HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF

THE UPPER MOJAVE DESERT

Vol. 20 No. 7 September 2005
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SEPTEMBER PROGRAM: UPDATE ON BLM'S ADOPT-A CABIN PROGRAM

The Society will kick off the new season of Historical presentations with an update on the BLM Adopt-a-Cabin Program by Randy Banis. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 20, 2005, at 7:30 PM at the Maturango Museum. All are welcome to attend.

Once scattered across the Mojave Desert and surrounding forests were hundreds of historic mining, timber and hunting cabins.  All were in various stages of disrepair, and fearing liability the government agencies took to burning them down.  The resulting outrage of local citizens caused the Ridgecrest BLM office to re-think this strategy, and soon various "friends of" groups emerged to keep the structures in good repair, creating several new and rewarding backcountry destinations in the local desert.  So began the Adopt-a-Cabin program.

Unfortunately, some of these cabins are on active mining claims, and others are significant historical structures.  And some have owners that object to having their cabin taken away for public enjoyment.  Moreover, the program has received a great deal of local support and favorable press, and now other land management offices all across the West are looking to do the same with their remaining old cabins.

Now, the Adopt-a-Cabin program is in the spotlight, and attempts are being made by the local BLM to formalize the program and build on its initial success.  Randy Banis will bring us up to date on the program, and predict how it will all turn out.

Randy Banis is the editor of DeathValley.com and a resident of Leona Valley in the West Mojave Desert. He is a life member of both the Death Valley '49ers and the Death Valley Natural History Association, and is also past President of the Southern California Land Rover club. Randy represents public access on the BLM's Ridgecrest Steering Committee,
and served on the BLM's West Mojave route survey team in 2001-02.

In addition to the main speaker, we will also have an update on the USO Building restoration project. It's been a busy summer for the USO building committee, including many presentations to community groups, and culminating in the city council instructing city staff to negotiate an agreement with the Society to transfer the building to us! Come hear where we are now and what's next with this exciting project. Andrew Sound

OLD PICTURE FRAMES NEEDED

The Historical Society has a need for old picture frames ­ lots of them! And old local pictures, too, if you can spare them. The frames we need should be no smaller than 5" by 7" with 8" by 10" preferred, but they can be larger. Older styles are better. If you have any, call Kathy Armstrong at 375-2643 to arrrange for a pickup or delivery. Thank you!

FUTURE PROGRAMS

Board Member Jim Kenney has been busy lining up speakers. The October meeting will feature a talk by one of the rangers from Manzanar. November's presentation will be by David Earle. December may be a presentation on how Christmas is celebrated by others. In January Charlie Hattendorf will talk about Bickel camp, Margaret "Lit" Brush of the Searles Valley Historical Society will talk in February. Speakers are lined up for the rest of the spring.

HISTORICAL ARTICLE

(Following is an article prepared by our great local historian member, John Di Pol, drawn from his own library of history books. Ed).

THE BATTLE OF WINGATE PASS

This article will describe an incident perpretated by Walter Scott, a.k.a. Death Valley Scotty. The appellation "a.k.a." is used deliberately to give a sense of wrong-doing about this event, which is fully deserved, as it landed Scotty into the hands of the Sheriff and the District Attorney of San Bernardino County.

The time is early 1906. Scotty is high on a wave of national publicity as a result of his record breaking train ride from Los angeles to Chicago the year before. This notoriety gave Scotty a boost for his "profession" as a rugged prospector who had allegedly found rich gold deposits and was seeking investors who would provide capital for development, or grubstake him for future discoveries. Of course, the rich discoveries were a sham and did not exist, or turned out to be worthless claims. And Scotty would pocket much of the invested capital for his efforts.

On this occasion Scotty, through A. Y. Pearl, an eastener and mining promoter, had interested a group of eastern bankers and businessmen, headed by Henry Quint, to invest $60,000 in Scotty's Death Valley mine. However, a prudent Mr. Quint retained the services of a noted mining engineer, Daniel Owens, to meet with Scotty and Pearl, go to Death Valley, inspect the "mine" and give his expert opinion before making a commitment.

By mid-February, all arrangements for the inspection trip were made. Wagons, mules, horses and supplies of food, water (and other "liquids") were assembled. Scotty and Pearl met Daniel Owens in Daggett. Joining the group were others: Scotty's brothers Bill and Warner Scott, Bill Keys and Jack Brody, to handle the teamster and packing chores. Also joining the group was Albert Johnson, the wealthy insurance man from Chicago, who had met Scotty the prior year and had come west, also to examine mining properties.

Now, what was Scotty to do? Well, being a very resourcefull man, he had set up a scheme to thwart Daniel Owens from inspecting a non-existing mine by staging a wild west shoot-out that would scare Owens off. He enlisted Keys and Brody as active participants and Pearl as a co-conspirator.

The group departed for Death Valley in late February, using the old 20-mule team road that Scotty knew well. The third night out found them at Lone Willow Spring.
The following morning Keys and Brody departed very early, ostensibly to scout the road ahead for any dificulties. Hours later, the balance of the party started for Wingate Pass, six miles distant, crossed over the pass and proceeded down Wingate Wash. It became late in the afternoon, the party wanted to stop for the night, but Scotty refused and urged them on. They had gone but a short distance when the sharp crack of a rifle shot was heard, soon followed by a lone horseman riding hard up the wash.

The horseman was Jack Hartigan, a former deputy sheriff of Goldfield. Someone had shot at him. The party wanted to turn back, but Scotty drew his rifle and reassured all that he could handle any problem that arose. When they arrived at the point where Hartigan had been attacked, Scotty fired two shots into the air. Immediately a shot (or volley of shots) came from a series of rock breastworks on the embankment at the side of the wash. Warner Scott, the driver of the lead wagon, cried out "I'm shot !". Scotty, hearing this, galloped toward the embankment yelling "Stop the shooting - you've hit Warner". No response.

Warner was hit in the hip, the bullet passing through the groin, and exiting. Much bleeding; first aid and crude stitching of the wound. The party retreated to Lone Willow Spring for the night, rushed back to Daggett the following day where Warner was placed on the train for Los Angeles and admitted into a hospital. Los Angeles newspapers got wind that a party of the famous Scotty had been ambushed. The many headlines and articles caught the attention of San Bernardino County Sheriff John Ralphs.
Investigations followed. Pearl claimed that the party was attacked by four outlaws, with heavy firing. Daniel Owens' account was as described herein. He saw through Scotty's charade and believed that Scotty had meant to kill him. Sheriff Ralphs dug deeper. The San Berdoo D.A. became involved and arrest warrants were issued for Scotty, Keys, Brody and Pearl for assault with a deadly weapon.

This case took many twists and turns over the next several months, with Scotty appearing in court on multiple occasions, highly negative newspaper comment on Scotty's character, etc., etc. But Sheriff Raphs had a problem. He was not sure that this episode happened within his county. A survey arranged for by the D.A.. showed that the ambush took place definitely in Inyo County. This was out of Ralph's jurisdiction. Inyo County authorities, assessing the costs and effort involved, declined to prosecute. Scotty's luck had not failed him and, although his reputation was soiled, he recovered to continue his escapades for many years.

Author Johnston says it well: "Here was an indigent desert rat; an unschooled cowboy who gathered more bold-type headlines than the cleverest public relations expert; and, most astounding of all, a self-confessed con man who became the best-known prospector in the history of the world -- and he did it all without ever discovering a d.........ed thing!"

Ref: DEATH VALLEY SCOTTY "The Fastest Con in the West", Hank Johnston, 1974. DEATH VALLEY & THE AMARGOSA, R. E. Lingenfelter. 1986.