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Many Antelope Valley residents are familiar with the Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia) and its presence in our Mojave Desert ecosystem, but are unaware of its pollinators. Here we will be discussing a pollinator of from the present: the Yucca Moth, and one from the past: Nothrotheriops shastensis, the giant ground sloth. Pollinator of the Present: The Yucca Moth Joshua Trees, like other species of yucca, rely on different strategies for pollination. Joshua Trees do not produce nectar and have small amounts of pollen (Joshua Tree Genome Project). Thus, they rely on different pollinators to assist them in reproduction, including the Yucca moths from the genus Pronuba (See Figures 1 and 2). Yucca moths are native to the Southwest of the United States and follow the range of Yucca plants, including the Joshua Tree (National Wildlife Federation). Yucca moths and Joshua Trees have an ecological relationship called mutualism, a relationship between two species in which each species benefits from a “service” provided by the other. The Yucca and the Yucca moths are linked by what ecologists call obligate pollination mutualism, which means that both the plant and the moth are benefiting from the pollination process which will be explained below (University of Wisconsin). Figure 1: Photograph of a Yucca moth (University of Wisconsin UW Milwaukee). There are many different species of Yucca moths, including the Tegeticula moth from the Prodoxidae family which we will be focusing on here (USDA). These moths are colored white, which helps the moths blend in with the creamy Yucca blossoms when they pollinate. Male and female Yucca moths mate in the spring, and shortly after this, the female moth must lay her eggs. She will visit the flowers of a yucca plant, including a Joshua Tree, and will remove pollen from the blossom’s anthers. To do this, the moth uses tentacles around their mouth to gather the pollen into a lump which she tucks under her chin. (National Wildlife Federation, University of Wisconsin). This pollen may make up to 10% of her weight (University of Wisconsin). With her bundle of pollen, the female moth will search for a new Joshua Tree. Once she arrives at a plant, she will inspect its flowers and choose the ones that are at the right stage of development. She also checks if there are already eggs laid in the flower (USDA). She can detect the smell of other female moths with her antennae, and if other eggs have been laid inside a blossom, she will move on to another flower. If the flower is free, she will plant her eggs inside of the blossom and deposit the pollen onto the flower’s stigma which fertilizes it (National Wildlife Federation). Figure 2: Photograph of Yucca moths (University of Wisconsin UW Milwaukee). As the flower develops, it will form into a fruit and produce seeds. Inside the fruit, the moth’s eggs will hatch into larva that will eat some of the developing seeds (Joshua Tree Genome Project, National Wildlife Federation). Yucca months do not usually lay their eggs in already used flowers because that would produce too many caterpillars in one flower and there wouldn’t be enough seeds for them to feed off (National Wildlife Federation). This is also beneficial for the plant, in that there will be enough seeds leftover for the plant to reseed. After a few weeks, the larva is fully grown, and they will drop and make cocoons buried in the ground. There they will stay until next spring. Some larvae can remain dormant for more than a year if a yucca fails to bloom due to drought (USDA). Thanks to the Yucca moth, the Joshua Tree is able to spread its pollen to other Joshua Trees, which allows it to reproduce and create seeds. The Yucca moth in turn equally benefits from this process in that it uses the Joshua Tree flower and its seeds to house and feed its young. The Coevolution of Yucca Moths and Joshua Tree Species Recent studies on Yucca moth pollination in Joshua Trees has revealed that the trees are being pollinated by two similar species of moth. One of the two moths is bigger and is lighter grey in color. This discovery prompted further research into Joshua trees, which showed that trees associated with each of the two different species of moth are slightly different from one another (Joshua Tree Genome Project). Joshua trees growing in the western Mojave Desert are pollinated by the larger of the two moth species and tend to be taller, have a longer trunk, and longer leaves (Yucca brevifolia). Whereas Joshua trees from the eastern Mojave, which are pollinated by the smaller moth, are shorter and more bush-like, have more branches, and have shorter leaves (Yucca jaegeriana) (See Figure 3, Joshua Tree Genome Project). According to the Joshua Tree Genome Project, based on these differences, some botanists have argued that there may be two species of Joshua tree occurring in the western and eastern Mojave. Figure 3: Examples of Yucca brevifolia and Yucca jaegeriana growing next to each other. Photograph by Jeremy Yoder. (Joshua Tree Genome Project). In addition, researchers have discovered that the biggest difference between the trees pollinated by each species of moth is their flowers’ “styles” which is the portion where the eggs are deposited. Trees pollinated by the larger moths have longer styles and trees pollinated by the smaller moths have a shorter one. In addition, each moth is more successful at laying their eggs in their own corresponding trees. All these factors have led scientists to think that the two types of Joshua tree have adapted to the different species of moths. According to the Joshua Tree Genome Project, “evolutionary changes in the flowers may have occurred as a way to reduce the number of seeds that get eaten by the moths’ caterpillars. The moths, in turn, may have evolved differences in body size as a way to compensate for the changes in the flowers. This process – changes in one of the organisms causing changes in the other, and vice-versa– is known as ‘coevolution’”. Pollinator of the Past: Nothrotheriops shastensis, the Giant Ground Sloth During the Pleistocene epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, Nothrotheriops shastensis, or the Shasta ground sloth, roamed North America in what is now central Mexico to the southern United States (Prehistoric Fauna). Nothrotheriops shastensis was one of the smallest species of ground sloth at 9 feet from snout to tail and weighing at one quarter ton (Prehistoric Fauna)! The animal had large hindlegs and a muscular tail which would be used to support the animal when it wanted to stand on its hind legs (See Figure 4). In addition, the sloth had long foreclaws which it would use to defend themselves from predators such as dire wolves. Figure 4: Nothrotheriops shastensis (Prehistoric Fauna). Nothrotheriops behaved like other typical ground sloths of North and South America, feeding on various plants like prickly pear cacti fruit, agave, desert globemallow, Mormon tea, saltbushes and catclaw acacia desert globemallow, cacti, and yuccas- including the Joshua Tree (Sharp, Prehistoric Fauna). Its claws would be used to reach past plant spines and grab at softer flowers and fruits (Prehistoric Fauna). It is thought that Shasta ground sloth played a big role in the dispersal of Joshua Tree seeds due to their consuming of the flowers. Preserved sloth dung has been found containing Joshua tree leaves and seeds, confirming that they fed on the trees (Prehistoric Fauna). The Shasta ground sloth would go extinct as the last Ice Age ended for unknown reasons. It has been suggested that many animals may have died as the climate change altered their food sources. Predation by Paleoindians is also thought to be a cause to their demise. Widespread disease may have also affected various species (Sharp). It has been suggested that the loss of the Shasta ground sloths has caused the population of Joshua Trees to suffer, with the loss of their seed dispersal help (Prehistoric Fauna). MOAH has a portion of a fossilized Nothrotheriops arm bone in their Natural History collection (See Figure 5). Figure 5: Nothrotheriops fossil from Florida, Catalog # 2022.FIC.600 (MOAH Collections). Visit the Elyze Clifford Interpretive Center To learn more about Joshua Trees, other plants, and wildlife native to our Mojave Desert, please visit the Elyze Clifford Interpretive Center located at 43201 35th St W, Lancaster, CA 93536 (See Figure 6). The Center is nestled within the Prime Desert Woodland Preserve, which spans more than 120 acres with almost four miles of trails. The Elyze Clifford Interpretive Center provides educational opportunities through its immersive location that includes special nature presentations and tours, free kid’s crafts, and community events. We are open Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 am – 4pm (Closed Holidays). Visit our website for trail information, virtual tours, and for information regarding artist Tina Dille’s exhibition: The Muse which is currently on display: Elyze Clifford Interpretive Center | MOAH (lancastermoah.org). Figure 6: The Elyze Clifford Interpretive Center (MOAH). Works Cited National Wildlife Federation, “Yucca Moths”, Yucca Moths | National Wildlife Federation (nwf.org). United States Department of Agriculture, “Yucca Moths (Tegeticula sp.”, Yucca Moths (usda.gov). The Joshua Tree Genome Project, “What is the deal with Joshua trees and yucca moths?”, The Joshua Tree Genome Project. University of Wisconsin UW Milwaukee, “Yucca Moth (Family Prodoxidae”, Yucca Moth (Family Prodoxidae) - Field Station (uwm.edu). Prehistoric Fauna Roman Uchytel, “Shasta Ground Sloth”, Shasta ground sloth (prehistoric-fauna.com). Sharp, Jay, “Shasta Ground Sloth Nothroptheriops Shastensis The Story of its Discovery at the Aden Crater in New Mexico”, Shasta Ground Sloth (Nothrotheriops shastensis) - DesertUSA.

Born in 1867, Myrtle “Myrtie” Webber first came to the city of Lancaster in 1908. She would later become one of the city’s most famous citizens with her management of the Western Hotel, which has now become the Western Hotel Museum. To learn more about Myrtie and her great contributions to the city, please visit the Western Hotel Museum during our new operating hours on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 1- 4 PM (Closed Holidays), located at 557 W Lancaster Blvd, Lancaster, CA 93534. 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. This text features an interview with Myrtie at the age of 105 when she was the oldest citizen of the Antelope Valley (See Figures 1-4). Myrtie would later pass away in 1978 at the age of 110. This interview with Myrtie provides information regarding her history and the town’s founding. The text of an interview between Myrtie and two students has been dictated below: Taped Conversation with Myrtle Webber “What year did I come?” Myrtie Webber replied, “I guess 1905. It must have been because in 1900 I was...I’m...I’m according to the years...I’ve forgotten, but it must have been 1905. I had a son and I brought him with me and then I put him in college up at Rosamond and he finished school. He was in the service and he got injured and he died and he left two little girls. Maybe you knew them, Frances and Charlotte.” We said we didn’t know them. “They went to school here in Lancaster, long time, and of course now Frances has six children. She has eight grandchildren and the other one doesn’t have any of her own. She adopted, and they went to school here...but our school, our best school was at- what's this little town out west here? What’s the name of it? It is a nice little town.” We asked if it was Lake Hughes. She said, “No, I don’t know.” We asked if it was west. Palmdale? Myrtie said, “What do we got connected right on to Lancaster, in fact it was part of Lancaster.” Again we asked if it was Palmdale. “Some- they call it...out west. I can’t remember well enough, I’d know it if I heard it. It isn’t Littlerock, it’s a different direction. It’s right due west exactly.” We asked if it was Gorman. Myrtie said “Quartz Hill.” Quartz Hill? Myrtie replied “Yes, that’s it. That had a few. When you got out and around Quartz Hill and going to Rosamond on your way up you passed quite a few places...just old places, you know, and somebody lived in them, nobody lived in Lancaster. There was nothing to do out here, there was nothing for a woman to do. So I didn’t know how in the world I was going to stay out here because I wouldn’t have enough to keep myself employed. First I did one little thing and then another, then I got to doing this and that, then I got married. I married Mr. Webber and he had the hotel. There was only three rooms in it. We started to build on to it and started to clean it up. Then things began to go better. From then on we just kept on going and going.” We asked when the old hotel was built. Myrtie answered “That must have been 1905. It might have been ‘06-1906. Let me see if I can think. It might have been ‘06 or ‘07, I can’t - right off hand- I can’t tell you. It’s been so long since I thought about it, but it must have been ‘06 or ‘07, but anyway, I came once and went back and then came back again- that's when I stayed. It had a kitchen and a n office downstairs. It had been a home...some Mexicans’ home years before that, but it was all wrecked. Mr. Webber bought the house to get the ground. The ground consisted from Beech Street clear up past the post office. The ground the post office is on belonged to that building at the time, so it was a valuable piece of ground. When I came here, I didn’t come to prospect, I came out here sick. I had chills and fever and then I got well. I went back home and then I came right back so I went right out and sold my little house. It was a nice little home but not too big. I sold that and I came right back out here and put it in that old hotel. That old hotel is still mine. Oh, yes, it will be as long as I live. Then about in ‘07 or along in there. It might have been as late as ‘08 but I don’t think it was...it must have been 1908- that's right 1908...there were no homes here at all but there were tents and cattlemen. The cattlemen decided that this was too nice a town to not have any home or any place to eat or any place to live or anything, so they decided to call a “Lancaster Day”. They called it a “Lancaster Day” and it lasted three days...and my, it was some town...it was some place! All the real estate men in the country came and they all had something to do, something to say, and right from that on it started. People from down below started coming in and looking the country over to see what they could do and what they could start. There was one man... I know his name, but I don’t dare tell it because he’s still got relatives living here, but whether he knows this or not, I don’t know. But, he took- this man I was speaking of- come up as a real estate man and they took and got people to come up from the other towns you know to see the country. They took this one man out by one of them big lakes when we used to have the lakes. Did you ever remember the lakes?” We asked which one. “Both of them.” Myrtie said. “There was two big lakes between here and Rosamond and here and out west.” “They are dry now?” we asked. “Oh they’ve been dry for years. For years they’ve been dry. But then they were all full- so there was a man, and he took, and he was posing as a real estate man, and he took some men out to Rosamond to show them some orange country. He showed them- let me get this right- he showed them these bushes- we used to have some bushes that grew something on them- I forget what it was that grew on them- and then they sold these bushes for orange trees.” “But, they weren’t orange trees?” we asked. “They weren’t orange trees- they weren’t bearing of any kind that was any good, but he sold them. He sold quite a lot of land for orange country. Sometimes it was just one crazy thing after another that happened...things just kept on happening. But from that one everything started...one thing and another it soon began to pick up and then all of these men that had these jobs this 50 miles out didn’t have any place out here to sleep and they had to come in here to sleep in tents. So, we put up tents every day for I don’t know how long. We used to laugh about what kind of tent we were going to put up today. Some of them were big enough for two people and some of them would of just one and a lot of people came in and put up their own tents. They just got a piece of ground and put up their own tents. We knew they’d keep it because there was no place else to go. There was no place to eat here- you couldn’t get anything to eat. Then maybe somebody came up from Los Angeles set up little tents and fixed places to feed them so they could get something to eat so they could work. They had to drive 50 miles back and forth and they had to take their lunch with them. They couldn’t get anything to eat out there. They’d take a lunch with them and then they would come back in here for supper. We kept on working at the hotel and adding to it, building it up and adding on rooms. We built a real dining room and had a real nice little hotel, it was nice because it was clean and it hadn’t been...it was a real nice little hotel. We had quite a place and it’s still mine and it will be mine as long as I live. I never did sell it. It’s sold at my death. Yes, it’s sold...but they won’t take possession until after I’m gone...then they take possession. Then back at that little school I talked about- that had five rooms in it, and three of them was downstairs and two was up...they turned them into places to eat and somebody went in there and cooked and boarded them.” We asked Myrtie if she remembers antelopes in the valley. She replied, “No, the antelopes were before my day. I’ve seen antelopes, yes, seen lots of them, but they weren't the main staple as they were at one time- but there were a few antelopes left when I came.” We asked if she remembers the first building on Lancaster Boulevard. Myrtie said, “No, I don’t remember the first building, I suppose I would but I wouldn’t dare say because I...” We asked her about Lancaster when she first came. Myrtie said, “There was no Lancaster, there was a boulevard running through to Los Angeles, north, you know through to Los Angeles and through to Rosamond. Everything went to Rosamond. Rosamond was the town.” We asked what was in Rosamond that made it so great. She replied, “It was a little town, just a little town. There was some people that lived there. There was gold miners there...there still is, only they’re not working them.” We asked whether they got a lot out of those mines. “Oh, yes,” Myrtie said. “They claim they’re going to open up again, but I wouldn’t be so...so surprised if they would.” We didn’t want to tire Mrs. Webber so we all thanked her and expressed how much we appreciated her talking to us. Myrtie said, “I don’t think I have done much to help too much. I couldn’t give names because as I said I don’t remember them.” Figure 1: Tent city outside western hotel museum, MOAH Collections. Figure 2: Myrtie, 4th from left, at a Luncheon MOAH Collections. Figure 3: Myrtie in carriage, MOAH Collections. Figure 4: Myrtie with Warren Dorn at Swimming Pool naming ceremony, MOAH Collections. Figure 5: Drawing of Myrtie Webber by 1972 Park View Student in “Mirages, Mountains, and Mysteries”, MOAH Collections. Figure 6: Drawing of the Western Hotel Museum by 1972 Park View Student in “Mirages, Mountains, and Mysteries”, MOAH Collections. Figure 7: “Mirages, Mountains, and Mysteries” front cover, MOAH Collections.

The Los Angeles Aqueduct is among the most ambitious feats of engineering in California state history. Utilizing man, mule, and machine power, it completely reshaped California infrastructure. Cities and towns across Owens Valley and the Mojave Desert were reshaped and impacted. Without the Los Angeles Aqueduct, Lancaster and Palmdale would likely look very different from the cities that we know today. In the 1890s and 1900s, severe droughts pushed Los Angeles to its very limits. With a swelling population, the city desperately needed water that it just did not have. It was either get more water, or let Los Angeles dwindle into a ghost of itself. With few options, Angelinos sought to bring water from outside of Southern California. They eventually set their sights on Owens Valley and the Sierra Nevada mountains, roughly 250 miles away. There was a massive amount of controversy around this decision. Owens Valley residents did not want their water siphoned down to Los Angeles, and it was only through chicanery that J.B. Lippincott and other L.A. officials got farmers to sign away their water rights and leases. Despite the protests of the Owens Valley people, Senator Frank Putnam Flint appealed directly to President Theodore Roosevelt on behalf of Los Angeles and the project was approved. Roosevelt felt that it was of greater importance to California, and to the United States as a whole, that Los Angeles receive water at the expense of Owens Valley. Since then, the Aqueduct has been seen as both an example of visionary action as well as the worst case of water piracy in California history. Whatever side of the controversy you land on, the Los Angeles Aqueduct is an engineering marvel. Construction began in 1908, the same year as the Panama Canal, and was completed in 1913. Though it was often overshadowed by the Panama Canal, the Los Angeles Aqueduct brought innovation and ingenuity to new heights. And perhaps most astonishingly, the project finished within its projected timeline and also came in under its allotted budget of $24.5 million. Heading the project was William Mulholland. He was born in Belfast, Ireland and immigrated in 1877. When he arrived in California, he initially worked as a well digger but eventually became a “Zanjero,” or Water Steward for Los Angeles. Though Mulholland never received a formal education in engineering, he learned quickly and was named the Chief Engineer of the Bureau of Water Works and Supply in 1911. Under his supervision, Los Angeles laid its first iron pipeline. Mulholland was an inventive and hardworking person who believed deeply in the American Dream. Intimately familiar with the water situation in Los Angeles, Mulholland brought an important perspective on the infrastructure that would be needed to bring water across 250 miles of desert and mountains to the city. Building the aqueduct required 24-hour, seven-day-a-week work from the beginning to the end of the project. It was a monumental task that required the construction of not just the aqueduct, but also 500 miles in roadways, 120 miles of railroad, and over 350 miles of telephone lines. A whole new infrastructure of communication and transportation was needed in order to bring the aqueduct to reality. The thousands of men working on the project became known as Mulholland’s Army, due to their numbers (over 6,000) and organization. Whole contingents of men were assigned to their own tasks, and given strict deadlines for each project, which included the construction of a cement factory in Tehachapi and a tufu (an ingredient in enriched concrete) mining and processing plant in Fairmont. Though it was hard work, men lined up to join Mulholland’s Army. They were paid $2.25 a day (about $63 in today’s currency). Additionally, the men that worked on the Aqueduct Project were provided with shelter, food, and regular medical care. The Bureau of the Los Angeles Aqueduct provided health coverage to the workers for between $0.50 and $1 a month, an incredibly generous offer at the time. Men were treated promptly for injury or disease, and the medical director, Dr. Taylor insisted on cleanliness in both work sites and medical facilities. Because of this, fatalities on the project were minimal. The 1916 “Complete Report” of the project listed only 43 injury-related deaths, and only 1 permanent injury. Though men and mules performed the bulk of the labor, newly developed technology was brought in to assist them in their work. Gasoline powered crawler tractors were used in excavation. Mulholland is said to have likened the tractors to caterpillars, giving name to a brand that still works construction today. In addition to the sheer volume of manpower that went into this project, Mulholland’s Army was able to accomplish miraculous tasks, one of which was the Elizabeth Tunnel. With two crews working simultaneously on opposite sides of the Portal Mountain, they needed to coordinate it so that they met exactly at the designated spot. Two holding reserves were built, one in Fairmont and one in Bouquet Canyon, and a full five miles of the tunnel is underneath Elizabeth Lake. Specially manufactured steel pipes had to be constructed to manage the water flow. These pipes were transported by teams of mules and welded into place by hand. These projects totally transformed the landscape, and for the Antelope Valley, the aqueduct was a financial boon. Farmers here had also been suffering from drought, and the aqueduct promised flowing water. The project provided full-time employment to many Valley men. And as more workers were brought in, people put down roots in Lancaster, Mojave, Elizabeth Lake, and Palmdale. Though some were only temporary residents, many people chose to settle down permanently. Even William Mulholland, the lead engineer of the aqueduct, stayed for a time in Elizabeth Lake, using the Munz Ranch as his headquarters. When construction finished in 1913, Angelinos celebrated. Water flowed from Owens Valley through the Mojave Desert and allowed Los Angeles to thrive and grow into a megatropolis. Meanwhile, the Antelope Valley grew and blossomed as more people found home along the aqueduct’s path. Today, the aqueduct is still a feat of human engineering prowess and has undergone only minor alterations to increase its capacity. 11/30 Edit: This post describes the history of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. A previous version of the post mistakenly named the California Aqueduct, which was built in the 1960s and travels from Stockton in the Central Valley to the Antelope Valley. Sources: MOAH Collections Gossard, Gloria. “The Los Angeles Aqueduct,” Mojave, June 1991. Historical Society of Southern California. The Los Angeles Aqueduct: 1913-1988.

ARTISTS SELECTED FOR LOS ANGELES ACTIVATION OF WPA-INSPIRED INITIATIVE ARTISTS AT WORK, ORGANIZED BY THE OFFICE PERFORMING ARTS + FILM WITH THE LA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND CULTURE LA Edition Begins a National Expansion of the Initiative Made Possible by $3 Million from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation 16 Artists Will Work With 8 Cultural Organizations and 16 Community-Based Social Impact Initiatives Across Los Angeles County’s 5 Supervisorial Districts Artists At Work Brings Together These Artists and Organizations to Address Deeply Rooted Economic and Social Issues Laid Bare by the COVID-19 Pandemic; Participating Cultural Organizations, and the Artists Selected to Work with Them, Include 18th Street Arts Center (Maru García & Marcus Kuiland-Nazario), Angels Gate Cultural Center (Taylor Griffith & Nancy Woo), Armory Center for the Arts (Myisha Arellano & Michelle Glass), Chicxs Rockerxs South East Los Angeles (CRSELA) (Drew Arriola-Sands & Jessa Calderon), the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy at the Japanese American National Museum (NCPD@JANM) (Audrey Chan & jason chu), LA Commons (Rene Fisher-Mims & Kayla Shelton), the Lancaster Museum of Art and History (Reginald B. McKinley, II & Vojislav Radovanović), and Tia Chucha's Cultural Center & Bookstore (Karina Ceja & Erick Alfonso Iniguez) THE OFFICE performing arts + film and LA County Department of Arts and Culture today announce the artists selected by a diverse network of culture hubs for the Los Angeles iteration of THE OFFICE’s national Artists At Work (AAW) initiative. THE OFFICE, in collaboration with the FreshGrass Foundation,conceived AAW early in the pandemic, as artistic communities were ravaged, careers were halted, and dire financial struggles ensued. AAW was inspired by FDR’s Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) and its Federal Project Number One, and addresses an urgent need to reimagine the culture sector and how we value artists’ role in society—a need that the pandemic has starkly revealed, and that will continue as the public health crisis abates. Artists At Work is a workforce resilience program designed to support the rebuilding of healthy communities through artistic civic engagement. The program pays artists to keep making art; gives support to cultural organizations (called Culture Hubs) and arts workers in that community to host and work with those artists; and connects both artists and cultural organizations to local social impact initiatives in areas such as youth mental health, suicide prevention, food justice, prison reform, at-risk youth, sustainability, and environmental justice. Participating artists receive a salary, calculated using the MIT Living Wage Calculator for their respective region, for a period of one year, as well as full healthcare benefits. Following their participation in the program, they are eligible for unemployment benefits, and may continue healthcare coverage under COBRA if they choose. Artists working in any artistic discipline qualify for the program; they must be local to the region, and actively interested in a social practice. In Los Angeles, AAW spans the geography of the county, with Culture Hubs that are deeply rooted in their respective communities and predominantly are led by or serve Black, Latinx, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. These hubs, and the artists they’ve selected to work with them, include: 18th Street Arts Center (Maru García & Marcus Kuiland-Nazario), Angels Gate Cultural Center (Taylor Griffith & Nancy Woo), Armory Center for the Arts (Myisha Arellano & Michelle Glass), Chicxs Rockerxs South East Los Angeles (CRSELA) (Drew Arriola-Sands & Jessa Calderon), the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy at the Japanese American National Museum (NCPD@JANM) (Audrey Chan & jason chu), LA Commons (Rene Fisher-Mims & Kayla Shelton), the Lancaster Museum of Art and History (Reginald B. McKinley, II & Vojislav Radovanović), and Tia Chucha's Cultural Center & Bookstore (Karina Ceja & Erick Alfonso Iniguez). These organizations, located across the county’s five Supervisorial Districts, span a broad range of artistic disciplines and reflect the region’s vast cultural diversity. The social impact initiatives that the Los Angeles cultural organizations and artists will work include NAACP Pasadena Branch #1054 and The Pasadena Community Job Center, partnered with Armory Arts Center and artists Myisha Arellano and Michelle Glass; Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles, partnered with The National Center for the Preservation of Democracy at the Japanese American National Museum (NCPD@JANM) and artists Audrey Chan and jason chu; Sustainable Works, partnered with 18th Street Arts Center and artist Maru García; AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles, partnered with Angels Gate Cultural Center (AGCC) and artist Taylor Griffith; and Strength Based Community Change (SBCC), partnered with Angels Gate Cultural Center (AGCC) and artist Nancy Woo. Others will be announced soon. The collaborations will focus on key cross-sector policy areas identified in the County Board of Supervisors’ adopted priorities and the Countywide Cultural Policy, a first-of-its kind policy developed by the LA County Department of Arts and Culture with input from hundreds of community members and stakeholders and adopted by the Board in 2020 to strengthen cultural equity, invest in access to arts, and promote the role of the arts in advancing equity across civic sectors of our lives. In each regional activation of AAW, The OFFICE will engage a local AAW Field Administrative Fellow to support the implementation and evaluation of the program locally and play a vital role in communicating with regional program participants. Serving in this role for Los Angeles County is Diego Álvarez, who, over the course of six years in the art world, has worked on several projects that give a platform to and elevate artistic voices that have been relegated to the periphery. Álvarez, the son of Guatemalan immigrants, grew up in Lynwood, California. The LA edition marks the beginning of a national expansion of AAW made possible by $3 million in funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, following a highly successful pilot in Western Massachusetts. “As we work to advance recovery and resilience for the arts and culture sector, we are excited to partner with our colleagues at THE OFFICE performing arts + film and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the Artists At Work initiative and bring more national resources to the arts in the LA region,” said Kristin Sakoda, Director of the LA County Department of Arts and Culture. “THE OFFICE has selected eight incredible cultural organizations with deep ties to community, cultural and racial equity, and artist-driven work. The AAW initiative aligns closely with our own efforts, as we reimagine new ways to support artists, cultural organizations, and cross-sector civic issues in LA County.” Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts said, “Artists at Work provides critical funding for the arts andthe artists who create and cultivate culture within our communities. This innovative program is designed to both safeguard artists’ livelihoods during the economic crisis caused by COVID, as well as build partnerships that weave the arts into local organizations over the long term, creating a lasting foundation,” said Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts. “The pandemic revealed just how essential art is in our communities and to rebuilding healthy cities and towns. I commend Founding Director Rachel Chanoff, and the first host communities in Western Massachusetts for their dedication and commitment to making AAW such an indispensable program. Artists at Work taking its mission nationally reminds us of the crucial role artists-and the art they create-bring to our lives, to our future, and to the resiliency of our communities across the country.” AAW’s national expansion will include the Mississippi Delta region, in partnership with the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production, in 2022; the Borderlands region, in partnership with the Southwest Folklife Alliance and the City of Albuquerque Department of Arts & Culture, in 2023. Thanks to the generosity of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, AAW will have the opportunity to work with 21 cultural organizations, 42 artists across disciplines, 36 community-based social impact initiatives, and nine arts administration fellows and interns across these three regions, impacting whole community ecosystems. THE OFFICE founding director Rachel Chanoff says, “Artists are workers whose work product is crucial to the health of every society. Communities flourish when artists are woven into the everyday fabric of our lives. We are thrilled and inspired by the compelling projects our first cohort of artists launched in their communities. The impact across the spectrum of local social impact initiatives has been profound. We’re so excited that the artists joining us in LA County, the Delta and the Borderlands will use their artistry and creative vision to help their neighborhoods to flourish.” Emil Kang, Arts and Culture Program Director for The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, has said, “Artists At Work is visionary in its artist-centered, ecosystem-integrated approach, and we’re thrilled to support its growth. Sustained artist employment and partnership models, such as those utilized by Artists At Work, are essential to driving systemic change and addressing deep inequities in the field. It is an important complement to Mellon’s recently announced Creatives Rebuild New York initiative.” National partners for AAW include the International Storytelling Center and Theater of War Productions. For more information, please visit https://www.artists-at-work.org/. About the Artists Lancaster Museum of Art and History Vojislav Radovanović Vojislav Radovanović (1982. Valjevo, RS, former Yugoslavia) is a Serbian visual artist, art director, filmmaker, and independent curator based in Los Angeles, CA. Witness in his youth turbulent political unrest and war in the Balkan region, his visual and conceptual artwork advocates for beauty, environmentalism, mental health, and societal transmutation. His artwork often utilizes a conceptual concentration on wild plants, specifically weeds. The resilient, boundary-defying plants become a metaphor for nature’s powerful ingenuity. The symbolism and conceptualism of weeds also apply to multiple human aspects: its endurance, queer identity, the immigrant experience, and colonization. Since his first solo exhibition in the National Museum of Valjevo at age fifteen, he has presented his works in numerous group and solo exhibitions. Important cultural institutions where he showed his works are Museum of Art and History in Lancaster, Brea Art Gallery (California, USA); Mall Galleries in London (Great Britain); UNESCO Headquarters and The Institut Suédois in Paris (France); Centre of Contemporary Art in Torun (Poland); The Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid (CBA), Madrid (Spain); Belgrade City Museum, Museum of Yugoslavia, Art Pavilion Cvijeta Zuzorić and The White Palace in Belgrade (Serbia). Reginald B. McKinley, II Reginald B. McKinley, II (b. 1986, Houston, Texas) is a Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist, social commentator, and equity consultant. His research-based projects use domestic objects and photos to illuminate life as explored through the transitioning of times, temperaments, tenets, and technology. He received his MA from University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley, MBA fellowship from UCLA Anderson, and BA’s, with honors, from Morehouse College. His work has led to being on CNN, NPR, BBC, NBC, ABC and guest lecturing across the US and in Brazil. Reginald’s core beliefs are that acknowledgement and exposure precedes visibility. His work documenting daily life helps question the attitudes and unwritten rules that dictate who has opportunities to be seen. Reginald’s work can be viewed on all social media platforms at @heyreginald and at www.reginaldmckinley.com -- Artists At Work (AAW) is a workforce resilience program designed to support the rebuilding of healthy communities through artistic civic engagement. Conceived as a public/private partnership, the program will provide a salary, plus full health benefits and professional development resources directly to participating artists; provide financial support to participating local cultural organizations; and connect both to the work of local social impact initiatives in areas such as antiracism, justice reform, sustainability and equitable development, health, economy, homelessness and housing, child welfare, and immigration. It is designed to impact the whole ecosystem of a community. Artists At Work was an idea inspired by the WPA and founded by THE OFFICE performing arts + film with an initial pilot in Western Massachusetts in 2020. Following that success, AAW was recently awarded $3M by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to expand its program in other parts of the country, starting in Los Angeles County in Fall 2021. More information can be found at artists-at-work.org. Artists At Work is produced and administered by THE OFFICE performing arts + film with generous support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. THE OFFICE extends special thanks to the FreshGrass Foundation for their partnership and support and thanks to local partner Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture and AAW national partners International Storytelling Center, Sundance and Theater of War Productions.

One of the nation’s leading test pilots, Anthony W. “Tony” LeVier was born “Anthony Puck” in Duluth, Minnesota on February 14, 1913. His father was architect Anthony W. Puck, and his mother, Aloysia Evans was the daughter of a Great Lakes ship engineer. It is perhaps unsurprising then that Tony LeVier found himself drawn to innovation and technology. When Tony was only 6 years old, his mother moved him and his sister Nancy to California, believing that the warm climate would be beneficial for the family’s health. Tony’s father was unable to make the trip due to tuberculosis, to which he succumbed shortly after the family had moved. Aloysia later remarried to Oscar LeVier, who gave Tony and Nancy his name. By the early age of fifteen, LeVier was touched with the desire to fly. In the late 1920s in Whittier, California he began flying World War I Jennies and De Havillands. Uninspired by his school studies, LeVier dropped out of high school in order to pursue a full-time career in aviation. At seventeen, he had already built and flown his own glider. When he was nineteen, he was on his way to fame as a racing pilot, an acrobatics specialist and a barnstormer. In 1935, he helped form the E-Z Flying School, and later the Coast Flying Academy. LeVier ultimately abandoned these projects though. Racing planes was a lot more profitable than teaching others to fly. His trophies include first places for the national 1938 Greve Trophy Race, the 1938 Pacific International Air Races and the 1947 Sohio Trophy Race. LeVier’s racing career was interrupted in 1939 as war loomed in Europe. With Britain in desperate need of aircraft, and later when America entered World War II, industries across the United States turned to developing new war machines and weapons. After obtaining his instrument rating, LeVier went to work as a test pilot, first for Douglas Aircraft’s B-19 project, and then later for General Motors to test a new engine developed by Charles F. Kettering. In 1941, LeVier was offered a job with Lockheed in Burbank, California. LeVier had previously worked in association with Lockheed to ferry Hudson bombers to the Royal Air Force. He began test flying Hudsons and Venturas, at one time managing to safely land a Ventura in a field crowded with boxes after its landing gear failed to extend. LeVier was given the role of Project Test Pilot for the P-80 Shooting Star in 1944. Lockheed’s P-80 Shooting Star was America’s first jet-propelled tactical aircraft, and one of the most important aircraft developments at the time. After working on the P-38 dive tests, this was LeVier’s first major project with Lockheed. In those days before widespread use of computers, test pilots were critical to the development of aircraft. LeVier and other pilots were the main method for gathering data on the planes. As the Shooting Star was a brand new plane with a brand new engine design that had never been tested, LeVier understood the enormity of his responsibility as test pilot. He began with the XP-80, which was equipped with the well established Halford engine. The first flight with the XP-80 was brief and uneventful, but LeVier would later describe it as the most pleasurable flight of his career. He was impressed by the craft’s speed, over 500 mph, and how easily it handled. However, the XP-80A had the never-before-tested I-40 engine, and as LeVier discovered, needed significant work. The XP-80A was much heavier than the XP-80, and required testing to move off of Rogers Dry Lake. Unlike the gentle XP-80, the XP-80A was prone to over-rotate, and poured a lot of heat into the cockpit. A faulty pressurization valve was pumping 325 degree fahrenheit air into the cockpit, but this wasn’t discovered until several flights later. LeVier recalled later that on the third flight, he was unable to grasp either the throttle or control stick, because the cockpit was too scorching. He came back from the tests, soaked in sweat, and once with blisters down his left arm. In developing new engine technology, Lockheed had fixed many of the problems with old engines, but created many new ones. The XP-80A continued to pose problems throughout the development process, and the United States government was pushing for the planes to go into production. Pilot Milo Burcham crashed while testing the P-80 and Major Richard Bong died during a low-altitude bailout after engine failure during launch. The planes often lost their propulsive power mid-flight, a situation colloquially known as a “flameout.” Concerning his trouble with the planes, LeVier wrote, “I had so many flameouts on the P-80 that I became an expert at making dead stick landings.” And though the XP-80 was one of the most enjoyable test flights of LeVier’s career, the P-80 gave him one of the most horrifying experiences. 10,000 feet in the air, while flight testing the duct redesign, “the aircraft suddenly began to shake and pitch downward. [...] The nose yawed to the left violently and the earth and sky became a blur as the plane tumbled out of control towards the ground.” LeVier thought that he was about to hit the ground as a flaming wreck, but as suddenly as the issue occured, the plane slowed enough for LeVier to escape in a parachute. He landed heavily, breaking his back--an injury that would prevent him from flying again until after the war ended. When a crew came out to clear LeVier’s wreckage, it was discovered that the tail was missing from the plane. The issue was in the turbine wheels, and despite additional failures, the P-80A eventually made it to production. Though not quite ready for combat service in WWII, the planes were used extensively in the Korean War after some redesigns as the F-80. After recovering from his injury, LeVier returned to test flying at Lockheed. He was responsible for special research, flying, and development programs on almost every Lockheed built military-type aircraft from the XP-80 onwards. He performed first flights with many other Lockheed aircraft, including the prototype Saturn, P-80R, prototype Constitution, TF-80C, XF-90C, F-94-A, prototype F-94C, twin-tail T-33-1, XF-104, T-33-B, T2V-1, and the U-2, many of them taking place at Edwards Air Force Base. As Lockheed’s chief engineering pilot, LeVier was involved in stall and spin programs, dive tests and envelope extensions, supersonic dives, and vertical dives. He has flown more than 240 different types of planes including flights on fifty-three experimental aircraft. LeVier has broken the sound barrier in many different airplanes; he first exceeded Mach one in April 1950 in the Mojave Desert in a F-90. In addition to being a test pilot, LeVier has also written books and publications pertaining to flying techniques and flying safety. As an inventor, he was responsible for placing aircraft trim switches on top of control stick grips in jet aircraft, inventing the hot microphone intercom, conceived the first practical afterburner ignition system “Hot Streak” for jet fighters, invented the automatic wing stores releases for military planes, and devised the universal master caution warning light system. A founding member and Fellow of the prestigious Lancaster-based Society of Experimental Test Pilots, LeVier was the 1969 Pilot of the Year (International Order of Characters), became an honorary member of the American Fighter Aces Association and received its Professional Excellence Award, and was inducted into the Pioneer Aviators Hall of Fame in 1973. After retiring from Lockheed in 1974, LeVier continued to lecture on his experiences. He died on February 6th 1998, from illness just days before his 85th birthday. He survived eight crash landings and an air collision over the course of his career. In honor of his contributions to flight safety, the Society of Experimental Test Pilots presents the Tony LeVier Flight Test Safety Award each. The award honors individuals who have made notable contributions in aerospace that save human lives and improve the safety of aircrafts. The City of Lancaster honors Tony LeVier with a monument in the Aerospace Walk of Honor. The monument dedicated to LeVier is located on the Southwest corner of Lancaster Boulevard and Ehrlich Avenue. Additionally, the new Residence Inn by Marriott on Lancaster Boulevard, in collaboration with MOAH, has photographs and murals on display of Tony LeVier and many other important figures of the Antelope Valley’s aerospace history. --- Sources: MOAH Permanent Collections LeVier, A. W. “Development of the P-80 Shooting Star.” No Date. The National Aviation Hall of Fame. “Anthony ‘Tony’ LeVier.” https://www.nationalaviation.org/our-enshrinees/levier-anthony/

In 1909, Kern County was rocked with the news that a local girl might become an empress. Decades before actress Grace Kelly would become Princess of Monaco, another American actress lived the dream of becoming royalty. Eleanor Calhoun went from a poor pioneer to a successful actress and then to Princess of Serbia. A true tale of rags to riches! Eleanor Calhoun was born in 1865 and was raised in Kern County. She lived at various times in Havilah, Tehachapi, and Bakersfield, though she spent most of her childhood in a part of Tehachapi that was then known as "Calhoun’s Valley." The Tehachapi Mountains were a sanctuary to the young Eleanor, providing her with boundless expanses to explore and play in. Throughout her childhood, Eleanor experienced extreme poverty. Her father, Ezekiel Calhoun struggled to provide food as well as clothing for his wife and six daughters. Despite holding a respectable job as Justice of the Peace, Ezekiel was plagued with severe debt that he was unable to pull himself out of. Despite these struggles, Eleanor was a witty and charming girl. For entertainment, she put on performances. At age 12, she began writing her own plays and producing them with her five sisters. The Tehachapi valley formed the stage, and the mountains were the backdrop. With zeal, Eleanor brought neighbors out to watch her and her playmats put on her first performances. Of her childhood in Tehachapi, Eleanor wrote, “I love my mountains, but I longed for the great life that lay somewhere beyond [...] I used sometimes to climb the highest peak and mount the highest ledge of rock on it, and sit there for hours dreaming of the far, far world.” In contrast to her father, Eleanor’s mother, Laura was a strong-willed and ambitious woman. Laura was a young mother, only 15 when she gave birth to Eleanor. When her daughters were young, Laura read them stories from literature and history, which Eleanor used as inspiration for her plays. She held firm to the belief that her daughters would succeed in life where she had been unable to. Eventually, she grew tired of her husband’s repeated failures and brought the girls to San Jose, where they stayed with an aunt. San Jose gave Eleanor the opportunity to expand her education and to show off her talents as a playwright and actress. She acted in local performances and won over the social elites with her charisma and intelligence. Her talent brought her into the circles of such people as William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper magnate, though at the time, Hearst was still young and had not yet built his empire. Hearst was enamored with Eleanor, and began courting the actress and the two became engaged. Hearst’s mother, though friends with Eleanor, was scandalized at the idea her son would marry an actress (in those days seen as little better than a prostitute) and insisted that at the very least William should finish his education before marriage. To appease his mother, Hearst agreed. In October of 1890, Eleanor debuted as a professional actress, portraying Juliet at the Opera House in San Francisco. She toured America, performing Shakespearean plays and received praise from critics and audiences alike. She went on to London, performing as a leading lady in Haymarket Theater, and then to Paris where she became a staple performer and acted opposite the famed actor Benoît-Constant Coquelin. The engagement to Hearst never resulted in a marriage. Eleanor instead focused on her own success, and began working with Eugene de Czernucki-Lazarovich, Prince Hrebalianovich of Serbia, the last of the Doushan Dynasty to advocate for independence in for the Balkan region, and to bring attention to the plight of the people. During this time, the two fell in love. In 1903, at the height of her career, Eleanor married Prince Lazarovich and left the stage. Eleanor became a princess in name, but never lived in a ascended to power. Unable to live in Serbia due to the tumultuous political climate, they stayed in London. Eleanor threw her energy into supporting her husband’s work and fighting for Balkan independence. Though cast in a dramatic light by the press, Eleanor mainly aided her husband in writing political articles. In addition to these, she wrote a memoir, “Pleasures and Palaces,” and a play, “The Way, Christ and Evolution.” Rumors swirled both in Europe and in America that Prince Lazarovich would become monarch of Serbia, and that Eleanor would become the first American-born empress. These rumors were largely blown out of proportion and focused heavily on legends of the “Sword of Lazar,” and ancient oaths of fealty. Lazarovich and Eleanor garnered support among some Serbians, who wore braided circles on their caps to signify their allegiance. The Prince was never able to make a true bid for the throne or to revive his homeland as he dreamed. Several assassination attempts were made against him, necessitating special guards for both him and Eleanor. Despite this, the two continued to write extensively and to advocate change in the Balkan region. Prince Lazarovich died in July of 1941 at age 76. Later in her life, the Princess returned to the United States. In New York she lectured on political and cultural issues. Particularly concerned with unemployment and the plight of the working class, and worked to advocate for benefits to the unemployed. She was president of the Woman’s Chamber of Commerce in New York, and a member of Pi Gamma Mu. Eleanor died in New York on January 9, 1957 at 92 years old. Though Eleanor never became an empress, her life is inspiring. Through her own charisma and talent, she took the world by storm, despite her humble beginnings as a poor judge’s daughter. -- Sources: MOAH Collections Caspari, Nina. “Eleanor Calhoun.” Kern County Library. Lazarovich-Hrebalianovich, Eleanor Calhoun. Pleasures and Palaces. 1915. Lazarovich-Hrebalianovich, Eleanor Calhoun. “Letter to Bakersfield Californian.” April 30, 1912. Stellmann, Louis J. “The Princess Hrebelianovich May be the First American-Born Empress.” “A True Fairy Tale of Old Tehachapi.” Tehachapi News. November 6, 1974. “Kern County Girl May Become Empress.” Morning Echo. February 13, 1909. “Princess Lazarovich-Hrebelianovich, Actress Who Aided Serbian Cause, Dies.” The New York Times. January 12,1957.

In the early days of the Antelope Valley, people lived in small communities scattered across the valley. Anywhere that children were present, there was a need for schools. Parents and community leaders drew up school districts to ensure that their young ones received a primary education in mathematics, spelling and reading. Many of these schools began in old homesteads. Children of multiple grade levels sat in the same room and were taught by the same teacher. However, these setups were temporary. Industries like mining, ranching, the railroad, the aqueduct, and aviation all brought in new residents, and with them more children. Schools in Old Lancaster and neighboring communities quickly outgrew their one-room schoolhouses. Larger, more permanent grammar schools were constructed to account for all the children, and additions were made frequently to increase the number of students served. In 1890, only four years after the first Lancaster school was started, a larger building was needed. A stately two-story building with a bell tower was built out of red brick on the south side of Lancaster Boulevard (then called Tenth Street) between Beech and Cedar Avenues, and facing the Western Hotel. The completion of the schoolhouse was marked with a celebration wherein children sang and performed. At this celebration, residents stowed material representations of their community in the school’s cornerstone: a jar of valley fruit, samples of wheat, a small vial of whiskey, a copy of the Gazette newspaper, and some money. The cornerstone was placed in the northeast corner of the building, on October 5, 1889. Professor W.H. Holland took charge of the school when it first opened, instructing 45 students across 9 grades. The professor’s wife aided in managing the school and teaching the Lancaster children. Professor Holland later took on the role as principal as the student body grew and more teachers were brought on. Like the first Lancaster Grammar School, this school became a hub of the community, hosting many events within as well as just outside its walls. All manner of special events, from religious to political, to purely social were hosted at Lancaster’s Second Grammar School. In 1912, there were 60 students at the Second Lancaster Grammar School, with the town’s population continuing to grow. Despite the quality of the Second Grammar School, Lancaster was feeling growing pains again, and city officials drew up plans for a newer and larger school. Architect E.L. Hopkins designed the new school, which would utilize modern design elements and allow for future improvements to be made. The building used steam heating and had a sleek rectangular design, with eye-catching archways. Construction began on October 27, 1913 on Cedar Ave. Roughly 18 workmen labored on the project until it was completed December 6, 1913. In 1914, the Third Lancaster Grammar School opened with a student body of 120. Later in 1929, there were just over 300 students, and additions expanded the building with a large auditorium on the third floor and added new classrooms. By 1941, there were 12 teachers instructing 415 students. Like the previous Lancaster Grammar Schools, the new school was used to host more than just classes. The third floor auditorium was used for many city events, from social to political. Though no longer used as a school, portions of the original building are still viewable on Cedar Avenue, a short walk from the Cedar Center. It is now managed by the Lancaster School District, serving as a warehouse. In addition to the Third Grammar School, the need for a separate high school was clear. The first high school class was taught in 1908 with five students. The AV Union High School was established in 1912 and held on the second floor of the Women’s Independence Club Hall. In 1914, a $60,000 bond was used to construct a larger high school east of the town. The first graduating class was just four students, but the school quickly filled as the town grew. The high school students were bright and dedicated young people, establishing several sports teams, clubs, and an annual publication called The Yucca after a beloved Joshua Tree that grew beside the school. Despite the presence of the larger grammar schools in the city center of Lancaster, smaller schoolhouses continued to populate the valley. For poor families living miles away from Lancaster proper, it was difficult for them to send their children so far for school. They needed schools nearby their homes. One such school was the Tierra Bonita School, which opened in 1918 with just four students taught by Miss Eva M. Frank. By 1929, Tierra Bonita was experiencing the same population growth as the rest of the valley. By then, there were 50 students being taught by two teachers. A small residence was constructed for the school’s janitor and his dog, Patsy, who became a sort of mascot for the school. Located on Avenue J and 40th Street East, the schoolhouse was later repurposed as the American Legion building. The school has been located in different buildings over the years and now continues to serve students as an elementary school. Another of these smaller schools was built when the residents of a small community organized in 1907 to establish their own school district. Roosevelt School, named for then president Theodore Roosevelt, was first held in a small homestead that measured only 10 by 12 feet. Mrs. Walton taught 14 students at this first location. The school later moved to a real schoolhouse on Avenue H and 70th Street East in 1911, and was again upgraded in 1927 when a brick building was built to hold 79 students and three teachers. Education is highly important to the wellbeing of a community. As Lancaster grew, so did its schools. The old one-room schoolhouses have been replaced, but many elementary schools still bear the names of these original schools. The disparate school districts have been replaced with three public districts encompassing the elementary and middle schools, and a fourth district that covers the high schools. Additional private schools also serve the community. The Antelope Valley College serves students continuing their education into their adulthood. Lancaster has come a long way from the old pioneer school houses. - Today, Lancaster is still dedicated to providing students with quality and innovative education. To help accomplish this goal, MOAH works with Antelope Valley teachers to provide interactive lessons on history, art, and science to students through Discover Trunks Presentations, young artists workshops and Arts for Youth tours. The Pioneer Trunk is Ideal for students between 1st and 4th grades, the Discover Pioneers Trunk Presentation helps children to visualize what life was like for pioneers in California, and for the pioneer children that attended the original one-room schoolhouses of the Antelope Valley. - Sources: MOAH Collections Gurba, Norma H. Images of America: Lancaster. Arcadia Publishing: Chicago, IL. 2005. Settle, Glen & the Centennial Committee. Lancaster Celebrates a Century: 1884-1984. City of Lancaster, CA. 1983.

By Mat Gleason of Coagula.com We went to see the poppies. We stopped by the museum. There were some shows there we wanted to see but we had made the drive to Lancaster to see the poppies. They only bloom for like five weeks. The shows were up for seven or eight weeks but it was getting close to their closing and close to the end of poppy season. I’ve been in the art world a long time and seen a lot of shows but I had never seen the poppy fields in person. Born and raised in Southern California and it wasn’t until a rainy season five years ago where the poppy fields bloomed that I understood the depth of the phenomena. That year the LA Times had daily coverage of poppygasms and maps to the best poppy places and tips on proposing to your sweetheart in poppyland until of course two weeks later the scolding voice that is the editorial conscience of the LA Times started in with its “Are the poppies too successful?” and “Shame on you for wanting to see the poppies. You are interacting with nature and that is not natural.” Their typical garbage approach to anything is pour it on high-level clickbait style and when that peaks, start shaming the Times readers for liking what the Times writers loved last week. Well, we didn’t go back then, but this year my wife said we were going, so off we went. We stopped at the Museum of Art and History in Lancaster first. It was windy outside but fantastic inside. When you go outside to see poppies you aren’t interested in which botanical subdivision their genus stands. You just want to look at pretty poppies, immerse yourself in color, space and infinity. We were there to see poppies on a formal level. We didn’t need the stupid LA Times micromanagement of our experience to remember that it is the state flower or other peripheral trivia. We were there for the pure poppy experience. So why not be there for the pure art experience? Could we enjoy the shows at MOAH for their formal qualities alone? For their immersive potential? Forget what historical lineage they are part of, the deeper narrative or artist’s back story? Is museum work these days successful as an art object and art object alone? Is art at least on par with poppies when freed of the details of its subject matter? Art history is long. Object makers might have the coolest story and the greatest reason that they made a piece to fit the historical puzzle, but narratives change. The formal strength of your work assists in making the art appealing to future generations who are not going to care about the issues of your day that you think are important. Those future generations (your great-great-great grandchildren if you are breeding) are going to care about something that looks like the early 21st century or something that looks great no matter what. So capture the look of your time or something timeless beyond mere subject or your art is going to be like you: eventually not immortal. First up was a career survey of Mark Steven Greenfield organized by the museum’s curator Robert Benitez. I have followed this artist’s career for many years, decades even and recognized many of the individual artworks here from their original gallery shows. Greenfield’s paintings work on a formal level just fine. He has a calligraphic abstraction that is as interesting and disciplined as the seminal abstract painter Mark Tobey. Perhaps one day it will prove just as influential. A Mark Steven Greenfield is recognizable visually from a distance in a gallery with this signature calligraphy in the way the Ramones are distinct and original when you hear them playing in a passing car – multiple generations know exactly what it is. I would think that as his career continues, this approach to drawing, this masterful chopped salad of an approach to calligraphy in service to composition and rendering – that this is a fertile field for other artists to see and explore for the next few hundred years.

It would have been difficult to look out across the future site of Lancaster during the early 1880s and believe that such an expansive, and seemingly isolated, tract of land would someday be home to hundreds of thousands of permanent residents all going about their daily lives. Unless, that is, you happened to be Mr. Moses Langley Wicks. In 1884, Mr. Wicks purchased 60 sections of surveyed land from the Southern Pacific Railroad (SPRR). He then used a six-hundred and forty-acre parcel inside of an area known as Section 15 to lay out the main townsite of what would become Lancaster, right alongside the newly completed SPRR rail line; here, the railroad had been operating timetabled water stop listed as “Lancaster” since early in the year 1880. This relationship and proximity to the railroad was necessary for the sustainability and development of early Lancaster, however the business relationship between Moses Langley Wicks and the Southern Pacific Railroad, as well as the land sale which was the result of this relationship, would be mired in legal battles that would only be resolved a full century later by the highest legislative body in the nation. Early artists depiction of an aerial view of the Antelope Valley The legality of the sale was in question from the very start. In February of 1884 Wicks began to subdivide the Section 15 township into a grid-pattern of streets which spurred off of the existing Southern Pacific Railroad line, alongside modern-day Sierra Highway and Lancaster Boulevard. Wicks then invested heavily in the development and advertisement of the growing Lancaster township by running advertisements as far away as Europe to entice settlers to come and live in the California desert, some even reaching the city of London. Unfortunately for Moses Langley Wicks and the residents of Lancaster who had purchased their land from him, sometime between 1885 and 1890 the California Legislature became aware that Moses Wicks had been selling land from his 1884 land patent, though the land in question being sold had not been released in ownership to the SPRR until January 9, 1885, nearly a full year after Wicks had sold the first Lancaster lots within Section 15. Mr. Moses Langley Wicks An arduous legal battle ensued against Wicks and the SPRR. Challenges to the sale and transfer of the land took years to wind through various levels of the court until nearly a full ten years after the zoning of the lots, when the case was put on the docket of the California 9th District Circuit Committee. By July 19, 1894 the Federal Circuit Court declared that the original 1884 and 1887 land patents between Wicks and the Southern Pacific Railroad were null and void; it was stated that the SPRR did not have the legal right to cede the land to Mr. Wicks at the time at which the purchases had transpired, citing illegitimate sale of the railroads Right of Way. Original Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, 1890, “Lancaster” is visible on the front signage. Wicks, however, was not going down without a fight. Using the profits he had accumulated from selling a majority of the townsite to Mr. James P. Ward in 1888, Mr. Wicks contacted the U.S. Department of the Interior and requested sale of the area of Section 15 once again. This time around, he used an eighty year old act of congress to justify his purchase. Pursuant to the Act of April 24, 1820, Moses Langley Wicks requested the sale of land previously zoned and surveyed by the federal government, including the townsite of Lancaster in Section 15, by “Cash Patent Entry”; as a result, Mr. Wicks was subsequently granted Cash Patent Entry No. 5565 by the U.S. Department of the Interior on June 15, 1900. Six years after the courts had declared the land illegally owned by him, and after three documented purchases of the same land, it seemed that the legal issue over the ownership and use of the land had finally been settled. Over decades, the disputes and long court battles faded from memory and were forgotten about. View of Sierra Highway in Lancaster, mid 1950s Nearly eight decades later, residents of the Lancaster area participated in a public election and on November 22, 1977, Lancaster became officially incorporated as an independent City within Los Angeles County. Suddenly, a new issue appeared on the agenda for the 95th Session of Congress, 1977-1978 – the subject of the ownership of land rights to an area known to the U.S. Department of the Interior as Section 15 T.7N., R.12W., now known as the City of Lancaster. After having several hearings on the issue, in 1978 the 95th congress decided that to confirm the 1900 transaction between the U.S. Department of the Interior and Moses Langley Wicks would not inflict any budgetary burden or inflationary impact on the national economy; therefore, their conclusion was to finally approve the federal transaction from the previous century. This action finally guaranteed land rights to property owners across the Antelope Valley who had, for ninety years prior, unwittingly been developing on questionably owned land. Sources: Lancaster Museum of Art and History Permanent Collections Bai “Tom” Tang & Terri Jacquemain. Historic Building Survey: Lancaster Downtown Specific Plan. CRM TECH: Colton. CA. 2008 Bai “Tom” Tang & Bruce Love. History and Archaeology at old downtown Lancaster: The Lancaster Sheriffs Station Project. Monitoring, Testing, and Mitigation. Bruce Love: Riverside, CA. 1995

Written by: Alexandra Jonassen, MOAH Collections. Located on Edwards Airforce Base just southeast of the city of Rosamond lies Piute Ponds, a lush ~5,614 acre wetland habitat surrounded by desert. Many animals have made the ponds their home, including over two hundred species of birds. This rich and diverse wildlife presence has brought nature lovers and hunters alike to the area for over sixty years. Despite the ponds’ large size and diverse fauna, many locals have never heard of the area’s history. How Piute Ponds Formed: In the past, the well known Amargosa Creek flowed from the San Gabriel Mountains down into Rosamond Dry Lake, filling the southern portion of the lakebed with water. This water attracted many birds and several hunting clubs became active in the area, utilizing the filled lake bed (Friends of Piute Ponds). As the Antelope Valley developed, in 1959, the Los Angeles County Sanitation District 14 decided to utilize Amargosa Creek’s natural drainage path and created a dike in the area to divert increasing amounts of water waste from running into the northern Rosamond Dry Lake bed (Mozingo, 2001). This dry lakebed has since been used as an emergency landing strip for Edwards Air Force Base, and has been used for projects including early Space Shuttle tests and operational flights (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). The Sanitation District’s new dike allowed for water to fill the area to create the freshwater marshland. Several ponds were then created in the area in 1961 to create what is now known as the Piute Ponds complex. Figure 1: 1963 Aerial Photo of Piute Ponds located at South Western end of Rosamond Dry Lake History of Antelope Valley Duck Hunters: Multiple duck hunting clubs operated in the Antelope Valley area prior to the formation of the Piute Ponds complex in 1959. Several natural springs existed in the area and water from Amargosa Creek continued to fill parts of the Rosamond Dry Lake bed seasonally. After WWI ended, during the 1920s, the public had a large interest in participating in the outdoors and recreational activities. This desire spurred the development of the AV’s duck hunting clubs. Three of the most prominent duck hunting clubs established in the Antelope Valley were the Oasis Duck Club, the Crystal Wells Gun Club, and the Piute County Club. Some of these clubs were made by homesteaders and some were privately owned by wealthy citizens from Los Angeles. They were often visited for entertainment by Hollywood Stars and athletes, including Charles Henry Root, a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs (Settle, 1994). In addition to building dikes, holding ponds, hunting blinds, and windbreaks to be used in duck hunting, the clubs also made cabins for longer vacation stays . This all took place at a time when the Antelope Valley was becoming a center for recreational activities and weekend stays to the people of Los Angeles with its dude ranches and duck clubs. In addition, these ranches and clubs would serve as cover during the Prohibition era, as many were able to gain a liquor license by owning a club (Earle 1998: 194). Figure 2: Constable E.E. Cummings Duck Hunting, Palmdale Lake, 1901 (Courtesy of Lancaster Museum, Lancaster, California) Figure 3: Duck Hunters, 1905 (Courtesy of Lancaster Museum, Lancaster, California) Figure 4: Duck Hunters in the Mojave, 1905 (Courtesy of Lancaster Museum, Lancaster, California) After WWII ended, in 1945, the US government began purchasing large tracts of land, including several of these duck clubs, for its developing military bases. This included the Crystal Wells and Oasis Duck Clubs that can be seen on the USGS Rogers Lake 1942 topographic maps (Figure 5). Piute Gun Club was also eventually bought out by the US government, and its location currently lies within the modern-day area of Piute Ponds (see Figure 6 for a map showing the location of Piute Gun Club in 1943 and Figure 7 for an overview photo of the facility). Piute Gun Club not only offered the ponds to its guests, but also had a nine hole golf course, skeet range, badminton and horseshoe courts, archery targets, outdoor dancing areas, and a clubhouse frequented by local visitors. At one point, the organization formed a country club which sponsored a model airplane contest for AV residents (Antelope Valley Ledger-Gazette 1939). This contest is still held today, now located at the north end of Rosamond Lake. Figure 5: USGS Rogers Lake 1942 topographic maps showing location of Oasis Duck Club and Crystal Wells Gun Club near Rosamond Dry Lake. Figure 6: Location of Piute Gun Club on 1943 Rosamond USGS Topographic Quadrangle Map (USGS Topographic Maps Database) Figure 7: Piute County Club, 1941 (Courtesy of Lancaster Museum, Lancaster, California) In 1961, the Piute Gun Club came to an end and the Piute Ponds area was formed. Ducks Unlimited expanded the ponds in 1986 by constructing five dikes north and northeast of the ponds. The complex is now 320-360 acres large with 2,180 acres designated for hunting, and it has a unique amount of wildlife present in the area (Norwood 1985). Diverse Fauna: The Piute Ponds area is the largest freshwater wetland in Los Angeles county. Due to its unique setting, the ponds support approximately 100 plant species, 20 mammals, 20 reptiles, 500 invertebrates, and 300 birds (Edwards Air Force Base, 2017). It also includes many sensitive plant species such as alkali mariposa lilies and Rosamond eriastrum as well as many sensitive bird species such as LeConte’s Thrasher, California Least Tern, Willow Flycatcher, Redhead, Tricolored Blackbird, and Loggerhead Shrike (Edwards iSportsman). What birds are present in the area vary seasonally according to their different migration patterns across the Great Basin Corridor of the Pacific Flyway, one of four major migration routes for birds across the United States (Dateline Edwards). Due to its unique location along this corridor and in the middle of a desert environment, many rare birds coming from all over the globe have been found at Piute Ponds. These birds are often called vagrant birds, meaning they are appearing well outside of their normal habitat ranges. Vagrant birds are often thought to have been blown off course from their usual migration routes. An example of a vagrant bird found at Piute Ponds includes the Little Stint, which breeds in arctic Europe and Asia and migrates in the winter to Africa and south Asia. Other rare birds that have been spotted include the Pacific Golden Plover, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Still Sandpiper, and the Hudsonian Godwits (Dateline Edwards). Other animals including mammals and reptiles utilize the water from Piute Ponds as well, including bobcats, badgers, kit foxes, coyotes, raccoons, marmots, and kangaroo rats. These animals can be spotted drinking along the ponds (Friends of Piute Ponds). The amount of wildlife here has caused birdwatchers to frequent the area, and local schools often organize educational trips for students to study this unique desert oasis. Interested in visiting Piute Ponds? Today, nature enthusiasts as well as hunters can access Piute Ponds with express permission from Edwards Air Force Base. If you are interested in visiting Piute Ponds for bird watching, volunteering to help clean and manage the ponds, or for educational field trips you may contact Edwards Airforce Base representative Misty Hailstone at Misty.Hailstone.1@us.af.mi to request access. You can also join the Friends of Piute Ponds society who work to protect and explore the area at https://www.piuteponds.org/volunteer.php. Piute Ponds has been a notable stopping ground for Antelope Valley residents for years. Its unique wildlife and history makes it a true desert oasis. Figure 8: Detailed Map of Ponds and Marshes within the Piute Ponds Complex Today (Friends of Piute Ponds) References: Antelope Valley Ledger-Gazette 1939 “Piute Country Club Has Grand Opening.” July 20, Volume LIII, page 1. Dateline Edwards 2011 Dateline Edwards, Piute Ponds feature wide variety of birds, wildlife https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ljs5Uhn1I4 Earle, D.D. 1988 Muroc Community Inventory, Edwards AFB, Kern County, California. Computer Science Corporation, Edwards Air Force Base, California. Submitted to the Air Force Flight Test Center, Environmental Management Directorate, Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base 2017 Piute Ponds feature large variety of birds, wildlife. https://www.edwards.af.mil/News/Article/1240317/piute-ponds-feature-large-variety-of-birds-wildlife/ Edwards iSportsman https://edwards.isportsman.net/PiutePonds.aspx Friends of the Piute Ponds https://www.piuteponds.org/history.php Mozingo, Joe 2001 Mojave’s Artificial Oasis at Risk. Los Angeles Times, California. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jun-11-me-9128-story.html National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2014 NASA Armstrong Fact Sheet: The Dry Lakes. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/news/FactSheets/FS-086-DFRC.html Norwood, R.H. 1985 Field Check Results for EAFB Historic Resources, EAFB-687. Settle, Glen Allen 1994 Oral History Program Transcript of Glen Settle, Muroc Community Inventory (A Legacy Resource Management Project), Edwards AFB, Kern County, California. June. David D. Earle, Interviewer / Photo Documentation; Linda Stowe, Transcriber. Computer Sciences Corporation, Edwards AFB Flight Test Center.

Longtime residents of the Antelope Valley are no strangers to the persistent sound of aircraft flying in the skies overhead, even in the earliest years of aviation the clear blue skies of the valley enticed pioneers of flight to venture into the heat of the Mojave Desert. The planes filling the skies in the pre-war years would be an odd site to valley residents today as a majority of the air traffic over Lancaster and its surrounding areas from 1941-1943 would not have been American pilots flying in American military aircraft, but rather the odd coupling of a civilian airplane, painted in United States Army Air Force (USAAF) livery, being piloted by British airman in blue woolen flight uniforms. British RAF Airmen in dress uniform appear on the cover of their War Eagle Field graduation album. The roots of such a mix-match was the successful result of years of tireless effort by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to coerce his American counterpart, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, into becoming more involved in the second world war on the side of Britain and her Commonwealth allies. Churchill’s attempts to have America enter the conflict fell short, he did however manage to secure a massive victory for the British war effort when, after years of pleading with Roosevelt, the American Congress signed the Lend-Lease Act of 1941. One of the key concessions for the British contained within the act was the delivery of brand-new American aircraft to replace the British Royal Air Forces (RAF) dwindling supply. The problem the RAF faced was not simply the replacement of lost or outdated aircraft; but the necessity of having trained pilots capable of flying them. The real problem lay in the inherent dangers of training inexperienced pilots in the ferociously contested war-torn skies over the British Isles. As soon as the German Luftwaffe could discover where the cadets would be training from they could simply send long range fighter missions across the English Channel from occupied France to harass the British fliers at their bases or training grounds, a solution had to be found and fast. Following the signing of the Lend-Lease Act in March of 1941 a secret plan quickly began to materialize as dozens of RAF airmen, not yet graduated pilots, began to be transferred quietly onto ships bound for the eastern coast of Canada. Once in Canada the men were then crammed into several train cars for their continuous journey across the breadth of the continent to the western coast of North America until eventually after several days they reached their terminus in Glendale, California. Here the airmen were told they were on their way to a flight school known to the RAF as No.2 B.F.T.S. (British Flight Training School) The first two train cars of RAF Airmen arriving in Glendale, CA. July 1941 Unfortunately for the British airmen, they were once again loaded into several train cars and moved northward to their final destination of Lancaster, California. There in the far western corner of the Mojave Desert, a civilian company under contract from the Department of Defense, Polaris Flight Academy, had constructed and been operating one of four “Civilian” airfields. This was War Eagle Field on the corner of W Ave I. and 60th St. West, better known to current Antelope Valley residents as the eventual site of Mira Loma Detention Facility. It was at this site for several years that many hundreds of British and Canadian airmen would come to train at Polaris Flight Academy to earn their wings before being sent hurriedly back into the fight in the skies over Europe. Graduating class of RAF pilots (Front Center) with their USAAF counterparts at War Eagle Field. Front of War Eagle Field barracks, view from corner of W. Ave I /60th St West. Polaris Academy’s operations were spread out across the Antelope Valley and included two smaller auxiliary fields; Victory Field six miles to the northwest, and Liberty Field six miles to the northeast. The main Academy facility at War Eagle Field was nicely equipped with two large enclosed hangars each capable of storing multiple aircraft, a high visibility air traffic control tower, and a new block-barrack square compound on the northwest of the lot featuring a grass lawn parade ground and large flag pole which flew both the American flag as well as the British Union Jack. To complement the large hangars were three 2,400-foot-long runways and a large fleet of Vultee BT-13 Trainer aircraft along with uniformed USAAF flight instructors to train them. Air Traffic Control Tower at War Eagle Field. A single Vultee BT-13 sits in front of War Eagle Field Hangar 1. Three Vultee BT-13 Trainer aircraft sit along the runway at War Eagle Field, the barracks courtyard, parade field and flagpole can be seen in the background. North View looking towards Rosamond. Immediately following the surprise bombing of the United States Navy’s fleet at Pearl Harbor in late 1941, it was apparent to the USAAF that there was a distinct lack of domestically trained American pilots to fill the cockpits of the planes now being rolled off of assembly lines at ever increasing rates. By late 1942 USAAF cadets began to arrive at War Eagle Field to earn their wings alongside their British and Canadian comrades. By late 1943 the British and Canadian pilots were steadily outnumbered by the American cadets and by the time of the field being renamed to Mira Loma Flight Academy in 1944, the school was almost exclusively USAAF pilots. Polaris Flight Academy would be the only civilian operated flight school to graduate students for the USAAF during the course of the war. One of the last graduating classes of USAAF pilots from War Eagle Field. Following Victory in Europe, the field began to slide into disrepair and use of the facilities for aircraft slowly tapered off and ceased. By 1954 the property had transferred into the hands of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The Sheriff’s Department fenced in the still existing War Eagle Field barracks complex and bricked in many of the windows, walkways and doorways. The facility grounds were then opened as a tuberculosis isolation hospital for the Los Angeles corrections department before again being massively renovated and expanded into the current Mira Loma Detention Facility in 1983. The prison was expanded again in 1986 to allow for a women’s block and stayed relatively the same up until its closing some twenty years later. Fortunately, many of the original structures from War Eagle Field remain intact on the current site, including both large aircraft hangars as well as the original air traffic control tower and barracks complex which can both be viewed looking southward into the complex from W Ave I. The facility is largely vacant, however the LA Sheriff’s department still operates the hangars for storage as well as maintaining a small helicopter pad and refueling station for use with their modern police helicopters. Even though eight decades have passed since the last British pilots earned their wings, the remnants of War Eagle Field are still living on through the use of aviation, now as then, for the protection of the citizens of the Antelope Valley. War Eagle Field barracks and administration complex as viewed in 2017 Sources: Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH) Permanent Collections Glen A. Settle, and the Centennial Committee of the City of Lancaster. Lancaster Celebrates a Century. 1884-1984 City of Lancaster: Lancaster, CA. 1983. Norma H. Gurba, Images of America: Lancaster. Arcadia Publishing: Chicago, IL. 2005. Norma Gurba, Karl Peterson, Dayle Debry, and Bill Rawlings. Lancaster, California. Through Time. Arcadia Publishing: Mount Pleasant, SC. 2017. Rich Breault, Brenna Humann, James Koren, and Alisha Semchuck. AV Scrapbook. Antelope Valley Press: Palmdale, CA. 2007.

Many of us are natural explorers. We are fascinated with the nature, cultures, and objects that surround us. We often ask ourselves, where did something come from, how did it get here, who brought it here? These are the questions archaeologists ask themselves and hope to answer in their work. As citizens of science, it is important that we all work together to preserve the archaeological record so that it remains intact and continues to teach us for years to come. What is Archaeology? Archaeology is the study of the study of human history through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains. Contrary to popular belief, archaeologists do not dig up dinosaur bones. That is the job of a paleontologist. Archaeologists focus on all of human culture across space and time. An artifact can be defined as an object made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest. Examples of artifacts can include tools, art pieces, animal bone, clothing, and almost any item made by humans that you can think of! Within the Antelope Valley region, shells, stone tools (which are called lithics), and ground stone artifacts for processing foods are commonly found. These items were from Native American tribes that occupied the area. For hundreds of years, several Native American tribes have called the Antelope Valley their home. These groups include the Serrano, the Vanyume, the Kawaiisu, the Kitanemuk, the Tataviam, and the Tongva or Gabrielino indigenous peoples. Prior to these tribes, which still exist today, their ancestors were Paleoindians. They were the first inhabitants of North America who occupied the region approximately 12,000 years ago! In addition, historic artifacts can also be found from various homesteaders in the area. For example, cans, old homes, and tools from old Antelope Valley residents are considered artifacts. According to the Office of Historic Preservation, any item over 50 years old can be considered a historic artifact. What’s so important about artifacts? These items can all be used to tell us about the past, and at times, in a great amount of detail. For example, if an archaeologist finds a stone too, they can see where that artifact originated from through identifying its geochemical composition, or what its made of, and then trace how far it came from to where it was left. Some artifacts found in the Antelope Valley are made of a volcanic glass known as obsidian that can be sourced to the Coso Volcanic region, which is located over 100 miles away from the Antelope Valley! Due to its far distance of procurement, it is assumed that the obsidian was likely brought into the area through the process of trade. An archaeologist can go further into analysis with the stone tool and identify what types of techniques were used to make it. These different techniques may be associated with a certain time period or a certain group of people, so we can tell who made the artifact. In addition, chemical analysis of the artifact can be used to tell an archaeologist what the artifact was being used for. For example, if we find blood residue from a rabbit on the tool, we can infer that the tool was used for processing and or hunting a rabbit. In addition, if an artifact is found at a certain depth in the ground, that can indicate how old an artifact is. These are just some of the ways archaeologists are able to use artifacts to learn more about what events happened in the past. Below are some examples of artifacts found in the Antelope Valley (See Figures 1 and 2). Examples of artifacts: Figure 1: Obsidian Projectile Point; projectile points or arrowheads are used to tip arrows or spears to hunt prey (MOAH Collections) Figure 2: Schist Metate and Mano; a mano is a stone that is placed in one’s hand and is used to grind down foods, such as acorns. A metate is the larger stone which is laid flat and used as the surface to grind foods on (MOAH Collections). The Looting Problem There are incredible amounts of detail that can go into analyzing an artifact, which can help us all understand the people that were making them, including their relationships with other groups through trade, their traditions, and their subsistence strategies. By gathering information about the past, we can learn more about what other cultures’ have valued and have done, which can guide our own lives today. It is extremely important that an artifact remain where it was found so that when an archaeologist does find it, the artifact can tell its story. If an artifact is taken, it loses its context and an archaeologist may be unable to place it spatially and temporally in time, which means that a part of history is lost. If you find an artifact, leave it be! It belongs where it was found. A looter can be defined as someone that disturbs an archaeological site and steals artifacts for financial or personal gain. Their actions negatively affect the interpretation of history as well as the spiritual well being of the cultures and communities they steal from. Many people may not be aware of them, but there are criminal penalties for damaging an archaeological site and stealing artifacts. Laws to Protect Archaeological Sites Quoted from Archaeology Southwest: ‘Federal laws have been in place to protect archaeological resources for more than a century. The Antiquities Act, passed in 1906, was the first measure taken to preserve sites; however, decades later the law’s language was deemed too vague to offer adequate protection from looters and vandals. In response, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) was enacted in 1979. ARPA forbids the damage, excavation, or removal of archaeological resources on public and Indian lands without a permit, and prohibits the buying, selling, transport, or trafficking of illegally obtained items. Criminal penalties for first-time offenders include prison time, fines up to $250,000, and forfeiture of property used in the violation (including vehicles and boats). In addition, the North American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) declares it a federal crime to traffic in Native American human remains and associated grave goods”’ (Archaeology Southwest). In addition to the looting of artifacts around the Antelope Valley, sites can also be damaged from various irresponsible recreational activities. For example Petroglyph sites, places where drawings or markings on a landscape, have been vandalized across the United States, including within the Antelope Valley from graffiting as well as shooting activities. Earlier this year, a panel of ancient petroglyphs in the Indian Head area of Big Bend National Park in Texas were vandalized with the carving of names into the rock face (See Figure 3). Not only are these actions damaging physically to the sites, it is also tremendously disrespectful to the indigenous people whose ancestors created those images. These material remains have connections to traditions and cultural identities, holding immense importance both spiritually and scientifically (Archaeology Southwest). Figure 3: Damaged panel of ancient petroglyphs in the Indian Head area of Big Bend National Park in Texas (National Parks Service). What you can do to help! In order to help preserve history, please work together with preservationists and follow these guidelines on how to protect and appreciate archaeological sites: Keep artifacts in place! Do not remove, relocate, or collect artifacts. Their information potential is lost when removed from context. Ancient architecture is fragile. Do not sit, walk, or climb on walls. Do not touch, alter, or move petroglyph or pictograph panels. Do not stack rocks or leave other traces of your presence. Do not share site locations on social media. Remember that GPS coordinates may be embedded in your digital photos. Engage in recreational activities AWAY from archaeological sites. Promptly notify law enforcement of any vandalism or suspected violations by calling 1-800-637-9152* (Guidelines cited from Archaeology Southwest) If you ever see a looter, do not engage with them! Looters are often dangerous individuals. Relocate to a safe place and call your local authorities to alert them of the situation. Bibliography National Parks Service 2022 Ancient Rock Art Vandalized National Park Asks for Help https://www.nps.gov/bibe/learn/news/ancient-rock-art-vandalized.htm Stacy Ryan 2018 How You Can Help Protect Heritage Sites - Archaeology Southwest