The Coolidge examiner., 1937-09-30

Prepared bv National Geographic Society,
/ Washington. D. C.-WNU Service.
" YEWS that the Thirteen
| M Colonies had become
l Y the United States
didn't reach Pacific
coast Spaniards till years
later. Barriers of distance
and desert were such that
even after California joined
the Union, in 1850, it still took
weeks to get mail from Wash
ington. No other state was
ever so isolated.
Men hated the desert then and
feared the horrors of death from
thirst. Every trail across it was
strewn with bones of men and oxen
and abandoned wagons.
Now the desert is mans play
ground
Planes, trains and motors. of
course, have robbed the desert Of its
breads Now idlers in shorts, bright
colored pajamas. or bathing suits
sprawl about these desert pleasure
resorts, as in Death valley, and fret
if they can't get this or that favorite
brand of imported mineral water,
all within stones throw Of where
dying pioneers found not even
mouthful Of alkali water!
The sting has been taken out of
Death valley completely by mod
ern transport. Much of it is now a
national monument, and winter Wis
itors swarm in over new roads.
lured by its astounding physical ge
ography.
You can imagine that here gi-
ant smashed the world TO bits.
baked it, then split seas Of paint
over the colossal. silent ruin. Ma
ture's emotions range from utmost
fury to moods of restful calm.
Stand on Dante's View, peak
in the Black mountains which tow
ers high above the floor of Death
valley, and you can see over more
than $50 miles of this weird, in
comparable region.
Far to the west is Mount Whitney,
highest peak in the United States,
and below you is the lowest point in
North America, 276 feet below sea
level. And up the valley floor there
stretches what looks like vast alkali
swamps; but that is an illusion, for
it is merely coloring of the desert.
All Alone With a Chipmunk.
do you live here all alone?" a
traveller asked an old man who sat
before an empty hotel in the his
toric ghost town of Ryan.
Me and a chipmunk," he said.
my friend'll be out soon so you
can see him. He always comes to
eat at ten o'clock" And at ten he
came!
Borax and a few other minerals
first made Death valley a busy
place. 1t was then that the famous
20-mule teams hauled the big
freight wagons with water-tank
trailer, taking weeks on the long,
rough round trip out to a railroad
station on the Mojave desert.
Mining is abandoned now The
borax diggers found richer, more
convenient deposit near Kramer, on
the Mojave desert, where they can
bring up huge chunks of glistening.
CLASSY borax, with a railway close
at hand. So the long mule trains
are no more; but you can still see
the giant wagons standing along
Furnace Creek Wash, where the
tired, dusty mules were last un-
hitched. Beside these big wagons
visitors pose now to be photo
graphed. That is commonplace re-
ality; all about is unreality, illu-
sion.
Save one or two tiny favored spots
where water comes down from the
canyons, Death valley knows no cul-
tivation. Despite sightseeing buses
and private motorcars that throng
its dusty trails, there is still some
thing very significant in the warn
ing signboards which tell how many
miles it is to the next water.
Different, indeed, its destiny
seems from that of other California
deserts criss-crossed by mans ir-
rigation bitches!
Once Arid Regions Now Gardens.
Maps of barely 80 years ago bore
the words Colorado desert across
what is now Imperial county, with
go, 900 people.
If the prehistoric monsters who
left their tracks about the Salton sea
could come back, they would find
plenty to eat now, for this below
the-sea region has become the ma
tion's dollhouse.
Years ago plant explorer for the
United States Department of Agri-
culture brought some date suckers
from Arabia. which were planted,