195507 Desert Magazine 1955 July

8/14/2019 195507 Desert Magazine 1955 July

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OwlDick Randall of Wyoming won first prize in the MayPicture-of-the-Month contest with his picture of aGreat Horned Owl. Taken with a 4x5 speed g raphic,Royal Pan film, f/11, strobe light, illumination at1 '5000 second.

O F I I M O N T H

The beauty of the 50-foot drop of the Navajo Falls inHavasu Canyon is caught in this picture, which wonsecond prize in the contest for Weldon Heald ofTucson, Arizona.


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D E S E R T C A L E N D A RJuly 2-4Southwest All-Indian Pow-Wow, Flagstaff. Arizona.July 2-4Reno Rodeo. Reno, Nev.July 2-4 Frontier Days, Prescott,Arizona.July 2-4Mescalero Apache Reser-

vation, Fiesta and Devil Dance,Mescalero Agency, Highway 70.New Mexico.July 2-4La Mesilla Fiesta (Gads-den Purchase), Mesilla, N. M.July 2-4Old Town Spanish Fiesta,Las Vegas, NewMexico.July 2-4Sierra Club Hike, DesertPeaks, Mt. Charleston, Nevada.July 2-4Sierra Club Natural Science3-Days at Mt.Jacinto, California,Hike or Back-Pack.July 2-5 22nd Annual Exhibit ofHopi Indian Arts andCrafts,Mu-seum of Northern Arizona, Flag-staff, Arizona.July 3-4Grants' 28th Annual Rodeo,Grants, New Mexico.July 4 Celebration andFireworksDisplay, White Sands NationalMonument, NewMexico.July 4Rodeo, Taos, New Mexico.July 4Cimarron Rodeo, N. M.July 4Red River Rodeo, N. M.July 4 Children's Picnic, JuniorChamber of Commerce, Yuma,Arizona.July 4Annual Show andFireworks,Lion's Club, Mesa, Arizona.July 4 Annual Jaycee FireworksShow, Phoenix, Arizona.July 7.9ute Stampede, Nephi, Utah.July 8-9Melon Festival, Glendale,Arizona.July 14Annual Fiesta, Corn Dance,Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico.July 14-17 Rodeo de Santa Fe,Santa Fe, NewMexico.July 15-17Western Pageant. Ogden.Utah.July 20-25Utah Days of '47.SaltLake City, Utah.July 20-25 Pioneer Days, Ogden,Utah.July 23-25 Spanish Fork Rodeo.

Spanish Fork, Utah.July 23-31Annual Exhibit of Na-vajo Indian Arts andCrafts, Mu-seum of Northern Arizona. Flag-staff, Arizona.July 24Coconino County Sheriff'sPosse Rodeo, Flagstaff, Arizona.July 24Pioneer Days: Parade. Bar-becue, Mesa, Arizona.July 25-26Spanish Colonial Fiesta,Corn Dance, Taos Pueblo. Taos,New Mexico.July 26Indian Fiesta andDances,Santa Ana Pueblo, NewMexico.July 26 Annual Fiesta, LagnnaReservation, New Mexico.Month of JulyExhibit of GeorgiaOtt Averett's paintings of south-western Indians, Southwest Muse-um , LosAngeles, California.

V o l u m e 18 JULY. 1955 N u m b e r 7C O V E RP H O T O G R A P H YCALENDARLOST MINETRUE ORFALSEPERSONALITYFISHINGC O M M U N I T YFIELD TRIPEXPERIENCEG A R D E N I N GCLOSE-UPSC O N T E S TN A T U R EPOETRYLETTERSFICTIONN E W SM I N I N GU R A N I U MH O B B YB O O K SC O M M E N T

Sedona, Arizona. Photograph by ED.ELLINGERPictures of the Month 2July events on the desert 3Dark Gold on the Tabaseca Trail

By HAROLD O. WEIGHT 4A test of your desert knowledge 8Dick Wick Hall of the Laughing Gas Service

Station, by WILSON McKENNEY . . . . 9Colorado River fishing rules 12Sedona Is Our Home Town

By EDELLINGER 13Rock Hunting Along Pioneer Trails

By NELL MURBARGER 16He SawOnly the Desert

By FRED GLIMPSE 21When the Rains Fail to Come

By RUTH REYNOLDS 23About those whowrite for Desert 24Picture of theMonth contest announcement . . 24It Builds Its Home of Wood

By EDMUND C. JAEGER 25Explorer's Cross, and other poems 27Comment from Desert's readers 28Hard Rock Shorty of Death Valley 29From here and there on theDesert 30Current news of desert mines 34Progress of the mining boom 35Gems and Minerals 41Reviews of current Southwestern literature . . 45Just Between You and Me, by the editor . . . 46

The Desert Magazine is published monthly by the Desert Press, Inc., Palm Desert,California. Re-entered as second class matter July 17, 1948, at the postoffice at Palm Desert,California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Title registered No. 358865 in U. S. Patent Office,and contents copyrighted 1955 by the Desert Press, Inc. Permission to reproduce contentsmust, be secured from the editor in writing.RANDALL HENDERSON, Editor BESS STACY, Business Manager

EVONNE RIDDELL, Circulation ManagerUnsolicited manuscripts and photographs submitted cannot be returned or acknowledgedunless full return postage is enclosed. Desert Magazine assumes no responsibility fordamage or loss of manuscripts or photographs although due care will be exercised. Sub-scribers should send notice of change of address by the first of the month preceding issue.

SUBSCUII'TIOX RATESOne Year $3.50 Two Years $6.00Canadian Subscriptions 25c Kxtrn, Foreign 50c Extra

Subscriptions to Army Personnel Outside O. S. A. Must Be Mailed in Conformity WithP. O. D. Order No. 19687

Address Correspondence to Desert Magazine, Palna Desert, California

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Indian trail across a mesa at the base of the Chocolate M ountains. "Slim" followed such a trail when h e found his gold.These trails lead to all the important natural watering places and some branches reach tinajas known to few whites.

, . , on the Tabaseca TrailBy HAROLD O. WEIGHTPhotographs by the authorMap by Norton Al len7OM CLARK was one of thepioneer burro prospectors ofthe Colorado Desert . He wasamong the earliest homesteaders in thePalo Verde Valley, and helped dig thefirst irrigation canal there.

Old Tom has been gone more than13 years now. He was 84 when hedisappeared.One warm summer day he left hishome at Quien Sabe Point on the Col-orado River, went to Blythe and took

An ailing prospector panned $120 in gold from a sack of red earthan d then drew a ma p sho win g the location of his strike. Tom Clark dis-appeared many years agoand with him the mapbut friends of theold man believe he was tel l ing the truththat somewhere betweenTabaseca Tank and Dos Palmas Oasis on the Southern Californiadesert is a rich placer field yet to be re-discovered.the bus to visit relatives and friendsin the Los Angeles area. Somew hereon that trip Tom vanished utterly andfinally.

With him disappeared a crude map,the only physical clue to a rich golddeposit which must lie somewherenear the old Bradshaw Trail acrossfar-sou theastern California. With himalso vanished hope for any amplifica-

tion of the exisiting waybill to that lostgold.Probably, though, Tom could nothave given more details. His know l-edge came only from the words scrib-bled and the map hastily drawn by aman who lay dying at Dos PalmasOasis more than half a century ago.His warranty for the story was the$40 in rough desert-burned placer gold

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which came with the map, repaymentfor a grubstake Tom never intendedshould be repaid.While he was young enough tosearch for the gold himself, Tom nevereven mentioned its existence. But whilevisiting at the old camp of Picacho inthe winter of 1938, three years beforehis disappearance, he told the storyto Ed Rochester and the late Earl Kerr.He said that it was the first time hehad talked about it, and whenever anyother person appeared he would ceasetalking. Nor would he resume untilhe, Ed and Earl were alone again.Since Picacho is popular in the winter,there were nearly two weeks of inter-rupted sessions before the completestory, brief though it was, was told.Old Tom Clark was young TomClark when he came to Mesquite Dig-

gings, the last really big gold placerfound on the Colora do Desert. TheDiggings lie at the southern edge ofthe Chocolate Mountains a few milesnortheast of the Southern Pacific Rail-road station of Glam is. FelisarioParra is said to have discovered themabout 1876. At the beginning, MesquiteDiggings gave fabulous returns for adry placer, and Tom Clark arrived dur-ing that period.Prior to World War II these placershave known revivals and abandon-

me nts, payoffs and failures. Ed , thereas a youngster, estimates a production

Tabaseca Tank, from which Slim is believed to have started when he foundhis gold. There were 15 to 20 gallons of water in the tank in January, 1955.Even when no water is visible it usually can be obtained by digging intothe big gravelly bowl of the tank.of more than $100,000 when they werefirst worked. My father, OrlandoWeight, visiting the Diggings between1910-12 when he was telegrapher andpostmaster at the nearby railroad-mining settlement of Ogilby, foundabout 60 claims taken up and theminers, chiefly Mexican, making goodreturns with their drywashers. Hefound the other principal product ofthe area seemed to be six-foot rattle-

snakes. Every prospector carried hislittle tin box of potassium permangan-ate, still trusted by oldtimers and thenconsidered a sure cure for rattlervenomIt was during the first rich boomwhen Tom Clark was recovering asmuch as $80 and $90 gold a daythat a nameless "lunger," whom wewill call Slim, turned up at MesquiteDiggings. Slim left the train at Glam is

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Here at Dos Palmas Oasis, "Slim" learned the richness of the placer he hadfound on the Indian trail and sent gold and a map to his grubstaker, butdied before Tom Clark could reach him.without funds or friends, expecting todie but with a forlorn hope that heat,sunshine and dry air might save hislife. Many such unfortunates, suffer-ing from turberculosis, were sent tothe arid southwestern deserts to sur-vive or perish in those days. A sur-prising num ber of them were cured. Orat least they were enabled to live outnormal lives if they remained on thedesert.More for diversion than any otherreason, Slim wandered up from Glamisto the Diggings. Th ere he caught thegold fever. Bu t all the prom isingclaims were taken up.Slim met Tom Clark at the Diggings.Clark was flush then. He was big-hearted and open-handed all his life.He fished out two $20 gold pieces.

"These," Tom said, "wil l buy youa prospecting outfit and grub to lastyou quite a while." (In those days $40was money.) "There are sure to beundiscovered placers left in this bigdesert. May be farther up along theCho colates. Sunshine and air and theright amount of work will help you.Go out and see what you can find."Slim went gladly.From Glamis, with a burro packoutfit, he trailed northwest along theharsh, vivid, magnificent ChocolateM oun tains. He halted for a while atHeyden or Heyburn Well . Herounded the point and entered whatis now known as Salvation Pass, camp-ing again at Salvation Spring. Hisroute here cannot be traced today, ofcourse, because all this beautiful des-ert is in the Chocolate Mountain AerialGunnery Range, one of the many re-serves expropriated from the publicand private domain by the U. S. Navy.

From Salvation Spring he trekkednortheastward, passing entirely throughthe Cho colates. Sometime thereafterhe reached and camped at ChuckawallaWell, at the base of the Little Chu ck -awallas. His burros particularly en-joyed this watering place and werereluctant to leave. But Slim rootedthem out and, following either the oldIndian trail or the almost abandoned

Bradshaw stage and freight route, trav-eled westerly to Tabaseca Tank, nearthe western tip of the Chocolates.Slim's health was improv ing. Bu t ator near Tabaseca, his inexperience be-trayed him. His burros got away. Hefollowed and caught them again atChuckawalla Well, where they had re-turned to resume the easy life.Again Slim set out for TabasecaTan k. But the strenuous exertion ofrunning down his burros proved tohave been beyond his capacity to en-dure . Realizing that he was very ill,he set out from Tabaseca Tank for theoasis of Dos Palmas, less than 20 milesaway and near the railroad. He tookan Indian trail which he hoped wouldbe the most direct route.Somewhere along that trail, whereit crossed an elevation, he sat down

to rest. He noticed that the eartharound him was very red. Rem em-bering that prospectors at MesquiteDiggings had told him gold sometimesoccurred in such earth, Slim filled asack with it, loaded the sack on aburro, and continued along the trail.When he reached Dos Palmas, hefound several other prospectors campedthere. Either with their help or byhimself Slim panned out the red dirthe had sacked. It was rich in gold.Resting there at the oasis Slim mayhave dreamed of what he would do ifhe regained his strength. But he knewhis condition was serious, and he feltthat he had a debt to repay. So hewrote of his find and made a crudemap. He enclosed with the map $40worth of the gold he had found, andsent it to Tom Clark at Mesquite Dig-gings.When Tom learned Slim was so ill ,he immediately set out for Dos Palmas.He went more to help the lonely manthan through any interest in his goldstrike, for Tom was still doing well atthe Diggings.He arrived too late. Slim had diedand had been buried. Am ong his pos-sessions, was another $80 worth of thesame desert-burned gold he had sentto Tom Clark. Tha t meant that thesmall sack of red dirt Slim had pickedup in his brief stop had carried $120in gold.Tom returned to Mesquite Diggings.He made no eifort to find the source

Two rock arrow-markers on the west bank of the little arroyo holdingTabaseca Tank point directly toward the water hole which otherwise mighteasily be overlooked. Tank lies just out of the picture, left and down.

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Backtracking "Slim" from Dos Palma s, present day travelers still find the old roadlonely and dangerous. Here the trail, close on the track of the old Bradshaw road,approaches sandy Salt Creek W ash as the orange-and-gray splotched Chocolatesloom closer on the right.of Slim's gold at that time. But hekept the map in a safe place. Fo r along time he also kept the rough,blackened gold with which the dyingman had paid back his grubstake.Years later, after Tom had home-steaded in the Palo Verde Valley, hishome was robbed and searched threesuccessive times. Tom believed themarauders were hunting for the mapto Slim's lost gold. Since he had m en-tioned the story to no one, he con-cluded that Slim, dying and perhapsdelirious at Dos Palmas, must haverevealed to the prospectors there thathe had sent Tom a map.

That is the story of Slim's lost goldas Tom Clark told it to Ed and Earlin 1938. Remembering it some yearslater, there was only one factor unclearin their minds. While they are quitecertain that, since Slim identified it asa regular watering place, the pointfrom which he started when he madehis strike was Tabaseca Tank, theyfeel it possible it could have been theCoyote Holes. The Coyote Holes, hold-ing water in the wet seasons, lie overthe summit from Chuckawalla Welland two or three miles west of MartinAugustine's, on the way to CanyonSprings. If the Coyote Holes shouldhave been Slim's starting pointwhichI doubt for a variety of reasonsit

adds 20 miles to the trail which mustbe searched.So far as I know, the story of Slim'slost gold has never been circulated orpublishe d. So far as I know, until veryrecently, only Tom Clark had at-tempted to relocate it. Th e questionof its authenticity, of course, must restentirely upon the worth of Tom's wordwhich cannot be corroborated. Eventhen, the facts he possessed were onlythose which a dying man had recalledabout a country totally new and strangeto him.Nevertheless, I am so certain of theexistence of this gold and the possibilityof locating it that for years I have de-ferred writing this story until I hadopportunity to search for it myself.Largely, my faith rests upon the char-acter of Tom Clark as affirmed bythose who knew him. He was an edu-cated man, and he must have been aremarkable person. Both Ed and Earlemp hasized his lifelong hone sty. Aland Arlena Combs, now of Calipatria,who were Tom's neighbors and friendsat Quien Sabe Point, are even morepositive."If old Tom Clark told me any-thing," Al said, "I would just lift upone hand and swear it was true."Arlena nodded agreement: "He wasa truthful old man."

A second point is that the occur-rence of the gold as described waslogical and possible."A lot of placer in this country oc-curs right on the vein," Ed Rochesterexplains. "Th e vein erodes with thecoun try rock. Sometim es it is softerand erod es faster. Th en, if the windis an erosion agent, much of thesmaller, lighter stuff will blow awayand semi-concentrates would be readyto dry wash right there, maybe on thetop of a ridge or a hill."But the feature of this story whichhas intrigued me most is that if thegold does exist, it exists in a definitearea of limited extent, and there areclues to its location that can be tracedoutan Indian trail crossing a ridgeor elevation where very red dirt isfound.Every locality named as a guide tothe goldDos Palmas, Tabaseca Tank,Canyon Springs, Coyote Holes andChuckawalla Wellare watering placesalong the old Bradshaw Trail, mostlynear Salt Creek Wash. Th e Bradshaw

stage and freight route was openedbetween Dos Palmas and the ColoradoRiver in 1862, at the time of the LaPaz, Arizona, gold rush, and was usedintermittently between that time andWorld War I .It still can be followed its full length

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by four-wheel-drive vehicles and forconsiderable portions by conventionalcars. The area north or south of itwhere the gold could possibly be lo-cated is relatively narrow. There areonly a certain number of Indian trailsthrough here, and the trails can crossonly a certain number of elevations.Looking at a map and tracing outSlim's course there, it seems a simplething indeed. One trip, really, shoulddo it. Pick out the right Indian trailand follow it to the gold.

Well, at last Lucile and I startedout to hunt for Slim's gold. So far wehave made three expeditions into thatsmall area we had laid out on themap.Even with the aid of old governmentmaps , it took two trips to familiarizeourselves with the landmarks and o-cate Tabaseca Tank. We rediscoveredthe fact that even a small desert area o n a mapexpands astronomicallywhen you actually enter it. The littleoval in which thegold must be locatedactually turns out to be a vast maze ofhills, ridges, canyons, mesas andwashes. And wehave located the be-ginnings of two Indian trails whichleave Tabaseca Tanks in approximatelythe right direction, and a possible third.They hadbeen so badly eroded that itis going to be difficult to follow themnow.

Logically we should set up camp atTabaseca Tank forweeks, if necessary,and comb the country between therean d Dos Palmas on foot. We shouldlike to do so, but a situation whichthe oldtimers never had to face makesthat impossible.

The southern edge of this countrywhere Slim found his gold is serratedby theboundary of still another Navy-twpropriated closed zonethe CampDunlap Aerial Gunnery Range. Ther.ctual boundary, which steps its wayerratically down the section lines, isnot marked. You do notknow, follow-ing theobscure roads and trails of thearea, whether you are in the range orout.Not that this is really important,since the Navy has been notorious inthis region for literally over-shootingeven the wide boundaries which theyhave appropriated for themselves, andwhich include the whole length andbreadth of the Chocolate Mountains.Since most of us are interested in notbeing shot, rather than the doubtfulsatisfaction of knowing we are beingshot illegally, the only safe time tohunt lost mines or anything else inthis area, even on the still-public do-main, is during weekends or periodswhen the range is not being used.

This precludes any protracted andsystematic searching out of Indiantrails from Tabaseca Tank. But it doesnot mean that Lucile and I intend to

give up the search. Rather that wehave decided it's going to take a longtime, and that we may even have tooutsit the Navy.But our preliminary expeditions have

convinced us that this country is bigenough and its gold so well concealedthat we can safely welcome to the oldBradshaw Trai l any and all interestedin hunting for Slim's lost strike.

T R U E O R F A L S EThis is the time of day whenyo u can settle back in the over-stuffed upholstery and exercisethe brain while thebody relaxes. Don't take this True or False puzzle tooseriouslyit is no crime to miss a few of 'em. But every Desert readershould take the test. If you get a high score it feeds your ego, and if youmiss a lot of them that doesn't mean you are dumbit merely means youstill have much to learn about this oldworld. Twelve to 14 is a fair score,15 to 17 good, 18 or over is muy bueno. The answers are on page 39.

1Death Valley was given its name by Death Valley Scotty. TrueFalse2Asbestos comes from a tree that grows on the desert. TrueFalse3Gold is never found in quartz formation. True False4The route of the Kearny Army of the West was by way of Yuma .True . False5Peccaries run wild on the desert of Southern Arizona. TrueFalse6Coyotes never attack a human being. True False7Translated into English, agua caliente mean s cold water. Tru eFalse8The Great Salt Lake isbelow sealevel. Tru e False9The ferry at Hite, Utah, crosses the Colorado River. T rueFalse10Ironwood is too hard to burn. True False11The Bull ion Mountains are on the Mojave Desert of California.True False12Uranium in U.S.A. is found only west of the Rocky Mounta ins .True False13The Yampa River is a tributary of the Green River. TrueFalse14The spectacular rock formation known as "The Grea t Whi te Throne"is inBryce Canyo n National Park . True False15During its boom days, the principal output of the mines at VirginiaCity, Nevada, was gold andsilver. Tru e False16Shorty Harris is a name associated with the pioneering days in DeathValley. Tru e False17On his historic trek to California in 1775 luan Bautista de Anzabrought his caravan of settlers through what is nowBorrego Valley,California. True False18Indians whose reservation is near Peach Springs, Arizona, are theHualp ais. True False19Albuquerque is the capital of NewMexico. True False20Headwaters of theLittle Colorado River are in the White Mountainsof Arizona . True False

FAMED DESERT INN ISS O L D IN PALM SPRINGS

The famous Desert Inn, PalmSprings, California, first resort hotelat the desert playground, has beensold, it was announced.Sale price was disclosed as $2,000, -000 , although the new owners werenot immediately revealed. The syndi-cate was represented by Gregson Baut-zer, Beverly Hills, California, attorney,and Arnold Grant , New York City at-torney.Earl Coffman, co-owner of the Innwith his brother, George Roberson,said the buyers plan to invest more

than $1,000,000 in decoration andimprovements, including erection ofcommercial buildings along the busi-ness frontage of the 33-acre propertyin the heart of Palm Springs.The property was to be transferredto the newowners at the close of es-crow about June 30.The Desert Innwas founded in 1909as a small boarding house by Mrs.Nellie Coffman, mother of Earl andGeorge. In 1908 Palm Springs hadjust 14 residents.Property included in the sale is theDesert Inn, heDesert Inn Garage andthe Desert Inn Ranch of 10 acres onEast Ramon Road.

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D i c k W i c k H a l l. . . of the Laughing Gas Service Station

Dick Wick Hall and Mark Twain would ben a m e s equally famous in Western literature, per-haps , were it not for Hall's untimely death in1927. Though he entertained a national audiencebut briefly, the memory of Dick Wick remainsfresh and endearing to the many desert travelerswho knew him as the brilliant and waggishfounder of Salome, Arizona. The seven-year-oldnon-swimming frog, with canteen strapped on itsback, and his unique sub-title for Salome ("WhereShe Danced") are trademarks to the genius ofDick Wick Hall and to the Arizona desert, ofwhich he is a part.

By WILSON McKENNEYTWAIN graduated from reporter of theComstock lode to novelist of world-wide fame,while Will Rogers grew from an obscure stagecomedian to world traveler and international ambassadorof good will. But Dick Wick Ha ll, embo dying som e ofthe literary capacity of Twain and the droll insight ofRogers, remained in his wide-flung Happy Valley and was

content to brighten the journey for pioneer desert travelers.Despite his preferred isolation, Hall's fame spread farand his stories became legendary.Hall did not deliberately set out to become a humorwriter. He once wrote "Im not an Au thor Id starve toDeath if I had to do This for a Living." His fame wasborn of a unique combination: his easy adaptability tohis beloved Arizona desert, a native talent for keen obser-vation and story-telling, a shrewd capacity as a smallbusiness man and a chance meeting with an influentialeditor.Born in Creston, Iowa, March20, 1877, Hall liked to say that"It was 35 below zero that daythat's why I've been looking for awarm spot ever since." Leaving hisfather's farm, he went to Florida tocatch rattlesnakes for a laboratory,drifted from that to shoveling coal fora railroad. Read ing about the HopiIndians who danced with snakes intheir mouths, he came to Arizona in1898. For a time he tended garden atthe Tewsberry ranch on the TontoRim. On a prospecting trip in 1904,he found his Happy Valley where hestarted Salome, Arizona, "without adime."

Happy Valley was the name DickWick applied to the wide sweep ofarboreal desert midway between no-torious Hassayampa Creek and themuddy Colorado River. Bounded onthe north by the Harcuvar Mountainsand on the south and east by the

Dick Wick Hall as editor of the Salome Sun anddispenser of Laughing Gas, with the famous frogthat never learned to swim.Harquahalas, its horizons are a sunlitbackdrop of changing shapes andcolors. Its sandy soil, receiving an an -nual rainfall of less than 10 inches,

mining job"but out here time is thething we have m ost of." It was an easyshift for the miner to become ownerand operator of the nation's firstprodu ces thin forests of mes quite, cats - Lau ghing Gas service station, followedclaw, palo verde and the picturesquesaguaro cactus. Running through iteast and west was the rutted EmigrantTrail which brought overland travelersto the gold-laden gulches of La Paz,a trail which later became U. S. High-way 60-70, a primary artery of thePhoenix-Los Angeles run.Establishing a prospector's campbeside the road, Hall ranged the color-ful hills and canyons, filed on a few

mining claims and a home stead. No-ticing that the plodding teams andsteaming automobiles stopped moreand more frequently, he dug a welland the camp became a welcome oasis.He soon found that "being a friend toman" was taking more time than his

soon by additional duties as host atthe Blue Rock Inne.As the little enterprise prospered,Hall needed a name for his oasis. Herecalled that a teamster drew his wagonup to the lonely Hall shack and hoppedto the ground. It was a hot day andthe teamster's wife, who had removedher shoes while riding, descended fromthe high seat with his assistanc e. Bu twhen her bare feet touched the burn-ing sand, her agile dance caused themen to convulse with laughteruntilshe recovered her shoes and hurledthem at the unsympathetic spectators.From this incident, Hall decided toname the place Salome, "Where SheDan ced." He painted thin twisted

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FREE LOT

M S IS T H E L A U C H IH C GAS SWHERE Vfe StuGASOLINE % i u AHD T A W W M 7 W I T H TCROJOKFELLER M A M M PILE - ANOJMAYK WE WILL - A F T fYfc ARE HERE TOBLL IOURTAHK AND GE T^U RM OM IY IN Out B A N K -So STOP ANejSfE tJ AsYou PAS S^FILL ^HIRTAHIC WITH U IN M H L. S _You Oom HA W * CROSS * TRACK W H I N ^fou faNT To SPEND YOUR JACK -DRIVE RISHT UP WJTH YOUR OLD BUS AND LEAVE Ybun MONEY HERE WITH USYOU WILL SET %UR DOLLARS WORTH INGASOLINE ORELSE IN M I R T H . ^ W j y . TRADE YOU AN Y TH IN G - MJNING STOCK FOR, Af tt ft ftOKP R iN g -FIFTIEH ACRES OrSAGE BRUSH LAND fbRAN OLD CALLIOPE SttOWHAiwi TIRES WE WANT TO S E L L - CANHED TOMATOES ANDjwJfc w TJSES WE WANT 1b SE LL CANHED TOMATOES AND mja f cE jOTJlet CREAM SODA AHO ALMOST B EIR -^A CE TY LE NE WILDING BONE RIGHT H E R IS i WATER - PAWTEO JOKES- WHO GOAT GLANPS- GOOP-BTE f fr iKS

dancing figures onperpendicular panelsand added the crude lettering "Wel-come, Tourist , to S A L O M E W h e r eShe Danced and Never Moved HerFeet" andplaced them along the road.Later , probably as an afterthought, headded small signs at the bottom bear-ing the legend "All the Bumps andCurves Are Not in the Road . "By 1920Yuma County , as big asthe state of NewJersey, had only onecity and it was Yuma, the county seat,at the junction of the Colorado andthe Gila. A half-century earlier thenorthern part of the county held greatpromise but when gold disappeared sodid Ehrenburg, La Paz andother thriv-ing gold camps. All of western Ari-zona's wealth and political influencecentered in Yuma. When Hall madethe rugged 240-mile round-trip toYuma to ask the county supervisorsfor road appropriations to help Salomehis request was ignored. Hewent homeseething with anger.

Unearthing an ancient mimeographmachine and an equally battered type-writer, Dick Wick launched publica-tion of theSalome Sun,an 8Vi by 14

sheet printed on both sides. It was tobe thenewspaper of theneglected northcountrybut from the very start mostof its space was taken in uproariousdisdain of the politicians of "Yumar-esqu e" county. U nconventional andunrestrained, Hall pecked away at histypewriter between customers at hisservice station, issuing a new editionwhenever he felt the urge. His cam-paign wasbrilliant and unrelenting butthere is no record to indicate that heaccomplished his primary purpose ofgetting good roads for his area.

Though there were probably notmore than a dozen readers around Sa-lome, the fame of theSun spread fast.Hall would place a copy in each carthat stopped at his gas pump and thepassengers, who found themselveschuckling over the witticisms, spreadthe story of thehumorous philosopherwho sold laughing gas in the desert.Gradually the localized political slantgave way o yarns, jingles and outrightpromotional plugs for his hotel, garageand service stationall with a typicalHall style of spelling, grammar andpunctuation.

Thomas Masson, an associate edi-to r of George Horace Lorimer 's Sat-urday Evening Post, was traveling westto visit some important Post contribu-tors when he stopped at Salome. Heread a copy of the Salome Sun,ex-amined the facetious placards at theLaughing Gas station with growing in-terest and was captivated by Hall'sdroll charm. He asked Dick Wick towrite some material for magazine pub-lication. The Post in 1925 was print-ing 220 pages a week and was thelargest and most influential magazinein the country.

The first article, "SalomeWherethe Green Grass Grew," was publishedin the Post January 3, 1925. With thestory appeared a photograph of athree-foot plaster figure of a frog,complete with a prospector's canteenstrapped to its back. The same greenstatueor its logical offspringstillstands in front of a cafe in Salome.Hall's jingling verse about the froglaunched him as a humor writer ofgreat promise:"I'm Seven Years Old and I CannotSwimSo don't Blame Me for Looking Grim.When a Frog has to carry a Big Can-teenAnd Water hisBack to Keep it GreenAnd Prime Himself if he Wants toCryWhen His Belly gets Burned withA Ikali,Where Grass Grows Brown insteadof GreenA Frog can't Help but Feeling Mean.. . . I'm an OldBull Frog and DangMy HideI Can't Swim cause I Never Tried."

Shortly after the story appeared, anewspaperman went toSalome to inter-view the frog and reported this mono-log by his "Father - In-Law":" Y e s , it rains here sometimes. W e hada big rain here in the spring of 1904.My frog likes to sit around and hearfolks talk about it. That was beforehis time and what had been done canbe done again, so he is living in hopesthat he may yet learn to swim beforehe dies. Folks that ain't been bornhere think my frog is a joke but he isthe livest frog you ever saw. Thetourists have fed him so much that heis fatweighs over 17 pounds nowbu t he is good natured in spite of it,considering how dry it is here. He sits

around daytimes watching the sky fora cloud and the first time he smiledwas the day after the Fourth of Julywhen there was a big clap of thunderand everybody thought it was goingto rain."The "Green Grass" story described

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Dick Wick's efforts to grow a littlepatch of lawn, the frog's valiant effortsto keep the rabbits and quail from eat-ing it and the fight with coyotes whichended in jailing the writer.Other stories which appeared inprint intermittently until October 9,1926, were titled: "Arizona Alibi,""Banking As Is Banking," "ChlorideJack," "Gallivanting Jaime Vieve,""High Horse and Low Bridge," "MyMike Mille" and "Who's Loony?"Obviously, all were wildly imaginativeand ludicrous. While he drew cha r-acterizations from his neighbors andassociates with rough good humor, henever made them appear either piousor profane.The unpolished rhyming jingleswhich Hall used in introducing his fa-mous frog were characteristic of manyof his best pieces. On e, which ap -peared in the Su n and which he is saidto have quoted orally as customersrolled in, was:"Drive right up in your old TinLizzie, lift up the hood and I'll getbusy. Ou r laughing gas is sure somefuel, it smiles at miles and kicks likea mule. Your tank's half fullwhatshall it be? Shall I fill 'er up or give'er three? How about water and alittle oil? Better take some see theradiator boil? How about springs?Don't you need a tire? Further aheadthey'll charge you higher. If there'sanything else you need today, buy itnow 'fore you drive away. If youdon't want to buy, just say Hello andgive us a smile before you go. W e'realways glad to see you here and we'llgive you a laugh for a souvenir."Hundreds of copies of the mimeo-graphed Su n were passed along bytourists. M any travelers said theypurposely chose the route through Sa-lome in order to meet Dick Wick Hall.With publication of the Post stories,additional publicity appeared in manynewspapers and magazines. Sunsetused a Hall biographical sketch withpictures. The old Literary Digest in1925 quoted the following piece byHall from the Standard Oil Bulletin:"Salome Where She Danced was first found by Dick Wick Hall in1904, with a Population of One, con-sisting mostly of himself, Plus someFaith and a Goo d Imagination. Formany years the town prospered andhas an Average Annual Growth of1 0 0 % . The population in 1923, after19 years, being Just 19 People. Some-thing went Wrong in 1924, and therewas No Increase, but in January, 1925,Jack Ewing and his Wife were Trans-ferred to Clifton and Alec Vaughn,with a Wife and Two Children, cameto take charge. The Tw o ChildrenSaved the Reputation of Salome, mak-

r

BLUE ROCK INN E" T H E P L A C E W H E R E SHE D A N C E D *

A FIBST C LA SS ' H O T E L F0 P S T CLA55 fOlHS

A bove Dick Wick H all and his "gas buggy" in front of the Laughing GasService Station. He also owned the garage next door.Below Blue Rock Inne was Dick W ick's hotel. He often referred to it asthe hostelry in which travelers stayed while he sent their checks to easternbanks for the cash.

ing the Population 21 and Allowingit to Catch Up Again with the 21 yearssince Salome Started to Dance."The Principal Industries of Salomeare Selling Gasoline to Tourists, Min-ing, and Getting Its Name in thePape rs. Salome Mak es a Lot of Noisefor a little Place, but it has to Do It,otherwise a Lot of People might goRight on Through without knowing it."At one time Hall was president ofArizona Apache Mines Company, witha board of seven men, an authorizedcapital of $500,000 and main officesin Salome. Some Arizonans who knew

the mineral wealth of northern YumaCounty assumed that Hall and his as-sociates were reasonably successful atmining. Othe rs, who may have beenenvious of Hall's new fame, suggestedthat Dick Wick's mining operationswere pretty well confined to stock pro-motion. Thoug h there is every evi-dence that Hall was an energetic busi-ness man and that he used his writingtalents shrewdly, he was always atheart a kindly man and a wise philoso-pher. He once acknowledged that hehad made considerable money at timesand that he had traveled widely and

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C a l i f o r n i a F i s h , G a m G t o u pL i s t s R i v e t A n g l i n g R e g u l a t i o n s

"I'm an Old Bull Frog and Dang MyHide I Can't Swim 'Cause I NeverTried."spent time in the big cities, though headded slowly:

"But I weary of it after a time andcome back to Salome, to the mind-resting quiet, the soul-satisfying peace,an d the vibrant mysteriousness of thedesert. When tourists sympathize withme for living in this humble place, theydon't know howsorry I am for them,knowing, as I do, that I have foundsomething for which they are stillseeking. Theaverage person in a largetown gives up so much and gets solittle out of life. I wonder what it allleads toand the desert is a wonder-ful place to do a lot of wondering in."

Dick Wick had reached the peakof his popularity when he died sud-denly in 1927.His daughter, Jane, became a suc-cessful fiction writer. His brother,Ernest, still lives at Salome and car-ries on Dick Wick's interests in HappyValley mining properties.The humorous placards and crudesigns around the station are stainedand dusty, but they remain undisturbed.The rutted trail which once passed hisdoor is no longer used. A newpavedhighway passes 100 yards to the south.But Dick Wick's spirit remains uncon-querably bright and gay. That spiritis kept alive by the Mountain LionsClub of Salome and Wenden with anannual Dick Wick Hall Day. Andthere is thegrotesquely grinning statueto a seven-year-old frog that neverlearned to swim.Most significant are the smiles ofreminiscence of hundreds of peoplewho can still bring a yellowing butcherished mimeograph sheet out of ahideaway and recall Dick Wick's cheer-ful jingles and his philosophy of con-tentment.

Fishing regulations for the ColoradoRiver for 1955have been released bythe California Fish and Game Com-mission. The new rules apply to theland and waters in the entire drainagebasin of the river in California, includ-ing sloughs, lakes and ponds and thewaters diverted for irrigation or otherpurposes, except the waters of theMetropolitan A queduct , the AllAmeri -Canal west of the Pilot Knob Waste-way andwater entering California fromMexico.Although angling is permitted at anytime of the day or night, an anglinglicense is required of all fishermen.

License Provisions: Any personfishing from a boat or any other float-ing device on the Colorado River oradjacent waters where such waters formthe natural boundary between Cali-fornia and Arizona, must have in pos-session a valid angling license issuedeither by California or Arizona.

Special UsePermit: In addition toCalifornia license must carry an Ari-zona use permit , and theholder of anArizona angling license must carry aCalifornia usepermit. With these per-mits and the proper license, fishing isallowed from a boat in any portion ofthe above waters, and entry permittedfrom either state. Fee for the use per-mit is $2.00.

Fishing from Shore: Persons fishingfrom either shore line must have inpossession an angling license issued bythe state having jurisdiction over theshore. A use permit is not requiredunless the angler embarks from theshore.Sale of Use Permits: Special UsePermits can be obtained from author-ized license agents, in either state, orfrom the offices of the California De-partment of Fish and Game .

Angling Methods: As used in Colo-rado River Area regulations, anglingshall mean the taking of fish by oneline with not more than twohooks ; or

by one line and one artificial lure ortwo flies. The line may be held in hehand or attached to a rod but must beclosely attended. No person shall fishwith more than one line. Hooks andlures shall be so used that the fishvoluntarily take them or attempt totake them in their mouths. It is lawfulto take fish from either side of anyda m in this area.Carp may be taken with spear orbo w and arrow. Persons taking carpin this manner may nothave any othertype of fishing equipment on their per-son or in the boat. This method oftaking carp is illegal within one-halfmile of any boat dock, swimming area,or other place people are concentrated.Bass: No closed season . Daily bagand possession limit: 10 fish regardlessof size.Catfish: (all ki nds ) . Noclosed sea-son. Daily bag and possession limit:10 fish regardless of size.Trout: No closed season . Daily

ba g and possession limit: 10 fish re-gardless of size.Mullet: No closed season. Dailybag and possession limit: sixfish.Maybe taken by hands, hook and line, ordip nets not over six feet in diameter.All other species: Noclosed season.No bag or possession limit, but nofishshall be wasted and no fish taken un-der a sport angling license shall be sold.Frogs: June 1 to November 30.Daily bag and possession limit: 12

frogs. May be taken day or night withartificial lights, spears, or gigs. Theuse of hook and line, explosives, fire-arms, nets and t raps is prohibi ted.Bait: It is unlawful to use for baitor t ransport or possess for such pur-poses any freshwater fish in the Colo-rado River Area except such kinds asare native to or taken from waters inthis area, or obtained from an author-ized bait dealer. No trout, bass, cat-fish, or portions thereof shall be usedfor bait. Use of goldfish for bait isprohibi ted.Fishes for bait may be taken witha dip net not more than six feet indiameter or with a t rap not over 24inches in greatest length normore than12 inches in greatest depth or width.No seines shall be used.

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Movie Street in Sedona has furnished the setting for many of the westerns.Photo by Color West.S e d o n a i s O u r H o m e T o w n> >

Documents

195507 Desert Magazine 1955 July