196107 Desert Magazine 1961 July

8/14/2019 196107 Desert Magazine 1961 July

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o f t h e O U T D O O R S O U T H W E S T

M y . 1 9 6 1 4 0 cents.


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Fragm ents out of the past: Mod ern Nevada's heritage

Rawhide in 1908. People lined-up on main street are waitin g for post office (out of sight at right) to ope n.

R A W H I D E ' S C A C H E D C A S KHILE I worked in the Bank oi Raw-hide, a n incident occurred which Ibelieve has no parallel in bankinghistory.

Across the road about a block from thebank, the Grutt brothers were working in amine shaft. One morning, an extra heav ycharge of dynamite was set off in this shaft,throwing rocks in every direction.

One chunk of rockabout the size oi a

fistwent through the plate glass window ofthe bank.We didn't sue. There wa s enough gold inthat rock to pay for the broken window, with$50 left over, which was accordingly depos-

ited to the credit of the Grutt brothers.On September 4. 1908, Rawhide was sweptby a disastro us fire. It w as reported that thecurtain in the rear of the drug store on thecorner of Main Street across from the Bank,

blew across the flame of a stove. The drugstore, some folks said, was the only insuredbuilding in town.The entire downtown section and a majorpart of the residential district was destroyedand another gold camp was started on itsway to oblivion.At the time of the fire, R. W. Thaler, other-wise known as "The Gumshoe Kid," wasoperating a prospect at Bovard. He had fourtents in Rawhide that were occupied by hiscronies and associa tes. On the day of the

fire, every establishment on Main Street andRawhide Avenue threw open their doors andtold all comers to help themselves to food,liquor, clothing or whatever else was handy,because the stores were doomed.Thaler and his friends took only whiskeyseveral barrels of it. Days later, when thiswindfall was rapidly reduced to but onebarrel. Thaler rolled his treasure into a nearbyprospect holenot very deepand coveredit up.Seventeen years later. Thaler returned toRawhide and tried to locate the barrel ofwhiskeybut as in all lost mine storiesthe unfortunate prospector failed.Thus, a barrel of Yellowstone Whiskey,vintage of '04, lies buried not far from what

was once Rawhide Avenue.from the un-published memoirs of Frank P. Tondel ofFresno, Calif.

RAW HIDE BURNS ON SEPTEMBER 4 , 1908 .


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ABOUT THIS MONTH'SCOLOR PHOTOGRAPHS . . .

The three double-page colorphotographs in this issue ofDesert Magazine (wrap-aroundcover; Ruby Mountain sceneon pages 18-19; and WheelerPeak lake photograph on pages22-23) were made availablethrough the courtesy of the Ne-vada State Department of High-ways.The Highway Depar tmentpublishes a magazine whichDesert Magazine readers may

obtain free of charge by writingto : Donald L. Bowers, editor;Nevada Highways and ParksMagazine; Carson City, Ne-vada .

DatfiL

Volume24 Con t en t s fo rJuly 1 9 6 1 Number7SPECIAL ISSUE: NEVADA-SUMMER VACAT1ONLAND

COVER PHOTO: Virginia Ci ty Panorama, by Donald Boone2 MEMOIRS: How It Was In R a w h i d e

FRANK P. TONDEL6 TOURISM: An In terview With Nevada Governor Sawyer8 CREDO: My N e v a d a !NELL MURBARGER15 RECREATION: The Mounta ins of N e v a d a

WILLIAM J. HART18-19 COLOR PHOTO: The Ruby Mountains , by Lenard Smith20 PROGRESS: Great Basin Nat ional Park Is On Its Way

WELDON F. HEALD22-23 COLOR PHOTO: Treasure Lake, by Irwin Fehr25 RECREATION: Nevada Wate r Spor t s

PEGGY TREGO26-27 COLOR MAP: N e v a d a C a m p i n g G u i d e

NORTON ALLEN29 GHOST TOWN: Tuscaro ra

CHRIS JENSEN30 LOST MINE: Monte Cristo Gold

HAROLD O. WEIGHT34 NATURE: Wildlife of N e v a d a

EDMUND JAEGER

DEPARTMENTS: Readers' Letters 4 Calif. Travel, Calendar 39July Poetry 17 Editorial -42Classified Ads 37 Harry Oliver's Almanac 43

The Desert Magazine, founded in 1937 by Randall Henderson, is published monthlyby Desert Magazine, Inc., Palm Desert, California. Re-entered as second classmatter July 17, 1948, at the postoffice at Palm Desert, California, under the Actof March 3, 1879. Title registered No. 358865 in U.S. Patent Office, and contentscopyrighted 1961 by Desert Magazine, Inc. Permission to reproduce contents mustbe secured from the editor in writing.

Unsolicited manuscripts andphotographs submitted can-not be returned or acknowl-edged unless full returnpostage is enclosed. DesertMagazine assumes no re-sponsibility for damage orloss of manuscripts or pho-tographs although due carewil l be exercised. Subscribersshould send notice of changeof address by the first ofthe month preceding issue.Address all editorial andcirculation correspondence toDesert Magazine, Palm Des-ert, California.Address all advertisingcorrespondence to Aaron D.

Viller, 8217 Beverly Blvd.,Los Angeles 48, Calif. PhoneOL 1-2225.CHARLES E. SHELTON

PublisherEUGENE L. CONROTTOEditorEVONNE RIDDELLCirculation Manager

BARSTOW


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LETTERSFROM OUR READERSA n 1877Visit to Zuni . . .To theEditor: A long-time friend, who hasknown of my warm interest in, and affec-tion for the Zuni Indians, is to be thank-ed for sending me the May number ofDesert Magazine containing thethrilling (tome) article by Hope Gilbert on the "1882Zuni Pilgrimage to the Atlantic Ocean."

Frank Hamilton Cushing, the man whoescorted the Zunis East, arrived at Zuni ayear after my parents and their three chil-dren (including meI am 91 years of age)spent the terrible winter of 1877-78 tryingagainst fearful odds to keep a school andhospital going in the village. Bancroft'sHistory of NewMexico andArizona, in a

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column of listed "efforts to civilize the In-dians of the Southwest," holds this tersestatement regarding the efforts of my mis-sionary-doctor father: "Zuni School, by Rev.H . K. Palmer and wife, was closed."In my father's journal is this descriptionof our Zuni home:". . . the dwellings in our village arebuilt around a square presenting theappear-ance of an unbroken wall as high as a two-

story building, but is divided into two orthree stories. One or two openings in theroofs, easily closed, give entrance in, andexit from the courtyard. But the groundfloor rooms have neither windows nordoorsin their exterior walls. Ladders are placedagainst the wall inside, and the Puebloansand even thenumerous dogsrun up anddown them with the agility of monkeys.S o , it was a great concession to us that theCacique permitted me to cut a ground floorentrance in our dwelling, for my wife'sconvenience. Incidentally, that same doorwas never closed to our friends, the Zunis,during famine, cold and small-pox."ISABEL M.WISTERLong Beach, Calif.

Preventing Vapor Lock . . .To theEditor: I have just finished readingthe article you have in the current Juneissue on "Auto Breakdown." Thought itmight be of interest to suggest that theeasyway to avoid having a vapor lock in hotweather is to add a little kerosene to yourgas supply. For a full tank add a quart ofkerosene. G EO R G E H. LARKLa Canada, Calif.

What AreBelly Flowers? . . .To the Editor: In the June issue, artistHenry Mockel mentions the "belly flower"in hisarticle. Canyou tell me thebotanicalname for this plant? WINNIE E. JONESOklahoma City, Okla.(The term "belly flower" refers to nospecific plant. It is aname given toplantsof lowstature that arebest viewed bygetting the eyeclose to theground. Dr.Edmund Jaeger describes the term as be-ing "unfortunate and inelegant." It wasinvented, says Jaeger, to call attention tothe host of small desert flowers that re-quire close scrutiny if we are to realizetheir true beauty. "Personally," headds,"1 shun theuseof theterm, preferring tocall such ground -hugging wildflowers'flower midgets'." E D . )

Snake Catcher's Errors . . .To theEditor: I amsure that many readerswere pleased, as was I, to find your leadarticle in the June issue by S. H. Walkeron his experiences catching and exhibitingrattlesnakes in Southern California. Yet, asis so often the case when the subject issnakes, fact and fiction become so liberallymixed that only bycareful sifting andatten-tion to detail can the one be separated fromthe other. I found no less than 10 state-ments in theWalker article to be inaccurate.Space allows a discussion of but a few.

Walker states that ". . . in those years(1930-39) I captured nearly 10,000 dia-monbacks . . . to 1949 . . . at least 15,000. . ." Laurence Klauber, in his definitive

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onrattlesnakes, credits Walker withof"over 7000 rattlesnakes inin20 years," appar-halving Walker's own estimate. But,sstill afantastic number ofsnakes!

his only seriousin 1938 (prior, that is, to hisin1949). That you can "tell byasnake is going to strike"ofmanynor is Walker's re-arattlesnake knows I am

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ser's place" refers toDr. Raymond B.Cowles, just recently retired from U.C.L.A.,and for over 30 years one ofthe foremostauthorities on reptiles inthe United States.The inaccuracies cited inno way detractfrom the interest of the article, nor didthey diminish my pleasure inreading it.Mr. Walker's snake collecting experiencesmake interesting reading for the profession-al scientist and general reader alike.JOHN D. GOODMAN

Associate Professor of BiologyUniversity of Redlands, Calif.Snake-Pit Memoirs . . .To the Editor: I am a great admirerofDesert Magazine and have read itfor manyyears. This ismy first adverse comment:"Memoirs of aSnake-Pit Operator" intheJune issue was amisfit; this story was notin keeping with the general style ofDesertMagazine. I found this article gruesomeand colored opposite to what most ofyourarticles bring out. Desert Magazine's stand-ard hasbeen far above theSnake-PitMemoirs story.JAMES C. CASSELL, JR.Yucca Valley, Calif.

Charm, Vitality, Beauty . . .To the Editor: For years I have thorough-ly enjoyed your magazine, andnothingmore sothan theLaura Adams Armerseries just concluded.On arecent visit toTaos, New Mexico,I saw apainting byDorothy Brett titled,"Foot Race." Instantly this work of artseemed the perfect illustration for the spiritof Mrs. Armer's Indianland stories.I hope that Mrs. Armer has seen MissBrett's painting, and that Miss Brett has

read Mrs. Armer's articles. Perhaps, bythe long arm ofcoincidence, this has hap-pened, and each has recognized in the workof the other the same charm and vitalityand beauty. JEAN WHITTIERRedondo Beach, Calif.

Ghost Ranch Museum . . .To the Editor: We are all delighted withthe fine article on our Ghost Ranch Museumin your June issue. The re is just one correc-tion. William H. Woodin has been Directorof the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum forthe past six years. It was stated in thearticle that Iremained Director until Ibuiltthe museum atGhost Ranch. Actually, Idid establish the Desert Museum and wasits first Director until Ibecame very ill.Atthat point I suggested Mr. Woodin asDi-rector and have never had cause toregretit. On the contrary, he has proved asplen-did person inevery way and the DesertMuseum has prospered under his leadership.WILLIAM H. CARRAbiquiu, New Mexico

PHOTO and ART credits(Unless otherwise specified below or intex t ,photographs and art work are byauthors offeatures in which they appear.)Page 7: Nevada State Highway Dept. 15:(top) Wilson Agency; (middle and bottom)Nevada State Highway Dept. 16: IrwinFehr. 17 : Nevada State Highway Dept.18-19: Lenard Smith. 21-22-23-24: IrwinFehr. 25: Lee Oertle. 26-27: Map by.Norton A l len. 28: Adr ian Atwater .30:Map byNorton A l len. 34 : F V. Sair-poon. 40: Harold O Weight .

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196107 Desert Magazine 1961 July