BajaNomad

Well...I screwed that up..got second photo first

Pompano - 1-25-2005 at 05:29 AM

Jorge easily got the hang of driving the Butterfly 3-wheelers that my friend, Blackjack, invented for getting around in sand and over rocks.

David K - 1-25-2005 at 08:12 AM

Great photos Pompano... What is Jorge doing now-a-days? Do you see Ricardo Castillo much?

More Erle Stanley Gardner-era photos: http://choralpepper.com

Bruce R Leech - 1-25-2005 at 08:43 AM

Jorge owns the water purification business here in Mulege . and also has a trailer park.

I see Ricardo Castillo every day he is doing fine

David K - 1-25-2005 at 06:37 PM

I have called Ricardo on the phone about his memory of the 1966 trip with the Gardner party, blazing a trail south of L.A. Bay to El Barril.

Ricardo said he would try and find his notes, and I would like to know if he was successful.

Tell him I was the friend of Choral Pepper looking for the strange wall they found south of Bahia de L.A., who called him several months ago. Two photos that were taken that day in 1966 are at (bottom two photos): http://community-2.webtv.net/baja4me/1757/page2.html if you could print them and show him, I would be most greatful!!!

[Edited on 1-26-2005 by David K]

David K - 1-25-2005 at 11:12 PM

Here is the ancient wall that was spotted by some members of the 1966 Erle Stanley Gardner expedition that opened the road south of L.A. Bay (beyond Las Flores, past Paredones, La Bocana and to the El Arco-El Barril road. The wall was far from any ranch, and was near a dry spring with dead palm tree logs and a seedling palm. At the top of the hill was rubble of a structure and Indian sleeping circles... A Baja mystery! Perhaps the lost, unfinished mission of Santa Maria Magdalena!?

Here's the other photo that appeared in Desert Magazine

David K - 1-26-2005 at 08:36 AM

The moutain range in the background might be of help in finding the ruins... I have tried!!

Pompano - 1-26-2005 at 08:40 AM

David...don't know why, but your pictures are not coming through..at least on my screen. Just an empty box with a small red X....hmmmm.

I will try to see Ricardo today and give him your message...also snap his portrait and show another before/after of Baja Gardner characters.

David K - 1-26-2005 at 08:53 AM

Muchas Gracias!
To see both photos, go to http://community-2.webtv.net/baja4me/1757 they are on the second page. The first page is the 1757 Jesuit map that shows three 'lost missions'... The Gardner expeditions possibly found two! Lindsay Sullivan saw Ricardo recently, and he may have something to tell me. Ask him when I should call, if he found his notes or remembers the location.

David K - 1-26-2005 at 09:10 AM

Yes, I remember that photo in Erle's book... Where was it taken?

Pompano - 1-26-2005 at 09:16 AM

David...I will check back in my journal and find the place for you...there were so many stories from JW about where they had been, but I am thinking it was near Mulege or the Commundus. Will let you know...maybe Ricardo will remember too.

Bruce R Leech - 1-26-2005 at 09:28 AM

David K your photos still are not coming through.

Bruce R Leech - 1-26-2005 at 09:31 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Pompano
JORGE YEE.....Here's two before & after photos of a Baja friend who was 23 years old when he first became camp cook on a few Gardner expeditions into the Baja outback country in the 1950's and 60's.



Pompano this is a vary interesting thread to me Please tell us more about these Fine Men




[Edited on 1-26-2005 by Bruce R Leech]

David K - 1-26-2005 at 10:55 AM

Bruce, get the book 'Off the Beaten Track in Baja' and you will learn all about them and have a great Baja read, as well!

My two photos of the site south of L.A. Bay that some cannot see at the moment, are at http://community-2.webtv.net/baja4me/1757 on the second page. They are under 50 kbs... so it is an Internet problem, your avatar is also not showing, on my end.

Here's my well worn copy of the book (order on on line at addall.com or ?):

Ricardo Castillo....

Pompano - 1-26-2005 at 02:01 PM

David..just got back from Mulege. Went to the Hacienda to pay my yearly taxes and who walks in the office but Ricardo...funny thing is, I was going to look for him...must be some karma there.

I asked him about your request and he finally remembered your phone call, but said that was too long ago to remember any facts about the location of either my metate from JW or your request on another site's location. He would have loved to help but didn't want to just make something up..which is refreshing, right?

I told him I wanted an 'after' photo for my collection and he posed for me. Here are his 'before and after' pics.

I also have a copy of Earl Stanley Gardner's book 'Off the Beaten Path In Baja'..signed with inscriptions from him and JW. One of my Baja treasures...I think you must have caught the Baja bug like me...a long time ago. I made my first trip here in 1959..Mulege at Club Aero, then on to Rcho Buena Vista with my dad when I was 15....in a small plane from North Dakota. That was an adventure..and made me come back again and again. Baja is still a pretty bewitching place.

This first photo is Ricardo by the petro..

Ricardo today..........

Pompano - 1-26-2005 at 02:04 PM

this was at the Hacienda in Mulege this morning...I love paying taxes here...

David K - 1-26-2005 at 04:50 PM

Thank you Pompano... Yes, that was almost 40 years ago. Ricardo said he made trip notes, and if he found that book it could have help solved the lost mission mystery for me. It was the day or two after they went clamming at Bahia las Animas, Feb. 1966.

See pages 136, 137, & 185-205 in Off the Beaten Track in Baja.

Jorge was along as well, maybe he could add something? Next time you see Jorge, please show him those two photos and tell him it was when they were going south to El Barril that they found that wall. If he could remember about how far from Las Animas or Jesus Flores' ranch (Paredones), they found that site... ??

Thanks for the help!

Pompano - 1-26-2005 at 05:16 PM

David...Ricardo did mention to me that their expedition did in fact crave out the first road from Bahia de Los Angeles to... ____dang it, now I forget where they went!! Will ask again when I next see him .... Jorge too.

David K - 1-27-2005 at 01:33 AM

Read my posts above, Bahia de los Angeles to El Barril... I even gave the page numbers in Off the Beaten Track in Baja you can flip to and read the story. Erle actually went through first in 1962 with the help of Dick Daggett. That road was not on any map until Cliff Cross' 1972 Baja Guide edition, in his update notes, and on Mike McMahan's wall map.

Show him the photo of the wall... also show Jorge if you could. Thank you!