HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE UPPER MOJAVE DESERT

Vol. 19 No. 7 September 2004
___________________________________________________________________________

SEPTEMBER 14th PROGRAM:

THE DEATH VALLEY 49ers ORGANIZATION

No doubt everyone is eager for the recommencement of the HSUMD's activities after the summer hiatus. If so, the good news is that the September meeting will be one week early, on the second Tuesday rather than the third. Dave Heffner will speak to the Society about the Death Valley 49ers. The meeting will start at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 14, at the Maturango Museum. Everyone is welcome to attend the Society's meetings.

In November 1948, a group of delegates from Kern, Inyo, San Bernardino and Los Angeles came together in Ridgecrest to plan what part their communities would play in the upcoming California Statehood Centennial celebrations. The group decided to hold a pageant in Death Valley to remember the sojourn of the Manly and Jayhawker parties there. The pageant was held in December 1949, and was a tremendous success. An estimated 60,000 to 100,000 participants showed up, and heard no less a talent than actor Jimmy Stewart provide the narration of the pageant. The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra provided the music, the overture being an original composition by Ferde Grofe, inspired by a visit to Zabriskie Point.

Inspired themselves by the success of the pageant, the group of organizers, by now incorporated as the Death Valley 49ers, Inc., decided to sponsor an annual encampment in the Valley. These encampments, continuing today, have included campfire programs, tours of the natural beauty of the region, western art shows and the ever popular burro flapjack contest. Among their other activities,
the 49ers spearheaded the effort to build the Museum and Visitors Center at Furnace Creek.

At our September meeting, Dave Heffner will fill us in on the history and current activities of this worthy organization. Dave has been a member of the 49ers since 1980, one of the 49 directors since 1982, and is a past President and Vice President. He and his wife, Diane, also freelance as Death Valley guides. Dave was born in Ohio and later moved to Fountain Valley where he worked many years for the Fire Department. After retirement, he and his wife moved to Lake Isabella, where they had had a weekend home. He and his wife have between them five children, 14 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren (and counting...)

According to Dave, his interest in Death Valley started early. "People always ask me how I got interested in Death Valley. When I was a boy, I used to listen to the DV Days and the Lone Ranger programs on the old Philco radio. I had to imagine what Death Valley looked like. I envisioned it as flat, full of sand dunes with a salt sink in the middle. When we took our first trip there we went in through Wildrose Canyon to the charcoal kilns, where we camped for the night. There was about two feet of snow on the ground. The next day we drove about 20 miles to Stove Pipe Wells and played in the dunes at about 94 degrees. Where we came from that was unheard of. I have been wandering Death Valley ever since."

For more information on this or future meetings, call HSUMD President Bruce Wertenberger at 375-2369. In the meantime, we'll see you the evening of Tuesday, September 14th.
Andrew Sound

I hope that a pleasant summer was had by all HSUMD members. The HSUMD board had its first meeting of the fall earlier this week and it looks like we will have a great series of programs. Bill Nevins, our program chairman, has speakers lined up through May. I don't think we've ever been so prepared. The October speaker will be Don Joe McKernan.

BUSINESS MEMBERS

Please patronize our business members: Indian Wells Valley Insurance Co., The News Review, BevLen Haus ­ Bed and Breakfast, Jack & Dana Lyons, The Swap Sheet, Ridgecrest Moving & Storage and Farris' Diner & Italian Gardens.

We regret to note the passing of Chet Creider, Jr., in June and Bill Reed in July. Both were longtime members of the HSUMD. Chet was a past member of the HSUMD board of directors and past editor of our newsletter. Bill had owned "The House That Jack Built" and hosted a number of tours of that unique house and its collections. These tours benefitted the Historical Society.

BIRTHDAY PARTY

The family of Lois Carr hosted a birthday party for Lois in honor of her 90th birthday in June, as well as for Hank Schuette who had celebrated his 88th birthday. A number of HSUMD members attended.

MATHER, ALBRIGHT AND THE MODERN NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

Following is another article from our great local historian member, John Di Pol, drawn from his library of local history books. Ed.)
The subject of this month's article is a departure from the usual fare, but it does involve a local personage, Horace M. Albright, a native of Bishop, California. Now folks in the East might not look on someone born in a different county, 130 miles away, as being "local." But here, in the vastness of the western United States, we, like astronomers, measure distance by units of time. They by light years, we by hours, but it is all the same thing.

Stephen Ting Mather. A native Californian, born in 1867, graduated from U. C., Berkeley with an LB degree in 1887. Worked briefly as a journalist for the New York Sun, then joined his father in the borax marketing, brokering and distribution business and was closely connected with Frances M. "Borax" Smith, then a kingpin in the borax industry. Smith formed the Pacific Coast Borax Company in 1893 and hired Mather as his advertising and sales promotion manager, with offices in Chicago. Mather was with PCB for 10 years, but resigned in 1903 to form his own borax business which prospered and by 1914 Mather was a very wealthy man.

During all these times Mather was an avid outdoor man and conservationist, having joined the Sierra Club in 1904. He traveled extensively throughout the West, climbed in the Sierra Nevadas and was closely attuned to the national park and monument concept. The first national park was Yellowstone, established in 1872, followed by a handful of parks/monuments into the early 1900s. There was no central management agency for the parks in the Department of the Interior. The Army was assigned responsibility for staffing, providing protection, etc. Army officers were the superintendents; some were very good, some not so good. Over the several year period, Mather was actively urging the Secretary of the Interior to make much needed improvements in the parks: make the parks more user friendly, accommodations, trails, establish a management system, etc., however Congress failed to act.

By 1915, during the Wilson administration, Franklin Lane was Secretary of Interior and pressure was mounting with Mather, among others, at the forefront. Lane took action. He cabled Mather and effectively said, "I'm creating the position of Assistant Secretary to fix the park problems and appointing you. And I have a young, bright lawyer here to help you." Thus entered Horace Albright.

Horace Marden Albright, born 1890 in Bishop, California, attended schools there, entered U.C., Berkeley, class of 1912. His law studies were interrupted in 1913 when he was called to join his professor, Adolph Miller, who had been appointed as an assistant to the secretary in the Dept. of Interior pending his permanent assignment to the Federal Reserve Board. By 1915 Albright was ready to return to California; his law studies completed and he had passed the D. C. and California bars. Prof. Miller now at the Reserve Board and Mather newly arrived. Mather prevailed upon Albright to remain and help fix the national parks problem. Albright agreed and the partnership was formed.

Mather: the seasoned businessman, promoter, tireless energy. Albright young, intelligent, good negotiator, worked together to marshall public opinion and effectively lobby the Congress. They drafted the legislation which formulated the basic structure, framework and authority for a new park system. Congress passed the enabling Act which President Wilson signed on August 26, 1916, thus establishing the modern National Park Service (NPS) that we know to this day. Mather was appointed the first Director, with Albright as Assistant Director.

Now to make it work. Enormous task of translating the hard-won legislation into an operating organization: appropriations had to be arranged, personnel and staffing matters, transition from Army administration, basic management and operating policies, creation of new parks, etc. Much was accomplished in a relatively brief period of time when, in mid-1917, Mather fell ill and Albright was appointed Acting Director. Mather returned in early 1918 and resumed his energetic pace. In 1919 Albright was appointed first civilian Superintendent of Yellowstone NP but also double-hatted as Assistant Director of Field Activities to oversee all parks west of the Mississippi. By 1923 the NPS was firmly established; Albright carried on his multiple duties, the summers in Yellowstone, and back to Washington, D.C., in the off season.

In November 1928, Stephen Miller suffered a major stroke and was seriously incapacitated, necessitating his resignation in early January 1929. Horace Albright was appointed Director on Jan. 12, 1929. Mather passed away on January 22, 1930, at the age of 62. Mather and Albright can truly be called the Co-Fathers of the modern National Park system that has been such a crown jewel in our governmental establishment.

Albright served as Director until his retirement from the Service in August 1933. He accepted a position as VP and CEO of a new company, U. S. Potash, a subsidiary of Borax Consolidated, Limited, which he served until 1956. Through those 23 years and for the many years following, Albright was very active in the field of conservation as a private citizen. He was the recipient of any honors and awards for his exemplary service, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom presented by President Carter in 1980.

Horace passed away in Van Nuys, California, in 1987 at the age of 97 years. We are truly fortunate to be able to claim him as one of our "locals." John Di Pol

Ref: BIRTH OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE­The Founding Years, 1913-33, Horace M Albright, 1985; STEVE MATHER of the NATIONAL PARK, Robert Shankland, 1951

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

Andrew Sound, Vice pres., Dir. Public Relations 371-1795, e-mail: asound @ridgenet.net

Charlotte Paulsen , Secretary, 375-3356 e-mail: keln@mchsi.com

Fred Weals, Treasurer, Co-Director for Mbrshp. 375-5249 e-mail: weals@mchsi.com

Jerry Mumford, Co-Director for Membership 375-5876, e-mail j.mumford@mchsi.com
William Nevins 375-3356 e-mail: b.nevins@mchsi.com

John Di Pol, 375-2610

Lou Pracchia, Dir. for Collections375-7385,

Bruce Wertenberger (375-2369)
Bulletin Editor e-mail: brucew@ridgenet.net

HSUMD Web site: http://www.Maturango.org/Hist.html
Janet Westbrook, Webmistress

HSUMD PHONE NO. (760) 375-8456
E-MAIL ADDRESS: hsumd@ridgenet.net

Annual dues are $15.00 per family for the calendar year.