ranges stood out witha clear brilliance that was almost startling.Just to the south of us the walls of SouthPark canyon fell off sharply, their lowerreaches hidden in deep shadow.The bench was a good camping spot,but visitors should bring their own wateras it is a dry camp. After taking some pic-tures and cooling the motor for a fewmoments, we went on. W e started to climb,and then our route suddenly dipped to theright and we entered the shadowy canyon.Here the walls rose steeply on either sideof us. A few flowers clinging to the ledgeswere a distinct surprise as no one wouldexpect flowers to bloom at this altitude inDecember.We left the car and hiked down therough canyon floor for some distance.Large boulders obstructed our passage.The canyon walls were of a yellowish col-or as Manly described them and the gradewas steep. It was easy to see that tiredand thirsty pack animals would have adifficult time ascending this gorge. Re-turning to the car we went on; shortly atent house appeared, known as Slim's

camp. The camp was formerly owned byFerger. It seemed to be clinging partially

to the canyon wall, and was raised justhigh enough from the floor of the gorgeto avoid (if it was lucky) any suddencloudbursts that might roll down the can-yon. This tent-cabin we found out later tohave been the one time headquarters ofa mine located high on the canyon wallsand now abandoned.Slowly the car crept up the grade. Wehadn't been out of low gear since the firstquarter of a mile from the valley road.Directly we passed a narrow precipitousroad leading off up the cliff trail to theleft to the ranch and cyanide plant ofHenry Bante.A short distance beyond the road leftthe canyon floor and zig-zagged up thesouth face of the canyon. At the top wecame into an open area in which were lo-cated three small cabins. At 6.1 miles westopped the carnearly at the end of theroad. During our progress up this steepmountainous grade we had climbed in sixmiles from 1000 feet elevation in Pana-mint valley to nearly 6000 feet. The gradehad averaged from 15% to 26%, most ofit had been over 20%.From the tent-cabin a small column ofblue smoke rose in the clear desert air. As

we approached this cabin a pleasant-facedwoman came out and at my inquiry shesaid she was Mrs. Cline."It's not very often we have visitorsup here," she smiled, "but when they docome they're very welcome. Won't youcome in?" she invited.Stepping inside and surveying the neat-ly arranged interior, one of the first thingsthat caught my eye was a copy of the De-cember issue of the Desert Magazine."I see you take the Desert Magazine,"I said, a little surprised at finding a latecopy way up there in the mountains."Do you know," replied our hostess,"that is the first copy I have ever had ofthat magazine. I never dreamed such a finemagazine about the desert and the peopleliving in it was being published. I'm goingto get more copies."Our conversation naturally led to Man-ly Falls and Mrs. Cline directed us up thelittle footpath back of the cabin, whichshe said followed the pipe line for a mileto the falls and spring, the spring beingabout 100 yards above the usually drywaterfall. We took the trail. A burro waswatching us from a point high up on thesouth canyon wall. Whenever we would

stop and call to him he would m ove rapid-ly away, but as soon as we started aheadM A R C H , 1 9 4 1


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': \TO HIGHWAY /SO".' . T d" DEATH VALLEY':'.'.,.\ v; POINTS

the Argus range overlooking the Pana-mint valley. On the opposite side toweredthe lofty Panamints.Quoting M anly: "T he range was beforeus, and we must get to the other side insome way. Wecould see therange for 100miles to the north and along the basesome lakes of water that must be salt. Tothe south it got some lower, butverybar-ren, and ending in black drybuttes. Thehorses must have food andwater by nightor we must leave them to die, and allthings considered itseemed tobe the quick-est way to camp to try to get up a roughlooking canyon (South Park canyon)which was nearly opposite us on theotherside."They crossed thesalt lakes and a brinystream on the valley floor (Panamint val-ley). Said Manly: "We now went directlyto the mouth of the canyon we had de-cided to take, and traveled up its gravellybed. The horses now had to be urgedalong constantly tokeep them movingandthey held their heads low down as theycrept along, seemingly sodiscouraged thatthey would much rather lie down andrestforever than take another step. We knewthey would do this soon in spite of all oururging, if we could not get water forthem. The canyon was rough enoughwhere weentered it, a heavy upgrade too,which grew more andmore difficult as weadvanced, and the rough, yellowish, rockywalls closed in nearer andnearer togetheras weascended."

It was late in theafternoon. Thehorseslagged more andmore. One small obstruc-tion in the canyor nearly stopped them,bu t the mule skipped nimbly around it.Finally thelittle group came to a smalldryfalls over which thehorses could notmas-

ter enough strength toclimb. They saw thehorses must beabandoned. Wrote Manly:"We removed thesaddles and placed themon a rock, and after a few mom ents' hesita-tionmoments in which were crowdedtorrents of wild ideas and desperatethoughts that were enough to drive reasonfrom its thronewe left thepoor animalsto their fate and moved along. Just as wewere passing out of sight the poor crea-tures neighed pitifully after us. One whohas never heard thelast despairing, plead-ing neigh of a horse left to die can formno idea of its almost human appeal. Weboth burst into tears, but it was nouse; totry to save them wemust run the dangerof sacrificing ourselves and the little partywe were trying sohard to save."

Early in December of 1940just 91years to themonth after Manly hadmadehis tripI decided to see Manly Fallsand make a photographic record of themif possible. Accordingly, in company withHenry Beaver andEmil Steiert of Los An-geles, I left town andheaded for the oldghost mining town in Panamint valleyknown as Ballarat. At Ballarat it is wiseto inquire of Bill Gray or "Seldom SeenSlim" Ferger, regarding the condition ofthe roads thereabout, as either of thesetwo menknows every inch of the countryfor miles around.

W e found "Seldom Seen Slim" athome.To my inquiry regarding thewhereaboutsof Bill Gray and thecondition of the roadup South Park canyon, he replied, "Bill'sdown working on the road in Goler wash,and about South Park canyonit's prettysteep."Slim then looked under the car to checkfor clearance and inquired of the car'scondition. "Car's in good shape," I re-

plied, "always keep it that way for thesetough desert trips.""You won't have any trouble," he said,nodding hishead approvingly. "Up at theend of the road you'll find only onefami-lythe Clinesthey're working theMol-ly McGuire mine and you'll find 'emmighty nice folks. South Park canyon isthe second road to your left as you leavehere going southyou can't miss it."At 3.1 miles theturnoff tothe left to theold Cecil R. gold minenow abandonedwas passed. At exactly 4.0 miles theroad up South Park canyon forked to theleft. Up it weheaded. Soon I had to dropinto second gear and then into low. Upthe road soared, up and around first onehairpin turn and then another in rapidsuccession. As we rounded a particularlyrough bend the rear wheels bounced likea bucking bronco, the motor roared andthundered under a nearly wide open throt-tle. We were really going up.My companions held on with bothhands and feet and looked questioningly

at me. "Don't worry boys," I said with aconfidence I didn't exactly feel, "we'llmake it OK.""Did you say," Henry yelled accusing-ly atme above theroar of themotor, "thatover $70,000 had been spent on thisroad?""Sure," I grinned, "that's right, but youmust remember it doesn't take long tospend $70,000 on a mountain roades-pecially this one."After nearly two miles of this toughgoing we came out upon a small plateauor bench that afforded a marvelously clearand unobstructed view of the Panamint

valley for many miles both north andsouth. On the opposite side of the valleyThe DESERT MAGAZINE


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The Old West produced five picturesque char-acters: Scout, Trapper, Freighter, Prospector andCowboy. Here is the story of a man, now 85, whowas all five of them. Captured by the Indians atthe ag e of five he followed the w estern trails long be-fore there were railroads and highways and todayhe lives in a little trading post by the side of theroad between Winslow and Holbrook, Arizona.

By OREN ARNOLD/ / E- was seated in a rustic rocker against a canopy madej~ j of buffalo hide, and the dark animal hair was theatricalcontrast to his own coloring. He seemed to have bleach-

We stood at our car a minute, looking at him."That is Frederick San Diego Rawson," I whispered to my"Why?" my eastern guest naturally asked."Because heyouwell, because he is the pioneer WestHe was sitting erect, face toward us, but he did not see us

We spent an hour with him this time. It may have been a, because age has so enmeshed him that he may be

Frederick Rawson is the one man in my western acquaint-

His career started when he had just reached the maturity offter the Civil W ar. Only relative was a slightly older

A R C H , 1 9 4 1

Frederick San Diego Ra wson. He's been following thewestern trails for 81 years.brother who rode the ox beside his. Foster parents had startedthem west with friends to hunt fun and fortune.First really big funcall it thatcame a few months laterwhen a weird, hysterical yodeling broke the stillness aroundthe three hundred encamped travelers one dawn. In a matter ofseconds, Cheyenne Indians had engulfed the camp.They came shouting and shooting, cutting and killing anJshrieking like the fiends they were. Little Freddie Rawsonheard them from his bed in a wagon. He peered out. Yonderwere grown friends being massacred before his very eyes. Hedropped the wagon flaps and jumped frantically into a nearly-empty flour barrel. A moment later his brother crouched downon top of him.When the bloody business was done, Freddie and his brotherwere the only whites left alive. Cheyennes bore them off asslaves, and Kept them in captivity for a year. Then Arapahoescame along and bought the two little boys for five horses, keptthem another year until United States soldiers got them safelyaway."All in all, I figure the red man is a pretty good sort," saidFrederick Rawson when we last talked. "He stood by his rightsas he saw them. It was the white man who made the Indiansavage.

"The first thing Christopher Columbus did when he discovered America was to throw a bunch of red men in irons to takeback home. To their credit they wouldn't work. If they had, the


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again he would stop and continue eyeingus. After passing an old boiler or tank,which was being used as an intermediatereservoir on the pipeline, the falls sudden-ly came into view around thebend.Manly had mentioned an overhangingnorth walland there it was, no mistakeabout that. The south wall sloped backsomewhat, but was not as parallel to thenorth wall as Manly described. However,the wear and tear of erosion during thepast 91 years could easily account for thatdifference. There is no doubt that duringthe intervening years the contour of thefalls had changed considerably. Greatamounts of rock and debris have fallenoff thecliffs into thegorge below the fallsand considerable sand and gravel have alsofilled in. The upper end of the little ledgealong which the mule crept could beplainly seen, but the lower end was buriedbeneath the debris which had graduallybuilt up.Let us see what Manly said about the

falls: "It was a strange wild place. Thenorth wall of the canyon leaned far overthe channel, overhanging considerably,while the south wall sloped back aboutthe same, making the walls nearly parallel,like a huge crevice descending into themountain from above in a sloping direc-tion. Wedecided to try to get the confidentlittle mule over this obstruction. Gather-ing all the loose rocks we could and pilingthem up against the south wall, beginningsome distance below, putting all those inthe bed of the stream and throwing downothers from narrow shelves above, webuilt a sort of inclined plane along thewalls, gradually rising until we were near-ly as high as the crest of the fall. Here wasa narrow shelf scarcely four inches wideand a space of from twelve to 15 feet tocross to reach the level of the crest. . . Wefastened the leading line to her and withone above and one below we thought wecould help her to keep her balance; if shedid not make amisstep on that narrow wayshe might get over safely. Without a mo-ment's hesitation the brave animal triedthe pass. Carefully and steadily she wentalong, selecting a place before puttingdown a foot, and when she came to thenarrow ledge she leaned gently on therope, never making a sudden start or jump,but cautiously as a cat moved slowly. Shemust cross this narrow place over which Ihad crept onhands and knees or be dasheddown 50 feet to certain death. When theworst place was reached she stopped andhesitated, looking back as well as shecould. I was ahead with the rope, and Icalled encouragingly to her and talked toher a little. . . . She smelled all aroundand looked over every inch of the strongledge, then took one careful step after an-other over the dangerous place . . . Thenanother step or two when, calculating thedistance closely, she made a spring andlanded on a smooth bit of rock below that

led up to the highest crest of the precipice,and safely climbed to the top, safe andsound above the falls."And so they got the little mule safelyover the worst obstruction of the entiretrip. Thefalls today are not as spectacularas Manly describes them 91 years ago.Nevertheless we found them interesting.Brush and plants have grown in the debriswhich is piled directly below the falls.Today most horses and mules would havelittle difficulty inworking their wayaroundthe falls on the south side.We believe we identified the smooth bitof sloping rock to which the little mulesprang from the narrow ledge; this spotis just to the left of the end of the ledge.Th e 300feet from thefalls to the springis filled with willows. Just before reach-ing the spring the remains of an old goldore stamping mill is seen. This mill wasin operation about 25 years ago, when orewas hauled in from Middle Park canyonand Pleasant canyon over a road leadinginto Middle park and thence down intoSouth Park canyon from above.Said Manly: "Around behind somerocks only a little distance beyond thisplace (referring to the falls) we founc. asmall willow bush and enough good waterfor a camp."The spring now seeps from a shallowrock cave, which gave evidence of havingbeen constructed many years ago. Thorn-dyke's pipe line runs into this cave andtakes most of the spring water down to

P H O T O G R A P H Y C O N T E S TCloses March 1Photographers, both amateurand professional, have untilMarch 1, 1941, to submit entriesin the Desert Magazine covercontest announced last month.Prizes of $15.00 for first and$10.00 for second, and $3.00 eachfor all accepted pictures notwinning prizes, will be paid bythis magazine immediately aft-er the judging which will takeplace March 2.The contest is limited to desert

pictures, but includes a widevariety of subjects, preferablyclose-ups, of wildflowers, ani-mals, cacti and other shrubs,reptiles, Indians, birdsin factany subject that belongs essen-tially to the desert.For more complete details ofthe contest refer to page 26 inthe February, 1941 issue of theDesert Magazine. Non-winningpictures will be returned whenpostage is enclosed. Addresssntries to:COVER CONTEST,The Desert MagazineEl Cen tra, California

the mine cabins one mile below. A fewfeet above the spring we found the re-mains of some old wagons; these remain-ing pieces could not possibly have beenparts of the old '49er wagons, because thewheels were too small and of more moderndesign than the early type. It hasbeen sug-gested that these old wagon parts wereportions of the wagons used 25 years agoby the miners who hauled their ore fromPleasant canyon and Middle Park canyon.After negotiating the falls, Manly andRogers and the mule had no trouble inreaching the Bennett camp in Death Val-ley. Overjoyed at the successful return ofManly and Rogers, the little group madeplans for the journey to Los Angeles overthe same route the boys had just come inon. Trouble was expected getting the oxendown over the falls.

Said Manly: "The first thing Bennettand Arcane did was to look round and seethe situation at the falls, and see if theobstacle was enough to stop our progress,or if we must turn back and look for abetter way. They were in some doubt aboutit, but concluded to try and get the ani-mals over rather than take the time toseekanother pass, which might take a week intime. We men all went down to the footof the falls, and threw out all of the largerocks, then piled up all the sand we couldscrape together with the shovel, till we hadquite a large pile of material that wouldtend tobreak a fall."

The oxen and the little mule were thenpushed over one at a time and there wereno fatalities as the animals all lit on theirfeet in the soft sandthe only damage be-ing a few cuts andbruises. The little groupproceeded down the canyon until theycame to the dead horses.From here on their troubles were not ofsuch a strenuous nature. The route hasbeen quite definitely determined as cross-ing Panamint valley, then up and over theArgus range and down through MountainSprings canyon to some springs in Owensvalley nowknown as Indian Wells. Fromhere they worked their way south, follow-ing the old Jayhawkers trail through Redrock canyon and eventually into Los An-geles by way of San Fernando valley.Returning that evening down the can-yon we made our way to the cabin of JohnThorndyke, which he had kindly placedat our disposal. We were met by theClines, Bob Cline having returned fromhis day's work at the Molly McGuire goldmine. They invited us to have dinner thatevening and breakfast the next morning.Manly and Rogers and the Bennetts andArcanes bequeathed to this remote desertregion a fine tradition of courage in theface of terrifying obstacles.In their cozy little cabin near the top ofthe pass, Bess and Bob Cline have createdan atmosphere of courage and hospitalityworthy of the pioneers who first camethis way.

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rir*

Hurley oj Tucumcari.Conchas dam and reservoir above.r WENTY-FIVE years ago ArchHurley, then a young man, look-ed out over the vast expanse ofsun-baked desert which surrounds the cityof Tucumcari, New Mexico. It was not aprepossessing picture: an unbroken plain,stretching 40 miles to the mountains sur-rounding this valley on all sides: cactus,mesquite and sparse native grasses its onlyvegetation. Water scarce, deep and diffi-cult to find; wells short-lived and ex-pensive."What we could grow here if we onlyhad water!" Hurley exclaimed.But he did not stop with wishing. Thatyoung man began seeking the solution ofthe water problem with the same tireless

M A R C H , 1 9 4 1

The M an W koStouakt U/atetto Tucumcati

By H. STUART MORRISONDesert sunshine and soil and water will make a fertile garden but itsometimes takes a tremendous amount of work and skill and courage tobring the three elements together. Here is the story of a typical irrigationprojectone of many hundreds that dot the arid region of the Westandof the man who had the vision and enthusiasm to follow through in spiteof obstac les which at times appea red insurmountable.

energy he devoted to his business. Hehas, with the passing of a quarter century,become not only the owner of two pros-perous theaters in this small city of 6,200,but he has, by his efforts as a member ofthe Arkansas Basin committee and of theNational Rivers and Harbors congresswon the esteem of the Bureau of Reclama-tion to such a high degree that in a recentbulletin the bureau listed Arch Hurley as"one of the six men designated by the Na-

tional Reclamation association as beingthe most helpful to irrigation throughoutthe west."Near the city of Tucumcari flows theCanadian river. Most of the time it is justa trickling desert creek. But on certainoccasions it becomes a roaring, devouringmonster, its foaming wall of tumblingwater gouging away the precious soil andracing with irresistible force down throughOklahoma and Texas at a furious pace,

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Indians would have been slaves in America instead of theblacks."Neither theCheyennes nor theArapahoes treated me badly.Looking back now, though, I can feel insulted, notbeing valuedat nomore'n five little old range hosses!"The U. S. cavalry troops who had rescued Freddie Rawsonsaw to it that hewas returned to Michigan. And it was nearly10 years before he bobbed up in theWest again, this time as ataxidermist inColorado Springs. From that job he started pros-pecting for gold, and in the ensuing years has been to aboutevery place worth while west of theMississippi, meeting withmany failures and some successes, acquiring an education thatno books could give and yet reading every book he could get.He was in the Klondike gold rush. "That stampede was farworse than it has ever been pictured," says he. "Where oneman out of a thousand struck it lucky in the California goldfields, one man in fifty thousand gotrich in Alaska. The suffer-ing and the trials up there will never beknown."Yes, I've had much excitement from time to time. I mind anold hermit I knew in Alaska. This old manwent hungry andworked and fought for years seeking gold andworshiping it.He lived alone except for his pack mule, Jack. He disappearedand wenever saw or heard about him, but years later I hap-pened onto his cabin. Outside the door was the skeleton ofJack. Inside the door was the skeleton of the old manhimself,his hand outstretched toward the door."The old coot died alone, butbefore dying he had crawledto thefireplace and got a hunk of charcoal. On the inside of hisdoor he had writ his last message:

GOLD HID IN THE BUNK"And there in thebunk it was. Great bags of wealth he haddreamed and slaved and starved and died for, and never gotto enjoy. From that minute I stopped trying to build a moneyfortune, and I have had peace in my heart ever since. I wishevery mancould understand what I mean. Every man every-where!"In a reminiscent mood Rawson tells of the train robbersdown near the Mexican border back when Jesse James andBilly the Kid and the Daltons were all fresh synonyms forterror in the American West."About thefirst thing I knowed," Mr.Rawson chuckled alsoat this memory, "me and thewhole car load of passengers wasstanding outside holding up our front paws like a row of littlepuppy dogs. It wasdownright comical."O n the train was one passenger with a powerful big hat.Now thebandits made us all take off ourguns andpile 'em upwhen wecome out of the train, but this big-hatted man wantedhis gunback, so he up andasked for it.Whut useyou got for a gun?' thebandit growled. 'Efyouwas gonna use a gun, whyn't you use it a while agowhen wefust got heah?'"The whole crowd of us bust out laughingwhaw! And,seeing that, the robbers up and made Mr. Big Hat dance forall of us. It was shore fun. But they took our money. It wasmonths before a federal detective joined the bandits, in dis-guise, and got the drop for an arrest. Last I seen of 'em theywas dancin' from ropeswithout touching the ground."

Not all of San Diego Rawson's recollections are of bloodand death andwild western doings. In fact nothing infuriateshim more than to imply that our pioneers lived eternally indanger andviolence, as many story books would have us be-lieve."People were calm and happy when I wasyoung," he de-clares. "Men and women and little children lived together inpeace and safety. Visited one to the other and such. Courtedand married. Sung songs andfound time toplay. All in all, theold West wasn't noworse, maybe not as bad, as the country istoday."We didn't have the advantages wehave now. I personallygraduated from school after the first year when I slung my

algebra out thewinder andnever brought it back. Butduring ulifetime in thesaddle, asyou might say, I have never been with-out one ortwo good books. Onscience. Onreligion. On philoso-phy. Onwhatever subject I could lay myhand to."W e had the same hearts back in 1870that we got now.Hearts don't change, unless the people do. Just the circum-stances change. Whethe r 16 or 60there is in every normal heartthe lure of wonder, the longing to solve this mystery of life.We were trying to solve it back there; we're still at it."I don't hold to this idea of growing old. I don't figure toget caught at it. People grow old by deserting their ideals, ornever having any. Now taking it all in all, I would rather havemore ringing laughs and cheery songs, fewer droning hymnsand moans from the 'Amen' corner."Mr. Rawson isone of thecountry's men most skilled at read-ing themeaning of Indian inscriptions and writings on rocks.Some of the later inscriptions are comparatively easy to inter-pret, but Americans must find an Indian Rosetta stone, Mr.Rawson declares, before accurate knowledge of the Indians'origin, and of America's first settlement, can be determined.At present wehave many pictures, many carvings, suggestingmany possibilities, but there is no key for definite translation."W e know ," says he, "that theearlier Americans were directdescendants of European or Asiatic races, andpossibly had reg-ular communication with other continents. That dates back toa time before the Bering Strait was formed."In some western states, for proof, are Indian mazes onbasketware, and carved and painted on rocks and such, thatare identical with a maze found on the Isle of Crete in southernEurope. Thecomplicated pattern of the maze is such that theduplication could nothave been a mere coincidence."In one prehistoric ruin was dug up a bone or ivory carvingalmost exactly like the present Masonic emblem, the compassand square. It was found in a house old and crumbling centu-ries before C olumbus arrived. W here did it come from? Mason-ry originated, weknow, about Solomon's time. Who brought itover here?"Best of allif you can spare long hours to sit with himisto hear his account of covered wagon travel. Only a few peo-ple remain now w ho can tell you of wagon trains first hand, andin another decade this living contact with thepast will begoneentirely. The fascination of Mr. Rawson's narrative is in itsrich detailthe way we made butter by tying a pail of milkon thewagon axle to churn as we bounced along; the time Iwhittled out a fine axe handle as I rode, only tohave some care-less girl mistake it for firewood andburn it; how I happenedto learn that hair on a horse slopes toward his tail, but on acow slopes mostly forward; the time Miss Dosca Pratt learnedto befashionable around thecampfire by taking her first dip ofsnuff; theway we'd speculate in the lonely hours on trail aboutwhat heaven islike, usually measuring it byearthly pleasure.Tohear Frederick Rawson talk in this vein is to sense the wholetang and tempo of western life 60years ago , in a way noprintedword can give you.

Throughout all his serious conversation is that leavening ofhumor. Lordy, what a blessing if each of us could carry a senseof humor through our old-age years!I can recall, for instance, thelast thing I asked him, and theanswer hegave. It is something topaste in a man's hat."Mr. Rawson," said I, "youhave lived very long and donemany things. You appear quite happy. H ave you a fixed plan forliving in a proper way? Is there some ideal for a daily routine?"The old fellow beamed and looked almost saintly in hisgrandeur."Son, I have figured that out, andpracticed it," he answered."I cantell it in a sort of rhyme I made up:

"A little work and a little smile,A little cheer and a little g uile,A little 'bull' (as theboys would say)And you've laid outyour perfect day!"10 The DESERT MAGAZINE


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PROJECT /SANTA R O S A ^ ^

\AlAMOeORDO DAM

men and senators. He cooled his heels inofficial ante rooms for hours on end. Hehaunted the state capitol at Santa Fe. Heenlisted the aid of every man, woman andchild whom he thought could help in theslightest.That old report of Freedland's, madein 1912, was exhumed from the archivesand a state survey was ordered in 1925.State Engineer H. W. Yoo completed thissurvey in 1929 and proved the practicabili-ty of the irrigation project, and Yoo's re-port became the starting point for a cam-paign which has transformed the old set-tler's dreams into a reality.Hurley, armed with the survey and re-port, resumed his trips to Washington.He became acquainted with Big BillThompson, then mayor of Chicago, whowas interested in Mississippi river devel-

opment. Big Bill and Hurley became fastfriends, although their goals were differ-ent. Frequently they clashed, but Hurleyprofited from his association with Thomp-son. He learned the technique of lobby-ing, and when the Mississippi valley wasdevastated by floods, Hurley made themost of the opportunity.At that time "Fighting Jack" Dempseywas New Mexico's only representative inCongress. With the aid of Dempsey Hur-ley presented a mass of statistics citing theextensive damage caused each year to pri-vate and railroad properties in New Mexi-co, Texas and Oklahoma by Canadian riv-

er floods. He talked flood control, and de-clared the cost of the proposed Conchas

dam would be repaid in five years by theelimination of property damage.All of this fitted in with the New Dealprogram and in 1935, the Conchas damand reservoir project was ordered as partof the works relief prog ram . Financedentirely by the federal government, andplaced under the supervision of the wardepartment, it was originally a flood con-trol project only. But Hurley, after cannilybiding his time until there was no dangerof imperiling the project, brought up theirrigation angle again.More surveys followed, and it was foundthat an adequate irrigation project wouldcost $8,155,000. Reclamation bureau en-gineers declared that the land which w ouldbenefit could not be expected to pay backmore than $5,655,000 of this on a repay-ment plan spread over 40 years. Therefore

they did not consider the project practicalunder such circumstances.But Hurley, Congressman Dempseyand Senator Carl Hatch and Senator Den-nis Chavez had other ideas."We'll get a PWA grant," they decidedand off they went to Washington again.That was in the days when PWA grantswere being passed out freely, and theyencountered few obstacles. PresidentRoosevelt authorized a grant of $2,500,-000; the Arch Hurley Conservancy dis-trict was formed and immediately signeda contract with the Bureau of Reclamation.The first irrigation project in the history ofthe nation to be even partially subsidizedby the government became an actuality.

The Conchas dam project was assignedto the Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, onAugust 1, 1935, with Captain Hans Kram-er, who is now directing construction atthe Panama canal, in charge of the dam-site.Captain Kramer announced the damwould be completed in four years. OnSeptember 16, 1939 the dam was completeand in full op eration. It had been intendedto have Secretary of War Harry H. Wood-ring dedicate the project October 10, butdue to the war crisis, all ceremonies werecancelled.Conchas dam with its auxiliary struc-tures is six miles long. It is in the south-east corner of the famous Bell ranch, oneof the last of the great holdings of the OldWest. Eventually the area will become astate park. Its 28 mile lake is already stock-

ed with fish and it will be opened to thepublic sometime this year.While only 25 miles from Tucumcariin an air line, there is no road connectingthe dam with that city. However, it is ex-pected that a right-of-way will be obtainedfrom the Bell ranch in the near future anda state highway constructed from Tucum-cari to Las Vegas via Conchas dam. Thedamsite is reached from Newkirk, on U.S. Highway 66 , over a 25-mile govern-ment built road.The dam has a height of 235 feet, isconstructed of concrete, and besides serv-

ing to control the flood waters of the Ca-nadian and to furnish water for irriga-M A R C H , 1 9 4 1 13


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strewing wreckage anddestruction in itswake."If wecould only send some of thatCanadian river out across this desert,what a farmers' paradise this Quay valleycould become," Hurley mused.Todayafter a quarter century of un-ceasing prom otion ofthat idea, Arch H ur-ley gazes out the window ofhis theater atthe land which, within a comparativelyshort time, will bewatered by a networkof irrigation ditches.For Hurley's 25-year campaign hasbrought victory. Ithas resulted inthe con-struction by thewar department of Con-chas dam, at theconfluence of theCon-chas andCanadian rivers, at a cost of$16,160,000. The dam was completed inSeptember 1939- Already it has storedenough water toform alake that stretches10 miles upeach river, and by thetimethe irrigation canals are completed thelake will be28 miles long.

Immediately after completion of thedam theBureau of Reclamation beganconstruction of theTucumcari Irrigationproject, which, when completed, will havecost $8,655,000. From theheadworks ofthe dam the earth-fill canal already stretch-es outacross thewastelands, snaking itsway between mountains for 38miles toTucumcari, where itwill spread water over45,000 acres ofdesert land.In recognition ofhis work inbehalf ofthis project, it has been named theArchHurley Conservancy district. Hurley ownsa considerable acreage of land inthe area,bu t his holdings have allbeen putundercontract with the Reclamation Bureau,

which means that in the near future theywill beredistributed toincoming settlers.For this irrigation project, the only onein the history of this country to be subsi-dized by thefederal government throughan outright PWA grant of $2,500,000, isgoing todo more than merely irrigate thelands of farmers andranchers in Quaycounty, New Mexico. It is also going tothrow open to purchase at reasonableprices an enormous acreage, with the smallfarmers whowill occupy it protectedagainst land-sharks by theBureau ofRe-clamation.

There are 81,000 acres inthe irrigationproject, of which 45,000 aredesignatedas irrigable land. It is estimated 25,000acres of this will have to besold by itspresent owners, in160 and 320-acre tracts,since theholdings of individual ownersare restricted insize. This land, it ispro-vided, must besold at approximately thefederal appraisal value, andsince excessprices will redound to thebenefit of thebuyer himself, there isnot much danger ofthe "get-rich-quick" boys muscling in onthe deal.When Arch Hurley came toTucumcariin the early days of the town, hefound ita rough-and-ready settlement, spawned in1901 when the Chicago, Rock Island andPacific railroad established it as a con-struction camp. Ahuddle of shanties andwarehouses, Tucumcari first came intoexistence under the highly descriptivename of "Six Shooter Siding." It was allof that, inthe years before law and orderbrought about areformation and achangeof name toTucumcari.

Hurley arrived in Tucumcari a poorboy, but bytugging mightily athis boot-straps, lifted himself to a position of re-spect andwealth in thecommunity. Hefirst opened aneating house for railroadworkers; expanded it into a boardinghouse, and then opened amotion picturetheater.It was 30years agothat William B.Fieedland, acivil engineer ofLogan, NewMexico, conceived theidea of irrigatingthe surrounding desert with the waters ofUte creek. In1912 Freedland memorializ-ed the state legislature with a lengthyopinion, but hisplan waspigeonholed.However, it did serve toshow Arch Hur-ley what might be done. Hurley turned tothe Canadian river asthe source ofwater,and set himself todoing something aboutit. "Preposterous! Ridiculous! Impracti-cal!"These were the condemnations the pro-posal met from engineers. Experts pointed

out that the Canadian river flows througha badlands region of mountains. It is anarea asdevoid ofvegetation as it is of in-habitants. The water would have totravelthrough acanal 38 miles long. The propergrades could not be maintained. The roughcountry presented engineering problems itwould be impossible to solve.The cost would beprohibitive, they in-sisted. ButArch Hurley took allthis inhis stride. Herefused to beswayed fromhis conviction that theproject was feasi-ble. Herecruited the moral and financialsupport of his community. Hewent toWashington. Hebuttonholed congress-

12Spillway of Conchas dam. Photo by U . S. Army Engineers.

The DESERT MAGAZINE


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Landscape vieiv of the quartz crystal field a t the base of the Superstition mountains.

in the Shadowok the S upetltitlonlCountless prospectors have combed the rugged Superstition mountainsin Arizona in quest of the legendary "Lost Dutchman" gold mine. Theyneve r found the gold . But if they had be en interested, they could ha vebrought home so me ve ry nice quartz crysta ls. There is a great field ofthem near the base of the mountainand here is John Hilton's story of afield trip into that region.

By JOHN W. HILTONPhotographs by Har low JonesHERE are many versions of the'Lost Dutchman' mine legend,"remarked Ed Matteson as wesat around his hospitable fireplace inPhoenix. We were discussing plans for atrip the following day into the region ofthe Superstition mountains, and it wasonly natural the conversation should turnto the fabulous lost gold mine said to behidden somewhere in the Superstition

range.There were four members in our partyM A R C H , 1 9 4 1

three mineralogists and a photographer.Harlow Jones was looking forward tothe opportunity of securing new printsfor his fine collection of desert pictures.Our itinerary included old ghost towns,active mining camps, canyons where an-cient Indians had inscribed their strangesymbols, great forests of saguaro cactiand the Superstition range itself.Ed Matteson was to be our guide. Hehad been over the area many times; nev-ertheless I believe he was looking for-

ward to the outing with no less eagernessthan we who were to explore it for thefirst time. The desert is that way. One nev-er sees enough of any one place. The sec-ond and third trips are usually more inter-esting than the first.Max Felker was one of the party and it was a sort of reunion for Max andme. Since our high school days we hadtrudged the desert hills together, mostlyin Death Valley and the Mojave desert.Then I moved to Coachella valley and Maxwent into the diamond tool business in abackyard laboratory where he and I asyoungsters had spent many happy dayscutting rocks and assaying ores. This wasour first field trip together for 12 years.Felker's diamond tool business has pro-gressed to the stage when he has moreleisure time for such trips as this. As wesat there by the fireplace in Matteson'shome, it was evident Max was thoroughlyenjoying the opportunity to get away fromthe pressure and worry of vital defenseorders which are crowding his factory.For the moment the "Lost Dutchman"seemed more important than re-armamentand the war in Europe. We talked ofJacob Walz, the German from whom thelost mine derived its name, and of themany strange angles to his story.One version that interested me especial-ly was a story told to Ed Matteson by anold settler in Arizona. It is just as plausi-

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tion, is equipped with penstocks for thegeneration of electric power.The outlet portal of the irrigation head-works will discharge water in theConchascanal. Harold W. Mutch is ReclamationBureau engineer in charge of canal con-struction.This main ditch is 69 miles long, andthe first 38miles of it traverses the bad-lands area of theBell ranch, a barren landof steep and precipitous bluffs andmoun-tains, arroyos deeply gouged by wildlyracing flood waters. This terrain hasmadethe construction task far from easy.The canal cuts through anarea populat-ed mainly by jackrabbits and rattlesnakes.It requires theconstruction of 32 siphonsto lift the water over the deep washes.Five tunnels pierce mountains for a totaldistance of 6.2 miles. At Tucumcari theirrigation system spreads out into a net-work of minor canals and distributingditches.The Arch Hurley Conservancy district,which will receive the benefit of this water,practically surrounds the city of Tucum-cari, andpart of it iswithin thecity limits.The bulk of the district lies to the southand east of the city, stretching to thebaseof barren Tucumcari mountain.Plans for the disposal of the land to beavailable for bona fide settlers, are ex-plained byEngineer Mutch. He said:"Land speculation, which always has anunfavorable reaction, will be curbed. Thegovernment, in drawing up its irrigationcontracts with present land owners, hassafeguarded against pyramiding prices."Individual holdings are limited by thecontracts, and consequently there will befrom 20,000 to 25,000 acres which mustbe sold. Since the Bureau of Reclamationhas made a fair appraisal oi: this land,pur-chasers will be assured of getting it at afair price andwith an insured future."The official appraisal ranges from $4an acre for land far removed from the ca-nals to $30 an acre for that situated closeto the main ditches. The mean appraisalis $10.51 peracre."Under the terms of the contracts signed

Lonely sentinel of theplain isTucumcari mountain, which rises 1000 feet above thevalley in thecenter of thearea to beirrigated. Photo taken from Mesa Rica throughwhich a tunnel will carry theirrigation water.by present owners, a single man can notown more than 160acres. A married manis permitted 320acres."The contract provides that after Janu-ary 1, 1941, the secretary of the interiorwill ask present owners of the land todesignate the160 or 320acres they intendto retain as their own. Thesecretary willthen name a time within which to disposeof surplus acreage."Of course some land will be sold formore than theappraisal price, but the gov-ernment steps in to save some of that mon-ey for the man whoactually is going towork the land.

"I t is provided in these contracts thatone-half of that part of thepurchase pricewhich is in excess of the appraisal valueshall beturned over tothe government andapplied to repayments charged against thatparticular land."In other words, if Rancher Smith sells160 acres to Farmer Brown for $10 anacre higher than theappraisal value, Farm-er Brown actually gets back $5 an acre.For Rancher Smith will be allowed tokeep only $5 of that excess $10 an acre.The other $5 an acre is applied to irriga-tion repayments on the land sold, in theinverse order of duedates."The payment plan for the reimburs-able portion of the irrigation project'scost has been spread over a period of 40years, with annual payments without in-terest."Actual work on the irrigation projectwas begun October 15, 1938, when a forceof 60surveyors began laying out the routeof themain canal and ditches, which willhave a total length of 100miles.It was estimated the project could becompleted in three years, with six yearsthe maximum, but it received a temporarysetback in the summer of 1939. Througha misunderstanding, the$2,500,000 PWAgrant waswithdrawn, on thegrounds theconstruction work had not been started.

But Arch Hurley got busy, and quicklythe word came back from Washingtonthat it was "all a mistake" and theprojectgot its $2,500,000 back again.Gangs of construction men are toilingday and night in those Bell ranch bad-lands. They have drilled one tunnelthrough a mesa. They arehalfway throughwith the second tunnel, 7,000 feet longand 500 feet beneath the mesa top, andthey have started construction of a third.Huge machines are biting into theearth. Miles of earth-banked ditch sprawlacross the desert, twisting and turning,

40 feet deep in places.While there undoubtedly will be sometruck farming in this region as a result ofthe irrigation project, thebulk of the cropsis expected to continue to be grain andforage sorghums. D. R. Burnham, incharge of the Department of Agricultureexperimental station at TuQumcari, be-lieves they will bemilo, dwarf hegari andkafir, principally. He looks for a consid-erable increase in production per acre,estimating that where crops have run 20to 30 bushels per acre in dry farmingmethods of the present, they will bedouble, and perhaps triple that on well-irrigated land. A small acreage of cottonalways hasbeen grown here, and there isexpected to be appreciably larger yieldper acre in this crop.

Alfalfa, too, should be a profitablecrop, Burnham points out. Alfalfa wouldbe new to this country, and assured of aready market because of the fact Tucum-cari is the center of a large cattle produc-ing area.But that is still tomorrow. Today theconstruction work is forging ahead. Some-thing like 25,000 acres of land will beavailable to new settlers . . . and ArchHurley has won his quarter of a centurystruggle tomake green grass grow on thisdesert.14 The DESERT MAGAZINE


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dicated on the shaded area of the accom-panying map the approximate range ofthe quartz. I suspect, however, that crys-tals extend farther north and south thanI have shown.They are not museum specimens, norfine enough for optical purposes - - butjust the kind of crystals you would expectto find lying at random on the open des-ert.We found an occasional piece of prettyred jasper, but this mineral is not com-mon in the field.Near the gem area Ed Matteson discov-ered the workshop of an ancient Indiantribesman. Chips of agate and flint werescattered over the ground, evidently leftthere in the making of crude stone imple-

Ed Matteson {right) and Max Felk-er examine chips of agate and flintevidently left here by an ancient In-dian tribesman.

far as we could, only to find that we hadmoved entirely out of the quartz area.We returned again to our originalfield. The clouds were smaller now, andtraveling faster. Their shadows passingover the rugged massif of Superstitionmountains created striking effects. On eminute a single pinnacle would stand outin bright sunlight against an embattlementof dark blue. Then the picture wouldchange, and the sun's spotlight wouldturn some brooding cliff into a mass ofburnished gold.With our field glasses we could seecaves that invited exploration. At a dis-tance they appeared small, but when wecompared them with the giant saguaro thatgrew near them, it was evident they reallywere very large.

Scouting over the quartz crystal field,we learned that the area of the crystal floatlay parallel to the mountain range, ratherthan toward it. We spread out to deter-mine the extent of the field, and have in-

Close-up of the flint chips which ledmemb ers of the p arty to b elieve theyhad discovered a prehistoric Indianivorkshop.

SUPERSTITION/' /MOUNTAIN

TO SUPERIOR, MIAMI & GLOBE

M A R C H , 1 9 4 1 17


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GhVlt >t thefield where Hilton's party jound specimens of quartz crystal.ble a yarn as many others that have beentold of the "Lost Dutchman."According toEd's informant, Walz wasnot a miner at all. Theold-timer claimedto have known the German personally, andto have positive knowledge that Walz wasmerely a "fence" fora gang of high-pratlr'rswho were stealing _rich ore from minesbeing worked in Arizona at that time.It was only natural that Walz and hisfellow-conspirators should select the Su-perstition mountains for their operations.Every old-timer in the Southwest hasheard tales of the lost "Mina Sombrera"which Don Miguel Peralta was reportedto have discovered in the Superstitions.

What would bemore logical then than forJacob Walz and his accomplices to carryon their criminal operations under theguise of having relocated the old Peraltaworkings?The Superstition range with its deepcanyons andprecipitous cliffs andhiddenrecesses is a perfect hide-out for law-break-ers. Many men are reported to have goneinto this rugged country in quest of theold Peralta mine, and later in search ofWalz workings, andnever returned. It issaid that Walz himself, on his deathbed,confessed to thekilling of three Mexicanswho invaded his domain.Whether or not there is any truth in this

there is definite record of a more recentversion of the "Lost Dutchman" mine,attempt to use the oldmine as a smoke-screen for illegal traffic in gold.This tale is about a prospector who an-nounced that hewas going into theSuper-sjitions tosearch for the "Lost Dutchman."When he failed to return on schedule,searching parties were sent out. One nightthe lost man stumbled into their camptattered and apparently near exhaustion.He had cut off one sleeve of his heavyshirt and tied one end toform a crude sack.In this was an astounding collection oflarge gold nuggets.Immediately there was a flurry of ex-citement. It appeared to be the biggestgold strike of the decade. Of course thegold was sent off to the mintand thenthe bubble broke. The mint assayed themetal and notified the "lost prospector"and hisassociates that it was toopure fornative goldit wasdental gold. The ex-perts in the federal assay office had no

difficulty detecting the true character ofthe metal. They paid for it, but at theratefor oldgold instead of newly mined metaland quietly warned the "miners" to bemore accurate in classifying their nuggetsin the future. Needless to say, the goldrush never developed, and the "prospec-tor" dropped from sight.Harlow andMax and Ed and I decidedto leave the "Lost Dutchman" for others.We would be satisfied if we could findsome nice quartz crystals which Mattesontold uswere to be found near the Super-stitions.Th e sky was overcast when we left

Phoenix the next morning. Harlow waslooking glum. It is hard to take good pic-tures in therain. But by thetime we reach-ed Apache junction theclouds were break-ing, asthey often do on thedesert withoutdispersing a drop of moisture.Great patches of sunlight spotlightedthe floor of the desert, and as the billowyclouds sailed overhead they were trailedon theground bymonster blue shadows ofever-changing patterns. It became a per-fect day for photographs and I wished Ihad brought along my sketching outfit.We stopped at Apache junction and

saw the zoo and other attractions, includ-ing an impressive monument erected bythe Dons of Phoenix to thememory of the"Dutchman." This monument with itsbronze prospector andburro mounted ona pedestal of native rock is a conspicuouslandmark andcreates much interest on thepart of Arizona visitors.We took theroad toRoosevelt dam, buthad gone only a fewmiles when wereach-ed anarea where EdMatteson had campedand seen quartz crystals scattered over thefloor of the desert. We took aside road andsoon were finding small crystals and frag-ments of quartz scattered about. We

thought they may have come from therange ahead and we followed the road as16 The DESERT MAGAZINE


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There are 200,000 acres of desert and mountainterrain in the Borrego Desert State park of SouthernCalifornia. For the most part it is a virgin wilder-ness, accessible only to the seasoned hiker. There isone scenic canyon, however, lined with hundredsof native palm trees, that may be traversed with-out hardship. A good trail leads part way up Bor-rego Palm canyonand here are a few glimpsesof the panorama Nature has provided for thosewho take this trip.

Palm


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pastime of bidding farewell to the old year. We tuned in snatch-es of it on the radio.But the arrival of another year means nothing to a desertthat counts its age in thousands of centuriesand so we justwent along with the desert and were sound asleep long before1941 arrived.Many roads lead across the floor of Borrego valley to theparking place at the mouth of Palm canyon. But the place hasa landmark that is visible for miles and is an accurateguide for those in doubt as to which road to take.On the San Ysidro skyline directly above the canyon entrance,is the silhouette of "the old woman of the mountains." Shelies on her back, her rugged profile and full bosom toward theskies. Sometimes the figure is called "the old man of the moun-tains." Since there seems to be a disagreement as to the sex, theCrickmers have compromised by referring to their rock-featuredneighbor as "old-rain-in-the-face." You can take your choice,but anyway the canyon entrance is directly beneath the crownof the headto the south.The morning sun was just coming over the distant Chocolaterange as I parked my car on the Borrego canyon bajada thatNew Year morning. It was a 30-minute hike up the trail to thewaterfall. There are 118 palms in that first group, counting onlythose trees more than six feet in height. Many young palms

are growing along the stream, and under the protection of theCalifornia state park commission they probably will increaserapidly.Directly above the falls the floor of canyon is choked withhuge boulders. The route is easily passable, however. Along thefirst half mile above the waterfall I passed only two grownpalms. Then I came to the most colorful section of the entirecanyon. It properly could be called Rainbow gorge. The canyonwalls close in and the stream tumbles over a rocky cataract ofvari-colored schist rock. The strata occur in a hundred shades,ranging from creamy white through ochre and orange to darkbrown, with layers of green and black. The artist and thekodachrome fan will want to spend the rest of the day righthere. There are many palms along this sector of the canyon,some of them appearing to have their roots in solid rock. I

counted 215 trees in this bright-hued sector.The upper canyon twists and turns, and it is never possible

to see more than a quarter of a mile ahead. The palms are veryclannish. They occur in groups with gaps of several hundredyards between each oasis. I counted six well-defined groupings.Four miles from the entrance, the canyon divides, the mainstream of water coming down the right fork.At the fork, the elevation is perhaps 2500 feet, and junipertrees and the other shrubs of the upper Sonoran zone are grow-ing here. The palm trees had become less plentiful and 1counted only one Washingtonia in the right fork of the canyon.

After following it for some distance I climbed the ridge onthe left and dropped down into the left fork where 18 more treeswere added to my count.Thanks to the interest and funds supplied by a little groupof public-minded men and women in the city of San Diegomany years ago, approximately 200,000 acres of land in theBorrego desert area have been set aside as a state parkandBorrego Palm canyon is assured for all future time against bothwanton destruction and private exploitation.John W. Calvert, ranger in the service of the Californiapark commission, is on duty as custodian during the wintermonths. The park headquarters is at the entrance to BorregoPalm canyon. Excellent camp grounds have been providedfor the public at the end of the road, with ovens and ramadasconstructed by CCC boys with native rock.There are many other palm canyons in Borrego state park,but the palms in the gorge marked by the sleeping figure of"old-rain-in-the-face" are more accessible than any of theothers.Borrego desert has become famous for its wildflowers inseasons when the rain god has been generous with his moist-ure. This year the winter rains have been heavier than usual^and there is promise that March and April will bring the mostcolorful display of ocotillo, verbenas, evening primrose, desertlily and scores of other species, in many years.Yes, I counted all the palmsthere are 778 of them. Andnow that they have been counted, you can make your long-planned trip to this delightful canyon and enjoy its fragranceand beauty unperturbed by any worry as to whether or not theyhave been properly mapped and recorded in my private scrap-book.

M A R C H , 1 9 4 1 21


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themand I found many. They were clinging to the rocks inthe talus slopes and on the hillsides. Tiny fellows they were,not as big as a pink bean, butvery much alive.My snail-hunting acquaintance explained that when periodsof dryweather come they withdraw into their shells, seal upthe entrance with a tough papery covering, andremain dormantfor months oreven yearsuntil moist conditions stimulate themto activity again.My companion soon detoured up theside of a mountain,andI continued along thetrail. .[was more interested inpalms thanin snails that day.I followed thetrail around two bends in thecanyon andthenan oasis of stately Washingtonias suddenly loomed up aheadof me. It is always a thrill to come upon these trees in the ariddesert. They tower high above all the surrounding plant lifedignified andgreen and refreshing. In a land where water isa rare luxury, they will live only where the soil at their rootsis saturated with moisture.That first palm group in Borrego canyon is a popular re-treat for picnic parties. Visitors pack their sandwiches along themile and ahalf trail just for theprivilege of eating lunch amongthe boulders andpalm fronds beside thecrystal-clear pool thatlies at the foot of a miniature waterfall.The palms and the boulders form a sheltered cove here. In-dians camped in this spot in prehistoric days. The morteros

where they ground their mesquite beans are in the rocks notfar away.This oasis with itswaterfall andpool isjust a sort of preludeto thescenic vista that extends for miles along thestream backinto the SanYsidros.The trail to the waterfall is easy to follow, butbeyond thatit fades out and thehiker may follow theroute of hischoosing,scrambling over boulders, detouring precipitous rock jams,threading hisway through dense shrubbery that grows inmanyplaces in thebottom of thegorge.My most recent trip to Borrego canyon was New Yearsday, 1941. I went there tocount thepalm trees.And if you askme why I wanted to count palms in a canyonwhere they grow for miles along a crooked boulder-strewnwatercourse, I can offer no plausible reason.It merely is one of those hobbies that practical minded folksnever quite understand. Many years ago I started a scrapbookin which arepictures and all the data I have been able to ob-tain regarding each of thepalm oases on theColorado desert.It was a bigger task than I anticipatedand thebook is stillfar from complete. When myself-assigned job isfinished,per-haps the book will mean nothing to anyone except RandallHenderson. But for me it will recall thememories of hundredsof interesting trips into the oddcorners of the desertof manydays of fruitless search for a waterhole casually mentioned inconversation by a prospector friend, of weary pilgrimagesthrough deep sand, andlong treks in the heat of summer witha canteen nearly empty.It was tough going at times, but whoever regrets such ex-periences. Especially, when on the other side of the balancesheet I can relive in memory thethrill of discovery, thecomingunexpectedly on a little palm oasis that I never knew existed,the exhilaration of a drink of cool spring water after miles ofthirst, thehours spent in idling among theboulders of an oldIndian campsite trying to visualize thepicture that was therea hundred or 500yearsago.Anyway, I went there NewYears day to count thepalms.That information properly belongs to myscrapbook. It isgrati-fying to check back after a few years and find that thepalmsare increasing, asthey are in all theoases where thewater sup-ply is plentiful.I spent New Years eve with Ruth andNoel Crickmer, by thefireplace in the peaceful atmosphere of their friendly RanchoBorrego lodge. Thedistant world was engaged in thehilarious

This picture of the jails was taken m any years ago by Clint-on G.Ab bo tt. Today this waterfall and pool are surround-ed by a jungle of palm trees. It is a favorite retreat forpicnickers.

One of thepicnic ramadas constructed by thepark servicein thecampground at theentrance toBorrego canyon. SanYsidro range in thebackground. Photograph byChas. F.Webber.

20 The DESERT MAGAZINE


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1

Qaat Jfe*deiBy HARRY DACQUETGardena, California

This photograph of Ed Gonzales,goat herder on the desert near Mo-jave, California, was awarded firstprize in Desert Magazine's monthlyphotographic contest. It was takenwith a 31/4x41/4 Graf lex, Ortho-X-film,Zeiss lens, 1/50 at f8, no filter.

flod/uia ^teed,


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As a small boy in his native Norway, Paul Lauritz was unable to buyartist's colors at thevillage storeand so he started grinding his own pig-ments. He's been doing it ever sinceand has perfected his processesto thepoint where they are being used by artists everywhere. He has wonmany awards for his marines and snow picturesbut more than any-thing else, he prefers to sketch the dunes of the desert.

ffttilt Wnown

Paul Lauritz By JOHN W. HILTON

/ / T was National Art WeekandV/ Paul Lauritz preferred to spend iton the desert where he could findthe subjects he likes best to paint. He in-vited me to accompany him to Palm can-yon.I took along mycanvas andoils, but tobe quite frank, I spent less time atmy owneasel than in watching the sure intensemanner in which he wasplacing color onhis canvas.Paul Lauritz can handle paint. Everyinch of each finished painting is vibrant

with color. Hiswork isnever flat orcoarse.Perhaps his skill with color is due in partto the study he hasmade of the pigmentsthemselves. For he has always made hisown paintand now furnishes oils forartists all over thecountry.His interest in the making of artist'spaint began inNorway where hewasborn51 years ago. Lauritz says he cannot tellthe exact date when hisartist's careerwasstarted. It seems to him nowthat it goesback farther than memory itself. As a boyhe was doing sketches that were the ad-miration ofhisfriends andneighbors. Hishome wasnear a lighthouse on a rockypromontory, and most of his early workwas of theseas and shipping.Tube oils were not available in thetown where helived, and as hegrew oT3erhe secured books that would teach himhow to grind his owncolors. Hisknowl-edge was limited and his methods crude,bu t he finally perfected paints that servedpassably well.At 14 he entered the art academy atOslo. Fortwoyears hewasallowed to useno color, but he had an intensive coursein drawing that has been invaluable to

him in later years.During hisvacations he worked in his

father's quarry as a rock driller. Work instone had a fascination that led him intomining. Eventually hecrossed theAtlanticto Canada andsecured a job as driller atNelson. His experiences in the minesgave him a practical knowledge of min-eralogy.At various times he worked in nearlyevery capacity from driller to promoterbut he never lost interest in his art work.His spare time was spent at his canvas,and in experiments in the making of oilcolors.Finally he went to Portland, Oregonand placed some of his work on display.A hardrock miner who could paint wassomething out of the ordinary, and hispictures began to sell so readily he gaveup mining.In 1915hewent toAlaska to engage inbusiness with his brother. He continuedto paint, however, and later when he re-turned to the states his snow sceneswonwidespread attention.His experiments in themaking of colorpigment hadcontinued, and his processeshad been perfected to the point where

others were seeking his materials. A friendoffered to finance him in the manufactureof paints for the market. Lauritz took hisson into the firm and trained him in theprocesses he had learned himself. Theventure wassuccessful, and today Lauritzpaints areused byartists in all parts of thecountry.At one time it was thought that onlyEuropean color-makers could produce pig-ments fine enough for really good work.Lauritz has proved that here in Americapaint canbemade that issuperior inmanyrespects to the foreign product.For hisoil heuses California cold-press-ed walnut oil. It has almost the same te-

nacity as linseed, without the tendency todarken with age.Poppy oilhasbeen wide-ly used byEuropean makers, andwhile itholds its color tone indefinitely, it lacksthe adhesive qualities of walnut. Most ofhis colors are pure pigments, the same ashave always been most popular with themasters.Lauritz moved to LosAngeles in 1919,and in 1920made his first trip to the des-ert. He was attracted immediately by thebeauty of the sand, so like the Alaskansnows in some respects, and so different

in others. Thedunes and the ever chang-ing lights on the desert were a challengeto the artist and he came back again andagain to observe and to paint. Today hisdune paintings are no less popular thanhis snow scenes in former years.As he hasgrown older he has devotedhimself more toquality than toquantity. Inhis youth he would turn out the canvasesfor anentire show within a fewmonthsand nowhewill devote thesame period toa single painting. His finished work findsa ready market. I wanted to reproduce oneof his desert paintings for Desert Maga-

zine readersand found his studio al-most bare.Today, Lauritz with a high reputationfor marines, snow scenes, and in fact alltypes of landscapes, prefers to steal awayto thedesert. Thediversity of subjects inthis arid land, he says, is so great that anartist could spend a lifetime in the dunesand canyons andmesas, andnever repeathimself. His son has nowtaken over theresponsibility for the manufacture anddistribution of hiscolors, andPaul Lauritzfor the first time in his life has the leisureto paint when andwhat hepleases. Which

means perhaps that wewill see himon thedesert more frequently in the future.22 The DESERT MAGAZINE


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4Mother Tortoise comes around to inspect her newfamily.5Closeup of a Tortoise with the eggshell still cling-ing to his own shell. Note the s and that ha s clung to hisdamp body. His head is drawn into his neck skin forprotection. The protection of his head by withdrawalinto the shell is one of his inherited instincts.6This two-day-old youngster is ready to go out for-aging for food. Grass and other tender vegetation willsoon take the wrinkles out of his loose skin.7This picture shows the comparison in size betweenyoung Tortoise and his mother. The mother is about 14inches long. She is eating melon rind, unconcernedabout the youngster on her back.8An adult Tortoise eats lettuce from the hand ofthe author's wife.At the first sign of bad weather, the Desert Tortoisedigs into the sand to hibernate for the winter. About aweek of sunshine in the spring will bring them out fornormal life above ground, although they will not feedfor two or three days. They return to their holes everyevening and also during the hottest part of the day, be-ing unable to endure the direct rays of the sun for anextended period. They are active in the morning andevening looking for food.The natural food of the Desert Tortoise is sagebrushand cactus. They will bite down on the thorns without

batting an eye . In captivity they will eat an y vegetationand are especially fond of melon rinds, bananas,grapes and lettuce. Occasionally they will take a drinkof water although they may live without it-on the desert.

| l ' . ; . " *_ ' " ' ? - .

i fn if!l& -S !

1

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1a 2>edeiJ

Text and photographs byL P. LESCARBEAU, JR.1Typical nest of Desert Tortoise eggs. The femaledigs a hole about eight inches deep. She lays from sev-en to nine eggs , about the size and color of banta m eggsbut almost round. Then she covers the eggs with sand,pack ing it with her hind feet. The eggs ar e left ontheir own, to be hatched by the warm summer sun. Thetortoises breed and the eggs are laid in the early springand are hatched in the fall.

2One baby tortoise is emerging from his shell andanother is cracking the eggshell. The baby tortoise is asturdy little fellow and easily tunnels through his sandcovering to the surface.3Three of the babies are completely out of theirshells, and the fourth is cracking through. Two of theseven eggs in this nest were not fertile.


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Comp letely surprised and greatly outnumbered, the little b and of miners and pa ckerswas soon almost iviped out.

JLo5t Dutchman AlineWith the possible exception of

the mysterious Pegleg gold, the"Lost Dutchman" mine in theSuperstition mountains of Ari-zona is the best known and themost persistent of all the treasurelegends in the Southwest. Thereare many versions of the Dutch-man's tale of a rich ledge in theSuperstitionsand thousands ofprospectors, both tenderfeet andveteran desert men, have search-ed for it at one time or another.John Mitchell's story in this issueof Desert Magazine is the mostgenerally accepted version of theDutchman's fabulous ledge ofgold .

M A R C H , 1 9 4 1

By JOHN D. MITCHELLIllustra t ion by Frank Adams

(7 ACOB WALZ has become onej l of the legendary figures of the^ 7 Southwest. Unlike the mountainmen who trapped the streams and tradedwith the Ind

194103 desert magazine 1941 march

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