HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE UPPER MOJAVE DESERT

Vol. 18 No. 9 November 2003

BLM'S ADOPT-A-CABIN PROGRAM

The November meeting of the Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert will feature Steve Smith of the BLM speaking on the Bureau's Adopt-a-Cabin Program. The meeting will start at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, November 18 at the Maturango Museum.

The Adopt-a-Cabin program helps preserve more than thirty cabins in the area served by the BLM's Ridgecrest Field Office. The cabins were originally built to support mining, grazing, or hunting activities on public lands. These days, some of them support recreational activities as day use or overnight shelters, as well as being of historical interest. The Adopt-a-Cabin program started in 1989 when Brian Webb contacted Steve Smith of the BLM about preserving the Beveridge Ridge Cabin in the Inyo Mountains. An agreement was reached for a group of volunteers to repair the cabin using materials provided by the BLM (delivered by helicopter to the 1890's cabin located at an elevation of 8300 feet). The group of volunteers evolved into the Friends of the Inyo Mountains, and the Adopt-a-Cabin program grew to include 37 cabins being maintained by a variety of volunteer groups.

At our November meeting, Steve Smith will discuss the program and tell us (and show pictures) of each of the cabins. Burro Schmidt's cabin is probably the best known of several nearby cabins in the program. Many of the cabins are relatively inaccessible, located along hiking trails or 4-wheel drive-only roads, so this will be a good opportunity to learn about these historic structures. For more information, call Bruce Wertenberger at 375-2369 or leave a message at 375-8456. Andrew Sound

DECEMBER: CHRISTMAS PARTY

The Historical Society's December meeting will be our annual members and guests-only Christmas party, and will start a little early at 7:00 at the Maturango Museum on the third Tuesday of the month, December 16.
Start planning the dessert you will bring to share! In addition to the eating of desserts there will be other activities. Details will be in our December newsletter, but mark the date on your calendar now. Andrew Sound

CHRISTMAS IN RAND CAMP, 2003

It's not too early to start planning to attend Christmas in Rand Camp, jointly sponsored by the Historical Society and Dr. Lorraine Blair. This year's event will take place on Saturday, Dec 13th, and will include tours of historic homes in the morning, a Christmas sing-long at noon, and cider at Rose Cottage in the afternoon. Additional plans are still being confirmed, so watch the newspapers for more details, and be sure to attend this month's HSUMD meeting to hear the latest.

The home tours will last from 10:00-11:45 AM only. The tours begin at Plum cottage, the second house west of the fire station on Randsburg's main street, Butte Avenue. There you can tour the cottage and get a map to the rest of the homes on the tour. Note that these are historic homes, and are not generally handicap-accessible. At noon, head for the Santa Barbara Catholic Church for a Yuletide sing along and a reading by Lorraine Blair of an 1898 LA Times account of a Christmas in Randsburg. Then at 2:30, head to Rose Cottage for some hot cider and a look at the winter garden.

There will be a $5.00 fee for the event to help cover the cost of insurance, etc., which may be paid at Plum Cottage. Advance reservations by December 10th are a must. These can be made at the Maturango Museum, or by calling HSUMD President Bruce Wertenberger at (760)375-2369 or Bev and Ron Atkins at (760) 446-6700. Please leave your name, phone number and number of guests in your party. This event has sold out the last two years, so don't delay!
Andrew Sound

IT'S MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL TIME AGAIN!

Our membership year is the same as the calendar year, hence this reminder that it's nearly time to renew your membership. Membership fees help pay for newsletter printing and postage costs, utilty costs for our office building, production costs of our exhibits and various other activities. Membership costs are $15 per family and there are other categories. A renewal form at the bottom/ Please fill it in and send it off today.

BUSINESS MEMBERS.

Please patronize our business members: Ridgecrest Moving & Storage, Granite Construction, ­Sand & Gravel, Farris' Diner & Italian Gardens, Indian Wells Valley Insurance Co. and The Swap Sheet.

SPECIAL HOUSE TOUR

The HSUMD has arranged with two local collectors for one hour tours of their house with its incredible collection on Saturday, December 20. Advance reservations are a necessity. To reserve a time slot, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., go to the Maturango Museum after November 18. You will be given directions to this very special house and its collections at that time. More details will be given in the December newsletter.

HSUMD BOOKS TO BE AVAILABLE AT NOVEMBER MEETING

Now that it's November, we're once again in that season of gift-giving perplexity. Here are some good suggestions about what to give local friends and relatives, as well as history buffs from any part of the country. To help you get your Christmas shopping done early, we'll have these books and videos available at our November general meeting on the 18th.

NEW PUBLICATION: A HISTORY OF THE CHURCHES IN INDIAN WELLS VALLEY AND VICINITY, by Fred Weals. A compilation of the histories of our local churches. Illustrated. Member price: $10.00
HOW IT WAS ­ SOME MEMORIES BY EARLY SETTLERS OF THE INDIAN WELLS VALLEY AND VICINITY, by Lou Pracchia. Five different colorful accounts of life in the IWV and nearby Sierra Nevada. Member price: $5.00
INDIAN WELLS VALLEY ­ HOW IT GREW, by Fred Weals. A highly readable treasure trove of information about land division, land ownership, tract development and street naming. Nearly 100 pages of text, maps, historic photographs. Member price: $10.00
ZIG ZAG POST OFFICE and ITS NEIGHBORS, 1885-1971, by Jane Thomann, postmaster of the Little Lake Pose Office in the 1970's. Contains information about the history of the Little Lake Post Office, photographs and vignettes of early settler families in the surrounding area. Member price: $12.00
INDIAN WELLS VALLEY STAGE AND FREIGHT STOPS, 1874-1906 with comments by Lou Pracchia. Includes photographs and historic information about the Native American trails along eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. Discusses the development of trails into routes for transport of bullion and people in the last quarter of the 19th century. Includes history and locations of way stations along those trails. Member price: $4.00
SAND CANYON STATION VIDEO, a 37 minute video by Mark Pahuta. Learn about the construction of the first Los Angeles aqueduct and the lives of the families living in Sand Canyon after the aqueduct opened. Also covered is information about the coming of the railroad to IWV, development of the town of Brown, local homesteading, two great floods and an earthquake. The video features historic footage and rare family photos. You can also view some of our favorite HSUMD members ­ Litha Crowell Mattis, Bob Ramsey, Lois Ramsey Carr and Hank Schuette ­ as they reminisce about their early memories of Sand Canyon. Member price: $10.00

NEW HSUMD PUBLICATION

There are a lot of churches in the local area and the histories of nearly all of them are described in a recent HSUMD publication.

The new book entitled "A History of the Churches of Indian Wells Valley and Vicinity", was compiled by Fred Weals who borrowed from some previously existing church histories, interviewed pastors and church members and found scraps of information in church records. Photos of most of the churches are included, including some at Randsburg that go back to the early 1900's. The histories are grouped by denomination and an introduction is provided for each major denomination describing the beliefs that set it apart from others.

Copies will be available at the November meeting at a member cost of $10, including tax. It may also be found at the Maturango Museum at a cost that may be slightly higher. Fred Weals

HISTORICAL ARTICLE: DEATH VALLEY CENTENNIAL MEMORIES

I was working at Salt Wells in '49 when the plans for the Centennial were being made. Most everybody was excited about attending. There were few places to stay in Death Valley, a few cabins at Stove Pipe Wells, Furnace Creek Ranch campgrounds, Furnace Creek Inn and Scotty's Castle. Of course, they filled up fast.

Most people from here were going to drive over he morning of the pageant. We left early as we planned to stop along the way to cook our breakfast.

With our friends, the Crawfords, we went to Trona and on to Death Valley. After going a considerable distance, we decided to stop and have breakfast ant then find out where to go.
A hill blocked out view, we had seen very little traffic, but after we'd stopped a number of cars passed, then some stopped, waited awhile, then moved on.

We gathered our things and got in line. When we got around the hill and got a view of the valley we were about 1/4 mile from the road that came past the Inn, probably about a mile away, into the canyon where the pageant was to be held.
The roads were a solid line of cars. A ranger was letting a few cars from our road, the a few cars from the road past the Inn. While we waited we could see cars leave the Inn, but when they reached the road, most were not given space to go into the line of traffic so would go back to the Inn and walk to the pageant grounds.

A huge place had been cleared for parking. Cars were parked bumper to bumper in long lines quite close to each other. My husband thoughtfully tied a handkerchief to the antenna so we could spot it more easily when we returned.

As we left the parking lot, here was something new. I had never before seen a "port-a-potty." There was a long line of them.

On up to the bleachers--they seemed to be full. Julius decided he needed to find a first aid station as an infected finger was bothering him. The station was under the bleachers just about in the middle and from there we could see a number of empty seats. We were able to get around to them. They proved to be about the very best. We were directly in front of the stage which had been built up on a platform in the valley.

It was time to start the program. Because the road was still filled with cars as far as you could see, they would wait a while. After 1 1/2 hours, they decided they could
wait no longer.

Jimmy Stewart was the narrator and told the story of the 49ers as ox teams and wagon trains came from behind a hill and up the valley. Indians were observing all of this
from the mountains behind the stage. The 49ers enjoyed a little dancing on the stage before retiring. Lookouts were posted and frightened away a curious Indian.

After a short night, they hitched up their animals and moved on up the valley looking for a way out.

Governor Brown attended the pageant. He was seated way down at the end of the bleachers where he could get out easily to a team and buggy. He rode around in front of the bleachers to greet the crowd.

We went to the parking lot. What sea of handkerchiefs, scarves and whatever tied to the antennas!

Rangers were letting cars out in an orderly fashion--one car from each line. We were the fourth car in our line and we sat for one hour before it was our turn. I heard that they had twice as many people as they had expected.

Many people needed gas but the stations ran out. People just had to wait till more gas could be brought in.

When I returned to work a number of people were surprised that we got there. They had gotten stuck in traffic and missed the whole wonderful thing. Gwyn Jensen
(Our thanks to Mrs. Jensen for sharing this memory. Ed)

Annual Dues are for the calendar year (January-December)

___ Individual/Family (same address) $15 ___ Business/Commercial $25

Additional Contributions
___ Contributor $50 ___ Patron $200
___ Benefactor $100 ___ Other $ ____

Please make your check payable to the HSUMD and send it and this form to the address above. All contributions are tax deductible We are a 501(c)3 organization.

I am interested in supporting the HSUMD by helping in the following areas:
___ Oral history (interviewing/transcribing) ___ Education ___ Fund-raising(local/grant writing)
___ Newsletter ___ Publicity ___ Creating/arranging exhibits
___ Photography/Videotaping ___ Writing ___ Field trips (planning/guiding)

___ Archival research ___ Preservation ___ Collection management
___ Other _____________________________________________________________

My suggestions for programs, publications, or other activities are:
_____________________________________________________________________