Sleepless nights, while violent desert winds tore at her four-room portable bungalow; walking guided by the stars; waking before dawn to watch the mysterious desert mirage; sleeping under starlit skies, often alone, with dangerous "side-winders" (snakes) about and coyotes barking in the distance; all these were the experiences of an Iowa State graduate, Miss Alice Mann, '90, who tells of her three years homesteading in California on her desert claim.