Ralph Jacobus Fairbanks

RENO EVENING GAZETTE (Reno, Nevada), October 7, 1943: FUNERAL IS HELD FOR 'DESERT MAN': Funeral services were held at Hollywood at noon Wednesday for R.J. Fairbanks, one of the last of the "desert men" of the southern Nevada and southeastern California region. His son Lee Fairbanks of Reno, left this city after receiving word Monday of his father's death in Hollywood, and attended the services. Few knew his name as Ralph Jacobus Fairbanks--among those who met him during the past forty years he was "Dad" Fairbanks. He was eighty-two years old at the time of his death, and a greater part of his lifetime had been spent in the burning wastes of southern Nevada and southeastern California. He had prospected over many square miles of desert, occasionally making a rich strike, only to lose the proceeds in the next prospect. He also drove freight teams between mining camps in the early days, and was on hand in the first days of such famous camps as Tonopah, Goldfeld, Rhyolite, Greenwater and Shoshone. Wise in desert lore, he was credited with saving the lives of at least two hundred persons who had ventured into Death valley, Panamint valley and other desert areas.

In recent years, he had operated a service station and auto camp at Baker, on U.S. highway 66, and he made his home at Baker until his last illness.

Stories and photos of him are online, as well as biographies here and here.

Parents:

William David Fairbanks (1810 - 1895)

Susan M Fairbanks (1819 - 1899)

Spouse:

Celestia Adelaide Johnson Fairbanks (1861 - 1938)*

Created by: Karen Bray Keeley

Record added: Jul 09, 2010

Find A Grave Memorial# 54736355

FROM ANOTHER SOURCE:

Ralph Jacobus Fairbanks, From Wikipedia:

Ralph Jacobus Fairbanks (December 26, 1857 – October 3, 1943) was an American prospector, entrepreneur and pioneer who established several towns in the Death Valley area of California, including Fairbanks Springs (1904–05) , Shoshone (1910), and Baker (1929).

Ralph was born to Mormon pioneer parents David and Susan Mandeville Fairbanks in Payson, Utah, on December 26, 1857. He was a descendant of Jonathan Fairbanks, whose 17th-century house still stands in Dedham, Massachusetts. He married Celestia Johnson in 1877 and they had eleven children, but only eight survived to adulthood. He followed a job with the railroad start of the 20th century south to Las Vegas, Nevada, and eventually moved his family to Death Valley, California. Earlier in 1883 Fairbanks had been among those called by John Taylor to start a new settlement in the Sevier Valley.

R.J. "Dad" Fairbanks, as he was known to locals, built businesses and towns throughout the region and built the first Standard Oil service station in the area, in Baker, California. He was well known for saving tourists and prospectors who wandered into the desert and also recovered the bodies of those who were not lucky enough to be found in time.

When Ralph was in his 70s, he moved to Santa Paula, California with his wife, Celeste to live with their youngest daughter, Zella Modine and her family. Celeste died in 1938 and Ralph moved to Hollywood, California with Zella and granddaughter Nola Fairbanks. Ralph died on October 3, 1943 at the Hollywood Nursing Home.

Despite that fact that his parents and wife were LDS, Fairbanks was never a devout member of the faith

---

RENO EVENING GAZETTE (Reno, Nevada), October 7, 1943: FUNERAL IS HELD FOR 'DESERT MAN' "Funeral services were held at Hollywood at noon Wednesday for R.J. Fairbanks, one of the last of the "desert men" of the southern Nevada and southeastern California region. "His son Lee Fairbanks of Reno, left this city after receiving word Monday of his father's death in Hollywood, and attended the services. "Few knew his name as Ralph Jacobus Fairbanks---among those who met him during the past forty [years] he was "Dad" Fairbanks. He was eighty-two years old at the time of his death, and a greater part of his lifetime had been spent in the burning wastes of southern Nevada and southeastern California. "He had prospected over many square miles of desert, occasionally making a rich strike, only to lose the proceeds in the next prospect. He also drove freight teams between mining camps in the early days, and was on hand in the first days of such famous camps as Tonopah, Goldfeld, Rhyolite, Greenwater and Shoshone. "Wise in desert lore, he was credited with saving the lives of at least two hundred persons who had ventured into Death valley, Panamint valley and other desert areas. "In recent years, he had operated a service station and auto camp at Baker, on U.S. highway 66, and he made his home at Baker until his last illness."

[http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/b/e/s/Doris-M-Besaw/WEBS..." target="_blank Stories] and [http://www.flickr.com/photos/barstowsteve/3645741136/" target="_blank photos] of him are online, as well as biographies [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Jacobus_Fairbanks" target="_blank here] and [http://www.servinghistory.com/topics/Ralph_Jacobus_Fairbanks" target="_blank here].

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Sep 16 2016, 14:22:09 UTC