195109-DesertMagazin.. - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

More documents

Recommendations

Info

I - -' Horned Toad . . . This picture, taken in Arizona by Capt. K. J. Shepard of Tucson, was awarded first place in Desert Magazine's July photo contest. It was taken with a Graphic View camera, Ektar f. 7.7 lens, on Super XX film, 1/10 second at f. 45. Breadwinner . . . Ben Pope, Dinuba, California, was awarded second prize for this picture of a weaver taken in Monument Valley, Utah. It was taken with a 4x5 Graphic View camera on Super Pan film, 1/25 second at f. 16. DESERT MAGAZINE
French toast for breakfast. Kelly Cameron learned his cooking in a freight caboose on the Southern Pacific—and learned it well. We Camped on Kaiparowits.. A thousand years ago a tribe of little brown men lived in crude stone and mud cliff houses on the top of the 7000-foot Kaiparowits Plateau in southern Utah. No one knows when they left, or why. But in an effort to find out more about these prehistoric people and their way of life, a little party of explorers camped on the plateau in May this year. Here is the story of what they found up there. N MAY this year, eight of us climbed the steep trail which zigzags up the northeast escarpment of the 7000-foot Kaiparowits plateau in southwestern Utah to learn what we could about the prehistoric Moqui people who dwelt on this isolated sky island a thousand years ago. As nearly as the archeologists can determine, the Moquis occupied this juniper and pinyon covered tableland between 900 and 1200 A.D. Then they left—for reasons which remain a mystery even to the scientists. There is no road to the top of Kaiparowits. There are only a few places SEPTEMBER, 195 1 By RANDALL HENDERSON Map by Norton Allen where even a horseman can make the ascent. In winter the plateau often is covered by snow, and in summer the water supply is limited to an occasional small spring. And that is probably the reason why no white man has ever established a permanent home up there. Each summer the Mormon cattlemen of the Escalante country drive their herds up the steep trail for summer range, but for the rest of the year Kaiparowits remains unoccupied except by deer and other wildlife. Perhaps it was because so little is known about this remote region, and the aborigines who once lived there, that Wayne and Lucile Hiser of Toledo, Ohio, chose this place for their Indian country expedition of 1951. The Hisers have a manufacturing business in Toledo. They make electric motors for shipment all over the world. They like to travel and take pictures, and having once, several years ago, gotten a glimpse of the fascinating Indian country of northern Arizona and southern Utah, they now make two trips annually to this region. When they return home they show their Kodachrome movies to the service clubs and civic groups in Toledo—and contribute the proceeds to charitable purposes, mainly to the Navajo Indians. It is a bit of philanthropy which brings pleasure to many people, and much needed clothing and schooling for some of the Navajo children. This year the Hisers invited me to become a member of their exploring party. They also invited Dr. Jesse Jennings, professor of anthropology at the University of Utah, whose department
Page 1 and 2: SEPTEMBER. 1951 35 CENTS
Page 3: DESERT CALENDAR August 30-September
Page 7 and 8: in Escalante. Edson teaches science
Page 9 and 10: Wayne and Lucile Hiser on the rim o
Page 11 and 12: The Moquis often selected sites for
Page 13 and 14: for gold. After all, did not his gr
Page 15 and 16: J/ie Churchill-Lyon county line mar
Page 17 and 18: SEPTEMBER, 1951 17
Page 19 and 20: the small either in a spirit of pur
Page 21 and 22: Do- Ah Shon Goes to the Trading Pos
Page 23 and 24: Salt Cedar Not a Native . . . Casa
Page 25 and 26: ARIZONA 500-mile Trip Completed . .
Page 27 and 28: £1 Mirador Hotel to Reopen . . . P
Page 29 and 30: Shaver Named Chief Engineer . . . L
Page 31 and 32: FLAGG MINERAL SUPERVISOR SAN DIEGO
Page 33 and 34: AMONG THE ROCK HUNTERS Wilson Ranch
Page 35 and 36: It was announced at the July 3 meet
Page 37 and 38: BOORS OF THE SOUTHWEST AUTHOR-ARTIS
Page 39 and 40: Soon after he wrote the story of th

195109-DesertMagazin.. - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?