Burney Falls

Situated on the Modoc Plateau east of the Cascade Range, McArthur Burney Memorial State Park is home to a wonderful waterfall. Two large cascades plunge 129 feet while numerous ribbons of water pour out all along the rock wall. The result is unlike any waterfall I’ve ever seen. To the casual observer it would seem that Burney Creek provides a continuous supply of water for the falls. But during part of the year the creek is bone dry and still millions of gallons of water tumble over and seep out through the rocks. One must understand volcanism and how lava flows and about subterranean lakes and streams to fully appreciate why there is a falls even when the stream is dry. All that water in various places underground feeds springs, which provide a year round supply of water for the falls. How much water is there in Burney Falls? How about an estimated 100 million gallons per day! It is one of handful of waterfalls in California that has a good flow throughout the year. It is not the highest or the largest waterfall in California, but it is quite possibly the most beautiful cascade of water, if not the most spectacular in the state. From the falls the water flows down Burney Creek and feeds into Lake Britton.
    Burney Falls was named for a pioneer, Samuel Burney, who settled in the area sometime in the 1850s. Later, the McArthurs arrived and set up housekeeping. The two families saved the land surrounding the falls from being developed, by buying the property and then giving it to the state in the 1920s.
    The waterfall drew the attention of a famous outdoorsman, Teddy Roosevelt, who called it the eighth wonder of the world. I can just imagine him seeing the falls for the first time. The sun glinting off those famous pince-nez, the toothy grin, the riding breeches, his roughrider hat at a jaunty angle. “What do you think of the waterfall, Mr. President?” “Bully....bully falls.” “Beg your pardon Sir, that’s Burney Falls.”

Little Bighorn, a visit to a battlefield

Several years back Linda and I, while traveling through Montana, stopped off at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. We were just going to make a quick visit and be on our way, but the rangers were so darn interesting, we wound up sitting through four hours of lectures. They spoke on every aspect of the famous battle, from weapons to uniforms to food to Indians to topography and we sat there in rapt attention.
    Five thousand books, let me say that again, FIVE THOUSAND books and 100 films and documentaries have been written and produced about the Battle of Little Bighorn, also know as Custer’s Last Stand and to the Indians as the Battle of Greasy Grass Creek. That's more publications than any other battle in the history of warfare. Why is that? For one thing, this was the high water mark in the 400-year struggle between the white man and the Indian. And secondly the way in which Custer and his men died is fodder for great speculation and drama.
    After all the research, multiple investigations, and lengthy military hearings, the debate as to the cause of the Army’s defeat continues to this day. There were no eyewitnesses to the Last Stand, and those Indians and soldiers who took part in the campaign, but were not with Custer at the time had conflicting stories; consequently the truth was very difficult to come by. Add to that the larger than life nature of Custer’s life and you begin to get a sense of just how difficult it was. Hollywood with its proclivity to exaggerate and romanticize hasn't shed any light on the issues; they've just muddied the water. After all, Errol Flynn was just playing Errol Flynn.
    So what do the historians and pundits say was the reason Custer was so soundly defeated? Some say Custer was done in by his arrogance and ambition. Some have maintained that he violated orders. Or they say it was the lack of good military intelligence, poor communications, or a number of other possible factors. But they all must agree about one thing, one undeniable conclusion… the Indians won and the soldiers lost. The Indians were better soldiers on that day, June 25, 1876.

NOTE: Looking at the picture, the headstones were placed where dead soldiers were found near the body of Custer (black headstone). The Indians were down in those trees, which are on the banks of the Little Bighorn River.

Zzyzx, a desert oasis

If you wanted to be the last entry in the telephone book, what better name to have than Zzyzx (ZYE zix). I didn’t make up that name, in 1944 Curtis Howe Springer, self proclaimed doctor and Methodist minister, radio evangelist, and an enterprising con man made it up, proclaiming it to be the last word in the English language. He planned and built a sixty-room hotel, a radio broadcasting station, a church, a health spa, a private airstrip, a pond with a fountain and several outbuildings on a spring fed oasis near Baker, California on the edge of an enormous playa, out in the East Mojave Desert. Springer solicited donations from guests for his special cures for all sorts of afflictions from hemorrhoids to hair loss to serious diseases. The elixir was a concoction made up a celery, carrot and parsley juice. He also offered what he called “Antedeluvian Tea” that he said would definitely prolong life.
    Unfortunately for Springer the federal government caught up with him and successfully challenged his mining claims. He was charged with squatting on federal land and in 1974 he and his followers were evicted. He was later arrested and convicted of false advertising.
    In 1976, the Bureau of Land Management allowed a consortium of California State Universities to take over the management of the property and its facilities. Today, scientists and students who study desert fauna and flora, and people who attend special classes and workshops use the facility.
    The first time I went to Zzyzx, it was for a photography workshop. As I bumped along the dirt road, I asked myself, “What in the world am I getting into, it’s the bloody Sahara out here.” I was tempted to turn back, but I persevered and I’m glad I did. As soon as I saw the pond and the buildings I started to change my mind. And after the first day, I fall in love with the place. It’s a special world, that beautiful little oasis with palm trees, with its spring, with comfortable funky buildings and with the sun and the wind providing electricity. For a brief moment the world’s problems simply don’t matter. Springer’s elixir was not in his dubious concoctions, but in Zzyzx itself.