The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1913-08-28
MAN AND DOG SAVE
PRosPEcToRs FROM A
HORRIBLE DEATH

The Interesting People department
of the September American Magazine
contains an article about Lew West
colt Beck, who is known as the Good
Samaritan OF Death Valley" He and
his dog Rufus, have saved many
rrospectors from horr BILE death by
making the desert blossom with guide
posts showing the way to water. The
following is an extract from the ar
ticle:
Time was when Beck was a plain
prospector in the Cripple Creek coun-
try. He was in on the diggings at
Leadville, and he planned around in
Montana a while. Likewise he rush.
ed into the Big Horn at the time of
the mineral strike there, but he new
er struck a lead that made him rich.
Eventually he drifted down through
Nevada and into Death Valley, chas.
ing rainbows. Wild rumors about
Death Valley, Scotty's big find in that
section, electrified the country and
scores of prospectors rushed into the
desert, expecting to make their for
tune in few days. Beck was among
those present.
There were several in Beck's par
ty. They hiked many miles through
the mirage land, finding nothing worth
while, and worrying constantly lest
they exhaust their supply of water.
For two days they sought water
holes; and when out Of water They
went for hours with tongues swollen
and lips parched from want OF mois.
ture. Then when death seemed inev-
table they suddenly discovered tiny
stream trucking out of a canyon at
the base of the Panamint Mountains.
when Beck returned to civiliza-
ton he was changed man. He bad
seen sands that were strewn with
skulls, and that sight had put big
idea into his head.
Game spring. and Beck made an
other trip through Death Valley. At
his side was Newfoundland log
The prospector carried bundle OF
tin strips. They were signboards TO
guide the wanderers steps Alright
Each summer since then the pros
pector and his dog have made
journey to the land Of the purple mist
piling up rocks and attaching signs
to them, searching for lost travellers
| for a piece Of precious metal. Once
or twice Rufus has led his master 10
Lrospectors who after long suffering
from thirst, had fallen upon the burn.
sands to die. In signboarding the
desert Beck has saved a number Of
thirst mad rainbow chasers and has
also, in remote districts, stumbled
upon the bleaching bones OF dead men
who may have found fortunes in the
silver sulphuret district but woo did
not live to tell the world about It
At one time he assisted at the burial
OF four men who died of thirst with n
two miles Of a spring.
The country that Beck ira 'erses
is the most arid section of the Ame,'i.
can continent-a dresry stretch %
hundreds of miles OF desert, dotted
here and there with foothills, hnttes
dry creek beds, chaparral, lTickly
pear, and sagebrush. Springs arc
miles upon miles apart. Most OF
them are bitterly alkali, and some
are poison
"On m ordinary summer afternoon
the thermometer runs up 10 about
1874 degrees in the shade out in
Death Valley and the most unpleas.
ant thing about IT is that there Is
dearth OF shade. When man vaurrres
out upon this trackless expanse, the
sh'mmerng heat dazes him, the
scarcity OF water crazes him, and the
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. lying thing OF
beauty that II is-looms ever before
him, flashing upon the canvas OF his
minds eye verdant valley, gorge
ously green with growing things,
fresh with flowers, wet With water