The sun was shining first thing Wednesday morning and it was a great sight to see after the rainstorms of the previous day. It was Paulette’s Quilting Club day up at the clubhouse so we had no great excursions planned for the day. That was just fine with me after driving in all that rain on Tuesday.
The skies were clear and blue over Mt. Jacinto Wednesday morning
Paulette’s Quilting Group meets from 10am-4pm each Wednesday so that leaves me with the whole day to do whatever I want. When the weather is great, as it normally is, I prefer to just spend the day relaxing by going to the pool or reading outside. Yesterday though, it wasn’t swimming weather, so I decided to visit an attraction close by that I’ve been meaning to see for the past 3 years – Cabot’s Pueblo Museum.
The main 35 room pueblo in Desert Hot Springs – built by Cabot Yerxa
Cabot's Pueblo Museum is a California state historical site located in Desert Hot Springs. The centerpiece of the complex is a large Hopi-style pueblo built over a period of 24 years by homesteader Cabot Yerxa. Yerxa built the four-story, 5000 square foot structure with its 35 rooms, 150 windows and 65 doors from 1941 until his death at age 83 in 1965.
It’s a bit of a ramshackle place built of scavenged materials
As is custom in Hopi tradition, no two rooms, windows or doors are alike and it is filled with secret rooms, passages and hiding places. The pueblo and all of the outbuildings on the site were built primarily from scrap wood and sheet metal, including metal advertising signs all scavenged from the surrounding desert by Yerxa.
This is the view from the back of the pueblo
Cabot Yerxa first settled on the 160-acre plot in 1913. Using little more than pick and shovel, Yerxa discovered not one but two separate aquifers separated by the San Andreas Fault atop what would later be called "Miracle Hill." The first aquifer was a natural hot spring with a temperature of 110°F and which would later help give rise to the area's spas and resorts.
We were allowed to take pics inside this one small room
The second, on the opposite side of the fault, was a cold aquifer named the Mission Springs Aquifer; this same aquifer provides fresh water to the city of Desert Hot Springs to this day and is considered to be among the finest tap water on earth.
Another side view of the Cabot pueblo
Yerxa's friend Cole Eyraud protected the settlement after his death and after it had been abandoned and vandalized. Eyraud also protected the structure from demolition, literally holding the bulldozers hired for the task at shotgun point. Eyraud and his family soon purchased the complex, restoring it and later donating it to the City of Desert Hot Springs.
This appeared to be one of the main workshops in the site
The admission is free to walk around the entire site but the 45 minute guided tours of the inside of the actual 35 room pueblo cost $10. I thought it would be interesting to see this, so I paid $8(seniors discount) even though I normally avoid these type of guided tours. Just before starting the tour, however, the Docent stated that no pictures were allowed inside the pueblo – flash or otherwise. With that disappointing news, I returned to the cashier and got a refund.
The Cabot Pueblo featured one of the nicest gift shops I’ve ever seen
By the time I got back to the RV Park, the clouds forecast for the afternoon had rolled in and it looked like we might be in for more rain. I quickly put leashes on Molly and Rylie and took them to the dog park for a run because it sure looked like we wouldn’t be going at our normal late afternoon time.
All of the items on the wall, from local artisans, were for sale
When I got back to our 5’er it was still only 2:00pm, so I just stretched out on the couch with the muttzos for a few hours to continue reading Greg Isles’ new novel The Devils’ Punchbowl. I might have dozed off for a bit too because it was nice and cozy inside.
We had pizza for dinner last night from the local Domino’s. A Mexican family owns the store and we’ve been going there for 3 years so it’s always nice to see them again. After dinner, we just watched TV and spent some time on the computer before it was time for bed.
Have a great Thursday, and thanks again for visiting!
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