The HSUMD meets on the third Tuesday of the month. All are welcome to attend. For more information on this or future meetings, call Society President Bruce Wertenberger.

USO Building work parties every Monday night, 6-9p.m Still lots of work to be done - windows, doors, floors, painting, electrical outlets, light fixtures, curtains, displays, gift shop stuff, etc. Contact Bruce or Chuck Cordell for details.

Bricks for USO Building Click here for the order form and get a neat brick with your words of choice on it to be put in front of the USO building. Great way to help out.

Annual Dues are DUE for Calendar year 2008. - $20 per family. Send to Treasurer at our PO Box.

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Newsletters On-Line!!

Newsletters from June to December 1997
Newsletters from January to December 1998
Newsletters from January to December 1999
Newsletters from January to December, 2000
Newsletters from January to December, 2001
Newsletters from January to December, 2002
Newsletters from January to December, 2003
Newsletters from January to December, 2004
Newsletters from January to December, 2005
Newsletters from January to December, 2006
Newsletters from January to December, 2007

January 2008 Newsletter
February 2008 Newsletter, PDF file
Newsletters from here down have great color photos! Liz Babcock does a wonderful job!!
March 2008, pdf
April 2008
May 2008, with dinner info
June 2008
August 2008, USO special

Is this a good way for you to get your newsletter rather than hard copy? Let your President know if we can save the HSUMD a stamp...

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HSUMD NEWS

Fun- article and photo about the Randsburg Railroad (which went from Kramer Junction to Johannesburg) - interesting article written by Sylvia Winslow in 1971, photo of the Johannesburg Station, and link to a whole website devoted to this railroad with nice maps.

You need - "Somewhere on the Edge of Nowhere"; Video and DVD now for sale at the Maturango Museum.

A history of borax and the plants in Trona

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Officers: (area code 760), those with e-mail are listed but not linked to a "mail to" link in an effort to cut down on spam mail one gets and I've used a "\" instead of @ to further fool the spam bots.....be sure YOU do it right!.

Bruce Wertenberger, President 375-2369, brucew\ridgenet.net
Doug Lueck, Vice President, 375-8202, racvb\filmdesert.com
Joan Chartier, Secretary 499-9119, bevjoan1\verizon.net
Andrew Sound, Treasurer, Publicity 371-1795, asound\ridgenet.net; Michael Mening, Accessions 371-7270; inspirationalcountry\hotmail.com
Jim Kenney, programs, field trips 371-2458; e-mai; jkenney\verizon.net
Liz Babcock, Newsletter, Exhibits & Displays; 375-7900, lizbab\iwvisp.com
Martha Jauregui, mrthjrg\yahoo.com
Chuck Cordell, Building
Lou Renner, Membership, 375-4379, linkrenn\verizon.net
Jim Lamb - Hospitality 375-2503, preacherman93555\yahoo.com
Wes Staples, AV 371-4214, wcstaples\verizon.net
Chris Cane , Giftshop, 793-0714, christinecane\msn.com

Directors meet on the first Tuesday of each month except during the summer. Meetings are at the "office" at 302 Station Street (but no mail goes there - use the P.O. Box)

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Membership Form print and mail in.

Annual Dues (calendar year) are $20.00 per address, and $30 for Busness membership. Send to the Treasurer, Andrew Sound, HSUMD, P.O. Box 2001, Ridgecrest, CA 93556-2001.

The organization is a 501(c)(3) and tax-deductible contributions are always welcome!

Membership applications are available with the Historical Society brochure in the Museum. We are also looking for volunteers to help with interviewing for our oral history program, publicity, archival research, photography, exhibits, newsletter, or fund-raising.

Membership provides you with 10 monthly newsletters, field trips, and refreshments after the meetings. Your most important membership benefit is the support you give to our efforts to preserve local history. Since the Historical Society is a nonprofit educational organization, your contribution is also tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law.

Field Trips:

Occasionally the Society leads a tour to the historic stage stop sites along the west side of the Indian Wells Valley. Tours to other areas are in the planning stages. If you have ideas, contact one of the officers of the Society.

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Publications and other Items for Sale by HSUMD:

The following Historical Society publications are for sale at the Gift Shop in the lobby of the Maturango Museum. (Free admission that far!) OR by mail order. Click here for form with information and ordering instructions to send to HSUMD.

A history of the Churches in Indian Wells Valley and Vicinity" by Fred Weals. Illustrated. 2003 $10.

"Indian Wells Valley - How it Grew" by Fred Weals; $12.00
Fred used to be a surveyor in our valley and has gathered the history of the place names of the streets - fun maps, fascinating facts! "A briew review of California Land History, followed by a description of Land Division, early land ownership, tract development and street naming in IWV. 106 pages. 2001

"How It Was - Some Memories by Early Settlers of the Indian Wells Valley and Vicinity." $5.50

Fun stuff to read!! 5 different accounts of life in IWV and Kennedy Meadows. More stories are being collected for a second volume.

"Indian Wells Valley Stage and Wagon Stops 1874-1906" $4.00

This publication includes photographs of many of the stage stop buildings, as well as a map and directions on how to get to the sites of many of these stops along the west side of the Indian Wells Valley. The Cerro Gordo road is mentioned in here too. This has everything to do with the "Bullion Road Preservation Project" - see above.

"The Zig Zag Post Office and its Neighbors 1885 - 1971" $14.00

by Mrs. Jane Thomann, postmaster of the Little Lake post office into the 1970's. This book contains many photographs dating from the early 1900's to the 1970's. Its contents include vignettes of early settler families, especially those living near Little Lake and in Rose Valley. Great history of the area, changes in Little Lake, the Hotel, Highway 395, the train, Gill's Oasis. Even more interesting now that the Little Lake Post Office has been closed once and for all - sigh...

"Sand Canyon Station" - Video produced by our talented Mark Pahuta $12.00 DVD available too.

Historic scenes from LADWP footage about building the aqueduct, railroad and old town of Brown, homesteads of IWV; old photos, and local "movie stars" Hank, Lois, Bob, and Litha. What it was like to live in Sand Canyon as a child from their views, history of building the big black pipe at the Sand Canyon Siphon, flash floods, earthquakes, etc. 37 min. Fascinating!!

So click for the order info and send check to HSUMD, or - stop by the Museum!!

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HSUMD Exhibits:

The Historical Society maintains three exhibit areas in the Maturango Museum.

The oak display cabinets in the foyer,

In the Museum itself the Society maintains a folding rack collection of photographs, currently featuring historic photos on the Rand Mining District and lots of other neat old Ridgecrest Stuff... This exhibit is just beyond the Navy's exhibit on the east wall.

Our third exhibit area is the History Exhibit on the north wall of the Museum's exhibit room. Current exhibit is on the DVD production about China Lake. Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere.

One of our past exhibits was called "The Carr Family." Clarence Carr is the first known Caucasian to be born in the Indian Wells Valley on August 3, 1910, and died at the age of 91, October 21, 2001. Another exhibit featured "The Gill Family." Raymond Gill founded Gill's Oasis, which is now the site of the CalTrans Coso Junction Rest Area in Rose Valley, 45 miles north of Ridgecrest. We have also featured the Darwin Mining District and Joseph Walker and Cerro Gordo.

Bullion Road Preservation Project:
In 1995, the Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert (HSUMD) originated the project to conduct further research on the route described in our publication titled "Indian Wells Valley Stage and Freight Stops 1874 -1906."
In 1998 the HSUMD outlined our findings and explained the project to the Ridgecrest Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) at a Steering Committee meeting. Their response was enthusiastic and a cooperative effort was formed to accurately survey, locate, mark, sign and preserve the road remnants in the Indian Wells Valley and vicinity. A goal for the project is to prepare documentation for registering the old freight and stage road from Mojave to the Owens Valley with the State Historic Preservation Office . This historic road, which by necessity, followed Indian trails from watering hole to watering hole along the eastern edge of the Sierra. Eventually, in the early 1900's, most of this route provided the only reasonable automobile access between Los Angeles and the Owens Valley. As auto traffic increased, parts of the former Bullion Road became known as the Midland Trail. North of Owens Lake near Big Pine the Midland Trail headed east to connect with the interstate Lincoln Highway and cities East of the Rocky Mountains.
During the 1870's this road through the Upper Mojave Desert attained great importance when silver ore from the Cerro Gordo mines was carried in wagons drawn by mule-team to the docks at San Pedro, CA. From there the ore went by ship to the US Mint at San Francisco. In 1876 the Southern Pacific Railroad arrived in Mojave and eventually this terminal shortened the many day wagon trip to San Pedro.
As part of our national Millennium celebration, the HSUMD, BLM, and the Red Rock Canyon State Park applied for and received White House certification for the Bullion Road/Midland Trail to become a Community Millennium Trail. Only some 30 miles of the original route has been identified as suitable for hiking and equestrian travel and was allocated to the Bullion Road in the application. The hiking and equestrian portion of the 30 mile road begins at Red Rock Canyon State Park and ends at the Kennedy Meadow road. The Kennedy Meadow road into the Sierra is located three miles north of the Kern and Inyo County line.
To explore this Community Millennium Trail you may want to obtain and be guided by the circa 1960 survey series of United States Geological Survey (USGS) maps covering the area west of highways 14 and 395. Also a descriptions and photographs of key locations along the route are available in our "Indian Wells Valley Stage and Freight Stops" publication available on-line or at the Maturango Museum.

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History of our Historical Society:

The Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert (HSUMD) was formed on March 28, 1985 when the Museum was still at the Naval Weapons Center. A potluck picnic and sharing session was held at Inyokern Park on Sept. 22, 1985, and operational policies were formalized and adopted on March 25, 1986. In need of funds we operated our first "Cookies and Conversation" booth at the Museum's Maturango Junction.

Remember "Madam Billie" Hise? The original Board of Directors included Ruth Ellen (Stone) Schwartz, President; Billie Hise, V.P.; Susanne Fountain, Sec/Treas; and Lou Pracchia, Dan Butler, John Coe, and Jack McGinnis.

Our HSUMD page is now listed on two huge lists of Historical Societies in California. Check them out for ideas of other fun places to visit: California Historical Society Web Site under Kern County; and California Historical Societies and Museums under the comprehensive list of Historical Societies and Museums in California. We're under M for Mojave Desert, HS of

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History of the MOUNT OWENS CEMETERY

Together with Indian Wells, Sand and Nine Mile Canyons, Grapevine represents the places where year round living over the centuries was possible and many people have done so, even today. Grapevine is of the canyons overlooking the Indian Wells Valley where native American and the recorded transition to white occupancy took place.

It is in Grapevine Canyon where Mount Owens Cemetery is located. Information received from the Kern County Historical Society, canyon residents and on site observations identify the following as having been interred there.

Name; Born; Died

Ella Barton c 1830 1918
Pedro Barton c 1830 1918
Nancy Spratt 1852 (?) 1918
Earl Standard 1888 1957
Louis Hamilton 1898 1966
William G. Lyster 1902 1969
Ethel M. Standard 1887 1980
Peggy Lewis -- --
Paul S. Faskas 1909 1988
Mildred I. Giraud 1936 1990
Patrick R. McCollum 1950 1990
Evelyn Hunter 1904 1993
Hetty Lyster 1902 1994
Michael Lee Barker 1951 1996

According to the Kern Co. Historical Society there are about twelve other Koso Shoshones buried there. Ella and Pedro Barton, and Nancy Spratt were born in the canyon. Earl Standard bought land from Tom Spratt, son of Nancy. The cemetery is on land owned by Standard family heirs. Bill Standard of Inyokern is the current contact.

What is being proposed to Society members is that each of the above persons buried at the cemetery have a biography generated for them. This is an excellent opportunity to do research and contribute to our valley's history. It is suggested that only one surname in the list become the task of one researcher. Please call Lou Pracchia if you can help.

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History of the Highways in the Indian Wells Valley - very, very interesting stuff, and of course, a work in progress, literally!

Other Local Historical Society organizations- brochures for these are available in the lobby of the Maturango Museum

China Lake Museum Foundation- U.S. Naval Museum of Armament and Technology in the old Officer's Club building on the station is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on work days. Creations of our "rocket scientists" at China Lake are on display, including aircraft rockets, free fall weapons, "smart bombs", Sidewinder, Shrike, a moon lander; weapons systems, aircraft systems, technology programs, and people, community, and corporate culture are all showcased. View pictures of the past 50 years of base activities. Much information about the station, weapons programs, and video clips and other fun things are on this web page.

Searles Valley Historical Society
P.O. Box 630 Trona, CA 93592

www1.iwvisp.com/svhs Web page with photos, historical time line, lots of info.

Old Guest House Museum
13193 Main Street, Trona; Open M,W,Sat 9 a.m.- noon, T, F 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Building from 1912; 9 rooms showing events in the Searles Valley from early mining days, changes in the chemical plant ownership, up to present activities. They have an excellent "file room" with all sorts of information for research.

History House & Railway Museum
83001 Panamint Street (by appointment only)

One of the oldest residences in Trona, built around 1920; Trona Railway Caboose, built in 1958; Fire Engine - 1924 Stutz fire engine.

Searles Valley timeline

Kern River Valley Historical Society
49 Big Blue Road, P.O. Box 651 Kernville, CA 93238: (619) 376-6683

Thursday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Exhibits feature past and present Indians, Gold Mining, Ranching, Lumbering, filming of Western Movies; Art gallery, Gift shop.

Kern County Historical Society
P.O. Box 141, Bakersfield, CA 93302

Neat outdoor exhibit area adjacent to the Kern County Museum; several annual activities and living history days. Buildings from all around Kern County.

Mono Basin Historical Society
P.O. Box 31, Lee Vining, CA 93541. (619) 647-6461

The Old Mono Lake Schoolhouse Museum is located on Main Street adjacent to Hess Park, one block east of Highway 395 at First Street. The school was built in 1925 and moved to its present location and opened as a Museum in 1989. Exhibits include Kuzedika Paiute baskets, historic photographs of mining, ranching, and early exploits on Mono Lake, and an outside exhibit of mining and farming equipment. Call for hours of operation.

Links to long lists of Historical Societies of California

Preservation Directory resource of historic and cultural resource preservation efforts, educational programs, links, etc. of the U.S. and Canada. We're listed under "Historical Societies, California"; extensive and interesting web site!!

California Historical Society Web Site listings by county. We're under Kern, of course

California Historical Societies has a comprehensive list of Historical Societies and Museums of California. We're under M for Mojave Desert, Hist. Soc of Upper... this one has books for sale, genealogy, all sorts of interesting historical things.

Return to Index!!

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If you want to print all this history,

Click here for a page which is just the history

A page with photos and stories from California Historical Society

{Webmistress's notes - I've collected these dates from lots of books and things... if you have corrections, or additions for our area, please write me!!}

Some History of the Indian Wells Valley and surrounding areas in

Kern, Inyo, and Mono Counties

1776 - Padre Francisco Garces twice crossed the Kern River near the mouth of the canyon. He named it Rio de San Felipe. Fr. Jose Zalvidea 30 years later named it La Porciuncula. The Mexicans called both the river and the mining district at the mouth of the canyon Rio Bravo.

1822 - Alta California belonged to Mexico after its independence from Spain. 1826 - Jedediah Smith crossed the Sierra, probably at Ebbetts Pass, and explored the streams of the San Joaquin Valley. He brought back tales of high mountains and the potential for beaver pelts to his trapper friends in the Rockies.

1830 - Ewing Young and Kit Carson explore Great Central Valley's streams looking for beaver and other fur-bearing animals.

1833 - Joseph R. Walker came past Mono Lake area on his way to Monterey but didn't mention having seen the lake.

1834 - Joe Walker came through the pass that bears his name from the Kern River area on his way to explore the Owens Valley. In 1843 he led several wagon trains south through the Owens Valley and west over Walker pass to the Central Valley.

1841 - The Bartleson-Bidwell party struggled over Sonora Pass on their way to rich farmlands promised them in Mexican California. Many other settlers followed over the pass even before gold was discovered.

1844 - John C. Fremont explored San Joaquin Valley with U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers.

1845 - Walker and John C. Fremont explored and mapped Owens Valley. Kit Carson, Richard Owens, and Ed Kern explored and named places. For a month they camped at the confluence of the North and South Fork of the Kern River.

1846 - Many wagon trains were coming to promised fertile farming fields in the Oregon Territory and to Mexican California. The Donner Party got stuck by a pretty lake in early November- (46 were rescued, 42 didn't make it); ten thousand Mormons came west to settle in the Salt Lake valley.

1848 - Alta California and the whole southwest territories were ceded to the United States government by Mexico as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo after an 18 month battle. The United States territories stretched from sea to shining sea.

1848-49 - Gold rush in the Sierra foothills.

1849 - The Bennett and Manley parties were marooned in Death Valley. They arrived on Christmas Day and had many problems, ran out of food, sent for help, got rescued because the guys found water at Indian Wells.

1850 - California became a state on Sept. 9, with 27 counties. (Kern Co. was then a part of Mariposa Co.)

1852 - Mono Lake was "discovered" and named by an Army patrol while chasing Indians out of Yosemite Valley. The men discovered gold flakes in the area. It didn't take long for prospectors to pour over the Sierra to explore the Mono and Owens basin mountains for riches.

1853 - Gold was discovered in Greenhorn Gulch and Keyesville, causing a major gold rush to the Kern River Valley in 1854.

1854 - Fort Tejon was established in the Grapevine Canyon along the wagon road between the Los Angeles basin ranchos and the San Joaquin Valley. It was maintained until 1864 to keep peace between the Indians and the settlers and their stock arriving in large numbers. Between 1850 and 1858, over 586,000 head of sheep and 70,000 cattle were brought to California over the southern Emigrant Trail. In 1857 the Camel Corps arrived at the fort, but that experiment didn't work well.

1858 - Butterfield Stage and Mail service from St. Louis to El Paso, Tucson, and Yuma, through the Anza Borrego area, to Ft. Tejon, up into the foothills north of what is now Bakersfield to skirt swampy Tulare Lake, to Visalia, Stockton, and San Francisco. The line ran only 3 years until telegraph replaced the need for rapid mail service and trains provided better transportation.

1859 - Indian wars broke out in the Owens Valley. The Army set up Camp Independence on July 4 with the intention of keeping peace between the Paiutes and the settlers who were moving cattle on to the Indian lands. Alney McGee brought cattle from Tulare over Walker Pass, and Sam Bishop brought cattle and horses in from Fort Tejon. Problems continued until 1863. Over 200 Indians were killed in various battles.

The Battle of Bishop in 1862 involved 50 settlers and 500 Indians. Finally a treaty was signed in July, 1863.

The Army escorted 998 Indians to a reservation near Fort Tejon and Camp Independence was temporarily abandoned. The Army maintained a presence at Fort Independence from 1865 to 1877, though most of the remaining Indians gave up their traditional way of life and began working for the white settlers. Paiute lands had been overrun with cattle and sheep. The piñon pines, which the Paiutes depended upon for a pine nut crop each fall, were rapidly being cut down for fuel for the mine smelters.

1860 - Discovery of gold in the Kernville area. The Big Blue Mine prospered. In 1861 the settlement of Whiskey Flats formed below the Big Blue mine and provided various services. In 1864 its name was changed to a more respectable Kernville. Glennville was established in 1857 and Woody and Claraville in 1862.

1860 - Discovery of silver in and around the Owens Valley and gold farther north in and near Bodie. Dr. Darwin French discovered silver in the Cosos and started the Darwin mines. The Comstock was producing silver east of Lake Tahoe in what is now Virginia City. Much gold was being mined around Mono Lake, and large gold mines were producing in Aurora.

1861 - Mono County was formed from Calavaras County. Aurora was designated County Seat (though it was later discovered to be in Nevada and demoted.)

1862 - Borax was discovered by John and Dennis Searles in Searles Lake.

1863 - Col. Baker owned Kern Island. Baker's fields held corn, beans, potatoes, and alfalfa.

1864 - California State Geological Survey set the border with Nevada, explored Sierra, and discovered Mt. Whitney to be tallest peak. William Brewer came through the Indian Wells Valley and is supposed to have said "A more Godforsaken, cheerless place I have seldom seen - a spring of water - nothing else."

1865 - Gold was discovered on Clear Creek south of Isabella and the fast-growing town of Havilah was founded to accommodate the mines in the area.

1866 - Portions of Tulare and Los Angeles counties were split off to form Kern and Inyo Counties. Havilah was chosen Kern County Seat as it was the largest town in the county at that time. Havilah boasted the county's first newspaper. Independence was designated county seat for Inyo County. Mines and mills were operating in many areas of the Owens Valley. Ranching, particularly raising of vegetables and fruit orchards, was thriving throughout Owens Valley and south in to the Indian Wells Valley to supply the mines and settlements.

1868 - The toll wagon road was completed over Sonora Pass to connect the Mono and Bodie mines with the markets on the west side of the Sierra.

1869 - Bakersfield was founded with the opening of a post office. It soon had a thriving newspaper.

1869 - The transcontinental railroad project was completed when the Union Pacific line over Donner Pass was joined with the Central Pacific line. In 1870 a rail line reached Bakersfield. By 1875 the rail road was pushed east to Caliente, and in 1876 the Tehachapi Loop was built and the train track went to Mojave and then to Los Angeles later that year. Mojave received borax from Death Valley and Boron, gold from Randsburg, and silver from Cerro Gordo, all to be shipped on the railroad to the port of Los Angeles.

1870 - Bridgeport became the Mono County seat when Aurora was discovered to be in Nevada and its mines were declining; the Bridgeport Valley had over 9,000 acres in production of wheat, oats, barley, hay, potatoes, butter and cheese.

1871 - Cerro Gordo mines were going great guns, with 4,800 people and 1,600 mules living there. Mine production was 2,200 tons of ore that year. Heavy wagon loads of 83-pound bars containing silver and lead, with minor amounts of gold and copper, were hauled daily down the Yellow Grade Road by Remi Nadeau's sturdy mule-drawn freight wagons to Swansea. In 1872 the ore was shipped by steamers Bessie Brady and in 1877 also on the Mollie Stevens across Owens Lake to Cartago, then again by wagon to L.A. before 1876, then by the train at Mojave to L.A. In 1873 Colonel Stevens set up his sawmill at the head of Carroll Creek to provide lumber for building, but also wood to turn in to charcoal at the two kilns beside the west shore of Owens Lake. The steamers took the charcoal back across the lake to the smelters after unloading their silver bars. The Bessie Brady burned in 1882. Export of Cerro Gordo ores to refineries in San Francisco gave the small port city of Los Angeles a big boost.

1872 - On March 26 a magnitude 8.5+ earthquake hit Lone Pine, killing 29 people and causing long fault scarps over 20 feet high to form. These hills can still be seen today north of Lone Pine. This earthquake remains the largest so far in the State of California.

1873 - John and Dennis Searles formed San Bernardino Borax Mining Company in what they called Searles Marsh. Their mill produced 100 tons of borax per month. The same year Panamint City area, discovery of rich silver veins.

1873 - Bakersfield City was incorporated. The Kern County Seat was moved there from Havilah in 1874. The town boasted a bank and county hospital. The people of Bakersfield were advised to "plant the Australian Gum Tree, or Eucalyptus, because they are a most valuable wood producer... trees grow more rapidly than the willow or cottonwood, its wood is very hard and strong and durable and it splits as readily as redwood or cedar."

1874 - Cerro Gordo Mine in the Inyo Mountains needed more water and installed an 11-mile-long pipeline, which brought 90,000 gallons of water per day to the site. Daily production was 18 tons of ore which was smelted into 400 bars of silver bullion.

1874 - Tiburcio Vasquez, whose hideout was in Robber's Roost, robbed stages and freight wagons along the eastern Sierra, especially near Coyote Wells (Freeman Junction) until he was captured later that year. To discourage such robberies, the Cerro Gordo mine began making bullion ores into 300-pound balls that could not be carried on a horse!

1874-77 - The blooming Panamint City mines in Surprise Canyon below Telescope Peak produced $1 million in silver.

1876 - the railroad came to Mojave, and then down to Los Angeles - a huge boon to shippers of gold, silver, and food to and from the tiny, but growing port city of Los Angeles.

1878 - Large scale irrigation projects began in the Owens Valley to supply the ranches with water by way of ditches from the Owens River. This caused declining amounts of water for Owens Lake and it started dropping. Gold was discovered in Mammoth in 1875, the rush to Bodie was in the 1870's, in 1876 gold was found at Lundy and Tioga. The Great Sierra Mining Co. built a wagon road to Sonora in 1878 to haul in mining machinery to these mines.

1881 - The Mono Mills Railroad, later called the Bodie & Benton RR, was built from Mono Mills on the southeast shore of Mono Lake to Bodie to provide lumber and firewood for the town's people and large timbers for the mines. It ran until 1917.

1881 - Borax was discovered in Death Valley in 1873, but in this year William T. Coleman bought the claims and developed the Harmony Borax works. His 20-mule teams hauled borax from Death Valley to Mojave, 165 miles in 10 days, from 1883 to 1888.

1880 -1900 - No new strikes were found in the Owens Valley area, and silver prices dropped drastically. Mining declined as did the fortunes of the farmers.

1883 - Carson and Colorado narrow-gauge railroad was completed from Keeler on the east side of Owens Lake at the bottom of the Cerro Gordo road, to Carson City, NV. This railroad changed the way freight in the Owens Valley was handled. Ores could now be shipped north on the train to Carson City smelters, and vegetables and farm products from the Owens Valley had a better means of transport to markets north and south. Most trading was then done with San Francisco rather than Los Angeles. The rail line was sold to Southern Pacific in 1900. In 1905 the Standard Gauge rail was completed from Carson City to Tonopah and the narrow gauge abandoned. In 1943 service was abandoned north of Laws and the track pulled. In 1960 the "Slim Princess" made her last run and stopped in Laws. Visit her at the Laws Railroad Museum 6 miles northeast of Bishop.

1888 - Bakersfield acquired telephones. By 1889 the town had gas lights, and by 1900 electric lights. Bicycles, the ones with the big front wheels, were seen on the streets.

1892 - Standard Consolidated Mining Company installed AC power to the mill Bodie from a hydroelectric project on Green Creek. Since the engineers didn't know if power could turn corners, they made the 13 mile line straight as an arrow to Bodie. Remnants of the Green Creek power plant and dam can be seen, as can the clearing for the power line as it comes over the hills into Bodie from the southwest.

1893 - Sequoia National Forest Reserve was formed. The town of Isabella started.

1895 - Rand Camp was founded and became the town of Randsburg. The Rand Mining District's fabulous gold strike at the Yellow Aster brought over three thousand people to the area by 1896, and many more followed.

1896 - Johannesburg was founded. Much gold and later silver were found in the area.

1896 - Wells Fargo & Co. express offices at Havilah, Weldon, and Kernville closed after a big stage robbery on the Kernville and Caliente Stage line. Most of the activity had shifted to the Rand Mining District anyway.

1897 - The Randsburg Railway terminus at Johannesburg connected to the Santa Fe tracks 28 miles south near "Four Corners," Kramer Junction. Ore could be shipped by rail to Barstow and to Mojave and Los Angeles. The line closed in 1933 when production from the mines of the area slowed.

1897 - Ballarat post office was opened as gold was discovered in nearby canyons. It closed in 1917. Today gold mining is active again in the canyons south of the ghost town. C. R. Briggs has a highly productive gold mine 12 miles south of Ballarat. Visit the cemetery, about all that is left of old Ballarat.

1898 - The Pacific Borax Company was founded in the Searles Valley.

1899 - Oil was discovered in the Bakersfield area. A different kind of rush started for "black gold."

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1900 - Gold and silver were found in the Nevada mines of Tonopah, Goldfield, Rhyolite, Manhattan, and Round Mountain. The Owens Valley people had new markets and shipped produce and meat over there by wagon and the narrow-gauge train.

1902 to 1907 - Kern River power plants 1, 2, and 3 built. The Borel Canal and power plant were completed in 1904. Power from these plants was shipped on steel towers to Los Angeles, proving that steel would not disrupt the transmission of electricity.

1905-1907 - The City of Los Angeles began buying Owens Valley properties and water rights.

1907- Funds were appropriated from Congress for construction of the Los Angeles aqueduct.

1908 - The Nevada and California Railroad (now Southern Pacific) extended the Owenyo line north from Mojave into the Owens Valley to serve the construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct and to make freight connections with the Carson and Colorado Railroad at Owenyo station, northeast of Lone Pine. Aqueduct construction continued until 1913. Mules were used more than any other means of transport around the construction. The cement plant in Monolith, east of Tehachapi, was founded to provide cement for this immense project. When completed, the aqueduct included over 12 miles of steel pipe siphons (visible as the black pipe in Nine Mile, Short, and Jawbone Canyons), 142 tunnels, mostly through the Sierra west of the Indian Wells Valley, and 2 major reservoirs, upper and lower Haiwee. Sidings and 53 construction camps were eventually used; those in the Indian Wells Valley included Terese, Siding 16, changed to Magnolia and in 1913 changed to Inyokern, and Siding 18, changed to Brown in 1909, when George Brown built a hotel there. The post office at Brown remained in service until 1948. Water spilled into the L.A. basin in 1913, but the City of Los Angeles continued to buy irrigation districts, water rights, and property in the Owens Valley well into the 1940's.

Meanwhile, the ever expanding chemical industry founded the town of Trona (the name of a mineral containing borax and potash), and then Argus, West End, and Pioneer Point and their respective chemical processing plants. 1898 - Pacific Borax Co. bought out the Searles brothers; 1912 - Electric power came to Trona. 1913 - American Trona Corporation built the Trona plant and company town; 1914 - Trona Railway was built to haul the plant's products to the railroad in Mojave; 1926 - American Potash and Chemical Corporation bought out Pacific Borax; 1956 - Westend plant was built; 1962 Stauffer Chemical Corporation plants; 1967 - Kerr McGee bought out American Potash and then Stauffer in 1974; North American Chemical Company bought the entire complex, and now it is owned by IMC chemicals.

1903 - City of Bishop was incorporated and already had electricity from hydroelectric projects up on Bishop Creek. Mine production in most places around the Owens Valley was declining.

1903 - Jack Keane discovered gold in the mountains of Death Valley. By 1907 there was a 20 stamp mill working at the bottom of the hill. The tramway and buildings are still there, in pretty good condition.

1904 - The Kern Power Co. made enough electricity from its hydroelectric power plant at Borel Powerhouse near Miracle Hot Springs to supply not only Bakersfield, but also Los Angeles with power to run red electric street cars. The Bishop Creek hydroelectric power plants of the Nevada Power, Mining, and Milling Co. supplied power to the mines at Tonopah, Goldfield, and soon Rhyolite.

1905 - Kern River Canyon Road was completed from Democrat Hot Springs into the South Fork Valley. To get there from Bakersfield still required either going up Caliente Creek and Walker Basin, or over Breckenridge Mountain.

1905 - In Death Valley, the gold mines at Skidoo produced over $6 million in gold until 1917. They only problem was lack of water at the town site, so a 23-mile long pipeline was built to bring water from Telescope Peak to run the pelton wheel for generators at the mill, and from that came the saying "23 Skidoo"! Scram!

1905 - Walter Scott (Death Valley Scotty as he would later be called) with the backing of Santa Fe and his friend Albert Johnson, hired a train to run from Los Angeles to Chicago in record time, 45 hours, July 9-11, 1905.

1906 - Greenwater, a copper mining "town" sprang up in Death Valley. It only lasted 13 months, but it was a real boom town for a while with a post office and newspaper!

1907 - Rhyolite and Bullfrog mines opened near Beatty, and the Tonopah and Tidewater railroad connected Tecopa, the Ryan Siding, Beatty, the Rhyolite siding, and other mines to Goldfield, Nevada. All were supplied by electricity from Bishop Creek, CA.

1909 - Homesteaders arrived in the Indian Wells Valley as aqueduct construction continued.

1910 on - The old stage and freight roads traversing the valley became well traveled highways. Cars came with the aqueduct construction personnel. The Homestead, now a fine restaurant, along with nearby Indian Wells Lodge, Nine Mile, Little Lake Hotel, Gill's Oasis, and Dunmovin all grew up to serve the public. The road up Sherwin Hill was completed and paved in 1916. Today this is called the Lower Rock Creek Road but it was in use as Highway 395 until the 4-lane highway was completed up Sherwin Grade in the late 60's.

1910 - The Owens Valley had 4500 settlers producing apples, grapes, corn, wheat, potatoes, alfalfa, honey, sheep (43,000 of them!), horses, and cattle. Artesian wells had existed as far south as Independence, but the intake to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, LADWP, canal system at Aberdeen shortly dried up the water works in the southern end of the Owens Valley. There was no longer water for the lower Owens River nor for the shrinking Owens Lake. It completely dried up by 1927.

1911-1915 - Cerro Gordo mines have another boom for zinc ore and salvage more lead and silver ores from the dump piles.

1912 - The Robertson family homesteaded in the Indian Wells Valley and in 1913 the Bowman family had 160 acres along what is now Bowman Road. The Crum family established a dairy (where the Indian Wells Valley Water District offices are now). The area was known as "Crumville."

1913 - Death Valley's official weather station recorded 134 degrees, still a record.

1917 - Mt. Whitney Fish hatchery was completed. Fish planting began in Sierra lakes and streams, primarily Golden Trout taken from the upper Kern River watershed and stocked in Cottonwood Lakes.

1920 - The Indian Wells Valley had 360 acres of fruit trees (half in apples), alfalfa, melons, broom corn, and cotton. The northern Owens Valley, by contrast, had 75,000 acres in production, but Los Angeles was buying farms and water rights very fast, and farms were being abandoned.

1920 - The U.S. Geographical Board gave the name Indian Wells Valley to our area, consolidating what had been Brown, Salt Wells, and Inyokern Valleys. China Lake was named for the Chinese railroad workers migrated down after building the Carson and Colorado railroad in the Owens Valley. They mined borax on the north shore of the playa for a short time. Chinese talents were also used to build the freight wagon roads.

Remains of Chinese rock work can be seen at the Slate Range Pass on the old wagon road which went from Red Mountain to Ballarat and Skidoo.

1920 - A health resort was established at Coso Hot Springs, east of what is now the Coso Junction rest area. Long before that the Native Americans in the area used the hot muds.

1923 - Construction of the Little Lake hotel finally finished. By then a dam has been built at the south end of the tule marsh and the many springs had made a substantial Little Lake as we know it today.

1924 - Albert Johnson began building his Death Valley Ranch. Later this would be called "Scotty's Castle" after its frequent occupant, Walter Scott, "Death Valley Scotty". The stock market crash of '29 also stopped construction at the Ranch, but really only the pool out in front of the house wasn't done. Today Scotty's Castle hosts History Tours every day of the year. Rangers dress as the people of the ranch in the 20's.

1931 - A ceremony was held at Red Rock Canyon to celebrate the paving of Highway 6 from Los Angeles to Bishop. Even with the road, the 30's were a period of decline in the Owens Valley. Los Angeles continued to buy the farms and water rights and the mines were not producing well.

1933 - Death Valley National Monument was created by congress.

1936 - Joe Fox bought the Crum dairy and built a tufa house for his family. It is still at the southwest corner of Ridgecrest Blvd. and Norma St. in Ridgecrest. The Royce family built the first "real" swamp cooler in Trona. It had a large fan, excelsior pads held by chicken wire, and a pipe to drip water on the pads.

1939 - Pine Creek tungsten mine started, bringing some employment to the Owens Valley. Los Angeles continued buying lands and water rights into the Mono Basin.

1939 - The Benthams had a store and service station at "Bentham's Corner," where the Bank of America is now located in downtown Ridgecrest.

1941 - The Ridgecrest Post Office was established and town was officially renamed. (Ridgecrest was the winner in a contest by one vote over Sierra View).

1941 - Dave McCoy brought the first portable rope tow to the Mammoth Mountain area and to McGee Mountain. Mammoth proved to have better snows. Los Angeles Department of Water and Power began work on Long Valley Dam to form Crowley Lake, and put a tunnel under the Mono Craters to bring June Lake Loop and Mono Basin water to Crowley Lake. Mono Lake began to decline without the creek waters flowing into it.

1942-46 - Manzanar Relocation Camp, between Lone Pine and Independence, housed over 10,000 people of Japanese ancestry, even though most were U.S. citizens. When the camp was dismantled in 1946, many of the buildings were brought to NOTS, China Lake. (see below)

1943 - The United States Navy established a giant research, development, test and evaluation facility in the Indian Wells Valley, closing ranching and mining activities in the huge land holdings and establishing a "village" on-base called China Lake. The facility was called NOTS, the Naval Ordnance Test Station, until 1967 when it became the Naval Weapons Center. Harvey Field was completed near Inyokern. It became the Inyokern Airport when the Navy planes moved to China Lake at Armitage Field. Electricity came to the Base and to Ridgecrest.

1946 - Muroc Army Air Field established; renamed Edwards Air Force Base in 1956.

1948 - Congress appropriated funds for a dam at the confluence of the North and South Forks of the Kern River to prevent flooding of the City of Bakersfield. The City had suffered extreme flooding in 1867, 1893, and even in 1950 as the dam was being constructed. The 1950 flood was measured at 30,000 cubic feet per second. Normal high release from the dam today is 3,000 cfs.

1952 - Major earthquakes on the Garlock fault severely damaged Tehachapi and then Bakersfield.

1953 - Los Angeles completed the Owens River Gorge hydroelectric plants. Lake Isabella dam was completed in March.

1954 - The road to Mammoth Mountain was paved. Mammoth Mountain Ski Area began; 6 chairs had been installed by 1965; 26 chairs by 1993. In 1997 a major interest in MMSA was sold to Intrawest, a Canadian firm with plans to further develop both the ski area and the town.

1954 - Walter Scott, Death Valley Scotty, died. He is buried on Windy Hill just above the castle, with his dog Windy.

1959 - Lake Woollomes and Lake Ming were created along the Kern River for recreation purposes.

1961 - June Mountain Ski Area started; it was bought by Dave McCoy in 1986 and by Intrawest in 1998.

1962 - The Maturango Museum was founded at NOTS.

1963 - The City of Ridgecrest was incorporated. Los Angeles began work on second aqueduct and completion of the reservoir system and water works clear into the Mono Basin. President Kennedy visited NOTS.

1970 - Construction completed on the second barrel of the Los Angeles Aqueduct from Haiwee Reservoir, doubling the capacity to remove surface and ground water from the Owens Valley and Mono Basin. Mono Lake began a very rapid decline. Water wars between residents of the Eastern Sierra and the City of Los Angeles continued.

1973 - Cerro Coso College opened on the hill south of Ridgecrest. 1985 - The Historical Society of Upper Mojave Desert was formed in March.

1986 - The Maturango Museum moved to its present location in Ridgecrest and opened for visitors in October.

1990 - The State Supreme Court ruled in favor of Mono Lake; water exports from Mono Basin are to be severely restricted until Mono Lake rises to a target level. see www.Monolake.org

1994 - The California Desert Protection Act was signed November 1. It upgraded Death Valley and Joshua Tree to National Parks, created Mojave National Preserve (Park, with hunting) , and created 70+ BLM Wilderness Areas in the mountains of the California deserts. The act also greatly enlarged Red Rock Canyon State Park.

1996 - The Great Basin Air Pollution Control Board is trying to find solutions to the Owens Lake "dust problem". They propose filling some of the lake, planting salt grass, and covering some with gravel. Still those wars continue in the courts and still dust from dry Owens Lake blows all over on windy days!

2001-2006 - LADWP is working on doing things to the Owens Lake bed so not so much dust will blow. About 10 square miles has been "shallow flooded" near Keeler, and now they're working at the south end to put in irrigation to plant salt grass. 2002 - LADWP is also supposed to "rewater the lower Owens River" but they have been dragging their feet on that project too. the court has ordered them to have water in there early 2006 and they are paying a stiff fine since Sept. 2005. It might yet happen!!

2005 - was a wonderful wet winter and spring and the flowers all over the deserts were stupendous!! Mono Lake did rise. Owens was wet in the center for some time.

2007 - Lower Owens River got WATER on Dec. 6, 2006. !!!! LADWP will spend 2007 building a pump-back plant. Also they will "finish" up the dust abaitment with some large berms on the lake bed by 2010.

2008 - Spring - LADWP, in accordance with court orders, did a one-week "spring flush" of 200 cfs, then back to the regular 40 cfs daily. The river has rebounded better than anyone had dreamed of! Trees are spreading, fish are spreading, birds are spreading out along the river. Owens Lake bird count recorded over 120 species and 50,000 birds - so the wet areas are repopupating with both residents and migrants. Another count will be held in Sept. FINALLY the river system is returning to "normal", more or less.
Unfortunately the snowpack in winter 06-07 and 07-08 were not up to 100% and Mono Lake is not rising - more holding its own, which is better than shrinking. Bird counts continue to be "normal". Visitors continue to increase.

Return to the top!!

wait - before you go...try these-

Home Page of the Maturango Museum - we have neat activities, lectures, trips, art shows, etc.

Exploring the Upper Mojave Desert - directions on how to get to all the places mentioned above

A page about Death Valley -all sorts of tourist info, special secrets, neat stuff