197102 Desert Magazine 1971 February

8/14/2019 197102 Desert Magazine 1971 February

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FEBRUARY, 1971 50c

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The sensational newmetal locatorM u s t a n gEASI LY DETECTS: Co ins Re l ics Gold S i lver Coppe r All O the r Me ta l s

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"New type searchloop gives moreperformance at low cost Designedespecially for the Mustang.

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COME PUy ATBullfRoq RESORT & MARJNAthe center of the West's mostspectacular playground: Lake Powel

Bull frog Resort and Ma rina is the capital of ev erything th at'sgreat about Utah's southland. You' l l l ike the modern faci l i -ties and the small town friendliness and service. The float-ing marina complex offers you just about everything youneed for a fun-fi l led vacation: groceries, camping suppl ies,marine supplies, bait and ice. Next to the store, there's ahospital i ty area where you can relax whi le your boat is beingserviced. All of the boat slips, both the uncovered andcovered, are just a few steps away from the store. Fuel isavai lable for your boat or car. Bul l frog Marina provides repairfacilities for boats, a launching service buoys, and dry stor-age for boats and trailers. You can rent a boat at BullfrogMarina. Choose the one you prefer for f ishing, water ski ing,or just loafing and looking. Bul l frog's rental f leet rangesfrom 15 to 20 footers, with engines from 55 to 105 horse-power .Houseboats are a big favorite. Rent one, and set out on anew adventure in l iving with al l the comforts of home. Youcan park your houseboat where the scenery is best, andfish from your front porch. Bullfrog supplies most of thehousehold necessities. You supply the fun. Charter toursare very popular. The Bul l frog tour furnishes your party witha boat , equ ipment, and a Coast Guard qua l i f ied gu ide toassure you a carefree camping and sight-seeing vacation.Accommodations? Bul l frog Resort has a better idea. Modernrental mobi le homes provide al l ' the comforts you thoughtyou left behin d you. You have a choice of two and threebedroom trai lers with ful ly equipped ki tchens, l iving rooms,and air conditioning. You can rent space for your ownmobile home or travel trai ler, or stay in the improved gov-ernment campground which is complete with restrooms.The National Park Service has also finished a covered picnicarea, a fish cleaning station, a boat sanitary dump station,and a launching ramp. Rangers and personnel from theNational Park Service, Utah Fish and Game and Utah Parkand Recreation are stationed in the area to offer their services.

For more information, or forreservations, call or write231 East 4th SouthSalt Lake City, Utah 84111Phone (801) 355-2991


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A LAND THAT'S erent:E S C A L A N T E C O U N T R YSkeptical? We don't blame you.We've all heard it before: the superlative claimsthat somehow don't hold up. For this reason we're go-ing to stick to facts facts more exciting than themost grandiose, glowing descriptions.Here's why Escalante Country is DIFFERENT: Youwill find a wide variety of scenery and activity. Withinminutes from Escalante you can climb to tall-timbered,lake-studded mountains; penetrate the deep labyrinthof canyons; descend to desert levels and view newly-formed Lake Powell.Activities? To name a few: all-year hunting of moun-tain lion and predators; all-year fishing on Lake Pow-ell; seasonal deer and bird hunting as well as lake andstream fishing.An infinite choice of objects and scenes for the photog-rapher and artist. Numerous petrified forests, fossilbeds, dinosaur graveyards for the rockhoundand pebblepup. Wilderness trails for hikers and

equestrians.So, what else is DIFFERENT? Here, we th ink, isthe most important difference of all: EscalanteCountry is Unspoiled no smog, no chemicalsin our water, no parking meters, no trafficlights. First class and friendly accommodations.

Interested in further details? Write ESCALANTE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, Escalante, Utah


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WILLIAM KNYVETT, PUBLISHERJACK PEPPER, EDITORW A L T E R A R E N D A L E , Advertising ManagerM A R Y F R A N C E S S T R O N G , Field Trip EditorG L E N N V A R G A S , Lapidary EditorJ O L E E N R O B I S O N , Woman's ViewpointK . L . B O Y N T O N , NaturalistJ A C K D E L A N E Y , Staff Writer

Volume 34, Nu mber 2 FEBRUA RY, 1971

CONTENTS

T H E C O V E R :Blooming yuccas on thedesert floor of CoachellaValley near Palm Desert,California are in sharpcontrast to the snow-cover-ed peaks of the San Jacin-to Mountains rising 10,000feet above the ColoradoDesert. Photo by DavidMuench, Santa Barbara,California.

F E A T U R E STREASURE AT TRAVERTINE ROCK?

H O W T O P A I N T T H E M O O NS ER R ANO INDIAN TR AIL

TOUR ING THE TUR TLESP ONC HO HOUS E R UINS

GREASEWOOD, FLOWER OF THE DESERTDESERT BIGHORNS

CONTOURS OF COACHELLA VALLEYHISTORICAL MAP

ROCK ART IN JOSHUA TREEDATE FESTIVAL

by Walter Fordby John Hiltonby Van P. Wilkinsonby M ary Frances Strongby Walter Fordby Julia Crawby K. L. Boyntonby Jack Pepperby Merle Graffamby Lois Wolf Buistby Jack Sheppard

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

BOOK REVIEWSDESERT LIFE

W O M A N ' S V I E W P O I N TR AMB LING ON R OC KS

C ALENDAR OF W ES TER N EVENTSLETTERS

by William Knyvettby Jack Pepperby Hans Baerwaldby Joleen A. Robisonby G lenn and Martha VargasClub ActivitiesReader's Comments

ELTA SHIVELY, Executive Secretary MARVEL BARRETT, Circulation Manager

EDITORIAL, CIRCULATION AND ADVERTISING OFFICES: 74-109 Larrea St . , Palm Desert , California 92260. Telephone Area Code714 346-8144. Listed in Standard Rate and Data. SUB SCR IPTIO N RAT ES: U nited States, Canada and M exico; 1 year, $5.00; 2 years,$9.50; 3 years $13.00. Other foreign subscribers add $1.00 U.S. currency for each year. See Subscription Order Form in this issue. Allowfive weeks for change of address :nd send both new and old addres-.es with zip codes. DESERT Magazine is published monthly. Secondclass postage paid at Palm De sert, Califor nia and at additio nal ma iling offices und er Act of Marc h 3, 1879. Cont ents copyrigh ted 1971by DESERT Magazine and permission to reproduce any or all contents must be secured in writing. Unsolicited manuscripts and photo-graphs W IL L N O T BE RE TU RN ED unless accompanied by a self-addressed and stamped envelope.


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ON TH E MARKET TODAY!P . D . Q . -A S A

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SEND FORNEW CATALOG # 9SHIPLEY'SMINERAL HOUSEOn Hwy. 160 in southwest Colorado, 18 mileseast of Durango or i y 2 miles west of Bayf ield.Mail ing Address:SHIPLEY'S MINERAL HOUSE, Gem Villag e,Bayfield D,Colorado 81122Phone: 303-884-2632

LOTTIE M. SHIPLEY

IN THIS ISSUE we salute the CoachellaValley, theentranceway to varied funin the desert, with thebulk of the edtorial covering this portion of SouthernCalifornia. Thevalley itself isguarded bytwo lofty sentinels, Mt. San G orgon ioan d Mt. San Jacinto. These peaks holdback theprevailing westerly breezes andcreate a hard-to-beat climate less than twohours driving time from thecoastal citiesInterstate 10 traverses the valley and ison e of the major east-west routes, withaccess to the Colorado River basin, Ari-

zona and thegeneral desert southwest area. Thevalley and its adjacent regions havehad an extensive part to play in the history of the W e st . Its major contributionsare capably portrayed onpage 42 in a historical map byMerle Graffam.

This winter has been a l i t t le damper than usual and should provide uswith a blanket of wildflowers. At present the twosentinels aremantled in snow andare a breath-taking sight as they tower 10,000 feet above thedesert floor.

Our Field Trip Editor, Mary Frances Strong, really tops the issue off withher article on collecting material in the nearby Turtle Mountains. This li t t le gemcontains a map showing more than NINE good areas and can be found on page 22

A P e e ki n theP u b l i s h e r sP o k e

I have hadseveral requests regarding subscriptions for loved ones in theservice of our country. Ourusual rates apply even though they may be stationed ina foreign country.

Those of you whohave 1970 binders will experience a little difficulty ingetting theDecember issue inbecause of the increased number of pages since AugustTo avoid this problem occuring in '71 the binders have been increased to a size thawill accommodate thelarger books.

A ll of us, in one way or another, feel thepinch in thepocketbook due the increase in prices, winter layoffs, etc. andDesert is no exception. Regretably, iis forcing us to close on Saturdays until further notice. And our sincere thanks tthose of you who came to visit with us on weekends.

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DESERT MAGAZINEPalm Desert, Cal i forn ia 9 2 2 6 0

Cal i fornia residents add 12csales tax


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FIVE SILICON PLANAR TRANSISTORS PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD construction throughout. FIVE-INCH DIA METER SEARCH HEAD included with each unit for general purpose

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best length foruser's height, adjustable from sixteen to thirty inches. COMPLETELY WIRED (not a kit and noradio necessary foroperation). NINE-VOLT BATTERY, Eveready 216 or equivalent, included with each unit. ATTRACTIVELY STYLED high impact molded case andSearch Heads balanced for ong use

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BIG 196-page book, "Lost Treasures And How To Find Them", describ-ing hundreds of famous treasure caches in almost every state, withsuggestions on how to get started.

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ESCONDIDO, CALIFORNIA

R e v i e w sCALIFORNIABy Ray Atkeson and David Muench

Trying to convey the feelings and im-pressions in black and white words ofthis photographic masterpiece is as futileas attempting to describe color televisionto an aborigine.

Two of the West's greatest photo-graphers have combined their art in avolume which creates overwhelming vi-brations of the oceans, lakes, deserts,mountains and cities of California. Thecolor photographs are so captive one canalmost inhale the smells and touch thesubject matter on each page. The histori-cal text by Dav id W . Toll is as movin gas the pictorial presentation.

This reviewer does not often use thetext from the flyleaf of a book, but eventhe summary of California is beautifullywritten.

"No region in the world has excitedmore continuing curiosity, and none hasever drawn so immense a tide of individ-ual migration in the long history of thehuman race. The literature of Californiais vast, and from it has emergedamongmany complexitiesat least one simpletruth . . . the truth is that there are manyCalifornias.

"P hotographer s Ray A tk es on andDavid Muench have spent years exploringthe many Californias, and their discover-ies, presented here, are a demonstration ofthe incredible variety of these Californiaswhich have exerted so powerful a pull atthe imaginations of men: glowing, serene,vibrant with color, unutterably inviting.

"Each new wave of immigrants has hadto discover California for itself, for it hasnever stopped changing since Padre Juni-pero Serra struggled overland to reach itmore than two centuries ago. This book,

Color and black and white photographby the two artists have appeared in thmajority of national magazines such National Geographic, Holiday, Life, etDesert Magazine is proud that many oour covers during the past two years, icluding this issue, have featured tworks of David Muench.

The 186 pages of California contamore than 200 four-color photographThe 1 1 x 1 4 f or m at wi th heavy s lipaper was designed by Robert Reynoland printed by Graphic Arts CentePortland, Oregon. You will not want pu t California in your book shelf afgoing through it the first time. It is book which you will savor for years come and want to share with othersis California. $25.00.

N A T I O N A L P A R K S O F T H E W E S TBy the Editors of Sunset Books

A completely updated edition, Natioal Parks of the West is a pictorial intepretation of the 23 scenic preserves thencompass within their 12 million acrmost of the nation's f inest mountain adesert scenery.

The book contains 247 photographs which 32 pages are in full color selectfrom 36 of the West's outstanding photgraphers. There are 43 maps in two coors, 40 specially rendered drawings, a12 two-color geological diagrams.

A special 16-page section of Park Faccontains charts and tables that serve attractions and facilities of the areaguides to the events, activities, campsiteThere is also an Historical Chronologof the individual park developments, plan inclusive bibliography.

Large, 9 x 1 1 format , heavy s lick pper, 286 pages, $11.73.N O R T H W E S T E R N A R I Z O N AG H O S T T O W N SBy Stanley W. Patter

Author of Nevada Ghost Towns aMining Camps, Stanley Paher has extened his research into northern Arizowhere he covers 23 ghost towns acamps which f lourished during the la1800s and early 1900s.

The book contains directions on hoto get to each site and a concise histoof the communities. Large historicphotographs and artists ' sketches enhanthe editorial content. Large 11 x 14 fo


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D e s e r t M a g a z i n e B o o k S h o pDUTCH OVEN COOKBOOK by Don Holm. Wi ld -l i fe editor of the Port land Oregonian, the authorhas spent his l i fe exploring and writ ing aboutthe outdoors, so his recipes for preparing foodin a Dutch Oven come from experience. I f youhaven't had food cooked in a Dutch Oven, youhaven't l ived . . . and if you have you wil lf ind these recipes new and excit ing culinaryadventures as w el l as h is s tyle of wr i t in g.Heavy paperback, 106 pages, $3.95.A TRAMP ACROSS THE CONTINENT by CharlesLummis. First published in 1892, this is a re-print of the personal experiences of fhe west-ern h is tor ian who, in 1884, walked f rom Ohioto Los Angeles, covering 3507 mile!> in 143days. Lummis writes in a matter-of-fact man-ner of adventures w hich m ake fasc inat ingreading and give a keen insight into the peoplehe encountered. This is a classic of WesternAmer icana. Hardcover , 270 pages, $8.50.BAJA CALIFORNIA BY ROAD, AIRPLANE AN DBOAT by Cliff Cross. Author of a popular travelguide to the mainland of Mexico, Cross hascompiled a comprehensive book on Baja Cali-fornia. The new guide is well i l lustrated withdetai led maps of the vi l lages and bays alongthe 1000-mile route plus travel, history andf ishing information. Large format, heavy paper-back, 170 pages. $3.50.NEVADA GHOST TOWNS AND MINING CAMPSby Stanley W. Paher. Covering al l of Nevada's17 count ies, Paher has documented 575 miningcamps, many of which have been erased fromthe earth. The book contains the greatest andmost complete collect ion of historic photographsof Nevada ever published. This, coupled withhis excellent writ ing and map, creates a bookof last ing value. Large 9x11 format, 700photographs, hardcover , 492 pages, $15.00.INYO MONO JEEP TRAILS by Roger Mitchell.Author of DEATH VALLEY JEEP TRAIL!!, veteranexplorer Mitchell takes you on 18 dif ferent4-wheel-drive tr ips into the Sierra NevadaMountains, where he explores ghost towns, In-dian terri tory and scenic canyons and moun-tain passes. Paperback, 36 pages, i l lust. , $1.00.LOST LEGENDS OF THE WEST by Brad Williamsand Choral Pepper. The authors examine the"lore, legends, characters and myths that grewout of the Old West" in a sequel to their popu-lar f irst book, The Mysterious We$f. Includedamong the more than 20 "lost legends" aresuch intriguing subjects as lost bones, lostladies, lost towns, and lost diamonds. Hard-cover, i l lustrated, 192 pages, $5.95.GOLD MINES OF CALIFORNIA by Jack R. Wag-ner. I l lustrated history of the most product ivemines of the Mother Lode country with descrip-t ions and anecdotes about the people who own-ed the mines and the roles they played in thedevelopment of California. Profusely i l lustratedwith rare photographs, the author has chron-icled California's greatest and most excit inge r a . Large 9x11 format, 300 photos and maps,hardcover , 259 pages, 10.00.ON DESERT TRAILS by Randall Henderson, foun-der and publisher of Desert Magazine for 23years. One of the f irst good writers to revealthe beauty of the mysterious desert areas. Hen-derson's experiences, combined with his com-ments on the desert of yesterday and today,make this a MUST for those who really wantto understand the desert . 375 pages, i l lustrated.

ANZA-BORREGO DESERTGUIDEBy HORACE PARKER

A comprehensive guide and history ofthe Anza-Borrego desert area by a manwho has spent most of his life exploringthe "last frontier" of Southern California.The book has two detailed and accuratemaps and is profusely illustrated withboth historic and current photographs.Excellent for traveling on paved high-ways or in back country 4-wheel-driveroads. Enlarged, third edition, 1 52 pages,heavy slick paper with spiral bindingfor easy reference.$3.50

FOUR WHEEL DRIVE HANDBOOK by James T.Crow and Cameron Warren. Packed into thisvolume is material gathered from actual experi-ence and presented in a detai led manner so itcan easily be fol lowed and understood. Highlyrecommended for anyone interested in backcountry driving. Paperback, 96 pages, $2.50.LOST MINES & BURIED TREASURES A LON G THEOLD FRONTIER by John D. Mitchell. The secondof Mitchell 's books on lost mines which was out-of -pr int for many years is avai lable again. Manyof these appeared in DESERT Mgazine yearsago and these issues are no longer available.New readers wil l want to read these. Containsthe original map f irst published with the bookand one pinpoint ing the areas of lost mines.Mitchell 's personal research and invest igat ionhas gone into the book. Hardcover, 240 pages,$7 . 50 .NEVADA'S TURBULENT YESTERDAYS by Don Ash-baugh. The best book about Nevada's ghosttowns and the rugged indiv iduals who bui l tthem. 346 pages, $7.95.

WHEN ORDERING BOOKSPLEASEAdd 50 cents PER ORDER(Not Each Book)for handling and mailing

CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS ALSOADD 5 PERCENT SALES TAXSend check or money order to Desert Maga-zine Book Shop, Palm Desert, California92260. Sorry, but we cannot accept chargesor C.O.D. orders.

LOST MINES OF THE GREAT SOUTHWEST by JohD. Mitchell. The first of Mitchell's lost minbooks is now available after having been out pr int for years . Reproduced f rom' the or ig incopy and containing 54 art ic les based on accounts from people Mitchell interviewed. Hspent his ent ire adult l i fe invest igat ing reporand legends of lost mines and treasures of thSouthwest. Hardcover, i l lustrated, 175 page$7 . 50 .COLORFUL DESERT WILDFLOWERS by Grace anOnas Ward. Segregated into categories of reblue, white and yellow for easier ident if icat iothere are 190 four-color photos of f lowers founin the Mojave, Colorado and Western Arizondeserts, al l of which also have common anscientific names plus descriptions. Heavy, slicpaperback. $4.50.UNCLE SAM'S CAMELS, edited by Lewis BuLesley, This book is the actual journal of MaHumphreys Stacey, a young man who was paof the "camel corps" under leadership of LEdward Beale. First published in 1929 this a fascinat ing account of at tempts by the U.government to import camels from Asia to prvide transportat ion across the deserts of thSouthwest. Stacey later became a colonel the U.S. Army. A pood descript ion of how thcamels were purchased; and Beale's report the Secretary of War. Hardcover, 298 page$8 . 00 .GHOST TOWNS AND MINING CAMPS OF CALFORNIA by Remi Nadeau. The only good, harcover book on th" California ghost towns. Wrecommend i t h ighly . $5.95.1200 BOTTLES PRICED by John C. Tibbitts. UHated edit ion of one of the best of the bottbooks. $4.95.THE SALTON SEA Yesterday and Today by Midred de Stanley. Includes geological historphotographs and maps, ear ly explorat ion andevelopment of the area up to the presenPaperback, 125 pages. $1.00.LOST MINES AND HIDDEN TREASURES by LelaLovelace. Authoritat ive and exact accounts qilocat ions and fascinat ing data about a lost laof gold in California, burieH Aztec inqots Arizona, keqs of coins, and al l sorts of excit ibooty for t reasure seekers. Hardcover, $4.95GUIDEBOOK TO THE SAN BERNARDINO MOUTAINS by Russ Leadabrand. Lake ArrowheaBiq Bear Lake and other mountain roads tayou to resorts, lakes and picnic areas Pap$1 . 95 .A FIELD GUIDE TO WESTERN BIRDS by RogTory Peterson. The standard book for f ield idet i f icat ion sponsored by the Nat ional AudubSociety. 2nd edit ion, enlarged with new sect ion Hawaiian birds. 658 in ful l color. Hardcov$5 . 95 .

LOWER CALIFORNIA GUIDE BOOK by Gerhaand Gulick. The authors have revised the thedit ion to bring it up to date. Veteran travelein Baja California would not venture south the border without this authoritat ive volume.combines the fascinat ing history of every loct ion , whether i t be a town, mission or abadoned ranch, w i th detai led mi leage maps alocat ions of gasoline supplies, water and othneeded information on Baja. 243 pages wthree-color folded map, 16 detai led route ma


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TREASUREATTRAVERTINEROCK?by Walter Ford

N EAR THE close of a winter day backin the year 1570, a weary band ofFrench and Spanish renegades struggledthrough sandy wastelands west of theSalton Sea in Southern California, theipack animals loaded with loot stolenfrom churches in Mexico. Althoughwaterholes had been scarce along theroute and food supplies were nearly ex-hausted, their main concern was hidingthe treasure from the hostile Indians.

In the gathering dusk they managed tofind a cave to store the plunder, but theypaid for the delay with their lives. TheIndians overtook and massacred them allThe foregoing story was told to me bythe late Clarence A. Routhe at OcotilloWells one day in 1958 when I stoppedby to see him. Routhe was a former U.SDistrict Judge who maintained a home

in north San Diego County, but spent hiswinters at Ocotillo Wells. He was oneof the pioneer explorers for oil in theSalton basin, having drilled a well inthe San Felipe Hills as early as 1919He knew the desert thoroughly and He knew the desert thoroughly and always enjoyed visiting him whenever was out his way. He told me that heread the tale of the looted churchesin the Los Angeles Times sometime during 1924, 1925 or 1926, but couldn't recall the exact year. He was anxious to

make a search for the legendary treasureso I agreed to try to locate the originastory the next time I went to Los AngelesWhen I visited the Times in Los An


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geles, the late Ed Ainsworth offered tohelp me but even his assistance locatingthe information proved to be an impos-sible task for the limited time available.To cover the years mentioned by himwould have required scanning over onethousand editions of the Times. We com-promised by examining only the Sundayeditions, but none of them contained thestory we were seeking.Like many other lost treasure legends,the tale about the looted churches con-tains a few loopholes that are hard toplug. Cortes began his conouest ofMexico in 1519 and although Christianiz-ing the natives started soon after, itwas a long, slow process. It appears un-likely that the churches could have accum-ulated enough wealth by 1570 to maketheir looting a profitable venture.

Then the matter of French renegadesdoes not fit into the scene. Historydoes not mention any large group ofFrenchmen in Mexico until Maximillian'sill-fated attempt to rule the countryfrom 1864 to 1867. Und oubted ly, manystragglers remained behind after Maxi-millian was executed and his forces wereexpelled from Mexico, but those eventsoccurred nearly 300 years after thechurch looting escapade. I mentionedthe discrepancies between the legendaryaccounts of the looting and historicalfacts to Judge Routhe, but he shruggedit off with, "That just makes the searchmore interesting."

Historical "facts" f ind little room in

M j

Inscriptions of the Papal Cross and the Cross of Lorraine (a bove) were founon Travertine Rock (op posite pa ge). Shoreline of ancient Lake Cahuilla (belowas seen from Highway 86.the thoughts of many dedicated searchersfor lost treasures. That their favoritelegends have withstood the test of timeis sufficient evidence of their validity.Author Phillip Bailey has some pertinentobservations on the conflict between his-tory and legend in his "Golden Mirages.""History should not interfere with leg-end," he wrote, "it is a grave breach ofetiquette to do so. These frail strandshave a far stronger hold on the imagina-tion than any dry-as-dust historical fact.If over zealous, meticulous historianswhittle through these strands, nothingconstructive is accomplished and muchharm is done."

Originally, I had not planned to getinvolved in Judge Routhe's search for themissing gold and silver, but the lure ofsome carefree days on the desert, plus themillion-to-one chance that we might f indit was too great to resist. W e began ourtrek at San Felipe Hills with the intentionto explore every wash as far north asTravertine Rock, near the Riverside Coun-ty line. Most of the terrain between

Highway 86 and the foothills of tSanta Rosa Mountains consist of clmounds from an ancient sea bed that atoo soft for the formation of caves. Grave Wash we found the only caworthy of the name. Storm waters hcut a chamber about 12 feet across a50 feet long in a rocky knoll. HenWilson had shown me the cave a feyears earlier while on one of his Peglgold expeditions. At that time I foua small gold nugget in a niche on tcave wall which caused much speculatiaround the campfire that night.

Although the cave is back from twash, with a small opening that is difcult to see, it must have been known many of the early day prospectors wpassed through the area. Henry thougthat the gold nugget might have beplaced in the niche by one of them carried from the outside by a packand exchanged for a bit of wood stone. I had not heard the church lootistory when Henry showed me the cavbut du ring my second visit 1 examined


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with renewed interest. I hoped to linkmy single nugget with theloot from thechurches, but a thorough search of thecave revealed no additional clues.W e hadcovered all of thewashes asfar as Big Wash when Judge Routheanounced he would have to go on abusiness trip and that wewould resume

the search when he returned. I did nothear from himuntil twomonths later,when he sent me an urgent message tocome out a soon as possible and bringa metal detector. I met him at OcotilloWells the next day and he directed meto drive to Travertine Rock where hepointed to two figures inscribed on atravertine-covered wall. "There," hesaid, "are theclues towhat we areseek-ing." The figures were about threeinches high, crudely done but accurateenough todepict what they were intendedto be, a Papal Cross and TheCross ofLorraine. Judge Routhe was inclined tocredit the thieving renegades withmak-ing thecrosses, but it'sdifficult tovisual-ize scalawags whorobbed churches tak-ing time out to inscribe religious sym-bols anywhere. Adding to themystery ofthe symbols is an "L"shaped cut at the

left of the lower arm of TheCross ofLorraine from which someone carefullyremoved a section of travertine. The cuextends into a nearly indistinct inscribedfigure that offers little clue towhat objectof value themissing piece of travertinecontained.The material known as "travertine"with which much of Travertine Rock isencrusted aredeposits of calcium carbon-ate from thewaters that formed ancientLake Cahuilla. This lake is considered tohave covered theSalton Basin from about900 to 1500 A.D.,when evaporationcaused it to disappear. At one time thelake was thought tohave been an exten-sion of theGulf of Lower California, butit waslater established that it was formedby a diversion of the Colorado Riverfrom its normal course. Thehigh watermark of the lake, well above sea levelalong thehills south of Travertine Rock,tends to confirm that fact.Although the forming of Lake Cahuillais viewed as a one-time occurrence, therounded outlines of thecrosses at Traver-tine Rock suggest thepossibility of theirhaving been submerged in water by areforming of the lake after they werecontinued onpage20

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PALM SPRINGS RIVIERAREFRESHING VACATIONSUCCESSFUL CONVENTION4 6 , 0 0 0 s q . f t . o f c o m p l e t e c o n v e n t io n c e n t e r f a c i li t i e sa n d p u b l ic s p a c e t o a c c o m m o d a t e 3 , 2 0 0 p e r s o n s . . .d i v is i b le i n t o a s m a n y a s 1 0 p r i v a t e m e e t in g r o o m s .A t h e a t e r t h a t s e a ts 2 , 5 0 0 e q u ip p e d w i t h t h ef in e s t p ro fe s s i o n a l p r o j e c t io n a n d s o u n d s y s t e m . Ab a n q u e t r o o m t h a t c a n s e r v e 2 , 0 0 0 . A n d a n e x h i b it

r o o m o n t h e g r o u n d l e v e l w i t h a c e il in g h e ig h t o f1 8 % f e e t t h a t c a n h a n d l e a n y t h in g f r o ma u t o m o b i le s t o p r i v a t e a i rc r a f t .. . . 5 2 0 d e l u x e r o o m s w i t h i n d i v id u a l a i r c o n d i t io n i n ga n d T V , 9 - h o le . g o l f co u r s e a n d d r i v in g r a n g e , w i t hc h a m p i o n s h i p g o lf a n d s p a a r ra n g e m e n t s a v a i la b l e .T e n n i s , s h u f f l e b o a r d , h o rs e s h o es a n dO ly m p ic - s i z e s w im m in g p o o l .

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16/60

UT ART

H o w TO PAJNT T^E M O O Nby John Hilto

" L J o W NOT to paint the moon"might have been a bettertit le for this article. I made plenty ofmistakes and understandably too.After all, how many people havepainted a serious landscape of themoon?Illustrators of science-fiction stor-ies have drawn on lots of imaginationand a smattering of astronomy. Someof the pictures were surprisingly con-vincing unti l we began to see thereal photos from the Apollo flights.These historic records have changedman's whole thinking about our sa-

tell ite, a nd have proved it to be aplace of soil and stone and meteorcraters instead of a chunk of Swisscheese with the craters representingthe holes.Most artists and illustrators beforeApollo, including myself, thought ofthe moon as being covered with afine, powdery dust and sharp, un-weathered rocks with a meteoritehere and there and a good sprinklingof glassy tektites. But, of course, the

real moon students knew better.16

They agreed with the dusty surfaceand some even feared it would notsupport the weight of our men andour instruments.They knew better, however, thanto expect meteorites as we knowthem in the form that reach theearth. My fr iend, Dr. Ronald Oritiof the Griff ith Park Planetarium,shares my hobby of collecting mete-orites. When I remarked that meteor-ites would become more common-place after the manned moon mis-sions he corrected my thinking in ahurry. He explained that on earth,meteorites enter our atmosphere andslow down in their burning descentuntil some small ones merely bounceoff rocky soil or bury a few inches insod. On the moon, however, there isno atmosphere to slow them down.Their impact, at cosmic speed withthe moon's crust, is so violent thatan explosion results from the sud-den heating and vaporization ofboth meteorite and moon matter.That is why th e craters are mostly

quite round like shell holes.

The craters are everywhere. Frohuge ones many miles across tiny ones smaller than a man's hanthey all show they are th e product explosion. The fine artist, ChesleBonestell, who illustrated severserious books on space travel huried to the observatory shortly aftthe first picture arrived from thmoon and painted a lot of litt le craers into the picture he had done ffor them. No one dreamed from telscopic photos how many there weor how small.Another surprise to most of u

was the smooth and sometimerounded corners on the once jaggerocks lying about on the lunaplanes. Without air or water how dthey get that way? Some of them udoubtedly rolled and slid at higspeeds for miles in the explosiorays that radiate out in sunbursaround the larger craters.Then there is the bombardmeof these stones by others large ansmall as they explode up and retu

back to the surface. A lunar fra


17/60

ment as fine as a grain of talcumpowder would fall at the same speedas a chunk of lead in this atmos-phereless environment. A couple ofbillion years of this could conceiv-ably round the corners of a rock. Notto mention the 500 degree variationin surface temperatures.The dust, it turns out, as Dr. Oritipredicted to me, is filled with tinyspheres of once molten matter whichhas condensed from the countlessexplosive impacts of meteorites.These add to the glistening appear-ance of the moon surface and makeeverything underfoot seem slippery.Since there is no atmosphere, theshadows are black as the sky andunlike on an earth desert, theseshadows do not soften or diffuse asthey become more distant. In fact,

instead of the ground becominglighter toward the horizon as ourdesert, the moon's surface seems todarken as it goes away. As the angleflattens out with distance one seesless and less lighted surface andmore and more black shadows andpits.One of the big mistakes I madewas to put about 4000 stars in myblack lunar sky. When Dr. Oriti sawit he explained man cannot see the

stars from the light side of the moonbecause of the intense glare. Fromthe lunar module stars would showin abundance when looking awayfrom the sun, but not on the surface.So my sky is in two layers, one withstars (which was much prettier) anda second of flat black which is moreaccurate.There are two kinds of truth in agood landscape; natural truth andartistic truth. The important thing is

that both the painter and the viewermust sense which is which if thepainting is to be successful. I madeone deliberate inaccuracy for anartistic reason. When most artistspaint the rising moon they representit several times as large as it reallyappears in a photo. When I paintedthe earth rise on the moon I deliber-ately painted our planet about sixtimes as large as I would have paint-ed the moon in an earth scene.I also painted man's shadow moretransparent than the photos showed.

On earth, when I take color photos,I find that very transparent shadowscome out opaque. What I wantedhere was not a copy of a photo or acomposite of several but a work ofart which says what I feel about thismomentous event in space history.I wanted to show the ephemeral na-ture of this shadow which representsthe short sojourn of what must bethe first moving shadow on themoon. An opaque one looked toopermanent.

]0HN HILTON >Internationally known for hispaintings of the desert and Hawaii,John Hilton has been exploring theWest and Baja California for 35years and, if possible, he would ex-tend his explorations to the moon.Since that is not possible, heused colored slides taken by theastronauts as the basis for his moonpainting. In this article he describeshow he painted the moonand thehonest mistakes he made as anearthling artist.Hilton is not satisfied with beingone of the world's outstandingdesert painters. He also is a design-er of jewelry (his first profession),an accomplished guitarist, racon-

teur, plant scientist and historian.With his wife, Barbara, he spendshis winters at his home in Twenty-nine Palms, California and sum-. mers in Hawaii.The most glaring mistake waswhen I painted the crater, which isagainst the sky on the right, so thatthe viewer could see into it. This iswhat happens when a man worksfrom several photos, especially whenhe has my system of looking for

hours at a picture (or a real scenefor that matter) and then turns hisback on the whole thing and paintsfrom memory. I had to paint a sideview of this crater, not a down view.The most startling thing of allabout the appearance of the moonseems to me to be the exaggeratedperspective due to the curve of thelunar surface. A good golfer on themoon could probably drive a ballright over the horizon if he were on alevel area. A six foot man standingon a flat lunar plane would only be

able to see approximately 460 yardbecause of the curvature of thmoon.Unless the viewer is near somlarge mountains, lunar landscapeare apt to turn rather flat and restricted. All of our lives our eyes anminds have unconsciously measuresizes and distances by the apparen

distance to the horizon. On the moothis automatic measuring abilitwould make a person think a thinis a mile away which in reality is ona few hundred feet distant. Close-uthings such as rocks, astronauts antheir hardware are inclined to appeamuch larger than they are againthis shrunken horizon.This picture was made from mmemory of moon-walk videotapeand NASA photos furnished by D

George Lindsay, Director of the Cafornia Academy of Sciences of SaFrancisco, and Dr. Ronald Oriti of thGriffith Park Planetarium in Los Angeles. It is painted with a two incpainting knife with a trowel shapeblade. The colors are Winsor-Newtoblue-black, burnt umber, golden ochre, and titanium white. I used fifpercent Dorlands Medium Wax (Arists) with the paint and no othemedium or thinner. It is painted oa 24 x 48 inch piece of 3/16ths msonite which was factory sized ansmooth on both sides.

I think I shall paint other moopictures from time to time as nematerial and data arrives but not the exclusion of my desert and Hawaiian subjects. This picture was mmost moving experience in a loncareer of painting. Somehow, the rsearch and the planning, and finalthe act of painting man's first shdow on the moon caused me to rlate with and share in my small wathe thrill and the glory of this greaest of all adventures.

We who helped each in his tinway to put these men on the moomust always be proud and shoulook back from this absolute deseto the rhythmic cloud patterns ovthe blue seas and brown continenof our earth and realize how preciouand how fragile and easily destroyethis thin film of life upon our uniquplanet really is.


18/60

F OR AN easy afternoon hike, the oldSerrano Indian Trail from PipesCanyon to Little Morongo Creek in thePioneertown area of Southern Califor-nia's Riverside County offers unspoiledchallenges to naturalist, prospector andhistorian.The trail originally was a regular sup-ply route for Indians from the mountainsaround Big Bear exchanging goods withtheir lowland neighbors. Later came theSpaniards looking for gold and a routethrough California and, finally, thegringos (English-speaking white m an ).Today it is used only by cattle and afew hikers. The southern access to thetrail through Little Morongo Creek isprivate land and closed, but the most sig-nificant area to explore is the highernorthern entrance from Pipes Canyon,which is open to the public.By car, take the Pioneertown Road outof Yucca Valley through Pioneertownsome two miles to the Pipes Road turnoff.Approximately two and one-half miles offthe pavement, the hard-packed dirt roadgoes by the remains of Pipes Ranch anda curious fort-like stone structure at themouth of the canyon. For the next mile,the road dips and twists on the rockycanyon floor where slow driving willsave your tires. Scrub willows flank theroad in this area. It is in this grove, one-half mile past the stone ruins, the can-yon makes a great northward (rig ht)turn. Here you are at the northern end ofthe Serrano Indian Trail.Leading south from Pipes Road is anarrow V-arroyo partly obscured by shade

trees, branching upward to 25 feet. It isthrough this small tributary canyon theSerrano Indian Trail winds. The initialone-half mile climbs through cool foliage;the trail is lined with stones and trampledflat into the hills by ranging cattle.In 20 minutes of easy hiking you are atthe summit of the Serrano Indian Trail,marked in a wide clearing with piles ofrocks and a wooden stake. For all pur-poses, practical and inspirational, this isthe area to explore: the flat highlands

running east by Chaparrosa Peak and the

) A

Y Aby Van P. Wilkinson

>'&' W-W4. iiZj


19/60

'

Typical stretch of the Serrano Indian Trail (above) leading toward LittleMorongo Creek. Northern entrance (opposite page) from Pipes Road.

K-W. I3TO

pine-blanketed Little Morongo badlandPicnickers and campers will find thsummit a natural stopping place to enjothe view; the Little San BernardinMountains are to the south, the San Gogonio Wild Area to the west, BowdeFlat to the east, and the Old WomaSprings area to the north.Lava slag, quartz, streaked with coloand granite outcroppings are abundahere. Rocks, heaped into loose clustesuggest weathered claims or ancient fispots. There are numerous shelterniches where Indians may have campor stored goods in the days when Morogo Valley was a trading center for triblike the Vanyume and Southern Paiu(Chemehuevi).As the trail begins its long descent Little Morongo Creek, the vegetatichanges and the cooling shade trees othe northern exposure give way to mazanita and stubby pinyon pines on tsouthern side. Piled stones mark troute; losing the trail would be difficuAbout one and one-quarter mildown the wash from the summit towaLittle Morongo Creek there is a dilapdated wire fence. It is at this point tPierce Ranch cattlemen restrict furthtravel. There is, however, nothing notworthy beyond.Perhaps the most singularly importa.ispect of this Serrano Indian Trail is ipossible role in the pursuit of WilliBoy, the well-known Pauite Indian youaccused of double murders in 190Willie-Boy fled from Whitewater oSeptember 27, 1909, to a storehouse Pipes Canyon on September 29, 190He was tracked through Morongo Vley, and Sheriff Charlie Reche, alowith his scout, Toutain, concentrattheir efforts along the southeast canyrange of Morongo into the Little S

Bernardinos, having no luck until othefound evidence of Willie-Boy's raid the Pipes Canyon storehouse.The theory I hold to, be it folly not, is that Willie-Boy and his hostagLolita, took the shortest distance betwetwo points by crossing Morongo Vallheading north up Little Morongo Creeand climbing the Serrano Indian Trail Pipes Canyon.Who can say for sure? After you haspent a rewarding afternoon scouting t

Serrano Indian Trail, you may have a


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TRAVERTINE TREASUREcontinued from page 12

made. I recall hearing a Cahuilla legenone time that told of how one of theigods had ordered a lake refilled, presumably Lake Cahuilla, after it hadbeenemptied bymisdeeds of one of the tribeHowever, since the story had a supernatural connotation, it mayhave had noconnection with anyfactual event. Weathering has been mentioned as a possiblecause of the rounded outlines, but thefigures are protected on all sides excepfrom theeast andweather data from thearea indicates that thewind seldom comesfrom that direction.The metal detector we had with uwas a surplus army type that had beealtered to increase its sensitivity. I worked around thestructure and got theusuaindications from bottle caps and cans.was moving the search coil across a hugslab when suddenly its meter pointeswung over to indicate a large amounof metal within the search coil's field"There it is," mycompanion shouted, "ilooks like we've found it!" When ouelation had subsided enough to permirational thinking, we tried to think ofways to determine what lay behind thestone walls. The area was too far up to

contain the usual collection of cans. Iwas pleasant to think of buried treasurebut a realistic appraisal suggested that icould be trappings hidden by one of theearly-day travelers through the regionFirst noted by Blake's railroad surveyparty in 1853,Travertine Rock has longbeen a landmark for early explorers andtoday is a favorite camping spot for dunebuggy enthusiasts. It is located on StateHighway 86 just south of theRiversideImperial County line.Although open to the public, it is onprivate property. Unfortunately, vandalsand litterbugs have desecrated the areaand if this wanton destruction continuesit will be closed to the public. IT ISPATROLLED AND VANDALS ARELIABLE TO ARREST AND HEAVYFINES.Does Travertine Rock hold within itswalls the loot of the renegades or merelytrappings hidden by early-day travelers?

Rising over the desert like an Egyptiansphinx, it will probably keep its secret for


21/60

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

TOURINGTURTLEST I M E , A N D the forces of erosion haveexposed and sculptured the back-bone of California's Turtle Mountainsuntil they resemble a medieval fortressrising from a vast sea of alluvium. They

a r e , without doubt, one of the MojaveDesert 's most photogenic mountainranges.However, beauty is not all the Tur-

tles have to offer. Within their con-fines lie a variety of locales where thegem collector can "fill his poke" withgood cutting material. Whether you pre-

, f

is^*?"

*****

fer easy-to-reach areas or find the remotegem fields more to your liking - - theTurtles have them. The choice is up toyou. Fire up your car, camper, 4WD,trail bikes or old hiking boots and let's"Tour the Turtles!"Twenty miles south of Needles (1.5miles south of the Lake Havasu turnoffand 26 miles north of Vidal Junction),the Turtle Mountain Road leaves High-way 95. It gently descends to ChemehueviWash, then gradually climbs the broadalluvial fan into Turtle Basin. Here inthe heart land of the range, high, steep-

From the Essex Road, the jaggedvolcanks (above) of theTurtle Moun tains are an arrayof columns and spires.Palo verde and ironwood treesline the washes. Jeep road(left) as seen from top ofPerlite Hill. A rea is coveredwith chalcedony roses.


23/60

THEby Mary Frances StrongPhotos byJerry Strong

Turtle Mountains (top right)as seen from entrance toTurtle Basin. Peak on extremeright is Hat Mountain, withMohawk Peak to its left,mark good collecting areas.Palomar Gem Club is atCamp Site 2 and foreground isArea A agate diggings.(See map on page 27).

sided, dike-like ridges rise skywardtheirjagged forms creating a spectacular arrayof spires, needles and columns. Dominat-ing the scene is conical-shaped MohawkPeak and the derby-like landmark knownas Hat Mounta in .

The Turtles are a rather narrow rangeinterspersed with several elongated basins.Huge deposits of volcanic ash are foundon the mountain flanks and sizeable bedsof perlite occur in several places. In thebasins, the age-old granite batholith out-crops and has eroded into fantastic shapes.

Exposed throughout the range are thepages of its geologic history. It is a storyof slow uplift, followed by considerablevulcanism. Quite possibly, during thelate Tertiary Period, the vulcanismbrought tremendous intrusions of silica.There is evidence for this because of thepresence of extensive deposits of chalced-ony, agate and jasper to be foundthroughout the entire area.

Camping sites are a matter of personalchoice in Turtle Basin. If you are towinga trailer, the long bench above the washnear Area "A" is excellent. It is centrallylocated and affords easy access to all ofthe collecting areas. Trailers can be

taken to the campsite marked # 2 ; thougthere is one short, rather rough stretcThis campsite is often used by clugroups.Area "A" is a deposit of vein agaalongside the road. It takes hardrocmining to obtain this material. Consideable diggings has occurred along the veiand, at present, the excavation should bcleaned out and widened.

Turning south on the Turtle Basroad, a deep wash is crossed. In .3 of mile, a side road leads east to Area "BPink, lavender and white chalcedonroses will be found along with somcolorful agate and jasper. Another halmile south is Area "C." Look for coarsely-grained bacon agate, red anyellow jasper and black agate. On thbroad desert pavement, across the was(Area " D " ) , chalcedony roses will found. Tiny, smooth buttons, perferosettes, clusters and odd-shaped massoccur along with opalite, black agate ansardonyx.

There has been considerable collectinin this general area. However, good material is still to be found, if a little extrleg work is used.


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'Lost Arch Inn" of Turtle Basin is the former home of Charley Brown andCraik, well known desert prospectors who mined the Turtles for many years.

Continuing south , an old mill site willbe seen; and, as the road curves east theLost Arch Inn looms into view. The" Inn" , which has appeared on many oldroad maps, is only a couple of woodencabins. It was the home of CharleyBrown, an old-time desert prospector,who came to the Turtles in 1922 andlived there until his death in 1948.Char-ley knew every nook and cranny of theTurtles, as well as their many gem fields.His interest was only in gold and silveran d he worked a mine in the Turt leswith his partner, Jesse Craik. How wellI recall sitting around the campfire andl istening spellbound to their stories aboutthe Turtles. It was here I first heard ofthe deposit of chalcedony on Jesse Craik'sperlite claim. "Young lady, if you w a n troses, you will find thousands of themeroding out of the hillside. Help your-self," Jesse advised me. I did and, asJesse saidthere were thousands!

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Over twenty years had passed when inNovember , 1970 I returned to the Turt lesto show Jerry, myhusband, this extremelyinteresting deposit. My first trip hadbeen made in a newly-acquired, surplusmilitary jeep. This time, Jerry and Iused our Honda trail bikes.


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W e dropped in to thewash .7 of amile south of theLost Arch Inn (Yes,Charley's old cabins are still intact I amhappy toreport) and followed the washpast Carson Well then, shortly, took aroad branching off to theleft. The trailbikes rapidly brought usover rocky hillsand sandy washes for a disitance of 2.6miles. Chalcedony roses will be foundall along the road, onboth sides, the lastone and one-half miles of theroute. Atthis point a branch road leads off to thesouth. At itsend more chalcedony rosesoccur. Someone has erected a sign at th eroad junction andgiven names to thecanyons and flats. "Chalcedony Coun-try" would be a more fitt ing name asthe whole area seems to be sprinkledwith roses.

The last mile of road was very roughan d thetrail bikes had a rugged work-ou t as we climbed Chalcedony Hill .Thundershowers had raced down the oldruts, scoured out holes and scatteredassorted rocks along theroad. The trailbikes bucked like broncos but wemadeit without any problems.

Much to my delight, Jesse Craik'swords were stil l truethere arethous-ands of roses on thehillside. You cancollect a variety of sizes and formsperfect roses, chalcedony covered withsparkling drusy quartz crystals, bowl-shaped clusters which arequite unusual.You will find thechalcedony roses in-situ, while vast numbers are in floatbelow the main outcrop. I found adandy one on matrix which makes a"different" type of ash tray!

N ow le t ' s getback to our tour byreturning three andone-half miles tothe road Ysouth of Carson Well . Con-tinuing in a southerly direction ourroute reaches a gravelly wash and, ifthere have been heavy thundershowers,

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On the ridge tothe west we found twobeautiful specimens of vein jasp-agate.One was three inches thick and weighedabout four pounds. Itwas finely pattern-

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ed in brown, yellow, white and orangecolors. The smaller specimen was an inchthick and eight inches square. It wasbanded in layers of salmon, white andbrown agate with a top coating of clear,botryoidal chalcedony. Several smallpieces of this material were also noted.We didn't hike over the ridge and late:were told (by Cy Bradshaw, who holdsgrazing leases on the area) that a vein ofj asp-agate occurs there. Perhaps you willfind it!Two roads lead to .Area "L." Both areshown on the map. The easiest route isthe one leading down from the north.The route from Turtle Basin road mustnegotiate two fairly steep washes. Thenorthern approach does not.It might be well to remind you this isflash flood country. Heavy storms sendlarge amounts of water down the washesand the conditions of roads can changefrom good to bad or even be erased in asingle storm.

Area "L" lies at the base of MohawkPeak and the ever-present chalcedonyroses are on the slopes and desert pave-ments. At the end of the road a butterises to the west. Red, brown and blackmoss agate will be found on its slopes.Look carefully, as this mater ial is coveredwith a heavy desert varnish.From this area, an old Indian trailleads up the slopes to Mohawk Spring.It is about a mile hike and should be ofinterest to those who like to stretch theirlegs a bit.Leaving the basin, our Tour of theTurtles leads out the Essex road for twomiles. Turning south, Mine Shack Roadsoon skirts an old cabin and miningclaim. Look them over but please respectall private property. In a short distancedirt tracks will be seen leading westerly

to Agate Hill (Area "F"). The hill andslopes are covered with eroded material,including small nodules and geodes.Though most of the specimens are notof large size, some beautiful picture,moss, dend ritic, fortification and sagen-itic agate are to be found in a widevariety of colors.Our route now leads to a jeep trail

along the western side of the Turtles.Traveling souhwesterly through GraniteBasin, the road rounds the hills, dropsinto Indian Wash and promptly de-teriorates. Negotiation of the one-quartermile stretch through the wash by otherthan 4WD or trail bikes is dependentupon the whims of summer cloudbursts.At times, pickups with 4-speed trans-mission can traverse the sandy washmost of the time they cannot.A mile from the wash, the road runs

through several small, grey hillockswhere thin chalcedony clusterscoveredwith sparkling drusy quartzare erod-ing from seams. The surface materialwill be limited but it is constantly beingreplenished through erosion. These areexceptionally fine specimens and makeattractive jewelry in their natural form.Continuing up the alluvial fan, theroad passes a cabin, skirts a ravine andthen drops into Lava Wash at the base ofa dark volcanic hill. In the steep talusslopes are fine specimens of golden-yellow, red brown and white jasp-agate.The last leg of our Tour is to thewestern edge of the Turtles. Return to theEssex road and continue to the summit(1.2 miles). The road now drops rapidlydown the slopes. In just a half-mile alarge, rounded quartz knob stands outin bold relief and acts as a landmark forthe two remaining collecting areas. Atenth of a mile beyond it, Mill Site Wash

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crosses the road. Park here and follow thewash for a quarter-mile to ChalcedonyHill. The area ( "J ") is covered withwhite roses from button size to large onestwo inches thick and weighing a coupleof pounds. Cutting them at an anglewill give a frost or plume pattern whichmake into attractive cabochons.Just over a half-mile from Mill SiteWash, a road leads off to the left andclimbs a small hill to the bacon agatedeposit (Area " K " ). Th e name is apro-pos, as it does resemble slabs of bacon.The color and pattern are good and it

polishes well. This is vein material andthe diggings cover a considerable area.Touring the Turtles cannot be donesuccessfully, at least collecting-wise, injust a weekend. There has been collect-ing here for three decades; yet thoughmaterial is plentiful, it does take time toobtain the very best quality.The Turtle Mountains afford recrea-tional opportunity to the outdoor enthu-siast who seeks adventurous back-countryroutes for his trail bike, four-wheel-driveor desert buggy. The morning and after-noon hours find the scraggy peaks and

canyons bathed in sun and shadow to light the dedicated camera buff. The dert pavements make good campsites athe tree-lined washes provide deadwofor a cheerful campfire in a setting limitless grandeur."Tourin' the Turtles" will acquathe traveler with a quiet, peaceful desoasis where thoughts may be reassembaway from the troubled world. Tenerves will relax and woes be forgotas the soul drinks in the sweet beasculptured by the master artistOMother Nature.

THE TURTLE MOUNTAINS N E E D L E S LAKEHAVAS

Mileage poin Good camp s


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Color photo by Jack PepperP O N C H O H O U S ER U I N S

F R O M FOUR CORNERS the San JuanRiver curves northwest toward Bluff,then swings southeast to form a semi-circle before it enters the Goosenecksnear Mexican Hat. In the vast stretch oflonely land between the river and theUtah-Arizona border lies Poncho House,probably one of the most inaccessible andleast known of all of Utah's ancient In-dian ruins.

There are no established trails toPoncho House and today's road mapsplace it miles from its true location. Yet,in spite of those handicaps vandals havemanaged to reach the ruins. Increasingdamage to its structures have caused Na-

vajo officials to limit visitors to PonchoHouse to those with permits or accom-panied with a guide.While the main purpose of the regu-lation is to reduce vandalism, it servesalso to protect the "do it yourself" guidewho otherwise might venture into theregion. It's a wild, arid country wherea wrong choice of a direction could leadto serious trouble, and where four-wheel-drive is indispensable.A few years ago I tried to reachPoncho House by way of Mexican Waterin northern Arizona. My attempt wasunsuccessful. After spending most of aday weaving in and out of washes and

Poncho H ouse bu ilders used much mortar in their construction as shown in thiswell-preserved, three-story dwelling.28

by Walter Forddodging buttes, I was convinced my Na-vajo guide knew less about the locationof Poncho House than I did. I took himback to the trading post and put the tripaside for another day.

Last summer while visiting in Bluff,Utah, I learned Gene Foushee, who withhis wife, Mary, operates Recapture Lodge,knew the way to Poncho House. In addi-tion he owned a husky four-wheel-drivestation wagon and was approved byNavajo officials as a guide.Gene's route to Poncho House ledeastward about 20 miles to the settle-ment of Montezuma Creek, crossed theSan Juan River, then proceeded south-west to Nokaito Bench in which PonchoHouse is located. A few miles out ofMontezuma Creek we passed through amaze of grotesque wind-formed stonefigures in which a color photographyfan would have a field day. If you closeyour eyes and let your imagination con-jure up the wildest form it can produce,it will probably be somewhere withinyour range of vision when you reopenthem.In keeping with the tempo of livingin the Navajo Country we continued therest of the way to Poncho House at aleisurely pace, stopping whenever one of

the group wished to examine a plantspecimen or a geological feature of theregion. The trail passed over sandy ter-rain crisscrossed with abandoned Indianwagon tracks, both of which emphasizedthe necessity of a four-wheel-drive ve-hicle and a competent guide.Poncho House lies within a hugecave-like recess in the face of a sheercliff about 25 miles northeast of Monu-ment Valley. Below the ruins, greenshrubbery outlines the course of Chinle

continued on page 52


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V


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G reIT is K N O W N by many namesgrease-wood, creosote bush, Larrea divaricata.Th e early Spaniards called the bush withthe strong, resinous odor "hediondilla""the little bad smeller." But anyone whohas ever built a campfire from the deadlimbs of the greasewood would heartilydisagree with that disparaging appellation.Because, to a desert lover, the flavor ofgreasewood smoke, the pungent fragranceof its green leaves after a rain, and itsspring flower show is the incense andessence of the desert he loves.

Larrea is the most widespread and suc-cessful shrub of the southwestern desertsdue to the adaptability and stubborn ten-acity it shows in dealing with its enemies.When the sharp desert wind cuts the sandaway from its roots, Larrea simply bendsover and plants new ones. When invadingseeds from other plants sprout in its terri-tory it sends out a poisoning inhibitingagent through its roots to stop them. Itprevents the hot desert sun from suckingit dry of moisture by producing leaveswith a waterproof varnish. And in thelong desert dry spells it goes into semi-hibernation, sleeping and waiting for thenext rain, when it comes to life again ina burst of yellow, wind-milling blossoms.It seems to bloom twice as the flowersare immediately followed by the five-lobed, cottony, white seed balls which areas attractive and showy as the flowers.

Called an xerophyte because of itsability to survive in hot, dry areas, thebotanists use Larrea as a dependableboundary indication plant of the LowerSonoran Life Zoneswhich are the low-est and hottest regions in our country.On the floors of the most arid southerndeserts, where it is often almost the only30

...Tl

plant life found, it may be stunted tobushes of less than two feet. But at higherelevations, in better soil, it often reachesa height of nine or ten feet and coversthe rocky, alluvial valley fans with ahealthy gray-green forest.

To the Indians who lived in the desertbefore the white man came to build andrun trading posts the creosote bush wasa living store which afforded them analmost endless list of drugs and staples.The dead roots made a smokeless, white-


31/60

of the Desertfj \5 by Julia Craw \ j

hot fuel, easily ignited and burning witha clean, fast flame for broiling lizardand rabbit. The long green limbs, fasten-ed together at the top to form a conicalframework and plastered over with mud,made tough, serviceable wickiups.

The bark, dampened and twisted, madea strong rope for tieing the house polestogether, cord to twine into fish andrab-bit nets, or, flattened and rubbed soft,a good material toweave into baskets andfootwear. On thinner strands of the bark

they strung amulets and beads and cshell money to hang about their neckover their arms. Shredded into soft wding, it was stuffed into moccasinswarmth and into cradle boards fording. And, when it was cut into sand strung on a belt, it became thefashion in men's aprons and womskirts.

A yellow dye was leached fromroots and used to color pottery andkets. And even the lac scale, Tachardlarrae, which lives on its branchesduced a useful commodity-glue. Thdians scraped the brown, resinousleft by this insect from the branchesused it to mend pots and stick stone arrowheads to their pointed, hardened, wooden shafts.Bu t it wasas a pharmacy that thesote bush was most important to thdians. From the slightly sticky, ogreen leaves they brewed a tea wthey believed to be an effective antto snakebite and a cure-all for manyassorted ailments. They drank it toan upset stomach or to relieve theparheumatism and to cure colds, chpox, kidney trouble or tetanus. Strtea was mixed with fat and made afor burns. And leaves were dried,dered and used as poultices onboils and saddle galls.To the Indians, whofound in thesote bush the answer to so many ofdaily needs, I imagine it smelled good. And desert visitors of todaylighting in both the sight and smeLarrea divaricata, would wholehearagree with them. Thegreasewood, byother name, is still the flower of

desert.


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D e s e r tB i g h o r nby K. L Boynton 1971

'HE MAGNIFICENT bighorn of thedesert, crowned with his great curv-ing horns, is lord of the sunscorchedheights. His kingdom is a wild andmountainous realm of heat-blasted rocks,and cliffs and sheer precipicesa land ofwaterless vastness where no other biggame animal can dwell.

Well adapted to the rigors of desertmountain living, this big American wildsheep can exist on the most meager ofdiet, going for days in extreme heat with-out water. A highly self-reliant animal,he is strong of heart, steady of eye andable to take care of himself in some ofthe hottest and driest of places on earth.He owes his success to his mother andgrandmother. For, in bighorn tribal af-fairs, the ewes have the entire responsi-bility of bringing up their youngsters,and it is always a ewethe old and wisematriarchwho leads the band, knowingfrom past experience where food andwater are to be found in the high desert'sdesolation, and where the safest places arefor daytime siestas and nighttime sleeping.

Color photo by Jack Turner


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Junior bighorn makes his debut in Feb-ruary or March. The youngster is al-ready well developed and physiologicallymature at bir th, and hence maternal carewould not seem as important as in mam-mals born blind and helpless. But recentstudies have shown that among sheep,the early mother-young bond is of im-mediate survival value, and lays thefoundation for subsequent f lock behaviorand clan success.

At partuition, the ewe goes off by her-self and, selecting a secluded place, pawsout a shallow hollow. There the one off-spring is born, a damp, dark grey littlebundle that f lattens out on the ground,cold and shivery. The next five or tenminutes are critical and the ewe goesright to work. Licking the lamb, shedries him quickly, her warm tonguestimulating his nervous system and help-ing to raise his temperature which haddropped sharply at bir th. Nosing himand grunting encouragement, she helpshim up onto his wobbly legs. Turningher body she heads him in the right dir-ection to the milk department. Thisaction, plus the lamb's tendency to movetowards a larger object, does the trick.Junior begins to nurse.

Tests have shown newborn lambsgroomed by their mothers and headedproperly for the milk supply begin tosuckle sooner than those whose mothersare prevented from helping them. Andthey ultimately grow much faster andstronger. In these first few minutes oflife, the lamb and mother become verywell acquainted, establishing identitiesby smell, a factor that makes for quickrecognition when they later join the restof the band.

But this is not all that is taking place.Something else is happening, and justhow has animal behaviorists stumped:newborn lambs, born at dizzy heightsand up walking about so soon afterbirth, don't fall off cliffs. Crucial forspecies survival among mountain dwell-ers with wobbly-legged offspring, thissafety factor depends on two things: thelambs being able to perceive depths, anddoing the right thing to keep from fall-ing off.

The team of Lemmon and Patterson,with a suspicion that the ewe herselfhas something to do with this astonish-ing cliff-avoidance ability of the newbornlamb, tested two groups of youngsters.

One group was left with its mothers,being groomed and oriented to the milksupply normally. The mothers of theother group of lambs were restrainedfrom grooming or orienting them.

All lambs were tested in a closed run-way in which there was an apparent"cliff" (a drop of three feet, safelycovered with glass). The test consistedof walking along the runway, coming toth e "cliff" and keeping from falling off,by slapping on the brakes in time, bracingthemselves with front legs rigid and rearlimp - - which is standa rd behav ior inolder lambs when encountering depths.The lambs were tested every hour begin-ning one hour after bir th. The motheredlambs showed a consistently hig herscore, some avoiding the cliff on thevery first trial. The slowest of these weresuccessful in seven trials. But the best ofthe unmothered lambs took two tr ials todo it, and the slowest 12. All of whichis strong evidence there is somethingwhat nobody knowsin this fresh-outmother-young relationship that helps inthe development of the lamb's perceptualskills, and in the establishment of safecliff behavior.

Very little was actually known of thdaily lives of bighorn until the Welles, husband and wife team, made their lonand careful study in Death Valley, California. They found the close motheryoung relationship in the very first dayis highly important for another majoreason: it is then the lamb begins hischooling, learning by imitating himother. By the end of the first week hputs his nose to the ground beside herwhen she is feeding, and works his jawin chewing motions. When the ewe nipoff a bit of forage and raises her head tochew, the lamb looks up and chews tooon nothing. When she puts her headdown for another bite, Junior lowers hinose and this time, when he raises hihead, he has a bit of forage in his mouthNow, although he will need milk fofour or five months, he's beginning teat vegetation, and, with the addition oa few more teeth, will be eating everything his mother does.

Watching her, he also learns how tmake a bed for himself, pawing out rockand loosening the surface to make a shallow basin. He knows how to follow welby this time, and now the ewe and lamb


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T o i d y l l w i l d H o s t s : Ted and Phyllis JohnstonePalm Springs KOA3 5 9 0 1 C a t h e d r a l C a n y o n D r i v e V2 M i l e N o r t h of H i g h w a y 111

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join the others in the band. From nowon, having reached the ripe old age oone week, Junior can gethimself out ominor difficulties as far as the ewe iscon-cerned, even if he complains loudly.Being ignored may be tough on a littlelamb, but it is all part of the bighorncode that eventually makes a very selfsufficient and independent animal.Not that the ewedoesn't keep an eyeout for real trouble. And, equipped withhorns and other weapons, she's just thegirl who canhandle it.Zoologists Woolfand O'Shea, observing a group of twoewes and a lamb feeding, saw one ewsuddenly charge a lurking coyote, strik-ing him with her front hooves andsend-ing him ki-yiiiig away. Hornoc

197102 Desert Magazine 1971 February

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