IPMS ORANGE COUNTY Newsletter – April 2020 Volume 28 No. 4 Southern California’s Premier Model Club NOTICE: THE APRIL MEETING IS CANCELLED COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease and transmits through aerosol particles in the environment. IPMS-OC, our main goal has always been to enjoy the hobby and have fun doing it. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and also in following the "Stay at Home" recommendations of the state authorities, we're cancelling the April 17th meeting. We hope that the May meeting will be safe to meet. The President’s Column By David P. Frederick “Mike Witous: RIP” In October 2019, just a week after OrangeCon I had a chance to go to the Temecula Valley Model Club/ Pendleton AMPS annual barbecue held at Mike Witous’ house in Murrieta. I was there several years ago and decided to make the trip again to see some familiar faces. Mike is pictured in his garage hobby room which holds an impressive stash of models and hobby paint. For those who knew Mike well there are two things you know: he was a lifelong Rolling Hills Titan and Oregon Duck. He played for Oregon three years before a debilitating injury that put him on the sidelines. Mike spent over three decades in the aluminum extrusion industry, exceling to become a National Sales Manager for Sierra Aluminum. Paul Miles, who was often at Mike’s side helped with the coordination of the barbecue and raffle. As you can see on the next page, he and a few others brought some of their models to sell. In This Issue Table of Contents Page Meeting Time and Place 3 Monthly Contest Themes 4 Financials 6 IPMS USA Membership 7 IPMS OC Membership 9 IPMS OC Contest Table 10 Modeling Shows and Swap 11 What have You Been Working 12 They’re Creepy and They’re… 17 Desperado Tour Part 2 23 The Happy Wanderer 46 Stirling Moss 50 Model Reference Page 53 Model Club Meetings in SoCal 54 Upcoming Events 57
Transcript
IPMS ORANGE COUNTY
Newsletter – April 2020
Volume 28 No. 4 Southern California’s Premier Model Club
NOTICE: THE APRIL
MEETING IS CANCELLED COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease and transmits through aerosol
particles in the environment. IPMS-OC, our main goal has always been to
enjoy the hobby and have fun doing it. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic
and also in following the "Stay at Home" recommendations of the state
authorities, we're cancelling the April 17th meeting. We hope that the May
meeting will be safe to meet. The President’s Column
By David P. Frederick “Mike Witous: RIP”
In October 2019, just a week after
OrangeCon I had a chance to go to
the Temecula Valley Model Club/
Pendleton AMPS annual barbecue
held at Mike Witous’ house in
Murrieta. I was there several years
ago and decided to make the trip
again to see some familiar faces. Mike is pictured in his garage hobby room which holds an
impressive stash of models and hobby paint. For those who knew Mike well there are two things
you know: he was a lifelong Rolling Hills Titan and Oregon Duck. He played for Oregon three years
before a debilitating injury that put him on the sidelines. Mike spent over three decades in the
aluminum extrusion industry, exceling to become a National Sales Manager for Sierra Aluminum.
Paul Miles, who was often at Mike’s side helped with the coordination of the barbecue and raffle.
As you can see on the next page, he and a few others brought some of their models to sell.
In This Issue Table of Contents Page Meeting Time and Place 3
Monthly Contest Themes 4
Financials 6
IPMS USA Membership 7
IPMS OC Membership 9
IPMS OC Contest Table 10
Modeling Shows and Swap 11
What have You Been Working 12
They’re Creepy and They’re… 17
Desperado Tour Part 2 23
The Happy Wanderer 46
Stirling Moss 50
Model Reference Page 53
Model Club Meetings in SoCal 54
Upcoming Events 57
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The President’s Column
This time for a modest
fee, they scheduled a
taco truck and fed the modelers with
tacos and quesadillas.
The Collins brothers, Derrick and Kevin
was joined by Shawn Hays and his wife for
some model building discussions.
The highlight of the event was the raffle. A
good selection with a few new kits mixed in
with some oldies but goodies.
The best thing about this type of event it brings people
out of their hobby rooms to mingle with other
modelers. Sadly, it is with deep regret that I must
inform you that recently Mike passed away. The model
building community has lost one of it pillars of
friendship. He will always be remembered for his
passion for model building and will be deeply missed.Michael Witous: May you rest in
peace….Thursday May 7, 1953 to Sunday, Mar 15, 2020. DF
The ghost town of Steins, NM is located just east of the Arizona border. In 1878, the Southern
Pacific Railroad began to blast away at the rock bluffs of Steins Peak for a railroad bed. By 1880,
the railway was completed through Steins Pass and the railroad established a station and rock quarry
nearby. Steins was a water stop with no local source of water; water had to be hauled in on the railroad
by tank cars. The town of Steins grew around the station and by 1905 was a settlement of about 100 people,
with a mercantile store, restaurant, saloon and a post office. Steins was also the headquarters for a few
of the mining companies in the area. It is estimated at its high point in 1919, the town and surrounding
area supported more than 1,000 residents, most of which worked in the nearby mines or in the rock
quarry. By this time, the town also had a boarding house, two bordellos, a dance hall, more stores, two
more saloons, and a hotel. In 1925, the rock quarry closed putting dozens of men out of work, and at the
end of World War II, the Southern Pacific Railroad discontinued its stop in Steins, giving the town notice
that it would no longer deliver water and the station would be closed. The railroad offered the residents
free transportation to wherever they might like to go and the vast majority of its inhabitants took the
offer, leaving many of their possessions behind. In time Steins was completely abandoned and a 1964 fire
destroyed many of the deserted buildings.
Steins today is closed to the public behind a fence. The
ramshackle structures are surrounded by derelict
vehicles and other junk.
In 1976, the Garrison family purchased the property that
included the structures. Warren Garrison took on the
task of preserving Steins. After a while he had several
hundred visitors a week coming in to experience the
“Old West” he had created. In 1988 Garrison sold Steins
to Larry and Linda Link. The Links continued to host
tourists until Larry was murdered by an intruder in
2008.
Steins is now closed, fenced and
posted NO TRESPASSING, but there
was evidence someone was living on
the property. Union Pacific trains
still pass by the town daily.
Shakespeare, NM
Today, what remains of Shakespeare
has been preserved as part of a
privately owned ranch, and is open
to tourists on special occasions or by
appointment.
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David, the son-in-law of the owners, gave us an excellent two hour
tour of Shakespeare. This is the interior of the assay office.
Shakespeare is about three miles south of Lordsburg. Founded as a
stagecoach stop called Mexican Springs, it became a boomtown
when silver was discovered nearby. Elements of the Clanton gang
such as Curly Bill Brocius and Johnny Ringo often used the
settlement as a hideout. Clanton gang member Sandy King, charged
with cattle rustling, murder and "being a nuisance," was lynched by
the Shakespeare vigilance committee. "Russian Bill" Tettenborn was
accused of claim jumping and met the same fate. Their bodies were
left swinging for a few days as a deterrent to others. The Southern
Pacific railroad bypassed Shakespeare in 1880 and established a
water stop at Lordsburg. A new town grew around the railroad stop
and Shakespeare fell into decline. It became a ghost town after the
mines closed in 1929.
This cluster of structures form the pre-Civil War era Butterfield Stage stop.
Saloon at the stage stop. Those are bullet holes in the wall!
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Dining Room at the stage stop. About two dozen people were strung up here over the years by the Shakespeare Vigilance Committee.
The main street in Shakespeare was "Avon"
The
Stratford was the finest hotel in town. The
Stratford on Avon in Shakespeare, clever
huh?
The parlor of the Stratford Hotel.
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Stratford dining room
Stratford kitchen
Typical room at the Stratford
Pre-Civil War army mail station. A small troop of soldiers were here to protect the stage stop and spring.
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The fully equipped and operational blacksmith shop
Coming back into Lordsburg from Shakespeare, we spotted this M42 Duster self-propelled AA gun in a small veteran’s memorial adjacent to the Lordsburg cemetery
Deming
Unable to find a vacancy for Raid Day in either of
Columbus' motels, we stayed Friday and Saturday nights in Deming (about 30 miles north of Columbus).
Deming was a railroad town on the Southern Pacific, named after Mary Ann Deming Crocker, wife
of Charles Crocker, one of The Big Four of the Central Pacific and trans-continental railroad fame. A
Silver Spike was driven here in 1881 to commemorate the meeting of the Southern Pacific with
the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroads; this
was the second transcontinental railroad to be
completed in the United States. Sunday
morning it was raining as we headed south,
back to Columbus to begin our exploration of
what was left of the old El Paso & Southwestern
Railroad.
Deming has many fine old structures dating to
the 1880s. Unfortunately many seem to be
abandoned and this part of town was inhabited
by homeless people.
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El Paso and Southwestern Railroad
EP&SW
Many of the communities and ghost towns we visited were
established as water stops on the El Paso and Southwestern
Railroad. The EP&SW was built by the Phelps Dodge mining
company to haul copper ore from their mine in Bisbee to smelters
in Douglas and El Paso. Construction began in 1888 and the
railroad was incrementally expanded in support of Phelps Dodge
operations. Branches extended into Mexico where Phelps Dodge
owned mines. Another branch went to the coal field of northern
New Mexico to haul fuel for the smelter furnaces. The entire line
was leased to and operated by the Southern Pacific RR from 1924-
55 as a second main line ("South Line") for the SP between Tucson
and El Paso. (SP's line between Tucson and El Paso via Lordsburg and Deming, is known as the "North
Line."). In its heyday, the South Line was very busy with freights and intercity passenger trains like the
Golden State Limited. The line passed through sparsely populated ranch land and agricultural
communities which generated little freight, so the EP&SW was almost entirely dependent on traffic
generated by Phelps Dodge and overflow from the SP "North Line." SP purchased the EP&SW in 1955, but
as mining declined and competition from trucks increased, the railroad fell on hard times. The line
through Arizona and New Mexico was abandoned and rails removed in the 1960s. Although most of the
EP&SW was abandoned, some portions in Arizona and Texas remained and are operated today by the
Union Pacific. New Mexico Highway 9 parallels the old right of way.
Timber bridge west of Columbus. There was only a
trickle of water running under the bridge but the rain
would soon make dry washes like this raging torrents.
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Concrete culvert, look closely and you can see "1906" cast above the arch. The dark ballast
(gravel) on the roadbed above the culvert, appears to be smelter slag.
Hermanas
Named for Tres Hermanas Mts.,
Hermanas is a farming and cattle
raising community that dates to the
1870s. There was a post office here from
1903 to 1925 and the population peaked
at about 150. Today it is an uninhabited
crossroads with some cattle pens and
nondescript foundations but the
roadbed for the wye for turning
locomotives is still visible on a satellite
map. It was from here that EP&SW
built a branch line to connect with the
SP at Deming. Hermanas became a
footnote to history in the 1917 Bisbee
Miners’ Strike.
Striking miners being deported
from Bisbee, July 12, 1917
In 1917, the IWW organized a
strike of the Phelps-Dodge mines
around Bisbee (The Industrial
Workers of the World, IWW or
the "Wobblies", was a radical
international labor union). Phelps
Dodge security forces, reinforced
by hired thugs armed with guns
and clubs, herded some 2,200
strikers to waiting cattle cars on the EP&SW. The train stopped at Hermanas, the striking miners were
forced off and faced a 32 mile walk to Deming, NM without food or water.
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Abandoned trestle near Hermanas
Hachita
Hachita is a ranching community of
fewer than 50 people. In 1902, The EP &
SW laid rails through the valley and
established a water stop at this location.
A shortline, the Lordsburg & Hachita
Railroad, connected with the EP&SW
here and the stop was called Hachita
Junction. The railroad took the name
from the mining town of Hachita which
was in the mountains nine miles to the
east. Hachita Junction included a
station, maintenance yards, water and
coaling towers, an engine house and
housing for workers. The new community grew quickly with the addition of saloons, stores, two story
hotel, school, a church and a post office. Other services
like a blacksmith shop, livery stables, a saddle maker and
a barbershop were also opened. The town became a
bustling community and the center of activity for
ranchers and miners for miles around. Eventually
Hachita Junction came to be called just Hachita and the
old mining town site became known as "Old Hachita."
The old water tank is still standing. Numerous concrete
piers and foundations in the area may have supported the
coaling tower.
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Cattle were herded from nearby ranches
into this stockyard in preparation for
shipment on the railroad. Smelter slag
ballast on the ground indicates this was the
location of a rail yard.
During the Mexican Revolution, Mormon
communities in Mexico were persecuted
and a large number of Mormons who had
fled Mexico settled in Hachita. After the
raid on Columbus by Pancho Villa, the U.S.
Army strengthened its military presence
along the Mexican border by establishing
several army camps. Camp Shannon was
established at Hachita in 1917. The camp helped the local economy but it was closed in 1922.
Tokens from the Hachita Post
Exchange. Over 400 men from
the 7th and 10th Cavalry
regiments and 6th Field
Artillery were posted at
Hachita between 1917-22.
By 1920, Hachita reached the
height of its prosperity. The
population was around 800 with
four passenger trains and several
freight trains a day passing
through town. But the mines in the area closed when copper prices dropped and the population of
Hachita began to dwindle during the Depression of the 1930s. After World War II, trucks reduced freight
on the railroad and in 1961 the last train rolled through town. The high school and grade school closed
and by 1970, there were fewer than 40 residents. Today, only a handful of the houses are occupied and
the Catholic Church is closed. There is an open convenience store with a gas pump and the post office
still serves the residents and ranchers in the outlying area.
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St. Catherine of Siena Catholic
Church was originally a high
school built by the WPA in the 1930s. It was
converted to a church in the 1970s but is
now abandoned.
Old Hachita (Eureka)
Native Americans mined turquoise for
centuries in the mountains the Spanish
named "Hachita" (hatchet) after the small
knives and hatchet-like digging tools the
Indians left behind. American prospectors
arrived in the 1870s, discovered copper,
lead and silver and gold, and the area
became known as the Eureka Mining
District. The community that grew up
around the mines was called Eureka. In
1881, the Southern Pacific Railroad built a line through Lordsburg, 45 miles to the north, which gave
better access to the area and output from the Eureka mines boomed. Eureka's population grew to 300
with three saloons, two general stores, a blacksmith shop, mill and smelting works. The most productive
mines in the area included the American National, Hornet and Gold King. In 1884, Eureka got a post
office. To avoid confusion with an existing "Eureka" post office, the town's name was changed to Hachita.
Eureka/Hachita also became known as a haven for outlaws, particularly counterfeiters and members of
the Clanton "Cowboys" gang from Tombstone. The "Cowboys" rustled cattle or bought them with phony
money in Mexico and often herded their contraband through Eureka. In March 1881, Cowboys Jim Crain,
Bill Leonard and Harry “the Kid” Head robbed a stagecoach between Benson and Tombstone, killing the
driver and a passenger. Wells Fargo offered $2,000 dead or alive for each man, and they fled to Eureka.
There they got into a dispute with some locals, Ike and Bill Heslet, and the Heslet brothers killed Leonard
and Head. Crain returned with Johnny Ringo, Frank Stilwell and other Clanton gang members and shot
the Heslets to death in a Eureka saloon.
As with other boomtowns, the mines eventually played out and when the market for silver sharply
dropped in 1893, which was the end of old Hachita. Some of the mines reopened in 1902, when the EP&SW
railroad was built. Old Hachita continued its mining operation into the 1920’s but when copper prices
dropped, the mines shut down and the town became a true ghost town. Its remoteness has left Old
Hachita one of New Mexico’s best ghost towns and we were looking forward to exploring the many
structures that remained. Unfortunately, the rain storm caused us to reconsider venturing 7 miles
into the mountains on an unmaintained dirt road. From the paved road we had seen the washes were
running and we had encountered large puddles on Hwy 9. We decided it would be prudent to visit Old
Hachita another time.
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Playas
Continuing northwest on Hwy 9, we crossed the Continental
Divide and entered the Animas Valley
Old cattle loading pens at Playas Siding (near
Animas) have not been used since the rails were
pulled up in the 1960s.
Animas
Animas is a small ranching community in a high
valley with many Native American archeological
sites. Animas was founded in the 1750s by the
Spanish and became part of Mexico in 1821. It is
located in the area sold to the United States with
the Gadsden Purchase of 1853. The Animas post
office opened in 1909 and the town of 250 residents
still seems to be alive with open businesses and a
large high school... Go Panthers!
The Animas Valley has always had problems with
outlaws, cattle rustlers and smugglers and was part
of the route known as the "Smugglers Trail."
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The Clanton Gang was also known as
“The Cowboys." The Clanton’s arrived in the
Arizona Territory from Texas after the Civil War.
They built a ranch in the San Pedro river valley
near where Tombstone would be established a
decade later. By 1873 they were involved in outlaw
activities, including cattle rustling, stage
robberies, ambushing teamsters and murder.
Led by patriarch Newman Haynes “Old Man”
Clanton, the Clanton family, with their neighbors,
the McLaury’s, and several ranch hands including
"Curly Bill" Brocius and Johnny Ringo, preyed on
the territory from the San Pedro River to the
Animas Valley. Their activities were unchallenged
until the arrival of Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp
and his brothers in Tombstone. Their
confrontations eventually led to the famous
“Gunfight at the O.K. Corral."
Newman Haynes “Old Man” Clanton was killed in Mexico while
stealing cattle.
Ike Clanton was a rustler,
highwayman and bushwhacker who
escaped being shot by Wyatt Earp on
two occasions. He finally met his end
in 1887 near Springerville, AZ
Ike Clanton ran away when the shooting started and avoided being killed
at the O.K. Corral gunfight in 1881. In 1885 he was implicated in the
murder of rancher Isaac Ellinger. Ellinger's older brother William was
one of the largest cattle barons in the Arizona Territory and both brothers
were members of the Apache County Stock Association. In 1887, after law
enforcement had been unable to bring Ike Clanton to justice, the association hired a range detective, Jake
Brighton, to capture Clanton. Brighton tracked him down and ordered him to surrender.
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Clanton tried to escape on horseback and Brighton shot him through the heart; He was dead
before he hit the ground. Clanton was buried where he fell, somewhere on Jim Wilson's Ranch on Eagle
Creek, south of Springerville. Some say "shot while trying to escape" was a cover up, that Brighton was
hired to kill Clanton and the Apache County Stock Association had the political clout to make the trying
to escape story stick. Continuing west, the road began to climb into the Antelope Pass through the
Peloncillo Mtns and into the San Simon Valley. At the intersection with Hwy 80 we turned south. Rain
was coming down steadily.
Rodeo
Rodeo has a population of around 100, it is almost a ghost town. None of the businesses were open, but
it was a Sunday.
The San Simon is a wide valley with the
Chiricahua Mountains to the west and
the Peloncillo Mountains to the east.
Rodeo was established in 1902, built by
the railroad to serve as a siding, water
stop and station. The Rodeo Post Office
has been in operation from 1903 to
present. When the railroad ceased
operation, Rodeo nearly became a ghost
town, but still survives today because of
local ranchers and travelers on Highway
80. Most of the buildings and other
structures used by the railroad are gone
and just the foundations remain.
Rodeo Depot in the 1950's judging from the
vehicle in the background. Depot appears
identical to the one in Columbus, NM.
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Looking down the right of way of the
EP&SW, the foundation and loading
dock of the old depot is on the right)
Apache
Continuing south on Hwy 80, we crossed
the Arizona state line and came to a
crossroads. Apache, AZ is where the
Skeleton Cyn Rd intersects with Hwy 80.
It is marked by the Geronimo Surrender
Monument, although the actual
surrender site is about 10 miles to the
southeast in Skeleton Cyn.
Geronimo surrender obelisk kind of looks like
the old guy is giving us the finger. Rain was
coming down heavy and the clouds were on
the deck.
Geronimo (mounted on left) and Naiche (youngest son of
Cochise, mounted on right), Geronimo's son Perico standing on
left holding baby. Photo taken by C.S. Fly around the time of
Geronimo's surrender.
For 30 years, Geronimo had fought to protect his Apache
lifestyle and homeland; His band was the last of the Apaches to
be confined to a reservation. By 1886, his people were
exhausted from being continuously on the move to avoid
capture. Hopelessly outnumbered, he surrendered to General
Nelson Miles.
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Geronimo was the last Native American warrior to formally surrender to U.S. forces which
brought an end to the Indian Wars in the Southwest. Considered too dangerous to be turned loose on
an Arizona reservation, Geronimo and his band were exiled to Florida and eventually moved to a
reservation near Fort Sill, Oklahoma. There he adopted the white man's ways, participated in President
Theodore Roosevelt’s 1905 inaugural parade, and dictated his autobiography Geronimo’s Story of His Life.
He died at Fort Sill in 1909.
Skeleton Canyon
Our plan called for a side trip into Skeleton Canyon to see the actual Geronimo surrender site but the
rain had flooded the road. Even the paved highway was starting to flood and we were concerned we might
get stranded. The canyon is part of the Smugglers Trail, a secluded path through almost uninhabited
country, to and from Mexico. This route has been in use since pre-Columbian times, was favored by
outlaws like the Clanton gang in the 1880s and is still used today by Mexican cartels to smuggle drugs
and people into the US. The trail runs north out of Sonora, Mexico, up the Animas Valley in New Mexico,
crosses the Peloncillo Mtns through Skelton Canyon, then west through the Coronado National Forest
in Arizona where it comes out near McNeal, AZ.
Skeleton Canyon (marked
in red) in the Peloncillo
Mtns. connects the San
Simon Valley of Arizona
with the Animas Valley of
New Mexico. Originally
named Guadalupe Canyon
by the Spanish, it came to
be called Skeleton Canyon,
as a result of all the bones
of cows and humans that
perished there.
The canyon was the site of several gunfights during the Wild West. In 1879, a group of outlaw cowboys
attacked a group of Mexican Rurales (rural police). In 1881, "Curly Bill" Brocius and elements of the
Clanton Gang robbed and killed about a dozen Mexicans in the canyon and stole their cattle. In
retribution, the Mexican Rurales ambushed the Clanton Gang as they were driving stolen cattle
through the canyon. In 1883, Apache Indians from Chihuahua's band surprised troopers of the Fourth
Cavalry, killed three men, burned the wagons and supplies, and drove off forty horses and mules. In more
recent times, human traffickers and drug cartels have been known to use the route.
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I was told the dirt road through
Skeleton Canyon is generally pretty
good, but that there were a few washes
subject to flash flooding. So even
though the Geronimo surrender site is
well marked, given the weather
situation, we did not attempt the trip
through Skeleton Canyon lest we add
our bones to the many who have never
returned!
This scrubby grove in Skeleton Canyon is the actual site of Geronimo's surrender (http://abell.as.arizona.edu photo)
John Slaughter Ranch
It was mid-afternoon as we drove out of the San Simon valley and in the distance to the southwest, we
could see rays of sun along the edge of the storm. The San Bernardino Ranch, better known as the
Slaughter Ranch after the owner in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is about 15 miles east of Douglas
along the US/Mexico border. We had left the rain behind, the road to the ranch appeared solid, damp
but no mud, so we gave it a try and made it to the ranch without a problem. The San Bernardino
Ranch was originally established in Mexico and covered thousands of acres. When the border was
realigned following the Gadsden Purchase, part of the ranch was in the US and the rest was still in Mexico.
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John Horton Slaughter (1841 – 1922), also known
as "Texas John" Slaughter, was a lawman and rancher.
Remember the Texas John Slaughter Disney series (1958)? And
the theme song: "Texas John Slaughter made 'em do what they
oughta, and if they didn't, they died."
After serving in the Confederate Army during in the Civil War,
Slaughter made his reputation fighting hostile Indians and both
Mexican and American outlaws in the Arizona and New
Mexico territories. In the latter half of his life, he lived at the San
Bernardino Ranch. The ranch house and several out buildings
are well preserved and include furnishings in use when Slaughter
lived there.
The Slaughter Ranch house is on high
ground overlooking Mexico. Slaughter
enjoyed sitting on his porch and looking
out over his property.
Slaughter's favorite chair. The rugs could be
rolled up and furniture set against the walls so
this room could be used for dances.
During the Mexican Revolution, the US Army
established an outpost on a mesa above the ranch
in order to keep an eye on the border.
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Prior to the 2nd Battle of Agua Prieta, Slaughter observed Pancho Villa's army butchering his
cattle on the Mexican portion of his ranch. This went on for two days, so Slaughter saddled up and rode
into Villa's camp. He returned with saddlebags full of silver in payment for his beef. After the battle, one
of Villa's officers presented Mrs. Slaughter with his sword as a token of appreciation for feeding his men.
1st Cavalry outpost on the
mesa above the Slaughter
Ranch during the Mexican
Revolution. Stone corral
enclosure in foreground.
Remains of the old corral
today. US/Mexico border is
at the base of this mesa.
I asked the caretaker how
close we were to the
Mexican border. He
pointed across a pasture
and said, "That fence is 60
feet away, that's the
border." We noticed two
rifles leaning against the
bookcase behind the desk
in the visitor’s reception
building and Bob asked,
"Do you have any problems
with illegal migrants?" The
caretaker's wife answered,
"We used to, they caught
mostly Chinese and Pakistani’s coming through here. But since Trump beefed up the Border Patrol and
started building the wall, we haven't encountered anyone. Still, it's best to be prepared and always have
a gun within reach. We're on our own out here."
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This is a construction camp working on the border wall. Difficult to see but the wall is the dark band
along the horizon. Seen from the Slaughter Ranch Rd.
Douglas
Light was fading as we rolled into Douglas to find a room. The Douglas area was first settled by the
Spanish who established the Presidio de San Bernardino in 1776 east of present day Douglas. Douglas was
founded in 1905 as a smelter town by the Phelps Dodge Company to refine the copper ores from
nearby Bisbee. The town is named after mining pioneer and Phelps Dodge executive Dr. James Douglas.
In the first half of the 20th century, America was converting to electricity and there was a huge demand
for copper. Phelps Dodge was a major producer
of copper but the Douglas Reduction Works
closed in 1987 and the facility was dismantled
in 1991.
The old EP&SW Depot now houses the
Douglas Police Dept.
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Desperado Tour 2020: Part 2
El Paso & Southwestern logo
The rotunda inside the station building
Possibly the swankiest police station in
Arizona with polished marble and finely
crafted woodwork.
This heavy ore car was used to move bulk
products at the smelter.
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Desperado Tour 2020: Part 2
Bob had a recommendation from a friend of a friend for dinner at "the best steak house in
Douglas." So we changed into dry clothes and headed out. The place was a little hard to find
owing to bad directions and "just outside of Douglas" turned out to be 40 miles away! The restaurant
was a little roadhouse in the middle of nowhere on Hwy 92 near Hereford and as we pulled up, the
Cochise County Sheriff was making an arrest in the parking lot!
Bright Spot Restaurant was out of the
way but worth it. The establishment
had a honky tonk vibe with friendly
service and locals drinking at the bar.
I began dinner with a tangy, stiff
Bloody Mary and salad followed by a
juicy sirloin, medium rare with just
the right amount of char. 4 stars on
the Budzeka scale.
To be continued. Next month: Fort
Huachuca and Earps vs Clantons. FR
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In Memory of Stirling Moss Stirling Moss passed away Easter Sunday. His racing career spanned 1948 to 1962 and
he won 212 of the 529 races in which he competed.
Stirling Moss lifts the trophy after winning the British Grand Prix in 1955. Moss won a career
total of 16 Formula 1 Grand Prix races.
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Moss came in second at the 1953 Le Mans in a C-type Jaguar. He preferred to race
British cars, stating, “Better to lose honorably in a British car than win in a foreign one."
Moss broke the Land Speed Record for 1500 cc cars driving the MG EX181 "Roaring Raindrop"
to over 245 mph at Bonneville in 1957. Watch a newsreel video here:
