The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-01-05
IN DEATH VALLEY. DESERT IN CALIFORNIA That was Grave for Many Pioneers and Goid-Seekers--Captain Lyle's
 Daring Expedition.

that dreadful ana desolate waste, the grave or no one knows how many hun dreds of venturesome pioneers in the days Of gold discovery in California, the news that living spring or pure cold water has been struck in the heart of the Desert of Death, or Death Valley, as 1t Is oftentimes called, reads like a romance. l should have as soon expected to hear of rose bushes growing on the summit Of FlKes Peak. i cannot believe now that the spring will last, but fear that it will evaporate Tn the nerce heat Of that climate, ike every other supply of water ever found there, so far as 1 know"
 It was after reading dispatch In The Sunday Press, telling of the discovery of flow of pure water in the Desert of Dearn, that capt. David A. Lyle, U. $. A., made this comment yesterday at his home in Germdntown. As second lieu tenant in the united States Artillery, he was in command of q detachment Of twenty-five men from the Sd united States Cavafy, in June, 16l, making Government explorations in Nevada, Ari- zona and Southern Cdlifarnla. under the direction of MaJor George M. " neeler, U. s. A., now retired. Death Valley, as expedition. fell to the lot Of the second detachment, of which Captain Lyle had charge.
 Captain Lyle gives a very graphic de- scripuon of the arid waste known as Death Valley. or the Valley of Death. but the flowing spring which prompts his memory is not located in the barren waste traversed by him and his men. details applies equally to both.
 The spring discovered is at Eagle. a stage and water tank station, about forty miles below San Marcial, N. M. It is on the northern part of the tornado del Nuerto Journey of Death), the great desert which extends east from the Rio Grande distance O. over 100 miles, and is double that. distance Tn length. Its a I G C " hnnnS those of numberless victims who at- tempted to cross it's scorching, water less surface It is the sister deert of the one decriped by Captain Lyle.
 told Seekers Lost.
 We had heard of the place long be- fore we reached it. said the captain, and I never heard of any other place. on tnis side of eternity, about which per sons who spoke of it had so many dis agreeable things to say. It got its name. believe, from the fact that so many men, with their wives and children. who travelled overland to the California gold
 fields and tried 8. short cut through the They died the most horrible deaths of which the mind can conceive-thirst and | starvation, Of the two, thirst causes in | calculably the greatest suffering, partic- ularly in that climate.
 During our journey through 1t l had suffered untold agony in going thirty-siX hours without water. and had just given
 
 ran across some muddy water under d | ledge Of wet gravel Nothing before or l since has ever tasted so good to me as did that tin cup full of water. SO vile that the Schuylhll product at it's worst | Is clear as crystal in comparison. We lost two of our men on that expedition one, our guide, Eapaa. because he was too brave and would not turn back at the right time, and the other because he de- serted our party and endeaVored to make his way alone across the trackless waste.
 Death Valley runs from northwest to southeast through lower Nevada into Southern California. It reaches its low est point in the latter State, where it is anywhere from 150 to 200 feet below the level of the sea. The vailey aoout one hundred miles long, and varies from three to twenty-five miles in width. The high mountains on either side are cov- cred with wild sage brush, natures sign of desolation the world over. The noun tains, In some parts, have volcanic re- mains, apparently of recent date. Where the lava flowed there are ridges of vol level surface there consista of hard. white alkali flats, destitute of vegetation. Jack rabbits, lizards and beetles We're the only living things to be seen.
 Now that Government explorations have blazed the way. it is possible to go through the valley in twenty-four hours, and to carry sun1cient suppiy of water. But the early pioneers who WGht AilO Ats never lO OS VI Oi oSolI4' had no surveys. Taking look out from the mountains, they had to guess their nearest way through, and to gues wrong was to walk into a living tomp If a pioneer journeyed for one day along thai road, in the Clustering heat, and then discovered that he had made a mistake In his calculations, 1t was too late for him to go back even if he could haVt found the way. Thirst and eXnaustloh would have finished him;
 Tortures or thirst.
 Men and animals have been known to live for sixty hours under those con but the only cases l have heard of were quoted as instances of remark able endurance. l know how l felt after going for thirty-sixs hours without water. But that was In July heat, with the ther- mometsr lS9 in the shade. It was Ill IA degrees at midnight After the rains can imagine that a certain amount of water might form in the valleys, but in that climate 1t would quickly evap- slime that Is covered with thick cru-- of alkali. This crust is so thin in places that an overladen mule would break through 1t, sinking up to its neck. But the crust would bear the weight of two or three men. and we always managed to get the animal out Dogs do not perspire. and one that we had in our party died in a very short time. l re- member one man who did not perspire, and Ire did not live long after he had once begun his journey across the Des- ert of Death. The Indians and guides am told. used to warn the pioneers not to undertake the journey through Death Valley, but visions Of gold tempted them