But most of my work focused on Ash Meadows including that
strange rift in the crust of Earth called Devils Hole. Back in the day, there were several ways to
reach Ash Meadows. One route took you through what is now the Las Vegas bedroom
community of Pahrump. Another route was
to drive north of Las Vegas for an hour or so, past Area 51 (with all of its reputedly
strange goings-on), and turn left at the crossroads of Lathrop Wells almost
across the street from the brothel with it’s deep red light. From Lathrop Wells
the route takes you toward Death Valley Junction, with it’s unique opera house. Just before you reached the Junction you
would turn left again and head out across the desert at the cement factory. Only in Nevada do you give directions by
referencing Area 51 (As Agent Mulder might say, ‘The Truth is out
there.’), a brothel, and a cement
factory. But this was the area in which we did some very exciting biology and
conservation.
Strange things happened in that patch of desert in those
times. Like the time that another student and I were driving into Ash Meadows
from Pahrump only to be stopped by a Deputy Sheriff who refused to let us past
because there was a body in the road. It was a man and he had been shot. We
could see the body there in the dirt of the road with blood staining the
gravel. There were those in Las Vegas
then (and I suspect even now who solved disagreements in a terminal manner).Shifting
into four wheel drive, we circled the place of execution bumping through the
sagebrush and across the stone-hard caliche. As we came onto the main dirt and gravel road and
drove on, I remember wondering how the man had died. Was it quick or had he laid there bleeding his
life out all alone in this this great, seemingly empty stretch of high desert …violent
death in a land so filled with life.
Continued in next post
