July, August, September 2019

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

Aviation in the Landers, Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree

Landers Airport

The first settlers in the Morongo Basin in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s came on horseback, by horse-drawn wagons, and on foot. But the Basin remained lightly settled until after World War II. Then a second wave of homesteaders, spurred on by the Small Tract Act (five-acre homesteads) passed in 1938, came by car and airplane. They were not necessarily interested in living here full time. Instead, many only wanted “recreational prop- erty” a place to get away from the city for the weekend and for vacation. As roads were still undeveloped in many areas, air travel and air transportation became critical. Airports, mostly dirt landing strips, sprang up in the Morongo Basin and outlying areas. The region even had both a “flying doctor” and a “flying constable.”

Nowhere was aviation more important than in the settlement of the Landers area. The story is fairly well known. Newlin Landers and seven other flying acquaintances from the Los Angeles area banded together to acquire eight adjacent five-acre recreational properties. In 1950, they went to the Bureau of Land Management in Los Angeles as a group and at the same hour on the same day filed on their claims. They arranged their adjoining tracts so they could carve out a half-mile (2,640 feet) long airstrip right in the center of their properties, dividing them in half, four on each side of the airstrip.

Newlin Landers started flying to the desert after World War II. He first learned about the Landers area when he read a news story about the mysterious death of Frank Critzer, an eccentric prospector and rumored German spy, who had built a home under a huge boulder called Giant Rock. Landers flew to the area, along with his father and brother, for the first time in 1947, landing at the Giant Rock airstrip. He was drawn to the desert and as an entre- preneur he recognized its recreational potential. At the time, the Landers area was sparsely settled. Besides Charlie Reche’s homestead, in the vicin- ity of the present-day , and son Walter Reche’s nearby adobe house, where Gubler’s is located now, there were few other dwellings.

After several more visits, he met , who had leased his friend Critzer’s claim following his death. Van Tassel was living there with his family, had a government permit to operate the Giant Rock airstrip, and built a small café called the Come On Inn. Landers had spotted a promising location for an airstrip. Since there were no roads, Van Tassel drove him to the site in a converted World War II weapons carrier, perfect for the rugged desert terrain.

Landers, a partner in a valve manufacturing company, Selwyn-Landers, in Los Angeles, soon interested his flying instructor, Joe Nugent, in the project to acquire land in the desert and construct a private airstrip. Nugent recruited his brother-in-law, George Roth. They were joined by Jack Bale, who owned and operated a service station and tire recapping business and four other part- time pilots, Dr. Morris, a dentist, Jack Hulet, a bookkeeper, A.T. Stock, a plastics manu- facturer, and George Belfield, a café owner.

Once they had recorded their claims, they pooled their resources to hire bulldozers and graders to build the airstrip and brought in truckloads of decomposed granite for the runway surface. They also laid out a road from Goat Mountain Road to their site, east of Landers Lane. Then they joined forces again to put the road through to Old Woman Springs Road (known as Victorville Road at that time). This connecting road became today’s Reche Road.

In 1951, George Belfield and wife Merrol built the first of the flyer’s homes along the airstrip. Belfield’s health concerns drew him to the desert. Like many other early pioneers to the Morongo Basin, “the doctor told him to get to a dry climate.” The Belfield’s maintained two homes, one in Landers and another in Bell Gardens. Likewise, they operated two businesses: a restaurant and bar in Bell Gardens and a café, bar and nine-unit motel in Landers. The Belfield’s also added a large tiled, heated swimming pool with showers and a barn and corral for six horses available for motel guests.

The café started as a joint effort with Jack Bale and was originally built on his property at the north end of the airstrip. Later Belfield moved it to his site on the northeast corner of Reche Road and Landers Lane. He named it George’s Sky Room Café and it soon became a popular gathering place for the locals, especially the kids.

Steve Hanson, MBHS historian and site chairman, has fond memories of the Sky Room Café and swimming pool. “I first visited this site with some friends in 1959.The owner, George, had a policy that if you bought something in the restaurant you could swim in his pool all day. During the summer months we kids went there as much as we could. George loved kids and always welcomed us. The last time I visited there the swimming pool had been buried, so no more swimming.” The motel is gone as well. The Belfield property was eventually acquired by the Landers Moose Lodge and all that remains of the motel is a foundation with floor tiles in front of the lodge.

Jack Bale had Aero build the second house next to the airstrip. He added a gas station, later purchased by Newlin Landers, to his property. Joe Nugent, who made a living in aviation, built his home and hung up a wind sock. Nugent owned six airplanes and operated a business which promoted air charters to remote places. He George's Motel and swimming pool envisioned Landers as a flyer’s hideaway. Friends flew in from all over for weekend gatherings and enjoyed barbecues at the Belfield’s.

In 1954 the Landers airstrip first appeared on the Geodetic Survey Map of Emerson Lake, then on World Aeronautical and Sectional Aeronautical Charts. The original group of aviators who had established the airstrip branched out into businesses like water delivery, well digging and construction. Most made major contributions of time, money and even land to growing the community. Newlin Landers original dream of coming to a remote part of the desert and establishing a flyer’s haven with a group of friends had become a reality. They came here by airplane.

Landers was a true pioneer. He roamed far and wide by airplane and developed properties in Havasu Landing in Needles and the Navajo Tract in Apple Valley. Last year the Historical Society was contacted by the current owner of the airplane Newlin owned for twenty-six years while he was flying here and elsewhere. The plane, known as a Stinson “flying station wagon” flew into Yucca Valley Airport on a Saturday and we were there to meet it when it landed. Glen L'Heureux, the pilot and owner, was kind enough to bring along the logbooks and detailed history of the aircraft since it was built. He has done a major rebuild of the en- gine. Newlin Landers & Glen L'Heureux - Newlin's Stinson Flying The Historical Society has perhaps the first logbook in its files in Landers with Newlin’s Station Wagon detailed entries of flights, times, and dates from 1947. We also have a number of repair and gas receipts. These are fascinating to look over.

Landers started out learning to fly out of Vail Field in Bell Gardens. Before long he was flying to the desert, landing at Giant Rock airport and the Sky Corral airport in Yucca Valley (the town’s first airport). Gas receipts and log entries show trips as far east as Indianapolis as well as into Mexico, possi- bly to check out a gold mine there.

Landers Airport with Vultee B-13 Trainer & Fairchild PT-19

Giant Rock Airport Of all the airfields in the Morongo Basin, Giant Rock Airport may be more widely known as a historical site rather than as an airport. Nonetheless, it certainly had a role in the aviation history of the area, especially, from 1940 up until George Van Tassel’s death in 1978. After that the airport had sev- eral more owners but eventually ceased to function as an active airfield. Historic Sites chairman Steve Hanson’s database has the starting year for Giant Rock Airport as 1941.There is no ending year but the airport is listed as closed in his database.

According to the Abandoned Airport internet site, Giant Rock Airport first appeared as an auxiliary field on the LA Sectional Aviation Map in 1939. By 1995, a USGS aerial photograph showed an unpaved runway in good condition but no sign of any recent activity. Three years later, 1998, Giant Rock Airport no longer appeared on the World Aeronautical Chart.

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George Van Tassel himself reported that he operated the airport until 1975 “at which time I sold it to Phyllis & John Brady, who in turn turned it over to Jose Rodriguez & his family in 1977.” The last appearance of Giant Rock Airport on an aeronautical chart was on the LA 1989. It listed Giant Rock as a public- use airport with a 4,900- foot unpaved runway. Based on its appearance on official charts and on aerial photography, Giant Rock Airport closed sometime between 1989 and 1998.

It was Frank Critzer who built Giant Rock Airport. “He spent long hours clearing and enlarg- ing the natural airstrip adjacent to the rock.” The airstrip was constructed in the 1930’s at least partially on a dry lake bed as were many other desert airstrips. Critzer had filed a claim on Giant Rock and the surrounding land. He hollowed out a subterranean home under the 23,000-ton rock.

Soon, noticing the windsock and graded runway, pilots began using the remote airstrip. Cri- tizer began servicing and repairing aircraft. On January 9, 1940, The Desert Trail reported Giant Rock Airport Postcard “Last Saturday was a busy day for Frank Critzer at his Giant Rock Airport. Eight planes swooped in to visit the unique desert retreat.”

Critzer had come to the desert because a doctor recommended that he move to a drier climate for his health. He did some prospecting, perhaps on nearby Goat Mountain. And although he lived almost like a hermit, he made a real effort to make a go of the airport. Whatever other activi- ties Frank Critzer engaged in, if any, are shrouded in mystery. There were some who thought he was harmless and some who thought, possibly due to war hysteria, he was a German spy, a smuggler or a rum runner. Law enforcement officials determined to question him.

In 1942, when several deputies showed up at Giant Rock and confronted Critzer, he resisted arrest by barricading himself in his underground home. In an effort to force him out, the deputies shot or threw smoke grenades into his living quarters. It had devastating consequences as Critzer had stored dynamite for his mining operations under the rock and it ignited and blew up, killing him. The deputies were unhurt but badly shaken.

Prior to moving to the desert, Frank Critzer had met and been befriended by George Van Tassel and his uncle, Glenn Paine. They provided supplies and a little cash for Critzer’s desert venture. About a year later, after hearing from Critzer, they visited him in his desert home beneath the rock. Van Tassel was impressed by Critzer’s ingenuity in building his dwelling under Giant Rock, saving on materials and on the need for heating and cooling. He sympathized with Critzer regarding rumors Critzer was a German spy.

Van Tassel was also taken by the desert. He visited Giant Rock frequently on weekends when he could get away. He found out about Frank Critzer’s death in the newspapers but was unable to visit the site immediately. When he finally did make the trip, a month later all of Critzer’s possessions had been removed including his car, a 4-cylinder Essex.

In 1945, after the war had ended, Van Tassel applied to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for Critzer’s Giant Rock property and for a license to operate the airport. It took until 1947 for the paperwork to be completed and approved. Van Tassel left his career in the aeronautical industry and moved with his family to Giant Rock. They built a small café next to the rock, the Come On Inn and settled into life in the desert.

It wasn’t until six years later that things changed and Giant Rock became much more than just another landing strip in the desert. In 1953, as the result of meditation meetings in the room under the rock, Van Tassel claimed to have been contacted by aliens. This led, also in 1953, to the start of annual space (UFO) conventions that attracted a wide range of enthusiasts and visitors. The yearly events became wildly popular and attendance reached a peak in 1959 when a reported eleven thousand people gathered at Giant Rock.

In the years following 1959, attendance fell off. Complications be- gan to arise and meetings were frequently disrupted by general rowdiness including fighting among some of the attendees. By the mid-1970’s Van Tassel decided to discontinue the annual conven- tions. He operated the airport until 1975 when he sold it to Phyllis and John Brady. Two years later, it was acquired by Jose Rodri- guez and his family.

One other historic event that occurred at Giant Rock was an entirely natural one though some believe otherwise. On February 21, 2000, a large section, about one-eighth, split off the boulder and crashed onto the desert floor. Some believe this was caused by vortex activ- ity. Others say that it was the result of recent campfires that weak- ened a fissure in the boulder close to where it split. We may never know and it is just one more mystery about Giant Rock. Aerial view of Giant Rock Airport at Space Convention 1957

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Yucca Valley Sky Corral

Jule Boldizsar, considered to be one of the founding fathers and developers of Yucca Valley, moved to the town in 1947, with his wife Val and daugh- ters Judy and Sherry. Boldizsar had very clear ideas of what type of businesses he wanted to establish. A former Lockheed Aircraft engineer, he was a pilot and flight instructor. He built a Shell Super Service Station toward the west end of Yucca Valley and behind it he cleared and graded a 3,000-foot dirt landing strip. He serviced automobiles from the front of the station and aircraft from the rear. He also built a 12-unit motel. His business was called Sands of Yucca Valley, Sands Shell Service and Sands Motel.

His landing field soon attracted other local and soon-to-be local pilots. A group calling themselves the Yucca Valley Cactus Hoppers, made up of busi- nessmen-pilots was formed. It wasn’t long before pilots from outside the Morongo Basin discovered the Sky Corral. Soon private flying clubs “from all points of the compass were dropping in at the Sky Corral on Saturdays and Sundays.”

Aviation at this time, in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s was just beginning to grow into the gigantic commercial enterprise that it is today. In earlier years air travel was even less common. There were flying races, flying shows that featured daredevil stunts, and transcontinental air races. Some avia- tors made history, like Charles Lindberg who made his epic solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927. Women like Amelia Earhart made their mark too. Braver than anyone, she astounded everyone from 1920 until her disappearance in 1937. Flying was still very much of a novelty.

Paul Mantz, famed air racer and stunt pilot, learned to fly at a young age and went on to become a pioneer aviator. His flying career lasted from 1924 until 1965 when he died in a crash. An incident at the beginning of his career vividly illustrates the early days of aviation. It took place in the lower de- sert, not far from here, as Mantz was about to complete his training and become a military pilot.

“In 1927, shortly before his graduation at March Field, Mantz was flying solo over the when he spotted a train heading west over the empty desert floor up the long grade from Indio. He rolled over into a dive, leveled off a few feet above the track and flew head-on towards the train as the engineer repeatedly sounded the whistle. At the last moment Mantz pulled up, did a "victory roll" and flew away.

This sort of dangerous stunt was fairly common during the early era of loosely regulated flying in the 1920s but the train's passengers included ranking officers coming to March Field to participate in the graduation ceremonies and Mantz was subsequently dismissed from the army. His instructor report- edly made it clear to him that he had the makings of an exceptional pilot and encouraged him to continue a career in aviation.”

Paul Mantz did go on to have a career in aviation. After a brief time as a commercial pilot, following his dismissal from the Army, he was drawn to Hol- lywood by the large sums of money being paid to stunt pilots. Thereafter he made his career in the movies, forming an air charter service for Holly- wood, as a 3-time national air racing champion, and as a famed stunt pilot. His accomplishments and feats as a pilot are legendary. Unfortunately, he crashed and died while filming the movie “Flight of the Phoenix” in 1965. His epitaph: “I’m not a stunt pilot. I’m a precision pilot.”

Paul Mantz had a clear connection with the Morongo Basin. Reportedly he landed the first large aircraft, a DC-3 at Boldizsar’s Sky Corral. Perhaps it was part of his air charter service and he was flying a movie crew in for work in Pioneertown. This was common during the late 1940’a. Another famous pilot to use the Sky Corral in Yucca Valley was cowboy movie star Gene Autry.

Autry and his Flying A Productions used the rugged, rocky country of the as the backdrop for his westerns. Autry would fly his entire movie com- pany to the Sky Corral in his C-47 Skytrain aircraft. Autry, who had a prolific ca- reer in the movies, television, music industry and even rodeo, was an astute busi- nessman. He was an early investor and developer in Pioneertown. He would fly movie studio executives out to Yucca Valley’s Sky Corral and then fly film out to the studio to be processed.

Gene Autry, was not the only movie star to use the Sky Corral. During the late 1940’s and early 1950’s the airport was extensively used by television and film stars and personnel. They would fly in and out every day for weeks at a time depending on how long it took to complete a production. It was reported that, “there have been two twin-engine Douglas DC-3’s and a twin-engine Beechcraft D-18-S on the little field at the same time.” Gene Autry's plane & Bill Pace at Sky Corral circa 1950 Following is Steve Hanson’s, Morongo Basin Historical Society’s Site Chairman, personal account of the Sky Corral.

“In the early 1950’s there was an airport behind the Shell Station in the west end of Yucca Valley run by Jule Boldizsar. One day we were traveling west on 29 Palms Highway at about Pioneertown Road when we heard a lot of noise and saw a huge dust cloud at the west end of Yucca Valley. All of a sudden, a shiny giant airplane appeared out of a dust cloud. We learned later that the moviemakers going to Pioneertown would sometimes fly into Yucca Valley in their DC-3 airplanes and land at Jule’s airport. It was an awesome sight.”

By the mid-1950’s, growing development was beginning to encroach upon the Sky Corral landing strip and it was becoming more difficult to operate the airport. Gene Autry, dependent on the airport to run his movie and television productions, had expressed his concern as early as 1951.

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Gene Autry Seeks Airport Retention Cowboy film actor Gene Autry abandoned his horse and guitar for the typewriter to dash off a request to the board of supervisors for retention of airport facilities at Yucca Valley. He said his movie company has, in the past two years, made 75 films in the Pioneertown area and has flown in the cast for each trip on location. In the mill now is a proposal to set up an airport district for the Yucca Valley port. Its present private operator has declared he cannot continue to run the facility at a profit. (This article appeared in the San Bernardino Daily Sun, Wednesday, December 5, 1951, on page 8.)

Yucca Valley Airport

The story of Yucca Valley Airport really begins a number of years before it was built. Doctor John Bendall was flying over the Mojave from Van Nuys to Las Vegas (some accounts say he was actually headed in the opposite direction) when he encountered a snowstorm, poor visibility and perhaps some turbulence. He started looking for a place to land and as he recalled, “First strip I set down on was on what is now the Marine Base. I couldn’t stay there. I think the runway was used for pilot glider’s school. Taking off again, I spotted another field through the soup. That was Sunfair. There wasn’t anything there so I tried again. This time through foggy visibility I saw Yucca Valley. Jule Boldizsar had a landing strip on the west end of town. Anyhow that’s how I found Yucca Valley. It looked good from the air the day I first saw this valley.”

Bendall was so impressed with Yucca Valley, he decided to relocate from Los Angeles and open his practice in the Morongo Basin. Bendall had been born in London, England, but had been educated in the United States. He got his medical school training in California (working his way through school). He and his wife Evelyn made the move to Yucca Valley in March, 1951. The population was 300 and “there were more jackrabbits than peo- ple. There was no drugstore. There was Hardesty’s Grocery, Ray’s Café, and Vi Humphreyville’s Yucca Valley Inn.”

Bendall opened an office in a building along Highway 62. During the first years of his practice he flew to distant hospitals in Twentynine Palms and Palm Springs. When he landed at Twentynine Palms, Jack Cones, the “flying constable,” met him at the airstrip and drove him to the hospital. He did his banking by plane and on occasion would fly to visit a patient in an outlying location.

Somehow during these busy first years, Bendall found time to establish Triangle Park. In 1951, the local water company offered to furnish water to the park at Yucca Trail and Highway 62 if someone would install the pipe and do some basic landscaping. Bendall and his friend Shorty Orr dug the ditch for the water pipe. Antone Martin donated the sabre-tooth tiger that stands there today, guarding the entrance to the park.

A medical emergency in 1956 forced Dr. Bendall to come up with a new approach to getting around. A heavy rainstorm one summer night washed out a number of roads, including at the intersection of Twentynine Palms Highway and the Victorville Road (Route 247). This prevented the doctor from using his car to come to the aid of Guy Ohlen, a Spanish War Veteran, who had suffered a stroke during the night. He had to abandon his car and follow Ohlen’s neighbor Charlie Gross, on foot across the Warren’s Well site to Ohlen’s cabin.

The doctor gave very strict orders to neighbors who were caring for the stricken man. “Get him ready to go to the hospital. I’ll have an ambulance up here in less than an hour.” Bendall then returned to the intersection where he had abandoned his car and commandeered a bulldozer and driver from a county road crew. With the ambulance following, the dozer cleared the way to Ohlen’s door where he was loaded in and transported to the hospital in Twentynine Palms.

This emergency convinced the doctor that he and Yucca Valley needed to have an airport. He needed a place to land his own airplane and there were a number of local businessmen and pilots who also wanted an airport. A short time later, he purchased the Warren’s Well land, which comprised 80 acres. The original well had been dug by hand in 1881 and the windmill is the official logo for the Morongo Basin Historical Society.

As soon as he moved his office and home to the original adobe dwelling at Warren’s Well, he started constructing and grading an airstrip at the south end of the property. He built a restaurant which he named the Copper Room on the airport site and by the following year,1957, the new private airport was flourishing. It offered gasoline service, food at the res- taurant, overnight tiedown and taxi service to local motels. Yucca Valley Airport was the first residential airpark, also known as a “fly-in community,” in the United States. Homes and hangars began to spring up along the runway. Residents could land and taxi right to their doorsteps.

In 1962 Doctor Bendall was certified as Federal Aviation Association medical examiner. Pilots would fly in to Yucca Valley from all over the United States for their official medical tests. Dr. Bendall became known as the “flying doctor,” not only because of his love of flying. He and his wife, Evelyn, The Copper Room - Yucca Valley Airport (Bob Stephenson photo) who was office manager, nurse and co-pilot, had their office

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in the old adobe, which they had expanded and modernized, at Warren’s Well.

After a few years, Dr. Bendall sold the Yucca Valley Airport to a group of businessmen and in the years since, airport ownership has changed a num- ber of times. Presently it is owned by a corporation that leases it to the Yucca Valley Airport District. Voters approved the Airport District in 1982 in order to make it available for government funding. The district includes the airport itself as well as the surrounding houses and several industrial and commercial buildings.

The airport today is a modern facility that can accommodate Lear Jets on its 4,230-foot runway. Military aircraft sometimes land there in emergencies. The restaurant is still there but is no longer named the Copper Room. Its new name is Touchdown. Previously it was the Red Baron and then Cross- winds.

Art Miller Sr. Businessman and Pilot

The Morongo Basin Historical Society interviewed Art Miller Jr. about his father, Art Miller Sr. who was a businessman-pilot and played a prominent role in the development of the airport and the town of Yucca Valley. Art Miller Sr. learned to fly in his early days living in Omaha, Nebraska and earned a commercial pilot’s license. When World War II broke out, Miller was drafted by the Army Air Force. Because of his credentials and experience, the Army assigned him to train military pilots. Miller spent over two and a half years teaching pilots how to fly using Fairchild PT-19 trainer aircraft. After his students graduated from that initial phase, they went on to further military training. Following the war, Miller continued to work in the aviation field when he was put in charge of the Ne- braska Civil Air Patrol.

The Millers moved to Yucca Valley in 1958 from Omaha. Miller continued his flying career, but no longer as a commercial pilot. Instead he used his airplane Art Miller Sr. & son—Beech Bonanza circa 1961 to pursue his business interests, primarily real estate and development. He (Art Miller Family Collection) would fly to Tri City Airport in San Bernardino when he needed to deal with the county government. He also flew there to pick up customers, investors and VIPs to bring back to Yucca Valley. Because flying was so important to his business, he realized that Yucca Valley Airport was critical to the town’s growth.

Art Miller joined with Doctor John Bendall, who owned the land where the airport was located, and others to improve and develop Yucca Valley Airport. Bendall built a restaurant, The Copper Room. The runway was paved and lengthened. Hangars were erected and fueling and maintenance services were added.

As mentioned above, Yucca Valley Airport was conceived as an “air park,” perhaps the first such community in the country. A partial list of business- men who joined with Miller and Bendall in the effort to develop Yucca Valley Airport includes; Jule Boldizsar, Bob Roberts, Norm Essig, Robert Schoenleber and Neil Groom. Many of them were competitors but they teamed up to improve the airport for the benefit of the community. Yucca Valley may not have been settled by a group of flyers, as in Landers, nevertheless businessmen-pilots, like Art Miller, realized the importance of aviation for the town, and they joined together to make it happen.

Reminiscences From A Local Pilot

In an effort to get an actual pilot’s perspective on aviation in the Morongo Basin, the Morongo Basin Historical Society conducted an interview with Bob Dunn who got his pilot’s license in 1971 and has been involved in the development of Yucca Valley Airport for some time. Bob was probably destined to be a pilot from a very early age. His father, Ralph Dunn, was involved with aviation during World War II.

His mother and father left college at the University of Oregon and came to Twentynine Palms at the outbreak of the war to join her parents, the Sher- mans. Mrs. Sherman had severe respiratory problems and came to the desert because of Dr James Luckie who recommended a dry, hot climate, especially for veterans of the First World War who were suffering from having been gassed during the war.

At first his father worked at Condor Field, the Twentynine Palms glider base. He worked at K Field re-launching gliders that couldn’t complete the entire flight. Gliders would follow a route after leaving Condor Field in Twentynine Palms, to Twentynine Palms Airport, to K Field in Joshua Tree, then back to Condor Field. K Field was so-named because it was somewhat in the shape of the letter K. The Army Air Force may have done the modifications to K Field that added additional runways to accommodate the glider operations. Gliders that landed at K Field because they couldn’t complete the circuit were re-launched from the ground.

Eventually, Ralph Dunn was drafted into the Army Air Force. He worked as an intelligence officer stationed in England. His job was to de-brief pilots who had completed their missions and returned to base. The information they provided was crucial intelligence for the war effort.

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Bob Dunn’s best friend when growing up was Bobby Gorbould, grandson of the legendary Jack Cones, the “flying constable.” He and Bobby would often ride in the constable’s plane to a far-flung destination such as Kelso in what is now the Mojave Preserve, as Cones patrolled his vast region. At Kelso, Cones would treat the two boys to a coke and slice of apple pie. According to Bob, Constable Cones was no-nonsense and you followed his orders without asking any questions.

Perhaps it was the weekend airplane rides with Constable Jack Cones that impressed Bob Dunn so much that he became a pilot himself. Or it may have been the more subtle influence of having attended third grade in a hangar located on what is now the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (Naval Auxiliary Air Station, at the time). In any case, Bob did become a pilot in 1971, learning to fly out of Cones Field in Twentynine Palms and at other dirt strips in the desert.

Dunn’s first plane was a 1946 Cessna 120 purchased for $1,853 after selling his car, a Chevrolet Blazer. (On the internet today a 1946 Cessna is listed for $17,000.) Ten planes later Bob is still flying strong. He flies all over the desert in order to “recharge his batteries.” He has also flown to Alaska several times, stopping in Seattle to have the wheels removed and replaced with pontoons. He then takes off from Lake Washington for the three- day journey to Alaska.

Bob Dunn & his current airplane - Cessna 185

The Airport In Joshua Tree

The airport in Joshua Tree has gone through a number of name and ownership changes since it first became active in 1926. However, operations at the airport, last known as Roy Williams Airport, have been suspended since at least 2014. More recently the property had been the focal point of an intense dispute between activists opposed to the construction of a solar project at the site and those backing the installation.

The last airport owner was Park Richardson, son-in-law of Roy Williams who, as an artist/illustrator for Walt Disney Studios, designed the original Mickey Mouse ears. He also designed the Flying Tiger logo which was painted on the nose cones of the intrepid squadron of World War II planes fa- mous for flying over the Himalayas to deliver supplies. Richardson purchased the High Desert Airport in 1990 and renamed it in honor of Williams, his father-in-law.

Both Richardson and Williams were very colorful characters. According to Richardson, Williams was “my friend and my father-in-law and he was one hell of a pilot. He was the first person to fly upside down, down the main street of Burbank and he was always doing stunts and flying low over the Dis- ney Studios.” Williams career working for Disney lasted almost 40 years. “Roy was the second cartoonist Disney hired,” said Richardson. “He lived three blocks from the studio.”

Park Richardson, himself, had led an adventurous life. He learned to fly in 1943 and flew DC-3’s for the Navy off the coast of California for the duration of the war. Later, during the 1950’s, he worked for Scripps Institute of Oceanography and went to the Galapagos Islands for the Institute to bring back sea lions, penguins, tortoises, and iguanas. But by far his most hazardous duty was being employed as a diver in the Bering Sea to scout the way for the Nautilus atomic submarine’s first voyage through the Bering Strait between Alaska and Siberia. “I wore a quarter-inch thick neoprene suit with a quarter-inch vest,” he recalls. “And you were expected to stay under for 45 minutes.”

As we have seen above, the first name for Roy Williams Airport was K Field and then became the High Desert Airport under new ownership in the 1970’s. As K Field it played a significant part in the area’s glider training during the Second World War. The military may have made modifications to the field so that it could be used for the gliders.

The internet site “Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields” compiled by Paul Freeman and sponsored by the California Pilots Association, contains a number of aerial and other photographs of the airport in Joshua Tree dating from the late 1940’s to 2017. Per Freeman, a man named Bill Putnam acquired the airport at the end of World War II and decided to name it K Field. Apparently, it was a struggle to operate the airport and in 1949 Bill Put- nam and his family moved away to Minter Airfield in Bakersfield.

Little is known about the airfield until 1968, when it was depicted as High Desert Airport. That date nearly corresponds with the next reported owner, Joe Ferm, who became owner operator of the airport starting in the 1970’s. The airport featured a 2,500-foot runway, a routing beacon, wind socks, landing lights, 24-hours-a-day UNICOM radio service and a certified mechanic for repairs. Ferm claimed that “under strong wind conditions, this is the only airport.”

The Abandoned Airports internet site contains aerial photographs of the airport up through 2017 and reports that it was under the ownership of the Richardson Family Trust. It goes on to say “Unfortunately for us aviators the airport is listed as ‘closed indefinitely.’”

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Johnson Vallley

Johnson Valley Historical Reports Following are three “The Desert Whispers” articles dating from the late 1960’s regarding aviation activity in Johnson Valley. We were not able to con- firm that the Soggy Dry Lake Glider Port is still active, but it may be. For sure, Valley Vista is still active as a private airfield.

“The Desert Whispers, Martha Wood Coutant editor,” July 27, 1968 VALLEY HAS NEW GLIDER PORT----Soggy Dry Lake Glider Port in Johnson Valley is open for business on weekends. Tow service is available on Saturdays and Sundays. Visit-ins of all types of aircraft are also welcome, according to Bill Kensinger, who operates the field. Kensinger, is a crop-duster by profession, and has been flying for more than 30 years. He provides the tow service with a Waco UPF7, which is owned by Dare Casey, also a veteran flyer, with more than 20 years. Flyers are invited to truck their sail-planes to the dry lake, and any cross-country glider is assured of a tow-out on a weekend, Kensinger said. He has leased the land for 20 years, and FAA approval is pending. Kensinger’s own sailplane is a Schweizer TG3. Desert thermals provide a good lift at the location, he pointed out. He plans to expand facilities as business warrants. Plans include a hangar, gas pumps, grassy tree shaded areas, cold drinks, and possibly limited food service when the field is eventually put on a full-time basis. The field is located in the northwestern part of Johnson Valley, half-way between Lucerne and Yucca Valleys. It is about 25 miles west of Giant Rock Airport. Access by car is from Old Woman Springs Road, the highway between Lucerne and Yucca. A directional sign has been placed at the turn-off onto the dirt road, (the Bessemer Iron Mine Road) on highway west of Old Woman Springs. Johnson Valley now has two airstrips, and the Soggy Dry Lake field. “The Desert Whispers” November, 1967 HAPPY LANDINGS---Among those landing at the Valley Vista Air Strip this past month was George Buckmaster, from Big Bear. He enjoyed a visit with the Jarvises, air strip proprietors, and plans to bring Mrs. Buckmaster on his next trip. Three boys from Long Beach also flew in to look over prop- erty they are interested in purchasing. “The Desert Whispers” Spring 1968 EMERGENCY LANDING---A glider pilot christened Estes’ new airstrip shortly after Clarence finished building it. And Tom Finch, of Santa Monica, was mighty glad it was there. Finch was soaring in his Polish Foka 4 on a flight from El Mirage to 29 Palms, a round-trip of 180 miles. Winds were good until he hit Johnson Valley and was forced down, just making it to the new landing strip. Local residents helped load the glider on the truck which was fol- lowing the flight. Finch is an experienced glider pilot and president of the Douglas Soaring Club. We ran across his picture in an article on soaring from the gliding club newsletter. Clarence Estes car, train and plane, ex-pugilist, worked for Union Pacific, Clarence built an airstrip on his property behind the house, and he plans to buy a plane. He made his first landing on his own strip on July 18 (1968) with his instructor, Rick Hannifin, in a Piper Cherokee 140.

Pony Express Riders Relay Mail Pouch to Airport for the First Direct Flight From 29 Palms

May 20, 1938 “Desert Trail”

This was the first air mail service flown from Twenynine Palms, CA. and celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Air Mail Service. This event was sponsored by the local Lions Club of 29 Palms and held May 19, 1938. Mail was delivered on a pony from 29 Palms to Mesquite Lake Airport by the Postmaster Bengi Steeg. Roger Crawford was waiting with his airplane for the flight to Glendale Ca. Ted Holderman, of the Lions Club accompanied Mr. Crawford on the flight to Glendale. In 1938 Roger Crawford developed and operated the current Roy Williams Airport in Sunfair.

Mail that Baby

Twenty-five years before the first air mail service pouch was flown from Twenynine Palms to Glendale, believe it or not babies were sent or “mailed” via the US Postal Service. This happened over 100 years ago long before our historic Landers post office opened its doors.

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“Mail that baby A Brief History by Steve Hendrix The Washington Post. May 24, 2017

“Decades before the first unaccompanied child was put on a plane to grandma’s in the care of a flight attendant, a few resourceful parents accomplished the same end by simply drop- ping their kids in the mail. This was in the earliest days of the parcel post service, which launched in 1913. Before that, U.S. Postal Service packages were capped at four pounds, which limited the goofy things people tried to send by post.

But when the parcel service began, all kinds of cargo showed up in the mail stream, including coffins, eggs, dogs and, in a few cases, human young. According to National Postal Museum historian Nancy Pope, the first known case of a mailed baby was in 1913 when Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Beauge of Glen Este, Ohio, shipped their 10-pound infant son to his grandmother’s home about a mile away, paying 15 cents in postage and springing for $50 in insurance (because they were worriers). Records do not indicate whether Grandmother Beauge re- ceived her mail in a mailbox or through a letter slot.

But some children were mailed much farther, Pope said. Edna Neff of Pensacola, Fla., was 6 when she was packed off — or packaged off — to her father’s home in Christiansburg, Va., 720 miles away. The precious parcels weren’t truly parcels in the brown-paper and bubble- wrap sense. Instead they were more like companions or well-swaddled bundles in the arms A staged photograph of a of their carriers. ‘They weren’t boxed up,’ Pope said. ‘They were carried or walked along the letter carrier with a baby route.’ In 1914, the postmaster general instituted a rule about the mail that stands to this day: (National Postal Museum) no humans.”

Old Landers Airstrip

Old Landers Airstrip Now Has An Official Street Name (High Desert Star, January 4, 1989) The old Landers Airstrip officially became Starshine Lane on Dec. 28. Dorthy Stasse, Landers road commissioner in charge of street signs, directed Bill Day of Place Company to install a street sign at the corner of Reche Road and Starshine Lane, which runs north from Reche Road between Landers Lane and the Landers Moose Lodge. Long-time Landers resident Vernette Landers described how the airstrip came about. “The former airstrip was started by eight flying enthusiasts: Newlin Landers, whose idea it was, George Belfield, Jack Bale, Joe Nugent, George Roth, Dr. Morris, Jack Hulet and A.T. Stock. These men figured out the legal descriptions of adjacent five-acre government recreational tracts with four on a side, so they could plot an airstrip 2,640 feet long which could be cut 100 feet wide down the center of their claims. They listed the legal descriptions on separate pieces of paper, put them in a hat and drew lots. The all filed on the tracts at the same hour on the same day in 1950 at the Bureau of Land Management in Los Angeles. That same year two other flyers, Marvin Graves and Dick Adams, obtained tracts in the area and joined with the first eight men to put in the airstrip. They pooled their resources, with Dick Adams becoming treasurer. They brought in bulldozers, trucks and graders to develop the airstrip and blaze trails to their sites. Landers and Bale staked the airstrip. After it was graded, truck load after truck load of decomposed granite was hauled in to give it body and surface. Then it was watered down and packed. When resources and labor were exhausted, Landers asked Lafferty of Joshua Tree to finish the strip at Newlin’s expense. In 1954 the Landers Airstrip appeared on the Geodetic Survey map of Emerson Lake, Calif. Following this, it appeared on world air charts and sec- tional charts. Nugent owned six planes and promoted air charters to remote places. He plotted a plane haven at Landers and hung up a wind sock. Friends from all over flew in for weekends.

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Illness, death and other demands changed the lives and interests of the original fliers. Others who used the airstrip did not contribute to its maintenance and support. Eventually the airstrip was x-ed out at the request of local residents who began to use it for a roadway.

Through the efforts of Doris Strasse, the proper papers were filed to make the old Landers Airstrip an official street. The name Starshine was selected because often the stars would shine so brightly on the old airstrip that planes would take off and land at night without landing lights on the field.”

Announcements

Annual Meeting All members are invited to the Annual Meeting, September 15 at 1:00 - 632 Landers Lane at the Newlin and Vernette Landers Mu- seum and Research Center. Steve Hanson and Morgan Reche will be our special guests & after a brief meeting, refreshments will be served.

We will honor Volunteer Steve Hanson, Site Chairman who has dedicated hours researching and writing about local history: water sources, buildings, homesteads and families of pioneers in the Morongo Basin.

Morgan Reche, grandson of Charlie Reche, will talk about growing up on his father’s homestead where Gubler’s is located today.

Annual Membership Renewal All memberships renew September 30, 2019. Dues are our largest source of revenue to help pay the bills, publish the quarterly news- letters, add exhibits and maintain the museum and grounds. Please support us by renewing today. Thank you, Kim Abramson, Secre- tary and Membership Chair.

Grand Slam of Interviews April 14, 2019

Morgan Reche, 84, grandson of Charlie Reche (cowboy, farmer, digger of Reche’s Well in Landers), sat down for a 4-hour interview at the Museum & Research Center. Charlie Reche was wounded while a member of the Willie Boy posse in 1909.

Joining Morgan was his cousin 96-year old Marion Arnett. Arnett is the grandson of Mark “Chuck” Warren who homesteaded in Mo- rongo Valley and dug Warren’s Well in Yucca Valley. We learned that although life in the desert was hard and often lonely, travelers and pioneers alike gathered around wells to socialize and pass on information and directions to other water sources.

Art Miller Jr. interviewed the pioneers and Bob Stephenson recorded on state-of-the-art video equipment. Art and Bob both com- mented, “We all are making history today.” We also want to thank the family of charter members Les and Ruth Long who earmarked money to provide support for the Oral History Project.

Donations Make A Difference

Stan and Dixie Coutant generously donated his mother’s, Martha Wood Coutant, papers including family memoirs and her Johnson Valley newsletters.

Included in the collection is a complete set of “The Desert Whispers” the Johnson Valley newsletter edited by Martha Coutant: Sep- tember, 1967 – April 26, 1969. Stan and Dixie also donated two landscape paintings by Johnson Valley homesteader Maurice Dona- hue, to whom Martha devoted a chapter in “The Heart Bar Ranch.”

Martha Coutant, a writer and journalist, published the “Heart Bar Ranch and Johnson Valley Neighbors” in 1986.The book related the history of Albert Swarthout who homesteaded at Heart Bar from 1907 until he lost the ranch in 1947 after years of litigation. In 1954, the Coutant family filed on a 5-acre Johnson Valley homestead site, “weekending” there for many years.

Bill Davenport - Junior 1A Kodak Pocket Camera. Green colored bellows 1929-32;

Helen Huneycutt Flint & Mel Flint Donation - Helen Flint and husband Mel donated a large collection of Nancy Ann Storybook and Madame Alexander dolls circa 1940 - 1950 that Helen received from Santa over the years. She never really played with them so they are in mint condition. HeIen also donated her father Iva Huneycutt’s 1963 Grubstake Days bow tie.

Kelly’s Future owner Steve Tharp, retired after 40 years in business - donated an outdoor sign, Uncle Sam fabric sign, advertising spe- cialties-mugs, pencil, and a DVD of TV ads plus a framed picture of store advertisements.

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Bill and Marie Lasley - wheelbarrow from Pioneertown cabin modified to carry firewood from woodpile to house. Susan Murray - donated vintage copies of Desert Magazine in memory of her husband, Lloyd M. Murray, who graduated from Twentynine Palms High School. Marcia Pealstrom - donated photos of Yucca Valley. Mike Quarles - donated circa 1920 Brady Smoker lamp in mint condition. Carol and Jim Romero, of Landers - donated. telephone pamphlets, cookbooks from 1940-1950’s and a miniature vintage phone. Member Carol Swain - donated in memory of her husband Jack Swain a large collection that raised money for creation and mainte- nance of the museum indoor and outdoor exhibit spaces. Thank you for your continued support of history in the Morongo Basin. Audio interviews transferred to CD format by Bob Stephenson, ProVideo: Martha Coutant audio interview by Les and Ruth Long 5-14-2004 and Jane Garver audio interview by Les and Ruth Long 5-14-2004

Stan & Dixie Coutant donation - Maurice Donahue artist Helen & Mel Flint - dolls donation

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Fairfax—Michael Allan, Tehachapi—Stanley & Dixie Coutant, Lake Hughes—Jet Fuel, Glen L ‘Heureux Yucca Valley—Peter Browne & Therese Holm, Thomas Crochetiere, Mike Morgan

Board of Directors Chairpersons President Claudia Spotts Accessions Open Photographer Glenn Isaacs Vice Pres Bob Connors Museum Curator Charlie Rossow Programs Claudia Spotts

Treasurer Jim Spotts Newsletter & Bob Troyer Newsletter & Content Editors Jim & Claudia Spotts

Secretary Kim Abramson Graphic Editors Kim Abramson Proofreader Kathleen Bartle

Director Charlie Rossow Membership Kim Abramson Historical Sites Steve Hanson

Director Kenneth Gentry Landscaping Open Webmaster Rob Harris

Director Open Docents Open Past Perfect Johnnie Painter PLEASE SUPPORT OUR BUSINESS SPONSORS

29 Palms Band of Mission Indians Integratron - Patty, Nancy & Joanne Karl 29 Palms Historical Society Jet Feul - Glen L ‘Heureux 29 Palms Inn Johnson Valley Improvement Association Big O Tires - Thomas Huls Karl Loescher Desert Christ Park - a Museum of Sculptures Phillip Brown Home REALTOR - Phillip Brown Dr. Robert Lombardo, DDS. ProVideo - Bob Stephenson Glenn Isaacs & Sallie Brown Isaacs Rainbow Stew - Stacey Clayton, Valerie Meyer, & Michelle Nemechek Guilty Race Club - Eric Pealstrom Swella Chiropractic, Inc. - Gene Swella HI-DESERT AIR - Lance and Kari Cody Tortoise Rock Casino Hi-Desert Nature Museum Tri-Valley Realty - Linda Paino Hi-Desert Propane Ultimate Motors - Adam Spitz Hi-Desert Water Dist. VisitPioneertown.com - Kenneth Gentry Homestead Valley Community Council Yucca Valley Insurance - The Millers

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Photo by Glenn Isaacs

Morongo Basin Historical Society Museum & Research Center PO Box 2046, Yucca Valley 92286

760-364-2000 www.MBHS.net