July, August, September 2018

632 Landers Lane, Landers 92285 • PO Box 2046, Yucca Valley 92286 760-364-2000 • www.MBHS.net • [email protected] Sky Drive-In Theater, Yucca Valley

Steve Hanson, the Site Committee Chairman for the Morongo Basin Historical Society, submitted the following Site Report in 2014 for the former Sky Drive-In Theater in Yucca Valley. His parents, Adams and Pauline Hanson, owned the theater from 1962, until it closed in 1994, and was converted to a full-time swap meet. This report has Steve’s remembrances of the drive-in and of helping his parents there. Sky Drive-In Theater by Steve Hanson, son of Pauline & Adams Hanson Ticket booth and once Fred Story’s real estate office In 1958 Bill C. D. Weiser, a business promoter from Pennsylvania with a movie theater background, approached Fred A. Story, a landowner and real estate broker of Yucca Valley, with the idea of constructing and opening a drive-in theater in Yucca Valley, California. Mr. Story and Mr. Weiser talked this over and made an agreement to build a drive-in theater off Hwy. 62 at the east end of town. The theater would be named The Sky Drive-In. The agreement was that Mr. Story would supply the land and funds for the project, and Mr. Weiser would oversee the construction and lease the business and property from Mr. Story. The proposed property was on a thirteen-acre parcel approximately 200 feet west of Old Woman Springs Road. At the time, there were no other buildings in this area. Fred Story owned this parcel of land, and in January 1959, they started construction at that site and finished in May of that year. The theater was officially opened on June 3, 1959, and the first showing was “Tonight's the Night,” starring David Niven, followed by “The Tall Stranger” with Joel McCrea. Hi-Desert Star news article, dated May 14, 1959

The Sky Theater, Yucca Valley’s new 350-speaker drive-in, this week is receiving finishing touches in readiness for the theater's premier presentation. With Los Angeles first-run pictures, C. D. Weiser owner, said this week, “and the cool nights of over 3,300-foot elevation,” we hope that good pictures and desert nights at their best will provide a pleasant summer for all.” In November of 1959, Mr. Weiser left the Sky Drive-In Theater due to low income expectations. This left Mr. Story with a theater business he knew nothing about. Mr. Story started immediately to look for someone to lease the property and run the business. Ellis and Beatrice Everett and David Hauk came to Yucca Valley and talked with Mr. Story, and they came to an agreement whereby they would buy the theater business from Mr. Weiser and lease the property. After a few months, it was decided the business didn’t have enough income to support two families, so Mr. Hauk sold his share of the business to the Everett’s and left. Ellis and Bee Everett went on to run and lease the Sky Drive-in business from 1959 to 1975. In 1961, Mr. Story decided he wanted to sell all his interest in the venture, so he started looking for someone interested in owning the theater property. He heard that local residents Adams and Pauline Hanson had theater experience, so in November 1961, he approached them with an offer to sell them the property. Adams (Ole) Hanson had been a theater projectionist since he was fourteen years old, and his wife Pauline had worked as a projectionist at age six- teen for her father, Clarence Jacobs, in his theater in Fallbrook, California. At that time, Pauline was working for Bill and Trudy Underhill at their Star- light Drive-In Theater in Twentynine Palms. Also, Pauline had worked a few days off and on for the Sky Drive-In Theater as a fill-in projectionist. Both Pauline and Adams had good theater experience. Pauline and Adams would buy the property and lease the business portion to Ellis and Beatrice (Bee) Everett. The purchase was completed January 3, 1962.

Pauline’s husband, Adams Hanson, was working overseas at the time, so she called and told him about the offer to buy the Drive-in theater property in Yucca Valley. Adams told her it was all right with him, so Pauline met again with Mr. Story to work out the details, and they came to an agreement. The original road to the drive-in theater came north off Highway 62 and was named Theater Road. In 1971, part of this road was eliminated so the Hi- Desert Shopping Center could go in there. The original plan had no access road into the drive-in theater, so Mrs. Hanson (my mother) fought the shopping center powers-to-be, but to no avail. Mrs. Hanson then bought two commercial lots that connected the theater property to Old Woman Springs Road so she was guaranteed direct access to her theater property. One of the shopping center promoters was dickering with the owner of those two lots at the time but was not willing to pay the asking price, and his offers had been turned down. Mrs. Hanson found out about this property and approached the owner about purchasing the lots. The property owner was so put out by the promoter's low offers that he offered the lots to Mrs. Hanson for the last offer received from the promoter. The promoters were upset to say the least but could not do a thing about it. Eventually the promoters relented and gave the theater an acceptable driveway to the theater. The new access driveway was placed between the new shopping center on the south and the hardware store to the north. Now the drive-in theater would have adequate access to its property.

Mr. Everett found early on that the winter temperature could go as low as twenty degrees Fahrenheit, so in 1962 an in-car heater system was installed to accompany speakers. Before this time, customers would run engines to keep their cars warm. During the movie one could see exhaust coming out of cars all over the drive-in, and it smelled bad. During summer months, the theater would periodically have all-night shows on Saturday nights, showing four or five different movies. Customers were charged one dollar per car for the whole night. People really enjoyed this. The movie “Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here” was first premiered at the Sky Drive-in Theater in 1969. It was a Technicolor movie starring Robert Redford and released in 1969, based on the true story of a Paiute Indian named Willie Boy and his run-in with the law in 1909 in Banning and the Morongo Basin. In 1970 Mr. Everett’s son Richard started a swap meet near the old Ford dealership at the west end of Yucca Valley. This was a busy area, and after someone was hit by a car, the county prohibited any further use of the area as a swap meet. In 1971 Mr. Everett took over the swap meet and moved it to the Sky Drive-in Theater, where it is still open. In 1973, the snack bar was expanded to three times the original size. The owners Pauline and Adams (Ole) Hanson hired Tommy Humphreyville to construct the new addition. Adams was an electrician by trade, so he did all the electrical work. He installed over one hundred electrical outlets in the projection booth alone. Their son, Steve (me), helped with the work, sometimes working with Tommy as well as his dad. I remember my dad and I spent a week busting up concrete sidewalk to make room for the new snack bar foundation. That was a backbreaking job. Pauline the projectionist When we moved to Yucca Valley in 1959 and my mother started working as a projectionist for Bill & Trudy Underhill and their twin screen Starlight Drive-in Theater in Twentynine Palms. I worked in the snack bar waiting on customers. One night in the late fall while I was walking around the theater grounds I saw a meteorite hit the mountains to the south. Sparks went flying all over that area. To this date I have never met anyone else who saw that. It was awesome. For a brief period in late 1959 mom worked periodically for Bill Weiser at his Sky Drive-in Theater in Yucca valley. This was closer to home for her so a shorter drive. I got in free but had to work in the snack bar for the admission. The Sky Drive-In did not have enough business for a full-time projectionist at that time so she continued to work for the Underhill’s in Twentynine Palms. When she and her husband bought the Sky Drive-in Theater in 1962 she became the fulltime projectionist until it closed 1994. I remember my Mom talking about going home late at night after the show and it was dark, really dark. Mom and Dad lived on five acres on Yucca Mesa and there weren’t many people living out there at that time for support in case of problems. One thing dad did was to install garage door openers for both Pauline Hanson, 1964 doors with cement posts in front of each garage door with key switches installed so mom could open the garage without having to get out of the car. Also, dad installed chain link fencing between the garage and house so no one could easily sneak up on her when she went from the garage to the house. That was about as good as they could do and it worked fine until mom eventually moved to town in 1992. My recollections When we moved to Yucca valley I was seventeen years old and didn’t know many other kids of my own age there. However, I kept busy going to school and visiting with friends nearby. I worked in the snack bars at drive-in theaters in Yucca Valley, and Twentynine Palms so I always had some money in my pocket. That was not so for most of the local kids. At this time the Morongo Basin area had few opportunities and almost none for kids my age so I was very lucky. Also, I always got in free to the theater while I or my mother was working. Some of my friends did not have enough money to pay the admission so a couple of times I parked the car in the theater then went out and helped them sneak in. I felt bad about this. The drive-in theater was not doing so well financially so I stopped. This was before my parents owned the drive-in theater.

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My parents bought the theater in 1962 while I was away in my first year of college. I came home most weekends and was put to work in the snack bar and cleaning up after the show was over. I enjoyed this and was proud of my parents for taking this big step to own the theater. Over the years there were many happenings I remember. Over time the drive-in theater started to show a profit but it was not going to make anyone rich. Mom and dad loved the theater business so the hard work was ok with them. Dad and I did most of the repairs and weeding and mom took care of the business of owning the property. I remember my mom complaining about people smoking pot outside and in front of the projection booth window where she was working. It drifted into the booth and my mom said it had a distinctive odor to it. If someone came out to investigate the smokers left in a hurry.

1947 Simplex projector I moved back to Yucca Valley in 1971 and worked at the drive-in theater part time on odd jobs. I did maintenance and worked in the snack bar when needed. After the show was over I cleaned up the litter left by our customers. That took about an hour so I got home really late on those nights. From 1975 till 1980, I worked Friday and Saturday nights patrolling the grounds for noisy customers and kids trying to sneak over the fence to get in. One evening we had a disruptive young guy named Danny who was drunk and on drugs at the same time. We were not equipped to handle a situation like this so we called the local sheriff whose name was Roger Melanson to come out and defuse the situation. The next day I saw Danny and he was in his usually friendly way. I don’t think he remembered a thing from the previous night. I remember one night there was a coyote rummaging through the trash next to the snack bar. I was not ten feet away from the coyote and he did not seem to care a bit. I yelled at him and he just looked at me then meandered off.

In 1975, the Everett’s son Jack retired from his job as an engineering manager for ITT, at Cape Canaveral, and came to Yucca Valley, planning to stay a year. Ellis took advantage of his son’s engineering expertise and immediately put him to work on repairing the drive-in theater’s antiquated 1947 Simplex movie pro- jectors. Over the next year Ellis, taught Jack the theater and swap meet business. Then he retired and turned it all over to Jack and wife Marge. In 1989 Jack developed health problems so his wife Marge took over running the theater and swap meet until 1994.

Bob and Elizabeth Carr bought the theater property 1994 after the theater por- Jack & Marge Everett and Pauline Hanson, tion closed. They had worked for the Everett’s for many years. When they took and their famous 1927 popcorn machine over they continued the swap meet operation which is still open as of 2014. The swap meet was renamed “Sky Village Outdoor Market”. Editor’s Note: At its opening in 1959, the Sky Drive-In charged $1.50 per car and the proceeds went to benefit construction of a hospital on Cholla Avenue in town. This is the location today of Desert Manor, an assisted living facility. The last movie shown at the Sky Drive-In was “The Lion King.” The Sky closed in 1994, but today its iconic sign off Highway 247 still marks the entrance drive, past the abandoned ticket booth, to the site of the former drive-in. The Sky experienced the same fate as thousands of drive-ins nationwide, though it survived longer than many. At its peak in midcentury, there were more than 4,000 drive-in theaters in the United States. They began to disappear in the 1970’s. Today, there are less than 500 remaining in spite of a minor resurgence in recent years. They are popular these days not only for nostalgic reasons but also, compared to indoor theaters, they are a bargain. They provide a unique experience and here in the Morongo Basin we are fortunate to have a drive-in theater that is still operating. Smith’s Ranch Drive-In in Twen- tynine Palms is open four nights a week (Thursday-Sunday) and shows two new movies every Friday. Tickets are a bargain $5 (cash only) per person, kids three and under are free. Thanks to advances in technology, customers dial into a preset FM station for the sound, eliminating the need for hanging car speakers. Along with the traditional popcorn, soda and candies, the concession stand offers pizza, nachos, hot dogs and pulled pork sandwiches.

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From Tri-Valley Little League to the Major Leagues by Jim Spotts

Little League Start Up 1960 Tri-Valley Little League started up in 1960, but there was a problem right off the bat. Little League rules required a total of forty-eight players to fill the rosters of four teams in order to form a league. However, only forty of the boys who showed up met the age requirement of being nine to twelve years old. The remaining eight boys were a year younger, eight years old. Charter members George and Jacquelyn (Jackie) Rauch were not going to let this problem stop them. Jackie wrote a letter to the Little League authorities in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, requesting a waiver of the age rule for Yucca Valley. She asked the authorities’ permission to allow Tri-Valley to accept boys who were eight years old on the rosters in order to meet the forty-eight-player requirement. Jackie’s letter impressed the Little League Jack O’Connor on the All Star Team hierarchy so much that they granted permission to waive the age rule. During the first or Charter year, George was the Head Umpire and then became League Vice President the year after. He also managed the Western Hills Little League team. Meanwhile, Jackie served as the Treasurer for many years, even after her own sons no longer played in the league. Jack O’Connor Joins the Little League Some seven years after the Tri-Valley Little League was founded, a young player was volunteered by his older brother, Jim, as a pitcher for his team. He was a left hander and his name was Jack O’Connor. In the All-Star Team photo above, Jack O’Connor is in the back row, second from the left. Jack grew up playing baseball, often with older boys who were his brother’s friends. One special place for baseball was the Rauch’s backyard where a pitcher’s mound and home plate had been installed. The boys were outside playing all day, from very early morning until it got dark. Another activity, according to both brothers, was hunting for snakes. Fortunately, as far as we know, no one was bitten. It was a great time to grow up in a small-town environment. In a search through a Tri-Valley donation, to the Historical Society, of Little League memorabilia, we came across a scorecard from a 1969 game between the Giants and the Dodgers. Jack O’Connor was listed as the pitcher for the Giants and he batted fourth. The Giants won that game 13 to 4. Yucca Valley High School Baseball Days Jack went on to star in three sports, football, basketball and baseball, at Yucca Valley High School. During his freshman year, when he tried out for baseball, he thought he would make the junior varsity team, but instead was promoted to the varsity. He hardly played that year, but he sat beside Coach Floyd Watson and watched and learned. The next year, Coach Watson retired, and Bob Hettig took over as varsity coach. Jack expected to be assigned to the junior varsity but once again he made the varsity baseball team. In his junior year, Yucca Valley made the high school baseball playoffs. They traveled to West Covina where they faced Royal Oak (now a middle school). At the game, a number of professional baseball scouts attended to watch the star pitcher for Royal Oak. Although Yucca Valley lost the game, because they couldn’t hit the Royal Oak pitcher, Jack O’Connor pitched a strong game and impressed the scouts. As Coach Hettig said, “Jack was a left hander and he could throw the ball pretty hard. From then on he was on their radar.” Senior Year After the season, Yucca Valley played a summer league baseball game in Apple Valley. “There were more scouts there to watch Jack than he had ever seen at a game,” said Hettig, “and that continued throughout his senior year.” The coach was there to provide guidance and act as a buffer from the scouts during O’Connor’s final year. When the season was over, the two took a college tour for potential scholarship baseball programs. Coach Hettig said there had been concern that O’Connor played football and basketball, in addition to baseball, but Jack always said he didn’t want to change anything. He was a star in all three sports in high school, an outstanding person and a great teammate who always gave a hundred percent. As for O’Connor, he praised Bob Hettig as a wonderful coach and mentor. He keeps in frequent touch with him today, long after his high school years. The coach, however, may have summed up their relationship best when he said, “My proudest moment as a coach was when I got to see Jack pitch for the Minnesota Twins against the Angels in Anaheim in 1981.” Drafted by the Montreal Expos Toward the end of the baseball season, the team played in a tournament in Arizona (Phoenix area). After meeting with Arizona State University in Tempe, Jack signed a “letter of intent” to attend and play baseball there in the following year. After he went home and thought about it, he decided he wanted to go directly into professional baseball instead of going to college. A short time later he was drafted in the ninth round by the Montreal Expos (since relocated to Washington D.C. and renamed the Nationals). O’Connor played his rookie season for the Lethbridge Expos, Alberta, Canada, in the Pioneer League. His first meeting with the manager for Lethbridge, Walt Hriniak, was a real eye-opener. He didn’t even say hello to Jack, he told him to “go get a haircut.” Jack wasn’t in Yucca Valley any- more playing for Coach Hettig. He was on his own, playing baseball in Idaho Falls and Billings, Montana as well as in Lethbridge.

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Making it to the Major Leagues The next year, Jack played in West Palm Beach, Florida, and for the next three years played in the Montreal organization rising to Triple A (the highest minor league) by 1980. However, Montreal did not protect him on their major league roster after five years in the minor leagues, O’Connor became available to be purchased by any team. Jack was picked up by the Minnesota Twins in the spring of 1981. He then had to make their major league roster in spring training, which he did. He made his major league debut against the Oakland A’s. He came into the game with the bases loaded and two outs and the first batter he faced was power hitter Tony Armas. His first two pitches were “nowhere near the strike zone.” But he got the next pitch over the plate and eventually got Armas to ground out. Jack remembered walking off the mound thinking: “Well that was easy.” The next inning, someone hit a home run off him. Playing in the Major Leagues Jack played for the Twins for the next four years, then played for the Expos and the Baltimore Orioles before retiring from baseball in 1988. His first manager with the Twins was Billy Gardner, and later, Cal Ripken, Sr., with the Orioles, both of whom he respected. He felt very lucky to have played with and against many of the stars of that era, including Cal Ripken, Jr., Andre Dawson, and Gary Carter, among others. He enjoyed his time playing professional baseball. Coming Back to Yucca Valley O’Connor, who now lives in Atlanta, Georgia, enjoys his periodic visits to Yucca Valley and reminiscing about growing up here. He gives a lot of credit to his older brother, Jim, for his development. He was a big influence and helped him tremendously. Jack also said he enjoyed his four years at Yucca Valley High School where he had great teammates and coaches. The town of Yucca Valley and the Tri-Valley organization has experienced tremendous growth in the years since Jack O’Connor played in the league. It started out with a group only forty-eight boys, and now there are hundreds of boys and girls, with the kids competing at multiple age and skill levels, playing baseball and softball. There are newer ball parks with lights, some even with grass. And who knows, one of the kids playing out there on the field today, just might be a future major leaguer. Special Thanks We want to thank Jack and Jim O’Connor and Coach Bob Hettig for sharing their stories with us for this article. Also, thanks to the Tri-Valley League for their generous donation of historical items and memorabilia to the Morongo Basin Historical Society.

Joshua Tree Wood Carvers, Louise and Roger Bridges Eight years ago, the Morongo Basin Historical Society sold western themed wooden carvings among other gift items at its gift shop located in Tamma’s Magic Mercantile. Linda and Wayne Darnell who volunteered to run the gift shop had a knack for buying the perfect western and desert themed merchandise and Linda had an for eye just how to display the items. The society closed the gift shop when the Darnell’s decided to “retire” from volunteering. Recently, we unexpectedly found an unpacked gift shop box containing two carved wooden wall hangings - a horse’s head and a quail mother with babies - which led us on a search to find out who had carved them. After talking with the Darnells, who recently moved back to the East Coast, they thought that the Coyote Corner Gift shop in Joshua Tree might know who the artist was. Not only did owners Chris and Ethan know who had done the carvings, they were related to the artist. Much to our surprise, it wasn’t just one carver but rather two, a husband and wife team, Louise and Roger Bridges who carve more than 75 different designs of western-themed animals, plants and birds that they sell in California to visitors from all over the world. Except for a few smaller items, they no longer sell to local shops. Instead once a year they journey in their RV on scenic US 395 up to Bishop, California, for “Mule Days,” an annual four-day celebration attracting thousands, where they sell from a booth. The carvings are made from hardwoods, individually selected for color and grain, and each design may have several different woods. Louise spe- cializes in using the scroll saw with which she precisely cuts very intricate designs. Roger does the sanding, with 2,000-grit paper, uses the larger saws, and glues the pieces – plants, animals, birds and fish together. Over the phone he guessed that the horse’s head was made of cherry wood, the nose made from ebony that they buy by the ounce and the white of the eye, made from a toothpick inserted in a tiny drilled hole. They use a wide variety of wood (they had a list of as many as 20-25) that they buy throughout the United States and from a few from other countries. Olive wood comes from central California, myrtle wood is harvested in the Rogue River area of Oregon, aspen is purchased from Colorado. Among other wood they use are birds eye maple, hard-to-find chestnut and paduk, an African wood. Several types of wood give each carving a variety of colors and shades. Nothing is stained or painted and each piece is lovingly assembled by the couple. Louise and Roger were high school sweet hearts more than 50 years ago and reconnected recently. This avocation keeps them busy, traveling and pursuing their other passion, fishing. The society is proud to add the horse’s head and quail family to our local artists collection at the museum in Landers.

Bridges’ Carvings

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If These Buildings Could Talk….Yucca Valley Buildings and Businesses That Have Used Them

One of the jewels in the Morongo Basin Historical Society’s research room is eight volume set of 3-ring binders compiled by Charter Member Twila Couzens in 2002. The binders are a photographic collection, accompanied by newspaper clippings, advertisements, and business cards, of the businesses and buildings that line U.S. Route 62, as well as many of the side streets, in Yucca Valley. The list is comprehensive, starting on the west end of town, proceeding eastward by address, door-to-door, along the highway

For example, Volumes 1 through 5 contain all the buildings and businesses along Twentynine Palms Highway, starting with addresses 54461 to 55595 in Volume 1 and continuing through addresses 57039 to 59006 in Vol- ume 5.

Volume 6 has East to West side streets, volume 7 has North and South side streets from Camino del Cielo to Apache and volume 8 contains North and South streets from Mohawk/Acoma to La Contenta. Twila Couzens Twila was born in Chapman, Nebraska and moved with her family in 1937, to La Verne, CA. Her mom and dad met in the Sand Hills area of Northern and Western of Nebraska. Her father was a cowboy and her mother was a schoolteacher. They moved to Cali- fornia when dad was offered a job working in the citrus groves in La Verne.

Asked how she got her unusual name, she explained that her aunt, who was expecting, was going to name her baby “Twila,” if she had a girl, in the days when every couple had to have both a boy’s and a girl’s name ready. When her aunt had a boy, Twila’s mother appropriated the name for her.

Twila and her husband Jim, a deputy sheriff, moved to Yucca Valley in 1964, where they raised two sons. She was a homemaker who became involved in various local non-profit organizations. Since her boys were in school, Twila was active in PTA. The elementary school principal asked Twila and her friend Lillian May Clarke to write a history of Yucca Valley history for the third-grade curriculum. The book, “Yucca Valley and Its History,” was published in 1966. Reprinted over the years, the society hopes to print a new addition edition illustrated by a local artist. A Labor of Love As a Charter member of the Morongo Basin Historical Society, Twila began organizing the Joan Wilson Collection. President Lloyd Noel asked her to write up a list of “firsts” for Yucca Valley. It got her thinking about documenting businesses in Yucca Valley. This was something that suited her well. She calls herself “very detailed and persis- tent.” She took on the project in 1998, and finished the 8 volumes in 2002, researching from her own archives of old newspapers, Grubstake Days programs, copying old telephone books from the Yucca Valley library, collecting business cards and going through the Joan Wilson files. Most of the photographs were taken from her automobile as she drove along 29 Palms Highway and up and down the side streets. She concluded, “It was a labor of love.” Even more amazing, Twila hasn’t stopped but continues to clip articles about business closings and new stores starting up. She wants to pass the project on to someone who is willing to organize her archives and enjoy the project as much as she has all these years. Cary Moore Reflects on Then and Now New member Cary Moore, initially came to 632 Landers Lane to research the history of the house where he lives. While doing this, he found Couzens’ eight-volume set “If These Buildings Could Talk….” Moore looked at the photographs throughout the volumes trying to figure out what type of camera had been used, at what angles the pictures had been taken and “why wasn’t the person mowed down by the traffic on Highway 62.”

When he talked with Twila on the phone, she said, “I can’t remember the name of the camera or even if I have it today.” The real mystery for Moore was how the consistent angle of the photos seemed to him to be very low. “It is a finicky business to locate the exact site of a photo and shoot a rea- sonable replication.” Re-photography of “buildings 16 years later with a camera that is different is not easy.” The low-angle mystery was solved when Twila said, “I sat in the driver’s seat, rolled down the window and took the picture.”

Cary always enjoyed photography but it heightened when he worked in the archives of the Los Angeles Public Library. He was assigned to Security Pacific National Bank’s collection of 20,000 photos. The bulk of the photos were 4X5 and 8X10 nitrate negatives, which are highly flammable. They were sent to an outside company to convert to safety film and came back to the library to be catalogued and indexed.

Moore works weekly at the museum in Landers researching the business locations, and takes his photos while on foot beside the curb for the next chapter of “If These Buildings Could Talk.”

Charter member and longtime research volunteer, Mona Lowe is one of our favorite and talented member-authors who wrote “Ghana: With Spotlight on the Asante-The way it was and now” published in 1978. Mona went to Ghana on a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship in the mid 1970’s. Lowe has an ad- vanced Master’s in Education from the University of Southern California. The research was gathered with the help of the Ghana Ministry of Education, school administrators, teachers and especially Ghanaian children who tested her findings. “Mrs. Mona Lowe has presented a unique picture of Ghana, one of the emerging countries in Africa. She utilized her background knowledge in inter-cultural education, her travels in Ghana, and her experience as an elementary school teacher. The questions and activities at the end of every chapter present a clean mirror through which the reader can understand the Ghanaian people” writes F. Yaw Boateng, Ph.D. Black Stud- ies Program, Washington State University.

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History of Triangle Park—Site Report by Steve Hanson

In 1948 my parents filed for a five-acre homestead on Yucca Mesa. After we started building our house my grand- parents, Clarence and Lillian Jacobs, started coming out to visit us on weekends to help. They fell in love with Yucca Valley and moved there from Fallbrook, CA, in 1953.

Grandpa started immediately to get involved in Yucca Valley affairs. He helped organize and run the Parks and Recreation department. By 1960 he had developed the Hi-Desert Park, the Triangle Park, and the Paradise Valley Park.

Sometimes good deeds do get recognized Article found in The Hi-Desert Star Newspaper, Friday May 7th, 2004 In the late 1950s, Clarence H. Jacobs (most called him C.H.) spent thousands of hours planting shrubs and trees at Remembrance Park (then called Triangle Park), Hi-Desert Park and the Paradise Valley Park. He hauled water in containers and hand-watered the vegetation at the parks, later installing water lines. His daughter, Pauline Hanson, figures he was around 75 when he started all this. Jacobs saw the need for parks in Yucca Valley and worked hard to make sure the town got those parks. He did this before there was a town, a park and recreation district, or a public works department. He put his own sweat into building Hi-Desert Park, and he deserved recognition for it. He also happened to be the first editor and manager of the Hi-Desert Star News Paper. Mr. Jacobs died Oct. 14, 1960 of heart disease.

In an article written in the Oct. 20, 1960, Hi-Desert Star called him one of the founders of the newspaper, creator of Hi-Desert Park "and constant benefactor of anything good for civic betterment in this community and Fallbrook where he had lived for many years." The article further stated "Although coming to Yucca Valley to retire, work was Mr. Jacobs’ philosophy, fulfillment and his goal". "While others backed his efforts building the Hi-Desert Park, it was Mr. Jacobs who dug the holes, planted the trees, kept the records, was a member of the park board and followed each detail through to the end." On Thursday, May 7, 2004, a dedication ceremony officially reopened a renovated Hi-Desert Park under the name Jacobs Park. We'd say it was high time to give his name to the park for which he did so much. The lobbyists for the name change, members of the Morongo Basin Historical Society, did a service in Jacobs' mem- ory, for his daughter, Pauline Hanson, who was there to see the dedication – and for the community at large. Changing the name of Hi-Desert Park to Jacobs Park gives recognition to those before us and leaves a message to us all that our founders worked hard to leave something for the future citizens of our town. These people put their own sweat and blood into the land. Their determination coupled with their vision matter to the future generations of the Hi-Desert.

Site Visit with Steve Hanson, Grandson of Clarence Jacobs (CH)

In 1956-7 my grandfather, Clarence Jacobs, started a city park named the Yucca Valley Park. That’s what we called it back in the 1950’s. Later it was called Hi-Desert Park. It is located on Hopi Trail and Onaga Trail. I watered some of the shrubs for him when he was away and some of them are still there to this day. He also built the Triangle Park at Yucca Trail and Highway 62 and a park in Para- dise Valley. In 2004, 44 years after his death, there was a ceremony giving him recognition for his Antone Martin’s Sabretooth Tiger work and the Hi-Desert Park was renamed Jacobs Park in his honor. See picture below. in Triangle Park

In 1960 my grandfather parked his 1950 Dodge car on a slope in town and didn’t set the emergency brake hard enough. After he got out of the car, it started to roll down the slope and he ran to open the door and set the brake. He was age eighty then and never felt well after this episode. About a year or so later Grandpa was rushed to the Desert Hospital in Palm Springs with chest pains. After a two week stay in the hospital he was sent home where he passed at our house on Yucca Mesa about a week later.

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Pioneertown History by Harvey B. Legrone Photo courtesy of Hi-Desert Publishing Co

Harvey B. Legrone, a long-time resident of Pioneertown, historian, member of the Billy Holcomb Chapter of E CLAMPUS VITUS and avid collector of historical artifacts established The Moharve Mercantile Museum, a replica of a general store with his wife Monika at their Harmonika Ranch in Pioneer- town. Harvey and Monika are authors of “Pioneertown” for the Pioneertown Plaque at the Pioneertown Post Office, as well as charter members of Morongo Basin Historical Society plus dedicated volunteers. Harvey wrote this article August 2002 for the Billie Holcomb Chapter Vituscan Missionary when they visited the Pioneertown Bowling Alley. It remained unpublished until now. We are printing the following as submitted in its entirety. “Mike wrote a good history of Pioneertown. I am not sure that I can embellish on that I am going to attempt to go back a few years before Pi-Town got its beginning. You are now in what some people refer to as Chaparrosa Valley-others might refer to it as Pipes Country or some other name. In a previous newsletter about Pioneer- town with reference to mines in the area, there was mention of a Morongo Road. I am not sure of the exact route from the mines along the Morongo Road to the desert. It is my assumption they traveled the route that came down to at least the Pipes Canyon Road-there it could have either followed Pipes Wash over to the Vic- torville Road and down to Warren’s Well, or it could have continued through the route that brought you into Pi-Town and down through Water Canyon into the Valley that goes west through Morongo Valley to the lower desert. At any rate we do know that the cattle drives from the Big Bear region into the desert followed those routes. This area was known to the cattlemen as black brush country. This area also played an important part in a nationwide story. Back in 1909, an Indian known today as Willie Boy, killed an Indian Chief known as Mike Boniface in Banning and kidnaped Mike’s daughter, now called Lolita, and fled with her as captive. A posse was formed and traced the couple to this area. A person by the name of Harry Lawton wrote a book about this incident and later a movie called Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here was made, starring Robert Redford and Robert Blake, based on his story and filmed in this area. Based on Lawton’s story, Willie Boy committed the murder in Banning and forced Lolita to come with him along the railroad tracks down to Whitewater where they turned north and came into Morongo Valley and crossed the Sawtooths into this valley. The Sawtooths are to our south, and the probable trail is over there where the trail comes by the Chaparrosa Spring. They then hugged the foothills over to the mouth of Pipes Canyon where a cattleman’s shack existed and where they spent the night and had a meal of jack rabbit. They headed northeast, and somewhere in the vicinity of where Bob Greene lives, Willie Boy shot Lolita in the back, killing her. The story continues with Willie Boy heading to Amboy but turning south to 29 Palms Oasis and then heading north and returning to the west to Rock Corral and then south to Ruby Mountain (again not far from Bob Greene’s place), where he ambushed the posse and committed suicide. While we are on the Pipes region, this is the area below Onyx Mountain where the Swedes had their mine about halfway up the peak. The Swedes used Pipes Wash as a means to get to the Victorville Road. Pipes Canyon is the location of a newly published book Small Rocks Rising. One of the first articles written on Pioneertown appeared in the January 28, 1950 issue of the Saturday Evening Post authored by H. Allen Smith. Dick Curtis, who played the villain in many western movies, had purchased land from the Southern Pacific Railroad. He had to ride horseback to get to this parcel of land and, upon seeing it, had a vision of locating a western movie set on it. He talked to Hollywood friends and ended up getting 17 part- ners to invest $500 apiece. This group ended up purchasing 32,000 acres which is 50 sections of land. The actual limits or borders of Pioneertown proper consists of only one section of land, one square mile or 640 acres. The original town CC&R’s defined Pioneertown as Section 19 of the Joshua Tree 15’ quadrangle. Some of the original investors were Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Russel Hayden, Bud Abbott, Hedda Hopper and Sons of Pioneers. A corporation was formed in 1946 with Curtis as the president and the first building, the Red Dog Saloon, was up by early Spring in 1947. Hardly before the movie set was begun then L.A. Real Estate people saw a chance to cash in on the endeavor and started hauling busloads of people out to purchase property. The corporation had already restricted the businesses on Mane Street from being sold and could only be leased. However, the real estate speculators began talking about making the area into a resort town with hotels, lakes and dude ranches. Soon the original idea of a living movie set was put into the background. After the first rush for property faded, Dick Curtis resigned as president and Russ Hayden became president. However, the motion picture industry ignored Pioneertown and continued to film movies in New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. So, around 1948 things looked pretty dismal for the businesses on Mane Street. On Mane Street there were two businesses dealing with ice cream or frozen sweets, a general store, feed store, printing office, land office, furniture store, western wear clothing, two restaurants (the Golden Stallion and the Grubstake), motel, bowling alley, electric shop, gas station and pony express office, totaling somewhere around 30 businesses. About 200 citizens remained in and around the area, thinking things would pick up. They staged gunfights, robberies and hangings for the tourists that still came by. Around 1950, Philip Krasne came to visit and decided that it was a good place to film Cisco Kid movies. He built the Sound Stage and disguised it as a livery stable. He acquired the movie rights to the entire area and would rent out production facilities to other producers. Up to mid-1949 only two movies had been filmed here: one by Gene Autry and one by Krasne. Things started to happen and the town became busy with the filming industry. In the early 1950’s approximately a dozen movies were filmed here by United Artist, Columbia, RKO and MGM. Gene Autry began filming his TV programs in 1950.

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While few movie stars actually built here, I am told that least 3 or 4 did. The most notable is that of Russ and Mousie Hayden which served as movie and TV sets, the best known being Judge Roy Bean. The Hayden Ranch for many years hosted a barbeque or chili cook-off as a fund raiser for some of the local needy. Across the street is supposedly where Dick Curtis lived. He lasted a little over a year or two. Up on the hill was where Mina Gombell constructed the log cabin with her girlfriend De Churchill. There is some dispute as to which building was first completed. Since at least two were completed around the same time, you have a choice of the Red Dog Saloon or the Land Office. The bowling alley was completed in early 1949 and Roy Rogers rolled the first ball in his cowboy boots-a photo and score card are on display behind the bar in the alley. There is some controversy over why Pioneertown failed as a continuous movie set. Some say because the streets were laid out too wide and it was difficult to get both sides in one shot. Another theory was that Mane Street was laid out east to west causing the camera crew to have to shoot into the sun too often. For whatever reason, the bubble burst and filming was in a slump. Russ Hayden thought a way for recovery would be to construct a road from Highway 62 up to Baldwin Lake, the road was to be known as Pioneer Pass. Russ was able to get up $75,000 which didn’t do much other than improve the trail from Yucca Valley to Pioneertown. In 1950, Fletcher Jones and Bill Murphy, two Los Angeles auto dealers bought the corporation at an auction. Around the mid 60’s Benton Lefton and the Golden Empire Corporation purchased Pioneer Corporation and began to sub-divide. They constructed the water tank across the wash but never pumped water to it. In 1966, on Good Friday, the Red Dog burned and on Easter morning the Golden Stallion burned. Over the years to follow, Pioneertown developed into a bedroom community. The only existing businesses today are the Pioneertown Palace, the motel, Bowling Alley, Maggie’s Bed & Breakfast and the Post Office (which is the most photographed Post Office in the U.S.). Post Script: To learn more about the Swedes see MB Historical Society Summer 2010 Newsletter. As of 2017, the bowling alley and Maggie’s Bed & Breakfast are no longer in business. The Mina Gombell house burned in 2006.

2nd Wednesday Lecture Series 2018-2019 at the Hi-Desert Nature Museum at 5:30 pm

 September 12, 2018 “PIONEERTOWN, USA: Preserving “How The Old West Lives Again” -Kenneth Gentry author and local historian.

 October 10, 2018 "The Bagley Family Homesteading Experience in Early 29 Palms" by Jim Bagley.

 November 14, 2018 “The Desert Oracle: Stories from the Desert,” Ken Layne publisher, historian and storyteller.

 January 9, 2019 “The Folklore & Legend of Giant Rock” Barbara Harris, historian, researcher & storyteller.

 February 13, 2019 “Fire On the Mojave: Stories from the Deserts & Mountains of Inland So California” - Ruth Nolan is an author and former seasonal wildland firefighter.

 March 13, 2019 “Better Know A Butterfly-Joe Zarki, author and former Joshua Tree National Park Ranger

 April 10, 2019 “Introduction to Arid Lands Permaculture” Jill Giegerich, certified Permaculture Designer.

 May 08, 2019 “Grandfather Burton Frasher Photorapher-1907 Through the Decades” by Christopher Frasher, 3rd generation photographer.

Invitation to Annual Meeting of the Morongo Basin Historical Society

The Morongo Basin Historical Society will hold its annual meeting at the Museum and Research Center at 632 Landers Lane in Landers at 1 p.m. on Sunday, September 16, 2018. Election of members for 2-year terms to the Board of Directors will be held during the Board meeting.

The board is composed of 7 members who, once elected, will choose 4 officers: President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer.

The nominating committee (Bob Connors and Claudia Spotts) has nominated the following members for the Board of Directors: Kim Abramson, Dave Chapman, Bob Connors, Kenneth Gentry, Charlie Rossow, Jim Spotts, and Gene Woodley.

The Board of Directors and the Morongo Basin Historical Society wishes to give a special thanks to Floy Creveling for serving on the Board of Directors for the past two years. Floy has been a tireless and dedicated volunteer, along with husband Gary, at many events and Society activites. She has promised to continue to volunteer on a regular basis but no longer serve on the Board. It has been a pleasure having Floy as a fellow Board member and the Board appreciates all that she and Gary have done for the Morongo Basin Historical Society.

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Beta Sigma Phi Donation

During the Great Depression, in 1931 Walter W. Ross founded Beta Sigma Phi, an organization that brought women together as a social, cultural, community and educational sorority. It wasn’t long before the civic minded chapters across the United States raised money for their communities. During World War II Beta Sigma Phi societies raised $22 million in war bonds. The Morongo Basin had 12 chapters at one time. Recently, the Morongo Basin Historical Society got a call from the Nu Gamma Chapter who put us in touch with a relative of one of the Presidents, who kindly donated 5 large scrapbooks from the Epsilon Xi Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi. While turning the pages of the scrapbooks, we realized that these are historic snapshots about life in the Ba- sin over these decades beginning in 1958-59; 1964-65;1966-1967; 1976-77 and 1977-1978. For the most part they are black and white photos of tea parties, camping in the Monument, steak fry at Indian Cove, sorority conventions held in Bakersfield with copies of menus from the Wool Growers, a Basque restau- rant established in 1954 and still open today. In 1958 Filet Mignon cost $3.00 and Paul Masson Pinot Noir $1.75. Today Filet Mignon at the Wool Growers is $31.00. In the mid-1960’s the group took a field trip to the Integratron and Giant Rock, had a family overnight camp out September 19, 1966 at Hidden Valley Joshua Tree National Monu- ment and put on a gay 1890’s revue. The Morongo Basin Historical Society was very happy to receive this donation and be able to preserve it as part of its collection. Many thanks to Beta

Sigma Phi. Century of Morongo Basin Snapshots Project: Looking for vintage photos 1901-2000: nature, panoramas, musicians, school/college days, BFF’s, holidays-Thanksgiving, Xmas, Valentine’s Day, 4th of July, Labor Day etc. parades, family trips, sporting events, daily life, pets and people, oc- cupations, weddings, babies.

Please scan your photos into jpg and identify people, places and dates. Or bring your photos for us to scan. We would also appreciate actual donated photos. —————————— Desert Cairns Cairns are man-made piles of stones whose usage dates from prehistoric times to present. The word is of Gaelic derivation meaning mound or hill. They were burial monuments, represented ceremonial practices or had astronomi- cal meaning to ancient peoples all over the world. Cairns are also “road signs” that mark trails, detours or places where food and water are cached. Desert cairns are unimposing stacks of 3 or five stones particularly helpful in navigating trails across washes or marking the paths around boulders. Many a hiker has turned back when he lost sight of a forward marking cairn. Better to be “safe than sorry.” The desert can be unforgiving as well as giving. Speaking of cairns, rock art, or just well-placed stones, the yard at the museum and research center is looking neat and tidy thanks to member Mike Quarles’ back-breaking work. Mike loves the outdoors, plants, rocks and critters that live in the yard. He has an eye for designing a pathway to show off a sculptural cactus, opening up a vista to better see the corral and choosing the best place to anchor John Epley’s 3 Simi Dabah sculptures so they cast beautiful shadows on the sand. And take a look at how Mike has restored the Trosper coat-of-arms sign! While walking on a path in the front yard, I spied a beautiful cairn balanced with variegated colored stones, gathered from around the yard, put together by Michael Quarles. Newlin and Vernette would approve, I thought, and so will any visitor to the museum. In April we were fortunate that Joshua Springs School student volunteers came out to fulfill the school’s Community Service Project. They scoured the inside of the historic Klingbeil homestead cabin that in 1962 became the first Landers Post Office. It is now looking spotless and gleaming. Meanwhile, under the supervision of Mike and Dave Chapman, the kids worked in the garden doing clean-up and rock rearrangement.

Green Tomato Pie—Submitted by Estelle Hohman “The Hitching Post” Flamingo Heights Creative Cooking of the Landers Area Compiled by Landers Area Chamber of Commerce 1981 4c Sliced Green Tomatoes 1 1/3 c Sugar ½ c Flour 1tsp Salt 11/2 tsp Cinnamon ½ tsp Nutmeg 4 Tbsp Lemon Juice

Mix together flour, sugar and spices. Add to tomatoes which have been sprinkled with lemon juice. Pour in 9” pastry lined pie pan. Dot with 11/2 Tbsp Butter. Make crisscross design on top with pastry strips. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes and reduce heat to 350 degrees for approximately 40 minutes and reduce heat. Note: Especially good served warm.

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68th GRUBSTAKE DAYS

Board of Directors Chairpersons President Gene Woodley Accessions Floy Creveling Photographer Glenn Isaacs Vice Pres Vacant Museum Curator Charlie Rossow Programs Claudia Spotts Treasurer Jim Spotts Newsletter Bob Troyer Newsletter Jim Spotts Secretary Kim Abramson Graphic Editors Kim Abramson Content Editors Claudia Spotts Director Floy Creveling Membership Kim Abramson Sites Steve Hanson Director Bob Connors Landscaping Michael Quarles Webmaster Rob Harris Director Charlie Rossow Vacant Rummage Sale Eve Vykydal

Glenn Isaacs donated WELCOME NEW MEMBERS money to MB Historical Society. Bolinas Landers Glenn Isaacs (L) donates a check for $500 from State Judith Larner Beale Dabbs Farm Companies Founda- Joshua Tree Moira Fain tion to Morongo Basin Rebecca Renish Riverside Historical Society officers, Treasurer Jim Spotts (C) Johnson Valley Neal Samson and President Gene James Leineweber Yucca Valley Woodley (R) that will be Norma Wheeler Brian Barry used to preserve the sign at Warren's Well. Fifth Year in a Row

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR BUSINESS SPONSORS

29 Palms Band of Mission Indians High Desert Varnish - Kenneth Gentry 29 Palms Historical Society Homestead Valley Community Council 29 Palms Inn Inspire Real Estate - Julianne Bruley All Seasons Fireplaces, Pools & Spas Integratron - Patty, Nancy & Joanne Karl Big O Tires - Thomas Huls Johnson Valley Improvement Association Cary Carrillo Mojave Desert Land Trust - Danielle Segura Desert Christ Park - a Museum of Sculptures Phillip Brown Home REALTOR - Phillip Brown Desert Pacific Exterminators, LLC - Steve Hawkins ProVideo - Bob Stephenson Dr. Robert Lombardo, DDS. Rainbow Stew - Stacey Clayton, Valerie Meyer Firehouse Subs - Shinder Singh & Michelle Nemechek Glenn Isaacs & Sallie Brown Isaacs Southwest Real Estate Group Guity Race Club—Eric Pealstrom Southwest Surveying, Inc. - Joseph & Robyn Willard HI-DESERT AIR - Lance and Kari Cody Swella Chiropractic, Inc. - Gene Swella Hi-Desert Nature Museum Tortoise Rock Casino Hi-Desert Propane Tri-Valley Realty -Linda Paino Hi-Desert Water Dist. Yucca Valley Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu High Desert Test Sites - Andrea Zittel Yucca Valley Insurance - The Millers

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Preserving Our Past For Your Future P.O. Box 2046 Yucca Valley, CA 92286 760-364-2000 Email: [email protected]

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