Guest Commentary written by
Julia Sizek
Julia Sizek is an anthropologist whose research focuses on conflict over California’s land and natural resources.
In 1975, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the Phantom Duck of the Desert started his motorcycle engine in Barstow, Calif. in defiance of federal orders. He and his friends were headed to Las Vegas for their first “unorganized” trail ride, off-roading through the desert to protest the Bureau of Land Management.
The U.S. agency had recently denied a permit for the 10th annual Barstow-to-Vegas, the “granddaddy” of dirt bike races. The Duck and his compadres were incensed…