Death Valley Myths

By William Daugherty in 1891

Death Valley Dunes by Dave Alexander.

Death Valley Dunes by Dave Alexander.

Now that the government scientific expedition has explored Death Valley and fully exposed that natural hothouse’s characteristics, one can be pardoned for “looking backward” and recalling the myths and extravagant stories that were rife with its early history. The writer recalls some of the first explorers that he was personally acquainted with, who 25 years ago ventured from one of Nevada’s mining camps. Pushing southward into the unknown deserts of that time, exploring the borders of that desert of desolation.

They returned in due time with samples of ore, containing gold and silver, cinnabar and galena; specimens of dwarf vegetation, and palmetto cactus, all of which was viewed with curiosity, and the belief that such trophies would for years be rare to any but the hardiest and most adventurous prospectors. Among other curiosities brought back from the trip was a quantity of petrified wood, crystallized like agate in the natural bright colors of resinous pine, showing the tree’s rings as clearly as if just cut. It was sold for fifty cents a pound and by the skill of the lapidary wrought into beautiful ornaments and sent east as souvenirs from the early explorers of this, then wonderful and promising land. It was the romantic era of discovery.

The air was filled with stories of wonderful treasures that, in hidden places, were alluring the prospector to attempt hardship, and even danger and death, to expose to the light and turn into the commercial channels of the world. But, the reptiles and insects of that strange section were looked upon with more than ordinary aversion. The rattlers were vicious and wicked-looking, and the “sidewinders,” with their erratic movements, seemed more dangerous than they were. With its big, snake-shaped tail, the chuckwalla was a hideous monster to pick up in the dark, and the sensation was terrifying when one threw one of them from his blankets for the first time. But, they were harmless, and the Ivanpah Indians considered them dainty food. We were fully convinced that they were palatable when we came across an old prospector named “Tex,” who roamed from there to Arizona frequently, with no other food than the mesquite beans and lizards that he collected on his way.  The scientists will probably find no new species in the Smithsonian Institute collections, but they will appear strange and will repay a careful classification.

Chuckwalla in Death Valley, California by the National Park Service.

Chuckwalla in Death Valley, California by the National Park Service.

By William Daugherty, for the Reno Evening Gazette, June 17, 1891. Compiled and edited by Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, updated January 2021.

About the Author: Written by William Daugherty wrote for the Reno Evening Gazette in 1891. The Gazette was first published on October 12, 1876, and continued for the next 107 years. In 1977, it was merged with the Nevada State Journal and continues to exist today as the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Note: The article is not verbatim as spelling errors, minor grammatical changes, and editing have occurred for the ease of the modern reader.

Also See:

Pioneers on the Nevada Frontier (Reno Evening Gazette)

Tales of the Overland Stage (Reno Evening Gazette)

Nevada Mining Tales (Reno Evening Gazette)

Nevada – The Silver State