Kern County Sites along Highway 33 - 5/24/2014

We kicked off Memorial Day weekend with a trek out to Kern County to visit more CHLs.  Our route today was mostly centered around Highway 33.

We went north up to McKittrick, across to Shafter and then back down the 99.

 Our first stop was north of the cute little town of Mariposa, Lakeview Gusher 1 (CHL 485).

 According to the state of California this was the "most spectacular gusher in America!"  I should say so-- this oil gusher blew on March 14, 1910 and gushed over nine million barrels of oil in 18 months.  Can you imagine a river of oil flowing through the dessert because they can't control it?

"Dry Hole Charlie" was assigned by Union Oil to drill on the land and see if it held any oil-- and gosh did it!

Sadly they were only able to collect about half of that amount to be used-- the rest evaporated or seeped back into the ground.  It was a fascinating place to begin our oil adventures for the day.

  

We drove through more oil fields to find Well 2-6 (CHL 581).

 

Fred C. Ripley, a worker in the Santa Fe Oil Company in the very early days of the oil industry decided to go against the belief of the time that oil could only be found at the base of a mountain.  He decided to drill in valley-- and he struck oil! 

  

 Well 2-6 blew in November 1909 and began producing 2000 barrels a day-- kicking off the oil boom in California.  As news spread of this discovery oil companies, refineries, and prospectors came flooding into the area to find their black gold!

 To read all about Mr. Ripley and his amazing discovery check out this magazine from the times,  The Santa Fe Magazine, all about the new oil fields!

 You can still see the capped well behind the plaque-- so cool!

 As we drove north the amount of oil wells grew exponentially-- still drilling oil that we use every day.

 The oil lines wound all around us-- even across the road in a few of our driving adventures today!

 Next stop, McKittrick and the McKittrick Brea Pit (CHL 498).   Located near this plaque was an ancient "asphaltum seepage" where Pleistocene Age animals got stuck-- much like our own La Brea Tar Pits we visited a few weeks ago.

 Native Americans have known about the site for hundreds of years, but it wasn't explored by scientists until 1928.  The major excavation was completed by 1949 and yielded over 100 types of animal and bird remains.

 After a long and treacherous drive through the oil fields where we braved dirt roads, crossed oil pipe lines, and lost our way we got as close as we could to California Standard Oil Well 1 (CHL 376).

This well was significant because it was one of the first in the area.  This well was the first in the McKittrick Field in 1899 and it produced 150 barrels a day for 6 months.
There was no plaque here, so Ron did his best to improvise some photos while I plotted out our next stop on my iPhone. 

 After another off-road adventure through a giant oil field we came upon the Buena Vista Refinery (CHL 504).  The original refinery was west of the plaque and was one of the first oil refineries in all of California (you may recall the very first large refinery in our beautiful SCV, the Pioneer Oil Refinery). 

 Oil from here was transported to San Francisco-- the cost of which became prohibitive and the operation was closed.  At it's peak though it processed about 4000 gallons of "illuminating oil" according to the state.

 We now leave Highway 33 and cross the valley to the town of Shafter and the Shafter Cotton Research Station (CHL 1022).

 In 1922 the US Department of Agriculture opened this facility to test different varieties of cotton and their growth in Kern County. 

 One of the most significant finds was that the Acala cotton seeds from Mexico grew especially well here.

 Thanks to this discovery the cotton industry in California has blossomed and our cotton is in demand world-wide!

 We cruised south into Bakersfield to find four quick sites on our way home-- the first was the Site of the Home of Elisha Stevens (CHL 732).  Please note:  the state has misspelled Elisha's name-- it should be Stephens, but the plaque reads the incorrect spelling.

 Mr. Stephen's life was amazing and we should know better than to misspell his name!  He held a great deal of jobs in his long life but his most important claim to fame was leading the first feasible wagon route over the Sierra Nevadas to the Sacramento Valley.  Due to his leadership, not only did they endure the harsh conditions, but nobody died!!  Two babies were even born on the trip and they made it to Sutter's Fort.  He moved down to what is now Bakersfield when San Jose became too large of a town for his liking.  He was even a close friend of Colonel Baker (the founder of Bakersfield).  He died at the age of 84 and is buried in the Union Cemetery in Bakersfield.  You can read more about his adventures here.

 We actually drove past this statue on our way to the Elisha Stephen's home and were remarking about how cool it was... lo and behold Garces Circle (CHL 277) was next on our list.

Padres Francisco Garces traveled with the Anza expedition exploring to help further Fr. Serra's plan of expanding the missions throughout California.

 At this particular site is where he visited an Indian rancheria and renamed it San Miguel de los Noches por el Santa Principe after San Miguel, one of the patron saints of his voyage.

 According to the state he visited here on May 7, 1776.

 We drove to another home site a short distance away, Site of the Last Home of Alexis Godey (CHL 690).

 Alexis Godey has a remarkable story-- beginning with a trapping career with Captain Benjamin Bonneville, working with Kit Carson on the Fremont expeditions, to managing farms for Edward Fitzgerald Beale, and finally death after being mortally wounded by a lion.  He was married and divorced five times and had as many as 8 common-law wives.  He settled here in Bakersfield at the end of his life, but Bakersfield is happy to claim him as one of their native sons.  To read his full, fascinating story you can click here.

 The park where his plaque is was teeming with bridal parties and quinceañera girls.  This must be one of the prettiest spots in all of Bakersfield if the amount of folks here was any indication!

 Our final Bakersfield spot for the day was the Colonel Thomas Baker Memorial (CHL 382).

 Thomas Baker also has an intriguing life story--  the reason he is honored in statue form here is because he is the man who founded the city of Bakersfield.

 He wanted a great city to be built along the Kern River and he knew that travel through this area could be tough, so he grew a field of alfalfa and welcomed all visitors to rest themselves and their horses.   Many travelers planned their trips with a stop off in Baker's field to enjoy his hospitality.

 He and his second wife, Ellen Alverson, seemed to really take the aspect of community to heart.

 Col. Baker was also the co-founder of Visalia-- who knew?  If you want to read a full biography, click here.

 At this point we were beginning to hit the wall, but a sign soon brought us back to life!

 We drove past Dewar's soda fountain that has been in operation for 105 years and we knew we had to stop. 

 It's a darling little place with a huge variety of ice cream-- a very fun pit-stop before the drive home.

 Our final site for the day was the Sinks of the Tejon (CHL 540).

 Six miles west of this plaque location was a Butterfield Stage station that helped transport mail through what is now Kern County from 1858-1861.

 We still have at least one more visit to Kern County before we are done with the county, but if the next one is adventurous as the one today then I'm all in!!