Edwin Francis Walker

After graduation from high school in Evanston, Illinois, ED WIN F. (NED) WALKER'S business career (interrupted for this year of adventure in the still Wild West) started with Chase and Sanborn in Chicago and carried him to top level executive positions with Marshall Field & Co. of Chicago, John Wanamaker of New York and Bullock's of Los Angeles to which he moved because of his great love for the West. Finally, a new 1929 combine of brick and tile manufacturers of which he was president and chief investor, folded in the Great Crash, wiping out every penny of his finances, but not a bit of his spirit, enthusiasm, and great interest in American Indian lore. Well versed in the subject, he joined the staff of the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles, giving of his talent and imagination for twenty-two more years. In his 70s and 80s he inspired and joined a project to make archeological studies of prehistoric sites about to be destroyed by highways, airports and other developments. He, and a group of his old cronies in the field, would take off with their bed rolls and camp gear and a stout crew of Explorer Scouts, B. S. A. to handle the pick and shovel department, for long weekends of running scientifically planned and studied trenches and making finds that would otherwise be lost forever. His writings, published by the Southwest Museum in the Master-key and individual pamphlets included: "A Yokuts Cemetery at Elk Hills", Introduction to "Archeological Survey of 29 Palms Region", "World Crops Derived from the Indians", "American Indian Back-ground", 'Five Prehistoric Archeological Sites in Los Angeles County", and "The Notable Treaty with the Navaho". His memberships included the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Archaeological Institute of America, the Adventurers Club, and THE WESTERNERS.