A Visit to Lancaster, California

In December of 2004, while living in Murfreesboro and working on From Tennessee to Oz, I decided to take a quick trip to visit my family in California. During the time I was there, I made my first real trip to Lancaster, home of the Gumm family from 1926 – 1932.

For those of us who are fans of Judy Garland and have read some of the books the books about her, we recall descriptions of the family moving to a small, hot, dusty town, 80 miles or so from Los Angeles. They moved there because this was the only place Judy’s father, Frank Gumm, could find a theater, and because, it was not far from the Mecca of entertainment, Hollywood. Meanwhile, the town was really the opposite of the very green, well irrigated and wooded town of Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

 

For my trip, I rented a small ‘rent a wreck’ can and, unaccustomed to freeways, decided to take the back route up to Lancaster. It was a route that was likely the one Ethel frequented in the old days with the three Gumm sisters. Traveling through Pasadena, I then got on a mountainous path through a flat wilderness, looking not much different than it did 100 years ago.

So what is this land that we’ve all read about really like? In 2004, the two lane highway traveled through a nearly flat desert of tumbleweeds and dry vegetation. Still considered Los Angeles County, it rests on the edge of the Mojave Desert (pronounced Mo-hah-ve) and is surrounded by the Tehachapi and San Gabriel Mountains If you’ve ever watched an old Hollywood western about settlers, cowboys and outlaws, this is it.

Mountains, barely visible here, appear as part of the clouds.
Sometimes if it difficult to tell thedifference between the two.

In 2004, the land had not changed much in the last eighty years. In recent years, I believe it has changed as the population rises and more people move to less desirable locations where it is cheaper to live. In 2004, one met a gas station, an old shack or a road winding into the hills only once in a while.

Joshua Tree
All photos here (c) Michelle Russell

As I neared Lancaster, I realized what Joshua trees are. They were something I had seen before, and read about, but didn’t connect. As ugly as the desert might seem to some, it does have a grandeur and beauty of its own.

In 2004, the town of Lancaster still had a dusty highway, with old buildings and a two-lane street. All this has also been changed recently as the mayor attempted to tear down most of the town (including one the last Gumm home there, a real artisan home).

One of my most important goals on this trip was to meet Glen Settle. Settle was a few years older than Mary Jane Gumm, remembered a great deal about the history of the town and the Gumm family. He had known Mr. and Mrs. Gumm, and gone to school with the older girls. In fact, his brother, Irving, had dated Jimmy for a while. At the time I created my “Made in America – Vaudeville Songs” CD, Glen had been able to describe to what the Gumm family, including young Frances, did on the state of The Valley Theater. When we spoke on the phone, as I prepared for this trip, Glen told me he had some pictures to show me as well.

In 2004, Glen Settle was in his 90s and still fit. Recently, he’d moved in with a nephew because he was completely blind due to macular degeneration. Other than that, his mind was very keen. I parked outside a nice condo and Glen welcomed me in. We went into a large library where he had everything laid out for me. What a lovely man, with so many stories to tell.

With all the good one might say about Glen Settle, to be honest, many might find some resentment of him. It was he who broke the story about Frank Gumm getting into trouble with some of the boys visiting the theater. If it hadn’t been him, someone else might have broke it. Glen knew the story because he went to school with some of those boys and he played on the basket ball team with them. His opinion in the 1930s about what he heard against Frank Gumm was that he considered who the stories he came. To learn more about this, you will have to read my book.

Dorothy Walsh and Glen Settle in the 1920s
(Courtesy Glen Settle)

Meanwhile, Glen was a lovely man to know and I greatly appreciated his friendship. He and Dorothy Walsh, the Gumm’s friend and neighbor, had a very deep friendship throughout their school years. After I found Dorothy living in Hawaii I was able to reconnect them. What a happy day that was for both of them. In turn, when Dorothy passed away a few years ago, her family asked me to let Glen know and I had that sad task. Glen did not live more than a year after Dorothy passed on. He told me one of the last times I spoke to him, “I’m failing. I don’t think I’ll be around much longer.” He had a good life though, able to do most of what he wanted until the very end. People called him from all over to find out historic facts about Antelope Valley and Lancaster.

The day I met him, we got in my car and he said he’d direct me over to see the last Gumm home, which had originally been Dorothy Walsh’s home. Now, remember Glen was totally blind, but gave me directions as I was driving. ‘Now, you’ll come up to a big 4-way light. Turn left there. Now, two blocks, do you see this…. Turn left again’ and so on. Amazing!

One of Glen's nephews (Dick White?) who was
also a classmate of young Frances Gumm

The home was used as a sort of group home for a while and in 2004 it had caught fire and sustained terrible damage. While we were there, the men were working on the house, so I couldn’t get very close to look into the windows or anything. It appeared that the home had been burnt mostly at the back.

A couple later bought the home and intended to turn it into a museum. They were fighting the mayor not to have the entire block razed. The home two doors down, not next door, was the Gumm’s second home in Lancaster.

Museum where the cement block
with Babe and Muggs' footprints
resides.

My trip to Lancaster was wonderful and I was so sorry that, due to finances, that I could not get back again. Glen was going to take me out to the family’s old gold or silver mine and give me some of the original chairs from the Valley Theater. In addition, there were others still in the town who remembered the Gumms. Some had good memories and some not as nice. Some had pictures as well. Unfortunately, I lost track as people passed away. And I missed meeting Judy’s best friend, Muggs. By the time I found her brother, she had passed on just a few months earlier.

So the story goes. I was able to connect just at the very end and come just to entrance of that door into the past.

Side view of the building
on the Sierra Highway where
Ethel Gumm taught dancing
For front view, see From
Tennessee to Oz, Part 2

While I was in Lancaster, I attempted to see Muggs and Babe's footprints in the cement block that had been moved to this museum, but unfortunately, it was closed.

I also went out to the highway and found the Quansit hut looking building where Ethel Gumm once taught dance. I was in a strange mood though, not wanting to talk to anyone, so I didn't go inside. I wish I had.

The years in Lancaster were formative years for young Frances Gumm and important years in the Gumm family's live. The girls were here for their formative years and at the same time, they were often taken away to study dance and perform. During these years, young Frances crossed the line from little girl with a big voice to a young girl with great power and artistry growing within her. The time of Lancaster was also one of sorrow and difficulty for Mr. and Mrs. Gumm. The things which took place nearly ripped their marriage apart and caused Ethel to push harder for Hollywood. This tale is told with a great deal of detail of  the book "Young Judy," co-authored by David Dahl and Barry Kehoe.

For more information on the Gumm’s life in Lancaster and the people they knew, please see From Tennessee to Oz, Part 2:

http://www.catsongpublishing.com

I hope you have enjoyed some of the color views here which could only be shown in black and white in the book.

Coming Next: Remembering one of the most important battles of the Civil War – The Battle of Murfreesboro, otherwise known as The Battle of Stones River. This was a battle which Judy Garland's paternal side all took part in.