The Adair County news. [volume] (Columbia, Ky.) 1897-1987, 1920-11-17
DESERT is SAFE
FOR TRAVELLERS
Government Issues Guide to
Springs and Wells in SaIton
Sea Region.
PROSPECTOR STARTS MOVE
United States Geological Survey in Co
operation With Engineering De-
partment of California UniVer-
sity Makes Survey of
Desert.

Washington.-The repellant though
interesting phrase Great American
Desert" was sprawled across a large
part of some Of the earlier maps of our
western and southwestern territory,
and though the area of supposed desert
land was thus exaggerated, enough
real desert remains to justify large
studies of methods of utilizing 1t and
special studies of it's water resources
and watering places in order to make
journeys across 1t safe for travellers.
Travellers In the desert region Of the
Southwest must depend for their ex-'
istence on "water holes" (springs,
wells or natural tanks), many of which
are separated from one another by a
hard days journey with team and
wagon. The. water holes in most of
this region have never been accurate
Iy mapped or described, no systematic
provision has been made for maintain
ing them, and the roads leading to
them have not been marked with sub
! stantial and reliable signs. so that
travel in the parts of the region that
are remote from settlements has been
precarious and even perilOus.
A Pioneer for Safety In the Desert.
The movement for the protection of
prospectOrs and travellers on the arid
desert plains of his country was begun
many years ago by George w. Parsons,
a prOspector and desert expert of Los
Angeles, Cal. In 1901 Mr.. Parsons
made a trip across the desert region
of California with Prof. w. L. Watts,
state mineralogist, and, on his return,
urged upon the Los Angeles Chamber
of Commerce the necessity of placing
guide posts and of developing water
holes in the desert.
Mr.. Parsons work led to an apprO-
priatiOn by congress- as a result Of
which the United States geological
survey, Department of the Interior, in
cooperation with the department Of
engineering of the state Of California,
surveyed the southern California
desert and has recently issued re-
port, entitled Routes to Desert Wa
tering Places in the SaltOn Sea Re
giOn, California" by John S. Brown.
Region Covered by the Report.
The region covered by this guide Is
In the southwest corner of California
and is about one hundred miles In
length and breadth, covering about
ten thousand square miles. Its north
ern limit is the thirty-fourth parallel
and its southern is the boundary be-
tween the United States and Mexico;
its eastern border is marked by Colo
RADIO river, which separates California
and Arizona, and it's western by the
meridian of 116 degrees 40 minutes. 1t
therefore includes Imperial county and
the most arid parts of Riverside and
San Diego counties.
In addition to maps showing the
roads and the watering places, the
guide contains road logs and brief de-
scriptions of the watering places. For
the convenience of travellers coming
and going, the logs Of nearly all the
roads are given in two directions. In
formation and sketch maps are in
Guided for certain roads that extend
somewhat beyond the northern bound
airy Of the region as defined above, in
order to connect the routes in this re-
giOn with watering places beyond its
limits. On the other hand, consider
able area in the western part of the
region is high and well-watered and
the routes in it are given only for GER
tain irregular westward extensions Of
the desert.
The report just published, which is
listed as water supply paper 1904,
may be obtained free of charge by ap-
plying to the United States Geological
Survey, Washington, D. G.