Jackrabbit Homestead - Tracing the Small Tract Act in the Southern California Landscape, 1938-2008

The landscape of the Morongo Basin of Southern California’s Mojave Desert is dotted with unusual buildings and parcels of land that developed as a result of the Small Tract Act of 1938. The structures, which are remnants of a mid-century homestead movement, have become a lightning rod for seemingly disparate communities wishing to claim and inhabit the desert landscape.

 Includes sixty-one color photographs by the author with an accompanying text by Stringfellow:

• Discusses the largely underrepresented history of jackrabbit homesteading; its historical and theoretical underpinnings, and the participants and boosters of this popular mid-century phenomena.
• Examines the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) and other U.S. public land policies that form how we perceive, use, and manage the California desert today.
• Shares the stories of a diverse cross-section of stakeholders and micro-communities who historically and currently are located within this geographically defined area.
• Examines the shifting/conflicting cultural values within this High Desert landscape.
• Discusses the architectural legacy of the homesteads and how study of the shacks can inform sustainable and green design practices.
• Considers why the homesteads become a catalyst for various human projections including how the shacks serve as a source of creative inspiration for the many artists and other creative types drawn to this area.