The Desert Magazine of the Southwest
Available by year, I have the entire 534 issues of The Desert Magazine archive here. Free PDF scans in Zip format
More commonly known as The Desert Magazine. This was a long published periodical that was started in 1937 by newspaperman Randall Henderson and friend J. Wilson “Mac” McKenney. Henderson was a true visionary who started out on his long career as a journalist for the Los Angeles Times in 1910.
Preferring the desert to the city, Henderson relocated to far eastern California, near the Colorado river, where he worked for the Parker Post in Parker, Arizona.
He then went on to become editor of the Weekly Herald in Blythe, California. Then in 1922 he became the editor and publisher of the Calexico Daily Chronicle in the border town of Calexico, California.
In 1933 he sold the paper and opened a print shop in El Centro, California. The shop later became the base of operations for The Desert Magazine.
The Desert Magazine became very popular and developed a loyal readership, and in 1949 relocated to Palm Desert, California, where they built the first commercial building in the city. Henderson stayed with Desert until 1959.
Henderson was a true explorer and early naturalist, who wrote many stories of his adventures throughout the southwest. Desert magazine had several editors after Randall, publication eventually ceased in 1985.
The Desert Magazine of the southwest has become a vast repository of forgotten knowledge. Over 500 issues were published from 1937 to 1985.
Every southwestern topic imaginable is contained in those back issues. Mining and prospecting articles. Lost mines and forgotten places. Southwestern recipes. Gem and crystal locating areas. Southwest flora and fauna. Native American history The list goes on.
I remember as a kid looking forward to each new issue. Even today Desert magazine is one of my favorite research tools.
Take a look at my shop page for free Desert Magazine downloads available by year.
I’ve categorized some good scans in PDF format and put them in a zip file. Available by year, I have the entire 534 issues of The Desert Magazine archive here. File sizes average between 120 to150 MB. Enjoy.
