Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1924-02-14
THERE Is MUCH
OF ROMANCE IN
DEATH VALLEY
(continued froa Page onel

Europe and all over the world. Tho
lowland has been filed, new WharveS
and warehouse built until today Los
Angeles harbor is a port to be proud
of as well as reckoned with. Together
with this material improvement the
population has increased, better con
ditions prevail and the future is po,
tent in possibilities.
Death Valley
Death Valley and the Mohave des
ert. The wonder and marvel of it is
! beyond comprehension The desolate
Death Valley is of peculiar signifi
canoe in that it lies below sea level
distance of approximately $50 to 171
feet average depth. The lowest spot
of any area, even exceeding that Of
the famed Yuma, Arizoa. country
about which the story is told of the
soldier who had gone to his fathers
and in his case was in Hades. Ia
some manner he communicated with
a friend on earth and asked this
! friend to send down an overcoat, as
Hades was cold compared to Yuma.
However the case, had he experien-
ced Death Valley climate I'm sure
Yuma would have seemed cold.
Historically it is Of interest, for
about the same time the Bonner Lake
party (of which l will relate more
later) met its fate in the mountains,
party Of immigrants coming west
ward came down to, and into, Death
Valley
Death Valley lies some two hun
dred miles in air line northeast from
Los Angeles The travelled roads ara
winding ones on either Of two routes
The first northward out of Los An
geles through Landcaster, MOjave.
and on through is known as the north
ern route, the second, nOrtheasterly
through BarstoW and ShOshOne to the
Furnace Creek ranch, located with
in Death Valley itself, is the eastern
route The valley lies in a northerly
s0utherIy direction and varies from
ten to thirty miles in width. Enter
ing the valley from the northwest is
Emigrant Wash, at it's head being
Wild Rose and Emigrant Springs.
This wash opens onto the valley floor
on what is known as Mesquite Flat,
Borax Mines Abandoned
To the eastward of Mesquite Flat
are the great sand dunes, eight miles
across To the south of these dunes
and bordering them on the southeast
is the trail to Stove Pipe wells, Lost
Wagons and Boundary Canyon. Some
twenty or more miles south OF the
Dunes we come to the old 20 mule
team bOrax mines, now abandoned,
ard here some six or eight miles
north Of Fnrnace Creek ranch is the
.owest point in the valley, $50 feet
mace Creek ranch, is on the eastern
side of the valley, while to the west
ward in the center of the valley are
the great salt swampS some "
miles in length and OF varying width.
To gain entrance to the valley from
the east. one enters by the Furnace
Creek Wash which is the best way
O.. egress as well as best of all en-
frances into the valley.
It is a decided contrast to see amid
al! this desolation an oasis Of palm
and poplar such as is found at this
ranch.
The valley on the west is bounded
Nv the Panamint range and pierced
by Emigrant Wash. On the east are
the Black mountains and Funeral
mountain ranges through which Fur
mace Creek Wash pierces. Here amid
all this desolation have been disting-
uished the bones of more than two
hundred prospectors. emigrants and
timers. rs valve lies primarily iii
it's borax mines, but the best of
these lies outside the valley proper
at Ryan Its history is one OF trag-
edy, blighted hopes, of death and
yet with all it's desolation, its re-
pugnance-to return once more.
The winter is found to be tho
best time to see it, in the summer so
insufferable is the heat that the
traveller canot endure it. SO rapid
is the body loss of water through this
terrific heat and evaporation that
one must drink three to six pints OF
water each hour of daytime to live.
When a temperature rise is such
that ordinary thermometers break, one
can possibly appreciate in measure
the heat And this-all this desola-
ton and waste-close to one of ma,
lures fairylands, the land of Spanish
romance and mission story. More
of the Death Valley country later.