East Kern Visions Burro Schmidt’S Tunnel: a Study in Perseverance by CHERYL MCDONALD Other Side of the Mountains
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Spotlight: Whiskey Flat and the Kern River area EEaasstt KKeeJanrurarynn 2015 VViissiioonnss Furnace Creek getaway Bakersfield Condors hockey Burro Schmidt’s tunnel EEaasstt KKeeJanrurarynn 2015 VViissiioonnss Publisher John Watkins Inside this issue Editor Burro Schmidt’s Tunnel .....................3 Whiskey Flat Days events ...............10 Aaron Crutchfield Bakersfield Condors ..........................4 California City 50th anniversary ......11 Tierra Del Sol Golf Course ................5 Furnace Creek ..................................12 Advertising Director Paula McKay Whiskey Flat Days .............................7 Movie extra casting agency .............13 Ewings on the Kern ...........................9 Upcoming theater productions .......15 Advertising Sales Rodney Preul Barbara Schultheiss On tthe cover:: The Kern Riiver,, by Wiikiimeddiiaa CCoommmmonnss uusseer Rasttrojjo Writers Cheryl McDonald Ryan Kuhn Joyce Grant Aaron Crutchfield Jessica Weston Adam Robertson For this issue, we take a look at the major festival that is Whiskey Flat Days in Kernville. We also feature restaurant Ewing’s on the Kern, a local institution that recently reopened. 2 JAnuAry 2015 EASt KErn VISIonS Burro Schmidt’s tunnel: A study in perseverance BY CHERYL MCDONALD other side of the mountains. Unfortu - For the Daily Independent nately, it took him 32 years to complete the tunnel, and by then there were faster I was flipping through the channels forms of transportation. However, dig - the other evening, on my way to the ging this half-mile tunnel probably saved News Hour, and I came across an his life. He lived to the ripe old age of 81, episode of Huell Howser’s California dying just a few days before his 82nd Gold. It was his episode on the “Califor - birthday. nia Underground.” The last half of the William got his nickname of “Burro” show was just beginning, and guess who because his only companions were two PHOTO BY CHERYL MCDONALD was on the agenda: Burro Schmidt and burros he used for hauling supplies. He The view once you emerge from the other his tunnel. never married for fear of passing on the end of Burro Schmidt’s tunnel. I made my own trip to Burro Schmidt’s family disease — consumption is now She lived in a newer house next to tunnel in 2013 on a field trip with the known as tuberculosis. Schmidt’s cabin. Her home was Historical Society of the Upper Mojave During the summers he worked in the equipped with all the amenities, includ - Desert. Several of us did a car/truck cara - Kern River Valley on farms as a ranch ing pumped water from a well and power van out to the location in Last Chance hand earning money to buy the supplies from a gas powered generator. When Canyon just this side of Red Rock he needed. In the winters he worked Toni passed on in 2003 at the age of 90, Canyon State Park off of Highway 14 (I alone digging the tunnel with only a jack there was no longer a caretaker or guide highly recommend the HSUMD field hammer, dynamite, a shovel and a single to share the tunnel with tourists. Al - trips, always interesting with lots of ore cart, which he pushed in and out by though I never met her I have heard nu - PHOTO BY CHERYL MCDONALD knowledgeable people). hand to remove the dirt and rock from merous stories of her hospitality from A group walks through the tunnel, near - Burro Schmidt, or William Henry ing the end. the tunnel. His concern was not so much others who used to visit on a regular ba - Schmidt, was from Rhode Island. He about the ore he was finding, but com - sis. Toni is buried in the Johannesburg side deviations. Near the other end there came to California for his health — most pleting the tunnel. He lived in a small Cemetery and was loved by many in the is a sharp turn to the right and then you of his family died of consumption before cabin he had built, insulated with maga - mining community. are soon out on the other side of the the age of 30. On arriving in California zines and newspapers, eating flapjacks Since her passing the cabin sites have mountain with an incredible view of he went to work for the Kern County and beans. been ransacked and pretty much de - Koehn Lake and Cantil in Fremont Val - Land Company and got interested in Near the end of his life, he offered the stroyed by those with no respect for the ley, and off to the left is Highway 395 and mining. Although he did do some min - tunnel to the University of California for history of this place. The tunnel is still the Rand Mining District. ing in Copper Canyon, he began digging their studies on mineralogy, news spread open and is well worth the trip. The view Burro Schmidt’s tunnel is really worth a tunnel in the El Paso Mountains and soon Schmidt was entered into “Rip - from the entry side is quite beautiful: the trip. An amazing tribute to the power through Copper Mountain in 1906, and ley’s Believe it or Not” as the “human Robber’s Roost, the Southern Sierras and of what a focused individual can achieve. this became his reason for life. He be - mole.” He eventually gave his interest in Walker Pass. As you enter the tunnel, you Cheryl McDonald is a local artist and lieved this tunnel would be a useful way the tunnel to Mike Lee, and when Mike will need a flashlight, as it gets dark pret - resident of Ridgecrest. You can see more to get ore mined in Last Chance Canyon passed on, Toni Seeger purchased the ty fast. It is a narrow straight run for of her work on her website, over to Cantil and the train station on the claim from the county seat, Bakersfield. most of the length with only a couple of www.cherylmcdonald-art.com. O We Will Meet Or Beat Any Advertiser’s Price! Home of the Famous Steve & Marnie Dobbs High Desert Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich 10% MiOlitwanrye rDs iscount 1-760-384-4541 Home Center 760.384.1709 824 W Ridgecrest Blvd 501 N. China Lake Blvd. (760)375-9741 962 N. N orma Ridgecrest, CA 237 W. Ridgecrest 1-760-446-3240 Ridgecrest, CA 93555 JAnuAry 2015 EASt KErn VISIonS 3 Condors: Hockey just over the mountains BY RYAN KUHN The Daily Independent One might think hockey is only popular in places where deep layers of snow fall and lakes are frozen over, but here on the west coast, hockey’s popularity is actually on the rise. Even before the National Hockey League’s Los Angeles Kings won its two Stan - ley Cup Championships, hockey was popular in Southern California. You just have to drive west heading over the Tehachapi Pass. Since 1998, the Bakersfield Condors have been entertaining fans on the ice and have been successful, making the playoffs eight out of the last 11 years. “You can’t live (in Bakersfield) and not hear about the Condors or know some - one who goes to the game,” said Kevin Bartl, vice president of communications. “After 17 years and 3 million fans coming through our doors, this has turned into a pretty good spot.” The Condors started by playing in the West Coast Hockey League before it dis - banded in 2003, and some of the teams, including Bakersfield, were absorbed into the East Coast Hockey League. The ECHL is divided into two leagues, with two divisions in each league. The Condors play in the Pacific Division, which includes teams from Alaska, Utah, Colorado and other cities in California. Just as minor league baseball helps give young players experience, each team in the ECHL has an NHL affiliate. For years, the Condors were affiliated with the Anaheim Ducks, but just this last year, the Edmonton Oilers purchased the team. Staying around has not been easy. While the Condors have seen continuous success, other minor league teams have not. Both the San Francisco Bulls and Fresno Falcons, who each had ECHL seasons in the past, folded midseason. “You have to go back 17 years ago to when we got started and our whole M.O. was getting the players out in the community and working with nonprofits,” Bartl said. “We try to work with as many groups as we can, and we have woven our - RYAN KUHN/DAILY INDEPENDENT Bakersfield goalie Frans Tuohimaa looks to keep the other team from scoring during a selves into this community.” recent game. This season, Bakersfield is currently 18-18, but first-year coach Jean-Francois Houle said it is a challenge every day. youth hockey community. “One part of our job is to develop players to move on to the next level, and “We have a rapidly growing youth hockey program that is guided along by ex- sometimes they leave,” Houle said. “That said, it is a lot of fun to come to the rink players who still live here,” Bartl said. “As opposed to other communities, our every day, and it’s the best job in sports.” youth players are growing up being taught by ex-pros, and it has done wonders The Condors not only cater to hockey fans, but to anyone that wants to have a for us.” good time. Some promotional nights that have been held include Star Wars Bakersfield has 28 games remaining on the schedule. Whether you have Night, celebrating Seinfeld’s 25th anniversary, “Frozen” Night, and the infamous watched hockey since you were a child or have never been to a game, the Condors Teddy Bear Toss, where fans bring teddy bears and throw them on the ice after welcome any type of fan.