Archeology
of the Old Spanish Trail/ Mormon Road: From Las Vegas, Nevada to the
California Border, Bureau of Land Management 1990
I
thought this might have something to do with the Mormon Trail. It
doesn’t. It in fact deals with the trail from Las Vegas to California.
This trail had four major uses. In 1776 it was first used by pack
animal by such men as father Escalante. The route they took became an
exchange route. Also Father Francisco Garces traversed the Mojave
Dessert to San Gabriel in 1776. Jedediah Smith went this way from Great
Salt Lake to California in 1826. He did not want to go over the
Sierras. John Fremont with a military exploring party went this way in
1844.
The
trail was most widely used for 1848 to 1905 as a route for traveling
from Utah to California, especially the Mormon community of San
Bernardino in California. Subsequent to this it was parts of the trail
were used locally by farmers, ranchers and miners. Today parts of the
trail are underneath Las Vegas, or a highway. Other parts are used for
off road vehicles. A small percentage of the trail is still pristine.
The
researchers concluded that the trail included springs or wells about
every 18 miles apart. The figured they travelers would go from one
source of water to another in a day. They would then perhaps stay and
recruit for a day or two before making the next leg of the journey.
“Travelers consumed fruits and meats from cans and swallowed medicinal
or alcoholic beverages from bottles. … A cluster of horseshoes and mule
shoes south of Las Vegas Springs indicates that this was a rough section
to traverse. An interesting study, mostly of old bottles and cans; as
well as determining if some of the trail would be worth preserving.
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