CHAPTER VIII 

 MINERALS, FLORA AND OTHER THINGS 



Standing at the entrance of the Pass which 

 bores eastward through the Organs the contrast af- 

 forded by the lonely dream of landscape before and 

 the busy mining town behind is not only striking in 

 itself but characteristic of this entire section. 



In strong relief against the intense blue of the 

 sky uncanny desert growths give the foreground 

 the aspect of a huge botanical garden ; and sloping 

 gently valleyward toward the brink of the mesa the 

 high country shows no sign of human life, except 

 that here and there a tiny cloud of dust like a puff 

 of smoke rises into the clear air, betraying the pre- 

 sence of some ore wagon, auto truck or car on its 

 way to or from range or town. Isolated mountains 

 float like turreted and battlemented islets in the 

 emeralds and azures of the valley. To the right the 

 San Andreas range runs northward, while to the 

 left and southward the precipices and porphyry 

 spires of the Organs block the sky line. 



To our rear is another scene. Shacks and houses 

 dot the rising slope to the Pass, and with steam and 

 horse power men are forcing the rocky heart of the 

 mountain to yield her treasures. We stand upon 

 what is in fact part of "the great mineral backbone 

 of the American continent." 



In a state embracing seventy-nine million acres 



