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.
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.
Family Members
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William Henry Fairbanks
1838–1922
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Mary Jane Fairbanks Pace
1841–1926
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Cornelius Mandeville Fairbanks
1843–1920
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Susan Jones Fairbanks Gauchat
1846–1904
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Barbara Matilda Fairbanks Simons
1850–1923
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David Brooks "D .B." Fairbanks
1853–1940
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Joseph Warren Fairbanks
1856–1924
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Martha Alice Fairbanks Keeler
1860–1938
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Nicholas Jones Fairbanks
1863–1899
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