Old Spanish Trail - America"s Most Arduous Pack Mule Route
Tucked away in the town center of Blue Diamond, Nevada on the outskirts of Las Vegas, stands Nevada Historical Marker 33, designating a section of the once 1,120-mile twisting pack route known as the Old Spanish Trail.
Long before modern roads crisscrossed the Southwest, Spanish traders and missionaries used a primitive trail that became known as the Old Spanish Trail to haul blankets, mules, tools and weapons across the Rockies and Mojave into California.
Officially established by Antonio Armijo and his Mexican trading party of about 60 men in 1829, and extending 130 miles across Southern Nevada's Clark County, the mule route became Nevada's first "highway" for commerce, linking Santa Fe and Los Angeles.
This is the famed Old Spanish Trail of Spanish missionaries and early 19th century explorer John C.
Fremont and guide Kit Carson, as well as traders, trappers and miners.
The trail was used by mountain man Jedediah Smith, called the "Knight in Buckskin" and believed to be the first white man to have set foot in Southern Nevada.
Smith's western explorations expedited unlocking the area's trade routes.
The trail has been called, "The longest, crookedest, most arduous pack mule route in America.
" Even before it became identified as "Old Spanish Trail," the track was used as an avenue by early Spanish explorers following Indian trails.
During the Spanish colonial era the Trail was used for Indian slave-transportation, emigration and commerce.
The Old Spanish Trail crosses the Las Vegas Valley at its southern edge.
In 1844 John C.
Fremont and his guide Kit Carson explored the expanse from California's Cajon Pass to Parowan, Utah.
Fremont described the Trail as "the roughest and rockiest road we had ever seen in the country, and which nearly destroyed our band of fine mules and horses...
Travelers should never venture on it without having his mule shod and also carrying extra shoes.
" In 1846 copies of Fremont's account were widely published inspiring strong interest in the southwest.
The discovery of gold in California brought "49'ers," travelers late in the season, fearful of snowy passes in the Sierra Nevada.
Most wagons coming west on the Spanish Trail carried a copy of Fremont's report.
Once railroads began uniting America's vital business centers in the late 1800's, the Trail fell into disuse, leaving relics from the Old Spanish Trail's past sitting open, dry and withered like scattered bones in the desert heat.
Nearly forgotten, the Old Spanish Trail holds a significant place in the history of Las Vegas and today's American Southwest.
It is one of America's most distinguished and historically fascinating route's, but it has been ill-fated by time.
Once the Trail's panorama was breathtaking in places, the view stretching all the way to infinity, today there is little left in the Las Vegas Valley and Mojave Desert of the historic trail.
The once barren desert buzzes with development, progress has had its way, the small stretches of Trail remained just a few years ago have vanished.
Las Vegas exchanged its last vestiges of the Old Spanish Trail for a new beltway, development that abolished this portion of the Old Spanish Trail right off the Bureau of Land Management maps.
Nestled close to the rolling Spring Mountain Range and Red Rock Canyon National Park, less than 30 minutes southwest of Las Vegas, lies the town of Blue Diamond.
The mining hamlet is set against a backdrop of open skies and impressive scenery west of interstate 15, on state route 160.
Not far from Blue Diamond on public land, is what is considered the most undefiled portion of the trail.
Hopefully this section will be preserved for all time.
Many interesting relics and artifacts collected along the Trail are on display to the public at the Bureau of Land Management office at Decatur Boulevard and Vegas Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Long before modern roads crisscrossed the Southwest, Spanish traders and missionaries used a primitive trail that became known as the Old Spanish Trail to haul blankets, mules, tools and weapons across the Rockies and Mojave into California.
Officially established by Antonio Armijo and his Mexican trading party of about 60 men in 1829, and extending 130 miles across Southern Nevada's Clark County, the mule route became Nevada's first "highway" for commerce, linking Santa Fe and Los Angeles.
This is the famed Old Spanish Trail of Spanish missionaries and early 19th century explorer John C.
Fremont and guide Kit Carson, as well as traders, trappers and miners.
The trail was used by mountain man Jedediah Smith, called the "Knight in Buckskin" and believed to be the first white man to have set foot in Southern Nevada.
Smith's western explorations expedited unlocking the area's trade routes.
The trail has been called, "The longest, crookedest, most arduous pack mule route in America.
" Even before it became identified as "Old Spanish Trail," the track was used as an avenue by early Spanish explorers following Indian trails.
During the Spanish colonial era the Trail was used for Indian slave-transportation, emigration and commerce.
The Old Spanish Trail crosses the Las Vegas Valley at its southern edge.
In 1844 John C.
Fremont and his guide Kit Carson explored the expanse from California's Cajon Pass to Parowan, Utah.
Fremont described the Trail as "the roughest and rockiest road we had ever seen in the country, and which nearly destroyed our band of fine mules and horses...
Travelers should never venture on it without having his mule shod and also carrying extra shoes.
" In 1846 copies of Fremont's account were widely published inspiring strong interest in the southwest.
The discovery of gold in California brought "49'ers," travelers late in the season, fearful of snowy passes in the Sierra Nevada.
Most wagons coming west on the Spanish Trail carried a copy of Fremont's report.
Once railroads began uniting America's vital business centers in the late 1800's, the Trail fell into disuse, leaving relics from the Old Spanish Trail's past sitting open, dry and withered like scattered bones in the desert heat.
Nearly forgotten, the Old Spanish Trail holds a significant place in the history of Las Vegas and today's American Southwest.
It is one of America's most distinguished and historically fascinating route's, but it has been ill-fated by time.
Once the Trail's panorama was breathtaking in places, the view stretching all the way to infinity, today there is little left in the Las Vegas Valley and Mojave Desert of the historic trail.
The once barren desert buzzes with development, progress has had its way, the small stretches of Trail remained just a few years ago have vanished.
Las Vegas exchanged its last vestiges of the Old Spanish Trail for a new beltway, development that abolished this portion of the Old Spanish Trail right off the Bureau of Land Management maps.
Nestled close to the rolling Spring Mountain Range and Red Rock Canyon National Park, less than 30 minutes southwest of Las Vegas, lies the town of Blue Diamond.
The mining hamlet is set against a backdrop of open skies and impressive scenery west of interstate 15, on state route 160.
Not far from Blue Diamond on public land, is what is considered the most undefiled portion of the trail.
Hopefully this section will be preserved for all time.
Many interesting relics and artifacts collected along the Trail are on display to the public at the Bureau of Land Management office at Decatur Boulevard and Vegas Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada.
