Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-01-08

1t is certainly an incongruous Sis NJ
to journey out into the gray OF the
desert. and in this dreary waste Oh
sage brush and sand. out of sight OIL
habitation or human inS,stumble up
which might be taken for an ancient
ruin. 1t is no less weird TO be told
that here power will be developed to
rum trolley cars over the desert and
sprinkle ii with electric lights
AS we left Hazen, a small village on
the Southern Pacific, in spring was-
on. drawn by two native Nevada
horses, driven by an eighteen year old
product of the desert. shock-headed
and prematurely old from the environ
ment OF the saloon and the gaming
table. whose father is IL native. whose
grandfather is native, and whose
greatgrandfather came a pioneer over
fifty years ago. and still lives in the
Carson valley, hale and hearty at 80,
we felt that we We're about to pene-
trate the great unknown. All the
wheel tracks looked alike to us, but
the shock headed fellow in front knew
the tracks that led to Fallon, our des
tination. About five or six miles out
we lost sight of the little houses in
HaZen. The horses, the harness. the
wagon, our hats. coats-everything
had turned to the dull gray of the
desert. On every side of us, sand,
sage brush, solitude, desolation. The
dust was omni present. 1t was in our
eyes, ears, nostrils. 1t got under our
Ion in, N fairly a j.
ed it, and we realized that at last we
were experiencing the real thing.
Strange to say, it did not irritate the
skin, but we were advised to take dry
bath and use no water. l think that
is why the people out there use so lit
tie water, inside and out. AT night
l simply rubbed myself down with
dry crash towel and then applying
water to the body. l found no sediment
at all in the basin, much to my aston
ishment. The dust is not gritty. 1t is
fine as powder, and judging by appear
ances, the native actually enjoys 1t.
The teamster is enveloped in it day
after day, and he never washes, and
seldom shakes himself.
After following the dim tracks of the
Transfers for some miles, we at last
came in sight of struggling cotton
woods We knew that this meant wa
ter, and that water meant the carson
river. All along the river we found
struggling ranches, some of them
presenting a thrifty appearance, others
not. the never failing sign of the shift
less homesteader the man who keeps
ahead of civilization. trying his best
to avoid competition, struggle; picking
UP a living where nature offers the
necessaries of life for the least labor
1t grew dark on us before the bron-
choes carried us thru that waste OF
sand to Fallon, the center of present
activities. AS we drove up to the
roomy one-story hotel and saloon. both
looked inviting. but every bed was
taken. We sought the annex, that was
full. we tried the newest hotel that
was full, and at last we got supper
and a clean bed in home kept by
bright little woman, who was trying
to make a living by providing rooms
and meals too, when they had to be
given Her husband was tlmld soul;
all his life he had kept in advance OF
civilization. accommodating nothing,
content with the crumbs picked up
on the march He had never settled,
never tried to make q home. with all
the opportunities around him. he could
never quite summon up courage TO
drive his stakes and carve out home.
The exertion was too great. and 1T
didn't pay"
Fallon lies in the heart of the des-
ert. about the center of Carson Sink.
|.Three years ago it consisted of one
building which was the store and post
office. accommodating the Struggling
ranchers up and down the river. or
rather the river bed. for the Carson is
a "dry" stream at F'allon six months
of the year. The lessening flow of
the water and the sun and sand cause
the river to disappear utterly. The
river bed proper is broad and deep and
i'm the spring it carries a great body
of water, but when we We're trying to
find the power house last October we
drove into the river bed and for mile
or two continued our way on it's sandy
bottom.
Now Fallon is a county seat. 1t has
courts. a bank. high school, several
churches. at least two brick and ce
ment buildings-in all about $50
1OuSeS vi COul sc II mas ''S'iC'iiS w
absorb the earnings of the men at
work only two miles away.
In the morning we rode out TO the
camps, where the work is being done.
Here we found them laying off the sec
tions and building the lateral canals,
getting ready to put water onto a linn
tied number of acres in 1906. In every
section line is a canal, so that when
mapped off it will look like a huge
Always Remember the Eull Nam
/, szas!zs BEeme Quinn