197805 Desert Magazine 1978 May

8/14/2019 197805 Desert Magazine 1978 May

1/48

MAYi $1.00

.

y* ' ,

" -


2/48

C o m evisitus. . .PALM SPRINGS

A GREATSELECTIONOF BOOKSON TH E W EST

MAGAZINEBOOK SHOP74-425 HWY 111

IIMDIO

STORE HOURS:MONDAYTHRU FRIDAY10:00-4:00SATURDAY, 10:00-3:00

WESTERN ARTNOTES PRINTS

MAPS GOLD PANSG R E E T IN G C A R D SA N D

A LARGEASSORTMENT OF

C U R R E N T A N DOLD BAC K ISSUES

DtttAJL MAGAZINE BOOK SHOP74-425 Highway 111 at Dee p Canyon Road Palm De s e r t , C ali fornia


3/48

W ILL IAM and JOYKNYVETTCo-Publishers/ EditorsGE )lIGE BRAGA, Art DirectorSHARLENE KNYVETT, Art DepartmentMARY FRANCES STRONG, Field Trip EditorK. I.. BOYNTON, NaturalistMARVEL BARRETT, Circulation ManagerCo orSeparationsbyHenry Color ServiceLithographed byWo'fer Printing Company, Inc.Av. liable inMicrofi lm byXei ixUniversity Microfilms

Volume 4 1 , Number 5 MAY 1978

CONTENTSF E A T U R E S

THE COVER:Ban il Cactus Blooms andAjo Mountains, Organ PipeCac is National Monument,Ariz na. Summer brings theFero :actus C lovlllel this bril-liani crown of blossoms tograc thedesert at the foot ofthis ugged range. Photo byJose Mu enc h, Santa Bar-bars California.

MALKI MEMORIAL DAY FIESTA 8

HIKING INTO HUE'S COVE 12OLD FORTS OF NEVADA 16

DESERT NICHTHAWK 20

SILVER REEF 24THE SPANIARDS CALLED IT CALLETA 28

YOU CAN PREDICT THE WEATHER 32

DAYTON, NEVADA 36FOUR PALM SPRING 38

PHOTO QUIZ 39WHAT'S COOKING ON THE DESERT?-J ERKY! 40

Bill Jennings

Roger MitchellJoe KrausK. L. BoyntonC. William HarrisonLucile WeightRichard Bauman

Howard NealDick BloomquistContest for ReadersStella Hughes

D E P A R T M E N T SA PEEK IN THE PUBLISHER'S POKE 4

NEW BOOKS FOR DESERT READERS 6

William Knyvett

Book ReviewsTRADING POST 42 Classified Listings

BOOKS OF THE WEST 44 Mail Order Items

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 46 Readers'CommentsCALENDAR OF WESTERN EVENTS 46 Club Activities

EDITORIAL, CIRCULATION AND ADVERTISING OFFICES: 74-425Highway 111, P. 0. Box 1318, Palm Desert, California 92260. TelephoneArea code 714346-8144. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: United States and pos-sessions; 1 year, $7.00; 2years, $13.00; 3years, $19.00. All other countriesadd $ .00 U. S. currency for each year. SeeSubscription Order Form inthis insue. Allow five weeks forchange of address andsend both new andDeserl /May 1978

old addresses with zip codes. DESERT Magazine is published monthly.Second class postage paid at Palm Desert, California and at additionalmailing offices under Act of March 3,1879. Contents copyrighted 1978 byDESERT Magazine andpermission to reproduce any or all contents mustbe secured inwrit ing . Unsolicited m anuscripts and photographs will not bereturned unless accompanied byself-addressed, stamped envelope.


4/48

Lowest Photo Pr in t Pr icesH i g h e s t Q u a l i t y

KODAC OLOR FILMDEVELOPED & PRINTEDStandard 12 Jum bo Pr in ts 2 .18Standard 12 Jum bo Pr in ts and

New Rol l of KODA C OLO R 3.34Kodacolor Ne g. Standard repr in ts 15

S E N D F O R P R I C E S H E E T S& E N V E L O P E S . A l l PhotoPrices are Comparably lowNo gimmicks.No lies.More than 50 years of con-tinuous photo service guar-antees your quality and ou rintegrity.MARKET BASKET PHOTO CO. D.

P. O. Box 3 7 0 , Yum a, Ar izona 853 64 orP. O. Box 2830, San Diego, Cal i f . 92112

GENUINED OME S T I C A T E DGOLDEN C HIA SEEDS(SALVIA COLUMBARIAE)Suff ic ien t for four 50-foot r o w s . C o m p le t ein s t r uc t io n s . P a ck e t : $ 2 . 0 0 .

H A R R I S O N D O Y L EP. O. Box 785

V is t a , C a l i fo r n ia 9 2 0 8 3

Iin thepublisher'syoke

P O T T E R Y T R E A S U R E SThe Sple ndor o f Sou thwe s tIndian Ar t .Photography by Jerry Jacka,Text by Spencer Gill .Masterpieces of Maria andNampeyo, creations ofcontemporary pottery makersand treasures from prehistoricvillages and ce nturies-oldpueblos. 85 ins piringphotographs in rich color.

$9.95Please add 50c

for postage/handl ingC al if , res ide nts p lease add

6 % s t a t e s a l e s t a x

T IS our objective each month to pre-sent the Southwest in such a manneras to wh et your appetite to personally

visit and experience new areas of aware-ness. This month's offerings should dojust that. In fact, a few wil l make youdownr ight hungry!

S te l la Hughes , author o f ChuckWagon Cookin', brings a real westernf lavor to our pages with her column,"What 's Cooking on the Desert?" Hertopic for May is jerky, that wonderfuldried meat treat. I think you w il l enjoy

. ^ ^ _ _ ^ _ ^ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ^ _ _ her down-to-earth style as much as herrecipes.

Trav el in the desert is mos tly a pleasure , being blessed with c lear skies and lots ofsunshine. But if clouds do appear, they could be bringing a message. Be sure tocheckout Richard Bauman's informat ive ar t ic le, "You Can Predict the Weather. "He explains the basic cloud formations and what they foretell in hopes that a happytrip is not turned into a disappointment or tragedy.

A really off-the-beaten-track hike, taken by author Roger Mitchell into Hite'sCove, sounds like a fun trip into the past. Roger, whose books on Jeep trails in theWest have been steady sellers for years, likes to find unusual and historic areas forour readers to visit . Hite's Cove is located in the beautiful Mother Lode country.

The past and present are brought together in three articles in this issue. JoeKraus elaborates on "The Old Forts of Nevada"; Will iam Harrison explains the r iseand fall of "Silver Reef" in Utah, and Howard Neal tells us how it was with wordsand how it is with photos in the ghost town of "Dayton, Nevada."

Bi l l Jennings br ings us a rundown on the l i tt le-known "M al k i Muse um's Memor-ial Day Fiesta." The Museum is locatednear Bannin g, California and the variouIndian tr ibes part icipat ing are doing soin hopes of preserving the old tradit ion sthe highlight of which is a mouth-watering beef barbecue. And, as Bill saysthere's nothing quite l ike it this side othe July 4th Flagstaff Pow Wow.

Naturalist K. L. Boynton enlightens usabout the desert nighthawk, a strangeb i rd , indeed, that lays its eggs on theground for an instant nest, while LucileWeight explains the uses of galleta, theperennial bunch grass, and the part iplayed in the exploratory days of theWest .

Rounding out the issue, Dick Bloomquist delivers the 18th in his fine serieson Palm Oases in Southern Californiawith a visit to Four Palm Spring.

Special Note: Please remember ouBook Shop w ill be closed on Sa turdays aof May 1 throug h September 30. Summer hours are Monday through Fridayfrom 10 to 3.

P O T T E R Y T RE AS UR ES

D e s e r t M a g a z in e B o o k S h o pP.O. Box 1318, Palm Desert, Ca lifornia 92260Desert/May 197


5/48

GaptttitaSunshitieA marvelous ne w book aboutJohn W.Hilton"The Dean ofAmerican Desert Painters"byKatherine Ainsworth

Just one of the many beautifully reproduced Hilton paintings included in thebook.

The Man Who Captured Sunshine is a biography of ar e m arkable , m ode r n day, Renaissance Man John W. Hil ton.Though John Hil ton is be s t known as the " D e a n of Am e r icanDe s e r t Painte r s , " he is also a dist inguished botanist, gem ologist,and zoo logist . Hi l ton also is a noted wri te r and linguist, a guitar is tand singer.

The author, Kather ine Ainswo rth, m akes no apology for the"lack of object iv i ty" inw ri t in g t hi s b o o k . . . she hasbeen a friendand adm irer of John Hil ton for ove r thir ty years. Katie 's latehusband, EdAinsworth, wasJohn Hil ton's best fr iend for almos tas m any years. This "labor of l o v e " hasresul ted in a m agnificentbook about a m agnif icent man.

Th e Man Who Captured Sunshine is i n s p i r a t i o n a l . . . abook which inspires one to ov e r come adv e r s i ty , to achieveexcel lence, tostr ive for a genuine joy of l iving. Thereader wil lcry,but m ore o f ten wil l f ind him se lf/herse lf enjoying the pleasure ofhearty laughter, of grand adventure. Thesignificance of this book,above allelse, l ies in an im pel ling force which inspires the readerto l ive a f u ll e r, m or e m e aningfu l , m or e joyous l i f e . . . to be adoe r ,acr e ator , a giver .

TO PLACE ORDER:Please send check or money order ($12.95 per copy)

DESERT MAGAZINE BOOK SHOPP.O. Box 1318Palm Desert, California 92260

California residents add 6%sales tax, andplease enclose50 C for postage and handling. 5 AN ETCPUBLICATION


6/48

C o l o r a d oR i v e rG h o s t T o w n sBy Stanley W . Paher

The skeletal remains of abandoned minesand towns in the Cerbat Mountains andother barren ranges in western Arizonaalong the Colorado River are visited bythe author. Lavishly illustrated with rareold photos. Large format. Standardedition is $2.95.Beaut i fu l 9 % X 1 2 % hardcover edi t ioncontains 15 four-color reproductions ofetchings by noted Roy Purcell. $9.95Limited autographed Collector's Editionincludes (in addition to the 15 reproduc-tions) a numbered and signed originaletching by Roy Purcell. This volume ishard bound and inserted in a handsome,gold-embossed slip jacket. $60.00.

Please add 50c for po stage /hand lingCalif, residents please add 6% state sales tax

Order fromMagazine Book Shop

P.O. Box 1318, Palm Desert, California92260

'BooksforDese r tTradersAll books reviewed are available through theDesert Magazine Book Shop. Please add 5Ocper total order for handling and Californiaresidents must include 6% s ta te sales tax.

Don Holm's Book ofFOOD DRYING, PICKLINGAND SM OKE CURINGBy Don and Myrtle Holm

Even before the energy crunch a nd thespectre of waste in a wor ld of shrin kingfood supplies, people were instinctivelyturning to more economical, eff icientand wholesome ways of processing foodsat home. Some of this has to do w ith nos-ta lg ia, and a feeling that some of the oldways were just as good if not better thannewfangled " im prov em ents," especia l lywhere food and the home budget areconcerned.

That's how this new cookbook by Donand Myrtle Holm came aboutonceagain filli ng a deep need, not only for the

GORDON'S4P


7/48

\ s in their other cookbooks, the Holmsgi \e you good sound practical informa-tion served up with delightful anecdotesan i a special brand of humor that makesfoi good easy reading, even without thecot i k i n g .

Don Holm's Book of Food Drying,Pi,kling and Smoke C uring is top notchfa or the homemaker, the camp cookor the expedit ion leader.I 'aperback, w ell i l lustra ted, $4.95.

2 W & "7ai 0mde

Duwler'sLAKE POWELLBOAT ANDTOUR GUIDE

This Revised Third Edit ion is a mustfo i boaters and non -boa t e r s a l i ke ,tourists and tour-takers, active outdoors-pe r ;onsand/or just relaxers, who plan tov i : . t the Glen Canyon National Recrea-t ion Area of Arizona-Utah. Detailedm;ips based on USGS topos give canyonra ngs for angling, camping and house-boating, photography and walking-hik-ini;. Marina tourist facilit ies, plus placesof historical, scientific or recreationalin i 'Tes tare given. Both mar ine and automileage tables, helps and hints, andother pert inent data are included.

1he geology, f lora and all areas de-sci bed are i l lustrated with beautifulfour-color photos. The excellent mapsstart at the Wahweap Area (Mi le 0) andlead you mile by mile through the areasof Padre Bay, Navajo Canyon, RockCr ek, Rainbow, Great Bend, PiuteFaims, Escalante River, Iceberg, Bull-f rog, Moki, Good Hope Bay, Hite andCalaract.

In addit ion to Boating Rules at LakePowell, the Dowlers have included im-po tant information on houseboats, aswel l as dr iv ing and docking a boat. Allin all, a valuable guide for both the ex-perienced and novice visitor to this"curious ensemble of wonderful fea-turescarved w alls, royal arches, glens,alcove gulches, mounds and monu-m en t s . "I irge format, paperback, $4.95.De s nl May 1978

NEW TITLES FORWINTER 1977 SPRING 1978Dick d'Easum . . . SAWTOOTH TALES . . . paper . . . $6.95

Ralph Fr iedman . . . TRACKING DOWN OREGON . . . paper . . . $5.95Don and Myrt le Holm . . . BOOK OF FOOD DRYING,PICKLING AND SMOKE CURING . . . paper . . . $4.95

Gene Plowden . . . SINGING WHEELS ANDCIRCUS WAGONS . . . pape r . . . $4.95Sessions S. Whee le r . . . THE BLACK ROCK DESERT . . . paper . . . $4.95Details of these and other t it les in our 1977 Color Supplement Catalog.Please write for a copy.

The CAXTON PRINTERS, Ltd.r> Box 700Caldwell, Idaho 83605

GIVESubscriptions asGif ts

Whether you see Lake Powell aboard one of our boats, or yours, you'll never forget this"Grand Canyon w ith wate r" Plan your vacation with us. - ..

Houseboat & powerboat rentals * Guided boat to urs Restaurants Accom m odations: RVhook-ups & rooms Fishing guides & charters Backcountry fou r-whee l guided trips Lake fly-overs Supplies Boat docking, sto rage, servicingP l e a s e s e n d c o l o r b r o c h u r e and r a t e s on one orm o r e ofthe f o l l o w i n g :

IIID WahweapLodge & Marina

( 6 0 2 ) 6 4 5 - 2 4 3 3P . O . Box 1 5 9 7 - P a g e AZ 8 6 0 4 0N a m e

HiteMarinaT e l e p h o n e '

H a n k s v i l l e UT 8 4 7 3 4

BullfrogResort & MarinaT e l e p h o n e '

H a n k s v i l l e UT 8 4 7 3 4

' F o r B u l l f r o g &H i t e ,c a l l T o i l- F r e e .

I n U t a h , 1 8 0 0 - 6 6 2 1754.F r o m o t h e r s t a t e s ,1 - 8 0 0 - 4 5 3 - 1 7 0 0 .

A d d r e s s .C i t y _S t a t e _ . Z i p .

IIIPhone . . DM


8/48

MALKI MEMORIALby B ILL JENNINGS

ft NCE EACH year, overU t h e M e m o r i a l D a yweekend, a smal l en-terprise undertakes a verylarge, almost impossibleproject, which in turn at-tracts a disproport ionatelyhugh audience.

The event in question:the Malk i Museum Me-morial Day Fiesta, occur-r ing this year on Sunday,May 28, beginning at 11a.m. with a s imple butemotional f lag ceremonyhono r ing I nd ians whohave died in the service oftheir country. I t wil l con-t inue far into the night .

With any k ind of re-cruit ing luck, perhaps 50to 60 members out of the700 people on the books ofthe Malk i Museum Asso-ciat ion wil l act ively helpout aided by at least thatnumber of volunteers wholike to get involved in theannua l m ae ls t r om t ha tpasses for the preparat ionphase of the big event. A t-tendance, on the otherhand, may run as high as10,000.

Part of the reason forthe crowd of course isMalki 's location, on Fields8 Desert/ May 1978


9/48

A Y F IE S T AR< id in the hea rt of th e 33,000-acreMrongo Indian Reservation, just a mileno th of Interstate 10, some 20 milesnc thwestof Palm Springs. Another partis he eve nt's reputation for excellence,ee ned wi th a superlative Indian-sty lebd '1 barbecue served each year since19 6 and impromptu but highly spec-ta ular Indian-style entertainment.

Vhatever the attraction, Malki's hard-working volunteers are will ing to putthi ir hearts, muscles and money into thepr para tion because the Fiesta serves anuri jsual fun ction for a ll particip ants tr dition and an annual get-together fo rSo ithern California's growing Indianpc njlat ion, pu blicity for the museumar I just plain fun for vis itors. There'snc> hin g else q uit e like it th is side ofFl gstaff, Ariz ona, w here the annualJ u y 4th Pow W ow is the major event ofth southwestern Indian wo rld.

l ie Malki Fiesta is the major fund-ra ing event for the t iny mu seum, theonly one of its kind in Southern Califor-ni. There are other Indian-oriented mu-sei rns to be sure, but Malki is the onlyon conceived and run by Indians , withth- white people who are involved serv-ini m advisory and "g ru nt la bo r" rolesonly.

Malki 's 1,000 -squa re-foot a dobebu Iding is the star attraction of the day,foi many, but for perhaps 2,000 visitorsth big event has to be Clif f M athew s'pii barbecue, prepared in the way theM rongo member learned from hisfaiious Pass Cahuilla father, Henry Ma-thi vvs, whose barbecues were a South-e r C a l i f o rn ia t ra d i t i o n f o r se ve ra lde< ade s.

I or others, of course, the big attrac-t ion is the stellar entertainment, presid-ed over in the past few years by IronE y s Cody, famed f i lm performer, andan inged by Margaret Martinez, notedIndian jewelry maker and a member ofMHki's governing board. Part icipantsin< ude many professionals of the filmwo Id who donate their services in returnfor a heaping plate of the barbecue andperhaps gas money. Others are local In-d i; v> who are n't really entertaining forDe i t /M ay 1978

Iron EyesCody, left,

noted Indianentertainer

and m aster ofceremonies

for the MalkiIndian Fiesta,

introduces amember of the

AztecaDancers, an

unusualtroupe of

Mexican andAmerican

Indianentertainers

who wearAztec-stylecostumes.

9

Matt Pablo,for seve ral years

now theconstructionsuperintendent

for the MalkiMuseum's

Memorial Dayweekend fiesta,

shows a rare smileas his crew works.

Opposite page:Dancer in action.

Color photo byWeezy Wold.


10/48

the average visitor at all, but rather fore


11/48

owned restaurants and gift stands to artsand crafts displays and game booths.Fn e booth space has traditionally goneto Indian organizat ions, such as tr ibalso ball teams, volunteer f ire depart-ments , schoo l c lubs and serv iceagi ncies.

I ach spring, after the general winterrains, occasional snow and frequentwindstorms, the volunteers rebuild atleast part of the ramada r ing . This year,as lunds have permitted, they have en-larged the stage, added new, peeied-p i r i ; pole rafters and, as always, replac-ed the roofs and walls of native fanpalms and " imported" date palm f rondsfrom the Coachella Valley.

! ome booth occupants bring their ownmaterials, delicately scented sage andpungent arrowweed from the desert andmountain homelands of the Cahuil la.Willow roofs, depending on the plent i-tuclo of winter rains, grace many of thebui ld ings.

F rst t ime visitors, part icularly, some-t imes are surprised, even unhappy withthe lack of forma l welcome a t the f iesta.This isn't typical of Indian hospitality,meiely evidence of the puny size of the"avr imit tee" which is cut t ing meat ,trying to get ahead of the mountain ofgarbage and trash, pouring coffee, mak-Desert/May 1978

ing tort i l la roles or fry bread, sell ingbooks, servicing the restrooms or eventrying to make some order out of thechaotic parking lot.

Guests have been pressed into servicewhen they complain about some of theproblems and for the most part guests,Indian or non-Indian, have become asmuch a part of the committee, and theentertainment, as everyone else.

Daytime activities, such as the barbe-cue and the Hollywood-oriented danc-i n g , are primarily for the tourists, theuninit iated. But the true Indian f lavor ofthe fiesta emerges at dusk when thebenches are bunched along the adobewal l , f irewood is gathered and the tradi-tional Southern California Indian singingbegins.

Knowledgeable whites stand in thebackground, occasionally joining in thedancing, on request. Rattles are theprincipal rhythm for the soft ly-chantedsongs which may go on all night.

This is the Malk i Fiesta, a blend of oldand new, Indian and White, a uniqueexperience for some f irst-t imers, but astep into the beloved past for manyothers. Even the t ired committee mem-bers join in. As the privately f inancedmuseum it supports, the Fiesta is madeup of love.

lathings \wwma r e h a p p e n i n g a t . . . u'JID e a t h W i l e y

J u n c t i o nStay at the historicAMARGOSA HOTELThis lovely 50-year-old hotel isbeing restored. 20 rooms openyear 'round. All carpeted. Ailbeautifully furnished. Electricheat and air conditioning. Makethe Amargosa Hotel your head-quarters while in the DeathValley area.Telephone Death Valley Junc-tion #1 for information or reser-| rations.

Visit Marta Becket's famousAMARGOSA OPERA HOUSE.You've read about this beautifuland unique attraction in Desertan d National Geographic. S eeMar ta Be c ke t ' s pr ogr am ofdance-mimes. See her fabulousmurals inside the Opera House.Performances Friday, SaturdayI and Monday Through April .r Saturdays only in M ay, S eptem-ber. 8:15; doors open at 7:45.Ill Teleph one Death Valley Jun c-ijtion #8 for reservations. Tourswelcomed. I

The General Store, Filling Sta-tion and Pottery Shop are open.RV Park coming. Space avail-able for development.

For further information about!DEATH VALLEY JUNCTION Jplease write:Death V alley Junction, Inc.P.O. Box 675Death Valley Junction,California 923 28

mn

11


12/48

by ROGER MITC HELL

...............

IUCH HAS been written about thegold camps along California's 200-

I mi le- long "M oth er Lode " belt . Re-searchers, historical societies, and thedescendants of the 49ers have preservedand produced a wealth of informationabout such camps as Crass Valley,Angels Camp and Jackson. When youvisit these historic places today, you candrive there in the air-condit ioned com-fort of your car, you can find guide-books or descriptive signs to point outhistoric points of interest, and in somecases, like at Plumas-Eureka, MalakoffD igg ins, and Co lumbia , Sta te ParkRangers will give you a guided tour.But the old min ing -camp of Hite'sCove is not like that. You cannot drivethere. You won't f ind any descriptivesigns, much less a guidebook, and therecertainly won't be any guided toursHite's Cove offers none of those amenit ies. Yet it does occupy an historic moment in the history of the west, albeit asmall one overlooked by most historiansand authors of ghost town guidebooksHite's Cove is certainly off the beatenpath, and this, perhaps, is reasonenough to go there. There probablywon't be anyone else on your block who12 D e s e r t / M a y 197


13/48

can say he has been to Hite's Cove!Hite's Cove is situated on the South

Fork of the Merced River on the westernfliink of the Sierra Nevada in MariposaCounty. To reach the jumping-off place,taLe State Route 140 through Mariposago ing east towards the El Por ta len'ranee to Yosemite National Park.Aner reaching Midpines Summit, thehi) hway will drop some 1800 feet to theboitom of the Merced River Canyon. Thero.'d then follows the river upstream. Ina lit t le over nine miles from Briceburg,where the road first joins the river, abridg e is crossed. Here the South Fork ofthi Me rced River flows into the mainri> jr. H ere, too, is the histo ric site of theoh I Savage Trad ing Post, and the start ofth i 1 rail into Hite's Cove. There is ampleofi road parking for hikers. The ForestSeivice requests that hikers sign in andout in the trail register located inside thes t o r e .

There is a sign in front of the tradingpc' t wh ich reads:'Here in 1849 James D. Savage es-lablished a store built of logs. Heengaged in trading and mining and

married several squaws for protec-lion and influence. In spring ofI850, fearing Indian depredations,De t/M ay 1978

Oppo site page: Rock walled building in Hite's Cove. Above : Author stands by gyra-tory crushers. Below: S outh fork of Merced River on the trail to Hite's Cove.

13


14/48

Hiker inspects an old safe near Hite's Cove.he moved to Mariposa Creek. InDecember his store and others werepillaged and burned and the realwar began. A volunteer battalionwas formed and Savage electedMajor. In pursuit of the most war-like tribe, their secret hide-out,Yosemite Valley was discovered,and the war brought to a quick end."Major Savage was kil led by a po-litical opponent, August 1852. Yearslater one of his widows guided JohnHi te , a poor prospector, a few milesup this South Fork to discover a goldmine that made h im a mil l ionaire."A Forest Service sign points the wayup a short dirt road to the t ra i l . The signindicates Hite's Cove is five miles. Thedistance is actually closer to four miles.The trail follows the north side of ther \/er upstre am, c ontourin g along thes eep hillside a short distance above the

canyon bottom . It is an easy hike thr ougha mixed forest of oaks and pines. If youhappen to be there after a spring rain,keep your eyes open for a Californianewt crawling across he t ra i l . Theseharmless, slow-moving lizard-like crea-tures are not reptiles, but amphibians.They have a rubber-looking, reddish-brown skin and are abundant in the area.They are most often seen in the win ter orspr ing, however.

After a couple of miles the traildescends to the canyon bottom wherethe river makes a sharp t u rn . There is anunimproved campsite here, on a sandybar, sometimes used by fishermen. Asyou hike through the canyon, notice thehighly metamorphosed rock formations.These are among the oldest rocks of theSierra, here long before the present

mountain range was pushed up. At onetime these rocks were flat lying strata,deposited as sediments in the bottom onthe sea over millions of years. When theigneous rocks of the Sierra Nevada bath-olith pushed their way up from deepwithin the Earth, the new molten rockspushed these older marine sediments upand out of the way. Those sedimentswhich were not simply dissolved in thebathol i th, were considerably altered byheat and pressure. What was oncelayered sandstone and shale, is nowschist, slate, quartzite, and hornfels,often twisted and contorted and thrustup at a high angle. These rocks, nowmetamorphosed, were then intruded byh o t m in e ra l -b e a r in g so lu t io n s w h ichfilled the cracks and cavities leavingdikes and veins. Some of these solu-t ions con ta ined the go ld tha t H i tediscovered.

The trail continues up the canyon. In alittle more than a mile, a wide sandybench is found perched high above theriver. This is not river sand, but finelyground waste rock which once wentthrough the ore mill to have the goldremoved. If you look among the treesback towards the hillside you can findsome of the mill machinery lying in ruin.The four large iron devices, which re-semble washing machines, are gyrotoryrock crushers. Nearby is another nice,but unimproved campsite.

H i te ' s Cove is ano ther ha l f -mi leupstream. You can recognize the site bythe many rock walls lying in variousstages of ruin spread out over a halfmile. Most of the buildings were de-stroyed in a forest fir e in 1924. Al l th atremains today are these rock walls and

D E S E S I E X P E D I T I O N S , I E .SU M M ER C A M PI N G T R IP FOR B OYSEach summer Desert Expeditions takes a small group of boys(10-14 years old) on a two-week cam ping tr ip to the high desertmountain ranges along the California-Nevada border. If youwould like to receive a brochure describing this fine exper-ience, please write: Desert Expeditions Boys Trip, Box 1404,Palm Desert, California92260.

-HN

Desert/May 1978


15/48

M a r i p o s a IBIML~ ^ / ' T R AD IN GK & P O S T

S- N -1im 78

mill site* mine

$ ^ ~ YosemiteJ f Val ley% ^ ^ ^ ^ ? A 'nd'an Flat C-G-

'/wf { - ^ road closed

. . WHITES COVEl o r ftroad *"~ " \ ^ vMarble N ' 'N* | ,Point -,yrkwith at f i rs t , so hecrushed the orew t h a crude arrastra. This was fol-lowed by a more eff icient stamp mill in11166. The annua l Mining Review,edit ion of 1876, says a bigger 20stampm i ll hadbeen installed at Hite's Cove in1074. The total production atHite's Covei, estimated at three mil l ion dollars, anincredible sum in looking at the sitetoday. Thequartz veins of Hite's Cove,and some were up to 12 eet thick, weregood to John Hite. His story is one ofrags to r iches. Not the usual fate forrr mysourdoughs ofhisera.

In theearly part of the20th Century,interest in the Hite's Cove area wasr< lewed. Theminers built a road intothe canyon coming in f rom the southth 'ough Darrah and Jerseydale. Ther i \ e r was spanned with a suspensionbridge and he road crossed notonly ther iver , but Pinoche Ridge to the north toconnect with Indian Flat, across the

r iver, and a l i t t le upstream from thefamous Clearinghouse Mi ne . Theroad isst i l l there today, but it is closed bylocked gates at the north end,and whilethe south end s rough butpassable, it soften hazardous to cross the r iver ex-cept during the fal l or late summermonths. It is much more practical to getinto Hite's Cove by the hik ing t ra i l .

The trail ends at Hite's Cove but t isusually possible to continue upstreamalong theriver bank. Sim's Cove isabouttwo miles above Hite's Cove anda mileabove that, you canpick up an oldpros-pector's trail that goes even farther upthe r iver to some diggings near PeachTree Bar. Theentire 10-mile-section ofr iver from the Savage Trading Post toPeach Tree Bar isonly 1500 to 2000 feetin elevation so it can be exploredany-t ime , even in the middle of winter . Infact, winter or early spring is probablythe best time to visit Hite's Cove.Sum-mer can bequite warm inthecanyon andwhile there is not much poison oak to beencountered along the t ra i l , it is mostbothersome then. Winter andspringareoften delightful, part icularly when thewildf lowers begin to make their annualappearance in the Sierra foothills.

But whenever you choose to visitHite's Cove, theeasy trek in promises tobe a rewarding experience which youwill long remember.

Staywiththegiants.At the clean

andnewMonumentValley KOA

campground.With individual

trailer hook-ups, ageneral store and laundry/shower facilities.

Monument / \Valley KOA KOAAStay at near-by Goulding'sLodge & Trading Post . Furnished,ai r-condi t ioned rooms, fami ly stylemeals andshopping faci l i t ies.Plus dai ly guided tours into heheart of Monument Val ley Anadventure youwon't want to miss.Goulding's

Lodge & ToursFor free brochureand informationwrite Box 1-D,Monument Valley,Utah 84536.Or call (801)727-3231.Reservations are necessaryfor rooms, meals, and tours

LOSTandFOUND...Find Lost Coinsand Other Valuableswith a GarrettMetal DetectorG A R R E T TE L E C T R O N I C S

Dept. G1002814 National Drive

Garland, Texas 75041214/278-6151

Preserve your copies in thesevinyl binders that hold 12issues. Gold-stamped on thecover andspine, anddated ifyou desire.ONLY PostpaidDESERT MAGAZINEBox 1318Palm Desert, Calif. 92260

DiMert/May 1978 15


16/48

by JOE KRAUS

Fort Churchillwas establishedbecause of the PaiuteIndian uprising inwestern Nevada.During the 1865Indian War almost theentire garrison wasin the field suppo rtingthree separateexpeditions.


17/48

NEVADA HAS had a very turbulenthistory. It 's f i l led with Indian andwhite skirmishes, gold and silver

strikes, boom towns, stagecoach andtr lin ro bberies , cattle rustle rs, evenshootouts in the streets. There were poli-tical problems, range wars, hassles overw iter rightsjust about everything youwould expect in the western frontier re-gion at that t im e.

When the military moved in, the rea-son was to protect the miners and set-t lers from the Indians. But after theyconstructed their forts and sent out pa-trols they found that the Indians weremuch easier to handle than the whites.

As law and order were not all that w ellestablished at the t ime, the military hadto keep the peace as much as it could.But even that wasn 't the real problem . Itwas the ga mblin g h alls, saloons and lad-\t of the evening which crowded in fromall around. As a result the soldiers had

lit t le t ime to think about anything else.In Nevada, however, you don 't have to

just read about this fascinating history you can live it. For there is much evi-dence of those early years. And in thecenter of it all are the state's militaryposts. Here's what you will f ind :

GENOA STOCKADEGenoa, Nevada's oldest settlement,

is located some 15 miles southwest ofCarson City. It was never really a fort inthe true sense of the wo rd. Althou gh thestockade was originally constructed tokeep ou t ma raud ing Ind ia ns, bo thso ld ie rs and Ind ian ba t t les wereelsewhere.

Genoa did serve, however, as a sup-ply point for pioneers heading for theCalifornia gold f ields. And with the out-rageous prices being charged for sup-plies, it was rumored that the stock-ade was really built to keep out irate

customers. Nevertheless there was a fo rtin Genoa. And although the originaldoesn't stand today (it burned downyears ago), a reconstructed fort does.The inner yard doubles as a park andpicnic area and the building as amuseum.

It was from Genoa that the famousSnowshoe Thompson made his dead ofwinter mail runs. W ith 80 pounds of m ailon his back he traveled the back countryon eight-day round-trips to Placervil le,California. His pay wasn't in money butin the hearty thanks of the burly miners.

It was also in Genoa that local boyGeorge Washington Ferris stared oneday at an irrigation wagon wheel. Anidea struck him that reshaped the en-tertainment industry. Introduced to theworld was the famous Ferris Wheel.

Mormons were the original sett lers in


18/48

1 he Genoa Stockade, once known a s Mormon Station, is located some 15 miless luthwest of Carson City. Genoa served as a supply point for pioneers heading fort/ie California gold fields.

th ! area. But when they w ere called byBi igham Young back to help defend SaltLc'ke City from an irritat ing UnitedSt ites Arm y, the lands in Genoa wereseized by unscrupulous settlers. As a re-sult of this, Orson Hyde, an apostle inthe church and forme r head of the colonyat Genoa, le f t a prophesy to thescuatters. "The people will be visitedw t h thunder and with earthquake, andw th f loods, w ith pestilence and w ithfanine until your names are not knownar long m en ."

The warning was nearly forgottenuntil the town was almost wiped out byfiie on two different occasions. Later,tons of snow thundered down from themountains crushing houses, barns andp< ople. The destruc tion was so com-plete that the exact number of deadcould not be determined.

Today, many of the descendants ofthose early squatters have been con-v< rted to Mo rmo nism . C hurch membersaie back in Genoa and in Nevada. Thereaie no more curses.

FORT BAKERThere isn't much left to old Fort

E aker. It's been hemm ed in by the E lksLodge on one side and two major high-v ays on the other. An d ju st do wn thev ay are the bright lights of Glitter Gulch- - Las Vegas's main street. But there isno other fort in Nevada with more mem -c ies for this writer than Fort Baker. Fori was here as a boy in the mid-1950s

that I delivered the morning newspaper,the Las Vegas Sun.

Fort Baker was almost out of townthen. For in those days you could throw arock in any direction and hit nothing butopen desert. It was always a pleasantstop after a long bicycle journey in thoseoften chil ly, just-after-dawn hours. Thefence and the protective roof wasn'tthere then. It was just an old adobe inwhich lived some very friendly people.

Since then there were moves toOregon and then to California. Butwherever home was at the time, therewas always that memory of Fort Baker,an island oasis in the city. Today a visitto Las Vegas isn't complete without adrive to that favorite spot, to peek into awindow or to stand once again under theold cottonwood trees.

Historically, the fort was not all thatimportant. Built by Mormon pioneers in1855, it served mostly as a halfwaystation between Utah and Californiasett lements. Although it was originallybuilt to protect the locals from Indians, itnever saw any battles. From the begin-ning the Mormons and the Indians wereat peace, each helping the other. Laterthe military occupied the fort when theOverland Mail stages included it onfrequent stops.

Although the original fort had severaladobe buildings and was completely sur-rounded by a 10-foot adobe wal l , onlyone of its original buildings withstood

the years. Recently, however, the Stateof Nevada, the City of Las Vegas and thefederal government signed an agree-ment whereby the old fort would berestored.

FORT CHURCHILLOf all the old military posts in Ne-

vada, probably the most interesting forvisitors is Fort Churchill. It is locatedalong a branch of the Em igrant T rail justoff Alternate U.S. 95, about eight milessouth of Silver Springs.

An historic state monument, FortChurchill was built in 1860 and aban-doned just 10 years later in 1870. Du r-ing that t ime, however, it was a fullyoperating U.S. Army Fort and Pony Ex-press Station.

As Nevada's largest fort, Churchillwas established because of Paiute Indianuprising in western Nevada. The soldiersfrom the fort engaged in numerous In-dian battles. During the 1865 Indian Waralmost the entire garrison was in thef ie ld su p p o r t in g t h re e se p a ra teexpeditions. The Indians and soldierstraded defeats in those years until fi-nally the soldiers won out.

In additio n to its concern over Ind ians,the fort served as a main supply depotfor the Nevada Military District duringthe Civil War. It became a base fortroops patrolling the state. Soldiers werealso dispatched in various directions pa-troll in g the overland roads and providin gprotection for the Pony Express.

Today, not only can you walk alongand in between the various buildings atthe fort, but take advantage of a v isitor'scenter, provided by the Nevada StateParks Department. In the visitor's centera re var ious d isp la ys, l i te ra tu re andplaques commemorating the historicalsignificance of the old fort.

Nearby is an old cemetery in which arethe remains of Samuel Buckland and hisfam ily. B uckland operated a tradin g postone mile from the fort in which he pro-vided refreshments and entertainmentfor off-duty troopers. Soldiers from thefort were also buried in the cemetery,but when the post was abandoned, thegraves were dug up and the soldiers re-buried in cemeteries in Carson City andSan Francisco.

The ruins of the fort, itself, are mostpicturesque. The adobe walls, r ight outof a John Wayne western, still have agreat deal of the romance in them.Crum bling though the walls are, one can

Des ert/May 1978


19/48

can get a real feeling of what l i fe musthi \ ' i ! been l ike there.

OTHER FORTSAmong some of Nevada's other fort

si los are Fort McDermitt , some 96 milesnci th of Winnemucca on the McDermit tIndian R eservation. Named after ColonelCh tr ies McDermit, ki l led by Indians, thefort: was established in 1879. Its pur-pc e was to protect sett lers and trav-elers on the Nevada-Idaho road. Only acouple of the original buildings remainand they have been reconditioned for useas structures on the reservation.

! here is litt le evidence left of C ampRuby, a small Army post some 65 milesfrom Elko on Route 65. Ruby, not a verypeimanent fort , was act ive only sevenye. rs. I ts men, however, did see a greatde.i l of Indian f ight ing. They even res-cued from the Indians a small boy whohad been held captive for two years.

(>nly a marker indicates the site ofFort Halleck, several miles east of Elkoon U. S. 40. Halleck was established in1867 by two companies of the 8thCavalry. Here soldiers kept busy pro-tect ing the ra i l , telegraph and stagelines. It was abandoned in 1886.De t/M ay 1978

Only onebuilding remainsat old Fort Baker,now in the heartof Las Vegas.A restorationproject Isunder way.

Camp Dun Clen has almost vanishedas wel l . It is located on private prop-erty some 35 miles south of Winne-mucca on U.S. 40-95. All that re-mains there are some foundation stonesof an old mi l l , not really a part of the fo rt.

Camp Winfield Scott is located justoutside of the town of Paradise Valley,some 40 miles northeast of Winnem ucca.Two officers quarters and a single bar-racks building remain, but all are in useas part of a private ranch. All build-ings were built of adobe with sod roofs.

Established in 1866 and named forLieutenant General Winf ield Scott, thepost lasted for a litt le over four years. Itsfunction was to keep the local Indiansunder control but it seemed to have moreproblems with the whites, gambler? andwhisky runners who had close attach-ments to the troopers.

A mil itary reservation was creatednear the town of Carlin. But it existedmore on paper than in actual buildings ormanpower. I t was abandoned in thesame way. There was l it t le more to FortHaven, more a temporary earthworkthan anything. Located on the TruckeeRiver near Pyramid Lake, it served onlyas cover in the war with the PaiuteIndians. Other temporary posts wereStorey, McGarry and Schellbourne, alllost now to t ime and the elements.

For soldiers, the Nevada experiencewas either too hot or too cold. They weretorn between wanting to f ight Indiansand to join the Union cause in the CivilWar. And as Indians were often cruel intheir treatme nt of white sett lers, so werethe soldiers often cruel in their unmerci-ful attacks on Indian camps. It was at ime of dif ferent values and judgments.History, though it is, i t should not beforgotten. ORNAMENTAL

AUTHENTIC , BUILT TOSCALE. TUINS INSLIGHTEST BREEZEAl l STEfL CONSTRUCTION

Unique lawn decora-t ion. Adds rustic charm.41/2 ft., 8 ft., and 10 ft.sizes. Boxed. Send 50cin Join or stamps forcolorful literature to:ORNAMENTALWINDM ILL SALES

10336 DeSoto AvenueChatswo rth, Cal. 91311213-341-2672

T o u rs in o r n e a rC a n y o n l an d s N a t io n a l P a r kISLAND IN THE SKY 'WAS HER WO MANWALKING ROCKS 'MON UM ENT BASINARC HES NATIONAL PARKONION CREEK 'HUR RA H PASSGEM INI BRIDGES 'ROC KHOUNDING

Half Day, Full Day and SpecialTou rs a t Reasonable RatesUnfolded, f ramable 16 ll x2 2 11 stereographic map ofCanyonlands and Arches National Monuments

and Monument ValleyS1 .50 each, Postpaid

L I N O T T IN G E R 'S T O U R SM o a b Roc k Shop. 1 3 7 N. M a i n, M oa b, Ut a h 84532Phone [S0 1 ] 2 59 -7 3 1 2 for Re s e r v a t i ons Walking Rocks in Canyonlands19


20/48

I GHTHA WK S S OJOURNI NG in t heJiji wes tern deserts come in two main^ I styles with variou s su bspecies. Thep irt icular kind f louris hing in a givenaiea depends on its location: the "com-mon" nighthawk type Chordeilesa>inor operat ing more in the northernd >serts of the Great Ba sin, wh ile th eC acutipennis or " lesser " n ighthawkg oup works the southern regions.

These are good-sized birds, someeight to nine inches in length, their softplumage colored in somber browns,greys and sand, st ippled and streakedand blotched with darker tones. Theirbil ls are small, but their mouths are bigand broad, cavern-l ike when opened inan enormous gape. The ir feet, small andv eak, are no good for pe rching or forn luch w alk ing on the ground.

Nighthawks are of keen interest tob>rd specialists mainly because theseb ig -m ou t hed b i r ds w i t h t he r azz le -d izzle cam ouflage feathers are so off-beat physiologically and behavior-wise.Being members of the Goatsucker clan,they come by it naturally, their relat ivesthe oil birds, frogmouths, potoos andp xirw il ls l ikewise causing many a furrowin the old scientific brow for the samer 'asons.

By trade, nighthawks are aerial feed-ers, catching insects in flight. This is fairenough since what with their speedymaneuverable f l ight and basket mouthsthey are built for it . They forage dur-ing the crepuscular hours of dusk andpredaw n, which in the desert is sensible,11 be sure. But this is their only con-c >ssion to desert living. In fact, it woulds !em sometimes that they don 't knowthey are l iving in a desert. Take, for in-stance, their penchant for family raisinginder just about the worst condit ionsthey could pick.

Why Mrs. Nighthawk wants to set uphousekeeping out in the open with noprotect ion from the blazing sun or nightc ) ld and win d and w here the nearestv ater may be miles away , nobodyknows. Her idea of how to do the jobr>ght consists of selecting a spot on thet a re , hard ground, preferably wherethere is rough gravel and small stonesI ing about. A dry r iver bed is abouti leal. Nest making consists of doingnothing at all. Once the spot has beendecided upon, she simply squats downand, f luff ing out her feathers, is on hernest.50

DESERTby K. L. BOYNT

1978

Now this may seem a f ine example ofbird -l ib. Ac tually what she nets from thisodd-ball real estate choice and workavoidance is a double trouble problem.First, with no nest protect ion, the eggsobviously have to be shielded from theday's heat which means that somebodyhas got to be the umbrella. Since Mr.Nighthawk appears to draw the l ine atincubating, she's IT. So, there she is,stuck with the sit t ing job with the desert

sun beating down on her hour after hour,day after day during the tedious 18-19day incubation period.

Not only does she make the job of eggsit t ing more dif f icult and the resultschancier, she creates at the same time asituat ion fraught with danger to herself .She is constantly in full view of preda-tors, bad enough, but worse, she hassubjected herself to prolonged exposureto high heat and intense solar radiation.

Desert/ May 1978


21/48

A rare photo of aclutch of specklednighthawk eggs that

blend into the rockynest area. Ph oto by

George Olin,Ajo, Arizona.

A Lesser Nighthawk.Photo by Jim Cornett,Pa/m Springs Desert M useum.

An. i , as all hands know, a bird thatstoi ;s too much heat is bound to end upa very dead one.

1 o be sure she can hold her wingsaw,iy from her body exposing her thinlyfealhered sides and unload some heathen , and can f latten her plumage to cutits heat holding value. These methodsare effect ive for a while, but fail as theday s temp erature keeps climbin g. Onlyevaporative cooling can save her.Desert/May 1978

Now birds d on't have sweat glands, soevaporat ion takes place from the moistl ining of their respiratory tract, and herethe nighthawk, being a member of thefeathered tr ibe, has an advantage overher furred neighbors. Birds, it seems, inaddition to the usual respiratory partsfound in mammals (windpipe, bronchialtubes and lungs] also have a series oflarge air sacs which are connected totheir lungs. These thin-walled cham-

bers, located fore and aft in their bodycavity, collect warm moist air from over-heated muscles and internal tissues andpass it along to the lungs to be expelleddirect ly to the outside. With this supple-mentary system in act ion, birds prac-t ically have an air-cooled body.

Increasing the breathing rate speedsup the heat unloading act ion, but takesenergy. Panting, for example, whileworking to rid the body of excess heat,creates heat in the process, and anyaddition lessens the efficiency of thecooling system. Nighthawks avoid cost lypanting; they simply f lutter the mem-branes of the forepart of their throats.Th i s f l u t t e r i n g m o t ion expe ls hea tquickly and by greatly increasing theflow of air over the moist surfaces oftheir big wide mouths, funct ions as af irst rate evaporat ive cooling mech-anism. Economical, this "gular f lut-tering" is produced by rapid movementsof the hyoid apparatus, a bony struc-ture that supports the tongue and upperthroat. Its timing runs about 500-690 perminu te which corresponds to the specificresonant frequency of the gular systemitself. Hence it takes very litt le energy tooperate. Anatomists W.R. Dawson andG.A. Bartholomew found, for example,that even when the bird uses it con-stantly at air temperatures of 43C(109.4F), the cost runs less than 20 per-cent of the heat being dissipated byevaporation. In fact, so efficient is thiscooling system that a nighthawk can un-load nearly two tim es as many calories asit produces even when the temperaturehits 45C (113F).

Not that gular f lutte ring is the only aceMrs. N. has under her wing for dealingwith the desert 's heat. Zoologist M.W.Weller 's big study of a nest ing night-hawk, for instance, gives clue to some-thing else. His part icular lady had en-sconced herself on the gravelled roof ofa University of Missouri building andthere she sat unconcernedly on her"n e st " even when the surface of the roofhit 61C (142F). Weller, not ing that sheseemed to head in different directions asthe day wore on , r igge d up a Rube Gold-berg but effect ive sundial. He madehourly comparisons of the direct ion ofsunlight determined by the shadow ofthe rod on the dial with the nighthawk'sbody axis. To his delight, he found a re-markably precise agreement betweenthe angle of the sun and the bird's

21


22/48


23/48

tones, he lif ts up his wings and theycreep under him. Sett l ing down, heb )ods them for five minutes or so,warm ing them up in the desert night, forth Mr own temp eratur e regulatio n systemwill not begin to function until they aresome 12 days old, as Zoologist T.R.Howell's Louisiana study of the commonni iJ i thawk indicated.

What with Mr. N. fetching most of thegroceries and shoving highly nutritiousfood into them, the youngsters are wellstocked to get through the long hours ofthe coming day. Mrs. N., now on brood-ing duty again, is responsible for nestprotect ion, apparently. Concealment byher own camouflaged self is probablysuff icient most of the t ime, part icularlysince when she closes her eyes thosetarget-shaped circles, so hard to dis-guise, disappear. But what happens ifthis doesn't work? Pickwell and Smithsel about f inding out.

When they approached on foot sher c e up suddenly and went f loppingaway in the best theatrical injured winga c l , recovering miraculously and takingflight when the "enemy" had been luredfar enough away. But they got a very

different reception when they camecrawling on their hands and knees. Shesat st i l l , wait ing. Then, as they got tooclose, she suddenly opened her eyesvery wide, spread her ta i l , raised herwings, lifted her throat feathers and letloose a deep throaty rasping hiss. A mostinhospitable sight! Bound to chill all butthe most stout-hearted predator.

The youngsters are models of deport-ment, minding their mothers instantly,according to her vocal instruction. Uponorders , eyes shu t , the i r mixed-upfeathers matching the background, theycrouch motionless, not stirring until theyget the maternal O.K. even if it takes aslong as 15 minute s. If separated from herat even less than two days of age, theystagger over to her for concealment ather call. Things change, however, by thetime they reach that magical 12-day-oldf igure , for they take on their own de-fense, acting, of all things, l ike youngraptors! Reared back, wings hoisted andspread, bills open, big mouth agape,they look mighty mean.

Such warlike behavior by a reallypeaceful bird and at such an early agenaturally causes raised eyebrows among

scholars, particularly when they notethat many small birds of other speciesbecome greatly alarmed when they see anighthawk abroad by day, and react to itas they do to an owl. To be sure, night-hawks, with their cryptic coloring, softfeathers and big heads do resemble ow lsand their silent flight is much the same.But is there something more here mim icry, or parallel adaptation, or a newtype of behavior developing? A puzzler another sample of what nighthawksare wont to hand to zoologists delvinginto their affairs.

At any rate, the owl-like defensive be-havior of the youngsters contributes totheir high survival rate, and helps insurespecies success.

What with excellent parental care andtheir own doughty natures, then, th eyoung nighthawks can get right on withthe business of growing up. They areable to fly short distances when onlyabout 21 days old, f lying and circlingeasily in another four. It's only a matterof t ime, then, before they are ready tosally forth on their own at dusk and,f lying with their big mouths open,gobble up many a desert insect.

How To Get Therel)nve North of Bishopin Hwv. 395 lo r 12niles - take LowerHock Creek Road atout of SherwtnIrjde - then 3 milesParadise Lod

A F i s h i n gP a r a d i s e !Fishing at your Cam psite Overniters Welcome Daily, Weekly, MonthlyRates Restaurant & Cocktail Bar Housekeeping Cottages HikingN ature Trails Storage AreaLow Rates Secluded Area

P a r a d i s e L o d g e M I L E S T O . . .Pleasant ValleyReservoir 3Tom's Place 8Crowley Lake 12Mammoth 25T r a v e l T r a i le ra n d C a m p e r P a r k1 5 M i l e s N o r t h o f B i s h o p

o n L o w e r R o c k C r e e kFor Reservations, phoneor drop in:

Route 2, Bishop, Ca lif. 93514Phone (714) 387-2370De nrt/ May 1978 23


24/48

by C . W ILLIA M HARRISON

M l HEN IT came to giving evaluationofflo reports on the ore samples that weref f brought into his assay office in Pi-oche, Nevada during the middle 1880sby prospectors who were avidly probingthe multi-hued hills and canyons in andaround what is now the unforgettablyspectacular Kodacolor vacationland ofsou thwestern Utah , "Meta l i fe rous"Murphy was not a man given to eithercircumspect judgments or verbalmoderation.He was, in other words, about as con-servative in his assay reports to thosehardbitten seekers of precious metals asa politician reviewing his personal andprofessional values before his constitu-ants and the world at large during anelection campaign.Almost invariably when there was afee involved, Murphy's enthusiasm overan ore sample could be depended uponto soar to extravagant heights, shoul-dering realities aside in favor of opti-mism expressed with boundless vigorand eloquence.

111*

24 Des ert/ May 1978


25/48

Built in 1877, the Wells FargoExpress and Bank building, nowlisted on the National Register as aUtah Historical Site, was once therepository for the more than $10 m illionsin silver bullion that were producedby the Reef's numerous mines and mills.

But hopes carried too high are fre-quently the swiftest to come tumblingdown, and the t ime inevitably camewhen the disenchantments of bit ter real-i ty began taking their toll on Metali-ferous Murphy's misled clientele. Griz-zled prospectors who had at first beeneager believers were soon added to thegrowing l ist of rankled disbelievers. Toomuch, those disil lusione d treasure seek-ers agreed among themselves, was justtoo damn much. And so they imme-diately began looking for a way to cut thetruth-stretching assayer down to sizeand t ie a can to his ta i l , once and for a ll.

Their opportunity came one day, sothe story goes, when a man showed upwit h a wagon oad of w ood w hich hehoped to sell to the m erchants and home-folks of Pioche. With him the man alsobroug ht along a grindstone which he hadmade from sandstone blasted out of aledge in the cactus and rabbit brush hillsabove the t iny Mormon sett lement ofLeeds, Utah .

The disgruntled prospectors perkedup their conspiratorial eyes when theysaw the grindstone. In those early timesit was incontestable knowledge amonglearned geologists and unlettered one-D eser t / May 1978 25


26/48

NI

SilverReef,*

/

Interstate-^./

rVD Leeds/S t . G e or ge

Cedarfll City/f

" L-vZ'ton"'^Nat'lJi P a rk I

U npaved0 0 0 0 Road

R/i;ht: Amid the ruins and rubble of theone-time boom-town, luxurious homes arebeing built for people who lovetht- solitude and silence of thedesert. Below: After thera" ages of im e and vandals, afewstructures still remain. .,,,: : :

blanket prospectors alike that silver orecould never not ever befound insandstone or o th e r se d ime n ta ryformations.

With that supposedly unimpeachablefact f irmly rooted inthe ir minds, Meta-liferous Murphy's irate clients promptlypooled their meager funds and purchas-ed the grindstone, after which theysledged it into bits and nominated one oftheir fellows to deliver the pulverizedsamples toMurphy for anassay.

In duet ime, the unsuspecting Murphyrendered hiscustomary exuberant re-port. Never before had heseen ore sorich insilver, heinformed theprospec-tors jubilantly. His enthusiasm unfurledand soared to ambrosial heights. As-sayed at least 200ounces tothe ton, byglory! Maybe even more, ifhe rana fewaddit ional tests. You've hit it rich thist ime, amigo! Incase you don't realize itmy f r iend , you have just now become agenuine f inancial tycoon! Areal forsuremil l ionaire bygrabs!

According to legends now blurred byt ime and events, thewrathful prospec-tors immediately collared MetaliferousMurphy w i th asnugly f it t ing noose andunceremoniously hanged him. Anotherversion is of a less lethal nature. It al-26 Desert/May 1978


27/48


28/48

HE SILVERY GREEN clumps of gal-8 'eta, lush and fresh a fter heavy^ umm er downpou rs in parts of the

Colorado and Mojave Deserts, add anunusual aspect to otherwise dry sandyarei'S. The spikes t ipping the two- orthre-foot-long stems may be purplish,whii ish or pale green. Much of the t ime ,and through all seasons some years, thispen nnial bunch grass will be golden orpale straw. But the thick rhizomes aret he ie , wait ing for rain.

This was the case in August 1977;within a month of the rains much of theBig Ca l le ta {Hilaria rigida) showedalmost complete new growth, the greensho its nearly hiding the pale remains ofanother year. Grain would be availablein the several months ahead. We have28

found heads with grain still intact in mid-January in central Nevada.

The fact that galleta is perennial, andmay provide seeds at unexpected times,made it important not only to Indians butto early explorers and others w ho passedthrough the deserts. Galleta appears re-peatedly in reports of the Anza expedi-tions of 1774-76. To those Franciscanpadres, military men and colonists,coming from Sonora enroute to newhomes in Alta California, this grass wasessential. It is unlikely their animalscould have survived without galleta. Instretches, along the Camino del Diabloin Arizona, galleta was the only thingthey had. When they crossed the Colo-rado River, their horses and cattlegorged on mesquitemuch to the alarm

T h e S p a n ic a l l e dGalleta still grows inYuha desert near a cam psitewhere Capt. Juan Bautistade Anza stopped with California'sfirst colonists to come overland

from Sonora, Mexico. Late-seasonportrait, when most of spikeletswith seeds have dropped orbeen eaten by small animals.I T W A SI N T H E

of the Yuma Indians who also dependedon this bean. While the men packed allthe beans they could gather, the supplywas soon dep leted, and only galleta thenwas found along the old trail that ledclose to today's Mexican border. CaptainJuan Bautista de Anza, from his recon-naissance trip the year before, knewwhere to f ind galleta, and would sendmen ahead to gather bundles of it.

The same thing was done by Lieuten-ant Colonel Pedro Fages, during his1781-82 campaign which took him overthe Camino and the Colorado Desert.

When American military men, afterthe Mexican War, were stationed in Ari-zona or were exploring for wagon routes,they noted that Indians used grassseeds, as well as other native plants.Captain Samuel P. Heintzelman, at theYum a crossing in the early 1850s, repor t-ed that the natives there even plantedwild grass for food. And in the sameper iod, Lieutenant Amiel W. Whipple,approaching the Bill Will iams River inearly February, commented on the greengrass "whi ch the Mexicans call galle-te . ' " (From the Spanish period, the ap-

Des ert/May 1978


29/48

sS a l l e t a

Stems, or culms,ofHilaria [Calleta]

are hollow, but closedat the nodes [rings].

Veining of thenarrow leaf blade

is parallel in pattern.

b y L U C I L E W E I G H Tphotos byHarold O.W e i g h t

S E R T W I L D E R N E S Sparent common name was 'galleta. 'Americans unfamiliar with Spanish laterspelled it in many ways, such as 'gietta,'or gayetta. ')

In 1862, when Pauline Weaver herald-ed discovery of gold placers that startedt h ' 1 La Paz rush, on the east side of theC( lorado River, crowds of men and ani-m.ils followed the Bradshaw Road, eastfrom Dos Palmas in Coachella Valley. Onth.it route galleta was the essential forfn ight teams and other animals. Buttravelers were warned by Pauline's son,B< n, to cut and bundle it, to shake out aninsect (campo mocho) that could bringdeath to a horse.

Bo tan is ts in the Southwest las tcentury discovered that galleta was avaluable range plant. Dr. George Vasey,an expert with the U. S. Department ofA i ricu lture , in 1890 described thre e ofth e species and said galleta was aboutthe only grass on the driest desert land.Ex plorin g in the Death Valley area a yearIcier, Frederick V. Coville, on anotherexpedit ion sponsored by the USDA,noted occurrence of H. mutica and H.rii ida, the latter around Fort Mohave,D I I iurl/May 1978

Providence Mountains, west slopes ofthe Charlestons, in Pahrump Valley, nor-thern Vegas Valley, down at Fort Yumaand in the Colorado Desert.

Farther south, across the Mexicanborder around Pinacate country, SonoitaRiver Valley and Laguna Prieta, CarlLumholtz was exploring in 1910, makingnotes for his landmark books. Throughmost of his travels along Indian trails hefound and depended on galleta for thehorses. He found it green in January.

A Supplement FoodSeeds of grasses and flowers were

vital supplements to more basic foods ofdesert Indians. When pinon crops werelight, or where mesquite beans were notavailable, Indian women took up theslack by gathering more seeds. Thesenot only were nutritious additives, theyprovided variety and f lavor.

But the effort in f inding enough to f i l lout a meal was tremendous. To make apound, it takes a million seeds of someplant species. It would be rare to findenough of one kind with in a home area toyield a worthw hile am ount. Thereforemany kinds were collected. But they had

to be processed and gathered by differ-ent methods. Many could be knockedinto a gathering basket by use of a seedbeater. But galleta heads could bestripped off by hand. Detaching the"h us ks " was more complicated, though,than the simpler singeing and tossingsuch seeds as ricegrass. Galleta heads inthe early stage are soft and the "heart"is milky, so they were not easy to detachfrom the involucres; they also needed tobe dried, for parching and grinding. Butthey could be added to stew or used forpudding or porridge, without all the in-termediate steps. (In the immaturestate, the heads could be chewed formoisture and a bit of nourishment, bythose following a long trail.)

Clues to the effort required to gathersignificant amounts of galleta seeds arefound in records of the U. S. Departmentof Agriculture. Big Galleta, or H. rigida,produces the la rgest g ra ins, abou t33,000 seeds ma king a pound . C ollectingthis species is speedy compared withother Hilarias. Seeds of curly-mesquite,H. belangeri, are so small, 269,000 m akeup a pound, and tobosa, H. mutica, is

29


30/48

V

At


31/48

;

F oodwaters of Carrizo and San Felipe creeks, inoldAnza country, maywash awayy< ung Calleta and other seedlings, butunderground rhizomes may survive andpi oduce stout plants of Calleta.impact made by the backwash from Cali-fornia gold f ields, after discovery of sil-ve r on theComstock, in the Reveillecountry (Austin), Treasure City, Cande-laiia. These mines fordecades drewanimals used in the min e s and forf re igh t ing . W ild grass was cut andgath-ered to feed them. Catt le and sheep,brought as food supplies, grazed widely.

Whichever the greater force of the su-perimposed elements, Mormon or miner,Si award 's comment about the displace-ment of edible grasses is interest ing:" . . Indian testimony indicates thatmany areas now occupied especially byrabbitbrush had much grass before n-t roduction of cattle and sheep. "

Where They GrowBig Calleta, H. rigida, usually grows

below 4000 feet, insandy areas ofcreo-sote andJoshua Tree areas ofthe Colo-rado andMojave Deserts; in f ive westernA i i zona coun t i es , i n t o Nevada andsouthern Utah. It occurs scattered or inth i k-grown colonies. Called bysome bo-tcnlists "the most valuable forage grassin thedeser t , " it serves another purposeaside from food. It is a sand stabilizer,helping toslow down and even stop the" m i g r a t i o n " of dunes. Inplaces ithasestablished itself insand-surfaced smalldrv lakes, and on slopes about dry lakes- isnortheast and east of TwentyninePalm s. This is incountry where Indianslived from prehistoric t imes, not far f rommcsquite dunes which here provided thestaple food. Up inJoshua Tree NationalD i . e r t / M ay1978

Monument it was valuable inthe earlydays ofcatt le range, and isbrowsedbybighorn sheep andpossibly deer. Inplaces the re it grows thickly inwhat ap-pear tohave been blow-sand areas.

H. jamesii grows atelevation 4000 to7500 feet, especially ineastern Mojavepinon and juniper country, uparoundDeath Valley andother Inyo Countyareas. Its stems are smoother than thoseof r igida.H. Mutica is oun d, 2000 to5600 feet,in southern Arizona and New Mexico,northern Mexico toTexas.

H. belangeri, 1500 to 6000 feet, onmesas and foothil ls of several Arizonacounties, northern Mexico toTexas.

The genus Hilaria appears Spanishbut it is a form taken from thename of aFrenchman, Augustin Francois CesarProvensal de Saint-Hilaire, a botanistwho explored Brazil inthe f irst half oflast century, andwrote about its f lora inseveral volumes.

Galleta and other native plants thatonce were important to Indian menuswere displaced by commercial f lour andcereals and other foods, just aswhitepeople accepted prepared labor-savingfoods, discarding thedishes thatpio-neers spent much of their t ime inpre-paring . . .and inone way this is for tun-ate. If such use had continued in thesame proport ion, given today's popula-t ion, galleta aswel l as most other ediblenative plants probably w ould not be herefo r us to seeeven ascuriosit ies.

WORLD'SSMALLEST PENN YWorld's smallest Penny, 2-sidereplica (!4" dia.) Shiny LincolnPenny. Solid Copper. $1.00.

MINI-PENNYBox 19531Indianapolis, Indiana 46219

TREASURE HUNTERS PROSPECTORS Metal-Mineral Detectors

DREDGESDRY WASHERS MAPSBOOKS TOOLS ASSAY KITSLUICE BOXES MINERAL LIGHTSLAPIDARY EQUIPMENTSend 25c for catalog to:A U R O R A6286 BEAC H Bl VD.BUENA PARK. C ALIF . 90620[714]521-6321COE P R OS P E CTOR S U P P LY9264 KAT ELLAA N A H E I M , CA LIF. 92804[714| 995-1703

RIVERSIDE C OUN TY'S LARGEST4-WHEEL-DRIVE HEADQUARTERS

Accessories for All MakesjeepJ OH N S ON ' S 4WDC E N T E R , INC.

7590 Cypress [at Van B u r e n ]P. O. Box4277R iv e r s id e , C a l i f o r n ia 92504Telephone [714)785-1330

r OnSale ai>OZ6OHCMAGAZINESW E S T E R N ART G A L L E R Y SeeVrenLai.74 -4 2 5 HIGHWAY III . PALM DESERT, CALIF.e w ith frame...I'

. for those desir ing ..'riginal OilR aintiqfe made from thei r Slides o*.. .Send photo 101th chCkUirecttDPilrbisb..SatisfactiO!iGuararrfecL 9'xl2"size 51 6 5 . < Il'il4-519B. auui#^ Frame Included'.ffmli*^"3 SAMPLE PRINTS & CATALOG (REfUWDAB';tlIif'!S- KINGSLEY OSMUIVD HARRIS .O. BOX 1 56 7- PORTLAND.OREGON 972 O7 I31


32/48

THE KOFAMoun tains, in YumaCounty, Arizona, containa variety of interestingplaces to vis it. Situatedsome 60 miles north ofYum a and 35 miles southof Quartzsite, they offerall the quiet and solitudea city dwe ller could askfor on a weekend t rip .Slicing into themassive block of stone inthe west face of the KofaMountains, Palm32

Talmb y J A M E S W A G G O N E R

photo s by Nei l Zakar

N o r t h e r n s e c ti o n o f K o f a M o u n t a i n s ,7 5 m i le s n o r t h o f Y u m a , A r i z o n a .

Canyon divides whatwould otherwise be asolid wall of rock risingnearly 2,000 feet abovethe desert floor. W eapproached the Canyonturnoff from Highway 95,35 miles south ofQuartzsite, on what must

be one of the straighteststretches of highway inthe country. The gradeddirt road leading fromthe highway to thecanyon is plainly markedby a sign wh ich sayssimply, "Pa lm Canyon 9m ile s," and points east

towards thestrange-lookingformation which hidesPalm Canyon.Camping facilities arenon-existent, however,there are sites along theroad leading from thehighway to park a pickup

D e s e r t / M a r c h 1 9 7 8


33/48


34/48

ALTOCUMULUS

Cirrus clouds, Alto-cumulus clouds, andCirrocumulus cloudsgenerally foretell thecoming of a storm.Cirrus clouds are"mare's tails" andthe Altocumulusclouds are the "mack-erel sky" clouds.Cumulus clouds arecommon after a rainstorm and during fairweather. Cumulo-

STRATUS

STRATOCUMULUSdo take place but rarely without somesort of warnin g.

Clouds and wind can give severalhours to several days warning that astorm is com ing. So, stopping your acti-vit ies periodically during the day tocheck the w ind and cloud formations canmean the dif ference between returningfrom an outing w ith some degree of com-fort, or being trapped by a storm.

Clouds are one of the most reliableweather signs. Certain types of cloudsalmost always foretell changes in theweather. Others almost always assurepleasant weather.

Cumulus clouds are the soft , f luffy-looking puffs commonly seen floating inthe sky. They may be numerous but theyare relat ively small, usually occurringjust after a storm or in fair weather.

On the other hand, in hot humidweather a similar cloud, the Cumulo-n im bus o r t hunde rheads com m on lyfo rm. These towe ring jagged clouds dropvast amounts of rain in a small area.Should they begin to form it 's best toleave the area, preferably by a highground route because flash floods arecommon after they drop their ra in .

Ci r rus c louds , som e t im es ca l l ed"mare's- ta i ls , " are fast -moving high al-titude clouds composed of ice crystals. Ifa steady stream of these clouds are mov-ing across the sky it 's almost always anindicat ion that rain clouds such as Nim-bos t ra t us o r A l t os t r a t us c louds w i l lfo l low.

Altocumulus clouds stretched across34 Desert/May 1978


35/48

the sky is another sign of rain on theway. These are the clouds in the"mackerel sky" proverb.

Wind direction can often indicatepleasant or foul weather. A west windgenerally brings fair weather, but windwhistling up from the south and east atthe least usually means a change inwi .ither and often a dramatic change forthe worse. North winds on the otherhind are legendary for bringing intensecold arctic air to the southern regions. Inthe summer these winds can push rain-he ivy clouds into an area, rapidly.

Ml the methods of predicting weatherdon't rely on the sense of sight or touch.Pi ;ons with arthritis or gout can oftenp diet with reasonable accuracy ifcloudy weather is going to bring rain orisn't. The pain in their joints increases asthe low pressure of a storm front beginsto move in. Odors are usually strongerbHore a storm because of lower airp re s s ure , too.

Of course none of these methods ofpredicting weather is perfect. It's pos-sible to read the signs correctly, makethe proper assumptions and still getcaught in a storm. Or, just as bad, stayhome when you could be out exploring,collecting or just enjoying the outdoorsin the "bad weather" that never came.

More often than not though, by study-ing the signs the day and night before anout ing, and during the day, too, you'll beable to judge what's going to happenb(- ore it does and prepareaccordingly.

CIRRUS

nimbus clouds or"thunderheads" aremassive jaggedclouds that usuallyproduce cloud burstsand heavy but shortduration rain. Strato-cumulus clouds andStratus clouds are ty-pical rain clouds.Photos courtesy of theNational WeatherService, Washington,D.C.

CUMULUS

De- .rt/May 1978 35


36/48

G H O S T S by HOWAR D NEALD a y t o n , N e v a d a

()/dpho togra phs of Dayton's scho ol house, built in 1865 , show it with an open bell tower, an d\ vithout the small, w hite, add ition to the front of the building.36

Following the discovery ofgold in California, an almostcontinuous stream ofemigrants moved westacross the Am ericancontinent.

One of the most p opularpaths, one of the severalroutes known as theCal i fornia Tra i l , took thepioneers west from the GreatSalt Lake, throug h theburn ing deserts of easternNevad a, to the banks of theCarson River. The wagontrains then followed the r iverto the lush Carson Valley andon throu gh the treacherouspasses of the Sierra NevadaMountains to California'sMother Lode.

A num ber of trading postswere established along thet ra i l . One of these , at the baseof the eastern Sierra slope,was Genoa. It becameNevada's f irst sett lement.Another was started as asingle tent on the north shoreof the Carson River. Itslocation was not far from thespot where g old was f irstdiscovered in what was thenknown as western U tah. I twas later to be namedDayton.

It is said that Dayton'sf irst permanent structurewas built in 1850. In anyeven t, in 1858 a small townwas created. I t was f irstknown as Chinatown becauseof the many Chinese who hadsettled there to pan for goldin the nearby streams.

Chinatown was a smallhamlet when the fabulousComstock Lode wasdiscovered in 1859. Thediscovery w as less than 10

Desert/May 1978


37/48

miles to the no rth. Theimpact was quick. The townA as virtua lly abandoned asits p opu lat ion, almost as one,moved the few m iles to theslopes of Mo un t Davidson .

The community surv ived,though, and grew ag ain. Themigrat ion had reversed itselfand Californians weremoving east to the site ofNevada's great si lverdiscovery. As it prospered ,Dayton became its real, an df inal, name.

Dayton was in the r ig htplace. On the edge of a r iver,in a pleasant va lley, it was ina good location to be a milltown . I t was just a few milesf rom the Virginia City mines,and it was on the m ainfi >ight route from th e east to( i l i fornia.

Dayton became atr insportat ion, commercialand mil l ing center for themines and miners of theC o m s t o c k .

A dozen mil ls were built atD lyton to process the silverand gold mined from theslopes of Mou nt Da vidson.Mil l ions of dollars worth of

silver were sh ipped east andwest from the smallcomm unity on the CarsonRiver. The town became thesite of one of the relaystat ions of the fame d, butshort- l ived, Pony Express,and in 1861 was nam edCounty Seat of Lyon Countyin the new Nevada Te rritory.In 1865 Dayton'spopulation reached its peak.Twenty-f ive hundred peoplecalled Dayton home.

It mig ht be said that as theComstock w ent, so wentDay ton. As th e 1860s cameto a close minin g act ivity onMount Davidson had slowed,and Dayton's populat ion haddeclined. D ayton, againthough, found itself in theright place. The righ t place,this t ime , was near the lowerend of the Sutro Tu nn el.Adolph Sutro's engineeringmasterpiece was designed todrain the searing water fromthe depths of the Comstockmines to the lower elevationof the Carson River. Between1872 and 1878 D aytonboomed again as the tun nelwas under construct ion. B ut,

A ride on a fifty-year-old fire engine, w hichonce served Silver City, Nevada , wa s one of the

attractions during the 1977 celebration of Santa Maria Dayat Dayton. Photographs by Howard Neal.

the tunnel came too late andneither the mines of Virg iniaCity, nor D ayton, reachedtheir former pinnacle.

Today, Dayton is onceagain a quiet hamlet of a fewhundre d people on the n orthbank of the Carson River.Min ing a ct iv i ty cont inuedunt i l Wo r ld Wa r I I , on asma ll scale, but the days of

gold and silver have passed.Sti l l , though , many oldbuildings and ruins remainin what a sign on theoutskirts of the communityproclaim as "Nevad a'sOldest Ghost Town."

Dayton is located on U.S.Highw ay 50, 12 milesnortheast of Carson City,Nevada.

The DaytonCemetery is

on a high hilli overlooking

the town andNevada 's

CarsonRiver. Not

I ir away areMount

Davidson,VirginiaCity and

theComstock

mines.Deiott /May 1978


38/48

N 0 . 1 8 I N A S E R I E S 0 NC ALIFORN IA PALM OASES

byDICKBLOOMQUIST

S ET IN A LITTLE stair-step gully andblanched sedimentary hil ls, FourPalm Spring is one of the largestw; terholes in the arid Borrego Badlands.Diir ing wet years or after storms, thisp c lm- f r i n g e d n a tu ra l s t a i rw a y mu s tin leed be a pleasant spot, w ith a pool inevery "t read" and a r ibbon of fa l l ingwii ter in every "r iser." On my most re-ce>it visit I found water on two levels,m ist of it concentrated in a pool 10 feetloi ig, three feet w ide , and tw o feet deepat the gully's lower end. The ooze bor-dering the basin revealed scores ofco/ote tracks, and droppings consistingwl iolly of Washingtonia berries indicatedel coyote's high regard for the small,bl ickish fruit of the palm after it ripensard falls in the autumn months.

Six palms and one dead trun k stand byth ' brackish spring; four additional treesgr >w a short distance away to the southand west. The largest ones up to 30fe (t ta l l , with pitted, burnt, slightly benttn inks over two feet in diameter beart h ! marks of wind and f ire.

Sandstone concretions crowd many ofth i mud hills at Four Palm Spring, andor a previous trip I picked up a duskychip of petrified wood nearby. Off to thenc rtheas t the Salton Sea spreads its co-bclt waters.

The oasis is located on the easternedge of the Borrego Badlands. Accord-ing to the most restricted definit ion, thete m "Badlands" should be applied onlyto the sunblasted hills and serpentine31

Four Palm Springin the Borrego

Badlands.Pencil sketch

by author.arroyos in the vicinity of Font's Pointseveral miles to the west in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park; some mapscall part of this region the "CaliforniaPainted Desert." Most definit ions, how-ever, take in the bulk of the land bound-ed by the Santa Rosa Mountains on the

Mileage Log0.0 Junction of State Highway 86 andImperial County Road S22 (Borrego-Salton Seaway) on west side of Sal-ton Sea. Drive west toward BorregoSprings on S22.4.0 Junction with North Marina Drive(graded dirt). Turn right.4.2 Junction. Turn left on dirt road.

Note : Road not maintained beyondthis point. Depending on road con-ditions, drivers of passenger carsmay wish to park here and walk theremaining distance to the palms.4.5 Junction. Turn left on dirt road.4.6 Junction . Turn right on dirt road.5.0 Four Palm Sprin g. Elevation ap-proximately 200 feet above sealevel.

north, Borrego Valley on the west,Highw ay 86 on the east, and High way 78on the south.

Until recently Four Palm enjoyedgreater seclusion than it does today.Only a few prospectors and desert rats,

drawn by its water and shade, knew itthen men like the late Henry E.W.Wilson, who roamed the Badlands offand on for more than half a century inquest of the fabled Lost Pegleg gold.Now a pole line skirts the oasis on its wayto a microwave relay station on the Im-perial-San Diego County line, and a dirtroad reaches the waterhole from thesouth.

A few hundred yards north of FourPalm Spring, and well hidden by thecradling arms of a low mesa, there is an-other tiny grove, this one containing fiveWashingtonias. The lack of surfacewater and the many fallen trunks indi-cate that this cluster has seen betterdays. A final palm grows on the f lat-lands nearby, m aking a total of 16 livi ngtrees at Four Palm Spring and vicinity.The mesa just mentioned also provides agood vantage point from which to sur-vey Palm W ash , less than one mile to thenorth.

From Four Palm Spring our deserttrail wil l continue southward into theBadlands to Lone Palm in Arroyo Salado.Al though, with a single tree, it is thesmallest possible oasis, it neverthelessoffers abundant geological and archeo-logical interes t.

Des ert/May 1978


39/48

Wh e n Paul W. Heasley, of Pasadena,California, developed this photo of Win-dow Rock, Arizona, he discovered an In-dian and his horse were hidden in theprint. Can you spot them? If so, drop acard or letter, stating their location, to:

Photo Quiz,P.O. Box 1318Palm Desert, California 92260

The firs t correct answer w ill receive a$10.00 check.

MOTORLODGEjhway 1 Indian Wells, California92260

F irs t P has e o f O u r R e m o d e l i ngP ro g ram No w C o m p le t e d

THE DESERT'SMOST FAMOUS BISTRO346-2314

Detart/May 1978 39


40/48

Jerky*on the

Desert?

by STELLA HUGHES

CHARQ UI IS a Mexican word meaningdried meat. You probably won't f indit in your modern Spanish dictionary,so don 't bother to look. Anglos corrup ted

the word into jerky.Jerked meat is simply strips of beef or

venison dried in the sun or smoked. Inthe early days jerky was a staple articleof diet among Mexicans, Indians andTexas settlers. Among Mexicans of theSouthwest it was known as tasajo an dcame asada or carne seca. The Indiansused dried meat, suet and berries inmaking pemmican.

There are several ways of makingjerky and some of them aren't practicaland others downright silly. I' ll dispensewith all ways of drying meat except theone method best suited for our South-west, and that is sun-drying. Sun-driedbeef or venison is far superior to anyever smoke d, or of that baked at very lowheat in modern gas or electric ovens.

Any lean meat can be jerked. Theleaner the better. However, if you do usemeat with excess fat, simply trim it off.Fat will become rancid in a short wh ile sois undesirable when making jerky.

Cut the meat in thin strips from six totwelve inches long. Little short piecesare hard to hang on wires to dry. Thestrips should be th in . About an inch wideby a half inch thick is fine.

Now, I've never read a recipe for mak-ing jerky that did n't say to cut meat withthe grain. I've been guilty of the samefallacy, as in my book, Chuck WagonCookin', I gave instruct ions, " . . . cutwith grain of meat, if possible." Wel l ,cutting with grain of meat is a bunch ofhooey! All the oldtimers I've questionedabout this shook their heads and said, " Ialways just cut 'er in strips. Didn't payno mind which-a-way I was cutt in' . Justso 1 got 'er off the bone neat and clean. Iexpect some of it was cut with the grain,but the rest was likely cut slant-wise andcross-wise. Don't make no difference faras I'm concerned. It all dried and madederned good eat in ' . "

Just what I thought! I've made jerkyby cutting as much of the meat againstthe grain as possible and found the re-

40 Des ert/May 1978


41/48

After the meat hasbeen salted and seasoned to

taste, the strips are hungon wires to dry.

suits easier to pound into flakes, easierto (hew an d a lot less str ingy w hen add-ed to beans or soup. So you just go rightahc .id and cut your meat into long stripsand forget all about the grain.

Another thing, lots of the old recipesgive instruct ions to dip the meat inbrine. Some say hot and say say cold.For et all about preparing any brine andsimply salt the strips of meat as you cutthem, using about one teaspoon of saltfor one long strip. Lay the meat in a panunti l you have all you intend to jerk. Ilike to use coarse ground black pepperon mine. Some like red chil i powder ontheirs, while others might add a l i t t legailic salt. I 've seen a few people use adrop or so of l iquid "s m ok e" on theirjerky. Do what ever you l ike, but salt isthe only seasoning that is essential.

I >rain any liquid from the pan, as saltdr. iws the juices from the me at. Don 't letthe meat set for a long period of t ime,bul hang on wires in the sun as soon asyou can. A clothes line is a fine place tojei-l- meat, or any thin wire high enoughso < ats and dogs can't reach it. Just besure it doesn 't get wet. In the Southwestit ' | safe to dry jerky ou tside a good manymonths of the year, and summer andearly fall are the best t imes. The meatwil l be jerked in about ten days, twoweeks at the most, durin g hot w eather.

I t you are a worry -wart about f l ies, andafi. i id some of the black specks mightnot all be pepper, you better jerk yourmeat on a screened porch or on dryingracks made of screen and covered withcheese cloth or mosquito nett ing. Oldscreen doors laid across saw-horses aregood. However, theoldt ime rs knew whatthey were doing. Salt and pepper repelsflicks, and meat put in the full sun withplenty of air to help drying is best.

II it is during the rainy season and youwan t to play safe, dryin g meat in a shedor barn is f ine. Under your carport orgar ige is O .K. J ust remem ber cellars orbasements are not at all suitable. Meatwil l mildew in a damp place and beruined.

When the meat is as dark as old shoeD e n . i t / M a y 1 9 7 8

leather and all moisture has dried out,jerky is ready to use. Be sure to store in adry place. Do n't store in a container thatmigh t collect moisture. I l ike to store myjerky in flour sacks or old pillow caseshung from the rafter in our store room.Be sure mice, weevils or ants can 't ge t toit . Jerked meat wil l keep indefinitely andage just doesn't affect it.

There are several ways to use jerky be-sides munching on it just the way itcomes from the drying l ine. The mostpopular is jerky gravy.

J erky Gravy (Serves 4)Take about a quart of jerky and pound

it with a wooden mallet or plain clawhammer. Use a hard surface such as ananvil or a good meat board. Pound intof lakes, removing any rancid fat orstr ingy f ibers. Then put the f laked jerkyin hot fat in a heavy iron skillet or Dutchoven. Use several tablespoonfuls ofbacon fryings. Let the meat brown in thefat for a few m oments, then add f lou r.Stir to remove any lumps until itbecomes a l ight brown, then add milk,st irr ing all the while. I f too thick, addmore milk. If too th in , you're in t rouble.I t 's not easy to add more f lour withoutmaking gravy lumpy. One way is to st irsome f lour in a cup of tepid water, justenough to make a thin paste. Ad d slowlyto cooking gravy, st irr ing constantly.

You may need to add some more salt ifjerky is not salty enough to flavor gravy.A

197805 Desert Magazine 1978 May

Documents