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Lost Gold—fact or fiction
. . .
Prescott, ArizonaDesert:Two letters
in
your September issueinterested
me.
Lewis
R.
Wilcox complained thathe
was
unable
to
find
the
landmarksgiven by your writer, John D. Mitchell,for
the
general location
of the
lostcrater
of
gold described
in
your issueof last February.This
is not
surprising.
1
have
had
the same experience. Perhaps that
is
why the mines are lost—even the land-marks
are
missing. Also,
it may be
true that some
of
the lost mine writers,when they
run out of
factual materialintroduce more
or
less fiction into theirstories. They shouldn't
do
that,
for it
might lead
to
tragedy.The second letter was from
Sid R.
Teeples, who wrote that
he
had foundthe Pegleg Smith lost mine
and was
going
to
sink
a
10-foot shaft.
I
thinkhe's
on the
wrong trail. There
are no
shafts involved
in the
Pegleg story—at least
not in the
story
I
have heardfor
the
last
50
years. Very few
of the
modern versions
of the
lost Pegleggold deal with
the
facts
as the old-
timers knew them.I like good fiction—but
I
hate
to
seeit published
as
truth.ROBT.
E.
AMES•
• •
All Is Peaceful
at
Bluff
. . .
Bluff,
UtahDesert:No doubt
you
have read
the
muchexaggerated reports regarding
the "In-
dian uprising"
at
Bluff recently.
Ac-
cording
to
some
of
the news dispatchesthe Navajos were
on the
warpath
and
the people
in
Bluff barricaded theirhomes.
It is
true nine carloads
of
statetroopers were sent there—with guns.The truth
is the
Indians were
not on
the warpath and
the
townspeople werenot frightened.(Fr.) EUGENE BOTELHO•
• •
Turtle Mountain Hospitality
. . .
Colton, CaliforniaDesert:I just finished reading
the
article
in
the October Desert about W. H. Brownof Beatty,
and his
friendly attitudetoward tourists.
It
brings
to my
mindanother desert old-timer who deservesthe same word
of
appreciation—JesseCraik
of the
Lost Arch
Inn in the
Turtle Mountains south
of
Needles.We made
a
camping trip tour
of
thedesert areas around
the
ColoradoRiver from Davis Dam south
to
Blythelast Labor Day weekend. The weatherwas just right,
the
rains
had
made
the
whole country
so
green
and
pretty,
in
fact
we
were amazed
to see a
carpetof yellow wild flowers
in
many places.For September that
is
unusual.We had the July 1948 copy
of
Des-ert
along, telling
of the
Turtle Moun-tain rock collecting area,
so
drove overthere
for our
first night's camp.
And
we received
a
most royal welcomefrom Mr. Craik, who gave
us
permis-sion
to
camp
at his
"mansion"
at the
windmill where
his
water supply
is,
not
far
from
the
Inn.The next morning
we
drove backto the Inn and spent
an
enjoyable hourlistening
to
his tales
of the
desert,
and
history
of
the Turtles,
as
well
as
aboutthe rocks
to be
found there.
He was
more than generous
in
giving
us
choicesamples
of
rocks which
he had col-
lected,
and he
made
us
feel
so
muchat home that
we
wished
we had
moretime
to
spend there. Right
now we
are planning
on
going back
as
soon
as
we can.Mr. Craik
is
truly
a
wonderful host,a
one
man chamber
of
commerce
for
the desert because
he
knows
it
fromone end
to the
other.
MRS.
AILEEN McKINNEY•
• •
John
Got His
Directions Mixed
. . .
Pomona, CaliforniaDesert:We have just finished reading John
D.
Mitchell's lost mine story
in
yourOctober issue.And now we are wondering why
the
old prospector arrived
in
Amboy fromthe northeast
if his
mine
was in the
Sheep Hole Mountains, which
are
southeast.
We
would like
to get
thisstraight,
for my
husband
and I are
going out there
for a
few days and
we
may spend some time around the SheepHoles.
MRS.
E.
N. NICKERSON
We suspect that John D. Mitch-ell
got his
directions mixed
—
orwas seeing
a
mirage. Actually
the
dry lake mentioned
by
Mitchelland
the
Sheep Hole Mountainsare both southeast
of
Amboy.
It
is
a
lovely desert area, but
rugged.
Take plenty
of
water.
—
R.
H.
•
• •
When Money Came to Salome
. . .
Palm Desert, CaliforniaDesert:Referring
to
Ralph Fair's letter
in
your October issue,
he is
right
in one
respect.
The
Shefflers
did
bring lotsand lots
of
money into Salome. But
it
takes more than money
to
build
a
town. Dick Wick Hall brought fameto Salome—not with money,
but
witha sense
of
humor that gave
a
nation-wide circulation
to
the stories he wrote.I lived
in
Salome
in the old
dayswhen the Van Orsdels provided accom-modations
for
travelers who came thatway. Addie Orsdel envisioned the kindof community Dick Wick Hall
had
sought
to
build,
and
kept alive
the
Hall traditions. Van's place
was the
common meeting place
for
hardrockminers, tourists, prospectors, geologistsand veterans
of
every walk
of
life.They
all
found
a
hearty welcome
and
a warm handclasp
at
Van's.Then big money took over—and theSalome
of
Dick Wick Hall,
and the
Van Orsdels, died. Salome became justa place
to eat
and drink and hurry
on.
They commercialize
the
achievementsof Dick Wick Hall—and
do
nothingto preserve
the
ideals
for
which DickWick lived and wrote.LOIS ELDER ROY•
• •
Giant Joshua
. . .
Yucca Valley, CaliforniaDesert:Perhaps you will
be
interested
in the
discovery
of
what
we
believe
is one
of the largest Joshua trees
on
the Cali-fornia desert.Four
of us —
Fred
and
IsabelleEhlers, Guy Ohlen
and the
writer
—
found
the
tree high
up in the
LittleSan Bernardino Mountains
in
JoshuaTree National Monument recently.Storm water had washed
out
much
of
the trail
up the
wash
and
more thanonce we had
to
shovel
out of
the sandto reach
the
place.The picture does
not do
justice
to
the tree. Actually
it is
nearly
20
feetin circumference
at the
ground,
and
15 feet
at its
"slim" waistline.
The
diameter
at
the base
is
six feet.Until some one reports
a
bigger tree,we will regard this one
as
the daddy
of
the Joshuas.JUNE LeMERT PAXTON•
• •
The Tragedy
of
Inflation
. . .
Desert Center, CaliforniaDesert:Your magazine
has
many interest-ing stories—but there
is
one importantsubject
you
have
not
covered. Someof
us
who live
on the
desert and workfor small wages would like
to
knowhow
we can go
about obtaining littlecabins
of our
own.It seems that
it is no
longer possiblefor
a
person earning less than $100
a
week
to
have
a
home
of
their own.Isn't there some
way
that
a
personcould obtain
a
little cabin
on
whichthe payments would
not be
more than$10
or
$15
a
month?THELMA
G.
SMITH
Does anyone know
the
answerto that one?
—7?.
H.
DESERT MAGAZINE
 
DESERT CALENDAR
October 29—Fall Round-up, Lancas-ter, California.October 29-31 — Western RegionalConference AAA Motor Club,Phoenix, Arizona.October 30-November 4—Fall GolfTournament, Motor Car DealersAssociation of Southern California,Thunderbird Ranch and CountryClub, Palm Springs, California.November 2-3—Arizona Bankers' As-sociation convention, Tucson, Ari-zona.November 2-3—Arizona State Teach-
ers"
convention. Tucson, Arizona.November 3-4—Sierra Club NaturalScience trip to Curtis Palms in theIndio hills. Star hike and campfire.Distance from Los Angeles about250 miles.November 3-12—Arizona State Fair,State Fair Grounds. Phoenix. Ari-zona.November 4-7—Convention of Cali-fornia Association of County As-sessors, Desert Inn, Palm Springs,California.November 10-14 — Ogden Livestockshow, Ogden, Utah.November 12—Tesuque Pueblo, St.James' Day fiesta and Harvest CornDance, New Mexico, and Jemezpueblo.November 12-13—Old Tucson Days,Tucson Mountain Park, Arizona.November 12-14—First Annual In-vitational Ladies' Golf Tournament.Thunderbird Ranch and CountryClub. Palm Springs, California.November 15-17—International Min-ing Days, El Paso, Texas.November 16—Opening of Rennais-sance Art Display, University ofArizona, Tucson, Arizona.November 17—International Soropto-mist Conference, Desert Inn. PalmSprings, California.November 18—El Conquistador Sad-dle Club Horse Show. Tucson,Arizona.November 22-25—Southern CaliforniaChapter of the Sierra Club plansThanksgiving at Furnace Creekcamp ground.November 23-25—Sierra Club's Des-ert Peaks Section field trip to MountPicacho and Castle Dome, northof Yuma in Arizona. From LosAngeles about 650 miles.November 24-25 — Phoenix JuniorRodeo, Phoenix, Arizona.November — Following first frost,Navajo Reservation. Navajo "Yei-be-chi" and Fire Dance.Late November or early December—Zuni Pueblo, "Shalako" ceremoniesand House Dances.Month of November — Exhibit ofPeruvian Arts and paintings byCharles Packard illustrating primi-tive costumes of California Indians.Actual costumes will be on view.Southwest Museum. Highland Park.Los Angeles.
Volume 14NOVEMBER. 1951Number 13COVERLETTERSCALENDAREXPLORATION
DELICATE ARCH in Utah. Kodachrome picture takenby Josef Muench, Santa Barbara, CaliforniaComment from Desert's readers .November events on the desert .Cave of the Crystal "Snowbanks"By RICHARD F. LOGAN . .
'J,
3
LOST TREASURE
Buried Treasure in the ChiricahuasBy WELDON HEALD ....
DESERT QUIZHISTORYINDIANSCONTESTNATUREPOETRYCLOSE-UPSFICTIONMININGNEWSHOBBYLAPIDARYBOOKSCOMMENT
A test of your desert knowledge
514
When Ezra Hamilton Found Gold at Willow SpringsBy MARCIA RITTENHOUSE WYNN ... 15Big Talks "Borrows" the Trader's AxBy SANDY HASSELL 19Announcement for writersBirds of Prey ... Do They Deserve Extinction?By GEORGE M. BRADT
20
2124252526Dance E>ay and other poemsAbout those who write for Desert ....Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley ....Current news of desert minesFrom Here and There on the Desert 27Gems and Minerals 35Amateu:: Gem Cutter, by LELANDE QUICK . . 40Reviews of Southwestern literature 41Just Between You and Me, by the Editor ... 42
The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Press, Inc., Palm Desert,California. Re-entered as second class matter July 17, 1948, at the post office at Palm Desert,California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title registered No. 358865 in U. S. Patent Office,and contents copyrighted 1951 by the Desert Press, Inc. Permission to reproduce contentsmust be secured from the editor in writing.RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor BESS STACY, Business ManagerMARTIN MORAN, Circulation Manager E. H. VAN NOSTRAND, AdvertisingLos Angeles Office (Advertising Only): 2635 Adelbert Ave., Phone NOrmandy 3-1509Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledgedunless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility fordamage or loss of manuscripts or photographs although due care will be exercised. Sub-scribers should send notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding Issue.SUBSCRIPTION RATESOne Year $3.50 Two Years $6.00Canadian Subscriptions 25c Extra, Foreign 50c ExtraSubscriptions to Army Personnel Outside U. S. A. Must Be Mailed In Conformity With
P.
0. D. Order No. 19687Address Correspondence to Desert Magazine, Palm Desert, California
NOVEMBER, 1951
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