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The Mojave: A Portrait of the Definitive American Desert
David Darlington has traversed the Mojave Desert, past and present, from the exurbs of Los Angeles to the fringes of Las Vegas. This book explores the desert's rugged, otherworldly beauty, as the author masterfully limns the region's psychological scope and more human eccentricities.
352 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1996
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February 12, 2021
Nicely written and informative book on “the most visible, the most vulnerable, the most emblematic – i.e., the quintessential – American desert: the Mojave,” the “smallest North American desert,” the desert located between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, home to Death Valley, Edwards Air Force Base, and the westernmost portion of fabled Route 66. Located in “southeastern California, southern Nevada, and a tiny corner of southwestern Utah, between the higher, cooler Great Basin Desert to the north and the lower, hotter Colorado Desert to the south,” the Mojave isn’t a desert of dunes, nor is it primarily covered in sagebrush, nor does it have saguaro cactus (those are only found in the Sonoran Desert), though it is the land of the Joshua tree, “which occupies this desert exclusively.”
In a series of chapters, author David Darlington looked at a variety of human and natural history topics relating to the desert. A number of chapters contained interviews by the author, visits to specific places, and one in particular was gonzo journalism as the author became a minor part of the story he was covering (though he hadn’t intended to). The book tended to cover environmental issues more than anything else, though there was plenty of human history or travel essay writing in the book. Even when presenting the viewpoints of those who did in some way harm the environment (miners, off road racing enthusiasts, ranchers) I do think the author did a good job of letting these people make their case and noting when these actors had good points to make, whether it was the benefit of their activities, the efforts they made to be good environmental stewards, or the costs of their activities relative to the activities of others (such as off road racers comparing the impact of using an established trail for racing versus the damage mining does to an area). Also he didn’t shy away from portraying the negative side of the environmental side of things, such as showing the terrorist activities of Earth First! and portraying a particularly well known and influential researcher and activist (and expert on the Desert tortoise) warts and all.
The chapters weren’t numbered but they had names and could be read pretty much independently of one another. The opening one, “Desert of Definition,” was really short and was just a general introduction to the Mojave. There was some emphasis on the type of people often found in the desert, people who just want to be left alone to do as they wish, “still a largely anarchic kingdom where one was expected to get along without being ordered or nursed,” though the days of such “a free zone in the middle of nowhere” were numbered, as the author briefly touched upon such things as the California Desert Protection Act that were going to impose rules and regulations on “a decidedly eccentric environment.”
The next chapter, “A Weird and Repulsive Countenance,” looked at Yucca brevifolia – the Joshua tree – that while there are other plant species found only in the Mojave and nowhere else and there are a few Joshua trees found outside the Mojave, it is the “legitimate symbol of the Mojave” (with at least the southern limit of Joshua trees marking the southern boundary of the Mojave, though not quite the case with the northern limit). A well written chapter, it looked at early explorer and settler descriptions of the plant, the history of the study of Joshua trees, the biology of the plant (and associated fauna like the yucca moth – Tegeticula yucasella), and a few topics relating to prehistoric conditions in the Mojave (sometimes revealed by such things as twigs, seeds, bones, shells, and other items preserved in wood rat nests).
This chapter was followed by “A Road Runs Through It,” probably the least environmentally focused chapter in the book, a really interesting chapter on the history of roads and cars in the desert, of early drivers who crossed the Mojave (often quite dangerous given road conditions and vehicle technology), the first sign posts put up for drivers, the story of Route 66 (including the cultural and tourism aspects as well as it rise and fall as a tourist destination in and of itself), and closes with a visit with Jack Howard, local postmaster of Essex, the “last town on old 66,” the author relating stories about Essex and Route 66, including how it was the last town in the United States to get television and the town being featured on _The Tonight Show_ with Johnny Carson.
Then came a chapter titled “Four-Wheeling the Miocene,” a nice human and natural history chapter where the author interviewed two experts and provided their commentary as they took an overland, pretty much off road expedition on the historic dirt road known as the Mojave Road or the Old Government Road, in the chapter using the two experts to discuss the natural history of the region (primarily the geology; there are a lot of volcanic rocks and formations on the road as well as some fun mountain names like the Old Dad Mountains and Cowhole Mountains the reader learns among other things) and the human history, both Native American and the use of the road itself including military use and use by travelers. There was a tiny bit at the end of the chapter about some of the long-vanished lakes of the region such as Lake Manix, with geologist Robert Reynolds talking about how “There were pink flamingos in the shallows and ground sloths frolicking in the cottonwoods on shore.” I would have liked a bit more paleontology in the book but it does not lack for geology.
Next chapter, “Free-Ranging Anxiety,” was about ranching in the Mojave, much of the chapter consisting of an interview with and biography of rancher Gary Overson, a man who had “close to two thousand cattle roaming almost a million acres.” In the chapter the author looked at such things as whether or not Mojave ranchers are “welfare ranchers” owing to government aid and issues of overgrazing.
The following chapter “A Convenient Place for the Unwanted” looked at basically things dumped in the Mojave, including dumped bodies (such as say murder victims), crime itself (such as the dangers of policing the Mojave), meth labs, illegal and legal waste dumps, the pros and cons of using the area for dumping (such as geological and climatological aspects of the Mojave that seem to point to it being a good area for radioactive and otherwise toxic and hazardous waste, some aspects not so much), the story of Yucca Mountain as a waste disposal site, and a history of nuclear weapons testing, including an interesting tour of the Nevada Test Site. I thought the nuclear weapons testing history and the history of the Nevada Test Site were especially fascinating (though the testing on live subjects was a bit dark).
“The Rhode Island That God Forgot,” is the next chapter, a fascinating chapter of the military history of the desert in terms of bases and testing and training grounds. Prominent parts of the chapter included a history of General Patton’s Desert Training Center, the Army’s National Training Center at Fort Irwin (north of Barstow, where the author described watching some war games training), and some on Edwards Air Force Base (a very tiny bit on Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier there in 1947 and quite a bit on the base being used as a space shuttle landing site, including the author visiting to witness a shuttle landing). I would have liked more aerospace history but the coverage of especially the Army aspects was very good.
“George and the Space People,” was the next chapter, fairly short, and an odd one, about the story of two different very eccentric people connected with a particular rock formation called the Giant Rock north of Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Monument (so the author wrote, now a National Park) Frank Critzer, who arrived in 1930 and basically squatted there, and later a man named George Van Tassel and his belief in space people and the creation of a magical healing device of sorts called the Integratron (something to do with vibrating the natural harmonic frequencies of our body’s cells). A strange chapter.
“Ordinary Prudence” is the next chapter, a chapter on the history of miners and mining in the Mojave, covering everything from silver mining to borax mining (including the story of Francis Marion Smith the Borax King and the somewhat fictionalized “Twenty Mule Team Borax” label with its promotional wagon team sent to the East) to gold mining (including walking the reader through the modern use of cyanide in gold mining). Some good coverage of the politics and legalities of mining in the Mojave as well as the technology used. It was eye-opening to read that at one mine there was only “.02 ounces of gold per ton” of ore, yet the mine was still profitable as at the time (the book was published in 1996) that though it cost $184 an ounce to extract gold was nevertheless selling for $375 an ounce.
The final chapter “The Tortoise and the Hare-and-Hounds” was by far the longest chapter in the book and could have been a book by itself. Though a skim of the chapter might make it seem wide ranging and maybe random, ultimately it wasn’t, as the chapter started out with the natural history of the desert tortoise of the Mojave (Gopherus agassizii), fascinating reading, and then tells the story of two of the biggest threats to the tortoise’s existence, the expansion of Las Vegas (and to a lesser extent Antelope Valley) and the story of off-road racing. Though both topics ultimately circled back to the topic of threats to the Desert tortoise, the author did trace the history of Las Vegas (including of Hoover Dam, important to the early history of Las Vegas, and some on the history of casinos) and that of off road racing (including the birth of the sport, the evolution of the various types of motorcycles and other vehicles used, and the part with the gonzo journalism in the book, the author’s coverage and brief involvement in the story of the Barstow-to-Vegas motorcycle race, particularly its turbulent history and clashes race organizers had with environmentalists and the Bureau of Land Management). An interesting chapter that covered a lot, from the story of some of the casinos to how Desert tortoises survive in the desert to environmental impact studies on desert flora by motorcycle racing to the construction of Hoover Dam, it could have been several chapters or as I said its own book.
No photographs in the book. There are two nice maps at the beginning and the book also has a thorough index and a lengthy selected bibliography.
In a series of chapters, author David Darlington looked at a variety of human and natural history topics relating to the desert. A number of chapters contained interviews by the author, visits to specific places, and one in particular was gonzo journalism as the author became a minor part of the story he was covering (though he hadn’t intended to). The book tended to cover environmental issues more than anything else, though there was plenty of human history or travel essay writing in the book. Even when presenting the viewpoints of those who did in some way harm the environment (miners, off road racing enthusiasts, ranchers) I do think the author did a good job of letting these people make their case and noting when these actors had good points to make, whether it was the benefit of their activities, the efforts they made to be good environmental stewards, or the costs of their activities relative to the activities of others (such as off road racers comparing the impact of using an established trail for racing versus the damage mining does to an area). Also he didn’t shy away from portraying the negative side of the environmental side of things, such as showing the terrorist activities of Earth First! and portraying a particularly well known and influential researcher and activist (and expert on the Desert tortoise) warts and all.
The chapters weren’t numbered but they had names and could be read pretty much independently of one another. The opening one, “Desert of Definition,” was really short and was just a general introduction to the Mojave. There was some emphasis on the type of people often found in the desert, people who just want to be left alone to do as they wish, “still a largely anarchic kingdom where one was expected to get along without being ordered or nursed,” though the days of such “a free zone in the middle of nowhere” were numbered, as the author briefly touched upon such things as the California Desert Protection Act that were going to impose rules and regulations on “a decidedly eccentric environment.”
The next chapter, “A Weird and Repulsive Countenance,” looked at Yucca brevifolia – the Joshua tree – that while there are other plant species found only in the Mojave and nowhere else and there are a few Joshua trees found outside the Mojave, it is the “legitimate symbol of the Mojave” (with at least the southern limit of Joshua trees marking the southern boundary of the Mojave, though not quite the case with the northern limit). A well written chapter, it looked at early explorer and settler descriptions of the plant, the history of the study of Joshua trees, the biology of the plant (and associated fauna like the yucca moth – Tegeticula yucasella), and a few topics relating to prehistoric conditions in the Mojave (sometimes revealed by such things as twigs, seeds, bones, shells, and other items preserved in wood rat nests).
This chapter was followed by “A Road Runs Through It,” probably the least environmentally focused chapter in the book, a really interesting chapter on the history of roads and cars in the desert, of early drivers who crossed the Mojave (often quite dangerous given road conditions and vehicle technology), the first sign posts put up for drivers, the story of Route 66 (including the cultural and tourism aspects as well as it rise and fall as a tourist destination in and of itself), and closes with a visit with Jack Howard, local postmaster of Essex, the “last town on old 66,” the author relating stories about Essex and Route 66, including how it was the last town in the United States to get television and the town being featured on _The Tonight Show_ with Johnny Carson.
Then came a chapter titled “Four-Wheeling the Miocene,” a nice human and natural history chapter where the author interviewed two experts and provided their commentary as they took an overland, pretty much off road expedition on the historic dirt road known as the Mojave Road or the Old Government Road, in the chapter using the two experts to discuss the natural history of the region (primarily the geology; there are a lot of volcanic rocks and formations on the road as well as some fun mountain names like the Old Dad Mountains and Cowhole Mountains the reader learns among other things) and the human history, both Native American and the use of the road itself including military use and use by travelers. There was a tiny bit at the end of the chapter about some of the long-vanished lakes of the region such as Lake Manix, with geologist Robert Reynolds talking about how “There were pink flamingos in the shallows and ground sloths frolicking in the cottonwoods on shore.” I would have liked a bit more paleontology in the book but it does not lack for geology.
Next chapter, “Free-Ranging Anxiety,” was about ranching in the Mojave, much of the chapter consisting of an interview with and biography of rancher Gary Overson, a man who had “close to two thousand cattle roaming almost a million acres.” In the chapter the author looked at such things as whether or not Mojave ranchers are “welfare ranchers” owing to government aid and issues of overgrazing.
The following chapter “A Convenient Place for the Unwanted” looked at basically things dumped in the Mojave, including dumped bodies (such as say murder victims), crime itself (such as the dangers of policing the Mojave), meth labs, illegal and legal waste dumps, the pros and cons of using the area for dumping (such as geological and climatological aspects of the Mojave that seem to point to it being a good area for radioactive and otherwise toxic and hazardous waste, some aspects not so much), the story of Yucca Mountain as a waste disposal site, and a history of nuclear weapons testing, including an interesting tour of the Nevada Test Site. I thought the nuclear weapons testing history and the history of the Nevada Test Site were especially fascinating (though the testing on live subjects was a bit dark).
“The Rhode Island That God Forgot,” is the next chapter, a fascinating chapter of the military history of the desert in terms of bases and testing and training grounds. Prominent parts of the chapter included a history of General Patton’s Desert Training Center, the Army’s National Training Center at Fort Irwin (north of Barstow, where the author described watching some war games training), and some on Edwards Air Force Base (a very tiny bit on Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier there in 1947 and quite a bit on the base being used as a space shuttle landing site, including the author visiting to witness a shuttle landing). I would have liked more aerospace history but the coverage of especially the Army aspects was very good.
“George and the Space People,” was the next chapter, fairly short, and an odd one, about the story of two different very eccentric people connected with a particular rock formation called the Giant Rock north of Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Monument (so the author wrote, now a National Park) Frank Critzer, who arrived in 1930 and basically squatted there, and later a man named George Van Tassel and his belief in space people and the creation of a magical healing device of sorts called the Integratron (something to do with vibrating the natural harmonic frequencies of our body’s cells). A strange chapter.
“Ordinary Prudence” is the next chapter, a chapter on the history of miners and mining in the Mojave, covering everything from silver mining to borax mining (including the story of Francis Marion Smith the Borax King and the somewhat fictionalized “Twenty Mule Team Borax” label with its promotional wagon team sent to the East) to gold mining (including walking the reader through the modern use of cyanide in gold mining). Some good coverage of the politics and legalities of mining in the Mojave as well as the technology used. It was eye-opening to read that at one mine there was only “.02 ounces of gold per ton” of ore, yet the mine was still profitable as at the time (the book was published in 1996) that though it cost $184 an ounce to extract gold was nevertheless selling for $375 an ounce.
The final chapter “The Tortoise and the Hare-and-Hounds” was by far the longest chapter in the book and could have been a book by itself. Though a skim of the chapter might make it seem wide ranging and maybe random, ultimately it wasn’t, as the chapter started out with the natural history of the desert tortoise of the Mojave (Gopherus agassizii), fascinating reading, and then tells the story of two of the biggest threats to the tortoise’s existence, the expansion of Las Vegas (and to a lesser extent Antelope Valley) and the story of off-road racing. Though both topics ultimately circled back to the topic of threats to the Desert tortoise, the author did trace the history of Las Vegas (including of Hoover Dam, important to the early history of Las Vegas, and some on the history of casinos) and that of off road racing (including the birth of the sport, the evolution of the various types of motorcycles and other vehicles used, and the part with the gonzo journalism in the book, the author’s coverage and brief involvement in the story of the Barstow-to-Vegas motorcycle race, particularly its turbulent history and clashes race organizers had with environmentalists and the Bureau of Land Management). An interesting chapter that covered a lot, from the story of some of the casinos to how Desert tortoises survive in the desert to environmental impact studies on desert flora by motorcycle racing to the construction of Hoover Dam, it could have been several chapters or as I said its own book.
No photographs in the book. There are two nice maps at the beginning and the book also has a thorough index and a lengthy selected bibliography.
October 23, 2012
Somewhere between the styles of Edward Abbey and John McPhee, Darlington focuses attention on the Mojave desert. Combining natural history with regional history and biography, the author conveys how people have used and abused this unique region and leads to a sense of protectiveness for this harsh, yet perilously fragile and vulnerable location. lj
June 15, 2017
This book had the potential to be academic and dry. I was so glad that it wasn't! One of the blurbs on the back says that it's "reminiscent of John McPhee at his best". Maybe not John McPhee's best, but certainly a good comparison. I picked up this book because we were going to be passing through the Mojave on a trip. By the time I finished the book I wanted to spend an entire vacation there. Each chapter provides a completely different perspective of this desert: Joshua trees, mining, suburban expansion, atomic testing, motorcycle racing, tortoises. Who knew a desert could be so interesting?
February 26, 2017
I read this on the recommendation of my son, in preparation for a trip to Nevada and the Mojave Desert. I especially enjoyed the final chapter about the desert tortoise, off-road bikers, and the Barstow to Vegas race. As this was published on the mid-nineties, I would be interested in reading an updated edition.
April 23, 2013
This counter-culture look at the Mojave starts off strong, with the author trying to define the extent of the Mojave by comparing its historic and popular reach to the actual territory of the Joshua tree – the plant that defines the Mojave Desert. But David Darlington loses focus and, apparently, interest in the book as it moves along, and it lurches from condemnation of the Reagan administration to angry attacks on any desert dwellers who don't embrace Darlington's fairly radical back-to-nature preservationist views. (Even Darlington seems uncomfortable at times with the notion that folks living in the desert should have no stronger a voice in government policy toward the desert than the big-city-dwelling author who comes out on weekends to do research.) Still, the book's charms outweigh its deficiencies: Darlington may not be a desert rat (or at least wasn't when he wrote this book in the mid-'90s; not sure where he lives now), but he'd clearly spent a fair amount of time out there and knows the desert as well as anyone who doesn't live there can. If he lets his politics intrude a little too overtly into his storytelling, he still has some great stories to tell – and there's yet to be a better book at combining both the science and human culture of Southern California's defining desert.
July 1, 2013
I really enjoyed the different contemporary portraits of the Mojave presented by Darlington. His depiction ranges from humorous to stark to otherworldly. Of note is also how it spanned the entire desert, the spaces from Twentynine Palms to the Antelope Valley to Las Vegas and to Barstow were all fairly chronicled. I wasn't always sure if he was trying to make the book a snapshot in time or a history book but, either way, as someone with a deep affection for the Mojave, I enjoyed most every page.
August 2, 2011
This is the book that got me started. I was living in Barstow and thinking, "what a dump" when I read this. While it's more of a personal journal and isn't terribly accurate about it's facts it does one thing very well, it draws out the faint cloud of a personality in what appears to most to be a blank and empty waste and it does it in a way that doesn't require much effort or knowledge from the reader.
April 2, 2008
A fabulous document of one of my favorite places on Earth. Ranging from natural history to human history, military use and the scruffy characters that call this place home. I read it a long time ago, and I think I need to read it again.
August 4, 2008
Darlington includes ranchers, Route 66, Joshua trees, desert tortoises, mining, tourists, military activities, dirt bikers, UFO nuts, and the environment in this very readable and comprehensive examination of the strange landscape known as the Mojave Desert.
May 28, 2007
A creative non-fiction travel through the Mojave Desert and all its quirks and the weirdos/eccentrics that like to live there.
November 26, 2008
Who knew the desert could be so fascinating? Darlington debunks the myth of the "barren" desert.
September 16, 2016
My opinion, a decade or so after reading this, is much like Annette's. So, just read her review.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews