The Deserts of Nevada 



485 



men from every part of the globe — 

 prospectors from Alaska, mining en- 

 gineers from London and Africa, busi- 

 ness men from every large city, and the 

 burros, "angels" of the desert, are uni- 

 versally present. There are numerous 

 mines producing ore, some of which is 

 shipped for treatment, some crushed in 

 local "custom" mills, and some by mills 

 controlled and operated by the owners of 

 the mines. (Gasoline is used for power 

 in most cases ; wood retails at $18.00 per 

 cord.) 



Insurance is unknown, regular com- 

 panies declining the risk. On a windy 

 day in July (8th, 1905) a fire was started 

 which destroyed several blocks of tents 

 and buildings. It is a matter of interest 

 that at least one building was saved by 

 using beer to prevent its igniting; the 

 bottles were thrown against the building 

 as modern grenades are used. One week 

 later the town of Columbia was severely 

 damaged by fire, the roaring flames, fly- 

 ing sparks, with pyrotechnic explosions 

 of dynamite, making a scene to be re- 

 membered. 



It is the dustiest vicinity I have seen, 

 and when one of the many "twisters" 

 (cyclones often of no mean proportion) 

 strikes one, he can only "shut up" every- 

 thing about himself and do no breathing 

 until it goes by. 



Provisions are high priced and hay 

 worth 2 cents to 3 cents per pound. 



With the advent of the railroad in 

 Goldfield, and from this point to outlying 

 camps, the means of transportation is 

 varied — for the passenger the modern 

 high-power automobile or the more 

 primitive stage-coach. For freight sup- 

 plies of all kinds for man and beast, 

 traction engines hauling trains of wag- 

 ons, or several coupled wagons drawn by 

 six to eighteen horses or mules, are used. 

 Nowhere in the world can one find 

 greater contrasts than in this region. But 

 a few miles from town one may ride or 

 drive for hours — perhaps days — without 

 meeting a human being, his eyes aching 

 with the brazen glare and the monotony 

 of the billowing hills and mountains, 



which hours of travel seem to bring no 

 nearer. 



THE STONEWAIX FLAT 



From Goldfield the work of mapping 

 takes us to the eastward, away from the 

 auto and freight roads to Bullfrog and 

 the southern camps. Across the Stone- 

 wall flat — a great inclosed valley, with 

 its playa bottom of baked mud as hard 

 and as smooth as concrete and as white 

 as snow — to the Cactus Range, which 

 extends in a northwest-southeast direc- 

 tion, with a rugged rock cone at the north 

 end, known as Cactus Peak, which is a 

 landmark for an area of a thousand 

 square miles. An example of the useless- 

 ness of the maps of the region is here ap- 

 parent ; all these show the Cactus Peak to 

 be to the south of Cactus Spring, which 

 is the first water east of and 25 miles 

 from Goldfield, while in reality the water 

 is eight miles south of the mountain. 

 This spring we find to be high in the 

 range, and in this it is typical. Palatable 

 water is seldom found in the flats or val- 

 leys unless sought by wells of consider- 

 able depth ( 100 to 200 feet) . This range is 

 made up of a series of volcanic flows, and 

 near the Cactus Spring we find a fine ex- 

 ample of basalt or rhyolite, columnar struc- 

 ture, lying like cordwood beside the road. 



The Cactus Range is separated from 

 the Kawich Range by a great valley, like 

 that of Stonewall, long slopes of gravel 

 and drift reaching from the ranges to 

 the flats in the middle, which, as looked 

 upon during the day, swing, rise and fall, 

 in hazy heat waves like the billows of 

 the sea. Toward the north end of the 

 Kawich Range, at the new townsite of 

 Silverbow, we find a stream of running 

 water, and we push on to get above the 

 camp and pitch our tents below the 

 ragged cliffs. 



At Silverbow and vicinity there are 

 several hundred men, a few women, many 

 good prospects, and much hope. The 

 place is about as comfortable as any in 

 the region, but desert prices prevail ; hay 

 is worth $80.00 per ton in bulk and grain 

 $5.00 per sack (of 75 pounds). 



