MOHAVE COUNTY

MOHAVE

It is my pleasure to serve as your guide on an armchair tour of a most re-markable chunk of the Southwestern United States. It is one of the four-teen counties of Arizona, way up there in the northwestern corner, and we call it Mohave. Yes, ma'am, that's spelled with an "h," and not a "j." This is my home country, where the air smells better and the stars shine brighter when I cross the bridge at Topock or pass the middle of Hoover Dam and see a sign reading "Entering Mohave County." It's a big sub-ject, this county of mine, but let me show you some of the things I have seen and enjoved up there-things seen from the back of a horse, from the deck of a roaring speedboat, or from a speeding jet at 30,000 feet. The horseback pace is much more pleasant than the jet's velocity, as I have tried without much success to explain to my fellow passengers as we wing our way from breakfast in London to luncheon in New York and indigestion in Hollywood. So, come along with me, at an easy pace, and we'll see Mohave County. There is a whole lot to see.

13,260 square miles, the atlas says, and that's plenty of room to tuck away quite a few states without crowd-ing things. But, since the census taking people could find only 7,736 people in this second largest county in Ari-zona during the 1960 nose counting, you can see that there is still plenty of room for a person to feel free and uncrowded. Therein lies the charm and fascination of Mohave County in these days of traffic jams and high-pressure living. This is one of America's great recreational spots, where untold thousands get away from it all and enjoy outdoor living without ever getting in each other's way. As we once said about that combination of bass and trout fishing from port and starboard sides of the same boat on Lake Mohave, if that other boat down there a mile or so is crowding you, just mosey down the lake and take over a few more square miles of fishing water for your own. It takes a heap of folks to fill up a 65-mile lake, and we've got another one ten times bigger than that we haven't told you about yet! It was not always thus. In fact, when I was growing up in Kingman, the county seat, I'm sure that we all considered it to be very much a desert town. While the

COUNTY

muddy Colorado rolled by less than thirty miles to the west, it was considered completely worthless; “too thick to drink and too thin to plow” was the standard phrase of the times, as I recall. But suddenly, as if by magic, Big Red was tamed by three huge dams, and Mohave County had three vast desert lakes and miles of swift, clear trout waters linking them. In Kingman the boat be-gan to nudge the family bus out of the garage, and stores began to sell water skis, of all things! The clincher came when a Chamber of Commerce type came up with a slogan that made other Chamber of Commerce types far and near gasp with awe and mutter, “Gee, I wish I had said that.” He rose to his feet and proclaimed “Mohave County-1,000 Miles of Shoreline!” First of all, the thrill of seeing the world's greatest dam grow block by block from the rugged depths of Black Canyon is something few ten-year-old boys were privileged to experience. (If you are a ten-year-old boy, I would advise you to hie yourself out to Glen Canyon, Arizona, right now to see the same drama being unfolded on another stretch of the Colorado.)

Finally, the great dam was completed, and Big Red

It was tamed at last. This was the culmination of the dreams and long struggle of such men as Anson Smith, pioneer newspaper editor and publisher, whose MOHAVE COUNTY MINER has been reporting the county's adven-tures and tragedies since long past the memory of man. We desert dwellers watched with awe and disbelief as the deep blue waters of Lake Mead rose and spread out and grew until they were fifty miles wide and reached 125 miles above the dam far into the depths of the Grand Canyon itself. As a high school senior I fondly recall a summer of work for the Grand Canyon Boulder Dam Tours Company which ran boat trips the length of the lake and past Pierce Ferry into the Canyon. As I look back on those days, little or no money accrued to the bank account from this job, but, those boat trips! What monetary value would you ascribe to a moment when the prow of a 40-foot Chris-Craft cabin cruiser nudges against the sheer wall of a 4,000-foot cliff so that a thirsty passenger can catch a cup of sparkling water from the thin ribbon of Emory Falls? Or those 100-mile moonlight trips from Pierce Ferry through Iceberg Canyon past The Temple showing up as bright as day and through The Mohave County area and the Colorado River was the scene of extensive exploration by Onate, Garces, Whipple, Ives, Powell and Beale. In its varied and oft times violent topography nature hid its treasures in the turmoil terrain of old volcanic action and in the jumbled twistings and heavings of earth movements. The land demanded the utmost from the heartiest of men but its reward was a rich outpouring of precious metals and minerals.

Lake Mead, the world's largest manmade reservoir by volume, is famous for its bass fishing and water sports.

Farthest north point of steamboat travel up the Colorado from Yuma. Capt. Rogers took the Esmeralda up to the Virgin River through notorious rapids.

U.S. 66 leads due west out of forested Flagstaff and the juniper mantled range lands. It swiftly opens out into the rolling plateau grass lands and distant escarpments. Antelope love this sweeping land. Hawks and ravens play in its thermals. Cloud shadows paint the distances. This is the wide open west.

During the same time that our 13 colonies were deep in the Revolutionary War, explorers from Spain were threading through the desert wilderness of the S.W. In 1775, Father Francisco Garces, explored the Black Canyon area naming it the Sierra de Santiago.

More than 275 miles of the Colorado River are backed up behind 3 dams creating a wonderful recreation area with modern facilities servicing great stretches of desert wilderness lakes. Trout, bass and crappie fishing, boating and water sports of all kinds are nationally famous.

State highway 93 leads north out of Congress to cross upland desert country. Bouldered mountains give way to sprawling sky swept vistas. The road climbs up out of great Joshua Forest Flats to the Juniper slopes of the Hualapais. Then reaching higher to cool Ponderosa forest it dips and curves north westerly down to the wide range lands below Kingman. Beyond the fast growing city it swiftly wends its way through savage desert mountains to the magnificent view of Lake Mead and Hoover Dam.

Notes for Photographers

OPPOSITE PAGE "HOOVER DAM-VIEW FROM ARIZONA SIDE" BY CARLOS ELMER. Hoover Dam, as seen from the Arizona side, upstream. This is the first view of Hoover Dam seen by the traveler coming from the Arizona side. It shows the deep blue waters of Lake Mead, a small amount of the dam's upstream face, and the graceful intake towers, seemingly floating in the lake's waters, but actually anchored in bedrock far below the surface. 4x5 Burke & James Press camera; Ektachrome E-3; f.18 at 1/100th sec.; 90mm. Schneider Angulon lens; April; bright sun-picture taken into the sun, some bounce light against dam from water-reflected sunlight. ASA rating 50.

"VIEW OF LAKE HAVASU" BY DICK CARTER. Havasu Lake looking north from a point just above Parker Dam on the Colorado River. This area is easily reached by Highways 72 and 95. 4x5 Linhof camera; Ektachrome; f.to at 1/100th sec.; 135mm. Symmar lens; April; bright day; Norwood 225 meter reading; ASA rating 32.

FOLLOWING PAGES

"TOROWEAP LOOKOUT-GRAND CANYON" BY CARLOS ELMER. At Toroweap Point, Grand Canyon National Monument. This is on the north side of the canyon, southwest of Fredonia, Arizona, and southeast of St. George, Utah. In this view, the camera is looking west, downstream. This is America's great jumping-off point, where that first step is about 3,000 feet straight down! Only a few hundred people see this impressive sight each year in Mohave County's part of the Grand Canyon, where the canyon is deepest and most narrow. The Monument adjoins Grand Canyon National Park on the west, and offers the adventuresome traveler a much different view than that found at the usual visitor spots in the Park. 4x5 Burke & James Press camera; Ektachrome E-1; f.18 at 1/25th sec.; gomm. Schneider Angulon lens; October; hazy bright day; ASA rating 12.

"NEVADA VIEW-DAVIS DAM" BY HUBERT A. LOWMAN. Davis Dam, which forms Lake Mohave, the popular fishing and boating center in Mohave County, rises 200 feet from its foundation and about 138 feet from the river bed. It is located in Pyramid Canyon. 4x5 Brand-17 View camera; Ektachrome E-1; f.20 at 1/10th sec.; 5" Ektar lens; Spring; bright afternoon sunshine; Weston 267; ASA rating 12.

"QUARTERMASTER CANYON" BY JOSEF MUENCH. Quartermaster Viewpoint-on the south side of the Colorado River -is reached by an unimproved road which leaves the Pierce Ferry road to Lake Mead. Here is a wonderful place to see the Colorado River, where the architecture of walls and topping mesas is the familiar one but from a seldom visited angle. 4x5 Linhof camera; Ektachrome; f.20 at 1/10th sec.; 6" Xenar lens; May.

"KATHERINE LANDING-LAKE MOHAVE" BY CARLOS ELMER. Photograph shows Katherine Landing Resort, on the Arizona side of lake Mohave, four miles upstream from Davis Dam and thirty miles west of Kingman. Lake Mohave Resort is an exceptionally complete water sports and recreational area on the lower end of this 65-mile body of fishing water. Facilities include a large modern motel, trailer parks, restaurant, boat service facilities, and airstrip. The National Park Service has also provided picnic areas, a sandy bathing beach. Burke & James Panoram camera; Ektachrome E-2; f.9 at 1/100th sec.; 5" Ross wide-angle lens; November; bright day; ASA rating 32.

"BRIDGE CANYON" BY CARLOS ELMER. Bridge Canyon is a part of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, north of Peach Springs, Arizona. At Bridge Canyon, the Grand Canyon comes closest to U.S. 66, being only about twenty miles north of the highway at Peach Springs. The sometimes steep and rocky road winds over the lands of the Hualapai Indian Reservation. Local inquiry as to directions and road conditions should be made at the tribal headquarters in Peach Springs. This area has special interest, since it is the site of one of the next major dams to be built across the Colorado River. When completed, Bridge Canyon Dam will create a huge lake of unparalelled scenic grandeur, completely within the massive walls of the Grand Canyon. 4x5 Burke & James Press camera; Ektachrome E-1; f.22 at 1/25th sec.; 6" Geortz Aerotar lens; April; bright day; ASA rating 12.

"LAKE HAVASU AT SITE SIX" BY CARLOS ELMER. Site Six resort on Lake Havasu, Arizona side, approximately 25 miles downstream from the crossing of Lake Havasu by U.S. 66 at Topock, Arizona. A major new resort is being constructed on the Arizona side of Lake Havasu at Site Six, location of an Army Air Corps landing field during World War II. McCulloch Motors Corporation of Los Angeles has constructed extensive facilities and shops here for the testing of their Scott line of outboard motors, and has contructed a large trailer park for visiting fishermen and sun-lovers. This is unsurpassed bass fishing and water-skiing country, reached from U.S. 66 by a recently improved and hardsurfaced road. Long-range plans call for a large resort hotel to be built here. Burke & James Panoram camera; Ektachrome E-3; f.11 at 1/100th sec.; 5" Ross wide angle lens; February; bright day; ASA rating 50."

CENTER PANEL

"MOHAVE COUNTY'S SHIP ROCK" BY CARLOS ELMER. Ship Rock, about five miles west of Fredonia, is on the road to Pipe Spring National Monument. The photographer says: "As I tour the nation, I am frequently perplexed and/or amused by various rock formations supposed to take the form of human faces, etc. The native populace invariably takes great pride in these unique attractions but usually I can't summon up enough imagination to determine just what they are seeing in this or that mountain face. Such is surely not the case with Ship Rock, or Battleship Rock or Steamboat Rock, as this formation on the desolate Strip country is called. I invariably leave this site with a feeling of deep awe for the strange workings of Nature's way that has left this huge and perfectly porportioned ocean liner or aircraft carrier in the midst of our desert land, complete with contrasting superstructure and billowing waves. This is surely one of the most amazing sights in the amazing land of Mohave County, Arizona." 485 Burke & James Press camera; Ektachrome E-1; f.11 at 1/25th sec.; 6" Geortz Aerotar (Polaroid filter) lens; October; late afternoon sun; ASA rating 12.

"LAS VEGAS WASH-LAKE MEAD" BY CARLOS ELMER. Scene at Las Vegas Wash, on the western shore of Lake Mead, approximately ten miles above Hoover Dam. Thousands of boats are found on the broad expanses of Lake Mead-first of the big lakes on the Colorado River, and still the granddaddy of them all. Major boat landings are found at Boulder City Beach, Las Vegas Wash, and Overton on the Nevada side, and in Arizona's Bonelli Landing, Temple Bar, and Pierce Ferry. Burke & James Panoram camera; Ektachrome E-3; f.11 at 1/100th sec.; 5" Ross wide-angle lens; September; bright day; ASA rating 64.

"A FISHING SITE SUPREME-WILLOW BEACH" BY DARWIN VAN CAMPEN. Photograph taken at Willow Beach on the Colorado River reached by a four-mile paved road which turns off U.S. 93 about fifteen miles south of Hoover Dam. This is one of the most scenic, easily accessible fishing sites in the state. Standard equipment for a visit to this area should include both a fishing pole and camera-if the fish should happen not to be biting (which is seldom)-there are always plenty of pictures to be taken. (Continued on page thirty-three)"

"NAPOLEON'S TOMB-LAKE MEAD" BY HUBERT A. LOWMAN. This unusual landmark is below Temple Bar, a bass fishing center. The place can be conveniently reached from the campsite at Temple Bar, Arizona. 4x5 Brand-17 View camera; Ektachrome E-1; f.16 at 1/10th sec.; 5" Ektar lens; April hazybright sunshine, mid-morning; Weston 200; ASA rating 12.

"KINGMAN WASH-LAKE MEAD" BY JOSEF MUENCH. Photograph taken at the mouth of Kingman Wash on Lake Mead, Arizona. The Paint Pots glow with color, the water and sky are blue and it is a strange and wonderful world, a fascinating and weird desert world of shimmering form and hue 4x5 Graphic View camera; Ektachrome; f.11 at 1/25th sec.; 6" Ektar lens; May.

Notes for Photographers, cont.

This part of the Colorado below Hoover Dam is famous for its fine trout fishing. 4x5 Crown Graphic camera; Ektachrome; f.25 at 1/25th sec.; 127mm. Ektar lens; April; bright sunlight; Weston Meter 350; ASA rating 50.

"GREEN FIELDS OF THE BIG SANDY VALLEY" BY CARLOS ELMER. Photograph taken in the valley of the Big Sandy River, on State Highway 93, just south of Wikieup, Arizona. The Big Sandy Valley, southeast of Kingman, is one of the county's rare patches of green farmlands and huge trees. This has long been a favorite produce-raising area for excellent fruits and vegetables that are sold in the markets at Kingman. Formerly isolated by poor roads, the valley has been visited by huge numbers of tourists in recent years as Highway 93 has been improved to form a major north-south artery from Phoenix to the lake regions of Mohave County. 4x5 Burke & James Press camera; Ektachrome E-3; f.22 at 1/50th sec.; 90mm. Schneider Angulon lens; September; bright day; ASA rating 50.

"ALONG THE VIRGIN RIVER NEAR LITTLEFIELD" BY CARLOS ELMER. Photograph taken at Littlefield, Arizona, on U.S. 91. The tourist hurrying from Las Vegas, Nevada, to St. George, Utah, on U.S. 91 passes through a small portion of Mohave County at Littlefield. This old farming community along the Virgin River is another one of the county's isolated patches of green fields and lofty trees. 4x5 Burke & James Press camera; Ektachrome E-3; f.18 at 1/100th sec.; 6" Geortz Aerotar lens; July; bright day; ASA rating 50.

"LONELY ROAD NORTH OF KINGMAN" BY DARWIN VAN CAMPEN. Photograph taken along an unmarked side road near the Grand Wash Cliffs area north of Kingman and Hackberry. 4x5 Graphic View II camera; Ektachrome; f.28 at 1/10th sec.; 210mm. Symmar lens; late April; lightly overcast sky; Weston Meter 200; ASA rating 40.

"MOHAVE LANDSCAPE" BY JOSEF MUENCH. One of the Yuccas, leaning in the wind, still brings out a spring blossom among the sharp leaves on a broad landscape north of Kingman. Here is the broad-leaved Yucca with Creosote bushes as neighbors. 4x5 Graphic View camera; Ektachrome; f.22 at 1/10th sec.; 6" Xenar; May.

"OATMAN COUNTRY" BY CARLOS ELMER. One mile east of Oatman, from a point on old U.S. 66. The photographer says: "I have always thought that the Black Mountains of western Mohave County show all the colors of the rainbow except black! They are rugged, jumbled and covered with the evidences of intensive mining activity in years gone by. This was one of the world's great gold mining areas, and the town of Oatman was its capital city. The friendly little winding road goes off throughthe hills to Lake Mohave and Bullhead City, down on the Colorado River." 4x5 Burke & James Press camera; Ektachrome E-1; f.14 at 1/25th sec.; 6" Geortz Aerotar lens; February; late afternoon sun; ASA rating 12.

"WOLF HOLE, ARIZONA" BY CARLOS ELMER. At the site of Wolf Hole on the Arizona Strip, midway between Mount Trumbull, Arizona, and St. George, Utah. This is really "wide, open country" of the Arizona Strip, where distances are vast and traffic jams are rare indeed. While a few people have at various times resided at Wolf Hole, it was only a corral and water tank when this picture was made. However, it still shows up on the road maps, and forms a fascinating addition to the collection of Arizona place names. Kodak Medalist II camera; Ansco Color; f.11 at 1/100th sec.; 100mm. Kodak Ektar lens; October; bright day; ASA rating 32.

"COLORADO RIVER NEAR TOPOCK CROSSING" BY CARLOS ELMER. Photograph taken near Topock, Arizona. Where U.S. 66 crosses the Colorado at Topock, the river has slowed down in the upper reaches of Lake Havasu. This view, looking downstream, shows The Needles, a famous mountain formation that gave its name to the city of Needles, California, about fifteen miles up the river from this point. This area not only provides excellent warm water fishing, but is also an outstanding water fowl hunting center. A large marina is being constructed some three miles upstream from Topock on the California side, and this area is expected to become one of the river's leading recreational spots. 4x5 Burke & James Press camera; Ektachrome; f.11 at 1/20th sec.; 6" Goertz Aerotar lens; bright April day.

"SPRING-BLACK MOUNTAINS" BY JOSEF MUENCH. This scene is in the Black Mountains of Mohave County, a rugged, highly mineralized range near Oatman. Here lupines and poppies fraternize along a lonely road with spring all about them. 4x5 Linhof camera; Ektachrome; f.16 at 1/25th sec.; 5¾" Xenar lens; late April.

OPPOSITE PAGE "VIEW FROM HUALAPAI PEAK" BY CARLOS ELMER. View from Hualapai Peak, atop the Hualapai Mountains, fifteen miles southeast of Kingman. Aptly named "Alps in the Desert," the Hualapais permit the weary traveler to escape from the desert's heat and enter the realm of pine trees and cool mountain air in only a few minutes. Besides a private lodge and restaurant with its own trout lake, there are numerous rustic housekeeping cabins owned by Mohave County and rented to visitors. Excellent camping and picnic facilities, hiking trails, and scenic views galore make the Hualapai Mountains (Hualapai Peak, 8420 ft. elevation) a special treat. 4x5 Burke & James Press camera; Ektachrome E-1; f.16 at 1/25th sec.; 6" Geortz Aerotar lens; July; bright day; ASA rating 12. Range offers wide photo possibilities.

Boulder Canyon to home port. Ah, wonderful youth! Then came Parker Dam, and the clear waters of Lake Havasu backed up past the crossing of U.S. 66 at Topock to form a great warm-water fishing center and water fowl hunting area in the marshes north of Topock. Final-ly, there was Davis Dam, just thirty miles west of King-man, forming Lake Mohave, the fairest jewel of them all. Here is the foremost water sports area of the Southwest, featuring warm-water largemouth bass fishing in the lower part of the lake near the dam, and fighting rain-bow trout in the upper reaches of the lake near Hoover Dam.

The story is not complete, for someday we will see another great dam rise on the Colorado above Lake Mead, and a fourth major lake will be formed in Mohave Coun-ty. This will be Bridge Canyon Dam, to be located north of Peach Springs in the rugged rugged depths of the Grand Can-yon. The setting will be by far far the most spectacular of all the dams on the Colorado, and this will be a Mohave County production completely, since both sides of the dam will be in this county.

When Bridge Canyon Dam is completed, a new and direct route should be opened into Mohave County's isolated Strip, that portion of the county which lies north of the Grand Canyon. This is truly the wide, open spaces, whose huge canyons and broad plateaus are seen by only a handful of travelers each year.

Now that we've broken off the five or six thousand square mile Strip for separate consideration, we've still got a sizeable subject in the main portion of Mohave County south of the Canyon. Since Kingman is the hub of a circle that covers all parts of this southern portion of the county, we'll make this our base for a series of tours that will touch the highlights of this sun-drenched region of fun and scenery.

TOUR NO. 1-145 MILES

KINGMAN-OATMAN-LAKE HAVASU-YUCCA-KINGMAN

On this trip we visit one of the West's greatest gold camps and a broad desert lake busy with the boats of water skiers and fishermen.

Leaving Kingman west on U.S. 66, the road to Oatman (the old routing of U.S. 66) branches right at five miles. This route goes across the broad Sacramento Valley with its stands of yucca and ocotillo and then begins to climb into the Black Mountains. Just beyond the summit at Sitgreaves Pass is a viewpoint with a fine overlook of the Colorado River and surrounding desert.

These mountains are honeycombed with tunnels and shafts that show the extent of prospecting and mining work performed in the region. The first settlement found after beginning a descent from the summit is Goldroad, which I can recall as a very busy gold camp well into the 1940s and as the site of a hairpin turn in the highway that was the despair of all truck drivers and bus operators before U.S. 66 was realigned through Yucca. Today, only memories remain at Goldroad-all else is gone.

Not so at Oatman, however, just a few more miles down the winding highway. This was once a booming town of several thousand people living among the shafts and mills and tailing ponds of the big mines, such as the United Eastern and the Tom Reed, and the myriad small diggings that dot the hills. Oatman is a quiet town these days, and you won't be bothered by traffic noise as you walk down the board sidewalks and photograph the old buildings. There are still quite a few nice folk in Oatman, however, and if you stop in at the store for a bottle of pop, you'll probably be asked to sign the guest register and you might get to hear a few stories about Oatman in its heyday.

The paved road continues southwest through Oatman and past Boundary Cone, a famous landmark since the earliest days of the region's exploration. This is an area with fine stands of cholla cactus, which are especially interesting when given a halo effect by backlighting. Watch your step, though, for there just isn't anything stickier than cholla.

The Colorado River and Topock are reached twenty-three miles from Oatman. The thick brush and marshes in this part of Lake Havasu are fine spots for duck and wild goose hunting, and there's plenty of bass in there, too.

At Topock, the route turns back towards Kingman Ford Country When the Ford Motor Company decided to build a new proving ground for hot weather automotive testing work, a long list of factors was evaluated. The best answer turned out to be Yucca, Arizona, just 25 miles southwest of Kingman on U. S. 66, but the facility turned out to be much more useful than first planned.

The Ford Proving Ground now carries on a year-around program of engineering testing and evaluation that supplements the test work performed at Dearborn and Romeo, Michigan. Much non-desert type testing work regularly performed at the eastern proving grounds ends up at Yucca during the winter months when the Michigan facilities are hampered by bad weather.

The main headquarters area of the Proving Ground includes a precision 5-mile oval track that permits high neutral speeds on the curves, and complete laboratories and shops. Desert roads on the property are used for dust and rough road testing, while a vast network of high-ways and secondary roads in Mohave County provides a wide variety of test grades and road conditions within a radius of 50 miles.

Operating personnel live in Kingman, forming a welcome addition to the makeup of that community, whose members are glad they live in Ford Country.

On U.S. 66 for nine miles before branching right on the road to Site Six and Lake Havasu. This good desert road, now being realigned and improved, leads through twentyone miles of desert and foothills before reaching Lake Havasu Air Park at Site Six. This location served as an auxiliary landing field and rest camp for Army Air Corps personnel during World War II, when a large aerial gunnery school was located at Kingman. It is now owned by McCulloch Motors, who operate here a test center and proving ground for their line of Scott outboard motors. Many people fly here for boating, fishing, and the very popular sport of water skiing. Good overnight accommodations and meals are now available, and this facility is scheduled for rapid expansion into a full-fledged luxury resort.

The return route rejoins U.S. 66 and continues past the Ford Motor Company Arizona Proving Ground at Yucca to Kingman. This has been a busy one-day trip, or could be a leisurely two-day journey with an overnight stop at Site Six. The trip is especially delightful when the flowers of spring carpet the rocky hills around Goldroad and Oatman, and the foothills of the Mohave Mountains near Site Six.

TRIP NO. 2-28 MILES KINGMAN-HUALAPAI MOUNTAIN PARK-KINGMAN

I grew up in a desert town, but I spent every summer in the cool pines and traveled only fourteen miles to do it! For more than thirty years we have enjoyed our cabin in the Hualapai Mountains just southeast of Kingman, and many more people are now discovering the delights of this range aptly described by Martin Litton as "Alps in the Desert."

The road is now paved all the way, and is so improved that we oldtimers consider it a real boulevard. It actually does have a few more curves and grades than the Hollywood Freeway, but it's easy to get up to the top from Kingman in a half hour or less.

The road to the park branches off from State Highway 93 (the road to Phoenix) just a half mile south of the junction of 93 and U.S. 66. A climb of more than

Our Friends, the Hualapais

Mohave County's principal tribe of Indians bears the same name as the lofty pine-covered mountains that rise just southeast of Kingman. The pronounciation is "WALL-A-PIE," and the spellings of the name are numerous one learned student came up with a list of more than thirty ways to spell it!

The huge expanses of the Hualapai Reservation are split about evenly between Mohave and Coconino counties, and tribal headquarters are located in the town of Peach Springs, fifty miles east of Kingman on U.S. 66. While the Hualapais are members of the Yuman family, and thus are related to the Mohave, Yuma, and Havasupai tribes, they have always preferred to live in the high country, including the Hualapai Mountains and the 4,000to 5,000-foot piñon tree areas around Peach Springs. Nearly a century ago, during one unfortunate episode in the history of dealings between the United States Government and the Indians, the Hualapai Tribe was forced to move from the high country and take up residence in the lowlands along the Colorado River. After suffering great hardships there, they finally escaped the region in defiance of the Army and returned to their old homelands.

During my youth, the Hualapai women living around Kingman did a considerable amount of basket weaving. These items were usually sold near the Harvey House, where passengers from all of the Santa Fe trains would eat their meals in the days prior to dining cars. After the Harvey House closed its doors, the art of basket weaving among the Hualapais also seemed to disappear, so that today, few native craft items are produced by this tribe.

The Hualapais run some cattle on their vast rangelands, and the tribe has operated a sawmill at Frazier Well, on the road to Supai. A number of the men work for the Santa Fe, and there is considerable tourist trade from the visitors who pass through Peach Springs on U.S. 66.

Peach Springs and the Hualapai people have one prospect in their future that could make the region grow beyond all expectations. As a glance at a map of Arizona will show, the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River comes closest to U.S. 66 at Peach Springs, where it is only some twenty miles north of the highway. At that point is located Bridge Canyon, which is the site of the next major high dam to be constructed on the Colorado River. The years of construction activity will naturally make a great impression on the area, but the real payoff will come in the long run, as the newly formed lake in the Grand Canyon becomes one of the nation's prime recreational areas. When that takes place, we hope that our friends, the Hualapais, will share fully in the new activity and prosperity that will come to their beautiful and lonely land.

At 2,500 feet is made in fourteen miles, as the route goes from desert to cedars and finally into the pine forest. The park is owned and administered by Mohave County. A resident custodian is on hand at the summit to rent cabins and provide information on the picnic and camping areas. The cabins were constructed during the 1930s by members of a CCC camp and are rustic but comfortable. Cabin users provide their own bedding and cooking utensils-the cabins contain gas stoves and refrigerators. Numerous grills, tables, and water outlets are provided in the picnic and camping areas scattered through the trees.

Pine Lake Lodge, one mile beyond the park, serves meals and offers overnight accommodations. The lake is located another mile beyond the lodge and is a private fishing pond, with no license required. Numerous private cabins are scattered through this pine-covered area. While a quick side trip to the Hualapais is most appreciated during the summer months, it is a delightful short trip at any time of the year. The more ambitious members of the family can hike right up to the top of 8,420-foot Hualapai Peak, while Pop just sits under a pine tree and listens to the wind whistle through the needles. If you're lucky, you may experience one of those quick summer showers that drums on the cabin roof and then goes on its merry way, leaving the mountains smelling all washed off and fresh. Our cabin used to have a tin roof, and that sound effect is one that will linger in the memory for a long time to come.

There's only one more bit of information for the person looking for the Hualapais. The name is pronounced "Wall-a-Pie," after the Indian tribe of the same name that lives in Mohave County. I hope I'll see you in my favorite mountains!

TRIP NO. 3-282 MILES KINGMAN-GHOST TOWNS-LAKE MEAD-HOOVER DAMDAVIS DAM-KINGMAN This loop trip can be made in one day, but I would recommend an afternoon departure from Kingman with a pleasant overnight stop on Lake Mead at Temple Bar. The route leaves northwest from Kingman on U.S. 93, with an initial stop for luncheon at Christmas Tree Inn, Santa Claus, Arizona, just fourteen miles up the road. With a slab of Kris-Kringle Rum Pie under the belt, exploration looks like more fun!

Just seven miles beyond Santa Claus is the turnoff to Chloride, a famous lead-silver-zine mining town in the Cerbat Mountains. I suggest that you make the 4-mile side trip from U.S. 93 to see Chloride, one of the county's less heavily populated mining centers. As in the case of Oatman, there are some mighty nice people who enjoy calling Chloride home, and they're glad to welcome visitors to the Cerbats.

Another twelve miles of travel up U.S. 93 brings us to a side road marked "Pierce Ferry" and "Joshua Forest." I recommend that you travel at least ten miles up this graded desert road into the center of the finest stand of Joshua trees in the Southwest. You will be surprised at the height of these trees as compared to those you may have previously seen in California, Nevada, or other parts of Arizona. If you are so fortunate as to arrive in the spring when blossoms appear on the trees, the Joshua forest will be a sea of white. As in several other parts of Mohave County, this area has recently been developed into home sites, and we are welcoming many new residents to our desert each week.

As the slope of the land changes from the Sacramento Valley to the Detrital Valley leading towards Lake Mead, we approach White Hills, a true ghost town. This silver camp was once the county seat of Mohave County, and boasted a population of at least 3,000. It is now completely deserted, with only a few weathered shacks and ruins of the stamp mill to mark its resting spot.

Another stretch of ten miles on U.S. 93 brings us to the paved road leading to Bonelli Landing and Temple Bar, on Lake Mead. If you've been ghost towning for most of the afternoon, long shadows will be stretching across the desert as you head down Detrital Wash to-wards the lake. The mountains will start to pick up pink and purple colors, and you will feel sorry for the person who assured you that the desert was a bleak and colorless

Bullhead City on the Silvery Colorado

Come September, something exciting takes place at Bullhead City, Arizona. The population of Mohave County's second largest community suddenly spurts upward from its norm of several hundred to a figure of several thousand as sun lovers from all over the nation stream in to take up winter residence alongside the clear, cold waters of the Colorado River.

Bullhead was a construction boom town during the years that Davis Dam was being built. In those days the dam, itself, took the name Bull-head from a large rock formation near the damsite, which had the appear. ance of the head of a bull. Since the government constructed another town a couple of miles north of Bullhead City to house its permanent operating crew for the project. most folks assumed that the construction camp would fade away as the builders left.

However, they reckoned without three factors that have made Bullhead City a boom town all over again. First, the winter climate in these low-lying Colorado River bottom lands (elevation about 600 feet) is one of the best in the nation. Secondly, the waters that come through the Davis Dam powerplant from Lake Mohave are crystal clear and cold, just right for the rainbow trout that abound in the waters that flow past Bullhead City. Finally, and most important of all, I think, the good folks of Bullhead City were uncommonly determined to make something of their town.

At the risk of spinning a few fish stories, I think this second factor deserves bit of amplification. As I can easily recall, this part of the Colorado River was far from being trout water in the days before "Big Red" was harnessed by dams. We used to drive down to the river for a bit of catfishing in the sloughs by the Soto Ranch, south of the present site of Bullhead City, but we never imagined that those warm, muddy waters would someday be transformed into a great trout stream.

The rainbows are now reared in a large new hatchery at Willow Beach, near the upper end of Lake Mohave, and regular plants are made in the swiftly flowing river waters below Davis Dam. For years anglers have been happily bringing in their limits of nice, ordinary rainbows, and the word spread that this was a mighty fine place to wet a line. But suddenly one day about three years ago a teenager from California hauled in a 10-pound trout, only to be followed a week later by another winter visitor who netted two fish this size in one morning! No one can explain this sudden appearance of the big ones, but this stretch of the river has been a mecca for trout fishermen since then. If the Bullhead City resident should get his fill of trout fishing, he can enjoy a nice day of warm-water fishing for large-mouth bass at Lake Mohave Resort at Katherine Landing. just four miles above Davis Dam. Then a scenic cruise up Lake Mohave from the bass fishing waters leads to more trout fishing in the cold upper reaches of that lake by Willow Beach.

Most of the town's winter visitors bring their own mobile homes, although an increasing number of cottages and motel units are becoming available for those who have not yet joined the ranks of trailer owners. Many people who brought trailers to the area for several winters are now building pleasant homes in the town or in one of the new land developments that have opened up south of Bullhead City near the Big Bend area. Bullhead City serves as a complete shopping center for all of these areas, and offers services and facilities geared to its peak winter population.

Just before Christmas each year, the spirit of the people of Bullhead City is shown in the organization and presentation of a spectacular Water Lane Parade, featuring beautifully decorated and illuminated boats which float down the dark waters of the Colorado past the town. There is always some globetrotter present who claims that the people in Venice do it better with their gondolas, but we doubt it. They just wouldn't have that Bullhead City touch.

land. You will arrive at Temple Bar with its complete facilities in time for dinner and a good night's rest, or you might have time to squeeze in a boat trip or a little fishing. Remember, there is never a closed season on fish-ing the Colorado River and its lakes.

With morning and return to the highway, you have but four miles of travel before the next turnoff, the 4-mile paved road down to Willow Beach and the upper reaches of Lake Mohave. This is trout water, temperature 52° as it comes from the turbines of Hoover Dam, and the rainbows are not only stocked in these waters but are raised here in a huge new hatchery that serves all trout waters on the Colorado River. Willow Beach offers food services, overnight accommodations, and an excellent new picnic area and campground.

After return to the highway you travel fifteen miles to reach Hoover Dam, the number one tourist attraction in the nation. The guided tour of the dam and power plant is always a lot of fun for all members of the family, and the fisherman in the family can look over the up-stream face of the dam at the shadowy figures of some rather tremendous bass that seem to know they're safe so long as they stay close to the dam. At the Lake Mead Observation Point a couple of miles into Nevada, one first obtains an impression of the tremendous amount of water that has been impounded by the dam. Far below, hundreds of boats dot the surface of the lake at the Boul-der City Boat Landing, and dozens of boats dart back and forth across the lake. The bright colors of the paint pots at the foot of Fortification Hill can be seen on the Arizona side, and, below the point, orderly ranks of power transmission towers march across the desert.

A visit to the government town of Boulder City gives a good picture of the miracle of water applied to a desert land. The lawns and trees would do credit to anyone's home town, and it's a nice place for a leisurely luncheon, sightseeing, or a viewing of the free government motion picture that shows how the dam was con-structed and shows detailed progress from the beginning.

The junction with U.S. 95 is four miles west of Boulder City, and your route heads south towards Davis Dam. You can satisfy that urge to pull a few slot machine handles when you reach Searchlight, Nevada, thirty-six miles from the junction, and Davis Dam is just forty miles beyond Searchlight.The tour of the Davis Dam power plant is of the selfguiding type, and I enjoy it even more than the formal lecture tour at Hoover Dam. While this project is overshadowed by its huge neighbor upstream, it is no small undertaking, as the visitor realizes when he enters the automatic elevator to begin his tour and finds that he will go down thirteen floors to the power plant level.

The tour of the Davis Dam power plant is of the selfguiding type, and I enjoy it even more than the formal lecture tour at Hoover Dam. While this project is overshadowed by its huge neighbor upstream, it is no small undertaking, as the visitor realizes when he enters the automatic elevator to begin his tour and finds that he will go down thirteen floors to the power plant level.

On the eastern side of Davis Dam a paved turnoff leads four miles north to Lake Mohave Resort at Katherine Wash, the major recreational center on Lake Mohave. Katherine Landing features a beautiful new motel, trailer and picnic areas, swimming beach, extensive boat

Chloride; wide-awake ghost town

When my color picture of Chloride, Arizona, appeared in the August, 1960 ghost town issue of ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, a citizen of that community promptly took pen in hand to protest that Chloride was very much alive and definitely not a ghost town.

It turns out we were both correct. On the one hand, this historic mining camp offers the visitor a fascinating array of old mining shafts, tunnels, and mills that show how determined hard-rock miners wrested many millions of dollars of silver, lead, and zinc from the nearby Cerbat Mountains. To an ever-increasing number of new residents, however, Chloride has become home in recent years. The reason for this about face is found primarily in the region's weather data, as numerous retired folks have discovered that Chloride boasts one of the nation's most ideal climates for year-around living.

Just twenty-four miles north of the county seat at Kingman, Chloride is nearly 700 feet higher than Kingman at 4,009 feet elevation. Summer days are cooler, yet the winter sun is warm and snow rarely appears in Chloride. This is the land of clear skies, unlimited visibility, and fresh air.

Chloride in its heyday was a bustling boomtown of 2,000 persons, and even had a branch railroad line connecting it to the Santa Fe mainline near Kingman. Dozens of famous mines surround the town, and the biggest producer, the Tennessee, is right at the end of the street where the town runs up against the face of the Cerbat range. Another famous property was the Emerald Isle, a few miles south of town, on the dirt road that led on to other important camps in the Cerbat Mountains, such as Mineral Park and Cerbat, both former county seats of Mohave County. I can still recall vividly the beautiful blue-green samples of rich ore from the Emerald Isle when that mine was operating at capacity.

Mining isn't completely dead in the Chloride region, and there are many grizzled hard-rock prospectors who will assure you that more millions still wait underground for the mining. However, today's big bonanza seems to lie in the new residents who are arriving in increasing numbers to enjoy the kind of peaceful life that is found only in the desert. One of the largest of the new developments, Lake Mohave Ranchos, lies some twenty miles north of Chloride. Dozens of new homes have been constructed in this area during the past year, and a busload of Lake Mohave Ranchos children comes to Chloride each school day, adding still further to the new look of activity and excitement in the town.

With Kingman as a base, a very interesting 104-mile loop trip can be made to Chloride, the Joshua tree forest by Lake Mohave Ranchos, and back around the eastern side of the Cerbat Mountains. This trip takes one through the vast expanses of the Detrital Valley near Chloride, and the Hualapai Valley and Red Lake on the east.

If your busy schedule does not permit loop trips, you can still enjoy a visit to Chloride by merely turning off U.S. 93, the highway from Kingman to Hoover Dam, and traveling the four miles of paved highway that is designated State Highway 62. As you approach the town, you will find it dominated by the towering Cerbat Mountains, topped by 6,978-foot Cherum Peak, named for a chief of the Hualapai Indian tribe who figured prominently in the troubled history of those people more than eighty years ago.

When you get out of your car in Chloride you will find a lot of Arizona history wrapped up in those silent mines and old buildings. And you will also find a bunch of mighty fine folks who are enjoying life to the hilt in a town that is catching its second breath. Viva Chloridel

Mineral collecting in Mohave County

It has been said that Arizona is a mineral collector's paradise. That is true. However, that does not mean that one may casually and without much effort find marvelous specimens and beautiful gems. They are not to be had, except by rare good fortune, without some thought and a little bit of hard work.

A true collector will not regard the study, hiking, climbing, packing, cleaning and cataloging as hard work, anyway. It is fun and healthful exercise. Mineral collecting is also educational and a part of the cultural pattern of the American West.

Mohave County is well-known for its great variety of mineral species, including several gemstones. Its mines have produced chiefly gold and silver and the base metals copper, lead and zinc. Lesser amounts of tungsten, feldspar and rare-earths are produced when markets are favorable. A turquoise mine at Ithaca Peak was once operated by ancient Indians and in more recent times by commercial jewelry interests.

The larger mines and their waste dumps, while good places to collect if permission can be obtained, are certainly not the only places and sometimes are not the best. Many small mines and prospect holes are just as interesting to the mineral collector as the big mines. There are outcrops of rocks containing minerals that have never been worked, the reason being that the amount of mineralization is too small to make a profitable mine. Some just haven't been found yet.

The southern half of Mohave County is mountainous, with broad alluvial valleys lying between the mountain ranges. This is the most highly mineralized part of the county. It belongs to the geological subdivision of the state that is called the Mountain Province. The majority of the important mines, and the majority of all mineral outcrops, are located within its limits.

The geology of the mountainous region is complex; its combination of highly varied rock types and complicated structural conditions is a very fortunate circumstance for the mineral collector. Such an environment is favorable for extensive and varied types of mineralization.

These geological conditions also favor the formation of large ore bodies. Some important ore minerals, especially the silver minerals and native gold, are wonderful collector's items. It is a minor tragedy that many tons of such delectable mineral went into the smelter along with the ordinary ores.

The city of Kingman is centrally located for collecting in Mohave County, except for the Strip country north of the Grand Canyon. It is situated at the intersection of two major highways.

The Cerbat Mountains, just north of town, contain the localities of many mines and prospects. Silver minerals may be found on the dumps. also the sulfides of copper, lead and zinc. The collecting areas are accessible by roads leading from U.S. 93 on the west side of the range and a good dirt road on the east side.

This latter road, which leaves U.S. 66 about two miles east of Kingman, leads to the Kingman Feldspar Mine about five miles to the north. Here are found typical pegmatite minerals such as quartz, feldspar, mica and garnet; and the rare-earth minerals allanite, gadolinite and euxenite. It is important to note that this is an operating mine, so that it is absolutely necessary to get permission before attempting to collect there. This is a rule that must be observed on any active or posted property.

Southwest from Kingman, about nineteen miles after leaving U.S. 66 on the road to Oatman, there is an area where very fine "fire" agate This is found. A nominal fee is charged for collecting here, but one small stone showing a good play of color is a very worthwhile find.

Continuing along this road through Sitgreaves Pass and typical desert mountain scenery, one soon reaches the Goldroad-Oatman mining district. This famous gold mining area does not have too much to offer in the way of handsome specimens, but there are examples of typical gold ore and some brucite.

Additional cutting materials in the form of pebbles and cobbles. along with some fossils, are found in the river terraces east of the Colorado River. The area can be reached by continuing along the road from Oatman for about eighteen miles, or by driving to Topock on U.S. 66 and turning north for seven or eight miles. Materials to be found here include chalcedony, agate, jasper, flint and petrified wood. Some of the rocks are also colorful and attractively patterned.

U.S. 93 stretches northwestward from Kingman along the foot of the western slope of the Cerbat Mountains and through the broad, flat reaches of Detrital Wash to Hoover Dam and Las Vegas, Nevada. About eighteen miles from Kingman, a side road turns off to Chloride, four miles from the highway. Nearby, good specimens of silver minerals and some good rose quartz have been found.

About twenty-nine miles farther along the highway, another side leads about five miles north to the ghost town of White Hills. Cerargyrite may be found here by diligent searching. There are also some garnets.

More agate and jasper pebbles may be found in the alluvium just east of the Colorado River and a couple of miles below Hoover Dam. The locality is reached by driving 2.7 miles southeast along the highway from the dam where there is a good parking area. It is necessary, then, to hike about a quarter of a mile west.

"93," in the opposite direction from Kingman, swings east around the north end of the Hualapai Mountains to the valley of the Big Sandy River and proceeds south to the little community of Wikieup. Somewhere along the valley, beautiful blue beryl crystals have been found. The exact locality has not been revealed! A prominent part of the scenery along this route is occupied by the Aquarius Mountains, which form the eastern wall of the valley. They are little explored and furnish a challenge, and possibly high reward, to the ambitious collector. Pegmatite minerals including beryl and rare-earth species have been mined in the Aquarius range.

About twenty miles southeast of Wikieup, U.S. 93 crosses Burro Creek in a deep, sheer-walled canyon. The scenery in this part of the county is striking in a raw and rugged way. There is good collecting in an area of several square miles. Material is found in the stream bed, but near the bridge the ground is pretty well picked over. Better luck can be had on the higher ground to the northwest, on both sides of the highway, as far as the Signal road.

The Burro Creek locality is especially known for its jasper, opalite and rhyolite. A fine brecciated jasper, locally misnamed "pastellite," makes good cutting material. Some of the opalite geode linings are strongly fluorescent. There is also banded agate and chalcedony.

The portion of Mohave County north of the Grand Canyon is a part of the Plateau Province of Arizona. There are not many collecting localities known in this region. There is some petrified wood, agate, jasper and the selenite variety of gypsum located in a large area around Pipe Spring National Monument. Copper and uranium minerals come from a mine in Hacks Canyon, torbernite and metatorbernite being of chief interest.

Only a few of the many fair to excellent collecting localities have been mentioned. Mohave County is big and a big part of Arizona's treasure chest of beautiful and useful minerals. It is one of the better places for a collector to explore.

docking and launching facilities, and an air strip. A short distance up the lake is a cabin area, where cabin sites are leased from the government and the happy dweller is only a stone's throw from his boat and the lake.

The area below Davis Dam has seen Mohave County's most dramatic growth in recent years. Thousands of visitors arrive each fall to begin a winter of fishing and loafing in the sun at Bullhead City, former construction boom town for Davis Dam, and now one of the state's fastest growing communities. The people of Bullhead and the neighboring government town of Davis Dam are proud of this region, and rightly so. Bullhead City offers extensive accommodations, food services, and sports equipment for the visitor. Community facilities are being added constantly, and I'm sure we will see a population of at least 5,000 down there by the time the next census rolls around. Before you leave on the last leg of the return trip to Kingman I would suggest dinner at the Country Kitchen in Bullhead City. Better make reservations a couple of days in advance, though, for this is an adventure in calories!

The home stretch of this tour leads through some very colorful and rugged portions of the Black Mountains, over Union Pass and into the Sacramento Valley. As you come down the hill from Coyote Pass and into Kingman, you will have had a busy day and a half. During this time you will have had an opportunity to see some of the reasons that the recreational future of Mohave County is just beginning to develop. There's a lot of country out there, for a lot of people.

TRIP NO. 4-144 MILES KINGMAN-BIG SANDY VALLEY-SIGNAL-KINGMAN

Our last trip leads southeast from Kingman on State Highway 93 through a broad valley watered by the Big Sandy River. This was a farming area for many decades before there was a through highway in the area, but the primitive roads didn't stop the farmers from bringing their truck loads of fresh fruit and vegetables to market in Kingman, where they were very much appreciated. Within recent years the road has been rebuilt to modern highway standards and completely paved, so that it now serves as a major new traffic artery connecting Phoenix with the desert lakes of Mohave County. After skirting the foothills of the Hualapai Mountains, the road gradually descends in the Sandy Valley and follows the course of the river, which may or may not have any water in it at any given time. The green fields of the valley give evidence that the water is there below the surface, however, even if it does not appear to the eye.

Just south of the town of Wikieup the highway crosses the Big Sandy on a graceful concrete bridge, after which one comes to a turnoff marked "Signal." The graded road, after a little mountain climbing and mountain descending, again crosses the river (without benefit of a bridge, this time) and then leads to the small community of Signal, with its pleasant farms and big trees. This is nice country for a picnic lunch, followed by an easy 44-mile drive northwestward to a junction with U.Ś. 66 near Yucca. En route you will pass unusual combinations of giant saguaro, Joshuas, and juniper trees, all interspersed with huge jumbled rock formations.

You're on familiar ground now that you're back on U.S. 66, and it's all wide, smooth highway as you steadily climb from 1,835 feet at Yucca to Kingman's 3,325foot altitude. This has been a day for the pastoral side of Mohave County's character, with a nice, quiet spot for lunch added for good measure.

Well, we've made a start in our project of seeing Mohave County. In less than a week, working from Kingman as a base, we have traveled 599 miles on four separate tours. And now we might ask the question-is there anything else worth seeing? The answer, of course, is a resounding YES, and, if I can find a reader with two weeks at his disposal, we'll do it up brown. How about a junket across the Hualapai Indian Reservation to the deep gorge at Bridge Canyon Dam Site? Or, let's keep going through that Joshua forest all the way to Pierce Ferry on Lake Mead, where the Grand Wash Cliffs mark the abrupt western end of the Colorado Plateau and the Grand Canyon. Another turn on that same road leads to Quartermaster Viewpoint, one of the great jumping-off places, where that first step is a lulu-about 3,000 feet! We've even got another former county seat-ghost town called Mineral Park in reserve for the ghost town fancier.

But let's get started with that first week. Won't you leave your armchair and join me on the highways and byways of My Mohave, up there in the northwestern corner of that state called Arizona? You'll surely enjoy yourself, and I promise you'll not be disappointed.

The Arizona Strip

There is a part of Arizona called the Arizona Strip, not very well known, but in many ways one of the most interesting, spectacular, awe-inspiring, and beautiful sections of our state. It is only a small chunk of Arizona, lying tucked away in the extreme northwestern corner, bounded by two states, Nevada and Utah, and a river-the Colorado, but its approximate area of 7600 square miles makes it larger than any one of our three smallest states or the District of Columbia, and almost as large as the state of New Jersey.

Estimating the Strip's population is a chancy thing, but it is probably safe to say that each permanent resident of the Strip could sit alone in the middle of two square miles, and there would still be empty squares.

The western boundary of the Strip is formed by the Nevada border running north and south between the northwestern corner of Arizona and a point in the middle of Lake Mead just west of the mouth of Grand Wash.

There are only three places to cross the Colorado to enter the Strip without getting one's feet wet. There is a bridge at Page just below the Glen Canyon Dam site; there is a suspension bridge, wide enough to walk across,in the bottom of Grand Canyon; and there is Navajo Bridge, which carries U.S. 89 across the river at Marble Canyon. Navajo Bridge will carry you conveniently across the river and deposit you on the Stripside bank of Marble Canyon via Alt. U.S. 89 which runs through about eighty miles of the Strip.

Approaching Mohave County's part of the Arizona Strip, the barren, expansive western part, the traveler should visit three easily reached places west of Fredonia along the state border. The first of these, Pipe Spring National Monument, is reached by a rough gravel road leading southwest out of Fredonia. As soon as one crosses Kanab Creek, he enters the Kaibab Indian Reservation, home of the Paiute Indians. To the right of the road sails the majestic sandstone formation, Steamboat Rock, looking for all the world like an enormous ocean liner sailing at full speed across the painted sands of the Strip.

Ahead the long line of Vermilion Cliffs dips suddenly to the floor of the plain, and this point is marked by the unlikely green of a grove of Lombardy Poplars, ubiquitous indicators of early Mormon settlement and water development in the desert. As might be expected geologically, there is a wonderful spring where the strata of the long line of cliffs end, and early Mormons discovered and developed it for the early day settlers.