MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (E Clampus Vitus Billy Holcomb Chapter #1069 / City of Barstow)

Transcription

1 MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (E Clampus Vitus Billy Holcomb Chapter #1069 / City of Barstow) THIS MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING is entered into this 7 th day of November, 2016, by and between the City of Barstow, a Municipal Corporation ( City ) and the E Clampus Vitus Billy Holcomb Chapter #1069 ( Billy Holcomb Chapter ). WHEREAS, the Billy Holcomb Chapter is requesting permission to place a permanent concrete obelisk on city owned property known as the Historic Harvey House, as shown on Exhibit B; WHEREAS, the obelisk is the base for a three hundred (300) word granite plaque dedicated to the American Hobo, also known as the Knights of the Rails, as illustrated in the attached Exhibit B; WHEREAS, the Billy Holcomb Chapter has presented two (2) narratives for the Plaque, entitled: Knights of the Rails The American Hobo for selection by the City Council; WHEREAS, the Billy Holcomb Chapter would like to prepare the site on Friday, May 5, 2017; install the Plaque on Saturday, May 6, 2017 and a public dedication of the Plaque on Sunday, May 7, 2017; WHEREAS, the Billy Holcomb Chapter will pay all monetary costs associated with the installation of the Plaque; and WHEREAS, the Billy Holcomb Chapter is prepared to follow the City of Barstow s requirements and permitting process for the installation of the Plaque. NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED as follows: 1. That the Billy Holcomb Chapter #1069 be given permission to install a concrete obelisk and a three hundred (300) word granite plaque commemorating the American Hobo, also known as the Knights of the Rails at the Harvey House. 2. That the Barstow City Council shall select the American Hobo narrative which will be used for the Plaque. 3. That the Billy Holcomb Chapter #1069 is responsible for all costs associated with the construction and installation of the Plaque, including but not limited to: (a) all City requirements and permitting process for the construction of the monument; and (b) general liability insurance in the amount of $2,000, During installation of the Plaque, the Billy Holcomb Chapter #1069 shall not damage trees or shrubbery, property, buildings, fencing, other monuments or other material property owned or located on the Harvey House property. 5. The dedication of the American Hobo Plaque will be held on Sunday, the 7 th day of May 2017, starting at 10:00 AM at the Historic Harvey House.

2 6. That the Plaque, once installed and affixed to the property at the Historic Harvey House, shall be the property of the City of Barstow. 7. That the Billy Holcomb Chapter #1069 hereby expressly waives any and all rights it may have pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. Section 106A (commonly known as the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 ) to the following uses for the Plaque: a. City shall have the right to reproduce the Plaque by photography or artistic rendering; b. City shall have the right to move, relocate or remove the Plaque from the intended location and store or dispose of the Plaque as City deems appropriate 8. Billy Holcomb Chapter #1069 further agrees that to the extent California Civil Code Section 987 has force or effect with respect to the Plaque, Billy Holcomb Chapter #1069 expressly waives such rights. 9. Billy Holcomb Chapter #1069 shall indemnify and hold harmless the City of Barstow, its City Council, officials, employees, volunteers and agents from any and all loss, injury, damage, claim of any kind, lawsuit, cost, expense, reasonable attorneys fees, litigation costs, or any other cost arising out of or in any way related to the installation of the Plaque.IN WITNESS, WHEREOF, the City and Billy Holcomb Chapter #1069 have signed and entered into this Memorandum of Understanding as of the effective date and through the signatures of their respective authorized representatives. (The remainder of this page intentionally left blank Signature Page follows)

3 SIGNATURE PAGE to the Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Barstow and the Billy Holcomb Chapter #1069, dated 7 November CITY OF BARSTOW, a Municipal Corporation E CLAMPUS VITUS Billy Holcomb Chapter #1069 Charles C. Mitchell City Manager Scott Wall Humbug, Holcomb, Year 2017 ATTESTED: JoAnne V. Cousino City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: Teresa L. Highsmith City Attorney

4 Knights of the Rails The American Hobo Around the time of the Civil War, railroads were being built at a frantic pace. By the early 1870s there were perhaps 60,000 miles of track in the United States, increasing to 250,000 by the 1930s. The War had produced a generation of young men able to find food and shelter under adverse conditions and hardened to a difficult life of travel and adventure. With the return of peace, many no longer had jobs or family ties and became itinerant workmen, crisscrossing the country for free by hopping a train. Economic depression beginning in 1873 accelerated this trend. The origin of the word Hobo is unknown, but two possibilities are from the first two letters of the words Homeward Bound, or from Hoe Boy, indicating a farmhand traveling with his tools looking for work. Although often lumped together, there was once a clear distinction between hoboes, tramps, and bums. Hoboes were mostly respectable men (and a few women) traveling in search of work. Tramps also traveled, but were averse to work in any form, living by begging, petty crime, and con jobs. Bums were degraded men who tended to stay in one place, living on inner city skid rows. Although there were often found together, hoboes considered themselves distinct from and superior to tramps and bums. Hoboes developed their own lingo, with phrases like Riding the Rods, Flophouse, and Mulligan Stew, as well as a series of symbols marked on buildings and structures indicating where work or a handout could be obtained, places with vicious dogs, or where a hobo could find a place to flop for the night. Considered romantic by some, the life of a hobo was hard and often short. In addition to the dangers of hopping trains (tens of thousands of hoboes were killed or crippled in railroad accidents), they waged a continual battle with the Bulls (railroad cops) and Shacks (Brakemen), whose duty it was to keep the hoboes off the trains. The railroad men often extorted money in exchange for rides, and if no fare was forthcoming, the hoboes were ditched from the train, often violently and in dangerous, barren country. They congregated in Hobo Jungles found near every rail yard, including Barstow, which was then, as now, a major railroad hub. The demise of the hobo came in the years before World War II. The great depression of the 1930s caused a surge of people traveling the country in search of work. But more and more they were reliant on the automobile. Faster, more modern trains became ever more difficult to hop or flip, and increasing employment opportunities in War production greatly diminished the numbers of itinerant workers. During their heyday, hoboes built the railroads as well as traveled on them, harvested grain on the great plains and picked fruit and vegetables in California and the Pacific Northwest, constructed bridges, dams, and canals, cut trees, and built roads. Even while providing a critical part of the strength of American labor, they were reviled and persecuted as tramps and vagrants. Nonetheless, their contribution to the building of America cannot be denied, and their history and heritage lives on. Dedicated May 7, 2017 By the Billy Holcomb Chapter #1069 of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus in cooperation with the City of Barstow

5 The American Hobo The Knights of the Rails By the end of the American Civil War, train travel was the predominant mode of transport for any citizen traveling a long distance. The tracks stretched from one coast to the next with the completion of the Trans-Continental Railway in However, train travel was an expensive proposition in its day, not all Americans gad the means to see or travel the country in such style. The end of the Civil War also brought on a population of men disenchanted by the direction of their own lives. Families had disbanded, financial hardships had taken a toll, and the sight of death in the battlefield had hardened many souls. Many sought escape in any form possible. The railways offered such diversion to the hardship of life. Many men began to search for a better place and that search in itself became a lifestyle and the American Hobo was born in the late 1800 s. By hopping a freighter heading in any direction one wished to go, a man could simplify his life and leave any and all burdens at the last stop. The steady drone of the tracks passing beneath as you slept within an open boxcar and the camaraderie found within Hobo Camps that sprouted alongside the tracks across the United States and Canada allowed for a lifestyle that while not for all men, was a saving grace for those cut from a very specific cloth. Such a life was hard, dangerous and not without its dilemmas. Many a rider was killed in horrific fashion in the rail yards as jumping on or off moving trains required a risk of life at every attempt. Railroads hired Marshalls to curtail the freeloaders and many were simply thugs paid to enforce the rules outside of legal means. Many men simply passed away without ever being noticed by the outside world, buried by fellow Hobo s on the side of the rails in unmarked graves. Regardless the hardship, the American Hobo thrived for over a hundred years as men traveled without a ticket to places across the nation with no itinerary, no plan and no purpose except the simple pleasure of traveling. These men were the modern Knights of the Rail and this marker is set to preserve the memory of their lives, lifestyle and sacrifices. Dedicated on May 7, 2017 In conjunction with the Barstow City Council by the Billy Holcomb Chapter #1069 of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus