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EXPEDITION
AGAINST
THE
MOHAVE
INDIANS
SILVERSPUR BOOKS HOMEPAGE
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GHOST TOWNS OF THE PAST: Prior to 1840, there were very few Americans in California. A foreigner by the name of Johann Sutter was one of the first to recognize the richness of the land, he established a fort on a land grant. But the rest of California was mostly unexplored, with the exception of a few trapping parties led by American and British companies. The Sierra Nevada Mountains formed a natural barrier for California, separating her from the rest of the county, especially in the winter with a wall of ice and snow towering over 10,000 feet. It was this natural barrier that had to be breached before California could be opened to the rest of the country in the east. As early as 1834, Capt. Joe Walker had blazed a trail to California and discovered a passage through the Sierra Nevada Mountain. In 1841, "Broken Hand" Fitzpatrick, another mountain man, guided a wagon train bound for California. Frontiersman Joseph Chiles figured heavily in developing a trail to California from Missouri, making four crossings of the country and Sierra Nevada Mountains. By the efforts of these men and others, the California Trail was soon open and safe except for some troublesome begging by Indians along the Humbolt River. When gold was first discovered at Sutter's mill, it was no surprise that over 20,000 men took to the trail in 1849 and in '50 another 45,000 souls were on the trail headed for California and the gold fields. By 1853 the lure of gold was so strong that it had brought over 125,000 individuals to California over this 2000 mile long and dusty trail. Some came by wagon train, others by pack mules and thousands on foot. During these early years of the gold rush the thousands of miners thought it would never end. It was no wonder that as the diggings started to play out and the gold became scarce, the miners starting in 1855 and early '56 to talk about finding new place to prospect. Some moved South to the Kern River and others farther North forwards Oregon. By 1859 discouraged and broke, many of the miners on the northern slopes were planning their return trip home. While others were planning to cross the Sierra Nevada mountains and explore the eastern slopes, they had remembered the many mountain and desert streams which they had crossed. It was from the efforts of these rugged individuals that in the years that followed, new trails were blazed and new field of discoveries were made. The results opened a whole new area to explore and new towns were established like, Bodie, Cerro Gordo, and Calico. The following work tells the story of discovery, the activities and finally the departure from these towns. 
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