Butch Cassidy and Winnemucca, Nevada

 As a child, I often got blamed for things going wrong around the house. Of course, many times it was me that caused those things going wrong but sometimes I was not the culprit, at least I pleaded so.

“Johnny,” my grandmother would say. “Did you put a snake in the clothes washer?”

My loving Nana would always say clothes washer instead of washing machine. Not sure there is a difference but sounds like there should have been.

“Well,” I would reply, while bowing my head in deep thought before answering. 

Nana was pure Irish and knew a lie when one came flying at her. The Irish – they know how to embellish stories and know when those stories are being embellished.

Though I am sixty-five percent Irish, I use only pure research when writing my articles – be it a faraway chance when this writer would ever embellish a story.

I know this to be true when I happened upon a leprechaun and a Sasquatch having lunch one fine afternoon in a dell in the sweet green grasses near Dublin. They both finished their pints and said in tandem – ‘You be the most truthful person we ever have met, laddie.”

Whatever story I concocted at the time did not fly with my Nana. I had to remove a very wet snake from the washer and the snake was not in a good mood at the time.

“No more made-up stories from you,” she said.

I nodded, knowing it was in my blood to make a dull story a wee bit more interesting if I could.

The point of these nearly two hundred and fifty words?

Well, sometimes people will claim a person may have done something when they really have not.

And that is not a bunch of blarney.

A perfect example, on September 19, 1900, three men walked into the First National Bank of Winnemucca, Nevada at the corner of Fourth Street and Bridge Street and carried out a risky midday robbery.

Scene of the crime

They held guns on the patrons and workers. They swore, spit and then one brandished a knife as if the guns were not enough to carry out their daring raid.

It was rumored that one of the outlaws held his hands up during the robbery and said, “Really, a knife, we have six-shooters pointed at everyone. A little overkill, wouldn’t you say?”

One of the other robbers growled, “Makes us look fierce and dangerous.”

The third robber shrugged his shoulders, “Probably should have also thought of masks when we made these plans. Don’t you think?”

“Well, shoot,” one robber said. “No, I didn’t mean that!”

After a bit of hesitation and the threat of great bodily harm, George S. Nixon, the cashier, finally opened the vault and handed over nearly thirty-thousand dollars in gold coins. That would be well over a million dollars today.

Quite a haul for any group of fellows.

The robbery was then blamed on the notorious but well-liked robber, Butch Cassidy, and his Hole in the Wall Gang.

This was where truth sometimes is hidden in a bit of fiction.

Stately Courthouse - the hangings happened out back

The city of Winnemucca was named after Chief Winnemucca who lived in the area in the 19th century. He was a member of the Northern Paiutes. The Chief received his moniker when some early travelers came through what would be later known as Humboldt County in Nevada and saw him wearing only one moccasin.

Winnemucca is a loose translation meaning one moccasin – sort of like what probably happened to the Chief’s lost moccasin.

An interesting point in the story is that Sarah Winnemucca, the Chief’s daughter, later became an important advocate for the Native Americans living in and around the county. It was she who had the United States government begin to treat the Paiute and Shoshone tribes with more respect, offering education to all who desired it.

Sarah was also the first Native American to have her autobiography published, detailing her life as a daughter to a chief, working as an interpreter, a scout and messenger for the United States Army.

In fact, the autobiography has been referred to as, ‘one of the most enduring ethno-historical books written by an American Indian’ according to the 1983 Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology.

Gold was discovered not far from Winnemucca in the late 1860s bringing forth thousands of miners swarming to the hills and mountains not far from what would become the capital of Humboldt County.

In September of 1868, the Central Pacific Railroad arrived and in October of that year, it became part of the of the transcontinental railroad system.

Soon immigrants from all over started to arrive to this hilly landscape which happened to be perfect for raising sheep. 

Basques, the immigrants who arrived from northern Spain and southern France, moved into Winnemucca in the mid-19th-century and worked as sheepherders. Many became very successful and expanded their enterprises to the point that modern day Winnemucca hosts one of the largest annual Basque festivals in the United States, known as Euskal jajak.

So, with the town of Winnemucca growing quickly from the gold discoveries, the railroad and all the immigrants making their way across the Great Basin, bank robbers realized the local bank would probably have gobs of gold just waiting to be stolen.

There was and it was stolen on that summer day in 1900.

A short time later, Butch Cassidy and his gang were blamed – but there was an important issue missing. Butch was not there on the date of the robbery.

Butch Cassidy's Hole in the Wall Gang

Though Cassidy was known for bank robberies, his best-known antics leaned more toward train robbing.

It is rumored that Butch once said, “I like banks but blowing up mail cars on a train is a lot more fun. In fact, I bet that sixty-some years from now someone will make one of those moving pictures shows about me blowing the heck out of one of those mail cars.”

When the First National Bank of Winnemucca was robbed, Cassidy was nearly six hundred miles away in Tipton, Wyoming. He was planning a train robbery, which took place on August twenty-ninth of 1900, and he got away with fifty-thousand dollars in gold.

Time travel had not been invented yet in 1900, so unless Cassidy robbed a train and high-tailed to Winnemucca, the chances he was involved in the bank heist is a little hard to believe.

But Butch’s name is forever etched into Winnemucca’s history. Of course, perhaps the three men who did rob the bank may have been a part of the Hole in the Wall Gang

As the Sundance Kid may have said, “Yes, we were a gang but kind of a loosie-goosy kind of gang. We did things together and sometimes did things on our own”. 

To this day the three men’s identity is still a mystery, and the gold has never been found or spent, according to research.

Winnemucca is a great destination, as Laureen and I found out. The downtown area feels as though the visitor has stepped back in time and reliving what life was like at the turn of the twentieth century. Minus the bank robberies.

We walked up and down the streets taking in all the sights. The huge, beautiful Humboldt County Courthouse stands majestically on a high hill overlooking downtown Winnemucca.

A large convention center is within walking distance and hosts various events each year for locals and visitors alike.

View looking west across downtown Winnemucca 

Winnemucca is also home to the Buckaroo Hall of Fame and has a wonderful Heritage Museum to peruse.

Some of the largest events held in this modern but slow-paced city, besides the Euskal jajak, is the annual Ranch Hand Rodeo, the Run-A-Mucca Motorcycle Rally, the Tri-County Fair and Stampede, and the I Am Going Run the Hecka Out of the Way of the Stampede Event.

For those travelers looking for an adult libation, a visit to the Butch Cassidy’s Hole in the Wall Bar on Bridge Street is a must.

And for those more adventurous souls, there are dozens of ghost towns from the old mining days in Humboldt County just waiting to be visited.

There is Camp McGarry, Camp Winfield Scott, Jumbo, and Willow Point, just to name a few and the best part they are all an easy drive from Winnemucca.

What a better day than to visit historical sites and then return for the evening and perhaps have a great Basque meal while tossing back a glass of Txakoli.

Of course, when visiting a ghost town or any other historical site be careful where you walk and leave the place as you found it, so others may enjoy it in the future.

There are some real dodo-heads who don’t follow that advice and ruin everything – don’t be one of them.

As we drove away from Winnemucca, I turned to Laureen and said, “I liked Winnemucca. Did you like Winnemucca?”

She nodded. “Yes, but you just like to say Winnemucca.”

It was true, but I truly enjoyed our first jaunt through Winnemucca.

For more information: http://www.winnemucca.com/

San Bernardino County Museum

John R Beyer at the county museum 

 According to David Myers, Chief Deputy of the San Bernardino County Museum, nearly eighty thousand people wander the hallways, admiring the exhibits. Heads twisting this way and that way, gaining as much knowledge as they can during their visit.

“That’s a lot of people visiting a county museum,” I stated, while Laureen was sipping on her morning coffee.

“Shall we visit, then?”

“Oh, we shall,” I responded. 

So, one sunny Saturday morning, we headed south on the I-15 for a day of exploring what the museum had in store for us.

“We might get hungry walking around the museum, since we didn’t eat breakfast,” Laureen said.

“Taken care of.”

DJ Coffee shop on 40th Street in San Bernardino did the trick. The place was rocking, as it usually is on our visits. We like the old establishment – great people working there, food is always good, and it’s been a mainstay in the neighborhood for decades. 

One motto of mine is to dine before exploring. It’s sort of like never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach.

“Why did you buy twelve boxes of Twinkies?”

There is no good reply to that question.

Before leaving, I did some research on the museums core values. Not sure why, but I thought it would make me sound more academic.

‘Through the lens of the region’s dynamic cultural and natural history, the San Bernardino County Museum develops visitors’ appreciation of our diverse identity to spark their curiosity, to stimulate inquiry, to challenge their assumptions, and to invite them to contribute to our common future.’

That is one heavy mission statement. I am exhausted just typing it.

Once we reached the museum, we noticed it is set up in a logical sequence. As though the hosts wanted the guests to flow easily and rationally through the halls.

“Many of our exhibit components are designed to be explored in chronological order which aids in adding context to the exhibit story,” Myers noted. “However, other exhibits may be organized thematically or even geographically. It all depends on the exhibit and how the visitor chooses to explore it.”

Chronological order? Thematically? Geographically?

“I say we just follow the map; the nice lady gave us as we paid our fee at the entrance,” I stated.

“Of course,” Laureen replied. But I knew that of course was really a rolling of her eyes. I like things simple, she’s the brains in the family and likes the chronological, thematically and geographically concepts.

As we entered, we started through the Hall of Earth Sciences which features a life-size mastodon and her calf. There were other ancient fossils, a redundancy there, allowing the visitor a glimpse into the past of the marvelous living animals who once roamed the county of San Bernardino.

Mama and baby

An extinct Giant Sloth

“I guess the theme here is big animals,” I stated.

No reply. But I think I actually heard her eyes roll that time.

Wolves stared down at us from a rock faced overlook as we made our way through this exhibit hall and moved onto the Hall of History. I didn’t want to guess their theme.

Here we learned how the first people in what would become California referred to the land as the Sacred Earth. How the locals made baskets, pottery, tools from the native plants and soil. How they lived off the land and prospered.

I suggested that Laureen try making sandals from the Joshua Tree; she is very crafty. But when I looked around to see her reaction, I found myself standing alone as she was moving away from me and my comment, toward the ascending ramp. No sandals in the Beyer home, I guess.

We moved to the second level where more and more awesome sights were awaiting us.

The Hall of Biodiversity had an incredible collection of wildlife commonly found in and around San Bernardino County. There were birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and I believe a model of a space alien found in the High Desert. Then again, it could have just been the model of the Old Woman meteorite. 

Everywhere we looked were in depth descriptions of how the climate and geography of the region personally effects all living things, be that animal or plant.

A great place for school fieldtrips, I would assume. And correct I was.

Myers stated, “As the pandemic ends, we expect fieldtrips to return, and we look forward to welcoming students back.”

Speaking of schools, (and who isn’t nowadays?), all the ‘hands-on’ exhibits were temporarily closed to nasty and germ ridden hands of humans.

“We believe hands-on interactive exhibits extend the learning experience and increase engagement, and we look forward to bringing them back when it is safe to do so.”

Well, there was one hands-on experience Laureen found near the new exhibit, ‘Here comes the sun: solar science and spirituality.’

I caught up with Laureen at a large plasma ball. The ones if you put a hand on the globe, arcs of light magically go from the center of the ball to the touching hand. I’d go into greater detail but, I don’t have a clue how it works. It was developed by Nikola Tesla. Enough said.

Laureen was there with two cute and very curious young boys who were showing and explaining to her how to hold her hand on the globe. The boy’s mother was taking photographs with her phone as the boys continued their lesson. I think Laureen learned a lot.

I loved it. This mom had taken her two very young boys to the museum and allowed them to wander, with her right there alongside, and investigate all there was to investigate in that museum.

We parted ways and I knew I had just watched two future scientists in the making.

This exhibit also featured a substantial space with threes huge screens immersing the visitor in dramatic and colorful footage from NASA’s solar dynamic observatory.

Dramatic is really an understatement. The sun’s surface changed colors constantly but slowly, allowing us a chance to marvel at the intensity of that natural fusion reactor we wake to each morning.

Yes, where stellar nucleosynthesis transforms lighter elements into heavier elements with the release of energy. Binding energy for different atomic nuclei.

In all modesty, I Googled that.

This exhibit was so dramatic, that we spent several minutes posing in front of the burning suns surface. It was fun and silly.

According to Myers, “One of our newest and most visited exhibits is the solar one. It helps to tell the story of how the sun has shaped the culture of Southern California.”

I didn’t need an exhibit to tell me that. Smell the sunscreen at any Southern California beach during the summer and we know how the sun has affected us all.

“I think you’ve laid out long enough in the sun.”

“No, I want to be lobster red tonight. It’s such a great look with my white shorts.”

We found all the exhibits well laid out, explained perfectly, and positioned just right for visitors.

“Different exhibits appeal to different visitors,” Myers said. “Some people love the immersive cave and giant ground sloth in our Sculptured by Time exhibit, while others enjoy a more relaxing stroll through our new outdoor Ethnobotany Garden space where they can learn about traditional ecological knowledge of the areas indigenous peoples.”

Okay, this David Myers is one smart guy. All I know is that when going outdoors of the museum, there are lots of cool looking plants to stroll through in a relaxed fashion.

According to Barb Williams, bellevuebotantical.org, ‘Ethnobotany is the study of how people of a particular culture and region make use of indigenous (native) plants.’

It is fascinating how humans looked at all the different varieties of plants growing nearby and determined what needs could be taken care of by these plants.

“Hey, this tree bark may stop the pounding in my head.”

“This river reed may make a snazzy pair of sandals.”

“And maybe this green plant may, wow, is that Jimmie Hendrix?”

We wandered here and there and thoroughly enjoyed our trip through the halls of the museum. It’s open and the place was packed while we were there. Seemed to us that most guests were families with young children.

That was a great sight. After a year of pandemic lock down, parents were taking their children out an about. And one of those places was the museum.

Myers seemed excited about so many visitors once again. “We’ve missed our visitors and are thrilled to welcome them back with two new exhibits. In addition to Here Comes the Sun, in June we are opening Super Monster City, a traveling exhibit that explores the social and political context of superheroes and villains through toys and posters.”

The San Bernardino County Museum, located at 2024 Orange Tree Lane, Redlands, is a wonderful experience for all ages. Plenty of activities, displays, photographs, exhibits, and all the rest that make this place worthwhile for anyone who wants to learn the history of San Bernardino County.

And who wouldn’t want to learn all they could?

Laureen Beyer beneath the large welcome sign

A personal note: this blog was written during the ending of the Corona-virus pandemic. As of now, everything is open to enjoy.

Daggett - Worth a visit

 

Original Blacksmith shop in Daggett, Ca

According to Mark Staggs, President of the Daggett Community Service District, the small town of Daggett has big plans.

“We have big plans,” Staggs stated.

I have always had a soft spot for this little berg, ten miles east of Barstow on Interstate 40. I used the town of Daggett for one of my novels, Operation Scorpion. I spent some time there, doing research for the fictional piece, and met some really nice folks. 

But, since the publication, I haven’t been back. Sure, I drive by quite often, on my way to here and there along the interstate, but I rarely stop.

So, when I heard Staggs was giving a historical tour of the town, I knew it was time to revisit and learn more about the history of the town.

Staggs is a nice guy – truly nice. He immediately made our little group of tourists feel right at home. He is one of those fellas who likes to tell a joke, while being serious about the history of the town he truly loves.

“The history of Daggett isn’t known by a lot of tourists, but we are in the works to change that,” he shared.

Those are the big plans Staggs had mentioned earlier while conducting a fascinating tour of the Daggett Museum.

Old downtown of Daggett

For many, Daggett is not known at all. A dot on a map between Barstow and Needles along the black ribbon of a busy interstate. But back in 1939, with the publication of John Steinbeck’s novel, Grapes of Wrath, the small town got a mention. When the Joad family, from Oklahoma, drove through the inspection station just east of town, those refugees from the Dust Bowl had officially arrived in California.

According to the Daggett Historical Society, the town was founded in the 1860s, but did not become known as Daggett until 1883. At this time, the mines were running full steam in the nearby Calico Hills. The residents realized having the mining town of Calico near Calico Junction may be a bit confusing – so, the folks decided that the name Daggett may fit the bill, using the last name of then Lieutenant Governor of California, John Daggett. 

It is rumored, and don’t we all love rumors, that the Lieutenant Governor had visited Daggett at some time. 

Well, here’s something of note about Daggett which isn’t a rumor. Helen Muir, the daughter of the famous naturalist, John Muir, resided in Daggett. She was instrumental in assisting her father with his writings and correspondence, but being in poor health, the family moved her from northern California to the warmer climate of Daggett. 

Other visitors to Daggett during its heyday included Walter E. Scott – better known as Death Valley Scotty, Francis Marion Smith – better known as the Borax King, Tom Mix – better known as Silver Screen Cowboy, and Wyatt Earp – better known as ‘I get around the West a lot.’

There is a lot of history in this town.

One of the original water towers

After the museum tour, Staggs offered a hands-on tour of the area.

Actually, it wasn’t exactly hands-on, but more of a drive-by and get out of your vehicle sort of visit to the numerous historical sites in and around Daggett.

According to Staggs, there were quite a few indigenous peoples who had lived in the area, long before the settlers arrived looking for rich minerals or good lands for farming and grazing.

“People have been living here for thousands of years,” he stated. “In fact, the Vanyume, or Desert Serrano were some of the Native Americans first encountered by the Catholic missionaries in the late eighteenth century.”

As to point this out, Staggs had us drive approximately a mile or so to the north of Daggett, where, behind a tall chain link fence, was a huge pile of dark colored rock. Upon those rocks were dozens of petroglyphs. 

“We’re not really sure who created these glyphs, but we know they are hundreds of years old.” 

“I know they’re at least older than nineteen-forty-seven,” I replied. “Some local carved his name and date on one of the rocks.”

Staggs nodded. “And, thus the reason for the fencing.”

The town of Daggett kept growing as more and more silver was being mined out of the ground in Calico. The ore was shipped to Daggett, where it awaited a mill with ten heavy stamps, ready to start breaking up the ore and releasing the precious metals.

In fact, there was so much ore being ground up in Daggett that property values started rapidly increasing. So, when the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe (ATSF) railway were contemplating a location to build a heavy rail yard, the company decided on a small place named Barstow, since the land in Daggett was too expensive.

Daggett continued to prosper and became a populated and happening town. At its peak in the late 1890s, it had three stores, two restaurants, three saloons, three hotels, a lumberyard, and many other establishments which would interest miners, visitors and locals.

I followed Staggs to where remains of the Columbia stamp mill can still be seen. A large structure, nestled next to a hill, and when looking northeast, the viewer can easily see the ghost town of Calico.

“They used wagons pulled by mules to bring the ore from Calico to here for crushing,” Staggs explained.

Original wagon used in the early days in Daggett

It could take sometimes two days to reach Daggett for milling, depending the amount of ore being towed in the wagons behind the mules. That's a long time for a mere seven miles.

“Let’s speed up, Roger,” one drover may have been heard yelling at his partner on another ore wagon.

“We’re going as fast as we can,” Roger may have replied. “Ole, Bessy is moseying at her top speed.”

As it usually occurs with mining camps, the silver or gold ore eventually runs out. This was the case for Calico – once a rich and rowdy mining camp, it soon turned into a deserted dwelling. And in the late 1890s, the population of Calico dwindled until it became a ghost town.

But one of the by-products which was found while mining in Calico was the substance, Borax.

Turns out, Borax had many uses which made being human even more enjoyable. It can be used in toothpaste and as a laundry additive. It can be used for acne cure, skin creams, and lotions. It can be used for paints and ceramic glaze. But, most importantly, it can be used for making slime for kids.

This product was a wonder find.

So, in 1891, Francis Marion Smith – the Borax King - moved to Daggett from Death Valley and installed mining operations at the Borate mine, a few miles east of Calico. It was such a successful venture that in 1898, the Borate and Daggett Railroad was built to move the Borax to Daggett, which was easier and cheaper than the twenty mule team wagons which were being used.

Unfortunately, in 1911, richer Borax finds were located back in Death Valley, and the Borax King left.

The population and economy of Daggett soon decreased through the years, to its present day figure of two hundred citizens.

Lawrence Vintus, a member of the Daggett Historical Society and employee of the Community Services District, believes there is a rebound coming for the town in which he was born and raised.

This is a pretty ambitious belief for a young man who graduated high school in 2020. His love of Daggett is evident in every word he uses when discussing his hometown.

“We’re going to make this town a tourist destination,” Vintus announced, while showing the tour group around Alf’s blacksmith shop, built in the late 1800s. His family has owned the property, where the shop is located, for decades – a lot of decades.

Some of the treasures inside the blacksmith shop

As I walked through the tall dusty wooden doors into the interior of the blacksmith shop, I felt as if I had just walked back in time. Tools, from the late 1890s were lined up everywhere around the shop. It was though the blacksmith had just left for an afternoon break.

“This is how my grandfather left it for us,” Vintus said. “Now we want to share it with everyone.”

Staggs nodded. “Mugwumps is being renovated as a visitor’s center, with a restaurant, gift shop, and a place tourists can visit to understand the importance Daggett.”

Standing there, in the blacksmith’s shop, looking at these two men, it was hard to imagine they would fail at their dream of making Daggett a must go place to see. 

When I wrote my novel, I used Daggett as a place for the protagonist. There was a reason he had to go there. There was a reason I had to write about it. And, now it is a place for all with a love of history should venture to.