By Mark Henderson and Rachel Preston Prinz
The Mormon Mesa trail segment of the
Old Spanish Trail is representative of the following historic contexts as
defined in the Multiple Property Documentation Form Old Spanish Trail AD
1821-1848 under these areas of significance: commerce, economics, exploration/settlement,
social history, and transportation.
The major historical support for the
significance of the Mormon Mesa trail segment is the account of John C.
Frémont’s “Second Expedition” to the west which was intended to scout routes to
the Pacific. Fremont in this expedition
named the established route he followed “the Spanish Trail.” Frémont specifically recognized the Spanish
Trail as an important corridor when he states in his report entry for April 18,
1844 (Frémont 1845:258-259):
…after
a difficult march of 18 miles, a general shout announced that we had struck the
great object of our search – THE SPANISH TRAIL [emphasis in original] – which
here was running directly north.
Prior to Fremont it was probably known
as the “camino al California” to the Nuevo Mexicanos and the“camino al Nuevo
Mexico” to the Californios. Fremont’s account and accompanying maps published
in 1848 document not only the route of the trail , but also gives specifics of
the established trail condition and use by Mexicano and Americano entrepeneurs.
If there is any individual tied to the notion of the “Spanish Trail” it is John
C. Frémont. While no segment of trail
upon which Frémont travelled is more particularly associated with him than any
other, there are several sections where particular incidents occurred that may
be more representative of Frémont’s definition of the trail than others. Frémont provides a detailed account of native
people from his Muddy River campsite at the west end of the Mormon Mesa
jornada. Frémont also gives the first
detailed description of the flora and fauna of the Mojave desert and the
riparian oases, including the Muddy and Virgin Rivers, on the “Spanish
Trail.”
The Mormon Mesa trail segment is also
significant under Criterion D for its potential to yield important information
on how travelers adapted to the environment in an effort to move merchandise
across this section of the landscape. There are no known “constructed” trail
structures that historical accounts can associate with the Mexican period commercial
use (1829-1848) of any part of the “Old Spanish Trail,” except perhaps some
enhanced steps carved into the Arizona and Utah slickrock Canyon Country on the
Armijo route. The packtrail and
livestock driveway functions of the Mexican period commercial use of the
network probably left so little imprint on the landscape that alignments
surviving from the Mexican period are only discernable because of subsequent
use. However, the way the surviving
alignments, though altered by subsequent use, lie on the landscape reflects
distinctive considerations of the expedition “captain,” “guides” (Marcy 1859),
packers (arrieros) and drovers.
Though there are few period accounts of
the “Old Spanish Trail,” (which was neither old nor considered “Spanish” during
the period of significance) later accounts indicate that daily travel
objectives and routes were a result of coordination between journeymen
specialists and their apprentices depending on previous experience, expert
guides, and daily weather, seasonal forecasts and encounters with indigenous
societies. Adjustments of the trail
alignment could be radical - based on changing conditions, seasonal variation,
and experience of the specialists in the caravan. The braided and eroded routes in the
corridor, rather than a constructed transportation structure (with embankments,
ditches, bridges and retaining walls), become the vernacular language of the
trail alignment. The trail route
segments provide clues as to how the travelers “read the landscape.” The only directly detectable packtrail
segments on the Mormon Mesa are some short traces 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.
The Mormon Mesa trail segment, because
of the relatively unaltered nature of the landscape of the “site,” presents
some opportunity to yield archeological evidence regarding the imprint of
packtrail and livestock driveway activities in a short span of two decades
(1829-1848) on the brittle vegetation and soils in the Mojave Desert. Opportunities exist on the Mormon Mesa trail
segment for fine grained botanical and topographical mapping to try to further
define use patterns of travelways across this desert landscape. Archeological techniques such as soil
chemistry, metal detection, ground penetrating radar, as well as traditional
archeological techniques such as fine grained mapping and excavations will not
be feasible if all traces of the currently inferred alignments are obliterated,
and if foot and motor vehicle traffic on the site are not channeled and
monitored to preserve the landscape and site structure. Comparison of sections in the wash floor,
steep ascent and durable mesa top sections have potential for application of
remote sensing technologies in these different sediment conditions.
The major historical support for the
significance of the Mormon Mesa trail segment is the account of John C.
Frémont’s “Second Expedition” to the west which was intended to scout routes to
the Pacific.. Fremont in this
expedition named the established route he followed “the Spanish Trail.” Prior to Fremont it was probably just known
as the “camino al California” to the Nuevo Mexicanos and the“camino al Nuevo
Mexico” to the Californios.
Fremont’s account and accompanying maps
published in 1848 document not only the route of the trail , but also gives
specifics of the established trail condition and use by Mexicano and Americano
entrepeneurs.
Though there are few period accounts of
the “Old Spanish Trail,” (which was neither old nor considered “Spanish” during
the period of significance) later account indicates that daily travel
objectives and routes were a result of coordination between journeymen
specialists and their apprentices depending on previous experience, expert
guides, and daily weather, seasonal forecasts and encounters with indigenous
societies. Adjustments of the trail
alignment could be radical - based on changing conditions, seasonal variation,
and experience of the specialists in the caravan. The braided and eroded routes in the
corridor, rather than a constructed transportation structure (with embankments,
ditches, bridges and retaining walls), become the vernacular language of the
trail alignment. The trail route
segments provide clues as to how the travelers “read the landscape.” The only directly detectable packtrail
structure 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 beconfirmed 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.
D- Property has yielded, or is likely
to yield, information important in prehistory or history.
The Mormon Mesa trail segment, because
of the relatively unaltered nature of the landscape of the “site,” presents
some opportunity to yield archeological evidence regarding the imprint of
packtrail and livestock driveway activities in a short span of two decades
(1829-1848) on the brittle vegetation and soils in the Mojave Desert. Opportunities exist on the Mormon Mesa trail
segment for fine grained botanical and topographical mapping to try to further
define use patterns of travelways across this desert landscape. Archeological techniques such as soil
chemistry, metal detection, ground penetrating radar, as well as traditional
archeological techniques such as fine grained mapping and excavations will not
be feasible if all traces of the currently inferred alignments are obliterated,
and if foot and motor vehicle traffic on the site are not channeled and
monitored to preserve the landscape and site structure. Comparison of sections in the wash floor,
steep ascent and durable mesa top sections have potential for application of
remote sensing technologies in these different sediment conditions.