The history of Road's End Camp and Havasu Palms

from a speech given by Bobbi Ann Johnson Holmes to the Lake Havasu City Historical Society in 2005

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       By 1972 Havasu Palms had improved the beach, added new boat slips and a new launch ramp.
             That same year I left home, and went off to college. The lease negotiations continued to lag, and Dad began thinking of other development options. He had an idea for a riverboat store and restaurant. One advantage, would be the ability to move the structure if the lease negations continued to stall. I was taking photography at the time, so I made an appointment to take extensive interior and exterior photographs of a riverboat restaurant in the New Port Beach area. Dad took the photos and developed a workable proposal.
            Initially the BLM gave a favorable response.   With their encouragement, Dad continued to work on the plans, but later that year the BLM informed my father that they could no longer work with Havasu Palms for a longer lease, as the land may be turned over to the Chemehuevi Indians. The tribe had ratified their first constitution two years early, which meant they were now a recognized tribe. The next year the BLM informed us that the riverboat development would not be right for the area.
            Whatever hopes my parents had for a long term lease, took a blow. Yet the BLM kept assuring my parents that the tribe would negotiate with them for a longer lease term when the transfer was official. We were living in a limbo. My parents were not in a position to pack up and leave, they had already invested everything into the park. We didn’t know if the land would be added to the reservation , or if it would stay under the BLM jurisdiction.
            Unable to simply sit around and wait, my parents continued to develop the park. By 1974 my father had added 90 mobile home spaces to the park. The project was funded through money borrowed from family and friends. Dad designed everything, he was a hands on contractor, who did much of the labor with his small crew..
            That year we got the word that the land had been added to the reservation. It would be years before we would understand the implications of being on a reservation. At this time we had 10 years remaining on the lease.
            In 1975 Dad added another 29 mobile home spaces, and planted over 300 trees in the park. That year we began negotiating with the tribe for a lease.
At the time, Jerry McQueen was the General Manager of what was called Chemehuevi Inc. He contacted Havasu Palms and opened the door for lease negotiations, on behalf on Tribe. He told us the Tribe was willing to negotiate for 25 year lease with a 25 year option, or a 30 year lease with a 20 year option.
            But then the players changed and we were shifted to Pierre Koenig of Chemehuevi Planning Committee, who conveyed that the Tribe was pleased with Havasu Palms’ acceptance of lease terms, and that the Tribe was willing to offer a 30 year lease with a 20 year option. Throughout the years we had been trying to get someone to help us maintain the road. He also promised that they would use every means to assist us in road improvement.

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