The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-16
THE DESERT OF COCOPAH.
A REGION UNMARKED BY THE
TRAIL OF A MORTAL.

OF GOld-Seekers Lie Bieacttfng IN
the GrOund-uundrecs lave Tried
TO Cross This spot amt Few Ever
Returned.
From the Philadelphia Times.
Santa Anna, Cal, Aug 4-GOd may
have wrought a place more terrible than
the COcOpah desert, Of Lower California,
but If so it is unmarked by the trial of
mortal A desert from which Dante might
have added to the horrors Of his Infer
no." Level OF gray death. feared of man
and forgotten Of its creator; a region sep
arated from the seethins cauldrons below
by thin crust OF sand. through which
the fumes and heat from the ebb and flow
Of fire seem plainly apparent.
Forgotten OF God! Else why is the sur
face dotted here and there with the skele-
tons Of men who once, screaming to Him
in their madness for one drop of water.
fell and died with their lips in the hot
earth? Truly, God must have made it
in His anger and forgot"
As a starting point for desert trip find
Campo, a village in Southern California,
near the Mexican boundary and about six
ty miles back from the coast line. Twen-
~ miles south of that as an initial point.
run line 100 miles distant southeast UNI
til 1t touches the gulf coast line. Be
tween that line and the gulf lies the IA
nous Cocopah desert with its range of
mountains; a territory about 100 miles
square, but as little known as the inte-
rtor Of Africa. An innocent-looking lit
tie spot on the map. but on the surface of
what it represents lie bleaching the bones
of many men, both white and red. You
will note that It is not marked with the
zig-zag lines, which generally denote wa
ter courses, nor 1t is marked with the
shaded lines representing mountains.
Why? Simply because as yet there has
been found no corps of engineers with
vey There are maps OF the region, but
they are scared on the brains of less than
half dozen hardy prospectors.
Standing on the line you have drawn and
looking eastward you may see the outlines
Of range Of low mountains, distant, with
water; eternity intervenes between you
and that range of hills rising darkly purple
through the shimmering heat. That
stretch OF forty or sixty miles is the worst
part of the Cocopah desert wide
stretch of arid. sterile, sandy plain, lying
far below the level of the sea and absolute
ly devoid Of vegetation and life in any
form. Too hot and dry for even the lizard
and horned toad. The heat radiates from
the sand and rocks with scorching effect,
bllstering the skin.
Forty or sixty miles is not a great dis
|
IN less than twenty-four hours Other
good men have thought the same and tried
It. Their bones scattered about on the
sand afford proof of their error Every
year for nearly half a century that desert
| has claimed it's victims, singly and in
| groups. Yearly since the Argonauts drifted
south from the gold fields in the center of
| California men have started for the Coco
| pains and never returned.
once having reached the mountains, you
are not saved from death by thirst. There
are put Two or three. places in all that
range on the west side where water fit to
drink may be found There are strange
| phenomena in that region, however, which
are worthy Of scientific exploration At
| the foot Of the mountains, on the west Is
| lake known as the Laguna SaIado II
| Is probably eight miles in width, lying par
allel with the range. The water Is very
salt and has tides like the oceans. It's
| shores are fringed with a marine vegeta-
| ton, and 1t is evident that the lake is fed
| from the Gulf of California, but the gulf
is more than sixty miles away and a range
| of mountains intervenes.
| What lures men to that locality and
temps them TO cross those burning sands?
| Gold.
OF the hundreds who have tried TO reach
| these noun 1kns, that Ell Dorado of mucho
| orc, there are but pitifu few that have
ever returned. Among the latter are Alon-
| 20 Baker and Henry Daniels two old
time miners. Four years ago they Ere
| lifted at the little village of Campo ana
started for the Cocopah country. Two
| years later, gaunt, thin and hollow-eyed
| they drifted into the little Mexican town
OF Ensenada, some sixty miles down the
coast. Their belts were full of gold. how
| ever and after resting they RENTED ana
| disappeared. From that time nothing was
heard OF them until last Monday. when
| they arrived in this city.
When they started for the desert. IN ad-
dltion to the usual supply of provisions
ana necessary prospecting tools they had
made four canteens of zinc each Of six
ri t4ra f,1
| fit the back of their burros. on the bacts
| of each burro was also a five-gallon kep
| Their way led them south from CANINE
70 1aJo, some tmrty miles south of the
| Mexican line. From there they went
down the Canyon de la Palmas. and nine
miles brought them to the edge of the
desert. In this canyon they report hav-
| ing found many date palms probabIy
| memento of the mission fathers.
| There Is generally a good supply of
| water IN the canyon, and there the two
men camped for several days while resi-
| ing their mules, cHd, with their field
| glasses, fixing on some objective noint II,
| the distant mountains by which 10 sbana
their course. They finally decided IN staer
stralghI Tor what appeared a low pass
| in the Cocopah range and one that comId
| not be mistaken. One night the canteens
! and kegs were filled al the springs two
and one-half miles up the canyon and the
next lorhlng they started on their Jour-
ney through that veritable valley Of
| death. "
Their coast was south southeast bvy the
compass towards that low pass. and tbev
| diverged neither to the right nor fine iaft
| They had hoped to make the pass nv trav.
] cling constantly.in twenty-four hoi,rs b,,t
here their experience failed them. The
/ heat was worse than that of the Sabara
| and the dryness of the atmosphere some
| thing of which they had not drea No.
| They soon found that they could NOT en-
| gage in conversation without their throats
| and tongues becoming inf1amed and tbe,5
| went along in silence. The hot air seayo,
| ed to shrivel their very lungs. Their can
| teens were constantly drawn upon ana
! by the time the mountains were reacbad
those 102 quarts of water had dfsapnear -
! ed, though It mad been sparinglv, Snd-
! denly the old burro. stumbling along An
| front, half paused, threw up his head +ba
| long ears went forward and his nostriis
worked convulslvely. The pause was hut
| for an instant. Then he went forward a
a pace that hurried his more hea viI,,
! packed companions to maintain ~
He had scented water The first ,,ts,
| bic sign to the men was spot of darn
/ sand under the edge of a boulder IN ~
! bottom of the cayon. A short distance FIR
! Their up little stream trickled over The
/ rocks and not far above was a snring
] The supply of water disannea re5 -