Government Holes Well Shootout

[Odessa Red]

I had never heard of this place in my beautiful Mojave Desert...never heard about it until my farrier told me the story the other day. He has a friend who retired and became a ranger who took him out on many treks into the desert, including Government Holes well, which is now protected by the Mojave National Preserve. The story was intriguing and there is not much documentation on the internet that I can pull up regarding this little, if unknown saga, in Mojave history. The premise is copied below from a wiki article with a few artifact pictures. I don't know what year this was to have occurred.

The eastern Mojave folklore is that Government Holes is the site of the only fatal shoot-out in the eastern Mojave. It was apparently the sheep herders against the cattlemen. Any remains over 50 years old are considered archeological artifacts and are protected by law. An old-fashioned shootout at a well called Government Holes erupted that left two men dead. And some homesteaders resorted to cattle theft to put a good meal on the table. Eventually dry weather and poor land caused most homesteaders to leave the desert, leaving cattlemen again in control of the situation.

http://wiki.worldflicks.org/goverment_hole_well.html#coords=(35.1475415,%20-115.359176)&z=19

[Odessa Red]

Ok...here's more I found with dates...not as early as I had thought :)

"Government Holes was the site of a gun battle in 1925, incited by the tensions between homesteaders and cattle ranchers in the Lanfair Valley. When the gunfight between J.W. Robinson and Matt Burts was over, both men were dead.

The NPS describes the situation that led up to the fight:

“The beginning of homesteading in the 1910s brought a new dynamic to land use. Homesteaders had to make a living off the land, including raising crops. They erected fences to keep cattle from trampling their fields, thereby removing some of the best grazing lands in the area from the public domain. As can be expected water, always in short supply, was a subject sure to create controversy. Most of the best water holes had been appropriated by the cattle companies, and bitter fights erupted over water use. In one situation, an old-fashion shootout at a well called Government Holes erupted that left two men dead. And some homesteaders resorted to cattle theft to put a good meal on the table. Eventually dry weather and poor land caused most homesteaders to leave the desert, leaving cattlemen again in control of the situation.” (www.nps.gov/archive/moja/mojahtra.htm)

[Odessa Red]

http://home.earthlink.net/~ghosttowns4/mnp/#_Toc200424587

[Odessa Red]

My farrier actually told me the story that I added in the updated post, not that it was between sheep herders and cattlemen...but at first it was all I could find on the subject on the internet...the 2nd posting came from the NPS.

[Odessa Red]

Lanfair Valley
Named for E.L. Lanfair, an organizer of the homesteaders who migrated to the valley in 1910, Lanfair Valley is a ranching and agricultural area. By 1917 there were 130 registered voters in the valley. They dry-farmed corn and beans, but the 8-10 inches of rainfall a year was not enough. Water rights were a constant conflict between the ranchers and the farmers. Water had to be hauled 10 miles or brought in by the railroad. In 1923 the railroad spur was abandoned, and the homesteaders left soon after. Much of the valley today is still privately owned.

http://www.route66ca.org/traveler/towns/01emojav/mnppts.html

[Ginny Morgan]

Good stuff, Odessa! Sometimes we forget about the history that is in our own back yards..!

[Carbine]

Good info Odessa- thats what I like about this site. From what I could gather the shootout took place near sundown on November 8,1925. Some might consider that to modern for the "Old West" but the circumstances leading up to the gunfight and the events of the fight itself certainly are what one would expect the Old West to be like.
Government Holes or Wells was originally dug by teamsters in 1859 and enlarged by the Army the next year. It was a watering stop on the Mojave Road where up to 3000 wagons a year came across into California. It began at Fort Mojave on the Colorado River and ended near Camp Cady outside of present day Barstow. It is highly probable that the Earp family came over the Mojave Road when they setteled in San Bernardino.
A couple of good reference's for more info are 1. The Mojave Road Guide by Dennis Casebier and 2. Mines of the Mojave by Ron and Peggy Miller. If you like Western fiction I recommend Louis Lamour's "Callaghen". He mentions the Mojave Road, Government Wells and other springs along the route and goes into some detail about a "Lost River of Gold".

[Odessa Red]

Awesome comment Carbine! Sometimes by throwing out a tidbit others can expound on it! I did know that the "Mojave Road" starts at the Colorado River and ends near Zzyzzx Rd which is about 70 miles north of Barstow. And there are many stops along the Mojave Trail that consist of 'watering holes' but I never delved too deeply into the history of them until my shoer told me about this incident.

That very well may have been true that the Earp/Rosseau party would have traveled on the Mojave Trail because I was reading excerpts of Sarah Jane Rosseau's journal where she mentions coming into an area near Las Vegas on November 10, 1864 and then coming down the Cajon Pass (December 17, 1864) into San Bernardino. That kind of gives you a timeline as well, to how long it took them to travel from the Las Vegas area to the top of the Cajon Pass where the ground was freezing and covered in snow. It is possible that at no more than 5 miles per day it would have taken them the approximate 38 days to travel through the desert...it just seems like an extra long time to travel...unless they were still east of Vegas when Sarah Jane wrote that entry in her journal. ...to which Sarah Jane also made note of wagon master, Nicholas Earp's nasty demeanor and tendency to use profane language! Interesting food for thought!

Here is a great map of the Mojave Trail to put it in perspective:

http://www.nps.gov/moja/planyourvisit/upload/MOJAmap1.pdf

[Odessa Red]

Landmarks along the 138 mile Mojave Trail:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojave_Road

[Odessa Red]

Morgan..are we blocked??..I sent to you, you sent to me..nothing in my requests as of yet!

[Odessa Red]

excerpt from: http://mojavehistory.com/lane7.html

REPORTS FROM JANE ROUSSEAU

The settlers had good reason to fear for their lives if reports from Mrs. Jane Rousseau are correct. Dr. and Mrs. Rousseau traveled the desert in the final months of 1864 with a wagon train leaving Utah and bound for San Bernardino.

In her diary entry for December 4th she wrote that she was at a place where Indians had slain three men who had been serving as caretakers for a mine located there. The killings had occurred eight weeks earlier. According to the diary, there were four houses and a quartz mill at the site, which has since been identified as Salt Spring.

Mrs. Rousseau reported on several occasions that she was frightened by Indians, who were quite bold and came right into their camp. There must have been enough people in the party that the Indians did not attack.

Her companions, who included the Earp and Curtis families among others, ran out of provisions and became exhausted prior to reaching Bitter Springs. The animals were so fatigued that on December 6th two members of the party set out on foot to seek help from the Mojave River settlers. Three days later the rescue party returned with the much-needed supplies, but they also carried reports from the inhabitants on the river that the Indians in the area were menacing and thought to be particularly hostile.

As the group continued on towards the river, a man, identified only as "the old gentleman who keeps the ranch about 30 miles from Bitter Springs," met them with some additional grain for the horses. Finally, the Rousseau family, who had split from the others over a disagreement, managed to make it to the river, thanks to their refreshed horses.


**Salt Spring, along the Mormon Trail that connected Salt Lake City and San Bernardino**

Located just 40 miles northeast of Las Vegas, the Bitter Springs Old Spanish Trail was first traveled in 1776 by Spanish Explorers, the trail was later used by mountain men and early settlers during their westward expansion... http://www.oldspanishtrail.org/assets/PDFs/Pahrump-Tecopa.pdf

I do know the Mojave Trail, Mormon Trail, and I believe the Old Spanish Trail all converged fairly near Vegas...the Mormons used the Spanish Trail and that's what I now believe the Earp's and Rosseau's traveled on rather than the more southerly Mojave Trail. Which also might explain why it took longer to reach the Cajon Pass...they were farther northeast of Vegas and according to Sarah Jane's journal entry, they were fatigued and in need of supplies.

**Mormon pioneers and settlers were poised to be at the forefront of the gold rush and initial development of the Southern California region. They crossed the Mojave Desert using the Old Spanish Trail as a winter route to avoid the snowy and deadly Sierra Nevada. They first settled in San Bernardino, California, building a colony and growing it into a thriving, but wild community. http://mojavedesert.net/mormon-pioneers/