Ludlow, a great respite along Interstate 40

Old mining cars on display in Ludlow, California

I spend a lot of time driving along that black ribbon of Interstate 40. Do I enjoy it? Sometimes. And it is the path from here to there I need quite often for expediency. Though, Route 66 is my preferable stretch of road. It’s slower, more scenic, and allows me to just ponder.

Pondering is important. .

No one likes things weighing on my mind. But I do like to think about, or reflect every now and then. To consider things soberly, quietly, or with some good old rock and roll playing in the background. I’d even say I contemplate some things deeply, as if I were a great deep thinker of soul searching meanings, but honestly, I’m often more of a surface kind of guy.

But I do like the term ponder. It rhymes with wander. So, wandering as I do gives me time for pondering.

‘He’s just a wandering and pondering sort of fella.’

So recently, while wandering along Interstate 40 and passing the exit for Ludlow, I began pondering about the history of this small berg fifty-one miles east of Barstow and ninety-two miles west of Needles. Passing it so many times during my eons on this planet, I never gave the history of the town much thought. No offense to those who reside in Ludlow - a lovely group of folks - but when I’d stop in Ludlow, there was a specific reason for said stop: pump some gas, grab a meal, or a big delicious and calorie filled DQ desert, and hit the road again.

The town deserves better. 

Time for some research. 

I discovered that Ludlow was once a booming town. But, as with many such towns that hugged Route 66 like a belt on a pair of pants after Thanksgiving dinner, a diet was in the near future. And that diet was the completion of Interstate 40.

That darn Interstate 40! But, I digress.

Ludlow was once such a happening place that it once hosted an automobile race in 1914 from Los Angeles to Phoenix along National Trails Highway, later known as Route 66, with the famous race car driver, Barney Oldfield as the main attraction.

It was reported that people as far away as Death Valley, descended on Ludlow to view the Cactus Derby, with the hopes of catching a glance of one of this country’s racing legends.

But there is so much more to Ludlow. And I’m not just writing about the reopening of the DQ there – though, that is pretty big news.

Hmmm, banana splits on a hot summer afternoon. Oops, digressing again. 

Turns out that this small community began in the 1870’s. In 1882, the actual town of Ludlow was founded as a water stop for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, and named after William Ludlow, a train car repairman who did such a good job repairing things, that clearly, the railroad needed to name a town after him.

The small railway stop started to really build into something grand when gold was discovered in the nearby hills. Where there is gold, there is a boom. And a boom was a-booming.

As miners flocked to the region, entrepreneurs also moved in offering all sorts of distractions for those tired and grubby guys with pockets full of gold to spend on lonely weekends. 

One such person was Mother Preston, who built or purchased buildings to convert into a general store, hotel, boarding house, a saloon, café, pool hall, and even a few homes. She was one smart business woman. 

According to an article in the San Bernardino County Sentinel, Mother Preston became so wealthy, she sold her holdings to the Murphy Brothers, who already owned the rest of the town, and promptly retired to France.

It is reported that Mother Preston stated, “Ooh, la la!” after the sale of her holdings. A rough translation is – “Wow, is Versailles for sale?”

In 1900, gold was discovered in the Bagdad-Chase Mine, and became the largest gold-producing mine in San Bernardino County. In fact, the mine produced half of all the gold mined in the county.

Ludlow was also utilized as the southern railhead for the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, which was owned by the Pacific Coast Borax Company.

Borax, the answer to those nasty stains in clothes. A little here and a little there, and whammy, just like brand new.

“Johnny, your clothes are filthy!”

“Don’t worry, ma,” Johnny replied. “A little Borax, and they are good as store bought.”

“You are a smart young man, Johnny. You may end up writing for a newspaper someday.”

“My dream of dreams, ma.”

Anyway - with all that gold, and the Borax pouring in from Death Valley, Ludlow began to truly prosper.

For the next few decades, the town continued to grow, as new mines were established, trainloads of Borax along with other minerals coming through, and the advent of the automobile, there didn’t seem an end to the expansion of this town in the Mojave Desert.

But by the 1940’s there wasn’t much use for all the rail activity with the ore playing out and other avenues being found for the delivery of the minerals. The railroads became more efficient and water stops no longer played much of a roll in their daily lives. 

The love of the American automobile came to the rescue to Ludlow. Vehicles roared by on Route 66, right through the town where visitors could grab a night’s sleep at a motor court, grab a meal at the Ludlow Café, fill up at the gas station, or just relax under the branches of a shady tamarisk tree.

But then in the late 1960’s, Interstate 40 was completed, and even though it was merely inches from Ludlow, travelers didn’t need to stop any longer.

“Can’t we stop? I’m hungry,” a child was heard to whine, through the open window of a passing Chevrolet.

“Can’t stop, we’re on a mission to get east of here,” the father replied. “There’s boating fun to be had on the Colorado River.”

So, the people sped by and Ludlow dwindled in population and importance.

Though, it is still an important stop in my mind. Here I go with pondering again.

History is alive here in this little highway town. Strong and independent people took a shot at life in a very hostile environment - threw the dice and survived.

No, not only survived, but prospered. 

Sure, now there isn’t much to the town. Deserted buildings, empty lots, ruined structures, and an old cemetery – but the town truly lives.

There’s a hotel, café, gas station, and the planned re-opening of the revamped DQ attached to a gas station on the north side of Interstate 40.

A great place to stop and eat in Ludlow, California

Most of my sources agree that Ludlow is a ghost town. I say nope, this town is alive, and all the times I’ve stopped there – not one ghost have I seen.

Recently, I stopped at the Ludlow Café and had a great and healthy breakfast (that was for Laureen’s benefit, she worries about me). I pondered on how much grit the early settlers had in settling in such hostile and questionable surroundings. They had it, no matter the obstructions thrown in their path.

And their legacy lives on.

Ludlow might be thought of as a little community, but one with a large part of the history of the Mojave Desert. There is so much to explore in the area, if you have the time. 

And a place to rest your head for the night in Ludlow, California

Albert Einstein once wrote; ‘People like us who believe in physics know that the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion. Time, in other words, is an illusion.’

Can’t argue with a guy rumored to have an IQ of ten thousand, but I know that time, in this world is not an illusion.

Watching your children grow up, a person realizes that time is real and it’s precious. Time for us mere humans is finite.

That’s why I travel and look for new things. New doesn’t mean new construction, but things I didn’t know were there. The history of Ludlow is just one more example. 

The quirky ghost town of Nelson, Nevada

 

Years ago, Laureen and I sat down to watch the 2001 film, 3,000 miles to Graceland one evening. Not sure why, but we are fans of Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell and decided to give it a shot.

We like doing that - watching a film on a shot.

Most end up as a 22 caliber plink but some end up as a full blown 44 caliber full-metal-jacket blast. While on the subject, may I mention Top Gun Maverick? That was, in my opinion, a macho-side-winder-missile of a film. But I digress.

The Graceland film was probably, in my ‘Beyer what round would this film rate’ opinion, would be a solid 40 caliber. Enough to do damage but not enough to awaken neighbors three doors down.

I am not sure why I am using such terms to determine the strength of a film but perhaps since I recently went to a legal shooting range with a few friends, the aroma of gunpowder is still circulating through my senses.

Anyway, Laureen and I drove to the film location for one of the scenes in the film - the ghost town of Nelson in Nevada.

This is where Costner, as nasty as his character is, flicks his lit cigarette out of the car and blows up the place, sending a couple of full sized planes right into the air.

Sections of the planes are still there, with one sticking right out of the ground as though it crashed nose first.

Destroyed aircraft from film 3,000 Miles to Graceland in Nelson, Nevada

Really cool.

Unlike most ghost towns I visit, Nelson is a bit different. Not the average ghost town where buildings are there but mostly not. Rumors of past lives are envisioned across desert landscapes or remote mountain valleys. No, Nelson is unique in that aspect.

As we drove through the eleven miles of desert toward Nelson off the 95 and on the 165, there were a lot of Joshua trees, creosote bushes, cacti, and other plants which I cannot possibly name.

“Beautiful area,” Laureen mentioned.

“Some folks think the desert is boring,” I replied. I had actually heard someone say that once, but then again they also did not believe Sasquatches existed.

“Then they have not traveled much,” Laureen said.

Besides being one of the settings for a movie about a bunch of Elvis impersonators about to rob a casino in Las Vegas, the town of Nelson has a fascinating history.

A long detailed history of exploration, riches, murder, and all the other ingredients that make visiting such a place a must.

We suddenly came into view a collection of modular homes, stick built homes and lots with no homes at all. In fact, some of the homes were large and beautiful. 

“Are we there?” I asked.

“We just passed a sign that indicated we had arrived in Nelson,” Laureen replied.

This was not a ghost town at all. Folks walking around, doggies prancing in front yards, people driving modern cars instead of horse and buggies, and not a ruin in sight.

“I think we’ve been bamboozled,” I uttered.

Nope, the ghost town was about another mile or so past the present and very much alive village of Nelson.

In 1775, a group of Spaniards were walking here and there about this locale when they discovered pockets of rich ore containing large amounts of gold.

Immediately they called the area, El Dorado, which in Spanish meant any place where riches, opportunity, or abundance of things can be found. And this, El Dorado, was such a place just west of the rushing Colorado River.

After the Spaniards left, the area was searched now and then, but in 1859 large lodes of both gold and silver were discovered and El Dorado came into full force, creating one of the largest mining booms in Nevada state history.

It seems that every time I conduct research about a mineral strike, it happens to be one of the largest in that particular state.

“We got us another boom,” one old miner may have said to another.

The other miner may have nodded his unkempt bearded head. “Yes, and last week I was at another boom over yonder.”  

Two years later the rush for riches was truly on and a steamboat landing was created at the mouth of Eldorado Canyon at the shore of the Colorado River to transport goods to the quickly forming town and to take the rich ore south along the river.

The ore would be transported nearby on the Colorado River

The first name for this mining bonanza along the Colorado River was Colorado City. Must have taken moments to come up with that name. Then it was changed to simply Eldorado.

It should be noted that this was before any man made dams were along the length of the Colorado River and thus supplies and riches could be transported nearly 350 miles from this location all the way to the Gulf of California.

Try that today. In fact don’t…unless you feel like dragging your boat out of the water in front of Hoover Dam, Davis Dam, and the Dam Dam.

With money rolling in from the various mines in the area, the town of Eldorado continued to grow and one of the richest was the Techatticup Mine which produced millions of dollars from gold, silver, copper, and lead.

One of the canyons leading to riches in Nelson, Nevada

And with all such boom towns, another element came to town - hooligans.

Yes, Tom Hooligan moved to Eldorado in 1897. Okay, I may have made that name up, but bad hombres and bad hombres showed up, making the mining camp a very dangerous place to reside.

Since Eldorado Canyon was so narrow and yet so rich in mineral deposits routine, arguments arose between miners, and murder became a way of life. And, add to that fact that the Civil War hadn’t ended that long ago, deserters from both the Union and Confederate armies migrated there believing the location in Nevada was so isolated they would not be hunted down by the authorities.

Of course, there were no animus feelings between those two factions at all. Did I mention that murder became a fact of life?

A town was eventually built further up the canyon away from the rushing river since that area had seen the building of a stamp mill and docks for the steamships that would visit Eldorado on a routine manner and had become too crowded. 

In 1897, a prospector and camp leader by the name of Charles Nelson was found murdered in his home, along with four other people. The killings were blamed on a Native American by the name of Avote. The town’s name was then changed to Nelson in his honor.

Nelson was a different sort of mining camp, in which the majority see their boom last a few years at most and then dry up. No, this locale produced rich minerals from its founding all the way until 1945.

Around 1901 to 1905, railroads were becoming more and more accessible for the citizens of Nelson to move products and soon there was no longer the need for the steamboats along the Colorado River. It was faster and cheaper to bring goods in or ship out the needs of the mining boomtown by rail.

In 1907, the post office closed in Eldorado and was moved to Nelson.

As we walked around the now eclectic ghost town of Nelson, we marveled at the displays of vintage automobiles and trucks scattered everywhere. Some were parked along the only paved road through town. Some were parked in dirt parking lots in front of original buildings from the heyday of Nelson. Some were just parked as though the owner had just exited the vehicle to carry on some business in a nearby structure.

Some strange looking vehicles in Nelson, Nevada

There are signs indicating that this isn’t just a ghost town but a town where people live. The wording on the signs are clear - ‘Leave before Dark.’ The residents do not want tourists trampling all over private property looking at this or that artifact.

John R Beyer standing in the doorway in Nelson, Nevada

It was a wonderful couple of hours we spent trampling around - it was early in the morning. The gift shop/visitor center was open and we chit-chatted with a woman running the place. She mentioned that mine tours are available and reservations can easily be made by visiting the Eldorado Canyon Mine Tours website. Not only can the guests visit the actual mines in the area which produced the boom, but the tour also incorporates visiting film sites, wedding venues, great photo opportunities, and overall explains the entire history of Nelson.

The main street in Nelson, Nevada

In fact, we watched as three or four small tour buses entered the small town and deposited tourists for their day of adventure.

It was windy, so we decided to pack it in and head west, knowing we would be back to explore much more of this Eldorado Canyon.

For more information: https://www.eldoradocanyonminetours.com/index.html

John can be contacted at: beyersbyways@gmail.com

Amboy Crater

*Editorial note - this blog first appeared in 2018, but this is one of the best times of year to visit Amboy Crater. John traveled there during the middle of summer - don't do that! It is dangerously hot, as is stated in the article. That written, Go Out and Explore this Marvel of Nature.

Amboy Crater, as seen from above

Roughly ten thousand years ago, according to all the scientific types, there was a huge volcanic eruption not far from the city of Barstow. So close, in miles as those crows fly, which anyone living there would have looked up into the eastern sky and scratched their heads in wonder.

What was that? What could that have been? Is there something we should be doing at this time with all that smoke and fire in the sky? I wish we had finished that living trust before all this, don’t you?

Of course, there is no evidence that anyone lived in the Mojave Desert during that time. Then again, this is still up to debate. 

Anyway, that volcanic explosion would have been something to witness - from a distance. Bring out the popcorn and suitable drink for the show of a lifetime. Probably should also have a fire retardant umbrella, just in case of floating fire cinders or something else hot enough to ruin your day or life. 

John R Beyer pointing to the distant Amboy Crater

Actually, according to several scientific resources, the first suspected volcanic activity in the area near the present small town of Amboy, was about 80,000 years ago and it kept burping up magma for thousands of years.

Anyone who has traveled Route 66 eastbound from Barstow knows something catastrophic happened here. Miles and miles of magma fields, giving the landscape an almost out of this world appearance. Driving that lonely stretch of highway, away from the hustle and bustle of Highway 40, gives a person a chance to slow down and take a look around at the gorgeous desert.

And in that middle of the desert is a 250 foot tall and nearly 1500 foot wide ancient volcano named appropriately, the Amboy Crater. 

Amboy Caldera

But what is a volcano? 

Come on, we all know after watching, Dante’s Peak. It was a big Hollywood hit in 1997, and made us all experts in what is really happening down in the bowels of the earth. Who can forget, unless you never watched the film, Harry Dalton – played by Pierce Bronson (enough to go to Netflix now?) stating, after finding two people boiled to death in a seemingly cool pool of mountain water.

It’s really hot down in the earth. Dalton said, as he scratched his two day growth of beard on his handsome face. So hot, that sometimes yucky stuff comes to the surface and really makes a mess of things – including my hair and make-up.

I made those script lines up – literary license provoked.

According to NASA, a pretty decent resource in itself, a volcano is an opening on the surface of a planet or moon that allows material warmer than its surroundings to escape from its interior.

I had a thought about a spicy burrito being the cause of a volcano, but that would be childish.

So, a road trip to the Amboy Crater was in store.

Being summer, Laureen had a comment about that idea of mine.

“You know it is summer.”

“Yes, I looked on my phone – you are correct.”

“It’s not really a great idea to hike in the desert during the summer.”

“When have I ever done anything stupid?”

For the next three hours, Laureen went through an entire litany of the things I have done in my travels which be questionable, as either being stupid or supremely adventurous.  

I went for adventurous.

When hiking in the high desert during the summer, one has to be prepared. A backpack full of yummy snacks, bottles of water, a first aid kit, and a bit of smarts.

It does get hot in the summer months, and it was early

So, I arrived at the Amboy Crater trail around seven in the morning – it was warm but not the melting type of warm. Laureen, being smarter than me, had only shook her hear head as I left our abode for my morning hike to the Amboy Crater.

“Stupid idea.”

“Adventurous.”

The crater is only about two and half miles west of the small town of Amboy along Route 66. Being a national natural landmark, it is well marked with an easy drive across black asphalt to the parking area just at the beginning of the trail.

After a hike, stop by Amboy for a cool drink

There are restrooms, picnic tables, and kiosks telling the visitor what they are viewing in the near distance. The volcano looms up from the desert floor like an impregnable castle from the days when knights controlled the countryside. Well, that would be knights like in ancient Europe and not the United States, but the sight is pretty awesome.

Walkways, tables, and kiosks for the visitor at Amboy Crater

Hardened black flows of ancient volcanic rock covers the entire area, comprising of nearly 24 square miles. When this thing erupted the last time, it sent volcanic debris flying in every direction and also rivers of molten lava covering the desert floor like bugs on road kill. That was gross, sorry. 

That was deep and shallow at the same time.

The trail to the top of the Amboy Crater is an easy stretch of a little over a mile with signs indicating which way to go. The climb to the top of the craters rim is a bit steep, but nothing that sturdy shoes cannot handle.

I was the only one there for the nearly two hours of hiking, and it was a wonderful experience. To look at this crater and realize I was standing on the top of something so powerful was intense. Though I have never been to the moon or any other planet besides the one I currently reside on, I wondered if this is what future explorers will witness. 

Just some of the hiking trails within Amboy Crater

Well actually, I hope if we visit another planet there may be people or beings we can talk with. I don’t want wind up in a cook book. Twilight Zone, get Netflix.  Just a thought.

On a serious note, and I hate those, hiking during the summer in the desert must be well thought out beforehand. If there are signs warning of excessive heat precautions, those I ignored, stating that hiking is not recommended, then heed the signs. I’m a professional – okay, that doesn’t cut it for moving around in the desert when it is four hundred degrees. Take ample precautions, start very early in the morning and be done well before the sun is directly overhead. Otherwise, then any other time of the year is a wonderful time to explore the beautiful Amboy Crater area.

Heed the warnings, may save your life