Show vy arx faa F IN DEATH P p ava LI e X y lf l f A w A ff P I 1 V 1 l A 40 p gy teofe w k ityl fw Sif i s A death valley road through h rough F earth arth F once dreaded american deded desert has now JU become the playground 01 prepared by national geographic society washington D C service E w s that the thirteen thirlee 11 N NEWS colonies had become the U united 1 cited states reach pacific coast spaniards till years later barriers of distance and desert were such that even after california joined the union in 1850 it still took weeks to get mail from washington no other state was ever so isolated men hated the desert then and feared the horrors of death from thirst every trail across it was strewn with bones of men and oxen and abandoned wagons now the desert is mans playground planes trains and motors of course have robbed the desert of its dreads now idlers in shorts bright colored pajamas or bathing sus sprawl about these desert pleasure resorts as in death valley and fret if they cant get this or that favorite brand of imported mineral water all within a stones throw of where dying pioneers found not even a mouthful of alkali water the sting has been taken out of death valley completely by modern transport much of it is now a national monument and winter visitors swarm in over new roads lured by its astounding physical geography og raphy you can imagine that here a giant smashed the world to bits baked it then spilled seas of paint over the colossal silent ruin natures emotions range from utmost fury to moods of restful calm stand on dantes view a peak in the black mountains which towers high above the floor of death valley and you can see over rn more re than miles of this weird in incomparable region far to the west is mount whitney highest peak in the united states and below you is the lowest point in north america feet below sea level and up the valley floor there stretches what looks like vast alkali swamps but that is an illusion for it is merely a coloring of the desert all alone with a chipmunk do you live here all alone a traveler asked an old man who sat before an empty hotel in the historic ghost town of ryan me and a chipmunk he said my frienda friend frien dU 11 be out soon so you can see him he always comes to eat at ten and at ten he camel borax and a few other minerals first made death valley a busy place it was then that the famous 20 mule teams hauled the big frei freight 9 ht wagons with a water tank trailer taking weeks on the long rough round trip out to a railroad station on the mojave desert save one or two tiny favored spots where water comes down from the canyons death valley knows no cultivation ti despite sightseeing buses and private motorcars that throng its dusty trails there is still something very significant in the warning signboards sign boards which tell how many miles it is to the next water different indeed its destiny I 1 seems from that of other california deserts crisscrossed criss crossed by mans irrigation ditches once arid regions now gardens maps of barely 30 years ago bore the words colorado desert across what is now imperial county with people if the prehistoric monsters who left their tracks about the salton sea could come back they would find plenty to eat now for this below the sea region has become the nations hothouse years ago a plant explorer for the united states department departs ent of agriculture brought some date suckers from arabia which were planted experimentally at indio in the coa chella valley u P today and the a huge s indus tn groves those iraq sa about w bacdad th much of the the salton dv SS ba and speedboat sea S with aces its da 4 ty here and there ate other er gardens of 0 ast ty y men oua 4 je must h have ave feh the day y they gave such sucha L names as mecca thermal I 1 and J IB I B planes alanes from los fc phoenix tucson andel aid B S down downto this long hot vada from the north t ou gonio gom pass Grotesque tiA ui yc s rolling mi over deserts in in li IA looks like brown bears at aag not far from san corm you may visit the eidl site ji many const construction au action cam colorado river with its miles of tunnels I 1 there once found i a ped about the size of a and coc across the valley men mai ij great hole that will a der the san jacinto the indians before to whites say that t smite mountain growls gai it is a young amiss 8 there are growls tones from along earthquake 1 hs earthquakes now W nd earthquakes occur lere tere ite g block of earth crust slip pa p other along an earth WE eral such faults faulls esteri te mojave desert to offshore E one such slip slig caused causal bj beach earthquake of mardla maw mud and hot water lifs cracks that opened in ui U say NO they a many people 11 ing motion pass acro across which set trees domig hoi isa tanks to swaying ayel w the rocking earth call baat toned roaring sound if a giant could sm secel this region as you lid of a steamer trunk tn 1 43 4 the top off southern iv below it oba would see busiest workshops Ps bartl irta r into the C far deep and triangle rn tria nyle miles faults or fracio frac fr tO run the C b ure in the qua duato kes v are the avs to vast man w on top K hold water wate t for that other great al be decades decade which for M that ou oil which this diore rev ro al CC else has put econ economic amic basis 3 since exciting excite e ea arly bored a 11 na d 0 pioneers mercial quan quanta tit angeles es i 0 limits of los laen J s increased all and d has become 11 of 3 altow celter graphic ce anter oil attract fed y the tl land 01 t As with vl th t eo ent jays days of odolf oil olf esal exec uta hordes or rota rl b SA ceans deiders dr iDerS dreser booi ti rick atsa men rous and truc 1 ers tank bull bug A stock k sal and sul aar i iou sands ana sa bous LELL e fv t e h angeles 0 a d the is Kettle ettle fog e of 04 t a dep ord to odd dd i nee 0 set sight of 0 0 the ca ua oce an GO pull e barbarat at P sea low the en e well has be 0 jes than tr half a an M t t discovery be 18 1 the I 1 I e CO uld very deep d fl aj 5 1 deeper act section es reach given en ningon flun lat boorn boom |