HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE UPPER MOJAVE DESERT

Vol. No. 16 No. 2
February 20, 2001

LEARN ABOUT OUR MOST PRECIOUS RESOURCE FROM A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

This month's meeting will feature Dr. Pierre Saint-Amand speaking on several related topics on which he has world-class expertise.

Our speaker plans to present an overview of the Pleistocene lake system that has much to do with the geology and water supply of today. He will
talk about the current Owens Lake dust situation as well as about the history and geology that affect our valley's water supplies today.

Pierre, who arrived in China Lake in 1954, is the former head of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Division, a renowned expert on weather modification, and a geologist who has long studied our valley's hydrologic and seismic features.

He is the immediate past president of the Indian Wells Valley Water Board. For his company, Saint-Amand Scientific Services, he and his son David offer consulting services in water matters, seismic safety, geology, and atmospheric science.

The meeting will be on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 7:30 p.m. in the Maturango Museum. See you there!
Liz Babcock

MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT

Recently I have become more interested in Walker Pass and the man for which it is named. I believe you might find the following book very
enlightening. Personally, I feel that more should be done to have Joe Walker's accomplishments better recognized. Many of you may know that
Walker River and Lake are also named for him, but he also played an important role in bringing the railroad to the West.

WESTERING MAN. The life of Joseph Reddeford Walker by Bil Gilbert.

Bil Gilbert is an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in Smithsonian, Audubon, Sports Illustrated, and many other important
publications. 1985 edition, 339 pages. Available at Ridgecrest Branch Library as Call # 978.02, or at Amazon.com for $15.95

Joseph Walker (1798-1876) had probably the longest and most distinguished career of any frontiersman in American history. This first biography of this great frontier hero is based on years of research and many previously unpublished and neglected sources. It gives a rousing and authoritative
picture of Walker-his pioneering heritage, his many accomplishments, and his exceptional personality.

A recent book which should be of interest to many and may be available through our local library is SKULL WARS by David Hurst Thomas. A review of this book by the American Assn. for State and Local History suggests that it "...has the potential to change the way you look at history..." The library call # is: 970.0049THO. Amazon lists it at $20.00 hardcover and paperback in Apr. at $18.00.
Lou Pracchia

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS

Welcome new members Bob and Diane Wilhite.

Your Board of Directors wants to share with all of you the following letter received from Bob and Diane.

"My husband and I are very interested in joining your historical society. We are visitors to your area at least once a month when the weather is
good. Have a deep love of the history of early California. Have lived in Palm Springs, CA and developed an interest in the mining and transportation
history of the desert. I have just received some of your wonderful publications that I ordered. Will be looking forward to learning more about the desert we love. Thank you." -
Lou Pracchia

NAVAJO CODE TALKER TO SPEAK AT OUR MARCH MEETING

Mark your calendar now - you won't want to miss our March meeting, which will feature the fascinating subject of Navajo code talking. Our speaker will be Joe Morris, Sr., a full-blooded Navajo, who served as a code talker on Guadalcanal, Guam, Saipan, Okinawa, and Tinstao, China.

The Navajo code talkers fulfilled the need the Allied forces in World War II had to communicate across the thousands of miles of ocean in the Pacific Theater without the enemy listening in. The code talkers were able to transmit vital battlefield communications with skill, speed, and accuracy - and the Japanese were never able to break their code.

Because the code remained potentially valuable for many years to the Department of Defense, the code talkers, whose skill and courage saved numerous American lives, remained unrecognized until 1992, when the Pentagon installed an exhibit in their honor.

Our meeting will be at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 20, in the Maturango
Museum. Liz Babcock

DUES

A reminder that dues are now due for the year 2001. Dues help support ourmeeting expenses, newsletter publications, exhibits and utilities for ouroffices on Station Street, etc. If you haven't already sent in your duesof $15.00 for the year, please send a check to the Historical Society, c/o
Fred Weals, Treasurer, to P. O. Box 2001, Ridgecrest, CA 93556 now.
Thank you.

BOOKS

We have received word that the recently announced book by Dr. Boyd has beenpublished and will be available later this month. Those of you who orderedcopies at the special price will be getting information about picking themup as soon as we obtain the copies we ordered.

NOMINATING COMMITTEE

With the annual meeting coming up soon, the Nominating Committee is aboutto become active. Please think about being nominated for election to theboard. If you have such an interest, we'll be putting information abouthow to contact the nominating committee in the newsletter next month.

ANNUAL MEETING

The annual meeting of the HSUMD is tentatively scheduled for Friday, May 4. You might want to mark that date on your calendar now, although it is subject to change. Our speaker has been selected and will be talking about the early development of railroads in the Eastern Mojave Desert.

EARLY DAYS AT CHINA LAKE

Following is the third installment of an autobiographical account written in 1996 by Chris Hinzo about his early experiences working for the U. S.
Navy at China Lake. Spelling and punctuation are as in the original, with only minor editorial changes.
Ed.

I went back to my old job, and everyone now were GS-6s, and so was I, since my raises and personnel status continued even while in the service. The blue collar workers were getting paid more than the white collar workers were, so I decided that it was time for a change. I told J.P. I wanted a
GS-7. He said if I didn't want the GS-6 job, I would have to go into machining. I said OK. They were getting 20¢ an hour more than the GS-6s.
So I became a machinist.

Now, as a machinist I worked on a lathe, and sometimes a milling machine. One day the big boss called me in the office and said, "Chris, you know what is required here, having been an inspector before. So you are now to keep those machines running. And make sure everything passes inspection!"

I set up small inspection stations in every building and said to the guys: "Run 'em!"

The inspectors were sure sore at me. If a machine ran out more than a thousandth, I reset the machine myself. Didn't have to wait 2 to 3 hours
for a set-up man anymore. I'd reset the machine, run a unit through it, and inspect it. If I thought it was OK, I told the guys: "Run it."

Well, I got a letter in my personnel jacket saying I'd upped the production of the plant by 30%. (But no raise; just a pat on the back: "Good job.
Keep it up.")

My brother Jerry also worked there at Salt Wells. He was working on a long nylon rope with explosives attached every 18 inches. This rope was
supposed to be shot onto the beach. When it exploded, it would clear the beach of any land mines. Don't know if it was ever used.

Now, as a machinist of high explosives, and being a former inspector, I was sent to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to help teach their machinists how to machine the type of product that we were working on at Salt Wells. While there, we used to go to Santa Fe and just browsed around.

About this time my youngest daughter Gay got sick, and the doctor said she was lonely for me. So my wife Mary went to the big boss and requested me home. I came home, and Gay got well! This was in 1953.

In the meantime, Mary was working at the dry cleaners and also was going to classes as a tab machine operator. She was transferred to the Ad Building and operated the machine that made all our government checks, etc.

We were doing all right. She had a good job now, and I was at the top of my pay grade. Time to start looking for a better job!

By now it was 1954, and Salt Wells was going to close. They had transferred all of our operators to Los Alamos. There about 200 of us guys
there at Salt Wells, so the base personnel [department] decided to open an apprenticeship, just for the guys at Salt Wells.

I had been working at the China Lake 3-inch line and had a chance to take the test for the apprenticeship also. I passed the test and had put on my
papers that I'd like to be an electrician.

You see, in 1952-while in the Marines-I bought a TV. When I came back to China Lake there were only 11 TVs in the whole valley. So I read a lot on TVs, and I learned how to repair them. I knew about scopes, multimeters, power supplies, etc., and I'd help the other fellows with their TVs.

Well, we went for our interviews, and Mr. McClung asked me why I wanted to be an electrician, since I knew a lot about electronic equipment. I told him I thought you needed more schooling to be an electronics mechanic and I'd only gone one year to high school. He looked at the other persons on the panel, and they all agreed that I should become an electronics mechanic.

To myself I said, "OK, Electronics Mechanic pays more than Electrician anyhow." (They never told me I'd have to go to college classes!)

This was on Thursday, and Mr. McClung got me transferred to his place, the Sight Lab at NAF. Friday afternoon I checked in at the Sight Lab, and Mr. McClung showed me around. Then he showed me the working spaces and said, "This is yours. Go to the shop stores and buy anything you'll need. Your signature is good there."

Next he said, "Come here, Chris." On the floor were a lot of assembled Heathkits: power supplies, scopes, meters and other gauges. He then pulled
out a drawing about 4 by 8 feet, and tacked it on a piece of plywood. There also was a large cabinet with three bays into which the equipment was
to be installed.

Then, pointing to the drawing, he said, "This is a schematic of the first Sidewinder rate table, and you are going to build it. I know you can do it."

I did. That was my first job on the Sidewinder missile.

He told me he had read my papers and noticed that I knew how to read a scope, use a multimeter, and knew how to repair TVs. So he knew I knew
about electronics.

The apprenticeship was to start in August, but Rod [McClung] had me transferred in April, so I was the first to start my apprenticeship. We
worked on the job 3 weeks and took Bakersfield College courses 1 week out of the month.

After the rate table console, we worked on a photo multiplier setup. I built the power supply and all the other associated pieces. Then Rod and I
would throw rocks over the photo multiplier and record the current, then go inside and figure the changes needed to up the current.

Well, finally I finished the unit. and Rod and I went out to "C" Range to test it. The electricians had already run wires out to where we would
install the photo multiplier. Here I was, doing the installing, and the pilots were using "C" Range for over-the shoulder target practice! The planes would come so low we had to move our truck!

This turned out to be the existing "C" Range where the planes can fly over these photo multipliers and the pulse goes back to the control tower where it is recorded as per speed between stations (8) and height. So you can know where the plane is from the range and how high it is. Also the time between stations gives you the speed of the plane. Last I knew, this range is still in use.

From the Sight Lab I went to the hospital for a gall bladder operation, and then to Area "R" and work(ed) on liquid propellants. There I built an
intercom so we could talk to the ordnancemen from our station(s). I installed the first unit and checked it out. Great! Well, the first time they checked out a rocket, the speaker was blown out! The ordnancemen forgot to move the speaker!

It worked out so well, I built myself one for use here at home many years later. Now I use it on Halloween. I put the speaker behind a skeleton,
and I can hear the kids come for blocks. Then I'll talk to them. Lots of comments!

From Area "R" I went to the (Michelson) lab and started my stay in the Sidewinder group. Here I was assigned to work with Dr. Benton. He and I
became good friends, and our job was testing transistors for use in the Sidewinder missile. You see, this was back in 1955, and transistors were
just starting to be used. Remember the old CK 722? And the lN34 diode?

I took a lN34 diode, some wire, and earphones, and made a crystal radio, which I built into my hat. I guess I was the only person walking around with his own radio back then. Remember: this was 19955, before the Walkman.

Lucky for me, I had a friend that had a hearing aid that wasn't any good anymore, and he gave me the earphone. Thus my radio was kept small.
Later on I found some 1-inch speakers and mounted them in my hat. Now I had stereo! People sure looked at me funny back then. Now it's common to see someone with a radio on his hip and an earphone in his ear.

(To be continued)

Lou Pracchia, President, Co-Dir, Mbrshp 375-7385 e-mail: ldpracc@ridgecrest.ca.us

Liz Babcock, Dir. Exhibits & P.R. 375-7900 e-mail: lizbab@ridgenet.net

George G. Silberberg, Vice President, Co-Dir. Programs377-5241 e-mail: ggs@ridgenet.net

Bill Burns, Director at Large375-8566 e-mail: bburns@ridgenet.net

Bruce Wertenberger, Secretary, 375-2369 e-mail: brucew@ridgenet.net

Susan Hueber, Dir. History and Collections & Liaison to Maturango Museum Board 375-2165 e-mail: hueber@ridgenet.net

Fred Weals,Treasurer, Co. Dir. Programs & Mbrshp. 375-5249 e-mail: weals@ridgenet.net

Don Lane, Director at Large375-8146 e-mail: lane@iwvisp.com

Bruce Wertenberger and Chet Creider (375-5725) Bulletin Co-Editors e-mail: ccreider@ridgecrest.ca.us

HSUMD Web site: http://www.Maturango.org/Hist.html
PHONE NO. (760) 375-8456
E-MAIL ADDRESS: To be announced

Annual dues are $15.00 for the calendar year

2/12/01