The ElDorado Directive

[BoneDaddy]

I'm setting up a PBeM pulp campaign - setting up I said, not taking character submissions. I'll let you know when that happens. The setting is the American Desert Southwest circa 1937 - 1939. The genre is ... well, it's pulp. There's some weird science, some spycraft, some cults, some detective work, a nameless horror here and there... It's complicated, and I'll show all as soon as I can.

 

Here's what I want - I want a little help with that period in the fourcorners region. What was there? There was still the occasional dust storm, I get that, and ghost towns, and Native Americans. Does anyone know what else was there? Vegas was just starting and Bugsy knew about the place but didn't have funding for the Flamingo yet, and that's way the hell and gone over in Nevada. I found the incredibly useful, astonishingly annoying http://www.ghosttowns.com. Does anyone know a resource for history of US military presence in the area at the time? The Army Air Corps wasn't officially there at the time...

 

Advice, suggestions? What must the 1930's desert southwest have? I have a few hooks that will let the group leave the area, which isn't a bad idea, but it really centers there.

[Comic]

Re: The ElDorado Directive

 

Prospectors, automobiles, dinosaur fossils, oilwells, airfields, airplanes, 'moderns', depression-era vagabonds and economic refugees, railroads, and a whole lot of hot, empty ground and cold nights.

 

Oh, and... http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/depression/section2.rhtml

 

My google-fu is still weak, yet.

[telemachus]

Re: The ElDorado Directive

 

For flavor you might want to take a look at H. P. Lovecraft's story "The Mound". It's set in Oklahoma, but it might give you some idea of the area at that time.

[the Evil DM]

Re: The ElDorado Directive

 

There is an autobiography of Louis L'Amour called "Education of a wandering man" in which the author tells of his travels and self-education during the 20' and 30's. rather than a standard chronological biography, L'Amour reminices and discusses situations in his early life as a seaman, boxer, miner, longshoreman, aspiring pulp writer, etc. in one anecdote he was a caretaker of a silvermine in the mojave desert region, where he was stranded and had to make his way on foot through the desert to the nearest town. It may provide you with some of the flavor of the times. I found it very interesting when he wrote a bit about the "Hobo" culture of the period where men would ride the rails from town to town looking for jobs. Even though it's officially an autobiography, you can find the book in just about any used bookstore with a western section.

Good luck on your game.

[Captain Obvious]

Re: The ElDorado Directive

 

The 25th Infantry Division was at Fort Huachuca, in southeast AZ. I think there were a few other forts still in use at the time too...

 

Edit: Looks like Fort Defiance was an office of the Indian Agency until 1936. It was demilitarized years before though. After 1936 Indian Agencies in the area were centralized at Window Rock.

 

Hmm...further reading shows Fort Defiance was abandoned and reactivated several times before it was taken over by the Indian Agency.

 

Looks like most of the other military installations in AZ were abandoned by this time (or not yet established).

[BoneDaddy]

Re: The ElDorado Directive

 

The 25th Infantry Division was at Fort Huachuca, in southeast AZ. I think there were a few other forts still in use at the time too...

 

Edit: Looks like Fort Defiance was an office of the Indian Agency until 1936. It was demilitarized years before though. After 1936 Indian Agencies in the area were centralized at Window Rock.

 

Hmm...further reading shows Fort Defiance was abandoned and reactivated several times before it was taken over by the Indian Agency.

 

Looks like most of the other military installations in AZ were abandoned by this time (or not yet established).

Thanks! Do you have a quick and easy source for that, or was it piece by piece research? Abandoned 19th century military forts in the desert are a perfect place for all sorts of nefarious activities.

[Captain Obvious]

Re: The ElDorado Directive

 

It was kinda piecemeal research, although a quick search of "army fort arizona" should come up with more than you'll ever need outside of a Western Hero game focused on the Indian Wars. I was mostly looking for those still in use in the late 30s.

[Midas]

Re: The ElDorado Directive

 

I'll stick an oar in here.

 

The author Zane Grey wrote mostly westerns, but he wrote some "contemporary" stories too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zane_Grey. You might read Lost Pueblo (set in the flapper era), or Boulder Dam (set in Mob era Las Vegas). Lost Pueblo might be particularly good for your purposes (Annoyed father drags Flapper Daughter "out west" to help her "clear her head").

 

Midas

[Basil]

Re: The ElDorado Directive

 

Elderly gentlemen who remember the "Wild West" --- which was, after all, only 3 to 5 decades before your setting.

 

Also, Bonnie and Clyde swung through New Mexico about 5 years before.