NV - Mormon Mesa: Narrative

 By Mark Henderson and Rachel Preston Prinz

Summary Paragraph

The Mormon Mesa trail site of the Main Branch of the Old Spanish Trail is a site distinguished by an unaltered landscape described and mapped by John C. Frémont in spring of 1844 as he travelled the “Spanish Trail” through Nevada, during the 1829-1848 period of significance of the Old Spanish Trail. The proposed canyon segment is an intact historic landscape and contributes to the National Register for the 1829-1848 period of significance, with three contributing segments of trail that functioned as a packtrail and livestock driveway.  Twolater roadway alignments, a highway and a wagon road trace, are noncontributing to the period of significance. The segment is intact for 10 of the approximately 18 miles of the jornada - “a day’s journey” - between parajes - water and camp sites - at the Virgin River to the east and the Muddy River to the west.  Mormon Mesa is a tableland in the Mojave Desert over which historical documents indicate the packtrail and livestock driveway passed between New Mexico and California.  This nomination constitutes addition of a contributing resource to the existing Old Spanish Trail/Mormon Road National Register District in Nevada which includes the landscape associated with the 1829-1848 alignment of the commercial packtrail and livestock driveway on Mormon Mesa as contributing to the National Register District.  

Environmental Setting. 
The Mormon Mesa route segment is located in the Basin and Range physiographic province (Thornbury 1965) and the Mojave Basin and Range Ecoregion (US EPA 2011).  Mormon Mesa is an equilateral triangle of tableland of approximately 100 square miles at an elevation of approximately 1750 feet. This site extends south from a 12 mile wide base at the toe of the steep and rocky Mormon Mountains, is bounded on the east at a cliff overlooking the Virgin River, and on the west is bounded by the Muddy River.  The steep sides of Mormon Mesa are heavily eroded badlands. 

The northern base of the Mormon Mesa triangle forms the logical level route to circumvent the Mormon Mountains or continuing south down the Virgin drainage and on to the Colorado River.  The Mormon Mesa bluffs rise 500 hundred feet above the Virgin and Muddy Rivers, characterized by fine grained mudstone and siltstone buff colored sediments formed by a large Tertiary period lake (Longwell et al. 1965:48). Mormon Mesa is capped by Quaternary alluvial deposits cemented by calcium carbonate that are stable and have a hard and caliche cobble surface of reflective white color.

Mormon Mesa is in the creosote bush-burrobrush plant association and warm desert scrub of the Mojave Desert (USDI Geological Survey 2011; Nature Serve 2011).  Native vegetation crowns cover far less than 50% of the cobble strewn surface of the mesa tops but the preeminent creosote (Larrea tridentata which Fremont named Zygophyllum californicum) and White bursage (Ambrosia dumosa) gives an olive green cast to the desert (Rhode 2002:4-6). Introduction and expansion of the non-native cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) in the last century has altered the color and texture of the bajadas by infilling between native plants. 

The floor of Halfway Wash sports a dense growth of mesquite (Prosposis glandulosa) and desert willow (Chilopsis linearis).  Fremont identified the pink blooming willows in the wash bottoms as Garrya elliptica (silktassel) common in California and Oregon coast ranges.

Foreground Landforms. Looking west from the vantage point of the top of “Virgin Hill” is the level plain of Mormon Mesa extending  from due north 180° to due south.   

To the east is the 200 ft deep Halfway Wash, with its buff colored walls extending up canyon to the head of the wash for three miles and a barely noticeable ribbon of Interstate 15 between five and six miles away. To the east, the opposite side of Halfway Wash is 1.25 miles away, where the surface of Mormon Mesa (because it is slightly higher) blocks the view of the Virgin River valley but does extend toVirgin Peak 14 miles away at a bearing of 115° east southeast.  Because of a jog in Halfway Wash, the Virgin River view to the south is obstucted about 2.1 miles southeast (150°).  Immediately below in the wash floor is a dense cover of creosote with crown cover at 25% and shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia) with a dense cheatgrass understory which prospers in the sandy soils of the protected wash floor.

Mid-distance Landforms.

There are no features that are classified as “mid distance” except perhaps the head of Halfway Wash and a rounded ridge (50 feet or less) of more resistant Muddy Creek Formation poking through the alluvial caliche caprock to the west and northwest at about 270 to 300°  3.5 miles away.  The mesa top alignment of the road structure passes on the south end of this rounded ridge.

Background and Horizon Distant Landforms.Mormon Mountains and East Mormon Mountains at 12 to 22 miles and 325° to 10° north, are the Mormon Mountains rising from the base of Mormon Mesa at about 2500 feet elevation to Mormon Peak at 6900 feet elevation.  The southern face of the Mormon Mountains appear rocky and unvegetated.  This may be a result of fires in Southern Nevada which resulted in the removal of Joshua Tree and agave mid-elevation desert scrub communities. The East Mormon Mountains appear to be a continuation of the jagged profile of the mountain mass with distinctive 4950 foot Davidson Peak, the steep faced high point in the East Mormon Range 14 miles away due north.

Beaver Dam and Pine Valley Range (30° to 50° northeast and 40 to 60 miles distant).  Low on the horizon to the northeast are the Beaver Dam Mountains and the Pine Valley Range, which, although they are separate ranges, appear continuous.Signal Peak, at 9700 feet and the cap of the the Pine Valley Range, is visible some 65 miles distant.  “Utah Hill,” an important summit on the Old Spanish Trail, passes between West Mountain Peak and Jarvis Peak in the closer Beaver Dam mountain range, but the gap is not visible from this perspective.

Virgin Mountains (60° northeast to 130° southeast and 32 miles to 15 miles distant).  Filling much of the eastern horizon are the Virgin Mountains, which also appear continuous with the Beaver Dam Mountains, those these two mountain ranges are in fact seperated by the Virgin River gorge at about 60° to the northeast and 32 miles away.  Mount Bangs, at8012 feet elevation and 27 miles distant is actually in Arizona. . The closer and only slightly higher Virgin Peak , at8075 feet, is 14 miles to the southeast (115°).

Black Range (150° south southeast to 175° south and 30 to 40 miles distant).  Black Ridge is a low lying range with its high point at Little Virgin Peak (2600 feet elevation) on the north end, and  which terminates just southeast of Mormon Mesa.

North Muddy Mountains (260° to 230° southwest and 12 miles to 20 miles distant).  Low on the southwestern horizon is the crest of the North Muddy Mountains, whosemaximum elevation is 2600 feet.  The base of the range rises from the Muddy River Valley and is obscured on the close horizon by Mormon Mesa. 

Sheep Range (250° to 300° west 55 miles to 50 miles distant).  Much of the length of the Sheep Range is visible with Hayford Peak, at9912 feet elevation, indicating the high point on the ridgeline.

Spring Mountains.  Charleston Peak (11,918 feet, 250° at 80 miles distant) is visible above the North Muddy Mountains.

 Views from the top of Virgin Hill are primarily of the foreground and distant peaks.  Only to the north in the direction of the Mormon Mountains is there a continuous unbroken view to the horizon.  All other views have some shielding of mid-distance surfaces.

Vegetation change primarily dates from the early 20th century, and is characterized by  abundant cheatgrass in the uplands and tamarisk in the riparian and wash environments.

Nature and Period of Use. 

By the time Fremont named and travelled “the Spanish Trail” in 1844, the east-west passage from the Virgin River (Armijo’s “Rio Severo”) to the Muddy River (Fremont’s “Rio de Los Angeles “), a distance of roughly 20 miles, was established as a major packtrail transportation route. The first description of the Mormon Mesa trail is that of Frémont who passed in a northeasterly direction over this segment on May 7th 1844 with 21 men:

On the following morning we left the Rio de los Angeles, and continued our way through the same desolate and revolting country, where lizards were the only animal, and the tracks of the lizard eaters [Paiutes] the principal sign of human beings.  After  twenty miles’ march through a road of hills and heavy sands, we reached the most dreary river I have ever seen – a deep rapid stream, almost a torrent, passing swiftly by, and roaring against obstructions. (Frémont 1845:268)

In May of 1847, George Brewerton accompanied Kit Carson carrying military dispatches from California to New Mexico, and from his account it appears they followed the route that Fremont described and mapped. Brewerton had little to say about the route but does recount Fremont’s reports of attacks on two camps on either end of the Mesa.  Brewerton discoveried “Indian Sign” and “signal fires” once his party reached the Virgin River (Brewerton 1993:94).

Orville Pratt, who was sent to California by Secretary of War William  L.  Marcy and President Polk in 1848, apparently crossed the “Virgin Hill” route across Mormon Mesa (Hafen and Hafen 1993:355) but  his description is brief and his distances (usually 30 miles travelled in a day) unreliable.  From a camp made on the Virgin River, Pratt states:

Tuesday Oct. 10th 1848

Started this morning two hours before daylight and made a long march of 35 m. to the “Muddy” & over a very heavy road, without water or grass, by 12 o clock!  We made a delightful camp on a fine stream of water and good grass and found a large body of Indians – Piutes.

This would be a rapid pace for travel during the period, 35 miles in 8 or 9 hours, as opposed to the usual 22 miles accepted as the typical “jornada” on the Old Spanish Trail, which may indicate that for pack animals there were relatively few obstacles.

Precursor Trails:

When Frémont reached the Virgin River, he rejoined the route from New Mexico down the Virgin River on the way to California, which famous trapper and explorer Jedediah Smith had travelled in 1826 and 1827, Armijo had travelled in 1829 and Wolfskill had travelled in 1830. Frémont apparently had no trouble following the packtrail established by the New Mexican merchants and traders. It is uncertain when the Virgin River route, proceeding south to the junction with the Colorado River and beyond used by Armijo in 1829 and Wolfskill in 1830, was abandoned in favor of leaving the Virgin at Halfway Wash, to cross due west across the Mormon Mesa tablelands.  

Before the use of this route for long distance commerce, there were probably few, if any aboriginal precursors for the use of the mesa top for travel, as there was no forage or water, nor apparent destinations to justify use.  Extensive archeological inventories on the Mesa have located few remains of aboriginal peoples.  Frémont was passing on a route that had no precursors to the “Spanish Trail” packtrail and livestock driveway commerce.

Successor Trails: Because of the difficulty of the “jornada” across Mormon Mesa for wagons, Addison Pratt’s account from November 14th 1849 of the ascent of Virgin Hill (Hafen and Hafen 1998:85-88) is one of the most extensive entries in his journal from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles as part of the Hunt wagon train.  This amount of traffic with accompanying livestock would have altered the existing packtrail considerably.

There is disagreement among historians about the location of the hill which Pratt describes as such an obstacle (Lyman [2004:49-50] and Steiner [1999:107-117).  It is clear that Pratt travelled 27 miles downriver from Beaver Dam before proceeding down river briefly and heading up a side canyon to ascend Mormon Mesa a day later.  These distances are consistent with Pratt following the established packtrail up Halfway Wash, and also consistent with Frémont’s map and journal.

As is true with all locations on the Old Spanish Trail, the trail can best be verified from mapping and descriptions subsequent to the period of use of the packtrail(1829-1848).  Particularly important for the alignment of the Mexican period caravan route which would later became the “Salt Lake City to Los Angeles Wagon Road”, descriptions of the “improvements” made to the trail to accommodate the first emigrant wagon trains are particularly useful in evaluating the alteration of the packtrail for wagon use (Hafen and Hafen 1998; Steiner 1999; Lyman and Reese 2001, Lyman 2004).  There is map evidence that the alignment up Halfway Wash was abandoned after the initial use of the packtrail,  when the trail was relocated and reworked for wagons.  The difficulties of separating out an intact packtrail alignment from later wagon routes following the packtrails are exemplified in archeological survey on the trail rout e in Nevada (Myhrer and others 1990).

The Wheeler Survey Map from 1872 illustrates a departure for a wagon road from the Virgin River at a location consistent with Halfway Wash.  But the western wagon road descent from Mormon Mesa is indicated at “Cold Springs” just north of “St. Joe” (Logandale) on the Muddy River, approximately 6 miles south of the established packtrail route into the Muddy River at Glendale.  This route is indicated on the General Land Office Survey Plats drafted in 1881 which show a wagon road system reaching the top of Mormon Mesa where the modern powerline access road currently is located, at the east boundary of the Mormon Mesa Old Spanish Trail National Register District.  The GLO Survey plats show no traces of the packtrail and livestock driveway corridor.

Identity of People who Created and Used the Trail. 

The only description of the general composition and appearance of the Mexican trading caravans by an American observer is that of Brewerton (1993:56-62) in 1847, who described  an eastbound livestock drive (not a westbound frieght mule caravan) as “grotesque in the extreme”.  This description is consistent with the general composition (200 horse-mounted Mexicans, 60 Indian compatriots and their freight mules) and scheduling of the caravans (leaving New Mexico in October with woven goods arriving at Los Angeles two and a half months later, and returning from California with upwards of 2,000 head of horses departing in April) reported in 1841 (Hafen and Hafen 1993:187).  More than 250 mounted men and double the number of pack mules normally used  is bound to produce at least a temporary strain on water, forage, and (even with low-impact camping practices) will leave some footprint at the locations of overnight camps.  The compaction produced by the loaded pack animals, with 100-250 pound loads on the outgoing packtrail, and more than twice the number of animals (albeit faster moving with fewer loaded) in the return livestock herd, would have lasted only a day per year, and may not have produced any long-term scars. Over a period of years, there may have been loss of vegetation and soil with repeated use as seen at other OST nominated sites, but little evidence of any kind exists at the Nevada site, or most sites for that matter.

The historical accounts of the campsites on both the Muddy River and the Virgin River regularly report encountering aboriginal encampments and the trail users being monitored by native people.   Though Armijo did not pass over Mormon Mesa, he does unambiguosly identify finding  a “rancheria” (aboriginal settlement) where his caravan camped on the Virgin River.  Armijo states for December 27, 1829 (Hafen and Hafen 1993:163):

We found a settlement of Indians with rings in their noses.  Nothing happened for these Indians are gentle and cowardly.

This is the last encounter with natives that Armijo has until 14 days of travel when he reaches the Amargosa.  If Armijo travelled about 20 miles a day this would place him in the vicinity of the confluence of the Muddy River and the Virgin River and the core of the aboriginal settlements known archeologically and ethnographically in this vicinity (Lyneis 1992, Knack 2001:165-170).

The nature of contact between the native population and the trail users varies widely from Armijo’s “gentle and cowardly” to Fremont’s loss of stock and eventually a member of his company at the hands of the natives.  It is not easy to explain this variation except perhaps the absence of exchange items which Frémont had to offer the natives for passage through their territory, and the small number of men which Frémont recounts the natives recognized as a weakness at the Muddy River camp.

Description and Dating of the Site. 

The Mormon Mesa trail segment as defined here can be identified as a  segment of the “Main Route” or “Northern  Route” of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail (Hill 1921, Hafen & Hafen 1993, Auerbach 1941, Steiner 1999, Lyman 2002).  Previous formal archeological investigations to identify physical evidence are limited to the work of McBride and Rolf (2001) who recorded the Virgin Hill alignment as a National Register property for the Old Spanish Trail and Mormon Wagon Road as 26CK3848 in the Nevada State Museum archeological inventory.  The site was placed on the National Register in 2001, based on structural evidence of the Wagon Road on top of the packtrail. This nomination specifically includes the intact landscape along the packtrail alignment in Halfway Wash and the top of Mormon Mesa. Informal reconnaissance has been conducted to locate “Old Spanish Trail” in the Mormon Mesa area since at least 1964 with the Nevada Centennial Project led by Scoop Garside(Steiner 1999:83-90).  There is no evidence of imported materials in the use or construction of the trail.  Apparently, not even the mule shoes and horseshoes regularly connected to later-period draught animal and wheeled vehicle travelways were being used during the Old Spanish Trail period of1829-1848.  No imported objects have yet been located on route segments of the Old Spanish Trail that can be associated to that use of the corridor and the 19-year long period of significance, though attribution to the “Mexican” or “Spanish” Periods can be ascertained. As transportation networks have improved, interest in locating trail traces has not waned, most notably with the work of Steiner (1999) and Lyman and Reese (2002) and Lyman (2004).  The establishment of the Nevada Chapter of the Old Spanish Trail Association not only reflects continuing avocational interest in locating evidence of the trail but has created ongoing alliances with professional historians and archeologists to promote documentation and protection of trail sites, including landscapes.

The alignments detected in the Mormon Mesa trail segment site are all inferred to have been created subsequent to the use as packtrails alignments and livestock driveway corridors in use from 1829-1848, except possibly short segments on Virgin Hill.  The trace of the detectable wagon trail may well have been the primary packtrail alignment, but has been altered by use by wagons as well as jeep, hiking and ATV use of the trail.  It is unlikely that a packtrail used once a year for 500-1000 animals in a pack caravan, or 1500 to 5000 head of mules and horses would be detectible on these resistent natural surfaces after 150 years.  Subsequent more durable disturbance from wagon road and automobile has disguised the packtrail and livestock driveway evidence, that might not have been detectable in any event on these rocky desert surfaces on the mesa top or active washes. Taken as a whole, the district constitutes a trail-related historic landscape which contributes to the National Register of Historic Places.

The approach and passage of a packtrail and livestock driveway from the Virgin River, up the gentle grade in Halfway Wash, the steep ascent of Virgin Hill and the level gently rising base of Mormon Mesa is a result of ad hoc transportation considerations with the mule pack freighting and livestock driveway mode of transportation.  There is no expectation that there was any purposeful construction of a trail passageway.  Routes that can be travelled in a day’s journey (“jornada”) would be selected with water and forage for livestock and the traveler at the campsite available at the end of each day. The route of the historic trail alignments in the corridor reflects the daily requirements of water, forage and rest spots for the livestock as well as food, fuel and hazard reduction (extreme heat and attack) of the “voyageurs.” It is extremely likely that evidence of the ephemeral pack trails or livestock driveways has been altered or obliterated by natural erosion or revegetation and later use of the corridor for wagon and motor vehicle traffic on top of trail alignments, except for the short segments of trail on Virgin Hill.

The Mormon Mesa alignment was selected by travelers of the Old Spanish Trail as the most direct route between predictable water and forage between the Virgin River and the Muddy River through this otherwise waterless, hot desert scrubland. The 10 mile long Mormon Mesa trailsegment passes through three distinct geomorphic and vegetation zones:

1) Halfway Wash.  Ascending the sandy bottom of Halfway Wash about 1.7 miles from the mouth of Halfway Wash on the Virgin River for 0.9 miles, to the base of Mormon Mesa (1470 feet) where the alignment ascends to the mesa top.  This has a grade of about 1%. No traces of historic trail structures are likely to be located in the sandy wash bottom, as even the existingroads here are  modified after every flood event.  Vegetation in Halfway Wash does not include the large mesquite and desert willow found farther downstream, but does have some small mesquite and willow which intergrade into the creosote and shadscale community characteristic of the more xeric uplands.  The trail is inferred from historic documents and pack caravan logistics to be constrained to the sandy canyon floor.  The proposed canyon segment  is an intact historic landscape and contributes to the National Register for the 1829-1848 period of significance as a packtrail and livestock driveway.  The modern roadway alignments are non contributing to the period of significance.

2) Virgin Hill.  Steep ascent of “Virgin Hill” about 3,000 feet of wagon road previously placed on the National Register.  Sections of leveled wheeled vehicle alignment cut through and on top of clear vertical-ascent packtrail segments which survive between wagon grade switchbacks.  These intact sections of packtrail are distinct from the wagon road structure, and very likely date previous to that structure, and are now identified as contributing structures to the historical landscape.  The later wagon road does not contribute to the Old Spanish Trail period of significance.

3) Mormon Mesa. The 8.75 mile long packtrail segment on top of Mormon Mesa from “Virgin Hill” to a powerline paralleling the southern right-of-way of eastbound US Interstate Highway I-15 starts at 1800 feet elevation on the east and ends at 2070 feet on the west.  The overall grade is 0.06%.  This segment is a relatively straight alignment on the mesa top.  Recent use of the alignment for seismic exploration, perhaps related to the MX Missle System environmental characterization in the late 1970s and early 1980s may explain the series of weathered wooden lathe and sections where the historic wagon road alignment deviates.  At approximately 2.5 miles from the top of Virgin Hill (at concrete commemorative Marker  #4 (Steiner 1999:114) of thistrail  there is a north-south trending ridge 1000 feet wide and 40 feet tall that the alignment intersects which is the only distinctive topographic relief between the segment endpoints.  There is no feature that reflects an intact packtrail or livestock driveway trace, though historical and archeological evidence indicates  a wagon road trace, likely dating from 1849, which appears to follow the packtrail that Frémont named the “Spanish Trail” in 1844.  This segment on Mormon Mesa contributes to the Old Spanish Trail as an historic site that was the historical route of the packtrail and livestock driveway that Frémont defined, but not for the existing wagonroad  structure which dates from outside the period of significance.

Summary.  The existing National Register designation of the wagon treadway structure at the bottom of Halfway Wash to the top of “Virgin Hill” is a key referrence point in defining the packtrail/livestock driveway alignment in both the Halfway Wash and Mormon Mesa segments. The only detectable packtrail alignments on the Mormon Mesa segment are some short packtrail segments on Virgin Hill that have already been placed on the National Register.  The braided nature of the corridor and alignments on the floor of Halfway Wash make it unlikely that trail structures will ever be confirmed as being used during the period of significance.  The rocky soils and rough caliche on top of Mormon Mesa are not conducive to the survival of ad hoc structures by pack animals or herds which have not been altered and obliterated by subsequent use.

Appearance of Site during Period of Significance.

 The landforms of the Mormon Mesa trail segment site appear much as they did during the period of use (1829-1848), with the exception being the corridor of the heavily used Interstate Highway in the distance.  The fact that the aboriginal trails, long distance packtrail, major wagon roads connecting settlements and successive automobile routes all followed different alignments across Mormon Mesa is a testament to the different economies in each alignment.  The setting of the Mormon Mesa trail segment appears much as it would have when mules loaded with 250 pound packs carrying items destined for trade with the Californios or herds of horses and mules driven from California destined for Santa Fe and Missouri travelled across this tableland more than 150 years ago.  

The imprint of the packtrail and livestock driveway on Virgin Hill can be inferred and short segments observed up the soft sediments to the caliche caprock of Mormon Mesa where later emigrant wagons struggled to achieve the mesa top are apparent, complete with scratched rocks which indicate the dragging of wagons up the steep incline. On the alignment across Mormon Mesa, the stony shallow sediments are so hard that it is possible we can only detect the wagon route because of slight compaction of the stony sediments for the brief period, possibly only the initial wagon traverse of the “Spanish Trail” in late 1849, that used this alignment before it was abandoned until the late 20th Century.

The vegetation of the landscape is much the same as in the period of significance.  The native species that were present then, are present today, although perhaps in different proportions as a result of livestock grazing and introduction of exotic invasive species (Young and Clements 2009).  The invasion of cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is not as obvious to the uninformed casual observer, but is an important alteration of the appearance of the site from the period of significance.  

In line, form and color the Mormon Mesa landscape is still evocative of the 1829-1848 period of use and certainly is not altered to the scale or extent of trail landscapes passing through urban areas like Las Vegas (Schoenwetter and Hohmann  1997) or major land modification projects (for example under Lake Mead).

Impacts and Alteration of the Trail. 

The most obvious argument that the Mormon Mesa landscape is much as it was two centuries ago is the lack of ANY modern facilities within the 10 mile route segment.  The designation of Mormon Mesa as protected Desert Tortise habitat probably more than any other single factor will limit development in the Trail corridor. The Desert Tortoise habitat protection does not prevent use of existing roads and trails, so traffic continues to occur on the OSNHT segment.  Most notably ATV touring has become a popular recreational activity and will continue to alter the trace of the appearance of the current little used jeep trail to a narrow ATV track, even if contained to the existing roadway.

There is some evidence of foot traffic from both the top and bottom of Virgin Hill to the Old Spanish Trail “Centennial Marker No. 4.” Use of this route as a hiking and ATV trail will accelerate natural deterioration which has already taken its toll on Virgin Hill. The Las Vegas Resource Management Plan identifies Mormon Mesa as a “roaded natural” environment open to off-highway vehicle use on existing roads and trails (USDI BLM 1998: Map 3-17, Map 2-10).  BLM currently manages the west half of Mormon Mesa as Class III Visual Resource Management (some restrictions on visual impacts) and the east side as Class IV (no restriction on visual impacts).  There is potential for development of historic sightseeing hiking and interpretive use of the Mormon Mesa trail segment.

The major intrusion in the landscape is the alignment of Interstate 15 in the mid distance or background visible from the tp of Virgin Hill and as the west end of the Mormon Mesa alignment is reached.  From  the floor of Halfway Wash there is little evidence of modern intrusion except the jeep and OHV trail that is obliterated in most annual weather cycles. From the Virgin Hill alignment there are no modern alterations, but the historic wagon road has obliterated most of the packtrail structure.  From the mesa top portion of the alignment (8.5 miles) modern alterations are noticeable only off in the distance to the north, and as one approaches the Interstate Highway and utility corridor at the west end of the segment.  

Summary of Integrity of the Mormon Mesa Trail Segment Site. 

Of the three segments of the Mormon Mesa portion of the Old Spanish Trail, only the Virgin Hill segment, already on the National Register contains portions which may be intact packtrail alignment.  A livestock driveway  is not detectable in any location, as this type of use is so dispersed that it is unlikely to leave any treadway.  All three segments of the site (Halfway Wash , Virgin Hill and Mormon Mesa) include a topographic alignment consistent with historic accounts and the landscape setting described in these documents, including trail condition and vegetation, which confirm the landscape’s integrity as consistent with the period of significance of 1829 to 1848. The Mormon Mesa Trail Segment Site retains integrity of Location, Setting, Feeling, and Association.

Location.

Halfway Wash, Virgin Hill and Mormon Mesa are intact alignments that historical evidence convincingly supports were used as a commercial packtrail and livestock driveway between New Mexico and California at least through part of the period of significance between 1829 and 1848.

Setting. 

Landform, color and texture are largely unaltered from what would have been observed from the back of a mule or horse in 1829-1848, or earlier.  Vegetation has been qualitatively altered by the expansion of non-native red brome (Bromus rubens) grasses.  The brome invasion has altered the background vegetation color to a reddish-green for about two weeks in spring which fades to straw colored when it cures out. Brome alters the texture of the land surface by covering the bare ground interstices between native shrubs and herbaceous plants with a “fuzzy” appearing brownish growth that softens the otherwise “sharp” appearance of the bare ground surface. Brome also alters the fire cycle and is a major factor in local extinction of native vegetation through wildfire.  Fires have recently occurred in the Mormon Mesa viewshed, notably the Mohave Complex fires in 2005 which burned over 500,000 acres including the Mormon Mountains, East Mormons and Virgin Mountain flanks, altering the appearance of color and texture of the vegetation and landforms.

The boundaries of this district are formed by utility corridors on the east and west.  The Interstate Highway five miles to the north of the district is far enough in the background so that it does not dominate the setting which still is evocative of its historic setting.

Feeling. 

The Mormon Mesa trail segment is far enough from view and earshot of the heavily used I-15 that the overall landscape retains the general character of the historic landscape through which the mule freighters and livestock driveway merchants passed. Extraordinary vistas without substantial modern intrusions accommodate the experience of leaving the “modern world” behind and envisioning the conditions that would have existed for those using the trail during the period of significance.

Association.  

Mormon Mesa is integrally associated with the use of the commercial packtrail from New Mexico to California in fall and the return to New Mexico in spring with herds of horses as was apparently well established in 1844 when Fremont maps and documents the use of the trail and as Brewerton describes in 1847.