LOAFING ALONG DEATH VALLEY TRAILS By WILLIAM CARUTHERS A Personal Narrative of People and Places COPYRIGHT 1951 BY WILLIAM CARUTHERS Printed in the U.S.A. by P-B Press, Inc., Pomona, Calif. Published by Death Valley Publishing Co. Ontario, California DEDICATION To one who, without complaint or previous experience with desert hardships, shared with me the difficult and often dangerous adventures in part recorded in this book, which but for her persistent urging, would never have reached the printed page. She is, of course, my wife—with me in a sense far broader than the words imply: _always—always_. CONTENTS Dedication 5 This Book 9 I A Foretaste of Things to Come 11 II What Caused Death Valley 19 III Aaron and Rosie Winters 25 IV John Searles and His Lake of Ooze 30 V But Where Was God? 35 VI Death Valley Geology 39 VII Indians of the Area 43 VIII Desert Gold. Too Many Fractions 48 IX Romance Strikes the Parson 53 X Greenwater—Last of the Boom Towns 60 XI The Amargosa Country 64 XII A Hovel That Ought To Be a Shrine 82 XIII Sex in Death Valley Country 87 XIV Shoshone Country. Resting Springs 92 XV The Story of Charles Brown 102 XVI Long Man, Short Man 109 XVII Shorty Frank Harris 113 XVIII A Million Dollar Poker Game 125 XIX Death Valley Scotty 130 XX Odd But Interesting Characters 136 XXI Roads. Cracker Box Signs 144 XXII Lost Mines. The Breyfogle and Others 154 XXIII Panamint City. Genial Crooks 164 XXIV Indian George. Legend of the Panamint 171 XXV Ballarat. Ghost Town 175 Index 189 THIS BOOK