Wall Street Revisited
Sift through tiny river rocks, hit the lode, be robustly individual, move west, be free, tap the resources of nature. Prospectors headed to this desert for years, setting up over 700 mines inside Joshua Tree Park alone! (not a park until 1994) There was a second gold rush during the great depression, when the unemployment rate in this country was 25%. One such entrepenerial endeavor was the ore crushing mill of William Keys, of Keys Ranch fame. Wall Street Mill, perhaps named after the street where the Great Depression began on October 29, 1929, on black tuesday, stands proudly against the rolling piles of giant pinkish granite. I walked to the Wall Street Mill last weekend, down a dusty trail that many a horse had surely travelled, past green and blue pickup trucks from the 40s, left to be preserved by the desert sun and dryness .
Katie Bachler was our first HDTS Scout, and was in residence from 2012-2013.
The HDTS Scout Residency is dedicated to learning more about the people and places that make up our diverse and ever evolving community.
During Katie’s residency, visitors were invited to drop into the HDTS HQ, the Scout’s home base, to meet Katie, who could be found making maps, hosting conversations, and baking bread – in between her off-site adventures around town and out in the field.
Katie had a lot in store during her time here, including:
- a series of talks featuring local experts
- joining together to create a web of knowledge
- a research library and archive documenting the many spaces, places, plants, and people that make up this special region
- casual conversations with drop in visitors over tea
- site visits and field trips around town
Katie engaged the community by instigating map-making and rag-rug braiding workshops, the Scout’s Book Club, Art in the Environment classes for desert kids, casual conversations, site visits and field trips—all shared in her Scout’s blog, which serves as the foundation for her book.
