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56-595: The Pahrump Valley was crossed by the Old Spanish Trail and later the Salt Lake Road . The large block of the Spring Mountains borders Pahrump Valley on the northeast and east, with Nevada State Route 160 skirting parts of the mountain's south, and being the only due west route from Las Vegas. Route 160 turns northwest to Pahrump in the valley's center-north then meets U.S. Route 95 at

112-708: A cut off developed on the Old Spanish Trail that cut the distance traveled along the upper Mojave River, by cutting across what is now Victor Valley , from the Cajon Pass to a crossing just below the Lower Narrows of the river. On April 20, 1844, following the advice of his guide, John C. Frémont intercepted this route to the river, riding east southeast from Lake Elizabeth , north of the San Gabriel Mountains . Another cutoff to

168-476: A mule, which were considered hardier. California had almost no wool-processing industry and few weavers, so woven products were a welcome commodity. The trading party usually left New Mexico in early November to take advantage of winter rains to cross the deserts on the trail and would arrive in California in early February. The return party would usually leave California for New Mexico in early April to get over

224-699: A report to the governor, and this was published by the Mexican government in June 1830. After this date, traders generally used the trail for a single, annual round trip. Word spread about Armijo's successful trade expedition, and some commerce began between Santa Fe and Los Angeles. However, in 1830, due to resumed hostilities with the Navajo , the Armijo route west to the Colorado River Crossing of

280-462: A route he called "Cañon de San Bernardino" from the upper Mojave River west through Cajon Pass and down Crowder and Cajon canyons to the mouth of Cajon Pass, where the trail reached the coastal plain of San Bernardino Valley . This route was undoubtedly known to the vaqueros of San Bernardino Estancia. Once through the pass, they turned west along the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains for two days to San Jose Creek ; they followed it, crossing

336-828: A section of the trail in Arches National Park was placed on the National Register of Historic Places . In 2001, the section of the Trail that runs across Nevada from the Arizona border to California was placed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Old Spanish Trail/Mormon Road Historic District. Mojave National Preserve and Mojave Trails National Monument preserve sections of

392-728: A short cut route southwest to the mouth of the Mojave River. From Las Vegas Wash on the Colorado River, Armijo's expedition passed southwestward to Eldorado Dry Lake in Eldorado Valley and the spring at Goodsprings Valley , then through Wilson Pass , across Mesquite Valley and California Valley , through what became known as Emigrant Pass to Resting Springs , then along the Amargosa River from near Tecopa to Salt Spring . From Salt Spring they crossed

448-638: A two-day-long waterless stretch up Salt Creek to Laguna del Milagro ("Lake of the Miracle") (probably Silver Lake ), then to Ojito del Malpais ("little spring of the badlands") on Soda Lake . They had another waterless day beyond Soda Lake, where they reached the Mojave River , only intermittently dependable for potable water, and the Mohave Trail leading up river. By then short of food, Armijo sent some of his scouts ahead to get more food in

504-511: Is a combination of a network of trails first established by indigenous people and later used by Spanish explorers, trappers, and traders with the Ute and other indigenous tribes. The eastern parts of what became called the Old Spanish Trail, including southwest Colorado and southeast Utah , were explored by Juan Maria de Rivera in 1765. Franciscan missionaries Francisco Atanasio Domínguez and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante unsuccessfully attempted

560-527: Is a historical trade route that connected the northern New Mexico settlements of (or near) Santa Fe, New Mexico with those of Los Angeles , California and southern California. Approximately 700 mi (1,100 km) long, the trail ran through areas of high mountains, arid deserts, and deep canyons. It is considered one of the most arduous of all trade routes ever established in the United States. Explored, in part, by Spanish explorers as early as

616-460: Is the southern border of the valley. The closest community to Pahrump is Shoshone, California , 25 mi southwest, with Ash Meadows Ranch and Death Valley Junction, California slightly farther to the northwest. The Pahrump Valley Wilderness is in the southern valley, the northern Kingston Range, and the California and Mesquite Valleys . Old Spanish Trail (trade route) The Old Spanish Trail ( Spanish : Viejo Sendero Español )

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672-855: The Four Corners area, and passed north of the Carrizo Mountains to Church Rock , east of present-day Kayenta . The trail ran to Marsh Pass and north through Tsegi Canyon into canyon country. At the Colorado River (then called the Rio Grande), the travelers forded at the Crossing of the Fathers above present-day Glen Canyon Dam . Continuing west to Pipe Spring and on to Virgin River above present-day St. George, Utah ,

728-653: The Grand Canyon . He encountered and recorded accounts of the Native American tribes in their desert and riparian valley homelands, and established peaceable relations for the Crown, including with the Quechan , Mojave , Hopi , and Havasupai . Many journeys were explorations on his own in the deserts. He accompanied soldier-explorer Juan Bautista de Anza part way in both his large overland expeditions:

784-560: The Mexican–American War of 1846–1848. After 1848 numerous Mormon immigrants began settling in Utah , Nevada , and California all along the trail, affecting both trade interests and tolerance for the slavery of American Natives. Place names used in this article refer to present-day states and communities. Few (if any) settlements existed along the trail, except in the coastal plains of Alta California, before 1850, although many of

840-873: The Mohave villages (below modern Laughlin ) and followed the route between the springs along the Mojave Trail to Soda Lake and the Mojave River. Later caravans could alternatively follow the Armijo Route diverting southwestward from the Colorado at Las Vegas Wash, to Resting Springs and to the Mojave River where it joined the Wolfskill/Yount Route, following that river upward to and over the San Bernardino Mountains through Cajon Pass, Crowder Canyon and lower Cajon Canyon and across

896-546: The San Gabriel River at the Rancho La Puente , and reaching Mission San Gabriel Arcángel on January 30, 1830. Armijo used the same route to return to his original town, traveling from March 1 to April 25, 1830. He submitted a brief journal of his journey (itemizing the days with names of places where camps were made but not quantifying distances) to the government of New Mexico, and it was published by

952-497: The San Juan Mountains , Mancos , and Dove Creek , entering Utah near present-day Monticello . The trail proceeded north through difficult terrain to Spanish Valley near today's Moab, Utah , where a ferry crossed the deep and wide Colorado River and then turned northwest to a ferry crossing on the similarly sized and dangerous Green River near present-day Green River, Utah . The route then passed through (or around)

1008-682: The San Rafael Swell , the northernmost reach of the Trail. Entering the Great Basin in Utah via Salina Creek Canyon , the trail turned southwest following the Sevier , Santa Clara , Virgin Rivers to the north bank of the Colorado River. There they could follow the Colorado River to Las Vegas Wash, then south through the Eldorado Valley and Piute Valley to join the Mojave Trail, west of

1064-659: The U.S. states of Arizona and California . He was killed along with his companion friars during an uprising by the Native American population, and they have been declared martyrs for the faith by the Catholic Church . The cause for his canonization was opened by the Church. Garcés was born April 12, 1738, in Morata de Jalón , Aragon , north-central Spain. He entered the Franciscan Order about 1758 and

1120-662: The Uncompahgre Valley . The trail then followed the Gunnison River to today's Grand Junction , where the Colorado River was forded, and then on west to join the Main Northern Route just east of the Green River. The North Branch later became an interest of explorers seeking viable routes for a transcontinental railroad along the 38th parallel. In 1853 alone, three separate expeditions explored

1176-587: The 1774 De Anza Expedition - first to reach Alta California's Pacific coast from the east; and the 1775-76 Anza Colonizing Expedition, which traveled as far north as San Francisco Bay . Garcés also crossed the Mojave Desert on the Mohave Trail and then the Old Tejon Pass and explored the southern San Joaquin Valley in 1776. The eastern part of the route Garcés took from the Colorado River across

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1232-466: The Armijo route of the Old Spanish Trail had developed before 1844, where the trail forked northeastward from the Mojave River and Mohave Trail, east of what is now Yermo, California , running up Spanish Canyon over Alvord Mountain , to Bitter Spring , then through Red Pass to join the Armijo route near Salt Spring in the Silurian Valley . Frémont also used this route in 1844. The fork of

1288-1092: The Fathers was not practical. A new route north of the river had to be found, which used the trails of the fur traders and trappers of New Mexico through the lands of the Ute. This route ran northwest to the Colorado and Green rivers, then crossed over to the Sevier River , which it followed until crossing westward over mountains to the vicinity of Parowan, Utah . It passed southward to the Santa Clara River, linking up with Armijo's route to California. This commerce usually consisted of one mule pack train from Santa Fe with 20 to 200 members, with roughly twice as many mules, bringing New Mexican goods hand-woven by Indians, such as serapes and blankets, to California. California had many horses and mules, many growing wild, with no local market, which were readily traded for hand-woven Indian products. Usually two blankets were traded for one horse; more blankets were usually required for

1344-677: The Mexican government in June 1830. The Main Route (also referred to as the Central Route or the Northern Route) of the Old Spanish Trail avoided territory of the Navajo , (who had returned to a state of hostilities after Armijo's trip), and the more difficult canyon country traversed by the Armijo Route around the Colorado River. First traveled in 1830 by a party led by William Wolfskill and George Yount , this route ran northwest from Santa Fe through southwestern Colorado , past

1400-545: The Mojave Desert is known to four-wheel-drive adventurers today as the Mojave Road . In 1779–81 Garcés and Juan Díaz established two mission churches ( Mission Puerto de Purísima Concepción and Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer ) on the lower Colorado River at Yuma Crossing , as part of a new pueblo (secular settlement), in the homeland of the Quechan peoples (Yuma or Kwítsaín). Garcés tried to keep peace between all parties. The formerly peaceful rapport with

1456-625: The North Branch over Cochetopa Pass. These groups were led, in order, by Lieutenant Edward Fitzgerald Beale , Captain John Williams Gunnison , and John C. Frémont. Use of the Old Spanish Trail between 1829 and 1848 resulted in numerous variations as travelers adopted or blazed easier paths. But regardless of the route taken, the Old Spanish Trail crossed several mountain ranges, passed through dry sections with limited grass and sometimes limited water, crossed two deserts, and

1512-551: The Old Spanish Trail, with the exception of some of the paths through the Mojave Desert . The Mohave Trail was first traveled by Garcés from the Mohave villages on the Colorado River westward across the Mojave Desert, between desert springs, until he turned northwestward to the Old Tejon Pass into the San Joaquin Valley , looking for a route to Monterey. Garcés returned to the Colorado River by following

1568-620: The Quechan was lost due to Spanish settlers allegedly violating the treaty with the native peoples, resulting in the losses of crops and farmlands. In July 1781, Garcés, Díaz and their fellow friars were among those killed in a violent uprising at the Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer , known as the Yuma Uprising and Yuma Revolt . Garcés' body was later reinterred at Mission San Pedro y San Pablo del Tubutama . He and

1624-419: The city's Catholic high school; and on Chester Avenue Garces Memorial Circle , with a memorial statue of Garcés. The original platted east–west streets of the 1905 Las Vegas Township are all named for significant North American explorers, beginning with Stewart on the north, then Ogden, Fremont, Carson, Bridger, Lewis, Clark, Bonneville, Gass, and finally Garces on the south. St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral has

1680-579: The coastal valleys to Mission San Gabriel and Los Angeles. The North Branch of the Old Spanish Trail was established by traders and trappers using Indian and Spanish colonial routes. It ran from Santa Fe north to Taos and on north into the San Luis Valley of Colorado. Caravans then headed west to today's Saguache , crossing over the Continental Divide at Cochetopa Pass , and then through present day Gunnison and Montrose to

1736-775: The college of San Fernando in Mexico City under the leadership of Junípero Serra , were assigned to replace the Jesuits in the Baja California missions of the lower Las Californias Province. Garcés became a key player in this effort, conducting extensive explorations in the Sonoran, Colorado, and Mojave Deserts , the Gila River , and the Colorado River from the Gulf of California and Lower Colorado River Valley to

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1792-562: The deep narrow gorge of Boulder Canyon , to the riverside oases of Callville Wash and Las Vegas Wash . Armijo waited there for his scouts to return, especially Rivera who had visited the Mohave villages downriver before. Rivera returned, having recognized the Mohave Trail that led westward to Southern California. Perhaps because the Mohave had been antagonistic to parties of mountain men in recent years, or to save time, Armijo attempted

1848-670: The dry 50 miles to the Muddy River before rejoining the Main Route on the Virgin River at Halfway Wash after crossing what later became known as Mormon Mesa . This route saved the large distances caused by the diversion of the Armijo and Main routes to follow the Colorado River, and would later become the route of the Mormon Road , the wagon road through southern Nevada between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. In 1988,

1904-739: The expedition followed the Virgin to the mouth of the Santa Clara River , which they followed up to the vicinity of the Shivwits Reservation . They crossed southward over the Beaver Dam Mountains , at Utah Hill Summit to the Virgin River again, which they followed for three days down to the Colorado River. They traveled west parallel to the river, over difficult terrain in the Black Mountains , to avoid

1960-419: The geologic features along the Trail retain their Spanish designations. The Armijo Route of the Old Spanish Trail was established by an expedition led by Antonio Armijo in 1829–1830. Leaving Abiquiu on November 7, 1829 Armijo's expedition traveled a route northwest and west of Santa Fe, following the Chama River and the Puerco River . He crossed to the San Juan River basin. From the San Juan, they entered

2016-496: The late 16th century, the trail was extensively used by traders with pack trains from about 1830 until the mid-1850s. The area was part of Mexico from Mexican independence in 1821 to the Mexican Cession to the United States in 1848. The name of the trail comes from the publication of John C. Frémont ’s Report of his 1844 journey (which crossed into Mexico) for the U.S. Topographical Corps , guided by Kit Carson , from California to New Mexico. The name acknowledges that parts of

2072-408: The other friars killed at those missions are considered martyrs by the Catholic Church. The El Garces Hotel , named in Francisco Garcés' honor, is the historic 1908 Santa Fe Railroad station and Harvey House hotel 'oasis' located in the City of Needles . It is located in eastern California above the Colorado River, a site Garcés passed through during the 1776 Anza expedition. The El Garces Hotel

2128-432: The settlement at San Bernardino de Sena Estancia . They followed the river for six days (110 miles to its head from the mouth), having to kill a mule or horse each day to eat. Probably at Summit Valley at the top of the river east of Cajon Pass , they met vaqueros of the San Bernardino de Sena Estancia who had extra food. Armijo did not cross over the mountains by the Mohave Trail route over Monument Peak , but followed

2184-483: The states that it crossed. Portions of US 160 in Colorado and US 191 in Utah are similarly designated. Francisco Garc%C3%A9s Francisco Hermenegildo Tomás Garcés O.F.M. (April 12, 1738 – July 18, 1781) was a Spanish Franciscan friar who served as a missionary and explorer in the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain . He explored much of the southwestern region of North America , including present day Sonora and Baja California in Mexico , and

2240-422: The trail before the water holes dried up and the melting snow raised the rivers too high. The return party often drove several hundred to a few thousand horses and mules. Low-scale emigration from New Mexico to California used parts of the trail in the late 1830s when the trapping trade began to die. New Mexicans migrated to settle in Alta California by this route: some first settled in Politana then established

2296-421: The trail had been known and used by the Spanish since the 16th century. Frémont's report identified a trail that had already been used for about 15 years. The trail is important to New Mexico history because it established an arduous but usable trade route with California. In 2002 this trail was designated by Congress as part of the National Trails System as Old Spanish National Historic Trail . The trail

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2352-512: The trail often resulted from such slave raids by unscrupulous traders and raiding Indians. John C. Frémont , "The Great Pathfinder", took the route, guided by Kit Carson , in 1844 and named it in his report published in 1845. The New Mexico-California trade continued until the mid-1850s, when a shift to the use of freight wagons and the development of wagon trails made the old pack trail route obsolete. By 1846 both New Mexico and California had been annexed as U.S. territories following its victory in

2408-407: The trail traveling through the Mojave Desert in California. The Old Spanish Trail became the fifteenth national historic trail after Congress adopted Senate Bill 1946 and President George W. Bush signed the legislation in December 2002. Although few traces of the early traders' trail remain, the Trail is now commemorated in many local street and road names, and numerous historical markers in

2464-489: The trails there on the Mojave River, later became known as Fork of the Road . One last modification to this route was that followed by John C. Frémont eastward in 1844. His expedition left the Armijo Route at Resting Spring and turned northeastward after crossing the Nopah Range through Emigrant Pass, through California Valley and across Pahrump Valley to Stump Spring and into the mountains to Mountain Springs , to Cottonwood Spring , to Las Vegas Springs . He then crossed

2520-505: The trip to California , which was just being settled, leaving Santa Fe in 1776 and making it to the Great Basin near Utah Lake before returning via the Arizona Strip . Other expeditions, under another Franciscan missionary, Francisco Garcés , and Captain Juan Bautista de Anza , explored and traded in the southern part of the region. They found shorter and less arduous routes through the mountains and deserts that connected Sonora to New Mexico and California, but these did not become part of

2576-620: The twin settlements of Agua Mansa and La Placita on the Santa Ana River the first towns in what became San Bernardino and Riverside counties. The family of Antonio Armijo moved to Alta California, where his father acquired the Rancho Tolenas . A number of Americans, most naturalized Mexican citizens in New Mexico, and formerly in the California trade over the Old Spanish Trail or in the fur trade, settled in Alta California. Several became influential residents in later years, such as Louis Rubidoux , John A. Rowland , William Workman , Benjamin Davis Wilson , and William Wolfskill . The trail

2632-431: The valley's north perimeter. Carpenter Canyon road starts near Pahrump and runs about 10 miles to Carpenter Canyon. Carpenter Canyon creek is one of the few year round fish creeks in the Spring Mountains. In California, the Nopah Range borders the valley's southwest, with the north of the adjacent Resting Spring Range merging north to form the northwest border of the Pahrump Valley. The mostly east-west Kingston Range

2688-508: The whole length of the Mohave Trail from the San Bernardino Valley , over the San Bernardino Mountains at Monument Peak , down the Mojave River and eastward to the Colorado River. This same trail was used by the first Americans to reach California by land, via the expedition led by Jedediah Smith in November 1826. The Mojave desert section of the Mohave Trail is now a 4WD trail called the Mojave Road . A route linking New Mexico to California , combining information from many explorers,

2744-416: The women and children of the Paiute , who were sold as domestic servants to Mexican ranchers and other settlers in both California and New Mexico. Mexican traders and Indian raiding parties both participated in this slave trade. The consequences of this human trafficking had a long-standing effect for those who lived along the trail, even after the trail was no longer in use. Intermittent Indian warfare along

2800-424: Was also used for illicit purposes. Some raiders attacked the California ranchos for horses and captives to sell in the extensive Indian slave trade. Mexicans, ex-trappers and Indian tribes, primarily the Utes , all participated in the horse raiding. With allies, Walkara was known to steal hundreds to thousands of horses in a single raid. Native Americans along the route were at risk of being taken captive, especially

2856-460: Was assigned to Mission San Xavier del Bac in the Sonoran Desert , near present-day Tucson , Arizona . The expulsion of the Jesuits by the Spanish King set in motion a sequence of dramatic events in the missions. The Franciscans from the college of Santa Cruz in Querétaro took over responsibility in the Sonoran Desert missions region in the present-day Mexican state of Sonora and the U.S. state of Arizona . Meanwhile, other Franciscans from

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2912-458: Was built by the Santa Fe Railroad under contract with the Fred Harvey Company . It is designed in an elegant Neoclassical and Beaux-Arts style, and the El Garces was considered the "Crown Jewel" of the entire Fred Harvey chain. Garces National Forest was established by the U.S. Forest Service in southern Arizona on July 1, 1908, with 78,480 acres (317.6 km ) from portions of Baboquivari, Tumacacori and Huachuca National Forests. The name

2968-486: Was discontinued in 1911 when it was combined with Coronado National Forest . The first Tejon Pass (original) between the Mojave Desert (and New Spain) over the Tehachapi Mountains to the southern San Joaquin Valley floor (future site of Bakersfield ), California, had been discovered by Garcés in 1776, eastward from the Anza Colonizing Expedition route. Therefore, there are several landmarks for Francisco Garcés in Bakersfield, California: Garces Memorial High School ,

3024-533: Was often littered with the bones of horses that had died of thirst. The western portions of the Old Spanish Trail could only be used semi-reliably in winter when rains or snows deposited water in the desert. In summer, there was often no water and the oppressive heat could kill. A single round trip per year was about all that was feasible. After 1848, the western parts of the trail were used for winter access between Utah and California when other trails were closed by snow. Sometime before 1844, perhaps as early as 1830,

3080-412: Was opened in 1829-30 when Santa Fe merchant Antonio Armijo led a trade party of 60 men and a caravan of mules to Alta California. Armijo’s group blazed a trade route using a network of indigenous routes, incorporating parts of Jedediah Smith’s routes of 1826 and 1827, and Rafael Rivera’s route of 1828 to the San Gabriel Mission through the Mojave along the Mojave River . Armijo documented his route in

3136-419: Was ordained a priest in 1763 in Spain . Garcés travelled to New Spain ( Mexico ) and served at the Franciscan college of Santa Cruz in Querétaro . In 1768, when the King of Spain expelled the Jesuits from their extensive mission system in northwestern New Spain (within present-day Baja California , northwestern Mexico, and the southwestern United States ), Garcés was among the Franciscan replacements. He

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