fea I >. • - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

Death Valley Helen, Ramblin' Roger, Calamity Kris, Bonna Norris, Calico Kate and Calico Dora pose in group revelry.
The
Reliving A Community From Our Past IV WW%#
Death Valley
Encampment
Text and Photography by Jack C. Whitt
36 November, 1981
Amember of the original 1849
pioneer party described the
silence of the desert as awful.
However, in our noisy existence, many
people count silence as a precious
commodity and a blessing. Entwined,
the desert and silence seem as twin
brothers, united in the purpose of peace.
Sand dunes glimmer blindingly; the
Grapevine Mountains stand in hues of
midday blue, purple and violet;
tamarisk canopies are backlit in the low
autumn sun. The warmth of Death
Valley sunshine soothes the sunquesting
soul.
Supervised by the Death Valley '49er
organization and the Superintendent of
Death Valley National Monument, four
days of activity known as the Death
Valley Encampment attracts thousands
of visitors each November. It's a
festival, and scores of folks have
gathered to celebrate a pioneer heritage
in a below-sea-level trough that sits
between two stark desert mountain
ranges. Choices of activities include an
overnight hike, campfire programs, live
old west and bluegrass music, a fiddlers
contest, chuckwagon meals with guest
speakers, a golf tournament, natural
history tours, pony-drawn covered
wagons, the Death Valley Trail Ride
(horses) and the comical Burro Flapjack
Sweepstakes.
Grown men pull grown burros from
the perimeter of a circle toward a center