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CABOT'S PUEBLO MUSEUM – CABOT YERXA'S
ARRIVAL
Cabot Yerxa came to
this desert in 1913 as one of the very
first homesteaders. He walked in during
the night from the railroad with some
food in a paper bag and a quart of water
but he had no blanket. For two weeks he
kept warm at night by a campfire and
slept some in the daytime by lying on
the sand warmed by the sunshine.
After much walking and
exploring, he finally made a homestead
of 160 acres next to the Two Bunch
Palms. At that time there were 100,000
acres of desert land open and no roads.
It seems fantastic now but at that time
no one was interested in a desert with
no water or anything deemed essential by
the city people.
In the beginning, he
slept on the ground by a fire or in the
sunshine. Then he dug a hole in a bank
and lived there with no roof, no floor,
no windows, no bed, no door, no chair
and no stove. He cooked on a campfire.
Next came a one room cabin which was 10
feet by 12 feet in size, with walls of one
inch boarding.
Money was scarce in those
early days; in fact, it was nonexistent.
However when Yerxa finally came into
possession of $10, he purchased a black
burro which he named "Merry Xmas".
EAGLES NEST CABIN
In 1914 Yerxa very
laboriously dug a large hole with pick
and shovel on Miracle Hill, the location
of which could not be seen. Inside this
hole he constructed the first permanent
building in the area - EAGLE'S NEST
CABIN. It was 10 feet by 20 feet in size
and built of stone. Cabot and Merry Xmas
would walk seven miles over the desert
to the railroad station at Garnet. Here
they each got a drink of water. Then a
100 pound sack of cement was placed on
the back of each and they walked back to
the homestead cabin - another seven
miles. Gradually the cement, lumber,
rocks, sand and water were carried to
the top of Miracle Hill and Merry Xmas
was turned loose on the desert to have a
burro's holiday.
Eagle's Nest Cabin had one door and one window
out to the world, but the rest was
practically underground. A fireplace in
one end added cheer and warmth. The main
idea was to get out of the wind and to
make safe storage for belongings.
Every few days, Merry
Xmas would climb the hill about noon
time after having eaten wild grass or
sage brush and lay down to rest. When
Yerxa opened his paper bag of lunch or
fried a little bacon or beans over a
campfire, Merry Xmas stepped right
forward and was given half the lunch.
She would eat meat, potatoes, beans,
bread or anything at all. She would chew
tobacco and could drink water out of a
bottle. Merry Xmas was different from
the average run of burros and became
famous because of her unusual
characteristics and intelligence. She
wandered away while Yerxa was a soldier
in World War I.
All went well for years,
but the inevitable happened. Eagle's
Nest was discovered by vandals and made
a shambles. Later it was wrecked and
buried beneath the sand one mile south
of the present pueblo.
OLD INDIAN PUEBLO
 By 1941 there was talk
of a town at Desert Hot Springs; so
Yerxa started the Old Indian Pueblo near
the mountains. The architecture is Hopi
Indian style, similar to the
architecture found in New Mexico 1000
years or so ago. There are steps inside
instead of ladders outside. Also, the
Indians had only one door and one window
per room but in this building there are
two or three windows and doors to each
room to make it practical. The structure
is four stories high, contains 150
windows and 65 doors, 17 of which lead
to the outside.
Having no money at the
time, he took a pick and shovel and cut
down the mountainside, put the earth in
wheelbarrows and filled up the canyon to
make a front yard. This took about one
year and then he built the pueblo in the
hole he had made because he wanted it to
fit into the mountain.
The east wall on the ground floor is 100
feet long and has no doors or windows.
The sun rises but does not shine into
the rooms downstairs until it is on the
way down. This helps to keep it
cooler. The east wall is 24 inches thick
at the bottom and 10 inches or more
thick at the top. For most of the
construction, he hauled sand in a Model
T Ford. The rocks and water for cement
were transported in barrels. He mixed it
all by hand in a box and did most of the
construction alone. On occasion he had
another man help him. Cabot toiled for
over twenty years on his beloved pueblo.
There are 35 rooms in
this unfinished building. The lumber is
all "recycled". Poles were retrieved
from mountain floods, many railroad ties
were used and some timbers came out of
the Metropolitan Aqueduct tunnels. Bent
and rusty nails were saved to straighten
and use again.
 Cabot's
Old Indian Pueblo is one of the most fantastic
structures in Southern California. Cabot
Yerxa has built part of his soul into
these adobe walls. His "castle" is an
incredible building which stands as a
fitting monument to his faith and love
for this desert community.
THE PUEBLO SINCE 1965 – Cole Eyraud
In March of 1965 Cabot
Yerxa died of a heart attack at the age
of 83 while reading his paper in the
kitchen of his home - the Old Indian
Pueblo.
It was a close call that the Pueblo did not share the same
fate as Eagles Nest Cabin in the 2 and
1/2 years it lie vacant. During a
vacation in Desert Hot Springs, Cole
Eyraud visited the Pueblo only to find
that Cabot had died, the building lay
open to vandals and the city had
intended to destroy the structure
because Cabot's Old Indian Pueblo was
considered a nuisance and an eyesore.
Appalled at the condition
of the Pueblo and the plans for it, Cole
purchased the property. It was through
the efforts of Cole Eyraud that the
Pueblo still stands as it did when Cabot
built it. Through the efforts of Mr.
Eyraud, the Museum became a "Riverside
County Point of Historic Interest."
A TRADITION CONTINUES
IN 1998 Cabot's Pueblo
Museum was donated to the City of Desert
Hot Springs. The Museum is open for
guided tours. It is closed during the
summer months. Call 760.329.7610 for
current information on hours of
operation. On weekends you may view area
artists and crafters in the Pueblo
Gallery. |
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