Women's contributions on Route 66 remembered

Katrina Parks, project director for the Women on Route 66 project, listens in as Chris Ervin speaks during the panel at the end of the special presentation. Ervin is with the Mojave Desert Archives. The presentation focused on oral histories about women’s experiences on Route 66.

By JENNIFER DENEVAN
Needles Desert Star

NEEDLES — Those interested in a bit of a history lesson heard some interesting tales from various women who knew what it was like to travel and live along the Mother Road.

The presentation of “The Women on the Mother Road in Southern California: Route 66 Oral Histories and Screening and Discussion Program” focused on learning how women played major roles in life on the historic roadway. While Needles wasn’t directly discussed, Andrea Arizaga Limon, who has many local ties, is one of several women Katrina Parks interviewed and is part of the project. Her story was included in the presentation at the El Garces on Sept. 23.

Parks, project director, used a couple of quotes to explain why she focused her project on women. The quotes discussed how history tends to focus on men such as Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady motoring along Route 66; but women also did a lot to contribute to the stories.

Parks said women are frequently sidebars in historical works. When researching, there are unconscious biases and the tendency is to look up information on men instead of women and so certain assumptions are made, she continued.

While it may appear that women didn’t own property or were adventurers or contribute much, Parks said, when someone digs in, the experience by women is more complex and varied than led to believe.

Parks discussed some of the women she’s talked to or has researched about for her project. She pointed out how some of the women experienced various hardships such as discrimination for being women. Some faced racial discrimination and segregation, abuses and despite obstacles saw many successes as business women, entertainers and more.

Some of the presentation included Parks’ work with other individuals also working on similar projects and how it connected to her own. Parks’ part of the presentation included three of her finished interviews, including Arizaga Limon’s, for the audience to hear.

Chris Ervin, of Mojave Desert Archives, shared some human interest stories focused on a particular woman who lived in Ludlow. Her name was Venus Pendergast.

Many of the stories shared by Ervin and Parks brought some laughter and insight to an era gone by. While some of the stories are better known, such as Bobby Troup’s “Get Your Kicks on Route 66,” the fact his first wife, Cynthia, was the one who came up with that particular line is not as well known.

Parks provided thanks to those who’ve supported her project and to Jan Jernigan, of the Needles Downtown Business Alliance, for helping making the local presentation happen.

A panel at the end allowed members of the audience to talk about their own experiences and what life in Needles, in particular, has been like through the decades.

Plans underway to preserve historic High Desert stretch of Route 66

A car passes through Amboy on historic U.S. Route 66., Thursday, July 31, 2014. (John Valenzuela)

By Joe Nelson
The San Bernardino Sun

America’s love affair with Route 66 endures.

Songs have been written about it. A television show was named after it. It played a prominent role in John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” as the route taken by the Joad family from Oklahoma to California to escape the Dust Bowl.

And for nearly a quarter of a century, the city of San Bernardino paid tribute to it with its annual Route 66 Rendezvous, a weekend street faire for classic car enthusiasts.

And now, plans are underway to preserve and enhance a 150-mile stretch of the two-lane historic highway from Needles to Barstow, creating roadside kiosks and mobile apps, among other things, to attract visitors and keep its memory alive.

“I’m convinced the route will get busier and busier because of tourism and the baby boomers retiring,” said Albert Okura, owner of the historic roadside Roy’s Motel and Cafe in Amboy, one of the mainstay attractions along the dusty desert stretch of Historic Route 66.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the California Historic Route 66 Association released their Route 66 Draft Corridor Management Plan.

A 30-day public comment period on the plan is now underway. A webcast is scheduled for Feb. 19. The webcast, as well as a digital copy of the plan, can be accessed at http://cmp.route66ca.org.

Hard copies are also available for review at the BLM California Desert District Office in Moreno Valley, the BLM’s Barstow and Needles field offices, the Barstow Chamber of Commerce, the Barstow Public Library, the Needles Chamber of Commerce, and the Needles Public Library.

A limited number of black-and-white hard copies of the plan may be requested via email at cahistoricrt66@aol.com, with “CMP Hard Copy Request” entered in the subject line of the email.

The long-term plan includes the most comprehensive strategy to date on the preservation and marketing of the highway stretch. Once the plan is complete, the BLM and California Historic Route 66 Association will push to get it designated as a National Scenic Byway by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The targeted audience includes Route 66 enthusiasts, historians, multi-generational travelers and travel groups, photographers and railway enthusiasts.

“It represents a great chance to introduce people to the Mojave Desert,” said Jim Klein, the project’s lead planner.

He said several gateway centers with kiosks are planned for Barstow, Needles, Amboy, Essex, Goffs and Ludlow. An interactive mobile app would allow travelers to see then-and-now photos of the many stopovers and other geographic points of interest along the highway, he said.

“When you’re trying to draw people toward Barstow, you need to create something for them to see and do,” Klein said. “There are a lot of great old photographs of all these communities. Some of them are no longer there.”

Building new infrastructure along the highway stretch and refurbishing many, if not all, of the 128 timber trestle bridges dotting the historic route is also a top priority, Klein said. He said the stretch of Route 66 from Needles to Barstow has most of the antiquated wooden bridges, which were built in the 1920s during construction of the highway.

Written comments on the draft plan will be accepted through Feb. 28, and may be submitted by mail to Lardner/Klein Landscape Architects, 815 N. Royal St., Suite 200, attn: Route 66 CMP, Alexandria, VA 22314. Comments can also be sent via email to cart66cmp@lardnerklein.com.

Author brings history in Mojave Desert to life

This 1918 photo shows an old Tonopah & Tidewater railcar that was used as a schoolhouse at Tecopa, north of Baker. (Collection of Mark Landis)

By Mark Landis
San Bernardino Sun

The history of the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, a nearly forgotten desert mining railroad that carried untold tons of mineral riches from California and Nevada, has been brought to life in a new book by local author Phil Serpico.

A resident of Palmdale, Serpico has been writing books on Southern California’s railroad history since 1988. Serpico’s latest work titled “Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad — The Nevada Shortline” is the author’s 7th book on railroading history.

The book focuses on Francis M. “Borax” Smith and the “no frills” desert railroad he built to carry borax and other minerals from the mines in California and western Nevada, to the mainline railroads and ports in Southern California.

The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, better known as the “T & T” spanned 166 miles of the most inhospitable desert territory imaginable, from Ludlow, Calif., north to Gold Center, Nevada.

F.M. Smith (also called Frank) was born on a small farm near Richmond, Wis. in 1846. In the spring of 1867, Smith struck off to find his fortune in the west. His travels took him to the mining districts of western Nevada, where he located a large deposit of high-grade borax in a dry lake bed known as Teel’s Marsh.

Borax didn’t have the glamour of gold, but Smith realized the value of the find, and he began processing the crusty material and shipping it to San Francisco. Frank partnered with his brother Julius, and established the firm of “Smith Brothers” in 1873 to mine and sell borax products.

Smith’s operations expanded dramatically, and in 1886, he incorporated the Pacific Borax Salt & Soda Co. Smith and his competitor William T. Coleman drove the growth of the borax business in the west into one of the region’s must successful mining industries.

Smith eventually purchased Coleman’s bankrupted operations, and in 1890, he formed the Pacific Coast Borax Co.

The borax mines were generally profitable, but they all shared a major problem; remote locations and high transportation costs. The mines were located in desolate places like western Nevada, Death Valley, and the Calico Mountains.

Far removed from any established transportation, the borax freighters were forced to use mule teams to pull huge ore wagons to the railroads in Daggett, Barstow, or Mojave in Kern County. This excruciatingly slow method of transportation evolved into the famous “20 Mule Team” wagon trains. Each of the massive custom-built wagons could carry an impressive 20,000 pounds of ore, but this was still only about one-tenth of a railroad freight car’s capacity.

Smith knew he could increase his profits if he could construct a railroad network to transport the materials from his mines. The railroad would also allow him to tap into the growing freight business of the mining districts in Tonopah and Beatty, Nev.

Construction on Smith’s railroad began in 1905 at Ludlow, a small railroad town on the Santa Fe line, 50 miles east of Barstow. The T & T’s route passed through some of the hottest and driest regions of the Mojave Desert. In October of 1907, the line reached Gold Center, Nev., a small mining town south of Beatty.

Smith gave his railroad the ambitious name of “Tonopah and Tidewater” with the unrealized intention of reaching the port of Los Angeles. When asked about the ambitious name, Smith was quoted as saying; “Broad enough, is it not? It will put some of those railroad people guessing at any rate.”

At Gold Center, the line connected with the existing rails of the Bullfrog and Goldfield Railroad. From here, the T & T was able to reach the mining boom towns of Beatty, Rhyolite, Goldfield, and Tonopah. Smith also built a narrow-gauge railroad from Death Valley Junction on the T & T, to the mining camp of Ryan, located in the southern end of Death Valley.

In addition to hauling borax and minerals from the mines, the T & T became the lifeblood of dozens of small desert communities and mines along the route. By 1910, the western Nevada mining districts had all but played out, and it was only Smith’s borax freight that kept the struggling T & T alive until 1940.

Huge borax deposits were discovered in 1925 near the present-day town of Boron, and the site was located only a short distance from the existing Santa Fe Railroad mainline. This discovery along with other large deposits in the south, made the northern borax mines less profitable, and the T & T withered accordingly.

As the rails were pulled up, the small towns along the way either crumbled away, or struggled to stay alive. The town of Ludlow stayed alive as a stop on Route 66, and still serves travelers on I-40 today.

F.M Smith’s borax empire provided him with a lavish lifestyle, and he became one of the pre-eminent industrialists of his time. His Pacific Coast Borax Co. evolved into the U.S. Borax Co., which was later acquired by the Rio Tinto Group.

Serpico’s 296-page hardbound book details the birth of Smith’s great borax empire, and the collection of rugged individuals who built and operated the supporting railroads. Hundreds of photos, maps, and historic documents illustrate the struggles of working and surviving in harsh desert environments.

For more information on the “Tonopah and Tidewater — Nevada’s Shortline” and Phil Serpico’s other books, go to: www.omnirr.com.