Mar. 23, 2006 - GeoCaching

Now this sounds like fun, especially since Nevada has so many places we could hide stuff.  What is GeoCaching?  Well from what I can read and I have now joined their website it sounds just like plain fun.

Tools needed? GPS and a good pair of boots.  (Rattle snakes could be lurking)  I found this information on the Geocaching site.  I found an offical site for Nevada by going to www.geocaching.com They have menus for just about every

place.  Even the world.  If you are in Nevada their site is www.nevadageocaching.com I really think I will join in the fun.  Anyone game?  

Mar. 16, 2006 - Valley of Fire

VALLEY OF FIRE STATE PARK

Cultural HistoryNative Peoples

Prehistoric users of the Valley of Fire included the Fremont people and later the Anasazi farmers from the nearby fertile Moapa Valley. Span of approximate occupation has been dated from 300 BC to 1150 AD. Their visits probably involved hunting, food gathering and religious ceremonies, although scarcity of water would have limited the length of their stay. Fine examples of rock art left by these ancient peoples can be found at several sites within the park.

Atlatl Rock
Site of many Indian petroglyphs, including a depiction of the atlatl ("at-lat-l''), a notched stick used to add speed and distance to a thrown spear. The atlatl was a predecessor to the bow and arrow.

Petroglyph Canyon Self-Guiding Trail
A half-mile round-trip walk to Mouse's Tank through a sandy canyon, with trail markers to point out interesting features, including fine examples of prehistoric Indian rock writings.

 Park History

Nevada's oldest State Park, Valley of Fire's 34,880 acres was dedicated in 1935.

Plants & Animals

The area plant community is dominated by widely spaced creosote bush, burro bush and brittle bush. Several cactus species, including Beavertail and cholla, are also common. Springtime blooms of Desert Marigold, Indigo Bush and Desert Mallow are often spectacular along park roads.

Resident birds include the Raven, House Finch, Sage Sparrow and Roadrunner. Many migrant birds also pass through the park. Most desert animals are nocturnal and not frequently seen by visitors. Many species of lizards and snakes are common, as well as the Coyote, Kit Fox, Spotted Skunk, Black-Tailed Jackrabbit and Antelope Ground Squirrel. The Desert Tortoise is a rare species and is protected by state law.

Geology

The Valley of Fire derives its name from red sandstone formations created from great shifting sand dunes during the Jurassic Period, 150 million years ago. Complex uplifting and faulting of the region, followed by extensive erosion, have created the present landscape. Other important rock formations include limestones, shales and conglomerates.

Unique geological features in the park include:

• The Beehives
• Petrified Logs
• Mouse's Tank
• Fir Canyon / Silica Dome
• White Domes
• Seven Sisters
• Elephant Rock

Mar. 16, 2006 - China Ranch

When traveling through the Death Valley area consider visiting beautiful China Ranch, near Tecopa California. China Ranch is a family owned and operated small farm, a lush piece of greenery amidst the forbidding Mojave Desert near Southern Death Valley. Imagine towering cottonwoods and willows by a wandering stream, date palms and abundant wildlife, all hidden away in some of the most spectacular scenery the desert has to offer.

The Ranch is also rich in history. The Old Spanish Trail is within walking distance, as is the historic Tonopah & Tidewater railroad bed. Hike to nearby abandoned mines if you wish, or just relax and browse through our store.

We offer home grown dates, as well as other California varieties. Try some delicious date nut bread, muffins or cookies, or take home one of our unique hand-crafted gifts.

If you are interested in learning more about the wildlife, plants or history of the area, try one of our interpretive guided nature walks. Learn about the geology, botany, birds, and early man in the area. The Old Spanish Trail comes alive again and much more. Visiting China Ranch can be a wonderful one day adventure or highlight of any trip to Death Valley.

We are not a resort or tourist development, but rather a working family farm in a truly unusual setting. We are located 85 miles west of Las Vegas, Nevada, off Highway 127 en route to Death Valley National Park. Camping, motels and free natural hot mineral baths are available in nearby Tecopa Hot Springs and Shoshone.

About 12 million years before the present, the area in and around China Ranch was a landlocked basin, much like one of today's dry lakes. For the next three million years it was intermittently dry then filled, catching the run-off and sediment for the surrounding mountains. Over the eons more than one thousand vertical feet of sediment collected in the basin. Camel-like creatures and other large mammals browsed at its marshy edges, where thick reeds and grasses grew.

Like much of North America, today's Mojave Desert was influenced by the forward movement and retreat of successive ice ages over the next several million years. Although the ice sheets and glaciers did not come this far south, their run-off during the warming periods filled many of today's dry lakes and basins. Run-off channels connected some of these basins together. Lake Tecopa probably began drying and receding by 100,000 years ago, but Lake Manly still filled Death Valley only 10,000 years ago.

Other forces of nature were at work on the more ancient China Ranch lake bed. Minor uplifting occurred in some areas, while other portions of the sediment settled and dropped. Sometime between 1 million and a half million years ago nearby Lake Tecopa, which was the terminus of the Amargosa River, was breached. The resulting flow carved the dramatic Amargosa Canyon 1 mile to the south, and steepened the drainage from the China Ranch area. This in turn accelerated the erosion, carving this canyon and creating the spectacular topography you will see around you.

Over at least the past ten thousand years, the climate of the Mojave Desert continued to get dryer and hotter. Oases of water and greenery like China Ranch became cut off from each other, like islands of life in a sea of barren desert. In some places unique types of plants and animals evolved and adapted to the circumstances of their particular "island." These oases also became important stop over points, and sometime destinations, for many species of migratory birds. Here at China Ranch more than 225 species have been logged, some coming from as far away as Central and South America. The ranch is also home to a large variety of other desert animals, including gray and kit foxes, bobcats, kangaroo rats and pack rats, coyotes, cotton tail and jack rabbits, and, of course, the infamous horsefly. Surprisingly, poisonous snakes are rare, and several non-poisonous varieties are much more common here in the canyon. The normal varieties of desert insects are also abundant, including tarantulas, scorpions, black widow spiders, and solpugids, or vinegaroons. Though their bite or sting may be painful, with the exception of the black widow, none are truly dangerous to man. They're just trying to make a living too.

The earliest arrival of man in North America is still a subject of active debate among anthropologists. That were here by 30,000 B.C. is well accepted; solid evidence of mans' arrival to the new world before that has yet to be conclusively proved. At any rate, early hunters and gatherers were roaming the edges of Lake Manly (Death Valley) by 10,000 B.C. Bone chips found indicate that they hunted large game, probably deer or big horn sheep. Shell beads indicate that they had contact with groups along the Pacific coast.

The Shoshone and Paiute Indians migrated into the great basin sometime after 1000 A.D. Nomadic hunters and gatherers, they undoubtedly used the various resources of the canyon for food and shelter. During the cooler months they frequented the hot springs in Tecopa, hunting small game and gathering mesquite beans and other plants. Like today's snow birds, most left for the summer and spent the hot months in the higher elevations of the local mountains, hunting deer, big horn sheep, and gathering pinyon nuts in the fall. Because they needed to be mobile, they traveled in small groups of a few families with few physical possessions. The village at Tecopa Hot Springs, known as Yaga, was the largest settlement in the area and had about 70 inhabitants when it was visited by New Mexican horse trader Antonio Armijo in the spring of 1830.

Armijo's visit is the first known recorded visit by a European to this immediate area. He established what came to be known as the Old Spanish Trail, which was the route from Santa Fe, New Mexico to the Spanish settlements in California. It followed a winding route from water hole to water hole across the desert, and so was known as the "longest, crookedest, most arduous trail in the west." From 1830 until 1849 the main customers on the trail were a ragtag group of American, Mexican, Canadian and Indian horse raiders known collectively by their victims as Los Chaguanosos. The large and fertile ranchos of California had an abundant supply of horses and mules, but in Santa Fe and points east a scarcity of animals drove the prices extremely high, a fact that did not go unnoticed. The raiders would steal all the animals they could find from the Spanish Ranchos in California, and then drive them as fast as possible into the desert and east along the Spanish Trail. Often there would be a posse in pursuit only a day or two behind them. The animals were driven hard until they reached nearby Resting Springs, by which time the posse had usually given up. The largest raid took place in 1840, when over 3,000 animals were stolen and started up the trail. By the time the group reached Resting Springs over half the animas were dead, the Spanish posse was less than a day behind them. The raiders hurriedly fled up the trail to Stump Springs near present day Charleston View, but the posse pursued them no further. The horses were eventually driven to Santa Fe and some on to the Missouri River, where they fetched premium prices. That one raid made and estimated 100,000 dollars from the sale of the surviving animals, making it an attractive venture for others. A decline in fur prices and the lure of big profits to be made drew many of America's most famous mountain men into the horse "trading" business along the Old Spanish Trail. Among these were Jim Beckwourth, Pegleg Smith, Bill Williams, Walkara the Ute raider, and Dick Owens, for whom the Owens Valley is named. The gold rush in 1849 created a ready market for horses in California, and effectively ended the horse stealing business along the trail.

John Fremont traveled on the Spanish Trail in the spring of 1843, on his way east after heading a reconnaissance expedition to California. On April 29 he passed the confluence of China Ranch Creek and the Amargosa River, about 1 mile to the south. Although his expedition did not come up this canyon, he notes it in his journal. Two days before two of his scouts, Kit Carson and Alexis Godey, traveling in advance of the main group, had shot and killed two Indians here in China Ranch Canyon. The Indians had been involved in a raid at Resting Springs in which two Mexican men had been killed, two women carried off and several dozen horses stolen.

During the fall and winters of 1849 and 1850 dozens of parties of 49'ers bound for California gold fields used the trail, and their journals contain numerous notes about the Amargosa Canyon. Although this route took them far to the south of the gold country, it was warm enough not to present the risk of freezing to death, as the story of the Donner party was already well known.

Little is known about activities or people here at China Ranch from 1850 until the turn of the century. According to available sources, a Chinese man named either Quon Sing or Ah Foo came to this canyon after many years of work in the Death Valley borax mines. He developed the water, planted fruits and vegetables, and raised meat for the local mining camps. It became known as Chinaman's Ranch. Sometime in 1900, a man named Morrison appeared, and, as the story goes, he ran the Chinese farmer off at gun point and claimed the Ranch for his own. Morrison eventually sold out, but the name had stuck. Since then the canyon has had many owners and worn many different faces, including a fig farm, cattle ranch, hog farm, alfalfa farm, and others. In 1970, the property was purchased by Charles Brown Jr. and Bernice Sorrells, the son and daughter of area pioneer and long time State Senator Charles Brown of Shoshone. It remains in these families today.

The date grove was planted from seed in the early 1920's by Vonola Modine, youngest daughter of Death valley area pioneer RJ Fairbanks. Approximately half of the trees are male and produce only pollen. The females bear in the fall, yielding from 100 to 300 pounds of dates in a season.

The adobe house was completed in 1991 after 5 years of work. It is built from over 18,000 hand made adobe bricks, manufactured from native materials here in the ranch. It has four bedrooms and three bathrooms, and encompasses about 4500 square feet. It is reinforced, completely up to building code standards, and did not suffer any damage during the string of earthquakes in June of 1992.

China Ranch remains a unique and fascinating place, and we hope this information has answered some of your questions. If you are curious about the local history, consider visiting the Shoshone Museum, which has a good selection of books on the greater Death Valley area. 

This information was used with permission from Brian Brown owner of China Ranch

Mar. 16, 2006 - Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

After a few days at the crap and blackjack tables in Las Vegas, it will be time to take a break. Hop into a vehicle and head out to Red Rock Canyon. Red Rock Canyon is less then an hour's drive west of Las Vegas and has many significant geologic features. The area is a good place to kick back and just enjoy nature's wonders. The most significant geologic feature of Red Rock Canyon is the Keystone Thrust Fault. A thrust fault is a fracture in the earth's crust where one rock plate is thrust horizontally over another. About 65 million years ago, it is believed that two of the earth's crustal plates collided with such force that part of one plate was shoved up and over younger sandstones. This thrust contact is clearly defined by the sharp contrast between the grey limestones and the red sandstones. The Keystone Thrust Fault extends from the Cottonwoood Fault (along the Pahrump Highway) 13 miles northward to the vicinity of La Madre Mountain, where it is obscured by more complex faulting. 13-Mile Loop Drive offers sightseeing, vistas and overlooks. If your time is limited, stop at either of the Calico Vista points. Both offer good vantage points for photographs of crossed-bedded Aztec sandstone. For easy walking access to the sandstone, stop at the Sandstone Quarry parking lot. There you can see large blocks of stone and other historic evidence of the quarry activity as it occurred shortly after the turn of the century. Picnic sites are available at Red Spring and Willow Spring. Additional pullouts, offering views of wooded canyons and desert washes, are located at Icebox Canyon, Pine Creek Canyon and Red Rock Wash. Several short hikes offering a diversity of environments and scenery are accessible from the loop drive. A short trail to the bottom of the canyon at the second Calico Vista leads down to the Aztec sandstone and, after seasonal rains, to small pools of water. There is easier hiking at Sandstone Quarry where many small canyons await exploration. The Calico Hills are riddled with natural water catchments called potholes or tinajas (tee-nah-haz). After rains these natural water tanks fill up with water and may be home to small insects, insect larvae and fairy shrimp. A spring that flows year-round and a seasonally cascading waterfall await the visitor after a short, 0.3-mile hike to Lost Creek. Icebox Canyon has a maintained trail which leads in for .8 mile; the end of Icebox Canyon is reached in another half mile by "boulder hopping" in the canyon bottom. One of the most popular hiking trails is into Pine Creek Canyon. A two-mile round trip hike leads to the ruins of a historic homestead near a running creek, surrounded by large ponderosa pine trees and other water-loving vegetation.

Mar. 16, 2006 - Lost City

Lost City Museum   

The Lost City Museum was built by the national Park Service to exhibit artifacts that were being excavated from the Pueblo Grande de Nevada. These Anasazi Indian sites were being threatened by the waters of Lake Mead as it backed up behind the newly built Hoover Dam. Eventually, when the lake was filled to capacity about five miles of sites had been inundated or undercut by the water. The Civilian Conservation Corps assisted in the excavation of the sites and the construction of the museum building. The building was constructed of sun-dried adobe brick in a pueblo-revival style. The museum also served as the park headquarters for the Boulder Dam State Park that was established at Lake Mead. The museum is currently owned and maintained by the State of Nevada as one of its six state museums. Programs include ongoing archaeological research on the remaining Lost City sites, school tours and outreach programs, changing exhibits and archival library and collections, research capabilities. Festival Americana, celebrating Native American and pioneer crafts, music and food, is held the first Saturday in November.

Photo on display in museum.

Nevada's Lost City

Nevada's "Lost City", officially known as Pueblo Grande de Nevada is a series of Anasazi Indian ruins situated along the Muddy and Virgin River Valleys in southern Nevada. The site area is located at the northern end of man-made Lake Mead and continues up both valleys for a distance of approximately 30 miles. There are more than a 100 recorded sites along the Muddy River and over 50 recorded sites along the Virgin River. The Lost City was occupied by the Virgin branch of the Anasazi, originally by the Basketmaker people sometime after the first century A.D. and later by the Puebloans from A.D. 700 to 1150. Some of the sites were reoccupied by the Paiute Indians who moved into the area after A.D. 1000. The Basketmakers lived in sub-terrain pit houses that were 10 to 15 feet in diameter and approximately 6 feet deep. They used spears for hunting and their name is derived from their use of baskets as storage vessels. The later Puebloans lived in above ground pueblos (houses made of sticks and adobe). They had the additional knowledge of the bow and arrow and manufactured ceramic vessels for storage and cooking.

The Anasazi farmed corn, beans, squash, and cotton on the marshy valley floor and built multi-roomed pueblos on the gravel benches along the valley margins. In addition to farming and hunting natural resources, the Lost City Anasazi mined salt and turquoise both for their own personal use and as a highly valued trade item. Remnants of all these activities were found during the excavations of the site ruins.

The Lost City ruins were first noted by explorer Jedidiah Smith when he traveled throughout the area in 1826-27. He reported finding stone tools in salt caves along the Virgin River where Lake Mead stands today. Smith's report later aroused the interest of Nevada's Governor James Scrugham. He inquired about the locality and two brothers from Overton, John and Fay Perkins announced their "discovery" in 1924. Scrugham arranged for M.R. Harrington, a New York archaeologist who was excavating in northern Nevada at the time, to investigate the sites.

Harrington immediately recognized the artifacts as belonging to a Puebloan culture. Until that time, it was believed that the Puebloan Indians had not settled west of the Colorado River in southern Nevada. Harrington named the complex Pueblo Grande de Nevada because of it's large size, but the media picked up the term "Lost City" and that became it's popular name.

Harrington, under the auspices of the Heye Foundation, Museum of the American Indian in New York City, began excavations of the Lost City in 1924 and continued work there even after his move to the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles in 1928. In addition to his work on the Anasazi sites, Harrington found time to excavate several caves in the area and an ancient salt mine. From 1933 to 1938, he supervised members of the Civilian Conservation Corps as they aided in the excavations and built the Boulder Dam Park Museum(now Lost City Museum of Archaeology) in Overton to house the artifacts. When the museum was built in 1935, Harrington designed the exhibits and constructed many of the exhibit props himself. The museum originally served as the headquarters for the National Park service's Boulder Dam Park, which is today the; Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

The Park Service withdrew from the operations of the museum in 1952 and ownership was transferred to the State of Nevada in 1953. Today the museum stands as one of the most popular tourist attractions in southern Nevada. More than 50,000 visitors a year find their way off the beaten track to learn about the ancient cultures that once occupied this corner of Nevada.

Archaeological research continues to be an important aspect of the museum's operations. Museum staff members can often be found one step in front of bulldozers as the ancient sites are removed to make way for modern housing tracts. The museum, through receipt of a grant from the Fleischmann Foundation, was able to purchase several sites in recent years in an effort to preserve them for future generations. Research, preservation and education remain the primary goals of the Lost City Museum of Archaeology.

Early Man in
Southern Nevada

Mar. 6, 2006 - Hoover Dam

Timeline May: Major John Wesley Powell makes the first recorded trip through the Grand Canyon and down the length of the Colorado River. The one-armed Civil War veteran followed this expedition with a second trip down the Colorado in 1871, when he conducted geological studies that greatly expanded understanding of the topography of the region. April: President Theodore Roosevelt signs the Reclamation Act. Reclamation Service engineers begin their long series of investigations and reports on control and possible uses of the Colorado River. March: Torrential rains begin and lead to the Colorado River breaking into the Imperial Valley, creating an inland sea across a hundred and fifty square miles. It was two years, at a cost of more than $3 million, before the river is contained within its original channel. Blaine Hamann, former Bureau of Reclamation employee, recalls, "The river was an enemy, and only in short periods of time could you look at it as a useful river. Most of the time it was something that would kill you or ruin your farm." April: Congress passes the Kinkaid Act authorizing the Secretary of Interior to investigate problems of Imperial Valley. February: Arthur P. Davis is the chief author of the Fall-Davis report entitled "Problems of Imperial Valley and Vicinity." Prepared under the Kinkaid Act and submitted to Congress, the report recommended construction of a high dam on the Colorado River at or near Boulder Canyon. The report also suggested that the government could recoup the cost of construction by selling the electric power generated by the dam to the cities in rapidly-expanding Southern California. November: Representatives of the seven Colorado River Basin States sign the Colorado River Compact in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Later in the year, the first of the Swing-Johnson bills to authorize a high dam and canal is introduced in Congress. December: The Colorado River Board of California reports favorably on a feasibility study concerning the Boulder Canyon Dam Project. The Boulder Canyon Project Act, introduced by Senator Hiram Johnson and Representative Phil Swing, both of California, passes in the House and Senate, and is signed by President Calvin Coolidge. June: Herbert Hoover takes charge of negotiations as six of seven basin states approve the Colorado River Compact. The basin states include Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Arizona, unhappy with the proposed plan for water distribution, is the one state that held out against the Compact. The resulting agreement leads to passage of the Boulder Canyon Project Act. 1931 March: The Bureau of Reclamation opens bids for the construction of Boulder (Hoover) Dam and Power Plant. The contract is awarded to Six Companies, a construction and engineering firm made up of some of the West's most successful builders and designers of dams, bridges, roads, and tunnels, on March 11. The winning bid was $48,890,995. November: The Colorado River is diverted around the dam site. June: First concrete is poured at Hoover Dam site. February: The Hoover Dam starts impounding water in Lake Mead. May: The last concrete is poured at the dam site. September: President Franklin D. Roosevelt attends and speaks at the dedication of Boulder (Hoover) Dam. March: House Resolution 140, officially declaring that the dam at Boulder Canyon be named Hoover Dam, for former President Herbert Hoover, is introduced to Congress. It is passed two days later, moves on to be approved in the Senate. April: President Harry S. Truman signs resolution officially declaring that the dam at Boulder Canyon be named Hoover Dam.             Highway 93 at the Nevada-Arizona border. Click here for maps and driving instructions, and where to go after you get here. OPERATING HOURS: Parking Garage: Open 8:00 a.m. -- Close 5:45 p.m. Visitor Center: Open 9:00 a.m. -- Close 5:00 p.m. Tickets sold until 4:15 p.m. The Hoover Dam Visitor Center is open every day of the year except for Thanksgiving and Christmas. All times are for the Pacific Time Zone. Note: To see it all, we recommend visitors arrive by 4:00 p.m. Pedestrians are prohibited from the top of the dam during hours of darkness. ADMISSION FEES: Parking fee: $7.00. (cash only) Discovery Tour (for a description of the tour click here) Adults (Ages 17-61) $11.00 Seniors (62+) $9.00 Juniors (Ages 7-16) $6.00 U.S. Military and Dependents (Adults & Seniors) $9.00 Children (Ages 0-6) Free Note: Golden Eagle or Golden Age Passports/discounts are NOT accepted for admission to the Hoover Dam Visitor Center or tour. They can be used for admission to parks and facilities that receive benefits from the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act; Hoover Dam is entirely self-funded and does not receive these benefits. TRAFFIC ADVISORY: Semi-trucks (18-wheelers) are prohibited from crossing the dam. Trucks and other prohibited vehicles must use the detour through Laughlin, Nevada on highway 95. Most passenger vehicles are allowed to cross the dam. Stopping on top of the dam in any vehicle is prohibited. Pedestrians are not allowed on the top of the dam during hours of darkness. For a list of prohibited vehicles and conditions see our guideline "Crossing Hoover Dam: A Guide for Motorists" (Acrobat .pdf file - 269 KB). VISITATION: The busiest season is in the summer from Memorial Day until Labor Day. Another busy time is during Spring Break. The slowest months are January and February. The least crowded time of day for tours is from 9:00 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. until 4:45 pm. ACCESSIBILITY: The Hoover Dam Tour Center and the Hoover Dam Discovery Tour are wheelchair accessible. CLIMATE: Hoover Dam is located in a desert climate. It is HOT in the summer. During summer months it is recommended that you wear light clothing and a hat, use sun screen and sun glasses, and carry water bottles on the tour. (Food, chewing gum, canned drinks and drinks in cups are NOT allowed on tour or in the buildings.) FOR MORE INFORMATION: For reservation information about Hoover Dam tours during operating hours contact us at: Tel: (702) 494-2517 Fax: (702) 494-2587 From 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Pacific time, call the toll free number at (866) 730-9097. The fax number is the same toll free number. You can also send an e-mail with your name and phone number to Hoover Dam Reservations at hooverdam@vegas.com. Note: this e-mail address is for reservation comments and questions only. PETS ARE NOT ALLOWED ANYWHERE ON SITE.