Squaw Tank Inscription

Joshua Tree National Park, California

Among the boulder piles of Joshua Tree National Park in the Mojave Desert of southern California can be found many "tanks." These small dams were built by local ranchers a hundred or more years ago to collect runoff for watering cattle; long since out of use, most of the tanks have silted up and no longer hold water. Squaw Tank is one such place; the concrete dam here was built by cattlemen in the late 1880's. But when I visited Squaw Tank, I noticed something unique about it -- an old verse scratched into a concrete panel on the face of the dam. Although the words are somewhat obscured by mineral deposits, I think I was able to decipher it all (the photo above has had the contrast boosted to make the lettering more visible):

LITTLE WILLIAM AGE SEVEN
HE DIED AND WENT TO HEAVEN
WE CANT ALWAYS SOMETIMES TELL
BUT LITTLE WILLIE MIGHT HAVE WENT TO HELL

Who left this bizarre, bittersweet verse and what does it mean? Does it refer to a real person? There were several ranchers named William in the area in historic times (William Keys, William McHaney, William Covington), but I can faintly make out the name WILLIAM MORONGO to the lower left of the verse. The Morongo family of Native Americans ranched nearby from the early to mid-1800's; the name is preserved in place names such as Morongo Valley (west of the present national park) and Morongo High Desert (an area which includes the northern portions of the park). But I can find no historic records of a William Morongo. Above the name seems to be a sketch of a person, but mineral deposits have covered so much of it that all I can clearly make out is an arm holding a bucket. If you can shed any light on this mystery, please write to me at the email address at the bottom of this page.

The photo below shows the entire dam; note the sand that has largely filled the tank behind the dam.

May 2008: Thanks to Caitlyn Marrs, Archeological Technician at Joshua Tree National Park, for the following note:

Unfortunately the inscription you are referring to has no historical significance that we know of. In fact we believe it to be vandalism. There is no record of a child named William to have died in this area. I have actually been looking into this case recently as you are not the first to enquire about it. I am not sure when this first showed up on Squaw Tank but I do have a photograph showing that it has been there since 1994. We have talked to locals of the area and they do not recall this inscription as being historic. Hope this clears things up. Wish I had a more interesting story to share with you.

Directions: Squaw Tank is stop #9 on Geology Tour Road in Joshua Tree National Park. The Geology Tour Road Guide booklet is available at the park visitor centers or from a self-serve box where the tour road leaves the paved park road. Inquire locally for road conditions before driving the unpaved tour road.

Last visited: March 2008.

Standard disclaimer: Sites are described for entertainment purposes only, as they were at the time of my last visit. I can not vouch for the current condition of the site or its accessibility.