heavy equipment at the mill had to have been brought in on another freight trail usable by burros - our guess was that a trail connects south with the excellently constructed Keynot ridge trail or they may have used the Pat Keyes trail out of Owens Valley. Certainly an impressive operation and interesting historic activity in the Inyo Range. -Steve-

A DESERT FRIEND

Editor Ron has asked us to submit ideas as to our favorite desert books or publications. Mine, though now a ghost, I believe rates above all other desert-oriented writings. This is DESERT MAGAZINE--a continuing record of some forty years, which began back in 1937 in El Centro when Randall Henderson and J Wilson McKenney created this unique monthly document. In 1948 the establishment moved to Palm Desert, a few miles south of Palm Springs. Modern facilities inside a beautiful new building were soon developed. The edifice's western decor, art gallery and hospitality gave all visitors a cheery welcome. Once while there, I met Jimmy Swinnerton, cartoonist-artist of the funny paper's long gone Little Jimmy and the Canyon Country Kiddies. The Swinnerton name is still popular in western art. Desert-minded people made special trips to Palm Desert just to visit these headquarters. Desert's coverage centered about our southwestern states, and was very people-oriented. Stories concerning desert personalities were most entertaining. Here included is a sample of Desert Magazine-type literature. Randall relinquished his editorship in 1959, and Eugene Conrotto took over, and to me, the quality and coverage never waned. But in later years, with other in-and-out editors, the publication began to falter by encompassing stories having other than a desert focus. Articles about dude ranches in Montana, and fishing in Colorado, began to appear. Either material became too hard to gather, display advertising had to take up more space, or else the leaders did not fully understand the spirit of the desert. In the late 70s or early 80s, and after an apparent reader-disinterest (as was my distaste with a subscription boycott), the publication perished, and Palm Desert became known for other reasons. With its demise, we lost a friend. Our DPS matriarch, Louise Werner, used to be a frequent contributor, and chronicled a number of our Section's events in her manuscripts. The monthly magazine was always one to look forward to, and through the war years it was sent to me in Air Force camps around the country. Randall Henderson was one of the desert's most respected men of his time and was a Sierra Club Member, along with membership in the DPS. He, during WWII, left his journalistic post temporarily, after receiving a military commission and doing overseas service. A page, however, written by Randall on foreign soil, never failed to appear in each issue. He also endured a WWII calamity with the loss of his son, Rand--also an ardent young outdoorsman. Back in the spring of 1954, I was first introduced to the Desert Peaks Section by member sisters, Marie and Eleanor Smith. Marie invited me to go with them, in her then-new Willys 4WD Jeep station wagon, on a scheduled outing to Mopah Peak. It was the one presented here by Randall, himself! As the women did not choose to climb, I followed suit, stayed at its base, and watched the group gingerly edge their way up that volcanic plug. I have never forgotten that weekend. Willard Dean (1954 Chairman at time of the Mopah climb), pictured in "We Climbed an Old Volcano", attended our 50th Anniversary DPS Banquet in May with wife, Marion. They are still DPSers, even though having been living in Colorado for many years. Bob Bear (1957 Chairman) was one of our most ardent DPSerS, and led many entertaining outings. He has been deceased for at least ten years. Among the amenities of Desert Magazine

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