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Today's Bradshaw Trail is a historic overland stage route in the western Colorado Desert of Southern California. It is a remnant of the much longer Bradshaw Road, also known as the Road to La Paz,[1] or Gold Road,[2] established in 1862 by William D. Bradshaw. It was the first overland route to connect the gold fields near La Paz in the U.S. New Mexico Territory, later the Arizona Territory, to Southern California's more populated west coast. Once in La Paz, additional roads provided access to the mining districts of the central New Mexico/Arizona Territory, near Wickenburg and Prescott.
Bradshaw Trail | |
|---|---|
| Gold Road | |
 Bradshaw Trail highlighted in red | |
| Route information | |
| Length | 70 mi (110 km) Originally 180 miles (289.68 km) |
| Existed | 1862–present |
| Major junctions | |
| West end | San Bernardino, CA |
| East end | La Paz, AZ |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| Highway system | |
The route ran from San Bernardino, California, through the San Gorgonio Pass and Coachella Valley, past the Salton Sink (now filled by the Salton Sea), and east to the Colorado River where Bradshaw's Ferry was available to transport travelers across the river. The gold fields were then some 5 miles northeast of current-day Ehrenberg, Arizona. The trail that remains today is a graded dirt road, that traverses southeastern Riverside County, and a part of Imperial County, beginning roughly 12 miles (19 km) east of North Shore and terminating about 14 miles (23 km) southwest of Blythe for a total of 70 miles (110 km).
| Location | Distance between stations |
Distance from San Bernardino, California |
|---|---|---|
| St. Clair Ranche, California | 18 mi (29 km) | 18 mi (29 km) |
| Gilman's, California | 12.7 mi (20.4 km) | 30.7 mi (49.4 km) |
| White River Station, California | 13.5 mi (21.7 km) | 44.2 mi (71.1 km) |
| Agua Caliente, California | 10.2 mi (16.4 km) | 54.4 mi (87.5 km) |
| Indian Wells, California | 18.5 mi (29.8 km) | 72.9 mi (117.3 km) |
| Los Toros, California | 12.0 mi (19.3 km) | 84.9 mi (136.6 km) |
| Martinez, California | 4.1 mi (6.6 km) | 89 mi (143 km) |
| Bitter Spring, California | 14.1 mi (22.7 km) | 103.1 mi (165.9 km) |
| Dos Palmas Station, California | 3.0 mi (4.8 km) | 106.1 mi (170.8 km) |
| Canyon Spring, California | 11.4 mi (18.3 km) | 117.5 mi (189.1 km) |
| Chuckawalla Well, California | 29.6 mi (47.6 km) | 147.1 mi (236.7 km) |
| Mule Spring, California | 21.0 mi (33.8 km) | 168.1 mi (270.5 km) |
| Laguna, California | 14.3 mi (23.0 km) | 182.4 mi (293.5 km) |
| Willow Spring Station, California | 6.8 mi (10.9 km) | 189.2 mi (304.5 km) |
| Bradshaw's Ferry, California | 9.2 mi (14.8 km) | 198.4 mi (319.3 km) |
| Mineral City, Arizona Territory[4] ferry 1864–1866 |
0.5 mi (0.80 km) | 198.9 mi (320.1 km) |
| Ehrenberg, Arizona Territory[4] ferry from 1866 |
0.5 mi (0.80 km) | 199.4 mi (320.9 km) |
| Olive City, Arizona Territory[4] ferry 1862–1864 |
0.5 mi (0.80 km) | 199.9 mi (321.7 km) |
| La Paz, Arizona Territory[4] 1862–1869 |
4.5 mi (7.2 km) | 204.4 mi (328.9 km) |
The trail is named for trailblazer William D. Bradshaw,[5] who first crossed the area in 1862. A former forty-niner, Bradshaw knew that the northern gold mines were rapidly becoming exhausted and that the flood of refugees from the area would need a more direct trail from the south across the desert to the new strike at La Paz. Without a direct trail, it would be necessary to travel a great distance southeast to Yuma, then north up the river to La Paz. Bradshaw was also aware of the financial possibilities that could be found in a gold boomtown. In May 1862, Bradshaw and eight other men set out to find a direct route to La Paz.
Originally 180 miles (290 km) long, the western trailhead began east of San Bernardino in the San Gorgonio Pass. Bradshaw and his party traveled southeast through Agua Caliente, now Palm Springs, and then South to a village where the Torres Martinez Indian Reservation is now located. There Bradshaw was befriended by Cabazon, a chief of the Cahuilla Indians of the Salton Sink, and a Maricopa from Arizona who was visiting the Cahuilla villages. They provided Bradshaw with the knowledge of the route of their ancient trade route through the Colorado Desert, including the location of springs and water holes.
Armed with this information, Bradshaw traveled eastward near present-day Mecca at the northern tip of the Salton Sink, to Bitter Spring at the foothills of the Orocopia Mountains and on 5 miles to an existing stage stop called "Dos Palmas Spring." Leaving Dos Palmas, the men continued through the pass eastward between the Orocopia and Chocolate mountain ranges, briefly skirting the southern end of the Chuckwalla range, crossed through a gap in the Mule Mountains and reaching the Palo Verde Valley two miles southwest of the modern community of Ripley. Despite the fact that the trail crossed mostly barren desert, water was reasonably plentiful with water holes found at roughly 30-mile (48 km) intervals at Canyon Springs, Tabaseca Tanks, Chuckwalla Springs and Mule Spring.
Crossing the Palo Verde Valley to the northwest, they crossed a slough of the Colorado River called Laguna, and Willow Springs Station, to Bradshaw's Ferry, the crossing point of the Colorado River to Mineral City east of what is now Blythe. Once they crossed the Colorado River, the party rode upstream for approximately five miles to the gold fields of La Paz.
Between 1862 and 1877, the Bradshaw Trail was the main stagecoach and wagon route between Southern California and the gold fields of La Paz and other places in western Arizona. The La Paz - Wikenburg Road connected the Bradshaw Trail to the interior of Arizona Territory and the mining districts there. Olive City was the first Bradshaw ferry crossing for the trail from 1862 to 1864. With the founding of Mineral City, which became the new Bradshaw ferry crossing, Mineral City became part of Ehrenberg when it was established in 1866. From 1870 the trail ended and connected with the toll road to Wickenburg at Ehrenberg as La Paz, became a ghost town when its mines played out.
The remaining fragment mostly crosses public land save for the extreme eastern end of the trail at Ripley, where it intersects 30th Avenue, 2 miles (3.2 km) west of SR 78. Use of a four wheel drive vehicle is recommended to traverse the trail, and no amenities may be found on the trail itself.
Another consideration is the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range which borders a part of the Bradshaw Trail to the south. This is a live bombing range and is clearly posted as such.
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