Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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NOVEMBER 1948 ANNIVERSARY NUMBER 25 CENTS
WHAT DO vou MEAN
DO CAR MANUFACTURERS
CAR AAA^JUFACTURERS'l^ECOA^MEN0ATI0NS
ON OIL DRAINS VARy COMSiDERABLy.
HOWEVER, REGARDLESS OF THC DRAIM
INTERVAL YOU PREFER., TRITON 6IVES VOU
A DRIVING RESERVE OF 6 MONTHS— AM otice: Triton is now sold at
many independent stations
EXTRA MARGIN OF and garages as wetl as the
regular Union Oil stations. If
your particular dealer doesn't
carry Triton, ask him to stock
it for you.
NOVEMBER, 1948
Why Make Your Home in 7><dl*t7)e6tAL ?
One of the reasons why hundreds of far-sighted builders and investors have
purchased home and business sites in Palm Desert community during the last two
years is the charm and convenience of its location on the rim of
COACHELLA VALLEY
This inland valley, less than 100 miles from Los munity, with a scenic background rarely equalled.
Angeles, is a great fertile bowl almost entirely sur- Here are the health and freedom of desert living with
rounded by mountains. Here the gardens are green all the conveniences you could want—abundant
and colorful every day of the year—the grape har- water, natural gas, electricity, paved streets and
vest is in May, the dates are picked in the fall, the highways—with schools and churches and libraries
grapefruit in late winter and spring, the vegetable not far away.
crops are shipped to market every month.
Coachella valley is a versatile community, com-
Palm Desert homes are built on a gentle slope at bining ranching and business enterprise with high
the base of the mountains overlooking the gardens cultural standards—the place for the home you have
on the floor of the valley below. And in the distance dreamed about.
may be seen the snow-capped peaks of San Jacinto,
San Gorgonio and Santa Rosa. In the long range planning of Palm Desert, the
cultural, recreational and commercial aspects of
Here are combined the sunshine, the pure air good living have been kept in perfect balance. This
and water, the wide-spacing of a model desert com- is a community for full rich living.
For information regarding home or business property in Palm Desert community write to
PALM DESERT
CORPORATION
PALM DESERT. CALIFORNIA
.
.
Telephone CRestview 55269
• ' • ? : . . • -•:•
Edna Langdon Cast, "Boss Lady" of the Garden of the Setting Sun.
George M. Roy photo.
Jla Vattona his wife didn't think much of the investment. She
was an Ohio girl and could not understand why
anyone would live on the desert. But she learned
why—and during the last 26 years has developed
a world-wide market for her date products. This is
Qn5 the story of Edna Cast of the Garden of the Setting
Sun.
blistering day in July, 1920, knew nothing about dates, and being value in dates, had never destroyed
an elderly man from Riverside, a city girl, she couldn't understand why them, fascinated her. She learned by
California, was bumping along anyone would want to live in such a studying the cultural background of
over the dusty roads that wound hot disagreeable place. this youthful American industry that
among the dunes and mesquite thickets But Charlie, her husband, was in right there in the Coachella valley con-
of the Southern California desert. On poor health. He felt better in the des- ditions for date culture were more
the touring car seat beside him was a ert sunshine. And nothing Edna could favorable than any other place in the
stylishly dressed young woman in a say altered his determination to estab- United States. Experimental plantings,
tight-fitting blue serge dress with a lish a home out there as soon as the she learned, had been going on since
chin-high collar. date trees would yield a living income. 1906 when offshoots of the date palm
Obviously, she was very uncomfort- "All right," she finally consented. were brought over from North Africa
able. Also, very unhappy, for this "For your sake I'll go. You stay here and the Persian gulf region where the
business of owning a date garden in and look after the business. I'll do the climate is similar to that of this
Coachella valley was not her idea. Her best I can, and as soon as I get things California valley.
husband had come west from their going you come out and join me." It was not until January, 1923, that
Wilmington, Ohio, home two years It was in the spring of 1922 that she was ready for Charlie to join her.
previously and had become so enthus- Edna Cast and her little daughter From then on they were partners in
iastic over the possibilities of the new Mary arrived in Mecca ready to under- every sense of the word. Edna had
date industry in California he had in- take the task of putting a badly ne- caught the vision — the romance of
vested their savings in 30 acres of glected date garden in shape. waving palms against purpling hills and
knee-high date palms near Mecca. He As the busy weeks passed by, Edna desert skies, whose ever widening vis-
bought it without her knowledge or became more and more intrigued with tas have never ceased to lure her on
consent. the subject of date culture—a subject even though the going today, in this
And now, Edna Langdon Cast was dating back to remote antiquity. The age of complex living, is still a bit
accompanying her father on her first fact that dates are found in the tombs rugged.
trip out to the desert to see the date of ancient monarchs and that avenging Side by side Edna and Charlie
garden. She wasn't impressed. She armies, because of the superior food worked and planned and dreamed.
NOVEMBER, 1948
They prepared the fields, set out new vide the blossom up into strands, attire and entertain their ever-increas-
off-shoots, laid pipe lines. It was tedi- others use the whole blossom. ing circle of friends. To Edna, the
ous labor. Dates cannot be raised After the Casts had completed their Garden of the Setting Sun was always
from seed as can most other fruits, for first pollination, Edna became enthusi- her "House Beside the Road." In
the seeds will not breed true. Seeds astic and began preparations for the those early days many duck hunters
of a long, light amber-colored, soft sale of her dates. She decided that if traveled to that area. Edna did every-
date may bring forth black dates, round she were going to grow dates, they thing she could to attract them, for
dates or hard ones, so mixed and anci- would be the most beautiful dates in they and the tourists who followed
ent is the ancestry of the date palm. If the world. That was a significant and along the old Sunkist Trail through that
a special variety is desired, then the wholly typical decision and one which part of the valley, constituted the only
off-shoots that grow around the base still inspires the entire staff at the customers.
of the palm tree, like suckers on corn, Garden of the Setting Sun, as the Cast "Many people who stopped by our
are cut from their parent tree and set garden is now nationally known. doorstep, liked our hospitality and the
out in orchard form. These alone wilt quality of our dates," Edna continued,
reproduce the parent palm identically. Deciding on a color scheme, Edna re-living for the moment the visions
They are usually set out at the rate of bought quantities of expensive moire and dreams of yesteryear. "To take
49 palms to the acre, 30 feet apart, material with which she painstakingly care of our growing number of cus-
making seven rows, seven palms to covered dozens of pound-size boxes. tomers we needed more fruit. With
the row. Each box was supplied with sufficient more fruit we needed more customers!
purple satin ribbon to be tied later into We were going around in circles! I
Perhaps as tedious as any part of the artistic bows. In the 25 years that
long process of date culture is the hand have passed since that first crop, pack- well remember the first big order—10
pollinating. The female palm bears aging of commercial products has cases of 8-ounce baskets of dates. The
blossoms but they have no odor and progressed far from the moire and rib- order came from Young's of Los An-
no sweetness. They do not attract the bon but always Edna Cast has dressed geles. My young daughter, waving the
pollen-carrying bees or insects. It is up her superior dates in fancy pack- telegram, came down to the garden
necessary, therefore, to take the larger, ages. Now they go out in attractively where I was picking dates. To me that
more showy male blossoms and hand colored cellophane. On each package 10 cases represented a tremendous
pollinate the female trees which alone of dates is a little message, a historical order—but I got it out so that it could
bear fruit. It required weeks for Edna note, some appealing line of informa- make the ten o'clock train that night."
and Charlie to complete this task. The tion to give added interest to the parcel. That marked the beginning of a new
method of pollination varies in differ- era in the Cast business. From the un-
ent gardens. Some tap the male blos- By the time that first crop was certain though growing retail business
some over paper-covered tables, al- ready, the Cast living room had been at their door, they were launched into
lowing the pollen that sifts out to cure transformed into an exotic and glori- the wholesale business! To meet the
before using. This is then placed in fied sales room. The first customers increasing demands for dates they had
bottles with cotton stoppers. Care must were their guests and it mattered not begun to purchase dates from neigh-
be taken that the pollen is given air so whether they were rich or poor. On boring ranchers.
that it will not mold. Some gardens di- Sundays they would dress up in formal One or two good salesmen were en-
NOVEMBER, 1948
This unusually fine crop of the famous Deglel Noor date is
maturing this year.
Mrs. Cast, "a majority of American light was rigged up and people from "There have been many reverses,"
buyers are quality-conscious. We not miles around worked night and day Edna said, without trace of bitterness
only market the best dates that can be until the debris was cleaned up. Due or regret, "and some of them have
bought, but in handling and packing to excitement and heavy lifting, been hard to take. But I have found
them we maintain a high standard of Charlie's heart was strained and he that each one has brought me just a
purity and cleanliness which really was taken to the hospital where he re- little nearer the goal which has been my
makes them a superior product. And mained an invalid until Christmas. dream. Out of the ashes of our burned
most American buyers appreciate this Following the flood, the Casts built plant arose a bigger and better plant
quality." a bigger and better packing plant and for our dates. Out of each reverse has
Success didn't come to Charlie and warehouse. Then, during the night of come added growth and development.
Edna Cast all at once. In between the March 11, 1943, fire broke out in the It has always been that way. When-
added sales and ever increasing list of new packing plant. Before help could ever I have lost a valued secretary or
important customers there were re- be summoned the blaze was out of trusted employe, another one would
verses. On Labor Day, 1941, they control. The whole plant—with the ex- always come along to take his place.
completed a group of modern buildings ception of the Cast home—was burned "And that," she confessed ruefully,
with which to take care of their tre- to the ground. A whole carload of "is the one thing that squashes my ego.
mendously increased production. That choice dates ready for shipment was My personnel turnover has been tre-
night they celebrated the important destroyed; also 100,000 pounds in the mendous. At times I have employed
event and the whole community joined packing house. and housed as many as one hundred
in the festivities. At noon the follow- In the fall of 1944, Charlie's heart persons." Today a fairsized little vil-
ing day a cloudburst in the foothills failed him and he passed on. leaving lage marks the housing that Edna Cast
that rim the Coachella valley sent a Edna to carry on alone. They had provides for her employees. They are
raging torrent down through the been a splendid team, Charlie handling not shacks, but substantial cottages.
Garden and its new buildings. It was the outside work, Edna managing the During the late war, she was able to
a terrible catastrophe. A huge flood- business end. obtain through the government a group
NOVEMBER, 1948
View from one of the rockhound campsites. Those volcanic ash hills contain blue
agate nodules. Lucile points toward the diggings from which much agate with
red, yellow and green moss has been taken.
€J HUNTED rocks in the Mojave matrix and no light could dim its color. fully, if we would be foolish enough to
t desert's Sawtooth mountains be- It appeared to be part of a geode, and come, the Winslows would be waiting.
fore World War II, when ridges the distorted crystals of calcite, while Slim believes firmly that in rock col-
were strewn with cutting material and retaining their crystalline form, had lecting, fortune favors the brash.
blue agate was found at the roadside. been transmuted by the wonderful al- Sylvia was confident she could re-
But none of the specimens I found chemy of Nature to exquisite blue
locate the spot where she found her
matched the lovely orchid-amethystine chalcedony.
prize. She had built a little monument
gem which Sylvia Winslow displayed Perhaps if it had not been for this at the place. And Slim interrupted
when Lucile and I visited the Wins- luscious bit of chalcedony, we would
enthusiastically. Not only could we
low's Double S ranch at Bodfish, Cali- have hesitated to make an overnight
field trip under the circumstances. The find the place, but by picking the right
fornia, last February. wash, we could drive to it. "I looked
Mojave usually is cold in February,
Most of the blue stone from this and before we left El Centra, Slim the country over," he declared. "I'm
field loses much of its color when cut Winslow had wired to warn that snow sure I can drive right there."
away from the matrix, or viewed by was falling in the Kern river canyon We made an early start in the chill
transmitted light. This piece had no and on the desert. But, he added hope- mountain air. But, before leaving, we
• •
admired Sylvia's new desert paintings at their southwestern tip. Pilot Knob cutoffs between the Trona and Inyo-
and studied construction progress on has been a guide to prospectors and kern pavements.
the Winslows' Little Gallery, where freighters since desert travel began. We zeroed the speedometer where
paintings and rocks soon will be on the road left the Trona highway, just
North of the Sawtooths run twin ruts
display. south of the railroad crossing and
which pass close to Leach and Sara-
The highway through Walker pass, toga springs and link Inyokern and headed easterly through the valley
5250 feet, had been cleared by a plow, Trona with Shoshone and Baker. The north of the Lava mountains. At 6.5
but snow was thick on the ground and road on the east of the mountains once miles, the road passes close to a group
on the Joshua trees. As we rolled joined Barstow and Hidden springs— of limestone humps—calcareous tufa
down toward the desert, outriders of but don't try to follow it to Hidden mounds built by algae when the valley
the Mojave wind buffeted against the springs today! On the south, a little was part of an old lake. They appear
windshield. All the desert mountains used trail crosses from Granite wells to be small editions of the better known
carried an unfamiliar crown of white, past the faint ghost of Copper City and Pinnacles south of Trona.
and far across the wastelands we could Indian springs, to the Barstow road just Our road, which had been bladed at
see Pilot Knob and the Eagle Crags, mentioned. It is passable for expert some time, washboarded through typi-
with the snow mantle far down their drivers and high-clearance cars. cal Mojave desert scenery. There were
slopes. But the lure of blue chalce- great stark mountains with huge allu-
dony drew us on, and it was decep- The collector can follow two routes vial fans at their canyon mouths, being
tively warm at Inyokern, where we into the Sawtooth-Eagle Crags fields. bled away by erosion until the broad
filled our gas tanks and reserve cans. That from Barstow via Superior dry valleys between were half filled with
The Sawtooth mountains and Eagle lake is bladed more than half way, al- sand and gravel. The desert was bar-
Crags lie southeast of Inyokern and though washboard. The other, leaving ren, when compared with the tree-lined
northeast of Randsburg. The range pavement where the Johannesburg- washes of the Colorado desert, but
literally is circled by desert roads, most Trona highway crosses the Trona rail- basins and slopes were spotted thickly
of which date to early days of mining road, has more dips and twists, but is with rabbit brush, Ephedra, desert
in the Mojave. The old 20-mule team navigable by a reasonably good driver. holly, galleta grass and cholla cactus,
route from the borax mines of Death This point can be reached by highway and the ever-present creosote.
Valley to the shipping point at Mojave from Johannesburg, or—as we came We twisted up through a series of
follows the western flank of the moun- from Inyokern — by haphazard dirt sandy hills, then down again and after
tains to Pilot Knob and Granite wells, tracks which local inhabitants use as a straight run across wind-whipped
NOVEMBER, 1948 11
looked across the Sawtooths, it ap-
peared that storm clouds had settled
on the exact spot for which we were
heading. Around the butte, the track
swung more to the east, heading toward
the end of a long, flat-topped lava
tongue licking out from the main
-•;.•; s w . r \ .•>:.<-;-*.-.v.v'.- :/'•?•;•«•- mountain mass. The route we would
follow lay in the valley beyond the
ridge.
We reached one of the Mojave's
most isolated cross-roads at 33.4 miles,
where battered and repaired Southern
California Automobile club signs tell
the traveler he is a long way from any-
where. Inyokem is 52 miles distant,
Randsburg 40, Barstow 58, Mojave
71, Shoshone 79, Ballarat 39. It is not
a place to remember you forgot to
check your gas. The Death Valley
borax wagons and trailers came down
the Ballarat road to this point after
pulling up through Wingate pass on a
grade which is marked "Downhill
Only" for modern 100-horsepower
motors.
Continuing east on the Shoshone
road, we rounded the dark ridge and
entered the slope of a big valley open-
ing from the south. At 40.3 miles we
left the road we had been following
and swung right.
There had been travel since the last
rain, and the tracks in the wash could
be followed easily. The road was
rough but passable. Colorful out-
crops of the Sawtooths, to the right,
invited the rockhound. But tentative
investigation on previous trips indi-
cated that, while they contain agate and
chalcedony, collecting stone doesn't
crop out in the quality and quantity
found farther south. Real footwork,
however, might prove that conclusion
fwaroxtueH -, wrong.
Beavertail cactus, Eriogonum infla-
tum — the desert trumpet — and evil-
smelling bladderpod were scattered
flats, edged into the Granite wells road, probably would not have yelled as among the creosote and rabbit brush
29.3 miles from pavement. Northeast loudly if a rattler had embraced him. along the wash. At 44.7 miles we
of the junction, 1.1 miles, there is "My gosh, it's a quarter," he passed to the left of the low, bright
ample evidence that this was the old green outcrop which marks the turn-
trail of the 20-mule teams. To the right shouted. "I've found a quarter!" And off to the regular collecting fields in
of the present route, a deeply rutted cut he had — a blackened disc of silver the area. Slim and Sylvia, in the car
has been gouged down through a four- with the date 1905. Probably some ahead, were searching for landmarks
foot bank of caliche-like rock. When driver or swamper, urging the mules and at 46 miles, they bolted off the
we examined the cut more closely, we up this short pitch, dropped the coin road like a dog after a rabbit, then
found deep grooves in the side walls, from his pocket. He must have been pulled up short.
where the wagon hubs had dragged. irked when he arrived in Mpjave and
set out to cut the alkali dust from his Slim, wrapped heavily against the
Most normal humans seem to have throat. A quarter was worth some- wind, piled out of the pickup. "This
a curiosity about the historical past—a is the wash," he declared. "We'd bet-
thing in those days. But I am certain
desire for tangible evidence of other ter have chow, then you folks park
that his sorrow in losing the coin could your car and ride with us." We ate in
times. This trait is called souvenir
hunting, pot hunting or, if bolstered by not possibly have been as intense as the cars. The wind was bitingly cold,
sufficient scientific training and ap- Slim's elation in finding it. and while driving up the wash we had
proval, archeological, anthropological After uncovering half a mule shoe, been bombarded with spats of hail. But
and historical research. We hunted some square nails and part of a wagon the sky was clearing and likelihood of
souvenirs, scattering among the bushes sideboard, we went on. The road was rain—or snow—was less immediate.
and along the ruts. Then Slim, who is narrow, cut by small cross washes as it To drive with Slim Winslow up a
an enthusiastic man, whooped. He rounded a long brown butte. As we desert wash is an experience not to be
NOVEMBER, 1948 13
and dirty with rock sacks over shoul- collecting, shaping, polishing—almost quainted with our inner selves—and
ders, pockets pouched like packrat all the important factors of our species where we can have the personal satis-
cheeks, and a few "special finds" inheritance which have been straight- faction of finding and creating.
clutched in grimy fists, flatly declare jacketed by modern life are given re- When we had exhausted the fire-
that we are crazy. lease and satisfaction. There is the wood possibilities of the surrounding
spirit of adventure—of the hunt—of hills, we crawled into sleeping bags.
Well, insanity is relative, meaning discovery. Most important, there is the
different things to different people. The wind had swept the sky clear. The
taking of a rough, waste piece of rock stars shone with an intense, cold bril-
But if rock collectors are insane, it is and of working with it until the gem-
a type of lunacy which the world could liance in the metallic blackness of the
stone—an expression of the personal- night. The wind continued, rocking
use in quantity. Most intelligent people ity of its creator through choice of
in this uncertain mechanized age, the car with uneven pulsations.
material, shape and treatment — is
falsely called civilized, actually are dis- complete. When morning came there was frost
placed persons. In what may their on the windshield and thick ice on the
trust be placed? How can they build Many modern men and women find water bucket. And the wind was blow-
toward a future which will be safe more satisfaction in that than they ing. But a breakfast of bacon and eggs
against the ravaging demons of un- do in the most complicated efforts of and hot coffee, and a brief warming
rest riding the world? They turn to the their professions, because they, indi- period by another greasewood fire put
hills which seem eternal. They turn vidually, have accomplished something us in the rock hunting spirit.
to the desert where an outer solitude real and tangible and permanent. And
and timelessness can bring peace and in directly consorting with Nature in The Eagle Crags and Sawtooth
perspective to minds in turmoil. her most savage and sometimes dis- mountains seem to be made up of al-
agreeable moods, the physical body is most every variety of rock formation.
And too many of our people—no toughened, the mental fiber strength- There are basaltic lavas, tuffs, rhyo-
matter what their job or profession— ened for a return engagement with the lites, granites and apparently some
actually are doing piece work. They daily problems of life. sedimentaries. There is much volcanic
are units in a great pattern. No matter material which tentatively has been as-
how important — even vital — their And that is why it is vitally import- signed to the Tertiary period and some
work there is within it no sense of ant that areas remain open where we later flows. And all throughout the
creation and completion. But in rock can grunt and sweat and become ac- area around camp where we searched
that day, we found material of interest
to the lapidary. There was red and
ROAD LOG brown moss jasper—much of it of fine
From Johannesburg, Trona Highway cutting grade. There were agates •—
00.0 Dirt road crosses Johannesburg- teams from Death Valley to shading from white to blue, from tiny
Trona highway, just south of Mojave. nodules the size of a pea to large
Trona railroad crossing. Head 31.2 Road Y. Keep right. chunks. There was much white chal-
easterly on dirt road, toward 33.4 Road cross. Keep ahead toward cedony in seams and weathered pieces.
Leach springs. Turnoff is Leach spring. Left branch is We found, in place, seams and chunks
about 10 miles from Johannes- to Lone Willow, Ballarat, right
burg, 19 miles from Inyokern. branch toward Lead Pipe. of agate surrounded by red, yellow and
5.5 Road Y, keep right. 38.3 Road right, marked Rainbow green moss. In the volcanic ash that
6.5 Road branch right to miniature springs. Keep ahead. crops out in the canyons were a few
pinnacles, similar to those in 40.2 Poor trail right. Keep ahead. large nodules, and geodes with crystal
Trona area. 40.3 Take road branch up wash
15.4 Road branch right. Keep left, right, SE, leaving Leach spring- centers. There is some sagenite and
on main road. Shoshone road for Barstow bits of plume. Calcite seams and no-
17.0 Road branch right. Keep left, road (unmarked). dules and inclusions we found in many
on main road. 44.7 Take branch road, right, from spots.
Barstow road. Follow rock-
27.3 Road crosses, marked to Lead hound road up small wash,
Pipe springs. Keep ahead, left. keeping to right of green out- What a country for rockhounds
29.3 Join Granite wells road. Keep crop. Barstow road goes to left this Eagle Crags-Lead Pipe Springs-
left. of outcrop.
30.2 Road Y. Keep left. Brown mountain area must have been
44.9 Road Y. Either branch dead-
30.4 Deep ruts just right of road, ends shortly. We kept left to 30 years ago when it was the heart of
mark route of old 20-mule 45.7 Camp in narrow wash. Shady Myrick's domain. Shady was a
prospector. Only, here, instead of
From Barstow grubbing for gold and silver he hunted
00.0 Barstow. Cross river bridge to 27.6 Leave northern edge of Su- rocks. He had "gem mines" as he
hill with water tower. perior dry lake.
00.8 Turn left on Mojave road. Road Y right, then left. Keep called them, and brought out loads of
1.4 Mojave road branches left. ahead on main bladed road. myrickite, named for him, and blue
Keep ahead on paved Camp 28.8 Road Y left, keep ahead on and golden chalcedony. Shady, one of
Irwin road. main road. the pioneer rock lovers, has been dead
31.1 Cross road. Keep ahead, north.
7.9 Leave pavement for dirt road, 35.4 Indian Springs road, left. Keep a long time and hundreds of collectors
left to Superior lake (N). ahead, main road. have marched and counter-marched
13.8 Williams Well road, right. Keep 39.0 Branch right, keep left. St. across these eroded canyons. But still
ahead on main bladed road. Louis ranch may be seen to-
13.9 Coolgardie road, left. Keep ward Eagle Crags, left. there is much beautiful material wait-
ahead on main road. 39.4 Branch right. Keep left on main ing for those who, like Shady Myrick,
20.8 Branch right. Keep ahead. road (N). love to seek. But it is a wild and lonely
44.7 Over summit, dropping into country, one wash looking much like
24.5 VX ranch cross road. Keep wash in collecting area.
ahead. 4 8 4 Turn left off main road, round-
another. With camp and car usually
25.3 Road angles right. Keep ahead, ing bright green outcropping. hidden in some canyon, it is advisable
unless Superior lake is muddy. 48.6 Road Y, either will lead to for the rock hunter to have himself and
26.3 Enter Superior dry lake. rock camps, EOR. his camp well-located at all times. It is
absurdly easy to become lost.
SAN JACINTO TRAMWAY TO BE Above—Colorful red and brown moss jasper, chalcedony and agate are
AMONG WONDERS OF WEST found in the country rock of this and other washes of the Sawtooth moun-
tains. Across the valley, right, are the Granite mountains and Myrick springs.
A picture of the great San Jacinto Left background, Quail mountains.
Winter Park tramway as it will be
Below—Sheltered from the cold Mojave wind in a narrow arroyo, Slim
when completed was outlined by Gor-
don Bannerman, superintendent of en- rolls up his sleeping bag while Lucile and Sylvia have a second cup of coffee.
gineering for the American Steel and Six more cable car supports will dot safety which will be built into the en-
Wire company, when he arrived at the route, so deeply embedded in con- tire structure will support many times
Palm Springs, California, for the start crete that they will form integral parts the estimated weight it will carry.
of a resurvey of the tramway route. of the mountain, and there will be It will take an estimated four months
The project, which will be the world's terminal point structures at the 2650- and a crew of 20 men to complete the
longest and highest passenger tram- foot, 5600-foot and 8500-foot levels. resurvey of the tramway tower sites,
way, may well take its place with such The cables will run into deep wells and the sub-surface stratas of the
modern wonders as the Golden Gate at the 2650-foot and 8500-foot levels, mountain will be probed until solid
bridge and Grand Coulee and Hoover where machinery will keep them at bedrock is found. Chief Tramway En-
dams, according to Bannerman. For the proper tension despite natural con- gineer Elmer Lloyd of American Steel
example, one of the steel towers will traction and expansion. There will be and Wire company will superintend the
have a base area of 117 by 70 feet, waiting rooms at the top and bottom work and Construction Engineer Ellis
with its thick steel legs straddling a levels, and spacious auto parks will be Dahlgren, who has just returned from
giant hump of a Chino canyon ridge constructed at the bottom to take care supervising construction of a five-mile
and reaching up into the sky for 275 of the expected throngs who will drive freight tramway in Europe, also will be
feet. to the take-off point. The margin of on the job.—Desert Sun
NOVEMBER, 1948 15
i
x
ik
By NINA PAUL SHUMWAY
Indio, California
The crowd comes surging 'round like thirsty sheep Sages and prophets of the Navajo,
That bleat and jostle at a waterhole, Regal the hand-wrought silver that they wear
To see these scions of a mystic race Inset with turquoise of most precious blue.
Depict in sand the cabala of Soul. Sleek-bound the jetty luster of their hair.
Spellbound by beauty in the strange design, Grave their bronze faces, dignified and fine;
Awed by the genius of the artist hand Strong in the humble pride of freeman's birth;
Whence slips the colored sand in finest line, Remote within the veils of poet-mind
The crowd may stare—but never understand. That paints its magic patterns on the earth.
For these are keepers of all tribal lore. Bequeathed to them the Desert-Mother's gift
The mysteries a doubting world denies— Of secret worship phrased in tinted sand
Old faiths it lost in striving to be wise— As mesas and mountains invoke their gods
Dream in the starless midnight of their eyes. In the multi-hued mazes of Navajo land.
Ah, they themselves are symbolic designs—
Man-forms in her work of transcendent art;
A higher prayer than scrolls her painted cliffs:
Life's deathless impulse in the Desert-heart.
A 7it5t II If eat* . . .
This is the story of Desert Magazine—the story of a little group of desert
newspaper people who envisioned a monthly publication which would stress
the cultural side of life on the Great American Desert, and who kept their faith
through years of financial strain and eventually won commercial success
without sacrificing the idealism of their dream.
Photos by Alice M. Hartman, Indio, California
NOVEMBER, 1948 17
cussed the possibilities of a magazine Lee Anderson of Coachella valley es-
devoted entirely to the history, geo- tablished and have continued to hold
graphy, archeology, natural sciences, Following is a breakdown of Desert's the record as the most liberal donors
personalities and general lore of the paid circulation by states: of gift subscriptions each Christmas
desert country, including the Indian California 16374 season.
tribesmen who play such a colorful role Arizona 1768
Nevada 1036 The subscription list has grown
in the Southwest scene. New Mexico 748 slowly but constantly, without use of
The editorial possibilities appeared Colorado 673 premiums or "college boy" salesman-
Oregon 534
unlimited. But would such a magazine Utah 482
ship. It was the theory of the publish-
gain enough circulation to attract ad- Washington 469 ers that such a magazine must succeed
vertisers? They surveyed the desert Illinois 433 on its editorial merit—not on pressure
field, which they defined as the states Texas 295 promotion. Where many of the na-
New Yoik 262 tional publications pay as high as 90
of Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mex- Michigan 236
ico and the desert sector of Cali- Idaho 219 percent commission for selling sub-
fornia. Ohio 212 scriptions and rely on advertising for
Within these geographical limits the Pennsylvania 156 their profits, Desert has maintained an
Montana 140 independence of editorial viewpoint
census of 1930 reported a population Kansas 140
of 1,086,430. Probably many persons Iowa H7
which is possible only when the essen-
Indiana 100 tial supporting revenue comes from
not residing on the desert also would
Massachusetts 95 readers. In 1947 Desert's income from
be interested in such a magazine. Po- Missouri - _ 95 circulation was $55,987.10, from ad-
tentially, the field seemed adequate. Wyoming 89 vertising $14,852.06. Desert's fine new
A dummy copy was prepared. Pros- New Jersey 84
publishing plant at Palm Desert is a
pective subscribers were enthusiastic Wisconsin 73
Oklahoma 74 monument to reader interest and
over the idea, advertisers lukewarm. Nebraska 63 loyalty.
In the meantime considerable study Minnesota 54
was given to the selection of a loca- Connecticut 53 Desert Magazine was published at a
Florida 43 financial loss for nearly five years.
tion for the offices and printing plant. Maryland 38
It must be on the desert. Phoenix, Virginia 28 When the profits from the commercial
Tucson, Palm Springs and Las Vegas, Tennessee 27 printing business failed to make up
Nevada, all were under consideration, Maine 26 the deficit the staff went without sal-
Arkansas - 19 aries, or drew only enough for neces-
and trips were made to Tucson and Georgia 18
Phoenix to feel out the local sentiment. Kentucky 18
sary expenses. When the time came
The final decision favored El Centro, Vermont .. 18 that the business office would not sup-
California. South Dakota - 17 port two families, Wilson McKenney
North Carolina 17 withdrew and returned to the news-
As practical printers, "Mac" and Louisiana - 15 paper field. Today Wilson is the pub-
"R. H." felt that the economy of West Virginia 15
lisher of a thriving weekly at Yucaipa,
operating their own printing plant New Hampshire 14
North Dakota 14 California, but his interest in the mag-
would be essential to the success of Mississippi 13 azine he helped found has never
the project. Even with that advantage Alabama 12 waned.
they were sure it would be months, South Carolina 7
perhaps years, before a new regional Rhode Island - 5 The turning point came early in
magazine of this type would pay its Delaware 4 1942, nearly five years after the mag-
Washington, D. C 44 azine was started. In June that year
own way. Foreign Ill
A profitable commercial printing the books showed a profit for the first
business would help pay the deficit. 25602 time. Two months later, Henderson,
So, in 1936, with Tazewell H. Lamb,
Advertising - 18 who had been an air pilot in World
Complimentary 24 War I and was a member of the re-
Bess Stacy and Edna Clements, news- Exchanges 58
paper associates, as co-investors, Hen- serve, was called to active duty.
derson bought the plant of the Elite 25702 During his service of nearly two
Newsstand Rets. & Resv. Stock.... 513 years in Africa, Desert Magazine was
Printing company at El Centro. Early
in 1937, McKenney became an active 26215 carried on successfully by associates.
associate at the Elite, and preparations Average Press Run for past 6 months— Bess Stacy assumed the business man-
began for the first issue, to be pub- 2 6 2 15 agement, Lucile Harris, now Mrs.
lished in November. Harold O. Weight, took over the edi-
With such mailing lists as were torial responsibility, and Evonne Hen-
printed, have become a prized col- derson Riddell, daughter of the pub-
available, announcements were sent lector's item.
out soliciting charter subscriptions. lisher, became circulation manager.
Desert's first subscriber was Jasper Under the direction of these associates
The publishers were gratified when L. Travers of El Centro. The second
more than 600 persons subscribed in the magazine continued to gain pres-
and third were Mrs. Argyle McLachlan tige, circulation and financial stability
advance of the first printing. The first of Calexico and Paul Cook of Phoenix.
printing was 7,000 copies. Some of during the war years.
Travers has since died, but Mrs. Mc-
these were put on the newsstands, but Lachlan and Paul Cook are still on the On duty together for a short period
most of them were given away as subscription list along with more than on the African Gold Coast, Randall
sample copies. Today the Desert Mag- 300 other charter subscribers. John and his brother, Cliff Henderson, also
azine has a standing offer of $5.00 Burk of the Anza hotel in Calexico an officer in the Air Force, discussed
each for those first copies, and a wait- was the first advertiser to buy space. plans for the building of a new com-
ing list of people who want them. State Senator Ben Hulse, Caterpillar munity somewhere on the desert, with
Some of them have been sold at many dealer in Imperial valley at that time, the magazine as the nucleus.
times that figure. Even the original was the most liberal advertiser of the These plans began to materialize in
dummy copies, 100 of which were pioneering period, and Mr. and Mrs. 1945 when Desert's editor on his re-
turn from active duty began looking Desert corporation and acquired 1500 invited to participate when plans have
for a suitable location on which to acres in the cove for community de- been completed for this phase of the
build larger quarters. The staff pre- velopment. The corporation set aside project, probably a year from this fall.
ferred to set up the new print shop 40 acres for magazine purposes on Desert Magazine from the first has
where ample acreage would be avail- generous terms. In the meantime the refused to accept liquor or other ob-
able not only to house the offices and Harry Williams architectural office in jectionable advertising. When school
mechanical equipment but where Palm Springs had been preparing plans, teachers began writing in that they
homes could be provided for the staff. and a contract was let to the R. P. were using Desert in their Nature
Also provision was to be made for af- Shea company of Indio for construc- classes, tobacco was added to the
filiated activities which included a des- tion of a building to house offices and taboo list. Applicants for advertising
ert book shop and an arts and crafts printing plant and a seven-unit lodge space, unless they have established
center. for members of the staff. The esti- records for integrity, are required to
The Palm Desert cove at the base mated cost was $140,000 for the two furnish references.
of the Santa Rosa mountains over- buildings. While Desert's reader support has
looking the floor of Coachella valley In 1946 the magazine was incorpor- remained loyal through the years, cor-
was selected as the ideal site. Good ated. The capital stock is owned by porate and community advertisers have
water was available here, a well- employes, their families and friends, remained lukewarm. The Union Oil
drained bajada with a backdrop of with a substantial quota of shares held company of California has been a not-
8,000-foot mountains, a paved high- in reserve for future employe invest- able exception. Union executives, rec-
way to bring paper and supplies from ment. ognizing the important role Desert is
the coast, easy access to the main travel Twenty acres of the site are re- playing in the development of travel
arteries of the desert Southwest, and served for Desert Magazine, and build- in and to the desert country, have been
finally, a field where commercial ing lots are available for employes consistent users of space in this mag-
business could be developed to keep who desire to erect their own homes. azine.
the presses busy between magazine The other half of the 40-acre tract is Practical business men are inclined
runs. being reserved for shops and homes to be cagey in the face of idealism.
Cliff Henderson formed the Palm for artists and craftsmen who will be The tradition has emerged that senti-
NOVEMBER, 1948 19
merit is sissy—something that has no magazine, and therefore its usefulness.
place in the competitive struggle for Desert's mapped travelogs bring tens
dollars. Cultural projects are all right of thousands of people into the desert
for philanthropists—but have no place country annually. It is the attitude of
in commerce. Desert Magazine has the publishers that communities which
proved to the satisfaction of its publish- want to make capital of this stimulated
ers at least, that this is a false concept travel have the opportunity to do so
—that the cultural and the commercial in the advertising columns.
may be made an effective team—that Most of the material appearing in
it is not necessary to sacrifice ideals to Desert Magazine comes from free lance
earn fair profits. writers and photographers. Every
day's mail includes from two or three
Like most periodicals, Desert Mag- to a dozen manuscripts from writers
azine has a well-defined formula for who believe they have material suitable
the guidance of its writers. Although for this publication. When these ar-
its non-desert-dwelling readers now ticles show promise, Desert's editors
outnumber its desert subscribers, the devote much time and correspondence
editors hold fast to the policy that to helping the contributor make needed
Desert is published primarily for des- revisions. Desert does not buy fiction
ert people. Manuscripts from tender- (except the Hard Rock Shorty yarns),
foot writers, no matter how successful does not use serial material except on
they may have been in other fields, rare occasions, and limits its feature
often are rejected because they lack stories to 3,000 words.
the "feel" of the desert. The maga- Randall Henderson, Editor
zine's staff seeks constantly to go be- The accompanying reprint of the
hind the obvious things of the desert magazine's rejection letter may be of
and report factual matter which is new man. For after all, the most interest- interest to readers as well as to aspir-
and interesting to desert people them- ing subject on the desert is the people ing contributors.
selves. themselves. During the 11 years of publication,
Chamber of commerce secretaries Desert's staff has acquired a fine source
Many well-written essays come to often are exasperated by the editors' library of material bearing on nearly
the editorial desk on a wide variety unwillingness to publish "write-ups" every phase of non-commercial desert
of desert subjects. Without exception of their communities. Some of them activity. This library has become in-
they are returned—for the reason that are not far-sighted enough to realize valuable for the reason that people all
Desert does not use essays. It is the that the publication of such material over the world write to this office for
goal always to keep Desert very hu- would soon destroy interest in the information pertaining to the Great
American Desert. While these letters
most often pertain to road conditions
and accommodations for travelers,
they also cover almost every conceiv-
THANK YOU for submitting this material. It has received the careful consideration of able subject. The same mail that brings
our editorial staff, and is being returned to you for the reasons checked below: a letter from a prospector asking about
mining restrictions in the national
Subject is not essentially of the desert - parks, or about a market for his newly
Your manuscript lacks the "feel" of the desert
We accept only typewritten copy discovered gem material, may also in-
We do not use this type of material „. clude an inquiry from a college pro-
We are not in the market for fiction fessor asking what species of fish are
Similar material is on hand or in preparation found in the desert waterholes. Des-
Similar material has been used previously
Illustrations are inadequate ert's staff is supposed to know every-
Not sufficient human or personal interest ... thing, and thanks to a good library
Copy is too general; lacks particularization and close contact with travel agencies,
Our limit for features of this type is words is able to answer most of the queries
We are oversupplied with poetry at present
This is not poetry, it is merely rhyme which come in.
Our poetry limit is 24 lines According to one survey conducted
We use only contributed poetry
No return postage was enclosed. We will hold the material subject to your by the business office, Desert's readers
instructions in one year traveled 7,000,000 miles
on trips mapped or suggested to them
Our editorial staff is always glad to consider material within the desert field. How- by Desert Magazine.
ever, Desert Magazine has a "well-defined editorial formula and it "will often save time
Thirty-eight percent of the readers
and disappointment if contributors before sending in manuscripts will study the magazine
are professional people — teachers,
to determine its style and field.
artists, lawyers, doctors, engineers.
Feature material should have a strong personal, human-interest slant. Text should be Twenty-five percent are ranch and
built around a single personality, episode or geographical location. Particularize. business executives.
Desert Magazine is published for desert people who are already familiar with the obvious In the first issue in November, 1937,
things of the desert country. Avoid generalities. Y/e prefer copy written from the view- the purpose and ideals which were to
point of participant rather than onlooker. govern the editorial policy of Desert
All manuscripts, to be considered, must be accompanied by clear sharp photographs,
Magazine were published under the
strong in light and dark contrasts, on glossy paper 5x7 or larger.
title "There Are Two Deserts." This
editorial is reprinted on the following
Payment for feature material is one cent a word and up. For photographs we pay page—as a reaffirmation of the cul-
$1.00 to $3.00 each. tural standards which have and will
remain the goal of Desert's staff.
, k' I•
1
f ff> ?** , jfc *%
By MARY BEAL
an aromatic wine to a remedy for a host of
'ailments; from a gourmet salad-dressing ingredient
to angling rods and flutes, the Elder has served gen-
erations in most of the temperate regions of our country.
In the Old World too it was highly regarded. In early
England it was considered a storehouse of medicine for
the country practitioner, both for internal ailments and
wounds. Some of the old herbals recommended the
flowers for remedies, although the fusions of the leaves
and bark also were in favor. The concoctions were taken
for liver and intestinal complaints, as a blood purifier,
astringent and a mild anodyne. The juice of the berries,
beaten up with lard or thick cream made an excellent
ointment for burns and scalds. The fine purple juice
of the sweetish, acidulous berries also was "very highly
esteemed for making Elder wine, a powerful, warming, and
enlivening article for family use." Elderflower water was
a choice toilet preparation, made from the pickled flowers
and layers of common salt.
In our country we find much the same usage of the
Elder. Housewives consider the berries excellent for pies,
preserves and jellies, and Elderberry wine is brewed by
country folk for its tonic properties. Indians found many
uses for all parts of it—food, antiseptic washes, remedies
for internal ailments, even to check hemorrhage of the
lungs. Charles Francis Saunders in his Western Wild
Flowers and Their Stories gives an interesting account of
the making of flutes from Elder stems by the California In-
dians, and of other Indian lore concerning the Elder.
If you'd like a delectable salad vinegar, try adding a The common Blue Elderberry, Sambucus coerulea,
generous handful of ripe Elderberries to a bottle of white appears in many guises — from medicine to table
vinegar. But you must gather your berries as soon as they delicacy. Beal photo.
are ripe, or only nearly so, if you expect to get ahead of
the birds. Once the berries are eatable, birds can strip
the bushes almost in. a twinkling. Other animals too relish usually rounded at the base and lopsided. The numerous
the berries but it's the birds that really harvest the crop. creamy-white flowers are small but grow in ornamental,
Among other benefits conferred by the Elder is the pro- flat-topped clusters, that are like decorative mats of rich
tection of delicate plants from caterpillars with a decoction lace, 2 to 6 or 8 inches across, the individual corollas
made from the leaves, as reported by some gardeners. deeply 5-lobed. Flowers may be found from May to August
according to the altitude. The fruit is a small berry-like
Not least in usefulness is the wood, white, fine and ex- drupe, bluish black but veiled with a dense whitish bloom
ceedingly tough and hard, valued for angling rods, tops, which gives a cerulean blue effect.
skewers and pegs, and especially prized by the maker of
mathematical instruments. The Blue Elderberry displays differences that have led
The common name Elder, or Elderberry, is universal to the segregation of a few varieties, which some of the
but in botanical parlance the genus is classed as Sambucus leading botanists class as separate species. Here they are
and is a member of the small Honeysuckle family. The listed as varieties, for simplification.
common western Elder that ranges from British Columbia 1. Variety arizonica, which has leaves with only 3 to 5
to Mexico and Lower California, and eastward to the leaflets, smaller flower clusters and smaller fruits. It often
Rockies, also has established itself in the deserts of Cali- takes a round-topped tree form, with stout spreading
fornia, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas, branches.
either the species or its varieties. Naturally a stream lover, 2. Variety velutina, with branchlets and underside of
or of other moist situations, on the desert it makes itself at the thick leathery leaves finely hairy, often densely so,
home along watercourses and drainage slopes and canyons, especially the branchlets, the flowers yellowish, in flat
usually in foothill or mountain areas, up to several thou- clusters 4 to 16 inches broad.
sand feet elevation. Frequently it is called Blue Elderberry, 3. Variety mexicana, with leaves persistent, 3 to 5
which interprets the scientific name, leathery leaflets, usually ovate to elliptical, sometimes
sparsely hairy, the "bloom" on the berries less dense than
Sambucus coerulea that of the species. Usually a fair-sized tree, up to 35 feet
You may know this Elder as a small tree, for it often tall, the trunk sometimes 2 feet in diameter. Often planted
develops that form and stature, varying from a large as an ornamental. This variety (or species) replaces the
many-stemmed shrub 8 to 12 feet high to a tree 20 to 30 variety (or species) arizonica in some botanical works.
feet in height, the trunk a foot or more in diameter. The Known as Desert Elderberry and Mexican Elder.
larger branches are dark and finely furrowed, the others 4. Variety neomexicana, New Mexico Elder, has nar-
smooth and hairless and very pithy. The pale-green pin- rower leaflets, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, tapering to
nate leaves have 5 to 9 ovate to oblong-lanceolate leaflets, a long point, the flowers in more delicately lacy, very open
hairless or nearly so, sharply saw-tooth, with pointed tips, clusters. It grows in Arizona as well as New Mexico.
NOVEMBER, 1948 23
The Cirio of Baja California is a relative of the Ocotillo, and the tiny branchlets
are somewhat similar—but there all resemblance ends.
Special M&ut
"Mesa Verde" by Willard Luce,
Provo, Utah.
•B
Rattlesnake Behavior . . . The Indian arts of pottery have not suf-
fered. Many of us have learned more of
Boise City, Oklahoma the Indian arts through close association.
Dear Desert: All of us are gaining a little social stature
Your rattlesnake quiz of some months through these close associations of Anglo,
back, on which I made 95 per cent, brings Indian and Spanish. Recently I read a social
to mind the strange behavior of a rattler study of San Ildefonso, a book I would have
Gems of the Juarez Mountains . . . I observed several years past. During the enjoyed in my younger "Indian study" days.
68 years that I have lived on the Great I now find it rather distasteful, as it is a
Whittier, California Plains at the foot of the Rocky mountains, discussion and criticism of the lives of my
Dear Desert: I have studied the behavior of thousands of friends.
In a recent issue of Desert, Randall Hen- prairie, timber, velvet tail and prairie dia- Being close to Bandelier, Puye ruins,
derson described his visit to the old mile- mond back rattlesnakes and this was the the Valle Grande and other little known
high placer mining district in the Juarez only one of which I have personal knowl- but worthwhile places of pleasant recrea-
mountains in Lower California, referring edge which struck without warning. tion, we have lost some of our natural
to the old mining camp, La Milla. On a beautiful sunny afternoon in late laziness and have been led into a healthier
In 1906 a couple of gold miners from November my grandson and I were looking and more sensible way of living. Probably
La Milla came to Los Angeles to sell their for Indian flint arrowheads along Carrumpa we strangers to New Mexico owe more than
gold and buy supplies. They brought with creek in northeast New Mexico. While others to the man who decided upon this
them a bag of transparent stones which had walking across a barren spot of sand and location, but all of us are grateful to him.
lodged behind the riffles in their sluice box. gravel with my attention drawn to my left, New Mexico is not worrying about its
I happened to be the first lapidary they 1 heard the gravel rattle just to my right. new city. It is a credit to the state and to
contacted, and recognizing the stones as zir- Although I was wearing heavy, 18-inch the organizations that are building it
cons of a color generally known as hya- shoes which would have protected me, I KELLY CHODA
cinth, I bought the lot. They cut into the jumped through instinct from many years • • •
brilliant stones for which zircons are noted. on the plains. The snake, a medium-sized
Those were still horse and buggy days. I prairie diamond about 2V4 feet long, must Meteorite Pictographs? ...
could not leave my business and the miners have struck blind as he hit the ground six or Pasadena, California
never returned. I did not get any definite eight inches to the side of my footprint. Dear Desert:
location information as I had no thought Many times, while a boy, I would dis- The June-July issue of Popular Astronomy
of trekking that distance to hunt zircon. turb the hog-nosed snake until it would contains an article calling attention to the
Now, with speedy autos and good roads, a spread its head and upper portion of its possible meteoric interpretation of certain
few weeks vacation in high mountain coun- body to two or three times natural width. pictographs. It occurred to me that many
try might be more than a mere dream. Now the rattlesnake proceeded to do this, readers of Desert may have taken pictures
The striking feature of the rough material spreading head and neck and a few inches of Indian pictographs and petroglyphs and
was that there was no complete crystal in of the upper portion of his body to ap- that a study of them might reveal addi-
the lot. While of nodule shape, all edges parently 21/2 inches broad and almost as tional examples of meteors. 1 would ap-
were sharp, as though freshly broken. Al- thin as cardboard. Never having seen a preciate the opportunity of examining prints
though washed from gravel, there was not rattler behave that way before, I shouted of any pictures of that nature your readers
a single water worn surface in the lot. to my grandson to bring the camera. But might have, and I will return them if de-
They gave every appearance of having the rattler seemed to feel the show was sired. Even if none of the pictographs look
been crushed. over and assumed his natural form and de- like meteors, a negative result is something.
The best clue to the exact location would fensive attitude and no amount of prod- My address is 99 S. Raymond, Pasadena,
be to look for old mine workings where ding could lure him into this performance California.
running water permitted the use of a sluice again. I wonder if any of Desert's readers JOHN DAVIS BUDDHUE
box. Also, it would be worth while to run have seen any other rattlesnake so perform? • • •
stream gravel through a sluice box. Who WM. E. BAKER
knows—one may find both gold and zircon. Hotcake Artist...
E. C. KNOPF Longmont, Colorado
Los Alamos Is a Credit... Dear Mr. Henderson:
• • • Yes, as you say, flipping hotcakes "takes
Billy the Kid's G a n g . . . Los Alamos, New Mexico courage, faith, good timing and perfect
Dear Desert: rhythm." One really becomes an expert
Venice, California
Dear Desert: In answer to the letter by Kathryn Prov- when he can throw a hotcake up the fire-
encher, in September Desert, the Los Alamos place, then run outside and catch it in the
It is possible that a find I made while project has caused very little disruption to skillet. If you don't believe it, just try it
doing some research in old New Mexican the Santa Fe region. The New Yorker some time. You say it cannot be done?
newspapers may be of interest in connec- article is definitely misleading on this point. Want to bet? But when you try it, don't
tion with the recent item that Billy the Kid The charming, narrow, crooked streets of trip over the doorsill.
may still be alive. According to the Santa Santa Fe do bear increased traffic. They RALPH CULVER
Fe Review, January 11, 1884, Governor had been overcrowded in the past, but now
Sheldon issued a proclamation offering the county commissioners have begun a by-
$500 apiece, dead or alive, for members pass road, which will benefit Santa Fe a ANSWERS TO QUIZ
of Billy the Kid's gang, who had just ridden great deal and will solve many traffic prob- Questions are on page 9
over from Mexico and shot up the border lems without sacrificing the charm of the
town of Seven Rivers in Lincoln—now Eddy city. 1—Borax.
—county. The biographies of Billy have it 2—A trading post in Monument val-
that after his death the gang dispersed and byThe Pueblo Indians have been changed ley.
settled down to law-abiding lives. This ac- havethis new source of local income. Many 3—Roosevelt dam.
count seems to dispose of that theory. It mentsbeen able to make substantial improve- 4—Paiute Indians.
may be, therefore, that Billy escaped into proved to their homes, and thus have im-
community health. Their dignity is
5—Shiprock.
Mexico with his gang intact and carried on not lost through working with their hands, 6—Death Valley.
there for several years before he finally which is always a respectable way of earn- 7—As food.
"met the girl" and settled down. 8—Saguaro.
ing a living. They are wonderful neighbors 9—Find a new route to Monterey,
HENRY WINFRED SPLITTER and friends to us, who work with them. California.
The women who work as maids in Los Ala- 10—Eat it.
mos are not conventional maids. They are 11—Trappers.
fellow housekeepers with their employers. 12—Pueblo dwellers.
They are our hosts when we see Indian 13—Prescott.
By TANYA SOUTH dances; they are guests at many of our rec- 14—Corundum.
Little thoughts with purpose great, reational functions. One of our architects 15—Colorado River Indian reserva-
Glorious your rising fate! and several engineers are local Pueblo men. tion.
Push the shining stars aside, The laborers and others have lost no import- 16—Mesquite.
Part the gates of heaven wide. ance in their homes. 17—A desert plant, often called goat
You are young and strong and free. Mr. Tafoya, who wore the cook's hat and nut.
Heights above immensity apron Kathryn Provencher mentioned, is 18—Utah.
Wait with virgin space to greet still an important man at Santa Clara. He 19—Edwin Corle.
Your swift soaring, winged feet. is also a popular man at Los Alamos. He 20—Imperial Valley, California.
has made many friends here for his people.
By DOROTHY L. PILLSBURY
NOVEMBER, 1948 27
a carefully protected trade secret.
Then came the problem of a suitable
holder for burning the pinyon incense.
It, too, must be of the country. Nancy
Lane designed the perfect holder. It is
an exact replica in miniature of the
adobe beehive ovens used to this day
in Indian pueblos and Spanish villages.
The natives call them homos. She de-
signed the box that holds the adobe
oven and a supply of pinyon cones and
decorated it with a print of one of her
own paintings.
Today the business is strictly whole-
sale, but in its beginning the origina-
tor took some boxes to Taos to try out
the retail trade. One day a Taos Indian
wrapped in his sheet stalked in. He
plunked down the price and walked off
with burner and incense cones. Nancy
Lane pursued him up the road toward
the pueblo, wondering what on earth
an Indian wanted with incense. To her
question he replied, "Use smoking
pinyon under blanket."
By inquiring around, Miss Lane got
the explanation. For countless ages
the Pueblo Indians have used a
smoldering pinyon log under a blanket
as a remedy for coughs, colds and
breathing difficulties. The smoke from
her incense cones answered the same
purpose with less bother.
She had never considered the medi-
cinal properties of her product. But
medicinal or not, today her best cus-
tomers are people in hospitals and sick
rooms. Aside from the aromatic piney
fragrance, sick people like to watch
the tranquil design of blowing smoke
that floats out of the little adobe oven
by their bedsides. It seems to bring in
Nancy Lane and Billy Tober beside one of the trees noted for the piney a glimpse of sun filled spaces.
fragrance of its wood. Los A lamos Times photo. A few months ago twenty-four thou-
sand cones a month were considered a
can work now is two or three hours a hunks of pinyon wood and of express satisfactory output. Today, the year
day." boxes that were shipped east by train. and a half old business has jumped to
Miss Tober, whose hobby is creating They thought of distant friends who eighty thousand cones a month with
handmade furniture, thought awhile. begged for gifts of pinyon greens at more orders coming in than can be
"Smell this," she urged, picking up a Christmas. They remembered boys in filled immediately.
handful of pinyon sawdust that lay uniform who had written from the ends After housing her factory in a bed-
around her work bench. It was soft of the earth, "Put a sprig of pinyon in
and sticky with pitch. It had a clean room, a kitchen and a garage, Nancy
your next letter. I can smell it and see Lane finally gave up her home to the
piney fragrance. It was the distinctive the whole country."
aroma of dwarf pinyon forests. It was demands of her growing business.
sun on adobe. It was rain on short "Why not make pinyon incense," de- "Pinon Studios" as she now calls her
needled green boughs. It was the in- manded Billy Tober. With the saw- plant is just a step off of Santa Fe's
cense from hundreds of squat little dust from her work bench they started famous Camino del Monte Sol—Street
chimneys around Santa Fe. a business. Obviously a binder had to of the Sun Mountain—a couple of
be found to hold the sawdust together miles from the old plaza. The Camino
The girls thought of the silver is a street where famous artists paint
feathers of pinyon smoke that hang in little cones for burning. On Nancy
Lane's cook stove they experimented and where Mary Austin had her "Be-
over the old town from October to loved House" and wrote of the South-
June. They thought of nostalgic long- with binders that would not take from
the fragrance. Day after day messes of west.
ings the memory of that fragrance
brought to all who had experienced it. sawdust and binder were cooked, Around Pinon Studios grows the
They thought of the tourists who went sniffed and discarded. At last they the yellow flowered chamisa. Up
home with their cars loaded down with found the perfect binder which is now and down the surrounding tawny hills
28 THE DESERT MAGAZINE
mmrfm
• • ' • • • • ' / • ;
march battalions of little pinyon trees midst of a forest. You almost expect cook stoves smoking fragrantly around
like soldiers in grey-green uniforms. a pinyon jay to spread his blue wings the plaza. You will see St. Francis Eve
They march as if in a planned setting and squawk, "pinyons, pinyons." processions winding through the crook-
up to the nearby Sangre de Cristo ed narrow streets lighted on either side
mountains. Conventions meeting in the South-
west have grabbed the pinyon cones by little pyres of pinyon wood. You
In what was once the living room of with delight. By the five thousand lot will see Christmas Eve bonfires of
Miss Lane's house, sit Rositas, Marias they order little celophane bags filled pinyon burning redly in many a brown
and Carmencitas around a work table. with sawdust and holding half a dozen walled placita.
They measure out the prepared saw- cones as favors for the people attend- Not only have the dwarf pinyon for-
dust and force it through a hand press ing. A verse on the bag advises, ests befriended all comers in an arid
that forms the cones. These are placed land, but they have woven themselves
to dry on tin trays. Shelves that en- "Light a cone, into the fabric of a region. They are
circle the room hold tier on tier of dry- Blow out the flame, its essence and its fragrance. They are
ing cones. All about are packing cases, New Mexico is in your home." but one of the many gifts from dusty
boxes and bales ready for shipment. pockets of what the uninitiated call the
What with the great cans of pinyon And it is the truth. All you have to miser lands of the Southwest. Nancy
sawdust and the hundreds of drying do is to close your eyes and you will Lane has good reason to think they
cones, it is almost like working in the see fiesta in Santa Fe with the old wood are not misers at all.
NOVEMBER, 1948
29
mines flno minine
Salt Lake City, Utah . . . Salmon, Idaho...
Vernal, Utah . . .
Utah's first commercial oil well report-
edly was brought in September 18, about
three miles west of Jensen. Initial flow
from the Equity Oil company's N. J.
Meagher No. 1 was 300 barrels a day. The
New regulations governing the leasing of The only large known cobalt deposit in well is located on the Ashley dome, and
public lands for phosphate prospecting will the United States, it is said, lies in the production is from the Weber sands at
not be adopted until the first part of 1949, Blackbird district of east central Idaho, 4152 feet, the same strata which furnishes
according to Roscoe E. Bell, assistant di- where the Calera Mining company is cur- the oil at Rangely, Colorado. The discovery
rector of the U. S. bureau of land man- rently attempting to mine it for commer- marks the first successful well in many
agement. Major regulation changes were cial purposes. This country is the biggest years of investigation in eastern Utah, made
expected to include provisions to allow consumer of cobalt in the world and, at more intensive during the past five years
prospecting of land for phosphate prior to present, the Belgian Congo enjoys a virtual by oil discoveries at Rangely. President J.
execution of a land lease; a provision to monopoly on the market. Harold H. Sharp, L. Dougan of Equity, an independent firm,
double present acreage in any one lease president of the Howe Sound company, of has searched unsuccessfully for oil in Utah
holding by an individual or corporation; which Calera Mining is a subsidiary, de- for the past 25 years. A day after the first
allowance for leasing of related minerals clares the concern plans to erect the nucleus oil reached the surface, the flow had drop-
as well as phosphate; and a measure to in- of a town on property already selected ped to a steady six barrels an hour, 150
crease acreage of public land which may eight miles from the mine, to house ex- barrels a day.—Vernal Express
be used for manufacturing plant sites from panded mining and milling crews. Miners • • •
40 to 80 acres.—Salt Lake City Tribune have known for 50 years that cobalt existed
in the district, but they dumped it into the Goldfield, Nevada . . .
mountain streams because they were after The old Bullion and Benton lead-silver
Round Mountain, Nevada . . . copper and the Anaconda Mining and claims on Montezuma mountain, whose
W. J. Loring of Tonopah and J. R. Smelting company, where their ores were written history reportedly can be traced
Midgley and John C. Kelly of Virginia concentrated, penalized them for high cobalt back to 1863, are producing again for Gene
City have executed a long term lease with content.—Humboldt, Nevada, Star Perry and Ted Johnson who have leased
Perry and John Henebergh of Round • • • the property from Roscoe Wright and Mar-
Mountain for the Rainbow claims owned tin P. Brown. A shipment of galena to the
by the brothers. The claims, located in the San Francisco, California . . . International smelter in Salt Lake City re-
Round Mountain mining distirct, are to be From Alaska to Africa, Canada to Cali- portedly went 15 per cent in lead and car-
developed for the various minerals ex- fornia, gold miners are complaining that ried 35 ounces of silver to the ton. The
posed, including uranium and associated their costs have risen in world-wide infla- claims are located 22 miles west of Gold-
metals. The Heneberghs developed their tion while the price of their product is still field.—Goldfield News
property as a gold prospect, and discovery pegged by Washington at the pre-war level. • • •
of uranium ore was made accidently. Gold was set at $35 an ounce by the U. S. Austin, Nevada . . .
—Tonopah Times-Bonanza. treasury in 1934, and has not been changed A road is being constructed to the Stokes
• • • since. Results of the cost-price squeeze, it antimony property at the head of Dry can-
was said, are shown in falling production yon in the Big Creek area. The road will
Randsburg, California . . . and closed mines. In 1940 miners took
Several lead and silver properties are follow a switch-back pattern making the
4,800,000 ounces of gold from the lands of climb to the mine practical for heavy
being worked and shipping ore both inside continental United States. Output in 1947
Death Valley and in the area just west of vehicles. When it is completed, equipment
was just over 2,000,000 ounces. The Home- will be added to permit removal of the
the monument, it is reported. In the monu- stake Mining company, biggest U. S. gold
ment, Skidoo, Queen of Sheba, Harrisburg overburden and allow open pit mining on
producer, reports the cost of processing a a large scale. The property, leased by
and Lippincott silver-lead mines are oper- ton of gold-bearing ore is up 50 per cent
ating as well as the Chloride Cliff gold Tony Romano, has been sub-leased to Phil
from the 1941 level.—Humboldt, Nevada, Cox of Placerville, California, who is de-
property and the Warm Springs and Ibex Star
talc deposits. In the Panamint valley, the veloping the mine. During World War I,
• • • there was heavy antimony production from
Minietta and Defense mines are being work-
ed. The Jorgens custom mill in Wildrose Ely, Nevada . . . the Big Creek district. — Reese River
canyon is not operating, due to the lull in Reveille
Appointment of Arthur J. O'Connor as
gold activity.—Randsburg Times general superintendent of Consolidated • • •
• • • Copper Mines corporation, Kimberly, has Goldfield, Nevada...
Mina, Nevada . . . been announced by C. I. Cook, general Initial tests on the 100-ton mill of the
The Douglas brothers of Fallon, who manager. O'Connor was promoted from Newmont Mining corporation are expected
have been working on property south and chief engineer, and succeeds the late Paul to be run in October, having been held up
east of the Simon lead-silver mine, north- J. Sirkegian. O'Connor has been with Con- awaiting arrival of some vital parts of the
east of Mina, reportedly have made a solidated Copper nearly 22 years and is a machinery. Company ore will be treated
rich gold find. According to meager de- graduate of the Michigan School of Mines. exclusively at the outset while kinks are
tails available, the gold occurs in a white Harold Bishop has been appointed chief being smoothed out of the plant's flow-
quartz of vug-hole nature and where the engineer of the corporation.—Salt Lake sheet, which reportedly will utilize a new
quartz fractures, the gold is literally plast- City Tribune method of charcoal recovery with an end
ered over the rock. Assays running $1000 • • • efficiency estimated at from 92 to 95 per
a ton were said to be common while cent. It is not believed that any custom
picked pieces go to $10,000. Size and depth
Washington, D. C ore will be accepted until after the first of
of the orebody was not known.—Tonopah When a Denver mining man asked the next year. A concentration of about 25
Times-Bonanza treasury department for regulations re- to one is anticipated for the mill, with a
• • • garding the buying and selling of gold, he 20-ton truckload leaving here for the smelter
received this information from Leland every fifth day, each shipment containing
Coaldale, Nevada . . . Howard, acting director of the mint: "This $25,000 gold concentrates.—Goldfield News
A plant, estimated to cost $25,000, is is to reply to your letter concerning state- • • •
being installed on Columbus marsh for the ments in the press that it is lawful to sell
declared purpose of recovering gold, plat- placer gold in the open markets of the Goldfield, Nevada . . .
inum and mercury from the clays of the world. Such statements are inaccurate and First shipment of 16 tons of lead-silver
lakebed. The machinery, specially built misleading. While under section 54.19 of ore from the Becker-Lane lease at Monte-
for the purpose, is being financed by San the gold regulations, gold in its natural zuma on the New York claim of the Re-
Francisco people and is on property owned state may be purchased, sold and trans- organized Silver King Divide property in
by Leonard Becker-Jurgen. A feature of the ported within the United States without Esmeralda county, returned $190 a ton
plant is that the clays, apparently a fine the necessity of obtaining a treasury li- from a Utah smelter. The leasers, Nate
dust when dry, are to be ground to still cense, such gold may not be exported with- Hecker and Vic Lane, still have about 24
greater fineness. The plant, while only a out a license. The treasury grants such inches of this highgrade showing in the
pilot mill, reportedly will treat one ton of licenses only for the purpose of sending the face of a raise, but are awaiting a jig
clay every 10 minutes. Five men are at gold out of the country for refining or which they will install to handle the lower
present working on the project. Possible re- processing and subject to the condition that grade ore which accompanies the highgrade.
covery of minerals from Nevada dry lake an equivalent amount of gold in refined or A large tonnage of dump ore also will be
beds has been a much-debated subject in processed form be returned to the United put through the jig, according to the leasers.
the past.—Tonopah Times-Bonanza States."—Battle Mountain, Nevada, Scout —Tonopah Times-Bonanza
KEKSttN RANCH
051 SOI BKAND
GRAPES • DATES
Huge Packing Plant and Cold Storage Plant at the Kersten Ranch
Finest Deglet Noor Bargain Quality Pack
Paul Kersten, owner of the great Del Sol Brand 235 acre Kersten
DATES Ranch, believes in dealing directly with the consumer. He grows DATES
For ONLY ALL the Dates and Grapes he sells. He packs and stores his
fruit in his own packing and storage plant. He saves the public
Big 5 Pound
$1.75 for thousands of dollars. He is selling Deglet Noor Dates of the finest Package
quality at wholesale prices. Only $2.65
3 pounds
Postpaid
Postpaid
Packed in Special Boxes
SPECIAL . . . 1 5 POUND FLAT S7.50 Finest DATES Grown
Packed in Special Boxes
For Safe Delivery Choicest DATES — Postpaid For Safe Delivery
NOVEMBER, 1948 33
Fight Joshua Destruction . . . D e a t h V a l l e y Officially H o t . . . riffs of girls in the resort community are
man-eating gnats which have been coming
VICTORVILLE—The Desert chambers DEATH VALLEY—Army meteorologists over in hordes from Indio and Coachella.
of commerce, composed of businessmen in Washington have determined that the Coachella was indignant. According to its
from Mojave desert cities, have united to floor of Death Valley during July is the newspaper, Desert Barnacle, the town is
protest the "wanton destruction and re- hottest spot in North America. On the basis plagued with crickets coming over from
moval of the Joshua trees from their na- of records for the past 36 years, the tem- Palm Springs.—Hemet News.
tive habitat." A resolution urging enforce- perature on the desert floor can be expected • • e
ment of county ordinance 310, making re- to reach a high of 180 degrees Fahrenheit Desert Rat Circus Opens . . .
moval of desert vegetation of certain types at least one day every seven years. Five THOUSAND PALMS — Harry Oliver,
illegal, was passed unanimously and a com- feet above the surface, the official level for editor of the Desert Rat Scrapbook, and
mittee to investigate the matter appointed. recording temperatures, the heat would be Vernon Peck, Jr., have opened the Desert
The Barstow Printer-Review editorialized: 125 degrees at the same time. The hottest
"Whole areas are being denuded of this official temperature ever recorded in the Rat Circus at Old Fort Oliver, Thousand
beautiful individualist that so-called desert- valley was 134 degrees on July 10, 1913.— Palms. Featured in the museum of desert
minded morons may decorate the front Tucson Citizen. rat oddities are ancient music boxes, an-
lawns of imitation Hollywood movie sets." • • • cestors of the modern juke box, a mechan-
—Barstow Printer-Review. ical piano, a mechanical violin and other
Dry Decade Predicted . . . entertainment features which actually were
• • • used in the old mining camps, and which
PALM SPRINGS—If next year's precipi-
Motor Vehicle Mountaineer... tation is low, according to Donald M. Baker, will still operate when the proper induce-
ment is inserted.
D E A T H V A L L E Y — An expedition consulting engineer for the Riverside county
headed by George Palmer Putnam and Ben flood control district, the odds are five to • • •
Roos and sponsored by General Petroleum one that the next decade will be one of the Indian Jurisdiction Shifted . . .
drove from Bad Water, 279.6 feet below driest that has occurred in the Southern BISHOP—Transfer of Inyo, Mono and
sea level in Death Valley to a 14,205-foot California area. Baker's predictions, based Alpine counties from the jurisdiction of the
shelf, just below the top of White mountain, on rainfall records for the past 175 years Carson, Nevada, Indian agency to the Cali-
said to be the highest point to which a gathered from weather bureau reports, old fornia Indian agency at Sacramento has
motor vehicle has been driven. Three of Spanish journals, tree ring studies and other been planned for October 1, according to
the cars had to be abandoned at 13,000 sources, were published in the Western Con- announcement by Walter V. Woehlke at a
feet because of high velocity winds and struction News. The last dry periods were meeting of the Owens valley Paiute and
freezing temperatures, but Putnam's army from 1922 to 1934, and 1893 to 1904.— Shoshone Indians held in Bishop in Sep-
vehicle made it to within 40 feet of the Palm Springs Desert Sun. tember. Woehlke, who is director of the
top, where cliffs halted the ascent. It took • • • California agency, also discussed changes
three hours to make one stretch of 100 yards Crickets vs. Gnats . . . in control of land, water rights and im-
which was traversed only after the car's provements which must be made if the pro-
power winch was hooked to an outcrop- COACHELLA—The Desert Sun at Palm posed withdrawal of the Indian bureau
ping.—Randsburg Times. Springs in a recent issue declared that in- from supervision of Indian affairs in Cali-
sects which have been biting the bare mid- fornia is carried out.—Inyo Register
NOVEMBER, 1948 35
Antelopes Were Scarce . . . counties. During 20 hours of flying in nology, Harvard; minor excavations in
which a light plane flew 1500 miles in grid- Bandelier national monument by Adams
WINNEMUCCA—The first antelope sur- iron and transect patterns and surveyed state college, Alamosa; and explorations
vey undertaken by the Nevada state fish and 2080 square mlies, only 314 antelope were and collection of fossils in the Pierco and
game commission has started with a three- counted. Game commission biologists Niles Torreon formations in Rio Arriba and San-
day aerial checking of the Calico Mount- N. Nilsson and Anton Sutich were assisted doval counties by the Museum of Natural
tain-Owyhee Antelope range unit located in by Leonard M. Springer and Pilot-observer History, University of Kansas.—Santa Fe
the northern parts of Elko and Humboldt Ralph Scott in the survey.—Humboldt Star. New Mexican.
• • •
NEW FOLDER READY Even the Whistle Is Gone . . . What Next for the Navajo . . .
NOW it's LUCERNE VALLEY, high desert
community—center of interesting deposits, near GOLDFIELD—Not even a whistle re- SANTA FE—A newsletter entitled "What
mountains, lakes, fishing, winter sports. Here mains along the Tonopah & Goldfield right- Next for the Navajos?" has been issued by
are all year homesites, egg ranches, alfalfa of-way. The historic shortline which entered the New Mexico Association on Indian Af-
fields with back drop of majestic peaks. WRITE
today for new folder with picture-map, free. Goldfield in the boom days of 1904 has fairs. The letter tells of the interest shown
ADDRESS Chamber of Commerce passed out of existence with the pulling up by the whole country in Navajo welfare,
LUCERNE VAMLEY, San Bernardino Co., Calif. of the last rail by the Commercial Construc- and lists the bills introduced in the 80th
tion company. Many of the ties are being congress, affecting the Navajo. Some
sent to Round Mountain for extensive placer passed one house but in general no final
operations planned there. A large quantity action was taken. "Even authorized ap-
HERE IS A of steel rails are at Tonopah Junction where propriations were cut, so the Navajo face
CHRISTfflAS GIFT they will be sold to the highest domestic
bidder. Shipment of rails to Europe re-
portedly has been halted by the state de-
another winter little better than the last,"
the report declares. In the report, readers
are asked to communicate with candidates
EVERYONE WILL ENJOY partment.—Goldfield News. for congress, requesting their support for
a long range program for Navajo rehabilita-
tion.—Santa Fe New Mexican.
NEW MEXICO
Digging in New Mexico . . . Twenty-Six Years at Zuni...
SANTA FE—Thirteen scientific educa- ZUNI — St. Anthony's Indian mission
tional institutions of the nation and Alaska celebrated the 26th anniversary of its found-
already are in the field or are seeking per- ing at Zuni pueblo, September 6. Main
mits to excavate for fossil remains or traces feature of the event was to be the dedica-
of ancient man on Department of Inter- tion of the Sisters convent at the mission.
ior lands in the western states. Scientific The Rev. Anthony Kroger, O. F. M., who
work on interior lands in New Mexico in- came back to Zuni during August to re-
cludes a survey and minor test digging for place Rev. Bertus Grassman, is the Fran-
character, extent, age and cultural relations ciscan missionary who was appointed to
Group 2—
SELECT DATES
15-lb. Flat . . . $7.75
Net Weight
Free Delivery in U.S.A.
Group 3—
SOFT. MOIST DATES
15-lb. Flat . . . $6.75
Net Weight
Free Delivery in U.S.A.
NOVEMBER, 1948 37
UTAH federation has been troubled with turkey ious month, with 599 cars and 1515 people
rustlers running off their stock. According being checked in, according to Russell L.
Alligators in the Green? . . . to Stanley B. Neff, president, the organiza- Mahan, custodian. First serious injury to
VERNAL—Uintah basin is claiming tion has directed its legislative committee to befall a tourist in the monument occurred at
another tourist attraction—alligators. Dale present a program for the branding of Utah the end of August when Oras Krunboltz,
and Normal Merrell reported in August, turkeys to the state legislative council. reportedly attempting to climb to the top of
after their return from the Green river, that —Salt Lake City Tribune. Wall arch in the Devil's Garden, fell 30
they had seen an alligator. "We saw a log • • • feet, sustaining a broken pelvis and internal
floating in the river about three miles north injuries.—Moab Times-Independent.
Pioneer Site Is Marked . . . • • •
of the Jensen bridge," they declared. "Sud-
denly the log started upstream. It came MAGNA—Memory of the pioneers who
out of the water and squealed like a pig." visited the Great Salt Lake 48 hours after Monument Nearly Finished . . .
Fishermen and tourists have told of seeing they came through Emigration canyon in SALT LAKE CITY—Workers are finish-
alligators in the river before, but residents 1847 has been preserved in bronze with the ing the granite work on the "This Is the
are inclined to doubt the reports.—Vernal unveiling of a seven-foot monument at the Place" monument at the mouth of Emigra-
Express. intersection of Highway 40 and the Black tion canyon. All horizontal joints are
• e • Rock-Sunset Beach roads. The Daughters being leaded to exclude water. The planting
of Utah Pioneers sponsored the monument, of lawns and creeping ivy in the two inner
Turkey Rustlers Active . . . and George A. Little, 80, oldest resident of ellipses surrounding the monument has been
SALT LAKE CITY—The Utah Turkey Magna, represented the pioneer explorers. completed. Installation of lighting and the
—Salt Lake City Tribune. placing of descriptive inscriptions and
• • • bronze plaques will complete the great me-
"Museum" Left Hungry . . . morial to the first arrival of the Mormons
SALT LAKE CITY—"Animal museums" in Salt Lake Valley. — Salt Lake City
which trap the unwary tourist and fleece Tribune.
him in gambling games have disappeared • • •
from Utah's highways, according to At- Mine Could Water 700 Acres . . .
torney General Grover A. Giles. "As far as
my investigators have been able to de- PARK CITY—The Silver King Coalition
termine, roadside museums doubling as mine at Park City is pumping enough water
gambling dens no longer exist," Giles said. to irrigate 700 acres of farm land from its
In fact, he declared, one operator departed lower levels. The miners encountered a
in such a hurry that his "museum"—a new ore body on the 1960-foot level, but
THE BEAUTIFUL DESERT DIORAMA mountain lion—was left unfed and unat- with it came a tremendous flow of water.
THE IDEAL GIFT — sizes Gx8 $3.00, 8x13 tended at a near-by service station.—Salt It took nearly two years and the expendi-
$5.00, 10x20 $15.00. "THE SPECIAL" 14x26 Lake City Tribune. ture of thousands of dollars to lick the
at $20.00. All Sahuara cactus framed, na- water problem on that level. At present a
tural desert vegetation with "Gems of the • • • flow of 4600 gallons per minute is being
Desert" mineral display in foreground. Arches Monument Popular . . . pumped from the 1960 level to the 1300
Satisfaction Guaranteed
MOAB—Travel to Arches National mon- level where it drains through the Spiro
DESERT DIORAMA STUDIOS ument in August was greater than any prev- tunnel.—Times-Independent.
122.5 N. Anita St. In Tucson
FOR SALE
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INVESTMENT
Write or see
Mrs. Gus6ie Guidotti
Palms Apartment PALM S P R I N G S ,
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TO DESERT fiEMINPER
Beginning with our January issue, Desert Magazine will be sold on (^Courtesy Mothep
the newsstands at 35 cents a copy. Subscriptions will be $3.50 a year,
two years for $6.00.
T H E TURN OF SUMMER into fall is
You already know the reason for this price increase—you have been Nature's most poignant reminder of
hearing it from the butcher, the grocer, the druggist and the other trades- another year gone by.
men from whom you buy merchandise for many months. It's a reminder that should make
So we'll just pass that, and tell you that all Desert's readers, both you think, seriously, that you your-
newsstand buyers and subscribers, are to be given an opportunity to self are a year closer to the autumn
renew their subscriptions for as long as four years in advance if they of your own particular life.
wish at the old rates. What steps have you taken . . . what
plan do you have . . . for comfort and
Under the new rates two years of Desert will cost $6.00. If you are a
security in those later years?
newsstand buyer, 24 copies will cost $8.40. The rate until January 1 is
$5.00 for two years, $10.00 for four years. You may save the difference You can have a very definite plan
if you care to do so. .—one that's automatic and sure.
There is a considerable saving in office expense on long term sub- If you're on a payroll, sign up to
scriptions, and we are willing to pass this along to our readers—hence buy U. S. Savings Bonds on the Pay-
this offer to continue the old rates for those who subscribe for two years roll Plan, through regular deductions
or more in advance. from your wages or salary.
If you're not on a payroll but have
a bank account, get in on the Bond-
If you are now a subscriber, you will find your expiration date on A-Month Plan for buying Bonds
the envelope in which your magazine comes. It is on the address- through regular charges to your
ograph plate which stamps your name. checking account.
D o t h i s . . . stick t o it . . . a n d e v e r y
We have hoped there would be a turning point in the inflationary fall will find you richer by even more
trend before this price increase would be necessary. But the time has than you've set aside. For your safe,
come when there are but two alternatives—sell Desert for a few cents sure investment in U. S. Savings will
more each month, or reduce the quality. And of course we were un- pay you back—in ten years—#100
willing to do that. for every #75 you've put in.
NOVEMBER, 1948 39
WATEURMmCUTTER
A National Magazine for the Gem Cutter
Collector and Silversmith
Some back issues available at 50c each.
Subscription $2.00 per year (6 issues) By LELANDE QUICK, Editor of The Lapidary Journal
P. O. Box 1228 Hollywood 28, Calif. When we first began doing cabochons we rule of thumb is "If it satisfies you then
turned out some of the world's most original it's good." We just hope that some day we
LELANDE QUICK. Editor and Manager shapes. Many were oval on one side and will have the moral courage to toss away
round on the other. But there is no excuse about half of all the stones we have ever
today for not turning out perfectly shaped done. Some of them are terrible. It is un-
cabochons. A number of manufacturers reasonable to suppose the first dozen stones
have placed fine templates on the market. a lapidary attempts are going to be perfect,
HAZEN'S FOSSIL MUSEUM These may be purchased reasonably, and but he usually cherishes them beyond all he
See Fossil Plant and Animal Remains crosses, hearts, ovals, rounds and all types ever polishes after that. People will toss
Gems and Minerals For Sale of cabochons can be marked with accuracy away their first poems (never soon
and cut right to the marked line. Some of enough!), destroy their first paintings and
On Highway U.S. 93-466, 3A mile west these templates have standard millimeter burn their first stories. But no lapidary
of its junction with U.S. 66 at sizes all set up so that later you can pur- ever throws his first cabochons at the jack-
Kingman, Ariz. chase a ring, ear ring or brooch setting the rabbits as he should.
size of your gem.
GUY E. HAZEN Therefore, if the beginner knows he is
Box 695, Kingman, Arizona If you mark the rough blank with a pencil going to be different and destroy the first
the mark will wash away as you grind. It twenty stones he polishes, it is wise to make
is best to secure a piece of bronze wire at them from materials secured at a low price.
a machine shop, or a piece of aluminum Consult the advertising pages and buy jas-
wire, and make a "pencil" by grinding a per of various colors from the dealers. Wait
NEW! BRAND NEW! point on it on your grinder. Go to a hard- until you are fairly skilled before purchasing
ware store where they sell aluminum clothes opal and good moss agate.
To the Amateur Cutter. line and have the merchant snip off a six- e • •
The "Perfect" Cabochon Sander inch length. Straighten it out and grind a The old timers are still doing research
Commercial lapidaries use them. Why point on it and it will last you as a highly on polishing agents, but we believe the be-
shouldn't you? satisfactory marker for the rest of your ginner can forget those problems and stick
10" cast aluminum disc. Takes 6", 8" or life. to tin oxide. Tin oxide is again hard to
10" cloth. obtain. During the war it was unprocur-
No wasted cloth. Unless you are going to mount every able. It just started to loosen when the
No wetting of cloth. stone you polish, it is wise to make them government recalled all shipments. It again
No loose grits from wetting process. large enough so the material can be appreci- is off the market. Cerium oxide, first men-
No wrinkles in cloth. ated in a collection. We seldom do a cabo- tioned in this column, can be procured
No waiting for cloth to dry, change from chon less than the size of a quarter if we freely. It is more expensive but it is better
one grit to another in a jiffy. do not plan to mount it. Then the qualities for most materials. Faceters are experi-
Cloth lasts much longer. of the gem can be seen, studied and ap- menting with zirconium oxide but our own
Most economical sander on the market. preciated. There is no sense in cutting a experience with it has provoked no enthus-
And don't forget we have a large selection bunch of cabochons no larger than a lead iasm so far.
of modern jewelry mountings. Now is the pencil eraser for a cabochon collection.
time to start making your Christmas Expensive material like opal must be sal- As for polishing wheels you can take
presents. vaged at times no matter how small it cuts. your choice, but 999 cabochons out of
But if one is cutting a piece of snowflake every 1000 can be done on a felt buff.
Send ior Free Illustrated Price List obsidian, for instance, it should be large Some things polish a little easier on a leather
ABERCROMBIE'S AGATE SHOP enough to show several spots and present buff but a beginner, particularly, doesn't
the full character of the material. need a leather buff to get by. The buff
16505 So. Lakewood Blvd., Bellflower, Calif. should always be kept covered with a paper
P. O. Box 727 We like the idea of cutting about a sack or a plastic refrigerator bowl cover.
dozen cabochons of one kind of material The cover should never be removed until
and then forgetting about that material and the hands and the gem to be polished are
turning to something else. This enables one washed. Get some grit into the buff and
to do his own experimenting with various you will have achieved permanent grief and
BEFORE you Buy Any LAPIDARY polishing agents and wheels, and make will have scratches on all your gems.
notes of the best results obtained. We also
believe it would be good for one's soul to We recently sold our buff to a beginner
take each dozen cabochons of a material and now it scratches his gems. "Did you
he works on, select only perfect ones to be wash the gems before polishing them?" we
saved and dispose of the rest, preferably by asked. "No, I didn't," he replied, "I read
tossing them away. Why should a collection about doing that but I didn't believe it."
mSCATALOG-
32 pag-«p3cked-ful| of helpful Lapidary Inst-
be cluttered with cracked, pitted, ill shaped
gems? Remember that if you show a stone
to another lapidary and he says "That's
pretty good," it isn't finished. It should be
One of the best faceters we know recently
showed us a large heart he had faceted
from smoky quartz. The table was as
scratched as a dog with ticks. "I scratched
the wax off with my knife," he explained,
perfect—not "pretty good." We know a
ructions-Should be inevery rock nuli library, j man who has thousands upon thousands of and added, "You can't scratch quartz with
^mA complete information on the ftmous I cabochons, but you could look for a week steel—unless it has some carborundum on
Hillquist line of Lapiddrij E^iipmenf- including I among them and find few perfectly done the blade." Dr. Willems, author of Gem
Hilli)u;srCOTt!dctUpfnir,Hill<luisH6'1?ocl< Saw, ' gems. Cutting not only washes everything when
Hillquisr Trim Saw, Hill^mst Auk> feed, Hil/^uisf he goes to the felt buff but he changes his
6emTVillS Hole Saw, Hill^isrTacetoi; Hill^m's In the last analysis we suppose the best apron! A word to the wise is sufficient.
Drum Sanders S Hillifcuisr Diamond Saws
This page of Desert Magazine is for those who have, or aspire to have, their own gem,
/P 1/Send NOW to cutting and polishing equipment. Lelande Quick, who edits "The Lapidary Journal," will
Jamaa/uf EQUIPMENT CO* be glad to answer all questions in connection with your lapidary work. And he would
like details about new short cuts or devices "which lapidary workers have discovered, to
I5<t5 W. 49ST. 'SBATTLf 7, WASH. pass on to readers. Queries and information should be addressed to Desert Magazine,
"nation's lAKeeSTMFSRS OF FINEIAP/DAW EQUIPMENT"
Palm Desert, California.
NOVEMBER, 1948 41
TEXAS AGATE—The best from many beds. A
generous assortment postpaid for $10. El Paso
Rock & Lapidary Supply, 2401 Pittsburg St.,
GEM MART
A D V E R T I S I N G RATE El Paso, Texas. Phone M-4840.
7c a Word Minimum $1.00
MINERAL SPECIMENS, slabs or material by
the pound for cutting and polishing, RX
Units, Felker Di-Met Saw Blades, Carborun-
dum wheels, Cerium Oxide, Preform Cabo-
chons, Indian Jewelry, neck chains. Be sure
GOOD MIXED cutting material. Agate, Wood, MINERAL SETS—24 Colorful Minerals (identi- and stop. A. L. Jarvis, Route 2, Box 350, Wat-
Rhodonite, Jasper, 5 lbs., $3.00. Al Thrower, fied) in lxl compartments — Postage paid, sonville, California, 3 miles S. on State high-
P. O. Box 305, Santa Cruz, Calif. $3.50. Prospector's Set of 50 Minerals (identi- way No. 1.
fied) In lxl compartments in cloth reinforced
BEAUTIFUL AUSTRALIAN Opal Cabs, 10x8— sturdy cartons. Postage paid $5.75. Elliott's MINERALS, GEMS, COINS, Bills, Old Glass,
$3.00 to $7.20. 12x10—$4.80 to $9.00. Opal Gem Shop, 26 Jergins Arcade, Long Beach 2, Books, Stamps, Fossils, Buttons, Dolls, Wea-
rough for cutting $1.20 & $2.00. Ace Lapi- Calif. pons, Miniatures, Indian Silver Rings and
dary, Box 67, Jamaica, New York. Bracelets. Also Mexico. Catalogue 5c. Cowboy
ROSE QUARTZ—$1.00 per lb. rough. From Lemley, Las Cruces, New Mexico.
WHEN YOU TRAVEL Sixty-Six Highway, stop finest deposit known. European and Asiatic
at Boodle's place, one mile west of Galena, market before war. Rose Quartz, 283 Wildwood SEND ME $3.00 and receive in return a nice
Kansas. Thousands of fine minerals, Indian Park, Fort Garry, Man., Canada. selection of Colorado mineral specimens. Ask
relics. Dealers Welcome. Boodle Lane, Box for list and prices of the many beauties now
331, Galena, Kas. GOOD CUTTING material from Nevada, 5 lbs. in stock. Jack The Rock Hound, P. O. Box 86,
$3.50. 10 lbs. $6.00. 10 sq. in. $2.00. 25 sq. in. Carbondale, Colo.
GOOD NEVADA TURQUOISE in the rough, $2.50 $4.00. Send for price list on other cutting
oz. any amount. Turquoise cabochons 50c material, minerals, hand made silver jewelry, TORTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD world wide collec-
carat. John L. James, Box 379, Battle etc. John L. James, Box 379, Battle Mountain, tion. More than one hundred thousand rare
Mountain, Nev. Nevada. mineral specimens released for sale. Will
ship to dealer. Satisfaction guaranteed. E. E.
FASCINATING MINERALS priced to sell. Cata- MONTANA MOSS AGATES in the rough for Thomas, Box 78, Jamestown, Calif.
log free. 25 one-Inch labeled minerals $2.00 gem cutting $1.50 per lb. plus postage. Also
postpaid. 25 rocks with descriptive labels Slabbed Agate 25c per sq. in. (Minimum order FOR THE BEST in New Mexico Agate visit or
$1.50 postpaid. Scott Lewis, 2500 N. Beach- $1.00). Elliott Gem Shop, 26 Jergins Arcade, write James T. Lawyer, Industrial Minerals,
wood, Hollywood 28, Calif. Long Beach 2, California. 923 W. Birch, Deming, New Mexico.
BRAZILIAN AGATE, Specimen pieces, also INDIAN RELICS, Curios, Coins, Minerals, Books, BEAUTIFUL AGATE from Arizona, New Mex-
good for coloring, $1.00 a pound. Pieces run Old Buttons, Old Glass, Old West Photos, Wea- ico, Utah, Arizona Petrified Wood, colors and
from one to ten pounds each. Black Onyx pons. Catalogue 5c. Lemley Antique Shop, Os- pictures. Agates in Red Moss, Golden Moss,
Blanks, 16x12 and 14x12 size—$2.50 dozen. borne, Kansas. Black Banded. Red Banded, Red and Black
Mail orders filled promptly. JUCHEM BROTH- Banded, Carnelian, Moss Jaspers. Many eol-
ERS, 315 W. 5th St., Los Angeles 13, Calif. ATTENTION ROCK COLLECTORS. It will pay ors in many patterns. Let me send you
you to visit the Ken-Dor Rock Roost. We buy, some of this Agate or Wood, every inch will
STRIKING GEMS, brilliant minerals, dazzling make a gem. 15c per sq. in., will assort.
fluorescents. Highway 91, center of town, next sell, or exchange mineral specimens. Visitors Minimum order $1.50. Money back if not
to court house. St. George, Utah. Superior are always welcome. Ken-Dor Rock Roost, 419 satisfied. Approximate postage please. We
Minerals. (No mail orders until Dec.) So. Franklin, Modesto, California. also have a nice selection of Chrysocolla,
Malachite and Copper specimens. Make your
BEAUTIFUL ARIZONA AGATES. Polished sam- SPECIAL FOR NOV. & DEC.—One Fluorescent next rock hunting trip in our yard. Good
ples and listings $2.00. Unpolished samples Turitella paperweight $2.50. Two of same cutting material as low as 35c per lb. Tons
$1.00. Arizona Agate Mines, Cave Creek, Ariz. $4.50, postpaid. Exclusive pattern. Discount to select from. Come any time. Geo. C.
on six or more. Satisfaction guaranteed or Curtis, The Agate Man, 645 1st St., Hermosa
SMOKY QUARTZ CRYSTALS on petrified wood, money refunded. Clay Ledbetter, 2126 McKen- Beach, Calif.
Arizona, 75c, $1.00, $1.50, $2.00. Unpolished zie, Waco, Texas.
slabs of wood (showing rings) which appears MISSOURI Barite Crystals, single subtranspar- FIFTY MINERAL SPECIMENS, %" or over,
to nave been partially dead before beginning ent terminated, Vi to %, 1, IVi, 1%, 2, boxed, identified, described, mounted. Post-
to petrify. Linn County, Oregon, $1.50. 2V2, 3, 20c, 25c, 35c, 55c, 75c, $1.00, $1.50. paid $4.00. Old Prospector, Box 21B172, Dutch
Dorothy Frey, 124 S. Santa Anita, San Gabriel, Crystal groups, translucent to subtransparent Flat, Calif.
Calif. well developed crystals, 2x2, 2x3, 3x3, 3x4,
$1.25, $2.00, $2.75, $3.50. Illinois fluorite BRIGHTEN THEIR CHRISTMAS with a rare,
OREGON PLUME AGATE, from noted Central octahedral cleavages, 1", 75c, l'/ 2 ", $1.00, yel- colorful, Eastern Mineral. Visit the Erskine
Oregon gem fields. Finest quality plumes, $1.50 low or purple. Satisfaction guaranteed or Collection. 307 Rosemont St., La Jolla, Calif.
sq. in. Assorted, vari-colored types, $1.00 sq. money refunded. Postage extra. Larger Mail Order Special: a 3x3 specimen of clear
in.; cabochon sized slabs, 50e each. Small specimens available of all. Alvin Kamp, green Muscovite studded with 2 or more trans-
rough chunks, $5.00 lb. Fair warning folks; Jackson, Missouri. parent red Spessartite Garnets, only 50c post-
this Plume is in strong demand and is going, paid.
going— Choicest Red Moss Agate $3.00 lb. GEM MATERIALS — Arizona Petrified Woods
Other gemmy types of Moss $1.25 lb. From from beautiful reds to Jet black, 20c inch. SPECIMENS SPECIAL—Your pick, 3 for $1.00.
Plume vein, mixed moss and plume, varicolor- Some nice chunks for bookends, etc., at Turquoise, Jasper, Chrysocolla, Geodes, Ore-
ed, 2 lbs. $3.00. Include postage on rough 75c pound. AGATES. New find, Esca- gon, Mint Canyon, Hauser beds, Utah Grapes,
Agate, please. Satisfaction guaranteed. C. G. Bloodstone, Hematite, Howlite, Tiger Eye,
Springer, 862 Roosevelt Ave., Bend, Ore. dillo agate, bluish translucent, clear or band-
ed. Cameo agate, opaque, red and brown Jade, Beach Agates, Rhodonite, Petrified
coloring with fossil-like trees and plants. Palm, Petrified Wood, Iron Pyrite, Amethyst
WOULD LIKE to trade minerals with other Fine golden moss. All of above 15c inch, Quartz, Quartz Crystals, Apache Teardrops,
collectors. Carlton M. Carson, 205 Dalton St., 75c pound. Beautiful red and golden moss Wulfenite, Mimetite, Dioptase, Chrysoprase,
Ventura, Calif. at 20c inch, $1.00 pound. Amythest agate, 25c Vesuvianite, Martite, Sweetwater Agates,
inch. Baker Ranch eggs $1.00 pound. Indian Azurite nodules, Fluorites, Boothite, Vanadi-
FAIRY CROSSES or Good Luck Charms, 3 for lucky stones, 10c each, $1.00 dozen. Send for nite, Goethite, Variscite, Montana Moss Agate,
$1.10. Azurite W to %'.' Nodules, 10 for list and prices, 2>/2% tax in California. Sat- Horse Canyon Agate, Perlite, Garnets, Peri-
$1.10. Maryann Kasey, Box 968, Bakersfield, isfaction guaranteed. Sequoia Gem and dot, Topaz. Last three small, others, you will
California. Mineral Shop, 321 West Tulare Avenue. be surprised at their size. We pay postage
Visalia, California. on $5.00 or over. 1 of each, postpaid, $10.00.
r • • : • . • Morton Minerals & Mining, 453 E Garvev
AGATE FOR SALE—We have Red and Black Blvd., El Monte, Calif.
indemnification of
Plume, Blue and Pink Banded, and many
fluorescent minerals kinds of Moss Agates. All at our ranch at CACTUS BLOOM AGATE—This new multi-
Alpine. Texas, or write J. A. Anderson, Box character, picture producing gem material
> new beauty in collections 182, Alpine, Texas. has blossoms, mosses and plumes. The figures
are bright red, yellow and black in various
with MINERALIGHT HAVE YOUR FAVORITE Cabochons mounted sky backgrounds of transparent blue to
in hand-made sterling or 10K gold mount- opaque pink and white. One deal we ship
ings. Old prices still in effect. Satisfaction you a 25 square inch assortment of slabs
Guaranteed. Your correspondence invited. polished to a minor finish for $5.00. The
K. K. Brown, Beaver, Utah. polished surface exposes all flaws, facilitates
gem layout and takes the guess out of what
ATTENTION DEALERS and cutters. "Flower- you are looking at. The assortment is as
ing Obsidian" at wholesale rates. This is all exciting as a successful field day to the
highgrade cutting material. It is select and cutter and a real addition to the collector's
ruts with a minimum of waste. 30 lbs. at cabinet. Satisfaction guaranteed. Petrified
S7.50. W. T. Rogers. 1230 Parkway Ave., Wood Products Co., Box 8, Kingman, Arizona.
Salt Lake City 6, Utah.
Make field trips profitable — find
new deposits in the field — see MINERAL SPECIMENS — Micro-mount and C. C. Boak of Tonopah reports that he
added beauty in your mineral col- Thumb-nail sizes: write today for free list. has received a letter from Ceylon which
lection under Ultra Violet light . . . .1. E. Byron. Minin? Engineer, 1240 Pearl
these are a few of the uses of Street, Boulder, Colorado. claims that a white sapphire weighing 212
MINERAIJGHT. Write for Bulle- pounds has been discovered there. Boak's
t i n No. D-100 — See your Mineral- AT THE DESERT RAT'S NEST—Coober pedy correspondent, K. N. Meera, has disposition
light dealer. opal, pinpoint and blue fire (10 carat ant-
hill garnets, will wholesale smaller grades), of the stone and hopes to interest some
cut and uncut moonstones, Ceylon. All Brazil- large museum.
ian facet material in stock. A new blue sap- • • •
PRODUCTS, I n c .
phire up to 10 carats, flawless. Australian and
Siam uncut zircons, Burma rubles, Tasmania September meeting of the Searles Lake
white zircons, Queensland sapphire. Geo. W. Gem and Mineral society was to be a
Chambers, P. O. Box 1123, Enclnitas, Calif.
5205 Santa Monica Blvd.. Los Angeles 27. Calif
Visitors inquire at Kizer's filling station, "Kid's Night," with a children's hobby show
corner 101 and F St. for address. featured.
NOVEMBER, 1948 43
The Columbine Gem and Mineral society Paul I.indau showed several reels of his San Francisco. The lecture was to be illus-
of Salida, Colorado, made a field trip to colored nature pictures at the August meet- trated with slides on internal structure
the Leadville area en July 25. Twenty- ing of the Searles Lake Gem and Mineral and inclusions in imitation, artificial and
three rockhounds collected pyrite specimens society held at the Trona club. September natural gem stones. A complete assortment
and quartz crystal groups at the Ibex mine. meeting was set aside as children's night of gem materials was to be on display. Mr.
After filling their sacks, the collectors went with a hobby show, games and entertain- Sperisen has 25 years experience as a gem
to the timberline where coffee was made ment. Election of officers was planned for cutter and is a recognized authority on gem
over a camp fire and a picnic lunch en- the October meeting, with the annual min- stones.
joyed. Visiting rockhounds in the area were eral show to be held October 23-24 at
invited to get in touch with Mrs. Louis Trona.
Perry, Poncha Springs, Colorado or Mrs. • • • An illustrated travelogue given by Jessie
Frank Clark, Highway 50 at G Street, Hardman was the feature planned for the
Salida, Colorado. September meeting of the Oklahoma August meeting of Long Beach Mineralog-
• • • Mineial and Gem Society, Inc., was held ical society at Belmont Recreation center,
Beginning October 1 and continuing at the home of Mr. and Mrs. T. F. Carey. 4104 Allin Street. Slides of Mexico, Pan-
through May, the Mineralogical Society of Mrs. H. T. Daniels was to speak on ama, Hawaii, China, Ceylon, Suez and
Arizona, Phoenix, will meet the first and "Rocks of Arkansas and Kansas." August Tangiers were to be shown. August field
third Friday of each month in the Assembly issue of the Sooner Rockologist, official trip was to be a potluck picnic at Brea
Hall, 1736 W. Van Buren Street. All visit- publication of the society, carries an article canyon. The club planned a class in min-
ing rockhounds are invited to attend the on geodes along the Fox river in Clark eralogy to be conducted by Mr. Wheat-
meetings. county, Missouri and the Keokuk, Iowa, field of City college, if at least 20 members
area by Othe Hagerman. signed up.
• • •
Officers of the Mineralogical Society of
HAROLD D. MARYOTT & CO. Southern California elected for 1948-49
Miami, Arizona are: president, A. G. Ostergard; vice-presi-
dent, Don George; secretary, Mrs. Leona
WESTERN JEWELRY Robbins, 928 E. Hellman Avenue, Monterey
Park, California; treasurer, lohn A. Quinn;
Wholesale Only directors, H. Stanton Hill, P. E. Linville,
lack Streeter, Pauline Savior, Vic Robbins,
Dorothy Ostergard and Louis Vance. First
fall meeting of the society was scheduled
for the Pasadena public library, September
NEW FACETING MATERIAL 13, with A. G. Ostergard speaking on
Aquamarine, Citrine, Topaz, Amethyst
and Smoky Quartz
Lapidary Equipment and Supplies
"Mineral Collecting in Old Mexico." The
talk was to be illustrated with slides from
Mojaue Sbeiebt Qem
Sheet Silver, Trim and Findings the collections of the speaker and W.
Write for Lists Stewart, E. Calvert and I. Rodekohr. The and Mineral Shop. . . .
S-T GEM & MINERAL SHOP society announces that a non-credit course On Highway 91. 11 Mi. East of Barstow
6924 Foothill Blvd., Tujunga, Calif. in mineralogy, geology and determination One Mile West of Yermo, Calif.
of gem stones is being offered by the ex- E. W. Shaw. P. O. Box 363. Yermo. Calif.
tended day division of Pasadena city col-
lege on Tuesdays from 7 to 10 p. m.,
MINERAL starting September 14.
IDENTIFICATION • • a
SIMPLIFIED
By O. C. SMITH, AB., A.M.
August meeting of the Sequoia Mineral
society was held in the Selma park with
LABRADORITE
2nd Revised Edition 58 in attendance. Discussions were held 'CANADA'S WONDER
Price $3.50 on plans to ask for the state federation
Plus Tax in California convention, possibly in 1950. Bill Wedel GEM MATERIAL"
IDENTIFICATION AND of Dinuba showed pictures. Elmer E.
Geese, aged 79, editor of the Sequoia Bulle- We are pleased to announce that we
QUALITATIVE CHEMICAL tin, passed away while at a camp in Trinity,
ANALYSIS OF MINERALS have been chosen agents lor the United
in northern California, the society bulletin States by Mr. Lloyd T. Mewburn, Banff.
By O. C. SMITH, A.B., A.M. reports. Canada.
300 minerals, 120 Blowpipe tests, 40 Bead • • •
tests and the response to Ultra-Violet light
all shown in finest full color. Mineral and Gem News of the Rocky This material is unsurpassed for opal-
Price $8.50
Mountains, official bulletin of the Rocky escence showing the Butterfly Blue.
Plus Tax in California
Mountain Federation of Mineral societies, Reddish Gold and Yellow.
Lewis W. Heister, editor, is providing in-
Order from — O. C. SMITH - Dept. D valuable service for traveling rockhounds Labradorite has always been in big de-
5157 Santa Ana St. — Bell, California mand because of its scarcity.
or Your Local Dealer by publishing names and addresses of
specific members of the various societies
who can be contacted by visitors in their WE OFFER . . .
areas. 1 1b. S2.50
• • • 10 lbs. or over—per lb. 2.35
During World War II, German and Ital- 25 lbs. or over—per lb 2.20
RX-47 ian prisoners at Camp Irwin in the Mojave All orders F.O.B. Long Beach. Calif.
did rock cutting and polishing as a hobby,
A COMPLETE according to Ernest J. McMichael, presi- DEALERS ATTENTION . . .
dent of the Mojave Desert Gem and Min- Write for wholesale prices on this
LAPIDARY eral society, and hundreds of pounds of proven material.
SHOP gem quality rock were collected and ship-
ped by the United States government from Open Daily 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
IN ONE Barstow to Tucson, Arizona, and other Closed Sundays
SMALL prisoner of war camps. Many of the fields
MACHINE
NOVEMBER, 1948 45
between If on and. Ate
By RANDALL HENDERSON
one of Desert's readers a few months ago than in a whole semester at school. For Nature is the
put himself on record in the "Letters" page of this greatest artist of all.
magazine as an opponent of state border inspection
as now conducted, he really started something. Since that
letter appeared, a steady barrage of letters both pro and If my old prospector friends Frank Coffey and Gus
con have been coming to the editorial desk". Lederer and Tommy Jones were living today I am afraid
they would have to start learning their profession all over
According to the office score board the pro-inspection again. The pick and pan and mortar they used in their
writers have sent in the most letters. But while the oppon- quest for gold were useful tools for the purpose—but gold
ents of inspection are lagging in numbers, they are more is no longer the primary goal of the prospecting fraternity.
than holding their own in the lavish use of uncomplimen-
tary adjectives. Uranium, and more recently titanium, have given new
incentive to the search for precious ores. These metals
Thank heaven this is good old USA where folks can call for new tools—the ultra-violet lamp and the Geiger
write and say what they please about government in- counter. The importance of uranium already is well known.
spectors. I am not violently partisan in this controversy The value of titanium, one of the basic chemical elements,
although I will confess it put quite a strain on my sense of is just being recognized. At the DuPont laboratories it has
humor when, meandering back and forth across the Colo- been found to be less than twice the weight of aluminum
rado river, those pesky inspectors insisted on scrutinizing and as strong as stainless steel—and it is said to be the
the same bag of grapefruit four times in one day. seventh most common among all the metals of the earth.
There is more titanium than copper or silver or lead.
But I would rather have it that way than live in a
country where they would send me to a Siberian concen- The desert country has been very thoroughly combed for
tration camp for saying what I thought about it. gold and silver and copper and lead during the last 100
years. It appears now that prospectors armed with a lamp
and a counter may find it profitable to go back and re-
examine the hills and ranges and perhaps make new strikes
Perhaps if the border inspectors would borrow an idea in rock which they once discarded as worthless.
recently initiated at Mesa, Arizona, they wouldn't be so
unpopular. The folks in Mesa set aside one day in which
every car bearing an out-of-state license was stopped at And while we are on the subject of prospecting, the
the city limits and each of the occupants served with a ore-hunters are not the only persons who find wealth in
glass of citrus juice. this desert region. I am sure no gold bonanza ever
brought greater happiness to its owner than does the dis-
covery of a rare flower or shrub to Edmund C. Jaeger
The desert lowlands put on their annual color show in or Mary Beal or Philip Munz.
late winter and early spring when the wildflowers present For after all, the value of things is not in their physical
a gorgeous panorama of reds and blues and yellows and content, but in the wealth they create in terms of enlight-
whites, depending on the amount of rain. ened human satisfaction. The gold we find pays off in
more or less superficial pleasures. The beauty we discover
The desert highlands also have their color parade—but or create brings reward in a deep personal satisfaction that
it comes in the autumn. The brilliant hues appear in the cannot be bought with money.
mountains after the first frosts when the aspen leaves turn
to red and yellow and brown. Blended with the green of Oh, I would not discourage the prospecting for gold or
the fir and spruce which grow beside them, the aspens pre- uranium or titanium. Those things make a contribution
sent a lovely pattern. It is a picture that makes us all wish to the usefulness of our lives. But Gus Lederer, the old
we were artists so we could transfer the landscape to can- prospector of Corn springs, is remembered and honored
not for the claims he staked out, but for the pictures he
vas and have it with us always. painted in his spare hours and passed around to his friends.
In New Mexico many of the communities organize As- They were crude according to artistic standards—but they
pencades during October and long caravans wind up the were an expression of the best in Gus. I am sure Gus
mountain roads to where the aspen forests are found. derived a thousand times more pleasure from his paint
Humans learn more appreciation of art in one such day brush than from his pick.
46 THE D E S E R T MAGAZINE
recognizing gems, faceted gems, cabochon
and carved gems, gems of the silica group,
gems with a genealogy (pearl, coral, amber
and jet), man-made gems and luminescent
gems. Many of the species are illustrated
with excellent photographs, and the proc-
esses of diamond recovery and finishing are
shown in a photographic series.
Descriptions of the precious and semi-
precious stones are arranged according to
the system of classification introduced in the
seventh edition of Dana's System of Min-
THE SKY RULES IN OUR deep fat. Which sounds as if the Prophet eralogy. Most of them contain fascinating
didn't fare so badly in his diet. And for bits on the history of the gem described, its
SOUTHWESTERN DESERTS those who are interested in dates as food discovery and its properties.
there is a section of recipes for cookies, Dr. Pearl is the second man in the United
"In New Mexico whatever is both old and candies, frostings and fillings, salads and
peculiar appears upon examination to have States to earn the title of Certified Gemol-
other items which sound most appetizing. ogist, highest award of the American Gem
a connection with the arid climate. Peculi- Types of dates grown in the valley are
arities range from the striking adaption of society. He is the author of Mineral Col-
listed and defined, together with the names lectors Handbook and co-author of The Art
the flora onwards to those of the fauna, and of the countries where they originated. The of Gem Cutting. His POPULAR GEMOL-
on up to those of the human animal." That definitions of various terms used in the OGY is authoritative and interesting.
was the basic thesis which Ross Calvin date industry are given. The story of a
stated in SKY DETERMINES, first pub- John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1948.
date plantation is told from the point of 316 pp., index, selected bibliography, 115
lished 14 years ago. view of one buying and developing a gar- photographic and line illustrations. $4.00.
Today a new edition of this Southwestern den. The reader is taken through purchase • • •
classic, beautifully illustrated, composed and of the land, planting, irrigation, fertilizing,
bound, has been published by the Uni- cultivation, pollination, protection against BOOK BRIEFS . . .
versity of New Mexico press. In the fore- weather and natural enemies, harvesting and
word Dr. Calvin declares that his thesis re- packing. Father Berard Haile's two most recent
mains unchanged — reinforced, rather — by Material on the history of the valley and studies on the Navajo, Navaho Sacrificial
the happenings of the years between. The the Salton sea and a chapter on the tourist Figurines and Prayer Stick Cutting in a Five
author, who came to the desert for reasons attractions of the area are included. Night Navaho Ceremonial, have been issued
of health, became interested in the desert by the University of Chicago Press. The
Publication Press, Pasadena, 1948. 159 first is a study of the making and use of
plants. "Then one day a brain cell must pps., map endpapers, photographic illustra-
have opened," he says, "for the thought oc- ceremonial objects as remedies for ills
tions, $2.50. caused by minor offenses. The second
curred to me that if plant life in the desert « • •
had been forced to adapt itself to aridity or describes the methods of conducting a five
else perish, the same must be true in greater RICHARD PEARL TELLS THE night prayerstick ceremonial. The prayer-
or less degree of animal life also." From stick study is illustrated with seven color
STORY OF THE GEMS plates, the other by drawings.
that thought came one of the most eloquent-
ly written interpretations of the Southwest, The fascination of gems goes beyond the • • •
a book that is essential to those who would dawn of antiquity to the very beginnings of F. Stanley has compiled the history of
understand the desert country. the human race, Richard M. Pearl declares Raton, New Mexico, under the title Raton
The sky determines the desert by excess in POPULAR GEMOLOGY. Even a bird Chronicle. Published for the Raton Histor-
of heat and insufficiency of rainfall, it de- will pick up bits of brightly colored twigs ical society, the well-written 146-page paper-
termines the function of the mountains in and twine in preference to somber ones to bound booklet traces the story of the area
the general economy of nature, it determines build its nest. Dr. Pearl's new book was from the times of Coronado to the
the extent and kind of forestation. The sky written to provide the general reader with twentieth century. Stories of early pioneers,
determined the mode of life of the ancient the most recent accurate knowledge of gems, stage lines, railroads, bad men, early news-
peoples, decided the policy of the Con- presented in understandable language. Com- papers and community development are in-
quistadores and the economic development pleted since World War II, it includes the cluded. The book was published by World
of the Mexicans. Roads and trails depended new scientific and industrial uses of natural Press Publishing company, Denver, Colo-
upon water supplies and they were de- and artificial gems. rado, and the author's address is Box 146,
termined by the sky, and so was the length There are chapters on the lure of gems, Raton, New Mexico.
of Apache warfare, and so was the fact that
New Mexico is a land of ranches.
In SKY DETERMINES, history, legend,
scientific fact and personal observation are What Patterned the History of Our Southwest?
woven into a pattern which will bring to the
reader a deeper understanding of the great
unity of nature. The book is illustrated by SKY DETERMINES
the well-known Southwestern artist, Peter
Hurd. By ROSS CALVIN
University of New Mexico press, Albu- Author of "River of the Sun"
querque, 1948. 333 pps. index, biblio-
graphy. $3.50.
• • • Is the sky—desert-maker and rain-giver—responsible for the
THE FASCINATING HISTORY grotesque vegetation, prehistoric fortresses, pagan dances and
OF DATES ON THE DESERT all the strangeness of the Southwest? A brilliant interpretation
of the desert country which Ernie Pyle called: "Practically our
The history of the date from Biblical
times to the present complicated "big busi- Southwestern Bible."
ness" of growing, harvesting and packing
in our own desert country is fascinating.
Wayland A. Dunham tells the story in IT'S ENTIRELY NEW EDITION WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE
A DATE. The new book features the FAMOUS SOUTHWESTERN ARTIST, PETER HURD
Coachella valley area, and the introduction
and propagation of dates in America. But
there are bits of fact and legend from the $3.50
old days, from Arabia and the ancient
world. Order Now from
One learns, for example, that a favorite THE DESERT CRAFTS SHOP . . . Palm Desert. California
dish of Mohammed was dates filled with
nut meats, dipped in egg batter, dusted with
bread crumbs and diced nuts and fried in
NOVEMBER, 1948 47
GIFT FRUIT ... for Christmas
In the illustra- Delicious sun-ripened dates from the desert gardens of
tion are the Southern California . . . sent to you or your friends in strong
Assorted Pack beautifully labelled packages that give added color to the
(above) and
home at Christmas time. The packs listed on this page are
'Date Surprises'
but three of 18 dates packages prepared in the Valerie Jean
shop for your Christmas gift list.
A large pack, very appropriate for those who wish to give some-
thing very different or who might want the small boxes as
separate gifts.
Made from California dates and contains only natural date sugar.
QUICK PICK UP—Add to ice cold or piping hot milk one part ALLDATE to six
parts milk.
CHILDREN'S DELIGHT. They love ALLDATE milk drinks—easy to make—just add
to milk and stir.
ICE CREAM—An entirely new flavor on ice cream as a sundae or parfait or to
make home-made ALLDATE ice cream.
NEW DESSERTS. ALLDATE frozen dessert. Stir one part ALLDATE syrup into six
parts milk and freeze in refrigerator. Stir occasionally from the sides.
SPREAD FOR BREAD—Use on bread and butter.
HOT CAKES AND WAFFLES.