Show PEN PICTURE LANDSCAPE A choice section of southern nevada 1 in the ocein ocean burned b bi volcanoes Volta noes anil and blitek blistered ed in bi the sun jun NOM noi the abode of the defiant cutti cacti famil and a rei gold butte nei ne reb feb 21 editor reaper in glancing at the above dating even expert geographers will be at sea as to the whereabouts of gold butte and there are a fe few favored mortals in sevier and plute who are acquainted with the small gang ot of Marys valean exiles temporarily thank the good lord domiciled in this locality and who may be nearly dying to know where we N e are at in order to satisfy the cheever ever ed craving for knowledge on oa thi part of expert geographers and to dissipate the affectionate anxiety of friends who antho in alie seemingly long ago knew us by sight tile the exact location of gold butte butta will be described LOCATION or OF GOLD COLD BUTTE the curious ones may place the point of a pencil on the map where here the rio ilio virgin becomes tile the willing bribe of the file I 1 silvery colorado or in plain or er english the junction of 0 tile the former with tile the latter in southeastern no ne vada of course then thed from the initial point draw a straight line to wards st george utah and stop short at a distance of 20 miles from the aforesaid junction of the virgin and colorado then begin hunting for the tracks ot of pluto plate county exiles the hunter fol 01 tracks should not begin his or her perhaps search for sins ac an altitude of 0 feet or that of marysvale Marys vale he or she as the case may be must drop down of courar 2012 leet feet anc a choice of 0 soo thurn landscape fiill ill surround them the adjective cli choice olce la Is used ad adais is edly not sarcastically because the gold butto butte country coun tri in coln point t of attractiveness tr isas 13 as fir f ir superior to the southern nevada landscape as the portion of plate county is 16 in advance of this loc locality loci lity asa As a foundation to a true collrep tion of 0 this country let the reader imagine the flat bed of a vast inland tend fe frum from this ancient sea goa bottom nearly every vestige of gilt bilt has been removed by ages of occasional rainfall and washed down into the deep and shallow ravines or gullies called washes the iha higher portions of 0 the sea beds are known as mesas and are strewn with beautiful wave smoothed pebbles these sun blistered mesas are entirely destitute ot of vegetation except whore where drifting sands find lodgment and retain sufficient dulst moisture u re to meet the modest requirements of the cletus family that in various arious forms thrives in these arid and treeless wastes MOUNTAIN sl STEMS khero are no continuous ranges of mountains extending over hundreds of miles as in dear old utah on the contrary the mountain system of southern nevada is about as ab irregular and uncertain as the manti to marys vale express short hill like elevations rise ne abruptly from the gravel strewn mesias mesas or alkali flats arid and in a hap haphazard Lazzard way dot the arid and mo with mis misshape grotesque gio tesque forms bleak and barren by custom called mountains As a general rule the mountains are made of limestone either horizontal or sharply tilted and except tor for scattered pinyon pines aro are treeless and except for omnipresent cacti are devoid denoid of shrubs or other vegetation As a necessary sequence springs are few and for between und and creeks are wi as scarce as a arm proverbial hens atelth occasionally a range of mountains will be marked by a maze of sharp black peaks and ragged jagged domes mute witnesses it 11 to the fact that in the long ago fierce volca vo leamo uio fires aided I 1 old sol in making this the cotest country on earth without the slightest the foregoing brief description will give your readers a idea of a typical southern nevada landscape THE IREE FAMILY aside from occasional occa ional scrub pines and cedars the most lotty and dignified of the tb tree family are the mes dies quite me rue screw lat cat claw and live lire oak audgo and to each of these dome dame nature gave a multitude of thorns iri nali fish hooks and brickers pr ickers especially is tins true oe the latchaw cat Lat claw that w nas as never khoan to willingly gly lot let go of anything thing rood good bad or indifferent that gets into its claws the unwary ter ten kerfoot der toot foot while trying to release him belf from the clutch of the average 0 cat will elul liim himell elf vaught by a liko thorns while trying to release his its clothing from the affectionate clutch cluff h of ono one small mall claw and swearing boat N ont help I 1 matters CACTI the catus family is here represent e ei I 1 by every gradd gradation tion from the common prickly pear ot of utah up to the far famed joshua the most common variety is trie toe bayonet cactus and is well named from a single root scores of straight sharp pointed spines ascend to a height 0 of oneto six feet arid and where growing lu in clu clusters present as impenetrable a barrier to man or beast as a regiment of japs with flod fixed bayonets for downright cussedness cussed neBs the corat coral cactus baltus beats any vegetable ego table enemy of man luau ever fashioned by satan and nurtured by mother earth it branches out like d a coral and every arm and twig bears thorns as closely cluster ed as the quills on a porcupine the most grotesque and interesting because of its usefulness in this hot climate is 19 the barrel catus in shape it vs is more like an egg than a barrel ana often attains a height of tour four feet nearly straight thorns about two ii 11 ches che chaslong long cover the pudgy body und and give to it a purely defiant aspect liv by placing a coup leot leof flat rooks ou on the top of a large barrel cactus the frugal prospector has a lawful discovery monument in addition to its thorns toi foi toothpicks the barrel cactus contains from a pint to one gallon of palatable water arid and so tradition says saya has saved many a desert voyager from perishing of thirst however allowe or anyone who attempts to rob a barrel cactus of iti ita water must be pro provided aided with an ax a in order to penetrate its armor of thorns aud and several inches of tough rind A USEFUL last but not least is the barm harmless less and useful joshua Those sentinels of the desert often grow to a height of feet with trunks 6 to 10 inches a diameter occasionally one flails finds d joshua us as straight as an aspen 10 to 1 12 feet high with only a crown of lif liecht lit green spines at the top ordinarily snarled arms project from tho the trunk arid and in ill turn I 1 send out other arms each of which terminates terminate in a t tift of spines I 1 to 12 2 JULIJUS lung ions each season the lower spines of the tufts tuft wither and bend buck back on tile tho arms or doun downward ward on tho the trunk C completely 0 a covering thom with an iuah or two of dead spines that correspond to the bark of a 1 tree the fhe arms and trunks are fibrous and spongy and with nith the resinous spines make e edtl I 1 lout lent campfires camp fires they ure ara found most thrifty in the higher altitudes whore they form gluing covering coverick co veric hundreds of acres and at a distance resemble raa emble scrub ledars cedars continued ne next it week |