196403 desertmagazine 1964 march

8/14/2019 196403 DesertMagazine 1964 March

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LOCKD E A L W I T H C O N F I D E N C E

OUR REPUTATION YOUR GUARANTEE"There is secu rity, pote ntial pro fit and pleasure

in the right type of desert property"H O M E S - L O T S -- R E N T A L S

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J u s t off the press !The latest travel facts on

Published after an extensive two-year travel surveyfor up-to-date information by author-artist Cliff Cross

A FASCINATING EXPERIENCE. Today you can d r iveyour family car over splendid highways from yourfront door to pyramids and archeological zones thatrival those of ancien t Egypt. Visit 400-year-old co lonialcities as beautiful as those of Spain and to white tropi-cal beach es that resemb le the South Seas. See palace s,cathedrals, plazas and Indian villages with thatchedhuts, old Spanish towns, snow-capped volcanos, andsalt-water fishing that is second to none.STORES AND MARKETS overflow with silver jewelry,pottery, glassware, lacquerware, leather, baskets, fur-niture, textiles and tinware all exquisitely handmadeand low in cost.DON'T TRAVEL BLIND, over-spend or miss the sights.So packed with facts, you'll use it every day of yourtrip.DETAILED M APS, INFORMATION AND PICTURES willhelp you locate accommodations, points of interest anditems nee ded . Information on hunting, fishing an d in-teresting side trips. Logs tell of road conditions, scen eryand accommodations ahead.A PRACTICAL GUIDE, not a "story book" or just a listaccom mo dations . An aid in selecting those sections ofMexico most interesting to you and of assistancewhether traveling to small fishing villages or big cities.ALL THE INFORMATION NEEDED to help make a tr ipto Mexico an enjoyable one eliminating problemswhich may arise in a country with different ways, cus-toms, language and travel conditions.

FIRST TRULY COMPLETE AUTO-CAMPER ANDT R A I L E R T R A V E L G U I D E TO MEXICO

" \ I I DETAILED^J \ J MAPS |Points of Intere stMuseums, archeological ruins, na-tive markets, historical sites, fam-ous buildings, local celebrationsand events.M o n e y S a v i n g T i p sOn travel, food and insurance.A c c o m m o d a t i o n sMotels and hotels that also havetrailer space.1 00 T r a i l e r P a r k sLocations, facilities and rates.F re e C a m p i n g A re a sLocat ions of:Butane, purif ied water, ice, banks,post offices, markets, gas stations,etc.Roa d LogsGive mile by mile description.Pr inc ip l e C i t i e sAltitudes, temperatures, rainfall.

! S EN D O N L Y

[~ \ ^ 1 INFORMATIVEyj+J PICTURESC o nv e r s i o n T a b l e sDollars to pesos, gallons to litres,miles to kilometers.La t es t Fac t sOn travel and prices.

G e n e r a l In fo r m a t i o n H i s to r i ca l No tes H u n t i n g F ish ing T r a v e l T i p s T r a v e l W a r d r o be H i g h w a y S ig ns Ta x i s , Buses , St r ee t ca r s P o s t a l , T e l e p h o n e a n d

T e l e g r a p h Se r v ic e s. _ . 1$2 .95 pos tpa id \ (In California add 12c Sale Tax)

To: CROSS PUBLICAT IONS, P. O. BOX 12 161 PA LM DESERT

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S T A T F

March, 1964 / Desert Magazine / 3


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LOWELL JOHN BEAN andWILLIAM M. MASON, whohave contributed so greatly tothe exhibitions and informationcontained in the Palm SpringsMuseum's new Cahuilla Room,recently collaborated on a book,The Romero Expeditions inCalifornia and Arizona, 1823-26. Both received their masters

Mr. Bean is presently Curator of Ethnology at the

.GLORIA GREER has beenwriting from the desert andabout its celebrities since 1961when she came to Palm Springsas a desert columnist for DailyVariety, a motion picture tradepaper. For the past three yearsher column "Stars of the Desert"has been a regular feature ofthe Riverside Daily Enterprise,Desert Post and other publicationsgho ut the country. She is the desert representative

Newsweek and proud of an article written for that

Mrs. Greer, who lives in Palm Desert with her 11-year-

HARRY JAMES, founder ofThe Trailfinders, a boy's organ-ization in Southern California,today lives in a sprawling moun-tain lodge high in the San Ja-cintos near Idyllwild. There heand Mrs. James spend wintrydays beast-watching (DESERT ,Jan. '64) and evenings beforea huge stone fireplace listeningo a superb collection of records. When the snow melts,

During those long cold winters Mr. James has alsotime to write seven books. His most recently pub -The Cahuilla Indians (Westernlore), Red(Naylor), and The Hopi Indians(Caxton). For this month's DESERT he writes of the

FRANK POPENOE, one ofDESERT's Favorite writers, re-ceived his Master of Arts degreein geology at U.C.L.A., afterfirst graduating from OregonState University. While doingresearch for his master's thesis,he found fossil horse and camelremains 500,000 years old whichare now on display in the LosAngeles County Museum.

Mr. Popenoe is associated with the College of theDesert in Palm Desert where he is professor of geology.He is a bachelorwith no children, he saysand hiscurrent big interest is the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway,about which he has written for this month's DESERT.CAROL HARTLEY is a for-mer school teacher who saysshe'd rather write than eat. Sheand her husband, a hydraulicengineer, have two daughtersand five grand-daugh ters. Onedaughter, who lives in El Centro,inspired Mrs. Hartley's intenseinterest in the Salton Sea andsurrounding desert areas.

A resident of Mountain View, California, Mrs. Hart-ley is a member of the National League of AmericanPen Women and devotes much of her spare time to writ-ingworkshop activities.AL MERRYMAN, DESERT'sartist, is a popular citizen ofPalm Desert where his office islocated in the Desert Magazinebuilding. An escapee from theMGM Art-Title Department, hecame to the desert 3 years agoto open his own commercial artstudio.DESERT readers are long fa-miliar with Mr. Merryman's clever titles and illustra-tions, and desert residents are accustomed to his smilingface and round figure vigorously pumping a bicyle along

the dunes.ROYCE ROLLINS, who isso busy going that we couldnot catch her coming, is well-known to DESERT readers forher travel articles. An a v i dg y p s y , she's covered most ofEurope, Mexico, Canada, Ha-waii, Central America and allof the U.S., but best of all, shelikes the desert.

A resident of Palm Desert, where she lives with herwriter-photographer husband and 4-wheel enthusiastson, she has researched and written a historical Coach-ella Valley guide for this month's special issue.


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T H I S M O N T H ' S D E S E R T

CONTENTSVolume 27 Number 3

M A R C H , 1964This Month's Cover

"DESERT RATS" by VAL SAMUELSON4 About the Authors6 Coachella Cal

By SIDNEY PHILLIPS7 New Books for Desert Readers

10 Coachella Valley GuideBy ROYCE ROLLINS18 Pools I Have KnownBy GLORIA GREER21 Land of CottonBy CHORAL PEPPER23 Randall HendersonBy JACK PEPPER25 Caution: Scientists at WorkBy HARRY JAMES26 Cabot Yerxa's CastleBy TOMMURRAY30 PhotoBy BETTY MACKINTOSH32 Winter Playground with no winterBy CAROL HARTLEY35 Cross of StoneBy GRACE BALLARD36 Geological Tour Via T r a m w a yBy FRANK POPENOE39 Land of Little SummersBy LOWELL BEAN and WILLIAM MASON42 Val Samuelson, Artist

By CHORAL PEPPER45 Lucille Ball, Desert Circus Q uee nBy GLORIA GREER47 Story of the DateBy HENRY MOCKEL48 Desert CookeryBy LUCILLE CARLESON50 Desert HobbyBy FRANK DUNN52 TheMeaning of the GemBy RETTA EWERS54 Trip of the MonthBy FRANK JOHNSTON58 Letters from our Readers

The title of this month's cover is "Desert Rats."Although a departure from our usual covers, we feel that artist ValSamuelson's brilliant oil painting best portrays Southern California's com-plex Coachella Valley. Located only 120 miles from Los Angeles, Coach-ella Valley brings into sharp contrast what is happening today in thosesections of the American Desert which are near densely populated urbanareas.It is a desert of air-conditioned homes, dozens of golf courses, rich

date and citrus farms, yet surrounded by isolated terrain and rugged moun-tains containing wilderness areas and national parks.Former President Eisenhower spends his winters in Palm Desert. Thelate President Kennedy twice vacationed in Coachella Valley and PresidentJohnson has scheduled a meeting with South American leaders in PalmSprings.The two figures represented on the front cover, their identities diffusedby desert sun, could be golfers, sun-worshipping tourists, strolling residents,explorers or scientists. They represent the increasing thousands of peoplewho find Coachella Valley an escape from the tensely accelerated life ofnearby metropolitan areas.They are discovering what long-time desert dwellers already know:

that the desert brings not only relaxation and physical well being, but areturn of confidence in the ability to be an individual rather than just anothergrain in the ever shifting sands of humanity.Next month we will visit Utah and some of its more isolated areas,but this month let's explore complex Coachella Valley. / / /

Jack Pepper, Publisher

DESERT is published month ly by Desert Magazi ne, Palm Desert, Calif. Second Cass Postage paid at Palm Desert, Calif., and at additional mailingoffices under Act of March 3, 1879. Titl e registered No . 358865 in U. S Patent Offi ce, and conten ts copy right ed 1964 by Desert Magazine . Un-solici ted m on user i pt s ond photographs cannot be returned or acknowledged unless full return postaQO is enclosed Perm ssion to reproduce conten tsmust be secured from the editor in writi ng. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: $4.50 per year [12 issues) in the U.S.; $5 elsewhere. Allo w fi ve weeks for changeof address, and be sure to send the o ld as well as new address.

J A C K P E P P E R , publisher C H O R A L P E P P E R , editorA L M E R R Y M A N , artistAddress Correspondence To:Desert Magazine. Palm Desert, Calif. 92260 Phone: FI 6-8144

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W HEN TOURISTS saunter tothis suntanned replica ofpar-adisethe Coachella Valleythey squint at the encircling slabsofarrogant mountains andfeel that arousing legend should gowith thetimeless scenery. So, plopp ing shoelessfeet on mypatio furniture, one ofthem ventures, "Must've been a sortof local Paul Bunyan around here . .""Indubitably!" I answer quickly,anxious to accommodate thevisitor."Indubitably," I repeat, passing abottle ofsuntan lotion, the peace-pipeof the desert. "We have our local tall-tales figures. Any area worthy of itssalt has a ripsnortin' legendary char-acter; andthis region is more thanworth itssalt. Surely you've heard ofCoachella Cal, the man whomade thedesert possible?"A star-struck blonde acknowledgesthat she saw his story on This IsYour Life. I let that pass. Anythingcan happen on TV. Another asks,"Whatever became ofgood old Cal,"just as ifhe'd been aclassmate.Good ole Cal, I ruminategoodole Cal who rode here on a buffalonamed Bill and wore buckskin pantswith a live rattler for abelt. Why, ifit weren't for old Coachella Cal,there'd beno Palm Springs. Needingwater for hisbuffalo, Bill, Cal duga hole where Palm Springs Spa isnow. He'd been drinking cactusjuice himself and his hot breath w arm-ed the water. It'sbeen a hotspringever since. Then he tossed somesand over his shoulder and it formedthe huge dune on Indio Road. A realman, that Coachella Cal!"A fast draw, too, I bet," interjectsan excited listener, swigging the sun-tan lotion by mistake."Fast!" I explode. "He was instan-taneous, ifnot faster. He could drawand shoot so fast that his gun washolstered before thebullet left thebarrel. Rather than face him,BatMasterson went on a batand WyattEarp earped.""Must've got insome wicked brawl-ing," says a male visitor, closing his

eyes with pleasure. "Seems like I readabout him inLIFE Magazine. Didn'the clobber the Yuma Kid?""That was a good fight," I admit,"but nothing compared to hisbattlewith Big Smog Sam sent here by theLos Angeles Council. Sam stood oversix feet, when he wassitting. Hisshoulders were sobroad that he or-dered buckskins tailor-made by an In-dian n a m e d I-Can-Get-It-For-You-Wholesale."This Sam hadbeen eating a lotof sourdough bread and itmade himmighty sour. Herode to thedeserton a bull named Durham. Catchingup with Coachella Cal, he drawled,'I'm a cuttin' in on yor territory,podner, andhere's my credentials.'He showed ten knuckles with built-inbrass."But Calcould draw just aswellas his adversary. 'Take your smogand fogback to that bog you camefrom,' hedrawled. 'These here partsain't big enough for theboth ofus.'"The twogiants grappled. Theground shook. Aborigines quiveredand said it was SanAndreas' fault.Cal flung Sam tothe ground sohardthat hisprostrate body crunched outPalm Canyon. At this Cal's buffalochortled, until Sam jumped up andkicked him. The poor Buffalo's neverbeen worth a nickle since . . . andneither has Sam. To revenge hisbuffalo, Cal lifted Sam and tossedhim beyond Indio. In fact, it wasthe impact of Sam's landing thatcreated all that hardpan there now.""And then what became of Cal?"asks a breathless newcomer.I pause for a brief silence beforespeaking of hisenda terrible endbrought on by hisbecoming so mus-cular that hegot muscle bound."H e waslaid to rest," I tell mymoist-eyed listeners, "in a grave nowcovered with seven golf coursesanda trailer court. But hislegend still

lives on. He was agreat, and brilliantgentleman, Coachella Cala sculptorwho carved anempire out of sand!"/ / /6 / Desert Magazine / March, 1964


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GHOST TOWN TRAILSBy Lambert FlorinThird in a series of ghost townbooks, each fully as meaty as his last,Mr. Florin's latest leads into terri-tory overlooked by most ghost townchasers.Iosepa, Utah, for instance, is ararely published ghost town that wasonce settled by a colony of Hawaiiansbrought over by the Mormon Church.Originally named for Joseph Smith,its name became changed because theKanakas were unable to pronouncethe letter "J" and referred to their(own as "Yo-see-pa." Life in the drydesert land of Iosepa was hard for

these tropical natives, accustomed tolush islands and a mild clime. Th ehardest blow of all fell when thedread plague of leprosy was found tohave followed them. W hile the set-tlers' birth rate fell low, their deathrate rose high. When word arrivedthat a Mormon church had been builton their island, those who survivedIosepa returned to Hawaii, leavingonly grave markers to indicate theirUtah home.Rough and Ready was the namegiven to a California mining campestablished in 1849 and Rough andReady had big ideas. Not only did itsecede from the Territory of Califor-nia, it seceded from the U. S. as well,declaring itself an independent coun-try with laws based on mining lawsits citizens had worked out for them-selves. With great apprehension theyawaited Washington's reaction for thisdaring act. Nothing happened. Noarmy, no marshals, no nothing.Spring came and went. Finally the4th of July approached. Never in itshistory has this great day been cele-

brated with more gusto than in earlywestern mining camps. Was Roughand Ready, an independent nation,qualified to celebrate the U. S. Inde-pendence Day or not? After muchsoul-searching, its nationals decidedthat with all things considered (espe-cially the 4th of July) it was probablybette r to belong to the U . S. after all.How could a mining camp hold upits head without an IndependenceDay blow-off! Today little remains,but ghost town chasers will findenough to know that a sizeable townonce stood there.Other ghost towns of Arizona, Cali-fornia, Colorado, Montana, Nevada,

New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota,Utah, Washington, Wyoming, andBritish Columbia are included inLambert Florin's Ghost Town Trails,one of the best ghost town books everwritten.Published by Superior PublishingCompany of Seattle, this large 192;page, wonderfully illustrated booksells for $12.50.

MEXICO AUTO, CAMPER,TRAILER GUIDEBy Cliff CrossThis is about as close to the famousMichelin European guides as one will

find for Mexico. To compile it,author Cliff Cross spent two yearstraveling Mexico in a camper pullinga trailer, exploring byways as well ashighways. His information is factual,reliable, current and complete. Mapsare excellent. He advises streets tobe avoided if pulling a trailer in cer-tain small towns, relates customs ofthe land, designates places to camp orpark trailers, suggests points of inter-est and gives hunting and fishing in-formation. He lists bu tane stations,ice and purified water plants, marketdays in each village, best hours toshop and for what, and even suggestssome easy recipes for safe meals ifyou're caught with an empty breadbox (packaged weiners wrapped intortillas) .

He strongly feels that touring Mex-ico in a camper or trailer is the bestway to see the country. Much of itscharm is found in villages withouttourist accomm odations. By carry-ing your own accommodations withyou, you're sure of a place to sleepand by doing your own cooking,you're sure of your food.Unlike certain other campingguides, Mr. Cross is also cognizant ofthe fact that many people take bathsand he lists hotels and motor courtswhere, for a nominal fee, the manage-ment will permit camper and trailertravelers to use bath facilities in oneof the vacant units.Trailers are permitted entry with asix-month permit and Mr. Cross givesfull instructions, for each port ofentry to both the Mexican mainlandand Baja California.His trips include the West CoastHighway, Guadalajara and side trips,

C A U f O K H I A H S !Book s o f Spec ia lIn te res t to you ...

SPANISHADVENTURETRAILS

byBallardandBeats

D O C U M E N T E D A D V E N T U R E . . . in t hi sbook which traces the route of the daringconquistadores who travelled from the OldWorld across the deserts and mountains ofthe New World to sett le colonies along theCalifornia coast . I l lustrated. Mapped en dsheets. $4.95

TREASUREOF THEBUCCANEERSEAbyHarryE. Rieseberg

15V A FAMOU S CA LIF OR MA N . . I t .Harry Reiscberg, who holds the world 'srecord for deep-sea diving. Th is v olum econta ins invaluable in format ion about thelocations of over 200 sunken cargo ships.Photographs , t reasure map and guide tolost ship s. $4.95

ORDER BLANKT H E N A Y L O R C O M P A N YP. O. Box 1216Palm Desert , Calif. 92200Please send me( ) S P A N I S H A D V E N T U R E T R A I L S @$4.95( ) T R E A S U R E OF T H E B U C C A N N E E RSEA @ $4.95( ) Check enclosed ( ) C.O.D.N a m eAddressCity State

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Manzanillo and side trips, Guadala-jara to Mexico City, thecentral routethrough Mexico with side trips, Pan-American Highway, Coast to Coastroute, Mexico City to both Acapulcoand San Cristobal, the Trans-Isth-mus Highway, Cayucan to Veracruz,the Mexico City toVeracruz loop,theYucatan Peninsula, Baja California,an d a number of other suggestedroutes with side trips.

In giving directions through Mex-ico City, as an example, he avoidsthe usual form of listing Spanishstreet names that many Americanshave trouble reading or remember-ing and, instead, says such things as,"Drive three blocks to the biggreenstatue of a man in the center of thestreet and then turn left." For thosewho want toknow who thebig greenman is,he tells that too,and for thoseSpanish-speaking tourists, the propernames of thesreets are on theguide'ssplendid city maps.This is, indeed, the finest guidefor auto travel inMexico th at wehaveseen. But, it is strictly thata guide.For lyrical writing about thebeautiesof the country or detailed historicaland ethnographical data, there areother books.Illustrated with 165photos and 50maps, this large 104-page paper-backMEXICO, Auto, Camper, TrailerGuide book sells for $2.95, postpaid.Published by its author, it may beordered from Box 1216,Palm Desert,California.

NAVAJO RUGSBy Gilbert S. MaxwellKnowledge gained by theauthor in20 years of collecting and 16years ofdealing in Navajo textiles has goneinto this book, resulting in a highlyreadable account slanted to appealto both collector and amateur.In their short history (probably be-ginning in the 1690s), Navajo rugshave managed toacquire a numberofmisconceptions . . . the first beingthat they are of Navajo origin. Actu-ally, theNavajo's fine art of weavingwas borrowed from the Pueblos.Another popular misconception isone concerning a distinctive type ofblanket known at the Chief Blanket.These, it is supposed, were woven

HANDBOOK OFCALIFORNIABIRDSBy V1NSON BROWN and

Dr. HENRY WESTON, JR.168 pages, over 550 line drawings,165 birds in full color, 22 photosof bird habitats.Paper, $2.95, Cloth, $4.50TAPESTRIES INSANDBy DAVID VILLASENOR112 pages, 16 full page color

paintings on plates. Just published.Order by Mail $2.95DEPT.D2NATUREGRAPH CO.HEALDSBURG, CALIF.NOW AVAILABLENew guide to over 100California Ghost townsCalifornia Ghost Town GuideUnique and authentic guide to over 100ghost towns inCalifornia's deserts and moun-tains with complete directions on how toreach them. Shows you the way to little-known and intrigue-filled towns that provide

hours of interest for those seeking buriedtreasures, old guns, western relics, purplebottles aged by the sun, andantique objects.Satisfaction guaranteed or money back.Order Now! Only $1.95

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A U T H O R S !If you have completed a book-length manu-script, you may be interested in our specialpublishing plan. Under this program, manylawyers, executives, teachers, scholars andeven housewives have seen their work pub-lished, promoted and marketed on a digni-fied, professional basis. All subjects con-sidered non-fiction, fiction, poe try, etc.Send for our free 40-page illustrated bro-chure today. Ask for Booklet, D.

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If you have purchased a copy of the book"MILLIONS WANT TO"

send your book number and travel questionsto the author, David L. Young, Colev i l le,Calif.Please Note: Our personal knowledge coversprincipally the Southwestern United States,Florida, the West Coast of Mexico and heBaja Peninsula. We can answer camperquestions only as we have no knowledge ofplane schedules, hotels or eating accommo-dations. Also enclosed with your reply willbe 13 helpful h ints on travel in Mexico, andour recipe for making your own jerked beef.A life saver for out of the way t r ips .

If you wish to order books, send check ormoney order toTHREE FLAGS TRA D ING POST

Colev i l le , Cal ifornia 96107Delivered Price $5.95 per copy.

California residents add 24c SalesTax

/ Desert Magazine / March, 1964


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N E W SOUTHWESTBOOKS LOST DESERT BONANZAS byEugene Conrotto. Known facts aboutmore than 100 lost mines of the South-west, as condensed from a quarter cen-tury of articles that appeared in DesertMagazine. 91 maps by Norton Allen. 248pages. Hard cover. Four-color dustjacket. $6.50.CRUISING THE SEA OF CORTEZby Spencer Murray. Modern-day adven-ture in a 25-foot power cruiser along thegulf shore of Lower California andacross the Sea of Cortez. 76 photos byRalph Poole. 240 pages, hard cover,four-color dust jacket. Maps and charts.$6.75.NAVAJO RUGS P AST, PRESENTAND FUTURE by Gil Maxwell. A his-torical background to modern Navajorugs, a description of various types andareas. Map of trading posts on theNavajo Reservation. 20 four-color photosplus many black-and-white pictures. Theauthor is one of America's top Navajorug authorities. Extensive bibliography.Paper cover. $2.00.

desert-southwestbook storeDesert Magazine Building,

Palm Desert, CaliforniaAdd 25c each order for packaging andpostage. California residents add 4%State Sales Tax.

DESERT BINDERSKeep your Desert Magazines foryears as a reference and guide tofuture trips. Special 12-issue bind-ers only $3.50 (inc. tax & postage)DESERT MAGAZINEPalm Desert. Calif. 92260MARKET BASKETP H O T O C O .P. O. Box 2830, San Diego 1 2 , Calif.Low p riced photojinishing; film,cameras and Kodachromeprocessing.

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especially for Navajo chiefs. How-ever, the Navajos have no chiefs.Rather, Chief Blankets were sold ortraded to other Indian chiefs or pre-sented as gifts to army commanders.Highly coveted, these blankets be-came an important economic factorto the nomad Navajo weavers.

Another prized blanket was theBayeta Blanket, so called because itwas woven from the unraveled threadsof a red flannel imported from Eng-land and shipped to Mexico viaSpain and hence into what is nowNew Mexico and Arizona. Becausethe Indians had no red dye of theirown, they introduced the threads ofthis foreign material into their ownweaving. Today it is commonly be-lieved that the red used in these earlyblankets came from Spanish uniformsstolen from dead soldiers. Nothing,according to the author, could be lesstrue. Superstitious Navajos dread thedead and would be the last to toucha dead body, let alone strip it of itsclothing. At a later date, Americanflannel was substituted for the fineold bayeta, but only an expert candiscern the difference.

Up until 1890 the designs of Nava-jo blankets were for the most partsimple stripes and made to be worn.After that the Pendleton Blanketfound its way into Navajoland and,had it not been for a happy circum-stance, Navajo weaving would havebecome a lost art. However, peoplebegan to toss their Navajo blanketsonto the floor and the fashion caughton fast.Fine photographs, many in color,

help author Maxwell tell his story ofNavajo rugs, the meanings of theirdesigns, identifications and distin-guishing characteristics of famousweavers. Because of monetary con-siderations, it simply doesn't pay theNavajos to weave anym ore. Few oftheir children are learning to weaveand it would seem that the art, likethat of weaving beautiful baskets, isdoomed. Many rugs now on the mar-ket will become collector's items, per-haps in a very short time.Published by Desert-Southwest Pub-lications, Palm Desert, California, this72-page paperback sells for $2.00.

VEGETATIONa n d Fl o r a o f t heS o n o r a n De s e r t

Forrest Shreve andIra L. Wiggins

More than 30 years of researchand preparation have gone intothis pioneering work. Principalplant communities and their dis-tribution, habitat requirements ofcharacteristic plants, and impor-tant environmental factors arecovered in Par t I. Par t II treatsboth woody and h e r b a c e o u splants of the desert regions ofMexico. Illustrated.

Two Volumes $22.50Order from your bookstore, please

STANFORD UNIVERSITYPRESS

D E S E R TB O O K S P E C I A L T I E SVOICE OF THE DESERT by Joseph WoodKrutch. The Thoreau of the desert exploresthe great variety of desert l i fe. $5.00

BECKONING DESERT by Ed Ainswo rth. Im-pressions of the sunlit land, its people, itsmiracles old and new. $5.95NEVADA'S TURBULENT YESTERDAY by D onAshbaugh. Tales of long-gone Nevada townsand people who built them. $7.50LOAFING ALONG DEATTH VALLEY TRAILS byWm. Caruthers. Romance and humor in thisnarrative of people and places. $4.25PHOTO ALBUM OF YESTERDAY'S SOUTHWESTBy Charles Shelton. Photos from 1860-1910reproduced in photo album fo rm. $15.00CALIFORNIA DESERT WILDFLOWERS by PhilipMunz. Handy, useful. 96 color photos, 172drawings. Paper $2.95, cloth $4.75SOVEREIGNS OF THE SAGE by Nell Murbar-ger. Tales of old timers about yesterday onthe desert. $6.00LOST MINES OF DEATH VALLEY by HaroldWeight. Selected tales of many lost minesincluding Breyfogle's Gold. Map, photos andnotes. Paper, $2.00

MANY OTHERS. Write for complete list.Postage prepaid if payment enclosed withorder. In Calif, add 4% sales tax.P I N O N B O O K S T O R E

206 North Main St. Bishop. CaliforniaIn the Heart of the Eastern High Sierras1 Qf i4 / F loc t t r i lna / Q


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uidestomaCQflCHELMFrequently refered to as the "Palm Springs are a" by w inter va cationists,Coachella Valley stretches far beyond the resort city's limits. From its highest ele-vation to its lowest, below sea level, Coachella Valley has provided a desert havenfor man as far back as the records of time. Although some historians relate that itsearliest known inhabitants, the CahuiNa Indians, were a branch of the Arizona Yumas,scientists who base their classification upon language roots find that the CahuillaIndians belong to the Shoshonean division of the Uto-Aztecan linguistic family agroup which includes Aztecs, the Hopi, Papago, Pima and Ute as well as neighbor-

ing southern California Mission Indians.Nestled between the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains on its west andthe Little San Bernardino, Orocopia and Chocolate Mountains on the east, CoachellaValley stretches from the rugged terrain of San Gorgonio Pass to the sandy beachesof Salton Sea's north shore.

San Gorgonio Pass was discovered in 1774 by Padre

S. engineers looking for a rou te for a transcontin-

Various attempts were made to run stages through

At last, in 1875, grading gangs

among San Diego citizens who had fought for the War-ner Route which would have exalted that city to thesubsequent status of Los Angeles.BEAUMONT

Formerly a hamlet known as San Gorgonio, Beau-mont obtained its real start in 1886 as a real estate boomprom otion. Its backers, Southern California Investm entCompany, purchased water rights from surroundingareas to insure a water supply, sponsored a newspapercalled the Sentinel and built a $40,00 hotel. Excursionswere inaugurated when as many as three trainloads ata time of prospects arrived to partake of free lunches andsightseeing rides. Land values rose from $30 an acre to$200 in eight months. Unfortunately the bubble quicklyburst and without developed agricultural resources tomaintain its prosperity, the town failed and stagnateduntil a new development company revitalized it in 1907.Today it has a stable economy with permanent residents.About three miles west of town and visible from thehighway where it crosses the ridge are steeply dippingbeds whose lower stratas contain many bones of extinctanimals, comprising camels, large and medium sized


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horses, ground sloth, tortoise, peccary, antelope, saber-tooth tiger, mastodon, rabbit, bear and other animalsof late Pliocene and early Pleistocene timecreaturesvery different from present fauna.BANNINGFounded in 1884, this settlement was named forPhineas Banning who operated the first regular stageline between Los Angeles and San Pedro in the 1850s.As compared to its neighbor, Beaumont, Banning boast-ed of the fact that it never had a boon and never a bustwhich is still true today. Fig Tr ee Jo hn , a well-knownIndian of the Coachella Valley, who lived to be some130 years old, was a frequent figure of Ban ning's earlydays where he always appeared dressed in his blue Armybrass-buttoned uniform and wearing a high silk hat.With a climate free of extremes both summer and winter,Banning has long been considered a health haven forthose suffering from pulmonary diseases and, judgingfrom the extraordinary longevity of its old-timers, thismost certainly is true. At the edge of town are o rchardsof peaches, prunes and especially almonds, whose treesblossoming in early February present an impressivesight.CABAZON

Originally established as a station by the SouthernPacific in the 1870s, the town was laid out in 1884 andboth station and town named after a chief of the Ca-huilla Indians named Cabe/on, corrupted Spanish for"big head." Today, the tiny sand-blasted community ismore famousor infamousfor its legalized poker parlorthan for anything else.DESERT HOT SPRINGSOriginally an early Indian campsite with a well anda spring, the water of which maintains a constant 126

degree temperature, Cabot Yerxa founded a healthresort here in 1941. A 31-room Hopi-style pueblo buil tby Yerxa which houses a museum and art gallery drawstourists, as do the hot spring spas.T H O U S A N D P A L M SAlthough modestly designated as 100 Palms onmaps of 1874 and 1891, this large colony of d esert fanpalms is now known as 1000 Palms, but in 1915 a post-office established there was called Edom, after the an-cient Asian country. Actually more than 1000 palms arebelieved to exist in the canyon beyond the town. Someare 700 years old and many from 10 to 20 feet tall. Thiscanyon was once the scene of ancient Indian ceremonials.A large and popular mobi le home park developmentoccupies most of Thousand Palms townsite today andtourists often drive there to see the conspicuous growthof Spanish Bayonet (Yucca Mohavensis) which flourishnearby.P A L M S P R I N G SOriginally called "Palmetto Springs" because of i tsfine large trees, Palm Springs later was given the name"Ag ua Cal ien te" by De Anza (1774) b ecause of itssprings. Ex plore d by Lt. R. S. W illiam son in 1853 wh ilesurveying the desert to map a railway route, the oasissoon afterward became a stopover on the BradshawStage Line, unti l the l ine was abandoned in favor ofrailway travel. The railroad, however, did not run intoPalm Springs, so early visitors were carried by buggy orbuckboard from the nearest station across the desert toPalm Springs' first hotel, a health resort established byDr . Welwood Murray.

To encourage westward expansion, Congress in 1877gave odd-numbered sections of the land now composingPalm Springs and vicinity for 10 miles on each side

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THE POOL OF MR. PETE PETTITO IN PALMDESERT, CALIFORNIA ISONE OF MANY DISTINC-TIVE DESERT P OOLS BUILT AND LANDSCAPEDBY BLUE HAV EN POOLS. SEECOLOR PHOTO ONPAGE 19,THIS ISSUE.

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THE COACHELLA BROADCASTING COMPANY Studios a n d OfficesHoward ManorPalm Springs, Calif.Mailing Address: P. O . Box 1826,Indio, Calif. Area Code 714 EXpress 8-553412 / Desert Magazine / March, 1964


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of the tracks to the Southern Pacific and later the even-numbered sections were given to the Cahuillas who hadcamped in this area for hundreds, perhaps even thou-sands, of years. The original mineral springs, which nowhouse one of the most elegant spas in the world, arestill owned by these Indians and the land is leased.Considered the golf capital of the world, and oneof America's most glamorous resorts, Palm Springsstreets are lined with branches of eastern and westernluxury shops. Hotels, motor lodges and apartments are

everywhere. There are stables for horseback riders, artgalleries and museums for culture, and the new aerialtramway (largest passenger carrying one in the world)for thrills. There are also secluded and tropically splen-did trails for hiking and picnicking away from all theglamor. These are listed below.

PALM CANYONAt the head of Palm Canyon is a grove of some4000 desert fan palms (Washington filifera), the onlypalm native to the western U.S., ranging in age fromseedlings to 300 years old. Many of the gian t ones showtraces of fire on the ir lower trunk s. According to leg-end, the Cahuillas, who picked clusters of berries fromthe palms for food, always burned the trees that belongedto a single family when the head of the family died, toenable the departed to carry his berry clusters with himon his journey.This is the best known palm oases of the ColoradoDesert. The whole of Palm Canyon, which includesAndreas, Murray, West Fork, Palm and Fern Canyonsis part of the Cahuilla Reservation and a small fee ischarged by the Indians for each car at the toll gate onPalm Canyon Drive.

ANDREAS CANYONHere is a place to picnic among cottonwood, syca-more and native palms to the tune of a rippling streamof excellent water. For those who wander afoot there ismuch to seebedrock mortar holes in "Gossip Rock"where native Desert Cahuillas ground mesquite beansand seeds, Indian petroglyphs in a cave, rock shelters,and stream orchids growing in shallow water along thestream. Th e canyon was named for Captain Andreas,a famous chieftain of the Cahuillas.

MURRAY CANYONNamed for Dr. Welwood Murray who built a healthresort and the first hotel at Palm Springs, this is theleast visited of the Palm Canyon group of side canyons,but one of the best if you're a hiker and bird watcher.

WEST FORK CANYONNot recommended for novices, this is a rugged hikeor horseback ride, but rewarded with breathtaking pan-oramas of Coachella Valley and the tops of palmsgrowing in the other canyons.

FERN CANYONHiking here is easy for the most part and leads toDripping Spring, marked by a bank of maidenhair fernfor which the canyon is named.

FINE SHOPS LINE PALM CA NYON DRIVE.

DR. MURRAY'S FIRST PALM SPRING'S HOTEL.

BELOW: EXOTIC TAHQUITZ CANYON FALLS.


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The Bes t W a y toTake Your Morning Coffeeis with the

D AILY ENTERPRISERIVERSIDE COUNTY'SDAILY NEWSPAPER

Most Des er t and Pass residents a gree . . .the bestw ay to take your m orning coffee is wi th The D ai lyEnterprise.If you a re m issing this st imu lat ing re ading expe r-ience , s ta r t now to take The D a i ly Enterpr ise athom e a nd get al l the newsw ith special em phasison your loca l a rea seven days aw e e k .Order home-del ivery at only $2.25 am onth. Cal lany Enterpr ise deser t of fice be low . Do ittoday. ..and e njoy The D ai ly Enterprise tomorrow withyour morning coffee.

B a l i n g : 849-4531; Blythe: 922-3713; Indio: Dl 7-55,3; Palm Springs: 325-2277; Palm Desert: Fl6- ! 181

%4 COURSESt.NO WAITING'

-i Ik

DISCOVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA'SI M P E R I A LV A L L E Y ,F O U R S U P E R B , C H A M P I O N S H I PG O L F C O U R S E S . . .S TAR TING TIM E S A V A I L A B L EWITHOUT W A I T I N G !Fishing, hunting, or sight-seeing . . . These can also beenjoyed thesame day or week. Year around agricultureoffers added scenery.SALTON CITY COUNTRY CLUB SALTON CITYDEL RIO COUNTRY CLUBBARBARA WORTHGOLF &COUNTRY CLUBINTERNATIONALGOLF &COUNTRY CLUB

BRAWLEYMidway betweenEL CENTRO &HOLTVILLECALEXICO

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/ Desert Magazine / March, 1964


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TAHQUITZ CANYONNamed for a mythological evil spirt of the CahuillaIndians who is represented by a cannibal and believedto live in the San Jacinto Mountains and periodicallycause celestial disturbances, this canyon is endowedwith a waterfall with a sheer drop of about 60 feet. Thesetting is so spectacular that it was used as a movingpicture location to film the natural beauty of Shangri-Lain Lost Horizon. The canyon's roaring waterfall is with-in easy walking distance of a paved road.

CATHEDRAL CITYWhen Col. Henry Washington made the first sur-vey of the canyon in 1858 he applied this name to thecanyon because he thought it resembled a cathedral'sapse. The city was mapped in 1925 and acquired itsname because of its location on the alluvial fan of thecanyon.PALM DESERTA vacant desert land used by General Patton as atraining site during World War II, Palm Desert wasfounded as a real estate development in 1947 when Ran-dall Henderson established it as the home of DESERTMagazine. During the past few years the exclusive El-dorado Country Club has brought fame to Palm Desertas former President Eisenhower's winter home.

New residential developments along Fairway Avenueacross from the Eldorado are currently considered themost fashionable on the desert. In spite of this, PalmDesert remains a quiet, friendly, informal communitywithout the razzmatazz of Palm Springs and the beau-tiful new College of the Desert located there insures sta-bility.

INDIAN WELLSA government survey of 1920 especially commendedthe good water found at a roadside trough with faucetand provided by Indian Wells. Long before that, how-ever, water from Indian Wells was utilized by the Ca-huilla Indians who occupied the Colorado Desert as farwest as San Gorgonio Pass. These wells, installed bythe Cahuillas, were somewhat unique in that they hadsteps leading into them and their contours sloped. To-day it is rumored that water from these same Indianwells keep the putting greens of Desi Arnaz' Indian WellsCountry Club healthy and green. At night, spectacularlighting against the Santa Rosa Mountains provides anattraction for visitors.

LA QUINTALocated in one of the most beautiful of the SantaRosa's desert coves, there are may tales related to theorigin of this beautiful resort's name. One is that LaQuinta is derived from the Spanish word for "fifth".Long ago when travelers in covered wagons or astridecrossed the desert and recognizable trails had been made,"fifth day" stopping places were established along theroute . It is believed by some that the present La Q uintawas so named as a memorial to this desert legend ofhospitality. Ano ther historian states that it was namedafter the Spanish word meaning "country estate," whileyet another opinion is that it means "the retreat." What-ever, it's a charming spot with many fine residences, apicturesque hotel and an excellent golf course.

F O RM E R P R E S ID E N T D W I G H T E I S E N H O W E R B U YS C H A N C E O N R O I L SR O Y C E T O F U RT H E R C O M M U N I T Y B E T T E RM E N T P R O J E C T .

EARLY DESERT GOLFER SH OWS LADIES H OW TO SW ING . BELOW:T O D A Y ' S GO L FE R S S T IL L D O I N G S A M E T H I N G . (M I K E S O U C H A K , B O BH O P E , A R T W A L L , J E R R Y D O G G E T T ) .


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INDIOToday Indio is famous as the date capital of Am-erica, but it received its name in 1876 because of thelarge number of Indians who comprised the settlementwhen it was a railroad construction camp. Before that,it was referred to by weary desert travelers as IndianWells because of an Indian campsite and wells nearby.A colorful part of its history was an early weekly publi-cation named Submarine and billed as the "most low-down paper on earth," because it was published belowsea level.Indio has recently come into its own as a centrallocation for desert explorers and a number of fine air-conditioned motor lodge accommodations are available.The springtime Date Festival with its Arabian settingand camel and ostrich races is an annual event and at-tracts visitors from all over the world.

R O M A N T I C A R C H I T E C T U R E E N H A N C E S C O L L E G E OF THE DESERT.

D A T E G R O V E S C O N T R I B U T E TO C O A C H E L L A V A L L E Y' S U N I Q U E L A N D -SCAPE. BELOW: A P A I R OF H AP PY CAMELEERS CELEBRATE IND IO 'SD A T E F E S T I V A L .

COACHELLAThe town and the valley are believed to havederived their name from a corruption of the Spanishword "conchilla" meaning "shell." Once called Wood-spur, the town was founded by James L. Rector in 1898as a mesquite wood terminal for firewood which washauled to Los Angeles. Today it is a packing and ship-ping center for grapes, cotton, citrus and other Coach-ella Valley produce. The first date palm from NorthAfrica was transplanted in this area in 1898 and alongwith neighboring Indio it is the largest producer ofdates in America.

THERMALAnother date and grape producing center, the nameThermal was applied to this settlement about 1888 whenit was established as a railway station because of the ex-treme heat of the Salton Sea area. Today it is surroundedwith fine fields of alfalfa, citrus, dates and melons, someof which are irrigated by water from wells. By crossingthe railroad tracks and proceeding eastward into theMecca Hills, 4-wheel drive travelers can have an adven-turous time exploring hidden canyons where Indian pot-sherds and indications of old mines may be found.

MECCAThis settlement received its exotic name because itresembles the Arabian Mecca in climate, but it was firstcalled Walters and consisted only of a siding on theSouthern Pacific line to provide water from its 1,500 footwell. It was also a staging point to gold and silver minesin nearby mountains. The first experimental date gar-dens were planted here and the old Caravansary adobehotel, the first building in the area, may still be seen.Receiving water from the Coachella branch of the Ail-American Canal, the area is now celebrated as the earliestproducer of spring vegetables (January and February).A few miles east of Mecca are Painted Canyon and Hid-den Springs where Cahuilla Indians once camped. Spe-cimens of fossilized shell, quartz, and bloodstone attractrockhounds and vivid coloring attracts photographersand sightseers. Before the highway enters Shaver Can-yon, en route to Painted Canyon (see map), it crosses

a sandy strip marking the old beach of prehistoric LakeCahuilla, ancestor to the present Salton Sea. / / /


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C O A C H E L L A V A L L E Ya m o u s

s wim m in g p o o l sa g r i c u l t u r em e n o f c ha r a c t e rde s e r t p r e s e r va t io nde s e r t c a c t iwa te r s p o r t st r a m w a ym u s e u ma r t i s t sc e l eb r i t i e s

p a g e ISp a g e 2 1p a g e 2 3p a g e 2 5p a g e 3 0p a g e 3 2p a g e 3 6p a g e 3 9p a g e 4 2p a g e 4 5


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Pools I have knownI

O P P O S I T E P A G E . G L O R I A G R EE R A N D P E TEP E T I T T O R E L A X A T M R . P E T I T T O ' S P O O L , C O N -S I D E R ED B Y M A N Y T O B E T H E M O S T B E A U T IF U LI N C O A C H E L L A V AL L E Y . P h o t o b y J a c k P e p p e r .

T IS OFTEN said that Palm Springshas more pools per capita than anyplace in the world.Roughly, there are 3,100 poolswithin the city limits of the mostfamous glamour spot in the UnitedStates and a permanent population of17,100. In other words, in the city ofPalm Springs one person in every fivehas his own swimming pool.The pools that can be found comein all shapes and sizes. Some are fat,some are skinny. They're oblong,round, square, piano-shaped, havewaterfalls, come with tile and withouttile.It takes 75,000,000 gallons of waterto keep them filled and their liquidingredients have been enjoyed by Pre-sidents, heads of state, ambassadors,Governors, Senators, Congressmen,royalty, gangland leaders, movie czars,social leaders, scientists and sportingenthusiasts.Fanciest pool by far is in the Medi-terranean home owned by Mr. andMrs. Joseph Shapiro. Th e house, onceused as a honeymoon villa by Eliza-beth Taylor and the late Mike Todd,

overlooks a pool that is 30 by 78 feetand is surrounded by formal gardensand would cost $100,000 to constructtodayif it were possible to dupli-cate it.The sides and bottom of the entirepool are of imported Italian mosaictiles laid in beautiful designs and pat-terns. Circu lar steps, also mosaic tile,descend gracefully into the pool andstanding at each corner are squarepedestals of the same colored tile anddesign with wrought iron enclosedlights atop each pedestal.The story told is that the originalowner of the house, wanting the most

b y G L O RI A G R E E Rbeautiful pool in the world, boughta ceramic factory in Italy and import-ed the matched tiles to Palm Springs.Industrialist Raymond Loewy hasa swimming pool that flows from theoutside of his home into the livingroom; Mr. and Mrs. Harrison J. Blighof Thunderbird are probably the onlytwo people in the world who have aliving and dining room separated bya swimming pool; and industrialistRob ert McCulloch (owner of McCul-loch motors) owns one of the mostspectacular pool patios ever built. Hisresidence cost approximately one mil-lion dollars to construct and featuressuch novelties as a human rotisseriethat turns in merry-go-round fashionat the push of a button to producefor each sun worshipper an even tan.

In contrast to the posh pools own-ed by many of those who reside inwhat is often described as the "swim-ming pool capital of the world," twoof the spa's best known citizens havelived in the desert for years withoutso much as a water hole in which todunk their toes.Fay Bainter and her husband, Com-mander Reginald Venable, have own-

ed a hillside house here for 20 yearsand still haven't bothered to put ina pool. Eddie Cantor, on the otherhand, started out with a swimmingpool but filled it in when his firstgranddaughter, Judy McCugh, was atoddlerover twenty years ago.The city's piano shaped pool wasconstructed for Frank Sinatra whenhe owned a house on Alejo Road. Hehas since moved to Tamarisk CountryClub where his pool conforms to mostof the others in the vicinity.Sinatra's piano-playing bu ddy, com-poser Jimmy Van Heusen, had a per-fectly plain rectangular one at the

18 / Desert Magazine / March, 1964


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AND MRS. JOSEPH SHAP IRO WAS TH E SETTING ENJOYEDY ELIZABETH TAYLOR AN D THE LATE MIKE TOD D ON THEIR H ONEYM OON.

residence he recently sold in PalmDesert. But guests who visited hisplace could see the hand and footprintsalong with signaturesof suchwell-known persons as Bing Crosby,Frank Sinatra, Louella Parsons andMitch Miller."Louella Parsons came up here inthe rain to do hers," the song writerreported, "and Mitch Miller stuck hisbeard into the cement." The manycement blocks that surround the VanHeusen pool with famous signaturesa la Grauman's Chinese Theater inHollywoodhave since been sent tothe World's Fair in New York wherethey will be displayed.The temperature tastes of thetown's swimming pool enthusiastsvary as much as the shape of thepools found here.Mervyn LeRoy, well known pro-ducer and director, keeps his pool at

90 degrees all winter. Bing Crosby,MRS. RAY GILREATH 'S BEL-AIR HOME BOASTS A CLOVER-SHAPED POOL W ITH A

on the other hand, rarely turns theheat on in his pool. When JimmyVan Heusen lived next door, the storygoes, he often hoppe d the hedge divid-ing the two residences to use his pal'spool rather than turn on his ownheater."One of the few times that pool wasever heated," a mutual friend of bothof those gentlemen told me, "is whenthe house was used by President JohnKennedy."Aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran andher husband, Floyd Odium, are twoothers who, like Mervyn LeRoy, keeptheir swimming pool at 90 degrees.One of the many famous house-guests who stayed with the Odiumswas the late scientist Theodore VonKarman. It was at the Odium R anchin Indio last year that he receivedword that he was to receive a specialScience Award at the White Housein February.Press reports said that this gentle-man, who was then in his mid-eighties, received word of the honor

THE ELDORADO COUNTRY CLUB POOL IS FAMOUS FOR ITS FOUNTAINS.

while floating in an inner tube inthe Odium swimming pool.Actually, according to Odium, thecall was originally placed while Od-ium was in the pool and Odium sug-gested that the call be placed againin fifteen minutesto give the scien-tist an opportunity to get out ofthe pool.Von Karman never expected tohear from the White House again.As he lounged with each arm rest-ing on a small inner tube in the 90-

degree water, he commented:"In fifteen minutes they will haveforgotten what they called about!"/


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C O T T O N by ChoralT ODAY'S COTTON pickin' fin-gers are replaced by c o t t o npickin' machines, and that'sstraight from a gentleman whoknows the whole cotton pickin' busi-ness.

Mr. George Newman, manager ofGrowers Gin Company, claims thecotton industry as the most stableof Coachella Valley. This is becausecotton farmers are guaranteed an in-come by government support andcontrol of crops. If it weren't forsuch controls, western cotton growerscould increase production and thuslower the price of cotton, but as longas they do exist, cotton will probablyremain in sixth place among thehigest income producing CoachellaValley crops. Grapes are first.Although the Coachella branchof the Colorado River's Ail-AmericanCanal system has made it possible in

recent years to produce cotton ingreat quantities, as a western productit is far from new. About 250 yearsago Jesuit padres in Baja Californiaencouraged its cultivation. As it wasnot in keeping with Christian mod-esty for the pagan Indians to appearnaked at Church ceremonies, themissionaries felt called upon to pro-vide clothing. For this purpose theFathers raised cotton and taught theneophytes to spin, weave and maketheir own clothing. Owing to thesterility of the country, however,most of the cloth had to be importedfrom Mexico over to Baja. It is be-lieved by many historians that cer-tain highly civilized Indians of Son-

ora raised cotton even before theSpanish came.A Jesuit priest in Sonora, FatherPfefferkorn, wrote in 1758 that theplanting of more cotton would be ofespecial advantage to the natives ofSonora because of the high cost oflinen "However," he lamented, "eventhough cotton could be raised inabundance in Sonora, the Opatas

alone spin, plant and weave cot-ton for clothing. The rest of the In-dians of Sonora are satisfied with thegarment nature gave them and theSpaniards might not have enough toeat, but their shirts must be of linen!"His great regret was that Sonorawasn't under the domain of the Ger-mans, English or French who, he be-lieved, would make such munificentuse of its available products. "How-ever," he continued, "Spaniards areSpaniards!"In other parts of New Spain cot-ton was assiduously pursued. Thecity of Puebla was especially distin-guished in the manufacture of cottonand imitated perfectly the same kindsof Chinese goods which arrived byboat through Acapulco on the Man-ila galleon from the Philippines eachyear.In 1855-59 Utah Mormons con-ducted a cotton experim ent. It wassupposed that cotton might be raisedin the Santa Clara valley of southernUtah by the Mormons. Cotton raised

the first year cost $3.40 per pound(as opposed to 31c per pound forCoachella Valley cotton today) andthe second year, $1.90. Although the

object of the experiment was to pro-duce in the Utah territory all of thecotton needed for the Mormon popu-lation, especially during the CivilWar, the industry was found to beunprofitable. One much quoted poetof Utah's Dixie in St. George wrote:The wind like fury here does blowTliat when we plant or sow, sir,We place one foot upon the seed,

And hold it till it grow s, sir.Then, in 1863, the editor of theLos Angeles News advised the grow-ing of cotton as an additional activ-ity for the Colorado Indians whowere already cultivating corn, beans,and melons. This suggestion stimula-ted so much interest that severalranches in El Monte planted cottonseed, the products of which were sentto an exhibition in France wherejudges regarded the California pro-duct equal to that grown in thesouthern states. By 1865 a number ofimmigrants had arrived looking forsuitable land for the cultivation ofthis staple, but as an industry itwasn't until almost a hundred yearslater that California cotton contribu-ted much to the state's economy.For use in textiles, cotton goesfar back into prehistory in bothhemispheres, although its archeologi-cal record is incom plete, as cottonfabrics and plant material have sur-vived only in the dr iest of areas. Suf-fice to say, however, a small frag-

ment of cotton fabric and piece ofcotton string were recovered from theneck of a silver vessel during the ex-cavations at Mahenjo-Daro in WestMarch, 1964 / Desert Maaazine / 21


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B.C. The rawmaterialwas indistinguish-of the indigen-inandboth the fabricg at that time theexistence of a

FOR YOURSPORTINGAN DVACATIONN E E D S

OR INFORMATION, SEE-STU GUMMER

82-880 Miles Downtown Indio

According to a current news re-lease from theSmithsonian Institu-tion, theearliest known textiles inthe New World were discovered byDr. Junius Bird at asite onthe northPeruvian coast known as theHuacaPrieta. The Huaca Prieta is amoundmade up of the occupation refuseof a people who did not usepotteryand did notgrow maize. They didgrow cotton, beans, andsome cucur-bits. At first sight theHuaca Prietatextile craft appeared primitive, buta recent reconstruction of a HuacaPrieta fabric has shown anunexpect-edly elaborate pattern worked intothe material. Even atthat date, about2400 B.C., the people of HuacaPrieta were beyond thestage of ex-perimenting with anew raw ma terial.

When Europeans first learned ofcotton, they described it bycompar-ing it to wool and for many yearscalled it "cotton wool." In the 5thcentury B.C. the Greek historian( ^ ROBERT L LIPPERTJr.'sDRAND

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Opening March, 1964

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EXPANDING WITHC O A C H E L L AV A L L E Y . . .The story of Coachella Valley is thestory of growth . . .Within thepast five years theaveragenumber ofresidential, commercial, industrial,an d agricultural customers served hasincreased over 35 percent.This growth hasrequired a capitalexpenditure by theDistrict of about$3,500,000 fortransmission anddistributionlines, transformers, substations, etc.,during this period.

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Herodotus wrote about a land inAsia where "the trees bore wool."Alexander theGreat referred to cot-ton as "thevegetable lamb of Tar-tary."As vital as its history is, its pre-sent faces fierce competition. In thiscountry weexport a larger percent-age than we retain for ourown use.Synthetic fibers present a seriousthreat to thecotton textile industry,even though their products are im-proved when combined with cotton, asno synthetically developed textureknown canduplicate thespecial ad-vantages that are cotton's alone inthemanufacture of bed sheets and warmweather clothing.Modern high speed equipment andmachinery both forpicking and gin-ning have reduced production costsenormously and recent advances inresearch financed bygrants from theCotton Producers Institute are ex-

pected to reduce them even more,thus placing cotton in a more com-petitive position costwise with syn-thetics.Tw o of these research projects dealwith insects which, throughout thecotton belt, nowcost growers theequivalent of seven cents perpoundof lint cotton. Scientists at theUni-versity ofCalifornia atRiverside haveto date found at least four differentgroups of compounds that show out-standing systematic activity and effec-tiveness against all test insects,and

a related project atStanford ResearchInstitute is aimed toward improvingpenetration and absorption of sys-temic insecticides andother agricul-tural chemicals by cottons leaves.A research team at Texas A8c MUniversity is amassing informationabout how theplant grows and pro-duces seed fiber which will enablescientists tobreak some of the bottle-necks in theindustry. University ofArizona scientists have found indi-cations that a combination of highnitrogen andsugar increases flower-ing, a fact which could increase cot-ton production bygetting theplantto setmore bolls at theproper time.New Mexico State University resear-chers areexperimenting with chemi-cals which, when put into a cottonplant, might make it resistant toverticillium wilt.Considering all this high-poweredthinking and work going on, it's un-likely that cotton will have any effectupon Coachella Valley industryother than one of progress, in spite

of certain government controls gearedto please cotton planters of thedeepsouth, but devilishly frustrating tothose ofprogressive Coachella Valley./ Desert Macrazine / March. 19B4


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Founder and for 22 years editor and publisher of Desert Maga zine, RandallHenderson has spent more than 50 years exploring the lands and moun-tains of the Am erican Desert. Through the pages of Desert Maga zine hehas created a "living desert" for millions of people who otherwise wouldthink of the desert as only arid wastelands. His bo ok, ON DESE RTTRAILS , published in 1961, is a factual and fascinating report of hisdesert experiences.

A LTHOUGH RANDALL Hen-derson's name has not beenlisted in DESERT Magazinetor more than five years, letters andmanuscripts addressed to him as edi-tor and publisher are received everyday. And they will probably be re-ceived for years to come, for the nameRandall Henderson is synonymouswith not only DESERT Magazine,but the entire American Desert.No one conquers the desert, butHenderson and his "old timer"friends know the desert as only those

who have lived on the arid lands be-fore the advent of air-conditionedhomes, cars and paved highways couldknow it. Those long time friends in-clude Indians, so called "desert rats",prospectors, artists, scientists, mission-aries, and nationally known figuressuch as Senator Barry Goldwater andSecretary of the Interior StewartUdall.Randall Henderson is not loved byevery one of his associates, but he isrespected by all. No man who hasused his physical and mental strengthto help settle the desert could be aPollyan na. He has been called stub-born, unreasonable and a man too

set in his own ways. If this is true,which his thousands of friends andadmirers will vehemently deny, it isthese very characteristics which wereneeded by the men who explored andsettled desert areas. The true desert,even today, is not for the timid norfor those incapable of making deci-sions and then lacking the strengthto put them in action.This is a story of Randall Hender-son. It is also an attempt to bring abetter understanding to the new des-ert dwellers of the concept of the so

called "old timers."Fifty-four years ago Henderson him-self was a newcomer to the desert.While attending the University ofCalifornia to study economics andsociology, he worked as a sports re-porter on the Los Angeles Times.His editor, Harry Carr, advised himto "leave this city rat race" and workfor a small newspaper, the dream ofevery old time newspaperman.After graduating from U.S.C., Hen-derson took the advice and gave uphis $21 a week salary on the Timesfor a $6 a week income as an appren-tice printer on the Parker, Arizonaweekly Post.

R A N D A L L H E N D E R S O N ,M a n o f t h e D e s e r t

B y J a c k P e p p e rTwo years later he joined the smallstaff of the Blythe, California Her-ald and later went to Calexico, a Cali-fornia town on the Mexican borderwhere he edited and published hisown paper until 1933 when he sold itto start a printing shop in El Centro.During those years he learned twothings; every phase of the newspaperand printing business, and to knowthe desert as only one who hikes orrides horseback into isolated areas inall kinds of weather can know thedesert.Both of these accomplishments werenecessary when Henderson and Wil-son McKinney, a newspaper associateand now editor of the California StateTeachers Journal, conceived the ideaof DESERT Magazine while sittingaround a campfire in the Santa RosaMountains.With only $6,000 capital, 600 char-ter subscribers, a few local advertiserswho invested more for friendship thanmonetary gain, Henderson and Mc-Kinney published the first issue ofDESERT Magazine on November 1,

1 9 3 7 . In the first issue, Henderson'seditorial, which has been widelyquoted for 27 years, entitled "ThereAre Two Deserts" was published:One is a grim desolate wasteland.It is the home of venomous reptilesand stinging insects, of vicious thorn-bearing plants and trees, and of un-

bearable heat. This is the desert seenby the stranger speeding along thehighway, impatient to be "out of thisdamnable coun try." It is the desertMarch, 1964 / Desert Magazine / 23


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whom a ny environment in unbear-of a pamperingIt is the con cept fostered

of the desert for th e profit itBut the stranger and th e unitiatedDesertDesertis not for the eyes of

he cyn ic. It is a land, theof w hich is hidden exceptunderstanding. To these the Des-offers rare gifts: health-giving sun-a sky that is studded with dia-a breeze that bears no poisonape of pastel colors such asduplicatethorn-coveredwhich during countless ages

that has triumphed over ter-To those who come to the Desert

come with courage, ith of character. Thoserelease fromorld of man-made troubles. Foreeking beauty, the Desert offersartistry. This is the

In commenting on this editorial

"The popular image of the desert

to the arid Southwest. Palm

"The desert has not changed, ex-

desert land. T o the old-timers,

before the days of air-conditioningand automobiles, the desert was achallenge, its summer heat somethingto be endured, horses and buckboardsquite adequate for our transporta-tion needs. For recreation we ex-plored canyons, tramped hills andmesas in quest of rare minerals, andplayed poker by the light of a kero-sene lamp. We lived close to the goodearth, arid as it was, and found it nohardship."A few of those who come to thedesert today still derive their satis-factions in hiking along ancient In-dian trails, camping at remote water-holes, learnin g the names and thehab its of the wildlife species whomthey accept as friends, and findingbeauty in the desert sunsets."For a great majority of those whocome today the lure is golf courses,tem peratu re - controlled swimmingpools, floor shows in swanky diningrooms, and speculation in the zoom-ing property values of resort areas."Yes, there is a bit of nostalgia inwhat I am saying. But the desert haslost none of its natu ral charm. Th ereare still thousands of little knowncanyons to be explored, traillessmountains to be climbed, rare speciesof plant life to be discovered, andlovely places where there is solitudefor those who are aware of the tonicvalue of close communion with thenatural world."Everybody needs beauty as wellas bread, wrote John Muir, placesto play in and pray in, where Naturemay heal and cheer and give strengthto body and soul alike."That was true when John Muirlived. It is a trut h of even greatersignificance today, for these are con-fusing times. While humans pushand crowd and burn themselves outin a crazy stampede for more profitsand higher wages and the satisfactionof personal vanities, Nature goesalong in her own serene way, undis-turbed by the petty bickerings of the

passing parade of homo sapiens."As one of the old-timers I do notresent the coming of golf carts andheated pools, cocktail parties andfabulous profits in real estate. I canlive with these things. But I do ob-ject to the Chamber of Commerce fic-tion that they are a gauge of 'pro-gress'. For the desert has taught methat the professor in my philosophyclass of long ago was right when hetold me that true progress takes placeonly in the human heart and mind-in the broadening of vision and un-derstanding, the strengthening of thequalities of tolerance and generosityand humility."

In starting DESERT Magazine in1937 Henderson not only created thefirst and only publication devoted tothe American Desert, which it still istoday, but opened a market for manywriters and artists who were first pub-lished in DESERT. These names in-clude Nell Murbarger, Lucile andHarold Weight, John Hilton, NinaPaul Shumway, Dr. Edmund Jaeger,and scores of others too numerous tolist.With World War II, Henderson,who had been a pilot in World WarI, again enlisted and asked for anassignment in the African deserts,"because I felt I could be of moreservice." Du ring his three years over-seas the magazine was run byhis daughter, Evonne Riddell, LucileWeight and Bess Stacy. "Maybe Ishould have left earlier," he recalls,"because under the direction of thegirls the magazine showed a profitfor the first time."While in Africa he decided to movethe location of DESERT Magazineto Palm D esert. T he move was de-layed until Henderson and otherswere able to get the road from Indioto Banning paved and establish aPalm Desert post office. His long timedream to house DESERT Magazinein a large building with a museum ofthe desert and have it as a meetingplace for writers, artists and scientistswas fulfilled when the present build-ing was completed and the first issuepublished in the new building on

August 1, 1948.But the desert museum section wasnot to materialize. Cost of the build-ing because of high post-war pricesfar exceeded his budget, preventinghim from establishing the museum.Instead he converted the large frontroom into a gallery which turned outto be an excellent idea. T he West'sgreatest painted have exhibited there.Henderson was active in establishingthe fine Desert Museum in PalmSprings.In World War II Henderson's sonand former hiking and constant com-panion was killed in action with theSecond Marine Division in the SouthPacific. W ith no one in his familyto assume the position as editor andpublisher of DESERT Magazine, onhis 70th birthday Henderson decidedto sell the publicatio n. Tw o yearslater he retired as publisher. Today,however, at 74, he is still active, ex-ploring the desert and writing ar-ticles for DESERT and other publi-cations to bring knowledge of the

desert to others and to fight for thepreservation of wilderness areas andthe desert he knows and loves. / / /


25/60

B y H a r r y J a m e sC A U T I O N S C I E N T I S T S A T W O R KA HIGH, TOUGH-to-climb fencechallenges people in differentways. Some of us react likemountaineers to a high mountainitis there, so it must be climbed. Othermore law-abiding soulsand we as-sume the reader is in this category-find it a sort of dare to their insati-able curiosity. What, they wonder,goes on behind that fence?

Our own curiosity was arousedwhen we first encountered the newhigh woven-wire fence across the en-trance to Deep Canyon a few milessouth of Palm Desert. The impera-tive "NO TRESPASSING" signs toldus that this is the property of theRegents of the University of Califor-nia, but they gave no indication ofwhat that august institution might beup to behind the fence, other thannoting that it was the Deep CanyonResearch Area. We wanted to knowmore.Having friends in the Life SciencesDepartment at the Riverside campusof the University, we made inquiry.This led to an invitation to visit thearea under the guidance of Lloyd P.

Tevis, Jr., of Rancho Mirage, a mem-ber of the research staff. We soon

learned why the chain link fence isnecessary and why admission to theArea must be very strictly limited tothe scientists working there, for onlyby such restriction can the ResearchArea fulfill the function for which ithas been established.

In its Deep Canyon Desert ResearchArea the University of California iscarrying on a variety of projects whichdemand that a sizable acreage of na-tural desert country remain undis-turbed. In fact, when the NationalScience Foundation sent a team topass on an application for a grantto aid in building permanent facili-ties, it stated that before such a grantcould be considered an adequatefence would have to be erected aroundthe property.Contrary to what many peoplethink, a desert landscape, indeed theentire ecology of the desert, is atruly fragile thing. Dr. Rodolfo Rui-b a l , Chairman of the Control Com-mittee for the Research Center andAssociate Professor of Zoology atUCR, is quoted as saying that "whena bulldozer or an earth-moving ma-

chine rips out vegetation, as manyas fifteen hum an generations may

pass before the area can look thesame again."Lloyd Tevis told us that before thechain link fence went up around theResearch Area, nurserymen took outtruckloads of ocotillo and barrel cac-t u s , jeeps deliberately smashed downsmoke trees and other plants, drovesof people littered the place with beercans, broken bottles, and other dis-card that has no place in a naturalarea. Frequently scientific equipmentwas stolen the moment the researchworker's back was turn ed. It was im-possible to make long-term studies

of plants and animals because of thedanger that thoughtless visitors woulddestroy or carry off specimens beforethe experiments were completed.So the forbidding fence just hadto go up. Genial Robert Worley,major-domo of the entire project,often has to play St. Peter at the gateand, like that celestial gate-keeper,far too often has to say, "Sorry, NO!"When Robert Worley says, "NO!"many a trespasser has found out, tohis sorrow, that he means, "No!"Contained within the ResearchArea is a great variety of desert coun-

D E E P C A N T O ND E S E R T R E S E A R C H A R EAU n i v e r s i t y o f C a l i f o r n i a

NOT R E S P A S S I N G

mMistmmennmtAIIA ifmnmuu mmtmm v tin same:mutt/mrou* was/itD O N O T E N T E R

ffiMarch , 1964 / Deser t Ma azine / 25


26/60

BOVE: ONE OF THE LARGEST DESERT BIGH ORN HERDS IN CALIFORNIA ROAMS THE DEEP CAN YO NREGION. TH IS IS THE MOST SPECTACULAR AN IMAL FOUND IN OUR DESERTS.OPP OSITE: PH ILIP L. BOYD , DESERT LOVER AND PAT RON OF THE DEEP C ANY ON DESERT RESEARCHAREA.BELOW: OLD IN D IAN TRAIL IS MARKED BY PILES OF STONES. SNOW-CAPPED MT. SAN GOR GON IORISES IN THE DISTANCE.

try, for the elevations run from amere 400 feet all the way up to 4600feet above sea level. At the higherlevels there are pinyon and juniperand at the lower levels palms, smoketrees, palo verdes, "desert willows",and cacti. Near the laboratory build-ings are the ruins of an old Indiansettlement, and back on the ridgeof Coyote Canyon are piles of smallrocks which mark an ancient trail tothe Indian villages that once existedaround Indian Wells and Salton Sea.To get the desert reseach projectstarted, Philip L. Boyd, a member ofthe Board of Regents of the Univer-sity of California, donated approxi-mately 1,500 acres of land to the Uni-versityquite a gift, when one con-siders present land prices in the area!Mr. Boyd was also the source of themoney for the purchase by the Uni-versity of three sections of govern-ment land. Indeed, the only tax-payer money used was for the fenceand some construction.Because of Mr. Boyd's generosityand his dedication to the developmentof the whole project, the Regents, ata meeting when Mr. Boyd was notpresent, decided to name the labora-tory center itself the "Philip L. BoydDesert Research Center." Followingthis action a sign was placed on thegate so designating it. Th e sign dis-appeared within a few days, and thereis a rumor that this act of "vandal-ism" was committed by none other

than the ever-modest Philip L. Boydhimself.Another important contributor toI he project was Mrs. Berthat R. M.Sperry who in memory of her hus-band, the late John L. Sperry, gaveconsiderable financial help with the

t o f t a,''2-. * .? .


27/60

construction and furnishing of thelaboratory building. The NationalScience Foundation also has givensizeable gran ts.Dr. Wilbur W. Mayhew and Dr.Lars H. Carpelan, both of the LifeSciences of UCR, worked with theBureau of Land Management to se-cure additional land to complete thelaboratory building, andLloyd P. Te-v i s , Jr. also played a vital role in the

Center's genesis. His earlier work asan associate with Caltech's mobiledesert laboratory proved invaluablewhen he transferred his activities tothe Center.Already in this great scientific pre-serve zoologists, botanists, ecologists,entomologists, herpetologists, and allthe rests' of the "ists," are art work.Speaking of herpetologists, one of themost astonishing sights to be seenthere is that of one of this ilk takingthe temperature of a husky rattle-snakehe doesn't put the thermome-

ter under thereptile's tongue!Of particular interest to many ofus areLloyd Tevis' studies of the des-ert bighorn, themost spectacular ani-mal found in our deserts. One of thelargest herds in California roams theDeep Canyon region. Recen t develop-ments in the general area have de-prived them of many of their oldwaterholes, and a particular hillsideonce favored by theewes for lambinghas been despoiled by a commercialdevelopm ent. Tevis sees reason forhoping that thebighorn may be ableto adapt to these changing conditionsand will manage to survive becauseofother waterholes and new lambingplaces which have permanent protec-tion within theResearch Area.Dr. Philip C. Wells, Assistant Pro-fessor of Botany at the University of

Kansas, made hisheadquarters at theCenter for several months whilestudying ancient packrat nests. These,he found, contained evidence of cli-matic variation and ecological changesin the nearby desert areas. Dr. H.Saint Girons of the Centre Nationalde la Recherche Scientifique of Paris,France, collected here material for hiswork on thecomparative histology ofthe endocrine gland of reptiles andof thecomparative ecology of reptilesin arid zones. Graduate student Wal-ter R. Moberly came from the Uni-versity of Michigan to work on thenatural history of our fat old friendthe chuckwalla. Dr. Jose M. Cei,Director of the Institute of Biology ofthe University of Cuyo in Argentina,has made a comparative study here oft h e ^ ecology of the Colorado Desertanc\the deserts of western Argentina.

The list is almost endless. Indeedit would be impossible to mention ina short article all the scientific pro-jects that already have been carriedon in this research area. The neces-sary need for desert research can bereadily comprehended when one con-siders thearid regions of Mexico, In-dia, Tunisia, Iraq, Australia, Israel,Egypt andSouth America.

In December 1963 Dr.Herman T.Spieth, Chancellor of UCR, an-nounced approval by the Board ofRegents of the Universtiy of Califor-nia of the establishment of a Dry

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Lands Research Institute at the River-side campus."The population explosion makesincreased utilization of these landsmore and more urgent," Dr. Spiethsaid at the time. He emphasized thatone-half of the earth's surface is arid,semi-arid, or sub-humid, and that thisarea contains one-third of the world'spopulation.The objectives of the Dry Lands In-stitute are "to foster a vigorous, co-ordinated, long-term scientific at-tack, involving collaboration acrossboth international and interdisciplin-atory boundaries, on understandingthe forces which contribute to stableand productive human use of the

physical, biotic, and cultural resourcesof the world's dry lands." (How reas-suring it is to note that the desert's"cultural resources" are to be givenconsideration!)Naturally, the Philip L. Boyd Des-ert Research Center will be an inval-uable laboratory for much of thetechnical work of the Institute, andwith the years it will have increasingimportance for all of us. So certainly

the fence that protects all these pro-jects within the Deep Canyon DesertResearch Area merits respect. The"No Trespassing" signs are more thandour warnings. They are requests,even demands, that the scientists be-hind the fence be permitted to carryon their work undisturbed.:

THREE RUGGED DESERT ELEVATIONS ARE CONT AINED IN DEEP CAN YO N DESERT RESEARCH AREA.

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By TomMurray

ABOT YERXA'S CASTLE

R ISING LIKE a geni's creationin the hills ofDesert Hot Springsis a massive four story pueblooften referred to as "themost fan-tastic structure in Southern Califor-nia."And somewhat of a geni's creationit is. Built by a strange man with astrange dream, Cabot Yerxa's Castleis amonument toancient Hopi struc-tures of NewMexico; a tribe whoseown existence contributed little moreto California than this architecturallegacy.A DESERT article (Nov.1952),describing theproject andwritten adecade ago when Yerxa was70yearsold and hadalready labored 10yearson it,stated that tocomplete the job

would would require 10years more.Apparently he finished on schedule,as thebizarre structure is consideredcompletenow.This, of course, no one butYerxacould know. Where it begins andends one wouldn't dare guess. Amidgreasewood, boulders anddesert sand,the pueblo's massive walls contain 35rooms, 65 doors and 140windows.It's foundation houses several caves.Yerxa doesn't like monotony, otherthan thepleasant monotony of desertlife, which, heexplains, is thereason

for thecastle's 30different roof levels.One advantage it has over conven-tional dwellings is that of a cost-free

water heater. Built over a hotwaterwell, thepueblo's water temperatureremains at a constant 126degrees.To build this fantastic structure,Yerxa labored for 19years

196403 desertmagazine 1964 march

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