People Archives - Page 22 of 24

James Crysanthus Phelan – Rhyolite Shopkeeper

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Destination4x4

James Crysanthus Phelan was a business man and early pioneer of the desert southwest, who like many others followed the boom towns west. Early in his life, he owned a series of butcher shops in various towns throughout the south west, including Rhyolite. It is believed that his butcher shop was located on Golden Street across the street from the Cook Bank Building and near the Porter Brothers Store.

Biography

The automobile garage owned by James C. Phelan, and named after him, is cleverly planned, well built, and managed according to up-to-date methods. Mr. Phelan’s father, who was an honored veteran of the Union Army in our Civil War, is D. F. Phelan, and he is still living at Los Angeles.

Prior to casting his lot in the Golden State, he was a pioneer in Colorado. Mrs. Phelan, who was Annie Donahue before her marriage, is deceased. Born in the Centennial State on October 25, 1867, James C. Phelan was educated at the public schools in Colorado and New Mexico, and also, as he likes to put it, in ” the great school of experience.”

As a young man, he ventured in both the grocery and butcher business, having a store when only nineteen years of age, at Albuquerque, N. M. For fourteen years, too, his business at Williams, Arizona, was one of the most progressive and profitable establishments in that town. On September 9, 1893, Mr. Phelan was married to Miss Myrtie Dickinson, and this union was blessed with three boys and four girls, viz : Mary M., Chris E., Roy N., Jimmie J., Ruth E., Bernice L., and Leoma C, all of whom were educated in the public schools of Fresno, the two eldest studied at Heald’s Business College, while Roy N., is a student at the University of California at Berkeley.

Cook Bank Building, Rhyolite Nevada, Photo marked 1908 and "Courtesy of the Nevada Historical Society" — Cook Bank Building, Rhyolite Nevada, Photo marked 1908 and “Courtesy of the Nevada Historical Society”

Mr. Phelan has accepted the doctrines of the Christian Scientists, socially he finds recreation in the circles of the Woodmen of the World, the Knights of Pythias, and the Young Men’s Christian Association. In May, 1916, he built the finest and most complete auto establishment in California, spending $90,000 upon the same. He then became agent, for the San Joaquin Valley, of the Maxwell, Mitchell and Marmon automobiles, and the Kleiber and Maxwell Trucks. He employs from forty to fifty men to man the several departments, each of which is complete in itself.

When he first came to California, in 1905, he worked for three years on the Fresno ranch ; and then, getting into the automobile business in a modest way, he has made success after success. Mr. Phelan sold out in August. 1919. Mr. Phelan is a stanch Democrat, but always something more than a political partisan. In advocating and working for good roads, for example, his public-spiritedness has been particularly shown.

References

JamesRathbun.com

Christian Brevoort Zabriskie

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Destination4x4

Christian Brevoort Zabriskie was a vice president and general manager Pacific Coast Borax Company located in Death Valley National Park. Zabriske served the Pacific Coast Borax Company for some thirty six years, and due to this activity is honored by the naming an Zabriske Point.

Christian Brevoort Zabriskie (1864–1936) was born at Fort Bridger in the Wyoming Territory. After schooling, he worked for the Virginia & Truckee Railroad located in Carson City, Nevada. For a time, he relocated to Candelaria, Nevada at work for the Esmeralda County Bank. He briefly venture into the mortuary business with a partnership formed with a local cabinet maker. His lack of knowledge in the art of embalming was not considered a liability as burial speed was a huge priority.

In 1885, at the age of twenty one, Zabriske was hired by Francis Marion “Borax” Smith to supervise the Chinese laborer’s. These men worked for the Pacific Coast Borax Company is the Columbus Marsh located near Candelaria. During his thirty six year tenure with the Pacific Coast Borax Company, the company closed up Candelaria operations and relocated to Death Valley to increase production. The company also expanded into the Calico Mountains and Trona, California

Zabriskie Point named for Christian Brevoort Zabriskie - Photo by James L Rathbun — Zabriskie Point named for Christian Brevoort Zabriskie – Photo by James L Rathbun

Zabriske retired from the Pacific Coast Borax Company in 1933 as Vice President and General Manager. All of his work in Death Valley took place before the area was designated National Monument. He passed away just three years later, on February 8thm 1936 at the age of 71. He is buried in Carson City, Nevada.

Zabriske Point is named to honor the man for his many years of service to the Pacific Coast Borax Company.

References

NPS.gov

John S Cook

Posted on April 14, 2022 by Destination4x4

John S. Cook (1870–1945) was a Nevada banker whose vision and investments helped define the brief but spectacular boom of Rhyolite, one of the American West’s most iconic gold-rush ghost towns.

Born March 28, 1870, in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, to John R. Cook and Louisa Stimmel, he grew up in the Midwest before heading west in search of opportunity. By 1898 he had reached Arizona, where he married Jesusita Moreno (also known as Jessie or Susie) in Globe. Census records show him working as a bank cashier in Austin, Nevada, by 1900. His big break came when he was hired as cashier for George Nixon’s bank in the booming mining town of Tonopah.

In January 1905, Cook and his brother launched the John S. Cook & Company Bank in the even hotter Goldfield mining district. It began in a modest wooden shack next to the Palace Saloon before moving into the more substantial Nixon Block Building. Deposits quickly reached $5–6 million as the bank financed mining claims tied to investors like Nixon and George Wingfield. Cook was remembered as a man of quiet disposition—courteous, precise, and thorough in business methods.

That same year, as word of rich gold strikes spread to the Bullfrog district just east of Death Valley, Cook opened a branch in the brand-new camp of Rhyolite. The first location was a rented storefront on Main Street. Rhyolite exploded from a few tents in 1904 to a town of roughly 10,000 people by 1908, complete with electricity, railroads, hotels, and an opera house. Sensing permanence, Cook purchased a prime lot at the southwest corner of Golden and Broadway streets. Construction on the Cook Bank Building began in spring 1907 and finished in January 1908 at a cost of nearly $90,000 (the equivalent of roughly $3 million today).

The three-story steel-and-concrete structure was the tallest and most luxurious building in Rhyolite—and one of the grandest in southern Nevada. It featured Italian-marble stairs and flooring, rich mahogany woodwork, imported stained-glass windows, two massive vaults, indoor plumbing, electric lights, telephones, and steam heat. The bank occupied the first floor, the U.S. Post Office moved into the basement in 1908, and brokers’ offices filled the upper stories. To residents and visitors alike, the Cook Bank symbolized Rhyolite’s transformation from tent city to thriving metropolis.

The optimism proved short-lived. The national financial panic of October 1907 triggered runs on banks across the country. In Goldfield, depositors emptied other institutions, but Cook’s bank survived—largely because saloon owner Rickards publicly deposited gold and silver bars back into Cook’s vaults, visibly reassuring the public. It was the only Goldfield bank to remain open. Yet Rhyolite’s mines could not weather the downturn. Production faltered, jobs vanished, and the population collapsed. By 1910 the Rhyolite branch had closed; Cook sold off the building’s elegant fixtures, and the grand structure stood empty.

In 1909 George Wingfield bought out Cook’s interest in the Goldfield bank to consolidate control. Cook relocated north to Reno, where he continued working for the Cook banking chain. The empire endured until the Great Depression; Wingfield’s banks, including those bearing Cook’s name, failed in 1932. John S. Cook spent his later years in Arizona and California, working variously as a vice president and bookkeeper. He died in Los Angeles County in July 1945 and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.

Today, the roofless, sun-bleached concrete shell of the Cook Bank Building remains Rhyolite’s most photographed ruin and one of Nevada’s most recognizable ghost-town landmarks. It has appeared in films ranging from silent-era Westerns to The Island (2005). Its hollow windows frame the desert mountains, a stark monument to the boom-and-bust cycle that defined the early-20th-century mining West—and to the banker who, for a few heady years, bet everything on Rhyolite’s future.

The building’s ruins at sunset or under stormy skies still draw thousands of visitors each year, serving as a silent testament to John S. Cook’s brief but indelible role in Nevada history.

References

Goldfield Historical Society

Pete Aguereberry – A Panamint Valley Miner

Posted on April 12, 2022 by Destination4x4

Jean Pierre “Pete” Aguereberry (1874–1945), universally known as Pete Aguereberry, was a Basque-born prospector and miner whose four-decade solitary vigil at the Eureka Mine in the Panamint Mountains of California’s Death Valley region exemplified the quiet persistence of the post-boom desert prospector. Though the 1905 Harrisburg gold strike never yielded the riches of earlier rushes, Aguereberry’s unyielding labor, self-built cabin, and hand-constructed scenic overlook—now officially Aguereberry Point—made him a legendary figure in Death Valley mining lore and left a lasting geographic legacy within what is today Death Valley National Park.

Early Life and Immigration

Born on October 18, 1874, into a hardworking Basque family in the village of Mauleon in the French Pyrenees, young Jean Pierre grew up hearing tales of the California Gold Rush. As a boy he devoured stories of western American gold discoveries and begged his father to let him emigrate. At age sixteen, in 1890, his father finally consented, and Pete sailed alone for the United States.

Language and culture barriers made the early years difficult. He took whatever work he could find: professional handball player, sheepherder, cattle driver, milk-truck driver, ice-delivery man, ranch hand, and stage driver. By about 1902 he had reached the booming mining town of Goldfield, Nevada, where the desert’s call fully took hold.

Arrival in Death Valley and the 1905 Strike

In June 1905 Pete ventured into Death Valley during the brutal summer heat and nearly died of dehydration and exposure. He was rescued and nursed back to health by Oscar Denton, caretaker at Greenland Ranch (later Furnace Creek Ranch). Within a month he had recovered enough to join forces with the already-legendary desert prospector Frank “Shorty” Harris. The pair set out across the Panamint Range toward Ballarat for the Fourth of July celebration.

On July 1, 1905, while crossing what is now known as Harrisburg Flats, Pete spotted a promising ledge of quartz. The two men worked the outcrop and quickly found free gold. Pete staked claims on the north side of the hill; Shorty took the south. Word spread rapidly. By August, more than twenty parties were prospecting the area, ore samples assayed as high as $500 per ton, and a makeshift camp of roughly three hundred people sprang up. Originally the partners jokingly called the settlement “Harrisberry,” but Shorty later popularized “Harrisburg,” and the name stuck.

Pete’s northern claims became the Eureka Mine. The strike briefly revived interest in the Panamint region, which had already seen earlier silver booms at Panamint City in the 1870s.

The Eureka Mine and Litigation

The Eureka Mine soon became entangled in a complex legal dispute that lasted from 1907 until 1909. When the dust settled, Pete emerged as sole owner. He immediately began serious development work, driving tunnels and stopes almost entirely by himself. Except for occasional help from a nephew in his later years, Aguereberry worked the property single-handedly for the next three decades.

Though high-grade ore was present, the remote location, limited water, and modest scale of operations prevented him from ever becoming wealthy. He often grubstaked other prospectors or took odd jobs to sustain himself, yet he never abandoned the claim. The Eureka remained his life’s work and home.

Life at Aguereberry Camp

In 1907 Pete built a modest two-room cabin at the mine site—now preserved as Aguereberry Camp along the road to Aguereberry Point. The simple wood-frame structure, later equipped with a gas stove and refrigerator, served as his residence until his death. Two additional cabins were added later (a 1941 guest house and another of uncertain purpose around 1946), but Pete lived frugally amid the stark Panamint landscape.

In his later years he delighted in guiding visitors up the road he had laboriously constructed to a spectacular overlook 6,433 feet above the valley floor. He proudly called it “The Great View.” From there visitors could see Mount Charleston 80 miles east in Nevada, Furnace Creek’s green oasis, and the white salt flats of Badwater Basin. That viewpoint is now officially named Aguereberry Point in his honor.

Final Years, Death, and Burial

By the early 1930s Pete’s health was failing, yet he continued to live at the mine. He died on November 23, 1945, at age 71, at Tecopa Hot Springs. Though he had expressed a wish to be buried at his beloved “Great View,” federal officials—citing the area’s status as part of Death Valley National Monument (established 1933)—denied the request. Father Frank Crowley officiated his burial at Mount Whitney Cemetery in Lone Pine, California. A plaque there honors him as “a modest, hardworking, and honorable man.”

Legacy

Pete Aguereberry never struck it rich, but his remarkable persistence in one of the harshest environments on Earth made him a symbol of the twentieth-century desert prospector. The Eureka Mine tunnels (now safely gated for bat habitat) and the surviving cabins at Aguereberry Camp remain accessible along the dirt road off Highway 190. The panoramic vista he built and loved continues to draw thousands of visitors each year. In the tradition of fellow Panamint Valley figures such as Shorty Harris and “Seldom Seen Slim,” Pete Aguereberry proved that a man could carve out a meaningful life amid isolation, heat, and hardship—leaving behind not only a mine but a viewpoint that still bears his name and offers future generations the same “Great View” he cherished.

References

Charles Milles Maddox

Posted on July 1, 2021 by Destination4x4

Charles Milles Maddox AKA Charlie Manson was a serial killer and most of the bad parts of the Old Testament sort of criminal. He briefly lived in the Panamint Mountains on the western edge of Death Valley National Park.

The booking photo of the dimunutive Charles Milles Maddox. Inyo County October 1969.

Introduction

As a preface, I would like to say that I have been extremely reluctant to include Maddox on my website. I do not wish to glorify him in anyway. Growing up in the 1970s, just a few miles from the La Bianca house, I can not remember when I first heard of Manson. Our family loved the 395 highway and knew some law enforcement officers in Lone Pine, Inyo County.

Long Story Short

Most books and movies of Manson tend correctly focas on the Tate-La Bianca murders. In summary, Manson, a career criminal, is release from prison. He meets young women and uses the girls to attack young men with sex a drugs. Over the coarse of about two years, he forms them in a cult of followers who live at Spahn movie ranch.. On August 9th and 10th, 1969, Manson orders these followers to slaughter 7 people in their homes.

After the murders, the family cult moves to Barker Ranch in Goler Wash, in Death Valley. It is here that he is captured for vandalizing some earth moving equipment and auto theft. Once captured, he is connected to the murders in Los Angles, tried and convicted by Vincent Bug

Panamint Charlie

Mansons original destination is the Myers Ranch in the Panamint Range. In October, 1968, he started to look for a desert location to move his “brood”. He choose the desert because “Out there, things aren’t so crazy”. (Ironic) One of his followers is Cathy (Cappy) Gilles is a grand daughter of Bill and Barbara Myers. “Cappy” obtained permission from the family matriarch for her and some girls to come up and stay at the ranch. One can not help to wonder if the true purpose of moving them to the Panamint mountains is to further isolate his followers from society.

Additionally, Manson supposedly discussed operating out of Barker Ranch with the owner Arlene. He convinced her he was a musician working on a record and would maintain the property for her. He gave her a Beach Boys gold album in payment, which would undoubtably prove his claims of being a musician. Between 40 acres at Myers Ranch and 5 acres at Barker, he had control over 45 acres of property in the sparsely populated Panamint Mountains.

The family stayed in Goler Wash from October 1968 to about January 1969. The family of nineteen people travelled using a school bus to the mouth of Goler wash, and would hike in with supplies up the ranch house. During this time, they made regular trips back down to Los Angeles or over to Las Vegas. The family would regularly shop for supplies in Ballarat which still had a small population and general store.

In the winter months of 1969, Manson and his followers returned to Los Angeles. They stayed at several other locations beside the infamous Spahn movie ranch. During this time, they continued to steal cars, deal drugs, probably prostitution and all in all anything to make money and “acquire” supplies.

Desert Deterioration

Barker Ranch - The building complex was heavily vegetated with trees, with a sparsely planted understory. Note the Charles Milles Maddox bus in the left hand side of the image. View northwest, 1969 (DEVA collection). - NPS — Barker Ranch – The building complex was heavily vegetated with trees, with a sparsely planted understory. Note the Manson bus in the left hand side of the image. View northwest, 1969 (DEVA collection). – NPS

After the Tate-La Bianca murder in August of 1969, Charles Milles Maddox and his cult travelled back up to Goler Wash. This time he setup operations around Barker Ranch. Paul Watkins was a former follower who left the family before the murders. His book is fascinating.

Prior to Charlies arrival, Watkins and some prospectors where living at Barker Ranch. Watkins received guidance from a prospector named Crockett who helped Watkins leave the family. Manson knew of Crockett’s influence over Watkins and recognize an adversary. Upon his arrival, Manson asked permission to enter the area. As Watkins et al where living in Barker Ranch, the Manson Cult moved into the Myers Ranch.

Over the next few weeks, Charlie Manson continued his mental downward spiral. At the time, the neighbors at Barker Ranch knew Charlie was dangerous, however did not know about his guilt in the Los Angeles Murders. Crockett would have philosophical conversations and push the boundaries of Manson. This prompted the unstable Manson to come visiting the occupants at Barker ranch in the middle of the night. On at least two attempts he was caught trying to sneak into the ranch house while the occupants slept. He was greeted with the muzzle of a shotgun and left into the night.

Manson is said to have driven around the area of the Panamint mountains and Death Valley looking for a hole in the earth. These excursions opened the door into the capture of the psychopath. During this time he continued to prepare for a racial war he thought was coming.

Investigation

Jim Pursell at the Manson Trial, L.A. Superior Courthouse, 1970

The beginning of the end for Manson started with a report of a fire on a Michigan front loader out at Racetrack valley. The front loader was moved to the playa in Race Track Valley to repair damage to the playa surface by off-roaders. On September 19th, 1969, Manson ordered the some family members to burn the machine because he construed it to be the device of environmental damage. Oddly enough, it was there to repair environmental damage…. This decision by Manson set in place a series of events which led to his capture and a life time in jail.

Inyo County officials were extremely upset about the loss of their newly acquired $35,000 earth moving equipment. They quickly dispatch officers and launched an investigation.

Park Rangers arrived at the scene of the fire sometime later. They noted several tire tracks leading away from the fire. One set of tire tracks belonged to a Toyota Land Cruiser. Follow up investigation included reports of a Red Toyota Land Cruiser driving around in the area. It was reported this Red Land Cruiser is driven by some hippies who lived up at Barker Ranch.

October 9th, 1969

On October 9th, CHP Officer Jim Pursell and Park Ranger Dick Powell drove up to Barker Ranch approaching from Mengel Pass. They ran into two of Mason’s girls and lacking evidence moved on down Goler Wash. In doing so, the came across Brooks Poston and Paul Crocket. When questioned why he was hauling supplies for the groupd Crocket replied, ‘‘I think my life might depend on it.’

The two men are instructed to return to Barker Ranch. On questioning about Manson, Brooks and Crocket told the two men about the families activity. According to Paul Watkins, Crocket left the ranch for fear of Manson was going to attract law enforcement. This event s probably because Crockett told law enforcement. Pursell noted that a VW was hidden beneath a purple nylon parachute beneath a trash heap. nd recorded the VIN number.

The two men left the ranch again and travelled down Goler Wash they stopped at a draw. Dick Powell started up the draw and was soon within a group of naked young women, one of who is Squeaky Fromme. Fromme claimed to be part of a girl scout troup from San Francisco and with no other evidence, the two officers continued down the valley.

A Series of Raids

Enroute to Trona, the two law enforcement officers found out over the radio that the car was stolen and a predawn raid is slated for the following morning. Looking forward to a long night, the two men hand dinner in Ballarat before parking at the mouth of Goler Wash.

October 10th

The first raid took place on October 10th, 1969. Just before dawn, a small task force made up of officers from the California Highway Patrol, Inyo County Sheriff’s Department, and the National Parks Service maneuvered into position around Barker Ranch. The cult members had pilled rocks up along the road, which necessitated the officers travel on foot.

At first, it seemed the operation was a success. The task forced found several stolen cars and dune buggies. Weapons suchs a pistol, knives, food, gasoline, and other survivalist supplies confirmed that the cult was building a stronghold in the desert for the long haul. They arrested three men, ten girls, and two babies, one of them just a few weeks old. A count of the number of sleeping bags informed the task force they had not captured everyone involved.

October 12th

On the evening of October 12, the small force of park rangers headed back to Barker Ranch. From an observation point, the witnessed four people walking towards the cabin and entering the building. One of the people is covered head to tow in a buck skin outfit and obviously the leader.

The task forced stormed the ranch with guns drawn. The ordered the occupants inside to raise their hands. They met no resistance. The man dressed buckskin is nowhere to be found.

Charles Milles Maddox Capture

Barker Ranch, CCharles Milles Maddox’s hiding place Vernon Merritt III Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock — Barker Ranch, Charles Manson’s hiding place Vernon Merritt III Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Following the raid, Jim Pursell search for the buckskin man. He enters the bathroom where is sees a very small cabinet. The door is slightly open and he notices a few long hairs sticking out. In the failing evening light, armed with a candle and a .357 revolver, Pursell noticed some fingers wiggling inside.

Pursell later recounted “I put the candle way down, and this figure starts unwinding and coming out. How he got into that cupboard, I’ll never know. He’s not big. I’ve had a lot of people ask me, ‘Why didn’t you shoot the son of a bitch?’ But again, we really didn’t know what we had, and you can’t just shoot somebody that climbs out of a little cupboard, and says [cheerily], ‘Hi! I was pointing the gun at him and told him exactly what I wanted him to do, and what not to do. ‘Make one wrong move and I’ll blow your head off.’ I ask his name, and he said, simply, ‘Charlie Manson.’ Right off. I led him out to the guys outside”

The raid of October 12th lead to arrest of six males and three more females. All in all the bravery of the CHP, INYO Sheriffs and Park Rangers led to the apprehension, conviction and sentencing of one of the worlds most notorious people, Charles Milles Maddox. The cult or family that Manson started literally killed many and ruined the lives of hundreds of people. The story of Mansons life in the Panamint Mountains of Death Valley is more fascinating that the typical most people will understand and his activities in Death Valley are far larger than “Barker Ranch.”

Manson’s Locations in and around Death Valley

Ballarat, California - Marriedtofilm at English Wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Malafaya using CommonsHelper.

Category: People

James Crysanthus Phelan – Rhyolite Shopkeeper

Biography

References

Christian Brevoort Zabriskie

References

John S Cook

References

Pete Aguereberry – A Panamint Valley Miner

Early Life and Immigration

Arrival in Death Valley and the 1905 Strike

The Eureka Mine and Litigation

Life at Aguereberry Camp

Final Years, Death, and Burial

Legacy

References

Charles Milles Maddox

Introduction

Long Story Short

Panamint Charlie

Desert Deterioration