The ''Desert Rat Scrap Book'' (or DRSB) was a (roughly) quarterly,

southwestern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

humor publication based in

Thousand Palms, California Thousand Palms is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Coachella Valley of Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 7,715 at the 2010 census, up from 5,120 at the 2000 census. Geography Thousand Palms is located at . It b ...

. DRSB was published in editions of 10,000 to 20,000 copies, whenever its creator,

Harry Oliver Harry Oliver (April 4, 1888 – July 4, 1973) was an American humorist, artist, and Academy Award nominated art director of films from the 1920s and 1930s. Besides his outstanding work in Hollywood, he is now best remembered for his humorous wr ...

had sufficient material, and money enough to pay the printer. Forty-six issues were printed and distributed via Southern California bookstores and newsstands, and by mail worldwide. DRSB was devoted to lore, legends, lies and laughs of the American Southwest region, especially featuring

prospectors Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by Mining engineering#Pre-mining, exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking. ...

and other desert rats. The publication was launched in late 1945 and ran through early 1967.

Structure

Format

The ''DRSB'' was published in a unique format, printed on both sides of heavy creme-colored stock of about 17 x 22 inches (43.3 x 55.5 centimetres) ( Demy)

paper size Paper size standards govern the size of sheets of paper used as writing paper, stationery, cards, and for some printed documents. The ISO 216 standard, which includes the commonly used A4 size, is the international standard for paper size. ...

, folded double three times to yield "the smallest newspaper in the world and the only 5-page one... only newspaper in America you can open in the wind." Pages 1 and 5 (the front and back) are about 5.5 x 8.5 inches; page 2 is about 8.5 x 11 inches; page 3 is about 11 x 17 inches; page 5 is the full 17 x 22 inches. Se
these images
from the March 1953 issue of

Arizona Highways ''Arizona Highways'' is a magazine that contains travelogues and artistic photographs related to the U.S. state of Arizona. It is published monthly in Phoenix by a unit of the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). Background The mag ...

magazine, for an illustration of the expansion.

Numbers

Each issue was a 'packet'; each volume was a 'pouch'. The first issue, dated FALL 1946 (but possibly printed on Oliver's birthday of 4 April 1946) was not numbered. The second issue, dated WINTER 1946–47, was numbered PACKET TWO OF POUCH ONE. All further editions were undated, and numbered as PACKET XXX OF POUCH YYY. Sometimes more than three months passed between editions, which is why PACKET TWO OF POUCH TWELVE (the final issue) appeared in 1967, over 20 years from the first.

Layout

PAGE ONE, rarely overprinted with one garish color, usually featured an Oliver

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

or a

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

(sometimes by

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

Hank Ketcham Henry King Ketcham (March 14, 1920 – June 1, 2001) was an American cartoonist who created the '' Dennis the Menace'' comic strip, writing and drawing it from 1951 to 1994, when he retired from drawing the daily cartoon and took up painti ...

), and would often announce a theme for that issue – see Themes below. The issue contents might (or might not) generally follow that theme. In just a very few issues, a full-cover illustration would spread over both the first and last pages. PAGE TWO would usually (but not always) contain the masthead and boilerplate, something like the following:

This paper is not entered as 2nd class mail.
It's a first class newspaper.
Packet xxx of Pouch yyy
Smallest newspaper in the world
and the only 5 paged one.
Published at Fort Oliver
1000 Palms, California
Four Times a Year
ON THE NEWS STANDS 10¢ A COPY
But sometimes they don't have them.
ONE YEAR BY MAIL – 4 COPIES 50¢
Darned if I am going to the trouble of mailing it for nothing.
10 Years ..................... $5.00
100 Years .....................$50.00
This offer expires when I do.
Asbestos editions will be forwarded in case you don't make it.
Published by
HARRY OLIVER
1888–1999
Fort Commander, Publisher, Distributor, Lamp Lighter, Editor, Artist, Gardener, Janitor, Owner

Following would be an 'editorial', various 'news' items and gags and aphorisms or factoids (original or clipped from other sources) under old-time

fonts In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mode ...

headings, interspersed with small block prints and/or

cartoons A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

of desert characters. PAGE THREE usually contained more of the same, with some slightly longer text pieces, by Oliver or other writers. Many of these items were recycled from previous Oliver publications – Oliver was his own best plagiarist. PAGE FOUR had yet more of the same, often with even longer pieces (including a complete play once) that might address the issue's theme. Along the bottom of this largest page might be a few advertisements, for ghost towns and publications and date farms and rock shops. PAGE FIVE, above the mailing address block, might contain a list of conversation starters, or more gags and news and quotes, or a promotion for Oliver's audio album of readings, or maybe just a large woodcut and an essay or mini-epic poem. Just one issue, Packet Four of Pouch Four, named ''DESERT RAT HARRY OLIVER'S JOKE BOOK'', did not follow the above formats. This is a 32-page book (plus covers), sized about 5.5 x 8.5 inches, folded and stapled. The contents are primarily the usual short gags. The heading on page one says FIRST DESERT JOKE BOOK. This was apparently an unsuccessful experiment.

Impact

Themes

Each issue bore on the front cover the name of a supposed theme for that issue, such as: Desert Burros,

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the ...

, Good Old Desert Fun,

Ghost Towns Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by Alle ...

, Along the Border, Simplicity, Indians, Desert

Folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

, Peg-Leg Smith's Gold,

Lost Mines Lost mines are a popular form of lost treasure legend. The mines involved usually contain a high-value commodity such as gold, silver or diamonds. Often, there is a map (sometimes called a "waybill") purportedly showing the location of the mine ...

And

Buried Treasure Buried treasure is a literary trope commonly associated with depictions of pirates, criminals, and Old West outlaws. According to popular conception, these people often buried their stolen fortunes in remote places, intending to return to them ...

, Frontier Wild Women, Desert Rats &

Hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

Death Valley Scotty Walter Edward Perry Scott (September 20, 1872 – January 5, 1954), also known as Death Valley Scotty, was a prospector, performer, and con man who was made famous by his many scams involving gold mining and the iconic mansion in Death Valley ...

, etc. Besides these, Oliver would also deal with such themes as: The

Lost Ship of the Desert The Lost Ship of the Desert is the subject of legends about various historical maritime vessels having supposedly become stranded and subsequently lost in the deserts of the American Southwest, most commonly in California's Colorado Desert. Sinc ...

; his Desert County

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

movement and Keep the Desert Beautiful campaign;

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...

s and lawmen; communicating with animals; and what others had written about him.

Ambiance

The above descriptions do nothing to convey the ambiance and attraction of the Desert Rat Scrap Book. It's like holding a booklet that becomes an old-time news sheet, filled with information old and new, real and imaginary, serious and hilarious, all informed by a strong and cantankerous personality. There's always another detail in another corner, another timeless tidbit waiting for a patient reader to stumble upon. Even when new, each issue is a small

time machine Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...

Influence

Just as Oliver's design of

Gold Gulch ''Gold Gulch'' was the largest funfair concession built for visitors at the California Pacific International Exposition, a World's Fair that was open from 1935 to 1936, in San Diego, Southern California, United States. Gold Gulch was a section cel ...

, at the

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

(

California Pacific International Exposition The California Pacific International Exposition was an exposition held in San Diego, California during May 29, 1935–November 11, 1935 and February 12, 1936–September 9, 1936. The exposition was held in Balboa Park, San Diego's large c ...

) of 1935–36, strongly influenced the development of Western

theme parks An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

and frontier village reconstructions, so his DRSB can be seen to help shape subsequent Western Americana

literary Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

ephemera Ephemera are transitory creations which are not meant to be retained or preserved. Its etymological origins extends to Ancient Greece, with the common definition of the word being: "the minor transient documents of everyday life". Ambiguous in ...

. The DRSB can also be seen as an ancestor of

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...

culture

Issues

Dating

Dating any specific issue has always been problematic. Postmarks on mailed issues are not always helpful. Harry Oliver produced all issues ('packets') of the first 11 pouches, often at very irregular intervals. Later issues depended heavily on reprinted items. Due to failing health and attitude, Oliver ceased publication in 1965. In 1967 he gave his operation to ex- merchant seaman Bill Powers, who produced two more issues (Packets One and Two of Pouch Twelve) and reprinted a few old issues, then abandoned the DRSB forever and disappeared, possibly returning to sea. First packet was printed on 4 April 1946.
Packet 4, Pouch 5, printed on 4 April 1953.

NOTE: Following is a necessarily incomplete summary of DRSB 'articles'. This list may merely give a taste of the fractally-complex contents of each issue. Unless credited otherwise, text and art are presumably by Oliver. * Pouch One ** "Packet One" (unnumbered), Camp Edition, Saddle Bag Size, Fall Edition 1946 –

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

Says; Harry Oliver's Argument Starters; Toad Watson's Christmas; Rip Snortin'; Pack Rats and Dope; Fame For Nothin'; Adobe ** Packet Two, Winter Edition 1946–47 – How to be a Desert Rat and Like It, by John Hilton; The Desert, by

Don Blanding Donald Benson Blanding (November 7, 1894—June 9, 1957) was an American poet, sometimes described as the "poet laureate of Hawaii." He was also a journalist, cartoonist, author and speaker. Early life Blanding was born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma ...

; Death Valley Scotty, Desert Rat, Showman; Wiffletree Carries the Mail; How to Build With Adobe; Indian Signs ** Packet Three – What the Desert Rats are Doing Today; Petrified Pete; The Borego Calicoes; Yuma is an Interesting Town;

Adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...

; The

Peak of Saint Hyacinth San Jacinto Peak (; often designated Mount San Jacinto) is a peak in the San Jacinto Mountains, in Riverside County, California. Lying within Mount San Jacinto State Park it is the highest both in the range and the county, and serves as the sout ...

; Dog Eater, by

Charles M. Russell Charles Marion Russell (March 19, 1864 – October 24, 1926), also known as C. M. Russell, Charlie Russell, and "Kid" Russell, was an American artist of the American Old West. He created more than 2,000 paintings of cowboys, Native Americans, an ...

; Desert Rat Ten Commandments ** Packet Four, The Windy Number – Water Witches; Jose y el Burro;

Chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

; Captain Catnip Ashby; All's Not Gold That Glitters; That's 30, by Lloyd Smith, Director of the

Palm Springs Desert Museum The Palm Springs Art Museum (formerly the Palm Springs Desert Museum) was founded in 1938, and is a regional art, natural science and performing arts institution for Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley, in Riverside County, California, United St ...

; Haywire Weather; Wind, Wind, and More Wind * Pouch Two ** Packet One, The Burro Number (cover woodblock by

Lon Megargee Lon Megargee (1883–1960) was an American painter from Arizona. He did paintings of the Arizona landscape, Native Americans, and cowboys. His artwork is displayed at the Arizona State Capitol. Early life Megargee was born in 1883 in Philadelphia ...

) – Jose and the Burro; Whiskers and Christmas; Burros, An Interview; The Barber of

Calexico Calexico () is a city in southern Imperial County, California. Situated on the Mexican border, it is linked economically with the much larger city of Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California. It is about east of San Diego ...

; Adobe, by John Hilton; Gold, $70.00 an Ounce; Squaw Wood ** Packet Two (to be determined) ** Packet Three, Along The Border Packet – No Burro, No Gold; Screwbean Benny; So You Are a Hermit; Hell in Texas (song), by George E. Hastings; Two Stories of Old Fort Oliver; The "Screaming Sands" of "Smuggler's Charybdis"; The Transplanted Ghosts at Knott's ** Packet Four, 2nd Anniversary Packet – How Editors Get Rich; The Sad Tail of Arty Packrat; Low Down on Big Horn, by George Pipkin of Death Valley; Tarantula Hawks an' Aeroplanes;

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...

and His 20 Wives in Grand Melee; The Lord's Mine, by John C. Herr; Water Water; Chicken Gold; How to be a Desert Rat and Like It, by John Hilton * Pouch Three ** Packet One, Hot Weather Packet (cover cartoon by Bob Dell) – Lost Mines; Gold Is Where You Find It;

Boot Hill Boot Hill, or Boothill, is the given name of many cemeteries, chiefly in the Western United States. During the 19th and early 20th century it was a common name for the burial grounds of gunfighters, or those who " died with their boots on" (i.e ...

's of the Old West, by Herbert W. Kuhm; Our Good Neighbor, Texas, by

S. Omar Barker S. Omar Barker (June 16, 1894 – April 2, 1985), was an American cowboy poet, politician rancher, and teacher in New Mexico. He published many books, including ''Vientos de las Sierras'' (1924), ''Buckaroo Ballads'' (1928) and ''Rawhide Rhymes: ...

; Your Editor's Prayer; The Chaparral Cock (poem), by Walt Beckwith; Mischievous Burros, by

Erle Stanley Gardner Erle Stanley Gardner (July 17, 1889 – March 11, 1970) was an American lawyer and author. He is best known for the Perry Mason series of crime fiction, detective stories, but he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces and also a series of ...

; There's Gold in Them Thar Hills, by John C. Hebb; Squaw Wood ** Packet Two, Death Valley Packet – Shorty Harris; Pay Dirt; Egg Packer of the Panamints, by

George Palmer Putnam George Palmer Putnam (February 7, 1814 – December 20, 1872) was an American publisher and author. He founded the firm G. P. Putnam's Sons and ''Putnam's Magazine''. He was an advocate of international copyright reform, secretary for many years ...

;

's Record-Breaking Dash on the Coyote Special, by

Lee Shippey Henry Lee Shippey (February 26, 1884 – December 30, 1969), who wrote under the name Lee Shippey, was an American author and journalist whose romance with a French woman during World War I caused a sensation in the United States as a "famous w ...

; Old Prumes, Colorado's Best-Loved Burro, by Mrs. James Rose Harvey; Death Valley and its Country, by George Palmer Putnam; Panamint Pete, by Leonard F. Murnane; Tall But Short Stories from Death Valley ** Packet Three, Moonlight on the Colorado Packet – How the Spaniards Came to Think California Was an Island; The Spanish Galleon at the Bottom of the

Salton Sea The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly saline body of water in Riverside and Imperial counties at the southern end of the U.S. state of California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the Salton Trough that stretches to the Gulf o ...

; Burros, What They Are Made Of, by Mrs. James Rose Harvey; Earthquakes & Horse Pants; Alligators in the Rio Colorado, by John Hilton; The Pack Rat's Nest;

Irvin S. Cobb Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb (June 23, 1876 – March 11, 1944) was an American author, humorist, editor and columnist from Paducah, Kentucky, who relocated to New York in 1904, living there for the remainder of his life. He wrote for the ''New York Worl ...

's Description of

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

; The River in Red, by

Edwin Corle Edwin Corle (May 7, 1906 – June 11, 1956) was an American writer. Biography He was born in Wildwood, New Jersey and educated at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his A.B. in 1928. For the next two years he was a graduat ...

; Ribbons of Wood; A Ship in the Algodones, by David O. Woodbury; Yuma in 1776, by Father Fout ** Packet Four, Treasure Packet –

Dick Wick Hall Dick Wickenburg "Dick Wick" Hall (born DeForest Hall, March 20, 1877 – April 28, 1926) was an American humorist. As co-founder and initial resident of Salome, Arizona he began publishing ''The Salome Sun'', a newsletter containing tall tales a ...

's Mine Was Lost as Stockholders Look On; Wimmin and Cows, by

Ken McClure Ken McClure (born 25 October 1994) is a New Zealand first-class cricketer who plays for Canterbury. He made his first-class debut on 15 October 2015 in the 2015–16 Plunket Shield. He made his List A debut on 17 January 2016 in the 2015–16 ...

; The

Spanish Galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch Wa ...

of Salton Sea, by Antonio de Fierro; West Still Wild, by

Harry Carr __NOTOC__ Harry C. Carr (1877–1936) was an American reporter, editor and columnist for the ''Los Angeles Times.'' In 1934 he was given an honorable mention by a Pulitzer Prize committee on awards. When a heart attack claimed his life at the ag ...

; Where Is Pegleg Smith's Lost Mine; Sidewalks of Silver, by John Hilton; Old Time Remedies; The James Boys Loot, by

J. Frank Dobie James Frank Dobie (September 26, 1888 – September 18, 1964) was an American folklorist, writer, and newspaper columnist best known for his many books depicting the richness and traditions of life in rural Texas during the days of the open rang ...

; Gold, You Can Have It If You Get The Right Shovel * Pouch Four ** Packet One, Good Old Desert Fun – Nevada, Bad Men Buried Alone; A True Desert Turtle Story, by John C. Herr; Fairplay Burro Race Denied Betting Permit; The Burro Led Men to Gold and Silver, by Lucile and Harold Weight; Lem's Fame For Nothin'; Rip's Jumpin' Cactus Drink; Desert Rat Circus, by Geo. A Stingle; Quicksilver Humor ** Packet Two, Desert Magic Packet (cover cartoon by Bob Dell) – Singing Sands of Fort Oliver; Hermit Business; Telling About When a Man's Wealth Was Measured by the Size of His Bedroll; Pageant of Death Valley; The Magic of Desert Air, by George A. Stingle;

Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meanin ...

; Desert Weather, Unusual as Usual; Whisky Joe, A Story With a Moral; More About Pegleg Smith, by W.T. Russell ** Packet Three,

Minnehaha Minnehaha is a Native American woman documented in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1855 epic poem ''The Song of Hiawatha''. She is the lover of the titular protagonist Hiawatha and comes to a tragic end. The name, often said to mean "laughing wat ...

's Tee-Hee Packet, Injun Stuff, Indian Packet (cover cartoon by Wilbur Timpe) – Indian Cradleboard, by Mrs. Ben Hicks; Death Valley and Peg Leg Too, by William Caruthers; Back to the Reservation; Indian Signs You Should Know; Gold in the Heart of Santa Rosa Mountain; Wampum ** Packet Four, Desert Rat Harry Oliver's Joke Book (cover art by Art Loomer overprinted in red) – First Desert Joke Book; Hot Weather; Burros; Wind, Wind, and More Wind; My Dog Whiskers; Injun Stuff; Death Valley * Pouch Five ** Packet One, Good Old Desert Fun, Kindness to Animals Packet (cover cartoon by

Frank Adams John Frank Adams (5 November 1930 – 7 January 1989) was a British mathematician, one of the major contributors to homotopy theory. Life He was born in Woolwich, a suburb in south-east London, and attended Bedford School. He began research ...

) – I Am a Little Ashamed; Sinful Gold; Smart

Roadrunner The roadrunners (genus ''Geococcyx''), also known as chaparral birds or chaparral cocks, are two species of fast-running ground cuckoos with long tails and crests. They are found in the southwestern and south-central United States and Mexico, us ...

; The Pack Rat's Nest, by Allen J. Papen; U.S. Army Mule; Old Abe Died in 1881, by Chas. Lockwood; Being a Hero is a Lifetime Job; Walter (P.T. Barnum) Knott; Burros; Yuma's (Red Cross) Mosquitos ** Packet Two, Frontier Wild Women Good & Bad, Wild Women Packet –

Grass Valley A grass valley (also vega and valle) is a meadow located within a forested and relatively small drainage basin such as a headwater. Grass valleys are common in North America, where they are created and maintained principally by the work of b ...

Lotta Crabtree Charlotte Mignon "Lotta" Crabtree (November 7, 1847 – September 25, 1924), also known mononymously as Lotta, was an American actress, entertainer, comedian, and philanthropist. Crabtree was born in New York City and raised in the gold mining ...

;

Lola Montez Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld (17 February 1821 – 17 January 1861), better known by the stage name Lola Montez (), was an Irish dancer and actress who became famous as a Spanish dancer, courtesan, and mistress of King Ludwig ...

of the Roaring Fifties; Westward the Women, by Nancy Wilson Ross; Street of Red Lights in old

Virginia City Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City developed as a boom ...

; Shorty Harris and the

Primadonna In opera or commedia dell'arte, a prima donna (; Italian for "first lady"; plural: ''prime donne'') is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. ''Prime donne'' often had grand off-stage pers ...

; The Frozen Flame of Mt. San Jacinto; The Wages of Sin, by John Herr; This Is California, The Last Slice of La Ballona Rancho; My Old Dog, by Pancho ** Packet Three, Death Valley & Nevada Packet – Nuts to

Daylight Savings Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or simply daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typicall ...

; A New Show is Born; Shoshone Minnie's First Aid Kit; The West's Most Western Town, by Stevens Gaugh; No More Frontier, by

Bill Nye William Sanford Nye (born November 27, 1955), popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American mechanical engineer, science communicator, and television presenter. He is best known as the host of the science television show ''Bill ...

1886; Critics Don't Agree on What is Wrong With my Book; The Withering Winds of the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

; Be a One Page Desert Naturalist ** Packet Four, Cool Desert Summer Packet (cover cartoon by Maggie Gerke overprinted in red) – My Dog Whiskers, Worse Than Death; Faith, by John Herr; Campaign For Burro Protection Mounting Throughout Desert Area, by L. Burr Belden; She Pinched Out, by Old Bill Williams; A Cousin Jack

Paul Bunyan Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His exploits revolve around the tall tales of his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox. The character originated in the or ...

, by Chas. C. Bailey; Bourbon Spring, by Capt. R.A. Gibson; More Gold From Beatty; Bill Nye's Story of Big Steve; Let's Talk of Graves, of Worms, and Epitaths, by Walter S. Hughes; Current

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

* Pouch Six ** Packet One, Don't Fret Packet (cover cartoon by Maggie Gerke) – The

Alcalde Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) a ...

's Report to the Cactus Nation; Conspiracy at Fort Oliver; The Last Chief of the Paiutes, Tecopah; My Twenty-Five Years With Peg Leg Smith; Culture Vultures at Old Adove Fort Oliver, by L. Burr Belden; Death Valley Scotty, Prospector and Showman, by

Dane Coolidge Dane Coolidge (March 24, 1873 – August 8, 1940) was an American author, naturalist, and photographer. He wrote fiction, non-fiction, and articles featuring the American West. He wrote short stories for magazines and made illustrations. His book ...

; The Old Grouch, by John Herr; Lowdown on Western History ** Packet Two, The Contentment Packet (cover art by Art Loomer) – Post Pourri, by Pancho; The Desert (poem), by Don Blanding; Mule Decides to Quit Army; Death Valley Scotty, Prospector and Showman, by

, second installment; The Great Cat Race, by

Guy Bogart Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an unincorpo ...

** Packet Three, Mixed Up Packet (wraparound cover: The Old Depot, by C. D. Bass) – A Dog's Editorial; Life-Saving Snake Story; The Enchanted

Station Wagon A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate), is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door ( ...

; Our Town, by

John Weld John Weld (February 24, 1905 – June 14, 2003) was an American newspaper reporter and writer. Weld was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He had an early career in Hollywood in the 1920s as a stunt double for Tom Mix, Buck Jones and other stars. ...

; Death Valley Scotty, by

(third installment) ** Packet Four, Shaggy Dog Edition (cover cartoon by Maggie Gerke) – "Saint Frijole" Rids Mexico of

Arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...

; Death Valley Scotty, Prospector and Showman, by

, fourth installment; A Chinee Boy Buys a Mine, by Capt. R.A. Gibson; Tough Miner in a Tough Country, by Ca * Pouch Seven ** Packet One, Jack Ass Edition – Old Prunes, by Everett Blair; The Burro As I Know Him; Burro Flapjack Race; Burros, What They Are Made Of, by Mrs. James Rose Harvey; Burro Love Saga, by Paul Wilhelm; Shorty Harris Burro Story, by George Pipkin; Death Valley Scotty, Prospector and Showman, by Dane Coolidge, fifth installment; What About the Burro? by Chas. Lockwood; No Burros, No Gold ** Packet Two, Half Ass Edition (cover cartoon by Maggie Gerke) – Scotty's Castle; New Model Cockroaches; SHAME! Look What YOU Did! (Desert Beautification campaign); I AM A SECESSIONIST (Desert County campaign); Gold; Before the

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Moto ...

, They Tried to Replace the

Burro The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...

; Death Valley Stories, by Capt. R.A. Gibson; I Killed a Burro, by Anonymous; Paul Wilhelm's Desert Column; Mulish Justice; Cremated Currency, by John Hilton ** Packet Three, Haunted Ghost Towns Packet (cover art by Maggie Gerke overprinted in blue) – Randsburg's Dancin' Skeletons; Harry Oliver Swept Here; Colorado's Day Time Ghost; The Day They All (one-act play), by Robert Finch ** Packet Four, The Pack Rat Edition (cover art by Maggie Gerke overprinted in orange) – Pioneer Yankee Traders; Toad Watson's Christmas; Shake Rattle & Rob, by Old Bill Williams; The Clown of the Rat Family, by Charles Lockwood; Paul Wilhelm's Desert Column; The Sad Tale of Arty Packrat; Pack Rats & Dope * Pouch Eight ** Packet One, An Appetizer for Tourists, Bunk-House Edition (cover cartoon by Hank Ketcham) – All's Not Gold That Glitters; English Words in Southwest Spanish; Joost Playin'; Bewitched Sand, by J. Frank Dobie; Mischievous Burros; Pack Rat Arsonists, by Maidee Nelson; The Matador and the Burro; Souvenir of Mexico ** Packet Two, How to Be a Full-Time Idealist, Don Quixote Edition (cover art by Maggie Gerke overprinted in purple) – How to Be a Local Wit; Animal Crackers; The Handsome

Horned Toad Horned lizards (''Phrynosoma''), also known as horny toads or horntoads, are a genus of North American lizards and the type genus of the family Phrynosomatidae. The common names refer directly to their horns or to their flattened, rounded bodies, ...

, by Florence Emmons; Injun Stuff; The Fish That Carried Its Own Pond With It, by Snow Creek Bert; 'Cher Ami' Honored With D.S.C., by Chas. Lockwood; Flowery Tribute to an Old Saloon, by James L. Wright; Was His Grand Pappy a'dreamin?, by Old Bill Williams; The Brook (poem), after

Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

** Packet Three, The Happy Scramble Edition (cover art by Maggie Gerke overprinted in amber) – Salton Sea Leaks; Colonel Phat's Fort Oliver Dispatches, by Phat Graettinger; Be One of My "Snoops"; Squeaky Springs; One Way of Proposing (poem); Gold Miners Make Strike in Sky, by Ray Henry; Outsmarted by a Burro, by Anne Evans Bancroft; Crow Made to Eat Crow; A Desert Fable ** Packet Four, The Voice of the Desert Packet (cover art by Art Loomer overprinted in brown) – Mutiny at the Fort, by Ray Corliss; Desert Editor's Best (poems), by George Bideaux; Old Sky-Eye Jones; The Big Wind, by Snow Creek Bert; Peg Leg Smith at Palmas Blancas, by Horace Parker * Pouch Nine ** Packet One, Power of Positive Bologna Packet (cover cartoon by Harry Mace overprinted in red) – With a Brood in His Beard; Abe Lincoln's Dry Wit; The Wit of Utah, by Rolfe Peterson; Romantic Desert Trade Rats, by S.F. "Snoop" Garside; The Last Man to Fight

Buffalo Bill William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, Bison hunting, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa, Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but ...

; Two Damns and a Hell; The Biggest Little Paper; The Cat's Whiskers; Eager Beavers ** Packet Two, How Old Is Old? Second Childhood Packet (cover sketch by Roger Armstrong – Whip-Snapping; The Belled Burro; Wiffletree Carries the Mail; Famed Double-Barreled Whale of

Great Salt Lake The Great Salt Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere and the eighth-largest terminal lake in the world. It lies in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah and has a substantial impact upon the local climate, particula ...

, by Rolfe Peterson; The Tumbleweed of Lordsburg, by Norman V. Christensen; Old Goldfield: A Town That Knew How – And How, by Frank Johnson; How Old Is Old?; "Oliver Rides Again" (words & sketch by Margo Gerke) ** Packet Three, Your Animals And You (cover overprinted in cinnamon) –

Calico Ghost Town Calico is a ghost town and former mining town in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Calico Mountains of the Mojave Desert region of Southern California, it was founded in 1881 as a silver mining town, and was later c ...

, A Bit of History, from Ted Hutchinson; The Jerky Trial, from Rolly Canfield; Best Dam Builder Moves into Glen Canyon; To Dearest Helen – My Devoted Friend, by

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

; Smuggled Chinese Girls & A Mother Mountain Lion; A Walter Knott Project, Calico Restored (AP); Oliver Twists ** Packet Four, Tepee (Etiquette) Packet (cover cartoon by Hank Ketcham) – Over Two Hundred Years of Vicious Propaganda: SHAME AMERICA; Mojave or Mohave? Death Valley; Tecopah, The Last Chief of the Paiutes; Only in California; Spring in His Britches, from Dr. Waldo Jones; Shoshone Indians First Aid Kit; Westward the Women, by Nancy Wilson Ross; 49er Gold Rush: Mystery Chief Showed the Good Side of the Indians, by Anonymous; Indian Signs * Pouch Ten ** Packet One, Names and Places, Simple Lasting Desert Fun (cover woodblock overprinted in orange) – See the Old West in Festival & Pageant; Peg Leg Smith, The P.T. Barnum of Desert Ghosts; Peg-Leg Gets Applause: Under The Sun, by Bert Fireman; Studebaker Show, by Herb S. Hamlin; Dick Wick Hall Show; John B. Stetson Show; My Modesty Has Gone with the Wind ** Packet Two, A Handbook for Rangers & Guides (cover cartoon by Lamb) – Museum Nonsense; The Pack Rats Nest; Wampum; Infant Science (from TIME); Press Agent for a Ghost, by Alfred JaCoby ** Packet Three, Man and Animal in Tug-of-War (cover art by unknown, overprinted in orange) – Smart Animals and Stupid People; Mud in the Good Old Desert: My Dad Builds Historic Adobes, by Amy Oliver Vrooman; Galloping in From Another World; 17 Happy Years in the Life of a Desert Dog – As He Tells It (notes and obituaries re: Whiskers) ** Packet Four, Editor's 75th Anniversary Edition (cover cartoon by Bob Barnes) – Restoration of an Antique, by Ed Ainsworth; Old Fort Oliver, by Jack Smith; My Year With

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (,"Villa"
''Collins English Dictionary''. ; ;

– How to Stage a Fast-Moving Revolution; Pipe Dreams, by

Herb Caen Herbert Eugene Caen (; April 3, 1916 February 1, 1997) was a San Francisco humorist and journalist whose daily column of local goings-on and insider gossip, social and political happenings, and offbeat puns and anecdotes—"A continuous love let ...

; Writers, Reporters & Editors; The Stubborn Queen (history of a prairie yacht); Simple Life in Desert Castles * Pouch Eleven ** Packet One, Editor's 75th Anniversary Edition – Peg-Leg Smith's Gold, Where it was found and where it was lost; Gold; More About Dick Wick Hall; The Spanish Galleon of the Salton Sea; More About Pegleg Smith; The James Boys Loot; Where Is Pegleg Smith's Lost Mine; West Still Wild, by Harry Carr; Peg-Leg Gets Applause From Arizonas Expert Bert Fireman ** Packet Two, Desert Beautiful Edition, Raking Up The Past Edition (cover cartoon by Walt Disney) – SHAME! Look What YOU Did! (Desert Beautification campaign); I AM A SECESSIONIST (Desert County campaign); Press Agent For a Ghost; King of the Desert Rats, by Greenfield Lawrel; Let It Be Said We Died With Our Boots On (words & sketch by Margo Gerke) ** Packet Three, I Become a Symbol (cover art by Art Loomer) – The Peak of Saint Hyacinth, by Tom Hughes; The Purple Knight of the

Salton Sink The Salton Sink is the low point of an endorheic basin, a closed drainage system with no outflows to other bodies of water, in the Colorado Desert sub-region of the Sonoran Desert. The sink falls within the larger Salton Trough and separates the ...

, by Gov.

Goodwin Knight Goodwin Jess "Goodie" Knight (December 9, 1896 – May 22, 1970) was an American politician who served as the 31st governor of California from 1953 until 1959. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the 35th lieutenant governor ...

; Old Harry (letter to Walt Disney from Mrs. Clifford Henderson); Dick Wick Hall Show; John B. Stetson Show; My Modesty Has Gone with the Wind; Press Agent for a Ghost, by Bert Fireman ** Packet Four, Animal Intelligence (cover art by Maggie Gerke) – The Sad Tale of Arty Packrat; Nevada Bad Men Buried Alone; A True Desert Turtle Story; Shorty Harris, Jackass Prospector; Two Stories of Old Fort Oliver; The "Screaming Sands" of "Smuggler's Charybdis"; The True Story of Scotty, by George Palmer Putnam; Adobe, by John Hilton; Bourbon Springs, by Capt. R.A. Gibson * Pouch Twelve ** Packet One, Teepee Tales – Council Fire; Death Valley; "Pioneers! O Pioneers!"; Indian Signs; Salton Sea Scrolls; Adult Western (poem) by W.C. Tuttle; Tumbleweeds; Injun Stuff; Prairie Feathers ** Packet Two, 21st Anniversary Packet – Death Valley: Tales From Old Ballarat; The Golden Fleece, by John D. Mitchell; Gold in Them Hills, by C.B. Glasscock; The Desert Rat (poem) by Clyde Terrell; Sagebrush Sermon, by Duncan Emrich; Shorty Jones' Magic Tablets, by Vollie Tripp; Smart, Those Burros, by C.B. Glasscock;

Pay Dirt ''Pay Dirt'' is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by Henry King and starring himself, Marguerite Nichols, Gordon Sackville, Mollie McConnell, Daniel Gilfether, and Charles Dudley. The film was released by General Film Company on June 1 ...

, by Scoop Garside; At Cheyenne (poem) by

Eugene Field Eugene Field Sr. (September 2, 1850 – November 4, 1895) was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays. He was known as the "poet of childhood". Early life and education Field was born in St. Louis, Missour ...

References

External links

''Desert Rat Scrap Book'' archive

''Desert Rat Scrap Book'' group

{Dead link, date=November 2019 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes Lifestyle magazines published in the United States Quarterly magazines published in the United States Colorado Desert Defunct magazines published in the United States History of the Mojave Desert region Magazines established in 1945 Magazines disestablished in 1967 Magazines published in California Mass media in Riverside County, California Humor magazines