Old Spanish National Historic Trail

Old Spanish National Historic Trail. . , Exploring the Old Spanish Trail in Iron County, UT, Spanish Explorers traveled nearly 100 miles through Iron County on routes that are known today as major highways. Travel on our modern day roads to get a glimpse into the past., Enoch is the second largest city in Iron County, and was once a major trading post along the Northern Route of the Old Spanish Trail in the mid-1800s., Profit could be made transporting New Mexico serapes and other woolen goods to Los Angeles, and wrangling California-bred horses and mules back to Santa Fe. A viable overland route across the remove deserts and mountains of what was then Mexico's far northern frontier had to be found. , It took the vision and courage of Mexican trader Antonia Armijo to lead the first successful commercial caravan in 1829. Following a combination of indigenous footpaths and early trade and exploration routes, he forged a trail network that collectively became known as the Old Spanish Trail (OST), Traveling east back from California in 1844, John C. Fremont followed the OST all the way into the Parowan Valley before deviating from it. His maps and diaries of the western section of the OST guided the Mormon Settlers who heavily developed the trail into a path passable by wagon all the way to Los Angeles in 1847., Cedar City contains fantastic collections of artifacts and information from the period of the Old Spanish Trail's significance. Southern Utah University hosts the Palmer Western History Collection, and the Iron Mission State Historical Monument is also worth a visit and boasts over 100 horse drawn vehicles in its collection. , One of the better documented trips along the OST is from Orville Pratt's expedition in 1848. He described his descent of Little Creek as "up the steepest of hills then down places it would seem almost impossible to descend, again in deep and precipitous canions." However, such hardships were rewarded. Upon his arrival to the Parowan Valley, Pratt wrote, "suddenly broke upon us one the finest and most extensive valley I have seen in the whole western country!", All routes: came together at Fork of Roads, east of present-day Barstow in the Mojave desert, and then crossed Cajon Pass between the San Gabriel and San Bernadino Mountains to Costal California. After negotiating the pass, traders had an easy two to three days travel to the San Gabriel Mission and beyond to Los Angeles. , The Northern Route: First blazed by William Wolfskill and George C. Yount in 1831, this route veered northwest from Abiquiu through southern Colorado and central Utah. It avoided the rugged canyons of the Colorado river that the Armijo party had encountered and took advantage of the better water and pasture resources across central Utah before returning to the Colorado River and Armijo's route not far from Las Vegas., The North Branch: This route followed well-known trapper and trade routes north through the Rio Grande Gorge to Taos and into southern Colorado. It then went west through Cochetopas Pass, largely open during the winter when other passes were snowed in and up the Gunnison River Valley, rejoining the Northern Route near present-day Green River, Utah., The Mojave Road: A 188-mile crossing of the Mojave Desert long used by area Indians and by Spanish explorers and missionaries, it was first traveled by Jedediah Smith, an American trapper, in 1826., The Armijo Route: The first complete trip across the trail began in Abiquiu, northwest of Santa Fe. The Armijo party followed well-known trails northwest to the San Juan River, then nearly due west to the Virgin River. They used the Crossing of the Fathers, cut into rock canyon wall some 75 years earlier by the Dominguez-Escalante party. Armijo's caravan went down the Muddy River and across the Mojave Desert to the Amargosa and Mojave Rivers, through Cajon Pass and down to Mission San Gabriel. ,