Tales of the Desert 

Introduction 

The west is punctuated with the names of those men and women who walked the fringes of history being known only to the local few, but for whom many of the western stories can be attributed.  Later their names and exploits would be exaggerated into adventures that bared little resemblance to the desolate lives they lived.  Their names were as colorful and varied as the lands they inhabited.  Some lead wagon trains and government expeditions Westward while containing hostile forces and overcoming a demanding environment.  Many, such men as Seldom Seen Slim, Balarat Bob, Shorty Harris, Blowsand Burns, Peg-leg Smith, Francis Packer, Three-Finger Thomas, Burro Adams, Deep Enough Davis, Death Valley Scotty and others, came in search of gold and endured on the edge of civilized existence, finding and loosing fortunes within a single week without missing a step.   For these men success was the hunt and the resulting excitement of the find, it was left to others to reap the benefit from their endeavors.

History records that they were bad businessmen, when in reality, it can be attributed to the color of gold and the associated bragging rights, with little concern for the actual wealth that could be obtained from the precious metal.  They would fight and kill for the right, only to give up their claims for a small reward and start the hunt again, bragging forever about the original find.  They lived, survived, and explored in environments that few would dare to visit.  They walked with death on a daily basis and to those who followed the trail, winning was finding a grub-stake and staying alive, success was being recognized for locating a ledge of color.  It is these wandering argonauts and explorers who set the stage for the bounty of stories that would surround and embrace the Mojave Desert and Death Valley.

History tends to twist reality into forms that excite the imagination and dilute the true nature of events.  There will always be those, through whatever means, who claim to know the "actual facts" when in all honesty, they just give validity to another colorful creation of the mind that has transcended the true accounts.  Blowsand stands alone in his accounting for these adventurers and the exploits that placed them at the doorstep of history.   

So pull up a seat, pop a cold one, and enjoy stories about those who wandered the “Mojave Desert Trails” with Blowsand Burns………………