Claudia Heller, a correspondent of Route 66 stories for several Southern California newspapers, including the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, tells about a journal from a 1930 road trip on a fledgling Route 66 from Los Angeles to Chicago.
Mary Desbrow wrote in the journal as she, her husband, and two children made the trip when U.S. Highway 66 was less than four years old. Mary’s daughter-in-law found the journal about 20 years ago, after Mary died.
From the Tribune’s story:
The journal starts in Los Angeles in March: “Had 74 dollars. Bought gas in Alhambra for $1.05 and two tires for $4.” Traveling through the California desert, Mary wrote: “This is all desert – few houses. Got puncture in tire. Tube was no good so we bought one for 75 cents. Awfully windy. Passed Ludlow about 3 p.m. … Got to Siberia, a nice place.”
They ventured through Bagdad and on to Needles, where they encountered a storm. “It’s a nice little town, right on the Colorado River,” she wrote. The family stayed in camps, often sleeping outside. Typically when
it rained, they slept in cabins. She wrote: “For $1.25, one room, bed, mattress, wood stove, table and two chairs.”
They were thrilled to see “prehistoric Indian caves,” were stopped by the authorities “to see if we had fruit,” and mailed postcards home from Hackberry, Ariz. They passed through Williams, picking up two young men in Peach Springs who needed a ride.
“Passed through Flagstaff, Winslow, Holbrook and Navajo and stayed in Albuquerque,” she wrote, noting that “we had little pavement in Gallup, the 13 miles on the west side was rough.”
The journal revealed a trek full of automobile repairs, primitive roads, bad weather and Spartan facilities — hardships that modern travelers would find intolerable.
Marilyn Desbrow reportedly will donate a copy of the journal to the National Park Service Route 66 Preservation Program repository at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles. I sure hope the NPS digitizes the journal so researchers can read it online.
How freakin cool!
I just recently met with Claudia and her husband, Alan, in Pasadena. We had a great conversation which included discussion of this journal. Claudia has done an amazing amount of work on 66, especially in the San Gabriel Valley. She definitely exemplifies the roadie ideology.
“I sure hope the NPS digitizes the journal so researchers can read it online.”
That would be fantastic. And I bet more than a few “non-researchers” would enjoy reading it too!
As a representative of one of the NPS ARC archives-I hope that anyone with a gem like this (or family photographs, scrapbooks, maps, postcards, letters, or other unique Route 66 material) will consider donating their treasure to one of the repositories so it can be shared with researchers- there are 10 in all along Route 66, and each is developing collections and materials of interest to the greater Route 66 community.
The facilities include: the Illinois State Library; Special Collections, Missouri State University; Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri; Baxter Springs Heritage Center; Oklahoma State University, Tulsa; Oklahoma Historical Society; Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum; Center for Southwest Studeies, University of New Mexico; Cline Library, Northern Arizona University; and the Autry National Center.
Thanks for the great news!