Cahuilla dug wells near La Quinta's Point Happy

Point Happy Date Gardens at the intersection of Highway 111 and Washington Street in the 1960s. This is now the site of Vons shopping center. (Photo: Photo courtesy of La Quinta Historical Society)

Denise Goolsby
The Desert Sun

The area just east of the Santa Rosa Mountains, where its foothills jut out into the desert near the intersection of Highway 111 and Washington Street in La Quinta, used to be home to the Cahuilla Indians. Later, it was a watering hole along a stagecoach route, and for many years, a working ranch.

The sprawling land where the ranch once stood is now occupied by Plaza La Quinta, a bustling shopping center anchored by a Vons grocery store and the Estates at Point Happy, an enclave of luxury homes.

The Cahuilla Indians found the area — which became known as Point Happy at the turn of the 20th century — a hospitable spot, as the Santa Rosas provided protection from fierce desert sandstorms and flash flooding.

Along the wash, the Cahuillas dug gently sloping pathways down to the springs below. The hand-dug "Indian Well" was located less than 300 yards from Point Happy. It was destroyed in the 100-year flood in 1916.

When gold was discovered in La Paz and Ehrenburg, Ariz. in 1862, Major William Bradshaw established the first trail through the Coachella Valley and across the Colorado Desert to California's neighboring state. Point Happy soon became a landmark for stagecoaches traveling the Bradshaw Trail. During this period, the stop began its tradition as a hospitable "watering hole" for desert travelers.

The area, tucked under the shadow of the Santa Rosas, was named after Norman "Happy" Lundbeck, an early desert settler who began homesteading the area in the early 1900s. Lundbeck established a stable and small store and sold wares to those traveling across the hot, dusty desert. A one-room elementary school was built on the property in 1916.

The Point Happy property and 135 adjoining acres were bought in 1922 by philanthropist Chauncey D. Clarke, who named it Point Happy Date Gardens. Clarke, who thought climactic conditions were similar to those in the Middle East, raised Arabian horses on the ranch for four years until his death in 1926.

J. Win Wilson, in a Los Angeles Times article dated March 8, 1925, said Clarke, "is a very enthusiastic booster for the dates and horses of the old world desert lands. The desert climate and condition, he believes, offer the finest training ground for making the horses both sure-footed and strong in shoulders and joints. In other words, he believes that conditions in the Coachella Valley are so similar to those in Arabia, where the Arab horses have been developed to perfection, as to afford ideal environment for the raising of this notable breed of equine."

The Times article described the agreeable conditions at the ranch, where at the time, Clarke had 11 horses — five stallions and six mares.

"His stud is provided with all modern conveniences: solid box walls, corrals, tank house and modern living quarters for his trainer. A quarter-mile track is also a feature, for regular exercising of his horses figures prominently in Mr. Clarke's plans."

Louise Rodarte Neeley, historian and a member of one of the city's pioneering families, recalls happy days at the ranch, where her father, Teofilo Rodarte was a foreman and her mother, Juanita, was the Clarke's housekeeper.

She said the ranch was filled with date palms and avocado, orange, fig, pecan, apricot, mulberry and grapefruit trees, row crops and sugar cane.

"We swam. We hiked. We had the mountain to the back of us," she said. "Growing up was happy. It was wonderful. Mother had chickens and a cow. We had the run of the place."

Her father was hired in 1923 and continued until his death in 1943. Her brother, Jess Rodarte was hired to tend the date trees.

Neeley said Mrs. Clarke's full-time gardener, Mr. Akahoshi, planted a large vegetable garden for home use and maintained an extensive rose garden and many varieties of annual flowers for the pleasure of their guests.

Knowing he was ill, Clarke sold his horses to the Kellogg Ranch in Pomona. Clarke died on Aug. 22, 1926. It is said that those horses became the breeding stock of the purebred Arabians in California.

His wife, Marie Clarke, a founder of the Hollywood Bowl, was instrumental in setting up and financially underwriting the Indio Women's Club. She continued to live on the ranch after her husband's death. She died on Oct. 30, 1948, leaving the property to Claremont College, which in turn, sold off parts of the property.

Point Happy Date Gardens was sold to William DuPont Jr., CEO of DuPont Chemical Corporation in the 1950s. He built a home in the Santa Rosa Mountains overlooking the ranch. To the southwest of the palm grove, he built a Spanish home with a pool and tennis court for friend Alice Marble, the top-ranked American woman tennis player in 1939.

Marble, a longtime Palm Desert resident, won 18 Grand Slam championships. She died at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs in 1990.

The house was finished on Dec. 16, 1965. DuPont Jr. died three days later. Portions of the ranch were sold off to subdividers.

The last owners of the ranch were Dr. Earl R. Kiernan and his wife Florence. By 2004, the final page was turned in the ranch's storied history with the construction of the Estates at Point Happy.

Sources: La Quinta Historical Society, La Quinta Museum, City of La Quinta Historic Context Statement, 1996.

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.

Saving the Sea's Story

Director struggles to reopen Salton Sea History Museum

Jennie Kelly and husband Steve Kelly sit in their living room full of Salton Sea History Museum archives.

By Denise Goolsby
The Desert Sun

The history of the Salton Sea is packed away in boxes stacked floor to ceiling in the corner of an enclosed patio at Steve and Jennie Kelly’s North Shore home.

Their garage and living room are crammed with more boxes — filled with newspapers and photos from the sea’s heyday in the 1960s and 1970s and archives chronicling the life of the sea, created by a Colorado River flood in 1905.

Miles away, many other sea articles and artifacts are stowed away in a storage space at an office building in Oasis.

These historic materials were at one time on public display at the thriving Salton Sea History Museum, established at the North Shore Beach & Yacht Club in May 2010.

The museum moved into the yacht club following a $3.5 million renovation of the Albert Frey designed building — a 6,500-square-foot, two-story facility built by the renowned architect in 1959.

When the museum lost its place at the yacht club in June 2011, due to a dispute about the organization’s nonprofit status, it reopened in February 2012 at a bungalow at the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians Wetlands property near the sea.

The Kellys and other volunteers spent months renovating the old bungalow — donating hours of their own labor — and supplementing some of the cost with their own money — only to be asked to leave a year later. Jennie Kelly said it was because they were told they used too much electricity.

The tribe could not be reached for comment.

Now the fate of the museum, much like that of the sea itself, is up in the air.

“It’s sometimes very depressing that we have all of this here, and it’s a shame because it should be shared with the public — they should be able to see it,” Steve Kelly said. Behind him, a large Salton Sea History Museum sign and other museum memorabilia filled the space in front of the fireplace.

“We’d like to have a permanent place in the yacht club where everybody could enjoy and learn all about the sea.”

Jennie Kelly has lived in North Shore, just blocks from the Salton Sea, for 30 years. The museum’s director, she’s spent years carefully collecting material and creating an extensive archive relating to the history of the Salton Sea.

Former Riverside County 4th District Supervisor Roy Wilson, who died on Aug. 26, 2009, encouraged her to establish a museum.

“Roy gave us the space in the yacht club for the purpose of serving the public and the people of Riverside County,” she said. “Of course, we had no idea that we were going to be serving people from around the world, too, who all wanted to know about the Salton Sea.”

She said 17,000 people visited the museum during its first year in operation. “Now, of course, they want to know about the future of the Salton Sea and what it’s going to mean to the county and to the residents and for people's health,” she said.

The Salton Sea was created in its current form starting in 1905 when an irrigation channel off the Colorado River was breached and water flooded into the basin. The water kept flowing until 1907, when engineers were finally able to stop it.

Since then, the lake has been sustained largely by plentiful runoff from Imperial Valley farms. But that runoff has been decreasing and is set to decline dramatically after 2017, when more water will be transferred to San Diego and cities in the Coachella Valley under the nation’s largest agriculture-to-urban water transfer.

The receding water levels will leave more of the lake bed exposed to winds that can kick up dust, which could increase air pollution and affect the health o f people living in the surrounding areas. A drying sea can also negatively affect the health of migratory birds who stop to rest at this vital habitat situated along the Pacific Flyway.

“The interest is growing by leaps and bounds and the history is absolutely intriguing, people have no idea. Everybody knows about the heyday, but there’s so much more to it than that, and sharing the past, present and the future — whatever it might hold — is something the public needs to have daily access to and Roy foresaw that and gave us a home there.”

A short run

Despite its success, 13 months after opening, the museum and its volunteer s taff had to leave on June 3, 2011.

“On June 3, the museum staff was told they were being locked out of the building, and in fact all of the locks on the building were changed so we could not access the museum property,” Jennie Kelly wrote The Desert Sun. “To avoid having access withheld to our property by the county, all artwork, exhibits, sales items and other property was moved out of the building for safekeeping.”

County officials said at the time the museum needed federal nonprofit status to stay open.

In a letter dated July 24, 2011, the museum was granted the designation by the Internal Revenue Service. The “effective date,” according to IRS documents, was April 16, 2010.

Tom Freeman, spokesman for the Riverside County Economic Development Agency, which manages the yacht club, said the museum never presented documentation of the nonprofit status by the deadline requested.

He said he museum voluntarily vacated the building on June 3, 2011.

“The county was professional and offered reasonable assistance to help the museum stay open in the building, so long as the museum provided documentation showing that it was an official nonprofit organization,” Freeman said in an email to The Desert Sun. “Without this documentation, the county could not finalize a lease with them that would have been substantially subsidized with public funds. To do so would have constituted a gift of public funds ... a violation of the law.”

The county bought the yacht club property from Desert Alliance for Community Empowerment, known as DACE, with the goal of restoring the rundown building.

In the 1960s, it was a social center for those enjoying fishing and boating at the sea and where prominent entertainment figures, including the Beach Boys, Jerry Lewis and the Marx Brothers, docked their boats.

The county signed an agreement with D ACE to operate the center, which, according to Freeman, cost the organization $4,000 per month to operate, maintain and clean.

The museum was asked to pay rent, a bout $1,300 per month, which was an excessive amount for a fledgling organization, Kelly said.

In a written statement regarding the history of the county’s relationship with the museum, Supervisor John Benoit said that in the early 2000s, Wilson was resolved to purchase the property and “restore it to its original glory.”

“There was a great need for senior and community services and an interest in a local museum,” Benoit said in the statement. “The board of supervisors approved a $3.5 million historic rehabilitation of the Yacht Club structure as a project that will provide a community center to serve seniors and low-income individuals and a venue for public meetings.”

Freeman said the North Shore Beach & Yacht Club has become a thriving community center.

“Since our partnership with the Desert Recreation District, the community center has continued to get more use by more people than ever,” Freeman said.

In the past week, more than 50 children and teens have been participating in morning and afternoon sessions of the North Shore Summer Arts Program in the multipurpose room, Freeman said. Fifteen more children are enrolled in Desert Recreation District’s summer camp, Summer by the Shore, in the computer room. An average of 20-25 adults visit the cooling center in the lobby. Throughout July, the center has been serving breakfast and lunch, free of charge, to about 50 children, ages 18 and younger.

“During the school year, there are after-school programs, fitness and exercise programs and English as a Second Language classes. Throughout the year, the community center holds Zumba classes on weeknights and food distribution to needy families on Friday mornings,” he said.

The building also is rented out for private events, including weddings and bridal showers, and is often used for community events and meetings of the Salton Sea Authority, North Shore Community Council and other organizations that meet monthly with residents.

Kelly said she’s been working to get a community center in North Shore since she moved to the area and worked at the yacht club during the construction phase to make sure it met the needs of the museum and the community.

There’s plenty of room for the museum to return to its home, she said.

She’s right.

Upstairs is a large space known as the Compass Room, which is completely empty. Freeman said the museum moved its archives into the space, without permission, and was asked to vacate the room because another public program was planned for it.

However, the room can’t be used for public programs.

It’s not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act because it’s a registered Historic Site.

Alterations, such as adding an elevator, would “negatively impact the historic, character-defining features of the Yacht Club,” the Palm Springs Modern Committee wrote in a memo, dated May 6, 2011, to the Economic Development Agency.

On a visit to the yacht club in July, a couple dozen teens participating in a summer program took up a small fraction of the sprawling, lightly furnished building.

Linda Beal,a local historian and museum volunteer, hopes the situation will soon change.

It’s a special place, and the yacht club was the perfect location for the museum, she said.

People from all over the world stopped by to talk about and learn about the sea. Some shared stories and even donated memorabilia.

“We were gathering, daily, all kinds of artifacts and information on the sea and the yacht club,” she said. “Everyone was so excited. Right before they closed us down, we had 150 people that weekend.” Beal said people requested tours of the area, asked questions about local agriculture and real estate.

“I had people come in filming from France and Germany and Japan,” she said.

Others were interested in finding a particular location for photo shoots.

“So I’d get out the map and say this is right where you need to go,” she said. “Everybody is missing out now. That place is so special, it’s accessible. Why should something like that be taken away from the public?”

Jennie Kelly hopes the county and the museum can work together to bring the resource back to the sea.

“Even though we’ve been closed now for a year, I get calls everyday from people driving around trying to find the museum, and say, ‘Isn’t there someplace I can see some exhibits. Isn’t there some place where I can find out about what’s happening with the sea and what’s going to happen down the road?’”

“And I say, ‘I’m sorry, there just isn’t right now.’”

The North Shore Beach & Yacht Club is pictured in this historic aerial photo.

Historic Barrel House building hits century mark

The Barrel House Market in Victorville is one of the city's oldest buildings and is coming up on its 100th anniversary. (JAMES QUIGG, DAILY PRESS)

Rene De La Cruz
Victorville Daily Press

VICTORVILLE — Whether it was buying candy or cashing paychecks, one downtown liquor store still holds many cherished memories for longtime residents of the Victor Valley.

The historic Barrel House Market building celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. The Barrel House was built in 1914 on the corner of D and Fifth streets. Designated as a Historic Point of Interest by the city of Victorville, the cinderblock and cement building was used as a restaurant and jewelry store until 1933, when it became a market and liquor store.

Store owner Norm Danial, 69, said an old wooden sign that once hung outside of the building states that the store was erected in 1934, but the city and other experts said the building has been at the site since 1914.

“The sign hung over the door, which was in the shape of a huge barrel,” said Danial, who purchased the store 24 years ago. “In 1998, some crazy old guy backed into the building with his van and destroyed the barrel door after we closed.”

According to Gabino De La Cruz (who is the reporter’s father), Victorville civic leader Cory Moore and his wife, Violet, were the first owners of the Barrel House.

“It was an American-style restaurant, jewelry story and grocery store before it was the Barrel House,” said De La Cruz, who turned 90 in February. “... I remember my dad taking me there to buy groceries when I was 5 years old in 1929.”

A March 1950 edition of the San Bernardino County Sun reported that the $6.5 million Victor Housing Project at George Air Force Base had just broken ground with the 650-unit housing project named Cory Moore Village in honor of the community leader who died in an auto accident.

“The Moores were good people, very nice,” De La Cruz said. “They helped a lot of people in the community.”

Danial said since the store is located near the California Route 66 Museum, tourists from all over the country as well as Europe and Asia have stopped into the liquor store to ask questions and snap photos.

A chuckling Danial said he was told that a previous store owner would fill customers’ wine bottles from a barrel located at the back of the store.

Todd Gudal, who now lives in Wrightwood, said he lived nearby on Second Street growing up.

“When we were kids we would go to the Mojave River and find arrowheads and trade them for candy and toys,” he said. “Later on, when I worked at the cement plant, we would stand in line and cash our paychecks there.”

Gudal said he was one of many employees from Southwest Portland Cement Company who would visit the Barrel House to cash their checks, purchase snacks or pick up a six-pack of Lucky Lager beer.

Ruth Nolan, who graduated from Apple Valley High School in 1980, said her brother John used to work at the Barrel House while he was getting his teaching career started.

“I also used to shop there all the time and even had a line of credit with a longtime previous owner, Vi, an amazing woman,” said Nolan, a professor of writing and literature at College of the Desert.

Fern Rush said when she was a little girl, the Barrel House was always the last stop before her family headed out to Bell Mountain for a family adventure.

“I remember we used to get penny candy from there. We would save up one dollar’s worth of pennies and get 100 pieces of candy,” Rush said. “Summer time at D Street park was nothing if we couldn't get candy, pop or ice cream from the Barrel House.”

Debra Stone said she avoided the Barrel House because she “always saw it like a bar for drunks,” but Rani Walker said alcohol was not a part of her family’s Barrel House memory.

“My husband's father had a radiator shop near the Barrel House so he made many trips there as a kid,” said Walker, an administrative assistant at VVHS. “He said that the thing he loved the most was that they kept the Ding Dongs in the freezer.”

State Fair board shelves plan to demolish 1938 building

This historic building at the Arizona State Fair Grounds was scheduled to be razed July 16, 2014, in Phoenix, but that process was halted. The Art Deco building dates back to 1938 and was constructed by the federal government as part of a New Deal-era program to lower unemployment during the Great Depression. (Rob Schumacher/The Republic)

Dustin Gardiner
The Arizona Republic | azcentral.com

After facing a gantlet of criticism over its attempt to raze a historic Depression-era building, the Arizona Exposition and State Fair Board voted Tuesday to shelve the demolition plans for now.

State Fair Deputy Director Wanell Costello said the agency, which had rebuffed previous efforts to save the structure, is now "looking for creative solutions not to tear it down." State Fair officials will meet with city and state leaders to examine alternative uses.

Board members overseeing the agency voted unanimously to halt demolition plans "until further notice." But no guarantees about the building's future were made, and preservation advocates said they will continue to seek a more-binding commitment.

The reprieve is the latest twist in a contentious fight over the fate of the Civic Building, also known as the WPA Administration Building, on the fairgrounds near McDowell Road and 19th Avenue. The structure was built in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration, a federal agency that led projects to put people back to work during the Great Depression.

Bulldozers were prepared to raze the Art Deco structure last week, until preservationists filed a last-minute lawsuit. The State Fair had wanted to remove the dilapidated building to make room for more asphalt vendor space.

World’s Tallest Thermometer in Baker lights up again

LaRae Harguess, daughter of the original owners Barbara and Willis Herron, holds up a pair of souviners avaliable in the Thermometers adjacent gift shop, and original light, which have since been replaced with LED's, and hot sauce. After 3 years of being dark the World's Tallest Thermometer, at 138 feet, lit back up on Thursday July 10, 2014 after the original owners of the Baker, California, landmark repurchased the property through a foreclosure. (Will Lester/Staff Photographer)

By Grace Wong,
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

BAKER -- Cheers erupted when LaRae Harguess flipped the switch to officially re-light the World’s Tallest Thermometer in Baker.

Harguess, the daughter of the late Willis Herron, creator of the World’s Tallest Thermometer, said the celebration was “festive” and “fun.”

“It was so, so cool,” Harguess said. “I know I was beaming from ear-to-ear. My mom was here and she was really happy, too. I think it’s so neat that so many of the townspeople and tourists came to say ‘thank you’ for restoring this thermometer. One local even said ‘You have given hope back to our townspeople,’ and that’s what my dad would have wanted. That is what this is all about.”

The date was also significant: It was the 101st anniversary of the hottest day ever recorded officially, 134 degrees in nearby Death Valley.

Harguess said more than 100 people were there for the re-lighting of the thermometer at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

Herron erected the 134-foot red and white thermometer in 1991 but when he became ill, sold it. The thermometer changed hands several times, falling into disrepair before its glowing numbers finally went dark.

Barbara Herron, now 79, decided she would use her savings to reclaim the thermometer and in March of this year, the family got their giant landmark back.

“All of the family members, at different times, felt the presence of my dad here yesterday,” Harguess said. “He was just smiling down on us, and we were just overjoyed and of course, had a huge sense of relief.”

The thermometer’s gift shop also opened for the first time and among t-shirts and keychains, plaques with original lightbulbs from the thermometer are also available for sale.

“Our first sale was one of those lightbulbs to a lady from Paris,” Harguess said. “We have a limited amount and we didn’t want to throw them away and we just thought that it’s kind of a cool thing to sell. All the kids and the grandkids have one and I told them, ‘I’m giving you this so you can look and remember to always keep this in the family, no matter what.’ ”

The family is also planning a dedication ceremony Oct. 11 and grand opening of their store. The ceremony will include a plaque dedicated to Willis Herron and is open to the public.

“You don’t realize you appreciate something until you don’t have it any more,” Harguess said. “It was almost more special this time because we now know what it is to not have it. Last night, after everyone went home, we all just stood out there and seeing this thing at night, it’s just so beautiful.”

Indian Wells plans for Carl Bray monument revived

The former Carl Bray House & Gallery building prior to its demolition in Indian Wells. Bray, known for his desert landscapes, bought property along Highway 111 in Indian Wells in the early 1950s. The city bought the land in 2009. (Omar Ornelas, The Desert Sun)

Xochitl Peña
The Desert Sun

INDIAN WELLS – Talk of creating a monument along Highway 111 to honor the late artist Carl Bray — in the spot where his home and gallery used to be — has taken place for years.

But recent renewed interest in the idea has the Indian Wells City Council taking up the subject during a study session next month.

Adele Ruxton, president of the Indian Wells Historic Preservation Foundation, hopes this time, the project will actually happen.

“It’s time. It’s like ‘OK let’s get something done.’ It’s something that has been on the (list) of things to do and then something else comes up,” she said.

On Aug. 21, the council is expected to provide direction to staff on the design of the monument, said Warren Morelion, the city’s community development director, via email.

“Once staff receives direction, it will go through the normal entitlement process. The plan is to get the project construct(ed) by next summer,” he said.

The city has been talking about an “interpretive exhibit” at the location where Bray’s home and gallery used to be since at least 2010.

Bray, known for his desert landscapes and most notably his paintings of the wispy smoke tree, bought property along Highway 111 in Indian Wells in the early 1950s for $1,000. His neighbors at the time included a few cabins, a dance hall and a couple businesses.

As Indian Wells developed, Bray’s paint palette sign and misshapen landscaping started to look out of place surrounded by golf courses and gated communities, but the property’s historic significance could not be ignored.

The property used to be the site of one of the largest Cahuilla villages in the valley.

Bray sold the land in about 2000 and moved to Banning. He died in 2011 at the age of 94.

Ruxton knew Bray personally, and visited him at least once a month after he moved.

“He had a great sense of humor. If you met him for the first time you would think, ‘I’ve known this man for my entire life,’ ” she said.

The city purchased the 14,148-square-foot former site in January 2009 for nearly $260,000 claiming the structures on the land posed a “safety hazard.”

The home and gallery were eventually demolished, causing debate between the city and those who wanted to see the buildings preserved.

Ruxton wanted the structures saved.

“That should be turned into something historic,” she said of the now-vacant site.

The historic preservation foundation will meet with city officials next month to talk about the monument, as well.

What had been envisioned, she said, was a monument worked into the landscape that bicyclists or walkers could access. There would be no place for people in cars to park, she added.

In 2012, city staff had anticipated costs of about $35,000 for the monument. Morelion said the city recently directed up to $65,000 for the project.

Resident Denny Booth believes even $30,000 is too much for the city to spend, especially at a time when funds are tight.

He thinks there are much cheaper options available.

“Put up a boulder with a bronze plaque,” he said.

A long road nears its end, as museum comes to life

LAND OF EXTREMES

Pamphlet from 1999 after the museum grounds had been developed. Photo courtesy of Neal V. Hitch

By NEAL V. HITCH
Imperial Valley Press

Over the next year, the Imperial Valley Desert Museum will be fabricating and installing a permanent exhibit called the Land of Extremes. It will be an exhibit on the human adaptation to the desert environment.

That is just a big way of saying that it is really hard to live somewhere that is so hot and has so little water ... but people have been doing it for more than 10,000 years.

Telling this story, in fact, has been one of the primary objectives of the Imperial Valley Desert Museum Society since its incorporation in 1974. Over the summer, this story will unfold in a series of articles that will be included in the Saturday edition of the Imperial Valley Press.

The Imperial Valley Desert Museum has been a dream for more than four decades. The museum in Ocotillo opened in March 2012 after more than 13 years of construction. Since that time, more than 9,000 people have come out to Ocotillo for programs and activities. In December the museum became an approved curation facility for federal archaeology collections.

Soon, we will achieve the dream of being a fully functioning and operational visitor center welcoming thousands of visitors to the recreational and environmental opportunities of our deserts.

To many people in the county, this has been a long time coming, but success of finally getting the museum open owes to the grassroots organization behind the museum.

The Imperial Valley Desert Museum Society was incorporated in 1974 to support the “promotion and expansion” of the Imperial Valley College Desert Museum, which had been founded in 1969. Under the direction of Michael Barker and Jay von Werlhof, both anthropology professors at IVC, the college operated a small museum in downtown El Centro. The museum was ahead of its time for the Imperial Valley, with an outstanding archeology program run by the college and a Carbon 14 dating laboratory, one of just three in California.

But in 1979, the downtown building was destroyed in an earthquake. I am sure no one knew the path that lay ahead.
Von Werlhof came to teach at the IVC in 1973. When he arrived in the Valley, there were 109 recorded archaeological sites. Over the next several years, he documented more than 10,000 additional sites.

Under his direction, the Imperial Valley Desert Museum Society managed cultural and educational activities throughout the Valley. The main objectives were the preservation and investigation of cultural sites that pertained to early man. The society promoted the idea that Imperial County held “the key to the antiquity of man in the Western Hemisphere.”

Sometime around 1984, plans were drawn up and a fundraising campaign was initiated for a new Desert Museum. And in 1987, an Act of Congress transferred 24 acres of federal land in Ocotillo “for the purpose of constructing and maintaining a public museum.”

In the early 1990s work began at the site in Ocotillo. Everyone in the county thought that a new museum was right around the corner. But there was a long road of fundraising ahead. In 1999, a federal transportation enhancement grant, in the amount of $238,000, was received to put in a parking lot, trails and picnic shelters. “It Used to be a Dream,” the society announced. Fundraising continued. Family pledges were made at $2,000, with the donation paid annually over 10 years. People were asked to buy a square foot of the new museum for $55 ... 1,200 were sold.

During the 1990s, over $350,000 was raised locally, all in small gifts. It was decided that the building would be “built as income allows on a pay-as-you-go basis.”

In 2000, Duggins Construction erected the exterior of the museum. Not until 2005, did the society receive a large grant from the California Cultural and Historical Endowment to finish the interior of the building.

The Desert Museum’s primary focus since 2011 has been the inventory and re-curation of the IVC archaeological collection. This prehistoric artifact collection is one of the most significant collections in Southern California because it documents the life ways of the earliest people in our region. When von Werlhof led students into the desert, he taught that people began living here 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. In recent months, an archaeology site in Jacumba was positively dated to 8,400 BCE (Before the Common Era).

The story of how people adapted to living in such an extreme environment is exciting. It is a story that still affects those of us living in the Valley today. In the coming months the story will unfold at the Desert Museum as construction of exhibits gets underway. It is an exciting time at the museum. Finally, we can truly say it used to be a dream.

Neal V. Hitch is director of the Imperial Valley Desert Museum in Ocotillo.

IMPERIAL VALLEY DESERT MUSEUM

• 1969 – IVC establishes Department of Anthropology
• 1972 – H.P. Meyers Foundation donates building for Desert Museum
• 1973 – Jay von Werlhof hired by IVC
• 1974 – Imperial Valley Desert Museum Society incorporated as a 501(c)(3)
• 1979 – Museum building condemned owing to earthquake
• 1987 – By act of 100th Congress 25 acres set aside for museum in Ocotillo
• 1994 – Spirit of the Desert sculpture erected at the museum property
• 1995 – Groundbreaking ceremony at museum property
• 1999 – Caltrans ITEA grant awarded for access road, parking lot, picnic shelters, and landscaping
• 2000 – Duggins Construction builds exterior of museum building
• 2005 – CCHE grant awarded to finish interior of museum building
• 2008 – Certificate of Occupancy received from Imperial County
• 2012 – Museum staffed and opened to public
• 2013 – Inventory of IVC archaeology collection completed
• 2014 – Design of Permanent Exhibit completed

Authors talk about Rufus, Death Valley’s “rescue dog”

Story will be the subject of talk at ECM.

by News Staff
Sierra Wave

Authors John and Barbara Marnell will be making a presentation and signing copies of their book “Good Samaritans of Death Valley: Lou Westcott Beck and Rufus,” at the Eastern California Museum in Independence on Saturday June 21.

The slide show and presentation will begin at 1:30 p.m. In addition, the authors will be at the Museum to sign copies of their book from 1 to 4 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

The book documents a rather unique era in Death Valley history in the early 1900s when visitors started driving cars into the desert, and explores the unique, live-saving team of Lou Westcott Beck and his dog, Rufus. The pair took it on themselves to provide directions, instructions and, when necessary, rescues to stranded or distressed motorists. With Rufus decked out in custom “boots” made of elk skin, and Beck driving a big, lumbering touring car named “Chuckwalla,” the team was a welcome sight to many desert travelers.

In the early 1900s when automobiles first started to cruise through the barren and often dangerous terrain of Death Valley, there were virtually no road signs or informational signs that directed motorists and visitors to the places in the sprawling desert where they could find water. The era’s automobiles could be quite unreliable in the desert, since they were prone to overheating without a steady supply of water for the radiator. Tires went flat so often most travelers carried multiple spares and patch kits.

Beck had a life-changing event himself in Death Valley, when he ran out of water and Rufus came to the rescue by locating a spring.

That prompted Beck to become a tireless promoter of safe travel through the desert.

Rufus, thanks to his booties and other unique gear, quickly became a bit of a celebrity. The Siberian bloodhound carried a “packsaddle” on his back with food and water, and a camera case around his neck containing snake bite antidotes and other medical supplies. A pair of yellow goggles, to protect his eyes from the dust, completed his outfit.

The Chuckwalla was also customized for desert travel. One of the most interesting adaptations was Beck’s homemade “tire chains,” which consisted of wire wrapped around the tires to provide better traction in the sand. The car also carried water, food and a full array of tools.

The pair were quite a sight, and even participated in the Pasadena’s famed Rose Parade to bring attention to their mission.

Besides roaming the roads of Death Valley and offering hands-on help to travelers, Beck also worked tirelessly to get the state to put up road signs and informational signs along the region’s roads. When the state dragged its feet, Beck went ahead and painted and placed his own signs. Many of them directed travelers to water or shade or provided information about various services available in desert towns.

The Marnells, a husband-and-wife writing and research team, have thoroughly researched Beck’s life and his Death Valley days. The book’s lively style provides interesting insights and information about the early days of motor travel in the desert.

The Eastern California Museum is located at 155 N. Grant St. in Independence. Call 760-878-0258 for more information.

Mojave River Valley Museum celebrating area history with 50th anniversary barbecue

Mojave River Valley Museum celebrates its 50th anniversary.

MIKE LAMB
Desert Dispatch

BARSTOW • Bootlegging was big business in the Mojave Desert during the Roaring ‘20s, according to Barstow author Cliff Walker.

The bootleggers wanted “to get far away from the sheriff and federal agents,” Walker said as he sat inside the Mojave River Valley Museum, reminiscing about the many chapters of Mojave Desert history.

“After World I, all the farmers and miners were laid off all over the place. There were marginal farms out here and we didn’t have to feed the (Europeans) anymore. So a lot of farmers were pushed off the lands,” Walker explained. “The syndicates from L.A. came out here to set up moonshine operations. Thousands of gallons of booze were made every day. Bootlegging was common thing in the desert. There were actually tunnels under the Mojave River going in where the booze was made.”

Walker should know all about it, because he wrote a book on bootlegging in the Mojave Desert. Bootlegging, however, is just one chapter of a long history blowing through the Mojave Desert. A lot of that history is captured inside the museum located at Barstow Road and Virginia Way in Barstow. The Mojave River Valley Museum Association is celebrating the museum’s 50th anniversary on Saturday with a barbecue, sourdough, Cowboy Coffee and, of course, a little moonshine.

“We will make moonshine using cabernet wine from Newberry and we are going to distill it with brandy and, or with Grappa,” Walker said. “We will give people a little cut of it. We are going to make some alcohol from whiskey grain. Dave Romero does it. And he doesn’t drink.”

Walker is on the board of trustees for the museum. Not only does he write books about the desert and its people, but he also knows a lot about the museum.

“We will be honoring the people who helped build the museum,” Walker said, talking about Saturday’s event. He mentioned Little Rainbow Girls, Lenwood Optimist Club and he recalls the Disabled American Veterans on West Main Street became one of the first organizations to donate with $100.

“People volunteered to do the labor for nothing, practically.”

He tried in vain to remember the name of the bricklayer from Hinkley who donated his time.

Walker said original plans called for a 30-by-30-foot outdoor building. But he said the fundraising went so well that the plans were changed to building a 20-by-20 enclosed building with a patio in 1967. The museum opened in 1968. As time went along, the patio was enclosed and other expansions were constructed.

Walker says there’s a need to raise more money for more expansion and add climate control to protect the old photos, law papers and Desert Dispatch editions that go as far back as 1910.

“As you can see, there is no wall space to put anything,” Walker said. “It’s so crowded. We need a better place for people to do research.”

The museum is free and open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The museum pays its bills by accepting donations and selling memberships, and some people have put the museum in their wills.

More money is also raised by selling “the best collection of Western books anywhere.” Walker also mentioned there is a good collection about women in the West.

“We write books too,” Walker said. “I have 12 books published. One of mine was written for the centennial. ‘The History of the Mojave Desert’ has been sold out for the past 20 years. So that’s not making any money for the museum, but it’s getting reprinted again.”

Patricia Schoffstall, who is the museum’s treasurer, authored the “ Mojave Desert Dictionary” which first came out in 2010. The second edition was published this year.

Walker said the books and the operation of the desert is done for one main reason.

“We’re doing this to save the heritage of the desert for the future.”

Saturday’s celebration will start with an open house from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It will feature some new displays, such as the “Old Spanish Trail Display.”

The barbecue will be held form 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Dana Park, with adults charged $9. The fee is $8 for seniors and children over 6 years old. Children under 6 are free with any paid dinner.

Motel operator driven to keep Route 66 culture alive and kicking

Long a fixture on Route 66, the Wigwam Motel in San Bernardino glows in the evening light as customers come and go in January. Route 66 continues to attract motorists and tourists from around the world who want to experience the legendary nostalgia of its roadside attractions. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

by HUGO MARTÍN
Los Angeles Times

Kumar Patel grew up along Route 66, a highway long celebrated in literature, song and film. He was not impressed.

On his first long road trip, about six years ago, he found himself bored by the route's decaying monuments, mom-and-pop diners and dusty museums.

"I hated it," he said. "But I didn't understand it."

The journey to understanding started soon after that trip, when his mother started having health problems. She had been running the family's Wigwam Motel, a clutch of 20 tepee-shaped rooms on Route 66 in San Bernardino. She could no longer run it alone.

So at 26, Patel took over, giving up a career in accounting to run an aging tourist trap that struggled to cover its costs.

Now, as a 32-year-old entrepreneur, he stands out among the typical Route 66 merchants, who promote such roadside curiosities as a Paul Bunyon monument, a blue whale statue and the Petrified Forest National Park. Such sites now are operated and visited mostly by white, middle-aged travelers, whose numbers are dwindling.

Unless Patel and other Route 66 business owners can attract a younger and more diverse crowd, one that matches the evolving demographics of America, the shops and oddball attractions along the route will shut down for good.

"If it doesn't happen, we are not going to keep all of this alive," said Kevin Hansel, the caretaker of another struggling Route 66 business, Roy's Motel and Cafe in Amboy. "It will be history."

That history started in the 1920s, when the road was built to handle a surge in automobile ownership and a push by business owners to link the small towns and merchants of the Midwest to big cities. Route 66 became the nation's main east-west artery.

In his novel "The Grapes of Wrath," John Steinbeck called it the "mother road" because it beckoned and delivered the refugees from the Dust Bowl exodus to jobs in California in the 1930s. Bobby Troup penned his biggest hit song, "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66," in 1946.

But by the 1950s, the narrow, slow-moving route was replaced in pieces by multilane, interstate freeways, designed for high-speed travel. Federal workers removed the freeway markers and decommissioned Route 66 in 1985, effectively killing business for the jukebox-blasting diners and neon-rimmed motels.

Today, with the future of the Wigwam at stake, Patel has immersed himself in that history, driving Route 66 himself, stopping to chat with his fellow shopkeepers and travelers. He set out on a search for insight into how to promote his business but ended up with a more personal appreciation of the route's culture.

"That's what grew on me: The people who shared with me their stories of the road," he said.

When the Wigwam Motel went on sale in 2003 for nearly $1 million, Patel's father, an Indian immigrant who ran another small hotel in San Bernardino, saw it as a good investment. It has yet to pay off.

Like many Route 66 businesses, the Wigwam struggles to squeeze out enough money to pay for improvements. It took five years to save up to renovate the pool area. Last year, Patel was finally able to afford a full-time maid for the motel. Before then, Patel and his mother cleaned and changed sheets while selling souvenirs and booking rooms.

"We still run it on a thin line," he said.

With the Wigwam's success tied to Route 66, Patel has become a tireless promoter of its culture. He sees that as a way to keep the history of Route 66 alive and fill his motel rooms.

He set out recently on a drive to show off some of its peculiar attractions along California's stretch of the 2,400-mile highway that runs from Chicago to Santa Monica. He started from a rundown roadside hotel in Needles, in the Mojave Desert near the Arizona border.

Stars twinkled in the darkness. The only sound was the hum of big rigs bouncing off the blacktop. The best way to experience the road, he said, is by driving east to west. It's the way the Dust Bowl refugees saw it and later Midwesterners, heading for vacations in Los Angeles.

"On Route 66 you find real people, real food," Patel said.

He rattled off history and trivia as the car zipped past telephone poles on National Trails Highway — the name now given to the portion of Route 66 that runs through much of the Mojave Desert.

A downed palo verde tree about half a mile outside of Amboy is called the "Shoe Tree" because it toppled under the weight of hundreds of shoes tossed on the branches by visitors. It's a tradition that locals say was started by an arguing couple and continues today.

"The purists love this stuff because they don't want to see things that are renewed," Patel said. "They want to see the original stuff."

Take tiny Amboy (population 17), once a bustling pit stop. Today, the only commerce happens at Roy's Motel and Cafe. The cafe sells only soft drinks and snacks. The motel is closed because of a lack of water. The drop-off in business no longer makes it practical to ship in water by train. The ground has long been saturated with salt, making well water undrinkable.

Kevin Hansel, the caretaker, dreams of the day someone drills a well deep enough to reach drinkable water.

"Once we get the water, we can open the restaurant and the bungalows," he said.

As Patel visited, about a dozen Volkswagen vans pulled in under the cafe's giant boomerang-shaped sign. The VW road warriors were meeting at Roy's before driving east to Lake Havasu.

Among them was retired welder Joe Stack, 71, of Costa Mesa. He has been taking this road trip for 10 years. When Stack's daughter was a girl, she rode shotgun in his van.

But she is now 22 and not interested in the retro architecture of Route 66.

"Young kids don't want to come out here," he said, squinting in the morning sun. "Young kids are on a computer wearing their thumbs out."

::

Route 66 travelers today have a median age of 55 and 97% are white, according to a 2011 study by David Listokin, a Rutgers University economics professor. Only 11% of the travelers on the road are ages 20 to 39, according to the study.

A few months ago, Listokin read the highlights of his study to a group of Route 66 business owners who met at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim to discuss the road's future. Patel was there — among the few people in the room under age 40.

Patel stood at the front of the brightly colored Magic Kingdom Ballroom, urging his fellow Route 66 merchants to reach out to young travelers, the way he has done.

He hosted hip-hop, end-of-summer festivals at the Wigwam Motel, with DJs and strobe lights. During a recent Christmas, he threw a doughnut party and decorated the tepee-shaped motel rooms to look like Christmas trees. He's volunteered his motel as a stop for a classic car show to raise money to restore a historic gas station in Rancho Cucamonga.

His work has won him the respect of older Route 66 advocates.

"We absolutely need that kind of thing that he is doing," said Linda Fitzpatrick, 73, who is leading a campaign to restore the Needles Theater, a 1930s-era Masonic temple that was converted to a movie house.

::

Back on the road, just outside Barstow, Patel pulled up to an attraction known as "Bottle Tree Ranch."

The forest of metal trees, adorned with colored bottles, was built by Elmer Long, a 67-year-old retired cement worker who, with his long white beard and floppy hat, looks like a '49er-era gold prospector.

During the busy summer months, he said, his bottle trees draw as many as 1,000 visitors a day. But most of the visitors are international travelers. Each day, visitors leave Long a few dollars in a tip can.

"To them, the U.S. is a magical place," he said, as traffic rushes past his ramshackle home.

The sky began to dim as Patel pulled up to the Wigwam Motel. His mother, who still helps Patel with the business, told him that two motel guests — young ones — were finishing a long road trip.

At the door of one of the tepees, Patel introduced himself to Emily Mills, 28, and her sister Anna, 25, from North Carolina. Emily Mills was starting a new job managing a Culver City restaurant. For the move west, the sisters decided on a Route 66 road trip.

They hit all the big stops, including the Cadillac Ranch, west of Amarillo, Texas, where junk Cadillacs have been thrust nose first into the earth. A few miles south of the ranch, the sisters stopped to see the statue of a giant pair of legs, more than 20 feet tall.

The Mills sisters also spent the night in another Wigwam Motel, in Holbrook, Ariz. — one of seven built across the country by architect Frank Redford. Only two Wigwams remain on Route 66.

"We wanted to tell our friends we slept in a wigwam and saw a giant pair of legs," Emily Mills said as the sun set behind her tepee.

Guests like the Mills sisters are a good sign for the Wigwam, Patel said. Most Route 66 travelers zip through San Bernardino to reach the end of the route in Santa Monica, 78 miles away.

Patel can't yet say when — or if — the Wigwam will ever become the moneymaker Patel's father envisioned. But now he's grown attached to the road, and sees himself as more than just a motel operator. Patel has become a curator of the Route 66 legend, a proud member of its cast of characters.

BLM and Needles open new Route 66 rest area

Photo of the ribbon cutting event on May 9th for a new Route 66 rest area (from right to left): Dr Edward Paget, Mayor of Needles; Mike Ahrens, BLM Needles Field Manager, Teri Raml, BLM California Desert District Manager, Randy Banis, Desert Advisory Council Chairman. (Steve Razo, BLM)

BLM California
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The Bureau of Land Management, Needles Field Office, and the City of Needles, opened a new Route 66 rest area for travelers along the historic byway today. This new roadside attraction is located right off the 5 Mile Road exit (Exit 148) between Needles and Topock.

The Desert Advisory Council joined in the ribbon cutting as part of a scheduled field tour. A Corridor Management Plan for Route 66 between Needles and Barstow is currently underway. Details can be found at: http://ow.ly/wFLgn

The Oasis in a Desert Ghost Town

The town of Nipton has a rich history, bustling from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries along with the mining industry. (Jim Wilson/The New York Times)

by Rick Paulas
KCET.com

The stretch of I-15 between Las Vegas and Los Angeles is a road paved with poor decisions. Every year, 8 million people make the drive, meaning that every Sunday afternoon there's roughly 153,000 people crammed into two lanes of highway. These people are tired, hungover, and reeking of stale Axe body spray. As you'd imagine, it's not very pleasant.

Yet just outside the border town of Primm, Nevada is an exit for Nipton Road. If you peel away from the crowd and head east for 15 minutes, straight into a desert landscape that seems to be void of any life apart from the occasional lizard sunning itself on the pavement, is the sleepy town of Nipton, California. It has a population of 60 and a "center of town" consisting of a general store, a cafe, and a one-story motel.

It also has quite possibly the best food in the desert.

Pull into the empty dirt lot outside of the El Oasis Cafe and it may seem abandoned. But walk to the side entrance and pull open the wooden door, and it's like you entered the best basement crash pad ever.

A pool table sits in the middle of the one-room seating area, a nearby broken-in couch providing a landing pad for whoever's next. Photos hang from the wall detailing stories from the desert's lush history. And tucked away in the corner is a glowing foil-laden box that wouldn't be out of place in the background of an Ed Wood film. Gather up enough nerve to look inside and you'll see a canopy of potted leafy green plants. This is the restaurant's "emergency indoor herb garden," in case the owners need to pluck something extra special for a dish.

Already, you get the sense this place is different.

Peek through the side windows and you'll see a small garden shielded from the harsh sun. Inside are plants growing tomatoes, cilantro, basil, spinach, lettuce, and kale. Even aloe vera, strawberries, onion and garlic once found a home inside of the garden. "We are still in the learning process about what will make it here," says Fernando Gamez, who has run the restaurant with his wife Susan since late 2012. "Our goal is to strictly grow non-GMO and organics."

Suddenly you understand why El Oasis is the perfect name for the cafe.

The cafe is the culmination of a lifelong dream. While living in the town's nearby RV park, Fernando and his wife used to host outdoor cookouts for neighbors. "Everyone encouraged me to open up a restaurant," he says. When word got out that the cafe was looking for someone to take over, they jumped at the possibility. And now they cater to everyone stopping through their tiny hamlet, a roster that includes tourists to the nearby Mojave National Preserve, Vegas revelers, nature lovers, stranded visitors needing a place to stay, and even video gamers. "Incredibly, there's been a few visiting families that have stayed here because the kids want to visit the famous Nipton in 'Fallout 3'."

Nipton wasn't always this sleepy. A plaque outside of the cafe tells the story of the town's birth in 1905, when a new rail line from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles chose Nipton as a stop, quickly making it a hub for miners and cattle ranchers. In the 1920s, silent film star Clara Bow regularly stayed in the motel next door with her husband Rex Bell, whenever the two wanted to get away from the stressors of old Hollywood.

But as the train gave way to the automobile, and the gold in the mines started to dwindle, so too did Nipton's population. For a long while the only reason anyone would have heard of it was as the answer to the trivia question: What general store sells the most tickets for the State of California Lottery? (The town's general store, right next door to El Oasis, had the mantle for years, before an office set up even closer to the Nevada border took away most of the business.)

Things started to change in 1984, when Malibu-based gold miner Gerald Freeman purchased the town in the hopes of making it an ecologically-friendly tourist village. In 1986, the run-down motel was restored. In 1998, the first prototype EcoLodge tented cabin for visitors of Mojave was built. In 2010, Freeman built a solar plant in an attempt to provide the town's power. And in 2012, the cafe was taken over by the Gamezes, who quickly installed vertical organic growing gardens of their own and continued the town's eco-friendly focus.

"Our goal," says Fernando, "is get to a point where more people will request non-GMO and organic food instead of just easing their hunger with whatever is put in front of them without questioning what they are consuming." It certainly helps when the food tastes just like grandma used to make.

In this case it's because, quite literally, grandma used to make it. The menu is full of traditional Mexican dishes like cerviche, burritos, and huevos rancheros -- the recipes straight from the cookbook of Fernando's grandmother, Maria Montes -- alongside a wide assortment of traditional American fare like pancakes, burgers and vegetable shakes. When I walked in, Fernando was cutting and cooking the cafe's homemade breakfast potatoes, made fresh every day.

This attention to detail isn't because of the burgeoning organic craze. It's done this way because it's the way it's always been done. "It's something I grew up doing as a child and taught to me by my mother and grandmother," he says. "It's instinct."

Historic dips and timber trestle bridges on Route 66

Existing timber bridge rail on Route 66 in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County with ‘C’ shaped metal approach rail. (Photo Courtesy Lardner/Klein)

By Ruth Musser-Lopez
San Bernardino Sentinel

Unpredictable and wild, circa eighty-five year old dips and timber trestle bridges are among those extraordinary characteristics of San Bernardino County’s desert section of California U.S. Highway Route 66 which make for a thrilling, one-of-a-kind ride. Yet, for safety reasons, timber trestle bridges cause government officials to shudder.

Just west of Daggett, “catching some air” driving fast across the dips on old Route 66 is a cheap but perhaps dangerous thrill that some bikers seek at their own risk. It seems to be the general consensus of the public actively participating in assisting with the development of the Bureau of Land Management’s Route 66 Corridor Management Plan (CMP) that despite the inherent dangers of those driving irresponsibly there, to smooth the road out would be to alter the historic route’s integrity and lose some of its intrinsic charm.

On the other hand, the timber trestle bridges are the “something old” along the corridor that some government officials seem to think are of immediate concern—they may not be that safe. If you drive the abandoned de-designated state route…you apparently may be doing so at considerable risk.

In a recent analysis by the County of San Bernardino, 128 “aging” 80-year (+/-) old timber trestle bridges are in the area between Daggett and Mountain Springs Road, reported Lardner/Klein Associates. This number is “staggering,” according to Lardner/Klein These 128 are “opposed to only 30 currently carrying automobile and truck traffic on U.S. Highway 66 across all other states and counties (including Los Angeles County, California) combined.”

Lardner/Klein also reported that according to the county analysis, the 128 bridges were constructed during the period of time from 1929 to 1935 and are included within a total of 136 bridges and large culverts in this portion of Route 66. Of the remainder, four are reinforced concrete bridges, three are pipe culverts, and one is a concrete box culvert.

However, maintaining the original character and charm of the route including the dips and bridges, is important to tourism with an increasingly large number of foreign tourists from Europe and Asia arriving each year desiring to visit the Grand Canyon via Route 66 from Los Angeles. According to a study conducted by Rutgers University, these are high-income visitors who are staying longer and spending more than the typical passerby.

Stewardship strategies for Route 66 including the bridges and dips are proposed for consideration by the Route 66 Ad Hoc CMP Planning Committee – abbreviated simply as the “AHPC.” The AHPC’s first “webinar” meeting took place on April 28, 2014, lead by Lardner/Klein Landscape Architects, P.C., a firm contracted by the Bureau of Land Management to assist with corridor management plan development. According to Lardner/Klein, the proposed stewardship strategies are based on issues identified in public outreach conducted during initial scoping phases that took place between November 2013 through March 2014 at which time there was a bus tour, small group meetings, conference calls, public meetings, including a web-based meeting all conducted by Lardner/Klein. The photographs in this article are courtesy of their contracted work for the federal agency.

Jim Klein, acting on behalf of the firm, said with regard to the strength of the bridges, that the route between Barstow and Needles built 80 years ago was never intended to bear the type of tonnage now being pulled by diesel trucks. With maintenance, the bridges have held up under over-capacity weight even during an emergency redirect when I-40 was closed down due to a temporary hazardous condition. In reference to the timber trestle bridges, he said that according to the county’s historian Roger G. Hatheway, “You can stick a pencil through them.”

Upon hearing this, one scenario that has been posed more or less as a question by San Bernardino County Sentinel editor Mark Gutglueck, “What are the odds of a catastrophic bridge collapse on Route 66 in the middle of the desert during the ‘perfect storm’ where two heavily-laden 18-wheelers, moving in opposite direction at the same time across a weak timber trestle bridge?”

The County of San Bernardino which maintains the section of Route 66 between Daggett and Mountain Springs Road, is currently conducting a study as a part of the “Dola and Lanzit Bridge replacement projects.”

Nearly all of the distinct segments of the road paralleling I-40 access have some bridges that are weight limited. According to Lardner/Klein, “San Bernardino County is faced with a difficult challenge of keeping the road open to all vehicles. A consulting firm for the San Bernardino County Department of Public Works is currently preparing a study evaluating the manner in which the state inspects and evaluates bridges on historic Route 66 in San Bernardino County, and how this translates into the posting of load limits.”

Timber trestle bridges may have originally been built to support the National Old Trails Road (circa 1912). Made of what appears to be materials similar to modified railroad ties and cut up utility poles, they were not uncommon nationwide in the first couple of decades of the twentieth century—1900 through 1920 according to Lardner/Klein. “Beginning about 1920, however, they began to be regarded by many highway design engineers as temporary structures, although they continued to be used in specific locales due to the fact that they could be erected quickly and inexpensively.

Lardner/Klein cited a 1920 book, by Milo S. Ketchum, C.E., entitled “The Design of Highway Bridges of Steel, Timber and Concrete,” which states that “Timber Highway bridges were formerly quite generally used, and are still in use for temporary structures and in localities where transportation is difficult and where suitable timber is available.” In very simple terms, timber trestle highway bridges were built nationwide with a limited anticipated lifespan.

At the April 28, 2014 meeting of the AHPC, safety concern over the timber trestle bridges were on the agenda as the main subject topic.

The Archaeological Heritage Association suggested that the timber trestle bridges be studied by engineers as an example of what works in the desert’s arid environment. “The bridges have proven to be durable and strong. They have held up under tremendous weight over the years. Perhaps the aridity of the desert has something to do with it. The wooden structures don’t deteriorate as quickly here as in wetter conditions back east. So that we don’t lose the integrity and charm of the road’s character, maybe all that is needed is some in-kind buttress work to preserve these historic bridge features in place. As far as weight limits, perhaps its time to consider making this portion of Route 66 a toll road, limit the weight of the vehicles coming across and use the tolls for maintenance of the route.”

Some protection for the road appears to be available through its potential listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Lardner/Klein said that in their review to date, the general consensus of preservation professionals is that the Route 66 alignment itself is eligible for the National Register, however, the transportation and related roadside features such as wooden trestle bridge structures or roadside architectural features will need to be evaluated separately for eligibility. This opinion seems to imply that the bridges would not automatically be protected under a future Route 66 National Register status by simply being a feature of the road itself. A study evaluating for NRHP status the individual eligibility of all of the 136 bridges and large culverts between Daggett and Mountain Springs Road on historic Route 66 is currently being prepared as part of the County of San Bernardino’s “Dola and Lanzit Bridge replacement projects.”

Lardner/Klein also reported the following findings with regard to that study: “The County of San Bernardino currently maintains the 128 timber trestle bridges. Of these 128 timber trestle bridges 127 are on National Trails Highway (NTH) the predecessor to Route 66, and one timber trestle bridge is on Ludlow Road, an original portion of the Route 66 alignment immediately to the west of Crucero Road. Of the 127 timber trestle bridges/structures on NTH, 31 are not eligible for federal historic bridge repair and/or replacement funding as they are less than 20 feet in length and are officially classed as culverts and not bridges.

“By the mid-1940s, the State of California recognized the need to rebuild its aging timber trestle highway bridges statewide, and several articles were published by the Division of Highways detailing the need for reconstruction. At this time, the State of California clearly recognized that all U.S Highway 66 timber trestle bridges between Daggett and Mountain Springs Road were quickly approaching the end of their design and economical service life.”

Yet, Lardner/Klein states, “Seventy years later, the county of San Bernardino is attempting to maintain the same bridges—a very expensive and difficult task.” But, the “California’s State Historical Building Code (http://www.dgs.ca.gov/dsa/AboutUs/shbsb/shbsb_health_safety.aspx) – provides a tool for historic preservation,” which would alleviate some of the expense of maintaining historic properties. The law provides that qualified historic structures would not be required to comply with current code standards. Alternative provisions in California Code Section 18961 provides for consultation with the State Historical Building Safety Board regarding the treatment of qualified historical buildings or structures.

Even so, raised are two potential issues and/or concerns with the application of the California State Historical Building Code as it applies to historic Route 66 on federal lands. First, if any given bridge is determined not eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, then it cannot be considered to be a qualified historic property thus it appears the alternative historic building code would not apply. Second, if a property is considered to be eligible for listing, it is unclear whether utilization of a less restrictive State Code on federal historic properties is allowable if federal funds are involved. Further, if the Federal Highway Administration’s funding process requires review under the National Environmental Policy Act and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act guidelines then the utilization of a State Code may not be feasible. Resolution of these issues and concerns over the course of the corridor management plan project is anticipated.

Route 66/National Trails Highway is an important emergency alternative when Interstate 40 is closed due to a maintenance issue or emergency situations such as an accident on the highway. It thus serves an important transportation function in addition to its historic scenic, recreational and local business uses. It is used by at least two state agencies, the California Highway Patrol and Caltrans. However, according to Lardner/Klein the alignment has never been officially designated as an emergency corridor by the State of California despite repeated requests by the county of San Bernardino. Failure to designate the road as an emergency corridor has rendered the route ineligible to receive federal or state funding targeted specifically for emergency detour routes.

Needles to cut the ribbon on renovated El Garces depot and Harvey House

The El Garces intermodal transportation facility project is complete and a ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for Saturday, May 3, 2014 at 11 a.m. The historic El Garces building was formerly the site of a railroad station and Harvey House hotel. The hotel and restaurant closed in 1949 and it was closed as a railroad station in 1988. (JENNIFER DENEVAN/NewsWest)

By Jennifer Denevan
Mohave Valley Daily News

NEEDLES — A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for Saturday at 11 a.m. to celebrate the completion of the El Garces intermodal transportation facility renovation project, a long-term venture that has taken several attempts to finish.

The ceremony, which is open to the public, will include several speakers. Tours of the downstairs portion of the building will be given.

A farmers’ market is part of the events for the day. The market will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will feature live music by Antiquated Systems.

An antique car cruise is also planned. The cruise is noncompetitive and a chance for residents and visitors to view classic cars.

The Taste of Needles is included. BPO Elks Lodge 1608 will serve coffee and breakfast burritos in the morning and then serve barbecue sandwiches and loaded baked potatoes in the afternoon.

The Fort Mojave Indian Tribe will be selling fry bread as part of the Taste of Needles. The Wagon Wheel Restaurant will be selling hamburgers and hot dogs.

Tribal members will be selling jewelry outside the El Garces as a reminder of the past. The tribe will also have a special historic presentation along with having artifacts on display.

The Needles Chamber of Commerce is holding an open house from 9 a.m. until noon. Everyone is invited to come and see the remodeled building and to see what the chamber has in store for the coming months. There will be giveaways and other prizes.

The Friends of the Needles Centennial will provide refreshments prepared by the Needles High School culinary arts class.

As the El Garces project neared completion, council members and members of the community decided it was important to have something to signify the renovation being finished. A ribbon cutting finally was planned.

It has taken about two years for the project to be completed, using funds from the Federal Transit Administration, which totaled nearly $5 million. The project itself has been going longer than that.

Two years ago, council members chose to adhere to advice given to them by Allan Affeldt of El Garces, LLC. He advised the council to use the grant money or risk losing it.

In the months prior to his advice, the city and Affeldt were trying to get a joint development agreement approved by the FTA. The JDA would allow the title of the El Garces to be transferred from the city to Affeldt, which in turn would have allowed him to get financing for a commercial element of the project. The plan at that time was to have an intermodal transportation facility but also to put in a restaurant and hotel that El Garces LLC would add. The goal was to make the El Garces similar to Winslow, Ariz.’s La Posada Hotel, which was renovated by Affeldt.

The approval for the JDA was never given and Affeldt said he felt the city was running the risk of losing funds for the intermodal transportation facility. The project shifted gears to simply using the funds so the building could be used. Any retail portion will come later.

Linda Kidd, city council member, said once the city decided to move forward with the project, the focus became getting the building enclosed by getting doors and windows on so it wouldn’t deteriorate further.

Kidd said it was a long two years to get this portion of the project complete. Once the city made the decision to use the funds, the El Garces committee was formed, consisting of Kidd, council members Jim Lopez and Tony Frazier, city staff and eventually the construction management company, Kinny Construction.

There were unforeseen setbacks along the way. The city found ways to fund lead paint removal and the removal of a large kerosene tank that was found as plumbing and electric were being put in the building.

Those sidebars could have been detrimental, Kidd said. Fortunately, the city found a way to take care of them and still complete the project.

The project includes putting infrastructure in so as the city attracts businesses they can move into the El Garces, Kidd said. In the meantime, the downstairs portion of the building is complete and is available for income for the city now, she continued.

She said economic development consultant Michael Bracken and the management broker can look to fill the El Garces. The city is in the process of finding a broker who can lease out office spaces in the building.

As a business owner, Jan Jernigan said she is happy to see the city rejuvenated with a nice looking building. She said she feels it will also be an asset to reviving the downtown area, she added.

Big Boy rolls through Barstow

Bystanders watch Union Pacific's ‘Big Boy' No. 4014 roll through Lenwood on its way to an inspection stop in Barstow. The locomotive, one of the largest ever built, is headed home to Cheyenne, Wyo., for restoration that is anticipated to take three to five years. (LARA HARTLEY, FOR THE DESERT DISPATCH)

MIKE LAMB, STAFF WRITER
DESERT DISPATCH

BARSTOW • Steam wasn’t coming out of its stack, but Big Boy No. 4014 roared down the tracks along the Harvey House before coming to a complete stop in front the historic Barstow train station on Monday.

Hundreds of onlookers were allowed to walk up to the gigantic steam engine as dignitaries and a Union Pacific crew jumped off.

The locomotive arrived at 3:41 p.m., about 40 minutes late, being towed by a modern Union Pacific engine with the same number as Big Boy — 4014. Another locomotive was pushing it. Three passenger cars, two box cars and five flat cars followed.

“It’s magnificent,” Wade Harris, of Barstow, said. “You don’t want to miss something like this. It’s history.”

Shelli Anderson, of Claremont, followed the train since it left Colton on Monday. The train enthusiast says she has posted a lot of photos to Facebook.

“It’s awesome,” she said. “Absolutely spectacular.”

In its heyday, Big Boy No. 4014 was a “moving eruption of smoke and vapor” that was known to drag heavy freight trains over the mountains of Wyoming and Utah, according to one Associated Press story. The American Co. in Schenectady, New York, built 25 of the monsters to Union Pacific’s specifications between 1941 and 1944.

A Union Pacific crew is towing the 1.2 million pound steam locomotive 1,293 miles on an 11-day excursion to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where it will be restored back to life during a five-year project.

“It’s beautiful,” said Joseph Sanchez, who worked for Santa Fe Railroad for 25 years. “It’s a beautiful piece of machinery made in the United States of America.”

Sanchez’s fiancee, Ann Canizales, agreed: “I love antiques, and this is a real one.”

Soon after the couple talked about Big Boy, a voice bellowed from the locomotive.

“All aboard!”

It was 4:09 and time to go.

The wheels on Big Boy slowly came to life, and its horn blew twice.

“Diesels just don’t have that look. But look at it,” said Dave Keeler, of Barstow, as he walked away from tracks where Big Boy once rested. “The Schooner of the prairie. There’s nothing more romantic than a steam engine. I just had to see it. I actually wish they would put them in service again.” Keeler gave Big Boy one more glance as it rolled further down the track. “That’s incredible.”