Having gone back to do more historical research for my upcoming historical novel about Desert Steve, I’ve learned a lot more details about three important historical events that happened right in Desert Steve’s backyard.
Desert Steve was a preacher from Missouri who gave up the pastorate to farm cotton on the border between California and Arizona. When World War I caused cotton prices to drop, he turned over the farm to the tax collector, and went out to the middle of the Colorado Desert and the Chuckwalla valley to found a town.
At that time, around 1921, the road between Phoenix and Los Angeles was merely 2 ruts through the sands of the desert. Steve founded the town in the middle of 100-mile (ca. 161 km) stretch between any facilities or city. The only thing in the desert at that time were several old prospectors looking for gold among the quartz fields. Since a lot of the travelers were driving Model Ts, they would often get stuck in the sand. Steve used a customized Model T as a towing vehicle, and provided gasoline, a small café, a dipping pool to cool off in the desert heat.
Fittingly, he named the town Desert Center. Today it is a ghost town, but there were three periods during its history where crucial events happened that affected both California and the world.
The first was when the decision was made to build an aqueduct across the desert to supply water to Los Angeles and surrounding areas. This was the Colorado Aqueduct, built by thousands of men across the hot desert between 1933 and 1939. Desert Center was mere miles away, and it grew in size and importance.
With the outbreak of World War II, General Patton was searching for a place to train his soldiers for desert combat. He chose the outskirts of Desert Center. From 1942 until 1944, thousands of troops trained in the desert at an airfield, and became part of the desert center community. General Patton used to visit the Desert Center café, run by Desert Steve’s wife, Lydia, to write reports, have a bite to eat, and chat with Desert Steve about desert life.
When the aqueduct was being built, the workers discovered a vein of iron in the mountains. Kaiser Steel bought the land, and began operating a large steel mine from late the late 1930s until 1984. Again, this brought thousands of workers to the desert, and Desert Center was a hub. The workers had to go to Blythe or Palm Springs for medical care.
An enterprising doctor named Sydney Garfield decided to open a field hospital for all the workers. He found they often couldn’t pay for medical care because they had spent all their monthly checks eating and drinking during their off time. It was suggested to Dr. Garfield that he charge them monthly for ongoing care. The workers would pay five cents each, with an additional three cents for a spouse and each child. This gave them medical care for a monthly fee, and enabled Dr. Garfield to have a steady income.
When Kaiser discovered what the Doctor was doing, he thought it was a brilliant idea. He invested in Garfield’s hospital, which then led to the founding of Kaiser Permanente and the first healthcare system of its kind. There is a plaque in Desert Center to this effect.
Desert Steve was a quirky, stubborn, hard-working, inventive desert rat. The story about his life is a fascinating look at one of the unusual pioneers of the early 20th century in the deserts of California. His connections to these important historical events only touches the tip of the iceberg.
