198110 desert magazine 1981 october

8/14/2019 198110 Desert Magazine 1981 October

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October, 1981$2.00


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F M O H R O E !

M o n r o e M a x - A ir a n d M o n r o e L o a d -L e v e le r S h o c k so n s a l e f o r t h e f ir s t t i m e e v e r .Buy one and get the second for half-price.A first time ever sale on Monroe Max-Air air adjustable shock absorbers and Monroe Load-LevelerStabilizing Units from Sept. 4th to Oct. 31st. We're Monroe. We help make your driving smooth and easy.

SAN DIEGO COUNTYA & J Auto & Speed456 W. Mission Blvd.San Marcos744-5074Al l iance Auto Parts140 N. Hwy 101,Enc in i tas436-0311Auto Parts Mart414 W. San Ysidro Blvd.San YsidroBroadway Auto Parts #11034 BroadwayE! Cajon442-0684Broadway Auto Parts #3799 El Cajon BlvdEl Cajon444-9446

HDS Parts & Machine1960 W. MissionEscondido746-6110L & M Tire210 S JuniperEscondido741-4044L & M Tire16560 Bernardo Ctr. Dr.Rancho Bernardo485-7000L & M Tire9662 WintergardenLakeside561-3050Masters Auto Supply208 S. H IIOceans ide722-1964

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Mr. Parts2919 Sweetwater RdSpring Val ley465-0359Mr. Parts7702 BroadwayLemon Grove469-6147Mr. Parts1034 3rd AveChula Vista426-6500Mr. Parts9225 Mira Mesa BlvdSan Diego578-1600Mr. Parts7105 El Cajon BlvdSan Diego463-9377

W S S &

R.B Auto Service11631 Iberia PlaceSan Diego487-0213Fuller Parts Mart460 BroadwayChula Vista426-4440ORANGE COUNTYAl ic ia Auto Supply24001 Alicia Pky #501Mission Viejo830-0940El Toro Auto Service23635 El Toro Rd.El Toro830-0950Circle Auto Service4616 Los Coyotes Dia.Long Beach597-8483

Orange Engine & Parts #13455 Tust in Ave.Orange633-7305J & B Auto Parts1700 N. Tustin AveOrange637-3670Mark III Auto ServiceFoothi l l & GareyPomona593-7515Dean's Auto Service5584 RiversideChino627-7613Bi l l 's Auto Service717 E. HoltOntario984-2481

Mountain Auto Service122 N. MountainOntar io983-2647ARIZONALloyd's Complete Auto Service151 S. Arizona AveChandler963-6627Metro Auto & Tire Special ists2751 West North LanePhoenix242-4291Mac's Auto Parts1913 W. Union Hills Dr.Phoenix866-0750Havasu Auto Supply1601 Industr ial BlvdLake Havasu Ci ty855-4117

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'Does not include price of the ki t .M o n r o e A u t o E q u i p m e n t (TENNECO"Divis ion of Tenneco Automot ive ^ ^ ^ ^


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VOLUME 44 NUMBER 9 October, 1981

M A G A Z IN E O F T H E S O U T H W E S T

They Call the Wind,Santa Anaby Joe BlackstockThey call the wind by manynames. Blackstock tells us thereasons and the legends.page 12The Dust Devilby Dr. Sherwood B. IdsoAiry denizens of the desert,dust devils. They live here,grow here and die here. Idsotells us how and why.page 18Hot-Air Hoedownby Diane Wi l l i ams HlavaJoin us for the AlbuquerqueInternational Balloon Fiesta.The desert is an excellent site,and Albuquerque has thegrandest ballooning of all.page 22Albuquerque's FirstBalloon Ascensionsby Byron A. Johnson andRobert K. DannerA history of ballooning inAlbuquerque. This sport goesback almost 100 years, and itlooks like there's much more tocome.page 28Ballooning Canyon deChellyby Virginia GreeneVirginia Greene takes us to thequiet side of flight. No crowds,just the clouds above and theearth below, as the stillness ofthe desert pervades.page 32Feathers, Flight andFascinationby Andrew Steuer IIIAndrew Steuer's birds havegraced our pages before. Hereyou'll learn his motivations andfeelings in capturing these freespirits.page 38 page 46

Rocketry of the Desertby Will iam T. AdamsRobert Goddard was the fatherof rocketry. It was in the townof Roswell, New Mexico thathis dreams became reality.page 44A Tale of Two Birdsby Robert BurroughsRobert Burroughs relates hisexperience of two very differentbirds in the desert. TheGossamer Penguin and theColumbia space shuttle sharethe same proving grounds.page 46Portrait of anAeronautby David G. EvansJames Caldwell is an aeronaut.This is the balloonist 's story-why and how he does what hedoes.page 56

Departments4 Editorial5 Our Desert Heritage6 Letters to the Editor8 Living Desert

10 Chuck Wagon Cookin'15 Traces in the Sand52 Desert Calendar54 Desert Rockhound60 Trading Post

Cover: Quite a spectacle, theA Ibuquerque International BalloonFiesta. The Desert magazinestaff will be there. Please join us.Photo by Cradoc Bagshaw.DESERT 3


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EDITORIAL

On The Road Again

I am the Desert magazine reader. Ido not live daily in the space, thesilence and the grandeur of thedesert, but I go to it when I can.Perhaps I wouldn't live there even if Icould, but I love it.I am content and entertained by thevicarious experience of the words andphotos of others. Then I go out with mycamera and journal, and do it one better for myself.This month will not be vicarious.This month, the thrills are mine. I willbe going to the Albuquerque Interna-tional Balloon Fiesta to enjoy it, and topromote the magazine. I have heard alot about the wonder of mass ascensionsin the still morning air. I look forwardto experiencing that then I will read

Desert to see if our writers got that ex-perience across.I know I will love the gathered hordesof balloons, ground crews and specta-tors, but that's not what makes me itch.What makes me restless in my chair,and anxious to close the office, is thegetting there and the getting backthemoving across the land. I want to be outthere again, where the sky is 180 degreesor more of the landscape. I will stop bythe road, 40 miles west of Albuquerque,just to watch the sunrise over SandiaPeaks. If I'm lucky, maybe a thunder-storm will chug through and give thesky texture and depth. I don't expect tosee anyone in particular, but it will benice to know that I am in the land thatGeorgia O'Keefe and Elliot Porter havechosen for their homes.

I have been looking over the maps ofthe Southwest, and I came across PieTown and Cheechilgeetho. I knownothing about them, in fact, have neverheard of themand that is as good areason as any to go there. The great,sweet and fat Pacific will be nowhere insight, and knowing how cluttered itsedges can be , I will be happy to be in thedesert. I'll look for you there.

MAGAZINE OF TH E SOU THW ESTEditor

STEPHEN SIMPSONAssociate Editors

KATHRYN KRAHENBUHLDIANA COOPER, DIANE HLAVA

Editorial InternLIZA KAMPS

Art DirectorPEGGY FLETCHER

Associate Art DirectorL I Z M C D O N A L D

Design ConsultantTHOMAS THREINEN

Advertising DesignerGITTA PFAHL

Subscription ManagerJUDI PERSKY

Contributors:STELLA HUGHES, KAREN SAUSMAN,SUSAN DURR NIX, DAVID MUENCH,

WAYNE P . ARMSTRONG, JEFF GNASS,JAMES R. MITCHELL

Director of AdvertisingKEVIN ANDERSEN

Advertising SalesBILL SCHAUL

JOHN MORRISONAdvertising CoordinatorTERRI BIANCO

Media ConsultantSCOTT CHATFIELD

Circulation DirectorTERRY WILLIAMS

Financial ConsultantLIZ FERGUSON

PublisherJULIE BRAZEAUChairman of the Board

ED SEYKOTAABC MEMBERSHIP APPLIED FOR 8/19/80Advertising Information: See Current SRDS, Sec. 30A

Desert Magazine ISSN 0194-3405, is published monthly byDesert Communication Corporation. Editorial Office: P.O. Box1318, Palm Desert, CA 92261. Telephone: (714) 568-2781.Business Office: 121 West F. Street, Encin itas, CA 92024.Telephone: (714) 436-4218. Second Class Postage paid at En-cinitas, California and ai additional offices. Copyright 1981 byDesert Magazine. All rights reserved. No par! of this publicationmay be reproduced in any manner without written permissionfrom the Publisher. Subscription rates for U.S. and its posses-sions, Canada and M exico: 1 year, $15. Elsewhere: Add $4 peryear surface, $20 per year air mail (U.S. currency). To Subscribe,Renew or Change Address: Write Desert Magazine, 121 WestE St., Encinitas, CA 92024. Please allow six weeks for processingand include, where applicable, the address label from your most re-cent copy. Exact zip codes are required by the Post Office. Donorsof gift subscriptions should include their own name and address aswell as those of the recipient(s). POSTMASTER: SENDCHANGE OF ADDRESS BY FORM 3579 TO DESERTMAGA ZINE, 121 WEST E ST . , ENCINITAS , CA 92024. Con-tributions: The Editor welcomes unsolicited manuscripts andphotographs, but they can be returned only if accompanied byS.A.S.E. or international exchange coupons. While we treat sub-missions with care, we cannot assume responsibility for loss ordamage. Payment is upon acceptance. Writers Guide free withS.A.S.E.; Sample copy, $2.00. Photographers: Please includetechnical data with each photograph submitted.Press Run: 40,000Paid Subscriptions as of 7/31/81; 27,822

OCTOBER, 1981


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OUR DESERT HERITAGE

Our archives yield another beauty. Seen through a natural frame, this is Canyon deChelly, circa 1947. Tho ugh 34 years have brought changes (see page 32), the beauty ofthe canyon remains vivid. If you look closely, you can see the etched, timeworn figuresamid the beautiful striping of the rocks.The se are our forefathers and how they lived. The y broug ht us here; forged the path.They lived their lives in the foreground of this immense sandstone sculpture. Thesecrude b uildings w ere their mansion s, the horse and wagon were their four-wheel-drivetrucks. It was through their dreams that we received our realities.This 'ranch' is probably gone (if you know its fate, please write to us), but trie-pur-pose and spirit that put it there live on; echoed in the splendor of this canyon.DESERT


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LETTERSTruth about the Time MachineThe stuff of which legends are madeis interesting, to say the least. I refer toyour story, George W. Van Tassel andHis Anti-Gravity Time Machine, in theMay, 1981 issue.While I cannot fault the author, whomay well be simply parroting what VanTassel's followers have related, I do feelthat I should relate what I know to betrue.I am referring to just three of many er-roneous statements in the article. Theyare, "No one doubted his (Van Tassel's)claim to have hosted visitors from outerspace,"; "The friendship between thetwo men (Frank Kritzer and VanTassel) was deep," and "No one exceptits (the Integratron's) builders has everbeen inside."In 1955, I attended a press junkethosted by Van Tassel at his newly ac-quired Giant Rock near Landers,California. According to him, visitorsfrom outer space in flying saucerswanted their appearance documented byearthlings at high noon. There wereseveral hundred of us present as the ap-pointed time came and went with novisitation by beings from other worlds.You couldn 't have convinced any of thatmedia that George had ever had an en-counter of the third kind.

In 1965, while filming and producingepisodes of The Happy WanderersandRoving Kind (travel television shows), Iasked Van Tassel about the origin ofGiant Rock's underground room. Hetook credit for it, but after I produced acopy of The American Weekly (1941)which documented Frank Kritzer as asuspected Nazi and creater of thesubterranean room, he changed his storyand gave Kritzer partial credit. H e madeit clear that he had never knownKritzer.On all occasions, including the lastone in 1975, 'Doctor' Van Tassel hostedme to a tour of the Integratron's (time-machine) inner workings. Documenta-tion of that was first seen on KMIR-NBC television news in Palm Springsand later picked up by The Today Shownationally. Then, as now, the timemachine did not function.

My brother Dr. Thomas Wyatt

Noon an, a professor at MI T listened totapes made by myself of Van Tassel ex-plaining how the Integratron wouldwork someday, and he dubbed the theoryimpossible on the approach taken.N o, the time machine will not work.Whatever the motive (financial gain orsincere effort), it has gone with itscreator to the grave.George Van Tassel opened up to meand my cameras because as he put it, I"was the only member of the press thatdidn't ridicule him." Over the manyyears I knew Van Tassel to always begood for a story, a true desert rat and agood friend. When I think about it,that's quite a bit. Buddy NoonanSierra Vista, Arizona

C l a r i o n C o m m e n t sI was stunned to read in the July issuethat the Clarion section was to beeliminated from one of my favoritemagazines.I have boasted to my friends that thiswas the greatest improvem ent Desert hasmade under the new ownership. Ialways turn to this informative andtimely section first when I get my copyfrom the mailbox.M y son who lives in Twain Harte alsodoes the same thing. We both find themining news most interesting, and theClarion has really become our favoritepart of the magazine.I enjoy Desert immensely, but I amsure the majority of your readers wouldagree with me that the loss of that sec-tion can only detract from the enjoy-ment of this unusual publication.Please reconsider this decision!Thomas H. CoreBig B ear City, CaliforniaIt is my belief that the space allotted to theClarion will serve the Desert reader betterif it is filled with clear first personexperiential writing and excellentphotographs, rather than newspaper clip-pings. I welcome suggestions for ways inwhich we can be of greaterservice to ourreaders.

Sorry to note that you are dropping

the Clarion section. I think it is very in-teresting, and provides some differentangles on desert news.Also, I am curious about what youmean by "the celebration of life on thedesert." Is it some sort of fiesta or what?R.S. LixSacramento, CaliforniaYou bet it's a fiesta day and night weare blessed with the excellence of theSouthwest. I celebrate that!!

Beautiful Human BeingsThe photograph of the Indian girl onthe cover of your July (1981) issue ofDesert impressed me more than anypicture I have ever seen on the cover of amagazine.The warmth of the colors and huesare brilliant. Mr. Jacka has caught thegentle strength and beauty of the girl ina most convincing form.It makes you want to say more than"wha t a beautiful girl," you want to say,"what a beautiful human b eing."Wes Matthews

Glendale, ArizonaThanks for the Welcome!Your editorial of self-introduction isrefreshing. Please turn out to be as finea person as you appear to be. We Desertreaders need you!Desert magazine has been part of mylife for many years, but recently I havefelt negative about the editorial tone ofthe publication, yet I couldn't say con-cisely why I no longer felt good aboutthe magazine. Some of your publishedLetters (August 1981) bring my vaguefeelings into focus now. Desert has beenslanted toward the monied interests, theoff-roaders, and other forces of ultimatedesert destruction!It was most gratifying that both youand one, Tom Wright (in August Let-ters), referred kindly to Edward Abbey.MacDonald's Critique (??) of Abbey'sDesert Solitaire was outrageous far-fetched and out of context. That nearlyunglued me; as I, too, am an admirer ofAbbey.

You are restoring my faith and in-OCTOBER, 1981


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terest in Desert.If Randall Henderson istruly your model, you must be on theright track. Long may you prosper!!

Anne LorensenLos Alamitos, California

Having subscribed to Desertfor manyyears and being a former rockhound, at71 years of age, my desert travel is nowmostly done through your splendidmagazine.

I look forward each month to themagazine and so much enjoy your ar-ticles and pictures of many places that Ihave visited. I once lived at DesertCenter, and worked for the great SteveRagsdale. I often wondered what hadbecome of him and now know throughyour articles.

Your change in the August issue isgreat! More like the issues of formeryears. Good luck to you in your new jobas editor, please keep up the good work.

I really look forward eagerly to eachnew issue as the desert is one of mygreat loves. God really knew what Hewas doing when He created it for specialpeople.

Dorothy I. ClarkMonrovia, California

Bear Meets GirlThis letter is to call your attention to

the famous shadow on Lone Pine Peak,Bear Meets Girl on Lone Pine Peak[June, 1981, page 58]. We are enclosingthe postcard the Lone Pine Chamber ofCommerce has made. You were lucky tocatch this shadow as it is only visible inNovember and December. Your articleson our area were great it is a greatcountry.

Elsie L. AyersLone Pine, California

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c a s t e !Get away to the other MEXICO120 air conditioned rooms fully carpeted,wi th te lephone and bath. Coffee shop,weekend discotheque, bar, swimming pool ,tennis ,\m\ gift shop.In fo rmat ion and Reservations:Cal l your Travel Agent or: Mex ican Hote ls , Inc., 7488 La |olla Blvd. , La ]olla, CA92038:T e l . (714) 459 -0251 , California, Toll Free (800) 542-6078, Nat ionwide (800) 854-2026,Telex: 695444.

^^H mmmMOB B M ^^m ^mmmmmm ^ B KMM ^ H ^MM MKI i Speak Spanishlike a diplomat!What sort of people need to learn aforeign language as quickly andeffec-tively aspossible? Foreign Service per-sonnel, that 's who. Members ofAmerica's diplomatic corps are assign-ed to U.S. embassies abroad, wherethey must beable to converse fluentlyin every situa tion.Now youcan learn to speak Spanishjust as these diplomatic personnel do-with the Foreign Service Inst i-tute's Programmatic Spanish Course.The U.S. Department of State hasspent tens of thousands of dollars de-veloping this course. It's by far themost effective way to learn Spanish atyour own convenience and at yourownpace.The Programmatic Spanish Courseconsists of a series of tape cassettesand an accompanying textbook. Yousimply follow the spoken and writteninstructions, listening and repeating.By the end of the course, you'll findyourself learning andspeaking entirelyin Spanish!This course turns your cassetteplayer into a "teaching machine." Wi thits unique "programmatic" learningmethod, you set your own p a c e -testing yourself, correcting errors, rein-forcing accurate responses.

The FSI's Programmatic SpanishCourse comes in two volumes. Youmay order one or both courses: Volume I, Basic.(12 cassettes, 17hours), instructor'smanual and464-page text,$115 Volume II, Intermediate.(8 cassettes, 11V2 hours), instruc-tor's manual and 614page text,$98(New York residents addsales tax.)Your cassettes are shipped to you inhandsome library binders.TO ORDER, JUST CLIP THIS AD andmail with your name andaddress, and acheck or money order. Or, charge toyour credit card (American Express,VISA, Master Charge, Diners Club) byenclosing card number, expirationdate, andyour signature.The Foreign Service Institute'sSpanish course is unconditionallyguaranteed. Try it for three weeks. Ifyou're not convinced it's the fastest,easiest, most painless way to learnSpanish, return it and we'll refundevery penny youpaid! Order today!Many other FSI language coursesalso available. Write usAudio-ForumDept. M-65145 East 49th St.New York, N.Y. 10017(212)753-1783

DESERT


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THE LIVING DESERTby Susan Durr Nix

On the WingW ait! In th e interest of know ledge,don't swat that fly! Tolerate himlong enough to take a good lookat his wings, preferably against a win-dow. Wait until he landsat 200 beatsper second, his wings are only a blur inflight. (He'll stop that maddening buzzas soon as his legs make contact with thepane.) Now approach cautiously; hairson his wings are sensitive to the slightestshift in air currents.See how nearly transparent they are?Look at the delicate vein patte rn; it's thefingerprint of his species. Notice howmany more veins run lengthwise thancrosswise, and how the leading edge ofthe wing is braced by clustered, longi-tudinal veins. Pay attention to the posi-tion of the resting wings. Do you seehow they overlap over the abdomen andbehind the hairy thorax? O.K., now goahead and swat.The housefly and his two-wingedrelatives are nature's most advancedfliers. They have wings that are no m orethan a network of hollow veins sand-wiched between two sheets of plasticwrap. There isn't the slightest sugges-tion of muscle, certainly not one capableof 200 contractions a second, and noauxiliary structures like feathers. Yetwith such inadequate tools, insects havebeen airborne longer than any other creaturesome 300 million years.Fifty million years before birds weremaking their first halting takeoffs, in-sects were colonizing new habitats, fin-ding food, eluding predators, courtingmates and signaling each other with fourequally developed, independently-powered wings that stuck straight outfrom the thorax. They shimmeredthrough the sunlight using direct flightmuscles, housed inside the thorax, thatalternately pushed and pulled on thefore and hind wings. It was a simple, ef-fective system that survives today in theancient dragonfly family. It might haveserved more insects if the challenge ofnew, airborne predators and com-petitors hadn't necessitated modifica-tions for faster, more efficient flight.

This dragonfly exhibits the complicated network oj flight apparatus.

The only other creatures capable oftrue flightbirds and later, bats-invaded insect airspace with funda-mentally different kinds of wings.Whereas insects grew new structures totake to the air, birds and bats followedthe evolutionary course of modifying ex-isting limbs. Bat wings are nothingmore than elastic membrane stretchedbetween elongated fingers of a hand,much like our own. Bird wings dependfor support on their forearms, fusedwrists and hand bones, which are attach-ed to powerful muscles. Except for size,

the common fried chicken wing istypical bird equipment.Sired by scaly reptiles an estimated180 million years ago, birds emphasizedbuoyancy, s trength, balance andsleekness in their evolution. These traitswere further enhanced by the develop-ment of a new structural material: thefeather. Light but strong, featherss t reamlin e, insulate , waterproof,camouflage and decorate their owners.They combine rigidity with flexibility;unlike bat membrane and insect cuticle,they are versatile, readily repaired andOCTOBER, 1981


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replaceable.Without the complex organization offeathers and the long, stiff, quill-like tailand wing feathers, birds would beclumsy fliers at best. The long, hollowcentral shaft projects hundreds ofparallel barbs that mesh together intowebs or vanes. The web on one side ofthe shaft is always broader than theother, making feathers asymmetrical.The narrow side, like the reinforcededge of the insect's wing, takes most ofthe punishment in flight. The barbs areheld together by projecting, ov erlappingbarbules. In turn, each barbule hasminute hooks that interlock with sur-prising strength. As a result, singlefeathers do not readily split apart toallow air through, and when they do,they easily zip back together. Furthercontrol is exerted by other hooks thatlink groups of feathers together, and byindividual muscles at the base of eachshaft. These muscles move the featherstogether and apart for gliding, soaringand flapping flight.

Dragonflies have the most completelydeveloped flight muscles of any insectgroup, and consequently, had sufficientagility and power to survive unchanged,while evolutionary pressures drasticallyaltered their contemporaries. Speed,deception, avoidance and resistancewere the basic adaptive alternatives forother insects. Nature innovated a widevariety of body and wing shapes, and ex-perimented endlessly with size andfunction. Wings hardened into protec-tive armor, fanned out, folded under,puckered into accordion pleats, shrank,atrophied, frayed, faded, colored andotherwise changed beyond recognition.Amid the chaos were strong trend s awayfrom the elaborate cross-veining typicalof dragonfly wings, and toward a con-vergent or overlapping configuration, asin the wings of a butterfly.Overlapping reduced two pairs ofwings to a single, far more efficientflight unit. More advanced insects ex-ploited this advantage by developingmechanisms to link the trailing edge ofthe fore wing to the leading edge of thehind wing. Some work like velcro(moths), other actually hook (butterflies)

or zip (wasps and bees). Concurrently,the direct muscles inside the thoraxwere replaced by complex, indirect onest ha t au t oma t i ca l l y synchroni zedwingbeats for greater flight control.The speed and coordination of thehousefly was impossible, however,without an altogether new powersource. The answer was resilinthemost elastic substance ever produced byliving organisms. Resilin powers thebuzzers and whiners, the insects whosewings beat so rapidly they hum throughthe air. Co ntracting and relaxing almostsimultaneously inside the thorax, resilinproduces a mosquito wingbeat frequen-cy of 600 per second and an incrediblerate of 1000 per second in some midges.

Among the buzzers and whiners, thetrue flies took the evolution of wingoverlap and hook-up to its logical con-clusion: they lost their hind wingsaltogether. In retu rn, they n ot only gain-ed the most dynamic wing, but thegreatest maneuverability to be found inthe animal world. The hind wing stubs,or halteres, function as automaticstabilizersthey maintain a fly'sequilibrium, come hell or fly swatter.Flight depends on a wing design thatcompensates for gravity and drag, andtakes advantage of lift and thrust tomove up . It's a problem that has ob-sessed mankind for thousands of years, yetfor all our technical prowess, we are stillneophytes in the air. Next to an eagle'swing, our most advanced aeroplane isunsophisticated; compared to a house-fly, we have barely left the groun d. Th atwe did so at all is a tribute to our ownevolutionary progress. We developedmind , not wings. 0Susan Dun Nix isDevelopment Co-ordinator at the Liv-ing Desert Reserve, a1,000-acre desert in-terpretation an d con-servatio n facility inPalm Desert, Cali-fornia. She sh ares her enthusiasm for thenatural world not only in articles and pub-lications, but in educational programs forvisitors to the reserve.

20-MULE TEAM DAYS IN DEATH VALLEY byHarold O. Weight. Specialists and critics praisethis account of the great borax wagons of the1880s, the drivers and mules, the trail to Mojave.Story of Borax Smith, Wm. T. Coleman, DeathValley pioneers, Harmony Borax Works. First-hand stories. Includes reprint of Henry G. Hawks'report on Death Valley 1883. Pb., 48 pgs., 33historic and modern photos, map. 5th ed. $1.00.CHILI LOVERS' COOKBOOK compiled by A!and Mildred Fischer. Two cookbooks in one. Thefirst portion describes the best of chili cookery,from mild to fiery, with recipes for some of thebest. The second part gives a variety of taste-tempting foods made from chili peppers with manysuggestions on use and preparation. Spiral bound.Pb., 128 pgs. $3.00.SCOTTY'S CASTLE by Dorothy Shally andWilliam Bolton. The sumptuousness of the castle,i t s his tory, const ruc t ion, and des ign of thebuildings are told by the authors, both NationalPark Service employees who have been associatedwith the maintenance and interpretation of theproperty since the government acquired title in1970. Pb., large format, profusely illus., $2.00.ANZA-BORREGO DESERT GUIDE BOOK,Southern California's Last Frontier by HoraceParker, revised by George and Jean Leetch, A clas-sic reference to America's largest desert park,originally published in 1957 and now updated,enlarged and improved by the "dean of desertrangers" and his wife. With excellent logs, maps,and photographs brought up to 1979 standards.Pb. , 154 pgs. , two maps, many photos, $6.95.HIGH MOUNTAINS AND DEEP VALLEYS byLew and Ginny Clark, with photographs by EdwinC. Rockwell. A history and general guide book tothe vast lands east of the High Sierra, south of theComstock Lode, north of the Mojave Desert, andwest of Death Valley, by oldtimers who know thearea. Pb. , 192 pgs. , 250 photographs, and manymaps. $6.95

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CHUCK WAGON COOKIN'by Stella Hughes

DeliciousGame BirdsCity dwellers tend to think ofhunting wild game as somethingtheir ancestors did a long timeagofor food, because bringing homemeat for the pot was essential; or forsport, because there wasn't a heck of alot of anything else to do foramusement. Today, more men andwomen are taking to the field duringhunting season than ever before. Likeour ancestors, they intend to eat whatthey bag, and if they bag more than theycan eat, they share their bounty withfriends and neighbors.

The season on game birds opens witha bang. Grouse, partridge, quail,pigeons, doves, ducks, geese and wildturkey may end up in your kitchenwithout a formal introduction. One ofthe most frustrating days of my life wasspent trying to pluck three wild geese,given to me by a friend on his way homefrom the hill. I thought that by scaldingthe geese, their feathers would slip offby handfuls, exactly like the rooster Ihad dressed for last Sunday's dinner.Was I ever wrong! The unwritten lawamong hunters, "Them that shoots 'em,dresses 'em," was broken by my formerfriend. Broken also were the mandatoryrules of gutting game birds on the spot,and taking care in keeping the fowlscool.Besides ruining my day, all threegeese were soured by the time I'dfinished pluc king the m, and w ere a totalwaste.Game birds offer a wide variety ofdelicious wild meat. Wild turkey, thathave been feeding on acorns and pinonnuts, head the list, in my estimation. Ayoung turkey, roasted in the usual way,and stuffed with sausage dressing makesthe domestic turkey seem bland andflavorless in comparison.

Liza Kam ps, our Editorial Intern, with her Twice-Cooked Q uail.Quail seem to be plentiful almosteverywhere in the Southwest, andhunters agree that the quail may be

either plucked or skinned. Most main-

tain that it's worth the trouble ofplucking and singeing them to conservethe extra bit of flavor and moisture theskin affords.

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There are several ways to preparequail or other game birds: breaded withcornmeal ; browned and bra ised;roasted with sausage stuffing; casseroleswith vegetables and mushrooms inwhite wine; and southern fried.Twice-Cooked Quail12 to 14 quail, dressed1 large onion, chopped2 tart apples, cored and chopped(do not peel)12 to 14 bacon slices1 cup dry white wineIVi-inch-thick slice of onion1 bay leafsalt and pepper

Stuff birds loosely with a mixture ofchopped onion and apple, lightly salted.Fasten body cavities with thread ortoothpick. S prinkle with salt and pepperand then wrap each bird in a slice ofbacon. Place the birds on a grill, andcook over charcoal or hardwood coalsfor 30 minutes, turning frequently.Remove birds to a baking pan orcasserole dish. Add wine, onion sliceand bay leaf. Bake at 300 degrees for 45minutes, basting frequently with panjuices. Serve with wild rice or spoonbread. Serves about six, depending onthe size of the quail.

Barbecue QuailTo barbecue quail, wrap each bird in aslice of bacon or thinly sliced salt pork.Season with salt, pepper and oregano.Brush birds with olive oil. Place birdson grill over medium hot coals and turnfrequently. Baste occasionally with amixture of water, salt, lemon juice andbutter. Have ready a mixture of crackercrumbs and Cream of Wheat: If yousprinkle this over the birds, it willadhere to the skin and keep the meatfrom drying out.

Dutch Oven QuailPreparing game birds in a heavy Dutchoven is like cooking a pot roast. Small

game birds, like quail or doves, shouldbe cooked whole. Larger birds, such asgrouse, pheasants and prairie chickensshould be split down the middle. Seasonand fry in Dutch oven in oil or butter,then add wine and cook over low heat.Allow 1 cup of wine for 8 servings ofmeat, keeping in mind that each poundof unboned bird makes 1 to IV2servings. Add other liquids; lemonjuice, tomato sauce, bouillon or what-ever appeals to your taste: about V2 cupfor each pound of bird. Cover and cookslowly for about 2 hours.

Creamed CasseroleThis is a way to utilize the finest meatfrom a game bird; the breast. To figurethe amount of meat needed: Threebreasts from sage chicken, grouse orpheasant makes 6 servings. Split thebreast in two, remove the bone, and cuteach half in two. If using quail or doves,remove thebone, and leave in onepiece.Slice the breast meat about '/2-inchthick. Fry until brown in V2 cup butterand oil mixed, taking care not to burnthe oil while cooking. Place breasts inbaking dish. In the remaining oil,simmer Vi-cup Madeira wine and 1 canof mushrooms for 5minutes. Heat 1 cupcream and add. Bring mixture to a boil,pour over breasts, and bake 15 to 20minutes more. @

Stella Hughes haswritten articles formany western mag-azines, and is a reg-ular contributor toD e se r t magazine.She lives 46 milesfrom Clifton, Ari-zona, near EagleCreek. She learned how to camp-cookmany years ago, out of self-defense, andmany of her experiences have been relatedin her book, Chuck Wagon Cookin ' .

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The notoriety of a Santa Ana windwas difficult to hide. Despite thecreative journalism and expansivetalk of early Southern Californiapapers and leaders the legend of thedevil wind continued to spread.by Joe Blackstock

12 OCTO BER, 1981


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rhe inhabitants of Pasadena,California must have been a bitconfused when they openedthe i r newspapers one Decembermorning in 1891.Their city and many parts of South-ern California lay covered in debris aftera strong Santa Ana wind blew downbuildings, denuded trees of their fruit,and piled sand and dirt everywhere.The Pasadena Star, however, had aquite different version.The event had been a disaster foreveryone, but especially for landdevelopers and Chamber of Commerceleaders then engaged in a world-widecampaign of promoting turn-of-the-century California as a West Coastparadise. That day the paper dideverything in its printed power to undothe damage.In an article about the windstorm, thepaper noted it really wasn't that strongat all, but the damage was "because the

character of our buildings is not such asto resist such a strong blow." In thesame article, the writer praised thewind's assistance to growersit hadknocked off only the defective fruit fromSan Gabriel Valley trees.This bit of journalistic creativity camein a different era, when promoters jeal-ously protected the good name of Calif-ornia. To say anything detrimental tothe rest of the world, even if true, was aheresy not to be tolerated.The Santa Ana wind recognizes noboundary or economic motive. Whenthe strong winter wind blows dirt andleaves all over Southern California, thebest intentions of men, even armed withtypewriters and imagination, cannotstop it.But men have tried. . .Of all the Santa Ana wind's attributes,the most galling to those in what is nowOrange County, has been its name. Theexact origin is unclear, but most

informed sources agree the name likelycomes from Santa Ana Canyon, throughwhich the wind often strongly blowsbetween Corona and Orange County.As early as the 1860s, there arereferences to the name "Santa Ana" forthe wind, but that notoriety has neverset well among residents of that city.Problems first began in the 1880swhen Los Angeles newspapers, showingtheir regional leanings, publishedaccounts of the damage caused by theSanta Anas to Orange County territory,often taunting their neighbors by gloat-ing how their own area was relativelyfree of such zephyrs.These stories only served to anger theequally provincial Santa Ana editorJames Alonzo Waite, who struck backwith articles about the damage causedby the Santa Ana in Los Angeles."Properly, they are Riverside Winds,"he concluded in one article, "and if thetruth really be told, Los Angeles suffersDESERT 13


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1880s: Los Angelesnewspapers publishedaccounts of the damagingSanta Anas in the OrangeCounty areagloating howthey were relatively free ofsuch zephyrs.

more from them than we do."These battles over custody of thewind made Orange County officials allthe more sensitive when a 1901 Assoc-iated Press story from Santa Ana toldthe nation of a particular windstormthat hit the area just after Christmas.A man named Ott, a renowned prank-ster, was serving as telegraph operatorin Santa Ana that windy night. Boredwith the lack of activity, he tapped out adispatch to the Associated Press aboutthe Santa Ana wind howling outside.The more he wrote, the better it got."In this city, the sand blew in fromthe desert in pillars reaching as high as30 feet. . ., " he wrote. O tt described,with considerable embellishment, rail-road near-accidents, devastated orchardsand the houses and public utilitiesdamaged. In summary, he estimateddamage at a mere $3,000 (another blowto the city's pride).

When the story was published in LosAngeles newspapers the next day, SantaAna residents were livid with rage.More than 200 community membersheld a stormy meeting, passing a resolu-tion demanding retractions for theslander perpetrated upon their city.They issued a dispatch of their ownexplaining the incident and telling thereal storyas they saw it.As for Ott, he was escorted to the traindepot, according to one account, andunceremoniously put on the next trainout of town.After this blow to their civic esteem,Orange County people began a sus-tained campaign to disassociate thewind from their area. Writer TerryStephenson remembered his daysworking for Santa Ana and Los Angelesnewspapers, when specific instructionswere given him never to use the name,Santa Ana, when writing about thewind. Mistakes in this regard were metwith stinging rebukes from theChamber of Commerce.

Other papers got the message, too. "Irecalland vividly, tooa ruling by(our) managing editor, James T.14 OCT OBE R, 1981

Gu thrie , 40 years ago, banning from ournews colu mn s. . . Santa Ana to describea strong north wind," wrote columnistEarl Buie of the San Bernardino Sun-Telegram in 1967. "As I recalled thecircumstances, Mr. Guthrie acted afterOrange County interests protested theuse of the word Santa Ana in referringto the windstorms after a severe stormhad received national publicity. It hadbeen described in the news columnseverywhere as a Santa Ana."

Santa Ana is by no means the onlyname given the wind du ring the last twoc e n t u r i e s , b e g i n n i n g w i t h t h e"nor'easter," described by RichardHenry Dana in 1836 in Two YearsBefore the Mast. But none of the othernames has stuck as much as a word thatappeared just after the turn of thecentury: Santana. That name (actuallyit's the way Santa Ana is pronounced inSpanish) was immediately embraced byOrange County interests as the correctname of the wind.

The Santa Ana windrecognizes no boundary oreconomic motive. Whenthe strong winter windblows dirt and leaves allover Southern California,the best intentions of men,even armed withtypewriters andimagination, cannot stop it.

Santana, a far m ore roman tic name forthe wind, remains in the vocabulary ofSouthern California even today, thoughits historical background lies mainly inthe imagination of its promoters. Ori-ginally, Chamber of Commerce officialsspread the story that the wind should becalled San tana, which, they said, was anIndian word meaning big wind. Asearch, however, of all dialects in theSouthwest has turned up no such refer-ence.Another claim is that Santana isderived from the phrase "Satan'swi nd ," while a th i rd m eaningsometimes cited is that it was named forMexican General Santa Anna, whomthe source had erroneously believedspent time marching through SouthernCalifornia.

In spite of their efforts, however, thelast hope for the anti-Santa Ana forceswas finally lost in the late 1930s when

Santa Ana, Santana, devilwind, Camulos Swell,Sundowner and nor'easterall names for a wind thatsweeps in from the desertand then out to sea.

novelist Raymond Chandler glorifiedthe wind, and its name, in a PhilipMarlowe short story, The Red Wind:"There was a desert wind blowingthat night. It was one of those hot, drySanta Anas that comes down throughthe mountain passes and curls your hairand makes your nerves jump and yourskin itch. On nights like that everybooze party ends up in a fight. Meeklittle wives feel the edge of the carvingknife and study their husbands' necks.Anything can happen. . ."In the last few decades, the regionalirritation over the use of the name SantaAna wind has mellowed. OrangeCounty, like all of Southern California,has grown rapidly in spite of the bestwork of the Santa Ana wind. T he name?Well, you still see an occasional newsreference to "devil winds" when somewinter Santa Ana whips up a disasterousbrush fire. Even Santana hangs on ininfrequent mentions by some un-informed newsman or a long-time resid-ent influenced by events of the past.

The names the wind has been given-Santa Ana, Santana, devil wind, River-side wind, Camulos Swell (Ventura),Sundowner (Santa Barbara), nor'easterare numerous but they all mean thesame thing: the humidity drops, thetemperature rises and the smog thatsettles interminably along the moun-tains and valleys and even into thedeserts, is blown far out to sea.And, no matter what you call it,nobody complains about that.B

Joe Blackstock, 33,is sports editor andoutdoor columnistfor the San GabrielValley Daily Tri-bune in West Co-vina, California.He has worked innewspapers for 13years. He has contributed two previousarticles to Desert. He has a master'sdegree in Am erican studies from Calif-ornia State University at Los Angeles.


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TRACES IN THE SAND

Th e wind, grass and shadows leave their own traces in the sand. Photograph taken in White Sands, New Mexico.

"The What and the Why of Desert Country"Joseph Wood KrutchWe grow strong against the p ressure of a difficulty, and ingenious by solving pro blems. Individualityand character are developed by challenge. We tend to admire trees, as well as men, w ho bear the stamp oftheir successful struggles with a certain amount of adversity. People who have not had too easy a time ofit develop flavor. And there is no doubt about the fact that desert life has character. Plants and animalsare so obviously and visibly what they are because of the problems they have solved. They are part ofsome who le. The y belong. A nimals and p lants, as well as men, become especially interesting when theydo fit their environment, when to some extent they reveal what their response to it has been. And

nowhere more than in the desert do they reveal it.(excerpted from The Voice of the Desert 1955 by Joseph Wood Krutch.)

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18/64

There under the searingrays of the midday sun, Iseek a rendezvous with oneof nature's most inspiringphenomenathe desertdust devil.

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It's swirling updrafts lift body and soul of man and bird alike.

The Dust Devil:Airy Denizen of the DesertSome people think I'm crazy, thatI'm a glutton for punishment.Perhaps I am. But on the hottestof our hot summer days, when othersgingerly retreat to the shelter of their airconditioned habitats, or wistfully slipinto the cooling w aters of their backyardpools, I pack up my camera and head forthe open desert. There under thesearing rays of the midday sun, I seek arendezvous with one of nature's mostinspiring phenomena, the desert dustdevil.Born of the battle between sun andsand, the dust devil is a rapidly rotatingcolumn of warm boundary-layer air thathas wrapped itself around a risingthermal. Providing lift that may propel1,000-pound glider planes upward atspeeds of several hundred to severalthousand feet per minute, this fair-weather funnel is actively sought bysoaring enthusiasts as a major means ofgaining rapid altitude, taking their cuefrom birds of prey that have exploitedits virtues for eons.Dust devils lift the spirit as well, andhave long been objects of fascination forthe human mind. Marcus Lucanusrecorded that Roman soldiers marveledat them in the Libyan desert. Thecapitals of columns of the ByzantineChurch of Hagia Sophia in Salonika,

Greece show acanthus leaves violentlytwisted about by their actions. EvenAristotle and Pliny spoke at length oftheir movements and mechanics. Butnowhere has the dust devil been morerespected and revered than it has by thenative inhabitants of the Americansouthwest.There is a small cave in the easternface of a 300-yard-long spur of theCastle Mountains, 10 miles west of thevillage of Santa Rosa, Arizona. Thiscave is known to the Papagos Indians asthe Whirlwind House or Home of theDust Devil. In the old days, Wind livedin this cave, from which small dustdevils were often seen to emerge. As thelittle whirlwinds marched down theslope, they would gradually grow insize, finally becoming tall columns thattraveled for miles across the desert.

This caveHewultki, as the Indianscalled itwas sacred and there was whatthe Indians called a 'wrong spot' in it,such that if any fire was built upon it, awhirlwind would spring up that wouldblow your head off.In 1934, two workmen for an archeo-logical expedition camped in the caveduring a rainy spell. Forgetting thewarning, they built a fire on theforbidden spot. The result of thistransgression was as if dynamite had

been put in the fire. Coals were blownall over the cave and their blankets setablaze. Fortunately, one of the menremembered that a particular stone thatlay nearby was supposed to have powerto extinguish the fire and stop the whirl-wind. Placing the talisman on the fireserved this purpose and saved themfrom a wet retreat.E.W. Haury, who led the team thatconducted the research work at the site,noted that there was a good basis for thePapago's beliefs about the cave. Heobserved that there were air currentsmoving through it that would increasein size as they neared its mouth,commenting that "a fire in the 'wrongspot' might easily set up a draft to givethe story a basis. Th e d istribution of thewood ash in the inner part of the uppercave is supporting evidence. One areaabout two meters square was practicallyash free, whereas nearby, said to beoutside the 'hexed' region, ash wasabundant ."

Julian D. Hayden, who directed muchof the actual digging at the cave,e n l a r g e s s o m e w h a t u p o n t h ephenomenon: "When we started work,tiny whirls of dust would start up in therear of the cave, increase in size as theyapproached the mouth of the cave, andby the time they reached the top of the

Text and photography by Dr. Sherwood B. Idso

DESERT 19


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talus, they were powerful enough to takeour wheelbarrows and planking withthem. We could watch them for miles intheir progress across the desert to theeast, rising to several hundred feet."Even more active in their relationshipwith dust devils were the ApacheIndians, who deliberately created themby setting fire to the spines of largecacti. Nowadays, other large vortices arecommonly set in motion very similarlywhen Indians of the area burn stubbleremaining on their fields after harvest. Ihave observed one such whirlwind thatstretched a full mile into the sky andwas as wide acro ss as a football field.These are the exceptions, theanomalies. How does the standardgarden variety dust devil form? Whatare its characteristics? Let us begin aninvestigation of the first of thesequestions with a quotation from thatmost eminent of American thinkers,20 OCTO BER, 1981

Idso captures a dust devil in mid-flight.Benjamin Franklin. Spurred to thoughtby an observation he made whilegalloping through a tiny whirlwind ofleaves in Maryland, he wrote thefollowing in a letter to a Mr. JohnPerkins from his residence inPhiladelphia on February 4, 1753.

"Whirlw inds generally arise after calmsand great heats.. .Now let us suppose atract of land. . . is violently heated,together with the lower region of air incontact with it, so that the said lower airbecom es specifically lighter than thesuperincumbent higher region of theatmosphere... The consequence of thisshould b e, as I imag ine, that the heated,lighted air, being pressed on all sides, mustascend, and the heavier descend; and asthis rising canno t be in all parts, or thewhole area of the tract at once, for thatwould leave too extensive a vacuum, therising will begin precisely in that columnthat happen s to be the lightest, or mo st

rarified; and the warm air will flow fromall points to this column, where the severalcurrents meeting, and joining to rise, awhirl is naturally formed, in the samemanner as a whirl is formed in the tub ofwater, by the descending fluid flowingfrom all sides of the tub to the hole in thecenter."And as the several currents arrive atthis central rising column with aconsiderable degree of horizontal motion,they canno t sudden ly ch ange it to avertical motion, therefore.. .they ascendby a spiral motion in the same manner asthe water descends spirally through thehole in the tub before mentioned ."In concluding his treatise, Franklinended with a comment that is as welltaken today as it was intended then. "Ifmy hypothesis is not the truth itself it isat least as naked: For I have not, withsome of our learned moderns, disguisedby nonsense in Greek, clothed it in


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algebra, or adorned it with fluxions.You have it in puris naturalibus."Perhaps in the spirit of Franklin Icould add just one other simple dustdevil analogy to that of his bathtubswirl, and that is the case of the twirlingfigure skater. As she pulls in her armsand legs to a contracted central position,her rate of rotation greatly increases,due to the principle of conservation ofangular momentum. In like manner, soalso does the spiraling flow of airincrease in rotational speed as itapproaches the core of a developing dustdevil.The chief ingredients for a good dustdevil, then, are clear skies and brightsun, together w ith a dry surface that canbecome very hot. Loose surface dustand debris are helpful to make the dustdevil visible; but they are not essentialto either its creation or continuedexistence. Many times my children andI have detected invisible dust devils oversoil, encrusted from a previous rain, thatallowed no soil particles to becomeairborn. By injecting colored smoke intotheir bases, we have artificallyilluminated their forms and shown themto be just like their naturally visiblebrothers.This brings us to the dust devil'sn o t o r i o u s c o u s i n t h e t o r n a d o .Although the latter term strikes terrorinto the hearts of many, few people areaware that a strong dust devil can bemore powerful than over a quarter of allof the tornadoes that occur in the world.Indeed, they regularly overturn housetrailers and there have been reports thatthey have moved automobiles. Onep a r t i c u l a r l y s t r o n g d u s t d e v i ldemolished a chapel that was underconstruction in Tucson, Arizona. Thefollowing morn ing local newspapers hada field day, headlining the story with"Devil Destroys Church!"The comparison of dust devils totornadoes goes far beyond that ofrelative strengths, for they share manyother common characteristics. Onestriking similarity is the existence ofsmall but extremely intense mini-funnels which are often embeddedwithin the flow field of the primaryvortex. In tornadoes, these subsidiaryswirls are believed to be the cause ofmost of the damage and the reason whyone house will be completely flattenedwhile its next door neighbor is leftalmost unscathed. One was hit by asuction vortex, as the mini-funnels arecalled, while the other was missed.Dust devils also mimic tornadoeswhen they dissipate. Frequently, theirfunnels will be stretched into very long,

narrow, contorted structures called, inthe case of tornadoes, rope clouds. D ustdevils at this stage may extend a fullthousand feet into the air and yet be nowider across than the shoulders of aman. My children have often chargedinto the bases of such dust devils andgreatly hastened their demise. In thecase of larger ones, more drasticmeasures are required. For instance, adust devil in Mexico once formed over arailroad embankment where it removedapproximately a cubic yard of sandevery hour for four hours. Its erosiveaction could not be stopped until abulldozer was finally driven into it.

For the most part, dustdevils are rather innocuousthey do little damage andare an importantcomponent of the desertecosystem.

Since dust devils generally form onfine clear days, while tornadoes are theoffspring of inclement weather, there isusually no difficulty in telling themapart. In the environment of the desert,however, this is not always so. Considerthe El Mirage Labor Day tornadoes of1976: About 5:40 p.m., Harry Baldwinwas riding the thermals in his sailplanewhen he spotted what looked like threedust devils. Now this was not unusual,for practically every afternoon duringthe summer, stable marine air rushesfrom mountain passes south and west ofthe El Mirage field; and as it spreadsoutward, a line of dust devils oftenmarks its leading edge. This time, thevortices formed by the updrafts of warmair were undercut by denser maritimeair and given rotary motion by the windshear. They extended all the way to thebase of some rapidly growing thunder-heads. Joining forces, these vortices ofdust devils soon became transformedinto full-fledged tornadoes; obtainingadditional energy from the condensationof water vapor. Although no damagewas done, an inquisitive pilot in a SuperCub aircraft was almost sucked into theadopted parent cloud as he circled thefunnels and encountered lift of almost6,000 feet per minute.

Similar tornadic dust devils often

form at the leading edges of the greathaboob duststorms that sweep up theSanta Cruz Valley between Tucson andPhoenix, Arizona. There have beenreports of sailplane pilots riding thecrest of the updraft that prevails justahead of these great density currents;but it is risky business. The danger isheightened when such surges of cool,moist air flow across topographicdisturbances such as hills or isolatedmountains. In such instances, eddiesmay form in the How downwind of thedisturbance; and if the density currenthappens to overrun a surface layer ofmuch warmer air, such an eddy can beintensified by the rising of this air.When a vortex reaches from ground tocloud, then you've got real trouble.For the most part, though, dust devilsare rather innocuous. They can beannoying to city dwellers when theybreach their backyard sanctuaries,blasting barbecues with sand and grit.Th ere is reason to believe that they mayspread the spores of the fungus respon-sible for the deb ilitating Valley Fever.But on the whole, they do little damageand are an important component of thedesert ecosystem. Great birds waftskyward almost effortlessly uponbuoyant updrafts, and those who wouldlike to join their ranks find the dustdevil's companionship most helpful. Tosimply stand beside one, alone, andwatch the silent majesty of primevalforces raise up the lifeless dust of theearth into an almost living entity is athrill that is difficult to describe. Yes,you might say that I am crazyaboutthe desert! 0

Sherwood B. Idso isa research physicistwith the USDA'sAgricultural Re -search Service at theUnited StatesWater Conserva-tion Laboratory inPhoenix, Arizona.He also holds adjunct professorships in theDepartments of Geology an d Geographyat Arizona State University and isfounder and President of the Institute forBiospheric Research, Inc. of Tempe,Arizona. He has conducted basic researchin a wide variety of environmental areasand ha s published over 20 0 articles inprofessional science journals. Dr. Idso washonored in 1977 to receive the UnitedStates' Arthur S. Flemming Award as oneof five outstanding scientists under age 40in the Federal Service.

DESERT 21


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Hot~Air HoedownAt Albuquerque's 10th International Balloon Fiesta,the enthusiasm of pioneer balloonists lives on amidst a flourish of color and a rush of air.

P hileas Fogg would be delighted,so would the Montgolfierbrothers , P.A. Van Tassel,Joseph Blondin, Roy Stamm and otherpioneer balloonists. So, too, are thehundreds of thousands of spectatorswho attend Albuquerque's annualIn tern at ion al Bal loon F ies ta . Acolorwashed spectacle of propane-fired,hot-air and gas-filled balloons that fillthe New Mexico skies for nine daysevery October, this light-hearted eventreaffirms the pleasures of motorlessflight and continues Albuquerque's loveaffair with ballooning.When Joseph and Jacques EtienneMontgolfier made the first successfulballoon flight in 1783, they did notrealize that their achievement wouldprovide the impetus for one of thefastest growing sports in the UnitedStates in the 1970s and 1980s.Capturing the fancy of daredevilsthroughout Europe and the UnitedStates in the years following the Mont-golfiers' first flight, ballooning wasconfined to those with enough time andmoney to pursue this eccentric hobby.Blessed with clear skies and variablewinds, Albuquerque is an ideal locationfor ballooning. As early as 1882, andfollowing in 1907 and 1909, three bold

men entertained onlookers with theiru n f e t t e r e d f l i g h t s , e s t a b l i s h i n gAlbuquerque's place in the history ofballooning. Ascending for Fourth ofJuly festivities in 1882, P.A. Van Tasselfloated to a height of more than 14,000feet before returning to earth. In 1907,Joseph Blondin provided captive flightsto visitors during five days of the NewMexico Territorial Fair. His popularattraction culminated with a free flightthat took him 18 miles up the RioGrande Valley. At the 1909 TerritorialFair, Blondin and Stamm piloted aballoon that traveled more than 90 mileseast of Albuquerquea record distancein 1909before they descended near thePedernal Mountains. After this lastflight, the popularity of ballooning de-clined in Albuquerque until the early1970s.Interest in ballooning is now, excusethe expression, soaring. Albuquerque ishosting the 10th International BalloonFiesta, October 3 throug h 11. A largerlaunch site than previous years at Cu tterField, near the West Frontage Road ofInterstate 25 between Osuna Road andLos Angeles Avenue, will make itpossible to launch 1,000 balloons. Sincethe first balloon association, theAlbuquerque Aeros tat Ascens ion

AssociationAAAAwas formed in1971, the number of entries increasedfrom 138 to nearly 400 in 1979.Entrants come from all over the UnitedStates and from several foreigncountries to compete, and in 1980 anestimated 500,000 spectators attendedthe Fiesta. Open to pilots licensed bythe Federal Aviation Administration,the Albuquerque International BalloonFiesta offers would-be balloonists whoare not licensed a taste of the action byallowing them to serve as members ofground crews, chase crews or packstuffer crews.The word is out, among both aero-nauts and spectators, that some of thebest ballooning in the world takes placein Albuquerque. This year's lift-off isscheduled for the first weekend of theFiesta, October 3 and 4. Competitiveevents, such as the popular R oadrunner-

Coyote Race, the Marker Drop andBlackjack take place October 5 through9. The last weekend of the festival,October 10 and 11, there will be anotherspectator ascent of all 1,000 balloons.One of the most exciting competitiveevents, the Roadrunner-Coyote Race,

Launch time is near, and the crowd comeout to witness the a scension

Tex t by Diane W illiams Hlava Pho tography by Cradoc Bagshaw22 OCTO BER, 1981


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challenges pilots' skill in maneuveringtheir balloons in unpredictable winds.This race pits the roadrunner balloonsagainst the pursuing coyote balloons.

A colorwashed spectacle ofpropane-fired, hot-air andgas-filled balloons fill theNew Mexico skies.

The roadrunner takes off, flies adistance and lands. The coyotes givechase attempting to land as near to theroadrunner as possible, which is diffi-cult considering that balloons cannot besteered, only maneuvered vertically inthe air currents. One of the Fiesta'smain attractions, this race has had asmany as 10 roadrunne rs and 600 coyotesparticipating in a single day. Anotherevent is the Marker Drop. In this com-pe t i t i on p i l o t s maneuve r t he i rballoonsone at a timeas close to thechosen target as possible and drop theirmarkers. A similar event is a type ofBlackjack, or 21, played above a num-bered grid. Pilots attempt to dropmarkers on numbered squares in orderto score 21.Guiding these lighter-than-air, 50 to60-foot-tall balloons while trying tomaster these events is not easy. Launch -ing and maneuvering is difficult whenwinds reach more than 10 miles anhour.

Made of polyester or nylon fabriccoated with porosity-reducing poly-urethane, most bal loons in theAlbuquerque Fiesta are the hot-air type:the AX-6 or AX-7 class. The AX-6, asmaller balloon with an air capacity of56,000 cubic feet, can carry two or threepassengers in its gondola; the AX-7holds 77,000 cubic feet of air and cancarry three or four people aloft. Whenthe fabric envelope, as it is called, isfilled with propane-heated air that hasreached a temperature of 180 to 225

degrees Fahrenheit, the balloon rises.Once aloft, control of the balloon isachieved through finding and ridingwind currents at different altitudes. Tochange course or speed, a pilot mustchange altitude to find a currentblowing in the direction he wishes to go.A balloon will stay airborne as long asthe air inside the envelope remainswarm enough to support the weight ofthe balloon; usually one to two hours.Twenty to 40 gallons of propane fuel,carried on board in tanks, is used towarm the air during flight. Fu el used in-flight generally runs about $15 an hour.Another type of balloon uses lighter-than-air gas to ascend and fly. Wheninflated with helium or hydrogen, gas-filled balloons stay up longer than thehot-air type. The cost of fuel is high,however, w hich limits their p racticality.Depending on the size of the balloonand the type of gas used, it is notunusual for the cost to range between$2,000 and $4,000 per flight.A third kind of balloon, designed andtested in Albuquerque, is called theSunstat. It is solar-powered and hasflown for m ore than four h ours on a testflight. If the technology needed to makeuse of the sun to heat the air in theenvelope is perfected, ballooning willbecome even more popular than it istoday. Albuq uerqu e's balloonists will bestaunch supporters of solar-poweredflight. 0For mo re information about the F iesta,contact the A lbuquerqu e InternationalBalloon Fiesta, P.O. Box 8486,Albuquerque, NM 87198, (505) 256-9401.Please join us.

A Los Angeles-based-writer, DianeWilliams Hlavafrequently reportson Southwesternlifestyles and events.Her appreciationfor the skies of New Mexico and theircolorful balloons, from a confirmedground-dweller's viewpoint, motivated thisreport.Preceding Pages : Ground crews hold the balloons down as they ready for flight. Top Lef t :Balloons from the inside out. Here, a crew member inside the envelope. Bottom Left: A groundcrew memb er mon itors the forcing of warmed air into the envelope during final preparation.

Balloon BibleDr. Will Hayes

"The Balloon Digest wasdeveloped by balloonists and forballoonists, for the advancem ent ofthe sport we all love."

Dr. W ill Hayes, AuthorIn 1973, Dr. Will Hayes was asked bythe Federal Aviation Administration toorganize and direct a balloon seminar, inwhich regulations and procedures couldbe discussed, and balloon flying skills up-dated. The seminar was a resounding suc-cess. Out of it came the Balloon Digest."It's used throughout the world as an in-structional manual in balloon schools,"says Hayes. "Since there is no otherbook of a similar nature, this is probablywhy."T h e Digest covers p rac t i ca l lyeverything, including ballooning history,

flight theory and practice, weather signs,safety, repair procedures, certificationand terminology. Hayes acknowledgesthe help he received from the ex perts, buthe is eminently qualified. He holdsballoon, glider and fixed-wing ratingswith the FAA, has been flving since 1945and has recorded more than 1,000accident-free hours. He is contributingeditor for Flight Handbook, FAA Acci-dent Prevention Counselor, Chairman ofthe liaison committee of the BalloonFederation of America and Safety Chair-man of the Soaring Society of America.The list goes on and on.Balloon Digest is available by writing to

P.O. Box 6006, Santa Barbara, CA93111, or calling (805) 967-2222.


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An historical account of the first lighter-than-air flights inthe Southwest.

Albuquerque'sFirst Balloon Ascensions

J! I ! I P

June 3, 1882, P.A. Van Tassel makes Albuquerque's first balloon ascension in a balloon filled with coal gas.

Te colorful Balloon Fiestas andi n t e r n a t i o n a l l y a c c l a i m e dvoyages of the Double Eagle IIand Kittyhawk have made Albuquerquefamous as a center for the sport ofballooning. However, few realize thatthe city had a reputation for sponsoringlighter-than-air flight as early as the1880 s. Th ree daring free ascensions in1882, 1907 and 1909 by local residentsaroused interest and excitement amongsouthwesterners , and impressed aPresident.In June of 1882, local papers began tocarry ads for Fourth of July festivitiesincluding a baseball game, horse races,

foot races and a balloon ascension. "P ro-fessor" P.A. Van Tassel, a bartender in

"My entire voyageextended only 18 miles upthe Rio Grande Valley, butthis short jump waspunctuated by 8 attemptsat murder."Joseph Blondin, 1907

a local saloon, had purchased a 30,000-cubic-foot balloon called the City ofAlbuquerque, which could allegedly liftthre e-q ua r te rs of a ton , f rom"Professor" F.F. Martin of SanFrancisco. He intended to make a freeflight with a newspaper reporter "underthe direct patronage of the people ofAlbuquerque" to entertain the public.About 5 p.m. on July 3rd, Van Tasselbrought his balloon to a vacant lot nearthe city illuminating gas plant onSecond Street between Railroad (nowCentral) and Gold Avenues. He hookedthe envelope up to a special line andbegan to fill the bag with a coal gas, a

By Byron A. Johnson, Curator of History, and Robert K.Danner, Photo Archivist, both of The Albuquerque Museum.28 OCTO BER, 1981


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October 19, 1909, Stam m and Blondin using the remaining hydrogen gas to make a free flight.pause for a final portrait.

mixture of hydrogen, methane andcarbon dioxide produced by burningcoal in a low oxygen environment. Itwas normally used for indoor lightingand has a low-to-medium lifting power.Van Tassel expected the inflation of thebag to take only a few hours, so he ad-vertised the ascension for 10 a.m. thefollowing morning.Several thousand people gatherednear the site at the appointed time,severely taxing the 10 peace officers de-tailed to keep them away from the flam-mable balloon. T he envelope was a longway from being filled due to the pre-Fourth celebrations in nearby saloonswhich kept the gaslights burning allnight, drawing heavily on the supply of

gas needed for inflation. Hours cameand went, and soon after 2 p.m. theonlookers lost interest and boardedhorsedrawn streetcars for Old Town totake in other events at the TerritorialFairgrounds.Shortly after 5:30 p.m. word was tele-phoned to the fairgrounds and anannouncement was made that theascension would take place at 6:15 p.m.Most of the crowd reboarded the street-cars and headed for New Albuquerque.William B. Lyon, a young doctor withan office near the ascension site,described the events in a letter to hisfiance:Finally everything was arranged and therenowned Professor Van Tassel, who

ordinarily is a whiskey shnger in one ofthe musical palaces under my window,stepped in the basket and after one falsestart, cut the ropes that held him down,and the immense dome softly and easilymounted into the air... Higher andhigher it went, the Professor industriouslywaving the flag of his country and scatter-ing advertisements. I wonder if there everwas a balloon or balloonist that went upwithout waving the conventional flag.After the gas was shut off, Van Tasselattempted to lift off with J. Moore, anAlbuquerque Morning Journal reporter.The envelope was only two-thirds full ofgas, but it would not lift with thecombined weight, so Moore reluctantlyleft the basket. Van Tassel pared his

"As I neared the earth Ithrew out my anchor,which caught in a ditchand held the balloonsettled, and I got out witheverything in good order."P.A. Van Tassel, 1882

ballast to 45 pounds, but still theballoon would not rise. He finallyemptied one of the ballast bags over theside, inadvertently striking a spectatorwho later filed a claim, and the balloonrose. Another paper, The EveningReview, recorded the pilot's own des-cription of the flight:After rising above the housetops, theballoon rose rapidly, taking a southerlycourse, and the people faded away untilthey seemed one black mass of humanity.The balloon continued its course until ithung over the Rio Grande river, whichappeared like a tiny silver thread. An alti-tude of 11,000 feet above sea level hadbeen reached. The airship then remainedstationary for a few minutes until itstruck a current of air that bore it rapidlytoward the west end (Old Town). Aftertraveling in that direction two miles, Ithought I would go up higher and emptiedthe contents of one bag of ballast over theside; in a few moments the barometerregistered 14,207 feet h igh.. . I was justover the fairgrounds then, as the balloonbegan going down rapidly I shut the valve,but had to throw out my coat, basket oflunch, bottles of water, etc., to keep fromgoing down too fast. As I neared the earthI threw out m y anchor w hich caught in aditch and held the balloon settled, and I

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Roy Stamm and Joseph Blondin's balloon, A l b u q u e r q u e , being filled for captive flights in O ctober of 1909. To the right is their hydrogengenerator.got out with everything in good order.Albuquerque's first balloon flightended un ceremoniously in a cornfield inback of the fairgrounds, near present-day Rio Grande Boulevard and CentralAvenue. By 9 p.m., Van Tassel had-loaded his balloon and basket into awagon and was enjoying the acclaim andhospitality of New Albuquerque, thistime from the front side of a bar.The next attempt at ballooning tookplace during the New MexicoTerritorial Fair of 1907. JosephBlondin, a 28-year-old musician turnedaeronaut, convinced officials that whatthe fair needed was a balloon in whichcaptive rides could be given followed bya free flight. Roy A. Stamm, fairsecretary, convinced the board to frontmoney for the ascensions, and to loanBlondin an obsolete sprinkler wagon touse as a makeshift hydrogen generatingplant. Stamm was to regret his supportof the scheme.From October 7 through 11, Blondinstruggled to make his generator turn outenough hydrogen to fill the envelope,but the leaky sprinkler wagon was notup to the task. In an effort to salvage arespectable free flight from the debacle,Colonel A.P. Hunter of the visiting30 OCT OBER , 1981

Fifth Cavalry was asked to detail 25 ofhis men to walk the balloon to the cityilluminating gas plant near the railroadyards, to be filled with coal gas.Although the bag was not buoyant

"A few more stridesthrough the air and wewere down. By the time Ihad deflated the bag, someof my erstwhile would-beassassins drove up, veryexcited, and somewhatabashed to find a manalready in charge of theanimal they thought theyhad shot down."Joseph Blondin, 1907

enough for flight, it was inflated to thepoint where transport was difficult. Th e

soldiers walked the balloon to the gasplant. The wind rose several times to alevel which made it seem as though theballoon would "carry a select group ofsoldiers into McKinley County," andwhen they reached the railroad yards,the men had to clear a path by musclingboxcars out of the way. DisgruntledSanta Fe Railroad employees refused tohelp.Once at the gas plant, the balloon washooked up to a "boo ster" and filled w ithcoal gas. The next morning at 11:55a.m., Blondin cast off with a mere 20'pounds of sand ballast, and the balloonrose sluggishly. The intrepid pilot laterdescribed his flight for the Aero Digestof May, 1930:A native rancher over whose place I wasslowly drifting, ran into his house and re-appeared with a rifle, which barked andspat a ring of smoke straight up at me.My precious twenty pounds of ballast onwhich I ha d b een counting for safe landinghad to be dropped then and there. Theentire voyage extended only eighteen milesup the Rio Grande Valley, but this shortjump was punctuated by eight attempts atmurder. I don't blame those natives; theynever before had seen a balloon andpossibly had never heard of one. Their


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perfectly natural reaction against theunknown w as to consider it an enemy.Sunset brought my balloon down w ith arush, to a landing over which I had nocontrol and no defense, except the goodfortune of a flat unobstructed mesa-land toreceive us.. . A few more strides throughthe air and w e were down, finally, withoutany damage to myself or the basket. Bythe time I had deflated the bag some of myerstwhile would-be assassins drove up,very excited, and somewhat abashed tofind a m an already in ch arge of theanimal they thought they had shot down.They were very friendly now and assistedme to get ba ck to Albuquerque, to drive thelast few blocks to a most exciting andenthusiastic reception.Blondin spent three hours in the air,followed a course parallel with FourthStreet to the Corrales Bridge, anddescended on the m esa four m iles north-west of the present village of Corrales.Chagrined over his part in the affair,Stamm, the fair secretary, bought andstored the silk balloon and wickerbasket. He did not dream that two yearslater he and his balloon would be calledupon to save the honor of Albuquerque.When the 29th Territorial Fair wasorganized in 1909, arrangements weremade with Charles Stroebel for a smallexhibition dirigible and pilot to flyduring the exposition. Stroebel owned asmall fleet of barnstorming airships,each powered by a bicycle connected toa propeller underneath the gas bag. Pre-sident Taft was scheduled to arrive inAlbuquerque sometime during the fair,and local people looked forward toimpressing him with their modern flair.However, a few days before the fairopened, Stroebel wired the authoritiesthat his only dirigible capable of liftingoff at Albuquerque's 5,000-foot altitudehad crashed. Faced with the prospect ofacute embarrassment when PresidentTaft arrived, the fair committee wiredRoy Stamm, then out of town onbusiness, "For Albuquerque's sake,Stamm, get up your balloon."Stamm dusted off his balloon andbasket, and contacted Blondin to helphim prepare it for captive and freef l ights . To avoid any fur therdisappointment, the men kept quietabout the plan until the balloon washauled to a vacant lot at Sixth Street andCentral Avenue. Blondin supervised theconstruction of a hydrogen generator,consisting of a large wooden tank inwhich sulphuric acid was mixed withiron filings to form hydrogen, and the

resulting gas washed in a spray of coldwater and lime. When a water-sealthreatened to give way at one point,

Stamm threw himself on the tank andwas sent several feet in the air on ageyser of water and sulphuric acid.Fortunately he was not hurt, andinvestigators found that he made themistake of pumping water into sulphur-ic acid, instead of the reverse.After 26 to 30 hours, enoughhydrogen was pumped into the envelopeto insure success, so newspapers brokethe story that captive ascensions wouldsoon be available at one dollar for a 15minute ride. A steam windlass wasconnected to the basket with a1,200-foot-long, one-inch-thick rope.During the next few days, the pilotscarried scores of passengers, though fewwanted to stay up longer than 10minutes at 500 feet, and most camedown slightly "white around the gills."President Taft did see the balloon fromthe window of his railroad car andallegedly congratulated Stamm andB l o n d i n o n t h e e n d e a v o r .Albuquerque's honor was preserved.The following day Blondin andStamm prepared the balloon for the freeflight by packing provisions includingfood for a long voyage, two desert waterbags, a small camera with universalfocus, a Thermos bottle, small electricflashlight, six-shooter, sheath knife tocut the ropes in case of emergency,statometer to judge whether the balloonwas rising or falling, aneroid barometerto determine the altitude, a thermo-meter, a compass and two United Statesflags. The balloon was named theAlbuquerque.The Stamm family has wisely pre-served the log of the flight and several ofthe photographs taken from the groundduring the ascension. On the morningof the ascension, the envelope showedless than two-thirds full of gas. As therewas no sulphuric acid to make more, itwas necessary to leave coats and someprovisions behind. They intended tocarry 400 pounds of ballast, but only100 pounds made it on board. Thecamera (unfortunately), revolver andsome food were also discarded.At 10:55 a.m. on October the 19th,the balloon lifted off from Sixth andCentral, and headed directly towardneighboring high voltage power linesfor the electric trolley car system.Stamm quickly emptied some of theprecious ballast, they cleared the lines,and the wind blew them in a north-westerly course over Old Town. After10 minutes, a southeasterly breezepicked up, which drove the balloon

toward Tijeras Canyon.Th e balloon m anaged to clear the topsof the mountains by 1,000 feet and

crossed over into the Estancia Valley.They hit an altitude of 12,792 feet andsighted Chilili, Moriarty and Estancia.The flight ended at 1:25 p.m. at thebase of the Pedernal Mountains, 10miles southeast of Clines Corners andover 90 miles from Albuquerque.Cowboys from the McGillvray ranchwelcomed the balloonists on theirdescent, and they arrived back in townth e following day. Blondin dulyrecorded affadavits from McGillvrayranch employees and Albuquerqueresidents, and submitted them to theAero Club of America for verification.From then on, few balloon flightswere made in the city, perhaps becauseit seemed that Blondin and Stamm'srecord would never be broken. A fewtraveling companies passed throughwith parachute drops from balloons, butthe Wright brothers flight in 1903focused all attention upon heavier-than-air flight. Stamm went on to become aprosperous business man and writer onearly Albuquerque, and Blondinbecame an airplane engineer and builderof th e none-too-popular BlondinMallard airplane. It was to be more than50 years before ballooning was againpopular in Albuquerque, this time withsafer and more colorful hot-air balloons.

Bob Danner is agraduate of BradleyUniversity in Peo-ria, Illinois, an dhas been involvedwith photographyhis entire life. He iscurrently Photo-archivist/Photo-grapherfor the Albuquerque Museum, andco-author of Old Town, Albuquerque,New Mexico: A Guide to its Historyand Architecture an d Early Albuquer-que-1870-1918.

Byron A. Johnsonis Curator ofHistory with theAlbuquerqueMuseum , a divisionof the CulturalServices Depart-ment of the City ofAlbuquerque. He isa graduate of the University of Arizonaand Texas Tech Un iversity. He is co-author of two books for the AlbuquerqueMuseum: Old Town, Albuquerque,New Mexico: A Guide to its Historyand Architecture an d Early Albuquer-que-1870-1918.

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A silent flight through Canyon de Chelly,a sandstone masterpiece of time.

ballooning

(Banyon de 6(icilyText by Virginia GreenePhotography by Alan Benoit


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On Tuesday night, the cold frontmoved in, chasing summer'sthrus h from distant peaks, andcoyotes graphed a song of mournfulharmony beyond the canyon rim.On Wednesday morning, light snowfreckled the land as clouds thunderedlow and fast across the high plateau. Ice-decorated pinon and juniper and rows ofcottonwoods, recently turned golden bycapricious temperatures, stood leaf-heavy in the early-morning quiet.Fall had come to Canyon de Chelly(d'Shay). With it was the silence of anti-cipation, of change. It was that silencethat occurs when man watches andlistens, then internalizes what he seesand hears. Gravel crunches underfootand is loud to the senses. A jay settles ona branch of pinon, snow sifts to theground and the blur is brilliant, evenagainst a backdrop of pale skies.We had arrived two days ago, freshfrom the city, spirits high, ready forsomething new. The change hadoccurred as subtly and quietly as snowhad fallen during the night. We couldblame it on any number of things: thelong drive, the different altitude, theexperience of being among strangers onthe Navajo Indian reservation. Werecognized a hard reality, an elusivemystique which seems to permeatesome places remote on the southwesternlandscape.Canyon de Chelly is such a place. Itmoves in a cycle of seasons. Its ponder-ous silences and immutable tranquilitycontain both the peace and the violencefound in such cycles.We had b een here before, to this greatslash deep in the earth of the DefianceMesa in eastern Arizona, had toured thecanyon, and read its history. A fewmonths ear l ie r , Roland LaFont ,dispenser of western hospitality atJustin's historical Thunderbird Lodgeand Trading Post in Chinle, hadcasually suggested a hot-air balloon ridethrough the canyon sometime. It wasOctober and we had returned to acceptthe offernot as casually as it had beenextended.

Cast on the canyon, far below, the balloon'sshadow. Inset: The Sheepherder being in-flated on the canyon floor.

The balloon, an AX-7 Raven, becamea dash of color against'the gray morningas it was unpacked and stretched outnear the canyon rim at Spider RockOverlook, almost 22 miles from themouth. Red, yellow and black folds of

Six stories of 20th-centurymulticolored ingenuity wasrapidly unfolding on a lipof earth overlooking one ofNorth America's oldestsites of continuingcivilization.

nylon lay across the dun-colored sand-stone, awaiting the wind. The mentalked quietly as they worked, quicklyattaching lines, the propane b urne rs, thebrown wicker basket.Rosetta LaFont spoke of her life inthis place, of her grandparents' smallfarm on the canyon floor, and of eventswhich punctuated 2,000 years of Indianhistory in Canyon de Chelly.We walked to the rim, skirting chollaand prickly pear encircled by narrowrims of snow. Dried rabbitbrush left adull residue on our boots.It was 6 a.m. and the winds werecalmperfect for flying, Roland said.Behind us, the great balloon was takingembryonic shape. As we watched,22,000-BTU dual propane burners,loaded w ith 40 gallons of fuel good for alittle over three hours aloft, filled theSheepherder (our balloon) closer to its77,500-cubic-foot capacity. Six storiesof 20th-century multicolored ingenuitywas rapidly unfolding on a lip of earthoverlooking one of North America'soldest sites of continuing civilization.The comparison between the ancientand the modern was striking. It seemedfitting to experience the great canyonfrom Sheepherder's swaying basket, forthe silence of the canyon is perpetuatedby the silence of balloon-flying. Thesense of privacy inherent in this placedemands not to be violated.Fifteen minutes was enough time to

fill the balloon. Prevailing winds fromthe east caught us and we were movedinto an inner world of dramatic historyand archeological speculation, ofmodern peoples guided through theirdaily lives by shamans and ancientritual, of art treasures and adobe w alls ofsandstone, masterpieces thousands ofyears old.Canyon de Chelly may be thought ofas a towering sandstone art gallerycrammed with some of man's mostprecious masterpieces. Call it a Louvreof the high plateau. Call it a livingmuseum of farmers and silver craftsmenliving in the shadow of the Anasazitheancient onesguarding the old waysand the old secrets. They carry on aculture in the small but overwhelminglybeautiful canyon where the legendarySpider Woman crouches high astrideher red spire 800 feet above the canyonfloor, and primr

198110 desert magazine 1981 october

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