Desert Messenger

available to plow the soil and carry sup- plies to build a barn and cabin. Steamboats came up and down the riv- er every ten days or so depending upon how much fright had been ordered. One of the best-known pilots was Cap- tain Isaac Polhamus (1828-1922) who steered the "Cocopah", "Mohave" (the only two- piper) and others until he was 90-years-old. Captain Jack Mellon (1841-1924) later carried freight on the "Gila", "Searchlight" (the only double- decker), and others and was known as the most skillful pilot through the narrows and over sandbars. As one of those d o w n - o n - h i s - l u c k prospectors, Bill Keiser found himself working for $2 a day at the King of Arizona Mine. Looking for a better way "to earn a buck" he came up with an idea to use hay to lure abandoned bur- ros that would carry the burden of his new freighting enterprise from Ehren- berg Landing out to the nearby mines, ranches, and farms. It didn't take Bill long to fi nd out that it took him three days at a fast trot to get out to the King of Arizona with loaded burros who re- fused to budge without the sweet hay to which they had become accustom, making his net daily income less than $4, and a pair of sturdy shoes for a "foot freighter" cost nearly $7. Back at Ehrenberg Bill learned that Gus Livingston had sold his store to Sam and Elsie Wilson. Bill announced that he was fi nished with the freight- ing business because he had decided to take up farming. Sam told him that there was a ranch for sale about two miles below Ehrenberg. Bill bought the land and hired some Mexicans to help him build a barn and cabin. Shortly 16 www.DesertMessenger.com November 19, 2014 Excerpts from "In the Shadow of Saguaros" by Rosalee Oldham Wheeler "In the Shadow of Saguaros" Vol. I & II are now available exclusively at the Tyson's Well Museum and Reader's Oasis Book Store Voices from The Past in Quartzsite, AZ Bill Keiser (1873-1963), one of Quartzsite's most colorful old tim- ers and a prolifi c story teller, enjoyed sharing his view of the many men who came West with dreams of mak- ing a fortune, most often in the form of gold. Stories of gold strikes in the La Paz Mining District brought dream- ers from Eastern cities as well as thou- sands of Europeans looking for adven- ture and prosperity in the American Southwest. Although what often hap- pened was that, after many months of back-breaking work with little or no "gold-show," many accepted offers to work for big mine operators in order to fund another grub-stake only to learn that work in the big mines was even more arduous. Seven days a week, from dawn until dusk, these dreamers literally slaved as they dug and picked until hitting solid rock. The next step was to rig up several sticks of dynamite to blast into what the operators hoped would be a rich vein of gold, validating to the prospectors that there was indeed "gold in them thar hills". After months of mucking and stirring up the fumes and dust of exploded dynamite, their ears would buzz like an angry rattler and the resulting headache could only be relieved after several days of rest in a bedroll under the boughs of a Palo Verde tree. At the end of the month the payoff was $2 for each day's work. With perhaps $50 in hand they had a choice; head back home and face the shame of failure, once again grub-stake their own claim, or give something else a try. For some, that something else was to try their hand at farming, asking around for where the "best dirt" could be found to raise a cash crop, plant some fruit trees with rows of vegetables, and put up a chicken coop for meat and fresh eggs. The Colorado River Valley had miles of rich soil, plenty of water, and an abun- dance of clean fresh air to purge weary lungs. Wandering burros, abandoned by other disillusioned prospectors, were Bill Keiser's farming adventure SEE BILL PAGE 26 Split Rail RV Park Come Have FUN at our Park! GREAT DANCES, MUSIC, COMMUNITY AND MUCH MORE! LOW RATES! $1,000/ year plus utilities Pets & Friendly People Welcome! 928-927-5296 • 1258 N. Central Blvd. Quartzsite THRIFT STORE Benefitting the La Paz County Animal Shelter in Parker Supported by your generous donations! 455 E. Main St. Quartzsite Open Tues. thru Sat. 9-3 928-927-4223 Local Resident • FREE Estimates Larry - Cell 928-273-3719 DAY NIGHT SHADES REPAIRED GUARANTEED WORK! Factory Parts! Factory Chords! thereafter, in 1905, massive amounts of melting snow up in the Rockies sent torrents of water down the Colorado River submerging Bill's barn and little cabin. As he led his burros up to the mesa, he said all he could see was the barn's roof. Colossal fl ooding continued through- out the summer. Further downstream the fl ood waters overfl owed into the Al- amo Channel. Without a control head- gate, water spread out across the Impe- rial Valley causing enormous damage fi lling the Salton Sink and the Southern Pa- cifi c Railroad tracks that ran across it, cre- ating what is known today as the Salton Sea. Bill's dream to ride the steamboats delivering vegetables to miners and ranchers along the river would be on hold until the breech was closed and the mighty Colorado was back in its channel. But the U.S. Reclamation Ser- vice had decided that to control future fl ooding a dam needed to be installed 14 miles upriver from Yuma. By 1909 the Laguna Dam (known today as Im- perial Dam) was completed, thus si- lencing the whistles of the steamboats that had helped to open the West from the Gulf of California all the way up to Rioville, Nevada. Bill packed up for good and headed back to his placer mine near Quartzsite. Every other Saturday he went to Eh- renburg for provisions where he en- joyed watching about 50 Mexicans and 150 Indians make their way to Sam and Elsie's by pack animals, wagon teams, boats, and even fl oating logs to sell hay, hind-quarters of beef, deer or sheep, and anything else the Wilson's could

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