Point of Rocks (California)

Last updated May 02, 2019

Point of Rocks is a point of mountain range, as yet unnamed, that projects into the bed of the Mojave River in San Bernardino County, California. This range of mountains runs south to north along the east side of the Mojave River between Oro Grande and the mountain that Point of Rocks is a part, a mile northeast of Helendale.^[1]

Promontory prominent mass of land that overlooks lower-lying land or a body of water

A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water.

Mojave River intermittent river in California

The Mojave River is an intermittent river in the eastern San Bernardino Mountains and the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Most of its flow is underground, while its surface channels remain dry most of the time, with the exception of the headwaters and several bedrock gorges in the lower reaches.

San Bernardino County, officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population was 2,035,210, making it the fifth-most populous county in California, and the 12th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is San Bernardino.

History

Point of Rocks was a landmark along the Mojave Trail, and its successors, the Old Spanish Trail and the Mormon Road that followed the riverbed.^[2] It marked a point where the Mojave River would appear above ground to run on the surface surrounded by grassland, marshes and groves of cottonwood and willow. This made it a camping spot along the old trails and roads that followed the river. In 1863, the area of Point of Rocks was first settled by the Nicholson family.^[3]

Old Spanish Trail (trade route) historic trade route in the western United States

The Old Spanish Trail is a historical trade route that connected the northern New Mexico settlements of Santa Fe, New Mexico with those of Los Angeles, California and southern California. Approximately 700 mi (1,100 km) long, the trail ran through areas of high mountains, arid deserts, and deep canyons. It is considered one of the most arduous of all trade routes ever established in the United States. Explored, in part, by Spanish explorers as early as the late 16th century, the trail saw extensive use by pack trains from about 1830 until the mid-1850s.

Mormon Road, also known to the 49ers as the Southern Route, of the California Trail, was a seasonal wagon road first pioneered by a Mormon party from Salt Lake City, Utah led by Jefferson Hunt, that followed the route of Spanish explorers and the Old Spanish Trail across southwestern Utah, northwestern Arizona, southern Nevada and the Mojave Desert of California to Los Angeles in 1847. From 1855, it became a military and commercial wagon route between California and Utah, called the Los Angeles - Salt Lake Road. In later decades this route was variously called the "Old Mormon Road", the "Old Southern Road", or the "Immigrant Road" in California. In Utah, Arizona and Nevada it was known as the "California Road".

The later railroad built along the river there was built through a cut through the Point above the river, and the later automobile roads avoided it passing to the east of the mountain at Helendale.^[1]^[4]

Related Research Articles

Oro Grande is an unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, United States. It lies on the city boundary of Victorville and Adelanto. It is at 3,000 feet (910 m) elevation in Victor Valley north of the San Bernardino mountain range. It is located on old Route 66 near Interstate 15 between Victorville and Barstow. The ZIP code is 92368 and the community is inside area codes 442 and 760. Less than 1,000 residents live in the unincorporated area.

Helendale or Silver Lakes is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located in the Victor Valley of the Mojave Desert, within San Bernardino County, California.

The Mojave Road, also known as Old Government Road, is a historic route and present day dirt road across what is now the Mojave National Preserve in the Mojave Desert in the United States. This rough road stretched 147 miles (237 km) from Beale's Crossing, to Fork of the Road location along the north bank of the Mojave River where the old Mojave Road split off from the route of the Old Spanish Trail/Mormon Road.

The Bradshaw Trail, nicknamed the Gold Road at one time, is an historic overland stage route in Southern California which originally connected San Bernardino, California to gold fields in La Paz, Arizona Territory some 5 miles northeast of Ehrenberg, and the road to the mining districts of Central Arizona Territory, near Wickenburg and Prescott. In later years it was the first road connecting Riverside County to the Colorado River.

The Overland Trail was a stagecoach and wagon trail in the American West during the 19th century. While portions of the route had been used by explorers and trappers since the 1820s, the Overland Trail was most heavily used in the 1860s as an alternative route to the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails through central Wyoming. The Overland Trail was famously used by the Overland Stage Company owned by Ben Holladay to run mail and passengers to Salt Lake City, Utah, via stagecoaches in the early 1860s. Starting from Atchison, Kansas, the trail descended into Colorado before looping back up to southern Wyoming and rejoining the Oregon Trail at Fort Bridger. The stage line operated until 1869 when the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad eliminated the need for mail service via Thais' stagecoach.

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 - 1861.

Stone's Ferry is a former Mormon settlement and ferry crossing of the Colorado River between Nevada and Arizona, in Clark County, Nevada, United States.

Bradshaw's Ferry was a ferry at the crossing point on the Colorado River, of the Bradshaw Trail at Olive City and later at Mineral City and Ehrenburg, between what was then San Diego County, California and Arizona County, New Mexico Territory. The ferry connected the Bradshaw Trail to the road to the gold placers of La Paz, the first big strike of the Colorado River Gold Rush. From 1863, the La Paz - Wikenburg Road connected the Bradshaw Trail to the new mining boom town settlements in the interior of Arizona Territory.

Beaver Lake was a lake on the west side of the Colorado River in what is now Clark County, Nevada. Beaver Lake lay on a north–south axis, almost entirely within the boundaries of the Camp Mohave Military Reservation. The southern end of the lake was a mile and half west of Fort Mohave and its northern end was located about 2 miles northwest of the camp. The Mojave Road passed by the northern extremity of the lake. Since 1892 the lake has dried up and have returned to desert or been made into farmland. It appears as a depression running north and south, west of the river at an elevation of 490 feet or less.

Cottonwood Island, a large island in the Colorado River, within Cottonwood Valley, in Clark County, Nevada. Cottonwood Island was a low-lying island about 10 miles long and up to 3 miles wide. It was forested by cottonwoods and also after the spring flood, cluttered with driftwood from the riparian woodlands along the upper watershed of the Colorado River, washed down and caught in the first wide valley where the river slowed and spread out. Cottonwood Island was important as a source wood and of fuel for steamboats on that river and for the early mills and mines in El Dorado Canyon.

Powell was a short lived railroad station and settlement in Mohave County, Arizona from 1883 to 1890, currently designated as a populated place by the USGS.

Beal, was a railroad station on the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad line between Needles, California and Topock, Arizona from 1889. It was located 5 miles north on the railroad line to Needles from Mellen.

Crowder Canyon, originally Coyote Canyon, is a valley in San Bernardino County, California. Its mouth was at an elevation of 2,999 feet / 914 meters at its confluence with Cajon Canyon. Its source was at an elevation of 4200 feet at 34°21′02″N117°26′04″W near Cajon Summit. The canyon runs southward just west of the top of Cajon Pass then turns southwestward to meet Cajon Canyon.

Fork of the Road was the locale along the Mojave River where the junction of the Mojave Trail / Mojave Road and the Old Spanish Trail / Mormon Road was located in San Bernardino County, California. The location of Fork of the Road was on the north side of the Mojave River, 18.75 miles southwest of Bitter Spring, about 14.5 miles east of Grapevine, and 10.9 miles west of Camp Cady. The location was an oasis where the Mojave River came to the surface. There travelers could get water, camp, rest and graze their animals before or after crossing the desert.

Lane's Crossing was a ford below the Lower Narrows of the Mojave River in San Bernardino County, California. "Lane's" a ranch and store for travelers at this crossing on the Mormon Road was established by "Captain" Aaron G. Lane the first pioneer settler on the Mojave River.

Bryman, is a populated place in the central Mojave Desert, within San Bernardino County, California. It lies along the Mojave River in the northern Victor Valley, at an elevation of 2,526 feet . It is on the historic U.S. Route 66, 5 miles north of Oro Grande, and south of Helendale.

The Mohave Trail was a Native American trade route between Mohave Indian villages on the Colorado River and settlements in coastal Southern California.

References

1 2 "Point of Rocks". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . Retrieved 2009-05-04.
↑ Davidrumsey.com: Topographical Sketch showing the Outward and Inward Route of a Party, while examining as to the practicability of a Diversion of the Colorado River for Purposes of Irrigation, Lithograph by Eric Bergland, 1875. From, Wheeler, G.M., Topographical Atlas Projected To Illustrate United States Geographical Surveys West Of The 100th Meridian Of Longitude Prosecuted In Accordance With Acts Of Congress Under The Authority Of The Honorable The Secretary Of War, And The Direction Of Brig. Genl. A.A. Humphreys, Chief Of Engineers, U.S. Army. Embracing Results Of the Different Expeditions Under The Command Of 1st Lieut. Geo. M. Wheeler, Corps Of Engineers. Julius Bien, lith., G. Thompson, Washington, 1876 from davidrumsey.com accessed December 3, 2014.] — shows Southern California, parts of Nevada, and Arizona. Includes the roads and railroads of the time, including Point of Rocks the detailed routes of the Mormon Road to Fork of the Road and the Mojave Road from there to the Colorado River. (accessed March 30, 2016).
↑ Richard D. and Kathryn L. Thompson, Pioneer of the Mojave: The Life and Times of Aaron G. Lane, Desert Knolls Press, Apple Valley, 1995
↑ Point of Rocks (California) from mapper.acme.com accessed, March 30, 2016

Coordinates: 34°45′29″N117°18′48″W / 34.75806°N 117.31333°W / 34.75806; -117.31333

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.

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[gnis-1] 1 2 "Point of Rocks". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . Retrieved 2009-05-04.

[2] Davidrumsey.com: Topographical Sketch showing the Outward and Inward Route of a Party, while examining as to the practicability of a Diversion of the Colorado River for Purposes of Irrigation, Lithograph by Eric Bergland, 1875. From, Wheeler, G.M., Topographical Atlas Projected To Illustrate United States Geographical Surveys West Of The 100th Meridian Of Longitude Prosecuted In Accordance With Acts Of Congress Under The Authority Of The Honorable The Secretary Of War, And The Direction Of Brig. Genl. A.A. Humphreys, Chief Of Engineers, U.S. Army. Embracing Results Of the Different Expeditions Under The Command Of 1st Lieut. Geo. M. Wheeler, Corps Of Engineers. Julius Bien, lith., G. Thompson, Washington, 1876 from davidrumsey.com accessed December 3, 2014.] — shows Southern California, parts of Nevada, and Arizona. Includes the roads and railroads of the time, including Point of Rocks the detailed routes of the Mormon Road to Fork of the Road and the Mojave Road from there to the Colorado River. (accessed March 30, 2016).

[3] Richard D. and Kathryn L. Thompson, Pioneer of the Mojave: The Life and Times of Aaron G. Lane, Desert Knolls Press, Apple Valley, 1995

[4] Point of Rocks (California) from mapper.acme.com accessed, March 30, 2016