Johnie Hastie and His Bus - Twentynine Palms, CA - Permanent Car Displays on Waymarking.com

The history: "It was in the depths of the Depression and the mid-thirties when Johnnie Hastie first drove into Twentynine Palms looking fora new line of work. At the time there were only 150 people in the entire Morongo Basin. The population was composed of miners, ranchers, World War I veterans, homesteaders, and a scattering of children. He asked the people he met here what the community needed most and the response was "transportation." To meet that need Johnnie built the ' bus you see here, the original "29 Palms Stage." The bus, lovingly called Old Betsy, is an Eckland street car body mounted on a 1928 one and one-half ton Chevrolet truck chassis. It was designed as a twelve passenger bus and. was heated by a wood- burning stove.

Johnnie drove this bus daily from Twentynine Palms to Banning, making stops in what are now the communities of Joshua Tree, Yucca Valley, and Morongo Valley along the way. Although he did carry passengers, the bulk of his revenue was derived from the "freight" he hauled. On the way down he would gather orders from people, in Banning he would do their shopping and banking, and on 3 the way back up he would make the deliveries. Johnnie would deliver anything under ten pounds for ten cents. A bale of hay would be 50 cents over the cost of the hay. For years and years he drove down to Banning and back, seven days a week. One round trip per day, and he was loaded with passengers. orders, and money to pay for them, shopping lists, and banking transactions, as there were no banks on the desert.

To preserve this historic precursor to our current Morongo Basin Transit Authority (MBTA), the 29 Palms Historical Society acquired the remains of this bus and restored it. This bus can again drive the streets of the Morongo Basin— this time only for parades—to remind us all of early life on the desert. Thanks to a T.A.G. grant from the Morongo Basin Transit Authority. there is now this building to house and display the bus.

This restored 1928 Chevrolet/Eckland bus promises to bring back the colorful stories and history of the Morongo Basin's first public transportation service — the 29 Palms Stage and Express."

Car make/model: Bus Interaction with car: no Admission price: Free Is the car an original?: yes Viewing time: Not listed

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