Fascinating story! Back in the mid-1990s we would go out S-2 periodically with a group of friends to explore. We went through Blair Valley, traced some of the stage coach routes, visited Vallecitos station, and found some old metal quonset huts were people had lived during the Depression. Desert dwellers are a unique breed! Thank you for your extra research on this one. It was fun to revisit the area.
As an Adelaide South Australia bloke - I said a "what!!!" out loud when you mentioned my lovely hometown. Not a sentence I was expecting to hear in the middle of an American Desert !!!! I've watched several of these vids - makes me wanna go to the US for a trip!!!
What a fantastic adventure you took us on Steve! "The Real Housewives' of Whatever" is a gut buster🤣! I very much appreciated the lengths you and your wife went to in hiking up the trail to show us all The Cabin of Marshall South and family! I can't imagine choosing to live there all year round with the hardships that come with that lifestyle. Had to have been brutal for Tanya and the kids. Sounds as though Marshall embraced that life though. I really appreciated the research you shared Steve. Like many in this Community, I very much look forward to any video you post for our enjoyment! Please know your time, editing and sharing does not go un-noticed or is taken for granted. Blessings From Ohio 🙏
The snake appears to be a young Western Coachwhip (Masticophus flagellum.) It's a common snake in the Southwest, including the California low deserts. They're non-venomous and fast. The top of the heads, extending over the neck, are often black, like in this specimen, and the back can have a red spotted or mottled appearance. They typically keep their heads off the ground, as this one is doing. Thanks for leaving it be...
I've hiked up there a lot in the past, once by the light of a full moon, which was magical. Blair Valley holds a very special place in my heart, and this was a very evocative video. I was with you, every step of the way. Thanks so much!
Right! There are two sides to any story. I am sure he wasn't perfect, but what about his perspective?! Nobody put a gun to that lady's head and made her marry him, have his kids and live with him for your years in the desert before souring on the whole adventure.
The first time I ever heard of Anzo-Borrego was from the book "Into the Wild" about the life and tragic death of Chris "SuperTramp" McCandless. McCandless met an elderly US army veteran there named Franz. He and McCandless had camped there for only a short period I believe; after all McCandless was Alaska bound. If memory serves McCandless camped near a hot springs within A-B. The hot springs may have been Agua Caliente Springs, but I'm not sure. From there he eventually ended up at "Slab City." Anyway thanx for the extended trip and story about A-B. I remember as a kid long ago hearing the tales about people and life in another desert not too far away. These stories were dramatized on TV as "Death Valley Days" hosted first by "The Ole Ranger (I think), and then by Ronald Reagan.
I don’t watch those shows either. I like the desert. It’s peaceful.I don’t hate people, I just like it better when they aren’t around. I enjoy my mornings drinking coffee and watching the birds,deer and nature.
Given the tumultuous state of the modern world, I often romanticize being in an off-the-grid cabin living off the land. It's unfortunate that I've lived most of my life in cities and thus "living off the land" is not in my skill set. Suppose I could get educated though.
Having read quite a bit about M.S. over the years and being regular visitors of Anza Borrego, my wife and I decided to make the journey to the homestead. While walking on the eastern end of the hill we both heard the sound of children's voices. It should be noted that Marshals mother left Australia to escape an abusive husband. Thanks for the video, the desert is beautiful when in full bloom!
Thank you for another fine informative video Steve! I love ABDSP and spent a couple days at Borrego Springs last week. I enjoy driving up to BS via highway S-2 from Ocotillo. I have hiked up to the homestead twice and was a bit fascinated by the story of their life out there. Rider South last lived in Silver City in New Mexico and is buried there. (side note: on my way over there from Tucson, I stopped at another spot you recently featured: the McPhaul "Bridge to Nowhere" over the Gila River, so I could see the rarity of the river flowing to Yuma!)😀
Thank you. I was wondering about Rider South. I know about 10 years ago he was still giving talks about his experience there, but didn't know if he or any of the other kids were still alive.
Great video, thank you very much! I've been up to Yaquitepic many, many times, however the last time I was there was around 1999, maybe 2000. I can't believe how much deterioration there's been in the last 20 or 30 years. Just about the entire house was still standing the last time I was there. It was of course missing a ton of stuff, like windows and window frames, and a few of the walls were falling down, and the roof was completely gone. The bed frame was still in its own room off of what was probably a hallway. There were a few more things there then that I did not see in the video but can't really bring to mind. You did a great job telling about Marshall South and the family's stay at Yaquitepic. One thing, if I remember correctly, a headstone was placed in the Julian cemetery marking Marshall's grave site in the mid-1990s. I was there at the ceremony and met his son Rider. I had a ton of stuff happening in my life at the time surrounding a divorce so my memory of it is a little shady, but I do remember shaking Rider's hand. Thank you for this, Steve! Very well done.
Great video, Steve! I wonder why Marshal chose that site. Water is available at many valley sites, some of them away from traffic. Seems as though he wanted more than just “primitive.” He wanted privation and adversity. Well, at least he was an imaginative writer. Thank you for showing us!
I just recently discovered your channel and I'm now a new subscriber. I really love your content. The great story telling of the history combined with your approachable and down to earth style make your videos very enjoyable to watch. We're moving from the frozen north to AZ next year and I can't wait to go explore some of these places. Thanks for making these!!
Thank You for letting me enjoy something that I would have never found on my own. For a video by one of the sons showing the home and family in color, Google: 1947 8mm Film: Marshal South Family, Ghost Mountain, Anza Borrego Desert
Thank you for the link. First I've heard of the family and was so very curious about the whole story so it's nice watching and learning from the video.
Truly enjoy videos like this. Old history with some old ruins. Can't beat that! It is very tangi ble when I think about 120 degrees with very little water. If we think about it a little deeper, why not just make a good homestead? Your not missing the big game on TV, going out dancing and a restaurant. You just endured and made the best out of where God has brought you. Bam son!
Living someone else's dream when your heart isn't in it is always hard. I'm glad she got out when she did. Wish it could've been sooner. Amazing she lived to be nearly a century old after what must have been very stressful living in the desert with a jerk for a spouse and constant worry over the safety of her children.
As always impressed by your amount of research. What a curious family and experience they had out there. The views they must have had though! We also just had a snake encounter! Guess it is that time of the year though. 😅
I know this is an older video, but I’m just now finally getting to it. This was a fascinating story to me!! So I searched “Marshal South Family” on RU-vid and a channel called “peahix” has some videos of old 16mm and 8mm film of this family! One of them has the older son commentating on the footage. Super interesting stuff!!
Fantastic video and story telling. Thanks. I live in Kentucky now (long story- has to do with a pretty girl) but grew up in Sandy Eggo and explored the Anza Borrego area a lot when I was younger. This story reminds me of the novel Sheep Rock by George R Stewart which includes a tale of a poet who went to live in the desert to write poetry in solitude. The novel is really about decades/centuries of events occurring at a single remote place n the desert . Anything by Stewart is worthwhile for his stories of “place” and his old Western/ California sensitivity.
Marshall South's son, Rudyard South, wrote a book after his mother died. Ghost Mountain Chronicles. Tells the whole back story. There was an article in the San Diego Reader back in the '80's that ripped South to pieces.
When my son and I went about a dozen years ago there were tin can trash piles. The locals used to say that Marshall South built a home where no Indian would have been stupid enough to build a house on top of a desert mountain with no water.
My thoughts exactly! The Mogollon people certainly didn't build in that type of location . . . He certainly wasn't a student of history, so lived his own mistakes. I'm amazed his wife stayed with him as long as she did.
Although I can't say I'd ever want to leave my beautiful Oregon and go to this site in person, the virtual trip was fantastic. Thank you for the take-a-long. Happy Trails!
WOW Steve, what a story. I guess they were happy to start with but like you say must have been very harsh living conditions and it got to them in the end. Fantastic video.Thank you
I've been there-it must have been hell living up there most of the time. Snow in the winter, crazy wind and mentally hot MOST of the time. When I got to the top my immediate thought was "what were they thinking?" Even Blair valley would have been a better option I don't think they lived off the land- he had a job, maybe a military pension(?), savings(?) and a car to go buy groceries. Pretty sure there is zero way to be self sufficient when you have to haul water a mile up a hill. Someone on the comments of another video about this said he spoke to the daughter in her old age. She said it was ghastly too. Still, unless some one gives it a go, we would never know if it was possible or not. These days, with solar and wind power and other technology maybe it could be?
40 plus years ago the site was much more preserved, but the park chooses to let most native and non-native sites decay. I'm surprised at the condtion of the trail as you climbed ; several years ago the trail was little more than ruts down the hill. At 75 I'll never see it again so thanks for the memories. If you drove north up S-2 from I-8 at Ocotillo you passed by our winter home in Canebrake. You would love the history but residents want to stay anonymous. Good video and we enjoy your series. I notice no drone footage because the park does not allow it. I got my FAA certification and I'm annoyed I can't cross the road to take pictures of the flowers.
They went on to have normal lives. The oldest son wrote about his experience there and gave talks on it, someone mentioned the other two never talked about it.
Thanks for using excellent equipment, cameras and smooth riding vehicles. Watching these videos would not be enjoyable if we bounced and jolted on the trails. Early in our marriage, we bought one of the first Toyota Land cruisers for sale in San Diego. It out performed our friend's choices of 4x4s. We had a good friend who wrote for the San Diego newspaper. Our family was often in his great photos. He still writes for the same paper, though the name has changed several times. We retired to OR and still miss the Anza Borrego Desert State Park. We still have 4-wheel drive vehicles. Time and age has not changed our interest in travel and adventure. The best education available, no matter our ages. Travel safely, Steve. Thanks for the memories. 😊
@@SidetrackAdventures I posted the last comment under my wife's name, Deborah, it's the default on my RU-vid! My name is Tom Page and I truly enjoy the effort, history and personality you bring to your series. It is the most un-hyped, honestly delivered series I know of. Incidentally, I am a credentialed artist with several sculptures of Nobel Prize; Bob Dylan, Dr. Peter Agre winners under my belt and 50 years of creating art. I do appreciate the Double Negative construction/destruction??? Art can be made out of anything and anywhere. It can be seen on the walls of concentration camps to remote parts of nature. Keep up the good work. I wish/hope this was your full time gig.Also, greetings to your family and their participation. Adieu
I lived in Thermal for four years. We went through the Anza-Borrego often. It's beautiful there. I love that it is Not full of people and businesses that will destroy it out there.
I really enjoy your videos, nice job! That was a harmless gopher snake. Also on RU-vid is a short video from 1948 wherein Ryder South narrates the footage of some people visiting the Souths. The video clearly shows the bedframe and i have to say it looks pretty much how you found it!
It's amazing that Mrs. South hung on to that brutal, isolated existence as long as she did, through the searing heat of 17 summers and the bone-chilling cold of just as many winters. I've tried my own hand at primitive living, in less forbidding circumstances, and can appreciate how challenging daily life must have been atop that mountain. Just consider the question of water. A conventional rule of thumb when estimating daily water needs is 30 gallons a day, per person, for all purposes. Maybe the South family could have eked by with half that amount. But almost every ounce would have been lugged up that steep trail, probably by the children. At 8.3 lb/gallon, by 15 gallons by 5 people, that's 620+ lbs. to be lugged up the mountain every single day - a rugged chore indeed. . And what of the South children? Did any of them ever have anything to say (or write) about their primitive upbringing? I hope they got their fill of ice cream once they returned to the civilized world. Thanks for sharing this small glimpse of history, involving real people.
Thank you for this video. Very well done. Sounds to me like the dude was certifiable. To subject one's family to such harshness and isolation is unforgivable.
There's a map you can buy of Anza Borrego State Park at the visitors center and/or State Park store in the town of Borrego Springs. At one point, it was $10.95, I don't know if the price has gone up. It's pretty detailed, and there are points I want to check out on the map. This is one of them. I was going to one day, but I could hear guys that were a bit shady, so I left before I did. Also, there was a video of this family at the visitor center. One of the sons didn’t want to be interviewed because he was so traumatized by it.
Just recently got into your channel. Now im trying to see all of them . Great videos. You do a great job. So lnteresting, im a San Diego native. I rank your channel in my top 3. Along with Ghost Town Living and K G Tropical. Keep up the good work.
Wow. Outer San Diego, so beautiful 🏜️🌲 Can't believe this is our backyard... Love your channel. I've officially become hooked on your videos! 👌☺️ Much appreciation from North County SD, Oceanside!
