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Death Valley The Facts by W. A. Chalfant ~ 1930 ~ Stanford University Press or Oxford University Press
FOREWORD
Writers on Death Valley, the Tomesha (ground afire) of one of the Indian tribes, have drawn heavily on the vocabulary of descriptive terms. They tell us the Valley is bizarre, fantastic, weird, mysterious, fascinating, won­derful, grim, forbidding, sinister, serene, even charming. We read of its flaming sun in a blazing sky, its glaring landscapes, its shadowy recesses, and its silent, brooding night with stars in velvet depths. Each writer has seen there the qualities he anticipated and has found inspira­tion for his most graphic adjectives. It is a paradoxical land, they say, knowing alike the waves of shimmering heat and the balmy haze of delightful, dreamy Indian sum­mer. On the one hand lies salt a thousand feet deep; on the other, during the right fortnight, flowers tinge the gray sands. Lives have surrendered to thirst, yet it is better watered than most deserts, wild fowl make it a way station in their migrations, and floods strip the covering from the mountain ribs. There has been much of such description, to the neglect of prosaic details. The matter-of-fact in­quirer for knowledge has found it, if at all, in dilute form.

This volume attempts to supply information, without emulating the prose-poets. Facts and serious conclusions herein are worthy of credence not because of where they are found so much as because they are based on pains­taking investigation. Documents and reports and the find­ings of skilled specialists fortify gleanings from other reliable sources as well as personal observations in trips covering the Valley practically from end to end and from side to side. Grateful acknowledgment is made for generous co­operation. Unlimited selection has been permitted from the fine collections of pictures taken by Mr. Burton Frasher, of Pomona, California, and Mr. Stephen Willard, of Palm Springs, California; and Mr. Frasher also secured special views while with the author and others on a Death Valley expedition. The illustrations frequently tell the story as words cannot.

The kindness of Professor W. L. Jepson, California’s foremost botanist, in reading and correcting the manu­script chapter on his special study gives it an authenticity which readers cannot fail to appreciate. Assistance by Mr. Robert Kessler, of Los Angeles, in botanical information, is appreciated.Notes’ on the desert sheep are from information sup­plied by Mr. E. H. Ober, ranking as one of the highest authorities on that subject.Publications of the Weather Bureau, the Department of Agriculture, and the War Department have been drawn upon freely, some of the out-of-print material being cour­teously supplied from headquarters. The resources of the California State Library and of the library of the Nevada State University have contributed items, and many indi­viduals have responded most kindly to various requests.

Not least among those who have helped this undertak­ing is Mr. W. A. Crosby, Automobile Club of Southern California representative in Bishop, California. His genial companionship and resourcefulness have made pleasant the weary miles of repeated desert journeys. These chapters unavoidably cross some of the trails followed in The Story of Inyo (Chicago, 1922). Further attention to Death Valley was not contemplated when that book was prepared, otherwise only the historical fea­tures would have been included in it. However, duplication of matter has been avoided so far as may be, and the his­torical details in this volume are more accurate and more complete.

Bailey, Captain Robert, Bailey, Vernon, observations on horn­ed toad, Ball, Sydney H.: quoted, ; review of geologic occurrences, ; comment, Bandits, , Bats, Beatty, Nevada, routes from, , Beck, Lou Westcott, life-saving work, Bell, J. R., Bench marks, , , Bennett, Asabel, and family: emi­grants, ; leave Hunt train, ; travel independently, ; at Furnace Creek, ; start southwesterly, ; at Bennett Wells, ; leave Death Valley, , , ; reach San Fran­cisquito Ranch, Bennett, Charles, borax hauling, Bennett Wells: bench mark near, , ; camp at, ; return of Manly and Rogers to, ; journey from, , , ; natural food near, ; French party at, ; George party, , ; McCormack finds, ; Lieutenant -c Birnie’s camp, ; description, , ; view of, facing ; vegetation, ; Eagle Works near, Birds, effect of heat on, ; varieties found, , , ; trapped in borax vats, ; Indian method of killing, Birnie, Lieutenant Rogers, Jr., , Black Mountains, , , , , , ; mining in, Blaisdell, Governor, expedition of, Blanch, C. C., co-locator of borax, Bledsoe, Judge B. F., Easter speaker, Bonnie Claire, , Borax: locators found false surveys, ; discovery began new era, ; quantity, , ; chapter on, — Boundary Canyon: water in, ; flowers near, ; limit of ancient lake, ; early known pass, ; gem miner, ; natural pass, Bradbury Well, Breyiogle, Jacob: his lost mine cause of exploration, , ; met by Blais­dell patty, ; prospecting, ; story of, , , , Brier, J. W., with Jayhawkers, , Brier, . W., Jr.: articles, ; quota­tions from, —, Brier, Mrs. . W.: quoted, , , , , ; venerable age, ; heroism, Brown, Charles G., road-builder, Browne, Colonel E. F., geologic theo­ries, — “Buckskins,” emigrant subdivision, “Bug Smashers,” emigrant subdivision, Burros, wild, facing Busch, Peter, death of, Byron, Brian, emigrant,

Cactus, , , ; niggerhead, facing Cahill, W. W., Campbell, M. R., analysis of salt marsh, Camp Independence, Wheeler-Lyle ex­pedition at, , Carbonate Camp, Chalfant, P. A.: with San Francisco party, ; story of Gunsight Mine, ., Chahwalla, see Chuckwalla Chloride Cliff: mines, ; view, ; contributor to mining excitements, Chowchilla River, Chuckwalla: eaten by emigrants, ; appearance, Clergy, Sergeant . B., weather obser­vations, , , Climate, , , /chapter on, — Cloudbursts, Coker, Edward, emigrant, , Coleman Springs, Coleman, W. T., & Co: purchase of borax works from, ; bought Win­ters’ find, , ; built Harmony Borax Works, ; failed, ; started Greenland Ranch, Coleoptera, Colton, . B., emigrant, , , , , , , Comstock’s Study of Insects, quoted, , Coolidge, Dane, finds emigrant relics, Corkscrew Canyon, “Cottonball,” , Cottonwood Creek and Canyon: men sent to, ; description, ; Lyons district, Coville, F. V.: on effect of dry years on plant growth, ; barren areas, .; Indian diet, ; expedition, , ; botanical catalogue, — Cow Creek, Culverwell, Captain: joins Bennett train, ; death of, Curious Butte,

Daggett, borax headquarters, , f. Dante’s View: drainage seen from, ; road, , ; snowstorm, , ; view, iii, , , , Darwin Wash: road, , ; named, ; route of Lyle, Date palms, orchard at Furnace Creek Ranch, , Daunet, Isidore, borax locator, Daylight Pass and Springs, , Dayton, James W., caretaker at Fur- nace Creek Ranch,;deathof, f. Deaths from hardships, — Death Valley Buttes, Death Valley Junction: road, ; structure at, , facing Death Valley: length, width, longitude, and latitude, ; depth, , , ; “proper,” ; southern arm, —, fac- jag ; northern arm, , facing Denton, Oscar, caretaker, , DeQuille, Dan, , Devil’s Golf Course: view of, facing ; description, , , Donner party, fate of, altered emigrant route, Doty, Ed: “Kingbird of the Jay- hawkers,” ; crossed Panamint Valley, ; overtaken by Manly,

Eagle Borax Works: water and vege­tation near, , , ; operation and abandonment, , , Eagles, destructive of desert sheep, Earhart, brothers and son, emigrants, Easter service in Death Valley, Egan, guide, disappearance of, Eichbaum, H. W.: builds toll road, , ; plans first Easter service, Eldredge, David, lost, Electric plant, Elizabeth Lake, Manly and Rogers at, Emigrant Pass, Emigrant Springs, Entomology, reports on, , Epsom salts, great amounts of, Erkson, Alexander, emigrant, Eureka Valley, waterless, Expeditions: French, ; George, , ; Owen, ; Blaisdell, , , ; Wheeler-Lyle, —; Birnie, —

Fairbanks, R. J., , , , , , Farley, N. H., Ferguson, Bill, Fish, emigrant, , Flowers in Death Valley, ; see Vege­tation Forty-Mile Canyon, Briers at, ‘Forty-niners, the, -, Frank, emigrant, Freeman, vicinity of, reached by emi­grants, Frémont: on old Spanish trail, ; map, Frémont Trail, French, Dr. Darwin, and party, named Furnace Creek, , , Funeral Mountains, , facing , , ~ - names of peaks, ; attack on whites in, ; relics, ; crossed by emi ­_ grants, , ; Breyfogle’s camp, ; evidences of volcanic action, Funston, Frederick, , Furnace Creek: name unchanged, ; - distance from Lost Wagons, ; furnaces probably built by Mexicans, ; emigrants at, , , , ; named by Dr. French, , ; Stretch’s notes from, , ; Teck at, ; King sent to, ; heat, , ; source, ; salt marshes, ; - water birds, ; volcanic and geyser action, , ; borax, ; canyon, Furnace Creek Inn, facing , , Furnace Creek Ranch, sea-level con- tour at, ; distance from Bad Water, ; transfer, ; view, facing ; heat, ; underground water, ; birds, , ; borings near, ; named and renamed, ; palms, ; development, , Furnace Creek Wash, , facing , ,

Galesburg, Illinois, Jayhawkers’ start­ing-point, Gem stones, , — Geological Survey: depth measure­ments, , ; “Lost Valley,” ; lowest — bench mark, ; error perpetuated by, ; heat surmised, ; on flow of Amargosa River, ; bulletin on water, —; quadrangles, , ; analysis of surface, ; measure­ment of Ubehebe Crater, George, Dr. S. G.: and party, , ; water signs noted, ; comment on bats, Georgians: emigrants, , ; cross Walker’s Pass, Gillis, emigrant, Golden Canyon, , ; view of en­trance, facing Gould, emigrant, Gower Gulch, Grand View, Grapevine Canyon, , ; site of Scotty’s Castle, Grapevine Mountains, , , , , Grapevine Springs, , , Gregg, S. G., Greenwater, , , Greenland: weather observations, — ; name given to ranch, Grinnell, Dr. Joseph, observations on bird life, , Grotto Canyon, , facing Gunsight Mine: “lost mine,” , , ; story of, ,

Hadley’s Springs, ; source of Fur­nace Creek, Hahn, C. F. R., lost guide, Haines, Captain Asa: diary quoted, , ; reference, ; age at death, Hanepah Creek, ; Canyon, Hanks, H. G.: report of, —; on heat, ; on wind, ; on water temperature, ; state mineralogist, , Harcourt, comment in Overland Monthly, , , Harmon, Myron, co-locator of Eagle Borax Works, , Harmony Borax Works, , , , Harris, Shorty, Hawkeyes, emigrant train, , Helmer, emigrant driver, , , Henderson, W. T.: with George party, ; named Telescope Peak, Hinkle, Fred, disposes of robbers, Hitchens, James, Hole in the Rock Spring, Hornaday, Dr. W. T.: specimens of sheep, ; on kangaroo rat, , Horned toad, , Horton, Phil, Humidity, , Hungry Bill’s, stream at, Hunt, Captain Jefferson, emigrant guide, , ,

Indians: trails of, , , ; encoun­ters with, , , , , , , ; their food taken by emigrants, , ; find Pinney and Savage, , ; village, ; feared by Manly, ; hieroglyphics, ; of Saline Valley, ; dietary, , , , ; tribal boundaries rigid, ; hunters’ blinds, , ; sheep hunt, ; burned wagons, Insanity of lost~nen, Insects, , , , Ischam, William, emigrant, , , Itacolumite,

Jackson, driven from Furnace Creek, “Jayhawkers”: term misapplied, ; organized, ; designation of, , ; oxen stolen, ; told of short route, , ; exclude women and children, ; experiences of, ; wagons abandoned, ; separated from Georgians, ; course of, ; burning of wagons, ; left Death Valley, , ; route not followed by Manly party, ; overtaken, ; named Providence Springs, Jensen, Andrew, notes from, , Jepson, Professor W. L.: acknowledg­ment to, vi, ; observation by, ; his Manual of Flowering Plants, , ; data, , , Johnson, A. M., financial backer of Scotty’s Castle,

Kangaroo rat, , Keane Wonder, , Kern River reached by Martin party, Kessler, Robert: comment, ; list of ferns, ; additional plants, , King, Clarence, Koehler, John, Last Chance Canyon, Last Chance Range, ,

Last Chance Spring: name unchanged, ; Lyle party at, ; stories of naming, , ; location, Lawlessness, — Leadfield, , , Le Conte, Professor, Lee, Leander “Cub”: cattle at Furnace Creek, ; colemanite discovered by, Lee, half-breed, — Lida Quadrangle, Lila C. Mine, Lilley, W. B., , Lilliard, ., Little Salt Lake, caravan at, , Lost Valley: name not accepted by Geological Survey, ; geological structure, Lost Wagons: name misapplied, ; correct location, , , ; naming of place now so called, ; mention of, by Stretch, Lowest point, , ; see Mount Whit­ney and Sea-level, area below Lyle, Lieutenant D. A., expedition, , , Lyons, district,

McCausland Brothers, mining venture, McChristian, , McCormack, Dr. Hugh, McCormack’s Wells, now unknown, ; discovery, ; water at, McCormick, version of Gunsight Mine story, , McDonald, . M., co-locator of Eagle borax deposit, McGowan, emigrant, Manly, William Lewis: namer of Death Valley, ; missed easier route, ; outstanding landmark should be named for, ; book by, ; notes and experiences, —, , -, , ; death of, Manly Pinnacle, Marble Spring, Martin party, , Meiser, swamper, Menu, a special, Mesquite: a food supply, , , on marshes and dunes, ; bird asso ciation with, Mesquite Flat: below sea-level, , site of sand dunes, ; local name justi fled, ; borax company wagons left at, ; near Ubehebe Crater Mesquite Springs, woman’s skeleton found at, Mexicans: named Amargosa River, ; probably built furnaces, ; miners killed by Indians, Monorail line, , Monsen, Frederick, notes by, Monte Blanco, Mormons: believed not builders of furnaces in Death Valley, ; de- -, sired way opened to southern Cali­fornia, ; records show safety of Hunt party, ; historian of church - on explorations, , Mosaic Canyon, Mount Le Conte: highest peak in Funeral Mountains, ; should be I renamed, Mount Whitney, , , Mountain sheep, origin, range, and habits, — Mule teams, , Mullan: prospector, ; escape of, Mushroom Rock, ; view of, facing

Nahgi, “Sheep Mountain,” Naming of Death Valley, , Navares, Dolph, Neotoma, trade rat, , Newhall, railroad town, Niter in Death Valley, Noble, Lieutenant, measurement of Ubehebe Crater,

Ober, E. H., studies of desert sheep, - — Owen, Dr., visit, Owens Lake: reached by Martin party, ; captives taken to, ; emigrants - turned from, Owens Valley: narrowing of, ; dis­tance from Death Valley, Oxen: as steeds, , ; for food, , moving over precipice, ; traded for mining interest,

Pacific Coast Borax Company: suc- cessors to W. T. Coleman & Co., , ; improvements by, SO; windmill erected at Bennett Wells, ; con- — nection with Death Valley history, Pahrump, Nevada, Panamint, mining camp, , , Panamint Mountains: highest point, ; bounding Valley, ; toll road through, ; passes in, ; crossed by emigrants, , , ; running streams in, , ; view from high­est peak, ; crossed by Birnie, ; better watered than east side of Val­ley, ; wild grapes, ; scorpion found, ; geologic notes, , , ; canyons, Panamint Tom, tells of emigrants, Panamint Valley: connection with Death Valley at Wingate Pass, ; arrival of emigrants, ; crossing by Lyle, ; monorail line across, , ; springs and water-holes, Parsons, George W., pioneer in water- hole marking, Passes into Death Valley, , , Perry, . S. W., organizer of twenty- mule-team system, Pinney, emigrant, found by Indians, Poison springs, nature of, , Poverty Point, , Precipitation, , Providence Springs, Publications quoted: American Maga­ine, ; American Natural His­tory, ; Botany of the Death Val­ley Expedition, ; Chautauquan, ; Comstock’s Study of Insects, ; Death Valley in ‘, , , ,. ; Death Valley Sketches, , , , , ; Dictionary of Altitudes, ; Geologic Reconnaissance, ; Griszly Bear, ; Inyo Independent, ; Inyo Register, ; Life Sketches of a Jayhawker, ; Los Angeles Min­ing Review, ; Manual of Flower­ing Plants of California, , ; Publications (Continued): Natural Wealth of California, ; North American Fauna, ; Out West Magazine, ; Overland - Monthly, , ; Proceedings of - Academy of Sciences, ; Sacra­mento Union, ; Saline Deposits of California, ; San Francisco Bid­letin, ; San Jose Mercury, . Scientific American, ; Some Desert Watering Places, , ; Spanish and Indian Place Names of Cali­fornia, ; Stockton Independent, ; Story of Inyo, , , ; Technical World, ; United States Geological Survey Bulletin No. , ; (?tited States Geological Sur vey Bulletin No. , ; Virginia - City Territorial Enterprise,

Railroads in Death Valley, , , Rattlesnakes: not plentiful, , sidewinder, ; tiger, ; remedy f or bite, Radio reception, Redrock Canyon, Resting Springs, Rhyolite, , Richards, Luther, emigrant, Robinson, William, emigrant, , Rogers, John: in Bennett party, ; on - forlorn hope trip, ; return, , ~ - moving cattle over “the falls,” ; reaching better country, Rude, Bill, emigrant, — Ryan, California, view of, facing Ryan borax mines, , ; new uses f or buildings,

Salt: roadbed, , ; extent of, , ; motion of, , ; pools, Salt Creek: Lost Wagons near, , ; Manly goes to, ; burning of wagons, ; course in Valley, ; birds, ; in primitive lake area, - Salt Lake City, emigrants outfitted at, Salt Marsh, vegetation on, facing Salt well, — Salton Sea, depth below sea-level, Sand dunes: situation, ; crossed by emigrants, ; views of, facing ; evidence of severe winds, not encouraging to vegetation, travel on, ; site below sea-level Sand Springs: northern entry into Valley, ; relics found near, described, “Sandwalking Company,” San Francisco party: escape from perils, ; at Salt Lake, ; on northerly route, ; Briers with, San Francisquito Ranch, Jayhawkers reach, ; Manly party at, Saratoga Springs: Mexicans mining near, ; southeastern point of Death Valley, ; birds, ; geologi­cal structure, Savage, emigrant, found by Indians, School, at lowest altitude in United States, Scorpions, , Scotty’s Castle, , , ; view of, facing Scotty’s ranch: formerly Steininger’s, ; water, Sea-level, area below, , , Searles, Dennis, ; monorail line, Shadier, W. M., Searles Lake Basin, emigrants - near, Shannon, Thomas, emigrant, , Sheep, see Mountain sheep Shoshone, road from, Sign posting, , Skidoo mining camp, , Slate Range, , Smith, Captain, , Smith, F. M.: on wildfowl, ; trac­tors tried for borax transportation, Smithsonian Institution, Spanish trail, old, followed by Fré- mont, ; route of Hunt party, , Spears, John R.: view from Telescope Peak, ; description of windstorm, , ; story of wildfowl, ; de­scription of Mushroom Rock, Spurr, . E., geological history sum- — marized, , Steininger Ranch, see Scotty’s Stejneger, Dr., notes on reptiles, - Stephens, L. Dow: brevity of narra­tive, ; quoted, , , , , - Stones discolored by light, Stone washboard found, Stovepipe Wells, , , , , , , , , , facing Stovepipe Wells Hotel, , , Stretch, R. H.: reference to Lost Wagons, ; notes by, , , ; - reference to Breyfogle, Sulphur, Surveyor’s Well,

Teamsters, expertness and require­ments, , f. Teck, “Bellerin’,” , - Teel’s Marsh, extremes of tempera­ture, Tehachapi Pass, Telescope Peak: altitude, ; observed by emigrants, ; climbed and - named, ; Panamint near, ; from Dante’s View, , Temperature, , , ; effects of, , , Texas Springs, , Thayer, Moses, Thompson, M. R.: superintendent at Scotty’s Castle, Tiiton, Frank, Titus Canyon, , ,, Titus, Morris, Totiopah & Tidewater railroad, Towne, , ; name known to early visitors, ; credited with finding - Gunsight Mine, Towne’s Pass: in Panamints, ; name - altered, ; used by explorers, ; - named by Dr. French, ; men­tioned by Lyle, ; road through, Townsend (Townshend?), , ; credited with finding Gunsight Mine, - Townsend Pass, see Towne’s Pass Tractors a failure, Trade rats, , , Tragedies of Death Valley, - Triangle Spring, ; birds, Tuie Spring, Twenty-mule teams, ,

Ubehebe Crater: location, ; view of, facing ; volcanic action, ; measurements,

Vegetation, ; as moisture indication, , ; habits of growth, , ; coloring, ; niggerhead cactus and desert holly, facing ; catalogue, Volcanic action, ,

Wade family, emigrants, Wagons: of emigrants, burned, , , , , ; borax, ; twenty- mule-team, facing ; see Lost Wagons Walker, Captain Joe, trail, Walker, Chief, map, Walker’s Pass, , Ward, Barney, Water: lack of, -, ; of Amar­gosa, , ; near surface, ; flow altered by wind, ; chapter on, — ; signs for, ; at Eagle Borax Works, Weather records, chapter on, — Weller, prospector, lost, Wells, nature of, Wheeler, Lieutenant George M., ex­pedition, , , Wild Rose Canyon: route of Emi­grant Pass, , ; antimony de­posit, ; named by George party, ; flowers, , ; Lyle party at, Williams short route, , Willow Creek, Wind, , , , Wingate Pass, , Winters, Aaron, discovers borax, , , “Wolverines,” emigrant subdivision,Zabriskie, C. B., account of lost wag­ons, , ,

Zabriskie Point, view near, facing

The Inyo Register Tribute to Chalfant
The Chalfant Story
Tales of the Pioneers Excerpt
Tales of the Pioneers: a second excerpt
 

Other:
The Vestiges of Creation: Abraham Lincoln admired The Vestiges of Creation by Robert Chambers, which he read in the 1840s. This book argues that geological and biological evolution have occurred, that the earth is the product of a gaseous nebula, that life first occurred through a natural process, and that present creatures evolved from previous ones, all by processes dictated by scientific principles and laws.
The King in Yellow: 1895  a group of thinly connected short stories all dealing with the effect of a two act play titled "The King in Yellow". The play will show up in the lives and libraries of the victims as if it has a dark soul and will of its own. The King in Yellow is currently the best known work by RWC and rightly so. Chambers was never able to return to the true madness of this his second work. The haunting wonder of this work has only been seen before or since in Poe and Lovecraft
Iole 1905  D. Appleton & Co.
Cardigan: 1901 Harper Bros: Revolutionary War in Broadalbin, hero is the ward of Sir William Johnson. He is sent to stop an Indian war planned by Walter Buttler who wants to turn the Indians against the rebels.
Ashes of Empire:  1898 the middle book written in a Triad referencing the Franco-Prussian War. The cover page states "The Historical Romances of Robert W. Chambers"
Hidden Children: Film Adaptation 1917
Film Synopsis: This picture, adapted from a Robert W. Chambers novel bearing the same title, involves an old Indian custom:  alien children are "hidden" with a friendly  tribe, and when they reach maturity, they  are brought back to form new families  amongst the old tribe. Euan Loskiel (Harold  Lockwood) and Lois de Contrecoeur (May  Allison ) are two such "hidden children." In  the midst of trouble between the Mohicans,  the Iroquois and the White Man, Euan and  Lois fall in love. Lois wants to find her  mother, and with Euan's protection, she does, in a dramatic climax that involves a fight between Euan and Amochol, an Indian chief (George MacDaniel). Beautiful location photography helped draw interest to this rather confusing story.
America or the Sacrifice: 1924 G&D  Illustrated with Scenes from the Motion Picture. Photoplay edition issued to coincide with the release of the D.W. Griffith directed film epic about the American Revolutionary War starring Neil Hamilton and Carol Dempster.
Film Adaptation 1924
As early as 1908 Griffith had considered the possibility of filming his unused playscript of War. However, it was not until 1923 that he finally returned to this account of the American War of Independence. As usual, Griffith took a romantic story as the central focus, around which the historic scenes (Paul Revere's ride, the Battle of Bunker Hill, George Washington at Valley Forge) were played out. America was released in February 1924 to be met rather warily by the critics and was not a success with the public.

Gutenberg Editions
Filmography at IMDB of 26 films
Other novels
Novel Summaries

OTHER:
Out of the Crucible, being the romantic story of the Witwatersrand goldfields; and of the great city which rose in their midst. And an epilogue, 1929-48: The incredible city, by Alexander CampbelL and Hedley Arthur Chilvers.
The Seven Lost Trails of Africa; being a record of sundry expeditions, new and old, in search of buried treasure ~ London, Cassell, 1931~  illustrated by Alfred Palmer, eight maps by H E Winder:
 

Educated at Smith Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Churchill served briefly as an editor of the Army and Navy Journal before becoming the managing editor of Cosmopolitan magazine in 1895. In 1898, he published his first novel, The Celebrity which met with a good deal of success. This was followed in 1899 by Richard Carvell, an historical novel of Revolutionary Maryland, which was immensely popular, selling nearly a million copies. In 1900, Churchill was contacted by the English Winston Churchill, who promised to use his middle name, Spencer, in his own writings in order to avoid the confusion that was beginning to arise between the two. In 1901, the two actually met in Boston. In 1901, he published The Crisis and became one of the widest read authors in America. He moved to New Hampshire in 1899 and became involved in politics, running successfully for the New Hampshire legislature in 1903. In 1911, he ran for Governor of New Hampshire on Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party ticket but was defeated. When Churchill began to shift his focus from historical novels to those with social and religious elements, his popularity waned. Churchill published his final novel, The Dwelling-Place of Light in 1917. After that he produced a number of non-fiction works. His other works included The Crossing (1904), Coniston (1906), Mr. Crewe's Career (1908), A Modern Chronicle (1910), The Inside of the Cup (1913), A Far Country (1915), A Traveller in War-Time (1918) and The Uncharted Way (1940).
E-Books Library
 

During his lifetime he wrote a great variety of things: Plays, among them and The Rose Upon the Altar; novels, such as the Masonic The Lion's Paw; numerous books on Freemasonry, particularly An Introduction To... each of the degrees, and The Master's Book, a manual for new Lodge Worshipful Masters; essays; and about 350 "Short Talk Bulletins". Most uncredited STBs during his term were by him. His popular essays were collected in The Old Past Master and The Old Tiler Talks and other collections. 

Outside of Masonry, he also wrote science fiction adventure serials for American Boy magazine, some of which were also published as novels; and DC Comic's early super-hero title, All-American Comics. He served as editor for a number of special-interest publications: American Inventor from 1900-04; Prism, 1908-09; Cathedral Calendar, 1921-27. He wrote books about aviation, photography, and baseball. 

Carl H. Claudy, Father of the Short Talk ~ Free Masonry
 

Arriving in Franklin county, Kansas, February, 1867, he was a farm laborer and farmer there until July, 1880, when invited to a position in the office of the State Board of Agriculture under Secretary J. K. Hudson. In 1869 he was married to Lou Jenkins.

Mr. Coburn was unanimously elected secretary of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, vice J. K. Hudson, resigned, serving until January 11, 1882, when he was displaced, on a legal technicality, for William Sims. He was president of the Indicator Publishing Company, of Kansas City, Mo., and editor-in-chief of the Live-stock Indicator for five and a half years, 1882 to 1887, and later was editorial writer on the Kansas City Gazette with George W. Martin. He has prepared and published, as secretary, some thirty-odd volumes of reports of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, and has contributed much to various periodicals upon agricultural and kindred topics, and is one of the editors of Country Life in America.Author of "Swine Husbandry," 1877; "Alfalfa," 1901; "The Book of Alfalfa," 1907; "Swine in America," 1909; also many volumes of reports of the Kansas Board of Agriculture on special subjects. 
Ref: Kansas State Historical Society