Page 9 - full mag fall 2017 flip

Friends oF red rock canyon 9

see the pomegranate trees that she destroyed when that wall was torn down after the ranch
had planted were still bearing fruit. was sold.

While the rest of the family
drifted off to explore the grounds
and back pasture, I was entertained
for an hour by the two brothers who
shared memories about their time
at the ranch. Their ability to recall
dates, names and events that happened almost eighty
years ago was truly impressive.

CB Oliver owned a business in Oak Park, Illinois but
always loved the
west and wanted The Oliver Ranch pool and bath house circa 1945.
to have a place to Photo provided by Ken Frejlach
bring his family, The swimming pool was built the second year and
feeling it would Bruce remembered that after the forms were in place
be good experi- the concrete was poured in one day using a cement
ence for his two mixer and that the work
sons. This was lasted from sunup until
reinforced when sundown. The pool was
Robert and Bruce Oliver with the CB saw the Oak
remains of the main house. Park housekeeper 40 by 60 feet long. In
tying young order to get the 10 foot
depth, gypsum was
Robert’s shoelaces, causing him to exclaim he was not blasted out with dyna-
going to raise a Little Lord Fauntleroy. mite. The slate used

around the pool and for
When the family arrived in 1938, there was just one the main house floor
small stone structure at the ranch, which would later came from a quarry
become the kitchen in the main house. That first sum- north of Las Vegas and
mer CB and Bruce stayed at the ranch while Robert was unusual because Robert and Bruce Oliver by the
and Mrs. Oliver drove back and forth from town each it contained embedded pool. Circa 1940s
day. Robert remembered that the outhouse was close to fossils. The two brothers Provided by the Oliver Family
the house and only had two sides. The original road to built the pool bathhouse
what is now Bonnie Springs Ranch and Spring Moun- because they wanted their own place to sleep during the
tain State Park passed right in front of what became the warm weather.
main house.

Most of the structures were built that first year using
local stonemasons and carpen-
ters and some Oliver employees
who traveled from a Utah mine
CB owned. The stone used for the
walls came from a quarry near the
former town of Arden. Later, ad-
ditional rooms were added to the
main house and Bruce’s wife Betty
painted a mural over the kitchen
Betty Oliver’s mural in the main kitchen in 2006. The Oliver children and grandchildren exploring the site of the
photo by Tom Hughes sink. Unfortunately, the mural was old pool.
(Continued on page 10)

Fall 2017