Tag: Death Valley National Park

Death Valley National Park, located in eastern California and stretching into Nevada, is a land of extremes. It is the hottest, driest, and lowest national park in the United States, featuring the famously scorching Badwater Basin, which lies 282 feet below sea level. The park’s vast and varied landscape includes towering sand dunes, rugged mountains, and colorful badlands. Despite its harsh conditions, Death Valley is home to a surprising diversity of life, with unique plant and animal species adapted to the extreme environment. The park also boasts stunning geological features such as the salt flats, volcanic craters, and canyons, offering visitors a breathtaking glimpse into the power of nature. Starry night skies and striking sunrises and sunsets add to the park’s otherworldly beauty, making it a unique destination for adventure seekers and nature enthusiasts alike.

Ballarat California – Inyo County Ghost Town

Posted on September 30, 2019 by Destination4x4

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

Located in Inyo County, Ballarat California is a ghost town which supposedly has a few residents living their dream within the town. Ballarat is located in the Panamint Mountain range just off the Trona Wilderness Road and sough of highway 190.

As early as 1849, the area served as a watering hole known as Post Office Springs. Prospectors and travelers alike would stop for water in the hot and dry Mojave Desert.

The town of Ballarat was founded in 1897 and named for Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The town is named by an Australian immigrant George Riggins. Ballarat California was originally founded as a supply point for the mines Panamint Mountains and surrounding area. A blacksmith shop and store supported this efforts.

Within a year of the founding, the towns population stabilized at about 500 residents. Three hotels, seven saloons, a school, jail and morgue all served this outpost along with a post office and Wells Fargo station. The town site featured few natural resources and ore to be shipped into the remote location. The town buildings is constructed primarily of Adobe bricks.

The town was relatively lawless and was mostly filled with hard working miners looking for relaxation and an opportunity to blow off steam. The saloons and a population of prostitutes were supported by Ballarat.

The main mine, the Radcliffe, produced 15,000 tons or more of ore from 1898 to 1903. From 1927 to 1942 its tailings are reprocessed with cyanided. This process reported recovery value of one quarter of a million dollars in gold. The town began to fail following the closure of the Radcliff Mine in 1903. Despite supporting other mining towns like Harrisberg, as the gold played out, so did the fortunes of Ballarat, which closed the post office in 1917.

In 1941 the Ballarat Mining and Milling Corporation, a Nevada company, bought property in the Slate and Panamint ranges in San Bernardino and Inyo counties. A Los Angeles company intended to make exhaustive metallurgical tests, paving the way for a projected modern fifty-ton reduction mill south of town to perform custom work. An assay office and metallurgical laboratory were to be part of the complex, and once again Ballarat would see a resurgence of mining activity.

“Shorty” Harris, along with a few other prospectors continued to live in and around the town site for decades after the closure. The last of these die hard prospectors, “Seldom Seen Slim” died in 1968.

Notoriety

In 1968 and 1969, Charles Manson and his “family” moved into Barker Ranch. The town of Ballarat was Mansons last link to civilization and served as a supply source for his desert exploits. Not to caste the town with the murderer, the town also supplied the arresting officers who raided Barker Ranch and subsequently arrested Manson and his family.

“Shorty” Harris founder of Harrisburg, photographed in Ballarat, California

Time has taken its tole on the builds of the adobe buildings. Wind and water are literally melting the builds back into the desert.

Today, Ballarat is the subject of a few odd television shows and again made headlines with the Ballarat Bandit. In 2003, George Robert Johnston camped around Ballarat and Death Valley. During this time, he committed burglaries before leading investigators on a chase across the desert.

Ballarat Personalities

Charles Ferge “Seldom Seen Slim” – A Ballarat Prospector

Charles Ferge "Seldom Seen Slim" Charles Ferge "Seldom Seen Slim" is the last of the known prospectors who lived in the town of Ballarat located…

Charles Milles Maddox

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…

Frank “Shorty” Harris

Frank Harris was a prospector, desert rat and perhaps the best known character in western mining history. He looked the part, often travelling the desert…

George Robert Johnston – The Ballarat Bandit

A police sketch of the Ballarat Bandit - George Robert Johnston George Robert Johnston, known as the Ballarat Bandit, was a petty criminal who lead…

Pete Aguereberry – A Panamint Valley Miner

Pete Aguereberry was a prospector and miner who operated around Death Valley National Park, for whom Aguereberry is named. Born in the Basque Region of…

4×4 Trails near Ballarat

Indian Ranch Road

The hottest place on earth, Death Valley National Park is on the order with California and Nevada Indian Ranch Road is a scenic, graded dirt…

Jail Canyon Road

The hottest place on earth, Death Valley National Park is on the order with California and Nevada Jail Canyon Road is a rugged, scenic 4WD…

References

Frank “Shorty” Harris

Posted on September 8, 2019 by Destination4x4

Frank Harris was a prospector, desert rat and perhaps the best known character in western mining history. He looked the part, often travelling the desert with his mule loaded to the ears with gear. “Shorty” Harris was named, as one would suspect, due to his limited height. Standing just a little over five feet tall, this prospector casts a long shadow over the desert southwest having discovered and started several mine sights and towns.

Shorty Harris sought is fortune in the desert prospecting and mining for gold. In the summer of 1904 he discovered the Bullfrog Mining District near Rhyolite, with Ed Cross. It is said that Ed sold his interest in the claim for $125,000. Shorty Harris claimed to have discovered that he sold him claim during a 6 day celebration.

One night, when I was pretty well lit up, a man by the name of Bryan took me to his room and put me to bed. The next morning, when I woke up, I had a bad headache and wanted more liquor. Bryan had left several bottles of whiskey on a chair beside the bed and locked the door. I helped myself and went back to sleep. That was the start of the longest jag I ever went on; it lasted six days. When I came to, Bryan showed me a bill of sale for the Bullfrog, and the price was only $25,000. I got plenty sore, but it didn’t do any good. There was my signature on the paper and beside it, the signatures of seven witnesses and the notary’s seal. And I felt a lot worse when I found out that Ed had been paid a hundred and twenty-five thousand for his half, and had lit right out for Lone Pine, where he got married.
Frank “Shorty” Harris
Touring Topics: Magazine of the American Automobile Association of Southern California
October 1930

The discovery led the to the founding of the town Rhyolite.

Shorty Harris had the reputation as a prospector, not a miner. He discovered many mines which produced, but he never appeared to develop the mine sites he found. Perhaps like many, the thrill of the hunt and the lure of saloons and drinking appeared the be his passion. He is known to have been a friend of the women, and loved to tell tall tales and was known to be well liked.

Following his adventures in Rhyolite, Shorty found himself in Furnace Creek where he ran into Pete Aquerebuerry. The two men pared up and decided to do some prospecting in the Panamint Mountains. They arrived in the areas known as Harrisberry Flats where in, one of them found gold. Two gold strikes in two years. He was also involved in mining operations twice in Goldbelt Springs. Once in 1905 mining gold and again in 1916 was a tungsten operation which earned him $1500.00

Frank “Shorty” Harris lived 77 years and passed in Big Pine, CA. At his request, he was buried in Death Valley, and his grave is visited by many travelers each year.

“I hear that Frisco is a ghost town now—abandoned and the buildings falling to ruin. That is what happened to many of the towns where I worked in the early days, but nobody then would have thought it was possible. Even now, it’s hard for me to believe that owls are roosting over those old bars where we lined up for drinks, and sagebrush is growing in the streets.”
Frank Shorty Harris

“almost as hell-roaring a place as Leadville. The boys were all decorated with six-guns and believe me, they knew how to use them. The handiest on the draw stayed in town, but those that were too slow made a one-way trip to Boot-Hill
Frank Shorty Harris – On Tombstone in 1885

Articles Tagged Shorty Harris

One of the few remaining structures in Bullfrog, Nevada - Photo by James L Rathbun

Bullfrog Nevada – Nye County Ghost Town

In the scorching summer of 1904, amid the rugged Bullfrog Hills at the northern edge of the Amargosa Desert in Nye County, Nevada, two prospectors…

Goldbelt Springs

A discovery by the famous prospector "Shorty Harris", led to the founding on the Goldbelt Springs mining district off Hunter Mountain Road in Death Valley…

Cashier Mill ruin and Pete Aguereberry, 1916. From Dane Coolidge Collection,

Harrisburg California – Inyo County Ghost Town

Harrisburg, California, a now-abandoned ghost town in Inyo County, was a fleeting but significant mining camp in Death Valley’s history. Established in 1905 following a…

Pete Aguereberry – A Panamint Valley Miner

Pete Aguereberry was a prospector and miner who operated around Death Valley National Park, for whom Aguereberry is named. Born in the Basque Region of…

Rhyolite, Nevada photo by James L Rathbun

Rhyolite Nevada – Nye County Ghost Town

Rhyolite is a ghost town location just outside of the Eastern edge of Death Valley National monument in Nye country, Nevada. Founded in 1904 by…

Resources

One Tree Hill, A trip to the U2 Joshua Tree

Posted on July 18, 2016 by Destination4x4

A trip to the U2 Joshua Tree brought back a life time of memories. There was never a point in time that I was not aware of Joshua Tree’s. Growing up in Southern California, they are a common site in the high desert and after all there is a National Park named after them. Many nights I have spent camping in the national park and asking my dad about the Joshua Trees. They are just so weird. Their limbs twisted in the wind. They thrive in the harsh desert environment, yet don’t offer much shade. The are a symbol of the desert southwest, and perhaps would be THE symbol of the desert south west if not for the saguaro cactus.

U2's Joshua Tree - 2016 — U2’s Joshua Tree – 2016

The original Joshua Tree of the Us Cover. Photo made Dec. 19, 1994 |Source= Joho345 – @U2 (www.atu2.com)

I remember exactly where I was when I was introduced to the Irish Band U2 by a close friend of mine. Back then, they were the Irish Rock Band U2. I was introduced to them watching a video tape copy of “Under a Blood Red Sky” and forever fell in love with my Irish compatriots. In 1987, U2 released there next album “The Joshua Tree” which also coincided with my passing the exam for my drivers license. I wore out by original tape and its copy driving the city of Pasadena to and from high school.

The album tore through the consciousness of the United States and this Irish boy had a little more pride in his heritage. The best part was that the album was named after and predominately featured photographs of the iconic image of the desert.

In May, 1987 my friend invited me to a trip to Death Valley. As his father drove across the desert that afternoon, my friend pointed out the window and yelled, “There is ‘THE’ Joshua Tree”. By the time I turned around in my seat, the tree was off in the distance. I could not tell from the angle and distance, but the area looked about right. We drove on, the sounds of an Irish Harmonic flowing through the speakers. I would soon forget this conversation, a foot note of my past.

I always wanted to see the Joshua Tree of u2. Before the internet it was not easy to find places such as this. They don’t put this information on maps. Rumor and stories filled the void. I never asked, but over the years I heard that the site of U2’s Joshua tree was not near the National Park. I heard that someone lite it on fire. I heard it died. Many stories told of unprepared people dying while searching for the Joshua Tree. All just rumors.

I never thought about the Joshua tree site until I started Destination4x4.com. After about 10 minutes searching on the Internet, I found it. Sadly the rumor it died proved to be true. But then an odd thing happened. Like many lost places of the Mojave, there is a small make shift monument to U2 at the site of the fallen tree. The dead tree is still there, fallen to the earth around 2000 and being consumed by the harsh desert climate. The site is located just off the CA Highway 190 between Lone Pine and Death Valley.

Within a year, of finding the Joshua Tree site, I found myself driving along the highway 190 into Lone Pine, CA. There is no marker to the site, and no paved road to follow. The site of the Joshua Tree is located about 100 years off of the road, which runs parallel to the highway. After some back road creative navigation, I saw a glint of metal and the downed icon about .5 miles in front of me.

You have found what your looking for monument located at the site of U2s Joshua Tree.

As I walked towards the dead Joshua Tree, I could not help but think about how silly this endeavor was. A grown man taking his family to see a dead tree. My inner sound tracked played “Running to Stand Still” as I stepped back into the past. Memories of high school came flooding back. The surrounding hills morphed into the album cover. I recalled a conversation between me and a lost friend on the highway not too far from here where he was convinced he saw this tree. I now know he did see it.

Like many places in the Mojave, a make shift monuments lies on the site. Undoubtedly updated with each new visitor who like me hunt down the obscure. It is a matter of time until a passing windstorm, dry climate and time remove any remnants of the Joshua tree. Oddly enough, it was here alone with my small family that I understood what I what I wanted to do with Destination4x4.com. The four us jumped back into the jeep. I loaded up the Joshua Tree on my phone and played “Where the streets have no name” as we drove off for our next adventure.

Update

Just under a year after our visit to the Joshua Tree, for our wedding anniversary, Heather and I saw the band play their songs from the dessert at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on May 20th, 2017. I found out later that I had a case of double Pneumonia, but would not miss this for the world. The concert was a celebration of their music and the desert landscape which i love.

Desert Marigolds (Baileya multiradiata)

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Destination4x4

Desert Marigolds located off the Old Mojave Road. — Desert Marigolds photographed near the Old Mojave Road.

Biological Report: Desert Marigold

Scientific Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae (Aster or Sunflower family)
Genus: Baileya
Species: Baileya multiradiata Harv. & A. Gray ex A. Gray

Common names include desert marigold, showy desert marigold, paper daisy, desert baileya, and hierba amarilla. Synonyms include Baileya australis, Baileya multiradiata var. nudicaulis, Baileya multiradiata var. thurberi, and Baileya thurberi. The genus is named after American botanist Jacob Whitman Bailey; “multiradiata” refers to the many-rayed flower heads.

Description

Desert marigold is a native, sun-loving biennial or short-lived perennial forb/herb that typically grows 12–18 inches (30–52 cm) tall and spreads 4–12 inches (10–30 cm) wide, forming attractive mound-shaped clumps. The basal leaves are grayish-green, woolly (covered in soft white hairs that help retain moisture), pinnately lobed to entire, and clustered at the base (4–10 cm long). The stems are mostly leafless and branched in the lower half. Flower heads are solitary, daisy-like composites borne on long, naked stalks (10–32 cm). Each head measures about 1.5–2 inches (4–5 cm) across with 25–50 bright yellow ray florets (the “petals”) surrounding a central disk of 25–50+ yellow disk florets. As the flowers age, the rays fade and become papery, giving rise to the common name “paper daisy.” The plant is adapted to arid conditions and is distinguished from similar species like woolly desert marigold (Baileya pleniradiata) by its taller stature, longer bloom period, and greater abundance.

Blooms

The showy, bright-yellow composite flower heads bloom intermittently from March (or April) through November, and can continue year-round in favorable conditions with adequate moisture. Flowering is sporadic but prolific, often triggered by rainfall, producing impressive mounds of nearly solid yellow. The long-lasting blooms turn papery and persist on the plant as they age. This extended blooming period makes it one of the most reliable and conspicuous desert wildflowers.

Range and Distribution

Desert marigold is native to the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. In the U.S., it occurs in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah (primarily at lower to mid-elevations). In Mexico, it extends into states including Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, and Aguascalientes. It grows on sandy or gravelly (often alkaline) soils in washes, roadsides, rocky slopes, sandy plains, mesas, and semidesert grasslands, from near sea level up to about 5,000–6,500 ft (100–1,981 m). It thrives in full sun and well-drained soils across desert ecosystems.

This hardy, drought-tolerant wildflower is an iconic component of southwestern desert landscapes, valued for its cheerful blooms and adaptability.

This yellow wild flower is also known as:

Desert Marigold
Showy Desert Marigold
Paper Daisy
Desert Baileya

Darwin Falls

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Destination4x4

The waterfalls of Darwin are located on the western edge of Death Valley National Park near the settlement of Panamint Springs, California. Although there exists a similarly named Darwin Falls Wilderness adjacent to the waterfall, the waterfalls themselves are located in and administered by Death Valley National Park and the National Park Service.

Darwin Falls is a nice hike near Death Valley National Park, CA

There are several falls, but they are mainly divided into the upper and lower with a small grotto in between. At a combined 80 feet (24 m), it is the highest waterfall in the park.

The hike into Darwin falls is rather short and easy terrain to reach the shallow pools which form under the water fall. There are, however, multiple creek The narrow canyon does contain Cottonwood trees and willows and offers some shade from the sun as you approach the waterfalls. The creek and pools in the area, like almost every other water source in the desert form an oasis of life in the desert. Birds and amphibians are common.

My trip on the early spring found no other hikers on the trail and a serene place to visit. It is easy to image that even this rather easy hike could be quite rough when the summer sun scorches the landscape and temperatures climb.

There is no swimming at Darwin Falls and the creek is a source of drinking water.

Notoriety

Ballarat Personalities

4×4 Trails near Ballarat

References

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Articles Tagged Shorty Harris

Resources

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Biological Report: Desert Marigold

Scientific Taxonomy

Description

Blooms

Range and Distribution

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