Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

the mines; then robbed the "down" stage to complete the job. Wanted to cover all the bases, I supposel From high atop Rob bers Roost I could ima~ne how it must have been for the highwaymen. Cooling their heels for days, maybe even weeks, in the shelter of the R oost's shallow caves, while awaiting a likely victim , must have been boring. Even when they sighted a target and swooped down on it they could expect to get a skin full of buckshot for their trouble. Everyone with sense went well armed in those days. I even found where one mine owner formulated a pl an to thwart the robbers on the road. Instead of shipping his silver in the usual 70-pound ingots; he m olded them in to 500 poun d ballsl Where would you find a pack horse big enough to carry that? Bandits had plenty of targets along the valley. Freight operations such as Remi Nadeau's worked continually, trying to bring the Silver to. the port at Wilmington, where it was shipped to the m in t in San Francisco. On the return trip Na deau would bring much-needed su pplies. It took two weeks to cover the distance, one-way. Doesn't sound like fun does it, being at the mercy of the elements and robbers for two weeks at a time? I wouldn't say the diggins at the mines along the valley were rich (not much!), but there were so many silver ingots waiting on the shores of Owens Lake for shipment to the mint that miners were stacking them up and · making houses out of them . . That's living in luxuryl , Picture this, if you can , as quoted from "Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of California" by Remi Nadeau (whose great-great-grandfather was the famous wagon freighter in the Owens Valley) , "30,000 ingots had a ccumu la ted in Owens Va lley and passing miners were building them into temporary cabins. But in 1873 Nadeau insisted the Belshaw and Beaudry (developers' of silver-rich Cerro Gordo) join him in financing a new firm , the Cerro Gordo Freighting Company. He built new stations and began dispatching teams on an almost hou rly basis like a stage line. Within a cfew months, using 80 teams of 16 mules and three wagons each , the freighters cleared the furnace output for the first time." Whewl That's a lot of loot. No wonder there were bandits beside the trail , just lurking for a chance to be instant-rich. I worked my way around the huge rockpile of the roost. While I was taking a few pictures I encountered some relatively new arrivals in the Owens Valley - Red-legged{C hukar) Partridge. These imports from India sat very quietly, unbeknowst to me, as I approached. Then , about 20 of them fluttered madly away from almost directly ' beneath my feet. After walking along, musing about the outlaws who used to come here and thinking I was entirely alone, the sudden, scrambling flutter of the birds into flight scared the heck out of me. I looked around and realized that the sun was setting off toward the Antelope Valley and then over the mountains to Los Angeles . I'd been up -here for hours and hadn't really been aware of it. I had been just simply watching the road below and thinking, like Vasquez and the others must have done. The past had taken a temporary hold one me . Now it was time to come back to the present. The evening desert chill was coming :Oon as my trail bike purred down the t-slope to the base camp. The adventure • was over. It was time to wrap it up. What about the trial held for the robber Vasquez in Sa n Jose? Well , it seems his luck ran out at age 39. He • was hanged March 19, 1875 . [~-----~~---~~ -~~~~~~--~~- .~-~-~~~~~~~-- -~~ If the world was all downhill, you wouldn't need motorcycles. -------------------------- Long Beach Yamaha Winter Sale 10% TERR I'CABLE The Teflon Super Smooth Cable 3580 E. Pacific Coast Hwy ., Long Beach * Com plete line for racing bikes *Requires no oiling * Smooth est pu lling cable * Flexi bl e t hrottle w ire gives long li f e * Heavy duty housing. resist s st retch and abuse 213-597-3317 Write for Free literature DISCOUNT on all 78 motorcycles in stock Must be accompanied with copy of this ad to qual ify ------- Terrycable PO Box 1321, Hesperia. CA 92345 -sance975 CROSS This goggle is the newest addition to the line and is fashioned after the popular 970 model, featuring _ clear inner lens, with two 12J cl88t't&llr away lenses. The 975-Cr osa also features the exlTa wide n 118"1elastic. adj ustable, rain- forced headband for snug. comfortable fit . h also has the soft. absorbent chamois inner facing OYet' a thick cushion of roam. The roll-over air vents . both toP end bottom, provide plenty of lIir circulation . MAGURA U.S.A. Park CORP. P.O. Box 1030 M .C.I.D. Lewistown, Pa. 17044 717/242-0311 (71 4) 247·2646 Out of state call toll free (800) 8544691 13

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