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Somewhere in the hills near the Red Cloud mine.
John Nummel was locally famous for losing 2 mineral ledges in the mountains north of Yuma, but the strangest story he told might have been about the petrified turtles. They apparently looked just like desert tortoises with a thick body and legs but no heads. He said he found them in some low granite hills, but in beds of red sandstone. Many people believed that they were geodes which are found throughout the desert, but there is a story that one was sent to an institution for analysis and was identified as a fossil turtle. John said the "mountains of the turtles" could be easily reached from the river. Keep in mind, that this was said by a man that had no problem with hiking 40 miles through the desert in the summer time and would probably walk circles around almost anyone these days. This area is devoid of people and help. I have traveled up sandy washes and extremely rocky roads in the area and it is no place to get stuck. Walter Nelson, a caretaker for the Red Cloud mine in 1955, died next to his car after getting stuck in loose sand. Even 4WD can easily become mired in this type of country. Be careful and always let someone know where you went and when you expect to return.
Reference: Lost Mines of Arizona by Harold O. Weight, published 1959
