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I read Gesner's letter, then studied a map of the area. Mitchell's caverns were the only ones shown in this general district. I and two companions stopped at Mitchell's before continuing our search for the Dorr cave. A good thing we did! Our most authentic information came from Jack Mitchell, the discoverer, owner, and operator of Mitchell's Caverns. (More about these later.) Mitchell has been in the Dorr caves, knows the history, and has pictures of the cave. According to Mitchell, the cave is small, and all the stories merely fables. It is located five miles northeast of the desert town of Cima. Cima may be reached from Highways 66, 91, or 95 along the Nevada-California border.
The cave is located in a geological formation common to that area. That part of the Mojave desert is an ancient ocean bed, now a limestone formation. In some places volcanic plugs have been forced up through the limestone, breaking the crust and forming mountains. Both the Ivanpah, and the Providence ranges (where Mitchell's caverns are) are of this formation. The volcanic plugs are ryohlite (reohlite), the limestone on edge against it.
Limestone caves formed in such a formation are limited in size. They can only extend from the broken upper edge, to the permanent ground water level, a distance rarely over 2,000 feet. The thickness of the limestone determines the horizontal extent, in Mitchell's caves, about a thousand feet. Any geologist will confirm the fact that huge caverns such as Gesner mentions are impossible in such a formation. There is not sufficient rock to support the arch necessary to form such domes. Carlsbad, yes, Mojave, no!
Now to clean up a few loose ends of Gesner's story. Harmer left the Daily News about six months ago. I have been unable to locate him since. We were also unable to find out anything at all about the supposed blueprint by a U.S. Geodetic agent.
Jack Mitchell discovered his caves in 1929, and began to open them in 1934. At present only part of them are open to the public. Some of the deeper caves are not yet fully explored. Mitchell himself is a living legend of the Mojave. His story of the caves is alone worth the trip. For the cave hunter, the rock hound, anthropologists, the botanists, or the writer, these caves are well worth a visit. If anyone is interested, the best road to Mitchell's Caverns is by way of Essex, 30 miles west of Needles, California, on Highway 66. Turn north at Essex on a desert road for 22 miles. Signs point the way and the road ends at Mitchell's doorstep. There is no mystery here.
John G. Bullock,
1616 S. Barrington Ave.,
West Los Angeles 25, Calif.
Thank you, Mr. Bullock, for the CHMBS.—Ed.
