HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE UPPER MOJAVE DESERT

P. O. Box 2001, Ridgecrest, CA 93556

Vol. 22 No. 9 November 2007 ___________________________________________________________________________

NOVEMBER 27 PROGRAM: Epsom Salts Monorail, Sandy Rogers

In order to avoid conflict with the Thanksgiving holiday, the Society will hold its regular monthly meeting on the fourth Tuesday of November (November 27) instead of the third Tuesday. The meeting will take place at 7:30 PM on November 27 at the former USO/County Building at 230 W. Ridgecrest Blvd. The meeting will feature a presentation on the Epsom Salts Monorail (or Trona Monorail) by Sandy Rogers, Curator of Archaeology at the Maturango Museum.

The monorail was constructed between 1921 and 1923 to transport epsom salts to the Trona Railway from a mine in the Crystal Hills east of Wingate Pass. The western end of the line was at Magnesium Siding, near the present-day road to the Trona Pinnacles. From there, the monorail line proceeded eastward across the Searles Lake Lakewood, climbed the Slate Range via Layton Canyon, descended into Panamint Valley, climbed the west side of Wingate Pass, and crossed the broad expanse of Wingate Wash to reach the mine, a total of some 28 miles. Although it was not a commercial success, the monorail still holds the record of being the longest monorail ever constructed in this country. Much of the monorail right-of-way lies on Navy land, and Navy stewardship has preserved the track structures and right-of-way grading, which can still be seen.

The presentation will describe the economic and social background of the monorail, the engineering of the track and equipment, and the ultimate fate of the effort. Illustrations will include both period photographs and recent images. Sandy is also author of a book on the monorail, which is available at the Maturango Museum.

The Society normally meets on the third Tuesday of the month. Each meeting features a presentation on some aspect of local history. All are welcome to attend. For more information on this or future meetings, call Society President Bill Nevins at 375-4764. Andrew Sound

DECEMBER MEETING – ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY, DEC. 11th

The Historical Society’s December meeting will be held earlier than normal in December, on the second Tuesday rather than the third Tuesday. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, December 11 at 7:00 PM at the Old USO Building. This meeting will be our traditional annual Potluck Dessert Christmas party. As before, please bring a dessert to share with eight other people. Beverages will be furnished. This year’s entertainment will include a performance and sing-a-long by the inimitable Bud Sewell. Jenny Miller and Marcia Nevins will lead us in another innovative game.

A large Christmas tree is being donated to the Society. We’d like all those coming to the party to bring one or more old or interesting tree ornaments for the new tree.

OCTOBER MEETING A BIG SUCCESS!

Jim Fairchild’s October presentation on John Searles at our first meeting in the renovated Old USO building was very well received. Good, enthusiastic crowd. Lots of information given by a master of the topic. Thanks, Jim, for a great opening program in our new surroundings!

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL TIME IS HERE

Our membership year is the calendar year, therefore it is soon time to renew your membership. Annual dues are $20.00 per year per family. Business memberships are $30.00 per year. Renewal checks, payable to the HSUMD, may be sent to the HSUMD at P.O. Box 2001, Ridgecrest, CA, 93556.

WILLS AND TRUSTS

Please remember the Historical Society in your wills, trusts and other gift giving. We are a 501 (c) 3 organization.

BRICK PROJECT

Recently a large mailing was sent out detailing our memorial brick project for the front area of the old USO building. If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to send in your response while we are assembling our first order. Those who already have responded, and are not already HSUMD members, will be getting a subscription to our newsletter..

END OF THE YEAR CONTRIBUTIONS

It is not too early to consider an end of the year contribution to the Historical Society. Any amount is helpful and will be appreciated. Contributions may be designated to the USO building fund or for general purposes. The IRS considers us a 501 (c) (3) organization, therefore, these contributions are deductible to the extent permitted by law. Thank you.

TRIPS

There are no trips scheduled between now and the end of the year. Jim Kenney

GRANT APPLICATION

A grant application has been made to the Kern Board of Trade, which is organized and funded to promote tourism in Kern County. Our application is in two parts: (1) to investigate a new design for our website and the design and publication of new promotional printed material describing local historical sites, and (2) improving our public address equipment and acoustical treatment of the auditorium in the renovated Old USO building.

FUNDRAISING NEWS

A very successful “yard sale” was held October 20th. Your donations made it huge. Proceeds were $1250. Several special contributors in terms of help included George Bertrand, Ken Armstrong and Ernie Carter and his crew.

The Halloween Spook House, in partnership with CLOTA and in conjunction with the Olde Towne Festival, entertained lots of visitors. We received $782 from that activity.

A very active phone crew sold enough tickets to the Community Dinner to realize $700 for the HSUMD!

An upcoming activity being planned is a visit to the Petty/Schoenhals house, decorated for Christmas.

HISTORICAL ARTICLE

(Following is an article prepared by our great local historian member, John Di Pol, drawn from his personal library. Ed).

THE PARTS OF THE CALIFORNIA RAND

“Randius est omnis divisa in partes quatro”. Err.....excuse me, I got carried away. My apologies to Caesar’s Commentaries. I meant to say that The Rand consists of four parts (settlements). The earliest and the most famous is the “Big Burg,” Randsburg, famous for its boss mine, the Yellow Aster and many other rich diggings. Right on its heels is Johannesburg, “JoBurg,” with its own share of gold mines AND the terminus of the Randsburg Railroad for over 30 years. They are well known nationally. Books have been written about them. The other two: Atolia and Red Mountain are known to most of us locals but they have not had much publicity. So, this month we’ll talk about them, and summarize their rich history and the contributions they have made to The Rand.

Scattered throughout parts of the Rand district was a white rock referred to as “heavy spar.” It was a pain-in-the-neck for the gold producers as it interfered with their milling processes. By 1905 a very large deposit of “spar” was discovered by prospectors Charles Taylor and Thomas McCarthy a short mile or two SE of Randsburg. It was soon learned that the spar was the mineral “scheelite,” the source of the metal tungsten, an important alloying element for increasing the hardness and strength of steel. Taylor and McCarthy filed claims as the Papoose Mine. First shipments of high-grade ore were sent to San Francisco. This was the start of a new “rush” with many other discoveries being made. Two investors, David Atkins and Edwin DeGolia in San Francisco, offered to purchase the Papoose and adjoining claims for $114,000. The deal was closed in January, 1906.

The new owners formed the Atolia Mining Company, with Taylor as superintendent. (The name “Atolia” is a combination of “at” and “olia” from the names of the owners). The Randsburg RR, which had been in operation since ‘98, ran smack through the Papoose claim. The first carloads of ore were shipped out by rail to the east coast in early 1906. Subsequent shipments were sent to the mill in Barstow which had been modified to handle the scheelite ore. Annual production steadily increased from an initial rate of 5,000 units growing to 33,000 in 1909. (A “unit” is 20 lbs. of ore with 60% content of tungsten compound.) The mining camp transformed into a settlement with the arrival of hundreds of employees. With the war clouds of the early teens, demand for tungsten soared, leading into the boom period of 1915 to 1917 with production rates of 110,000 to 116,000 units during those years. Photos of Atolia during this period show a large and extensive infrastructure of mining facilities, living quarters, stores, saloons, restaurants, hotels, expanded RR station, etc., with a population of 1,200 and double that with the comings and goings. However, with the war ending in 1918 the boom ended. In 1919 production was 4,000 units. Atolia Mining shut down, the glory days had passed. But that wasn’t the end of The Rands. SILVER!

Jack Nosser and Hamp Williams were returning to Randsburg from a prospecting trip around the base of Red Mountain in June, 1919. They varied slightly from the path they normally followed to check out a nearby ledge. Williams hammered off a chunk or two. Looked like horn silver to him. They quickly sent samples to their partner, Kern County Sheriff John Kelly in Bakersfield for assay, which showed heavy with

silver and some gold. Claims were quickly filed, but the partners were cash poor. To raise the needed capital they sold/leased a portion of

their interests to investor Ed Grady for $50,000.

The digging began right at the surface. The first two carloads shipped out by rail (which ran right by the front of their claims) netted $2,900, They kept digging from the surface down 30 ft. open pit and the ore was richer. By the middle of August, 20 carloads or ore had netted $128,000. Also in August, the mine was incorporated as the California Rand Silver Mining Co., locally known as the “Kelly” or “Big Silver.”

Shafts were sunk and production increased. Between June, 1919 and June, 1923 the Big Silver grossed $7.3M, with the Grady Lease yielding $1.6M more. The settlement of Red Mountain, initially named ”Osdick”, was established and grew. Boom times in the whole Rand District. By 1926, the “Big Silver/Kelly” had a gross production of $13.3M, with dividends amounting to $4.5M. In its day it was the largest silver producer in the western states. It continued to produce, but at a much slower rate until 1929 when it was mostly “dug out” but still sold for $50,000. Then came the 1930s, and the Rand District suffered along with the rest of the country.

We’ll stop here. But remember: “Randius est divisa in partes quatro”.

Ref: A ROAD TO RICHES, The Randsburg Railway Co. and Mining District, by Phil Serpico. 2004,

DESERT BONANZA, Early Randsburg Mojave Desert Mining Camp. by Marcia R. Wynn, 1949