Jake Hinton • March 1, 2024
Harry Oliver: The Desert Rat of Borrego Springs
Share
Tracing the Footsteps of Harry Oliver: The Architect, Storyteller, and Beloved Desert Rat of Borrego Valley
It's a story steeped in the sunbaked soil of California's Anza-Borrego Desert, where the legendary Harry Oliver, the original "Desert Rat," began his enchanting journey in 1916. His arrival in Borrego Valley—or "Borego," as he uniquely spelled it—marked the informal establishment of the Pegleg Smith Liar's Club, an assembly of Los Angeles desert lovers and local homesteaders who thrived on the art of storytelling.
Oliver's chronicles often meandered through time, as hazy and shifting as the desert sands, with tales of Borrego's locals who emerged in the mid-1920s, seemingly out of sync with actual timelines. The Borego Valley Growers was a visionary group he led, consisting of Hollywood’s cinematic figures like Oscar J. Brodin of United Artists and Fox’s Fred Sersen and Walfred Pallman. They pooled their resources, purchasing vast acres, sharing a common well, and dreamt of cultivating the arid lands.
These Hollywood individuals, including Oliver, would migrate seasonally to their desert ranches, often leaving the management to stewards like John Fernlund, Oliver's brother-in-law, remembered for his musical talents at local dances. 1929 marked a significant year when Oliver gave Borrego its first street names, laying the foundations for a community identity that would grow in the following years.
In 1930, Oliver embarked on building an adobe ranch house, destined to become an emblem of Spanish elegance and desert resilience. The land, tended to by various hands over the years, witnessed the rise and fall of agricultural dreams, remaining a testament to the ambitions and spirit of its cultivators. It's told that even Oscar Brodin returned in 1948 to claim part of this dream once again.
Borrego Valley was an isolated pocket of San Diego County during the 1930s, devoid of modern amenities like paved roads, electricity, or telephones, fostering a tight-knit homesteader community. Harry Oliver amplified this isolation with his own brand of desert enchantment, dotting the landscape with weathered wooden peglegs, stirring the myth of the Lost Pegleg Mine into the hearts of treasure hunters and curiosity-seekers alike.
As an art director and set designer, Harry strongly influenced the Expressionism of Friedrich Wilhelm (F.W.) Murnau (Nosferatu, Sunrise, Tabu). Harry's film credits include such classics as 7th Heaven, Mark of the Vampire, Scarface, Sparrows, Street Angel, The Good Earth, The River, and Viva Villa!. As a designer of commercial symbols such as the Van De Camp Bakery windmill and the Willat Studios Witch House, his work is world-famous in Los Angeles. Source: www.phantomranch.net
His flair for the dramatic and his penchant for lore culminated in the creation of the Pegleg Smith Liars Contest in 1948, a celebration of tall tales that continues to this day. Oliver's personal life, punctuated by marriages, the loss of loved ones, and a quiet resilience, adds layers of depth to the man behind the Desert Rat persona.
In the years that followed, Oliver's storytelling transcended oral traditions, as he penned desert narratives for Life Magazine and his own publications, including 'Desert Rough Cuts' and the 'Desert Rat Scrap Book.' He became a self-made chronicler of the desert, his writings a treasure more enduring than the fabled gold he playfully hid in the sand.
By the 1940s, Oliver relocated to Thousand Palms, though his heart remained in the desert. His narrative continued at the Old Fort Oliver, a stronghold of history and heritage he crafted from the very earth, embodying his philosophy that a home should be as timeless and robust as the hills from which it rose.
Harry Oliver's legacy in Borrego Valley is not merely a collection of stories or structures; it is a lingering aura that whispers in the desert winds, a saga of creativity, community, and the indomitable spirit of adventure that he instilled in the very essence of Borrego Springs. His life and legends, intertwined with the Valley’s identity, invite us all to embrace the wonder and whimsy of the desert.
The Pegleg Smith Monument in Borrego Valley
The Pegleg Smith Monument stands as a rugged testament to the enduring stories and spirit of Borrego Valley, inviting visitors to delve into the fabric of local folklore. Erected to commemorate the legendary prospector Thomas "Pegleg" Smith, the monument is a beacon for adventurers and history enthusiasts alike. Each year, it becomes a gathering place for the Pegleg Smith Liars Contest, celebrating the tall tales and larger-than-life stories that Harry Oliver, Borrego's own "Desert Rat," so cherished. This site isn't just a point on a map; it represents a portal into the past, where the lines between history and myth blur, sparking the imagination of all who come to pay their respects to the legends of the Anza-Borrego Desert.
PEGLEG SMITH'S GOLD
Learn More Here: www.phantomranch.net
Here are some Harry Oliver quotes:
- Ford Camp Note: Put popcorn in your flapjack batter – watch them flop over by themselves.
- "We cigarette and pipe smoking folks should give a thought to how we must smell to a SKUNK."
- The auto hasn't completely replaced the horse. You haven't yet seen a bronze statue of a man sitting under a steering wheel.
- Kickin' never gets you nowhere, 'less'n you're a mule.
- Nobody ever drowned himself in sweat.
- The only fine thing I know that we have done for the Indian – is to call a few fine days in early fall INDIAN SUMMER.
- A woman's tears are the greatest waterpower known to man.
- Remember you can't fall out of bed if you sleep on the floor.
- If you fold this paper again, long ways, it makes it just right for killing cockroaches or vinegaroons.
- The only thing I know for sure about the future is that there will be a lot of it, so let's have all the laughs we can today.
- You don't know happiness till you find yourself doing things well – just for your own approval.
- One of the great compensations of old age, is that you can do as you please.
- Said one angry skunk to another: "So do you!"
- People are funny; they spend money they don't have to buy things they don't need to impress folks they don't like.
- She was a woman of few words, but often.
- People forget how fast you did a job, but they remember how well you did it.
- Why do people say it's a man's world, when statistics prove women live longer than men—especially widows.
- I believe that today is the best day since yesterday and that tomorrow will be a better one.
- Only a fool argues with a skunk, a mule, or a cook.
- If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then stop, after all there's no use being silly about it.
- If you are too busy to laugh – you're too busy.
- If you place a jar lid in the bottom of your double boiler, it will rattle when the water is about boiled away, better than stinking up the shanty.
- I find truth is hard to sell, while lies sell like hot cakes.
- It's no disgrace to be poor, but it might as well be.
- A man's character can't be judged by the way he acts on Sunday.
- Ever notice how dogs win friends and influence people without reading books about it?
- As long as you laugh at your troubles you may be sure that you will never run out of something to laugh at.
- If you want to die in bed . . . try smoking.
- Forget your troubles; there are more coming.
- Trust everybody – but cut the cards.
- The trouble with being a turtle is you can't run away from home.
- Ever notice that you never yawn when you are asleep?
- He is an exceedingly rare person who has keen enough vision to see himself as others see him.
- Saving is a way of spending money without getting any fun out of it.
- OMEN – A sign that something will happen if nothing happens.
- Smile and the rest of your face – you only paid one lousy thin dime for this paper.
- The worst trouble with the future is that it seems to get here quicker than it used to.
- Is life worth living? That depends on the liver.
- Fishing was invented by a fellow whose wife wouldn't let him drink at home.
- Mountain climbers rope themselves together because there is safety in numbers – also it keeps the sensible ones from going home.
- There is nothing so fatal to character as half-finished tasks.
- If a little knowledge is dangerous where is the man who has so much as to be out of danger?
- My memory is the thing I forget with.
- What a feller makes up is sometimes better than what really is.
- International strategy: How can the Russians figure what we are going to do when we obviously don't know ourselves?
- It takes about twenty years of hard work to succeed and you have to work hard for about fifty years if you fail.
- Never tell the truth when you can garnish it a little bit and make it much more interesting.
- Any animal is a substitution for friends you don't have.
- Some day we hope to be wise enough to get the vitamins that wild animals get by eating what they like.
- Did you ever notice the longer the bar the fewer the free drinks
- I find when I tell lies, folks don't care just so's I'm sincere.
- "Gee" I wish I could remember what it was I wanted to forget.
- The wildflowers at Ft. Oliver were so thick this spring you could hardly see the discarded beer cans.
- A miner here tied a stick of dynamite around his neck and lit the fuse. Relatives and friends say they can't imagine why he did this. Of course this is only a theory, but he may have been tired of living.
Learn More About Borrego Springs
