Origin Of Death Valley

The Indian legend regarding the origin of Death valley, in Mayo county, California, is an interesting one. From the outer edge of this vast furnace- it is three hundred miles square and one hundred f eet below sea level - one may see farofr, trenmlous through the shimmering waves of heat, a sort of butte that has the form of a ruined castle. The story g-oes that in the old days, before the Amargosa river ceased to water the valleys, the place was the site of a powerful city ruled by a prineess as beautiful as Oeopatra and as imperious as Elizabeth. An ambassador to the reigniug Aztec monarch described to her on his return the glories of the king-'s palace in the City of Mexico. Resolving to equal the mag-nificence of her neighbor she began the erection of a vast building-. All the laborers and artisans of the city were emplo3red and the work was pushed nig-ht and day. for within twelve months the Aztec ruler was to be her guest, and she wisbed to welcome him to a palace as spiend id as bis own. She exhaisted the resources of her realm, men went mad with toil and hunger, and at last the high priest protested. He was ordered to execution, and, dying, cursed the city for the princess' sake. That night the earth shook and sank, the river drled up and the morning sun poured down a flood of heat. All perished, and now the ruined walls of the palace alone remain. The Amargosa, by the way, is a most erratic stream. It fiows south ninety miles from its fountain head in the western Sierras, vanishes at Resting Spring mountain, is in evidence again for fifty miles, disappears for a space, then bobs up and runs along turbulently for one hundred miles. All trace of it is lost at Death valley.