HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE UPPER MOJAVE DESERT

Vol. 17 No. 2 A UNITED WAY AGENCY February 2002

LEARN ABOUT HIGH-DESERT HOMESTEADERS

Long, long before the Navy ever thought of testing on the California desert, homesteaders moved here and began working to make our desert bloom. Come to this month's HSUMD meeting, 7:30 p.m., Feb. 19, at the Maturango Museum to learn more about how these brave pioneers made their mark on our desert.

Our speaker, David Earle, president of the West Antelope Valley Historical Society, will talk about "Homesteading the High Desert 1880-1940: Pioneer Farming in the Arid West and the Mojave Desert Experience."

In his slide-illustrated presentation, Earle will discuss the "colony" approach to farming and other post-Civil War attempts to adapt Eastern-style agriculture to the dry conditions of the West. He will also describe the amalgam of irrigation and homesteading that lead to a boom in desert settlement in the World War I years.

An anthropologist and ethnohistorian, Earle received his graduate training at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is on the staff of the Lancaster City Museum and teaches at Antelope Valley College. He has written on the pioneer and homesteader history of the Antelope Valley, as well as on the agricultural history of the arid west. Liz Babcock

YOU'LL LIKE THIS NEWS!

Mark your calendar -- you won't want to miss this year's HSUMD Annual Dinner when one of our favorite historians returns to Ridgecrest to share some of his experiences in interviewing famous local and Navy personalities.

Appearing at the dinner, Friday, May 17, at Farris' at the Heritage, will be Al Christman, author of Vol. 1 of China Lake's published history and co-author of Vol. 2. Al is also the author of Target Hiroshima, a highly readable history of Rear Adm. William "Deak" Parsons, a key figure in China Lake's early history. (Both the Maturango Museum and the China Lake Museum stock these books.)
For our annual dinner, Al will blend humor and education in his own inimitable way to bring us a talk intriguingly entitled "Interviewing Admirals, Scientists, and Grandma." Liz Babcock

ROTARY'S LOCAL HALF CENTURY+ CELEBRATED IN NEW EXHIBIT

Next time you're in the Maturango Museum, stop and take a look at the HSUMD display in the vestibule.

We've taken out the Shady Myrick exhibit, which will now be donated to John Lightburn, Myrick's great-nephew, for display in Lightburn's new museum in Atolia. In place of that exhibit, we've installed a colorful collection of pictures, clippings, and memorabilia to celebrate more than half a century of local service by Rotary Club of China Lake.

The nucleus of the Rotary exhibit came from Darrell Johnson, a prominent member who creates and maintains the club's exhibits.

We plan to leave the exhibit in for two or three months, with the exhibit after that to feature the 50th Anniversary of the Korean conflict, in particular China Lake's role in supporting that conflict. Liz Babcock

WE REMEMBER BILLIE -- THE HEART OF HSUMD

"You have brought vitality, knowledge, growth, and joy to all," wrote Charlotte Goodson in an autograph book HSUMD presented Billie Hise in 1996.

What wonderful words to describe Billie -- and what a good organizing theme for this article memorializing our friend and HSUMD colleague, who died in her sleep on the morning of Dec. 11, 2001.

VITALITY. Doesn't that word instantly bring to mind the Billie we all knew and loved? What a vital person she was! As her husband Ron noted, "She wasn't shy." The amazing thing about the vivid life Billie brought to her surroundings was how often that vitality served the interests of our community.
For example, when Billie took on the persona of "The Madam" and began appearing at Maturango Junctions dressed in the flamboyant garb of an Old West lady of the evening, she didn't just bring color and fun to the event. She organized a group of "girls," also dressed in appropriate garb, and Madam and her girls managed to josh people into giving many, many extra dollars in support of our museum.

Billie's vitality was also an inestimable gift to HSUMD from its early days. When she worked at our Cookies and Conversation booth, for example, she didn't just sit in the booth, she dragged the business in. If Billie approached you to buy cookies, you bought cookies!

KNOWLEDGE. Billie's vivid personality incorporated a searching mind, avid to know everything possible about the history of her family and of this area. With the establishment of the Historical Society, she took the challenge of collecting local historical information very much to heart.

Anyone who has looked in our archives can find Billie's fingerprints everywhere. She didn't just think about how nice it would be to have archives, she wrote down her memories of local events and filed those writings in our collection.

She also used her knowledge to collect information from others. "We made videotapes with a number of old-timers who are no longer around," Ron remembered. "We went as far afield as Randsburg, Kernville, and Searles Station to interview people."

GROWTH. Never afraid of growth and change, Billie approached new tasks with gusto. Not only did this trait help HSUMD to grow, but it also undoubtedly resulted in lives saved as Billie made things happen in motorcycle and automobile safety.

Ron recalled the tenacity with which she attacked child safety rules back in the early '70s. Billie was on a state committee that established new car seat rules -- undoubtedly a lifesaving endeavor. And as an employee of China Lake's Safety Department, she established one of the first motorcycle safety programs in the Defense Department.

JOY. Spreading joy was one of the things Billie did best. One of my favorite memories of her involves a concert by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. As the members of the fabled band filed off the stage and began strutting down the aisles of the Station Theater, Billie leapt to her feet and was the first arm-waving, dancing member of the audience to join the joyous procession.

To recognize Billie's many contributions, in 1996 our board gave her a life membership and a plaque in honor "of your many years of dedicated service as a charter board member and president of the society and of your unstinting contributions in the gathering, preserving, and sharing of our area's history."

How lucky HSUMD was to have this vital, knowledgeable, growing, joyous personality in our midst! Liz Babcock

eBAY FANS WATCH OUT FOR HSUMD

Thanks to a couple of dedicated users of the online bidding site eBay, HSUMD now owns a Christmas 1944 menu from the Naval Ordnance Test Station at Harvey Field. The menu is a small green piece of construction paper that reproduces a menu carefully typed in the form of a Christmas tree and featuring such delicacies as "celery en stalk," "cauliflower en cream," and "shrimp salad en mayonnaise," as well as the traditional ham, turkey, and trimmings.

The menu also lists several NOT military men, including Capt. S.E. Burroughs, Jr., commanding officer, and Cdr. J.O. Richmond, executive officer.

When the menu came up for bid on eBay during the holiday season of 2001, both Liz Babcock and Cliff Lawson submitted their bids (both with the idea of donating the item to an appropriate historical repository). After they were rapidly outbid by somebody in Florida, Cliff e-mailed Liz and suggested that they pool their bids and donate the item to HSUMD. "This has got to stay in the valley," Cliff said.

With the ability to double their original amount, Cliff and Liz were able to narrowly outbid that person in Florida, who must have had a compelling reason for owning the menu too. (Who knows? Maybe that Florida bidder had a connection to China Lake.)

Why spend a substantial amount to preserve one small piece of paper? Liz said she and Cliff are both familiar with the contents of the historical archives at China Lake, so they knew the menu was a rare item. "We enjoy thinking that it will be available for future researches or exhibits," she said.

As for Cliff, he has already given HSUMD another nice piece of our history: a beautiful postcard showing Inyokern in the 1950s. In recognition of Cliff's continuing contributions, the HSUMD board this month voted to give him an honorary membership.

BUSINESS MEMBERS

We appreciate the support of our business members: Granite Construction ­ Sand and Gravel, Farris' at the Heritage,the Swap Sheet, . Please patronize them. We also encourage any of our members who are eligible to become business members, to do so.

NOMINATING COMMITTEE

In preparation for the election of board members at our annual dinner meeting in May, President Pracchia has activated the Nominating Committee, which consists of Charlotte Goodson, Joan Woodman and Barbara Hall. Because several board members have already indicated they do not wish to run again, there will be a a number of vacancies open. If you are at all interested, please give one of these committee members a phone call to discuss your possible nomination. Thank you.

DUES, DUES, DUES!

Another reminder to those of you who have not renewed your membership for the year 2002, please send in $15.00 for your single or family membership to our Treasurer, Fred Weals, P. O. Box 2001, Ridgecrest, CA 93556. Thank you!

DESERT COUNTRY, A NEW BOOK BY BOB POWERS

Pre-publication Sale - Save $5.00 and receive a numbered edition.

Bob Powers' set of nine books would not be complete without the inclusion of the high desert and its pioneers. Located east of the Sierras between Owens Lake on the north, Mojave on the South and east to Death Valley, is an area rich in lore and stories waiting to be told. You will read stories about how towns were built and how some died You'll be enchanted by word pictures as you visit Skidoo, Darwin, Garlock, Ballarat, Death Valley and a host of others and meet the unique pioneers who called this area home. You're going to have a tough time putting this one down!

Large deluxe format, more than 130 historic photos and maps. Send $20.00 to Bob Powers, Box 204 Kernville, CA 93238 (760) 376-2329