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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64845
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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THE MYSTERY OF DIAZ' GRAVE by Choral Pepper
Another chapter from Choral's manuscript 'Baja: Missions Mysteries, Myths' to share with you, about a mystery in Northern Baja from long ago and a
recent search conducted by a Los Angeles policeman named Tad Robinette.
(Bruce Barber's new book, '...of Sea and Sand', has details of Barber's search and possible discovery of the Diaz Grave!)
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THE MYSTERY OF DIAZ? GRAVE
The story of Diaz? grave constitutes a classification all its own -- part history, part mystery, part myth. It will not remain that way forever,
though, if Los Angeles Police Department member Tad Robinette succeeds in his quest.
Upon reading my early Baja book, Robinette got caught up in the challenge of delegating immortality to the neglected hero Melchoir Diaz. So in 1994,
putting his military and law enforcement training to test, he set out to settle the Diaz question once and for all.
The explosive history of Diaz? grave first came to my attention through a letter from the late historian Walter Henderson while I was editor of Desert
magazine -- ?explosive? because it refutes several hundred years of fallaciously celebrating Padre Eusebio Kino as the first white man to set foot on
the west shore of the Colorado River. It was that chapter in my book that ignited Robinette?s interest.
Baja Califorina?s true first European visitor to the northern sector was Melchior Diaz, a beloved Spanish army captain dispatched in 1540 by Coronado
to effect a land rendezvous with Fernando de Alarcon, whose fleet was carrying heavy supplies up the Gulf of California to assist in Coronado?s
expedition in search of the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola.
It was during the depression of the early 1930s that Walter Henderson and his southern California companions cranked their Model A Ford roadster
through the rock arroyos of the unpaved road that led toward San Felipe, a Mexican fishing village about 125 miles south of the border at Mexicali.
At a spot a few miles beyond a window-shaped rock formation known as ?La Ventana,? they unloaded their camping gear, filled their canteens from a
water tank in the rear of the car, and set out by foot.
On other of their frequent weekend safaris into Baja, if the Ford hadn?t drunk too much of their water, they often camped overnight while searching
for old Spanish mines, Indian arrowheads, or whatever else adventure produced. Sometimes they found the powerful horns of a bighorn sheep arched over
its bleached and sand-pitted skull. At other times they heard the screeching wail of a wild cat or caught the fleeting shadow of a mule deer high up
in the Sierras. If a covey of quail flushed from a sparse clump of desert greasewood, they knew that water was nearby. Sometimes they found the
spring; most often they did not. Water is elusive in this rugged, raw land and rarely does it surface in a logical and accessible spot.
But on this cool day in April they were lucky. The Model A had behaved well and used less water than usual and they had managed to drive as far as
the foot of the Sierra Pintos with only three punched tires. Henderson had long fostered a yen to find a way into a canyon oasis he had heard about
from another man named Henderson (Randall, the founder of Desert magazine) who had described an oasis where native blue palms rose above huge granite
basins of water stored from mountain runoffs after storms.
As it turned out, they had hiked too far south. Baja California was only crudely mapped in those days and the Mexican woodcutters who supplied
ironwood for ovens to bake the tortillas of Mexicali and Tijuana had not yet been forced this far below the border, so there was no one to give
Henderson and his party directions.
Throughout the entire Arroyo Grande and Arroyo Tule watershed, they had found no sign of man -- just twisted cacti writhing across the sandy ground,
occasional stubby tarote trees, and lizards basking in the sun. On both sides of the wide arroyo up which they hiked, jumbled boulders stuck like
knobs to the mountainsides. In some areas the mountains were the deep, dark red of an ancient lava flow, in other sectors they were granite, bleached
as white as the sand in the wash.
When night fell, the hikers unrolled their sleeping bags, built an ironwood fire and fell asleep while watching the starry spectacle overhead. In
Baja?s clear air, the stars appeared low enough to mingle with their campfire smoke.
At dawn, they brewed a pot of coffee, refried their beans from the night before, and tore hunks of sourdough from a loaf carried by one of the men in
his pack. There was no hurry. They had all day to explore as long as they kept moving back in the general direction of their car.
Late in the afternoon, after hiking across a range of hills, they came upon a curious pile of rocks set back a short distance from the edge of a steep
ravine. For miles around there had been no other signs of human life, neither modern nor ancient. The pile was nearly as tall as a man and twice as
long as it was high. The base was oval and the general shape of the structure resembled a haystack. The stones were rounded rather than sharp-edged,
and although the ground in the vicinity was not littered with them, Henderson and his companions figured that they had been gathered at great labor
from the general area.
They lifted a rock and turned it over. It was dark on the top, light colored underneath. The dark coating acquired by rocks in the desert is called
desert varnish. It is caused by a capillary action of the sun drawing moisture out of the rock. The dark deposit is left from minerals in the water.
In an arid region where rainfall is practically nil, desert varnish takes hundreds of years to form. The fact that these rocks were all coated by
desert varnish on the top indicated that they had remained in their positions for a very, very long time.
The men were tempted to investigate further, but it was the end of April, when the dangerous red rattlers of Baja California come out of hibernation,
so they contented themselves with speculation. The pile of rocks provided an inviting recess for these reptiles and the men were unarmed.
The rock pile stood close to the edge of a narrow ravine that twisted down from the hills over which they had descended. The site was not visible
from the surrounding country so it obviously was not intended as a landmark. That it was a grave, they felt certain, even though it was an unusually
elaborate structure for its isolated situation. Baja California natives have always conscientiously buried corpses found in remote countryside, but
usually the grave is simply outlined with a series of rocks rather than built up man-high like a monument. Whoever lay beneath this rock pile was
obviously revered by his companions who must have numbered more than a few in order to erect it.
Tilted against one end of the rock pile was an ancient piece of weathered ironwood nearly a yard long and as thick as a man?s thigh. If a smaller
crosspiece had been lashed to it to form a cross, the addition had long ago eroded away. Ironwood, Olneya tesota, is a tall spreading tree found only
in washes of hot desert areas in the Southwest. Its wood is brittle, very hard and heavy, and it burns with a slow, hot flame. Mexican woodcutters
have all but depleted the desert of it in recent years, but during the 1930s when Henderson discovered the mysterious grave, it still was conceivable
that the heavy log could have been found close enough to drag to the graveside.
By this time the sun was falling low in the mountains behind them, so the men left the pile of stones and hurried on across the desert to reach their
car before nightfall. They never had occasion to return.
Two years later, however, the memory of the mysterious pile of rocks rose to taunt Henderson and continued to do so for the rest of his life.
The Narratives of Castaneda had been translated into English and a copy had fallen into his hands. When he came upon a passage that read ?? on a
height of land overlooking a narrow valley, under a pile of rocks, Melchior Diaz lies buried,? he would have known immediately that he had found the
lost grave of this Spanish hero except for the fact that Pedro de Castaneda, who traveled as a scribe for Coronado, believed that Diaz was buried on
the opposite side of the Colorado River. However, Castaneda wrote his manuscript twenty years after it had happened and, since he was with Coronado
rather than with Diaz, his only authority was hearsay.
Melchoir Diaz would have been completely ignored by history had it not been for the exploits of Fernando de Alarcon, who had been fitted out with two
vessels and sent up the Gulf of California by Viceroy Mendoza to support Coronado?s land expedition. A rendezvous had been arranged at which time the
land forces were to pick up supplies that Alarcon would bring by sea. As Coronado and his forces moved north, however, their guides led them further
and further toward what is now New Mexico, and away from the Gulf where they were to meet Alarcon. When Alarcon arrived at a lush valley near an
Indian village far east of the Gulf, he established a camp and dispatched Melchoir Diaz westward with a forty-man patrol mounted on his best horses to
search for Alarcon?s ships and make a rendezvous on the Gulf.
Diaz, traveling west, arrived about 100 miles above the Gulf on the bank of the Colorado River. There he learned from an Indian who had helped drag
Alarcon?s boats through the tidal bore that Alarcon had been there, but was now down river and had left a note on a marked tree near where the river
emptied into the Gulf.
Diaz then marched south for three days until he came to the marked tree. At the foot of it he dug up an earthenware jug with contained letters, a
copy of Alarcon?s instructions, and a record of the nautical expedition?s discoveries up to that point.
Knowing now that Alarcon was returning to Mexico, Diaz retraced his steps up the river to what is now Yuma, Arizona, where he forded the river. The
trail through Sonora by which he had come north took his army far inland from the sea. In the event that Alarcon still lingered in the area, Diaz
hoped that by following down the West Coast of the Gulf his men might be able to stay closer to the shore and thus sight the ships.
Marching southward from the present Yuma where they had crossed the Colorado, Diaz and his men came upon Laguna de los Volcanoes, about thirty miles
south of Mexicali. It is from this point that the narrative grows vague, except for the historical account of Diaz? fatal injury and subsequent
burial.
The injury occurred one day when a dog from an Indian camp chased the sheep that accompanied his troops. Angered Diaz threw his lance at the dog from
his running horse. Unable to halt the horse, he ran upon the lance that had upended in the sand in such a fashion that it shafted him through the
thigh, rupturing his bladder.
References vary as to how long he lived following the accident. Castenada reported that Diaz lived for several days only,
carried on a litter by his men under difficult conditions over rough terrain.
Castaneda?s report may be flawed. Not only did he write it twenty years after the fact, but his report was based on hearsay evidence since he was with
Coronado in what is now New Mexico and not along the Colorado with Diaz. A more modern historian, Baltasar de Obregon, wrote that Diaz lived for a
month following the accident. Herbert Bolton, the distinguished California historian, wrote that after crossing the Colorado River on rafts, Diaz and
his troops made five or six day-long marches westward before turning back after Diaz? injury.
If Bolton?s information relative to the days that they marched is correct, and if Castaneda is accurate relative to the number of days Diaz lived
after the accident, Diaz is buried on the West Coast of the Gulf. If he lived for a month, however, his grave very likely lies on the Sonora coast.
This has never been established, although historians have searched fruitlessly for the grave on the East Coast of the Gulf for several centuries.
So convinced was Henderson that he had found Diaz? grave that he proposed an investigation to the Mexican consul in Los Angeles. He was received
politely enough, but turned away with the deluge of problems his suggestion encountered. He was told that to conform to Mexican law of that time his
search party must consist of from two to four soldiers, an historian with official status, a guide to show them where they wanted to go, a cook to
feed them, and mules and saddles so the Mexican officials ?would not have to walk or carry packs on their backs like common peons.?
In addition, the party would have to include someone to put the mules to bed and saddle them, a muleteer, and a
security guard to protect Diaz? helmet, leather armor, blunderbuss, broadsword, coins, jewelry and whatever else of value accompanied the skeleton in
the grave. All this was to be paid for by Henderson. A further stipulation stated that if the area turned out to be too dangerous or rough for the
retinue involved, regardless of expense incurred, Henderson would be obliged to call off the whole thing and turn back.
This, during those years of the depression, was out of the question for Henderson, or just about anyone else. In later years the rigors of such a
trip for Henderson were too great. Faced with those complications, he ultimately went to his own grave never having solved the mystery of Diaz, but
haunted throughout life by the memory of that mysterious pile of rocks. So Diaz sleeps, a neglected hero while Mexicans and Americans alike pay
homage to the prevalent belief that Padre Eusebio Kino was the first white man to come ashore on the west side of the Colorado River.
Now that Baja has come into its own as a popular destination, the present government might be more amenable to investigating the gravesite if it can
be found. According to Henderson?s directions, a line drawn on the hydrographic chart of the Gulf of California from Sharp Peak (31?22? N. Lat.,
elevation 4,690,115?10? W. Long) to an unnamed peak of 2,948 feet, N 25? E from Sharp peak (about twelve miles away) will roughly follow the divide of
a range separating the watershed that flows to the sea. Somewhere near the center of that line, plunging down the westerly slope, is a rather deep
rock-strewn arroyo. On the north rim of this arroyo, and set back a short distance, is a small mesa-like protrudence, or knob of land. There may be
a number of arroyos running parallel. It is on one of these where the land falls away to the west that the rock pile overlooks the arroyo. That was
as close as Henderson was able to identify it on a map.
On one of my flights with Gardner in the 1960s, as we flew over land and water to Sierra Pinto, some thirty-two land-miles north of San Felipe, I
looked for a rugged ravine plunging down from the east side of Cerro del Borrego, a peak north of the present intersections of Highways 5 and 3, but
even the practiced eyes of pilot Francisco Munoz, who circled the area several times, were not sharp enough to etch a rock-covered grave out of
the colorless land. We did detect a dirt road about ten miles south of the La Ventana marker on modern maps that led into ruins of an old mine
called La Fortuna. That may have been where Henderson and his friends left their Model A Ford and initiated their hike.
So much for my treasure hunting competence!
But if any reader has ever doubted the efficiency of an L.A.P.D. cop, put your mind at rest. I have dealt with many treasure hunters, professional
and otherwise, but never have I encountered an equal in systematic persistence to Tad Robinette. Because of his intensive approach toward solving this
mystery, I shall recount it in detail as he reported to me.
Consistent with law enforcement training, Robinette?s modus operandi depended upon finding a good topographical map of an area relatively unmapped in
Henderson?s day. After a series of long-distance calls around the United States, he finally located a store in North Carolina that stocked Mexican
topo maps. Within weeks, he had a collection of the best on the market. They were helpful, but obviously not the map that Henderson had consulted.
That one, Robinette determined, was probably a hydrographic map detailing the Gulf of California area north of San Felipe, since no detailed land maps
had been made at that time. The hunt then began for a hydrographic chart dated prior to 1950.
At about this time Robinette learned of a library in the basement of the Los Angeles Natural History Museum that contained old maps, including
hydrographic charts. Access, by appointment only, was arranged through the curator. Robinette arrived at his appointed time, was escorted through two
sets of double doors, and then turned loose in a basement room lined with volume upon volume of obscure books, old magazines, and stacked layers of
professional papers. He came upon a map section. No numbering system was used. The maps were haphazardly placed in drawers. By chance he found a
small collection of hydro maps dated between 1880 and1930. Among them was a copy of the very map used by Henderson denoting the same peaks and
elevations.
Because nothing could be removed from that library, Robinette made notes to facilitate ordering a copy directly from the archives in Washington, D.C.
Three months later he possessed it.
He then painstakingly coordinated grids provided by Henderson?s recollections superimposed upon modern detailed topo maps, geological surveys,
historical records of the Coronado expedition, and the projected distance for a day?s march. This way he identified the most likely areas for
exploration.
It wasn?t until 1998, however, that Robinette had accumulated enough information and time off work to convince him that a personal expedition was
worthwhile. Then, limited to two days that included the drives back and forth to Los Angeles, he got a good look at the ?lay of the land? south of the
border, but not much else.
His second trek, a year later, lasted for three days. This time he was rewarded by a fine rosy quartz vein, some spectacular sunrises, and a lot of
mountain climbing experience, but he did not find the grave.
Trek Number Three had to be postponed until the year 2000. Then, accompanied by his partner on the beat, Jamie Cortes, they attacked the landslides,
the defiles, and the cactus-covered lava mountains with vigor. During this trip they scoured the mid-section of the area Robinette had designated on
his map. On the last day they had an encouraging break. They had come upon a low range of rolling hills after descending from Arroyo Grande that
matched Henderson?s recollection. But their time was up. The Los Angeles Police Department call to duty waits for no man.
So now we come to Trek Number Four. This time a third partner, Paul Dean, joined the hunt. Unfortunately, the promising ?low range of rolling hills?
failed to keep its promise.
After exceeding the limits of exploration, Robinette had initially projected on his maps, time ran out again. Tired and discouraged, the party was
straggling along a rough route in the direction of the car they had left behind when they came upon an unexpected pass that would have provided
Henderson?s party, as well as their own, a lower and easier route back to the La Ventana area where their car was parked. This appeared at the end of
their allotted time, of course -- the destined fate of most treasure hunts! So they made a haphazard survey and left, promising themselves a return
next year.
As I have written before, I?ll write again, ?Adventuring in Baja is like a Navajo rug with the traditional loose thread left dangling. To finish the
rug would be to kill it. As long as it is unfinished, its spirit is still alive.? Now who wants to kill adventure? Certainly not Tad Robinette. Nor
do I.
So, as Robinette ended his report to me, I?ll end this book, ?To be continued??
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Baja is filled with these wonderful stories that inspires exploration and discovery. Thanks to Choral for giving me the ability to share this with
fellow Baja enthusiasts! See http://ChoralPepper.com
[Edited on 8-2-2004 by David K]
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Juan
Junior Nomad
Posts: 76
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: Olympic Peninsula and Baja Sur
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Mood: Life is good.
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Diaz' Grave
A great read David, please keep them coming.
Juan
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jrbaja
Ultra Nomad
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That is great stuff David
I think it needs to rain more often so we can appreciate your library!
Down here, I think I have been dryer snorkeling than it is in my living room right now. 
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64845
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Thanks guys, I brought this chapter up because TW was in the area where Diaz was (probably) laid to rest.
This and a couple other chapters from Choral's unpublished book are posted in the Baja Historic Interest forum... Can you guys believe the original
publisher backed out of doing this book? I talked about it today on Baja Talk Radio...
[Edited on 10-20-2004 by David K]
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Mexray
Super Nomad
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Location: California Delta
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My god, I love a good mystery...
...Now if I were setting out on the 'Diaz' quest...
Have you ever dropped a small part in the dirt when you're in the outback? When you can't seem to find it among the rocks, sand and gravel, you
finally take a similar part, keeping a keen eye, and drop it on purpose, noting where it skips too...to hopefully find the original.
Well, what we need here is a good friend that still has an old Model A in his garage. We load a couple jugs of water in the back and head south below
the border, to the most likely spot Henderson and his buddies parked. Load up what we can carry, and head out into some of Baja's best scenery - camp
o'nite, and loop around another direction back to the car...looking for that pile of smooth stones, 'dropped' by Henderson those many years ago!
Sounds like another fun Baja outing, if nothing else, eh?
According to my clock...anytime is \'BAJA TIME\' & as Jimmy Buffett says,
\"It doesn\'t use numbers or moving hands It always just says now...\"
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David K
Honored Nomad
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I am on board with you Ray! If nobody with a Model A comes forward, would JR's van work?
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Mexray
Super Nomad
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Maybe...
we could just call it 'Plan A', and go from there 
According to my clock...anytime is \'BAJA TIME\' & as Jimmy Buffett says,
\"It doesn\'t use numbers or moving hands It always just says now...\"
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bajalou
Ultra Nomad
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Registered: 3-11-2004
Location: South of the broder
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As some of you know, Bruce Barber of San Felipe spent several years in search of this grave. He describes his trials and tribulations in his book "of
Sea and Sand."
I think David K has a link if anyone is interested in this account.
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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DD
Junior Nomad
Posts: 27
Registered: 9-16-2004
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Although I do not have a Model A, I think my approach would be along the lines of modifying a weather balloon to carry a digital camera up to a max
of a couple hundred feet and do a digital recording of possible area.
We all know how hard things are to find when you are ground level, especially old walls and graves and such, but from a hundred or so feet in the
early morning or late evening when the shadows aid your interpertation of small rises on the ground, that would be the best time.
So, anyone tried an approach similar to this? There are all sorts of digital camera on kites how-to but I like a balloon as it should give a more
stable platform for the camera, no wind needed and most likely, less chance of crashes.
Could rig up a wireless connect with 802 b/g between the camera (or perhaps one of the new camera phones) to a laptop to see real time images, input
GPS coordinates, upload to a website and let all the Nomads get daily reports, and ?? 
[Edited on 10-20-2004 by DD]
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bajalou
Ultra Nomad
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Go for it DD
No Bad Days
\"Never argue with an idiot. People watching may not be able to tell the difference\"
\"The trouble with doing nothing is - how do I know when I\'m done?\"
Nomad Baja Interactive map
And in the San Felipe area - check out Valle Chico area |
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Mexray
Super Nomad
Posts: 1016
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: California Delta
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Let's contact Richard Branson of Virgin Industries...
He likes to explore in balloons.!
[Edited on 21-10-2004 by Mexray]
According to my clock...anytime is \'BAJA TIME\' & as Jimmy Buffett says,
\"It doesn\'t use numbers or moving hands It always just says now...\"
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Steve in Oro Valley
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Location: Near Tucson
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Melchior Diaz
I visited the late Walt Wheelock, a serious student of history, in his Glendale, California home.
In 1994, Walt Wheelock posited that the OBSIDIAN beds visited by Diaz could have been the ones near the present day Salton Sea (NOT the ones below
Mexicali). This thesis was not too popular with some historians. I do not remember the name of the place (you Southern Californianos probably know
what place he was talking about)
These Obsidian beds match the written description and would have been within the reach of one of the aforementioned exploration "day" trips west of
the Yuma area.
If Diaz had been wounded, and decided to return to headquarters in Culiacan(?), he would have most likely returned via the Camino del Diablo along
present-day AZ Sonora border towards the foothills of Sonora. He would probably have expired near present day Sonoyta, Sonora.
There are many graves marked by volcanic stones (from the Pinacate lava fields) along this ancient trail. Diaz' grave might still be there....
Steve in Oro Valley
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David K
Honored Nomad
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Location: San Diego County
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It's all very interesting!!!
I think what steered Walter Henderson, Choral Pepper, Tad Robinette, and Bruce Barber south was the discription of the bubbling mud pots at Laguna
Volcano, just south of Cerro Prieto (south of Mexicali).
Now, I know there are bubbling mud pots on the southeast shore of the Salton Sea, but there was no sea there before the Colorado flooded the Salton
Sink... so no water to make mud, I think?
IF Diaz didn't turn south after crossing the Colorado, then Wheelock's theory seems valid.
Anyway, I love this desert mystery stuff!
Someday, I will go through all these 30-60 year old Desert Magazines and make a list! Pepper loved this stuff because it created interest in others to
get out and enjoy the desert.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64845
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Bringing this up for yankeeirishman and others to see... Arroyo Tule in Choral's article was probably Arroyo Jaquejel on today's maps. So, very near
the Pole Line Road...!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64845
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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The area of the (possible) Diaz Grave location...
Note Cerro Borrego (Sharp Peak, in the orig. story) and draw a line to the NE to the 3,100' peak, 14 miles away on this 1962 map by Howard Gulick.
This is the range mentioned, and the arroyo (where the grave is along side of) flows west, toward Arroyo Grande. The grave is on the north side of the
west flowing arroyo.
The Baja Almanac misnames Cerro Borrego as C. el Arrajal.
Anybody ready to go exploring???
[Edited on 2-17-2005 by David K]
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academicanarchist
Senior Nomad
Posts: 978
Registered: 9-7-2003
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Mission stuff
David. Why don't you post some of the mission stuff.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64845
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Like what?
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TMW
Select Nomad
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Location: Bakersfield, CA
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David, maybe going home after the 250 race, time permiting, my brother and I will take the old SF 250 race course at KM 134. I believe it joins the
west flowing wash and if so we can take it and see what we find.
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academicanarchist
Senior Nomad
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Mission stuff
Sections of what Choral and I wrote on the missions.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64845
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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OK, it's been a year since this thread was active...
Does anyone have interest in finding the pile of rocks that Henderson believed could be the grave of this Spanish explorer?
I have sent copies of the original letter from Walter Henderson to Choral Pepper (which I have) to the two primary searchers (Tad and Bruce) to give
them an equal shot since they both put so much effort into the search.
Baja is a great source of history mysteries!!!
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