Butterfield Overland Mail in Baja California

Last updated August 01, 2023

The Butterfield Overland Mail route in Baja California was created as a result of an act by the United States Congress on March 3, 1857, and operated until June 30, 1861 as part of the Second Division of the route. Subsequently other stage lines operated along the route until the Southern Pacific Railroad arrived in Yuma, Arizona.

History

Although it lasted only from 1857 to 1861, the Butterfield route made famous one of the most important roads in the early settlement and development of California and most of it was used in one form or another until today. The route from Fort Yuma to Warners Pass followed the Sonora Road, an old Spanish trail from Sonora to San Diego. That Sonora Road linked with the Kearny Trail was used during the Mexican American War by the U.S. Army. During the California Gold Rush the route pioneered by Kearny and Cooke with the addition of a road from Warners Pass to Los Angeles became the Southern Emigrant Trail used by American immigrants, and herds of stock from the east in 1849 and for decades thereafter.

The route that was operated crossed the Colorado River from New Mexico Territory into the Second Division of the Overland Mail's route at Fort Yuma then proceeded along the river to Pilot Knob Station, where it then descended into Baja California, Mexico for 117 miles to avoid the barrier of the Algodones Dunes and to take advantage of stations with the little water available from spring flooding from the Colorado River along the course of the Alamo and New Rivers in the otherwise nearly waterless Colorado Desert. The route then reentered California to Indian Wells between the two Lagunas of the New River.

The route then crossed the level, desolate, Yuha Desert to Sackett's Wells and proceeded through what is now the Carrizo Impact Area, up Carrizo Wash that cut through the Carrizo Badlands, to Carrizo Creek Station and on to the oasis of Vallicito. From there the route ascended northwest into the Peninsular Ranges, via the San Felipe Station in the San Felipe Valley crossing via Warners Pass to Warner's Ranch, then to Temecula Station and on to Los Angeles, headquarters office and terminus of the Second Division.

Stations

New River Station - a later station in Baja California, located 15 miles southeast of Indian Wells Station, California and 14 miles west of Alamo Mocho, in what is now Mexicali.^[1]
Alamo Mocho Station - an original station, located in Baja California, 38 miles east of Indian Wells Station.^[2]
Gardner's Wells Station - a later station, located in Baja California, 9 miles east of Alamo Mocho and 9 miles west of Seven Wells.^[1]
Salt or Seven Wells - a later station, located in Baja California, 18 miles east of Alamo Mocho.^[1]
Cooke's Wells Station - an original station, located in Baja California, 22 miles east of Alamo Mocho Station, 18 miles west of Pilot Knob Station in California.^[2]

External links

R.S. Williamson, General Map of Explorations and Surveys in California, A.O.P. Nicholson, Washington, 1861, from davidrumsey.com accessed September 29, 2013, Shows Southern Immigrant Trail in Baja California and Southern California with locations of Cooke's Wells, Alamo Mocho and the Big Laguna on the New River near Indian Wells, circa 1854.
A.L. Bancroft, Bancroft's Map Of California, Nevada, Utah And Arizona, A.L. Bancroft, San Francisco, 1873, from davidrumsey.com accessed September 29, 2013, Shows Stage route and stations circa 1873.

Related Research Articles

Warner's Ranch, near Warner Springs, California, was notable as a way station for large numbers of emigrants on the Southern Emigrant Trail from 1849 to 1861, as it was a stop on both the Gila River Trail and the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line (1859-1861). It was also operated as a pioneering cattle ranch.

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Southern Emigrant Trail, also known as the Gila Trail, the Kearny Trail, Southern Trail and the Butterfield Stage Trail, was a major land route for immigration into California from the eastern United States that followed the Santa Fe Trail to New Mexico during the California Gold Rush. Unlike the more northern routes, pioneer wagons could travel year round, mountain passes not being blocked by snows; however, it had the disadvantage of summer heat and lack of water in the desert regions through which it passed in New Mexico Territory and the Colorado Desert of California. Subsequently, it was a route of travel and commerce between the eastern United States and California. Many herds of cattle and sheep were driven along this route and it was followed by the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line in 1857–1858 and then the Butterfield Overland Mail from 1858 to 1861.

Alamo Mucho Station, the misspelled name of Alamo Mocho Station was one of the original Butterfield Overland Mail stations located south of the Mexican border, in Baja California. Its location is 0.5 miles south-southeast of the Mexicali International Airport Terminal building.

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Cooke's Wells Station a stage station of the Butterfeild Overland Mail, located south of the Mexican border, in the old Alamos River bed, about 1 km west northwest of Mérida, Baja California. Its site was at Cooke's Wells, named for Philip St. George Cooke whose expedition found them in 1847. It was at first the only water source 22 miles (35 km) east of Alamo Mucho Station and 18 miles (29 km) west of the Pilot Knob Station on the Southern Emigrant Trail.

New River Station was a later station added into the Colorado Desert route of the Butterfield Overland Mail it was located 15 miles southeast of Indian Wells Station and 14 miles west of Alamo Mocho Station beside the New River. It was in operation until March 1861 when the Butterfield route was abandoned for the Central Route by the beginning of the American Civil War.

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Seven Wells Station was built at the site, of Salt or Seven Wells one of the wells developed by the Butterfield Overland Mail, as a part of its improvements of its Colorado Desert route between Cooke's Wells Station and Alamo Mocho Station. These wells allowed travel along the level ground along the 19th century course of the Alamo River, avoiding the more difficult route up on Andrade Mesa.

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Carrizo Creek Station, a former stage station of the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line and Butterfield Overland Mail, located in Imperial County, California just east of the San Diego County line. It lies within the boundaries of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park just west of the Carrizo Impact Area. Its site is located along the bank of Carrizo Creek.

Teofulio Summit, formerly Warner Pass, a pass that lies at an elevation of 3681 feet in the San Felipe Hills of the Peninsular Ranges of San Diego County, California. This pass was named for Teofulio Helm (1874-1967), a prominent member of the Cupeno Band of Mission Indians, who homesteaded in the area.

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References

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[Journalof-1] 1 2 3 "THE WAR OF THE REBELLION: A COMPILATION OF THE OFFICIAL RECORDS OF THE UNION AND CONFEDERATE ARMIES. CHAPTER LXII. OPERATIONS ON THE PACIFIC COAST. JANUARY 1, 1861–JUNE 30, 1865. PART I., CORRESPONDENCE., pp.710-712, Journal of the march of Companies E, G, and H, First Infantry California Volunteers, commanded by Lieut. Col. Joseph R. West, from Camp Latham to Fort Yuma". Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved August 1, 2013.

[List-2] 1 2 List of Stations from New York Times, October 14 1858, Itinerary of the Route

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