NOVEMBER IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE MONTHS. Fall weather, holidays and family get togethers. Here is my list of important dates in November.
2nd Newberry Springs Pistachio Festival
3rd Daylight Saving Time change
5th National Election
10th USMC 249th Birthday
11th Veterans Day
11th Route 66 98th Birthday
28th Thanksgiving (my most favorite holiday)
Also we start the Santa gigs we do in the High Desert.
You will notice a few political ads in this issue. We do not endorse or support in our publication any person-party or cause, that is of a political nature. We also do not reach out to them to advertise in the PULSE. We treat everyone in a fair and professional manner.
Our writer John Garner has a new book out ‘Second Chances’ For more information please contact John.
BE SURE TO VOTE ON TUESDAY THE 5TH
Seymour Alf’s Blacksmith Shop
By John Wease
ARTICLES WRITTEN about Daggett’s historic district and its important place in our local history rarely fail to at least mention Alf’s Blacksmith Shop. The large facility has been lovingly preserved and it is remarkably fully equipped. Its survival is now under the care of the Daggett Historical Society. I have read articles and seen photographs in the past and they were impressive. I was able to visit the site in person during the Daggett Pioneer Days Festival.
If you are like me and grew up in the Golden Era of Westerns, you may imagine Seymour Alf as one of those burly blacksmiths, standing by a hot forge, hammering red-hot steel into some useful item. Old photographs don’t show him as particularly burly. That is okay though because Mr. Alf was never a blacksmith. So, who was Seymour Alf?
Joining the multitude of pioneers, Seymour Alf traveled to the High Desert in a covered wagon. He arrived in the present day Helendale area and tried his hand at farming for a couple of years. He then bought land in the “Fish Ponds” area between Barstow and Daggett. He raised cattle and butchered beef to sell at Calico.
He also did some freighting.
Around 1885 he moved to Daggett and built the blacksmith shop. He continued to butcher and sell beef. He also graded and built roads. He was hired to grade the roadbed between Daggett and Yermo and the Yermo railyard by the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad (now Union Pacific). He is most famous for being the builder of the twenty-mule team wagons used to haul borax from the borax mining complex in Mule Canyon.
Not long after silver was discovered at Calico, the largest deposit of borax in California was located a few miles to the east. Francis Marion “Borax” Smith acquired the mine there and moved his operations from Death Valley. He had been using twenty-mule team wagons consisting of a combination of two large ore wagons and a water tank wagon to haul borax from Death Valley to Daggett. For the operation at “Borate,” he wanted narrower wagons to better maneuver the narrow road in Mule Canyon.
To say Seymour Al built the wagons would be somewhat of an understatement. Yes, he did build the wagons. Or, more precisely, his crew of skilled blacksmiths, wheelwrights, and carpenters did. It didn’t stop there. Like an early day Penske truck leasing service, he provided not only wagons but mules, harnesses, and mule skinners. West of the blacksmith shop, back in the day, there were corrals to house hundreds of mules. Harnesses, with Seymour Alf logos, are still hanging inside the shop, as though they are waiting to be used again. The contract with Pacific Coast Borax ended around 1896 when a narrow-gauge railroad was built.
Seymour Alf passed away in 1922. His son Walter took over the business. Walter passed away in 1970 but we can thank him for preserving the blacksmith shop in its original condition and still fully equipped. It is often said that it appears like the crew
will be back at any time to resume work. Walter refused to turn over the metal tools and equipment during World War II to be melted down for the war effort. Thankfully, he recognized the value of preserving this important part of Daggett’s history.
As mentioned, the blacksmith shop is fully equipped. The old forge, giant bellows and anvils are all ready to go back in service. After a good dusting. Outside, the “tire” making area is also preserved. The massive wooden wagon wheels had a stout hub with wooden spokes precisely angled to carry the immense weight of a loaded ore wagon. To hold the wheel together, and add further strength, a large metal band known as a tire was placed around the outside of the wheel. The tire was formed and sized slightly smaller than the wooden wheel. The tire was heated in a fire until red-hot. Steel expands when heated. While still hot, the tire was fitted around the wooden wheel and quickly cooled with water to prevent burning the wood. When cooled, the steel would shrink and stay securely on the wheel. The fire rings are still visible, and the lifting hoist is waiting to lift and swing the next red-hot tire into place.
Under a protective roof behind the blacksmith shop are two of Alf’s authentic borax ore wagons. Behind them is a wagon with a water tank. Although not one of the historic twenty-mule team water tank wagons, it is a nice representation. It is an interesting mockup. You can see where the original wagon bows were cut off when the water tank was added. The bows held the canvas top on this wagon. It is the same covered wagon used by Seymour Alf when he moved to California. Alf’s Blacksmith Shop is an incredible historic site. It hopefully will soon be available for tours as one of the “Spend A Day In Daggett” sites included in their walking tour of historic Daggett. Maybe I’ll see you there.
Marcy’s Musings Nashville Comes to Apple Valley
IT WAS AN EXCITED CROWD that mosied on over to the Apple Valley Legacy Museum the evening of October 3 to enjoy some good old “throwback” country music and support a local non-profit. Led by Leo Eiffert, AKA “Swamp Water Fox” from New Orleans, and Deby Kelley, a Nashville recording artist and cousin of the late great Patsy Cline, the band belted out many old sing-along favorites in this tribute to Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Toby Keith. Local well-known musicians Gary Whitesides and Marina Kranz also attracted their usual supporters, adding to the crowd of over 100 in attendance.
Generous cowboys and cowgirls
donated to “the boot,” as well as to Uncle Leo’s $5 bucket, in return for the CD of their choosing. Red raffle tickets provided the opportunity to win one of six collections of historic objects from various local non-profit supporters. White raffle tickets meant a chance to win some of Shelly Drylie’s homemade cookies, or the grand prize, Leo’s collection of Toby Keith memorabilia, including a shirt, a framed photo, and some all access passes. Volunteer Alison Janzen was the lucky ticket holder, and boy was she one happy cowgirl!
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were on hand for photo ops with fans in front of the vintage Apple Valley Inn stagecoach,
posing just as they did back in the midsixties and early seventies when the Inn was known as the Roy Rogers Apple Valley Inn. Movie horses Trigger, Buttermilk, and Champion even got in on the fun. And, as is our tradition, Roy’s nephew David Odell and his wife Ollie provided the food. Then David joined us on stage for the ending song, “Happy Trails,” written by his Aunt Dale in 1950. And did you know she scribbled the words, as they came to her, on an envelope, just before singing it live with Roy and the Sons of the Pioneers on their radio show? And 74 years later, you can bet we’re still singing it, Dale!
A great big thank you goes out to the four professional musicians who donated their time and talent, as well as to the Mohahve Historical Society members and museum volunteers who ensure our events run smoothly. It’s because of you, our willing volunteers, loyal supporters, and financial donors, that the Apple Valley Legacy Museum will look forward to celebrating 10 successful years next spring. So to all of you supporters out there: “Happy Trails, and may the good Lord take a liking to you!”
An Old West Throw-back Party
ONE OF OUR MOHAHVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
life members, Indran Subramaniam, celebrated a milestone birthday in style (cowboy style, that is) the weekend of September 20-22. His family and friends came from near and far to the Historic Kemper Campbell Ranch right here in the Victor Valley, an amazing place that most locals don’t even know exists. The party-goers occupied all of the rooms in the Main House dating from the mid-1920’s, even more stayed in the Additions and Monterreys, for an experience far different than the usual family reunion in a modern motel.
The event included historic tours both Saturday and Sunday, as well as a chance to play tennis, go swimming, hike around the beautiful grounds, enjoy live music, and smash the birthday pinata. A special treat was the showing of “Mank” filmed right here at the ranch not too long ago in 2019. “Mank” tells the story of Herman Mankiewicz penning the “Citizen Kane” screenplay at the ranch over 80 years ago. The original Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane” premiered in the High Desert at the Mesa Theater in Victorville March 4, 1942. So MHS board member Meera (and Indran’s lovely wife) was on the job, bringing history alive right on location.
I’m sure it was worth the trip for the eight who traveled from Washington DC and Arizona, and the 24 who came from other parts of California, to join the eight locals at this oasis in the desert. The generally underground-flowing Mojave River, which flows above ground year-round here, was a perfect spot for Native Americans to
call home, and for traveling pioneers and explorers to rest. Today it’s a perfect spot to hold events, as a large herd of cows graze, while the several resident mules keep the coyotes at bay, as the trains roar by throughout the day and night. Indran, thanks for bringing everyone together to celebrate your birthday, as some people made new friends, while longtime friends and relatives were able to reunite and catch up on the happenings of the past several years. Now tell us, what are you planning for next year?
Mojave River Valley Museum Celebrates 52 Years of Mini BBQs
THE 52ND ANNUAL MOJAVE RIVER VALLEY MUSEUM BBQ and Open House drew a large crowd to Barstow on Wednesday September 25, including Mohahve Historical Society Board members Delvin Harbour and Marcy Taylor, both also members of MRVM. While the usual delicious dinner provided by Steve and JoJo and crew didn’t start until 4:00, the event started two hours earlier this year with author book signings. Inside the museum guests met Wes Wilhelm, author of “Nomads of the Badlands,” and Steven Reyes, author of “Four Miles East of Bagdad,” both stories of the Mojave Desert in the exciting and sometimes dangerous Old West era. A little later Ted Faye, our scheduled speaker for the January MHS meeting, set up outside, signing and selling his “Death Valley” and “Twenty Mule Team” books and films. Meanwhile, Roy Applewhite of Cajon Pass Adventure Tours, was conducting
the “C” Block Right-of-Way Marker dedication, at its new location just to the right of the museum door. If you read your MRVM September “Desert Tailings” newsletter, you might remember that, on one of his adventures, Roy noticed this valuable object uprooted in a wash near Blue Cut in the Cajon Pass. These concrete “C” markers, installed at curves, intersections, and periodically along highway straight-aways, from 1914-1934 by the California Division of Highways, not only helped early automobile travelers stay on course, but also still serve to help modern-day historians studying the path of early highways. The six-inch square 42-inch high concrete markers project six to eight inches out of the ground, marking the route. Thanks to Roy and assistants Daryl Schendel and Lawrence Vintus for salvaging this artifact for all to enjoy at the MRV Museum.
A highlight of the afternoon was a chance for visitors to meet Otis and Beth and have photos taken with their friendly sidekick Jezebel the burro. A second highlight was a chance to get up close and personal with the genuine 1880’s era 20 Mule Team wagon, built a few miles east of there by Seymore Alf at his blacksmith shop in Daggett. MHS members Delvin, Marcy, and Brent (also President of the MRVM), took advantage of the opportunity for a group photo. And good old Jezebel made a sincere attempt to pull the heavy 20 Mule Team wagon all by herself, but quickly decided she was really more interested in being petted, munching on treats, and posing for photos with all the visitors lavishing her with attention. (I don’t blame you, Jezebel! A girl can’t be expected to do all that hard work by herself.)
Due to a second event that evening,
Delvin and Marcy were not able to stay for the BBQ, or to hear much of the wonderful music always provided by Ira and the Buzzard Rock Ramblers, but sure enjoyed themselves and learned a lot in a short two-hour visit. Thanks to Dennis (Mr. Moonshine) and all the rest of the volunteers who make these fantastic historical events happen at the Mojave River Valley Museum in Barstow.
An Adventure to Amazing Places in the Desert (that
we’ll never see in person)!!!
WELL, THAT’S an interesting title. Why would our September 25 speaker, local historian Sid Hultquist, show us all these gorgeous photos of desert landscapes, plants, and animals, and then tell us we’ll probably never see them with our own eyes? Why would he say it’s possible he’s the only one who’s been to some of these places in the past 50 or 100 years and who actually knows what’s there?
Answer: Because most of us are not anxious to get up and leave at 2:00 AM to arrive at our destination in time to see the
sun come up. Many of us are not willing or able to hike miles through the unforgiving desert, to camp alone in remote places, stay for several days or a week, set up cameras, and patiently wait for night to turn to day, and day to turn to night, for animals to appear, and for flowers to open before our very eyes.
Over fifty years of hiking the remote back country of the Mojave Desert, coupled with a passion for history, archaeology, and photography, has resulted in Sid taking thousands of unbelievable photos, and giving numerous outstanding presentations to local groups. And since
we will probably never lay eyes upon these sites, we were all most grateful for the photographic tour. And best of all, the free book that Sid picked out as a thank you for his presentation, was Mohahve III, the only book in the Mohahve series he needed to complete his collection of #1-6 and the Index. (Hopefully Mohahve VII will be ready to go to print in the notso-distant future.
Thank you, Sid, for a job well done!
Rainbow Basin, the Grand Canyon of the Mojave Desert
IF YOU WERE ONE of the 26 lucky ones who went on the adventure to Rainbow Basin Saturday Sept. 28, led by Wednesday night’s speaker Sid Hultquist, I’m sure you were completely amazed by what you saw! And if you didn’t go on the trip, there’s no way to adequately express in words what exists just eight miles north of Barstow, a designated National Natural Landmark, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM.) After departing Barstow and crossing the new bridge (while reminiscing about the loss of the beautiful historic old bridge), we took Fossil Bed Road to the five-mile Scenic Rainbow Loop Trail through the canyon. A nice parking area about halfway around allowed us to get out and stare in awe at amazing rock formations dating back to the Miocene era, millions of years ago, when the area was inhabited by camels, mastodons, three-toed horses, rhinos, and saber-toothed cats, as well as the more common-looking rabbits, gulls, hawks, mice, and chipmunks.
I’m borrowing a quote from past MHS speaker, author, and adventurer John Beyer describing the area: “’Batholith’ is made up of two ancient Greek words, ‘bathos’ meaning depth, and ‘lithos’ meaning rock...large rocks that form when molten magma cools far down in the earth’s crust....Roughly 66 million years ago the batholith was exposed in the Rainbow Basin area, and was molded downward with the immense pressure of the faults, creating a truly amazing geologic landscape.” Thank you, John. (Daily Press “Travel and Leisure” July 14, 2024) We assembled for a group photo in the very spot where this transformation occurred, with our fearless tour guide explaining it all from his perch atop a giant rock formation.
Just so you know, we followed the rules and did not dig up any ancient fossils, or remove any precious artifacts from the area. We simply enjoyed the narrow winding road through the canyon and the multi-colored layered rocks, thus the
canyon’s name.
Next we headed over to Own Canyon Campground for lunch or a snack, and a restroom break. It was a beautiful day to enjoy the scenery, and for some board members to take a ride in a playground jeep to who knows where?? However, these two grandsons of MHS member and awesome historian Blanche Trujillo knew where they were off to--Oklahoma! We weren’t finished yet. Our last stop was Buzzard Rock just north of the
Harvey House Train Station. Our guide and chief adventurer, Sid, pointed out the petroglyphs that I had heard about, but was never able to find. Future geologist Isaac, who had younger legs than the rest of us, investigated the natural stairway leading up the backside of Buzzard Rock.
Wow! What a great great addition to a great fieldtrip! Best of all, four attendees who started off as visitors, were members by the end of the day.
Comments from some of the field trippers:
“Oh my gosh! Amazing!”
Civilians Present to the Military
“I learned so much!”
“I never knew that was there!”
“Best tour guide ever! A wealth of knowledge.”
Yes, Sid, I agree with all of that. Thanks for a great adventure, just about an hour’s drive from home.
This story that appeared in the Oct. edition is being reprinted due to some technical problems
AT THE INVITATION OF MHS Board Member and MOAA Vice President Major Meera Maheswaran, currently in charge of programming, MHS Board Members Eric Mandeson, Delvin Harbour, and Marcella Taylor were the speakers at the monthly meeting of MOAA, the Mojave Desert Chapter of Military Officers Association of America. So on Wednesday, August 28, it was “Take Two” for our “Military’s Impact on the High Desert” presentation, previously given at the June 27 Mohahve Historical Society meeting at the Lone Wolf Colony. Nine MHS members, 4 with dual membership in the MHS and MOAA, as well as a large number of MOAA members, were present at Bear Valley Country Club in Spring Valley Lake. Attendees checked out our for-sale items, and browsed our displays of photos, news stories, and artifacts, including some large remnants of practice bombs dropped in Apple Valley during the late 1940s era. After a delicious lunch and a bit of socializing, it was SHOW TIME!
The power point presentation started back with the history of the early forts along the Mojave Road and the Army camel caravans, briefly covering the number of military bases currently in the area, and stressing the importance of both the Victor Valley and the Antelope Valley in the
development and advancement of both aviation and the space program. During the World War II era, rural Apple Valley was considered to be “out in the middle of nowhere,” thus a perfect location to drop practice bombs onto gigantic bombing circles, preparing for the real thing.
The talk included a description and photos of the largest and most unusual fall-out shelter in the country, built by Victor Valley locals inside the old Sidewinder Gold Mine, in what is now northeast Apple Valley. It was purported to house up to 1000 people hundreds of feet underground for at least three weeks were a nuclear attack to occur, while those left outside met their unfortunate fate. Thankfully it was not needed for that purpose.
For three civilians presenting to a military audience with two former fighter pilots in attendance, we did a fair job, with only a few errors/clarifications pointed out. The Q and A session after the talk went like this:
Former Fighter Pilot: How did you get those aerial shots of the bomb circles?
Civilian presenter #1: Google Earth, how else?
Former Fighter Pilot: You could get a much better view from my plane. I fly over
them all the time.
Civilian presenter #2: How many passengers can you take?
Former fighter pilot: ONE!
Civilian presenter #2: OK, thanks. We’ll make a sign-up list. That will make a nice future fieldtrip.
Thanks to Major Meera Maheswaran and the other members of MOAA for inviting us to speak to you. We truly enjoyed it and hope to see you again soon.
Coming in for a Landing at Edwards Air Force Base
This story that appeared in the Oct. edition is being reprinted due to some technical problems
ON FRIDAY AUG. 3, 2025 , 29 Mohahve Historical Society members met at the West Gate of Edwards Air Force Base for the opportunity to tour the Base, and to see the Flight Test Museum and Yeager Park. Our knowledgeable tour guides included Art Thompson, Chairman of the Flight Test Museum Foundation; Lt. Col. Rex Moen, Chairman of the Friends of the Flight Test Museum Foundation; Col. Jimmy Doolittle III, grandson of Five Star General Jimmy Doolittle; David Smith of the Speakers Bureau; George Welch, Flight Test Museum Director; Major James E. Brown, President of the National Test Pilot School; and Lisa Brown, Director of Education and Community Relations. Both Edwards AFB and George AFB played important roles in shaping desert aviation history. While Captain Joseph McConnell’s replica plane Beauteous Butch is on display at the Apple Valley
Airport, we observed Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager’s replica Glamorous Glennis hanging from the Flight Test Museum’s ceiling. These two famous well-known pilots were both connected with George and Edwards, with Yeager’s family living for several years in Victorville, and McConnell’s family living for many years in Apple Valley, even after his untimely death at age 32. Yeager, on the other hand, lived to the ripe old age of 97, and was active in the Victor Valley for many years, periodically wowing residents with his aviation skills. While McConnell is best remembered as a Triple Jet Ace of the Korean War, Yeager is most well-known for being the first human being to fly faster than the speed of sound, i.e. breaking the Sound Barrier.
The Mohahve Historical Society is proud to be a Friend of the Flight Test Museum at the Bronze Level, with donated funds going towards building a new and much
larger museum outside the gate, thus allowing for public access. We hope that our first monument, “Sound Barrier Cracked,” placed in 1988 to honor Captain Chuck Yeager, along with the bronze Yeager Statue, will move to the new location.
After a complimentary lunch, a browse around the gift shop, and a bus ride back to the parking lot, we took a look at the frame of the museum-to-be. Nearby we were happy to find six bricks in the Heritage Walk, placed by the following members: Ralph and Kelly Chavez, Gari Meade, Clara Petrosky, Mike Phillips, Marcy Taylor, and Blanche Trujillo. If you wish to contribute to this worthy historypreserving project, it’s not too late to add your brick to the Heritage Walk.
GENIUS
IT WAS AT A CULTURAL EVENT at the Hesperia Library that I first learned about Rodolfo Escalera. Until then, I had never heard of him. But when I looked upon his painting of the Aztec Calendar, I was made mute by the vivid color that jumped off the canvas and the attention to detail that must have been painstakingly crafted over time. There was so much of it, and it was so exact that the painting seemed too perfect to not have been created by an AI generator.
But it was, I came to realize, the result of a passion so profound that the average human being cannot comprehend it nor can AI equal or mimic its depth. Like those scientists of old who must have been humbled when they first looked upon Einstein’s scribbling of the remarkable equation that explained the invisible workings of our universe, I was staring at pure genius . . . and I was in awe.
Driven by the same fine madness that compelled Michelangelo to lay on his back and paint the roof of the Sistine Chapel, Rodolfo Escalera put to canvas and other mediums the beauty of everyday life he perceived through the special lens gifted only to a few: the eyes of an artist.
“He painted the things he saw in life,” his oldest son said of his father.
In a lifetime that spanned seventy years, Rodolfo Escalera saw what we cannot. At
a very young age, he was either touched by the finger of God or compelled by DNA to do the very thing his father discouraged: to draw. According to him, there was in Mexico at the time, “an artist under every stone.”
But, Rudy was not to be denied. He secretly perfected his technique while pursuing his studies of architecture until Fate, as it does in all our lives, played a hand in Rudy’s. He was granted the chance to create the diplomas for a graduating class at a commercial school, a project his father had started but could not finish because he had suffered a stroke.
And from that accidental assignment, Rudy was set on a path of creation that had him paint elaborate depictions of life, design and handcraft exotic pieces of furniture and, as a hobby when he lived in Cerritos Calif., refurbish and restore 37 classic cars. Even in the final days of his life, he wanted to recondition a 1949 Ford pick-up. The consummate dreamer!
His energy was boundless; his imagination, without limits.
When his father died, the family relocated to California where Rudy promptly set himself to learn English and went to work as a bus boy to help support his mother and two sisters. In time, he was hired to work at an architectural firm, but the passion to paint still burned at his core and, in stolen moments he carved out of the days he devoted to his family and work, he persisted in developing his painting technique.
He would not quit.
By J.P.Garner
Regardless of the challenge or the obstacle, he saw past it all by being one with the paint, the brush, and his vision of the world. “When I think of my father, the image that comes to me is of the back of his head. He was always painting . . . always creating,” recalls Rudy, the oldest son of four kids. When he said that, he was speaking to a gathering of people at the cultural event sponsored by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The event celebrated Hispanic culture and its contributions to our community. Rudy went on to explain his father’s commitment to perfection.
“My father used what [was] called double zero brushes to paint these pieces,” he said, referring to three masterpieces on display at the front of the room. “He’d use each for thirty minutes then, because of the detail involved, he’d pick up a fresh brush as they tended to fray after a little [use.] And he did a lot of research [about] his pieces.”
He pointed at the painting called the Aztec Calendar. Among the various elements depicted in it was an eagle. “A lot of people don’t know this but he went to a taxidermist to study the feathers on an eagle before he actually painted it because he wanted to get it right.”
To further explain his father’s dedication to accuracy, Rudy then directed our attention to a painting of a complex street scene involving a man and a woman called El Piropo. “In this painting,” he said, “there’s over 1,500 cobblestones just on the street. And he knew this because as he finished one, he would do a hash mark on a piece of scratch paper until the scene was completed and he could count them all.
“That’s the kind of detail he was involved in. He was very passionate, and to be an artist, you have to be. You have to have this inner drive . . . this flame to create.”
This flame to create.
The words repeat themselves in my head. We are witnesses to and benefactors of the dedication and focus in those among us who stand apart from the masses because of their passion—or is it their obsession?—to push us past mediocrity; to elevate us beyond the status quo.
From the bio at the website dedicated to Rodolfo Escalera, we learn that “by 1950 he was working at an advertising firm that held a contract with Azteca Films, a company that distributed movies in the United States [which] were produced in Mexico. Of all of his employments, this was by far his most satisfying as he was given the Azteca account to manage, as well as a degree of creative license.
“Finally beginning to feel financially secure, he returned to Mexico and married his childhood sweetheart Susana. By 1961 the Escalera’s had grown to a family of six and Escalera had by then opened his own advertising agency. This, for him, was the absolute perfect scenario as he could make a living doing what he loved as well as set his own hours. This extra time enabled him to create and complete five incredible masterpieces over the course of 20 years!”
One aspect of Rodolfo’s creative process is that he didn’t work solely on one project at a time. He was perhaps restless, or simply needed a break from the monotony that can develop when a person is focused intently on one thing. But given the types of projects he’d work on simultaneously, it is more likely his unique form of genius needed variety to sustain the creative spark. . . . to keep him interested.
So it was that Rodolfo’s introduction to the plate collector business was a natural segue from the variety in his life. The new project was not only profitable but, because of his unique skill and designs, led to him being selected to develop nine plates depicting various sporting events at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. These were limited edition collector items and were presented as “official” gifts to dignitaries from countries around the world who were visiting the summer games.
“We did an interview recently on Telemundo and NBC News . . . because the Olympics are coming back to LA in ’28. So they looked us up and said, ‘Hey, can we do an interview about what your dad did then and maybe how things can be rehashed?’ So we did it in English and Spanish. And they showed the plates [which] had a gold band with all the Olympic rings on them.
“But for me to think that my dad’s plates were hanging in Ronald Reagan’s home or in the Smithsonian or in some King’s palace [from some] country in the Olympics, is when I started to realize that the plate collecting business, you know, the children’s series plates, gave him some notoriety, but the Olympics, that’s big.”
he achieved here in America, he longed for home. So, with his family having families of their own, he and his wife and childhood sweetheart, Susana, returned to Lerdo, Durango. The city designated him as a “Ciudadano Distinguido” or “very distinguished citizen.” While Gomez Palacio, his hometown, named the largest showroom at “La Casa De La Cultura” (The House of Culture) after him. There in the warmth of a Mexican sun, he spent his final days pursuing what he called, “a labor of love,”–– his passion for painting. Except that passion died when he was told of his youngest daughter’s passing. Rudy Jr. explains, “My dad was righthanded so he would always start on the top left-hand corners of his pieces and work his way across the canvas. Not to mar the painting.
“He had just started this section,” Rudy said, as he pointed to the upper left corner of the painting entitled, Rio Suchiate. The oil painting captures the beauty of the annual bartering and trading along the river between Mexican and Guatemalan natives. Rudy continued, “. . . when I had the unfortunate duty to call my parents in Mexico and let them know that my sister Alma had passed away. Which hit both my parents and the family very hard, but it did something to my dad. He just couldn’t find it in himself to create.
“So nine months after her passing, I went to Mexico to visit them. When I got there I went to the studio he had built and looked through the door. He was seated in front of a sketching he had just started and staring at it. It wasn’t good. I walked up to him and just stood there for a second then said, ‘Hey,
Yes, big! So, big, in fact, that two years later, Rodolfo was asked to create a painting promoting the 1986 World Cup soccer championship held in Mexico City. The painting later became the image on a porcelain plate that was sold throughout the world as an official gift of the global competition.
But even with all the success
Pop. How you doing?’ He didn’t even look at me. He said, ‘I don’t know what to do because I’m lost.’ I put my hand on his shoulder and told him, ‘You know, Dad, we’re all going to deal with this a little differently. This is probably just going to take you a little longer.’
“Still he didn’t look at me, so I left him and walked back to the house where my mom asked, ‘What’s he doing?’ I said, ‘Nothing,’ and my mom replied, ‘He’s been like that since your sister passed.’
“The next morning I go to the kitchen and get coffee. My mom’s already there. I ask, ‘Where’s Dad?’ She had this little smirk on her face. She says, ‘He’s in his studio.’ I go out there to see him as he’s putting paint on the canvas. I just stood there and watched him like I did all my life. After a minute or two, I said, ‘Hey, Pop. You’re painting.’ He took the brush and set it down, then turned in his chair and looked me in my eyes. He said, ‘Yesterday, right after you left, your sister came to me. She spoke to me. She said two things.’ The first thing was ‘Daddy, I love you.’ And the second thing was, ‘Daddy, don’t stop being who you are, because of me.’
“It was as though she was giving him permission to continue with his life. And he said that he felt the fire and the passion and the drive fill his body. And he got it back, because of that. And for the next several months, he worked on that piece, saying that he felt her presence the whole time. When he completed it, he put it in his van, drove from Mexico, all the way to Corona, California, to my niece’s house, my sister’s daughter, Rachel and he presented the finished product to her, saying, ‘Rachel, this painting is for you. It’s a gift from your mother.”
From that moment forward, he painted piece after piece, despite the prostate cancer which caused him great pain and weakened him. So much so that, near the end, he had not the strength to support a palate of paint, so he assembled a sling with which to hold the palate while he painted. He was determined that even death would not deny him the chance to leave a portion of himself in every piece he created.
He died on January 25, 2000.
Rudy, the oldest son, reflects back. In his voice, I detect a blend of pride and sadness. Pride in who and what his father was and sadness that he is gone. Strangely the office in which we met seemed to grow quieter than what it had been when the brothers first recounted stories of their father and family. As Rudy spoke, I was instantly transported back to the heaviness in the Catholic church I had gone to as a child. His voice was soft and solemn.
“There are many stories we share but there’s one thing I want to point out: we lived, in my opinion, a normal life. My parents were good, normal, loving, disciplined people that raised their kids right. We feared our father with love because of his sternness, but he was always fair. It didn’t start to dawn on me that he was really somebody special until I actually graduated high school, and went to Europe.
“There, I visited the Louvre in Paris, the Ricks Museum in Amsterdam, and I walked the hallways of those museums and saw
all the masters. And I told myself, my dad’s work could hang there.”
And I agreed. It could. If only because there is nothing else like it.
Genius knows no nationality. It shines a light on that which we cannot see. It illuminates that which our limited vision denies us, be it a thing of great beauty or some discovery that advances us. In a very real sense, Rodolfo Escalera was no different from the early man who gazed on the moon and was so moved by its roundness and silver light that he sought to recreate his vision of it on the wall of a cave, so that others would see what he saw.
And maybe feel the wonder he had felt. It is, perhaps, what Rodolfo wanted as well. That we feel the wonder he felt. And through the images he fashioned on canvas with such skill and exactitude, we are brought closer to God’s vision of what we, as humans, can achieve . . . what we can become once we come out from under a stone.
It’s not simply the beauty in everyday life that he captured on canvas, but the stirrings of our imagination and the magic there is in the world in which we reside . . . and in us who dare to be more.
Being Thankful in Today’s World
By John R Beyer
IAM UNAPOLOGETICALLY a news junkie, to the consternation of my lovely wife, Laureen.
“You know there’s too much negativity going on, no matter what news outlet you watch or newspaper you read,” she may say.
“Well, that may be true, but let me tell you something that I read this morning which got my blood boiling,” I may respondand then it hits me.
Laureen was right - drats! Again!!
I may be a news junkie but I realize I cannot really do anything about changing the news - stuff happens.
So, for the month of November, with the wonderful annual holiday of Thanksgiving coming up, I decided to take a respite from all the craziness and concentrate on what I, and perhaps we all, should be thankful for.
For what we have in our own personal lives.
I have a wonderful supportive family - even my children, and darling grandchildren who make me smile even when they taint the moment by needing a diaper change. Friends I have known for years who love spending time with me here and there, or at least lie well enough I actually believe they like hanging out with Old Doc. And, especially my darling Laureen, who, no matter how lamebrained an idea I come up with about venturing into the hinterlands to gather material for my readers, she simply nods and says, “The life insurance is paid in full, correct?”
She loves me like that.
Being a traveler, as I hope you all are, we meet interesting, thoughtful, and sometimes bizarre folks along those outings on the byways.
It doesn’t matter to which continent I’ve traveled, the one constant I hold onto is what people find the most important in their livesfamily and friends.
We’ve watched families camping near the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, and the people I spoke with stated they loved the majestic crashing of the North Atlantic waves along the rocky shorelines. But, they mentioned the greatest joy was sharing it with their family on holiday.
I once saw the tears of a mother as she pointed out the Mona Lisa to her daughter, who finally understood why Leonardo de Vinci was considered such a great artist and Andy Warhol just had a thing for Campbell’s Tomato Soup.
But most times I travel much closer to home and have learned a thing or two from watching people.
I actually tried to find some quotes on why writers observe people (we do, but not in a creepy way) - there are many but I believe the reason we do is sometimes what we observe is often a mirror into ourselves. In that manner, we can observe and be reflective at the same time
A few years back I crafted a story about the town of Essex along Route 66. I had stopped by the closed gas station and tire shop. It was hot and I just wanted a break from the summer heat. The owner of the now-defunct business greeted me warmly and then discussed what the town had been like in the early years when Route 66 was the only way here and there before Interstate 40 was born.
I sipped on a bottle of water and just listened. He told me tales of people living here in the middle of the Mojave Desert and loving it. Of course, all those folks were long gone, and he was one of the only citizens left in Essex.
“Sure, we were remote,” he told me. “But we were a community and helped each other on a daily basis. My family has lived here for generations, and though the town is gone, the memories are still here, and I love it.”
I was recently interviewed for a Discovery Channel series The Ghost Adventures, when the host, Zac Bagans asked me if I ever experienced otherworldly things in all my travels.
Hard question to answer since I am a skeptic when it comes to the paranormal.
“Zac, when I visit towns that no longer exist and a slight breeze picks up, it almost seems as though I can hear the town come alive again. I can’t explain it, but it’s as though I can hear children playing, and folks happily talking, but then it’s probably just the wind and my imagination.”
Even in the deserted heartlands of Southern California, Nevada, Peru, Morocco, and other places I’ve had the privilege of traveling to, there are those moments when I know people lived, loved, and were thankful for each other without actually ‘seeing’ them.
It is just a feeling of connectedness to what once was and is still there.
And perhaps, these are the things we too need to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season.
To be with family and friends and appreciate all the wonderful experiences we can, have, and do share with them and store them in our memories.
A toaster you received as a gift, or the memory of when your daughter took their first step. I’m thankful for the memory - the toaster never worked that well anyway.
John can be contacted at: beyersbyways@gmail.com
Thankful for my lovely wife, Laureen, while we motor along the Amazon.
Entering the ghost town of Essex, along Route 66.
Zak Bagans and John R Beyer, after filming Ghost Adventures
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A Barstow Tradition…
By J.P.Garner
ON
THE WEST END OF TOWN , there on old Route 66, across from Certified Auto is a piece of our history that’s been around longer than the Pyramids. At least it seems like that. It was here in ’87 when I ate lunch there before reporting to the desert warfare center at Fort Irwin. I had the chicken-fried steak with French fries. I expected the steak to be drenched in cream gravy, which is generally how it’s prepared, but at the Canton, it was covered with a light brown gravy instead, which was surprisingly delicious.
Back then, the Friday night special was ribeye with a baked potato. It still is. And after church on Sunday mornings, every seat in the place had a butt in it for breakfast, to include the side room which is now a bar area with a large flatscreen TV. I always had the BIG ham steak with eggs over easy.
They still serve that too. And the ribeye special is now also available on Sundays. But nowadays, on Saturday mornings, I watch a college game while chowing down on the best omelet in town: a Charlie Brown. Denny’s and IHOP have nothing like it or as good. Nothing.
The decor has changed but the menu hasn’t from the original meals served by Howard, the restaurant’s founder. That
practice was continued by Danny and Gina who took over when the founders retired. Even the old chefs are preparing time-tested dishes while Shun and Feng, the current owners, have made sure the food is as good as it ever has been.
So, why do I heap praise on the Canton? Because of the food. The Chinese dishes are superb while the American cuisine is the most unique in town. In all the years. . . the decades . . . that it has served food to Barstow residents and travelers off the 15 and historic Route 66, the menu hasn’t changed.
It’s gotten better.
Businesses in Barstow have come and
gone in that time. Mostly gone it seems. Too many to count or even remember. So many of the buildings in our little town are boarded up or empty that we seem to be at the edge of despair and disrepair after four years of bad city management. But one business has stayed the course . . . and has endured the harsh test of time and survived the pandemic intact. Unlike Denny’s or IHOP, the Canton is part of our history and has been a vibrant part of our community for a lot longer than the corporate-types at the east end of town who cater to out-of-towners and highway traffic.
Unlike them, the Canton is a Barstow tradition. Homegrown and rooted in our DNA. It might even be considered family because what they do not only feels like homecooking, but it tastes like it too.
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
SOL RADIOLOGY
MCC Employees Compete in Annual Golf Tournament
More than 40 former and current Mitsubishi Cement Company (MCC) employees gathered on a sunny afternoon to put their driving, chipping and putting skills to the test. The annual MCC Employee Golf Tournament took place September 29 at Bear Valley Country Club in Victorville. Almost four dozen (44) players took part in this year’s event, with retirees joining current workers from the corporate office and Cushenbury cement plant in Lucerne Valley. Steve Tyrrell, Maintenance Manager at the plant, has played in every tournament since he began working for MCC. “My favorite part about the tournament is giving the employees some time away from work to develop some camaraderie and meet people they haven’t met before,” he said.
Two of the longtime employees, and now retirees, included Walker Yetto and Scott Smith. Yetto retired in 2011 after 48 years of service with Mitsubishi. His last position was as garage supervisor at Cushenbury, managing the fleet of mobile equipment. Smith — who retired in 2022 — worked for MCC for 35 years and the organization which owned the plant prior, Kaiser, for five years. “Most of these guys were my employees,” Smith, a Production Manager for Cushenbury, said. “I hired most everybody here.”
The tournament gave prizes for the winning team, second place, and “Most Honest.” The winners were: first place — Jimmy Gastelum, Ben Baragry, Josh Gill and Scott Smith; second place — Steve and Kim Tyrrell, and Jim and Linda Russell; and “Most Honest” — John McLellan, Tony Justo, Zach Myers and Gerald Jones.
(Mitsubishi Cement Company employees pose in golf carts for a photograph at the company’s annual golf tournament at Bear Valley Country Club in Victorville.)
MORONGO BASIN Orchid Festival
By John Wease
WE RECENTLY HAD THE PLEASURE of attending the 28th Annual Morongo Basin Orchid Festival. Held at Gublers Orchids in Landers, it is a fundraiser for the area non-profits. It draws a large crowd and includes free self-guided greenhouse tours to view the wide variety of colorful orchids and carnivorous plants. All plants are sold with care instructions. In the retail store, planters and planting supplies are sold as well.
The American Orchid Society hosts a judged orchid show. Orchid classes are held by the Riverside/San Bernardino Orchid Society. A flower themed art show offers a look at flowers that never die for those of us without green thumbs. Outside the buildings there is live music, food and other vendors, and non-profit information booths. Business was booming at the Rotary beer booth. The beer is brewed using actual orchid flowers.
Gubler Orchids is family owned and one of the top-quality growers of orchids and carnivorous plants in the world. Heinrich Gubler opened a nursery near Zurich in Switzerland in 1918 selling orchids and other tropical plants. It became one of the largest nurseries in Switzerland. His second born son, Hans, was born in 1928. Young Hans visited nurseries throughout Europe and England. He was awarded a scholarship in 1949 to the Shaw School of Botany at Washington University in Missouri. While at the university, he worked at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. He experimented with hybridizing orchids to produce larger flowers. In 1952 he was hired to set up a laboratory for Armercost and Royston Nursery in California. In 1954 he met and married Esther. In 1956 they saved up $300 and started Gublers Orchids in Altadena. Selling from their station wagon, business boomed, and they were able to lease a 1200 sq. ft. greenhouse in Pasadena in 1958. In 1961 they purchased a 5,000 sq. ft. greenhouse in Temple City.
In 1965 Hans developed packaged orchid seedlings with planting and care instructions. This revolutionized the horticulture industry marketing. Sales quintupled over ten years, and they
needed a larger nursery. The need for a lot more space brought them to Landers. Sales outgrew the Landers facility, and they purchased an even bigger nursery in Lucerne Valley. A 15,000 sq. ft. shipping center was built there later to handle the volume of orders shipped world-wide.
Son Chris joined the family business in 1981 after studying ornamental horticulture, botany, and marketing. When Hans passed away in 1988, Chris, along with his mother, took over running the businss. Kelsey Gubler also has joined the business, adding a fourth generation to this thriving, familyowned enterprise.
The 1992 Landers earthquake caused extensive damage to the greenhouses in Landers. The rebuilding took more than three years but enabled modernization of the facilities. All of the plants are on specially designed rolling tables. The climate-controlled greenhouses provide just the right environment for the amazing tropical plants. Gubler Orchids is located at 2200 Belfield Blvd. in Landers, CA. Their normal business hours are 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Greenhouse tours cost $5 unless you visit during the Orchid Festival.
Next year the Orchid Festival will be held on the 4th and 5th of October. Maybe we’ll see you there. Stop by and enjoy the music, take photos of the beautiful orchids, and maybe try a taste of orchid beer.
The Desert’s Lost Treasure
By John Earl
SOME OF YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD that we lost a good friend on December 21, 2021.
John Grasson was a friend and colleague in the study of the Southwest deserts, a fellow Army veteran, a radio personality, a go-to source for information on the legendary “Lost Ship of the Desert,” a fellow desert rat, and just an all-around good guy.
A few days before Christmas, John Grasson apparently made a left turn at a busy intersection and was hit on the driver side of his vehicle. According to news sources, he lived for about 20 minutes before succumbing to his injuries.
Everyone has moments of passion in their life, but not all find what they’re passionate about, and fewer pursue it. John Grasson did. His passion was the search for a ship that was reported to have been found on dry land in the desert, near the Salton Sea.
The time frame was likely in the 1600s, when Spanish explorers were sailing up and down the coast of California. Waterways were different then, and our friend could tell you the when and where.
Over the years, John was featured on various science and history television shows, such as Unexplained and Unexplored: Ghost Ship of the Damned;
Myth Hunters: The Lost Ship of the Desert; America Unearthed: Vikings in the Desert; and a profile about his desert discoveries in Newsweek magazine, newspapers like The Desert Sun, Midnight in the Desert radio show, The ‘X’ Zone podcasts and museum presentations, such as the Mousley Museum of Natural History. There are few, if any, who would disagree that he was the undisputed expert on the subject.
John belonged to a team called Legend Detectives of which former California State Assemblyman, Steve Baldwin, is the organizer. The team is dedicated to researching some of the great Old West mysteries, such as the Lost Ship of the Desert, Peg Leg Smith’s Lost Mine, the Lost Silver Mine of El Cajon Mountain and the Lost Brant Mine. They filmed a pilot episode of a TV reality show, similar to The Curse of Oak Island. Steve, with the permission of John’s family, acquired all of his voluminous research. Two pickup trucks full to be exact.
John’s quarterly online Dezert Magazine was published from 2010 to 2014 and featured the vast original Desert Magazine series from 1937 to 1985, which John archived so people could enjoy reading them online for free. John described
himself as “an explorer of legends and lore, not a treasure hunter.”
When we began The Desert Way in 2013, it was John who helped us set up our website and taught us the basics.
John joined us for a featured appearance together for Midsummer Scream at the Long Beach Convention Center discussing our favorite ghost towns on July 30, 2016, with KCET‘s Sandi Hemmerlein presiding. John’s topic, of course, was The Lost Ship of the Desert.
John was a master of voices, akin to Mel Blanc. He could make any story funny. As a younger man, he worked for a radio station in Augusta, Georgia, and used his voice skills to enthrall listeners. He was born in Yuba City, on July 26, 1957, and grew up in Ridgeville, Ohio. Right after high school, he joined the US Army as a cook and spent time in Germany. After his discharge, he went to Los Angeles in 1985, hoping to become a comedian. He played some of the city’s famous clubs. John was a member of the Billy Holcomb Chapter of E Clampus Vitus and lived in Banning for the last 16 years. He was 64 years old when he died.
Looking back on our friendship, I can vividly recall one fact above all others about John Grasson. He spoke the truth, and never had a bad thing to say about anyone. Now that right there made him unique. We last talked in November of 2021. Jaylyn and I invited him to Texas and were anxious to show him the amazing history of the area. John was onboard with the idea.
I can just imagine a heavenly scene. The spirit of John Grasson walks up to gates of St. Peter. A surprised St. Peter says, “Well, we weren’t expecting you so soon, but you’re thrilled to finally meet you. Hey, come on in and meet the crew of this Spanish Galleon. They’ve got the most incredible story of how they went aground in the desert, and they’re real anxious to tell you about it.”
Show producers have promised his research will carry on. John Grasson’s knowledge, heart of gold and keen wit will remain with us. However, there is no denying the desert lost a priceless treasure the day John earned his wings. Adios for now, our friend.
Composite Photo by John Earl
A Chat About Parkinson’s
IS THERE PAIN IN PARKINSON’S?
by Ann Miner
YES, THERE IS. I didn’t realize this with my husband, Burt, until one day, when I came home from an errand to find him with a towel wrapped around his hand.
“What happened?” I asked.
“I’m looking for a Band-Aid,” said he. What was the problem? He had cut the tip of his thumb off while working on the table saw! Oh, yes, that’s all. The towel was to catch the drip, of course, but he said nothing about it hurting. He had an unusually high tolerance for pain.
As a side remark here, I was not at all happy with the man. He had been using dangerous tools for decades. He even taught woodworking. Why didn’t he take precautions? He was still recovering from a heart bypass. What next?
Well, what was next was the Parkinson’s diagnosis.
At the simplest, pain means the body hurts. When a person feels pain, nerves in the skin, joints and organs alert the brain to the location of an injury. I learned this as a child. My father had been close to becoming a surgeon when a tragic accident put an end to that career. But he still had the knowledge, of course, and it was obvious that he missed the trade. He often gave lessons to my twin and me about medical subjects. Once, when we
were out in the country, he spotted the skeleton of a bull’s head. He stopped the car and took us over to the bones, where he gave us a lesson of how pain travels to the brain from all parts of the body. I remember his specific example of “if you stump your toe, the pain travels to the brain to tell that your toe hurts.”
With PD, pain tends to affect the side of the body where motor symptoms first appeared. If your PD started with a tremor in the right hand, you’re more likely to develop pain in the right shoulder, wrist or fingers. Here are a few common types. Musculoskeletal pain includes pain in the muscles, bones or skeleton. It’s related to rigidity and decreased movement, and to arthritis. Muscle cramps and tightness in the neck, spine and arms are possibilities.
Dystonic pain includes painful curling of your foot, toes or hands. This is dystonia, a painful muscle spasm. Severe, painful spasms can also occur in the neck, face or throat muscle.
Neuropathic pain, also called radicular pain, occurs when a nerve is crushed or inflamed. It feels sharp, electric, tingling, or like coolness or numbness. In people with PD, changes in posture, as well as dystonia, can cause nerves to be crushed. A common type is sciatica - lower back
pain that extends down one leg. You may also experience peripheral neuropathy –injury to nerve endings that begins with numbness in the toes or fingertips.
Central pain may be difficult to describe but many include a vague, constant boring sensation; abdominal pain, reflux, shortness of breath or feeling flushed; painful sensations around the mouth, genital or rectal areas or simply “pain all over”.
How can you make a specialized plan for your PD pain? Ideally, you build a team that includes a neurologist (who is a movement disorder specialist), a nurse, and occupational therapist, pain management specialist and, in some cases, an orthopedic specialist.
Optimize Medications. It’s critical to ensure you PD medications are working optimally. Your doctor may want to examine you before and after you take medications, as you may need to decrease or increase pill times or amounts.
Exercise is beneficial for musculoskeletal pain. A Physical Therapist can recommend exercises or techniques to target the source of your pain. Sometimes, just improving your posture may alleviate pain. How easy is that?
Treat Depression and Other Health Conditions - Chronic pain and depression are intertwined. Treating depression is essential for managing pain.
Keep track of when your pain starts, where it hurts, how long it lasts and what it feels like (achy, sharp). It will be useful to also track when the pain starts in relation to when you take your meds. This will help your team to design a treatment plan.
I should add that, just because you have one or more of the above types of pain does not mean you have Parkinson’s. I have most of them, due, I imagine, to age. I am not a PD patient.
BUT, if you are, or someone in your family is touched by Parkinson’s, do plan to come by our PD monthly meetings at 19111 Town Center Drive, Choice Medial Bldg. Apple Valley at 1:00 PM every first Monday of every month except holidays. Questions? Call Ann at 760-954-2859 or email at eannminer@yahoo.com. Christmas party being planned with entertainment and goodies. Monday, December 2, 1:00PM.
Join us at our B2B Networking Event on November 13, 2024, from 7 PM to 10 PM located at The BIG ROCK (1828 CA Highway 138, Pinon Hills, CA).
Get the opportunity to connect with business leaders, participate in Sponsor Spotlight, and explore various booths showcasing innovative local businesses. Whether you’re looking to expand your network or discover new business opportunities, this event is ideal for you!
A Trip Through Time: The Mojave Desert Then and Now, Part I
TWENTY-MULE TEAMS were teams of eighteen mules and two horses attached to large wagons that ferried borax out of Death Valley from 1883 to 1889. They traveled from mines across the Mojave Desert to the nearest railroad spur, 165 miles away in Mojave. The routes were from the Harmony and Amargosa Borax Works to Daggett, California, and later Mojave, California.
After Harmony and Amargosa shut down in 1888, the mule team’s route was moved to the mines at Borate, 3 miles east of Calico, back to Daggett. There they worked from 1891 until 1898 when they were replaced by the Borate and Daggett Railroad. The wagons were among the largest ever pulled by draft animals, designed to carry 10 short tons (9 metric tons) of borax ore at a time.
As it has been for a century or more, minerals are excavated from the desert and hauled away for the purposes of man. I do wonder if these truck drivers know of the legacy that they represent. It wasn’t that long ago when a mule skinner and swamper might have made the same long hot trip on a wagon led by 18 mules and 2 horses.
Conquering the rugged terrain of Cajon Pass at Summit for the National Trails Highway (Rout 66) was no easy task before 1930. Cajon Pass is laced with faults and composed of decomposed granite, schist, and other soft, somewhat crumbly rocks, which tends to slough off in wet years.
Route 66 over Cajon Pass in the 1950s also claimed the names of Route 91 and Route 395. Highway 91 originated in Sweetgrass, Montana, and ended at Highway 101 in Los Angeles. Now Highway 91 ends in Barstow, California. Highway 395 also began near the Canadian border north of Laurier, Washington, and extended to San Diego. Now it ends at the I-15 near Hesperia, California.
At the northwest corner of Waalew Road and Dale Evans Parkway in Apple Valley, just across the road from the Los Ranchos Mobile Home Park, is a vacant piece of desert with a few cement foundations and a smattering of trees.
Next time you drive by there you might want to know that in the 1940s and 50s it was a working ranch of a special sort. Known as “Murray’s Ranch,” and “The Overall Wearing Dude Ranch,” it was African-American owned and operated, and was open to one and all.
The setting for many many western films of the era, Murray’s was also a
By Jaylyn And John Earl www.thedesertway.com
getaway for film and radio celebrities of all backgrounds. In fact, in 1955, the ranch was purchased by none other than Pearl Bailey, who had fallen in love with the area and the ambiance.
By the 1980s, the ranch was virtually forgotten and in 1988 the building were intentionally burned to the ground in a fire fighting exercise.
They were there in 1863. We were there in 2013, just 153 years later. Shown in the inset, mine workers passing through. The Mojave Road. It still stirs the imagination like few other places in this amazing desert.
Before the railroad came along in the years after the Civil War, the Mojave Road was the preferred, and often dangerous, route from all points east, to the Southern California coast. It was a tough way to travel.
Rock Spring was an important stop along the trail. So much so that the U.S. Army designated it an official military post.
Bear Flats way station was leased to Jesse Tay and Charles Lawrence in 1879 and renamed Cozy Dell. It remained an important traveler oasis with buildings on both sides of the road even through Route 66 years. Philip Hanf, the cook, became owner in 1902. The road followed the foothills on the west side for a short
distance before it crossed Cajon Canyon to wend through Cozy Dell.
In 1926, the Old Trails Highway was renamed Route 66 and became “the Mother Road,” linking Chicago, Illinois, with Venice, California. The original route was paved in 1916 to Devore by May with macadam, continuing to Cozy Dell by summer–the first paved highway.
Now, Route 66 in this area serves as a bypass from busy Interstate 15. There are no longer any services. The only two exits off the freeway to 66 are Cleghorn and Kenwood, between Highway 138 and the 15/215 split, so if you miss either, you’re stuck.
Oro Grande, California, located on the Mojave River, was the location for Native American settlements for hundreds of years. The river was also the part of a trade route from the Colorado River for tribes in the southwest with those on the coast of Southern California, what was called the Mojave Trail.
Followed by Spanish padres and soldiers, and later American fur trappers and New Mexican traders the Mohave Trail became part of the Old Spanish Trail between New Mexico and California from 1830.
The town was named after the first mine found, the Oro Grande Mine. The first houses were built and a post office established called Halleck in January 1881. A stamp mill for these mines was installed on the river, and later used for those of Calico.
From 1887, limestone quarries opened and two kilns were produced lime for cement. From 1907, cement was made in Oro Grande. Marble was also mined. On May 25, 1927, the post office officially was renamed as Oro Grande.
You are welcome to see what you will when you look across a barren patch of desert. For me, I see the past. It’s ever present in my mind. Mohave Indians were there when I looked today.
This Paiute winter dwelling house was known a “siwanopi”, house of straw. A smoke hole at the top at the thatched or canvas roof drew fumes from its interior.
For about 15 years, starting in 1888, the Waterloo stamp mill on the side of Elephant Mountain in Daggett processed ore from the Calico mines, eleven miles away. The ore was hauled to the mill by the Waterloo Mining Railroad, a narrow gauge train that ran along this steep treacherous mountain.
All that remains can pretty much be seen in this photo as the ghost of Engine Number 2 makes another trip back to Calico, California.
On 8 June 1966, a experimental bomber, the XB-70 Valkyrie, fell to earth on this exact spot after colliding with an F-104 chase plane north of Barstow, California.
The pilot of chase plane, NASA test pilot Joseph Walker, was killed when his jet exploded in midair after hitting the large supersonic bomber. The XB-70, piloted by USAF Major Carl Cross, was killed on impact.
All in the name of filming a General Electric commercial showcasing jet engines. The desert recovers but memories remain.
Camp Cady was established during the Bitter Spring Expedition in 1860, by Major James H. Carleton, and Company K, 1st U.S. Dragoons, as a base camp for Carleton’s campaign to punish Paiute who
had attacked travelers at Bitter Spring on the Los Angeles – Salt Lake Road. Camp Cady as named for Major Albermarle Cady of the 6th U.S. Infantry.
After the Bitter Spring Expedition, Camp Cady was garrisoned of and on until it was abandoned for a time in early part of the American Civil War after Fort Mohave was abandoned on July 3, 1860. It was reestablished by the California Volunteers on April 23, 1865 and abandoned a second time on April 1, 1866 but due to Indian depredations it was reestablished the next month. It remained manned until 1871, at which time it was abandoned permanently by the military.
Adobes on the property were “melted” when the Mojave river flooded in 1938. Camp Cady Wildlife Area is 1,870 acres of desert riparian habitat, consisting of screwbean mesquite, tamarisk, willow, cottonwood,
saltgrass, saltbush, and cattails along the Mojave River, which passes through the center of the wildlife area. Volunteers from Quail Unlimited are on site as caretakers of the buildings and grounds.
It’s been many long years since the age of steam locomotives. They were the high tech marvel of their age. Still, if you’re ever in Afton Canyon, and let your imagination take over you might still see a Union Pacific loco racing through on its way to Las Vegas and beyond. Do you hear the huffing of the engines and the long shrill whistle as it approaches?
Thank you for joining us for our first installment of many to come focusing on the Mojave Desert’s amazing past and present. If you have a particular area of interest, please send your suggestions to us. If it’s not already in our archives, we will be glad to put a short piece together about it and feature the area and history in future articles.
Citations and Recommended Resources:
• The Twenty Mule Team of Death Valley, Faye, Ted; Arcadia Publishing, published Oct. 2012.
• The Cajon Pass, Hall, Alice Eby; Arcadia Press, published Sept 2009.
• Route 66 in California; Duncan, Glen and The California Route 66 Preservation Foundation; Arcadia Press, published Oct. 2007.
• Mojave Road Guide, An Adventure Through Time, Casebier, Dennis G.; Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association, published Jan. 2010.
• Camp Cady, A Veterans Day Missive, Earl, John; Earl, Jay; https://www.thedesertway.com/camp-cady-ca/
Composite Photos by John Earl.
This is a political advertisment and not an endorsement.
Sierra Club Mojave Group Meeting
Wednesday, November 13 – 7 pm
Speaker: Moses Sparks, wildlife photographer, presents jaguars and other wildlife of Brazil’s Pantanal
SWIM November Speakers
Nov 7 Music Ensemble
Jasmine Star & Friends
Nov 14 Native American Culture
Mary Ruth Hughes
Nov 21 Pilgrims and Thanksgiving
Leah McEntee
Nov 28 Happy Thanksgiving No Meeting
Seniors With Inquiring Minds (SWIM) meets every Thursday from 1:00-2:00 PM in the Percy Bakker Community Center located at 9333 Avenue “E” In Hesperia, CA 92345
Moses Sparks to Present at the Sierra Club on November 13
The Mojave Group of the Sierra Club holds meetings where speakers present topics of interest to everyone. The meetings are free, open to the public, and are held at Sterling Inn (17738 Frances-ca Road, Victorville), at 7 pm on the second Wednesday of the month. Light refreshments are served along with great camaraderie and fellowship.
Our November 13 meeting will feature Moses Sparks, an internationally acclaimed, widely published professional wildlife photographer. He has been traveling the world for years, documenting some of the rarest, most threatened, and amazing animals to be found anywhere. When he is not in the field, he devotes his time to teaching photography and writing about the natural world.
Among his clients are most of the motion picture and television studios, major magazines, and a veritable “who’s who” of Fortune 500 companies. Recently, members of the National Park Service approached Moses about photographing some of Hawaii’s most endangered birds, the goals being to raise awareness of their plight and to increase funding to help save them. The quality of Moses’s photographs is a major reason the program has shown great success in ac-complishing its goals. The results of all his efforts are best exemplified by the quality and quanti-ty of his remarkable and inspiring photographs. Moses Sparks’ presentation on November 13 will focus on his latest expedition to the remote Pantanal Wetlands of Brazil, the legendary “Jaguar Land,” and sharing the stories behind the im-ages. His lectures are always highly interactive and just plain fun.
Make plans now to attend what promises to be an exciting, informative, and fun presentation!
