LONDON BRIDGE IS NOT FALLING DOWN

(NOVEMBER 1, 2018) After Spending the night in the old Route 66 town of Williams, Arizona, I decided to head west on the Mother Road rather than using Interstate 40.  And about 40 minutes later I arrived in Seligman, Arizona which is another town that is playing its history on Route 66 for all its worth.  Almost all of the businesses in this small town is playing off of the Mother Road.

Road Kill Cafe

Seligman is a small town with the main road through the town being Route 66. When I arrived in town from the east, I was surprised to see   Route 66 in Seligman is a big tourist destination and there were two other tour buses parked at the “Road Kill Café” on the west end of town. The Road Kill Cafe is one of the better-known stops in Seligman as it features such menu item as Deer Delectable, Bad Brake Streak, Fender Tenders, The Splatter Platter and Highway Hash. I didn’t try it because they were super busy serving breakfast to the tour bus patrons.

three large tour buses parked on Main Street with passengers milling about the various shops.

After walking around Seligman and snapping a few photos, it was back to Interstate 40 and off to Kingman. In Kingman I left Interstate 40 and headed south on Route 95 toward my next destination of Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

Arriving in Lake Havasu City, I found it to be a much different place than the one I visited 40-years ago when my sister lived here, and I came for a visit. Back then Lake Havasu was hardly a town, just a small oasis in the desert with only a place the manufacture water beds and the McCulloch Chain Saw factory as the major employers.

But Robert McCulloch had a vision for the area and in the late 1960’s he ventured off to London and Purchased the London Bridge which was reported to indeed be falling down. He had the bridge dismantled and each piece numbered, and ship to the United States.

 

Upon arrival in the United States he brought his new bridge to Lake Havasu and reconstructed piece by piece over a man-made channel of the Colorado River. The official dedication of the “New” London Bridge took place in 1971 and since then the area has grown to be large resort town that centers around recreation along the Colorado River and of course The London Bridge.

When I was last here in 1972, there was still very little here except the water bed and chain saw factories and the newly dedicated London Bridge. The English Village around the bridge was still being constructed and there were no hotels or spas that today cater to the spring breakers and the outdoor recreation enthusiasts that flock to the area in droves.

Today the community is spread out over a side area and while people used to have to make the 50-mile trip to Kingman to shop, today they have everything they need in the city that was the vision of Robert McCulloch.

I found free parking at the Visitors Center and spend the next Hour or so walking across the Bridge snapping pictures along the way.  I did stop and have lunch in the English Village. What else could I have but “authentic” Ole English Fish and Chips.   While they were good and tasty, I could tell any difference from the ones I get at Red Robin.

After spending a couple of hours in Lake Havasu, it was time to head toward Yuma where I will be spending the night. As I was traveling near Quartzsite, I saw a brown sign, and everybody knows that I am a sucker for interesting brown signs.

This brown sign directed me to the Hi Jolly Monument in a cemetery in Quartzsite. As I arrived, I saw a pyramid made of what appeared to be rocks and petrified wood with a camel on top. This had to be it and sure enough I was at the tomb of Hi Jolly.

Who or what was Hi Jolly, well I’m glad you ask because just off to the side of the Tomb was a Historical Marker that answers that question.

In 1856, Secretary of War Jefferson Davis (Yes, the same Jefferson Davis who would go on to become President of the Confederacy) had the bright Idea to use camels to move freight and people across the desert southwest. So, Secretary Davis purchased more than 70 of the desert beasts and had them transported to the United Stated. Once in the United States the camels were distributed to various Forts throughout the Southwest.

Along with the camels came a handler named Hadji Ali who the soldiers quickly shortened to Hi Jolly. Well, the Civil War broke out a few years later Jefferson Davis got another job and without his support the Camel experiment failed. The Camel were set free to roam the desert for years to come. Some people today claim to have seen a camel or two roaming the remote reaches of the desert. I’m not sure if I believe that but stranger things have happened.

After the camels were set free, Hi Jolly decided to stay in the Quartzsite area. He lived into his 70’s and was popular and loved by the people of Quartzsite. When Hi Jolly died, his many friends in Quartzsite erected this monument to serve as his tomb.

Like I said, Brown Signs are fun and with out this brown sign I would have never found out the story of Hi Jolly and the Camels of the Southwest.

From Quartzsite it was a short drive to Yuma and the Comfort Inn where I would spend the Night. After a quick supper it was time to backup my photos and hit the bed. Tomorrow I am going to prison but that’s a story to be told tomorrow.