Tall pines surrounding an artificial pond called "Lake Tuendae" at the Desert Studies Center at the tiny settlement of Zzyzx, near Baker and adjacent to the Mojave National Preserve in southeast California. The Desert Studies Center is a field station of the California State University, officially operated by the California Desert Studies Consortium, a consortium of seven CSU campuses. Lake Tuendae was once a featured part of the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa run by Curtis Howe Springer at this location from 1944 to 1974 without federal permission. After Springer, a radio evangelist, was ejected, the CSU negotiated usage of the abandoned buildings of the health spa with the Bureau of Land Management. The made-up name Zzyzx was given to the area by Springer, who intended it to be the last word in the English language. He established the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa in 1944 at the spot, which was federal land, after filing mining claims for 12,000 acres surrounding the springs. He used the springs to bottle his water and provide drinks for travelers through the hot desert. Springer also imported animals from around the country to attract more families to visit his ranch. He used Zzyzx until 1974, when he was arrested and ousted from the land. The area attracts many unique species of animals and plants, including the Saratoga Spring pupfish, the Mohave tui chub, and more than 200 species of birds. The area was a prehistoric quarry site, and projectile points and rock art can be found in the area. The Mojave Road ran past the spring, as did the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad. Remnants of a wagon road stop and railroad artifacts are readily seen. Evaporative salt mining and mill sites can be found nearby as well.

Credit line: The Jon B. Lovelace Collection of California Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America Project, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

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• Photographer: Carol M. Highsmith. Read More about this photo in the description below.