1949 Centennial Pageant

1949 Centennial Pageant

     The Death Valley '49ers started as a non-profit organization in 1949 with members from Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. They worked in connection with California's State Centennial Celebration to produce an authentic historical pageant in Death Valley glorifying the spirit of the California pioneers.

Crowd overview

     The Death Valley '49ers, in cooperation with the California Centennials Commission presented the spectacular DEATH VALLEY CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION pageant in Desolation Canyon on December 3, 1949. The original planners had grandstand seating for 5000 but more than 65,000 people showed up - it was a huge success !

Stage area

     The pageant included reenactment of events of 1849 with music by Ferde Grofe and the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra. The narration of all the proceedings was given by James Stewart, the actor. This photo shows the orchestra on the hill in the background, the wagons of the Pageant in the middle and the overflow crowd standing on the hillside in the foreground.

Hundreds of cars
in the parking area

     This photo shows the cars parked at Desolation Canyon. This photo does not show it, but cars were backed up on the highway for miles, lined four across, with people setting up camp right where they ended up stopping. As one of the Founding Death Valley '49ers said, "Tens of thousands of visitors have been thrilled to see Death Valley's awesome beauty and to learn about the heroic pioneers of a century ago".