Tucked away in downtown Blue Diamond, Nevada, on the outskirts of Las Vegas, is Nevada Historic Marker 33, which designates a section of the 1,120-mile twisted pack route known as the Old Spanish Trail.
Long before modern highways crossed the Southwest, Spanish merchants and missionaries used a primitive trail that became known as the Old Spanish Trail to transport blankets, mules, tools, and weapons through the Rocky Mountains and Mojave to California.
Officially established by Antonio Armijo and his Mexican trade group of about 60 men in 1829, and stretching 130 miles through Clark County in southern Nevada, the Mule Trail became Nevada’s first “highway” for trade. , linking Santa Fe and Los Angeles.
This is the famous Old Spanish Trail of Spanish missionaries and early 19th century explorer John C. Fremont and guide Kit Carson, as well as merchants, hunters, and miners. The trail was used by mountaineer Jedediah Smith, called the “Buckskin Knight” and is believed to have been the first white man to set foot in southern Nevada. Smith’s western explorations accelerated the unblocking of trade routes in the area.
The trail has been called “America’s longest, most tortuous, and arduous pack mule route.” Even before it was identified as the “Old Spanish Trail”, the track was used as an avenue by early Spanish explorers who followed the Indian trails.
During the Spanish colonial era, the Camino was used for transportation, emigration, and the indigenous slave trade. The Old Spanish Trail crosses the Las Vegas Valley at its southern end. In 1844, John C. Fremont and his guide Kit Carson explored the stretch from California’s Cajon Pass to Parowan, Utah.
Fremont described the Trail as “the most rugged and rocky road we have ever seen in the country, and one that nearly destroyed our band of excellent mules and horses … Travelers should never venture on it without having their mule shod and also wearing shoes. extra. “
Copies of Fremont’s account were widely published in 1846, inspiring great interest in the Southwest. The discovery of gold in California brought the “49’ers”, late-season travelers, fearful of the snowy passes in the Sierra Nevada. Most of the wagons heading west on the Spanish Trail carried a copy of the Fremont report.
Once railroads began to link America’s vital commercial centers in the late 1800s, the Trail fell into disuse, leaving relics of the Old Spanish Trail’s past open, dry, and bone-strewn withered from the desert heat.
Almost forgotten, the Old Spanish Trail occupies an important place in the history of Las Vegas and the American Southwest today. It is one of the most distinguished and historically fascinating routes in the United States, but it has been unfortunate for time. Once the trail panorama was breathtaking in places the view stretched to infinity, today there is little left in the Las Vegas Valley and Mojave Desert of the historic trail.
The once arid desert vibrates with development, progress has had its way, small sections of trail left only a few years ago have faded away. Las Vegas traded its last remnants of the Old Spanish Trail for a new bypass, a development that abolished this part of the Old Spanish Trail right next to the Bureau of Land Management maps.
Located near the rolling Spring Mountain Range and Red Rock Canyon National Park, less than 30 minutes southwest of Las Vegas, is the town of Blue Diamond. The mining village is set against a backdrop of open skies and stunning scenery west of Interstate 15 on State Route 160. Not far from Blue Diamond, on public land, is what is considered the most pristine part of the trail. Hopefully this section will be preserved forever.
Many interesting relics and artifacts collected along the Trail are on public display at the Office of Land Management office on Decatur Boulevard and Vegas Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada.