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D e s e r t M a g a z i n e B o o k C h o pGHOST TOWNS OF THE COLORADO ROCK-IES by Robert L. Brown. Written by the authorof Jeep Trails to Colorado Ghost Towns, thisbook deals with ghost towns accessible by pas-senger car. Gives directions and maps for f ind-ing towns along with historical backgrounds.Hardcover, 401 pages, $9.95.WHERE TO FIND GOLD IN THE DESERT byJames Klein is a sequel to Where to Find Gold InSouthern California. Author Klein includes losttreasure tales and gem locations as he tellswhere to find g old in the Rosmond-Mohave area,the El Paso Mountains, Randsburg and Barstowareas, and many more. Paperback, 112 pages,$4.95.THE NAVAJO AND HIS BLANKET by U.S.Hollister. First published in 1903. One of therarest books on Navajo weaving and primitivetextiles. A famous collector writes about hisfamous collection. 10 vivid color plates. Largeformat, hardcover, 176 pages, $12.00.BALLARAT, Compiled by Paul Hubbard, DorisBray and George Pipkin. Ballarat, now a ghosttown in the Panamint Valley, was once a flour-ishing headquarters during the late 1880s and1900s for the prospectors who searched for silverand gold in that desolate area of C alifornia. Theauthors tell of the lives and relate anecdotes ofthe famous old-timers. First published in 1965,this reprinted edition is an asset to any library.Paperback, illustrated, 98 pages, $3.00.BACK ROADS OF CALIFORNIA by Earl Thol-lander and the Editors of Sunset Books. Earlystagecoach routes, missions, remote canyons,old prospector cabins, mines, cemeteries, etc.,are visited as the author travels and sketches theCalifornia Backroads. Through maps and notes,the traveler is invited to get off the freeways andsee the rural and country lanes throughout thestate. Paperback, large format, unusually beau-tiful illustrations, 207 pages, $6.95.ISHI IN TWO WORLDS by Theodora KroeberIshi was perhaps the most remarkable personal-ity of this century. A Yahi Indian, and lone sur-vivor of a doomed tribe, he was found In thecorral of a slaughter house near Oroville, Calif.For the rest of his life, Ishi lived under the careand protection of the staff of the University ofCalifornia's Museum of Anthropology. An in-credibly sad but beautifully' told story. Hard-cover, many excellent photos, both color andblack and w hite, 262 pages, $14.95.HELLDORADOS, GHOSTS AND CAMPS OFTHE OLD SOUTHWESTby Norman D. Wels.The author takes you on a 7,000-mile tour of theOld Southwest, v isiting some 67 ghost towns andabandoned mining camps, one never beforementioned in written history. 285 excellentphotos. Hardcover, 320 pages, $9.95.DESERT OVERVIEW MAPS. Using topo-graphic maps as basic underlays, are two ex-cellently detailed maps for back country ex-plorers of the Mcjave and Colorado Deserts.Maps show highways, gravel roads, Jeep trails,plus historic routes and sites, old wells, whichare not on modern-day maps, plus ghost towns,Indian sites, etc. Mojave Desert Overviewcovers from U.S. 395 at Little Lake to BoulderCity, Nevada, to Parker Dam to Victorville.Colorado Desert Overview covers from theMexican border to Joshua Tree National Monu-ment to Banning to the Arizona side of theColorado River. Be certain which map whenordering. $3.00.

THE CREAT IVE OJO BOOK by Diane Thomas.Instructions for making the colorful yarn talis-mans originally made by Pueblo and MexicanIndians. Included are directions for wall-hungojos, necklaces, mobiles and gift-wrap tie-ons.Well illustrated with 4-color photographs, 52pages, paperback, $2.95.TURQUOISE, The Gem of the Centuries byOscar T. Branson. The most complete and lav-ishly illustrated all color book on turquoise.Identifies 43 localities, treated and stablizedmaterial, gives brief history of the gem and de-tails the individual techniques of the SouthwestIndian Tribes. Heavy paperback, large format,68 pages, $7.95.THE GHOST TOWN OF BODIE, A CaliforniaState Park, As Reported in the Newspapers ofthe Day, by Russand Anne Johnson. Interestingfacts on the ghost town of Bodie and profuselyillustrated with photos. Paperback, 124 pages,$2.95.MOCK EL'S DESERT FLOWER NOTEBOOK byHenry and Beverly Mockel. The well-knownpainter of desert wildflowers has combined hisfour-color sketches and black and white photo-graphs to describe in detail so the layman caneasily iden tify wildflowers , both large and small.Microscopic detail makes this an outstandingbook for identification. Special compressed fibe rcover which will not stain. 54 full-color illustra-tions with 72 life-size drawings and 39 photo-graphs, 316 pages, $5.95.BACKPACKING DEATH VALLEY by ChuckGebhardt. This 4x5 inch guide fits pocket or packand provides temperature, terrain, equipmentand survival information on hiking Death Valley.22 easy-to-read maps accompany 18 day hikesand 28 backpack treks. $2.50.NEVADA PLACE NAMES by Helen S. Carlson.The sources of names can be amusing or tragic,whimsical or practical. In any case, the readerwill find this book good reading as well as an In-valuable reference tool. Hardcover, 282 pages,$15.00.TWO HUNDRED TRAILS TO GOLD, A Guide toPromising Old Mines and Hidden LodesThroughout the West by Samuel B. Jackson. Aterrific authoritative guidebook jam-packed withdetailed descriptions of hundreds of gold-pros-pecting opportunities, the histories of lost bo-nanzas, and stories of the still-to-be-located lostmines. Covers every gold-bearing section of theUnited States. Hardcover, extensive index, 348pages, $8.95.GHOSTS OF THE GLORY TRAIL by Nell Mur-barger. A pioneer of the ghost town explorersand writers, Miss Murbarger's followers wil l beglad to know this book is still in prin t. First pub-lished in 1956, it now in its seventh ed ition. Thefast-moving chronicle is a result of personal in-terviews of old-timers who are no longer here totell their tales. Hardcover, illustrated, 291pages, $7.00.

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LAS VEGAS [As It Began - As It Grew] byStanley W. Patter. Here is the first general his-tory of early Las Vegas ever to be p ublished. Theauthor was born and raised there in what, tomany is considered a town synonymous withlavish gambling and unabashed night life. New-comers to the area, and even natives them-selves will be surprised by the facts they d id notknow about their town. Western Americanabook lovers will appreciate tl e usefulness of thisbook. You don't have to gamble on this one!Hardcover, large format, loaded with historicalphotos, 180 pages, $12.50.OWYHEE TRAILS by Mike Hanley and EllisLucia. The authors have teamed to present theboisterous past and intriguing present of thisstill wild corner of the West sometimes calledthe I-O-N, where Idaho, Oregon and Nevadacome together. Hardcover, 225 pages, $9.95.BROKEN STONES, The Case For Early Man InCalifornia by Herbert L. Min sha ll. "The BrokenStones" peels back some of the story of man inAmerica, back beyond the longest racial mem-ory. Author Minshall pulls together all that hasbeen learned or suggested by amateurs as wellas experts, including his own discoveries. Tothem the broken stones are beginning to speak and they speak of the presence of man on theAmerican Continent many thousands of yearsbefore he shaped the first bow and arrow. Largeformat , beaut i fu l l y i l l us t ra ted, hardcover,$16.50.17th CENTURY MISSIONS OF THE SOUTH-WEST by Francis B. Parsons. The author re-veals the fascinating history of the old churches,monuments and ruins of the Southwest that wesee today. Well illustrated with photos of eachmission. Paperback, $2.95.SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAIN TRAILS byJohn W. Robinson. Easy one-day and more rug -ged hiking trips into the historic mountains. The100 hiking trails are described in detail and il-lustrated so you will not get lost. Heavy paper-back, 257 pages, $5.95.OUTDOOR SURVIVAL SKILLS by Larry DeanOlsen. This book had to be lived before it couldbe wr itten . The author's mastery of p rimitiveskills has made him confident that survival livin gneed not be an ordeal once a person has learnedto adjust. Chapters deal with building shelters,making fires, finding water, use of plants forfood and medication. Buckram cover, well illus-trated, 188 pages, revised edition boasts of 964-color photos added. $5.95.RAILROADS OF ARIZONA VOL. I by David F.Myrick. More than 30 railroads of Southern Ari-zona are presented, together with 542 nostalgicillustrations, 55 special maps and an Index. Avaluable travel guide and a reliable historicalreference. Large format, hardcover, 477 pages,$19.50.WESTERN SIERRA JEEP TRAILS by RogerMitchell. Twenty interesting backcountry tripseasily accessible from California's great centralvalley. A rating system included to determinehow difficult a route is before you try it. Paper-back, illustrated, maps, $2.50.BAJA [California, Mexico] by Cliff Cross. Up -dated to include the new transpeninsula highway, the author has outlined in detail all of theservices, precautions, outstanding sights andthings to do in Baja. Maps and photos galore,with large format. 170 pages, $4.95.

Desert/November 1977


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W ILLIA M and JOY KNYVETTCo-Publishers/EditorsGEORGE BRAGA, Art DirectorSHARLENE KNYVETT, Art DepartmentMARY FRANCES STRONG, Field Trip EditorK. L. BOYNTON, NaturalistMARVEL BARRETT, Circulation Manager

Color Separations byHenry Color ServiceLithographed byWolfer Printing Company, Inc.Available in Microfilm byXerox University Microfilms

DavZLVolume 40, Number 11

MAGAZINE

NOVEMBER 1977

CONTENTSF E A T U R E S

THE COVER:Morning light on the sanddunes, Death Valley Na-tional Monument, Califor-nia. Rippled and ridged inrhythmic sweeps, the dunesswirl like a turbulent sea,combed by untold centuriesof wind. Photo by JosefMuench, Santa Barbara,California.

812162024283132344042

Russell Wahmann

K. L. BoyntonValerie JoralemonBill JenningsMary Frances StrongJames S. LeonardMary Frances StrongR. M. LoweHarold 0. WeightDick BloomquistHoward Neal

CORONADO NATIONAL MEMORIAL

MEXICAN FREETAIL BATANOTHER CALIFORNIA COLD

"LAND OF L ITTLE RAIN" NOW RECREATION EMPIREDEATH VALLEY'S HIDDEN DUNES

JORNADA DEL MUERTOINTERACENCY VISITOR CENTER

SHORTY HARRIS AN D HIS DOCLEADFIELD DIED OF COMPLICATIONS

MONSEN CANYONSCHWAB, CALIFORNIA

D E P A R T M E N T SBOOKS OF THE WEST 2 Mail Order Items

A PEEK IN THE PU BLISHER'S POKENEW BOOKS FOR DESERT READERS

THE TR ADING POSTCALENDAR O F WESTERN EVENTS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOREDITORIAL, CIRCULATION AND ADVERTISING OFFICES: 74-425 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California 92260. Telephone Area Code 714 346-8144listed in Standard Rate and Data. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: United States and possessions; 1 year, $7.00; 2 years, $13.00; 3 years, $19.00. All othercountries a dd $2.00 U.S. currency for each year. See Subscription O rder Form in this issue. Allow five weeks for change of address and send both newand old addresses with zip codes. DESERT Ma gazine is published m onthly. Second class postage paid at Palm Desert, Ca lifornia and at additional mail-ing offices under Ac t of Ma rch 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1977 by DESERT Magazine and permission to reproduce any or all contents must be secur-ed in writ ing . Unso licited manus cripts and photographs will not be returned unless accompanied by self-addressed, stamped envelope.Desert /November 1977 3

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William KnyvettBook ReviewsClassified ListingsClub ActivitiesReaders' Comments


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CA N I ^

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E a r l y I n d i a nP l a n t U s eAMERICAN INDIANFOOD AND LOREby Carolyn Neithammer.The original Indian plants used orfoods, medicinal purposes, shelter,clothing, etc., aredescribed indetailin this fascinating book. Commonand scientific names, plus descriptionsof each plant andunusual recipes.Large format, profusely i l lustrated,191 pages.$4.95.

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HIS MONTH Desert Magazine cele-'J'brates its 40th anniversary, and in re-1 searching material for this column, I

ran across some moving words writtenby Randall Henderson 26 years ago. I'dlike to share them withyou.

"This month Desert starts its 14thyear of publication. Desert Magazinewas started in November, 1937, as aglorious adventure in a new field of jour-nalism. And as far as I am concerned ithas remained a glorious adventure for 13years.

i ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ - ^ "Today, we go to press with thisissue. Tomorrow we start screening and editing the material which is to go in thenext issuehoping wewill be able to make it more interesting and helpful to morepeople than any previous number. That is our program 12 times a year. I doubt ifthere is an editorial staff on earth with a more fascinating field from which to drawmaterial than wehave on the Great American Desert. Any one of the fields weseekto covertravel, recreation, mining, exploring, history, mineralogy, botany, wild-l i fe, Indian life, art and poetry, books, lost treasure, personalities any one of thesesubjects could supply material for a complete magazine every month. We try to giveour readers new information and suggest newapproaches to all of these subjects.

"Our goal simply is to publish a magazine which will be true and genuine. Younever see pictures of glamour girls in bathing suits "cheesecake" the reporterscall itin Desert Magazine. The people who appear in these pages generally are intheir working clothesthey are the people who mine ore, or pioneer new land, orexplore remote trails, or follow interesting hobbies, or pursue scientific study, orwho have come to the desert with limited capital to re-establish themselves in theclear air and sunshine of a desert community.

" In the writing andediting of the material which goes into the pages of Desert weseek to emphasize a way of living which is wholesome and satisfyingrather thanglamorous and merely soothing . . . out here on the desert we live close to the goodearth. It is true the earth isvery hot sometimes andquite barren in many places. Butin such an environment one learns that happiness is something we create withinourselves, and that riches are not essential to the art of good living.

"And so, during the year ahead Desert will take you and the other readers alongnew trails, not to the palaces of the r ich, but to remote canyons where there is peaceand beauty, to places where Nature's charm far excels any glamour that humanscancreate. And we will make you acquainted with peoplehumble people who livehappy useful lives without much concern as to whether or not they will acquire greatwealth, or get their names in the headlines . . . we will suggest where and when andhow you can get away from the confusion of man-made society and find health andhappiness in the sun and sand and solitude of the great desert land. We would liketo take you behind the grim mask which the desert wears, and show you the beautywhich lies beyond."

The goals and principles established by the magazine 40years ago still spur uson, and it is with great anticipation that we enter our fifth decade of bringing thewonderful world of the desert to each andevery one of you.

But the celebration is notours alone, for it has been the continued acceptance andsupport of our readers that has made it all possible.

We thankyou!



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T E R R I F I C O P P O R T U N I T YR E A C I E R S !

Through the cooperation ofU N IVER SITYOF CALIFOR NIA PRESST H E LIVES OFDESERTANIMALSI N J O S H U A T R E EN A T I O N A LM O N U M E N Tb y A L D E N H . M I L L E RandROBERT C.STEBBINSFor everyone with an interest in thedesert life of southern California, thisbook wi ll serve as an indispensablesource and guide. In addition to theactual faunal analysis of 141 residentanimals of the desert, there are 149illustrations, inc luding 74photographs, 58 black and whitedrawings, 9 maps and diagrams, and8 color plates.REGULARLY PRICEDAT $28.50N O W1A98Limited o ffergood throughDecember 31,1977Please add 50c for Postag e/hand lingCalif, residents add 6% state sales tax

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Booksfor"DesertTradersAll books reviewed are availablethrough the Desert M agaz ine BookShop. Please add 50c per totalorder for handling and Californiaresidents must include 6% statesales tax .

Wr^- 1)1 M \K \ A M 1

THE LIVES OF DESERT ANIM ALSIN JOSHUA TREENA TI ONA L M ONUM E NTBy Alden H. Milleran dRobert C. Stebbins

Between 1945 and 1960 the authors ofthis book spent many days of each sea-son studying desert life in and aboutSouthern California's Joshua Tree Na-t ional Monument. Here is the result oftheir studiesa description of the be-havior and problems of existence for the42 species of mammals, 166 birds, 36

reptiles and 5 amphibians in that area.Miller and Stebbins present the impor-tant characteristics of each animal andexplain how it survives the conditions ofa harsh and unyielding environment.

For everyone with an interest in thedesert life of Southern California, thisbook will serve as an indispensablesource and guide. In addition to theactual fauna l analysis of the 147 residentanimals of the desert, there are 149 illus -trat ions, including 74 photographs, 58black and white drawings, 9 maps anddiagrams and 8 color plates. Thesefeature the paintings and photographs ofGene M. Christman.

Hardcover, large format, a beautifulpresentation. Although priced at $28.50,the University of California Press hasmade a special offering to Desert Maga-zine readers of only $14.98 through De-cember 31,1977.

TREASURE HUNTERS PROSPECTORS Metal-Mineral Detectors

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SCOTTY'S CASTLEBy Dorothy Shallyan dWilliam Bolton

Scotty's Castle has been the subject ofinnumerable newspaper and magazinearticles ever since it was first conceivedin the early 1920s. For the most partthese writings concerned themselveswith the project mainly as a manifesta-tion of Death Valley Scotty's mythicalgold mine, rather than delineating themagnitude and artistry of the unusualnine-building compound itself .

And while it is true that the deserthideaway gained national prominence asa result of Death Valley Scotty's bizarreantics (along with the unlikeliness of itsaustere location), the sumptuousness ofits 14 bathrooms, 14 fireplaces, hand-carved beams, theater-type organ, andother unique features would rate uncom-mon notice in Pasadena, Santa Barbara,or even Beverly Hills.

This booklet represents the first com-prehensive account of the Castle as a

physical entity in its own right. Empha-sis is on the history , construction and de-sign of the buildings themselves. TheAuthors, Will iam Bolton and DorothyShally, both National Park Service em-ployees, are particularly well-qualifiedfor the task, having been associated w iththe maintenance and interpretation ofthe property at the time the governmentacquired tit le in 1970.

Paperback, large format, profusely il-lustrated, $2.00.

VANISHED ARIZONARecollections of the Arm y Lifeof a New England Wo manBy Martha Summ erhayes

Martha Summerhayes came to Ari-zona Territory as the bride of an Armylieutenant in 1874. Her observations,based on intelligence, humor and, aboveall , the skill of a reporter, formed thebasis of a litt le gem of a book, originallypublished in 1908.

Since then, several editions have ap-peared and each quickly sold out be-cause Vanished Arizona is unique, theonly book writ ten by a female part ici-pant, rather frequently a complainingspectator. Nevertheless, Martha Sum-merhayes was part of the very cruel earlyhistory of what is now the Copper State.As such she was in an unusual positionto record what happened, as it happen-ed , and from the point of view of anArmy wife.

At first, she liked neither the Indiansnor the Army which had been forced intothe rugged wilderness to combat them.Both she came to respect, albeit for dif-ferent reasons.

Her description of the Mogollon coun-try, made famous two decades later bythe Zane Grey books, her vivid accountof trail r iding and sweltering aboard aColorado River steamer, and, particular-ly to modern desert residents completewith air condit ioning, her memories ofOld Ehrenberg. There, along the Colo-rado River near present-day Blythe,



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before electricity, ice or even the bless-ings of automobiles, she lived the mostfascinating pages of her book.

Later came assignments in California,Nevada, again Arizona (but never Ehr-enberg!) and Nebraska. The last third ofthe book has little to do with the South-west except for a delightful chapter onSanta Fe.

Hardcover, i l lustrated, 327 pages,$10.00.

ling the plant geograp hy, and how the Va lley, there are sections that deal wi thplant geography, together with differ-ences in the kinds of ground, has affect-ed the animal geography.

In addition to the full description ofthe geologic and human history of Death

DEATH V ALLEY: GEOLOGY,ECOLOGY, ARCHAEOLOGYBy Charles B. Hunt

Death Valley has long been a place offascination for people the world over,and much has been written about it. Nowhowever, all aspects of this famous (orinfamous) desert have been brought to-gether in this book by a distinguishedscholar who culminates many years ofresearch and professional writing on thesubject of Death Valley by giving us theprincipal data regarding it with as l i tt letechnical jargon as possible to make thisunique desert of interest to the specialistand the lay reader al ike.

The book describes the long prehistoryand history of Death Valley, including adiscussion of Indian occupation and theusefulness of tin cans, bottles and otherlitter for dating some of the historicalsites, especially the old trails that wereabandoned when packtrain travel was re-placed by vehicular travel.

The geology of the bedrock formationsthat form the m ountains and that under-lie the valley floor is described alongwith the history of the great earth move-mentsthe folding, faulting and volcan-ic activitythat have character ized thevalley's geologic history.

Sources of water, mostly outside thevalley and some far distant, are identi-f ied. We learn how the mode of occur-rence and quality of water in the valleyare controlled by local geology, and howthe availability of water and differencesin its quality are the chief factors control-Desert/ November 1977

min e r a lo g y a n d g e o ch e m is t r y , an dmines and mining.

Lavishly illustrated with 163 photo-graphs and line drawings, paperback,$6.95.

NEW TITLES F O RFALL/WINTER, 1977 . . .Dick d'Easum . . . SAWTOOTH TALES . . . paper . . . $6.95

Ralph Friedman . . . TRACKING DOWN OREGON . . . pap er. . . $5.95Don and Myrtle Holm . . . BOOK OF FOOD DRYING,PICKLING AND SMOKE CURING . . . paper . . . $4.95

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

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G O R O N A D ON A T I O N A LM E M O R I A Lby RUSSELL W AH MA NN

IN A remote but beautiful corner oArizona, next to the InternationaBoundary, the U. S. National ParkService has set aside an area commemorating the f irst major explorat ion byEuropeans into the American Southwestover 200 years before the declaration oAmerican Independence. W ithin sight othe very valley through which the expedition passed is the Coronado Nationa


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Memorial. Established on November 5,1952, the Memorial is about 22 milessouth of Sierra Vista, Arizona, and 30miles west of Bisbee, Arizona. You mayen t e r t he M em or ia l f r om A r i zonaHighway 92 and then drive about f ivemiles from a junct ion to the Memorialheadquarters. Here you wil l see a wel l -displayed historical documentat ion of anamazing and harrowing journey.

Stand on 6600-foot high MontezumaPass at the M em orial and look eastwarddown through Montezuma Canyon andinto the San Pedro Valley. Imagine it tobe a very warm day in June of 1540.There, stretching out a m ile or so belowyou, is a caravan of courageous, daringmen. In command of the expeditonwould be Francisco Vasquez de Coron-ado, 30 years old, an aristocrat from Sal-amanca, Spain, and fr iend of His Ex-cellency Anton io de Mendoza, Viceroy ofMexico, in whose service he holds therank of Captain-General.

There, you migh t see for the f irst t im eEuropeans entering that bit of real es-tate that is later to become Arizona,U.S.A. Actually, the year before, in1539, Fray Marcos de Niza, in the ser-vice of Men doza and Coronado, was thef irst to enter the area. Although there isa monument attest ing to his entranceinto Arizona in the Valley of the San Ra-Left: View looking eastward from Monte-zuma Pa ss in Coronado N ational Memor-ial. Coronado probably marched norththrough San Pedro Va lley.Desert /November 1977 9

Above: Though it has errors of costume and equipment, Frederic R emington's por-trayal of the Coronado Expedition captures the flavor of the historic trek. Library ofCongress photo. Below: C oati-mundi, local resident of Montezum a Pass in theCoronado National Mem orial. Photo by author.


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C O O K B O O K SFor the outdoor enthusiast,and those who like to flavortheir life with the unusual

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ROUGHING IT EASY by Dian Thomas, putsthe fun back into camping with easy andeconomical ways to prepare foods, equip acampsite and organize a camping trip. Pa-perback. 203 pages, $5.95.AMERICAN INDIAN FOOD AND LORE byCarolyn Neithammer. Original Indian plantsused for foods, m edicinal purposes, etc., de-scribed, plus unusual recipes. Large format,191 pages, profusely illustrated , $4.95.DUTCH OVEN COOK BOOK by Don Holm.New and exciting culinary adventures inDutch Oven cooking. Heavy paperback, 106pages, $4.95.ARIZONA COOK BOOK by Al and MildredFischer. Unusual recipes for Indian cooking,Mexican dishes, Western specialties. Uniquecollection. Paperback, 142 pages, $3.00.

CACTUS COOK BOOK compiled by Joyce L.Tate. An excellent selection of recipes thatemphasize their edible or potable qualities.Also includes chapter on Food Preservation.Paperback, 127 pages, $2.00.SOURDOUGH COOKBOOK by Don andMyrtle Holm. How to make a sourdoughstarter, and many dozens of sourdough re-cipes. Paperback, 136 pages, illus., $4.95.CITRUS COOK BOOK by Glenda McGillis.An unusual and outstanding treasury ofcitrus cookery. Includes tips on freezing,juicing and shipping. Paperback, spiralbound, $2.00.CALIFORNIA COOK BOOK by Al and Mil-dred Fischer. Recipes divided into "EarlyCal i fornia," "Cal i fornia Frui ts," "Cal i forniaProducts," "Sea Foods" and "Wine Cook-i n g . " 400 more unique collections by theFischers. Paperback, 142 pages, $3.00.

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fael at Lochiel, Arizona, a few miles tothe west, de Niza's actual route is notknown.Spain had a rich colonial emp ire in theAmericas. From southern Mexico toPeru, gold poured into her treasuriesand large areas were opened up for set-tlement and conversion of the inhabit-ants to Christianity. Little was known ofthe area north of Mexico City, but a pre-vious ill-fated expedition, survived byCabeza de Baca in 1536, who wanderedthrough the Gulf states and into northernMexico, brought tales of a land to thenorth which had houses of many stories,adorned with doorways studded withemeralds and turquoise, and rooms con-taining gold implements and ceremonialtr inkets. Through legend and fable thismust be the Seven Cities of Cibolasothought the Spaniards.

The rule of primogeniture in Spain,which directed inheritance to the olderson, had consequences not anticipated,for its results often drove younger sonsof the aristocracy to daring ventures andeven revo lution . Vasquez de Coronado, ayounger son without inheritance, cameto America w ith his brother J uan to seektheir fortunes. J uan became an official inCosta Rica and Francisco cast his lot withMendoza.

One has to understand the nature ofthose difficult times which caused thesemen to impla nt a curious, and often ru th-less brand of Christianity on a new con-tinent. These explorers were products ofan Inquisit ion Catholicism. Their tr ium-virate of goals in the New World wereGlory, Gold and God, in that order. Even

10

at this very moment Hernando de Sotowas rumored to be prep aring an expedi-tion in Cuba to move up the Floridapeninsula (of which he was Governorand a favorite of the Crown) to search forthe fabled cities of gold. Mendoza cer-tainly could not let de Soto be first tostrike Glory and Gold! He authorizedCoronada to organize his own expedi-t ion.

Coronado left Compostela, Mexico onFebruary 23, 1540 with 300 Spanish sol-diers, 4 priests, 800 Indians, and a herdof cattle and sheep. At Culiacan he or-ganized an advance task force of 100soldiers, with 4 priests and enough In-dians to perform the camp chores,leaving the main army to follow at aslower pace. These were a hardy lot,these travelers, not to be underestimat-ed in spite of the considerable baggagecarried for the officers' comforts.

Following a route which approximateswhat is now Mexican Federal Highway15, they moved into the Rio Sonora Val-ley, through Arizpe, and northward pastwhat is now Cananea, Sonora into theSan Pedro Valley of Arizona, which canbe seen from our vantage point on theHuachuca Mountains. The expedit iontraveled northward until it reached thepueblo village of Hawikuh on the banksof the Zuni River. Its ruins are still visi-ble in New Mexico near the Arizona stateboundary and can be reached from NewMexico Highway 53 (Arizona 61).

At Hawikuh, Coronado met with notonly disappointment, but armed Indianresistance. The Spaniards attacked andforced the Indians to abandon the vil-



11/48

lage. Well stocked with the pueblo'sfood supply, Coronado made this histemporary headquarters. Sti l l concernedwith the search for Cibola he sent hisCaptains out to explore the vast desertsto the north and west. Don Pedro deTovar discovered the Hopi villages innortheastern Arizon a, and Lopez de Car-denas, continuing westward, discoveredthe Grand Canyon of the Colorado.In the meantime, acting on informa-tion from the Indians, Coronado decidedto push eastward. Moving past Acoma,Coronado crossed the panhandle of

THE GEOGRAPHYFrom Montezuma Pass one is pro-vided an excellent view of what isknown as Basin and Range topo-graphy. Look westward into theSan Rafael Valley and you wil l un-derstand the repetit ive character-i s ti c m o u n t a in r a n g e v a l l e y -rangevalley, etc. Beyond the SanRafael Valley can be seen the Pata-gonia Mountains. This topographywas created geologically by fo ld-i n g , faulting and igneous in t ru-sion. In addition to the mountainbuilding, this has contr ibuted tothe economic wealth of the regionwhere mining activit ies were car-ried out by Indians, Spaniards andAmericans from about 1000 A.D.to the present t im e. The v alleys, orbasins here, are broad, al luvial-r i ch g r a ss l a n d s . Th e i r g e n e r a lplain- l ike surfaces were formedthrough a combination of co ntinualdeposition of material from themountains and erosion by sheetf looding, wandering streams, andwind action. The valleys are asmuch as 30 miles wide and some ofthe stream banks expose the allu-vial soil as much as 40 feet t hick .

Texas and the plains of Oklahoma stillsearching for El DoradoGold. Arr ivingfinally, at a place in central Kansascalled Quivira, he saw only the strawhuts of the Wichita Indians. There wasno Cibola. He knew now he had beenmisled by false rumors into thinkingthere was such a place. Standing on thehigh ground between the Smoky Hil lRiver and the Litt le Arkansas River, dis-i l lusioned, exhausted and discouraged,he pondered the fate of his expedition.Desert/November 1977

Word had reached him of the massacreof his supply garrison at Corazoneswhich was to keep him supplied fromMexico. He had also seen many of hisfinest soldiers ki l led. But, more impor-tantly, his dreams of br inging wealth toh imse l f and Spa in were sha t te red ." R e g r e s a r a M e x i c o , " h e o r d e r e d ." Tu r n b a ck . "

Coronado returned to Mexico City andfaced a lawsuit instigated by a rival in-vestigating his leadership. He spent therest of his days in disillusionment, andwhile trying to clear his reputation didnot realize that his efforts and hardshipswere not in vain. The vast lands which heand his men explored had provided anew knowledge about the geographynorth of Mex ico, worth far more than thegold and silver which they sought. TheSpanish introduced cattle and horses aswell as European crops to the area. Theyintroduced their religion and a character-istic style of l iving. Today's Southwest,greatly influenced by the Spanish and In-dian cultures, and modified by theAmericans, has developed a character ofi ts own.

There are no overnight camping faci l-i t ies at the Coronado N ational M em orial,but there are several picnic areas. Over2,800 acres of interesting plants: Schottsyucca, sacahuista or beargrass which isnot a grass but a member of the lilyfamily, and cholla abound. A trai l guidewill make identification of plants andanimals easier for you along Joe'sCanyon Tra i l ; three miles of wildernesstra il climbs from 5300 feet to 6600 feet atMontezuma Pass and to 6880 feet atCoronado Peak. The less hardy can driveto Montezuma Pass. The species ofmammals and birds here may be asstrange to you as they were to Coronadoand his menas strange as the unknownland that awaited them. The NationalPark Service has compiled a list of over84 species of birds that may be foundthere.

From your visit to Coronado NationalMemorial you may find an unsoughttreasure of your own. For while contr i-buting to the memory of the great ex-plorer, the Visitor 's Center offers aunique area, so constructed that themany species of bird and flora may beobserved in their natural habitat. You,the visitor, may experience an atmos-phere of peace and nature 's harm ony notoften found in our busy wo rld.

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12/48

A Mexican heetail bat, clearlyshowing its large ears and tail. Because ofpossibility of rabies, any bat found on

the ground should never be handled.Photo by George Olin, Ajo, Arizona.

M E X I C A N F R E E T A ILB A TI I WILIGHT IN cave country is a magi-& cal t imea t ime of brooding silence when shadows lengthen and creepand rocky crags rear their weird darkshapes against a fadin g sky. A tim e ofmystery this: a hold-breath t ime when itseems anything might happen.

And then . . . suddenly a swirl ingmass of dark erupts from a hidden caveentrancea great sinuous column thatr ises higher and higher into the twil ightsky.

Smoke from primordial f ires deepwithin the ancient earth?

No! A great exodus of bats! Thous-ands upon thousands of them, pouringfrom th e cave entrance in a vast u ndulat-ing smoke-like column some 30 feet widethat stretches across country for miles.This m ighty exodus wil l go on for ho urs,the column forefront from t ime to t imebreaking up as groups of a fewthousands wing off in separate direc-t ions.

Every night from early April to Octo-ber this spectacle takes place at certaincaves in Arizona, New Mexico andTexas, the bats leaving their under-ground daytime roosts to forage fornigh t-f lying insects. And back they comebefore daylight. A few at f irst, then the12

m u l t i t ud e , m ore a r r i v i ng cons t an t l y ,until a veritable rain of black bodieshurtle in 80 mph power dives into thecave entrance. When the morning sunlights the cave country once more, not abat will be seen.Who are these bats that dwell in suchnumbers in these caves in summer, dis-appearing suddenly one fall day and re-appearing like magic one day the nextspring?

These are the strange company ofM ex ican F re e t a i l s , o f f i c i a l l y dubbe dTadarida brasiliensis mexicana and pop-u l a r l y c a l l e d " f r e e t a i l s " f r o m t h e i rdangling ta i l , a dist inguishing character-istic.

In the spring, these bats journey fromcaves in central Mexico to sites in themiddle latitudes to give birth and raisetheir y oun g, some trave ling as far as 800miles. Certain Texas caves have beentheir ancestral summer homes for hun-dreds of years. Others serve as stopoverplaces for hordes mo ving on even fu rthe rnorth to locations in New Mexico, Okla-homa and Kansas. For such a litt le ha nd-ful of skin and bones a round trip of pos-sibly 1600 miles would seem out of thequestion. Yet, in some years, an esti-mated 64 million of these bats take part

by K. L. BOYNTON1977

in this Mexico-United States-Mexicojaunt.

An d why not? The freetail is in fact puttogether for some of the fastest and fan-ciest flying in batdom, as zoologist TerryVaughan found. True, its wing is funda-mentally like that of all bats: made ofskin laced with blood vessels and nerves,and suppported by a bony frameworkprovided by the upper and lower arm , el-bows, wrists and fingers, the bones ofwhich have been greatly lengthened andseparated. This skin wing connects withthe furry sides of the body and the out-side edge of the hind legs.

But the freetail 's wing has importantextras. Leathery and tough, its skinmembrane, apparently much strongerthan that of other bats, is braced withcartilage extensions of certain fingerbones, and strengthened even further



13/48

here and there with masses of connectivetissue. Highly developed muscles tensethe membrane and keep it from beingdistorted in fl ight. In over al l shape, thefreetai l wing is long and narrow, with afront to back curvature that offers l i tt ledrag a design remarkably l ike the highspeed wings of falcons, swifts andswallows.

It also seems that the freetai l 's hand-some big ears, besides attending to theiral l important role in the hearing depart-ment, have a definite effect on the bat'saerodynamics. First, when the bat isflying, their thick underside edges l ieflat against the sides of its head a b ighelp in min imizing drag. Then, addi t ion-al ly, being very broad compared to theirheight, they are shaped much l ike shortbroad wings , and while of course they donot f lap , they provide some l i fe. This en-ables the bat's rather heavy head to bepartial ly supported by the airstream agreat energy saver during a long hardjourney. Th us, with even its ears h elpingo u t , t h e f r e e ta i l i s o b v io u s l y we l lequipped for globe trotting. Sti l l a puz-zler, however, is how these bats knowtheir way back and forth and when it istime to take off on their journeys.

Apparently a breeding season involv-ing the whole population takes place inMexico in February shortly before thebig spring d eparture . The females are al lpregnant upon arr ival at the Southwest-ern caves in March, and congregate invast nursery colonies. Most males don'tbother to come north, the proportionate-ly few that do make the journey formsmall groups in bachelor caves.

From the freetai l 's point of view,there's nothing l ike a cave in which tospend the day. It's a safe dark retreatwhose rocky walls and ceilings offercracks and crevices for cl inging. Themain troub le is that big as these nurserycaves are, only so much r oosting space isavailable and competit ion for i t amongthe thousands of bats is keen, as theteam of zoologists R. B. Davis, C. F.Herreid and H. Short report in theirclassic study of a maternity colony inTexas.

Freetail roosting style is to hook ontothe ceil ing with the feet and hang upsidedown. Packed in clusters of maybe 300bats to the square foot, the sheets of batsvir tually cover the ceil ing and upperwalls of the cave. A Mrs. Freetai l ,zooming into the cave after a night's for-Desert /November 1977

aging, tries her luck, backing into thefirst likely place. There's a good chancethat the gir ls wil l shove over, freetai lsbeing surprisingly tolerant of each other,if so, she's set then, hung up for the day,her long wings folded up into neat bun-dles no longer than her fore arm . But onthe other hand, maybe nobody budges.She may give up and try elsewhere, orshe may exert some force. W ith one footon the rocky ceil ing, the other in the furof one bat, one thumb in the ear of thethir d and her other thum b in the nose ofthe fourth, she may shove harder andharder. Maybe everybody shifts overthen. More l ikely one of the escounced,squeaking indignantly, lets her have it,nipping her anywhere that's handy.Ouch! She may leave promptly, or, an-noyed, do some nipping herself and inthe next few seconds squeaking free foral l , may succeed in pushing everybodyover and settle in herself. Or, if every-body in the cluster continues to resist, orin fact there is no room at all, she has toseek another place.

Inspite of its obvious drawbacks clus-tering has the great advantage of offer-ing a means of temperature regulation,much needed since bats don't have verygood internal heat control. To be able tofly they have to have a body temperatureof 31 degrees C minimum. ZoologistHerreid, testing the rectal temperaturesof bats in a cluster, found they ran ashigh as 37 to 41 C even when the outsidetem per a tu r e was 12 C. Thus , byhuddl ing, the bats ca pitalize on cold caveconditions and sti l l keep their internaltemperature stabil ized for f l ight. Themoving around caused by jostling late-comers helps generate muscular heat,and if it is very cold, the bats fly aroundins ide the cave , s tepp ing up the i rmetabolism. Conversely, when the tem-perature is too high as the season ad-vances and thousands of youngsters areadded to the already high adult popula-t i on , daytime flying in the cave is a wayto reduce body temp erature, the extend-ed wing surface a point for heat loss.

Ideal as a nursery site, the caves arethe scene of a population-wide blessedeventing that takes place within a spanof a few day s. E ight-fiv e percen t of thethousands upon thousands of ladies in aTexas cave produced their one offspringapiece in the short period between J une3 and 16. Actually, delivery takes aboutone minute and a half. The youngster

makes its debut rear end first, Mrs.Freetai l cl inging to the ceil ing with onefoot and a thum b and pu ll ing it out w ithher teeth. Freetail newborn are astonish-ing ly la rge , zoo log is t Henry Shor tfinding for example that the l i tt le fe-males average 2.4 grams, males 2.66grams, chunky l i tt le things comparedwith the 11.78 grams weight of a ful lsized adult. In length, the newborn maybe more than half that of its mother!

How a bat with such a small pelvis candeliver such a whopper was a puzzleuntil anatomist E. S. Crelin found theanswer: nature thoughtful ly loaded thebat's interpubic l igament with elasticfibers, making it a l iving rubber band.This stretches more than 15 times itslength, thus enabling the newborn topass through the very small bir th canal.

Having made its bow to the world, theyoungster is nursed and then depositedon the ceiling in a remote section of thecave. Not that it's going to be lonesome,for since the same thing has been goingon all over, thousands upon thousands ofother pink, hair less, bl ind youngstersare also being stowed there. Packed inalmost continuous sheets, they're homealready on the ceiling, having been bornwith a cl inging know-how.

Mr s . F. Produces about 16 percent ofher body weight per day in milk, a veryhigh production. Perhaps this is an adap-tation to the strange freetail feeding pro-cedur e, for since it is impossible to locateher own youngster in that scramblingmass of newborn, the female will acceptthe first two to find the places at hertable. What with such high productionand thousands of females landing formilk delivery, the youngsters all seem toget fed.

The young bats stuff themselves onabout .85 grams of milk per day and thisbig intake, plus the warm tem perature ofthe cave from radiation of adult bodiesand the cluster ing of the young, pro-duces rapid grow th. Their eyes open in acouple of weeks and they're beginning toget their fur and businesslike permanentteeth. By the fi fth and sixth week, theirfur coat is complete and they're flyingfrom the ce il ing. Soon they're going out-side foraging and by J uly are pretty goodat catching their own insects. Septemberfinds them ful ly grown.

Dur ing the season 's peak (abou tAugust) there may be l i teral ly m il l ions ofbats occupying a cave and how they can

13


14/48

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perform their nightly in and out move-ments without stupendous traffic jamsand subsequent mortalities is somethingof a marvel. Davis et al in their long ob-servations under extremely difficult con-dition found the secret. It seems thatwhat looks like a pell mell rush hourmess isn't at all, for the whole batmovement is actually a very orderlyaffair.

It's time to go out for dinner. O.K.Groups of bats begin to detach from theceiling and start a milling circle flying'round and 'round inside the cave. At theright moment (probably triggered by thedegree of illumination in the sky outside,zoologist J. Twente thinks) a single batgoes out. At this signal, the circling batsstream out, other groups breaking loosefrom the ceiling, taking their vacatedplaces in the mill to circle and leave thecave in turn.

While the bats are "winding up" inthe milling inside, the first of the longcolumn outside is streaming off acrosscountry. Carlsbad bats, for instance,may fly 40 or 50 miles to the Pecos Riverto forage. Fast fliers, they can make 60mph at least, usually cruising at 40 mph.Built for speed, they can't, as zoologistHal Black points out, fly slowly or hover.Seldom flying near the ground, they arequite apt to go as high as eight to tenthousand feet after the strong flying in-sects and the weak or flightless ones thathave been carried aloft by updrafts.

Zoologists take off their hats to thefreetails as first class insects consumers.Davis et al came up with the very modestf igure: 50 million bats, 1.0 gr. insectsper bat per night for 120 nights devoursome 6,600 tons of insects in Texasalone. The team of R. W. Barbour andW. H. Davis figures three times thatwould be closer, as the freeta il has a fastmetabolic rate and probably eats muchmore to keep going.

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15/48

The night 's foraging over, the return-ing bats must all get into the cave beforemorning. How do they do it so well? Thist ime with a very orderly landing p attern.The myriads approaching the cave gointo a kind of holding operat ion withabout 10 large groups, up some 6,000feet, circling the cave below. One grouppeels off and plummets down, each batin a power dive, its half folded wings, asHarold Edgerton's photos show, actingas air brakes to slow its speed as it nearsthe entrance. Once inside, the bats gointo an in-cave milling circle, peeling offto land on roost ing s i tes. In themeantime outside and upstairs, groupfo l lows group in the h igh c i rc l ingroutine, plummeting down in its tu rn ,until at last the bats have completedtheir incoming f l ight.

Not that the bats' summer in theUnited States is all a delight. Greathorned owls are especially good at catch-ing them, barn owls live in the cave en-trances and dine on them at wi l l . Redtailed hawks, cooper's hawks, peregrinefalcons, sparrow hawks pick off anystragglers out by day. Various snakeslive in the cave entrance, rat snakes

being good climbers help themselves,raccoons, opossums, skunks eat thefallen bats.

The cave itself offers hazards. Not fornothing are these freetails also know n asguano bats whose droppings make suchexcellent fertilizer. Tons of fecal matterrain down on the cave floor each seasonand the stiffling ammonia content of theair is so high that zoologists E. H.Studier and A. A. Fresquez investigatedto learn why the bats did not die them-selves. It turns out that the freetails re-tain a very high percentage of carbon di-oxide in their system which neutralizesthe alkali excess resulting from the in-creased blood ammonia levels. Suchcrowded cave life certainly providesideal conditions for the rapid spread ofdevastating diseases but here again thebats seem to have a kind of populationimmunity that keeps things under con-t ro l . The mortality rate is therefore low,the individual standing a good chance tomake it to the ripe old age of 15.

Hence the millions around to take partin that yearly magic show: the comings-and-goings of the strange company offreetails.

Statement of ownership, management and c i r-culation (R equired by 39 U.S.C 3685)1. Ti t le of publ icat ion: DESERT Magazine2. Date of f i l ing: S eptember 30. 1977.3. Frequency of issue: Mon thly3a No of issues publis hed annua lly: 12.3b. Annual subscr ipt ion pr ice: $7.004 Locat ion of known of f ice of publ icat io n:74-425 Highway 111, Palm Desert . R ivers ide.Cal i forn ia 92260.5. Locat ion of the headquarters or generalbusiness offices of the publishers: Same asabove.6 Names and addresses of publ isher andedi tor: Publ ishers-Edi tors : Wi l l iam and JoyKnyvet t . 79-890 Horseshoe Rd., Indio, Cal i f .92201.7. Names and addresses of own ers: Same asabove.8. Bondh olders, mortgagers, secur i ty hold-ers : None.10 . Extent and nature of c i rculat ion: Averageno. of copies each issue during preceding 12months: Total no. copies pr inted, 30,496; Paidc i rculat ion: Sales through dealers and carr iers ,s t reet vendors and counter sales, 4,200; Mai lsubscr ipt ions, 19,300; Total paid c i rculat ion,23,500; Free dis t r ibut ion by mai l , carr ier orother means: Samples, compl imentary, andother f ree copies, 300; Total d is t r ibut ion: 23,800;Off ice use, le f t over, unaccounted, spoi led af terp r i n t i ng , 2,696; Returns f rom news agents,4,000; Total : 30,496.

Actual number of copies of s ingle issue pub-l ished nearest to fi l ing date: Total no. copiesp r i n ted , 30,000; Paid c i rculat ion: Sales throughdealers and carr iers , s t reet vendors and countersales, 4,000; Mai l subscr ipt ions, 19,000; Totalpaid c i rculat ion, 23,000; Free dis t r ibut ion byma i l , carr ier or other means: Samples, compl i -mentary, and other f ree copies, 300; Total d is t r i -but ion, 23,300; Off ice use, le f t over, unaccount-ed , spoi led af ter pr int ing, 2,700; Returns f romnews agents, 4,000; Tota l : 30,000.

11 . I cert i fy that the s tateme nts made by meabove are correct and complete. S/ Wi l l iamKnyve t t , Pub l i she r /Ed i to r .12 . In accordance wi th the prov is ions of th isstatute. I hereby request permiss ion to mai l thepubl icat ion named in I tem 1 at the phased post-age rates present ly au thor ized by 39 U.S.C. 3626

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by VA LERIEJORALEMON

A goldenaspen grovein theButtermilkCountry,InyoNationalForest.

EAVES DANCE in thea sun, pale yellow, goldft and amber with touch-es of ruby, the dark greenof pines and the deep bluesky con t rast in g sharp lywith the bril l iant foliage.This is not fall in NewEngland, but autumn inInyo and Mono countieson the eastern slopes ofthe California High Sierrawhere the air smells of dryleaves, wood smoke andsquaw tea. To most peo-ple it is more or less un-known .Years ago , when amajor highway from Mo-jave to Bridgeport was

still a dream of the Inyo16 Desert /November 1977


17/48

Touchesof redcan be seenamong thegolden aspen

as State Route 168crosses sparklingBishop Creek

in the Sierra.

Good Road Club, it wascalled El Camino Sierra, acharming name that waspromptly lost to the pres-ent Highway 395. Whenthe pave road was com-pleted in 19 31, nearly athousand carloads of re-velers gathered at Red-rock Canyon to celebratethe event.

Today, this road leadsto some of the f inest fallcolors anywhere and iseasily accessible from allparts of California as wellas other states.The heart of this coun-try is the 90-mile stretchthat hugs the Sierra fromBishop at the southern

Desert/November 1977 17


18/48

en d toBr idgepor t at the nor th. Alongthis road many small canyons andwinding side roads filled with goldenstands ofquaking aspens invite explor-at ion.

French trappers of he early west hada legend that the Cross was made ofaspen wood , and he trees have trembledever since. Science, with itslack of re-gard for legend, attr ibutes the motion toa long, slightly f lattened stem.

Like areversible coat this trip can bestarted north, south or n the middle. Itcan take aweek or aweekend in a car,camper or four-wheel-dr ive.

Samuel Bishop brought hiswife toOwens Valley in1861with the intentionof settl ing, but trouble between thePaiutes and hecattlemen sent himpacking for Kern County after one briefseason, leaving only hisname to thecreek where the young town would be.Bishop is smal l , the quiet streets linedwith b r ight t rees. In thecenter of town atthe corner ofMain and Line Streets thegold can be seen spilling from the can-yons at the foot of the Sierra. This is thetake-off spot for several side trips intothe Inyo National Forest that can bedonein one day or two.

Follow Line Street west out of towntoward the mountains. This isknown as

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the Sabrina Road or State Route 168.Theroad starts toclimb steeply above thevalley, and even when Bishop is warm itturns much cooler atthe higher eleva-tions.

Going up the mountain is aseriesofexperiences. Nine miles up adirt roadbranches to the r ight and crosses a cattleguard. There is agreen street sign butthat is theonly indication itis Buttermi lkRoad. Plan that for a fu l l day and take apicnic lunch ifyou want to do much ex-plor ing.

Several miles farther near the 8000-foot mark the road toSouth Lake turnsof f tothe left. Ahigh country road, itfol lows the south fork ofBishop Creekfor eight miles through thick aspen, themountains at almost eye level. Aquartermile walk from the parking area bringsyo u tohe shore ofthe deep blue lake.

A mile above the South Lake turn amountain lake sparkles through thetrees. This isthe Bishop Creek Hydro-electric Plant, a rather ordinary name forsuch a perfect spot. A short road leads tothe lakefront and nearby campgrounds,al l amass off laming color.

Aspendell is asmall resort of shim-mering yellows. Above this a short steeproad to the right climbs like amountaingoat along the north fork of he creek oNorth Lake.

Lake Sabrina, the middle fork, is at theen d of the paved road about 20 milesfrom Bishop. It s wide and blue, r immedwith peaks ofgold.

The Buttermilk Country northwestofBishop hassome of the best of all the fal lfoliage. Supposedly the name cameabout because of a dairy located there nthe 1870s. It issaid that the teamstersfrom asaw mil l on nearby Birch Creekwould stop in for adrink of the stuff,however, it isdiff icult toimagine suchmen drinking anything so tame. Ithasalso been said that the long bumpy ridewould turn anything tobuttermi lk.

The road is dir t and a l ittle like awash-board insome places, but apassengercar can make it at east the few miles nto the lower Buttermilk Meadows andposs ib ly fa r the r , depend ing on thedaring of he driver. A four-wheel-dr iveor a stout truck is a must for going all thewa y to the top of he Upper Buttermilk.

Here the smell iswoodsy and wild rosehips abound. Aspen form an arch overthe road and tdips to cross a creek fi l ledwith leaves like shiny gold coins, then

18

climbs sharply toemerge atthe top ofthe wor ld .Highway 395winds lazily through

Round Valley and ten miles north ofBishop is the turn to Pine Creek, famousas the home of the Union Carbide Mine.Follow the canyon and six miles up onthe r ight is a small pipe from whichpours the sweetest fresh water. Take aj u g , if you have one, and f i l l it.Thepaved road continues tohe bridge andpack station below the mil l .

Instead ofthe new freeway take theold Sherwin Grade which curves north atthe bottom of Pine Creek. There isanother access at Lower Rock CreekRoad. Sherwin Grade was aterrorforwagons in the early days and was one ofthe first road improvement projectsalong this route. The older two-lane roadentwines itself with Rock Creek all theway to Sherwin Summit where it rejoins3 9 5 .

Hil ton and McCee Creeks are close to-gether opposite Crowley Lake, namedfor Father J. J.Crowley, the "Deser tPadre." These two canyons, which atother times of the year hid their en-trances behind uninviting brush, havesome of the best aspen coloring and areclearly visible from the highway.

The road up Hilton Creek goes barelya half mile, however, theneighboringMcGee Creek hasaroad that winds se-veral times that far, ending a mile abovethe pack station. Near the end look forthe copper birch, an uncommon varietynamed for he color of itsbark.

Convict Lake received its name in thebest traditions of the Old West. OnaSeptember morning in1871, a fiercebattle took place on Monte Diablo Creekbetween six escaped prisoners fromCarson City and a posse headed byRobert Morr ison. Morr ison was ki l led,and Mt. Morr ison is named in his honor.As aresult the area became knownbythe name itbears to this day. There is aresort on the lake two miles west of 395.

Every skier knows Mammoth Moun-ta in. The vil lage of Old Mammoth ischarming and very colorful inOctober.To the west the delicate peaks oftheMinarets and he t ra i l to Devil's Postpileare reached byState Route 203.

June Lake Loop isan especially fineplace to see the fall colors. State Route158 branches west off395 and climbsO h ! Ridge, sonamed because peopleinvariably make this exclamation when

Desert /November 1977


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North ofState R oute 168near

Lake Sabrina,California.

the rise is topped and June Lake comesinto view.

On the right Reversed Creek wends itspeculiar way, f lowing towards the moun-tains and its namesake, Reversed Peak.The road winds through the resort townof June Lake and past Gul l , Silver andGrant Lakes to rejoin 395 just south ofLee Vin ing.

Le Roy Vinin g was a miner and in 1853his search for gold (the other kind)brought him to a sweet open meadowwh ich was la te r ca l led Lee V in ingCanyon, now the gateway to Yosemite.Just six miles up Tioga Pass is AspenGrove Campground.

One of the outstanding places to dis-cover autumn is Lundy Canyon in theToiyable National Forest seven milesnorth of Lee Vining. The colors pile oneon top of another all the way to the topsof the mountains where waterfal ls cas-cade between burnt orange. To the eastthe blue of Mono Lake reflects the snowypeaks.

About four miles up the road LundyLake comes into view, and above the op-posite shore on the steep sides of themountain is where the May Lundy Mineperched dur ing the camp's heyday in the1880s. At the head of the lake is a rusticresort, and at this point the roads be-Desert/November 1977

comes rutted dirt. Beyond this are manyfine campsites.

Near Conway Summit, named for anearly ranching family, a parking areaoverlooks Mono Lake and much of thecountry mentioned here. Once at thesummit acres of aspen cover the broadmeadow and climb the long sloping sidesof the peak.

Here a paved road wends its wayseven miles to the V irginia Lakes basin.Eleven lakes are strung out within anhour's hike, but simply dr iving to theend of the road is well worth while.

Green Lakes is the next side trip andthe dirt road is a good one.

In the early days, when the w hite set-tlers were just beginning to hear of thebeautiful virgin country east of theSie r ra , Br idg epo r t was ca l led B igMeadow. Its present name came aboutwhen shops were first b uilt across a foot-bridge over the east Walker River in1863. Today it is a quaint little town sur-rounded by high mountains and flankedby Bridgeport Lake.

J ust out of tow n a zig-zag road leads toseveral guest ranches and the TwinLakes resort area, a canyon of remark-able beauty. Beyond the lake the cragstake the form of a face looking up at thesky.

At the foot of the towering ridge nearthe upper end of the lake is a lovely spotknown as Mono Vil lage, at one time thesite of an early homesteader's cabin.Now it is a popular resort.

The time for catching fall colors attheir peak varies with the weather con-ditions each year. Generally mid-Octoberis about right, though it can be slightlyearlier or later. The beauty lasts forabout two weeks so there is plenty oftime to enjoy it.

The Bishop of Commerce and V isitorsCenter, located in the City Park on NorthMain Street, wil l provide informationand brochures on the area and advise ofthe best t ime for fal l colors.

Bishop has over two dozen m otels, se-veral campgrounds and trai ler parks anda wide variety of restaurants.

Both Bishop and Mamm oth are servedby Sierra Pacific Air line s. Rental cars areavailable from Eastern Sierrra Motors inBishop.

It really doesn't matter where youdecide to start. The Buttermilk, McGee,Lundyeveryone has their favorites. Ifyou find yourself in one spot and don'twant to leave, stay and explore it. Th is isone time when perfection is where youfind it, and that is likely to be whereveryou go.

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Left:Th eSalineValleyTramwayhighabovetheOwensValley.Opposite:Th eoldrailwayturntableatLaws,California.

" L A N D O F L I T T L E R A I N "N O W R E C R E A T I O N E M P I R EO W E N S V A L L E Y ' SR O M A N T I C P A S TL I N K E D W I T H P R E S E N TT H R O U G H M A N Y R E M N A N T S

by BILL JENNINGS

20

M ARY AUSTIN named it "The Landof Lit t le Rain." Her poetic descrip-tion applies to a huge region east ofthe Sierra Nevadaincluding OwensValley, the Mono Basin, the desertranges and Death Valley.From the new Interagency Visitor

Center just south of Lone Pine at thejunction of U.S. Highway 395 and StateRoute 136, the northwestern entryway toDeath Valley, the visitor gets a look atthe area's tumultuous past, when mines,ranch empires and even steamboatsf lourished, combined with a glimpse ofthe romantic present. Relics of the pastoffer insight into the old days and pro-

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vide some of the varied recreational ac-tivities that make up most of the econom-ic life of this arid region today.

The Visitor Center is described else-where in this Death Valley edition ofDesert Magazine. It is only one of manywindows and doorways that offer freshviews of the historic region . Others havewrit ten about the long mining historyand will again in this and future issues ofthis magazine. Perhaps, however, a lookat the transportation systems that linkedDeath Valley with Owens Valley andboth with civi l izat ion is in order.

Ra i l r oads , t r am ways , s t eam ers onOwens Lake, two record-sett ing electr i-cal transmission lines and a uniquemonorail 50 years ahead of its time wereamong the innovations that developedhere to move the mineral we alth to mar-ket, powered and moved the the minesthemselves.

This is desert country, where the Mo-jave and the Great Basin meet. The greatBasin is the largest North American aridprovince, covering only a corner of Cali-fornia in Inyo and Mono counties, butmost of Nevada, Utah and major seg-ments of Idaho, Oregon, Washingtonand western slopes of Colorado andWyom ing .

The network of mostly narrow-guagera i l r oads , spec t acu la r t r am ways andpowerlines that helped develop thisregion nearly a century ago has survivedin some cases to the present. Where ithas disappeared the fragile spiderwebhas provided the nucleus of several out-standing museum displays.

Two pioneering powerlines remain.One, dating to 1905, started on BishopCreek to cross the White Mountains toTonopah and Goldf ield, the f irst long-distance high-voltage l ine in the nation.It made possible the spectacular silverand gold strikes of western Nevada andprovided the knowledge that has result-ed in the commonplace tower lines oftoday, part icularly the f irst of these, the238-mile Bishop to San Bernardino span.Both are still in service, operated todayby Southern California Edison.

The B ishop Creek-Tonopah l inethreaded Fish Slough and then the morepoetically named Silver Canyon to thecrest of the White Mou ntains. This routetoday offers some of the best four-wheel-drive mo toring in California, a rather dif-ficult shortcut to reach the ancient bris-tlecone pines of the Whites.Desert /November 1977

The same pioneering power company,which later became Southern Sierras andCalifornia Electr ic before merging withEdison, established one of the mostspectacular tramways in the west, thecable line from Rush Creek power sta-t ion, near J une Lake, to Agnew and Gemlakes. The combined lift is more than1,800 feet over a 6,400-foot run.

Better know n is the Cerro Gordo a erialtram at the southeast end of Owens Val-ley, connecting the still active town ofKeeler with the historic mining distr ictfive and one-half miles up in the Inyorange.

The Cerro G ordo tram was erected toolate (in 1915) to help the heyday of themining districts, one of the best silverproducers in the history of California,but it survived to haul limestone out ofone of the most famous lodes, the Un ion,and was not dismantled until 1960.Tower, some cable spans and bucketsstill rema in in view along the spectacularroad that connects Keeler and CerroGordo.

Even longer and more spidery was thethirteen and one-half mile Salt Workstram that operated from 1911 to about1916 to haul the product of the SalineValley salt works to the railhead at Tram -way station, four miles northwest ofKeeler. It was a failure, in part, due tothe excessive weigh t of the water-soddensalt that overloaded the cableway on thelong ascent of Daisy Canyon and result-ed in runaways on the Owens Lake endof the run.Remnants of this tram were still visi-

ble on the Saline Valley side up until afew years ago.Few railroads penetrated this arid

corner of California. Most famous ofthese was the 300-mi le Carson &Colorado, which ran from 1880 to 1960,although abbreviated to only 70 miles,between Laws, near Bishop, and Keelerf rom World War I I .

The C& C is well me morialized at boththe Laws Railroad Museum and theEastern California Museum in Indepen-dence, the Inyo County seat. Three ofthe litt le steam engines that powered theore trains and tourist specials in lateryears are still on display, at Laws, Inde-pendence and in Carson City, Nevada.

Built by the promoters of the famousVirginia & Truckee, the C&C cameunder control of the Southern Pacific in1900, giving rise to hopes it would bestandard-gauged and eventually formpart of a new regional mainline fromOgden, Utah, to Los Angeles. Collapseof the mining boom killed that dreameven before World War I I .

A connecting standard gauge branchremains. Known as the Jawbone fromthe famous canyon near Little Lake,this SP spur connects Mojave with LonePine, It was built in 1910 to serve the LosAngeles Aqueduct and still operatesthree times a week to haul talc and otherminerals to the Los Angeles basin.

Even more obscure than the C& C wasthe narrow guage Bodie & Benton Rail-way which operated from 1881 through1917, 27 miles between Bodie and thenow abandoned logging center of Mono

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Mills, near thesouth shore of MonoLake. Itnever reached Benton, where itcould almost touch the C& C.

The old Bodie station is one of thelandmarks of that histor ic mining center,now astate park. Nothing else of the oldl ine, bui l t tohaul lumber for the mines

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and charcoal for he smelters, remainstoday, other than occasional scars left bythe abandoned track.

The C& C's route over Montgom eryPass is partially used today by U.S.H i g h w a y 6, on the rou te be tweenTonopah and Bishop. The former Keelerstation still exists, next door to the trans-planted depot from Owenyo, formerjunction with the Jawbone.

One more rail line still runs in theDeath Valley reg ion, although the puristdoes not consider it apart of he OwensValley-Death Valley mining legend. Thisis the 30-mile-long Trona Railway, builtin 1913 tohaul the chemical wealth ofSearles Lake to a connection with theJawbone branch atSearles Junction.

Not exactly a conventional railroad buta transportation line just the same wasthe Epsom Salts Monorail , which con-

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22

nected with theTrona Railway andshipped carloads of the household neces-sity irregular ly during the mid-1920s.The monorail consisted of28 milesofA-fram e timber bents connected togeth-er with side boards, topped by asteelrunning ra i l . Itran across Searles Lake tothe east, through Layton Canyon andWingate Pass tothe epsomite surfacedeposit in the Owlshead Moun tains. Theore was scrapped with hand shovels andraked into gunny sacks or metal binswhich were slung on theside of themonorail cars or locomotivea convert-ed Fordson tractor.

The tractor had af latbed attachmentand also towed cars. Steep gradesre-stricted tonnage and a arger locomotivewas tr ied semi-successful ly. Althoughservice between the mine and a LongBeach area processing plant stopped inabout 1926 the old A-frame roadbed wasin place unti l World War II, providingwell-seasoned firewood and tunnel t im-bers for miners and occasional campers.The area isnow within the Naval Wea-pons Center boundary and access isre -str icted.

Desert /November 1977


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The tailing dumpsand structuresat Cerro Cordo, high above Owens Lake.Photo by Lambert Florin.

Valley National Monument's interpreta-tive center at Furnace Creek and the newEastern California Museum at Indepen-dence.Appropriately the county seat mu-seum at Independence is near Mary Aus-tin's old home. She lived there in the1890s and early 1900s when she wrote"The Land of Lit t le Rain," which waspublished originally in 1903. A newedit ion has been released by theUniversity of New Mexico Press andshould cultivate a new crop of Austinadmirerswho in turn wil l becomedesert lovers as wel l .

She expressed the hold the desertgets, very well indeed:

"For all the toll the desert takes of aman i t g ives compensat ions , deepbreaths, deep sleep, and the communionof the stars."

From "The Land of Lit t le Rain," byMary Aust in.

One Owens Valley railroad charteredin 1909 was never built, but captured theimagination of the predominantly ruralpopulat ion. Grandly t it led the OwensValley Electric Railway it was planned toconnect Bishop with the Carson andColorado at Laws station four miles tothe the northeast. A 12-mile extensionwas planned northwest to Round Valleyto tap a new farming area envisioned bythe promoters as part of the stock sellingprogram. A 16-mile l ine south to BigPine was proposed as the start of the in-terurban network connecting all theOwens Valley towns. Power would comefrom the new Bishop Creek plants builtto serve the Tonopah and Coldfieldmines in Nevada.

Emergence of the Los Angeles Aque-duct and resulting loss of irrigationwater to the metropolis ki l led the planbut several miles of grading in the vicin-ity of the Owens River east of B ishop wasstill visible until recent years.

Much of this obscure but fascinatingtransportat ion history is mirrored in ex-hibits at the Interagency Visitor Center,t he Laws Ra i l r oad M useum , Dea t h

Desert/ November 1977

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D. Beach D . HiltonJ.F air R. S.JarvieM. Faizy M . LewisB. Graves ' w . RushingP. Grey H.Seal "

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>

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T HE M ON TH of November and DeathValley have become synonymous fordesert enthusiasts. While this is duein part to the Annual Death Valley En-campment (1977 is the 28th year), it isalso because of the generally pleasantweatherthe Thanksgiving holiday andthe magical spell Death Valley casts overso many of her visitors. November is at ime when a sizable number of peoplemake their annual pilgrimage to thisshrine of desert beauty. Many have beendoing so for 30 or more years.

Jerry and I are among Death Valley'sdevoted admirers; and, through theyears, our visits have developed into asort of a gamethe object being to lo-cate an inter estin g area that is new to us.Actually, it is an easy game for those ofus who follow the back trails and f indcontentment in the lonely, unspoiled re-gions of this magnif icent valley. Lastyear, our tr ip had two rewards. Whileexploring the Ibex Mountains, outsidethe National Monument, we collectedunique "pic ture rock" and encounteredthe very photogenic "Hidden Dunes ofDeath Va l ley . "

The Ibex Range occupies the southernt ip of Death Valleywest of Highway127, 30 miles north of Baker, California.They are an unusually colorful group ofmountains composed of barren green,red, brown and black peaks. SaratogaSprings occupies an embayment at thesouthwestern tip of the range. It is one ofthe desert 's largest springs and Indianpetroglyphs indicate its use in prehis-toric t ime. Early explorers and emi-grants who traveled the Spanish Trailfound the springs a welcome rest ingplace.

In this century, Saratoga Springs hasserved prospectors, miners, travelersand, more recently, desert enthusiasts.For many, the springs were a lovelyovernight camping area. Huge, very old,salt cedars provided comfort ing shelterand shade. The bri l l iant colors of thehills reflected in the pools and oftenmade those of us witho ut talent w ish we

by MA RY FRANCES STRONGphotos by Jerry Strong

could paint the scene. In the name ofecology, the trees were destroyed andthe locale closed to camping. It is mypersonal opinion that a beautifu l, histori-cal site has been raped and desecrated. Iwil l never return.This tr ip we traveled north from Sara-toga Springs Road for 5.6 miles, thenturned left (west) onto an old, gradedmin ing road. Another three miles oft ravel brought us to the "pic ture rock"locale in the Ibex Mountains.We had been told about the picturerocks many years ago. However, wewere always chasing petrif ied wood,agate, opal or amethyst when in thearea, and didn't take t ime to check outthe deposit . Unti l Bob and Edna Tenneyof Santa Barbara stopped by to show usthe attractive specimens they had re-cently collected, we hadn't realized thepotential for rockhounds."Picture Rock" is not cutt ing materialnor a showy mineral specimen. Instead,it is an Algonkian, metamorphosed,sedimentary rock containing manganeseinclusionsthe latter having arrangedthemselves in a manner after pictures.Perhaps the best description would be tosay, "They resemble the bold brushstrokes of oriental paint ings." The basicrock is predominately deep rose, tan orl ight grey. The "brush st rokes" areblack, red, warm brown and tan. My fa-vorite specimen depicts a storm crossingthe desertblack cumulous clouds rac-ing across a deep rose and tan sky.Tons of "picture slabs" are erodingfrom the hil ls and have formed sizabletalus slopes. The largest slabs will befound on the west side of the ravine nearthe top of the hi l l . Collecting was reallyfun as we tr ied to "s e e " the pictures anddecide which specimens to keep. If youwould enjoy a beautiful paint ing by OldMother Nature, try framing one of thespecimens. The rock can be left natural

or sprayed with several coats of varnish,shellac or lacquer to bring out the color.We used spray lacquer and the resultswere great.After f i l l ing our rock sacks, Jerry sug-gested we follow the road west. Any road"lea ding o n " is a temptat ion we seldomignore. We wandered over a small passand there, below, lay the Hidden Dunes.

The pristine beauty of the Hidden Dunes is a joy to behold. Protected from any vehicularuse, they attract pho tographers, as well as those who love the desert's varied forms.Desert /November 1977 25


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Ab ov e: Tfr/'s ta/us s/ope indicates the tremendous quan-tity of "picture rock" eroding from the hills. Colorfullypatterned specimens can be collected over a wide area-Left: Visitors to the southern end of the Ibex Rang e w illbe treated to panoramic views, rock collecting and fas-cinating sand dunes. Looking south from the picturerock locale, theAvawatz Mountains form a backdrop.

If you look closely, you can see the dunesfrom Saratoga Springs Road but they ap-pear small and not picturesque. It isalong their eastern face that the curvesand form are accentuated.

The Amargosa River is only a wideribbon of sand along most of its courseand it is probably the main source ofmaterial from which the winds have buil tthe dunes. After the r iver begins tocurve around the southern end of theIbex Mountains, i t fans out into a half-dozen channels. This is flash floodcountry and any heavy runoff from thun-dershowers races down the bar renslopes and spreads into a shallow sheetof water across the valley. It fil ls theplaya then fol lows the r iver 's channelsinto Death Valley. After the storm, theearth dr iesthe heavy winds come andthe particles of sand flow and ebb at itsmercy.

At the B.F.J. Talc Mine, the dunes areencroaching upon the loading ramp anddump. From this point, travel north isadvisable only for four-wheel-drive.

The Hidden Dunes are within DeathValley National Monument and protect-ed from any use by off road vehicles.The ir pr istine beauty is a joy to beho ld.Known mainly to camera buffs, thedunes can be explored on foot and somefine photographs taken. The early-m orn-ing and late-afternoon hours produce themost spectacular results.

We fol lowed the dunes north for

nearly a mile. At this point, a large dunehad drifted over the base of the hills andblow sand covered the road. At the apexof the half-circle around it, was theB.B.J. Talc Mine. Another half-mile oftravel brought us to the headframe of asecond talc mine. Our road, which hadde te r io ra ted in to a b low-sand t r a i l ,curved northwest.

"W e had better turn arou nd," Jerry

26 Desert /November 1977


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advised. " I want to take some pictures ofthe dunes and saw a good place betweenthe two mines." Soon, we were trampl-ing among the sandy hummocks andmarveling at Nature's sculpture.

On the way back to camp, we stoppedand looked over the B.B.J. Mine. Therehas been considerable exploration in-cluding a tunnel and numerous cuts inthe hil ls. A sizable dump and loadingramp indicate production. Talc mining inthe Ibex Mountains is relatively recent(1940s-1950s) and both mines we visitedwere idle.

The talc deposits are confined to theCrystal Springs Formationthe lowestmember of the three formations com pris-ing the Pahrump Series of later pre-Cambrian age. A carbonate member,mainly dolomite, occupies several hun-dred feet in the center of the formationand is overlain by a large strata of bothcarbonate and non-carbonate deposits.Diabase sills have intruded above andbelow the carbonate members and theresultant alterations have produced thetalc bodies. W hile a great deal of altera-

Continued on Page 46During the 1940s and 50s, two talc mines on the southeastern end of the Ibex Rangeproduced material suitable for use in the wall tile industry. The headframe an dloading ramp of the B.B.J. Mine now stand as silent reminders of the activity.

ShoshoneTecopo

Amorgoso GorgeDumont Dunes

San Bernardino County

Desert / November 1977 27


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J O R N A D AD E LM U E R T Oby JAMES S.LEONARD

T HE FOOT-SORE travelers stood onthe muddy banks of the Rio Grande,trying not to look into the glaring dis-tance ahead. Some busied themselvesloading barrels of water on their ox-drawn wagons. Others rounded up thethousands of head of livestock and drovethem to the r iver for one last drink. Me ncheck their guns, women pulled theirchildren close. They all gathered for afinal prayer. Then the word was passedand the band set out along the mostdreaded section of the road: the Jornadadel Muerto the Dead Ma n's Trai l .

Three hundred and some years later,my wife and I set out to cross the Span-iards' path. Now there are a few roads,and even highways on the Jornada,which helps a lot if you happen to befresh out of mules and wooden-wheeledwagons. But otherwise, it is just asbleak, just as dangerous as it was tothose ear ly t rave lers who venturedacross it. It is also vastly be autifu l.

The Jornada lies in central New Mexi-c o , beginning about 40 miles south ofAlbuquerque. From there, it carves aflat, dry crescent 90 miles south toLas Cruces. On the east, the San And resMountains separate it from the well-watered Tularosa Valley. On the west,the Caballo and Fray (or Fra) CristobalMountains bar the way to the waters ofthe Rio Grande. Occasional storms offr ightening intensity sweep through it ,threatening the l i fe of anything caughtout unprotected. The storms pass on,and the water or snow drains quicklyaway, leaving the land as parched asbefore.

The history of the Jornada really be-gins with the Spanish colonists of the16th century. U nti l then, the Pueblo andPlains Indians avoided the area like theplague, sticking to the Rio Grande Val-ley, or going east of the San Andres . B utin 1596 the Spanish, fearful of the In-dians, and in need of

197711 desertmagazine 1977 november

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