History of the Mojave Road

The Mojave Road was a main wagon trail for only a relatively short time, two decades, after the civil war. It was no longer as needed when the railways came, as the railways created an easier route to the south complete with oases on the bitter-dry deserts. But while it was used, the Mojave Road was a route plagued by hostile Indians, a lack of water, long stretches of sand, and rough hill climbs. For caravans of travelers and a handful of soldiers, it was a proving ground that brought out the best and the worst of them.

In the great westward migration to California, the Mojave Road was not an important player. Most went north across Donner Pass, or south through the Colorado Desert. The road was primarily a supply route, not an immigration trail, used by soldiers and freighters. It is a more important player now, 150 years later, as it is a piece of history, a memorial to those early days. Its 140 miles of dusty tracks are pretty much the same as they were then. Thanks to the efforts of Dennis Casebier and the Friends of the Mojave Road, these old ruts cover ground pretty much as they did when the wagons rolled over them in the 1860's.

This unique situation came about because, unlike nearly every other major travel route on the frontier, the Mojave Trail did not evolve into a 20th century superhighway. Better routes were found to traverse the distances between the few cities worth going to in the area.

Water is everything on the desert, and the locations of watering holes determined the route of the trail. Water was found at the end of each day's drive (about every 20 to 30 miles, depending upon the terrain) and it was water that had to be reliable and safe. These springs were favored ambush sites, so each location had to be defended by a United States Army that was hard pressed to do it. So the Army established outposts, military camps of sometimes just two or three men, who spent their tours of duty protecting gold-seekers and farmers heading for a better life in the golden valleys near the coast. The Army felt it had to be done; by controlling the water, they controlled the road.

It was lonely, hard duty, and some of them died doing it. A few deserted. Others became generals. It was a place that brought out the best and the worst in people, as the desert does today.

Like most trails and even today's superhighways, the road was first an Indian path, used as a trade route. The Mohave Indians, who lived along the Colorado River, would travel to the coast, following the path that guaranteed water. The first European to use the Mojave trail was probably Father Francisco Garces in 1776.

Garces was interesting desert character. Unlike most Spaniards, who remained along the coast or in the settlements in New Mexico, Padre Garces spent much of his life with the Indians, even going native, to the consternation of his cronies. He wandered the southwest deserts alone, without a military escort, going from village to village, exploring the land and spreading the word of God. A fellow Franciscan, Pedro Font, told the authorities of the time that Garces 'appears to be but an Indian himself'. He would sit with the Indians for hours, and 'with great gusto', eat foods that Font thought was 'nasty and dirty'. Font summed his report up with 'God has created him solely for the purpose of seeking out these unhappy, ignorant, and rustic people'.

Unfortunately, Garces' lifestyle eventually caught up with him. He was killed during an Indian uprising near Yuma.

When the Americans began pushing westward, Jedediah Smith, Kit Carson, John Fremont, and other mountain men came this way to reach the pueblos on the coast. When gold was found in '49, most of the 'Niners went the northern route, but thousands followed the southern route and took the Mojave Road.

As the population of California grew in the 1850's and 60's, the Mojave Trail became a main southern freight route across California to Arizona. The trail became a mail route, and that was when the military forts were established to keep the lines of communication open. These forts began at Fort Mohave, located on the Colorado River near present day Bullhead City, and ranged to Camp Cady, just outside Barstow. Fort Piute was the first stop after leaving Fort Mohave on the Colorado River.

Fort Mohave was established to suppress the Mohave Indians, whose warriors had come to resent the intrusions of the Americans traveling through their lands. The Mohaves were agrarians, growing corn and other crops along the Colorado River, and traders who traveled frequently to the coast. They were hostages to their farms, however, and with the establishment of an army fort on their land their warrior days were over.

While Fort Mohave worked well to keep the Mohave Indians subdued, The Chemehuevis Indians were not tied to the land and kept the US Army well occupied along the trail. In the grand tradition of the southwestern US tribes, these were excellent guerrilla fighters that could raid and fade away into desert dust. They traveled in small bands and any livestock along the trail was fair game. While only a few travelers were killed, the Army was forced to deal with the threat by establishing a military presence in the area.

The need for these camps faded, with the subjugation of the Indian threat and the construction of railroads south and north of the Mojave Road. When the railroads were built travelers found it easier to follow their tracks, as the railroads had water stops every five miles or so. The camps along the Mojave Road were abandoned eventually by the military but civilian station tenders opened some of them as stagecoach stops or primitive roadhouses. Today a few remains are left of this legendary time, and following the Mojave Road brings us back to this era.