Upper Mojave Desert 230 W. Ridgecrest Blvd. • P. O. Box 2001, Ridgecrest, CA 93556 • 760-375-8456
Vol. 29 No. 3 March 2014 To see our schedule of events, visit us at www.hsumd.org or on Facebook at hsumd Tim Waag To Speak on Famed Photographer A. A. Forbes ur March meeting will feature the return of Tim Waag, who, with his brother Brian, has made HSUMD presentations on the Saline Valley Salt Tram and the Lonesome Miner Trail. On this, his third visit, Tim will discuss his latest research project, pioneer photographer A.A. Forbes. The meeting will be at 7 p.m.,Tuesday, March 18, at the Historic USO Building, 230 W. Ridgecrest Blvd. OThe subject of Tim’s talk, Andrew Alexander Forbes, was born April 21, 1862, in Waukesha County, Wisc., the son of James McLaren Forbes (from Scotland) and Lucinda Parmelia Sanders (from New York) and the fifth of eight children. Forbes grew up in the Midwest and moved frequently with his family. In the 1870s–early 1890s, he became a stockman on his family’s range, building his horsemanship and cowpunching skills, and devel- oping a ruggedness that became a key to his early success as an Tim Waag presents Eastern California Museum itinerant photographer. Curator Roberta Leighton with a Saline Valley Salt In the late 1880s, Forbes became a traveling photographer. Tram stock certificate. The museum, which has a large collection of Forbes photos, is invariably help- His work took him to Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, ful to the Waags and other researchers. northern Arizona, and the Rocky Mountains. He is best known Photo courtesy of the Waag brothers in this timeframe for his Oklahoma Land Rush photography of 1889– 1893, as well as his photos of everyday cowboy life. He also photo- graphed buffalo and cattle herds and began his remarkable images of Native Americans. Continued on p. 7 This Month’s Field Trip: the Trona Centennial There will be no Field Trip for the month of March. I gladly donate my spot to the Trona 100-year celebration, on March 28- 30, 2014. Trona Centennial organizers Lit Brush and Russ Lots of history and things to do in Trona on this weekend! I Kaldenberg invite us all to the big celebration of hope to see you there! Trona’s 100 years. See pages 4-6 for the details. — Jim Kenney Photo by Liz Vol. 29 No. 3 March 2014 President’s Message — Genealogical Tex Takes Over the Reins Committee hank you so much for entrusting me with the position ey, folks! of leader of your Board of Directors. We have had es- teemed persons in this position in the past, and I hope The Genealogical to perform as well as they did as we go forward. Committee will T meet, as usual, on Tuesday eve- I consider HSUMD to be an integral part of our com- ning, March 11, starting at 7 p.m. munity and its life, and I want to work to bring them closer HBe there or be square! together and involve all of us to do that. Here are some quick thoughts: Two of our members, Florence Moran and Judy Bradshaw, attended HSUMD, of course, has the goal of finding, col- the Southern California Genealogi- lecting, preserving and exhibiting the social and cultural cal Society’s Jamboree and chipped history of the community. I encourage all of us to find in to buy the box of DVDs that Tex Hoppus ways to help do this, to perhaps volunteer time to help hold recordings of the many semi- Carol Porter and others in organizing and archiving our many accessions. nars that were conducted. Maybe we can even bring some material to you at home, so that you can help They own the DVDs but have us identify or organize the material. graciously offered to let our group We want to finish restoring our Veterans’ Memorial Building so that it can hold them in our library and let become an exhibit of our community’s veterans and their personal contributions members watch them during our to our country. If we can find the resources and the volunteers to get the final open hours at the Historic USO work done to make the structure safe and ready to go, then we’ll be ready to start Building (we’ll return the DVDs at a organizing displays of our veterans. later date, so watch them soon). — Tex Hoppus And, speaking of being gracious, member Mary Kus is presenting one of those seminar recordings at our Coming Up: Good Way To Measure Your Health March meeting! Mary is an active volunteer for The Historic USO Building will be the site this month of an event de- HSUMD and an active genealogist signed to keep you healthy. in our group. She has done family Life Line Screening, a leading provider of community-based preventive research so long, she says, that she health screenings, will host its affordable, non-invasive and painless health doesn’t remember how long it’s been screenings on March 27. Five screenings will be offered that scan for po- – a common malady for many of us! tential health problems related to blocked arteries, which are a leading cause of So, come on March 11 and stroke; abdominal aortic aneurysms, which can lead to a ruptured aorta; hard- watch “Baby Steps to Genealogi- ening of the arteries in the legs, which is a strong predictor of heart disease; cal Maturity” by Robert Raymond, atrial fibrillation or irregular heart beat, which is closely tied to stroke risk; and hosted by Mary Kus. After the a bone density screening, for men and women, which is used to assess the risk showing you will become a better of osteoporosis. genealogist by using an easy system Register for a Wellness Package, which includes four vascular tests and of self-evaluation and self-improve- osteoporosis screening from $149 ($139 with our member discount). All five ment. screenings take 60-90 minutes to complete. And remember what I learned To register for this event and to receive a $10 discount off any package in researching my family history: priced above $129, please call 1-888-653-6441 or visit www.lifelinescreening. In a democracy, it’s your vote that com/community-partners. counts: in feudalism, it’s your Count — John Abbott that votes! — Tex Hoppus 2 Vol. 29 No. 3 March 2014 Collections and Other Topics HSUMD Goes Hollywood! s collections manager, I am pleased with the progress the great volunteers and I are making his month, we start a new series on flex-week Wednesdays: in the many areas of organization and storage. “Hollywood on Hollywood: the industry takes a look at A itself.” The library is looking so nice that I hate to remove a TT book for fear I will fail to return it to its correct place. Four films explore the hilarious We are planning to have our map books entered into a and tragic sides of Tinsel Town. Our master library file as well as our periodicals and what we first film stars Blonde Bombshell Eat Pizza, Drink Coffee — and refer to as newspaper pullouts. The Genealogy Library Jean Harlow. (Careful, I almost will be included in this master. This will make a great gave away the title!) Her charac- Earn Funds for VMB on Jan. 13 searchable file. ter, movie queen Lola Burns, is fed ! Our obituary collection is almost all indexed and up with her agent planting phony will be digital, giving us search capability. Not a partic- publicity stories and her parasitic ularly pleasant collection but one that we use to answer family hovering like vultures. She many questions. Most such requests are from folks out of the area who are researching family heritage. We are decides to flee Hollywood and look now adding to this collection from our local newspa- for love. But, drat! family and agent are not far behind! This pers dating from the earl ’50s. Lots of clipping, copy- farce, directed by Victor Fleming of “Gone with the Wind” and ing and scanning. We may call for help soon. “The Wizard of Oz” fame co-stars Lee Tracy, Franchot Tone, Frank We will get several helping hands for the next few Morgan, and Pat O’Brien, and will screen on March 12 at our months from one of our local Girl Scout Troops. Four usual 7 p.m. girls are working on their Gold Badges (similar to the Coming up on March 26, we delve into the seedier side of boys’ Eagle Badges). They will plan their own projects Tinsel Town with director Vincente Minelli’s acclaimed episodic and oversee their own teams of workers. Part of the drama. Kirk Douglas stars as a down-and-out, once-successful film re-quirement is to do something of lasting value to their producer attempting to mount a comeback film with the help of community. History preservation is just right for this. three former collaborators that he, in one way or another, had be- A nice surprise this past week was Shandon Hanson’s trayed. The film flashes back to each one of the victim’s stories in donation of items, photos, and information, all pertain- brilliant dramatic fashion. Lana Turner, Dick Powell, Barry Sul- ing to the Ridgecrest Junior Chamber of Commerce. The annual Ridgecrest Desert Wildflower Festival livan, and Gloria Grahame in her Academy-Award-winning role will be the weekend of April 11-13. Once again we co-star in this absorbing look at the behind the scenes functions of need help to make our visitors welcome, serve lunch the film industry. orders, take a turn in the HSUMD Gift Shop and just We will continue in April with the hilarious musical com- be friendly. edy about the movies’ clumsy conversion to sound and the ut- Jim Nichols is planning the presentations, Frances terly tragic tale of a silent movie queen that Hollywood has Nichols will demonstrate flower-painting, and our forgotten. More about those outstanding films in next month’s popular wildflower photo contest entries will be in the newsletter. Admission is donation only, and the famous Historic west exhibit room. With the shortage of rain this year USO doors open at 6:30 to allow plenty of time to grab a Jumbo I would love to have the walls ablaze with flowers. The “Crumville” hot dog and an Indian Wells Brewery soft drink. photos do not need to be from any specific year, but Starting in June: A Wonderful Summer of they must be from our valley and wild. Do start think- Disney ... films for the whole family! Watch for the dates. ing about which photos you’d like to show. (Guidelines for the display will appear in next month’s issue) Ridgecrest Has Talent! We take seriously our responsibility as a central venue, and we will feature directions and maps to self- ... And OPEN MIC continues to be the premiere venue for guided wildflower walks. Again this year we will offer our community’s up-and-coming musicians. Many a budding tal- one of our movies on Saturday night for family fun ent has been introduced to loving, nurturing audiences through — so come enjoy a bag of popcorn, root beer float or this famous musical showcase presented every non-flex Friday at sundae and a classic family film! 7 p.m. Admission for this exciting entertainment event is a mere The Desert Empire Fair will host a wine and food $2 per person. Come early (6:30) to the Historic USO and tasting event, also on Saturday evening. So — once sample the thrifty taste treats and thirst-quenching libations at the again — who says there’s nothing to do in Ridgecrest? Snack Bar. — Carol Porter Carol also sent in some great historical photos; no room for them And be sure to browse our famous Gift Shop open before, dur- this month, but watch for them in the next issue. – ed. ing, and after the show. — Nick Rogers 3 Vol. 29 No. 3 March 2014 TRONA CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION MARCH 28–30, 2014 FRIDAY, MARCH 28 EVENTS COST 9 a.m.– 9 p.m. History Symposium (Registration Opens 7:30 a.m.) $25.00 Trona High School Auditorium, 83600 Trona Road 9 a.m. Jim Fairchild, David Olney, Russell Kaldenberg, Welcoming Remarks 9:10 a.m. Mackenzie Wheeler, “History of Trona High School” 9:30 a.m. Margaret “Lit” Brush, “History of the Searles Valley Historical Society” 10 a.m. Roger Mitchell, “Searles Valley’s Ice Age Legacy” 10:30 a.m. Larry Vredenburgh, “Historical BLM Data Sets for Searles Valley” 11 a.m. Roger Hatheway, “A History of Trona Road” 11:30 a.m. Marty Dickes, “Company-Built Houses of Trona” Noon–1:30 Lunch on Your Own 1:30 p.m. Steve Beck, “Westend Chemical Co.: Borax Smith’s 2nd Borax Co.” 2 p.m. Liz Babcock, “Garden City: a Desert Surprise” 2:30 p.m. Pat and Tom Dunne, “Westend: The Plant, the Town, and the People” 3 p.m. Bill Gossett, “Growing up in Borosolvay from 1950–1966” 3:30 p.m. Kish La Pierre, “Water Across the Desert: The Trona Water Line” 4 p.m. Cliff Walker, “Chicken Liquor and Other Trona Bootlegging Tales” 4:30 p.m. Blair Davenport, “Military Aircraft Incidents in Death Valley, Panamint Valley, and Saline Valley” 5 p.m. Ivan Summers, “The Epsom Salts Monorail” 5:30–7 p.m. Supper on Your Own Keynote Speakers 7 p.m. James L. Fairchild, “Early Mining at Searles Dry Lake” 8 p.m. Rod Jensen, “Searles Valley Minerals Operations” noon–1:30 p.m. Lunch Served $8.00 St. Madeline’s Catholic Church, 83395 Trona Road 1–5 p.m. “Austin Hall” Community Vendor Fair 13200 Main Street 5:30–7 p.m. Pasta Dinner Served $8.00 Trona Senior Center, 13187 Jones St. 6–9 p.m. Car & Bike Show Dinner TBA New Hope of SV Foursquare Church, 12315 C St. 6–10 p.m. Street Dance With the Homewood Band FREE On Street in front of Old Theater, 13200 Main St.
SATURDAY, MARCH 29 EVENTS COST 9–10 a.m. Pancake Breakfast $5.00 Trona Community Church, 83100 Magnolia Ave. 8 a.m.–5 p.m. BLM Wild Horse & Burro Adoption Exhibition Street Fair “Old West Exhibits” 82900 Searles St. 8 a.m.–3 p.m. Centennial Cook Book & Bake Sale Trona Senior Center, 13187 Jones Str. 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Car & Bike Show New Hope of SV Foursquare Church, 12315 C St. 4 Vol. 29 No. 3 March 2014 MORE TRONA CENTENNIAL EVENTS
SATURDAY, MARCH 29 EVENTS COST
10–11 a.m. Centennial Celebration Parade Telescope St. to Main St. to Mountain View St. 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Street Fair Vendors, Food & Entertainment Two Venues: 82900 Searles St. & 13337 Main St. (Gem & Mineral Bldg.) 10 a.m.–5 p.m. “Austin Hall” Community Vendor Fair 13200 Main St. 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Commemorative Postage Stamp Cancellation Post Office, 82905 Searles St. (also regular hours, Friday) 1-5 p.m. Music Festival – Three Bands $7.00 Old Trona Theater, 13223 Main St. 2–3 p.m. Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Social $4.00 Trona Airport, 15490 Airport Rd. 12 and younger: $2.00 3–5 p.m. Former Tronans’ Get-Together Trona Elementary School, 13385 Athol St. 3–9 p.m. Deep-Pit BBQ Dinner Served TBA Trona Elks Lodge, 82750 Trona Road 7–9 p.m. Keeter Stuart in Concert $10.00 Old Trona Theater, 13223 Main Street
SATURDAY, MARCH 29 TOURS SUNDAY, MARCH 30 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Historic Argus Cemetery (Self-Guided) 9 a.m.–2 p.m. 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Trona Churches (Self-Guided) 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Searles Valley Minerals, Inc., Plant Tours 10 a.m.–2 p.m. 13200 Main Street 10 a.m. & 1 p.m. Historic Homes -- Walking Tour meet at Old Guest House Museum, 13193 Main St. 11 a.m.–2 p.m. Trona High School 13600 Trona Road 2–4 p.m. San Bernardino County Sheriff Sub-Station 13215 Jones Street
SATURDAY, MARCH 29 MUSEUMS SUNDAY, MARCH 30 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Old Guest House Museum 10 a.m.–2 p.m. 13193 Main St. 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Argus Fire Station Museum 10 a.m.– 2 p.m. 82275 Trona Rd. 9 a.m.–5 p.m. History House Museum 10 a.m.–2 p.m. 83001 Panamint St. 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Trona Railway Museum & Caboose 10 a.m.–2 p.m. 83001 Panamint St. 5 Vol. 29 No. 3 March 2014 EVEN MORE TRONA CENTENNIAL EVENTS SUNDAY, MARCH 30 EVENTS 8 a.m.–2 p.m. BLM Wild Horse & Burro Adoption Exhibition Street Fair “Old West Exhibits” 82900 Searles St. 9 a.m.–2 p.m. Centennial Cook Book & Bake Sale Trona Senior Center, 13187 Jones St. 9 a.m.–2 p.m. “Austin Hall” Community Vendor Fair 13200 Main St. 9 a.m.–2 p.m. Street Fair Vendors, Food & Entertainment Two Venues: 82900 Searles St. & 13337 Main St. (Gem & Mineral Bldg.) For more info, see ***free lunch to 1st 200 visitors*** (hot dogs or tacos) www1.iwvisp.com/svhs/ 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Video Retrospective of Historic Trona Photographs Old Trona Theater, 13223 Main St.
Looking north along Magnolia Street, Trona, 1914. The Slate Range is in the background.
Collection of Searles Valley Historical Society
Our Business Members — please patronize them! Allen County Public Library, Explore Historic California Netzer-Russell Consulting, LLC Genealogy Department The Flower Shoppe Nevins Tech. Consultants Anna Marie Bergens, Realtor Heritage Inn The News Review (Farris) Best Western China Lake Inn Phyllis M. Hix, Attorney Pleistocene Foundation Cal-Sun Pools Hockett’s Building Supply Red Rock Books Carriage Inn IWV Insurance Ridgecrest Moving & Storage Comfort Inn JRP Historical Consulting, LLC S&M Coins & Collectibles Cordell Construction Dick Lewis Domestic Water Systems Sierra Wave Tank Sales DeathValley.com The Library Press Southern Sierra Medical Clinic Earth Landscaping Jack & Dana Lyons, Realtors Gary P. Staab & Assoc., Inc. Econo-Lodge Maturango Museum The Swap Sheet Warren’s Automative 6 Vol. 29 No. 3 March 2014 Tim Waag on A. A. Forbes SEEP Starts Soon From p. 1 One of the Arriving in Owens Valley in around 1900, Forbes oper- tri-folds ated a studio on West Line Street in Bishop between 1902 created for and 1916. He loaded a wagon with his photographic outfit us by Rick (tent, cameras, glass negatives, paper stock, dark room sup- Corlette plies, etc.) and traveled extensively, taking and selling his and his photos. Kearney Landscape photography was his first love, and when a High School wagon trail ended, he packed his heavy gear on his back to students. hike to the ideal site for the image he wanted to capture. Subjects during the Forbes Studio era included early stu- Courtesy of Craig Porter dio portraits and outdoor photos in Owens Valley, Yosemite, and elsewhere of the Owens Valley Paiute, Petrara, Luiseno, ’s 2014 SEEP field trips are Western Mono, Miwok, and Yokuts tribes. Forbes was a HSUMDfast approaching. Each spring prolific photographer, capturing the Southern Calif. orange HSUMD along with the BLM, Maturango Museum, groves, California Missions, early industrial growth in the Aguabonita Flyfishers, Audubon Society, IWV Water Dis- state, the building of the Los Angeles Aqueduct and more. trict, Quails Forever, Oasis Garden Club, and several other “Our research has revealed A. A. Forbes to be a hard- environmentally concerned organizations offer the Sand working man of the people, humble to his core, who con- Canyon Environmental Education Program, a classroom nected in a spiritual way with the people and places that he and in-field educational program to the fourth-grade stu- photographed,” said Tim. dents in the Indian Wells Valley, Kernville and Trona. As Tim and Brian researched the Saline Valley Salt Tram Before you know it, we will have approximately 60 (www.salttram.blogspot.com), they repeatedly came across fourth graders at the History Station in Sand Canyon for Forbes photos. As with the Salt Tram, the brothers found each field trip. little information out there on the man and his work. Our focus is on the building of the Los Angeles Aque- They realized that Forbes had made a substantial contri- duct and transportation of water as well as the history of bution to the recording of history in the amazingly history- those living in Sand Canyon (1933 to 1948). Eight trips dense Owens Valley, then made it their job to document his are scheduled as of now, March 14th through May 9th. photographic work and honor his lifetime achievements. Craig Porter, our SEEP coordinator, along with Lloyd Smith, will again head up the program. Tex Hoppus and Though usually teaming up with his younger brother Melody Hollinger will be joining them in the canyon. Brian, this time Tim will appear solo (Brian has to work). Craig says he can always use an extra hand or two. Sixty Tim has a BS in math and computer science from fourth graders can be an active audience. UCLA and a MS in math and an MBA from USC. He Former resident Rick Corlette offered the talent of his grew up in Southern California, then moved with his family Kearny High School multimedia class to help HSUMD to San Luis Obispo in 1992. He was a software developer improve our educational materials. The high school for 15 years, then became a professional scuba instructor students made an abridged version of our “Sand Canyon and owned a graphic design studio for 12 years. Today he Station” DVD specifically for use in SEEP fourth- grade manages an employment law firm in San Luis Obispo. classrooms. The Kearly HS students also upgraded and Tim enjoys a variety of outdoor activities. He is a scuba significantly improved tri-folds we use for the talks in Sand instructor, lifelong boater, kayak instructor, certified trail Canyon. Everything now looks very professional – what crew leader, first aid instructor, former board member of the a great contribution to our local fourth graders and to Catalina Conservancy, Cheap Jeep crewmember, and cul- HSUMD. tural site steward. He enjoys backpacking and hiking in the “I can’t say enough about how fortunate we were get desert peaks areas in and around the Death Valley region. some help from Rick and his high school students,” said HSUMD meets on the third Tuesday of most months. Craig. Meetings are free, and all are welcome to attend. To learn Please give Craig a call at 760-446-3400 if you are will- more on this or future meetings, call 760-375-8456. ing to take a trip up to the canyon. 7 Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert NONPROFIT ORG. P. O. Box 2001 U.S. POSTAGE PAID Ridgecrest, CA 93556 PERMIT NO. 9 RIDGECREST, CA ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
MEETING OF MARCH 2014
Tuesday, March 18, 7 p.m., Historic USO Building
760-375-8456 for info info for 760-375-8456
call or [email protected] other gift giving. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. nonprofit 501(c)(3) a are We giving. gift other
Nick Rogers, Movie Nite, Publicity Nite, Movie Rogers, Nick
Please remember the Historical Society in your wills, trusts and and trusts wills, your in Society Historical the remember Please
760-446-3400, [email protected] 760-446-3400,
Annual dues are $25 (family) and $35 (business). $35 and (family) $25 are dues Annual
Carol Porter, Accessions & Exhibits & Accessions Porter, Carol
Important Reminders Important
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Bill Pitman, Membership, Hospitality Membership, Pitman, Bill
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Donna McCrohan Rosenthal, PR Coordinator PR Rosenthal, McCrohan Donna Scott McEntee, Audiovisuals, Stage Mgr. Stage Audiovisuals, McEntee, Scott color version online. version color
760-371-2458, [email protected] 760-371-2458, [email protected]
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Jim Kenney, Field Trips Coordinator Trips Field Kenney, Jim Chuck Cordell, Building Cordell, Chuck that, but we thought you you thought we but that,
760-375-2610, [email protected] 760-375-2610, [email protected] 760-375-5709,
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John Di Pol, Historian Pol, Di John John Abbott, Building Mgr., Bldg. Rental Bldg. Mgr., Building Abbott, John sending paper copies, since since copies, paper sending
760-375-7900, [email protected] 760-375-7900,
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Liz Babcock, Newsletter Editor Newsletter Babcock, Liz
760-608-7296, [email protected] 760-608-7296, e-mailed to you each month. month. each you to e-mailed
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Alan Alpers, Gift Shop Manager Shop Gift Alpers, Alan
& Secretary/Treasurer Sound, Andrew , and ask her to put you you put to her ask and , com
COMMITTEE LEADERS COMMITTEE
[email protected] Babcock, Babcock, lizbab2@gmail.
Melody Hollinger, Recording Secretary Recording Hollinger, Melody our newsletter editor, Liz Liz editor, newsletter our
760-793-2107, [email protected] 760-793-2107, 760-375-8202, [email protected] 760-375-8202, Just send an e-mail to to e-mail an send Just
Matthew Zubia, Fundraising Zubia, Matthew
Doug Lueck, Vice President Vice Lueck, Doug
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[email protected] 760-446-3370,
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nwhisnant@hotmail. 382-0014, 760
Genealogical Committee Genealogical
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Nick Whisnant, Asst. Building Mgr. Building Asst. Whisnant, Nick & President Hoppus, Tex DIRECTORS