The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1891-01-23

ENTRANCE 10 DEATH VALLEY.
fornia near the Arizona line. Imagine a
marrow stripof arid plain, shut in between
two mighty mountain walls, the peaks
stretching up into burning sky.
"Whcn," said one of the most experienced
of travellers to the writer, II stood at the
entrance to the weird place there WAS some
thing unearthly in the view. 4 gray haze,
bounded by the fatal mirage, hung over the
surface. The level of the basin l75 feet
below tidewuter was II blackish gray, with
scarcely a piece of vegetation to rest the
eye.
Long before Il whre man ever looked
upon the spot it was called Death valley
by The natives On account Or the direfu in
1iuenCc il cNcrttd Upon man and beast. The
ground between the i,ony ridges that rise
on either side is an alknli paste into which
the horse sinks to his knees. Hair and
hide are eaten ;.waS. Lv the stron. sub
stance, and unless one can find the paths
which cross The plata, death will come be-
fore half the distance has bcal passed.
There is something uncanny about the
whol. appearance Of things in the valley
the ;I,-encr Of vegetation. tha long, level
rrAGleS Of white saal, looking III the twi-
light like u lake. and the quiet, watch is
tnsiEaEAbin. |5ti.5 greatest tIlfl liiost fear
ful Of An is tl4t liuat. ~ into Il natural
furnace the SINS rays are poured, without
cloud to mitigate til" intensity. When
Professor Gilbert, the famous gpologist
succeeded in crossinga a marrow arm Of the
valley almost twenty wears ago, escaping
only with his life, tite thermometers in his
satlt'lc bags ran up to 100 degrees and then
burst.
The first white lEau who ever visited
Death valley svas Capt. EGntire, Il Cali
itn II
cross IL in 1860, and vas unsuccessful in
more than skirting the edge. He took back
tale, Of the terrible tribe place md Immediately
determined 10 explore the region ii hopes
Of finding gold. Fitting themselves out
with pleuty Of tools. and carrying enough
water to last ordinarily for three days,
they started. u conp:ill. Of four.
slipping rapidly down from the shelf of
rock hat surrounds the plain, they found
Themselves ina journey III TWO miles 1000
feet below the starting. point. Their aim
wus II PERCEPTIONS blutT on ,Ac opposite
side, taking in wi!at appeared to IJe an oasis,
With trees growing thereon midway across
the valley. But tlleir water supply di-
minishel rapidly The air, much dricr
than even that of Sahara and the great
heat put their bodies through II kind uf an
evaporntiuE process. so filst did this cvap-
lasted ;ts Il pint in ain ordinary atmosphere.
Even with their abundant supply, before
they had been ont IL day lhci blood grew
thick and fever stared them in the face.
Near where they campcd the first night
they found tho dried up form Of an Indian,
and beside 1t II large gold nugget
Wild with hope they toiied on, intending
to push Mp IL one Of the gorgcs that
reached into the valley from the west, at
the he',l OF which they hoped to find n
spring. But they did not know which to
seek, and after toiline 10 the head Of one,
and lindiug nothing but ,art. and parched
rocks one Of the I1art$ went mad with
heat, and they were forced to abandon him.
Before night two more laid down to die,
and the solitary survivor was rlambcrinS
the rocks with fevcvisIi haste, rndcavoring
to escape from the l!.ali sink in which his
friends had tIerisl.cl, They did not need
burial Their bodies Siiriveletl up to mlim-
mylike forms, and may lie where they
fell through MI eternity. staring up at the
hra2en sky. The miner at last reached
civilization II mere skeleton of his former
self.
In 1878 II pnrtyo Of e:nigrants was crossing
the plains On the way to southern Cali