mostly nonfiction and bakersfield news | August 26th, 2009
Telephone Worker Forced To Take Days Off During Great Depression
Estel Campbell, who was a telephone central office switchboard repairman in Kern County said that during the Great Depression he and other workers were forced to take as many as 11 days off at a time. He said that even half-time workers were considered to be “rolling in the wealth.”
Source: The Pioneer Memory Days Transcript
Woman Born In Rosedale, 1886, Said Family Put On Minstrel Shows
A woman named Gladys Cooms was born in 1886 in what was called the Rosedale Colony. She said about the day of her birth, “They tell me it was a stormy night.” She came from England. Her father was a teacher in Liverpool. He wanted to come to Kern County to become a farmer after [...]
Tubatulabal Natives Lined Up, Shot In 1863
The Tubatulabal tribes who lived in the mountain region of the Kern River Valley once occupied 1,300 miles of land. Much of the land was in the upper Kern River and Kern Plateau. Family groups normally included about 50 members per hamlet. In 1863, 30 Tubatulabals were lined up and shot by a company of [...]
Fresno: Going Forward, Looking Back
Nostalgia. Growing up I didn’t understand the hurtful twinge, wistfulness and soft yearning for time gone by — or the need to connect with someone who could relate.
Commander Fages Enters Kern County
In 1772 Commander Fages was the first white man to enter future Kern County via Grapevine Canyon. And that basically means Native Americans were here a long time before any of the rest of us. Just ask the Yokuts, Chumash, Shoshoneans and Tubatulabuls. Are we missing anyone?
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CHRIS LIVINGSTON is a Bakersfield area writer of history [...]
Col. Thomas Baker’s Iowa Stint
Did you know that Col. Thomas Baker was elected to the first Iowa State Legislature soon after it became a state in 1846? If you don’t know who Baker is then that’s like standing on a giant “X” and not realizing where the treasure is.
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CHRIS LIVINGSTON is a Bakersfield area writer of history and trivia. [...]
Golden West El Tejon Parlor
The Local History Collection at the Beale Memorial Library in downtown Bakersfield, Calif., has various records from the Native Daughters of the Golden West El Tejon Parlor. The only way to figure this one out is to go down to the library and corner Chris Livingston!
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CHRIS LIVINGSTON is a Bakersfield area writer of history and [...]
Discovery Of Walker Pass
Did you know that Walker Pass was discovered by famous frontiersman Joseph Reddeford Walker in 1830? Walker Pass is located on Highway 178 east of Lake Isabella. It’s a strange area of pine and Joshua trees that descends into the Mojave Desert.
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CHRIS LIVINGSTON is a Bakersfield area writer of history and trivia. He’s also the [...]
Death By Grizzly
Maybe you’re not aware that huge deadly beasts once roamed the lands near Bakersfield. Well they did. According to Chris Livingston of the Beale Memorial Library, in 1837 Peter Lebeck was killed by a grizzly at the future location of Fort Tejon. Not a good way to go. I thought Fort Tejon might be haunted. [...]
Bako’s Premiere Socialite Marie Beale And Her D.C. Decatur House
This edition of “Tales from the Vault” brings us to one of the most interesting of Kern County’s pioneer families. Many have heard of the remarkable stories about General Edward Fitzgerald Beale, Mexican/American War Hero, friend of Kit Carson, gold smuggler, Indian Agent, and land holder. There are also many stories about his son Truxtun [...]
