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Page 20 BEATTY FROM PAGE 19 the desert and offer plenty of opportu- nities for exploration. A network of jeep trails takes the explorer to many different mines. Besides gold, some of the minerals that have been mined near Beatty are Gypsum, talc, lime- stone and diatomite. Or, for a more modern mining experience, take the dry washer out for a spin in the washes and in the Amargosa River which runs through town. The ghost town of Rhyolite is well worth the short drive out of town to visit. Rhyolite began in 1905 as one of several mining camps that sprung up in the Bullfrog Mining District. The Montgomery Shoshone Mine just out- side Rhyolite produced ores assayed as high as $16,000 per ton at 1905 pric- es. At its peak, Rhyolite is estimated to have up to 5,000 people or more, piped water, electric power, railroads, telephones, newspapers, and its own stock exchange. Remains of several of the buildings are still standing, includ- ing the train station and an interesting bottle house. Other things to do in and around www.DesertMessenger.com POST OFFICE FROM PAGE 9 stepsister. After Charley's passing P.E. bought the store. Business was good in Quartzsite since miners could make a decent living working the tailings of the abandoned mines. Those that could not find work in the big cities could come to the desert and live rather inex- pensively while searching for gold. The Woodson's bought land just west of Hagley's Hotel & Boarding House. They remodeled the wooden house into a grocery store on the east side with a post office and lobby on the west. They applied white stucco to the building and opened for business in 1939. Business was good and they built a home behind the store. Today, on the east side of the building is a large mural of "Q" Mountain. In 1942 the Woodson's sold the store Beatty include some interesting lime- stone formations called Swiss Cheese by the locals, and a fossil site called the Mud Mound containing fossilized sea creatures about 450 million years old. Petrified wood and coprolites can also be found in the deserts and canyons around Beatty. For hot springs en- thusiasts, Bailey's Hot Springs is just outside of Beatty to the north. Beatty is also a gateway to Death Valley. For a 4-wheel drive excursion into Death Valley, you can take a trip through Ti- tus Canyon. If you just want to take a leisurely drive into Death Valley, take 190W out of Beatty. For lots of great historical artifacts, photos, and infor- mation visit the Beatty Museum and Historical Society. as well as photos and links, visit our Blog and our Facebook page. You can access both through our website http://RocksInMyHead.biz. For more information about Beatty, in Rice Ranch in the beginning of No- vember. We will have lots of interest- ing rocks and fossils from the Beatty area in our booth. Happy traveling and we'll see ya' online and in Quartzsite. In the meantime, remember: Life is Short. Go Outside and Play! We will be open in Quartzsite at A37 one of Kuehn's Cabins, near where the Stagecoach Restaurant is today, with Ethel Wright as the postmaster. In 1954 the post office was moved back to the Woodson's Store across the road from the adobe remains of the old Hagley's Store and Antone's Hay & Grain. Ethel Wright continued as the postmaster. In 1962 Ethel's husband, Hugh, built a concrete block building where the Post Office Annex is located today. As more and more visitors came to Quartzsite for the winter, Ethel applied for ad- ditional help during the busy months. Billie Casey helped for a while, and then Lavoun Dyer came to assist. Eth- el decided to retire in 1971 and Lavoun was appointed postmaster. In less than twelve years the post of- and home to Ira and Beaulah Salliday and Ira was appointed postmaster. In 1952 Ira became upset with President Truman and the singing voice of Mar- garet, the President's daughter. No one paid much attention to his free speech chatter, but Ira carried his dislike for the President too far when he sent a threatening letter to the President. The FBI took Ira in for questioning and he lost his position as postmaster. The post office was then moved into fice ran out of space and in 1974 a new post office was built near the corner of Highway 95 and Main Street. La- voun Dyer continued as the postmas- ter until 1978. The number of boxes was increased and, to relieve conges- tion in the lobby and receiving areas, a General Delivery window was added. At the end of the 1978 winter season, it was announced that over a mil¬lion people had used the post office at some time during the winter months. was the Officer-in-Charge until Mary Milligan completed her training to be the new postmaster. The sort¬ing room was redesigned to be more efficient and additional post office boxes were in- stalled in the lobby. Mary retired at the end of the busy 1985 season. Geraldine Shafftol was then appointed postmaster and served for seven years until she was transferred in December 1992. Her assistant, Dianne Torres, was then named postmaster. A community's post office is often the When Lavoun retired, Fred Holloway around for over 100 years and, no mat- ter where the location, has been privy to many of the exciting times of the town and much of Southwestern Arizona. focal point of daily visits and where res- idents keep in touch with one another. Quartzsite's Post Office has been PERSPECTIVES FROM PAGE 17 was a place called "The Flame" restau- rant near their home and the phone number was very close to theirs and often misdialed. After a while, when someone called them by mistake and Margaret answered, they would say, "Is THIS the Flame?" Margaret's an- swer was a dry, "How did YOU know?" I can see her laughing right after she said that. Elmer and Margaret loved traveling attle trip to clothing stores looking at the new styles. They'd go back home to JC Penney's for the fabric, etc., and on newspapers, Margaret drew out the designs as dress patterns and sewed and tailored all of the girls' clothes. They were sewn beautifully; just ask Carolyn sometime! Margaret was also the very first female school bus driver in 1964 for the Bellevue School Dis- trict, and did it for 17 years! Here's a cute one from Carolyn: there October 17, 2012 had a fire was rebuilt but included a small area for groceries and then just groceries. They told me about a great $1 burger place just north on Central where a Laundromat took over. One fun place they loved going to, as many others, was to Ehrenberg's Silly Al's (yes there at the time) to eat, drink, and dance. Daily either Elmer was working on their Baha Bugs (dune buggy types) or all were hitting the trails in one of the 12-13 groups heading out for the day with lunches on board. What fun times they had. Now one last note or two on El- mer: Elmer was President two times at Quartzsite Vets Association around 1985 whereby the group did so many good deeds in town. They made the original wheelchair ramps in Town and cable fences in Town Park, and I'm sure much more. In 1987 he was on the original first committee to study our water and sewer. Here's a good one. In 1989 and just before Quartzsite's incorporation, El- mer called Richard Oldham to get rid of a large beehive under their shed. Richard says, "Okay, I'll take it out for $100." Well, if you know Elmer, he took care of it himself. Another time, Oldham was visiting and saw the many VW "Bug" parts laying around. He wanted them. As Richard hemmed and hawed, Elmer said to Oldham, "If you write out a check for $300 to the Quartzsite Vets Association, I'll let you have it all." Well now, if you know Richard, he hesitated, but finally wrote out the check. Come one, come all! Elmer and Margaret are celebrating their 70th Anniversary from 2-4 PM at our Senior Center on Saturday, October 20th. Please come and join the party, in lieu of cards or gifts, please bring cans of food for "our friends in need." and camping and had traveled quite a bit all over the west, north, and north- west including Alaska. They were campground hosts for several years at National Parks. During that time, 1983 or so, they also started coming to Quartzsite to visit Uncle Homer at Sun- shine RV Park. By 1987, they were vis- iting up to 7 months every year so the Londons bought their home on Targa. Officially this year, they have become year-round residents of Quartzsite. A bit of Elmer and Margaret times in Quartzsite: I loved reminiscing with them on how Quartzsite looked from the 1980's on. They told me how the Roadrunner Market was first a res- taurant (along with Brennan's, Stage- coach, Dolly's and La Casa del Rancho), In March, 2012 the RV, Swapmeet and Vendor Volunteer Board ap- proved a plan to welcome vendors during "Peak Week" in January. WANTED: 20+ Enthusiastic Quartzsite volunteers to welcome & thank vendors during Jan. 23-27, 2013. Benefits: Free T-Shirt, Vol- unteer badge, collector's pins, and more. To be part of the fun, con- tact Rain at 541-218-2560 or email proudneighbors@yahoo.com. Volunteers wanted to greet vendors in January