Los Angeles herald., 1905-04-09
Going to BuIIfrOg
and GOIdfieId
From the
South
By Carter E. Henderson
in "The Pacific
Southwest"


regard to the Nevada gold country, "fust git
there"
Getting there is a perplexinE problem. The |
writer spent nearly a week trying to fnd some
one In Los Angeles who knew how to make |
the trip to Bullfrog. one man swore he knew
there was stage as far as Manse he didn't
know what you did then; Manse is about
half way after you leave the railroad and
in the middle Of the Nevada desert this In
formation was kind but not calculated TO help |
much. A man at a miners supply house
said he bet he could find out, but he must |
have lost the bet he never found out. In the
end the writer had to start out relying on a
kind Providence.
The fact is. going into the gold fields Is
as simple and nearly rs easy as going to san
Francisco.
1t is we'll to be provided with certain things
however. Oae needs considerable money, for
ore thing
The balance Of the cu.it can cost a great |
deal or a very little, as you please | went
in with a city man who armed like the
hero of a meodrama. He had costly bowie
knife and an enormous revolver; he had more |
patent equipment than would be necessary to
go through the wilds of Africa.
There is no earthly need of pistol; knife
for camp cooking is good but cheaper one
than a tempered bowie would do well.
one needs a good warm pair of blankets |
which will cost S. or Sc. Any one who has
camped out much in the open knows that 1t |
matters not so much what you have on top
of your camp bed as what is underneath it. 1t |
is good to take a small camp mattress.
The greatest scheme l saw in the whole |
desert was that of an old Colorado prospector |
He had very large piece of canvas-about
eighteen feet long and seven feet broad. At
night he placed his camp mattress at one end
of this and doubled the bottom end over him;
the sides he folded over and pinned together
over the top with a horse blanket pin. This
made sleeping bag without the fault Of the
made-up sleeping bag-lack of ventilation.
Be sure and do your blankets up in this can
vas roll neatly and in workmanlike manner;
nothing yells ''Terderfoot'' as loudly a
sloppily folded bag of ungainly size.
Get a heavy pair of surveyors boots, in
which you tuck your corduroy trousers. a
flannel shirt and broad felt hat the things
you will need to complete the outfit. y khaki
coat is inexpensive and it is both light in
weight and warm
You can do without any of these except the
boots and the blankets; the country up there
is rough on shoes.
There has been automobile line put on at
Las Vegas row, which will whir you through
at great rate, but the most interesting way
is to go by way of lNanpah by the od-tash-
ioned stage
one leaves Los Angeles on Tuesday the
Santa Fe the train starting at O'Clock in the
evening. About the cheapest way is to buy a
thousand mile ticket. 1t Will be necessary also
to get a berth on the sleeper from Los An
geles to Blake, you cut for one night
before arriving at Blake, where you change
cars.
You have breakfast at Blake, which costs 80
Nnrtts t1,..e mill fiRlY is Flnnn nr
the branch line from Blake to lvanpah
If you have plenty of time you can leave
the train at Marvel where the long eight and
ten mile freighters come in for supplies You
get passage with these without difficulty
for a comparatively small sum- say so.
Most people who go by freighter or who
wish to go IN afoot go by way of Las Vegas.
however This is on the Salt Lake road, and,
until the line is entirely open for traffic, 1t is
necessary to travel on construction trains, an
eXecrabe method, costing cents a mile. When
the Clark road is through that will probably be
the gateway to the BIlfrog.
Passage can be secured Las Vegas a
freighter for so. one rides top of the
freight in slow mule wagon or walks along
side boarding with the skinner at the camp
fires. Poor fare. 1t takes about a week to
make the journey from Las Vegas and twelve
days from Marvel.
II you going in by stage, you arrive at
Ivanrah early in the afternoon and have lunch
at a tent restaurant kept by Chinamani the
meal is passable and costs - cents.
You board the first stage here; it is two
horse affair and holds four passengers three
sitting in the back seat with reasonable conf
fort. The fare is 49, collected in advance.
You travel all day through most inter-
esting country, along the line Of the old forty
miner trail into southern California. You ar
rive in time for dinner at Good Springs, where
you get very good meal for the inevitable
80 cents.
Along this road, should you be coming
through with burros, you will find plenty of
water. 1t is possible, If you not in a
hurry, TO drive all the way to Bullfrog from
Los Angeles. Drive from this city to San
Bernardino and then cut across To Daggett; at
Daggett you get the old time trail
You will find water at points all along the
line Of the Salt Lake road, more at Ivanpah.
at Roachs camp at the foot Of state Line
pass, ten or fifteen miles out Of Ivanpah; more
at Murphy's well, a few miles farther on and
then stretch OF three hours stage drive until
you get to Good Springs in the mountains
where there is a town.
Horse feed can be obtained at these places
il 1t is not carried. Hay is $40 a ton through
here, constantly increasing in price until it
gets to 800 at Bulfrog Horse feed costs 81
a head near Bulfrog and less than that as you
come south; take feed at all events, if you are
10 drive
The stage changes horses at Roachs and
at Good Springs and again at Sandy, over a
high mountain pass and a plunge down the
hollow from Good Springs. road is now be-
ing leveled at the expense Of the mine owners
about Good Springs to make the trip to Sandy
comparatively easy
At Sandy which is the outlet 10 a good
mining region, you will get more water; it
is about nine miles from Good Springs; the
road falls away 1900 feet in that nine miles
II you travel by stage your troubles begin
Sandy you have to travel all night long
humping and being iostled about in the dark
for Ave nours, The road is pretty hard for
heavy teaming it goes over what they call
a 'washhoard country
The stump springs give good water between
Sandy and Manse, which is something over
thirty miles,
Manse is the postofhce name of Whites
ranch n Is one Of the resting places Of
the desert Stage passengers wait there a day
md a night, the fare is excellent, the rates
being the regular desert rate of rs cents a
meal and dollar for room. The accommo-
dations are admirable one can lay I'm new
supplies here Of fresh meat. hay, etc
Leaving there the water conditions are
good for a long distance. Through the Pah-
rump valley, there are springs in abund-
ance.
There is n stretch through a mountain pass
from the Pahrump valley 10 the Stone Cabin
springs, whore there are no water holes; the
distance IS a safe one. however-ten or eleven
miles. The stage leaves the Pahrump ranch
with its great springs late In the morning
and gets TO Stone Cabin springs before noon
These lie just under the base OF a hill just
before you get into Ash Meadows valley
This would be the camping place for tho
night for slow wagon; the stage goes OF
Ash Meadows.