Dennis Casebier
Historian Dennis Casebier gathered archival materials pertaining to the Mojave Desert starting in 1954 and continued that effort until his death in 2021, garnering many honors and admiration for his life's work. His personal collection has become one of the most complete in existence. The additions of the library and personal papers of desert writer, philosopher, and bibliographer E. I. Edwards, the library and collection of Harold and Lucile Weight, and the collection of San Bernardino County historian Germaine L. Moon, have resulted in an archive of Mojave Desert history unsurpassed anywhere; a 6,000 volume library of published literature pertaining to the Mojave region, 108,000 historical photographs, 6,000 historic maps of this vast desert area, 3,000 subject files pertaining to individuals of interest along with specific cultural sites, 1,000 oral histories, and an extensive collection of old area newspapers, periodicals, and pamphlets.
Photo of Dennis Casebier courtesy of Desert Dispatch / Lara Hartley Staff Photographer
Oral History
The Oral History Program has recorded, transcribed and bound firsthand memories of hundreds of people having knowledge of the Mojave Desert's earlier years. The East Mojave Desert has a rich and varied history. People have lived out here in many places for a time and then moved on. Everyone knows something we don't know. Sometimes these are things of great importance. Different people remember different things. Taken together, an accurate and more complete picture emerges. If you are a person with firsthand knowledge of affairs in the desert in earlier years, or if you know of such people, then we ask your help in bringing this to our attention and in making arrangements for an interview.
The East Mojave Desert is as majestic as it is unforgiving. The beauty of this vast landscape comes from not only the people, but the places that make up the tapestry of the Mojave Desert. To know the Mojave is to know the important locations that exist within its desolate boundaries.
