"I've
learned that a man can take what he has, no matter how little,
and make from it what he wants. Death Valley brought life to
me -- and I brought life to Death Valley!"
These are the words of 70 year old Elias, founder of
the resort that today is known as Delight's Hot Spring Resort,
a man who a few short years before arrived in the middle of the
barren
desert
to die. Elias was an arthritic cripple, who in a time of desperation
took the advice of a friend who suggested that Elias leave Los
Angeles, and spend a few weeks in the warm spring mud baths in
the far reaches of the Mojave Desert.
"Lie in that mud for a
few weeks, and you'll be a new man." His friend's prediction
came true. After spending nearly a month bathing in the warm,
natural mud baths and drinking the natural hot springs Mineral
Water, Elias was well enough to begin exploration of the surrounding
desert, and discovered an area that contained hundreds
of warm springs. Elias knew that he had found the perfect spot
for a health spa.
Eventually, when Elias attempted to lease or purchase this land,
he discovered that it was not for sale. Not purchaseable, that
is, with normal currency. Congress, he discovered, set aside
the land for Veteran homesteading. The law provided that the
land could only be purchased with the Civil War script that was
issued by the federal government to discharged soldiers after
the U.S. Civil war. Nearly all such currency had long been lost
or hidden away in museums.
Elias, however, remembered that his grandfather was a civil
war vetran, and recalled seeing odd-looking coupons framed in
his parents' home. He returned to Nebraska, and found $2,000.00
worth of Civil War Script currency which was the exact amount
required to purchase the property.
He and his wife Betty raised a small amount of capital, and
set out to build a town with 2 1/2 miles of railroad trackage
and ties from the abandoned Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad.
Transformed from a penniless cripple to a vibrant and productive
man, Elias
successfully built a small desert empire.
- Original History derived from Nelson Thorne's account, 1955.
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