194103-DesertMagazin.. - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

again he would stop and continue eyeing
us. After passing an old boiler or tank,
which was being used as an intermediate
reservoir on the pipeline, the falls suddenly
came into view around the bend.
Manly had mentioned an overhanging
north wall—and there it was, no mistake
about that. The south wall sloped back
somewhat, but was not as parallel to the
north wall as Manly described. However,
the wear and tear of erosion during the
past 91 years could easily account for that
difference. There is no doubt that during
the intervening years the contour of the
falls had changed considerably. Great
amounts of rock and debris have fallen
off the cliffs into the gorge below the falls
and considerable sand and gravel have also
filled in. The upper end of the little ledge
along which the mule crept could be
plainly seen, but the lower end was buried
beneath the debris which had gradually
built up.
Let us see what Manly said about the
falls: "It was a strange wild place. The
north wall of the canyon leaned far over
the channel, overhanging considerably,
while the south wall sloped back about
the same, making the walls nearly parallel,
like a huge crevice descending into the
mountain from above in a sloping direction.
We decided to try to get the confident
little mule over this obstruction. Gathering
all the loose rocks we could and piling
them up against the south wall, beginning
some distance below, putting all those in
the bed of the stream and throwing down
others from narrow shelves above, we
built a sort of inclined plane along the
walls, gradually rising until we were nearly
as high as the crest of the fall. Here was
a narrow shelf scarcely four inches wide
and a space of from twelve to 15 feet to
cross to reach the level of the crest. . . We
fastened the leading line to her and with
one above and one below we thought we
could help her to keep her balance; if she
did not make a misstep on that narrow way
she might get over safely. Without a moment's
hesitation the brave animal tried
the pass. Carefully and steadily she went
along, selecting a place before putting
down a foot, and when she came to the
narrow ledge she leaned gently on the
rope, never making a sudden start or jump,
but cautiously as a cat moved slowly. She
must cross this narrow place over which I
had crept on hands and knees or be dashed
down 50 feet to certain death. When the
worst place was reached she stopped and
hesitated, looking back as well as she
could. I was ahead with the rope, and I
called encouragingly to her and talked to
her a little. . . . She smelled all around
and looked over every inch of the strong
ledge, then took one careful step after another
over the dangerous place . . . Then
another step or two when, calculating the
distance closely, she made a spring and
landed on a smooth bit of rock below that
led up to the highest crest of the precipice,
and safely climbed to the top, safe and
sound above the falls."
And so they got the little mule safely
over the worst obstruction of the entire
trip. The falls today are not as spectacular
as Manly describes them 91 years ago.
Nevertheless we found them interesting.
Brush and plants have grown in the debris
which is piled directly below the falls.
Today most horses and mules would have
little difficulty in working their way around
the falls on the south side.
We believe we identified the smooth bit
of sloping rock to which the little mule
sprang from the narrow ledge; this spot
is just to the left of the end of the ledge.
The 300 feet from the falls to the spring
is filled with willows. Just before reaching
the spring the remains of an old gold
ore stamping mill is seen. This mill was
in operation about 25 years ago, when ore
was hauled in from Middle Park canyon
and Pleasant canyon over a road leading
into Middle park and thence down into
South Park canyon from above.
Said Manly: "Around behind some
rocks only a little distance beyond this
place (referring to the falls) we founc. a
small willow bush and enough good water
for a camp."
The spring now seeps from a shallow
rock cave, which gave evidence of having
been constructed many years ago. Thorndyke's
pipe line runs into this cave and
takes most of the spring water down to
PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST
Closes March 1
Photographers, both amateur
and professional, have until
March 1, 1941, to submit entries
in the Desert Magazine cover
contest announced last month.
Prizes of $15.00 for first and
$10.00 for second, and $3.00 each
for all accepted pictures not
winning prizes, will be paid by
this magazine immediately after
the judging which will take
place March 2.
The contest is limited to desert
pictures, but includes a wide
variety of subjects, preferably
close-ups, of wildflowers, animals,
cacti and other shrubs,
reptiles, Indians, birds—in fact
any subject that belongs essentially
to the desert.
For more complete details of
the contest refer to page 26 in
the February, 1941 issue of the
Desert Magazine. Non-winning
pictures will be returned when
postage is enclosed. Address
sntries to:
COVER CONTEST,
The Desert Magazine
El Centra, California
the mine cabins one mile below. A few
feet above the spring we found the remains
of some old wagons; these remaining
pieces could not possibly have been
parts of the old '49er wagons, because the
wheels were too small and of more modern
design than the early type. It has been suggested
that these old wagon parts were
portions of the wagons used 25 years ago
by the miners who hauled their ore from
Pleasant canyon and Middle Park canyon.
After negotiating the falls, Manly and
Rogers and the mule had no trouble in
reaching the Bennett camp in Death Valley.
Overjoyed at the successful return of
Manly and Rogers, the little group made
plans for the journey to Los Angeles over
the same route the boys had just come in
on. Trouble was expected getting the oxen
down over the falls.
Said Manly: "The first thing Bennett
and Arcane did was to look round and see
the situation at the falls, and see if the
obstacle was enough to stop our progress,
or if we must turn back and look for a
better way. They were in some doubt about
it, but concluded to try and get the animals
over rather than take the time to seek
another pass, which might take a week in
time. We men all went down to the foot
of the falls, and threw out all of the large
rocks, then piled up all the sand we could
scrape together with the shovel, till we had
quite a large pile of material that would
tend to break a fall."
The oxen and the little mule were then
pushed over one at a time and there were
no fatalities as the animals all lit on their
feet in the soft sand—the only damage being
a few cuts and bruises. The little group
proceeded down the canyon until they
came to the dead horses.
From here on their troubles were not of
such a strenuous nature. The route has
been quite definitely determined as crossing
Panamint valley, then up and over the
Argus range and down through Mountain
Springs canyon to some springs in Owens
valley now known as Indian Wells. From
here they worked their way south, following
the old Jayhawkers trail through Red
rock canyon and eventually into Los Angeles
by way of San Fernando valley.
Returning that evening down the canyon
we made our way to the cabin of John
Thorndyke, which he had kindly placed
at our disposal. We were met by the
Clines, Bob Cline having returned from
his day's work at the Molly McGuire gold
mine. They invited us to have dinner that
evening and breakfast the next morning.
Manly and Rogers and the Bennetts and
Arcanes bequeathed to this remote desert
region a fine tradition of courage in the
face of terrifying obstacles.
In their cozy little cabin near the top of
the pass, Bess and Bob Cline have created
an atmosphere of courage and hospitality
worthy of the pioneers who first came
this way.
The DESERT MAGAZINE