Steam trains to space dreams

In 2012, Mojave Desert Bank, now Mission Bank, commissioned artist Art Siordia to paint a mural that depicted the history of Mojave from the early days of steam trains and the Twenty-Mule-Teams to the present day space programs. This mural was donated to the Mojave Transportation Museum Foundation on December 13, 2012, and it has been copyrighted.

A picture truly is worth a thousand words! This mural tells the transportation history of Mojave and so much more.

Mojave began in 1876 as a construction camp on the Southern Pacific Railroad. From 1884 to 1889, the town was the western terminus of the 165-mile, Twenty-Mule Team borax route originating at Harmony Borax Works in Death Valley.

Gold was discovered in 1894 on Soledad Mountain. Later on mines with colorful names like Elephant-Eagle, Asher, Yellow Dog and Golden Queen began to emerge. 

Mojave provided hospitality to travelers, beginning with the opening of the Morrissey Hotel in 1876. In the old two-story railroad depot, the Fred Harvey organization operated a 'Harvey House,' complete with 'Harvey Girls' serving meals to weary travelers and miners. 

According to our good friend, railroad historian, Glen Settle, who passed away in 2009, the first store in Mojave was built by a man named Moon and the Morrissey Hotel was opened by Mrs. Morrissey.

In 1908 cement production for the Los Angeles Aqueduct began. The community became headquarters for construction operations. 

Well before the Southern Pacific railroad founded Mojave in 1876, many well-known Western historical figures traveled through our area. It is believed that Jedediah Smith, the famous frontiersman, was the first "white man" to pass through Mojave.

John C. Fremont named the Mojave River, near Barstow, after the Mojave Indians he had met on the same day during one of his expeditions in 1788.

Wyatt Earp drove a wagon through the hot Mojave Desert in 1869 and laid claim to a gold mine!

Most of these early visitors traveled over the Midland Trail. Today we travel the same route on our way to Bishop, north from Mojave on State Route 14. Just imagine making that trip today on horseback, on a mule, a bumpy wagon or in a hot and dusty stagecoach.

Today, Mojave is still an important industrial and transportation hub, with two major railroad companies, Union Pacific, and Burlington Northern Santa Fe running lines through Mojave and throughout the United States; two major highways, SR14 and SR58; plus the mining industry is still alive and well, with Golden Queen beginning gold mining operations, California Portland Cement Company, and the largest single source of wind-generated electricity production in the world. Rails, mining and flight have played a role in defining Mojave's industrial base for over one hundred years. Actually the Mojave Airport was constructed in 1935 by Kern County to haul gold ore by air to San Francisco for processing.

Mojave Airport/Spaceport has grown into the first Inland Spaceport designated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The aerospace history that has been ongoing here at our airport is a brilliant example of what can be accomplished with a deserted military installation.

Formerly a Marine Corps Air Station during World War II, Mojave Airport went through a transitioning period after the Marines moved to Yuma, AZ in 1959. Through the efforts of Dan Sabovich, former airport General Manager, the East Kern Airport District was formed in 1972.

EKAD soon grew into an impressive aircraft development, prototyping and flight test center for the civilian and military market and has continued to grow under the leadership of Stuart Witt.

Now the Mojave Air and Spaceport, once known as the Civilian Flight Test Center, has become the center of the universe for carbon-fiber and composite aerospace creations produced by Scaled Composites; Virgin Galactic – TheSpaceShipCompany; XCOR Aerospace and other spaceport tenants who are reaching for the stars.

As Burt Rutan likes to say – We are "Looking up – way up!"

See you on our next flight!