Chuckawalla Bill

Chuckawalla Bill (August 2, 1875 – January 11, 1950) was a Spanish–American War veteran, a sapper in the British Army during World War I, a prospector, a cook, and vagabond.[1] His birth name was William Anthony Simon, although he most frequently used the name Anthony W. Simmons. Later in life, he settled down in Palo Verde, California. He is buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery, Los Angeles, California.[2]

In 1968, Colin Fletcher came across a cave near the Colorado River (about 5 miles southeast of Boulder City, Nevada) in which Bill had been living in and abandoned around 1916. The Man from the Cave was a 1981 book written by Fletcher, which detailed how, after finding a trunk and belongings abandoned by someone, Fletcher spent years putting together the life story of "Trunkman."[3]

Colin Fletcher's quote about Chuckawalla Bill:

We both valued solitude and silence and square, smoothed-off granite boulders.[4]

The "Chuckawalla Bill Spring" north of Desert Hot Springs 34°01′38″N 116°27′23″W / 34.0272671°N 116.4564434°W / 34.0272671; -116.4564434 (Chuckawalla Bill Spring) is named after him.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Fletcher, Colin. 1981. The Man from the Cave. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 352 pp.
  2. ↑ Los Angeles National Cemetery, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California: Anthony W. Simmons.
  3. ↑ NY Times Books. Nonfiction in Brief: The Man from the Cave By Colin Fletcher
  4. ↑ Colin Fletcher's NYTimes OBIT page
  5. ↑ USGS Geographic Names Information System
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