| CHAPTER | PAGE |
|---|---|
| I.—The Desert | [1] |
| II.—The Land of Thirst | [17] |
| III.—Curious Plants which Live in the Desert | [38] |
| IV.—Strange Dwellers of the Desert | [60] |
| V.—Humanity in the Desert | [68] |
| VI.—A Funeral in the Region of Death | [80] |
| VII.—Desert Basket-Makers | [92] |
| VIII.—Ships of the Desert | [107] |
| IX.—The Story of a Streak of Yellow | [124] |
| X.—Desert Borax Mines | [142] |
| XI.—Other Minerals Found in the Desert | [154] |
| XII.—A Remarkable Harvest-Field | [162] |
| XIII.—Death Valley | [172] |
| XIV.—The Mouth of Hades | [184] |
| XV.—Desert Miscellany—Unusual and Peculiar Features | [189] |
| XVI.—Journalism below Sea-Level | [209] |
| XVII.—The End of the Desert | [218] |
| Index | [235] |
[LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS]
| PAGE | |
|---|---|
| *Teaming in Death Valley | [Frontispiece] |
| *The Desert | [3] |
| *Mount San Jacinto from the Desert | [7] |
| *Ancient Sea Beach, Colorado Desert near Coachella | [11] |
| *When California Was an Island From an old Spanish map. | [15] |
| *An Indian Well in the Desert | [19] |
| *An Oasis in the Colorado Desert | [23] |
| *Sentinel Palm A welcome sight to the desert traveler, for it marks an oasis hidden in the cañon. | [27] |
| *An Oasis Dwelling Thatched with Palm-Leaves in Colorado Desert This might pass for a cannibal's hut in the South Sea Islands. | [31] |
| *A Desert Bedroom | [35] |
| *Sahuaro, or Giant Cactus | [39] |
| *Spanish Bayonet | [43] |
| *A Desert Cactus in Blossom—One of Many Varieties | [47] |
| *"The Well of the Desert" | [51] |
| *One of the Desert Bloomers | [55] |
| *A Yellow Diamond-Back Rattler | [58] |
| Desert Lizard, Chucawalla, Closely Akin to the Gila Monster | [61] |
| Horned Toad | [62] |
| Tarantula | [64] |
| Centipede | [65] |
| Scorpion | [66] |
| *A Chemehuevi Indian and Coyote | [69] |
| *A Chemehuevi Dwelling | [73] |
| *A Chemehuevi Squaw and Child | [77] |
| *A Desert Dwelling on the Colorado River | [81] |
| *The Desert "White House" | [85] |
| *The Funeral Pyre | [89] |
| *A Mojave Indian Pounding Mesquite Beans in Wooden Mortar | [93] |
| *Rare Tulare and Pomo Baskets | [97] |
| *A Yuma Woman Weaving Coarse Baskets | [101] |
| *Mojave Basket-Maker | [105] |
| *The Advance Agent of Progress | [109] |
| *Ships of the Desert | [113] |
| *Bearing the Red Man's Burden | [117] |
| *Taking on the Cargo | [121] |
| *The Prospector Sets Forth | [125] |
| *An Aged Prospector at Mouth of his Mine | [129] |
| *An Anxious Moment—Looking for the Yellow Streak | [133] |
| *An Aërial Ferry—Prospectors Crossing Colorado River | [137] |
| *A Traction Engine Hauling Borax from Death Valley | [143] |
| *The Painted Desert | [147] |
| *A Monument in the Land of Thirst | [151] |
| *A Typical Desert Mining Town | [155] |
| Plowing Salt in Colorado Desert | [163] |
| *Teaming in Death Valley | [173] |
| *Indian Chief Lying in State | [179] |
| A Desert Pottery Factory | [191] |
| Black Buttes—Phantom Ship of the Desert | [197] |
| Digging the Imperial Canal | [203] |
| Imperial Church—First Wooden Building in Lower Colorado Desert | [207] |
| Year-Old Willow Trees at International Line | [211] |
| Irrigating Desert Land | [219] |
| Desert Sorghum | [223] |
| Milo Maize on Reclaimed Desert Land near Heber | [227] |
| Adobe Hotel, Calexico, which Has the Only Shower Bath in the Desert | [231] |
* From photographs reproduced by permission of C. C. Pierce & Co.
THE MYSTIC MID-REGION
[CHAPTER I]
THE DESERT
Between the lofty ranges of mountains which mark the western boundary of the great Mississippi Valley and the chain of peaks known as the Coast Range, whose western sunny slopes look out over the waters of the placid Pacific, lies a vast stretch of country once known as the "Great American Desert."