Los Angeles herald., 1905-06-10
DANDY DRY LAKE A MINE
OF WONDR0US RICHES
SALT, MARBLE AND OTHER MIN
ERALS FOUND THERE
Large House of salt Blocks Fifteen
Years oId-Soda, Cement CIays
and others Abound In Great
Profusion

Written for The Herald by DR.. Stephen
Bowers.
Thirty miles south of Dandy, a sta
tion on the Santa Fe railway in San
Bernardino county, is a remarkable
dry lake bed which has furnished salt
for mining and other purposes for
many years. The mineral was hauled
in wagons and carried on burros nearly
thirty years ago. 1t was principally
used for chlorinizing silver at the
famous Waterman and Waterloo
mines, near Daggett; also the Provi-
dence mine near Fenner. The latter
mine produced more than two and a
half million dollars and the Waiter
man and Waterloo mines went into the
millions.
In 1890 Colonel Osborne put traction
engines on the road from Dandy to the
lake, after paving each side with rock
to keep the wheels of his heavy engines
and wagons from sinking into the sand.
This road is still intact, except in some
places where the winter rains have
washed 1t away, but one of the engines
and the wagon are still to be seen at
Dandy, where they have been exposed
to the elements for several years.
When the fall of silver took place
and the silver mines shut down, the
demand for salt was no longer suffi-
cient to keep the engines and wagons
on the road. Some of the salt cost
consumers 5000 a ton, and Uncle Sam
got large profits out of the silver bull
lion made possible by this great salt
deposit, Notwithstanding the fact that
one cannot now see the spot where the
salt was taken out.
House of Rock Salt
A house was made of rock salt on the
bed of this lake in 1890, and it is stand
ing today as firm as ever. The writer
found it a good shelter each night he
spent on the lake last month. The en-
craving does not show the full height
of the building, because of the sands
that have drifted around it since it's
construction fifteen years ago. Blocks
Of salt were quarried and laid in the
walls, after which brine, abundantly
found beneath the surface, was poured
over them and this thoroughly cement
ed the joints, leaving them as hard
as the blocks themselves. The build
ing, which is about 18x25 feet, remains
as solid and substantial as when built.
which indicates the dryness of the
climate.
Dandy dry lake is about two by
twelve miles in extent and is surround
ed by treeless mountains which rise to
a height of nearly 1000 feet above the
lake bed. 1t has been examined and
reported upon by several experts, but
chiefly by Prof. G. e. Bailey, Ph. D.,
formerly geologist of Wyoming but
now resident of Los Angeles. Mr.
Bailey is a most competent geologist
and well versed in saline deposits. The
last examination and report was by
myself. I found here remarkable de-
posits of salt sulphate and carbonate
OF soda, salt brines, clats, gypsum and
cement material; and doubtless other
minerals will be brought to light as de-
velopment work progresses. Here has
been a concentration of soluble salts
from the surrounding country for un-
told ages, and they have accumulated
in vast deposits in this basin. All COM
petent geologists who have examined
these deposits testify to their purity
and vast extent.
Rock Salt Deposits
The rock salt or halite deposit is
known to underly from 600 to 800 acres
and it may extend much farther. I'll
has been penetrated to depth of more
than fifty feet Water is reached att
depths varying from seventeen to
thirty-five feet, when the rock salt be-
comes as clear as plate glass and can
be taken out in blocks Of any desired
size. The people operating these de-
posits propose hewing out spacious
room in this pure crystallzed mineral
for the delectation of visitors.
The deposit is practically inexhaust-
ible, as are all the other deposits. The
brines are almost chemically pure and
while looking like limpid water they
contain a heavy percentage of salt,
which crystalizes when evaporation
takes place. They gave Prof. Bailey
80 per cent OF sodium chloride and
traces of lime and alumina. They
show remarkable freedom from com
pounds OF carbureted hydrogen and
sulphate OF soda and magnesia. The
surface salt is very abundant. Tie
haIite is probably not surpassed by any
imported article.