195203 desertmagazine 1952 march

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Y CALEXICO and Mexicalion the California border thetownspeople of the two com-munities, one on the American andthe other on the Mexican side of thefence, are making plans for the pre-sentation March 21 and 22 of the 13thannual showing of the InternationalDescr: Cavalcade, a historical pageantwhich each year has brought increas-ing numbers of visitors to the outdoorstadium in Calexico.

On two successive evenings specta-tors v/ill witness, in a rugged naturalsetting, the pageant of history as itwas enacted from Captain Juan Bau-tista de Anza's first expedition acrossthe Colorado desert until the ultimateconquest of the unharnessed ColoradoRiver in 1907.It happened that Calexico and Mexi-cali were built near the route followedby the trail-blazers and frontiersmenof the pioneering period De Anzaand the Padres Font and Garces, theCalifornia gold-seekers from Mexico.Kearny's Army and the Mormon Bat-talion, the Butterfield stage andeventually the engineers and developerswho converted the arid Imperial des-ert into a productive agricultural em-pire.

The Cavalcade was conceived or-iginally by Calcxieo people, the scriptprepared by a committee of localwom en, and for 12 years the spectaclehas been presented entirely by a eastof 35(1 person s selected from Calexicoand Mexicaliwith no paid profes-sional talent.

Much of the music and the costum-ing is in Spanish, for it was the Span-iards who first trekked across thisdesert region.On Friday, preceding the first show-ing of the pageant, 2000 school chil-dren of Calexico and Mexicali will takepart in an international parade, andon Saturday afternoon a Desert Pa-rade v/ill feature the participants andvehicles which take part in the spec-tacle.

One of the special features of the

Ernest Cole of Calexico playing the role of one of the wagon train drivers inD ese rt Cavalcade. Photograph by Padilla Studio.

program is to be a chuckwagon break-fast at 8:00 a.m. Saturday morningat the pageant grounds. This event isopen to the public.Mexican civic groups are planningseveral special daylight progrrms forthe entertainment of visitors o:i Sun-day, March 23, in M:\ica'.The local organization which sp~~-sors the annual pageant is a non-profitcorporation, and while sdmiss'on ischarged to the pageant ground s. ?1!funds go into expenses, and to thepurchase of additional equipment andcostumes, and toward the imrrovc-ment of the natural stadium which w~spurchrs^d two years ago alon the""cat New River canyon which theColorado carved across Imperial val-ley in 1905-6-7 when Salton Sea wasformed.Playing le^d'ng roles in the pageantare locl P'^n'e. both Mexican andNone Americaros, c?st as Juan Bau-

tista de Anza, Fathers Font and Gar-ces, Lieut. Moraga, Chief Palma ofthe Yumas, Gen. Kearny and Lieut.Emory; Dr. Oliver Wozencraft. whofirst saw the agricultural possibilitiesof Imperial Valley; Capt. St. GeorgeCooke of the Mormon battalion;Charles R. Rockwood, who engineeredthe bringing of Colorado River waterto the valley; C. N. Perry. Dr. W. T.Heffernan, Anthony H. Hcbcr arc!George Chaffey, all associated withthe early development of the ImperialIrrigation district.A span of 175 years is covered bythe historical pageant, and the pro-gram, starting at eight in the evening,lasts for two hours. The Winter Fes-tival Association of Calexico, organ-ized 14 years ago to stage the Caval-cade, suggests that those planning toremain overnight in Imperial Valleymake tVJr reservations for lodgingwell in advanco.

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D E S E R T C A L E N D A RFebruary 23-March 2 CaliforniaMid-Winter Fair of Imperial Val-ley. H;)llville, California.March IIndian Tour, Tucson, Ari-zona.March 1 -2 Sierra Club, SouthernCalifornia chapter, trip to BearCreek Oasis, near La Quinta, Cali-fornia.March 1-9 Maricopa County Fairand Horse Show. Civic Center.Mesa, Arizona.March 1-31Special Exhibit, sand-paintings of the Hopi and NavajoIndians made by David ViaScnor.Southv/est Museum, Highland Park,Los Angeles, California.March 2 - - Round-up Club tour ofVullur.: Mine, Wickenburg. Ari-March 8 9 Sierra Club, SouthernCalifornia chapter, hike up MurrayCunyo l, near Palm Springs, Cali-fornia.March 9 Dons Club trek to LostDutchman Mine in SuperstitionMountains, from Phoenix. Arizona.March 9Bandollero tour to LagunaDam. from Yuma, Arizona.March 9Desert Sun Rancher Rodeoat Rimtida Ranch. Wickenburg.Arizona.March 0-16 Seventeenth AnnualPalm Springs Invitational GolfTournament, O'Donnell Golf Club,Palm Springs, California.March 14-16Gila Bend Rodeo. GilaBend, Arizona.March 15 Border Conference SkiMeet, Flagstaff. Arizona.March 15-16Western Match Races,Wickenburg, Arizona.March 20-23 International DescrlCavalcade. Calexico. California.March 21-23Phoenix World Cham-pionship Rodeo. Phoenix, Arizona.March 21-23Coachella Valley Min-eral Society Gem and Mineral Show.Rivers de County Fairgrounds, In-d i o , California.March 2 3Dons Club Trek to SanCarlos Indian Reservation, fromPhoen x. Arizona.March :>7-29 Jaycees RawhideRoundup. Mesa. Arizona.March 28-30 - Tucson LivestockShow, Rodeo Grounds, Tucson,Arizona.March 29-30Agua Piedra Ski Car-nival. Laos. New Mexico.March 29-30 Don's Club Trek toGrand Canyon, from Phoenix, Ari-zona.March 29-30Sierra Club, SouthernCalifornia chapter, natural sciencetrip to Red Rock Canyon, Califor-nia.March 30-31 Saddle Club HorseShow. Wickenburg, Arizona.

Volume 15 MARCH, 1352 Numbsr 3

COVERPAGEANTRYCALENDARPHOTOGRAPHYLOST MINEGHOST TOWNCONTESTBOTANYADVENTUREDESERT QUIZPOETRYFIELD TRIPLETTERSWILDFLOWERSMININGNEWSFICTIONHOBBYLAPIDARYCOMMENTBOOKSCLOSE-UPS

Spring in Petrified Forest. (Sego Lily) Photographby Josel Muench, Santa Barbara, CaliforniaPageant of Desert History 2March events on the desert 3Pictures of the Month 4Goler's Lost Gold

By ADA GiDDINGS 5When Lead Was Mined at the Cerro Gordo

By A. LA VIELLE LAWBAUGH 9Prizes for Camera Pictures 12Saguaro Family in Arizona

By MOULTON B. SMITH 13Boat Trip on the San Juan

By WALTER H. KOCH 14A test of your desert knowledge 16Death Valleyin 1849, and other poems . . . 17Puzzle Rocks of the Badlands

By HAROLD O. WEIGHT 18Comment from Desert's reade rs 23Desert's forecast for March 25Current news of desert mines 26From here and there on the desert 27Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley 34Gems and minerals 35Amateur Gem Cutter

By LELANDE QUICK 41Just Between You and Me, by the Editor . . . 42Reviews of Southwestern literature 43About those who write for Desert 43

The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Press, Inc.. Palm Desert,California. Re-entered as second class matter Juiy 17, 1948. at the post office ai Palm Desert,California, under the Act of March 3, 1S79. Title regis tered No. 358865 in fj. s. Patent Office.and contents copyrighted 1952 by the Desert Press, Inc. Permission to reproduce contentsmust be secured from the editor in writing.RANDALL HENDERSON. Editor MARCARET GERKE, Associate EditorHI'.SS STACY, Business Manager MARTIN MORAN, Circulation ManagerE. II. VAN NOSTP.AND, AdvertisingLos Angeles Office (Advertising Only): 2(;;J,r> Adelbert Ave., Phone NOrmandy 3-1509Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledgedunless full re turn postage is enclosed. Desert .Magazine assumes no responsibility fordamage or loss of manuscripts or photographs although due care will be exercised. Sub-scribers should send notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding Issue.

SUBSCRIPTION B A T E SOne Yea r S3.50 Two Y ear s . ... Sfi.dllC an ad i an Su b s c r i p t i o n s 25c Extra, Foreign .">(ic ExtraSu b s c r i p t i o n s to A r m y Pe r s o n n e l O u t s i d e L\ S. A. Must Be Mailed in Conformi ty Wi thP . 0. D. O r d e r No. 19687A d d r es s C o r r e s p o n d en ce to Deser t Magazine, Palm Descr l , Cal i forn ia

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Salton S ea Sunset . .Just before the sun disappearedbey on d the Salton Sea, N. N. Koz-loff of San Bernardino, California,took this picture, a first prize winnerin Desert Magazine's photo contest.

It was taken with a 4x5 Graphiccamera, K-2 filter and Super XX film,1/25 second at f. 16.

Prair ie dog.Richard Van Nostrand of San Di-

ego, California, was waiting whenthis inquisitive fellow ventured fromhis hole. The picture won secondprize for Van Nostrand, who used a3 lAxA lA Graflex c am era , Plus X film,1/100 second at f. 11.D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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Finley Buhn, old- t ime fre ighter and presen t day miner who lives in Goler HeightsMuch of the in formation contain ed in the accompan ying story was supplied by him.Everet t Morris photo.Goler's Lost Gold...So certain was Prospector Goler that he could return to the spring wherehe had found nuggeis of gold that he stuck his gun on the top of a knoll as amarker. The gun w as not found until 50 yea rs laterand in the mean timeothers had re-discovered and taken a million dollars in wealth from theplacer f ield which Goler had foundand then lost again.

By ADA GIDDINGSMap by Norton AllenAt the age of 64 Rhoda could stillmount her cow pony with ease andride the range all day. One morningshe and Will saddled their ponies androde off to the southeast where a herdof their cattle was feeding.As they rode along in the crisp airthey felt the exhilaration that only adesert morning can give. Anythingmight happe n. To gain a view of the

country and their cattle they edgedtoward the east rim of the valley. Be-yond the dunes and mesquites whichsprawled at the foot of the rise theytopped a low hill and drew rein.Then something did happen! Dis-

THE mouth of Red RockCanyon, about 20 miles northof Mojave, California, lies theLazy-M cattle ranch, the old home ofthe Mu nsey family. Seven miles southof the L:izy-M my husband and Iwere homesteading a half section ofland in 1917. W e frequently enjoyedthe western hospitality at the Lazy-M.We listened by the cozy fire of theranch house to many stories of theearly days, for the Munseys were oldtimers in CaliforniaRhoda, the wid-owed mother, and Will, her son. Theytold us the story of Goler's gun andhow they found it.M A R C H , 1 9 5 2

mounting with a whoop Will called tohis moth er: "Loo k, mother! Goler'sgun!""Why, the land of the living! Goler's

gun! As sure as fate!" she exclaimed."Many's the time your father and Ihave listened to Will Cuddeback tellabout his father and Goler. Those twomen were partners in mining, youknow. Will Cuddeback would say:'Now remember, Goler left his gun ona little hill somewhere out in this val-ley and he never found it when hecame back later. Watch for it whenyou ride.' And here it islock, stock,and barrel."Carefully picking up the gun, Willsaid: "Th is is it, all right! Wh at afind! All intact, too. Look at theseamy side of the stock! Weather-beaten for 50 years!"They examined the gun together.The stamp read: "Spencer RepeatingRifle Co., Boston. Pat'd March 6


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To p Goler He ights on the east side of Goler Can yon. Finle y Buhriscabin is at the left . Evere t t Morris photo.Middle Stree t in Gar lock, near Goler 's placer field, in the late 1890's.Photo courtesy Frank Lat ta of Kern Coun ty Museum.Bottom Cabin at the mouth of Goler Canyon. The richest gravel wasfound to the left above t he roof of the cabin. Evere t t M orris photo.

18 0." The missing figure was 6, nodoubt, as I860 was the year the Spen-cer company began to manufacture theguns in quantities for use of the troopsin the Union Army. This and manyother facts about the gun the Munseysfound out later. WilMiandled the gungingerly as he mounted. "Let's headthe ponies for home/' he said. "Wecan look at the cattle some other time."During the next few days the Lazy-M was a center of interest to friendsand neighbors, ourselves among them.News of the find soon spread and

we all wanted to see this old relic ofKern County gold rush days. We ex-amined the gun and cartridges care-fully, listening all the while to thestory of Goler and Cuddeback.Goler, a German prospector whosefirst name or initials no one seems toknow, came down from Death Valleyin 1867 making his way south by wayof a little canyon about 40 miles northof Mojave and on the west side of thevalley. Kneeling to drink at a springhis eyes widened like his mouth.Nuggets! He could scarcely believe

it! Gold! After a careful e xamina tionof the nuggets he made a quick surveyof the immediate surroundings andthen hurried on his way. He fearedunfriendly Indians.Goler tried to take a short cut toLos Angeles where idle miners gath-ered in those days. Ignorant of thelay of the country, he hastily turnedacross the valley to the east. He shouldhave followed the old road which ranalong the spur of the Sierra Nevadasto the west of the valley. The mo un-tains here ran northea sterly. This wasnew country to Goler. Wishing totravel light he decided to hurry aheadunarmed, but glacing backward hemust have asked himself: "Can 1 findthat spring again?"Afterward he related to his partnerthat he climbed to the top of a littlehill near the east side of the valley androughly sketched the ridge he hadpassed coming into the valley on thewest side. His map indicated the littlecanyon which he wished to find again.For further check on the location, heplanted his gun upright in the sand fora marker. Then he hurried on. Heshowed his nuggets to Hefner, a Ger-man who ran a stage station at Eliza-beth Lake at that time.It took him many days to reach LosAngeles. He hoped to find someonewho had money to back a mining ven-ture. The streets were thronged withminers who came down from the fabu-lous hills of the Kern River country.Goler accosted all who would listento him, showing his nuggets. Most ofthe miners were skeptical. Amon gthem were some who had turned toagriculture within the last decade. Oneday Goler met one of these men."My name is Goler," he began, "undI hear der men call you Cuddebackvich I say may be good German name,too. Vill you look at my gold, Mr.Cud deba ck? It is so good nobody villbelief me ven I say I find it. I knowver it come from but I cannot go aloneund I got not enough money . But Ileft my gun standing in der sand toshow der vay und I haf dis map ovder hills." He produced his roughsketch."I am a rancher. Goler," statedCuddeback casually, "but I havepanne d a little gold in the north. Let'ssee your nuggets."Displaying them Golder explained:"I put my head over a little spring todrink und den I see der cold spots nearmy eyes." He added eagerly: "I cantake you to der place. I left my gunon a little hill to show der vay."

"These nuggets are the real thing.I'd like to find a few pockets of these,"nvsed Cuddeback."Veil. I can show you ver it is,"urced Goler. "You get more men undgrub und ve go right avay."D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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Cuddeback was qualified for lead-ership. According to historical ac-counts he v\as known as a man of haz-ardous adventures. His full name wasGrant Price Cuddeback.Cuddeback and Goler with a well-equipped ojtfit topped the mountainsat Elizabeth Lake and crossed Ante-lope Valley as far as Willow Springs,50 miles short of the spring which theywere seeking. The men prospectedlittle canyons to the west with no morereward for their efforts than Golerhad in searching for his gun plantedsomewhere on a little hill. The menridiculed Goler. Their distrust grewand there were mutterings that bodedill for him.Cuddeba;;k knew how to retreat aswell as advance. He decided to leadthe outfit back to Los Angeles anddisband, at least for the time being.There was little to tell of the secondattempt which some time later tookCuddeback and Goler as far as MurocDry Lake v/ith a new outfit. Here theyprospected about 40 miles short oftheir goal and the waitin g gun. Baffledagain they lurned back to Los Angeles.Goler held tenaciously to his dreama gold mine near the spring in thecanyon. His map seemed to fit everyvalleybul a certain little hill withan upright gun would be the marker.His gun would be the key to the can-yon! His trusty old Spencer! Onecartridge in the chamber and three inthe magazi le! Would the Indians findit? Would the wind blow it over inthe shifting sand?

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Goler's gun left as the marker for his new gold discovery and not founduntil 50 years later. Photo by Amun dsen Studio, Bakersfield.Undaunted by two failures, thepartners organized the third outfitwhich took them to the west side ofthe valley north of Mojave and on toRed Rock Canyon. Here they struckgold, though the spot that they wereseeking lay hidden 15 miles fartherto the northeast in another canyon,and the gun lay in the desert sun nearthe eastern rim of the valley.Cuddeback and Goler worked theirdiggings for several years until Golerleft that part of the country never to

be heard of again. His old map , inthe hands of others, determined theidentity of the canyon where he foundthe nuggets and which later was tobear his nameGoler Canyon.In 1917, 50 years after Goler foundhis gold at the spring and lost his gunon the desert, the gun lay in the cau-tious hands of admirers. The bluntcartridges had been pounded out ofshape. Probably they had been car-ried a long time on horseb ack. Therewas one perfect bulletthe one in the

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cartridge^ which was found in the cham-berth


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OLD CARSON aCOLO RADO R. R.(NOW ABANDONED)

2CERRO GORDO MINE

When Lead Was Minedat the Cerro GordoBy A. LA VIELLE LAWBAUGHMap anci photos by the author

N MARCH last year Neva and Ifollowed the steep trail whichzigzag:, up the rugged west slopeof California's lnyo Mountains to theghost of what was once the fabulouslead mine of Cerro Gordo.Our interest in the Cerro Gordohad been aroused during a previoustrip into that region when we saw atKeeler the lower terminus of the oldtramway which once brought the richore from the mine down the side ofthe mountain.The road to Cerro Gordo is a hardone for mam and car. There were twogrades which almost stopped the car,M A R C H , 1 9 5 2

Rich galena ore was foundnearly a century ago high upin the lnyo Mountains of Cali-fornia. But before it cou ld bemilled and transported to mar-ket the mining men of that dayhad to overcome tremendousob stac les. Here is the story ofhow those obstacles were met and overcome.even in low gear. There was an eighthof a mile where the one-way trail ispoised precariously along the top of asheer cliff.And when finally we reached themine we learned that our quest for

the complete story of Cerro Gordohad only begun. Before the story wasall recorded in our note books we hadsearched Owens Lake for rotting steam-boats, the shore lines for charcoal kilnsand then a 6000-foot climb to searchout an old sawmill high in the moun-tain range which rims Owens Valley.The mine is on the western slopenear the summit of the lnyo Range.The "fat hill"Cerro Gordo, in Span-ishis a distinctive landmark just tothe north of the mine. A Mexican,Pablo Flores, and two companions firstdiscovered the rich outcrops in the1860's. The ore occurred as lenticularmasses of massive cerussite, 5 or 6 feetacross, in the limestone. These masseswere concentrically banded and usu-


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To p These adobe kilns were built to make charcoal for the old CerroGordo mine .

Ce n t e r All that remain s of the sawmill from which came Cerro Gordo'slumber and charcoal.Bottom Neva L awbaugh res ts on the tongue of one of the ancien t loggingwagons high up inHorseshoe Meadow,

ally contained a small core of unalteredgalena. To smelt this rich ore, Floresemployed vesos, which were cruderock furnaces. As in the case of allbonanza strikes, word leaked out andsoon the Mexicans had company andbefore long were shunted aside. Therush was on. Claims were staked,bought andsold, andblood wasspilled.Almost overnight, Cerro Gordo boasteda population of 700 and within a fewyears hadclimbed to over 2000! Build-ings mushroomed, despite the highcost of lumber. Gambling and dancehall girls provided the lusty night lifeportrayed in western movies.Today, only a few buildings areclustered on the steep slopes. Wepulled our over-worked car to a hallin front of the building which formerlyserved as a recreation room for theminers. Most of the furnishings arcgone, but the overhead wires, with

counter heads for snooker pool arcstill there. The caretaker greeted ushospitably and gave us water for theca r and coffee for our own refresh-ment.We learned that the present ownersof the mine employ a crew of 12 in aneffort to locate an elusive rich vein.Sons of the owners, Steven Wasscrmanand Christopher Reynolds, were thetwo unfortunate lads who later in theyear lost their lives trying to scale thetreacherous east face of Mt. Whitney.Our host told us of handmade digging

tools, relics of another day,which" hadbeen found in the 27 miles of under-ground tunnels and stopes. Some ofthe levels go down to 900 feet. Wesaw an oldcandle end of sheep's tallowwhich hadcome from a ledge far belowthe surface.The building which houses the mineen d of the tramway is still standing.This spectacular ore conveyor wasbuilt in 1911 by Louis D. Gordon whofound large deposits of zinc whichearlier miners had ignored in theirquest for silver. The tram is about sixmiles long and is said to have cost

$250,000. It is operated by gravity,with ore buckets hanging from steelcables. As the loaded buckets droppeddown to Kecler, the empties weredrawn back up to the mine. A hugebrake wheel is at the mine terminalof the tramway.The steep slopes around the mineare dotted with little leveled plotswhere houses once stood. Foundationrocks, old iron bedsteads and scrapsof weathered wood are all that remain.For more than an hour we walked theindistinct old streets and foot-paths of

Cerro Gordo. A mile distant, at theold Chinese cemetery, we recalled theChina Stope incident. A Chinese crewwas working below the 200 foot level,when a cave-in buried a number of10 DESERT MAGAZINE


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Fire bricks were brought in to line these adobe kilns forCerro Gordo's charcoal. Tramway of the old Cerro Gordo mine at Kee ler. InyoMountains in the background.them alive. They had neglected totimber-up oroperly.There are structures still standingat the mine: which ante-d ate the Go r-don era. A tall chimney affair built ofnative stone attracted our attention.Upon examination, it proved to be asmelter. Ou r host told us that it wasone of those built by M. W. Belshawwho was one of the first white men tomove in after the discovery by theMexicans. A silver smelter requiredcharcoal in those days and lots of it.Neva and I had seen where manybuildings had stood but didn't givemuch thought to the wood from whichthey had been constructed. Now herewas a place: which had consumed pro-digious amounts of charcoal. Charcoalmust be reduced from wood in specialovens or kilns. Where did the oldminers get their wood, their lumber?In all the Inyos there is nothing largerthan scrub growth, for they are a des-ert mountain range. The caretakercould not answer the question, but toldus of some old timers at Keeler andCartago who might know the answer.The eight-mile drive back to Keelerwas in sharp contrast to the difficultM A R C H , 1 9 5 2

struggle up the grade. Twilight wasapproaching. The dry bed of OwensLake seemed to cover the whole valleyfloor. At one place, where the tramsoars high above the road, we pausedto watch a bighorn sheep. He was highon the ridge next to the out-stretchedstanchions which hold the tram cables.I focused the field glasses on him andhe was watching us. After a minute,he casually turned and dropped fromsight beyond the ridge. We campedon a bench above Keeler and enjoyedto the fullest a cool, quiet desert nightand gazed at at least a million morestars than we ever see when at homein Los Angeles.The next day was full of surprises.In running down the origin of the tim-ber which had been used for charcoalproduction and lumber we talked toseveral of the older residents of Keeler.The first woman we questioned wasn'tsure about the timber but was eager totell us about the steamboats! Thereactually were steamboats which sailedthe coffee-colored water of OwensLake's nearly saturated solution ofsalt and alkali! Belshaw's outfit whichoperated the Union Mine at Cerro

Gordo was producing so many 80-pound bullion bars, shaped like loavesof bread, that they began to pile up.To speed their shipment, the BessieBrady and the Mollie S tevens werebuilt to haul the bullion from Keeleracross the lake to Cartago. The steam-ers were shallow draft, clam-shell bot-tom, ferry-type boats. They luggedtons daily and still the stacks of silvermounted. Late-comers, beset by theshortage of living quarters resided fora time in hutches made by stacking theingots as walls and covering over thetop with canvas or boards. On returntrips the boats carried equipment, char-coal and lumber from the west shoreof Owens Lake.The old east shore landing whichthe steamers used is about half amile north of Keeler. We searched allthe day for evidence of old hulls,boilers, anything which might provethe story. One old-timer led us to aspot on the north shore where theBessie had grounded after a hard blowon the lake. We found nothing butdrifted sand, a horned toad, two leop-ard lizards and lots of creosote bushes.Another informant, William Isbester,

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recalls that when he first visited Keeler,the Bessie Brady was a burned outhulk, still at the old wharf. This oldship was launched in 1872, was 85feet long, 16 feet in beam and poweredby a 20-horsepower engine. Her costwas reputed to be $10,000. Recordsshow that Belshaw also was in thesteamer business for he launched theMollie Stevens in 1877. Her enginewas supposed to have come from theU.S.S. Pensacola. Since our search, aLone Pine lad found one of the oldanchors. It was hand-forged, aboutfive feet long and weighed 400 pounds.Further excavation is planned for therecovery of other parts of the oldsteamer. This digging may be donewith enthusiasm for one of the boatswas reported to have sunk with a loadof bullion aboard.The next day on the west shore ofthe lak.: we found the old bee-hive

shaped charcoal kilns. The enterpris-ing Belshaw also built the kilns. Firebrick was hauled in and laid. Theexterior was covered with adobe, whichduring the ensuing years has erodedaway. There arc two of them, eachabout 20 feet high and 20 feet indiameter. We discovered them aftersome difficulty, for their adobe finish

came from the very ground upon whichthey stand. A perfect camouflage. As1 stooped to go inside one of the kilns,a gridiron-tailed lizard darted fromits sunning position in the entrance-way.While sitting on the slope of theridge behind the kilns we saw a mostcurious thing. Neva was first awareof it and quietly motioned to me. Twogridiron-tailed lizards were movingback and forth towards each other ina graceful circling motion. It musthave been a sort of courtship, for theycontinued the odd dance for sometime, back and forth with a weirdrhythm. They scampered swiftly tocover when a red-tailed hawk swoopedlow overhead.The cord wood which went into thekilns, and the lumber used for con-struction came from high up in Cot-tonwood Canyon. A sawmill was built

at the east end of Horseshoe Meadowsat the 10,000 foot level. Beams aslarge as 4x12 inches and cord woodof varying sizes were cut and droppedinto a flume for the rip-roaring ride tothe edge of Owens Lake, 14 milesaway.Dusk found us at Leo Rogers' packstation in Cotton wood Canyon. Water

P r i z e s forC a m e r a P i c t u r e s . . .During the next two months many parts of the desert will be ablazewith wildflowers- there is the promise of the most colorful floral displayo n the dunes and mesas since 1949. This will be a rare opportuni1y forth e camera fans, not only to secure flower pictures but also to securelandscapes, human interest, ghost towns, sunsets, wildlife and otherphotographic subjects for Dssert Magazine's Picture-of-the-Monthcontest.Desert Magazine's Picture-of-the-Month contest is designed to se-cure for publication the best of the pictures taken in the desert countryeach month by both amateur and professional photographers. AllDesert readers are invited to enter their best work in this contest.Entries for the March contest must be in the Desert Magazineoffice. Palm Dosert, California, by March 20, and the winning printswill appear in the May issue. Pictures which arrive too late for onecontest aro held over for tli3 next month. First prize is $10; second

prize $5.00. For non-winning pictures accepted for publication $3.00each will bs paid.HERE ARE THE RULES

1Prints for monthly contests must be black and white, 5x7 or larger, printedo n flossy peper.2Each ph-tograph submitted should be fully labeled as to subject, time andp lace . Also technical drria: camera, shutter sreod. hour of day, etc.3PHINTS WILL BE RETURNED WHEN RETURN POSTAGE IS ENCLOSED.4All entries must be in the Desert Magazine office by the 20th of the contestmonth.5Contests are open to both amateur and professional photographers. DesertMagazine requires first publication rights only of prize winning pictures.6Time and place of photograph are immaterial, except that it must be from thedesert So'.iihwest.7Judges will be selected from Desert's editorial staff, and awards will be madeimmediately aiier the close of the contest each month.

Address All Entries to Photo EditorPALM DESERT. CALIFORNIA

Hows down the canyon until it is lostin the desert sands. We camped bythe little stream that night, after ar-ranging for two horses lor the mor-row's climb. The raucous cries ofblue-jays awakened us. By the timewe had breakfast and cleaned up camp,Leo was there with the horses. Theclimb from the pack station to themill is about 6000 feet. Along theway we saw remnants of the old Hume.It was a V-shaped trough, with sidesabout two feet high.

I had expected to find some timberat the mill site. Actually, the loggingwas done three miles further up thecanyon. A stream which flowed downthe canyon had been dammed and a30-inch pipe from the headstock undera 20-foot pressure head furnishedpower to drive the large circular saw.One of the old logging wagons stoodnear the milla ponderous affair withthick cross-cut sections of logs forwheels.

Our story was now complete. Wehad explored the desert floor and themountain rims to verify the facts abouta limniy productive mining venture ofnearly a century ago. The Cerro Gordois said to have produced millions inlead and silver and zincbut back ofthat fortune were stalwart men whoovercame tremendous obstacles to mineand market the ores which Nature hadcreated there.

DINOSAUR QUARRY WORLD'SLARGEST FOSSIL DEPOSITIn northeastern Utah, where theGreen River emerges from the slashedgorges of Split Canyon, a 200,000-acrearea contains the stone mausoleum ofsome of Utah's earliest residents.Dinosaur National Monument con-tains one of the largest deposits of pre-historic animals in the world. Fossilbones of the .giant lizards that onceroamed the Uintah Basin lie exposedin the upturned rocks or buried in themassive strata.The National Park Service has an-nounced plans to expose partially sev-eral of these skeletons just as they arefound in their rocky burial ground.This work, however, is tedious andexpensive and will require painstakingcleaning and scraping with dental toolsin hard sandstone.Scientists believe it was the dino-saurs' lack of intel ligenc e whichbrought about their disappearance.Their brains weighed not more thanthree or four ounces, and of this onlyone-third was the cerebrum, or think-ing portion. When, after an estimated

120.000.000 years on earth, the pre-historic lizards were trapped in thequicksands of ancient rivers, they wereunaware of their danger and died inthe swirling eddies of "tieter sands."12 DESERT MAGAZINE


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Photograph taken by Moulton B. Smith.

Saguaro Family in ArizonaBy MOULTON B. SMITH

N A SECLUDED little valley on the northwest sideof the Estrella Mountains in Arizona, my wife and Idiscovered a rare grouping of saguaro cactus. In aspace twelve feet long and four feet wide there are 30healthy saguaros. The tallest of the group is nine feethigh; the smallest 14 inches.Dr. W. Taylor Marshall, director of the Desert Botan-ical Garden at Tcmpe, tells us that he has never beforeknown of so many cacti of this species growing in onegroup.As we were able to construct the story, it appears thatoriginally there had been a large Palo Christo tree growingon the spot. Birds, eating the sagu aro fruit, roosted in thePalo Christo and d ropped the seeds. In time baby sa-guaros sprouted in the leaf mold under the tree and sent

forth their wandering roots in search of all possible mois-ture and plant food. The mo ther tree, deprived of itslife-giving moisture and food, eventually gave up thestruggle and died.

Observing the rugged thorn-protected trunk of a maturesaguaro one would never suspect that during the first fewyears of its life it is a delicate sen sitive little plant. No twholly unlike a human baby, in order to survive thosefirst years of life, it must have careful nursing and shelteredenvironment.At one year of age a baby saguaro is no larger thana small marble and has no spines. Many hundreds ofthem sprout to life on the open desert, but when thescorching summer sun beats down upon them, their deli-cate bodies shrivel and die. Only the babies that arefortunate enough to be born under a Creosote bush, aPalo Christo, Palo Verde, Ironwood or some other hardydesert tree, can hope to survive the rigors of life to whichall desert plants are subjected.At one foot in height a saguaro is approximately 25years old; at nine feet, about 125 years.Originally there were 32 living saguaros in this groupbut two died after reaching 24 inches in height.

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t. . . , ' ' V

*> . , . " " . : . .

*

Norman Nevills, on the right, and Jack Kueh n , cameraman jor 20th Cen tury Fox,on theriver trip described intheaccompanying story.

Boat Trip on the San JuanNavigation of the SanJuan River to its junction with the Colorado River isnever a dull experience, and here are the highlights of a boat trip whichinvolved more than the usual adventures. This story by Walter Koch is oneof the prize-winning experiences entered in Desert Magazine's Life on theDesert contest in 1951.

UR ING THE last 15years, manyboats have run the San JuanRiver below Mexican Hat, Utah,and have conquered its boiling sand-waves and treacherous rapids. Seldom,however, did a trip meet with suchobstacles and excitement as the oneNorman Nevills and I were planningthat parching day in July, 1944. Wewere sitting in his rustic living roomat Mexican Hat,talking about old goldplacer diggings along the San JuanRiver.He showed me a prospector's goldpanone-half the size of the standardpan which he had picked up atZahn's Cam p. My curiosity was arousedas this type of pan, which many old-

By WALTER H. KOCHtimers preferred to the heavier pan, isa rare find nowadays. When 1 askedhim about roads leading to this place,he answered:"Walt, why do you want to fight allthat sand on the Navajo Indian Reser-vation when you can reach these dig-gings byboat so much easier? In Sep-tember, I am taking a moving pictureparty down the San Juan and Colo-rado Rivers as far as Lee's Ferry, Ari-zona, and there will be room for an-other passenger. How about it?"

So , here I was back at Mexican Haton September 17 listening to an illus-trated lecture Norman was giving ourparty on the evening before the take-off. This group was made up of Jack

Darrock, editor of Fox MovietoneNews; Jack Kuchn, cameraman forTwentieth Century-Fox; RayZiess, hisassistant; Al Buranek, Utah state ge-ologist; Frank O'Brien, publicity di-rector of Utah; Lynn Lyman, boatmanfrom Blanding, Utah; and myself, amining engineer for the United StatesBureau of Land Management.Norman was telling us about theStanton Expedition which, before theturn of the century, surveyed a railroadgrade down the Colorado River, andof other early explorers who had losttheir boats and even their lives in therapids of that river. He went on tosay that Piute and Thirteen and OneHalf-Foot Rapids on the San Juan

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River were: as tough as any of thefeared cataracts on the Colorado, par-ticularly at the low water stage that wewould have to contend with. After theshow, I remarked to Al, "Norm ispromising us an exciting trip. He is agood salesman, but judging from what1 have seen of the San Juan, I doubtwhether he can deliver the goods."The nexl morning, our three boats,all built by Norman, were glidingthrough the famed Goosenecks of theSan Juan. The scene was one of com-plete serenity. About noon, we reachedour first set of rapids. An assortmentof camera:-,, moving and still, wereshooting the passage of the boatsthrough the foaming and churningwaters. Thanks to Norman's explicitinstructions, even Al, who had neverrun a rapid before this one, camethrough in the Rainbow Trail withouteven scratching its paint. Thus, myconfidence in his seamanshipI was

a passenger in this boatrose percep-tibly.Later that day we hit a bit of riverstudded with many rocks. They werebarely visible above the surface of thewater. A lew were totally submerged,and one of these proved to be a tem-porary obstacle in the path of theRainbow Trail. While Jack Darrockan d I were frantically pushing witharms and legs against the rock andAl was thrashing the water with hisoars, the S a n Juan, skippered by Lynn,passed us in a majestic glide. His pas-sengers, Jack Kuchn and Ray, weregiving us their friendly and not sofriendly advice on how to get out ofour predicament, but their glee wasof short duration . For we had justsucceeded in freeing our boat whenwe saw them in trouble about a quarterof a mile dow nstream . The ir boat hadslid up a ramp-like submerged rockand was pinned against it cross-wiseby the swift current. The San Juanhad a considerable list with the up-stream gunwale submerged. Soon bed-rolls and clothing were floating downthe river.Before we could think of a rescueplan, the current had swept us by, butwe were able to land our boat on thenorth bank just below. A rope wasthrown to the stranded San Juan, an dJack Darrock attempted to wade andswim across by holding to the rope.The current, however, was so stronghe had to give up this plan. In themeantime, Norman, whose boat, theHidden Passage, was in the lead, hadpicked up most of the floating debrisand had landed on the north bank. Hedashed up the shore to where we werestanding, jumped into the Rainbow

Trail, and began rowing upstreamtowards the helpless S a n Juan. Withthe oars bent almost to the breakingpoint and his arm muscles bulging like

' * -1 :_

Above Nevills runnin g one of the boats through the rapids oj the San Juan.Below Salvaging grub and equipment f rom the San Juan when i t becames tranded o n a submerged rock.

those of the legendary Popeye, Norminched his boat forward against themighty current and, after a tense quar-ter of an hour, made contact with themarooned boat. After its cargo hadbeen transferred to the Rainbow Trail,the men succeeded in refloating theS a n Juan and bringing it ashore.By that time everybody was willingto call it a day, so we made camp ahalf mile below the scene of the acci-dent and took stock of the losses. Oneof the moving picture cameras and atripod were unaccounted for, a con-siderable footage of film had beenspoiled by seepage, and it seemed thatRay's shoes would probably reachLee's Ferry long before their owner.

While dinner was cooking, Normanand Al went back up the river and, byfeeling along its bottom, located themissing tripod. Their triumphant rerturn somewhat raised the spirits ofthe gloomy crowd.Along the river's edge, there wasinsuflkient room for all of us to spreadour beds, so Frank and Ray decidedto sleep on a level spot among therocks higher up the bank in spite ofNorman's warning against rattlesnakes.Most of us had already dozed off, whensuddenly the peace of the desert nightwas disturbed by a yell, followed bylanguage typical of an irate Brooklyn-ite. We soon learned that Frank hadlet out some surplus air from his rub-

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ber matt ress and Ray had mistaken thehiss for an unfriendly greeting by asnake! Then he decided that his bunkamong the rocks might not be so safeafter all and spent the rest of the nightbedded down in one of theboats whereonly a water snake could have sharedthe warmth of his bedroll.This lirst day proved to be the mostexciting one of the whole trip. In spite

of a blue heron, the traditional omenof bad luck for river men, which ac-companied us for several days, therewere no more mishaps. Nevertheless,our passage through the so-called "Pi-ute Farms" was not easy. Here theriver spread out over a mile-wide bed,an d for many arduous hours wepushedand dragged our boats over sand barsbarely covered with water.

D e s e r t Q u i z Here's another "quiz expedition" into theGreat American Desert. In this list of ques-tions you will find considerable geography,some history, a bit of botany and mineralogy, and some of the lore of thedesert country. Regular readers of D eser t Magaz in e should make a highscore for all the answers have appeared in these pages at one time oranother. A score of 12 to 14 is fair, 15 to 17 is good, 18 or over isexcellent. The answers are onpage 40.1A chuckawalla lizard has Two feet Four feet... .. Sixfeet Crawls on its belly2A mano was used by the India ns to Kill game Offer praye rsto thegods Grind seeds Heal the sick3In locating a mining claim the notice of location should be placedAt point of discovery At all four comers In the centerof theclaim On thenearest mountain peak4The wild century plant that grows in the desert isYuccaCactus Palm Agave5Magnus Colorado was a chief of theApaches . Navajos.._ .....Yumas Utes6Going from Kingman, Arizona, to Las Vegas, Nevada, by the mostdirect paved route you would cross the Colorado River onDavisDam Hoover Dam Parker Dam Bridge at Topoc7"The Goosenecks" are in the Colorado River GreenRiver San Juan River Little Colorado River8Betatakin is the name ofA Hopi chief Ceremo nial god ofthe Navajos A river in Nevada An ancient Indian cliff

dwelling9Bill Williams River in Arizona was named for a famousColoradoRiver steam boat pilot Stage driver Arm y officer in theApache wars Mountain man and trapper10Gran Quivira National Monument is inNew Mexico Ari-zona Utah California11According to legend the Lost Dutchman mine in Arizona is locatedinT he Harqua Hala Mountains Camelback MountainsSuperstition Mou ntains Chiricahua Mou ntains... ....12Going south from Tucson into Sonora, Mexico, you would cross theinternational border atD ouglas Nogales ....... El PasoSan Luis13The Indian Inter-Tribal Ceremonial is held annually atHolbrook,Arizona . Gallup, New Mexico . _ . Window Rock, Ari-zona Flagstaff, Arizona14The blossom of the Saguaro cactus isCrimson BrownCreamy white Purple15Wayne Wonderland is a scenic area in Utah NevadaArizona New Mexico16The Tribal lands of the Cocopah Indians were locatedOn theshores of Pyramid Lake in Nevada In Death Valley Innorthwestern New Mexico . At the mouth of the ColoradoRiver17Most of the wealth found in the mines at Tombstone wasSilverGold Copper Tin18William Lewis Manly crossed the desert as a member ofTheDonner Party The Jayhawker Party The Mormon Bat-talion Beal's Cam el Carav an19The state capitol of Utah is in Provo Salt Lak e CityOgden Logan2 0 O n e of the following Passes does not lead into Death ValleyDay-light Pass Jubilee Pass Town e's Pass San Gor-gonio Pass .

Approaching the Navajo Mountainregion, we found that several tributar-ies break into the canyon of the SanJuan from the south. The debris theycarry during summer cloudbursts hasbeen deposited at their mouths therebycreating formidable rapids in the river.Piute Rapid, the first of these, wasnegotiated without difficulty, althoughNorman decided to take all three boatsthrough it, himself. At Thirteen andOne Half-Foot Rapid, lying at themouth of Beaver Creek, we wereforced by lowwater to portage all ourgear and equipment around it. Withgreat skill, Norman guided the threeempty boats between jagged rocks,down rushing chutes, andthrough boil-ing eddies. Here is his own descrip-tion as entered into the log of thetrip: "It's a wild ride, necessitating asharp bank at one point to get arounda big rock. All goes well, I land lastboat safely and join others in carryingthe equipment."Then the junction of the San Juanwith the mighty Colorado! The follow-ing three days of our journey, wefloated lazily through Glen Canyonpast Sentinel Rock and Outlaw Cave,landmarks named by the early riverexplorers. We noted a few stakes setby the Stanton Expedition which hadsurvived more than 60 years of expo-sure to the elements. The Utah-Ari-zona state line was crossed soon afterwe passed the Crossing of the Fathers ,where Father Escalante and his in-trepid companions had found a wayto get across the river on their returntrip to Santa Fe in 1776.At Lee's Ferry, we were rewardedfor the hard work which the low stageof the San Juan had caused us at thePiute Farms. For here, the low levelof the Colorado had exposed a raresightthe remains of the steamboatwhich once plied between Lee's Ferryan d a coal mine located in WarmSpring Canyon, a small upstream trib-utary of the Colorado. Gold placeringwas carried on near the ferry around1910, and fuel for running the ma-chinery had to be brought in bywagonsfrom the mines near Cedar City, Utah,more than 100 miles distant. Thus,when a coal seam was discovered inWarm Springs Canyon, someone de-cided to utilize this coal. The partsfor a small steamboat were freightedin overland and assembled at Lee'sFerry. The boat, however, made onlytwo round-trips. It developed thatmost of the coal carried downstreamto the ferry was consumed on the re-turn trip to the mine against the strongriver current. So,here she was rottingalong the river bank; but it was a realthrill for us rowboat men to walk onthe deckplanks of a genuine steamshipwith boiler, sternwheel, and pilothouse.

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Photograph by Josef Muench

By E. A. BRININSTOOLLos Angeles, CaliforniaSunsilence--sand, and dreary solitude!Vast stretc.ieswhitebeneath a glaringsky,Where only those stout-hearted may intrude.With Death to harrass them and terrify!A vast expanse of endless, treeless plain,Where sluggish rattlers crawl, and brownswifts ru:i,Where all the parched earth gasps and pantsfor rain.

And overhead a maddening, molten sun!Dry. powder/ sagebrush seas, and cactus-beds,And yucca;; snow-white sentinels thatgleam,

While here and there the ocotilla spreads.And waters glimmer from a phantomstream!Like withering blasts from furnaces white-hot,The noon-day sun glares pitilessly downUpon a land the hand of God forgotScorched, lifeless, shriveled, arid, bareand brown!Only the awful stillness day by dayO'er wastes swept by the hot sun's burn-ing breath!A treacherous, deceptive Great White Way!A land of desolationand of death!

THE DESERTBy LILLIAN OMUNDSONEl Paso, TexasThe desert is a place of beauty!Over it a grey-green mantle's spreadSo restful to the eye.Even winter leaves it there untouched.When in your land the green leaves sereand grasses die,The desert lies unchanged.When winter rains descend upon her dunes,They leave behind a multitude of flowers.The yucca holds her silver torch on high.The cactus lifts its orange chalice to the sky.Spiny swifts dart toward their prey,And now and then a hare leaps into view.It is a place of magic.The desert dead, you say!It is not true!

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concre t ions of ten are found in groups, and the groups of ten are quite s imilarto one an other , while those a shor t dis tance off are en t ire ly differen t "models ."

Puzzle Rocks of the Badlands]flo one knows what prompted Nature to create the fields of weirdlyshaped sandstone concretions in the erosion-fretted Borrego Badlandsnor can a ny on e sa y for certain just how they w ere formed. Indianswho lived along the shores of prehistoric Lake Cahuilla gathered themori regular ol these rock oddities and used them to build foundationsfor their brush shelters. These house-rings still can be seen evi den cesof an an cien t com mu nity. This story will direct you on a field trip

fascinating to archeologist, geologist and rockhunter alike.

By HAROLD O. WEIGHTPhotographs by the Author

Map by Norton Allen

THE; C o lo ra do R ivertransferred its outlet from theGulf of California to the Sal-ton Sink and created prehistoric LakeCahuilla, about a thousand years ago,primitive tribesmen in surrounding ter-ritory moved in and found choicehomesites along the lakeshore. Un-doubtedly they felt that the HappyHunting Ground had materialized.First there was an unlimited quan-tity of fresh watera novelty for anydesert dweller. Abundant vegetationsprouted along the beachlinewillows,palms, mesquites, tules, and otherplants which must have attracted birds,

mice, rats and other small table deli-cacies. Larger game which came todrink sometimes could be killed. Andalways there were the makings of afish-fry right at the front door.The Indians found something else,too, which I am certain held greatinterest for them. Scattered over thatgreat erosion-fretted bajada west of thelake, which we call the Borrego Bad-lands, were millions of sandstone con-cretion s. The se fantastically shapedgeological curiosities were so numerousin fact, that the house-rings of someof the shoreline villages were made al-most entirely of them.

Naturally, a primitive people wouldbe interested in rocks that looked likedistorted editions of animals, humansand inanimate objects as well as thematerializations of the outlandish cre-ations that might have haunted theirdream s. In some parts of the South-west, concretions were looked uponas sacred things or personal fetishes.Many have been dug from the ruins ofold Casa Grande in Arizona, and theyhave been found among the hiddenparaphernalia of dead Pima medicine-men.

If some of the Lake Cahuilla resi-dents had only realized it, they had18 D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E


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. . . . . " " : ; . ; : ; : . - ; i - . _ ; . ; - . , , ; . ; ; .

y L audermilk wonde rs just how and why such fantastic shapes as thesesands tone concre t ions came in to exis tence .M A R C H , 1 9 5 2 19


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TolNDIO

TO INDIO, 36.3 MILES >Q ^S'

the equivalent of a gold mine there intheir back yards. A trader who tooka carefu lly selected load of those weirdsandstone figurines through Indianlandprobably could have made his millionin bead;;, pots, baskets and other con-temp orary forms of wealth. Perhapsone of them did.Whether they traded concretions ornot, there is little doubt they did bringthe unusual ones home, that the Ca-huilla children liked to play with them

as modern youngsters do, and that theelders probably had more than one de-bate over just what they wereandwhv.

Today, anyone who sees one of themore fantastic concretionary forms isjust as curious about its how and whyas were the Indians. Some very plausi-ble explanations as to their origin havebeen advanced.John Hilton gave a good backgroundto the whole matter in D eser t Magaz in e(March, 1939). His own interestingtheory was that the concretions wereformed when lime in solution in thewater was precipitated out on various

bits of organic matter which formedthe nucleus around which the sandand lime "grew." Different nucleievolved into different final shapes.

Some persons still insist that con-cretions are fossil somethings. Onesuggested a certain type might be pet-rified gopher holes.The trouble with most of the ex-planations 1 have heard is that eachhas to make an exception of a typethat doesn't follow the rulesand thatmakes the whole theory questionable.There is no doubt that the concretionsin the badlands do have some connec-tion with the bo dies of water that filledthe Salton basin long before the Indi-ans came. Possibly they go back tothe time when the area was an ex-tended arm of the Gulf of California.Also, there is no doubt that theyare formed of sandstone and some ce-menting agentusually calcium car-bonateand that they often had somesort of nucleus. They must have beenformed after the sand and clay weredeposited, since the bedding layers

continue through many of them, andthey frequently weather to pieces alongthese layers.These are facts. Going beyondthem, I am inclined to fall back onthe primitive explanation, even if it ispresen tly out of favor. Some of themore fantastic shapes could only haveresulted from a mud pie party held bythe Spirits of Geology.However they may have origin-ated, concretions continue to fascinatemost people. Many who have no in-terest in rockhounding delight in haul-ing a sandstone pup or whale or hat-rack home for the garden. On theother extreme, even uppercrust rock-hounds who hunt only for cutting ma-terial sneak home a few specially fan-tastic concretions now and then. Andthough many tons have been hauledaway, it still is not difficult to find con-cretions almost anywhere in the bad-lands west of the Salton Sea.There are all sorts of concretions.Each area seems to have its own pe-culiarities and types and quality.

The Borrego Badlands are a favoritedesert spot for Lucile and me, and wehave driven up most of the greatwashes and hiked over much of theland between them. In that area wehave one concretion hunting groundwhere we have found a number ofprizes which compare favorably withthe best in modern sculpture. Thatisn't just our notion. When an ac-quaintance, a sculptor who teachesart in one of the state colleges, sawsome of these concretions, he at firstrefused to believe that Nature had beenthe artist. Then he became excitedabout them and brought some of hisstudents over, pointing out to themrhinas like beautv of line and dvnamic

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Petr if ied rat t lesnake? No this is one of the sands tone concre t ions from theIndian Wash area. Actual size, about 17 by 8 inches.

symmetry. Then he wanted to knowhow he and his pupils could locate thefield.We cane upon this particular areawhile exploring the tributary washesof Arroyo Salada by jeep and on foot.The field lies largely to the south ofa lower left branch of Arroyo Salada;a branch we call Indian Wash becauseof the village site with numerous house-rings which lies close beside it. Cir-cling on foot through the area aroundthe village site, we discovered a colonyof sandstone turtles of bulky propor-tions. Then we found a group of con-cretions the size and general shape ofbull fiddles. Farther to the south wecollected i'rom patches of small circu-lar sandstone balls centered in discsminiature Saturns. There were con-cretion medallions, grotesque semi-human figurines like African imagesand imaginative abstractions whichwould pul any futurist artist to shame.So puzzling were some of the con-cret ions in this field, so different fromany we had seen "explained," that we

decid ed 1:0 brin g our frien d, JerryLaudermilk, down to see what hecould tell us about them. Jerry, a re-search associate in geo-chemistry atPomona College, seems to have theknack of getting answers to trouble-some problems of this nature. So, ona brisk winter morning, we drovedown frcm Claremont to the pointwhere Highway 99 crosses ArroyoSalada.Lucile :md I often had discussed thepossibility of mapping this particularconcretion field for collectors, but at

that time the only route we knew toit was the one up Arroyo Salada andthen up Indian Wash. It is a wonderfultrip up this arroyo {D eser t Magazin e ,

April, 1945), and there are times inthe year when it and the other greatwashes in the badlands can be navi-gated for considerable distance by theordinary passenger car with little orno trouble. But there are other timeswhen such an expedition can result inextreme discomfort and even tragedy.In summer, the heat concentratedin these washes can kill, and even ex-perienced sand skimmers can drop tothe hubs in soft, dry sand. After rains,seeps arise in the arroyo bottoms, form-ing soft slippery clay traps in whichcars can bog. Undermined clay wallscollapse, hurling tons of debris intothe "road." Flood runoff lowers washbottoms exposing rock barriers whichcan be hurtled only by agile jeeps.So, each time we decided it wouldnot be a safe trip for many drivers.The expedition with Jerry and HelenLaudermilk proved this point again.We were accompanied by two friends,Bill Reiter and Martha Berry, whotried the trail up the wash in a passen-ger car and became mired right at theentrance of Indian Wash, in a cien egawhich forms there after any rain. Withthe jeep truck, it was a simple matterto pull them back to dry land. With-out it, a lot of hard work would havebeen necessary.

This past summer, however, wetraced another route into the concre-tion area which should be safe for anycollector during the cool dry seasonsin the desert. The remains of a WorldWar II army road cuts west fromHighway 99 exactly one mile southof Arroyo Salada bridge (.7 of a milesouth of Squeaky Springs station.)Though this road is being cut to piecesby runoff it can be followed with com-paratively little trouble for the little

more than 2Vi miles to where itbranches. The right branch can betaken for only a short distance beforeit is badly washed. From this pointthe collector must hike toward theSanta Rosas, north of west, for alittle less than a mile before the edgeof the concretion area is reached.On our trip last winter, Jerry pickedup an astonishing aggregate of lumpsand curves which looked like a crossbetween a monkey with a cap on anda large cat. He looked at it for amom ent and then exploded: "Well I 'llbe . . . " And that 's the most posi tivestatement on the concretions that we'vegotten from Jerry so far. He is work-ing on the matter, however, as timepermits. Last time we saw him headvanced the tentative theory that atleast some of the forms might haveresulted from colonies of algae, withthe gelatinous mass acting as a nucleusfor the sandstone forms.

Besides the problem of finding a saferoad into the general area of the con-cretions, Lucile and I have hesitatedabout publicizing it for another rea-son. We would hate to see the oldCahuilla village site disturbed by van-dals. However, the last time we werein we found increasing evidence ofjeepsters in the area and one vehiclehad driven right through and over oneof the old rings. So it would seem, aswe have found at other localities, thatsimply keeping silent about somethingdoes not protect it. And we still areof the belief that most of those whofollow our D eser t Magaz in e field tripswill help to preserve the wonders ofthe desert, not destroy them.We hope we are not wrong in thiscase. The Indian Wash village site is

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a spot we would like to visit again.The first time we stumbled upon thosehouse-rings in the lonely badlands wewere bewildered. We did not connectthem with the ancient times of LakeCahuilla. The rude semicircles of stonedid not look that old, and among themwe saw charcoal and ash and half-charred bone which told of primitivefeasting. But why should therehowcould therehave been an Indian vil-lage here in this waterless, foodless,shadeless alkaline wasteland?

When we looked closer at the cook-ing-fire debris, we understood. Mostof the bone remnants were parts of theskeletons of fish. That meant that thiswa s one of the villages which once hadstood upon the shores of vanished LakeCahuilla; that when it had been occu-pied there had been water and foodand probably shade for its inhabitants.It also meant that the winds and rainsof centuries had swept this lost en-campment without destroying the evi-dence of feasting, though the last of thefeasters had departed at least half amilleniuin ago.

Standing in this ghost village, look-ing across the clay and sandstone des-er t to the salt sea below, it seemedquite unbelievable that this once hadbeen an Indian paradise. Yet thosewho have studied the matter declarethat it was. Lake Cahuillawater inthe deserthad made all the differ-ence. How had the lake come intoexistence?The old Red River of the Westgave a very good example of the prob-able course of events back in 1905when a flood stage took out the gateson the early Imperial Valley irriga-tion canal, and the Colorado Riverpoured into the below-sea-level SaltonSink. It took engineers more than twoyears, and it cost millions of dollarsto convince the big river it should re-turn to the Gulf.

There were no engineers when theriver changed its course a thousandyears ago. The Colorado poured intothe Salton Sink until it created a lakewith a 250-mile shoreline. When itreturned to its old channel, it did soof its own accord.

There is evidence that Lake Cahuillaexisted for hundreds of years. Whenthe Colorado sent in an extra headof water, the Indian villagers moved tohigher ground. When it shifted to theGulf, they followed the retreatingshoreline.Then the Colorado went back to itsold channeland stayed there. The

lake dried up and vanished, and theIndians went back to work. Finaldisappearance of Lake Cahuilla hasbeen placed at approximately 1500A.D.But, though the lake is gone and theIndians long vanished, the house-ringshave survivedconcretions piled care-lessly about the bases of brush shel-ters. These primitive foundations andthe odd rock-fields from which theywere gathered are links with an in-credible desert past.And, until Jerry Laudcrmilk or some

other modern scientist finds the answer,we will wonderas did our Indianpredecessors about the origin ofthese strange puzzle rocks of the Bor-rego Badlands.House-rings built of concre t ions , evidence of an Indian village from 500 to 1000years old, which once stood on the shores of prehistoric Lake Cahuilla.

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Desert Converted Them . . .Williams, OregonDesert:Now you've gone and done it! Herewere wemy husband and 1livingon a small mountain ranch supposedlycontent with our way of life. Then avery thoughtful friend gave us a sub-scription to De s e r t for Christmas lastyear.

Ever since we have been decidedlyncontent, and our feet itch to try anew life en the desert you write of.Both of us have spent a little time onthe desert, but we didn't see it then asyou have since shown it to us.My husband is a prospector bychoice and, given a chance, I'd be themost enthusiastic of rockhounds.Thanks for the most interestingmagazine I've ever read.V1RS. CL EV E WILS ONSalt for Desert Dwellers . . .Battle Creek, MichiganDesert:We have had much controversy asto the value of salt tablets on the des-ert. Are they worth the trouble? As along-distance bicycle rider I spendmuch time on the desert and wouldappreciate your advice.A. B. RUSSELLS a l t tablets are not beneficial toeveryone , a l though I found themhelpful when serving in the Sa-hara D ese rt region during thewa r . Pei sons who do n ot perspirefree ly l ike ly will not ge t any ben e-fit from them , an d to others theycause stomach discomfort. Sincethe war, instead of taking salt tab-le t s , 1 pu t extra salt in my lunchat the noon meal. / find this keepsmy energy at higher gear during

the af ternoon. R.H.Arrowheads His Hobby . . .

San Leandro, CaliforniaDesert:How did the Indians make theirarrowheads, and where did they getthe rocks they used? Can modern manduplicate the heads? These questionsarise in my mind each time 1 comeacross anorher of the ancient weapontips.I am a postal transportation clerk,running into Lovelock, Nevada. Someof my spar;; time in Lovelock is spenthunting arrowheads with a friend ofmine there. My friend, George, has

learned to spot places in sand hills oron dry lake bottoms where the windblows the sand and uncovers the arti-facts.We find many in perfect condition,made of different materials. The work-mansh ip is excellent. How careful musthave been the Indian craftsman, prob-ably working with crude tools with thedelicate material, so easily spoiled bya misplaced chip.I would appreciate knowing moreabout arrowheads and the methodsused by the Indians in producing them.Can D eser t Magazine answer some ofmy questions?Incidentally, Lovelock is in an areacontaining a variety of minerals androcks which would delight any rock-hound. JAM E S F . COOPE RM. R. Harrington , curator ofarcheology at Southwest Museum,Los Angeles , wrote a comprehen-sive article o n arrowheads forD eser t Magazine . En t i t led "There 'sNo Mystery About Arrowheads,"i t appeared in the D ecembe r 1941issue. In this article, D r. Harring-ton l is ts the s teps taken and thetools used by the Indian to pro-dace arrowheads. There are twomain processes: "percussion" orthe used o f a hammer, and "pres-sure" or the use of a flaking tool.After selecting a piece of flintyrock obsidian, chert or the l ike th e craftsman employed per-cussion, hit t ing the original chunkwith a s tone to get a thin flake.Percussion again this t ime hit-t ing th e head with a deer an t lermallet accompl ished a roughshaping o f the blade. Pressurefollowed, small chips being flakedaway. A bone point shaped thes tem o f the arrowhead, the crafts-man scraping it across the f l in t .Finishing t ouches were added byho ld ing the head o n a s tone andchise l ing wi th a deer-an t ler "pitch-ing- t oo l" hammered with a s tone .

R. H. a sRockhound Accommodations . , .Los Angeles, CaliforniaDesert:No doubt many D eser t Magazinereaders have visited Horse Canyon, 15miles west of Moiave, California, insearch of horse canyon agate. The Or-ganic Living Foundation of Californiahas purchased the 620-acre ranch atthe head of the canyon and intends tobuild cabins there so rockhounds willhave a place to stay when they takefield trips in the area.The road into the canyon has beenrepaired, and it is now quite easy toset in and out.FRANK C. M URRAY

Joshua-Bound Yearbooks . . .Auburn, CaliforniaDesert:Evalyn Gist's "Forgotten Mill of theJoshuas" (January De s e r t ) made meremember something which may inter-est your readers.For one of the Los Angeles HighSchool yearboo ks either 1897 or1898, possibly '99Joshua wood wasused for the cover. I valued my oldnumbers very highly and often ad-mired the strange porous wood coverand wondered about it. I suppose oneof the Joshua wood concerns of whichMrs. Gist speaks sold the idea to thestaff. It is the only time I ever sawit so used.My old copies, and in fact all mybooks, were destroyed in the Berkeleylire of 1925.MRS. GENEVIEVE K. SULLY Rockhounds Answered Call . . .Tucson, ArizonaDesert:We at the Veterans AdministrationHospital in Tucson wish to thank D e s -er t Magazine for publishing the letterwritten by Mrs. Ruth Hurd and tellingof the need for cutting materials forthe hospital's lapidary program.We have received many donationsand wish to express our appreciationto all who have contributed.J . E . GAINES, M.D. Invitation to Rock Lovers . . .

Earp, CaliforniaDesert:My wife and I arc a pair of oldfolks in our 70's. We are readers ofD eser t Magazine and have been forthe past four years. We go to Blytheeach month, and De s e r t is the firstthing we buy.We have spent the last five wintersat Earp, in the meantime gatheringgem rocks in the Arizona and Califor-nia desert. We have many kinds, someof which rockhounds say they havenever seen before.We would be very pleased for any-one interested in gem rocks to visitour place. We arc 50 yards west ofthe post office in Earp, California.MR. AND M RS. D. E . HUGHE S Color and Inflation . . .Anaheim, CaliforniaDesert:Being a constant reader of yourexcellent magazine for a number ofyears, I want to tell you how much Ienjoy it. But, regarding the new colorcovers, I wish to say that I don'tthink they add a cent of value to yourpublication.Please take the August. Septemberand October issues and lay them downby any one or all of your recent color

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P r i v a c yon the Santa Fe

^ Room toRoam,too!It';; a private world of yourown-your room on one ofSanta Fe's great trains, whetherit's a deluxe suite or econom-ical roomette.When you feel like roam-ing, there's a lounge car forfriendly relaxation . . . and atmealtime, you choose from aFred Harvey menu and eatfrom a table, instead of a one-choice tray.You board the Santa Fedowntown. You leave onschedule in any w eath er. . . ar-rive safely, relaxed, refreshed.

Yes, figure it out. You'll goSar.ta Yt-all the way!

SakaFemmC. C. ThompsonPass. Traffic Mgr.Los AngelesCalifornia

covers. Then ask yourself whether youwould give one cent more for a maga-zine with a full color cover than forone with the single tint block.If this color business costs you theleast bit more than the old method,please discontinue it; because if it isexpensive you will have to raise thesubscription price; and I couldn't af-ford that. It costs too much to keepeating nowadays.I am an 80-year-old machinist withno job and consequently very littleincome, so you can understand why 1am concerned about the inflated costof living. Please don't do anything toincrease the price of your already ex-cellent D eser t Magaz in e .JOHN M. THOMAS

aSandspikes Once Snails? . . .

Bloomington, IndianaDesert:In a letter in the December issue ofD eser t , C . S. Knowlton mentions find-ing spiral "sand spikes." His descrip-tion sounds to me like the internalmolds of fossil snail shells of the turi-tella type. Snail shells are often filledby sand which subsequently becomescemented and forms sandstone. Laterthe calcium carbonate of the shells isdissolved away by groundwater, leav-ing the loosely coiled internal molds ofsandstone.

Snail shells are described as sinistralor dextral, depending on whether theirspiralling is right- or left-handed. Mr .Knowlton probably could have mysuspicions confirmed or refuted byconferring with any paleontologist.These conclusions are not offeredas an explanation for the other formsof "sand spikes."JACK PICKERING Flood in Death Valley . . .Pacific Palisades, CaliforniaDesert:

Nell Murbarger's fascinating storyof Tule Canyon (December De s e r t )reminds me of an interesting experi-ence I had in the early 1900's when Iwas a mine manager in Goldfield, Ne-vada, and staked some prospectors.

One of them, Dan Younger, was asturdy old chap. I outfitted him withfour pack mulesnot jacksand heheaded for the west side of DeathValley. Months later he returned withno equipment but telling weird talesof a bed of huge clam shells filled withpyrite on top of a mesa. He said hismules had been lost in a sea of mudat the extreme upper end of Death Val-ley where Lida canyon drops an oc-casional cloudburst into the valley. Heopined that the bad storms he hadexperienced might be the result of all

the powder they were exploding in the"Roosin-Japong" war.I didn't know Death Valley as wellthen as I do now and merely thought"D ad " a fancy liar. But 1 changed mymind some time later when I went tothe lower end of the canyon and, froma considerable elevation, looked downon the awe-inspiring view of the val-ley.I told the miner whose property wewere examining Dad Youngcr's story,and he told me of a narrow escape hehad from a cloud burst about the timeDad had lost the mules.He was living in a stone cabin theold timers had built near the bottomof a gulch. He was awaken ed onenight by a terrific storm and got upto look out just in time to see a vividflash of lightning reveal a white wall ofwater tearing down toward his cabin.He ran up the hill just in time to es-cape the flood. He said he never wouldforget the roaring sound of rushingwater and grinding rocks which gaveoff sparks as they pounded together,everything illuminated by the almostcontinuous flashes of lightning.

I saw the high water mark on whatwas left of the cabin, and then I be-lieved Dad Younger's story.Congratulations to D eser t Magaz in eon the gorgeous color cover of theDecember issue. What a wonderfulphotographer that man Mucnch is. andhow well your new presses have dupli-cated his picture!H E N R Y C U R T I S M O R R I S Si, SiSEE-bo-la . . .Wichita. KansasDesert:I read Harold Weight's article."Opalite on the Road to Cibola," inthe December issue. He states Coro-nado's cities of Cibola were pro-nounced "SEE-bo-la." Where?We have lived all our lives at thevirtual end of Coronado's trail, andwe have always read and heard of his"seven cities of Si-BO-la." I havenever heard it pronounced otherwise.We thoroughly enjoy D eser t Maga-z in e and head for New Mexico andArizona every chance we get.

WIN IF RED J EN S O NThe name Cibola is properlyspelled with the accen t over thei. According to our Spanish ex-pert, this means the correct pro-nun ciation is SEE-bo-la. How-ever, few words survive intact thejourne y from a foreign languagein to our own. Pronunciat ion , ac-cen t , spelling one usually ischanged. So, as Harold Weightpoints out, Cibola, is know n toAriz .onan s , and to most Ame ri-cans, as Si-BO-la. R. H.

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Under i:he sunny, clear blue skies oflate February and early March, splashesof color will appear on the desert land-scape as v/ildflowers begin to blossom.Each spring Nature's floral carpet isdifferent in color and design, and eachspring thousands of persons flock tothe desert to see the display. W hatcan they expect this season?On the whole, observants promisethe most colorful floral display since1 9 4 9 . Snows and unusual amounts ofrain in the desert areas, combinedwith prospects of an early spring, as-sure better than normal flowering inall areas except Death Valley.Reports from Southwest sources de-scribe local conditions as follows:S a g u a r o National Monument Asearly as late January, several speciesof perennials were blossoming in theTucson and Yuma areas of Arizona.Hedgehog cactus and possibly theprickly pear are expected to flower inearly March. Although too early toset a date, Samuel A. King, monumentsuperintendent, forecasts a good dis-play of verbenas and California pop-pics in the vicinity of Picacho Peak.Small buds are beginning to appear onthe Pentstemons, and blossoms shouldappear by the first of March. "At thiswriting, all types of perennials andsucculents have a more lush appearance than at any time during the pastseveral years," reports King.

Mojave De s e r tThe Randsburg re -gion, between Randsburg and Inyo-kern on Highway 395, probably willofTer the greatest variety of blossomsin this area, according to Clark W.Mills of Trona , California. Desertcandles, thistle and sand verbena willbe found along the slopes of the ArgusRange, both in Searles and PanamintValleys, as well as on the foothills ofthe Panamints. Reports from WildroscCanyon indicate the Panamint daisy al-ready is sprouting with promise of avery beautiful display.D eath Valley National Monume nt Superintendent T. R. Goodwin is pes-simistic over 1952 wildflower pros-pects for Death Valley. "Prior to thebig January storm, there was no ger-mi nat ion . If the .6 inches of rainwhich has fallen proves sufficient tostart growth, it will be well toward

Easter before there will be any flowers.In the mountains the snow pack isheavy, but flowering at hich elevationsnever occurs until late Mav or Tune

after the main Death Valley travelseason is over, and comparatively fewsummer visitors will see this display."Ca sa Grande National Monume nt Unusually good flowering for annualplants, bushes and cacti is predictedby A. T. Bicknell, park superintendent.Mesa, Arizona "Conditions in thebeautiful Superstition Mountains areaare more favorable than at any timesince 1941," writes Julian M. King ofApache Junction, Arizona. "In 1951we enjoyed 15V2 inches of rain, twiceas much as in any of the past fiveyears. In January of this year, .88inches had fallen in three rains, andthe weather was warm and sunny be-tween times. Scarlet Buglers alreadyare blooming in Hieroglyphics Canyon;these, desert marigolds and desert hya-cinths should all be blossoming in Feb-ruary.Joshua Tree National Monume nt Lupine, chia, desert dandelion, chu-parosa, encelia, phacelia and sandblazing star are among wildflowers ex-pected to blossom in late February andearly March at lower elevations, par-ticularly around Cottonwood Spring

and Pinto Basin. Frank R. Givens,park superintendent, suggests visitorsbring small magnifying glasses throughwhich to study the very small flowersof some plants.Lake Mead Recreat ional Area Barring unforseen complications, acolorful display is expected beginningin late February and early March andcontinuing to late spring. Russell K.Grater, park naturalist, reports theground is thoroughly soaked for a con-siderable depth. "Masses of small an-nuals began to appear late in January,and there already are good displays ofwild heliotrope and lupine at lowerelevations." Indications are that vis-itors can expect good displays also ofyellow evening primrose, sand verbenaand desert chicory; desert marigolds.desert dandelions, mallow and dwarfmonkey-flower.Mojave D es er tYoung plants maybe seen in almost all areas of the cen-tral and east Mojave Desert, accord-ing to Ma ry Beal, desert botanist. But,Miss Beal adds, "How fast they de-velop and come into bloom dependson the weather. Continued warmth

will bring them on rapidly and giveus flowers in March; during coldweather, the plants will hug the groundand do nothing in 1he wav of growth."

THE STORY OF" C A L I C O P R I N T "Calico, in the vivid Mojave Des-er t hills , was a silver boom campin 1882. I t demanded a news-paper to tell the worldand i t -selfwhat a wonder it wa s. A ndw h a t better nam e than the P RI NTthe CALICO PRINT! . . . Typecases arrived pied. Th e press wasa week late. Rut Editor Over-shiner draf ted c i t izens as type-set ters and pressmen and the f i r s tissue appea red July 12. ThePRINT'S career was br ief andtumultuous as i t fol lowed Calico ' sboom and bu st. I t suffered fireand flood, and when collapsingsilver prices foretold the cam p ' send CALICO PRINT became aghos t .Ghost bones rattled when CAL-ICO PRINT was revived in 1950.Our first issue, November l!)50,sought to tell the talcs and pic-ture the trails of the Desert Westin a newsprint magazine whichretained the atmosphere and fla-vor of boomday CALICO PRINT.Each issue centers around someplace, person or event in DesertWest history, with stories told inthe woi'ds of men and women whowere there (many never beforeprinted), or by accounts in oldnewspapers, rare and out of printbooks, illustrated with oldtimeand new photos and old maps.The Story of the Desert West isrounded out in each issue withtall tales, lost mine legends, fron-tier folklore, features on Indians,animals, plants, geology.

We think you' l l really like ourcur r en t F eb r ua r y 1952 is sue,focused on GOLD. GUNS ANDF I ES TAS I N OLD P I CACHO.wi th tape-recorded stories fromthose who knew the gold cam]) onthe Colorado River in its glamor-ous da ys, 1.'! oldtim e an d eigh tpresent-day photos , data on themines and a reproduction of theor iginal P icacho townsite map of1 8 0 5 . ALSO: Hilarious real es-ta te troubles in boom cam p Raw-hide, Nevada; Oldtimer Pill Rei-ser 's story of lost gold nearQuar tzs i te , Ar izona; fantas t ic factsabout S t ick and Hoop lizards, wildbur r os vs . b ighor n p r ob lem s , un-published California Gold Rushlet terand MORE!

You'll receive this issue and IImore treasure-packed, pleasure-packed CALICO PRINTS lor only$1.50! If you wish, we'll startyour subscription with January,featuring the amazing story ofancient Casa Grande, Next month(March) we're going to tell storiesof frontier hero Pauline Weaverand the ghost town of Weaver-ville, Arizona. We hope you'll bewith us as we explore the bywaysof Desert West history and legend.HAROLD & LUCILE WEIGHTP . S . : Only 54 complete sets of CALICOPRINT'S first ten issues (advertised inDesert Magazine, November 1951) remainfor sale. THE PRICE IS NOW $2.50 FOREACH SET OF TEN. All issuesexceptApril, 1951are still available separately.Write for prices.C A L I C O P R I N TEdited by Harold and Lucile WeightTWENTYNINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA

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Tonopah, Nevada . . .George Lippincott, president of Lip-pincott Lead Company, has announceda new mine, mill and smelter operationin Nye County at Bonnie Clare, about30 miles south of Goldfield. Co nstru c-tion of the proposed plant will call foran initial expenditure of $250,000,Lippincott staled, and will include amodern selective flotation mill processand a smelter to reduce lead-silverflotation concentrates and lead ore intobullion form. Also planned is cons truc-tion of modern housing facilities atBonnie Clare. Mining Record.

i> Las V e g a s , N e v a d a . . .The Colorado River Commissionset Ma rch 1 as the date on which les-sees at Basic Magnesium plant willtake over the joint facilities and com-plete the: sale of the gigantic industrialproperty, thus discharging Nevada'sobligation of $24,000,000 to the fed-eral gove rnm ent. Und er terms of sale,(he commission will dispose of BasicMagnesium, Inc., for a price somewhatin excess of $5,000,000. The actualfigure is the difference between the$24,000,000 purchase price and theamount already paid plus the value ofall sales co ntra cts now in effect. Di-rectors of the Las Vegas water districtand the Basic plant lessees agreed ona contract under which the districtwould b:: able to purchase a minimumof 3,650,000,000 gallons of water peryear at cost for 30 years from thecorporation, which is expected to takeover the Lake Mead pipeline March 1. Pioche Record.

o Santa Fs, New Mexico . . .Zinc and lead are causing new ac-tivity at Los Ccrrillos, the "LittleHills," an old mining area 18 milessouth and west of Santa Fe. Two minesare operating in the Cerrillos district,and expansions are planned for 1952.The Torn Payne Mine and the Penn-sylvania Mine are producing and ship-ping ore v/ith a content of approxi-mately 16 percent lead and 25 percentzinc. In the spring both companiesplan to step up production and to re-open other long-closed mines. LosCerrillos is near the location of thefabulous Mina del Tiro, a silver andlead mine which was known to theSpanish prior to the Pueblo Revolt of1680, and the Indian turquoise mineof Chalchihuitl. said to be the oldestmine in the United States and prob-ably in North America. Mining Rec-ord.

Monticello, Utah . . .According to G. R. Kennedy of theNavajo Uranium Company, the $95,-000 uranium testing plant at Shiprockhas been turned over to the AtomicEnergy Commission and already placedin operation. The plant was built byNavajo Uranium and is being operatedfor the AEC by the American Refiningand Smelting Company. The commis-sion will also take over all ore-buyingstations on the reservation. Operatio nof the plant will eliminate the long-distance haul from uranium and vana-dium mines in that area to mills atMonticello and Durango. San Juan

Record. o Baker, C alifornia . . .M o l y b d e n u m C o r p o r a t i o n o fAmerica has started digging into its23 square miles of "rare earth" depositsat Mountain Pass, 30 miles northwestof Baker. The deposit is the largestlode of the industrially important oresin the world. The "rare earths" includemetals valued at more than 1000 timestheir weight in goldup to $5000 anounce. Among them are metals usedin high-temperature alloys for jet en-

gines, in hardening steel and in metal-lurgy, optical glass, waterproofing andmildew-proofing fabrics, searchlights,heat lamps, tracer bullets and flashpowder. Bar stow Printe r-Review.o Kanab, Utah . . .King Manganese Corporation hasbegun manganese mining operation inKane County, Utah, at the old Black-bird Mine. The mine has had limiteddevelopment in the past by under-ground-tunneling methods. King Man-ganese will employ open pit mining,and a simple beneficiation plant will

be used to separate the manganesefrom the clays and shales in which itis deposited. Present plans call forbeneficiation of approximately 200tons of heads per day. This is calcu-lated to produce approximately 20tons of high grade ore having a man-ganese content of at least 40 percent.The corporation is considering futureconstruction of a large plant in south-central Utah for the beneficiation oflow grade man ganese ore s. It also isconducting an extensive investigationof the tungsten possibilities of South-ern Utah, and it is anticipated thatsome geophysical surveys will be madethis summer specifically in connectionwith oil and gas possibilities in thearea.Kane County Standard.

Reno, Nevada . . .First Uranium Corporation, cur-rently producing 200 daily tons of tin-copper ore from its mine in PershingCounty, is processing that ore in thecompany's recently completed $400,-000 mill, which is believed to be uniquein the mineral field. Th e milling pro c-ess was evolved by American Cyana-mid Company over a two-year period.It consists of gravity separation of thetin, followed by flotation recovery ofcopp er, gold and silver minerals. Un-derground development at the mineconsists of nearly 3000 feet of driftsand crosscuts and 450 feet of shrink-age raises. Mining Record.

mHenderson, Ne vad a . . .Arthur J. Kcrbecck, Jr., a youngchemical engineer at Columbia Uni-versity, apparently has found a solu-tion to obtaining the corrosion-resist-a n t m e t a l t i t a n i u m . K c r b e c e kannounced in November that he haddiscovered a new way to obtain themetal which may be useful for produc-tion of titanium in large quantities. Allthe details of his method have not yetbeen revealed, but it involves runningan electric current through a compoundof the metal in an electric cell. Thismethod is similar to the present methodof refining magnesium. A good dealfurther testing will be done before itwill be placed in com merc ial use. Fed-eral government authorities have statedthat there is need for at least ten timesas much titanium as this country nowproduces. Most immediate need forthe lightweight, heat- and corrosion-resistant metal is in the construction ofhigh speed jet and rocket aircraft.Pioche Record.Boulder City- Nev ad a . . .First section of the United StatesBureau of Mines Artillery Peak man-ganese pilot plant at Boulder City hasstarted operations. The plant has acapacity of 50 tons of ore per day and.when completed, will represent an in-vestment of $600,000 in new equip-ment and in renovating and remodel-ing the original manganese plantconstructed in 1 941. It is designed forresearch, development and demonstra-tion of processes for the treatment ofore from the Artillery Peak deposits.one of the largest manganese depositsin the United States. As the ore iscomplex and low grade, it cannot beused without extensive processing. Thepilot plant tests will provide technicaland economic comparisons of the va-rious possible methods for makingferromanganesc from Artillery Peakore. Ferromanganese, indispensible forthe production of steel, is an alloyprepared by smelting high grade

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