The Mojave Desert, Eastern Gateway to the Inland Empire.

Long before the Spanish, white men and Mormons used the Mojave Desert as a route into southern California, no other route was known to exist....The Spanish believed that since their ships had sailed up the Gulf of California into the Colorado River Basin which according to some, including the Spanish, that their ships were able to sail as far north as the Lake Havasu Area.

One reason many believed that the Spanish or white men never traveled the southern deserts to the oceans what is now known as the Imperial valley and thru Banning....That era of discovery came during the civil war when the railroads were looking for a another route to hook up with the fledgling Santa Fe Railroad that was building north from San Diego.

Many of the Spanish Missionaries came up from San Diego along the coast building the Missions as they came north....The peoples who knew of the Mojave or southern routes were of course the Indians.

Jedidiah Smith, the first white explorer who was intent on finding a new route south into the little sleepy communities of the Inland Empire and the Pacific was the first with his scouts to find the ancient tracks laid down by countless years of Indian travel across the desert, down thru the cajon pass into the coastal valley below, used the Mojave Indian Trail to cross the Mojave Desert in 1826.

Though many tribes first welcomed the trappers and explorers, Smith's party treating the Indians with respect and trading honestly with them, succeeding groups who followed, were less inclined to treat the Indians right and ended up causing out right conflict.

Later In 1827, another trapping party came through Mojave, ignoring various tribe’s requests for goods in exchange for trapped animals.....The resultant conflict left victims on both sides and naturally the Indians were blamed for all of the troubles that the arrogant white men had caused in the first place....When Smith returned later that year with more settlers for the coastal valleys, his party was also attacked, and for the next 20 years violence reigned, reaching a peak when a posse from San Bernardino Mormon town killed 26 Mojave Indians in a 3 day running battle.

Joseph Reddeford Walker, in 1834 had crossed the northern portions of the Mojave and into the Great Basin Desert searching for a route to Salt Lake city. Traveling through California, Walker and his party saw redwood forests, experienced a major earthquake, and witnessed a meteor shower.....Returning east, Walker went down to the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and traveled through what would become known as Walker's Pass, now known as the Tehachapi Pass or route 52, which, years later was to be one of the main gateways for gold-seekers migrating into California.

The Mojave Indian Trail was also used by Kit Carson when he was guide for Captain John Fremont in 1844.....Fremont was a biologist by profession it was said and he took the time to record the geology and types of plants, naming the Joshua trees for the Prophet Joshua of the old testiment because as he said the trees limbs looked liked they were raised up to the lord in prayer....Fremont also took the time to make maps of every where and every Mountain peak he saw every where he traveled.

The Old Spanish Trail came into the Mojave Desert from the north.....It was used as a trade route from Santa Fe to Los Angeles....Today it is know as route 40....A few years ago it was known as route 66.

Gary Hall, the ghostpainter