A Land Between: Owens Valley, California
by Rebecca Fish Ewan
For many Californians, Inyo and Mono Counties are
often referred to as "The East Side," as in east of
the Sierran crest. It's a funny reference, if you think about
it, because there's still a lot of California between Mount Whitney
and the state boundary. Perhaps it's the high and dry nature
of the region, or its lack of a major population center. It has
long been a land of resources and recreational opportunities,
and its remoteness has given rise to the creation of numerous
myths and legends. A land apart.
Owens Valley, in particular, is a land between, as Rebecca
Fish Ewan so gracefully illustrates. It lies between the towering
Sierra Nevada to the west, and the White Mountains and the Inyo
Range to the east, nearly as tall as their granitic counterparts
across the valley. It is a land of change and stasis, displacement
and the home of the displaced, alternately cataclysmic and quiet.
Its amazing how many people have a story about the East Side.
Dave Alvin of the Blasters fame has written poems about his trips
to Owens Valley. Generations of Angelenos have traveled up highways
14 and 395 to fish the rivers, streams and lakes, to hike into
the backcountry in summer and ski at Mammoth Mountain over the
long winter months.
The author has a few favorite Owens Valley stories, too, along
with a retelling of some of the region's most famous historical
events. The book is divided into three parts, "A Land Between,"
which focuses on the physical geography and natural history of
the basin; "Dwelling Before," detailing the occupation
of the Valley by the Numu (also known as Owens Valley Paiute)
and early pioneers up until the watershed year 1913; and from
1913 until the present, the Valley as the scene of pitched battles
fought over water, citizenship (specifically the internment of
Japanese-Americans at Manzanar), and make-believe shootouts captured
on celluloid by the Hollywood movie makers.
It's a story well told, interwoven with the author's personal
history and some fictional accounts based on the lives of those
who struggled to wrest a living out of the high desert. For the
knowledgeable reader there's not a lot of new historical information
here, but it does contain fresh insights and perspectives that
a landscape architect brings to the subject. The book is dotted
with black-and-white photographs, historic and contemporary,
some of which are quite beautiful. There is a nice bibliographic
essay at the end, which includes a filmography related to the
Valley. And, the book is a nice size to carry along with you
as you create your own memories of a land between.
