The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-08-26

brush desert. The lodes seem to lie
parallel to the eastern slope of the
Sierra mountains like those in Cali
fOrnia do along the western slope.
Rich deposits of gold were found by
the diligent prospectorS one hundred
miles south of GoIdfeld, and the town
of Bullfrog became a great mining
center with thousands of eager men
swarming over the neighboring hills.
Later Rhyolite became a thrifty min
ing center. In this region, out from
Salt Lake line, into the Sierras on the
west, and over to the deep canon
bound Colorado on the east, the omni-
present prospector could be seen. Just
now the new town of Searchlight
seems to give promise of a gold field
equal or superior to any other in the
romantic cinderella state
A ride from Salt Lake City south
west through southern Utah and Ne
vada and California is full of interest.
AS a through line the Salt Lake route
is only three months old. After it
leaves Salt Lake valley it compasses
one vast stretch of desert until the
orange groves of southern California
are seen. The foothills of the noun
tainS seem to be composed of a soft
rock easily disintegrated, scaling off
under the influence of heat. cold,
frost, rains, and wind until their base
is covered high with a fine debris.
This is carried down into the valley
by numerous cloudbursts which visit
this region. At distance these
crinkIed mountain sides or adobe
dunes are very picturesque, and espe-
cially so when they lie beneath long
stretches of lofty mesaS. While the
towns were few, their presence in
dicated considerable life along the
line. Once in southern Nevada we re-
ceived the full force of the desert
heat, finding the mercury in the
depots registering 100 degrees in the
shade n3ntR6 and e9Snnd hIIt
did not perspire as we do under the
intense heat of the sultry east. The
moving air was hot, so hot that We
were uncomfortable were we to put
hand out of the car window. 1t
was policy to shut windows and pull
down blinds to keep the car cool, but
so many wanted air. The hot air
seemed to eVaporate our perSpiration
as soon as it oozed from the skin,
leaving the latter dry and leathery.
In this abnormal heat a mans thirst
demands a prodigious amount of
water, two or three gallons a day, and
then it does not satisfy. Owing to
the dry atmosphere sunstroke is I'M
known in this region. En- route in
this scorching desert we saw the ON
nipreSent automobile, not on a pleas
ure junket, but filed with diligent
prospectors intent on finding the gold
bearing lodes in the neighboring hills.
It gives the tourist a kindred feeling
to see these prospectors at work pan
ming the gravel along a dry creek,
or hammering outcropping veins of
Somehow he feels that he would en-
joy panning a shovel of gold-bearing
dirt, or uncovering a ledge of aurifer-
Gus quartz.
Glimpse of Death Valley.
AS we approached the California
line we neared the famed and ter
rible Death valley" where prospect
iv,or &c 40
poor fellow with pick, shovel, ham
mer and pan has wandered in this
valley so far from his base of supplies
that losing his way has persisted mis-
erably from hunger and thirst. The
evidence of such tragedies are fire.
quently found. Indeed so frightful
has been the loss of life in recent
times thai the California state au-
thor1t1es are now planning TO place
food and water in caches in that val
ley, and sign boards also, as a protec-
ton against loss of life among these
:over-anxious and venturesome gold
seekers.
Yet with all its terrible experiences
this famous death valley is rich in
minerals There will be this fall and
winter, according to the predictions of
those best qualified to speak, a SIAM
pede to it of no small proportions.
Surveys and official reports confirm the
existence here of unfathomable value,
as well as the periodical emergence of
some ventureSOme proSpector with
rich specimens of treasure that lies
within its uninviting wastes. It was
from this valley came the erratic
Scott loaded with wealth with which
he made a spectacular display of him
self in his recent ride in a special train
at break-neck pace to Chicago
Borax is mined here in unlimited
quantities, and here this salt is found
so pure that all other sources of supply
are valueless in comparison. Twenty
MIL Zoo, Do. no. no Id
out of this valley for the past fifteen
years, and mules are still used to haul
it from the depth of the valley to the
reduction works on the Santa Fe and
Salt Lake railroads. This salt is found
in what were once craters of volcanoes,
and this bowl-shaped valley has mill
lions of tons of this valuable and use
full mineral. However, it is the i'm
mense gold indications which are
drawing the venturesome prospectors
into this valley. which, it would now
seem, will. despite it's hot and water
less expanse. be opened to extensive
exploration.
A careful study of this vast region
covered by this trip. frightful in its
artdity, barren sweeps, and mountain
Gus reaches, convinceS us that it is
bound to yield to the powerful touch
of modern civilization because of its
rich minerals We believe that the
time is not far distant when the wide
awake American will people this re
gion and win from its bosom a good
living as did the prehistoric Aztec
who roamed over its hills and noun
tains and cultivated its valleys as can
be seen from plain evidences of their
one-time occupancy in the picturesque
cliff dwellings in the canons of the
Montezuma, the Green, the Grand, and
the Colorado rivers in Colorado and
Utah. H A OFT
Topeka, Kansas.