Kern Trivia: KernLife.com

Fort Tejon State Park

Fort Tejon State Historic Park: Fort Tejon, established by Gen. Edward F. Beale on Aug. 10, 1854, was abandoned about a decade later. The regimental headquarters of the First U.S. Dragoons later became part of Beale’s Tejon Ranch until it was given to the state Department of Parks and Recreation in 1939. Restoration began in 1949, including several restored adobe buildings from the original fort and exhibits on army life and local history.

Living history lessons are presented the first Saturday of every month and Civil War re-enactments are frequently held. Group tours are available. The park is open sunrise to sunset and park buildings are open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 36 miles south of Bakersfield off Interstate 5; take the Fort Tejon exit. 248-6692.

Col. Allensworth State Park

Col. Allensworth State Historic Park: In 1908, a group of black Americans led by U.S. Army Col. Allen Allensworth, a former slave, established a small farming community on the Santa Fe Railroad line next to what is now Highway 43, seven miles west of Earlimart. Several of the town’s buildings have been restored since its demise after World War II. The park is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The visitor center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Campground contains 15 campsites for $10 per night. 45 minutes northwest of Bakersfield; take Highway 99 north to Cecil Avenue exit in Delano, go west to Highway 43. Daily fees are $4 per vehicle entering the park. 849-3433.

Oleander Neighborhood

Demographics, Crime Rate & More

Beale Park

In 1908, Truxtun Beale, the only son of Tejon Ranch owner Lt. Edward F. Beale and wife Mary E. (Edwards) Beale, donated five acres of land on Oleander Avenue for the building of the first park in the City of Bakersfield. Truxtun Beale also donated the materials for all of the landscaping and for the building of the Greek Theater and a swimming pool.

For almost one hundred years now this park has been a mainstay within our city. During the summer evenings, the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra performs concerts from the Greek Theater for residents to enjoy. Their beautiful music has been a tradition which has brought generation after generation of families together for relaxing, tranquil evenings in the park.

Although the pool, after almost one hundred years of use, needed to be removed, the park still offers a water amenity in the spray park recently constructed to allow people in the neighborhood to cool off during the hot days of summer and fall.

Beale Park also offers two group picnic areas, which can be reserved for your family or organizations functions, along with numerous individual picnic areas for smaller outings to the park. There are also three lighted tennis courts, four lighted horseshoe pits, one lighted basketball court, a turf volleyball area, and a softball backstop available on a first-come-first-serve basis.

There is a sandlot style playground area for children, with plenty of toys for them to enjoy their adventure to the park! They are sure to find their favorite toy within this fantastic playground.

In addition to the people amenities, there is something at this park for people who like to bird watch. Since approximately 1977, during the horrible windstorm that struck Bakersfield and Kern County, there has been a population of Rose-ringed Parakeets who first settled in Beale Park, and later also settled in Beach Park and Hart Park. The two original breeding pairs escaped when the roof was torn off of the Happy Bird Aviary during the storm. Since that time, through natural breeding and other unintentional releases of additional parakeets, Beale Park has become the primary home to a large naturalized population during the daytime hours. The birds roost at night in the tall palm trees along Union Avenue and California Avenue. The Rose-ringed Parakeets’ population in greater Bakersfield is the largest naturalization of this species in the world! When at Beale Park, just look up into the trees, these birds are bright green with a very loud call (sounding like “kee ep”). They have a natural lifespan of approximately 20 years, so we are sure to be able to enjoy their company for a long time.

Come and visit Beale Park, located on Oleander Avenue between Dracena and Palm, and enjoy the legacy left to the citizens of the City of Bakersfield by Truxtun Beale

Oildale

It is an unincorporated town just north of Bakersfield across the Kern River, west of the Kern River Oilfield, and east of Highway 99. The amount of land area in Oildale is 6.4 sq. miles.

Most of the original U-2 spy planes flown out of Groom Lake were built at a secret factory in Oildale disguised as a tire factory.

It is the hometown of musician Merle Haggard and writer Gerald Haslam, both of whom are often claimed by nearby Bakersfield. Haggard's famous boxcar boyhood home is still lived in today.

Buck Owens' recording studio, used in the 60's, 70's, & 80's to record most of his hits and also served as the home to radio stations KUZZ and KKXX, was converted from an old movie theatre on North Chester Avenue just south of Norris Road across the street from Standard School. Today it serves as a recording studio that has been used by bands such as Bakersfield-born Korn.

Oildale is home to the Bakersfield Speedway, a 1/3 mile banked clay oval that was built just after World War II. Buck Owens' song, "Beer Can Hill" is about him hanging out with race fans on a hill overlooking the track.

In the movie, "The Grapes of Wrath," the scene when the Joad family first enters into the "Hooverville" and are appalled at what they see...this scene is based on the Hooverville that existed along the Kern River in Oildale near Beardsley Avenue.

Daytona 500 winner and NASCAR Busch Series champion Kevin Harvick grew up in Oildale near his dad's fire station just off North Chester Avenue and attended nearby North High School.

Kern County's Top Employers

Kern County public schools: 27,000

Edwards Air Force Base: 11,285

County of Kern: 9,339

Grimmway Enterprises: 6,300

China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station: 6,192

Giumarra Vineyards: 4,000

Catholic Healthcare West: 2,952

Esparza Enterprises: 2,915

Wm. Bolthouse Farms: 2,350*

Sunview Vineyards: 2,000*

Sun World: 1,600

City of Bakersfield: 1,420

Bear Creek Production Company: 1,250

Chevron USA: 1,200

San Joaquin Community Hospital: 1,100

Paramount Citrus: 1,096*

Cal State Bakersfield: 1,069

State Farm Insurance: 1,020

Community Action Partnership of Kern: 924

U.S. Borax: 900*

Kaiser Permanente: 900

Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream: 853

Aera Energy LLC: 850

Sears Logistics: 725

Frito Lay: 706

Target Distribution Center: 653*

*2006 data

Source: Californian research and Kern Economic Development Corp.

Kern County's Oil and Gas Facts

Kern County is a major oil producer. In fact, most of California’s oil production comes from Kern County — 76 percent as of 2006, to be exact.

Here are some highlights of the local oil industry:

• The industry has a long history. The Sunset portion of the Midway-Sunset oil field was discovered in 1890, followed by McKittrick in 1898, Kern River in 1899 and the Midway section of Midway-Sunset in 1900. All three fields, and dozens of others in Kern County, continue to churn out oil, helping fuel the region’s economy, as well as the cars and trucks we drive.

• The top five oil-producing fields in the state are all located in Kern County. Midway-Sunset leads the pack, followed by South Belridge, Kern River, Cymric and Elk Hills. Elk Hills is also the largest natural gas field in California.
Regional activity in 2006

• Crude oil produced: 170.2 million barrels.

• Natural gas produced: 170.7 billion cubic feet.

• Number of producing oil wells: 39,883. (That’s out of 49,879 statewide.)

• Number of producing natural gas wells: 183.

• Number of wells drilled: 1,811.
As of 2006, the top five oil producers in this area were Chevron, Aera Energy, Occidental of Elk Hills, Plains Exploration and Production and Berry Petroleum. They produce most of the oil in this area.

• Most of the oil that comes out of the ground in Kern County is characterized as heavy. It has the consistency of molasses. Steam is injected into the ground to loosen the oil and make it easier to retrieve.

• Bakersfield is home to three oil refineries: Flying J’s Big West of California refinery on Rosedale Highway, San Joaquin Refining Co. on Standard Street and Kern Oil & Refining Co. on East Panama Lane.

• The deepest onshore oil well drilled in California was drilled in 1987 in Kern County by Occidental of Elk Hills. It reached a depth of 24,426 feet.

• Taft Union High School is home to an oil and technology academy, designed to prepare students for a career in these industries.

You can learn more about the local oil industry, including its history, at the West Kern Oil Museum in Taft and “Black Gold,” a permanent oil exhibit at the Kern County Museum in Bakersfield.

Sources: California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources; California Energy Commission; Californian research.

Military Bases

Edwards Air Force Base

Edwards Air Force Base, possibly more famous than Kern County, or even Bakersfield, is much more than an air base. It boasts a bowling alley, fast-food restaurants, ice cream shops and several dining, recreation and entertainment amenities.

Edwards might be ideal for military personnel who want their families to live with them, but housing on the base is undergoing a continuous improvement plan with demolition and construction expected to continue into 2009. Consequently, wait lists might be longer than normal.

Some military personnel and all but one civilian employee at Edwards live off-base. They can choose from several surrounding communities, including Rosamond, Lancaster, Palmdale, California City and Tehachapi.

The base is 470 square miles and employs around 12,800 people. The on-base population of 2,038 accounts for about 60 percent of the military personnel.

The land the base occupies was once populated by pioneer homesteaders. In 1933, the area was used as a bombing range and later as a bomber training base during World War II, according to the Edwards Web site.

In December 1949, the base was named for Capt. Glen W. Edwards, who was killed a year earlier in a crash of the Northrop YB-49.

Edwards Air Force Base has since been used to develop flight technology and has been the birthplace of more innovations in flight than any other place on Earth, according to the Web site. Edwards is the second largest Air Force base in the United States.

Law enforcement: On-base security, 95th Security Forces Squadron, 277-3340.

Fire protection: Edwards AFB fire department, multiple stations: 277-3340.

Attractions

• Air show: Will resume in 2009 depending on runway construction.

• Tours: Group tours of 15 or more are available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. Groups should register at least one month in advance. Tours include the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum and NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center. General public tours are also available on the first and third Friday of each month. To register for either tour, call Public Affairs at 277-3510 or schedule one online by selecting “Request a Tour” at http://www.edwards.af. mil/main/contactus.asp.

• Flight Test Center Museum: 405 S. Rosamond Blvd., 277-8050. Features exhibits, displays and videos depicting the history of Edwards, including aircraft displays and aviation paraphernalia. Registration required.

• Space shuttle landings: Edwards continues to be an alternate emergency landing site for space shuttle flights. There is seldom a chance for public viewing as the decision to land at Edwards is usually made 90 minutes before the estimated landing time.

China Lake

In 1943, Dr. Charles C. Lauritsen of the California Institute of Technology and Navy Cmdr. Jack Renard spotted a small landing strip near what is now Inyokern.

The institute was developing rocket technology for the Navy, which also needed a new testing ground for weapons development. The airstrip, in the middle of the vast Mojave Desert, was ideal for testing rockets and other weapons.

On Nov. 8, 1943, the Naval Ordnance Test Station at China Lake was established.
What started as a dusty landing strip has since grown to encompass the 1.1 million acres that now make up the base at China Lake.

Since those early days, the base has undergone several name changes and chain-of-command realignment. In 1967, it was renamed the Naval Weapons Center China Lake.

In 1992, it became the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, falling under the umbrella of the weapons division of the Naval Air Systems Command. In 2003, the base broke away and fell in line under the Navy Region Southwest.
The base in northeastern Kern County employs more than 4,400 civilian employees and about 700 military personnel.

Some 1,500 contractors also work at the base, which is adjacent to the city of Ridgecrest.

In March 2008, the Navy approved relocating an additional 1,000 armament experts from California, Indiana, Maryland and Virginia to China Lake by Sept. 15, 2011.

For more than six decades, China Lake projects have included work on the Sidewinder air-to-air missile, the Shrike anti-radiation missile, the Tomahawk cruise missile and the Joint Direct Attack Munitions weapon or “smart bomb.”

The Digital Precision Strike Suite provides strike aircraft with ground coordinates, and the Tactical Dissemination Module links command centers with strike aircraft.
Some scientific breakthroughs at China Lake have been incorporated into everyday life. The electro-mechanical shuttered video camera provides non-smear stop-action images of weapons tests. This technology was subsequently used in stop-action sports broadcasting.

The technology that makes glow sticks, a popular safety light each Halloween, was developed at China Lake to help rescuers locate downed pilots at night.

The research and development at the base is wide-ranging, from basic research in physics and chemistry to applied projects in energetic materials, embedded computers, specialized semiconductor materials and lasers and optics.

The base museum, on Blandy Avenue, presents the history of weapons developed at China Lake. The visitor center is at Highway 178 and China Lake Blvd.

For more information, call the visitor center at 760-939-3160, the public affairs office at 760-939-1683, or visit www.nawcwd.navy.mil.

Organizations for Visitors & Newcomers

City Hostess and Bakersfield Welcome Center: Sharon Martinez, 1005 El Serno Drive, 396-7266, MARTINEZS@bak.rr.com. Tours, lunches, information, relocation information, newcomer’s packet and more.

Bakersfield Convention and Visitors Bureau: 515 Truxtun Ave., 325-5051, www.bakersfieldcvb.org. Free visitor’s guide and information.

Delano City Hostess: Juanita Gallagher, 5121 Belcrest Ave., Bakersfield, CA 93309, 398-1639. Welcome, information and gift books for newcomers.

Frazier Park Visitors Center: 3538 Mt. Pinos Way, Frazier Park, CA 93225, 245-3438, shopoutdoors.com/activities.html. Information, shopping and recreation supplies.

Ridgecrest Area Convention & Visitors Bureau: 139 Balsam St., Suite 1700, Ridgecrest, CA 93555, 800-847-4830, racvb@filmdeserts.com, www.visitdeserts.com. Information and free visitors guide.

Kern County's Film Credits

According to the Kern Film Commission, the following films have been credited to Kern County:

Keystone Cops, year unknown, Red Rock Canyon, The Keystone Cops
Opportunity, 1913, Taft ,Fatty Arbuckle
The Cowboy and the Lady, 1915, Mojave, S. Miller Kent, Hellen Case
Back To God's Country, 1919, Kern River Valley, Nell Shipman, Wheeler Oakman
Branded a Bandit, 1924, Robbers Roost, Yakima Canutt, Alys Murrell
The King of the Wild Horses, 1924, Old Kernville, Edna Murphy, Charley Chase
The Man From God's Country, 1924, Kern River Valley, William Fairbanks, Dorothy Revier
Greed, 1925, Mojave Desert, Gibson Gowland, Zasu Pitts
White Thunder, 1925, Old Kernville, Yakima Canutt
Wild Horse Canyon, 1925, Red Rock Canyon, Kernville, Yakima Canutt, Helene Rosson
Battling Butler, 1926, Bakersfield, Kern River, Buster Keaton, Sally O'Neil, Walter James
Born to the West, 1926, Red Rock Canyon, Jack Holt, Margaret Morris
Hands Up!, 1926, Red Rock Canyon, George A Billings, Virginia Lee Corbin
Beau Sabreur, 1928, Red Rock Canyon, Gary Cooper, Evelyn Brent
Hell's Heroes, 1930, Mojave Desert, Charles Bickford, Raymond Hatton
Under a Texas Moon, 1930, Red Rock Canyon, Frank Fay, Myrna Loy
Cimarron, 1931, Kern River Valley, Richard Dix, Irene Dunne
The Lightning Warrior, 1931, Old Kernville, Rin Tin Tin
The Phantom of the West, 1931, Old Kernville, Tom Tyler, William Desmond
Range Feud, 1931, Kernville, John Wayne, Buck Jones
The Vanishing Legion, 1931, Old Kernville, Harry Carey, Edwina
BootheBorder Devils, 1932, Kern River Valley, Harry Carey, Gabby Hayes
Flaming Guns, 1932, Red Rock Canyon, Tom Mix, Ruth Hall
Heritage of the Desert, 1932, Red Rock Canyon, Randolph Scott, Sally Blane
Last of the Mohicans, 1932, Kern River Valley, Harry Carey, Edwina Boothe
The Man From Hell's Edges, 1932, Kern River Valley, Bob Steele, Nancy Drexel
The Mummy, 1932, Red Rock Canyon, Boris Karloff, Zita Johan
Avenging Waters, 1936, Kern River Valley, Ken Maynard, Ward Bond
Call of the Prairie, 1936, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, Gabby Hayes
Charlie Chan's Secret, 1936, Kern River Valley, Warren Oland, Rosina Lawrence
Frontier Justice, 1936, Kern River Valley, Hoot Gibson, Jane Barnes
Heart of the West, 1936, Kern River Valley, Gabby Hayes
The Petrified Forest, 1936, Red Rock Canyon, Bette Davis, Leslie Howard
The Plainsman, 1936, Kern River Valley, Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur
Red River Valley, 1936, Kern River Valley, Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette
Three Godfathers, 1936, Red Rock Canyon, Mojave, Chester Morris, Walter Brennan
Three on the Trail, 1936, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, James Ellison, Gabby Hayes
Trail Dust, 1936, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, James Ellison, Gabby Hayes
Yellow Dust, 1936, Kern River Valley, Richard Dix, Leila Hyams
Arizona Days, 1937, Kern River Valley, Tex Ritter, Syd Saylor
The Bad Man of Brimstone, 1937, Red Rock Canyon, Wallace Beery, Virginia Bruce
Black Aces, 1937, Kernville, Buck Jones, Kay, Linaker
Boss of Lonely Valley, 1937, Kern River Valley, Buck Jones, Muriel Evans
Gunsmoke Ranch, 1937, Red Rock Canyon, Robert Livingston, Ray Corrigan
Hit the Saddle, 1937, Red Rock Canyon, Robert Livingston, Ray Corrigan
Hittin' the Trail, 1937, Kern River Valley, Tex Ritter, Jerry Burgh
The Hurricane, 1937, Kern River Valley, Dorothy Lamour, Mary Astor, Jon Hall
Moonlight on the Range, 1937, Kernville, Fred Scott, Al St. John
The Old Wyoming Trail, 1937, Kern River Valley, Charles Starrett, Donald Grayson
Public Cowboy No. 1, 1937, Kern River Valley, Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Ann Rutherford
Range Defenders, 1937, Kern River Valley, Robert Livingston, Elanor Stewart
Riders of the Rockies, 1937, Kern River Valley, Tex Ritter, Louise Stanley
Rustler's Valley, 1937, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, Russell Hayden, Gabby Hayes
Texas Trail, 1937, Red Rock Canyon, William Boyd, Russel Hayden
Trigger Trio, 1937, Kern River Valley, Ray Corrigan, Max Terhune
Wells Fargo, 1937, Kern River Valley, Joel McCrea, Bob Burns
Zorro Rides Again, 1937, Red Rock Canyon, John Carrol, Helen Christian
Bar 20 Justice, 1938, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, Gabby Hayes, Russell Hayden
Durango Valley Riders, 1938, Kernville, Bob Steele, Louise Stanley
The Frontiersmen, 1938, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, Gabby Hayes, Russell Hayden
Heart of Arizona, 1938, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, Gabby Hayes, Russell Hayden
The Old Barn Dance, 1938, Red Rock Canyon, Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette
The Overland Express, 1938, Kern River Valley, Buck Jones, Marjorie Reynolds
Painted Desert, 1938, Red Rock Canyon, George O'Brien, Laraine Day
Pals of the Saddle, 1938, Red Rock Canyon, John Wayne, Ray Corrigan
Partners of the Plains, 1938, Kern River Valley William Boyd, Russell Hayden, Gwen Gaze
Professor Beware, 1938, Kern River Valley, Harold Lloyd, Lionel Stander
Sunset Trail, 1938, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, Gabby Hayes, Russell Hayden
Tex Rides With the Boy Scouts, 1938, Old Kernville, Tex Ritter, Snub Pollard
The Texans, 1938, Kern River Valley, Randolph Scott, Joan Bennett, Walter Brennan
Thunder in the Desert, 1938, Kernville, Bob Steele, Louise Stanley
Where the West Begins, 1938, Red Rock Canyon, Kernville, Addison Randall, Fuzzy Knight
Buck Rogers Conquers the Universe, 1939, Red Rock Canyon, Buster Crabbe, Constance Moore
The Lone Ranger Rides Again, 1939, Red Rock Canyon, Kernville, Robert Livingston, Chief Thundercloud
The Oregon Trail, 1939, Kern River Valley, Johnny Mack Brown, Louise Stanley
Overland with Kit Carson, 1939, Red Rock Canyon, Bill Eliott, Iris Meredith
The Real Glory, 1939, Kern River Valley, Gary Cooper, David Niven
Silver on the Sage, 1939, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, Gabby Hayes, Russell Hayden
Six-Gun Rhythm, 1939, Kernville, Tex Fletcher, Joan Barclay
Stagecoach, 1939, Kern River, John Wayne, Claire Trevor
Boom Town, 1940, Taft, Bakersfield, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert
Colorado, 1940, Red Rock Canyon, Roy Rogers, Gabby Hayes
The Fargo Kid, 1940, Red Rock Canyon, Tim Holt, Ray Whitley
Go West, 1940, Red Rock Canyon, The Marx Brothers
The Grapes of Wrath, 1940, Lamont, Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell
Hidden Gold, 1940, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, Russell Hayden
Melody Ranch, 1940, Red Rock Canyon, Gene Autry, Jimmy Durante, Ann Miller
Stagecoach War, 1940, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, Russell Hayden, Julie Carter
Trail of the Vigilantes, 1940, Kernville, Franchot Tone, Broderick Crawford
The Bad Man, 1941, Red Rock Canyon, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, Ronald Reagan
Cherokee Strip, 1941, Kern River Valley, Richard Dix, Florence Rice
Doomed Caravan, 1941, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, Russell Hayden
The Lady From Cheyenne, 1941, Red Rock Canyon, Loretta Young, Robert Preston
Riders of Death Valley, 1941, Red Rock Canyon, Kernville, Dick Foran, Lon Chaney Jr., Noah Beery Jr.
Robbers of the Range, 1941, Kernville, Tim Holt, Viginia Vale
Twilight on the Trail, 1941, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, Andy Clyde
American Empire, 1942, Kern River Valley, Richard Dix, Leo Carrillo
Arabian Nights, 1942, Kern River Valley, Jon Hall, Maria Montez
The Man From Cheyenne, 1942, Red Rock Canyon, Roy Rogers, Gabby Hayes
Overland Mail, 1942, Kern River Valley, Lon Chaney Jr., Noah Beery, Noah Beery Jr.
Saboteur, 1942, Red Rock Canyon, Robert Cummings, Priscilla Lane
Trail Riders, 1942, Kernville, John "Dusty" King, David Sharpe
Undercover Man, 1942, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, Andy Clyde
West of the Law, 1942, Kernville, Buck Jones, Tim McCoy
Bar Twenty, 1943, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, Andy Clyde, George Reeves
Blazing Guns, 1943, Kernville, Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson
Border Patrol, 1943, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, Andy Clyde
Buckskin Frontier, 1943, Kern River Valley, Richard Dix, Jane Wyatt, Lee J. Cobb
Hoppy Serves a Writ, 1943, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, Andy Clyde
Idaho, 1943, Old Kernville, Roy Rogers, Virginia Gray
The Outlaw, 1943, Red Rock Canyon, Jane Russell, Walter Houston
Silver Spurs, 1943, Kern River Valley, Roy Rogers, John Carradine
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, 1944, Red Rock Canyon, Maria Montez, John Hall
The Bridge of San Luis Rey, 1944, Kern River Valley, Lynn Bari, Akim Tamaroff
Lights of Old Santa Fe, 1944, Kern River Valley, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Gabby Hayes
Raiders of the Border, 1944, Kernville, Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton
Texas Masquerade, 1944, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, Andy Clyde
Winged Victory, 1944, Taft, Maricopa, Lee J. Cobb, Edmond O'Brien
The Cisco Kid Returns, 1945, Kern River Valley, Duncan Renaldo, Martin Garralaga
Frontier Gal, 1945, Kern River Valley, Yvonne DeCarlo, Rod Cameron
The Man From Oklahoma, 1945, Red Rock Canyon, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Gabby Hayes
Colorado Seranade, 1946, Kernville, Eddie Dean, Roscoe Ates
Fool's Gold, 1946, Kern River Valley, William Boyd, Andy Clyde
Roll On Texas Moon, 1946, Kern River Valley ,Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Gabby Hayes
Silver Range, 1946, Kernville, Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton
The Michigan Kid, 1947, Kern River Valley, Jon Hall, Rita Johnson
Springtime in the Sierras, 1947, Kernville, Roy Rogers, Joan Frazee
Trailing Danger, 1947, Kernville, Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton
Wyoming, 1947, Kern River Valley, William "Wild Bill" Elliott
Eyes of Texas, 1948, Kernville, Roy Rogers, Lynne Roberts
The Far Frontier, 1948, Kernville, Roy Rogers, Clayton Moore
Four Faces West, 1948, Red Rock Canyon, Joel McRea, Frances Dee, William Conrad
Grand Canyon Trail, 1948, Red Rock Canyon, Roy Rogers, Jane Frazee
On the Old Spanish Trail, 1948, Kern River Valley, Roy Rogers, Tito Guizar
Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1948, Kern River Valley, Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston
The Big Sombrero, 1949, Red Rock Canyon, Gene Autry, Elena Verdugo
Calamity Jane and Sam Bass, 1949, Red Rock Canyon, Yvonne DeCarlo, Howard Duff
Down Dakota Way, 1949, Kernville, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Pat Brady
The Last Bandit, 1949, Red Rock Canyon, Bill Elliott, Forest Tucker
Lawless Code, 1949, Kernville, Jimmy Wakely, Dub Taylor
Rim of the Canyon, 1949, Kern River Valley, Gene Autry, Nan Leslie
Davy Crockett: Indian Scout, 1950, Red Rock Canyon, George Montgomery, Noah Beery Jr.
Rocketship X-M, 1950, Red Rock Canyon, Lloyd Bridges, Hugh O'Brien
The Savage Horde, 1950, Red Rock Canyon, Bill Elliott, Lorna Gray, Noah Beery Jr.
Stage to Tucson, 1950, Red Rock Canyon, Rod Cameron, Wayne Morris
The Vanishing Westerner, 1950, Red Rock Canyon, Monte Hale, Paul Hurst
Apache Drums 1951 Red Rock Canyon Stephen McNally, Coleen Gray
Hot Lead 1951 Kernville Tim Holt, Richard Martin
Lady From Texas, The 1951 Kernville Howard Duff, Mona Freeman
Overland Telegraph 1951 Kernville Tim Holt, Richard Martin
Pals of the Golden West 1951 Red Rock Canyon Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Pinky Lee
Two Lost Worlds 1951 Red Rock Canyon James Arness, Casey Rogers
Las Vegas Story 1952 Mojave Airport Jane Russell, Victor Mature, Vincent Price
Radar Men From the Moon 1952 Red Rock Canyon George Wallace, Clayton Moore
Road Agent 1952 Kernville Tim Holt, Richard Martin
Son of Paleface 1952 Kern River Valley Bob Hope, Jane Russell, Roy Rogers
Split Second 1952 Mojave Alexis Smith, Richard Egan
Law and Order 1953 Red Rock Canyon Ronald Reagan, Dorothy Malone, Dennis Weaver
San Antone 1953 Red Rock Canyon Rod Cameron, Forest Tucker
Stand at Apache River, the 1953 Red Rock Canyon Stephen McNally, Hugh Marlowe, Hugh O'Brien
Tumbleweed 1953 Red Rock Canyon Audie Murphy, Chill Wills, Lori Nelson
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 1954 Red Rock Canyon Kirk Douglas, James Mason
Bounty Hunter, The 1954 Red Rock Canyon Randolph Scott, Delores Dorn
Drums Across the River 1954 Red Rock Canyon, Kernville Audie Murphy, Walter Brennan
Egyptian, The 1954 Red Rock Canyon Jean Simmons, Victor Mature
Jubilee Trail 1954 Red Rock Canyon Joan Leslie, Forest Tucker
Law vs. Billy the Kid, The 1954 Kernville Scott Brady, Betta St. John
Long, Long Trailer, The 1954 Red Rock Canyon Lucile Ball, Desi Arnaz
Burning Hills, The 1956 Kern River Valley Tab Hunter, Natalie Wood
Dakota Incident 1956 Red Rock Canyon Dale Robertson, Linda Darnell, Ward Bond
Fastest Gun Alive, The 1956 Mojave Glenn Ford, Broderick Crawford
Ten Commandments, The 1956 Red Rock Canyon Charlton Heston, Yul Brenner, Anne Baxter
Tension at Table Rock 1956 Red Rock Canyon Richard Egan, Dorothy Malone
Toward the Unknown 1956 Edwards Air Force Base William Holden, James Garner
Uranium Boom 1956 Red Rock Canyon Dennis Morgan, Paricia Medina
Astounding She-Monster, The 1957 Frazier Park Robert Clark, Keanne Duncan
Gun Battle at Monterey 1957 Red Rock Canyon Sterling Haydem, Lee Van Cleef
Jet Pilot 1957 Edwards Air Force Base John Wayne, Janet Leigh
Untamed Youth 1957 Bakersfield Mamie Van Doren
Apache Territory 1958 Red Rock Canyon Rory Calhoun, Barbara Bates
Big Country, The 1958 Red Rock Canyon Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons
Defiant Ones, The 1958 Kern River Tony Curtis, Sidney Portier
Man of the West 1958 Red Rock Canyon Gary Cooper, Julie London, Lee J. Cobb
Missile To The Moon 1959 Red Rock Canyon Richard Travis, Cathy Downs
North By Northwest 1959 Wasco Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason
Psycho 1960 Bakersfield Anthony Hopkins, Janet Leigh
Gold of the Seven Saints 1961 Red Rock Canyon Clint Walker, Roger Moore
X-15 1961 Edwards Air Force Base Charles Bronson, David McLean
Cattle King 1963 Kern River Valley Robert Taylor, Robert Loggia
Four for Texas 1963 Mojave Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Charles Bronson
It's a Mad, Mad Mad, Mad World 1963 Kern River Valley, Mojave Desert Phil Silvers, Buddy Hackett
Apache Rifles 1964 Red Rock Canyon, Mojave Audie Murphy, Michael Dante
Carpetbaggers, The 1964 Boron George Peppard, Alan Ladd
John Goldfarb, Please Come Home 1965 Edwards Air Force Base Shirley MacLane, Peter Ustinov, Richard Crenna
Black Klansman, The 1966 Bakersfield Richard Gilden, Rima Kutner, Hary Lovejoy
Talisman, The 1966 Frazier Park Ned Romero
40 Guns to Apache Pass 1967 Red Rock Canyon Audie Murphy, Michael Burns
Hell's Angels on Wheels 1967 Bakersfield Jack Nicholson, Adam Roarke
Waterhole No. 3 1967 Red Rock Canyon James Coburn, Carol O'Connor, Claude Akins
Angels From Hell 1968 Bakersfield Tom Stern, Arlene Martel
Arizona Bushwackers 1968 Red Rock Canyon Howard Keel, Yvonne DeCarlo
Mission: Africa (Commando Squad) 1968 Red Rock Canyon April Adams, Chuck Alford
Heaven With a Gun 1969 Red Rock Canyon Glen Ford, Carolyn Jones, Barbara Hershey
Hell's Angels '69 1969 Red Rock Canyon Sony Barger, Danielle Corn
Love Bug, The 1969 Willow Springs Dean Jones, Michelle Lee
Airport 1970 Edwards Air Force Base Burt Lancaster, George Keendy, Jacqueline Bisset
Angels Die Hard 1970 Kern River Valley Tom Baker, William Smith
Beneath the Planet of the Apes 1970 Red Rock Canyon State Park James Franciscus
Bury Me an Angel 1970 Kern River Valley Dixie Peabody, Terry Mace
Five Easy Pieces 1970 Taft, McKittrick Jack Nicholson, Karen Black
Little Fauss and Big Halsy 1970 Rosamond Robert Redford, Michael J. Pollard
Andromeda Strain, The 1971 Red Rock Canyon Arthur Hill, David Wayne
Hard Ride, The 1971 Kern River Valley Robert Fuller, Sherry Bain
Jonathan Livingston
Seagull 1973 Kern River Valley Richard Crenna, James Franciscus
Ordeal (TV) 1973 Red Rock Canyon Arthur Hill, Diana Muldaur, James Stacy
Showdown 1973 Kern River Valley Rock, Hudson, Dean Martin
Westworld 1973 Red Rock Canyon James Brolin, Richard Benjamin, Yul Brynner
White Line Fever 1973 Bakersfield Jan-Michael Vincent, Kay Lenz
Black Six, The 1974 Edison Highway, Lamont Gene Washington, Carl Eller, "Mean" Joe Greene
Godchild, The (TV) 1974 Red Rock Canyon Jack Palance, Jack Warden
Hanged Man, The (TV) 1974 Red Rock Canyon Steve Forrest, Will Geer
Savages (TV) 1974 Red Rock Canyon Andy Griffith, Noah Beery Jr., James Best
Wonder Woman (TV) 1974 Kern River Valley Cathly-Lee Crosby, Ricardo Mantalban
Airport '75 1975 Edwards Air Force Base Charlton Heston, Karen Black, George Kennedy
Black Bart (TV) 1975 Mojave-Tropico Road Louis Gossett Jr., Noble Willingham
Bound for Glory 1976 Maricopa, Fellows, Bakersfield David Carradine, Ronny Cox, Melinda Dillon
Car, The 1977 Red Rock Canyon James Brolin, Kathleen Lloyd
MacArthur 1977 Mojave Airport Gregory Peck, Nicholas Coster
Courgage and the Passion, The 1978 Edwards Air Force Base Vince Edwards, Desi Arnaz Jr.
Every Which Way But Loose 1978 Bakersfield Clint Eastwood, Sandra Locke
Harold Robbins': The Pirate (TV) 1978 Rosamond Franco Nero, Anne Archer
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century 1979 Boron Gil Gerard, Erin Gray
Capricorn One 1979 Red Rock Canyon James Brolin, Sam Waterson, Hal Holbrook
Onion Field, The 1979 Taft, Maricopa John Savage, James Woods
Gina & Me (TV) 1980 Bakersfield Johnny Seven
Jazz Singer, The 1980 Taft, Maricopa Neil Diamond, Lucille Arnaz
Smokey and the Bandit II 1980 Interstate 5 Burt Reynolds, Sally Field
Whitewater Summer 1980 Kern River Valley Kevin Bacon, Sean Astin
Awakening of Candra (TV) 1981 Kern River Valley Blanche Baker, Cliff DeYoung
Cannonball Run 1981 Mojave Burt Reynolds, Farrah Fawcett, Dom DeLuise
Hard Country 1981 Bakersfield Jan-Michael Vincent, Kim Bassinger
Let Me Tell You About A Song (TV) 1982 Bakersfield Merle Haggard
Night Partners 1983 Bakersfield Yvette Mimieux, Diana Canova, M. Emmet Walsh
Right Stuff, The 1983 Edwards Air Force Base Sam Shepard, Scott Glen, Ed Harris
Best of Times, The 1986 Taft Kurt Russell, Robin Williams
Poltergeist II: The Other Side 1986 Red Rock Canyon Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams
Dragnet 1987 Mojave Airport Tom Hanks, Dan Akroyd
Blueberry Hill 1988 Kern River Valley Carrie Snodgress, Jennifer Rubin
Mac and Me 1988 Mojave Christine Ebersol, Johnathan Ward, Danny Cooksey
Rampage 1988 Taft Michael Biehn, Deborah Van Valkenburgh
Chopper Chicks in Zombietown 1989 Ridgecrest Martha Quinn, Billy Bob Thornton
Communion 1989 Frazier Park Christopher Walken, Linsay Crouse
Cyborg 1989 Ridgecrest Jean-Claude Van Damme
Homer and Eddie 1989 Ridgecrest, Randsburg James Belushi, Whoopi Goldberg
Order of the Eagle 1989 Kern River Valley Frank Stallone
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier 1989 Trona Pinnacles William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy
Rookie, The 1990 Mojave Airport Clint Eastwood, Charlie Sheen
Thelma and Louise 1990 Fellows, Derby Acres Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis
Tremors 1990 Pearsonville, Inyokern Fred Ward, Kevin Bacon, Michael Gross
Blue Desert 1991 Inyokern, Red Rock Canyon D.B. Sweeney, Courtney Cox
Hot Shots 1991 Trona Pinnacles Charlie Sheen, Lloyd Bridges
Prime Target 1991 Taft, Bakersfield David Heavener, Tony Curtis, Jennilee Harrison
Afterburn (TV) 1992 Ridgecrest Laura Dern, Robert Loggia
Dark Vengenace 1992 Mojave Jay Roberts Jr., Denice Duff
Die Hard II: Die Harder 1992 Mojave Airport Bruce Willis, William Sadler
Fearless 1992 Arvin Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rossellini
Galaxies are Colliding 1992 Mojave Desert Kelsey Grammer, Rick Overton
Into the Sun 1992 California City Anthony Michael Hall, Michael Pare
Jurassic Park 1992 Red Rock Canyon San Neill, Laura Dern
Mom and Dad Save the World 1992 Ridgecrest, Trona Pinnacles Terri Garr, John Lovitz, Jeffrey Jones
Robot Wars 1992 Taft, Trona Pinnacles Don Michael Paul, Lisa Rinna
Son In Law, The 1992 Wasco Paulie Shore, Carla Gugino
Too Young to Die (TV) 1992 Taft Juliette Lewis, Brad Pitt
Wayne's World II 1992 Jawbone Canyon Mike Myers, Dana Carvey
Attack of the 50-Foot Woman (TV) 1993 Taft Daryl Hannah, Daniel Baldwin
Eye of the Stranger 1993 Taft David Heavener, Martin Landau, Sally Kirkland
Short Cuts 1993 Kern River Valley Andie McDowell, Jack Lemmon, Madeline Stowe
Dead Air (TV) 1994 Bakersfield Gregory Hines, Debrah Farentino
Lost in Africa 1994 Kern River Valley Ashley Hamilton, Tim Ackroyd
Pet Shop 1994 Ridgecrest Marcella Avila, Terry Kiser
Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead 1994 Maricopa Angus Scrimm, A. Michael Baldwin
Speed 1994 Mojave Airport Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves
Stand, The (TV) 1994 Mojave Airport Rob Lowe, Gary Sinise
Terminal Velocity 1994 Tehachapi, Mojave Airport, Ridgecrest Charlie Sheen, Nastassja Kinski
Cyborg III: The Recycler 1995 Mojave Khrystyne Haje, Malcolm McDowell, Richard Lynch
Executive Decision 1995 Mojave Airport Kurt Russell, Steven Segal, Halle Berry
Girl in the Cadillac, The 1995 Taft Erika Eleniak, William McNamara
Landing, The 1995 Red Rock Canyon Warren Farina, Dan Hannah
On Dangerous Ground (TV) 1995 Ridgecrest Rob Lowe, Jurgen Prochnow
Ransom 1995 Inyokern Airport Mel Gibson, Gary Sinise
Star Trek VII: Generations 1995 Hart Flat William Shatner, Patrick Stewart
Steel Frontier 1995 Ridgecrest, Inyokern Bo Svenson, Brion James
Tuskegee Airmen (TV) 1995 Mojave Airport Lawrence Fishburne, Cuba Gooding Jr.
Waterworld 1995 Mojave Airport Kevin Costner, Dennis Hopper
A Moment of Romance (Asian) 1996 Inyokern Airport Alex Fong, Andy Lau
Brave, The 1996 Ridgecrest, Randsburg Johnny Depp, Marlon Brando
Breakdown 1996 Mojave Desert Kurt Russell, J.T. Walsh
Bulletproof 1996 Ridgecrest, Red Rock Canyon, Trona Pinnacles Adam Sandler, Damon Wayans
Ed 1996 Arvin Matt LeBlanc, Jack Warden
For My Daughter's Honor (TV) 1996 Taft Gary Cole, Nicole Thom
From Dusk 'Til Dawn 1996 Mojave George Clooney, Juliette Lewis, Salma Hayek
Last Best Place, The (TV) 1996 Tejon Ranch Simon Baker, Tom O'Brien
Neon Signs 1996 Boron, California City, Mojave, Tehachapi William Smith, Carol Lynley
Nevada 1996 Randsburg, Ridgecrest Amy Brenneman, Kirstie Alley
Nothing to Lose 1996 Mojave Desert Tim Robbins, Martin Lawrence
Starship Troopers 1996 Red Rock Canyon Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards
Twister 1996 Tejon Ranch Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt
Woman Undone (TV) 1996 Ridgecrest, Inyokern, Jawbone Canyon Mary McDonnell, Sam Elliott, Benjamin Bratt
Asteroid (TV) 1997 Cuddeback Dry Lake Michael Beihn, Anabella Sciorra
Back in Businiess (a.k.a. "Heart of Stone" 1997 Mojave Airport Brian Bosworth, Brion James
Break Up, The 1997 Taft, Bakersfield, Ridgecrest, Inyokern, Trona Bridget Fonda, Kiefer Sutherland, Steven Webber
Fight in the Fields (D) 1997 Bakersfield, Delano Cesar Chavez, Jerry Brown
Flubber 1997 Lost Hills Robin Williams, Marcia Gay Harden
Future Fear 1997 Searles Dry Lake Maria Ford, Stacy Keach
Joe Joe Angel & the Dead Guy 1997 Arvin Eric Dellums, Christopher May
Last Man 1997 Bakersfield
Night of the Coyote 1997 Spangler Hills, Inyokern Cecilia Depazo, Laura LeBlanc
Overdrive 1997 Willow Springs Steve Guttenberg, Robert Wagner
Seller, The 1997 Frazier Park Brian Brophy, Arthur Roberts
Sender, The 1997 Trona Pinnalces, Randsburg, Inyokern Michael Madsen, Dyan Cannon, Robert Vaughn
Switchback 1997 Ridgecrest Danny Glover, Dennis Quaid
Tactical Assault 1997 Mojave Airport Rutger Hauer, Robert Patrick
Trekkies (D) 1997 Bakersfield Denise Crosby, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan
Wag the Dog 1997 Buttonwillow, Mojave Airport Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman
X-Files: Fight the Future 1997 California City, Arvin David Ducovny, Gillian Anderson
Armageddon 1998 Edwards Air Force Base Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler
Bad Pack, The 1998 Tropico Robert Davi, Roddy Piper
Best Laid Plans 1998 Bakersfield, Taft Reese Whitherspoon, Josh Brolin
Black Cat Run (TV) 1998 Tejon Ranch Patrick Muldoon, Peter Greene
Canned 1998 Maricopa
City of Angels 1998 Mt. Pinos Meg Ryan, Nicholas Cage
Deep Impact 1998 Mt. Pinos Elijah Wood, LeeLee Sobieski
Desert Blue 1998 Jawbone Canyon Christina Ricci, Kate Hudson, Sara Gilbert
Desert Heat 1998 Cuddeback Dry Lake, Atolia Jean-Claude Van Damme
I'll Be Home for Christmas 1998 Red Rock Canyon Jonathan Taylor-Thomas, Jessica Biel
Iron Thunder 1998 Rosamond Dyrk Ashton, Susannah Devereux
Jello Woman, The 1998 Red Rock Canyon Rita Moreno
No Tomorrow 1998 Mojave Airport Gary Busey, Jeff Fahey, Pam Grier
Odd Couple II 1998 Shafter Walter Matthau, Jack Lemon
Only Hope 1998 Fiddler's Gulch Wylie Small, James Paradise
Paradesi 1998 Mojave Airport foreign cast
Phoenix 1998 Rosamond Ray Liotta, Anthony LaPaglia
Sonoma 1998 Mojave Airport
Time Out for Bravo Seven 1998 Tejon Ranch
Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle 1999 California City, Tejon Ranch Jason Alexander, Rene Russo
Andromina: The Pleasure Planet 1999 Mojave Samantha Phillips, Griffin Drew, Susan Featherly
Auditions 1999 Ridgecrest Michael Shane Davis, Mia Russo
Cell, The 1999 Lost Hills Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Lopez
Day My Father Died, The 1999 Tejon Ranch, Caliente-Bodfish Road, Granite Road
Desert Son 1999 Cuddeback Dry Lake Michael Watkins, Adrian Pasdar
Dill Scallion 1999 Tejon Ranch Henry Winkler, LeAnn Rimes, Travis Tritt
Hanging Up 1999 Kern River Valley Lisa Kudrow, Diane Keaton
Hindustan Ki Kasam 1999 California City Airport foreign cast
Infinite Round (D) 1999 Bakersfield Chuck Kim, Derek Kim
Lady Luck (TV) 1999 Spangler Hills, Randsburg
My American Vacation 1999 Caliente-Bodfish Road Tsai Chin, Dennis Dunn
Rejected by Vultures 1999 Ridgecrest, Spangler Hills, Trona Pinnacles Jeff Seal, Philippe Bergeron
Road Kill 1999 Bakersfield, Arvin Jennifer Rubin
Spirit World, The 1999 Poison Canyon, Trona Pinnacles
TV Cowboy 1999 Taft
Zeroes, The 1999 Taft
Almost Famous 2000 Mojave Kate Hudson, Billy Crudup, Patrick Fugit
Along for the Ride 2000 Ridgecrest Randall Batinkoff
Bad Guys 2000 Tehachapi Michael Madsen, Lisa Crosato
Borders 2000 Tejon Ranch, Lebec Dylan Tarason
Castlerock 2000 Randsburg, RRC, Ridgecrest, Cantil Ernest Borgnine, Pamela Bach
Cherry Minks 2000 Tehachapi, Trona Pinnacles
Dinosaur 2000 Trona Pinnacles, Poison Canyon Animated
Erin Brockovich 2000 Boron Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart
Kid, The 2000 California City Bruce Willis, Spencer Breslin
Never Look Back 2000 Tehachapi Charles During, Charles Napier
Pitch Black 2000 Trona Pinnacles Vin Diesel, Keith David
Robbers 2000 Trona, Inyokern Steve Merrick, Daveigh Chase
Space Cowboys 2000 Edwards Air Force Base Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones
Thirteen Days 2000 Mojave Airport Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood
Tick Tock 2000 Bakersfield Megan Ward, John Ratzenberger
Zoe 2000 Rosamond Jenny Seagrove, Vanessa Zima
Behind Enemy Lines 2001 Lake Isabella, Indian Wells Valley Gene Hackman, Owen Wilson
Dead Man's Run 2001 Tehachapi John Savage, Joe Lara
Dirt 2001 Ridgecrest Tracy Fraim, Michael Covert, Jennifer Tilly
Face To Face 2001 Tehachapi Madchen Amick, Scott Baio, Meat Loaf
Joy Ride 2001 Arvin Leelee Sobieski, Steve Zahn, Paul Walker
Jurassic Park III 2001 Kern River Sam Neill, Tea Leoni, William H. Macy
Kingdom Come 2001 Tejon Ranch Whoopi Goldberg, Jada Pinkett-Smith, L.L Cool J
K-Pax 2001 Kern River, Caliente-Bodfish Road Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges
Planet of the Apes 2001 Trona Pinnacles Mark Wahlberg, Helena Bonham Carter
Race To Space 2001 Edwards Air Force Base James Woods, Annabeth Gish, Willliam Devane
Rat Race 2001 Rosamond, Olancha Dunes John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, Cuba Gooding Jr.
Reflex Action 2001 Rosamond Michael Baldoz, Michael Guerin
Theory of the Leisure Class 2001 Califorinia City Tuesday Knight, Michael Massee
10 Mintes Older: The Trumpet 2002 RR-Randsburg, South Brown and RR-Inyokern roads Charles Esten, Amber Tamblyn
A.K.A. Birdseye 2002 Ridgecrest Amy Hathaway, Fred Ward, Lisa Blount
Bounty 2002 Tejon Ranch Leo Marks, Joseph Sikora
Charlotte Sometimes 2002 Buttonwillow Jacqueline Kim, Eugenia Yuan
Frailty 2002 Wasco Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton
Hell's Highway 2002 Rosamond, Tropico Gold Camp Elizabeth Ashley
Killers 2: The Beast 2002 Taft Kim Little, D.C. Douglas, Christina Scott
Rosewell Crash: The Startling New Evid 2002 California City Bryant Gumbel
Throttle 2002 Rosamond Liam Watson, Devon Alan
A Man Apart 2003 Inyokern Airport Vin Diesel, Jacqueline Obradors, Larenz Tate
Black Gulch 2003 California City Christopher Brady, Stephen Taylor
Center of all Things 2003 Bakersfield
Cerebral Print; File #0604 2003 Frazier Park Jed Rowan, Greg Quin
Cheerleader Massacre 2003 Frazier Park Tammy Sheffield, Nikki Fritz
Dismembered 2003 Mojave Airport Lee Horsley, Maura M. Knowles
Frog-g-g! 2003 Taft Kristi Borgeous, Mary Woronov
Holes 2003 Cuddeback Dry Lake, Red Rock Canyon Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight
Hulk, The 2003 China Lake NAWS Jennifer Conelly, Nick Nolte, Sam Elliott
Jeepers Creepers II 2003 Tejon Ranch Johnathan Breck, Billy Aaron Brown
Love Stories 2003 California City Studios
Mama's Boyz 2003 Bakersfield
Nine Days to Nowhere 2003 Rosamond Michael Blain-Rozgay, Ernest Carter
Pulse: A Stomp Odessey 2003 Redrock-Randsburg Road, Red Rock
Canyon Stomp (stage cast)
Purgatory Flats 2003 Taft Alexandra Holden, Brian Austin Green, Nick Turturro
Quandrum 2003 Mojave Jason Factor, Heather Fox
S.W.A.T. 2003 Mojave Airport Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell
Seabiscuit 2003 Tejon Ranch Jeff Bridges, Tobey McGwire, Chris Cooper
Silent Cross, The (UR) 2003 Robbers Roost Gabriel Diamond, Nicole Levy
Sisterhood of the Shewolf 2003 Rosamond Yutaka Mitsuru
Smartest Man in the World 2003 Mojave Matt Godbey, Marc Kamyab
Stoneman, The 2003 Bakersfield Pat Morita, Christopher Atkins
Tortilla Heaven 2003 Tejon Ranch Jose Zuniga, Olivia Hussey
Touch My Girl 2003 Kern River Valley, Inyokern Tim Colceri, Christian Laursen
Van Helsing 2003 Cuddy Valley Road Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale
Wrong Way Up 2003 Weldon, Jawbone Canyon Chet Grissom, Thomas Mills
Aimee Semple McPherson 2004 Shafter Mimi Michaels, Laura Anderson
All the Days Before Tomorrow 2004 Cinder Road, Freemont Dry Lake Joey Kerm Alexandra Holden
Blade:Trinity 2004 Poison Canyon Wesley Snipes, Jesica Biel
Einstein's Brain 2004 Cuddeback Dry Lake, Atolia
Gentelmen Don La Mancha, The 2004 Boron, Mojave, Tehachapi Alex Black, Brad Gooding
Hidalgo 2004 Cuddeback Dry Lake Viggo Mortensen, Omar Sharif
Highwaymen 2004 SR 178 (Kern River Canyon), Cuddy Valley Road Jim Caviezel
Jack Satin 2004 Randsburg Melissa Joan Hart, Robert Guilllaume
Johnson Family Vacation 2004 Lerdo Highway, Sullivan Road, etc. Cedric the Entertainer, Shannon Elizabeth
Leave No Trace, 2004, Red Rock Canyon, Mojave, Brenda Bakke, Gildart Jackson
Lost in Plainview, 2004, Ridgecrest, Layla Alexander, Eric Michael Cole
Promised Land, 2004, Mojave, Chad Smith, Susan Johnston
Spartan, 2004, Mojave Airport, Val Kilmer
Stereotype, 2004, Bakersfield
The Fallen Ones, 2004, Trona Pinnales, Casper Van Dien, Robert Wagner
Ugly on the Inside, 2004, South Brown Road, Heidi Godt, Whitney Leigh
Vengeance, 2004, Taft ,Danny Romo, Raul Julia Jr.
Zyzzyx, 2004, Rosamond, Katherine Heigl, Leo Grillo
Herbie: Fully Loaded, 2004, Oak Creek Road, Lindsay Lohan, Matt Dillon, Michael Keaton
Flightplan, 2004-05 Mojave Airport ,Jodie Foster
The Bet, 2005, Trona Pinnacles, Cristina Baldino, Monica Beltrame
Big Fat Lady, 2005, Taft, Maricopa, Gill Bellows
Bone Dry, 2005, Trona Pinnacles, Poison Canyon, Lance Henriksen
Cowboys and Aliens 2005 Randsburg
Death Ride, 2005, Frazier Park, Rand Gamble, Laura Putney
Flags of Our Fathers, 2005, Mojave Airport ,Jesse Bradford, Paul Walker
Jake Lead, 2005, California City Studios
King of the Lost World, 2005, Mojave Airport, Bruce Boxleitner, Steve Railsback
The Legend of Mary Worth, 2005, Tehachapi, Eileen Brennan, Matthew Lawrence
Locusts (TV), 2005, Mojave Airport ,John Heard, Mike Farrell, Lucy Lawless
Roadkill, 2005, Rosamond, Tara Lynne Barr, Sean Whalen
The Go-Getter, 2005, Redrock/Randsburg Road, Jenna Malone, Zoey Deschanel
Apocalypse Oz, 2006, Trona Pinnacles, Billy Briggs, MC Gainey, Tammy Garrett
Costa Chica: Confession of an Exorcist, 2006, Mojave, David Heavener, Martin Kove, Roddy Piper
Tenacious D: the Pick of Destiny, 2006, Kern River, Jack Black, Tim Robbins, Ben Stiller
The Yellow Wallpaper, 2006, Cinder Dry Lake, Aric Cushing, Veronica Cartwright, Michael Moriarty
36 Crazy Firsts, 2007, Califorinia City
Bonneville, 2007, Rosamond, Jessica Lange, Christine Baranski, Kathy Bates
American Son, 2007, Bakersfield, Nick Cannon, Melonie Diaz, Chai McBride, Tom Sizemore
Dangerous Seasons, 2007, California City
Desert Survival, 2007, Trona Pinnacles, Cuddeback Dry Lake, Olancha Dunes
Four 1 Liberation Front, 2007, Bakersfield, Cuddeback Dry Lake, Jo Mani, Eddie Mason, Scott Mcglasson
Keith, 2007, Bakersfield, Jesse McCartney, Jennifer Grey
Lucky You, 2007, Bena Rd, Sand Canyon Rd, Tehachapi Blvd., Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, Debra Messing
Ocean's 13, 2007, Rosamond, George Clooney, Brad Pitt
One Part Sugar, 2007, Ridgecrest, Trona Pinnacles, Danny DeVito, Dylan Walsh, Justin Long
Scorp, 2007, Cuddeback Dry Lake
Sugar Boxx, 2007, Bakersfield, Frazier Park, Taft Geneviere Anderson, Linda Dona
The Hitchhiker, 2007, Sara Lieving, Jaci twiss. Jeff Morris
Two Hitmen, 2007, Silver Queen Road
Wristcutters: A Love Story, 2007, Rosamond, Patrick Fugit, Jake Busey, Tom Waits
Iron Man, 2008, Olancha Dunes, Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges

The people who made Kern County what it is

Who built Kern County? Who made it the unique place in America it has become? Buck Owens and Merle Haggard get their share of credit and blame, but Bakersfield and the southern San Joaquin Valley have produced plenty of other notable heroes, artists, athletes, film stars, writers, visionaries, statesmen and stateswomen over the years. Here is a sampling.

Col. Thomas Baker: Credited as the founder of Bakersfield, a town named — so the story goes — because the Ohio native made his alfalfa fields available to the horses of weary travelers passing through what became known as “Baker’s field.”

Edward Fitzgerald Beale: Best remembered for establishing Tejon Ranch south of Bakersfield. A close friend to Ulysses S. Grant, he became a hero of the Mexican War at the Battle of San Pasqual by crawling through the lines with Kit Carson to get help. Thought to be the first to bring news of the California gold strike to the East. Appointed superintendent of Indian affairs in California and Nevada in 1852. Remembered for an experiment in 1857 with camel transportation. Briefly (1876–77) the U.S. ambassador to Austria-Hungary.

Truxtun Beale: Son of Edward Fitzgerald Beale. Bakersfield’s Truxtun Avenue is named for him; he built and dedicated the Beale Memorial Clock Tower to the city of Bakersfield in memory of his mother, Mary.

Robert Beltran: Bakersfield-bred stage, film and television actor has appeared in Luis Valdez’s “Zoot Suit” (1981), Paul Bartel’s “Eating Raoul” (1982, as Raoul) and “Star Trek: Voyager” (as Commander Chakotay) among many other roles.

Frank Bidart: Born in Bakersfield from Basque stock in 1939, the renowned poet is a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle finalist. He has received the Academy of American Poet’s Wallace Stevens Award, the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Foundation Writer’s Award, the Morton Dauwen Zabel Award given by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Shelley Award of the Poetry Society of America and The Paris Review’s first Bernard F. Conners Prize.

John Brock Sr.: Ran Brocks Department Store, a downtown Bakersfield landmark, for decades. Namesake of the annual John Brock Award, honoring integrity and community service.

Floyd Burcham: Amiable founder of Floyd’s Stores was revered for his generosity, especially when it came to youth sports and baseball in general.

Jim Burke: Bought majority interest of what was then Haberfelde Ford in 1974. Under Burke’s ownership, the dealership became one of the largest single-point Ford dealerships in the nation. Burke started a long-lived student scholarship program.

Monty Byrom: Bakersfield country-blues-rock musician has written songs for Eddie Money, Barbra Streisand, David Lee Roth and others. Lead singer of ACM-nominated Big House.

Princess Nellie Calhoun: Raised in a dirt-floor cabin near Caliente, Eleanor Hulda Calhoun became a star of the Shakespearean stage and a headliner in Europe in the 1890s. In 1903 she married Serbian Prince Eugene Lazarovich. She also authored three books between 1910 and 1926.

Johnny Callison: All-star outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies and three other teams for 15 major-league seasons ending in 1973. Born in Oklahoma and grew up in Bakersfield, where he was a hometown hero as a minor-leaguer.

David Carr: Stockdale High School football star was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 NFL draft. Played for the Houston Texans, the Carolina Panthers, and is now with the New York Giants.

Cesar Chavez: Led the movement of farmworkers to unionize. Continued his crusade with the United Farm Workers, headquartered in Keene, east of Bakersfield, until his death in 1993.

Henry H. Collins: Minister was elected to the Bakersfield City Council in 1953, becoming the first black man to serve in such a position in the state.

Brandon Cruz: Bakersfield-bred child actor (“The Courtship of Eddie’s Father,” “The Bad News Bears”) went on to become lead singer of the bands Dr. Know and Dead Kennedys. Charter member of A Minor Consideration, a watchdog group of former child stars founded by Paul Peterson.

George Culver: Bakersfield-bred pitcher signed by the Yankees, Culver struck out 18 batters in one of his first big-league games. A starter with the Reds in 1968, he no-hit Philadelphia on July 29, walking five, to win 6-1. From 1970 on, he was a long reliever, and often led his club in appearances. Culver became a coach and manager in the Phillies’ system.

Jonathan Davis: Lead singer of the platinum-selling rock band Korn, a group of Bakersfield-bred musicians.

Marc Davis: Disney studios animator who directed “101 Dalmations” (1961), “Sleeping Beauty” (1959), “Peter Pan” (1953), “Alice in Wonderland” (1951), “Cinderella” (1950), “Song of the South” (1946) and others. Bakersfield native.

Mary Holman Dodge: First policewoman on the Bakersfield force, hired in 1941. Married to the late veteran policeman Charlie Dodge, who in 1966 won an upset victory in the race for Kern County sheriff.

Dorothy Donahoe: Democratic state legislator from Bakersfield who wrote the Donahoe Higher Education Act of 1960, which gave birth to what is now California State University, Bakersfield, the 19th member of the CSU system. CSUB’s Donahoe Hall is named in her honor. Died shortly before her signature 1960 legislation, named in her honor, was passed.

Grace Dorris: Elected to the state Assembly in 1918, one of the four women to break the legislature’s gender barrier that year. First woman to introduce a bill before the Legislature; re-elected in 1920, 1922 and 1924. Dorris, wife of influential attorney Wiley Dorris, moved to Taft and then to Bakersfield in 1913.

Jess R. Dorsey: State assemblyman (1902-1907) and Kern County district attorney (1917-1923) who was elected to the state Senate in 1942 and served until his death in 1958. Wrote legislation to protect Isabella Lake and, perhaps most famously, took on the local Klu Klux Klan.

Robert Duncan: Born in Oakland in 1919 and raised as a foster child in Bakersfield, where he grew up as Robert Edward Symmes, Duncan became one of the West’s pre-eminent poets after World War II. He was identified with several major movements in American poetry in the 1950s and ’60s.

Dr. Hans Einstein: Considered the foremost authority on Valley fever, a fungal disease that affects the lungs and, in its most serious form, can be fatal.
Annette Funicello: Former Mouseketeer and bright-eyed star of ’60s “Beach Blanket” teeny-bopper movies is retired and living part-time in Shafter.

Marshall Ganz: The son of a Bakersfield rabbi, Ganz participated in the 1964 black voter registration drive made famous by the movie “Mississippi Burning;” helped lead a headline-making protest against Mississippi’s exclusion of black delegates at the 1964 Democratic National Convention; served as an early organizer of the United Farm Workers; and was a lecturer at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Frank Gifford: Former Bakersfield High School and Bakersfield College football player who went on to athletic greatness at the University of Southern California and in the National Football League with the New York Giants, as well as sports broadcasting fame.

Merle Haggard: Born the son of a railroad man, Oildale native Haggard is considered one of country music’s premiere singers and songwriters. Recorded dozens of top 10 hits throughout the 1960s and ’70s. He was pardoned by Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1972 for crimes committed in his youth, appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1974, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994.

Floyd Hall: Bakersfield High School graduate has served as chief executive officer of Kmart, Target, B. Dalton Booksellers and Singer Co.

Alfred Harrell: A former Kern County teacher and superintendent of schools who bought The Bakersfield Californian in 1897, setting up a long line of family ownership of the area’s only major daily newspaper.

Kevin Harvick: A star of the NASCAR Winston Cup auto-racing circuits. Harvick is the first Bakersfield driver to compete on a full-time basis at the highest level of stock car competition.

Gerald W. Haslam: Oildale native and retired college professor now living in Sonoma County. Author of more than 20 works of fiction and nonfiction, including “The Other California,” “Straight White Male” and the prize-winning epic, “The Great Central Valley: California’s Heartland.” Received the Bakersfield Centennial Foundation’s 1998 literature award as best writer in the city’s history.

Herb Henson: Hosted “Cousin Herb’s Trading Post,” a nightly local television show from 1953-63, dedicated to country music and its stars. Guests included Buck Owens, Bonnie Owens, Merle Haggard, Bob Wills, Johnny Cash, Tex Ritter, Gene Autry and many more.

Dolores Huerta: Former United Farm Workers organizer, a member of the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the Eugene V. Debs Outstanding American Award, carries on her social justice work through the Dolores Huerta Foundation.

Jimmie Icardo: Rough-hewn but well-loved Bakersfield farmer and philanthropist whose contributions to CSUB helped create the Icardo Center.

Ed Jagels: Long-serving Kern County district attorney led the crusade to oust California Supreme Court Chief Justice Rose Bird in the 1980s; leading advocate of state’s “three strikes” laws. His office has consistently led California in per-capita prison commitments. Unflatteringly portrayed in the 1996 book “Mean Justice.”

Jack Johnson: The world’s first black heavyweight boxing champion, born in Texas in 1878. Johnson flouted taboos by buying a house in a white Bakersfield neighborhood and living openly with white women. He fought in Bakersfield only once though, losing a 20-round decision to Hank Griffin in November 1901.

Henry Jastro: German immigrant (and son-in-law of Col. Thomas Baker) who served as manager of the Kern Land Co. starting in 1890. Jastro helped organize a local power company, served as chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, helped establish the California State Fair and was a member of the Board of Regents of the University of California.

Leamon King: Considered “The World’s Fastest Human” during much of the 1950s, the Delano High School graduate won an Olympic gold medal in 1956, the same year he tied world records in the 100-yard (9.3 seconds) and 100-meter (10.1 seconds) sprints.

Pete Knight: As an Air Force pilot in the 1960s, the state senator (17th District) flew the X-15 rocket research aircraft to 4,520 mph (mach 6.7), establishing the still- unbroken world speed record in a fixed wing aircraft. He earned astronaut wings for another X-15 flight to 280,000 feet in altitude. As a legislator, he was known for drafting legislation limiting gay rights.

Jack LaLanne: Legendary fitness guru spent 10 years of his youth in Bakersfield. He was an underweight, troubled teen who dropped out of high school and was plagued by headaches. Then, at 15, he learned about nutrition.

Pauline Larwood: In 1983, became the first woman elected to the Kern County Board of Supervisors; retired in 1994. Founding member of the San Joaquin Agricultural Protection Council. Served on the Kern Community College District board of trustees.

Sam Lynn: Coca-Cola distributor who gave generously to sports organizations was instrumental in creating the California League in the 1930s and bringing full-fledged professional baseball to Bakersfield a decade later. Sam Lynn Ball Park, named in his honor, was built a year after his death in 1940.

Guy Madison: Bakersfield native Guy Madison (born Robert Ozell Moseley in 1922) appeared in 85 films, on radio, and television, finding his niche in the 1940s and starring as James Butler Hickock in the television series “Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock” (1951). He also starred in spaghetti westerns and sci-fi films in the mid-1950s.

Mayie Maitia: One of the grand dames of local Basque cuisine. Longtime owner of the Woolgrowers, a favorite restaurant in east Bakersfield, she has fed the famous (Ronald Reagan, Earl Warren, Barbra Streisand) and nonfamous alike.

George Martin: Founder and host of the Bakersfield Business Conference, an annual speakers’ festival that concluded its long run in October 2005.

Larry and Kat Martin: She is a best-selling romance author (“Midnight Sun”) who has written more than 30 books, including several translated into 12 languages. Attended East High, graduated from Bakersfield College. She met her husband, also an author, in 1981, when both were Bakersfield real estate agents. He writes western/ historical/ thriller novels (“Rush to Destiny”). Graduated from Bakersfield High, attended Bakersfield College.

Kevin McCarthy: Former aide to Congressman Bill Thomas, was Republican leader in the state Assembly, now holds down Thomas’ old job in Congress.

Brent McClanahan: Bakersfield native was a running back for the great Minnesota Vikings teams of the 1970s.

Rick Mears: A Bakersfield native and South High School alumnus, Mears won the Indy 500 race four times before retiring as a driver. Part of an esteemed local racing family that includes brother Roger and nephew Casey.

Justin Meyer: Monk-turned-winemaker (and Garces graduate, then known as Raymie) left the Christian Brothers to co-found Napa Valley’s Silver Oak Winery.

Milton “Spartacus” Miller: Legendary iconoclast, former Kern County supervisor and longtime owner/proprietor of Bakersfield’s Padre Hotel. In the most famous and long-lived of his many stunts, he erected a mock U.S. Army missile atop his eight-story hotel and suggested that it was aimed at City Hall.

Yen Ming: A leading potato farmer who established the first school for Chinese students. Later honored with the naming of Ming Avenue.

Billy Mize: Country music songwriter and steel guitar player; hosted “Trading Post” TV show after Cousin Herb’s death; won the Academy of Country Music’s “TV Personality of the Year” award three years in a row.

Sally Moore: Bakersfield High School tennis player who in 1959 reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon, won the national clay court title and was ranked fourth nationally.

Charles Napier: Well-traveled character actor and voice-over specialist with the famously jutting jaw has appeared in many roles from “Rambo: First Blood Part II” (1985) to “The Blues Brothers” (1980). Lives near Caliente.

Michael R. Newman: Writer-producer for Room 9 Entertainment, the Los Angeles independent production company that brought Christopher Buckley’s “Thank You for Smoking” to the screen. Newman is from Bakersfield.

George W. Nickel: Great-grandson of water baron Henry Miller of the Miller & Lux cattle empire, built an empire of his own on water, agriculture and real estate. Pioneer in water storage.

Lyn Nofziger: Kern County Union High School graduate was a top aide to President Ronald Reagan and served in Richard Nixon’s White House. Member of the city’s pioneering Curran family. Died in 2006.

Mary Osborne: Jazz guitar great of the 1940s and ’50s, owned Bakersfield’s Osborne Guitar Co.

Buck Owens: Developed and promoted the Bakersfield Sound as its first bona fide national star. Recorded dozens of top 10 hits throughout the 1960s. Co-star of the late ’70s-early ’80s comedy-variety TV show “Hee Haw.” Owner of Buck Owens Productions (a radio group) and Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace, a museum-dinner house-concert venue located on Buck Owens Boulevard. Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1998.

Jack Palance: Actor-poet-artist lived on a ranch in Stallion Springs for 40 years. Won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in the 1991 comedy “City Slickers;” Oscar nominations for “Shane” (1953) and “Sudden Fear” (1952). At least 125 television and movie credits throughout five decades.

Dennis Ralston: In 1960, the local tennis player teamed up with Mexico’s Rafael Osuna to win the doubles title at Wimbledon. Ranked the No. 1 U.S. player for three consecutive years in the 1970s.

Joey Porter: Sports Illustrated called him the “most feared player in the NFL.” The Foothill High grad helped the Pittsburgh Steelers win the 2006 Super Bowl. He now plays for the Miami Dolphins.

Bill Rintoul: Taft-bred Californian oil columnist traveled to the far corners of the earth in search of stories about the oil patch.

Dick Rutan: Co-pilot in the record non-stop flight around the world with Jeana Yeager in December 1986; a former Air Force pilot who flew 325 combat missions in the F-100 fighter jet, 100 of the missions over North Vietnam.

Dorathea “Dottie” Scatena: Bakersfield resident who was one of only 1,100 women who served in the WASPs (Women Air Force Service Pilots) during World War II. Dottie (Rexroad) Scatena served in the Civil Air Patrol locally.

Mary K. Shell: Former Bakersfield city mayor, Californian columnist and Kern County supervisor. Now a private business consultant. Married to the late former state assemblyman and gubernatorial candidate Joe Shell.

Red Simpson: Bakersfield country music singer, songwriter and TV performer of the 1960s and ’70s.

Jack Smith: Famed Los Angeles Times columnist grew up in Bakersfield, attended Bakersfield College and wrote about sports for The Bakersfield Californian.

George Lee Snider: The founder of Snider’s Cyclery. Arrived in Bakersfield in 1896 with $16 to his name. Opened a bicycle and motorcycle shop in 1904 in the Baker Street area.

Walter Stiern: Bakersfield High School graduate who went on to become a state senator. Co-authored a master plan for higher education in California, resulting in the establishment of Cal State University, Bakersfield; the campus library is named in his honor.

Robert Swift: 7-foot-1 Garces High and Bakersfield High basketball star plays for the NBA’s Seattle Supersonics.

Bill Thomas: Retired Republican congressman from Bakersfield chaired the powerful House Ways and Means committee and had the ear of President Bush. Former Bakersfield College political science instructor.

Dr. Juliet Thorner: Longtime Kern County pediatrician; one of the first members of the medical community to call the public’s attention to the prevention of child abuse. A performing arts magnet school is named after her.

Will Tibbet: Kern County deputy sheriff was killed in a famous shootout with the outlaw Jim McKinney at a Chinese joss house. The April 19, 1903, gunbattle made national headlines. Tibbet’s son, Lawrence, added an extra “t” to his last name and became famous in his own right years later.

Lawrence Tibbett: Born in Bakersfield in 1896, perhaps the best-known American operatic baritone of his time; starred in the first musical film to make full use of sound; appeared on the cover of Time magazine; made the Hollywood Walk of Fame as one of 80 charter inductees.

Luis Valdez: Valdez, born in Delano in 1940, is widely considered the father of Chicano theater. He founded El Teatro Campesino in 1965; won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award in 1969, 1972 and 1978 (for “Zoot Suit”); and won the George S. Peabody Award for Excellence in Television (for his adaptation of “Corridos”) in 1987, the same year he directed the film “La Bamba.”

Chuck Wall: Bakersfield College professor, blind, has gained widespread notoriety for his “random acts of senseless kindness” appeal for generosity and civility.

Earl Warren: East Bakersfield native widely regarded as the nation’s most influential U.S. Supreme Court justice. Served as state attorney general and, for 10 years, California governor. Directed internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, an act for which he later apologized. Thomas Dewey’s vice presidential running mate in 1948. Named Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1953; wrote the opinion and delivered the landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which abolished school segregation; mandated use of so-called Miranda Rights. Retired from the high court in 1969.

Charles Weldon: Bakersfield-bred actor got his start with a local, doo-wop group called the Paradons. He went on to an acting career, appearing in films like “Stir Crazy” and TV shows such as “Law and Order.” He is now the artistic director of New York’s Negro Ensemble Company. Sisters Maxine and Ann are well-regarded recording artists.

Pearl Lowery Winters: Opera star from the turn of the century to the 1920s, Winters was known as Bakersfield’s “Golden Throated Contralto.” One of Bakersfield’s most prominent African-American women in her day.

Bill Woods: Bandleader at the infamous Blackboard bar where he and his Orange Blossom Playboys gave 21-year-old Buck Owens one of his first breaks in country music. Influenced many careers, including those of Merle Haggard and Red Simpson.

Chuck Yeager: On Oct. 14, 1947, Yeager made aviation history at Edwards Air Force Base in Kern County when he broke the speed of sound. Yeager had broken several ribs just days earlier in a fall from a horse.

History of Kern County

1776: On April 26, Franciscan friar Francisco Garces became the first-known European to stand on the present site of Bakersfield.

1827: A 17-man expedition led by Jedediah Smith entered the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, marking the first entry to the area by American explorers from the East.

1853: The first recorded discovery of gold in Kern County was at a rugged area of Greenhorn Gulch, about a mile northwest of the upper Kern River.

1860: Christian Bohna arrived to become the first permanent settler at what was then called Kern Island, the site of the future city of Bakersfield.

1863: Col. Thomas Baker and his family arrived at Kern Island to begin reclamation of swampland from which Bakersfield would evolve.

1865: The first large-scale cotton production was attempted by brothers Solomon and Philo Jewett at their Rio Bravo Ranch.

1866: On April 21, the state Legislature created the county of Kern with Havilah as the county seat.

1868: Leaders of the Yowlumne branch of the Yokuts tribe warned white settlers at Woilu (at what is now 16th and F streets in Bakersfield) about an impending flood and then evacuated the area. After the flood, the Yowlumne people were rarely seen in Bakersfield.

1872: The first commercial oil activity began in the old Buena Vista district.

1872: A significant earthquake, the first to be noted by the area’s white settlers, rattled the young town of Bakersfield.

1872: Col. Baker, stricken with typhoid fever, died Nov. 24.

1874: The people of Bakersfield voted to become an incorporated city.

1874: Bakersfield displaced Havilah as the county seat.

1874: On Nov. 8, the Southern Pacific Railroad reached its station at Sumner, later to be known as Kern City and eventually east Bakersfield. Bakersfield leaders were aghast, having hoped the railroad would be built through the middle of their city.

1876: Plagued by sanitation, financial and leadership problems, Bakersfield voted to unincorporate.

1889: On July 7, fire devastated 15 city blocks of Bakersfield, leaving 1,500 residents without homes.

1893: February rains swelled the Kern River and flooded much of Bakersfield.

1893: Kern County Union High School opened its doors for the first time.

1897: Alfred Harrell, 34, purchased what would become known as The Bakersfield Californian.

1898: Bakersfield incorporated again on Jan. 11 by a vote of 387-197.

1899: The Kern River oil field, later to become one of the top producing fields in the nation, was developed seven miles northeast of the city.

1903: The Kern County Board of Trade was established with Alphonse Weill as its first president.

1903: James McKinney, last of the old-fashioned bad guys, was killed in a gunbattle.

1904: Truxtun Beale, former U.S. ambassador to Spain, donated the clock tower to the city of Bakersfield in memory of his mother, Mary Edwards Beale.

1912: Yen Ming, a leading potato grower in Bakersfield, started the first school for Chinese students. Ming Avenue was later named in his honor.

1913: A 13th grade was created with the opening of Bakersfield (Junior) College. It shared the campus of Kern County Union High School, later to be designated Bakersfield High School.

1914: The Kern County Farm Bureau was established.

1920: The highway was paved from Bakersfield to the Grapevine, bringing the total number of paved miles in the county to 302.

1925: The first Kern County Fair was held.

1927: Area cotton growers formed the California Cotton Cooperative Association, known today as Bakersfield-based Calcot Ltd.

1931: Amelia Earhart stopped at Kern County Airport on a flight from Oakland to Los Angeles.

1933: The U.S. Army Air Corps began using the present site of Edwards Air Force Base for bombing and gunnery training.

1934: The first major migration of dirt farmers from the southern Plains states of Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and elsewhere began; by the end of the decade, the Dust Bowl exodus had swollen the population of Kern County to nearly unmanageable numbers.

1941: Sam Lynn Ball Park opened, bringing the California League and professional baseball to Bakersfield for the first time.

1942: Bakersfield’s Earl Warren was elected governor of California with 57 percent of the vote.

1943: The Naval Ordnance Test Station was established in eastern Kern County.

1948: Harry Truman defeated Thomas Dewey to win the presidency, depriving Earl Warren of the vice presidency.

1952: On the afternoon of Aug. 22, a powerful earthquake hit Bakersfield. The face of the city was changed forever.

1952: With the help of Richard Nixon, Dwight Eisenhower beat out Earl Warren for the Republican presidential nomination.

1953: Two dams on the Kern River were completed to form Isabella Lake, ending the threat of flooding in Bakersfield.

1953: Earl Warren was named 14th chief justice of the United States.

1953: Bakersfield’s first television station, KAFY-TV, beamed its signal through the Central Valley.

1956: Bakersfield College opened its hillside campus.

1956: Former Bakersfield High School star Frank Gifford, in his fifth professional season, led the New York Giants to the NFL title. Gifford, a halfback, was named the league’s most valuable player.

1962: Bakersfield Civic Auditorium opened.

1964-65: Buck Owens, Bonnie Owens, Billy Mize, Kaye Adams and Merle Haggard led a near-sweep for Bakersfield performers at the inaugural Academy of Country Music awards in Los Angeles.

1967: Valley Plaza, the city’s first major indoor shopping center, opened at Highway 99 and Ming Avenue.

1970: Bakersfield’s first four-year education institution, California State College, Bakersfield, opened.

1974: Earl Warren died on July 9, five years and 16 days after donning the black robe of chief justice for the last time and one month before his longtime nemesis, Richard Nixon, resigned the presidency.

1977: A dust storm with winds up to 200 mph caused millions of dollars in damage.

1980: Mary K. Shell, a former newspaper columnist and political activist, was elected Bakersfield’s first woman mayor.

1981: The world’s largest cotton gin began operation in Kern County.

1986: Kern River crude dropped to an all-time, post-deregulation low price of $7 per barrel on July 24. Wells were closed and workers laid off all over Kern County.

1990: Hostilities in the Persian Gulf drove the price of Kern River crude to its highest price to date, $27.50 per barrel, on Sept. 26.

1993: A devastating, valley-wide seven-year drought ended.

1993: Labor leader Cesar Chavez died.

1993: The Bakersfield Business Conference, in its ninth year, brought three former U.S. presidents (Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George Bush) to the same podium. A contingent of national and international media came along to see what all the fuss was about.

1994: The Fox Theater, built in 1930, reopened in Bakersfield to much celebration.

1996: Bakersfield rap-metal band Korn followed up its gold-selling first album with “Life is Peachy,” which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard charts. On that summer’s Lollapalooza tour, Korn proved to be by far the most popular attraction.

1997: The U.S. government sold its share of the Elk Hills oil field to Occidental Petroleum.

1998: Bakersfield celebrated 100 years as a city (based on its second incorporation).

1998: Comedian Bill Cosby took the stage as Centennial Garden opened for its first show.

1999: A 3-to 6-inch blanket of snow greeted Bakersfield residents on the morning of Jan. 25. It was the biggest snowfall of the century.

2000: Skyrocketing oil prices drove the price of Kern River crude to $26.50 per barrel on March 7, the highest peacetime price since deregulation.

2000: For the first time, there was mandatory trash pickup in Kern County.

2001: Bakersfield Museum of Art opened in its new digs.

2002: Assistant District Attorney Stephen M. Tauzer was slain and found in his garage.

2002: Former Stockdale High quarterback David Carr is drafted into the NFL.

2003: Bakersfield’s housing market began to take off.

2003: A water treatment plant in the northeast was finished, giving a boost to development estimated to top 60,000 people in the Bakersfield foothills.

2004: Kern River crude topped $30 a barrel and gas prices rose to just short of $3 a gallon.

2004: After a 10-month investigation, former elementary school vice principal Vincent Brothers was arrested and charged with the July 2003 murders of his wife, mother-in-law and three children.

2005: Bakersfield’s housing market soared. Resale prices rose 41 percent in the first quarter of 2005 from the previous year. Almost every major home builder in the nation staked out a presence in the market.

2006: World-renowned country singer Buck Owens died at 77. Buck’s ex-wife Bonnie died at 76.

2006: Midway Sunset crude topped $62 a barrel and consumers paid more than $3.50 per gallon.

2006: Bakersfield’s housing market began to cool.

2006: Bakersfield’s new airport terminal, the William M. Thomas Terminal, opened.

2006: A series of three heat waves in June and July, ending with 15 consecutive triple-digit days, contributed to the deaths of 20 people, 4,000 cattle and 25,000 chickens.

2007: A weeklong January freeze destroyed half of Kern’s citrus crops and put thousands of farmworkers out of seasonal work.

2007: Former elementary school vice principal Vincent Brothers was found guilty of first degree murder for killing five family members. The jury voted for the death penalty.

2007: A remodeled International Terminal at Meadows Field began its first flights to Guadalajara, Mexico.

2007: The housing market slowdown continued. Kern County experienced triple the national rate of foreclosures.

2008: A portion of Seventh Standard Road from North Chester Avenue to Highway 99 is renamed Merle Haggard Drive.

2008: Vicente Fernandez, Mexico's most popular mariachi and ranchera singer,
performed at the Rabobank Arena at the end of May. With attendance at
10,400, it was the most crowded concert by a Spanish-language music act in
the Rabobank Arena's history.

2008: By June, more than 250 people had paid for seats on Scaled Composites' SpaceShipTwo, aiming to be the first private flight into suborbital space. Meanwhile, XCOR Aerospace, also based at the Mojave Air and Space Port, entered the space-tourism race with its rocket-powered Lynx.

In his words: George Gilbert Lynch on the Dust Bowl migration

When their towns and farms of the Midwest were literally blown away by the dust storms of the 1930s, the Dust Bowl refugees’ only hope of starting new lives was to head west toward California. The Great Depression was in full force and one-third of the United States workforce was without a job.

Bakersfield was just as jobless as any other city. But the San Joaquin Valley attracted the refugees because crop harvest work was available most of the year.

Unfortunately, there were far more workers than available jobs. Forty-five thousand Kern County families were on federal relief programs, and many lived in roadside camps. The largest camp, dubbed “Hooverville,” was east of Chester Avenue between 34th Street and the Kern River. The other large camp, near Brundage Lane and Cottonwood Road, was called “Little Oklahoma.”

This era was a tragedy for everyone and the people of Bakersfield opened their hearts and wallets to donate food, clothing, jobs and shelter. The housing problem became so critical, the Federal government began building "sanitary camps" for displaced families, providing temporary shelter until they could find jobs.

The first government camp was constructed near Arvin in 1935. It was called the Sunset Labor Camp and was the model for John Steinbeck’s Weedpatch Camp in his novel "The Grapes Of Wrath."

The immigrants and their descendants now form a large portion of the population of Kern County as business owners, school teachers, civic leaders and hard-working citizens.

The musical influence they brought with them from Texas, Oklahoma and the other states eventually made Bakersfield the "Nashville West" of county western music. They have all contributed greatly to the heritage of Bakersfield.

In her words: Dolores Huerta on immigration and agriculture

Immigration and agriculture are two keystones for defining Kern County’s heritage and personality.

The farmworkers are a very big component of Kern County. They are the people who create the wealth. We have the largest grape grower in the world, Giumarra. We’ve got the biggest carrot company in the world, Grimmway. Agriculture is a very important part of our county.

But although Kern County has made a lot of progress in the 40 years since I moved here, it still has a very backward type of identity.

Back in the 1940s when “The Grapes of Wrath” was written, they had a book burning in Bakersfield. They banned it.

Cesar Chavez and I were organizing in Kern County and co-founded the United Farmworkers union in the 1960s. Farmworkers were killed during the grape strike of 1973. In the movie “Bobby,” there is a scene where Sen. Bobby Kennedy tells the Kern County Sheriff to go read the constitution of the United States because they were arresting people during the strike without reasonable cause.

Wages are still low. Companies are still fighting unionization. Our community does not do anything to recognize Cesar Chavez Day. The city of Bakersfield should celebrate Fourth of July, Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and Cesar Chavez Day with a parade or other celebration because they are significant parts of American history. Other cities across the nation celebrate all three holidays.

Culturally, Latino immigrants have brought strong work ethics and family values to Kern County. Although there is still racism and anti-immigrationism, the Latino community is less segregated than it once was. Young families are moving into new neighborhoods and integrating with the rest of the community.

The presence of Latinos in Kern County has definitely grown, economically and culturally. When I first came here, there was one Spanish speaking station. Now there are many on the radio and on TV.

We do not do enough to welcome and honor our farmworkers. They are essential to the harvest.

But like I said, there has been some progress. Recently we mobilized the community to influence the Bakersfield City Council to vote down an anti-immigration resolution. And in 2002, as California celebrated “The Grapes of Wrath” author John Steinbeck’s 100th birthday, I asked the Kern County Board of Supervisors to pass a resolution to honor Steinbeck, the Dust Bowl immigrants, and all farmworkers. By passing it, they erased the book burning history from Kern’s past.

In his words: Les Clark on the oil industry

Kern County wouldn't be what it is today if it weren't for the oil industry. We produce 67 percent of California's oil. If Kern County was a state, we would be fourth in the nation for oil production.

Taxes raised from oil production have been responsible for improved public services. The ability for Kern County to continue to grow is, in part, the result of a healthy oil industry.

As an industry leader and international model, Kern County is known for technology such as our thermal operations. A lot of folks come here from overseas for training. We also offer many opportunities for the next generation to enter the industry. Oil companies offer scholarships and internships for students. We have special curriculum at Taft High School in Oil Field Technology and we have training centers at Bakersfield College, Taft College and WESTEC. A lot of nontraditional types, such as women and minorities, are entering the industry with plans of becoming engineers and geologists.

Petroleum is a nonrenewable resource. Production is declining, and for that reason we are always looking for oil production opportunities.

My career in this industry began in 1959 putting together bottom hole-heaters, which were the forerunners of our steam generators. Now, I represent the independents — the mom-and-pop operators. We are the little guys who don't have marketing or refining capabilities and our numbers are rapidly declining.

As I look out over the oil fields, I remember the many people who put blood, sweat and tears into making sure our industry was successful. The folks that started out a century ago were tough old boots. They were good, honest, hard working people and I see the fruits of their labor. I'm proud of our industry and think the majority of Kern County citizens are as well. I'm proud of the contributions we have made to the community.

In his words: Monty Byrom on the Bakersfield Sound

What does the Bakersfield Sound mean to me? A funky old Telecaster? Truckers in a smoky room tapping their feet? Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Roy Nichols, Don Rich, Billy Mize? How about all of the above!

Bakersfield is a guitar town. Worldwide we've influenced not only music, but also “the sound” of the guitar. If Buck Owens hadn't put a sliver of wood on the neck of his Fender Telecaster to fix it, the world of music would be much different.

The Bakersfield Sound is raw compared to the slick Nashville sound. There's a chicken pickin,' finger lickin' sound of a Fender Telecaster and there's not a country act out there now that doesn't use one.

With our share of honky tonks and nightclubs due to the old Highway 99, Bakersfield became a mecca for good music, with a great club scene known from coast to coast. Woody Guthrie hopped trains up and down this valley and wrote songs about the plight of the “Great Migration” and the Dust Bowl.

I've toured all over America and Canada, and everyone wants to know, “Did you know Buck? What's Merle like?”

When my band Big House was touring there were a lot of things that separated us from the pack. We wrote our own songs, we played on our records and we produced them ourselves. I'm most proud that all of us were from Bakersfield. We never realized how much we were influenced by our Bakersfield peers until we went to Nashville. Nobody there produces, writes and plays on their own records.

From The Beatles to Creedence Clearwater Revival, from Bakersfield to Borneo, the Bakersfield Sound has touched just about every part of the globe. While a friend of mine was traveling the world, he walked into a bar in the Thailand jungle and the only music playing on the jukebox was by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard.

Today, I have the greatest gig I could ever wish for — I sing with the Buckaroos at Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace. When I was approached by the Owens family, I didn't really believe it at first. It is very surreal. The band is so easy to work with that sometimes I forget, "Hey, I'm singing with the Buckaroos!"