Исследовательница 1896 года разочаровалась, узнав, что водопад в пустыне Мохаве — это миф

An adventurous woman arrived in the Mojave Desert community of Daggett one day in 1896 and immediately was urged not to miss a charming attraction nearby called Sioux Falls — or at least that’s the way she thought it was spelled. It probably should be a real surprise to anyone familiar with the area around today’s Calico Ghost Town Regional Park that any kind of waterfall could ever have existed there. But Idah Meacham Strobridge, an author and frequent explorer of the deserts, was compelled to find out all about it, as she wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle of May 31, 1896. “I heard so much about Sioux Falls that my interest in it was consuming,” she wrote. But her trip there, a few miles northeast of Calico, left her puzzled, and thirsty. Strobridge, who grew up in the post-Gold Rush period in Northern California and often lived in Western deserts and mountains, was raring to go one morning after arranging for a local guide to take her out to “the much talked-of waterfall.” Things got off to a poor start as the cart broke down as it passed through Calico’s mining camp, forcing a delay for repairs. In her article, she described Calico, whose silver production was then in a bit of a downturn, as a place well-known for “hazing every minister of the gospel who had ever attempted a residence there.” Once the cart was repaired, civilization, unholy as it apparently was then in Calico, was soon well behind them. Their trek through those steep canyons and dozens of mining sites is never easy, even for today’s off-road-vehicle explorers. They were forced to squeeze between narrow canyon walls, climb over an array of boulders, and endure lots of dust. “The alkali earth, ground into a fine powder by the heavy teams constantly passing and repassing, rolled up about in clouds, and the blazing sun poured down,” she recalled. “It was a terrible trip.” But soon they reached a canyon with towering cliffs, best known today by off-roaders as Wall Street. Anticipating a cool drink of water, Strobridge was stunned by the object of their quest. “I saw, guiltless of any moisture, a precipitous prophyry cliff whose formation was such that I am compelled to admit it did look remarkably like a waterfall, until one gave it closer inspection,” she wrote. Strobridge and her guide “looked at each other expectantly; he for some exclamation of admiration from me, I for some explanation from him.” She asked if that was Sioux Falls. It was, he said, with “conscious pride in his tone.” “For a moment I felt a faintness that did not come from the heat.” She wasn’t expecting a waterfall the size of Yosemite or Niagara, but she did hope for at least a little moisture. “Where is the water?” I faintly asked. “Water?” “Yes, water.” “Did you say water?” “Of course, I said water,” I answered, rather irritably. “What should I say? Has the stream dried up or been turned off or what?” “Did you expect to see water?” he asked again. “He eyed me with fine scorn, and his answer was given in the way one speaks to an unreasonable child: ‘Well, there isn’t any’.” The guide told her the cliffs were called “falls” simply because that’s what it looked like from a distance. She asked if people actually came out there to see this waterless wonder. “Very many, and greatly admire it,” and he added, with emphasis, “some revisit it.” Getting more frustrated, Strobridge asked if there had ever been water on it. “No” was his answer. She asked, “Never?” “Never.” And then the frustration level reached a peak when she asked, “And why is it named for Sioux Indians?” “It wasn’t. It was named for a young lady named Sue.” She said all conversation ceased at that point. With the correctly spelled Sue Falls in their waterless wake, they returned to Daggett. On that bumpy trip home, “we maintained one of those ‘audible silences’ where one could have heard a whole barrel of pins drop. “Some emotions are too deep for words.” It turns out that the “falls” was in the vicinity of the Sue Mine (admittedly sometimes called the Sioux Mine), one of the earliest silver mines in the Calico area. Many of those mines were worked in and above the rugged canyons such as Wall Street. Access to the Sue Mine and others was often only possible with long ladder devices up the deep slopes. For Strobridge, her time in Daggett ended the following day, with a train trip back to Los Angeles where she would spend the rest of her life. She was a highly regarded Western writer, composing a number of books about her own experiences in the region, many of which were bound by her own Artemisia binary business in the Montecito Heights area of Los Angeles. Her 1909 book, “The Land of Purple Shadows,” is a series of interesting stories about the rugged West — though nothing about any waterfall experience. The book includes some remarkably insightful stories about Native Americans and the Chinese, who in print were rarely treated with any kind of respect in those days. I want to thank my friend Jennifer Reynolds for her help in researching this story about a waterfall named Sue. Route 66 events The city of La Verne on Thursday, July 9, will open two exhibits in honor of its history and the 100th anniversary of Route 66. At 9 a.m., a discussion by the La Verne Historical Society at the county library, 3640 D St., will focus on a large display of city history shown there. Following the presentation, visitors will walk to City Hall where John Atwater will give a presentation about his large collection of Route 66 memorabilia that will be on display there. Claremont Heritage will open its Route 66 photo exhibition at a reception Saturday, July 11 from 5 to 6 p.m. at the Ginger Elliott Gallery in Memorial Park, 840 Indian Hill Blvd., Claremont. Beginning July 13, the exhibit by Michael Graves is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. A talk about the history of Route 66 will be held the following day, July 12, by Morgan Yates. It will be from 4 to 6 p.m. at Decker Hall, Pilgrim Place, 6th Avenue and Mayflower Avenue, Claremont. Cost is $10. More tours Tours of two historical sites have been scheduled the next two Sundays by the Historical Society of the Pomona Valley. This Sunday, July 12 tours of the Barbara Greenwood Kindergarten, 332 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona, will be held between 2 and 5 p.m. The cost is $5. On July 19, tours will be held between 2 and 5 p.m. at the Phillips Mansion, 2640 Pomona Boulevard, Pomona. The cost is $10. Tickets must be purchased a day before the tours at pomonahistorical.org. Joe Blackstock writes on Inland Empire history. He can be reached at [email protected] or on X @JoeBlackstock. Check out some of the past articles at Inland Empire Stories on Facebook at facebook.com/IEHistory.