RonnieAdventures: RonnieAdventure #0254 - Colorado River Area from Needles to Blythe, California

Borax Wagon No. 277 greets visitors entering the City of Needles along the "Old Trails Highway," or better know as "Route 66."

The 20 Mule Team wagon was build by the Studebaker Wagon Company in about 1880 and shipped to California where it was used by the Borax Mining company for a number of years. After the wagon was retired, it was acquired by a company in Hollywood and used in various western movies. In 1962 the wagon was once again retired and donated to the City of Needles where it now greets visitors entering the City.

Many people still travel old Route 66 to relive the "Mother Road" experience, so a number of the buildings along the route through town have various automotive related paintings on the exterior building walls.

Although people drive through Needles to experience old Route 66, the main attraction is the El Garces Hotel & Train Station that was considered to be the "Crown Jewel" of the entire chain of Fred Harvey Houses.

The building was constructed in 1906 and made completely of concrete, which was unusual for its day. Fred Harvey named the structure in honor of Father Francisco Garces, who visited the area in 1776. Unfortunately, the most beautiful side of the ornate building faces the railroad tracks to impress train travelers, so visitors traveling on Route 66 only see the back side of the building from the street.

Fred Harvey called the El Garces the "Crown Jewel" of his properties because the El Garces used "real lines and silver, distinctive china and fresh flowers were provided for its guests daily. Food was of the highest quality serving lunch and dinner."

The Harvey House closed in 1946 and the railroad use the building for office space until 1988, then abandoned the El Garces. The building fell into disrepair and was about to be torn down when a group of citizens formed the "Friends of El Garces" and decided to save the building and convert it into a destination hotel, with retail and office space. Restoration work is still in progress.

After leaving Needles, Interstate 40 crosses the Colorado River at Topock, just north of the Old Trails Bridge that was constructed in 1915 as part of Route 66.

There is substantial history associated with the old bridge and the bridge has been used in various movies. The bridge was also described in The Grapes of Wrath. At the time of construction, the bridge was the longest arched bridge in America.

In 1946 a new bridge was built across the river and the old bridge was abandoned. Rather than tear-down the historic structure, the bridge deck was removed and the bridge framework is now used to support a pipeline river crossing.

When visiting Quartzsite (Arizona), visitors are often curious about the influence of camels around town and the Hi Jolly Cemetery monument.

Camels in Arizona happened in 1855 when Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War, decided that if Arizona was a desert, then why not use camels instead of mules and horses to transport supplies. Camels could carry two or three times as much weigh and they could go without water for much longer times than horses or mules.

A government buyer was dispatched to the Middle East and purchased 77 camels. However, the buyer did not know how to "speak camel," so he hired Hadji Ali, a Greek born Syrian who had converted to Islam to accompany the camels back to the United States. Arriving in the United States, the Army soldiers could not pronounce Hadji Ali correctly, so the soldiers just called him Hi Jolly.

When the Civil War started, Jefferson Davis joined the Confederacy and the camel project was abandoned. Some of the camels were sold and others just turned loose to wander around the desert. As late as the 1930s and 1940s people still reported seeing "wild" camels wandering around the desert, but all of the "wild" camels eventually died out.

Hadji Ali became a U.S. citizen in 1880 and changed his name to Philip Tedro. He married Gertrudis Serna from Tucson and spent the rest of his life prospecting around Quartzsite until he died in 1902. After his death, the citizens of the community built a pyramid of native stone to mark his final resting place.

Quartzsite is also know for the annual rock and gem shows that are held each year in January and February. Over 2,000 vendors participate in the eight major shows that draw over a million visitors to a town with a population of 1,900 people. The bulk of the visitors stay in their RVs.

For those that miss the annual shows, Gem World is always open and contains a really large supply of gems and minerals that are for sale. They also have a red camel that stands in front of the building. (There is a legend that a Red Camel still roams the desert with a headless human skeleton on its back.)

Just down the street from Gem World is the "World's Largest Belt Buckle," and a bear that likes to wear turquoise jewelry.

And then a little farther down the street is Reader's Oasis Books, which is where you can have your picture taken with the naked bookstore owner (also known as "Sweetie Pie). People that know the owner say that he is a really nice guy and an accomplished blues musician and cartoonist. If you are there at the right time, he will even play the piano for you and sing a song. (Since this is a family blog site, I cropped the top and bottom of the picture.)

At Hassler's RV Park, Fishermen can see some really large fishing equipment and the "big ones" that didn't get away!

The historic Tyson's Well Stage Stop has now been converted into a museum.

The adobe building was constructed in 1866 and became an important way-station on the California-Arizona stage line because of the abundant water and grass in the area. However, when the railroads reached the area in the early 1900s, the stage line was phased out and the building became the Oasis Hotel. After a fire burned part of the building, the hotel was abandoned and in 1972 the property was donated to the City for a museum. As part of the renovation, a stabilizing wall was placed around the original adobe walls to protect them from further deterioration.

In 1980 the museum acquired the original Mariquita Assay Office and the Mariquita Mine Bunkhouse and moved the buildings to the museum site. Part of the old hotel that burned is also on display.

For eight years Walter Barrett worked on his Miniature Village, then after his death in 1991 his family donated the Miniature Village to the Museum.

Inside of the museum building there are displays of early-day mining equipment, historic school items, and frontier household items, including a handmade quilt!

Celia's Rainbow Gardens is located in Town Park and was started by a family of an 8-year old child that died. The 20-acre park now contains a number of trails that wind by the many displays people have built as a memorial to a loved one.

Also included in the Town Park are a skate board facility, ball field, children's playground, community center, pavilion & dance slab, two military jet fighter planes, and a number of other activity centers.

Just north of Blythe are the famous Blythe Intaglios. (Giant figures carved in the desert floor by ancient man that are best viewed from the air.)

The Intaglios were discovered in 1932 by a pilot flying between Las Vegas and Blythe, who happened to look down and see the figures. He then reported his find to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and archaeologists are still trying to understand what the figures represent.

No one know when or who made the Intaglios, but it is believed that they were made between 900 BCE and 1200 CE. The Intaglios were made by scraping away the layers of darker surface rocks to reveal a lighter colored soil underneath.

Between the time of their discovery in 1932, and protective fencing of the sites in 1974, the Intaglios have sustained considerable damage.