The desert has often played an important role in religions, spirituality and artists seeking self expression and nirvana. In Yucca Valley, a half-mile past the turnoff for Pioneertown Road, over 40 mid-century biblical statues steadfastly rise from the rocky sandscape to inspire people from different walks of life. It all started when Reverend Eddie Garver,
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James Marshall Gilman was born in Meredith, New Hampshire, on June 9, 1842. As a young man, his parents sent him to join his brother, a wholesale liquor salesman in San Francisco. After a short stint as a mercantile businessman in Oregon, James ventured to Banning, California. He founded the 160 acre Gilman Ranch and
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Dateline: March 10, 2012… The Associated Press–“Dr. Robert Schuller and his wife Arvella announced “with great sadness” Saturday that they resigned from the board of directors of the Crystal Cathedral, the televangelist ministry he founded four decades ago in Garden Grove, California, and made famous through his “Hour of Power” television program. Their resignation was
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Where do you go in Joshua Tree when you’re not in the mood for the National Park experience? We opted for Noah Purifoy’s old place. Down a dirt road, on the left. We saw it before we were there. Are those commodes towering in the air? we wondered. Yes indeed. Porcelain monuments to the private
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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
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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
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Drive north out of Palm Springs on Highway 62, past Desert Hot Springs, and the appreciative eye is drawn towards the majesty of Mount San Gorgonio to the west. 11,503 feet above sea level, and about 9,000 feet above this place right here, the Mission Creek Preserve. In a land that is a little bit
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Sometimes you pick up tips in the darnedest of places. A few weeks ago we were at our veterinarian’s office to get one of our dogs his routine vaccines, and began discussing interesting local places to explore with the vet, a long-time resident of the area. The doc asked us if we’d heard of Coyote
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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
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About 35 miles north of Palm Springs, and 20 road miles west of the entrance to Joshua Tree National Park, there’s a hidden gem waiting for the Mojave Desert adventurer. It’s called Pioneertown, and it’s well worth your time. Now, we’re not talking ’bout your usual town, fit for city folk. Once you’re on the
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