JERRY PERSON -- A Look Back

For many years, the old West was alive and well in Huntington Beach at

Marion Speer’s Western Trails Museum.

The museum was out in the Liberty Park area of Huntington Beach, inside

Speer’s home at 7862 Speer Ave. The street was named for him.

Speer spent most of his life traveling the Western states and collecting

and cataloging thousands of relics of the frontier days.

Speer was born on a farm in St. Joe, Texas, on Jan. 2, 1885. When he was

4 years old, he found his first treasure -- an American Indian skinning

knife -- while helping his father plow the field. This was the start of

his fabulous collection.

Before Speer came to California, he lived in Colorado. He graduated from

the Colorado School of Mines and was active there in several mining

ventures.

Speer came to Huntington Beach in the early 1920s and became interested,

along with resident Bud Higgins, in the county’s Red Cross projects and

its disaster programs.

Speer and his wife, Rosa, traveled extensively throughout the West,

picking up pieces to add to the collection. In 1931, Speer published a

book, “Western Trails,” about his travels in the old West and the people

he knew. He personally knew Wyatt Earp and other colorful characters.

In September 1937, he built his house on Speer Avenue, in part to house

his collection. When he dedicated the museum, the Chamber of Commerce

gave him a life membership, and Mayor Marcus McCallen presented Speer

with a golden keys to the city.

In 1940, Speer was injured in a car accident and was told by doctors that

he would never work or drive again. He proved them wrong and continued

working full time for Texaco Oil and guiding school children through his

museum.

Residents donated materials to enable Speer to add a second wing to his

museum in August 1941. It was necessary to add a third wing in 1945.

The museum contained collections of old guns, arrowheads, assay scales,

rocks and minerals, early photos, railroad spikes, etc. One relic at the

museum was an American flag made by William Ducher, a Hessian soldier,

and used in the Revolutionary War.

In 1956, Speer made a deal with Walter Knott to have the collection moved

to Knott’s Berry Farm if Knott would build a structure to house his

collection. In return, Speer would continue on as the curator.

Speer stayed at Knott’s until he retired at age 84 on Dec. 31, 1969.

Speer’s wife passed away on April 18, 1971. Later, Speer remarried. He

passed away in Fullerton on Aug. 27, 1978.

The building that once housed his collection is no longer at Knott’s

Berry Farm. I was unsuccessful in contacting Knott’s about the fate of

the thousands of relics that Speer had spent a lifetime collecting.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.