The 66 Kid

195 Pages·2014·46.918 MB·English

by  Bob Boze Bell

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RAISED ON THE
MOTHER ROAD
BOB BOZE BELL
BOOK DESIGN
DAN HARSHBERGER
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First published in 2014 by Voyageur Press, an imprint of
Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc., 400 First Avenue North,
Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA
© 2014 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.
Text © 2014 Bob Boze Bell
Paintings by Bob Boze Bell. All other images are from
the author’s collection unless noted otherwise.
All rights reserved. With the exception of quoting brief passages
for the purposes of review, no part of this publication may be
reproduced without prior written permission from the Publisher.
The information in this book is true and complete to the best
of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without any
guarantee on the part of the author or Publisher, who also
disclaims any liability incurred in connection with the use
of this data or specific details.
We recognize, further, that some words, model names,
and designations mentioned herein are the property of
the trademark holder. We use them for identification
purposes only. This is not an official publication.
Voyageur Press titles are also available at discounts in
bulk quantity for industrial or sales-promotional use.
For details write to Special Sales Manager at Quarto
Publishing Group USA Inc., 400 First Avenue North,
Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA.
To find out more about our books, visit us online at
www.voyageurpress.com.
ISBN: 978-0-7603-4695-2
Digital edition: 978-1-62788-380-1
Softcover edition: 978-0-76034-695-2
Library of Congress Control Number:  2014936962
On the title page: Robert Bell, 1955
Printed in China
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A PROMISSORY NOTE
It took me 66 years to discover why Route 66
is the most famous highway in the world.
I must admit that for the longest time I was confounded,
even irritated, by its notoriety. But in my defense,
it’s hard to see legends from the side of the road.
Especially when you grow up traveling it every day and your
mom and dad make their living from it. When I was nine
years old, I started getting interested in Old West history.
And when I read my favorite magazine, True West,
my hometown was never mentioned.
So I concluded that nothing ever happened there.
I couldn’t wait to grow up and leave the God-forsaken place.
I had much to learn.
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My Earliest
66 Memory
We are westbound on Route 66 near
the Painted Desert. It’s hot and my dad is
driving with his hands precisely at 10 and 2
on the wheel. My mom is in the passenger
seat, talking about something I don’t
understand, when over the dash I see a
shimmering apparition floating on the
horizon. Heat waves distort and bend the
image into strange designs until it turns
into an oncoming car, which blasts past us
on the narrow blacktop.
On the next ridge another car
takes its place,
dancing in the
sunlight.
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“Don’t look back. You’re not
going that way.”
—good ol’ Ben Rux
THE ORIGINAL GUESS GIRL
Bobbi Guess was born in Lordsburg, New Mexico, in 1925, 500 available women, so every fair-haired—and even the
and grew up at a ranch on the Gila River near Duncan, not-so-fair—maiden could afford to be choosy.
Arizona. The middle child of Louise and Bob Guess, Bobbi
According to her sister, Jean, Bobbi dated captains and
and her four sisters rode horses and worked cattle as their
lieutenants. After breaking off an engagement to a
father tried to make his ranch a success.
prominent rancher, however, she ultimately chose a buck
Busted by the Depression in 1936, Bob walked away from private from Thompson, Iowa.
the ranch and returned to Mohave County and northwest
Arizona, where he had worked 25 years earlier as a
cowboy for legendary cowman
Tap Duncan.
The Guess family
arrived that summer
at the Diamond Bar
Ranch, north of Route
66 in the Hackberry
region, and started over.
(The photo on opposite
page is Bobbi, then 13,
astride her father’s car
and looking pensive but
Lillie Louise Guess, better
hopeful after they arrived.) known as Bobbi, after high
school graduation in 1939.
Bobbi graduated from Mohave County Union High School
in 1939 and worked for the school district in Valentine.
When World War II broke out, the Kingman Air Base was
hastily built and some 10,000 GIs were sent there to train
and man the fort. At that time, Mohave County had about
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