Back to Grassland

TO THE AVERAGE visitor or new comer in Arizona and indeed in the literature concerning the state, most frequent mention is made of the desert-its unusual flora and fauna, varying moods, and appeal for health and recreation. Closer examination reveals the existence of a vast industry the range land and the smaller areas of highly productive irrigated farm lands. In its true sense Arizona has very little real desert country, since only small portions of the state lying chiefly in the southwest part receive such scanty rainfall that plant life is very sparse and bare soil rather than plant cover dominates the landscape. The real local distinction between desert and range country is determined by the character of the plant cover. If the cover is dominantly one of perennial grass, the area is thought of as true range country. In other words, grass forage is economically very important and may support 20 or more head of cows per section year long if it is properly managed, stock water provided, and rainfall is ample.

fall. In general, a good grass cover could not exist where annual rainfall was less than ten inches. In these areas shrubs, cacti and ephemeral annual grasses were dominant. Where annual rainfall reached 12, 15 inches or more, grass was dominant or "climax" in terms of the plant ecologist. While many areas today are much like they were 75 or 100 years ago, the picture as a whole is quite different. Historical records as well as ecological studies show that true grass-land areas are much smaller today than they were then, while the desert-like shrubbery vegetation has extended its area. There is no indication that the climate has changed during the last hundred years. Periods of drought were common in the early history of Arizona as they are now. So were also seasons of above normal rainfall such as the one in the winter and spring of 1940 1941, when most of the water storage reservoirs in the state were filled. All indications are that many areas changed from grass to shrubs because they were either grazed too heavily year after year or that no allowance was made for years of drought or other adverse conditions. In other words the open range was regarded as an inexhaustible resource which was there for the using and little thought was given to managing it to provide for conservation.With deterioration of grass cover and its replacement by shrubs, other changes took place in the landscape. More soil was laid bare to the action of rain and wind. The plant litter and organic debris, which had built up over the years to protect the valuable top soil and formed a spongy mat which could readily absorb even some of the heavy cloudburst summer rains, was washed away and this was followed by loss of topsoil. Active sheet erosion was thus initiated in areas which were formerly stable and productive. Since less water soaked into the bare, unprotected soils more of it ran off the sloping lands, rushing into lower places such as the alluvial swales which themselves had been stripped of much grass cover in many cases. These were natural places for concentration of water but under virgin conditions they were grassy flats areas changed from grass to shrubs because they were either grazed too heavily year after year or that no allowance was made for years of drought or other adverse conditions. In other words the open range was regarded as an inexhaustible resource which was there for the using and little thought was given to managing it to provide for conservation.

With deterioration of grass cover and its replacement by shrubs, other changes took place in the landscape. More soil was laid bare to the action of rain and wind. The plant litter and organic debris, which had built up over the years to protect the valuable top soil and formed a spongy mat which could readily absorb even some of the heavy cloudburst summer rains, was washed away and this was followed by loss of topsoil. Active sheet erosion was thus initiated in areas which were formerly stable and productive. Since less water soaked into the bare, unprotected soils more of it ran off the sloping lands, rushing into lower places such as the alluvial swales which themselves had been stripped of much grass cover in many cases. These were natural places for concentration of water but under virgin conditions they were grassy flats In this half section of land, grass has again formed a protective cover for the soil; gullies are healed and nearly all of the rainfall soaks into the soil. The surrounding country has little grass, water runs off rapidly, and gullies are eroding.

Or cienegas which spread flood waters and allow ed them to soak in gradually, thus adding to the underground storage. As erosion progressed ugly gullies or arroyos were cut through these fertile bottom lands and run-off water drained away rapidly. The combination of circum stances produced a drought in one place, a flood in another and a loss of stability and produc tivity in both.

Fortunately, not all range areas suffered this abuse and in many others corrective measures were taken before the damage became too serious. Concerted action of ranchers and state and federal agencies during recent years to gether with research work, have shown that by working with nature and by careful manage ment many deteriorated range areas may be returned to grass and productivity. Experience has shown that natural range vegetation responds to good management just as do farm crops that are grown under cultivation. Not alone is the native grass conserved under good management but the returns in forage and beef production are actually greater than under unmanaged use. This factor is particularly important during these times when production must be maintained at a high level.

A small scale example of how a sample of desert-like country has been restored to grass land is illustrated on the Page-Trowbridge Experimental Ranch near Oracle, Arizona. This area had been grazed by sheep and cows since the 1870's and like much other range country, it had suffered from lack of management. In 1920 most of the grass had disappeared, the obnoxious burro-weed and cactus had increased, gullies were formed and from the standpoint of cattle range the area would be considered sub marginal. In 1923 a half section of this land, an old homestead, was taken over by a new comer from Kansas, Mr. Joseph T. Page, who now lives in Tucson at the age of 83 years. Already advanced in years but still in the prime of life as far as thought and activity were con cerned, Mr. Page observed what happened to the rainfall as it fell on the bare soil and con cluded that the sparse stand of grass might increase if more water soaked into the soil and less of it ran off. By digging a small ditch here, plowing a furrow there, diverting water from small gullies to adjacent flat lands he literally forced the water into the soil. The vegetation responded rapidly. Within a period of 18 years a good cover of native grass has returned to the area, making the small ranch a landmark which is visible for miles. It would easily support 20 head of cattle, while a pasture of similar size in the desert-like area outside the fence would provide sustenance for only a few head.

In 1941 the area was acquired by the Uni versity of Arizona to be used as an experimental ranch for studying soil, water and range con servation practices in cooperation with the U.S. Soil Conservation Service. An additional half section of the adjacent overgrazed range was also fenced and is included in the experimental set-up.

Several interesting things have already been demonstrated during the past year. One of them is that both the grass itself and the litter which it produces on the surface of the soil are effective in promoting intake of water into the soil. The best condition exists when the soil is almost completely covered with grass and dead, partially decomposed leaves and stems. The various surface conditions were studied in small plots from which runoff water was collected. During the summer of 1941 58% of the rain which fell on the bare plots ran off or only 42% soaked into the soil. The plots which had a grass cover but no plant litter lost 31% of the rainfall. The plots having both grass cover and plant litter lost only 9% of the rain that fell on it. Another interesting point is that while the plot without plant litter lost only 22% more water, it produced less than half as much forage as did the plot with litter. Apparently an increase of effective rainfall or intake of water into the soil by 22% may double the forage production. Conservation of mois ture is necessary if desirable grasses are to main tain a more or less complete ground cover and furnish maximum forage for grazing. If these grasses are grazed conservatively so that part of each year's growth is allowed to remain for reserve feed and soil protection, those portions of the soil surface not directly covered by plants are fairly well protected by plant debris and litter, which is just as effective as the plants themselves in promoting intake of water and controlling erosion. If, on the other hand, the vegetation is utilized so heavily that plants are grazed nearly to the ground level each year, it is apparent that no mulch or litter will be added to the soil surface, much bare soil will be exposed, and more water will run off during the heavy summer rains. In addition by con tinually over-utilizing these plants, their vigor is decreased, and many of them die during periods of drought. Nature has provided a balance between soil, rainfall, and vegetation. By careful use, man can maintatin this balance and secure dividends now and in years to come.(Continued from Page Five)

ELK--- Arizona's Big Game

They needed a shot in the arm, but they didn't expect it to be the dose of "highlife" they got. Pettis tossed it right in their laps with his opening statement, "How would you boys like to have some elk to put in the hills back of town?"

The game department, he said, would pay the costs of shipping some yearling elk to Holbrook, if the association would furnish transportation the rest of the way. The boys went home in high spirits that night. Now, they had something they could really get to work on. The amount of labor involved was immaterial.

They arranged for trucks and truckers. They built crates for the yearling elk. They fenced off a nice alfalfa pasture and a big stack of fresh hay with a seven-foot, brand new barbed wire fence near Springerville. It was a big event.

It was. When one of the two freight cars arrived at Holbrook it was filled with thirty full grown elk. Instead of one hundred fifty to 200-pound yearling elk, they were twice and three times that big. The truckers called a strike right then and there. A long distance telephone call was put in to Springerville for advice. Before the call could be put through the wire broke down. But the few sportsmen who were on hand were equal to the occasion. One settled the trucker's strike. Another bought more lumber. The crates were enlarged and the elk loaded and the caravan started the trek to Springerville and the little green pasture.

But, the pasture had been fenced for gentle yearlings, not charging, half tons of wild fullgrown elk. It was decided on the spot to take them right up to the area to be restocked and turn the "white elephants" loose.

Twenty-two survived the trip.

But, after their arrival up on the Campbell Blue Range the temperamental beasts didn't want to be turned loose! Every one of the animals had to be roped and dragged out of the crates. The members of the White Mountain Sportsmen's Association waved a glad farewell as the elk charged up the slope of the Blue. Some hay and a hundred pounds of salt were left; the members staggered home wondering if it were going to be worth it.

The other car of twenty-five elk went to Williams. Arrangements hadn't been made to liberate them there, so they went on to Kingman. The people drove out from town that night to see the unloading and turned their car lights on the scene to help and incidentally to see better any possible action that might develop. But the unhappy elk wouldn't come out! Finally some of the members of the local Elk's Lodge went into the car. The animals came out. They did it in such a rush one of the cows was kicked in the head and died later. The herd was kept in the corral until the morning of the fourteenth of February. It was decided to try to herd the twenty-four elks left into the Hualpais, the area to be restocked. The elk-punchers were all mounted and their number included the Exalted Ruler, Stewart Thompson, of the local Elk's Lodge, who was supposed and hoped to be able to exert some degree of influence over the animals.

From the account of an eye-witness, "One cow got into a high lope. 'Stew' gave the Royal Command for her to stop, but she just kited on up the hill."

Today the herd of elk living in the Hualpai Mountains near Kingman numbers over two hundred.

Smaller shipment of elk were made in the late '20's to the San Francisco Mountains, Bill Williams Mountains and the Capitan on the San Carlos Indian Reservation.

In 1935 it was estimated four thousand elk were roaming the mountain ridges. They concentrated in three areas; the Colorado Plateau, the White Mountains, and the Hualpais. Travelers and hunters were hearing the bulls bugling across the canyons in the early fall. Up on the Mogollon Rim between Chevelon and Clear Creek, an area of 300,000 acres and the scene of the first planting, they were becoming so numerous ranchers and stockmen were beginning to complain. In the fall of 1935 it was decided, after a complete survey had been made, to have a regulated hunt in this area of concentration.

One hundred permits were issued. It was the first legal hunting to be done on elk since that day in the fall of 1898 when the last of the native species in Arizona dropped to the butcher's bullet on Mount Ord. There had been some poaching on the restocked elk. In 1922 a group of fourteen had been slaughtered for their teeth alone. A few had been killed for their meat, but this was to be the first of the open season on elk to be held annually from 1935 on.

The hunt was successful. The elk, big, bold, as he is when protected, became exceedingly wary. He is big game! The hunting scattered the concentrated herd. Bunches of them crossed canyons to unpopulated ridges. Gradually, as the elk spread after each open season of controlled elk hunting the margin between the herds became narrower.

New feeding areas, new watering places aided the growing herds. Today the largest, free roaming elk herd in the Southwest, ranges the high rim country of northern Arizona. The original plants made in the Sitgreave Forest, on the Blue, San Francisco Peaks, and Bill Williams Mountain are merging into one great herd of elk. They are roaming the same ridges as did their long gone cousins, the Merriam elk, once native to Arizona.

The state's biggest game animal is here today because a frontier doctor wanted to right the wrong a mentally near-sighted hunter had done his state. They are increasing in number because the revenue from the controlled hunts conducted by the Arizona Game and Fish Commission goes into the Arizona Game and Fish Protection Fund and is used in bettering range conditions, and protection of the herd from natural enemies.

This year, for the second time, an unlimited number of permits will be issued for the elk hunting season which is to be held November first to November thirteenth. It will be just thirty years since Dr. R. N. Looney of Prescott, Arizona, read the article in "Field and Stream," and it proves that three men with a purpose and good game management can do miracles.

Turned out to be that his clothes would not be crowded. He got what he wanted. The two guest rooms at the other end of the house, where late-sleeping guests will not be disturbed by early rising hosts, are comfortable, but not as elaborate as the two master bedrooms. They are reached by a stairway from the front entrance hall. The first room at the top of the stairs is a reproduction of an early American bedroom. The wallpaper is a copy of a pattern found at Mt. Vernon, with wide yellow stripes and small clusters of roses, and the furniture was copied from New England pieces of the Colonial period. The floors are of oak, covered by a blue rug, the curtains are white, and French doors lead to the balcony that overlooks the drive-in court, the stables and rolling hills beyond. No description of Wilshaw ranch would be complete if it failed to include the stables.

They, too, are in California or Monterey ranch style used by Coates. The building, which makes many a home look small, is Ushaped around a central patio court with covered porches which give admission to all stalls for the horses, to the grain storage rooms, shops, and tack room. That last is another man's room with a rough stone hearth, lounging chairs, racks for saddles and bridles, smoking stands and a general air of "sit down and let's talk things over." The tack room opens upon the saddling shed and yard to which horses are brought through special runways outlined by white boards set in sturdy posts.

Back of the stables lie the feeding corrals where Thoroughbred colts cut their teeth by chewing scallops in the white board fence, and beyond these lie the open pastures where mares stand nickering at Mr. and Mrs. Cowlishaw and handsome stallions stand silhouetted against the sky-line as proud and self-conscious as movie stars on a premiere night. That home and those stables are the setting for two transplanted New Yorkers in search of hobbies. They have found so many that it is now necessary to budget time for them all. Mrs. Cowlishaw struggled for years to landscape the extensive patios and gardens, just keep things alive until their roots were es-tablished. But today she constantly snips away with pruning shears to keep back the luxuriant shrubs, vines and trees. Another of her hobbies is taking care of all exterior wood-work. This past May she circled the house as she re-painted all the trim, mixing her own paints, moving her own ladder, and thoroughly happy in splattered overalls.

Mrs. Cowlishaw has always been afraid "I might be relegated to the role of being a housekeeper, kept indoors. So, when we first came, I learned to ride first a horse and then the range, then I took up gardening, painting and Thoroughbreds. I have wanted to be essential to the keeping up of the ranch, not just a housekeeper with shopping lists and menus."

Mr. Cowlishaw has as many hobbies as she. Joe Kane, the foreman they hired while at Circle Z that first winter of madness when they bought the first acres of Wilshaw ranch, is still with the Cowlishaws. Those two have an abundance of duties in order to operate the 35,000-acre ranch. The New Yorker now has so many hobbies that evening finds him content to dine before the hearth, play a game of checkers with Mrs. Cowlishaw, and then nod sleepily over magazine or book. It is a good life, they say, and one filled with a sense of usefulness as the sun rides down the heavens toward an old age which they contemplate with anticipation.

LEE BROTHERS Big Game Hunters

(Continued from Page Thirty-one) The press of the nation saluted that brave, old dog. It was such lion-hearted dogs as she that David Newell, editor of Field and Stream and writer for the Saturday Evening Post, sought from the Lee Brothers for the Matto Grosso hunting party in 1931. That group, led by Alexander Seimel of Russia, planned to hunt tigres in the Brazilian jungles. Six of the Lee hounds went on that trip and helped the hunters bag 18 of the largest tigres ever taken in that country.

But hunting the Mexican tigre is a far more sporty task than going after the fat, sluggish, lazy cats in Brazil. The Mexican variety is smaller, faster, meaner and smarter, says Ernest Lee.

The Mexican tigre ranges from the jungles of central Mexico to the international boundary. They have been taken in Arizona, but they were 200 to 300 miles away from their cus tomary habitat.

They kill and feed on cattle, horses, mules, burros, goats, sheep, and men. Their natural food was the javelina, but so many thousands of those pigs have been killed for their skins, to make gloves and shoes, that the tigres have had to turn to other wild animals or domestic stock. They are so mean that many a peaceful Mexican, walking unarmed on a homeward trail used daily by many to reach their fields, has been jumped and clawed to death by tigres.

"A mountain lion is slinky, mean, and sly, but a tigre is just plain vicious," says Ernest Lee. "The bite of its teeth and the cut of its claws, as the lion in Africa, seems poisonous to men and dogs. None of our guests on hunting trips has ever been clawed, but too many of our hounds have been. A two inch scratch, despite quick first aid treatment, will become infected and the dog will break out with carbuncles for three months afterward.

"The tigre doesn't slap sidewise as does a lion, but downward with a crashing blow. Old killers, which have terrorized entire regions in Mexico for long periods and killed many persons as well as hundreds of domestic animals, are so smart that the best Mexican or American hunters cannot get them.

"You can fool a tigre but once with the tigre horn," he continued. "If an old tigre has never heard one before he will come right up to camp and stalk what he thinks is the female all through the night. If we are lucky, we will bag him next morning. If we fail, there will never be a second time when that old male will answer the tigre horn, no matter how skilfully it is manipulated."

The Lee Brothers had heard for years of hunting tigres in Mexico and of the use of tigrehorns to call them up. Sportsmen had asked them to take them into Mexico on tigre hunt ing parties. Being cautious, the Lee brothers went alone on their first expedition into Mex ico, aided and encouraged by Mexican officials who wanted the creatures cleaned out. They learned from skilled Mexican hunters not only how to hunt the tigres, but how to use the tigrehorn. There are still many parts of Mexico where the horn is an unknown part of tigre hunting equipment. An old steer horn is used. Holes are drilled in it at specific points. The human mouth is applied to one of these holes and one hand is held over the large, open end. The man then kneels so the horn is close to the ground and On dark nights in the jungle eastern sportsmen have sat quietly listening to that tigre horn and, presently, the answering roar from miles away. Then the male "comes toward camp as straight as a fence line, breaking brush and rolling rocks." Repeated periodically through the night, the male can be held close to camp by that simulated female call. Before dawn the hunters have quietly saddled, mounted and set off in the direction of the tigre's last answering call. Immediately the hounds are yapping, barking and baying and the hunt is on.

The Mazatlán region is the chief point in Mexico where the tigre horn is used, but even there some Mexicans doubt its efficiency. It might have cost Dale Lee his life, one night, to prove the value of the horn to a doubting Mexican. They walked into the jungle some distance from camp. Dale handed the Mexican his flashlight and a rifle as he knelt to sound the mating call on the tigre horn. Far away in the velvet, tropical night came the answering call that grew steadily nearer and nearer. The Mexican became frightened, broke into a run and left Dale unarmed and alone. Dale himself began to run as those roars grew closer and next morning the cat's trail was traced on a parallel line line with the shoe prints of the two men.

The tigre has an uncanny intelligence, say the Lee brothers, and if he has ever been hunted before will invariably lead the hounds into country where only a brave hunter will follow and then only slowly. Many times the brothers have at last caught up with their hounds to find several dead as the others continued to battle a tigre cornered on a ledge or in a cave. The tigre also seems to know when either dogs or hunters are off guard, as Dale found out to his sorrow.

With his own vocal organs produces the roars, grunts, and other odd sounds which come from a tigre's throat. The horn amplifies and gives animal tones to the human voice and the position close to the ground carries the sound for miles.

It was a hunting trip arranged for Frederick, H. Prince, New York broker and resident of Marshall, Virginia, and for Sidney W. Fish of California. The dogs filled the air with real music as they picked up a warm trail just before sunset and tore through the Mexican countryside. The hounds treed the tigre in a small, grassy canyon where Dale finally caught up with them. He sent his helper back to hurry on the two sportsmen and began gathering wood, if he should have to hold the tigre in that tree all night. It is traditional for guides to hold the game until the sportsmen can make the kill.

Dale admits he knew better than to set his rifle down out of reach and to turn his back on that tigre in the leaning tree of that narrow canyon. But he did so because he wanted a goodly pile of firewood before the dimming light of day went out altogether. A warning roar came from the tree. The tigre was leaping toward him. Dale shot from the hip and the dogs charged in to protect him. Then the tall grass swallowed tigre and dogs and only the waving swales of it showed where they were. Dale knew he could not wait for Prince and Fish for his dogs were being slashed to ribbons. He finally saw the spotted side of the cat and shot. After a cautious approach he was able to finally kill the tigre.

Clell and Dale Lee are considered better sign cutters and trail finders than most Indians. They are expert shots and take few chances, although their exploits often sound otherwise.

Once when they had Douglas B. Deeks of Toronto, Canada, with them on his first tigre hunt in Mexico the hounds ran a great cat into a cave. Clell, the best shot, went in that cave first, closely followed by Dale who carried the flashlight. The dogs were in ahead of them and the dust stirred up made even the flash's beam useless. They finally beat the dogs back out of the cave so they could have elbow room and sat waiting for the dust to settle. Then they crawled forward, the light holding the glowing coals of the cat's eyes as the cave narrowed so that Clell had to go first and Dale follow after.

"Dad burn your old hide," Clell told the tigre as they inched forward, "if you think you can get past us you're crazy. We got this hole plumb filled up and its us against you."

It was then that he steadied his rifle and shot between those glowing eyes. Their ears ached with the scream of the cat and the sound of the gun in that tiny fissure of the cave.

When they crawled back out, dragging the cat, "Dobie" Deeks was filled with wonder, admiration and envy. He, too, on that same hunting trip, but a few days later crawled into a cave after another tigre. He had a powerful sixshooter, which he felt would be far better to use than a rifle at the close range within the cave. It took four shots for him to kill the tigre and he almost lost his nerve, so weighted were the seconds that crawled by as the cat refused to die.

"You can crawl right up on a tigre in a cave, if you put a light in its face," Ernest Lee says, and he ought to know. "The really bad ones won't go back into the cave, but keep charging out after the dogs. But if the cat will go back in and you wait until it quietens down, you can get right up on him. It is better, even if it does sound more dangerous, than taking chances with the tigre on the outside."

Few of the sportsmen who have gone with the Lee's into Mexico will agree with them on the safety of entering a cave after a tigre. R. R. M. Carpenter, whose wife is Peggy DuPont and who comes from Wilmington, Delaware; Frederick W. Hollander of New York; Michael Axinn, Queensville, Long Island; Fred J. McCormick, world traveler and New Orleans bond salesman; Gordon Guiberson Jr., of Dallas; A. B. and T. L. Freeman, also of New Orleans; Thomas Dolan III of the Pennsylvania coal mining family; and Dr. Marlin W. Heilman of Tarentun, Pa., all have had great sport hunting tigres in Mexico, but not one of them has crawled into a cave before a flashlight in order to make his kill.

But by no means have the hunting expeditions of the Lee Brothers been limited to tigres in Mexico. They have gone into almost every mountain range throughout the southwest for big game. One time they took Major Harry D. Cranston of Pasadena into the Huachuca mountains of Arizona where he used a bow and arrow to kill bears. In fact, it was Major Cranston who, on another trip with the Lee brothers in New Mexico, bagged the number two bear taken on this continent with a bow and arrow. He used a 55-pound bow with steel headed arrows and the bear weighed 600 pounds. Since Lee thinks that old bear must have been 25 years old, but Major Cranston, an industrial engineer, was content to let others guess age he'd set an enviable record. It was the Lee brothers who were sent by New Mexico authorities to clean out the mountain lions on the ranch of Waite Phillips, wealthy oil operator and patron of the Boy Scouts of America. Other hunters had failed where they succeeded, but, modestly, the Lee men say that was because they studied the drifting habits of the cats and the other hunters did not. In any event, they bagged eight lions in six weeks and liked Phillips because he accompanied them on the hardest trips into the roughest country after the worst old outlaws.

But the real celebrities on any of the hunts conducted by the Lee men are their hounds. The best men of family and wealth, position and fame, are quite willing to play second fiddle to those fine hounds that make possible the trophies they have taken home. As was said before, those dogs are so well and widely known that they have been bought by Polish noblemen, shipped to Puerto Rico, Canada, South America, and Mexico.

David Newell, hunter and author, editor and photographer, wrote in the Saturday Evening Post of the achievement of the Lee brothers in breeding the Lee strain of hunting hounds. "Foremost among such trainers (of dogs for hunting deer, lions and tigres) are the Lee Brothers of Arizona," said Newell.

It has taken years of experimentation with all types and strains of dogs for the Lee brothers to develop their present blooded dogs. They can trace the breeding of these hounds back for 55 years, but they have been working out their own strain for only 15 of those years. They began with a strain that was five-eighths bloodhound, crossed with the Southern Red Tick Tree Hounds of Texas. Through the years they found that their best cold trailers, most fierce fighters, and best hunting hounds were three-eighths bloodhound and the remainder the Tick breed from Texas.

These dogs are steady on the trail, easy to train so they will stay off the trails of deer, coyote and foxes and remember only the lions, cougars, tigres, bears or other big game the hunters seek. Even the youngest of the puppies will pick up an old, cold trail and stay on it the very first time they have scented a lion.

The Lee's have tried many a fancy hound strain from the east, introduced into their own strain, but the results have never been satisfactory. When it comes to performance those Lee dogs can stand and deliver. Because they have been trained in dry Arizona where the scents lie lightly on the ground those dogs can be exported anywhere into dry or damp climates and continue their work with what seems doubled skill.

Probably the heroine in any tale about the development of the Lee strain of hounds is Mrs. Ernest Lee, who has "made enough hound bread to build several houses, if it were laid up in bricks, who has nursed those puppies through illnesses, tended the old dogs when they were injured, and crated and shipped, with tears in her eyes, those which have been sold," says her husband.

Fine dogs, the planning of the trips, the excitement of stalking big game, the success of an expedition into new country, and the championship of good sportsmen are the year-around occupation of the Lee Brothers, Big Game Hunters. But in the final analysis all these are but modern expressions of their pioneering, pathfinding, woodsmen's spirit of adventure inherited from the Lees of Virginia.

Meteor Crater

Matching the energy developed by the meteorite when it hit the Arizona desert. In these formulas, the size, weight, and velocity of the projectile are known. In the case of the comethead that dug Meteor Crater, these factors are not known. However, Dr. Elihu Thomson of the General Electric Company, Prof. William F. Magie, head of the Department of Physics of Princeton University, and other distinguished physicists have made a number of calculations. These figures show that the comet-head must weigh about ten million tons, and that the buried meteorite must measure not less than four hundred feet in diameter to have caused a displacement of approximately four hundred million tons of solid rock. It penetrated about twenty-six hundred feet in its slanting course.

Many analyses and assays of the unoxidized meteoric materials have shown an average content of 93.3 per cent of iron and 6.4 per cent of nickel. They also show carbon, phosphorus, sulphur, cobalt, copper, silica, and chlorine, with an important addition of about 4 of an ounce troy of platinum and iridium to a ton avoirdupois of meteoric iron. These analyses and assays were taken from surface fragments. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that each ton of recoverable material, when propertly terated, would yield over $50 per ton in values at present prices. Just what methods of exThe last development work carried on at Meteor Crater was performed by the Meteor Crater Exploration and Mining Company from 1927 to 1931. At this time a well-proportioned working shaft was started at a point eleven hundred feet south of the churn-drill hole, the discovery hole on the south rim, and was managed by capable engineers. A world record for the sinking of a six hundred foot tim-bered shaft was claimed. Plans called for a sixteen hundred foot shaft with an eleven hunDevelopment work progressed satisfactorily down to the six hundred fifty foot level when water broke through the walls. Cement was used in one effort to check the water by forcing a thin solution of mixed sand and cement in specially drilled holes with the hope of filling in the cracks and fissures in the rock formation. Lifting the water six hundred feet or more to the surface by pumps failed due to the destructive elements of fine sand in the water.

In 1932, the Meteor Crater Exploration and Mining Company employed the services of International Geophysics Incorporated to conduct such experiments at the crater that would verify by geophysical tests the meteoric theory as first claimed by the late D. M. Barringer. The Everyday Science and Mechanics, in December, 1932, gives an interesting account of International Geophysics Incorporated's scientific survey at Meteor Crater. Briefly, the reports submitted gave the survey results as follows:

Both definitely checked the indications of the geophysical surveys as to the occurrence, location, and depth of the meteoric material; as well as to the depth to water, and other structural features. Thus ended another expensive and laborious attempt to mine the buried treasure.

STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, CIRCULATION, ETC., REQUIRED BY THE ACTS OF CONGRESS OF AUGUST 24, 1912, AND MARCH 3, 1933

Of Arizona Highways published monthly at Phoenix, Arizona for the year 1942.

Before me, a notary public in and for the State and county aforesaid, personally appeared Raymond Carlson, who, having been duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that he is the editor of the Arizona Highways and that the following is to the best of his knowledge and belief, a true statement of the ownership, management (and if a daily paper, the circulation), etc., of the aforesaid publication for the date shown in the above caption, required by the Act of August 24, 1912, as amended by the Act of March 3, 1933, embodied in section 537, Postal Laws and Regulations, printed on the reverse of this form, to wit:

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 22nd day of September, 1942.