4/8/2013
Topic:
Pegleg Smith's Liars Contest
Space Cowboy
|
I went to the 38th revival of the Peg Leg Smith Liars Contest on Saturday. I have heard of it all my life, and yet this was my first attendance. I did not participate, but merely witnessed. Indeed, I Witnessed The Truth with Fossil Phil and Dead Elvis.
You had to be there.
Lowell Lindsay of Lowell and Diana Lindsay fame MC'd the show with a Sierra Nevada in his hand, endearing him to me for all time. Diana Lindsay gave us the historic facts of Thomas 'Pegleg' Smith, and then the Lying began.
This is as off-the-cuff as you can get. The Mayor of Borrego Springs poked and prodded audience members to Tell Their Tales' onstage. Innocent children were seduced into participating, much to the delight of the two hundred-odd multitude.
I did not catch the name of the fire master. His contribution was an integral part of the show.
Individuals operating under pseudonyms like P.F. Smith sang songs to the horse thief Pegleg. The evening entertainment ended with the awarding of coveted genuine recycled trophies, which each victor chose from the pile of laurels.
There are two categories of participants; 'Kids' and 'Others'. I do think they need a third category, 'Professional', and then invite all the local politicians.
Diana pointed out that since Harry Oliver started the original Peg Leg Smith 'trek' back in 1916, which included a story-telling session at the end of the search for Smith's gold, the Peg Leg Smith's Liar's Contest might very well be the oldest continuous event of its kind.
I am even now calculating the date for next year, the first Saturday after April 1st, Harry Oliver's birthday. If only I can get my daughter to participate. She'll bring home the prize on any day of the week. |
4/9/2013
Topic:
Pegleg Smith's Liars Contest
Space Cowboy
|
Thank you, ziphius. |
4/9/2013
Topic:
DesertUSA - Shaman Cave story
Space Cowboy
|
This thing gets around:
http://www.dezertmagazine.com/dez-mag/2011DZM04/index.html#/20/
You have to flip the pages, to page 20. Same article, much better pix.
edited by Space Cowboy on 4/9/2013 |
4/9/2013
Topic:
Exploring The Island and Myer Valley
Space Cowboy
|
There's a historical marker for the old stage coach station up at the Desert View Tower. I suspect they moved the marker from its original spot to there when they put in the freeway. Although, I remember seeing the marker/monument there as early as 1964. The freeway wasn't completed yet, I don't think, but maybe someone was thinking ahead.
Now, does anyone know what's going on at Mountain Springs, the town, I mean. Its one of the few ghost towns that I know of with its own interstate off-ramp. I would love to walk through there. Some of those structures I remember being a bar and store in the '60's.
edited by Space Cowboy on 4/9/2013 |
4/9/2013
Topic:
The Killing of Frank Fox
Space Cowboy
|
Some old buddies and I hiked out to Carrizo Creek not all that long ago and I wrote it up for In-The-Desert. http://www.in-the-desert.com/carrizowash.html
I had never really looked for Frank Fox's grave before, even though I had read the article in Desert Magazine many moons ago. (June 1940, page 17 on PDF, page 15 in the actual magazine) http://dezertmagazine.com/mine/1940DM06/index.html. Well, we found the grave, it has a new, very impressive marker, set there by the Clampers, and I started obsessing on this incident where Frank Fox was killed, shot, unarmed, in the back. I came across Phil Brigandi's very scholarly, wonderfully readable article on it, and I'd give you a link, but its disappeared from the internet.
Thing is, he took a myth and made it a historical event, but then didn't tie up all the loose ends. So I've given it a try. If you've ever wondered about this Cowboy Tragedy, I've got a whole lot of background and foreground on this killing, maybe more than anywhere else: http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=3199
It is a work in progress, and what I'm looking for right now, is anyone who is or knows any of the descendants of the principles in the story. If there's any Arizona Slankards, Crouch's, Davenports, Porters, Grays, I'd love to hear from them, because the story is always told from the Cowboy's perspective, and not from the posse's.
All Help Greatly appreciated. |
4/9/2013
Topic:
The Killing of Frank Fox
Space Cowboy
|
dsefcik wrote:
tarradiddle ??
Its a word. It may not be the best word, but its a word.
edited by Space Cowboy on 4/9/2013 |
4/12/2013
Topic:
Smugglers Cave and the Last General
Space Cowboy
|
We did a hike out to Smugglers Cave, Elliott Mine and Moon Valley a while back, http://www.in-the-desert.com/smugglerscave.html and in the course of trying to find out more about the cave, I came across the one and only Desert Magazine article on it, January, 1940, page 38: http://www.dezertmagazine.com/mine/1940DM01/index/html In the article, author Sam Bryan mentions a border bandit named Tirso de la Toba.
A lot of what is written about Smuggler's Cave, even at sites like the BLM, are not supported by historical sources, so I went and tried to find out more about this bandit. Thing is, I couldn't. There were no articles, no books, no mention of the guy anywhere. I ended up doing a major, dare I admit, obsessive search for who and what Turso, Terso Tirso, Tirzo de la Toba was. And I wrote it up: http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=3199
I haven't finished my research, and this is a rough draft. If anyone should know anyone that might have relatives, ancestors or knowledge of Tirzo de la Toba, Ambrosio Ruiz, Juan Rios of El Cajon, or any information about Smugglers Cave, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Al Help Greatly Appreciated. |
4/27/2013
Topic:
Dos Cabezas and Goat Canyon
Space Cowboy
|
So I take it the railroad is closed again. I was at the Campo Historical Society not that long ago (maybe it was, I'm just that old), and they were talking about the RR getting back to business. I walked the length of the Carrizo Gorge from the bottom to Dubber Spur before the turn of the century, but that was before they'd repaired the two half-mile tunnels at each end that had collapsed. It was like walking through time. |
5/15/2013
Topic:
Cattelmen's Shack in Rockhouse Cyn Carrizo Gorge
Space Cowboy
|
A buddy and I once camped out overnight at the cabin, then crawled up the rocks behind it. The grade got too rough to really negotiate to the spring, and there seemed to be a whole lot of other things more accessible to explore. There's an extensive rock wall to the east of the cabin up the wash that you can't really see until you stumble into it. While still looking for the spring a the top we found a whole lot of black plastic piping all over the place. It didn't dawn on me until later that the ruggedness as well as a water source might make it a possible 'Guerrilla' pot farm location. This would date back to before the turn of the century. |