HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE UPPER MOJAVE DESERT

Vol. 16, No. 8 A United Way Agency
October 2001

THIS MONTH'S PROGRAM OFFERS UNIQUE VIEWS OF EARLY TRONA PLANT

Fred Kletka, our new program chairman, has hit the ground running. This
month, he has arranged for Margaret "Lit" Brush, one of our favorite Trona
people, to bring us a unique program sure to intrigue everyone interested
in learning more about the history of Searles Valley.

The meeting, which will be held at the Maturango Museum, Tuesday, Oct. 16,
at 7:30 p.m., will feature a videotape showing 1914 photographs of the
Hornsey plant in Trona. Lit, who is the curator of the Old Guest House
Museum in Trona, will be there to introduce the video and answer questions
afterwards.

The Old Guest House Museum acquired the video recently from a woman whose
grandfather had been one of the workers who built the plant. "The Hornsey
plant was built on the site of the old John Searles plant, behind where the
roadside rest stop is now," Lit told us. "The plant didn't work after a
couple of years, so then they built the Trona plant."

She said the video is a bit on the primitive side, with some of the
pictures having been rotated 90-degrees. But for people willing to
occasionally crane their necks sideways, the video should offer fascinating
glimpses of old dryers and other early chemical-plant equipment.

Lit will also bring along an engineering study for the plant. We hope to
see you there! Bring a guest! Liz Babcock

TIME TO VISIT THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT

HSUMD member Bill Reed has once again invited us to tour his locally famous
"railroad car house," the intriguing dwelling at 761 W. Church St. known as
the "House That Jack Built." These tours have been a real money-maker for
HSUMD, so be sure to pass the word to your friends and neighbors that one
of the community's most fascinating attractions will be open for tours on
Saturday, Oct. 27.

If you haven't seen this house before, a tour is a not-to-be-missed
experience. If you have been on a tour, how about a repeat visit? The
beautiful stained-glass windows, the antiques, the gardens, and all the
other details of this fine residence are well worth repeat viewing.

Bill has agreed to take groups of 14 on 45-minute tours through the house,
which incorporates a former Trona Railroad caboose. The tours are for
adults only and will occur every hour on the hour starting at 9 a.m., with
the last tour scheduled for 4 p.m. Each group will meet at the east side of
the house about 10 minutes prior to tour time. Please park on the street.

The tours are by RESERVATION ONLY, for a cost of only $5 per person (and
thanks to Bill's generosity, all fees collected go directly into HSUMD
coffers). The Maturango Museum staff has graciously agreed to handle the
reservations, and a signup sheet will be available at the museum starting
on Oct. 15. Reservations will be taken only in person, with the fee due at
signup. Liz Babcock

SAGA OF INYO COUNTY

The Historical Society recently has acquired a copy of the fascinating
book, Saga of Inyo County, printed in 1977, which contains reminiscences
of families Inyo County families and businesses from 1865 on.. HSUMD board
member George Silberberg recently became aware of the book and brought it
to the attention of the HSUMD board, making it sound so interesting that
another board member, Liz Babcock, went home and searched the Internet for
a copy, since it is out of print. She found two, ordered the less
expensive one, which was in excellent condition, and has donated it to the
HSUMD. Now it is not only part of our resource library, but you may find
an occasional historical article in our newsletter, drawn from its pages.

MATURANGO JUNCTION

The HSUMD will have a booth again at the Maturango Junction, Saturday,
October 20, featuring its publications. We will not have the miner's cabin
or refreshments this year. Come buy some Christmas gifts for
out-of-towners!

CHINA LAKE MUSEUM HOURS

The China Lake Museum is expanding its hours during October and November to
include Flex Fridays and Saturdays. Hours will be from 10:00 a.m. to 4
p.m. For those U. S. citizens without regular base access, it will be
necessary to obtain visitor passes to access the base. The Museum will be
closed on Thanksgiving Day, but open the following Friday and Saturday.

BUSINESS MEMBERS

We appreciate the support of our business members: The Swap Sheet, Farris'
at the Heritage and Granite Construction Co, Sand and Gravel. Please
patronize them whenever possible.

HELP for FILING

We are reaching a point in the filing of our collection of paper records,
etc., where we could use help in filing and preparing material for entry
into our computer system. If you are computer literate and could spare a
few hours a month, it would greatly assist us. If you are able and
willing, please give Lou Pracchia a call at 375-7385 for details.

LOCAL PIONEER JESSE D. STERLING IS DEAD AT AGE 92

An important link to the valley's early days is gone with the death of
Jesse D. Sterling, who passed away Sept. 18 at age 92.

Sterling, known as Chuck to his friends, was born in Madera on Aug. 28,
1909. His parents, Loren and Minnie Sterling, soon pulled up stakes and
headed south by covered wagon, attracted by news of lucrative work on the
Los Angeles aqueduct.

Baby Jesse was less than a year old when he first glimpsed the Indian Wells
Valley in 1910. The same news had attracted the Schuette family here in
1909, with HSUMD member Hank Schuette born here in 1916. "We were
buddies," Hank recalled.

Loren Sterling was a teamster with a big string of mules, and he worked on
aqueduct construction at the Owl Rocks Camp, renting out some of his mules
to other construction sites.

Both the Sterlings and the Schuettes chose to establish homesteads here
after the aqueduct work was finished. The Sterlings first homesteaded two
miles south of Inyokern, later moving to Linnie, just below the former
stage stop near the mouth of Nine-Mile Canyon.
One of the Sterling brothers, Delbert, opened a garage in Inyokern that
later became locally famous as the "Believe It or Not Hotel."
As a youth, Chuck Sterling was attracted to Schuette's sister Millie (now
Mildred Kohen of Trona). "They were quite a couple around here for several
years," Schuette told us.

Sterling was a genius at building radio sets and fixing cars, and people
came from far and wide to have him fix their car. "Chuck Sterling's garage
at Linnie was a gathering point for all the young blades," Schuette said.

Later, the two friends were partners in what Schuette labeled the "Great
China Lake Gold Rush of 1934-36." With the price of gold up to $35 an
ounce, much of the land that is now China Lake range areas was staked out
for mining claims, according to Schuette. "Chuck and I had a concentration
plant at our diggings near the Artesian Well, but we never recovered any
gold - although we did find tungsten."

During World War II, Sterling served in England with the U.S. Army Special
Forces. He met and married an English girl, Agnes McCann, and the couple's
first child, Denise, was born in England. When Sterling brought his young
family here to live in Linnie, Agnes had quite an adjustment to make - but
adjust she did. The couple raised three children here.

Sometime in the 1950s, the Macco Co., which had an interest in Kennedy
Meadows, bought out the Sterlings and established a gravel pit in the
Linnie area.

Sterling then moved his family to Ridgecrest. His daughter Denise recalled
in a 1997 News Review article that Sterling's initial postwar work was as a
miner, but that after an injury, he did road work for Kern County until his
retirement in 1973.

In 1960 the family moved to Short Canyon, setting up residence on a mining
claim that had been quit claim deeded to Agnes Sterling by a friend.
Sterling also owned another claim nearby.

"Throughout his life he had an interest in mining, first by making a living
at it, then in the last few years, working on a mining invention," said his
obituary. "In spite of little formal education, he had the natural ability
to fix everything, from a watch to heavy equipment."

After Agnes Sterling's death in 1982, Chuck Sterling continued to reside in
Short Canyon until the early 1990s, when he moved to Ridgecrest to live
with family members. In January 1997, his cabin, with its distinctive
star-topped roof and surrounding rusted evidence of the tinkerer's life,
was burned by the Bureau of Land Management because of regulations
requiring the demolition of structures considered to be in "occupancy
trespass" on public land.

Funeral services were held this past Sept. 24 at St. Ann Catholic Church.
Sterling leaves a large, devoted family, including daughter Annette E.
Sterling of Bakersfield; son Loren Sterling of Franklin, N.C.; nine
grandchildren; and 20 great-grandchildren.

Much of the above article consists of excerpts from an article by Liz
Babcock that appeared in the Jan. 22, 1997, issue of the News Review.