Saturday Morning Post: Revisiting the Oasis of Mara

Article and photos by Dan Barber

I live in the City of Twentynine Palms, California. Before it became Twentynine Palms it was known as the Oasis of Mara… I think that I prefer the Oasis of Mara name because it conjures up beauty with a mix of desert romance.

Creative use of 29!

Note, the local preference is to spell out Twentynine as a single word without hyphenation… and many local citizens abhor using the numerals 29 to describe where they live, unless some creativity can be added to the title.

The name “29 Palms” just causes some people that come here to start counting palm trees along the streets to see if it’s truly named for its number of palm trees. While counting they may miss some of the beauty.

Some people who have come through my adopted town have attempted to attach their own view of this place by calling it “29 Stumps” or shortened simply to “The Stumps.” Legend hints that the Oasis of Mara became 29 Palms when a surveyor came upon the oasis and counted the 29 California Palms surrounding encampment of the Chemehuevi People… this is also probably where this group of native people received the name “29 Palms Band of Chemehuevi.

The original Oasis of Mara

New Indian Casino now overlooks
the original Oasis of Mara
and Chemehuevi burial ground.

Since the beginning of Twentynine Palms it has always been associated with the military in some way. Following World War I it became the home to many veterans who suffered from the effects of mustard gas on their lungs used in that war. At the onset of World War II the military built an air base to train glider pilots here. Then with the Korean War the United States Marine Corps took over the former Army base titled, “Condor Field” to create a Live Fire Marine Corps training base. The name is now the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms.

Chemehuevi burial ground.

Business people and city leaders have tried to coax people to visit this desert hideaway by coming up with slogans like “A beautiful desert oasis” or “An Oasis of Murals” another comes to mind that was once tried “The Gateway to the Mojave”… What’s wrong with the original “Oasis of Mara?”

James Cagney's Desert Getaway

So many people have come to this place and at first sight think of it as a dusty desert town. We do have a lot of dust here, but there is also a lot of beauty if you look for it. I’ve heard some people exclaim that “there’s nothing to do here!” Sometimes doing nothing is a blessing. I can spend hours just sitting and enjoying the magic of nature. This place is a dream scape where creative people can create with very little distraction. There are many writers, visual artists and performing artists to include musicians, actors and dancers who choose to visit or even live here. James Cagney a very successful actor in his time picked Twentynine Palms to build a small home where he could escape Hollywood to study painting with one of the old time artists who lived in the desert.

Me doing nothing.

U2 used the Harmony
Motel sign for an album
cover.

I have seen famous people walking down the street here without anyone taking notice. People come here to escape the big cities. I have run into people who want big box shopping built in the area. I’m rather proud of the fact that I have to drive nearly 20 miles to get to big box store of any kind. It is an outing when my wife and I have to drive more than 50 miles to get to a mall. I tell people that if they want to be a mall rat, then they should move to a big city… because we only have desert rats out here.

Because we are a military town we do have an abundance of tattoo parlors, massage parlors, and barber shops, which are always full because Marines have to get haircuts just about every other day (disclaimer, my Granddaughter's boyfriend's father owns all but one barber shop in town). A few years ago one of our successful Inn keepers and a city booster suggested that all of the tattoo parlor owners get together and create a tattoo parlor colony and market their services world-wide. Tattoos have became more common place on civilians then on military men and women due to restrictions placed on them for the promotion of good order and discipline.

Mural honoring the Marines in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

It’s probably human nature to try to put a stamp of ownership on something or some place instead of just trying to blend into the environment. When I see the city lights of urban sprawl from a mountain top I cringe. When I see the hi-rise hotels and city lights of Honolulu I wonder if the weight of all that development will eventually sink Oahu below the ocean.

Looks like the petroglyph of a long
ago native citizen of the area
chasing a rabbit.

I hope my adopted home never changes because I love the solitude of the desert and the way it can lead people to become creative. One of the things I used to tell my military co-workers at the Marine Corps base was, “The longer we have you here in the desert, the easier it is to entertain you.” Come for a visit and check out our murals, sculptures along with the multitude of art galleries or natural desert beauty.