196103 desert magazine 1961 march

8/14/2019 196103 Desert Magazine 1961 March

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M A G A Z I N E of the OUTDOOR SOUTHW ESTMarch, 1961 40 cents


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Historic Mormon 1emple Square

Mountain Lake in Xorlhnn I lull Setting

p l a n y o u r v a c a t i o n n o w

L ll a n d ofc o l o r a n d c o n t r a s tT h e C o u p o n b e l o w isy o u r p a s s p o r t to h i g h a d -v e n t u r e inU t a h . U t a h o f f e r s a l e g e n d a r y andf a b u l o u s c o n t r a s t in c o l o r an d c o n t o u r , al im i t le s s c h o i c e ofa c t i v i t i e s a n d i n t e r e s t s . T r a v e lt h e fa s c i n a t i n g M o r m o n t r a i ls . . . e x p l o r e ther u s h in g C o l o ra d o a n d G re e n R i v e r s . . . r e la x un -d e r U t a h ' s u n b e l i e v a b l e b l u e s k i e s in v i r g i n w i l d e r -n e s s . . . m a r v e l at h e c o l o r c o u n t r y , t h e n a t u r a lb r i d g e s . . . al l ofA m e r i c a 's la s t u n t a m e d w o n d -e r s . A b o v e a l l , e n j o y th e w a r m h o s p i t a l i t y andw e l c o m e fo r w h i c h U t a h isn o t e d .k

* FREEfompkteW Vacation Kiti ' U'l OUt/j/jg of all ,.

Utah Tourist & Publici ty Counci l 1961Dept. 193, State Cap itol TRAVEL KITSalt Lake City, UtahN a m e .A d d r e s sC ity S ta te

LLOD CO

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The Sta t e and People of U t ah ex t end you t he i r warmestinvi t a t ion to share the pleasures of a vacat ion in "The DifferentW o r l d of U t a h " . In addi t ion to the exc i t em en t and thri l l ofi ts vast and varied empire of sand and stone and sage, U ta h offersyou the cont ras t of h i gh m oun t a i n s and plateaus . . . anunending succession of vacat ion thri l l s from border to border .For attractive literature and complete vacation information, use the coupon.

T H E D I F F E R E N T W O R L D OF U T A H


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Volume 24/Number 3

' - m a g a z i n e of the OUTDOOR SOUTHWEST

Conten t s fo r March, 1961 / Special Issue o nSouthern Utah"America's Las t Wi ldern es s Fron t i er"

Posterity's PlaygroundAn interview with UtahGovernor George Clydeo n t h e s u b j e c t ofSouthern Utah Tourism

Southern Utah is one of America'slast major wilderness frontiers. Cer-tainly, its outdoor recreation potentialis unmatched in the Southwest.What the future holds for thismajestic land is of vital importanceto a nation whosecities and subur-bias are pressingo u t w a r d , a n dw h o s e c i t i z e n sa r e overg raz ingt h o s e o u t d o o rrecreation areasclose by the ma-j o r p o p u l a t i o ncenters.

C a l i f o r n i a ' sMojave and Col-GOV. C LYDE o r a d o d e s e r t sare both taken up with populationbooms; Armed Forces and AtomicEnergy Commission bombing rangeshave carved-out the heart of Nevada'streeless expanse; Arizona is one ofthe fastest growing states in the Union,and it manages to fill its own choicerecreation areas without too much helpfrom Southern California's motor-minded millions (witness Oak CreekCa nyo n). Homes are springing uparound the rim of Salton Sea; theNavajos are encouraging tourists tovisit their reservation; Death Valley isinvaded by 70,000 persons during thesummer months; the California High-way Patrol is using airplanes to patrol

continued on next page

C O V E R

TO URISMRIVER TRIP

PERSONALITIESEXPLORATION

VACAT IONLANDG H O S T T O W N S

EDITORIALNATUREPROGRESS

EXPLORATIONIND IANS

LANDSCAPE

38

12141820222426283243

Classified Ad s: 38Re ade rs' Letters: 41

This month 's wrap-around cover shows the"hamburger rocks" of southern Utah 's WaterPocket Fold (see story on page 14). The ex-plorers are, from left, Lurt and Alice Knee,professional guides, and Joyce Muench, wifeof the ma n w ho took the picture: Josef Mu ench .An Interview with Gov. Clyde of UtahArtist on the Colorado R. Brownell McGrewCitizens of the Sage Frank JensenAlong the Water Pocket Fold Joyce MuenchMap of Southern Utah Norton AllenSpectral Cities Nell MurbargerThe Stone Rainbow Randall HendersonNaturalist in Southern Utah Edmund JaegerGlen Canyon Dam E . D . R e y no ld sIsland in the Sky Alfred NestlerThe Last Indian War E uge ne L ConrottoBryce Canyon Photographer: Robert Morris

Also 42 : Sou thwes t Ca lendar42 : Poem of the Month

Unsolicited manuscripts andphotographs submitted can-not be returned or acknowl-edged unless full returnpostage is enclosed . DesertMagazine assumes no re-sponsibility for damage orioss of manuscripts or pho-tographs although due carewill be exercised. Subscribersshould send notice of changeof address by the first ofthe month preceding issue.Address all editorial andcirculation correspondence toDesert Magazine, Palm Des-ert, California.

CHARLES E. SHELTONPublisherEUGENE L. CONROTTOEditor

EVONNE RIDDELLCirculation Manager

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or le t uss e n d it to a f r i e n d

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(city, state)If this is a gif t, indicate how gift card should be signe d:Mail this informa tion and your remittance to: Desert Magazine,Palm Desert, California.


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P L A N T O V I S I TM E X I C A N H A L U T A H

G A T E W A Y T O FA B U LO U SM O N U M E N T V A L L E Y

with nearest complete facilitiesCafe, Motel, and Trading PostClothing and Curio storeService Station and GarageNavajo Rugs and JewelryFilm and Travel SuppliesAirstrips, Hangar, and TiedownsOvernight Travel Trailer andCamper facilities.

223 Z3 Z2 Z2H E A D Q U A R T E R S F O RU N U S U A L S C E N I C T R I P SCanyon Country Scenic Tours offerstrips in special four wheel drivevehicles to inaccessible points ofinterest.Mexican Hat R iver E xpeditions of-fers one and two day boat trips inthe canyon of the San Juan River.

7 ^ y 7 7 7 X 7 7 7 X V7 A 7 7 7 JC E N T E R O F A G R E A TS C E N I C C I R C L E Nearby are Monument Valley, thefamed Goosenecks of the San Jua n,

the Natural Bridges, Mexican HatMonument, the Garden of theGods, Muley Point, Cedar Mesa,Poncho House Ruin, and manymore.By 1961, all-weather highway acrossthe Navajo Indian Reservation, be-tween Tuba City and Monticello.Mexican Hat is served regularly byMonument Valley Stage, operatingbetween Flagstaff and Monticello.

For additional information writeM E X I C A N H A TC H A M B E R O F C O M M E R C E

MEXI CAN HAT, UTAH

6 o \ i . C l y d e . . .(continued from preceding page)

crowded desert highways in San Ber-nardino County; the government isattempting to clear out squatters onland bordering the Lower ColoradoRiver.

All this is not to say that the desert-lands of Arizona, California and Ne-vada have lost their outdoor appeal.It is to say that the boundaries of ab-solute wildernessareas still a coupleof day's travel from the clangor ofcivilizationhave been pushed backto encircle the general vicinity ofsouthern Utah.Recently, Desert Magazine askedGovernor George D. Clyde of Utah12 questions touching on the outdoor

recreation future of the bottom half ofhis state. Here are those questions,and the governor's answers:1 . Is Utah planning a long-rangetourist promotion program?Gov. Clyde: Yes, we have set up theoutline for a long-range tourist pro-motion program . It should be notedthat Arizona and California accom-plished remarkable tourist promotionprograms without direction from anofficial state agency. Bo th of thesestates now have such an agency, butthey both have done an outstandingjob with the efforts centered aroundlocal groups, such as chambers ofcommerce and travel promotion asso-ciations. On the other hand, Utah 'seffort has largely been the effort ofthe Tourist and Publicity Council, withvery little or no cooperation fromeither public or private enterprise onthe local level.2 . Will southern Utah be developed,tourist-wise, by Utah primarilyorby Federal agencies?Gov. Clyde: Insofar as possible, Utahshould develop its own areas of recre-ation under our State Park and Recre-ation Commission, rather than callingupon the Federal government to estab-lish more national parks and monu-ments.3 . What are present plans for theGlen Canyon Recreation area?Gov. Clyde: The National Park Serv-ice's Glen Canyon National Recrea-tion Area Master Plan provides forthe development of seven recreationsites on Lake Powell, and one site onthe Colorado River below Glen Can-yon Dam . The dam, Lee's Ferry, andthe Wahweap site on Lake Powell arein Arizona. The remaining six sitesWarm Creek, Hole-in-the-Rock, OilSeep Bar, Bullfrog Creek, Hite Basin

and Shock Bar are in Utah. TheNavajo Indians are also planning rec-reation developments on the Navajoside of L ake Powell.Glen Canyon National RecreationArea Administration Headquarterswill be located at W ahw eap. Otherfacilities there will include: roads andparking areas, air strip, visitor center,marina, campground, picnic area,swimming beach, and concession fa-cilities such as a trailer village, storesand eating and lodging facilities. Thisconstruction program is tentativelyscheduled for fiscal years 1961through 1964.At Lee's Ferry, limited facilities will

be provided including boat launchingramp, campground and picnic area.Plans call for 1962-64 construction.Bullfrog Creek and Warm Creekwill be comparable to Wahweap. Workat Bullfrog Creek is slated for 1964-6 8 ; Warm Creek: 1967-69.Oil Seep Bar, Hole-in-the-Rock andShock Bar will be accessible by boatonly. Future demands may neces-sitate the construction of access roadsto the latter two sites. Boat moo rage,limited overnight lodging, camp-

grounds, picnic areas, and eating andstore facilities are planned for thesethree sites. An existing road and airstrip will be utilized to make HiteBasin accessible.4 . At present there is no paved east-west link across southern Utah. Areplans for such a road on the draw-ing boards?Gov. Clyde: The earliest paved linkon the east-west highway system insouthern Utah will come about withimprovem ent of U-2 4. This route hasbeen a very popular tourist route intothe Wayne County Won derland. TheDepartment of Highways in recentyears has completely surfaced thehighway from Green River south to

K e n t F r o s t J e e p T r i p sIn to the Famous Utah Needles Area

Junction of the Green and Colorado r ivers;Indian and Salt creeks; Davis, Lavender,Monument, Red, Dark and White canyons;Dead Horse and Grand View points; Ho-venweep and Bridges national monuments.Historical Morm on T rail of 1820$25 daily per person. Includes sleepingbags, tran sportation, guide service, me als.W rite KENT FROST, M ont ice l lo, Utah.

4 / Desert Magazine / March, 1961


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Hanksville and several miles westward.Complete surfacing within the CapitolReef National Monument to Giles isunder consideration by the Bureau ofPublic Roads.5. Are there any new undevelopedpark or scenic areas in southernUtah that are earmarked for earlydevelopment by the state?Gov. Clyde: These areas are in somestage of acquisition or development:

Brigham Young Winter Home inSt. George. Restoration is planned .Jacob Hamblin Home, Santa Clara,will be restored to its original condi-tion.Dixie State Park north of St.George. Washington County has con-tributed 29 5 acres. The State ParkCommission has acquired 1138 acresof land, and water has been success-fully filed on.Coral Pink Sand Du nes. The stateplans camping, picnicking and over-look improvements at this site.Kodachrome Basin and GrosvenorArch . The state has mad e applicationfor purchase of this land from theBureau of Land Managem ent. Over-night camping and trailer park facili-ties are planned.Escalante Petrified Forest in Gar-field Co unty . The state has appliedto purchase the land, and it will pro-

tect petrified wood, develop trails andprepare local interpretive displays.M onum ent Valley. The state plansan information center and an entranceportal at the state line.Anasazi Indian Village State Park.The state is in the process of acquiringeight acres of land at this prehistoricIndian village in Garfield County, andis contemplating an area museum andheadquarters development.Goosenecks of the San Juan River.San Juan County has improved the

road to a 10-acre overlook site, andthe state expects to install a picnicshelter, parking area and sanitationfacilities.

'W h i te yumC a n y o n A d v e n t m "

withH A T C HRiver Expeditions

V e r n a l , U t a hGrand Canyon, May 4. M ay26th, June 6th 9 days each .$295 each. O ther trips, too.

Newspaper Rock, Indian Creek,San Juan County. The state has madeapplication to purchase 200 acres ofland in this area. Co ntributio ns fromDesert Magazine to aid in the pur-chase of the protective fence havebeen received.Dead Horse Point. San Juan Countycontributed 627 acres, to which the

state has added more land. Dev elop-ments are underway.Valley of the Goblins. The statehas requested the Bureau of LandManagement to make a survey of thisarea so that applications to acquireland can be submitted.Green River, Emery County. Ap -proximately 53 acres of land has beenacquired from the state. A boat rampwas constructed, and development ofpicnic, parking and sanitary facilitiesare planned.

6. What is the state's attitude towardmaintaining certain areas as prim-itive or wilderness areas?Gov. Clyde: It is my feeling that theprimitive and wilderness areas on thenational forests and national parks inUtah would provide enough of thelarge undeveloped areas to be main-tained in primitive conditions.

I believe, however, that areas ofrestricted or limited use should logi-cally be a part of the state park pro-gram. We might consider the NeedlesArea as an example of such areas. Itis a very unique and unusual area. Itis so rugged and primitive that we feeltransportation should be limited tofour-wheel-drive vehicles, horses andfoot travel, and camping and sanita-tion facilities should be of rustic naturewith administrative buildings locatedonly at the two points of entry.

Such a designated area in the statepark program might be advertised asa four-wheel-drive wilderness area, andwould attract much national interestfrom four-wheel-drive travelers andhorse and hiking clubs in the westerncountry. It is an area that would re-quire a minimum of protection andcould be used by this type of travelwith a minimum of damage and de-struction.

There are probably other areas inthe state, such as Land of StandingRocks, Valley of the Goblins, CircleCliffs, and Grand Gulch that wouldhave a minimum of development ofblacktop highways.7. What do you regard as southernUtah's prime tourist market?Gov. Clyde: More of Southern Utah'stourists come from California than fromany other state. Counts at Zion NationalPark and other places in southern Utah

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Neoprene barge boats, equip-ment and guide service throughthe lovely Glen Canyon on theSan Juan and Colorado rivers

SEASON: Apr il through Aug ustE M B A RK A TI O N & D E B A R K A T I O NPO INTS: Hite, Utah, or MexicanHat , Utah, to Kane Creek abovethe Glen Canyon Dam 150milesTIME FO R TRIP: 5 to 7 daysA never-to-be-forgotten experience ina land of breath-taking enchantmentFor details write:

R I V E R E X P E D I T I O N S968 JAMES CT. SALT LAKE CIT Y, UT AHMarch, 1961 / Desert Magazine / 5


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indicate that approximately 30% of thevisitors to Southern Utah are from Cali-fornia. We would assume from our sur-veys that the prime tourist market forSouthern Utah is Southern California.8. Has the State of Utah taken anysteps to control safety on guidedriver tours?Gov. Clyde: The State Park and Rec-reation Commission has developed anapplication form that is required forregattas and special boating eventspick up and goV a g a B o n d i a !

G e t away from it all and carry the comforts ofhome with you! F ishing, hunt ing, camping, travel-ing, relaxing . . . l i fe 's more fun wi th a Vaga-Bondia! Sleeps 4 to 6! Be au tiful inte rior! Fits an y pickup! Com pletely outfitte d! 6 ' 1 " h e a d r o om ! * 2 5 % m o re q u a l i ty !

Cab-over models from !pl 1 2 T . 5 0FREE BROCHURE! W rite De pt. DVaqaBowUa2 5 3 2 3 S . N O R M A N D I E A V E .H A R B O R CITY, C ALIF.

such as the "Friendship Cruise" and"Marathon" on the Colorado andGreen rivers. This form is not nec-essarily required by individuals con-ducting guided tours of the rivers, butwe would be very happy to work withsuch groups if we have the oppor-tunity. Mu ch of this application dealswith safety items.The Attorney General has inform-ally advised me that the state is notauthorized to restrict the public use ofstream s. We feel certain that eachyear there are many boat trips madeon the rivers of Utah without ourknowledge or supervision.The United States Coast Guard hasclassified certain portions of the Col-orado, Green and San Juan rivers asnon-navigable. A particularly danger-ous portion of the ColoradoCataractCanyonis under this classification.Thus far our Boating Division hasspent much time and attended manymeetings in all parts of Utah stressingsafety and good manners on the water.Boat safety and safety equipment in-spection is a part of every boat regis-tration, and patrolmen are constantlycorrecting unsafe driving and makingsuggestions on use of safety equip-ment.

9. D o you anticipate any immediate

i Hlaaazin e -Jrrtpresents a special showing of paintings by

R. BROWNELL McGREW(the artist whose experiences on the Colorado River appear in this issue)

M A R C H 3 - A P R I L 5PUBLIC INVITED AD MISS ION FREEFrom 9 to 5:30 daily, including Su nd ay s

T h e G a l l e r y i s l o c a t e d o n H w y . I l l i n P a l m D e s e r t, Calif.(The current season of one-ma n shows will concludewith Burl Procter's exhibit, April 6 - May 15.)

upswing in southern Utah's tourismwh en the Monument V alley road iscompletely paved?Gov. Clyde: Definitely. Completion ofthis road will make it possible forSouthern California people to travelinto Monument Valley via Flagstaffon a paved road. Our experience in-dicates that there is a great deal of in-terest in Monument Valley amongSouthern Californians.

It will also be possible, when thisroad is paved, for visitors coming fromthe other direction to travel into Mon-ument Valley, thence on a paved roadto Tuba City, and on to Glen CanyonDam, which holds a great deal of in -terest to our visitors.10. What of southern Utah's Indians?What does the future hold for them?Gov. Clyde: As far as the tourist in-dustry is concerned, the Indians cando much to benefit themselves in thetourist trade through the developmentof their arts and crafts. M ost visitorswho come West expect to see the In-dians, and learn more about them. Itis important, therefore, that our In-dians, and people and agencies work-ing with them, realize the great poten-tial in the development of arts andcrafts, and other elements of anhistoric program to portray the Indiansin their natural culture.11. Would you say that southernUtah's business people a re as touristconscious as they should be? Whatis the state doing to encourage thesepeople to recognize the importanceof a healthy tourist business?Gov. Clyde: Southern Utah's businesspeople are not as tourist conscious asthey should be. How ever, there hasbeen a lot of work done to alter thissituation . State officials have appe ar-ed in, and have conducted, economicdevelopment clinics, meetings of serv-ice clubs and special tours in this partof the state. As proof that this effortis paying off, we cite last year's excel-lent "Indian Summer Days" promo-tional program carried on by the peopleof southern Utah . Sponsored by theFive-County Organization, it was thefirst real step taken locally to assistand augment the state's tourist promo-tion program:12. How does hunting and fishingrevenue compare with tourist dollarsfrom non-hunters and non-fishermenin southern Utah? D oes the state an-ticipate a shift in this balance asrecreation increases in the GlenCanyon Reservoir area?Gov. Clyde: Figures are not available,but a shift in this balance is antici-p a te d . / / /

6 / Desert Magazine / March, 1961


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Y o u ' l l m m f o r g e t t h et i l d e / m e s s B e a u t yo f

S A N J U A N C O U N T Y , U T A HV a c a t i o n p a r a d i s e

This year enjoy a memorable outing amid the world's most fabulous landscape scenery '. . . rivers,mountains, canyons, natural bridges, arches, ridges, towers, spires, buttes, tapestried canyon walls. . . all supreme examples of erosion in beautiful red rock cou ntry .See the ruins of Ancient Indian dwellings . . . and meet today's Indians

Navajo mother and childThe Needles

MONUMENT VALLEY. . . giant altars of ston eTHE NEEDLES. . . red sandstone pinnaclesDEAD HOR S E P OI NT. . . 3 WO feet above the ColoradoAB AJO M OUNTAI NS. . . sacred to the Navajos

Write Todayfor aF R E EBrochure on thisVacation ParadiseT o :San Juan CountyCommissionMonticello. Utah

Arch

RAINBOW BRIDGE. . . miracle in sandstoneNATURAL BRIDGES. . . red rock national m onument

GOOSENECKS of the SAN JUAN. . . spectacular serpentine gorgeLA SAL MOUNTAINS. . . high-country playground

March, 1961 / Desert Magazine / 7


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D E SE RT / M AGAZINE O F TH E O U T D O O R SO UTHW E ST M AR CH , 1S 4 1/SP E C IA L S O U T H E R N U T A H ISSUE

A N A R T I S T O N T H E C O L O R A D OW HERESO EVER the carcass is,there will the eagles be gather-ed together.

These words of Our Lord camenaturally to mind when five not partic-ularly eagle-like voyagers descendedupon the remote dorp of Hite, situatedon the Colorado River, whose vermic-ular Glen Canyon provides the analo-gue of the carcass in this instance.From central and southern California,from Kentucky and from New Mexico,five of us came churning over someof Utah's vestigial roads to fling our-selves, boats, food and gear onto theriver's restless bosom . F or some 150miles she would carry us, in howevererratic and refractory fashion, into alittle-known wilderness abounding ingrandeur, surprise, history and pre-history. An d mud.

A hoary aphorism, "too thick todrink, too thin to plow," was coinedto describe the Colorado, but I suspectthis has been accepted in a dull un-thinking fashion, never given the bene-fit of a fair trial. A fine crop couldbe raised, I feel sure, if only some waycan be devised to keep the fish fromeating the seed before it takes root.Of course you might plant in one stateand harvest in another, but such de-tails can be ironed out. Meanw hilethe other two boats have started downthe river, and we'd best catch up, sincethey contain the painting equipmentand food.

Glen Canyon is not a "thrill trip"as are the Grand, San Juan and Cata-ract. Three of our group were artists,and the expedition sported a dozenassorted cameras with a half boat-loadof film, so this was to be primarily apictorial jaun t. Bill and Scotty, bothrangers, are semipro photographers,and a third ranger, Bill Hoy (on thetrip and hereinafter referred to as'Billhoy' for obvious reasons) was anavid learner. The only purist wasPauline, who stuck to pencil andcrayola throughout .the trip, doubtlessan expression of pent-up artistic furyat having her muse held so long atbay by housewifely devoirs. On e nightas I creaked into my bedroll after ahot tiring day, I thought my fatigue-

B y R . B R O W N U L M c G R E W

deluded eyes beheld an ignus fatuus inthe brush upstream, but it was onlyPauline sketching by flashlight. On ce,as she faithfully copied a 300-foot wallof petroglyphs, Bill asked why shedidn't omit the duplicates, the imper-fect and the insignificant. "O h ,"answered Pauline with never a pausein her pencil, "I don't want to stop andsort them out."At first I was apprehensive that I'dsomehow fallen in with a gang of fugi-tive blackguards, for Scotty and Billseemed always to be hiding underblack rags, which they also used in theevening for some sort of arcane ritual,but it eventually dawned on me thatthis all had something to do with viewcameras and film-changing. However,it did make for some silly-lookinglandscapes, to see, wherever one look-ed, grown men hunched under blackcloths and stumbling about over theterrain, colliding with one another andlike as not including each other in agood share of their exposures.Nearly anything one can say aboutthe river suffers the disadvantage thatit ain't soat least part of the time.For what is true of a particular spotat one moment may not be so nextday and almost certainly will be men-dacious at anoth er season. We wentdown on a very high and generallyrising river which all but covered awicked rock below Powell 's MusicTemple where, just a year before, theassault raft in which Billhoy and Imade the journey had been upendedso that my companion, sans life jacket,came within seconds of drowning be-fore the intrepid Bill Jones could man-euver his fold-boat to the rescue. Andonly a year previous to this incident,the same rock claimed the life of an-other traveler whose body, like Bill-hoy's entire outfit, was never recover-ed. Ye t when we passed, a slightswirl was the only evidence of thismo nster. A difficult landin g may bea bagatelle in lower water, or higher;a bar may have become an island, anda favorite camp may be invisible onyou r retur n visit. I even saw onestretch of river that appeared fresh

and clean, though I suppose it wasmerely full of water-colored dirt atthat point.Variety is the Colorado's one con-stant. We spent many delightful hours

drifting through quiet sunshine as animperceptible current wafted us gentlythrough halcyon vistas. Tremend ouscliffs, carved and figured with incon-ceivable p atterns , soared from thewater into the sky. Grad ually theseramparts decl ined and permit ted ussweeping views of tumbled hills andmesas, with rugged castlelike buttesor a snow-covered mountain blue inthe distance. Herons frequently plum-meted from their perches and planedover the water in a long, leisurelycourse. An occasional egret gracedour vision with its undulant flight tosome aerie where boats and men donot intrude. Now and again a heavy -bodied beaver would hurtle from thewillows into the water, and it becamea game to chase him over the river'squiet reaches in an effort to anticipatethe spot where he would surface.

It is strange that in this crowdedscurrying world, whose reflective peo-ple are concerned about a populationexplosion, the river world is less busythan it once was. First the Indiansranged the river, then the white mancame with cabins and mines to leavehis mark in numerous places through-out the canyo n. The traveler nowstops at any number of shacks andshafts that once kept at least part ofthe river humm ing with activity. Agreat many markers are still to be seenalong the canyon walls, placed therea half-century ago by a prospectiverailroad builder, the same gentlemanwhose big dredge now thrusts a fewrusty feet of steel above the waterswhich long since have claimed therest of the machine and its builder'sdreams of empire. Some of the shantiesand wickiups along the river are sosituated they give one to wonder aboutthe owner's character and relationshipswith the law. A t any rate , we couldnot explain why a stone hut shouldbe erected in a spot waterless, invisi-b l e , inaccessible and inhospitable,when immediately across the river laya broad sunny bar with all the featuresof a fine hom esite. A riverman show-ed us relics from what must havebeen a considerable establishment insome fastness of the White Canyonregion, but no one can guess thereason for such a hostelry, or its meansof support, unless it was run for roughindividuals on pelf illgotten in morecivilized areas.


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One interesting thing about theurlyrado (as a glance at the mapsuggests it should be called) is that thebottom of the river is quite as activeas the top, often more so. Queer chug-ings, gluggings and swirlings seemedontinually to menace the boats evenin the calmest stretches, and we felt theriver gods were grumbling at our im-puden t presence. Sure enough , theywould soon begin to roar in earnest aswe approached a rapid, when invar-iably someone would endeavor to un-settle Pauline by reaching for his life-jacket, remarking with an air of "forcedcasualness that the map said this wasa bad one, as the increasing bellowof the water told us the river was de-manding hum an sacrifice. It engen-dered feelings both of relief and indig-nation that our party was rejecteden toto. We still think we're human.Sort of.In the rapids, too, the river assertedher feminine characteristics by givingus a merely pleasurable tossing in thosestretches that were advertised as GlenCanyon's not-very-formidable worst;but at Oak Creek and Twilight Can-yon, which are usually the merest rif-fles, she gave us a splendid drenchingwhich necessitated unpacking andoverturning the raft to get the riverback where it belonged.Here I ought to pass along a tech-nique evolved by Bill to obviate allpossibility of capsizing, even in the

Gran d. As the accomp anying sketchshows, his device consists in piling

gear and boxes haphazardly into theboat until there is no room for waterto get in. Of course, his craft look edlike a bachelor's kitchen in the ghetto,but that's a small price to pay forplenary safety. He didn 't lose a thingeven from a shelf at the rear of hisboat where Pauline's acquisitions ofpurpled glass nestled among severaldozen jars of marmalade, mustard,catsup, jam, taco sauce, sunburn lo-tion, anchovies, peanut butter, Schen-ley's, lint and whatnot, till the wholelooked like Manet's painting of thebar at the Folies Bergere.One day during lunch Uncle's threeminions fell into an erudite discussionof the Colorado's topography and ge-ology, with particular reference to thebend of the river where we werestopped. Eventually they got the wholematter straightened out to everyone'ssatisfaction, and I spent the following

hour or two just feeling grateful tomy learned companions for the lightthey had shed on this abstruse prob-lem. This benevolen t feeling was hold -ing up just fine when we rounded acurve where the conditions discussedat lunch were precisely reversed. Thewhole enigma was cleared up for me,however, on the return by air to Hite,for any fool can see from this vantagepoint that the whole thing was doneby a giant with a big stick, a theorynearly as scientific and vastly moreenjoyable than the jejune pedestrian-ism of the textbooks.When the wind blows, as it does

with regrettable frequency and en-thusiasm, the river is not the mostpleasant place in the cosmos, especi-ally if you are endeavoring to keepa 400-pound pontoon raft from beingblown back to Hite. In these circum-stances, a few hours on the businessend of a paddle goes a long way to-wards trimming the midriff and elim-inating restless tossing and turning inthe bedroll. Just why these maligngales never blow downstream is aconundrum I'm still working on.

Shortly after returning home I sawa movie in which a boat glidedsmoothly alongside its wharf as acrewman, line in hand, stepped casu-ally from craft to plan king . This gaveme a wry chuckle as I sat there cosset-ing a double-hernia acquired fromscrambling on and off boats in a 10-mile current, jumping into two feet ofmud with a carton of canned food,faced with a 12-foot bank whose ver-tical slope managed to support animpenetrable growth of tamarisk . Allmy notions of boating had been formedby "The Wind in the Willows," andthese fond illusions were summarilyfragmented by the Colorado, or the"Cararriver" as the rat pack call it ,in deference to one of the best-knownguides. But if one is not to stay onthe river till he finds himself pluggedinto the generators at the Glen Can-yon Dam, he gets ashore somehow,never mind eyes full of twigs, shat-tered shins and 18 pounds of gumboon each foot. If there is no tree or

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THE JONES ANTI-CAPSIZING TECHNIQUErock to which a mooring line may besecured with some degree of assur-ance, the technique is to dig a shorttrench in the sand parallel to the river,perhaps 10 inches deep. This formsthe cross bar of a "T" whose othermember is a trench sloping out to-ward the river. Your mooring lineis tied to a short stout stick which isburied in the first trench, the linerunning out the sloping ditch. Voila!

Now we are ashore, probably onon e of the numerous bars that linethe river. Being unfam iliar with thissort of thing, you might think the firstthing on the program would be thebandaging of wounds , or counting sur-vivors, gathering firewood and prepar-ing a meal, finding a place to sleepbut you would be wrong. The firstthing is taking pictures and sketching.

Eventually, however, the light givesou t and mundane matters compel ourattention. A rock fireplace must beconstructed to support our cookinggrill, and Scotty is uncontested cham-pion at this. Some of his exampleswere so fine he couldn't bear to leavethem and we concluded our trip withabout 1 Vz inches of freeboard. Whatwith these masonry masterpieces andPauline's indefatigable rockhounding,we had probably the first rock-bot-tomed cobblestoned boats ever to makethis voyage.

Scotty did find a way to preservehis feet from this harsh pavement. Wehad been out only a day or so whenhe began walking on the bread, whichwas dandy for his bunions but mightyrough on our sandwiches. Anotherinteresting feature of our camps was

> c *

" . . . R E A C H I N G FOR HIS LIFE JACKET . . . AS THE I N C R E A S I N G B E L L O W OFTHE WATER TOLD US THE RIVER WAS D E M A N D I N G H U M A N S A C R I F I C E . "

watching the antics of our grill, whichhad evidently been fabricated fromsolder or old chewing gum. As soonas the match was struck, the grill be-gan sagging into the flames while wewatched with bated breath to see if thecoffee water would boil before theincreasing cant of the grill dumped itinto the fire. Next meal we wouldreverse the grill, starting it in a con-vex position and letting it melt straight.

W e ate well, however, since all threerangers were good cooks. By com-mon unspoken consent , I was relievedof cooking after one meal, and notlong afterward I contrived to acquirea slight burn on one hand (not mybrush hand, of course) which lasted,by an odd coincidence, exactly to theen d of the trip and excused me fromany further dishwashing. Experienceand resourcefulness in these mattersare invaluable.This hour of gloaming, when theroar of camera shutters had subsidedfor the day, was the best time for talk,and since we were a literate group, allhaving got safely past Dick and Jane ,the conversation ranged far and free.There were, as I remember, only twocamps which did not provide the scenefor another installment of a trip-longargument between the two Bills overthe merit and relevance of some bookwhich contends that a certain JamesWhite was the first man to run theColorado, not Major Powell as isthought by the unwashed. In ourlighter moments we discussed the im-pact of Am erican civilization on others,the relationship of color to chiaros-curo, the use of the indefinite article inLope de Vega, symbolism in TomSwift, how to tell Head Rangers fromthe animals, the Oedipus Complex inBeatrix Potter, and Franz Kafka onElvis Presley as well as Elvis Presleyon Franz Kafka. Any one wishing re-prints of these conversations mayhavesame by sending in $100 in check ormoney order.Those casual, relaxed moments to-ward the end of the evening meal werefrequently utilized to check up on theday's wear and tear on clothing andgear, for the river, oddly enough, isharder than the mountains on theseitems. This is due, no doubt , to themud and muck that expedite the dis-integration of almost everything. Scot-ty's boots looked like something theDonner Party threw away, and hestood contemplating them oneevening,wondering if they would last out thetrip. "Well," he said, consoling him-self, "these boots have really beenaround, though." He drained his cof-fee cup and continued thoughtfully,"This is the second pair of soles I'veput on 'em." A pause, then a barely

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A word about clothing may be inexped ition. Th e oldest andrattiest you have should do nicely, as

tatters still cling to your frame attrip's end. If you mu st acquire a fewoutdoorish togs and have in you some-thing of the conformist, you can beright in style on the river with "SurplusClassical," as we came to designateour finery. One drizzly evening westood about admiring Scotty's rain suitand someone asked where he had ob-

/ '

tained it. "A t the surplus store," camethe answer. "Is there other stores thatsel l clothes?" (Even one's gramm artends to get sleazy on the river.)These rain, or clown, suits are ex-cellent sartorial additions for theriver's distaff weath er. The y're very

roomy; in fact the wearer generallytakes two or three steps before thesuit moves, and there's plenty ofroom for your bedroll, cameras, airmattress and dry firewood. In apinch the rest of the party can climbin with you. Yo u'll wan t a hat, buttake Billhoy's advice and eschewstraw. He left Hite with a fine newbonnet whose crown and brim beganto part company after some three orfour hours, and only the latter waspresent at Kane Creek, the take-outpoint.No doubt the real rationale of aGlen Canyon excursion does not con-cern the river at all, except as it pro-vides entree to the myriad side can-yons which would be otherwise acces-sible only with the greatest expenditureof effort and time merely to examineone such locale. Literally hundredsof invitations are extended to the boat-mana genuine embarras de richessesranging from nooks and cranniesto gorges almost as large as the Colo-rado's own mighty defile.Powell named this section of the

Colorado for the plethora of side can-yons and tributaries, which he called"glens." Some of these are navigablefor a short way, usually with consid-erable effort to get through the river's

current and over sandbars which pileup in the mouths of such small streams.Many of the glens are accessible onlyin this fashion, but some issue intothe river through large bars whereample space and wood afford finecam ps. Thoug h this country is almostexclusively sandstone, the character ofthe side canyons is surprisingly varied.In some it is possible to proceed onlya short distance before coming to im-

areas of the Glen, but we saw notraces of any.Delight and surprise await the ex-plorer anywhere in the glens. We w ereevidently the first group down theriver this year, for we found no freshcamps or sign of boating parties. What

passable walls, while others follow alengthy anfractuous course into remotewilderness. Some provide spaciousforested glades, while others confinethe wayfarer with sheer gigantic wallswhich seem nearly to meet in the skyand into which chasms the sun canpenetrate only at a few points and fora short while.

Often such canyons form enormousgrottoes and caverns that remain deli-ciously cool and shadowed on scorch-ing afternoons. M ost such places havea small stream, at least early in theyear, or a spring or two so that thearea supports its quota of greeneryand wildlife. Cottonw oods and oakseem to predominate in the canyons,whereas willow and tamarisk pre-emptthe river banks and bars. Red bud isseen rather frequently, and any num-ber of small flowers abound, all whichare put to shame when blooms appearon the beavertail cactus that actuallycarpets some areas of the region.

In the canyons, as well as on theriver, beaver are active, some of themevidently a peculiar subdivision of thespecies, characterized by extraordinaryenergy and witlessness. I saw one treethat looked like a crankshaft, so oftenhad brother beaver chewed up anddown it from various sides, and thepile of chips must have got so deepthe tree cou ldn't fall. In the bed ofone creek were deer tracks that meas-ured a full 31/2 inches across, halfagain as long, I should guess, as anyI've seen in the mou ntains. Wildhorses are supposed to frequent some

^

" T HIS W AS P RIM ARIL Y A P IC T O RIAL JAUNT "then was my astonishment one day asI wandered up-canyon alone, to dis-cover that I was following fresh bare-foot hum an tracks. By way of con-trast, a few days later Billhoy and Iwere making our way up another can-yon which seemed to be leading usinto a wild fastness untrodden by thefoot of man, when we rounded a bendto behold a shiny new helicopter squat-ting beside the stream, looking for allthe world like a big toy hung in aChristm as tree. One does need to ex-ercise a little caution, howbeit, forquite a few of these areas have somequicksand, and I can testify to thedisconcerting unpleasantness of goingin a flash up to the knee in the stuffwhile alone and well away from anypossibility of help.

Typical of the larger glens was LakeCanyon, up which we rowed a shortdistance to make camp. The streamwas rather larger than most we saw,and provided a happy reminder ofmany a night in the Sierra when Ispread my bedroll beside musicalwaters and lay listening to the sooth-ing frolicsome sound at my feet. Whenthe moon cleared the opposite wall ofthe canyon, it gleamed through a tra-cery of tamarisk that nodded in thenight sky and lulled the watcherthrough drowsiness into deep coolcontinued on page 35

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DESERT/MAGAZINE OF THE OUTDOOR SOUTHWEST MARCH, m i /SPECIAL SOUTHERN UTAH ISSUEA M E R I C A ' S L A S T

| WILDERNESS FRONTIER

H U N T E R : M U S I C I A N S . S O R G H U M M A K E RJ ACK BUTLER WAS bom in Li t t le-rock, Arkansas, in 1885. His fatherwas a New Mexico rancher andcowm an. Other than this, little isknown of his formative years.

While most of his peers were strug-gling to master the McGuffy Read er,Butler was drifting through Texas intoArizon a and Uta h. Before he was2 0 , he had killed his first mountainlion.The instinct to hunt is in most men.Somelike Butlerit possesses. Hehunted twice with Jim Owen, who wasknown in his later years as "UncleJim," the great hunter of the Kaibab.Butler remembers Uncle Jim as an oldman with old dogs, but it wasn't al-ways so. Jim Owen and his trainedpack practically eliminated the cougarfrom the high country of northernArizona . Owen gained much of hisfame by serving as a guide for Theo-dore Roosevelt.Uncle Jim's career pointed the way

for other lion hun ters. It was not thebounty on lions, but the money to behad from guiding wealthy clients thatmade it a lucrative sport. Butlerlearned the trade quickly, and settledin southern Utah where lion werestill plentiful and a tolerable livingcould be made from dude hunting.A professional lion hunter has twothings in common with an aerialtrapezis t. It's not the safest way tomake a living, and insurance is im-possible to come by. Although Butlerhas never been maimed by a lion, hehas brushed death several times. Themountain lion is one of the mostpowerful and fleet-footed pred atorson the North American continent.Only the Mexican jaguar is more fer-ocious. Th e wo rld's record for a lionis 300 pounds, measuring eight feetfrom the tip of the tail to the tip ofthe nose . A big cat will average over200 pounds. The cougar ranges fromCanada to Central America, feedsmostly on deer, wild horses, and oc-casionally, livestock.Butler's biggest cat dressed out at217 pounds at a time when you could

F R A N K J B H S B N

track-down a lion a day. "In themdays a hunt would cost a customer$300 for 10 days," Butler recalled,scratching at the gray stubble on hischin. "And the hunter furnished hisown gun, ammunition, and bedroll."The most lions I ever caught inone day was fiveall of 'em membersof the same family in one tree."On other occasions Butler has liftedhis dogs over rocky ledges to hold

a cornered lion at bay. Once he shota treed lion on the edge of the GrandCanyo n. His partner wound the tailof the dead cat around the tree trunkto keep the animal from slipping overthe edge of the precipice.In a half-century of hunting, JackButler has killed or caught more thana thousand mountain lions, and withsuch men as Jim Owen and Ben Lily,ranks as one of the great Westernhunters of all time.At 75, Butler still rides his own

horse, and hunts occassionally. Hiscraggy face is lined with the marks ofa life lived hard, and at a fast pace.A recluse at heart, Butler would rathertend sheep than be caught-up in themelee of a civilized world. W henthe conversation turns to somethingother than lion hunting, Butler will turnaway dreamily and look toward amountain pass."That yonder ridge," he says, "isgreat lion country.

THE TRADITIONS of a p ioneerpast are carried on by suchorganizations a s t h e D UP(Daughters of Utah Pioneers) Gran-ny Band from the fanning village ofWashington in southwestern Utah . Itsmembers are all descendants of Mor-mon pioneers who came to Utah'sDixie in the 1850s to plant cotton.Washington was named for theNation's founder, and was the firsttown to be settled by the CottonMission of 1857. The Granny Ban dwas organized in 1957the town'scentennial yearas a county DUPband. It later changed its name to theGranny Band since all of its membersare either grandmothers or great-grand-

mothers ranging in age from a youth-ful 61 to 80-plus.The band has more than 100 num-bers in its repertoire, from "Whoa,Mule, Whoa," to "Doggie in theWindow.""We don't like to think we're limit-ed to that ancient stuff," says its out-spoken bandmaster, Misha NielsenBigler.Since its founding four years ago,the band has grown in popularity,finding itself in demand for parades,weddings, concerts, and old-timesquare dances . The secret of theGranny Band success, confides Mrs.Bigler, is that the band plays "for thesheer joy of playing." Occasionallythe grandmothers are carried away bytheir own renditions, waltzing or jig-ging in time with the music.The Granny Band has its versatilemembers. Am ong them is 79-yearold Nellie Jolley Pectol who doubleson the harmonica and as a whistler forthe "Mo cking Bird ." She also does adog barking bit for "Doggie in theWindow ." A n o t h er grandmother,Manya Sprowl Mathews, who is 70,plays the mouth organ and the guitarat the same time.The Granny Band is not a truemartial band since its instruments con-sist of harmonicas, guitars, a baritoneukulele, snare drum, and piano."We'd look foolish carrying arounda base drum or trying to blow a trom-bon e," says M rs. Bigler. In spite ofthis unconventional ensemble, theGranny Band manages to be musical ,and its rendition of the "MockingBird" usually brings down the house.Members of the band can play byear or not e. Mo st come from familieswhere mastering one or more musicalinstruments was taken for granted.The bandmaster's grandfather, for ex-ample, was a Dannish fiddler whocame to Utah as a Mormon convert .Another member's father was a band-

master, while his father before himplayed a fife and base. drum.The Granny Band meets every Mon-day to practice, and when the weatheris favorable, as it is most of the time

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A MEMBER OF THEG R A N N Y B A N D

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in Washington, the members play out-of-doors on the church lawn.For public appearances, and occas-ionally in private, the Grannies wearthe old-time bonnets, empire cloaks,and ankle length dresses with tiers oflace that were part of a bygonne age.

T HE MAKING OF sorghum mo-lasses is an old Southern customnot necessarily limited to theSouth. A taste for the bitter-sweetsyrup was acquired more than a cen-tury ago by Mormon pioneers whosettled southern Utah.Just who it was that first introducedsorghum-making to Utah's Dixie islost in memory, although the techniqueof boiling the cane juice to a syrupymolasses remains essentially the sameas in pioneer days.One man who still practices this artis William McMullin, a 72-year-oldsorghum-cooker from the farminghamlet of Leeds. McMullin, wholearned sorghum-making from hisfather, cooks the juice in eight openinter-connected vats, while his fore-bears used a single large woodentrough with an iron bottom."You tell from the bubbles and thecolor of the juice when the vat is readyto tap," says McMullin, who comparesmaking sorghum to a woman baking

a cake. The waste is skimmed offthe top with wooden paddles, whilethe juice is transfered to the next tubfor further distilling. Th e skimm ingsmake good hog feed, and in the pasthave been used as an essential ingre-dient in the distilling of white mulewhiskey.A century ago the cane was groundin the field by two horses yoked toa 20-foot post which turned the cylin-drical mills. Today a machine does thesame job, producing 100 gallons ofjuice where the pioneers made 25.The sorghum juice is actually press-ed from the stalk of the cane whichgrows 10 to 12 feet high. Th e tassel,which contains the seed, is used fornext year's planting, while the pulpis used for livestock silage.Sorghum molasses itself is used tomake such delictables as molasses cake,corn bread, sorghum cookies, and asa sweetening on hot cakes and bakedbeans.Youngsters also go for sorghum

taffy and old-fashion sorghum syrupcandy, designed to satisfy any sweettooth.McMullin is proud of the goodnesshis skill produces. / / /

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D E S E R T ' M A G A Z I N E O F T H E O U T D O O R S O U T H W E S T M A R C H , 1 9 6 1 / S P E C I A L S O U T H E R N U T A H I S S U E

E X P L O R I N G T H E W A T E R P O C K E T F O L DI F PLANE WINDOWS opened, Iwould have been leaning out to geta better view of the exciting reliefma p over which we were flying. Bu t,few of my fellow passengers botheredto look out when a disembodied voiceannounced over the loudspeaker thatwe were high above Zion NationalPark .

As the lofty temples of Zion, andthen the pink filigree work of BryceCanyon, flashed under the wings, Iwas seized with a mad desire to standup and shout: "Why don't you look?We're over the Colorado Plateauthe most rugged and colorful provincein the world!"

Instead, I excused myself, climbedover several pair of feet, and went tothe opposite side of the plane toglimpse whatever aspect of the amaz-ing terrain would be revealed fromthat perch.It was a strange sight: a great up-lift, extending as far as I could see,

swinging in a great arc from a moun-tain mass to the Colorado River, whereit disapp eared from view. Alon g oneside of this uplift ran a trough, seem-ingly gouged-out by gigantic earth-moving equipment. The crest of theuplift rippled with intricately - cutrocks of many tints and shades.This was the Water Pocket Fold,perhaps the grandest feature of itskind in the Plateau Countrya regionspecializing in the immense, the awe-some , and the weirdly beautiful. It

was a phenomenon of nature that Idetermined to see and explore firsthand . Mo nths later, after studying allthe geologic maps I could find, andthen arranging for guides to take myphotographer husband and me intothe area, we started off for SouthernUtah and the fulfillment of a wishborn 18,000 feet above the desert.It was early September when we leftour home on the Pacific Coast, andheaded east through Las Vegas toreach U.S. 89 via St. George and ZionCanyo n. At Sigurd, we took Utah

B y J O Y C E M U E N C HPhotographs by Josef Muench See Cover Illustration

State 24 to Capitol Reef NationalMonument .Our first discovery came when welearned that Capitol Reef actually em-braces the first 20 miles of the WaterPocket Fold. A national monu mentsince 1937, Capitol Reef boasts accessby pavement and a great future. Whilethis is only the beginning of the WaterPocket Fold (where it emerges fromthe flanks of Thousand Lake Moun-t a in) , this section displays the deep

canyons, the rugged walls, brilliantcolors and individual formations whichtypify the entire uplift. Early Mormonsettlers knew something of this region,but there has been little geologic studyhere and the tourist seems content tolet the Capitol Reef speak for theentire length of the Water Pocket Fold.Having viewed the full 150-mile stretchfrom the air, I wanted to see morethan its start.We spent the first several days inand around our headquarters at Sleep-ing Rainbow Ranch, which is tuckedinto a little (on the map) square,surrounded on three sides by the Capi-tol Reef National M onum ent. Theranch is 10 miles east of Fruita.Our hosts, Alice and Lurt Knee,both tall and lanky and very much inlove with their self-appointed task ofshowing off this brilliantly-coloredarea, are licensed guides. The y offerfrom half-day to overnight jauntsthrough the countryside.In this region you need a guide.

Main roads naturally favor the easierroutes which are apt to be less drama-tic than the tracks followed by cattle-men and ranchers, or the networkleft by the now-past uranium hunt.These back-country trails are unmark-ed, changeable as the seasons andfrequently don't seem to know them-selves where they are leading.We've taken many trips with theKnees, and always feel a tingle ofanticipation when we turn off at themailbox on State 24 (at the head ofCapitol Gorge) to drive the three

miles over juniper-studded hills andacross dry-washes to their hilltopguest ranch.Their location along Pleasant Creekis a fine spot to study some of the

remarkable features of the fold. Stand-ing on the rounded hill upon whichthe motel units and lodge are situated,one has a magnificent view in all di-rections . Lofty cliffs of sand stonerear in a semicircle, with a hint of thenorthernmost crags of the reef re-treating into the distance. To thewest, dark slopes of Miners Mountain,under which the Water Pocket mon-oclinal runs, are topped by the highvolcanic walls of Boulder Mountain(the local name for a portion of theAquar ius P lateau) .Pleasant Creek descends from thosealpine slopes, already running withgold as the aspens put on fall color,to enter our picture through a notchin Miners Mo untain. After mea nder-ing past fields, farmhouse and duck-pond below the hill, it goes off east,desertward, to an ultimate junctionwith the Frem ont River. The canyonit has gouged through the thick tiltedlayers of the reef provides a lovely" V " through which the Henry Moun-

tains add the grace of high peaks toour circular panorama.The little farm at the foot of thehill, complete with vegetable gardenand pasture, was the site of a smallsettlement in the 1880s and '90s whenEphraim K. Hanks, famous scout, andseveral other Mormons brought theirfamilies her e. They raised cattle, fruitand children in the idyllic spot. Indianpictographs on the rock walls thatshelter the little valley prove that thisplace was inhabited for hundreds ofyears. Today, visitors find it a de-

lightful stop-over on their travels, anda point from which they can maketrips into the whole country.The present occupants, the Knees,combine a remarkable amount ofknow-how out in the field, both asto things geologic and gustatory, withan unbounded enthusiasm for thisgreat piece of our American Desert.On this visit, my husband and Iwanted to look at the Capitol Reef aspart of the W ater Pocket Fold. Wewanted to have this better-known por-

tion fresh in mind before following theuplift southeast into unsurveyed ter-ritory.There is a splendid view of the greatreef from numerous places on the

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highway within the mo num ent. Yo ustand upon the red beds of Moencopishale. In ascending order are thegrayish Shinarump, the colorful Chinleclays (of the Sleeping Rainbow), thenthe sudden lofty upsurge of Wingatesandstone cliffs, topped by roundeddomes of Navajo sandstone for whichthe reef is nam ed. Here and there afinal capping of Carmel can be dis-tinguished.

While these names may mean littleto the average spectator, the way inwhich they have been pushed up andthen eroded into a medley of shapesinnacles such as Chimney Rock, theelaborateness of the Fluted Walls, thesplendid domesdoesn't need scien-tific explanation to be appreciated.Only in a few places have thesetremend ous walls been breeched. TheFremont River achieves it firstthrough a gorge which may some daycarry the highway. An other cut isthrough the Capitol Gorge.One morning found us on our way,

moving east on State 24 between 1000-foot walls edging so close together atone point that there is room only forthe road . Durin g the rainy season,flash floods have the right-of-way, andcars don't challenge it.As we twisted and wound our way,there were occasional glimpses of thetops of the reef. At one point a trail

leads to a closer inspection of TheGolden Throne, an immense bulk ofNavajo sandstone, "painted" with asurface that scientists seem unable toaccount for.The deep cut continues for threemiles before reaching the eastern exitwhere the traveler emerges into anexpansive desert panorama swirlingwith color. The band ed Pinto Hills,the orderly bastions of the CainevilleMesas draped in squawskirts of ele-phant gray, and on top along the sky-line the peaks of the Henry Mountainsprovide wonderfully photogenic views.We turned south at Notom, a littlesettlement on Pleasant Creek . The

stream has by now emerged from itscanyon confines and is close to itsjunction with the Fremont.Tarantula Mesa rose on our left,distinctive desert foothills to theHenrys that suddenly seem quite close.When we stopped to chat with twocowboys who were driving some cattleto water, we had our last contact with

peop le. The re is one ranch here alongthe Sandy River, and another high onthe slopes of the mountains, but fewother people seem to find their wayinto this rock fastness.On our right as we traveled downthe main road was the Water PocketFold, hidden sometimes by sandy hills,but always immense and commanding.One of our first stops was made towalk up a gray incline that Alice saidwas the Mo rrison formation. Theground dropped sharply at our feetand then lifted again to show off inperfectly diagramatic fashion exactlyhow the formation had been distorted.Rock layers are set on edge like a

T H E D R A M A T I C W E S T E R N S C A R P O F W A T E R P O C K E T F O LD

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A H IDDE N RE T RE AT W HE RE V E G E T AT IO N HAS B E G UN T O T AK E HO L Ddeck of cards, with the top ones slip-ped down and the bottom ones stick-ing out abov e. The Morrison is theyoungest of the series, yet we werestanding hundreds of feet below olderrocks. We could count several dis-tinct layers: Sommerville, Curtis, En-trada, the dark red Carmel, and swoop-ing up into a mountainous slope, dot-ted with dark blobs of vegetation, thesoaring white Nav ajo sandston e. Ifwe could have flown over this massand slid down the other side, the sameformations would have been viewed intheir appointed places on the westernscarp.

Some 25 miles from Notom is thejunction with the Burr Trail, the onlyroad that dares climb up over the top.Its destination is the strange countryof the Circle Cliffs. Several yearsbefore, a group of us under Lurt 'sguidance discovered whole forests ofpetrified wood there. Th at was be-fore the Burr Trail had been built, andwe had found our way in over thewestern crest.As the name suggests, this wasoriginally a stock trail, and a steep

one at that. Wh en it was rumoredthat it would be improved to accom-modate vehicles, local people werevery skeptical. But the road, inspiredby the uranium bo om , was built. Itenters a big bay and then zigzags up

from one level to another cut out ofthe rock or steep shaly slopes. Th espread of panorama increases in eachturn in the road, and from the topis most impressive.Pleasant as it would have been toagain visit the Circle Cliffs, we re-traced our way down the road to con-tinue south into what we think is themost thrilling part of the Water PocketFold.Here the great uplift explodes innew and unexpected shapes. The con-spicuous Navajo sandstone rises ingreat hills, indented by numerous val-

leysand all on a tilt . Th e Wingatewalls rise in more convolutions be-hind, and now and then red Carmelsandstone clings to the white slopeslike crabs on the back of a whale.Giant canyons have been carvedthroughout this heaving mass of stone.They open wide gaps through the topof the Fold, toward the base, thusp rev en tin g c o m p l e t e p assa ge wa ythrough the rock barrier.Reason for the uplift 's name be-comes apparent here. From t iny

thimble-size indentations to big swim-ming pools, the rock has been worninto pockets that hold water after arain. Nex t time I visit this area I willhave a bathing suit hand y. The re arerocky basins, often at a canyon's

mouth, that are too wide to jump andtoo deep to wadeblocking the onlyingress to some very inviting spots.The pockets are everywhere in evi-dence on slopes as well. Some are setin a line so that eventually they willbe worn into troughs.I believe we stopped to explore everycanyon mouth wide enough to squeezethrough. In some we found shrubsand even young trees growing in thedebris that has gathered around a pool ,making idyllic picnic sitesminiaturedesert resorts. Shaded by great rockwalls, water in these pools usually laststhrough the dry season.Sometimes we were able to findwater by following the tracks of deer,wildcats and smaller animals in thesand at the canyon entrances. Follow-ing such a tell-tale trail into one gorge,we hiked several hundred yardsthrough forbidding ground until thecanyon walls suddenly opened into agreat chamber. Around a spaciousgrassy mound were big cottonwoodtrees and a delightful pool of waterset in the shade of a cliff. Cattlethieves could have brought whole herdsto this place offering plenty of browse,ample water, shade, and perfect secur-ity from detection. No doub t somedid.A fawn had found this retreat tobe not as safe. W ildcat tracks besidethe remains of the unfortunate crea-

ture told us what had happened.Sometimes, instead of delving intoa canyon, we climbed the slickrockslopes to widen our outlook and ex-amine strange phases of erosion. On ethat I recall particularly was coveredwith a layer of Carmel sandstone. Thesofter material had been washed intopedestals to hold up great hamburger-shapes of red rock. Exp lorers havethe right to name new discoveries, butwe couldn't agree on a sufficiently ap-prop riate title for these rock s. Alicethought they looked like muffins thathad failed to rise; Joe insisted theywere misshapen potatoes; Lurt votedfor "Fr ozen Mu d Pie s." I still saythey look like out-sized hamburgerpatties.

The trough beside the fold, which Ihad seen from the air months before,is the valley through which Hall 'sCreek runs south to the ColoradoRiver. Sometimes it was a smoothgrassy floor, sometimes a narrow rockychannel. We came to where the streammanaged to stay above-ground, oftenswinging around bends crowded withgreat cottonwo od trees. These sitesoffer delectable camping places.

Our road was an old pioneer routeto Hall 's Crossing on the ColoradoRiver. The M orm on scouts no doubt16


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chose this way because of the availa-bility of water offered by the waterpockets, where wagon parties couldbe sure of drink for animals as wellas themselves.Water in a desert streambed is aptto present some disadvantages to ve-hicular travel. Th ere is usually some

quicksand in what Lurt calls his"desert freeways." (Yo u are free,he claims, to go anyway you like,which usually means you have to huntfor a passable route through thecountry.)The closer we approached the Col-orado, the more difficult the goingbecame. The Mo rmons had builtshort dugways at places, but erosionhas rendered some of them impassable.When water backs-up behind thedam under construction in Glen Can-

yon, this road may be revived to takefishermen and picnickers to the shoreof the vast desert lake.Until then the only "ham burg erstand" apt to be seen in this country isthe one I so named on a great slopingface of rock, and the "soft-drinks" willbe rainwater in a thousand large orsmall pockets.When it was time to return to theranch, we could absorb no more oftwisted form and earth-formed color.It had been a fascinating dayan op-

portunity for rare exploration. Aftera ranchstyle dinner, we sat in the com-fortable lounge in front of the fireplaceand relived our trip.I think no one can see the WaterPocket Fold without wanting to knowsomething of how it came into being.So there, with the fire winking at us,we went back through eons of time,and watched it grow.First we had to lay down the suc-cessive layers of stone, starting withthe oldest visible, Moencopi, probably

185 million years old. Th en , whilethe younger layers were being putinto place, during Cretaceous time, wewatched an extensive ocean come into cover the land. It spread from th eWasatch Mountains in Utah to easternKansas, Nebraska and Dakota, andfrom the Gulf of Mexico northwardtoward the Arctic Circle. There wereislands and perhaps even continentsin this vast ocean . Ab out 60 millionyears ago the waters began receding,and what today we know as the Col-orado River may then have been astrait.Some of the modern streams showclearly that they worked out theircourse on an earlier landscape andkept digging down as the lands around

them were raised. Pleasant Creek andthe Fremont River both cross a greatfault from its downthrow to upthrow,transect a monocline, and pass in andout of canyon walls. Contrary tocommon belief about water, riversoften take the harder path againstrock formationsinstead of the easiercourse.Having drained-away the water andstarted the uplift of the ColoradoPlateau as well as the entire RockyMountain chain, we mentally recon-structed the Water Pocket Fold. Wherea fault occurred and pressure was ex-erted upward, the flat layers werelifted and tilted. Th e high scarp ofCapitol Reef (and on down the fold)was the result. On the opposite side,the layers slip back down to the hori-zontal. In Capitol Gorge we had seenthe rock layers sliding down under thegroundthe same great thick layers

that a few miles west had toweredabove in 1500-foot cliffs.After the lift came erosion, and wecould imagine the water working onpockets first, building them into can-yons, rounding domes on top, scour-ing and shaping."Rebuilding" the Water PocketFold sounds almost simple as I de-scribe it. We found, when our "game"was over, that we had stretched ourimaginations about as far as they couldgo . Beyond lay the full grasp of whatnature has accomplished. The vastnessof time, the immensity and complex-ity of the formations, and the breath-taking beauty of coloring, must beseen before it can be real. An dwhether from a swiftly moving plane,or among its lovely canyons and splen-did slopes, the sight must leave thespectator full of great won der. / / /

A P O O L I N TH E W A TE R P O C K E T F O L D - A L I C E K N E E ( TO P ) A N D F R O MLEFT, LURT KNEE, AUTHOR JOYCE MUENCH, AND JOSEF MUENCH17


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To SALT LA KE CITY To SALT LAKE

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20/44

DESERT / MAGAZINE OF THE OUTDOOR SOUTHWEST MARCH, 1961 /SPECIA L SOUTHERN UTAH ISSUE

S P E C T R A L C I T I E S O F T H E S A G EI N THE F I E L D OF SouthwesternAmerican ghost towns, southernUtah's abandoned settlements standunique in many respects.

More than 95 percent of all ghosttowns in Nevada, California and Ari-zona, for example, originally wereengaged in the production or reductionof ore. In contrast, less than half ofUtah's deserted villages are formermining camps; most of the remainderhaving been once-prosperous farmcenters abandoned because of watereither its lack, or its unwelcome pres-ence in the form of devastating andrecurrent floods.

In such agricultural centers, peopledlargely by hard working Mormon col-onists, erection of schools and churchesinvariably antedated commissioning ofthe first saloon, and law and order pre-vailed. Even Uta h's mining camps,operated and occupied chiefly by non-Mormons, in the main were peacefuland respectable, with little of the law-lessness that plagued many of themining camps in adjacent states. Herein the Land of the Saints, the typicalbadman and troublemaker was givenshort shrift, and Boothill went hungry.

Especially was this true in SilverReef, largest and most famous ofsouthern Utah's mining campsandtoday her most fascinating ghost town.Even since March, 1950, when mystory of Silver Reef appeared in DesertMagazine, fortunes of the old camphave vacillated between hope and des-pair. Several years ago the camp'smain properties were acquired byWestern Gold and Uranium Company,which brought in modern equipment,engaged a force of men, and resurrect-ed the old Wells Fargo Bank buildingas an office and museum of Silver Reefrelics. Everything looked promisinguntil WG&U suspended operations atThe Reef to concentrate on develop-ment of its wonderful Orphan Mine inGrand Canyon National Park. So,once again, the Reef's only citizensar e Mr. and Mrs. George DeMille,caretakers, who live in the old RiceBank building and keep a watchful eye

B y H U L M U M A M E R

on the ruins of this old town whichhas seldom, in the last 50 years, num-bered more than two inhabitants at asingle time.In Iron County, 20-odd miles northof Silver Reef, is the fascinating ghostcamp of Iron City, or Ironton, said tohave been the second place west of theMississippi river where native iron orewas mined and smelted into the pigiron of commerce. Points of ghostlyinterest include one large and well-

preserved charcoal kiln, and ruins ofothers; also remnants of a blast fur-nace and part of the stack, an oldstone arrastra, and ruins of many stonebuildings. The townsite is easilyreached via two miles of unpaved roadleading off State Route 56 betweenCedar City and Newcastle.In Beaver County, 15 miles north-west of Milford and adjacent to StateRoute 21, lies the ghost mining centerof Frisco, which took form around therich Hornsilver Mine discovered in1875 and four years later sold to JayCooke, NewYork financier, for a neat$5,000,000. On the hillside back ofthe camp, squat five large charcoalkilns of the beehive type, and theformer townsite is further defined bymany stone foundations and crumblingwalls.A t a point 15 miles northwest ofFrisco, and reached by a desert roadleading two miles easterly from Route2 1 , is the ghost town where SamuelNewhouse, soon after the turn of thecentury, founded a model mining

camp, gave it his name, and in the nextfive years (ending in 1910) harvestedfrom his Cactus Mine a reported $3,-500,000. Marking the site of thesepast activities are stone and woodenruins, a former railroad grade, andmine dumps.The one-time sawmilling center ofPine Valley, in Washington County, ison e of the prettiest ghost villages Ihave encountered anywhere. Duringsummer months the little town stillharbors a handful of pleasant neigh-borly folks, but winter finds it com-

pletely deserted except for deer andother creatures of the wild. Here, themost outstanding building is the Churchof Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.Built almost 100 years ago, its rough-

hewn timbers, one-and two-feet thick,are fastened with wooden pegs driveninto auger holes and lashed in placewith green rawhide. In addition tothe lovely old church, the town in-cludes a graveyard with century-oldmonuments, and many stout log dwel-lings erected by fourth generation fore-bears of the present owners.To travelers on US 91 between LasVegas and Salt Lake City, the mostreadily accessible of southern Utah's

agricultural ghosts is Harrisburg, whichlies athwart the pavement at a point15 miles northeast of St. George.Founded a century ago by Mormoncolonists, this was soon a pretty villageof some 200 inhabitants all housed insubstantial stone dwellings surroundedby well-tended fields, vineyards, andyoung orchards. As population andthe extent of tilled land increased,scarcity of water became a major prob-lem and by 1869 the residents of Har-risburg had begun drifting away. Mark-ing the site are extensive stone ruins,miles of rugged stone fences, and apicturesque old cemetery.

Another Washington County townthat succumbed to lack of water andpatronage was Hebron, five miles westof the present town of Enterprise. Set-tled by Mormon colonists in 1862,Hebron soon became a prosperouscenter with stone and brick buildings,stores, schools and churches. Cattleraising flourished in the vicinity, and aslong as mines and mills in easternNevada and southern Utah were oper-ating, Hebron's farmers had a lucrativeoutlet for their meat and other farmproducts. When mining declined,Hebron followed suit, and a growingscarcity of water forced complete aban-donment of the town. Caving cellars,a few gnarled fruit trees, and a ceme-tery remain.

Among the once prosperous Utahfarm communities sacrificed to thedestructive force of water is Grafton,remains of which are situated on thesouth bank of the Virgin River, twomiles west of Rockville. Settled byLDS colonists more than 100 yearsa g o , Grafton expanded to includestores, a school, post office, church,and numerou s home s. Years of los-ing battle against the flood-swollenwaters of the Virgin wore down even

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the strongest determination, and Graf-ton was virtually abandoned when,several years ago, its site and remain-ing buildings were purchased by aHollywood concern for use as a motionpicture set. Durin g periods of lowwater the old townsite may be visitedby fording the Virgin River, but per-sons unfamiliar with the crossingshould not attempt it without theservices of a competent local guide.

Among other ghost villages ofsouthern Utah are Caineville, on StateRoute 24, 24 miles east of Fruita,where tenantless houses and old fruitorchards mark the site of a once-prosperou s farm colony. Still standingis the tiny Behunin log cabin. Oneof the first dwellings erected in thenew townsite, it is a little larger thana child's playhouse and it seems in-e d i b l e that Elijah Behunin and hiswife could have reared herein a familyof nine.

Widtsoe, on state Route 2 2, 13miles northeast of Bryce Canyon Na-tional Park, is the ghost of a farmcommunity settled in 1876 but notplatted as a townsite until 1910. Tenyears later the town embraced some1100 residents served by four stores,two hotels, post office, church andschool. Due to a long continueddrouth, farms in the vicinity graduallyfailed and by 1935 most of the settlershad moved away. Excep t for a fewwooden buildings and a cemetery ofabout 100 graves, little of historicalsignificance remains.

After considering separately theseseveral mining ghosts and agriculturalghosts, it seems fitting that this nec-essarily abridged survey should bebrought to conclusion with brief men-tion of one southern Utah ghost townthat embraces both cultures. This isParia, situated on the east bank ofthe Paria River, 40 miles northeast ofKa nab . With adjacent land settled byMormon farmers in 1868, at first thisKane County town grew rapidly, butsoon became plagued by recurrentfloods. Formal abandonment tookplace about 1912 after flood-swollenwaters of the Paria had virtually anni-hilated the town . Late r, the townsitewas re-possessed by a gold-miningcompany which erected new buildings,and installed sluiceways. But dream sof realizing riches from placer miningalso were doomed to failure, andParia's assorted and doubtless frus-trated ghosts today hold carnival overthe chicken houses and rusting plowsof vanquished grangers, an assay officeand splintered sluice boxes from themining regime, and over a small cem-etery where stalwarts of both erassleep in nameless oblivion. / / /

GENERAL STORE, FRISCO, U T A H

O LDBLAST

F U R N A C E ,I R O N C I TY ,

U T A H

R U I N S A T N E W H O U S E , U T A H21


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By RANDALL HENDERSON T " \ AINBOW BRIDGE, located in a deep canyon of red sandstone with 10,000-r{ foot Navajo Mountain as a backdrop, is unquestionably the most awe-inspiringwork of natural sculpture anywhere in the United States. . . . For many milesthe area which surrounds the bridge is a series of deep canyons and toweringsandstone monuments which have a rugged beauty comparable only to that of theGrand Canyon itself." This description of Utah's great natural arch of stone isquoted from a report made by Stewart L. Udall, formerlycongressman from A rizona and now Secretary of Interior. Hevisited Rainbow Bridge last summer in order to make his ownappraisal of factors involved in a controversy which nowcenters arou nd this spectacular land mar k. Th e issue is oneof conservation policy, and may be stated briefly as follows:

The Colorado River Storage and Development Act of1956 which authorized the construction of Glen Canyon dam,specified that the "Secretary of Interior shall take adequateprotective measures to preclude impairment of Rainbow BridgeNational Monument."Engineers have determined that when Lake Powell behindGlen Canyon Dam is filled to near capacity, a narrow estuary of water will back upin Bridge Canyo n immediately beneath the arch. Engineering studies are in agreementthat the water will constitute no impairment of the arch itself nor its foundations. Toprevent this intrusion of water, the Bureau of Reclamation has formulated plans forthree alternative barrier dams, a tunnel and a pumping plant at cost estimates rangingfrom $ 2 5 to $4 0 millions. So far, Congress has failed to appro priate any m oney forprotective structures. Conservation leaders in-

/ l I I f l l l t O r f C S C r U C t n C aligned themselves in two op-posing camps. One faction isdemanding that bar-s r t it o n e R a i n b o w s S e t t i n g in the creek beneaththe arch constitutes an impairment contrary to National Park policy; and that to permitthe intrusion of water from a man-made lake would set a dangerous precedent.Opposing this conservation dogma is a large group of nature-lovers who feel thatthe blasting of nearby cliffs, the construction of roads necessary for the moving ofheavy equipment, and the defacing scars left by the construction of barrier damswould constitute a more serious impairment of the immediate landscape than wouldbackw ater from the lake. At least one engineer has expressed the opinion that dy na-miting operations necessary to secure rock-fill for a dam would itself constitute ahazard to the arch.Secretary Udall proposed that in lieu of any construction work, the 160-acreNational Monument be enlarged to include the entire scenic area from Navajo Moun-tain to the shore of Lake Powell (see map on page 18-1 9). The Secretary has m adeclear that econom ic factors had no part in his decision. He feels it would be a breachof integrity for Congress to solve the problem by defaultby simply failing to ap-propr iate funds. He wrote: "I believe Congress should clear itself of any imp utationof bad faith by passing an appropriate resolution spelling out, in terms of sound con-servation principles, the reasons why protective measures were not taken."As one who has signed the register beneath Rainbow Bridge four times in recentyears, I concur in his appraisal of the problem there. I think he expressed soundconservation policy when he wrote: "Altho ugh the lake water offends a basic prin-ciple of park conservation, it is my conviction that the construction of any man-madeworks within five miles of the present Monument boundaries would do even greaterviolence to the first commandment of conservationthat the great works of natureshould remain in their virginal state wherever possible. Th e natural setting of Rain bowembraces a much larger area than the box-like 'Monument'; and it is a gross mistaketo detach the arch itself from its environment."

Color separation through the courtesy of Conco

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R A I N B O W B R I D G E A R T I S T : A L N B S U E RFor a framing print of "Rainbow Bridge." same size as shown, lithographed on high-qualitypaper stock, send $1 to: Reprint Dept.. Desert Magazine. Palm Desert, Calif. (O ther $1 printsavailable by mail: Bill Bender's "Desert Wash." John W. Hilton's "Whispering Canyon." andTed DeGraiia's "Papago Harvest.")

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DESERT / MAGAZINE Of THE OUTDOOR SOUTHWEST MARCH, 1961 SPECIAL SOUTHERN UTAH ISSUE

A N A T U R A L I S T I N S O U T H E R N U T A HI N EXTREME southwestern Utah is"Utah's Dixie," an area of unusualinterest extending along the lowerVirgin River from a short distance aboveSt. George southwestward to the Ari-zona and Neva da lines. He re are floraland faunal communities found nowhereelse in the state. It is the most north -eastward extension of the great SonoranCreosote-Bush deserts of Arizona, Cali-fornia and Nevada . Th e summer heatmay be intense with a surprising num-ber of days showing maximum tempera-ture of 100 Fahrenheit and above, evenoccasionally up ot 112 and 116. Sunnydays are predominant, and the activefrost-free growing season is near 210days. The average yearly rainfall is lessthan 10 inches.

In the warm valleys, figs, grapes andother Mediterranean-type fruits are cul-tivated successfully. A sight familiar tothe summer motorist passing this wayis of charming well-mannered boys andgirls standing along the highway holdingout fruit and crying, "Feegs, feegs forsale!"It not only may surprise some to seethe familiar desert Creosote Bush (Lar-rea) growing so far north; but to findhere and there the Mojave Desert'sJoshua Tree and the acaulescent Big-fruited or Banana Yucca (Yucca bac-cata). Among other common Sonorandesert plants equally at home here arethe Burrobush (Franseria dumosa), A r-rowweed, Mojave Aster, Beavertail Cac-t u s , Brittlebush and Catsclaw, the latteroften parasitized by the Leafless Mistle-toe (Pharadendron californica). About

the few saline depressions are many salt-bushes common to southern Nevada andsouthern California residents, amongthem the Four-wing Saltbush (A triplexcanescens), Quailbush (A triplex lentijor-mis) and such succulent shrubs asGreasewood (Sarcobatus), Pickleweed(AHenrolfia) and Seepweed (Dondia).One of the dominant streamside treesis the widespread Fremont's Cotton-wood, esteemed by all desert peoplebecause of its welcome summer shadeand glowing autumnal colors.The animal life of this unique regionis wholly adapted to the same condi-

B y E D M U N D C , J A E G E R

tions that prevail much farther south.The many small rodents, from Kanga-roo Rats to Round-Tailed Ground Squir-rels, dig deep burrows to protect them-selves from high diurnal temperature. Incontrast are the shallow tunnels of relatedrodents in the nearby pine-forested PineValley Mountains where winters aresevere, but summers are comparativelymild.A real surprise inhabitant of this cor-ner of Utah is the obese-bodied Gila

Mons'er, generally associated in mindonly with hot sandy southwestern Ari-zona. Other Sonoran Desert reptilesseen in this Creosote Bush and Yuccadesert are the Chuckawalla, DesertCrested Lizard, Zebra - tailed Lizard,Yucca Night Lizard, and Horned Liz-ard. Sonoran Desert snakes, here reach-ing their northernmost home limits, arethe Sidewinder, Western Worm Snake,Patchnosed Snake, Mojave Rattlesnake,and Utah Black-head Snake.In long-ago Pleistocene days, whenthe climate was warm but the rainfall

greater than at present, the large Three-toed Sloth doubtless roamed and livedon the tough green fibrous leaves of theTree Yuc ca. Fossil remains of this gro-tesque-bodied slow-moving upright-feed-ing mammal have been found in cavesin nearby southern Nevada.I first went into this picturesque landin the early 192 0s. Where today wefind excellent paved highways, then wetraveled the most primitive of "engi-neered" roadsoften stony, dusty, nar-row and not too well aligned, with steepgradients and numerous "tight spots" oncurves. St. George was a charming"sleepy" village with practically all ofits inhabitants frugal friendly Mormons,their homes, often morning-glory-clad,clustered about the meeting house andthe impressive well-designed and statelyTem ple. Water ran in lively little streamsin the roadside gutters, supplying waterfor gardens, Locust trees, Box Eldersand Lombardy Poplars. Almost everyfamily had chickens, milk cow, andgarden patch.After several days we left St. George,

motoring eastward at 20 miles-per-hourin our Model-T Ford to Toquerville.That evening rain threatened to wet myprecious bundles of drying plant speci-mens, so my two young companions andI sought shelter in the old "Nagle

House," now abandoned and with itstiers of now windowless bedrooms up-stairs, its doorless downstairs rooms, andbig basement "where agin' the rule, winewas once surepticiously mad e." Thegreat brick house was built by a thriftywell-to-do Mormon "who practiced po-lygamy when yet it was legal."Next day I visited "old GrandmaNagle," who was "still strong with herneedle" despite her nearly 90 ye ars. Ihad been told that she knew much about

the Indian uses of native plants, and Iwas not disappointed in the informationshe was able to give me on this subject.A large black kettle hanging on acrane over a backyard firepit illicited myattention. I was told that it had beenretrieved from the meager possessionsof a Mormon Bishop murdered by In-dians. The man had carried the kettleon his back from Missouri to Utahduring his westward migration with theMormon Han dcart Brigade. The kettlefell from his back as he was killed."My mother rescued that kettle as itrolled down a gully," a lady standingnearby remarked. "It's been in usealmost ever since for various purposesfrom heating bath water to makingsoap."After returning to St. George, we fol-lowed an old Mormon road southwardacross a remarkably beautiful and un-spoiled piece of high desert populatedby few people, but seemingly uncount-able desert Junipers (Juniperus mono-sperma). Many of the high desert birdswere nesting, and from dawn until late

in the morning, and again at eventide,the air was filled with the sweet songsof the males. There were House Fin-ches, Mockingbirds, Sage Thrashers, andSparrows. The best music we heardcame from the throats of Bl

196103 desert magazine 1961 march

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