Tag: Mojave

The Mojave Desert, located in the southwestern United States, is a striking landscape characterized by vast expanses of arid terrain and rugged mountains. Spanning parts of California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona, it is known for its iconic Joshua trees, which dot the sandy plains alongside hardy shrubs and cacti adapted to the harsh desert environment. The Mojave Desert experiences extreme temperatures, with scorching hot summers and chilly winters, while its unique geological features include ancient lava flows, dry lake beds, and towering sand dunes. This desert region is not only a testament to resilience in nature but also harbors a rich diversity of wildlife and holds a cultural significance as a home to indigenous peoples and a backdrop for explorers and adventurers alike.

Owl’s Clover (Castilleja exserta)

Posted on by

Owls Clover (Castilleja exserta) is a small flowering plant which can grow about 1 foot tall.   The Owl’s Clover is a native plant to California, Arizona, New Mexico and the Northwestern areas of Mexico.  Like other Castilleja plants, which also includes the Indian Paintbrushes, the Owl’s Clover is hemiparasitic which means that it obtains its nutrients from the roots of other plants.

Owls Clover photographed in the California Poppy Reserve - Photo by James L Rathbun
Owls Clover photographed in the California Poppy Reserve – Photo by James L Rathbun

The Owls Cover blooms from March to May and may be found at elevations from 2000 ft to 3000 ft. The plant ranges in height from 4 to 18 inches in height. The underdeveloped, hairy stemmed leaves are threaded in appearance because they are not needed for nutrients or photosynthesis. Rather, the roots of this plant will growth into the root structures of other plants around it, stealing the nutrients from it.

The thin, erect bracts are usually tipped in the same color. This will give the flower a dual tone color and the appearance a paintbrush dipped in paint. This is the source of the the paintbrush common name of other plants in this genus.

The seeds of the Owl’s clover were harvested and utilized as a food source by the indigenous peoples of California.

Kokoweef Mine

Posted on by

The Kokoweef Mine and in fact all of the trails and mines located in the Ivanpah / Mountain Pass area represent exactly why I started Destination4x4.  My wife and I routinely drive between our home in Las Vegas, NV and Los Angeles, CA to visit family and friends.  One trip we decided to jump off the 15 and just investigate the Mountain Area off of Bailey Road.  After a few nice discoveries, we continued our drive home and that night I opened up Google Earth and started investigating the area.

Kokoweef Mine from below - 2015
Kokoweef Mine from below – 2015

One of my discoveries was Kokoweef.  Immediately upon exiting the I-15 at Baily road was a sign for Kokoweef.  Little did I realize that I had just walked into a legend of the “Kokoweef River of Gold”.  Obviously, I don’t think I have discovered anything, but rather learned more of the desert history which surrounds us all and seldom seen or learned about.

My nephew and son searching for the "River of Gold" on Kokoweef peak.
My nephew and son searching for the “River of Gold” on Kokoweef peak.

According to Legend, three Piute Indians discovered cave system which became known as the Crystal Cave.  The cave system was reported to be thousands of feet deep, and contained an underground river 300 feet across which was rich with placer gold.  The location remained a secret for many years, until the 1930’s when  Earl F. Dorr learned of the cave system from a Indian ranch hand who worked on his fathers ranch.  According to the ranch hand, three brothers Oliver, Buck and George Peysert worked / mined the cave system and recovered some $57,000.00 for 6 weeks of work.  During one visit George Peysert is reported to have died

These mine cart rails are a little small to pull the amount of gold claimed to be here.
These mine cart rails are a little small to pull the amount of gold claimed to be here.

Armed with this little bit of knowledge, Mr. Door reportedly investigated the site with two other men.  Reportedly, we found the underground river which “Rises and Falls with Tidal Regularity”, along with fantastic geologic formations.  To protect his new find, Mr. Dorr blasted the tunnel closed.  On December 10, 1934 Mr Door swore and affidavit to which, he stated that he prospect the area for several days and with 10 lbs of of placer sand from the banks of the underground river was assayed a$2,144.47 per yard and $20 per once of gold.

Mr. Dorr died in 1957 without revealing the location of the cavern entrance to the underground river of gold.   From the point of his affidavit in 1934, the site has been submit to multiple mining claims, rumor, story and lawsuits.  It is of some note that Earl Dorr worked for another 23 years with the knowledge of a vaste cache of placer gold yet did not seem to act on this information.

The latest lawsuit in the area was closed in 2012, but to my knowledge no vast river of gold at the bottom of a 3000 foot canyon has yet to be rediscovered in the Mojave.

Currently, the two roads to the mine are closed on both sides, so you have to walk up to the mine sight.  The terrain is moderately steep, however erosion channels and loose rock make to hike more difficult but well worth the effort.  Access from the southern access road on considerabley shorter and not as steep.  Once at the top, you are great of the mine portal with is mostly closed and the mine cart rail.

Kokoweef Trail Map

Resources

The Green Gopher

Posted on by

Growing up in the 70’s I learned and spent a lot of time camping, hiking, being outdoors and active.  Every spring summer and fall, my parents and I would load up the truck, and later the trailer and head out.  Typically preparations would start the week before departure, and the loading process would start on Thursday afternoon with my brother and I hauling all the gear into the yard, while my mom packed the vehicles.  Friday could not come soon enough and when it did, my dad would come home from work, change is clothes, wrangle up two kids, maybe a dog, adjust the mirrors, and exclaim “We’re off” as we drove out of the driveway in The Green Gopher.  For the most part, for my family nothing much has changed much from my dad.  It is however the details that matter.

In 1972, I was one year old and to celebrate my dad bought a new truck.  Details of the vehicle back then are scarce.  From my point of view, my dad previously owned a 1964 International Scout.  He drive this car for years all over the desert south west in the late 1960s.  When my dad married my mom, my mom made him sell the Scout because the breaks were horrible, and at least three times they failed completely.  It was a wise decision considering the stakes for the family at the time, but the loss of his beloved Scout was difficult and for decades despite its faults the Scout cast a long shadow in our family.

Returning to 1972, my dad decided to purchase his truck.  He chose a Sea Foam Green 1972 Ford F-100 pickup sporting a 302 inch V-8 sporting with a 3.2:1 gear ratio, two fuel tanks, and a four speed manual transmission which included a “Granny Gear”.  The extra costs of a four wheel drive were not an option for my dad at that time.  So, the truck became the “ultimate compromise”.  He opted for 2 wheel drive, but to offer improved traction he chose a four speed with granny gear.  The differential was geared up to offer improve gas mileage, but the little 200 HP V-8 could not pull a grade at any sort of highway speeds.  A camper shell, home built bed, pass-through rear window and the “green gopher” was complete for the initial incarnation.

Continue Reading →

Evening Star Mine

Posted on by

The Evening Star Mine first came to our attention in the winter of 2014, while researching the mining history of the Mountain Pass located in California near the border with Nevada.  On a whim, while driving home we did a little exploring in the Mountain Pass area just inside of the California border outside of Primm, Nevada.  We frequently drive past this area, marveling at the Wild Burro population, but just did not stop to investigate.  Our brief stop opened the flood gates as we “discovered” gold fish in a water trough.  After some investigation the mining districts of the Ivanpah mountains were exposed, at the Evening Star Mine is principal among them.

Evening Star Mine, Mojave, California - 2015 Photo by James L Rathbun
Evening Star Mine, Mojave, California – 2015 Photo by James L Rathbun

Operating between 1939 and 1944, the Evening Star Mine was the only producer of tin ore in the eastern Mojave Desert.    Located in the Mescal Mining District, the site maintains an impressive sixty foot head frame which is built upon three towers of different heights and supply ore to an ore bin.  The mine is unique in that the crusher is located at the top of the head frame.

The Evening Star Mine began life in 1935 as a copper claim.  J. Riley Bembry prospected and then within a year, sold the claim to Trigg L. Button and Clarence Hammett of Santa Ana, Califonia.  The two men began digging the Number 1 shaft.  In 1940, the claim was again sold, this time of Vaughn Maynard of Santa Ana who then sold it to the Tin Corporation of America in 1941. The Tin Corporation of America continued sinking the shaft, and shipped 25 tons in June 1942 to Texas City, Texas.

Carl Wendrick Jr. secured the lease in 1943 with a government loan and soon the site hosted eight men who built a larger head frame.  Over 400 tons of ore were processed and several tons of tin concentrates were sold to the government stockpile in Jean, Nevada.

The structure is essentially sound, and in good condition, however steps are being taken to stabilize the head frame.  The mine shaft itself is closed to access by BLM using a cable net.

Resources

Zzyzx Road – Soda springs

Posted on by

Located south of Baker, CA on the edge of a large soda dry lake bed in the Mojave, Zzyzx Road is a short road which leads from the I-15 highway to a soda  spring with an eclectic history.   The springs were the site of a prehistoric quarry and early human activity undoubtedly taking shelter from the heat in the Oasis which is the spring site.

ake Tuendae, an Oasis in the Mojave Desert is found at the end of Zzyzx Road off the I-15. Photograph by James L Rathbun
ake Tuendae, an Oasis in the Mojave Desert is found at the end of Zzyzx Road off the I-15. Photograph by James L Rathbun

During the 1860s, the springs and surrounding areas host a U.S. Army camp which serviced the Mojave Road as Fort Soda Springs and a local train depot for the Tomopah and Tidewater Railroad.

Curtis Howe Springer

Curtis Howe Springer
Curtis Howe Springer

In 1944, a radio evangelist, self proclaimed medical doctor and methodist minister Curtis Howe Springer filed a mining claim for 12,800 acres of land south of Baker, CA and along the coast of the large dry soda lake.  The 8 miles by 3 miles track of land included the old army fort and the train depot.  Mr. Springers goal was to establish a “Health Spa” for anyone who felt the need to improve their Health.  The cost of a visit was free of charge, but undoubtedly he pressured his visitors to make “donations” to his organization.

The area was developed over time, and Springer named the site after his own invented word Zzyzx, as to be the last word in the dictionary, and the phrase the “last word in” was used as part of his marketing campaigns for all his endeavors.  The location was built up over a period of 30 years (1944 – 1974) starting with a 20 tent camp which soon turned into a primitive concrete settlement built using laborers recruited from Los Angeles “Skid Row”.  The warm soda springs were of his own manufacture which used boilers and man made pools for this natural healing site.

Years of development Zzyzx Mineral springs featured 60 room lodging, a radio station, mineral spa, a private airport dubbed the “Zyport” and or coarse a church.  In addition, Curtis Springer would peddle his cures using his national and international radio broadcasts which promised cures for almost every disease.  In the late 1960’s, Mr Springer gained the attention of the Federal Government for building homes for large doners to his “Ministry”.  Since the original Mine claim never transfer ownership of the land to him, but rather gives him mineral rights, and he had not produce any profit from mining he was not entitled to development the land, because he did not own the land.

The dry soda lake located in the Mojave National Preserve and found next to Zzyzx Road offers a surreal view of the area. Photograph by James L Rathbun
The dry soda lake located in the Mojave National Preserve and found next to Zzyzx Road offers a surreal view of the area. Photograph by James L Rathbun

After loosing in court, he was evicted from the site in 1974, and in 1976 the California State University system incorporate the site into their field studies and research programs which, I am sure, has provided a far better use of the property.  The property continues to operative within the Mojave National Preserve as the Desert Studies Center by the California State University. Visitors are welcome to tour the area, there are picnic tables and a self guided tour around Lake Tuendae.

Resources