Tall Tales In The Desert

For April Fools, head for the Anza Borrego Desert in California to spin your wildest yarn. Tell a tale of Pegleg Smith, a colorful desert character. Tell a tale of found gold, only to lose it again. Tell a tale that would make Pegleg proud.

Pegleg Smith was a mountain man, guide, horse thief and liar. In the mid-1800s, he and another man were taking a bunch of furs across the desert from the Colorado River to sell in Los Angeles. They were getting low on water and Pegleg, so called because he had a wooden leg, climbed to the top of a butte looking for water. It was one of three buttes in the area.

While on top of the butte, he gathered some black pebbles and stuck them in his pocket.

And so begins the tale of the legendary Pegleg Smith Lost Mine.

When Pegleg got to Los Angeles, he learned the black pebbles were gold nuggets, covered with a dark "desert varnish". He managed to put together a few expeditions to go back to the spot for more gold, but could never find it again.

He was willing to tell anyone who would listen (for a shot of whiskey or two) about his rich gold mine. He sold maps to it. He sold claims to it. And prospectors headed out to the desert to find the butte covered with gold nuggets.

Supposedly, more people have searched for the Lost Pegleg Smith Mine more than any other lost mine. If anyone has found it, they're not saying.

That is, unless they're at the Pegleg Monument the first Saturday in April, participating in the Pegleg Smith Liars' Contest.

Anyone can enter the contest. The only requirements are the fabricated fable has to either be about Pegleg Smith or searching for gold. Costumes and props add to the story.

The contest begins at sundown. It is free to watch. Bring blankets, a lawn chair and something warm to drink and sit back and enjoy the story telling.

Pegleg's Monument is a pyramid-shaped pile of rocks about 7 miles east of the town of Borrego Springs. For more information visit http://www.borregosprings.info/pegleg_liars-contest.html