Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 284, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 November 1920 — Desert Is Safe for Travelers [ARTICLE]

Desert Is Safe for Travelers

Government Issues Guide to Springs and WeHs in Salton Sea Region. PROSPECTOR STARTS MOVE United States Geological Survey In Cooperation With Engineering Department of California University Makes Survey of Desert.

Washington.—The repellant though interesting phrase "Great American Desert” was sprawled across a large part of some of the'earlier maps of our western and southwestern territory, and though the area of supposed desert land was thus exaggerated, enough real desert remains to justify targe studies of methods of utilizing it and special studies of its water resources and watering places in order to make journeys across it safe for travelers. Travelers in the desert region of the Southwest must depend for their existence on “water holes" (springs, wellsor natural tanks), many of which are separated from one another by a hard day’s journey with team and wagon. The water holes in most of this region have never been ly mapped or described, no systematic provision has been made for maintaining them, and the roads leading to them have not been marked with substantial and reliable signs, so that travel in the parts of the region that are remote from settlements has been precarious and even perilous. A Pioneer for Safety In the Desert. The movement for the protection of prospectors and travelers on the arid desert plains of his country was begun many years ago by George W. Parsons, a prospector and desert expert of Los Angeles, Cat In 1901 Mr. Parsons made a trip across the desert region of California with Prof. W. L. Watts, state mineralogist, and, on his return, urged upon the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce the necessity of placing guide posts and- of developing water holes in the desert. Mr. Parsons’ work led to an appropriation by congress, as a result of which the United States geological survey, Department of the Interior, in co-operation with the department of engineering of the state of California, surveyed the southern California desert and has recently Issued a report, entitled “Routes to Desert Watering Places in the‘Salton Sea Region, California ” by John S. Brown.

Region Covered by the Report , The region covered by this guide is tn the southwest corner of California and is about one hundred miles hf length and breadth, covering about ten thousand square miles. Its northern limit is the thirty-fourth parallel and its southern is the boundary between the United States and Mexico; Its eastern border is marked by Colorado river, which separates California

and Arizona, and Its western by the meridian of 116 degrees 40 minutes. It therefore Includes Imperial county and the most arid parts of Riverside and San Diego counties. In addition to maps showing the roads and the watering places, the guide contains road logs and brief descriptions of the watering places. For the convenience of travelers coming and going, the logs of nearly all the roads are given In two directions. Ih-

formation and sketch maps are included for certain roads that extend somewhat beyond the northern boundary of the region as defined above, in oraer to connect the routes in this region with watering places beyond its limits. On the other hand, a considerable area In the western part of the region is high and well-watered and the routes In it are given only for certain irregular westward extensions of the desert. The report just published, which is listed as water supply paper 490-A, may be obtained free of charge by applying to the United States Geological Survey, Washington, D. C.