In February 1954, the beginning of the second year of Dwight Eisenhower’s presidency, he was invited by friends Paul Helms and Paul Hoffman to visit them at their homes in the exclusive Smoke Tree Ranch enclave in Palm Springs.
It was Eisenhower’s first visit to the Coachella Valley, but it would not be his last. After his presidency, Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie, ended up leasing a home there for several years to use during the winter months.
When Eisenhower arrived at the Palm Springs airport in 1954, Mayor Florian Boyd and Gov. Goodwin Knight were there to greet him. People lined the streets to see him drive from the airport to Smoke Tree Ranch.
The following morning, Eisenhower went to his “Western White House,” a converted building on the ranch, to do a bit of work. He signed 19 minor bills into law. Could these be the first federal bills signed by a president in Riverside County?
In addition to doing a bit of work that morning, Eisenhower went golfing, a favorite pastime of his. What Eisenhower did that evening, a Saturday, wasn’t as well recorded in his calendar. This led to false reports of his death and, over the years, an interesting conspiracy theory about what exactly Eisenhower was doing that Saturday night in February 1954.
The evening of Feb. 20, Eisenhower seemingly disappeared and rumors began circulating that he had died of a heart attack. The Associated Press even reported the president had died, but retracted the story a few minutes later.
Eisenhower’s disappearance was attributed by his office to a chipped tooth and an emergency visit to a dentist. But there are those who say that was just a cover story to hide what really happened.
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Various sources, including an article in The Washington Post on Feb. 18, 2004, by Peter Carlson, explore the theory that Eisenhower was actually whisked away to Edwards Air Force Base that evening so he could meet with extraterrestrial beings that had appeared there in their spaceship. They supposedly communicated with Eisenhower telepathically and offered advanced technology and spiritual enlightenment in exchange for the earth eliminating all nuclear weapons. It is said Eisenhower did not agree to this deal and the meeting ended.
What is known is that Eisenhower left Smoke Tree Ranch that Saturday evening in an unscheduled departure.
He attended church services in Los Angeles the following morning. Eisenhower also was having well-documented problems with a particular tooth cap around that time, the same one he supposedly chipped that Saturday night in the Coachella Valley.
I will leave it to you, the reader, to decide for yourself what exactly Eisenhower was doing that night in 1954.
If you have an idea for a future Back in the Day column about a local historic person, place or event, contact Steve Lech and Kim Jarrell Johnson at backinthedaype@gmail.com.