Category: History
How the Desert Was Fed: Tecopa’s Farming Roots in the Mining Frontier
In the late 19th century, when settlers first began to cultivate the Amargosa Basin and the valleys surrounding Tecopa, they were not starting from scratch. The land had already been studied, shaped, and survived by the Southern Paiute and Mojave peoples for centuries. As historian Sherryl Lynn Weber documented in her 1995 University of Nevada, Las Vegas…
Tecopa’s Community Plan Explained
The unincorporated community of Tecopa, in collaboration with Inyo County, laid out its vision for the future after a series of public meetings starting in 2015, preparing a draft document called the Tecopa Community Plan and releasing it in 2018. We thought it might be helpful to refresh our collective memory of what is even…
Grimshaw Lake: A Desert Landmark Rooted in Local History
At the edge of the Amargosa Basin, where the Mojave Desert blurs into Death Valley’s outer reaches, a small, spring-fed wetland carries the name of one of Tecopa’s mid-20th century settlers. Grimshaw Lake, barely still there, represents the way individuals leave their mark on a place — sometimes through enterprise, sometimes through accident, and often…
Celebrating the Resilience of Death Valley Women: A Documentary Screening
On a recent crisp afternoon in Shoshone, California, a crowd gathered around the Flower Building at the Shoshone Museum for the premiere screening of The Women Who Haunt Her, a new documentary by filmmaker Ted Faye. Known for his Weird Tales series, Faye’s latest work focuses on the lives of three remarkable women who helped shape the…
Discovering Tecopa’s Mining Heritage
Nestled in the arid landscape of Southern California’s Mojave Desert, Tecopa holds a rich history deeply rooted in mining. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this small desert town emerged as a vital hub for extracting silver, lead, and zinc. The discovery of abundant ore deposits in the surrounding mountains sparked a mining…
The New Yorker On Death Valley
The article titled “The Queen of the Desert” by Alex Ross, published on January 4, 2022, in The New Yorker, discusses Susan Sorrells and her transformative role in the small village of Shoshone, located in the Mojave Desert. Sorrells, the chief custodian of Shoshone, owns the village and surrounding land, dedicating her efforts to preserving…
Tecopa, California: A Desert Oasis with a Rich History
Nestled in the vast and arid landscapes of southeastern California, Tecopa is a small desert community with a history as unique and captivating as its surroundings. This oasis in the Mojave Desert has witnessed the passage of time, from the presence of indigenous peoples to the challenges of early settlers and the development of a…