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In 1919, thirty-five years after the city of Lancaster was first founded, Charles and Ethel Wakefield would arrive to Lancaster. They would open the Jazz Café, a brick building located on the west side of Sierra Highway, south of Lancaster Blvd (See Figure 1). Local historians have stated that for a time, the cafe served as the town’s main meeting spot and was great place to eat (Gurba et al). Figure 1: Charles and Ethel Wakefield’s Jazz Café circa 1920s located on the west side of Sierra Highway, south of Lancaster Blvd (Image featured in Lancaster, California Through Time by Gurba, Peterson, Debry, and Rawlings). The Jazz Café would later turn into the Jazz Candy shop. A 1920s issue of the Antelope Valley Ledger Gazette described Charles Wakefield as “the only Candy Maker in his neck of the woods” (MOAH). Mr. Wakefield can be seen in Figure 2 standing in front of his candy store. Figure 3 depicts the interior of the candy store with Ethel standing behind the counter. These photographs were provided in the Lancaster Centennial by Glen and Dorene Settle, who describe the store as a “popular hangout for the teenagers and local businessmen of Lancaster”. At some point, the name of the candy shop changed into the Wakefield Candy Shop. Figure 2: Charles Wakefield standing outside his Jazz Candy Shop ( Lancaster Centennial, photo from Glen and Dorene Settle). Figure 3: Interior of the Jazz Candy Shop ( Lancaster Centennial, photo from Glen and Dorene Settle). Recently found within MOAH collections is a business card for the candy store (Object ID# 1988.176.1) which was donated in 1988 by Lois Wirta (See Figure 4). Lois Wirta also donated a candy cutter and roller that was used in the Wakefield candy shop (See Figure 5). The candy cutter is currently on display at the Western Hotel Museum. Figure 4: Business card for Wakefield’s Candies (Object ID #1988.176.1) from MOAH Collections. Figure 5: Wakefield Candies’s Candy Cutter and Roller currently on display at the Western Hotel Museum from MOAH Collections. With limited records available to document the store’s full history, it is unclear when Wakefield’s Candies closed. Today, Lancaster Blvd still caters to local small-owned businesses. We encourage you to have a look at the Wakefield candy shop artifact and learn more about Lancaster’s history at the Western Hotel Museum located on Lancaster Blvd. The museum is open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 11 AM – 4 PM. Admission to the museum is always free, but we accept and appreciate all donations. We hope that you will enjoy your visit and reminisce on the Wakefield’s and their sweet treats. Works Cited City of Lancaster and Centennial Committee, Images of the Jazz Candy Shop provided by Mr. And Mrs. Glen Settle, published in Lancaster Celebrates a Century 1884- 1984 A Pictorial History of Lancaster, CA, 1983 . MOAH Collections, Image of Object ID #1988.176.1 and the Wakefield’s candy cutter and roller. Norma Gurba, Karl Peterson, Dayle Debry, and Bill Rawlings, Lancaster, California Through Time, 2017.

Many Antelope Valley Residents know of our musical road located on Avenue G between 30th and 40th Street West, but they might not be aware that Lancaster is one of the few places in the United States, let alone the world, that has a musical road, making it one of our most unique attractions. As many residents remember, the road was first opened on September 5, 2008, along Avenue K and was named the “Civic Musical Road”. The original road was designed and made by Honda as part of an advertising campaign and was the first of its kind in the United States. It quickly became popular and many people lined up to take a drive on it. This not only caused traffic build ups in the street, but the sound of the song carried as far as a half mile causing many residents to issue noise complaints (Destination Lancaster). In response to this issue, the city repaved the original road on Avenue K and moved it to a more secluded Avenue G, where it still sits today. It reopened on October 12, 2008. The music is created from driving over grooves in the road, like rumble strips. When driven on at about 55 miles per hour, the grooves create different pitches of sound, playing the William Tell Overture finale (also known as The Lone Ranger theme song). The first known musical road ever created was the Asfaltofon ,or Asphaltophone, made in 1995 in Gylling, Denmark by two Danish artists Steen Krarup Jensen and Jakob Freud-Magnus. Their design was made from a series of raised circular pavement markers, also known as Botts’ dots, which similarly created vibrations and sound when driven over. Their song of choice was an arpeggio. The second musical road was made in 2000 in Villepinte, Sien-Saint-Denis, France. Supposedly the road was paved over just two years later, but some claim that it can still be heard when driving on the road. Japan really took off with the installation of musical roads. In 2007, a man named Shizuo Shinoda accidentally scraped some markings into a road with a bulldozer before driving over them, realizing they could create different musical tones. Engineers in Sapporo, who had previously studied the use of infra-red light to detect dangerous road surfaces, begin studying how to create musical roads further (Johnson 2007). There are now at least thirty musical roads in Japan today, with some playing the theme song from the anime Neon Genesis Evagelion and the song “Always with Me” from the film Spirited Away . These roads are primarily made for tourism purposes. However, other countries have developed musical roads for the purpose of safety such as Indonesia, South Korea, and China. The Indonesian road was interestingly made to reduce the number of traffic accidents in the area, playing the familiar Happy Birthday song. Having the songs play keeps people awake when driving. Oftentimes, the songs on the musical roads can only be heard correctly if you drive on them with the correct, consistent amount of speed. The Chinese general manager of the architecture company that created many of the roads in China named Lin Zhong Lin Zhong stated that this aspect of the roads allows people to move at a constant speed. For people to enjoy the musical effect, they must stay in the correct speed limit. Several musical roads in China play the national anthem as well as the overture from “Carmen” and “Ode to Joy”. In 2022, the most recent musical road was made- playing the song “Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China.” As mentioned, Lancaster’s musical road was built in 2008 and it was the first musical road ever created in the United States. In October of 2014, in Tijeras, New Mexico, a musical road was made which played “America the Beautiful” on a two lane stretch of Route 66. Unfortunately, that road has been fading and the department of transportation has no plans to restore it due to the great cost. The final musical road in the United States is at Auburn University in Alabama, which plays the first seven notes in their college’s fight song. “War Eagle”. The most recent musical road was created in the United Arab Emirates in January of this year. The sounds of the road are being tested and developed to play the national anthem of the country. It is unclear if more musical roads will be developed in the United States, whether for safety or for advertisement, but Lancaster’s remains a piece of musical road history. Why not revisit it and take a drive? Works Cited: Destination Lancaster. The Musical Road ( Destination Lancaster The Musical Road - Destination Lancaster (destinationlancasterca.org) ). Johnson, Bobbie. “Japan’s Melody Roads Play Music as You Drive”. The Guardian. 2007. ( Japan's melody roads play music as you drive | World news | The Guardian ). Wikipedia. Musical road ( Musical road - Wikipedia ).

Earlier this year on January 5th, the Biden administration signed the Butterfield Overland National Historic Trail Designation Act into law. This designates a trail extending approximately 3,292 miles long following the route operated by the Butterfield Overland Mail Company from 1858-1861 (National Parks Service Park Planning, SCVN). The route was also known as the Ox-Bow Route, due to the route’s bow shape as it transported mail and passengers between the eastern end points of St. Louis, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee, also extending westward through the states of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, to the western end point of San Francisco, California (See Figure 1, National Parks Service). The trail and route passed through the Antelope Valley area(See Figure 2). Figure 1: Historic map of the Butterfield Overland Trail with route shown in black dashed line. (Source:Wikimedia) Figure 2: Butterfield Overland Trail Map, Detail of California Section (Source: SCV News). The mail was carried along this trail by horse-drawn wagons (See Figure 3 for illustrationof the Overland Mail Company from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper , October 23, 1858). They would enter the Santa Clarita Valley and go onward to the Antelope Valley from the south through the Newhall Pass through what would later become Beale’s Cut in the 1860s (See Figure 4 for an image of Beale’s Cut from MOAH’s Collections). “From there, the route continued approximately up today’s Newhall Avenue-Railroad-Bouquet Canyon Road, out Seco Canyon and up San Francisquito Canyon to Elizabeth Lake” (SCV News). Figure 3: The Butterfield Overland Mail from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, October 23, 185 (Source: California State Parks). Figure 4: Clarence Gerblick at Beale’s Cut (Source: MOAH Collections). The trail was deemed “nationally significant in American history” by the National Parks Service “because it represents a great idea or ideal of the American people. Today, “the Butterfield” is a name that is well known to many Americans. Additionally, the trail is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad national patterns of American history because the route fulfilled a critical need to tie disparate parts of the country together and satisfied the need to have an overland route that ran entirely within the continent’s borders” (National Parks Service Special Resource Study). The trail also offers potential for public recreational use and opportunities for tourism along its route, including several state parks, historic sites, and museums in California such as Anza Borrego Desert State Park in Borrego Springs, Fort Tejon State Historic Site in Lebec, Vallecito Regional Park in Julian, and the Wells Fargo History Museum in Los Angeles (National Parks Service Special Resource Study). During the beginning of the 19th century, the United States was greatly expanding in its territory and in population. In the early 1840s, Americans began to move into the newly acquired western territory to settle in Oregon and California. The large influx of immigrants increased pressure on the US Post Office Department to meet the people’s transportation demands. In 1857, Congress attached an amendment to the annual post office appropriations bill that authorized a stagecoach line that would connect California with the Mississippi River valley (National Parks Service Special Resource Study). Congress tasked the US Post Office Department to find a contractor to create the route and a transportation system that would be ready to go within just a year of signing the contract. On September 16, 1857, John W. Butterfield, a friend of President James Buchanan from Utica New York, won and signed a six-year contract with the US Post Office Department. The Overland Mail Company was created and running after a year of construction. In order to make certain southern states happy, the contract was required to include “a route from St. Louis and Memphis, Tennessee, converging at Little Rock, Arkansas. Thence, via Preston, Texas, or as nearly so as may be found advisable, to the best point of crossing the Rio Grande River above El Paso, and not far from Fort Fillmore (See Figure 5 for an image of Butterfield). Thence along the new road being opened and constructed under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, to Fort Yuma, California. Thence through the best passes and along the best valleys for safe and expeditious staging to San Francisco” (National Parks Service Special Resource Study). Northerners were not happy with the southern route, but it was claimed that the Butterfield Overland Trail route was chosen to avoid bad northern winter snow and that Butterfield’s trail could offer a route that was “safe, comfortable, and certain during every season of the year” (National Parks Service Special Resource Study). The Overland Mail Company would later consolidate in 1866 with Wells Fargo’s carriers until the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 (SVC News). Figure 5: John W. Butterfield (Source: Wikimedia) The recently passed Butterfield Overland National Historic Trail Designation Act does not provide any funding for route markers for the trail, though this may happen in the future with subsequent development proposals. However, the recognition and designation of a National Historic Trail so close to home alone is a great achievement! Works Cited Leon Worden, SCVNEWS.com. “Historic Wagon Route Through SCV Gets Its Due”. January 8, 2023. ( SCVNews.com | Historic Wagon Route Through SCV Gets Its Due | 01-08-2023). Mary A. Helmich, Interpretation and Education Division, California State Parks. “Stage Styles-Not All Were Coaches!”. 2008 ( Stage Styles - Not All Were Coaches (ca.gov)). National Park Service, (PEPC) Planning, Environment & Public Comment. “Butterfield Overland Trail Special Resource Study” ( ParkPlanning - Butterfield Overland Trail Special Resource Study (nps.gov)). National Park Service, US Department of the Interior. Butterfield Overland Trail National Historical Trail Special Resource Study. May 2018. Wikimedia. Butterfield-Overland.gif. John W. Butterfield Image.( https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Butterfield-Overland.gif ).

As summer rolls into the Antelope Valley, it’s nice to look back on one of our favorite American pastimes- baseball. Baseball has been played in the Antelope Valley well over one hundred years, starting as early as 1892 (Gurba, 2005). MOAH collections has several photos of early teams within our collection, some of which are shown here. In the 1910s, there were three teams in the valley- the Mojave, Palmdale, and Tehachapi teams, which were said to have a strong rivalry (see Figure 1). Figure 1: Photograph from c. 1910 of the Lancaster, Mojave, and Tehachapi baseball teams (Gurba, 2005; MOAH Collections). According to local historian Norma Gurba, because few recreational activities existed for young men to pursue at the time, folks would play ball for hours (Gurba, 2005). Figure 2 depicts the Lancaster baseball team of 1918. Olen Forquer, back row, second from right, and M. Dodge, front row on right, were heavy hitters for the local team (City of Lancaster, 1983; photograph from Mr. And Mrs. Glen Settle). Figure 2: The 1918 Lancaster Baseball team (City of Lancaster, 1983; photograph from Mr. And Mrs. Glen Settle). The entire Antelope Valley community would come out to watch the games and hold barbecues (Gurba, 2005). Figure 3 shows an early barbecue event after a game at Rawley Duntley’s Oak Creek Ranch near Willow Springs. Figure 3: A baseball game and barbecue at Rawley Duntley’s Oak Creek Ranch near Willow Springs, exact date unknown but likely c. early 1900s (Gurba, 2005; MOAH Collections). Baseball has continually been played since its first emergence in the AV. Figure 4 shows the Lancaster “Squirt” baseball team, c. the end of World War II in 1945. Team members Eldie McClaurin, second from left, and Ronnie Carter, second from right, back row, Forrest Goode, far left, and Glen Settle, far right, front row, still lived in the Antelope Valley during the 1980s (City of Lancaster, 1983). Figure 4: The post World War II Lancaster “Squirt” baseball team (City of Lancaster, 1983; photograph from Mr. And Mrs. Glen Settle). Today, the city of Lancaster’s Athletics Division offers three seasons of adult softball with men’s, women’s, and coed teams during the Spring (March-June), Summer (July-October) and Winter (November-January). The games are played at the Big 8 Softball Complex which consists of eight championship softball fields and is located at Sgt. Steve Owen Memorial Park, formerly known as Lancaster City Park. The complex is host to 800+ tournament teams and 460+ league teams annually. The tournament season runs from March-November and showcases tournaments from ASA (Amateur Softball Association), USSSA (United States Specialty Sports Association), SCMAF (Southern California Municipal Athletic Federation), and CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) (City of Lancaster). If you are interested in learning more about joining a team and keeping an AV tradition alive, please visit the City of Lancaster’s Athletics page ( Athletics | City of Lancaster (cityoflancasterca.org), the official website of the Big 8 Softball Complex ( Home | Big 8 Softball Complex ) or call 661-723-6077. Works Cited: City of Lancaster, Athletics | City of Lancaster (cityoflancasterca.org). City of Lancaster and Centennial Committee, Images of baseball teams provided by Mr. And Mrs. Glen Settle, published in Lancaster Celebrates a Century 1884- 1984 A Pictorial History of Lancaster, CA, 1983 . Gurba, Norma H. Images of America Lancaster . Arcadia Publishing, 2005. Museum of Art and History (MOAH), Images of early Lancaster baseball teams.

Unknown to many, the famous actor John Wayne lived in Lancaster as a child. Wayne was originally born Marion Morrison in Winterset, Iowa on May 26, 1907. At some point during his childhood, the Morrison family would move to Lancaster and Wayne would attend Lancaster Grammar School in 1914 at seven years old. His family owned a small homestead located on Avenue M until they decided to move to Glendale in 1916, when Wayne was seven (Gurba, 2005). From there, Wayne would go on to attend high school in Glendale and attend college at the University of Southern California where he would make connections with the film industry and go on to be one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. In 1975, local legendary historian, business owner, and former city committee member Glen Settle sent John Wayne a picture of the 1914 class from the Lancaster Grammar school to confirm if he was in the photo (See Figure 1). Figure 1: The Lancaster Grammar school class of 1914 (featured in Lancaster Celebrates a Century 1994-1984 book publication, City of Lancaster, 1984). John Wayne wrote Settle back in a letter that has been provided here in a photo as well as dictated below (See Figure 2). This letter was originally published in the Lancaster Celebrates a Century 1994-1984 book publication made by the City of Lancaster in 1984. The letter states that Wayne is not present in this 1914 class photo, though he did attend the school at that time. Interestingly, Wayne also takes the time to address several local rumors about the treatment of his horse while he was in Lancaster. Apparently, Wayne frequently had to ride horseback to school and the horse was in poor condition due to a health problem, not to any alleged mistreatment. We at MOAH hope you enjoy this text as much as we do. Transcription of Letter from John Wayne to Glen Settle: John Wayne 9570 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 400 Beverly Hills, California, 90212 February 5, 1975 Glen A. Settle Rt. #1-Box 98 Rosamond, California 93560 Dear Mr. Settle: I was born in 1907 so I would have been seven years old in 1914. I am not one of these children and I really do not remember being in a class or school picture while I was there. My name was Marion Morrison and I had to ride to school on horseback. The horse developed a disease that kept it skinny. We finally had to destroy it but the nosey biddies of the town called the humane society and accused me, a 7 year-old, of not feeding my horse and watering him. This was proven in time to be a lie. I think it was occasioned by the fact that I had allowed a boy even younger than myself to get on the horse and ride him the full length of the town-from one telephone pole to the next- and he fell off the horse which did not upset him but it upset the dear ladies of Lancaster. Anyway, that incident may be found in the annals of your town news and/or remembered gossip. As a matter of fact because the horse was so skinny, I was called skinny which I wish I were today. If there are any other pictures that might be of 1914, I would certainly enjoy receiving one, but I have a pretty good memory and I do not remember having my picture taken while at Lancaster Grammar School. Please accept the statements in this letter as humor and as not being disparaging. Often times a person writes something intended for fun and it is mis-interpreted. This was written for my enjoyment and I hope yours. Sincerely, John Wayne. P.S. The statements are correct. Figure 2: Letter from John Wayne to Glen Settle confirming he is not in the class photo (featured in Lancaster Celebrates a Century 1994-1984 book publication, City of Lancaster, 1984). Works Cited: City of Lancaster and Centennial Committee, Image of Lancaster Grammar School class of 1914 and Letter to John W, CA, 1983. Gurba, Norma H. Images of America Lancaster . Arcadia Publishing, 2005.

During the late 1880s and early 1890s, Mace Mayes was a true outlaw in the wild west of the Antelope Valley (See Figure 1). Originally born in Georgia, Mayes came to the AV and ran a saloon located on Antelope Avenue which was just north of 10th Street West (Gurba 2005). It was there that he and his accomplices would hatch their plans to cattle-rustle the ranches throughout the AV. Figure 2 is an image of the Oak Bar Saloon, which was another bar located along Antelope Avenue , perhaps near Mayes’ place (See Figure 2). In addition to owning a saloon, Mayes served as constable of the Antelope Valley from 1891-1894 (Antelope Valley Rural Museum). No doubt his position kept his secret life of crime hushed. One of Mayes partners was George Vanderkarr. It is documented within an 1895 court case that Vanderkarr had a butcher shop where many of the stolen cattle were killed. Mayes and the gang would then ship the beef “all the way to the Needles”, making money off the stolen meat (The Los Angeles Times 1895). It was claimed that Mayes, Vanderkarr, and their gang stole over 3000 heads of cattle from 1892-1895 which valued to nearly $60,000 at the time (The Los Angeles Times 1895). It was Eli Cammer, the next elected constable who served from 1894-1898 who would arrest Mayes for his crimes (Antelope Valley Rural Museum 2017, Gurba 2005). The court case would take place in the Antelope Valley and lasted ten days. There were 125 witnesses for the case and about half of the AV’s population came to visit the trial (Gurba 2005). The court case was documented by The Los Angeles Times in 1895 and the text can be viewed in Figure 3. Here are some excerpts from the Los Angeles Times Article: “Mace Mayes was ordered into the custody of the Sheriff yesterday by Judge McKinley, as the fight between the law-abiding citizens and the band of cattle-thieves in Antelope Valley is growing so hot and strong that it was deemed no longer safe to leave the ringleader of the gang at large with only a bond to prevent his making a sudden break for the mountains. Nearly all of Lancaster is hanging around the corridors of the Courthouse... It is claimed that Mayes ruled the rougher element in the Antelope Valley with a rod of iron. And that many dare not testify against him. While deputy sheriff, it is alleged, he protected many queer characters, and shielded some decidedly crooked dealings. The ranchers have had enough of this and have organized in their turn to rid the country of this plague, and so protect their herds (The Los Angeles Times 1895) .” Ultimately, Mayes was sentenced to six years at San Quentin prison (see Figure 4). Mayes’ mug shot features the date of his entry, likely reading 1902, and six-year sentencing. How many years Mayes served varies by source, ranging from four to six years (Antelope Valley Rural Museum 2017, Gurba 2005). Once released, Mayes soon became involved with counterfeiting and would return to prison. An article from the Los Angeles Herald in 1899 documents the arrest of nineteen-year-old Silas Duntley, perhaps of relation to local BBQ legend Rawley Duntley. Silas was thought to be the last of the dwindling Vanderkar gang after Mayes was sent to jail. Duntley was “very neatly trapped” by S.D. Pruden, an AV rancher, a man named L.C. Sticky, and Constable H.J. Butterworth (See Figure 5 for an image of the Constable). Pruden apparently had suspicion of the boy and had Duntley agree to sell him two steers from which it was later proven that the steers were stolen goods. Sticky and Constable Butterworth waited for Duntley and Pruden to meet before arresting him. Duntley would confess his theft and was later taken to court. The full article can be read here as Figure 6. Mace Mayes clearly made a damaging impact to the ranchers of the Antelope Valley. He now remains a legend from the Antelope Valley’s wild west days. Works Cited Antelope Valley Rural Museum. “History of Law Enforcement in Antelope Valley Reviewed Antelope Valley Press- January 28, 1955” Newsletter Vol. 1 No. 1 2017 ( AVRM-Newsletter-2017-Vol1-No1.pdf (avmuseum.org) ). Gurba, Norma H. Images of America Lancaster. Arcadia Publishing, 2005. MOAH Western Hotel Museum Facebook Page. Photograph of Mace Mayes Mug Shot. 2018 ( Western Hotel Museum - Antelope Valley cattle-rustler and ex-constable, Mace Mayes (1866 - 1942). He was charged with grand larceny and sentenced to San Quentin State Prison. | Facebook ). Newspapers.com. The Los Angeles Times. “ Mace Mayes Again in Custody. Lawn’s Confession.” from Wednesday November 6, 1895- Page 9 ( 06 Nov 1895, 9 - The Los Angeles Times at Newspapers.com ). University of California Riverside- California Digital Newspaper Collection. Los Angeles Herald. “A Cattle Stealer Silas Duntley Neatly Entrapped in the Antelope Valley” from March 16, 1899 ( Los Angeles Herald 16 March 1899 — California Digital Newspaper Collection (ucr.edu). Figure 1: Mace Mayes (Photograph from MOAH Collections, Identified by Norma Gurba 2005). Figure 2: Locals in front of the Oak Bar Saloon on Antelope Avenue, Lancaster (Photograph from MOAH Collections, Identified by Norma Gurba 2005). Figure 3: News clipping of The Los Angeles Times’ article “Mace Mayes Again in Custody. Lawn’s Confession.” from Wednesday November 6, 1895- Page 9 (Newspapers.com). Figure 4: Mace Mayes’ San Quentin Mug Shot (Western Hotel Museum Facebook Page, 2018). Figure 5: Constable Harry Butterworth rides a spotted horse during cattle round-up near Lancaster on May 28, 1906 (Photograph from MOAH Collections, Identified by Norma Gurba 2005). Figure 6: News clipping of The Los Angeles Herald’s article “A Cattle Stealer Silas Duntley Neatly Entrapped in the Antelope Valley” from March 16, 1899 (UCR California Digital Newspaper Collection).

The City of Lancaster’s 30th California Poppy Festival is scheduled to take place this weekend from Friday, April 21st to Sunday, April 23rd at the AV Fair and Event Center! Event attractions will include live music performances, arts and crafts vendors, delicious food and drink options, kid friendly activities such as petting zoos, and carnival rides. Featured events include motor sporting, monster trucks, and the Rural Olympics. This Rural Olympics has a long history of being conducted in the Antelope Valley at the Antelope Valley Fair (See Figure 1). Figure 1: Advertisement for AV Rural Olympics This year’s Rural Olympics is scheduled to take place Saturday, April 22nd at 12pm and features potato races, tug-of-war, wheelbarrow races, hay-loading and more. Hay-loading was a common AV Fair event and highlights the city’s agricultural roots, specifically our growing of Alfalfa. This photo of a hay-loading contest at the fair was likely taken during the 1950s (see Figure 2). Figure 2: Photo of Hay-loading competition at AV Fair featured in Lancaster Celebrates a Century 1884- 1984 A Pictorial History of Lancaster, CA , photo originally provided to city by Frank Lane. If you are interested in entering in the Rural Olympics and continuing the AV tradition, please register at the City of Lancaster website or at this link: Rural Olympics Entries Tickets | Lancaster, CA | California Poppy Festival™ (etix.com). For more information on the Poppy Festival and to purchase tickets, visit the City of Lancaster website: California Poppy Festival ™ | City of Lancaster (cityoflancasterca.org). MOAH and the Elyze Clifford Interpretive Center will have booths located in the Van Damm Pavilion. Please stop by to learn more about our newest exhibitions and programs. We hope to see you there! Works Cited: City of Lancaster and Centennial Committee, Image of Hay-loading competition originally provided by Frank Lane, 1983 .

Forty-two years ago on April 12, 1981, the Space Shuttle Columbia launched as the United States' first reusable shuttle from Kennedy Space Center. The Columbia would become the first space shuttle to ever launch into orbit and would go on to produce many advancements in science. Its history is deeply rooted in the Antelope Valley. The Columbia was first born at Rockwell International’s Palmdale assembly plant. Construction of the Columbia would begin after the contract was first awarded in July of 1972 and the shuttle was named after the first American ocean vessel to circle the globe. The Columbia is known for many historic firsts in space exploration, including being the command module for the Apollo 11 Moon landing. The Space Shuttle mission STS-9 in November 1983 was the maiden flight for Spacelab- a place designed to be a space-based science lab inside the Columbia’s cargo bay. Inside the Spacelab, astronauts would use the lab to study astronomy, biology, and other sciences while aboard. Spacelab would end on its 16th and final mission on the Columbia in 1998 (NASA, 2005). In addition, many international relationships were fostered aboard. German astronaut Dr. Ulf Merbold became the first European Space Agency astronaut when he flew on the Columbia in 1983. Japanese astronaut Chiaki Mukai was the first Japanese woman to fly in space in 1994 aboard the Columbia. The crew of the STS-73 mission even threw the ceremonial first pitch for game five of the 1995 baseball World Series- marking the first time the pitcher was not on earth! In addition, the Columbia also deployed the Chandra X-ray Observatory on July 23, 1999, which is still in operation today, capturing images of far-off galaxies (NASA, 2005). The majority of the Space Shuttle Columbia’s construction took place at Rockwell International’s Palmdale assembly plant from 1972 to 1979. The list of construction dates below from NASA’s records indicates the exact steps that took place in Palmdale (NASA, 2005). The majority of the Space Shuttle Columbia’s construction took place at Rockwell International’s Palmdale assembly plant from 1972 to 1979. The list of construction dates below from NASA’s records indicates the exact steps that took place in Palmdale (NASA, 2005). July 26, 1972 Contract Award March 25, 1975 Start long lead fabrication aft fuselage November 17, 1975 Start long-lead fabrication of crew module June 28, 1976 Start assembly of crew module September 13, 1976 Start structural assembly of aft-fuselage December 13, 1976 Start assembly upper forward fuselage January 3, 1977 Start assembly vertical stabilizer August 26, 1977 Wings arrive at Palmdale from Grumman October 28, 1977 Lower forward fuselage on dock, Palmdale November 7, 1977 Start of Final Assembly February 24, 1978 Body flap on dock, Palmdale April 28, 1978 Forward payload bay doors on dock, Palmdale May 26,1978 Upper forward fuselage mate July 7, 1978 Complete mate forward and aft payload bay doors September 11, 1978 Complete forward RCS February 3, 1979 Complete combined systems test, Palmdale February 16, 1979 Airlock on dock, Palmdale March 5, 1979 Complete post checkout March 8, 1979 Closeout inspection, Final Acceptance Palmdale March 8, 1979 Rollout from Palmdale to Dryden (38 miles) March 12, 1979 Overland transport from Palmdale to Edwards After completion, on March 8, 1979 the shuttle would be transported from Rockwell International’s assembly plant in Palmdale to NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. A photograph of the shuttle’s move from Palmdale to NASA Dryden is shown here (see Figure 1), which was provided by NASA and published within the City of Lancaster’s Lancaster Celebrates a Century : A Pictorial History of Lancaster, California . The Space Shuttle Columbia would then be transported to Edwards Air Force Base and subsequently ferried to Texas and onto Florida’s Kennedy Space Center where it would take its first flight from April 12-14 of 1981. The Columbia would later land at Edwards Airforce Base, becoming the first space shuttle to ever return from space. Found within MOAH’s collections is a commemorative Pepsi can for the shuttle’s first flight landing (2023.FIC.23). The can features an image of the shuttle with the caption “Pepsi Salutes The 1st NASA Space Shuttle Landing Edwards A.F.B. CA Spring 1981” (see Figure 2). Figure 1: Space Shuttle Columbia moves from Rockwell International’s assembly plant in Palmdale to NASA Dryden Flight Research Center on March 8, 1979 (NASA and City of Lancaster, 1983). Figure 2: A Pepsi can commemorating the Space Shuttle Columbia’s landing at EAFB on April 14, 1981 (MOAH Collections, Object ID # 2023.FIC.23). On February 1st 2003, the Columbia and its crew members were sadly lost during the STS-107 mission during re-entry. According to NASA, the Columbia took off from Kennedy Space Center on January 16th and lost a small piece of foam from an orange external fuel tank and struck the orbiter’s left wing. The impact caused a hole in the wing’s leading edge which caused the shuttle to break apart during reentry to Earth’s atmosphere (NASA, 2005). MOAH remembers the crew lost: Commander Rick Husband, Pilot William C. McCool, Mission specialists Michael P. Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David M. Brown, Laurel Clark, and Payload specialist Illan Ramon. We also recognize the great contributions our Antelope Valley Community has made towards space exploration. Works Cited: City of Lancaster and Centennial Committee, Image of Columbia transportation from Palmdale to NASA Dryden, Lancaster Celebrates a Century 1884- 1984 A Pictorial History of Lancaster, CA, 1983 . Museum of Art and History (MOAH), Image of 2023.FIC.23. NASA, Space Shuttle Overview: Columbia (OV-102), January 31, 2005 ( NASA - Space Shuttle Overview: Columbia (OV-102)).

In 1914, the Morrison family arrived in the community of Lancaster. Wayne's father, Clyde Morrison, had taken up farming and maintained the family’s homestead (located near the present-day UPS facility on Avenue M). By the time the family settled in Lancaster, electricity and paved streets had been introduced to the valley, along with a new grammar school and public library. Wayne was enrolled in second grade at Lancaster Grammar School, on Cedar Avenue, in September 1914. As a young schoolboy, Wayne was known for not tying up his horse properly when he left it by the road, as was the old tradition. When he wasn’t in school, John worked from dawn to dusk, with his parents and younger brother on their farm. Though the family tried farming and ranching for several years, after the death of Wayne’s grandfather, the family decided to leave their first home in California and moved from Lancaster to Glendale in 1916 Gurba, Norma H. Lancaster. Arcadia, 2005. Photo courtesy of MOAH Collections

Poppy season is here again! From MOAH’s Collections, here are photographs of early Lancaster residents enjoying the poppies. Every year, hundreds of people flock to Lancaster to visit the Antelope Valley California Poppy Preserve. The preserve would not have been possible without the work of artist and conservationist Jane Pinheiro, the “Great Poppy Lady”. Susie and Aaron Oldham, Mrs. Olcott Bulkley, son Olcott, and Rev. Amos, among others amongst the poppies (MOAH Collections, Gurba 2005). Old Lancaster Grammar School Principal A.H. Riddell amongst the poppies (MOAH Collections, Gurba 2005). Born on September 9, 1907, Jane Seymour lived in Denver Colorado. She earned her teaching credentials from the University of Utah. In the late 1920s, she would move to Pasadena with her mother who ran a boarding house. While there, she would meet Joseph Pinheiro and the two married in 1930. It wasn’t until 1940 that the Pinheiros moved to the Antelope Valley (Poppy Reserve Interpretive Association). While living in the Mojave, Jane became fascinated with the local desert flora and began painting and studying them. She was a self-taught artist and botanist who came to know many of the local Antelope Valley plants (Poppy Reserve Interpretive Association). Many of her illustrations hang today at the Jane Pinheiro Interpretive Center which is open during poppy season. She became very passionate about conserving the environment and she worked with the Lancaster Women’s Club Wildflower Preservation Committee to establish the Antelope Valley California Poppy Preserve which was founded in 1976 (Poppy Reserve Interpretive Association). In addition to help establish the Poppy Preserve, Jane would also go on to work with assemblyman Allen Miller to establish the 2,720-acre Saddleback Butte State Park to preserve Joshua Trees. Many other wildflower and wildlife sanctuaries in the Antelope Valley were also established due to her efforts (Poppy Reserve Interpretive Association). In 1963, Jane worked to establish an information center for poppy visitors. This information center was first located on Sierra Highway, then moved to the AV Fairgrounds, and then again to the Lancaster Art Gallery and Museum on Cedar Street (Poppy Reserve Interpretive Association). The interpretive center sits inside the preserve and would be named after Jane on April 17, 1982. In recognition of her conservation work service, she would be awarded with the National Oak Leaf Service award from the Nature Conservancy and the Sol Feinstein Environmental award (Poppy Reserve Interpretive Association). In addition to these many contributions to conservation, Jane Pinheiro held numerous positions within the city. She served as the first board secretary for what was the Antelope Valley hospital, now called the Antelope Valley Medical Center, and would remain on the board until she passed (Antelope Valley Medical Center). She would also help form the 1946 Antelope Valley Arts Association/Antelope Valley Allied Arts Association (Poppy Reserve Interpretive Association). In 1950, she helped start the annual Quartz Hill Almond Blossom Festivaland served for ten years on the Board of Directors of the Antelope Valley Fair (Poppy Reserve Interpretive Association). The list goes on. Jane Pinheiro will be remembered as a community hero for years to come. Think of her and her contributions when you visit the poppies this year. Be sure to visit the Antelope Valley California Poppy Preserve website for visitor information: Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve SNR . Jane Pinheiro (left) with Warren Dorn (second to the left), Los Angeles County’s Fifth District supervisor from 1956-1974 (MOAH Collections, Gurba 2005). Jane Pinheiro (third from the right) (MOAH Collections). Jane Pinheiro (MOAH Collections). Works Cited Antelope Valley Medical Center. Hospital Rebrand. ( Hospital Rebrand | Antelope Valley Medical Center (avmc.org) ). Gurba, Norma H. Images of America Lancaster. Arcadia Publishing, 2005. Poppy Preserve Interpretive Association, Ann Gregg. ‘Jane Pinheiro The “Great Poppy Lady” September 9, 1907 – October 14, 1978’ (https://planning.lacounty.gov/.../uploads/2019/04/Biography-of-Jane-Pinheiro.pdf).

William Andrew “Buddy” Redman moved to the Antelope Valley from Monroe City, Missouri in 1911 when he was eight years old. His mother was ill and like many first inhabitants of the Antelope Valley, his family moved in hopes that the highe r, drier climate would help with the illness. Redman would attend school at the second Lancaster Grammar School located on the south side of Tenth Street between Beech and Cedar Avenues (See Figure 1). MOAH Collections has several photos of the school building as well as class photos of its students, one of which may have a young Buddy hidden in the crowd of students (See Figure 2). In a Valley Press article entitled “Pioneer school children were sometimes naughty too”, local historian Norma Gurba recounts Redman’s memories from childhood. In December of 1911, right before Christmas, the Antelope Valley Steam Laundry which was downtown near the second Lancaster Grammar School exploded in a fiery blaze. The explosion was caused by the pipes exploding from very cold weather. Redman and his class of forty other students were able to see the accident across the street from their school and they erupted in excitement, running outside to see the flames. The two teachers at the school, one in charge of the upstairs with older students and one for downstairs with the younger students, were unable to keep the classroom wrangled inside. Eventually everyone was rounded up and no one was injured from the laundry explosion (Gurba, 2021). In addition, Redman recalled the principal of the school, Mrs. Abriel, who would beat students over the calf of their leg for punishment. In addition, boys and girls were divided on the playground by a high board fence and were only placed together during lunch time. In an interview with the LA times in 1989 at 89 years old, Redman recalled that in 1918, the influenza epidemic began, and he and his family were sick. He recalls that local legend Myrtle “Myrtie” Webber, local nurse and proprietor of the Western Hotel Museum, took a buggy out to their ranch to care for their family. He recalls “Everybody knew Myrtle. She was a good woman” (Rotella, 1989). Redman would later go on to attend Antelope Valley High School and played on the football team. During this time, it was the only high school in the Antelope Valley so dorms were built on campus for those students who came in from further away. These dorms were located on Ave. I and were in existence until 1926. In his interview with Park View Students in 1972, Redman recounts that there were jobs for high school students including working on farms bailing hay. These jobs paid two dollars a day plus room and board. In addition, students could take buses in from far off areas to come to high school. These buses were first run by student drivers in 1919 (See Figure 3). By 1925, just after Redman would have finished high school, there were seven buses in the service and men were hired as drivers (Gurba, 2005). Buddy Redman’s father, William Redman Sr. worked as an assistant and later postmaster from 1914-1922. Several photos of William Redman Sr. can be found in the MOAH collections (See Figures 4 and 5). Later, Redman would work from September of 1922 until February 1929 for Union Oil Company. Redman even stayed at the Western Hotel Museum himself during this time when he began driving oil trucks. He would marry Frieda Redman on February 22, 1925 (See Figures 6, 7, and 8) (Antelope Valley Rural Museum). He and a man named George Taylor then obtained the Texas Company Wholesale Distributing Plant for oil, and they operated it until 1946. That year Redman bought a local tire shop and ran it for six months before moving on to work for H.W. Hunter who owned the Dodge-Chrysler auto agency in Lancaster in 1949. He held that job until he opened his own auto agency in 1960 , which he named Redman Plymouth. He would retire in 1981. In addition to his career, Redman played an active role in the city’s development. He was the original director of AV Fair and Alfalfa Festival from 1941-1955 and the grandstand at the old AV Fairgrounds is named after him. He served on the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency from 1962-1973 and helped build Challenger Memorial Hall at the old AV Fair grounds. He helped found Lancaster’s original Junior Chamber of Commerce, was president of the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce, and charter member of Lancaster Elks Lodge. In addition to all these accomplishments, Redman served as honorary mayor of Lancaster and was appointed Treasurer in February of 1978. He served as Treasurer until he died in 1992 at the age of 88 (See Figure 9). Redman had no children of his own but had many nieces and nephews. His wife Frieda Redman would die in 1987 and they are both buried in the Lancaster Cemetery. In his retirement, buddy Redman would promote the history of Lancaster by providing tours of the Western Hotel Museum to guests after it was refurbished. In an LA times interview in 1989, it is mentioned that ‘he generally is pleased with the effort to preserve a place where his life and Lancaster’s history intertwine. “They fixed it up pretty nice,” he says. “It’s nice to have it here for posterity’s sake”’ (Rotella, 1989). Found within MOAH’s collections department is a student research project book, entitled “Mirages, Mountains, and Mysteries: A regional study of the Antelope Valley” which was compiled by a group of one hundred and thirty seventh and eighth grade students from Team II at Park View School in 1972 (See Figure 10). This text features an interview with Buddy Redman entitled “Buddy Redman- Pioneer" by Sue Waligora, Liz Owens, and Tim Fuller. The text of an interview has been dictated below. Buddy Redman- Pioneer By Sue Waligora, Liz Owens, and Tim Fuller In order to obtain information for our regional studies, the three of us went to our most valuable resource- the people themselves, or, in our case Mr. Buddy Redman. We set up an appointment, collected our notebooks and off we went. We appeared in front of Redman Plymouth right on schedule and were shown to Mr. Redman’s office. Upon entering, we laughed and joked, trying to cover up our uneasiness while awaiting his arrival. When he came in, we were stumbling around setting up our tape recorder and trying to act confident. He stood at the door and gave us a cheery greeting. Soon he maneuvered his way to his huge, over-proportioned desk, surrounded by all of his trophies and plaques. His office was a bright room even though there were no windows. He was a cordial man, truthful, well-mannered, and “broke-the-ice" quite easily with us. He lit a cigarette that seemed somehow to relax the atmosphere and in a short while we were rattling off questions left and right. Had we not met him, our impression would have been he was strictly a businessman with seemingly high qualities. But, as we became more involved with him, he revealed not only his businesslike capabilities but his bold, straight-forward attitude and his fantastic sense of humor as well. His past was vivid and colorful and he spoke of it as something gone but not to be forgotten. School days were the most intense in his mind and, when he spoke of them, a faraway look was noticeable in his eyes. He gave us the indication that he would like to return to his younger days, but, that being impossible, he was content with his present-day life. We were so interested in what he had to say that we completely lost track of time. We concluded our interview with full notebooks and a great deal more knowledge about the Antelope Valley. Mr. Redman moved to the valley in 1911 when he was eight years old. His mother was ill and the doctor told his family they would have to move to a higher, drier climate. When they arrived, the town was small with a population of about five hundred. There were two main streets, Lancaster Blvd., which is now 10th St., and Antelope Ave., now Sierra Hwy. He began his education at the Lancaster Grammar School which had about forty students in attendance. Besides being beaten over the calf for your leg for punishment, the principal, Mrs. Abriel, separated the boys from the girls. The playground was divided by a high board fence. The girls used the west side and the boys used the east. The only time the boys and girls were assembled together was for lunch, when the girls ate in the pavilion with the boys. There was a flowing well located in the back of the school and Mrs. Abriel had it piped up into a drinking fountain on both sides of the high board fence. During his high school years, Mr. Redman attended Antelope Valley High School. Since it was the only high school in the Antelope Valley, students who could not be bused in stayed in dorms located on Ave. I. These dorms were in existence until 1926. Jobs for high school students were mainly working on farms bailing hay. These jobs paid two dollars a day, plus room and board which meant sleeping outside. Recreation meant swimming in a reservoir fed by a flowing well or a weekly movie in which one paid ten cents admission, sat on a wooden bench, and watched silent films accompanied by a live pianist. Many people had radios and later, preferred them to television since the reception was so bad. The small town was very friendly and people gathered together from miles around to listen to special events on the radio. Whomever owned a good radio set was sure to have a houseful of people come World Series Time. The same was true for barn-raisings and sewing parties. As many as thirty men would gather to help a neighbor raise his barn and the women would have sewing parties to make baby clothes for anyone having a baby. Farmers with alfalfa fields put up rabbit fences made of chicken wire to keep the rabbits out. After the alfalfa had been harvested and only the stubble remained, Mr. Redman would go out at night and make a hole in the fence, allowing the rabbits to come in and eat the stubble. In the morning he would close the hole, fencing in twenty-five to thirty rabbits in a night. Then he took the rabbit pelts, pressed them, put them in a gunny sack, and tagged them for the Los Angeles Soap Company. The company would give him four to six cents for one pelt. Mr. Redman started in the car business in 1949 with a trucking partnership that lasted about ninety days. From July to September of 1949, he worked for a chemical company and from September of 1922 until February 1929 he worked for Union Oil. He and George Taylor then obtained the Texas Company Wholesale Distributing Plant. They operated that until 1946. That year Mr. Redman bought a tire shop. The tire shop was kept for six months and then sold. At that time, he bought a pipe yard, and it too was sold. In 1949 he went to work for Mr. H.W. Hunter who owned the Dodge-Chrysler auto agency in Lancaster. He held that job until he opened his own Plymouth auto agency in 1960. When he came to Lancaster, there was only one car in town. It was a Cadillac, belonging to a real estate agent who used it to sell land. He had his first car in 1917 at the age of 14. It was called a Brush and it had only one cylinder. He paid one hundred dollars for his first Model T Ford in 1921 and it was a 1919 model. At that time, the Model T Ford was the most popular car to own. His first new car was a Model T Ford purchased from a Ford dealer in Palmdale. He referred to him as “a little hunched back fellow by the name of Hoppy Moore.” Mr. Redman presently owns the Redman Plymouth Agency, located on Sierra Highway in Lancaster. Works Cited Antelope Valley Rural Museum. William “Buddy” Redman photographs Facebook post. William "Buddy" Redman... - Antelope Valley Rural Museum | Facebook. Gurba, Norma H. Images of America Lancaster. Arcadia Publishing, 2005. Gurba, Norma H. “Pioneer school children were sometimes naughty too”. Antelope Valley Press. Nov. 11, 2021. Pioneer school children were sometimes naughty, too | Valley Life | avpress.com. Los Angeles Times . Obituary for William M. “Buddy” Redman. LA Times Archives. March 26, 1992. Rotella, Sebastian. “New Museum Keeps Old Lancaster Alive”. Los Angeles Times. December 17, 1989. Figure 1: The Second Lancaster Grammar School, a two-story red brick structure with a bell tower constructed on the south side of Tenth Street between Beech and Cedar avenues.This scene was taken on February 3, 1903 (Gurba, 2005; MOAH Collections). Figure 2: The Second Lancaster Grammar School in 1911, there were four teachers and 100 pupils. It is possible that Buddy Redman is featured in this photograph when he first arrived in Lancaster(Gurba, 2005; photograph from MOAH Collections). Figure 3: Buses to transport Antelope Valley High School Students (Gurba, 2005; photograph from MOAH Collections). Figure 4: “Butcher Ted Knoll stands in front of his Lancaster Market. Next door was the fourth location of the towns’ post office. A postal assistant and postmaster, William Redman [likely the father to Buddy Redman], stands next to Knoll. The post office was located next to the bank on the south side of 10th Street, between Beech and Antelope Avenues. This post office opened in February 1925”(Gurba, 2005; photograph from MOAH Collections). Figure 5: Postmaster William Redman is the second person from the left on this snowday photograph (Gurba, 2005; MOAH Collections). Figure 6: Buddy Redman marries Frieda Redman on February 22, 1925 (Photo from Antelope Valley Rural Museum). Figure 7: Buddy Redman and Frieda Redman on wedding day on February 22, 1925 (Photo from Antelope Valley Rural Museum). Figure 8: Buddy Redman and Frieda Redman with family on wedding day on February 22, 1925 (Photo from Antelope Valley Rural Museum). Figure 9: Buddy Redman Obituary (LA Times Archives, March 26, 1992). Figure 10: “Mirages, Mountains, and Mysteries” front cover (MOAH Collections).

Written by: Alexandra Jonassen MOAH Collections When the first settlers arrived to the Antelope Valley during the beginning of the 20th century, they were met with a diverse amount of wildlife, including animals that are still very much an active part of our desert landscape - coyotes and rabbits. Antelope Valley farmers often had their chicken coops damaged by hungry coyotes. This problem led to many residents extensively hunting coyotes in the valley, which in turn led to a drop in their population. In fact, in 1892, Lancaster Antelope Valley Bank added buying coyote scalps to its services, stating in advertisements that “We will advance money on coyote scalps; bring your scalps to the Bank and we will do the rest” (Gurba, 2005). Local stores would also encourage the hunting of coyotes by taking coyote pelts and farm produce in return for store merchandise (Gurba,2005). See figures 1 and 2 for images of coyote hunting and pelts. Figure 1:Coyote caught in trap in 1902 in Lancaster (Gurba, 2005; Photo from MOAH Collections) Figure 2: Trapper Harold True with many coyote pelts (Gurba, 2005; Photo from MOAH Collections) The decline in coyotes caused the local Cottontail and Jackrabbit population to skyrocket. Testimony from several early residents have stated that swarms of rabbits roamed the desert. Early resident Evan Evans said at night the ground looked like it was moving because there were so many rabbits (Gurba, 2005). These rabbits would cause great damage to people’s crops and hardware and so again, citizens would turn to hunting to decrease their population. Throughout the 1880s – 1920s, AV residents organized rabbit drives in which hundreds of rabbits would be gathered and killed. People would ride on horseback or run –on-foot to encircle and close in on rabbits, driving them into corrals where they were beaten to death with clubs (Gurba, 2005). Herds of rabbits can be shown being driven into these corrals in photos (See Figures 3 and 4). Women and children would also participate in these events (See Figures 5 and 6). Trains would come every Sunday bringing in folks from Los Angeles who wanted to participate in a rabbit drive during the 1880s. Once the rabbits were killed, people would head back to the city and eat (See Figure 7). Any leftover meat was said to be given to orphanages in Los Angeles (Gurba, 2005). Figure 3: 1880s photograph of rabbit drive (Photo from MOAH Collections) Figure 4: 1880s photograph of rabbits being driven into corral (Photo from MOAH Collections) Figure 5: Photograph from 1902 with women and children in rabbit hunt (Gurba, 2005; Photo from MOAH Collections) Figure 6: Photograph from 1910 of successful rabbit hunt(Gurba, 2005; Photo from MOAH Collections) Figure 7: Rabbit drive party (Gurba, 2005; Photo from MOAH Collections) Found within MOAH’s collections department is a student research project book, entitled “Mirages, Mountains, and Mysteries: A regional study of the Antelope Valley” which was compiled by a group of one hundred and thirty seventh and eighth grade students from Team II at Park View School in 1972 (See Figure 8). This text features interviews with early Lancaster residents who do recall the early rabbit drives. Buddy Redman who first arrived in the valley in 1911 was interviewed by students Sue Waligora, Liz Owens, and Tim Fuller and spoke of the hunts. He recalls his own rabbit hunting, stating that farmers with alfalfa fields put up rabbit fences made of chicken wire to keep the rabbits out. After the alfalfa had been harvested and only the stubble remained, he “would go out at night and make a hole in the fence, allowing the rabbits to come in and eat the stubble”. In the morning Redman would “close the hole, fencing in twenty-five to thirty rabbits in a night. Then he took the rabbit pelts, pressed them, put them in a gunny sack, and tagged them for the Los Angeles Soap Company. The company would give him for to six cents for one pelt” (Park View Students, 1972). In addition, resident Hugh Griffith who came to Lancaster in 1925 was interviewed by student Jan Russell and he too recalls hunting rabbits but in a different manner. He went on a rabbit hunt in 1930s and the interview states that “there were so many rabbits that you could hardly see the ground in some places. There were many different kinds of rabbit hunts. The kind he liked the best was where they would sit on their car and then somebody would be inside to turn the headlights on and they would jump off of the car and bash the rabbits and kill them. But they did that for fun. When the rabbits would get too bad, men would organize a big group and together they would catch them. They would all march around through the sagebrush and drive the rabbits ahead, then they would set a trap and kill them. Some of the rabbits they would eat, like the cottontail rabbits, but the jack rabbits were too tough and stringy” (Park View Students, 1972). Griffith also testifies that it was difficult to shoot coyotes and that they would run away quickly into the darkness. Thankfully, we do not have this overgrown population problem with rabbits today and we do have these extraordinary images to look back on. Figure 8: “Mirages, Mountains, and Mysteries” front cover (MOAH Collections). Works Cited Gurba, Norma H. Images of America Lancaster. Arcadia Publishing, 2005. Park View Middle School. “Mirages, Mountains, and Mysteries a Regional Study of the Antelope Valley”. 1972. MOAH Collections.