Desert Messenger

January 21, 2015 www.DesertMessenger.com 23 SEE INN PAGE 45 Excerpts from "In the Shadow of Saguaros" by Rosalee Oldham Wheeler "In the Shadow of Saguaros" Vol. I & II are now available exclusively at the Tyson's Well Museum and Reader's Oasis Book Store Voices from The Past in Quartzsite, AZ In 1939, vehicles traveling west through Quartzsite on Highway 60- 70 (newly created from a dusty gravel road just seven years earlier), the last business on the edge of town was the Adobe Inn (near the present-day Super 8 Motel). Constructed from Mexican- style adobe covered with white stucco, the Inn was a perfect location for a southwestern themed movie. The Inn's proprietor was a big man with a booming voice whose handsome silver-grey hair and neat appearance further inspired the appearance of a movie set. Elmer L. Knott enjoyed be- ing the proprietor of the Adobe Inn's three cabins along with a café and bar situated out front facing the Highway. A typical western-style inn, the bar's entrance was through a wide pair of swinging doors. To the right of the swinging doors was the entrance to the Inn's popular café. Elmer was one of the fi rst people to welcome our family when we moved to Quartzsite in 1939. He invited us to stop by the Inn for a tour and a bowl of his "special" apricot cobbler. Sev- eral weeks later we made a mid-day stop and were pleasantly surprised at how busy both the café and bar was for that time of day. The place was full of highway workers, miners, and tourists such as the couple who was heading home to Los Angeles after visiting fam- ily in Phoenix. Local folks regularly frequented the Inn, mostly to catch up on the latest news about the war in Eu- rope, local highway improvements, and to learn if one of the local miners had hit pay dirt. And then there were the down-and-outers who also found their way to the Inn. Elsie Kuehn told me she was grateful that "Mr. Knott has a soft spot in his heart for folks who need a lit- tle help and will let people do odd jobs for room and board." Often folks were just looking for a smile, kind words, and a listening ear to their own hard-luck story. Elmer's intent was to help folks on their way, or so he thought. The country was just coming out of the Great Depression and jobs were still hard to fi nd. Then, of course, all the lo- cal miners hoped that their mine would become the next big strike. Several of the miners who had been here for de- cades were running low on big dreams. What they needed now was enough "mineral show" to sell their claim, and hanging around the Inn was a good place to meet someone with money to invest in their own dreams of gold. One of the folks Elmer had offered a hand was Dewey McKnight who lived in one of the cabins and worked in a near- by mine. When the mine closed, Dewey stayed, hoping it might start up again. Off and on, he worked for Elmer doing odd jobs but mostly hung around the bar drinking up the credit he had built up with Elmer. Dewey was a rowdy type of fellow and when he had too much to drink, he was diffi cult to handle. One night, after more than enough to drink, Dewey became drunk beyond un- Quartzsite's Adobe Inn derstanding. The bar was full of people and he accused Elmer of not paying him. Dewey took out a gun and started to shoot at the bottles that were lined up in front of a big mirror behind the bar. Everyone ducked and tried to get out through the swinging doors. One lady got caught in the doors. Not able to get in or out, several patrons piled up be- hind her. When the shooting stopped, every bottle on the shelf was shattered and the bar was in shambles. The law in those days was the local constable. By the time someone went to fi nd Consta- ble Kuehn, the one-man fi ght was over. In May of 1954, Elmer celebrated his 65th birthday and announced that he had sold the Adobe Inn and Texaco Sta- tion to the Mitchell family of Flagstaff. After 21 years in Quartzsite, Elmer wanted to live close to his siblings in California and moved to Calimesa. John and Bertha Mitchell moved to Quartzsite with their three sons; John Jr, James, and Bob An expert mechan- ic, John planned to open a garage to ser- vice the many vehicles that traveled up and down Highway 60-70. They closed the café and bar and used the building as their home with plans to remodel both after John fi nished setting up the garage in the Quonset building they had moved onto the property. Within months of opening the garage, it was announced that a survey had been completed and construction would soon begin on a new Highway 60-70 route, just north of the garage, bypassing and fencing off the Mitchell's new enter- prise. Not to be deterred, John set out to attract garage business from the lo- cal residents and businesses. John, Jr. would be attending the new high school in Salome, James would drive the school bus for student's living on Highway 60- 70 between Quartzsite and Salome, and Bob would ride the bus to his job in the offi ce at the high school. In 1960, my husband Charles advised T. H. "Pete" Newman, the Yuma County Sheriff that he planned to resign his po- sition as the deputy sheriff for this part of the county in order to focus on our beekeeping business. The new County Sheriff, Lee E. Echols appointed Jim Mitchell to be the new deputy. Not long after his appointment, Jim was notifi ed about a robbery in Yuma TOOLS TOOLS TOOLS & TARPS & TARPS & TARPS VENDOR SUPPLIES • Canopies • All Sizes of Tarps • RV Supplies • Tools • Table Legs • Hand & Power Tools Open 9am-5pm - 7 days a week LOCATED AT TYSON CENTRE #1 121 W. Kuehn, Quartzsite K & B "The place with the stuff!" 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