Monument Peak
View from Monument Peak looking up Cajon Pass
This monument marks an old Indian trail, the Mojave Trail, used by Father Garcés in March 1776 on his trip from Needles to San Gabriel. The same trail was used by Jedediah Smith in 1826 on his first trip through San Bernardino Valley.
Over the Sierra
"Mar. 22. I went three leagues and passed over the sierra by the southsouthwest.21 The woods that I said yesterday reach to the summit of this sierra, whence I saw clearly the sea, the Rio de Santa Anna, . . . "~ Fr. Francisco Garces
Mojave Crossing 1826
"There for many days we had traveled weary hungry and thirsty drinking from springs that increased our thirst and looking in vain for a boundary of the interminable waste of sands. But now the scene was changed and whether it was its own real Beauty or the contrast with what we had seen it certainly seemed to us enchantment."~ Jedediah Smith
Craig Baker photo - 2018 HMDB.org
Sawpit Canyon
Craig Baker photo - 2018 HMDB.orgNO. 618 GARCÉS-SMITH MONUMENT