Living Our Dream

Joshua Tree National Park Part I

With the long day the day before we didn't rush in the morning to get to Joshua Tree National Park. There are two main entrances on the northern side of the park - the west entrance near Joshua Tree, CA, about a half an hour from where we were staying in Yucca Valley and the north entrance about an hour away near Twenty-nine Palms, CA. A winding road known as Park Boulevard runs through the northern end of the park and connects the two entrances.

We decided to drive to the farther entrance near Twenty-nine Palms and stop at the visitor center to reconnoiter, then drive back toward the west on Park Boulevard. We planned to see some of the sights closer to the north entrance that were easily accessible from the road and save the hiking for the next day after we had more time to rest up.

Joshua Tree National Park gets its name from the plant known as the Joshua tree. The Joshua tree, which was named by Mormon settlers crossing the Mohave Desert in the mid-1800s, is not really a tree, but a large, branching variety of yucca. Joshua trees have root systems that spread out over a large area to gather moisture from the desert soil. The wood of the Joshua tree doesn't have growth rings, so determining the age is difficult; but Joshua trees can live hundreds of years and grow to be 40 feet tall.

Joshua trees bloom in April, and by the time we got there many had started to produce clusters of 4 inch seed pods.

 

Conditions have to be just right for the Joshua trees to propagate. It is thought a crisp winter freeze is required to stimulate the tree to send out flower stalks in spring. Once the flowers bloom, they are pollinated by the yucca moth. The female moth spreads pollen while laying her eggs in the flower's ovary. When the larvae hatch, they will feed on the developing seeds. When the seeds that haven't been eaten ripen and fall, they depend on well-timed rains to sprout. The young sprouts will grow several inches a year for the first few years, then they slow down to about half an inch a year.

We stopped at the visitor center at the north entrance and picked up a map and visitor guide. Outside the visitor center we walked the half-mile loop trail around the Oasis of Mara. The Serrano Indians settled at the oasis and gave it the name Mara meaning "place of little water and much grass." They used water from the oasis to cultivate corn, beans and squash. Later, ranchers used the water for their cattle.

The oasis also supports a colony of desert fan palms. The palms, which can grow up to 75 feet tall, are named for their 6 foot, fan-shaped leaves. The dead leaves frequently hang on to the tree and cover the trunk. For this reason the fan palm is sometimes called the petticoat palm. The dead branches provide a habitat for birds, insects  and small mammals.

When prospectors and cattlemen came to the area in the late 1800s, there were 29 palms growing at the oasis so the town that grew up adjacent to the oasis was named Twenty-nine Palms. In the early 1900s, rainfall decreased, the oasis began to dry up, and most of the Serrano Indians drifted away. Today, water is piped into the oasis.

The southeastern half of Joshua Tree National Park lies below 3,000 feet in elevation and is in the Colorado Desert which is part of the larger Sonoran Desert. In this area, vegetation consists of mostly creosote bush, ocotillo and cholla. We were more interested in seeing the Joshua trees that lie in the northwestern half of the park, which is part of the Mohave desert. For that reason, we decided not to take the road that branched off toward the southern entrance to the park, and we continued on Park Boulevard.

The rocks in Joshua Tree National Park are monzogranite, which is a form of soft granite. Granite is a volcanic rock that is formed from solidified magma.  The rock  formations in Joshua Tree, which are more like huge rock piles, were created when magma forced its way up into the overlying gneiss (pronounced nice) layers. The magma formed both horizontal and vertical cracks as it cooled. Chemical weathering caused by groundwater in contact with the rock rounded the edges and corners of the granite blocks. When the area was later uplifted and the surface soil and rock were eventually worn away, large piles of monzogranite were exposed.

There aren't any places to get food in Joshua Tree National Park, so we packed a lunch. It was mid-afternoon when we stopped at one of many picnic areas to eat. After lunch we explored some of the surrounding rocks. The stripe in the upper left of the photo below is called a dike. It was formed when new magma was forced into a crack in existing magma.

The next photo taken along Park Boulevard shows even larger piles of monzogranite off in the distance.

 

Joshua Tree National Park has numerous primitive campgrounds, most of which are located at the base of large rock piles. We drove into several of the camping areas to see what the sites were like and to see some of the rock formations. Most of the camp sites were small and only suitable for tents, but the way they were nestled in among the rocks was cool. The rocks had formed the small arch in the photo below at one of the camping areas. The arch was only about 6 feet long and 3 or 4 feet high.

Skull Rock is located along Park Boulevard a little to the west of the last camping area. There is a pull-off parking area, so we stopped for a photo.

We enjoyed the scenery as we continued on our way west on Park Boulevard. It was getting late, so we headed back to the motor home without making any further stops. Our next post will tell you about our second day in Joshua Tree National Park and about the hikes we took.

Calico Ghost Town

Calico Ghost Town in Yermo, CA, turned up in Margery's online research, and it sounded interesting. Calico Ghost Town is part of a county park, and it also has a campground. Yermo, which is right next to Barstow, CA, is about four hours from Beatty, NV, so it made a good place for our next stop.

We scheduled two nights at Calico since we also needed to stop at a grocery store, and we wanted time to visit the ghost town.

The rate at the campground is a little high at $30 a night, even for full hookups, but it also includes admission to the ghost town. There are no hookup sites, partial hookup sites, and full hookup sites. We're not sure about the partial hookup sites, but it looked like all the full hookup sites had 30/50 amp electric.

The road into the campground is paved, but the entire rest of the campground is dirt. It's probably the only time we were glad we didn't have Molly! We can only imagine how gray her fur would have gotten. The sites are very narrow, and most of them are pretty short. Some of the sites aren't very level. The photo below shows our site at Calico Ghost Town Park.

 

The next photo shows several of the neighboring sites.

There is no traffic noise and there are no trains. The campground was very quiet, at least it was when we were there during the week. Although off-highway vehicles (OHVs - dirt bikes, dune buggies, quads, etc.) are not permitted in the campground, riding is allowed in the surrounding mountains, so it could get noisy on the weekends.

After we got set up, we headed into Barstow to run our errands. The next morning Margery went into town for a haircut while Paul made a small repair to one of the slide toppers on the motor home. When Margery got back, we walked up the dirt road to the ghost town.

As we said, Calico Ghost Town is operated as a county park. The town was founded in 1881 as a silver mining town. Calico hit its peak population of about 1,200 people in 1887. Shortly after that, the price of silver fell, and the mines in Calico were no longer economically viable. The town was essentially abandoned by 1907.

In 1951, Walter Knott of Knott's Berry Farms bought the town and began restoring it. Only five of the original buildings exist today, but Knott rebuilt the rest of the buildings on the original foundations using old photographs for reference. Some of these old photographs, sometimes even showing former residents, were posted with a written history on some of the buildings. Margery found the photos to be especially interesting.

Most of the buildings house gift shops, a restaurant and snack shops. Walter Knott donated the town to San Bernadino County in 1966. The next photo shows the main street of Calico.

The building in the photo below is one of the original buildings. It used to be a residence, and now it is used as the park office.

Another of the original buildings is the Lane House.

John and Lucy Bell Lane lived in this house until they left Calico in 1899. They returned in 1916 and moved into what was their former store. John died in 1954, and Mrs. Lane continued to live in Calico until 1965. She died in 1967.

The Lane House is now a museum with artifacts from the town and items that belonged to the Lanes.

Calico gets its name from the bright colors in the rocks in the hills surrounding the town. They used to say, "They're as purdy as a gal's calico skirt." The building in the next photo is the schoolhouse, which is reconstructed on its original site, with one of the colorful hills in the background.

You can climb partway up the hill behind the town where some of the mines used to be. There were as many as 500 mines around Calico, and there are tunnel entrances everywhere in the hillsides. There are also "Do Not Enter" warning signs everywhere. There is, however, a tour of the Maggie Mine that is open to the public.

On the hill you can also see how some of the miners built huts under rock overhangs using stones and adobe mud.

The hill is pretty steep, but you can get all the way up to most of the huts.

 

There are other things in Calico to do like mock gunfights and panning for gold, although those things didn't seem to be going on the day we were there. Maybe they only have them on weekends. The train that you can ride to the other side of the hill and back was operating.

 

The Hyena House was a hotel of sorts that was originally constructed of sugar barrel staves under a rock overhang. When the stage came to town, the owner of the hotel would grab a wheelbarrow, run to the depot and yell, "Free bus to the Hyena House."

The next photo shows one of the rooms. If you think the room is grim, wait till you hear what was on the menu for breakfast - beans and whiskey.

Calico has a bottle house similar to the one we saw at Rhyolite, although this one isn't original to the town. This one was built in 1951 by Walter Knott.

Unlike the bottle house at Rhyolite, this one isn't plastered over on the inside. The exposed bottles, although hard to keep clean, allow in an amazing amount of light. It would be almost impossible to oversleep.

On our way out of the ghost town, we stopped by the sheriff's office.

The building isn't open, but inside they had a very unusually-styled safe that we had never seen before.  Known as a cannonball safe, the heavy weight and rounded corners made them hard to pick up to steal.

Back at the motor home, we chilled out for the rest of the day. The next morning, we were off to our next destination.

Death Valley Part III: Scotty's Castle

We left the Stovepipe Wells area and drove toward the northern end of Death Valley to visit Scotty's Castle. Scotty's Castle is a two-story Spanish-style villa built by millionaire Albert Johnson as a vacation home in the 1920's.

The next tour of the castle was scheduled to begin about 20 minutes after we arrived, so we had a few minutes to look around the grounds. The next photo shows the guest house.

 

And the next photo shows the stable.

On display in the stable are several old vehicles including the 1938 Dodge sedan that once belonged to Death Valley Scotty, for whom the house was named. We'll tell you all about Scotty shortly.

Margery even found a seat carved from solid stone.

When our tour began we entered the courtyard between the main house (left) and the annex, and sat on benches in a shady alcove at the far end on the right.

Our tour guide, who was really a ranger in period costume, was an excellent story teller. She began with a background and history of the people and events behind Scotty's Castle.

Scotty's Castle was built by Albert and Bessie Johnson. Albert Johnson was from a prominent, wealthy family in Ohio, and Bessie was the daughter of a wealthy fruit and nut rancher from California. Although he was trained as a civil engineer, Albert Johnson made his fortune in insurance. Albert Johnson married Bessie in 1896.

As a civil engineer Albert had an interest in mining. He also had a strong interest in the west and dreamed of being a cowboy. After successfully investing in a lead and zinc mine, Albert convinced his father to accompany him out west in 1899 to investigate other mining claims for further investment.

On that trip the train on which Albert and his father were riding was rear-ended by another train. Albert's father was killed, and Albert suffered a broken back. The doctors initially thought Albert would die; but when he didn't, the doctors told him he would be permanently paralyzed below the waist. Fortunately, Albert made a miraculous recovery and within 18 months was able to walk, albeit with a limp. He also had some other physical limitations. Following his recovery, Albert and Bessie moved to Chicago.

Albert Johnson was approached in 1904 by an intermediary for Walter Scott, a.k.a. Death Valley Scotty. Scotty was an interesting character. He was a cowboy, a prospector, a performer with Buffalo Bill's Wild West, and somewhat of a con man. He was known for having supposedly discovered a mysterious gold mine in Death Valley. He also was good at soliciting wealthy investors to "grubstake" his mining operation.

Albert Johnson and another man agreed to invest in Scotty's fictional mine. After a few years of receiving no return on his investment, Albert decided to visit Scotty's mine. Of course, Scotty had no mine, so he and his friends concocted a scheme to stage a mock bandit attack to scare off Albert. When Scotty's brother was accidentally shot in the fake robbery, Scotty had to call off the ruse.

Albert realized he had been duped; but he still he wanted to believe in the mine, and he continued to visit Scotty in Death Valley. By visiting Death Valley he could in some way fulfill his dream of being a cowboy. The hot, dry climate seemed to improve his health, and the experiences helped relieve the depression that resulted from his earlier accident. He eventually forgave Scotty for bilking him out of his money, and he and Scotty became friends. In fact, Albert continued to bankroll Scotty.

In 1915, Albert bought a ranch in Grapevine Canyon, which is a side canyon off Death Valley toward the northern end. The following year he built a small shack that he and Scotty used for camping. Eventually, Bessie became curious about Death Valley, and she began to accompany Albert on his winter trips.

Bessie, however, was appalled at having to sleep on the ground or in a dirty shack with snakes, scorpions and spiders. So in 1922, Albert Johnson began constructing what was to become Scotty's Castle.

After our history lesson, we entered the great room. Everything in the castle is original including the clothes still hanging in the closets!

The fireplaces at each end of the great room are surrounded by decorative ceramic tiles made in Spain.

And there is a massive chandelier hanging from the two-story, redwood ceiling.

During the tour, our guide continued her story about the house and about interesting relationship between Albert Johnson and Scotty. Although the official name of Death Valley Ranch is carved over the door, the mansion has always been known as Scotty's Castle. Scotty was a flamboyant story teller. He had convinced everyone he had built the castle with gold from his mine. Scotty told everyone Mr. Johnson was his banker. Albert Johnson didn't seem to mind and allowed the stories to continue.

Albert even installed whimsical, prospector weathervanes in Scotty's honor.

Not only didn't Scotty's Castle belong to Scotty, it isn't a real castle either. Although elaborately decorated inside and designed to look like stone outside, the walls are stucco over a wooden frame.

Although Scotty had a room at the castle, he didn't sleep there. The Johnsons were devout believers and had too many rules for Scotty, like no drinking or smoking. Albert built a 5-room cabin for Scotty about 5 miles away on property known as Lower Vine Ranch. Scotty would go to the castle to help entertain guests with his outrageous stories. After dinner, he would retire to his room, which had a door to the outside. He would slip out and drive to his own cabin to spend the night, then he would return in the morning in time to change clothes (the housekeeping staff at the castle would do his laundry) and have breakfast. The next photo shows Scotty's room.

 

Scotty liked to cook, and the castle had a well equipped kitchen complete with more Spanish tile.

 

The kitchen even had a refrigeration unit installed in the icebox. The ranch had a spring that produced 300 gallons of water a minute, and Albert used some of the water to power a water wheel to generate electricity.

Albert built a library at the castle because he loved to read. However, Albert eventually converted the library into a dining room. Scotty would eat beforehand in the kitchen so he could sit in the corner and entertain guests with his stories while they dined.

Work on the castle slowed with the start of the Depression. In 1930, President Herbert Hoover named Death Valley a national monument, after which it was discovered the Johnsons had built their ranch on land that wasn't theirs due to an earlier surveying error. When that was discovered, all work on the castle ceased. In fact, in the first photo showing the outside of Scotty's Castle, the weedy patch below the wall in front of the house is the unfinished swimming pool.

After much negotiation, the government finally allowed the Johnsons purchase the land their house was sitting on in exchange for conducting tours of the house and renting out rooms to tourists. The annex on the opposite side of the courtyard from the main house is where the the guest rooms are located that were rented out. Rooms rented for $45 a night, which was a lot of money back in the 1930s; but guests didn't seem to mind because the rent included meals which also included Scotty's famous stories.

After the death of Bessie in 1943, Albert wasn't as interested in staying at the castle, and he attempted to sell it to the Government. The Johnsons had no heirs due to Albert's injuries. However, the United States was in WWII at the time and had no funds with which to purchase a castle. Albert created a charitable organization called the Gospel Foundation receive all his assets, to care for him until his death, and to care for his property after his death. Albert died in 1948, and the foundation continued to rent rooms afterward. The Government eventually bought the castle from the foundation in 1970.

Death Valley Scotty died in 1954 and is buried on the hill overlooking Scotty's Castle.

Albert and Scotty had a very unique friendship that lasted for 40+ years for such diverse backgrounds. Albert loved to read. Scotty's education ended when he left home when he was 11. However, Albert always wanted to be a cowboy, and Scotty always wanted to be rich. Through their friendship, they both were able to realize their dream.

When we left Scotty's Castle we had one more thing we wanted to see in the northern part of Death Valley. Ubehebe (YOU-bee-HEE-bee) Crater is located about 8 miles northwest of the castle. Ubehebe, which is the largest of several craters in Death Valley, is about 500 feet across and almost 800 feet deep. It was created by steam explosions that occurred when hot magma reached the water table. The entire area is covered by a layer of cinders up to 150 feet thick, most of which came from Ubehebe.

We left Ubehebe and drove back up Grapevine Canyon and through Grapevine Pass out of Death Valley. The road intersects with U. S. Route 95 about 30 miles north of the campground, so is was a fairly quick trip back to the motor home from there. We still have more to see in Death Valley, so look for our next post.

Death Valley Part I: Mining

We left Grand Canyon and drove south through Williams, AZ, then west on I-40 to Laughlin, NV, where we stayed at Avi Casino RV Park. The RV park is operated by KOA, but it recognizes Good Sam and AAA discounts. The roads in the campground are paved, but the sites are all gravel. There are full hookups with 30/50 amp electric and free Wi-Fi. The campground is pretty far from the casino, and it's pretty quiet.

The sites, which are mostly pull-throughs, are fairly narrow, but they're very long. In addition to the sites being narrow, they also have side-by-side hookups. Fortunately, the hookups aren't shared, but they are close together. It's hard to walk behind the rig to dump or to get things out of the storage bays without tripping on your own and your neighbor's hoses and wires, especially since our slides are on that side.

It looked like about two thirds of the campground was closed (maybe they just use that part for rallies), and the rest was less than 20% filled. Unfortunately, instead of putting the RVs on every other site to give everyone a little more room when the campground isn't full, they tended to put RVs together in clumps of two or three.

We stayed two nights because we needed to make a Walmart stop. We had just left the Grand Canyon, which obviously doesn't have a Walmart, and we were heading to Beatty, NV, to visit Death Valley; and there's no Walmart anywhere near Beatty either.

After our Walmart stop, we relaxed the rest of the day then took off the next morning for Beatty, NV. Our home base for the next week would be Beatty RV Park. Beatty RV is a relatively small RV park that is all somewhat dusty gravel. Most sites are pull-throughs. Some sites have 30 amp electric and some have 30/50 amp, all have full hookups, and there is free Wi-Fi. The sites are a little narrow, and they are also a little short. The sites in the front row are a little longer, but we would have had to work at being able to reach the utilities without blocking the road if we had only been making an overnight stop and had wanted to leave our toad attached. Fortunately for us, the campground wasn't very full when we arrived, so it didn't seem too crowded even though the sites are a little small.

It did get a little more crowded later in the week. There were a number of RVs that came and went with one-night stops, and there were several additional RVs that came in for the Memorial Day weekend. As we said, the sites in the front row seemed to be a little longer than those in the back, so they seemed to concentrate everyone in the front row where we were.

The managers at Beatty RV are super-friendly. Unfortunately, the campground is very close to U. S. Highway 95, which is the main route between Las Vegas and Reno. Although traffic dies down somewhat at night, the speed limit is 70 mph, and there are a LOT of trucks that travel that road. The trucks are really loud when they rumble by, especially at night. Although you do eventually get used to it, light sleepers might be more bothered by it.

Beatty, NV, calls itself the gateway to Death Valley National Park. It's one of the closest towns to any of the several entrances to the park. Also, at an altitude of a little over 3,000 feet, it tends to run 20 degrees cooler than Death Valley, which usually has highs around 95 during May when we were there, and 120+ degrees in summer. Death Valley is the warmest place in North America.

Unfortunately, on our first full day there, it was mostly cloudy. It rains less than two inches a year in Death Valley. The mountains stop almost all the rain and most of the clouds, but we happened to hit one of the few cloudy days.

We were anxious to see Death Valley, so even with the clouds we decided to drive into the park mostly to reconnoiter. We went to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center and saw an excellent slide presentation on Death Valley. We got maps and the Death Valley Visitor Guide so we could decide what we wanted to do.

We also toured the small museum in the visitor center. Much of the history of Death Valley is linked to mining. Death Valley got its name in 1849 from prospectors crossing it to get to the gold fields in California. In spite of its name, there was only one recorded death there during the Gold rush. In the 1850s, gold and silver were mined in Death Valley.

In the 1880s, borax was discovered in Death Valley. Borax refers to several similar chemical compounds that are sodium borate salts. Borax is used primarily as a welding flux, in glass making, and in detergents. Remember Boraxo hand cleaner? 20 Mule Team Borax? Ronald Reagan hosting the TV program "Death Valley Days?"

By the time we finished at the visitor center, the sky started to clear a bit, although there were some clouds right overhead. We stopped at old Harmony Borax Works, which is located right near the visitor center.

Harmony was the first borax operation in Death Valley and operated from 1883 to 1888. The borax was hauled by the famous 20 mule teams. The wagon unit consisted of two custom-made borax wagons and a third wagon that contained 4,200 gallons of drinking water. The loaded wagons weighed 72,000 lbs. and the whole rig including the mules was about 100 feet long.

Because of the remote location of Death Valley, the borax had to be hauled 165 miles to the rail head in Mohave, California. Therefore, the borax was refined in Death Valley rather than hauling rock and waste all that distance.

The boiler (with smokestack) was used to make steam to heat water. The ore was dumped into hot water along with other additives. The borax dissolved, and the mud and lime settled out. The hot liquid was drained into cooling tanks, and the borax crystallized onto metal rods. The crystals were chipped off the rods, and the process was repeated to further refine the borax. The problem is borax will not crystallize at temperatures above 120 degrees, so operations had to be suspended in summer.

Also in the vicinity of the visitor center is Furnace Creek Resort, which includes a ranch, a golf course, a couple of restaurants, a general store. There is also a free museum that has mining equipment from in and around Death Valley, and logging equipment from the surrounding mountains. Part of the museum is indoors in the oldest remaining building in the valley. It was built in 1883 and was used for a bunkhouse, an office and a checking station. It was moved to its present site as a museum in 1954.

 

Outside, large equipment like this ore crusher was on display.

The carts in the next photo were used to transport timber. The one on the left has wheels made from solid sections of logs. From the width of the wheels you can see they were designed to carry heavy loads over soft ground.

Even with some clouds overhead and haze in the air from dust being kicked up by the winds, we were still impressed by the varied colors of the rocks and hills in Death Valley.

On our way back to the motor home, we stopped in town at Beatty Mercantile for some lunch meat. There aren't many places to eat in Death Valley, so we'll be packing our lunch for the next few days. The market is also a hardware, so you can buy your groceries and a cooler to put them in at the same time.

Back at the campground, we studied our maps, and we relaxed for the evening. The clouds to the west over Death Valley started to thin out and they made for a colorful sunset.

As we said, we're planning to go back to do some more exploring in Death Valley, so look for our next post.

Shasta State Historic Park

About 6 miles west of Redding, CA, is the town of Shasta, or more accurately, the remnants of the town of Shasta. Shasta was a booming mining town in the 1850s into the 1870s, and what remains of the town is now part of Shasta State Historic Park. There's not a whole lot to Shasta, but what is there is a gem. The photo below shows the former Shasta County Courthouse, which is now a museum.

Pierson Reading, who was born in New Jersey, came to California in 1843 and worked for John Sutter for a time. You can read more about John Sutter in our previous post Sacramento, CA Part I: Sutter's Fort. Pierson Reading received a land grant from the Mexican government in 1844 for over 26,000 acres along the Sacramento River near the site of present-day Redding. Notice the difference in the spelling of the names. We'll explain that a little later.

Pierson Reading was one of the first to visit the site of the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848 to the south near Sarcamento. When he returned to his home, he also discovered gold nearby. Word spread, and soon there was a community of tents and lean-tos called Reading Springs. The town began to prosper as a commercial center, and the tents gave way to permanent houses, barber shops, stores, hotels, and saloons. In 1850, Reading Springs was renamed Shasta.

By the late 1860s, most of the mining claims were mined out, and the town started to decline. When the railroad decided in 1871 not to detour six miles out of its way to pass through Shasta, it was a big blow to the town. The new city that popped up on the banks of the Sacramento River six miles east of Shasta along the railroad line was named Redding by the railroad in honor of railroad man Benjamin Redding. In 1874, residents changed the name of the town to Reading in honor of the area's original resident Pierson Reading, but the railroad refused to accept the new name so it was changed back to Redding in 1880.

Redding grew quickly because of the railroad, and when the county seat was moved from Shasta to Redding, Shasta's fate was sealed. By the late 1880s, residents of Shasta began moving to Redding. Residents who couldn't sell their houses and businesses abandoned them. Some buildings were dismantled and rebuilt in Redding.

In the early 1900s, several individuals and groups recognized the historical value of the old town and made efforts to save the remaining buildings. The state acquired the property and opened the museum in the old courthouse in 1950.

The admission to the museum is $2. There is a 5-minute movie about the history of Shasta, as well as stories about life in Shasta and displays of some of the furnishings and other possessions that belonged to Shasta residents. There was a display of some balances and weights that were used for gold back in the day.

The courtroom, shown below, is set up the way it was in 1861.

 

The next photo shows the jail in the basement of the courthouse.

The photo below shows one of the cells. The cells were bigger than those at Alcatraz, but they were still grim. The cells in Shasta didn't look to be nearly as secure as those in Alcatraz, but the ball and chain on the floor would help take care of that.

Out on the main street, which is California Highway 299, you can see the remains of some of Shasta's businesses. The buildings have been stabilized with steel beams and supports, and it looks like there has been preparation for the installation of some informational plaques; but California's budget problems undoubtedly have put everything on hold. In fact, all the California State Parks we have visited are concerned about being closed altogether, or at least closed during the week. In the next photo, Margery is exploring the remnants of some of the old buildings.

 

Fire destroyed most of Shasta in 1852, but residents quickly rebuilt. When another fire destroyed about 70 businesses along Main Street six months later, the merchants rebuilt again, but this time with brick and heavy iron shutters which enabled them to boast they had fireproof construction.

The real star of Shasta State Historic Park is the Litsch General Store, shown in the next photo.

 

Frank Litsch purchased an existing building and opened the store in 1873. Even though this was after Shasta's heyday, the business prospered for a time. But the new railroad station in Redding and the moving of the county seat from Shasta to Redding in 1888 took their toll. Frank finally sold the business to his nephew in 1895 and moved to Redding himself.

The nephew kept the business going by adding postal services in 1903 and gasoline pumps in the 1920s. The antique store fixtures and old fashioned merchandise helped earn the store a reputation as a museum of sorts, which helped attract customers. Finally in 1960, the store and all its contents were sold to the State of California and became part of the State Historic Park.

The great thing about this general store is some of the items in the store are reproductions and some are antiques that are original to the store. The photo below shows the interior of Litsch General Store.

We have seen quite a few old general stores, but most of what was on display in them was pretty rusty and dusty. With many of the items on display being reproductions, the Litsch Store feels more like a real 1880s general store with new merchandise for sale rather than a museum. For example, the labels on the cans in the photo above were provided by Del Monte and are reprints of the original labels. The new look to the cans makes it feel like you are back in 1880.

Jon, who was the volunteer on duty the day we were there, was very informative. In the next photo, he is demonstrating a ribbon crimper. The purpose of crimping the ribbon was to make it more decorative for use as trim on things such as ladies' hats.

 

Another advantage to reproductions is that they can be handled. While the curators come in periodically with white gloves to clean and care for the antiques, visitors can pick up and examine the reproductions. Jon showed us a pair of blue jeans that Levi's made for the museum to their original 1870s pattern.

There is also a restored, working bakery in Shasta, but it wasn't open the day we were there.

If you're ever in the Redding, CA, area, we recommend checking out Shasta State Historic Park. The hours for the general store and bakery are different from those of the museum so call find out the hours, especially of the general store, before you go.

The Redding area still has more to see, so look for our next post.