197911 Desert Magazine 1979 November

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M A G A 7 I N F

O U R 4 2 n d A N N IV E R S A R Y

T H IS IS S U E :

H O U S E T H K T J K C K S N K I T H B U IL T

S W l / O R I T E G H O S T S

O C K Y I I I - T H E S T O R Y B E H IN D IL L E Q I L A L IE N S

G L I F O R N I K D E S E R T P L 4 N

K Y A N D R k C H A E L R O B IR D S ... C R A F T S M E N74470

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Volume 42, Num ber 11 Mak e a road for the Lord throu gh the w ilderness;

make him a straight, smooth road throu gh the desert.

—Isaiah 40:3

November 1979USPS 154-940

Editorial Staff

Donald Ma cDonald, EditorGary E. Squier, Ar tDirector

Phillip E. Squier, Assistan t ArtDirectorMary Eileen Twyman, Managing Editor

Pat J . Williams, Assistant Managing EditorJ ennifer Osbo rn, Assistant Managing Editor

Contributing Editors

Karen Sausman, Natural SciencesWayne P. Armstrong, Natural SciencesThomas K. Evans, Government Affairs

Russ Leadabrand, Field TripsJ erry and Luisa Klink , Baja California

M.R. Zarubica, LibrarianGeorge Aberlich, Illustrator

Business Staff

Donald MacDonald, PublisherGary E. Squier, Co-Publisher an dAdvertising Director

George E. Sector, Marketing DirectorMarjorieMoline, Business Manager

Chester Ross, Counsel

6 WHE RE WE STAND

As Seen by Rep. George E. Brown, Jr.

8 WHE RE WE STANDAs Seen by Rep. Clair W. Burgener

10 THE HOUSE THA T JACK BUILT

Jack Smith

14 AMANINHISWORKGary E. Squier

18 ROCKY I I I

Donald MacDonald

22 SPINY LIZARDS

Karen Sausman

24 GHOST TOWNS I REME MBER

Russ Leadabrand

28 BAC K DOWN THE TRACK

R. M. Lowe

30 THE CALIFORNIA DESERT PLAN

James B. Ruch

The cover photo for this the42nd anniversary issue is un-usual, but Jed Wilcox capturedthe theme of Desert Magazine's

past.. .and our future: the cho-sen road, f requently lonely butstraight and beautiful, stretch-ing to the horizon and beyond.To be technical, i t 's Hwy. 64west of Taos, N.M., shot withEktachrome 64, f16 at 1/125.

34 DESERT PHOTO GALLERY

36 W HAT 'S COOKING ON THE DESERT?

Stella Hughes

39 WE W ANT TO KNOW . . .

42 MORTERO PALM OASISDick Bloomquist

44 TRADING POST

47 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

48 BOOKS OF THE W EST

Desert Magazine is published monthly by Cactus Paperworks, Inc.Officers: R.C. Packer, President; Chester Ross, Vice-President; DonaldMacDonald, Vice-President; Gary E. Squier, Vice-President; MarjorieMol ine, Secretary. EDITORIAL, CIRCULATION, AND ADVERTISINGOFFICE S: 74-425 Highw ay 1 11, P.O. Box 1318, Palm Dese rt, California92260. Telephone: (714) 568-2781. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: UnitedStates and possessions; 1-year, $9.00; 2-years, $17.00; 3-years, $25.00.

All other countries, add $2.00 U.S. currency for each year. SeeThe Desert Magazine November 1979

subscription order form in this issue. Please allow five weeks for changeof address and send both new and old addresses with zip codes. Secondclass postage paid at Palm Desert, California, and at additional mailingoffices unde r Act of Ma rch 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1979 by DesertMagazine and permission to reproduce any or all contents must besecured in writing. Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs will not bereturned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope or

internationa l exchange coupons.



(EDITORIAL)

O NE IS A GRIM desolate wasteland. It is the home ofvenomous reptiles and stinging insects, of viciousthorn-covered plants and trees, and of unbearable

heat. This is the desert seen by the stranger speeding alongthe highway, impatient to be out of "this damnable Coun-try." It is the desert visualized by those children of luxuryto whom any environment is unbearable which does notprovide all of the comforts and services of a pamperingcivilization. It is a concept fostered by fiction writers Whodramatize the tragedies of the desert for the profit it will

bring them. •But the stranger and the uninitiated see only the rnask.

The other Desert—the real Desert—is not for the eyes ofthe superficial observer, or the fearful soul or the cynic.It is a land, the character of which is hidden except to thosewho come with friendliness and understanding. To thesethe Desert offers rare gifts: health-giving sunshine—a skythat is studded with diamonds—a breeze that bears nopoison—a landscape of pastel colors such as no artist canduplicate—thorn-covered plants which during countlessages have clung tenaciously to life through heat anddrought and wind and the depredations of thirsty animals,and yet each season send forth blossoms of exquisite color-ing as a symbol of courage tha t has trium ped over tefrify-'

ing obstacles.To those who come to the Desert with friendliness, in

gives friendship; to those who come with courage, it givesnew strength of cha racter. Those seeking relaxation; findrelease from the world of man-m ade trou bles . For tjiosfjy;seeking beauty, the Desert offers nature's rarest artistiiy.This is the Desert that men and women learn to love.

V Itone s fascinating , m ysterious

. . . one is grim, desolate . . .

N o v e m b e r , 1 9 3 7

N EARLY every creeds and industry and locality hits journal—except the Desert. Here, within the boudarie s y)f Arizoria,' ^California, Nevad a, New Mexi

and Utah resides a great family of human beings—thhighest type of American1 citizenship—with a common hetage of environment and interest and opportunity, yresiding for the most part in regions that are remote fro

the so-called cultural centers.This is the last great frontier of the United States. It wi

be the purpose of the Desert Magazine to entertain anserve the people whom defeire or circumstance have brougto this Desert frontier. Bilt also, the magazine will ca rry accurately as possible in Word and picture, the spirit of threal Desert to those countless men and women who habeen intrigued by the charm of the desert, but whose homare elsewh ere. Iff

J i l l * *This is td be a friend]^, personal magazine, written f

the people bf the Desert-and their friends—and insofar possible, by Desert peoplj. Preference will be given to thoWriters and artists—yes, and poets—whose inspirati

comes from close association with the scented greasewoothe shifting' sand dunes,f|he coloring of Desert landscapfrom precipitous canyon! and gorgeous sunsets.

The Desert has its oWn traditions—art—literature—dustry and com merce. If will be the purpo se of the DesMagazine to crystallize' Ihd preserve these phases of Deslife as a culture,distiri'cljjve of arid but virile America. Wwould give character afid personality to the pursuits Desert peoples—creatS % keener consciousness of the hetage which is theirs—brine; them a little closer together a bond of pride in their Desert homes, and perhaps bredown in some measure the prejudice against the Deswhich is born of misunderstanding and fear.

It is an idealistic goal, to be sure, but without vision Desert would still be a^(forbidding wasteland—uninhabiand shunn ed. The staff' of the Desert Magazine ha s undtaken its task with the Same unbounded confidence whihas brought a million 'people to a land which once wregar.ded as unfit for human habitation.

We want to give td me folks who live on the Deserand to those who are interested in the Desert—someththat will make their lives a little happier and a little fin—something worthwhile. In the accomplishment of tpurpose we ask for the cooperation and help of all frienof the Desert everywhere.

RANDALL HENDERSON,

J. WILSON MCKENNEY.

Publishers.

The Desert Magazine November 1



By Donald MacDonald

1 oday, forty-tw o years after Randall Henderson w rote thewords on the preceding page, there are three deserts.O n e , of course, is sti l l the "gr im and desolate wasteland"

seen by the unappreciateve "children of luxury." A second

land which "of fers nature 's rarest ar t is try ."

The third desert of which I speak sprang inevitably from

Palm Desert, and Indio slowly becoming one as man spreads

mdale as the globe-circl ing jetl iner approaches

a backdrop of sand. I t is that shabby stucco

The exodus from Megalopolis starts on THursdaysTTt IT

k of dir t bikes or a metal- f laked ski boat. A nd precariouslyed among the motorhomes speeding down the Interstate

chi ld, bedrolls

rec iate" the desert and who w il l p rotect i t and the whales

mult i tude are the rum bl ing four-wheelers, a suspect

N o w T h e r eA r e T h r e ethe highway to places no one knows where. These people inall their wondrous diversity are the visitors we who live in thedesert selectively fear.

The fact we should accept is that it's everybody's land. Ourcomplaints, our suspicions, our sometime lack of hospitality,y e s , our avarice, invite the depredations, the spray paint on"our" rocks, the beer cans l i tter ing "our" sand. It is not thevisitor who is always ugly, however he travels and whateverhe seeks. It is often we .

It is we, certainly, who have made this third desert a landof controversy. He who may have grabbed a piece of it forhimself cr ies "keep out" to those less foresighted. He whowould profit levels the groves and windrows, erects condo-miniums, and cr ies "welcome" to visitors of substance. Hewho would cheat trades barren, windlaced parcels to the un-wary of less substance.

This is the season, you see. Our rooms are $75 a night for

two and you pay for Sunday whether you stay over or not.White man, red man, pioneer family, absentee corporateowner—each is equally tainted. By greed. Jo- jo nuts, datemilkshakes, B ig Macs, Century 21 , Frank Sinatra Drive,Wa ltah C larks are everywhere. PS, I love you.

I suspect we who l ive here could begin by rememberingfrom whence we came. I was a visitor once. So, probably,were you. I was allowed to settle at a price I could afford. So,t o o , I must assume, were yo u. A garden with paths is seldomtramp led . Let 's, then, unlock the gates to " o u r " public landsand put up signs saying: "Friend or Stranger, You Are Wel-come He re ." So assured, the stranger may become our fr iendand tread ge ntly.

I think if Randall Henderson were al ive he would approve,for those were his words of welcome on the door to thismagazine's or iginal Palm Desert offices. There are some,' Iunderstand, who thought Randall naive and even some, Ihear, who called him cold. I think not. He had more visionthan most. He founded Desert not to immure this land but tospread love of it.

". .. to impart to (our) readers some of the courage, the tol-erance, and the fr iendliness of our des ert. " That was R andallHenderson's goal and it remains ours, your fifth generationof ed ito rs' , today Please drop by and chat with us, browse inour bookstore and art gallery, or just say hello. It is yourmagazine.



W H E R E W ES T A N D . . .

( A s s e e n b y )

R E P . GEORGE E. BROWN JR.

Editor's Note: Four Congressmen and

two senators were invited by this maga-

zine to subm it current "position state-ments" on issues of their choice; hope-

fully, topics such as the Bureau of Land

Managem ent's controversial Desert

Plan, development of geothermal ener-

gy, the return of public lands to private

usage, and, certainly, water resources.

Included in the invitation were Senator

Alan Cranston, Democrat, of Los An-

geles; Senator Samuel I. Hayakawa, Re-

publican , of Mill Valley, California; Re -

presentative William M. Thom as, Re-

publican , of Bikersfield, California; Re-

resentative G e o r g e E. Brown , Jr.,Demo crat, of Riverside, California; and

Representative Clair W Burgener, Re -

publican , o f La Jolla, California.

Our invitation was badly timed, the

Congress being on recess throughout

September and its members scattered to

all points in the Free World [and some

beyond] but nevertheless, four Members

sent us their statements in time for our

deadline. However, only two of these of-

ficials in our opinion, Messrs. Brown an d

Burgener, had anything of significanceto say, our criteria not being agreement

but the simple rule we apply to anything

printed in the pages of this magazine;

specifically, will it interest ou r readers?

The statements of Mr. Brown and Mr.

Burgener follow. If anyone wishes a copy

of the statements received from Messrs.

Hayakawa or Lewis, we will be glad to

send a copy if your request is accom-

panied by a stamped, self-addressed

envelope.

Everyone has a right to be concerned

about the future of the Great California

Desert, w ith a special r ight for those who

are actual stakeholders in the desert.

Many stakeholders, such as property

owners or regular visitors, recognize

their r ights and their role while others,

such as non-residents, have much less

awareness of the issues and options

facing the desert

Congressmen have a rather formal

role under legislation enacted in 1976

due to the determined and foresighted

efforts of the late Congressman Jerry L.

Pettis and his wife, Shir ley, who suc-

ceeded him in Congress and completed

his efforts to create the California Desert

Conservation Area. Next year under this

law the Bureau of Land Managementwil l submit to the Congress its compre-

hensive, long-range plan for the " m a-

nagement, use, development, and pro-

tection of the public lands within the

Cal i forn ia Deser t Conservat ion Area."

Among the proposals which wil l be sub-

mitted to the Congress wil l be plans for

new wilderness areas, parks, recrea-

tional vehicle areas, and similar contro-

versial proposals. There wil l probably

also be proposals for new agricultural

a c t i v i t i e s , e n e r g y d e ve lo p me n t , a n d

other recreational, educational or

tural activit ies.

It should come as no surprise to a

one who is remotely famil iar with

desert that many existing or propo

land uses are incompatible with ot

proposed uses. This has always b

true but is becoming an acute prob

with growing population, the prol i fe

tion of relatively inexpensive recr

tional vehicles, and the improved acc

to the desert by excellent highw ays. T

role of the Congress will be to recon

these certain conflicts. The Desert P

legislation recognized them and direc

that they be analyzed and resolved b

conscious planning process rather t

an irrational spur-of-the-moment d

sion-making process.My own perspective on the Califo

Desert is more personal than that

most Members of Congress. I was b

and raised in the Imperial Valley

have spent my entire life in South

California, where I have regular ly vis

fa m i l y a nd f r i e n d s th r o u g h o u t

desert. The Congressional Distr ict I p

sently represent contains the cou

seats for both Riverside and

Bernardino counties, and the homes

large percentage of the weekend user




the desert. In addition, my Committee

assignments in the Congress have given

me an opportunity to examine the more

diff icult aspects of desert l i fe, parti-

cularly the questions of long-term sus-

tainabil i ty of agriculture in the desert

and the impacts of climatic change.

To understand the California Desert,

one must place it in the proper time and

space perspective. For long-term ma-

nagement purposes we need to keep thisin mind, and also that rainfall averages

wil l change, possibly in our l i fetime.

When the major source of water is the

Colorado River, and the water quantity

commitments are made based upon past

historical averages and not on actual

ra infa l l , reductions in water supply

become a significant development.

The space perspective one must keep

in mind is that the desert does not stop at

the California border, or more particu-

lar ly, at the Mexican border. We essen-

tially have a continuous land massreliant upon the same sporadic rainfal l ,

and the same mountain ranges which

supply the water for the same r iver sys-

tems. Plant and animal populations are

similar and throughout history, the

human populations have migrated wi th-

out regard to poli t ical borders. The ef-

forts today to stop migration from

Mexico may succeed but the lessons of

history are against this outcome. A far

more l ikely outcome is the gradual

fading away of what is not a clearly

marked international border. A borderl ike the one wit h Canada is a much m ore

likely outcome.

For the entire dese rt, agricultura l uses

may be the most importan t for future

generations. The present forms of agr i -

culture, basically adapting water and

energy intensive methods to ar id lands,

cannot last for long. New lands which

use such methods wil l almost certainly

not be brought into production and

existing lands depending on them w il l be

forced, by economics if nothing else, tofind ways to use less water and less

energy. What can be expected in the fu-

ture is the cultivation of indigenous de-

sert crops such as jojoba and gu ayule .

Jojoba, as most desert dwellers know,

is a native crop whose seed produces an

oil which has properties almost identical

to that of valuable sperm whale oi l . I t is

being actively developed with federal

government support and is l ikely to be-

come commercial ly developed on Indian

lands in the near future .


Cuayule, or the Native Latex Plant,

has already been commercially deve-

loped. In World War I I this native crop

was an important source of our rubber.

Unfortunately the government pulled out

of the program at the end of the war and

only last year re-entered the f ie ld.

The future of the California Desert

really depends on those who are present

today. Many of the choices before us are

essential ly irreversible. The land areawith in California alone is some 16 mil l ion

acres. Some acres which were previously

neglected or inaccessible are now under

the same pressu res as the m ore

developed areas. One of these areas is

the vast region east of Barstow, be-

tween 1-15 and I-40. Other regions of the

California Desert closer to population

centers have received federal protection

as national parks, most notably Joshua

Tree National Monument and Death

Valley National Monument, while the

State of C alifornia created Anza-BorregoDesert State Park to protect this critical

area. While i t is premature to prejudge

the results of the California Desert Con-

servation Area Plan, it is clear that areas

like the Kelso Dunes in the Eastern Mo-

jave Desert deserve similar protection.

For this reason, and at the urging of

most California conservation and en-

vironmental groups, I 've introduced le-

gislation to create the Eastern Mojave

National Park. This legislation will be a-

vailable as a back-up to the Desert Plan

now in preparation.

Readers of this magazine can help im-

prove the quality of the decisions to be

made about the California Desert. W hilethe contr ibution of an individual fre-

quently seems insignificant, and as only

one of 535 Congressmen I often feel th at

about my own efforts, there are endless

examples of an individual making the

difference.

In the case of the California Desert

P l an , one conf l ict appears to pre-

dominate, which is the confl ict between

using up the desert resources today

versus saving deser t resources for

tomorrow. Pressures to maximize, how-

ever temporarily, the use of the desertfor present pleasure and profit without

regard for the future are increasing.

Those who feel , as I do, that planning for

the future is equally important need to

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W H E R E W E

S T A N D . . .

(As seen by)

CONGRESSMAN CLAIR W. BURGENER

In 1976, Congress enac ted the Bureau o f LandManagement 's "Organic Act , " updat ing the BLM charterover the federal government's vast Western real estate.Almost as an afterthought, an amendment was added to thelegislat ion to establish the California Desert ConservationArea and provide for future use and protect ion of the Cali-fornia desert within a mult iple-us e concept.

The irony of this legislat ion was not readily apparent buthas become so since. The desert, once viewed as inh ospitab lebecause of its cl imate and transportat ion dif f icult ies, dis-couraged visitors and sett lers, but those very q ualit ies have,over the years, beckoned those looking to escape the hordesof the cities or those who sim ply wishe d to challenge the ter-ra in . The once uninvit ing and unforgiving desert of wagontrain days had been relat ively tamed by the internal combus-tion engine and easy highway access.

Given its vastness and the lure of its sparsely-populatedquietude as a counterpoint to the hectic Monday-Friday exis-tence of many S outhern Californians, the desert was bound tobe found by thousands of people for recreation over the

years, and indeed, it has been. It is also the destination ofmany thousands of vacationers from other states.

Increasing numbers of campers, off-road vehicle enthu-siasts, rockhounds and other weekend desert users havepoured out to the east from Los Angeles and San Diego onFriday evenings and Saturday mornings, necessitat ing, inCongressional eyes, some form of future protect ion.

The products of the California Desert Conservation Acthave been brushfires of resentment am ong comp eting desertuser groups and year-round desert residents, as was bound tohappen when thousands of people perceive the desert 'svalues dif ferently.

In order to minimize bureaucrat ic discrepancies, the BLMdecided f irst to inventory the de sert 's resources, use patterns

8 The Desert Magazine November 19



and values using cr iter ia parallel to the U.S. Forest Service'sRoadless Area Review and Evaluation (RARE II) , anotherassessment o f U.S. land ho ld ings manda ted by theWilderness Act.

Because the inventory was the first step in a process even-tually leading to a management plan, and beauty is in the eyeof the beholder, the clamor by various groups over what areasdeserved special protection or open use began early.

In an effort to legitimately involve cit izens in the planningprocess, the BLM created a Desert Advisory Committee,made up of citizens from all walks and areas of California andconducted numerous public hearings throughout the state to

assess citizen w ishes and des ires.However, as often happens at public hearings, those in at-

tendance often reflected the views of the well-organized en-vironmental and user groups, and casual desert partakerswere often lost in the zeal between the partisan protectionistsand the advocates of total open use.

B L M , under the reasoned direction of California State Di-rector Ed Hastey, searched for the middle ground, and, byand large, their prel iminary management plan was a sensibleone which took all sides of the public argument into account.

The BLM plan was bound to please no one entirely, andthat has been the result. Organized environmentalists claimthe management plan would permit continued destruction of

desert resources by off-road vehicle users, while four-wheeldr ivers cr inge at a lockup of public lands.

W hat l ikewise must be found in the eventual Congressionalreview of the California Desert Management Plan is a sen-sible solution which wil l permit protection for those trulyunique desert resources which cannot be reclaimed once theyare despoiled while permitt ing the optimum amount of

general public use, for the lands truly belong to all of thepeople.

I have been troubled by previous Congressional actionswhich I think have gone a bit too far in limiting public accessto the public lands. The concept of multiple use in public landmanagement has been the keystone of our public lands policyin this country for years, but recent actions have tilted towardprotective measures which have the effect of excluding fromthe land many of the people who have a part-ownership of i t.

Lim iting access to certain sensitive areas to entry only byfoot excludes the handicapped and the aged, and demandsspecialized equipment and experience. It has not been

vehicles alone which have denigrated the wildl i fe values ofsome of our public lands and national parks, but the sheernumbers of people and vehicles which certain species even-tually cannot accommodate.

True multiple use planning wil l not be exclusionary orel i t ist in i ts outlook but wil l permit public entry to the publiclands by all of the people, perhaps in limited numbers at anygiven t ime .

Also figuring into any eventual management equation forthe California Desert must be our very real energy needs andthe potential of the desert for providing some of that energy.Geothermal development, which provides much promise forthe future in deliver ing power to Californians, must be cal-

culated into the plan. This clean power source must not be"locked up." Similar ly, the substantial solar potential of thedesert must be weighed and handled with foresight.

Congress will soon be called upon to resolve the many in-herent confl icts involved in parceling the public land for themaximum potential public benefit, and it must do so withsensitivity and sensibi l i ty. 4

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THE HOUSET H

It has been nearly twelve years since mywife and I stood on a desert terrace over-looking B ahia de Santo Tom as, on the Pacificshore of northern Baja California, and madeup our m inds to lease a lot from a man namedGomez and b uild a house.

I should point out that there was no actuallot, with a front and a back and sidelines andstakes to mark the boundaries. There wasjust raw land. By lot, Mr. Gomez meant thespot we were standing on , and a rather vagueamount of space surrounding it. It was thisindefinteness that made it possible for the lotto move about in the following months, sothat each time we drove down to look at itagain, and reinforce our dreams, it wouldturn up in a different place.

Wh en I pointed this out to M r. Gomez, ob-serving that it was not a phenomenon Ameri-

cans were used to, he answered w ith the kindof magnificent logic that we were soon to ex-pect of him, a sort of Solomonic simplicitythat seemed somewhat short on eternal truth,but was invulnerable to contradiction.

"Senor," he said, "if I build a house onyour lot it wi ll not mov e."

Since then we have built the house, orrather Mr. Gomez built it for us, we have fur-nished it and enjoyed it and suffered withit—fro m mice and rattlesnakes and burg lars,and scarcities of water and gas, and balkyappliances—and yet, sometimes, it seems asmuch an illusion as it did that first day in

February 1968.People in Los Angeles are always

asking:"Do you stil l own your house inBaja? Wh atever became of M r. G omez?"

Of course, we have never owned our housein Baja. It dawned on me gradually while M r.Gomez was building the house—very gra-dually, since the building of the house wasexquisitely unhurried—that we could neveractually own the house.

Americans can not own land in Baja, butcan lease it for ten-year periods. Thus, wehad leased our little plot from Mr. Gomez,who assured us he was the ow ner, and he was

building our house on it, with our money; and he alwareferred to it as your house, your mansion. But it had graduadawned on me, as I say, that if we did not own the land, th

how could we really own the house, since it was being built honest and heavy Mexican bricks and could not easily be urooted and trundled off to the United States, like some ligweight prefabricated mobile home.

One day in 1969, when the house was beginning to look assomeday it would actually be completed, I broached this suject to Gomez, by then having dropped the formality. We wesitting on the broad front porch—a Guadalajara porch, accoring to Gomez—drinking Carta Blanca and looking out acrothe Pacific.

"W he n the house is finished, Rom ulo," I said, "how wil l wknow it is ou rs? "

Once again he rose to the question with that ma gnificesimplicity:"! will give you the key, senor."




T JACK BUILT

To this day, except for a lease that is already two years pastits exp iration da te, our key is really all we have to show that weown our house in Baja.

It is hard to explain this to Americans, but somehow we arenot concerned. For the time being , that is. Someday, of course,we must get down to Ensenada and meet Gomez at Hussong'sbar and, after a beer and a tequila, set off on the rounds ofgovernment offices for the rituals of rubber stamping anddocument sig nin g, which w ill mean that once again our lease islegal. W e still w on't own the house, but it will be legal.

We might have done this at any time during the last twoyears, I suppose. But even before the old lease expired we paidGomez for a new one, also covering only ten years, as re quiredby law. Gomez was in need of the money, and there seemed noreason why he sho uldn 't have it, since we had his word that hewould renew the lease when the time came. Since he had ourmoney and we had his word, what then was the hurry about


An autumn sunset seen irom theveranda of the house that Jack built.

Photo by Curtis Smith

signing a lot of papers, which is rather abore, anyway, except for the beer and thetequila.

Also, I injured my back not long after thelease expired, and was not able to make thetrip down to Ensenada for the rendezvous atHussong's. Then, there was also theweather. For two straight winters the rainshad washed out the road. For a time it was sobad that even Jeeps and Broncos cou ldn't getthrough, and my wife and I certainly had nointention of challenging it in her Nova.

For more than a year, in fact, we never sawthe house, but some of our hardier neighborswould chance the road and come back toassure us that the house was still there. Andoccasionally Gomez would make one of hismysterious journeys to Los Angeles, and wewould meet him here or there, once or twice

at our house, in the hope of bringing our-selves up to date and re-establishing somesense of re ality about the house.

Was it still there? Had he got someone topaint the window grilles? Had there been anybreak-ins? How was the road? Had the ratsmoved back into the water heater?

To all these anxious inquiries Gomez re-sponded with his exasperat ing re-assu-rances: "Y ou have n othing to worry about,senor."

The incredible thing is that we really aren 'tworried very much. It isn't that we don't careabout the house. It has been too much a part

of our lives ever to be cast aside. I t is just thatwe don't care too much about technicalities,about time, about uncertainty, about the factthat nothing can be quite tied down, nothingcan be guaranteed, nothing can be madesecure.

Our friends in Los Angeles still can't un-derstand how two normally anxious middle-class American people can have beenovercome by this apparent apathy, this lackof respect for such traditional Americanvalues as punctuality, predictability, pro-priety, and most imp ortant of al l, good roads.

Ironically, if the road hadn't been so bad in



"There were three things I had always loved—the city, the surf, and the desert/5 J

the first place, we would neverhave built our house at all. We d is-covered on our first visit to Bahiade Santo Tomas that Joseph W oodKrutch was right: "Baja proveswhat bad roads can do for acountry. "

When we first drove it, the roadfrom the Baja peninsular highwayto Labocana, where Gomez keepshis little store, was seventeen hardmiles, running through the SantoTomas River valley. It was not agood road. I learned later that forBaja it was not a bad road. But fortwo people who had lived twentyyears within sight of the LosAngeles City Hall and hesitated touse surface streets when a freeway

was handy, it was a bad road.But there was one good thingabout it. It helped to keep peoplelike us out. Whe n we first stood onGomez's land there were only twohouses there, both built of brickby Gomez himself. Though neitherof us had ever dreamed of buildinga house in Baja, had never evendiscussed i t , we both knew,without exchanging a word, as westood there beside Gomez, that wewould somehow be bound foreverto this man, whom we had never

seen before that day, and to thisland.

I was enchanted, I suppose, bythe se t t ing . There were th reethings I had always loved—thecity, the surf, and the desert. Thesurf and the dese rt, of course, w erefor getting away from the city. Iwas born within half a block of thePacific Ocean, and had always hadthe idea that its tides were in myblood. As a boy, living in Bakers-f ield, I had many times gone toRandsburg and Mojave with myfather, w ho had come west from anIllinois farm as a boy to work in theCripple Creek gold district, andcould never get gold and miningand the desert put of his blood.

Here, on a cliff above thisunheard-of bay, the desert and thesea had come together. A s I was towrite later in a book about ourMexican adventure:

" W e stood on a desert terracebetween low green mountains andthe sea. Below us the surf pounded

into the cliffs, bursting against12

black rock castles and washingback from a moonscape of glit-tering tidepools. To the north adark headland reached out to sea,holding within its arm a shiningbay. A fisherman's boat, brightgreen, lay out on the water like aVan Gogh brushstroke. Sea gullswheeled and dived, and a flight ofpelicans glided over the bay in ex-quisite formation. Shells and drift-wood shone in the coves. Allaround us the cactus was in redbloom and the maguey plants werehigher than our heads, topped by

that Gomez would like to step uperhaps, to improve his own properity. But the development of LBocana is restricted by certain ralities, one being the scarcity water, the other being the condtion of the road.

Where the water comes fromhave never been sure. Gomez hwhat appears to be a well and pump in back of his store, and hpumps water up the hill to a citern, from which it goes by pipes the various houses, sometimes.

One day, however, I happened see that the pump had been rmoved from the well and wsucking up water from the frewater lagoon that lies betweeGomez's store and the ocean.

"Here, on a cliff a bove this unheard-of

together."Illustration by Pat J. William s

voluptuous purple buds the size ofmelons.

"It was February, but the skywas blue. The air was pure andwarm, and vibrant with the cries ofgulls and the scent of salt and kelpand something elusive and vaguelyprimitive. It might have looked ex-actly like this a million years ago,except for the fishermen's shacksout on the point and the two brickhouses of the Americans on thebluffs a quarter of a mile to thesouth. . . "

"Senor," he said, " itcomes from G o d ."

Today, instead of three, thereare seven houses in Gomez's littlecolony, but it has grown at a rate of

less than one house a year, a pace

bay, the desert and the sea had com

"Ro mu lo," I asked him, "whedoes your water really cof rom?"

"Senor," he said, "it comfrom Go d."

So far, God has not helped muwith the road. Swollen by disastrous rains of (977 and 19the river went beserk. It crossthe road no fewer than twentimes, with such depth and fothat even trucks bogged domidstream and all traffic was soff.

The road w ill never be the samThe river has changed course dmatically, and does not seinclined to resume its old ways. there are certain people who nethat road, besides Gomez and American tenants. There are ferman at the little port of SaTomas who must get their catcback to Ensenada; there is a liv

sea urchin factory at La BocanaThe Desert Magazine November 1



certain inner organ of the urchinbeing a table delicacy in Japan;there is a cement plant on a point tothe south of La Bocana, and its em-ployees must be brought in and outthrough the valley by bus. Also,the valley is a thriving ejido, orcommunal farm, and the road is itsonly means of commerce with theoutside world, which is Ensenada.

So the road is being rebuilt. Ac-

Oddly, we are not discouraged.The house exists. It is an adventurejust to think about it as we sit homein Los Angeles, having a cocktail intne evening. True, we've thoughtabout selling it. But what do wehave to sell? At this point, we haveonly Gomez's word. That is enoughfor us, of course, but that isbecause my wife and I have long

since gone over. We think like Go-

" . . . Never again will my wife be able to set

off alone . . . unafraid in the dark of night . . ."

cording to Gomez, it will befinished in three months. That isencouraging news for us Ameri-cans who have houses there, sinceit means the road could actually be

finished, or in rather good shape,in three years.

My wife and I have been down toLa Bocana only once since the roadvanished. That was last spring,after that year's rains.

Even then it was negotiable,though its new segments had beenbulldozed into higher ground abovethe river valley floor, and the road-bed was a tumble of rocks andboulders that always threatened torip out the bottom of anythinglower than a Jeep or pickup. It had

tortuous turns and was so narrowthat we prayed not to encounteranyone coming the other way, forthen would begin the contest ofwills, a delicate diplomatic con-frontation that the foreigner whospoke no Spanish was destined notto win. Thus, you must be preparedto back up over this monstrouspath, observed with sardonic plea-sure by the driver of the other vehi-cle until the winner of the contre-temps churned by. The Mexicansare unfailingly polite, however.They always wave as they pass,just before you are enveloped intheir dust.

We borrowed a four-wheel-driveSubaru wagon for this adventure,and it performed valiantly. But weare resigned to the probability thatnever again will my wife be able toset off some Friday night, on awhim, and drive down to the housealone, unafraid of the valley evenin the dark of the night. Unless, asGomez says, the road is finished in

three months.The Desert Magazine November 1979

mez. I am not sure I could get thatinto a contract with an America^who hadn't had our experience.

No matter how long we neglectthe house, it is always waiting for

us . Already, though we have had itless than a dozen years, it exerts apowerful nostalgia on us. Everytime we reach it, no matter how ar-duous the trip has been, we areovercome by pleasure in its fami-liar sights and smells: the uphol-stery my wife made herself; thecandlewax; the old ashes in thefireplace; the windows filmy withseaspray and dust; the sunset andits afterglow—that magic, ephe-meral hour that makes everythingseem worthwhile.

It is said that the instant the sunsinks below the horizon of the seathere is a green flash. It is an eva-nescent thing, and you must bewatching at precisely that moment,or you will miss it. I have spentmany sunsets sitting on the frontporch of the house, sipping a vodkatonic or a tequila or a glass of wine,and watching for that green flash. Ithought I saw it once, and was soexcited I fell over backwards in mychair and broke a window in thefront of the house. But perhaps itwas only an illusion.

Sometimes I think the wholething is an illusion. There is nohouse in Baja. There is no road.There is no Gomez. Then one daythe phone will ring at our house inLos Angeles and that musical voicewill say, with that undertone ofhumor in it: "Buenos dias, Senor.Como esta u sted?"

No, we will not part with ourBaja house.

I have to keep watching for that

green flash. •*•

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Ray Robirds is a hard working son-of-a-gun. Up at sixa.m. , he works ten , twe lve, f i ftee n, however many hours ittakes to do the job, seven days a week, f i ft y-tw o weeks a year.

And w orking r ight beside him are his wife Rachael, his sonAl len , and even their daughters Heather and Laurie havechores to do although they are a l i tt le young for the kind ofmuscle i t takes to build furniture the way craftsmen of the18th and 19th Centuries did.

Ray l i teral ly runs a woodw orking sweat shop which is aboutth i r ty steps from h is house. "W he n I sweat, everybodysweats," he says in his best W. C. Fields imitation. But i t

does take a lo t o f sweat l i f t ing, cutt ing , dr i l l ing, f i t t in g, ru b-bing, laquering, f inishing, and occasionally even deliver ingand instal l ing the floors, doors, tables, windows, armoires,and almost any other furnishings in the country-farmhousestyle.

"Ex cept c hai rs," Ray says. " I don ' t do chairs ." No reasongiven, although it's probably because he seldom sits. Thewhole family is on the move all day.

One of the most important moves they ever made was tothe high desert val ley of Anza, California. What they did ineffect was to defy one of the laws of the marketplace. Theymoved away from it. But there was method in this apparentmadness.

"I had a shop in the Melrose-antique-inter ior decoratorarea of Los Ang ele s," Ray said, "b ut I couldn ' t get any workdone. I had fi fteen people wor king for m e in the shop, and al lday long customers were either call ing or knocking on mydoor. I talked with cl ients du ring the day , and at night I f ixedup all the mistakes my employees made. It was crazy. I wasworking eighteen hours a day trying to stay even, and Iwasn ' t even staying even!"

So Rachael came in and took over the business end and al i t t le more. "Running a smal l business is tough," she said."W e were doing the Ma rk Tw ain J ump ing Frog Saloon inBrentwood. Ray knew how to build the stuff; he's an artist,the only one of a kind who works on every piece he contractsfor. But he didn't know about business."

She renegotiated the contract, and they moved to Anza."A ll the arguments were against moving so far away fromour market which was Beverly Hil ls, Malibu, and ShermanOaks," Rachael recalls. "But i t was the market that wasstopping Ray from doing his work. Constant inte rruption s.Here i t 's ideal for h im to devote fu l l t ime to creat ing."

And creating is exactly what Ray and his family cottage-industry do for private clients such as comedian BuddyHackett and his wife Sheri, TV producer Aaron Spell ing,Cheryl T ieggs, and wr i ter Tom Tyron ( " The Ot he r") ; and forcommercial cl ients l ike Dallas' Hyatt House, La QuintaCountry Club, Commerfords of Palm Desert, and theCannery Restaurant in Newport Beach.

His pieces are simple with country-style l ines, uncompli-

cated l ike his l i fe. In fact they are his l i fe: hard , rough, andsturdy with beautiful inner grain values that are accentuatedby the high desert's dry air .

"That was another p lus for us," Ray added. "Workingwith solid wood requires a dry cl imate. Our move to thedesert has worked out extremely w e l l . "

So every thing seems perfect at the R obirds' woodw orkingshop. They have a beautiful home, a well-equipped work-

shop, a pool for play, a Corvette Sting Ray for speed, and afamily that truly works together.

Except it wasn't always this way. It took a lot of work, Rayremembers: "After f i fteen years of sweat and losses youlearn there just is n't any easy money out there. I 'm not stupidand if there was an easy way, I'd know about it. Nope, youhave to work . . . twelve to fifteen hours a day, everyday, always with the thought of improving your product. Dothat for two or three years and you just begin to know some-th ing about the stuf f you ma ke. "

Now that life is a little easier and clients are lining up forhis produc ts, does Ray see the load getting any lighte r?" No p e . If you want to make your mark in life you've got to

use up all your talents. That's what I want, to be all usedu p . "

Working as Ray and Rachael and the whole family doobviously feeds their bodies and certainly sustains their spi-r i ts . But isn't al l this hard work a l i tt le too much, too Vic-torian? Not to the Robirds. They say, as Bishop Cumberlanddid w hen advised to take it easy, "B ett er to wear out than torust ou t . "

"Work must not only feed the body; it must also sustain the spirit." Dan/e/8e//

The Desert Magazine November 1979 15



All the best work is done the way ants do things—

by tiny but untiring and regular additions.

LafcadioHearn.

The Robirds Wor

& " W o r kWork is needed to express what is true, also

to receive what is true. We can express and receive what

is false, or at least what is superficial, without any w ork.

Simon Weil.

No man is born into the wo rld w hose wIs not born with him; there is always w

And tools to work withal, for those who And blessed are the horny han ds of

James Russell Low




Work and play are

the same thing under

differing conditions.

Mark Twain.




ROCKYby Donald MacDo nald

Photos by Gary E. Squier

THE STAR OF THIS STORY is not Sylvester Stallone. Th

story has no stars. Everybody in it is a loser. And it 's no

about boxing unless you think in terms of containers, con

tainers in the form of a one-and-one-half-ton "U-Haul" truc

like the ones you or I mig ht rent if we want to m ove. But i

stead of furniture the truck contains people, maybe twent

f ive people, with only standing room in the sealed, unven

lated body.

Each of those people will pay $250 for their 120-mile mo

from the border town of San Ysidro to Baldwin Park near Lo

Angeles. That's a lot of money when their possessions to transported consist of but the clothes on their backs. Any o

of them and a couple of friends could ride the distance in t

comfort of an air-condit ioned taxi for a lot less, but they

never get there in the taxi and they know it.

They pay this money to swelter in the sometimes 130-d

gree heat inside that truck because they're Mexican alie

dream ing a dream . I t 's the same dream mem bers of our ow

families two, three or four generat ions removed dreame

Come to North A merica to str ike it r ich.

' Iro nica lly, the land upon which B aldwin Park is built on

belonged to the same peoples who now risk their freedom a

sometimes their lives to reach it. And striking it rich mea

$1.50 an hour in the sweat shops of East Los Angeles or in thlettuce f ields of the I mpe rial Valley.

Stretching ahead for seven long years will be a new kind

poverty. Too litt le money in an affluent society which can

worse than no money in a poor society. Always for tho

seven years wil l be the fear of gett ing caught and deport

and having to make the trek all over again. Only one in f i

make it the f irst t ime . Four out of f ive eventually do.

Some don't even know it 's just for seven years for the U

government hasn't publicized this fact unt i l lately. If an

legal alien lives and works here undetected for that length

time and can find a few influential citizens to swear at

hearing that he's led an exemplary, productive l i fe and aditionally, if he can show his deportation would cause ha

ship to loved ones, then he's allowed by this l i t t le known la

to stay.

There's nothing special about Baldwin Park; it was just o

of several destinations in use at the time Rocky was a driv

for the Mexican Maf ia, the Nostra Familia. And there

nothing special about that family, either. This loose collecti

of coyotes isn't even acknowledged by its Ital ian and Jewi

peers in the No rth.

There is a big barn of an unused building in Baldw in Pa

where quiet act ivity late at night wen t unno ticed. Or let 's s

the police would rather not not ice it for obviously, their j

wasn't big enough. Here, Rocky delivered his human cargto be joined with in m inutes by the coyote he worked for. He

wa ited anxious relatives , ready to pay $250 to the coyote fo

face they recognized.Rocky got $50 of that, sometimes $1,2

a load, sometimes a couple of loads in one nig ht.

Rocky was born Vincent An tonio A guila r in San Gabriel

November 25,1924 . His family had sett led this commu nity

1786, so Rocky calls himself of Spanish extraction. And rig

fully so, for Mexico did not become a Republic un

forty-seven years later. Then it was another twenty-five yea

before the f lag of the United States f lew over the Agui

homestead. Thus , when Rocky talks about " h i s " cou ntry,




can date his claim to U.S. ci t izenship back before many an

Indian t r ibe.

Why did he risk his freedom to help al iens f ind their free-

dom i l leg al ly when th e rap could mean f ive years for each l ive

body found in his truck, a possible 125 years in the federal

penitentiary? He needed money, lots of money by his stan-

dards, and he needed i t in a hurr y. I t was as simple as that.

Rocky ran a riding and boarding stable in San Juan Capi-

st rano where you' l l f ind him today. There were heavy ra ins

everywhere in Southern Cali fornia in 1969 and hardly

anybody rode Rocky's horses that winter. But they had to befed so Rocky found himself owing $15,000 to several feed

suppliers. He juggled his debts for a while, unti l 1974. By

then Rocky was about to lose his stable.

The coyotes stay tune d to the needs of the Spanish-speak-

ing commun i ty and when a respected member of i t must earn

some quick money, they have a job for this man . Tha t's how it

al l started. Rocky said: "O kay , as long as we don' t h urt any-

body.

Rocky drove for several months without gett ing caught, but

he knew he would be. E ight out of ten dr ivers are. But he

earned $12,000 and got his debts down to where they were

manageable. And that 's when he got caught. "Hanging

Judge" Gordon Thompson in the Federal Court at San Diegosentenced Rocky to six months at Camp Lompoc with f ive

years probat ion. He went there on Apr i l 22, 1975, and was

out by October.

Rocky was lucky. He wanted to be caught and he was

properly penitent at his pre-trial examinations. Why did he

want to be caught? This t im e, his answer was more complex.

" I owed the money and wanted to pay i t , " he said. "A nd I

wanted to help some fel low hum an beings who had no chance

where they came from. We'd have 95-cent lettuce i f i t

we ren 't for the al iens. You can't get a North American to pick

potatoes. They bring in Vietnamese but deny the Mexicans.

In some things, these wetbacks are the backbone of our

system out here. Wh at would we do wi thout th em ?"Rocky was thoughtful for some long moments. His hand-

some tanned head turned towards his horses. "But I broke

the law , " he said. "N ow I know fr iends who would 've loaned

me $50,000. Al l I would'v e had to do was to take off my ha t."

But Rocky's moral struggle makes not the sl ightest dent in

the problem of i l legal al iens. Drivers get caught, al iens get

caught, and even sometimes a coyote is snared by the har-

rassed and woe ful ly underm anned U.S. Border Patrol.

Despite the hazards, though, an estimated 50,000 i l legal

al iens cross each month at Ti juana alone which when you

deduct the casualties leaving a net increase in the U.S. popu-

lation of over 480,000 people ann ually. The coyotes, in

fact, show their lack of respect for the Border Patrol by regu-larly guiding groups of al iens across the border between

Tijuan a and San Ysidro thro ugh a gap in the fence that opens

onto the Patro l 's parking lot. Croups of f i f ty

or more f i le across enemy terri tory unde-

tected on a regular schedule simply because

the Patrol 's bui lding has no windows facing

out on the lot. Or if the hole in the fence has

been temporari ly f ixed, there's a f ive-foot

diameter water pipe nearby.

W hy do the vast majori ty of al iens choose

Tijuana as their port of embarkation rather

than less well guarded points further to theeast? Past El Paso is where the term "wet-

back" originated; the Rio Grande is not an

easy crossing even for a strong swimmer

and most Mexicans don't grow up with

pools in their backyards. From there west

but st i l l short of Ti juana , the desert, not the

Patrol is the enemy. A ten-mile strip above

the Arizona border alone yields thirty to

fo r ty b leached human ske le tons every

summer, and only a fraction of i t gets

searched.

It being easy, the coyotes headquarter in

Tijuana and send out signals from sleazyhotels l ike the Alaska. The would-be al ien

gravitates to these places after a sometimes

hazardous bus trip from mainland Mexico

or Honduras, or Guatemala or even as far

away as Nicaragua. One needs a visa to ap-

proach Ti juana from outside Baja and the

Mexicans have their own Altos or check-

points where buses and cars are stopped

and the occupants made to prove their

identi t ies and purposes. Then, once in Ti-

juana, al iens and coyotes alike must dodge




the Direcion Federal des Seguridad, Mexican equivalent of

our FBI , whose agents take a dim view of "ex po rtin g

people." The al ien can be charged with attempting to

"e xp or t" himself and the penalty is seven years.

Some coyotes, according to Rocky, can be considered

"honest" and others not. The al ien has no way of knowing

who to trust though the dr ive rs, of course, do. There's a br isk

trade on the Mexican side in forged U.S. documents which

are of absolutely no use if the alien buys his ride north. Then,

if he elects to walk across on his own, he finds the forgeries

he bought are so crude, the Border Patrol doesn't evenbother to confiscate them .

Rocky flatly refused to carry women or children. The

women, separated from their fam il ies, face an obvious hazard

which occurs mostly on the San Ysidro side while they wait in

motels for transport. The coyotes, not the dr ivers, demand

these favors, enforcing their lust with threats of exposure.

Kids under sixteen fare the best. Those too young to talk are

transpo rted openly in cars for $500 by couples with valid U.S.

documentation who claim them as their own. Older kids,

b e in g co n s id e r e d u n p r e d i c ta b le , co mma n d th e sa me

premium even though they are usually trucked.

Drivers get caught with their loads for the most stupid of

reasons. Border Patrol officials sti l l talk about one with a big

semi containing m aybe a hundr ed people. H e passed over the

scale at San Clemente too fast and was called back. He e

ceeded the 3 mph limit a second time and was about to b

lectured by the weighmaster when l iquid was noticed dri

ping from the truck. Officials sti l l suspected nothing mo

than a potentially hazardous leak until they opened the tru

and found the l iquid was urin e.

Other drivers panic, crash the San Clemente checkpoi

and force the Border Patrol into a high-speed chase. Mo

than one of these in recent times has ended in a crash and f

talities, sometimes involving innocent second parties. To

Gaines, Assistant Chief Patrol Agent at San Ysidro, sathere w il l be no more chases. Public opinion, tending to si

with the underdog anyway, is against them. And so,

course, is Rocky who gave up rather than run when his tu

came.

An obvious question, and one which occurs to the alie

themselves, is that if the coyotes are somewhat less th

trustworthy pi l lars of the community, can they be trusted

take 250 hard-earned dollars and deliver the owner of t

money to h)s destination? The answer is no and for th

reason, the coyote is paid upon delivery by relatives of t

alien. The coyotes have the phone number of these relative

and if he can't deliver the first time, he guarantees to

twice again at no extra charge. The alien, in tu rn , works $1.50 an hour to save up the money to pay back his relativ



Rent a truck— fill it with peo ple.

and on i t goes, each newcomer even tual ly sponsoring another

in a sel f-perpetuat ing, n ever-ending f low.

"W ou ld you do it again, Rocky?" I asked.

"No way," came his quick answer. "But you know," he

cont inued, " i f we keep them out completely, our crops wil l

rot in the f ie lds. They' re the cream of thei r k ind , untrained

but sharp. They're ambit ious enough to not want to wait for

the promises they get down there. They've had i t with that

bracero program of thei rs . W hat can one man and his fami ly

do with f ive acres of desert? Starve? Go to Ti juana yourself

and see if you could live on plata, 35 or 50 cents an hour

which is what they get in the cit ies. Try begging from people

as poor as yourself.""Camp Lompoc was nice," Rocky went on. "They've got

the best food in the country up there. John Dean and I

became friend s. He handed out clothes, but you don't have to

work unless you want to. But I won't go back. Not for f ive

years which is what I 'd get i f I drove ag ai n. "

Chief Gaines has a differe nt, strangely co nfl ict ing per-

spective: "Th e i l legal al ien is exploited by everyone involved

because who can they com plain to? Wh at can we do, though?

If I arrested every al ien I saw on the streets around here (San

Ysidro), I 'd never get to work. But that's wrong about them

doing the work no one else will do. The legals in the barrios

are turning them in now—too much compet i t ion. And that

95-cent lettuce, the farmers would develop a machine before

it got there. But, as I said, what can we do? We can't even

break into a known drop house. We've got to have a warrant

f i r s t . "Rocky was unkind on ly once about the Border Patrol, which

he basical ly respects: " I f you're going to drive, do i t in the

ra in . Those guys don't want to get wet."

Left. Now back in San Juan Capistrano,Rocky is surrounded by friends.

Right. Some times even the best camou-

flage doesn t work.



SPINYLIZARDS

By Karen SausmanD irector — NaturalistLiving D esert Reserve

Palm D esert, California

Over fifty species of l izards can be

found in the southwestern United Statesand northern Mexico. They range in sizefrom tiny night l izards that measure no

more than three inches from the tip of

their snouts to the ends of their tai ls to

f o u r te e n - i n ch - l o n g d e se r t i g u a n a s .There are slow moving, spine-coveredhorned l izards andshiny, slender leglesslizards. One of the largest andmostcom-

mon of the groups of southwestern liz-

ards is the heavy bodied, pointed scaledSceloporus, often referred to as spiny

swifts, fence l izards, or blue-bell ies. Thegenus Sceloporus has more representa-t ives w i th in the boundaries of the UnitedStates than any other group of l izards—fifteen species and at least twenty-seve nsubspecies.

With such a great number of speciesand subspecies, one might expect the

members of the genus Sceloporus to

come in a great variety of shapes and

sizes. However, they all look somewhatalike. All are covered with dorsal scales.These have a r idge or " k e e l " runningdown the center of each scale wh ich ends

in a short, sharp projecting spine. Thekeeled scales overlap like the shingles on

a roof. In almost all of the species the

males have a blue patch on each side of

their bellies and on the i r throats. The

blue color ing is absent or much reducedin the females. Spiny l izards are usuallygray or brown wi th a pattern of str ipes or

dots running down their backs. Theirtai ls are usually longer than their bodies.

Spiny l izards inhabit almost every sortof terrain except the highest peaks and

aquatic or sub- ter restr ia l environments.They arefound in steamy tropical forest,22

harsh desert, and at the t imber l ine .Some are ground dwellers while otherscl imb, ascending rocks, stumps, treetrunks and the sides of bui ld ings wi thease. All areconfirmed baskers and theyare frequently seen on the tops of rocksor fence posts in fu l l sun. Spiny lizardsare str ictly diurnal (active during the

day). If any are seen at night it is be-

cause of some unusual circumstance.

Ma le spiny l izards establish terr i tor ieswhich they defend from other male liz-

ards of the same species. Often they can

be seen ra ising and owering their bodiesin a series of " p u s h - u p s . " Thepush-upsallow the male lizards to expose theirbr ight blue undersides to their adver-sary. Usually the trespassing male wil lmake a hasty retreat at the sight of the

blue undersides of the owner of the

te r r i to ry . If the push-ups are not enoughto discourage the newcomer, the malewil l often chase the trespasser andocca-sionally, the two wil l f ight a short,harmless battle. Terr itor ial boundariesar e not sharply defined and are cont inu-ally shift ing. Where food and shelter are

abundant, several males may l ive inclose association with one of the malesbeing dominant. Female spinys also de-

fend small terr i tor ies but they freelyroam through the terr i tor ies of the sur-

rounding males.

Mating season starts soon after the

l izards emerge from hibernation in latespring or early summer. Most specieslay eggs, though a few are l ive-bear ing.The eggs hatch sometime in August or

September. As with most species of li -

ards, female spinys have l i tt le or nothingto dowith their young. Among those that

Illustrated by Pat J. Williams

...,...




lay eggs, the females search out a placeunder a log or rock where they can dig asmall hole and deposit anywhere fromtwo to twelve eggs depending upon thespecies. The eggs are covered and left toincubate in the warm soi l . The younglizards hatch and dig their way to thesurface. They are perfect miniatures ofthe adults and are capable of taking careof themselves. Some species of spiny liz-ards appear to be l ive-bearing; however,

the term " l ive-bear ing" is not s t r ic t lyaccurate when appl ied to l izards. In" l iv e- be ar ing " l izards, the young actual -ly hatch from eggs that have been incu-bated wi th in the female 's body.

The adult l izards are tolerant but notsol ici tous of the young. The younglizards grow rapidly between the t ime ofhatching and the t ime of their f i rst hiber-nation. Hatchl ing l izards are often moreterrestr ia l than the adul ts and are moreeasi ly captured. Morta l i ty dur ing thei rf i rst few months is quite high. Becauseof their small size, the hatchl ing l izardsare able to remain active later in the fal lthan do the adults. The amount ofgrowth of individual hatchl ings is very

erratic and unpredictable. Individuals ofthe same age l iving in the same local i tymay differ greatly in their growth rate.Fol lowing their second hibernation spinyl izards are usual ly sexual ly mature andhave nearly reached their adult size.

Almost all species of spiny lizards hi-b e r n a t e d u r i n g t h e w i n t e r m o n t h salthough desert species may only do sofor a short period. W hen the y disappearand emerge in any particular year de-

pends on the lati tude and elevation andalso on local variations in cl im ate. Hiber-nating spinys often use abandoned ro-dent burrows or dig their own. Somemove under or in between rocks whilesti l l others f ind securi ty within logs orstumps.

Spiny l izards are primari ly insectivor-ous but some species will occasionallynibble on young leaf buds or other vege-tat ion. In hunting insects, the l izardswil l sometimes run long distances andstop near their prey. They then creepslowly up on i t unti l they are with in grab-bing range. However, many of the l iz-ards are more passive hunters. They wil lsi t very st i l l , waiting for a suitable insect

to land near enough for them to be ableto make a dive for it. Spiny lizards are ofmajor economic importance because ofthe la rge numbers o f i nsec ts theydestroy. The l izards, in t u r n , are preyedupon by snakes, roadrunners, hawks,owls and small canivores such as r ing-tai led cats, foxes, and coyotes.

Lizards avoid predation in a variety ofways. Many wil l freeze, making i t almostimpossible to see them. Others wil l dart

quickly under a rock or into the brush.As a last resort spiny lizards, like manyother species, are able to part with theirtails in response to being grabbed by apredator or from receiving a glancingblow from some other source. The struc-ture of the vertebrae in the tai l faci l itateseasy separation. The tai l 's separationpoints l ie through the vertebra. Thecleavage extends through the skin, fa tlayers, and muscle tissues so that thebreak is com plete and does as little harmas possible. In addit ion, thick-walledareas in the artery of the tai l act as

sphincters to close the artery and pre-vent undue loss of blood. Occasionally

Continued on page 46

The Desert Magazine N ovember 1979 23



Ghost TownsI Remember.

by Russ Leadabrand

Each year that passes sees acces sibility to the c las-sic California desert ghost towns diminishing.Our most rewarding ghost town visits mayalready have taken place. The Mojave Desert's

deserted and uninhabited mining camps are litt lemore than sites today—lonesome, w ind-picke d, van-dalized sites. Those vandals and the weather and thewood thieves and the ghost town junk collectors and

the metal scroungers and the over-zealous treasurehunters have reduced more than one happy ghosttown community to rubble. Add to this the growing

forest of "keep out" signs posted by federal agencies, both military and non-military, and one musrecognize that the splendid era of ghost town exploring and co llecting can never come aga in.

Stil l there are the faithful, those who have beethere and seen it, who w ill m ake annual pilgrimageinto the back country hoping to catch sight of almosany recognizable ghost town. They seek thquickening of the heartbeat when they round a benin the wash or jog in the track and see the rub ble, thdebris, the standing stones, or the fragile woode

wa lls of a storied ghost cam p such as a Panamint C ior an Aurora. This is heady stuff for almost anyonA ghost town anywhere in the West is raw excitment.

These boom camps of yesteryear, scattered frothe Little San Bernardino Moun tains on the south the mystic mid-regions of Death Valley on the n ortare magnets too strong to p ull away from . To visitcamp alone in winter with a soldiering wind and hard blue sky overhead can infest you with a viruthat calls tor you to return and return and to see moand more du ring a ll the unspent years of your life .

I know. I have been thus infected for years. Andwas luckier than most. Shortly after World War 11

came by a friend who was a long-time devotee Death Valley. He had a sturdy off-road military rthat he was will ing to push toward any desert goahowever remote. As his frequent back country gueI was rewarded, on one dazzling winter morninwith the frigid vista of old Chloride City in thFune ral M ountains east of Stove Pipe W ells . I t was

A. An old map of the G reenwater

Mining District of

Death Valley.

B. The Last rail line into

Death Valley from Ludlow,

the Tonopah and Tidewater served

neither Tonopah nor went

to the ocean.

C. Of all the ghost towns,

Rhyolite ha s the most impressive

ruins. It is a big site, but

picked over by collectors

before warning signs were posted.




B.

frosty delight because at that time the old woodenbuildings of the boom era stil l stood. Here was ahouse with those period gingerbread decorationsalong the eaves and lathe-turned wooden geegawson the front porch stil l intact. An eight-hole privvystil l stood, sort of, and this was a rare prize. Wewalked around it and pictured half-frozen miners

trekking to the win dy , wintry convenience.Chloride City since has been heavily vandalized

and is now, according to Park range rs, gone. But theroad up the backside of the Funerals from DaylightPass though unmaintained is passable for Jeeps.People still v isit the site and wonder what stood here.I, ha ppily, was there in tim e.


My same friend with the Jeep took me to NewRyan, or Ryan if you wi l l , one day. The little nar-row-gauge railroad that operated w ithin the camp onwinter weekends and took visitors into the warren ofthe borate mines had been shut down because of in-jury insurance considerations. The digging s, the lastborate mining site in Death Valley, were closed down

when the more economical open pit mine at Boronbecame active. Ryan had a watchm an, too, who col-lected and trained a dog, several cats, and someravens. He told visitors to the mining site there, justeast of Furnace Creek Inn and Zabriskie Point, somewon derful tall tales.

The re once was a narrow gauge line that ran all theway from Death Valley Junction to Ryan, andhanging trestles over deep ravines still stood nearthe mine site but they are gone now. Ryan waslargely a tight aggregation of bunk houses, messhalls, and supply buildings. When the mine closedand the miners and support staff moved out, thelights were kept on at night and the watchman was

hired. But in time the board bu ildings fell before thewind and died from loneliness. There is a paved roadto the site.

Beyond Ryan, south on a road that seeks FurnaceCanyon and Greenwater Valley, past the spur toDante's View, is an older and more romantic realm.This is the land of the old copper mining boom ofDeath Val ley, near ly forgot ten, unsung, andunadvertised.

I visited this site the first time on a turquoise mor-ning with a bannering wind. We hoped to find theremains of old Furnace and Greenwater, theprincipal camps in the copper district of the BlackMountains. We found one frightened-looking boardand batten shack, almost appearing embarrassedthat it alone had survived the boom and bust on thatbleak f ield. I had taken with me mental prints of oldphotographs showing a shoelace of old copper campbuildings here, but the shack alone kept watch. Hadwe found the site? I t is easy to get turned around inthe big country of Death Valley. Was the shack siteGreenwater town? Furnace? It was Greenwater as itturned out, and not a good place to walk at nightwithou t a ligh t. Too many bottomless shafts.

I have, somewhere in my photo collection, an un-happy snap of a Jeep that made that innocent blun-der and fell into a mine shaft no different than those

25



of Greenwater. Later, when Ilearned how to navigate by usingtopo maps, altimeter, compass,and bench marks, I never neededto doubt the s ite of a ghost camp.

The road into Greenwater Valleyis open but not maintained. From ityou can spill down across BLMland into Greenwater Canyon, asandy wash, that leads the explorerpast the one-time purple bottle site

of the old Greenwater Canyonbootlegger camp. On beyond arecaves and petroglyph rocks and theplain south of Death Valley Junc-tion that holds Old Ryan (or LilaC ) , the b ig eastside borate camp.

Here are hundred of acres ofrubble and debris, all that is left ofthe townsite of the largest campeast of the Greenwaters. It is hardto admit that one will not find apurple bottle here. There are somany broken ones, and somebroken but buried in blow sand sothat they look whole from adistance and only reveal that awfulflaw when you start diggin g. I t maytake hours, or days, to convince abottle collector that Old Ryan hasbeen picked over and picked cleanof bottles years ago. Still the fatleavings sucker you on, and thesearch is made more tempting withthe finding of soldered-bottom tincans, tobacco tins with the originalpaint still intact, old lard buckets,and those house-shaped syrup

cans, all of long ago and very col-lectible.In time my ghost town collecting

with my friend in his rig sharpenedmy appetite. I gave in, bought ahammer-hard old Willys Jeep sta-tionwagon, bulbuous and roomy,and entered a period of wanderingacross the desert coun try wheneverand however.

I sought out Harrisburg andSkidoo, those Panamint Rangecamps. The first time I visitedSkidoo the camp had only a single,

huge, two story, porched boardinghouse, bleached, blowsy and wind-sawn. It linked so neatly the not solong ago with the long, long ago ofthe Lost Gunsight excitement. Butback again, in my own rig, Idiscovered that Harrisburg had lostall its standing memories, and thatthe cemetery at Skidoo had beenshoveled open by ghouls, and theold boarding house had beentorched, the felony brightening thePanamint sky for the length of therange one winter night. It was so

26

spectacular a sig ht, and so hideousa vandalism, that the Los AngelesTimes ran an obituary on the land-mark.

Then one shockingly clear Jan-uary morning in van with anotherJeep, we pushed on from SeldomSeen Sl im's t ra i ler bivouac atBallarat (the old town was beyondbeing called a ruin even then) toseek the mouth of Surprise Can-

yon. This defile, spill ing steeplydown the west slope of the Pana-min ts, had once held a wagon road.We sought it out. We labored offthe alluvial fan up to the cotton-wood camp of Chris Wicht's, pondand all. I had read Neill Wilson's"Silver Stampede" about what layon up ahead.

In his life and death story, of amining camp, Wilson captures wellthe history of one of the most ex-citing of the big camps, PanamintCity. Panamint City was never ahohum place; it spawned at leasthalf the tough town legends of yes-terday California, leaving Bodiethe other half.

We rumbled up the stream-in-the-road track, up Surprise Can-yon's nastiest miles. T his was oncea good road, a tol l road, a road thatWells Farge refused to service be-cause of robbers. Horses oncehauled freight and people in, oreand metal out. The day we called,an agile horse would have stum-

bled in places. But the fat station-wagon made it fine, as it alwaysdid, and there was the chimney ofthe brickwork smelter, finished andoperating just before the minesplayed out and the cloudburst andflash flood hit. That deluge sluicedthe town from its grabhold on thecanyon and dumped it back downon the alluvial fan that spills outin to Panamint Va l ley . Towns,cribs, cemetery, all went.

We had a joyous, heady day atthe site, enjoying an ambrosial pic-

nic lunch made more delicious bythe setting, the friendly ghosts, thewiney weather. We picked upsquare nails in the streambed anddid not disturb folks who have aranch on up the canyon. It was dif-ficult to leave.

South of Surprise, down pastHappy and Pleasant Canyons, arethe scattering of other miningcamps and short-lived settlements.Nothing grand. And further southstill is the site of the old Wingatemonorail, and some wreckage, and

he tantalizing course into DeaValley via Wingate Pass. This hoften been closed since the daysregular traffic by washouts afall-ins. Now the ubiquitous mtary has angled across the coursTravel is not only naturally imposible but legally off l im its.

No one has written about ttownsite at the Wildrose charcokilns in the Panamints. The kihave been a tourist attraction years but few are aware that ju




Mine head site near Randsburg.

Photo by Ge orge Service

across the road, to the west of thekilns, is the litter of the campwhere kiln people l ived. There arefaint suggestions of foundationlines, as if some tent top structuresstood here for a while and then va-nished when the kilns were closeddown. No pictures of the campremain that I know of, but the evi-dence is there in the litter—brokenbits of purple glass, some badlyrusted soldered tin cans, junk thatonly an archaeologist could love.


Ring Death Valley and you mustconsider the most elegant of themodern ghost camps, Rholite. Intoward Death Valley from Rhyo-lite's concrete ruins is the rub ble atLeadfield, a swindle camp. AtLeadfield you find yourself at thebeginning of the one-way roaddown deep, narrow Titus Canyon,one of the best scenic attractions inthe Monument.

Drifting southwest out of DeathValley the way is blocked now bystaggered military and government

holdings. After you scratch off theNaval Weapons Center wh ich is al-most always closed to the public,you have said goodbye to anychances of seeing Old Coso, Junc-tion Ranch, Millspaugh, and eventhe colorful Coso Hot Springs.Cuddeback Dry Lake, a militarygunnery range for many years andnot yet back in public hands, blocksrandom desert exploring. The nextthree government tracts—MojaveRange B, Goldstone Range, andFort Irwin—effectively close off

thousands of acres to the east.These hold a peppering of ghost

camps including fabled Garl icSprings, Copper City, Crackerjack,Goldstone, and the source of anever-built rail line from the Tono-pah & Tidewa ter to Crackerjack.Cru tts, now vanished, can be foundby topo map navigating and siftingthrough topsoil for litter. It 's there,and your m etal locator w ill go crazyover the rust and rubb le.

On one icy day, my bulbous sta-

tion wagon hauled me up YellowGrade from the smelter ruins atKeeler to Cerro Gordo, or "FatH i l l . " The sawtooth landmarks ofthe Sierra were sharp-etched onthe other side of the pane of reflec-tion that was dead Owens Lake.The buildings that stood in CerroGordo were in better shape thanmost of the camp's contempo-raries. Still C erro Gordo was losingout, aided by weather and time.Vandals had been here, but awatchman patrolled the place and

still does. Today, gaining entranceis more difficult. The road upYellow Grade is usually closed.

Somewhere behind Cerro Gordois the dry camp of Belmo nt. and themost magnificent ghost camp ofthem all, Beveridge, with standingbuildings but no longer with toolslying in front of the cabins, is theretoo. It's impossible to reach by anyroad and is utterly remote, even

lost to most.I've talked to folks who've beenhelicoptered into the site and alsoto young Boy Scouts whose leaderknew the mysterious route andtechnique for getting there. Onceyou know how ..ah, but few do.

Beveridge, because of remote-ness and because of the scores ofstories about "the ghost town thatlooks as if people just walked awayone day," has to be the best thereis in the Western California desertcountry. It thus beats out Bodie

and its beautiful wooden struc-tures, and the site of Aurora , whichonce had wooden and brick build-ings. Bodie became a state park.Aurora was killed when the brickhunters hauled away the used brickduring World War II and wasburied when the b ottle hunters andtreasure hunters and desert ghosttown wood collectors took down thehouses and stores.

This is the ghost town countrythat I love. I've been lured tocamps in Arizona and have foundthem just as charming and mag-netic. I long to explore high Colo-rado in the deep summ er. I'vewalked around some marveloussites in Nevada. Still, this regionfrom Masonic and Bodie down toCrutts and Coolgardie is myfavorite.

I'll always keep a sharp eye onRandsburg for the Yellow Astermine there was one of the best.Randsburg may never ghost if onlybecause desert people just plain

like living there.I shall look for more places tostudy. And I shall fuss from time totime if more of the sites are placedoff limits. This, I feel, is robbingCalifornians of their heritage. Itwould be wrong, I feel, to seal offfrom future examinations thesewonderful testimonies to man andhis winnowing of wealth from theearth in these inhospitable andlonely places. Each should be alandmark or a shrine. And talkedabout, wr itten about, and shared.

27



B A C KD O W N

T H ET R A C K

By

R. M. Lowe

Back in 1920 I hired out as a "pearl

diver," or dishwasher for Fred Harvey's

swank dining station in the Frisco Rail-

road's depot at Snyder, Okalahoma.

Later I made night fry cook but I knew Icouldn't stand the smell of cooking food

all my l ife so I told my da d, D.W . Lowe,

about i t. Dad borrowed a beginner 's

telegraph set from a fel low operator and

brought i t to me. His parting words were

for me to hit the key every nig ht and that

I d id, after I learned the alphabet.

After a few months of givin g up and

starting over, the Morse code began to

make sense to me and finally, I got to

hanging around outside the big tele-

graph office at Snyder. Standing first on

one foot and then the other, I began to

get every other word that came through

the window. Then after I got good

enough to cr it icize their work, they

opened the door and let me in the office.

That's when I found that looking out

through the window was a lot different

than looking in, but I f inal ly earned the

tit le of "H a m " and took off looking for

work .

After some hir ings and fir ings on va-

r ious rai lroads, I landed at Silver Lake,

28

California, on old Borax Smith's tracks,

the Tonapah & Tidewater l ine. At that

remote station on a sandy road about

half-way between Los Angeles and Las

Vegas, I relieved agent D. A. Gray whowas a Spanish-American War veteran

and former train dispatcher out of

Chicago.

M r. Gray explained to me my duties as

agent, telegrapher, postmaster, weigh-

master, and pumper of water for the

rai lroad and l i tt le vi l lage, which con-

sisted of one little store and about a

dozen shacks laid out on the helter-skel-

ter plan and occupied by old retired

miners and prospectors who spent their

remaining days sitt ing in the doorways

o f the i r cab ins pann ing go ld f rom

surrounding mountains through a haze

of pipe smoke.

I wore many hats at Silver Lake, most

of which came down over my eyes and

rested on my eighteen-year-old nose.

The most enjoyable job was reading the

postcards that came through my office

until I took exception to what was said in

one and answered it. What transpired

during the visit by a postal inspector that

fol lowed made me wish I 'd never learned

to read, but I never stopped readin

t hem!

The most famous person I ever saw a

Silver Lake was General George W

Goethals of Panama Canal fame. He wa

on his way to the Black Canyon of the

Colorado River beyond Las Vegas to ap

praise a site for a da m, the same one tha

was to be called Boulder and late

changed to Hoover.

While the General 's car was bein

gassed up, he strolled over to where

cit izen named Jim Hyten was building

cellar. Jim had come to an impasse iroofing his cellar and was just sittin

there between a rock and a hard place

and getting no place, when the dis

tinguished gentleman dealing in dam

said to J im : "H ow are you doing?"

Jim looked up and replied: " I wu

do in ' all right until I got to this dan

roof, and I don't know how to brace it t

hold up a foot of d ir t. "

Whereupon the noted engineer picke

up a stick, drew a set of rafters in th

dirt, explained the stress points, an

said: "If you cut your rafters exactly likthis pattern, and space them one an

one-half feet apart, the roof will hold u

two feet o f d i r t . "

With that the General returned to hi

car and headed for Las Vegas. Our nose

storekeeper rushed over to find out wha

the General had said and when Jim

found out who his famous advisor was

he dropp ed hamm er and rafter into th

cellar.

One day I received a letter from M

Jack Fry, head of the fledgling Wester

Air Express, asking me to draw a roug

sketch of our part of the desert, and es

pecially the dry lakes where a light plan

might land. Later on, President Fry fle

the first air mail plane over Silver Lak

and landed at Las Vegas for the nigh t.

A while back I stood on the dry bed o

Silver Lake and counted a dozen je

tracks so high in the sky I couldn't se

the planes. On one of these planes wa

my brother, Deke Lowe, flying non-sto

from Los Angeles to Germany. There




an old saying: "The more the change,

the more the same thing." The jet f l ies

so h igh , i t is no more visible than thel i t t le dai ly T & T mixed t rain that sk ir ted

the same lake many years ago.

Deep down in my memory f i le I can

sti l l see the grim-visag ed grandeur of a T

& T steamer leading a mixed train of

borax, merchandise, and people across

the forbidding alkali f lats and rest less

sand dunes. An d I can hear the p urpose-

ful li t t le steam " J ac k" fussing and

blast ing reverberat ing chunks from the

walls of the Amargosa Canyon, its melo-

dious whist le sending curious coyotes

scurrying from the clif fs above. It was atrain out of never-never land, such as a

l i t t le boy might draw with uncertain

crayons on a nickle tablet—a drawing to

be rem em bered bu t im poss ib le t o

dupl icate.

Today there's not a shack or a human

left in the old town of Silver Lake,. The

place is quiet and sleeps a deep sleep

under a blanket of memories. Today the

f irst tenant of the area, the Ancient

W i n d , is in charge. He never rests in His

work of erasing man's efforts and re-storing the old desert according to His

whims. We once thought Silver Lake

would be a permanent mark on the map.

The only thing we learned for sure was

t ha t pe rm anence be longed t o t he

elements.

Father Time, another desert charac-

ter, has a way of distorting past events

into something bordering on mythology

so in tell ing old history, I t ry to remem-

ber it was first recorded on the plastic

mind of my youth and sometimes, my


I llustration by George Aberlich

tales become a litt le distorted in the

hands of Time. But I like to recall those

old days when the world was young to

me.

Sometimes, when I want to visit my

old fr iends aga in, I stroll down by the old

depot, at night when all is quiet, and

peep through the windows of the tele-

graph off ice where I learned my art and

made my l iving for many years. In my

mind I can still see the old ghosts of my

t rade. Over there, in the middle of the

office, I see the homely b ut invit ing

pot-bellied stove. On cold nights its

bright f lames would lean out through a

crack in its door and sketch wavering and

dancing f igures on the off ice walls andcei l ing, just the thing to further t ran-

quil ize a t ired and sleepy o perator.

Looking near the bay window, I see

myself sit t in g erect in a captain's chair at

a table laden with fussing and throbbing

telegraph instruments. Peering from

under a green eyeshade, wreathed in a

cloud of Prince Albert, I seem oblivious

to everything in the world except the

telegram I hold in my hand. My right

hand at the end of its black sleeve

dances, and rolls out a series of metallic

clicks that bounce off the high-ceilinged

walls like chain lightning. The clicks

cons titute a mysterious code that crosses

the land with the speed of light to

another instrument somewhere, making

perfect sense to another operator with a

typewri ter .

Seldom today do we hear the rhythmic

click of a telegraph sounder or the

melody of a far-off steam wh istle ridi ng

the night air across the hills and valleys,

a loss that breaks the hearts of old-time

engineers who in their day were artists

when it came to blowing such whistle

classics as "Lonesom e J oh n" at every

road crossing.

Old s team locomot ives s tand inmuseums and parks all over our nation,

in their rest homes of rust, brooding

silently on the glorious days that used to

be . The Ancient Wind may solo through

the few abandoned depots that knew

your name and mine, but He will never

blow away our cherished memories.

"30 and 73," old buddies. Keep your

wicks trimmed and your lantern globes

sparkling and some day, who knows, we

may get a steady trick on the big main

line up yonder.



by

James B. Ruch

California State Director

Bureau of Land ManagementU. S. Department of the Inter ior

RAP IDL Y RIS ING use of the Califor-

nia Desert, which could be called "peo-

ple pressure," has created numerous

problems for the Desert and its re-

sources in recent years, but fortunately,

those who are concerned for the futu re of

the Desert wil l have an opportunity in

the coming months to be a part of the

solution rather than part of the problem.

The occasion is the public review of

the Bureau of Land Management's draft

California Desert Plan. This comprehen-

sive plan wil l provide the framework for

management of the public lands of the

California Desert for the balance of the

20th Century. Public lands comprise

one-half of the 25 million acres in the

Conservation Area, so the management

of those lands wil l interact with and im-

pact remaining lands, including those of

Joshua Tree and Death Valley national

30

monuments and private lands.

The California Desert Plan, mandated

by Congress in 1976, is being prepared

by the BLM as a special project with ex-

tensive public involvement.

The De sert is an area of 40,000 square

miles, one-fourth of the land surface of

California, whose l imited resource base

is under increasing pressure from com-

p e t i n g , o f te n co n f l i c t i n g , i n te r e s ts .

These include commodity interests such

as mining, l ivestock grazing, and energy

development and transportation, as well

as the obvious re creational interests . So,

a question we ask ourselves as we con-

sider the many forms of outdoor recrea-

tion on the Desert is, "How do you

manage adventure?"

It' s a very, relevant question to those

who use the Desert for recreation, par-

ticular ly those who use recreational ve-

hicles and have felt constricted in rece

years. I know many would answ

"Hey, that's obvious; you don't mana

adventure—just leave it alone!"

But we don 't have that optio n, even

thought i t were the r ight one. Too ma

people have turned to the Desert as

place to play or work or "do their o

t h i n g " for the Desert to protect itse

And "adventure" turns to ashes the s

cond or third time you find someone e

camped in our favorite desert hideaw

on a spring or fal l weekend. Then, t

problem is aggravated by the sm

minority of thoughtless desert use

vandals, and outr ight cr iminals w

leave their scars on the Desert.

The hunter-conservationist has

image—and his existence—threaten

by the shooting vandal who blasts sign

structures, and arti facts; the rockhou




must endure the rockhog and share with

archaeologists the concern over criminal

"pot-hunters" who steal Indian ar t i -

facts; and, families who ride off-road ve-

hicles are harmed by the "H el l 's A ng e l"

type biker or jeeper who asserts a my thi-

cal "r ight" to r ide wherever or over

whatever his machine can operate.

The Congress of the United States has

charged the Bureau of Land Manage-

ment to manage the public lands of the

California Desert to protect the natural,

historica l, and cultural resources that are

so abund ant on the Desert. Congress es-

tablished the California Desert Conser-

va t i on A rea t o p rov ide " f o r t he

immediate and future protect ion and ad-

ministrat ion of the public lands in the

California Desert within the framework

of a program of mult iple use and sus-

tained y ie ld , and the maintenance of en-

v i ronmenta l qua l i t y . "

A two-part program of long-rangeplanning and interim management was

requ i red, and BLM was given four years

to complete a comprehensive, long-

range plan for the management, use,

development, and protect ion of the

public lands in the California Desert.

The deadline is September 30 , 1980, but

four years isn't really that long a t ime

when yo u're looking at a plan for an area

nearly the size of New England with di-

verse resources and contending de-

mands on those resources.Surprisingly l i t t le was known about

the resources of the Desert when the

Federal Land Policy and Management

Act was passed. We at BLM knew we

needed a great deal more data to lay the

foundat ion on which we would bui ld the

Desert Plan.

As we began the inventory of re-

sources and developmen t of the P lan, we

also launched a program to assure the

public a chance to be heard in the pro-

cess, with the California Desert Conser-

vat ion Area Advisory Committee serving

as a focal point of public involvem ent.

The Committee has worked with consid-

erable independence and has done a su-

perb job. Its f i f teen meetings have in-

cluded a series of public forums on re-

sources and issues, and have been at-

tended by more than 2,400 people.

An inventory of the Desert for poten-

t ial wilderness areas was conducted con-

currently but separately, as provided for

in the enabling legislat ion passed by

Congress. Congress directed that BLMThe Desert Magazine November 1979

inventory roadless areas of 5,000 acres

or more on all the public lands, including

those of the Desert, and study those hav-

ing "wi lderness character is t ics" as de-

f ined in the 1964 Wildern ess Act for pos-

s ib le des ignat ion by Congress as

Wi lderness .

We completed the wilderness inven-

tory with the maximum amount of public

involvement, start ing with a mail ing to

8,000 people who had expressed an in-

terest in wilderness or in the California

Desert generally. We conducted a total

of f i f ty-seven public meetings and hear-

ings to explain the program and get your

comments.

We fo und tha t 138 areas comp rising of

5.5 mil l io n acres, or forty-four percent of

the public lands of the Desert, qualif ied

as w i l de rn ess s t udy a reas (W S A s ) .

Those are being studied and wilderness

values are being weighed against other

mult iple-use values as part of the pre-parat ion of the California Desert Plan.

Areas which, based on the plan, are

joying the outdoors. It may involve hunt-

ing, rockhou nding, or just exploring new

country.

It almost always involves a vehicle.

The explosion of off-road vehicle (ORV)

use in the 1960s threatened for a time to

overwhelm the Desert, a land that is

easily scarred and much slower to heal

than less arid lands. BLM moved to in-

st itute management, f irst of competit ive

events and then of other organized

events involving large numbers of ve-

hicles, in 1972.

With the help of four-wheelers, dune-

buggy groups, competit ive motorcycle

riders, rockhounds, and people who just

like the Desert, some big strides have

been made. However, we st i l l need help

to curb the damaging "play-r id ing" that

tears up hillsides and scars the land out-

side approved areas.

It hasn't been easy, either for the land

manager or for the rider who saw theDesert as the last place where he could

"d o his own th in g. " From the beginning

found suitable for designation as Wilder-

ness wil l be recommended to the Presi-

dent and Congress. Only Congress can

designate an area as Wilde rness; our job

as public land managers is to inventory,

study, and report.

A tr ip to the Desert is many things: a

change of scene; an escape from the

pressures of life in the city; a family ex-

perience; the camaraderie of fr iends en-

of our first California Desert study in

1967, we've never forgotten that the

California Desert offers adventure, and

we've tr ied to provide a framework for

management that left room for adven-

tu re .

Recreational access has been highly

controversial but it really is one of the

less complex problem s to deal with in my

opinion. The California Desert is unique31



partly because it is a vast area of wild

land and open space practically next

door to one of the world's major popula-

tion centers. It's also unique because of

its accessibility. In addition to its 15,000

miles of paved highways and roads,

there are more than 21,000 miles of dirt

roads and trails and 6,500 miles of

washes that can be negotiated by four-

wheel-dr ive vehicles.

In response to two Executive Orders,the Departm ent of I nter ior has issued re-

gulations for the management of off-road

vehicles to minimize damage to the re-

sources of the land, protect users, and

ease conflicts among uses. The regula-

tions provide for designation of areas as

" o p e n , " " c l o se d , " a n d " l im i te d , " d e -

pending on the capability of the lands

and resources to sustain use. BLM de-

s igna ted the pub l i c lands o f the

California Desert in 1973 in i ts " inter im

c r i t i c a l m a n a g e m e n t p r o g r a m , " o r

I C M P , and the designations remain ineffect under the new regulations pend-

ing completion of the Desert Plan. That

program designates only three and one-

half per cent of the Desert as "cl os ed " to

vehicle travel , s ix per cent as "open"

with vir tually no restr iction, and ninety

per cent l imited to existing or designated

roads and tra i ls.

Future revisions of the vehicle man-

agement program for the Desert based

on more complete resource data and the

California Desert Plan may mean therewon' t be new "open" areas. However ,

there wi ll not be a great change in access

to public lands. The extensive road net-

work provides direct access to over half

of the Desert for anyone who can walk

one mile, and to over ninety percent with

a three-m ile walk. This is hardly the

" c l o s e d " or "of f- l imi ts" Deser t some

people talk about. )

A key part of BLM's inter im manage-

ment program is the Desert Ranger

Force, a highly trained group of seven-

teen natural resource specialists who arethere to assist the visitor and protect the

Kids meet cultural resources. Youn gsters examine Indian grinding stones during

"Desert Awarene ss Event" sponsored jointly by BLM and four-wheel drive clubs.

32

Theft of desert plants

was a thriving business

prior to passage ofNative Plant Act.

BLM Desert Rangers

examine yuccas that

were uprooted

but left behind.

resources. Their first job is to help pe

ple who use the Desert, to explain th

how and why, and to lend a hand if yo

get lost, stuck, of if your vehicle break

d o w n . Th e y ' ve r e ce i ve d e me r g e n c

medical training as well as law enforc

ment t ra in ing.While the rangers are trained law e

forcement officers, emphasis is on info

mation, education, and assistance. W

believe an informed desert user will be

thoughtful user. This was the whole ide

behind some "des ert awareness even ts

we sponso red; that is , to get the resourc

specialists, scientists, conservationist

off-roaders, and BLM talking.

The Congress of the United States ha

enacted a number of laws for the prote

tion and management of the public lan

and resources. The more pertinent

these include the Wilderness Act, E

dangered Species Act, Mineral Leasin

Act, Mining Law of 1872, Geotherm

Steam Act, Clean Air Act, Histor ic Pr

servation Act of 1966, Wild Free-Roam

ing Horse and Burro Act, Fish and Wi l

l i fe Coordination Act, and, of course, th

Federal Land Policy and Manageme

Act of 1976 which established the Ca

fornia Desert Conservation Area an

provided the basic organic law for ma

agement of the public lands.That list of laws underscores an im

portant point which is that the Desert

much more than a recreation area, a

open space, or wilderness. It is

storehouse of minerals, from the mo

common industr ial minerals to the ra

earths used to put the color in our tel

vision screens; it is a valuable grazi

area for livestock as well as native wi l

l i fe; and it is a potential energy source

the first magnitude. And al l these r

sources will be needed and used




Americans in the years ahead. There-

fore, a vital p art of the Desert Plan is to

provide for the proper use of these com-

modity resources of the Desert.

The l ist of laws makes another point.

Our job in BLM is to administer those

laws in a way that w il l ensure the long-term productivity of the lands for al l the

people, and for future generations as

wel l .

Public involvement has been an inte-

gral part of the ICMP for vehicle use, the

wilderness review, and the development

of the Cal i forn ia Deser t Plan. We've

held meetings, f ield tr ips, and resource

seminars to l isten to people who use the

Desert, or who are concerned for i ts fu-

ture even though they seldom visit i t.

The effort included national, state, and

desert resident opinion polls

Our job is to provide the greatest) op-

portunity for the public to become in-

volved in the planning process and the

implementation of the plan. Your job as

a citizen is to become as informed aspossible and to become involved. Help

us to answer the question we ask our-

selves about managing adventure, and

help us determine the r ight mix of multi-

ple uses on the Desert.

Release of the draft California Desert

Plan early next year wil l init iate an in-

tensive three-month period of public re-

view. Your first step toward involvement

is to become informed, and to assure

you're on our mail ing l ist for planning

ma terials. That step can be taken by con-tacting our Desert Plan Staff at 3610

Central Avenue, Suite 402, Riverside,

California 92506. I urge you to take that

step and become a part of the solution.

Editor's Note: The Bureau of Land Ma n-

agement's long-awaited and potentially

controversia l draft California Dese rt

Plan is commonly believed to be a kind of

pilot program or model for the manage-

ment of desert lands everywhere within

the United States. This is not so. ThePlan's originator, the late Congressman

Jerry Pettis of California, was concerned

only with his own constituency which

was in the heart of what is now called the

California Desert Conservation Area.

There has been no attempt since, either

within the Congress or BLM, to project

the Plan beyond its original geographical

boundaries.

Left. Erosion is the price of unauthorized

off-road vehicle activity.The Desert Magazine November 1979

G I L E N D / 4 Ro f E / E N f S

This column is a public service and there is nocharge for l isting your event or meeting—so takeadvantage ol the space by sending in your an-nounc emen t. W e must receive the information

at least three months prior to the event.

NOVEMBER 3 & 4, Bear Gulch Rock Club

17 t h Annua l Gem and M i ne ra l Show,Masonic Hal l , 1025 N. Vine, Ontario, Calif.

Exhibits, demonstrations, dealer space f i l led.

Free admission and parking

NOV EMB ER 10 & 11 , The Yucca Valley Cem-

fest featuring "Desert Rocks & Gems," pre-sented by the Yucca Val ley Gem & MineralSociety. The show wil l be held at the Com-

munity Center, 57098 29 Palms Highway,Yucca Valley, Calif. Admission free. Camping

and good motels nearby.

NOV EMB ER 10 & 11, Oxnard Gem andMineral Society 10th Annual "Galaxy ofGems" Show, Oxnard Community Center,

800 Hobson Way, Oxnard, Cal i f . Exhibi ts,Dealers (spaces f i l led), Demonstrations. Free

admission and parking.

NOVEMBE R 3 & 4, annual "Won derfu l

Weekend in Twentynine Palms," J unior HighSchool on Utah Tra i l , and Art Gallery on Cot-

tonwood Drive, Twentynine Palms, Cal i f .Combines Gem and Mine ral Show, Weed and

Flower Show, Smorgasbord, Art Show, andother activit ies. Free admission to exhibits

and free pa rking.

DECE MBE R 8 & 9, American River Gem &

Mineral Society's Fi f teenth Annual Show,Winter Wonderland of Gems, Placer County

F a i r g r o u n d s , H w y 65 a n d A l l - A m e r i c a nBlvd . , Rosevil le, Calif. Special exhibits and

educat ional demon strat ions.

NOVEMBER 8-11, Death Val ley Encamp-ment, sponsored by the Death Valley '49ers,Dea t h Va l l ey Na t i ona l Mo num ent . Fou r

memorable days in the heart of America'sdesert wonderland. No admission charge.

Scheduled activit ies, Art Show. Make reser-

vations early if staying at Furnace Creek Innor Ra nch, or at Stove Pipe We lls Vil lage .

NOVEMBER 2-4, New Age Fair, San Jose,

Ca l i f . , Conv en t i on Cen t e r . Me t a phys i cs ,

holist ic health and ecology exhibits. Lectures,

f i lms.

NOV EMB ER 3 & 4 Harvest Fair and Chil-

dren's Festival, Waldorf School grounds, Fair

Oaks, Calif. Crafts, puppet show, music.

NOVEMBER 3 & 4, Indian Arts Show and

Sale, Foothil l College, Los Altos, Calif. Hand-

crafts, demonstrations. Admission $2.50.33



P h o t o g r a p h e r s !Desert Magazine is reinst itut ing its monthly photo contest. Eachmonth for the f irst six months of 1980 (January throug h June issues),

we wil l award $25 for the best Black and W hite photograph subm itted.The second half of 1980 (J uly thro ug h D ecember issues) wi ll be a colorcontest. We'l l publish the rules for that in our May 1980 issue.Confused? Don't be, it 's simple . What we want now are B & Wphotographs of sunrises, sunsets, desert creatures, desert people,desert plants —th ere's no lim it on the subject m atter so long as yourphotograph is from the desert, any desert. The winning photographswil l be published monthly. ($10 wil l be paid for non-prize winningphotographs accepted for publicat ion.) To enter the January contest,your photographs must be in our office by Nov. 1, 1979. For the Fe-brua ry contes t, get them to us by Dec. 1, 1979, and so on . •

HERE ARE THE RULES1 . Prints must be B& W , 8X10, pr inted on glossy paper.

2 . All entr ies for the J anuary contest must be in the DeserfMaga zine off ice by November 1, 1979.

3. Prints wil l be returned only when self-addressed stampedenvelope is enclosed.

4 . Contests are open to both amateur and professional photo-graphers. Desert Magazine requires f irst publicat ion r igh ts ofpr ize-winning photographs.

5. J udges wil l be selected from Desert's editorial staff, and awardswill be made immediately after the close of each contest month.

6. Each photograph sub mitted should be labelled (subject, t ime ,place, shutter speed, f i lm , and camera).

Address all entries to Photo Editor, Desert Magazine, P. O. Box 1318,

Palm Desert, Californ ia 92260.




• . •'"*

H e r e a r e s o m e p r e N io u s w i n n e r s :

A . Addie J. May's "De sert Coffee B reak"

B. M el Lewis' "Crater of the M oon"

C. T. P. Martin's "Desert Star" from Joshua Tree National Monument

D. George Olin's "Sagua ro," cover winner July 7949

Ma gd/ in e November 1979



I t 's a funny thing, but when a food is

plentiful and cheap it 's usually con-

s ide red in fe r io r . Take mo lasses fo r

instance. In pioneering days this cane

prod uct was used as a sweetener in place

of sugar. Sugar was as high as a cat's

back, and only the well-to-do could af-

ford to have it on their table. Now, sugar

is cheap and plentiful, and wouldn't you

know, molasses is expensive! Not only

that but the health food enthusiasts cry

loud and long how nutr i t ionally worth-

less sugar is and how molasses contains

i ron, B vitamins, calcium, and potas-

sium. All that aside, molasses is tasty in

a lot of things and today, many house-

wives are find ing more and more recipes

calling for molasses, sorghum and corn

syrup.

Before the Civi l War sugar was a rare

treat but even then it was coarse and

brown, and so hardened in the barrel or

hogshead in which it was shipped that aspecial auger was needed to loosen it,

and a sugar grinder was necessary to

pulverise the lumps. By the 1880s a new

process for refining sugar was developed

and so lowered the price that sugar

quickly replaced molasses as a sweet-

ener. Even though both refined sugar

and molasses are made from sugar cane,

molasses is produced after one process,

whereas sugar requires several. During

the course of making sugar several kinds

of molasses are produced. " Fi r st- str ike "

36

Vwit?By Stella Hughes

molasses is the results of the initial

evaporation and is l ight, table-quality

syrup. The second run-off produces a

tangy dark molasses while the third

operation produces a very dark syrup

called blackstrap which is most often

used as an additive to livestock feeds or

as a food supplement. Blackstrap cannot

be used as a substitute for sugar, but is

loaded with the nutrients so dear to

health food nuts.

Sorghum syrup is made from sorghum

grain, and sorghum syrup can be substi-

tu ted for molasses in any recipe

one-for-one, but it is necessary to cut the

amount of sugar used in the recipe by

about one-third, as sorghum is sweeter

than molasses. Incidentally, many old

recipe books call for "treacle," a sub-

stance made in England by combining

molasses w ith sugar syrup.

In early-day cow-camps refined sugar

was almost never available; nor was it anitem in the chuck wagons on the trails

north during the great cattle dr ives out

of Texas from 1867 through 1880. These

cow-country cooks used molasses and

sorghum as a sweetener when making

cobblers and puddings. The cowboys

liberal ly poured either syrup on their

sourdough biscuits and flapjacks, and

refer red to syrup as " l i c k. " Any syrup or

honey when used as a substitute for

sugar was called " long sweetener."

If you are on a diet to lose weight,

don't think by substituting molasses

sugar you'll cut calories, because ea

contain about fifty-four calories

tablespoon. However, molasses is

natural product and more healthful.

In some parts of the Southwest, at t

turn of the century, sorghum-mak

was an autumn event that was look

forward to all year. Up under the beau

ful Mogollon Rim in Arizona, ma

famous by Zane Grey's western storithe homesteaders and ranchers set as

a few acres of their best ground ea

spring to plant sorghum cane. The f

that 95 per cent of the early settlers

the Tonto Basin were Southerners

from the Midwest may have so

bearing on their liking for growing s

ghum cane and making syrup. Ea

each fall the sweet juice was squeez

from the cane stalks in a press powe

by horses or mules. Everyone in

neighborhood gathered to help ea

other. When the thick, golden-colosyrup had been boiled down to desi

thickness, it was time to celebrate.

luck suppers, dances, horse rac

wrestl ing matches and other feats

dar ing -do were per fo rmed by

mountain youths, and many a roman

began at the fal l sorghum run-offs.

Molasses is used in spicy gingersn a

shoo-fly pie, Anadama bread, Bos

baked beans, taffy, gingerbread, tal

(suet) puddings, mincemeat, fru it cak

pumpkin pies, and cornbread. I use m

lasses in topp ings fo r mea t loav

barbecue sauces, sauces for baked r

plum puddings, some salad dressin

and I wouldn't dream of baking ac

squashes without dr ibbling some m

lasses on them, along with butter. I a

some molasses to my candied sw

potatoes or yams and it gives just

right touch of tangy goodness.

favorite cookie recipe is made w

molasses or sorghum:

Molasses Peanut Butter Cookie

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

VA teaspoons b aking soda

Vi teaspoon salt

Vi cup shortening

Vi cup peanut butter (chunky's best

VA cup brown sugar

1 cup molasses or sorghum

1 egg

Sift together flour, baking soda and s

Cream together shortening and pea

butter. Add brown sugar and mix.




the syrup and egg; beat wel l . Blend in

dry ingredients gradually; mix tho-

roughly. Drop by the teaspoon on un-

greased baking sheets; f latten with fork,

criss-cross fashion. Bake in moderate

oven (350 degrees) 12 -15 min u te s.

akes about V/idozen cookies.

O atmeal-Molasses Cookies

8 cups quick-ro l led oats

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons baking soda

1 tablespoon ground ginger

2 cups melted vegetable shortening

2 cups molasses

4 eggs, beaten

V A cup hot water

3 cups seedless raisins

2 cups ground walnuts

Reserve Vi cup flour. Sift together 8 cups

flour, salt, baking soda. In a large bowlor dishpan mix oatmeal, sugar and gin-

ger. Stir in the m elted grease, molasses,

beaten eggs, hot wate r, al l the sifted dry

ingredients, raisins and nuts. Work

dough with hands unti l well blended.

Add the Vi cup flour if needed to make

dough workable. Roll portions of dough

at a time to 1/4- inch thickness, cut with

3V2-inch cutter. Place cookies on lightly

greased baking sheet. Brush with water;

sprinkle with sugar. Bake in moderate

oven (375 degrees) for ten minutes. This

recipe makes a whole bun ch.

Molasses PieMolasses pie was an old time favorite

and a recipe over one hundred years old

gives this one, and claims it is a great

favor i te wi th ch i ldren.

3 eggs

1 teacupful brown sugar

1 teacupful molasses

Vi of a nutmeg

2 tablespoonfuls of butter

Beat well together and bake in pastryshel l . The juice of one lemon wil l

improve it very much. Sorghum may be

used instead of molasses.

Molasses Taffy

IV2 cups sugar

1 cup light molasses

Vi cup l ight corn syrup

V A cup water

V A teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

V) cup chopped walnuts

In 3-quart saucepan, combine sugar,The Desert Magazine November 1979

molasses, corn syrup, and water. Stir to

dissolve sugar. Cook over medium-low

heat for 15-20 minutes, stirr ing con-

stantly. Raise tempe rature to me dium;

cook, stirr ing frequently to hard ball

stage (265) 40-45 minutes. Add soda and

butter; mix wel l . Stir in nuts. Pour into

greased shallow pan. When cool enough

to handle (about 15 minutes) pull t i l l

opaque and lighter in color. Form into

ropes; cut with kitchen shears. Wrap inwaxed paper o r f o i l . Ma ke s a b o u t

seventy 1-inch pieces.

Molasses Barbecued Spareribs

4 or 5 pounds spa reribs , cut into serv-

ing pieces

Vt cup molasses .

V A cup undiluted frozen concentrated

orange juice

V A cup tomato catsup

V Acup finely chopped onion2 tablespoons cooking oil

2 tablespoons vinegar

salt and pepper

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle

spareribs with salt and pepper. Arrange

in pan and bake (not broil) for about 30

minutes, remove and drain off excess fat

from pan.

Combine remaining ingredients and

pour over spareribs. Return to oven and

bake another 30 minutes, basting fre-

quently. Makes 4 or 5 servings.

Molasses, whipped with warm butter,

makes a good spread for hotcakes orwaffles. During the depression years

many a farm kid had molasses mixed

with lard, or clean bacon fryings, spread

on thick slices of homemade bread for

school lunches. In some parts, this

spread was called Charlie Taylor, but for

what reason I couldn't say. Another

butter substitute was beef suet rendered

at a very low temp erature, mixed with

buttermilk, yokes of eggs, and enough

molasses to sweeten slightly. Believe it

or not, kids thought this was great stuff

on hot biscuits. But, then, us poor farm

kids in the depression years thought any

food was great! ^te'

Chuck WagonCookirY

by STELLA HUGH ES

A tantalizing collection of cow-camp cook tales and 112 authen -tic old-time dutch oven recipes.165 pages.

only

Ca lif, residents add 6% sales tax plus $1.00 postage and handling

D E S E R T M A G A Z IN E B O O K S H O PP. O. Box 1318 Palm Desert, Ca lif. 92260

37



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RAILROADS OF NE V ADA AND E AS TE RNCALIFORNIA VOL. I by David F. Myrlck. Th epoignant record of over 43 rai lroads of Northern 'Nevada, many of them never before chronicled.Fantast ic reproduct ion of rare photographs andmaps (over 500). A deluxe presentat ion. Largeformat, ha rdcover, $15.00.

RAILROADS OF NE V AD A AND E ASTE RNCALIFOR NIA VO L. I I by D avid F. Myr lck. Jus tas Vo l. I detai led the history of the NorthernRoads, Vo l. I I expands the rai lroad history to the

Southern Roads of Nevada. This volume alsocontains a useful index to both volum es, and is arel iable and accurate travel guide today as thereader wanders among the ghost towns of thepast . Lav ishly ' I l lus t rated wi th maps and oldphotos, large format, hardcover, $15.00.

RAILROADS OF ARIZONA VOL. I by David F.Myrlck. More than 30 rai lroads of Southern Ari-zona are presented, together with 542 nostalgici l lustrat ions, 55 special maps and an Index. Avaluable travel guide and a rel iable historical re-ference. Large format, hardcover, 477 pages,$19.50.

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W e'd like to know ..1. Do you read DesertMagazine regularly? 0 Occasionaly? D

2. Subscriber? 0 Newsstand? • Library? •

3. Do you also buy Arizona Highways'?• New Mexico • Sunset • New Wes

Colorado • Palm Springs Life O RockhoundD Gems and Minerals S WesTreasures • Four Wheeler D OtherT^ g R .^ J f l €~ - TTRgms. o<v€^ S

4. The editors of Desert Magazine since its founding in 1937 have ranged acthe Southwestern Un ited States and Northern M exico in search of stories. Therearid areas elsewhere but the Great Colorado and Sonoran Deserts and their neibors and subsidiaries are our beat. Which areas interest you the most? CentCa lifornia I S Southern Ca lifornia 5«L Baja California • Arizona • Son(Mexico) • New Mexico Qt Nevada • Southern Colorado • Southern UtahAll • Other T)*=*-TT(- \/ fi<

5. Among these specific desert areas, which interest you the most? Coachella V

ley • Colorado River Basin • Baja California • Death Valley S LancasMojave • Grand Canyon D All • Other

6. Among places to go in the desert, do you prefer resort communities? • Privfu ll-facility resorts • Improved campgrounds • Primitive campgrounds H Ghtowns 0 Indian reservations • Designated public recreation areas • Undeveed pub lic lands E Lakes or rivers S Designated ORV locations • Other

7. Aside from the pleasure of escaping for a weekend or vacation, wh ich of thhobbies do you bring with you to the desert? Rock hunting 0 Buried artifactsMin ing • Ghost towns H W estern history H Indian customs and lore • Phgraphy H- Backpacking • Four-wheeling 13 Motorcycles • Dunebuggies

Motorized camping • Tent camping • Nature study B Exploration 0 O ther

8. How well has Desert Magazine served your interest in (4) through (7) aboInvaluable • Mos t always useful Hf Sometimes useful • Seldom usefuPlease add your frank comments:

9. Wh ich of these subjects would you like to read more about in Desert MagazIndian lore • Ghost towns 0 Lost mines D Community history E Commuprofiles D Western history 0-H obb ies B Crafts D Camp cooking • Resomanagement • Remote attractions H Parks and resort facilities • Person

profiles D Economic opportunities • Retirement living • Geological profilesCurrent economic development • Off-road driving 0 " Recreational vehiclesAnimal and plant life 0 Desert life styles • Other

10. Do you consider the articles in Desert Magazine to be thoroughly researcheEntertainingly written 5] We ll illustrated 0 Poorly researched • Dull readingBadly illustrate d • Please add your frank comment:

11. Do you think Desert M agazine's past reporting of controversial issues sucland management ha,s been pro-conservationist? • Anti-conservationisNeutral • None of these • Please add your frank comment:



12. In planning your weekends in the desert, you prefer destinations approximatelymiles from home. Do you stay at a resort hotel? • Motel • In your RV •

Camp out • Eat in restaurants frequen tly • Infrequen tly •

13. For your vacations in the desert, you prefer destinations approximatelymiles from home. During your tri p, will you stay at a resort? • In motels • In yourRV • Camp out • Do you plan to patronize restaurants frequently • Infrequent-ly •

14. Has Desert Magazine been helpful to you when planning your vacations andweekends? Always • Sometimes • Not at all • Please add you frank comment:

We want each issue of Desert Magazine to truly reflect your, our readers', tastesand needs. Please take a little time to fil l out this questionaire. Then, just cut it outalong the line at the left and mail to Desert Query, Box 1318, Palm Desert, Calif.92260. And if you like what you've seen in this issue, why don't you take anothermoment and fill out the subscription coupon below. We'll be glad to bill you orcharge it to your Visa or Master C harge. Be sure and check the box if you want afree replacement copy of this issue and again, our sincere thanks!

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40

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The Desert Magazine November



CUSTOMER INFORMATION FROM GENERAL MOTORS

Y O U R C A R A N D T O M O R R O W ' S F U E L SAS THESUPPLY OF OILD RO PS, SY NTHETICS BECOM E MO RE ATTRACTIVE.

General Motors is not inthe fuel business. But since

the cars we build depend onfuel, we have to be on top ofthe energy situation. Here'sthe way it looks to us.

All the cars we build arepowered by internal combus-tion engines. These engineswork by burning petroleum-derived gasoline ordiesel fuelunder high pressure. So far,p e t r o l e u m has b e e n thesafest, least expensive source

of these hydrocarbon fuels,which pack a lot of energyper gallon. But automotivefuels can also be obtainedfrom many other sources ,ranging from oil shale to coaland even corn stalks. Theproblem is to turn these solidmaterials into safe, conve-n i e n t , e n v i r o n m e n t a l l ysound, cost-efficient liquidfuels.

A t GM, we have eva l -uated a variety of domesticresources and a l t e r n a t i v efuels.

Fuels made from shaleoil are the best currentalternatives. Shale oil is pro-duced by heat- t reat ing oilshale, anabundant A merican

resource. Gasoline anddieselfuel could be refined from

shale oil. W h a t is needed ,however, are the plants toconvert the shale rock intothe shale oil. As petroleumbecomes more expensive, itwill be cost-efficient to buildthese plants. The mining ofshale, though, still presentsserious environmental pfob-lems that m ust be solved.

Coal is the next bestoption. Coal can also be

turned into gasoline and die-sel fuel, but the process ismore expensive andcomplexthan that for oil shale. Aswith oil shale, coal miningalso poses environmentalproblems.

Biom ass (vegetation andorganic w astes) is anotherpossibility. The main advan-tage of biomass is that it is ar enewable r esource . How-

ever, biomass is difficultand expensive to collect andprocess.

The only automotive fuelcurrently being made thatu s e s b i o m a s s is g a s o h o l .Gasohol is a blend of 10%ethyl alcohol and gasoline.The use of gasohol in pres-ent-day cars can save gaso-line and causes no insur-mountable difficulties.

Hydrogen has often beendiscussed. Although enginescan be run on hydrogen, itsproduction potential appears

limited, and the practicalproblems of safe and efficient

dis t r ibut ion and s to ragehaven't yetbeen solved.

A l t h o u g h e l e c t r i c i t yisn't a fuel, it can be gen-erated from non-petroleumresources. Some electrically-powered cars are already onthe road. Theproblem is thatwith current lead-acid batter-ies they're only capable oftraveling relatively short dis-t a n c e s b e t w e e n b a t t e r y

charge s. We're continuing todo extens ive research onadvanced zinc-nickel oxidestorage batteries.

Nothing is more impor-tant than ensuring thesupplyof fuels needed to keep ourcountry strong. At GM weare confident that if govern-ment and industry cooperateand work together to explorealternative energy sources,

the problem of providing suf-ficient fuels for the future, atthe lowest possible cost, canand will be solved.

This advertisement is part ofou rcontinuing effort togive custom-ers useful information abouttheir cars and trucks and thecompany that builds them.

General MotorsPeople building transportation

to serve people

The Desert Magazine N ovember 1979 41



NO . 36 IN A SERIES O NCALIFO RNIA PALM OASES

A / l o r t e r o

P r i m sBy Dick Bloomquist

Several of the oases visited on our de-

sert pasear have contained Indian

grinding holes, but Mortero Palms

(from the Spanish mortero, mortar) is

the f i rs t to be named for them . An d, too,

Mortero Spring a few miles to the south-

east also took its name from a similar

clutch of Diegueno grinding mil ls.

The unpaved Dos Cabezas Road pro-

vides access to Mortero Palms. Because

of rough spots and possible sandy

stretches, a pickup truck is recom-

mended for this route, which begins off

County Road S2 four miles from the

community of Ocoti l lo in southwest Im-

perial County.

Nearly six miles from its start ing

point, the winding byway crosses the

tracks of the San Diego and ArizonaEastern Railway which we saw in far

more rugged terrain at Carrizo Palms on

our last f ield tr ip . One and one-half m iles

to the r ight of the crossing, a black wa ter

tank at the site of the long-abandoned

Dos Cabezas stations stands out above

the desert plain. The railroad itself has

suspended se r v i ce i nde f i n i t e l y as a

result of washouts from the 1976 flash

flood and at this writ ing, Southern Pa-

cif ic has requested permission to aban-

don the l ine .

Soon we skir t a rock " is land" with a

deserted cabin nestled amid its boul-

ders. The shack, once part of a sheep

camp, was constructed largely of ocotillo

stalks and adobe by the McCain family

whose handiwork w e also noted in North

Indian Valley earl ier in this series.

A l i t t le beyond the cabin our roadway

divides, the r ight fork ending at the

Mortero Palms trailhead. The branch

continuing straight ahead leads to Dos

Cabezas Spring, a fract ion of a mile

distant. The Dos Cabezas (Two Heads)42

in this case are probably the twin mono-

liths above the spring. A second, less

frequently heard explanation traces the

origin of this Spanish place name to the

waterhole 's two "heads" or sources.

The spring once supplied water for the

Dos Cabezas stat ion on the S.D. & A. E .,

and port ions of the old pipeline are st i l l

visib le .

The right-hand fork leading toward

Mortero Palms (at mile 19.3 on the log)also halts after a fractio n of a mile . A

bench near the junction of two dry

washes furnishes a convenient place to

park. From this point walk up the arroyo

that comes in from the right. (Years ago I

heard of a lone palm growing in the

/eft-hand fork, but I have not as yet ex-

plored that branch.) Very soon, at a point

where the l i t t le ravine apparently peters

out in a shallow am phitheater, a tenuous

trail veers off to the left , heading toward

a rocky ridge set squarely across the

watercourse. On a t iny f lat several yards

to the r ight of the pathway, a w

trough inscribed "R.D. McCain

Dec." serves as another reminder o

gone ranching days.

The trail easily scales the low r

beyond which the Washingtonias b

Here is an outstanding example of a

den desert oasis. So well immured

the palms in their mountain fastness

the casual hiker without knowledg

the country wou ld miss them compl

unless he chanced to climb the i

vening cliff. To one side of the first

palm a cave runs back into the rock

twenty-five feet or so; here, too,

three of the Diegueno mortar h

which have given the grove its name

confident that a thorough examinati

other nearby outcrops would revea

more grinding mills. Some years

another des ignat ion for the o

"Canada del Muerto" ( "Ravine o

Dead M a n ") , began appearing on

but happily, it has now been replaceThe Desert Magazine November



the original name.Roughly eighty-five Washingtonias of

various ages grow in a compact colony atortero Palms. They are vigorous trees,

surface. Erosion has cut the soil away

hrubby live oaks on the canyon's north-

grove. J lr

MILEAG E LOG

0.0 J unction of San Diego CountyS2 and dirt road to Bow WillowCampground in southern part ofAnza-Borrego Desert State Park.Drive south on S2 toward inter-state Highway 8.

0.3 S2 crosses Carrizo Wa sh. Con-tinue south on S2.

7.8 Imp erial Highwa y monument onleft. Leave Anza-Borrego DesertState Park and San Diego C ounty,enter Imperial County.

11.9 J unction . Turn right off S2 ontounpaved Dos Cabezas Road.Pickup truck recommended. (For

travelers coming from the op-posite direction, this turnoff isfour miles northwest of the com-munity of Ocotillo.)

13.1 Ju nction. Bear right.16.5 Re-enter Anza-Borrego Desert

State Park and San Diego C ounty.17.6 Cross tracks of San Diego and

Arizona Eastern Railway. Turnright on far side of tracks.

17.7 J unct ion. Bear left.18.7 J unctio n. Bear left.18.9 Ju nction. Bear left.19.1 Pass old sheep camp cabin on

left. Mortero Palms in the Ja-cumba Mountains is visible to thesouthwest.

19.3 J unction . Bear right . (Continuestraight ahead for Dos CabezasSpring, three-tenths of a miledistant.)

19.7 J unction . Bear righ t.19.7+ Good parking place on flat . Two

washes join just beyond thispoint; walk up the right fork.

After a few hundred yards thecanyon seems to disappear in ashallow bowl. Bear left, followinga faint trail over a low cliff in thewatercourse. The palms beginjust beyond the cliff. Hiking dis-tance about three-quarters of amile; elevation at oasis approx-imately 2,100 feet. (To becomebetter oriented before starting thehike, cross wash coming in fromthe right near parking spot andclimb knoll on the other side. Thetops of several palms are visiblefrom this knoll.)

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T H E

T R A D I N G

• BOOKS-MAGAZINES

DESERT MAGAZINE. 116 issues 1950 - 1964.$100 plus shippin g. SASE for list. Deboer, 3205Valley Vista, Wa lnut C reek, Calif. 94598.

• BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

YOU CAN write, publish, distribute and keepthe profits on your how-to-do-it book as I amdoing now. Details $3.00. CBC, P. O. Box 2591,Chula Vista, California 92012.

$20,000/ MON TH possible in mailord er! Freedetails. Send #10 self-addressed, stamped en-velope to: Stimson, Box 249-la, Lakewood, Ca lif.90714.

REACH A SELECTIVE audience with a Classi-fied Ad In The Trading Post section of DesertMagazine for as little as $5.00 month ly.

• DESERT PAINTIN GS ART

SEE KINGSLEY OSMUND HARRIS originalDesert Paintings display in Desert Magazine'sWestern Art Gallery, Palm Desert, California.

• EQUIPMENT

PRECISION LAPIDARY Abrasive Compoundsfor tumbling, polishing and grinding. Send forfree catalogue and price list. MDC Industries,400 West Glenwood Avenue, Philadelphia, PA.19140. Dealer Inquiries invited.

» GEMS

SHAMROCK ROCK SHOP, 593 West La Ca-dena Dr., Riverside, California 92501. Parallel toRiverside Freeway. Phone 686-3956. Come inand browse; jewelry mountings, chains, sup-plies, minerals, slabs, rough material, equip-ment, black lights, metal detectors, maps, rockand bottle books.

WHOLESALE—GEMS—any type—also othermerchandise. Catalogs available. Please allow48 hours for distribution or mail order. Freda M.Francisco, 11335 E. Lambert, El Monte, Calif.91732.

• MAPS MISCELLANEOUS

MAPS

OLD STATE, Railroad, County Maps. 70-110years old. All States. Stamp for catalog.Northern Map, Dept. DM, Dunnellon, Ft. 32630.

44

1910 MOHAVE DESERT Water Supply Mapshowing springs, wells and water holes as theywere at the turn of the Century. Excellent toolfor help in locating bottles, arrowheads and oldartifacts left by early travelers. Shows wagontrails and early roads with interesting explana-tion wording such as water only or water, pro-visions and automobile supplies, etc. For copysend $5.00, Peterson's Map Collection, P. O.Box 309, App le Valle y, Calif. 92307. j

MINING

EXCITING GOLD RUSH of "7 9 " is on! Go for i t !Stake your claim! Info, Forms, Plat Maps, Ad-vice. '79ers Gold Pak $5.00. D-Jem-Trac Mines,Hayfork, Calif. 96041.

ASSAYS—Gold & Silver $10.00. High qualityspectrographic analysis for 65 metals $9.00.Free price list. Reed Engineering, 2166

vCollege

Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92627.

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that pays for i t sel f ! Wr i te to: N ick 's Nugget ,P. O. Box 108 1, Fonta na, Ca l i forn ia 92335. (714)822-2846.

• SEEDS & PLANTS

JOJOBA—25 clean seed, instructions. $1.50prepaid. Indian Trail Nursery, Star Rt. 2, Box75, Twen tynine Palms, California 92277.

• TREASURE FINDERS

TREASURE—Locate quarter mile away with ul-trasensitive locator—brochure free. ResearchProducts, Box 13441-BUC, Tampa, Florida33611

INSTANT RICHES—Explore ghost towns. Findburied treasure, coins, relics, antiques, andmore. Goldak—the finest "Metal and TreasureLocators since 1933." Send for free catalog.Goldak, Dep t. D, 626 Sonora Avenue, Glendale,California 91201.

DOWSING FOR old mines, bottles, relics,minerals, oil, water, lost objects, etc., learnedeasily, inexpensively. No costly locators, se-minars. Details: Onaway—A55, 25 Lucky Drive,San Rafael, Calif. 94904.

BELLEW MEMORIAL ARTHRITIS MediClinic, D.H.S., Calif. Practice limited to Bellew Vaccine Method of treating arthriDesert sun and climate. Phone 714-329-87Write P. O. Box 305, D.H.S., California 922

UNIQUE HAW AII AN Sewing Patterns for mmuus, holokus, sun dresses, pareaus (sarongbikinis, shirts, resort wear. Hawaiian quiltand needlepoint patterns. From Hawaii's Ptern People: Pauloa, Pacifica and Poakalani. complete mail-order catalog send $1.00 to Pterns, Dept. D, P. O. Box 11254, HonolHawaii 96814.

SOURDOUGH FOR the soul. Make your ostarter. Easy and delicious recipes includSend $1 SASE to P. B. Inc., Box G, Cima, Ca92323.

WANTED: OLD BASEBALL Cards issued tween 1887 and 1970. Collector will pay caContact Bob Earhart, 3660 Cartwright, Padena, Calif. 91107.

AUTHENTIC OLD Leadville, Colorado, laoffice homestead documents, issued and dateclassic old handwriting - 1890s to 1905. Frafor an unusual gift. Free list. Helen Ford, 1Miller PI., Golden Colorado 80401.

RARE EARTH ELEMENTS. What they aWhy are they valuable. Where they are fouHow they are identified. $2. Tomar ResearDept. D M10, Montrose, Calif. 91020.

HO W TOPLACE YO UR

TRAD ING POST ADMail your copy and first- insertion r

mittance to: Trading Post, DeseMagazine, Palm Desert, Calif. 9226Classified rates are 50c per wor$5.00 minimum per insertion.

Deadline forClassified Adsis 10th of secondmonth precedingcover date.

The Desert Maga zine November 1



! 0 0 R B O O K SFor the outdoor enthusiast,and those who like to flavortheir life with the unusual

, AMERICAN SN OW !FOOD AND LORE 1

AMERICAN IND IAN FOOD AND LOREbyCarolyn Nelthammer Orig inal Indian plantsused for foods, medicinal purposes, etc., de-scribed, plus unusual recipes. Large format,191 pages, profusely illust rate d, $5.95.

C H U C K W A G O N C O O K I N ' by StellaHughes. Recipes collected straight from thesource—cowboy cooks. Contains M exican re-cipes, instructions fordeep-pit barbecue and

the art of using Dutch ovens for cookingeverything from sourdough biscuits to Son-of-Gun stew. Paperback, 170 pages, $4.95.

DUTCH OVEN COOK BOOK byDon Holm.New and exciting culinary adventures inDutch Oven cooking. Heavy paperback, 106pages, $4.95.

ARIZONA COOK BOOK byAland MildredFischer. Unusual recipes for Indian cooking,Mexican dishes, Western specialties. Uniquecollection. Paperback, 142 pages, $3.00.

De GRAZIA AND MEXICAN COO KERY, II-lustratred by De Graz ia, text by Rita D aven-port. A delightful presentation containing allthe favorite Mexican recipes that have be-come standard throughout the Southwest.

Beautiful il lustrations, incolor, by the incom-parable De Graz ia. $4.95.

CACTUS COOK BOO K compiled by JoyceL.Tale. 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, andmany dozens of sourdough re-cipes. Paperback, 136 pages, illu s., $4.95.

CITRUS COOK BOOK by Glenda McGMIis.An unusual and outstanding treasury ofcitrus cookery. Includes tips on freezing,juicing and shipping. Paperback, spiralbound, $2.00.

CALIFORNIA COOK BOOK by Aland Mil-

dred Fischer. Recipes divided into "EarlyCali fornia," "Cali fornia Fruits," "Cali forniaProducts," "Sea Foods" and "Wine Cook-ing." 400more unique collections by theFischers. Paperback, 142pages, $3.00.

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THE DESERT'SMOST FAM OUS BISTRO

346-2314




StVNYLIZARDSContinued from page 23

one sees a lizard wit h a forked ta i l w hichis the result of an imcomplete break in

the or iginal ta i l . A partial break canstimulate the growth of a new tai l seg-ment but regeneration does not involveth e r e s to r a t i o n o f a c tu a l ve r te b r a e .Instead, the lost vertebrae are replacedwith a row of carti l idge. You can easilytel l whether a l izard has broken a its tai lat one time or another because the newtail wil l have a different scale pattern.

Perhaps the most common of thespinys are the desert spiny l izards,Sceloporus magister. Desert spinys areone of the largest members of the genusSceloporus with a maximum measure-

ment of about f ive and one-half inchesplus a tail that can be up to seven incheslong. Adults are usually l ight coloredwith black wedge-shaped marks on eachside of their necks. Adult males have abright blue patch on their throats and oneach side of their bellies. The bellypatches are edged with black bands andsometimes are joined in the center. Thedesert spinys are pr imari ly insectivorousalthough they have been known to eatsome vegetation. Ants, f l ies, bees, andgrasshoppers seem to be their main dietbut on occasion they wil l capture smalll izards.

In southeastern Arizona, southwesternNew Mexico, and portions of northernMexico the range of the desert spiny l iz-ard overlaps that of the Clark's spinyl izard, Sceloporus clarki. With in th isarea of overlaps it is easy to confuse thetwo species. Like the desert spiny, theClark's spiny can be up to five incheslong with an additional seven inches ofta i l . The Clark's spiny prefers a morehumid habitat, generally at higher eleva-tions than the desert spiny l izard. This

difference in habitat preferance can beused to help identify th em . The Clark 'sspiny prefers trees but occasionally canbe found on the ground among rocks.They are very shy and tend to stay on theopposite sides of rocks or tree trunks.Their food consists of insects and occa-sionally, leaves, buds and flowers.

Sagebrush l izards, Sceloporus gra-ciousus, occupy areas from high desertto mountain tops. They are most com-mon in the Great Basin region of Nevadaand Utah in sagebrush flats, thus theircommon name. However, their range ex-46

tends throughout a considerable part ofCalifornia, Nevada, Utah, and the north-ern portions of Arizona and New Me xico.They can be found in a wide variety ofenvironments where they seem to preferrelatively open and well i l luminatedareas. The sagebrush l izards spend mostof their t ime on the ground where theycan retreat into mammal holes and rockcrevices for cover. Sagebrush lizards canbe told from the other members of the

spiny lizards by the fact that the bluethroat patch is often absent, or the throa twil l be mottled with a l i tt le blue. Also,most individuals have very distinct l ightstr ipes running down their backs. Theyare seldom found below 5,000 feet in ele-vat ion.

Sceloporus occidentalis, western fencelizards or blue-bell ies, are one of themost common of the western l izards ofany species. They can be seen on fenceposts, rocks, logs, pi les of lumber, andthe sides of buildings. They occupy agreat variety of habitats from sea level to

about 9,000 feet but are absent from thedesert environment. Western fence l i-zards are gray, brownish or greenishwith rather distinct dark spots or wavycrossbars on their backs and som etimes,they have longitudinal l ight str ipes. Thehind surface of the legs are yellow ororange in adults. The keeled scales onthe backs of the western fence lizards aresmaller than those of the desert spiny orthe Clark's spiny lizards. Subspecies ofwestern fence l izards can be foundthroughout northern and western Cali-fornia, northern Baja, and almost al l ofNevada and western Utah .

Eastern fence l izards, Sceloporus un-dulatus, can be found in eastern Arizonaand Nevada, most of New Mexico, andthe states further east as well as portions

of northern Mexico. They are abunalong canyon bottoms at elevations u5,200 feet. Eastern fence lizards selreach a body len gth of m ore than tinches and their tail is usually aboutand one-half times the length of body. A portion of the ranges ofeastern and western fence lizards olap. Eastern fence lizards can be from western fence lizards by the that male eastern fence lizards ha

blue spot on each side of the thwhereas male western fence lizards one large blue area under the throat.eastern fence lizard lives in a variehabitats including forests, woodlaprair ies, f latlands, and rocky hi l lsid

There are five other species of sl izards found in the western UnStates. Of these, one of the mcommon is a large, dark colored grspiny, Sceloporus orcutti. These lizhave rather flat, unkeeled scales on body but very strongly keeled and ped scales on their tails. Granite sp

are found on the coastal side ofmountains in Southern California anBaja California. They prefer areaopen chapparal below 5,500 feet invat ion. In the deserts they are founrocky canyons and on the upper rpo r t ions o f a l luv ia l fans. In Ca l i f o r n i a th e y o ccu r p r ima r i l ypinyon-juniper woodlands.

The spiny lizards and the many ospecies of lizards that inhabit the sowest are all part of a complex of ecotems. W ith the exception of two spe

the Mexican beaded lizard and themonster, lizards are harmless to When you encounter one along a htrai l or around your home, take timwatch and appreciate these interemembers of the animal community.

The Desert Magazine November



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C o l o r a d oR i v e r

G h o s t T o w n sBy Stanley W. Paher

The skeletal remains of abandoned minesand towns in the Cerbat Mountains andother barren ranges in western Arizona

along the Colorado River are visited bythe author. Lavishly illustrated with rareold photos. Large format. Standardedition is$2.95.

Beautifu l 91/2x12% hardcover edit ioncontains 15 four-color reproductions ofetchings bynoted RoyPurcell. $9.95

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Calif, residents please add 6%state sales tax

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L E T T E R S T O T H E E D IT O ROpen Invitat ion . . .Sirs: I found James R. Mitchell 's art ic le,"Ha rq u a -Ha la , A r i z o n a , " we l l -w r i t t e n andin teresting. However, an open invitation tocome and prowl and pick up samples, rocks,etc., is l ike mewr i t i n g an article in a nationalmagazine telling readers how to reach your

home property and help themselves to what-ever may in terest them. The Golden Eagleand Bonanza mining properties are fu l ly pa-tented c la ims. They are private property onwhich taxes are paid each year.

The vandalism that has been perpetratedon this sleeping old town and mines duringthe past several years has been mind-bogg l ing . When my father first received thedeed to these claims in 1960, they were s till ina dignified process of re tu rn ing to nature.Now, everything that could possibly* ber ipped, broken, torn down, and burned 'hasbeen done so.Things we treasured have beenstolen; "No Tresspassing" signs have beentorn down.

Harqua-Hala is a very valuable property

an d I would appreciate any help you can giveto keep the vandals and their irresponsibleactions away from other people's privateproperty.

Patsy Ruth Merr i l l , TrusteeTucson, AZ.

It is doubtful that vandals bother to readDesert Magazine. But your point is welltaken. Private property of historical interestwill be clearly labeled as such in futureissues.

E d .

Sirs: The falls shown on the cover of yourSept. '79 issue is incorrett ly identi f ied asHavasu Falls. It's Mooney Falls.

Your articles could stand more proof-r e a d i n g . G r a m m a t i c a l and t y p o g r a p h i c a lerrors seem to be on the increase lately. Let'sbring Desert Magazine back up to its highhigh standards.

Joseph SzyzMorgan Hi l ls , CA.

Th e newmanagement here promises no moretransplants and typos. Grammar are in the

eyes of the beholder. Ed.

NUDE BAT HI NG . . .

Sirs: I strongly object to the picture on page47 of your Oct. '79 issue of the man, nude tohis waist, sitting in the old bathtub atCinnabar. Next you' l l be print ing pictures ofyoung girls in bik in is!

Minnie Contretemps

Truth & Consequences, N.M.

Very possibly. E d .

To Magazine Retailers:Cactus Paperworks, Inc., is pleased to an-

nounce a "Retail Display AllowancePlan" available to retailers interested in

earning a display allowance on DesertMagazine. Toobtain details and a copy of

the formal contract, please write to the

Marketing Department, Cactus Paper-

works, Inc., Box 1318, Palm Desert,Calif. 92260.

Under theretail display allowance plan in

consideration for fulfil l ing the conditions

of the agreement you wil l be entitled to

receive a display allowance of $0.15 for

each copy sold. This plan will become ef-

fective for all issues you receive subse-quent to Cactus Paperworks's w ritten ac-

ceptance on our behalf ofyour application.

S o * P«tv.

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47



Send orders toBox 1318

Palm D esert, California 92260 B O O K S O FGHOST 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.

HISTORICAL ATLAS OF CALIFORNIA by War-ren A. Beck and Ynez D . Hasse. Extensive docu-mentation and pertinent detail make this atlas avaluable aid to the student, scholar and everyone interested in the Golden S tate. 101 excellentmaps present information on the major faults,ear ly Spanish explorat ions, Mexican landgrants, routes to gold f ields, the Bu tterf ield andPony Express routes, CCC camps, Wo rld W ar I IInstallations, etc. Hardcover, large format, ex-tensive index, $12.50.

HISTORICAL ATLAS OF NEW MEXICO byWarren A. Beck and Ynez D . Hasse. Geographi-cal data, sites of prehistoric civilizations, eventsof history, first towns, stagecoach lines, historictrails, etc., are included in this comprehensiveatlas. Excellent maps, index. Hardcover, largeformat, highly recommended, $9.95.

HOPI KACHINA DOLLS [With a Key to TheirIdentification], by Harold S. Colton. Kachinadolls are neither toys nor idols, but aids to teach-ing religion and tradit ion. This is a definit ivework on the subject, describing the meaning, themaking and the principal features of 266 vari-eties of Kach ina dolls. Line draw ings of each va-riety, plus color and b/w photos make it a com-plete guide to learn more of the richness ofAmerican Indian culture. Paperback, 150 pages,$4.50.

ALIVE IN THE D ESERT, The complete guidefor desert recreation and s urvival, by Joe K raus.A handy volume that is worth its weight in yourbackpack or daypack on all your desert travels,by car or on foot. The author is a longtime desertwriter who has been there himself. Paperback,

113 pages, $5.95.

ADVENTURES IN THE REDWOODS by Har -riett E. Weaver. The fascinating story of thegiant redwood is told by Harriett E. Weaver,whose career as California's first woman parkranger was spent among these living skyscrap-ers. A detailed guide to all major redwoodgroves in both the coastal and Sierra regions isincluded. Beautiful ly illus., paperback, $2.95.

HIGH MO UNTAINS & D EEP VALLEYS by Lewand Ginny Clark, with photographs by Edw in C.Rockwell. A history and general guide book tothe vast lands east of the High Sierra, south ofthe Comstock Lode, north of the Mojave Desertand west of Death Valley, by oldtimers whoknow the area and have since birth. Paperback,192 pages, 250 photographs and many maps.

$6.95.

SHADY LAD IES OF THE WEST by RonaldD ean M iller. Everyone knows that the harlot wasthe vanguard of every move westward, and thatshe was as much of a part of the western sceneas the marshal, the badman, the trai l-hand orthe rancher. Many are the reasons she has beenneglected by the historian—none of them valid.Author Miller, in this enlightening book, seeksto remedy some of the paucity of information onthe American pioneers of this ancient profes-sion. Hardcover, comprehensive bibliography,224 pages, $7.95.

FIELD GUIDE TO WESTERN BIRD S by RogerTory Peterson. The standard book for field iden-tification sponsored by the National AudubonSociety. Second Ed ition, e nlarged , 658 photos in

full color. Strong, durable paperback, $6.95.

GHO ST TO WN : El Dorado by Lambert Florin.The colorful, outrageous characters of the West-ern mining towns come to life on every page ofthis fascinating volume crammed with photos ofghost towns in Colorado, California, Arizona,Utah, etc., plus exciting history and anecdotes.246 photos and illustrations. Large format, hard-cover, originally published at $12.95, now pricedat $5.95.

MINES OF THE MOJAVE by Ron and PeggyMiller covers the numerous mining districts run-ning across the upper Mojave Desert from Tropi-co, west of the town of Mojave, to MountainPass, a little west of the Nevada border. Paper-back, 67 pages, $2.50.

LOST MINES AND BURIED TREASURES OFTHE WEST, Bibliography and Place Namesfrom Kansas West to C alifornia, Oregon, Wash-ington and Mexico. This large, easy-to-use vol-ume lists the works of more than 1100 differentauthors, covering thousands of stories of lostmines and buried treasures supposedly locatedin 15 Western and Southwestern states and inMexico. An important basic research tool forhistorians, geologists, geographers, anthropolo-gists, archaeologists and folklorists. Hardcover,593 pages, $27.50.

WILLIE BOY, by Harry Lawton. The story of anincomparable Indian chase, its unexpected con-clusion, woven into an authentic turn-of-the-century h is tory o f Cal i forn ia 's Twentyn inePalms coun try. This desert classis offers rare in-sights into In dian character and customs, as wellas a first-hand look at a colorful desert region asit was nearly a century ago. Historic photo-graphs and colorful maps, paperback, $4.95.

ANZA-BORREGO DESERT GU IDE BOOK,Southern California's last frontier, by HoraceParker, revised by George and Jean Leetch. Aclassic reference to America's largest desertpark, originally published in 1957 and now up-dated, enlarged and improved by the "dean ofdesert rangers" and his wife. With excellentlogs, maps and photographs brought up to 1979standards. Paperback, 154 pages, two maps,many photos, $6.95.

A SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAN'S GUID E TOWILD FOO D by Christopher Nyerges. Thisnewly published manual describes the mostcommon plants of So. California in detail andtells how to include them into your diet. Beat thehigh cost of food by utilizing free wild food inbackyards, vacant lots and wilderness areas.Many recipes include d. Paperback, $4.95.

D ESERT GEM T RAILS by Mary FrancesStrong. DESERT Magazine's Field Trip Editor'spopular f ield guide for rockhounds. The "bible"for both amateur and veteran rockhounds andback country explore rs, and covers the gems andmineials of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts.

Heavy paperback, 80 pages, $2.00.

WESTERN GEM HUNTERS ATLAS by Johnson and Son. A helpful book of detaimaps showing gem and mineral locations, froCalifornia to the Dakotas and British Columto Texas. Markings note private claims, geclaims (fee charged) and rock and gem locatioAlso suggested reading for more detail on areincluded and other rich areas not included in t

publication. Paperback, maps galore, colltor's librar y, 79 pages, $4.00.

MINES OF TH E SAN BERNARD INOS by JoW . Robinson. The largest gold rush in the souern regions of the Golden State took place in San Bernardino mountains. J ohn tells of this amany other strikes that led to the opening of thigh wooded area. Paperback, illustrated, pages, $2.50.

GHOSTS OF THE AD OBE WALLS by Nell Mbarger. A reprint of Arizona history by one ofdesert's outstanding reporters. Old mintowns, arm y posts, people and areas are rebinto vivid life by an expert write r who knows areas and subjects. With handy locator mand many pho tographs. Paperback, $7.95.

SOVEREIGNS OF THE SAGE by Nell Murbger. A collection of previously told tales abthe people and the places of the great AmeriSouthwest by the original author, a longtimeporter of the desert. M any photographs, somthem now lost, several excellent Norton AlMap s. Paperback, $7.95.

BAJA CALIFORNIA GUIDEBOOK by WWheelock and Howard E. Gulick, formerly Ghard and Gulick's Lower California GuideboThis totally revised fifth ed ition is up-to-the-mute for the Transpeninsular paved highway, wnew detailed mileages and descriptive te xt. Crections and additions are shown for the mside roads, ORV routes, trails and little-knobyways to desert, mountain, beach and baycesses. Folding route maps are in color and nly revised for current accuracy. Indispensa

reference guide, hardcover, $10.50.

A FIELD GUIDE TO THE COMMON AND TERESTING PLANTS OF BAJA CALIFORby Jeanette Coyle and Norman Roberts. O250 plants are described with 189 color phoIncludes past and present uses of the plantsaborigines and people in Baja today. ScientSpanish and common names are given. Exlent reference and highly recommended. pages, paperback, $8.50.

BACK ROADS OF CALIFORNIA by Earl Tlander and the Editors of Sunset Books. Estagecoach routes, missions, remote canyoold prospector cabins, mines, cemeteries, eare visited as the au thor travels and sketchesCalifornia Backroads. Through maps and nothe traveler is invited to get off the freeways see the rural and country lanes throughout state. Paperback, large format, unusually betifu l illustra tions, 207 pages, $6.95.

WHERE TO FIND GOLD IN THE D ESERTJames K lein is a sequel to Where to Find GolSouthern California. Author Klein includes treasure tales and gem locations as he twhere to find gold in the Rosamond-Moharea, the El Paso Mountains, Randsburg Barstow areas, and many m ore. Paperback,pages, $3.95.

BAJA CALIFORN IA AND ITS MISSIONSTomas Robertson. This book is a must for althose who are interested in the saga of the msion fathers and who may wish to visit thosemost forgotten churches of the lonesome pesula of Baja Ca lifornia. Paperback, 96 pages

lustrated w ith photos and maos, $3.50




H E W E S TPlease add 50c per total order

for Handling/PostageCalif, add 6% state sales tax

If you are looking for a ghosthis is your w aybill. I l lustrated,

ING D OW N OREGO N, by Ralph Fried-An excellent general history of California's

description plus a lot of sea coast and

TO SAN D IEGOby Skip Ruland. An informative, no-

in the back coun-

IA by Harry Crosby. A fascinating recounting

f the old Jesuit missions. I t

lured into the mountains along the same road.Magnificent photographs, many in color, high-light the book. Hardcover, 182 pages, large for-mat, $14.50.

LIMB O by Carobeth Laird. A chilling but fascin-ating personal memoir of life in a nursing homeby a survivor, who was also the author of En-counter with an Angry God and The Chemehue-vis. Mrs. Laird was 79 during the experiencesshe describes, and 81 when she completed this

book, already being hailed a a landmark w ork forpotential change in the nursing home scene.Paperback, 178 pages, $5.95.

ELECTRONIC PROSPECTING with the VLF/TRMetal/Mineral Detector, by Charles Garrett,Bob Grant and Roy Lag al. A handy reference foranyone using late-model metal detectors,written by experts in this expanding f ie ld. Con-tains many hints on how to find gold and othertreasure ores and artifacts with a good biblio-graphy and appendix. Paperback, 86 pages,numerous illustrations, $3.95.

O WY HEE 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 Nevada

come together. Hardcover, 225 pages, $9.95.CALIFORNIA GHOST TO WN TRAILS by Mick-ey Broman. Thirty-six photographs showingsome of the old towns as they appear today, notas they did 50 or 100 years ago. Thirty-six mapswith detail mileage to the ghost towns, shown tothe tenth of a mile. Interesting and historicaldata for treasure hunters, rockhounds, bottlecollectors and western-lore enthusiasts. Paper-back, $2.95.

WILD LIFE OF THE SO UTHWEST D ESERTS byJim Cornett. Written for the layman and seriousstudents alike, this excellent book on all thecommon animals of the Southwest deserts. Amust for desert explorers, it presents a brief lifehistory of everything from ants to burros. Paper-back, 80 pages, illustr ated , $3.95.


CALIFO RNIA-NEVADA GHOST TOWN ATLASand SOUTHWESTERN GHOST TOWN ATLASby Robert Neil Johnson. These atlases are excel-lent do-it-yourself guides to lead you back toscenes and places of the early We st. Some pho-tos and many detailed maps with legends andbright, detailed descriptions of what you willsee; also mileage and highway designations.

Heavy paperback, each contains 48 pages, each$2.00.

JEEP TRAILS TO COLORADO GHOST TOW NSy Robert L. Brown. An illustrated, detailed, in-formal history of life in the mining camps deepin the almost inaccessible mountain fastness ofthe Colorado Rockies. 58 towns are included asexamples of the vigorous struggle for existencein the mining camps of the West. Illust rated, 239pages, end sheet map, paperback, $6.95.

TH E BAJA FEELING, by Ben Hunter. Not justanother turista invasion book about Baja, but anentertaining and informative report on the trialsand tribulations of weekending and finally,homebuilding in Baja California, by a charmingwriter who admits he doesn't know everything.A refreshing change! Hardcover, 334 pages,photographs and drawings , $8.95.

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 California. 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.

THE BLACK ROCK D ESERT, by Sessions S.Whee ler. One of Nevada's least-known and mostscenic historical desert areas is described by thestate 's leading professional h istor ian andauthor. Black Rock is part of the huge GreatDesert B asin and was the setting for Indian bat-tles and several tragic incidents during the 1849Ca liforn ia Gold Rush. Paperback, 186 pages,many black and white photographs, sketchesand maps, $4.95.

SPEAKING O F INDIANS by Bernice Johnston.An authority on the Indians of the Southwest,the author has presented a concise, well-w rittenbook on the customs, history, crafts, ceremoniesand what the Am erican Indian has contributed tothe white man's civilization. A MUST for bothstudents and travelers touring the Indian Coun-try. Heavy paperback, illus., $2.95.

THE SEA OF CORTEZ, The Gulf of California,Baja, and Mexico's Mainland Coast by RayCannon and the Sunset Editors. A rich and color-ful text acquaints the traveler and outdoorsmanwith the history, people, climate and travel op-portunities of this exciting wonderland. Each ofthe 12 regions that make up the Gulf ofCalifornia is covered in a separate chapter w ith aspecial section on how to catch "Cortez fishes."Large form at, hardcover, 272 pages, $14.95.

STEAMBOATS ON THE COLORADO RIVER,1852-1916, by Richard E. Lingenfelter. The firstcomprehensive, illustrated history of steamboat-ing on the entire length of the Colorado Riverand its principal tributaries. Covering nearly acentury of western history, this book fills a realneed and joins the gaps in the saga of marine na-vigation in the arid desert. Many maps, illustra-

tions and a list of all the river steamers. Paper-back, 195 pages, $9.50.

BURIED TREASURE & LOST MINES by FrankFish. One of the original treasure hunters pro-vides data on 93 lost bonanzas, many of which hepersonally searched for. He died under myster-ious circumstances in 1968 after leading an ad-venturous life. Illustrated with photos and maps.Paperback, 68 pages, $2.00.

NEVAD A PLACE NAME S by Helen S. Carlson.The sources of names can be amusing or tragic,whimsical or practical. In any case, the readerwil l find this book good reading as well as an in-valuable reference tool. Hardcover, 282 pages,$15.00.

ARIZONA PLACE NAMES by Will C. Barnes,Revised and enlarged by Byrd H. Granger. Ex-cellent reference book with maps, BiographicalInformation and Index. Large format, hardcover,519 pages, $11.50.

LAND OF POCO TIEMP O by Charles F. Lum-mis. A reprint of the famous writer and historianof his adventures among the Indians of NewMexico. Lum mis was one of the foremost w ritersof the West. Paperback, 236 pages, $3.95.

CALIFO RNIA D ESERT WILDFLOW ERS byPhilip A. Munz. Illustrated with both line draw-ings and beautiful color photos, and descriptivetext by one of the desert's finest botanists.Paperback, $3.95.

CACTUS ID EN TIF IER Including SucculentPlants by Helmut Bechtel. This gem of a littlebook contains 119 beautiful color photographs of

cacti and succulent plants. Detailed descriptionsof each, plus where they are to be found, andhow to care for them. 256 pages of informativereading, hardcover, $4.95

FIELD GUID E TO ANIM AL TRACKS by OlausJ. Murie [Peterson Field Guide Series]. Thiscomprehensive book helps you recognize andunderstand the signs of all mammals—wild anddomestic—on this continent, as well as those ofmany birds , reptiles and insects. More than 1000drawings; individual tracks, different track pat-terns, animals in their habitats, droppings,gnawed trees—all the types of clues the trackerneeds. Strong, d urable paperback, $5.95.

THE CREATIVE O JO BOO K by D iane Thomas.Instructions for making the colorful yarn talis-mans originally made by Pueblo and Mexican

Indians. Included are directions for wall-hungojos, necklaces, mobiles and gift-wraft tie-ons.Well illustrated with 4-color photographs, 52pages, paperback, $2.95.

D ESERT EDITO R by J. Wilson McK enney. Thisis the story of Randall Henderson, founder ofDESERT Magazine, who fulfilled a dream and.who greatly enriched the lives of the people wholove the West. Hardcover, illustrated with 188pages, $7.95.

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.

49



PHOTOGRAPHYbyJedW ilcox

P H O T O G R A PH S FO R D E C O R A T IN G Y O U R H O M E / O F F I C E

P H O T O M U R A L S AL SO A V A I L A B LE

D esert Ma gaz ine Bookstore74425 Highway 111Palm D esert, California

O N V IE W A TFeats of Clay Gallery382 Palm CanyonPalm Springs, California

For Appo intment, C all or Writ e Jed Wilcox

Box 1534 Idyl Iwild, Californ ia 92349 [714] 659-477050 The Desert Magazine Novemb



It 's a family car. It 's a motor home.It 's a vacation cottag e. It 's the 1979 VWCampmobi le Bus. And i t turns any-where into your home away f romhom e.

The 7 9 Camp mobi le Bus is proba-bly the most economical and versati lefamily vehicle ever. During the week,it 's perfect for carting your crowdaround town. And on weekends andvacations, it becomes that vacationcottage you've always dreamed of.Because the VW Campmobi le Bus

has everythin g you need to live in co m -fort, including the kitchen sink.

The 79 Campmobi le Bus s leepsthree with a big doub le b ed for the twoof you. And when you decide to takethe kids, there's the optional pop-uptop that gives you accommodat ionsfor u p to five.

What's m ore, the VW Ca mpm obileBus is decorator-f inished. With color-coordinated curtains on the windows.

Louvered side windows with screensand insulated wood-pa nelled walls. Soyour family car is also your familycottage.

An d not only does it save on rentinga cottage, the Camp mo bile B us saves

plenty on fuel, too. Its responsive fuel-injected, two-liter engine delivers EPAestimated \vf\ mpg, 23 mpg highwayestimate. Compare this estimate tothe 'estimated mpg" of other cars.Mileage varies with speed, weather,and tr ip length. Highway mpg wil lprobably be less.

So, when you want to get away fromit all without ever leaving the comfortsof hom e, remem ber. It's morefun to take the Bus.T he'79VWC ampmob i le Bus. Homenever looked so good.

©Volkswagen of America

IT'S MO RE FU N TO TAKE THE BU S . THE 197 9 VW G AMPMO BILE BU S .



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197911 Desert Magazine 1979 November