Yuma Proving Ground: Testing, training that keeps soldiers safer

A platoon of infantrymen at Camp Laguna, the first of the Arizona camps in the expanded Desert Training Center. (Photo: Yuma Proving Ground)

Work at the site also has yielded practical civilian items such as GPS

Roger Naylor
Special for The Arizona Republic

It all started with bridges.

In January 1943, the U.S. Army showed up in one of the hottest, driest corners of the American desert to build and test bridges. At first glance it may have seemed crazy, but the Yuma Test Branch was a brilliant idea. The new Imperial Dam created perfect conditions to test bridging equipment because the Colorado River flow could be controlled.

While engineers were trying to figure out how to build portable combat bridges that could handle tank traffic, Camp Laguna was established nearby to train the men who would drive the tanks and fight alongside them. Camp Laguna was one of a dozen U.S. Army training camps spread across 18,000 square miles of harsh terrain in Arizona and California. The location was chosen by Gen. George Patton to prepare troops for the rugged conditions and mechanized warfare of North Africa. Nearly 1.5 million men trained in this desert terrain.

As the fighting in Europe began winding down, bridges were no longer an urgent need. Yuma Test Branch began growing rice paddies on the banks of the Colorado to mimic conditions troops and equipment could face during the anticipated invasion of Japan. Camp Laguna closed at the end of World War II but work at Yuma continued. The focus shifted as engineers began pitting the fierce desert environment against a variety of machinery.

In 1950, the camp closed but reopened a year later with a greatly expanded mission. The renamed Yuma Test Station became the longest overland artillery range in the country. Armored vehicles, armored systems and air-delivery systems were tested. The installation was renamed Yuma Proving Ground in 1963.

“Far too often in the past we’ve used soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen as guinea pigs,” said William Heidner, museum curator at the proving ground’s Heritage Center. “We put them in situations with equipment that didn’t always work in certain conditions. We didn’t routinely test, even through World War II. Yuma Proving Ground really sprung from that.”

It has become a laboratory virtually unparalleled. Yuma Proving Ground covers 1,300 square miles in a landscape free from urban encroachment and with extremely consistent weather patterns —350 sunny days and fewer than 3 inches of rainfall annually. Sparse vegetation reduces many environmental concerns. Sea-level altitude makes it perfect place to test helicopters.

Every year here, tens of thousands of artillery, mortar and missile rounds are fired; 36,000 parachute drops take place; over 130,000 test miles are driven; and nearly 4,000 air sorties are flown.

“In terms of workload, we’ve been the Army’s busiest test center for the last three years,” Heidner said.

The Apache helicopter, M-1 Abrams tank, Bradley Fighting Vehicle, Stryker armored vehicle and virtually all of the Army’s artillery and ground-weapon systems were tested here. Yuma Proving Ground also contains the western world’s largest and most advanced mine, countermine and demolitions test facility. Much of the work done has civilian as well as military applications.

“One of the tests we pioneered was the benefits of using antifreeze in the summer,” Heidner said. “And GPS was initially developed here.”

Beginning in the 1970s, all developmental work on the global positioning system took place at Yuma Proving Ground. Before money could be allocated to align actual satellites, stand-ins had to be placed on mountaintops. Once promising data was gathered, a bevy of satellites were recalibrated to saturate the Yuma sky and the work on GPS was completed.

Visitors can learn the complex story of Yuma Proving Ground at the Heritage Center. Housed in the installation’s former headquarters, the museum features impressive displays and artifacts. The first several rooms follow a timeline of the installation. A fascinating component of the story is not just the staggering amount of equipment tested here but often how it was done.

“In many cases you had to invent the means to test the hardware,” Heidner said. “In the early days after a test, a team of engineers would lock themselves in a room with slide rules and pore over the data. The challenge was to shoot a test and get results in real time. Today, we have range data transmission systems all over the grounds connected by hundreds of miles of fiber-optic cables. As soon as the test is complete, you can view images of projectiles moving through the air at 5,000 feet per second and print out the data.”

The last few exhibits in the Heritage Center are especially powerful. An entire room is dedicated to the Holocaust and German concentration camps. Haunting images of living skeletons peer back from still photos and a short movie. The room is a tribute not only to those who suffered but also to the men who trained here. Of the 25 divisions stationed in the desert, 10 went on liberate concentration camps.

Another room is a memorial to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, featuring vivid photographs from the Library of Congress.

“Our core mission is training for the organization that’s here, which is by and large a civilian workforce,” Heidner said. “They understand the importance of their work. These are not refrigerators they’re testing. It’s the equipment we’re going to give to our sons and daughters when we send them into harm’s way.”

The newest exhibit commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. It includes images painted by soldiers who were there. A detailed map of Vietnam hangs in the hallway, covered with insignia.

“I’ve had a lot of wives tell me this is the first time their husbands really talked about their experience,” Heidner said. “They stand in front of the map for a long time and go, ‘I was here and this is who I was with’ and that’s how it starts.”

Yuma Proving Ground

Getting there: Yuma Proving Ground is about 187 miles southwest of central Phoenix. Take Interstate 10 east to U.S. 95. Turn south on U.S. 95 and go 60 miles. Turn right at the big guns onto Imperial Dam Road. Proceed 0.8 mile to the Visitor Control Center at the Wahner Brooks Military Exhibit Area, a collection of tanks, howitzers and rockets tested in the area.

Entering the site: Visitors must be U.S. citizens. Those who do not have a Department of Defense identification card will be subject to a background check. To complete a background check, which generally takes less than15 minutes, stop at the Visitor Control Center. Drivers must have a valid drivers license, registration and proof of insurance.

Details: 928-328-6533, www.yuma.army.mil.

Heritage Center: Hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays. Admission is free.

Details: 928-328-3394.

Tours: The Yuma Visitors Bureau provides tours of Yuma Proving Ground during the winter months. The “Behind the Big Guns” tours give a behind-the-scenes look at the facility and include a narrated motorcoach ride with stops at the Heritage Center, mission-control rooms normally off-limits to visitors and lunch at an on-post restaurant. Dates are Dec. 9, Jan. 12, Feb. 2 and 23 and March 8. Tickets are $55. The “At Ease” tours offer a slightly shorter outing for $40 on Dec. 16, Jan. 26 and March 2.

Details: 928-783-0071, www.visityuma.com.

How a 1930s water war between California and Arizona delayed Parker Dam

Parker Dam and Lake Havasu on the Colorado River in 1939. In 1922, six of seven states signed the Colorado River Compact. Upset with its allotment, Arizona refused to sign. So when Parker Dam construction began, Arizona sought to block the project. (U.S. Department of the Interior)

by Scott Harrison
Los Angeles Times

"Water war" has for decades been a term used to describe the political battles over water in the West.

But back in the 1930s, a fight between California and Arizona over water actually veered from cold war to hot war — almost.

In 1934, the Metropolitan Water District began construction on Parker Dam, which was opposed by Arizona. The resulting Lake Havasu would feed the new Colorado Aqueduct.

Before, in 1922, six of seven states signed the Colorado River Compact. Upset with its allotment, Arizona refused to sign.

So when Parker Dam construction began, Arizona sought to block the project.

In March 1934, Arizona Gov. Benjamin Moeur called up the Arizona National Guard. Six soldiers arrived in Parker, Ariz., to observe the construction.

National media, including the Los Angeles Times, ridiculed the deployment.

When an Associated Press photo appeared in the March 10, 1934, edition of The Times, the accompanying caption reported:

"Arizona Troops Leave For (Water) Front.

"Without any flare of trumpets or a band playing martial airs, this squad of Arizona National Guardsmen left Phoenix and arrived at Parker yesterday preparatory to patrolling the dam site to prevent 'encroachment' on Arizona's rights by the Metropolitan Water District. Maj. Pomeroy, commanding the detail, is shown on the extreme right."

For the next several months, the troops patrolled the Arizona side of the dam site.

In November, the construction of a trestle bridge from the California side prompted action. On Nov. 10, Moeur declared martial law. He dispatched more than 100 National Guard troops to block construction on Arizona's shore.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes intervened and halted construction. The troops were recalled.

The resulting legal action led to an April 29, 1935, Supreme Court decision. The April 30, 1935, Los Angeles Times reported:

"Without a dissenting voice, the United States Supreme Court yesterday forced an indefinite suspension of work on Parker Dam by upholding Arizona's right to object and interfere with construction....

"Arizona officials, a dispatch from Phoenix said, hailed the decision as a victory in their battle over the Colorado River, which has been waged for twelve years.

"Gov. Moeur, who last November ordered out the Militia to stop construction, was quoted as saying he was pleased; and he and other State authorities indicated they now intend to let other sides in the controversy make the first move.

"By its far-reaching decision, the Supreme Court virtually justified Gov. Moeur's action in ordering out the troops.

"The decision, written by Justice (Pierce) Butler, assert the dam project never has been authorized by law."

Political compromises were made. Congress passed legislation allowing construction to proceed. Parker Dam was finished in 1938.

A River Captain in the Mojave Desert

This 1876 photo shows one of the May Day outings Yuma residents enjoyed on the steamboat Mojave, captained by Isaac Polhamus.

by MARK MUCKENFUSS
Press-Enterprise

Had you stood on the eastern edge of San Bernardino County in the latter half of the 1800s, you might have been reminded of the Mississippi River.

That’s because, in wet years, the Colorado River swelled to a wide expanse in areas such as the slow wide stretch that would eventually become Lake Havasu. Even more reminiscent of the Big Muddy would be the sight of a steamboat.

Mark Twain, Robert Fulton and those other river folks were 1,500 miles east, turning the mystique of the riverboat into part of American lore. But the lower Colorado had its own river culture, brief as it was. And perhaps the best-known person in that culture was Isaac Polhamus, a steamboat captain for nearly 50 years.

Polhamus was known for his stern demeanor. His method for disciplining his Mojave Indian crew was to throw them overboard and then drag them back on deck.

And yet he was admired.

When he died in 1922, the local Indian community camped out at his house for two days, mourning his loss. There were so many Mojave in attendance that they filled Polhamus’ yard and a vacant lot across the road in Yuma, Ariz. A bonfire was lit to keep them warm while they remained through the chilly January night, sometimes chanting quietly to honor his passing.

In a 1941 story in Desert Magazine, Frank C. Lockwood, details Polhamus’ life, in part using materials that were provided to him by one of the captain’s daughters.

Polhamus grew up with the river life. His father was a riverboat captain on New York’s Hudson River. In 1846, Polhamus left the East Coast for California, sailing around the Cape of Good Hope on a voyage that took nearly a year.

Prior to California’s gold rush, he prospected on the American River, but had little luck. He was soon back on a riverboat on the Sacramento River. Not long after, he got wind of the opportunities on the Colorado.

In those days – before dams and desert golf courses -- the untamed river dumped its contents into the Gulf of California and made upriver passage easy. The Colorado was a conduit for goods moving into Arizona from western ports. Ships regularly sailed from San Francisco and San Diego around the tip of Cabo San Lucas, delivering cargo to Yuma, Ehrenberg and La Paz. Freighters then carried the merchandise to Prescott and other towns in the fledgling territory.

When Polhamus joined the Colorado Steam Navigation Company in the late 1850s, the business occupied half of the only permanent building standing in Yuma, a 100-by-25-foot adobe.

Polhamus quickly established himself as the top captain on the river, navigating the Colorado when it was fast and roiling from the spring melt, as well as when it lay slow and shallow during drier periods.

Mostly, he hauled cargo, as far north as Fort Mojave, which was just above Needles. The downriver journey from Fort Mojave to Yuma could be done in a day. Upriver was a different story.

On one 1859 trip, the river was moving so fast that it took 28 days to make the trip. Some sections of rapids required the steamboat to be pulled through using a cable threaded through ring bolts set in the canyon walls.

When the railroad was completed in 1877, river traffic dropped off. The company Polhamus worked closed up shop. But the captain kept going with his own line of steamboats. By then, there were enough people in the area that pleasure excursions were offered.

“For almost a generation,” Lockwood wrote, “Polhamus carried merry May Day picnic parties up the river on his boat as far as Picacho (about 30 miles up river).”

He also advertised for tourists and land speculators and entrepreneurs.

One promotional pamphlet promised “to show the possibilities of mining and agriculture of the country . . . with none of the hazardous hardships and privations of roughing it, in the saddle or on foot, the trip will be through the heart of the most weird and awesome scenery on earth.”

Polhamus probably would have kept steaming up and down the Colorado, but in 1904, the damming of the river began. He was forced to retire. Had it been today, he could have spent his leisure time golfing. But the water being held back wouldn’t be used for that purpose for many years.

Oatman History: A trip into the past

Author Jackie Rowland-Murray, president of the Oatman Historical Society and vice president of the Arizona Historical Route 66 Association, gave a talk highlighting some of Oatman’s most colorful historic moments on Saturday at the Laughlin Library. “I’ve spent so much time researching the area’s history, I’d feel bad if I didn’t use what I’ve learned,” Rowland-Murray said. “I enjoy all of it.” (DK McDONALD/The Daily News)

By DK McDONALD
Mohave Valley Daily News

LAUGHLIN — For some, history is the chronicle of a society’s evolution. For others, history is blueprint for the future.

“I get upset when schools don’t teach history,” said historian and author Jackie Rowland-Murray. “If you don’t know what the history is, it is going to repeat big-time and not in a good way.”

President of the Oatman Historical Society and vice president of the Arizona Historical Route 66 Association,
Rowland-Murray spoke on some of Oatman’s most colorful historic moments Saturday at the Laughlin Library.

Rowland-Murray’s 90-minute presentation traced Oatman’s history from the first known contact with Native people by Spanish Franciscan friar Francisco Garces, to its birth in the early 1800s to the present day. With emphasis on events such as the Oatman Massacre and the kidnapping of Olive Oatman, Rowland-Murray also related stories of the Rose-Bailey Massacre, Beale’s road expedition on the 35th Parallel and the region’s gold mines that produced $40 million in gold.

“I’ve heard her speak before,” said Elsie Needles, president of the Colorado River Historical Society and Museum. “She wrote a great book on the history of Oatman. She is so knowledgeable and a really good speaker.”

The public history lesson was presented in partnership with the Colorado River Historical Society and Museum. Rowland-Murray, the author of “Oatman: History, Recipes & Ghost Stories,” said she enjoys sharing history for its own sake.

“I’ve spent so much time researching the area’s history, I’d feel bad if I didn’t use what I’ve learned,” she said. “It’s information that just begs to be shared.”

Rowland-Murray‘s research has resulted in a variety of subjects to present, she said. Including the Oatman history lecture, she offers presentations on how women lived in the 1800s, on Olive Oatman’s life, and two presentations on the “Strong women of the Colorado River,” split between women from Yuma to this area of Mohave County, and northern women, covering women from the Grand Canyon to the northern state line.

“I also have a presentation solely on mining,” said Rowland-Murray. “That one made me nervous, because the first time I presented it was to a room full of prospectors.”

The mining stories are her favorite to relate, she said.

“Mining in Oatman is a real interesting story,” Rowland-Murray said. “It had huge effects on the area, the state and the whole world.”

The presentation didn’t stop with the camels, the burros, the gold or the massacres. Rowland-Murray made the connections between Oatman’s history and the present day.

“Oatman sees more than 400,000 visitors every year, some tracing the history of Route 66 and some who want to see a bit of the Old West,” Rowland-Murray said. “Oatman has never legally been designated a town, although during its heyday it boasted a population between 8,000 and 10,000 people. Oatman is classified as a roadside attraction which makes it difficult to get some things done.”

The 2000 census found 128 residents in Oatman.

“We’re different,” Rowland-Murray said. “It’s a small and quiet community. There is no grocery store. There is no school. There’s no gas station, either, although a couple guys keep extra 5-gallon cans in their backyards in case of an emergency. We like to say, ‘If you need it, we don’t have it.’ But people are drawn here. It has a rich history. It’s interesting.”

John Brown Sr., A True San Bernardino Pioneer

Five of the most prominent founding members of the San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society are immortalized in this classic western portrait taken circa 1895. Left to right: W.F. Holcomb, John Brown Jr., John Brown Sr., George Miller, B.B. Harris. (From the collection of the San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society)

By Mark Landis
San Bernardino Sun

The amazing life story of mountain man John Brown Sr. wasn’t glamorized in a movie or a television show like some of his fellow trailblazers from the 1840s, but his real-life adventures were so remarkable — they read like chapters from an Old West dime novel.

Unlike many of the famed mountain men of the early 1800s, Brown Sr. used his later “civilized” years in San Bernardino to distinguish himself as a respected pioneer, and civic leader.

In his older years, Brown chronicled some of his life’s experiences in a book, “Mediumistic Experiences of John Brown; The Medium of The Rockies.”

In the book, Brown describes his extensive travels from childhood, to his years in California. Brown was a devout spiritualist, and much of the book is filled with odd ramblings about his spiritual adventures and experiences as a medium, which he claimed, began in his youth.

John Brown Sr., was born in Worcester, Mass., Dec. 22, 1817. His family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and he was orphaned at an early age.

According to his biography in L.A. Ingersoll’s “Century Annals of San Bernardino County, California,” Brown began his travels as a young boy rafting down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. He survived a shipwreck while traveling to Galveston, Texas, and later continued to Fort Leavenworth.

In 1836, Brown was at the famed battle of San Jacinto, and saw Mexican president Santa Anna taken prisoner. From Texas, he joined a group of mountaineers and trappers, and spent 14 years in the Rocky Mountains, hunting, trading, and exploring.

While in the Rockies, Brown and his hunting companions helped build some of the early frontier forts that served as outposts for the great western migration. Brown’s companions read like a “who’s who” of mountain men, including Kit Carson, Alexander Godey, Joseph Bridger, and William and Charles Bent, founders of Bent’s Fort, Colorado.

According to his biographies, John Brown and his companions acted as guides for Gen. John C. Fremont’s crossing of the Rocky Mountains.

Around 1844, John Brown traveled to Taos, New Mexico, which had become an outpost for fur traders. It was here that Brown met and married Maria Louisa Sandoval, his lifetime partner. John and Louisa’s first child, Mary Matilda was born in 1844, in Taos. Louisa gave John 5 more daughters, and 4 sons, for a remarkable total of 10 children. She proved to be John’s equal as she endured years of frontier life, while raising small children in the most rugged conditions.

In 1849, John Brown and his fur trading companions were struck with gold fever. Brown packed up his young family and headed to the gold fields at Sutter’s Fort, California, arriving in September 1849.

Like most of the 49ers who swarmed into California, Brown and his friends had little success panning for gold. Within months, they struck out for Monterey and opened a small boarding house named the St. John’s Hotel. Louisa and the children were finally indoors, but John began to suffer with health problems from the cool sea air.

In April of 1852, Brown took the advice of his physician to leave Monterey, and reside in the warmer, drier climate of Southern California. Brown moved his family to the newly founded Mormon settlement of San Bernardino, where he purchased a small log cabin within the San Bernardino Fort for $50.

Brown quickly began developing friendships with many of the pioneers who had traveled from Salt Lake City to build the Southern California outpost. According to his “Medium of The Rockies,” Brown became the “resident spiritualist” of the town, and was called upon as a medium, and for spiritual insight and healing.

Apparently still not ready to settle, John Brown moved his family to nearby Yucaipa in 1854, and went into the stock business. The Browns moved back to San Bernardino in 1857, and by this time, John and Louisa had 8 children.

As if the Brown household wasn’t full enough, John took in a boarder named David Noble Smith in the fall of 1857. D.N. Smith was also a spiritualist, and a lasting friendship was struck.

John Brown transferred a piece of land he had homesteaded at Arrowhead Springs to Smith who went on to establish the first sanitarium on the property. This early sanitarium for treating tuberculosis patients evolved into the famed Arrowhead Springs resort that occupies the site today.

In 1860, gold was discovered in Holcomb Valley, in the nearby San Bernardino Mountains.

Brown was once again tempted by gold fever, but his business sense took over. Sensing the need to transport materials to the new gold fields, Brown petitioned the state Legislature for a franchise to build a toll road through the Cajon Pass.

In spring of 1861, Brown’s crew of 30-40 men carved out the first graded wagon road through the pass, and built upper and lower toll booths to manage the route.

With the Cajon Pass toll road built, Brown set his sights on furthering the development of trade routes and built a ferry to cross the Colorado River at Fort Mohave in 1862.

John Brown’s business success allowed him to donate funds and materials to improve public areas in San Bernardino. Brown also took an active role in local politics, and he served in several public service positions.

In January of 1888, the San Bernardino Society of California Pioneers was organized by a noteworthy group of pioneers who helped establish the city in the early 1850s. John Brown Sr. was later elected president of the society, and he served in that position until his death.

This group has since become the San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society, which is still very active in the community today.

Louisa Brown passed away suddenly on May 16, 1891, at the age of 66, at the family home in San Bernardino.

John Brown Sr. died April 20, 1899, at the age of 81, in San Bernardino. Brown’s funeral was held at the family home at the corner of D and Sixth Streets, in San Bernardino.

Holding true to his spiritualistic beliefs to the end, Brown’s funeral service was conducted by Mrs. J. A. Marchant, superintendent of the First Spiritual Society of San Bernardino.

Reverend A.J. White, of the Presbyterian Church of Colton also performed duties at the service.

John Brown Sr.’s lasting contributions to the region were carried on by his extensive family, most notably, John Brown Jr. who went on to become a successful lawyer, and a leading citizen of the area.

For more information on mountain men, visit the “Mountain Men in San Bernardino County 1826 – 1850” display at the San Bernardino County Museum, at 2024 Orange Tree Lane, Redlands.

Ward Valley history: Mojave Desert spared a nuclear waste dump

Fatimah Hameed
People's World

This date in 1999 recalls a colossal environmental victory.

Ward Valley, Calif., was decided upon in 1988 as the preferred location for a nuclear waste dump to be operated by U.S. Ecology. The state of California had to buy the Mojave Desert acreage from the Bureau of Land Management, and then grant the firm permission to build only 20 miles away from the Colorado River. For a decade legal, cultural and environmental issues, involving the rights of local Native Americans, an endangered species of desert tortoise, as well as the track record and competence of U.S. Ecology, roiled the state.

Such environmental activist groups as Greenpeace and the Bay Area Nuclear Waste Coalition, joined with the Colorado River Native Nations Alliance (CRNNA) to stop the project. In late 1995, they occupied the land, coming and going to conform to policies on camping in the desert. At a demonstration in front of the Federal Building of Los Angeles in December, CRNNA called upon the sacred importance of the environment to the Native communities. The Department of Interior refused to grant the CRNNA standing, however, thus denying the native peoples a voice in the required Environmental Impact Statement on the dump. Later the CRNNA filed a claim under the Civil Rights Act due to the sacred status of the Ward Valley. Rev. Jesse Jackson agreed with the analysis of "environmental racism," and became a strong ally.

For the next couple of years the encampments continued. Activists blockaded the dumpsite entrance, even after the Department of Interior ordered the occupation closed. Volunteers kept arriving from near and far to try and stop the dump. Afraid of provoking a confrontation, the Bureau of Land Management removed its law-enforcement officers from the area. The occupation ended in June 1998, but the activist coalition continued to pressure state officials, including Governor Gray Davis, to cancel the project.

On April 2, 1999, U.S. Ecology and the state of California lost a federal lawsuit. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt refused to sell the land to the state, and with a final U.S. Court of Appeals judgment the next year, the Ward Valley nuclear land dump plan came to an end.

There really is no 100% safe way to store radioactive waste for all time. Any waste dump anywhere is in effect a time bomb waiting to explode. Other energy and industrial waste is also problematic. Technological advances require responsible disposal or conversion for dangerous by-products. Although consciousness over these issues has grown exponentially, the people's will is far ahead of governmental policy in most countries, including our own.

Southern Pacific Railroad made path through the "heart of the desert"

Floodwaters from the Colorado River filled the Salton Sink in 1906 -1907. The Southern Pacific Railroad tracks had to be moved. (Photo courtesy of Salton Sea History Museum)

Denise Goolsby
The Desert Sun

The transcontinental railroad opened the doors to America, especially those lightly traveled areas where Herculean efforts were required to cross hundreds of miles of remote wilderness, steep mountains, and endless desert.

Discovery of gold in 1848 focused world attention on California and the Pacific Coast region. At the time, early settlers had few options in cross country travel: An arduous overland journey across the plains by oxen or mules, or long ocean voyages via Panama or around Cape Horn.

A growing sentiment in the west and east favored a railroad that would bind the nation closer together.

The roots of Southern Pacific Railroad's path through the Coachella Valley can be traced to the country's pre-Civil War days and the creation of the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California, incorporated June 28, 1861.

The brainchild of Collis P. Huntington, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins and Charles Crocker, the corporation was formed to build the western portion of the Pacific Railroad — a transcontinental link from Sacramento, east over the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Construction began in Sacramento in 1863 followed by authorization of Congress in 1863. The line traversed 690 miles over the mountains and across Nevada to meet the Union Pacific at Promontory, Utah, where the last spike was driven on May 10, 1869.

In 1865, the Southern Pacific Railroad was organized to build lines from San Francisco to San Diego and eastward to rails being proposed to reach westward from New Orleans.

The surveyors for the Southern Pacific route reached the site of Indio, known as Indian Wells at the time, on March 25, 1872. They reported that this point was halfway between Los Angeles and Yuma, Ariz. A perfect spot for a train depot.

Southern Pacific acquired a 22-mile railroad from Los Angeles to Wilmington, opened in October, 1869 and construction began during 1873 on lines north and east out of the city.

Trains were operated to Colton on July 16, 1895 and to Indio on May 29, 1876.

After the railroad's arrival in 1876, Indio really started to grow. The first permanent building was the craftsman style Southern Pacific Depot station and hotel. Southern Pacific tried to make life as comfortable as it could for their workers in order to keep them from leaving such a difficult area to live in at the time. It was the center of all social life in the desert with a fancy dining room. Dances were hosted on Friday nights.

While Indio started as a railroad town, it developed into an agricultural area shortly thereafter. Onions, cotton, grapes, citrus and dates thrived in the arid climate due to the ingenuity of farmers finding various means of attaining water — first through artesian wells.

The arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad would leave an indelible mark on the Palm Springs-based Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and shaped the future of the tribe. In the 1860s, the Federal government granted the railroad ten miles of odd-numbered sections of land on each side of the railroad right-of-way.

In 1876, when President Ulysses S. Grant established the present Agua Caliente Indian Reservation by executive order, only the even-numbered sections were still available. This created the reservation's "checkerboard" pattern.

In 1875, the Cahuilla Indians began working on the construction of the railroad. The tracks ran about six miles north of the Palm Springs Way Station, which served as a stagecoach stop from 1865 until the rail line was completed in 1887.

The Southern Pacific built a Spanish-styled railroad station in the 1930s, located in North Palm Springs on Tipton Road off Highway 111.

By this time, Palm Springs had already become a popular tourist destination and was known as a world famous winter playground for Hollywood stars. The Southern Pacific, traveling on what became known as the Sunset Route, now delivered travelers right at the doorstep of this thriving desert community.

A 1914 brochure touting the Southern Pacific Sunset Route as the "Best Route to the California 1915 Expositions" — the Panama-Pacific Exposition was being held in San Francisco and the Panama-California Exposition was taking place in San Diego — provided colorful descriptions of the stops along the route, which originated in New Orleans.

This is how the railroad's literature depicted the desert 100 years ago:

"Yuma, the Colorado River and California is reached 1,754 miles west from New Orleans … the route is through a region that is peculiar and interesting. At Imperial Junction, a branch line of the Southern Pacific runs south to the celebrated Imperial Valley, which has sprung into a wonderful existence in a night, almost, because of its splendid fertility, its varied, almost tropical products, freedom from frosts, great volume of water for irrigation, taken from the Colorado, and its rapid development and adaptability for all forms of agriculture, yet in the heart of the desert."

That year, 1914, the valley shipped more than 4,000 cars of cantaloupes alone, to all sections of the United States. From a waste only a few years ago, the Imperial Valley now has a population of 25,000 with fine towns, street cars, clubs, newspapers, excellent hotels and a high class civilization.

The journey is then through the Salton Valley and along the northern shores of the Salton Sea made by an overflow of the Colorado Rivers some years ago. Here the train runs for miles below the sea level, at Salton reaching the bottom of a great depression at a depth of 253 feet. This condition is peculiar and unequaled and is not even approximated by any other railroad in the world. The route through the California desert passes through Thermal, Coachella and Indio, all below sea level, and climbs the divide, reaching the apex at Beaumont, California."

Next week: Southern Pacific Railroad History in the Coachella Valley, Part II.

Sources: City of Palm Springs, Agua Caliente Cultural Museum, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Historian Pat Laflin, Coachella Valley Water District, Central Pacific Railroad website, Michael L. Grace (Palm Springs Rail Heritage blog)

The first and last days of Route 66 in Southern California

Route 66 (now Main Street) passing through the business district of Barstow, circa 1948. This busy downtown district was bypassed when the 15 Freeway from Victorville to Barstow was completed in 1958. (Courtesy photo)

By Mark Landis
San Bernardino Sun

Affectionately known as “America’s Mother Road,” Route 66 was created in 1926 by patching together a 2,448-mile network of existing streets and dirt roads. The historic highway cut a rambling path through the heart of the U.S., running from Chicago, Illinois, to California’s Pacific Coast.

The ink on the newly drawn route maps had barely dried before the road began a continuous process of paving, widening, straightening, and realignment. But even as Route 66 evolved and improved, new highways were already being planned that would eventually bypass and replace the old road.

The section of Route 66 that ran through San Bernardino County was originally part of National Old Trails Road which was designated in 1912. By May of 1914, road signs had been placed on most of the route through Southern California, and the flow of traffic over the rugged highway began to increase dramatically.

In Southern California, Route 66 became a lifeline of transportation and revenue that stretched from the remote desert town of Needles on the Colorado River, to the seaside community of Santa Monica.

More than 240 miles of the highway passed through San Bernardino County, and most of those miles traversed inhospitable sections of desert. Tiny oases sprouted up along the highway, providing gas stations, auto camps, cafés, and motels. These remote enterprises survived entirely on the business generated from the highway, and the traveling public was equally dependent on the services they provided.

In the larger, more established cities like Victorville, Barstow, and Needles, the highway passed through the heart of town, and the central business districts grew up along the route. City officials and business owners were quick to oppose any changes to the route that could negatively affect their economy.

Few of the people who depended on Route 66 for their livelihoods would have noticed a subtle turning point for the highway that occurred in 1935. On May 8, the San Bernardino Sun reported that $1 million of state highway funding had been allocated for construction of a new freeway from Pasadena to Los Angeles.

The Arroyo Seco Freeway (later renamed the Pasadena Freeway) was opened to the public in November 1940, making it the first freeway in the western United States. This six-mile stretch of intersection-free roadway signaled the beginning of California’s massive freeway building program that would continue for decades.

The first direct threat to travel and commerce on Route 66 became a reality in 1944, when the California State Highway Commission began buying up the right-of-way for a great “highway of tomorrow” from the Inland Valleys, to Los Angeles. Huge new post-war highway projects were planned all over the state, and war-weary Californians were ready to move into the future with modern freeways.

By 1945, construction of a 10-mile section of the new Ramona Freeway from Colton to Etiwanda Avenue in Ontario was underway. This section of the freeway would basically run parallel to Valley Boulevard, which was the closest major east-west thoroughfare.

On March 14, 1947, California Gov. Earl Warren cut the ribbon on the new section of superhighway, predicting that “one day, super freeways will reach from one end of the state to the other.”

The merchants and cities along Route 66 must have caught a glimpse of their future when the Valley Boulevard businessmen confronted Gov. Warren, protesting the deep impact the freeway would have on their livelihoods. They said the lack of adequate signs, and access had already greatly reduced their business.

Mile by mile, the Ramona Freeway bridged the gap between San Bernardino and Los Angles. Oddly, the entire right-of-way had not been purchased, nor had the exact route of the freeway been finalized before construction began.

The name of the Ramona Freeway was officially changed to the San Bernardino Freeway in 1954.

The new San Bernardino Freeway ran generally parallel to Route 66, just a few miles south of the old road. By 1957, the entire freeway could be traveled from Los Angeles to San Bernardino. This allowed motorists to completely bypass more than 50 miles of Route 66 between the two cities.

A new section of freeway running north and south through the heart of San Bernardino was opened in 1960. This section became the present-day 215 Freeway. It bypassed the portion of Route 66 that passed through town on Mt. Vernon Avenue, and many of the downtown merchants were wiped out by the loss of business.

Up in the High Desert, Route 66 was slowly being paved over or bypassed by the new Barstow Freeway. This section of freeway would eventually stretch from the summit of the Cajon Pass, all the way to Barstow. In 1956, the Barstow Freeway bypassed the section of Route 66 that ran through downtown Victorville. This marked the first major desert city’s downtown district to be bypassed by a freeway.

In 1958, the new section of freeway between Victorville and Barstow was opened, and the tiny desert communities of Oro Grande, Helendale, and Hodge were bypassed.

Fortunately, these communities were able to survive on other sources of revenue like cement manufacturing, farming, and nearby George Air Force Base.

By 1971, the scenic section of Route 66 through the Cajon Pass was completely replaced by the new Interstate 15 freeway.

The last original section of Route 66 through the desert between Barstow and Needles was bypassed in 1973, when the construction of Interstate 40 was completed. Interstate 40 bypassed, or paved over, 165 miles of Route 66 through San Bernardino County. The town of Daggett and the rest stop communities of Newberry Springs, Bagdad, Amboy, and Essex, were left stranded in the desert by progress.

Within a few short decades after its conception, Route 66 was unceremoniously dismantled, and rendered obsolete by an expanding network of modern super-highways.

Thankfully, many sections of the old road were preserved, and are still in use today as city thoroughfares, and pieces of rural highways. Beginning in the 1990s, Route 66 saw a resurgence of tourist traffic. Drivers came from all over the world, seeking out the remaining sections of the old highway to relive the nostalgic glory days of the Mother Road.

It seems that even America’s beloved Route 66 was really only a stepping stone in the rush of unstoppable progress to build a great federal interstate highway system.

Arizona Navy Deployed In 1934

Admiral Nellie T. Bush on one of her ferry boats. (Arizona Historical Society)

By Nadine Arroyo Rodriguez
KJZZ.org

Air Force, Army, Marines and the National Guard. These are the branches of the military stationed in Arizona, and there is one more.

In 1934, the federal government began the Parker Dam construction project to divert Colorado River water to Southern California, but neither the feds nor California got approval from Arizona to build on its land. So, a very unhappy Arizona Gov. Benjamin Baker Moeur declared martial law. Did You Know that is when the Arizona Navy was created and called to protect the state’s water rights?

“The Arizona Navy was a mighty force of two ships," said John Larsen Southard, a local historian. "And they were used to patrol the river and patrol the Parker Dam construction site to ensure that those willy Californians didn’t succeed in building Parker Dam and they’re not taking therefore, Colorado River.”

Southard said the Navy’s fleet was made up of wooden ferry boats that happened to be in the area. Gov. Moeur even named the boats’ owner admiral of this newly formed Navy. Adm. Nellie T. Bush, yes a woman, commanded the ships for two days!

“He backed up the navy with a deployment of the National Guard Troops from Phoenix. In fact if you look at the photos from deployment day, they had rifles at the shoulder," said Southard. "They are equipped. They looked and were a real fighting force.”

It was 40 riflemen and 20 machine gunners lined up along the Colorado River bank. A reconnaissance mission to make sure construction did not happen on Arizona’s side of the river. It was a show of force until one of the boats got stuck in the water and Californians, you know, the enemy, had to help get it loose. Sure we laugh now, but the governor’s act of force worked!

“His deployment of the navy did cause Secretary of the Interior Ickes to delay construction of the dam, and in fact when dam construction was resumed it was allowed to resume, because Arizona had won a project, an irrigation project to be sponsored by the federal government," Southard said.

That project was the Gila River Irrigation system. Southard said Moeur’s navy is still talked about.

“It’s the last occurrence in American history when one state took up arms against another no matter how unlikely it was that the arms would ever be fired," said Southard.

About that admiral I mentioned, Nellie T. Bush. She became a prominent figure in Arizona. She was a justice of the peace in Parker, served in the state legislature, passed the bar in California and Arizona, and in 1932 was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention where Franklin Delano Roosevelt received the nomination for president. Bush was inducted into the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame in 1982.

Museum plans events for Arizona Centennial

COLORADO RIVER MUSEUM: The Colorado River Historical Society and Museum, between the Laughlin Bridge and Davis Camp, is planning two days of events for local celebration of the Arizona Centennial.

By JAMES CHILTON
The Daily News

BULLHEAD CITY — With the Arizona Centennial less than two weeks away, the Colorado River Historical Society and Museum is preparing two days’ worth of events for the public to enjoy.

Museum president Dave McDaniel said the society has been hard at work on creating an interactive pathway around the museum grounds that will provide snippets of history from Arizona’s century of statehood. The path will include items that hearken back to the area’s history, with numbered markers that correspond to a brochure visitors can reference to read about Bullhead City’s past, from the first Native American settlers, to the Colorado riverboat days of the mid-19th century, to the founding of Hardyville, the area’s original white settlement.

“The new pathway that runs around the museum is going to be designated the Arizona Centennial Pathway, and along the pathway we’re going to have little snapshots of history,” McDaniel said. “Along each stop there are numbers, and in the brochure, they give information about Hardyville, steamboats in the area, the Beale Wagon Road, and we have a mural that was painted by Paul Jackson, who is the tribal artist for the Mojaves.”

Inside the museum, McDaniel said, visitors will find both current and historical maps of the state dating back to 1912, as well as some other artifacts that are indicative of local life during the early part of the last century.

“On Feb. 11, we’re going to have an open house from 11 in the morning until 2, and the city council’s and some of the Fort Mojave tribal members are invited,” McDaniel added. “And we’re going to have some souvenirs we’re going to give out. We’re going to have coin envelopes with wheat pennies in them that mention the Colorado River Museum and the ‘cent’ennial.”

Then at 1 p.m. on the Feb. 11, McDaniel said the museum will host a going-away celebration in honor of Bullhead City’s first elected mayor, J. Michael “Mike” Love, who will be departing to Sacramento, Calif., with his wife Gloria after spending the last 32 years here. On Wednesday, Love dropped by the Bullhead City Hall, where he bid his formal good-byes to current mayor Jack Hakim and City Manager Toby Cotter, receiving a certificate of appreciation and the key to the city for his service.

Following the open house, on the day of the actual centennial, Feb. 14, McDaniel said the museum is planning a host of programs for the day, running from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The programs will include presentations on a number of subjects including Hardyville and Original Bullhead, as well as a video presentation on the steamboats of the Colorado River and a hike to “Museum Rock,” a nearby Indian petroglyph.

The museum’s regular hours of operation are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, or a full schedule of centennial events, call 928-758-7643 or 928-754-3399.