Mormon Rocks Trail Brochure
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San Bernardino National Forest Front Country Ranger District For more information, please contact: MORMON ROCKS Front Country Ranger District INTERPRETIVE TRAIL 1209 Lytle Creek Road Lytle Creek, CA 92358 Telephone: 909-382-2851 FAX: 909-887-3989 TTY: 909-887-5783 Research for this brochure was provided by Suzie Earp, Masters Candidate in History at California State University, San Bernardino, through an internship pro- gram funded by the Adventure Pass. The following people and agencies also contributed: San Bernardino County Museum Photos of the Santa Fe Railroad, Toll house, and Yucca sandals Mojave River Valley Museum Photo of the Mojave Indians University of the Pacific Painting of Jedediah Smith, Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Libraries. Additional thanks to the Jedediah Smith Society for their infor- mation on the details of Jedediah Smith’s life and travels. CAJON PASS: University of California, Riverside Photo of San Bernardino Chinatown used with permission of the Special A HERITAGE RESOURCE Collections, University of California, Riverside. Andy Alberti Photo of Blue Cut/Louisiana Fire on I-15 James Ramos Photo of San Manuel Mission Band of Indians The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in its pro- grams on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs and marital or familial status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact the USDA Office of Com- munication at (202) 720-5881 (voice) or (202) 720-7808 (TDD). To file a complaint, write the Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250. Or call (202) 720-7327 (voice) or (202) 720-1127 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity employer. United States Prepared by San Bernardino Department of Forest Service National Agriculture Forest R5-RG-016 Printed on recycled paper 2013 fighting wildfires. However, holders to the national treasury CAJON PASS Mother Nature must be dealt that are assessed on income from with very carefully. Heavy that use. vegetation that had built up over Decisions on whether to issue many years without fires was a new special use permits have threat to the Mormon Rocks been made under the regulations Fire Station, which was built in of the National Environmental 1967. In 1996, firefighters from Policy Act (NEPA) since 1969. this Ranger District conducted a Would the view be somewhat “controlled burn” to reduce the different today if that Act had fuel load. That helped to save been passed in 1869? the station when the Louisiana Fire swept through here in late Station 22: Modern Times June of 2002. Today, the Mormon Rocks formation is popular for rock climbing. Equestrians ride the trails on Baldy Mesa, which you can see along the skyline to the north. Hikers pass through on the Pacific Crest Trail, which crosses Highway 15 and traverses the ridgeline to the south. The 2002 Fire in Cajon Pass National Forests accommodate some unusual recreational activities. A club holds a big Station 21: Special Uses radio controlled glider event on TRAVEL ROUTES IN THE CAJON PASS AREA All of the human-made facilities the mesa every spring where the (PARTIAL OVERVIEW) seen from this location, other winds are just right. than the fire station, are under This area has provided the “special use permits” from the background for filming of Forest Service, including roads, numerous movies, television railroads and utilities. A special shows and commercials. Captain use permit is a license for an Kirk and Spock visited this part encroachment on public land of the galaxy for the early “Star that is beneficial to the public. Trek” TV series. The public benefits in two ways: Over 46 million vehicles travel The Adventure Pass program has funded from the use of the land, and through the pass annually. the trail interpretation from fees paid by the permit Cajon Pass. turning the once lush mountains about A.D. 1200 to the mid 1800s (about 700-800 years). Before the Telegraph lines arrived with the to barren devastation. Wildfires WELCOME Serrano, archaic hunters and railroad in 1885. These were burned unchecked. to the gatherers lived in the area for eventually replaced by telephone On February 14, 1893, President Mormon Rocks thousands of years. lines. Looking towards the east Benjamin Harrison set aside the Interpretive Trail you can see tall towers that carry San Bernardino Forest Reserve in Station : The Serrano electrical lines from Hoover an early attempt to address these The land around you is rich in 2 Dam to Southern California. problems. “heritage resources.” As you “Serrano” is a Spanish word mean- These lines were the first of Reforestation, fire walk the trail, pause to read the ing “mountaineer.” The Serrano their kind in the world. (They prevention, and section of the brochure that probably referred to themselves weren’t sure at the time if it watershed corresponds to the numbered as “the people,” or “Takhtam” in would work!) This set a protection post. At each stop, take a look their language. Numerous precedent for future projects. became the major into the history of Cajon Pass, Serrano villages surrounded the Two natural gas lines were laid focus for the San which has made a large contri- Mormon Rocks area. About a through Cajon Pass by Southern Bernardino bution to our culture. mile to the southeast, near the truck scales on Interstate 15, was Counties Gas Company in the National President Harrison Most of the land in this area is 1960s. The California-Nevada Forest. Today, owned by the citizens of the the village of Muscupiabit. Corporation routed its jet fuel this Forest is also a major United States, and is managed Several village sites were in line from Edwards Air Force recreational resource for southern today by the USDA Forest nearby Crowder Canyon to the Base to Colton. Pacific California’s huge population. Service. northeast. A large village named Telephone put in underground Guapiabit was to the east in communications cables in the Station 20: Fire! Station 1: Mormon Rocks Summit Valley. From these villages, seasonal forays were 1960s. Recently, two fiber optic Numerous fires started by sparks This area is called “Mormon made into the surrounding hills lines were laid. from steam locomotives Rocks,” but perhaps a more and mountains. (See the map on traversing the pass caused severe fitting title would be “Serrano left..) Station 19: Forest damage to the watershed, which Rocks.” The name refers to the Service the local communities depended jutting sandstone formations Station 3: Living Wild Towards the end of the 1880s, on. In 1914, the first fire lookout that provided brief shelter for citizens of San Bernardino tower in the San Bernardino Mormon colonists who crossed The Serrano lived in domed County sought protection for mountains was erected in Cajon this area in 1851 and founded brush houses. Acorns, plentiful the forests in the San Gabriel Pass on land owned by Victor Ver the city of San Bernardino. in the region, were made edible and San Bernardino Mountains Bryck, in a cooperative effort by grinding them with a mortar Prior to the arrival of Spanish by the Federal Government. between the Forest Service and and Anglo pioneers, the Watershed protection was a local ranchers. The Ver Bryck Mormon Rocks area was the major concern. Water for the lookout was located just below heartland of the Serrano people. valley below was dependent on the summit, about three miles Originally from the eastern the mountains above. The northeast of here. Great Basin area, the Serrano forests were over cut and The Forest Service was very had occupied this area from overgrazed by vast sheep herds, successful at preventing and Mortar Holes and pestle and washing the flour Native Americans in the course two lane road was built to serve a that are crossing the pass daily. with water to remove the bitter of their hunting and gathering ‘new-fangled’ contraption; the tannic acid. This process left lifestyle became well defined automobile. It became Route 66 Station 17: Chinese behind the many mortar holes trails. Those that followed in 1926, a popular highway that Railroad Workers that can be found throughout the incorporated these trails into author John Steinbeck dubbed the When the first railroad was built region. The important trade “Mother Road”. through Cajon Pass, most of neighborhood routes. Interstate 15, which replaced the labor was provided by also provided The Mojave Trail was Route 66 in 1970, can be seen Chinese workers. In 1883, pine nuts, used primarily by the from here to the east. 2,500 Chinese men replaced the yucca hearts, Mojave Indians that predominantly Mexican crew numerous made the Colorado Station 16: Railroads that had been building the line. seeds, and a river their home. The Chinese laborers did most variety of As early as Yucca Fiber Sandals This foot trail climbed of the extensive cut and fill game animals. 1853 the US over the steep mountain Government work in Cajon Pass, entirely by Serrano men wore breechclouts ranges and was the most direct had surveyed hand, moving the tons of and buckskin leggings. Women route to the coast from the desert Cajon Pass as a material with hand carts. After wore two-piece skin skirts. regions. possible the track was completed, a few Chinese came back to Cajon Clothing was adorned with Beginning in 1830, the Spanish location for beadwork of seashells, stones, railroad lines to Pass to work small gold and Trail connected Santa Fe with the silver mines. Some settled in bone, and seeds.