How Owens Valley Became a Desert Wasteland

   Driving on U.S. 395, just south of Lone Pine, California, you’ll encounter a big, open largely-alkali valley just east of the highway. The vacant white patch spreads out for miles until reaching the rising Sierra Nevada range. On many days, parts of the valley are so dry, you can see dust devils forming on the flats.

   But it wasn’t always that way out here. In fact, until the early 20th century, this area, known as Owens Valley, was the home of Owens Lake, a prosperous and verdant farming and ranching region.

   What happened to Owens Lake is a story that is interwoven with the development and rapid growth of Southern California in the 20th century. In order for one to grow and succeed, the other had to virtually disappear.

   By the late 19th century, the city of Los Angeles had begun to realize that it simply didn’t have sufficient water to support its future growth. Located in a dry basin that typically receives about 14 inches of rain annually, the city had traditionally relied on the Los Angeles River and wells for its water.

   After identifying the Owens Valley as an ideal source of water, the city began acquiring water and land rights—often using subterfuge and political pressure—in the region. Following the approval of a local bond to pay for the project in 1905, work began on building the system of canals and storage reservoirs to transport and capture Owens Valley water north to Los Angeles.

   The first phase of the project, which encompassed some 233 miles of infrastructure, was completed in 1913.

   While considered an engineering marvel, the Los Angeles Aqueduct, as the project became known, was not without controversy. Once Owen Valley farmers and residents realized the what was happening, they used legal and, in some cases, extra-legal means to stop the water transfer.

   By the 1920s, agriculture in the Owens Valley began to suffer due to the water diversions. In 1924, a group of farmers succeeded in destroying part of the aqueduct, but it was quickly repaired. Two years later, the amount of water being drawn from the valley was so substantial that Owens Lake was completely dry.

   In 1970, a second Owens Valley Aqueduct was constructed to divert even more water to Los Angeles (from surface sources and groundwater pumping). This resulted in nearly all of the Owens Valley springs and seeps to dry up and disappear.

   In response to lawsuits and political influence, in the 1980s and 90s, Inyo County, in which Owens Valley is located, and the city of Los Angeles entered into an agreement designed to provide a reliable water source to Los Angeles while also better managing groundwater pumping in Owens Valley.

   To date, those efforts have not resulted in any substantial changes to the dry valley, which continues to see groundwater pumping at a rate higher than the water resources can be recharged.

   As a result, visitors to the Owens Valley can still see the radical changes that have occurred because of such a massive siphoning of water. Owens Lake remains a barren, alkali flatland, with occasional patches of vegetation. Large dust storms rise from the dusty white lakebed. It is a place that appears out of a dystopian Science Fiction movie. But, sadly, it’s all too real.

   For more information about the history of the Owens Valley and the impacts of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, go to: https://www.inyowater.org/documents/reports/owens-valley-water-history-chronology/.

Early California History Comes Alive at Rancho Petaluma Adobe State Park

   The Rancho Petaluma Adobe is an impressive place. At two-stories and measuring about 200 feet by 145 feet, it was, at the time it was built (1836) the grandest house in Northern California.

   The structure, made of adobe bricks and hand-cut redwood timbers and planks, was the largest privately-owned adobe building in California and remains the largest example of the Monterey Colonial-style of architecture popular during the Californios era (roughly 1769 to 1846), when the area now known as California was under Spanish and Mexican rule.

   Even today, despite being only about half its original size (portions of the complex disintegrated over the years), the adobe, located on Adobe Road on the east side of the city of Petaluma, is worth a visit.

   Visitors can wander the cool adobe buildings, with their large overhanging roofs, and imagine a time when it bustled with activity as one of the largest agricultural enterprises on the West Coast.

   The adobe traces its origins to 1834, when Alta California Governor José Figueroa granted then-Lieutenant Mariano Vallejo a large tract of land that became known as Rancho Petaluma (the name, Petaluma, is taken from the native Miwok language for the places, which roughly translates as “flat back” or “backside of the hill.”).

   Figueroa wanted Vallejo to occupy and develop the land in order to keep it from being claimed by the Russians, who had established a fort (Fort Ross) on the coast.

   Vallejo soon began construction of the large adobe house, which boasted walls that were three-feet thick. It was designed to serve not only as a home but as Vallejo’s offices and as a fort, if necessary. With the latter in mind, the structure had iron grills and shutters on the windows.

   Over time, Vallejo enlarged the compound (it was never fully completed) and added a tannery and a blacksmith shop. At its peak, the rancho was more than 66,000 acres, with some 50,000 head of cattle, 24,000 sheep, and acres of fields of wheat, grains, and grapes. In addition to being supported by cowboys (known as vaqueros) and field workers, the rancho employed more than two-thousand Native American workers, who were generally paid with food, clothing, and other goods.

   In June 1846, a group of American settlers began what became known as the Bear Flag Revolt, a movement to create an independent republic in Northern California. The ragtag rebels succeeded in capturing Sonoma and imprisoning Vallejo. The revolt lasted only 25 days, after which the rebels were absorbed by U.S. government forces. The U.S. had declared war against Mexico in May 1846.

   When the conflict ended, in 1848, the U.S. had won control of California. The old Mexican ranchos, including Vallejo’s vast holdings, were eventually broken up as the former owners were forced to provide proof of title, which was often difficult (and expensive to prove) because of the imprecise maps of the time. Additionally, the California Gold Rush brought thousands of new residents, who homesteaded or simply squatted on land. Owners often lacked the financial resources to legally evict squatters.

   In 1857, Vallejo sold the adobe complex and surrounding 1,600 acres to William Whiteside for $25,000, who became the first of several owners over the next few decades. In 1910, the Native Sons of the Golden West Petaluma chapter purchased the decaying adobe compound with the intention of restoring what it could and, eventually, making it a public park.

   During the next three decades, the Native Sons raised funds to restore the buildings. In 1951, the site was turned over to the State of California, which made it the centerpiece of the Petaluma Adobe State Park.

   In addition to housing a small museum that describes the adobe’s history, the park hosts living history demonstrations and other events throughout the year. Located at 3325 Adobe Road in Petaluma, the park is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., except on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Admission to the park, which allows you to visit the structures, is $3 for adults (18 and older), $2 for children 6-17, and free for children 5 and under.

   For more information, go to: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=474.

Exploring General Vallejo's Sonoma Home

   Once upon a time, General Mariano G. Vallejo was one of the most powerful men in what would become the American West. In 1834, Vallejo was sent by the Mexican Governor in Monterey—at the time California was part of Mexico—to establish a community and military outpost at Sonoma, located 30 miles north of San Francisco.

  The settlement was intended to discourage Russian settlers and adventurers at nearby Fort Ross from expanding into the region. By 1836, Vallejo’s Sonoma Pueblo had become the chief military base for the Mexican government in Northern California. To support the post, the community of Sonoma formed around it and, by 1845, the settlement had a population of about 300, including 45 houses.

  In the early 1840s, however, American settlers began streaming into the region, overwhelming the Mexican government, which had unsuccessfully attempted to prohibit them for owning land or holding office.

  In June 1846, a group of disgruntled settlers seized Sonoma, including the base, imprisoned its leader, Vallejo, and declared the creation of the independent Bear Flag Republic.

  The crisis was resolved about a month later, when the Bear Flag group withdrew, taking down their flag, which was replaced by an American flag—signifying that the United States was assuming control over Northern California.

  As for Vallejo, he was soon released and remained one of Sonoma’s most prominent citizens. While Vallejo originally owned 175,000 acres in Sonoma and Petaluma, including vineyards and a quarry, he gradually lost influence (and his land) after the region became part of the U.S.

  In 1851, however, he decided to build a home for his family—he and his wife had 16 children, of which 10 survived—in Sonoma, which is still standing today and open for tours.

  Known as “Lachryma Montis” or “Tears of the Mountain,” after a nearby spring, the Vallejo home was unique because it was a “kit house,” meaning it was ordered from a catalog and the pieces were shipped from New England to Sonoma, where it was assembled.

  Vallejo, however, modified the plans to reflect his Mexican heritage. While the home has a New England-style Gothic Revival Victorian exterior, the interior is lined with stucco, a material usually associated with Mexican buildings.

  The result is a clever marriage of the two influences. The white, two-story home has the classic appearance of an ornate Victorian with the insulating qualities of adobe, meaning it is generally cool and comfortable inside regardless of how hot it is outside.

  Visitors touring the Vallejo house, which is now operated as a state park, will find that most of the elegant furnishings inside the home are original.

  The guided tour of Lachryma Montis begins in the Vallejo front room on the first floor. There, you can see the family’s piano, draperies, wall paintings and overstuffed chairs and sofas, all of which reflect the designs of the Victorian era.

  The next stop is in the dining room, which boasts a magnificent marble fireplace as well as a large dining room table covered with fine china (a British “Willow” pattern) and other utensils. Cooking was done by servants in a separate building at the rear of the house.

  Nearby is the study room with wall-size bookshelves, a fireplace, secretary, lamps and end tables.

  From here, the tour moves upstairs to the family bedrooms. The master bedroom has a massive walnut bed and other furnishings, including a large portable toilet—the house had no indoor plumbing or toilets.

  The grounds of the Vallejo estate are also quite lovely. In addition to the kitchen and servants building at the rear, there is a separate one-room Victorian “doll house” adjacent to the main house, which served as a private reading room for Vallejo and his wife (after all, they did have all those kids).

  Additionally, the grounds boast several original fountains and a large Swiss Chalet building, now a museum filled with exhibits about Vallejo’s life, which was originally used for wine and olive storage.

  Following Vallejo’s death in 1890, his 15th child, Luisa Vallejo Emparan, owned the house. Although the state of California acquired the property in 1933, she continued to live in it and served as a tour guide and caretaker until she died in the mid-1940s.

  The Mariano Vallejo home is directly west of the main part of downtown Sonoma at Spain Street and Third Street West. The home is open for tours on weekends. For more information go to https://www.sonomaparks.org/location/general-vallejos-home/ or https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=479.

History and Beauty Found at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts

 

     It’s a mistake to overlook San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts. Originally built as part of the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition, which celebrated the completion of the Panama Canal, the Palace of Fine Arts is a magnificent edifice that continues to delight visitors who stroll the shaded grounds surrounding its scenic lagoon.

   The structure was designed by famed California architect Bernard Maybeck, who said it was inspired by an etching depicting a Roman ruin reflected in a pool by 18th century Italian artist Giovanni Piranesi.

   The domed palace housed art exhibits and was one of eleven pavilions constructed for the exposition, which was built on 635 acres of land reclaimed from the San Francisco Bay.

   Like the rest of the structures, the Palace of Fine Arts was originally supposed to be a temporary building that would be removed once the exposition was over. However, a prominent San Francisco socialite, Phoebe Apperson Hearst, was so taken with its classical beauty that she founded the Palace Preservation League while the fair was still ongoing to save the building.

   Her efforts were successful and for several years the palace housed art exhibits. During the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration commissioned several artists to replace deteriorating murals on the rotunda ceiling and, later, the building housed eighteen lighted tennis courts.

   By the 1950s, however, it was clear that the Palace needed to be completely reconstructed. Built of wood covered with a mixture of plaster and a burlap-type fiber, the colonnade and rotunda had deteriorated over time and were considered unsafe.

   In 1964, the original Palace was demolished with the exception of the steel structure of the exhibit hall. The buildings were carefully rebuilt in concrete with steel beams installed to support the rotunda dome. The structure was retrofitted in 2010 to ensure it would survive an earthquake.

   Since it was built, the Palace has become a beloved San Francisco landmark; in recent decades it has been particularly popular as a setting for weddings. It’s also a lovely spot for a picnic or a walk around its scenic lagoon, which is surrounded by towering Australian eucalyptus trees.

   Additionally, a variety of wildlife have taken to living in and around the latter including ducks, geese, swans, frogs and snapping turtles that can be seen sunning themselves on partially submerged tree roots.

   Not surprisingly, the Palace’s photogenic setting in San Francisco’s Marina District has served as a backdrop for a number of films, such as “Vertigo,” “The Rock” and “Bicentennial Man.”

   The Palace’s exhibition hall became home of the Exploratorium from 1969 to 2013, an interactive hands-on science museum for children. In April of 2013, the Exploratorium relocated to Piers 15 and 17 on San Francisco’s Embarcadero. The exhibit hall is now primarily used for special events.

   The Palace of Fine Arts is located at 3301 Lyon Street near San Francisco’s Marina District. For more information, go to https://palaceoffinearts.com/.

The Historic Southern Nevada Town with the Peculiar Name: Searchlight

Old mining remnants can still be found around Searchlight.

   There are several explanations behind how the southern Nevada mining town of Searchlight got its name.

   According to one version, the town was name after a miner named Lloyd Searchlight. Another claimed it was named after a popular brand of matches. And a third is that one of the town’s founders once said it would take a searchlight to find any gold in the place.

   All three stories, in fact, have appeared in various history books over the years, although the latter is the one many historians believe is true.

   In his book, “Searchlight: The Camp That Didn’t Fail,” the late U.S. Senator Harry Reid, who was born in Searchlight in 1939, examined the town’s origins and concluded that the last story was the most believable version.

   Reid said he could find no evidence of any miner named Lloyd Searchlight. He wrote that the tale of the town being named after the Searchlight brand of wooden matches was most likely the fanciful concoction of a descendent of one of the town’s founders.

   His research, however, did show that Searchlight was most likely named by one of the town’s first residents, a prospector named George Colton, who apparently once remarked that there is gold in the area—but it would take a searchlight to find it.

   The story of Searchlight began in about May 1897, although there is some disagreement about the exact date, with the discovery of gold in the area, which is located about an hour south of Las Vegas.

   By July 1898, the Searchlight mining district had been formed and a small camp was established in the desert. By 1902, Searchlight had a post office, a 15-mile long narrow-gauge railroad linking the mines to a mill on the Colorado River, a newspaper, stores, and saloons.

   In 1907, the population crested at several thousand people, although exact numbers are difficult to determine because of the transient nature of mining towns.

   In 1908, Searchlight made a run at being named the seat of newly-formed Clark County but lost out to Las Vegas, which was actually smaller than Searchlight at the time.

   Searchlight’s fortunes, however, were intertwined with the state of its mining industry and when the ore began to fade after 1916, it, too, started to decline. By the 1930 census, only 137 people still lived in Searchlight.

   Today, about 445 people live in the community, many retirees or refugees from the hustle and bustle of bigger cities. The main reminders of the town’s mining past are a handful of slowly-decaying wooden mining headframes still standing on the hills surrounding the town.

   The best place to learn about Searchlight’s rich history is the Searchlight Historic Museum, one of the best small museums in the state, and a branch of the Clark County Heritage Museum in Henderson.

   The museum, located a few blocks from the main street, is easy to find because of the large wooden headframe out front. The headframe was originally constructed in 1904 and stood for many years at the Ruth Elder mine.

   Around the derrick-like structure are other mining artifacts such as a large smelting pot, an ore car, and an arrista, which was a horse-drawn device that was used to crush ore.

   When you first enter the museum, which shares its building with the Searchlight Community Center, you trigger an audio message that welcomes you and begins telling the town’s story.

   The first exhibit you encounter contains a nice collection of Native American baskets and pottery, made by members of the Southern Paiute and Mojave tribes, the region’s original inhabitants. There is also an interesting display of Indian grinding tools, and a unique ring and pin game once popular with Native Americans.

   Citing historic documents and photos, the museum’s displays detail Searchlight’s rise to become the largest community in southern Nevada at the start of the 20th century.

   One display contains photos of the first post office as well as scenes of the town’s newspaper offices and a place known as “the Big Store,” a kind of early 20th century Wal-Mart.

   Adjacent is an exhibit filled with old bottles, an early 20th century rodeo program, a miner’s candlestick, and other items.

   Another exhibit shows minerals found in the region such as quartz, feldspar, and, naturally, gold.

   One of the most unique displays in an old player piano, upon which is the sheet music for a Scott Joplin song called the “Searchlight Rag.” It turns out that while Joplin never visited Searchlight, he wrote the music in 1907 as a tribute to two friends, Charles and Tom Turpin, who once owned a mine in Searchlight.

   The Turpin brothers apparently didn’t stay long in Nevada but did share their mining experiences with the famed ragtime composer, who was inspired to write the rag in their honor.

   Another exhibit profiles noteworthy people who were born, raised or lived in Searchlight, including Senator Reid and Academy Award-winning costume designer Edith Head, who spent a few years there as a girl.

   Additionally, in the 1930s and 40s, movie cowboy star Rex Bell, who later became Nevada’s lieutenant governor, and his wife, actress Clara Bow, had a large ranch near Searchlight. Both occasionally participated in local events such as holiday parades and rodeos.

   The Searchlight Historic Museum is open Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday by appointment. There is no admission charge but donations are welcome.

  For more information about Searchlight, go to https://www.clarkcountynv.gov/government/departments/parks___recreation/cultural_division/musuems/searchlight_musuem.php.

Early Las Vegas Gambling History Still Found at the El Cortez Hotel

  When it comes to finding the history of Las Vegas’s gambling industry, few places reflect that story as well as the El Cortez Hotel in the city’s downtown core.

  In fact, the El Cortez, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is the longest continuously running downtown hotel-casino in Las Vegas.

  Built in 1941, the El Cortez hasn’t changed its appearance much over the decades. In fact, that’s a big reason the hotel is kind of a living historic landmark that offers a glimpse of the era in which it came into being.

  At the time the El Cortez opened, there was no Las Vegas Strip and downtown Las Vegas was the center of the city.

  Its original owners were Marion Hicks and John C. Grayson, the former a Los Angeles-based developer. The two spent about $325,000 constructing the property, which included 59 rooms, a 125-seat dining room, a casino, a cocktail lounge, bar and a beauty parlor.

  Designed in a Spanish/Colonial Revival/Western influenced architectural style, the hotel, the city’s largest at the time, quickly became known as one of Las Vegas’ finest lodging houses.

  In September 1943, Grayson sold his share of the hotel to Thomas Hull, who earlier had built the Hotel El Rancho on Highway 91 (which eventually became the Las Vegas Strip). Three months later, Hull sold out to Hicks.

  The mid-1940s saw the hotel enter what was perhaps its most fascinating and notorious phase. That’s when Hicks sold it to a syndicate group headed by Edward Berman and Moe Sedway, two figures connected to organized crime organizations. Berman soon relinquished his ownership share and was replaced by another mob figure, Gus Greenbaum. Additionally, it is believed “hidden” ownership of the hotel included gangsters Meyer Lansky and Benjamin Siegel.

  In March 1946, a new deed of trust was executed that identified the owners as Sedway, Raymond Salmon and his wife, and J.Kells Houssels Sr. and his wife. In July 1946, Sedway sold his interest in the hotel to Salmon and Houssels.

  Between late 1946 and 1962, the El Cortez was managed by Houssels, one of the early gaming pioneers in downtown Las Vegas (he owned the Las Vegas Club and was an investor in the Boulder Club). Additionally, Houssels later invested in the Showboat and Tropicana hotel-casinos on the Strip.

  During Houssels’ tenure, the hotel was remodeled into what the Las Vegas Review-Journal described as “Las Vegas Contemporary” that incorporated hidden lighting, more contemporary furnishings, murals and other decorative touches.

  In 1962, Houssels sold the El Cortez to a group headed by gaming industry veteran John “Jackie” Gaughan,

  For the next four decades, Gaughan was the public face of the El Cortez, actually living in a penthouse in the hotel and regularly playing poker at the hotel’s tables. Even after he sold his ownership of the hotel in 2008, he continued to live on site and play poker until his death at the age of 93 in March 2014.

  While the El Cortez’ exterior is mostly the same as it was when it was constructed, the property has been renovated and enlarged over the years. In 1952, the façade was altered to include the property’s now iconic giant neon and metal sign promoting, “El Cortez Hotel, Free Parking.”

  In 1984, the property was greatly expanded with the construction of a 15-story hotel tower adjacent to the original structures.

  Of course, the best way to understand the hotel’s significance to Las Vegas history is to stop in and check it out. Perhaps a little cluttered and old-fashioned compared to the massive mega-resorts of the Las Vegas Strip, the place shouts out its historic roots.

  In the past decade, the hotel unveiled a memorial—inside the casino—honoring longtime owner Jackie Gaughan. The exhibit offers more than 300 gambling artifacts used at properties once owned by Gaughan, including casino chips, dice, keno tickets, matchbooks, ashtrays and menus.

  Over the years, Gaughan owned or had an interest in a number of Las Vegas hotels or casinos including the Gold Spike, Club Bingo, Las Vegas Club and Jackie Gaughan’s Plaza.

Virgin Valley Heritage Museum Explores Mesquite Area's Rich History

Virgin Valley Heritage Museum in Mesquite

 Few Nevada communities have changed as quickly—and grown as fast—as Mesquite. Once a sleepy Southern Nevada farming community, the town has grown enormously since the 1980s—from about 1,100 in 1984 to more than 23,500 today.

  But while Mesquite has been growing and changing, there is one place that has managed to hang on to a few pieces of the former Mormon colony's past: the Virgin Valley Heritage Museum.

  Housed in an historic National Youth Administration building that was constructed in 1941-42, the museum offers an opportunity to catch a glimpse at the rich history of the Virgin Valley region.

  The museum building itself is unique; it is one of only two NYA buildings in the state (the other is in Fallon).  The seven-room stone structure was originally a library then served as a hospital (35 local babies were born here). After a few years as a boy scout lodge, the building was designated as the town museum in 1984 and opened the following year.

  Inside, the cluttered museum is a vault of local history. A large collection of historic black and white photographs shows the evolution of the town as it grew from a few farms to a roadside stop to a burgeoning gaming mecca and retirement community.

  One of the exhibits displays vintage clothing, including a beautiful turn-of-the-century wedding dress, and another shows off the town's first telephone switchboard and phone sets.

  One corner contains 1930s motion picture theater equipment, while nearby is a recreated turn-of-the-century bedroom, complete with period furnishings, and a 1920s-era parlor.

  A display case holds state basketball trophies from 1915 and 1916; the team had to travel by wagon to Moapa in order to catch a train to Reno, where they won the first-ever state tournament. The museum’s docents are extremely helpful, many having lived most of their lives in the valley.

  The Virgin Valley area was first settled in 1880. But the adjacent Virgin River proved too much for these Mormon pioneers—it dried up in the summer and flooded the farms at other times—so they abandoned the area after a few months.

  In 1882, another member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, Dudley Leavitt, moved his five wives and 51 children to Mesquite Flats, as it was named. He rebuilt irrigation ditches and, once again, tried farming the area. Another flood, however, destroyed his improvements and he was forced to give up.

  The first sustained settlement was started in 1894 with the arrival of several more families. This time, nature proved more cooperative and the pioneering farmers were able to tame the river by rebuilding and fortifying the dam and canals.

  The town grew gradually during the next three-quarters of a century, then began to sprout with the development of the Mesquite Peppermill in the early 1980s. In 1984, Mesquite incorporated as a formal city.

  Mesquite also holds the distinction of having been part of the Old Spanish Trail.  An historic marker in front of the museum notes that the trail, used from 1829 to 1850, stretched for 130 miles across Clark County and was the first major trading route through the state (it connected Santa Fe, New Mexico to Los Angeles).

  The museum, located at 35 West Mesquite Blvd., is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.  For more information go to www.mesquitenv.gov/departments/museum.