8 posts tagged “desert hot springs”

We're getting into the home stretch for the video release of "Peter Toth and the Trail of the Whispering Giants," the film I made about Pete's work on Waokiye. In the meantime, we interviewed friends, fans and others and came up with a nice little documentary. CreateSpace/Amazon is finishing up on the final production end and they should be available for sale soon. In the meantime, here's the clip from YouTube: 

  https://www.createspace.com/267617

Whispering Giants

I have to give credit to Richard Miramontes for shootin' the best photo from Cabot's birthday bash. (the rest I took, but he really caught the moment) We're familiar with Tomas Garcilazo from the Indio County Fair and Date Festival and if you ever get a chance to see one of his performances, do not miss it. His horsemanship and rope skills are truly amazing. His young son's really coming along in the ways of the charro too - it's a family act. http://www.tomasgarcilazo.com/

3rd_Annual_Cabot's_Birthday_BBQ_Bash_Tomas_Garcilazo

http://ravenjake.vox.com/library/post/bull-o-rama-5.html 

Standing on saddle

Sitting horse

Tomas Garcilazo lasso

Tomas Garcilazo's son

Whispering Giants

Cabot's bbq bash 2009

Once again, a great time was had at Cabot's Pueblo Museum on June 6. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure, Cabot's is one of the desert's treasures, and their annual fundraiser is always a great time for a great cause. Getting your picture taken with a cute burro, in this case miniature donkey Romeo - and the disembodied hand of Galena, Don Reed in the Hawaiian shirt, Jane Pojawa with the big smile, and native ceramicist Tony Soares in the back row with yours truly - is just one of the many perks. It has been just great to see Cabot's Pueblo Museum become the center of Desert Hot Springs over just the past couple o' years and we certainly wish them all the best in the future.

Whispering Giants

Cabot_Warhol

My girl, Jane, is giving a little talk up at the Hi-Desert Museum the first Wednesday in June, if y'all like History, you won't want to miss it:

Cabot Yerxa: True Confessions of a Research Addict

Does reading 19th century census records make your heart beat faster? Do yellowed newspaper clippings give you an adrenalin rush? Have you ever screamed while reading and old letter – exchanged between two people you’ve never met? This is the sordid, secret life of a research addict, and it is an incurable condition. Fortunately, there are others who share your passion, and you need not experience the euphoria and disappointment alone.

Jane Pojawa is the archivist/historian for Cabot’s Pueblo Museum in Desert Hot Springs. Her extensive research into the extraordinary life of Cabot Yerxa has made for some fascinating discoveries about one of the Coachella Valley’s earliest pioneers. The greatest challenge of this quest has been to separate legend from fact, and the most effective tool for the job is primary source documents.

In this First Wednesday’s presentation, Pojawa will give an overview of the fascinating life of Cabot Yerxa before addressing some of the stories that surround Cabot Yerxa and his Pueblo, including:

The Eskimo Dictionary
Cabot and the Cabots
Merry Xmas, the super-burro
The Murder Room
Giant Rock and the Flying Saucers

This program will shed light on some little-known aspects of Yerxa’s life and legend, while giving research tips and encouragement to our local historians. The truth is out there – and it might be much stranger than you think!

At the Hi-Desert Nature Museum $5 Donation
Hi-Desert Nature Museum
57090 29 Palms Highway
Yucca Valley, CA 92284

Raven_Jake_at_the_Spa_Hotel

Folks, it's getting mighty busy out here and I've got a lotta content to post and no time to do it. The Spa Hotel is my latest desert discovery, and I won't lie to you, it was my acute sense of thrift that drew me here. The Spa Hotel is a venerable institution in these parts, and for $6 you can soak until 10pm.

Desert Hot Springs Spa Hotel www.dhsspa.com

10805 Palm Dr
Desert Hot Springs, CA 92240
(760) 329-7000

It ain't Two Bunch Palms (saavy readers will have noticed the price difference) but it's got eight pools and a sauna plus you never know who you're gonna meet. There aren't too many problems - even money problems - that don't seem a whole lot better after a soak.

Jane's turned her photo/research project into a slideshow, but she insists she's still not finished. There are more memorials out there and more research to be done. Be that as it may, I think she's made her point whch is everybody (but most particularily these kids right out of high school) best not be getting loaded and drivin' around. Just stay at the party; there's no rush to be anyplace at 10 at night. When you are driving, please remember that everybody else on the road is smokin' crack/just got their license last week/legally blind and put on your seat belt. Maybe think about gettin' a crash helmet. Again, my condolences to the families of these boys, it is a terrible thing to lose a loved one.

Jane Pojawa of Cabot's Pueblo Museum has a photo project going - recording the roadside memorials of Desert Hot Springs and researching the people and circumstances to led them to this sad conclusion. From the top we have Jose Nicola Escobar (DHS), Richard P. Abrane, Roberto Gallegos Lira (Palm Springs), and Victorio Chavez and Xavier Santos (Cathedral City). All came to their ends in car crashes on Palm Drive, except for Jose whose life ended on Mountain View. DHS has some of the worst problems with pedestrian deaths, hit-and-run, and fatal accidents in the desert and Jane wants to call attention to these public safety issues by giving them a human context. In the meantime, you will greatly increase your chances of living to age 21 (Richard was the only one to make it that long) by wearing a seatbelt and staying at the party instead of driving home drunk (or getting into a car with a drunk driver.) Raven Jake sends his heartfelt regrets to the friends and families of these boys whose lives were suddenly cut short.

Cabot's Trading Post and Art Gallery

Raven Jake made it to the "soft" opening of the gallery at Cabot's Old Indian Trading Post in December 07. The more formal "grand opening" is coming up on Valentine's Day. At left, the picture in the background is "Cabot Warhol" by Jane Pojawa, down below Raven Jake joins Desert Hot Springs Mayor Yvonne Parks and Cabot board president Michael O'Keefe at the TP&G, or Trading Post and Gallery.

Cabot's Old Indian Pueblo Museum is a place Jake revisits frequently, both physically and spiritually. They have a long history together, starting when Jake visited Cabot Yerxa, pioneer, desert rat and builder, with his grandfather. Today, the museum stands as a testiment to what one man with a dream and a strong back can accomplish.

Cabot's December 15, 2007

Cabot's Museum

Cabot's Brief Biography