HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE UPPER MOJAVE DESERT
P. O. Box 2001, Ridgecrest, CA 93556
Vol. 22 No. 4 April 2007 ___________________________________________________________________________

APRIL MEETING: THE HISTORY OF CERRO GORDO, Mike Patterson

The Society's April meeting will feature Mike Patterson speaking about Cerro Gordo. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, April 17 at 7:30 PM at the Maturango Museum.

Cerro Gordo, once known as the "Comstock of Los Angeles," began producing silver in 1865. At its peak, the silver that was taken down to Los Angeles (via mule trains) for transshipment was enough to start Los Angeles on its growth path to the major metropolis it is today. Although the mines are no longer operating there, Cerro Gordo is still a lively place, with a long-term private restorative, reuse project entertaining guests at the old buildings.

Mike Patterson, who has been repairing buildings at Cerro Gordo, will provide an overview of the site's history and geology. Mike's previous pioneering work was with some of the earliest wind farms in Tehachapi in the late 1970's.

A trip to Cerro Gordo tentatively is planned during May 2007.

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 Bill Nevins at 375-4764. Andrew Sound

BORON BORAX MINE TRIP, APRIL 28

Also in April, the Society will be sponsoring its first field trip of the year, a tour of the Boron Borax Mine Visitors Center and open pit mine on Saturday, April 28. The mine in Boron is California's largest open pit mine and is one of the richest borate deposits on the planet. Tour participants will travel in their own cars and meet at the Visitors' Center at Boron at 8:00 a.m. (from Highway 58 in Boron, take Borax Road north to the visitor center). Then they will board an air-conditioned bus for a four-hour tour of the extensive open pit and some of the surrounding historical area. Advance sign-up is required. There is a limit of 20 people due to bus size. There will be a five dollar fee per person for the trip. To sign up for the trip or for further details call Jim Kenney at 371-2458. Andrew Sound

ANNUAL MEETING, MAY 15

Our annual meeting will be held Tuesday evening, May 15, at the USO building with a social period beginning at 6:00 p.m. A buffet meal at 6:30 and short business meeting with election will follow. Tickets at $25.00 each will be available at the Maturango Museum soon. Featured speaker will be Pat Farris who will talk about Joe Fox and his newspaper columns. Biographical sketches of the nominees and details on the buffet will be in the May newsletter and newspaper articles.

APRIL 21: "USO SHOW" BY BIG BAND X-PRESS AT USO BUILDING!

Jim McLane and the Big Band X-Press have been planning this USO Show fundraiser for months. The USO Buildings doors will open at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 21, with big band sounds, dancing and a program full of entertainment from 8 to 11 p.m.

Presale tickets at $20.00 per person are available at the Maturango Museum, Ridgecrest Chamber of Commerce, KZIQ, News Review and from fundraising committee members.

Because of limited seating, ticket holders are asked to be in their seats by 8:15 p.m. so that empty seats can be sold at the door for $25.00.

Eric Kaufman of KZIQ will emcee, taking attendees down memory lane with history of the great USO organization, Betty Grable leg contest, a jitterbug contest and much more!

Ticket holders will be impressed with the amount of restoration already completed in this great building. Kathy Armstrong

The HSUMD board of directors consists of nine directors, serving 2 year alternating terms. Five of these terms expire this year. Your HSUMD anticipates challenging growth in the next few years and hope our members will come forward.

If you are interested in being nominated, please contact one of the Nominating Committee members within the next several weeks: Kathy Armstrong, 375-2643; George Silberberg, 377-5241; or Barbara Padgett, 375-4377. Kathy Armstrong

THANKS TO OUR MEMBERS AND FRIENDS

Your fundraising committee can't thank the membership and community enough for the support we receive at our money raising events. We made over $1700 with our "yard sale" on March 17. Both item donors and purchasers were very generous. Kathy Armstrong

DIAMOND RING RAFFLE

There are 200 chances to win a Sweetheart Diamond Ring are now on sale at the Flower Shop (sponsor of the raffle) Ridgecrest Chamber of Commerce KZIQ, the Red Rock Book Store, Treasures to Cherish, Touch of Class and members of the Fundraising Committee.

Tom Adams of Adams Jewelers donated the $1000 diamond ring in support of the USO building's restoration.

For further information contact Chris Cane-Proesser at 793-0741. Kathy Armstrong

WILLS AND TRUSTS

Please remember the Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert, a 501 (c) (3) non profit organization, in your wills and trusts, as well as making it a part of your annual contribution list.

HISTORICAL ARTICLE

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

Preface: This article is about the early life of Ellen Elizabeth (Snodgrass) Cooper who grew up on the family homestead in the nearby Sierras and also lived in the Indian Wells Valley. It is a few "snapshots" gleaned from Ellen's autobiographical manuscript which covers the period 1913 to 1954.

At the conclusion of Part One, which appeared in last month's Newsletter, Ellen Snodgrass had been up in the family's old homestead in Long Valley (near Kennedy Meadows) for the past two years with her sister Effie and husband Chet Smith trapping furs. There was heavy snow in the winter of 1931-32. In April they had to pack out on homemade snowshoes and with two burros went down the Sacatar Trail to Coso Station on the railroad line just above Little Lake.

Effie, Chet and Ellen settled in Leliter. Mom and Dad Snodgrass had a cabin there also. Chet partnered with Charlie Seibenthal to grow mohair with 500 goats. Ellen became a goat-herder for 2-3 years until synthetic mohair came on the market. Good-by goats. 1936 - Dad Snodgrass passed away. Ellen and a friend, Thelma Cox, went to Los Angeles where Ellen found work at the White Memorial Hospital. They both quit after 4 years and returned to the desert in 1940 and up to the old homestead. Sister Lauretta was working at Parish Pack Station on the South Fork of the Kern River in Kennedy Meadows at the time. Ellen went to work there also. Fall 1941 - Ellen met Bob Cooper, cowboy working for cattleman running stock up in mountains. Late fall, 1942 - pack station closed for the winter. Lauretta and Ellen doing chores around the homestead with Bob helping out for board. Ellen did not want to be snowbound and Bob had a job lined up at Coso Hot Springs. They both went down to Little Lake. At the post office a check had arrived for Ellen for furs trapped the previous winter. Quick decision made. Up to Reno on the railroad. Married on Jan. 2, 1943. Returned to Coso Hot Springs briefly, then down to San Pedro for war work. Bob into the Army but was discharged for medical reasons after a few months of service. Back to the desert and mountains.
Ellen and Bob moved up to Bishop and took a job with Nevada-California Power Company as meter readers at the Gem Lake dam, two miles above the June Lake loop at 9,000 ft. elevation. They worked through the summer and winter, but Bob suffered with altitude sickness, causing them to mush out in March, 1944. From there they went back down to San Pedro for Bob to work in the shipyards. After the war ended Ellen and Bob moved up to Benton Station to join Effie and Chet Smith. They bought land to build on, but no work to be had in the winter of 1945 and Ellen was pregnant. They moved back down to the Indian Wells Valley in December. By that time, the U.S. Navy had invaded the valley. In February, 1946 Bob went to work at N.O.T.S. China Lake, assigned to a static firing installation. Their son, Robert, was born in April, 1946 at the Ridgecrest Hospital, Dr. Tom Drummond doing the honors.

The young family lived in a made-over garage until 1947 when Bob was assigned a house on the Navy Base: a prefab. Later they purchased their own land and house in Inyokern. In 1949 Bob quit his job at China Lake and with his two brothers, Bud and Joe, built the Green Acres service station on Highway 6 (14). On a camping and fishing trip up to Trout Creek in the nearby Sierras in 1950 with other family members, Bob and Ellen's brother-in-law Chet Smith discovered a barium deposit. They opened up a mine which they worked for the next four years, with Ellen and young son joining them in the summer. By 1954, the mine had played out and daughter Stephanie was born. Bob and family moved to Boron. Bob and his brother Bud went to work at Edwards AFB on the Atlas rocket project. (Probably at the rocket static firing test installation in the hills east of Rogers Dry Lake).

1954, the 4th of July weekend. Bob, brother Bud and Dan, a friend, decided to go fishing at Lake Havasu. Dan drove. Enroute a terrible roll-over accident. Bud and Dan killed, Bob seriously injured, but survived, with long periods of hospitalization and recovery.

Postscript: Thus ended Ellen's 44 page (typewritten) manuscript. In the course of preparation of this article I read through it several times and was most impressed. The '20s, '30s and '40s, with the Great Depression and wartime years, were hard times, especially for those families who were settling in remote and hostile areas. The Snodgrass family, as did many other settlers, showed strong characteristics of resourcefulness, adaptability, an ethic of hard work and the value of close family ties.

Ellen's story has been published by our Society as part of the booklet "How It Was ­ Some Memories by Early Settlers of the Indian Wells Valley and Vicinity." Copies are available. It is a "good read." J.D.