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ine
of
the
OUTDOOR
SOUTHWEST
"THE GHOST TOWN"
BY
CLYDEFORSYTHE
^
see
P
a
S
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ON THIS MONTH'S COVER:
The Gold Rush
June cover
The Mining Camp
July cover
The Mining Town
August cover
The Ghost Town
This month's cove
When the gold is gone the Mining Town loses its reasonfor existing. It's a simple lesson in economics that has dottedthe West with abandoned or nearly-abandoned settlements
—
Ghost Towns. The roster is a long one: American Canyon,Atwood, Aurora, Aurum, Bannock and so on down the alphabet.In the following story, Clyde Forsythe relates how hebrought his Gold Strike saga to a logical conclusion with thepainting of The Ghost Town.
H
OW CAN WE anticipate what may result from a chancemeeting at the roadside with a total stranger? My short chatwith the shabby little prospector at the gas station at LasVegas in 1926 was the motivation for the painting of these fourpictures, each 38 x 48 inches in size.In the beginning there was to have been but one painting—-"The Gold Rush"—but as I have already said, that first onedemanded another—"The Mining Camp"—which, in turn, ledto the creation of "The Mining Town." I then thought that theseries was complete. But work lay ahead; 1940 had come andgone.Back in 1930, my old-time studio-mate, Norman Rockwell,had come with us from New York to work with me in my South-ern California studio. Our friend, Bill Backer, New York hotelowner, also came along. It was his first trip to the Wild West.To give the boys a look at something typical of the old daysthat had once been "wild," I outfitted them in Western garb,and transported them to our cabin at Big Bear Lake in my latestFranklin. From there we paid a visit to "Lucky" Baldwin'sfamous abandoned gold mine above Baldwin Lake.The old mill and stamps were still there, and ore-cars wereon the tracks. Vandals had been at work and the ghost town of"Doble" at the foot of the mountain was about depleted.From there we rolled down the Cushenberry grade, past"Deadman's Point" to Victorville and thence north along thepower-line road to old Randsburg.We put up at the Atlas Hotel, the upper hallway of whichsagged at least six inches in the middle. (It has completelysagged now—burned to the ground.) After a good dinner atone of the cafes, I wanted to get my friends into the YellowAster Mine, which was being worked by leasers. In the windowof the main saloon were the usual piles of ore samples. This wasthe place to begin.I led the way to the ore samples and we examined them withgreat interest. Here my usual good luck asserted
itself.
Soona tall man arose from a bottle and a poker game in the rear,and offered to be of service to the fairly well-dressed strangersin town. We could be potential investors! The man turned outto be Kent Knowlton, publisher of the weekly paper, a fellownewspaperman. And we had a New York hotel owner as wellas a noted
Saturday Evening Post
artist in our party—at firstsight, good prospects.
Yes,
Mr. Knowlton was an old friend of Death ValleyScotty. Yes, he would be very glad to arrange to get us into
continued on page
42
THE GHOST TOWN
CLYDE FORSYTHE
THE CONCLUDING PAINTING IN THEFAMOUS "GOLD STRIKE" SERIESBY THE DISTINGUISHEDWESTERN ARTIST
 
POEM
OF THE
MONTH
QUIETUDE
ByGRACE
R.
BALLARD
Santa Barbara, California
A
horned toad sunning ona rockAppears inanimateAs lichens on grey stone —Until a careless flyWith small concernComes buzzing by.A flash of flaming tonguesnaps out —A sudden gulp—brief inter-lude;And once moreGrey of toad and rock dis-solveIn desert quietude.
Desert Magazine pays
$5
each monthfor
the
poem chosen
by the
judgesto appear
in the
magazine.
To
enterthis contest simply mail your type-written poem (must
be on a
desertsubject)
to
Poetry Contest, DesertMagazine, Palm Desert,
Calif.
Pleaseinclude
a
stamped return envelope.
HAVE
FUN
PANNING GOLD
IN THE
MANNER
OF THE
49ERS8
oz. of
ready-to-pan
ore
from
the
famousRose Quartz Mine,
pan,
panning instruc-tions
and
booklet,
"How to
Prospect
for
Gold."Only
$2
postpaid.ORDER FROM:
ROSE QUARTZ
D
P.O.
Box
5006San Diego
5,
Calif.
Volume
23
Number
~7)iAinL
-magazine
of
the
Outdoor Southwest-
CHARLES
E.
SHELTON
publisher
EUGENE
L.
CONROTTO
editor
EVONNE RIDDELL
circulation manager
Contents
for
September,
I960
COVERBACKGROUND
2
TRAVEL
6
NATURE
10
PETS
12
HISTORY
15
GARDENING
19
PHOTOGRAPHY
22
GEMS-MINERALS
24
BAJA CALIF.
32
"The Ghost Town"—concluding panel
in
artist ClydeForsythe's four-part "Gold Strike" seriesThe story behind
the
coverWhite Mountain WonderlandWestern Red-Tailed HawkA
New
Horse
for
CleisThe Swap
for
Thousand PalmsCactus PropagationCactus Close-UpsColorado Desert Field TripsA Guide
to the
Missions— also
—
Clyde Forsythe
C.
N.
FergusonEdmund
C.
JaegerEd EllingerPaul WilhelmLadislaus
Cutak
James
Tallon
Glen
&
Martha VargasHelen DuShane
Poem
of the
Month:
3
Letters:
4 31. New
BooksNews Briefs:
5 40: New
Mexico Travel:
Rio
Grande LoopUtah Travel—Kanab:
27 41:
Editorial
The Desert Magazine, founded
in 1937 by
Randall Henderson,
is
published monthlyby Desert Magazine,
Inc.,
Palm Desert, California. Re-entered
as
second classmatter July
17, 1948, at the
postoffice
at
Palm Desert, California, under
the Act
of March
3, 1879.
Title registered
No.
358865
in U.S.
Patent Office,
and
contentscopyrighted
1960 by
Desert Magazine,
Inc.
Permission
to
reproduce contents mustbe secured from
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in
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and
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Desert Magazine, Palm
Des-
ert, California.Address
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