For some six and half years (1951-1957), Desert Sentinel published a weekly column by Cabot Yerxa, titled “On the Desert Since 1913.” In 1958, the newspaper gave him space to present in one fell swoop his personal account of Desert Hot Springs’ history. Below is a considerably edited offering for those who missed the original article that approached 4,500 words. About 1910, …

In last week’s newsletter, we featured a 1911 letter that Cabot Yerxa wrote to a former president — Theodore Roosevelt — after hearing a speech Roosevelt gave at a college. Years later, in 1918 and 1919, Cabot served in the Army, where he came in contact with a future president: Dwight Eisenhower. Cabot was a mess sergeant in the tank …

As noted in last week’s newsletter, Cabot Yerxa served as postmaster of Fertilla simultaneously with operating an eponymous store in that town (now merely ruins) from 1919 to 1925. Years earlier (1908-1911), Cabot served as postmaster of Sierra Madre, where his parents owned and operated an orange ranch and store. It was during this time that Cabot traveled to Los …

As has been established, Cabot Yerxa came to our desert in 1913. But he did not live on his homestead uninterrupted. In 1918, after he acquired title to the land, he joined the Army. When the war ended and he was honorably discharged, he opened a store in Fertilla, a few miles north of Blythe. He operated his eponymous store …