384 Recreations of a Sportsman 



Cortez, as it should be called. If YOU talk with 

 the Indians they will tell you that long ago a 

 big sea came in and filled the basin and swept 

 their tribe back into the furnace-like mountains. 



About fifteen years ago the Indians of the 

 Salton salt works began to grow discontented. 

 Some threw up their work and left, others fol- 

 lowed, and the salt plant was in a fair way to 

 become deserted. The Indians told the white 

 men that once, many years ago, the water had 

 suddenly filled the basin; they had a legend to 

 the effect that it would occur again, and a runner 

 from the great river had told them to flee, that 

 it was coming. 



The white men at the sink paid no attention 

 to this, but the Indians began to leave in greater 

 numbers, and finally the works shut down. It 

 was learned that a mysterious rise of water was 

 taking place in the basin. In a short time the 

 entire area became a sea, and no one could 

 explain why. 



The extraordinary appearance of this sea, cov- 

 ering many square miles, created a profound 

 sensation, and it was believed that the gulf had 

 claimed its own and that a permanent inland 

 sea had been established. The drear mountains 

 of the desert from the railroad now appeared 

 to be standing in the water, and the mirage 

 added to the strangeness of the scene. Indian 

 runners were sent out by the white people, and 



