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Living our here in the desert, in Palm Springs, has some things that are extremely interesting to a few of us and maybe to you also. When we travel we usually think of the Interstate Hwy system or dedicated road ways but here we here have the rare ability to see a very different idea in practice that was used in the 1880's onward. People were moving from the mid-west to all parts of the new country available including Southern California. The newspapers in St. louis described this area ( L.A. basin and the San Fernando valley ) as a huge broad valley filled with rich lands where it seldom ever snowed, there was plenty of water, the soil was untilled and rich. There was plenty of game everywhere, bee's were so abundant that honey could be collected on any day, and so forth. All free, if you came and staked your claim to the land you wanted.
Wagon trains ( prairie schooners) were formed by wagon masters and off they went. Teams of Horses and Mules, usually 4, with one extra in case one of the animals died or had to be eaten on the way, were pulling a small covered wagon just large enough for a few meager furnishings, few clothes, some pots and pans and seed. Hollywood's portrayal is so far off of the truth that it is laughable. Mostly the people walked the whole distance leading the animals. There were no GPS units, no highways, no detailed maps from Google and mostly very , very few men or women who had made the trip before. In place of all of this were natural monuments and signs, a few watering holes and a few oasis on the way where they could rest and refresh for a week or more.
There were so many problems in this trip -- one being how to get over the mountains that were between them and the S. Calif. valleys. Huge mountains with virtually no natural passes that teams of horses and wagons could get through except if you went hundreds of miles out of the more direct way and came around the southern end of the mountain ranges and across the desert for a hundred and fifty miles or more. Very few traces of wagons or horses were ever seen as the wind ,sand and dust covered tracks in a matter of weeks. The only thing to watch for were large natural signs like the pictures attached of the "Angel" on the side of the mountain , just West of here, leading to what we named "The Banning Pass". This rock formation could be seen for a long way and was a sure sign that this was the path to the land of milk and honey described so far back when they left.
Today, "The Angel" is still there as big as ever yet only a few know about her or what a wonderful gift she was. When you have been traveling in the desert for weeks , often months, grinding away at about 5 miles per day ( Actual wagon speed normally) the desert must have looked so long, terrible and uncrossable. Then this image finally appeared on the distant horizon -a new hope for life springs to the heart of the traveler. Today no one cares at all ........ TOO BAD !!.
Enjoy the pictures of her and try to imagine what it was like to leave all you have ever known to come 2000 miles walking for two years or more, with a few others, to finally reach a new land. We can not begin to understand the hearts and minds of these, our forefather's... They were men and women of determination and grit.
I go up in the mountains camping with my 4 wheel drive truck and often see the Angel and think about those days long ago.
Best to all ........... Frank B.
Click here to see the pictures. -->
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