Mecca and the Triangle Rancho

Publication

-

Exhibit Envoy

Name/Title

Mecca and the Triangle Rancho

Entry/Object ID

PFM.53.A

Description

Section 3. To pair with photo of Susie standing outside of the Mecca Post Office.

Collection

Warner Graves Collection

Publication Details

Publication Type

Text Panel

Dimensions

Height

19 in

Width

16 in

Dimension Notes

Mounted on gatorfoam. Attaches to two foam blocks to situate it away from the wall and over the accompanying photograph.

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

MECCA AND THE TRIANGLE RANCHO In 1916, Susie's family moved to a ranch near the Salton Sea to grow dates and citrus. The Sea had formed just a decade before due to a breach in a levee. Mecca at the time was a supply stop for the prospectors and desert rats who wandered the wilderness to the east. It was formerly a stage stop on the Bradshaw Trail, an old gold road Susie and Lula would document in their photos. The family's Triangle Rancho was six miles south of Mecca on Grapefruit Blvd, the road to the Salton Sea. If you drive that way today, look for the sign that says Palm Island Drive--formerly the site of the Triangle Rancho. Susie took the job as postmaster here--beating out male contenders--in 1926, and went to work at 180 feet below sea level. Her job made her one of the most popular characters in the desert, as everyone from the Salton Sea to the Pinto Basin came to Mecca for their mail. They enticed Susie with tales and legends of the wilderness to the east.