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BOOKS
Allen, Billie
The Desert And two Stones
1969 Harlo Press 248 pgs
Detroit, Michigan
Follow two adventuous ladies as they explore the Sonoran Desert between Blythe and Yuma, Arizona during the 1930s. Look
for lots of anecdotes about ghost towns and old mines.
Dekens, Camiel
Riverman Desertman
1962 Press-Enterprise Company 111 pgs
Riverside, California
Camiel Dekens was a member of one of the earliest families to arrive here. He worked hard all his life, and this book
tells of his struggle to both survive and create a habitable valley from desert wilderness.
Garlington, Phil
Rancho Costa Nada
2003 Loompanics 126 pgs
Port Townsend, WA
The author, a former editor of the Palo Verde Times, has built a "home" a few miles south of the Palo Verde
Valley at essentially no cost. This book follows the journey of this unique construction project. Along the way we meet
with fascinating desert residents, many of them human, as the author searches for free or nearly free building materials.
A good read.
Johnson, Boma
Earth Figures of the Lower Colorado and Gila River Deserts:
A Functional Analysis
1985 Arizona Archeological Society
Phoenix, Arizona
This volume is about the Native American Intaglios in this area. There are 41 pages of text, an extensive bibliography,
and 131 pages of intaglio drawings with maps indicating their approximate location.
Lapham, Macy H.
Crisscross Trails: Narrative of a Soil Surveyor
Willi E. Berg Berkeley, CA
1949
The author plied his trade from the late nineteenth century until 1945. He's included a section in his work relating
to the Palo Verde Valley.
Lech, Steve
Along The Old Roads-A History of the Portion of SouthernCalifornia That Became Riverside County 1772-1893
Published by the Author 2004 902pp
In addition to being a monumental piece of research see pages 209-217 for what may be the only history of activities along
the western shore of the Colorado River in the Palo Verde Valley during the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
See also pages 90-102 for material relating to the Bradshaw Trail. Early in our area's history the Palo Verde Valley
could be accessed overland by two routes. One was by rail to Glamis and then mule or oxen drawn wagons past Midway Well to
the village of Palo Verde and on to La Paz. The other wasn't as luxurious. It was by stagecoach from Mecca over the Bradshaw
Trail to La Paz. This is the story of the later route. Incidently, the preferred way to get to the Palo Verde Valley was
by steamboat on the Colorado River from the Gulf of California. Please see "Vanished Arizona" below for a relation
of that experience.
Marschner, Janice
California's Arab Americans
2003 Coleman Ranch Press
Sacramento, CA
ISBN 0-9677069-7-1
2003 163pp
See pages 123, 126-129 for a brief history of the Farrage and Halby families, both among Blythe's earliest pioneers.
Metzger, D. G./Loeltz, O. J./Burdge, Irelne
Geohydrology of the Parker-Blythe-Cibola Areas
Arizona and California
1973 U.S. Government Printing Office 130pp
Stock Number 2401-00223
Washington, DC
Geological Survey Professional Paper 486-C
A wealth of local hydrology and geological information,
both historical and current. Well illustrated.
Montes Lawrence D.
In Memory Of Tata-Felipe M Gonzales
2004 Kinkos 43pp
This little volume is a fascinating albeit brief biography of Felipe M. Gonzales, a resident of the Palo Verde Valley
and Quartzsite during the last half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It tells of his and his extended family's
lives here. In forty-three pages the author establishes how uncommon the common people that settled this area really were.
Copies are very rare. The volume is available for loan at the public library in Blythe. It's well worth reading, and contains
many rare photographs.
Norton, Ellen Decker
Memoirs Of A School Ma'am
1994 The Palo Verde Historical Museum and Society 111 pgs
Blythe, California
Ellen Decker arrived in the Palo Verde Valley in 1902. She was the first teacher in the first school in the valley. This
is her story.
Scott, Walter D. & Ross, Delmer G.
Reminiscences of Walter D. Scott, Desert Entrepreneur of the American West
2003 Edward Mellen Press
Lewiston, NY
311 pgs
An autobiography of Walt Scott, valley pioneer, local farmer, prospector, and activist. Full of Walt's stories and tales.
A great read for those interested in our valley and how it got the way it is. In addition to all that, my picture's in
it.
Seeley, Raymond T. & Douglass, Enid Hart
Oral History Interview With Raymond T. Seeley
1990 Bancroft Library; State Library Oral History Program (California)
186 pgs
Ray Seeley was first a lifelong Palo Verde Valley resident. Then he was a county supervisor, a member of the California
legislature, and a gubernatorial appointee to several offices. This is his story in his own words.
Setzler, Grady
Another Wilderness Conquered
1967 Palo Verde Times 152 pgs
Blythe, California
This is the most comprehensive history of this area yet produced. Grady Setzler was editor and then owner of the Palo
Verde Times from 1928 until 1965.
Setzler, Grady
Ramblings Of A Country Editor
1970 Central Publishing And Printing Company 77 pgs
Mesa, Arizona
This is a relation of Setzler's experiences while working at the Palo Verde Times for over three decades. The author
states this book was written, "just to amuse."
Silva, Lee A
The Mexican Operation
2006 Graphic Publishers 611 pgs
Santa Ana CA
This is a well written novel centering around Blythe and the Palo Verde Valley, and relating to the Latino farm workers
and local businesses during the 1950s and 60s. A really good read written by the son of a murdered Blythe business man.
Don't miss this one.
Summerhayes, Martha
Vanished Arizona
1908 Guidon Books 319 pgs
Scottsdale, Arizona
Blythe didn't yet exist when the author penned this work in the late 1870s. It relates the life of an army officer's
wife during the last quarter of the 19th century in the Arizona Desert. A significant portion of the book is about Ehrenberg,
Arizona just across the Colorado River from where Blythe would one day be.
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ARTICLES
Desert Steve the Town Founder
Jennings, Bill
Desert Magazine
June 1979
Desert Magazine Vol. 2 No. 4
Empire of the Colorado, the Romance of Thomas Blythe
Woodward, Arthur
February 1939
Midland
Wellman, Tom
Riverside Press Enterprise
Riverside, California
21 September, 1980
National Geographic
Setzler, Frank M. & Marshall George C.
(Yes, one of the authors was general of the army and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, then after World War II, secretary
of state and author of the Marshall Plan. He's best known, however, as co-discoverer of the Blythe Intaglios. At least, that's
what he's best known for here in Blythe.)
September 1952 pp 389-404
Seeking the Secret of the Giants
Palo Verde Valley, California
Walker, David H. Jr.
Sunset Magazine Homeseekers' Bureau of Information
San Francisco, California
1911
Quartzsite Nugget (An insert of the Palo Verde Times)
05 January, 2001
This tabloid size insert contains a treasure trove of articles relating to the local area.
Ripley, a Study in Failure, Frustration
Perry, Anthony
Riverside Press Enterprise
Riverside, California
29 July, 1979
The story of Ripley, a small community seven miles southwest of Blythe, and how it became the largest community in the
Palo Verde Valley only to have its
bright future destroyed by a variety of causes.
Winter Visitors Guide (An insert of the Palo Verde Times)
17 November, 1999
This is another tabloid size insert packed with local lore.
PAMPHLETS
California.; Dept. of Boating and Waterways
Colorado River : Boating Trail Guide : Blythe to Imperial Dam
2002 California Dept. of Boating and Waterways
15 pgs
http://bibpurl.oclc.org/web/6085 http://dbw.ca.gov/Pubs/BlythetoImperial/BlythetoImperial.pdf
California.; Dept. of Boating and Waterways
A Boating Trail Guide To The Colorado River :
Canoeing From Blythe To Imperial Dam With Safety Hints And Maps.
1986 California Dept. of Boating and Waterways
16 p. : maps
PAPERS
Alford, Alice Jean
The Growth and Development of the Palo Verde Valley, 1860-1936
Masters Thesis, University of California at San Diego
San Diego, California
1987
Anon.
History of the Communities of the Palo Verde Valley
Palo Verde Historical Museum and Society
Blythe, California
2001
Kuhlman, Ken
1975
A Report On Intaglio Protection and Management, Blythe Group.
BLM Yuma District
National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People
Housing discrimination complaints in Blythe, Oroville,
and
Glendale
Bethesda, MD : University Publications of America
1995
on 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm
Papers of the NAACP. Suppl. to part 5, Residential
segregation,
General office files, 1956-1965 ; reel 2, fr. 0270-0756;
Rumage, Kennard W.
The Palo Verde Valley: A Geographic Analysis of Land-Use
Development in the Lower Colorado River Valley, California
Masters Thesis, University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
1956
Smith, Gerald
1974
Investigations of Known Intaglios Along the Colorado River Between Fort Mohave and Ripley
Report prepared for and on file at the BLM, Yuma Arizona
Tosdal, Richard M.
Mesozoic Rock Units Along The Late Cretaceous Mule Mountains Thrust System, Southeastern California and Southwestern Arizona
1988 University of California, Santa Barbara
Thesis (Ph. D.)
Photocopy./ Ann Arbor, Mich. :/ University Microfilms
International,/ 1991./ 21 cm
Von Werlof, Jay
1982
Investigations of the Big Maria Mountains Archeological District
Imperial Valley College Barker Museum
El Centro, California
CLICK HERE TO VISIT MY PHOTO ANNEX
On my next page you'll find another bibligraphy, comprised of a list of authors that have spent a significant part of their
lives in Blythe or The Palo Verde Valley. Some of them are duplicates of those listed on this page as a few of the authors
here were or are residents of our valley. The site navigator is on the upper left of this screen.
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