Pegleg Smith is a character mentioned in my forthcoming historical fiction novel about the founding of Desert Center, California, and its quirky founder, Desert Steve Ragsdale
Pegleg Smith was long dead when Desert Steve founded Desert Center in 1921. But his legend lived on throughout the desert community and among so-called desert rats of the land, of which desert was one. Steve’s friend, Harry Oliver, loved the legend of peg leg Smith, and was known to carve wooden peglegs and leave them all over the desert for people to find. Eventually, the two took over and formalized an annual event known as the P liars contest, which is held in Borrego Springs. In 1949, Desert Steve erected a sign with a ledger for visitors to sign. On November 11, 1960, the State of California placed a historical marker there in honor of Pegleg.
Thomas “Pegleg” Smith was a mountain man known for serving as a guide for many early expeditions into the American Southwest. Born in Crab Orchard, Kentucky, Smith became a fur trapper and later learned several Native American languages. He lost his right leg below the knee from a wound and resulting infection. Legend tells us that he cut the knee off himself with his knife, and was nursed back to health by some Indian women who found him. This event, of course, led to his nickname.
After the decline of the fur trade, Smith became involved in kidnapping and horse theft. He later claimed to have discovered a large amount of gold-bearing quartz, selling maps and stakes to a mine known as the Lost Pegleg Mine until his death.
Pegleg Smith was portrayed in “The Lost Pegleg Mine” (1952), episode 4 of Death Valley Days, (played by Ralph Sanford). The plot involves a race to find the lost mine. He also appears in the historical novel, The Lonesome Gods, by Louis L’Amour, mentions Pegleg Smith, and Roaring in the Wind, by Robert Lewis Taylor, mentions Pegleg Smith.
Coming in 2024
Desert. Sun. Sand. And no roads or human settlements within 50 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 (a 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 mayor, sheriff, rockhound, author, naturalist, desert guide, and Santa Claus at Christmastime. He became one of the local “Desert Rats” and earned the moniker “Desert Steve.” Along the way, he became part of history: 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, 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.
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