Some of you might have heard that we lost a good friend on December 21, 2021. John Grasson was a friend and colleague in the study of the Southwest deserts, a fellow Army veteran, a radio personality, a go-to source for information on the legendary “Lost Ship of the Desert,” a fellow desert rat, and…
Love him or hate him, one has to admit Pegleg’s story is intriguing. It is clear people knew different versions of the same man, as their stories vary wildly. Before he was known as Pegleg, he was known as Thomas Long Smith. Some people said he was born in Kentucky, although Smith himself said he…
Cafes and rooming houses in Daggett sprang up. These were used as meeting places for business, as well as entertainment. One of the more popular joints was known as “Ma Preston’s”…
Rambling down old Highway 62, near the Coxcomb Mountains, tends to churns up images from the past. Not in a psychological or psychedelic way, of course. Just the history of this great land, and the people who came before us. About where this road is today was the route taken by a little known mountain…
It is a given that when researching information about a particular topic, one discovery often leads to another. Such is the case when we recently wrote about the T Cross K Ranch in Mission Creek Preserve, just down the road from Desert Hot Springs, California. Cabot Yerxa’s name kept popping up in old newspapers. An…
Pasadena, California.The young girl sat in the garden, listening, as her grandfather, a self-made millionaire, told of floating above the Earth in hot air balloons, supplying intelligence on Rebel forces to the Union Soldiers standing below. Grandfather was Professor Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, scientist and inventor. His influence on the world was notable indeed, and…
It’s a cool desert evening on November 18, 1954, and the day’s show is over at the New Frontier Hotel and Casino on the emerging Las Vegas Strip. Still, the show must always go on. The young entertainer, along with his valet, Charles Head, are getting ready for an all-night drive to Studio City, near…
Greetings from Camp Cady, California! Armistice Day (later to be named Veterans Day) is still about 60 years away, but here we are, taking you back in time to the loneliest, meanest U.S. Army outpost in the United States, a year before the Civil War went hot. It is a day in 1860, and we’re…
Visiting Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch is an experience for the senses. Not only are you mesmerized by the colorful bottles combined with antiques in creative ways, but there are soul-pleasing sounds to accompany it too.
Elmer told us his most beloved pieces are the ones he found with his Dad during his youth. One of his favorites is a handmade pitch fork Elmer found in 1959 or 1960 in a fallen down homestead near Edwards AFB, now at the top of one of his colorful displays.
Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch is not just another roadside attraction on Route 66. It has rightfully earned it’s designation as a destination in and of itself. Come see why this quirky slice of Americana and the humble artist who created it attracts people from all over the world…
By 1963, Robert McCulloch moved his businesses to Arizona and bought 26 acres of land right next to Lake Havasu. He paid a little over a million dollars for the place, and Lake Havasu City was born. He even opened a chainsaw factory that employed several hundred workers. After all, every city needs a population. So then, when you’re at the top of your game, and you own your own city, what do you do next? A multi-million ton antique to decorate the place might be nice…