HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE UPPER MOJAVE DESERT
P. O. Box 2001, Ridgecrest, CA 93556
Vol. 22 No. 5 May 2007 ___________________________________________________________________________
ANNUAL DINNER MEETING: PAT FARRIS RECALLS JOE FOX

The Society's Annual Dinner will be held on Tuesday, May 15, for the first time in the old USO Building. The meeting will feature local publisher Patricia Farris presenting "An Evening with Joe Fox."

Joe Fox was a Ridgecrest pioneer who moved to the area in 1934 when he got a job on the ranch known then as Las Flores. He succeeded in his endeavors here, and was one of those who really helped get the community started. Among much other civic activity, he donated the land for several local churches, clubs, and schools, including the land that the USO building stands on today. In later years, he exercised his gift for writing by penning a column that ran in the various local papers for many years. The column was a combination of homespun wit and wisdom, along with Joe's views about current issues in the community and in the wider world, together with local anecdotes. At the annual dinner, Pat Farris will talk about Joe and read from several of his columns. Mrs. Farris makes an appropriate choice to tell the story, being something of a local pioneer herself, having moved to the Valley with her parents in 1941.

Tickets for the annual dinner cost $25 and can be purchased at the Maturango Museum or at the Chamber of Commerce before noon on Saturday, May 12. Buffet choices will include roast beef and baked chicken breast. Doors will open at 6:00 PM, with dinner beginning at 6:30. After dinner there will be a brief business meeting including annual reports and election of directors, followed by Mrs. Farris' presentation. The event will be the first HSUMD Annual Dinner to be held in the USO building located at 230 W. Ridgecrest Blvd., which is now well along in the process of restoration. Come to the annual dinner and see the progress that has been made in restoring this historic old structure!
Andrew Sound

CERRO GORDO TRIP

The trip to Cerro Gordo has been set for Saturday, June 2. Participants will meet at 8:00 a.m. at the USO building and leave from there. Cars will need to have reasonable clearance, a full gas tank and good brakes. Bring your own lunch and water, as well as good shoes and layered clothing (we'll be at 8500 feet elevation where weather can change quickly). Mike Patterson, who spoke at our April meeting, will give us a tour of the area, show us old pictures, etc. Call Jim Kenney at 371-2458 to register or ask questions. Be prepared to talk to an answering machine ­ Jim will call back! Donations appreciated. Jim Kenney

BREAKING NEWS! NEW FIELD TRIP

A new 4x4 field trip has just been booked for Saturday, May 19. We will meet at the USO Building east parking lot at 7:45 a.m., leaving sharply at 8:00 a.m.. We will proceed through Trona, north to Quarry Road, where we will join the old Jacobs freight road. The tour will take all day, so be prepared. Bring layered clothing, sunscreen, camera, plenty of water and lunch. This is a true 4 wheel drive tour, so your vehicle should have some clearance, good tires and a low range in the transfer case. Tour leader will have discretion as to suitability of vehicle for this tour. If you have any questions or concerns, please call Jim Kenney 371-2458. Jim Kenney

USO PARTY COMMENTS

The big party at the USO building was a rousing success. Heartfelt thanks to the Big Band Express and the Party Organizing Committee!! More details in the June newsletter.

WILLS AND TRUSTS

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

COMMENTS FROM THE PRESIDENT

(Reprinted by request from the October 2006 issue of our newsletter. Ed.)

The HSUMD board and USO Building Committee thank you for the continued great support received for the many ongoing events/activities. The HSUMD, like any other nonprofit organization, depends on members and community support. The HSUMD board is cognizant that your support is based on your confidence that we are managing the HSUMD and USO building projects in an open and proper manner. Your HSUMD is fortunate to have Fred Weals and Andrew Sound as your financial administrators. Fred is the treasurer of the HSUMD and Andrew is the USO Building financial/donation administrator. Both are available to answer any questions you may have concerning our financial status. Financial reports are also provided monthly during the HSUMD board meetings. The board meetings are scheduled for the fourth Tuesday of each month, 7:00 p.m. at the HSUMD office, 302 Station Street. Any HSUMD member is welcome to attend and join in and provide inputs on the discussion of your Society's plans/activities. Hope to see some of you at our board meetings. Thanks. Bill Nevins

DIAMOND RING RAFFLE

There are 200 chances to win a Sweetheart Diamond Ring now on sale at the Flower Shop (sponsor of the raffle), Chamber of Commerce, KZIQ , the Red Rock Book Store, Treasures to Cherish, Touch of Class and HSUMD Fund-raising Committee members. For further info contact Chris Cane-Proesser at 793-0741.

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

Kathy Armstrong

BOARD RAISES NUMBER OF BOARD MEMBERS

At the April 24 HSUMD board meeting after discussion, it was moved and approved that the maximum number of board members be raised to 15. With the current number of nominees and retirements we will have a board membership of eleven.

NOMINEES FOR ANNUAL ELECTION

The Nominating Committee (Kathy Armstrong, chairperson, Barbara Padgett and George Silberberg) has submitted the following seven people as nominees to be voted upon at the Annual Meeting on May 15:

Liz Babcock is the History Curator for the Maturango Museum and a former member of the HSUMD Board, where she took charge of publicity and exhibits. Liz also works as the copy editor for the News Review and as a member of the Ridgecrest Chamber of Commerce staff. You probably have seen her with her camera glued to her eye -- she takes photos wherever she goes.

Iva Jeane Driggers has been a Ridgecrest resident since Feb. 1945. Her parents were Ruth and Chuck Luth. I worked at NOTS from 1953 until 1990, from a clerk typist to exec secretary for a variety of the very best NOTS had. I belonged to DeMolay Mother's Club; Desert Ceramic Club; Kern Memorial Society; all of which I was a board member in various positions. I have been a volunteer for Homemaker's and silent volunteer for various organizations. I am willing to help where I can. I graduated from 8th grade in the USO Building.

Jim Kenney (incumbent) has been a resident of the IWV for many years, attends BLM Advisory Committee meetings, member of the Gear Grinders, instructor at Cerro Coso Community College, interested in visiting and exploring historic sites and mines. Member of Historical Society board for one term.

Bill Nevins (incumbent) has been a resident of IWV since 1966. Retired from NAWC in 1999, he has continued working as an engineering consultant. Has been on the HSUMD board for four years. Has provided volunteer support for SEEP and California Archaeological Site Stewardship Program. Now serving as program manager for our USO building restoration program. President of the HSUMD board for the past two years.

Louis Renner, a Korean Veteran and aerospace engineer, retired from NWS in 1989. He and his wife came to the IWV in 1958 and have been involved in a number of local activities including coaching and managing Little League and soccer teams, Knights of Columbus (officer), Friends of the Fair, Burroughs Band Boosters, NARFE (an officer for 6 years). Have always been concerned with recording the history of the valley and trying to make sure the desert area is respected.

Ann Roseman has been a Ridgecrest resident for the past 22 years. In 2006 she retired from the base where she worked in the Business and Financial Management field. She has been a volunteer for the CLOTA organization and has served as a Board member and officer for that organization. This past year she has been part of the HSUMD grant writing committee where she learned volumes about the beginnings of our community. She is an enthusiastic volunteer and eager to serve.

Bruce Wertenberger (incumbent) has served on the HSUMD board since 1986 both as president and secretary. He is the co-editor of the HSUMD newsletter. Has been active in other community organizations until recently. He worked on the base from 1953 to 1988.

HISTORICAL ARTICLE

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

Southern California Edison

The present-day Southern California Edison Company (SCE) is a fully owned subsidiary of Edison International. Your article this month will not attempt to describe the connections of that arrangement; describing a bit of history of the SCE itself is a big enough bite to swallow. To begin, SCE has over 200 predecessor companies which have been amalgamated into the present company, the earliest stemming back to the 1870s. But, when did the "Edison" name first appear?

In 1896 the newly formed West Side Lighting Co. obtained the franchise to bring electric power into downtown Los Angeles. The lines had to be installed in underground conduit using technology that was patented by Thomas Edison's GE Company, however the license to use this technology in southern California had previously been awarded to a company that existed only on paper: the "Edison Electric Company of Los Angeles". What to do? Easy answer: the two companies merged in 1897, with the merged company carrying on the "Edison Electric Company of Los Angeles" name. With several acquisitions made by 1902, its name was changed to "Edison Electric Company". Then by 1909 it was renamed: Southern California Edison Company (SCE) and is so to this day. Now, for some of the predecessor companies whose names might be familiar to the reader:

Nevada-California Power Company, formed in 1904, developed hydroelectric plants in Bishop Creek and transmission lines to Tonopah and Goldfield in Nevada, with later expansion to serve the Bullfrog District and Rhyolite. In 1910, the Pacific Power Company was formed to bring power to Bodie with a hydro plant on Mill Creek, which drains into Mono Lake, and a 124 mile transmission line. An avalanche wiped out the Mill Creek plant. With the help of Nevada-Electric, a new plant was built on a safer site in Lundy Canyon plus start an additional plant on Rush Creek. This disaster and over-extension ultimately forced Pacific Power into bankruptcy and, by 1917, it was absorbed into Nevada-California Power which quickly built transmission lines to tie all the Bishop and Mono plants together into an integrated complex.

During this time (1910) Nevada-California foresaw the decline of the mining industry and focussed their attention on Southern California as a future market. They correctly saw that the Los Angeles Aqueduct, then under construction, would fuel strong growth in that region. Accordingly, the Southern Sierras Power Company was created in 1911 as a wholly owned subsidiary to carry Bishop Creek/Mono power down into the San Bernardino and Riverside area via Cajon Pass, serving Inyokern, the Rand District, the chemical plants at Searles Lake and other areas enroute.

To improve the management and be poised for future expansion, the Nevada-California Electric Corporation was formed in 1914 as a Holding Company for these and other wholly owned companies which were subsequently acquired. In 1941 these separate companies were consolidated and unified as California Electric Power Company until 1964 when CalElectric was brought into the parent SCE.

A small, but important sidelight: In 1912 Nevada-California Power was having difficulty with telephone communications throughout their system. They purchased the Inyo Telephone Company, restaffed, rebuilt, expanded and and operated it as Interstate Telegraph until 1954 when it was spun off to Continental Telephone Co.

The other branch of the family tree in the evolution of SCE is bigger. A major player was Henry E. Huntington who was a force in the industry and economy of Southern California. In 1902 he, with associates, formed the Pacific Light & Power Company, primarily to assure adequate power for his Pacific Electric interurban rail line and the Los Angeles RR trolley system. PL&P gathered several small companies, including the Kern River Co. which lead to the building of the Borel hydroelectric plant in the Kern River Canyon. However, the big break for PL&P came when Huntington retained the services of John S. Eastwood. Eastwood, an outdoorsman and engineer had for many years been investigating the hydroelectric potential of the San Joaquin River watershed in the western Sierras. Following a three year intensive study and field trips, Eastwood was fully convinced of the potential and so reported to Huntington in 1910 with an outline of a massive complex of dams, reservoirs, plant sites, etc. Eastwood was an engineer, not a financier. Huntington was. He purchased the rights to the design and the attended water rights with a grant of stock of the Pacific Light and Power Corporation, a new company which Huntington created, capitalized at $40 million, to raise money for the construction of the now named Big Creek Project. Twenty years of heavy construction produced the largest hydroelectric system in the nation. Big Creek is still in operation today. While PL&P and SCE were competitors, they also had common interests which led to the merger in 1917 of PL&P into SCE.
So, when we flip on the light switch, open the freezer door, put the dinner in the microwave oven, turn on our television, retire to our computer, we now have some idea where the juice comes from. John Di Pol

Ref. Iron Men and Copper Wires - A Centennial History of SCE, William A Myers, 1983

IN MEMORIUM

(Life member, Henry "Hank" Schuette recently passed away. In recent years, Hank served a number of terms on the Board of Directors of the Historical Society. We felt it only fitting to include his obituary in this newsletter. The material comes from Hank's funeral folder.Ed.)

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HENRY FREDERICK SCHUETTE AND FAMILY

Hank's parents, Henry F. W. Schuette and Johana Marie Hallenberger, were originally from Indiana. Henry F. W. lived in Kentucky and met Johana at a German Lutheran church in Indiana. They were married in 1905 and within a month traveled by train to Los Angeles. They located at East 39th Street, in LA. Later, in 1911, Henry F. W. traveled to the Indian Wells Valley (IWV), Inyokern, to work on the Los Angeles Aqueduct at Sand Canyon, under the direction of Mr. Mulholland, the chief engineer/builder on the project. He filed a claim in Sand Canyon and dug a well; however, there was no water and the claim was unsuccessful. While working on the aqueduct he filed for a homestead three miles northeast of Brown, near the end of the lava beds. He successfully dug a well, and established the Schuette ranch (The Ranch). After completing work on the aqueduct, he went to work at the Ward mine in Owenyo (located about 7.4 miles northeast of Lone Pine). Thereafter, he worked at a chemical plant, later closed, resulting in no work. Meanwhile, Hank's mother, Johana, was very upset that there was no church in the IWV. She decided the family, kids and all, should get up at 4:00 AM Sunday mornings and drive in a Model T Ford to the Lutheran church in Lancaster. There they attended the Lutheran church and received communion. Subsequent to these trips to Lancaster, several young pastors, including a Pastor Lankow, traveled to the ranch to hold services with the family and visitors. These "potluck" church meetings were held at the ranch.

Hank was born in 1916 in Los Angeles. The family initially lived in a tin shed until his mother's "rock house" was built. At the ranch the family grew fruits and vegetables, and assembled a herd of cattle from dairy stock. Over 40 cattle were lost during the drought in 1923. The children attended school in Inyokern up to the 8th grade, and later attended high school while staying with friends, in Santa Monica and Pasadena, before returning to the IWV. Hank's brother, Fred, stayed with the Ritterbusch family, and later married Lorraine, one of their daughters.

Hank returned to the ranch after graduation from high school in 1933, and greatly improved the ranch. He enlarged the well, (obtained a high volume water pump run from a belt connected to the wheel of a Dodge automobile. The result was three acres of alfalfa and a large herd of cattle. Many improvements followed, including a popular swimming pool (no such thing as airconditioning). In 1940, Hank married Alby Lange and moved to Trona to work in the American Potash chemical plant (later Kerr-McGee). Fred remained at the ranch until the Navy came in 1942. The ranch was taken by eminent domain and the little rock house and the old tin shed were moved to Argus where Fred, George and Johana lived for many years. The "rock house" is currently preserved by the Searles Valley Historical Society.

Lutheran church services were held in Trona at the old "Federal Housing" tract. Hank's mother, Johana Marie Hallenberger, was the motivating force behind establishment of the Lutheran church in the Indian Wells Valley. After much discussion, a decision was made to build Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Ridgecrest. Later, Pastor Paul Neipp held services in both Ridgecrest and Trona.

Hank is survived by his son, William, and daughter-in-law, Deirdre, of Brookline, MA; sister, Mildred Kohen, of Trona; and grandchildren, Gavin, Austin, Elizabeth and Fiona of Brookline, MA. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Alby; second wife, Dorothy; brothers George and Frederick, and sister Emilie.