My current novel in progress is about Desert Steve Ragsdale and the founding of Desert center in California in the 1920s. This tiny town, located in the middle of a desert, was caught up in a number of important historical events: the building of a major California aqueduct, General Patton’s World War II training field for North Africa, the largest iron in the United States, the invention of paid healthcare and Kaiser Permanente, flying saucer cults, And the first major freeways through the desert.
During my research, I came across an amusing story about General Patton. Because Desert Center did not sell alcohol in any café or market, soldiers often went to Blythe or Indio, 50 miles (ca. 80 km) away in opposite directions.
During one outing, two soldiers were arrested for public drunkenness. When General Patton was informed of the issue, he contacted the sheriff in Indio. He requested that the sheriff turn the men over to him for military discipline. The sheriff refused. The General argued that the men were his responsibility, not the civil authorities, but to no avail.
So Patton got into his half-track (a combination truck and tank) and drove to Indio. He pointed the guns at the jail and demanded his men.
The sheriff handed the men over.
Of course, if you’ve read much about General Patton, this fits his character quite well. And, of course, it had to be included in my novel!
Incidentally, the two men were punished, of course. We don’t know anything else about them, except that one of them eventually became a military chaplain! “Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future.” (Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance, 1893).
Desert. Sun. Sand. No roads or human settlements within fifty miles in any direction. The perfect place to found a town?
That’s what Steve Ragsdale believed. So he and his wife bundled up their four kids in their 1915 Ford Model T, bought a local prospector’s shack and well, and built a fuel station (50-gallon drum), a repair garage, and café. He advertised “Free food on days the sun doesn’t shine” and “No drunks, no dogs—we prefer dogs.” He was the owner, sheriff, rockhound, author, naturalist, desert guide, and Santa Claus at Christmas.
He became one of the local “desert rats” and earned the moniker “Desert Steve.” Along the way, he became part of history: the Colorado Aqueduct, the construction of the first State and National highways, the invention of prepaid healthcare, General Patton and World War II, the largest iron mine in the United States, flying saucer sightings, murder, and much more.
Based on a true story, this is the tale of a quirky, clever, and bold man who pursued a dream, wrote bad poetry, and found ways to survive when many would have perished or packed it in.
Discover more from Markus McDowell, author
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
You must be logged in to post a comment.