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…
Where did your intrepid Desert Way wanderers go today? Landers, California, of course. Why? Well, we were 31 years too late for the big earthquake, so we headed on over to the Morongo Basin Historical Society Museum’s Grand Opening instead. The Morongo Basin Historical Society was founded in 1999 but the museum itself did not…
On March 2, 2023, we woke to the appearance of a tiny visitor, just outside our front door. This girl has set up nesting duties in our Ocotillo in a pot near our front entrance. The Trochilidae family includes the world’s smallest birds, with the most brilliant iridescent colors, the fastest wingbeats, and the most amazing…
An unassuming yet historically significant midcentury-modern building can be found on a small patch of land in a desert city known all over the world. Without further ado, we present the Owen Coffman American Legion in Palm Springs. The original American Legion in the great town actually goes back to the late 1930s, when a…
Consider the town of Goffs for a moment. You really should. You’ll feel much better. With a current population 23, plus or minus a few jackrabbits, and situated eleven miles from Interstate 40, Goffs is today a wealth of history, and ground zero for any serious study of the Mojave Desert. Originally named Blake, Goffs…
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. According to On the Trail of Pegleg Smith’s Lost Gold: Legend and Fact Combined to Provide Fresh Clues to the Location of Pegleg Smith’s Famous Lost Mine, he…
Your knight called and said you really ought to be here. Shields Dates, located at 80-225 Highway 111 in Indio, just over the border of La Quinta, is a favorite stop for world-class travelers and locals alike. The company was founded in 1924 by Floyd Shields and his wife, Bess Lugton. Floyd Shields was one…
Texas. Oh, Texas. As Californian originals, we certainly packed a whole lot of living in the short duration we were there before family obligations called us back home. Bandera seemed like a natural fit. Many thanks to Bandera for opening your arms to us like you did, even if you did frequently remind us “Don’t…
It was a daring idea in 1911. Take 10 seven-passenger Studebaker-Garford Touring cars, add 50 passengers, and follow it with another Garford, decked out as a covered wagon, that was used to carry the baggage. Next, head out from New York, bound for Los Angeles, with stops at all the amazing desert landmarks along the…
The next time you ask someone what rock they crawled out from under, consider this cautionary tale about Giant Rock. Technically, Frank Critzer was a squatter, since he was living on government land. In the 1930s, Critzer became known as “straight road Critzer” by locals because he built 60 roads all leading in a spider…
