The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-12-25
SAVED BY A DEAD RACE.
MYsTERloUs WELLS AMID THE
MoJAVE DESERTS WASTE. q.

fNfieNW Fe9PlNf anu fbaag lWey
Frequently Prevent Lost Travellers
from Dying Of Thirst.
Numbers Of men owe their lives to
the providence of a race which has
passed away and been forgotten
Neither history nor tradition tells
aught Of It. and n IS known only by a
few Of its works which survive.
This forgotten race was the desert
dwellers Of a prehistoric period Their
homo was In the great desert region Of
eastern California, which Is really one
unbroken desert, although It has been
divided by the geographer into two,
known as the Moiaye desert and the
Colorado desert
In these deserts are found several
water holes known as Indian wells.
They have been walled In to protect
the water from the encroaching sands
OF the desert. which otherwise would,
ages ago, have buried the water many
feet deep, and the wells would have
been lost.
The walls are built with skill and
perfect knowledge Of the action Of the
winds which sweep the plains. They
are so arranged and constructed as eff
fectually to protect the precious water
from the drifting sand, and they have
withstood the elements and warded off
the sands ior more than three centur-
les silce white men began to traverse
those desert wastes, and it is not pos
sible to state how many centuries pre-.
yious to that time.
The walls guard three sides Of the
well, the fourth side being graded and
leading gradually down to the water.
Some Of the wells are deep in the
earth, in which case the grade extends
some considerable distance back In
such cases steps lead down from one
OF the walls for the convenience Of the
human visitors.
The known instances in which these
wells have proved life savers are
many. Not many years ago two men
drove down into the Colorado desert.
bound for Yuma They had a canvas
top wagon and a span of mules, and in
the wagon was a supply of water.
One of the men had made the trip
several times and was supposed to be
familiar with the route. The mirage
often confuses the most expert of
desert guides, and the man became be-
wildered and got off the course.
The watering place at which they
expected to replenish their supply was
missed, and they ran out Of water.
The men and the beasts began to suf-
fer the tortures of thirst. They be-
came utterly bewildered and knew not
in which direction to turn
When despair was settling down up
on the men one Of the mules began to
tug vigorously at the bit in a frantic
endeavor to turn from the course they
were pursuing. The driver tried to
keep him on the old way, but the mule
was obstinate and continued to pull at
the reins. Finally the drivers COM
panion demonstrated.
Let him have his head" he said.
These animals often smell water
long ways Maybe he will take us to
a spring"
The animal pulled away to the right
so strongly and persistently that he
drew his mate along with him. The
course was changed to right angles
with the che they had been pursuing,
Two hours later, when the men begun
to lose faith in the sagacity of the ami
NAL, they came to an old Indian well,
deep and walled.
Another Mojave. desert experience
did not have so happy an ending. Two
desert prospectors, running short of
supplies at their mine up in the Death
valley country, started for Daggett to
replenish their stock. They watered
UP for the first stage of the journey,
expecting to- replenish at a certain
oasis, which they were due to- reach
about neon Of the second day oat.
Early in the morning of the, second
day they were OveTtaken by one of the
most dreaded Of desert Yisitations, a
sand storm. For a time they strug-
gled bracely on vainly hoping to be
able to reach the oasis before the
storm got too bad for travel This
they were unable to do.
The animals became frantic and I'M
manageable, and they were obliged to
unhitch them and tie them to the shell
tered side Of the wagon with burlap
over their heads to keep them from
stampeding. Then the prospectors
cTawled into the wagon and waited for
the storm to cease.
Long before the storm abated their