Fort Irwin, California

History

The Fort Irwin area has a history dating back almost 15,000 years, when Native Americans of the Lake Mojave Period were believed to have lived in the area. Native American settlements and pioneer explorations in the area were first recorded when the Spanish missionary Padre Francisco Garces traveled the Mohave Trail with Mohave Indian guides in 1776. During his travels, he noted several small bands of Indians, and is believed to have been the first European to make contact with the Native Americans of the area.

Jedediah Smith is thought to have been the first European American to explore the area in 1826. A fur trapper, Smith was soon followed by other pioneers traveling the Old Spanish Trail between Santa Fe and Los Angeles. The trail crossed the area on the eastern edge of Fort Irwin, between Salt Spring and the Mojave River. The Old Spanish Trail passed through Silurian Valley, then west through the Avawatz Mountains at Red Pass and beyond the playa of Red Pass Lake, through a gap between the Soda and Tiefort Mountains to Bitter Spring in a wash in the next valley.

From the History section of Fort Irwin National Training Center on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.