THE

-

. .

.'

JULY, 1938

"V-

25 CENTS

IMPERIAL ELECTRICEl Centro, Calif.

W. W. CASSELLTucson, Arizona

A. C. MEYERLancaster, Calif.

BANNING ELECTRICBanning, Calif.

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.

10.

V A L U A B L E F E A T U R E S

Large CapacityLow Operating CostCarefully EngineeredG. E. Aphonic CirculatorLong Life G. E. MotorDurable ConstructionNeat AppearanceFilters Easily ReplacedProven Efficient DesignEasily and Quickly Installed

Evaporative AIR COOLERSThe C-AIR Evaporative Cooler is theresult of years of active research inthe field of low priced cooling. C-AIRis the first popular priced unit to util-ize the famous G. E. Aphonic AirCirculator—quiet, large volume airdelivery for less electric cost. It canbe purchased in a number of sizes.The C-Air Evaporative cooler canbe obtained with large capacityblowers as well.

« O N DISPLAY AT »

PATTEN SHEETMETAL WORKSFresno, Calif.

BEAUMONT RADIOELECTRIC CO.

Beaumont, Calif.

GENERAL AIR COND. CO.Reno, Nevada

MILLS FURNITURE CO.Barstow, Calif.

GENERAL AIR COND. CO.Sacramento, Calif.

R. A. BAKERIndio and Hemet, Calif.

MANUFACTURED BY

AIR CONDITIONING COMPANY1510 S. Los Angeles Street

Los Angeles, Calif.

PLEASE SEND MEFURTHER INFORMATIONNAME

ADDRESS

CITY OR STATE

ENJOY

COOLCOMFORT

This SummerWith an Evaporative Cooler

Equipped with a

6 Reasons Why They Are Better1. Low current consumption and high efficien-

cies make them economical to operate.

2. Low in first cost and easy to install.

3. Large and effective cooling capacity—actualtests show from 15 to 25 degrees drop intemperature without increasing the humiditybeyond comfort point.

4. Especially designed for evaporative coolers—motors are totally-enclosed, have ball-thrustbearings, and windings are especially treatedto withstand evaporative cooler operatingconditions.

5. Ultra-quiet in operation—motors are rubber-mounted.

6. Only the finest materials and parts are usedin their manufacture.

WRITE US FOR NAME OF NEAREST DEALER A N D DESCRIPTIVE FOLDER

Illustrated above. Wagner three-speed, 4,000 cubic feet size, type19% K3, evaporative cooling fanunit. Price $55.00. Other mod-els as low as $18.25.

£aLEl£<ffocX^1240 S. Hope Street Los Angeles, Calif.

CREED OF THE DESERTBy JUNE LE MERT PAXTON

Nature is Love; and ceaselesslyShe works both day and nightTo heal the scars on her children,Or repair the damage of blight.

JUNE 26—De Vargas Memorial Pro-cession of Our Lady of Victory,Santa Fe, New Mexico.

JULY 1 - 6—Ninth annual exhibit ofHopi arts and crafts at Museum ofNorthern Arizona, Flagstaff.

JULY 1 - 4—Frontier Days rodeo atPrescott, Arizona.

JULY 2 - 4—Fifth annual rodeo spon-sored by chamber of commerce, Sil-ver City, New Mexico. Johnnie Mul-lens, director.

JULY 2 - 4—Cavern City Cavalcade, ro-deo, at Carlsbad, New Mexico.

JULY 2 - 4—Annual Indian Powwowat Flagstaff, Arizona. A. A. Johns,general chairman.

JULY 2 - 4—Rodeo at Pecos, Texas.JULY 4—Annual rodeo at Julian, Cali-

fornia.JULY 14—Anniversary of that day in

1847 when Brigham Young stood atthe mouth of Immigration canyon andsaid "This is the place."

JULY 1 4 - 1 6 — 2 8 t h annual SnakeRiver Stampede at Nampa, Idaho.

JULY 16-31 — Pencil drawings andblock prints by Ernest W. Watson tobe exhibited at Museum of NorthernArizona, Flagstaff.

JULY 16—Annual festival featuring"Ruy Bias" by Victor Hugo at Cen-tral City Opera House in Gallup,New Mexico.

JULY 19 - 21—Pioneer day program atOgden, Utah.

JULY 21-25—Covered Wagon Daysrodeo at Salt Lake City, Utah.

JULY 22 - 25—Horse show at Ogden,Utah. Old time western parade July23-25.

JULY 26 to AUG. 6—Festival of Art,including desert paintings at LagunaBeach, Calif.

HILTON'SArt and Gem ShopJohn \V. Hilton, Owner

You are invited to stop and seeour 40-foot wall of semi-preciousgems and minerals.

Desert Paintings—CactusGems—Pottery

Cutting and PolishingHIGHWAY 99

Across from Valerie Jean Date ShopP. O. Address, Thermal, Calif.

Vol. I JULY, 1938 No. 9

COVER

CALENDARPHOTOGRAPHYLETTERSTRAVELOG

NATURE

INDIANS

POETRYTRAVELOG

WEATHERCRAFTS

CAMERA ART

PERSONALITY

HOBBY

PRIZESFICTION

NEWSPLACE NAMESLANDMARKSMININGCONTRIBUTORSTALL TALESBOOKS

PUBLIC LANDCOMMENT

Grand CanyonPhoto by NORMAN G. WALLACE

July events on the desertPrize contest winnerFrom readers of the Desert Magazine . .Graveyard of the Gods

By CHARLES KELLYIronwood

By DON ADMIRALPowwow

By OREN ARNOLD"The Prospector" and other poems . . .Toro Is Taboo

By RANDALL HENDERSONReports of MeteorologistsIndian Jewelry—Genuine and Imitation

By JOHN W. HILTON"Feel" of the Desert

Photo by W. M. PENNINGTON . . . .Henry Chee Dodge, Navajo

By MRS. WHITE MOUNTAIN SMITH . .Craftsman of the Joshua Forest

By E. J. VAN NAMEAmateur photographers' contest . . . .Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley

By LON GARRISONHere and There on the DesertCompiled by TRACY M. SCOTT . . . .Prize contest announcementBrief notes of desert mine operationsWriters of the DesertPrizes to story tellersReviews of past and present books of

the desertNew bill offers homesite opportunities . .Just Between You and Me—by the Editor

123

4

7

811

1214

15

17

18

2124

2526283132

. 33

. 33

, 34

. 35

. 36

The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Publishing Company, 597State Street, El Centro, California. Entered as second class matter October 11, 1937 at thepost office at El Centro, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879.

Title registered No. 402,937 in U. S. Patent Office, and contents copyrighted 1938 bythe Desert Publishing Company. Permission to reproduce contents must be secured fromthe editor in writing. Subscription rate $2.50 per year in U. S. A. or possessions. Singlecopy 25 cents.

RANDALL HENDERSON, EditorTAZEWELL H. LAMB, Associate Editor

J. WILSON McKENNEY, Business ManagerNational advertising representatives: S. H. WILLIAMS & CO., INC.: Los Angeles,

Western Pacific Bldg.; San Francisco, 220 Montgomery St.; Chicago, Wrigley Bldg.; NewYork, 507 Fifth Ave.

Staff representatives: Los Angeles, JOHN C. PUTMAN, Phone FEderal 9496; Phoenix,Stephen C. Shadegg, 14 E. Culver St.; Palm Springs, Don Admiral, Desert Museum.

Manuscripts and photographs submitted must be accompanied by full return postage.The Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility for damage or loss of manuscripts or photo-graphs although due care will be exercised for their safety. Subscribers should send noticeof change of address to the circulation department by the fifth of the month preceding issue.

JULY, 1938

(Lake Mead)

By WELDON F. HEALD"Los Arboles" — Rubio Canyon

Altadena, CaliforniaThis photo was awarded first prize in the May

amateur photographers' contest conducted by theDesert Magazine. The view was taken at 3:30 p. m.January 15, 1938, with a FECA camera, SchneiderF 13.5 cm lens, time 1/25 second, stop f4.5, WrattanA 25 red filter, panchromatic film pack.

In addition to the prize winning pictures in theMay contest, the judges wish to commend the fol-lowing entries for special merit:"Prickly Pear Blossom"

By George Clayton, 721 Loma Vista Drive,Long Beach, Calif.

"Sand Dune"By Arthur Buckwater, 562 Eighth Ave,,

Upland, Calif."Mammillaria Blossom"

By Mary Beal, Daggett, Calif.The DESERT MAGAZINE

n

o .Los Angeles, California.

My dear Editor:Now you have started something I would like to finish. Un-

der the caption "Desert Place Names" in the June number,you are all wet as far as the reference to the town of Juliangoes.

The first settlement in the little valley now known as Julianwas made in the fall of 1869 by D. D. and J. O. Bailey andMike and Web Julian.

The first gold-bearing quartz ledge was discovered in Feb-ruary 1870. A mining district was formed in March the sameyear with Mike Julian as recorder. The district was namedJulian in honor of the first recorder.

The town of Julian was founded by D. D. Bailey in 1871.The survey was made by J. L. Mclntyre. When asked whyhe didn't name the town Bailey, D. D. replied: "Mike wasthe best looking."

Julian was not on the old emigrant trail, nor was it on theButterfield or Jackass mail route.

For years I have tried in vain to locate the Julian ranch re-ferred to as being on the Jackass mail route between Yumaand San Diego. If you have any reliable information on thatsubject I would really appreciate it. I was owner and pub-lisher of the Julian Sentinel for five years—the only newspa-per ever published in the Julian mining camp.

James A. Jasper.• • •

Yermo, Mojave Desert.Editor "Desert:"

Have just finished reading from "cover to cover" the Juneissue and on page 36 found a surprising question. You askto know the name of the fruit of cactus.

I thought it was as well known as Hollywood.The name is TUNA, and I have only once heard a west-

erner call it anything else and had to ask her what was meantthen. She called it a "prickly pear."

I am not sure but I believe the name Tuna is Indian,though it may be Mexican. Once I heard it argued that itwas called Tuna because the fruit resembled fish, but the wordis not fish in any language that I know of.

There is no more connection between Tuna (fruit) andTuna (fish) than there is between Swallow (bird) and Swal-low (the act).

Elmo Proctor.• • •

Glenn Ranch, California.Dear Randall:

Again it is to say that your poetry page in the May issue isthe best to be found in any American magazine.

"The Desert Goes To Rest," by Mr. Jeff Worth is veryfine poetry.

You are fortunate to have contributions from E. A. Brinin-stool, but he can write much better poetry than "My DesertFastness," though that is nice work.

D. Maitland Bushby deserves considerable credit for "HellTooter Annie," and if he can do so well with such a subject,I'd love to see what he could do with "The Afterglow,"which to many desert lovers is the most beautiful thing theyever see in the desert.

Again, congratulations, from theBack Seat Driver.

Blacks Canyon, Mojave Desert.Dear Mr. Henderson:

I have been readin your magazine since I found the firstnumber in a drug store in Barstow, and I must say I haveliked it fine. I am not much of a hand at criticizen but I thinkyou want to print the truth about the Desert, so here goes.

That feller who wrote the article about desert turtles wasplumb wrong about the desert sun holdin no terrors for thiscreature. I had a friend onct that caught one and put it outin the sun in a box temporary like and when he came back inabout an hour it was as dead as all get out. He was wrongtoo about their layin eggs in a shallow pit and coverin themup with sand. I have watched them and they lay in a hole inthe bottom of their burrow a good foot under the ground andat least two feet back from the entrance. They would plumbcook in the 90 days it takes them to hatch if they were nearthe surface.

I recollect some one brought a parrot into our mining camponct and they named him Jack. Well you wouldn't hardlybelieve it but this here parrot layed an egg on the bottom ofhis cage so they renamed her Jill. Now this occurance thomighty interestin to us desert folks didn't prove a thing aboutthe natural habits of parrots. Im afraid this feller has studiedhis Agazzies or whatever he calls em in the same back yardwhere that picture was taken instead of out on the desert.

Your faithful reader,Shoshone Gus.

• • •La Mesa, California.

Dear Editor:Here is a bit of information about the fruit of the cactus

given to me by an Indian whose ancestors were desert people.The Mexicans sometimes call this fruit Indian fig, or theMexican word is Tuna. The Indian people gather the fruitby way of two pieces of wood made to form a tweezer orpincher. These two sticks are used chopstick fashion to liftthe tuna off the main plant to be placed on the ground. Nowa brush is fashioned from a weed which grows in the vicinitywhere cactus is found. This weed is sometimes called tarweed, and is used to brush the "splinters" off the fruit whichcan then be rolled on the ground until they are all off. If theydo not come off easily the fruit is not ready to eat, but if theydo the fruit is now ready to be peeled and tasted, and oh, sorare a treat awaits the taster.

In hope this information will suffice till you come upon abetter method.

U. Lucas.

Dear Editors:Orange, New Jersey.

Just a line to express my appreciation and to say how luckyI was to receive, as a birthday gift from a friend of mine liv-ing in Las Vegas, Nevada, a subscription to The Desert, in-cluding the back issues. How much I am enjoying this maga-zine need not be emphasized for from all the correspondenceyou receive you must be aware of its popularity.

After reading every space in the issues I am taking them tothe Public Library so others here in the East may know andenjoy reading something of the loveliness and mysteries ofthe desert with its enchantment which to many means a bar-ren waste land.

I love it and only those who have spent some time on theglorious desert know and miss its charm when obliged to livein the East.

Best wishes for continued success.Elsa E. Livingston.

J U L Y , 1 9 3

oj\ the CfoJ.5By CHARLES KELLY

Some day probably UncleSam will make a national play-ground of Monument Valleyalong the Arizona-Utah border.In the meantime Harry and"Mike" Goulding who operate alittle trading post in the area,have assumed a voluntaryguardianship over this fantasticdesert retreat. Here is a storyabout a region few Americansever have visited.

•"7 UST after sundown on a memor-V / able evening last summer six of us

fl~ —all desert fans—arrived at a re-mote trading post at the base of a

1000-foot cliff in southern Utah, a fewmiles north of the Arizona line. We cameby appointment from places separated bynearly a thousand miles.

But it is worth such a trip to sit on thefront veranda of the home of HarryGoulding and his pretty wife "Mike"who operate the post, and look acrossMonument Valley where huge monolithsin weird formation look for all the worldlike the tombstones of a race of forgottengods.

They are typically western hosts, theseGouldings. From their door it is 200miles southwest to the nearest railroad atFlagstaff, Arizona, and about the same

distance to the north is Thompson, Utah,with wide spans of desert sand along theway in either direction. It is said theGoulding home is farther from a steamlocomotive than any other white man'shabitation between the Atlantic and Pa-cific oceans, from Canada to Mexico.

Harry Goulding, about 35 years old, isa typical cowboy in looks and disposition.His wife, whose nickname fits her like aglove, still appears to be around 18. Theycame to the valley 12 years ago andstarted trading with the Indians in a tent.Today they have a comfortable homewith running water, tiled bathroom, elec-tric refrigeration and lights.

"How do you like our new road?"asked Harry.

"Some difference," I replied, "com-pared to what it was when I first saw it

-•£%,.. 1i,.. . ^ i s i

^J.'7n.. .

The DESERT MAGAZINE

nine years ago. What have you donewith the sand?"

"Covered it with crushed shale. Youcan drive anywhere now without gettingstuck. Wait till tomorrow and I'll showyou a lot of new roads I have built allthrough the monuments. You can drivenow to all the places you once visited onhorseback."

"Do you mean I can drive to the To-tem Pole?" I asked incredulously.

"Almost to the foot of it," grinnedHarry.

I had first seen that country from theback of a Navajo pony, and didn't believea road would ever be built to what I con-sider the most spectacular scenic spot inthe entire West. But next day my hostmade good by loading us into his dough-nut-tired car and driving us over a mazeof trails between and around the tower-ing monoliths which give the valley itsname. At every turn I recognized scenesI had viewed on the previous trip onlyafter many hours and days of weary plod-ding through deep sand.

Although we were now traveling withspeed and comfort, I could not forget thethrill of that earlier visit when I saw themonuments for the first time. About 16years ago the National Geographic Mag-azine published a series of photographstaken in Monument Valley by the geo-logical survey, probably the first to ap-pear in print. The scenes reproduced wereso unusual, so weird, so mysteriously fas-cinating that I determined to visit thevalley at the first opportunity. Five yearspassed before I was able to start for theenchanted spot in an old Model T Ford,with plenty of spare parts, a full kit oftools, grub for two weeks, 15 gallons ofwater, six dozen rolls of film — and afriend to help shovel sand and push onsteep grades. It took us three days tocover 400 miles and we spent eight hoursin the last 25 miles of deep sand.

We had expected to find a section ofdesert as dry and dead as the moon. Toour surprise we passed several hogans ofshy Navajos, and near sundown could notbelieve our eyes when we saw a stonehouse perched high on a red sandstonecliff. Pushing up the steep dugway wewere met by the Gouldings. Our surpriseat finding them was matched by the wel-come they gave us.

That evening we learned somethingabout our hosts. They had come to thevalley 18 months before, and lived in atent while building their stone house andtrading post. The Indians still call theplace "Tent Water." Harry was practi-cally born in a saddle and probably neverowned a suit of "store clothes." How hehappened to meet "Mike" is a story Inever heard, but it was a lucky day forMonument Valley when they met andstill luckier when they decided to make ittheir home.

The post is built on a ledge at the footof a perpendicular red sandstone cliff1,000 feet high, in one of the most pic-turesque settings to be found in a landfull of scenic surprises. The world ishereby challenged to produce a moremagnificent panorama than that whichgreets the eye from the Gouldings frontveranda. Orange sands stretch away ina wide sweep to a line of gigantic naturalsandstone monuments silhouetted againstthe sky ten miles distant. Perfectly pro-portioned monoliths, with perpendicularfaces, eroded from a single stratum of redsandstone, stand like giant tombstonesmarking the burial place of the gods of

bygone ages. At sunrise and sunset themonuments are illuminated by blazes ofindescribable desert color, never twice thesame. Set on a flat desert those groupsof 100-foot obelisks present a weirdscenic effect. They hold a curious fas-cination never to be forgotten by one whohas seen them.

Harry and Mike, with that gorgeousspectacle constantly in view, have neverlost their enthusiasm for this strangelandscape. Their appreciation of its mys-tic beauty has increased with years. Al-though they have to truck in all suppliesfrom Flagstaff, Arizona, or Thompson,Utah, each 200 miles distant, they have

Harry Goulding (left) xvith Mrs. Goulding and her brother Paul Knee, attheir Monument Valley trading post. It was necessary to blast a hole m sand-stone to provide rooting ground for this cottomvood tree.

JULY, 193

no desire to live elsewhere. Occasionallythey make the long trek to the railroadfor a visit outside—and soon become im-patient to return to their Monument Val-ley castle.

The visitor wonders how human beingscan find a livelihood on such a desert.The fact is that Monument Valley sup-ports a number of Navajo families, eachwith its flock of sheep and goats. TheseIndians, far remote from the white man'scivilization, have a purer form of nativeculture perhaps than any other group inthe Southwest. A majority of them aredescendants of Chief Hoskaninni's bandof "irreconcilables" who fled to the valleyin the early '60s and for 30 years hadno contact whatever with white men.Many prospectors, hunting for the lostPishlaki silver mine, where Hoskaninniobtained nearly pure silver for ornamentsand jewelry, never returned from theirquest. Merrick and Mitchell were killedin the valley and two of the monumentshave been named in their memory. Hos-kaninni Begay, son of the old Chief, stilllives in the valley which his father onceowned, and was an eyewitness to thedeath of the two prospectors. Old Hos-kaninni and his brave band of warriorsnever surrendered to the white soldiers,but the descendants of his band, although

Two of the many odd formationsto be found in Monument Valleyare shown in this picture.

shy and secretive, are friendly enough tothose who come in an attitude of friend-liness. The Gouldings both speak Nava-jo fluently and enjoy the confidence oftheir Indian neighbors. To their post theNavajos bring wool to trade for sugar,coffee, flour and occasional luxuries.Even the purchase of a can of peachesmay consume half a day—but in Monu-ment Valley time has no meaning.

Believing that the district would even-tually attract many desert lovers, HarryGoulding has built miles of road throughthe beauty spots of this valley. He hasalso assisted in constructing a good coun-ty highway from Bluff to Kayenta, con-necting with government highways to thenorth and south. He built a few cabinsfor the accommodation of travelers andinstalled modern conveniences in hishome. But the traveling public seldomhears of this once inaccessible valley andcomparatively few visitors have ever seenit. Harry's cabins are usually occupied

• by personal friends of the Gouldings andthey have many of them in the great des-ert domain between Salt Lake City andSanta Fe.

Perhaps some day the federal govern-ment will make a national park ofMonument Valley. When that time comesmuch of the credit for the pioneeringwork in the vast new national playgroundwill be due to Harry and Mike Goulding—who are today serving as voluntaryguardians for this remote scenic outpost.

NORTH RIM MONUMENTNOT TO BE ABOLISHED

A bill introduced in the present sessionof congress to abolish Grand Canyon Na-tional monument on the north rim af thecanyon at Tuweep, Arizona, is not to bepressed for passage according to the state-ment of Senator Carl Hayden.

The original proposal was that 150,000acres of the present monument be return-ed to public domain, and the remaining130,000 acres added to the Grand Can-yon National park, which is a separaterecreational area from the monument.

Introduction of the bill immediatelystirred a controversy between residents ofthe north and south sides of the canyon,and Hayden decided that in order to pre-vent further ill feeling the bill should beallowed to die.

The DESERT MAGAZINE

The accompanying picture wonsecond prize in the May photo-graphic contest of the DesertMagazine. It was taken with a4x5 Korona View camera on XFPan film, exposure 1/10 second,

Photo by

EMIL EGERYuma, Arizona

W

7eapons

ian.5

Text by

DON ADMIRAL

/OMPLY equipped by nature to pro-I jtect itself against the foes of desert

vegetation, the Ironwood finds acongenial home in the desert arroyos andwater courses. Its healthy self-sufficiencyis disclosed in an abundant crop of leaveswhich gather nourishment for the treeand provide welcome shade for the deserttraveler.

As the name implies, the wood isheavy and hard, especially when dry. Itmade excellent weapon material for thedesert Indians, and relics recovered fromcaves where they had remained unusedfor long periods, show little deteriora-tion. One such weapon I recall wasshaped somewhat like an overgrown po-tato masher, and I judge it was a very ef-fective skull-crusher.

The beans which grow on the tree werea substantial source of food for the In-dians, being roasted and ground intomeal.

Scientifically, Ironwood is Olneya te-sota. The genus name Olneya is in honorof S. T. Olneya, a Rhode Island botanist.The species name is from Spanish, mean-ing hardness. In Mexico the tree iscalled palo jierro.

Surprising as it seems to many persons.

the desert Ironwood is a member of thepea family. This same family also in-cludes other desert trees. Examination ofthe white blossoms, tinged with blue,will disclose the resemblance to theflower of the pea.

The tree does not carry a heavy crop ofblossoms, but is quite striking when inbloom. In Mexico it may blossom asearly as April, but farther north the flow-ering period is early summer, hence cas-ual visitors to the desert seldom see thebloom.

The Ironwood grows generally overthe Colorado desert of Southern Califor-nia, in the southern part of the Mojave,Arizona and northern Mexico.

One of the desert's most destructiveparasitic plants is the mistletoe whichsooner or later finds lodging in the vet-eran Ironwood tree and kills the branchto which it is attached. The accompany-ing photograph shows the enlargement ofthe limb caused by mistletoe.

JULY, 1938

Twelve thousand Indians from the northern Arizona tribes are expected to assembleat Flagstaff this year for the annual Powwow to be held on July 2, 3 and 4.

•

m

t i

w 1

i

1

'1

r & m

/. M

I

I

rf j in

j

' f

< •

i

t •• •

a

/

1 ^

- * * s.

**

IT

. v . t.

S3

j f :

-

111 9

j

' ^ • Jl A

* ^

. JK

Oren Arnold visited lastyear's Powwow and by acci-dent discovered that the mostrealistic part of the program isthe unscheduled performancewhich takes place out in thepine clad hills where the In-dians are camped—and not onthe stage erected by the pale-face committee. Here is an inti-mate view of one of the strang-est spectacles in America.

Josephine Jane, selected as the prettiest Navajo girl at last years Poivwow inFlagstajf

oururousBy OREN ARNOLD

AVORY odors proclaimed thesupper hour as we walked into theforest, and immediately the pines

awed us with their size and intimacy.There and there and there through the

needles we could see campfires stabbingthe twilight, enhancing the mystery andbeauty of the setting. Adele's hand clungto mine too tightly—she had been cityreared—and unconsciously we spoke inwhispers and moved on tiptoe.

Saplings to our right were so dense wecould not see through the screen theymade, but without warning from beyondthem came a resounding "OOM!"

We froze there, senses strained. Oneof the red folk, we knew, had poundedhis tom-tom. Again — "OOM - OOM!OOM-OOM!" One, then one-two, one-two, beats on a wilderness drum.

It seemed to be a signal or overture,for the rhythm changed and male voicesbegan chanting "Ah-yah-h-h yah, ah-YAH-yah," a song of the centuries, soelemental it penetrated our souls and leftindelible imprint.

Peeking with great caution we saw thatsix or eight young men had locked el-bows to form a circle and beside the firenear them squatted the drummer. Hisface was lifted, and he chanted with theothers as he beat the time, his eyes closedin rapture. He seemed somehow to roll

The DESERT MAGAZINE

back the years. Fire glow painted hisbronzed nakedness, high - lighted hischeeks, created magic shadows. Here, werealized, was theater indeed!

This was our impressive introductionto the little known Indian Powwow atFlagstaff, Arizona, an annual event ofthe first week in July. Because it is un-rehearsed, entirely genuine and natural, itis, I think, the grandest "show" in Amer-ica today. About 10,000 red folk werethere when we saw it, and nearer 12,000are expected this July, which probablywill be the biggest peace-time gatheringof Indians in history. Whole families,even entire villages including pets andother animals, will come.

We had at first no idea of the magni-tude of the Powwow. We had registeredthat night at a tiny Flagstaff hotel, thendriven to the nearby forest largely bychance.

Dancers Enlarge Circle

But as we stared at those twilight per-formers, we began to see that they wereon the edge not of a little camp area butof a large cleared field. Other formspresently came running out of the trees.The initial chanting had been a sort ofcall. Soon the circle was 50 feet or moreacross and moving constantly becausedancing had been added to the chantingand the tom-tom. Other drummers cametoo, and still more dancers to join thecircle. "Oom-oom-oom, Ah-yah, Ah-yah-yah."

By eight o'clock the dancing-chantingring was more than 100 feet across, andmore men kept coming. A blaze hadbeen lighted in the center, and half adozen drummers now pounded out therhythm. There seemed to be three or foursongs each memorized perfectly by theassembly, as if handed down through theyears (which they undoubtedly havebeen). The chanting would begin on adefinite stroke of the drums, and end—usually with a half-shouted inflection—with another and louder final beat.

By 10 o'clock the circle had doubledagain. By midnight it was still growing,and by two a. m. it was larger than abaseball field, with a great fire in thecenter, but Adele and I were too ex-hausted to stay longer. We had not eatensince noon, and we did not even remem-ber missing supper, so enthralled werewe. We returned to our hotel and wentto sleep with "Oom-oom, Ah-yah-yah"still echoing in our ears. At five a. m. Iwas aroused and heard it again, but atnine o'clock, when we got up, it hadceased.

We ate as hastily as we could, rushedback to the forest and saw the picture bydaylight, not of the dancing but of themany families who were encamped there.

Navajo Sand Painters. Photo by Frasher's.

This was the second day of the Powwow,and the white man with characteristic zealhad arranged a "program.'

It was an unimportant program—dulland stereotyped compared with the spon-taneous outburst of real Indian festivalwe had seen the night before. Therewere horse races and a series of carefullystaged acts by individual dance teams.The grandstand was full of Americanswho were being entertained not by a trueIndian powwow, but by the white man'sshowmanship. But perhaps it could nothave been otherwise.

Suspecting that still more show was tobe seen outside the fenced racetrack area,Adele and I spent the day with Lo andhis family. Let me testify, incidentally,that Lo really has a family now. "Poor Lothe Indian" needs not our sympathy, forhe is not disappearing. Apparently heknows little and cares less about birthcontrol. Subsequent statistical researchbore out what we deduced at the Pow-

wow—that the population of Indian res-ervations is on the increase.

At noon Adele and I had edged intothe good graces of a Navajo family (alittle candy and several small coinshelped) and so could sit unobtrusivelyand watch camp routine. The father hadacquired a grown ewe from a white man.He brought it to camp. His squaw kneltover the sheep so as to press it flat tothe ground. Then she took a long knifein her right hand, lifted the sheep's nosewith her left.

"UMP-QUAH!" (or so it sounded)roared an aged Indian from somewherein the background. The squaw hesitated.Two or three other old-timers camechuckling from neighboring camps, ourgrandfather placed a pan under thethroat, and the squaw applied the knife.

Then the wrinkled old men passedaround their savage cocktail, drinkingwith obvious delight.

We saw Indian fathers playing with

JULY, 19

the babies, and laughing hilariously atthe fun; which shattered in me an illu-sion ingrained since childhood—that allIndians are stolid and fierce. Thesefathers were not the scalping braves ofthe story books. They were men withhearts and souls. They had love and gen-tility, smiles and courtesy and dignity aswell.

Indians at Home in Forest

We watched a woman make the pikibread of the Hopis, which my cartoonistfriend Reg Manning calls diploma breadbecause it is paper-thin and rolled likethe scroll that students get on commence-ment day. We saw a man making ex-quisite jewelry of Mexican silver pesos.We saw four men dribbling fine coloredsand onto the ground to make theirsacred sand painting. We saw Buffaloand Eagle dancers performing for a littleknot of their own friends. We sawmothers swapping woman-talk abouttheir infant offspring. We saw at leasta dozen 'teen-age red girls as shapely andpretty as any ever turned out on thestages of Broadway.

The white citizens of Flagstaff con-ceived the idea a few years ago of invit-ing the surrounding Indians to town fora friendly barbecue. They thought may-be four or five hundred red men andwomen might come.

Actually four or five thousand showedup! In the mysterious underground tele-graph of the reservations, word of theget-together got around, even to the mostremote wickiups, pueblos and hogans.Red people who had never seen a rail-road, nor an automobile, nor a locomo-tive, much less a telephone, a radio or a

bicycle, "came to town" for the first timein their lives. Several vast reservationsare in the wilderness surrounding Flag-staff, in fact Arizona has more Indians—mostly holding to their native customsand costumes—than any other state.

Of course the whites did all they couldto entertain the redskins, but they needn'thave worried. An Indian is an artist athaving a good time if the mood strikeshim. No man, not even the southernnegro, can discard his worries more readi-ly than he. These reservation familiesneeded no help from their friend Glad-well "Tony" Richardson (who has man-aged the last three Powwows). Theycould have a good time dancing andchanting under the pines, or having a fewhorse races of their own. Sociability thereis al fresco, ad lib and de luxe.

Paradise for Souvenir HuntersWe made a few acquaintances during

the three days, and still value those con-tacts. Our photographs of JosephineJane, prettiest Navajo, are prized pagesin our travel album. Our color movingpictures of the dances, of the camps, ofthe fires and the little costumed childrenat play, of the two grown boys who hada quick fist fight over possession of arooster, all make grand "theater" of theirown, and we have since exhibited thesemovies to awed friends as far east as theEmpire State building. The rugs on ourliving room floor now, and the pots onour mantle and the bracelets on Adele'sarm, are memories of those hours of pow-wowing under the pines.

Hopi Buffalo dancers on the left,and on the right the Hopi Hoopdancing team.

Flagstaff Has Natural SettingOf course other white guests discov-

ered the nature of the Powwow, its mag-nificence in both color and size. Wecould almost see the mental mechanismsof enthusiastic Los Angeles business men,trying to figure out some way of movingthe show bodily to their metropolis.Phoenix, too, would give a left arm tohave the Indians all come down there,and so would Tucson, El Paso and Den-ver. Representatives of these cities sawevery hotel, every auto camp, every sparebedroom and even every spare cot inFlagstaff filled by white spectators lastyear, and Flagstaff is isolated in themountains 200 miles from "anywhere."It is small; three or four hundred extrapeople crowd it to the brim. Now in LosAngeles, we could ballyhoo this thingnationally and bring in a million—

But it wouldn't work that way; itcan't. Flagstaff happens to be favoredgeographically. The natural charm ofthese primitive Indian ceremonies can berevealed only in such a place as the pineclad hills of northern Arizona—never onan artificial stage set up by the Paleface.

Flagstaff chamber of com-merce through its secretary, J.D. Walkup, has announced thatafter July 1 information bureausare to be established in theMonte Vista, Weatherford andCommercial hotels as a serviceto visitors in the Flagstaff scen-ic area. This information de-partment is to be under the dir-ection of Miss Dorothy Peach.

10 The DESERT MAGAZINE

From painting by Clyde Forsythe, courtesy Biltmore Salon

DESERT SUMMERBy ELIZABETH SNOW

BLYTHE, CALIFORNIA

The desert summer days have come,The saddest of the year;

When ants and bugs begin to crawl,And flies buzz 'round my ear.

Old Sol is beaming down on earth,The snakes begin to roam;

For there is one beneath the floorOf the house we call our home.

Skeeters, they are coming too,And gnats fly through the screen;

There's spiders lurking in the cracks,And scorpions unseen.

It's good old summer time for some,But for me it's just a fight,

Because I'm going to kill that snakeBefore this very night.

DESERT LUREBy K. V. BENNIS

TEMECULA, CALIFORNIA

I like to read your magazine;It tells of places I have seenAnd other places, strange to me,That I'd just love to go and see.Bur. every now and then some guy,Not telling what it is or why,Will talk about the desert lure—•Why try to keep the thing obscure?For I might find it if I knewThe way it looks or where it grew.Sometimes I have convincing thoughtsThat they may mean the girls in "shorts.'I've seen most everything, I'm sure,Except this thing they call a "lure"But if it's girls in shorts, "by ging!"Then I know I've seen everything.

to UtiBy E. A. BRININSTOOL

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA

I've prodded you over the desert, and younever was known to fail;

You're slow and lazy and hard to move at afaster pace than a snail.

You're homely and rough and scraggy; you'reout in the cold and heat,

But you plod along through the sandy wayswhere the smell of the sage is sweet.

You shamble over the desert, where it's hot asa burning coal,

And stand the glare of a molten sun till weget to a water hole.

You pick your meals where I leave you; you'reeasily satisfied,

And you never kick at the load you pack farover the stretches wide.

You're patient enough, and willing to travelthe sand dunes drear;

You're thumped and larruped across the hillsthe whole of your rough career.

While nobody seems to love you, your voicehas a welcome sound

Out in the depths of the sand-swept plain atnight on the camping-ground.

What could I do without you in delving forhidden gold!

The fame you've won and the name you'vewon has never but half been told!

You ain't so much as a singer; I cuss at yourstrident roar,

But you are a tried and a true old pal in trail-ing the desert's floor!

DEATH IN THE DESERTBy WILLIAM BLAUVELT

PHOENIX, ARIZONA

Lord, a wet towel across my head,A draught of water on my lips,Would serve me better now than all the goldThat I have brought from all my ever-questing

trips.If I might reach the cool, fair refuge of my

dreamsAnd lay my head upon its grasses green,I should remain, though growing ever old,There in that sanctum shaded and serene.The sun bears down with furnace heatUpon my body, and my muscles ache.There is no shadow here, nor place to slakeThe thirst that swells my tongue, no water

sweetTo cool my throbbing temples, to anoint my

feet.I perish in the desert, far from friend and

gold,No food, no shade, no water, haplessly grown

old.The sands shall burn about me, merciless and

deep,For I am faint and tired, and I lav me down

to sleep.What dream is this? What vision wells about

me?Whence rose these palms and all these flow-

ing springs?Cool breeze of benediction, and all these per-

fect things?The strains of matchless music, melting in the

air?These verdant-growing gardens, blooming

everywhere ?Here may I sip the nectar of water, shade and

rest,And ever-flowing goodness, in the gardens of

the West.But by whose hand this largess? By what

fate is it given?And is it dream, or cruel mirage, or the Oasis

of Heaven ?

JULY, 1938 11

Indians will not go near thehigh peak on the Santa Rosamountains, but since the con-struction of a new forestry roadit is easily accessible to thosewho have no superstitious fear.

OtO 15

By RANDALL HENDERSON

" - i ORO peak is taboo among the/ Cahuilla Indians. They will

not go near it."This remark from one of a little group

gathered around a campfire on Pinonflats in the winter of 1932 was my intro-duction to a mountain which since thenhas become one of my favorite hideouts.

Toro is the high point on the SantaRosa range—that long rugged peninsulaof rock which breaks away from thecoastal range at San Jacinto mountain andextends eastward into the Southern Cali-fornia desert, ending at Travertine pointnear Salton sea.

The canyons and ridges of the SantaRosas are criss-crossed with Indian trails.On the upper elevations of the rangegrow piiion pines and oak trees whichwere a prolific source of food for the des-ert Indians before the white men came tothis arid region.

But not one of these old trails is foundnear the summit of Toro, although todayit is part of the Santa Rosa reservation.The Indians shunned this mountain forreasons—well, does any white man reallyunderstand the enigma of Indian taboos?Sometimes I am not even sure that thepresent generation of Indians knows thetrue origin of many of those beliefs whichwe Americans regard as superstitions.But I respect those Indian traditions nonethe less.

The Palms-to-Pines highway had justbeen completed when I first became in-

In this cairn on the summit ofToro peak are two tin boxes wherevisitors leave their autographs.

terested in Toro. Until that time, theSanta Rosas had been closed area to thosewho follow only the highly-improvedroads.

I wanted to see this peak which Indianlegend has surrounded with so much mys-tery. And so, on an August day in 1933when the thermometer at Indio was hov-ering around 116 degrees, my young sonand I loaded our sleeping bags and grubon a pack horse and took the trail fromthe A. H. Nightingale camp on Piiionflats.

There was no road to the top of theSanta Rosas then.

I underestimated the time required toreach the timber belt where the firstspring is located, and we climbed the lastthousand feet with parched throats. Theonly compensation for bad judgment in

such an emergency is the refreshing thrillwhich comes with the first draught ofcool spring water.

We camped two days at Mr. Nightin-gale's little log cabin at Stump spring,then took the easy trail along the 3-milesummit ridge to Virgin springs. Fromthere it was a 700-foot climb over an un-marked route to the top of Toro.

To one who loves the desert panoramathe cairn on Toro peak is a grandstandseat for a magnificent spectacle. Far offin the haze to the south is the dim out-line of Mt. Signal, with the peninsularrange of Lower California meeting thesky beyond. Directly below us is Rock-house canyon and just beyond Coyotecanyon where Captain Juan Bautista deAnza and his trail-blazing colonists spentthree wintry nights in 1775. From thesummit of Toro it is possible to trace theapproximate route of the Anza expedi-tion, as defined by Dr. Herbert Bolton,far out across the Borego desert.

12 The DESERT MAGAZINE

Others who have reached the top ofToro have told me that on a clear day itis possible to see the Pacific ocean. I havenever been able to do this, but I do notdoubt it is possible.

The entire shoreline of Salton sea canbe seen except on the near side where6500-foot Rabbit peak, also in the SantaRosas, partly cuts off the view.

Looking down across the north slopeof the Santa Rosas toward Coachella val-ley the most conspicuous landmark is thegreat arroyo known as Deep canyon. Iwant to explore it some day. Membersof the Sierra club have told me it involvessome precipitous climbing, but is wellworth the effort.

Since my first visit to Toro in 1933,there has been only one notable changein the panorama seen from its summit. Itis now possible to look across the Coa-chella basin and follow the dim line ofthe Metropolitan aqueduct where itemerges from its tunnels in the Little SanBernardinos and flows for a brief spanacross the open desert.

Today Toro is more accessible than itwas five years ago. The U. S. Forestryservice has built a good dirt road with acomparatively easy grade to the ridge andthence paralleling the crest to a point justbelow Virgin springs.

The hiker who wishes to view the des-ert landscape from this high point in theSanta Rosas may reach the summit in aneasy hour-and-a-half trip from the end ofthe road. It is not a difficult ascent. Twolittle tin boxes in the cairn at the top con-tain signatures of many visitors, includ-ing that of a 7-year-old girl.

The Santa Rosa range will never becrowded with cabins or overrun withcampers. At least, not unless some mem-ber of the scientific fraternity discoversa workable substitute for rain clouds.There is not enough water on thesemountains to serve a large population.True there are forty-odd springs, a majori-ty of which flow throughout the year—and the quality of the water is excellent,but the quantity is not sufficient to en-courage cabinsite subdividers.

Santa Rosa mountains are sur-rounded by desert on three sides, butit always is cool in the shade oj thepine trees above the 7000-foot ele-

vation.

The Santa Rosas belong to the desert.Toro and Santa Rosa peaks and the 3-mileridge which connects them are nothingmore nor less than a huge pine-clad oasiswhose slopes meet the sands of the desertfloor on three sides.

The charm of this mountain oasis isthat it combines many of the most favor-able elements of mountain and desert.The air is dry, but the altitude insuresagainst unbearably high temperatures. Itis always cool in the shade of the pine,fir and cedar trees which grow abundant-ly above the 7000-foot level.

I mentioned the Nightingale cabin atStump springs. The only other habita-tions reached by the forestry road are aroad camp at Santa Rosa springs and theSteve Ragsdale log house on the summitof Santa Rosa peak. Ragsdale owns thesection of land which includes the top ofSanta Rosa mountain. When he is at thecabin, Steve is a cordial host to all whocome "to enjoy but not to destroy." Heis an outspoken foe of those who kill thewild game and otherwise rob the moun-tains of their native inhabitants of theplant and animal world.

The approach to Toro peak is over thePalms - to - Pines highway, either fromHemet and San Jacinto or from Coachellavalley. From Hemet it is 36 miles to thepoint where the new forestry road takesoff to the south and climbs to the top ofthe Santa Rosas.

From Indio it is 27 miles to the well-kept public camp ground on Pinon flats.Mr. Nightingale, whose camp adjoins thegrounds, is a reliable and courteoussource of information for those who have

P S A N T A ' , ROSA MT5 .

questions to ask about Toro and the San-ta Rosa mountains. He owns several sec-tions of land in these mountains andknows every spring. The camp ground isnearly 4,000 feet above Coachella valley.

Three miles beyond Nightingale's isRibbonwood where Wilson Howell hasa little wayside shop. Howell is anotherobliging source of information. He knowsthe trees and plants which grow in hissector of the mountains and has a naturetrail out through the manzanita where hewill take the visitor when business is nottoo rushing. Howell is the world's cham-pion conservationist, as anyone will learnduring the first five minutes of conversa-tion. If he had his way, the Santa Rosaswould be a great park area where itwould be a major crime to disturb eitherplant or animal.

He is an extremist—but we need anoccasional Wilson Howell to safeguardus against that human tendency to sacri-fice the beauty of the present and the se-curity of the future for dollar profits.

I am grateful to Wilson for naminghis place Ribbonwood, instead of RedShank—which is another of the commonnames applied to the shrub which growsso luxuriantly in that part of the moun-tains.

From a lookout point near Ribbon-Steve Ragsdale nails printed rhymes on

retreat in an ejfort to

wood it is possible to look down nearlythe full length of Palm canyon to PalmSprings. A trail leads down the canyonfrom this point to the desert resort andit is an interesting hike—if you don'tmind the 14 miles.

From Ribbonwood it is less than a mileto the Santa Rosa forest road. The signat the junction reads "8V2 miles to SantaRosa spring" and "10 miles to SantaRosa peak." Since the sign was erectedthe road has been extended another 2.2miles to a point just below Virgin springs.

Richard H. May, district ranger of theSan Bernardino National forest, withheadquarters at Idyllwild, is custodian ofthe public lands in the Santa Rosa range.

At the present time there are no pub-lic camp grounds along the new forestryroad. It is planned to establish a camp atSanta Rosa spring during the presentsummer, according to Ranger May. Untilthen, no campfires or smoking are per-mitted on the public lands, and only withthe written permission of the owner onprivate lands.

For those who fancy the idea of a tripto a mountain top where the woods arenever crowded with picnickers — andwho are willing to accept the fire restric-tions in good spirit — the road to Torois an open invitation.

the trees of his Santa Rosu mountainprotect the ivild life.

WeatherMAY REPORT FROM

U. S. BUREAU AT PHOENIX

Temperatures— DegreesMean for month 76.1Normal for May .. 75,0High on May 31 ....108.0Low on May 3 4g 0

R a i l1— , InchesTotal for May TraceNormal for May o.l?

Weather—Days clear 21Days partly cloudy _ gDays cloudy

W. B. HARE, Meteorologist.

FROM YUMA BUREAU

Temperatures— DegreesMean for month .. _ 77 4Normal for May ... -j(, 2High on May 31 ....109.0Low on May 4 510

R a T — """inchesTotal for May rjO.O69-year average for May .. ... o.O4

W e a t h e r -Days clear 27Days partly cloudyDays cloudy j

Sunshine 98 percent (421 hours out of possi-ble 430 hours)

Colorado river—April discharge at Grand Canyon 3,328 000acre feet. Discharge at Parker 532,000 acrefeet. Estimated storage behind Boulder damJune 1—18,850,000 acre feet.

JAMES H. GORDON, Meteorologist.

All Decent FEnjoy But Do

fits Welcomfft Destroy

We bought tW» mountain for ym and j"ft*** *• none other like it owkr the skf™ » * * i n fore*. O» deer, the btrtta •For tawNfe bfwty t h m it no wordt

1 «

• 0 B r b e a n * * » * a**0«w ***> •*** «»deer or bird*, my 1 rtendi tm at H 111 kkk your rnu- «md

If you enjoy mmoke, we kw»w * *Well g!v* jr«i 6pm, before «ad aft*, wttfc « « •But don't tight a m»Urh ekwwhwe «thfa p«kIf you do, mm an Hell, you will hm 0* Wf» «*•*

Our motto of Hft to t * goM« " J

Only looto with guns ami fire i

Nuff*d. a / U R A G S D A L R ^ O ^ ^ ' ^ f

The DESERT MAGAZINE

SJndlan Qeu/eltu—

Genuine ana. limitationBy JOHN W. HILTON

If you ask a curio dealer to sell you an In-dian turquoise ring for a dollar—you'll prob-ably get one that no Indian ever has touched.Genuine Navajo and Zuni jewelry cannot besold for such a price. In the accompanying ar-

ticle John Hilton gives readersof the Desert Magazine sometips to guide them when theygo shopping for silver-turquoiseornaments. The picture aboveis of genuine Navajo jewelry.

C~7"~ROM a Park avenue penthouse toI Navajo hogan is a long distance

both geographically and culturallybut there are many things the women inthese two places hold in common. Out-standing among their comparative in-stincts is their love for jewelry.

The New York girl might love the feeland appearance of a fine old pawn brace-let on her wrist, just as the Navajo wom-an, if she had the chance, might thrill tothe beauty of a platinum and diamondbracelet, for both of these were made toappeal to their sense of beauty and thatprimitive desire for personal adornment.

Here their viewpoints diverge becauseback of each piece of jewelry is a wealthof tradition, both as to sentiment and in-trinsic value. To the New York girl thedull blue glow of turquoise in its crudelywrought silver bracelet, is a thing ofbeauty prized for beauty's sake. To her ithas no great intrinsic value. In times offinancial stress she could not raise moneyon it as she easily might on her diamonds.

To the Indian woman, strangelyenough, the diamond bracelet would as-sume about the same degree of importanceas the turquoise did for the New Yorker.It is true she might encounter an expertin such matters who would be willing topurchase her diamonds at a fraction of

their value, just as the city girl mightfind a dubious market for her turquoise.But experts in diamonds are fewer on thereservation than turquoise buyers in NewYork. If she owned the turquoise how-ever, she would have no trouble what-ever in converting it into anything thatshe might want in her every day life. Shecould trade it for so many sheep or somany pounds of wool from another In-dian, or at the traders she could turn itin for anything from yard goods to flour.

It is strange how certain gems havecome to represent the very essence of ma-terial wealth to certain distinct groups ofpeople. With us it is diamonds; to theChinese it is jade; in Burma the ruby as-sumes great importance and in Ceylon thestar sapphire; but nowhere is a singlegem so deeply embedded in the life pat-tern of a people as is the turquoise to thePueblo and Navajo tribes of our aridSouthwest. In an article to follow I in-tend to describe in more detail the his-torical and religious significance of thisinteresting gem but at present we shallconfine ourselves chiefly to its impor-tance as an article of trade and a symbolof Indian culture.

The visitor in the Southwest finds tur-quoise jewelry much in evidence. Theservice station attendant has a turquoise

ring on his finger, the waitress at a road-side restaurant is wearing a beautifulbracelet of the same material and a wom-an of obvious wealth and position is seenin the lobby of a fine hotel wearing anecklace of turquoise beads that probablyonce adorned a savage warrior. In theheart of the Indian country nearly ever-one wears some article of Indian jewelry,and half the shop windows carry displaysof it. Traders at their posts give roughor cut turquoise to a Navajo in exchangefor wool or madeup jewelry. White mentrade horses, saddles, automobiles andeven real estate for turquoise. The whitepeople of the Indian country are fast be-coming turquoise minded.

Sooner or later the average visitor feelsthe desire to buy a piece of Indian jewel-ry either for personal adornment, or forgift purposes. Thus a demand has beencreated for turquoise far in excess of thenormal needs of the Indians and theirwhite neighbors. This demand has givenrise to widespread and profitable businesscovering Arizona, New Mexico, Califor-nia, Nevada and parts of Colorado. Theannual turnover amounts to many mil-lions of dollars and affects the lives ofthousands of Indians and white traders,curio store owners and turquoise miners.

It follows that in an industry of such

JULY, 1938 15

proportions there should develop certainunfair practices, the most conspicuous ofwhich is the selling of inferior grades ofartificially colored turquoise and imita-tion Indian jewelry, at reduced prices.

The buyer does not always realize thatgenuine Indian jewelry is the product ofhand labor, wrought from coin silver andset with gems of actual value. The publiccan discourage the sale of imitation prod-ucts by keeping in mind a few simpletests, and by insisting on the genuine In-dian products.

In the first place, when dealing with areputable merchant, price is more or lessa criterion of value. Although some copy-ing has been done of the fine pieces, mostof the imitation jewelry comes within theprice range of 25 cents to $3.00. Thecustomer should realize that there issomething wrong with an "Indian ring"priced at 50 cents. It stands to reasonthat an Indian cannot buy genuine tur-quoise and silver, work a ring out byhand and sell it to a dealer at a figurelow enough to retail at such a price. Sucha ring probably is a trinket stamped outby machine from German silver and setwith glass imitation jewels. If the priceis 75 cents or a dollar, the gem may bean artificially colored stone set in sterlingsilver that has been rolled very thin andcut by machine. The only hand labor in-volved is in soldering the parts. This isdone on an assembly line, often with ap-prentice labor.

The thinness of the silver is anotherfairly reliable test of the authenticity ofthe product. There is a certain structuralsolidity about a genuine Indian ring thatis never found in a substitute. It is truethat in a few instances Indians have beenemployed by white manufacturers to makeproducts from thin silver and then theoutput sold as the genuine article. Notmany of the Indians will lend their skillto this practice, however, and the flimsycharacter of the product and poor color-ing of the stones are sure evidence of de-ception.

The designs on the imitation jewelryusually are a glaring advertisement oftheir origin. In most cases they look asif the designer was trying to out-Indianthe Indian. These manufacturing shopshave printed lists showing the meaning

Upper Photo—Zuni jewelry differsnot only in design from the Navajobut also in its profuse use of smallturquoise stones. These small stonesare cut by the Zuni themselves.

Lower Photo — Fine old Navajojewelry. Note the simplicity of de-sign and the heavy handworked sil-ver.

Photos by Eunice M. Hilton, cour-tesy lndianoya, Palm Springs.

of the various symbols, and often covertheir jewelry with a meaningless jumbleof as many of these as they can find roomfor. Occasionally, an Indian craftsmanwill turn out pieces marked with a mix-ture of tepees, thunderbirds, horses,crossed arrows, etc, but this usually isdone at the insistence of a commercialdealer who wants all these designs tosupply selling points for his clerks.

By far the finest Indian jewelry on themarket today is made either on the reser-vation as a private enterprise of the crafts-man, or by Indian workers employed bythe better Indian stores who allow thesilversmith free rein in the designing ofhis work. Some of the best Indian crafts-manship is produced in these store-shopsbecause the owner often is able to furnishthe Indian with a better grade of tur-quoise than he could have obtained withhis own limited capital.

Left to his own resources the Indianwill work only with genuine turquoise

and coin silver. He is an excellent judgeof both and will refuse any stone that hasbeen artificially colored or tampered with.This is as much a matter of religion as itis honesty for the stone is sacred to him.His designs also, if he is allowed freechoice, show a simple and dignified feel-ing for fitness and form. There is noth-ing fussy or cheap looking about an au-thentic piece.

There is small supply of what is termed"old pawn jewelry" on the market. Thisfinds its way into the stores throughtraders who are at times forced to sellpieces that were pawned but not re-deemed by the Indians themselves. Thistype of jewelry is highly desirable be-cause it was made by the Indian to wearhimself and many times contains gemsthat have been handed down for manygenerations. It is not uncommon to finda bracelet or ring in this type of materialthat is set with old beads. These bits of

Continued on page 24

16 The DESERT MAGAZINE

VIGILANCE Photo by W. M. Pennington

reel ok the L/e5eit

By JOHN STEWART MacCLARY

vigilance was the price for safety on the Navajo desert in theearly days. Lofty mesas and stony pinnacles provided numerous obser-vation points; keen eyes, which never had known the shelter of visor or

hatbrim, probably felt no need foi the aid of tinted binoculars.

From the earliest approach of the Spanish explorers in the 16th century,until after the Beautiful Mountain Rebellion had been quelled in 1913, the Na-vajos constantly watched for militant palefaces. The number who thus eludedKit Carson in the middle 1860s never has been determined.

Generations of bitter warfare against neighboring desert tribes had sharp-ened the sense of vigilance. Fear of deserved reprisals from ranchers whoseflocks and herds had been robbed may have nourished the habit of watchful-ness.

The Desert offers obstructions to visibility—mirages, sandstorms, decep-tive distances. But it balances the hazards by providing elevated observationpoints and by building up the sense of vigilance. Meet the Desert's rules andit will be your loyal friend; disregard them—and YOU will be the loser!

J U L Y , 1 9 3 8 17

HENRY CHEE DODGE

/HtvlONG the 50,000 Navajo In-I / dians living in Arizona and New

Mexico one man stands out, an ex-ample of honesty and fair dealing to hisown people and to the white race that hasassumed control of red men's destiny.That man is 80-year-old Henry CheeDodge.

My first knowledge of this Indian pa-triarch came many years ago when I sawhim the chief figure in a Fire Dance.Only those of you can visualize the set-ting, who have stood with two or threethousand silent, intent Indians far backwhere white people seldom venture, the

sound of falsetto Indian chanting in yourears, scent of pungent cedar smoke tin-gling your nostrils, velvety black nightpressing in on all sides, medicine menperforming their sacred rites, the thumpof drum and rattle of magic gourds.

Chee Dodge was the object of the Heal-ing Ceremony. It is true that when hisancient enemy, bronchitis, assails him hehastens to a government hospital andgratefully accepts all the modern prescrip-tions and nursing to be had. The nursessay he is a tractable and grateful patient.But as befits a true son of the Navajo na-tion, Chee Dodge has not forsaken his

Loved by his own people,trusted and honored by hiswhite neighbors, 80 - year - oldHenry Chee Dodge is a pivotalfigure in the adjustment of vex-ing problems which now con-front the federal Indian bureauin its dealings with the Navajos.In this article Mrs. White Moun-tain Smith gives readers of theDesert Magazine a close-up pic-ture of this venerated leader ofthe Navajo tribe.

•fjentu

Vodae,G.VO.4O

Ey MRS. WHITE MOUNTAIN SMITH

own Red Gods and there are times whenthey must be appeased by native cere-monies.

Naturally when one is the main actorin a Healing Ceremony, a white visitordoes not intrude to ask personal ques-tions, so I watched the medicine mansprinkle the sacred meal and pollen, touchhands and feet and head, moving ofcourse from the feet up, with a bunch ofherbs and pinon branches, then toss thebouquet into the fire as a dozen nakedfigures darted into the circle with flam-ing torches and chased themselves andwicked spirits around and around. No,that was not the proper time to ask ques-tions!

Last week I sat across the table fromthis man who has interested me far be-yond any one of my own race. He greetedme with the courtesy and poise of a states-man. Except for a long calculating lookhe gave no idea of his thoughts when Iasked him to tell me of his life and hisplans for the Navajo nation.

"What is there of me that your whitepeople care to know?' he asked at last

18 The DESERT M A G A Z I N E

with a smile that banished the wearinessfrom his eyes and softened his stern fea-tures. And this is the story he told methere in that dim smoky old room that hasseen 60 years of conflict between his peo-ple and mine:

"It has been said that I am not a Nava-jc, that my mother was Jemez. (Jemezis a small gueblo on the Santa Ana riverin New Mexico.) That is not true. Backwhen the Rebellion came, in 1680, andthe Spanish soldiers were surroundingthe village many of the Jemez women andchildren were sent into the Navajo coun-try to evade capture. In many cases theydrove a few sheep with them. Mymother's mother, many generations back,came into the Canyon de Chelly regionwith those refugees and married a Nava-jo. For generations my mother's clanwas Navajo. When the Navajos werefighting with other Indians and with theMexican villagers Washington sent Cap-tain Henry Dodge to stop the trouble andwith him as his interpreter was a Mexi-can by the name of Juan Casonisis. Thisman saw and wanted my mother for hiswife. Captain Dodge gave him permis-sion to marry her and she lived in thecamp with her husband and the soldiers.When I was born my father gave me thename of his honored captain, Henry CheeDodge.

"My people kept breaking the treatiesthey made and by and by Kit Carson, RedShirt, came to Canyon de Chelly andfought and killed many Navajos. Theones who ran away he waited for at thePlace of Many Reeds. He sent runnersall over the country to tell the Navajos tocome there and they would be kindlytreated. My mother had only me then andI was just four years old. My father andhis father had been killed a short timebefore by Mexicans over at Tohatchi. Mymother ran away to the Grand Can-yon and hid there with some other In-dians just below the rim where the bigWatch Tower now stands. Another babywas born there and died. Then she heardof the words of Red Shirt and she cameback here to Fort Defiance and she and Iwent to Fort Sumner with all the Navajopeople. While at Fort Sumner my mothermarried again, this time one of our ownpeople, a Navajo.

"I can remember when we came backto our land in 1868. All our hoganswere torn down, the peach trees killedand bones of sheep everywhere."

"Did you go to a government schoolwhen you came back?" I asked.

Thomas Dodge, brilliant son oj aworthy father. Educated in Ameri-can universities, he is attorney forthe Navajos and assistant superin-tendent of the reservation. Photo byMidlarky, Gallup, Neiv Mexico.

J U L Y , 1 9 3 8

"No. I never went to school. I pickedup my education along the road."

"But you have always been for the gov-ernment schools, haven't you?"

"I have been for everything thatwould help the Navajos learn how to im-prove their lives. At first there were fewschools and they were not well taken careof. Some of the children that were takenthere sickened and died without theirparents hearing about it for many months.So the Navajos were afraid of the schools.Soon they were fooling the school peopleby sending only the crippled and weak-minded children there. The strong,wise boys and girls were hidden out ofsight when school officials came around.More than once I have gone with theagent asking my people to let him takethe children to school. Once I remember

Black Horse, a hot-blooded young leader,attacked an agent just outside my store atRound Rock and he kept us penned inthe store for two days and nights untilother white men came and drove the an-gry Indians away. It used to be that waybetween white people and the Navajos."

Throughout all the turbulent yearsChee Dodge has been a loyal friend tothe government while looking out at thesame time for the rights of his own race.During his younger years he served as of-ficial interpreter for Captain Bonnevilleand for all the early Navajo agents.Many a rough spot has been smoothedfor white officials by the good judgmentand friendship of this great leader. Apicture in the Wittick collection in theLaboratory of Anthropology in Santa Feshows him in his full regalia of fringed

III -

buckskin. Touches of Navajo, however,creep out in the massive silver buckle onhis belt and the deerskin moccasins. Thehandsome man of 30 thus pictured hasgiven way to the shrewd, dignified oldgentleman of today whose keen eyes missnothing.

One of his descendants, Charley Shir-ley, has painted a life-size portrait ofChee Dodge in his Scout's uniform and ithangs in the place of honor at WindowRock, central agency of the Navajos. Idoubt if there is a Navajo above ten yearsof age who does not know of, and honorthis man.

In the passing years he has accumulatedmuch of this world's goods. His name isamong those of bank directors and stockholders in big corporations. His flocksgraze over thousands of acres; his safetydeposit box holds notes and mortgages.He could buy and sell many of his whitefriends. His poorer Navajo brothers goto him in time of need. And yet he livesvery simply as befits one who is trying toset a good example. At Crystal, about25 miles from Canyon de Chelly he hashad a trading post and home for at least50 years. And here for the comfort ofhis guests he has built a modern cottage.Overstuffed furniture fills the sittingroom, the bedroom has a huge brass bed-stead and a dainty slipper chair. In the

kitchen is an electric refrigerator. Powerfor this and for the electric lights, is fur-nished by a Delco plant. When this plantwas installed and it came time to pay forit, there was no talk of "convenientterms." Chee went to his desk, a smallchild's desk which he bought from a mailorder house, and calmly clipped enoughcoupons from Liberty Bonds to settle theaccount!

He does not live in the cottage . Per-haps he does not like the color of the up-holstering on the furniture since he hasconscientiously covered it with Pendletonrugs. Anyway he lives in his hogan inthe back yard.

Once, when he joined his guests atbreakfast in the cottage, jerky was servedwith eggs in place of bacon. Cannedgrapefruit and sweet buns were alsoserved, but after one guest had undertak-en to consume some of the jerky therewas room for nothing else. Anyoneshould know that the longer jerky ischewed the more jerky there is to bechewed! There was nothing for it but toremove the huge wad as gracefully as pos-sible or else suffocate in silence. LaterChee laughingly advised either swallow-

Barbecr/e at the constitutional as-sembly held by the Navajos at Win-dow Rock, Arizona, last year. Photoby Indian Service.

ing the jerky without chewing or else tak-ing it outside to the stone metate andpounding it to a pulp with another stonecalled a memo. I'm passing this on forwhat it's worth.

The chief pride of Chee's life is histalented son, Thomas Dodge. Perhaps35 years old, his dark hair already isturning gray. The younger Dodge pos-sesses a keen mind and the poise of a nat-ural leader. Since his mother is a full-blooded Navajo, he really is more Indianthan his father. He was educated in east-ern colleges and prepared to fight thebattles—legal battles—of his people. Heis the recognized attorney for the Navajotribe, and assistant superintendent of thereservation. In him his father lives again.

In these troubled times among theNavajos when they are concerned overthe reduction of flocks; over soil erosioncontrol; over the government require-ment that parents furnish the childrenwith school clothing; over half a hun-dred things that the well meaning admin-istration is striving to do to aid the Nava-jos, Chee stands as the pivotal figure.From him the white race learns the tem-per of his people; from him the Navajosabsorb patience and understanding, andhis farseeing mind will be one of theprincipal factors in bringing the contro-versy to an equitable solution.

20 The DESERT MAGAZINE

When tiny borers attack the Joshua tree, nature changes thesoft porous wood to a texture harder than mahogany—and pro-vides materials for one of the most unusual workshops to befound in the West. W. A. Chamberlain, in the picture above, isthe craftsman who has taken these worm-eaten logs and turnedthem into a livelihood.

TOtelt By E. J. VAN NAME

S~X UT in the Joshua tree forestf ~T which extends from Antelope val-^"^ ley in Southern California to Vic-

torville and beyond, visitors from manyparts of the world are beating a pathwayto the doorstep of a man who has createdsomething new in the art of wood-carv-ing.

If some one told you that the wood ofa Joshua tree could be used in the manu-facture of beautiful and durable bracelets,picture frames, jewel caskets, lampstandsand countless other ornamental and use-ful novelties, I can almost guess your re-ply. Joshua wood, to those who haveever taken the trouble to examine it, hasa pulpy fibrous texture which does not

LOCATION

The Chamberlain homestead islocated on the edge of Mirage val-ley near the paved road -which con-nects Palmdale with Victorville. Atthe road sign ivhich reads "Palm-dale 35 miles, Victorville 18miles," turn north on a dirt road ahalf mile and then west a half mile.

even make good firewood. However, oneman has discovered a value in Joshuatrees which others have overlooked—andtherein lies the source of this story.

Twenty years ago W. A. Chamberlain

sold his manufacturing jewelry businessin Los Angeles and moved out to a Mo-jave desert homestead in which he had aninterest. He went there with no otherthought than to regain his health.

He built a neat little cabin and garageand made himself comfortable — andhasn't been in Los Angeles since. Helived there five years before he learned,quite by accident, that all about him wasa potential source of wealth.

On the desk of a business office in Vic-torville, he saw an odd block of polishedwood, used as a paperweight. Each timehe returned to the office he was attractedto this bit of wood, and finally learned itcame from near the root of a dead Joshua

J U L Y , 1 9 3 8 21

tree—a tree evidently killed by a wood-boring worm or insect—and that thereare many such trees in the Joshua forest.Nature, in an effort to combat the at-tacks of this pest, creates a wood sub-stance harder than mahogany. That por-tion of the trunk which has become hard-ened is invariably full of wood borerholes.

"I have never found one of the borers,"said Mr. Chamberlain, "but occasionallyI run across a thin shell lining in one ofthe tunnels, evidently left there by thebug or worm that did the damage."

In one of the rooms of his cottage thiscraftsman has his workshop. It is locatedon the south side of the house and glassedin to provide comfortable working quar-ters during the winter months. Here hemanufactures candlesticks, gavels, but-tons, rings, table lamps, bookends and along list of gift articles. Many of themare decorated with hammered copper andetched plates, and in some cases they arehand painted. Mr. Chamberlain does allthe work, even to the making of the brassand copper hinges for his trinket boxes,and the tinting on the lampshades. He isa master craftsman in every detail of theoperation.

The reputation of this desert jewelerhas spread to the far places of the earth.He has a large clientele in Hollywood,and only a few months ago received avisit from Arthur Jarratt of the BritishGaumont Film company who left an or-der which was filled and sent on its wayacross the Atlantic.

Recently he completed a beautiful jewelcasket. A similar casket is in possessionof Bishop Cantwell of Los Angeles. Itsmate reposes in the study of a Catholicpriest in Ennis, Ireland.

Visitors are amazed when they see thekit of tools with which this ex-jewelerdoes his work. The only power availablefor the workshop is the ancient car in theback yard. Mr. Chamberlain jacks up arear wheel, attaches a sanding block tothe hub and then starts the motor. Thatis the closest thing there is to a lathe onthe homestead, and it serves only forroughing in some of the larger pieces.Most of the fine work is done with an oldsaw and a wood rasp, plus some polish-ing materials. Beautifully hammered cop-per is created with tools that might havebeen reclaimed from a junk yard. Butbehind these tools there is an artist whohas patience and imagination.

Mr. Chamberlain invites each visitor tosign a guest register in which are recordedthe names and impressions of a group of

He lives alone in a spick-and-spanlittle cottage out on the Mojave des-ert—and ivelcomes visitors jrom all

over the world.

Table lamp and shade produced inthe Chamberlain workshop.

U. S. Army flyers from March field. Theair pilots spent several days at the Cham-berlain homestead while a motor was be-ing changed in a huge bomber forceddown in the Chamberlain back yard.There are signatures in the guest bookfrom Japan and many other foreign coun-tries, and it contains names which appearoften in the newspaper headlines.

He lives alone but this desert craftsmanhas not gone back to the primitive. Heshaves daily, and visitors generally findhim clad in a freshly laundered shirt withnecktie and creased trousers. A wind-mill generates electricity for a radiowhich keeps him in touch with the newsof the outside world.

His homestead is neat and clean insideand out, and a well kept cactus gardensurrounds the cabin. A five-hole golfcourse is open to all visitors and there isa prize awaiting the golfer who firstmakes the little course in par.

Those who complain that there are fewbirds on the desert would revise theirstory if they visited the Chamberlain gar-den. There is a morning and eveningconcert each day from the flocks ofwinged pets which patronize the Cham-berlain bird fountains and nest in thecactus and other shrubs. In May this yeara single cholla cactus contained the nestsof three cactus wren families, each with abrood of baby wrens.

Mr. Chamberlain has some data forthose who are curious as to the rate ofgrowth of the Joshua tree. A 14-foot treenear his cottage was 18 inches high whenhe transplanted it to the yard 20 yearsago. Nine years ago he took some ofthe seed from this tree and started a nur-sery. The seed all sprouted and todayseveral of these 9-year-old trees are to beseen in the yard. They range from 10 to15 inches in height. Offshoots from theroots of the older trees grow much morerapidly than seedlings, however. One 5-year-old offshoot measures nearly threefeet.

As we were leaving the cottage Mr.Chamberlain told us of the man whocame out to visit him and after listeningrather indifferently to the story aboutJoshua wood and the borer holes and in-specting some of the finished products,exclaimed:

"Isn't it a pity they are so full ofholes!"

22 The DESERT MAGAZINE

Desert Folk Find Recreation atSeaside and Mountains

Desert breezes blow hot in July and August. Steve Ragsdale ofDesert Center likes it that way but even he will steal a few weekendsat his mountaintop home in the Santa Rosas to sniff the cool windsfrom the ocean.

Steve follows the practice of the average desert dweller who getsaway from the high-soaring mercuries for an annual vacation. It isthe rule that desks slam shut Friday night or Saturday noon and thesound of keys turning in locks rises to a high crescendo through thesweltering inland valleys.

Luckily, good highways lead Pacific-ward from all the desertareas of California, Nevada and Arizona. In a few hours the motor-ist, playing hookey from business, finds himself at his favorite oceanfront.

If he is a true disciple of Isaac Walton, he will unpack his fish-ing rig and seek a place on the wharf or get a seat on one of themany charter or open-party boats which make regular trips from SanDiego, Long Beach and Santa Monica to the Coronado islands. Bigtime fishermen go in for gamey sword-fish these months. The severalgood barges at Redondo, Hermosa, and south offer opportunities forthe nimrod to pose before a camera with a good catch.

Yachtsmen are increasing along the southern California coast.A generation of young sailors is being developed at Newport where"snowbirds" are the popular craze. There is a protected bay where thesport may be practiced by the rankest amateur in safety, and thereis the ocean for "Blue Water" skippers.

If the vacationist is not bent on active recreation, there arerestful hotels and cottages facing the bay and the ocean where hecan drink in the cool salt air, and, too, there is fishing aplenty.

While the Desert Magazine features life in the southwestern des-erts, it recognizes the demand of its reader family for the annualchange of scenery and temperature. That is why a travel and resortbureau has beeen established in the El Centra offices. For further in-formation on fishing boats, barge schedules, mountain and seaside ho-tels and resorts, and general travel information, write the Travel Bu-reau, Desert Magazine, El Centro, California.

J U L Y , 1 9 3 8

The Southlands newes

^oJBeach Sports DancingYachting Swkamng

ALL YEARPLEASURE

ALTITUDEChange yourON TOP OF THE WORLD

at Lake Arrowhead, California's outstandingmountain lake resort. Your doctor will tell youa change of ALTITUDE means a change ofATTITUDE.

Informal mountain life at its best. Golf,tennis, riding, swimming, fishing, boating.Supervised recreation for children.Dancing af new Supper Club with musicby famous orchestras. A favorite motionpicture location and playground forscreen stars. For folder or reservations:

The Tavern: Amer.canplan. * , a day, * « a «eek,and up. Roberi Fidem manager.

Villplan. ?j a day, ?i8 a week,and up

Lake Shore CollagesHousekeeping cabday(for 2 people), and up.

Cottage Grove: House-keeping cabins ?j a day (lot2 people), and up.

725 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles

23

Boats to CatalinaN I G H T L Y

Leave Long Beach 7 p.m.Leave Avalon 1 a.m.IV2 hour crossing.FARE $2.50 ROUND TRIP.

Boats for Charter—Live BaitFishing Boats.

Daily starting 3 a.m.—Fare $2.

CITY WATER TAXI CO.1315 W. Seventh St. Phone 625-93

LONG BEACH

"THE PRIDE OF LONG BEACH"

10 Minutes jrom the Ocean

MEMBER UNITED MOTORCOURTS.

O

MR. AND MRS. P. D. STOGKWELL3932 Long Beach Blvd.LONG BEACH, CALIF.

TAILOR1059 FOURTH AVENUE

Between Broadway and CSAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

A PAY AND PLAY

DESERT RANCHEarns $30,000 net per year

400 acres. Coachella Valley. Near PalmSprings but has a longer day, warmer win-ter climate. No frost, heavy winds, duststorms. We grow and ship Thompson Seed-less, first grapes to reach eastern markets,bring highest prices. More bearing acreagenext year increases income.

10 wells, 325 inches water, master's bun-galow, 10 smaller houses, complete workingequipment.

PLAY: tennis, badminton, swimming pool,saddle horses.

SHOOT: ducks, quail, rabbits, skeet.Our efficient foreman makes ranch an

easy to operate investment for the inexperi-enced, non-resident or a woman.

COST $225,000. PRICE $210,000. TERMS.INVESTIGATION WELCOME

California Fruit Exchange handles crop,will show all records. We're picking soon.

See it now.

JOHN M. GATESSECURITY BLDG., PASADENA

Write R. C. NICOLL, Prop., Thermal, Calif.

PRIZESTO AMATEUR

PHOTOGRAPHERS

More and better pictures arecoming in to the Desert Maga-zine office each month as in-creasing numbers of camerafans are finding here a prizemarket for their offerings. Thesecontests are open to all ama-teurs and the range of subjectsincludes close-ups of plant andanimal life, landscapes, rockformations, unusual personalpictures, and in fact anythingon or of the desert.

Composition is no less impor-tant than subject. One contest-ant missed one of the prizes inthe May contest because a lightcolored o b j e c t w a s photo-graphed against a light back-ground — no contrast. Focus,grain and other fine points ofphotography enter into thejudging.

Prizes are $5.00 for first and$3.00 for second place winners,and c h e c k s are forwardedpromptly.

Following are the rules gov-erning the contest:

1—Pictures submitted in theJuly contest must be receivedat the Desert Magazine officeby July 20.

2—Not more than four printsmay be submitted by one per-son in one month.

3—Winners will be requiredto furnish either good glossyenlargements or the originalnegatives if requested.

4—Prints must be in blackand white, 21AX3VA or larger.

5—Pictures will be returnedonly when postage is enclosed.

For non - prize - winning pic-tures accepted for publication$1.00 will be paid for eachprint.

Winners of the July contestwill be announced and the pic-tures published in the Septem-ber number of the magazine.Address all entries to:

CONTEST EDITOR,DESERT MAGAZINE,El Centro, California.

INDIAN JEWELRYContinued jrom page 16

turquoise are drilled and usually mountedwith the holes visible. Most of this classof jewelry is found only in the best storesand brings rather high prices.

A good guarantee of value in old pawnor in fact any Indian jewelry is to tradewith a dealer who has an established rep-utation. These men are interested in theirbusiness and are good judges of the ma-terial they handle. They have pride intheir standing and want to give honestvalue.

A majority of traders and curio dealersare in the business because they like itand they love the things they are selling.They would much rather sell you onegenuine piece than a half dozen fakes.Many honest dealers are forced to keep acase of cheap imitations to meet unscru-pulous competition but they despise it.The buyer himself asks for a fake whenhe says "Well haven't you something forabout 50 cents or a dollar?"

Desert Trading PostGEM CUTTING—Send your rough desert

gemstones to V. H. Wallace, Box 344, ElCentro, Calif., for expert facet and cabochoncutting and polishing. Gems and gem min-erals for sale. Prices on request.

FOR SALE—White Star Cafe at junction U.S. 80 and State Hwy 94. Five acres. Busi-ness established 19 years. Sacrifice at$10,000. Write Adam Witcher, Boulevard,California.

TRAVELING THIS SUMMER? Write fordescriptive pamphlets to help you plan yourvacation. No obligation. Desert MagazineTravel Bureau, El Centro, California.

ArmySADDLES-(McCle l l an ) leather cov-ered wood stirrups complete with luggagestraps $5 ea. Work harness (U. S. ArmyWheel) complete with bridles, lines andcollars $30 per set. TENTS, NEW 8x10$8, 10x12 $11, 14x16 $20. All merchan-dise in good condition. Mail orders filledsame day received. Sam Robinson, directbuyer of U. S. Gov't since 1925—2612 So.San Pedro St., Los Angeles, Calif.

Monstad Fishing Bargesare anchored for the summer inthe bass, barracuda, yellowtailand other game fish groundsamong the kelp beds off Re-dondo beach.

New streamline all-steel watertaxi, fireproof and unsinkable.

Boats leave at regular intervalsfrom Monstad pier.

REDONDO BEACH. CALIF.

24 The DESERT MAGAZINE

Sez HardRock Shorty

of

Death

Valley

BY LON GARRISON

"An' another thing," said HardRock Shorty as he finished carvinghis name on the top rail of theporch and got ready to begin on themiddle one, "Speakin' of alum wa-ter springs, ol' Gene Banks downin the Panamints got to thinkin'one day about that spring on hisranch up in Fried Egg Canyon, an'he got a Doc out from Hollywoodto look at it.

"Doc sends right back to townfor some folks he knows that is toofat, and do you know Sir! by pattin'that water on the outside kindo' ju-dicious like, an' drinkin' a bit too,it only took three-four hours toshrink them folks down 'til youwouldn't've knowed 'em! Say! Docan' Gene goes into the reducin'business, an' starts the Fried EggCanyon hotel for diminishin' youan' your bank roll with rates be-ginnin' at twenty-seven dollars an'a half a day! Inside a month they'dmore customers'n money'n theycould handle!

"Only lasted a month or twothough—the durn spring dried upon 'em. Best idea seems to be thatthe water was gettin' stronger allthe time an' finally she gets somuch shrinkin' power she's toostout for herself an' shrivels downright out o' existence."

PALM SPRINGS TO SPEND$16,000 FOR ADVERTISING

For the 1938-39 season Palm Springs As-sociates have set their advertising budget at$16,000 and the summer and fall campaignwill be outlined at once.

Nearly all of the approximately 160 busi-ness establishments in the village will joinin the newly organized Business Men's As-sociation, its organizers predicted followinga session of directors at which "Pat" Pat-terson was elected president; Jack Went-worth, first vice president; Herbert H. Fos-ter, second vice president; Dr. Russell M.Gray, secretary; Robert Ransom, assistantsecretary; George T. Oliver, treasurer andFlorian Boyd, assistant treasurer.

Don't try to SLEEP

in an oven

this summer

You can lick hot nights in the desert by insulating your home theJohns-Manville way. J-M Rock Wool shuts out heat on the hottestdays, makes your home up to 20 degrees cooler.

We are equipped to blow J-M Rock Wool into walls and ceilingwithout disturbing the structure. Let us show you what we can dowith insulation.

LET US GIVE YOU AN ESTIMATE ; No OBLIGATION ON YOUR PART

SONES LUMBER COMPANYEl Centro California

JUNIORBUILT for COOLINGONE or TWO ROOMS

IDEAL SIZE FORAUTO COURTS

1700 cu. ft. of air per minute

Built as sturdily as theMaster Fabreeze. Eas-ily installed. Will lastjor years.

Dimensions: 42 inches high, by38 inches wide, 20 inches deep.

Improved adjustable watertrough. No clogged pipes.

Distributed by

IV. HARDWARE CO.Manufactured by

W. H. FABRY MFG. CO., INC700 So. DATE ST. ALHAMBRA, CAI.IF.

J U L Y , 1 9 3 25

Refrigeration and

Air ConditioningSystems

installed and repairedo

General Machine Work

Gear Cutting

LA.Automotive Works

1020 TOWNE Ave., Los ANGELES

PROSPECT 9217

CAVCOVENTILATINGEQUIPMENTCOMPANY

Manufacturers ofVentilating Fans and BlowersEquipment Parts and Repairs

Phone TUcker 7080 CA!509 East Ninth Street

Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

In the Center of Downtown

LOS ANGELES

FOURTH ANDSPRING STS.DOWNTOWN

Right in the center of activities. .. . . . a quiet, comfortable hotelhome . . 200 rooms $ 4 9RFrom S2 with from .Private Bath i

-fjete and ihete. . . O N THE DESERT

Angelus De AnzaH O T E L

ARIZONA

Tucson . . .Dr. Rodney Trueblood of Glendale was

elected governor of the 21st district, Ari-zona Lions clubs, at the 15 th annual con-vention here. Delegates picked Holbrook as1939 convention city.

Phoenix . . .The Dons Club of Phoenix on May 9 at

junction of Highway 60 and the Apachetrail dedicated a marker of native stone, sur-mounted by a copper plaque memorializingthe history of Superstition mountain. In-scription on the plaque, written by OrenArnold, a regular contributor to the DesertMagazine, reads: "Here lie the remains ofSnowbeard the Dutchman, who in thismountain shot three men to steal a rich goldmine from Spanish pioneers, killed eightmore to hold treasure, then himself died in1892, without revealing its location. Dozensof searchers have met mysterious death inthe canyons there, yet the ore lies unre-vealed. Indians say this is the curse of theThunder Gods on white man in whom thecraving for gold is strong. Beware lest youtoo succumb to the lure of the Lost Dutch-man mine in Superstition mountain."

Window Rock . . .Traders from three states on the Navajo

reservation were invited by General Super-intendent E. R. Fryer to attend a conferencehere June 5 and 6 for discussion of mutualproblems and the Indian service program.Invitations went to 163 trading post pro-prietors, who are, Fryer says, "at the veryheart of the Navajo economic system." Dis-cussion ranged from Indian arts and craftsto education, sheep breeding and land use.

Holbrook . . .A resolution by Senator Ashurst for $3,000

to investigate the feasibility of creating thePetrified Forest National Park in Navajocounty has been reported without recom-mendation by the senate audit and controlcommittee. The Petrified Forest is now anational monument.

Flagstaff . . .T. E. McCullough, president of the Ari-

zona Game Protective association, has posted$100 reward for the capture of a wild ibexin Arizona. The ibex is a goatlike animal,native to Asia and Africa. Recently it formedthe alibi for defendants in Mohave countyaccused of killing mountain sheep. Theyprotested they had killed, not sheep, butibex, descended from a herd released about1900 by Theodore Roosevelt.

Tucson . . .The name of the Spanish padre, Marcos

de Niza, will appear on Arizona's 1939automobile license plates in commemora-tion of the 500th anniversary of the firstwhite man's entrance into Arizona. Countieswill be designated by letters only, sinceVernon Davis, superintendent of the motordivision of the state highway department,advised it would be mechanically and finan-cially impossible for plates to carry boththe name of the padre and the county.

Phoenix . . .To plan "mutual protection" against in-

creased use of Colorado river water for irri-gation in Mexico, representatives of theseven basin states have been invited to meethere on June 22. Secretary Donald S. Scottof the Colorado river commission for Ari-zona warns that complications are inevitableif the United States "stands idle while Mex-ico puts the water to beneficial use." Scottdeclares 424,000 acres in the Mexican deltaare under cultivation or can be cultivatedfrom existing canals. Additional 800,000acres can be irrigated by extending existingfacilities in the delta below the Mexicanborder, he says.

Quartzsite . . .The Yuma-Quartzsite road, only north and

south highway in Arizona west of Phoenix,has been incorporated in the state highwaysystem. Allocation of $12,000 for main-tenance of the 90-mile route connectingsouthern and northern parts of Yuma coun-ty, has been made by the highway commissionfor the fiscal year starting July 1. TheQuartzsite road will be known at state high-way 95, will link San Luis, Son., Mex., withLas Vegas, Nev., via Gadsden, Somerton,Yuma, Quartzsite, Parker and Kingman. Itwill intersect three transcontinental high-ways, US 80, US 60 and US 66.

Kingman . . .Three new weather bureau airport sta-

tions would be located in Arizona under ap-propriations in the pending agriculture de-partment bill before Congress. They wouldbe installed at Phoenix, Tucson and King-man.

Chandler . . .Members of the Chandler Woman's club

on May 4 planted a tree in the club groundsas a tribute to Will H. Robinson, Arizonaauthor, who died in April at his home here.Robinson wrote a number of novels, manyarticles and stories based on Arizona. Hispoem "Memories" was read during thetree planting ceremony.

CALIFORNIAPalo Verde . . .

A new desert county, 100 miles square,carved out of parts of Riverside, San Ber-nardino and Imperial, is proposed by thePalo Verde Valley Times. It would extendas far as Needles, take in Blythe and PaloVerde to the south, include a great area ofColorado river bottom lands. It is estimated25,000 people live in the suggested boun-daries.

Palm Springs . . .Villagers were wrong when they identi-

fied as swallows thousands of small, darkbirds which circled a hacienda in LasPal mas estates, then darted down the chim-ney to seek shelter in the vacant house,where many were found dead. Dr. RaymondB. Cowles, UCLA professor, says the birdswere migrants, the vaux swift. Cowles de-clared these swifts, migrating, travel in suchnumbers and seek shelter at night in suchconfined quarters that many are frequentlysuffocated by weight of their fellows clus-tering in layers.

26 The DESERT MAGAZINE

El Centro . . .California's Division of Parks has ac-

cepted from the federal government 168acres in the vicinity of San Felipe creek forinclusion in the Anza Desert State Park.Patents have been asked for 160,000 acresin the Vallecitos area to be incorporated inthe park, which will cover a total of350,000 acres. Park commissioners, becauseof lack of funds, declined to buy the stonestore at Campo, scene of colorful border in-cidents.

Palm Springs . . .Uncle Sam would create a Garden of Eden

for 50 members of the Palm Springs tribeof Indians, if Congress permits sale of someof the tribal land, John W. Dady, MissionIndian superintendent, told a committee inthe House of Representatives at Washing-ton. Dady favors sale of a tract adjoiningthe resort of Palm Springs. He said he be-lieved the sale would mean about $1,500,000to the tribe.

29 Palms . . .To build roads and trails and to make

other improvements, a CCC camp for theJoshua Tree National Monument, adjoining29 Palms, is advocated by CongressmanJohn Dockweiler, who is pressing this planin Washington.

Needles . . .Early construction of an interstate bridge

across the Colorado river at Needles hasbeen the subject of conferences between busi-ness men of Needles, Oatman and Kingman.California highway officials say this state isready to proceed with building plans assoon as cooperation of the Arizona High-way department is assured. Developmenr of80,000 acres of valley land is said to be af-fected and the span would shorten the dis-tance from Kingman to the coast by 24miles.

Blythe . . ."Desert Steve" Ragsdale, president of the

California division of U. S. Highway 60 as-sociation, was a leading spirit in the asso-ciation's national convention at Bartlesville,May 20-21. Ragsdale's Desert Center isknown from coast to coast, his fight for"the shortest route from Atlantic to Pacific"has put him in the front rank of Highway60 advocates.

Indio . . .Excavation of the Coachella branch of the

Ail-American canal will probably start earlynext fall. This is indicated by opening ofbids June 3 for digging first 45 miles of the130-mile canal. Coachella branch takes offfrom the Ail-American canal proper 32 mileseast of Calexico, runs along west edge ofsand dunes north and west until it reachesSouthern Pacific railroad tracks near Niland.This is the section on which June bids werecalled. Bids on the Coachella turnout fromthe main canal were opened in Yuma May23- Atlas Construction company, Pasadena,was low bidder, at $146,799.25.

NEVADALas Vegas . . .

Water in Lake Mead has risen more than19 feet since February 1, 1938, storage be-hind Boulder dam reaching 16,000,000 acrefeet by mid-May. This would cover thestates of Massachusetts and Connecticut toa depth of two feet. Peak flow of theColorado is nor expected until late in June.The lake is now 109 miles long, nearly 500feet deep at the dam.

Boulder City . . .Use of Boulder dam power in Arizona

for the first time has been authorized by theArizona Corporation commission, which hasapproved a contract between the federal De-partment of Interior and the Citizens Utili-ties, operating at Kingman for a maximumof 50,000,000 kilowatts annually. The utili-ty will spend $315,000 for transmissionlines.

Needles, California, will get power fromBoulcer dam some time after September 1,according to I. C. Harris, acting construc-tion engineer of the Boulder canyon project.

Austin . . .Toiyabe National forest, containing

1,800,000 acres, has been reestablished byexecutive order of President Roosevelt.Headquarters of the new unit will be setup at Reno. Area includes the Santa Rosadivision in Humboldt county and the oldToiyabe forest in Nye, Lander and Eurekacounties. Headwaters of some of the mostimportant watersheds in the state lie in theToiyabe, some of Nevada's best game areasalso. Alexander McQueen will be in charge.

Fallon . . .Western Nevada counties of Churchill,

Lyon and Pershing will try their luck withflax growing. One hundred acres have beensigned for seeding, with a minimum of$2.68 per hundred pounds guaranteed forthe crop, says the Fallon Standard.

UTAH

Salt Lake . . .Salt Lake has just launched its first dry-

land yacht. It has a light hull, a 12-footmast and is sloop rigged. Two of its threewheels are under the bow. The third wheelis hooked to the steering gear, aft. Undercanvas spread to the desert winds this boatbuilt to navigate the salt beds makes almostincredible speed. Egypt has dry-land yachtclubs on the Sahara, but local builders saytheir craft is the first of its kind in this partof the world.

Vernal . . .Half of Utah's federal aid road building

program for the fiscal year 1938 is com-pleted or under construction, says a reportof the state highway commission. Of 57projects, involving nearly $2,000,000, thereport shows 22 as finished.

Monticello . . .John Collier, national commissioner of

Indian affairs, is censured in resolutionsadopted here by 150 Navajos, for a "regimeof gross injustice." Claiming to represent70 pel cent of the Navajo tribe, the assem-bly here accused Collier of "handpicking"the tribal council selected in 1937 and askedfor a new councilmanic election.

NEW MEXICO

Albuquerque . . .After 7 months' illness, David A. Shoe-

maker, chief of range management for theU. S. Forest service in New Mexico andArizona, died at his home here, aged 44years. He had worked 25 years with theforest service.

Santa Fe . . .According to State Game Warden Wm.

H. Sawtelle, complimentary hunting andfishing licenses will be issued to pioneers70 years of age who have resided in NewMexico 25 or more consecutive years. Resi-dent fishing licenses are $1.75 and non-resident licenses $3.00

FOR THE UTMOST IN

• Superb, extra-fare, exclusive-ly first-class trains, streamlinedin stainless steel, presented bythe Santa Fe as the latest de-developments in ultra-modernpassengerequipment—in beau-ty of appointment, roominessand smooth-riding perfection.• The Super Chief twice-weeklyin each direction between LosAngeles and Chicago, is theonly solid-Pullman 39% hourtranscontinental train; and TheChief is the finest, fastest andonly extra-fare Chicago dailytrain. *The popularity of thesetrains suggests the advisabilityof early reservations.

743 S. Hill St, LOS ANGELES

bul MarKet St. & 44 4th St.

ath Avc. & is St. & Santa Festation, SAW UIJKIJO

7-28

J U L Y , 1 9 3 8 27

"DESERTSTEVE"RAGSDALE

invites you

to visit

him at . . .

Desert CenterCALIFORNIA

On U. S. Highway 60-70-93

Hotel service, cabins, cafe, store, gar-age, free swimming pool and showers,largest landing field between Los An-geles and Phoenix, lighted all night.Good mechanic, tow car service. Every-thing for you and your car day andnight.

WE HAVE LOST OUR KEYS—WE CANT CLOSE

The sky is our limit, hell is our depth,We have sunshine the whole year

round.If you wish to get fat, or wish to be

lean,D. C. is the best place to be found.

50 MILES W E S T OF BLYTHE.50 MII.ES EAST OF INDIO

This evaporative water recirculatingcooler is economical and easy to

install and maintain.AVAILABLE I N FOUR SIZES

From $55.00 up•

For further information write

Ace Metal Products Co."Everything in the Sheet Metal Line"

5702 So. BROADWAYLos ANGELES, CALIF.

DESERT PLACE NAMES. . . Compiled by TRACY M. SCOTT . . .

For the historical data contained in this department, the Desert Magazine is indebted tothe research work done by Miss Scott; to the late Will C. Barnes, author of "ArizonaPlace Names"; to Frances Rosser Brown of New Mexico and to Hugh O'Neil of Ogden,Utah.

ARIZONA

AGUIRRE PEAK (ah gher' re) Pima countySouthern end Babocuivari mountains, near

Mexican line. After Epifanio Aguirre,killed by Apaches near this peak, a wellknown government contractor and freighterof early days. Born in Chihuahua, Mexico;educated in eastern U. S. Married MaryBernard at Westport, Mo. Came west andsettled in Chihuahua. Jan. 16 1870 he anda party were attacked near Sasabe, Arizona.All were killed except his brother, Conrado,who escaped. Aguine's wife went back toWestport, in 1874 returned and taughtschool at Tucson for many years.

BLOXTON Santa Cruz countyStation on Benson-Nogales branch of

S. P. R. R. About 17 miles northeast of No-gales, on the Sanford ranch. Sanford ranabout 13,000 sheep here in 1881 much tothe disgust of his cattlemen neighbors.Named after Bob Bloxton, son-in-law ofD. A. Sanford. (Arizona Yesterdays.)

BONELLIS CROSSING Mohave countyEarly Mormon settlement on Colorado

river. Later called Stone's ferry. AfterDaniel Bonelli. According to Elliott, "Bo-nelli's ferry consisted of a flat boat which aman pulls across the river with a line. Fortwo persons and a wagon the charge is $10,with additional charge of 50 cents for e.irhadditional person. The river can be fordedhere but is very dangerous."

WHISPER MOUNTAIN Coconino countyNear Flagstaff. Named by its discoverer,

because the slightest whisper of peopletalking there can be heard more than halfa mile away. Forest Supervisor Millerwrote, "It is somewhere near Sunset moun-tain. Unfortunately Mr. Conrad died beforewe could definitely locate it."

CALIFORNIA

CAJON (ka hone') San Bernardino countyPass, settlement. Ele. 4300 ft. Crossed in

March 1776 by Padre Francisco Garces; in1826 by Jedediah Smith, first U. S. citizento enter California overland; in 1851 byMormon colonists who founded San Ber-nardino; in 1854 by Lieutenant Whipple,explorer. First pack train negotiated passin 1831, led by Wm. Wolfskill. Wordmeans "box-like; enclosed."

BOLINAS (bo leen' ahs) Inyo countyRidge. Sp. for "whale," referring to shape

of large hill.

CUYAMACA (Kwee yah mah' kah)San Diego county

Lake, rancho and peak. A Diegnan In-dian word meaning "meeting of the winds,"or "no rain beyond" and "end of fog." Ac-cording to T. T. Waterman, anthropologist,U. C , the word comes from kwee (rain)and amak (yonder), referring to the peak'slocation between ocean and desert; or fromcuye (eagle) and maca (nest). Peak is 4980

feet high.

FORT BENSON Riverside countyIn 1854 Jerome Benson, once a Mormon

disciple, deserted the church. When theElders refused to sell land to him becausehe was an outcast and backslider Bensonsettled on what he thought was governmentland. To defend his holdings, he lugged asmall cannon to the place from the villageof San Bernardino, installed this artillery ina small fort and loaded the piece with rocks.One blast from Fort Benson's rockchatgedgun drove off would-be evictors, left Ben-son in undisturbed command. He finallygot clear title to the property. Today noth-ing remains of the fort except a few stonesmarking a corner.

. . . of the

Sincedesert

I9I3

EL CENTRO, CALPhone 34

EMERSON'S

BRDMDSELTZER

FOR

Before GoingTo Bed

TAKE

BROMO-SELTZER

Settles StomachSoothes Nerves

Jordan Hot SpringsNot on an Auto Road

FISHING, RIDING, HIKING• « •

J. N. HOLLIDAY, Olancha, Calif.

TYLER INSURANCEAGENCY

W. H. Tyler, Jr. J. W. TylerComplete Insurance Service - RealtorsPhone 660 520 Main St.

EL CENTRO, CALIF.

28 The DESERT MAGAZINE

GRAY'S WELLS Imperial countyNamed for Newt Gray of Holtville. Camp

for workers on the plank road across thesand dunes to Yuma. First spike was drivenFebruary 13, 1915, with Ed Boyd pro-moter of the project. Imperial county fur-nished food and city and county of SanDiego furnished lumber. First road wasmade of 2xl2-inch planks nailed to crosstieswith two tracks, each 25 inches wide. Laterit was changed to heavy cross planks, thefull width of a wagon road. Parts of itmay still be seen from the present pavedhighway, curving up and down across thedunes.

• • •

NEVADA

OWYHEE (oh y' hee) Elko countyRiver. In 1778 Captain Cook gave this

name to the Hawaiian islands and the Kana-ka influence was felt inland from thenorthwest coast, with an influx of islandersin the early half of the 19th century.

MOAPA (mo a'pa or mo ah' pa)Clark county

Town and Indian reservation, originallyMoapariats, meaning "the Mosquito creekpeople," a band of Pahutes who lived atonetime in Moapa valley, southeastern Nevada.

NYE countyEstablished 1864 out of a part of Esme-

relda county; named after Gov. James W.Nye, first governor of Nevada territory,created by proclamation July 11, 1861.

LITTLE BANGOR Washoe countyMining and lumber camp established in

1863 and so called by citizens who camefrom Bangor, Maine.

MT. DAVIDSON Storey countyEle. 7827. Formerly known as "Sun peak."

Named for Prof. George Davidson of theU. S. Coast survey.

NEW MEXICO

CUCHILLO (koo chee' yo) Sierra countySp. "a single-bladed knife." May also

mean one of six main feathers in a hawk'stail.

PUERTO DE LUNA (pwer' to day km' ah)Guadalupe county

Means literally "port of the moon."

TECOLOTE (tay ko low' tay)San Miguel county

From the Aztec word tecolotl, the groundowl. A Papago village in southwest Punacounty, Arizona, at one time.

UTAHCACHE (cash) county

So called from the fact that early trappersand immigrants stored goods there as theypassed through. Logan, the capital, locatedin 1859.

KANAB Kane countyPlateau, village and creek. Settlement

formed in 1870. Word doubtless of Indianorigin; meaning unknown.

SALT LAKE CITY

Great Salt Lake was first seen by JamesBridger in 1824-25. The city was foundedand named by Brigham Young and partyJuly 27, 1847.

Spend I/oust, Susnm&i wtik a SeaLOW COSTOF OPERATION

The SEA BREEZE com- :

fort COOLER is operat-ed with the minimum ofcost by small, efficientmotors and delivers themaximum efficiency andcomfort.

MOTORWestinghouse m o t o r sare quiet in operationand are the best of theirrespective designs.

BLOWERSEA BREEZE is equip-ped with a CaliforniaCentrifugal Blower (nota propeller fan), whichis quiet in its operationand delivers air underpressure. The bearingsare self-lubricating andare mounted in rubberfor quiet operation.

See it on display at your dealer's or write to:-

DEFIANCE FAN COMPANYLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

1866 W. Washington Blvd., Telephone REpublic 9064

EFFICIENCYAT A PRICE

YOU CAN

TO PAY!

CaaleAlas low as

$43.25installation

extra

Built For Imperial ValleyThis silent, fast cooling equipment is

designed especially to cope with most severe heat conditions. Hasrustproof metal cabinet and automatic water recirculator. See itoperate at any Edgars' store before you buy.

AN ESSICK COOLER WILL DO THE JOB

CALF.XICO EL CENTRO BRAWLEY

J U L Y , 1 9 3 8 29

HOTEL LAFAYETTEBROADWAY AND LINDEN

LONG BEACHCALIFORNIA

A Distinctive Hotel reflecting theutmost in refinement and comfort.All outside rooms with combina-tion tub and shower bath.

TARIFF FROM $2.50

CAFE LAFAYETTEwith its chaste decorations providesthe Cafe par excellence serving thechoicest of foods prepared forthose who are accustomed to betterthan the average.

Modest Prices PrevailEARL R. MILTON, MANAGER

U. S. GRANT

DRIVE IN GARAGEL O B B Y L E V E L

RATES50 « $ 9c£t«ch.<i W

WilkI B.tk

Ftnoui tor COMFORTSERVICE. CONVENIENCE

B I L T M O R E H O T E L

SQUARETOWER

of Hovenweep National monument. This isthe correct title of the picture shown below.E. Boyd Hall of Santa Fe, New Mexico,identified the picture and won the cashprize offered by the Desert Magazine in

May for the best letter of description. The winning manuscript givingthe location of this Indian ruin is printed herewith.

By E. BOYD HALL

The Landmark picture in the DesertMagazine for May evidently was taken inthe Hovenweep National monument ofsoutheastern Utah, with the ruin calledthe "Square Tower" in the foreground.

These ruins may be reached from Cor-tez, 30 miles to the east in Colorado. Cor-tez may be reached over Highway 666from Gallup, New Mexico (137 miles),or from Denver over Highway 160 byway of Walsenburg (advisable only insummer). There are also roads runningsouth from U. S. 50 to Cortez.

While in the Hovenweep area the visi-tor should also see Yucca House, AztecRuins, Mesa Verde, Chaco, Canyon de

Chelly, all of which are in the same gen-eral area.

The ruins are thought to have beenbuilt by prehistoric Indians in their lateperiod (Pueblo III) when their culturallevel was at its peak, as indicated by pot-tery, weaving, etc. Whether drought orhostile nomadic tribes forced the aban-donment of these dwellings, cannot bestated definitely. Scientists have pon-dered over the purpose for which the"Square Tower" was built. Its location inthe bottom of the arroyo makes it neces-sary to discard the defense theory. Oneexplanation is that it served as a stoneage astronomical observatory. Pagan cere-monials may have centered around thistower. The best answer is only a guess.

30 T h e D E S E R T M A G A Z I N E

Have You Seen This Palm Oasis?It Is Located In Southern California

Pancho Contento on his way toCalexico, tvhere he always finds thebest for the least.

Si, Si, the

H O T E L D E A N Z Aon the border of

Mariana LandCALEXICO, CALIF.

Rates from $3.50

Roland L. Still, Mgr.

Announcement of Landmarks ContestIn one of the out-of-the-way canyons in

the Colorado desert of Southern Califor-nia, the above groups of native Washing-tonia palms are located—far removedfrom any others of their kind. In themore distant group a spring of good wa-ter is found.

This is a spot easily recognized and notlikely to be forgotten by those who havevisited it—and it is only a few hundredfeet from a passable desert road.

To the Desert Magazine reader whoidentifies this oasis and sends in the bestdescriptive article of not over 300 wordsa cash prize of $5.00 will be paid. Theanswers should give geographical loca-tion, accessibility to highways or trails,and any other information which wouldinterest desert visitors. If any legendary

material is available, that should be in-cluded.

This contest is open to all, regardlessof place of residence, and the contest isto close on the evening of July 20. Thewinning answer will be published in theAugust number of the Desert Magazine.

H O T E L

CHANCELLOR3191 WEST SEVENTH ST.

Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

•1 Block East of Ambassador

GARAGE IN CONNECTION

Rates per Day, European PlanSingle, $2.50 to $5 - Double, $4 to $6

Write for Special Monthly RatesCLAUDE A. PARKER, MANAGER

Phone: FEderal 1183

J U L Y , 1 9 3 8 31

ILLIS-CHALMERS

MODEL-B

l̂ f̂̂ pS

PULLS 16 IN. PLOW UP TO4 MILES PER HOUR

Your biggest field job goes in ahurry! The Model B Tractor pullsan A-C 16-inch Championship plowup to 4 miles an hour... from centerof draft, two wheels in the furrow.

ON RUBBER

ONLY

Delivered in El Centra561

FOR ALL JOBS ON SMALL FARMSFOR SMALL JOBS ON BIG FARMSW h y t ie yourself d o w n w i t hhorse-farming? You canforget about big feed bills,veterinary bills, harnessing,currying, cleaning stable . . .all the year 'round work youdo for your horses! Throwaway your whip . . . farm attwice the speed and half thecost of horses . . . with theAllis-Chalmers Model BTractor and Quick-HitchImplements. Whether yougrow livestock, poultry,grain, fruit or vegetables . . .the Model B is your tractor.See us today!

TO

TO BETTER FARM""",

TO MORE

SALES ANDSERVICE

Hunick Bros.433 Main St. Phone 403

EL CENTRO, CALIFORNIA

flUlS-GHfllNERS

DESERT MININGBRIEFS . . .Lovelock, Nevada . . .

Confident that a new gold extraction pro-cess will enable them to extract gold andquicksilver from the briny deposits of Car-son sink, prospectors have staked out thous-ands of acres in the area between Fernleyand Fallon. It is asserted that in a dem-onstration run the newly invented processextracted $8.00 to the ton.

Yuma, Arizona . . .When a golden cone slipped through the

fingers of Banker M. J. Hackett in the lobbyof the San Carlos hotel here the banker'stoes were endangered and a hole waspunched in the tile floor. Kenneth Holmesbrought the 231/4-pound lump of gold to thehotel from his mill at Araz. The gold wasvalued at $11,995. When Mine OperatorHolmes passed the cone to Banker Hackettfor inspection it proved to be heavier thanHackett expected. Hotel Manager CharlesNeeson said the three-inch hole in the floorwould be repaired and a gold plate placedon it.

Silver City, New Mexico . . .Notice from the Mining Association of

the Southwest gives warning that assess-ment work on mining properties will proba-bly be required after the end of the fiscalyear June 30. Unless the moratorium ineffect since 1932 is extended by the pres-ent session of Congress, all persons holding

Pioche, Nevada . . .Development of vast fields of lowgrade

silver, lead, zinc and manganese ore by us-ing Boulder dam power is forecast here,with report of an interstate commerce com-mission order issued at Washington. I. C. C.authorized the Union Pacific railroad toacquire 8.69 miles of a line running westfrom this point. In its application for rightto purchase, the U. P. said Combined MetalsReduction company plans to spend withinthe next five years $2,600,000 on a miningplant near Las Vegas. The railroad wouldserve as outlet for ore reserves estimated atbetween 10,000,000 and 20,000,000 tons.National Lead and International Smelterare principal owners.

Prescott, Arizona . . .Twenty-four councils of the Arizona Small

Mine Operators association have been or-ganized under direction of Charles F. Willisof Phoenix and state membership total iswell above 1,000. Yuma has the youngestcouncil, with J. M. Worthington as chair-man; Roy E. Bennett, vice chairman andL. M. Snow, secretary. Goal of 3,000 mem-bers is the organization's aim.

Boulevard, California . . .Heietofore all the jade found on the

North American continent was in the formof ornaments taken from prehistoric ruinsand supposed to have originated in Asia.Now comes a report that Konrad Kather,after prospecting 10 years on southern Cali-fornia deserts, has discovered a vein of jadenearly 2,000 feet long near here. K. K. iswaiting to hear what mineralogists at theUniversity of California decide about sam-ples he sent to them.

OLYMPIC BARGESLargest and finest fishing barges on the

coast. Where fish and fishermen meet.TRIP TICKET $1.00

CAPT. I. M. ANDERSONHERMOSA BEACH, CALIF.

Commodious seaworthy boats leave eachpier every half hour.

32 The DESERT MAGAZINE

the 2)ede>itC H A R L E S K E L L Y , who wrote

"Graveyard of the Gods" in this numberof the Desert Magazine is a resident ofSalt Lake City and a printer by trade.Kelly merely writes as a hobby, but hehas crammed a lot o' writin' into his lei-sure hours during the past few years.

Kelly is 49 years old and moved to SaltLake City soon after the World war. Hebecame interested in archeological explor-ation and his field trips led him acrossthe old Donner trail so often that he be-came curious to know more about the ill-fated Donner expedition. Out of this re-search came "Salt Lake Trails." His sec-ond book was "Holy Murder," the biog-raphy of Porter Rockwell, BrighamYoung's personal assassin.

Since then he has written "Old Green-wood," the story of an old trapper withthe Fur Brigade; "Miles Goodyear," firstcitizen of Utah, and edited the journal ofJohn D. Lee of Mountain Meadows Mas-sacre fame. Kelly's sixth book, "OutlawTrail" is to be released in the near future.

It is the story of Butch Cassidy and hisWild Bunch.

Kelly has made two trips through Glencanyon of the Colorado, and has planneda third excursion there this summer in aneffort to find some old Spanish inscrip-tions reported to have been recorded onthe rocks there.

He has made a special study of oldemigrant names cut in the rocks along theoverland trails, and is a recognizedauthority on Mormon history and otherphases of pioneer activities in the Utahregion.

• • •ARTHUR WOODWARD, whose his-

torical features have been so popular withDesert Magazine readers, is now workingon the story of Father Garces who is per-haps the most colorful of all the early daydesert padres. This article is scheduledfor a future number of this magazine.

• • •

In submitting manuscripts to the Des-ert Magazine, writers should realize thatgood pictures are essential. The old dayswhen any snapshot was a picture, aregone. So many good amateur camera fansare in the field now that there simply isno market for mediocre photography.The DM prefers glossy prints 5x7 orlarger, with good sharp contrast.

n

J.

This page belongs to the Hot Air editor. Dur-ing the summer months it will be devoted to acontest to determine which desert community ishottest. Imperial valley makes first bid in thestory told below. Each month an award of $5.00will be given the contributor who sends inthe best hot air story. The current contest closesJune 30. The sky is the limit.

rHE man wearing a yellownecktie sat where the suncould shine on him. He baked

and baked and baked and kept cooldoing it, somehow. A fellow com-muter could restrain his curiosity nolonger.

"I say," he exclaimed, "are youa salamander or what?"

"A what, I guess," said the manwith the yellow necktie. "Why?"

"Well, you seem to soak up heatlike a blotter blots up ink. How doyou do it? Did you get frozen onceupon a time?"

"No," the other replied. "I'm justused to the heat, that's all. I comefrom Imperial valley, California,where the rails melt."

"Gosh!" said the commuter."Does it get that hot down there?"

The man with the yellow necktieturned with a look of triumph onhis face.

"Friend," he said, "I've saw nailsturn to liquid and run down the sideof the house. I've saw anvils meltlike butter. I've saw a cookstove,left out in the sun for half an hour,so soft you could fold it into a suit-case. I've saw a man take boiler-plate and spread it like cheese witha cascknife. I've saw locomotivesmelt and run right off the track andleave nuthin' but a puddle. I'vesaw . . . "

"Say," cut in the commuter, "howdo people live in a climate likethat?"

The man from Imperial grinned.Then he took out a small jar andheld it up.

"We use Jigsaw's Face and SkinBalm for Sunburn," he said. "I'mselling a few jars at cost just to in-troduce them . . . '

"Aw, go sell 'em to Satan,"growled the commuter as he reachedfor his hat.

Truck Menthe

For your cargo refrigera-tion we can furnish

CRUSHED ICE

in any quantity . . . load-ed in your equipment byconveyor.

Make this your refrigera-tion depot on the long runfrom El Paso or Phoenix toLos Angeles.

Pure Ice Company248 Main St. El Centro, Calif.

P R I N T I N GFOR THE DESERTFor business and professionalpeople wanting

« STATIONERY• BOOKLETS• CARDS• MAILING PIECES

Suggestive of the desert.W E SUPPLY ART WORK,ENGRAVING AND PRINTINGDummies and quotations gladly

furnished.

ELITE PRINTING COMPANY597 State Street

EL CENTRO. CALIFORNIA

DESERT MAGAZINE BINDERSHold twelve copies—Attractive and Durable.Delivered, each $1

Imperial Valley Bindery129 No. tth St. El Centro, Calif.

ACCURACY

Metal Recovery Process, Inc.MINING AND MINERAL RESEARCH

LABORATORY

Assaying Gold and Silver - $1Telephone Rochester 5510

3703 S. Vermont Ave.Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

J U L Y , 1 9 3 : 33

BOOKSof ike Qy oulnwesiern aJJeseri

CALIFORNIA DESERTSEDMUND C. JAEGER

A happy combination, this — abook about the Colorado and Mo-jave Deserts of California whichthe casual visitor can read withpleasure and yet one that the scien-tific student can most profitablyuse.

Illustrated, 209 pages $2.00

DESERT OF THE PALMSD O N A D M I R A L

The Desert Magazine's contributoron desert botany presents this new56-page booklet, describing theColorado desert of southern Cali-fornia, especially the colorful areaaround Palm Springs.

Illustrated, paper bound .... 50c

DEATH VALLEY: THE FACTSW. A. CHALFANT

An absorbing account of the phys-ical and historical facts about thisfamous sink, told by the only manwho is qualified to write this book.

Illustrated, third edition,160 pages $2.75

INDIAN TRIBESOF THE SOUTHWESTDAMA MARGARET SMITH

If you have read Mrs. WhiteMountain Smith's human and brill-iant articles in The Desert Maga-zine, you will want this book, avivid, picturesque and useful hand-book on our desert Indians.

Maps and sketches,160 pages 1.50

THE CACTUS AND ITS HOMEFORREST SHREVE

Dr. Shreve, as Director of the Car-negie Institution's Desert Labora-tory, has produced a readable bookfor anyone with interest in desertplants.

Originally $3.00, now $1.50

BORN OF THE DESERTCHAS. R. ROCKWOOD

An autobiographical account whichunfolds the true early history ofImperial Valley, combined withDr. W. T. Heffernan's "Reminis-censes."

Art paper bound 50c

O N SALE A T

Desert Crafts Shops597 STATE STREET

EL CENTRO, CALIF.

All prices postpaid but sales tax addedfor California buyers.

OF YESTERDAY AND TODAY—a monthly review of the best literatureof the desert Southwest, past and present.

RUTH M. UNDERHILL TELLSSTORY OF PUEBLO INDIANS

/ S O U T H W E S T E R N history reallyS begins with corn. That was many

centuries before the white mancame to America. No one knows whencethe corn came, nor the exact period whenit became the principal item of food—butto the Indian tribes of the great plateauregion of Arizona and New Mexico—thePueblo Indians we call them today—thebeginning of the cultivation of corn wasas epochal an event as the invention ofthe steam engine or the harnessing ofelectricity to modern civilization.

Thus does Ruth M. Underhill inFIRST PENTHOUSE DWELLERS OFAMERICA offer a partial explanation ofthe fact that certain tribes of AmericanIndians built houses of mud and rock andattached themselves permanently to theland while others of the prehistoricgroups on American soil continued tolead the life of nomads.

The "penthouse dwellers" discussed bythe author include five general groups—Hopi, Zuni, Keres, and the two Tanoangroups, the Tewa and the Taos. TheHopi occupy three pueblos in northeast-ern Arizona, and the others are distrib-uted over northwestern New Mexico inmore than a score of villages.

They had developed a workable planof communal life in which religion andgovernment were practically synonymouslong before Columbus came to America,and have clung tenaciously to their nativetraditions and customs in spite of inva-sions by alien enemy, the missionary ef-forts of clergy, and the well-meaning butnot always helpful efforts of a paternalwhite man's government.

In open conflict they invariably lost tothe white invaders—but neither Spaniardnor white American may penetrate thesacred kiva, that underground sanctumwhere religious beliefs are preserved andpassed on from generation to generation.

In these days when both the state andthe church of the white man are plaguedby so many cross-currents of uncertainty,the codes and habits of a group of peoplewho have been able to maintain the in-tegrity of their traditional government andreligion during 300 years of armed andunarmed invasion are of first interest. Es-pecially so when this takes place righthere on our own North American conti-nent.

The author presents the historical back-ground of the Pueblo Indians as the storyhas been pieced together through scien-tific research, and then devotes the majorpart of the book to a discussion of each

of the major groups, pointing out differ-ences in the economic life and customsamong the villages which would not beapparent to the casual visitor. It is areadable and informative book, by awriter well qualified to tell this story.

The publisher is J. J. Augustin of NewYork, and the volume is illustrated withhuman interest photographs taken byLilian J. Reichard. R. H.

YALE PUBLISHES NEWBOOK OF INDIAN FOLKLORE

ORIGIN LEGENDS OF THE NA-VAHO ENEMY WAY, By Father Be-rard Haile, published by Yale UniversityPress, New Haven, 320 pp. illustrated.This is No. 17 of the Yale UniversityPublications in Anthropology. It is oneof the monographs issued as the result ofresearches in the field of Anthropologywhich are conducted or sponsored by theDepartment of Anthropology in the grad-uate school of Yale, the Department ofAnthropology of the Peabody Museum,and the Department of Anthropology ofthe Institute of Human Relations.

The present volume gives the originaltext and an excellent translation of thisNavaho Origin Legend. The introductoryremarks are vitally important, and thewhole book is a most valuable contribu-tion to the subject of folklore.

JULIA M. SETON.

Legends of GemsA 124 page book describing strange be-liefs regarding astrological significanceof gemstones, incorporated with a re-vised edition of "Gems—how to knowand cut them," by H. L. Thompson.

Well illustrated, strong binding

Price $1.00, postage 15c

GRAPHIC PRESS4314 SUNSET BLVD.Los ANGELES, CALIF.

Death Valley <W. A. ClIALFANT ^

"Only one writer has even told ^the complete and authentic story of ADeath Valley . . . It is an ab-sorbing account of every phase of \

• the strange deep sink and its en-virons."—WESTWAYS

New edition. Illustrated $2.75

Stanford University PressSTANFORD UNIVERSITY. CALIF.

444

34 The DESERT MAGAZINE

DESCRIPTIVE VERSES GIVETRUE PICTURE OF DESERT

In lines that portray a remarkably truepicture of her desert subjects, IreneWelch Grissom's book of poems UN-DER DESERT SKIES is one of the mostreadable of several volumes of desertverse offered in recent years.

Thorny cholla, grotesque Joshua, an-cient sajuaro—these and a score of otherdenizens of the wasteland are describedwith a simplicity which gives addedcharm to the author's work.

The poems for the most part are de-scriptive—but written by an observer whois keenly sensitive to the unspoken beautyof the things she found in the arid regionand of the intangible lure of the desertas a whole.

Soft-toned photographs and pen andink etchings by L. D. Cram and Glenn L.Spurgeon, staff artists for the CaxtonPrinters, who published the book, supple-ment the word pictures of the author tocreate a highly artistic volume.

• • •

OLD SANTA FE TRAIL SCENEOF HISTORICAL ROMANCE

There are few men as well acquaintedwith the history of the West as is Stan-ley Vestal, and no one better qualified topresent a romance in its authentic setting.So that his REVOLT ON THE BOR-DER, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, has adouble value in contemporary literature.

The scene is laid about the Santa FeTrail at the time of its most dramatic his-tory—1846, the year of the AmericanConquest. The characters of GeneralKearny, Governor Bent, La Tules andother mountain men all figure in the tale;and anyone interested in a picturesquepresentment of pioneer history would dowell to read the present story.

JULIA M. SETON.

• • •

THE LADY LAUGHSBy ROBERTA CHILDERS

GOLDFIELD, NEVADA

Our desert mother natureHas a lot of fun.So take a look about you,And see what she has done.

She mixes violent colorsAnd clashes them at will;Her plot of dead, dry tumbleweedsMakes freckles on a hill.

Threads needles of the JoshuaWith silk her spiders spun.She bakes a tiny biscuit hillUpon a mountain bun.

Her old limbs curled like rattlesnakesWill make your blood run cold.Pass rocks that glint and glisten,She's kidding you—Fool's gold!

Her warm sun beats and there's no shade,There isn't even a breeze.She pretends at last to make amends,At night—doggone, you'll freeze.

PUBLIC LANDSTO BE SOLDFOR HOMESITES

On June 1 President Roosevelt signedH. R. 8008 which authorizes the Secre-tary of Interior to sell or lease vacant andunreserved public lands in 5-acre tractsfor homesites, recreation and other pur-poses.

This measure was sponsored by Con-gressman Izac of San Diego, and involv-es a radical departure from homesteadlaws which have been in operation to thepresent time.

Since a large part of the public landavailable for purchase and settlement un-der this act lies in the desert region of theSouthwest, the operation of the new lawmay have an important bearing on fu-ture development of the desert areas.

The Desert Magazine will keep itsreaders informed as to regulations issuedfrom time to time by the Secretary in car-rying out the provisions of the new law.The full text of the measure is as follows:

AN ACT

To provide for the purchase of publiclands for home and other sites.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House ofRepresentatives of the United States ofAmerica in Congress assembled, That theSecretary of the Interior, in his discre-tion, is authorized to sell, or lease, to anyperson who is the head of a family, orwho has arrived at the age of twenty-oneyears, and is a citizen of the UnitedStates, or who has filed his declaration ofintention to become such a citizen, as re-quired by the naturalization laws, a tractof not exceeding five acres of any vacant,unreserved, surveyed public land, or sur-veyed public land withdrawn or reservedby the Secretary of the Interior for anyother purposes, or surveyed lands with-drawn by Executive Orders numbered6910 of November 26, 1934, and 6964of February 5, 1935, for classification,which the Secretary may classify as chief-ly valuable as a home, cabin, camp,health, convalescent, recreational, or busi-ness site in reasonably compact form andunder such rules and regulations as hemay prescribe, at a price to be determinedby him, for such use: Provided, That notract shall be sold for less than the costof making any survey necessary to prop-erly describe the land sold; that no per-son shall be permitted to purchase morethan one tract under the provisions ofthis Act, except upon a showing of goodfaith and reasons satisfactory to the Sec-retary, and that patents for all tracts pur-chased under the provisions of this Actshall contain a reservation to the UnitedStates of the oil, gas, and other mineraldeposits, together with the right to pros-pect for, mine, and remove the same un-der such regulations as the Secretary mayprescribe: Provided further. That this Actshall not apply to any lands in the Terri-tory of Alaska.

Passed the House of Representatives April18, 1938.

Boulder DamPOWER

Ute

Attest: SOUTH TRIMBLE,Clerk.

Boulder Dam, largest in the world,has saved the great desert southwestfrom floods and drouths, and willprovide irrigation and drinking wa-ter from Nevada to Los Angeles.

Today nearly half the power dis-tributed by this company comesfrom Boulder Dam. The remainderis associated with irrigation and wa-ter projects on the Owens River,Bishop Creek, Mono Basin, BanningHeights, and the Yuma Mesa.

Probably no other organization isso closely tied with the desert andits irrigation projects. In every casethe water users have been wellpleased with the cooperative ar-rangement by which we distributethe power over our vast network oflines in three states and Mexico.

Please let us know how we canserve you desert power at our lowrates and with our famous free ser-vices.

NEVADA-CALIFORNIAElectric Corporation

JULY, 1 9 3 8 35

"S

Quit jfteturean Uoutind M

35u SRaJall 9fenl

SItree.

F I were asked to name the three most impressivemembers of the desert plant kingdom my answer wouldbe—Saguaro cactus, Washingtonia palm and Joshua

There are other shrubs and trees in the arid region morecolorful than these, some more graceful, and perhaps a fewmore interesting (from the botanical standpoint). But noneof the others dominates the landscape of its habitat as im-pressively as these three.

The desert palm is my hobby. The paradox of the Wash-ingtonia is that a tree which requires an excessive amount ofmoisture at its roots should be found as a native only in theone part of western America where the water supply is leastplentiful.

Regardless of my fondness for the palm, however, I amwilling to concede that for showmanship the Joshua tree isby all odds the most striking member of the trio I have nam-ed. The Joshua has what the lecturer on salesmanship callspersonality-plus. It is a clown, a villain, an elusive fairy, agrandfather, a witch—in fact it is everything or anything youwant to make of it.

Recently I took time off for a rambling trip through theJoshua forest which extends from Lancaster and Palmdaleacross the southern part of the Mojave desert to Barstowand 29 Palms. The highway along nearly every mile of thisback-of-the-mountains route across Southern California isthrough more or less dense forests of Joshuas. And alongmuch of the route the desert floor was carpeted with yellowflowers of many species.

Near Palmdale I called at the Earl Desert Estates whereM. Penn Phillips and his associates are creating a new town.It was gratifying to note that the subdividers are preservingthe natural aspects of the desert landscape as far as possible.The buyers of cabinsite tracts mostly are people from thecoast side of the Sierra Nevada range who plan to spend theirweekends where the air is clear and the sun nearly alwaysshines.

When the new Angelus Forest highway directly over themountains to Palmdale is completed, Los Angeles will beonly an hour by motor from the edge of the Mojave desert.

The surprising thing to me is that residents of the coastmetropolitan area have so long overlooked the health andrecreational opportunities of the desert slope of the coastrange. I believe the future will see increasing numbers of cityoffice workers commuting over highly improved roads throughthe mountain passes to permanent homes among the Joshuatrees. Recently the supervisors of Los Angeles county setaside a thousand acres of the Joshua forest for park and re-creational purposes.

erson

The Desert Magazine seems to have loyal friends every-where. At Lancaster I found Gordon W. Fuller eager to con-tribute some of his fine photography. At Palmdale, HenryLoft and his sister Bonnie of the South Antelope Valley Pressgave me many interesting sidelights on their sector of theMojave plateau.

Also, at Palmdale I found a charming bit of early Califor-nia, both in the architecture of the Casa del Adobe hotel andthe hospitality of its hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Henry W. Mennig.

By all odds the most interesting institution in the Ante-lope valley region is the Indian Museum erected and main-tained by Mr. and Mrs. H. Arden Edwards, Los Angelesschool teachers. The building which houses the museum isperched among the rocks of Piute Butte 25 miles east of Lan-caster. Mr. and Mrs. Edwards began collecting Indian arti-facts as a hobby—and now have a display unique in many re-spects. Readers of the Desert Magazine will hear more aboutthe Edwards family.

On the vay to Victorville I stopped at the little cabin ofW. A. Chamberlain whose remote desert crafts shop is de-scribed in this number of the magazine.

At Barstow I visited the studio of F. V. Sampson who livespart of the time in a cavern out among the rocks and hastaken a series of remarkable pictures of small desert mammals.Sampson has so won the confidence of the squirrels and rab-bits he is able to take close-ups of them in their naturalhaunts.

* * *

Everywhere in the desert are interesting people to meet andstrange natural phenomena to learn about. I return from sucha trip as this with ideas and material for a hundred-pageDesert Magazine—and then my Scotch partner "Mac" bringsme back to earth with a reminder that we will have to getsome more subscribers and advertisers before we move upinto the 100-page class.

* * *

Congressman Izac's bill providing for the sale of publiclands in five-acre tracts has been signed by the President. Andnow it remains for Secretary Ickes of the Interior departmentto draft the regulations under which the land will be sold.This new measure may be a tremendous benefit to the West—or a headache. We'll await the next step with interest. Inthe meantime, some of those gullible tenderfeet who havebeen buying 10-acre rock piles in the Chocolate mountains ofSouthern California from wildcat salesmen may wish they hadwaited until they could make an honest deal with Uncle Sam.

36 The DESERT MAGAZINE

GOLFINGAmidst the Joshuas

n 0/Here—on one of the smart little Dude Ranchos you can build the exact

type of week-end retreat that suits your fancy.

Here—A Dude Rancho, Equivalent to 13 average city lots, may behad for less than is asked for a single lot in most resort subdivisions.

You Have Choice oi Native Desert Land with Joshua Treesor Full-Bearing Almond or Fruit Trees. Improvements Are In.

No Bonds or Assessments. Abundance of water, good roads, goodschools, electricity, telephones, and membership

in a truly Distinctive Club.

America's only course built among theseancient trees at . . .

Antelope Country Cluband

Earl Desert Estates

CALIFORNIA'Sfastest growing recreational center rich inromance of past civilization and radiant

with rare beauty.

Located near Lancaster and Palmdale69 miles from downtown Los Angeles

M. PENN PHILLIPSFOUNDER

2397 East Colorado Phone Terrace 9144PASADENA, CALIFORNIA

A IV I *

EVAPORATIVE

HUE

COOLERS

\SaoeMoneyLOW-COSTEvaporativeCOOLINGNo installationcosts —

MODEL

ABCDM

SIZE

Portable46x24x2348x36x2348x48x2334x34x34

Blower type

Cu. Ft. Capacity

800 CFM2000 CFM3000 CFM4000 CFM2100 CFM

PRICE

$ 37.5049.5069.5087.50

119.50

If there is no dealer in your neighborhood, mail this coupon:Manufactured and sold by

AIR-RITE, Inc.2218 W E S T SEVENTH ST.Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

Please send me folder describingyour desert coolers.

NAME

ADDRESS: -

CITY STATE

BEAT THE HEATIf Old Sol has you down . . . wrecking your sleepand making your home unbearably hot . . . it'syour turn to laugh!You needn't suffer any longer. This big, low-pric-ed ESKIMO Air Kooler gives you cool refreshingconditioned air, brings comfort, relaxation, health.

The ESKIMO is a marvel of efficiency . . . remarkably quiet . . .truly economical . . . easily installed and costs only a few cents aday to operate. Let us show you hoiv you can enjoy your ESKIMOwhile paying for it on easy terms.

AIR KOOLERSee Your Local Dealer

Manufactured bySTAR RADIATOR CO., LOS ANGELES

On Sale in ImperialValley at

IV. HARDWARECO

D I E S E L. . . Uie macula

14*1

EECATERPILLAR"LEADS THEM flLL

"CATERPILLAR" D4400 ENGINE

Brake horsepower, at 1400 R.P.M.: Maximum, 44; for continu-ous sustained loads, 33. Bore and stroke, 414"x5^". R.P.M.(governed, at full load), 1,400.

ARMERS everywhere are demanding Diesel-power-ed "Caterpillar" tractors. There are several reasons

for this trend. Track-layers have far greater draw-barpower than wheel tractors. And Diesel motors operate atabout half the expense of gasoline motors under normal

conditions. There must be some reason why "Caterpillar"commands over half the world sales in the track-layerfield, a much larger percentage in Imperial and Yuma valleys, where stamina and service are most needed. Thereason is two-fold: a superior machine engineered to the finest perfection of the day and a wide-spread and effic-ient sales and service organization, placed in every area where it is needed.

Ben Hulse Tractor and Equipment Co. has grown with "Caterpillar." The firm has seen the production andgrowing sale of several sizes of tractors suited to every need, has watched the expansion and improvement of theDiesel motor as it brought economical operation to farmers during lean times, has promoted the introduction ofnew money-saving attachments to aid in dirt-moving and soil-preparing operations. Ben Hulse ranks among thefirst three "Caterpillar" distributors in the United States.

World-wide leadership in sales of power machinery has earned "Caterpillar" an enviable position. BenHulse shares that leadership as independent "Caterpillar" distributor for Imperial and Yuma counties, standingbehind 85,000 horse-power sales with a complete organization of service.

The proof is in performance. Let us demonstrate"Caterpillar" Diesel in typical desert conditions.

We can prove:

GREATER DRAW-BAR POWERLOWER FUEL COST

BETTER ADAPTABILITYCOMPLETE DEPENDABILITY

"CATERPILLAR" DIESEL RD4 TRACTOR

WEIGHT:—(60-inch gauge), 9,740 pounds. Engine "Caterpillar"Diesel 4-cylinder valve-in-head. Bore and stroke, 41/4>'x51/2".R.P.M., 1,400. 13-inch grouser track shoes standard equipment.

BEN HULSETractor and Equipment Co.

El Centro Brawley Yuma Calexico