18. Goffs Mojave Desert Trail Road and Route 66

Decades before Route 66 the Mojave Desert Road took travelers miles across the Mojave Desert.  Dennis Casebier talks about his original intention of creating a 130 mile hiking trail across the Mojave Desert along one of America's first highway, but realizing that a 4 wheel drive trail would be more practical.
 
Guest Dennis Casebier founded the Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association, and he tells the story about converting an old school house into an area museum to promote the rich history of the Mojave area.
 
 
When you think of Route 66 in the Mohave desert, most people think of Amboy and probably one of the most photographed sites in the mojave.
But dennis settled in Goffs, a town about 50 miles NE of Amboy
Where he bought and restored an old school house and eventually turned it into a museum to promote a better understaning of areas natural and historical history.
Now, I might be a bit parital along with many of my listeners about Route 66, but dennis is a pioneer when it comes to that other road…. The Mojave Road which predates Route 66.
Dennis has written many books about the region, documenting every mile of the Mojave Road and there are people out there who will drive the original road in specially equipped vehicles.
I’d like to play for you a clip where dennis is talking about his passion for the Mohave Trail Road and how he wanted to preserve and document the road, which was a dirt road that crossed the Mohave way before Route 66 and still exists today in it’s original form- all 130 miles of it.
Then, we’re going to jump to where dennis talks about how the area was used as a very important training site for General Patton in preparation for the African invasion during world war 2