THE M A G A Z I N E - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

Boulder City . . .
Remains of a giant ground sloth will be
one of the exhibits in the new national
park museum being installed here under the
direction of Robert Rose, naturalist. The museum
is one of many attractions planned for
visitors to the Boulder dam recreational
area.
Searchlight . . .
This old mining town is scheduled to be
on a paved highway before the winter is
over. The new oil macadam road has been
completed from Las Vegas to ivithin 17
miles of Searchlight, and bids are to be
called on November 1 for the remaining
sector, according to J. M. Murphy, division
engineer for the state highway department.
Ely . . .
As soon as funds are available exploration
work is to be started in a cave in the
Smith creek area east of Fallon under the
direction of M. R. Harrington of Southwest
museum, according to information from the
U. S. Forestry office here. Harrington also
plans to continue excavations at the Lehman
caves when cooperative arrangements can be
made with the national park service.
Reno . . .
Dr. Leon W. Hartman has been named
acting president of the University of Nevada
to serve until a new president is chosen
by the board of regents. The appointment
was announced after Dean Maxwell Adams
asked to be relieved of his duties as acting
president due to ill health.
• • •
NEW MEXICO
Santa Fe . . .
Bad roads cost Santa Fe $142,000 a month
during the tourist season this year, according
to an estimate of the chamber of commerce
highway committee. Of the six road
sectors needing improvement, the committee
listed the 10-mile link in Highway 285 between
Lamy and Kline's corner as the most
serious obstacle to tourist travel to Santa Fe.
Alamogordo . . .
Scientists interested in the white mice
found on the White Sands national monument,
have had difficulty trapping the little
rodents. However, a recent expedition caught
several of them, and they are to be taken
east for a study of their protective coloring.
Santa Fe . . .
An initial grant of $2,500,000 has been
made by the Public Works Administration to
start work on the $8,000,000 Arch Hurley
irrigation project. Work is to be started this
year on construction which will reclaim
45,000 acres of land, it is reported.
Lordsburg . . .
An outgrowth of the Hildago county livestock
show, the New Mexico Livestock and
Fair association has been formed to erect
permanent buildings and conduct the show
annually on a broader basis, it is announced
by George Cureton, president.
• • •
UTAH
Salt Lake City . . .
Asserting that Utah has nothing to gain
and may lose valuable resources if the federal
government creates the proposed Escalante
national monument along the Colorado
river. State Engineer T. H. Humphreys
has aligned himself against the project. Supporting
the park project is the Associated
Civic Clubs of Southern Utah. George L.
Collins, assistant director of the national
park service who is investigating the project,
says it is not the policy of his department
to force the issue.
St. George . . .
Residents of Littlefield, located in the
northwestern corner of Arizona, proposed
recently that the little tip of Mohave county
in which their town is located, be taken
away from Arizona and annexed to Nevada.
They have direct highway connections with
Nevada, but are cut off from the remainder
of their own state by the Virgin river. The
proposed change in state boundaries was
presented at a meeting held in St. George,
Utah, to consider plans for the development
of Virgin river irrigation projects.
Cedar City . . .
Visitors are going to Zion National park
in increasing numbers according to the report
of Superintendent P. P. Patraw. The
register showed 130,670 names on September
1, an increase of 7.77 percent over last
year. Utah led with 38,189 registrations and
California was second with 36,049.
Delta . . .
A desert mystery of long-standing was
solved recently when a party composed of
Charles Kelly, author of several western
books, Frank Beckwith of the Delta Chronicle,
and Roderic Korns of Salt Lake City
found the 90-year-old camp of one of the
parties which made the tragic crossing
across the Death Valley region in 1849. Following
the vague notes contained in the
diary of Henry W. Bigler, one of the members
of the gold-seeking party, the Utah
men discovered the rock on which Bigler
carved his initials. The old campsite is near
the Bowers ranch in Beaver Dam wash.
Beaver...
The pinenut crop in this area is heavy
this year and old-timers say the Indian
axiom that a big crop of nuts means a long
cold winter has never failed. Large quantities
of the nuts have been gathered both for
private and for commercial use.
DESERT WANDERER ON
THIS MONTH'S COVER
Desert Charley, whose home is wherever
he and his burros are camping for the night,
is the subject of this month's cover. The Desert
Magazine is indebted to J. A. Frasher of
the Frasher studio of Pomona, California, for
the following information about this old wanderer:
"He has traveled all over the United States.
We met him first in Death Valley, then
months later he was up in the Sierras. He
charges people for taking pictures of his outfit,
thus picking up the few quarters he needs
foi his meager way of living.
"At one time he made a few hundred dollars,
quite a fortune for him, working in a
moving picture. That gave him beans and
bacon for many months. Also, he purchased a
few more burros.
"He permitted us to take pictures of him in
several different poses. In return, we sent him
a few hundred cards gratis which he sold for
25c or 10c or whatever he could get.
"At one time we received a pitiful letter
from him. Some one had poisoned all but two
of his burros. He wished us to trust him for
a few hundred cards until he could get on his
feet financially again. Eventually he paid us
for the cards.
"About two years ago we met him near Albuquerque.
He had traveled through Colorado
and was on his way to Southern Arizona
where we last heard from him. He then had
four animals. The last information we have
had regarding him came from Phoenix where
he was living in a deserted house and suffering
from rheumatism."
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NICK C. HALL, MANAGER
N O V E M B E R , 1938 39