Desert Rat 10 Commendents [sic]

DESERT RAT TEN COMMENDENTS   [sic]
BY THE EDITOR (from Harry Oliver’s Desert Rat Scrapbook)

I

Thou shalt love the DESERT, but not lose patience with those who say it’s bleak and ornery (even when the wind is blowing).

Coyote Lake wind storm
Even when the wind is blowing ..
II

Thou shalt speak of the DESERT with great reverence, and lie about it with great showmanship, adding zest to Tall Tales and Legends.

Bath tub in desert.
Adding zest …
III

Thou shalt not admit other DESERTS have more color than the one on which you have staked your claim.

Amboy Crater
IV

Thou shalt on the Sabbath look to the Mountain Peaks so’s to know better your whereabouts, so’s you can help others to know the DESERT, dotting on the map the places where you have camped.

Summit Valley, Hesperia
… on the Sabbath look to the Mountain Peaks …
V

Honor the Pioneers, Explorers and the Desert Rats who found and marked the water holes . . . they tell you about the next water hole and try to help you.

VI

Thou shalt not shoot the Antelope-Chipmunk, Kangaroo Rat or other harmless Desert friends. (Keep your shot for a snake.)

white-tailed antelope squirrel
Don’t shoot these.
VII

Thou shalt not adulterate the water holes nor leave the campsite messed up. Be sure to take 10 gallons of water with you. Don’t have to ask the other fellow on the road for a quart, but be able to help the tenderfoot by giving him some water.

10 gallons of water ought to do it.
VIII

Thou shalt not steal (from the prospector’s shack), nor forget to fill the wood box and water pail.

Burro Schmidt Cabin, El Paso Mountains
Don’t be an asshole and mess up or steal stuff from some guy’s cabin.
IX

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor; you know the mining laws; you know the whereabouts of his monuments.

no tresspassing sign
Sign of the times.
X

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s sleeping bag, his gun, nor the contents of his canteen.

Shoshone Cemetery
Ultimately

~ The End ~