The Headless Horseman of Yermo

Headless Horseman of Yermo display (MojaveDesert.Net)

By Matthew Cabe
Victor Valley Daily Press

In October 1965, Don Hughes was busy clearing land in Yermo when he inadvertently unearthed what local historian and author Cliff Walker described as a “highly mineralized axe head” in an article on the Desert Gazette website.

Near the axe, Hughes found part of a jawbone and skull buried in sand. Some 30 feet away, the skeletal remains of a man and horse were also uncovered. The man was seated atop what was left of his steed. Knives stuck out of what was left of him.

The proper officials were notified and an excavation followed. When the papers got wind, the man was dubbed the “Headless Horseman of Yermo.” In a later interview, Hughes said tests dated the bones to about 1850.

Analysis also determined the man was between 21 and 23 years old. He stood 5-feet-2-inches tall.

In a phone conversation with Walker — one that was cut woefully short by bad reception — I learned the initial theories on the horseman’s heritage.

“His teeth were ground down,” Walker said, which led him and others to believe the man was of Native American or Mexican descent. Teeth like his, Walker continued, were a common attribute of “indians and vaqueros” due to a grit-filled diet.

About five years ago, though, the director of the San Bernardino County Museum informed Walker that tests revealed the horseman was not a Native American.

“He could still be a vaquero,” Walker said.

In 1972, the horseman went on display for the first time at the Mojave River Valley Museum in Barstow, but it was in the custody of the county museum and was eventually returned. Rumor has it that the county must locate next of kin. Good luck.

This appears to be a sore spot for Walker. When he chatted with the county museum’s director, he asked about the horseman’s whereabouts. “She wouldn’t tell me,” he said before the line went dead.

Experts offered historical scenarios to explain the man’s grim fate for years after the discovery. Most involved horse thieves. More than 50 years later, much surrounding the “Headless Horseman of Yermo” remains shrouded in mystery.

San Bernardino County Museum needs better leadership, says report

A report says that the San Bernardino County Museum must make substantial changes — including to its leadership — in order to sustain itself for the future. (staff file photo)

By Kristina Hernandez
Redlands Daily Facts

REDLANDS >> A report released Friday says the San Bernardino County Museum must make significant changes to be able to sustain itself for the future, starting with its leadership.

The report, which was conducted by San Francisco-based Museum Management Consultants, Inc., lays out a number of recommendations the museum can make to increase revenue, attendance and its overall structure by hiring a director that has a curatorial background and experience capable of looking into the “business side of operations.”

“(The museum’s) next director will lead an organization with significant challenges and tremendous potential for growth. It will be crucial to find the right candidate with the expertise and energy required to take on these challenges and leverage opportunities,” the report reads. “As such, MMC strongly recommends engaging an objective third party with experience in recruiting leaders for cultural organizations to conduct the search.”

Between 1996 and 2001, the museum saw four directors come on board before appointing Robert McKernan to the position in 2002. McKernan, who was a curator before being appointed interim director, left the museum in April and left “many advocates of the museum concerned for SBCM’s future without a director during a time,” the report said.

The museum’s reputation for its “problematic leadership” was first noted in an American Alliance of Museums accreditation visit report conducted in 2002. It said that McKernan’s leadership provided the museum with a stabilizing force after a period of volatility and that he had the trust of the museum’s staff and the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors.

But the report says that over the years, the museum’s staff reported that McKernan had “lost focus” and described the longtime director as more “curator centric” — not paying much attention to the museum’s public or business sides.

MMC also recommended the museum focus on a strategic plan similar to one developed in the early 2000s and lay out a detailed vision and goals for the museum, along with measurable steps to achieve them.

“The same issues exist today as they did 10 years ago, with the addition of new challenges that have brought the museum to a crisis point,” the report said.

In addition to creating an updated strategic plan and addressing leadership problems, the museum will need to pass an upcoming re-accreditation visit from the American Alliance of Museums that is to be conducted in 2017.

The museum also needs to strengthen its relationship with the board of supervisors, the report recommends. That would mean allowing the museum’s Association to have a bigger voice in maintaining the venue’s operations. Currently, the museum is overseen by the board of supervisors because they “felt reluctant to hand over too much authority to an independent board” which would be the current San Bernardino County Museum Advisory Commission.

The commission, the report said, was established as the liaison between the Board of Supervisors to “provide advice and assistance to the board with regard to museum matters” and would also have a say in what would happen at the museum’s off-sites, including the Victor Valley Museum in the high desert.

MMC recommends disbanding the commission and allowing members to be a part of the association so it can establish itself as an authoritative figure and engage in more fundraising opportunities for the museum.

To do so, the report recommended the association grow to 25 to 30 members based on “specific criteria for selection, including the ability to raise funds.”

The report also laid out recommended structure for the museum’s staffing and asked the education venue to look into its hours of operations to see if it was actually serving all possible demographics, including school tours, and develop programs that actually work and cancel those that don’t.

The report also noted that the museum’s current interim director, Leonard Hernandez, has already made significant changes to the museum’s structure, including the re-organization of staff and the installation of the temporary “Fossils Underfoot” exhibit in the Hall of Geological Wonders.

But for the Hall to contribute to the financial stability of the museum, the Hall must be completed and new interactive exhibits must be installed.

“MMC believes the current approach in phases is a realistic solution in the short-term, but opening the full experience should be a top priority in order to revive the visitor experience, increase attendance and prepare the museum for reaccreditation,” the report said. “MMC believes that monetary support of (a) Hall capital campaign would be a worthy investment for the county to consider, and might instill confidence in other potential donors to help complete the campaign.”

MMC was hired by the county in June to conduct the assessment of the museum’s operations and report its findings to the board of supervisors, who will review the report and discuss its findings in the future.

The report cost the county $75,000 to complete, said Felisa Cardona, a deputy information officer for the county.

Exhibit recalls 50 years at ‘Calico Dig’

By Staff Reports
Victorville Daily Press

The Victor Valley Museum will recognize the 50th anniversary of the Calico Mountains Archaeological Excavation with a special exhibit, “50 Years Ago: The Calico Dig.”

The exhibit will open on Saturday and continue through Nov. 9.

The Calico Mountains Archaeological Site (once called the Calico Early Man Site) is a quarry and tool production site near Yermo. For thousands of years, prehistoric people gathered stones (chalcedony and chert) from which to fashion tools for hunting, preparing food and making other tools.

Dr. Louis Leakey, Ruth DeEtte (Dee) Simpson, and Dr. Gerald A. Smith, then director of the San Bernardino County Museum, established the Calico Mountains Archaeological Site in 1964. The National Geographic Society funded the first four years of excavation. The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Continuously excavated for 50 years, the site is still active with the help of trained volunteers, college classes and scout groups.

The Friends of the Calico Early Man Site, incorporated in 1981, cares for this important public resource and provided the funding for this exhibit.

The Victor Valley Museum is at 11873 Apple Valley Road in Apple Valley, just east of the Jess Ranch Marketplace. Contact the museum at 760-240-2111 or visit the San Bernardino County Museum’s website at www.sbcountymuseum.org.

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for military/seniors and $2.50 for children ages 5-12.

Tiny town’s history slipping away

The Stone Hotel in Daggett was damaged in the Landers and Hector Mine earthquakes and remains closed. (SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MUSEUM/CONTRIBUTED IMAGE)

By Mark Muckenfuss
Press-Enterprise

History can sometimes be a tenuous thing.

In the tiny desert town of Daggett, it seems to be hanging on the edge.

The town’s historical museum is closed. The Stone Hotel, first built in the 1880s and now owned by the San Bernardino County Museum, is closed. And the Alf’s Blacksmith Shop, which for years was on the cusp of becoming a museum, never did open.

Lawrence Alf, the last of three generations of Alfs in the town, died in August, and the blacksmith shop is now in probate, said Beryl Bell, 87, a member of Daggett’s historical society. The society also is closed.

“We’re in hiatus right now,” Bell said.

That hiatus is mainly due to the closing of the organization’s museum, which is mainly due to a robbery in 2004 on Christmas Day. Bell says the thieves took American Indian artifacts, a doll collection and some model trains.

An Associated Press story at the time said farm tools, toys and local rocks samples also were taken.
“They were professionals,” Bell said. “(Sheriff’s deputies) dusted for fingerprints and didn't find one.”

She said she believes most of the material was taken to be sold internationally.

“Anything Native American was probably out of the country within 24 hours,” she said. “They can get any price they want for Native American things in Germany or Japan.”

None of the stolen items has ever been recovered.

Bell works in the offices of the Daggett Community Service District. The locked-up museum is next door, in the same building, what’s left of its collections sitting almost within reach. People looking for the museum sometimes confuse the two and come into the district office. Bell said she tells them she can take care of their water bill, but not their curiosity about local history.

Before Alf’s death in August, he was president of the district. Bell says his family’s blacksmith shop is still full of memorabilia. Despite being named a Point of Historical Interest in 1974, the shop never officially opened to the public. Alf’s mother, Gertrude, would sometimes take private parties through her house and the shop.

“The Alfs had a lot to do with the history of Daggett,” Bell said.

Some accounts have the family blacksmith shop opening in the 1880s. The official historical designation puts the date at 1890.

What is known is that Seymour Alf, who founded the shop, oversaw not only its smith works, but the building of some of the 20-mule-team wagons that hauled borax from local mines. He also butchered and sold beef to the miners in Calico to the north.

Seymour’s son, Walter, saw the value in the old equipment, which fell out of use in the 1920s when automobiles made the shop obsolete. Gertrude told reporters that her husband kept everything.

A news story from 1980 says the shop contained a set of 8-foot-long bellows, the original forge, an anvil, numerous homemade tools, canteens used by the borax teamsters, two hand-powered coffee mils from 1882 and 1885 and the bell from the original Calico School. Horse-drawn wagons and a water cart were parked outside. Bell is certain it’s all still there.

Nearby is the Stone Hotel, where Death Valley Scotty and Wyatt Earp once stayed. It was damaged in the Landers and Hector Mine earthquakes, and the county has never had the funds to repair it. Visitors can only look in the windows.

Bell worries. She said it’s hard to find people interested in preservation among the town’s younger residents, and Daggett’s days as a thriving commercial center serving miners are long over.

“We've got more history than we've got present,” she said.