Tales of The Desert Padre: Fr. John J. Crowley - Featured Today He gave his life to a barren desert valley that had been stripped of life by the Los Angeles irrigation system.

In doing so, Fr. John Crowley became a legend. By William E. Webster '4. Alongside state Route 1. California high desert country, a stark memorial- a white, rust- stained cross made of plain metal pipe bearing the inscription, "Father John J. Crowley"- rises from the arid, mesquite- covered plain some 2.

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Red Rock Canyon State Park. This simple memorial marks the location where Fr. Crowley died in 1. Ford along this lonely stretch of highway. A graduate of Holy Cross, his story is the stuff of legend. My family had passed that simple memorial many times on our way to camping and fishing locales in the Eastern Sierra Nevada country.

Further north, we had driven by Crowley Lake, which, I later learned, had been named for him. A Catholic priest who served in the desert area in the 1. Fr. Crowley has been cited in the book, Water and Power, by William L. Kahrl, as one of the most influential advocates of tourism in an area desperately in need of economic development during the Depression years. The reference piqued my curiosity; later, while browsing in a bookstore in the Owens Valley, I discovered a book entitled, Desert Padre, by Joan Brooks and learned that Fr.

Crowley was a graduate of Holy Cross. This discovery inspired me to learn more about this wonderful man. To appreciate the role Fr. Crowley would play in Owens Valley, one needs to understand the geography and history of this area situated between the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the west and the stark White and Inyo mountains to the east. Starting in the 1. Owens River to irrigate fields and orchards in the remote valley and created, for a short time, one of the most productive agricultural areas in California. That would change, however, when the gigantic irrigation projects diverted the water from the valley along 2.

Los Angeles, resulting in that city's phenomenal growth and the corresponding decline of the Owens Valley farms. The incident is the subject of the movie Chinatown.) Before long, the verdant valley was returned to desert conditions where the vegetation consisted largely of greasewood and sagebrush. It was in this harsh environment that Fr.

Crowley would live during his years of service to the area. With the demise of agriculture as an economic base, Fr.

Crowley turned to tourism as a potential means of helping the valley residents survive. And it is to these efforts that he would devote the final six years of his life. John J. Crowley was born on Dec. County Kerry, Ireland. His family emigrated to Worcester in 1. Crowley entered Holy Cross in 1.

The Purple and serving as the journal's editor in chief during his senior year. This literary flair would stay with him throughout his life as he wrote for various local and diocesan publications during his 2. California. After graduating from Holy Cross, he entered the seminary in Baltimore, Md., with a reference from Rev.

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Joseph N. Dinand, S. J. Ordained in 1. Fall River, Mass., he left shortly after for Los Angeles, borrowing 5. He served briefly in two parishes before he volunteered, in 1. Mono, Inyo, Kern and San Bernadino. His initial parish covered 3.

Ireland. His northernmost church was in Bishop, 2. Barstow. And in those years, this remote area had few paved roads. Driving between his scattered parish meant bouncing over gravel and sand. The parish contained both the lowest spot in the United States, Death Valley, and the highest, Mount Whitney. In his first 1. 6 months, Fr.

Crowley put over 5. Model T Ford. Adapting quickly to his new environment, he kept a sleeping bag in his car for emergencies and donned the uniform that would be his trademark: riding boots, khaki riding pants and a khaki shirt under which he wore his clerical collar.

After serving in this desert parish for five years, he became pastor of St. John's Cathedral, Fresno, in 1. During this time, Fr. Crowley was instrumental in starting St. Columba's High School there; as part of a major diocesan fund- raiser, he arranged for Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig to appear in an exhibition baseball game. Ten years later, Fr. Crowley returned to Eastern Sierra County and the Owens Valley.

He was disheartened by what he found. With the water supply diverted to Los Angeles, many of the region's residents had despaired and abandoned their farms and homes. With frightening speed, the Valley had turned from a thriving community into a sun- baked wasteland. The people that remained were embittered. Moved by the grief and poverty he encountered, Fr. Watch Paterson Online Facebook.

Crowley made it his mission to try and save Owens Valley. It was a daunting undertaking. Studying water- flow charts and the scandalous history of land acquisition by Los Angeles, Fr.

Crowley became convinced that, had the Long Valley Dam been constructed in the correct location, there would have been enough water for both the city and the valley. He also realized that the only way to reverse the disaster was to unite the valley people. So, he made it his business to get to know every man, woman and child living in the Owens Valley, whether they were his parishioners or not. As writer Irving Stone pointed out in a famous Saturday Evening Post article, "(Fr.

Crowley) worked constantly for religious tolerance. Protestants forgave him for being a Catholic, and the Catholics forgave him for having so many Protestant friends. Somewhere along the line, the padre became The Padre, an understanding father to whom the frightened, the weary and the confused could come for comfort and help." The desert padre began spending 1.

Tourism, Fr. Crowley believed, was the answer. The region offered hunting, fishing, skiing and some of the most spectacular scenic views in the nation. Watch Belly 2: Millionaire Boyz Club Hindi Full Movie.

His parish was now mostly Inyo County. Each Sunday he would celebrate Mass in the county's two major towns, at 7: 3. Lone Pine, and then, at 1. Bishop, a grueling drive of 6.

His duties also included ministering to the tiny mining community of Keeler and the missions in Death Valley as well as serving as chaplain to the young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps. It was during this period that he wrote over 2. Sage and Tumbleweed, under the nom de plume, "Inyokel," a play on words both geographic and humorous.

His stories appeared first in the diocesan paper in Fresno, and later, in the secular press, as their popularity grew. In this column, Fr. Crowley addressed an amazing variety of topics but always with humor and humanity.

The pieces remain remarkably fresh and timely today. During this time, the country between Lone Pine and Whitney Portal, the trail ascent of Mount Whitney, became a favorite location for Hollywood filmmaking. This area, known as the Alabama Hills, is familiar to filmgoers as the shooting location for Gunga Din, King of the Kyber Rifles and the Hopalong Cassidy pictures.

Fr. Crowley developed friendships with some of the most famous stars of the era. Cary Grant, Victor Mc. Laglen and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Gunga Din, but his very best friend was Mexican character actor Leo Carrillo, who shared with Fr. Crowley a great love of children.

As part of his ongoing efforts to publicize the Eastern Sierra as an ideal tourist location, Fr. Crowley organized an extravaganza in October 1.

The three- day celebration entitled, "The Wedding of the Waters," commemorated the completion of a paved road from Death Valley to Whitney Portal, linking the lowest spot in the country to the highest- in the then 4. In a clever publicity move, Fr. Crowley filled a desert gourd with water from the highest lake in the country. The gourd was carried first by a Native American, then transported, on horseback, by one of the first men to climb Mount Whitney. Next it was taken in a stagecoach, driven by the descendant of an original stagecoach hand who was accompanied by the governor of California.