Ghost Mountain Hike

Blair Valley

Monday was the one day out of the week that I wasn't feeling ill from a migraine, which was good timing because that was the day Bill took us up to Blair Valley for some hikes.  There were three circuits- one hike to a pictograph location, one to see some morteros, and one up Ghost Mountain.

Section of pictograph rock

I think the pictograph hike was my favorite.  It was mostly flat, but some challenging inclines for those of us not in great shape, and the plant life included many things we don't get to see lower down in our part of the desert. Giant stalks of agave and yucca run wild there, which is cool because those are the two plants you hear talked about as what the Native Americans use for everything. Yucca in particular is very fibrous and can be turned into cord, shoes, and all sorts of things we wouldn't imagine trying nowadays. The pictographs themselves were cool.  No one knows exactly what they mean, so we can all have our own theories.  Mel's favorite was that they showed pictures designing a new fish trap and a real estate opportunity- act now!  It's very interesting to think about the people who were here first and what their stories might have been, why they drew things in certain places and not others, what the images meant, if they were added to over the years. And how long will they last? Geoglyphs are disappearing due to erosion and people driving over them, will pictographs all face similar fates? Some early archaeologists worked to 'save' some pictographs by repainting them so they'd still stand out. That seems more like ensuring a tourist attraction than respecting a culture's images to me, but I could certainly be convinced to a different way of thinking.

Pictograph rock

The mortero walk was shorter but nice for getting another image of how people lived.  Morteros are indentations in rock where people ground acorns, seeds, etc. to make flour.  Some are pretty shallow, others deep enough to be more like a mortar and pestle arrangement.  When the Kumeyaay were going through this area they would stop here to grind what they'd gathered. Women's work of course, since men wouldn't have the patience for it. The sign at the head of the trail talked about how you should sit and quietly image what it would have been like for people using the area. We all laughed at this- none of us are willing to believe that a large group of women, having time to themselves, are going to sit quietly to work and not gossip, joke, and talk about their husbands while the men aren't around!  Some things don't change that much over time!

Some deeper morteros

The last hike was the hardest.  We went to climb Ghost Mountain to see the ruins of Marshal South's home. South is famous (here anyway) for packing up and moving his family out to live on top of Ghost Mountain back in the 1930s.  The official idea was that he was a writer and wanted to go 'back to nature' in the truest Romantic Emerson/Thoreau tradition, live like the native peoples had and then write articles about it for people back East so they could romanticism this way of life. According to Bill, who worked with one of the sons, the wife and kids hated it (and him too by the end I expect). They lasted about 10 years before Mrs South divorced her husband, took the kids and left. When we got to Ghost Mountain (they named it, no ghosts associated with the site to anyone's knowledge) all we could think was- why did it take her so long to divorce him? I'd have taken one look at the mountain and told my husband to enjoy his experiment, taken the Model T and headed back to civilization.

Along the 'trail' to the top of Ghost Mountain

Looking up Ghost Mountain, near the top

It's about a mile hike up a steep mountain on a narrow and not especially fun trail.  When the Souths lived there they would have had to haul up anything like food, water, supplies, etc. by hand. Maybe by mule if they had one. We all went up at our own pace and I was last. When I finally got to a flat place high up on the trail I thought I'd made it only to find that now there was a lot of rocks to climb up to get to the top. There's no way this guy just went out there to experience nature. I think he must have been hiding from the mafia or something. There's no other explanation for why it would seem like a good idea.

Ruins of Marshal South home

Long story short, peer pressure got me up the mountain that altitude sickness suggested I not climb.  The ruins of the small house and the water cistern they used are still there, along with the tin can trash pile they gathered over the years.  Kind of takes away from the living off the land theory, but maybe Mrs South put her foot down over something at least. The view was pretty cool, but not worth the hassle of living there. It did give you a good idea of how high up you were though. I've often wondered, especially on the drive to and from Yuma, what people were thinking to come out and settle these areas that aren't always hospitable now, let alone back then.  It must have been nearly impossible. I gain a whole new level of respect for the pioneers who did this. But you also have to wonder a little about their sanity for trying it.  In the case of the Souths and Ghost Mountain, I think you have to wonder about the sanity of the idea a lot. They weren't exactly living at Walden Pond out here.  

Going down, can finally make out the Jeep!

Gold Fever!- the making of an exhibit

The big news here at the museum is that we have our first traveling exhibit! While we are mostly focused on Native American and desert work, when we had the chance to display an exhibit on the Gold Rush, we jumped on it.  It arrived almost 2 weeks ago and the official opening date is the end of April. And I'm getting a really good first hand look at what goes into making an exhibit work.

The exhibit that gets sent around is a series of panels with lots of text and some images on them.  Lots were pictures of daguerreotypes which really excited me but also made me sad that we didn't have any of the real thing. Martha Mahard's class has clearly ruined me for reproductions.  We are responsible for providing any artifacts that might enhance the panels.

Everyone knows that very few people are actually going to read text panels all the way through. Especially when they are really heavy on text and there are nearly 20 of them.  People want to see stuff.  We don't have too many artifacts that directly connect to the Gold Rush, but have been able to work with what we have and are in the process of making a pretty cool exhibit.

Jessica cutting newspaper articles

Neal loves building things, so he built a miner's cabin based on one in a panel.  Jessica and I put our library school degrees to good use by doing research for old newspaper articles relating to the CA Gold Rush.  When we've finished printing them out we'll use them as wallpaper in the cabin, as well as a few that are going to be hung on the walls as ads for traveling to CA.  We have some kid's sized clothing to add to the cabin on hooks that kids will be able to try on and get their pictures taken, with a gold pan and a few other little things.  This has taken working until after 8pm several nights in a row to get things the way we want them.

Miner's shack in progress

My favorite part- (remember I am an archivist) is the section I've done in connection to the cabin. One panel mentioned a New Yorker named William Swain who went out to make his fortune and wrote tons of letters and journal entries.  Clearly the panel made it sound like someone had those letters, so I did a little research and found them at Yale's Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library (where I applied for a fellowship several months ago).  They didn't have as many of Swain's letters or journal entries digitized as I'd hoped, but I was able to print out his journal entry from when he first set off for CA, as well as a few letters from along the way.  I transcribed them and two reproductions of daguerreotype photographs of Swain and his wife.  The journal and letters will go on a little writing desk we found with a biography I wrote up on Swain. We're going to put the photographs in a little case and put that on the desk, just like he would have had them when he was writing.  I've done research on what gold would be worth in 1849, what you'd pay for items in the general store while you were out in mining country in 1849, and some other cool stuff that will hopefully make it into the final exhibit.

I now see why it takes so long to set up an exhibit and some of the work that goes into the behind the scenes aspect. It's been a lot of fun so far and I'm looking forward to finishing it up and showing you the finalized pictures- as well as the reaction at our Grand Opening April 27!

Gourd Art Class

                

                               Some of the gourds Gloria left with us on consignment

Today was a crazy busy (but fun) day, with not one but two events going on at the museum.  We had a class led by local artist Gloria Crane on making gourd art that 18 people came to check out. Gloria gave a talk about different ways to decorate gourds and then things got busy. Gourds were painted and everyone learned how to stitch designs and ornaments into their gourds.  Everyone seemed to have a really great time.

Greg with gourds before they became art

Gourds after they became art!

 I didn't get to participate in the art class because I was working the other event.  At the same time, we had 6 members of Girl Scout Troop 7949 come to work on earning their bronze badges by helping us curate for 2 hours.  I have no idea what the bronze badge is, not having been a Girl Scout, but I assume it has something to do with community service.  They worked on putting labels on artifacts other volunteers had already curated and got through around 20 boxes in the two hours they were here.  Some of our archaeologist volunteers came in to help with the girls and were able to provide more of an archaeologist's point of view and explanation behind some of the artifacts.  They found some cool things and Jessica and I were happy that they found some 19th century glass ink pots and a 19th century hairbrush that we will be putting in our new exhibit (more on that in another blog!).

Scouts with glass ink pots

Scouts with stone knife

Girl Scout Troop 7949 with volunteers and ollas

Mica Road Waterfall

Mica Road wash

Just when we were debating whether to stay late at the museum and work more or not, we got a call from our friend Bill.  Bill’s a hike leader and for the last few months he and his hikes have been searching for a waterfall that he remembered seeing when he was a kid and was determined to find again.  During their last hike, they found it.  So Bill wanted to know if we wanted to go on a quick hike out before sunset and see the now famous (or infamous) waterfall.

Sample of the cool rock formations we saw

It was a pretty easy hike.  My only problem was the amount of blooming flowers and grasses, which make for very pretty scenery but my allergies have decided to rebel against them.  So there were times where I was basically unable to breathe.  Thank you pollen.  That does make it a little tougher.  I’d like to go back once I’ve found an allergy medicine that works or it’s not spring anymore so I don’t have to fight with all the plants.  Beyond the usual flowering Ocotillo and brittlebush we saw desert holly, what I guess would be a desert primrose of some kind, and a cute little purple plant that Bill said is called Lupin.  There was also a great deal of Cat’s Claw, which is about as pleasant to get caught by as it’s name suggests.

Yes Harry Potter fans, this is (bad picture) Lupin

Cat's Claw and Creosote

Desert flower, maybe some kind of primrose

Bird's nest in canyon wall

 The waterfall area itself is a beautiful little canyon or gorge area, with enormous walls (at least 2 stories is my guess)  that have seen enough wind and water erosion to have amazing patterns in them.  The waterfall itself is a smoothed out chute that is easy to imagine after a rain with water pouring down it.  We saw evidence of birds- nests and owl pellets (bringing back found memories of Care Cadets and pellets), as well as some swallow-type birds towards sunset.  Bill, Jessica, and Melanie decided to be brave and climb up the rock wall to see what was past the top of the waterfall.  Alison and I were fine staying below.  I spent the time experimenting with different angles and settings on my little camera.  It’s a perfect place for that kind of experimentation and looks very different as the light changes.  I’d love to go back there earlier in the day and try similar pictures with different lighting, just to see what I could get the camera to do.  I’d also like the go back after a rain and see if the waterfall actually is still a waterfall.  Perfect place for a picnic lunch or just to relax for a few hours. After hearing about it for so long, I think it lived up to the hype!

Mica Road Waterfall

Close up of Waterfall Chute

Far view including me, to give you scale

More cool pictures will get posted on my FaceBook page- check them out!