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Historic Highways, Roads & Trails
Old Mormon Wagon Road
Crossing the Chicago Valley
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Wagon travel on the Northern Route of the Old Spanish Trail began in 1847, when the first Mormon settlement in Utah Territory was
established east of the Great Salt Lake. Exploration parties were immediately sent by church leaders to identify locations suitable
for colonization along the
Old Spanish Trail, to gain political control of the most important travel corridor in the Intermountain
West. In October of 1847,
Jefferson Hunt, who had served in the
Mormon Battalion
in California, led a group of 18 men, 130 pack
mules, and a single wagon to southern California to buy cattle, seed grain, and other needed goods. The party arrived in
San Bernardino after 45 days of travel, having reportedly brought the first wagon over the Old Spanish Trail. The success of
this expedition encouraged others to follow, including large numbers of prospectors and merchants “rushing” to the newly-discovered
gold deposits at Sutter’s Mill in northern California during the winter months when the passes of the high Sierras would be
impassable. Over time, the wagon road that developed was labeled on maps as the “Old Southern Road”, the “Immigrant Road” or the
“Old Mormon Road”. By the first decade of the 20th century, early automobiles were traveling this same route and paved highways
eventually replaced the wagon ruts.
(source BLM)
Wagons did not have the luxury of graded roads descending the
Cajon Pass. To prevent rolling out of control the wheels would be
blocked with a log, then the wagon could be dragged to the bottom of the hill safely.
Old Spanish Trail Maps
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