197202 desert magazine 1972 february

8/14/2019 197202 Desert Magazine 1972 February

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FEBRUARY, 1972 50c

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D e s e r t M a g a z i n e B o o k S h o pARIZONA by David Muench. The f inest pictorialpresentat ion of the Grand Canyon State everpubl ished. One of the outstanding color photo-graphers of the wor ld, Muench has selected 160of his 4-color photographs which are augmentedby comprehensive text of David Toll . Hardcover,11x14 format, 200 heavy slick pages. Only$20.00 unt i l Dec. 31, t hen $25 . 00 .GHOST TOWNS OF THE WEST by the Editors ofSunset. Compares the past with the present andprovides both a de"ailed and overall picture ofthe early-day west. The outstanding collect ion ofhistoric photographs are matched by current-day photos by Will iam Carter. Hardcover, 1 1 x9format, heavy sl ick paper, 225 pages, maps,diagrams, etc. Only $9.95 unt i l December 31,then $1 1.75.SELDOM SEEN SLIM by Tom M u r r a y . Pro f i l es andvignettes of the colorful "single blanket jackassprospectors" who l ived and died as they lookedfor gold and silver in Decth Valley. Slick paper-back, exclusive photos of the old- t imers , 65pages, $3.00.DESERT OVERVIEW MAPS by Wes Chambers.Using topographic maps as basic underlays, Weshas compiled two excellent detai led maps forback country explorers of the Mojave and Color-ado Deserts. Maps show Highways, gravel roads,jeep trails plus historic routes and sites, oldwel ls , which are net on modern-day maps, p lusghost towns, Indian sites, etc. Mojave DesertOverview covers from U.S. 395 at Little Lake toBoulder Cify, Nevada, to Parker Dam to Victor-vi l le. Colorado Desert Overview covers from theMexican border to Joshua Tree National Monu-ment to Banning to the Arizona side of theColorado- S3.00 each. Re certain to state whichmap (or both) when order ing.GOLDEN MIRAGES by Philip A. Bailey. Out-ofpr int for more than 20 years, this was a collec-tor's item. A valuable book for lost mines andburied treasure buffs, it is beaut i fu l ly wr i t tenand qives first-hand interviews with old-t imer:-long since passed away. Excellent for researchand fascinat ing for arm-chair readers. Hardcover,i l lustrated, 353 pages, $9.95.BURIED TREASURE & LOST MINES by Frank Fish.On e of the original t reasure hunters providesdata on 93 lost bonanzas, many of which he per-sonally searched for. He died under mysteriouscircumstances in 1968 after leading an adven-turous l i fe. I l lustraied with photos and maps.Paperback, 68 pages, S2.00.DEAD MEN DO TELL TALES by Lake Erie Schaefer.A sequel to BURIED TREASURE & LOST MINES byFrank Fish, the author knew Fish for many yearsand claims he was murdered. Her book addsother information on alleged lost bonanzas, plusreasons why she thinks Fish did not die a naturaldeath as stated by the authorit ies. Paperback,i l lustrated, 80 pages, S3.00.CORONADO'S CHILDREN by J. Frank Doby. Ori-ginal ly publ ished ir 1930, this book about lostmines and buried treasures of the West, is aclassic and is as vital today as when f i rs t wr i t ten.Dobie was not only an adventurer , but a scholaran d a powerfu l wr i ter . A combinat ion of legendsand factual background. 'Hardcover, 376 pages,$3 . 95 .MAMMALS OF THE SOUTHWEST DESERTS byGeorge Olin. New y revised edition describesthe mammals of the deserts with art ist i l lustra-tions of the animc; Is and their footprints foreasy ident if icat io n Paperback, 1 12 pages,$1

MAMMALS OF DEEP CANYONBy R. MARK RYAN

As explained in an article in this issue,Deep Canyon is a cross section of theColorado Desert. Practically every speciesof animals and plants found in the lowerdesert areas of California and Arizona livein Deep Canyon, near Palm Desert andthe home of Desert Magazine. "Mammalsof Deep Canyon" is, therefore, a photo-graphic and descriptive manual for theidentification of more than 40 desertmammals found throughout the Southwest.Heavy paperback, close up photographsand drawings of the animals and geologi-cal formations, 137 pages.

$295LET'S GO PROSPECTING by Edward Arthur.Facts and how-to-do- i t on prospect ing are pre-sented by the auihor who has spent 30 yearssearching for gems and minerals in Cal i forn ia.For those who think there are no more valuablesleft in Cal i forn ia, they wi l l f ind a new f ield inthis informative book. Includes market ing data,maps, potent ial buyers for discoveries. Large8x10 format, i l lustrated, heavy paperback, 84pages, $3.95.A LIGHT HEARTED LOOK AT THE DESERT byChuck Waggin. A del ight fu l ly wr i t ten and illus-trated book on aesert animals which wil l beappreciated by both children and adults. Thesketches ore excellent and, al though fac tual ,descriptions make the animals seem l ike humanbeings. Large format, heavy quali ty paper, 94pages, $ 1.95.THE WEEKEND GOLD MINER by A. H. Ryan. Anelectronic physicist "bit ten by the gold bug,"the author has wri t ten a concise and in format ivebook for amateur prospectors tel l ing where andhow go ld is found and how it is separated andtested, all based on his own pract ical ex-perience. Paperback, 40 pages $1.50.

WHEN ORDERING BOOKSPLEASE

Add 50 cents PER ORDER(Not Each Book)

for handling and mailingCALIFORNIA RESIDENTS ALSO

AD D 5 PERCENT SALES TAXSend check or money order to Desert Maga-zine Book Shop, Palm Dssert, Cal i forn ia92260. Sorry , but wo cannot accept charges

or C.O.D. order?.

NEVADA GHOST TOWNS AND MINING CAMPSby Stanley W. Paher. Covering all of Nevada's17 counties, F'ahsr has documented 575 miningcamps, many of which have been erased fromthe earth. The book contains the greatest andmost complete collection cf historic photographsof Nevada ever published. This, coupled withhis excellent writ ing end map, creates a bookof last ing value. Large 9x11 format , 700photographs, hardcove' , 492 pages, $15.00MOCKEL'S DESERT FLOWER BOOK by Henry andBeverly Mockel. The wel l -known painter ofdesert wildf lowers l ias combined his four-colorsketches and black and whi te photographs todescribe in detai l so the layman can easilyident i fy w i ldf lowers , both large and smal l .Microscopic detail makes this an outstandingbook for ident if icat ion. Special compressed f ibercover which wil l not stain. 54 ful l-color i l lustra-t ions wi th 72 l i fe-size drawings and 39 photo-graphs, 316 pages, $5.95.EXPLORING DEATH VALLEY by Ruth Kirk. Goodphotos and maps with t ime est imates from placeto place and geology, natural history andhuman interest information included. Paperback.$1 . 95 .LOST MINES & BURIED TREASURES ALONG THEOLD FRONTIER by John D. Mitchell The secondof Mitchell's books on lost mines which was out-of -pr int for many years is avai lab le again. Manyof these appeared in DESERT Mgazine yearsaq o and these issues are no longer available.New reader", wil l want to read these. Containsthe original mao f irst published with tho bookan d one pinpoint ing the areas of lost mines.Mitch ell's persona! m search and invest igat ionhas aone into the book. Hardcover, ?40 pages,$7 . 50 .COLORFUL DESERT WILDFLOWERS by Grace andOnas Ward. Segreaated into categories of red,blue, white and yel low for easier ident if icat ion,there are 1 90 four--"olor photos of f lowers foundin the Moiave . Colorado and Western Arizonadeserts, all of which also have common andscientific names plus descriptions. Heavy, slickpaperback. $4.50.ANZA-BORREGO DESERT GUIDE by Horace Par-ker. Third edit ion of this well- i l lustrated anddocumented book is enlarged considerably. Topsamong guidebooks, it is equally recommendedfor research material in an area that was crossedby Anza, Kit Carson, the Mormon Battal ion,49ers, Railroad Survey parties, Pegleg Smith, theJackass Mai l , Butter field Stage, and today'sadventurous tourists 139 pages, cardboardcover, $3.50.CALIFORNIA by David Muench and Ray At-keson. Two of the West's greatest color pho-tographers have presented their f inest worksto create the vibrat ions of the oceans, lakes,mountains and deserts of California. Theirphotographic presentat ions, combined with themoving text of David Toll, makes this a classicin Western Americana. Large 11x14 format ,heavy slick paper, hardcover, 200 4 -colorphotographs, 186 pages, $25.00.LOST MINES OF THE GREAT SOUTHWEST by JohnD. Mitchell. The first of Mitchell's lost minebooks is now available after having been out ofprint for years. Reproduced from the or ig inalcopy and containing 54 articles based on ac-counts from people Mitchell interviewed. Hespent his ent ire adult l i fe invest igat ing reportsand legends of lost mines and treasures of theSouthwest. Hardcover, i l lustrated, 175 pages,$7.50.

FOR COMPLETE BOOK CATALOG WRITE TO DESERT MAGAZINE, PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA 92260


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WILLIAM KNYVETT, PUBLISHERJACK PEPPER, EDITOR

GEORGE BRAGA, An DirectorMARY FRANCES STRONG, Field Trip EditorE N I D C. H O W A R D Utah Associate EditorG L E N N V A R G A S , Lapidary EditorK. L. B O Y N T O N , NaturalistJ A C K D E L A N E Y . Stafj Writer

Volume 35, Number I FEBRUARY, 1972

CONTENTSF E A T U R E S

THE COVER:Nest led between two highmountain ranges, colorfulCoachella Valley in South-ern California's RiversideCounty has a warm winterclimate and offers dramaticphotographic scenes such asthe palms and smoke treenear Thousand Palms. Cali-fornia by David Muench,of Santa Barbara, Califor-nia.

( A M P M I D D E N SVE RBOT E N!

"H E DID IT HIS WAY . . . "DE E P CANYON' S DE SE RT WOR L D

BL OODST ONE IN THE OROCOPIASFLORA, FAUNA, AND 4-WHEELS

ARIZONA 'S BULL RUNLAKE CAHUILLAK A N G A R O O RAT

RECIPES FOR M'LADYT H E MEDJHOOL

Helen WalkerKen MarquissBessie MarquissJack PepperMary Frances StrongJack P epperJanice BeatyJack SheppardK. L. BoyntonVarious Uses of Datesfee Birch

D E P A R T M E N T SA PEEK IN THE PUBLISHER'S POKE William Knyvett

BOOK REVIEWS Jack P epperDESERT LIFE Hans Baerwald

CALENDAR OF EVENTSRAM BL I NG ON ROCKS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Club ActivitiesGlenn andMartha VargasReaders' Comments

ELTA SHIVELY, Executive Secretary MARVEL .BARRETT. Circulation Manager

EDITORIAL, CIRCULATION AND ADVERTISING OFFICES: 74-109 Larrea St., Palm Desert, California 92260. Telephone Area Code714 3-16-8141 Listed in Standard Rate and Data. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Uni ted States, Canada and Mexico; 1 year, $5.00; 2 years$9-50; 3 years SI '-.()() Other foreign subscribers add $1.00 U.S. currency for each year. See Subscription Order Form in this issue. Allowfive weeks for change of address and send both new and old addresses with zip codes. DESERT Magazine is published monthly. Secondclass postage paid at Palm Desert, California and at additional mailing offices under Act of March 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1972by DESERT Magazine and permission to reproduce any or all contents must be secured in writing. Unsolicited manuscripts and photo-graphs WILL NOT BE RETURNED unless accompanied by a self-addressed and stamped envelope.


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P . D . Q . -A S AC A B B I N G A N DP R E - F O R M I N GU N I T , S H O W N

I N P I C T U R EArbor to mount dishor disk (sold onlyMotor speed with the dish orcontrol $1 5.9 5 disk) $5 .00Off-set shaftto mount 4" Flat Starlap . . . $3.95la p pan $2.50 v ia l of thinner for

5 " lap pan wi th diamond compound $.50hose $5 .95 Diamond compound to useDiamond dish or on maple spoolsflat disk; 4" 1200 gri t $5.501 8 0 grit $36.30 8000 grit $4.002 6 0 grit $31.00 14000 grit $4.006 0 0 grit $26 .00 Maple spools on arbor,1 2 0 0 grit $25.00 right or left I V J " $3.00C A B H E A T E R a n d W A X P O TNO OPEN FIRESSize 4" x 6" Complete with Cord . . .$9.95Cast aluminum to last a lifetime. Plug it injust the right temperatureNot too hot to ruinw ax or make it brittle. Heat cabochons on asbestospa d on heater.

No Mess Try OneYou won't part with it!!

MODEL 3A TUMBLERO N E B A R R E L 3 L B . C A P A C I T Y$9.95 complete

Outstanding features of Models 3A and 33BGem Sparkle Tumblers are:

Special molded heavy duty plastic barrelfo r long, long l i fe. Will polish up to 3pounds of rock in each barrel. Positive sealing screw type lid with neo-prene lid gasket.

SEND FOR NEWCATALOG # 9SHIPLEY'SMINERAL HOUSE

On Hwy. 160 in southwest Colorado, 18 mileseast of Durango or l l / 2 miles west of Bayfield.Mailing Address:SHIPLEY'S MINERAL HOUSE, GemVillage,Bayfield D, Colorado 81122Phone: 303-884-2632LOTTIE M. SHIPLEY

D | ES ERT MAGAZINE through the yearshas acquired a dedicated followingof those who love the Southwest. Men andwomen from all walks of life have come tofeel the publication is their magazine andw e , on the other hand, feel the readers areou r family. With this in mind, 1 want toshare with you a behind-the-scenes eventin this issue.

Most of you are familiar with articles byKen Marquiss, whose adventures in look-in g for lost mines and treasures have ap-peared frequently in DESERT. This issue-contains his manuscript titled "Verboten !"

W h e n Ken asked Bessie, his wife, who types the final draft of his stoneswha t she thought of it, she said, "Oh, it's all r ight but it has a lousy title, it shouldhave something real catchy like 'Why Men Leave Hom e' . And you left out all the inter-es t ing things!" Ken denied omitting anything and Bessie retaliated by saying, "I oughtto write the real account and sendit in . . ." Ken at this junctureissued the classic "You wouldn ' tdare!" Well , Bess ie Marquiss didtoo dare and we received her manu-script which she intended to be in-cluded into Ken's article. When weread it we felt that it could standon its own merits and that thereaders would enjoy it. We calledKen and explained that we'd like-to run both stories but would henot let Bessie know because we weresure she would not agree. After 36years of a no-secrets marriage ittook some talking to convince Kenit was the thing to do. Now comesthe great double surprise. Not onlydoes Bessie not know we are print-in g her entire story, but Ken doesn ' tknow what she ha;, written ! Canyou imagine the Marquiss home-when DESERT arrives this month?Congratulat ions to a great couplew h o , by sharing with the readers their "His and Her s" experiences, have added greatlyto the informal style of family reading that is DESERT Magazine.

Ken and Bessie One secret in % years.

As in past years, this month's issue is devoted to Southern California andespecially Coachella Valley, home of DESERT Magazine and the Riverside County's26th annual National Date festival, February 18 through 27. in this regard, we haveincluded two pages of date recipes for the ladies. Nature lovers will enjoy K. L. Boyn-ton's treatment of the small kangaroo rat and rockhounds will want to head for thehills after reading Mary Frances Strong's article on collecting bloodstones in the Oro-copia Mountains .


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D e s e r t M a g a z i n e ' s G a t e w a y T o A d v e n t u r e !One hundred and twenty miles east of LosAngeles and northeast of San Diego is thecommunity of Palm Desert and the homeof DESERT Magazine. It is the hub of avast recreation area which includes River-side, San Bernardino, Imperial and SanDiego Counties. Within this area are hun-dreds of miles of back-country passengercar roads and a myriad of four-wheel-drivetrailsall leading to adventure for rock-

hounds, bottle collectors, history buffs,lost mine explorers, photographers andnature lovers. In add ition to runnin g manyarticles on these areas we have an Informa-tion Center at our offices in Palm Desert,and will be happy to suggest places toexplore and things to see during your trip.So the next time you are in our area, stopby our Information Center and browse inthe Book and Gift Shop.

FOR A SUBSCRIPTION TO DESERT MAG AZINE, USE COUPON ON PAGE 49

B O O K a n d \G IF T S H O P

Western Books Note CardsWestern Prints Treasure MapsOil Paintings Gold PansStationery Ore Specimens

I n d i a n C r a f t C o r n e rFeaturing a selection of authenticAmerican Indian crafts. Gift itemsinclude earrings, pendants, roadrunner

pins, bracelets and bolo ties.S e n d f o rF r e e B o o k C a t a l o g


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Coliente SendsUIHER6 I T ' S FUfl T O STflY HOfT1635-100 Date Palm Dr.Palm Springs, CA 92262(714)328-5814

MOBILECOUNTRYCLUB

COMMUNITY

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E n j o y it Oil.You'll relax in our therapeutic pool. Or, splash around in our largeheated swimming pool. Or, chalk your cue in our billiard room. There will be lots ofother entertaining reasons to live here, too. Separate sauna baths. Crisp clean air.Relaxation. A card room. Beautiful sunsets. Four covered professional shuffleboardcourts. Recreation. A luxurious clubhouse with an auditorium, stage, and completekitchen and banquet facilities. Caliente Sands is the one mobile home communitythat has it all. Stop by. Sink an eight ball in the side pocket and see where 118happy families including young adults age 15 and over will enjoy fun living.

H A P P Y S I G N OF P R O G R E S SWhen CVCWD pipeline crews arc seen atwork as in the above photo, you can be sure

new facilities are being readied somore families may establish their homes and beginenjoying the happy, contented existence

of our great desert empire.CVCWD now serves pure, urban water to

more than 8.300 homes and businesses.

Domestic Water DivisionC O A C H E L L A V A L L E Y C O U N T Y W A T E R D I S T R I C T

Your Local Governmental Agency ActiveIn Six Related Fields of Water Service

P.O. Box 10S8, Coachella, Calif. 922 36 VOffice: Southern Edge of Coachella 398- 2651

B o o kR e v i e w sby Jack Pepper

M i a i l l l J ' i i l l l l l l l ll l H I I i l l l l l l l l lH I l E H l l l l l l l l l l l l l l i a i l K I l l ll l l| l ll l5 i C l l:1 " ! l ! l S ! " ! i , ! ll i [ l : i l lH H i 1 ! l l l l lHr ! II,i! i M l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l ll l l i n i

All books reviewed are available throughDeserf Magazine Book Shop

DESKRTGEMTRAILS

Mary VranccsStrong

kO ne of the most popular and authorita-

tive books on the Mojave and ColoradoDeser ts for rockhounds and back countryexplorers is once again available in asec-ond revised edition.

Mary Frances Strong, who combines adegree in geology with years of field tripexperience, has completely updated herdetailed guide book which has been onthebest seller list since first published inI 966.

Since she first started writing aftergraduation from college, her articles haveappeared in national and regional publi-cations. Two years ago she accepted theposition of Field Tr ip Editor of DesertMagazine and her articles now appearevery m o n t h in this publ icat ion.

W i t h her husband, Jerry, who is thephotogr apher in the husband-wife team,and their dog, Lobo, Mary Frances re-visited nearly all of the sites described inhe r first edition in order to show changesin access roads, availability ol materialsand whether the areas are still open to thepublic. The new edition also includesmany other new collecting areas.

An outs tanding car tographer , she hasrevised and updated her 89 detailed mapsin the new book, each one of which istied to a check point that can be foundon regular oil company road maps.

The maps cover over 90 separate lo-calities in the Mojave and Colorado Des-erts of California and adjacent areas inNevada. Over 200 individual collecting


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sites for gemstones. minerals and fossilsare described.

Each locality description includes dataabout road conditions, camp sites, facili-ties, availability of supplies and points ofspecial interest with thumbnail his tor icalinformation if pertinent. Symbols on themaps show areas of special interest suchas Indian camp sites, petroglyphs , wild-flowers and unusual or picturesque geo-logic or scenic attractions.

Although primarily directed to gem,mineral and fossil hobbyists, the new Des-ers Gem Trails is also for those who wanta guide to explore. I he back country. Read-ers of the first edition will also be pleasedto find the new book is set in much morereadable type pi us bette r reproduc tionof the maps.

Designed to be carried or f it in theglove compartment of a car, the newguide is heavy slid. : paperback, 80 pages,an d (believe it or not ) is still the sameprice as the first edition, $2.00.

COMMONEDIBLE ANDUSEFUL PLANTSOF THE WEST

ByMuriel Street

How the Indians, pioneers and earlySpanish-American- used many of the com-mon wild plants of the W'est for food,health tonics, bui ding shelters and mak-ing artifacts is described in this book.

W rit ten in eas j- t i' -unders tand languageand illustrated with black and white detailed drawings of the plants, it also in-cludes interesting facts about the forgottenlore of many of the plants.

The plants arc Arranged in five cate-gories for identif ication: water plants andferns and their allies, trees, shrubs, herbsand vines. Description of the color of theplants also helps i:i identification, alongwith geographical location and habitats.

Th e author also ias identif ied poison-ous plants and describes in detail how toavoid them. She has been collecting andidentifying plant:- many years and is con-sidered an author tv on the subject. Heavypaperback, 64 pages , S i .50.

T H EI N D I A N SA N D IByPeter Odens

A newspaper columnist and author offour previous books, Peter Odens and hisOriental wife have been exploring theW est for 18 years and du ring that timehave gained the fr iendship and trust ofhundreds of Indians with whom they havevisited and lived.

The fact that Odens is of dark complex-ion and his wife is often mistaken for anIndian has helped them in their initialcontact with Indians. However, it is theirdesire to understand the people they meetthat turns the original contacts into lastingfriendships. As his wife states:

"Indians seem to feel his sincerity, sym-pathy and understanding, and this is whythey are at ease with him and talk to himfreely. I, as an Oriental, who looks likean Indian, can act as a door opener andhelp him in the early part of the inter-view."

Odens writes in a style reminiscent ofErnie Pyle and it is this down-to-earthwriting, combined with his ability as a re-porter to delve into intimate details thatmakes The Indians and I an unusual book.

As stated before, this reviewer is grati-fied to see the renascence of interest in theIndian culture of our country.

Writers like Peter Odens are contribut-ing toward this appreciation of our Ameri-can heritage. Paperback, illustrated withinteres t ing photographs , 89 pages , $2.00.

NOTICE all the books re-viewed in DESERT Maga-zine are available throughthe Desert Magazine BookShop. Please add 50 centsper order (not per book)for handling and postage.California residents mustalso add 5 percent salestax for the total amount of

books.

A I N B O W ' SE N D . . .begins with a

T R E A S U R E L O C A T O R '

" C O M M A N D E R " 7 20T h i s G o l d a k T r e a s u r eLocator is unsurpassed forlocat ing buried t reasure,coins. Civil War relics andfor beachcombing. Features"Tell-Tone" Signal. Locatesany metal object under dirt,sand, mud, rock, etc. Nocumbersome cords-com-pletely transistorized, bat-tery powered.

When it comes to find-ing your pot of gold, gowith the leader go withGoldak!EFFECTIVE DEPTH RANGE(Under Normal Conditions)

Sta r t ou t r i gh t -se nd $1 .00 p re -paid for authent ic gold-p latedreplica of a Spanish doubloonfound off Cape Kennedy.GOLDAK COMPANY, INC .

1101-A Air WayGiendale, California 91201

I] Please send free l i tera ture on GOLDAK trea-sure locators. I enclose $1.00 prepaid for my gold-plateddoubloon repl ica wi th pouch.NameAddress -City

v Sta te - - Z i p -


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r

. - . - " . , *****

CAMP MIDDENSK ITCHEN MIDDENS is a t e r m u s e d byarcheologists to describe the re-fuse dumps, trash and personal belong-ings that have been abandoned by pre-historic Indians or by unknown persons .

W e who travel the back roads frequent-ly encounter old mining camps and ghosttowns . The curiosity aroused by visitingsuch sites is somewhat satisf ied when oneknows a few facts about dating the mid-dens.

Mining activities can be classified intofour periods of habitation in the westernUnited States. The oldest sites are thoseoccupied before I 900. Camps existing be-tween 1900 and W o r l d War I, are includ-ed in the second group. The third periodcovers the 1920s and early 1930s, and thelast group takes in activities after the 30s,and brings us up to recent days.

O ld tin cans are usually found scatteredin and around old deserted diggings. Rust-ed from exposure and often half buried in

by Helen If you feel you

much time slavstove, tell your

Walkerhave spent too

p'ng over a hotfamily you are

leaving your kitchen for another.Then quickly ecplain the other"kitchen" is a midden which canbe shared by the entire family.Within .these kit:hen middens canbe found old bottles of all shapesand colors, door knobs, candle-stick holders, sc uare nails, vasesand other collector items, plusancient sea sheshards, arrowhe*facts.So if you are dofrom too much!for an outdoor darily exchange yikitchen midden.

Us, Indians pot-ds and other arti-wn in the dumpshousework, headump and tempor-our kitchen for a

the sand, they arc a real clue to dating themiddens . Preserving food in cans was in-troduced by Great Britain as early as183 i, and by 1890 they were shippinglarge quantities to the United States.These earl) ' tin cans were made by twomethods of manufacture either by fold-in g the seams, or by soldering them. Afterbeing filled with material, lids were ap-plied in the same manner. A small holewas pierced in the top to let expandingair escape during sterilization the hole-later closed with a dr op of solder. If youare fortunate enough to find a can withthese features, you have discovered a siteof probably pre-1900 days.

It was dur ing the second period oftime that new methods of manufactur ingchanged the tin cans. These new typeshad crimped seams and ends. Dur ing the'30s, another identification of cans isnoted -bright color printing appeared,an d the familiar tr iangular opening of


9/52

Some p refer a metal detectorto a shovel for exploring. Enjoyyour search, but do not destroy.

beverage cans was universal. The brightmetal cans you see in or near old campsites, belong to the most recent groupthey are of alumi: mm.

Old bottles arc always exciting to findespecially it you can date them. Liketin cans- bottles lav e a colorful history.Manufacturing of glass was one of thefirst industrial ventures of the early col-onist. The factory was located at James-town in the earl) 800s, and they pro-duced, primarily, bottles and glass beadsto trade with the Indians.

These first bottles are easily distin-guished by the seam that extends alongthe sides, and comes to an end on theneck ---some times the seam is straigh t,and som etimes it is curved . From th ispoint, the bottle maker finished the bot-tle by hand. He heated the fractured neckand bound a band of molten glass aroundthe end of it. W il l this addition, he f in-ished shaping tin: inside and outside ofthe neck. The opening at the top wasfashioned to receive a cork stopper. Bot-tles as described above are for the mostpart pre-1900 vintage.

Soon after 1900, bottles were machinemade. However, it was not until afterWor ld War I that the new bottles reach-ed mining camps in an y quantify. Y ouwill recognize these machine-made bottlesby the seam that extends the full lengthof the bottle and even over the lip of theneck.

An other chang e n bottles took place inthe earl) ' 1900s the cork stopper was re-placed by a bottle caw Some of these new-er necks were sti I hand fashioned. Theyhad a r inged neck, sometimes calledcrowns. Screw top bottles and Mason can-ning jars were introduced in 1858.

For accurate dating of your bottlefinds, it is suggested that you try one ofthe many good bottle and glass hand-books, available al the Desert Magazine-Book Shop.

Most old mining camps or cabin sitesseemed to be paved with glistening glassfragments -another due to dat ing thehabitation of" an area. An abundant cover-age of purple pieces will indicate occu-pancy pr ior to Wor ld War I . The newercamp sites will ha\c: a high percentage ofclear glass. Nearly all the glass found in

S J


10/52

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Some of thebottles found bythe author andmembers of her

family during apleasantweekend digging among

kitchen middens.

and around old camps was at the begin-ning, clear glass. Its exposure to sunlighthas caused photo-chemical changes in themanganese oxide in the glass, thus caus-ing the clear glass to turn purple.

The length of time for this color changeto take place depends on several factorscomposit ion of the glass, the manganesecontent, and its exposure t ime in the sun.Under optimum conditions, color changema)' occur in a month or Jess.

You mayfind bottles that, for one rea-son or another, are partially buried. Inthis case, the portion above the groundwill be colored, while the part below theground surface will be the original clearglass. Some bottles turned in color beforetheir gummed labels wore off-look forcolor variations on these bottles.

Depth of color is often affected by thecolor of the background on which thebottle rests. Violet color seems to acceler-ate color changewhile black or brown

seems to retard color change.Regulations of materials came when

bottles were machine made. Our modernglass contains less than 0.001 r/< manga-nese, and0 .002 ' ', iron. Glass that chang-ed from clear, to shades of purple, contained more than 0A f/r , and in some instancesas high as I.O'r manganese. Deepness ofcolor is in relationship to this percentagecontent.

Some bottles found at old camp sitehave corroded surfaces, while others showan iridescence. This condition is a resulof excessive alkali in the mix contentnamely sodium. Much of the utility glasused in early days was created from a mture of soda-lime and silica it wasknown as soda-lime glass. These chemicals, like others, were regulated whenglass became machine made

Bottles were made in other colors besides clear. You may find bottles that arblue, amber, green and some brown. Nomatter what the color the dating method s are the same.

Besides tin cans and glass, there are nmerous other tell-tale means for datinthe m i d d e n s . Cooking utensils ranthrough a series of changes tin, coatedand finally aluminum. Newspapers andmagazines were often used for insulatioin walls, and if care is taken, these may bretrieved without damaging the buildingsSquare nails are often found in old buildings or in loose boardsthis is your clu

III


11/52

that the place was inhabited pr ior to 1900.Camps of the third period, 1920s and

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Ther e is no generation gap in the mid-dens- -we are leavi >;.;ourmark for futureadventurers to recover. Ourbeverage cansnow open with a pull r i n g - c o u n t l e s smillions of these rings are tossed asideeach day. A great percentage of the cansalso come to rest along roadsides or inpicnic areas. These discards are of alumi-num, a product tl at is im m une to rust,and resists corrosion.

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.

^

"HeDidItHismy..."by Bessie Marquiss

I T STARTED out so simply. There itwas. An authentic, f irst hand, bona-fide, coded treasure map; completewith code key to decipher it, and evenwith additional brief directions of theroute to reach the area. With goodweather and a week's time, sure Kennycould walk r ight up to it!

That was 20 eye-opening years ago.There has been good, fair and badweather; and too many tr ips to count,some up to a month long. By truck, byburro, on foot, by planebut no mine.

For over half our married life, wehave brooded over, discussed, plannedfor, saved for, been disappointed in,and taken innumerable tr ips to theSanta Rosas, seeking that lost Indianmine. The youngest of our three child-ren cannot remember when Daddy' slife d idn ' t include Santa Rosa tr ips.

The older ones can recall the edays of being cautioned to be carnot to say exactly where Daddy looking for a mine this time, lest soone else get wind of the map hezealously pondered over, and locatbefore he had the chance.

So indoctrinated have the chilbeen to his travels, that when 1 to sing lullabies, and reached theevitable "Daddy' s gone a-hunting,f ind a little rabbit skin . . . " the would rear up his little head and test loyally, "No, No! Daddy's gto the desert!"

W h e n he returned unsuccessfrom his second trip, one of my friasked with interest, "Does he kabout where it is yet?" And 1 ansed, "Not really; but he knows splaces where it isn' t."

12


13/52

For 20 years Ken Marquiss, author and veteran treasure hunter, has searched for a lost gold mine in therugged Santa Rosa Mountains. Today he is calling it quits. In this dramatic account he explains why he isabandoning the searchand why he thinks someone will eventually find the Lost White Papoose Mine.

ALONG TIME ago, a certain cold eyed,disenchanting Infernal Revenue Ser-

vice bureaucrat-surgeon (who used com-puter juice for blood and a big red pencilfor a scalp el) once diagnose d my desert-roaming hardrock prospecting and lostmine chasing as "Uh huh ; strictly ahobby. Mis ter !"

And in the light of its subsequent lop-sided fun -to-profits ratio lie ma)' havebeen right.

Anyway, in the entire course of thislifetime "hobby," (inly twice, at differenttimes, have I ever 1 eld in my h and s w hatI considered to be a genuine original lostmine or treasure waybill.

Th e f irst one ga\ e directions to a b igcache of raw placer gold buried in a picklecrock beside a big ock about 72 stepsfrom the door or a ruined cabin on thebanks of a river in the far north, aboutthe time of the Alaskan gold rush.

The second one gave step-by-step direc-tions, with a map, to ;. r ich gold ore lodefar back on a remote ridge in the twistedvertical labyrinth of what is now knownas the Santa Rosa Mountains in SouthernCalifornia's Riverside County.

Since I had to work for a living, andthere were the prime factors of groceries,housing, kids and clothes to be consider-ed ( to say nothing of staying within thepatience of a wonderfully good-na tured,long suffering wife") I naturally concen-trated on the closer subject.

Now, some 20 years of scattered sparetime hunting later , I am convinced thechoice was a mistake-not in logic, butbecause of those diabolical mountains. I twould have been cheaper in time, andmoney, to have pinched my pennies forone slam-bang trip to the rim of theArctic.The colorful Santa Rosa range makesa 6,000 to 8,000 foot high divider be-tween the Palm Springs-Coachella Valleyarea to the north, and the Anza-Borregograben valleys to the south. The fact thatthere was not (an d is not today ) anywherefor almost 50 miles a road across thosemountains even for a jeep shouldhave tipped me off to w hat 1 was gettin ginto.

The) ' are the most deceptive range ofmountains in which I have ever done-back packing. Unlike the brooding hori-

zon backdrop of the Arizona Supersti-tions, the Santa Rosas don't look excitingfrom a distance. Gold hunting in thoseSuperstitions is tough enoug h, but pros-pecting in the Santa Rosas is sort of liketeaching a lesson to a smart aleck littleguy who turns out to be a cool experiencedslugger. You're in close before you real-ize you are headed for trouble 1

It all seemed simple enough to startwit h; and I bum ped into the businessquite by accident.

One crisp fall Saturday in 'M when Ilived in Red lands, C alifornia, 1 was tail-high busy on the innards of my balk)'jeep, when a long-time friend and neigh-bor drove into her adjoining driveway andhonked the horn.

She had been to some kind of seminarin Palm Springs and handed me a copy ofa localized publication of the time printedthere. It contained a long-winded storyabout a prominent Palm Springs womanwho had once looked for a lost mine in theneighbor ing mountains .

Figu ring it was just another vagu e "lostmine" yarn, I tried to appear gratefulbut as soon as the neighbor was out of

There certainly was. And up that. . . " A little n orth and to th en the topo, some tiny printin gind ica ted "Tanks . . . " W ha t

could one ask? Onl) someone

directions; furthermore he insisted themud flats he encountered could geo-logically harbor no ore-bearing rock.So he tried instead to find the desig-nated Indian trail; did manage to lo-cate some Indian symbols and a rockhouse. But not in sequence, and with-out a "white rock standing like a sen-tinel on guard."

We decided a view trom the airwould save valuable time and cut downwalking and packing supplies . With arented camera, he flew survey trips,overlapping the shots he took so hecould have them enlarged and examineevenings. What sometimes looked tome like a flaw in the negative, he sawas an ore dump; or a water tank; orpossibly a mine shaft. So in on foot foranother tr ip to verify or rule it out.

The miles he covered took their tollon boot leather. W e became well ac-

quainted with the local cobbler; and hein turn grew so interested in the searchthat occasionally he would hand backthe re-soled high boots and say cheer-full)', "No charge this time. Maybe itwill bring luck."

The jeep tried valiantly to hold theload of gear such out of the way placesdemand, and still plow up the sand) 'washes or climb the impossible rocks.Then it seemed that a camper whichwould afford both packing and livingspace would eliminate having to set upcamp part ot the time. So in 19^9 aFord truck took its place in our garage.A few years later a trail bike seemedthe perfect answer to getting up nar-row washes without having to back-pack such a load, so a Tote Gote wasadded. But always it ended up withbeing a lot of leg work for in no otherway can these canyons be conquered.


14/52

isight I tossed the magazine on the garageworkbench and went back to my repairjob.

So it was almost a m onth before 1 gotaround to sorting the meat from thefeathers of the story -a nd then I had ajolt! The article had a picture of the map;the wording of which seemed to be most-ly numbers.

As 1 slowly turned the ma p picture thisway and that someth ing clicked. T sud-denly recognized the area, and I couldsee if the map had been drawn in 1874

P.- T,as the story indicatedthat the map maker ,did indeed know his area. There werethings indicated that did not show onm oder n m aps !

The reason was dur ing Wor ld War 11I had volunteered for duty with the Cali-fornia State Guard. Late the next spring,after a severe thunder storm on the Bor-rego Desert, our Company K, along withseveral other adjoining outfits , was order-ed into the Anza-Borrego area to hunt fora f light of planes being ferried from Tuc-son that had vanished in the storm.

In a typical "spike camp'' highin the Santa Rosa Mountains, th eauthor fights the cold windsas he lights a fire for itmeager breakfast.

So I really got to know the south andwest sides of the Santa Rosa Mountainsand that was why the Palm Springs woman's map made such an impression. (W enever did find the planes, and the firsstorm-smashed wreckage was not spotteduntil about 16 years later, far to the southIt's still a big desert.)

The more I looked at the map the louder the little golden greed gongs reverberated in the back ol my head; and the ob-vious next step was to check the documen ts for kosher so T got busy on th ephone. Eventually I was able to set up ameeting at the home of the owner of thewaybill.My host turned out to be a Mrs. ZaddieBunker, a most gracious lad}1; who hadtea and cakes waiting when I drove intoher Palm Springs place at the appointedtime. (She later gained a certain measu reof fame when she became interested inflying, bought a plane and earned herpilot's ticket anil entered the PowderpuffDerb y all at an age that caused the newsmedia to tag her as "the flying grand-mo th er" .) She was one of the very earlyresidents of Palm Springs, and was cutfrom the fine stuff of the real pioneers.

Consequently, weight is always aproblem. A couple of times he arrang-ed for pack burros to take him in andcall back 10 days or so later. D ehy drat -ed food is a delight if there has beena recent ram, but as a rule it's necessaryto carry in every bit of drinking waterand cooking water; he felt lucky if helocated enough alkali water for wash-ing. Here is where instant coffee wonout just because of the wasted waterneeded to soak up regular grounds .The height of cutting down on spareounces came the time I caught himmethodic all)' unrolli ng toilet p aper, sohe wouldn' t have to carry the cardboardtube it came on !

In their teens, the boys each accom-panied him occasionally. Jo hn go t somebeautiful color snapshots, and a host ofmemor ies ; among them was the endlessjoggling of the vitamin pills in his

father's pack on the trail just ahead.Charles was along the time they foundan airdrop of a quantity of cannedfood on an isolated ridge and enjoyedsome delicious, though dented, peachesand tomato juice.

The source was a mystery until astate park man identified it as a fooddrop to a troop of Boy Scouts on a re-mote pack-in hike some months pre-viously. As a rule he had the moun-tains entirely to himself, but over therears he did meet three or four otherback country hikers. Always one tocarry snake bite kits, he has been sur-prised the past several years to havefound no rattlers around.

When our city enacted a well en-forced leash law, and we sympathizedwith our formerly carefree dachshundwho felt being tied to the clotheslinewas punishment, Kenny decided to

take him on a trip too. We forgorough the terrain was, and aftsecond day he decided to go no on foot himself, but perched rock and waited to be rescued. Sried out he was, slung scarf-like Kenny's shoulders. A tr ip back tlands returned him to civilizatiosafety, and Kenny went back to his search alone again.

Yes, except tor our boys, he wways alone. He is a loner type oplans ahead for all potential knows best what he likes andmuch he needs in supplies.

Having hiked up canyon afteyon without finding the neededhe at last decided there was somamiss with the directions. Mayowner was trying to protect the wanted to leave his treasure to bing it secret to an outsider, but b

14


15/52

This gracious lady passed away severalyears ago.

There was no question of the age of thefaded brittle papers she showed me. Themap was drawn or unlined writing papercommonly used in the 1 S6Os and the dir-ections in a cleverly worked out double-numeral code had been written on thepages of an 1 87 I diary. At the top of eachpage, th e day of the week and the datewere printed, encased in the scrollwork-curlicues that were the vogue of thosedays.

The story that Zi.dclie told me was evenmore fascinating

She said that in the early 1920s she andher husband, Ed, had been running asmall hotel and garage in Palm Springs.Ed was a good Model T mechanic, andfor several years an older woman hadcome in each fall for Ed to tune up andcheck her car for travel on the desert. So,in time, she and Zaddie became verygood fr iends. T he wo man 's nam e wasF.ll en Bru ckm ann .

Eventually, around 1925 1 think, Ellencame in one late spring day after a winteron the desert to have Ed check her car forthe return trip to J.os Angeles. She sadlytold Zaddie she wouldn' t be seeing hermuch anj- more and that because of herage she was going to have to give up aproject she had loped would make hervery rich.

That evening at the hotel, Ellen filled

Marquiss' trail bike is loadedwith a small tent and other gear

as he prepares to head forhigher country and establish a

"spike camp."Zaddie in on the details of the project.She said that when she had been a girlback in St. Louis her widowed motherhad run a boarding house to make aliving.

One day a deeply sun-browned, quietsort of man who walked with a limp,asked at the door for a room. He stated hewas tired, didn' t feel too well, and want-ed to rest up for a week or so. He wa s re -served in conduct and courteous at mealsand was a welcome guest. He paid in ad-vance in gold coin.

Within the week, however, it becameevident the boarder was much sicker thanhe had f irst thought, and a doctor wascalled in. He prescribed some medicineand said he would call back in a few days.

The doctor's second visit was all badnews. He diagnosed the boarder 's illnessas terminal and gently suggested theboarder wind up his affairs as best hecould as soon as possible.

The next morning the boarder askedfor some writing materials. A couple ofdays la ter when Mrs . Bruckmann broughthis supper tray, he asked if she wouldbring Ellen as he had something he want-ed to tell them.

V ;'He said that he cou ldn 't find any rela-

tives because he actually didn't know hisown last name. This was due to his par-ents having been a part of a small pre-f e r wagon train going west and he was

only a small lad just old enough to vague-ly remember the trip.

At the first light ol the second dawn atan oasis the little band if immigrants washit by an Indian war part}', and the butch-ery was swift an d efficient. The boy wasmarked for death too, but he fought backso wildly the admiring war chief decided

some missingFor exam ple : Follow all

except substitutetime it appears.led nowhere, hewest. When i t

Rabbit Peak, per-

On one occasion, late in 1969, hefelt he had found the right search

followed by snow,within weeks he

finale. Until he was100 yards of it lie thought he

it to be a rare andfault in the cliff.

Once he had to leave his gear, eventhe Tote Gote, covered and stashedaway and make it out on foot just aheadof a flooding rain. Several times theweather turned so hot so suddenly hewas obliged to come out for morewater. One severe wind caught hi m an dtore away his tent, air mattress andmuch other light equipment.

One snow storm caught him unpre-pared and he made a fast tr ip to River-side to buy a down (which w e had al -ways felt was a luxury we could not af-ford) sleeping bag on credit. The sea-sons are changeable there. You maywait for weeks for the thermometer todrop below a hundred, but when i tdoes it drops 40 degrees in a few days.

Time after time he has made the"last tr ip. There's no other place tolook." But after being home awhile, hebegins to wonder about another can-

yon; and, wondering, begins to buildit up as a possibility; until in a fewmonths there's a good chance it justmight be there. But this time he saysnot.

Years are creeping up, and it takeslonger to get rested and free of theaching weariness that miles of up anddown hiking br ing on. Promis ingthough the story still is, there must bean answer. Perhaps a flood, perhaps anearthquake has obliterated the essen-tial clues.

Life without the Santa Rosa dreamis hard to visualize. Other travels,other yarns, will doubtless attract, butseldom is there one to which is devoteda score of years. At least, in the wordsof the current song, he can think backon all his experiences and console him-self with the conviction, "1 did it MYway."


16/52

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this snarling little white papoose wouldmake a good Indian ! And so he was takeninto the tr ibe.

There are gaps in the story that Zaddiesaid Ellen didn't clear Liplike where theboy learned his "readin' and writin' ."and where he picked up his mining ex-perience. But she did say that on a bigh ornhunting tr ip the Indians showed theadopted member a ledge of fantasticallyrich "jewelry rock" gold ore, remindinghim it was strictly for Indians!

The boarder gave Mrs. Bruckmann themap he had drawn, the coded directionsand a slip of paper with the key to thecode he had worked out. He told her tokeep each in a separate safe place because,as he told her over and over, it was thesecret to a bonanza r ich gold mine.

He also willed to her, in return for hermany kindnesses, all of his personal be-longings ; remarking wis tful lyand witha little bitterness as he did sothat nowat least he had "sort of a family."

Before the month was out the doctor 'sdiagnosis proved correct and the contentsof his small flat trunk and the batteredleather suitcase bought the boarder a prop-er funeral.

The luggage had contained a surprisingamount of minted gold coin, a smallsc|uare English biscuit tin full of roughsurfaced raw gold that averaged aboutwheat grain to corn kernel size, and threesample pieces of dark, reddish brown oreof about crabapple dimension all sprinkl-ed with little chips and threads of the yel-low metal. The burial was in 1874.

It was not until several years after hermother 's death that Ellen sold the homeand came west to look for her mine. Shetold Za dd ie that year after year she wou ldcome to the area and then hire a Mexi-can with a str ing of burros to wranglethe animals and set up base camps in theSanta Rosas. From these camps she usedto search on foot, year after weary year,without one glimmer of encouragement.Always those brooding peaks and darkcanyons seemed to silently growl "VER-B O T E N ! "

And now she had to admit it was allover, and her golden hopes were shatter-ed .

Zaddie tr ied to console Ellen as bestshe could, and then she had an idea for apossible solution. If Ellen had a reallygood set of directions that she could nolonger work on herself, why not giveZad die the map? Ed was a comp etent out-

doorsman and they would go out and seeif they could find Ellen's mine for her onshares.

The idea appealed to Ellen so Zaddierode to Eos Angeles with her where El-len took the waybill from her safe depositbox at a bank and gave it to Zaddie. How-ever, it was not until late the next springthe search became a reality.

Burros were loaded on a truck, and thepack trip actually started at a ranch nearwhat is now the Oasis School. Their luckwas no better than Ellen's and, weary anilfootsore, they were glad to see the truckagain. An unseasonal heat spell had hit,the burros were more balk)' than usualand Ed suffered a minor heat stroke try-in g to load them back on the truck. Hisillness threw the full management bur-den on Zaddie, so it was some time be-fore she got around to contacting Ellento report their lack of success. When she-did, she learned that Ellen had passedaway a couple of weeks before.

So the waybill was put away betweenthe pages of a book "unti l next time 'since there was nothing they could do tohelp Ellen any more Some time later Zad-die and Ed came to the parting of theways, and a divorce followed. The way-bill in the book was forgotten and therewasn' t any "next time" lost-mine huntingvacation.

F o r g o t t e n t h a t i s , u n t i l e a r l y 1 9 5 1 ,when Zaddie was having dinner withfriends and the talk drifted to the storiesand legends oi the Palm Springs area-talk that included the well known storyof the Indian know n as Fig Tree fohn,and the shin)' rich ore-nuggets he period-ically broug ht back I mm the mou ntain s toswap tor food, booze and the gaudy trink-ets that delighted his heart.

He regularly wintered at a brush shacka couple of miles from Fish Springs (nowknown as Desert Shores Resort on theSalton Sea, just off High way 86 ) ; ami itwas from there he was reputed to have dis-appeared into the mountains to the westfor three or four days whenever he need-ed swapping stock.

Unlike the white man, Fig Tree |ohnwasn' t hoggish and took out only enoughfor his current wants, and he could keephis mouth shut so he took the secret of histreasure vein with him when he "wentto join the old chiefs."

W hen Zadd ie joked that it migh t havebeen Fig Tree John's Mine she was actu-ally hunting a quarter century before, one


17/52

of the guests-the publication editorsmelled a story and ultimately persuadedher to let him write up her experiences forhis readers.

Zaddie told me that since the informa-tion was already public knowledge, shedidn't expect" a cut; but I had "better bedarn sure" she go: the first and best sam-ples of ore 1 cut from the vein, as mantelsouvenirs, [ust to prove to certain peopleshe wasn't a fibber

So we laughed and shook hands on thedeal, and I promised the orea promise1 was never able to keep.

[ was high all the way homefor, withthe shorthand record in the notebook andwith prints of the documents safely stow-ed in my briefcase I felt like a nine yearold with a new birthday bike. I also feltas sad as an Irishman on tranquilizers, be-cause I knew it would be a month or twobefore the job I was on would wind upand I could really take a whack at thelost mine! I was sure someone else wouldfind the ledge before I had a chance atit, the directions looked so good. If I hadonly known those Santa Rosas then, as Tknow them now, 1 could have saved my-self quarts of adrenalin!

On the free weekends while the jobwas run ning , I busied myself checkingand double checking equipment and try-ing to contact Ed Bunker. Eventually wego t together, and hci gene rously ga ve meall the time I wanted.

He verified the basics of the story, andgave me some of the details I was hunt-ing. He said that the ore was not iron-heavy quartz as 1 :iad thou ght, but a verydark brown close-knit granular rock. Hesaid he had quizzed Ellen, and she hadmaintained there were tw o paystreaks inthe vein, separate.) by about a foot "ofsoft stuff" (she probably meant gouge) .His impression was that the dip was al-most vertical, and the strike was veryclose to north-soirh.

He said Ellen indicated the originalowner had "closed t ip" the entrance be-fore he left: and that he had not shippedout or e by pack annual as in common prac-tice, but had merel) taken the best of thehighgrade to a nearby pothole water sup-ply, where he mortared i t up and pannedout the metal.

He said Ellen had "about two inches ina big seltzer bottle' of the original gold,and the rough-sided configuration of th e

Continued on Page 40

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The Palm Springs AerialTramway affords fantas-tic view of the Coachel-la Valley from 8,516foot mountain station.Dine in the AlpineRoom above the valleybelow.Fifty-four miles of hik-ing tra ils in Mt. San Ja-cinto Wilderness StatePark.Tramway is an ideal set-ting for club meetings,conventions and specialevents.Open daily from 10a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Lastcar down the mountain7:30 p.m.Always plenty of freeparking.

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Four-wheel-drive safaris into the backcountry of Coachella Valley andother scenic areas of Southern Cali-fornia can now be enjoyed by all.

P ALM DESKRT is known as the "GolfCapital of the World." I t is the homeof the Bob Hope Desert Classic and theEisenhower Medical Research Center andhas more tha n "30 motels and resort hotels,a dozen 18-hole golf courses and a myriadof elaborate mobile home complexes.

When residents are asked the geogra-phical location of the Southern Californiacommunity they invariably reply that"Palm Spring s is located 11 miles west ofus . "

Palm Desert, Palm Springs and otherresort comm unities along State 1 1 I (whichparallels U.S. Interstate 10, 120 milessouth of Los Angeles) are publicized innational publications as being the play-

W B.

U - r

Even thoughpulling the chuckwagon, the four-wheel-drive Blazerseasily travel downa sandy wash.


19/52

George Service andBill Knyvett,

publisher of DesertMagazine,

(opposite page)discuss geologicalformation of theMecca Hils. Thecaravan makes a

stop at the entranceof Hidden Canyon(right) so DesertExpedition's two

mascots can explorethe area in their

own way.

ground for the "golf and country clubset."

Palm Desert has another face which isnot as well known. As extolled by DesertMagazine, it is the hub of a vast recrea-tional wheel within which are located theSanta Rosa Mountains and its resort com-munities, the Salton Sea, Anza-BorregoState Park, San Jacinto Mountains with itsTramway and wilderness area, San Ber-nardino National Fores t and the "highdesert" which includes the Joshua TreeNat iona l Monum ent .

These are only a few of the scenicareas which attract thousands of outdoorenthusiasts to the Coachella Valley whichhas dozens of private and public parks toaccommodate the campers and traveltrailers of families from the metropolitanareas.

All of the before mentioned attractionscan be reached on paved highways or goodgravel roads by passenger car . There arehundreds of other secluded areas wherethe wonders of Nature are still in a pris-

tine state and where families can findpeaceful isolation.

In these isolated spots you can walkthrough the desert and enjoy the minia-ture f lowers which cannot be seen exceptby foot, photograph the many small anj-mals and birds, or hike up mountain can-yons in search of precious stones, remainsof prehistoric Indians and old mines andwatch for wild burros, coyotes, kit fox andbighorn sheep.

These areas can only be reached by four-wheel-drive vehicles. Today, passenger carfamilies who have once tasted the thrill ofexploring the semi-back country are nowinvesting in four-wheel drives as theirsecond car so they can enjoy these areasof the West.

(This is evidenced by the people whostop by Desert Magazine's InformationCenter in Palm Desert and who proudlyshow off their "new rigs" and exchangeviews on the best types of tires, two-wayradios and other off-road vehicle equip-m ent . )

As a result of an enterprising formerbanking executive who turned his 1 5-year-old hobby of exploring the back countryinto a business, people without 4 W D ve-hicles can now see these wilderness areasaround the Coachella Valley.

Taking a cue from the safari guides inArizona and Utah, George Service lastyear established Desert Expeditions, Inc. ,and today is one of only a few four-wheel-drive back country guides in Southern Cali-fornia, and the only one in Riverside andSan Bernardino Counties.

His one-day (or longer) tours includetrips into the little-known parts of An*a-Borrego State Park, Joshua Tree NationalMonument (where he is the only licensedguide) , the his tor ic Dale Mining Dis tr ic tin the "high desert" and Death Valley.He also has half-day trips into nearbyareas in Coachella Valley.

One of his interesting excursions is intothe Mecca Hills at the base of the LittleSan Bernardino Mountains where the SanContinued on P age b\

19


20/52

BLOODSTONEIN THEOROCOPIAS

byMary FrancesS t r o n g

Photos byJerry Strong

BloodstonenearCanyon Spring 0 R 0 C 0 P I A

I N FEBRUARY, winter still has a tena-cious hold on many parts of the GreatSouthwest. Cool, damp fog embraces thecoastal areas; frost and snow visit themountains; while chil l ing winds sweepthe high desert and plateau regions.

Rock collectors begin planning trips tothe southern desert where high moun-tains encircle sea level elevations. Thus,protected from the majority of winterstorms, the Coachella Valley in Califor-nia's Riverside County enjoys a balmyclime. If you haven't explored Salt CreekWash or the Canyon Spring areaandadded a nice bloodstone specimen to yourcollectionthis is the time to go!

The temperature at our desert moun-tain home was hovering at 32 degreeswhen I casually asked the other member


21/52

A C a l i f o r n i a F i e ld T r ip

The high railroad trestle (opposite page)marki I be end of the road forpassenger cars; only 4WD vehicles

can continue. Eroded sandstone(right) forms a geological fairylandnear Canyon Spring tvhich is a good

camp site. Author holds anexcellent specimen of bloodstone

(below) which she found in theseam behind her hand.

\mrw ;:. ISIGN' Road passableto 4-W-Donly*

(Good campsi tes east of sign)

M T N S

of the team, "How about checking outSalt Creek Wash and seeing if any blood-stone remains n:.-ar Canyon Spring?" Jer-ry's answer was enthusiastically in theaffirmative.

Four hours later found us peeling offjackets and rolling down windows as wedrove south of Indio in H4 degree weather.Our route followed Highway I 1 1 to thesign "Salton Sea State Recreational Area"where we turned left onto Parks ide Dr ive.In just over two miles, we reached theCoachella Canal and headed east alongthe graded road paralleling its length.

W e passed the turnoff to the DosPalmas Ranch once a way-station alongthe old Bradshav. Stage Road. Here, wearytravelers could refresh themselves, trytheir luck at gaming tables and enjoy an

Riverside County

overnight rest before continuing theirtravels. Dos Palmas also f igures in the an-nals of stories about buried treasures.

One of the stages was held up, robbedof its cargo of raw gold while all on boardwere murdered. Not long af terwards , aman was drin king heavily at the DosPalmas bar and paying for his liquor withraw gold. He was arrested and later shotwhen trying to escape. Th e gold wasnever recovered and is believed to beburied somewhere along the BradshawRoad-possibly near Dos Palmas.

Continuing along the canal we saw sev-eral f ishing parties whose answer to ourinquiry about their luck was, "Caughtsome dandy catfish." Just over six- milesfrom our entry onto the canal road weturned left and began a leisurely climb

over the alluvial fingers of the OrocopiaMountains. We were now following theroute of the Old Bradshaw Road.

A rumbling sound caught our attentionand then, in the distance, we saw theheavily loaded F.agle Mountain ore trainsnaking its way through the hills on thelong downward slope to a junction withthe Southern Pacific Railroad.

W e crossed the tracks, entered SaltCreek Wash and were confronted with asign "Passable to iWD Only." At thispoint, five miles from the canal, the signis best heeded as heavy sand lies ahead.


22/52

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A good, open camping area will befound near the hills, east of the sign.W a t c h for the faint tracks leading tothem. Trailers maybetaken to this loca-tion, which makes anexcellent base camp.

A short distance northeast, we droveunder a high railroad trestle and in abouta tenth of amile theroad disappeared !

Salt Creek Wash is a main drainagechannel and it wasquite apparent thatvolumes of water had recently roareddown its course. Thewash hadconsider-ably widened andformer landmarks wereerased.

Exploring four-wheelers and dune bug-gies hadmarked a trail through thesand)sections. Wekept to thegravelly groundwhich still had a slight crust on it. In do-in g so, wewere following along theeast-ern edge of the wash and missed the turn-off into the canyon (unnamed onthe topo-graphical map of theregion) - 2.1 milesfrom thetrestle. Wewere also unable tolocate the ruins of Canyon Spring StageStation. Weeither missed them or theyhad been washed away by thetorrents ofwater which had severely scoured out thearea.

Tur n ing a r ound , weheaded forthe dis-tinctive hill marking theentrance to thecanyon which contains thespring and thebloodstone deposits. The road wasquitepassable once wewere out of Salt CreekW a s h .The drive up thecanyon is a trip into ageological fairyland. Erosion hascarvedout an array of colorful sandstone forma-tions which rise directly from thegravel-bottomed wash. It takes only a smallamount of imagination to seeDisneylandcharacters as youdrive through the nar-row passageways between them.

Of particular interest are the severalfine exposures of ripple marks. They seemto indicate that thesandstone wasorigin-aly deposited in a prehistoric lake;com-

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22


23/52

parted, uplif ted and tilted by mighty geo-logical forces.

The canyon branches .7 of a mile fromSalt Creek Wash. This area is a goodcampsite for four-wheelers. Collecting be-gins at this point and the bloodstone willbe found intermittently throughout thearea.

Jerry and 1 continued up the leftbranch for another . of a mile where wespotted a f ine outcrop of bloodstone onthe right-hand side of the road. This loca-tion is marked on the m ap.

I worked on a seam in the hillside while|errv scouted the area. He reported ma-terial could be found in numerous loca-tions in the dark horizon. I had carefullyfollowed the seam xn d the first speci-mens seemed a bit granular but the mater-ial improved as I du g deeper. Jerry re-turned to help me with my project andwe were rewarded with several good speci-mens which should cut into beautifulcabochons.

W ha t is blood stone? De finitions willva r y . However , Dana- - The Author i ty -states heliotrope, or bloodstone, is a typeof chalcedony or plasma, usually with auniform green or grayish-green color, sub-

translucent to opaque, that contains redspots of iron-oxide or red jasper resem-bling spots of blood.

T h e Canyon Spring material fits thisdescription. It has good, green color andspecimens with "splotches" of red are tobe found. Specimens containing "spots ofred" are not common but they do occurhere.

Do not expect to f ind unlimitedamounts of top quality gem material atthis location. The fact that it requireshard digging and a bit of luck is why thisarea is still open to collecting. Had goodmaterial been easily available this depositwould have been under claim long ago.

Returning down the canyon we stoppedto photograph Canyon Springa tiny,clear pool in an extremely arid region. Ican only hope the writing of this article-will not result in any vandalism of thespring. But then, perhaps,~I needn' t worry.Four-wheelers, dune buggy enthusiastsand rockhounds love and respect the des-ert back country. I feel sure they will dotheir part in helping to protect the desert 'secology. Salt Creek Wash and CanyonSpring will remain as we left itan un-cluttered refuge for the desert explorer. Q

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24/52

Same of the canyonsin the Mecca Hills(left) are just wid eenough to allow entry.Cieovge Service(below) serves hispassengers lunch fromhis specially designed

.'. jj i ' chuck wagon.

FLORA, FAUNA, AND 4-WHEELSContinued from Page 19

Andreas earthquake fault line appears.(Don't get shook -you are safer therethan in f.os Angeles since there is nothingto fall on you in case the earth trembles.)

Trips also include exploration of Hid-den Spring and its wild palm oasis andthe Grotto, a cave once used by prehistoricIndians. En route to these points of inter-

, r

est on a recent tr ip we drove throughwashes and canyons where smoke trees,palo verde trees and a myriad of desertplants somehow survive in the arid wilder-ness.

Having explored the back country ofSouthern Califonia for many years andthus being familiar with the deserts andmountains, Service can schedule his tr ipsinto those areas which will be of interestto his passengers.

Rockhounds ar e taken into gem hunt-ing areas such as the Orocopia Moun-tains, Wiley Well areas, Turtle Moun-tains or other prime collecting locations.For those who want to visit old mines andrelive the past, a trip into the Dale MiningDistrict is scheduled.

Photographers usually want to go toareas where there are colorful desert wild-flowers such as the Anza-Borrego StatePark where the best selection ol plant lifeis m the washes, most of which can onlybe reached by four-wheel-drive.

Photographers and writers from nation-al and western publications and scientistsdoing desert research also rely on the ser-vices of Desert Expeditions.

Service's two new Chevrolet Blazersar e fully equipped with two-way radios,air condit ioning and special seats for thecomfort of his passengers. 1'or those wholike the open air, he has equipped one ofthe Blazers with a soft top which givesgreater viewing through the large win-dows, or which can be completely re-moved.

Regardless ol whether it is a half-daytrip or an excursion of several days. Ser-vice pulls his special trailer which con-tains overnight camping equipment, wa -ter, ice chests and a complete chuckwagon.

George Service and his associate, |imDavis, are not only veteran back countrydrivers, the}1 are also well versed in geol-ogy and biology and are thus a source ofinformation during the tours.

W h e t h e r you go on a guided tour orhave your own four-wheel-drive equip-ment, you will find a back country tripinto the wilderness areas around PalmDesert will be a new world of natureand adventure .

Scorpions are desert dwellers thatshould be avoided. Their tails containpoison which is extremely painful and,in some cases fatal, especially to smallchildren. Note the stinger in this close-up by Hans Baerwald.


25/52


26/52

cDeepCanyon's( D y(Desert

W INDING THROUGH the Santa RosaMountains of Southern Califor-nia's Riverside County, the Palms to PinesHighway descends 6,000 feet from the re-sort community of Idyllwild to Palm Des-ert, nestled against the foot of the moun-tains only 200 feet above sea level.Along U.S. Highway 74 recently de-signated a California State Scenic Route-is a vista point 2,000 feet above the valleyfloor offering a panoramic view of theSalton Sea and Mexico to the southwest

by Jack Pepperand on the eastern horizon the Little SanBernardino Mountains with sprawlingCoachella Valley and Palm Desert in theforeground.

Directly below the vantage point can beseen Deep Canyon, once a huntinggrounds for prehistoric Indians and todayan observing grounds providin g biologists,nature buffs and families with a first-handand capsule view of desert animals, plants,shrubs and flowers.Located on the alluvial fan between the

Nine of the dozens of desert plants at The Oasis and along the Nature Trail of the Living Desert Re-serve are shown in the color photograph and identified in the outline above: 1 Sandpaper Plant,2 Cheeseweed, 3 Creosote Bush, 4 Arrowweed, 5 Cat Tails, 6 Fan Palm, 7 Palo Verde, 8 SilverCholla, and 9 Teddy Bear Cholla.


27/52

.*% + r


28/52

Dr. R. B. Cowles, University of California biologist, and Deana Turner (above)examine a specimen of mistletoe whose seeds are carried by the P bainopepla. KarenFowler, resident na turalist of the Living D esert Museum , and her husband, George,

(below) inspect a pool at the Nature Trail,

mountain cliffs of Deep Canyon are TheLiving Desert Rerserve and the Philip L.Boyd Desert Research Center, the latterof which is administered by the Universityof California at Riverside and hosts scien-tists from throughout the world.

Due to long range experiments and thusthe need to keep the Research ('enter (lo-cated several miles up the canyon fromthe Living Rese rve) in a pristine state forecological research, the complex is fencedoff and the entrance locked. However, ar-rangements can be made by hikers, artists,photographers and other interested per-sons to enter the area.

Results of the continuing experimentsand projects of the Research Center arc-graphically presented at the public-orient-ed Living Desert which is open ever)- dayfrom 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. EX CE PT Mon-

Habits of the majestic bighorn sheepare studied at Desert Research Center-days. Here can be seen how desert plantsand animals survive under extreme cli-matic conditions- -conditions under whichHomo sapiens would not last for verylong.

Before describing the operations of thetwo complexes, let's first examine DeepCanyon in relation to other desert areasin the Southwest and see why it is so im-portant from an ecological standpoint.

Consisting of approximately 120,000square miles, the Sonoran Desert includesportions of Sonora (Mexico), southernArizona, southeastern California and thenortheastern part of Baja (Mexico) Cali-fornia. One of the six major divisions ofthe Sonoran is the Colorado Desert whichextends from the Mojave Desert (a higherand region) on the north into Mexico andis bordered on both sides by mountainranges. An inland desert, it is mostly ator slightly above sea level. Within thisColorado Desert are Coachella and Im-


29/52

penal Valleys and Deep Canyon.From its source at 7,500 feet elevation

in the Santa Rosa Mountains, Deep Can-yon plung es dow n between sheer cliffs foreight miles until i: forms the alluvial fanat th e mouth of the canyon. It is in thisarea the ecological studies are conducted.Their importance is described in R. MarkRyan's fascinating book Mammals ofDeep Canyon. (See Page 2.)" T h e Colorado Desert of Southern Cali-fornia is an especially suitable region tostudy the ecology ol and land inhabitants.Results of studies in desert ecology areparticularly meaningful in such a region.Because the most severe drought condi-tions exist there, the extremes of environ-ment and specialized adaption have al-ready been reached.

" T h e Colorado Desert is considered re-presentative of a "true" desert cl imateand is the only on e in the North Ameri -can continent similar to other desertsaround the world Results of ecologicalstudies performed in the Colorado Desert ,theref ore, can b;: com pared to those ofsimilar studies in the major deserts ofSouth America, Australia, Asia, the Mid-dle Fast and Africa.

"Immediately in the vicinity of DeepCanyon are a number of distinct habitatsthat are distributed within three verticallife zones from below sea level up to

One of the recentinternational visitors

to the researchcenter was

Hubert Saint Girons,P rofessor of Biology

from P aris, France.He is using a snare

for capturinglizards forcomparison with

similar Europeanspecimens.

10,000 feet elevation . . . Th e nativemammals within these habitats form animportant segment of the vertebratecommunity, as they do in similar regionsthroughout the world.

"The mammals inhabi t ing the DeepCanyon area are herbivorous, carnivorousor insectivorous in diet. They includelarge ungulates (hoofed animals) to smallrodents. Their habits are fossorial (bur-rowing) , sal tatonal (hopping) , ter rest ial ,arboreal, or volant ( f l y ing) . They are

both diurnal and nocturnal in activity, an dthey respond to the extremes of the deserenvironment by seasonal hibernation, es-tivation or migration.

"In other words, the mammals of DeepCanyon are widely diversified, both inpopulations and numbers of species, inall life zones and in the various habitatsof the area. Forty species ol wild mammals are now recorded there and probablyanoth er I I species are pre sent."

The vegetation oi Deep Canyon ranges

Aerial view uf theLiving Desert

Reserve's two mainbuildings with star! of

the Nature Trail andhiking area hi the

background.Expansion of the

facilities is currentlyin progress.


30/52

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from a forest of pinyons and junipers atthe upper borders to creosote brush scrubof the f loodplain. There are nine speciesof cacti, the most prominent of which areth e beavertail, the " j u m p i n g " cholla andthe barrel cactus.

Other plants of the hills are the ocotillo,quickly turning green after rains and thendr opping its leaves for the dry spells; thedesert agave whose sprouting f lower stemslook like giant asparagus and are relishedby bighorn sheep. Conspicuous plants ofthe washes are the smoke tree, palo verdeand desert willow. There are also groupsof palm trees.

P r om inen t am ong the migratory birdsar e the phainopepla, which nests in thepalo verde trees and gorges itself on theberries of the mistletoe parasiting thosetrees, the white-crowned sparrow, thewestern blue bird and Costa ' s humming-bird. Residents includes the Gambel quail,linnet, golden eagle, loggerhead shrikeand mockingbird.

As in other parts of the desert, there isalso a wide variety of lizards and snakes.

T h e vegetation, birds and lizards andsome of the mamma'.s described abovecan be seen daily at the Living DesertRe-serve which is located at the m outh ofDeep Canyon at the pavement end ofSouth Portalo, only a few miles from PalmDeser t . As its name implies, the Reserveis not a museum with static displays, butrather an outdoor adventure in the C olo-rado Desert.

Less than a year ago the site ofThe Liv-Canyon Tours'" co wbo y sk i p p e r " ArtGreene sez:

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ing Desert Reserve wasa small "NatureTrai l" which had been neglected and thesigns partially destroyed byvandals. Real-i z i n g a n e e d l o ra n a r e a w h e r e f a m i l i e scould see the "living desert" under con-trolled condit ions , CIVIC leaders formed anon-profit membership organization call-ed the Living Desert Association which isa division of the Palm Springs DesertMuseum.

As soon as donations from membersstarted coming in thegroup obtained thefull-time services of Karen Sausnian asResident Naturalist and began construc-tion of two buildings, theplans forwhich

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31/52

JI

i . ~

. _.

were donated by ohn Outcault , PalmDesert architect . Within a few monthsMiss Sausman (now Mrs. George Fowler)had restored the Mature Trail, added sev-eral miles of hiking trails and supervisedthe construction ol the buildings.

Forma] dedication of the new LivingDesert Reserve and opening of the twobuildings is scheduled for the end of Jan-uary. The buildings house a lecture andexhibit hall, office aid library space, work-shop areas and quarters for a grounds su-per in tendent in addition to the entranceand information center.

Visitors to the Reserve during the nextfew months should realize all of this hasbeen accomplished within one year andthat the complex is still in its first stagesof development. Plans call for a largerdesert garden, addit ional hiking trails,shade and information ramadas and livedioramas to present the animals and plantsof Deep Canyon.

Recognizing the importance of DeepCanyon as an ecological study theater, theDesert Research Center was started in195S after philanthropist Philip L. Boyd

donated the ork

197202 desert magazine 1972 february

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