Draft SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

FOR THE

47th MOJAVE ROAD RENDEZVOUS

15-18 October 2026

15 OCTOBER 2026 – THURSDAY

Early birds arrive and set up camp.

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All educational field trips are tentative depending on weather and road conditions. Scheduling subject to change or alteration.

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12:00 PM. INBOUND to Goffs Educational Field Trip to Amboy, CA: Trip leader: David M’Greene. How many times have you passed by Amboy and wondered about what is the real story with this place?  You have seen it in movies, advertisements, and even music videos. Now go behind the scenes with Amboy Mayor Kenneth Large.  Learn about the Mary Benjamin House. She signed more birth and death certificates than anyone else in the region. Discover the mysteries of the CHP House and get a feel for the prison cell. See the inside of the Church, the Post Office and even the oldest building in Amboy, the Old School. And that is all before the Roy’s Tour of the Service Station and Motel. Wear your walking shoes for this one.  Meet at Amboy at 12 Noon and park by the bungalows.  Bring your own food and drinks, we will depart Amboy around 4pm, arriving at Goffs approximately 5pm.

3:00 PM. Millman Meeting. Location: Depot Reading Room.

5:30 PM. Popcorn Social Hour at the Flywheel Café for early arrivals.  Bring your own beverages. Popcorn and butter provided.  

16 OCTOBER 2026 – FRIDAY

7:30 AM. Coffee & Breakfast in the Flywheel compliments of Bill & Marsha Moser. Please contribute generously to their donation jar!

8:30 AM – 4:00 PM.  Registration in the Schoolhouse.  Registration per MDHCA Member is $40 (no charge for children under 12). Registration includes 2 door prize tickets per person, and our Saturday night BBQ. You can purchase additional door prize and raffle tickets and renew your MDHCA membership (only $50 per family.) You can sign up for one of our Educational Field Trips, space is limited.  Gift Shop will be open, and the Silent Auction begins. Check out the door prizes in the Schoolhouse and place your tickets in the can by the one(s) you wish to win. Door Prize drawing is Saturday 5:30 PM before dinner. You MUST be present to win a door prize.

8:30 AM – 4:00 PM.  Silent Auction opens in the Schoolhouse. Come place your written bids on these amazing prizes. Silent Auction closes Saturday night at 8:30 PM.

AT&T Shed Open throughout the day.

Little Danby Courthouse Open throughout the day

EDUCATIONAL FIELD TRIPS. If you are interested in participating sign up in the Schoolhouse. PLEASE NOTE: Space on the Field Trips is limited. Also, review the trip requirements (see below). Many trips require high clearance 4-wheel drive vehicles.  ALL TRIPS ARE SUBJECT TO CURRENT ROAD CONDITIONS.

8:30 AM Field Trip: Lanfair School, Ernest Lanfair House, Carruther’s Canyon and Water Dam, BBQ Lunch.  Trip Leaders: Jim Toenjes, David M’Greene, Dave Nichols. Meet at Schoolhouse for a prompt 8:30 AM departure.

We will investigate the remains of the house of Ernest Lanfair and the Lanfair Post Office at the corner of Lanfair Road and Cedar Canyon Road. We will visit the remains of the. Lanfair School only a few hundred yards east of Lanfair’s house.

The next stop along the tour will be at the old OX Ranch where once numerous homesteaders in Ledge, later named Maruba The only standing homestead structure (maintained by the National Park Service) in the valley remains on the grounds of the Ranch and may be seen from the front gate.

From the parking area of the ranch, the next leg of the tour will continue west along the old New York Mountain Road several miles to the cutoff that heads north into Carruthers Canyon. A drive up the Canyon takes us within sight of the old Giant Ledge Mine. We will park a short walk from the little-known site of a submerged water collection dam, reportedly constructed in 1911. The map indicates the dam, wells, and irrigation lines all proposed in coordination with the Western Home and Water Association. No existing record of the Western Home and Water Association has been discovered, and apart from an article in the Los Angeles Times, dated January 16, 1911, there has been found no mention of the dam.

Walking access to all of the above sites is clear and level, but good walking shoes or boots are a necessity.  The face of the dam can be viewed by stepping down the rounded bedrock at the dam’s eastern side. The group will end up at the property of Nance Fite and Arioch M’Greene in Caruthers Canyon for a BBQ Lunch.  Provide your own chair and beverage.

9:30 AM Field Trip:  Historic Ranching and Prehistoric Petroglyph Tour. Trip Leader: Dr. Austin Schoenkopf.  Meet at the parking lot at Hole-in-the-wall Visitor Center at 9:30 AM.  (https://maps.app.goo.gl/fLC8rLYRJxGMVi1U7)

Maximum vehicles: 10, due to limited parking at various stops.

Join some East Mojave locals for a visually stunning tour through the middle of Mojave National Preserve! It will depart at 9:30am from the HITW visitor center off Black Canyon Landowner, historian, and archaeologist Dr. Austin Schoenkopf will lead the tour north, cutting through Round Valley to the Ausmus homestead, recently acquired by the NPS. After a walk through the Ausmus property, including both main houses, the partially collapsed barn, and corral, the tour will continue along rarely traveled dirt roads to Government Holes, site of the infamous 1927 shootout. From Government Holes, the tour will continue east on Cedar Canyon Road, cutting down Watson Wash for the most walkable access to historic Rock Spring. Leaving Rock Spring, Dr. Schoenkopf will head toward Lanfair Road, stopping at a few incredible (and unpublished) petroglyph sites along the way. Finally, the tour will travel south down Lanfair Road, giving participants a chance for off-shoot adventures through Lanfair Valley before returning to Goffs by mid-afternoon.

Required equipment:

1. Four-wheel-drive vehicle with spare tire and at least ²/₃tank of gas.
2. Food and water
3. Good boots, preferably with steel- or composite-toe protection for potential loose glass and metal at the Ausmus property.
4. Sun protection, including hats, long-sleeve shirts, and long pants.
5.   Face mask for entry into the Ausmus buildings, due to high likelihood of hantavirus.

9:00 AM – 10:00 PM. Photography Exhibit, “Abandoned Planes, Trains and Automobiles, California Revealed.” By Photographer Ken Lee. Location: Exhibit Hall will be open to view exhibit on your own.                                                             

10:30 AM – 11:30 AM. Talk: “Birds of the East Mojave Desert” by Rich Cimino, President of the Jedediah Smith Society.  Location: Exhibit Hall.

12:00 PM – 1:30 PM. Lunch on your own.

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM. Talk: Slot available.  Location: Exhibit Hall.

3:00 PM – 3:30 PM. Talk: Orientation on the Saturday Morning Archeological Dig. Jim Toenjes. Anyone interested please contact Jim prior to this talk. jimtoenjes@gmail.com.  Location: Flywheel.

3:45 PM – 4:45 PM, Stamp Mill Demos. Running of the Gyratory Crusher, Stotts 2 Stamp, and the American Boy 10 Stamp Mills.

5:15 PM.  Happy Hour in Flywheel Café.  Bring your own beverage of choice. Meet the Board of Directors. Update by President of MDHCA.

6:00 PM Potluck Dinner.  Bring a potluck dinner dish or hors d’oeuvres to share.  Bring your own beverages & vessel. Location: Flywheel Café.  We need volunteers for set-up and clean-up.

6:45 PM. Jan Jernigan, Mayor of Needles CA, will give us an update on the city of Needles.  Location: Flywheel Café.

7:00 PM.  The Annual Wagon Master Awards & Recognitions Ceremony. Grand Marshals, Scott (Scooter) and Geri Wall will be introduced.  Location: Flywheel Café.

8:00 PM.  Silent Film w/ live piano accompaniment by Ryan Wishner. Ryan has selected “The Uncovered Wagon,” a parody of the original “Covered Wagon” known as the “first great western film.”  Please bring your folding chair or bring one over from the Flywheel.  Location: Schoolhouse.

Stargazing & Campfire in the evening if weather permits and the moon cooperates.

17 OCTOBER 2026 – SATURDAY

AT&T Shed Open throughout the day.

Little Danby Courthouse Open throughout the day.

8:30 AM. – 4:00 PM.  Registration in the Schoolhouse.  Registration per MDHCA Member is $40 (no charge for children under 12). Registration includes 2 door prize tickets per person, and our Saturday night BBQ. You can purchase additional door prize tickets, raffle tickets, and renew your MDHCA membership (only $50 per family.) Three Educational Field Trips are offered on Sunday morning, space is limited.  Gift Shop will be open.  Place your bids on the Silent Auction items.  Check out the door prizes in the Schoolhouse and place your tickets in the can by the one(s) you wish to win. Door Prize drawing is today at 5:30 PM before dinner, you MUST be present to win a door prize.

7:30 AM – Coffee & Breakfast in the Flywheel compliments of Bill & Marsha Moser. Please contribute generously to their donation jar!

8:00 AM – 8:45 AM.  Workshop First Aid Response at Goffs.  Presented by Site Manager Chris Wirth. Location Flywheel.  (Snake Update by Scooter Wall)

9:00 AM – 12:00 PM. Children’s Scavenger Hunt.  Meet in the Flywheel for instructions at 9:00 AM. Search property for colorful painted rocks. Meet at 12 Noon in the Flywheel and whomever collects the most painted rocks will win a prize.

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM. Tour of the Archives. Location: Library Depot Reading Room.

9:30 AM – 10:30 AM. Workshop: “CatalogIt,” our Collections Management Software. Archive Committee Chair Austin Schoenkopf will demonstrate CatalogIt. Snap it, document it, Use it. CatalogIt is an application for documenting the Story of Things. Museums, cultural organizations, community arts organizations and private collectors use the CatalogIt’s HUB and Web Publishing capabilities to increase public access to their collections. Volunteers are needed to help us catalog our archives. Location: Library Depot Reading Room.

9:30 AM – 10:30 AM. Goffs Cemetery Tour, by Ryan Wishner.  Meet at the Schoolhouse at 9:30 AM.  The walking tour will move to the Goffs Cemetery where Ryan will give historic background information. The tour will then walk over to the “Mexican Cemetery” just east of Lanfair Road.

9:00 AM – 4:00 PM.  Workshop: “Archaeological Excavation Methods & Techniques.  Lead: Jim Toenjes. Meet outside the Library Depot.

This workshop will give interested parties the opportunity to participate in a test excavation of an historic feature on MDHCA property. Two stone-lined depressions have been identified north of the Depot. Though the depressions are approximately 150 to 200 yards apart, they are similar in form, being roughly circular and about ten feet in diameter. Both are depressed one to three feet below the surrounding ground surface. The close similarity of these features makes it probable they served the same function within the same time period. The southerly feature, between the Depot and the stamp mills, is associated with materials relating to the homestead period (1910–1930) as well as to the Desert Training Center (1942–1944). This added complexity is the reason for selecting the southern feature for this workshop.

A test excavation of one square meter (39 inches each side) is planned for the interior of the depression. It will be situated at the location of an intact wooden support post to expose the length/depth of the post and its relationship to stones lining the inside of the feature. The excavation unit will extend to nearly the center of the depression. Contents, if any, will determine the age and probable function of these features. If they are latrine features, as suspected by our WWII expert, Rick Jackson, the majority of recovered materials will date to that period, e.g., Coca-Cola bottles. If the feature is a remnant cellar from the homesteading period, there may be intact mason jars, ceramics, and bottles. A cellar floor would likely present as a level surface of compact silt and caliche. Below-house cellars were common to homesteads of this period.

The one-day workshop will begin Saturday morning. A crew of three is necessary to excavate, transport soil to a nearby processing area, and screen that soil for contents.  Excavation will be done with shovel and trowel and will be controlled by measured level, e.g., 0–20 centimeters, 20–40 centimeters, etc. Artifacts will be documented in place on California State Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) forms as they are exposed. Items in better condition will be collected for cleaning and display. Excavation and backfill of the unit will likely take the full day.

10:30 AM – 12:30 PM.  Board Meeting (open to membership). Location: Library Depot.

10:45 AM – 11:30 AM.  Talk: “The California Eastern/Nevada Southern Railway,” by Paul Renner and Neal Samson. The California Eastern/Nevada Southern Railway served the East Mojave Desert late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, bringing ranchers, miners, and homesteaders to Lanfair Valley and points north and east.  Location: Exhibit Hall.

11:30 AM– 11:50 AM. Talk: “Update from The Society for the Conservation of Bighorn Sheep,” by Arioch M’Greene.  Location: Exhibit Hall.

12:00 PM – 1:15 PM.  Lunch on your own. 

1:30 PM – 2:20 PM Talk:  Slot available. Location: Exhibit Hall.

2:30 PM – 3:15 PM Talk: “Managing Cultural Resources at Mojave National Preserve” by Dave Nichols, MA, RPA. Many federal employees are tasked with collateral duties in addition to whatever academic training they may have. Trained in prehistoric archaeology, David Nichols has learned to take on a slew of additional preservation tasks at Mojave and will share the nature of those additional responsibilities in this presentation. Location:  Exhibit Hall.

3:30 PM – 4:00 PM. Fort Piute Building Open. Meet exhibit curator David M’Greene.

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM. Photographer Ken Lee will talk about his photographs in our new exhibition “Abandoned Trains, Planes and Automobiles.” Location:  Exhibit Hall.  Tentative.

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM Running of the Gyratory Crusher, Stotts and the American Boy Stamp Mills.  

5:15 PM – Raffle drawing begins in Flywheel Café.  Winners need NOT be present to win.  Winners will be notified, and prizes mailed out to those not in attendance.

5:30 PM – Happy Hour & Door Prize Drawing.  MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN DOOR PRIZES.

Have your door prize tickets ready.  Winners, take your door prize with you please.

6:00 PM.  BBQ Dinner, hosted by our Grand Marshals Scott (Scooter) & Geri Wall.  Welcome all FOMRs!!  Our amazing Clamper volunteer team will prepare a deep-pit BBQ for all. Bring your own beverages & vessels.  Location: Flywheel Café.

6:45 PM.  All visiting FOMRs are welcome to share their stories of the early Friends of the Mojave Road days. Join Russ Kaldenberg and other FOMRs for some tall tales.  Location:  Flywheel Café. 

7:15 PM. Keynote Speaker: Paul Renner “Military History of the Mojave Road.”

Location:  Flywheel Café

8:00 PM (or end of Keynote). Schoolhouse open for last minute Silent Auction bids.  Bring your after-dinner drinks and mingle while you place your final competitive bids.  Remember this is a fundraiser so keep raising those bids!

8:30 PM. Silent Auction Closes. Last chance to place bids. Winners can claim and pay for their prizes Saturday evening until 9:00 PM or Sunday, beginning at 8:30 AM.

Stargazing & Campfire in the evening if weather permits, and the moon cooperates.

18 OCTOBER 2026 – SUNDAY

7:30 AM. Coffee and Breakfast available at the Flywheel compliments of Bill & Marsha Moser.  Please contribute generously to their donation jar!

8:30 AM – 4:00 PM Educational Field Trip:  Fort Piute.  Trip Leader: David M’Greene. Meet at the Schoolhouse by 8:30 AM.

Years after the Spanish, bloody fights between the expanding United States and the Natives became common when the U.S. Army established a presence at what would become Fort Piute.  When it was built in 1860, the Fort was named after U.S. Navy Lt. Edward Beale, surveyor of the Beale Route and also renowned for his use of camels on the Mojave Road.  From 1860 through 1865, the location was known as Fort Beale.  It was used during the American Civil War by Union Troops (California Volunteer Militia)

A high-clearance vehicle is required, and four-wheel drive is recommended, but an AWD car could be used.  The Lead Vehicle will be very well stocked, but each participant must have adequate water for the trip, lunch/snacks, and above all, at least one penny per vehicle occupant.  Survival is not assured, but if danger and excitement appeal to you, you are going to love this trip.

8:30 AM – 4:00 PM Educational Field Trip: Off-Road-Bike and E-Bike Tour of WWII & 1964 Exercise Desert Strike items. Trip Leader: Rick Jackson.  Meet at Schoolhouse at 8::30 AM.

This is a unique opportunity to visit these WWII sites on the south side of the RR tracks.

It would be an e- or offroad bike tour. Start at the museum and travel down Mtn. Springs Rd. to the I-40 and back. On the way we’d see a couple of things about Rt. 66, but mainly it would be mostly the Desert Training Center and the 1964 Exercise Desert Strike items. About 14mi R/T. It could be open to vehicles, but there’s 2 areas where the road is washed away and there’s no turn around area. Most recently cars could not get through, but we will provide updates on the road conditions closer to Rendezvous. Riders and their bikes must be able to do an 18-mile round trip. Again, please let us know your interest in this trip. You can sign up via email at lhmisajet@themojaveroad.org.

8:30 AM – 5:00 PM.  Schoolhouse and Gift Shop open to pick up Silent Auction items.

9:00 AM. Excavation Site Backfill with Jim Toenjes. 

9:30 AM – 11:45 AM. Stamp Mill Demo, Maintenance & Training. (Tentative)

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM. Lunch on your own.

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM. Repeat Talk TBD: Location: Exhibit Hall.

2:30 PM – 3:30 PM. Repeat Talk TBD: Location:  Exhibit Hall.

5:30 PM.  Leftover Potluck dinner in Flywheel Cafe. Supply your own beverage & vessel.

HELP WANTED (Please call 760-733-4482, email mdhca.goffs@gmail.com or volunteer sign-up sheet on Flywheel Information Board)

We need volunteers to help with:

• Popcorn Thursday evening.
• Registration at the Schoolhouse for Friday & Saturday from 8:30am – 5:00pm.
• Schoolhouse Sunday for Silent Auction item pick-up & collection of payments from 8:30am – 5:00pm.
• Set up and clean up at the Friday night Potluck dinner and Saturday night BBQ
• Any IT & A/V needs for our guest speakers

Consult our bulletin boards at the Flywheel for printed changes to this schedule.

ENJOY YOUR STAY IN GOFFS AND THE ACTIVITIES OF OUR 47th MOJAVE ROAD RENDEZVOUS

• Laura Misajet, Rendezvous Co-Chair 2026
• Bill Slutter, Rendezvous Co-Chair 2026

Mojave Desert Heritage & Cultural Association

Goffs Schoolhouse

37198 Lanfair Rd – G-15

Essex, California 92332

760-733-4482

COMMUNICATION AT GOFFS. MDHCA staff members carry FRS radios on channel 14-0. You can use a radio to call out to anyone if you need help. If you need routine information or assistance, ask for Laura Misajet, Bill Slutter, or Chris Wirth. Keep your communication short and to the point so the channel is open for others. Remember, everyone with an FRS radio can hear your conversation.

WIFI Network: Goffs

WIFI Password: 3107662450

**ONSITE EMERGENCIES** Contact a member of the Rendezvous staff on FRS channel 14-0:

Laura Misajet (cell: 760-401-1475)

Bill Slutter (cell: 310-766-2450)

AED & first aid equipment located inside Cookhouse