West Mojave Route Management Plan, Historic Properties Treatment Plan, Attachment 5: Historic Trails Context Study FINAL VERSION May 2019
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West Mojave Route Management Plan, Historic Properties Treatment Plan, Attachment 5: Historic Trails Context Study FINAL VERSION May 2019 Prepared for: United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management California Desert District Office 22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos Moreno Valley, California 92553 Prepared by: Diane L. Winslow, M.A., RPA, Shannon Davis, M.A., RPH, Sherri Andrews, M.A., RPA, Marilyn Novell, M.S., and Lindsey E. Daub, M.A., RPA 2480 N. Decatur Blvd., Suite 125 Las Vegas, NV 89108 (702) 534-0375 ASM Project Number 29070 West Mojave Route Management Plan, Historic Properties Treatment Plan, Attachment 5: Historic Trails Context Study Prepared for: United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management California Desert District Office 22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos Moreno Valley, California 92553 Prepared by: Diane L. Winslow, M.A., RPA, Shannon Davis, M.A., RPH, Sherri Andrews, M.A., RPA, Marilyn Novell, M.S., and Lindsey E. Daub, M.A., RPA ASM Affiliates, Inc. 2480 North Decatur Boulevard, Suite 125 Las Vegas, Nevada 89108 May 2019 PN 29070 Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page MANAGEMENT SUMMARY ................................................................................. v 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 2. LITERATURE REGARDING TRAILS, ROADS, AND HIGHWAYS ............... 7 3. DEFINING TRAILS, ROADS, AND HIGHWAYS ........................................... 9 4. PREHISTORIC, PROTO-HISTORIC, AND HISTORIC-PERIOD TRAILS ... 15 NATIVE AMERICAN TRAILS ........................................................................................15 Landforms and Places of Importance to Native Americans .......................................19 Previously Documented Prehistoric Trails Within the WEMO Area ...........................22 China Lake/Searles Valley/Owens Valley/Panamint Valley .......................................22 Mojave Indian Trail....................................................................................................23 Fort Irwin National Training Center ...........................................................................24 Edwards Air Force Base/Antelope Valley ..................................................................26 Twentynine Palms/Morongo Valley/Yucca Valley ......................................................27 Salt Song Trail ..........................................................................................................27 SPANISH AND MEXICAN PERIOD TRAILS 1769-1847 ...............................................30 The Old Spanish Trail ...............................................................................................30 Mojave Road.............................................................................................................35 EMIGRANT TRAILS 1848-1856 ....................................................................................36 The Mormon Road, Salt Lake Route, Santa Fe Trail .................................................36 5. HISTORIC-PERIOD ROADS AND HIGHWAYS, 1900 – 1970 .................... 40 PRE-AUTOMOBILE ROADS AND EARLY HIGHWAYS IN THE WESTERN MOJAVE 40 Early Roads and Highways .......................................................................................46 THE INFLUENCE OF THE AUTOMOBILE ON ROAD AND HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION..........................................................................................................50 TRANSCONTINENTAL HIGHWAYS .............................................................................51 INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM ...............................................................................53 TRANSPORTATION AGENCIES AND HIGHWAY DEVELOPMENT ............................54 HIGHWAY POLITICS AND LEGISLATION, 1900-1968 .................................................56 ROAD AND HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION, ENGINEERING, AND DESIGN..................57 Materials ...................................................................................................................57 Features ...................................................................................................................58 Engineering and Design ............................................................................................59 6. METHODOLOGY AND EVALUATION FRAMEWORK ............................... 61 THEME: NATIVE AMERICAN, SPANISH, MEXICAN, AND EMIGRANT TRAILS (12,000 B.P.-A.D. 1900) ................................................................................................62 Native American Trails ..............................................................................................62 Research Questions and Data Needs .......................................................................65 Evaluation .................................................................................................................66 Spanish, Mexican and Emigrant Trails ......................................................................67 Research Questions and Data Needs .......................................................................68 Evaluation .................................................................................................................69 THEME: EARLY AUTOMOBILE ROADS AND HIGHWAYS, 1900-1940 .......................70 Historic Trails Context Study i Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page Research Questions and Data Needs .......................................................................71 Evaluation .................................................................................................................71 THEME: MODERN HIGHWAYS IN THE WESTERN MOJAVE DESERT, 1940-1956 ...72 Research Questions and Data Needs .......................................................................72 Evaluation .................................................................................................................73 THEME: INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS IN THE WESTERN MOJAVE, 1956-1970 ............74 Research Questions and Data Needs .......................................................................74 Evaluation .................................................................................................................75 CHARACTER-DEFINING FEATURE SUMMARY FORM ..............................................76 7. GUIDE TO USING THIS STUDY .................................................................. 79 STEP 1: IDENTIFICATION—DEFINING THE RESOURCE ..........................................79 STEP 2: APPLYING RESEARCH THEMES AND DEFINING THE HISTORIC CONTEXT ...................................................................................................80 STEP 3: EVALUATING FOR NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES ELIGIBILITY ..................................................................................................................80 STEP 4: ASSESSING INTEGRITY ................................................................................81 STEP 5: REPORTING AND DETERMINING HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE .................82 REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 83 LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Overview Map of WEMO Study Area at 1:2,000,000 scale. ..................................................... 2 Figure 2. Overview Map of WEMO Study Area at 1:1,000,000 scale. ..................................................... 3 Figure 3. Overview Map of WEMO Study Area at 1:1,000,000 scale. ..................................................... 4 Figure 4. View of prehistoric trail found in Mojave Desert, California. .................................................... 10 Figure 5. View of Jackson Staircase, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. ...................................................... 11 Figure 6. View of wagon ruts at the Oregon Trail Ruts Historic State Park, Guernsey, Wyoming. ............................................................................................................... 12 Figure 7. View of Route 66 near Newberry Springs, California. ............................................................. 12 Figure 8. Indian Trails of Aboriginal California from Davis 1961, Map 1. ............................................... 16 Figure 9. Salt Song Trail map. ................................................................................................................ 28 Figure 10. Old Spanish Trail Official Map (BLM, NPS 2013).................................................................... 31 Figure 11. Old Spanish Trail timeline and milestones (BLM, NPS 2013). ................................................ 33 Figure 12. Image of pack mule train such as would be typical on the Old Spanish Trail. ........................ 34 Figure 13. Map of Mojave Road. .............................................................................................................. 36 Figure 14. Image of John C. Fremont expedition. .................................................................................... 37 Figure 15. Christopher (Kit) Carson. ......................................................................................................... 38 Figure 16. Covered wagon train scene, 1882. .......................................................................................... 39 Figure 17. Early road conditions in the Mojave Desert. ............................................................................ 41 Figure